♪ ♪ early ticket access... another way we have your back. the powerful backing of american express. don't live life without it. ♪ morning glory, america. i'm hugh hewitt. last week we had breaking news as a barrage of missiles had been fired on syrian targets on friday night. this week a mid week blockbuster. secretary of state dez gnat mike pompeo went to north korea over easter and met with kim jong-un. there are other stories this week, including president trump's meeting with japan's prime minister abe, and the spirited defense how tough he is on russia to talk about all of these stories of the week, i have james holman of the "washington post", anna palmer of politico, hope speck of

military.com. and al weaver of the washington examiner. welcome to you all. where you sit determines what you see and what you think is the most important story of the week. james, what do you think? i think it is pompeo and his nomination going to north korea. what say you? >> i agree it was the biggest story of the week. the most consequential. they pose the biggest, most direct threat to our national security. this has been so far one of trump's greatest successes. he has brought the north koreans to the table through maximum pressure. and the most recent news going into the weekend is that north korea is now saying negotiations removing u.s. troops from south korea is off the table. they are no longer demanding that as a condition for denuclearization. it is a huge breakthrough. i think the summit will happen. i think trump will drive a hard bargain. there is a possibility of a huge breakthrough deal.

>> phillip brucker said that the north korea breakthrough potential upped the stakes on the mike pompphaoeubmike pompeo. they may be playing with the one opening we have with north korea. do you agree or disagree with rucker in. >> heidi heitcamp got on or board with his confirmation. it will be close. there's some sense there is an issue where if you oppose pompeo you open yourself up to attacks. is and some of these red states is not supporting the president on foreign policy during this key moment. a lot of people -- a lot of democrats were forced on thursday to grudgingly acknowledge sort of admiration or respect for pompeo going to meet with kim jong-un over easter. it didn't move a lot of their votes. as you saw a bunch of the democrats on the senate foreign realizes committee, they still had to reiterate their

opposition is. >> anna palmer from politico, what do you think is is the story of the week? >> i think one of the most interesting stories is u.n. ambassador nikki haley asserting herself and said, no, i wasn't confused, i believed the policy would strengthen u.s. sanctions against russia. it really matters in terms of her solidifying her position and saying i'm not going to be beat around by this white house as many of the other principles and cabinet secretaries have been. >> nikki haley had quite the week, this controversy aside, she determined a public profile that is exceptional in public politics. do you agree with that, anna? >> yeah. she has continued to elevate herself as a serious player and the ability to be close to the trump white house but also on on the world stage be a real effective voice for this country. and i think you already started to hear this talk of, you know,

potential 2020 and other things. so there is clearly a sense among political operatives that this position will not be her last in government. >> hope speck for military.com. what did you think the story of the week was as we follow up last week's breaking news? >> well, the aftermath of the strike on syria i think has dominated in a lot of ways. with that strike in response to chemical attacks on the syrian people what it offered the president was sort of an unequivocal military victory. they struck twice as hard as they did last of year in response to a similar attack. they have the support of coalition partners in three chemical weapons facilities. and the president tweeted mission accomplished. as the week as worn on, we have seen sort of the aftermath and the fact that it is not quite so simple. the regime continues. it doesn't address conventional attacks, chemical weapons

capabilities persist, the pentagon has said. and then you've got isis. in syria it looked like a victory kind of was on the cusp of taking place. now we are seeing a resergens. >> hope, let me ask you a question. did we get any knowledge on of whether or not the s-400 was used, whether or not the russian system actually engaged any of our missiles? what's your reporting on that? >> so russia is sort of using this as a marketing opportunity for the s-400, f-35 killer missile. the pentagon, though, that be unequivocal. russian defenses were not employed. and syrian defenses were in effective. 6th single one of the weapons reached their target. >> what do you think is the story of the week? >> i agree with james, north korea is the biggest story of the week. i'm going to take ape different tact, though. we touched on heidi heitcamp. it is app example of congress

and the white house and republicans trying to put some of these democratic incumbents on defense here. heidi heitcamp supporting pompeo's nomination. a few other democrats have not come on out yet and supported her. joe donnelly, joe manchin and others. republicans are trying to tighten the excuse on these folks and put them on defense ahead of 2018. i think that's a big story. but pompeo going to north korea i think will really elevate him. we're going to wait to see what happens on that if they actually end up going straight to a floor vote without him passing through committee. that will be a big question. it is a tightening of the screws on the 2018 candidates. you haven't seen foreign policy become a big campaign issue this year. we're starting to see a little bit of it. >> al, i can't imagine a democrat up for reelection wanting to spike the north korean opportunity.

