different from saying this is the greatest idea since sliced bread. what are you hearing? is there anybody within the military who thinks this is a fantastic idea? >> the only person i've heard say this is a fantastic idea is the commander in chief, the president of the united states. everybody else says it's redundant, it's wasteful. you don't have the need out there right now. i would have hoped he would have waited a few more years to get a little more educated on what our military capabilities currently are and what the threats are out there. i think there's a little bit of lacking of understanding in the white house at the highest levels at this point. obviously general mattis wasn't sold on this idea. i don't think he still is today. and others within dod as well. i haven't heard of any big fans out there for this. >> captain mark kelly, always good to see you and have you on the program.

thank you. >> thanks. that's going to do it for me. i'm chris jansing. right now, "andrea mitchell reports." all the president's men. congressman chris collins becomes the fifth member of the president's inner circle to plead guilty or be charged with a crime. will voters punish an administration that had promised to drain the swamp? >> rest assured i will continue to work hard for the people and constituents of the 27th congressional district of new york and i will remain on the ballot, running for reelection this november. "star wars." while russia and china are modernizing their militaries at warp speed, the president is insisting on creating a whole new branch of the military to fight wars in 'spacspace. >> to be clear, the space force will not be built from scratch because the men and women who run and protect our nation's space programs today are already the best in the world. and since the dawn of the space

age, america has remained the best in space. and we were soldiers. among the remains returned by north korea, a single dog tag, broken and battered. today it's in the hands of two sons recovering a long-lost clue to what happened to the father they last saw nearly seven decades ago. >> he simply represents a whole generation of people who love the country, were patriotic enough to go sacrifice their entire life for us. and good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington as the president in exclusion at his new jersey summer white house is facing a series of political setbacks, from the indictment on insider trading charges of his first republican supporter in congress, representative chris collins, to the secretly recorded tape of house intelligence committee chair

devin nunes telling all at a closed republican fundraiser to the swampy ethic charges of a bevy of cabinet members and a tell-all book of a reality tv star with no apparent qualifications that the president brought into the west wing and abruptly had fired. will the republicans pay a price for all this? joining me in washington, susan page, jeremy peters, former maryland democratic congresswoman donna edwards, and michael steel. we have an all star cast. first to you. michael steel. we have the ohio results. john boehner's home district. let's talk about the headwinds that republicans are now facing. do people care about all the accusations of corruption and indictments? >> sure. what we're trying to determine here is, donald trump was

elected despite doing things that no one said he could do and still be elected. can other candidates replicate that feat? or was it because of his status as a reality star that he was able to do things that politicians couldn't and still can't? >> or, and you framed that wonderfully, susan, has the president so diminished the impact of the mueller investigation, the manafort trial, and other of these charges, that it's sort of a pox on all your houses, and it sort of colors every candidate, democratic and republican? >> that may be. it may contribute to a sense that there's nobody you can trust in washington. but that also i think redounds to the disadvantage of republicans. if there's a throw the bums out attitude about things, it seems to me that is going to hurt republicans even if voters also are pretty skeptical about democrats. >> jeremy, and all the rest of

you, donna, i want to play chuck todd with john kasich, who knows this district very well and came out late in support of the ohio republican candidate in that special who seems to have sweeped through, although it's still too close to call. this is kasich's response. >> to appeal to the trump base, to get them fired up, you actually turn off the delaware county suburban voter. and to convince them to come to you, you might turn off the trump base. is that what the president's created here, where you have -- where a candidate has to make this basically impossible choice? >> okay, chuck. chuck, if you're going to be a candidate, why don't you figure out what you're for? let's not do all these calculations, like you're in a laboratory and you've got these test tubes and if i dump one in the other -- figure out what you are for. >> i mean, jeremy, there's a real debate over whether the president, as he claimed, dragged that republican over the

