"deadline white house" with nicolle wallace starts right now. /s >> hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. are you ready? big day of breaking news on multiple fronts. we'll bring it all to you. up first, foreign policy flop or trumpian head fake? that's one of the questions this hour about donald trump's dramatic announcement he's cancelling a planned summit with north korea scheduled for early june in singapore, citing open hostility on the part of north korean leader kim jong-un. donald trump today pulled the plug on the summit. behind the scenes, the trumpian circular firing squad has identified two targets for blame. one source telling me that there is frustration on secretary of state pompeo's part with john bolton and the president is, quote, blaming pence and his comments in the press, at least in part, for the final unraveling. achieving peace on the korean peninsula was intended to serve multiple purposes for the president. trump says that everyone was talking about a nobel peace

prize for him. he planned for republicans to run on his deal making prowess with north korea as their midterm message and most importantly the north korean summit in june was the president's excuse for not sitting down with special counsel robert mueller for an interview. here's giuliani on fox news just a couple weeks ago. >> if mueller said to me tomorrow, bring him in two hours like you want, no questions you don't want, and we're pretty much ready to clear him. i could not go to the president of the united states and say, take two days off to get ready for that and screw the whole thing with north korea. how can any american do that? he's our president. he is going to negotiate, i believe, a nonnuclear situation on the korean peninsula! >> maybe not. it would appear based on today's news that mr. giuliani might need a fresh excuse. also happening today, a high

stakes and largely unprecedented meeting at the department of justice with members of congress about the fbi's use of an informant in the russia investigation. the meeting is the result of a campaign wage by trump ally and d.o.j. an tag nist devin nunes, republican chair of the house intel committee. white house chief of staff john kelly and white house lawyer emmet flood were also present in both meetings despite white house assurances earlier this week that no west wing officials would attend. and raising alarm that trump's lawyer could gain improper access to evidence against him in the russia probe. one former federal prosecutor and trump ally said to me moments ago, quote, i would have kicked emmet flood out. the white house with a statement reacting to this uproar saying, neither chief kelly nor mr. flood actually attended the meetings, but did make brief remarks before the meetings started to relay the president's desire for as much openness as possible under the law. they also conveyed the

president's understanding of the need to protect human intelligence services and the importance of communication between the branches of government. after making their brief comments, they departed before the meetings officially started. joining us on a day of wild headlines, former fbi assistant director for counter intelligence frank figliuzzi. with us at the table from "the new york times," mike schmidt. john heilman, executive producer of showtime's the circus. we shortened your title after yesterday. >> because you complained. [ laughter ] >> that's what happens when the host whines. when the host whines the script gets shorter. that's how it works in television. >> you get two titles. >> under the bus. nick also with "the new york times." elise jordan former bush white house and state department, someone whose title i'll seek to make longer because she's well-behaved.

all cnbc analysmsnbc analyst an contributors. frank figliuzzi, let me start with you. we're trying to break this down. the president is investigating a counter intelligence investigation into his campaign. is that appropriate, ethical and legal? >> there is a strong argument the president should be recusing himself of anything to do with the investigation of himself. and now today, nicolle, the presence of emmet flood, even if it was just to make introductory remarks, clearly now creates a conflict. we now -- we have intelligence heads briefing the president's defense attorney. he shouldn't even be in the room when they're discussing classified intel that may touch on this investigation with members of congress. >> frank, let me stay with you on this question. how did we get here? this meeting was president -- this didn't come about because of any concerns about the actual

existence of a counter intelligence investigation into russia. it came because the president's campaign aides were in the crosshairs. that ignited the same thing in the president as it always does. can you just speak to how the justice department, how the fbi has to constantly adjust and sort of change norms to deal with the president's thin skin and legal concerns? >> yeah, i think we all would have liked to have been a fly on the wall as they went through the agonizing decision, do we do this briefing, do we do it in a singular nature to just republicans, do we insist on doing it to both democrats and republicans? what do we do if emmet flood shows up or the chief of staff shows up? all of this playing out. here's my thinking right now. that it was an agonizing decision to do it in this manner. number two, they are buying time, nicolle, that they want to finish their mission, they want to allow mueller to finish his

