revoke his bail over witness tampering. that phiing is tomorrow. we'll cover it on "the beat." you can find us at 6:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow. "hardball" with chris matthews is up next. from america's mayor to trump's attack dog. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. if you've got a dog, a famous mobster once said, you don't have to bark. as we meet tonight, donald trump the president of the united states, we have to remind ourselves, has got himself one nasty rottweiler, his name rudy giuliani. having gotten new york and the country through 9/11, he's nowings to get his fellow manhattanite through a ground zero scandal. here's rudy. i've got a better question. was donald trump ever in bed

with a porn star by the screen name of stormy daniels? answer frns rudy, no, i know because first lady melania trump says he wasn't. when you're donald trump and facing the hangman this is how you fight and how his lawyer rudy giuliani is fighting. the former new york city mayor is now attacking adult film star stormy daniels personally telling an audience in israel she is not someone he respects because of her profession. let's watch. >> i respect all human beings. i even have to respect criminals. but i'm sorry, i don't respect a porn star the way i respect a career woman or a woman of substance or a woman who has respect for herself as a woman and as a person and isn't going to sell her body for sexual exploitation. so stormy, you want to bring a case, let me cross-examine you. i don't think there's a slight suspicion that it's true when

you look at stormy daniels. i know donald trump, and look at his three wives. right? beautiful women, classy women. women of great substance. stormy daniels? >> well, since he was hired in april, rudy giuliani has staged a bombastic pr campaign on behalf of the president trashing anyone who challenges him. daniels however has proven to be a formidable and enduring adversary. don't you think? and given the opportunity to withdraw his comments, giuliani declined. asked by nbc if he was trying to undermine daniels' credibility, he said i'm pointing out she has no credibility. the personal attack comes a day after miss daniels and her lawyer filed another lawsuit against michael cohen and this morning avenatti a frequent trump antagonist hit black at giuliani. let's watch him. >> is this the message we want

to send to the world, the message that we want to send to our mothers, our daughters, our sisters, that this is the way that we look at women, this is the way that we disrespect women? this is an absolute disgusting disgrace. >> giuliani also attacked special counsel robert mueller and former fbi director james comey, of course. let's watch that. >> they are a group of 13 highly partisan democrats that make up the mueller team excluding him are trying very, very hard to frame him. to get him in trouble when he hasn't done anything wrong. >> i'm very, very disappointed in comey. comey i think is the real villain of this whole thing. >> wow, "the new york times" recently reported the president asked where his roy cohn was given rudy giuliani's recent attacks, it seems like he's found him. i'm joined by zerlina maxwell

from sirius xm radio and political analyst, kim wehle, a former assistant u.s. attorney, and eli stokols, a political analyst. it was mickey cone to said you if you have a dog, you don't have to bark. was that rudy's job to bark? >> he's going on television and sayinging what president trump really wants to say because he has very infrequently commented about stormy daniels at all. first he said he didn't pay her, then admitted he did pay her. this is textbook misogyny coming from rudy giuliani. he's attacking daniels credibility based on what she does and chooses to do as a profession. that has nothing to do with whether he's telling the truth. it's an ugly form of misogyny, completely outliers dated and inappropriate in this context and i think that stormy dans and michael avenatti are a thorn in the president's side and will continue to be a thorn in the

president's side because clearly based on the facts as we know them, she is credible. many of the things she has alleged and said have born out to be true. i think that the president, has been frustrated and rudy giuliani is expressing those frustrations on every television show he can possibly go on. >> kim wehle, what do you make of the trust by profession if you're a porn star, you're not to be trusted. i've known a lot of politicians that lie frequently. >> my understanding is she has her own production company. this is not a woman to be taken lightly. the question from a legal perspective, most lawyers will talk about the law and the facts. if they don't have that, they're going on the attack. we don't know the extent to which the president and his team is worried now about what stormy daniels might say relating to bigger issues if put under oath. she filed a lawsuit about alleged contacts between mr. cohen who was a key to the trump kingdom and her former

