that does it for me. i will be back in tomorrow night for mr. ari melber, and you can see me first thing tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. thanks for watching. "hardball" with my friend chris matthews starts right now. welcome vladimir. let's play "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews in san francisco tonight. there is talk of a summit between vladimir putin and donald trump at the white house. a kremlin aide today told russian media that president trump made the invitation to president putin during their phone conversation in march. it was in that same call that trump congratulated the russian strongman for his reelection victory, even though trump's staff specifically advised him not to do so. >> i had a call with president putin and congratulated him on the victory, his electoral victory.

the call had to do also with the fact that we will probably get together in the not too distant future. >> in his statement this morning, press secretary sarah huckabee sanders tried to downplay this revelation, saying that a white house meeting was always on the table. quote, as the president himself confirmed on march 20th, the two had discussed a bilateral meeting in the not too distant future in a number of potential venues, including the white house. when asked about it last month, sanders specifically declined to say the meeting would be held at the white house. >> sarah, let me start i by asking you what the president said about potentially meeting with vladimir putin, quote, soon. would that include either a visit of putin to the white house or the president going to russia? >> there are no specific plans made at this time. >> well, it's obvious why putin wants a white house meeting. it puts him on equal status with the united states, a clear goal of his. he has used other means to

achieve equality, mainly messing with our elections. question for the history book, how can we have any relationship with russia that doesn't recognize some key fax. fact, 17 u.s. intelligence agencies say russia tried to screw with our elections. fact, trump is being investigated for helping them. fact, if trump is found he will be impeached and face possible removal from office. and yet even though trump's presidency may hinge on the outcome of the mueller investigation, he continues with open arms towards the guy he is accused of conspiring with. why? for a grand strategy or because putin has something on him? well, that question hangs out there, we're left with the reality that beyond trump and putin, the relationship between our two countries has grown more contentious. president trump kicked out 60 alleged russian spies from the u.s. after that chemical attack against a former russian spy in england. the kremlin retaliated by expelling american diplomats from russia. as lindsey graham said

yesterday, the current policy towards russia is not deterring it from its bad behavior. >> i think the problem is that russia's running wild. whatever we're doing is not working. and the president for some reason has a hard time pushing back against putin directly. >> i'm joined right now by shannon pettypiece, white house reporter with blockberg, julia ioffe, and david ignatius is opinion writer at "the washington post" and an msnbc political analyst. let me go to shannon. what is trump up to with this meeting with russia, having a grand summit meeting here at the white house amidst all of this controversy against all this intrigue and the open question about impeachment. did he conspire with the russians or not? because if he did, he is gone or potentially gone, certainly, from the white house. >> well, the president and a few of his allies in the white house have certainly been in this camp where they believe they can improve relationships with

russia, that they can get russia to work with them on syria, on china, on other issues in the middle east. but, i mean, as rex tillerson said in his final hours as secretary of state, he had been trying over a year to improve that relationship and it just wasn't happening. putin does not want to be our friend. he does not want the help us. he gets nothing out of being our ally. but president trump continues down this path. and there is a divide within the white house right now. h.r. mcmaster and tillerson were on the side pushing for stronger acts against russia. mike pompeo, our reporting indicate, the new incoming secretary of state is in line the president on continuing to take this approach of trying to improve relations there. so it does seem like the momentum is going to be shifting toward continuing this effort of a more friendly posture towards russia, despite the actions taken just a week ago with this expulsion. >> julia, what about the optics of this thing. the president is under investigation, so far the biggest story of his presidency is he is investigated for

conspiring potentially with the russians to get elected. in the first place, why does he want this big grand meeting with this guy he is accused of conspiring with? >> i think he likes big grand meetings. he likes dictators, and he likes guys who he thinks called him brilliant. and what is still unanswered is whether or not vladimir putin has anything on him. the question is, though, you know, what will the russians tell us tomorrow? we found out about this proposal to meet from the russians. we found out that it was an invitation to the white house from the russians. i have a sinking feeling that tomorrow we're going to hear from yet another putin adviser saying, by the way, did trump not tell you that he invited us to dial in to the presidential daily briefing? oh, that's so awkward. i thought he told you. they keep saying -- they keep springing this information on us to put trump in an increasingly awkward position and to gain leverage over him. putin is increasingly painted

