monumental american. if you've got a suggestion, tweet us. thank you for watching. i'll see you at 9:00 a.m. eastern. >> the president sticks to his guns despite outrage at home and abroad over his tariffs on steel and alum numb. will e he back down? >> so this is going to happen this week for sure? the way he said it, 25%, 10%. >> whatever his final decision is is what will happen. >> mean handgun this isn't a done deal. >> i didn't say that. i just said what he's said he has said. i have no reason to think he's going to change. >> the inner circle. nbc news learned that robert mueller wants all documents

dealing with the key members of the campaign starting five months before he threw his hat into the ring. >> what this also really shows is that the e question of trump campaign collusion with russia is still very much an active part of this investigation. >> and center stage, the pioneers of the me too movement have their moment at the academy awards. and host jimmy kimmel goes there. >> oscar is the most beloved and respected man in hollywood. there's a very good reason why. just look at him. keeps his hands where you can see them. never says a rude word. and most importantly, no penis at all. >> good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. benjamin netanyahu and his wife will be arriving at the white house. the visit is aim ed at bolsterig

his prestige as he faces an expanding corruption probe at home. even as president trump is dealing with his own turmoil over the russia investigation here. reports today that it special counsel robert mueller's inquiry may be getting closer to the president himself. this comes after a week of white house chaos. with one of the president's closest advisers hope hicks resigning, his son-in-law losing top secret security clearance and now new questions about whether u.s. foreign policy may have been influenced by jared kushn kushner's conversations with foreign investors about the family real estate business. let's bring in kristen welker, who is at the white house. the investigations editor mark mazetti, and ken delaney and former white house chief of staff to president clinton here with me on capitol hill. kristen welker, this is a big day at the white house on trade.

on the middle east, the failure of any middle east plan to be proposed yet. and jared kushner now with benjamin netanyahu here but unable to read the top secret clearance, the advisories about the prime minister and all of his corruption problems that would be in the presidential daily brief. >> the stakes couldn't be higher. you're ab slusolutely right. peace talks are all. be stalled. with the palestinians enfuruated after they plan to move the beam si to jerusalem. that has played a big role in the peace talks. but you make the other important point here, which is that jared kushner who had been the person taking charge of these negotiations has had his security downgraded to a point he's not read in on the same level of information as some of the top senior official who is he needs to deal with. so that's a real issue.

and then the backdrop to all of this, as you pointed out, prime minister benjamin netanyahu facing corruption charges just as the russia probe is intensifying here at home. and of course, headlines throughout the weekend to prove that. we know that it's getting under the president's skin. he's been tweeting about it. but in terms of what the two leaders hope to accomplish today, i think that they want to based on my krgss with the administration officials try to chart a path forward. we know that benjamin netanyahu has not felt he's been tough enough on iran. he vowed to do as a candidate. that hasn't happened yet. so we know that he's going to be pressing president trump on that. but then more broadly, the other foreign policy crises they are facing with isis to north korea, also with the forefront today. so a will the of big issues on the table for both of these leaders, even as they are dealing with their own separate conversations.

>> if had he gets what he wants on iran with another dead line facing the president, he will be further isolating the president from european allies who are furious. the white house putting out a statement today, a very misleading statement on the conversation with theresa may yesterday, which is contradictory to what downing street said, which is that theresa may let him have it over the tariffs and trade decisions. the latest report in "the new york times" on where we stand with this expanding investigation hanging over the president's head. >> what we reported over the weekend was how there's a person who has become an interesting new focus of the mueller investigation. an american businessman has been questioned by robert mueller. witnesses have been questioned about him. and what it seems to look like is a possible broadening of the mueller investigation into questions of foreign influence

in the trump campaign as well as in policymaking since president trump took office. nader was in the white house several times early last year meeting with jared kushner and steve bah nonand he has an interesting connection with a top republican donor. so we're trying to sort through what mueller's interest is in this man george nader. it does seem to be particularly focused. >> we are watching prime minister benjamin netanyahu's car moving up. you see his wife, who is also under investigation in that krups probe. and several of their key advisers are reportedly talking to investigators and very close so-called spin doctor for benjamin netanyahu. it would make him an inside witness. the police recommended he be

