proclaimed branding expert president has taken two big steps this week to cementing his own brand as a wrecking ball. in back to back announcements the president today desert if ied the iron deal. that is not the same as ripping the deal up as he promised to do as a candidate. he did put in motion a process that could very el have the same effect. and on hl-- here is the preside on health care this afternoon. >> what would be nice if the democratic leaders could come over to the white house to negotiate for everybody. they're like obstructionists. if they came over, maybe we could make a deal. >> and another big announcement

today, here he is on the iran deal. i'm announced too that we cannot and will not make this certification. we will not continue down a path whose predictable conclusion is more violence and terror and the very real threat of iran's nuclear break out. i cam working to address the many serious flaws so the iranian regime can never threaten the world with nuclear weapons. joe biden said that just last week, secretary matdis testified to congress it is in the national security interests of the united states to remain in the deal.

the president did not present a case to contradict that assessment because he can't. he is playing politics at the safety of every single american citizen. let's get to our guests. kacie hunt, ashley parker, and susan glasser. let me start with you ash will on this idea as the president as determined to tear down everything that balm was foras he is o mosted to eithpposed to that he unravelled today. >> i think what you said about him being a human wrecking ball is impaexactly right.

he doesn't have many legislative achievements to point to, but he is determined to give the base what they want. and he has been successful on that on the regulatory front and this week certainly. he is ideologically opposed to president obama and his policies. >> i think ashley put her finger on the precise compass that the president uses to make decisions. it was hothly contested, and i wonder from you, if all of the resistance, if even the resistance from within the president's national security team and staff to what he did

today comes from a fear of what this president will do and whether or not that is worse than even things less than perfect but already in place. >> i think you did put your finger on it right now. it's a significant moment in the trump administration. the president for the first time made a major decision other the direct advice and council over his top advisors. that includes rex tillerson. i think it is a potentially key moment and breaking point between the president and his advisors. bob corker warned about the president putting us on the path going towards world war 3. the two issues that were clearly on his mind were the iran deal and the crisis with north korea. and jim mattis said was because

of the escalation in north korea. consequences are piling up. we don't know what it will lead to, but president trump shows he is a dealmaker not a deal breaker. >> the way the deal was negotiated by the obama team as i understand it they had to certify iran's compliance every 90 days, is that right? >> that's right. >> he didn't tear up the deal, he just didn't approve it this time around. what are the scenarios for what happens next? >> he is sort of broken the deal, but it is not clear in

what way. so right now in fact iran is saying this is a technical matter in the new york press. i'm not going to ask congress to impose new sanctions that would really be the step to blow it up. basically and his team will try to go to the europeans and go back to iran and see if they can renegotiate the deal. you saw rex tillerson coming out earlier saying there is a real opportunity we think we have here. the europeans by the way are coming out and saying we don't see an opportunity here. we're not eager to reopen it. >> i think democrats and republicans on the hill understand that while imperfect, this was the best deal that could be boten. on the other side there was a sense that the jon kerry deal,

with the real nuanced understooding of the u.s. and iranian deal. >> i think those that raised the loudest concerns, and it is probably smarter to keep this framework in place, and there has been a lot of back and forth. assuming the president goes through with what he said today, how can we fix the flaws in the deal and get that through the congress. the congress essentially has three options here. they can put those sanctions

back, and it would only take 50 votes. it's a quirk of how they wrote the original law. they could pass something like what senator cannote eor cotton are talking about. their proposal was if they were a year away the sanctions would be automatically replaced, and they could do nothing. i have to tell you from where i sit, i think that is the most likely of the scenarios. but that is a giant game of chicken with the president of the united states. there are many democrats nervous about the idea of blowing up the entire thing, but there may not be eight of them willing to vote for the other package. they have to have democrats willing to get on board with that. i think there is a private sense that the president is not going

to go through with blowing up the entire iron deal. he just doesn't want to shecert it every 90 days. and you talk about technical matters, they're talking about a law that congress passed to make congress be accountable for the deal. that is what they're focused on here. they are convinced he doesn't want to blow it up, but who knows. >> the elephant in the room is bob corker. the bridge between the last administration and republicans in congress. i sympatthink at the time he th it was the best deal to be pad. i think he understands that today's news is at least halfway decent, and that it is not necessarily good news for

america. how is he going to fit in as the president's harshist critic. now that the iran deal is front and center for president trump. >> i think lerch be watching to see what he does. there was a sense after last week when they got in that back and forth and corker described the white house as an adult day care center that this would be really problematic in congress. and that you don't want to go to war with a senator who has nothing to lose. i think on the iron deal, it doesn't seem like he will do something to simply spite the president. you mentioned the corner and cotton legislation, like he will do what he believes is his best faith effort.

