know a friend and ask them what they like, what their hawks are so nobody becomes sad and stressed. i think it's very important that we choose passion. >> first lady melania trump visiting a detroit area middle school yesterday as part of her campaign to combat cyber bullying. during her lunchtime stop the first lady encouraged students to treat one another with kindness and respect while highlighting that no one eats alone initiative. now according to "new york times," aides say she is aware at the criticism aimed at her bullying prevention efforts, given the president's proclivity for incidents. >> for actually bullying. that's an interesting. if you are going to pick

anything, that's an interesting thing for melania to pick considering, well, i mean, all the insults. he's constantly cyber bullying, really? that's fascinating, you have, remember the beauty queen he said was fat and little bob corker, little marco, he makes fun of people for being small. >> you think that fits the definition of cyber bullying? >> yeah. >> okay. >> i think so and bullying in general and of course telling people maybe not cyber bullying, telling people if they beat up other people, he'll pay for their lawyer things, we have the mika thing. >> oh, my face. >> pleading badly from the face. melania stepped out and actually condemned. >> she attacked me, actually. >> that's a curious thing to be doing. i heard poorly rated "morning joe" speaks badly, crazy my ka,

low iq bleeding badly from the face. i said no! okay, they're all lies, all lies in there. that was a still of all of that, the most incredible thing, he managed to have five whoppers in one of 140 characters. >> yeah, there is an obvious level of hypocrisy in this effort. at the same time,ly say what i've said before to have someone of her status and to have someone with her influence taking on this issue is not a bad thing for the country, but she should certainly speak to her husband about that. >> maybe she should start with patient x, or patient zero, mark halperin, which she sleeps actually with, the worst bully in america. >> i think a lot these days how the historians will write about the trump administration, it's not a huge thing in the scheme of things, but it will be harold for historian toss explain this.

>> actually this is a huge thing in the grand stweep of it. one of the reasons i asked first to start with it, because this is indicative of how shameless everybody is, it's indicative of how much donald trump corrupts everybody that's close to him, it doesn't matter, press spokesmen leave and say i lied for the president, but my job is to lie to the president, telling harvard students, my job, whatever the president wants to hear, my job is to lie for presidents. have you four star general, great men that go out and actually don't even condemn the president's shabby treatment of a gold star wife and i think actually this is something historians will say, all right, well, this really, if you really want to know something that best incapsulates the hypocrisy and how donald trump destroys all

who are close to him, this cyber bullying, or bullying campaign epitomizes it best because he has coarsened all of american culture and actually put bullying in the front of everybody's minds. >> i agree with everything you said, i'm thinking compared to north korea and health care maybe it's not a big deal, if terms of the symbolism and explanation how he relate toss people around him, absolutely. >> absolutely, we were taught in law school in a class, willie, that if you give the jury some bad information on a matter that's small, if they can't believe you on the small things, they can't believe you on the big things and if they're lying about everything, if sarah huckaby sanders lies with impupty every day like sean spicer lied with impunity every day, just like the first lady engages in this shamelessness every day, if you can't believe them on the small things, how can you believe them when he

says, we're going to have to go to war with north korea because they shot down this plane or, you know, just, you know, look at bay of tonkin, it happened before. >> it actually matters. >> remember the first act was to talk about the crowd size, our crowd was bigger, that was our first tip if we didn't have a few before the campaign that this was going to be an administration having no problem standing in front of cameras, tellings things that weren't true from you go in the white house and talking to the media, i was talking how surreal it was when we went there the first weekend, you go to the white house, we have been going to the white house for 20, 25 years, mika for 40 years, but the to the white house, the west wing, they have pictures of the marine, pictures of young girls and boys saluting or playing baseball or doing all of these

things, working class people, beautiful factory line, freight american moments, donald trump had nothing but the crowds that were watching him all over the west when and he just kept pointing to the picture, this guy says more people. so he started lying about something extraordinarily small from day one. he went to the cia and lied about crowd sizes and everything else from day one. again the corrupting influence from day with un. >> and also to your point, mark, not to push back too much, but if you look at melania speaking to children about making a friend and not bullying and then you look at her husband talking about rocketman and actually bullying the what many consider crazy leader of north korea, goeding him, poking him, like this is our foreign policy? it's bullying? >> when you disagrow we something domestically, you

attack them little bob corker, little marco rubio, i mean, you can go through all the lists, he remember his hud secretary, he said that he was like a pedophile. again, melania, interestingly, quiet through all of this except of course when he said that about mika, then she found a way to attack mika. >> it's fine. >> like within 24 hours. >> no, we're good, we're fine, but den go out and claim that you're starting a lullying campaign. again the big take away here, historians will look back on this initiative, they will say, you want to see something that rally incapsulated the hypocrisy of the president trump presidency? this would be a good place to start the first lady going out having the audacity to talk about anti-bullying within she is living with the biggest bullier in the history of the

white house. >> i'm saying, it would be hard for historian to make that sentence understandable for the future generations. >> that's where we're at. that's what's happening to our government actually. so let's start this morning where we are learning more about what happened in thatted thely ambush in niger nearly three weeks ago. three u.s. military officials that have been briefed on the first-hand now tell nbc news that an emerging theory among investigators from the pentagon is that the patrol may have been set up by terrorists. they may have been tipped off inned a vaps about a meeting between the patrol and elders in the veg of tongo, which contains simple people sim ympathetic to local isis affiliate. they're are believed to have held up the patrol. these types of meetings are routine, it's not clear if it was a part of the original patrol or if it had private

approval. yesterday, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general joseph dun ford gave an update on the investigation. >> we owe you more information and the families of fallen more information, that's what the investigation is ziepd to identify. it includes did the mission of u.s. forces change during the operation? did your forces have adequate equipment and training? was there a pre-mention assessment in the area accurate? did u.s. forces become separated during the engagement? specifically sergeant johnson? and why did it take time to find and recover sergeant johnson? >> joining us now, nbc news national security and military reporter who has the lead by line about the emerging theory of what happened and nato supreme commander and the dean of dip plolomacy at tufts university, he is the chief

analyst for nbc news and msmbc, admiral, as you listen to the facts that we know so far what strikes you about this mission? >> well, i think you need to separate the strategic importance of the mission and the tactical failure of the mission, willie, so strategically, the mission in broad strokes makes sense, we're going after the islamic state. it's an important part of the world. niger is north of nigeria, a big partner of the united states, france has a mission next door in mali. strategically it makes sense. we have a tactical failure, a significant one to see the joint chiefs question, question, question, just hurts your heart as a senior military. we've got to get answers quickly, not only for the family, but for the entire u.s. military and for the country. >> so courtney, based on your reporting what are you hearing that went wrong exactly? was this a mission the high

command knew about or is this a one off to go meet with the elders that went terribly wrong? >> it's seeming more and more likely there were actually two separate missions within this mission. wheel they went out on a reconnaissance patrol early in the morning on the 3rd and it continued into october 4th but there was some change, a new treks, we don't know what that was, general dunford was candid about that, that's something they're looking at, whether there was a sex e second offshoot or mention they underto undertook. what we do know they went out to meet with these local leaders, these elders, in this village about their -- they arrived about 10:00 gt greenwich time. they drove a short distance before they came under fire. they were in unarmoured vehicles and attacked with small arms,

ak-47s, so the soldiers, the u.s. soldiers jumped out of their vehicles and began to return fire and as general dunford yesterday, they thought they could handle it. the fire power began to overwhelm them, it seems, they jumped back in their vehicles, drove a short distance down the road again and came under attack again, this time there were technical vehicles. we seen videos of those they are often a toyota peck-up truck with a machine gun or weapon mounted in the back. and this was the point that you know, they started to take terrible fire, also mortars and soon after that they called the in for reenforcement. one new detail that general dunford shared yesterday was within minutes of the initial troops and contact the first time they came under fire, they did get a drone overhead. we now there is some full motion video of the actual incident of the attack. >> speaking ought "meet the

press" on sunday, one of the former voice, senator lindsay frame and chuck schumer were unaware of the u.s. military presence in niger. >> i can say this to the families, they were there to defend america, they were there to prevent another platform to attack america and our allie, we don't know exactly where we are in the world militarily and what we are doing, so john mccain is trying to create a new system to answer the question, why were we there? we will know how many soldiers were there and if somebody gets killed there we won't find out about it in the paper and skwlon mccain and general -- john mccain and general mattis will come up with another program, i hope. john mccain is right to tell the military, there is no limitation on time or gentleman og photography, you got to tell us more. >> i got to ask, as the senate

democratic leader, have you been briefed? >> not yet, i hope to be briefed net year. >> you heard senator graham, he didn't know we had a thousand troops in niger, did you? >> no, i did not. >> is it surprising leading members of congress would not have known about that deployment? >> it is, it is extremely surprising, in colombia, planned colombia, we are all aware of that, that's been going on 30 years. we had 900 troops at absolute peak. >> that is a very aware of it. when i was the u.s. southern command, i went there monthly checking in on them. i'm very surprised a deployment of that size. >> let me ask you, they wouldn't know because the pentagon hit it, they didn't bother to tell them. why wouldn't they know? >> because they don't have staff? >> there are not a regular pattern of deployments over there to the congress, let alone

knowledge and deployments world wide, there needs to be more foot patrol if you will in the congress and there might have been a break down between staff on the hymn and the principles on the hill, boy that seems unlikely to me, in fairness the war on terror is a noble operation, things are moving fast vth 800, 900 troops, that's something you would think our senior political leaders on the hill would be aware of. >> admiral, stay with us. courtney, thank you very much. we'll be following this reporting on this ongoing reporting. thank you for coming on the show this morning president trump's former chief strategist and campaign executive steve bannon took a break from battling senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to tackle a different subject, marine foreign policy, speaking at a think tank forum encountering violent extremism, bannon said president trump had

it worse than any other president and also that it was fought trump's fault. >> what the geniuses in the foreign policy elite, what they left on president trump is essentially the bay of pigs in venezuela the cuban missile crisis in korea and the vietnam war in afghanistan. all at one time. this -- president trump didn't do this, the deplorables that voted for president trump didn't do this this is the geniuses of both political parties, both political parties delivered this upon us. >> i don't think there is anything president trump has done in this administration that makes us look isolationist at all. i think he doesn't want to get into these kind of arrangements like tpp and others where we are just another person at the table, another entity at the table and not something that we know it's in our vital security interest. >> i have never been so distracted with someone speaking as what they were wearing, the

second mama tric-- matrix. here with bannon i got lost halfway through, a jacket, a shirt two, button downs and a spanx. admiral would like to talk about that more. first let's go through liss e his claims. donald trump enher retted the bay of -- inherited the bay of pigs, in afghanistan. and 55,000 died in vietnam and not so in afghanistan for different reasons we're in afghanistan than vietnam. and the cuban missile crisis in north korea, he did enher rinhe absolute mess in north korea. but he's taken a bad situation -- >> he doubled down.