lawyer. >> is rudy smart to deny the substance of the president having had this one-night stand or whatever you want to call it with stormy? why are they denying what we all believe happened and say that melania told me so? >> again, it's undermining her credibility. also i think sending a message to other would be witnesses, women who might have complaints glens trump listen, if you come out publicly, i'm going to bully you into silence. we've seen this with members of congress. people are cowed by being outed on its on twitter. >> she looks pretty tough. during account spraerns in zrashlgs rudy giuliani said the first lady believes president trump's denials in connection with daniels. the spokesperson for the first lady tells nbc news, you're going to love this quote, i don't believe mrs. trump has asked you her thoughts on anything with mr. giuliani.

eli, let's talk politics here. he made a mistake, giuliani, quoting the first lady on a question of marital infidelity which you should not talk to a first lady about, and it turns out the first lady is not backing him up. >> right, his roy cohn impression, he is purporting to speak for all sorts of people, not just the first lady but also for the mueller investigation saying that mueller has said, oh, this will be over before the midterms by the end of the summer. that's not true. he's making it up. he said that kim jong-un came back begging for summit. today mike pompeo rebuked giuliani in the briefing room when he said i'm sorry, he may have been making a joke, i don't know what he was saying. > has rudy lost it in a political sense? sometimes i think bill clinton loses it in terms of tonality. why would you on the eve of a probe a very important summit to put it lightly, trash the other side and say they came begging for this job for this chance to be with the president?

it's own harder for the president to get a deal from the guy, kim. just common deal making. > maybe he wants to blow it up so he can say it was kim jong-un who did not come to the table. >> who gave him license to kill? >> it hasn't been set up in a thoughtful way. >> rudy giuliani took credit along with the president, i had a great idea. can i see that again? i thought i was seeing something there. along with the president for bringing kim jong-un back to the negotiating table. let's watch that. >> we said we're not going to have a summit under those circumstances. well kim jong run got on his hands and knees and begged for it which is exactly the position you want to put him in. >> zeer rena, this is such a free-for-all. rudy giuliani, i don't know why he picked that spot for all this. he's obviously trying to take advantage of with emoved the embassy on trump's tutelage. as eli says, this guy is an expert on anything.

he can do foreign policy, everything. he's speaking for trump on everything now including his wife, he's speaking for his wife. he never talked to his wife according to the wife's spokesperson. he never talked to the president how he wants to apparently blow up this summit next week. i don't get it. >> i don't either. i don't know why rudy giuliani, the president's lawyer on russia is in israel talking about north korea. i'm confused about the entire thing. i don't understand why he's answering questions like that and speaking as if he's in these briefings with the secretary of state and the president talking through and preparing for the meeting with kim jong-un. i don't understand why we are reporting out the things that rudy giuliani is saying as if they -- they actually happened. i think eli pointed out he's been rebuked twice now first by melania and also by pompeo because he's getting facts wrong. it's important to quote him and

to say like this is the president's russia lawyer talking on all these other issues but i don't think we should take what he's saying about north korea seriously because he's not in those meetings. >> zerlina, i can't engage in prairie view here. i can't decide whether i'm going to believe somebody before they talk. secretary of state mike pompeo was asked about rudy's comments after the fact. here's what the secretary of state said about the president's lawyer who seems to be acting like secretary of state. >> rudy doesn't speak for the administration when it comes to this negotiation and this set of issues. >> eli, it seems like he's going all over the place, he's breaking out of the rails leaving his lane saying anything he wants to appeal to the audience but he's basically i think going back to one strategy of trump's. divide the country between those who are for trump and those hose are against him. that can be minors, the press, it can be anybody. but circle the wagons it seems to work.