finish line in the special, or whether he actually inspired more democrats to turn out and whether it was john kasich coming in late that helped persuade people in the suburban districts, in jackson county, well, it's okay to vote for him because governor kasich is popular and he says it's okay. >> the fact of the matter is a race that is so close that it looks like it's going to go to an automatic recount, there are many factors. for president trump to take credit, there's no way for him or any of us to know that that was the decisive factor. i think what this race shows is two things. one, it's that president trump, because of his unpopularity and his chaotic leadership style and the constant drama and chaos around him, is putting into play districts that never should have been competitive in the first place. the second is that you just don't know how much of an asset trump can be to candidates, and not because of his lack of

popularity with a lot of people, but because his popularity isn't necessarily transferable. he's a very singular figure, much like obama was. we saw obama's midterm problems. i don't know that trump helps even in the trumpiest of districts, because he's conditioned his voters to dislike the republican party so much, they may see no reason at all to vote for a republican presidential candidate. >> he may be effective in primaries, we just don't know how he is in special elections or the general. donna edwards. chris collins, republican member of congress, the first to come out for candidate donald trump. i think you served with him in congress. he became prominent because he was the only republican who knew the president well, had worked with him during the campaign. now this indictment is pretty stunning. >> it is. >> a lot of people didn't know you could be on the board of a private company while you're a member of congress, to say nothing of the fact that there are pictures of him on the

telephone as he was, according to the indictment, according to records, calling his son and saying, sell, sell, before it was publicly known that this firm was being basically wiped out by the failure of a medication. >> i have to tell you, in my time with chris collins, he did not hide the fact that he was stumping for this company. it is surprising that a member of congress can be on a board and have fiduciary ar responsibilities and still be a member of congress. when i came into congress, i actually terminated all of my board service, presuming that that's what you had to do. i didn't know that you could still be on boards. i assumed that, because common sense tells you that you shouldn't, you know, be able to preside over and oversee work that could inure to your benefit. i think here's the environment for democrats, is that democrats, what you see in ohio, you keep your head down, you run

your district, you talk about reform in a meaningful way, you put out bulk proposals for reform, because if anything is uniting the country, it is this need to have washington cleaned out. and i think there, the attitude of donald trump is baked in with a lot of people, it's even baked in with those of white house are vehemently opposed to him. that's why it's incumbent on democrats in all these districts, a much wider playing field, to play to their strength, which is on policy, on the concerns of their district, and making sure people know they're going to come in and be reformers. i think that's a winning strategy for democrats. what donald trump demonstrated in ohio is that he opened the playing field for us come november. >> but i should quickly point out that democrats as well as republicans are not calling for him to resign pending the trial, while he's got this cloud of an indictment over his head. and nobody is calling for that

because most recently, their own senator menendez was, you know, cleared of these charges and refused to resign. so nobody is making that call. the only call that we've seen is the speakerer h ehas stripped h his membership of a house committee, and the poorly named house ethics people, i can say that now that -- let's first of all, all listen to what rachel maddow's team uncovered last night, which was a surreptitiously taped audio recording of devin nunes at a fundraiser for catkathy mcmorri rodgers, she had a squeaker as well in that primary. >> if sessions won't unrecuse and mueller won't clear the

president, we're the only ones. which is really the danger. that's why i keep -- and thank you for saying it by the way, i mean, we have to keep all these secrets. >> he's basically saying in that clip that they've got to win because that's the only way to stop mueller one way or the other. >> and that's the only way to protect the agenda. the republican party -- >> protect the president. >> -- still supports the president very strongly. if the republicans lose the house of representatives it's katie bar the door from investigations by democrats. >> this isn't just another member of congress. he is chairman of the intelligence committee. i mean, contrast this behavior with the more traditional role that senator burr has taken, the chairman of the intelligence committee on the other side. >> no question that the senate has a more bipartisan, and i agree, better model in terms of this investigation than the house does. it's become a partisan issue in the house. >> it was devin nunes who went

surreptitiously at night to the white house and consorted with people on mike flynn's staff, the nsc, started accusing susan rice of all sorts of things that were completely unfounded. he has so politicized this. then after being forced to recuse himself, still stayed in the middle of it and blocked subpoenas from being voted on for key witnesses. >> i lay this at the foot of speaker ryan and now kathy mcmorris rodgers. this is so disappointing, knowing her. it lays bare the agenda, which is to protect the president. what i want to know is where in the republican leadership, whether it's from the speaker or from now their conference chair that says that our responsibility is to the people of the united states and not just to protect the president from an investigation that's closing in on him. >> michael, let me just ask you, you mentioned the republican agenda. and i'm trying to figure out what the republican agenda is. there's the trump agenda.

