subconsciously maybe deep down he feels his own appeal is fake and he can't believe he made hit the far. >> hey, i'm president. hey, i'm president! can you believe it? >> can you? that does it for me. thanks for watching "the beat." i'll see you back here tomorrow night 6:00 p.m. eastern. "hardball with chris mathews" hard starts now. whistle-blower. let's play "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington where we just heard a stung revelation about the president of the united states. the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, one of the body's top leaders has just declared the white house an adult day-care center. an adult day-care center. senator bob corker of tennessee said the president treats his office like a reality show. and he acts like he is doing "the apprentice" or something. senator corker warned that the president's aggressive rhetoric

against other countries could set the nation on the path to world war iii. he also said "i know for a fact that every single day at the white house it's a situation of trying to contain him." he said of the president of the united states, he concerns me. he would have to concern anyone who cares about our country. senator corker last week by the way told reporters it was senior advisers secretary of state rex tillerson, secretary of defense james mattis, chief of staff john kelly who were separating our country from chaos. president trump tried to undermine this senior legislator in his usual fashion today. on twitter he wrote senator bob corker begged me to endorse him for reelection in tennessee and didn't have the guts to run. and the president also said he wanted to be secretary of state. i said no thanks there is no evidence any of those words from the president are true. corker has denied it all. shortly after that tweet storm big, the way, senator corker responded it's a shame the white house has become an adult day-care center. somebody obviously missed their shift this morning. for more on this stark

rezzelation, heidi pryzba. >> i think corker is someone who knows what's going on, chris, in those situation room meeting where trump is having these responses to very serious issues, very iran, north korea. and he, like everyone else who is in that room is struggling between what do i do to inform the public about this very concerning behavior balancing that against knowing when you do inform the public, it only reinforces the behavior and increases the odds that he is going to go into one of these cycles of unpredictable lashing out which only makes the situation even worse and possibly even more dangerous when it comes to our foreign policy. >> and we're talking about the president of the united states, the chief executive, the leader of our country. and he is being describe as someone in a day-care center.

>> it's a serious situation. look, bob corker said what other officials have said in green rooms and private conversations. they say among themselves what aides will tell you. you know, that this is -- this is not a stable, sober man who happens to now be president of the united states. with that awesome responsibility and with that awesome power. and this notion that he describes so well of officials having to contain him, as if he were the sort of erratic unpredictable force with that kind of power. this is a serious thing. >> i want to know what you think about this. i read your column for tomorrow you. can't give it a way yet. no. >> but there is certainly sort of obvious necessities tomorrow. what do you do when you have this information? i closed the show with it tonight. >> what do we do? >> says the guy's not really there says he is not really a grown-up. what do you to be it? ignore it or act on it? and how can you act on it?

>> look, you talk to people. what do we do? well, you know, you don't sit around and wait for him to be impeached. because i don't think that's going to happen. i think that's certainly a long shot. it would have to be not a smoking gun, but a smoking bazooka i think for that to happen. people asked me about the 25th amendment, which would let the vice president and the cabinet relieve the president of his duties. i think that's a fail-safe mechanism in case he literally starts howling at the moon, right? but what you can do -- look we have a congress. we have separation of powers. we have a congress that can investigate, that can exercise oversight, that has the power of the purse, that can advise and consent. and those are the things that congress needs to do. >> you're talking, gene, and you're a serious guy, you're talking about the president being put in a straitjacket, basically. >> yeah, i am. i am.

i mean, i'm talking about limits being established. and congress, as the constitution not only allows, but one could argue as the constitution intended for congress to be strong. i think congress has to take a different role. >> let's take a look at this. senator corker suggests he was saying what other republicans are thinking. as you said in private, he told "the new york times," look, except for a few people, the vast majority of our caucus understands what we're dealing with here. i love the way he said this. what we're dealing with here. of course they understand the volatility that we're dealing with and the tremendous amount of work that it takes by people around the president to keep him in the middle of the road. ken, this -- this is talk. this is almost clinical discussion of the president of the united states by a senior senator. >> yeah, i think that's right. i think he is calling out some of these other senators, republican senators, maybe republican members of congress, other party leaders to kind of put their money where their mouth. it's true. as gene says, they do say this privately. we've all heard it.

