creating unpredictability in his governing style, what people can do about it. >> that does it for our show, i will see you here tonight at 9:00 p.m. when i'm filling in and "hardball" with chris matthews starts right now. stormy weather, stormy politics. let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews. washington as hurricane harvey battles towards texas. there is a trifecta into the probe of a possible trump collusion between the trump administration and his campaign and russia. nbc news reports special counsel robert mueller issued grand jury subpoenas in recent days t. executive was work with paul manafort. it's the first public indication the investigation is becoming to compel witness testimony before

the grand jury. also this afternoon, the wall street journal report thad mueller is quote examining what role, if any, former national security advisor mike flynn may have played in a private effort to obtain hillary clinton's e-mails from russian hackers. >> that effort to work with hackers was led by a long-time republican activist who described flynn as an allie, according to "journal." then there was this washington post report today about concern within the cia. according to post, cia director mike pompeo has taken a special interest in an agency unit that is closely tied to the investigation into possible collusion between russia and the trump campaign, requiring the counter-intelligence center or mission center to report directly to him. officials at the center have, in turn, kept a watchful eye on pompeo, himself, who has repeatedly played down the interference into the election and demonstrated skirmishes on

behalf of trump. there is concern about what he will do if the cia uncovers new potentially damaging information about the president. one u.s. official told the "post" people have to watch him. it's almost as if he can't resist the impulse to be political. for more i am joined by national security reporterden ken delanian and a californian member of the house intelligent committee and analyst malcolm nance, eli stokeles, the washington journal. in that order what do we make of the fact counsel mueller and his people are issuing subpoenas, they're going after -- manafort who always looked like the low hanging fruit, it doesn't surprise me they're moving faster on him because of his commercial entanglements with all elements of the russian hierarchy. >> it doesn't surprise me either, chris, what this is at bottom is an efforty paul

manafort was paid $17 million by a russian-backed ukrainian political party. this was a lobbying campaign from 2012 through 2014. pr firms were paid to lobby on behalf of this ukrainian regime they didn't register at the time. they subsequently have done so. now mueller wants to know, who got paid, what did they do? he's not just asking. he is compelling their testimony before a grand jury and as you know when you go before a grand jury, you can't lie. if you lie, you go to jail. >> congressman, what do have you on this on the committee? what is it that they're looking at him for? >> we know he was a central figure at one of the most intense periods of russia's interference, chris, he presided as chairman when the convention took place. he was a part of the team that aloud carter page to travel to moscow. he was in that meeting and had ties financially and politically to russia. this shows that progress is

being made. it shows these investigation take a very long time, especially when you are dealing with such complex financial transactions and communications. >> eli what do you got on him in low hanging fruit because from the beginning of this sort of inquest, which began months ago, we have wondered, first of all, why did trump pick manafor the, all his relationships seem to be russian. what was that bent about? what did he expect to get from a guy that had these entanglements, except he wanted them? >> our time is the campaign was in a fraud place a. friend of his, a friend of president trump told him, hey, i got a guys, i know somebody, he will be good at this, he will stabilize the campaign, it's unsure whether the president was aware of paul manafort entang himments. it is clear he is a top target of this probe. you' enthe president over several months, distance himself from a lot of people, including

paul manafort. they never had a close personal relationship. o he said he was a guy that worked for me, he wasn't there that long. >> malcolm. give me a full sense, i have an instinct, too, it's not as professional as yours about manafort. he seems like the kind of guy that will be involved in a lot of intrigue, fought everything you want to put out on the table a. bit like that. that's my hunch. >> well, he has a history at this. you know, he worked for the, you know, the dictator's lobby. but i think, what mueller and his team were doing is very, very smart. they are throwing a circle around manafort's financial past. they will determine either he was working with the kremlin as a kremlin asset or he was just really a poor choice businessman with a poor choice of clients. but by issuing these subpoenas, they are going to squeeze everyone that's ever worked for him and they're going to determine whether there is documents, statements or