he will be liberated to do what he thinks is best. and someone who feels free to speak his mind on a range of issues now. >> mike feldman is here, strategist at the public participate neither group. and michael allen joining us who served in the george w. bush white house. i'm guessing you are not as alarmed. >> where all of them, trump is taking a calculated risk to give himself more leverage. >> is there anything calculated about what donald trump does? most people suggest there is a good deal of gut. >> i definitely think there is a

good deal of gut. i think they fought him to a draw. >> jim mattis testified last week. that is not a draw, he testified under oath. >> he didn't, he fought them to a draw, he is desecertifying an he is hoping to up the pressure to try to get a better deal. i'm not saying it's not risky or that it will work, but they have a few good months of leverage. >> what has he done to suggest that is a pattern of his presidency. >> one thing. think of one thing. >> one thing is the chinese i think have been conditioned to be more cooperative with north korea. one output. one output. i'm not even ready to concede

that yet. the proof will be in the pudding. what i'm saying is he is trying to get. >> no pudding. >> i'm trying to say he is trying to get leverage here. it is risky, but this is what he is trying to overcome the defects of the deal. there was not any time any place inspections and it didn't make sense to sunset. he didn't rip up the agreement. this was a little nuance from president trump. >> mike feldman, i'm not sure the nuance is something that president trump appreciates in the decision today. i want to know from you, mike feldman, if they say it is imperfect, and they try to have bipartisan hand holding, it seems the questions that corker

has raised about his back of finance, the forging of politics, do you think they can say in a perfect world, i'm for an iran deal that makes them stop acting dangerous and menacing, but that wasn't on the menu. what do you think democrats are willing to do? >> i think they are willing to work with the administration. and they are trying to put increased pressure on eastern, outside of the scope of the current agreement. what you do find, and michael allen has forgotten more about proliferation than i will ever know, i think it is an accommodation he reached. i think they want today rip up

the deal. i think they both accommodated a little bit and they went one-half step. i don't think they know exactly where it is headed. it is a slippery slope and this is not the only nuclear confrontation we're having right now. so why now, why this, and why this way? if there was a record of careful nuanced policy, maybe there is something going on that i don't grasp yet. >> it is very simple. donald trump is motivated by three things. to throw read meat to his base. to undo anything that barack obama did, and to seem like a big tough guy. that's what motivates him. this one is a simple decision. two military minds for the last

30 or 40 years. a man that was negotiating leases, but you know better. >> you know better. >> this is very simple. you have the finds that do this for a living telling you this is why. but you with no knowledge base, no experience, no argument other than the points i made earlier, this is not small time stuff we're talking about. this is the very thing we question when he ran for office, his fitness for office, with the nuclear toys he has, and we're seeing it play out in a very, very scary play. >> let me give you the last word, michael allen, can you respond to the idea that he overroad the council of one of the most revered figured in the united states government, jim

mattis, and as don said, he was negotiating leases before becoming free leader of the world. >> he did not rip up the iran deal. he decertified it. he is trying to cure two things that by the way all national security people more or less agree that we wanted better inspections in the country because they have a history of hiding them in mountains, and they want to limit their ability to do centrifuges. it was a risky move. they will benefit in the short term says listen, the united states and the europeans are not together, but there is method to the madness. >> all right, you get the last word this time. my thanks to everyone for being here. make sure you watch kasie dc.

starting sunday at 7:00 p.m. eastern. she will have a one on one interview with ryan. a former aid to george w. bush writes today it's not his vulgarity, smallness, or ignorance of policy or history that condemn his presidency, it is something else entirely. we'll tell you it is when we come back. also ahead, a rallying cry for nfl players to ban together before the league determines the limits of their free speech. and impeachable offense, a prize winning columnist writes today that if donald trump turns his back on puerto rico, he would be guilty of high crimes. . but every one of those businesses will need legal help