but why aren't they saying it publicly? this is a little bit of a nudge in that direction. additionally, i think, it also gives coverage for additional republicans to peel off and defect when it comes to some of the key legislative items. >> they've been doing that. >> they're already doing that, you're right. but as mitch mcconnell earlier today responding to this when asked about it in kentucky, his response was to point out repeatedly that bob corker is on the budget committee. that he is on the foreign relation. the chairman of the foreign relations committee. these are two committees that are key to president trump's already flailing agenda. >> he didn't say a word against what corker said. >> that's right. he essentially affirmed it. >> i'm sorry to hold you up, heidi, because i know you're ready to go. is an astounding conversation. mitch mcconnell backed his colleague today. let's watch him do it. >> well, senator corker is a valued member of the republican congress of the senate, a key player on the budget. we're going to be turning to the budget next week. and he'll be a big help in

helping us get it passed. >> see, that's how you talk if you're a senator. you avoid making a comment. he said he is a really important member of the senate. he didn't say the president wasn't daffy. he didn't say the president was daffy. he just this guy, we need him here. >> neither did anybody else. corker professed to speak for the entire senate. >> he said most of the caucus. >> the most important thing here -- >> by the way, they didn't speak up now that they didn't agree with him. who is saying no, that's not true. i don't hear it. >> corker had a lot to say in this article. but the most important thing he had to say, again, because he knows is that he is telling us when the president sends out these tweets saying there is no path for diplomacy, rex, don't waste your time, this is not some kind of genius madman strategy there is not a method here. he is telling us, he is telling us this is just madness there is not a method there is not any broader strategy. >> just watching this, trying to watch the headlines go past, like we all do.

some more in depth than the others. i'm looking at the headlines. the headlines say to me, okay, he made a deal with chuck and nancy about daca. next we know he didn't make a deal with chuck and nancy, although he did over chinese. all of the sudden you've got to do the wall too. that's crazy talk. then he says oh we have a deal with the iranians over the nuclear deal. oh, no, we don't. what can you trust from this guy in terms of sanity? can you trust in terms you just had a conversation with him. does it mean anything? >> it's impulsive. >> yes. >> that's probably part of what motivated corker to speak out the way he did. he had had these conversations. >> throwing the toys out of the bassinet. >> corker is also calling him a liar here. that's what prompted him. trump is saying corker begged for his endorsement. corker said no, that's not right. in fact we had four conversations in which trump was asking me to run for reelection, promising his endorsement. that didn't happen. >> more cryptic threats from the president this weekend about north korea, and that's dangerous. on saturday, president trump tweeted "presidents and their administrations have been talking to north korea for 25 years.

agreements made and massive amounts of money paid hasn't worked. agreements violated before the ink was dried. making fools of u.s. negotiators. sorry, but only one thing will work." what does that mean if she added our country has been unsuccessfully dealing with nork for 25 years giving billions of dollars and getting nothing. he was also asked about his relationship with secretary of state rex tillerson. here is what he said. >> we have a very good relationship. we disagree on a couple of things. sometimes i'd like him to be a little bit tougher. but other than, that we have a very good relationship. >> what he s he talking about, his dog rex? i'm sorry. it's weird. he student shouldn't be talk his secretary of state like he is a third party. >> no, the whole thing is weird. remember what heidi just said. from the corker interview that corker made clear. this is not a strategy. this is not good cop/bad cop. this is good cop, psycho cop or something. this is not -- this is not a strategy. this is not practical. >> here is the dangerous part, the real part.

north korea. >> yeah. >> nick kristof and "the new york times" just got back. an amazing bit of reporting, not opinion. and he describes the situation in north korea which is right at the edge of war. those people want the go to war. they think they can survive a nuclear war. they can destroy our country, this is how deluded they are. they believe that because they've been taught to believe it. if that country is really ready for war and trump keeps up this donald trump beat, where do we end up? how do we avoid a war? >> somebody going for a first strike. and they are not far from having the technology to do just that. and this administration is very aware of that. and that's why when someone like corker comes out and tells us no, this is not just some genius strategy to get china to crack down or to get all these other neighboring countries to cut off trade to pressure north korea. no. this is just the president deliberately undermining diplomacy, deliberately undermining his secretary of state. that should send a chill up the spine of every american. >> and when he says only one

thing will work? what's that say to the crazy guys over there? >> well, it says we should do it first, basically. he is talking about attacking us and we should do it first. that's what it says. and i think we should all keep in mind how does he start these tweet storms? often he is sitting there, you know, early in the morning watching "fox & friends" and they say something. >> that's exactly it. >> you can time the tweets and the attacks based on what he has just seen on "fox & friends." that's not a sane way to run a country. >> even if there were some strategy here on the north korea points specifically, it's not working. obviously it's not if we're escalating and getting to this point of, you know, approaching what appears to be a point of no return, no matter whether he was intending to play the sort of madman strategy from nixon or good cop/bad cop, it's not working. >> and here we are nine months in, and we have more than three years to go. and you raise the final point here, which you will raise in your column, i believe.