mission. the agency saying let's appease them. we've done nothing wrong. threats' be as transparent as we can and not give them any excuse. the problem with that, nicolle, how far does this go, where does this end, how many briefings are they going to be demanded to give. >> we just heard from adam schiff. he went to the cameras after the gang of 8 meeting. let's listen to that and talk about it on the other side. >> today's gang of 8 briefing was conducted to assure protection of sources and methods. nothing we heard today has changed our view. there is no evidence to support any allegation that the fbi or any intelligence agency placed a spy in the trump campaign or otherwise failed to follow appropriate procedures and protocols. thank you. >> so, frank figliuzzi, their complete exoneration by the fbi -- of the fbi, and should this end the president's claim, false claim, a lie from the inception of his bumper sticker

spygate, or do you expect to continue to hear that from the president? >> not only do i expect to hear the spygate mantra from the president, i expect now he'll move on to yet some other complaint about the investigation, the investigators, or the techniques they are using. and certainly a statement from adam schiff is not going to appease the president. >> so, mike schmidt, none of this takes place in a vacuum with the president. he doesn't just wake up and launch a campaign. uranium, all of the faux scandals came about at critical junctures in the mueller investigation. what is happening now, what could be happening now in the mueller investigation that triggered him? >> what they know, this is going to come down to a public relations thing. it's going to be the country that decides his fate. rudy giuliani says as much. so, whatever they can do to soften the story, the issues that are out there, they're going to do. and i think that's what the president is trying so hard to do, is just create an enormous amount of noise. you have schiff out there saying these things. now the president can come back

and go after schiff. it makes it even more political. but their long game is the public. they think the public will decide this. and they're just going to make as much noise as possible to do that. >> is that because they realize this could end up in impeachment proce proceedings? >> i think if rudy giuliani said mueller will not indict the president, so the only area the president would be exposed would be in that area, it would be something decided by the house of representatives representing the people either before or after the mid terms, probably afterwards, and they think that if they make this issue sort of trump versus the investigation, trump versus comey, that's a good thing for them and that's a win. >> so, trump versus a fake spy in this campaign, is that where we are? >> pretty much. mike's right obviously. i think to be a little more precise about it, i don't think it's the question of making the most noise as possible, it's

making the noise he's been making fire long time. >> smearing the fbi. >> smearing the fbi, smearing the justice department, this is a partisan witch hunt, a hoax, all of that. this plays perfectly into that narrative. all of it is b.s., but this notion -- spygate is the perfect next chapter in a book about how the obama administration officials long ago wanted to take him out and then they thought hillary was going to win so they didn't have to take him out but then she lost so they planted all of these secret bombs in the future that would go off and detonate eventually and try to take down this presidency. all of it's ridiculous, but it's consistent and the reality is right now with bob mueller, appropriately many lawyers would say, appropriately silent, there is no one effectively making the counter argument that this is -- all of this is legitimate. you have all these very small voices out making arguments. you hear it on cable news, you hear it from some democrats. but there is no one who has the megaphone that donald trump has. the only people who that kind of

megaphone, really the only person in the country right now who could strand at trump's stature level is bob mueller. for a variety of reasonsing having to do with propriety and keeping the investigation on track, he is not going to stand up and make an argument for himself. as crazy as trump's arguments are, a certain segment of the population they seem to be finding some purchase. >> among his voters, not as though he's winning over converts -- >> his approval righting ating highest now any time in his presidency. the country wants mueller to finish. the country, a majority of the country, does not think mueller has found anything wrong despite the fact there have been multiple indictments, more than a dozen, and five guilty pleas. most of the country thinks mueller is inconclusive even though he's got an extraordinary amount done in just a year. >> nick, let's talk about how he is that megaphone this morning. the president tweeting clapper the former dni has now admitted

there was spying in my campaign. he has not. large dollars were paid to the spies -- not a spy. far beyond normal. starting to look like one of the biggest political scandals in u.s. history. not surprising the great men and women of the fbi are starting to speak out against comey, mccabe and all 9 political corruption and poor leadership found in the top ranks of the fbi. comey was a terrible and corrupt leader who inflicted great pain on the fbi. >> look, the president's statements are more and more just untethered -- >> untethered? >> not what's true or what's fair, but what he thinks will work, what he thinks will accomplish his aims. he's always done that as a businessman and politician. he turned jeb bush mr. low energy. he's high energy in a lot of ways. he deploys language in a way that no other politician has really dared, and actually to me it is a logical end point where newt gingrich started the country in the '90s and before. just deploy the maximum kind of