indicted. there are three separate ongoing probes. he now looking for a big stage here in washington. he's getting the red carpet, as you can see melania trump and the president. this is something he can cannot easily get at home right now. but highway h he has already gotten a big gift from president trump. which is the moving of the embassy to jerusalem from tel aviv. we are told that will happen on may 14th. it's already been decided. they are going to do a symbolic opening. they haven't created the security for a new building yet. they are also look at another aspect of the russia probe, which is katy tur's exclusive reporting about a grand jury subpoena. >> that's right. nbc news has obtained a look at this new relatively recent grand jury subpoena that asks for the communications between the

target, who we are not naming, and a lot of people in donald trump's inner circle. what's interesting about it is at this late stage in the campaign, a year and a half after the fbi began investigating this question of anybody in the trump campaign collaborated with the election interference evident, they are still looking at this because some of the names on the subpoena, carter page, paul manafort, these are not people with donald trump in the oval office. so they are unlikely to know much, if anything, about obstruction of justice, which is mueller's other main focus. but they know things about what role donald trump played in the russian leak of the e-mails. and we reported last week that witnesses before the grand jury are being asked questions about that whether they had any knowledge of trump's role, if any, in coordinating that. this remains an active part of the investigation at this late stage. >> let's talk about trade, which is further isolating the president from his closest

allies. you're a former white house chief of staff. you're very familiar with trade negotiations, nafta, the aftermath of nafta. we're now shutting down the zent round of nafta talks today. they have not gone well. the ambassador to mexico, 31 years at the state department resigned in the middle of those talks last week. there are vacancies throughout the administration in this area. and you have theresa may with the president on the telephone saying this is really bad. it's bad for the allies who were not given a heads up, nor were other members of the white house staff. >> not good. i think trade is broader than commerce. it is our stand iing in the wor. it's our relationships and our partnerships. but it does mean good paying

jobs here in the united states and we have a lot of foreign investment in the united states that are creating jobs as well. i think just common sense suggests that the reality is the world is more interconnected now more than ever. and in so many ways, there's just no way we can isolate ousts from it. should we negotiate hard for trade deals, yes, we should. but i think unfortunately the president has likely brought a sledge hammer opposed to a scalpel in terms of the tariffs being put in place and that could have very serious repercussions. >> e he keeps saying that we can win a trade war. has anyone ever won a trade war. the last time the united states got into this trade war, we ended up in the great depression. >> that's not the way i read history. i think most historians and

observers read history. you have to have in any deal the art of the deal is a win-win. if you have a win-lose, you may get the better end of the deal for the short-term, but that's not a sustaining relationship whether it be in business or whether it be in government or frankly whether it's just in personal relationships. >> last week i was interviewing potato growers from wisconsin. wisconsin is home state to paul ryan. paul ryan and other republican leaders fromming a states are upset about this. 140,000 approximately steel jobs in the united states. yes, some of them are centered around pennsylvania. the congressional district that the president seems to have his eyes on. but even the pennsylvania senator pat toomey is against this. now paul ryan, a leaked memo from paul ryan arguing against this tariff and trade decision. >> senator cornyn from texas has spoken out.

a number of republicans have. i don't want to not suggest that some of our basic industries, after all, i come from the automobile and natural gas business. so i am very mindful of the importance of steel and other basic industries, including coal. e we need to protect those jobs to the extent we can, but let's be realistic in how we do it. the real problem is it's overcapacity in the world. that's what's causing this. so i think the chinese have at least suggested they might be receptive to closing some of their plants to get rid of that overcapacity. that's a much more nuanced elegant way. but a forceful way to do this without disrupting the entire system. >> he gave some self-deprecating jokes and kind of went off in another area. he joked about who is going to

leave next, steve miller or melania trump. there have been a lot of dep departures. there's a will the of talk that gary has to leave since he's been badly undercut by the p promotion of peter navorro and wilbur ross blind siding him on what he told allies was dpoing to be the way this was going to roll out. >> we know he's bye-bye threatening to leave, but this is the not first time he's been frustrated. there's been that threat in the past. the question is will he actually do it this time. he was opposed to announcing these new tariffs. and of course, the president's announcement last week really caught a lot of people not only in his own party off guard, but within this administration off guard and there was a sense that he was really trying to shift the narrative away from some of the chaos here behind t sahe scs at the white house. the fact that hope hicks announced her resignation last week.