it will be in "the washington post" and around the country tomorrow, which is what next do normal people do. >> what do normal people do? and, you know, my theory is that the one body we should be able to count on to do something to at least contain this is congress. and if the republican-led house and senate won't do it, then clearly what people ought to do is work to elect the congress that will. >> make a congress make a decision to save the country. thank you, gene robinson, heidi pryzba. ken vogel, thank you. i would recommend everybody take a look at what senator bob corker said today. take a look at it hard. i have never read such a revelation. this is like john dean going back to nixon. this is a real whistle blow from a serious member of the united states senate. coming up, vice president mike pence walked out of an nfl game yesterday in indianapolis after players took a knee during the national anthem.

some are calling it a pr stunt and a waste of taxpayer money. but trump apparently thinks it's a winner for his base because he told him to do it. that's ahead. plus new reporting tonight on the russia investigation. google by the way says russia bought ads to help win the 2016 election for trump. just what trump wanted from james comey before he sacked him. and why don't more republicans speak out against trump the way senator corker did? that's the big question for tomorrow. one reason could be that steve bannon threatens to primary them if they do. the "hardball" roundtable will take that up. finally let me finish tonight with trump watch. it will be interesting tonight. he won't like this at all. this is "hardball," where the action is. listen up, heart disease. you too, unnecessary er visits. and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies, and data without insights. and fragmented care, stop getting in the way of patient recovery

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appreciation. so much work. trump's tweet was accompanied by a video highlighting the relief efforts that opened with the caption "what the fake news media will not show you in puerto rico." the president also sat down for an interview with mike huckabee in which he defended throwing paper towels to survivors. let's listen. >> we did a great job, and we weren't treated fairly by the media. because we really did a good job. one example, they had these beautiful soft towels, very good towels. and i came in. and there was a crowd of a lot of people. and they were screaming and they were loving everything. and i was having fun. they were having fun. they said throw them to me, throw them to me, mr. president. and so i'm doing. so the next day they said oh, it was so disrespectful to the people. it was just a made-up thing. and also, when they had -- when i walked in, the cheering was incredible. >> mr. president, don't squeeze the harm is minute. we'll be right back. than our name suggests. we're an organic tea company.

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welcome back to "hardball." vice president mike pence went to indiana yesterday where he came from purportedly to watch the colts play football, but didn't stay for the game. guess what? the vice president tweeted his attendance of the game just before noon on sunday. that's in indianapolis. kickoff between his hometown colts and the great san francisco 49ers was set for 1:00. by 1:08, that's 1:08, eight minutes later, the vice president was already on his way out of the stadium, leaving the stadium after some players knelt, there they are during the national anthem. he explained his decision on social media, writing i left today's colts game because president donald j. trump and i will not dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our flag or our national anthem. i stand with president trump. i stand with our soldiers, and i will always stand for our flag and our national anthem. this was no surprise to the traveling press corps. they were told to stay in their vans because the veep might leave the game early. so this was all premeditated. by 2:08 pence was on his way out

of the area on his way to an event in california. i asked vice president pence to leave the stadium if any players kneeled disrespecting our country. i'm proud of him and second lady karen. as you just heard, drew some criticism. and in pence's home newspaper, pence's walkout was choreographed and rehearsed. it also was a distraction for what should be this administration's true priorities. for more i'm joined by the author of the column for the indianapolis star, tim switz. >> it was rehearsed, as you just said, chris. the press corps was told to stay in the vance, don't go in the stadium. the vice president will be right back. that's exactly what happened. the san francisco 49 verse been staging this type of a protest for a long time now, sunday after sunday. so it was no surprise that some players took a knee during the anthem. and the vice president came to

