tv Hardball With Chris Matthews MSNBC April 28, 2018 4:00pm-5:00pm PDT
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it's a step much shorter than what they agreed to in 2005 and in 1992, which were much more definitive expressions of an intent to denuclearize. >> although they've got -- they're further along. so their bargaining position has changed. victor cha and tim shorrock, that was a great conversation. i really appreciate it. >> that does it for "all in." you can catch us every weeknight on msnbc. i'm david gura at msnbc world head kwaquarter and watch two events unfold 550 miles apart, and it is fair to say they are worlds apart. in washington township, michigan, president trump is about to take the stage in a carefully orchestrated rebuke th that is taking place in washington, d.c., and that is of course, the white house correspondents dinner which the president is skipping for this second year in a row. the president instead of attending what his campaign is calling in fund-raising material, a rally with quote fellow deplorables, an alternative to the fake news crowd. no surprise from a president who has rarely missed an opportunity to bash the press.
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>> a few days ago i called the fake news the enemy of the people, and they are. they are the enemy of the people. the dishonest media. >> fake news. >> you are fake news. >> well, despite the president's snub, the show goes on in the nation's capital and the arrivals are under way at the washington hilton where some of the biggest names in journalism are gathering to honor the biggest tradition which used to include good natured fun with the president of the united states. >> being president is never easy, and i still have to fix a broken immigration system, issue veto threats, negotiate with iran, all while finding time to pray five times day. >> i want to talk about some serious issues such as -- >> okay. >> here it comes. >> nuclear proliferation. >> nuclear proliferation. >> nuclear proliferation.
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>> nuclear proliferation. >> well, the live report from the red carpet and much more from the correspondents dinner much more ahead, and joining us is our guests. let me start with you, jay, if i could and get your reaction to the president not showing up, and i confess that i was at the dinner last year and the show went on and a huge purpose of this is to raising money for the scholarships for young people who are interested in journalism journalisma ajournalism and that part of the program persists. >> well, the president says he is a populist and a man of the people, and go out to be with the deplorables that hillary clinton coined when she said that more than half of his supporters were a basket of deplorab deplorables, and that became a
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meme in the campaign and he said, am going to be with with you and you and you and not the liberal elitists in washington, d.c. and this is a campaign event, so it is a 2020 trump re-election event, and this is him saying, i will be out there looking for vote, and this is district that he won by one percentage point in 2016, but it is won both times in 2012 and 2008 for barack obama. so it is a swing district potentially for him, and going out to say to the voters out there, hey, i'm with you, and i'm going to be representing you and helping to bring the economy back and makeing jobs and helpig the auto industry, and that is what he is doing. >> and alex, 2 1/2 years away from the next election, and the campaign getting into full swing i suppose with president trump. about that, and about this being a campaign event, what are you watching for tonight when the president takes the stage there in washington township? well, everything. because when the president does take the stage on the campaign trail, he tends the to go
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everywhere. i have been at two rallies where he was to be stumping for two candidates one for luther strange in alabama and one in a congressional spa congressional race where he made news by a stream of consciousness and you never know off of the cuff, and it is good tv and the ralligoers will have more fun than the people here at the dinner washington, because you never know what is going to be coming out of his mouth. >> we are watching the site of the rally indoor soccer complex in washington township. and michael, let me turn to that point that there is a lot of the pomp and circumstance with the white house correspondent dinner and it is a packed ballroom and the food is okay. i don't know if you have been there before, but what do you make of the president not being there? >> well, david, it is not a good thing, because you want a
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president with self-deprecating humor. of the clips that you saw of president obama and former president george w. bush, and it shows the dislike of the media with the president that continues to expand the level of division and mistrust. look, david, regardless of the opinions of the press and the media, it is important, because it is a cornerstone and bedrock of the democracy and like a candle in the dark room to reveal the truth. without it, the dem kocracy is essentially going to ki. so it is not a good thing for the president not to be there. and he should be there and that he can take some criticism while laughing at a himself and it makes him more relatable from my perspective. >> we will go to the red carpet at the the red carpet where savannah is there, and savannah, with who are you with and what is the scene so far? >> hi, there. finitely start ting to heat up and i'm here with kellyanne conway. >> hi, how are you?
