republicans. i just don't think it's necessary. i don't think he's going to do anything. look, he also said, hey, what have you got to lose? he doesn't have anything to gain right now because the pressure hasn't quite got to him. >> i'm with the three people who don't want to go on vacation. my thanks to our panel. thank you so much. that does it for our hour of nicolle wallace. "mtp daily" begins with chris jansing. >> i guess we don't want to go on vacation. nicolle, thank you so much. if it's tuesday, heated rhetoric and the heated search in the heated political environment. tonight, meet the picks. >> has got a great list and we're excited about who -- >> what the president's supreme court short list tells us about the long-term political fallout ahead. plus, war and peace. the president slams nato allies while once again boasting his peacemaking skills. >> to say that the threat is

over as the president has done repeatedly is simply nonsense. >> and why the political climate keeps getting worse for the head of the epa. >> i just wanted to urge you to resign for what you're doing to the environment. >> this is mtp daily and it starts right now. good evening. i'm chris jansing in new york in for chris todd. we begin tonight with the president and his pick. just moments ago, the white house said the president spoke to three potential supreme court nominees today. that's in addition to the four he met with previously. and based on reports from multiple news sources, including "the washington post," "the new york times" and others, we have a propertiy good idea of who these seven peel on the president's short list could be. the president's pick, which will

formally be unveiled in just five days, has the potential to reshape american life, politics and culture for a generation. you can be sure the president is going to want someone to reshape the high court in his image. but as you might expect, the white house isn't showing its hand, not publicly at least. >> we're not going to comment on the names but i can tell you he's going to have a great list and we're excited about who he's looking for somebody with tremendous intellect. he'd like somebody with the right judicial temperament and somebody who is going to be focused on upholding the constitution. >> both sides are gearing up for one heck of a political fight over this pick. some folks on the president's short list would surely ignite a bigger fight than others. one person reportedly being considered has called roe v. wade the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law. another person reportedly interviewed by the president is a staunchly conservative catholic who has allegedly told

law students their legal career should be viewed as a means to an end in building the kingdom to god. and another person being interviewed has never been a judge at all. today a spokesperson for republican senator mike lee of utah confirmed the president spoke with lee about that job on monday. but no matter who gets picked from the president's short list of conservatives, they most assuredly will not be a consensus choice. according to a new poll from nbc news and survey monkey, 44% say it should be a moderate. democratic leadership has tried calling on republicans to wait until after the midterms before a confirmation vote. not only are there no signs that mcconnell wants to do that, there's new evidence the public doesn't want to delay this confirmation battle either. a majority of the country, 62%, says the senate should vote on this pick before the midterms. which leads democrats fighting a

race against the clock in a battle that could affect everything they stand for, from a portion rights to voting rights to health care and beyond. democrats for sure in a major bind. but with republicans holding the slimmist of majorities in the senate, there isn't much room for error for them either. again, this pick is going to have profound legal and political consequences, so let's dive in. joining m ining me now, tom gol. and tonight's panel, susan dell puersio. michelle goldberg, columnist at "the new york times." and both fewy, senior politics editor at nbc news. i guess the obvious question, tom, let me start with you, is this a short list that puts almost any circumstances roe in danger of being overturned? >> maybe not overturned but functionally really cut back. it would be interesting to know what the panel thinks. i think even conservatives are

sensitive to the idea of how the supreme court would be perceived if we once woke up and saw on nbc news roe had been overruled. if they can do it more slowly and give states the freedom to restrict abortion, that might be the freedom they go for. >> this country does not want it overturned. these new polls are out. the scotus should uphold roe, 61% to 31%. a new nbc survey monkey poll. democrats when you look at it, 84% say scotus pick should uphold reo. susan, even 54% of republicans in this poll. >> and that's also not including probably the mill len yennials e brand-new to the issue and can't believe this was a possibility. they've never seen roe v. wade and the issues -- >> somehow i'm thinking when the president's political strategists are looking at the

