campaign chairman paul manafort is on trial today. the trial is the first criminal trial in the mueller investigation. it will offer the public a glimpse at the evidence gathered against man fauafort and could serve to squeeze on manafort to cooperate on the broader investigation into russian collusion with the trump campaign. "the subtext whether he knew about russian efforts to influence the election and whether the threat of conviction could lead him to cooperate with special counsel robert mueller weighs not just on the prosecution and the defense, but on the white house, as well." among the americans charge sod far by prosecutors, mr. manafort not only held the highest position in the campaign, but arguably has the deepest connections to russian political forces. then manafort trial commences on the same day that president

trump is changing his tune on the question of russian collusion, to the message first trotted out by allies that collusion in and of itself is not a crime. and at this hour, the manafort trial, opening statements are under way days ahead of schedule. here to talk about that, ken delaney in alexandria, virginia. and chuck rosenberg, now an nbc contributor. here with us onset, white house reporter for the ap, jonathan lavere and matt miller. elise jordan also. ken, i understand you were there for the opening statements. detail how the pressure is bearing down on paul manafort to do what "the new york times" describes, maybe get squeezed and become someone who could be more useful to robert mueller. >> it really is. as i left the courtroom just

now, the defense was deep into its opening statement. the prosecution had finished their opening statement. look, this is a dry case about tax evasion and bank fraud. but hanging over it is this enormous pressure that you can almost feel on paul manafort. he must be spending millions on this case. he has a team of defense lawyers. he's wearing a suit to court, but he's going sleep in jail in a green jump suit. he's facing 10 years in this case, another 15 in d.c. the government said that they had two dozen witnesses, and 100 documents, and they're -- they essentially portrayed a story of greed and lies. they say that paul manafort reaped some $60 million for his work for this ukrainian oligarch, had it paid to avoid $15 million in taxes. and when the spigot turned off in 2015, he started milking

banks, continuing to commit tax fraud. what was interesting to me, what was the defense going to say? because it doesn't seem like they have much to say. but the defense is hanging its hat on trying to impugn rick gates, manafort's right hand man and turned state's evidence and will testify against him. they are portraying him as someone testifying to save his own skin. there was a massive indictment filed against manafort and gates before gates flipped. so the government is say thing case doesn't rest on any one particular witness. manafort's defense lawyer tried to argue if there was tax evasion, it wasn't willful. he didn't mean to file a false tax return. >> chuck, i'm old enough to remember when a political scandal was something that included tax fraud, bank fraud, and immense dpreegreed.

but i guess times have changed. can you take us through your analysis whether robert mueller's investigators and prosecutors are ultimately able to convict paul manafort will still be able to compel testimony from him? >> i think that's right. look, it's easier, nicolle, when somebody pleads guilty and cooperates as rick gates did. but even if mr. manafort is convicted at trial, and i expect he will be, by the way, it is, as ken said, a very, very strong case. if he's convicted at trial, they can compel him to testify against others. they can immunize him, strip away his fifth amendment privilege, and even do it after an acquittal. so the government has a number of paths open to it, to compel manafort to testify if he doesn't change his mind and made guilty and cooperate. at this point, with opening statements being delivered in alexandria, he's going the long route and will not cooperate.

but there are options available to the government. >> matt miller, one of the things that's been -- donald trump trotting out a new line on the question of collusion, that it is in and of itself not a crime. do you think it's a coincidence that the manafort trial is under way, that the cohen tapes have been seized, that they include recordings that cohen is talking about whether or not donald trump might have had some knowledge of that trump tower meeting which is at the center of robert mueller's obstruction of justice investigation. >> no, it's no coincidence. there are now two potential witnesses, michael cohen, who could cooperate in the southern district of new york investigation, and the robert mueller investigation, and the other is paul manafort. at this point, it seems like paul manafort has chosen the other path. he's really for a long time had two ways out of what is the likely outcome if he doesn't

