this sunday, the debate over guns in america. is this time different? after emotional pleas from survivors and family members who lost loved ones -- >> we need a change. >> should have been one school shooting and we should have fixed it. >> how do we not stop this after columbine, after sandy hook? >> president trump signals he's open to change. >> we're going to be very strong on background checks. >> some big-name republicans break with the nra as the list of companies cutting ties with the gun lobby grows. >> stand and unflinchingly

defend the second amendment. >> and the president pushes a controversial plan to arm some teachers. >> we have to harden our schools, not soften them up. >> i disagree with arming teachers. >> where is this debate really going? i'll ask senator pat toomey, and republican congressman thomas massey on loosening gun restrictions. plus, the latest way russian twitter bots are shaping our countries. i'll talk to senator amy klobuchar about the big-tech companies that dominate our lives. finally mueller's moves, how nervous is the president? another guilty plea and more indictments this week. now the house democratic memo is out and he's not happy. >> there is no collusion. >> joining me for insight and analysis are david brody, host of faith nation on the christian broadcasting network, helene cooper, pentagon correspondent for "the new york times." and former white house press secretary john earnest.

welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history. this is "meet the press with chuck todd." good sunday morning. right now president trump has an opportunity for one of those leadership moments on the issue of guns, but once again, he seems distracted by the russia investigation, apparently rattled by the release of a democratic memo challenging republican allegations of misconduct in the fbi's russia probe. mr. trump sent out five tweets yesterday and felt the need to call in to fox news late last night to insist once again that there was no collusion, once then that he did nothing wrong and to blame russian interference on president obama. >> everybody's looking. there is no collusion. there's no phone calls, i had no no phone calls, no meetings, no nothing. there is no collusion. >> phone calls is a new denial for the president as far as the specifics are concerned. the president may have reason to

be rattled. in the last ten days, the mueller indictment has intensified with more indictments and more guilty pleas, plural. the nra is the one on the hot seat, with more than a dozen companies cutting ties with the gun lobby, the nra as lashed out at the boycott. still you have a president with an a-plus rating from the nra who says he is open to new gun restrictions, including one the nra opposes. there are few things more polarizing in this country than the gun debate and now both parties must decide what if anything their bases can support or stomach. >> they want to do things you wouldn't even believe, including taking your second amendment rights away. caught between a growing movement of grieving parents and students -- >> how did we not stop this after columbine, after sandy

hook? >> reporter: -- and his conservative base. >> they're the nra, they're friends of mine, they backed us all, they're great people. >> reporter: this week, mr. trump appeared open to modest gun reforms, including a bill that would ri ward states that improve reporting to the fbi's background check system. a ban on bump stocks. though that would likely be challenged in court and raising the minimum age to buy an ar-15. >> we're going to raise the age to 21. >> reporter: the nra opposes that change. but facing several rallies and boycotts, nefrl republican lawmakers including florida's governor, are bucking the gun lobby. >> we will require all individuals purchasing firearms to be 21 or older. >> reporter: but just like on immigration, where a long white house listening session produced little action, the devil is in the details and mr. trump has so far refused to talk specifics instead pivoting the debate to

arming teachers. >> the teacher would have shot the hell out of him before he knew what happened. >> reporter: and that's not the first talking point of the nra. >> we must immediately harden our schools. >> i want to harden schools. harden, harden, harden, harden school. >> reporter: according to a pew poll last year, twice as many gun owners said they had contacted a public official on the issue of guns than non-gun owners. but there are signals. republicans in suburban districts may sense a change in the political climate. a florida congressman whose district mr. trump won by nine points came out in favor of a gun weapons ban on friday. >> i spent my life trying to defend this country and i can't stand to see the weapon i carried in defense of this country used to kill kids. >> reporter: still most red state and rural democrats are wary of the gun issue, worrying it will energize the republican base. five senators who caucus with