issue, they're not worried about the millennials in this equation. >> his base is evangelicals. evangelicals want roe to be gone. it's also the way trump can be the most profound impact on this court for generations to come. is to take the most reviled supreme court decision ever among the group of people who support trump the most and have it chipped away or eliminated. that's what he's going for. >> when you look at these numbers, not only is it a majority, it's a majority across the country, it's a majority across all groups. the democrats, 84%, if you're looking at their base, 65% of the independents, it would seem like they have an argument to make. but are they making it? >> look, i think if we paid attention to what the majority of this country wanted, donald trump wouldn't be president. he is the deliberatively counter majority president. he is supported by senators who

represent a minority of the country. the majority of this country has been completely disempowered at every level. and thanks to a stolen supreme court seat, the court is now wanting to further disempower them. it's this kind of dark cycle of democratic design. to talk about kind of polling, trump could care less what the country wants. he's going to impose the will of a small minority on rest of us and that's why that minority loves him. >> here's why the polling is important. we know no matter what donald trump will make his decision. that's easy. we know he has the decision. we know he has the votes. what do we look at? the midterm elections. how is it going to affect it? he puts someone who is so adamantly pro-life on the bench that is going to be a huge turnout, vehicle, rather, for the democrats. that's when basically the democrats have a very good chance of taking back the house.

as a result, on january 1st, 2019, impeachment processes will probably start against donald trump. and that's why the polling matters. >> i'm also looking at this poll where it says 44% say the pick should be moderate. 34% conservative. 20% say liberal. which means 64% of the people are not going to get their way. it's not going to be a moderate or liberal for sure. i was watching chuck this weekend on "meet the press" and i was listening to maria cantwell who was talking about something we haven't heard a lot. she says one of the things she wants to hear this nominee say, is the president able to pardon himself? do you believe in the immolants clause. let me go back to you. is this a short list of people who, for example, would compel the president to testify? >> we don't really know. they haven't had the opportunity to talk about that kind of thing. kavanaugh who is maybe the leading contender who is a judge of the court of appeals in washington, d.c. both worked for ken starr and was involved in

the prosecution of bill clinton. he has concerns about dragging the presidency into this sort of investigation. in general what you know is the more conservative a appointee is, the more they are inclined to the powers of the presidency. so they would be less likely than justice kennedy to kind of force the president to comply with demands of the investigation. >> knowing what we know and knowing what we don't know, namely who the nominee is going to be, nevertheless what kind of fight are you expecting? >> i think this is really more likely to be professional wrestling than a big boxing match. >> are you calling this fake? >> yes, i'm calling it fake i'm afraid. >> a fake fight. >> because the president is unlikely to completely screw this up by nominating someone who is avowedly against roe. it's hard to see him losing any republican votes. as a consequence, democrats, who are running in red states for the senate are quite likely to vote for the nominee rather than

endanger themselves in the midterm. i think that the leadership of the democrats is going to lay down on the tracks over this issue because they're very upset and concerned. >> is it also because there's really nothing much they can do? >> just to go back to the point, those red state democrats are in such a bind because yes, many of them are running in states that went overwhelmingly for trump. they need their people to come out. that is the only way they're going to win. if they vote for trump's nominee, that completely diminishes the enthusiasm of the democratic voters who need to come out and support those folks. they are caught between a rock and a hard spot. it's a very bad place to be. >> do you see any scenario where the democrats pull this out? >> i know the base wants the democrats to basically shut down the functioning of the senate and just stop this or at least postpone it until after november. it's personally what i think they should do. it seems like there's very

little appetite for that. and so it would have to be -- susan collins is such a phony and has -- is so -- it would have to be something extremely egregious in one of these people's backgrounds. i mean, i think this is just an example where we're going to get run over by this sick juggernaut. >> i think senator collins is -- has been a great public servant and to demean her is just inappropriate at this time. but i just want to add one other thought. let's not forget, trump can totally go rogue on this. he has a list that he's talking about. but he has given up the idea of having a chief of staff. he's given up the idea of having a communications, director. >> what would you see is rogue? >> i think it would be someone who he has deemed he has a relationship with, who he would be deemed a trump loyalist, someone he feels he can trust to be in there, especially if something comes down the pipe with muler.

