course led to the mueller investigation. very well deserved. we're grateful to have you as colleagues. congratulations to you. and my thanks to the panel. that does it for our hour. >> i'm nicole wallace. "mtp daily" starts on time. i'm on time for you for once. >> if you keep telling me you're on time -- never mind. happy friday. i'll see you tuesday. but if it is friday, is the political climate changing for the embattled epa chief? tonight what will it take to break the protective conservative bubble around scott pruitt. >> and the trump slump. the dow takes a drop as the threat of a trade war rises. >> this tariff thing is not a bluff. not at all. >> and r.e.s.p.e.c.t.

>> i have great respect -- >> this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. good evening and welcome to "mtp daily." i'm chuck todd here in washington. where it is 5:00 on a friday after a week of very bad headlines for a member of the president's administration. and if this were any other administration we'd be talking about likely tonight the firing of the epa administration -- administrator on a 5:00 on friday. here is a quick rundown of what scott pruitt is facing. he rented a room for $50 a night on capitol hill of a condo owned by the wife of a lobbyist, two close aides were given pay raises and the white house wasn't inform and disapproved them and it is possible pruitt lied when asked about it. now we are getting conflicting evidence there. he has made first class travel the norm while on the job and explored spending $100,000 a month on a private jet membership.

he spent $34,000 on a secure phone booth and he expressed interest in getting a bulletproof security desk and a bulletproof suv and wanted a security detail to turn on sirens and lights to get through the traffic to get him to a dinner at a swanky d.c. restaurant on time and according to new york times, at least five employees voiced concern about many of the decisions, they were either reassigned or demoted. so after all of that, much of it reported in just the past 48 hours, the big question today, why does scott pruitt still have a job? the answer, president trump. he's sticking with pruitt, even though much of the professional west wing staff is not. according to the daily beast, john kelly called pruitt this week to tell him the negative stories needed to stop, and they didn't. wall street journal and new york times are reporting that kelly has urged the president to remove pruitt from the epa. white house press office has stopped short of a full-throated endorsement of pruitt. take a listen. >> what is scott pruitt's

future? >> i can't speak to the future of scott pruitt. >> the president wants and demands from his cabinet and from all of the staffers the highest level of ethical behavior -- >> no one other than the president has the authority to hire and fire members of his cabinet, it is a decision he'll make and right now i don't have any personnel announcement. the paparazzi feels the administrator has done a good job at epa and restored it back to the original purpose of protecting the environment -- >> nevertheless, president trump appears to -- to be keeping pruitt on board. he gave him support aboard air force one calling pruitt courageous and remarking that he's done a fantastic job. and nbc news reports that pruitt met with trump personally today on epa business. so again, why does scott pruitt still have a job? because he is being protected of sorts by a cocoon of activists who just love this guy. he is doing with the president

wants. he skacaled brack the obama era clean power and led the push to get the u.s. out paris climate accord. these moves have made president trump's critics on the left angry and built up good will for pruitt with conservatives and some pundits and even a few lawmakers are alleging the ethics stories are smears from liberals who don't agree with pruitt's position on the environment. like this, just posted by the conservative group freedom works, quote, the radical left is running -- a smear campaign against scott pruitt to force him out of the epa. we'll get that up for you in a second. and this is why pruitt is staying put. when people like departed cabinet secretary price and shulkin couldn't, price got him what he wanted with obama and shulkin privatized the v.a. and the president summed up in a tweet, said he is doing a great

job and under siege and until that cocoon around him breaks, he probably isn't going anywhere. let mez bring in the panel. shane harris from the washington post, susan glasser from politico and soon to be a major writer with new yorker and alfonso aguilar from conservative america. shane, it is 5:00, pruitt still has a job. it is pretty clear the west wing thinks he should go. the president doesn't. does pruitt survive? >> is seems like -- first of all, nobody predicted anything and can which is why folks are not making a prediction because they don't know what their boss will do. but this reminds -- me of other incidences where the president has one position and the administration has another and he is comfortable with that. if you are just basing it off the great job that he's been doing for conservatives and in terms of the agenda and trump statements, i think scott pruitt

