good morning, i'm dara brown at msnbc world headquarters. 7:00 in the east, 4:00 out west. here's what is happening. president trump and his rough and tumble saturday night telling his base about a new threat to congress adding fuel to his feud with the senator and his strategy for keeping a democrat from sweeping the november elections. tale of two intel reports, new evidence from house democrats says president trump may have obstructed justice while the house gop maintains there was no collusion. plus, comedian michelle wolf goes all in at the correspondents' dinner. >> mr. trump, i don't think you're very rich.

like, i think you may be rich in idaho, but in new york you're doing fine. >> what will be the most talked about moments from last night's black tie affair. let's get to the highlights from president trump's rally in michigan last night including comments over the u.s./mexico wall. >> we have to have borders, and we have to have them fast. we need security, we need the wall. we're going to visit all. we come up again on september 28th. and if we don't get border security, we'll have no choice, we'll close down the country. because we need border security. >> the president also reigniting his feud with red state democrat senator john tester over his criticism of the president's ousted secretary dr. ronnie jackson. >> this is a high-quality individual like they would love in montana. and tester started throwing out things that he's heard. well, i know things about tester

that i could say, too. and if i said them, he would never be elected again. >> president trump is fighting back and critics are eager to see him out of office if the democrats sweep the midterm elections. >> we have to keep the house, because if you listen to maxine wat wattte -- watters, she says, we got to impeach him. we have to win the house and the senate. and i think we'll do great in the senate. and i think we'll do great in the house, because the economy is so good. >> "the new york times" is underscoring how worried republicans are behind the scenes about losing control of the house and senate as a result of president trump. let's bring in julian manchester, reporter for "the hill" and liz goodwin from "the boston globe." thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you.

>> julia, i want to start with you, how did this fight with senator tester become so nasty? >> light. last week senator tester brought to light a lot of the allegations against former -- president trump's former v.a. nominee ronnie jackson that led to ronnie jackson tendering, basically stepping down from the nomination post. and rather than, you know, listen to the allegations, president trump is actually pushing back against them calling them a character assassination. and i think president trump has turned this around on senator tester using as a re-election threat. he's up for re-election in a deeply red state. and president trump is trying to rally up the base in montana to go against tester in that. and it's because of the allegations against jackson. >> and liz, to you, how do you see it? >> yeah, i think that the president's taking ronnie jackson's stepping aside very personally because he

hand-picked this guy to lead the v.a. this is his personal physician. and almost as soon as he announced the pick, even republicans started to back away from him, even before the allegations surfaced, people were worry about his lack of experience to lead the second largest federal agency. and then once the allegations surfaced, senator tester had the support of the republican chair of the committee, senator isaacson, to do what he did, to basically float them and say, hey, are we sure we want to go through the mess of a confirmation hearing right now? so i think that's something that the president is having trouble grappling with, because it is such a rebuke of his own judgment. >> and julia, you also heard the president there talk about the midterms and the chance he could be impeached. how much was last night's rally part of his strategy? >> it's very much a part of his strategy. i think a lot of republicans many the house and senate who are up for re-election are a bit cautious about having the president come up and campaign for them. some probably do not want him by their side if they're in very

swing states. so i think the president is doing what he believes he does best, and to go to the huge rallies, rallies up his base, and it worked for him and his election campaign. so i think he's thinking it could work for him in the 2018 midterm elections. so i think this is much of its own personal strategy and in his own way he can pitch in. i think this is also personal for the president in that there have been a lot of house democrats calling for his impeachment. if the democrats take back the house, we'll see the pressure growing. so this is -- he definitely has a crucial stake in this. >> liz, i want to put up "the new york times" article on the republicans. how widespread is the fear that president trump, that this could actually cost them the midterms? >> i mean, republicans are very scared about the mid terms, which they should be. two years after the president takes office, his party usually suffers. so everyone's running scared or they should be running scared. and the fact that "the new york

times" is reporting that the president is brushing off his senator mcconnell coming to him and saying, listen, i'm really worried about the midterms. we need to be on message, read the prompter every once in a while. and for the president to say, no, my base is coming out for us, the economy is great, my numbers are better than ever, that's very worrisome for the republican party, because they're facing big headwinds. and this is going to be a very tough election for them. >> juliet, "the new york times" article says despite projecting confidence, he polls nearly all those who view the midterms. what are republicans doing to get him to take the threat of the massive law seriously? and how do you get the sense that the efforts are sinking in for the president? >> right, right. i think therepublicans are very much trying to get the president to focus on his strengths. we have seen the republicans have already kind of taken ahold of tax reform and really tried to promote that.

