broadcast monica lieuensky's dress was in the smithsonian. reportedly it never did and the whereabouts of that dress are unknown. that does it for our hour. i'm nicolle wallace. i'll see you back here monday for deadline white house at 4:00 p.m. big deal. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. it's been a diz yazying 24 hour for the white house. first the president and the porn star. nbc reported today that president trump's personal lawyer used his trump organization e-mail days before the 2016 election to arrange to pay the adult film star stormy daniels. then there is the curious case of former trump aide sam

nunberg. early in the week he stormed cable nudes to say he would not cooperate with robert mueller's investigation despite a subpoena. today cameras were rolling as nunberg did arrive in washington prepared to talk to a grand jury. and finally the announcement last night that president trump had agreed to meet with north korea's kim jong-un within months. just just hours after his white house press secretary said we're a long way from negotiations. and south korea's national security advisor who was at the white house to brief officials on his recent talks with the north korean leader. shortly after 5:00 p.m. president trump popped his head into the press briefing room to tease a major announcement on north korea catching white house staffers off-guard. two hours later the south korean national security advisor told reporters kim jong-un is committed to denuclearization and would refrain from any further nuclear tests. me made this announcement.

>> -- to meet president trump as soon as possible. president trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet kim jong-un by may to achieve permanent denuclearization. >> a white house statement came about a half-hour later saying president trump would accept the invitation at a place and time to be determined. trump tweeted about 30 minutes after that, quote, kim jong-un talked about denuclearization where the south korea representatives, not just a freeze. also no missile testing by north korea during this period of time. great progress being made, but sanctions will remain until an geemt agreement is reached. meeting being planned. sarah huckabee sanders today saying there won't be a meeting

until south korea takes more concrete acs. >> they've made promises to denuclearize, made promises to stop nuclear and missile testing. and we're not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete acs that match the words and rhetoric of north korea. >> is there a possibility that these talks with north korea, with kim jong-un may not happen? >> look, they've got to follow through on the promises that they've made, and we want to see concrete and verifiable action on that front. >> it's possible that could not happen? >> i mean there are a lot of things possible. i'm not going to sit here and walk through every hypothetical that could exist in the world, but i can tell you that the president has accepted that invut invitation on the basis we have concrete and verifiable steps. >> a senior white house official later told nbc news there's no other conditions being added to the talks. denuclearization is a long-term

goal. bill richardson is a former ambassador to the u.n. and washington bureau chief for usa today and was an official under president obama. thank you so much. you were the first name i thought of this morning and i mean it. so tell me what do you make of this? >> well, i'm confused. i came out yesterday saying that this summit was a good idea with a lot of risks, but i commended the president. because we need a game changer and a hail mary pass on a korean peninsula that is very, very tenuous and very tense. and now with this new statement by the white house press secretary i'm confused. what does it exactly mean? denuclearize before the meeting? concrete steps. >> bill, over the last few minutes they've come out and said ignore huckabee sanders. we're going back to what was said last night.

the meeting was to establish denuclearization. it doesn't come before the meeting. >> well, that's good. but at the same time, you know, the secretary of state obviously was not consulted. he's in jabooti in africa. he should be back. get your act together, white house. get the white house and the pentagon and the state department especially on a coherent strategy. what do we get before the meeting? because the white house press statement i'm glad it's been corrected, very confusing. he's not going to denuclearize before the meeting. we'll be lucky if he denuclearizes at all. >> i know. what are they going to do at a meeting? have cupcakes. you got to go to bed at 3:00 in the afternoon. >> we're a digital publication. >> what do you make of this?