should feel confident right now. but as confidence in a situation like this. >> alfonso, it is like the way evangelicals have turned their -- turn their head. no, no, we're happy with the policies he's implementing to we're going to -- no, we'll cover our ears and turn away. is there -- where does that line make it where conservatives are defending unethical behavior? >> it is difficult. because with pruitt, you have to understand he's a conservative hero. even before he became a administrator of the epa. so he's respected within the conservative movement. people like ed niece are coming out and saying, he's -- on the job. >> i think he's an heir apparent to the trump as some in that movement will see -- >> and he is interested in replacing jeff sessions as attorney general. the president is happy with the job he's done, doing away with obama era environmental regulations but i think i see the writing on the wall. the president is not loyal --

when a person becomes a nuisance, a problem for him, eventually that person leaves. so if i were pruitt, i would be check his twitter feed because at any time there could be a message saying you're gone. >> susan, is there a point where pruitt, if does he want to be the heir apparent to trump world, which i think he does and i think it is clear -- when you look at the groups of people trying to support him, doesn't he say, i will leave because i'm a distraction. but i'm going to keep up the fight and that somehow preserves his legacy? >> chuck, it is interesting because he's had so many embattled staff and i've been waiting for them to quit and say enough with this indignity, why did rex tillerson for god sake not quit. he never quit. they waited and waited and they endure these public humiliation. it does seem as though scott pruitt certainly could kind of steal a march on everybody by not letting this play out in the predictable way because i do

agree with alfonso, the writing does seem to be on the wall, the disclosures we're seeing, trump may not want to fire him. but i think it is a fair point that he really doesn't tend to choose loyalty to his staff over a public frenzy. frankly, though, when i put my trump-ologist and criminalologist hat on looking at the stories, the person who seems as endangered in the last 24 hours as the secretary himself or the administrator himself, is john kelly. the white house chief of staff. that is what i found amazing -- reading the washington read and they just reported that john kelly recommended to trump days ago that he fire pruitt. he's still there. that was leaked with the intent to undercut john kelly who as we already know trump has soured on. >> is john kelly a chino. a chief of staff in name only. you like that --

>> that is good. >> i swear to god -- >> that is going to stick. >> you buy chinos. >> you talked about this on the show in past. john kelly was the chief of staff that would be enabled to do the job unlike reince priebus and by many accounts he hasn't done a great job. if you are enabled and shown that the president is disregarding you on the personnel decisions, if you are saying publicly i'm here to control the paper flow to the president, that is the staff secretary's job. you could argue that he is a chief in name only because if the president is not listening to someone on this sensitive and the leaks are flying out of the building right now to point out how effectless john kelly has been with the president, that is not a great position of strength at all. >> the mixed messages, they are getting into pruitt, the tariffs were getting mixed messages. larry kudlow, calm down, this is a negotiating tactic and the president no it's not. >> that is a relationship and just a month aguilary kudlow was

criticizing the president over the tariffs say they are taxes on consumers and now he is defending the president -- >> sort of. >> but he's saying these are proposed tariffs and not a trade war. it is a theory at this point. he's trying to negotiate. and kudlow said they are negotiation and the chinese said at this point there is no negotiations. so what is happening. >> want to play a little bit of president trump today on his radio interview on wabc. take a listen. >> i'm not saying there won't be a little pain but the market has gone up 40%, 42% so we might lose a little bit of it. but we'll have a much stronger country when we're finished. >> it was interesting what he counted of pain -- as sid rosenberg -- kudos to him on that show, the new imus, but the

president is talking about the stock market getting a hair cut. the real pain would be to consumers. >> well the real pain would be consumers an the raeal pain is key elements of donald trump's base. it is not an accident that the chinese targeted their response at key members of the trump coalition. >> he thought they targeted kerry bran stead. >>ez the ambassador. now i thought it was fascinating that you joni ernst from iowa calling president up to register her words, but putting out a perfe -- a press release about it. they have not been defiant of any issue until now. i think the chinese are being smart and calculated, trying to use politics within the republican party itself to pressure trump to back away. >> and to that point, senator johnson of wisconsin made a good