>> we knew this was coming, right? there was no question about it, at some point, trump was going to get a confirmation. we knew one that got carried over from president obama. but there was always the likelihood kennedy had been talked about a lot. there were a couple of justices who were in their late 70s, 85 years old. so the question is, should democrats have been better prepared for this? or was there never anything they could do? >> well, democrats always manage to screw things up basically. let's start from right there. starting with the fact that hillary clinton, the former secretary of the state of the united states, could not defeat donald trump for the presidency of the united states. in every other way, yes, there's really not a lot that democrats could do as michelle said. the one thing that could have changed is that kennedy could have put off his retirement for another year on the offchance that the senate moved in some way. it's unlikely. it's a very red map right now. the senate could have moved -- >> the republicans did a good job -- >> it's really unfair to blame the democrats. i mean this is kennedy betraying

the country. >> he's not betraying the country. he has an obligation to not let trump -- >> -- why do you have to demean people in making your point? >> he is destroying -- >> you don't have to demean people like that. >> sat up there like he was the sole arbiter of justice and when the country needed him most he stepped aside -- >> by the way, that's exactly why the democrats are in that situation. two days after kennedy stepped down, you know what we saw? we saw television ads saying stand behind president's choice for supreme court. the democrats still don't know what their message should be. how they're going to message around this nomination. so we've been almost a week and they haven't been able to get that together. and that's why the democrats are in a hard position. because they never prepare on supreme court issues. >> who's your money now on monday? >> probably kavanaugh or

barrett. he is really the one who's best known, who has the longest track record. amy barrett really solves for the president some optical issues. she is a mom, has seven kids two adopted. she had a real fight over her catholicism and her appointment to the court of appeals. she doesn't have any kind of track record that you could point at her and say you're going to vote to overrule roe. >> is that something the republicans can use? she is 46 years old, amy barrett. but as a woman, and we've heard people say, look, if you want some diversity, the women shouldn't all be to the liberal end of the scope. it gives him something to argue. it gives a talking point maybe to folks on the campaign trail in november. >> it's a great talking point for trump. he likes the optics of it, no doubt. but it won't change that if the democrats get on the message, which i suspect they will that

it's still roe v. wade, and that's what's at stake. that's what's going to drive the conversation more than anything else. it will be the hearing, getting the answers. >> so you say when the democrats get on message? >> i think it would be a genius choice for trump to pick amy barrett. just on the virtue of the fact that if roe is going to go, he could point and say it was a woman who brought it down. it wasn't five men versus four women. a woman would take it down. that would work perfectly for trump. >> quick last word? >> i think women out there are not going to get over the fact that donald trump of all people is the one stripping them of their reproductive rights. a man who's probably paid for a few abortions himself is going to destroy health care for my daughter. >> tom goldstein as always, thank you, sus, michelle, beth. we've got a lot more. next on this independence day eve, patriot games. who's proud to be an american? and who's proud of america?

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ito take care of anyct messy situations.. and put irritation in its place. and if i can get comfortable keeping this tookus safe and protected... you can get comfortable doing the same with yours. preparation h. get comfortable with it. welcome back. tomorrow is independence day. the day of the year when americans celebrate what this country stands for. and it probably doesn't surprise you in these polarizing times but new polls show that americans are divided along party lines on how they feel about the nation. according to a "usa today" and ipsos poll, overall, 72% of americans say they are proud to be an american. 90% of republicans are proud to be an american compared to 61% of democrats. but being proud to be an american is not the same as being proud of america. so in that same poll, 42% of

americans say they are proud of america right now. breaking that down by party you can see the divide. 71% of republicans are proud of america. just 23% of democrats. let's bring back tonight's panel. susan, michelle, beth, what do you make of this? >> as you said, we're divided as we've ever been. america's been divided in many ways for many, many years. for now, we have a president who is derliberately exploiting thoe divisionings. even if there were differences before, there was always a sense of a higher purpose. we were all kind of together in this country in some way. some intangible way we were all part of the same community. donald trump does not think that way. he does not tweet that way. we're all vulcanized. we're all in different places. he prefers that because it creates the kind of tension that gives his type of politics a lot of energy. as a result, i think a lot of