>> peggy noonan said the best strategy against barack obama was he inherited a bad situation and made it worse. i believe that a lot of barack obama supporters and people worked there might respectfully disagree even if i'm wrong on that, you certainly could say that about donald trump in north korea, president obama told donald trump, president trump, what will keep you awake at night will not be health care, it will be north korea, it seems president trump has done everything he's been capable of doing as a president to make that situation worse. how do you assess what steve bannon said and president trump's handling of north korea, am i being too tough on him? >> no, i don't think you are, joe, steve bannon, everything he said was inexplicable. it's an attempt you see in this administration to link a bunch of cars together on the train and run the rail right off the

side of the mountain so let's just kind of put that aside, in terms of north korea, what president trump personally has done and it ties back to that first segment on cyber bullying, it is going to do nothing but enflame the situation, make it worse. >> that doesn't mean we have to sit down and have launch in the school yard with kim jong-un, but it means we got to be measured, cool in our commentary, we got to let our actions speak, we shouldn't descend to the personal. all of that is counter to taking and creating order out of chaos. we have a president who injects chaos out of the system and those around him try and restore order to it. that's a really bad way to run foreign policy in general and it's a very dangerous way to run foreign policy with north korea. >> willie, a good way for foreign policy, steve bannon, a

bad way. >> i don't want to take my eye off the ball. have we ever gotten an explanation for the three 30s? >> somebody said in california, like the sufferf thing, no, no. >> iffian one knows, call in. tweet the show. >> nobody in manhattan beach. >> he likes the layered look t. thing with bannon 1 running the shadow anti-establishment campaign, president trump will have lunch at the senate policy lunch, he will be sitting down with mitch mcconnell, jeff flake, steve bannon has been railing against and said we will primary every one of you except for ted cruz, how do you sit down with these guys you have been destroying. >> bullying. >> threatening their jobs and saying they're the reason why question are where we are, say rets do tax reform. >> yes. >> this is so basic. i just wonder why republicans in

the senate and even in the house don't know the basics of politics, which is, it doesn't matter how powerful somebody is in washington, d.c., if they say they're coming after you, you say you may be more powerful than me, i'm going to stay awake 24 hours a day and i will physical out how to make your life a living hell, i will stay unand hond you and leak stories about you. i will come at you in the prime -- you know what happens when you do that? they call you into the office and they say, let's work together. i know from personal experience that's what what they do. if somebody says somebody is going to unprimary me and invite me to dinner, i would send them a note with two words on them the last being you. >> you figured that out? >> thank you. >> bless you, thank you. however, i'm saying, that's never been anybody's attitude.

they've let them -- they have been reason over, paul ryan has allowed bannon to attack him non-stop and still be associated with the president. few are speaker of the house, if you are the third most powerful person if government, you sa i to the president, hey, here's the deal, buddy, you can be bannon's friends or my friends, you can't be both, mitch mcconnell should say to the president today, hey, mr. president, you can be aligned with steve bannon or me, you can't be alined be both. let me tell you something, i'm sitting at 19% now, what do i have to lose? i'll turn you into a pile of dust. maybe my numbers go up to 21%? maybe they drop to 17. it's a risk i'm willing to take, mr. president. i swear to god. i'm not talking to a camera. this is anybody that knows politics. what do you think tip o'neill

did that to jimmy carter because he didn't like the seats he gave him at the inauguration and tip o'neill wrote about it in his biography. >> you are wright, more publicly, i would say the flipside of what you are saying the president learned in business that you could mess with somebody but then as the next deal comes around, it's a good deal for both sides, they will come back to the table. that's not how it is in mr. clintons from that's having a short memory. >> it works in business, it does not work in politics. every republican know what is he did to bob corker, every one and it impacts how they think about the president sfwr is he scared? >> yes. >> when you say senator bill caddie that the president doesn't lie and speaks if hyperbole and made a complete fool of himself, he did that because he was scared of trump? >> they compartmentalized and said this is what we're going to, do but i'm telling you -- >> mark, have you it backwards, bob corker doesn't have anything to lose at this point.

donald trump has something to lose but where the man with news the lose, if you actually go after a president and you hamary president, i have found, again, or few hammer a powerful speaker, i have found again, if you stay on it, if you stay on it. >> and you believe. >> you are rewarded. you kind of go in and let's bring from the admiral here. >> admiral, help us. >> that fights inside the pentagon are all pure as driven snow, but if somebody is coming after you, leak just give them some management advice, let's say that you were talking to a young captain that says i get this guy that keeps saying he's going to destroy me, crush help, now he's inviting me to lunch there calming me names. >> people said he will use to crush me, what do you do? management 101?

>> management 101 would tell you that you need to be treating everybody equally up the chain of command, down the chain of command and with your peer group, that's not a skill set the president shos shown, what i worry about is geopolitics instead of politic, everything you said is domestic politics and management. think of what is misstep that is to take that into the international realm. beware as you set, joe, of the man who has nothing to lose, that's the corner we are starting to push kim jong-un into, in that corner he has 25 nuclear weapons. yes, i worry about it in washington, politically in management and leadership. i really worry about it in geopolitics as opposed to politics. >> it's chilling. absolutely chilling. >> bob corker has already rolled his eyes at the lunch with the president, today he told one of

our capitol hill reporters, it's nothing more than a photo op. i think he will attend the launch. for some of the senators who are facing potential primaries, few listen to somebody like john thune yesterday, he's saying, yeah, he hasn't been great to us the president, it's not that he doesn't have anything to show for his first year, we don't have anything to show, we made all these promises of repealing and replacing obamacare, we got to have this lunch and get something done, we have elections coming up ourselves, we have to go home to our voters ourselves. >> i would suggest stepping up and closing in, if you are getting nothing done, listen to what the admiral said about the chilling potential out there in the world, people need to close in and speak truth to this president. admiral, thank you so much. >> thank you, admiral. still ahead on "morning joe" the vice chair of the senate intel committee, democrat mark warner and gold star father khizr khan responds to the president and next within it comes to sealing

a deal, you probably don't want your partner to be quote untruth worthy, chronically inconsistent and easily distracted. that's how the washington post describes the president as he places health reform at the feet of the senate. first bill keirein, can you trust him with the forecast. >> trust bill. >> world series forecast. >> the world series, that will be hot, too. i got to show you the tornadoes first that hit areas in south carolina and noor north carolina the ones near spartanburg was the worst. it's amazing when you see the damage that's done. >> that itself same storm system that will spawn severe weather in areas of the northeast. mostly because we have philadelphia and new york city included. all of the state of new jersey and western 'portions of new england. slow moving storms, isolated tornado possible right now have the umbrella, nothing severe yet, let's tike it out for you

t. worst at the airports, philadelphia early, notice d.c., you have cleared oust. once the rain is done in the next hour or two, you are kin i finished, philadelphia and new york, new york city on and off showers and then we should fet those thunderstorms if they're financial to be strongest around the dinner hour or the ride home, that's 5:00 p.m. that's the worst of it there. mika mentioned the world series forecast. look at this today, 101 trees the warmest ever temperature for a start at first pitch of the world series game, 94 degrees, we're expecting first pitch at 5:00 in dodgers stadium at 96. once the sun sets, temperatures will drop quickly it should be extreme hot and high fire danger. you are watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ looking for clear answers for your retirement plan? start here. or here.

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we just heard last block from steve bannon. >> the man with five shirts. >> the man with five thirts shirts. they were all brown except for the black spanx. i'm thinking, if you do that, i will not go brown, brown, brown black spanx, right? make you go. >> brown, brown, blue. >> set it up. here's what you do, you do a white spanx, then you go a blue oxford then a white oxford then your jacket. >> it's mercer.in between each shirt. >> you know what you are putting on vivid display is youric new orleans about garanimals. >> if you match them all up. >> this is bought as an ensemb. >> i'm curious, bannon, do you think the mercers pay him?

does he have a chloeing allowance? he is getting millions and millions of dollars. >> it's a layer, middle layer is there. >> dylan had monday ad on monday. >> this is brown and brown and broken and man bra. ban one said president trump hasn't done anything in this administration that makes the u.s. look isolationist. well, what does the united states and syria now have in common after nicaragua, not in the deal. >> we have that going for us. >> even north korea is in the deal. >> willie, we're special, as our mothers always told us, we're special you have all are winners. >> it's us and the assad regime you have all can wear five shirts today. senator bob corker, a man who towers intellectually over

the president, he dismisses the president's appearances as today's luncheon no more than a photo op. we will talk about that and so much more when "morning joe" returns. america's beverage companies have come together to bring you more ways to help reduce calories from sugar. with more great tasting beverages with less sugar or no sugar at all, smaller portion sizes, clear calorie labels, and signs reminding everyone to think balance before choosing their beverages. we know you care about reducing the sugar in your family's diet, and we're working to support your efforts. more beverage choices. smaller portions. less sugar. balanceus.org.