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. >> former bush speech writer says that the real problem has been trump's fundamental infitness for high office it is not his vulgarity and smallness, not his nearly complete ignorance of policy and history that condemns him to learn in the eternal present of his immediate desires.

he has given public permission to raise the most serious questions. is he psychologically and morally equipped. we have been doing campaigns together since the '90s, working for some of the most honorable republicans. and we worked for both of those men, and you have a way of crystallizing the dangers of what they talked about. what he okay buys, and the question about what permanent dangers his presidency could do. >> it's really extraordinary week when you think back and we see what happened. and i think there is three big things that happened this week.

then 100 smaller things that any other time would be a big thing. the senate of the foreign relations committee says openly and publicly that the white house is essentially adult day care. the president of the united states mentally is incapacitated at some level, and how profoundly worried he is about it. this is an office that has immense power. the president of the united states has the power should he choose to exercise it, to extinguish life on this planet. we think about the korean peninsula and the hundreds and thousands of civilians there, it is not a joke, but in the

context of this, tax reform doesn't matter. a form of government programs that doesn't matter. >> repealing obama care. >> we go later this week that we have seen smallness, we have seen the moral after charlottesville, the collapse of his moral authority for all time the time talking about the good nazi that are marching, but now we see a american citizens, our country men dying in puerto rico because of the malfeasance and indpe tins of this administration and the serial dishonesty. the lack of credibility, and it's not for nothing that they call @ first amendment. in a free society, we cannot maintain liberty without the

free of expression, speech, religion. there has never been an american president that has hopely attacked the first amendment the way that donald trump did talking about how disgusting it is. these are attacks that are at a foundational level on some of the most important pillars of american society. we're not a great country because it is an entitlement. it is an inheritance. each generation of americans has a moral obligation to our children and grandchildren to be trustees of the great inheritance that we have been given to pass on a stronger country. the sacrifices made by those that came before us, beggar the imagination, and to see a president so fundamentally unsuited for this line of work.

>> it is startling, right? >> it is shocking. >> let me ask you what you think gets in the way of paul ryan, who is a smart guy, and must see some of what you just described, and the microphones. why can't he -- why isn't there one person among the 16 republican opponents willing to say it might cost me my spot in this race, but i'm going to go down having said what you just said. that he is dangerous. that he doesn't understand what makes us great. why won't paul ryan do that now? saying it may cause my speakership, but i can't keep holding out because i might get a tax reform bill. i mean and i want to carve out ben sass and say he is the rare example, but why don't they see it as part of their jobs to be willing to lose their jobs to

save the country. >> i think a great hero of this country, teddy roosevelt jr., the son of the president, leading the troops ashore on d-day, leading troofs ashore with a kane and a walking stick. where are those leaders today that will put the country first? i think paul ryan is a good man, a good guy, but i think he lives a very shelters and constricted life in what has become a sealed bubble. a chairman of congress, chairman of some of the tax writing committees to speaker of the house. >> it's like he stared at too many barographs. >> he has a restricted view of what is going on and what he is

called to do. we talk about the hacking that took place in the election. it boggles my mind that so many republicans seem incapable of understanding this was not an attack on the democrat party, it was an attack on the united states of america and the election process. if you stand in the american cemetery in normandy france, they are marked by american patriots. we're all in this together. we're one people, one country, and when you see trump's further erosion of trust, trust and institutions, our very system, the cynicism he is injecting into it. the degree to which he is coarsening our culture, endangering the lives of millions of americans with his recklessness and national

security policy, it is quite extraordinary to behold. >> we wanted to spend time alone with you, thank you for your thoughts. when we come back, one of the nfl's most respected players urging fellow players to make sure their not robbed of this moment, we'll go in one of the most divisive debates in sports history. stay with us. the country. later, gary' i have a motorcycle! wonderful. ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. (avo) but you also have a higher risk of heart attack or stroke. non-insulin victoza® lowers a1c, and now reduces cardiovascular risk.

