"hardball with chris matthews" is up next. bannon unleashed. let's play hardball. >> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. remember this piece of advice prt god faerm. the movie, i mean. keep your friends close and your enemies closer. well, president trump may want to study up on that one now that he released steve bannon into the wild. over the week enthe president tweeted these warm words to the man he just fired. steve bannon will be a tough and smart new voice at breitbart. maybe even better than ever before. fake news needs the kcompetitio. there's trump trying to soften up his opponent. bannon said he would remain a fighter for president trump. he told bloomberg, i'm going to

war for trump against the his opponents on capitol hill and in the media. he told t"the washington post" o administration in history has been so divided among itself about the direction about where it should go. to the weekly senate saying the trump presidency we fought for and won is over. we still have a huge movement. and we will make something of this trump president spip but that presidency is over. it'll be something else. about his return to breitbart. he said, i feel jacked up. now i'm free. i have my hands on my weapons pl i will definitely crush the opposition. so far weapons seem former colleagues. look at recent headlines from breitbart. source, mcmaster fails to brief trump before that's too bad error. hr mcmaster endorsed book that advocates quran-kissing apology ceremonies. report, powerful gop supporte supporters -- shiks siems trump upsets jared kushner and ivanka

trump and the kbleed found out. report, bannon urged trum top move u.s. embassy to yooum wjer was blocked by jared kushner. who does bannon have on his enemies list? that's my question tonight. jeremy peters wrote a great piece today. i want to start tonight with a show-stopper. i didn't plan on doing this but i just came across an amazing number. brand-new washington post abc news poll just out. do you think it's acceptable or unacceptable to hold neo-nazi or white supremacist views. this 9% may not seem like a lot but it's a lot to me. 9% are willing to tell polsters, they are willing to tell them they are for nazies. being a nazi is okay with them. i found it amazing. what did you think of that in the fact that people are willing to say a significant percentage of the country that we're happy with nazis. no problem here. >> also coincidentally the same percent of the country that

holds congress in high esteem. >> you're laughing, but it's not funny. this is naziism they are talking about. white supremacy out front. >> that's the first thing i looked at when i saw this poll. the percentage of error. margin of error. which is 3%. could be 6. could be 12. but this movement has been growing across europe and you've seen it in other countries. i suppose in some terrible way we're not immune to those types of move lts. >> robert costa, i think you share my skepticism about regular people not telling their views to elitist reporters, or not you, or pollsters. this is the% who are willing to say they like the nazis. your thoughts? you think the number's surprising? >> the number's alarming. deeply troubling. >> robert costa is talking but not heard. jeremy, according to your article -- we will get back to robert. can you hear me now, robert? >> i can hear you. can you hear me?

>> according to your article, steve bannon had a positive reaction when general kelly put in place new rules restricting the open door policy ought oval office for staffers including family. bannon reported telling multiple people those days are over when ivanka came running in and laid her head on the desk and cried. bannon also referred to ivanka and jared kushner as javanka behind their backs. direct shot at his beloved. >> exactly. he is playing nice now. bannon unleashed, you had it exactly right, chris. we will see more than aiming his artillery fire at ivanka and jared and gary cohen inside the white house, most immediately where steve bannon and breitbart will be focused is on the republican establishment, leaders in congress. >> he is throwing it to the family. directly hitting the daughter,

the dream daughter of the president. he is saying she is javanka and crying on his desk. >> it does seem to me that is one place where bannon should not go. i completely agree with you. this person has some power now. when you leave the white house, he is leaving with this giant sort of high, it seems. but he needs to be careful. this is an area that trump will not put up with. he never has. and i think that there is only so far you can go before he is -- >> my question is, this guy looks dangerous to me. it is better to have inside going out than outside coming in. we know what they're talking about. i think he will have a guy on the outside taking shots everyday at his enemies and start at the white house and work his way to mitch mcconnell, paul ryan and the rest of those guys. >> i don't know how widely breitbart is read. i spent the weekend in tennessee at a nascar race. i talked to about probably 50

