president trump on the attack with rapid fire tweets against amazon, the media, and president obama. and calling embattled epa administrator scott pruitt to tell him he has got his back despite a growing ethics scandal. >> this president has shown tremendous courage to say to the american people that america is going to be put first. we have nothing to be apologetic about. sending message. as we learn more about the scope of robert mueller's investigation to former trump campaign chair paul manafort. the first sentencing in the russia probe is handed down. >> the judge has just pronounced sentence for alex van der zwaan for lying to the special counsel. he's going to have to serve 30 days in prison and pay a $20,000 fine. and bearing witness 50 years after the assassination of dr. martin luther king jr. a waitress at the lorraine motel in memphis is ready to share her story of what she saw that day with craig melvin.

>> what were people saying? >> there was just yelling. just yelling. you know, "they shot dr. king! they shot dr. king! somebody shot dr. king!" that's all you could hear. good day. i am andrea mitchell in washington. the federal court has just handed down the first sentence in special counsel robert muell mueller's russia investigation. 33-year-old lawyer alex van der zwaan, a dutch citizen and the son-in-law of a russian oligarch, was sentenced to 30 days in prison and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. he pleaded guilty in february to lying to federal agents about interactions that trump campaign deputy rick gates had had with someone believed to be a russian intelligence contact. nbc's justice correspondent pete williams is at the courthouse. nbc's kristen welker is at the

white house. and matt miller, an nbc justice and security analyst is joining me here as well. pete, first to you. tell me about the van der zwaan -- the sentence and everything that went into this. >> reporter: well, this was a prosecution and a sentence largely meant to send a message that you shouldn't lie to the special counsel. that's really what this case was all about. this was not a prosecution to try to get his cooperation so that the government could learn more, the special counsel could learn more about potential russian meddling. and so the judge said that she had to sentence him based on what he did. she said he's a lawyer, he should have known better. he knew the importance of the special counsel's case. he knew how lawyers should conduct themselves but he still lied. she said this is not something that happened to him, in other words. he may have a great character. a lot of people spoke up for him in letters to the judge but she said finally she has to sentence him to send a message of general deterrence, also to show respect for the law and to reduce

sentencing disparities. now what she said is somebody like him in a white collar crime case might get probation and community service. but he wants to go back to london where his wife is having a difficult pregnancy leading to the birth of their first child in august. and she said once he leaves here, i can't make sure that he does any community service. he's outside my jurisdiction. so she said, for those reasons, she sentenced him to 30 days in prison and a $20,000 fine. now the sentencing guidelines were zero to six months here. the government did not recommend a sentence but seemed to suggest he ought to serve some time to send a message that you shouldn't lie to special counsel. that's what the judge did here. couple other points i thought were interesting, andrea, in passing sentence, judge amy berman jackson, the same judge handling the manafort and gates cases here in washington, said he got letters sent to the court from his mother, from his family, but he himself didn't

write a letter, and she said his own expressions of remorse were muted. he said just two sentences to the judge. one, he said, "i apologize to the court, my wife and my family. i lied and i knew it was wrong." so he'll serve those 30 days. and then at some point, he'll be able to leave, to go back to london to be with his wife and attend to the birth of their child. he'll certainly be there by the time she gives birth in august. >> wow. matt miller, let's talk about that and also rod rosenstein's apparent approval of the mueller investigation into manafort and his ukraine connections. we know that from a filing from the special prosecutor late last night. >> what we saw in this filing is the special prosecutor really fighting back very aggressively against a motion that paul manafort's attorneys had made trying to get the entire indictment dismissed. really this kind of frivolous idea that mueller was acting outside of scope of his

appointment. this motion pushes strongly against that notion. let's look at some new details of the investigation. one, that mueller was authorized specifically to investigate paul manafort for actions he took while he was working on the trump campaign and whether those constituted a crime in colluding with the russian government. that's obviously at the heart of this investigation. central to the underlying investigation. but it really blows a hole in this notion that we've heard from the white house that all of paul manafort's troubles are completely unconnected to the trump campaign, are completely unconnected to russia and have only to do with his work for ukrainian politicians dating back years ago. >> kristen welker, as you know very well in following all of this at the white house, that's been one of their key arguments against the manafort probe. it is also an effort, one could argue, that the manafort filing, as frivolous as it appears to dismiss all the charges, could be kind of a wink and a nod, a not-so-subtle plea for a pardon down the road from the