>> i think both get something they want. which is international acclaim, stature. i think for kim jong-un this is already a victory for him because he's going to meet face-to-face if the meeting goes forward with the u.s. president. this is not the way our policy towards north korea is usually developed and rolled out. this is something quite different. and maybe it'll come to a bad end. but at least governor richardson is one of it few people who has actually negotiated with north korea in the past, has said maybe it's got the potential to shake things up. >> once word got through to the south koreans that the north korean dictator wanted to meet and was talking denuclearization and was agreeing to end-all his testing and showing good faith, what was the alternative answer, no, forget about it? or what was it? >> let's actually see you spend a couple of months without doing

nuclear testing. let's do something that actually -- >> there's a chance in a million years he's going to do that. >> let's see if he actually does. the challenge we're seeing here is kim jong-un is probably the more rational actor of the two. >> you mean that. >> yeah, we have a president of the united states right now who is chaos agent. we absolutely know that kim jong-un has always seen it as a marker of success to be seen side by side with the president of the united states, to be seen as a legitimate state. >> he's not getting any time unless he deals. if he pulls some number in hawaii or wherever they meet and pulls some little tantrum and starts banging his shoe on the table or pulls some number

that's obviously not serious, he doesn't get any respect, does he, just for the meeting itself even if he looks like a fool? >> well, i believe kim jong-un did this meeting for the following reasons. one, he wants to stay in power. he wants to be like his grandfather. secondly, i think sanctions are biting. they are hurting. the chinese have done a little more. and third, chris, i think what he wants is to be an equal with the united states. of course, he isn't. but he's always said, and the north koreans when i've been there, they always say, you know, the big powers in the region are not china, south korea. they're us, north korea and you, the united states. so i think this meeting has to be carefully planned or it's going toby a disaster. it's got to be probably i would thing in -- so both sides can say this is the dmz or in china or geneva. although i doubt geneva because it's in europe. that's always been a neutral

site. but i think it's important this summit take place. things can't be going worse in that peninsula. i think the south koreans deserve the main credit in getting the summit with the north koreans and then brokering perhaps the summit with kim jong-un. and kim jong-un has gone from a bomb thrower to being i won't say a rational actor, but to a man with a plan that knows where he wants to end up. i think he's been underestimated. >> you think he's going to give up nuclear weapons? >> no. no, but i think it's still worth to talk to him about curbing their use. he's not going to dismantle them. he's got about 20, but i think it's worth talking about missiles, stopping research, stopping the work of missilewise the warhead that could hit the united states, conventional weapons, stop threatening south korea. i mean there are 25 million south koreans, american troops in japan and south korea.

i think there are a lot of positive steps. also we've got three americans detained there. get them out. we've got american remains of our soldiers from the korean war. i got seven out in 2007 under president bush. we should push to get agreements on those soft power areas that i think might lead to serious reductions in their nuclear arsenal. but they're going to have a price, chris. they're not going to do this for free. so let's get ready. >> you've been through this. what's on the table? would we recognize them? would we normalize negotiations if they get rid of their nuclear weapons? >> normally we would have an ambassador conversation. this is so far beyond what the expectation of foreign policy and how we operate altogether as

an international community. everything about foreign policy in this administration fits under that rubric right now. but there's zero benefit to the united states for acknowledging north korea, particularly this early. i also argue there's zero benefit to the united states to dangle out a confirmed meeting with the president of the united states. >> also to recognize north korea with nuclear weapons. >> we are better off with north korea that feels under threat. >> how do they do that? they keep building nuclear weapons. under obama, under w they kept building nuclear weapons. why are you speaking with such confidence here? nothing worked before. >> the effort to denuclearize north korea is a direct result of years and years of sanctions that are crippled the economy, hurt him politically in his own country. this is the fact we're at position they are willing to negotiate, they are the ones throwing a hail mary pass is an opportunity for the united states. we should be using it smartly. >> who gets credit for this

coming together? obama or trump? >> a combination of every presidency before this. >> including trump? >> and south korea. >> including trump? you're not going to give him anything on this are you? >> i'm not going to give him this one because even the following day his administration is stepping on this potentially bold move. instead you have a white house press secretary who's gotten stuck with talking points from the pentagon. >> agree with you. >> i was going to say governor richardson said things couldn't be worse. if you have a meeting that breaks down it seems to me we could end up in a worse situation. >> i don't think the little guy benefits from that either. thank you so much for coming on short notice. you were our first responder, sir. thank you. susan page and emira thank you