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if you watched thursday night football, you may have noticed they not show the national anthem. joining me is kevin blackstone.

i'm honored by your presence. what do you think the players could be organizing and getting on the same page to respond to? >> i think the nfl is listening, to responses and and investigation from players to find things they want to do to bring attention to the social justice causes. and they're going to hold a meeting in new york scene say sheer what on the table. we would like you to stand for the national anthem. we want you all to stand, so

let's figure out a way to help you in your goals to do things socially to better conditions in your communities. and in exchange you will stand for the anthem. that is what they will try to do, i believe. >> kevin, i don't do pr any more, but if i was advising the players, i would say don't take that deal in is not about a donation to a cause, this is about modern american life. it is my sense they're speaking for the voiceless. is there any chance that the player wills take some telethon to bring attention to social justice reform and start standing because trump told the owners to tell their players to do so? >> well, pro bowl linemen russell okung wrote a piece along those same lines. this woeuld be a move of a

aquiessence. this is about making people uncomfortable. the players in the minority, the players on the roster made people, sponsors, and fans uncomfortable. they talked about how divided the brand is now between republicans, democrats, conserve t ti -- conservatives and progressives. i don't think they should be bought off on this issue. the reason they have the anthem as a platform of protest is oo because in 2009 they decided the wanted the teams on the sidelines for the playing of the national anthem. before that people were in the

tunnel or deeper into the stadium waiting for the okay to come on the field. >> donald trump is destroyer in chief. and our pillars being destroyed. none of it would be happening. it was a handful of guys protesting social injustice. and one of them didn't even have a job. and trump made it about do you love or hate this country? are you black or white? everything he touches he brings problems. because of his anger, hate, and divisi divisiveness. >> i know the nfl will acknowledge privately at least that donald trump made this harder, but they were grappling with this before. i want to understand if you look

at how long it took them to do anything around the issues of domestic violence because of all of the tiptoeing around the privacy and private life issues, it took them almost a whole season to deal with that. it took longer to deal with deflate gate than donald trump's tweets. why are they so afraid of donald trump? >> i would just say that i believe when i look at this as a story, roger goodell went on a ride along with them. they wrote this ten page document, this proposal to have the nfl help them get the word out and to try to help players who are passionate about social justice causes to continue their work in there. and the nfl was talking to them. i believe that something was going to happen at some point

maybe mid october, late october, that would have allow there'd to be some work done this year in this regard. it didn't have anything to do with the national anthem or trump. but i would just say this, that when donald trump said what he said, if you're a player your whole life, you have been made to say if you challenge me i will challenge you right back. this is not necessarily roger goodell punching donald trump in the face. this is 400 players saying you're not going to tell us what to do so we're going to go do in. this story was dieing, as don any said, it was going to be a nonissue. and then donald trump stepped in and it became mayhem. >> i want to give you the last word, the original issue has

been lost in all of this, one of the prices that we paid as a society for donald trump hijacking the nfl is that colin kaepernick's original protest is able racial inequality. can you talk about how the players feel about the fact that not only did he in the view of donny and some others ruin football, but he diverted attention away from something that we all have a stake in improving. >> this is a whack a mole game that donald trump is extremely good at. in terms of the nfl situation, colin kaepernick in 2016 protested about the extrajudicial killing and abuse of black men going unchecked by the judicial system. it has turned into an issue of freedom of speech. freedom to protest. a conversation about the anthem, the flag, and the military's

ownership of that in society. you have a group of men in the nfl that feel their manhood has been challenged. now they're standing up out of a purpose for masculinity for what was said about them and not necessarily about the other issues. in a lot of ways the protests can v come from what he started. >> i hope you will keep coming back and keep me honest. thank you for being with us today. if the president of the united states is locked in an elevator with the president of the u.s. virgin islands, how many people are in the elevator? for 100 yea,