processes that are missing there to make him talk. >> well, you know how everybody in russia always has an american? i've we heard about this for years. they got an american, they work through. can you imagine putin when he hears trump, one of the candidates for president and not hillary clinton has brought manafort aboard as his chairman. he must go, wow! i hit the irish sweepstakes here. one of the guys i deal with is the top guy, looked like the top guy for a few months there in the whole campaign for trump. is it just serendipity here? what do you think? >> we also have general flynn. >> okay. >> and general flynn -- >> go ahead. >> you -- you're raising the fundamental question here, we know paul manafort is if serious dep jepp naerd marriopardy. the question is what is the relevance to the question of whether the trump campaign colluded with russia. is there a connection here? do his russian entanglements in

his business past bear on the question of trump campaign collusion with russia? that we don't know yet. but that's where this is all going. >> well, if you are trump, you must wonder, did i start this or did the russians start this? at some point you go, you know how russians do, you meet a pretty girl on the subway platform, lfrls you are having a relationship, all of a sudden she is a spy, are you a fool. you are shaking your head, i think that's russian trade craft. >> i think what we have here is the fundamental question that everyone must answer, before they do anything, is, is this a russian operation? was this a large scale long-term operation in which they tap their asset, palm manafort to come out and try to manipulate this? i think that's where this is going. >> as i mentioned earlier, according to "wall street journal" again, mueller's team is looking into michael flynn's role with an effort to work with hackers to obtain hillary clinton's deleted e-mails. in fact, last july, president trump openly called on russia to fine those e-mails.

he was open with us. let's watch him. >> russia, if you are listening, i hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing. i think you will probably be rewarded meetly by our press. >> congressman, this is like in plain sight here. here's a guy, a candidate for president, saying, go out and get what you can on my opponent. but are you not supposed to get help from overseas. you can say democrats abroad, republicans abroad i suppose, but you can't have foreign powers helping you in a campaign, it's illegal. there he was asking for an illegal act by the russians. >> that's right. when you combine this with the june 9 e-mail the trump campaign certainly was willing and eager to receive information from the russians. as peter smith, unfortunately he's deceased. we won't learn any more if he worked with him. >> he committed suicide.

>> if the russians were placing bets, they weren't on palm manafort. there were a number in donald trump's inner circle who had prior relationships with the russians, general flynn received money from russian today and sat next to vladimir putin. a huge insult to the united states. so there are a number of efforts the russians at least were making, the question remains, did the trump campaign take them up on it and work on it. >> my college shane harris has been out on this story. he talked to this republican operative pet ter smith. >> he is 81-years-old and committed suicide. >> days after talking to shane and told him and acknowledged he was out there soliciting from hackers these 33,000 e-mails they thought were out there that assumed were in russian hands. that's unclear, he would tell people i'm working with mike flynn. i can get these to the trump campaign. that's what happened. he committed suicide after confirming that story and now

there is obvious questions, you can understand the attention being paid to flynn, because mueller wants to know if flynn was working with him. >> condition you first, then malcolm. what do we know about that, about flynn, this guy smith, who committed suicide, who may have been able to get something from the russians, certainly went looking to the russians, as to the candidate, he wanted somebody to do it. get me what they got on hillary. >> there is one of the most incredible and bizarre stories in this whole russia saga, right? my hat is off to shane harris for bringing this story. peter mysmith was serious. if mike flynn was found to have participated, it will be a serious problem for mike flynn and the campaign. >> what, legally? >> i think so, there is a legal theory if you receive something of value from a foreign government, that's an inlegal campaign contribution. some information, there is a question about whether that's something of value. clearly, these e-mails would have been something of value. >> where i work, they pay for that, it's called a commodity.