economic growth, job reform, and really try to move him and their strategy away from focusing on the scandals, i mean, obviously surrounding stormy daniels and russia and focus on his strengths. i don't see why they would focus on the other points, but i think they are really trying to focus on what has helped him so far and how he's performed on fronts. >> and keep him on point with the tax reform. before i let you two go, i want to get your response from the white house correspondents' dinner and play one of the highlights. >> i actually really like sarah, i think she's very resourceful. like she burns facts and then uses the ash to create a perfect smoky eye. maybe southeast bohe's born wit it's lies. >> liz, dud she go too far? >> in the room, a lot of people

were with her with the comedy routine, but it got awkward when she went after sarah sanders in personal terms talking about her looks. the crowd was not loving it at that point. >> interesting, julia, how did you see it? >> right, i completely agree with liz. it was interesting to see sarah sanders' reaction. she sat through it and was graceful. kellyanne conway was in the room. and also, i would like to point out, wolf went after the media and democrats. so there was no one left out of it, but it seemed a bit personal on sarah sanders and many trump administration officials there. >> so liz, how do you take that? because this is sort of part of trump's m.o., he goes after people personally, so wouldn't this be fair game for her to do the same? >> well, this is a comedian. i don't think it is a comparison. but i think it is interesting that this is a first time testimony trump administration came and sarah sanders was sitting at the head table and just had to take the criticism, which is usually what the president does, right? the president comes, the

comedian roasts him, so it's kind of a baby step in the direction of being able to take the feedback and get in the rough and tumble of washington a bit. >> and kelly, what was your reaction to that? i mean, it was somewhat routine if it were trump, but here, was it different? >> right, right, it was a bit different. but i think this event, in particular, is also a bit personal for trump. a few years ago, barack obama roasted trump about his white house correspondents' dinner. and i think trump took that very personally. i think it is very much what has fueled his anger about washington, it's kind of what was the, i guess, the straw that broke the camel's back there. so yeah, trump's feeling very personal about this and feels that the white house correspondents' dinner is the epitome of the swamp in washington ch and all the elites in washington getting together in one room and one of his biggest arch enemies, the media. >> julie and liz, thank you for joining me on this sunday morning. great to have you.

>> thanks, dara. and the president is back on the table, but does it matter at this point? that's next. with fidelity wealth management you get straightforward advice, tailored recommendations, tax-efficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. fidelity wealth management.

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today is the day. many of the 300 migrants in tijuana are expected to present themselves at the border seeking asylum. over the past few days, immigration counselors have been talking to them about their options. half of them want to make a request, but historically the odds are against them. over the past five years, asylum denials are among the highest at more than 75%. and new evidence this morning from democrats on the house intelligence committee allegations obstruction of justice by the president. the minority report released friday says testimony from fired acting fbi director andrew

mccabe described vailed threats against james comey. adam schiff asked mccabe, if the director didn't lift the cloud of the russian investigation, that the president would take action against you? mccabe replied, that is correct. that was my concern. as i understand it, that was director comey's concern as well. we'll bring in msnbc legal analyst danny sovalis. good morning to you. can you see a case for obstruction of justice here? >> it depends on who you are asking about. i mean, when you look at the democrats' report, you could say that the charge of obstruction really is against the majority republicans who investigated because they essentially slow-walked through the investigation. but if you look at the potential indictment for obstruction of justice against the president contained in the report only, the democrats appear to say that andrew mccabe provides a lot of

corroborating evidence for an intimidation of james comey. and james comey's testimony is arguably pretty consistent on this point. it's director mccabe's statements that might be subject to credibility questions based on his history. but the democrats -- it's a stinging indictment, not so much of the president in my view, but of the majority republicans and their report. >> but danny, you bring up a good point because a large chunk of the evidence presented by the intel evidence is based on the testimony. and as you said, it could be a problem because the credibility is questionable following the firing. how do they proceed? >> how does the house proceed from here? well, that's the problem. i mean, this is not -- criminal-type investigations like this are not well-suited for congress, and they are especially not well-suited when you have a committee that divides along partisan lines. that's why we find the -- that's why i find the mueller

investigation is going to be more fruitful because the doj, the special counsel, the u.s. attorneys and fbi agents, are criminal investigators by nature. they don't approach it from a partisan viewpoint. that's the concern when you have the intelligence committee splitting into the factions by party and issuing reports. you can see in the text the difference between republicans and democrats in their conclusions, which, in a way, casts credibility issue doubts on both sides. >> interesting. the russia investigation here has politico reporting that robert mueller's ability to get an interview with donald trump may not matter and he can complete the investigation without it. do you agree? >> it surprises me because i think any federal prosecutor will tell you that standard procedure is to save the biggest fish for the end of your

investigation. after you've gathered all of the information that you can to confront that person. most of the informal interviews, and they are anything but informal with u.s. attorneys, come after they already know everything. so that if you answer a question or try to massage the facts, they usually know the answers to the questions before they ask them. at the same time, mueller may conclude that the showdown in asking the president to either sit-down for an interview or issuing a subpoena could be too great and maybe not as fruitful or worth the risks and efforts that would go into trying to fight his way, fight him into a subpoena or fight him into an informal interview. but i just can't see mueller making that decision. he's got to interview the big boss. that's the way all federal investigations usually go. >> and on that point, newly-minted trump lawyer rudy giuliani, reopened negotiations