i think there will be a lot more votes than heidi heitcamp. the president said rand has always been with me more. he voted for john kerry in the foreign relations committee. does rand paul pass to get to the floor without any fill pwuflter nonsense that chuck schumer has been muttering about? >> i'm not sure. i'm very is skeptical to think he will. he didn't hold up the omnibus negotiations or the final passage of the bill. that was a shift intact for him. usually he is someone who doesn't even up caring about these types of things and will do what he wants. i would be surprised if he votes for pompeo to move him to the floor. but, you know, it wouldn't totally surprise me, but it would surprise me. >> let me play a clip if i can of the president talking about russia with prime minister abe. >> as far as the investigation,

nobody has ever been more transparent than i have instructed our lawyers, be totally transparent. as far as the two gentlemen you told me about, they've been saying i'm going to get rid of them for the last three months, four months, five months. and they're still here. >> james, they're still here. he is talking about mr. mueller, mr. rosenstein and the russian investigation. do they go anywhere this week? what's your reporting on that? >> well, i think trump has sort of backed off a little bit from last week. he is more concerned about the michael co hen raid of his lawyer's office than he is about what mueller is doing right now. hiring routedy giuliani as part of his legal defense team. giuliani saying i think we can wrap this up in a couple of weeks. giuliani touting his long relationship with mueller and the president saying he can be a broker in some ways. people are still on edge.

the president could move against rosenstein. he wouldn't get directly against mueller. you could see a scenario where jeff sessions left. whoever replaces him through the vacancies act would end up there. rosenstein assured trump that he is not a target of mueller's investigation and that that assuaged some of the president's concerns. nationally, i think a lot of liberals are still very on edge. there was a report from pittsburgh that the pittsburgh police department is preparing for potential riots in the streets. >> al weaver, very quick. what to you? do you hear about any changes at the department of justice? the president seemed to indicate no, that's not going to happen. what are you hearing? >> i'm not hearing anything on that end. there is nervous senators up on capitol hill.

tillis, graham have legislation out. that will help protect mueller. i don't see that going anywhere. mitch mccouple threw cold water on that this week. it remains status quo. >> all right. i'll be back with the panel on the most important person not named trump this week. stay with us. your hair is so soft! did you use head and shoulders two in one? i did mom. wanna try it? yes. it intensely moisturizes your hair and scalp and keeps you flake free. manolo?

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welcome back. i'm hugh hewitt. monday through friday you can hear me on the salem radio network 6:00 to 9:00 eastern. saturday mornings i'm here on msnbc. i'm joined by james holman of the "washington post", hope speck of military.com, al weaver of the washington examiner.

time for our feature most important person not named trump. for me it is senator joe is mansion. we need one democrat other than heidi heitcamp to say i'm voting for mike pompeo so we can put this silliness behind us. it is far too important for the democrats to be playing partisan politics. who for you is the most important person not named trump? >> i think it is robert mueller. all eyes continuing to focus on where is his investigation going. by he default, rudy giuliani is my number two pick. trump picking him as his lawyer was certainly a wild card this week. >> it has been a bad look for law enforcement with the james comey book tour going off the rails. and andrew muck cabccabe.

>> it's stunning at a time in politics where there is rare lu a void of the back and forth partisanship and bickering, robert mueller, throughout this entire investigation, has stayed sigh and i think, because of that, has been able to be a figure that is above the fray. doesn't punch below his weight here. and i think that gives him even more standing with the american public and particularly with senators with trump potentially trying to move him. >> i agree. i continue to hope the president does nothing with the special counsel. hope speck, who do you think? >> i have an off capitol hill pick. mine is tammie jo schultz who piloted southwest flight 1380. everyone has heard her directing ground control as she brings the flight in, tphefbgs of of steel. she was one of the navy's first ever fighter pilots in the 1980s. she is starting this

conversation about the possibilities for women in that field. still just 2.4% in naval aviation. >> is and martha mcsally running. a-10 pilot. another one of these extraordinary female aviators. al weaver, who is yours? >> i'm going to cheat the rules and take two. kevin mccarthy and nancy pelosi. two california lawmakers who are both at the top of the caucuses outside of paul ryan. they are both leading with a myriad of questions surrounding them. the questions surround can he get to the 218 if the republicans hold the house in november. both he and pelosi have sharks swarming. the freedom caucus, they are looking into what they should do on this end. and seven months between now and