malcolm, your thoughts about the evidence we have that this was something going on? because when the president comes out publicly and sort of was bragadocous, all right, russians, come out, give me something on hillary. why don't you hack on her e-mails? he was thinking of breaking the law. he didn'ting a like he thought he was breaking the law. >> you have to remember, mike flynn had access to systems and plans and processes that brought large quantities of information right to his desk every day. you know when i was working at nsa, we had a sign in our division, it said, gentleman don't read other gentleman's e-mails...except for us. i think mike flynn may have brought to ticketu dictum to th company. when he saw these things dangled in front of him, instead of viewing it from a counterintelligence purpose of

fought touching russian assets, he may have gone for it. we den know yet. >> speaking of getting the information and trying to get more the cia director mike pompeo, a close allie of the president. even though he's ahead of the agency now, he played down the russian hacking saying it's something moscow has done before, no big deem. here he is. >> did russia intervene in our election? >> of course. and the one before that, and the one before that. they have been at this a hell of a long time. i don't think they have any intention of backing off. >> reporter: well, according to washington post, pompeo spends more time at the white house than his recent cia predecessors and is seen more to wage if battles on their behalf. when asked about interference, he becomes testy and cites talking points. earlier officials were enlisted to make calls to news organizations speaking on anonymity to dispute a "new york times" article about contacts between russian and individuals

tied to the trump campaign. recently pompeo defended the response to charlottesville. let's watch that. >> i think the president was frankly pretty unambiguous about what his justice department is going to do the way he views how utterly inappropriate it is for this hatred and bigotry. i think the president's remarks were very clear. >> eli, you have as to wonder since this president, president trump put the article on others, certainly on james comey before he fired him, help me quash this baby. you have to wonder what his conversations are with pompeo, who heads the counter-intelligence efforts in the cia that would be usually responsible for getting more information to show this relationship between the trump people and the russians, yet you have to wonder how vigorous he is in overseeing that. >> there is ample evidence that this president expects loyalty, that he asks for it and we know from the comey situation that it was comey's refusal to say i'll loyal to you. i'll let the investigation go.

that's what cost jim comey his job. so pompeo is still there. we don't know about their personal conversation, private conversations, but you know you can read between the lines because you do see the way pompeo is out there answering these questions. >> congressman, you worked with mr. pompeo on the same committee. you do have full confidence he will be a public service and bring all evidence he can, in terms of further development on the intel regarding the trump campaign in this relationship, such as it was with the russians? will he be aggressive in doing that job or will he be the president's guy? which one? >> chris, i like mike pompeo, he's a bright guy. he served our country. i have found so far that the committee has had great cooperation with the agency. so it does trouble me to read this. i think it's something we should learn more about. frankly, chris, in this situation, with the russian investigation, i mostly am worried about the principle and not the deputies. i am worried the way the president has been acting and he

has been bullying and obstructing people. we learned this week he had called senators who had written legislation to make sure mueller would stay in place to back off. that he seems to be the leads here. some people are following his lead because the principal is acting inappropriately. >> do you believe in the democrat trying to protect the special counsel bob mueller from getting fired by the president, the fact that he wouldn't put his article on him not to support that legislation, no to the co-sponsor it? do you think that's an aspec of obstruction? >> he certainly made -- innocent people cooperate with investigators. they want to get the investigation over with as soon as possible. she actually working against himself, because his obstruction delayed the committee's investigations, it continues i think to delay the fbi and the department of justice's investigation. that's not how an innocent person would conduct himself.

>> thank you for joining us. our colleague here, u.s. congressmen, thank you, sir, for that. especially the last part. my colleague right here the "wall street journal" has done a bang-up job here. coming up. much more on tonight's russian investigation. nbc news is reporting that more subpoenas have been issued by mueller. plus the "wall street journal" has investigated what role, if any, michael flynn in seeking e-mails for the russian hackers. he didn't even know they had him. he's trying to get it from him. plus, president trump braces for an important test of his presidency as a category 4 bears down on the gulf coast, likely to become a powerful storm in a decade. we will have a live report out of texas. a top member of the president's team breaks his silence, saying the white house can and must do better in condemning hate groups. how will trump respond to that? this is "hardball" where the