language and rhetoric you can. call them despicable. call them liars, call them spies. it turns out the country is polarized enough you can get a third to a half of the country to believe anything you say. >> frank figliuzzi, can you jump in on what effect that has if any on the people conducting these investigations at the fbi? >> yeah, i mean, what i'm hearing lately is two things. one that's depressing and the other that's a little interesting and somewhat exciting. one is that morale is definitely suffering. people are just trying to keep their head down, do their job, get it done as quickly as possible. that's not good when morale among the intelligence community and the fbi is down. and down because of our president. but secondly, what i am hearing from recruiters, fbi agent recruiters is there is a young cadre of people contacting the fbi saying, more than ever before they want to be fbi agents because they like the fact that people in the fbi stand up to authority, seek truth, and the rule of law.

so, if there is a bright spot in this, if we can get through this, there is actually a segment of the population that is saying, sign me up for that. >> well, frank, i don't want to rain on your optimistic parade because it made me feel better 20 seconds. i think we're going to get through this. what mike and john have laid out is trump is winning in terms of the battle that he's waging, which is to sure up his 40% and convince people mueller is taking too long and hasn't found anything yet. that's pretty depressing. >> indeed it is. and let's all hope that mueller is allowed to finish his job unaccosted. but if we get through the end of this, there will be a report. we will all read the report. yes, there will be spinning like crazy. if people get news from one source they'll have one side of the story. that report gets fresh air, gets read publicly, i think we count that a success, then we move on

to the battle. congress for impeachment or whether we're headed to a grand jury for indictment. >> elise, jordan, today the president's excuse for not doing an interview with bob mueller went up in flames, it was not going to be appropriate to take the president away from this important states man ship. he seems to have that time freed up now. do you think he'll do an interview? >> i think donald trump really wants to do an interview. at his core he thinks, as he wanted to solve the north korea nuclear issue one on one with kim jong-un, he thinks he can sit down with bob mueller and solve it himself. i think that excuse is a little more difficult given that bob mueller probably wouldn't have really pressed for it with this huge summit coming up. and now donald trump is going to have to contend with the investigation. >> and you've reported on sort of the behind the scenes with this interview that bob mueller, well, he is immune to political

pressure, he's not aware of things happening on the world stage. do you think he'll be more aggressive seeking the interview? >> he's going to have to make decisions that have political consequence. whether it's around the election, and more acutely the north korea thing. if the president was going to north korea and mueller said, look, i've had enough of these negotiations, i want to subpoena him. would it be in the back of mueller's mind, if i did this during these negotiations before or even after while they were hammering out the details, is that unfair to the president? is it going make it look like i am trying to undercut him on the international stage? and that issue at least for now has been taken off the table so that gives mueller a little more leeway. if he says, look, enough going back and forth with rudy on the interview, i'm sick of this. i want to put him in front of the grand jury. >> do you think he's going to subpoena the president? >> the thing i don't understand about the irinterview, negotiations have been going on since december. so at some point mueller is going to say, okay, what's going

on here? why is this still going on? >> this is the second or third lawyer he's been negotiating. >> correct. we sat down, we told him here are the questions we want to ask him. we sat down and said, look, we're not looking to indict the president, we're trying to do these things, get it wrapped up by september. why are we still negotiating? here's the subpoena. that's the question mueller will have to make. >> the genuinely sick thing is the number of enablers the president has among people who used to be sober responsible people. yesterday -- >> name names. >> yesterday i saw reporting that suggested that i believe orrin hatch is basically trying to reopen the flynn verdict and trying to get -- >> flynn pleaded guilty. >> this is my point. this is why i say it's sick. the notion he wants to get fbi, people involved interviewing flip, the right call, the ambush interview against michael flynn where he made false statements he's now admitted to, he wants to call those people back to congress and relitigate the