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o . >> who was that, mika? >> senator bob corker previewing as what he sees more than a photo op when president trump visits capitol hill. >> fair enough. >> the president is there in theory to press policy, but there are new concerns the president is undercutting his would be allies. "new york times" reports a growing fear among republicans and business lobbyists that mr. trump's bully pulpit wins could undermine the party's best chance of sweeping a rewrite of the tax code in decades, for instance the president issued a tweet promising to champ out proposed cha option to 401k accounts, law makers saw a lower cap on pre-tax income to help pay for the $1.5 trillion cut. president trump campaigned as one of the world's greatest deal makers, after nine months of struggling to broker agreements,

lawmakers increasingly considered him an untrust worthy chronically inconsistent and easily distracted negotiator. >> that's stating the obvious. with us now, we have veteran columnist msnbc contributor mark barnacle. >> i like it -- mike barnicle. >> the voice of bellemeade have to be proud of bob corker, a you toering feature intellectually over the president of the united states. >> that is like the bet restaurant in the hospital. no, he's done great. it's a big moment in you are part of the country, tennessee has a long list of moderate servers, the howard baker tradition is fading, it's one sign of how the party's veer

sock far to the right. >> or you could have your first democrat elected in maybe a decade if that i go crazy to the right. mike barnicle, you can speak to this a couple segments ago,ives bemoaning the fact that these republicans are afraid to stand up to donald trump, other than john corker, john mccann, ben sass, three or four have been outspoken when help ensummits them, you talk about about paul ryan the most powerful go i in government, donald trump, steve bannon, can you imagine tip o'neill? >> yeah. >> the president had a lackey that didn't work inside the white house attacking tip o'neill, how tip o'neill would take it out of the president's hide every day whoever that president was, can you imagine how weak and wimpish these republicans have been to allow

donald trump to keep abusing them the response, he's crazy, he can't push back. >> well, i mean, it's an astounding spect cam of cowardice and continuing spectacle of cowardice on behalf of most of the republicans in the senate and in the house, look the president of the united states. >> let's talk about tip o'neal, again, we can talk about tip o'neill, nancy pelosi, we don't have to go back to the '70s and ''80s, go after nancy pelosi if are you a democratic president, she'll take it to you. >> and she has. >> and she has. >> but i mean the sadness of what you are just asking, though, is that's a tie, not that distant in the past, 25, 30 years that seems so remote today given the way politics is conducted today. i mean there is no, there is no back and forth. there is no relationships the way they used to be. tip o'neill would go see ronald

reagan, ronald range would never count, he now it would impact him negatively, his programs. that doesn't happen. >> by the way, what's the cost? bob corker is an exceptional case. john mccain is a different case for his own reasons, for somebody like ben sass, he has he suffered staying true to who he is. he hasn't suffered. for these other senators worried about speaking out within they think it's the right thing to do? why not? >> and the quote is, markal person, that you saw what he said all the time, if you will take vienna, take vienna. >> oh, yes, exactly. >> if you are going to go after trump, go after trump when he deserves it, go big or go home. >> go home. >> ben sass proves every day he's got just as big as an attitude as donald trump does, but he's got respect for other people, he's decent. he treats people with respect. he just doesn't put up with a lot of bs. >> he's popular in his state and

doesn't care if he loses his job. >> he doesn't care, because there are things more important to ben sass tan winning or losing, which reminds me. >> that is not true to every member of congress. >> i remember mark meadows made a comment about bob corker, mark meadows said, well, it's easy to speak out when you are leaving. >> that sounded so foreign to me. no, it's fought. it's easy to speak out all the time if it comes from your heart f. it comes from your conscience, ben sass proves that every day, joe, they hide behind the phrasing and they all employ different phrasing, but this is the first time we will be offered an opportunity to enact a program trying to enact for 20 or 30 years, we have the house the senate the presidency, let's calm down with the way we attack trump, because we want to get taxes done, we want to get this done, we want to get

deregulation done. >> donald trump's erratic behavior gets in the way of health care reform. gets in the way. if are you a republican. if you are a conservative, you built this stuff, passed, how do you get health care reform when he pushes the house to get something which he calls mean spirited three weeks later? he tweets out saying, oh, we will they can this provision out, which is going to be a pay for it. >> it's the equiff plent of what i think pushed corker over the edge, i think senator corker is a good example of what mike is talking about, which is he's somebody who gave donald trump the benefit of the doubt. both last summer and going forward, you know, he was i think president clinton said this president obama said this, maybe it was all pro forma, we have to give am chance. >> gates said it. you got to give this president a chance, these only president we will going to have. >> i just think the undercutting

tillerson in the negotiations that talks about north korea was a huge moment for corker. and there you have a senator who was actually putting the national interests ahead of his own. i think he would have said this even if he were running again. so the president wants a health care tax bill done by thanksgiving, is that possible? we will talk to kasie hunt the host of kasie d.c. ahead on "morning joe."

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even members of the senate leadership are mystified by president trump's positions including majority whip john cornyn of texas. when he was asked for his position on the bipartisan obama deal. he said he's, quote, with the president. when asked to clarify where the president is, he threw his hands

up and disappeared into the senate chamber. >> how can you be with the president when you don't know his position. and they say if it gets on the floor, it would pass. >> it would, but some republicans, i think including the president some of the times feels they didn't get a good enough deal. i think cornyn and the president on both the politics and the policy would like a deal like this. they'd just like it to be a little better for the republican side. >> don't you feel when you talk to specific senators, any senator, almost, but especially republican senators, that they are somewhat mystified, continue to be, by the fact that the president knows only the sparsest details if any of the legislation. >> true. >> he just doesn't know the legislation. >> nobody feels sorry for the united states senators, the polling shows that.

you watch a moment with that like cornyn, where they're trying to they think have a deal with the president, only to be undercut by a tweet and have him say something different another day. their job is not easy right now. especially with this president. >> it's not. it's like lucy and the football, charlie brown tries it again and again, but there's not a huge amount of raw material. >> there's not a lot in washington. >> still ahead the chairman of the joint chiefs releases new information on the attack that killed four special ops troops in niger. several questions remain unanswered. we'll speak with the washington bureau chief. plus mr. kahne is calling on chief john kelly to stop mopping

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[bell rings] so i was at mom and dad's and found this. cd's, baseball cards... your old magic set? and this wrestling ticket... which you still owe me for. seriously? $25 i didn't even want to go. ahhh, your diary. "mom says it is totally natural..." $25 is nothing. abracadabra, bro. the bank of america mobile banking app. the fast, secure and simple way to send money. joe." it is tuesday, october 24th. with us we have senior political analysts for nbc news and msnbc, mark halperin. >> he's great. >> veteran columnist and contributor mike barnicle.

nbc capitol hill correspondent, kasie hunt. we'll need music and a lightning bolt. seriously. what does it take to get a lightning bolt on nsnbc for kasie hunt? >> the opening chords, you could go several different ways, but silence isn't one of them. ♪ >> i like that every time we introduce kasie. >> and elizabeth pew-miller joins us as well. >> elizabeth, do you have a song you'd like us to play when we introduce you? >> i can't think of one, no. my daughter likes flight of the vulkaries -- kidding. >> no definitive answers about what happened three weeks ago in niger.

we're beginning to get a clearer picture of the ambush that killed four american troops. u.s. military officials tell nbc news an emerging theory is the patrol may have been set up by terrorists. they may have been tipped off in advance about a meeting between the patrol and elders in the village that contains people sympathetic to a local isis affiliate. those village members are also believed to have held up the patrol while the ambush assembled. these types of meetings are routine according to officials. however, it's not clear if this meeting was part of the original patrol or if it had prior approval. yesterday chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general joseph dunford gave an extended update on the investigation. >> we owe you more information. more importantly, we owe the families of the fallen more information. that's what the investigation is designed to identify. the questions include did the mission of u.s. forces change

during the operation? did our forces have adequate intelligence, equipment, and training? was there a assessment of the threat accurate in the area? how did u.s. forces become separated during the engagement, specifically sergeant johnson, and why did it take time to find and recover sergeant johnson. >> you covered the pentagon, right, e liz beth? >> i did. >> how unusual is it for there to be 900 american troops in another country and not have the minority leader of the united states senate and one of the most influential republican senators know anything about it? lindsey graham and chuck schumer were completely in the dark about this operation. >> these days it's not unusual at all. the u.s. has 240,000 troops overseas. there are 6,000 u.s. troops alone in africa, across the continent. this has been part of the buildup overseas quietly since

9/11. and what this is, and what -- how the pentagon describes it, these are advise and assist missions, many of them, which the goal is to train local forces, and the idea that was really pushed hard during the obama administration was this was a way to avoid a lot of u.s. troops overseas. they would just help local forces and train them and get them up to speed, and you can see this did not go as planned. >> so, elizabeth, general dunford yesterday gave a pretty brutal and blunt assessment of where they stood in terms of coming up with answers. at the end of the day, at the end of his press availability yesterday, it seems that there are more answers that are still being sought than the questions he raised. for instance, why did it take so long, two hours, before they had air support, and my understanding, at least from

reading the news and listening to general dunford is the air support involved no ordinance. just a flyover. what he said yesterday was it took the troops on the ground waited an hour after initial contact for -- to call in for support, to call in for help. he did not know why it took them an hour. perhaps they felt they could handle it themselves. he speculated about that. perhaps they were not able to. and after that, it took half an hour to an hour for the french mirage just to get there. these are all good questions and the pentagon doesn't have a lot of answers. and there's differing accounts of what happened on the ground. >> yes. >> senator john mccain is further explaining his thoughts about how wrong it was that some avoided military service during the vietnam war by getting doctors notes for bone spurs. many saw it as an overt

reference to president trump who received one of his draft deferments for the condition, bone spurs. >> yeah. that's -- >> some kids, you still have to run track with bone spurs. >> donald trump, obviously, let's go back to that picture of donald trump. obviously, he can carry big balls there. what is that? is that a basketball? >> i'm not sure what's going on there. >> what's going on there? >> he's got bad feet. >> medicine ball. >> these are hard to carry around. he played football during the time too that john mccain was being almost beaten to death, wasn't he? >> yeah. >> football, golf, tennis. amazing what he could do on the bone spurs. >> i think that's -- >> anyway, yesterday john mccain clarified his comments on "the view". >> it still makes me mad when i think that if we are all asked to serve, wonderful.