the president really wanted to try to put the focus on a policy issue. this is something he campaigned on. but again, there wasn't a real policy proposal written out. this was the president freelancing. so we know that gary is quite upset by this, but again, as of today, he's still here. they are watching and waiting to see what exactly the president ultimately decides. i go back to that sound byte you played at the top from wilbur ross. he couldn't commit to chuck to say, yes, what the president announced is, in fact, etched in stone. i think there's still a lot of attempts to get the president to pull back. i anticipate when reporters get a chance to spend a few moments with president trump, with the prime minister in addition to the foreign policy questions, i anticipate he will get some questions about his tariff announcement last week as well. >> and the propriority in any

context of jared kushner given his family business during the transition and when he's in office. the fact that the family business has so much outstanding debt. >> what we've been looking at is what was jared kushner doing to try to get money for his family's business, which is well reported has had some trouble. at the same time, we have been trying to figure out what was the purpose of some of these meetings that jared kushner was having during the transition, including with chinese, including with a russian banker and what, if any role or connection there was, between policy and business. and how much of those lines blurred. so that is one of the things

that mueller has been look iing at. and no one has quite been able to figure out exactly where that threat is going. but it doesn't seem to be going away. more questions seemed to be raised about kushner's business interests. >> and very briefly. if you don't have a top secret clearance, and you can't read the intelligence ob a foreign leader, how do you negotiate middle east peace? >> it's hard to pass a test when you don't have the books to read. you need the top security clearance. the middle east is a very complicated situation that's challenged all administrations in modern history. you need the clearance to assume that kind of responsibility. >> as always, it's such a pleasure. thanks to all of you. coming up, a friendly face as he struggles with turmoil at

home, president trump rolls out the red carpet for benjamin netanyahu, who is also looking for an escape from a big corruption scandal of his own. more coming up here. stay with us on "andrea mitchell reports." here's a question. with smart, revolutionary hearing aid technology available right now, why does it take most of us 7 years -- when we know we have hearing loss -- -- to actually do something about it? will you continue to feel left out... to constantly ask people to repeat themselves... and to miss out on so much in life...

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president trump and benjamin netanyahu linking arms today as both leaders battle controversies at home.

joining me is the former ambassador to israel. welcome, ambassador. you were in the white house, then you were in israel as our ambassador there. and we have not had a meeting with the palestinians since 2014, when they walked away as well. in part because of israel's expansion of settlements. now you have an administration that has declared that israel, that the embassy is moving to re juice lem and it has frozen refugee aid funneled through the u.n. what's the incentive for the palestinians to come back to negotiations? >> the decision to recognize jerusalem was fundamentally correct and moving the embassy is correct. it's going to remain the capital. but the mistake was to make that decision in the absence of a

broader context. the palestinians could understand how their aspirations might be met as well in a two-state solution, which they still have not declared is their goal with the palestinian capital as well. and so the opportunity actually is still ahead of this administration. when they make the actual move of the embassy in may to jerusalem, if they combine that or proceed that with the broad plan that jared kushner has been working on, the president's envoys for a credible two-state solution would be a lot easier for the palestinians to absorb that decision and see where it might lead to achieve their aspirations as well. >> what are the carrots here? it seems as though even when i interviewed vice president pence in the middle east a month or so ago, they said the incentive to come back to the table is we won't take away the rest of your refugee aid. it just seems to me that they have tilted what needs to be an even handed approach in one direction. >> generally, one has to provide both incentives and some disincentives to get them to come to the table.