people. almost all of them said they got their news fox news or talk radio. >> yeah. >> here is where breitbart is effective. breitbart is good at whipping up an angry constituency they can turn on congress. we saw this during the government shut down. during immigration reform debate. and the issues she pursue tend to be very tea-party aligned, very nationalistic. and much in the way that you saw, even members of congress weaponize their twitter constituencies. like ted cruz during the government shut down of 2013. that's like breitbart but times a hundred. >> two kinds of people, the nationalist types like bannon then the globalist, upper case democrat like ivanka and the rest. they can be very comfortable being democrats. >> many of them have been. >> who will win now with breitbart out of there? with bannon out of there? i'm worried about tonight, by

the way. we will get it in the next segment. then escalate in afghanistan which is pure. the old style of establishment. let's put more troops like johnson did, kennedy did. we always go to war and then we put more and more troops in. we think we will solve the problem. and i'm wondering, that isn't mcmaster talking. if that isn't jared -- javanka talking. >> i think more of the generals talking. you have powerful generals in this sort of militarized white house at this point. and you know, their influence is felt very clearly but it was general kelly who has quite a bit of credit for pushing out, you know, not only scaramucci but also bannon. he is clearly asserting power. >> we have a problem. seems like people like me adove. must wonder what happens. >> that's what he worried about too. his calculation, he told many people, he told me sitting in his office last week when i saw him, his calculation was few effective can i be outside the

white house? i think i can drive immigration stuff, trade stuff, drive that conversation outside the white house. but i can't be in the meetings with mcmaster on afghanistan. he ticked off three things that trump promised. reduce immigration. provide jobs. and get us out of foreign wars. >> the trifecta that got him elected. >> to bannon, it is to important to get america out of messy entanglements. he can't wage that war as effectively. >> the president going rogue last week when responding to the violence in charlottesville. newt gingrich saying he add lha lack of discipline. >> last thing he has to do, i'm very cannedity here, he has to quit stepping on himself. he had a good infrastructure conference and then stepped on it guaranteed it couldn't get covered. he has to be disciplined, work

as part after team aof a team a be a great president. but he needs to make a couple of midcourse corrections. >> saying that forces in the white house will try to control president trump against his instincts, quote, i think they will try to moderate him. i think he will sign a clean debt ceiling. his natural tendency, and i think you saw it this week on charlottesville, actual default position, is the position of his base. that got him elected. i think you will see a lot of constraints on that. much more conventional. jeremy and annie, looks like trump is defanged. lost bannon pl he will do what he is supposed to by the establishment, starting with escalating war. >> trump is his own strategist. regardless of whether or not steve bannon is there, john kelly is there, he will do what he wants to do on his own. jared and ivanka are not going to be -- >> tonight you? think he's not going to escalate tonight? >> i i he is escalating because he is in a position that so many presidents we have seen before

are in. >> that's right but that's classic establishment politics. that's what we grew up with. presidents saying in war so they don't get blamed for losing them. we stay in war, people getting killed, we kill people, so the president isn't blamed politically. then leave and lose the war anyway. >> i think the other piece here chris is that with bannon leaving, it leaves a vacuum for trump that i think will be filled. he always add bannon-like character. that's the question. i don't know who it's going to be. i don't know if it's roger stone. i don't know fe will come back. but there have always been characters like that at trump's side. there will be a position that's empty and it'll be filled. >> thank you. coming up. as a candidate, president trump railed against stupid leaders for prolong war in afghanistan. selling war in prime time calling for american troops to afghanistan. what changed? what changed his mind? trump's mind.

plus, serve or not to serve. given the president's response to charlottesville, should members of his cabinet resign and protest? we will talk to one who resigned earlier this year saying t. multiple honorees say they planned to boycott the reception at the white house and voters shunning trump. his presidency hit a new low, don't you think? finally finishing with trump watch. this is hard ball where the action is. with the elevator. right. but you want to fix it. right. so who sent you? new guy. what new guy? watson. my analysis of sensor and maintenance data indicates elevator 3 will malfunction in 2 days. there you go. you still need a pass. there you go.