people are very disspirited about where we are and how we function within that broader community. >> what do you make of the differentiation between pretty different poll numbers, proud to be an american versus proud of america? >> it's a difference between america's ideals and what america is right now. when i think about what it is that makes me proud about america, it's that we've been a beacon for immigrants and refugees and people seeking asylum from all over the world. now we're a country that takes the children of refugees and puts them in cages. and that's a very hard thing to be proud of. >> one of the things that -- both sides are proud to be americans, republicans, 90%, democrats, 61%. where they split, and this is interesting, 72% of republicans are extremely proud to be an american. just 32% of democrats. does that gap matter? >> well, i think -- sorry, i have a polling back ground, so i'm going to kind of parse this a little bit. if you were to fracture out, are you proud of america's

leadership versus are you proud of your fillo citizens, i think you would see a different result. i think people are proud of america because you can see these rallies. even if you disagree with them. there's a lot of different ways. it's how this president has dominated our news cycle internationally. if you said are you product that donald trump is our president -- >> even under obama, republicans were prouder than democrats to be an american. >> i think that democrats are more likely to view -- to maybe say they're lucky to be an american, right? it's not an accomplishment to be an american. it's a supreme good fortune, but it's not something -- you know, i think that democrats tend to be a little bit weary of the sort of boastful aggressive sort of nationalism. >> i think, you know, a lot changed in terms of sort of

patriotism, the way they view it with the nfl controversy and whether or not you take a knee and what the president had to say about that. i mean, has president trump essentially weaponized patriotism? >> we've seen that, you know, he's not the first politician to try to do that. but he does it so effectively. he stokes it. that's the point i keep trying to make. he wants us to be as divided as possible. other politicians have perhaps weaponized things against one another. red versus blue what have you. but they've never deliberately gone out and sort of poked it in the eye the way trump does. as a result, people react and people feel very emotional. it has given everybody i think in this country since trump's election, to think about what it means to be american. like what do they want that to be. it's not just where we live, it's who we are and what we stand for. i think people are trying to sort that out. >> the cultural divide that he uses i think is also -- to follow up a little bit more, i think she's absolutely right, in

how he tries to divide this nation. he does it over cultural issues and that's where he's the most successful. he doesn't do it over policy. >> interesting word, because successful in terms of he keeps all of us sort of holding our breath. he continues to be the center of the conversation. in a way arguably that no other president has been for this sustained period of time. but if people feel this much pressure and republican or democrat, i travel the country a reasonable amount, people are exhausted. they're tired of the fighting. i've been talking to people, been going door to door on campaign trails. they say at the end, even when they go to the door of a person from the opposite party when they have a pleasant conversation, some of them end up hugging because they're so relieved that there isn't an demonization. so to what end is my question. >> i'm a republican in new york city, that's not exactly an easy feat. i actually get a lot from my colleagues here. they say no, i'm not a supporter of trump's policies. and yet i have no problem --

>> so they ask you why are you still a republican? >> they do. i'm like, well, the democrats haven't given me anything to be supportive of on their side. not to make it about me, but the point is i think people are so scared and so -- they're not sure even how to address the issues of politics. that it even furthers them deeper into their silos. and that's part of the issue. that when you actually have a conversation and you can hug it out afterwards, it's unique because it's not angry. and donald trump wins when people are angry and divided. that's the only way he knows how to keep his power base. >> and yet there are people who hold on and, michelle, you enumerated all the ways in which donald trump has changed what america is, the way we look at america. "usa today" poll had a 50% difference along the lines if america is headed in the wrong direction. overall, 57%. so a strong majority say

america's headed in the wrong direction. 80% of democrats and 30% of republicans. >> well, right, because republicans are get everything they want, right. they're going to repeal roe versus wade and force women to carry pregnancies to term against their will. >> but the polls don't show. >> the think the majority want a cultural revenge over people they feel like have changed the country in a way they don't want. they want a whiter country. they want a more pat tree arc patriarchal country, and trump is giving them that. >> that description is exactly where we're divided. i know a lot of republicans and they don't necessarily buy into your argument. i think that's the language that makes us divided. >> why are they happy with what trump's doing? >> there's a lot of different issues. as chris said, you have traveled the country. some people are happy with the economy. you want to try to make it into