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>> good. thank you so much. do you feel that the president should have been in the room to the sort of take the joke? >> oh, the president has a great state of humor, but he is going to be touting the success that he has helped to the foster in 60 short months, and so you have 5 million americans receiving bonuses or raises or both due to the tax cuts and the jobs a act and this president with the regulatory reform, and the historic talks between north and south korea and even as recently as today's news, we have been talking about putting to rest a decades' long war between the two countries and the president has set the climate. he wanted to go to michigan to talk about reciprocal and fair trade and what he has done for the race. and that is the last place he mentioned on technically election day, and so it is sentimental to him and his team. >> and it is great that he is able to do that just like last year he did that in
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pennsylvania, but what about sort of having the interface with the press and having the american public be able to to see that? >> the american public sees the president constantly and the american press had him to themselves many times this week. we had two bilaterals with the president of france and the chance lor of germany angela merkel yesterday and the president allows the prsz to talk to him in the south lawn and the pool sprays and on a competitor network for almost a half hour, and your network was framing together the statements and putting them out as well. so it is one of the most transparent and accessible presidents in definitely modern history. >> i love you referencing our network. what do you expect to see tonight? >> we are expecting to be having fun and be with a lot of fun. >> we are fun. >> kellyanne is fun, and this is why we are here with kellyanne to have fun and see a lot of old friend, and great to be back in washington. >> okay. so what is great is that it is a little bit more fun and often when you are on certain shows, you are going head-to-head with
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the press. >> but i am having fun. >> and so in this room, does the vibe just loosen up? does it feel different for you in there? >> yes, but i wake up everyday to choose to be a happy, so i am not a good person to ask, because i don't read 99% of the negative, because it is reflective and unthoughtful. so we are so blessed to walk into the white house everyday and have a job to do on behalf of the country that we love. i was raised by a single mom and taught to do anything that you want and i am grateful for that everyday and grateful for r the president and the vice president for showing the great leadership domestically and around the globe and i'm not a good person to ask, because i don't like to walk around and be negative. i am part of the happy 15% of america as are the cohns. >> yes. >> and do you have a different attitude now that you left the administration. >> different attitude about
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what? >> the fact about the president, and the event that the fact that the president is not here tonight? >> look, the president has made a choice every year where he should be, and he is out with the voters tonight, and out with the constituencies and talking about the agenda and the pl platform, and it is great for the president, and where he wants to be tonight. >> and i have a feeling he is going to be the most popular person talked about and i feel that his presence is here already. >> so do you feel that currently, aid was speaking to michael avenatti who is the lawyer for stormy daniels who says that he feels that the president is hiding, and yet, he is here and willing to talk about what is happening with his client. how do yu feou feel those thinge going be seep iing into the comy tonight? >> we will see. >> and i will answer the main question about the president hiding this way. every single person here who if they hear a click, click, they will be seeing that the president said x, because he is hardly hiding. he is communicating with the press and the american people several different ways every y
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way, and it is the dem mock >> does the without filter part make you nervous? >> no. >> nott me. >> no. >> and so as you can site, quite a bit happening here on the red carpet and they jumped into the interview with us, but they are maintaining that they do not think that it is wrong that the president is not here. they are continuing to talk about the fact that him in michigan with them being here is double the coverage and access to the american people, and as i mentioned to them, i was visiting with with the attorney for stormy daniels michael avenatti that she got 10 or 11 invitations to be here tonight and she had a prior commitment and not right to throw her into the crowd. but he felt that the president is hiding, and i have heard frit multiple people as well, so both
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sides of the coin. it feels like the vibe is picked up from last year when i was here and the president was not here, but of course, you are hearing that the night is completely different given that a sitting president is not in the room. >> my colleague issavannah sells on the red carpet in hilton, and she is there with gary cohn and kellyanne conway, and kellyanne conway doing the yeoman's work talking gary cohn's old book i should say and her point is to talk about the economy in michigan. and jane small, reaction to what you heard there from in particular kellyanne conway the counselor to the president. >> well, she is the very much the counselor to the president. >> and very happy. >> yes, and she does not engage in the negativity. but this is a night about the scholarships and a night that