i think they aren't likely to be under to come back to the negotiating table. the president has simply taken himself outs of that story. . but we certainly want to keep the two-state solution alive and viable for the next leadership. maybe for the next israelly leadership to do the negotiating. that's where the administration has an opportunity in front of it. they have been talking about a plan. they have been taking soundings all over the region. >> what's their plan? >> we'll find out. fst a one-sided plan in which palestinians would end up with isolated autonomous areas, but no real sovereignty. it's unlikely to produce the negotiations in the two-state solution we want. if it achieve describes a separation of two states, israel is secure and recognizes a jewish state and the palestinian said state next to it, that's something as a palestinian capital that might keep palestinians from taking this into places we don't want them to go. >> is the state.

department making another mistake in putting this new embassy on land, which is arguably not just in west jerusalem but on palestinian area. >> i don't think the property is that it controversial. a portion of the property used to sit in no man's land controlled by israel. but that's not going to be the permanent site of the embassy. this is a temporary stationing. now the u.s. and israeli governments will look for a permanent site. i do think that this is, again, something that i wish the state department were more involved than it were. frankly, most of these decisions seemed to have been made in a small circle on both sides u. and excludeing many experts in the state department, defense department, israeli ministries as well who have some knowledge and some perspective that might

make these decisions a bit more seasoned. >> when you look at benjamin netanyahu, what does he have to gain to be greeted with the red carpet reception from the president? he's embattled at home. and last year he did this conference by video. he could have sent it in by satellite, but he seems to have wanted to have this embrace. >> he's under great pressure at home because of these corruption investigations. >> how serious are they? >> they are quite serious. the charges that the police recommending are not indictments yet, but they are serious and some still ongoing. he's working hard to maintain support from within his party and his coalition partners so they don't call for him to step aside during these investigations. one of the ways he tries to maintain that support is demonstrate his ability to manage israel's complex international relationships. a president like trump who we have never seen someone so unpredictable in the oval

office. he's managed those relationships well. he will give a speech tomorrow and i'm sure receive a warm ovation and try to parlay that back into political support back home. >> we know that benjamin netanyahu wants president trump to come to jerusalem. it would be his second visit there, which is unusual to say the least. to be there on may 14th for the opening of the em baa. si, it's a symbolic opening. apparently he's indicated if he can, he will. how important would it be and how further disruptive to the so-called peace process to the palestinians for him to be there when that u.s. flag is raised in jerusalem. >> the flag is raised at an embassy anywhere in the world and like israel, i think there's certainly meaning and import and significance to have the president attend that ceremony. it all depends on the context they create. if they say nothing else about this middle east peace plan they have been working on between now and then, that will only deepen the despair on the palestinian

side and less likely that we have any hope of returning to peace talks and send the solution further off into the sunset. if, on the other hand, they use this to describe a peace plan that's credible and has some things that both sides like and both sides don't like, which is how they have described the plan themselves, that might be a little uncomfortable for benjamin netanyahu to receive president trump when he has called for let's say the evacuation of certain settlements. his colation partners won't like that. he might have to oppose that. but that would be a way the president's arrival would be put into context of our strategic objective. >> thank you so much for your expertise. and we'll be hearing from the president and seeing what questions they may or may not have answered in the oval office in a moment. and coming up, leading ladies. the powerful voices of the me too movement at the oscars. time's up for sexual harassment. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports," only on msnbc.

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the president and benjamin netanyahu and their wives. >> they don't like covering us. >> they like us. thank you very much. it's a great honor to have prime minister benjamin netanyahu. we have been friends for a long time. we have, i would say, probably the best relationships right now with israel that we ever had. i think it was close now as ever before. jerusalem was a wonderful thing. and i know it was very much appreciated. a big part of the world not just in israel in a very big part. so that was a decision that i had to make. many presidents were discussing whether or not to make that decision and they promised it in campaigns, but were never able to do what they should have done. so i was able to do it. i think far beyond israel, we are very close on trade deals.

