get more heat. a little weather and science lesson there for you. that's our broadcast for a friday night. thank you for being with us and good night from nbc news headquarters in new york. rachel has one more night off but she will be back on monday. now, it's been a big week and a busy friday. a lot to get to, including someone who will be here in studio who we're excited to talk to. you probably saw her over the holiday taking when they go low we go high literally. patricia okoumou scaled the statue of liberty on wednesday to protest the trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents at the border. she'll be live in the studio for her first tv interview in just a few minutes so you do not want to miss that. we're also going to talk live with a lawyer who was arguing against this policy in court

today. who will update us on whether the trump administration is complying with the judge's timetable to put these families back together again. but we start tonight with frederick von stuben. he was born in 1730 in the kingdom of prussia, an area that is now modern day germany. at 17, he joined the prussian army and fought in the seven years war. it was one of the most sophisticated and powerful armies in the world. he had a distinguished military career, eventually becoming a top aide to frederick the great. he's also believed to have been an openly gay man, which is no small thing in the 1700s in prussia. because back then being gay was actually a crime. in 1763, he was abruptly dismissed from the prussian army. it was rumored at the time he was let go because he was gay. so with no job and nowhere to go, he went to america. he arrived in the states in the

throes of the revolutionary war, in 1777. the continental army was losing. they had just suffered through a bitter winter at valley forge. the troops were demoralized. they were living in filth. they were untrained. george washington needed someone to whip his men into shape, to teach them how to properly fight a war. and it was right around that time that george washington met frederick von stuben. he was impressed with his military experience and with his strong personality. and so washington hired von stoobeen. he was not give and title. but he took the job anyway. trained washington's army at valley forge. he taught them how to march, how to stay in line, how to reload their musket. he taught them how to build late trins and run kitchens. he did it all in broken english. when the troops failed to follow orders, he would curse at them

in german and french. one of the only english phrases he knew was squad halt. but in less than two months this gay man from prussia turned a ragtag group of guys with guns into a professional army. he helped create an identity, an order, a learned skill. among this group of soldier trainees to teach them how to fight and win the war. frederick von steuben served in the continental army until the end of the revolutionary war. he wrote a book. they called it the blue book because all he had to write on was blue paper which has since faded a bit. the u.s. army still uses portions of the blue book to teach new recruits to this very day. frederick von steuben from prussia is credited with creating america's professional army which is now the most powerful fighting force in the world. again this little known hero of the american revolution who volunteered to help this country win its independence, to help turn the tide of the war in

america's favor, was not actually american. during the war, he wrote this letter to george washington, explaining why he volunteered to fight for a country that was not his own. he told washington, quote, the object of my greatest ambition is to render your country all the services in my power, and to deserve the title of a citizen of america by fighting for the cause of your liberty. and in 1784 von steuben got his wish. as a thank you for his service, as a reward for his sacrifices he made to america, the pennsylvania legislature passed a law that made him a u.s. citizen. frederick von steuben lived out the rest of his days in the united states. the immigrant soldier from prussia who created the professional american army died at home in new york as an american citizen. ever since the revolutionary war, immigrants in this country represented a significant vital part of our armed forces. they fought in every single war this country has ever engaged in. it's been codified in our

history. dating back to frederick von steuben and his blue book. deciding to risk your life for a country is a brave and incredible sacrifice. risking your life for someone else's country, that's something else. like other presidents before him, george w. bush recognized that incredible sacrifice. in december 2008 at the very tail end of his presidency, he started something called movni. it stands for military accessions viable to the national interest. it was a program that allowed immigrants living in the united

states to get a fast track to citizenship if they joined the armed forces. an attempt to recognize the extraordinary contribution and sacrifice they had made by enlisting. when the program first launched, it was built for is,000 people. right off the bat, more than 14,000 immigrants living in the country called up army recruiting programs. asking how they could serve the country and become u.s. citizens. the immigrants who enlisted through the program scored significantly higher on their entrance exams. on average, they were more highly educated. they filled serious deficits in the army. doctors and dentists and speakers of languages in far flung corners of the world. during president obama's tenure, the program recruited psychologists to help with the emotional distress experienced by soldiers in afghanistan and iraq. the policy really has been bipartisan. in 2014, president obama expanded the program to allow daca recipients to participate. one immigrant who volunteered to serve was a dentist from philadelphia named amman dylan. he was born in india and moved to the united states in 2006. he was an ivy league graduate. he told "the new york times" he wanted to join the u.s. army because of the opportunity to treat a wide range of patients. he said he was not afraid of the risks of service.