>> right, he's coloring outside the lines to use another trite idiom here. i think talking about some of these other things it does undermine the points he's trying to make related to the legal case a little bit. what we're seeing on the whole is a political response to a criminal investigation. and why do you do that? maybe because they don't have a great fact set. but it's also thing in a country that is this divided when we're in an age of almost absolute tribalism, it is a response that might make sense. that does make the most sense for them because there are so many people who are just -- their minds are made up what they think of the russia probe. they either think the president colluded. no amount of evidence will convince them he did. rudy is trying to borrow a page from roy cohn to go -- to rach yet it up, to street fight to bully everybody into submission and make a muddle of the facts. >> that's what he wants the attorney general to be. he wants giuliani fob the role

model for his attorney general. giuliani's comments about stormy daniels echo familiar or similar attacks the president made during the campaign when more than a dozen women accused the then candidate of unwelcomed sexual advances. let's watch had. >> these events never ever happened and the people that said them fully understand you take a look at these people. you study these people. and you'll understand also. these people are horrible people. they're horrible, horrible liars. i have no idea who these women are, i have no idea xp when you looked at that horrible woman last night, you said i don't think so. all of these liars will be sued after the election is over. >> you know, if you're a trump person you're a trump all the way. you're willing 0 to go along with him trashing the looks of these women which are somehow being used as a way of denying

he had an affair or night with them. he denies their existence, denies any credibility on their part and he's president of the united states. >> the bigger picture these people don't understand, this is how democracies start to tumble. you attack your opponents here including the justice department, mueller, career prosecutors, the fbi. you incite violence with the kinds of language he's using with respect to these people and then, you put in your own referees to decide how the game is played. at the end of the day, we don't have a democracy by the people anymore. i think the trump camp that that trump team, the people that think he's speaking some kind of truth need to step back and ask themselves what kind of future do we want for our children and grandchildren. it's really on the line right now. >> zerlina, kim, eli thank you. trump's high stake gamble with north korea is coming up this week. he says he doesn't have a prayer. he doesn't have to prepare he

said. he says it's all about attitude. is that a recipe for success over in singapore? it's all about attitude or disaster? plus, another day and more bad headlines for the epa administrator mr. scott pruitt. he had to be told to stop eating his lunch at the white house mess. he's there too often. he's the kind of guy as we knew in school that gets caught. and he gets caught pre couple days. by the way, if you're not convinced how many vice president mike pence wants to be like his boss, you need to see this video. watch how trump puts his water bottle -- there he goes and pence does exactly the same thing within seconds. robotically. there he goes again. finally let me finish, that's like a dog trick. we're going to finish tonight with trump watch. he's not going to like tonight, i can tell you. this is "hardball" where the action is. for weakness. do not misjudge quiet tranquility for the power of 335 turbo-charged horses. the lincoln mkx,

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trump tweeted "how could jeff flake who is setting record low polling numbers in arizona and was therefore humiliatingly forced out of his own senate seat without even a fight think about running for office? even a lower one again? let's face it, he's a flake." senator flake who is a frequent critic of the president has not ruled out a primary to trump for the presidency in 2020. earlier today he responded to the president's attack. >> what's the reaction to the president going after you on twitter? >> no reaction. >> going for a lower office, are you. >> no, i hadn't heard that. so no. were you forced out of the seat because of how unpopular you are? that's what he's saying? >> i have said.times, this is a tough party right now for a republican like me. so it is tough to get through a primary if you agree with the president's positions or condone his behavior. so i just can't do that. >> we'll be right back.

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i think, john, that we are going to -- we're going to have a great success. i don't think it will be in one meeting. i think it will take longer than that. this has been going on many many decades. i really believe that kim jong-un wants to do something. i think he wants to see something incredible happen for the people of north korea. normalizing relations is something i would hope to do when everything's complete. we would certainly hope to do that. >> twom welcome back to "hardball." facing one of the most challenging international negotiations in recent history, the commander in chief is largely wing dg he says on his own. today he told reporters he doesn't think he needs to prepare much because it's all about attitude. >> what do you think of. >> i don't think i'm very well prepared. it's about attitude.