the democrats voted against an assault weapons ban in 2013. and they're on the ballot this year and democrat connor lamb running in the connecticut special election where voters go to the polls in just over two weeks, made it clear he does not want to run on gun control. >> the majority of americans who tell pew and other pollsters they're in favor of banning assault weapons, you do not support that? >> i do not support that. >> joining me is senator pat toomey of pennsylvania, the republican leader of the past bipartisan effort in congress to ban assault weapons. it didn't pass. welcome back to "meet the press," sir. >> thanks for having me. >> let me start with your bill and what we know about the shooter down in south florida. there was a lot of information the school system had, there was a lot of information that were called into authorities about the mental stability or instability of this young man. >> right. >> but there's no part of the

law that would have mandated that information, make it into the background checks system. how would your bill deal with that? >> it wouldn't. you know? the fact is the bill that joe manchin and i introduced and that we still support, chuck, it's not going to solve all problems, and we never suggest that it would. and one of the challenges we face is what to do about someone who's clearly mentally deranged, but they haven't acted out yet in a way that allows you to adjudicate them as dangerously mentally ill or haven't committed a crime. here there were all kinds of warning signs that were advertised, right? they were communicated and nothing was done. that's a problem. i think there's an important discussion to be had about a temporary restraining order on somebody who's evidencing some serious dangerous behavior. there would have to be due process so somebody couldn't weapon against somebody. i think our legislation would be constructive. i still support it but i'm not going to support it as solving all the problems.

>> i think the question is, should school information be temporarily put in the system? for instance, he was expelled. does the fact that he was expelled, do you put that in the system, say, for a five-year period so that he could be caught in the system maybe an extra interview by the fbi or by authorities if he attempts to purchase a weapon? >> i'm not sure expulsion from school is sufficient. i imagine there could be all kinds of cheating on a test, for instance, i'm not sure what kinds of circumstances would cause an expulsion that would not suggest this is a dangerous person who should haven't a second amendment right. i'm not sure that's the right criteria. but look. the problem is we have a lot of gun sales in america today for which there's no background check whatsoever. that's what we're trying to address. let's at least require a background check for all commercial sales. that's what our legislation attempts to do by requiring background checks at sales at gun shows or over the internet.

we'd also -- our legislation would encourage states to provide information to the background check system so that the information would be there and we also create a commission to study these kinds of massacres, this mass violence. i think it's overdue. and i still hope we can succeed with another run at it. >> john cornyn, the number two republican in the senate, he has a fix mix bill. if it's something the president wants to put out there, raising the age on getting assault weapons to 21, that it doesn't have the votes in the senate. is he right? does your bill not have the 60 votes? >> we don't know the answer to that, chuck. i have spent a lot of hours on the phone and communicating in other ways with my colleagues this week. i do think there are some members who were not supportive in the past who are reconsidering. i haven't got anybody who said yes, sign me up, pat, but definitely there are members who

are reconsidering. the president's expression of support of strengthening the background check system is very constructive. the president can play a huge and perhaps a decisive role in this, i intend to give this another shot. >> let me ask you this. on the idea of raising the age on assault weapons from 18 to 21, are you supportive of that? >> i'm very skeptical of that because the vast majority of 18, 19, 20, 21-year-olds are not a threat to anyone. i'm skeptical about that. i'm willing to hear the other side on this but i'm skeptical. >> what about the ar-15 specifically? is there an argument to be made that something that powerful, you could make an exception for some hunting rifles, but that one, that powerful? >> heers the problem, chuck. there's a lot of hunting rifles as power rifles as an ar-15.

the difference is cosmetic. it's a grip under the barrel and painted black. that's -- that doesn't change its lethality. >> i want to ask about the failure of law enforcement down in south florida, where it's the fbi, or the broward county sheriff's office. does that in your mind reinforce in your mind that the gun safety system needs to be fixed? or does it re-enforce this notion that more people need to be armed? >> these are not mutually exclusive, chuck. i think this is a case where an armed guard appears to have really, really failed to do his job. i think we need an investigation on that. but certainly i don't think that would be the typical response of an armed guard and certainly not the response of armed law enforcement and the trained first responders all over the country. so i think have been properly trained, capable people in vulnerable settings will enhance

security. but i absolutely believe we should tight en up our background check system. i think both are, you know, sensible steps. >> you're open to having some teachers be armed? >> under some circumstances. i would leave it to the individual school districts and the states. i will tell you in pennsylvania there are school districts there are a number of teachers who are extensively trained there, they're ex-military, and they certainly would be able to do it. but i wouldn't impose upon a school to do that. >> i want to get you to respond to something that the nra's wayne laperriere said in a speech over the weekend. here it is. >> the elites don't care not one wit about america's school system. this growing socialist state dreams of manipulating school children to squeeze and squeeze information about their parents. i sense your anxiety. and you should be anxious. and you should be frightened. >> you think the nra has been playing a constructive role this week?