cooperate, which is spending the rest of his life in jail. one way to cooperate with prosecutors and get a reduced sentence, the other is to wait and hold out and not testify. and even if the scenario comes to fruition and is later compelled by a subpoena to testify and held in contempt because he's waiting for a pardon -- >> even if he gets a pardon, doesn't he still have to cooperate with the investigation? >> if he was pulled into a grand jury, subpoenaed and ordered to testify and given immunity where he couldn't exercise his 23i69 amendme -- fifth amendment, he would have to. but that's a difference in a witness that wants to come in and testifies and a witness that comes in and just can't remember. >> elise jordan, i want to remind everyone just how highly donald trump, jr. thought of paul manafort around the time of

the convention when the republican platform was changed. >> there's a reason paul is in the position he is today and corey is not. it's not because paul is amateur hour. i've heard that other people ask, is the family on the outs with paul? total nonsense. we couldn't be more happy with the work he's doing, the way he's handling the organization of everything going forward. he's done a phenomenal job. i wish we had him on earlier. >> "i wish we had him on earlier," and robert mueller's interest in the relationship between donald trump and paul manafort, these are some of the questions that were published earlier this year. robert mueller wants to know what knowledge the president had of any outreach by his campaign including by paul manafort to russia. >> i think you can't overstate the importance that paul manafort had in securing the republican nomination with donald trump. you've got to remember that it's a time when paul manafort entered the campaign, donald trump had just lost in

wisconsin, and his operation had no organizational apparatus where they were going to secure the delegates that were needed so that he would actually get the nomination and not have a contested convention. and paul manafort did quite a good job of quelling the uprising, too. >> at the time, ted cruz was still alive. i want to just bring this back to this big russia question. again, it's not a coincidence that paul manafort was on the dole for the russians. here's jamie bash on our program at the time he said this, it blew my mind, but it seems more possible that jeremy was on to something. >> it's possible that russia actually dispatched paul manafort to the trump campaign, or at least paul manafort attached himself to the campaign, the russians said our agent is now on the inside. and they tried to manipulate the campaign not just through propaganda but through agents of

influence. >> so when he said that, i was watching "homeland" and i thought it was like an episode. but what do you make of the possibility? it certain hi seems possible. >> at this point, it would be hard to rule anything out. manafort's links to russia are so deep and there are lots of dark shadows in that story. remember, he worked for free for donald trump. >> nothing is for free. >> nothing is for free, and we know there's been reports that he owed quite a bit of money to people overseas. and certainly as pointed out in the beginning of the block, russia is not on trial here, but russia is shrouded throw this whole thing. there's been a study the last few days, starting with rudy giuliani, talking about collusion is not a crime. but that has been the argument throughout. there's no collusion, no collusion. and the crime is conspiracy. but that's not the argument

they're making now. again, they're not fighting a legal defense. they are concerned. there's so much news every day. it's easy to look track who paul manafort was. he ran the convention. he did, as you said, he beat back the real effort to steal the nomination from trump in cleveland. he ran this campaign. and yes, it was only for a few days, but his role can't be overstated. he >> i want to get your reaction. i want you to answer a two-part question for me. these are the first indictments from bob mueller. all the evidence was in the charging documents and it was pretty airtight.

what is the value to the larger mueller probe of trying paul manafort right now? >> there may be a lot of value down the road if they convict him and he is compelled to cooperate or volunteers in some way. but there's another important thing to remember, nicolle. in the course of their investigation of russia interference, the mueller team came across a guy, mr. manafort, who broke lots of laws and lots of different places. so really they have a binary choice. they can walk away from it, which makes no sense, or they can charge it, which they did. so even if there is ultimately no spillover effect, this is what prosecutors and agents do. they find a crime and they charge it. frankly, they convict on it. i also wanted to say one thing about collusion. collusion is a crime. collusion is a crime because it's the crime of conspiracy. it's a synonym. if this comes down to synonyms, that just strikes me as