quote, this country does not differentiate between color or accent. here if you're good, people will put you to the front. that was the whole idea. take these brave self-less immigrants who came to this country and enlisted in the army and reward their sacrifice with citizenship. putting them to the front. last year, the trump administration suspended the program. and then late last night, this was the headline at the associated press. u.s. army quietly discharging immigrant recruits. quote, some immigrant u.s. army reservists and recruits who enlisted in the military with a promised path to citizenship are being abruptly discharged. the associated press had learned. we do not know how many people enlisted through this program had been booted from the army. but immigration attorneys say they know of more than 40 who

have been discharged and whose status -- or whose status has become questionable, jeopardizing their future. one of those 40 people is lucas. a brazilian immigrant who filed a lawsuit against the army last week. he says it was his dream to serve in the u.s. army, to give back to his adopted country. a dream that had come true until they kicked him out. so what does this mean and where does it go from here? joining us now is margaret stock, an alaska-based immigration attorney and retired u.s. army reserve lieutenant colonel who helped create the immigrant recruitment program. colonel stock, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for inviting me. i'm really pleased to be here. >> thank you. do we know what is being told to these recruits who join under mav mob me program and now being

essentially deenlisted? >> well, they're getting text messages, e-mails, phone calls. i'm being told somehow they failed a background check. but no one will tell them why they failed. >> is there something in the background check, i mean, the form they filled out, that indicates maybe there was something dishonest on the form they filled out? maybe something they did proactively? or is this just part of winding down this program, to your knowledge? >> well, the department of defense a couple of years ago decide they wanted to do extreme vetting on all these recruits. they ordered up a whole set of new background checks but had no capability to do them. so this resulted in delays of two and even three years they're facing now before they can fully participate in the military and the military careers because they're basically stuck waiting while they undergo these background checks. dod last year revealed a plot to simply cancel all the contracts because it didn't want to spend the money doing background checks on them. there was a public uproar and dod canceled the plans and went forward with the background

checks. but it became clear it was going to take many, many years before dod would be able to complete that. and so in the last few weeks we've suddenly seen a surge in mysterious discharges. where they're suddenly being told they're being kicked out of the military. noir not given a reason or documents why. they're simply told they failed their background checks somehow. one of the crew coincidently got a hold of some of the paperwork that appropriately supported the argument he had failed his background check. and the paperwork indicated he hadn't really failed it. in fact, the only reason they were kicking him out was, quote, because he had foreign ties. these are immigrants so they all have foreign ties. and the document stated he got coincidently he had a parent who lived in his own country who owned property and that when the parent passed away he was going to inherit the property.

and he had told investigators he had planned to sell the property and was going to buy property in the united states. and that was cited as some suspicious derogatory explanation. and then the second thing they cited he had a gif in the united states and he planned to sponsor her to marry him after he became a united states citizen. >> wow, you said an important word there as you were describing what's going on, contract. and presumably if the united states is making a contract with -- and you can maybe give an estimate how many thousands of people that might have some contracts in place, is there anything in that contract that says it's irevicable at any time? >> of course the military services often decide someone's not qualified to enlist in the military. normally, though, if a person supposedly fails a background

check, they tell the person. they bring them in and say it appears you failed a background check because you did the following things, what do you have to say for yourself? but in these cases none of these people are being told why they failed. some of the people who supposedly failed these background checks recently received a promotion, got an award. there's nothing in their background cher history to indicate they did anything wrong. but mysteriously and suddenly they're receiving these discharge orders and being told they failed the background check. >> margaret stock, alaska based immigration attorney and retired colonel. thank you for giving us information on this. well, the trump administration meanwhile is back in federal court thood trying to get an extension on the judge's order to reunite children who are separated from their migrant