>> this is the first i've heard and i don't know what else wayne laperriere said so that strikes me as a little conspiratorial in its tone. but again, i don't have it in its full context. >> there's a boycott that's gotten traction, and the nra seems to be more defiant than to want to talk about, hey, a lot of people want to have a different conversation on guns. >> look, i disagree with the nra on this position. the nra once held the position that i held, which is that background checks at gun sales and any kind of commercial sale are appropriate. the nra changed its position on that. i disagree with them. i think it would be terrific if the nra would come back to where it once was. and that would be very construct i. >> finally, have you been guaranteed that your bill's going to gate vote? >> no. you know, i'll be speaking with senator mcconnell about that this week.

you know, time on the senate schedule is precious, especially with the democratic colleagues chewing so much of it up over noncontroversial nominees but if we have got 60 votes then i think that would be a very compelling argument to have a vote and i think we would. >> all right. senator pat too many my of pennsylvania, thank you for coming on and sharing your views. much appreciate it. >> thanks, chuck. not every republican is on board even with limited gun control proposals. kentucky congressman thomas massie didn't take long to tweet back at the president. quote, why should a 20-year-old single mom be denied the right to defend herself and her kids? we should lower the age to buy a handgun to 18 instead of raising the age to buy an ar-15. sad, all caps. a little tweak at the president's use of that word. congressman, welcome to "meet the press," sir. >> thanks for having me on to talk about some serious solutions to these problems. >> let me ask you this.

you heard senator toomey. he wants to expand the background check system for all gun purchases. what's wrong with that? >> listen, my heart is breaking for the families in florida. i have kids that go to public school. we had a school shooting here in kentucky, and i'm a legislator who's in a position to do something. but if i came home after proposing some of these things that are so unserious and disingenuous that some of my colleagues are proposing as solutions to these school shootings, i could not face my wife or my children. but i have not been in a situation of a school shooting. so this week i talked to two survivors of columbine and one of them, evan todd, related to me his story of being in the library when the two shooters came in. he was first one shot and hid under a desk and they found him and he pled for his life. he escaped and two police behind a shed who had taken up a position. they weren't going in.

he tells me that he forgives the adults that day, the legislators, the administrators and the police because they couldn't foresee what was going to happen at columbine. but he said it's -- you know, it's a shame here we are 20 years later. it's still happening and people are rolling out these same old solution that is will do nothing and he supports my bill called the safe students act which would repeal the federal gun free school zone act. >> all right. but what's wrong with having multiple fail safes? that's the part that i think people are frustrated on this debate. people say we don't want to infringe on a second amendment right and when's wrong with an expanded background check? what's wrong with more cops at high schools? >> well, you know, i wish that background checks stopped criminals or stopped school shootings but they don't. they failed in texas with the church shooting. they failed at columbine. >> wait a minute. doesn't that mean that background check system is flawed?

isn't that the issue here? >> absolutely. >> then why don't -- we don't put any information in it. we are not putting enough information on it. >> trying to put lipstick on a pig. look. you can put all the information you want in it. but the shooter in kentucky who stole his mother's firearms and shot her before he committed the crime wouldn't -- isn't stopped by a background check. neither were the two perpetrators in columbine who got other people to buy the guns for them. one of those straw purchasers went to prison for that because talk about the handgun, you know, 21 age. the guy that went to prison, he was 22 and he sold a handgun to one of the perpetrators who were 17. look. people -- criminals are going to get a hold of guns. what we have got to look at is what's the solution? the solution, frankly, you can put more guards at school, if you have one guard, it's probably a waste of money because you're just endangering that guard unless you have two guards. and anybody that's in security