a culture war, yes. there's going to be problems -- >> well, there's also a question -- >> we don't have time to talk about it but there is a question, i've had a lot of these conversations with republicans, that it's, you know, you're doing a balancing act. what am i willing to put up with, x, y and z, to get a, b and c. >> those are the kinds of deals that everyone has made through every administration but it is different now. >> and the fact we're in an economy that people believe is the best in 20 years and the fact we're still so angry, divided amongst ourselves just shows that the old adage that the economy will solve anything is still not the case. >> sleepless in seattle and everywhere else. we have a lot more to cover. including that ever growing list of scandals surrounding epa chief scott pruitt. all right. you're not going to believe what. and up next, saying his piece. the president once again declares himself a peacemaker

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today flags at the white house and all federal buildings are at half-staff, honoring the victims of the capital gazette shooting. this comes after the annapolis mayor says his initial request over the weekend to lower the flags in honor of the newsroom shooting victims had been denied. but the white house insists the requests followed protocol. >> as soon as the president

directly heard about the request made by the mayor, he asked that we reach out and verify that the mayor had made the request. and when we did, the president asked the flags be lowered immediately. >> four journalists and a sales representative died in last week's attack. there was particular indignation in a delay over the proclamation. well, today, the white house did not step back from the president's statements, calling journalists the enemy of the people. saying instead we have a great deal of respect for the press. we'll be right back. it lets you know where your data lives, down to the very server. it keeps your insights from prying eyes, so they're used by no one else but you. it is... the cloud. the ibm cloud. the cloud that's built for all your apps. ai ready. secure to the core. the ibm cloud is the cloud for smarter business.

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and since the onset of the drought we've doubled our efforts. i grew up in the forests out in this area and honestly it's heartbreaking to see all these trees dying. what guides me is ensuring that the public is going to be safer and that these forests can be sustained and enjoyed by the community in the future. welcome back. as part of his twitter tear this morning, president trump insisted that conversations with north korea are going well. tweeting in part if not for me, we would now be at war with north korea. the president also seemed to dismiss reports from nbc news and others that north korea has increased its nuclear position at secret sites, calling it all

fake news. those reports come from u.s. intelligence agencies, by the way. here's what the white house press secretary said this morning. >> look, as i said yesterday, i'm not going to confirm or deny intelligence reports. i'm not going to comment on that. we had good meetings with ambassador kim. >> is he moving the goal post? >> no, i mean, again, the goal is the same as it's always been. and that denuclearization. that's what we're going to continue pushing for and continue working with him on. >> meanwhile, president trump is setting the stage for more confrontation with our allies at next week's nato summit. allies of course that are critical to keeping russia in check. "the new york times" reports that president trump wrote, quote, sharply worded letters to several word leaders for spending too little on their own defense. joining me now, gordon chaing, daily beast columnist, author of "nuclear showdown." we learned pompeo is going back to north korea. how important is it?

>> i think this is make or break are foot administration. the administration's policy is based on a very simple assessment. that kim has decided to give up his weapons. if that's the case, then pompeo is going to come back with commitments and a timetable. if he doesn't, then we're in trouble. >> what do you think the chances are? >> i really don't know. this is to me totally perplexing. i tried to score this stuff day by day and i'm bewildered. i really do hope that pompeo comes back with what he said. if he doesn't, we're in trouble, because we've made a lot of concessions that are really undermining our security. and the president will have to change course if pompeo does not come back with those commitments. >> u.s. experts have designed a disarmament program. north korea is not yet cooperating. he talks about a one-year time line. >> if kim really wants to give up his weapons, he can do it in a year. the 2 1/2 year time frame mentioned by pompeo certainly more realistic. that's what we should be