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raises money for the aspiring young journalists to come here to do internships in washington, d.c. and the president did meet with the correspondent association with the incoming interns before he left and he did talk about how the importance of the press in that event. so i think that it is clear that even though the president is clearly not like this event and does not enjoy being mocked the one time the that he came in the obama administration, and he was pretty roundly mocked and he clearly did not enjoy it, and he sat in stone silence throughout the entire thing. but he does, you know, as kellyanne was saying that he emphasizes that he tweets and talks to the press and does interviews, and he is relatively to, and not a lot of the press conference, but relative to other presidents they have covered, he is relatively accessible and gives the interview s s to the press, and this is what she is trying to emphasize. >> we will be back to talk more of our correspondents, and we will go to township in michigan
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where the president is expected to speak any time now. and what do you make of the supporters who have made the pilgrimage, and they can fit about 5,000 i have read inside of this indoor soccer stage. set the scene there for us, and what are the folks saying they have decided to go to the event tonight. >> well, people here remain energized. i was down in the crowd talking to the folks earlier and i was saying, what do you think that the mainstream media is missing and what which heard time and time again from the different people is that you never hear any of the positive things that president trump is doing, and all we focus on is the negative and that is why they came out here today, because they have faith in the president still, and they like what he is doing, and they say that he is doing positive things that we just don't hear about on the news. i pressed them, and what positive thing, and what are you attributing to president trump, the good economy and they all attribute it to president trump, and the tax cuts can and what he is doing with the immigration, and moving forward on the border wall, and restoring the conservative values, and those are three things they heard over
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and over again. we are waiting for the president trump to take the stage here. he is running about 13 minutes late so far. we will see when he does take the stage, aped all of the warmups acts are done, and so we are waiting for the president himself. >> and tell us about the warpup acts, because row acts, because rona mcdaniel was there, and there is a long show before the keynote speaker and who have you heard from so far, blake? >> president's daughter-in-law, eric trump's wife was here, and she was the last person to speak warming up the crowd. her message is that he is a fighter and he not drowning, but fighting back. and she said that he is toing the drain the swamp and the crowd ate it up. they believe that the president is not getting a fair shake in washington, and they are happy that he is coming here to washington township, michigan
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to, get the message out. it is not a clever, you know, name exchange which not that far from washington, d.c., but it is in macomb county, which is the pivotal county in giving president trump michigan's electoral vote, and so there a bigger symbol iism at play here >> that is my colleague blake mccoy there in washington township, as he said in michigan as we are awaiting the remarks from the president of the united states at the campaign rally there. and counter programming tonight. there is that and the white house correspondents' dinner, and we will have jay newton small, and alex ssietz, and als, let me bring up something that kellyanne conway talked about tonight about this president's approach to the press. what you make of oit?
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going to fox news and twitter and finding the ways to talk to the american people unorthodox or nushgs and how has that been manifested this week? >> what he and a lot of the politicians call speaking directly to the american people is often meaning to avoiding the tough questions whose job it is to hold politicians accountable. when he skipped it, it was a statement, and this year, it is not a surprise. but he is the first president to skip this dinner and that is because reagan was shot and he phoned in to give some encouragement about the importance of the press, and the state of the supporting democracy, but politically, as michael mentioned some serious issues, but politically, e it is shrewd for him, because he ran the entire campaign of draining the swamp of the elites in washington, and this din ser, that and so he can be out there in macomb county, as blake mentioned a pivotal county for him and home of the reagan democrats as he was called and speaking directly to the american people, and not talking
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to the press. i think that his base which is pretty much all he seems of governing for they eat it up and he does not care what we think back here. >> and michael, jump in if you would to talk about that and if you would how he is playing off the dinner happening in washington, d.c., and i think that it is fair to the say here that, you know, he is raising the profile of the dinner his own way. he is going to be speaking about the event that is taking place at the dinner washington, d.c., and that is raising the profile as well? >> yes, he can't help himself but say something about it. it is funny to me when i think about this, because kellyanne stated that the president is talking to the american people and i am looking at the clip on the monitor in front of me and in the audience, it is not refl reflective of america. the america i know is composed of black people, brown, asian and brown, and that is not reflective there in his audiences f. he truly wanted to talk to the american people, the white house could have done a marvelous job of bringing the
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different folks together and doing a sit-down session, and elevating the president to a new level and a height that we have yet to see. when i think about this and i think of the impacts that it is going to have on the republicans come this november, and even beyond and the president's only talking to the same small base. he has not expanded, david, and that not a good thing for the republicans writ large. >> michael singleton in washington, d.c., and alex seitz wald, and we will be back to the hear the president speak at any moment. our live coverage continues right here on msnbc.