president? >> well, that's right. we have asked white house press secretary sarah huckabee sanders in recent days if the president has discussed pardoning manafort, flynn, anyone else. she has insisted that that's not the case. but you are right to point that out, andrea. as well as the fact that typically when we asked the white house about manafort or van der zwaan, they've really tried to distance themselves. ty cobb, the president's lawyer who handles all things related to russia has in the past cast van der zwaan as someone who didn't really have anything to do with the trump campaign and tried to downplay manafort's role to the trump campaign. we've reached out to ty cobb today to see if there is any new rebeings reaction but so far there isn't. this is getting closer to the president himself and the oval office and we know there are very sensitive discussions going on behind the scenes with the president's legal team and the special counsel's legal team about a potential interview with the president himself -- the size, the scope of it.

those are the types of things that are still being discussed is, andrea. i can tell you just as of yesterday, those familiar with the discussions say they are ongoing, they continue to be constructive but still no agreement on what that potential interview, if there is one, will look like. this is something that has obviously loomed very large over this president. he is meeting with the baltic leaders today. he's going to be holding a press conference with them later this afternoon, a chance for journalists to ask him about these breaking developments, andrea. >> also want to bring up a couple of other points on a legal front. first to you, on jill mccabe's on ed with the deputy editor of "the washington post," they've reached out to her and she's written her first statements. jill mccabe, an emergency room pediatrician and she says an accidental politician, someone who never thought much about politics until i was recruited to run for state office after making a statement about the importance of expanding medicaid. that decision, plus some twisted reporting and presidential

tweets ended up costing my husband, andrew, his job and our family a significant portion of his pension. my husband had worked hard for over it 21 years of federal service for the past year-and-a-half of this nightmare. i have not been free to speak out about what happened. now that andrew has been fired, i am. she points out that she had voted for republicans, as well as democrat. that he was a life-long republican. trying to push back because there's been silence really about her role in this. she had run for office in virginia and had support from a political action committee that terry mcauliffe, then democratic governor of virginia and of course a clinton ally, had helped fund. >> well, that's right, andrea. i can tell you, i have been in the room with the president where he has taken sharp aim at jill mccabe as a way really to undercut andrew mccabe. you have a lot of his critics saying his broader goal is to undercut not only law enforcement, the fbi, but the russia investigation itself.

so she has been on the other end of very sharp attacks by the president. but he is unapologetic and has been unapologetic. i had supporters continue to insist that it underscores the fact that some of the people who are engaged in this investigation have some type of political motive. she's speaking out for the first time defending herself in very strong terms, andrea. >> pete, over at the courthouse, the justice department under jeff sessions has now imposed quotas demanding that immigration judges handle at least 700 immigration cases a year. how unusual is that? >> well, unusual because it's not been done before explicitly. some immigration judges have said they have avenue always felt under pressure to increase their work load. the criticism from the immigrant lawyer community is that there won't be time to develop these cases properly and that many people just don't understand the legal proceedings and they'll be rushed through the process that they don't understand. i would say one other thing about mccabe, if i may, andrea.

>> please. >> supporters of andrew mccabe established a legal defense fund for him on friday with a goal of raising $150,000 on a go fun me page. they shut it down sunday night after it had raised more than half a million dollars. >> that's pretty astounding, indeed. thank you, pete and kristen and matt miller here. up next, standing by his man. president trump sticking with scott pruitt despite growing calls for his resignation for for him to be fired. but for how long? trump campaign manager cory lewandowski joins me next. do you want the same tools and seamless experience across web and tablet? do you want $4.95 commissions for stocks, $0.50 options contracts? $1.50 futures contracts? what about a dedicated service team of trading specialists? did you say yes? good, then it's time for power e*trade. the platform, price and service that gives you the edge you need. looks like we have a couple seconds left. let's do some card twirling twirling cards