>> yeah. >> but if some of us are allowed not to because of our income or our position or influence, then that's a disgrace. >> people thought you were talking about mr. trump because he had a doctor's note that said he had bone spurs. >> i think more than once, yes. >> do you consider him a draft dodger? >> i don't so much a draft dodger as so much that i feel the system was so wrong that certain americans could evade their responsibilities to serve the country. >> what's your relationship like with the president? >> almost none. >> kasie hunt, you covered john mccain on the hill every single day. those comments about the draft are heart felt. i think there's a system during the draft in vietnam that favored the wealthy and got them out of the war in many cases.

to the point about the relationship with donald trump, is it ir redeemable at this point, and does it matter to either of them? >> i think if you're john mccain, how do you redeem something that's gone the way it has between himself and president trump? i mean, the president's campaign started off with him questioning mccain's service. and saying oh, i don't like people who get shot down. mccain, of course, it's this week, i believe, that is the 50th anniversary of mccain being shot down over vietnam, and to his comments about the draft, mccain was not exactly an unconnected individual when he went to vietnam. his father was an admiral. he went to the naval academy. he had available to him a lot of the same privileges, and i think it says something about his character that he can now, of course, turn around and say, hey, it's wrong that people like then donald trump years and years before he was president also well connected and wealthy

got all of these deferments, took advantage of that system, where john mccain did not. and john mccain, he is and will, you made reference to this earlier this morning, he clearly is at a point where "the new york times" called it john mccain in "twilight". he is battling cancer. he's grappling with his legacy. what does he want that to be? and in many ways it's startling that the moment in our country politically is one that has put on such sharp display what somebody like mccain brought to public service and when you try to stand that up next to what we're seeing out of the white house, i just think that's quite striking. >> it is so striking, and also kasie stated correctly, mark, that like donald trump, john mccain was connected. in fact, he was more connected than donald trump. john mccain did not have to serve in vietnam.

he could have stayed. he could have stayed state side or gone anywhere he wanted to go. he could have stayed out of the war. as we've said many times on this show. not only did he choose go to war. but once he was there, once he was captured, once he was tortured, once he was beaten to just this side of his death, once he was crippled by the beatings, he could have gone home. >> because of those connections. >> because of those connections. >> yes. >> and he still would not use the connections to go home and stop the beatings that donald trump used so he could play golf and tennis and chase women state side. >> courage versus cowardice. >> i've always thought that's the most extraordinary about his life and how few people would probably have made the choice he made, and how self-effacing he is about it. and he is at this point given

his vote on health care given what he said in the last few days and given where he stands in terms of reelection and his diagnosis, he's a singular person now in the national drama in grappling with donald trump, not just his legislative agenda, but his style of leadership. >> and, you know, joe and mark and everyone, i guess, we in this business should pay much more attention to john mccain now, because he is in the twilight of his life. he's led such a human life filled with vulnerabilities, successes, failures. his father was a commander in chief pacific when john mccain was in the hanoi hilton being tortured. stories are told about his father and his many trips to vietnam walking to the end of the runway at the air base and standing there in the dusk staring north where he knew his

son was being held captive. and you're right, john mccain could have been released early but chose not to. we should pay attention these days to john mccain. >> we should. and obviously john mccain could give as good as he got. a tough guy. nobody is saying right now he's a saint. just saying his decisions are in marked contrast to donald trump, and always has been. and we do wonder on the hill, you've got by our account, you have ben sass and bob corker, and john mccain, susan collins, and lisa murkowski, who at times are all showing independence toward the extremes and the excesses of donald trump. but you do wonder where so many other leaders are. >> and why they're hiding. >> well, we -- we know what they say in private. the senators you mentioned are the ones who come out publicly, but i think bob corker when he

spoke out gave voice to a lot republicans as you know who feel the same way but have not yet decided to speak out. i think we might see more of that as time goes on. there's a great deal of frustration on the hill among republicans about the president. >> president trump will head to capitol hill today for the republican senators' weekly policy luncheon as they seek their first major legislative victory before they are out. senator bob corker told nbc news, he doesn't think anything will come out of today's meeting. >> tomorrow is a photo op. nothing more, nothing less, and i think to read anything more into it would be spending a lot of time on something that shouldn't be spending time on. this is -- it's going to be up and down for the next three years, and people just -- i

mean, that's just the way it's going to be. i don't read anything anymore other than a photo op. you got to remember, tax reform is our agenda. it's the senate's agenda. it's a house agenda. this was something that's been on our agenda long before the president ran for president. to act as if it's his agenda, it's our agenda. you understand? i mean, that's -- tomorrow's a photo op. okay? >> so elizabeth, what are the chances of success for the republicans on tax reform from what you're hearing given the fact that the president is giving away pay fors in early morning tweets? >> that is a great question. people think there will be some kind of a tax cut, not a rewrite of the tax code. the problem they're having is

that they feel trump is an impediment in many ways. they're looking for ways to pay for this tax cut. they floated the idea that they would cut back on the tax duh ductions for 401 ks. trump blew that up yesterday morning and said not going to happen. and what they're very concerned about is they advance the ideas and trump tweets something out, and just completely stirs everything up. and gets them off track. it's been that way for a long time up there. they would like to -- they hope the president doesn't get in the way. but he's the president. he can get in the way. we'll see what he tweets this morning. >> and he's donald trump. he can't help himself from getting in the way. >> this is as bob corker said, a photo op. they like the moments where they'll bring the cameras, bob, you've been tough on me. he'll use the men and women as props. >> people are getting kind of

tired of it. >> kind of like mitch mcconnell. he'll have mcconnell at the white house, and then steve bannon will say that night we have to get rid of mcconnell. i go back to the question, what self-respecting man or woman would put themselves in that position? i would not in a million years. >> these little men. >> there is no job -- >> would you go? >> no. no. i'd tell him if he wants to talk to me he and steve bannon can see me in my office. if not, i'll be holding my own meeting. >> one argument we hear, i'm thinking of john thune a member of the republican leadership who says bob corker can say what he wants. we still want to get something done on tax reform, and we have to show we're constructive partners legislatively with the president. we're going to try to get something done, because as i said earlier, it's not just the first year of president trump's administration where he's not getting much done. it's the first year of this new

congress where they haven't gotten much done, and they need to go home and tell their voters they did something they promised they were going to do during the campaign. >> and that, if anything, is why this feels a little more likely to happen i think right now. we have felt the momentum building for tax reform on capitol hill. but bob corker highlighted the central challenge here. bob corker has never wanted to do a straight tax cut that added money to the deficit. and he was out there saying, look, there's no way we're going to be able to actually get this through. he has, if anything, tempered, his remarks along those lines because all of a sudden you have people like mcconnell and ryan who never before had we heard say yes, we'll add to the deficit in tax reform, suddenly argue with the president and say we'll cut taxes and get 3% growth. that's a complete 180 for a lot of these deficit hawk politicians, anne itd it's in t name of trying to make sure they

don't hemorrhage in 2018. the devil is going to be in the details. they had a broad -- i'm sorry, joe. go ahead. >> you're right. the devil will be in the details. it's a great point about the debt. for young reporters, it's very important for young reporters to note two truths about washington d.c. republicans only care about deficits and debts when the democrats are in the white house. and democrats only care about deficits and debt when republicans are trying to pass tax cuts. there are some people, though, that are concerned about deficits and debt at all times. since we're over 20 trillion and the debt is exploding right now. unemployment is at 4%. this seems like the worst time to pass this sort of tax reform, but let's look at the republicans in the senate and the house. if donald trump had done us all a great favor on january 20th and gone to his hotel in manila,

these republicans would have the power to pass tax reform even without him. it's kind of hard to blame donald trump for not being able to get the votes to pass reform to obamacare, which they promised to do for seven years, and tax reform which they promised to their donors they would do for seven years. >> you need presidential leadership if you're going to do something like tax reform or repealing entitlement. >> why don't they just do it on their own and then give -- because if -- they know whatever they pass, donald trump is going to sign. >> you need presidential leadership. and people around the president wouldn't deny. you can cut entitlements which the president is not interested in doing, and they don't have the political support to do that. or you can try to grow your way out of it. that's a big story of the 90s. and the unity in the republican party is not just tax cuts.

it's about regulatory reform and for some of them infrastructure to try to get higher growth rates. that's what unifies them, more than tax cuts is the notion of more robust economic growth will solve a lot of problems. >> thank you so much. kasie hunt, thank you so much as well. >> we need to have their music next time. both of them. >> next time kasie is on, i want the lightning bolt and the music. >> all right. thank you guys so much. still ahead on "morning joe." russian-state backed news channel has a huge following on youtube. now the relationship is getting a little more scrutiny. we're going to be talking to senator mark warner. also going to ask him how the governor's race is going in virginia. >> that's fascinating. i think gillespie is trailing a little. first as the president takes on a war widow, we'll talk to someone who is too familiar with that gold star father.

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left to his own devices, do you think the president is a threat to national security? >> i think there are people around him that work in an effort to contain him that would be secretary mattis and tillerson and general kelly as chief of staff. >> that almost accepts the premise of the question that he needs to be caontained. >> i think with north korea where we have an unstable leader there, when you send out tweets into the region to raise tensions, when you kneecap, which is what he's done publicly, when you kneecap your secretary of state whose diplomacy you have to depend upon to bring china to the table to do the things that need to be done, back channelling in some cases to north korea, when you

kneecap that effort, you really move our country into a binary choice which could lead to a world war. so yes, i want him to support diplomatic efforts. not embarrass and malign efforts that are underway to try to get some kind of diplomatic solution here, and i think most people would agree with that. >> senator bob corker speaking moments ago on the today show. joining us now, khizr khan. his son was killed by a suicide bomber in iraq in 2004. he's the author of the new book out today, the title is "an american family" a memoir of hope and sacrifice". khizr khan joins us now. thank you for joining us, and thank you for your kind words about my father. >> he was -- my sincere condolences. he was for the last 25 years, my source of light and knowledge

about the world and how to conduct ourselves in the world. god bless his soul, and god bless his family. >> he is so missed right now, especially. looking at your book, i want to talk about that. i want to talk about the current situation between the president of the united states and a widow of a fallen soldier. but first, just tell me about the art that you have put in your book. i think it's so fascinating with your writing on the constitution. >> i have carried the copy of the constitution in my pocket since 2005 after the passing of my son. we tell that story in the back in detail. every time there would be a conversation, i would pull that out, and i would highlight and mark and here is my most favorite part of the constitution. these are dignities enshrined in our document, in our founding