terms under which that interview took place and try to hold the guilty verdict itself -- the guilty plea itself may be in question. and i just -- we are -- to go back to the very top of the conversation, the president thinks he's winning this this argument. he has enablers throughout capitol hill, on both the senate side regrettably because you thought they'd be more responsible on the house side where we've given up all hope. everyone, he has a loud big amen chorus who are going to be singing the song he's single. to what frank said before at the very top, this day we may have gotten through this day and nothing cataclysmic may have happened, although it's still an ugly precedent and bad stuff happening with emmet flood showing up at that meeting i think. we are headed towards a bigger confrontation. when that confrontation comes, the president is going to push for another confrontation. there is going to be a moment where this thing is going to blow up. i don't think it's that far off now. >> frank, i want to give you the last word. do you think bob mueller is

mulling or thinking of subpoenaing the president for an interview now that the north korean summit is off the table? >> i think at some point soon he'll reach his wall with regard to timing. he'll say, let's fix a date where we're going to have someone fix the date for us. that's where we're headed. >> when we come back inside donald trump's scorched earth campaign against comey, the man he praised for having the guts to open the hillary clinton e-mail is now a rotten apple. has the president's plan for winning a peace prize for de-nuking north korea or is it part of the strategy? the move to bannon them protests on the field, the president goes further suggesting that any player who doesn't stand for the anthem shouldn't be there and maybe shouldn't even be in the country at all. stay with us. today, there are more sensors on our planet than people. we're putting ai into everything, and everything into the cloud. it's all so... smart.

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i think a thing that i've done for the country, the firing of james comey, is going to go down as a very good thing. fbi is great. i know so many people in the fbi. the fbi is a fantastic institution. but some of the people at the top were rotten apples. james comey was one of them. i've done a great service for this country by getting rid of them by firing him. >> that was donald trump on fox and friends this morning. it's a far cry from the praise he once heaped on the former fbi director. >> it took guts for director comey to make the move that he made in light of the kind of

opposition he had where they're trying to protect her from criminal prosecution. you know that. it took a lot of guts. i really disagreed with him. i was not his fan, but i'll tell you what, what he did, he brought back his reputation. he brought it back. he's got to hang tough because there's a lot of -- lot of people want him to do the wrong thing. what he did was the right thing. >> so, what changed? well, jim comey is now a key witness in the obstruction of justice investigation into the president and donald trump's legal team has landed on a smear comey campaign as their best strategy to blunt comey's testimony. steve schmidt joins the conversation now. and let me start with some of the questions that i think you first reported bob mueller's team wants to know about -- from the president about mr. comey. they want to ask the president what his opinion was of mr. comey during the transition, what the purpose was of the january 27th dinner with mr. comey and what was said. that was where he asked to see to it to let mike flynn --

>> the loyalty test. >> the loyalty test. what he did in reaction to the comey testimony? >> that's when he said there is a public investigation into the campaign. >> so, it's pretty ease toy see how he got to thinking comey is a rotten apple. >> comey came and talked to him about the steele dossier. that was the whole thing that triggered the whole thing, the january meeting. >> he told him of its existence. >> i don't think trump liked hearing that very much. >> steve schmidt, jump in. >> this president is besieged by investigations and all around this president from scott pruitt, the cabinet secretaries that have already resigned, received fantastic levels of corruption, type of corruption we haven't seen in this country going back 100 years. and what's increasingly clear, whether the target is james comey, whether it's director mueller, the special counsel, the reality is this president

will burn everything to the ground to protect himself, to protect himself from this investigation moving closer to the oval office. everything he's doing is a strategy of insightment. he's trying to harden and insigincite his base through the most deliberate, intense, misinformation campaign this country has ever seen. this president is a serial liar. he is lying to the american people every day. he is making up things out of whole cloth. he is serially attacking vital institutions that are necessary to the security of the country. he will apparently stop at nothing. there is a second scandal, and that is the come accompliciplic congress. there is not one of them, not one who will stand up and say that we are a country of laws, that no person is above the law,

that these institutions are vital and necessary and objective truth matters. this is propaganda. this is what propaganda looks like. it's what it smells like. we have never seen anything like it. what we're seeing is an attack from within on vital institutions like a person's body would be attacked by a flesh-eating bacteria. and it is unprecedented in america. >> steve schmidt, let me ask you, there is news we started the hour with news of emmet flood -- sorry, someone has a frog it their throat at the table. one of the president's new lawyers representing him in the russia probe attended this meeting on capitol hill with the gang of eight where they reviewed the most classified information about a human informant. can you imagine any scenario where alberto gonzalez would have checked in with pat fitzgerald investigating the outing of cia agent valerie