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and the white house today is sending the strongest possible signal of support to embattled epa administrator scott pruitt, telling nbc news that the president called pruitt to say, we've got your back. that was reinforced in a separate call today by john kelly. this despite the controversial over pruitt's travel and his cut-rate rental from a friend whose husband is an energy lobbyist with business in front of the epa. joining me now, cory lewandowski, former trump campaign manager, now chief strategist for america first action, the trump super pac. thank you. cory, great to have you from new hampshire. we know that backdrop. first of all, how was the easter egg roll. i know you were there with your family this weekend and yesterday. >> it was such a special thing to have the opportunity to see

the president there, his family came out. mrs. trump was reading to the children. it was a little chilly in washington yesterday but my kids had a great time and my 7-year-old is convinced he won the easter egg roll because he hit the egg across with one try. >> well, he probably did then. so what do you think of all of the cabinet issues and the challenges that the president has had? clearly in some of the ethical problems for ben carson, scott pruitt, now the ouster of david shulkin. it is a year and some months in and they're still not settled. >> yeah. i think what we've seen and what i believe general kelly has said he's waiting for the ig reports to come out from a number of these respective agencies. we've seep that the president wasn't happy with the va administrator so he's been removed. now we have an admiral going in to take over that if he is confirmed by the senate. but the ig reports that are being looked at by not just the

epa, but also hud and others are going to be a telltale sign. this is going to present the administration a true and full understanding of were any laws broken, was there anything that was inappropriate. what we have seen in the case of administrator pruitt was the career individuals who work at the epa signed off on him renting that room and there's no talk about that. but he had permission from the career individuals at the epa before this ever took place. >> that said, let me show you -- share with you what chris christie, who initially had led the transition, had to say on "abc this week." >> this was a brutally unprofessional transition. this was a transition that didn't vet people for these types of judgment issues which i think could have been seen very easily by a lot of people. president's been ill-served by this. if mr. pruitt's going to go, it

is because he never should have been there in the first time. i don't know how he survives this one. if he has to go, it's because he never should have been there in the first place. >> yet today scott pruitt announcing the relaxation of auto emission rules. he is doing what the president wants. the president says he's sticking with his man. he's doing exactly what the president wants in terms of regulation. >> well, i think that's right. we've seen the epa here actually functioning the way that it is supposed to have been over the course of number of years, which is reducing the punitive actions against individuals and farmers and businesses that are trying to do what they're supposed to be doing. so the policy side of what administrator pruitt is doing falls directly in line with what this president pledged on the campaign and he's very happy with that. as it relates to an ig report, we'll wait and see what that ig investigation turns up. we have to remember that when it is a political decision, the president is always chastised by the political side of it. but when it is career government officials making determinations that are saying what

administrator pruitt did was perfectly legal and in the bounds because he went to them first, we have to allow that system to take place and wait for the ig report to come out. >> what about the habit of letting people know that they're fired on twitter? it's happened now with tillerson. it happened with shulkin. they've gotten a heads-up to watch the president's tweets from john kelly. but the actual firing took place on twitter, the announcement of the firing. >> well, i do believe that in the case of the va secretary, he had a conversation with the chief of staff prior to it go out. i believe as it related to rex tillerson, it is also reported that general kelly had a conversation with secretary tillerson, asked him to return from his overseas trip early because they knew that this was in the works. i don't think in either of those cases this was a surprise to either of the individuals. they both knew that there was some significant problems with the agency that they were running. rex tillerson has been very forward-facing as it related to his disagreements with the president and you need our top

diplomat on the same team. what you have now with director pompeo of the cia who's been nominated to take over the state department is a person who has the same philosophy as the president and is on their page. that is going to be very important to installing the morale at foggy bottom. >> don't you think that pompeo and also john bolton are more hawkish on russia than is the president? >> i think both of them are individuals that the president has complete trust in. if you look at john bolton, if you look at larry kudlow who's now in the building, you can contraries of the president who have had the opportunity to know the president for a significant period of time, first if the private sector, then during the transition as president-elect. and now as the president. they have an opportunity where some didn't before because they didn't have those relationships to tell the president what they believe. the president wants imput from all sides, but at the end of the day he is the individual who makes the final decision.