we are very close on military and terrorism and all of the things that we have to work together on. so the relationship has never been better. and mr. prime minister, it's a great honor to have you. >> thank you. thank you. >> mr. president, melania, we want to thank you for your extraordinary friendship and hospitality. it's always a pleasure to see you both, but this is the first time we meet in washington, america's capital, after you declared, mr. president, jerusalem as israel's capital. and this was an historic proclamation followed by your bold decision to move the embassy by our upcoming national independence day. i want to tell you that the jewish people have a long memory. so we remember the proclamation of the great king, 2500 years

ago. he proclaimed that the jewish exiles could come back and rebuild their temple in jerusalem. we remember lordballfur who issued the proclamation that recognized the jewish people in our homeland. we remember 70 years ago president truman was the first leader to recognize the jewish state. and we remember how a few weeks ago president donald j. trump recognized jerusalem as israel's capital. mr. president, this will be remembered by our people throughout the ages. and as you just said, others talked about it. you did it. so i want to thank you on behalf of the people of israel. and i also want to -- i look forward to our discussions on both challenges and opportunities. if i had to say what is our greatest challenge in the middle east to both our countries, to

our arab neighbors, it's incapslated in one word. iran. iran has not given up its nuclear ambitions. it came out of this nuclear deal emboldened, enriched. it's practicing aggression everywhere, including our own borders. we have to stop this country. iran must be stopped. that's our common challenge. the second is because of that challenge to exploit the opportunity for peace because the arabs have never been. closer to israel. israel has never been closer to the arabs. and we seek also to broaden that peace to the palestinians. so i look forward to those discussions, but i want to just reiterate what you just said. mr. president, i have been here for nearly four decades with talking to the alliance. under your leadership, it's

never been stronger. and the people of israel see your position on jerusalem, they see your position on iran, they see your magnificent defense of israel and the truth in the united nations. i as prime minister see something that you as president see, but others can't see, it's the extent of our intelligence and other corporations in matters that are vie u tall for the security of both our peoples. and mr. president, i just want to say thank you for your leadership and thank you for your tremendous friendship. thank you. >> thank you very much. it's my honor. >> they have started construction. and we will be talking about that and other things. we're looking at it. we'll have it built very quickly. a lot of people wouldn't be doing it quickly like that. we're going to have it quick and

inexpensively. they put an order in front of my desk last week for a billion dollars. i said a billion. what's that for? we're going to build an embassy. we're not going to spend a billion dollars. we're doing it for about $250,000. so check that out. now it's temporary, but it will be very nice. $250,000 versus a billion dollars. is that good? >> yeah. >> we're looking at coming, if i can, i will. but i'll be there again. israel is very special to me. a special country, special people and i look forward to being there. and i'm very proud of that decision. >> when will you present your peace deal? >> we're working on it very hard. it would be a great achievement and even from a humanitarian standpoint, what better if we could make peace between israel and the palestinians. i can tell you we are working very hard on doing that.

i think we have a very good chance. the biggest difficulty that anybody has had, you look over 25 years. nobody could get past jerusalem. they couldn't get past it. we have taken it off the table. so this gives us a real opportunity to peace. we'll see how it works out. the palestinians, i think, are wanting to come back to the table. if they don't, you don't have peace. you don't have peace. if they don't, you don't have peace. that's a possibility also. i'm not saying it's going to happen. everybody said this is the hardest deal to make of any deal. whenever you have a hard deal in business, you say, this is almost as bad as israel and the palestinians. you use it as an example. this is the hardest deal. this is years and years of opposition and frankly hatred and a lot of things involved in this deal beyond the land. and i u will tell you that if we could do peace between israel and the palestinians, that would be a great thing for the world.