astonishing. the words bank heist don't appear in the criminal code either, but bank robbery does. the house of cards seems to be getting wobblier and wobblier, and i don't know if wobblier is a word. >> we'll look that up for you. bring us back to mr. gates. you mentioned at the top of the show that they were going to blame mr. gates. he's a cooperating witness, until robert mueller says he isn't. and he was around this white house, he was around this west wing, in and out of the white house for meetings after paul manafort was gone. talk about his role in the drama starting to unfold there. >> well, what the defense is saying while paul manafort was off in ukraine doing his important work, gates was back home managing the finances. that's going to be the defense story. they're going to put a lot of the blame on gates. i don't think that there's anything in the evidence that suggests that's going to work. but it will be interesting to

see how it goes. and he has admitted to lying and he will have to confront that on the stand when he testified. i want to go back to something jonathan said, this trial is going to show that when paul manafort came to the trump campaign, he was broke and scrambling for cash to fund his lavish lifestyle and deeply in debt to russian oligarchs. that makes hip him a ripe target and may have been the most vulnerable trump official, who was the only non-family member that was in that trump tower meeting. that is an important takeaway from this whole proceeding. >> if you stitch together what was done, you stitch together that carter page was sketchy enough to reauthorize fisa surveillance of

him, that george papadopoulos was -- i mean, these are not coincidences. they paint a clear picture of conspiracy. >> the national security adviser pled guilty to lying not just about anything, but talking about -- >> nobody forgot meetings with the spanish leaders or the leaders of mexico or canada. they all forgot about contacts with russia. >> it's incredible that the white house's message about this paul manafort trial, paul manafort may be an international criminal, but when he worked for us, he wasn't committing these crimes. doesn't say a lot about their judgment. but we don't know that he wasn't committing these collusion crimes. whether he came to the campaign as an insert from the russian intelligence services or whether he got there and had a debt to a russian oligarch, he was reaching back out to that russian oligarch during the campaign, offering briefings, selling access to the campaign. and he was reaching out through

a known russian intelligence asset. >> who was wandering around the rnc convention in cleveland. this comes back to the ludicrous and the obvious. the news today is this trial is under way, but the picture is what it always is with donald trump, in bed with many, many different russians. >> they have a foreign exchange program where ambassadors come to different conventions. [ overlapping speakers ] but they don't lead to platform changes in the rnc platform committee meeting. it's very odd coincidences abound when it comes to the russians. >> thank you for starting us off. when we come back, rudy giuliani puts collusion in the

same category as obstruction, saying he would not submit his client to answer questions to robert mueller on either topic. what that says about his client's innocence or lack thereof. and donald trump's secretary of state tries to clean up the boss' offer to meet with the leader of iran without preconditions. and news that the north koreans may have duped donald trump. and how basketball's brightest star is making a fool out of laura ingram. stay with us. diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. oh! under seven? (vo) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? (vo) a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. oh! no increased risk?

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there was no collusion between me and my campaign and the russians. no collusion. no collusion. there was no collusion at all. no collusion, which i knew any way. no coordination, no nothing. it's a witch hunt. >> he knows a synonym too when he sees one. trump today following his lawyer, rudy giuliani's new defense, not so much no collusion, but as he tweeted this morning, collusion is not a crime. but he adds, that doesn't matter because there was no collusion except by crooked hillary and the democrats. i want to ask you, how successful -- this white house has a good success rate at reprogramming the mantras to his base. but are you picking up skepticism about this abrupt and public about face when it comes to the question of collusion?

>> i think there's been a little bit of skepticism in the republican ranks i think piers morgan, it's not really the piers morgan test here, but he's been a strong supporter of the president and he raised a few concerns about the statement in the past couple of days. but look, i think what you're seeing from the white house is a sense that things are getting a little tighter. you have the manafort trial. you have michael cohen sort of seeming like he's talking. you have these russian indictments. so things are creepy. and you have this looming deadline of labor day. traditionally, the justice department does not take action close to an election, and there is a sense that mueller is a traditionalist and will be on this, and something is going to happen. there are a lot of people here in washington who think it's going to happen before labor day. that deadline is getting close. i think you get a sense that the pressure is mounting on the white house right now. >> do you have a sense, matt miller, that bob mueller feels hemmed in by tradition by the