it's about willingness to get things done. but i think i've been preparing for the summit for a long time. as has the other side. i think they've been preparing for a long time also. so this isn't a question of preparation. it's a question of whether or not people want it to happen. we'll know that very quickly. >> that's not all. according to politico, national security adviser john bolton has yet to convene even a cabinet level meeting to discuss the upcoming summit next week. the white house's summit planning has been unstructured according to a half dozen administration officials. trump has driven the freepgs on his own consulting little with his security team at all outside of secretary of state mike pompeo. ben rhodes is an author of "the world as it is," and phil rucker's white house bureau chief for the west and msnbc. there you are and political analyst. both of you go at there. i'm trying to figure this out

what to even think about. trump is looking at this like a night of karaoke like i'll do my best not that our ought to deal with the high stakes on a nuclear question about which probably he's right. kim jong-un and his people have been thinking about for years exactly what they're willing to give and not give. >> yeah, what they've been thinking is they want to consolidate their nuclear deterrent and get sanctions relief. i did the prep work for the opening to cuba. i must have met 20 times with the cubans before we brought president obama knee that. the whole thirst meeting we barely got through the bay of pigs invasion. you have to prepare for these things especially a country you've had no contact with. our coming in cold. you haven't articulated what they're trying to achieve, the timeline and he doesn't want to do the preparation that needs technical people in to talk about the nuclear program. it's not clear he has an understanding of what he's trying to get out of the summit.

>> once you sit down that the chair, you got to get up and somebody' got to say nice try, buddy, but i'm out of here. last time we went to panmunjom, we sat there for two full years of blah, blah, blah. how does the president -- do you think he even has figured out what the time schedule is? we'll try to get something on the table before we get in there and know what we're aiming after? don't you have to do that? >> if i'm kim jong-un, i'm thinking trump wants us to be a success. he's trying to himself the nobel prize. he could make a commitment, i'll give him my weapons some day. trump will want to declare some type of victory. could have a situation where the status quo is codified by the fact that north korea keeps his nuclear weapons, makes some empty gestures. >> the print media specially phil is not going to go easy on this guy. what do you think? the reporters will be looking for, will there be inspections or won't there be and if not,

nobody's going to believe anything. >> i think that's exactly right. we're going to be looking for what are the details of this deal. it's going to need to be more than a handshake and a big nfl but some sort of plan to denuclearize the peninsula. trump is going in having tremendous faith in his charisma and ability to persuade kim jong-un under his powers and kind of a face-to-face conversation the way you would in a real estate deal but as ben was explaining these things are so much more complicated than that. there's a lot of history here, a lot of details regarding their nuclear arsenal. secretary of state pompeo has been trying to tutor the president on that over the last few weeks. it's our understanding there have been some sessions to prepare him but clearly he doesn't think he needs the same level of preparation other presidents have done. >> let's talk about the scorecard. phil, first, if he sits down and realizes in a platter after hour or two this isn't going

anywhere, this is pr, photo op nonsense, he's been lures into a trap. if he gets up and says nice try, mr. kim jong-un, i'm walking out, good-bye, i'll see you the next time you get serious. does that necessarily hate trump if if he walks out? could can he come out ahead by saying i tried, you cheated me into this situation, i'm walking. can he do that? can he still win if he sees nothing's going to happen? >> i think -- >> phil? >> yeah, yeah, sorry, i thought you were talking to ben. he could do that. he could walk. he writes in "art of the deal" you had to sit down for a deal in real estate, you've got to be willing to get up and walk away. he's made it clear with in this summit in singapore he'll be willing to walk away if he feels like the deal is going badly. i wouldn't be surprised if he did because he's such a showman. he loves the drama. if he got up in the whole summit and it blew up, all it would do is create more drama and more

negotiations to have the second summit and where will that be and what will happen there and it builds suspense for an ultimate agreement. >> president trump leaves for the edge. he's heading for quebec city tomorrow. according your reporting, trump has complained to aides about spending two days in canada believing the rip is a distraction from the coming singapore summit with kim jong-un. he vented privately about justin trudeau as their trade tensions spilled into public view. trump has griped about angela merkel because they disagree on many issues as well as prime minister theresa may who he sees as too politically correct and french president emmanuel macron tweeted toot the nonamerican members of g-7 don't mind signing a six-country agreement if need be. today trump tweeted president tell macron trudeau they create