indianapolis yesterday. the game plan was to walk out. >> let me ask you what you mean politically. you know, i wrote that piece for your paper. thanks for rung it, about how bobby kennedy looking at probably the most divisive moment in american modern history, the assassination of martin luther king, and he even in that night to begin the healing process. and that is -- what is this? it's not healing. it's just ripping the scab? is that what the vice president was doing? >> this is appealing to donald trump's base. i've heard from readers all over the country today, as you might imagine, who are very supportive of what the vice president did. they said over and over again what i heard is the vice president did what i wished i could do at an nfl game. i stood up -- he stood up and walked out for me. so whatever we may think of it, it was political stunt. but it was a stunt that appealed to the president's base. >> he flew from vegas all the way to indianapolis with the purported intention of going to a football game, which is nice to do. it's a nice way of supporting

your home team and the nfl and everything. but obviously he told the traveling press corps before he left the van, stay in the van because i'll be back in few minutes. that's the message he sent to the press corps. trump put out the world that he told him to do this. so all this was premeditated we're looking at one of these airport flight maps from vegas, northeast, goes all the way back to indianapolis almost on the east coast. and all the way back across the country, all that gas so he could walk out in eight minutes. >> a vice presidential visit to any city, including indianapolis takes a lot of logistics. there is a lot of security at the airport. a lot of security at the stadium. a large public event like that where the vice president is due to be there is extra security, as there should be. we want our leaders protected in a dangerous world. but then to just plan on walking out and walking out in a matter of minutes sort of undercuts and undermines the hard work that so many people did to protect the vice president.

>> well, it's great to have you on, tim, from "the indianapolis star." i'm joined by kareem jean-pierre for moveon.org and eric beach, a co-chair. eric, give us your thoughts and feelings about this subject. take your time. >> well, i look at it on the other side as well there hasn't been this much disrespect, there has never been this much disrespect from any vp from john adams to joe biden. that's where we are today. you have to hold the other side accountable as well. yes, everyone knew, the nfl knew. san francisco 49ers knew that vice president pence was coming to the indianapolis colts game. and the 0-5 san francisco 49ers decided to still kneel and protest. and i still asked the question is why kneel in protest? what is that getting and what is that accomplishing? and i think the vice president did, as your earlier guest said, what every american would do. in that situation or want to do in that situation would be to walk out. this is -- the flag doesn't represent a certain base of americans.

it represents all americans. it doesn't just represent the military. it doesn't just represent the police officers. it represents everyone that wakes up every single day, that gets up and works for a living and tries to take care of their families. that's what the flag represents and i think that's what you're seeing near this great debate. >> thank goods than the first amendment allows us to dissent when we feel that something is not going right in this country. that's what the freedom of speech. and thank goodness that that still exist. but here is the thing, chris there is the hypocrisy that is so -- just so reeks here. if mike pence truly cared about patriotism, he work noorns who attacked a p.o.w., senator john mccain. he works for a man who attacked a gold star family. and he works for a man who refuses to grow into the office of the presidency. you want to talk about patriotism, talk than. we never saw a statement about that. and let's not forget, saturday night you had white supremacists with lit torches screaming,

chanting "you cannot replace, we will not be replaced". >> where was this? thinking was in charlottesville. and that happened just this saturday night again. we didn't hear a statement. in charlottesville this saturday night. >> wow. what do you make of that? what do you make that karine is representing a point of view that people are not happy with the way the president has behaved towards the flag himself? >> sure. you protest. you're right. you a first amendment. but as americans we also have a first amendment right. nobody else's rights are more important than any other american. and we have a right to get up and walk out of a game. we have a right to say that we believe something might be either anti-american or not democratic. and so we look at things through a certain prism. but again, the flag is something unites us, doesn't divide us. we're talking about the presidency and the vice presiden presidency. and over 240 years, we haven't treated it as such in that office. i understand protests. i understand that there is a way of doing things and that gets

accomplished, and everybody has a voice in this country. but what we can't do is disrespect the flag. because that is a symbol that unites us all and should be respect. >> eric, if you live in a country which is majority black, overwhelmingly black, and you were a minority, you were white. and you felt the police department, which was heavily black was beating your guys up all the time. what would would you do? how would you respond to that feeling, if you thought they were being totally disrespectful to your community, in fact physically dangerous to your community, what would you do about it? how would you reflect thatpoint point of view? >> it's a great question. >> no, it's not. a it's a simple question. >> it's a great and simple we. but colin kaepernick has done. i admire his approach. >> would you try to protest against this? >> absolutely. but i wouldn't generalize that to all americans. and if i thought there was a mishap, a crime, or a great offense in this country, i wouldn't generalize that to all americans. i think that's what the mistake in this debate. when you talk about the flag, you're generalizing all americans. that's not something i think i