it would be a great thing for this country and for everybody. so we're working very hard on it. we have a shot at doing it. thank you all very much. i appreciate it. thank you. thank you very much. >> no, we're not backing down. we have had a bad deal with mexico. very bad deal with canada. it's called nafta. our factories have left our country. our jobs have left our country. for many years, nafta has been a disaster. we are renegotiating nafta, as i said i would. if we don't make a deal, i will terminate nafta. but if i do make a deal that's fair to the workers and the american people, that would be i would imagine one of the points we'll negotiate. there will be tariffs on steel for canada and for mexico. we'll see what happens. but right now, 100%. but it could be a part of nafta. and i just got a call from the people who are right now in

mexico city negotiating nafta. mexico and khan b da want to talk about it. but if they aren't going to make a fair nafta deal, we're just going to leave it this way. people have to understand. our country on trade has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world. whether it's friend or enemy, everybody. china, russia, take people that we think are wonderful, the european union, we can't do business there. they don't allow. they have trade barriers that are worse than tariffs. they also have tariffs, but they have trade barriers far worse than tariffs. and if they want to do someth g something, we'll just tax their cars. if they send it here like water. we may have friends, but remember this. we lost over the last number of years $800 billion a year. not a half a million dollars,

not 12 cents, we lost $800 billion a year on trade. not going to. happen. we have to get it back. and the biggest problem is china. we lost $500 billion. how previous presidents allowed that to happen is disgraceful. but we're going to take care of it. thank you all very much. thank you. i don't think you're going to have a trade war. i don't think so. >> thanks, everybody. >> thank you all. thank you. >> that was a doozy q&a. kristen welker at the white house. he may go to jerusalem for the may 14th opening. which itself is controversial. he said that they are not backing down on this threatened tariff on steel and alum nu

pneumonia. they may roll it into nafta, which is in its seventh round and the talks there ending today. he will end nafta if he doesn't get a good deal. benjamin netanyahu hooking the president into their dead line in a month or two as to whether again waive sanctions against iran. a lot wrapped up in that one meeting. >> a lot wrapped up in that meeting. you could hear prime minister benjamin netanyahu's tactics, stressing the fact that he says this is the closest relationship israel has ever had to the u.s. under a president trump. and at the same time, trying to turn up the heat for the united states to pull out of the iran nuclear deal altogether. and then those headlines from the president himself. yes, saying he may go. to the opening of the embassy, which would be controversial, as you point out. and not giving up on the prospect of the palestinians coming back to the negotiating table. saying i think they may want to

come back to the table. no indication that that's happening yet or that that's going to. happen in the near future. then on trade, obviously, that's the big issue that we have been talking about throughout the weekend with some republican leaders coming forward today. house speaker paul ryan through his spokesperson saying he's going to challenge the president on o imposing new tariffs. president trump saying that he has no plans to back down on that. so really taking a tough stance. at the very end there, he was pressed on whether or not he thought there would be a trade war. he said i don't think there's going to be a trade war. we'll have to wait and see. but a range of topics covered in that very short period of time, andrea. >> he can say he doesn't think there will be a trade war, but the europeans are threatening some of his favorite products like harley davidson, kentucky whiskey and a number of other levi's from california and the thet from canada to put tariffs

on all american wine, which would affect a major industry as well. to be continued. kristen, thanks so much. triple duty today at the white house. meanwhile, if there's a reality tv show that some have suggested unrolling at the white house in recent days, there's the real hollywood. last night was the night for l hollywood. francis mcdorman leading a moment of female empowerment as the me too and time's up movements loomed large over the celebration of itself. >> if i may be so honored to have all the female nominees in every category stand with me in this room tonight. the actors, merle if you do it, everybody else will, come on. the film maker, the producers, the directors, the writers, the composers, the song writers, the designers. kol on.

>> it's only one industry that's changing rapidly. joining me now is tina chen, former assistant to president obama and chief of staff to michelle obama. and valerie jarrett, they are taking off a new initiative for women's mystery month which they call the united state of women. tina, first to you. you have seen how things are changing in all of our industries. television news not alone in all of this. how do you try with this new initiative to bring it all together and do something important for women. >> well, what we're trying to do with women is exactly that. bring everything together. because it's not just about sexual harassment or the entertainment industry. it's about women in the workplace across all industries. it's about things like equal pay and paid leave and child care. then we have to link those with women's health and violence