both for your expertise. coming up the latest on the russia probe. the president will agree to an interview as well as mueller wraps up his investigation. fat chance. who thinks mueller going to agree with these terms? plus what does vladimir putin really think about president trump? megyn kelly just returned from interviewing the russian president. she'll be joining us tonight. and michael cohen used his trump organization e-mail -- isn't that familiar -- while arranging hush money payment to stormy daniels. sounds like he was working at the trump tower. is there a crime here? and trump's decision to meet with kim jong-un shows he wants to do things his way even if that means leaving everyone in the dark. finally let's finish tonight with trump watch. this is "hardball" where the action is.

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with the nra defied the gun lobby today by signing into law a sweeping new gun control bill down there. and the bill raises the minimum age to 21 and imposes three year waiting period for most gun purchases and bans bump stocks. and also allows some schools to carry guns on campus. and that's part of a buy in. if you don't want to do it, don't do it. it stand in market contrast to what we're seeing in washington. >> this is far different way of operating than the typical ineficien inefficiency from the federal government in washington. politics in d.c. always seems to get in the way of actual measures to help american families. as a businessman i have always rejected the idea that government has to be slow. today should serve as an example

to the entire country that government can and must move fast. >> well, the nra has reportedly already filed suit against him claiming that the new law in florida violates the rights of 18 to 21-year-olds. we'll be right back. easy. that'd be nice. phone: for help with chairs, say "chair." phone: for help with bookcases, say "bookcase." bookcase. i thought this was the dresser? isn't that the bed? phone: i'm sorry, i didn't understand. phone: for help with chairs, say "chair." does this mean we're not going out? book-case. see how easy renters insurance can be at geico.com. whilnothing comparesnary modeto the real thing.d... experience the command performance sales event for yourself, now through april 2. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

welcome back to "hardball." it's been a busy week in the special counsel's russia investigation. on monday we are introduced to this guy sam nunberg, who said on nine different interviews on print and tv interviews he would refuse to comply with a grand jury order from mueller. after that backing down and testifying today before the grand jury for seven full hours. i think the whole thing may have been a bluff. nunberg said he thinks special counsel robert mueller already has the goodies on president

trump. >> they probably have something on trump. trump did something pretty bad if i had to assume. >> what do they have? >> i don't know. >> do you think it's something related to trump with the criminal hacking or in relation to all the social media? >> i think they were interested in something with his business. >> meanwhile "the wall street journal" now reporting that president trump's lawyers are seeking a deal they hope will bring the russia probe to an end. according to a person familiar with the discussions, quote the president's legal team is considering telling mr. mueller that mr. trump would agree to a sit down interview based on multiple considerations including the special counsel commit to ta date for concludin at least the trump related portion of the investigation. trump tells nbc news the report is totally false and comes after trump's legal team has repeatedly promised the investigation would soon be

over. first they said it would end by last thanksgiving and then last christmas and then by the new year. this is such nonsense, but first of all i have no idea as the new millennial phrase to catch on. you nab some evidence on trump and then he says i have no idea. is this guy worth listening to? does he know anything? >> the most interesting thing he said is he thinks they're using him to build a case against roger stone. >> it's the domino thing. get roger, manafort, get flynn, get the president. >> yeah, he seemed legitimately -- and also he's telling us they have something related to donald trump. he's cryptic. >> saying they've given him two electronic legs. is that to make the guy feel

really good about spilling the beans. like come on, do you want to live like this? >> that was actually his choice. he fought the consolidation of those two choices and now facing 30 years in prison. >> and wearing two chains. >> yeah, that's the guideline. legal experts are saying this is really strong case against him. either he thinks he's got a pardon or i think we're going to see a plea at some point. >> this week we also learned about eric prince, the unofficial advisor of the trump transition, with a story he held a meeting with a russian oligarch appears to be unraveling in the face of new reporting. according to "the washington post" where a source said the meeting was setup in advance so that a representative of the trump transition could meet with an emissary from moskow. the purpose was to establish a back channel between the incoming administration, that's