nonmonetary barriers. the eu trade surplus with the united states is $151 billion and canada keeps our faerps and others out. what do you make of this? i'm going to go to you on this. >> the first time i remember going to a g-7, it was a g-8 back then, but you feel a tremendous amount of pride at the fact we are the leader of the free world. these are our lossest friends and the people that we would sit down and make a strategy for a summit with north korea on iran or terrorism. what concerns me is they're moving on without us. and the role of the leader of the free world is essential being vacated here. you have europe, japan, canada, we're taking actions against them with tariffs. that's going to cause years from now when we need their help in a national security crisis in a pinch it, they're going to remember that trump called them a national security threat. >> we've used them in the first gulf war word wide alliance.

>> in the afghan war, they fought with us in the mountains and beaches of d-day. to call them a national security threat -- it's up ending the liberal order we built since world war ii. >> you write about the last meeting between trump and merkel, obama told us merkel talked to him about her looming decisioning whether to seek another term something she felt obliged to do because of brexit and our trump. when obama bade her farewell, a single tear appeared in her eye. you quoted obama delling you, merkel is all alone. she stands for the same values we stood for so many years and the feeling she had after brexit and the trump election. >> why does trump hate her or seem to not like her so much? she's so successful. >> she's a tough woman and stands up for what she believes. she's not going to flatter

trump. angela america is all business. and she doesn't put up with a lot of bs. frankly, i think that's why you haven't seen her kind of case him in any way. >> i think americans would love to get a leader like her, a strong leader that looks out for the country, german first in a sense but very pro european and world order. >> no one took steps to save the global economy. >> she's competent. good luck with the book "the world as it is." it's a beautiful book. thank you, phil rucker. up next, he's been one of the president's most vocal critics. former ciacia director john brennan about his trump's ongoing war with the mueller investigation. this is "hardball" where action is. you never know what the day's going to bring when you're running a small business, it might even bring a blue screen of death. having it problems? ask a business advisor how to get virus and spyware removal, and 24/7 tech support.

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as we've seen on a near dilly basis, the president issued another round of attacks on the special counsel's investigators today saying among other things that there has never been a group of people in a case so biased or conflicted. it's all a democrat, not democratic, attempt to about losing an election. an excuse. he tweeted when will people start saying thank you, mr. president, for firing james comey? unfortunately this is the kind of behavior we've come to expect from this president and by claiming the right to pardon himself by declaring the mueller probe unconstitutional, the

president has put himself clearly above the law. considering his pretense to absolute power, it's no surprise this week's issue of "time" magazine shows donald trump preening himself in front of a mirror that shows him as a king. in a recent op-ed, john brennan described how this president's behavior is similar to that of an authoritarian ruler who will do anything to retain power. he writes, "mrs. trump calculates his every move how it will personally help or hurt him to undercut real, potential and perceived opponents to win at all costs irrespective of truth, ethics decency and many would argue the law." i'm joined by john brennan. you know so much, i don't know where to begin. you've studied dictatorships all around the world. what does the president have in common with them? >> a lot in terms of wanting to make sure he alone wants to make

all the decisions that he suppresses any type of suppression it, pursues policies that ensure his continuation in power. there are so many similarities between what i saw in autocratic leaders overseas and mr. trump that i never thought i would see it here in the united states. that's why i decided to write the op-ed. il continue to speak out. >> let's talk about truth. are you with me or against me is his question. he doesn't want to be do you believe me or not. i've never seen a leader in this country who tells untruths all the time like him. most do to protect themselves when they're in a pinch. it this seems to be the language of this president like none of these women had anything to do with him. everything is lies and his people go okay, everything's a lie but me. >> unfortunately, i think our politicians have been used to hyperbole a bit too much. he just totally deceives the american public in terms of his falsehoods and lies.