against women. because women don't live their lives in silos. that's what it is. we're going to bring everyone together at a summit in may 5th and 6th in los angeles. i couldn't be more excited to be doing it with women across the kocountry and be doing it with valerie jarrett, who i only see through tv hookups these days. >> you have to remedy that. we all have to get together. valerie, how do you do that when the administration is taking contradictory positions on these issues? >> what we learned is that the real action, the real momentum and change is happening is outside of washington and around the country. and as we have traveled this great country, we are road warriors these days. we have heard stories from extraordinary women. that momentum that is building on the ground, we want to capture it at the summit, but leading up to the summit, we have traveled and have had galvanizing sessions around the country where women come and they show their best practice,

evidence base practice tr what's working to achieve gender equity. we are going to put a spotlight on that. and it's just infectious. there's momentum growing every day. >> tina, we're seeing that the white house counsel on women and girls, a lot of the initiatives from past administrations are evaporating before our eyes. . at the state department, the draft proposals on the human rights report take out women's reproductive rights, new policies on u.n. programs that help women around the world with reprodu reproductive issues -- programs for theirwomen's health are being redefined. >> i think what has happened is change is inevitable. as valerie said, washington isn't the only place. and around the world, people are still moving forward with women's health. in the private sector, people are moving forward with women's

health. and one of the things we want to do with the united states of women is lift all those efforts you have. up. what's happening inside of business, local nonfor profits, women taking action. and we want to show ways for women to take action themselves. so folks can learn more about t it. >> and most recently, just today, we see the influence of michelle obama and her portrait in the gallery. take a look at this picture of a little girl, a toddler really in washington, d.c. looking at that portrait at the portrait gallery. you were involved, i'm sure, with the first lady's decision and the president's decisions about their artists. these portraits have had a lot of attention since they have been presented publicly. but is that really the audience that you were looking for. >> absolutely. that photograph sent goose bumps through all of us. i tweeted it.

so many people tweeted it. just the thought of this young girl looking at that portrait and knowing that she can be what she can see. and michelle obama is iconic, but she's also human. and we know she has a book coming out. it's going to tell her story so that little girl can see the road from where she is to wherever she wants to be. and i think that's part of what we also want to capture at this summit. so many young people who have all these great ideas and they just need the tools for engagement. when we hosted our first session in chicago, i met a young woman who was at that point a senior in high school. and she is just one of these organizers on the streets of chicago getting people engaged ine iing adolescent. now she's at penn. and she came back to chicago and we have the obama summit back in october. she sat around the table with other adolescents and shared

what she learned about organizing on the ground in chicago. and again, that's really what gives us hope for the future. >> what do you see in politics? a lot of women are now running. we don't know how it's going to play out in the the midterms. but in both political parties women are running in record numbers. >> it's amazing. one of the things we did was to hold trainings for women who wanted to run for office. we have folks who have never thought about it, running for the local school board, for local county boards and stepping up. and if they're not running, they are active and active for other candidates. i'm very excited by just this movement of seeing women stepping into leadership and taking on those leadership roles. >> well, not only senior officials and executives but proud mothers of very strong younger women. >> most importantly. >> most importantly. >> we are. >> thank you so much, tina and valerie. great to see you both again.

>> thanks, andrea. >> thank you, andrea. and coming up here, home alone. how is the president doing without some of his closest aides? you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. what's the secret to turning a no into a yes? do you know how to network like a champ? and when is a good time to have some fun in the office? i'm j.j. ramburg. i have some great answers to all of these questions which might help you run a better business. check out the your business page on msnbcnews.com to help you work smart, grow fast, and go further. so that's the idea. what do you think? i don't like it. oh. nuh uh. yeah. ahhhhh. mm-mm. oh. yeah. ah. agh. d-d-d... no. hmmm. uh... huh. yeah. uh... huh. in business, there are a lot of ways to say no. thank you so much. thank you. so we're doing it. yes.