way things are usually done? i'm told by senior justice department officials that what the many bodies there are doing is investigating to prosecute crimes. but it seems like a known unknown at this point whether or not they have ruled as to whether or not they can or can't indict the president, whether or not -- >> yeah, that's right. you know, they don't talk about any of this. it's not just with bob mueller. on these big questions, these are questions that would come to rod rosenstein. he would have the power, if he wanted, to overrule the department of justice opinion that a sitting president cannot be indicted. but bob mueller has spent a good part of his career at the justice department, rosenstein the same way. i suspect that both with respect

to the question of indictment and this question that lisa brought up about the 60-day unwritten rule that you don't do anything about the election, i think he will respect it. i think especially of what jim comey's experience of stepping in right after -- i think they'll go dark. >> rudy giuliani, he ru-- he rud out questions about obstruction, because even the president's closest friends, yeah,ky see that. but he's now ruled out questions about collusion. so i'm not sure what they're going to talk about. >> you said maybe you would let him answer a few questions on collusion. >> given some of the revelations of the last three or four weeks, we have gone further away from answering any questions from them.

we don't think they have a legitimate investigation. >> so that's rudy giuliani for the smear mueller investigation, not speaking as to whether or not his client can answer questions about collusion. >> the president thinks he's his best advocate and can clear his name. he can walk into that room, charm investigators, walk out. no one else thinks that's a good idea. but he is someone who would purger himself three times in seconds. giuliani has done some things well. with the mueller camp silent, rudy giuliani has done a good job establishing some public goal posts to this investigation. and in the media coverage, we have seen that mueller's poll numbers have dropped since rudy giuliani came on.

>> and he reupped his harshest attacks on sunday. putting other things in the fog machine that rudy giuliani likes to dominate. but do you think they'll be able to put to bed this tease and dance about an interview? >> at some point, they would have to. it seems like every day rudy is ruling out things he can be asked about. what they're using is the interview as a way to undermine the credibility itself. he's not going to sit down for an interview because this is not a legitimate investigation. and i think they're using the interview to take another whack and whack at mueller to try to undermine whatever it is he might find. >> 98 days out from the midte

midterms. are you picking up angst that republicans would like a clearer shot other than whether or not collusion is a crime, whether or not donald trump will do an interview with bob mueller who may or may not be in donald trump's view, part of the witch hunt? >> i think what makes republicans nervous is what they don't know. there is a question some republicans will argue that these things have a short shelf life. that something that would have dominated the conversation on the campaign trial for three weeks, now lasts a week or a couple of days before the next explosive thing comes out. and with everything that is explosive, then maybe nothing is explosive. but one thing we know is clear is that this constant stream of revelations provides a consistent shot of adrenaline to democrats. so that's part of why you're seeing the sustained enthusiasm on the democratic side. you had protesters who had been transformed into volunteers,

transformed theoretically into voters. every week their decision to be engaged is getting reinforced by this continual news cycle about this investigation. so that's certainly not making republicans happy, given that midterms tend to be base elections. >> you look at the other political calls that donald trump has made in days of late. he's threatening a government shutdown. he's threatening to build the wall. he's much more concerned with going back to his greatest hits and rallying up the base than he is helping out republicans in tough swing districts. >> lisa, thank you for spending time with us. president trump calling his north korea summit a great success? but a new report says they're basically ignoring him. are iran, russia, and now north korea just laughing at us?