profession knows that. but what you need are some of the teachers that are armed. 98% of mass public shootings happen in a gun free zones and we have labeled all of our schools as gun free zones. we need to put our schools in that 2% safe instead of that 98% vulnerable category. >> let me ask you this. a majority of the country disagrees with you. we have some 65% in a recent poll, and it's been across the board, doesn't matter which poll, but in general the public would like stricter regulations of gun sales. in some form or another. you're proposing weaker. i understand that. you're from a rural state and so let me ask you this, though. shouldn't that matter? >> you're in a bubble there. >> 65% of the country disagrees with you. do you have an obligation to legislate on behalf of them at all? >> you're in a bubble. if you take out new york and

california, 8% of americans have concealed carry permits and the people watching this show right now, there are a lot of them getting ready for church in middle america, putting their guns on, millions of them. they're going to be carrying guns to church and to family dinner after that, and they're going to be safe. so all these hypotheticals that come out of the bubble in d.c. or new york city or california, what if this happens or what if that happens, we don't have to ask what if this happens. people are carrying every day. >> i guess i go back to is what are you so opposed to expanding the background checks system, why do you make the argument that it won't matter criminal gets them. why do we pass laws on drugs? why do we pass laws on murder? >> we should pass my law to repeal the gun free school zone act.

i call it safe students about. those are false senses of security, like evan todd from columbine, he's disgusted at these proposals because they wouldn't do anything, and in ten years we're still going to have school shootings unless you pass laws like having teachers armed in schools. >> but you're opposed to raising the ar-15 to 21? >> that's ridiculous. here. think about this. you had a ban on assault rifles in 1999 when columbine happened. the assault weapons ban -- so-called ban lasted from '94 to 2004. columbine fell right in the middle of that. the assault weapons ban would do nothing to stop school shootings. 84% of mass public shootings involve a firearm ore than an assault -- so-called assault weapon. >> i understand that but you think -- why bother with it at all? >> well, you know what? it's flawed. 3 million people, law abiding citizens denied a purchase since

it's put in place and only about 1 in 1,000 are prosecuted for trying to, quote, buy a gun illegally. most of those 3 million, 99.9% of them, law-abiding citizens denied a purchase because the sam is flawed. it's got false information and disproportionately biassed against minorities. if you can get the information from the atf you would find that. >> we have no gun research in the gun because congress many ways prevented that from happening. >> well, i've got an inquiry into the atf to get that information. >> thank you. much appreciate your views. much more on the corporate backlash of the nra and what folks at one of the largest gatherings of conservatives told about the president's gun reform proposals. and later, why is the president so defensive about the democrats new memo on the russia probe? tments avoids them.

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josh earnest, danielle plitca, helene cooper and david brody. before i turn the gun debate over to you, i want you to take a look at what we heard from some attendees at the cpac conference, influential conservative meeting here this week in the d.c. area. here's how they reabouted to some of the gun reforms the president is proposing. >> i don't believe the school should have a policy of arming teachers. >> some teachers who would be willing to be armed is a reasonable request. >> i don't think anyone goes to buy a gun needs it right then and there. >> i think strengthening the background checks is a good idea. >> i believe that 18 should be the legal age. >> i agree in raising the age, because i don't think, my son, when he was 18, i would never give him an ar-15. >> again, i want to reiterate, that was cpac conference attendees.

david, the nra, they're getting hammered here in this boycott and it's been effective i think because they've not shown a lot of empathy in the last ten days and perhaps even cpac attendees have noticed. >> the nra is tone deaf and they're going on talking points that they have had for a while and they need to update those. now we have a president who's a republican, who comes along as a trump-lican. he is in the middle. who knows what he is? >> depends on who's in the office i think. >> coming to guns clearly he can lead her. it's an important moment for him. and i think there is a deal to be done. >> there could be but why am i a little skeptical? >> because we have covered this forever. i think you and i remember talking right after sandy hook and you laughed at me. i was like this is it.