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welcome back to msnbc. david gura in new york watching two washingtons tonight. what you are seeing on the screen is washington township michigan, an indoor soccer complex in which the president is scheduled to address the supporters. it is a campaign rally on the books for a few weeks now, and competing with the white house correspondents dinner in washington, d.c. let's listen now to the president of the united states in macomb county, michigan.
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♪ from l.a. to michigan ♪ from new york to l.a. ♪ where there is pride in every american heart ♪ ♪ and it is time we stand and say ♪ ♪ i'm proud to be an american there are 5,000 people gathered inside of the soccer stadium and 30-minute drive from detroit to washington township, and the president is declaring the campaign for the presidency in 2020 a few months ago and getting a head start on the election campaign by 2 1/2 years. support supporters there are gathering in washington township, and i want to go to shermichael, and what do you think this is going to be, because it is a busy and contentious week for the president. he does now have a new secretary of state, and it has been busy around controversy has been swirling. what are you listening for tonight? >> it is going to be intriguing, david, what he says about north korea, and that is coming up pretty soon. the president has no choice.
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he can't help himself but to the talk about stormy daniels and that is going to the happen, a tnd the house releasing the report on the no russian collusion report, and he is going to be driving that home, because it resonates with the base. and he'll use it as a talking point for why they need to turn out in november, and those are the three things that i am looking for the most. >> all right. shermichael singleton joining me from washington, d.c.. we will mon for the president there. and over the washington, d.c., to the washington hilton to my colleague is a is vanna sellers. who are you with now? >> i am here with team white house, and of course, kc/dc of capitol hill. you are looking fabulous. >> you are looking great. >> and it is so nice to see our folks, and michael avenatti and kellyanne conway, and i am so happy to be talking to our capitol hill team, and celebrating the correspondents and what you do.
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and what is this night like for you? >> well, one of the things that we talk about is the scholar isships that come out of this white house scholarship, and kristen had a chance to meet with students. it is great, because it is the next generation who is look ain at this and saying, wow, i would love the cover politics. >> and don't do it, kids. kidding. and seriously, kristen and i have talked about it a lot. and it is -- we didn't, and we underestimated for many of us the opportunity that it would be. it is a huge challenge to cover washington in the age of trump, but it is also something that clearly matters to a lot of people in america, and it is really a lot of us to do what we set out to do in trying to be journalists. >> and it is true that you don't get a lot of sleep covering the trump administration for sure. >> sleep? >> it is defined in the dictionary somewhere. but it is wonderful and i they sometimes we forget that tonight is about the next generation of journalists, and the scholarship w winners. i had a chance to have lunch with some of them yesterday and
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got the answer some of the incredible question, and it just made me feel so fortunate to and put it all in perspective. >> i'm the big brother and the es cocourt tonight as it were. and the rest of the week, we clash, and the tonight we toast. i figure we can have a good night to enjoy it. it should be fun. >> and so how many white house correspondent diners have you been to? >> my second. >> six or so. >> six. >> are you asking how many i have been invited to the or crashed? >> hmm. crashed? >> i have been invited to at least three, but i mean, i started crashing about the time that you started. >> and with the president in michigan and about to speak, david, so back to you. >> savannah sellers with many of the colleagues there at the washington hilton down there on the red carpet and at the start of the annual dinner again which is taking place for the scholarships and i should point out that president trump and vice president pence did meet with the students that kristen and haley were talking about.
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and now, president trump is at the podium and we will take a little listen here at the beginning of the remarks at the campaign rally there. >> i remember that night, and hate bnzit has been a long time since the republic republicans won michigan and they said, donald trump has won the state of omichigan. and you remember that? and we won a lot of other states also, and that is some night. and so i want to thank rona for thet great job she has done. she has done it right, literally right from the beginning. in fact, when we needed somebody over at the rnc and i said, get that woman that ran michigan. we need to elect more republi n republicans so we can protect our cities, defend our r borders and grow our economy, and continue to make america great again. that's what we are doing. we are doing some job. we are all doing it together.