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>> obviously, the other major story we are following tonight, hurricane harvey is now a massive category-4 storm. i am joined by ms nbc news catty beck in corpus christi where the storm is expected to make land faum. katie, where are we on this to number four? what does that tell us? >> well, things are going to get progressively worse. they have been getting worse all day. we can see conditions, rain, wind, downed trees. there is over 30,000 people at corpus christi without power, including our hotel room. the hotel is without power. they're expecting a storm surge that can be between six and 12 feet. they're expecting winds to be 130 miles an hour. so the devastation will be considerable for the state of texas. they are bracing for what is coming. it's supposed to be making landfall around 1:00 a.m..

>> that is going to be when we will see the conditions at the high. right now i think a lot of people are taking cover and trying to brace themselves for what's going to come. >> katie, comparing to katrina, if you can and violence and power? >> reporter: i will tell you at this point we're not seeing katrina's strength. what i will tell you is there are some eerie similarities, the houses have spray-painted numbers on the doors, to indicate how many people are inside if they're men, women, or children. the answer stillness of it all. there is no one driving. no one in the down town. people have heeded this warning. they know what's coming. >> thank you. we'll be right back.

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people protesting very quietly. the taking down of the statue of robert e. lee. you had a lot of people in that group to innocently protest. >> welcome back to -- it was a president trump nearly two weeks ago defending the alt right protesters in charlottesville, many were neo-nazis and white supremists. we know that now. he doubled down when asked to clarify. let's watch that. >> are you putting what you call the alt left and white supremacists on the same moral plane? >> i'm not putting anybody on the moral plane. i think there is blame on both sides. you look at both sides, i think there is blame on both sides and i have no doubt about it and you don't have any doubt about it either. >> well, during his combative interaction with the press, he flanked by secretary chow.

and ga and gary cohn. the two were asked to competent. both declined. >> as a woman of color and gary you as a jewishman, who do you think of the nazi support for president trump and his reaction to it. >> well the as the president has already said in his statement, it is intolerable, we are a country of tolerance and it is hateful behavior and it is not who we are as americans. >> are the either of you nazis supporting this owe sew. >> we are talking infrastructure. >> nazis. >> as secretary chow said we are here to take questions about infrastructure. >> today cohn told the financial times quote i believe this administration can and must do better if consistently and unequiff coal condemning these groups, citizens standing up for equality and freedom can never be equated with white supremacists, neo-nazis and the kkk.

today gary cohn drafted a letter of resignation but never submitted it. i am joined by barbara boxer and an ms nbc contributor. barbara, you won five straight elections out there. you know your politics. >> 11 straight elections. >> okay. in the house. the senate statewide. i think that this issue of nazis and the inability of the president getting tongue tied to me it's far more important in his world and politically than in your legitimate arguments over statues, we will argue about statues forever. there are bad guys, i'd say 90% to ten on the nazi thing, nobody, we found out the other thing, 9% of americans are accepting of the idea we have basically all the right neo-nazis around. they don't like that at all. that's who they are. why do you think gary cohn stuck with it and came out with the

timing of ten days later saying the president needs to get it right and hasn't gotten it right yet. >> you know, each person will follow his or her conscience and i have to say, if i was standing there, and i we heard the president give cover to hate groups, to white supremacists, to nazis. as an american, and happen to be a jewish american, i would have gotten probably out of the tv shot. i would have thought deeply. i would have prepared something to say. i have walked out of meetings. i write about it in my book. i wrote the book "the art of tough." i talk about going on a foreign trip, being in morocco and sitting there and hearing the moroccan talk about jews in a way that was so appalling that i gave a look over to tony cuello leading the trip. we walked out all of us the whole delegation. you cannot be silent. look, better late than never and