plame? >> it should never have happened. on the 1 to 10 scale of inappropriateness, it comes in at about 157. and the real issue now is what's the next transgression? where is the next time that the department of justice backs up because of the whims, because of the demands of the president? we're moving, as john heilman said, closer and closer to the crisis, to the critical hour. and the rule of law in this country must be defended. there is a potential, absent any defense of it by leaders in this country, that we'll be living in a very different type of country. for 240 plus years, the rule of law has held in the united states of america. and the spinning of these conspiracy theories, the constancy of the attacks, the victimization that trump puts upon himself, always blaming someone, this nefarious

conspiracy, this is the hallmark of autocratic leadership back to the beginning of time. this is not normal in a democratic republic like the united states. and it should be opposed. >> elise, let me ask you to pick up on steve's theme. you've got a situation now where cabinet secretaries when they're on capitol hill and under oath have a hard time towing the line. this was pompeo earlier today. let's watch. >> do you believe there is a criminal deep state at the state department? >> i don't -- i haven't seen comments from the president. i don't believe there is a deep state at the state department. >> thank you. you formerly served as cia director. do you believe your colleagues of the cia are part of the criminal deep state? >> you know, this term deep state has been thrown around. i'll say this. the employees that worked for me at the cia nearly uniformly were

aimed at achieving the president's objectives and america's objectives. >> it hasn't been thrown around, it was tweeted by the president in the last 48 hours. >> this exchange yesterday made me smile a little bit because the idea that the state department, perhaps the most risk averse of all of our cabinets -- and i worked there and i know this firsthand. they -- people at the state department don't necessarily like to make decisions. and so it's always incredibly bureaucratic. and the fact there would be some well orchestrated deep state is just really laughable. i don't say that as an insult to my friends at the state department. it's just not the culture of the bureaucracy. >> we used to say that about campaigns, we wouldn't be smart enough. it has its roots in the belief that comey and mccabe, the former leadership of the fbi was somehow working against them. when your colleagues reported last week an in-depth story about how the opposite was true, what they kept secret was the

investigation of the president and what became public, you covered the investigation of hillary clinton. >> even on the issue of the confidential informant, whoever this individual was -- >> can i make a short point? >> hang on one sec, steve. >> there is an argument to be made that by doing that, by having this individual go talk to carter page and talk to papadopoulos, they were actually protecting the secrecy of the investigation because, on the other hand, they could have shown up with badges and guns to talk to these guys. but instead, they secretly sent someone to talk to them to see if they could corroborate it in a quiet way. otherwise it would have been louder if they had gone for an interview. those are the type of things that leak out during an investigation and make headlines. >> one of the greatest ironies of all time was when this election was over, bill and hillary clinton went back to chappaqua and were filled with rage over the notion donald trump was under investigation by the fbi in a counter

intelligence investigation and it never leaked. their view was, this is crazy. how could a democratic administration, how could the people who are for hillary clinton, how could they have not let this out? their view was equally in some ways corrupt. someone should have leaked it. to your point, no one leaked it. on election day, we got to election day and the 350 million americans had no idea anybody was investigating donald trump. >> for suspicious ties to russia, the very thing -- >> people will debate till the end of time, that was one of the things the american public deserved to know. the notion they were trying to take donald trump down, there are 50 easy ways to do it. >> frank figliuzzi, since you were the deputy director for counter intelligence, let me let you in on this. >> yeah, so, look, the american people and particularly president trump should actually be thankful that the fbi chose restraint over aggressive posture in this investigation. they chose the least invasive

techniques they could. they could have applied for electronic surveillance on these individuals. they certainly had it on carter page. they could have gone further. instead they made subtle approaches through a well established source to see how russians were impacting campaign officials. that was it. trump should be thankful for that instead he's turned it upside down and turned it into what he calls spygate. it's nonsense. >> frank, let me get your thought because we haven't spoken since this to informant has been outed. what are the couldn't kwenss of a president if not condones is complicit with fbi informants? >> every day, nicolle, we think we see a new low point for our institutions, for politics in america and our government. we can add this on to another reason why we're reaching a new low and that is that with the acquiescence of the congress, with the demands of the president himself, we are seeing it okay to out someone who is a