parents at the border. the order orders them to require contact, and to complete all family reunions by july 26th. just yesterday health and human services secretary alex azar told reporters his agency will comply with the court's deadline and that hhs has a plan to get the job done. however, last night the trump administration filed a motion asking for extra time. the government began asking for more time last night citing the time consuming procedures the government has been using to verify parentage including taking dna samples from all the kids and doing background checks. and today azar's agency told the judge it can only get about half of the youngest children back to

their parents by tuesday. half their parents have been released to whereabouts unknown and the other half have already been deported. and so the trump administration asked for more time to get the kids under 5 back to their parents. the judge said, no. he told the government to turn in a list of the 101 children under five tomorrow and he will take up the matter again on monday. joining us now is one of the aclu lawyers who brought the classification lawsuit. he was in the courtroom today in san diego. thank you very much for your time tonight. >> thank you for having me. >> i'm struck by the fact the government is now saying the process is complicated in getting these kids back together. because mr. azar, the hhs secretary was testifying publicly i think a week ago that at a drop of a hat he could reunite kids and children. was the government arguing today they do not have a system that

can match a parent back to their child? because if they have that system why would they need dna? >> i think what came out today is that the government does not have a proper tracker system. the judge noted that in his ruling last week and it was reinforced today. it's clear the government cannot match all the parents and all the children. and so they asked for the judge to extend the deadline, and as you said in your intro, the judge refused to generally extend the deadlines. what he did say was if you have very specific concrete reason whiez why a particular family cannot be reunited by the deadline, let the plaintiffs know and let me know, but he refused to take up the government's request to just generally extend the deadlines. but it was absolutely clear in dou court today that the government's tracking system was not a good one, they're not sure

where all the parents are. and what i said arguing our side of the case was you need to give us the information. there are thousands of volunteers who want to help. we will get down there and see all the parents, ask them what their kid is like, what their kids name is, try and help match and do whatever we can, but these kids need to be reunified. >> i think it's extraordinary to hear the government now says they don't even know where some of these parents are. let's play hhs secretary asbrar, just last week speaking to the finance committee about what he then says they know. >> there's no reason why any parent would not know where their child is located. i could at a keystroke if i sat on the orr portal with just basic keystrokes within seconds could find any child in our care for any parent. >> in court today when you were there did they essentially take that back? >> well, they didn't mention the secretary's comments, but it was

very clear they could not match a parent, all the parents and child with a stroke of their keyboard. the judge was asked very pointed questions. we originally went in there to talk about all 3,000 or so kids that have been separated. but that deadline is not until july 26th for kids 5 and older. what ultimately i think happened is the judge made the decision to focus the hearing today for children under 5, and so we could fix that problem. and he says i want the government to submit to the plaintiffs a list of all 100 that explained for each individual kid why you cannot reunite them and why you cannot find the parent. so the government did essentially admit today they do not have the ability to track all the parents and kids that match them. >> and we see now that i.c.e. is giving parents a form to fill out. i'm requesting to reunite with they children for the purposes of repatriation or i formally

request to return without my minor children -- but parents say who have already been deported, are they now saying they don't know where they deported them to or where they are? >> well, we will see what that list shows there. they have to give us that list by 5:00 p.m. on saturday. we'll see what the list shows. i'm assuming it will at least say which country the parent went to. but there's no question that those forms they're distributing are misleading. what i said in court today is we want the government to cease using that form. we want to substitute a form we created that makes it clear the parents are entitled to get their children back, and it's not contingent on them waiving their right to seek asylum in the united states. >> i know a lot of people have been talking about it today,

when the moment in court when the department of justice attorney mentioned she would not be around this weekend because she would be dog sitting. just to clarify, was there going to be any action in court this weekend or does it make a difference this doj lawyer is in colorado dog sitting? >> i did not understand the judge to say he wanted us in court this weekend. in fairness to her i think she said that, but it didn't mean that she wasn't ready to work this weekend. and the judge i think didn't want us to be in court until monday morning. >> just to clarify that. but the bottom line being, you didn't walkway from that hearing confident the government could at the drop of a hat reunite these kids? >> we did not. but what we said was give us as much information as you have because we will help find the parents. >> thank you so much. really appreciate you being here tonight. we'll have much more coming up on the trump administration's migrant family administration

crisis next including the very first tv interview with the woman who climbed the statue of liberty on the fourth of july to protest the trump administration's policy. patricia will be with me here next. shed into booking one. that's why we created expedia's add-on advantage. now after booking your flight, you unlock discounts on select hotels right until the day you leave. ♪ add-on advantage. discounted hotel rates when you add on to your trip. only when you book with expedia.