expecting within one or two years. this 15 years from siegfried hecker in "the new york times" i think is much too long. we should not be even talking about that. >> so if it can be done in a year and if we've got pompeo going over there, should this be decided quickly? or do you think that the president's right, that all of these reports that we're getting from the intelligence community that they're cheating and we all know how many times they've cheated before are indeed fake news? >> no, this is real news. it's not just the intelligence community. it's that website 38 north which looks at north korean sites all the time. they're not connected with the government. they saw improvements to the cooling system of their only plutonium-producie ining reacto. what these reports from the intelligence community say is essentially they're very concerned about the president's policies. otherwise, they wouldn't be talking to nbc news. they wouldn't be talking to other news outlets. because they are really, really -- think the president

has gone the wrong course. >> do you think there's really anything that can come of a meeting like this? >> well, it's absolutely essential. we have to put kim to the test. president trump said this is a one-shot opportunity to make an historic decision. well, the one shot comes now when pompeo is in pyongyang. this is his third trip there. it's after the summit with president trump. it's now or never. >> what's your reaction to the president's claim we'd be at war with north korea now if it weren't for him? >> there's no factual basis for that statement whatsoever. >> we'll leave it at that. let's e go on to what's going to happen at the nato summit. the president sends these ters letters. he's been back and forth over, yes, nato's good, nato's bad. the last time there was a nato meeting, it was uncomfortable to say the least. there's a lot of concern by our allies. already we've seen what happened at the g-7. he's late to a lot of meetings. now he's going to go to nato after having sent these letters right before he goes to meet with vladimir putin.

and that's obviously the concern. we know what putin wants. putin wants for there to be -- he wants there not to be a cohesive policy. how important is that meeting? is there anything that those allies can do to make this look like there's some sort of agreement? >> yes. this is the most important nato summit that i can remember in at least a decade. the reason is for exactly as you say, you know, you have putin now on the march. he wants president trump to say, look, we agree to the annexization of crimea and president trump would not say that's not u.s. policy. so of course people in nato are very concerned. i think what president trump needs to do is to affirm article five, which is our obligation to defend our nato allies. he didn't make that at the last nato summit. he was sort of forced to do it a couple weeks after. so this is really important. the other thing, trump is right

in the sense that germany doesn't pay enough, it's really not spending enough on its own armed forces. this really has been a scandal. and previous american presidents have not been able to get the germans and others to spend more. we need to do that. >> we should say that the last couple of presidents have wanted to do that, have tried to do it. >> but the one thing that we should not do is to create this open rift. because as you say, putin will take advantage of it. we need to be very insistent behind the scenes that germany's got to spend more on nato. it's just not a u.s. enterprise. but we should not be having these disagreements in public where the russians can take advantage of it. >> yes, what kind of signal does that send ahead of this meeting with vladimir putin in helsinki? >> it's not just putin because, you know, as people see that we are being very, very easy on putin, then other countries are saying, well, why don't we grab territory as well? we have the chinese trying to

use force to redraw the map of asia. the russians are trying to redraw the map of europe and they've been sucks isful. this is not just a nato or europe problem. good or bad diplomacy in the nato summit is going to have reverberations throughout the coming years. >> you know, the president has put so much into personal relationships and he's certainly used that as a talking point when he decided he was going to meet with kim jong-un, you know, that he thinks it's very important to go face-to-face. but he has had moments of what look like good relationships with our allies, all the touchy feely stuff we saw both with macron and with the canadian prime minister, but is there anyone you see who can have a conversation with president trump and get him to see their point of view? >> his daughter. >> really? our foreign policy's being predicated on whether or not ivanka trump is going to have a conversation with her dad? >> i don't think that trump has

good relations with any of our allies. this really is an issue. you know, trump has a very personal way of dealing with it. when you have personal relationships with a putin or a kim or a xi jinping, it doesn't really matter, because they don't believe in friendship. they believe in a ruthlessly pragmatic world which is have been hopsian. so if they like trump or trump likes them it makes no difference at all. that's really the problem that trump's world view is on, his relationship with kim for instance. this particular time, i just -- i think we need to understand that we've got to have good relationships with our democratic allies. if we don't, the world is going to go to hell in a hand basket very quickly. and unfortunately, this president doesn't see it the same way that others do. >> such an upbeat conversation on the eve of independence day, gordon chaing, thank you so much for coming by, appreciate it. and still ahead, how the political environment is heating up. yes, once again, for epa chief scott pruitt. stay right here. i'm to your bumper, cause.... i don't think enough people heard about your big day.