when it comes to action against russia, we saw this president act very swiftly when they expelled 60 russian diplomats from the united states. >> why would he have suggested to vladimir putin two weeks ago -- exactly two weeks ago today that they get together and even possibly get together at the white house? the kremlin then announces that before the white house can and it's blind-sided a number of national security officials and it seems to be rewarding putin for something that he doesn't deserve. >> i don't think it is rewarding putin. you have to remember, they're still a super power and we lie on a relationship with them to continue to put a stranglehold on north korea through economic sanctions. we rely on them to make sure that we're working together for the defeat of isis in syria. there are opportunities for us to work with russia. now we have to be extremely cautious but what we have to make sure we do is where there are opportunities to work together and specifically the denuclearization of north korea is so important for us, we can't achieve that without the help of

russia and in some instances china here. so we have to work with those individuals to make sure that we have opportunities to denuclearize north korea. does that mean vladimir putin will be coming to washington? we don't know. but we have to make sure that we can work with those entities for the betterment of the world which is a denuclearizing north korea. >> you've got such good political radar, having run the campaign and being involved in politics for so long with donald trump. should he consider pardons for people like manafort and flynn? how much of a political firestorm would that cause? >> look, i don't think he should. i think the issues that paul manafort currently faces are from 10 or 12 years before, long before he ever joined the trump campaign for that brief period of time. he should be held accountable if pe didn't follow the rules he was supposed to follow. there is a number of charges against mr. manafort and his colleagues for what they did long before they ever came to the trump campaign.

as it relates to mr. flynn, general flynn has to understand -- and what it looks like is general flynn had a conversation with former deputy director andrew mccabe who's how to since been fired, which is amazing because now we see -- and congress -- individuals from congress are saying that mr. mccabe has lied to the fbi on four separate occasions. if that's the case then mr. mccabe needs to be held to the same standard as everybody else which lying to the fbi is a felony and we need to open an investigation and see if charges ought to be brought against him as well. >> it just does seem from a filing as recently as last night that manafort is being looked into for things that did occur while he was with the campaign, a lot more recently than that. we'll find out more obviously as this investigation continues. cory, thank you very much for being with us today. hope to see you again soon. >> my pleasure. thank you. up next -- rsvp. why russia so eagerly accepted that invitation floated by the white house -- by the president. ♪ piano music

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russia eagerly seized on president trump's suggestion that he might invite vladimir putin to a white house summit, announcing it publicly before

the white house even ang knowledg acknowledging publicly it had been made. it was one of the signals that came up during a phone call with putin two weeks ago. putin is hoping to show unity while trying to disrupt the unity of the u.s. peter baker and megan o'sullivan, welcome, both. megan, first of all, putin and the kremlin seem to eager to seize on this, change the subject from the punishment -- the united punishment organized by theresa may. what is your reaction to the way the president has remained silent on the poisoning and has come in strongly -- the administration has joined the others, but the president's still silent about it. >> well, i think the most important level, it raises some real questions about the nature of the relationship between

these two men which of course we don't know if its entirety. but i also think it tells us a lot about president trump. i think even though he seems like a confrontational figure in the media and through twitter, in person or on the phone, he's not confrontational. witness the firing via tweets of recent weeks. when he is face to face or directly in contact with a leader or even members of his own cabinet, he seems to shy away from confrontations. and this is one of the reasons why i think so many people are worried about the prospect of a summit between these two leaders. >> clearly, peter, picking up on what megan just said, people don't know what the president might be agreeing to. >> well, that's exactly right. today he's hosting leaders of the three baltic states that were once part of the soviet union. you won't find three leaders in europe who are more afraid of russia. they'll no doubt tell them they

hope the united states has their back. he has said in the past the united states does have the back of the baltic states and other states in eastern europe. but they're going to be concerned about the idea of a white house meeting between president trump and vladimir putin. because one, it diminishes the isolation that's been sought by europe in these last couple weeks after the poisoning in britain. these three baltic states all expelled diplomats, as well as the united states. to them, to have president putin show up at the white house if that would actually happen would seem to undercut that message that europe and the united states sent by this collaborative effort. the president will hear their point of view today and he'll come out of the press conference in a little while. be interesting to see how they straddle this issue. >> we are waiting now because the president's apparently been answering some questions at their oval office photo opportunity and that tape will be played back by the pool, as you know, peter, the small group that's in there with him. megan, you were on the nsc staff

with president bush. note cards were given to the the president before that call with putin saying, "do not congratulate" in capital letters. he either didn't read it or didn't take their advice. he apparently freelanced this invitation to come to the white house because they did not at all brief on it afterwards. though they must know because these calls are recorded and listened in to. take us behind the scenes. >> sure. i think as your question suggests, it would be very unusual for a president in a phone call of this nature to suggest a meeting at the white house in particular because that turns into a summit and generally speaking across presidencies, a summit is not something that's embarked on casually. it is usually the product of many, many months of work, and usually it is at the end of an arduous exercise, and usually there are things called deliver