this is not a screensaver.game. this is the destruction of a cancer cell by the body's

own immune system, thanks to medicine that didn't exist until now. and today can save your life. ♪ ♪ come hok., babe. nasty nighttime heartburn? try new alka-seltzer pm gummies. the only fast, powerful heartburn relief plus melatonin so you can fall asleep quickly. ♪ oh, what a relief it is!

fourth of july, the statue of liberty might get a bit more attention than usual. after all there's really no more enduring and instantly recognizable symbol of america. this fourth of july was different. this fourth of the july lady liberty garnered attention for what a single gutsy protester did. scaling the statue live on tv. personal trainer, staten island resident and apparently not very afraid of heights. she told police she was protesting the trump administration's policy of separating migrant kids from their parents. a policy that has left nearly 3,000 children scared and alone in detention centers across the u.s. ms. okoumou herself is an immigrant. she moved to the u.s. in 1994 and now a naturalized citizen.

though this is trump administration policy she's protest, ms. okoumou said it was another former white house occupant who actually inspired her to take action. >> michelle obama, our first lady that i care so much about. when they go low, we go high and i went as high as i could. >> after more than three hours standoff police ms. okoumou came down. she's since been charged with three misdemeanors including trespassing and she's pleaded not guilty. and joining us now ms. okoumou and j.w. walker. thank you both for being here. i'm going to start with you. you were at the statue essentially to protest the administration policy. but what made you scale the

statue? >> well, i figured okay i've never been to the stach ow of liberty, i don't know i would love to climb up there with the sign, the banner and it wasn't something i was willing to discuss with the group because i didn't want to be discouraged. >> you didn't want them to stop you? >> yes. >> and what did you think when patricia started heading up the statue? >> the truth is no one in the group realize it was patricia when people first noticed there was someone up and originally didn't realize that was our plan of action. we had no idea, and it wasn't until it was some of the photographers that were with us used their zoom lenses and got a good look at the person we were like oh, my gosh, that's

patricia. and we'd already issued a statement that said that had nothing to do with it us, that's some other person. and once we realized it was patricia obviously the first thing was her safety and concern knowing she was going to be encagi engaging with law enforcement. she was a woman of color engaging with law enforcement, so we were concerned with the possibility she might be injured when she was brought down. so we immediately started trying to find loopholes in the system for her. >> on that point, as awoman wo color, but also as a woman of color you were creating an engagement with law enforcement that could have compounded tragedy upon tragedy. how do you respond to those criticisms? >> i wasn't worried about that. t that wasn't the first thing on my mind. my concern was for the kids.

i think this is just cruel and inhumane. i couldn't lave with that. i had to do something. >> and what was the message you wanted people to take away frim what you're doing? >> that children didn't belong in cages and they needed to be immediately reunited with their f families, their mom and dad. >> did this fit with what you want? >> we're a direction action group. reform is what we do. we generally don't plan things where people are going to be in any sort of peril or danger. but we absolutely support patricia in what she did in the fact we were there to call attention to i.c.e., to call attention to how much i.c.e. is subverting and perverting all the ideals that america holds dear. and patricia just took it to the

next level. once we realized that she was safe and she was down and there was nothing endangering her, all we could do was celebrate the success and the attention to i.c.e. and these issues that she brought. >> let's talk a little bit about how the trump administration's policies have hit you. we share something in common. i have congolese roots. you're from the republic of congo. when you first started hearing the changes in immigration policy and now the detention of children, just tell me how that hit you as a human? >> well, first of all donald j. trump is a distracter in chief, and no way am i going to spend my time talking about his -- wee a democracy, we stand for peace,