point. he said why are we getting into a fight with china at a time when we need their support as we confront north korea. >> this is the -- foreign policy is chess. it is three dimensional chess and this is part you are making. we have a dispute with china over here but work with china over there. this is -- donald trump is linear. he is focused on something and then focused on something. this is not his strength. >> and china has already thought this through four and five move -- moves ahead. >> and they are not a democracy to feel the political pressure this country will. >> absolutely right. you saw the first sanctions and it was not as strong and then they imposed more and hit in places where the trump voters will be affected as well. >> we keep trying to impose or narrative on donald trump. this is not a guy operating strategically according to a carefully thought out plan. and i think that that is part of the problem. you talk about three dimensional

chess. i think of a player who is -- everybody else is playing a game with rules that they understand. donald trump is -- who knows what he's playing. it is probably not three dimensional chess and that is confuse people who think that is not a smart chess move. >> but he is benefiting in this respect, alfonso, in the moves internationally. the instability means that people are treating him with kit gloves and so they haven't made rash moves. just rash threats, but not rash moves. almost as if -- from the president's point of view, he probably said, see, that is my tactic. that is how this works. i have them not sure what i'm going to do. >> and that is his theory that he defies conventional thinking. so who knows what exactly is he thinking. so let's be careful. there may be a strategy behind it after all. >> shane, why do i think and maybe in a week or two weeks or

a month, the president announcing that he and the chinese -- the leader xi will sit down and hash this out. >> everything is i alone will fix it. >> it is a deal or a bilateral binary relationship and arrangement. it is interesting that north korean leader went to beijing and visited and jinping was happy to have his photograph taken with him and showing he's really going to be the big player in other negotiations that we would like to be people. xi is saying may have your aim in this region but this will go through me. >> and this plays into the hands of the world who like to be the lone deciders or the putins, this is a rising tide of international leadership. >> absolutely. we haven't talked about syria but china and syria happening the same week, the visual of president putin while trump is saying i want to get out of syria this week, no matter what, my advisers say no matter what our plan is, while vladimir

putin is convening the leaders of turkey and basically iran and saying i'm the leader. never mind. this is the post-american world in action. >> creating a problem who just a few months ago said it would be a catastrophe to get out of syria, and that is where you have a president saying -- oh, there is no withdrawal date now. >> he's been trying to back that truck up -- >> and it is also clear and we did reporting on this at the post, the messages the pentagon are getting on this, they are not clear. so it is amazing when the president makes the statement we're coming out of sear and after meetings people are walking away, is there a time table or not a time table. >> i'm trying to figure out the saudis and israelis realize if he does pull out, how they feel about that. >> there is a report of a contention phone call between netanyahu and trump on this very subject. even though trump has closely partnered with netanyahu, the

israelis did not want an abrupt withdrawal of americans. >> they don't want a syria controlled by country named russia, turkey or iran. i'll pause it here. you are sticking around. up ahead, the white house new russia crackdown and one issue we haven't tackled yet. the most aggressive one yet. members of putin's inner circle facing harsh punishments but is it too late. and how can russia fire back? that is next. lood sugar isn't a marathon. it's a series of smart choices. like using glucerna to replace one meal or snack a day. only glucerna has carbsteady... unique blends of slow-release carbs to help manage blood sugar. every meal. every craving. it's the choices you make when managing blood sugar that are the real victories. glucerna. everyday progress. when this guy got a flat tire

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welcome back. today on meet the midterms, what is old is new again. the former governor tim pawlenty made it official he's running for his old job which he held for eight years until 2011, the same year he began a campaign for president. and while there are signs pointing to a democratic wave nationally this year, this race in minnesota could tell us more

about how much this traditionally blue-leaning state is actually trending red and has been for a decade. and remember hillary clinton won minnesota by less than two points over donald trump in 2016. let me repeat, she won minnesota, home of walter mondale's lone state that he carried by just two points. now compare that to president obama who won minnesota by eight points over mitt romney. and house republicans have a shot of claiming two open seats that president trump carried in minnesota that democrats are vacating while they are mostly playing defense in the rest of the country. so former governor pawlenty will have to get through a tough primary and a party now led by the president he once called, quote, unsound, uninformed and unhinged and unfit for office. we'll see how that plays in a republican primary in minnesota. we'll be back with more "mtp daily" in 60 seconds.