long-time intelligence source. this puts lives at danger. and more importantly, moving forward, when you try to recruit sources, recruit in place, inside moscow, inside bay gbinije. they look at you and say, how can you guarantee my safety? the answer is you can't. >> to blow up deep state theory, this is a veteran republican administration. sorry, we lost control of the table. when he we come back, donald trump with a decidedly mixed message on north korea today. a break up letter and pronouncement of the cancellation of the summit trump said, quote, many things can happen and opportunities lie ahead potentially. it's almost enough to make you feel bad for the guy on the other end of the negotiation. we'll bring that you story next. david. what's going on? oh hey! ♪ that's it? yeah. that's it? everybody two seconds!

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fit right there now in north korea. kim jong-un is the big winner. >> i hope what we're hearing today is a strategic decision made by the president rather than rejecting diplomacy because diplomacy is the only way we can proceed. >> this is the example of what happens when you don't understand the nature of the diplomacy that has to take place, the deep preparations that have to take place before you even agree to enter such a summit. >> democratic reaction to the president's news about pulling out of the north korea summit in june. "the new york times" reporting president trump citing a flurry of hostile statements from north korea pulled out of a highly anticipated summit meeting with kim jong-un earlier. telling the north korean leader this missed opportunity is a truly sad moment in history. but mr. trump said later that the meeting with mr. kim, which had been scheduled for june 12th in singapore, could still happen even as he renewed threats of military action against the north and vowed to continue a campaign of economic pressure against mr. kim's regime.

joining the table now hopefully to elevate us, jim mussina. i heard today from a source that the circular firing squad which everyone is familiar with, usually the losing ones descend into that, has laid some blame on john bolton. i understand the president lays some blame with mike pence for his comments. i think he went back to comparing the north korean challenge to the libya model which was something john bolton had said a couple weeks later donald trump had walked back, knowing that the north koreans didn't want to be compared to the libyan leader who ended up dead. and then pence re-upped that. understanding that at this moment really international peril, i guess if these talks were derailed, the white house is pointing fingers and blaming one another. pretty typical drn >> yes, a moment in leadership, isn't it? first we can say trump is not going to win the nobel peace

prize for putting this whole thing together. that's the big news today. >> right. >> second, i'm not believing any of this. i think this is in president trump's political best interest not to go to the summit. he clearly got played by the chinese in their negotiations on trade. i think he would get played by this guy as well. and you know, this is not the apprentice. this is a really serious issue with a completely nutty foreign leader that we really do need to take and we are saying we're cancelling because he said mean things about us in the press? this president says mean things about everyone in the press every single day. so, i'm sure they're going to blame pence or blame anyone ems. i think it's all just a screen for blaming the truth which is donald trump is sitting out here and didn't have a plan, hasn't done the work you and i both know they need to do to put on these summits. we understand how much work goes into it and that work wasn't getting done. it was just another press release by donald trump. and the reason why you know it's a political action is he didn't

show the letter to the south korean government before he sent it. we didn't talk to our allies. you and i would have been on the phone with him, this is how we're going to do this, this is why, are you guys okay? let's do this. he sent it because it was a political moment. >> that's such a good point. we've been talking about jim comey the first half of the show, he learned how he had been fired. south koreans learned through news reports it's been canceled. it it's not anyway to run a rodeo and denuclearize the peninsula. >> there was a time it was a strategy. >> that's why he was such a good candidate. >> he did not go into this with a clear sense of what he could accomplish. it may be the original idea for the summit was based on a miscommunication between the south koreans and the north koreans. it never had a clear purpose or end game. it was never clear what he would get in exchange for giving the validation of this meeting in the first place. it is probably best that he called it off. >> steve schmidt, let me get you

in on this. on the day's development, on the idea that some people think this is just another art of the deal trumpian negotiating tactic, he certainly left himself room in that word salad of a speech today, how do our allies get behind us if we can barely decipher what the president is saying? >> well, look, jim mussina is absolutely right. the rigger this was approached with was the same he would approach in a fight gary bussey and meat loaf on the apprentice. it is extraordinary to see a senior democrat ben cardin, i hope there is a strategic approach. what day is it finally going to reveal itself to everybody in washington there is no strategy? he doesn't know anything about anything. he is on red. he is unstudied. he is unprepared.