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it's a very big decision for me. i took over a mess. and we're going to make it a lot less messy. but that has been a place, 17 years, our longest war. >> welcome back to "hardball." weeks after previewing afghanistan, america's longest war now. 16 years in afghanistan fighting. part of the reason why candidate trump was elected because he spent months going after when a called crazy wars. here he goes. >> unlike my opponent my foreign policy will emphasize by ploemcy, not destruction. our failed establishment has brought us nothing but poverty at home and disaster overseas. what's what we have. disaster. the wars we never win. you're tired of the reckless foreign policy. the crazy wars that are never

won. >> you heard that "damn right" coming from the crowd. in january '13 trump tweeted, let's get out of afghanistan. let's rebuild the usa. today trump advancing the path forward in afghanistan. according to various reports, he is set to announce an increase in u.s. troops numbers over in afghanistan. defense foreign officials tell nbc news the president may not get specific about troop levels but say as many as 4,000 could be sent in addition to the will,000 we hawil8,000 we have there now. there have been 2 h 00 casualties and deaths in afghanistan. more than 800,000 deployment serving duty there so far and spent more than $600 billion fighting in afghanistan. last month, the president acknowledged that we're not winning our war over there. will we ever win over there?

my question. that's my question. for more, co-anchor from bbbc news, kelly who worked for the defense department under president obama. thank you both for joining us. i'm a skeptic. i'm a dove. i do not see where you go into these wars, you go in and never can come home. i understand why the general is generally opposed going to work because they know we will get stuck. then generals say we have to stay there because justifying blood and treasure justifies staying in. is this justified? we are going in for a bigger war in afghanistan tonight? >> i think the president will extend troops in afghanistan and if you begin afghanistan represents an existential threat to the united states, we have seen a rise in islamic state there, then you may decide that 12,000 american troops are worth the price of keeping us -- i think america will be half -- the president is almost going to have to level with the american

public. we will be there for years and years. >> years and years are just fluff for him to avoid being blamed for losing. that's what they all do. as long as he is president we will be there. when the next president comes in, as long as he or she is there, we will be there. i don't know if we're ever leaving. >> i wouldn't say never. >> when would be the optimum time to get out of thereafter 16 years? >> i'm not sure 12,000 troops will make very much difference to this part of the taliban. it stops the country falling into taliban hands completely possibly but you still have the spread of the islamic state. >> islamic state is not a geographical place. it can be anywhere. let me go to kelly. you worked at the pentagon. is there an intrinsic institutional bias towards staying in wars in the military? >> i think there is an institutional bias trying to win wars we have begun.

which explains a lot of where mattis -- >> when does it intend that well win the war -- >> for the president tonight, it is important to lay out what winning looks like. what the end state we are trying to achieve. >> civil wars like this and conflicts like this usually end in political settlements. what i would like to hear from the president of the united states is not about how many thousands more u.s. troops are going but what the political strategy to bring the conflict to an end so we can come home. >> men and women are killed over there so that at some point, something that's never happened is going to happen. they will have a compromise between the pro western government there. modern relatively pro western. they will have a deal. you're laughing. you think there will be a deal in our lifetime? any lifetime? taliban deal with someone nontaliban? >> i think there won't be a deal unless they have a strategy to get one. 4,000 additional troops is not going to bring that out.

>> mr. nice guy, president's deputy campaign manager in 2016 was asked how proposed troop increase core responds with the anti-war message that president trump campaigned. we all remember that. over and over again. stupid wars, stupid war webs stupid cars. the working class people bought it, they trusted him. let's see what he says now. >> he hates spending money and he hates spending our soldiers over to anywhere in the world where it is not necessary where it is not in the vital interest of the united states. he has taken this time to figure out, with his commanders, what is the right strategy, not only in afghanistan but in iraq and other chances. i think he will give them a chance to prove what they want and their strategy. but he is also a man who will reflect on that over the coming weeks and months and he is able to change it if he decides this is not working.