they're killing kindergartners, we've got to do something, and i remember you said nothing's going to happen. i never feel like i'm less of an american than when i listen to the gun control debate. because what seems so obvious and what seems so rational and, yet, you just had a conversation between these two republican guests who you had on there talking about nipping at the edges and all this stuff that we all know is probably not going to do that much to change anything. but it's still if you can't even get that tiny, tiny, tiny stuff, you know, how we actually going to get anything real? >> josh, you were there during the sandy hook and saw the fight of manchin/toomey. i thought part of the reason it failed is it's not a direct response to sandy hook. this time we see how the background check system if it worked better might have worked. >> right. certainly some of the age limit being raised to address the situation directly.

i did think it was notable and you mentioned this in the open governor scott is taking a position contrary to the nra. easy to imagine sitting around the table saying, governor scott's never going to take action on this. he is running for the united states senate. now he is taking action on this because he is running for the united states senate. so i'm not suggesting, chuck, i'm optimistic that the congress gets something done and we are starting to see the politics on this shift in a way this leaves me more hospitalistic about the future. >> i think if nothing legislatively changes and the debate shifted. ground's shifted a little bit. >> the debate has shifted. the problem is that we focus on the nra which is i think out of touch sort of old school, old talking points from the 1980s. but the reality is that the members of congress, whether it's a democrat, dominated congress, or a republican dominated congress, are not taking these votes. we have got to ask ourselves why that is. >> they don't want to take the votes, do they? when they do the reality is that the laws stay in place so the

problem that we sit here. we west coasties, coast elites talk about this. we're in sync. we agree with governor scott. the problem is there are a lot of actual americans who live in places that don't agree. >> josh, do you think democrats want an incremental? it's interesting, base democrats, will they accept incremental progress or kill it? >> look. this is one of the interesting things about this debate is that the vast majority of the problem exists on the republican side. but there are problems on the democratic side, too. republicans, many krcritics of president obama pointed out that democrats were in charge and they didn't take any of these votes and a reason for that. because it wouldn't have passed if they did. >> that's right. >> also -- >> harry reid didn't want you to have that vote. >> we were focused on preventing a second great recession. but the political dynamics here do have -- do portray that democrats in some cases are not

in the right place. the question i think does have -- the question is, what impact does that mean for democrats? what should we do when we confront a candidate like connor lamb? >> right. he is in the western pennsylvania saying one thing and pat toomey the senator going, whoa, let's do something. >> we have reached a tipping point and in society we reached a tipping point and in a marriage you reach a tipping point. enough of the line, the cheat, whatever it is. in the debate of guns i think we have reached a tipping point. just byes of m osmosis, it justs and then you have to see like what is going to happen going forward here? because i believe that at some point republicans are going to have figure this out. they have a president, though, that can lead here. >> why not try? >> we have a data point coming out on march 24th with this. you know? people are already talking about this. national march on washington. i'm very curious to see whether we are going to see thousands

upon thousands of people coming up. but we're talking about it, too. talking about a tipping point, you at some point you have to ask whether the voices of these kids, these kids who are going to the -- the capital, going, standing before congress, standing before the white house, who -- >> look. we have a change. a republican member of congress, not far from where the shooting take place came out with the assault weapons ban. >> in washington it is reasonable to ask one question. the march is great. i agree with you. i think we have reached a tipping point. we agree about these issues. is this going to solve this problem? that's -- we have a debate about what we can all do politically to make the kids go away and make the lobbyists go away. what is going to solve the problem? is problem is nobody wants to talk about that. because it's unpalatable in the united states. >> also cultural and mental health i think is where this debate is going to go. >> no doubt. you can't do one without the other. we all know that. >> that's back to the ole

nibbling around the edges thing again. >> president obama suggested that democrats if they care about the issue need to be single issue voters in the same way that nra supporters are and that's the question. are we willing to give up a golden opportunity to enhance the chances in the midterm elections voting against somebody that doesn't support an assault weapons ban in that's a question pennsylvania voters have to ask themselves. >> interesting way to leave the panel. we'll hear from a democrat who's trying to crack down on how the fake news issue spreads online and ramping up congress's role. amy klobuchar is next. most pills don't finish the job because they don't relieve nasal congestion. flonase allergy relief is different. flonase relieves sneezing, itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose, plus nasal congestion, which pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. and 6 is greater than 1. start your day with flonase for more complete allergy relief.