quick question. do you want the same tools and seamless experience across web and tablet? yes? great! then you're ready for power e*trade. the platform, price and service that gives you the edge you need. sweet! e*trade. the original place to invest online. welcome back. the trump administration today took the most aggressive action yet against russia. announcing some punishing

sanctions against members of vladimir putin's inner circle. all done on h.r. mcmaster's last day as national security adviser. seven russian oligarchs and seven companies and 17 government officials as well as a state owned weapons trading company and a russian bank. vladimir putin's son-in-law is on the list. and so is the chairman of the state owned natural gas monopoly and a key figure in the mueller probe, deripaska with ties to paul manafort. one person not on the list is vladimir putin. the sanctions are to punish the kremlin not for one particular event but the total of the russian government's quote, malign activities in the world, including the russia on going cyber activities and interference in the democratic processes of the u.s. and allies. joining me now is international affaired analyst and a former ambassador to russia, mike mcfaul.

ambassador, welcome back, sir. >> hey, chuck, thanks for having me. >> i feel like we've done this story multiple times and i've said who should we sanction and go after. and think this -- i feel like you made this list three years ago. if you could have come up and were asked to make the list, this is the list you would have come up, perhaps right after the illegal annexation of crimea. what do you make of it? >> well, i did make lists like that, chuck. and then recommended lists to my friends in the obama administration after i left and you're right, some of the people on this list were on that list. because they are -- some of them, not all of them, it is a tricky list for people like me, i know most of these people on the list, some i'm a little surprised by. but generally it is the right message, it is the right people, and it is the trump administration pushing back on russia. i hope that there is follow up behind closed doors. i hope ambassador huntsman is going over to the ministry of foreign afarz a-- affairs and saying if you do more in 2018,

here is what we'll do to escalate. but this is a first first -- first step and should have been done a long time ago. >> what would be your recommended escalation. >> the key thing here, if you look at the winners and losers on this list, there is have variations. so individual sanctions, that means they can't travel to america, their assets are seized here. i know that well because i can't travel to russia. i was part of the tit for tat a couple of years ago with that. but where it really hurts is when the companies are put on the list. and deripaska in particular, his company ru saul are really losing. in fact markets are responding to him being on the list. because they're a multi-national corporation that needs to do business and needs to do business with americans, with american investors and an american dollar. so the next escalatory steps would be the other kind of multi-national corporations that are still not on the list.

>> let me ask you this question. these oligarchs, how many of them probably knew this was coming over last two years? and i ask that because i know some of them had to have known. is there a point where these sanctions -- while they look tough on paper have less teeth because so much time to prepare for them? >> yes, absolutely. and i even have been called by many of the oligarchs from time to time over the years to try to game it out and so you're right, there was an anticipation that goes on here. doesn't mean it is not the right thing to do. i still think it is the right thing to do and i want to underscore, if you do business and you have american investors like deripaska and now all of america knows about his american investors by the way, it hurts those companies and it hurts them from doing business. the problem is just because you are hurting olig deripaska doesn't mean you'll convince putin to change his foreign

policy. and that two step that comes with sanctions, that is a much more difficult causal chain to push. i don't think there will be any change in russian foreign policy right away. >> gary casperoff was on this week, and i -- >> i saw him. >> and you know him well. and we talked about this issue of the president individually not getting involved in punishing putin. it is always left to the administration, it is always left to a piece of paper or to a staffer or cabinet secretary or national security adviser and never the president himself. and casperoff believes putin does -- that he does receive that as a significant signal. >> well he does. and most certainly the state press, if you watch it, you probably don't watch it, chuck, but i do from time to time -- >> when i'm in a hotel overseas, i take a look at it. it is often the only english channel there is sometimes.