but the republican agenda that paul ryan used to have is no longer deficit reduction, that's for sure, they're outspending what democrats used to do. >> yeah, i mean, we do need to make the distinction between the trump agenda, which on immigration, on trade, is very different from the republican agenda. there's still protecting tax reform, increasing american energy production. the things bringing us record economic growth and a strong economic situation, those are worth protecting. >> let's talk about the reality tv star, omarosa, whose book is coming out. there's talk there are tapes of whatever sort. >> lordy. >> i mean -- "lordy" is right. first of all, her tenure in the white house, you covered that. she was fired. >> barred from the premises. >> although people from her camp

dispute that. obviously she got on the wrong side of john kelly. >> that's exactly right. it's also kind of -- this is so symbolic of the people that president trump surrounds himself with. somebody who is profiting off of the access to him. and you've seen that with the people who are now in a federal courtroom across the river. you've seen that with people who were on his campaign, who are now lobbying, who are now running pacs. it's just, there is no culture of ethics around this president. it's all about personal enrichment. and i think omarosa, by going out and selling this book, represents that. >> we'll have to leave it there for now. what an all star cast. donna edwards, jeremy peters, susan page, michael steel. this just in, first lady melania

trump's parents were sworn in today as new u.n. citizen. their immigration spoke, assuring the public that the first lady's parents did not get any special treatment. >> they have travailed a wonderful journey, like most have, millions have in getting citizenship and waiting the requisite period of time. the application, the process, the interview was no different than anybody else's. and coming up, punishing putin. the white house hitting russia with new sanctions for using a banned chemical weapon against a former russian spy in the uk. we will have russia's angry reaction, coming up next. stay with us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc.

your brain changes as you get older. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

are you ready to take your then you need xfinity xfi.? a more powerful way to stay connected. it gives you super fast speeds for all your devices, provides the most wifi coverage for your home, and lets you control your network with the xfi app. it's the ultimate wifi experience. xfinity xfi, simple, easy, awesome.

the white house is slapping very punishing new sanctions against russia for using an internationally banned nerve agent in the attempted assassination of a former russian spy and his daughter in the uk in march. russia is already responding, cutting to cut off america's purchase of russian-made rockets needed for the u.s. space program. joining me now is msnbc national security analyst clint watts, former fbi special agent on the joint terror task force, and author of "messing with the enemy: surviving the social media world of hackers, terrorists, russians, and fake news." and with me here, juan zerate, former adviser to president george w. bush and an msnbc

national security analyst. juan, on russia reacting, this is dmitri peskov, kremlin spokesman, and he says such decisions taken by the americans are absolutely unfriendly and can hardly be somehow associated with the constructive, not simple but constructive atmosphere that there was at the last meeting of the two presidents. well, constructive for whom, the helsinki summit? >> the russians are reacting in the way that's predictable. they were hoping the summit at helsinki were usher in a greater openness towards russia. these sanctions signal two things, one, the u.s. officially blaming them for the nerve agent attack in london, and slapping on what are even stronger sanctions to isolate the russian economy and to affect even potentially the existence of russia/u.s. trade. the russians will not react well to this. keep in mind, the russians have always seen the arena of