document. amendment 14, section 1, about our dignities, civil liberties that we enjoy, that we cherish which has made us a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. these are the markings that are on both sides. an entire copy is full of these notes, but these are things that have given us so much hope about this country. first in 1972, i read the declaration of independence. every word of it, standing in my dorm room, and i could not stop. i wanted to complete it. my feet were hurting, and i read the entire declaration of independence. i had a dream then in 1972 that maybe one day live the dignities that are enshrined in the

documents. and i use purposefully the words dignities. that's what those are. >> tell us about this past week. has that brought back painful memories for your family? >> i was at union station in washington d.c. checking in, and the counter clerk saw my name, came from the counter and gave me a hug and whispered something in my ear. said mr. khan, be strong. i have lost my son too. it makes a hole in your heart that never fills. you learn to live with it. it is that pain that i feel toward these four most honorable families, and i have two words to say to the white house and to this president. dignity. most dignity and restraint. he's void of both. his advisers should have written

that on a piece of paper, put it in front of him, dignity and restrain. there are moments in this country's life, this nation's life where restraint and dignity is called for. >> can you describe, mr. khan, what the widow of sergeant la david johnson is feeling. i don't just mean the personal pain, but to have the death of someone so loved and close to you become a political story. to have people on the tv debating about the circumstances of the death and whether or not a phone call was made in the right way. describe the way your personal pain becomes so public. >> it's something that can only parents understand. those who have lost a child or a loved one. the rest is all explanation and words. in our experience, and we explain all the stories how we went through that moment that

she's going through at this time, meaning what we were fortunate that we were able to look at captain khan when his body was brought, i was taken to the funeral home. his casualty officer stood in salute and he opened the casket, and i looked at his face. she was deprived of that dignity as well. we all -- we owe tremendous respect, restraint, and dignity to this wonderful lady. my sympathies are with them. my four sons, brave sons died in defending this country in africa. we owe them and their families dignity and privacy. >> you have written an account

of both sacrifice, your own family's and that of the country's but also of hope. what's your message to us in this unstable hour? >> through my story, this really, the book and the story is a vehicle of -- for this message of hope. goodness of this country. the goodness that has made us a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. which i have spoken to 162 communities throughout the nation. our nation is what is concerned about the direction that we are taking. the direction that this administration has put us on. but with that fear comes hope. and that is why we call the book "a memoir of hope". we are hopeful this anomaly is short. because our founding principles and documents will move us

forward in the correct fashion. >> that's the word. anomaly. and that's the word i always go back to when people talk about how this is the beginning of a long, terrible slide by this country. it sounds like you have the faith as well that that document that you've been carrying around with you and marking will withstand donald trump and prove that 50, 100 years from now people will look back at him as an anomaly, a terrible mistake, a mad experiment that went terribly wrong. and that americans forever learn from. an anomaly. >> we celebrated 230 years of our founding document came into existence. amazing hope wherever i have gone, people have said we are survive there. we have survived worst.

we will survive this, and move forward. so i am heartened. i am hopeful, plus my conversation is never complete unless i pay tribute to our four pillars of government. fourth pillar of american democracy, my voice rises. i beg your pardon. but it must be said. this maligning of the press, the fourth pillar of united states, that is trade of authoritarian. i have seen when the newspapers were burned because they spoke badly about the journal, badly about the dictator. these traits maligning of national assemblies, maligning of the peoples representative. look, you draw the -- connect the dots. maligning of the media, because media criticizes the leader and leader shuts the media down.

>> the president clearly doesn't appreciate the pain that you've gone through or the pain that sergeant la david's family is going through. but the chief of staff does, general john kelly who lost his son in afghanistan. what did you make of his appearance in the white house briefing room last week when he described the circumstances of what happens to a fallen hero's body as it travels home. of his criticism of congresswoman wilson, and what do you hope knowing what he knows about your pain and his own, what do you hope he'll tell president trump? >> it should have been done from the get-go, from the very first day, should have told him when he was advising him what to do, how to call, but he's the closest to the president at this moment. he knows the character of president. lack of empathy, lack of decency. should have told him restraint. let it be.

when he came to the press room, he should have refrained himself, making the situation worse, and that was not done, unfortunately. but we are hopeful that enough direction from this wonderful panel had been given to president and to the white house, hopefully they will follow. hopefully they will will be and move in the right direction. >> the book is "an american family a memoir of hope and sacrifi sacrifice". it's out today. and you can read an excerpt on our site. khizr khan, thank you so much for everything that you said. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. ♪

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welcome back. 37 past the hour. that was such a moving segment. the book "an american family". and the author, khizr khan. mike barnicle, you'll have a conversation with him next

monday. >> extraordinary man. >> extraordinary man. >> from pakistan. read the declaration of independence. a great emblem of what america is supposed to be. we're based on the common assent of an idea. >> and also the grasp and the detail of how we govern ourselves. >> the annotated constitution he carries. >> and such a stark contrast from the president of the united states who shows no restraint, no dignity, no respect for everything that this country is based on, and for the sacrifices that so many americans make for this country every day. he really, khizr khan, reminds us of what we're here for.

why we live here. why we love this country. >> and what the country is about. >> and also remind us as these become political fights at the highest level of our politics and debates on cable news, that there is a loss at the center of these. these are family stories. this isn't about who is fighting at the top of our government. it's about the fact that a husband is gone with a six-year-old and a two-year-old and a baby on the way. it's about his aunt losing her son. these are human stories. this is real sacrifice, and when all the cameras go away and the speeches are finished, they go home, and there's an empty chair at their dinner table. this is about real sacrifice. >> i pray he's right that the p tenets will hold us together. still ahead this morning, is the senate intel committee trying to tamp down expectations about the russia probe? we'll ask senator mark warner straight ahead on "morning joe."

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disaster relief bill passed by the house has cleared a key hurdle on the senate side. in a procedural vote senators passed legislation 79-16 setting the stage for a final vote likely taking place later today. it would provide $36.5 billion for relief from recent hurricanes as well as wildfire recovery efforts out west. up to $5 billion of the measure's total could be used to assist puerto rico in the aftermath of hurricane maria. it's been more than a month since that storm tore through the island. only 17% of puerto rico has electricity right now according to fema. >> joining us now the former ceo of national public radio, ken stern. he's out with a new book called republican like me, how i left the liberal bubble and learned to love the right. >> how did you do that? >> tell us about this exercise. you lived in washington?

>> i do. >> you set out to do what? >> so i think like a lot of people concerned with the increasing polarization in the country, how angry people are at the other side, and a lot of it is because we don't know the other side. there was an amazing poll in the washington post in virginia during the last election. an even 50/50 state. they asked clinton voters whether they had any close personal friends or family members voting for trump and asked the same for trump supporters. over 50% of people didn't know anyone from the other side. that's the clause of our clannishne clannishness, our tribalism. if you want to learn, if you want to understand someone, you try to see things from their point of view. i shot pigs in texas, went to nascar races, sat in churches. went to kentucky, sat in working class bars in youngstown and tried to understand things from the other point of view. >> john, you know what because

you've lived in both worlds. you've lived -- >> i've shot a lot of pigs. >> in fact, later on today. >> but there are caricatures of either side. i spent five years of my life between nashville and atlanta and grew up in the north. the caricatures are generally not true. i think it's a good idea as ken as done to get down and mix it up a little bit. >> absolutely. and my only question would be how do you facilitate conversations with you're not writing a book about it? once we talk, there's a sense the spirit of the republican is supposed to be neutral concession. i give up a little bit and vice versa. the tribalism, the clannishness of this, is so endemic that the caricatures, there's oxygen to the fire. how do you institution allize

the project you undertook? >> it's hard. i don't think there's any easy answer to the polarization and tribalism we have. the tribalism of politics has replaced the tribalism of race and religion that really sort of was the tribalism of the past. it's actually sort of clear on the data. i think you have to start with the acknowledgment that we're an incredibly moderate people. it's one of the things i discovered. if you talk to people, look at the data, we are people who tend to gravitate toward the middle, and we've lost that sense and the sense that we have more in common than we think. the book is not about solving the problem. i think it's beyond the scope of a book, but started a conversation, trying to remind people we are a community of americans and we have a lot more in common than we think. >> did you feel like margaret mead or marco polo? >> neither. the thing that surprised me was how easy it was.

i left my nice 93% democratic ward and i never felt like -- i and went to the opposite, and never felt like i really left home. >> you spent a lot of time with people who voted for donald trump? >> i did. >> and from what you gathered, do you feel they elected the president they thought they were going to elect? >> yeah. so, um, it's a very hard question to answer. and in many ways, you know, the astonished thing to me, i didn't come to support trump i think in many ways. he is not the person that the people voted for think he is in any stretch of the imagination. what is astonishing is the strerp strength of the continuing support. his poll numbers haven't changed in six months. the people who voted for him still think of him, because i think they're still mostly voting for him and supporting him because he is against the

people they dislike. >> on your trip through america, you obviously discovered something that i think most people would agree with, that this is a country that lives in the middle. most people live in the middle. and you don't have to go to nascar races. you can go to your neighbor or down the street where you live to find that to be a truth. but what do we do? you mentioned polarization. what do we do about polarization that is fed, nurtured and provoked and promoted at the top of the pyramid by elected officials in the house and the senate who will never, never get off their intent to polarize this country? >> yeah. that's -- that's what i learned. first, i think we've actually lost the sense that we're a moderate country, because you can't -- i can't go down my street in washington d.c. and find someone who thinks differently than me, at least on politics. and i know from the polling, "the washington post" did, washington post does a lot of polling, and they asked

democrats what the words are associated with republican, and they're all negative. we think poorly of the other side. we don't think the other side is moderates anymore. but you're right. i think when you start talking to people and you actually look do you know anybody in favor of abortion. >> i know certainly i know people characterize themselves as pro-choice. >> do you know anybody rooting for abortion. >> that's the particularization. >> if you go to democratic and republican platforms in 2016, they each bragged about how extreme their positions are. they said we're the most pro-life or most pro-choice platform in the history. i said how can that be if americans haven't changed views in 50 years. they've both been taken over by the extremes. that's the fundamental challenge. they win off the extremes. the media wins off the extremes.