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welcome back. tonight, a rising star in the democratic party is making a public break with democratic leadership. it's arizona congresswoman kristin cinema. she told politico she would not support chuck schumer as the democratic leader if she's elected to the senate seat being vacated by jeff flake. at least 20 democrats running for congress in november say they won't support nancy pelosi as leader in the house.

this is the first time, though, anyone has publicly announced opposition to schumer in the senate. cinema has also been a critic of pelosi while serving in the house and has urged turnover in leadership across the board in the democratic party. she told politico, quote, the democratic leadership has failed democrats across the country. i am unafraid to say what i believe about what i think our party needs to do and i think our patty needs to grow and change. arizona of course is a must win for democrats if they hope to take control of the senate. cinema is running as a moderate democrat and opposing schumer is likely to bolster those credentials. and with the republican senate primary in arizona becoming a race to the right, staking out the center early could lead cinema to victory. we'll be back with more mtp daily and more problems piling up for scott pruitt, next. dear great-great-grandfather, you turned a family recipe into a brewing empire before prohibition took it all away. i promised our family i'd find your lost recipe.

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welcome back. time now for our panel. let's talk about scott pruitt, shall we? there's so many things that are out there. some of which we have not been able to independently confirm. but we knew he was looking for a job for his wife, right? that we knew. now we're finding out from "the washington post" it didn't -- couldn't be just any job, he wanted a $200,000 and up job. there are 16 i think by our count different kinds of investigations going on. this is the $6 million question. how does this guy keep his job? >> it's shocking. it's appalling. it's just so -- i mean, he's broken -- it's clear that he's broken at least a few laws, if not like some ethical violations on top of that. >> you're with the political unit. has there ever been a single person in any administration that had 16 separate -- >> no, remember tom price, now it's eons ago, you know, was found to be taking flights and

private planes that he shouldn't have and he was gone in a second. >> that's nothing compared to this. >> it's like if you drain the swamp and you got the gunk on the bottom of the swamp that would be scott pruitt. >> he even, swamp, that would be scott pruitt. >> he even, according to "the washington post," he told congressional staffers to contact the republican attorneys general association. this is an organization that he used to head. and maybe they could get him a job. and there were at least people apparently on his staff who said i don't think that's a great idea. >> and also had his staffers, 25-year-olds, putting his hotels on their personal credit cards and refusing to reimburse them. >> there's apparently a limit. you have to put your receipts within a certain time to get them approved. he kept not doing it. this staffer, for whom $600 is a lot of money, he doesn't get it. so remember i teased about the drawer. you won't believe what wfound f

drawer. somebody else put $600 cash in a drawer. >> they passed the hat. >> yeah. >> what's going on? >> scott pruitt also has to be the worst boss in human history. i don't think we've seen as many people leak current staff, former staff, going out, that's how these stories are coming out. these are all driven by staffers. i can't even -- as bad as the stories are, i can't even imagine how he treats his staff. >> it's important to realize why trump probably wants him around. trump has no interest whatsoever in any enforcement of ethics rules or governing norms. in fact, it's in his interest to see how far he can push them. >> he pressured tom price to leave. >> part of it now, though, is that tom price was getting a ton of attention. scott pruitt, we've reached critical mass with, there's so many scandals. scott pruitt is usually --

right, he does something outrageous that would be headline grabbing in any other administration. it's kind of page three in the paper, or, you know, 45 minutes into the newscast. >> as long as the president -- >> can we talk about the latest thing that just happened? we don't have this independently. cnn is reporting this. scott pruitt personally appealed to donald trump to fire jeff sessions and let him, scott pruitt, run the justice department. now, we're bringing this up because white house spokesman hogan gidlee was asked about this just now. a and hallie jackson says hogan tells her the report is troublesome, says the president is concerned about it, but there is nothing to announce personnelwise at the moment. >> and we did hear internally there was some discussion of scott pruitt taking over for sessions. when sessions seemed to be most in deep water back in the spring. and because he's been senate confirmed -- he could move into that position very easily.