rabbles. so things that can be announced, can be marked out as achievements in the bilateral or multi-lateral leelrelationshipsh these summits happen. so i don't know what those note cards said but i think if someone was advising president trump not to congratulate him, they were taking for granted that he wasn't going to extend a summit invitation to president putin. so again, these types of things -- it is not that the phone call is scripted word for word, but something of that nature would be considered to be a very big deal. i've been in meetings. i've been working on relationships where the prospect of a summit has been debated, has been the conversation in many many situation room meetings because it is considered a tool of foreign policy, not a casual give-away. >> just briefly, peter, this is exactly what he also did with kim jong-un in freelancing and saying, yeah, let's have a summit before the south koreans had even briefed him.

>> these decisions seem to be made by president trump much more off the cuff, much more spontaneously than in megan's white house, in the bush white house or the obama white house, where, as she said, there would be a process, meetings, discussions, mowemos, a debate perhaps of what would be the outcome if you did it. last time president putin was invited to the white house was in 2005 when president bush was still in office and trying to make friends with imha. he wasn't invited by the second president bush or by president obama because this relationship has been so problematic in the 13 careers since then. president trump has to do things more spur of the moment. that's part of his style, something that he feels has worked for him in politics. but in an international diplomacy it makes others sort of feel uncomfortable. >> peter baker, megan o'sullivan, thanks for both of your expertise. coming up, eyewitness to history on the eve of the 50th

anniversary of dr. martin luther king jr.'s assassination. a woman who was there for his final moments shares her story for the first time. civil rights leader congressman john lewis also joins us next. this is "andrea mitchel reports" on msnbc. more and more people are finding themselves in a chevrolet for the first time. trying something new can be exciting. empowering. downright exhilarating. see for yourself why chevrolet is the most awarded and fastest growing brand, the last four years overall. switch into a new chevy now. get 20% below msrp on all cruze and malibu lt models. that's over fifty four hundred dollars on this chevy malibu. find new roads at your local chevy dealer. cohigher!ad! higher!

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the president has spoken to the pool of reporters who were in the oval office. kristen welker is at the white house still for us. we know he talked on a variety of subjects, including immigrati immigration, those so-called caravans that he's been talking about, and daca not accurately on twitter and the last couple of days, as well as at the easter egg roll. we know we'll have it momentarily. what are the quick headlines? i may have to interrupt you. >> no problem, andrea. on immigration, the president stepping up his attacks, calling for democrats to deal with daca and again taking aim at those caravans, what are those caravans he's talking about? well, it is more than 1,000 migrants, many from honduras, who are coming through mexico, and not trying to enter the u.s. illegally, but rather some of them seeking asylum, some staying in mexico, really protesting situations in their

own countries from kidnappings to killings. this is something that's been going on for past five years, so this is nothing new. it is not necessarily people trying to get into the country illegally, but rather some who may seek asylum. so the president really using that to try to amp up his attacks. he's been getting criticized by some of his core supporters for not getting enough money for the border wall. he essentially acknowledged as much in these statements, according to our own peter alexander, say something the border wall hasn't start to be built yet, that he needs more money. he hasn't talked about russia either, andrea, which is notable as well, saying it is not a bad thing for have a relationship with russia and seemingly expressing support for scott pruitt. >> joining me now from atlanta, democratic congressman and civil rights leader john lewis, a

young follower of dr. martin luther king jr.'s march at the edmund pettus bridge in selma and the march on washington, of course was with him at the march and with bobby kennedy in indianapolis on the eve of the assassination where kennedy was a pivotal figure during that 1968 campaign. congressman, thank you very much. i know a lot of thoughts go through your mind. can you even imagine what dr. king would think of the kind of debate we're having now over immigration and human rights here in the united states? >> well, martin luther king jr. would be speaking up and speaking out. he would say that america is not right and that we need to do the right thing to look out for all of the people in our country. and he would say that they are one people, we are one family. we all live in the same house. not just an american house, but