he knows not the first thing about the threat to history the north korean regime provides. there is one silver lining to this and that would be the exposure of the 18 dumbest members of congress which would be the 18 republicans that signed the letter nominating trump for the nobel peace prize right at the inception of the meeting that's not going to happen. but the result is this. the world is more unstable. the world is more dangerous. kim jong-un is the leader of a slave state. it is nuclear armed. it is directly threatened the united states. it has 12,000 artillery pieces ranged on seoul and the estimates on conflict for the first day of the second korean war, over a million killed. donald trump's lack of seriousness destabilizes this world at the great peril of the world and the american people. this is an unserious man with an unserious approach and we saw four square the complete and total incompetence of the administration through this

farce. >> and, elise, how does the state department, someone like mike pompeo trying to get a fresh start there at that department, how does he go back to work after the performance donald trump gave at the white house? >> well, just yesterday mike pompeo said he was leading the negotiations, not john bolton. and then today abruptly that rug has been swept out from under him. you look at how donald trump has approached this whole process and it's been completely on the fly. he accepts the offer in a meeting with the south korean president. he doesn't notify them about the letter because he's worried about leaks. but still he does this without relying on allies. and so again, america is going at it alone. this is an isolationist move by an isolationist president. >> i think we learned one important thing today. >> yes? >> truly valuable. >> tell me. >> do not mint a challenge count for an international summit until it's over. actually, i would say never at

all, but certainly do not mint one before you've actually had the summit, and especially probably not at all if you're going to have it with kim jong-un. >> i want one, though. can you find it on ebay? >> it will make a great coaster. >> the white house gift shop website. >> it still could happen, though, at some point. >> at some point. up next, a decision that golden state warriors head coach steve kerr calls, quote, fake patriotism, nationalism, and idiotic, that nfl ban on anthem protests on the field. and the president's reaction this morning that players who protest should leave the country. that story is next.

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i think it's good. you have to stand proudly for the national anthem, or you shouldn't be playing. you shouldn't be there. maybe you shouldn't be in the country. you have to stand proudly for the national anthem, and the nfl owners did the right thing. >> that was the president of the united states mulling whether

nfl players protesting social injustice during the national anthem silently and peacefully should be kicked out of the country. joining us at the table is former nfl player marvin washington. he spent 11 seasons in the league. what's happening? >> i think the nfl owners are bowing to 45 and his base, and they're looking at their bottom line which ratings did drop, but i don't think it's because of the protest. i think it's because football has a safety issue. so they didn't consult the nfl pa and they came out with this stance. i think it's short-sighted and even made the situation worse because with these guys that are standing in the locker room, you're basically putting a scarlet letter on them. when they come out the locker room, whether at home or away, they're going to get booed, heckled, sponsors are going to be able to identify them whether they want to work with them or not. >> target them with social media campaign? >> of course, of course.

and then they think that 45 say it's november or october, midterm elections are coming and 45 is in a red state and he's free wheeling from the podium as he always does and he says those s.o.b.s staying in the locker room, lock the door. call them an animal or what have you. now what does he expect the players to do and what are the owners going to do then? >> tell me about the president playing to the owner's fear of embracing these issues? the nba doesn't have these issues. they certainly seem -- we've led with coach kerr basically calling this idiotic, an idiotic policy. >> i can agree with that. the nba, they haven't mandated that their personnel and their players stand, but i believe they treat their players as partners in this where the owners treating the former players as commodities or employees and they're not listening to. they had an opportunity to come in and have a sensible anthem policy if they would have included the players because,

say, give the player something. you don't have to do it during the national anthem. maybe the first play of the game and you have more attention because who watches the national anthem? but if they want because who watches the national anthem? if they want compliance from the players, why should they make money of to of this. they are not shutting down the concession. shut down the concessions and have people stand at attention. but they are uncomfortable with it. it's going to rear its head once again when the season starts. >> weern discussing this when the president started targeting players who were protesting. that's when it became a political story. why around there more politicians defending a player's right to free speech? it is a clear-cut first amendment rights issue. haden said if forced to choose between kaepernick and the president banning peaceful