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wanted to help the school. they would put these signs on the door to let the teacher know you didn't cut off the light. the teachers, they would call us the energy patrol. so they would be like, here they come, turn off your lights! those three young ladies were teaching the whole school about energy efficiency. we actually saved $50,000. and that's just one school, two semesters, three girls. together, we're building a better california.

we now have a very good relationship with north korea, and the big thing is, it will a total denuclearization, which is already starting to take place. sites have been blown up where they had the testing. we're not looking up in the air. any rockets up there? any rockets? >> president trump has declared how much progress he's made with north korea over and over, tweeting the day after the summit in singapore, there's no longer a nuclear threat. but not so fast. it turns out those assurances may have been premature, or just plain lies. new reporting from "the washington post" shows there are signs that north korea is constructing new missiles. the findings show ongoing activity inside north korea's nuclear facilities at a time when the country's leaders are engaged in armed talks with the

u.s. the report doesn't stop there. >> joining our conversation now are my guests. so i heard from folks close to the president who give advice to him on politics and other things, this was a midterm strategy. he was going to run in the midterms as a strong leader on the world stage, as the one man in american history that wrestled the north korean leader to the ground. turns out not so much. >> it's becoming clear that he got played by kim jong-un, and that he got played by putin. and that he has a direction that is incoherent, reckless foreign policy that's just based off of

photo-opes. what type of event can i put together that makes me look presidential but doesn't accomplish what is in the best interest of the country? that's what we're seeing today. >> i don't disagree with any of that. but how do democrats turn that into a message that motivates their voters and takes away from the donald trump capacity to project themselves as a strong leader, despite the fact that all the evidence is to the contrary? there's nothing weaker than getting duped by kim jong-un. there's nothing weaker than donald trump's foreign policy, but i don't see democrats surging ahead of donald trump on the question of a strong leader. >> i would do what republicans would do if this were a democrat. >> lie? >> no, wage a strong, potent campaign questioning someone's fitness to be in office.

you have a president, who in front of the entire world, was pandering to vladamir putin. he gave him everything he wanted. and if that had been a democratic president, you probably would have had him impeached and tons of advertisements run against a democratic candidate -- >> this keeps me up at night. hillary clinton said you can't have a commander in chief that can be baited by a tweet. that's what we got. how can democrats not get ahead of him on the question of ability or qualifications to be commander in chief? >> i think we need to do a better job as a party in terms of mounting that argument against the president. because he -- we can't let him take this -- we can't let him take the strength card, either in 2018 or in 2020. there's obvious examples of this president being weak and being able -- being pushed around by foreign leaders, caving to

strawmen. and if democrats don't figure out a good message to push back and be the stronger candidate in 2020, shame on us. >> so it's long been thought of in presidential campaigns that in 2004, they don't turn on questions of foreign policy but they do on strength. now you have this caricature that is deep into the public's mind and in part because of your question in helsinki about donald trump as putin's puppet, you have him failing in north korea by any object tich ive an, he was cleary duped by north korea. it's more than just an affinity for dictators. it -- >> i mean, it does seem that when the tweet came out of nowhere, the all-caps tweet about iran, i thought okay, next

summit will be in uae. that is part of his foreign policy, that stage craft. we know how much he battles that personal rapport. it was interesting that he seized upon a mundane comment from tehran -- >> mother of all wars. >> which is something they say a lot. but he decided to inflame this. that's no question he will be -- his conduct in these summits and what he may have given away, the legitimacy that he may have given to kim jong-un and vladamir putin, we still don't know what was given away in that one on one meeting. what democrats have, there are so many lanes that you could run if you're donald trump, you have to be smart. this is one of those. but you have to do it effectively. >> it is classic to give away

secrets to the president of russia, to be at odds with your national security officials. how do democrats turn this to their advantage? >> he's the quintessential wizard of oz. he blusters but he's masking weakness. he has these summits, where he likes to play on the world stage. but anyone can get a good deal with north korea if you don't ask for anything in return. and he makes excuses. so what democrats will do -- i don't think it will be a partisan midterm election. but the next presidential candidate for the democrats will have to figure out that donald trump, because of his recklessness and his lying, is making the country less safe. >> and the prrepublicans used t care about these questions of national security and are awol