it's not a question of embellishment. it's a question of saying something that clearly had happened did not. that's his mantra, all his way of doing things trying to say things over and over again to convince people of the perception is really the reality. it's not. >> the why does he kiss putin's butt all the time? come on, you must have a theory. why he trashes everybody, everybody both sides of the aisle, pen and women, people of color, other people he trashes everyone with impunity. he puts down everyone in the world except vladimir putin. what's he up to in. >> well -- >> has he got something on him? >> this is a big question. >> what's your answer? has he got something on him? >> i don't know but i just know that mr. trump throughout the course of his business career has done some things that as we all know include intimidation, threatening others and also putting people out of business. i don't know what he might have done. >> would putin's intel people, would his -- what do you call

them, would his guy have the stuff on trump? >> you mean their intelligence folks? >> do they have the capability to track american political figures. >> do they have the stuff on our guys? >> unfortunately, i have much grudging respect for russian intelligence security services looking at what they did at the 016 presidential election. they have great capability here in the united states. they make ample use of their cyber capables to gain access and insight into what somebody might be doing to use it against them. who knows what the russians might have. the point is that donald trump has continued to carry out his responsibilities of president without the type of integrity, without the type of honesty and without the basically the commitment of intellectual rigor that we should expect of our presidents. we're dealing with a lot of challenges on the international stage as well as the domestic stage. as i said in the op-ed, i worked

directly for four presidents. they were always trying to do what was in the best interests of the american people. even george w. bush when he invaded iraq, a lot of the critics thought he was overreaching. he was trying to remove a dictator. mr. trump calculates every move how this help or hurt donald trump. >> let's talk big picture. this is before putin came long along and for a long time the united states had one within tremendous advantage in the world beyond military power. we were the good guys is most generous country in the world. we generally wanted peace, allies, a lot of wonderful allies around the world, australia and canada. and latin america. we are part of a really good guys alliance. and we're a country and alliance of countries of democracies. and we believed all of us in limited government. all the countries i mentioned believed in the limited government and the rights of man and woman against the power of government. since trump's begun he's begun somehow in some awful way to grow toward being like putin to,

being the kind of person putin wants on his sleazy low level of world view where they no longer have a moral advantage as a good guy. it seems like that's what he wanted was this guy we're looking at. >> he relates to strong men to, authoritarian leaders whether it be the detertes. >> to get a guy like trump and make trump more like putin? >> he is body that be able to deal with him, he's not going to be driven by principles and the moral compass the united states has led the free world. >> being a bully, a world of bullies. >> he's not going to pay attention to human rights in terms of spreading are democracy around the world. >> they got a sheep, didn't they? they got a sheep. >> this piece in the financial times says that the united states has been the shepherd of the flock, the g-7 flock and otherses. now the shep herds is no longer there. >> we're the wolf. >> they're looking for where is the united states, this america first mantra. >> what's going to happen in

singapore? anything good? >> i think i'm where ben rhodes was. kim jong-un played this masterfully and to have a plateau of military capability but i don't think he has any intention of giving up his nuclear stockpile. he's going to play this. trump mentioned possibly a second day in terms of a summit. maybe he's going to storm out the first day and go back the second day and say he got them to make some concessions. i think he's going to say there is this process but i don't think we're going to see a denuclearizing. >> the first day of the campaign completely trashing your opponent saying he's no damn good and the second half talking about the future of pennsylvania. >> you're right. >> thanks to kim jong-un. thank you john brennan. great to have you on. up next, there's plenty to get to with the "hardball" roundtable tonight from another embarrassing headline about scott pruitt. he keeps stepping in it. he's supposed to be against pollution. now the latest nbc polling ahead

of the elections looks very good for the democrats to grab the house. plus, vice president pence likes to follow trump's lead but this is ridiculous. a video showing pence mimicking, like a robot during a meeting yesterday has gone viral. that's ahead. it's so great. ♪ ♪ legendary jockey víctor espinoza is insatiable when it comes to competing. ♪ ♪ so is his horse. ♪ ♪ when it comes to snacking. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ that's why he uses the chase mobile app, to pay practically anyone, at any bank. life, lived victor's way. chase. make more of what's yours.

kyle, we talked about this. there's no monsters. but you said they'd be watching us all the time. no, no. no, honey, we meant that progressive would be protecting us 24/7. we just bundled home and auto and saved money. that's nothing to be afraid of. -but -- -good night, kyle. [ switch clicks, door closes ] ♪ i told you i was just checking the wiring in here, kyle. he's never like this. i think something's going on at school. -[ sighs ] -he's not engaging.