>> that is blah blah blah if i've ever heard it. he is a libertarian. a nationalist and all that. then with the blah blah blah. leaving it up to the general says not how our constitution works. would he don't turn it over to the generals. they've had the general answers all of the men and women fighting over there for 16 years have had that war. now saying we will make them decide. they decided all along. people of afghanistan are not willing to fight the ptaliban with the zeal the taliban slg to fight. right, kelly? >> i think one of the fundamental problems we have with president trump is he is showing his largely disinterest to this issue. he hasn't travelled to afghanistan before this decision. he hasn't called the president of afghanistan to relay the decision. he deferred that to vice president pence today. >> pence is going over there? >> we'll see. >> as is the american public. not very interested.

which is why the president can make the call he is making tonight. send additional 4,000 troops or whatever it is he announces and be secure in political knowledge this won't cost him a huge amount amongst his base. he promised a lot of things on the campaign trail. >> the all working class people get to fight these wars. anyway, secretary jim mattis who oversold the war in afghanistan when he was commander of u.s. central command. he said mr. president we haven't fought a 16-war so much as we have fought a one-year war 16 times. what does that mean? kelly, you're the expert. what does that mean? >> i've heard that a lot pr mat nis previous roles. i think is a lazy phenomenon. there's a lot of reasons why things aren't working out in afghanistan. the karzai government was

atrocious. we had a crumorruption problem. >> this is my view of war. when you go in, if you're from here, and you're going there, you know you're coming back here. eventually. the enemy over there, where there is vietnam, or the taliban, knows we are coming back here. all they have to do is wait us out. we can say in four years it will be different. no, it doesn't. we are coming gnome four years. it change is the timetable but not the reality. it is their country and they will rule it. just like the vietnamese. 60,000 guys of my generation getting killed trying to stop hist fr history from taking place. it is their country. that's a fact that military guys and everybody else should get into their heads. >> exactly the argument president obama was up against when he contemplated his first term and when a heard from taliban and afghans, we know you are on a timetable. the clock is ticking. you will get out eventually. we're staying. >> brits left until the 19th

century. they deading wi, all of them. charlie wilson knocked them without a few stingers, they are gone. and it always happens. we have to come home. nobody wants to live in afghanistan, except afghans. we ain't going over there to live, we are coming home. this isn't colonization. they are coming home. thank you. up next, a new report says white house staffers are scared to quit. then the only thing in the way of trump impulses. someone who recently resigned his boast after battling with the trump administration. over ethics, i think. i no longer live with the uncertainties of hep c.

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richard lui at the msnbc newsroom. the navy ordering a worldwide operational pause as ten u.s. sailors are still missing and others injured after the uss john s. mccain and an oil tanker collided off of singapore. the second major ship collision in just two month possess a prosecutors says the gunman who shot and wounded an ohio judge is the father of a high school football player convicted of rape in 2013. the director of secret service

says more than a thousand agents will get their overtime tap for the year under president trump. some 42 people received protection compared to 31 during the obama administration. now back to "hardball." would you believe all those people getting secret service protection at highest levels of our government under trump? well w welcome back to "hardball." after the president's handling of charlottesville tragedy, many white house staffers faced similar calls to abandon the president and get out of there. more than 300 of treasury secretary steve mnuchin's yale classmates signed a letter urging him to quit. he responded to the statement writing i don't believe the allegations against the president are accurate and i believe that having highly talented men and women

surrounding the president and his presidency should be reassuring to you. that's to his classmates and others. that's what mnuchin had to say. others serving in a different way. axios reporting one staffer saying you have no idea how much crazy stuff we kill. the report adds quote, the most common response centers on having smart sane people around trum top fight his worst impulses. that's all in quote. the former director of the united states office of government ethics, and yes last month is a classic with the trump administration. and i thought about this. certain posts that have to be filled. somebody has it run nasa. someone has to run the peace corps. someone has to ferun fema. someone has to man or woman the posts regardless of whoever is president.

left, right or crazy. is that true? we need to keep people on their posts? what do you think? >> i definitely think that's true to a point. i certainly gave it my best shot. i would have walked out on january 20th if i disagreed with that sentiment. i think the standard i would use for anyone outside the white house is, do they feel they can still be effective? can they do their jobs ethically and morally? and by that, i'll give you the example of the olc torture opinion in early 2000s, office of legal council, and the moral responsibility of every career employee in that office was to have nothing do with that memo. my understanding is it was handled strictly by the politicals. then the third element in the standard i would use is, can you still speak the truth. >> yeah. >> and if you search your soul and decide that all three of those are true, then we do need some people staying in the government. >> so it seems to be that the