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president trump's style has become a recurring theme. a new report from "the washington post" says the recent quick change policies on trade and gun control are fueled in part by the scandals that

continue to plague the white house. and his reactions to them. let's get the inside scoop from the national reporter at the "new york times" and kimberly atkins for the boston herald. welcome both. jeremy, your reporting is his behavior recently and some of the quick changes we've seen in these open negotiating sections on guns, on trade and the like are, in part, a reaction to his upset over the mueller investigation. >> and this is what happens, andrea, when you have a president who never really had much of a fixed ideology, somebody who has really only been true to his own impulses. and his impulses are to react and try to change the subject. remember, this is somebody who was so good at diverting us from whatever scandal du jour during the campaign was dogging him and we, the media, in most cases, unfortunately, would follow that shiny object away from the real story that was happening. it's getting harder for him to do that these days because the

scandal has become so overwhelming and the policy chaos and confusion has become so overwhelming. >> in a way the white house, kimberly, is so divided on these economic issues. you have mnuchin on one side. the national economic council which is supposed to be an honest broker bringing cabinet secretaries together isn't functioning the way it was envisioned when first created. >> not at all, not in this administration. this is something we've seen frequently, different sides or divisions within the white house pulling the president one way or the other. it seems he likes that in a way but it's tougher now because there are fewer allies in the white house as each new person departs. the president seems to have lost his mooring amidst all of that turmoil that he had in the past but at the same time this -- calling for this tariff that he did unilaterally saying he's going to do it is right in line with his campaign message. and i think at the end of the day, he likes to go back to what

he thinks his base wants, and i think here this was his campaign promise. he's protecting the steel industry. that's what he campaigned on. i think he thinks he's right here. >> but wisconsin and other ag states, paul ryan, in fact, a statement from the paul ryan office is we are extremely concerned about a trade war and are urging the white house to not advance with this plan. the new tax reform law has boosted the economy. we certainly don't want to jeopardize these gains. in fact, arguably what they're doing with taxes is not at all the same as they're doing on trade. he doesn't seem to understand what a trade deficit is and the difference between a trade deficit and what really is a current accounts deficit which flies in the face of his policies. >> that's exactly right. and trump always broke the republican party orthodoxy on trade, not so much taxes but

trade. >> going back decades. >> exactly. i think these chickens are coming home to roost right now. you had kind of papered over the conflict between paul ryan and donald trum am and then donald trump and mitch mcconnell. they were able to see past the deep differences on policy issues donald trump really broke with the republican party line. that's all coming to a head right now. >> kimberly, how difficult is it for him without keith schiller, without hope hicks now, with jared isolated without the security clearance and with jared and ivanka under investigation? >> i think it's very difficult. he likes to depend on these people around him. some have been around him for a long time. hope hicks was one of the longest serving people in his inner circle when she stepped away. i think it makes it more difficult and tougher for him to have that sense of stability as he, himself, is causing chaos around him, and it's making it

more likely that he will get into these increased battles with folks on capitol hill and even within his own party. >> and with the public because you've written about the gun law changes and the fact the nra then with this dinner reeled him back into the fold. >> that's right. well, one thing trump has always been good at and i think some people would dispute the characterization good, is fueling -- feeding these culture wars. and guns were always a big part of that. so i think trump's tendency has been to revert as kimberly said to what his core constituency wants. in this case he understands the grievance. he understands the tendency to believe that government is out to change the way of life that you've come to appreciate. and gun culture is in a lot of ways seeped in that. >> a busy show today. kimberly atkins and jeremy peters, that does it for us. remember, follow us online on facebook and on twitter at

"mitchell reports. "chris jansing is up next here on msnbc. hey, chris. thank you so much. good afternoon. we are here at msnbc headquarters in new york, and we are zeroing in. nbc news has learned that the grand jury investigating russia has subpoenaed a witness to provide e-mails, texts, and documents involving the president and a lot of his closest advisers. plus, man of steel. house speaker paul ryan just announced he's pressing the president to shift his position. will that work? and a blue wave, democrats just a day away from their first test of the election season in texas. can they flip seats in the lone star state from red to blue? so a lot going on, and we start with the robert mueller investigation creeping ever closer to president trump himself. on a day that the president welcomes israel's benjamin netanyahu, a leader facing his own high-profile corruption allegations, nbc news obtained a copy of a confidential