>> over the course of this reporting trip, did you change your views on anything. >> yes. >> i was looking through the chapter on guns where you seem to concede there's nothing -- the guns used in aurora and las vegas were lawfully obtained. that's the argument we hear when we hear progressives saying you have to do something. what exactly is the law. did you change your view on guns. >> i started off knowing and believing we all have a confirmation bias. we all take or views from signals from others. how could i be right about everything. that was sort of an open gamut i was going to have. i was going to say i can't be that right and everyone else can't be that wrong. i did change my views on guns. starts with the notion, gun homicide death by this country has gone down more than half. most extraordinary trend in modern american history.

at the same time, the number of guns have gone up. that's clear. we know how to drive down gun murders without gun control. and the question is why are we talking about gun control when there's other things we've been doing for 25 years that have reduced murders in this country by an extraordinary amount. as you say, willie, most of the gun control measures, i'm still fine with them, really aren't something that we're going to have a major affect. we know other things. things like the lever in boston actually can reduce gun homicide by a lot. >> the book is republican like me, how i left the liberal bubble and learned to love the right. you can read an excerpt on our site. go to msnbc.com. ken stern, thank you so much for being on the show this morning. >> thanks ken. >> thank you. some campaign news now looking ahead in 2018 midterms, democrats are making a strong

early charge against house republican incumbents. found there are at least 162 democratic candidates and 82 republican held districts who have raised more than $100,000. that fund raising market is significant because it was met by four times as many democratic candidates then in 2016 or 2014 and over two times as many as the republicans had in the 2010 cycle. when they took control of the house, fear of a democratic waive was also being fuelled by the districts of the 53 house republicans facing competitive races according to the cook politico report. 21 have been out raised by democratic opponents in the recent fund raising quarter. also this, senator bernie sanders confirmed he will run for re-election in vermont senate seat as an independent. >> have you decided yet what you will run as in 2018. >> i am in dpeeependent.

while i caulked with the democrats in the united states senate. that's what i've been doing for a long time. that's what i'll continue to do. >> so you'll run in 2018 as an independent. >> but this marks reversal from what he said in 2018 for the presidential nomination. >> in future election, potential future elections would you also run as a democratic. >> yes. >> for virginia's governor, the day lily beast, won't be endors the democratic candidate ralph northam. defeated in june primary. according to stein, only endorses candidates offered up by local chapters. i don't quite understand that. willie, this is like the most important. isn't this the most important

race. >> yes. we're going to ask senator mark warren about it in a few minutes as well. >> huge race. >> big. >> when does the world series start. >> it starts tonight and it's going to be 99 degrees. first pitch. >> yes. >> with 40-mile-an-hour winds. >> who is going to win. >> dodgers. >> go dodgers. yeah. >> we'll be right back with a lot more "morning joe." ♪ stare with me into the abyss ( ♪ )

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i encourage you to find a new friend and eat lunch with the new friend and know a friend, ask them what they like, what their hobbies are, and so nobody becomes sad, stressed and everybody is included. i think it's very important to be kind and passion. >> first lady melania trump visiting a detroit area middle school yesterday as part of her campaign to combat cyber bullying. during her lunchtime stop, encouraged students to treat one another with kindness and respect while highlighting that no one eats alone initiative. now according to "new york times," aides for the first lady say she is aware of the criticism directed at her bullying prevention efforts given the president's pro

cliffty -- for actually bullying. >> that's interesting. if you're going to pick anything. that's an interesting thing for melania to pick considering well all the insults. he's constantly cyber bullying. it's fascinating. you have remember the beauty queen that he said was fat and little bob corker, little marco, he makes fun of people for being small. >> you think that fits the definition of cyber bullying. >> yes i think so and bullying in general and telling people -- maybe not cyber bullying, but telling people if they beat up other people he'll pay for lawyer's fees. >> we've got the mika thing. bleeding badly from the face. at least melania stepped out and condemned him. wait, no she didn't. she attacked mika, actually. that's a curious, curious thing

to be doing. i hear poorly rated morning joe speaks badly of me. crazy joe. bleeding badly from her face. i said no. of course those are all lies. >> good morning, everybody. >> there were five lies in there. of all of that the most incredible thing willie is he managed to have five whoppers in 140 characters. >> yes. there's obvious level of hypocrisy in this effort. at the same time, i will say what i said before is to have someone of her status and have someone with her influence taking on this issue is not a bad thing. >> maybe for the country. >> but she should certainly sme speak to her husband about this. >> maybe she should start with patient x. which she sleeps with the worst bully in america. >> a lot these days how historians are going to write about the administration. this is not a huge thing in the scheme of things.

it's doing to be hard for historians to explain this. >> this is actually a huge thing in the grand sweep of it. one of the things i asked to start first with it, this is indicative of how shameless everybody is. just how much donald trump corrupts everybody that is close to him. this is indicative. doesn't matter. press spokesman, lead and said i lied for the president. my job is to lie for the president. my job is whatever the president wants to hear, whether it's lying, my job is to lie for presidents. you have four star generals, great men who go out and actually don't even condemn the president's shabby treatment of a gold star wife and i think actually this is something historians will look at and say this really, if you really want to know something that best encapsulates the hypocrisy and

how donald trump destroys all who were close to him, this cyber bullying or bullying campaign really epitomizes it best because he has coursened all of american culture and put bullying in the front of everybody's mind. >> i agree with everything you said. just compared to north korea and health care, it's not as big a deal, but in terms of symbolism and how he relates to people around him, absolutely. >> we will talk in law school in a class willie if you give the jury some bad information on a matter that is small, if they can't believe you on the small things, they can't belief youve on the big things. if they're lying about big things. if sara huckabee sanders lies with impunity every day just like sean spicer lied with impunity every day. just like the first lady engages

in this shamelessness every day. if you can't believe them on the small things, how can you believe him when he says we're going to have to go to war with north korea because they shot down this plane or, you know, just look at bay of tonkin. >> it actually matters. >> remember the 1stact of this presidency to hold the briefing. talking to somebody else in the media this past week and talking about how surreal it was when mika and i went there the first week in. you go in the white house. been going to the white house for 20, 25 years. mika been going for 40 years. they have pictures of marines, pictures of young girls and boys

saluting or playing baseball or doing all of these things, working class beautiful. >> beautiful american moments. >> great american moments. donald trump had nothing, but the crowds that were watching him all over the west wing. and he just kept pointing to the pictures saying this guy says i had more people than -- so he started lying about something extraordinarily small from day one. he went to the cia and lied about crowd sizes and everything from day one. >> in front of the -- again, the corrupting influence from day one. >> also to your point not to push back too much, but if you look at melania speaking to children about making a friend and not bullying, and then you look at her husband talking about rocket man and actually bullying the what many consider crazy leader of north korea, go goading him, poking him.

this is our foreign policy is bullying? >> when you disagree with somebody domestically, little bob corker, little marco rubio. you could go through all the list. remember his hud secretary. he said he was like a pedophile. so again, and melania, interestingly, quiet through all of this, except of course when he said that about mika and then she found a way to attack mika like within 24 hours. no, we're good. we're fine, but don't go out and claim you're starting a bullying campaign. again, the big take away here is historians will look back on this initiative. they will say you want to see something that really encapsulated the hypocrisy of the trump presidency, this would be a good place to start. the first lady actually going out and having the audacity to talk about anti-bullying when

she is living with the biggest bullier in the history of the white house. >> i'm saying it would be hard for a historian to write that sentence and make it understandable for the future generation. >> that's where we're at and that's what's happening to our government, actually. let's start this morning where we're learning more about what happened in that deadly ambush in niger nearly three weeks ago. three u.s. military officials that have been briefed on the incident now tell nbc news that a merging theory among investigators from the pentagon is that the patrol may have been set up by terrorists. they may have been tipped off in advance about a meeting between the patrol and elders in the village. which contains simple people, sympathetic to a local isis affilia affiliate. village members are also believed to have held up the patrol while the ambush assembled. these types of meetings are routine according to officials.

however it's not clear if this was part of the original patrol or if it had prior approval. yesterday joint chief of staff gave an update on the investigation. >> we owe you more information. more importantly, we owe the families of the fallen more information. that's what the investigation is designed to identify. the questions include the mission of u.s. forces change during operation. did our forces have adequate intelligence, equipment and training? was there a premission assessment of the threat of the area accurate? how did us forces become separated during the engagements, specifically sergeant johnson, and why did it take time to find and recover sergeant johnson? >> joining us now, national news and security military reporter, kourtney who was the lead byline in the nbc reporter about the emerging theory of what happened. also former nato commander. now the dean of law and

diplomacy. retired four star navy admiral. security and diplomacy analyst for nbc news and msnbc. good morning to you both. admiral let me start with you. as you listen to the facts we know so far, what strikes you about this mission. >> i think you need to separate the strategic importance of the mission and the tactical failure of the mission, willie. so strategically, the mission in broad strokes makes sense. going after the islamic state. important part of the world. niger is just north of nigeria, big partner of the united states. france has a big mission next door in mali. strategically the mission makes sense. we had a tactical failure. a significant one. to see the chairman of joint chief on question question, question, question. just hurts your heart as a senior military. we have got to get answers quickly. not only for the families, but for the entire u.s. military and for the country. >> so courtney, based on your

reporting, what are you hearing that went wrong exactly? was this a mission that the high command knew about or was this sort of one off to meet with the elder who meet. >> it seemed more likely there were also two separate missions within this mission that while they went out on patrol early in the morning on october 3, and the mission continued into october 4, that there was some change. there was so new direction that they took and we just don't know what that was. general was very candid about that. that's something they're looking at. whether there was a separate offset or subset offshoot mission they undertook. what we do know is that they went out to meet with these local leaders, these elders in this village. they arrived about 10:00 and met with them for about 30 minutes. jumped in their vehicles and drove a very short distance before they came under fire.

they were in unarmored vehicles and they were attacked with small arms, ak-47s. so the soldiers, u.s. soldiers jumped out of vehicles and began to return fire. as general said yesterday, they thought they could handle it. the fire power began to overwhelm them it seems and jumped back in their vehicles. they drove a short distance down the road again and came under attack again. this time there were technical vehicles which is we've seen video of those. they are generally a pickup truck often a toyota pickup truck with a machine gun or some sort of weapon mounted in the back. and this was the point that you know they started to take just terrible fire. also mortar and soon after that they called in for reenforcement. one new detail general shared yesterday was that within minutes of the initial troops in contact, the first time they came under fire, they did get a drone overhead. we know now there's some full motion video of the actual

incident, of the attack. >> courtney, thank you very much. we'll look for your reporting on the story at nbc news.com. admiral james, thank you, as well. >> still ahead on morning joe. we all know president trump loves the optics of good gathering with congressional republican. he's heading over to capitol hill today. rose garden celebration came way too early. it was from mature. >> it was. >> will the same thing happen with tax reform. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. [bell rings] every year we take a girl's trip. remember nashville? kimchi bbq. amazing honky tonk? i can't believe you got us tickets. i did. i didn't pay for anything. you never do. send me what i owe. i got it. i mean, you did find money to buy those boots. are you serious? is that why you don't like them? those boots could make a unicorn cry. yeah, tears of joy. the bank of america mobile banking app.