job difference would be, if you have to speak for the administration, for the president, you better be careful, right? >> that's why i distinguish the white house. the white house is not involved in the substantive work of government. it is a policy and political office. appointees are appointed under a different statute giving the president complete latitude. these are people who are political operators, not career civil servants. they make the choice to be there. they own everything the president says. >> so they are part of his commentary or failure to comment correctly or honestly or morally about charlottesville and the nazis? >> yeah. >> they have that on their conscience. >> they do. they are whispering to reporters after criticizing the media for printing anonymous sources and now they are criticizing the president behind his back anonymously. frankly, i think that's disloyal to the president and if they feel that way they should quit. >> that's strong. here is what veterans affairs

secretary had to say last week when asked if he could stand by president trump's comments on charlottesville. let's watch him. >> he denounced bigotry, hatred, violence, nazis, white supremacists and i think he can speak for himself. >> i think he can speak for himself. what do you make of that position? those aren't my words, the president's. don't blame me. i'm veterans fairs guy here. >> i have sympathy for him. he cares about veterans. he want to serve them. i worked at the v.a. i get that. but he is also responsible for a very diverse group of veterans who need his support. and what isn't shown in that clip is further on he equivocated and hedged as to whether he would condemn those words. i think the prong that i articulated in my standard of you should still be able to speak the truth i think the man equivocated and didn't state -- >> i want to you talk right now on tv, we're on live, the people still working, kellyanne

fitzpatrick, hope picks, new head of communications, interim, perhaps permanent. john kelly, the general perhaps running the place now. should they leave? or are they the rest of their lives responsible for what trump is doing right now? >> i think they will own everything he has done so far and will in the future. they made the decision to be part of this political operation. is anyone ever going to believe anything shawn spicer says again? general mcmaster defended trump after he hosted russians in the white house and went on tv saying it did not happen. i was in the room. he did not share classified information. then the president turned around and admitted sharing classified information and said, i'm the president and i'm allowed to. >> i'm laughing but not very good for the press secretary to put out bogus numbers that he knows are bogus.

anyway, you've been very clear. i appreciate you coming on. i think people listen foup heard what you have to say about the morality of serving someone you don't think is moral. difficult to say if trump will be the party nominee in 2020. but will backlash like this ultimately hurt the president's chances at reelection? you're watching "hardball."

so that's the idea. what do you think? hate to play devil's advocate but... i kind of feel like it's a game changer. i wouldn't go that far. are you there? he's probably on mute. yeah... gary won't like it. why? because he's gary. (phone ringing) what? keep going! yeah... (laughs) (voice on phone) it's not millennial enough. there are a lot of ways to say no. thank you so much. thank you! so we're doing it. yes! start saying yes to your company's best ideas. let us help with money and know-how, so you can get business done. american express open.

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i am a first responder tor and i'emergencies 24 hours a day, everyday of the year. my children and my family are on my mind when i'm working all the time. my neighbors are here, my friends and family live here, so it's important for me to respond as quickly as possible and get the power back on. it's an amazing feeling turning those lights back on. be informed about outages in your area. sign up for outage alerts at pge.com/outagealerts. together, we're building a better california. i's already running for reelection. what happens next? >> it is far too early to tell now. there is a long ways between now and that point. >> do you think will end up party nominee in 2020? >> it's too difficult to say.

>> i love the question. senator collins of maine, republican, and she won't even say. but it is the smart answer. it is too early to say. but not too supportive of trump. that was republican senator susan collins saying she doesn't know if trumping on the ballot in 2020. amid trits from tcriticism from president's own party after his response in charlottesville. let's watch. >> very concerned about the rhetoric that's being used. i was concerned early in the campaign. and during the campaign, the rhetoric used. i don't think the response came out of charlottesville was the right response and americans need to hear. so i hope that we do better in the future. >> as we look to the future, it is very difficult for this president to lead if in fact that moral authority remains compromised. >> president has not yet -- has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the

competence that he needs to demonstrate in toshd order to be success florida. >> when the president seemed concerned about being associated with white supremacist and nazis, companies decided it wasn't worth it for them to be associated with trump. trump had to shut down two business advisory councils, including campbell's soup, intel, underarmor. and the president and first lady wouldn't be attending the white house honorees. lionel richie signalled he might boycott the reception. i wanted to wait and see the situation. i love the way he answered it. dana, i want you to start.