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but you can see what is h happening with the regulations with massive tax cuts can and the judges. we are appointing judges like i gessner before has anything happened like what we are doing on great conservative republican judges. we are setting records and by the time we finish, i think that we will have the all-time record. you have no idea how important that is. and then of course, we have justice gor sisuch who has been fantastic. he has been fantastic. everyone here tonight is united by the same timeless american values. we defend our constitution. we support the rule of law, and we support the heroes of law enforcement.
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we have pride in our history and have respect for our great american flag. we defend our flag. we honor our flag. and if others honored our flag, they'd be a lot better off, wouldn't they? they'd be a lot better off. we put our hands on our hearts for the pledge of allegiance, and we do that proudly. and we stand for the national anthem. we believe that a strong nation must have strong borders.
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are you watching that mess that is going on right now with the caravan coming up? are you watching this? and our laws are so weak, so pathetic that the given to us by the democrats, and so pathetic that nancy pelosi, chuck schu r schumer -- and let me tell you, we've gotten mexico to work with us on stopping a lot of what is pouring in, but we have the worst laws anywhere in the world. we don't have borderers. we are going to build the wall, and we are going to get it. we have already started. i don't know if you have seen it. president trump speaking in washington township, michigan
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and we will return in a little bit and i am talking to shermichael, and jay and we have been watching a few minutes of the speech, and tax regulation, and tax cuts and national anthem and the pledge of allegiance, and the border wall, and this is what has happened in 2016 and how much has the president's rhetoric changed? >> well, it is a flashback from 2016 and i was covering with one of the campaign rallies in 2016 in january that he gave in the debate that he snubbed. remember that he refused the go to a specific debate in des moines, and few blocks away he held a rally and competitive about it, and he wanted the prove that he would get better ratings in the debate and it is the same rhetoric, talking about the dangerous immigrants killing and raping american women, and talking about the border wall, and it is -- literally, it is exactly the same rhetoric that he is talking about, and it is
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completely unchange and preview of what we will see and what we will get for the next 2 1/2 years of campaigns. >> and alex seitz wald, he is looking at records that you could not find in guinness book of world records and talking about setting records for the conservative judge, and the competitive streak, but looking at the record it is fair to say that he is right to trumpet that when you are looking at the achievements of the administration, he has been able to push through a number of judicial nominees. >> well, he is is a superlative for superlatives. that is a message for the on the fence republicans who don't like the rhetoric for the immigrants, and the wall, and want to get back to the conservative voting, but he is right about the judge, and mitch mcconnell has touted this. they have appointed neil gorsuch and maybe another supreme court pick up there, and i was struck that he is talking about the caravan of the immigrants at the top after this week of oenormous news filled, and this is the opening line he is speaking to
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the base. >> and want to turn to the immigration, but shermichael, my republican friend here on the panel, and you had alex talking about the traditional conservative value, and how does that resonate with you talking about the judge, and alex making a point that this is the cornerstone for the republicans. how much are you holding on to that in light of everything else? >> well, alex or david, that is one component, sure. but conservativism does not exist in a vacuum and just like liberalism does not exist in a vacuum. i'm not a single-issue voter and a significant number of the independents or the registered republicans are single issue voter, and donald trump has to do a hot more for me than to talk about the judges. as an african-american, i want to hear what the white house and the positions are on criminal justice reform, and sol of the plans that he would like to introduce or the proposals that he would like to introduce to talk about the educational discrepancies of the black, brown student, and the economic
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discrepancies and the unemployment that is still hi higher than white americans. so it is going to be taking more than talking about judge, and the base that he is yet to expand, david, he has to talk about the more critical issues, and he is not capable or willing to do so because the issues that he hammers on immigration, and those things register with the base. but when you are a leader, you want to be transformative and donald trump has yet to be a able to do that >> and shermichael singleton, and jay newton small with "time" magazine with me, as well as alex seitz wald. and so we are keeping an eye on that rally, and the red carpet event, and also at the township washington, michigan where the president is a addreddressing t support supporters.