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would be spending a lot of time on something that shouldn't be spent on. so it's this is going to be up

and down. for the next three years, and, you know, people just i mean this is the way it's going to be. i don't read into it more than a photo. >> senator bob corker proving what he sees as a little more than a photo op when president trump visits capitol hill. >> fare enough. >> the president is fair in theory to press policy. there are new concerns the president is undercutting his would be allies. his "new york times" reported the republicans and business lobbyist that trump's bully bull pit wins could undermine the parties chance to pass the tax code. for instance, the president issued a tweet promising to stamp out any proposed changes to 401(k) retirement accounts, but lawmakers drafting the bill saw promotional lower cap on pretax income as a way to help pay for the $1.5 trillion cut. as "the washington post" puts it, president trump campaigned

as one of the world's greatest deal makers, but after nine months of struggling to broker agreements, lawmakers in both parties increasingly consider him an untrustworthy chronically inconsistent and easily distracted negotiator. >> yes. that's steady. with us legendary columnist, msnbc contributor, mike born -- barnicle. doctor. the boy haves to be proud of bob corker. tower figure intellectually over the president of the united states. >> that's like saying you're the best restaurant in the hospital. no, he's done great. it's a big moment in our part of the country. tradition and moderate conservative senators. it looks increasingly unlikely

that will continue. the howard baker tradition was fading. it's one sign of how the parties veering so far to the right. >> or you could have your first democratic elected in a decade if they go to the right, but barnicle, you can speak as well as anybody, a couple of segments ago i was just saying the fact these republicans are afraid to stand up to donald trump. other bob corker, kaine, you have three or four that have been outspoken. when he starts insulting them. i talked about paul ryan, third powerful guy in government. could you imagine tip o'neill if if the president had a how tip o'neill would take it out on the

president's hide every day, whoever that president was. then can you imagine how weak and wimpish these republicans have been to allow donald trump to keep -- he's crazy, you can't push back. it's continuiing spectacle of cowa cowa cowardice. >> we don't have to go back to the 70s and 80s. go after nancy pelosi if you're a democratic president, she'll take it to you. >> and she has. >> and she has. >> the sadness of what you're just asking though is that's a time not just in the past 25-30 years that seems so remote today, given the way it's conducted today. there's no back and forth.

there's no relationship of the way it used to be. ronald reagan would never count against a republican in the house or senate going against the speaker of the house. he knew it would impact him negatively. his programs. by the way, what's been the cost? obviously bob corker is exceptional case. he's not running again. john mccain is his own case for different reasons. how about ben sass, has he suffered from speaking out when he felt it was appropriate. he hasn't suffered. so for the other senators who are worried about speaking out when they think it's the right thing to do, why not. coming up on morning joe, putin's revenge. also frontline documentary traces the tri s traces the ris ruthless leader. >> they turned the name of a vodka into a documentary.

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what a shot of washington this morning. as the sun comes up there. senator bob corker. may have to make alternative plans. after calling president trump's visit to the policy lunch on capitol hill today just a photo op. comments about the president earlier today as well on the "today" show, president trump is now tweeting about senator corker. just a minute ago he wrote, quote, bob corker who helped president o give us the bad iran ideal and couldn't get elected dogcatcher in tennessee. >> dropped out of the race in tennessee when i refused to endorse him and that was the only negative thing on trump. look at his record. >> we just have to say it. these are lies. he just lies with impunity. talking about the beginning of the show with all the lies. melania going out and all the bullying. bob corker. remember. he lied and said we want to be

secretary. bob corker lied and said i can't be secretary of state. i had a private conversation with bob corker who said i could never be his secretary of state, joe. >> i've seen reports he could get elected dogcatcher. >> he was elected mare of chattanooga, tennessee twice. >> that is the best job. >> great town. >> dogcatcher is pretty good too. >> i have a cousin who does that. you're right. here we are yet again it's just he can't help, but punch back. no matter what, back to mr. khan on the word restraint. >> no restraint. >> no respect. >> if it's not from capitol hill, it's mark warner virginia, senator always great to have you here. i saw some depressing articles yesterday about the ability of the intel committees in the house of the senate to be able to do their job properly on the

investigation. are those misreadings of what's going on behind closed doors in intel committees. >> joe, i can't give you a read on what's happening in the house or senate judiciary committee. i can tell you our committee is moving forward. i think we're the only bipartisan effort. all the members of the committee, we just want to get the facts out to the american public. we've made progress. still have a lot of folks to interview. we also department of homeland security have come out with 21 states with russians attempted to food stamper with. we' next week is a really big week for the company. we have all the social media companies out. already have bipartisan legislation that says let's go ahead and equalize at least transparency so the rules that apply for a political ad that might appear on morning joe, if someone does that same kind of ad on facebook, they have to have that same kind of

transparency. >> the collusion, possible collusion between the trump campaign and russia, is that still part of your investigation or are you guys past that now. >> absolutely. chairman and i made that clear. two weeks ago, we have not closed down any avenue of the investigation. we've got a number of the principal figures that we still haven't had in before the members themselves. for example on the donald trump jr. meeting. we wanted to make sure we saw everyone else that we could that was in that meeting first. we've just about done that. and then we'll start bringing in more of the principals. >> senator warner, it's willie geist. a lot of people were astounded by the other senators saying i didn't know about the troops that were in niger where the four american heros fell a couple of weeks ago. there have been letters from both president obama and trump sent to the senate about troop

levels in niger. there were hearings in march. africa has a twitter handle where it tweets about the american troops. so it's out in the public. did you know about the troops there. >> as the vice chair of the intelligence committee, i recognize that we have next to the middle east, we've got a very large presence of americans in a number of countries in africa trying to combat islamic terrorism, trying to work with partners in those regions. all the senators that i'm aware of, democrats and republicans, without reservation send out condolences to the families of all father of those fallen heros. i do think we need to just generally falls in arms services, but i'm hoping on the intel side as well. we take a step back now and look at the overall true presence across africa, how we're supporting our partners.

in many cases may not be the local african-american pa local africa partners. >> did you know they were in niger. i'm aware of the activity around the continent. i was not aware of this specific mission. >> are you surprised they didn't know we had american lives on the line in that country. >> i can only comment on what i'm aware of as the vice chair of the intelligence committee. i do think there needs to be set backs so at least senate gets a sense of how extensive or ties are in africa. honestly the number of areas around the continent i'm either caught in civil war or where you've got islamic terrorists in effect fighting against countries. not just in iran, but other troops as well. >> how would you handicap the governor's race in virginia

right now. if gillespie wins that race, what will the lesson be for democrats. >> i feel good. a lot of handling in the some of the press. the last weekend the northern campaign, knocked on 212,000 doors. that was more than my campaign did. more than terry mccalls campaign did. if you look at the three data points that happened in virginia this year. democrats turned out about 2-1 over republicans in the good la tory primary. they were small elections. fairfax county. a treasure race. democrats won both of those. i don't underestimate ed gillespie. i was supposed to blow him out and it was a very close race. i'm going to be with ralph today. >> the two-part question here, one part, can you give us a timeline on the intelligence

committee's investigation of the russian influence on the election, when is it going to conclude and two, what can you tell us about today, front page "new york times" apparently the russians had their own special youtube channel we were watching and weren't really aware of it. >> in terms of the investigation, like everybody else, i want this to be done as soon as it can be done once we get all the facts. i think we've interviewed more folks. talked to more folks. i can't comment on mueller, but in terms of the other informations, chairman and i want to do this completely. make sure we get the facts out in a declassified way. not only look at the collusion issue. make sure the russians won't be back. that's in terms the of better state electoral protections and i think some of this minute mum disclosure issues around social media issues.

to start to come clean. they will walk better we took down 50,000 accounts. bragged about that. and i compliment them on that. they've only identified 470 accounts in america. i think russia did more intervention in the elections than the french elections. >> senator mark warner, thank you for being with us. we greatly appreciate it. we'll see you again soon. you can put up there, yes, you can find the one he just tweeted out about. we talk about a lot of things with the press. just can't tell the truth. impossible for them. >> yes. he said corker dropped out of the race when i refused to

endorse him. not true. trump was begging corker to run for senate and make the phone call. do you have the first one? >> let's go to the first. bob corker helped president obama give us the bad iran deal. this is another example where donald trump just blatantly lies. like it is the a matter of record that donald trump blatantly lies. bob corker voted against the iran deal. >> it's a high perss per baa -- >> he voted against it. this is what bob corker said about the iran deal before he voted against it. the iran deal leaves the united states vulnerable to a surging iran wealthier and more able to do its will in the middle east. he wrote that in august 2015. and opinion piece in the "washington post." congress should reject this iran

deal and send it back to the president. >> corker, who helped president obama give us the bad iran deal. i just want to stop here. because this happens at such a rapid clip. the president objectively lies so much. you can prove it. like we could spend three hours a day just on his lies, but mike barnicle. here he says -- and he keeps saying it over and over again. it's the big lie theory. if you keep lying over and over again about something, one day people will believe it. donald trump repeatedly says bob corker, bob corker who gave us the iran deal. and as i said, bob corker actually what does he do, he actually wrote an opinion piece

in the "washington post" in august of 2015 saying the iran deal is a bad deal. it will make iran resur jant in the middle east and it will be a serious problem and since congress must reject the iran deal and send it back to obama. >> joe, from this tweets that you're just reading from the tweets of the past week taking on a war widow is further evidence of the sad, sad fact that the president of the united states is not a complete man. he is not a whole individual. whole individual. he has a gam gap p in him. that gap is without truth. it's without credibility. it's without empathy. that's the sad fact of our lives. >> what do preachers then, a lot of preachers are lined up behind donald trump. that's a lie. what i just showed was a lie.