the world house. he would say what the pope said when he spoke to jeff sessions of the congress -- we all are immigrants. we all come from some other place. on one occasion dr. king said we must learn to live together as brothers and sisters. if not, we will perish as fools. >> let me take you back to 50 years ago tonight. you were with bobby kennedy. he was running for president. he was in indianapolis. how did you learn about dr. king's death? and then i want to play a bit of bobby kennedy's speech? >> we can move in that direction as a country in greater polarization, black people amongst blacks and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. or we can make an effort, as martin luther king did, to

understand and to comprehend and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand compassion and love. >> i misspoke, of course. this was on the night after the assassination. you were at bobby kennedy's side. tell me about that moment when he quieted obviously a grieving and angry crowd in indianapolis. >> when bobby kennedy spoke that night, he spoke out of the depth. h -- depth of his heart, out of his soul. it was bobby kennedy that announced to the crowd, the people that we had been organizing, that dr. king had died. i had heard that he had been

shot but i didn't know his condition. and i tell you, what he said had a cooling impact on the audience and in indianapolis, one of the major cities in america that didn't have any violence that evening or in the days following. and i think what bobby kennedy said that evening really sent a strong message to the people there and to people all around america an around the world. >> now i know you have not been back since that night. this has been a very difficult anniversary for you, but you're going tomorrow. tell me why. >> i am going back to indianapolis tomorrow and going back to that very spot which is now king kennedy park. i have not been back in 50

years. it was so painful. it was so hurtful to hear that dr. king had been assassinated. this man i admired. i loved. he was my friend. he was like my big brother. he became a leader. if it wouldn't have been for martin luther king jr., i don't know what would have happened to many of us as individuals, to our nation, and to our sense of people. >> you were 28 years old when dr. king died. you had been 25 years old i think when you were at his side on the edmund pettus bridge and you were beaten and -- almost beaten to death. how does a young person handle that kind of grief and loss? and do you relate to the young students, for instance from parkland? they are a good deal younger and perhaps in a more formative stage of their lives, but maybe because of communications,

they're also a lot more plugged in to what's happening in the world around them. >> well, before getting involved in the movement, i read about martin luther king jr. i listened to him on radio. i watched him on television. i met rosa parks in 1957 when i was 17. the next year i met martin luther king jr. and the teaching of dr. king, of the philosophy and discipline of non-violence prepared us. when we were beaten, arrested and thrown in jail, when i thought i was going to die on that bridge. i thought i saw death. but i kept on believing in what he had taught us and the way he led us and imbued us with this peter that we should be kind and

be loving and respect the dignity and the worth of every human being. and his teaching i live by. the teaching of gandhi. that we must never give up, never give in, never become bitter or hostile. and he would say it to us over and over again. never hate. for hate is to carry a burden to bear. >> congressman john lewis, you are an inspiration then, and 50 years later now. and for all the years since, thank you very much. thanks for sharing your memories with us. >> thank you. and moments ago, the president answering questions in the cabinet room during a working meeting with baltic state heads of government. let's listen. >> we need the wall, we need the protection and we have to change our immigration laws at the border and elsewhere.

so mexico has at this moment it seems they've broken up large numbers of that particular caravan and we'll see what happens. but we're preparing at our border. we cannot have people flowing in our country illegally, disappearing and, by the way, never showing up to court. so the court case will be set for two years or three years if you can believe this, and they never show up. for the most part. very rarely do they show up. plus, if you notice, they're trying to hire thousands of judges so every person that walks across -- and they're taught to say the right thing. they walk across an then they go -- and they're supposed to go to court. so we're supposed to have thousands of judges, because we can now have them taken out -- we have to bring them before a ridiculous court system. we have to change our policies fast. just like we have to change on

sanctuary cities. if you look at what's happening in california, they're having revolts out there because there are a lot of areas, orange county and others, they don't want to have sanctuary cities which are guarding kri ining cr. so a lot of things are changing. but i've just that the caravan coming up from honduras is broken up and mexico did that. and they did it because, frankly, i said you really have to do it. we're going to have a relationship on nafta, we're going to have to include security in nafta. so mexico, very strong laws, and that's the way it is. so it looks like it's been broken up. so that will be good. okay. thank you all very much. the caravan doesn't irritate me. the caravan makes me very sad that this could happen to the united states where you have thoudzs of people that just decide to walk into our country and we don't have any laws that could protect it.