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there at the correspondents dinner and the red carpet and celebrities and politicians and journalists make their way in and it is affectionately known as nerds. and you are way from the entrees being serve and who is making their way into the ballroom, is a van? >> well, david, it does feel like we are a ways away from dinner, but we have seen kellyanne conway, and we have seen michael avenatti and i want to give you a little bit of sound from him. i asked him about one of the scandals en ggulfing the presidt is the lawsuit with the porn star stormy daniels and i asked, why isn't she is here tonight, and was she invited and this is what he said. >> was your client stormy daniels invited here tonight? >> yes, she received 10 or 11 invitations. >> why not here? >> well, dropping her into the environment with this members of the press was not a good idea and she had a previous commitment that she wanted to
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fulfill. >> so, ten or 11 invitations for stormy daniels who is not here tonight, but we will see as michelle wolf the comedian host tonight will bring it up, because a lot has changed when the president was not here and again not here and that is one thing that did not change, but he did encourage some of the administrations to come. he said they have all been telling me that anybody who wants the go, go ahead and go, and so i got to ask sarah huckaby sanders the current press secretary that she is here with the press that she is often going head-to-head with in a briefing room for a different vibe, because it is supposed to be more fun with the press, and this is what she said. >> hopefully, everybody tonight, will be willing to let their hair down a little bit and relax and have a good time, and little bit more of the social evening and less of the kind of the tough back and forth, and when we see it tonight and we are looking forward to it. >> so she is hoping that it can be just a fun night. we will see what she thinks of
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the comedy after we hear from michelle wolf the comedian coming up, and the person held that job once upon a time shawn spicer, the former press secretary also came by and i asked him after having left the administration, what does he think about the fact that president trump is not here, and i asked michael avenatti that and he said that he felt that president trump is hiding. i asked kellyanne conway that and she said it is great a that he is in michigan and sarah sanders huckaby said the same thing, that it allows the message out there. and this is with what sean spicer said. >> would you have recommended the president to be here? >> no, he made the right decision. this is -- this is not the president's -- he has had an opportunity to make sure that he celebrates the first amendment and the freedom of the press in his own way, but coming to a party is not the be all and end all of that. >> so many people here are split on if the president should or should not be here, but as we
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are seeing, people are heading in right here and we will have our very own mariano atensio, and codo you want to come over to say hello. and she has been to a douchl white house correspondent dinners herself, and this is your third? is that correct? >> yes. hello, savannah. >> you are look absolutely stunning. >> i am having a ball to see all of the white house team that works so hard everyday to give us the the news, and everybody glammed up, and it is a celebration of what we do can and the third one around. >> and this is your third and we listened to sean spicer say that he does not believe that the president needs to be here, and michael avenatti told me earlier that he believes that the president is hiding, and what do you think having been to a white house correspondent dinner where there is a sitting president in attendance or not? >> and the presence of having a president like barack obama there and listening to a comedian roast him sh, and it i different. the ambiance is different and you do feel the presence there. last year, it was so jarring when president trump decided not to come, and i think that this
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year, it just sort of like sunk in everybody's mind and everybody is trying to have a good time and also celebrate what we do, because it is like people make it a point to come, because it is a celebration of the free press, and the work we do everyday, and the values that we hold dear and that we believe in, and that is why everybody is saying, i am here and i will have as good of a time as i can. >> absolutely. a bunch of our other colleagues, kristen welker, and hallie jackson and peter as well with said that we are here for thele scholarship recipients. >> i know a young girl who is hispanic and works so hard in our communities and the minorities to put a foot in journalism and she text med me that she is here and i will go to give her a big hug and you and i as journalists we have to inspire young people to keep celebrating the press and be in our profession. >> and kasie said, don't do it
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kids, but do it. she was kidding. >> yes, do it. >> and so that is a great point to celebrate our profession, and our friends and colleagues are heading in. are you going in? >> yes. >> what are you looking forward to? >> the standup xheed ya is great, and what there are new jokes because of what we do there is always a new headline to make fun of and i am looking forward to that and looking at everybody, and having off of the cuff conversations of the people that you see on the air, and our own team and giving them a p patton back and toasting them and it is a hard, hard job to have and i want to toast them and all of you guys for what you do. >> yous as well. a thank you for joining me and popping in here while we are live. thank you so much. enjoy the night, and david, thank you so much for talking with us, and lettinging us keep the conversation going. as you can see, things are picking up, and people are heading in and running the the gamut of what people are saying
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on either side about president trump being here. >> yes, savannah sellers there with mariano atensio at the white house correspondents dinn dinner. we are going to the washington township, michigan, rally where he is talking about the russian investigati investigation. >> and it is even more chaotic, and look at what has happened. look at how the politicians have fallen for this junk -- russian collusion. give me a break. i will tell yu that the only collusi -- i will tell you that the only collusion is the democrats colluding with a lot of people, and a lot of people, and take a look at the intelligence agency, and what about -- hey, did you watch comey on the interviews? hey, hey. what about comey? what about comey? how about that? so, comey, how about this guy comey.