next to steve mnuchin he looks like a profile in courage. but the truth is, we cannot be silent. we've lived through that before as jews and you must, you must speak up. you must. >> elaine chau was also there. she comes from taiwan. let's talk the facts here. do we know they were ready to walk? >> that's what the reporting says, both that the "new york times" and other places that he was ready to walk. i think this is in some way gary coen looking at whether his integrity will be intact. he is in that game, he's saying i'm opposed to this. i into ed to stay in the administration because i into ed to do good here. that's the dance a lot of republicans are playing. >> they make judgments of people sometimes positive for no good reason. i like him. i don't know the guy. i've watched him a few times, he seemed like a normal person compared to some of these people georgetown around the trump crowd right now. he looks like a grownup. he looks like a guy who has had

a regular life. he's had regular big-time decisions. he's not a bad guy at all. i wonder how does he stand there and put up with that guff from the president. >> what i want to say is you are right he is a normal guy. but he is standing behind a president who is not normal. now, i've served with five presidents, three republicans, starting with ronald reagan, two democrats. i have never seen a president give cover to hate groups. and, therefore, if you are standing there. those are the very moments that you need to be we heard. but again, eventually, he said something. good. but i will tell you, those are those moments when you're tested as a human being and the way i am looking at it is, right now, i could talk to you about this forever. i'm acting to go after the politicians who are sitting silently by and i am volunteering my -- >> wait a minute.

tell me how people can contact you. here's your chance. >> barbaraboxer.com. we're taking on these guys sitting there, rolling their eyes and giving cover to donald trump. he doesn't deserve the cover. >> can i quickly say part of the reason he's coming on saying this, is republicans are about to come back to d.c. they're about to start talking about tax reform and healthcare, they will be pivoting in a way remarkable for most people. they will be successful and there are people in the administration, especially people of color and jewish people very bothered by this, gary cohn is still reporting donald trump, essentially. >> important stuff. thank you, senator barbara boxer.com. up next, hurricane harvey is a category-w4 winds of 140 miles per hour. the reality is very tough, in texas, heading towards new orleans. how is the administration

prepared to deal with this? the terrible things with katrina? let's see how the president handles this one. we will talk to new orleans mayor mitch landrieu in a moment. this is "hardball" where the action is. thanks for loading, sweetie. ...oh, burnt-on gravy? ...gotta rinse that. nope. no way. nada. really? dish issues? throw it all in. new cascade platinum powers through... even burnt-on gravy. nice. cascade.

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four weeks without the car. okay, yup. good night. with accident forgiveness your rates won't go up just because of an accident. switching to allstate is worth it. >> welcome back to "hardball." well anyway hurricane harvey is a category 4 expected to hit texas, major winds, historic rail catastrophic flooding.

nbc gabe gutierrez is in corpus tristy. there you are. oh my god, take over, sir. >> reporter: hello, there, chris, it's intensifying in the last hour or so, the wind and rain, pounding this area, corpus christi and surrounding area more than 30,000 homes and businesses are already without power. the governor has declared states of emergency in 30 counties here in texas. earlier today, we're in an evacuation zone, one evacuation center alone, seven people got on buses headed from corpus christi to san antonio. they expect a long night. the local police say they are taking emergency calls that are life-threatening over the next few hours. we will go inside, it's a short time t. worst of it is expected overnight after 8:00. landfall is expected near corpus christi right around midnight or 1:00. breaking news, in the last two

minutes. hurricane harvey is now a category 4 storm, sustained winds up to 31 miles an hour. >> on site reporting. take care of yourself. i see you leaning against the wind. this is president trump's first major national disaster. as the washington post points out, storms like this can define presidencies. well said. homelands security adviser was asked about the president's leadership skills, today in his white house briefing, let's watch him in action. >> this is right up president trump's ali. when we go in and brief him on the preparations for this hurricane. he is acutely focused on the right thing, by the way the american people in the storm's path have what they need. his questions weren't about the geopolitical issues, these questions were about are you doing what it takes to help the people affected be i this storm. >> well the president left early this afternoon for camp david,