the wall because of the democrats has been delayed. we started -- just so you understand, we have $1.6 billion. we're fixing and building brand-new walls in certain areas. we're doing a lot of work on walls. we have $1.6 billion and we're starting brand-new sections of walls but we need a wall that's 700 to 800 miles of the 2,000-mile stretch. we have a lot of natural boundaries. but it's very sad to see it. sad even on both sides. it is sad for the people in the caravan and it is sad for the people of the united states. it's really sad that we don't have laws that say we have a border and if you don't do it legally you can't come in to the united states. to me that's a very sad thing for the people of the united states. thank you all very much. thank you. thank you very much. i have great respect for the baltic states. tremendous people. tremendous leaders who i've

known now for pretty long period of time. no. we have great respect for the baltic states. thank you. thank you very much, everybody. thank you very much. we want to be able -- if possible, and this is speaking with the baltic states. ideally we want to be able to get along with russia. getting a i long with russia is a good thing. now maybe we will and maybe we won't. probably nobody's been tougher to russia than donald trump. if you take a look at our military strength now which would not have happened had the opponent won. if you take a look at the oil and gas that we're producing now. we're independent. we're now exporting oil and gas. this is not something that russia wanted. the three presidents just told me that nato has taken in a tremendous amount of money because of donald trump that would have never happened. so nato's much stronger. you may want to say that. would you like to say that, madam president?

please. >> we talk already that -- five minutes ago that for us important to the president's impetus on united states in ex united states to go ahead with deep reforms of nato, especially on decision making, on decisiveness, on the denial, acts of denial, which we expect to see from russia in case of aggression. without united states, this is not possible. about 80% of -- coming from the u.s. and why the vital leadership of the united states for reform is important. we are behind and with you. i think that the best allies you have in europe and nato is baltic states today. and we also doing our homework. we're modernizing army. we're spending already.

and together think we can do a lot. i'm very much looking forward to see everybody around the table in brussels and going ahead with a better nato, more resultive nato and more efficient nato. >> has donald trump made a difference on nato? this is a very risky question but if she says the same thing she said in the oval office. >> i can repeat that it is very good pressure to all of us, all members of nato, is better pressure to all political elite who thinks that somebody else needs to protect but not themselves. so the first is your homework and then you ask for your partner. that's exactly what you did. this kind of leadership is good. we're using it also. i am open. we're using it to influence the opinions in other countries but first we need to invest in ourselves and only then the partners can come with us. >> nato has taken in billions of dollars more because of me. because i said you're

delinquent, you're not paying, to many of the countries. is that right? many of countries weren't paying. even now germany is paying 1% and they're not even paying the full 1%. germany hooks up a pipeline into russia where germany's going to be paying billions of dollars for energy into russia. and i'm saying what's going on with that? how come germany is paying vast amounts of money to russia when they hook up a pipeline? that's not right. so you look at what's going on. now, so germany pays 1%. the united states is paying close to 4%. the united states, as you said, is paying 80% of the cost of nato. do you think that's fair? with all of that being said, because of me, and you can speak to the head of nato, stultenburg, he said that because of what i've said to the countries, they've taken in, general, i think you'll confirm this too, many of billions more than they would have had if you

had crooked hillary clinton as president, okay, that i can tell you. many billions of dollars more. so, you know, we've been very tough on that. we've been very tough on russia frankly. but i will say if we got along with russia, that would be a good thing, not a bad thing. it's possible we won't. we're going to find out whether or not we do. if we could all get along that would all be great. that includes china. that includes many other countries. but we'll see what happens. but only time will tell. nobody has been tougher on russia. getting along with russia would be a good thing, not a bad thing. just about everybody agrees with that, except very stupid people. >> -- is he a friend or a foe? >> we'll find out. i'll let you know. they'll be a time when i'll let you know. you're going to find out very quickly. we'll see what happens. okay, thank you all. >> thank you, everyone.