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welcome back to "hardball." there are new signs that the democrats, yes the democratic party are well positioned now heading into the fall midterm elections. here's the new nbc news "wall street journal" poll it shows democrats with a ten-point, that's enough to win the house, ten-point advantage over republicans in what's calls the generic congressional ballot which is who are you going to vote for. in terms of those preferring a democratically controlled congress 54% are not to vote forth democratic program, they're voting against trump. by a staggering 25-point margin,

vote are said they're more likely to back a candidate who promises to be as a check on president trump. the irony is that the same poll shows nearly two-thirds of voters are satisfied with the u.s. economy which has copied to boom under trump. i'm joined by "hardball" roundtable michael steele, former rnc chairman and kate brower, author of the gate book "first in line, presidents vice presidents and pursuit of pour," and sam stein politics editor "the daily beast" and contributor. let's talk about there. i saw all good news there for the demes. your thoughts? today's numbers. >> i think that's right. i think the generic has moved back towards them. it had been trending more towards republicans the last couple weeks or so. but i think as we get into the summer months, it will be a little bit of fluctuation. the hard line here, chris is, somewhere in that 10 to 12-point range for democrats going into september october which is a problem for. >> what do they need to win the house, six or seven or eight? >> somewhere around eight. >> kate, the democrats don't

have to do much just watch trump in disgust. literally. >> i mean every midterm 2010 president obama talked about getting a shellacking in 2006, bush said he got a thumping. even in totally normal white houses they usually have this. so now it's. >> sam follow up on that. the normal tendency of voters not to go back to the return window at the department store in the old days but to say let's keep this guy under rein. >> it's amplified in this case by the shock that many of the voters felt in 2016 to wake up to the election results. including some voters who maybe didn't vote or cast ballots for the republican ticket even though they were holding their nose about trump and then under the idea that he wouldn't win. what i think is the most troubling though in these numbers for republicans is precisely the economic number at the end. people think the country's in a decent spot, they think it's going well, excites about the possibility of deinto your rising north korea. even with all that contempt for

the republican party to those ballot numbers is very problematic because there's not much room for growth. things can get worse. i don't know where you improve it from here if you're trump. >> not only not enough room for growth but not enough to lay down the argument that you got a tax cut, right? you love that tax cut. >> that tax cut is owed news at this juncture. >> the negative headlines continue, for epa administrator scott pruitt. on tuesday "the washington post" reported he used his cabinet position to try to get his wife a click filet, i'm sorry, it's not my favorite place. here's what pruitt had to say about that, his chick-fil-a move. >> look, my wife is an entrepreneur herself. i love, she loves, we love, chick-fil-a is a franchise, a faith and it's one of the best in the country. we need more of them in tulsa and across the country. it's an exciting time.

he certainly needs a new place to eat. of politico reports he has been rebuked by the white house staff after having spent too many days for the cheap lunches at the mess open only to officials and cabinet members. according to one person close to pruitt, we love having mr. pruitt but it's not meant for every day use. "the washington post" also reported that pruitt enlisted if your time security detail for taking him to buy his favorite moisturizing lotion. isn't that sweet? i don't know what to say. i'll say it 100 times, some people get caught, some people never get caught. he gets caught every hour. >> as long as donald trump doesn't care, he's good as gold that's the problem. >> the best part about that video when he explained the chick-fil-a is the end where he goes, it's exciting times. it is definitely not exciting times for scott pruitt. these are miserable times. >> finally one person who knows how to stay on touch's good side

is vice president mike pence. let's watch. >> president trump has been making history since the first day of this administration. >> i know i speak on behalf of the entire cabinet and of millions of americans when i say congratulations and thank you. i'm deeply pum humbled as your vipt to be here. >> it's the greatest privilege of my life to be as vice president to president trump. he's a man of his word. he's a man of action. >> kate, you got this. tell us -- it seems pence may be taking his appreciation for trump's action in a new direction. at yesterday's fema event, donald trump remove a water bottle from the table, then pence did the exact same thing. look at there. oh, my god. it's not the only time. video from a 2016 episode shows trump waving to a crowd with pence mimicking every wave.