into a corner, as is trump. and these are two men that don't like being painted into corners and are very volatile and emotional and reactive. and that creates for a pretty dangerous situation, i must say. >> well, naire, that's the question everybody is having skg is how much did russian influence our elections. how much the other side did trump help them do that? how much did they conspire with them, directly, directly? how did it affect the election? those questions are hovering over us and putin. and now the president acts as if that is not going on, or does he know it is going on, and that is a distraction for the investigation. what do you think? >> i think donald trump is doing his best to insult everybody else in the united states, the media, the intelligence community, the national security establishment. and furiously peddling to not say anything negative about putin. it seems very telling that he is

willing to insult anybody but vladimir putin. now we do know that donald trump in the '80s had several bankruptcy, several u.s. banks were not willing to give him any money to fund his shady real estate ventures, and he built relationships with russian oligarchs who are close to vladimir putin. so there is a connection there of some sort that hopefully will come to light. and unfortunately we don't have any financial disclosure forms on donald trump or on his closest associates and his family and friends. >> open question. i don't know the answer. >> we don't know the answer to that. >> continues to try to keep a good relationship with putin. why does he want to do this. >> we can only speculate on what the hold putin has over donald trump that is speculation at this point. we do know that personality wise, donald trump loves the putin playbook. he likes to play dominance games. he loves the idea of being a lead they're was overwhelmingly elected, has been able to stifle his critics. i think there is some personal admiration. the challenge with the personalities we are dealing with right now is that donald

trump tends to listen to the last person who was in the room with him, and that's the person who has the most influence on him. it is dangerous to put the president of the united states with this personality one-on-one in a room with a former kgb leader. this is more likely to be a kgb interview of a potential asset than it is to be any diplomatic meeting. >> wow. it's tough. despite russia's aggressive behavior toward the west, a new russian ambassador to the united states said on friday, two days ago, three days ago that the atmosphere in washington towards russia is toxic, and that both sides are to blame for the deteriorating relationship. >> why do you think the relationship between our two countries has deteriorated to this point? and what part of it, what responsibility is russia willing to take for that? >> first, you see that i don't understand why russia should take any responsibility, because you see that when we dance, it means we both party are responsible. it seems to me that atmosphere

in washington is poison. is poisoned. it's a toxic atmosphere. >> david, everybody here is not ignorant of what happened in 2016. i think the russians know inch everything they did in terms of interfering with our elections. i think trump knows what he did and where he may be in trouble for having done. so here they are talking grandly about a big meeting. i go back to my big question. do they have him on the hook? or is he still doing this because he is sporting for a big grand strategy victory with the russians? what is the motive behind trump right now? >> well, as to the first, i think we need to distinguish between the issues that mueller, special counsel mueller is investigating involving collusion, as you put it, whether the russians have trump on the hook. and the immediate question of u.s.-russian contacts. the relationship between the two countries is toxic. the russian ambassador wasn't wrong in that. i can't remember a period in which relations were as bad as

this. should the united states and russia consider having talks about arms control at a time when each side is considering new weapons systems? you can sure make an argument that we should have such talks. should there be talks about syria at a senior level? they're already taking place. our chairman of the joint chiefs just talked with his russian counterpart, secretary mattis just talked to reporters about how he thinks this is a good idea. deconfliction talks with russia take place every day. the issue to me isn't so much whether there should be a meeting. it's whether there is a strategy at the top for dealing with russia. our russia policy, as with most of our foreign policy looks to me and to many people who are observers as -- like a mess. it is not coordinated. there isn't clear strategy. if president trump has an idea of what he wants to accomplish in a meeting with vladimir putin, that's what he should tell the country. putin wants to come in from the

cold, he is sick of being isolated. but what i find worrisome is just sort of talk of a meeting as if it's an embarrass, not as if it's a serious conversation about issues and holding russia accountable. >> to the point, that point, the last time the president had russians in the oval office in may of 2017, he revealed highly classified information that came from israeli intelligence sources. and after that meeting, quote, senior white house officials took steps to contain the damage, placing calls to the cia and the national security agency. at the time two israeli intelligence officers also told buzzfeed that to know that this intelligence is shared with others without our prior knowledge, that is for us our worst fears confirmed. go back to nayyera about how this president behaves in closed circumstances with the head of the kremlin, vladimir putin. can he be trusted? >> well, he certainly can't be trusted to even listen to a briefing by senior advisers that he has selected. this all stems from the same phone call in which he was told