trump's crowd and the kremlin. prince, however, told the house intelligence committee in november he only had a chance encounter with the russians out there and he was not representing the incoming administration. if you lie to congress that's a felony, right? >> absolutely. this is interesting. >> so they've got eric prince now. >> yes, they have a transcript of eric prince under oath saying i was meeting by chance. this wasn't a back channel. i just came to meet with the uae folks. it's fascinating, and this man now cooperating with mueller, he's an interesting character. but this investigation is expanding. >> of course. it's an octopus. >> and it's now about jared kushner's meeting with uae people and it's incredible. >> you think trump will get his nobel prize for peace before they grab him? just kidding. ken, you're the best.

one of the big unanswered questions tlut this investigation has always been why president trump continues to sew such niceness towards vladimir putin who's not a nice guy. megyn kelly put that question to putin as part of a prime time special on nbc tonight, by the way, called confronting putin. let's watch. >> lets me and you about president trump. anytime he says anything about you it is supremely deferential, never a harsh word for you. but if you look at the way he speaks to members of his own party and staff and never mind political leaders he frequently insults them. why do you think he's so nice to you. >> translator: i don't believe he treats me personally with reverence. he's a businessman with vast experience, and he understands if you need to, if it is necessary to establish a cooperative relationship with someone, then you have to treat your current or potential

partner with respect. otherwise nothing will come of it. i think this is purely pragmatic approach, firstly. secondly, despite the fact he's a first time president, still he's a quick study after all. and he understands very well that this level where we are engaging in mutual accusation and insults, this is a road to nowhere. and if you haven't noticed, i always treat my colleagues not only in the united states but in europe and asia with unwavering respect. >> megyn, thank you for joining us. great get as we say in the business. i always like to and the same question after an interview, what didn't we see? is he intimidating. he's a little guy, by the way. he's 5'6", weighs about 150 pounds. and yet he looks like a guy who's been in torture rooms. he knows what it is to terrify

somebody. your thoughts about meeting him. >> first of all, i like your name for our special better than our name, confronting putin. i would say what was surprising about him this time in st. petersburg than what i saw in june was how he was when the cameras weren't rolling. he can appear extremely polite, thoughtful. he offered us a tour of the grand kremlin, and the audience will see that tonight. and so, you know, a charmer is how he wishes to project. what you see in putin is what he wants you to see. and then you get him in front of the cameras and he's this fiery combative leader we've seen so many times. >> maybe that's what he was talking about, the charm, the attempted charm. >> absolutely not. and you see in putin what he wants you to see.

the man was in the kgb. he knows how to mip people. even when we were in st. petersburg last time he spent time telling me about his love for his children, his mother. he's very smart. you get the impression he's the smartest man in every room. and so you should not try to outwit vladimir putin. i don't think that's going to happen. but you can as i did in thisvert interview try to box him in a bit, because i have facts. and with all due respect with the russian president he wasn't telling the truth about the matters i was examining him on. and he knew it. we were looking at each other and he knew i was coming at him with facts and he was slippery. but this time i was able to actually show him this is what the indictment says, the e-mail

says and we really got into it. >> you don't serve the truth. you serve what serves the state. anyway, you also asked putin about president trump's twitter habit. let's watch that exchange. >> do you ever read his tweets? >> no. >> do you ever tweet? >> no. >> why not? >> translator: i have other ways of expressing my point of view of implementing a decision. donald is a more modern individual. >> would you say he's more colorful than you are? >> translator: perhaps. >> well, that was an easy one. >> i got to say that was a moment -- >> is there a bromance between these guys? can you read that part or is it simply rivals? >> i wouldn't go that far. i really wouldn't. i would not say that putin likes trump. i didn't glean that at all from