economic warfare as part of the competition with the united states. so they see this as a bit of an act of war, another act of isolation of the russian economy. that's why they're reacting the way they are. they're threatening no doubt titanium exports and other things the u.s. needs. >> i guess i was not aware that we rely on russian government made engines for our rockets. i knew we were relying on them to bring our astronauts and supplies to the space station, but i didn't realize, clint, how reliant we were on them, or juan, first to you. >> what's interesting is how entangled we are with russia, and a lot of this playing out in terms of sanctions, why there's delay. the state department says we have to make sure u.s. businesses aren't affected by these sanctions. i don't think anyone really knew the impact or how integrated our economies are in many ways. at the same time, when we talk about deripaska and the aluminum

industry in russia, some of the sanctions could literally destroy those industries over there, which is why you do these things. so i'm not sure these sanctions were thought through, but they're a necessary step to combat russia. >> the president rhetorically seems to be on one track, certainly with his performance in helsinki with vladimir putin, but the rest of the administration, treasury and even the nsc and certainly the state department, are responding to pressure from congress, from republicans in congress, and trying to keep the pressure on russia. >> absolutely. and you saw this with secretary pompeo, making this official determination from the state department that the russians engaged in this nerve agent attack when then triggered these sanctions from a 1991 law that requires the u.s. government to put in place what are in essence two rounds of sanctions. the first will happen in two weeks. then there's going to be a 90-day period. that's where you have a menu of potential sanctions that the administration can choose from that are fairly draconian.

and so this is a really important point that you make, because i think the u.s. government continues to react to the reality of russian behavior and to use u.s. tools and laws to effect it, while the president has obviously been using softer language and diplomacy, as we saw in helsinki. >> and i should point out for our viewers, for anyone who doesn't know, juan ran the sanctions program under george w. bush, a very effective one, out of treasury and out of the ns krechl nsc. >> thank you. >> clint, there's talk that the white house is drafting an executive order possibly to preempt stronger congressional action to authorize the president to sanction foreigners who may interfere with u.s. elections. this may be an attempt to broaden the scope beyond russia, we hear the president saying there's other countries, china and otherwise who interfere with elections and could be hacking. yes, there are other hackers, but other than russia, we don't know of others who have hacked into elections. >> that's right, andrea, there's no evidence to point to any other country. if it did happen, i'm not aware

of it. i've not seen significant interest or influence coming out of any of these other countries. i think what's important to note from this is, you know, the repercussions of the helsinki disaster. we are seeing the white house essentially scramble over the last two weeks to maintain control of its own executive power. the legislative branch, congress, has essentially been the ones to push both these sanctions and the implementation of these sanctions. you saw congressman royce, a republican, really going at the white house about not following through on these sanctions. so i think the key thing to look at is, how do they keep control of election interference? the white house over the last week has had to demonstrate they're serious about this. we saw that somewhat bizarre press conference but at least a positive sign with all the agencies stating what they were going to do for election interference. i'm sure the white house is trying to come up with something to point to to say they'll take it seriously for 2018. >> secretary pompeo testifying before the foreign relations committee, dan coats in the white house that day, and also

of course in aspen, still saying nobody seems to know what happened during that two-hour private meeting. but the kremlin has been repeatedly putting out, day by day, their version, including relaxing sanctions. so the president talked about a lot of things, including a referendum, you know, in it ukraine that he may not really understand the significance of, the danger, of course, of these one-on-one meetings. briefly, clint, senator bill nelson who doesn't usually speak, you know, without knowing what he's talking about, and i know that congress has been briefed on a lot of this, he is talking about florida having been infiltrated, their election databases were -- now, he's up for reelection, but he's also on the armed services committee. do we know anything about the russians getting into the election hacking now in florida for the midterms? >> i ha've not heard anything substantial as of late beyond what we know from 2016. but florida is a key battleground state. it is one where we have significant competition, it will be very valuable in 2020.