do not congratulate vladimir putin on his election because of the signal that would send to the rest of the world about how the u.s. is no longer the banner and beacon of free, fair elections, which is something that we have until now defend everywhere else. so he was not able to listen to his advisers at that point. and certainly now we're finding out from russian sources that he went even beyond a congratulations that extended invitation to the white house which is supposed to be a privilege given to allies. it's supposed to be a mark of companionship and solidarity in some way. certainly not the opening gambit to bring the person who is your key adversary against democracy to bring them into your home. >> shannon, that's the big bopper of the question. it's a huge question historically, because i knew from studying the end of the cold war that eric haniger, the last dictator of east germany wanted more than anything in the world to come be invited to the

white house. he never was. now we get putin getting an invitation to the white house with all the spread, the military out front, the band playing and the flags flying. for what? because he tried to undermine our democracy? how do we square those two? the welcome mat and the knowledge by 17 of our agencies, all of our intelligence agencies that they were out to do harm to news our most precious asset, our democracy? >> well, that's the thing i've heard from foreign policy officials who worked with this president is he doesn't seem to understand even the power of the presidency and the symbolism of the white house and the presidency. the symbolism of when the president of the united states is congratulating a violator of human rights or a deck dictator. the symbolism of when someone comes to the white house. the symbolism of north korea. are you can say yes, those are symbols. throw them out if it helps improve relations with another country. trump feels he can meet with anybody. that's how he gets things done

is meeting face-to-face. but he does not understand the stepback that the world is watching the united states. and these actions he is taking have a message well beyond just a singular meeting happening. >> the same question to joy quickly. this guy would like to ride here shirtless on a horse. he would like to put on a big show at the white house. why in the world do we want to reward him for what we know to be his misbehavior twaursoward ? >> from the russian point of view there is nothing more important than the symbolism, especially what they have done in the last four years. the illegal annexation of crimea, the illegal invasion of ukraine, all the human rights violations in syria, meddling in our election, poisoning, somebody using a crazy nerve agent on uk soil. what russia is trying to show is we are peers with you. you are not in a position to punish us. we're not a child. we're a peer. and in that context, inviting them to the white house is saying you know what? you're right. we can't punish you.

we're not in a position to punish you. we're both peers. we're equal. that the message we want the send? we need to think about that. >> i understand putin more than i do mr. trump sometimes. that makes perfect sense to me. and i hate it. i think we all do. anyway, thank you, shannon pettypiece. thank you, julia ioffe, nayyera haq and david. after spending the easter holiday weekend railing against democrats and mexico. even members of trump's own party are knocking his easter message. but it could come as a taste of things to come. trump's reportedly defiant now and looking to act on his impulses as if he hasn't already. plus, the golden state warriors tonight. once again the state of california is taking on the trump administration. this weekend governor jerry brown pardoned five immigrants face deportation. president trump didn't like it. and as seen on tv, trump spent the past few days parroting what

he has seen on fox news. it comes amid reports that a fox business anchor has been participating in oval office meetings via speakerphone. how intimate. finally, let me finish with this monster's ball being talked about between vladimir and donald. this is "hardball," where the action is. been. when i found out i had age-related macular degeneration, amd, i wanted to fight back. my doctor and i came up with a plan. it includes preservision. only preservision areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula recommended by the national eye institute to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd backed by 15 years of clinical studies. that's why i fight. because it's my vision. preservision. ♪

today is a good day to make a plan for your financial goals and your everyday ones too. pnc can help. we'll be with you every step of the way. let's start today. it was another grim day on wall street today with analysts blaming the sell-off on trade tensions and a flurry of bad news about tech companies. the dow closed down 450 point, down almost 2%. it comes amid word that china is going to impose tariffs on 128 american-made products in response to trump's decision to place tariffs on chinese goods. tech stocks were also down, with the nasdaq down in the red for the year. amazon stock price was down more than 5%. amazon down 5 following a series of twitter attacks from the president this weekend. is he hurting their stock? it lost more than $35 billion in market value today.