him. i did glean that perhaps he has something on donald trump. we've got dunn a lot of research. it's not just vladimir putin. it's a lot of experts who understand putin and trump and the relationship between the two. so when i was asking him why do you think donald trump never says anything unkindabout you ever, i think it's more than he just admires this russian strong man. i think there's a very good chance that putin knows some things about trump that trump doesn't want repeated back. just for the research we've done on this piece and investigative report i think it has to do with money in trump's early years dealing with the russians, his facilities here in the united states. and i asked vladimir putin about that as well. it's pretty comprehensive. i give it to him pretty good on the election interference and so on, and you'll see him dance a little bit. can you believe i got a question in about the shirtless putin and all that?

>> i'll let you have that. but it's interesting you got into something with your questioning and sense of interpreteri interpreting it that maybe that sam nunberg guy -- >> as i watched nunberg and eric prince, keep in mind all of this links back to vladimir putin. that's why we're talking about manafort and flynn and all these guys. it's because what vladimir putin did in our presidential race, and let me tell you what he's planning to do in '18 and '20 as well. when you listen to him talking tonight you don't get the impression the man has been chilled in anyway to his robust approach to our elections. >> thank you so much. you can watch more of the exclusive interview tonight at

10:00 eastern, 9:00teral on nbc. and up next nbc news has learned the president emphasis lawyer, michael cohen, used his trump organization e-mail -- got that? while arranging that hush money to stormy daniels. $130,000. is there a crime here? is it a crime mr. mueller is going to go after? this is "hardball" where the action is. ctually saving for a house. but one day we're sitting there and we decided that, something needed to be done about what was going on in our inner-city. instead of buying a house, we decided to form this youth league. these kids mean everything to me and i just want to make sure i give something positive to do. ♪ ♪ wow, that's amazing. that's a blessing right there. to know that someone out there cares and is passionate about what we're trying to do in our communities. you excited? yes. yeah, we're gonna to look good right? yup. awesome. alright come on, bring it in man. love these guys right here.

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nunbe welcome back to "hardball." over the past few weeks a slew of stories relating to adult film actor stormy daniels have toned to plague this president. and today in an nbc news exclusive we learned that michael cohen, donald trump's personal lawyer, used his trump organization e-mail as he made arrangements to pay that $130,000 in hush money to stormy daniels. and stormy daniels' attorney at the time addressed cohen as quote, special counsel to donald j. counsel. cohen back in february told nbc news, quote, neither the trump organization nor the trump campaign was a party to the trance action with ms. clifford and neither reimbursed me for the payment either directly or indirectly. it was lawful and not a campaign contribution or campaign expenditure by anyone.

in a campaign piece published two days ago argued opposite to that. by failing to report the payment as a campaign expense, the trump campaign violated multiple federal disclosure laws, and depending on the source of the $130,000 paid to daniels, the payment may have also been an illegal contribution. the president's press secretary has denied allegations of an intimate relationship between the president and stormy daniels. katey, i guess a lot of people watching right now are wondering, okay, what's this mean? does this mean that robert mueller, the special counsel, looking for any crime by trump involving the 2016 election and certainly it's a much wider orbit than that but certainly in that target zone, was a law broken by paying 1$130,000 to this person to keep quiet about the campaign and in the week before the election makes it

look like a campaign event. your thoughts about the poseur of mr. trump here. >> well, exposure seems to be a word -- to your question, chris, does anyone remember john edwards? because john edwards got indicted for doing exactly the same thing. taking campaign contributions and money to basically silence his mistress to influence the outcome of the election. >> that was a hung jury. that wasn't resolved in court. by the way, buddy interviewed said she just liked john edwards and didn't see it as a campaign contribution. >> here's the thing, though, it always begs the question. remember michael cohen came out a few minutes ago and said he took out a home equity line of credit to put it an llc corporate account to be able to