we have to look at this hacking and interference and what we've done to essentially protect the integrity of elections. what has always been i think a little misunderstood is people have said, how did the russians know how to do this? you can watch any cable news program and you'll know what the swing states are and which states are the most valuable. whether it's 2018 or 2020, a simple hack in one of these contentious states, whether it's florida, pennsylvania, ohio, these key locations, it's creating great concern in this country. people can't believe their vote is actually being counted, they can't trust in the institutions. to secure democracy, it's something we have to take far more seriously in the coming months. and this is of course there's a key senate race in eveand everyf those key senate races could determine who controls the senate. north korean officials are issuing another angry rhetorical blast at the u.s. in recent days, accusing secretary of state mike pompeo of upping american demands for

denuclearization without sanctions relief they say they were promised. by all accounts, the talks are stalemated, contrary to president trump's triumphant claims of success after the singapore summit with kim jong-un. but there is one small gesture, a gesture from kim's regime. it's not so small for the two sons of an american sergeant major who never returned from the korean war. a single dog tag finally making a long trip home. >> the identification tag of your father. >> charles and larry mcdaniel, charles a retired army chaplain, larry a former football coach, were only 2 and 3 years old in august of 1950 when their father, a decorated world war ii veteran, was suddenly deployed to fight in korea. they never saw him again. >> i think you grow up, you deal with grief and you push it aside. i remember as a boy, sometimes it surfacing a couple of times, and crying. that hasn't happened for many,

many years, obviously. you don't think it's there, then someone calls you on the telephone and tells you a story about the finding of a single dog tag, and all of a sudden those feelings come back, rushing out from a very deep place. so i shed a few tears. i can say that. but it's a mixture of feelings too. there's some relief and some at least partial closure that actually my father for sure died. that seems much more probable. >> he simply represents a whole generation of people who love the country, were patriotic enough to go sacrifice their entire life for us. i think if anything comes out of this, it should be that, that people of generations that have followed should be more attuned

to what those who went before them have sacrificed. >> their father's dog tag may or may not be connected to 55 sets of remains returned in a solemn ceremony last week. the first returned by pyongyang in 11 years. and the pentagon now says that new dna technology provides some more hope that families like the mcdaniels may get answers in the coming months after waiting a lifetime to find out what happened in that battlefield half a world away. we'll be right back. george woke up in pain.

but he has plans today. hey dad. so he took aleve. if he'd taken tylenol, he'd be stopping for more pills right now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. aleve. all day strong. i love you, basement bathroom of solitude, but sometimes you stink. febreze air effects doesn't just mask, it cleans away odors. because the things you love can stink.

monitor their blood glucose every day. which means they have to stop. and stick their fingers. repeatedly. today, life-changing technology from abbott makes it possible to track glucose levels. without drawing a drop of blood, again and again. the most personal technology, is technology with the power to change your life. life. to the fullest.

in the paul manafort bank and tax fraud trial, prosecutors are planning to wrap up their case against the former trump campaign chairman today and tomorrow with testimony that he hid $16 million from the irs, falsifying his 2014 tax returns. joining me now is barbara mcquade, former u.s. attorney in michigan and msnbc contributor, who has been in the courtroom for some of these dramatic exchanges especially between the prosecutor and the judge. and barbara, i gather today there was somewhat of an apology from judge ellis. >> he did. yesterday he yelled at the

lawyers in open court, in front of the jury, when he learned that their expert witness had been in the courtroom throughout the duration of the trial. now, the prosecutors had asked permission for that, it's actually fairly common to have an expert witness in the courtroom, because they're not testifying about fact or giving an opinion, and they need to know what has been said so they can give an opinion about it. the judge said it's not his policy and he scolded them in open court yesterday in front of the jury. overnight the government filed a motion for a curative instruction. they supported it with the part of the transcript where the judge said they had permission to do that. and so today the judge did say to the jury that they should disregard and set aside the statements he made to the jury, because he may have given that instruction in the past. but he did apologize and move on. i think that was a good moment for the prosecution, because you worry that the jury is taking all of these statements from the judge in a negative light. >> and i know he has a reputation for doing this in the