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welcome back to "hardball." while at mar-a-lago for the holy weekend, president trump mingled with close aides and confidantes. according to cnn, many of those allies told him that his base is unhappy with his recent moves on immigration -- or actually failure to start building the wall. those voices included immigration hard-liners like fox news's sean hannity and jeanine pirro as well as senior policy adviser stephen miller. often completing that quartet of love has been lou dobbs on speakerphone lately. anyway, according to "washington post," that fits a pattern. the president is replacing aides who have tended toward caution and consensus with figure far more likely to encourage his rash instincts and act upon them. he is frequently soliciting advice from loyalists outside of the government. much of the weekend talks with loyalists quickly translated

into a tirade of hard line immigration tweets from the president declaring the deal to legalize the status of undocumented immigrants or dreamers as dead. so daca is dead trump said. let's watch. >> mexico has got to help us at the border. and a lot of people are coming in because they want to take advantage of daca. and we're going to have to really see. they had a great chance. the democrats blew it. they had a great, great chance. but we'll have to take a look. but mexico has got to help us at the border. they flow right through mexico. they send them to the united states. can't happen that way anymore. >> the democrats have really let them down. they've really let them down. they had this great opportunity. the democrats have really let them down. it's a shame. and now people are taking advantage of daca. that's a shame. it should have never happened. >> well, the tweets from trump come a little less than a week after president trump signed a

spending bill that failed to fund his border wall with mexico. hardly at all. he was swiftly slammed by conservatives for that failure who saw this sign as an embarrassment and disgrace. ann coulter, for example, an early booster for the president, had this warning for the president if he didn't build the wall. let's watch her. >> he could sell ivanka trump merchandise from the oval office if he would just build the wall. if he doesn't have us anymore, that's what he should be worried about. because you play those people for suckers. the one who stood by him through thick and thin and thought this was finally something different. finally we have a politician who is not going to lie to us. former trumpers should put the fear of god in him. >> for more i'm joined by phil rucker, white house bureau chief for "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst. and charlie sykes of course is contributing editor for the weekly standard and msnbc contributor. let me go to charlie in the field in milwaukee.

what do you think? is this dance with the one mr. president, you're losing your audience if you don't build the wall a wall? >> if only somebody warned ann coulter before she wrote "in trump we trust." this president is never going to get that far from his base. obviously he spent the weekend with the menagerie of misfit toys that were whispering in his ear. you lost on the wall. you to do something. you to blame somebody. you need to go back to this playbook of blaming the chinese or blaming the mexicans. and i think that's what he is doing. i'm actually not sure that anne coulter is right. what we've seen about the trump base is that they don't seem to hold him accountable for whether he actually accomplishes anything. they just want to see him fighting. and i think that's what you're seeing over the weekend, you know, his easter celebration by talking about deporting young children and the whole daca

thing. i think again this is the concern that you do not want the ann coulters of the world to create a movement known as former trumpers. >> so as long as you're viscerally haight. in other words, if you are really resenting illegal immigrants in this case, if you're really showing your rage at them by screwing the dreamers, the daca people, as long as you're enraged, it doesn't matter if you fail in your major goal, which is to stop illegal immigration with a wall. that's the way he was going to do it. as long as he is angry like they are, it doesn't matter if he is incompetent? >> even ann coulter says that she never believed that the mexicans were going to pay for that wall. nobody really thought they were going to do it. it is part of this attitude. and that's part of the whole trumpist approach, you know. you pick out, you isolate a scapegoat, an enemy, and you beat on that. and this is -- remember, he started this whole campaign by coming down that golden escalator and talking about the mexican rapists.

>> let me ask you on point here. >> sure. >> i want to see how far you'll go with the argument. i don't mind the argument because i think he got elected on resentment, anger more than actual things. but if he faces the reelection, the american people in 2020, who knows. he is standing before the republican convention. supposedly he gets renominated whom. knows. he could be. i haven't stopped illegal immigration. there is many people come across. the caravans are still moving. whatever pr he uses to say it. can he get re-elected if he totally fails on his issue of stopping illegal immigration? can he? >> yes, he can. because what he will actually say is look, i cannot fail. i can only be betrayed. i can only be thwarted by the rhinos, the deep state and the democrats. and i'm guessing that's what some of the people whispering in his ear. what are these people going to do? are they going to vote for nancy pelosi? are they going to vote for bernie sanders? you got them. >> you have a third choice. phil, let me go to you because