pay off stormy daniels. why? why is he randomly paying off $130,000? the fcc is now interested in this. hey, by the way, there might be tax issues because the tax treatment on this money would also trigger other violations of federal law. so michael cohen's now opening a huge pandora's box because he keeps on opening his mouth, and he keeps on trying to give excuses that don't have legal viability in terms of being credible. >> just to make an argument against, is every aid you give, every trcontribution you give ta candidate is campaign contribution? is anything to a candidate a campaign contribution? >> it has to be a reported

contribution, but $130,000 persupe pursuant to a settle agreement we know this was hush money and paid to stormy daniels to keep her quiet. so now we're going to go back to the litigation and figure out where this goes. but here's the problem for michael cohen and donald trump, and for the trump campaign and why mueller might be interested. through the course of the discovery process, chris, you're going to havedes. you're going to have discover dw d requests and bank statements turned over. and you know mueller is the key guy to follow the money. so here's the central question, chris. where did that money come from? did it really come from a heloc, and think about all the rules of professional conduct michael cohen is in violation of in his license stated where he's an attorney. >> and then the president can't

pardon his behavior in new york state. katey, thanks for being our expert. up next president trump's going alone approach. trump's decision on north korea shows he's willing to rely completely on his own instincts. this is what he did yesterday even if it puts him at odds of everyone around him. his experts, his national security advisor, they were all around yesterday when he went to tout this north korea gambit. you're watching "hardball." thi. if you listen real hard you can hear the whales. oop. you hear that? (vo) our subaru outback lets us see the world. sometimes in ways we never imagined. (avo) get 0% apr financing on all-new 2018 subaru outback models. now through april 2nd. the smoother the skin, the more comfortable you are in it. and now there's a new way to smooth.

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in 2016 claiming he was the only person who could fix america's problems. trump put his go it alone strategy on display this week first with the tariffs on aluminum and steel and then with the meeting with kim jong-un. time and time again the president has made it clear it's his own judgment alone that matters. >> i'm an outsider, used to be an insider to be honest with you. i know the outside and the inside, and that's why i'm the only one who can fix this mess, folks. let me tell you, i'm the only one that mars because when it comes to it that's what had policy going to be. you've seen that strongly. >> peter baker writes whether it's middle east peace or trade agreements mr. trump has repeatedly claimed he can achieve what has alluded every other occupant of his office to the forces of his own personality. so far he has little to show for

it. that was "the times" peter baker. but could north korea be the exception? there's one crucial variable at play this time around. and we'll get to that variable next at the "hardball" round table. [burke] vengeful vermin.

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>> me. nobody got that. i think that they are sincere. the sanctions have been very, very strong and very biting. and we don't want that to happen. so i really believe they are sincere. i hope they are sincere. we're going to soon find out. >> president trump was joking about his role to be open to nuclear talks. and just a short time ago trump tweeted the deal with north korea is very much in the making and time and place to be determined. let's bring in the round table a columnist for the chicago tribune, and a political reporter from politico. all of you jump into this. where are we headed? >> you bet for an apocalypse, i hope. no, i think this he's going to try. this is something trump really wants.

he doesn't know how to get there, but it's going to take longer than he thinks, though. he's already conceiving that. and this is something kim jong-un wants. i can't help but think like a lot of people do that kim is just waiting to get into a room with trump and roll him. >> you know, and if little kim decides he's going to make an ass out himself i don't see how that's a victory for him. doesn't he need a resolution to look good? >> i think donald trump is learning as negotiating as a chief executive is not the same as negotiating the price of windows when you're building a hotel. it's a lot complicated and comprehensive than that. and you can't have one meeting where you're going to say yeah, i'm going to take a good price and work out the can details and we'll tall it a day. that's what he's used to, and there are a ton of variables