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he said the other night the fake dirty dossier, and he said the other night on fox, and he said very strongly, no, i didn't know that it was a paid for by the democrats and hillary clinton. he didn't know. he didn't know. how about that. they start something based on a document that was paid for by the dnc and hillary clinton. honestly, folks, let me tell you. let me tell you, it is a disgrace. we have to get back down to b business. it is a disgrace what is going on in our country, and they did that, and they did that to admiral jackson. they are doing it to a lot of people. innuendo, and you know, in the old days when the newspapers used to write, they would put the names down, and today, they say, sources have said that the president trump -- sources.
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they never say who the source is, because they don't have source, and the sources don't exist in many cases. they don't have sources, and the sources in many cases don't exist. these are very dishonest people, many of them. they are very, very dishonest people. fake news. very dishonest. but you watch comey and you watch the way he lies, and then he has the memos. i wonder when he wrote the memos, right? and then he has got the memos and he puts them up, and watch the way he lies. it is the most incredible thing. do you remember john lovitz, remember, "the liar"? well, comey is worse. the liar and the leaker. i did you a great favor when i fired this guy. i tell you. i did you a great favor.
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because when you are looking at what was going on at the top of the fbi, it is a disgrace and everybody in this room understands it. the lovers, and the two lovers, right? lisa. lisa and peter strzok, and look at the top officials who were removed or find they should be out of here. and what about the guy who took $700,000 for his wife's campaign, and nobody even talks about it. nobody even talks about it. i will tell you what, i have been talking about it for a long time. and if our justice department was doing the right thing, they'd be a lot tougher right now on those people, because there is tremendous crime and corruption on the other side.
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we need to drain the swamp. we need to vote against guys like jon tester that can destroy a man with innuendo, and we have to be very careful with the press, because they do the same damn thing. we love our country, and we believe in -- and the arrivals for white house correspondents association dinner washington, d.c., and be careful of the press he says because they do the same damn thing, and a few moments ago he was talking about sources contending that they don't have sources and referring to the journalists that they don't have source, and in many cases the sources don't exist. a wide ranging extemporaneous speech here from the president of the united states. i am joined by jay newton small, and we are looking at the michigan township, michigan, and
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washington, d.c., on the other side. and let's look at what he said about james comey. he said moments ago i did a you a great favor by firing that guy, the president here, continuing to be agitated by what james comey said in the book recently publish and in the radio and television interviews as well. >> absolutely, david. that is classic donald trump when he is feeli ing sleighted wronged, and even when it is in his best interest to not bring up comey and let it go, because he is giving it more attention every time he brings it up, he is continually bringing it up and talking about comey and how he is a liar. we had to look up in the break now to the clip that he mentionmention mentioned john lovitz, and he is a sketch artist from "saturday night live" in the '80s when he said that oliver north was the innocent, because he is the one
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who perpetrated the crime. >> that is a deep cut into the archives. >> he is dating himself a little bit here. but it is a really striking, and this is very much trump in the sense that once he feels sleight ed or he does, and always has to the defend himself and keep striking back and that is what he is doing with comey here. >> and alex seitz wald here, and this is the genesis for names by the president, and we have the lovers, peter strzok and his girlfriend. and there was a former governor of virginia who received pac money. and he is saying that now senator took money -- and the story is evolving? >> yes, it is putting blame on andy mccabe for taking money for
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his wife's campaign and i have heard the campaign operatives that, this is the way that the way he views the women, that andy mccabe had nothing to do with his wife's candidacy who got money from terry mccauliffc and who was campaigning for hillary clinton and there is some plot, there and he was spouppose ed to fire him the da before his pension was to come through. and so there a witch hunt and people have political motives to come after hit it. >> and now, we had signalling a moment ago and he was talking about the justice department, and the president there without saying attorney general jeff sessions directly, but talking about the reforms that should be happening at the justice department or the things that the justice department should do, and this is not a new trope by the president as well. he is sending the signals to the