>> he's at the epa, give me a job running justice. >> it would never happen now. >> by showing himself willing to be both totally lawless and totally subservient. >> there are people who could do this job who would -- >> who would dismantle the environment. >> there are other republicans who would do that for the president. >> why is he sticking so closely with scott pruitt? he doesn't want to give the libs of when. that's what it would look like. >> one thing that's going to push him is when those campaign ads go out and he is the focus of them. scott pruitt, the ultimate swamp creature is, you know, donald trump's swamp god, whatever -- >> that's not bringing everybody down in the midterms. that would be down the line when trump is running for reelection. >> seeing him in the ads alone would be troubling enough to donald trump. >> the president is also tweeting, six in one hour this morning before most people got up for breakfast, been on a tear

today. but this -- i'm going to read it. "after having written many best selling books and somewhat priding myself on my ability to write, it should be noted that the fake news constantly likes to pour over my tweets looking for a mistake. i capitalize certain words only for emphasis, not because they should be capitalized." . now, could you keep that? i believe the nones who drilled into me, there, their and they're, to, two and too, poor should not be spelled p-o-u-r, it should bes spelled p-o-r-e. >> his staff actually uses typos and caps to pretend they are, in fact, acting as donald trump when they go on his twitter account and tweet for him. >> i also think, what happened this afternoon that prompted him to want to tweet this just now? it's very mysterious. >> probably michael cohen. he can't tweet about michael

cohen, so he's on a tear about everything else. >> i wondered this morning, there were so many different topics in the course of an hour. >> if we tried to figure that out -- it will be a long circuitous route. thank you for being here. up next, relishing an american competitive eating tradition. you have to keep it right here for that. -and we welcome back gary, who's already won three cars, two motorcycles, a boat, and an r.v. i would not want to pay that insurance bill. [ ding ] -oh, i have progressive,

so i just bundled everything with my home insurance. saved me a ton of money. -love you, gary! -you don't have to buzz in. it's not a question, gary. on march 1, 1810 -- [ ding ] -frédéric chopin. -collapsing in 226 -- [ ding ] -the colossus of rhodes. -[ sighs ] louise dustmann -- [ ding ] -brahms' "lullaby," or "wiegenlied." -when will it end? [ ding ] -not today, ron. -when will it end? [ ding ] and i heard that my cousin's so, wife's sister's husband was a lawyer, so i called him. but he never called me back! if your cousin's wife's sister's husband isn't a lawyer, call legalzoom and we'll connect you with an attorney. legalzoom. where life meets legal.

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in case you missed it, america has a lot of really fra fwraet nourt of july traditions, fireworks, flags, parades, more parades. there is perhaps no more disgusting than, wait for it, the nathan's famous fourth of july hot dog eating contest at coney island. yes, at this time of year when many of us stopped to catch up with our friends and family and think about what it means to be an american, when we relish our independence, get that? and honor our freedom, is there any better way to celebrate than a corporate-sponsored nationally televised show of totally gross overindulgence? absolutely not. what could be more american than staring down your biggest rival while holding a hot dog at the top of the empire state building? absolutely nothing. by the way the guy on the right there, he's the reigning

champion. he ate 72 hot dogs in ten minutes last year. absolutely impressive. i think we can all agree which is absolutely why we fought the british for our independence. that's all for tonight. i'll be back tomorrow. "the beat" starts right now. >> good evening, you got me thinking about hot dogs. it's a tough hour to get through without thinking about the hot dog the. big show tonight, i'm going to talk live to the mother who confronted trump's epa head in this viral video, taking on the cabinet initial who many say has come to symbolize the d.c. swamp. inside michael cohen's strategy, new reporting why he believes people close to donald trump are preparing to attack him. and a father and son who disagree about trump now running against each other for political office. this is an epic family feud you don't want to miss. both of them are going to be