>> that is true. that is r.t. but domestic russian channels, they keep open the possibility and they keep this separation, it is the good czar and the bad boy -- it is the good trump versus the evil deep state and most certainly that is the signaling. but there is another signal that comes from this that when i talk to russians and including those close to the kremlin, it also makes president trump look really weak. and it makes it look like he's not in charge of his foreign policy and by the way i would say that is an indictment that one not only hears about his russian policy or other policies. you were just talking about syria. in the long run that doesn't make president trump look like he's a decision-maker and that is pretty -- that is a bad thing when the commander-in-chief, the president of the united states is perceived as not being in charge of his own foreign policy. >> look, you quickly brought up syria. i want to make this the out question for you, which is this -- how significant is it that it is putin that gets --

that is essentially making the post-war plans for syria and the united states is not even been invited to participate? >> again, it just makes us look weak. it looks like we're not engaged. what the president said about pulling out contradicting -- we had secretary tillerson here at stanford, if you remember, i was on the show later that day, he laid out a new policy toward syria and the headline is we are staying. for the president to come on later and say we're pulling out. it makes it look like -- a., he's not in charge of the policy, but b. >> we are entrenched around the world and that is not good for american national interest. that is my personal view. it makes us look like we're pulling back. we don't -- we should not be pulling back now. >> all right. ambassador mike mcfaul. good to talk to you. happy friday.

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welcome back. so what does it take for members of congress to be honest about politics these days? apparently the answer is to call it quits. take south carolina republican congressman trey gowdy made a name as one of the most partisan members of congress by becoming chairman of the house oversight committee last june which was coveted among republicans when there was a democrat in the white house. nothing something republicans wanted when trump took over and now he's promoting a book to reach across the divide and as he's countsing down the days to retirement and not mincing words. >> what do you make of the republican party in 2018. >> the goal is to win.

>> that is all that the republican party cares about. >> the goal is to win. to the extent men judge themselves, i don't have a lot to show for the last seven years. >> or take republican florida senator announcing his retirement. >> we've gone off the rails and now just a political forum for people to leak information to drive the day's news. >> and far from the only lawmakers to say what they really think after making the decision not to run for re-election so what does this say about the state of the to-- politics now. and joining me, ryan costello of pennsylvania. congressman, welcome to the show, sir. >> good to be with you. good lead-in, chuk. >> i figured you would like it. and let me play what you said to my colleague kasie hunt just -- essentially the weekend you decided not to run. here is what you said. >> we're talking about porn

stars and the president rather than about tax policy and need to get done by the end of the year or what should have been in the omnibus. >> i know it is an obvious answer to this question of why. but which is the politics of our current situation but it does seem to be that -- we don't get what -- what everybody thinks on capitol hill until after you announce you are not running. why? >> well, i mean i -- i think i gave a number of examples while i was still running. but i do think that -- not running now probably enables me to speak a little bit more fully about some of the frustrations. i think chief among them right now is this tariff tiff that you were speaking about earlier on your show. which candidly probably hits more really conservative republicans that really get uncomfortable or maybe more uncomfortable politically but in

a district like mine which is now -- one of the most democratic districts in the country but a swing district, separating yourself or differentiating where you disagree with the president is not only smart politics but -- policy wise, being honest. and whether it is paris accord or him revoking csr's and i felt comfortable speaking out but you do get blow back from the right to be sure. >> and what you are seeing -- and i notice when i watch people who before would have said they had one position on trade and now because president trump has another position, now they have it. it almost as if your tribe -- whatever your tribal leader says your position has to be and i don't mean this of elected officials, just constituents left and right, are you seeing this more? >> i am. and i think -- chuck, even if you look at the polls, americans support the tariffs or at least, quote, getting tough on china.