you're reporting this. i sort of agree with the red hots in this. if he didn't get anything out of this continuing resolution, he agreed to a trillion and a half, whatever it was, spending bill without another brick for the wall, why did he do that? >> yeah, well, that's a really good point. he clearly did not get what he wanted out of the wall. he has been fuming for weeks in private to his advisers in the oval office about that omnibus spending bill. he felt like the republican leaders, paul ryan, senator mitch mcconnell were weak negotiators on his behalf in trying to find the money for that wall. and i think charlie is exactly right, that his voters want to see grievance. they want to see him give voice to their passions and their fears and their grievances. and that's what he started to do over the weekend when it comes to immigration. >> it's not my job to help him out. but it seemed to me if he hadn't listened to the red hots about what they called chain migration or family reunification most people call it, and diversity

lotteries, if he had ignored that clatter from people, and said straight trade-off. i'll give to the people but i want the wall built. he would have gotten the wall moving and daca off his back. he is listening to the wrong people. why should i advise him? but he is. phil? >> well, that's right. >> that is a deal that would have made sense. >> the democrats were ready to give him a deal. and he is the one who decided several times not to take the deal. and so now he is left with nothing on daca. he is of course the president who canceled daca. he is trying to blame it on the democrats now. but the democrats were willing to cut a deal with him. and he wouldn't take it. >> let me get back to charlie. is he going to stop listening to the wrong people. they were wrong when they said go for all four hill pil lars, including chain mile congratulation and the lottery. insist on that and the wall. they got nothing. and now he is still listening to

them? question. >> he is still listening to them and he will continue to because he is donald trump. and that's the way he is wired. look, the reason we're talking about daca is because that is the lowest hanging fruit in the immigration debate. nobody is really angry or thinks it's fair to deport children who were brought here without any culpability on their own part. the reason we're talking about this is because the compromise should have been so easy. and just think ow far we've come from that moment when he was talking about let's have a bill of love. and where are we at right now. >> i don't think he is smart politically right now. i think it's his worst mistake right now. well, he has made a lot of them. i think he should allow the kids -- they're not kids now, but to stay here. they're americans. they want to be americans. they're good americans in most cases. let them stay. worry about the chain migration, all the family stuff later. i don't get it. it's stupid politics. if you thank you, phil rucker. thank you, charlie sykes. you're smarter than he is. up next, president trump.

well, he is president. but he doesn't seem to hold big political sway on california. notice he lost the vote by 3.5 million votes last time. and he will next time. cal is pushing back on president trump administration politics. we got another taste of that this past weekend. bet on jerry brown in california. bet against trump in california. this is "hardball." farm to table on a blockchain, helping keep shoppers safe. this is a financial transaction secure from hacks and threats others can't see. this is a skyscraper whose elevators use iot data and ai to help thousands get to work safely and efficiently. this is not the cloud you know. this is the ibm cloud. the ibm cloud is the cloud for smarter business. ♪ ♪ hello. let's go for a ride on a peloton. let's go grab a couple thousand friends and chase each other up a hill. let's go make a personal best, then beat it with

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governor brown has done a very poor job running california. they have the highest taxes in the united states. the place is totally out of control. you have sanctuary cities where you have criminals living in the sanctuary cities. if you don't have safety, meaning if you don't have this kind of wall, the drugs are pouring through in california. can't do it. >> welcome back to "hardball" that was president trump last month criticizing democratic governor jerry brown of california for the way he has ran the state. while the administration and california have been at odds ever since president trump's inauguration battling over sanctuary cities as you heard, environmental protections and the administration's decision to include a citizenship question on the census this year. well, the latest salvo came this weekend when governor brown pardoned five immigrants who were facing deportation for crime for which they had already served their time. the president responded on twitter saying governor jerry "moonbeam" brown pardoned five criminal illegal aliens whose crimes include kidnapping and robbery, badly beating a wife

and threatening trial with intent to terrorize, dealing drugs. the governor's office said in a press release today pardons are not granted unless they're earned. trump faces a tough opponent in governor brown. he has held various public offices in his state. she would be about 3.5 million votes over trump. i'm joined by an expert the assistant managing editor o or the for politics at "the l.a. times." christina, thank you for joining us. this use of the old moniker "moon beam", governor moonbeam." that was mike royko of the chicago tribune, he disowned it. he said it was an idiotic slur. he took it back manfully and said i should have never used it. i take it back. it was idiotic. here is trump trying on an old nickname for size. >> right. well we all know the president likes his nicknames. and generally likes to make them as insulting as possible. the funny thing about this is that the governor actually makes