we could literally spend a three hour show five days a week showing you something that donald trump knowingly and willingly lied about and then put up a document that shows that it's a lie and shows that donald trump knows it's a lie. what do preachers in congregations across the deep south that line up behind this man, what do they tell their congregations? what do parents tell their children? >> the argument used to be during the campaign, i don't know what it is today. he may not be one of us, but he will fight for us. he will protect religious freedoms and there are things we don't like and he's had moral shortcomings to say the least, but he's going to fight for us and protects our religious freedoms. what are they saying today, i don't know. i don't know how they're defending it. there's nothing in that tweet

that true. nothing. bob corker led the opposition to the iran deal. he had john kerry in front of him and said mr. secretary you got fleeced by iran in this deal. >> i want to know what is happening in the white house. what is john kerry doing right now. what is the team doing about this tweet. how can they develop policy. how can they organize white house. how can they communicate to the press if the president is constantly lying. the tweet needs to be taken down. >> this is just an exercise. >> what's your job. >> this is an announcement from the emergency broadcasting network for presidents that can't tell the truth. again, i'm making a much larger point which is we could do this all day. we could look at what the president says, what sara huckabee sanders says, what sean spicer used to say. >> and unfortunately even some things that john kelly has said. i'm sorry. >> john kelly has said. what people say from behind the

podium at the white house. we could do this all day. which is the truth means nothing to this president. in fact, he really does believe in the big lie theory that if you repeat a lie over and over again, that maybe it can become the truth. it's just, i mean, there are so many examples of this in donald trump's life. he's now bringing this to the white house, and, again, bob corker, who again, vocally as willie said had a showdown with the secretary of state, john kerry, and said you and president obama have been fleeced. and this is the what bob corker wrote from "the washington post," senator bob corker to congress reject the bad iran deal. >> not a great picture of corker. >> not a -- >> i think the headline is a little ambivalent, joe. >> so friend at home.

we're now going to show you the first line of donald trump's tweet again. bob corker who helped president obama give uses the bad iran deal. >> with the bank shot of some sort. >> so, again, the lying is constant. if we spent our days on morning joe documenting all of the lies that come out of the mouths of donald trump and sara huckabee sanders and everybody else at the white house, that's all we would do for three hours a day. and there are good people that go into that white house that leave skait hurting. you actually had sean spicer say to harvard students. it would be offensive if he said it to any students. hey, my job is just saying kwhag

the president wa what the president wanted me to say. to which a navy officer said no, actually, that's not the case, shipmate. admiral k admiral said no, that's not what you do. >> to my mind, it's the most fundamental threat that the white house poses because you saw a poll over the weekend about extraordinarily high numbers of americans believing that the media fabricates stories. tough word. fabrica fabricates. he's created this universe where nothing is real. >> what did kelly an call it. >> alternative fact. >> i want to know, is that high pers . >> it's like he's talking to competing developer in midtown. it hasn't shifted. talking to something the other night about this. you don't think too much about this. this guy is a new york real estate developer. they're ten families.

they've been trying to kill each other forever. they lie all the time. that's what they do. the issue, you talk to your kids about it. preaching and all that, the corrosive distrust in institutions, we went on a long 50 year cycle of this. 77% of americans trusted the american government. 19% today. this is -- it's hard to imagine you could exacerbate that, but he has managed to do it. >> he's doing it. >> one of the most remarkable things about this is no thoughtful republican states senator gave more forbearance to donald trump than bob corker. he went out of his way to try to help him. help him privately and now this. >> yes. up next new documentary zeros in on two key questions on russia's interference in the 2016 election. why did vladimir putin see hillary clinton as such a threat? why couldn't the obama administration do more to shutdown the attacks? we'll look for those answers next on "morning joe."

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the intelligence agencies have been tracking a multipronged effort to hack. on social media, trolls and bottoms spreading fake news. all they believe connected to russian president vladimir putin. inside the administration, the question, just how far would putin go? >> i didn't know if the russians were going to do anything at all, and i thought if they did, it clearly would be a sign that putin had authorized aggressive assault to this country that to me would be matchable toll war. >> that is the line from the putin's revenge. part one airs tomorrow night. the films director, michael

kirk. also with us the staff writer and "new york times" michael schmit. good to have you all on board. give us a a sense of what you're looking at. >> you're looking at why did putin do it. the first hour is an answer to that question. he musters a lifetime of grievances against the united states. fear that we've been after regime change ever since clinton first met him in russia in 2000. all the way through the dropping of saddam hussein, julia tells a wonderful story about how putin sits and watches back and forth the killing of gentlemi da if i 2012.

he bumps into the secretary of state hillary clinton and decides that it's her fault that he's the primary person driving american policy. it is just another reason for him to try to go for the respect that he's after from the united states. >> speaking of going after respect, juliette, what impact did barack obama, calling russia a regional power have on vladimir putin and lavrov and other russians? >> it was designed to irk russia and irk them it did. it wasn't just calling them a regional power, which drove them insane, but apparently when obama went in front of the u.n. general assembly in 2015 and

said we're facing unprecedented global threats like ebolaebola, russians -- and the russians were like, excuse me. >> ebola, russia? why did obama do that? >> well, in 2015 -- >> in 2015, this was after he was whispering in 2012 -- >> right, that was a different time. >> i understand. what happened between '12 and '15 to cause such damage? >> the protests in moscow, the pro-democracy and anti-putin protests basically at the foot of the kremlin walls. and then in kiev. there's a lot of russians who still don't understand that ukraine is a separate country and kiev is a capital of a separate country. there really is a belief in the kremlin and in russia that the protests in kiev were

orchestrated by the state department. that the assistant secretary of state for europe was there handing out cookies and instructions for how to topple putin's ally. >> so michael schmidt, as we still unwind the extent of his role, now looking at youtube and twitter and everywhere else, what was it about donald trump that vladimir putin saw that said i'm going to put my thumb on the scale for this guy because it's better for me if he's president? >> the thing is, trump has never criticized putin. he's never come out and said anything negative about him. the thing is, i was struck about your documentary was that trump is saying the system's rigged, putting obama in this position where if he come also os out an to say something about putin it plays into that narrative. it would have allowed trump to say look you can't trust these people, look at what they're saying, this is false.

we've gone right into the whole rigged thing, which was a central part of his campaign. so people look back at obama and they say, oh, you should have done so much more. but if they had, it may have been even worse. >> this was an evolve thing though. it wasn't that they initially set out to elect trump. because if he watched russian tv or russia today, which is a pretty good mirror of what they're thinking in the creme line, it was anybody but clinton. they were big fans of bernie sanders, big fans of jill stein, big fans of trump. then bernie lost the primaries and then it was trump. it wasn't that it was trump from the very beginning. it was just anybody but hillary. >> and what was it about hillary? >> yeah. >> so michael, we had -- we had the ranking member of the intel committee in our last segment telling us that he had been worried about russia entire fearing in the election since january of 2016. a democratic senator, mark warner, you had tom cotton in

march, april of 2016 warning the white house the russians are trying to infiltrate. you have a lot of people concerned on the hill warning the obama administration. what happened? why -- i know that clintons are angry with barack obama for not being more aggressive. why want he more aggressive? >> i think there was the fear of not rigging the election. he's also had a moment in ukraine when he hadn't acted on supplying lethal weapons. he was reviewed inside the white house and at the state tent as kind of feckless or dithering at these moments. he was very worried i think about what would happen if he did it. he didn't want his name associated with it. he sent brennan and clapper up to the hill and jay johnson to talk to congress about whether they would support a kind of bipartisan announcement and mcconnell didn't want anything to do with it. it was a hot potato in october and september.

and obama didn't want to be the one that was left behind. also, just remember one other thing, they thought she was going to win. so why did they have to bore about it. she was going to wrap it up all about it. guess what, the great force multiplier donald trump came in and won. >> part one of putin's revenge airs tomorrow night on pbs. michael kirk, thank you so much. julia, michael schmidt, thank you both as well. when we come back, senator bob corker responds to the president which, in part, includes the line, quote, alert the day care staff. i'll have that. f. i used to love golf. wait, what, what happened? i was having a good round, and then my friend, sheila, right as i was stepping into the tee box mentioned a tip a pro gave her. no. yep. did it help? it completely ruined my game. well, the truth is, that advice was never meant for you. i like you. you want to show me your swing? it's too soon. get advice that's right for you. investment management services from td ameritrade.

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(vo) go national. go like a pro. senator bob corker -- >> well, we said we wanted people to not be scared to push back. >> but corker was already one who wasn't afraid. we're hoping to more people. writing the same untruths from an utterly untruthful president. #, alert the day care staff. calling on general kelly -- wait. he's been poisoned. so what do we got? >> i don't know, but it is -- that tweet is correct on truths. more untluths. deliberate untruths. >> you think he's going to go to lunch? >> i don't think so. >> this is actually for all its gloom and doom, this is the right thing that has to happen. the president says something, it's fact checked in real time. >> i just wish other members of the senate -- i say this with a smile on my face because it's the morning show and i've been asked to lighten up.

>> just say it. >> i just wish republicans would just speak the truth to power. i'm sorry to focus on the senator who showed up on the show. but you don't call a lie hyperbole. you call it a lie. whether it's your president or a democratic president. it's the president. say what's right. >> mike barnicle, the remaining one second. >> bob corker. >> bob corker is a jelly doughnut? >> chris jansing -- >> rocky top, baby. >> -- right now. >> thank you, joe, thank you, mika. i am chris jansing in for stephanie ruhle this morning. looking for answers. the chairman of the joint chiefs in a rare appearance trying to respond to growing questions and escalating criticism for the lack of answers about the deaths of four soldiers in niger. >> we owe them more information. >> and this new reporting from nbc news, that the deadly ambush was likely set up by