would do in any situation to protest. >> that's the argument. >> here is the thing. i don't think eric will ever understand what it's like for people of color, for black people to feel oppressed, to go through institutional racism every day. so i think that is a hard question for you to answer because you just wouldn't understand that. but here is the thing. this is not just about us protesting. >> got to help him understand it. that's what we're doing here. i'm sorry. one of the players that kneeled, eric reid didn't believe the vice president's actions were spontaneous, nor did he believe the vice president understood the message. let him talk and then back with you. >> he knew we were probably going do it again. this is what a systemic person looks like. a man with power comes to the game, tweets a coupe of things out and leaves the game with an attempt to thwart our efforts. this is not about the military. this is not about the flag. my mother served in the armed forces. three of my uncles served in the armed forces. my mom would have gone to the

persian gulf war had she not been pregnant with me. have i the utmost respect for the military, the anthem and the flag. i would say every time you interview me. this is about systemic oppression that has been rampant in this the country for decades. >> yeah. this is america's number one sin, that people do not want to talk about. and this is why this conversation is so important, because we are talking about it. unfortunately, you have the president and the vice president that's trying to coopt and turn it into something else. >> that's a strong point. eric a do, you think we should be talking about it? do you think there should be some way of raising the issue? certainly the players take agony is one way to raise it. do you think there is a problem with police handling in the black community? do you think there is a problem of profile, et cetera, et cetera. do you think it's there or made up? what do you think? >> no, dling is a lot of issues in this country. that is an issue in african american. i'm from right outside of baltimore city. soy understand a little bit of the problems. i can't empathize. but what i do empathize with as an american, and there are a lot of issues that we face, and there a lot of issues that we

need to overcome. we're not a perfect country. and what we need to do is make sure that we do protest and exercise our freedom of speech. at the same time we got to do it in a more appropriate form. we should not generalize it against all americans. and i believe that's what is happening in the nfl. and i believe that's what you're seeing. >> okay. i like this discussion. i think it's a good one. i think you're both good people to come on and talk about it. as always, thank you to him as well. >> congrats on the book. i look forward to it. >> thank you for that. and thank you for coming on and showing the courage of a good discussion. >> thank you. >> up next, new reporting that president trump's legal team wants something -- still trying to get this guy to shut down the investigation. he is not going to do it. they want mueller. they couldn't get the fbi director to do it. they fired him. now they want to get an exoneration from mueller. good luck. this is "hardball," where the action is. but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do? drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement™,

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i'm elisa rehberger. whipped by powerful winds. at least 15 major fires are burning in eight counties. the so-called tubbs fire grew from 200 acres to more than 25,000. the governor has declared a state of emergency, mobilizing the national guard to join the thousands of firefighters on the front lines. at least three people have died, and more than 100 have been injured. at least 1500 homes and businesses are already destroyed. another fire also ranging in southern california is prompting evacuations. back to "hardball."

and did you ask am i under investigation? >> i actually asked him, yes. i said if it's possible, would you let me know, am i under investigation? he said you are not under investigation. >> but he's -- he's given sworn testimony that there is an ongoing investigation into the trump campaign and possible collusion with the russian government. >> right. >> you were the centerpiece of the trump campaign. so was he being truthful when he said you're not under investigation? >> i know that i'm not under investigation, me, personally. i'm not talking about campaigns. i'm not talking about anything else. i'm not under investigation. >> well, that was a few months ago. welcome back to "hardball" that is the president talking in may in his conversation with former fbi director james comey regarding the investigation. he is talking about his conversation with him. now trump's legal team may be hoping special counsel robert mule worry do something that the former fbi director wouldn't do, publicly exonerate the president. the "new york times" reports the

president's lawyers are now cooperating in the hope that mr. mueller declare in the coming months that mr. trump is not a target of the russian inquiry, adding that the team is hoping to shift the burden to mr. mueller to move quickly to wrap up an investigation that has consumed the trump administration's first year. mueller's team has been scrutinizing kremlin-linked ads purchased on facebook as part of the russian influence campaign in last year's election. and today "the washington post" reports that the search engine google has found that tens of thousands of dollars were spent on ads by russian agents who aimed to spread disinformation across google's many products which include youtube. i'm joined by michael schmidt from "the new york times" and msnbc contributor. let's move on to the google thing because it's one more platform they're using. what is that trump lawyers are trying to get done? this guy ty cobb, it's called a modified limited hangout. we'll give them enough stuff so they feel like we're feeding the beast and maybe they won't get too hungry and come after us. what kind of child psychology is that? >> they feel like they have no