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welcome back. this week we got to see house's response which includes the fbi surveillance of carter page and rebuts republicans highly publicized memo alleging bias at the justice department. one reason why it was so hyped, kem lynn-linked bots seeking to discredit the russian investigation. it was meant to aimed at trying to police social media, at least on the advertising front. joining me now is democratic senator amy klobuchar of minnesota, she introduced a bipartisan bill trying to police social media at least on the advertising front. welcome back to "meet the press." >> thanks. it's great to be on, chuck. >> let me start with this larger issue of policing social media.

i know your bill and an attempt to make digit at ads part of the campaign finance laws we have here, that they're regulated just the same. but can your -- would your bill have been able to regulate youtube and keeping them from spreading this idea that one of the students was an actor, for instance, coming the gun activism? >> there's several fronts that we should be operating on here, chuck. the thought of these innocent kids, they get no nra money. they're telling the truth about what happened. leading to what i hope is going to be a seminole moment in our country where we finally get congress to act on some sensible gun legislation. they're out there doing that and same time you have websites linked to russia that are immediately within hours putting out fake things through bots saying that these kids are paid actors, things that are totally

false. okay. come on administration. put the sanctions in. 98-2 against russia for the very reason messing around in our american elections. secondly, on the bot front, separate from my legislation, these are the most sophisticated companies in america. they have brilliant people working there. i believe that they've got to put more resources, maybe it means they make less profits off of ads and other things but they have got to put the resources into facebook and twitter to stop these bots from dominating the accounts. there are literally tens of millions of accounts on people's pages and third thing is -- >> how do you -- sorry. >> no, no. how do you incentivize it? pushing them and pushing them. people realizing that these are fake people which i'm sure -- >> should they be fine -- >> fines -- >> should facebook and twitter face fines if they fail to follow, you know -- to purge itself of bots, for instance,

after the government finds out? >> i think that would be a great idea. but then you need a congress to act. and there are too many people that are afraid of doing something about this because we know the sites are popular. everyone loves putting recipes, cat videos. it is a great thing. same time there's an ugly side of this and someone once said that the systems were set up without alarms, without locks and big surprise, bad guys are coming in and manipulating people. and that is what's happening and worse. literally committing crimes when they tell people they can text in and vote. and the last thing we know is that russian rubles sent on ads coming out of the latest indictment. that the russians spent a lot of money on paid ads. that's much simpler to regulate, chuck. you know why? tv, your station right now, has rules in place. so does radio and print. do the same thing. they got to have disclaimers on issue ads and on candidate ads and they have to disclose them

so the press and the other candidates can look at these ads and figure out what they -- where they're coming from, what they moon. >> i want to move to the gun issue specifically. you represent a diverse state with the gun issue of rural areas, i think of the iron range and i can only imagine their mind-set coming to some of these gun laws versus those in minneapolis, a different story. as a leader in the democratic party, how do you strike this balance? we were just talking about it in the panel before. how do you strike a balance where some of your colleagues right next door, heidi highcamp can't vote for a ban. what do you say to the base? >> i was up on iron range two days ago and i was actually quite surprised. when your host there and guests talk about tipping points, that's where we are. i had proud gun owners, we have a big hunting culture here and i look at every bill before us and i think would it hurt my uncle

dick in the deer stand? and what they were telling me the last few days is they're ready to do background checks. they asked me why the bump stock bill didn't pass. they know we need to make changes and i think these students are going to lead the way and we're going to finally see some action. and when i had those sandy hook parents in hi office and they told their stories and you think about the courage they had to come forward on a simple background bill and then the congress didn't have the courage to pass it, i don't think you're going do see that happen again. i want to see senator toomey's bill up for a vote and assault weapon ban for a vote and also like to see the work on domestic violence. >> you're on judiciary committee. there's a lot of law enforcement errors that have been discovered in the shooting itself. particularly with whether it's the fbi. what kind of concerns do you have about the fbi's misses here and what do you attribute it to?