light of it. he has made a couple of jokes about it over the years. certainly it's no new thing for him. people do refer to him that way in shorthand. and the whole idea behind the nickname it is was supposed to represent idealism and not really interstellar travel or anything. it's a little goofy to focus on that. but the bigger point is that the trump administration really is at war with california on every level, but particularly on immigration policy here. and the brown administration, which has less than a year left in office. we're having a governor's race this november, really is taking that to the trump administration saying we are going to fight you at every turn. and the very strong democratic legislature is backing him up on that along with the democratic attorney general. >> well, let's talk politics. i know i'm on the governor's side on all these issues. but let's talk politics. the hispanic vote, the latino vote in california now, is it strong enough to be the majority

vote? i thought xavier becerra should have run for governor out there. maybe it's too soon after being ag. and mayor villaraigosa is running strong. is it a state to be blunt where messing with the latino vote is stupid? >> that's a really good question, something that we cover extensively at "the l.a. times." because it's not always what you would assume. and in fact in 2016, there was a strong assumption that there would be huge latino turnout that would vote against president trump or donald trump at that time as a candidate nationally for some of the policies that he was promising to implement if he was elected and some of the things he said about many, many different immigrant groups. and that didn't play out the same way we thought it would. and even in some of these congressional races, you saw that the overwhelming latino vote didn't necessarily affect how trump was faring in some of the areas in the central valley. he lost orange county, which is a very interesting area. in fact just last week voted to say no, we don't want to be a

sanctuary state. we don't want to be part of your sanctuary state policy. california and president trump, he stood with those orange county supervisors who voted that way. california is not a monolithic place. and the latino vote is incredibly important. and we also have many, many people of color who are serving in elected positions. you mention attorney general becerra. he was appointed to that spot. he is run tock attorney general again. but he has competition there. and we expect that the latino vote will probably be strong in california. but it definitely matters what the get out the vote efforts are and what the messages are. because running against president trump isn't always the most effective message for democrats. >> i think if republicans are not nasty in their ethnic politics, they have a good chance to get a good portion of the latino vote. at least historically that looked the case. thank you, christina bellantoni of "the l.a. times." up next, president trump spent a weekend parroting talking points he heard on fox news. they weren't supposed to be talking points, but that's how he took them. at this point trump is more than

just a loyal viewer. the president loves their messaging so much that he has reportedly patched one of their anchors into oval office meetings. you've got lou dobbs on speaker in white house meeting. get this, lou, i got no problem with you. but how do you though doh this thing where you're fully on the speakerphone at the white house? you're watching "hardball." thank you so much. thank you! so we're a go? yes! we got a yes! what does that mean for purchasing? purchase. let's do this. got it. book the flights! hai! si! si! ya! ya! ya! what does that mean for us? we can get stuff. what's it mean for shipping?

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welcome back to "hardball." president trump began his easter morning firing off a series of hard line immigration tweets. he wrote, border patrol agents are not allowed to properly do their job at the border because of ridiculous liberal democrat laws like catch and release. getting more dangerous. caravans coming. republicans must go to nuclear option to pass tough laws now. trump added mexico is doing very little, if not nothing at stopping people flowing into mexico through their southern border and then into the u.s.

it looks like that tough talk was inspired by, what else, "fox and friends." here is what that show aired just an hour before the president himself started tweeting with they had just said. let's watch. >> an army of migrants is literally marching or riding or making their way from -- is it honduras? >> all of them from central america. most of them from honduras, taking the journey from there to the united states. >> they're marching to the u.s. border because they want in. and they want to make a statement. >> you have got a mexican government entity that is assisting these individuals to come up to the united states. the reason that they openly do it is because they know that the catch and release program continues today. we have to change the law. our legislators actually have to stand up. and the republicans control the house and the senate. they do not need to democrats' support to pass any laws they want. >> it's not just the president's viewing habits. trump spent part of the weekend

with host sean hannity down in florida. another post, lou dobbs reportedly has a direct line to the west wing. the daily beast reports the president has patched in dobbs to multiple meetings in the oval office so he can offer his two cents. trump will ask dobbs for his opinion before and after his senior aides or cabinet members have spoken. occasionally he will cut off an official so the fox business host can jump in. amazing. meanwhile, the president defended another media organization this morning. trump wrote on twitter, "so funny to watch fake news networks among the most dishonest groups of people i've ever dealt with criticize sinclair broadcasting for being biased." we'll show you that message in a moment, and we'll show you the message that inspired the president's defense. that's coming up with the "hardball" round table. it's going to be wild. lurking crabgrass and weak, thin grass! introducing the all new scotts turf builder triple action. this single-step breakthrough changes everything.