choice here. they feel if they fight mueller, mueller is going get whatever documents he wants, and trump has told them he did nothing wrong. they have embraced that. they take that as face value. they embraced that and said we have nothing to hide here. we're not going to be able to hide anything from mueller. let's get to it him as quick liz li quickly as possible. >> what made trump change his mind? >> we know trump going after mueller, questioning him. they were digging up dirt on mueller, the guys working for mueller, their histories. since ty cobb has come on that, has been far more muted. cobb has tried to strike a better tone with mueller. they have met with him several times. they're trying to give to it him in the hopes that mueller look at all this stuff and say okay, there is nothing here, clear. they know the cloud this has put over -- >> here is the problem. how do you talk logically to trump and his sense of credibility? he lied forever that president obama was illegal, he snuck into the country. he was some kind of important

2078. and he stuck with that as if it was truth. then he wouldn't release his tax returns. as of this moment i don't believe he has released them. why do his lawyer thinks he is forthcoming, he is going to be honest about anything? trump isn't honest about anything. >> look, that's a question for them. a lot of lawyers say it's sometimes the attorney doesn't know everything about what the client knows. the client is -- >> ty cobb release his tax returns? he said we're going to be forthcoming. we're going play ball. >> what do his tax returns have to do with the mueller investigation? what do they have to could with the mueller investigation? >> let me read the mandate of the special counsel. any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation. anything they come across that causes them to question his business dealings in russia, his business dealings generally is part of the mandate of this investigation. it didn't just russia. it's everything. >> if he ties it -- if mueller starts looking at trump's business stuff, which trump says is a red line and mueller says okay, to understand your businesses, i need to look at your take, sure hi, can go and

get his taxes. he doesn't need trump to give him the taxes. he can get the taxes on his own. it's not about ty cobb saying you ucan have them. ty cobb could offer them to mueller and say here have, them. but what the white house does say is we did a story a few weeks ago about the requests that came in. and said look, these are all about russia. that's within the four corners of this document. >> right shirks not going outside this. he is not looking at -- >> one thing we're learning is we lean on you guys at times and the "washington post" as well because you keep digging up more stuff. this latest thing on google. it looks like the russians have used every means to try to screw up our elections. we heard about facebook and now we know they used every social media that we know about. now we find out they're using google. they were spending money on why. would anybody want to shut down an investigation that is dig up new information every day? why would the special counsel say enough already? wait a minute, every day i'm in open business here, i'm learning new stuff. they didn't know about google. they didn't know about facebook months ago when they started. why not keep going and find

wrought the bottom line is here, where the thing ends? i'm serious. why would anybody stop an investigation that is so productive? >> this is where congress actually can come in and actually a real impact. because if there is no real criminality, like there is americans that were doing this. it was just russia that is doing this, that is not something that mueller can really unpack. mueller is concentrating on the criminality. the hill can get to the bottom of this. they can actually explain to american public what happened here, come up with ways that maybe they could stop this if it did happen, stop it from happening again. that's a real opening for hill because the hill doesn't have the tools that mueller has to look at the criminal side. >> mueller's got a lot of prosecutions working whether with michael flynn or with paul manafort and a bunch of other people. and every one of them is facing long time in prison as far as i can see. and i think they'll talk. and eventually they'll talk about all their conversations with trump. >> but the question is what do they have to give sup? what does manafort have to give up? >> why they had all the meetings

at trump tower. why they're meeting at the republican convention. why all these meetings throughout, why all this russian connection. those people don't hang out with russian. do you? no. we don't hang out with russians they do. thank you, michael schmidt of "the new york times." bob corker termed the white house an adult care center with you know who as a ward of the state there when are his fellow republicans going to get critical of the president? it could be they're scared of steve bannon who is already out there threatening to primary anyone who threatens this president. he is the enforcer and that is "hardball."