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cabinet officials that they should be doing more. >> well, yes, but look, david, the president forgets that the justice department and attorney general sessions is not his personal attorney, and continue and act by virtue of his statements that he doesn't understand that it is not his personal attorney. it's not his personal justice department. look, jeff sessions did the right thing by recusing himself. every single attorney on all sides of this issue have all agreed to this fact. the president has to be very careful here. he has to let this investigation continue forward. look, david, if he's done nothing wrong, if no one on his campaign did anything illegal, why is he so worried? why continue to make an issue out of it? i get the political implications but now you're under investigation by special counsel. every single thing you say could potentially be used against a president. i'm almost certain his attorneys at the white house are freaking out every single time he says something about the justice department or anything relevant
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to the possible russia collusion scandal. >> calling the russia investigation junk. this junk. just a moment ago talking about russia collusion saying, give me a break, the only collusion was the dems, as he put it, colluding with russia, take a look at the intelligence agencies, just some of the remarks from president trump speaking to reporters at a campaign event in washington township, michigan. on the right side, you see washington, d.c., the basement of the washington hilton, the predinner cocktail parties are ending. people making their way past the red carpet, down the red carpet to the ballroom. we're expecting that event to get under way soon. our colleague savannah sellers there, taking photos, taking selfies, we'll catch up with her in just a minute as the coverage continues with the two washingtons here on msnbc.
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i absolutely love this community. once i moved here i didn't want to live anywhere else. i love that people in this community are willing to come together to make a difference for other people's lives. together, we're building a better california. welcome back to our coverage of president trump's speech in washington township, michigan, speaking to supporters there as we also await the start of the white house correspondents association dinner taking place in washington, d.c. so we're focusing on two washingtons tonight. you see my colleague on the bottom right-hand side of the screen, savannah sellers talking to governor john kasich of ohio. we'll hear a bit of that in just a moment. we've been listening to what the president's had to say. elliptical, wide-ranging speech by the president of the united states. he started with talking about the work his administration is doing, the familiar line "make america great again," he talked about regulation, talked about the courts, talked about the justices on the supreme court, talked about justice gorsuch in
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particular, began to talk about immigration, talked about the border, the wall he maintained will be built once again, and moments ago he was talking about trade, talking about china, talking about the u.s. economy. and that i should say is how this speech tonight was billed. he was returning to michigan to talk about economic progress in the u.s. as we heard just a few moments ago, he spent time talking about the russia investigation and the fbi and james comey as well. continuing to monitor what's happening in washington township, michigan, continuing to await the start of the white house correspondents association dinner washington, d.c. this is the ocean. just listen. (vo) there's so much we want to show her. we needed a car that would last long enough to see it all. (avo) subaru outback. ninety eight percent are still on the road after 10 years. come on mom, let's go!
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ythen you turn 40 ande everything goes. tell me about it. you know, it's made me think, i'm closer to my retirement days than i am my college days. hm. i'm thinking... will i have enough? should i change something? well, you're asking the right questions. i just want to know, am i gonna be okay? i know people who specialize in "am i going to be okay." i like that. you may need glasses though. yeah. schedule a complimentary goal planning session today with td ameritrade. welcome back to our coverage of two big events happening in
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washingtons in the united states tonight. washington, d.c., the white house correspondents association dinner is taking place. washington township, michigan, president trump addressing supporters at an indoor soccer stadium, competing narratives, competing events here on this saturday evening. my colleague savannah sellers is in washington, d.c. at the washington hilton on the red carpet as guests come through. i'm going to turn to you. you were talking with the governor of ohio, john kasich, just a moment ago. celebrities, journalists, politicians as well. what did governor kasich have to say about the event tonight and politics more generally? >> so about the event tonight i asked, what do you think about president trump not being here? and he said, all i can really say about it is it was way quicker to get here without a sitting president. the traffic's not as bad as it has been in past years so he liked that part. he did say about politics in general, he believes that we are currently now living in a post-truth environment. for him that's why tonight is so important, given that that's what
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