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welcome back to "hardball." chances are you might not be familiar with sinclair broadcasting, the nation's largest owner of local tv stations. but a viral video produced by the website dead spin shows anchors from sinclair stations delivering the exact same script. and it sounds an awful like what president trump has to say about fake news. let's listen. >> we are extremely proud of the quality, balanced journalism that cbs 4 news produces. >> but we are concerned about -- trying to be responsibility

playing our country. >> plaguing our country. >> sharing biased and false news has become all too common on social media. more alarming, some media outlets publish the same fake stories without checking facts first. >> the sharing of biased and false news has become all too common on social media. more alarming, some media outlets accomplish the same things that simply aren't crew true without checking facts first. unfortunately to push their own personal bias. this is extremely dangerous to our democracy. >> pretty sickening, isn't it? 15 sinclair owned station are nbc affiliates. seven are sinclair operated but not owned by nbc. it remains to see how many aired that message. but sinclair's vice president of news defended the company in a statement saying we find it curious that we would be attacked for asking our news people to remind their audiences

that unsubstantiated stories exist on social media. he added our local stations keep our audience trust by staying focused on fact-based reporting and clearly i'd fight commentary. let's bring in the hard table. jennifer rubin, jason johnson, politics ed for or to the root.com and dana milbank, political columnist for "the washington post." get in on. this let's start with jason. nothing like the power of the tube to show that core, that bash better shop quartet of 15 people singing from the same prayer books. your thoughts. >> it's great. and michael harriot at the root we wrote about this last september. it's not just forcing local anchors to recite these type of pravda type stories, they've introduced sebastian gorka and all these different people who are being forced into local news to make commentary about national issues. this is a problem for democracy. people depend on local news to find it what is happening, school closings, what's happening with the mayor, what's happening with the governor, and

turning into it a mouthpiece for the trump administration with the help of ajit pai at the fcc, which has made it possible for sinclair to buy more station, it's been a huge problem. and trump is perfectly happy with them. >> jennifer? >> well, i think his friends over at "fox & friends" may get a little jealous if he keeps talking about the folks at sinclair. the folks at fox and friends carry the social media about facts not backed up by fax. call it state tv, caw call it trump tv. we're supposed to have independent journalists who actually think independently, speak independently. and there is certainly nothing wrong with reminding audiences that social media can be misleading. but listen, when they're carrying the president's lingo, when they're using his language, when they're parroting what he wants mainstream viewership to see, that's not journalism. that's just parroting the president. >> i'm thinking -- dana, i'm

thinking of invasion of the body snatchers when all of the sudden the guy next to you starts squeaking that sound. these are local people you come to like and the boy next door, the girl next door. these are very familiar people. you think they're speaking their own words and you find out no, no, the invasion of the body snatchers has taken over here. >> it definitely had the feeling that you were watching a hostage video. and if you played it slowly, you would see them blinking out sos with their eyelids. now, look, the owner of tv stations can have his people do whatever they want. the power of the press belongs to the person that owns the press. but what you have here is particularly sinister i think because the message is basically saying don't believe us. don't believe the press. the press is infected with bad news. and that includes us, and we're sorry for it. that was part of the message there. so basically, they're echoing the white house line don't believe what you're seeing on this newscast. don't believe the media. and there is no truth out there. >> right. >> well, jason -- i'll start with jennifer on this.