the devil is always in the detail and now that we see china retaliatory measures and the impact that it may have and as the -- the policy debate here deepens, all of a sudden i think a lot of people are saying maybe this isn't going to be smart policy, or if we are going to proceed, we're going to have to cure ate this a little bit differently and not use the blunt instrument the president is appears to be suggesting that he's going to use. >> congressman, i want to pick up on a comment that a pretty blunt comment that trey gowdy said to vice this week when he said he doesn't have much to show over the last seven years and referring to republicans got control of congress in 2010 and he's saying he's going to leave basically half of his time was with the republican president and republican senate and half of his time was with the democratic senate and nothing to show for it. why? >> well, i know trey, he's charmingly curmudgeoning when he talks about his experience in

congress. >> that is a good descriptor of him. >> i wish i was as quotable as he was. we are all competing with senator kennedy. but i think the tax reform bill, you won't be able to measure it just in one year but it is a positive this year, policieswise and politically, but i think we'll see over a period of years capital deployment, job growth, and higher wages as a consequence of that as well as the regulatory relief package but the challenge politically is it is difficult to speak about regulatory relief. people think it is an abstraction in terms of political messaging. but i think voters will respond to it. the next big piece for us here is to make sure we get through the trade issue in a way that doesn't create more market uncertainty or have folks look at the tax bill and say that is good but look at what is happening now. that is the big challenge over

the next six months, seven month into election day and it is concerned policy wise as well as politically. and how does each member of congress deal with the day-to-day trump beat that reporters and everybody watching television and reading the paper is tuned into and that is going to be a district by district effort by each -- everybody running for congress. and i think -- if that is done right, then it is going to butt i think democrats a little bit on the defensive and actually have to come out with a policy agenda which i've not seen from democrats. >> i know republicans who would like to put more pressure on them and they know that that is up to president trump in some ways. let me ask you this final question. there is a lot of speculation that paul ryan may not run. and his filing deadline is coming up and they won't shut this down. and the chatter is out there and he hasn't made a decision. he's been point blank with people when they've asked him,

why haven't you and he still hasn haven't spoken with his family. and the impact on congress if ahe announced he is not running for re-election, would it have a significant impact or not. >> i don't know. i think the conference has a tremendous degree of confidence in kevin mccarthy, steve scalise and patrick mchenry, but any time you have any speaker -- back to when speaker boehner announced his retierpme -- retirement and everybody looks around to say what happens next. there is always that sort of gut check or potential loss of confidence. but i think we recovered quite well. i don't know what the speaker will do. i presume he will run for re-election and serve next term as speak but that remains to be seen. i don't want to speculate and that is a personal decision. >> but you don't think it is

politically tells other republican members i'm out of here now if he won't stick around? >> i don't think so. you have to remember, it is interesting -- no one likes career politicians. paul has been doing this for 20 years. and -- >> almost a career. >> -- if he were to decide to move and do something else, that is in if, we should look at him pursuing other opportunities in the private sector or think b-- think tank and we'll let that float around. >> congressman ryan costello is retiring and thanks for coming on and sharing your views. >> good to be with you. up ahead what, president trump respects, with all due respect, of course.

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welcome back. tonight i'm obsessed with respect. because nobody has more of it than president trump. >> great, great respect for our police. >> i have great respect for firefighters. >> great respect for the people of the fbi. >> i have great respect for home builders. >> great respect for general george paton. >> great respect for andrew jackson. >> great respect for our world. >> great respect for the people that do what you do. >> but sometimes the president's great respect doesn't last that long. >> great respect for mexico. >> they're bringing drugs -- they're bringing crime. >> i have great respect for china. they're ripping us left and

right. >> i have great respect for paul ryan. >> i wouldn't want to be in a fox hole with these people, including ryan. >> i have great respect for women. >> crooked hillary clinton. >> polka honts as. >> to all of the military, we respect you. >> he's a war hero because he was captured. i like people who weren't captured. >> you have great people in the press. people that i have tremendous respect for. >> oh, that fake news. >> so which is it? respect, no respect, please tell spel -- spell is out for us. >> r.e.s.p.e.c. it. >> find out what it means to the. >> r.e.s.p.e.c.t. >> that is all i'm asking for you. and to quote nixon and the great aretha franklin -- >> sock it to me -- >> sock it to me. >> little respect. >> just a little bit.