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law, all the instruments to try to destroy judge moore and his family, your day of reckoning is coming. >> well, your day of reckoning. is this a cartoon? welcome back to "hardball." while president trump is fighting a war on two fronts right now with senator bob corker, questioning his temp temperament and steve bannon on the other side vowing to back charges for every republican that run next year. he'll support only candidates that agree to two conditions. they will vote against mcconnell as majority leader, and they will vote to end the senator's ability to block legislation by filibustering. and only senator ted cruz of texas is face. bannon plans to go after jeff flake, nevada's dean heller, nebraska's deb fisher, utah's orrin hatch and john barrasso with erik prince considering a run against barrasso in wyoming. banner has encouraged trump to

push back against gop senators they consider unreliable, including corker. let's bring in jennifer jacobs, white house reporter from bloomberg news and a writer of the article i just mentioned on bannon. ashley park sorry white house reporter for "washington post" at msnbc. for "the new york times" and also an msnbc contributor. so we have two things going on here, reporters. they're interesting. one is you have bannon doing his attack on the frontier. i'm going to take everybody out on the right. i'm going replace it with my peeps. big purge. then you've got corker going wild with this john dean revelation, like this guy is mad, and everybody knows it. how does it work together if you're a u.s. senator, jennifer? >> what i know has some people in the white house worried and some trump allies outside of the white house is how this spat affects the trump agenda, things like tax reform. does it alienate republicans in the senate enough that they just start working around the president? does this really hurt his tax reform plan?

do they just start going around him? and it's more than a two-part war. it's like an omni front war. it's like the president going after anyone he feels has slighted him or disrespected him. so he attacks republicans. he attacks democrats. then he works with republicans and works with democrats. and he puts them against each other. one republican in the trump administration told me today it's like a bipolar bps approach. he called it a bipolar partisan approach. and i know there are people in the white house and without that are just worried about how this approach starts wearing down republicans who are supposed to be his ally. >> groucho marx saying i'll fight any man in the house for a dollar. it's like he is fighting everybody, the presidency, well, it's a war on two fronts. or as jennifer said, basically a war with his entire party right now in theory. i do think you're going see two things. one is he is sort of returning to that populist gut instinct. i think he was little shaken by the alabama senate primary loss. he backed someone who didn't win. and i think that's why you're

seeing some of this more fiery rhetoric, the immigration hard line principles. but this is also when you're feuding with your party, this is how you get things. and granted, with edon't visit right in this moment. but trump flirting with the democrats. this is someone who wants to deal. >> he flirted but he didn't date even. a metaphorist. i'll make a deal with you on daca. all we want is a little more enforcement of the border. now it's back to i want the whole wall again which is a deal breaker. schumer is not going to back a wall. >> the president may say something that great and fine. but until he actually does it, nothing matters. >> yeah. >> i think corker is a big problem for president trump, mainly because thing are two things going on. one you, have you have someone who is a free wielding agent. is not running for reelection but can hold up all sorts of legislation on the hill. the republicans cannot affair to have many renegade senators saying what they want. the other thing that is happening here, i think corker is showing that the senate punches back there was the idea that bannon was going to go after all the senators and

essentially they work for the president. and corker is basically telling the white house i will trash you in the media like you trash us. and by the way, there are other people who very silent right now. while the senate is in session right now, the fact that you don't have any republicans who are saying that's unacceptable, i can't believe he is going after our president tells me there are people off the record kind of chatting about the president and we've been saying that for a while. most people even when you talk to republicans that are actually serving in congress, or their aides on the record they're telling you oh, we really have to support this president. off the record, they're rolling their eyes and saying this man is completely -- he is completely someone that we can't control and he is confusing and we don't really trust what he is sa says. >> who is saying the opposite? who is not saying what you just said? >> i think a couple of trump loyalists maybe. >> put up his hand and say i disagree with bob corker, this guy is basically clie lying, dplieg a bassinet somewhere. and mitch mcconnell cosms out and says he is a very important senator whom.

in the world is going to cut a deal with trump now? we're trying to deal with the iranians, he is trying to destroy is that. he cut a deal with the democratic leadership with daca. he a has obviously kissed that off. how can you deal with him? who trusts him at this point. >> i asked some republicans today if they can trust the president. they said we always had a certain level of trust with him but not a complete trust all along. one thing i heard a lot from republicans today is that they wish he would focus. he is so all over the map. and that is a very frequent complaint. it's everything from iran. it's immigration. it was talking about space. it was talking about north korea. the nfl kneeling, taxes. they just wish he would just focus on one thing. and the one thing i heard the most today was tax reform. they wish he would narrow down on that. >> it seems like, ashley, just looking at the public record that he is tweeting is a rant. he is always mad at one person. remember how mad he was at sessions? i'm going get rid of that guy. and then get rid of this guy, tillerson. every day there is a guy he is mad at or a woman, i guess.