then. for pelosi, you know, it's all a matter of will she stay or will she go in november. you have steny hoyer possibly moving up the ladder a little bit. i'm going to take those two. >> it's interesting. jim jordan is sitting there wondering if my name comes up. the ohio congressman expected to challenge muck kaerbgt. mccarthy the clear front-runner at this point. >> i go michael cohen. he is a big question mark. not just personal attorney. we found out who his other clients were. open public speculation. the lawyer who has worked for trump for years, who negotiated both of his divorces, jay goldberg told the president in a phone call a week ago he should be careful when talking to cohen because cohen could be wearing a

wire. he wouldn't be willing to do hard jail time to protect trump. cohen is under investigation by the feds separate and apart from the mueller probe for wire fraud, bank fraud, and campaign finance violations. so he potentially has real legal liability there. he probably knows a lot. what exactly, we can't know. that is a big question mark. that's something that really is keeping trump up at night. >> if michael cohen flips, as has been speculated is and gossiped, he could say anything and become the key witness against anyone. of course people will be awake at night. i want to close by playing one more trump bit with prime minister abe. he strikes at charges of collusion with this defense. >> there's been nobody tougher on russia than president donald trump. between building up the military, between creating tremendous vast amounts of oil, we raised billions and billions

extra in nato. there has been nobody tougher than me. >> nobody tougher than trump. james hohmann, does that work? >> nikki haley announced on the sunday shows there were going to be new sanctions. trump didn't want those. they walked them back. and i think hawks feel like trump could be a lot tougher. i don't think it works on on capitol hill. it works with the base who doesn't care deeply about this issue. >> hope, 700 billion this year. 720 billion next year. a huge tkfpbgs bill. does he have a point here, he is tougher on russia than president obama was? >> we have seen him expel russian diplomats, impose lines of sanctions. there are things he has done.

he really laid down the gauntlet the other day. we haven't seen him take further action. the ball is in his court on this one. >> when we come back, we will talk to my panel. and the safey for "most parallel parallel parking job" goes to... [ drum roll ] ...emily lapier from ames, iowa. this is emily's third nomination and first win. um...so, just...wow!

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week? >> i'm a little bit different than typical books. lindy west and" shrill." this is a book about body shaming. a woman's voyage to self is acceptance and patrols on the internet. it is a powerful read that you can get a lot from. >> did you podcast this? >> i do a women's podcast every week for politico and i did one that will be launching soon, the first plus-size native clothing company that is -- that was started on this finding clothes that actually fit people that are made for people or that are plus-sized. >> that is terrific. hope? >> i just finished fight like a girl which was just are leased this month. she was the commander of the only unit in the marine corps.

that trains female marines. they are trained separately. she said separate is not equal. and that affects the outcome. she was ultimately fired from her position in 2015 because her higher-ups didn't like her leadership. but she raised rifle qualification scores significantly. they got rid on of things, chairs only set out for women after long hikes and not for men. it started this huge conversation about what it means to be equal. >> terrific selection. james hohmann? >> revolution of rocket kennedy. it opens with jfk's assassination, goes through rfk's. the 50th anniversary in june is. it tracks how he evolved and moved from an establishment figure to taking on lbj in the frontal assault way on on vietnam. such a tumultuous time. >> al weaver, how about yours?

>> well, in honor of april and baseball season, i have one "where nobody knows your name" by john finestein. it's about life in the minor leagues. he follows players who are has-beens, future stars, anonymous, and absolute nobodies in aaa. it is timely because the omnibus there was a measure passed taking away minimum wage rights from minor league players. >> he always delivers the goods. the indians took on the brewers. thank you james, anna, hope, and al. thanks all of you for your books. thanks all of you for watching. buy the books we talk about. keep the authors going. keep the conversation going on msnbc.com/hugh-hewitt.

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good morning, everyone. i'm alex witt here at msnbc world headquarters in new york at the half hour. here's what we're watching for you. just moments ago the president tweetings, quote, the "new york times" and a third-rate reporter are going out of their way to destroy the relationship with me in a hope that he will flip. they use nonexistent sources and drunk drugged up loser who mates michael a fine person with a wonderful family. michael is a businessman for his own a