>> thank you. i have a great respect for the baltics. i have great respect for my friends. i've known them now right from the beginning of my presidency. these are great courageous people and have done a fantastic job for their country. i have great respect for you and for your nations. thank you all. thank you. thank you. thanks, everyone. >> you take a look at the post office, you take a look at the post office. and the post office is losing billions of dollars and the taxpayers are paying for that money because it delivers packages for amazon at a very below cost. and that's not fair to the united states. it's not fair to our taxpayers. and amazon has the money to pay the fair rate at the post office. which would be much more than they're paying right now. the other thing is a lot of retail businesses all over the country are going out of business so that's a different problem. and it's a big problem. you have retailers all over the united states. going out of business.

you look at some of these small towns where they had a beautiful main street with stores. the stores are all gone. so that's a different problem that we're going to have to talk about. but if you look at the cost that we're subsidizing, we're giving a subsidy to amazon, and we're talking about billions of dollars a year. the real cost. and a report just came out. they said $1.47 i believe or about that for every time they deliver a package. the united states government, meaning the post office, loses $1.47. so amazon is going to have to pay much more money to the post office, there's no doubt about that. thank you all very much, thank you. thank you. i hope he's going to be good. thank you. >> thanks, everyone, time to go. time to go, guys. >> move it along. >> nobody has been tougher on russia than donald trump. you heard it there. joining me now, ashley parker, a

white house reporter for "the washington post." and sam stein, politics editor for the daily beast, both msnbc contributors. ashley, that was kind of a potpourri. there was amazon, there was -- a quick answer to peter alexander i believe at the end there about scott pruitt. but the fact is, he was reassuring the world and the baltic leaders who were visiting him that he's tough on vladimir putin. >> sure. you're right. it was sort of a grab bag. i can't even count the number of times you heard his aides sort of ushering everyone out, saying thank you, thank you. but it was clear the president wanted to stay and do more. and that's sort of what we're hearing from inside the white house. again, this is sort of a president emboldened, more confident, unleashed. so you saw him weighing in on all of the topics on his mind, the areas he wants to push back a little incorrectly like on russia. other areas that had been

obsessions like amazon and so i think that was sort of a quick portrait and glimpse into what the president is thinking and ruminating over right now. >> expanding on what we've seen on twitter, sam, which is fierce statements about daca, which bear no relationship to the actual facts. people coming across now, since 2007, cannot qualify for daca, period. >> correct. i mean, you're right, it was a potpourri of different topics. it was curious when he was going to actually stop talking. the stuff that struck me about the immigration comments, the portion of it, was just the absence of empathy for the people who are coming across the border now. he's right, in the sense that there's a conservative line that you shouldn't cross the border. you're here illegally. there are laws that prohibit this. there's not a physical barrier structure, but you can't, you know, be here illegally, technically. it's a matter of deportation that it comes down to.

where as every -- whereas the presidents that proceeded donald trump, whether it be bush, obama, spoke about these border crossers with a bit of empathy. they were asylum seekers. there is no such empathy in anything that trump says. and that is a policy prescription that he used very effectively in the republican primary but it's one that is totally new for a president. >> and very briefly, big implications for mexico, even though fewer mexicans are coming across, a net minus of mexicans. there are others who are coming across illegally. ashley. >> yes, that's right, this is a president who we're seeing he's sort of using his frustrations over the border wall, over immigration, as sort of a bargaining chip or more accurately a threat on nafta, which is a negotiation that sort of has quietly been proceeding at pace. when the president says something like that, his aides say it, it can blow it all up. >> ashley parker, sam stein,

thank you so much. before we go, we've learned a lot more about a remarkable story of a woman who witnessed the assassination, standing below the memphis motel balcony where the civil rights leader was shot and killed. mary ellen ford, a waitress and cook at the ford hotel, is sharing her deeply personal story for the first time with nbc's craig melvin. >> reporter: on the evening of april 4th, mary ellen was cooking in the kitchen. >> at first i thought it was firecrackers. you know. people shooting off firecrackers. then we all ran outside to see what was going on. and he was laying on the back. i'm standing there. i'm just dumfounded, you know, shocked, like what just happened. this don't happen here. you know. this is not okay. >> reporter: when you keep

something bottled up for a half century, to finally share it, it can be overwhelming. >> craig melvin, i know you're going to play all of that. it's an extraordinary interview. thank you so much for bringing it to us. >> thank you. thank you very much. craig melvin here at msnbc headquarters in new york city. trump's troubles. president trump's russia troubles. the first man sentenced in robert mueller's investigation learned he is going to be spending 30 days in prison. right now, the president meeting with baltic state leaders. you just heard him here. he went off about nafta, the post office, amazon as well. plus, job security. nbc news reports the president told his embattled epa secretary scott pruitt he's got his back. pruitt spoke publicly today without taking questions.