at best. >> i think it just shows how follow the republican foreign policy establishment, their beliefs in what they were purporting was. i do think there's a place for a more robust foreign policy, ban now john bolton works for the man who -- >> exactly. >> so you see how much of this has been bluster for big donors for or their own hawkish aims. i hate to be that cynical, but you see how little belief they have. >> and john kelly is here to stay. what do you make of that? >> he was going to leave, now

he's not going to leave until he does. >> yes, it is undeniable that he just wanted to make the year mark and that would be enough. and suddenly today, we have kelly being asked by the president to stay on through the re-election in 2020 and kelly agreeing. this could all change in a tweet. this is -- it is an attempt to project a little stability. kelly, who has revealed himself to not be nearly as strong in that white house, he's still fairly popular among republicans. there's a sense if he's still in charge, that's helpful. he does certainly has improved the efficiency of some aspects of the white house. but he has zero control over the president. and the president at this point, doesn't want an empowered chief of staff.

he is content and he's going to have very little effect on policy and politics. >> was this story in reaction over the weekend? >> i think it was not a coincidence. >> all right. >> i still wouldn't be buying any green bananas if i were john kelly. when we come back, forget shut up and dribble. how the world is a better place today all because lebron james refused that advice from laura ingram. what he's saying about president trump. that's after the break.

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unfortunately, a lot of kids, and some adults, take these ignorant comments seriously. look, there might be a cautionary lesson in lebron for kids. this is what happens when you attempt to leave high school a

year early to join the nba. and it's always unwise to seek political advice for someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball. oh, and lebron and kevin, you're great players, but no one voted for you. millions elected trump to be their coach. so keep the political commentary to yourself, or as someone once said, shut up and dribble. >> i'm cringing for you, laura. of all the unsolicited advice, that may be the most humiliating. stay in your lane, lebron james, just be quiet and play basketball. how is this, the eye promise school is open in akron thanks to lebron james foundation. 240 third and fourth graders with plans to expand over the next four years. these are at-risk kids with free tuition, free uniforms, plus career and emotional support.

so no, lebron james isn't sticking to dribbling. here is what he is saying about donald trump. >> we are in a position right now in america more importantly where this whole race thing has taken over, you know, and because, one, i believe our president is trying to divide us. but i think -- >> kind of? >> yeah, is. is, not kind of. he's dividing us, and what i noticed over the past few months, he's used sports to divide us, and that's something that i can't relate to. >> what would you say to the president if he was sitting right here? >> i would never sit across from him. >> you wouldn't talk to him? >> no. >> mike is an author and msnbc contributor. what do you make not just of what lebron james putting his money where his mouth wasn't, but doing by deeds what other people don't seem to do in the time of trump, and what do you

make how triggered some on the right were about his having opinions on politics or race at all? >> if you look at this young man's life, nicolle, his life speaks to the possibilities of this country. and he has put his money where his mouth is. i mean, if you look at somewhat he has done, just in terms of ern education and in terms of his hometown akron, this i promise school is one of the greatest things i've ever seen a professional athlete be involved in, in this country. he's already sent thousands of kids to college in this country. if you look at what he's done, before his career is over, the contributions he has made to his country, i love they're talking about the president last night, he would have been way more qualified than the guy we have running the country right now. >> he also is filling a void created by what's happening in

washington. it's not just donald trump debasing the office of the presidency, but he's got in the congress these enablers of the worst tendencies. i wonder if we think this is a moment, thinking of coach kerr, steph curry and lebron, rivals in basketball, but joining forces, saying whoever wins, we will not go to the white house. what do you make of all this? >> i think it's been eloquent and powerful and i think it's been important. when you have basketball coaches and players doing what elected officials are supposed to be doing, and speaking to the best country that we're supposed to aspire to be, that's a very cool thing. that's activism put into practice. nicolle, elected politicians are supposed to make lives better. somebody show me how lebron

james isn't doing this with his foundation and his i promise school, and sending at-risk kids and giving them a better chance and a better life. he's doing what the guys in washington are supposed to do, except so many of them now spend their days hiding under their desk. >> it's also -- and i'm sure this isn't lebron james' motivation, but lebron james is richer, more famous, more popular, women like him more than trump. it is a great trump troll. at the end of the day, he couldn't care less, he doesn't know half the senators are in either party. it's a great trump troll to go out there and be and do all the things donald trump can't be and do in this country. >> trump could go after him the way he's gone after the athletes who knelt during the national anthem. he can't hurt lebron. he can't do anything to lebron.