and the constitution protects everybody including immigrants. there's something called a due process, and he's ignorant, unfortunately. so i would not normalize his behavior. it's unprecedented. >> and what is rise and resist's sort of plan? there has been been a fair amount of people who feel angry, frustrated, scared. you know what is the plan that rise and resist has? >> the plan is to just constantly call attention to just the sort of crimes against our very nature as americans, of donald trump and his administration are committing regularly on a daily basis. you know, it's not just -- it's obviously not just isis but customs and border patrol, that i.c.e. is taking people who have been living and working and paying taxes and raising their families here for decades and storming them into their homes

and removing them. it's disgusting. >> and the status of your legal case now, when are you expected to be in court? >> august 3rd. >> i'm glad you made it safely to the ground. thank you very much patricia okoumou and j.w. walker. much more tonight including some late news that could change the trial for president donald trump's campaign chairman. that...was...magic. willingham tucks it in and puts the championship to bed. sweet dreams, nighty night. as long as soccer players celebrate with a slide, you can count on geico saving folks money. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. pressure, what pressure? the players on the...

we got news late this evening in the trial of former trump campaign manager paul

manafort. he is currently facing a long string of charges from conspiracy to launder money to failing to register as a foreign agent. a federal judge in d.c. had manafort jailed last month because prosecutors newly allege he had attempted to tamper with witnesses in his case. he's also on trial in the d.c. suburb of alexandria, virginia. in that part of the case, mr. manafort's lawyers last week tried to argue that press coverage had leaked to the media were adversely affecting his defense. rachel brought you the transcript on friday, starting with defense attorney kevin downey. >> we'd like to do, we don't have to take too much time, but we'd like to do some supplemental briefing with you, your honor, about the nature of the leaks that occurred here. i mean we have highest level government officials that have said to the press that mr.

manafort -- and the judge intervenes, well have you filed? let's assume for a moment you're right. what is the remedy you would seek? and then downing said, well, the question becomes how can you have a fair trial when the press and media have been so saturated with false statements about the evidence? the judge said, all right, so what's the remedy, assuming you're right? downey, well, given the pattern of conduct, one remedy is certainly dismissal. the judge, no. putting that one aside. mr. downing, i'd like to stick with that one briefly. the judge, no. go on. then mr. downing says, your honor, what i'm trying to deal with is i think you kind of glossed over this issue in terms of you talking to somebody and asking them some questions, i think we can do so many briefings to just show how this

court has satiated the populous. mr. downing, it would have to be a change of venue? the judge, ah, finally, finally. i live for the rachel reading. the judge gave the attorneys until today to file a request for a change of venue. late today, that request arrived. the defense would very much like to move his trial from liberal alexandria, virginia, to a part of the state that by complete and utter coincidence just so happened to have voted for donald trump in 2016. manafort's lawyer saying quote, mr. manafort submits a fair trial will be impossible without a change in venue. joining us, joyce vance, great to see you. thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me, joy. >> let's talk about this change of ven uthey'd like to have, shall we? we have a map here of roanoke, virginia. and it went clinton by roughly 70-30, where in roanoke they went for trump in therely the reverse, something like 68-32.

is that common to try to move the trial to more politically favorable climate? >> i'm sure it's what every defendant who believes politics would help him or her would like to do. but typically these transfers are authorized under the federal rules only in cases where there would be such extreme prejudice to the a defendant he or she would not get a fair trial. you think of those high profile cases like the oklahoma city bombing which was moved from oklahoma city to denver because of pre-trial publicity. that's where these type of transfers usually take place. >> so in this case do you think it's likely to succeed? >> you know, i think this motion has a very slender chance of success. one factor here is it's not just the cities that we should be looking at. juries are pulled from what's called a division inside of a judicial district.

so manafort has been indicted in the eastern district of virginia, which is alexandria, but in fact the jury is pulled from surrounding counties. and the same is true in roanoke where the pull is from about ten counties in roanoke. it's deeply red except for metro roanoke, which tends to be democratic. i don't think he'll be successful. >> one of the other issues that's brought up by paul manafort's attorneys is the publicity in the case adversely affecting his client. none probably more high profile an the president of the united states who had a lot to say and a lot to say on twitter about paul manafort. here's one tweet. didn't know manafort was the head of the mob, et cetera.