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tweeted the white house cannot keep fema, the military, or first responders in puerto rico forever. it's been three weeks. that's like saying you worked with scaramucci forever. what's your hurry? we still have trooped in germany. we can afford to keep them in puerto rico until long after you've left the white house, maybe even until christmas. >> he is so good, that was seth meyers last night. the president tried a fresh approa approach. saying the wonderful people of puerto rico with their unmatched spirit know how bad things were before the hs. he will always go back to blaming them when asked about funding today. >> you have to watch it, you can't say there was a hurricane and now we will spend x dollars and we also have to do something with all of the money invested,

mostly private. the government will want security, they will have to come for that money, but the people have tremendous spirit. when i was there and i looked at what they have to go through, i can tell their going to make it. >> the fact that late night comedy has taken this up usually means that politics have decided, why cant they keep him on a single footing. >> i suspect it wasn't immediately apparent to them. i can tell from -- >> it's not clear he understood

that the people of the virgin islands were americans either. that's one element, it's the other. it's treating, and i'm not saying it's true, it's a sense that the people of puerto rico are being treated differently than houston texas, for example. >> they are getting much less help. that's a quantitative fact. at the heard of this, as i'm afraid it is at the heart of these things with the president, he feels wronged by the mayor of san juan. the back and forth got under his skin and it has been a political fight at the expense of people who are dieing, getting sick, not going to have electricity for months. it's a human tear crisis down this. if you allow somebody, if he feels wronged or a slight, that

is a huge problem and it goes to temperame temperament. >> and he is not even trying to reign in the things that the president does on twitter. and i think he has probably done the most harm. >> well it is just twitter reveals his character. we get to see his temperament, and with regard to puerto rico, when he is talking about the puerto rican people. these are our country men. weeks after this, who should not be dieing because of the mal e malfeasance and incompetition of the administration. it's remarkable to see the president of the united states talking about american suicides this way and i can't tell you how much weaker it makes us in

the world because if we can't take care of our own, what do you think our allied countries that we have treaty applicati o with on these matters. >> i agree with mike. it started with a little back and forth with the san juan mayor and to think he will risk lives overthat, but it is stunning for me no matter the point of view, you don't get additional points for -- if you do it because your heart tells you it is good to do, so where is any cohesive thought process. what is he that either the human or the logical or political foreperson is -- we have to sneak in a break. keep mulling that brain teaser.

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-- left texas and i left florida and i left louisiana, and i went to puerto rico, and i met with the president of the virgin islands. these are people that are incredible people. they've suffered gravely, and we'll be there. we're going to be there. we have really -- it's not even a question of a choice. we don't even want a choice.

we're going to be there as americans. >> you're the president of the u.s. virgin islands. >> you know -- i don't know. >> oh, my god. speechless. >> what was the word that our secretary of state used? i can't remember. >> from the ridiculous to the sublime. eugene robinson writes in the "washington post" abandoning puerto rico is an impooeachable offense. fails to grab the most fundamental precepts. we leave none of our own on the battlefield. the responsible of the federal government keep fema and other first responders in puerto rico as long as necessary. doing anything else would violate the american compact. if trump really were to turn his back on puerto rico he would be guilty of a high crime and disqualified to continue in office. >> amen. amen.

you know, gene is not given hyperbole. one of the most grounded we have and that makes a lot of sense. end of the day, these are the people he's put in charge of protecting as our president, as our commander in chief, as our leader. to arbitrarily, arbitrarily make a decision, nope, no more food for you. >> i hate to do this to you. one minute. >> i saw a congressman get teared eyed from illinois on television yesterday and making the point you can walk down to the vietnam war memorial and see the hundreds of names of puerto ricans etched into the marble who died fighting in that, in that war. these are american citizens. this is a profound -- again -- moral failure on donald trump's part, and you look at this statement which is contradicted by the previous tweet and the previous statement, which is, this statement, he's all over the map. and the reality is, if this is a

commander of a ballistic missile submarine or an air combat wing or publicly traded, a publicly traded company, he'd be out of there. out of there. his behavior, lack of energy, heavy breathing. he looks like, physically, he's under significant duress. >> steve, he does three things a week -- >> dismissed by any fortune 500 company does three to five thinks a week that would get him fired. >> 100%. sneak in one last break. don't go anywhere. be right back. we need to find the pattern. who does he leave the snowmen for? [ distorted voice ] by the time you read this, [ distorted voice ] i will have built a new snowman. have you seen anything like this? never like this. [ gasp ] the snowman. rated r. in theaters friday, october 20th.

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put the positive energy out, brother. i'm a knicks fan. i feel your pain. next time, you were setting it up. screaming at the tv going, chuck, no, no! >> we knew. here's the beauty of it, donny. the beauty of it. i'm trying to explain to my 10-year-old, you need the pain to enjoy the eventual championship some day. just ask the 109-year-old ic