where he is monitoring the storm, i am told. we are joined by mayor rich land of new orleans. mayor, it's great to have you. your city has been through terrible times with katrina and the chi'enup afterwards and the rebuilding. that's been so successful. what are your feelings, what do you see coming now in the next hours and days? >> wow, what itself so refreshing is next tuesday is the anniversary of katrina, so we feel this. first of all our thoughts and prayers go out to our fellow americans in texas. this is a very big arc dangerous storm. as the national weather service said, it will have catastrophic effects not just from wind, primarily from the flood and the rain. i think it will be hard on them. our thoughts and prayers go out to them. then we're not sure what's going to happen after this storm hits land. it could back up into the golf. we're not sure right now. >> the images are sure, afterwards i was look at cleanup

and the mess, with this coast guard recover contractor hovering over the water's edge with putting down ropes, bringing people up by basket. it was so dangerous, are we going to see something leak that again? that horrific sight of helicopters hovering over buildings? >> it's hard to know. one of the things we remind people katrina was a flooding event. every storm brings something different. if this is a rain event. the wind event the consequences can be different. i can say this, our emergency preparedness in this country is far better than it was, fema has been doing a great job. they have been in touch with our governor. we have been in xhun indication with them. they have been in communication with texas. they are leaning forward. this is a major event. sometimes the events can overwhelm you quickly. hopefully they are poised and ready to go. it will be a tough consequence we will see unfold in the next couple hours?

compare the new fema director brock lane with michael brown, who was the arabian horse race expert that w put in there. >> you know mike brown wasn't appropriate for that particular office, but since then, through david paulson and of course fred fugate and barack and a whole bunch of other people, fema and the state go saps have done a much better job of being prepared. i seen barack with our governor, the bottom line is there can't be politics in storm recovery or storm response. our guys are professional now. we are all in communication. it matters, it is a matter of life safety. it requires citizens to assist as well. we are hoping, in texas and louisiana we are preparing for whatever might come out of that. after two or three days, we don't know what will happen. the best this inc. to do is to be prepared for the worst and hope for the best in you know,

politics is a lot about public spirit. the job of the leader to keep people up. keep the moral up. what is the feeling there? you went through so much with katrina, the dirty water the smell, the bed, the health conditions that led to the lost housing, the 9th ward. i think this whole country felt when you guys went through that. another hammering? >> it's always hard, this particular week for us is always a difficult time and you know we have to be as ready as we possibly can. it wouldn't be accurate to say we're not earn canned about i. again, we have to prepare. a different kind of event, potential flooding concerns, especially because of these rain bands that the national weather service continues to talk about. pumping capacity. you have to be ready. you have to be prepared. have you to have a plan. there's got to be good command and control. so far there is a lot leaning forward going on. let me say this, a hurricane, a

category 4 is a big, big storm. it can be very dangerous and harm. . again, we hope for the best for our friends in texas. hopefully as this thing either backs up or dies, it will do it quicker rather than slower and sooner rather than later. >> major, great to have you out here. you are a freight man to be covering this, leading your city through it. >> up next, breaking news, special counsel bob mueller's russian probe. more coming up next. they are getting serious now. are you watching "hardball."

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it's hands-on training actually turning valves, turning systems off, looking at different wire systems all that training is crucial to keeping our community safe and our firefighters safe. together, we're building a better california. welcome back to "hardball." we are back with tonight's major story, it's the russian investigation again, it's getting serous, special counsel bob mueller is looking into whether michael flynn obtained a role in obtaining e-mails from russian hackers. the statement nbc news reported