i think you will be sharp est o this. it seems to me the president, good political cover when he had people like steve schwartz and all these people saying we would try to do infrastructure, rebuild this country. may not be trumpites but we will be part of the effort. people doing tax reform. now that they abandoned ship, it will be hard to do what he said he would do. >> i don't think they all abandoned ship but every time there is a big collapse in crises, they say oh, that the straw that breaks the camel's back. the camel's back doesn't break but it is so weighted down and the hump in the sand and can't move. there is no capital as a result of that. hasn't been able to get anything through congress. big test is september, october. that is what is propping up markets, the tax -- >> a cut. >> if they discover he lost

enough experts, just the rumor that gary cohen would quit sends the dow down 250 pounds. you can't get tax reform. >> i'm with you. shannon, this is about economics but i thinking nom ieconomics i the root and that's why business people love trump. all about taxes. >> they desperately want the tax kwu cut. they know they have to get that through. if they are able to somehow get that through that only buys them a little bit of breathing room. i this i tax cuts only go so far. there are big issues that won't be solved fwaks cut to corporations or individuals. there are labor shortages. so far from bringing back manufacturing. and people's expectations are very high for this president and what he was going to be able to do. he is not going to be -- >> back to the camel reference,

there is a reason trump would walk a mile for a camel. to use an old line. but he has found that camel. we are looking at new numbers, by wait. let's look at these numbers. michigan, pennsylvania and wisconsin. new numbers are interesting. swing states that got him elected, basically. down on average 5 points. 36, 35, 34. he was up five over all those numbers. very consistent. that's enough to lose the election he won. >> yes. that's still two or three years off. the issue is, you look at bob corker. he was a huge trump supporter. look at tim scott. when republicans in red states during recess are home talking to constituents and feel proud enough and comfortable enough to criticize the president on national television knowing he will hear that message, he's got no political capital left in

washington, d.c. hard to get anything done. >> i believe those are for voters as a whole. even though republican support shrunk -- >> it is not enough to win an election. >> but if you're pprimaried in >> oh, 36 can beat the character with 32. >> even prups are turning against him in the sense in the polls you saw 1 in 3 republicans say they are embarrassed by trump. you're not winning an election but it shows why he is only play together base. >> back in '67 which i'm familiar with, 1967, when mccarthy ran against lyndon johnson, he said i knew it was safe to go against lyndon johnson, when i could go into any bar and not get punched in the nose. >> those who don't punch you in the nose in the bar are the strongest trump supporters. 25% of america, half of the republicans. people in the polls said ten days guy if trump said i want to

postpone 2020 election, okay, fine. we will go along with that. >> how about the 9% saying they are okay with naziism. >> i was on the phone with a lot of my friends and it is not rumor that trump would get primaried. i talked to three people, that if we thought maybe if trump is not on the ballot but now money people are lining up. having the conversation. he is very likely going to get primaried. >> trump is looking ahead to the next game. now putting together a negative campaign. a campaign against elizabeth warren and couple of other people. he is eye balling who he thinks he will face. shannon? he doesn't think he will get beat in primary. >> i remember not so long ago a republican -- >> mid terms. >> they tried to primary him before and the republican establishment wouldn't go any harder than they did in the last

election. whole slate of candidates and they blew right through him. >> remember how deit? each one came forward and he gave a nickname, knocked them out of ring and that person fell. give me the next one. took them on one at a time and destroyed them in terms of reputation. >> what is his nickname for pence going to be? he is looking ahead to po pocahontas. >> wait, pocahontas is the name used by trump for elizabeth warren. we have a headline here if you want to go with that take. >> i don't think that is likely. if it is like an old kung fu money where people surround the guy and line up so he can punch them down then yes, he will win. it is far enough away. but if 2018 goes badly and if they can't get tax reform improved, there is a problem. >> it he can't get a tax bill through, market is down and they