kate, you've been writing about the vice president in your beautiful book "first in line." why does he have to be such a sick cofant. >> i interviewed pence's brother greg. >> you couldn't get to pence, could you? >> no,cy interviewed every living former vice president. there's no point in tem talking honestly to a reporter because if he looks good, trump will be mad and if he looks bad, it's bad for them. he said his father reminds him of -- donald trump reminds him of his father, his father was a big bully who occasionally whipped his kids with a belt, really tough guy. that was surprising to me. and you know, they had these chap poned lunches that are interesting. you know normally these are unstaffed lunches between presidents and vice presidents and his chief of staff and john kelly's sit in on their lunches to keep the conversation on track. >> is there like it the beer summit where they had to enlarge the group so the two can get along better? >> i don't know if it's a to

make sure if something comes up about the russia investigation, there's someone else there. >> it might it be because there are no more two oddly matched characters. >> people having are marital difficulties always want to go on vacations with another couple to soften it up a little bit. from the other end. the roundtable is sticking with us. you're watching "hardball." whis♪ ♪ bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens ♪ ♪ brown paper packages tied up with strings ♪ ♪ these are a few of my favorite things ♪ ♪ ♪ and with twice the detail of other tests... ...it can show dad where he's from ...and strengthen the bonds you share. give dad ancestrydna for just $69- our lowest father's day price ever.

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we're back with the roundtable. kate, tell me something i don't know. i know you got something. >> at the final desize abe meeting at bedminster golf club, the trump elder children were gathered around and melania trump was there and they were deciding who trump's vp was going to be. he was considering gingrich, chris christie. she insisted he pick someone clean. knows were her words, someone who doesn't have any messy entanglements, rumors of affairs. that's surprising he wen with her advice and she had any political savvy at all to want to make sure that she knows her husband. >> it was a smart move. >> absolutely. >> good for her. she may be a little better person sometimes than the other end of that one. michael steele, thank you. kate brower and sam stein, let me finish tonight with trump watch. you're watching "hardball." you wouldn't accept an incomplete job

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trump watch, thursday jub, 7th, 2018. there's a memorable film in the great film "a man for all seasons" when king henry viii steps off the boat into a long slog of mud and seeing his embarrassing situation, his court yeas all of them jump into the mud with him. welcome to the court of donald trump. what is it about those court yeas of his that makes them behave like those of king henrys

so ready to jump into the slop donald trump seems to enjoy? look at the vice president. he used to be a somebody. got elected to the congress of the united states. all by himself. got elected governor of his home state of indiana all by himself and now he fopishly acts like a lap dog. i said acts like because he's been a bigger boy than that. speaking of canines why is rudy giuliani running around israel saying stuff about stormy daniels? she's a porn actor. why is he rubbing it in saying she's not to be believed because she is a porn star. sorry, i don't get connection. we have known presidents that lied to us. since when does office or education or job description separate the truth tellers from the liars? tell us that, rudy giuliani? and better question, i know why trump wants you to do what you're doing, but why are you, rudy giuliani, doing it? trump's going to move onto the next scandal to defend himself and you're going to get stuck

with the stuff you've been saying and you're going to have to explain it when this fiasco is long forgotten. i liked you as mayor of new york. we thought you were a jet from your last cigarette to your last dying day. what are you doing hanging with the sharks? that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. tonight on "all in.." >> he wants the phones turned over. >> the special counsel asks for cell phones. >> boom, boom, crack it up into little pieces. >> as the president auditions a new attorney general. >> jeff sessions is indeed the most dangerous man in america. >> plus. >> i'm sorry, i don't respect a porn star the way i respect a career woman. >> why even the first lady herself is rebuking rudy today. >> she believes in her husband. she knows it's not true. >> and donald trump's fascination with asbestos. >> a lot of people could say if the world trade center had asbestos, it wouldn't have