is mueller is now issuing subpoenas to former pr associates of guess who, paul panafort. >> that the investigation is beginning to compel witness testimony through subpoenas before the grand jury. let's bring in the roundtable physical johnson, axios, michelle alvarez, politics day atlantic. brian murphy washington correspondent from mcclatchey. let's go from your end, brian, this, you know, sometimes you think trump is paranoid, i don't think he's paranoid at all about this. i think he has reason to fear. he is up against six lawyers in the country. he has pab mueller loaded for bear. he is systematic. he's done his due diligence, he's going to the subpoenas, weaponizing his power. he is commanding testimony before a grand jury. let's start with manafort. what does he got? >> it's the one thing trump gets upset about. >> wouldn't you? prosecutoring coming at you? >> it seems to be the one thing you recall tom till liss after

the mueller bill was introduced, according to robert, he called bob corker he heart of the conversation with mitch mcconnell? dan coates, james comey. he calls everybody, pleads, please, pleads, quash this investigation. >> he's not happy the senate is not doing enough. it seems to be the one thing that animates him in these conversations. >> we go right through this. it seems to me now the subpoena is being, it's going to leak. i know grand juries aren't supposed to. it will leak and you will find out what he's got. he has to present it. >> the other noble thing about this is this investigation is not going away, today demonstrates that at its fullest. this is coming at a important time. we are going into september, debt ceiling, tax reform trump is about to start, going around the country to talk about his tax plan. so even the timing of this, at this point and like you said, we're probably going to hear more about this in the coming days. it's notable. it's something that we might

hear from trump over twitter. >> so what do you think the biggest story this administration will be looking at now this stuff priscilla was talking about that may never happen or russian investigation? >> i think that's the biggest story there is. >> there used to be stories every friday. they will come out every time. it's like pulling the threads on a sweater that's loose. >> you know why we go live every night. at 6:30 we hear from you guys. in the old days they were late at night. now it's online right away. >> you go find one person, that person you learn a up can him things, follow those threads, follow that person, subpoena the pr people. >> what is he going to get out of manafor in the. >> oh, wow, who knows? he's at the center of that doing the deals with the ukrainians involved with all these relationships at the center of this web. that's why the fbi is raising it. >> brian, what started? have you figured out the chicken or the egg question, did the

russians secretly bring trump? ? in my experience, they find something you want. all of a sudden they're running the show. you thought you were running the show. it's the russians always running the show. >> it seems everybody has a connection. when you think they brought in this man paul manafort to run the campaign. >> he's the russian's guy. >> carter page. >> russian guy, carter stone? mike flynn, every single person seems to have had a connection to russia. >> that can't be an accident. >> priscilla, can that be an accident? is this serendipity, trump keeps bumping into russian-connected people? >> i think the way the campaign was operated during the election, he is surrounding himself around people that ends up having connections to russia. people comment and say i know a guy, he can help with x, y, z, that's how we mount all of this information we know right now. >> what i know with the russians, they have an american,

in the old days in politics, that guy is the guy they use, gorbachev would have dwayne andrews, they're american. in this case their american is manafort. their american becomes michael flynn. >> that's exactly the question to figure out. is manafort a man that happens to be in the middle. is there that connection, that collusion that sets all of these dice falling. >> he made 17 million bucks, that's a lot of money in moscow, i would say he is driven by that just guessing. >> the other thing is manafort, we were talking about the meeting with donald trump, jr., right, we were talking how they had that meeting in 2016. so he definitely keeps coming up. >> why do you think when trump found out about these connection, he'd say i don't want entanglements with the ole guards, i have too much confusion, i don't want a relationship with russia. or, positively, will somebody find out the stuff the russians have on hillary, give it to me?

he wanted to deal with the russians? >> i think he wanted to win, dirt on hillary clinton was a path on dirt forward he was fine with that. he dealt with russians in his back businesses. >> exactly right. the prism of a guy who is a real estate developer. you want to talk, let's talk. why not. >> the three will tell us what i don't know. we'll be right back. this is "hardball." i don't miss much... definitely not the traffic. excuse me, doctor... the genomic data came in. thank you. you can do that kind of analysis? yeah, watson. i can quickly analyze millions of clinical and scientific reports to help you tailor treatment options for the patient's genomic profile. you can do that? even way out here? yes. even way out here.