you write for that paper i read 50 years now, the post. i think they're talking about the big newspapers, the post at times and they're talking about the papers in a disparaging way. as you have less readers of papers, it's easier to attack them. why would you read "the new york times," it's a big chunk of reading to do with the journal, the post. you do learn from it. they're going after people that don't read the damn papers. that's what i think. >> i think that's right. listen, our subscriptions are doing great. thank you, readers to "the washington post." readership is up. but you're right. this is part of the entire effort. and fox does this all the time, even though they claim to be a real news network, disparaging any independent sources of information. that's what trump does, whether it's scientists at epa or the mainstream media. he really wants the truth to be whatever he says the truth. and when you make muddled messages like the nonsense that

came out of his mouth on sunday, you can understand why you don't want independent fact checkers. but at least for sinclair viewers, it really is a disservice to them. and you do wonder how long those local news readers are going to put up with it, and whether some of them are going to leave for greener pastures. >> well, i knew a lot of people quit when they saw sinclair coming. the round table is sticking with us. up next, these three will tell me something i don't know. you're watching "hardball." putsk for heart attack or stroke. can one medicine help treat both blood sugar and cardiovascular risk? i asked my doctor. he told me about non-insulin victoza®. victoza® is not only proven to lower a1c and blood sugar, but for people with type 2 diabetes treating their cardiovascular disease, victoza® is also approved to lower the risk of major cv events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. and while not for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight.

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hey, i'm curious about your social security alerts. oh! we'll alert you if we find your social security number on any one of thousands of risky sites, so you'll be in the know. ewww! being in the know is very good. don't shake! ahhh! sign up online for free. discover social security alerts. we're back with the "hardball" round table. jennifer, tell me something i don't know. >> the president of course sent in an offer for a summit with putin. and the biggest problem he is going to have, maybe his national security adviser. john bolton was famous or infamous for vilifying president obama who wanted to meet with kim jong-un's father during the 2008 campaign. also picked up the phone to talk to the president of iran. so the biggest problem he may have is dealing with his boss who appears to be somewhat

weaker than president obama when it comes to russia. >> by both the standards. thank you. anyway, jason. >> what we were just talking about is sinclair media and how they have been innovating local elections and invading local news stations. we have a democrat standing up against it. amy mcgraff who is the first woman to fly a combat mission for the marines is running for office in the sixth district of kentucky. she said she will no longer advertise on any stations owned by sinclair and is challenging other democrats to do the same thing. if this issue ends up pulling dollars out of local news station, i bet you'll see a revolt against sinclair that they didn't expect when they started doing this kind of programing. >> dana? >> i'm sure as you as others have been feeling sorry for laura ingraham at fox news who had been losing advertisers and had to take time off and apologize for beating up on the parkland kids. but there is one group of people who are still supporting, he and those are russian bots. it turns out a large number of russian accounts on twitter have

been using the hash tags i stand with laura, ingraham angle and fox news. congratulations laura ingraham. >> she's pretty tough. i've known her forever. thank you, jennifer rubin, jason johnson and dana mill banks. when we return, a white house welcome for vladimir "the impa impaler" himself. you're watching "hardball." you totanobody's hurt, new car. but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do?

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let me finish tonight with

this weird talk of a white house welcome for vladimir putin. why would we invite this character to dinner? isn't he the one every one of our intelligence agencies says worked fairly recently to undermine our democracy? isn't he a guy dying to establish moral equivalence with america by bringing our country's reputation down to his country's abysmal level? and why would we want the president of our country, this president receiving him? how can we americans sit by and watch these two figures toasting themselves here while they both deny the facts on the table? that again, 17 u.s. intelligence agencies say russia tried undermining our democratic elections. that president trump is being investigated for conspireing with vladimir putin in undermining our democratic elections. finally, that if donald trump is found to have done so, he will rightfully be impeached and face removal from office. what kind of monster's ball are we talk about now where the known perpetrator of a high crime is welcome and celebrated by the chief suspect conspireing

in that same high crime? all at taxpayers' expense in the house where abraham lincoln lived. how about we wait to see what bob mueller has to say on the question of conspiracy before we watch the perpetrator of this crime sit down to a state dinner with the one who now faces the possible charge of having done the conspiring. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. tonight on "all in" -- >> we keep it in tip top shape. we call it sometimes tippy-top shape. >> the president attacks a company because he doesn't like its owner, and stocks plummet. tonight the endemic corruption in the trump administration, and why it could be his downfall. plus getting roger stone. >> i actually have communicated with assange. >> no, have i not spoken to mr. assange. >> new reporting on exactly what mueller has on trump's long-time adviser. and then thousands of teachers walk off