>> i'd like to get the details on this because i think someone clearly made a major tragic mistake not reporting that to the miami field office and the fbi director has specifically said it was a major mistake. in addition to that, you have an armed sheriff's deputy outside of the school, didn't go in. has now left that department. but you literally had 23 reports about this particular killer to law enforcement over the years. so they clearly had -- not just fbi. >> right. >> also going on in the local level. >> do you attribute it to anything? does the fbi got -- the fbi's taken a lot of heat lately in a lot of ways. is this well deserved? >> it sounds like this was something that has to have a major change in terms of how they do they were operations. reporting to a call center and didn't go to the field office to be checked out, that's a mistake. again, 23 reports to local law enforcement, as well.

so they have some issues here but that doesn't take away from the fact if you want to stop these mass shootings like we have seen in other countries, whether they're in a church, whether they're in a concert venue, outdoors in las vegas, you have to start admitting as so many gun owners in my state are starting to do some changes without hurting hunts with background checks. >> senator klobuchar, i appreciate it. thank you for coming on. always good to talk with you. >> go olympics. we're proud of them. curling team. >> there we go. >> they have done very well. >> thanks. when we come back, not just foreign adversaries using social media to sow division. how the big-tech companies are causing big problems and remembering the man billy graham died at 99 this week. he was a counselor and unofficial spiritual adviser to a dozen presidents. every one of them, trueman to

obama, prayed with reverend graham and will lie in honor in the capitol rotunda this week. the mission took him all over the world including to "meet the press" four times. >> we have the message but how to communicate it to the masses? we have used television and radio and the press and every way we possibly can to communicate the fact that christ can transform human lives. the t the t christ can transform human life. this new day looks nothing like yesterday. trails are covered. paths aren't what they used to be. roads nowhere to be found. ( ♪ ) and it's exactly what you're looking for. ( ♪ ) woman: where are we taking him? i have no clue. we're just tv doctors.

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welcome back. data down time. we talk a lot about the forces that divide us. they're getting a big assist from the big four tech companies. apple, amazon, google and facebook. these companies dictate how we get online, how we shop and find information and how we share it with our communities. and they're bigger and worth more than ever. a recent piece in "esquire magazine" caught my eye.

check out these numbers. they're 'stounding. in terms of sheer market value, amazon is worth more than the 15 most well-known retail companies combined. look at the list of companies, folks. walmart to nordstrom's and match the combined value of google and facebook, you could take the value of the world's top five advertising firms, add the five major media companies and the five major communications companies. and that still doesn't equal those firms' total value. we are talking about comcast, disney, all of us. it's not all that surprising they're worth a lot in dollars but it's the influence they have over the day-to-day live this is's more mind boggling. almost half of americans get the news at facebook and top five apps used most across the globe? facebook and its other platforms make up 4 out of the 5. so what you say, right? these companies are cue rating what you see, buy and what you read based on what you already

believe. and blue america, facebook news feed dominated by liberal fews feeds. red america, the feed shows the opposite, conservative post, rush limbaugh and the anti-abortion rights life news.com. completing bubbles for americans to live, work and vote in. that's what we have created here which is why the big four are attracting the attention of lawmakers. when we come back, end game. more twists and turns in the special counsel's investigation and it's clearly getting a lot closer to the white house. coming up, end game and postgame. brought to you by boeing. continuing our mission to connect, protect, explore and inspire. st one touch. with fancy feast creamy delights, she can have just the right touch of real milk. easily digestible, it makes her favorite entrées even more delightful. fancy feast creamy delights.

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end game brought to you by boeing. continuing our mission to connect, protect, explore and inspire. >> back now with end game, and if you're struggling to keep up with all the charges, indimes and plea deals coming out of the special counsel's office, you're not alone. in the nine months since robert mueller was appointed to oversee the investigation he has issued 103 charges against three companies including an oligarch with close ties with putin who also appears orchestrated an attack on u.s. troops in syria using a private mercenary force. oh, by the way -- i know.