for mueller to interview the president. is this a smart move by giuliani? >> it could be. rudy giuliani may think he has influence with the special counsel. i think having someone with a name like rudy giuliani may open the door and get you a meeting with special counsel mueller. but u.s. attorneys generally are very, very concerned about appearing impartial. i think, if anything, it may cause mueller to circle his wagons if it's perceived publicly and giuliani has intimated that he has some special influence with mueller. mueller may instead say, look, i've got to demonstrate to the world that rudy giuliani has no special influence. i'll take a meeting with him. i'm listening to what he has to say, but i have to show i'm independent. >> danny cevallos, great to have you here this sunday morning. thank you for your insights. a program reminder for you, be sure to catch a new edition of

"headliners" tonight at 9:00 eastern here on msnbc. and if you are just waking up, you may not have heard about this. next, what the country is saying about the likelihood of kim jong-un making good on a promise. company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do? drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement™, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. smart. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, we'll replace the full value of your car. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. hnew litter?lled this no. nobody has! it's unscented! (vo) new tidy cats free & clean unscented. powerful odor control with activated charcoal. free of dyes. free of fragrances. tidy cats free & clean. when no scents makes sense.

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we had an extensive conversation on the hardest issue that face our two countries. i had a clear mission statement from president trump. when i left there, kim jong-un understood the message exactly as i've described it today. and he agreed he was prepared to talk about that and to lay out a map to help us awe achieve that objective. only time will tell if we can get that done. >> and the secretary of state mike pompeo on his conversation with kim jong-un. and new this morning, the north korean leader now vowing to close nuclear test sites next month. and he'll invite experts from south korea and the u.s. to the

sites to tour the international community. and joining me now is gordon chang. gordon, do you believe that kim jong-un will actually close down the nuclear test sites? >> i think he will. there's a lot of theories by experts that the test center is really unstable geologically. there's some doubt about that. 38 north, which is a widely followed website in the u.s., says two of the tunnels are geologically okay, but closing it down is a very good thing. it creates a marker for kim jong-un. so therefore, it sort of creates this momentum that very well may overwhelm him, even if he is sip call. >> gordon, you heard what secretary of state mike pompeo said. are you encouraged by what he said? >> i'm encouraged what he said and what the south koreans said a few hours ago.

they said kim jong-un told moon ja ex--in on friday they are willing to give up the nukes if the u.s. will sign a peace treaty to end the korean war as well as the pledge not to attack north korea. again, kim jong-un is creating markers by which to be judging. along with a nuclear weapon, you have to lift the sanctions. we have to keep the pressure up, but nevertheless, things are move manager the right direction. >> and kim jong-un introduced plans to readjust the north korean time zone to match south korea's. is this significant? >> i think it's symbolic, of course, 2015 kim moved the north korean clocks a half hour to show north korea being independent. this is an indication to really come back to the international community.

and the reason is there's a lot of negotiations going into the north. so he wants to show the world he wants to rejoin it. because he needs sanctions relief and needs everyone to sort of give him more cash. so at least this is a sign of weak weakness. north koreans make concessions, but they don't make concessions before the discussions start. so that is a really good sign that kim believes that his message is not that strong. >> kim jong-un has been conceding quite a bit in the negotiations, so what do you think his strategy is here? >> well, first of all, he wants to end the korean war, turn it into a peace treaty. this is seven decades-old policy of the kim family.

this is an indication that he believes he has cards to play with regard to seoul. we have to be cautious about this and make sure that when there is a peace treaty, north korea pulls back and does so in a way that can be conversed. but we are at a place where nobel peace prize time, not only for our president, but the north korean president and the south koreans. the united states needs to make sure to keep the sanctions up on north korea until we not only have an agreement to denuke them, but if the --

>> this is a great conversation. that will do it for me. i'm dara brown. thank you for watching. at the top of the hour on "politics nation," kanesha clemmons will talk about being arrested at the waffle house last weekend. "your business" is up next. use r dry mouth. dry mouth can cause increased cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. i like to recommend biotene. biotene has a full array of products that replenishes the moisture in your mouth. biotene definitely works. it makes patients so much happier. [heartbeat] handcrafted layers of clean food you can give your kids. tomatoes. even the picky ones. panera. food as it should be. now delivered.

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well we already did... well i'll finish up here, then move into the master... whoa. this looks great, your majesty! thank you kirby! upgrade now to add a premium channel of your choice so you can keep on watching all year long. good morning, everyone. coming up on msnbc's "your business." the second generation owner comes out to colleagues changing mind and company culture. fashion icon nicole miller on why you have to keep reinventing your brand and why she rehires people she fired. and linda mcmahon is joining us from washington to kickoff national small business week. we've got your back when it comes to making decisions. so let's grow fast and work smart. coming up next on "your business."