and he is mad at them. that's who he seems to be focused on. >> it's twofold. >> this is insane. he is president. >> he defines himself as a counterpuncher, which means he can't let any slight go. that's why you often see him in opposition with just one person. and he -- also his tweets especially, his immediate thoughts and what he can't control. this is a president who if he is angry, he is going to show that, often in 140 characters. >> i heard that from the white house today, the idea that bob corker started this. not trying to say like a 7th grader he started it. >> a troublemaker. >> they're just being factual. corker is the one who started insulting the president. >> republicans are saying they want the president to focus. anybody who has been watching donald trump for the last two years knows that's not going to happen. really, i think a lot of republicans are melting down because they're seeing their legislative agenda and they're wondering whether or not it's going to be able to go through. >> the man doesn't like the calm. the roundtable staying with us.

all three will give me scoops for tomorrow. you can ual talk about all day tomorrow in a couple of minutes. "hardball," where the action is. tomorrow in a couple of minutes. "hardball," where the action is. tomorrow in a couple of minutes. "hardball," where the action is.

we now have that audio from "the new york times" interview with senator bob corker. here it is. >> if he heads towards world war iii with the comments that he is making. and it's like he is -- that bothers me. just was not -- i know that he

necessarily a warmonger. i don't believe war monger in any way. but watch his performances. you know, it's very much feels to me like he think s ths that president is a rattle television show. >> he is in a reality television show. we'll be right back right after this. ...isn't it time to let the real you shine through? maybe it's time for otezla (apremilast). otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,... ...with reduced redness,... ...thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and the otezla prescribing information has... ...no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. tell your doctor if these occur. otezla is associated with an increased... ...risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have... ...a history of depression... ...or suicidal thoughts,... ...or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla...

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now that we have your attention... capri sun has four updated drinks. now with only the good stuff. do you know how to use those? nope. get those kids some new capri sun! we're back with the huard bawl roundtable. jennifer, tell me something i don't know. >> one very close trump ally called me today and said remember columbus day weekend. he predicted this will be the weekend that we all remember as the one where trump cemented a legacy of getting nothing done. that this was a point of no return. >> wow. ashley? >> we're reaching the point in general kelly's tenure where we're starting to hear rumbles of who might replace him as chief of staff. to be clear this doesn't mean a, he is going to be quit or be fired imminently. >> they're talking successor. >> i talked to nancy pelosi

today for 20 minutes. she hinted that democrats might be tying immigration to the december funding bill, which means that we might be risking a government shutdown if democrats don't get what they want for protections for daca recipients. >> whoa! everything together. jennifer jacobs, thank you. ashley parker and yamiche. everything in the big stew. when we return, let me finish with trump watch. he won't like it. you will. we'll be right back. magic...is pretty amazing. it can transform a frog into a prince. but it can't transform your business. for that you need dell technologies.

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trump watch. monday, october 9th, 2017.

following the first presidential debate of 1984 after president reagan had shown himself lost and confused, trailing off on a center that had no apparent point, the leader of the republican state senate told "the wall street journal" that this is the president we see every day in the white house. for donald trump, the inside report on him is far worse. the witness giving it to us far more damning. bob corker, the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee today describes the white house as an adult day-care center where the president treats his office like a reality show in a way that could lead us to world war iii. quote, i know for a fact that every single day at the white house, the leading senator goes on, it's a situation of trying to contain him. contain him. the president of the united states. contain him. finally senator corker says, he concerns me. he would have to concern anyone that cares about our nation. what does a conscious american think of this declaration? does he take it to heart or ignore it? it's one or the other. either senator bob corker is

incapable of recognizing reality, or he is the first top level political figure in this country to do just that. he said other u.s. senators can see just as he does how hard it is for people around donald trump to keep him from going off the rails. i'll stop there. what more is this there to say? the gentleman from tennessee has now said it all. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. tonight on "all in" -- >> after a race is over, people realize they never really knew the person. >> a republican senator rings a nuclear alarm over donald trump. >> he doesn't realize that, you know, that we could be heading towards world war iii with the kind of comments that he's making. >> tonight senator corker's stark warning over president trump. his claim that nearly all of his republican colleagues agree, and why what happens next is so important. then the president deploys th