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harvey a hurricane now is bearing down on texas. >> there you are, is it going to go higher? what? where are we at here? >> it certainly feels, we are i. there are four of us with a ton of gear and this car is almost rocking like a boat. these winds are h sbns intensifying as harvey makes closer to landfall, which is around 1:00 a.m. now, a category 4, that means winds could be between 130 and 160. storm surges between 6 and 12 feet. folks here are definitely not out on the roads. there are no visible people anywhere. the downtown looks like a ghost town. but as you can outside, the conditions definitely strentenned from the last time we spoke and continue to intensify as the storm makes landfall. the bad news is that once it makes landfall, there's a lot more to come. this storm is going to stall and

linger and hang over texas for the next three or four days and the rainfall and significant flooding is going to be b a problem after that. right now, we're seeing massive power outages. thousands without power here. our hotel being one of the places without power. so, these folks are going to be in this situation for some time. especially as the flooding starts to really set in tomorrow. >> thank you so much, down in corpus christi, texas. we'll be right back. that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪

we're back with the rant. nick, tell me someone i don't know. >> it could be a bigger deal than the government shutdown. i wouldn't say that normally, but after the president's tweets, mcb konl and ryan. >> what is this going to mean about us paying our bills? >> that's the big thing. >> what screws the dollar? >> debt limit. it's where i caught my friends. worse than the financial crisis. >> today, the republican

national committee met in nashville for their summer gathering and they voted on a resolution condemning white supremacists, so we have call ued -- >> is that a tough call? >> we had called 146 states gop chairs and committee members to talk about, to ask them do you agree with trump's response to charlottesville. we were met with silence. only seven were critical. today, they approved a resolution. >> progressives were smart, they'd stick on that issue. the statute is going to be a fight. the nazi one is a winner. big surprise. go ahead, you're next. >> i attended a town hall in north carolina. patrick henry the contawhip is the trump he sees behind the scenes. does have a grasp of policy, of -- zpl what you see on television is president of the united states. >> he had to convince his constituents that's not the real trump. >> you know, this is -- so many

politicians. that's not their job. they got to be out there. doesn't do them any good to say he's not that bad in person. he's president. nick johnson, thank you. priscilla and brian. when we return, trump watch. you won't like it. please come back. ronoh really?g's going on at schwab. thank you clients? well jd power did just rank them highest in investor satisfaction with full service brokerage firms... again. and online equity trades are only $4.95... i mean you can't have low cost and be full service.

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trump watch, the special counsel probing the trump russian connection is gaining speed. you heard it here tonight after

weeks of prep work and due diligence, the special counsel's operation has reached the point now of compelling evidence under oath before a grand jury, the power of subpoena is being weaponized. mueller's looking into two areas. nbc news is report iing that mueller issued grand jury subpoenas to pr executives who poworked for paul manafort. this is the first news we've gotten that the essential counsel is beginning to compel witness testimony before the dwrand jury. mueller's looking at something else. whether michael flynn had a hand in asking the ruggssians to deliver dirt on hillary clinton. did he ask them to provide them with the former secretary of state's e-mails. if so, he was asking a foreign government to make a campaign contribution u for the trump campaign, which is against the law. you can't deliver opposition research, so the team is making serious progress, approach wg a

growing power of evidence. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. stay with msnbc tonight for continuing coverage of hurricane harvey. all in with chris hayes starts now. tonight on all in. >> russia is fake news. >> mueller ramping up his investigation seeking grand jury testimony from colleagues of paul manafort and new questions about michael flynn. >> if i did a tenth of what she did, i would be in jail. zwl then the latest on hurricane harvey. >> this is right up president trump's alley. >> how the president is dealing with his first national emergency. >> plus, more fallout. >> two of the very fine people protesting with the neo nazis. >> cabinet members compelled to explain why they won't quit! gary's committed to be here and couldn't be more excited about that.