the idea that the president's tweets and that kind of publicity could adversely affect the trial, didn't we just have a supreme court litigated case in which they said nothing donald trump tweets matters? >> you know, they said it -- legally, i think what comes into play here is manafort's motion is very cavalier in terms of its willingness to believe xis are follow the instructions they're given by judges and aside their personal believes. and i'm going to tell you after 25 years of trying cases in courts that juries do that remarkably well. a judge was able to try one of the 9/11 cases without having to move that very highly publicized case to another district. manafort makes this very superficial argument with very little law and no reason to believe that a jury in alexandria can't do what they're told by a judge based on the

facts of the law. >> thank you very much for being here tonight. have a great weekend. and just ahead when you come from maxine, you best we ready for the backlash from her supporters. more on that next. -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 ] what's the #1 new skincare product in 2018? olay whips. absorbs faster than the $100, $200, and even $400 cream. feels amazing. i really really love this. i will 100% swap up my moisturizer. can i have it? olay whips. crisp leaves of lettuce. freshly made dressing. clean food that looks this good. delivered to your desk. now delivering to home or office. panera. food as it should be.

panera. advil liqui-gels minis. breakthrough in pain relief. a mighty small pill with concentrated power

that works at liquid speed. you'll ask... what pain? advil liqui-gels minis. today was the last day on the job for epa administrator scott pruitt. he resigned yesterday. his week did not start off any better. on monday, pruitt was confronted at a washington, d.c. restaurant by a woman holding a toddler. she told him he should resign over his environmental policies. quote, before your scandals push you out. yesterday a restaurant in lexington, reopened its doors after its owners was forced to shutdown for nearly two weeks after protesters whoof were ups she asked white house press

secretary sanders and her family to leave the premises. and then this harvard law professor who complained in an op-ed in the hill that because he goes on fox news to support trump, his former friends on martha's vineyard, quote, have shunning me and trying to ban me from their social life. those are just a few examples of folks on the left letting the trump administration and its supporters know that they disagree with the current administration and its policies and letting them know to their faces. and that is a tactic that congresswoman maxine waters, democrat of california, openly embraced at a rally a couple of weeks ago. >> if you see anybody from that cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd. and you push back on them, and you tell them they're not welcome anymore, anywhere. >> but while her calls for nonviolent direction action have now given the congresswoman a permanent slot in the president's speeches plaepty

with insults her calls have endeared her even more to the resistance, the ones who call her auntie maxine. however, the congresswoman's call for action did not please democratic party leadership. nancy pelosi tweeted last week, quote, in the crucial month ahead we must strive to make america beautiful again. trump's daily lack of civility has provoked responses that are predictable but unacceptable. and senate democratic leader chuck schumer said this on the dent floor. >> no one should call for the harassment of political opponents. that's not right, that's not american. >> well, that response is not going over well with nearly 200 black leaders and women who wrote a letter saying, quote,

disparaging or failing to support congresswoman waters is an affront to her and black women across the country and telegraphs a message that the democratic cannot ill afford, that it does not respect black women's leadership and black power. we call on the democratic leadership to step up and publicly support congresswoman waters. we further believe congresswoman is owed an apology for your comments insinuating she's uncivil and un-american for challenging the trump administration. joining us is a member from the national coalition of black participation. thank you so much for join us. tell us why the women and yourself and more than 200 women, sig nuteres to this letter wrote that letter and have you gotten a response to these leaders sph. >> first of all, it's gone up to

over 500 black leaders and black women and allies. and they were outraged and very concerned when we saw congresswoman waters being attacked and more concerned when the leadership did not stand with her as she was speaking truth to power about what she was speaking about at the end of the day, about the 2,000 now 3,000 children who have been separated from their families. so we knew as black women in leadership we needed to speak up and really challenge the leadership to stand with congresswoman waters and get focused again on why she was speaking and why she put herself out there. and so that's why we spoke up. >> and the producer of the show reached out to leader pelosi's officer in response to a question about whether or not she had respond to congresswoman