we live in a world where, in his world, no turn goes unstoned. but look at what has happened to other athletes who tried to be activists. colin kaepernick can't get a job. it's a shameful thing in the national football league. but in a way, lebron james is speaking for everybody. popp is speaking for everybody. steve kerr is speaking for everybody. and all of these people, who have this boneheaded idea that somehow if you come out of the world of sports, you're not qualified or entitled to speak about that better country that i was just talking about, then you're nuts. >> i agree with you. we'll let the table get in on this lebron james epic troll of donald trump. we have to sneak in a break. we'll be right back. of bias in the workplace. really... never heard of it. the question is... who's going to fix all of this? an actor? probably not. but you know who can solve it? business. because solving big problems is what business does best. so let's take on the wage gap,

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someone said lebron james does his job better than donald trump does his. it's a fair point. >> as a celtics fan i'm not happy lebron went to the lakers but it's hard to argue with what he does. he's an athlete who has -- an athlete of his magnitude who has put himself out there politically. michael jordan did not do that when he was in that part of his career. tom brady didn't do that, peyton manning didn't do it. lebron james is doing it. and as suggested in the last segment, the president seems unwilling to go after him. lebron even tweeted at trump calls him you bum and donald trump does not let any sleight

go unanswered, and he won't go after lebron. and it's hard not to take this at face value and applaud what lebron has done. lebron talks about as a kid in akron, he road a bike and he says it helped him get out of the neighborhood and every student is getting a bike. >> lupica, why does the nfl let itself by led around by the nose by this president. why is the nba so much more comfortable letting their athletes speak for themselves and trying to help the communities they're serve and the nfl seems incapable of inching close to doing that for their players. >> it's interesting, nicole, they have an anthem policy in the nba that was collectively bargained for by both the owners and players and nobody -- to my knowledge has crossed it in a long time. the nfl owners -- the president isn't going half to go after

lebron. the owners have been so cowardly, they talked a good game when this became a big story last september now they've come out with this policy where the players can stay in the locker room. nobody is looking out for the players who were simply protesting social injustice and they got dragged into this false narrative that they were disrespecting our military and disrespecting our flag. we've had this conversation, dissent is as patriotic as the fla flag. >> and michael hayden said if he had to choose between colin kaepernick and this, he chooses colin cappkaepernick. one of the things that donald trump beat 16 republicans and

then hillary clinton, it's the apolitical nature, half celebrity, half archie bunker. why don't the democrats fight fire with fire and why aren't the democrats recruiting athletes and celebrities, people that get under donald trump's skin. >> they're recruiting a good crop of house members who are national security officials, who served in the military, who are small business. so people who come to the table with substance which i think a lot of american people want right now, let me go back to this whole thing about what laura ingraham and what she said, as an african-american what i heard was "know your place." and appreciate lebron has stood up, more athletes need to stand up and be active out there. >> and the leagues need to give them the cover to do that. >> and trump is infatuated with going after black male athletes and there's a reason why he does that. >> speaks for itself.

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i'm leaving this set and going to get a latte because i will be here tonight at 9:00 for my good friend rachel maddow. there will likely be no shortage of breaking news from now until then. for now, my thanks to jonathan, doug, matt and elise. that does it for now. >> who do we blame for no cameras in federal courtrooms again? >> you can blame me. >> boy do i wish we had a camera in a courtroom right now. thank you, nicole. if it's tuesday, paul manafort's trial is officially under way. tonight, collusion confus n confusion. the wild evolution of the president's alternative explanations with yet another dimension of denial. plus, midterm sabotage. >> our democracy itself is in the cross hairs. >> facebook you have? s -- snuffs out coo