>> i love that you actually managed to do that and get that in there. that took something. >> it's a stunning reminder of what are russia is doing in the united states. let me start with the larger picture here. the president last night, the democratic memo comes out, he takes to twitter and takes to a phoner with judge jeannine. mueller's indictments are coming. the president is acting in an interesting way. >> he's acting in a very consistent way, which is always despite, no matter what comes out of mueller's office about what, you know, just about the scope and the depth of this russia -- what russia tried to do, president trump's reaction is again and again and again me, me, me, me. no, no collusion, it's not about whether russia completely subverted the american democratic process or about all of the other things that they've done, including the syria -- the having russian mercenary

attacking russian-backed troops. what you're hearing trump instead say, no, so far, no phone calls. no collusion. >> danny, that's the thing. some of his actions when it comes to russia and putin, including not calling out the fact that russians attacked american troops, hard stop. russians attacked american troops. he hasn't said a word. >> inexplicable. the problem for the president of the united states is the one we identify every single time. donald trump is about donald trump. and not only that, but i think he takes it further. the enemy of my enemy is my friend. so, if people are saying bad things about them and trying to tie them back to me, i'm not going to say anything. it is inexplicable. one of the main reasons we talk about the mueller investigation and donald trump is because donald trump keeps tying them together. mueller has not tied the president and collusion and his campaign to russia. what he has done has not even touched that for the most part. >> not yet. we don't know. >> but donald trump keeps saying it's not me, don't look at me. he reminds us.

>> it's a me thinks you does protest too much. >> incredible. >> that was in essence the reason for the special counsel investigation. the report from the heart land is these words. maybe not the most intellectual words, but blah, blah, blah. this is what the folks in the heart land -- they're thinking about gun debate, tax cuts. >> what does that matter right now? does that matter to the investigation? >> well, my point simply is how it is playing politically. i'm telling you when you hear bank fraud and ukraine and paul manafort and you put up all of those statistics, i'm telling you how it plays in pea ore i can't, they're saying forget about it. to the point where this is why trump goes and talks about no collusion because look at those statistics you put. where is any of this? that's what he's saying. who knows. maybe they want to see if he's got russian dressing on his salad tonight. i don't know, they're trying to figure this out somehow. they're not doing it so far. >> what's your take on the mueller probe? >> the challenge that president trump faces is he is somebody

who is not good at playing the long game. he is constantly figuring out how tactically i can get myself through the news cycle. that's why he called judge jeannine piro the same day the democratic memo was released. it is taking mueller awhile to conduct his investigation. at some point, though, he will have something to reveal. and that will be the question, and that will be -- i think that's the more interesting question. the political resonance of the ongoing investigation, i think your point is accurate. i don't think there is a lot of one. once it concludes, once mueller shows the goods, how do the politics shift? i think once there is some substance for us to consider, i think there will be some political consequence to consider as well. >> and it just goes back to the lack of action. that's what you don't understand. in a company, we know what mueller has found out is enough to punish russia at this point. >> absolutely. a >> we know enough to punish them and we haven't.

>> they haven't put sanctions already -- >> hold on a second. i have to say about this administration, president weird, russia accept. but the notion that this administration has not moved on the legislation passed by congress on russia is just simply false. >> they moved, but it was the speed with which they moved. >> i looked at iran sanctions, missile sanctions, nuclear sanctions. i have never seen an administration move so fast as they did. this oligarchs list, the other list they put together, in fact, they have. this is a process and i don't want to defend the trump administration where they don't deserve it. in this case they've done a lot. >> one of the interesting questions about sanctions, whether it was countering them on cry meimea, their interferenn the election. the obama administration isn't doing anything tough they're putting in place sanctions. what we know is the russians have spent a lot of time and

energy working with the trump administration to try to get those sanctions rolled back. here in the united states that may not be a big deal, russia obviously thinks those sanctions are big. >> i'm going to pause. you guys can keep yelling at each other. before we go, a collective shout out to u.s. women's hockey team and men's curling team on their gold medal, won a first ever. take that, sweden. that's all for today. we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." we beat sweden. >> you can see more end game and post game sponsored by boeing on the "meet the press" facebook page. we've been preparing for this day. over the years, paul and i have met regularly with our ameriprise advisor. we plan for everything from retirement to college savings.

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tonight, back to the future. a u.s. hockey team wins olympic gold. the president basques in cheers of lock her up. the nation grapples with whether we can do something about mass shootings. this is "kasie d.c." welcome to "kasie d.c." we are live from washington every sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. eastern. tonight, congress returns from winter break as students and teachers return to stoneman douglas high school. we'll hear from some of them, and congressman and former florida governor charlie