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time for "the lid." panel is back. onelid." one of you have spent a lot of time living in moscow. one of them is you, susan glasser. i want to ask you about the oligarchs, what you think is the impact in moscow right now? >> i think you made your point in your interview with michael mcfall, in some ways they have been expecting the u.s. to respond with these kinds of sanctions since the 2016 elections. so these guys have been able to figure out how to protect their money. i'm struck, still even after this tough measure that both parties have been asking for a very long time, even after the trump administration decides to take that move today, is any of us really sure that donald trump

personally supports it? i haven't noticed him tweeting about it today, i haven't noticed him coming out and making public statements. what i do notice is it came on the very last day, h.r. mcmaster, who was dumped by trump and his last public speech on tuesday was how the united states has failed to respond toughly enough to russia. that message from his own former boss was clear. >> the president did talk about it, i don't know if it was today or yesterday, when he said he's been the toughest on russia -- >> they're standing next to the baltic leaders. >> if we look at the policy, i agree, he's been very tough on russia, certainly tougher than the obama administration, and for those democrats who said that trump would somehow appease putin. i don't think that's happening. i don't think russians are happy

with the sanctions. >> that's exactly the point i'm trying to make, the policy from the trump administration are tough, these sanctions are from the donald trump administration, president trump itself clear personally doesn't support it. h.r. mcmaster has been quite hawkish consistently in his 10 years as national security advisor and said the russians pose a serious threat. it's not an accident that after h.r. mcmaster was fired on tuesday, that mcmaster came out and said the united states has failed, failed under obama and under trump. >> are you saying donald trump doesn't support at all this series of sanctions? >> i question what he knows about them. my colleagues at the post put together a list and once you take these oligarchs together, at one time or another they have always come out against the

investigations into russian collusion. axleberg was at the inauguratioinauguratio inauguration. others showed up. for the white house to say that russian meddling is a hoax, this is a cast of characters out of the narrative. i don't know whether the president was even aware of this list. when we were reporting a couple of days before that this was going to come out, we were not getting strong signals that said yes, put these people on here. this is a fairly significant list of people who show up in the very narrative that is, you know, dogging his entire presidency. >> susan, for these truly to have teeth, you also need a lot of western allies to follow suit? >> you need westerly allies to follow suit and mike made the point on air earlier that following through by sanctioning companies associated with these individuals as well as the individuals themselves, would be key to putting -- to maximizing the pain associated with it. and in fact, there were many

people who were very disappointed that after the nerve gas poisoning in the uk when the united states and many other countries joined great britain in expelling russian diplomats, that london at that time did not take tougher measures on exactly this to hurt rich russians and those in putin's circle in their pocket book. >> how does he retaliate? we know he will. will he target american business leaders or won't he? >> i think anything is possible and on the table, putin just ran for re-election, he's got another six-year temple, what was his platform? it basically came down to talking about the west. putin very skillfully trolled putin, and they said that donald trump was so nice to putin on the phone and he invited him to

the white house. >> i think he's being very tough on russia. i don't think this is the behavior for someone who colluded with the russians, or colluded with the russian government, to put these kinds of sanctions, if that were the case, i think he would be very soft on russia and that's not happening. >> it will be interesting to see if any of these guys do show up in the mueller reports. up ahead, does politics sometimes make you want to hit things? you're not alone. i have type 2 diabetes.

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well, in case you missed it, maryland governor larry hogan had a real break through this week. bored with politics as usual, he took matters into his own lethal hands. those are six, count them, six wooden boards emblazoned with the words politics as usual, which hogan was having none of. now there's 12 pieces of wood. the governor has been honing his craft for three years. he anileated five boards of what he called legislative logjam in

20 2017. we can't wait to see what he has planned for maryland's upcoming scentenarians day, in maryland, we now understand there's a day for everything. that's all for tonight, we'll be back on monday with "mtp daily" and if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." we are following several big stories right now, there's a shake-up in the market, the dow is down 550 points with these fears that trump is going full on into a trade war with china. also tonight these new calls for trump to get rid of the scandal plagued epa chief, at this hour, trump publicly standing by him. also new fallout in that denial by the president on air force one that he had anything to do with that nda agreement that