leave the ship. dana? >> people are thinking he is bringing steel jobs back to midwest. bringing coal jobs back. everything will be better. that when they realize oh, all this rhetoric commented to nothing. that's when you get to the 25% -- >> does anyone tell that you trump knows that's the name of the game? he has to get a tax cut? >> yes. they are taking tax reform very seriously. very organized. they know they need to get that through. republican leadership knows they need to get that through. but they have to get it through and produce some results. >> i'm talking by christmas time, by 2018 they got votes in the house, right? do they need 60 or 50? >> i don't know. theoretically probably 60. and tax reform, if this is just tax cuts, i think if it is just some middle class corporate tax cut, if this is tax reform,

taking on the fundamental roots of our system, then there are so many land mines and things along the way. >> goldman sachs had a report last week saying it is likelier than not it will happen but they don't have a lot of confidence it'll happen. >> i don't know how they can be so bone-headed so far. no infrastructure. america is not rebuilt. from penn station to lax airport, rebuild and make america a growing country again. nada. >> and still talking about health care. >> bone-head start. roundtable is sticking with us. h this is "hardball" where the action is. ignores me when this is "ha action is. because i don't use my cellphone when i'm driving. even though my family does, and leaves me all alone. here's something else... i don't share it with mom. i don't. right, mom? i have a brand new putter you don't even know about!

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show business attraction in the entire country. i say this about campaigns. all campaigns started with some cheap storefront somewhere. no one wants with a phone hanging out of the wall and maybe take out coffee cups and that's it. you started without dean martin, hottest act ever, in show business, in real life, with a folding chair, and a sandwich bag with pastrami sandwiches in it. tell me about that night. >> well, i told wolfy at the 500 club, please get dean to come in. he needed an act to fill the bill. and he said, no, i don't want another singer. i said, listen to me. we are friends. we not only do our acts but we do silly things together. i needed to get him a job. he came in the next night. he did his three songs. i did my record act. we were off.

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book your weekend break direct with hilton.com and join the summer weekenders. back with "hardball." jason, tell us something we don't know. >> there was a freedom of speech event here in d.c. a group of high school student from union high school in pennsylvania dawned hats and trump shirts and marched into the cafeteria of howard university saying they didn't know it was hbc and were just looking for lunch. students at howard say they were trying to cause trouble. >> i think they were right. >> i spent the past week traveling with mike pence through latin america. it is like a parallel universe traveling with the vice president. it is calm, organized. his influence is growing. we lost a couple of factions. reince priebus rnc camp.

>> was it fun? >> yeah. a great time. >> here we go. dana? >> you heard that steve mnuchin has been defending trum top his classmates. he is also offering them jobs in the treasury department is. he had zero takers. and one wrote back, it is good to see you still have your sense of humor. >> he is doling out jobs. i knew you'd kill wp we'll be back with trump watch. . wp we'l back with trump watch. wp we'll watch. wp we'll be back with tru watch. e'll be back with trump w.

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trump watch monday august 21, 2017. donald trump won his electoral victory last november with a promise to quote end stupid wars. what i expected him to say tonight in prime time will be a contradigs. i expect he will call for more troops in afghanistan and call for in fact 50% hike in american forces there from 8,000 to 12,000. to put it another way instead offeding the 16-year american war over there, long nest our history, he will lengthen it. my question is how is this any different than previous presidents? from kennedy to nixon to johnson, to bush to obama to trump in iraq. how he is different than any president before him to make the decision to keep an american war going long enough to escape blame from having lost it. how does trump just if i putting more troops in harm's way after

promising a result than leaving eventually than what we would get right now. if he can't prom ace better result how can he morally ask americans to die for a war we don't believe we will ever win. that's "hardball" for now. thank for being with us. all in with chris hayes starts right now. >> tonight on "all in." the president in peril tries changing the subject. tonight, more protests, month bad polls, and more talk of a primary. >> do you think he will end up the party's nominee in 2020? >> it's too difficult to say. >> as the president of the united states prepares to address the nation. then inside the anti-trump anti-hate backlash in boston. >> the ideas will die in this sun light today. we have won. look. >> steve bannon's attack on the white house has begun. >> mr. bannon came on very late. you know that. >> and why the secreterce