waters, and his is what we got back. and leader pelosi further added donald trump has sullied the bully pull pit with reckless disregard for the safety of others. he should stop his attacks on congresswoman waters and the free press and all americans who have the right and responsibility to speak their mind. does that response satisfy you? >> i think it was good for minority leader pelosi to link those comments. we do feel, however, that there needs to be more said. we have not heard from senator schumer. we also plan, joy, to engage the gop leadership, speaker paul ryan who's calling for her to apologize, and many republicans who are also calling for her to be censured. and when she's speaking the truth we're taking something she said out of context and moving

away from what this is about. we all needs to ask ourselves are we all going to be civil about 3,000 children being separated from their parents? and that's what really this is about and what's going on that border is unjust and inhumane. >> and there's also a companion letter signed out there. when you attack and call for civility in the face of blatant racism you invoke a long history of blatant white supremacist power whereby and that in the future you stand shoulder to shoulder with her to fix -- it's up to us to remove it. and the people who put this together reportedly are multiple races, it comes from people of multiple races. do you feel that the future of the resistance is in nonviolent direction action, or is it more of electoral politics or is it

in your view a mix? >> it's a combination. black women, we know we are the secret sauce to the democrat party winning elections, have been for decades. so we know the power of our vote. we also know the power of black women's leadership. we're changing the power dynamic in this country. just look what happened in alabama in 2017, and black women are winning in places that are not majority black. and we know what happened for president obama who was elected twice for black women. we know black women voted 80% for hillary clinton and tried to tell america to pay attention to what's going on. we know we have black power but we have leadership power and it's important we utilize for the good not just for ourselves but really for the nation. >> thank you so much for your time. i really appreciate it. >> thank you, joy. much more ahead right here.

stay with us. and our nation's veterans. we knew helping our communities was important then. and we know it's even more important today. so we're stepping up to volunteer more and donate over a million dollars every day. so our communities can be even stronger. it's a new day at wells fargo. but it's a lot like our first day.

a hotel can make or break a trip.

and at expedia, we don't think you should be rushed into booking one. that's why we created expedia's add-on advantage. now after booking your flight, you unlock discounts on select hotels right until the day you leave. ♪ add-on advantage. discounted hotel rates when you add on to your trip. only when you book with expedia. any paint can change the way a room looks. but only one can change how it feels. century, from benjamin moore, is the first-ever soft touch matte finish paint. its revolutionary texture unlocks 75 unprecedented colors, each with exquisite depth and richness. it's a difference you can see, touch, and feel. that's proudly particular. century. only at select local paint and hardware stores.

i sure hope we all get some rest this weekend because we are in for a ton of news next week. fbi agent peter struck is the fbi agent, the target of so much scorn on the right, and he's set to tell his side of the story about why he thought the investigation into russian meddling was more urgent an the investigation into hillary clinton's e-mails. his lawyer says struck will testify in public thursday

morning both for the house oversight and judiciary committees. also next week watch for a senate vote on confirming this lawyer, brian benchcoski. he's a former staffer to attorney general jeff sessions. last year he represented a russian bank closely tied to vladimir putin called alpha bank. several senate democrats have called for had withdrawal of his nomination with a number two democrat in the senate, dick durbin, warning that this vote could be a pivotal moment in the russia investigation. so definitely keep an eye on that. also a reminder the president is going to announce his supreme court pick monday at 9:00 p.m. eastern. you can watch full live coverage of the announcement right here on the rachel maddow show. more ahead. stay with us.

we have a big night of live programming ahead here on msnbc. up next on the "last word" new reporting about the president's legal strategy and whether he'll sit for an interview with special counsel robert mueller. rachel will be back here on the

chair on monday and i'll be back here in just a few hours for a.m. joy. and now it's time for the "last word." ali velshi and in >> good evening to you, my friend. it is a pleasure to see you on a friday night before we see you on a saturday morning. >> i'll probably just listen to you on my way home in the car and then i'll go home and go to bed. >> if you want to fall asleep easily, listening to me is the way. trade wars are easy to win. that's what president trump tweeted before he started a trade war with canada, mexico and the european union. that trade war continues and now donald trump started another one. the world's two biggest economies are now engaged in a trade war with the first shot