silent protests during the anthem i'm with colin kaepernick. >> the president literally saying you can't be in my country if you don't do it the way i want you to do it, it is the craziest thing. you have a contrast between the nfl who doesn't talk with the play he is, doesn't address with it the fans, doesn't have a plan. and yesterday the nba's milwaukee bucks issued an amazing statement of one of their players was tazed by the police. they said this isn't about just one player. it is about a societal problem that we all need to work together on and we are all a piece this huge puzzle. what a difference between that and the nfl. there should be more people saying this is the united states of america where free speech actually matters. i thought we were all fighting for freedom here f. freedom means that you are going to use your platform platform to address some of the issues in the way lebron james does or on

the nfl platform, they are at liberty the do that and the president wants to kick them out of the country. >> how do the players feel? >> they feel like they are being owned. like this is a mandate that -- you know, nobody likes to be ordered around unless you are in the military. they feel like this is being put upon them and it's putting pressure on them to choose between something that's constitutionally protect asked going with the team. and i understand teams are corporations and to me the supreme court said that corporations are people. so you have another person infringing on somebody else's right. when you look at the flag to me, it means freedom, freedom of expression, and it means all of those things. but right now we are living in a time where nobody, especially on the right, is standing up to the statement that he put out today. that's joseph mccarthy. >> this is not going to go away. i promise you this move by the nfl opened up a pandora's box

politically. >> they made it warriors. >> they made it warriors. >> and your point about the lingering safety issues and how the league hasn't done enough to protect players is something that really bothers me. once i became aware of just how it was systemic across the -- and the problems that so many veteran players had had with concussions, you know, down the road -- >> opioid addiction. >> exactly. you still think they are not doing enough there to try to prevent head injuries? >> well, i think they are -- they are putting an effort towards that. but they are fighting the former players and guys that need help and guys that have dementia and alzheimer's and als and all these other deals to trying to get money out of settlements. the nfl is fighting them tooth and nail. they are not doing about the opioid epidemic. former envelope players are more

susceptib susceptible. so the nfl has more issues and i go abouter issues than this right here and this is a short sighted political stance. >> it is counter-productive from the nfl's point of view. i remember reading this story. there was a piece in bleacher report in january of this year that talked about the evolution and how it played out over the course of the season. the last game of the regular nfl season last year, only seven players took a knee. >> right. >> seven. they were down to seven. they are solving and overreacting against a problem that had become a non-problem by tend of the year. there was obviously a huge explosion around this in september or october when the president made a big deal out of it. but it was on the way. it was ebbing to the point where it was not going to be a flash point most likely next season. by provoking the season, calling on other lesion to stan up, players who didn't want to take a knee -- doing it as a sign of solidarity, as a sign of protest they created a bigger firestorm

than they faced yesterday. if they just chilled out they would have been fight. >> steve schmidt let's get you in on the craven nature of this as a political issue. as holland just said, there were seven players by tend of the season exercising their first amendment rights. president of the united states called him sons of bitchs. republicans caved paul ryan style, faster than it takes me to sneeze. where are we that the president can shut down an entire sport with his bullying? >> what we saw today is the desecration of american ideas and values by a combination of donald trump, roger goodell, and the nfl. the greatest desecration that you could bring to the american flag, even greater than burning it, is to assault the foundational ideals of the

country, including the ideas and the ideals of free speech and free expression. here's the deal. the nfl marches out onto those fields on sunday with flyovers from the navy or air force, with troops lined up. they use those troops as props. they use those troops as props to signal a faux patriotism. those american forces understand the importance of those ideas and values and free speech. and it's desecration today was done by the nfl to their ever lasting shame. >> thank you for spending time. i saw you nodding. do you want to get a quick last word? >> no i will be back in the fall. >> it is a deal. it's date. we have to sneak in our very last break. we'll be right back.

thank again to marvin as well as john hilemon, jim messina, elise jordan, steve schmidt and nick confess horry. that does it for our hour. i'm nicolle wallace. "mtp daily" starts right now. hi chuck. >> how are you doing nicole? tough night for the lebronsters. >> we both belong at a bar. >> you know what, we will get some game sevens. i hope you don't have a game seven. it has to be cavs/warriors. >> i'm a he counting on it. >> all right. if it's thursday, the spin cycle, well, it keeps spinning. >> tonight it's truth and justice the trumpian way. know one thing. you don't make america great by tear down the rule of law. >> i do believe every institution here will ultimately be maeld. plus, the korea summit is off. an t