that could make this look different or feel different. he's already seen his white house walk back what they've said themselves. already more complicated than that. >> the thing to watch here is not when this happens but what's the rhetoric out of the white house but also some of our allies across the world including in asia is over the next few weeks. there was a lot of consternation when this first came out. >> they don't want peace in the peninsula there. >> but forget the chinese for a second. even the members of the president's own administration don't necessarily like this. let's not forget he has clashed before. >> he wants to be part of the world. he wants be able to travel the world and live like a normal world leader. he want to be recognized. he may want that. he wants to be guaranteed we

won't invade him. >> but is trump willing to give it up is the cession. >> the recognized north korea is not going to be popular on the right. >> he's going to have to define what success means and what's a fair trade. and he controls a lot of that image and discussion. >> the reason i bring up the bureaucratic infighting earlier is that there is real substance aligned with that. whenever the two leaders of a country meet especially in situations like this it tends to be after months and months of negotiations behind the scenes with their teams. very clearly that has not happened this time or in the way it traditionally does. we have to watch what's happening behind the scenes and also in public with what some of of our allies say because that will give us real hints to what this meeting may look like. if that doesn't there's a chance they sit down in a room with no cameras and we have no idea what comes out of it. obviously kim jong-un wants to be recognized on a world stage.

>> don't they both want to avoid a war? but don't they both want to avoid a nuclear conflict? >> i would hope so. but how you do that. we go back to the default position if these talks do fail, which is already threatening possible strikes. >> the danger of these talks come to party because it'll make trump angrier. you're watching "hardball."

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we're back with the "hardball" round table. clarence, tell me something i don't know. >> well, look for chicago man to

be a litmus test. i covered him in the early '80s and later became a litmus test around barack obama's campaign. and now we're seeing on the right danny davis and various other folks. whoever shook hands with lewis in the past now, i think this is something we're going to see in mid-terms. it depends on the district. those swing districts out there you never know. >> that's kind of old school. >> the fight over new tariffs is not over. american lobbyists are gambling on eu retaliation methods, changing the president's mine. and at the end of the day these sanctions, these tariffs the president has signed off could be something he ends up talking and not doing. >> what about peanut butter? >> peanut butter whiskey, that's a big win. and we'll be stuck with a gluttonous market of whiskey that will disrupt the price here in america.

>> i want prbring everyone's attention to a senate race and that's the one to replace jeff flake in arizona. so bernie sanders is going out to arizona this weekend. he'll do a rally with two progressive congressmen out there. but i was on ophone with him yesterday i asked him what he thinks about congresswomen cinema. and he said no comment i don't want to talk about this. i'm not talking about the senate right now. there's some clear tension there. >> that sounds like a smart move by him. thank you. when we return let me finish tonight with trump watch. you're watching "hardball."

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trump watch friday march 9, 2018. president trump is aiming high. he's hoping to kill the nuclear threat from north korea in a high stakes meeting with it country's dictator. who among us doesn't want him to succeed? who among us doesn't worry it could fail leading perhaps to more heightened state of danger. he is now the little boy president kennedy once imagined who throws his cap over a wall to force himself to climb over it. once having agreed to a meeting trump must now contend with the all consequences. he's not the first president to

throw himself into a contest. richard nixon went to china in '72 and opening the diplomatic door for us to beijing. ronald reagan forged a historic personal tie with gorbachev triggering an end to the cold war. in the midst of the korean war with 20,000 americans already killed in that conflict five-star general dwight eisenhower made this promise on the eve of the 1962 presidential election, i shall go. he made an armistice that has sustained to this day. he made that promise based on a certain unique track record. he, dwight eisenhower was the leader who accepted the nazi

surrender. for donald trump success would be less of a proven leader delivering on his track record than that of a nuclear case of beginner's luck. but then again what normal person isn't hoping it works. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. we begin "the beat" with the guest on the breaking story right now. stormy daniels is in the news right now as donald trump comes closer to this scandal. trump lawyers michael cohen seem to represent trump's company while working to buy stormy daniels' silence. tonight's story pokes another hole in michael cohen's shifting defenses for facilitating this $130,000 payment to stormy daniels. money that's now sparked an election law complaint, a secret arbitration filing in california and these unusual