past, most often against the prosecution but against both sides at times. but the evidence still, at least the weight of the documentary evidence, seems pretty strong on the prosecution side. we'll wait to see what the defense does next week. >> yes, so now we're getting to the part of the case where in a very methodical if not tedious way, the prosecution is putting in evidence of all the bank fraud. they're putting in bank documents, loan documents, income statements, through bank witnesses. they're very credible. they're really just walking through, describing what their job was. but in the course of this, demonstrating what the lies were. yesterday, the judge had said he would not permit the prosecution to put in e-mail messages that paul manafort had sent about this unless the witnesses themselves had some connection with it. they could be admitted but not shared with the jury at that moment, which is a very difficult situation for the prosecution. and now today, he is letting those in. so it may be one of those situations where if you push back against the umpire enough,

you might not get him to reverse his call on this decision but maybe it affects decisions down the road. >> barbara mcquade, thanks so much again for your take from alexandria, at the courthouse. 44 years ago at this hour, at noon eastern, president nixon resigned to avoid being impeached because of the watergate scandal. nixon and his wife pat walked across the south lawn to marine one where he famously turn around in the doorway of the helicopter and waved his farewell. and lifting off from the white house for the very last time. before that departure, president nixon bid an emotional farewell to his staff in a speech in the east room. >> always give your best. never get discouraged. never be petty. always remember, others may hate

you, but those who hate you don't win unless you hate them. and then you destroy yourself. h. before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. xeljanz xr is a once-daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well enough it can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts, and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. don't let another morning go by without talking to

your rheumatologist about xeljanz xr. don't let another morning go by without talking to (vo) ovewhelming air fresheners can send you running. so try febreze one. with no aerosols and no heavy perfumes. so you can spray and stay. febreze one.

when 18-year-old michael brown was shot and killed by a white police officer four years ago today in ferguson, missouri, the small enclave outside st. louis became ground zero in a revived moment for civil rights. in the months and years after

the shooting and the response, a surge in political activism was sparked by local residents. this week, voters took another step in that direction, a big one, ousting long time incouple went st. louis county prosecutor robert mccullough who faced national scrutiny and criticism after he declined to indict the officer who shot and killed brown. mccullough's democratic opponent, city councilmember wesley bell, a former public defender, ran on a platform to reform st. louis county's criminal justice system. with no republican challenger in november, bell is poised to take over the county's top prosecution office. wesley bell now joins me from st. louis. thank you very much, congratulation s on your victor. what is the larger meaning of you inhabiting this place, instead of a career prosecutor? >> well, we ran on a campaign that was predicated on bringing people together, inclusion,

making sure that everyone had a voi voice. i think that resonated in addition to the issues and ideas that we also ran on. i think it represents an acknowledgement that there is a need for criminal justice reform. there's a need to address issues like mass incarceration. but there's a lot of divisiveness not only in the region but around the country. and that's why i think it's so important for us to strike that tone of bringing people together and working together if we're going to really solve the issues and problems that we face. >> four years ago, the whole nation was absolutely gripped by the emotions and by the frightening results of the anger that the community felt and the police response. who knew that local police departments had this kind of brute force, well beyond what the national guard would even have, normally.

what are your flexreflections n four years later, on what happened those days and nights? >> you know, it's symbolic of how important the relationship is between law enforcement and the community. serving on the council, you hear -- city council, you hear about people being upset about their streets. and they can get angry, let me be clear. but once that street is fixed, everything is good. but when someone has a bad encounter with law enforcement, that doesn't go away so easily. and that's why it's so important to continue to push for initiatives, community policing initiatives, continue to push for better relationships between our men and women in law enforcement and members of the community. and so i think that's just something that we've got to keep on working on and keep striving too, because there's no relationship more significant and important than between law enforcement and the community. >> what difference does the national government have in that

four years ago, i don't need to tell you, you had not only president obama and the civil rights division in the justice department, but you had eric holder coming to ferguson, and you had action taken at the national level. >> yeah, and there was. and when you look at issues like this, they can't be siloed. criminal justice reform is a national issue that needs to be addressed on all levels, locally, statewide, as well as federally. so it is heartening to see the call to action around the country, to start addressing this issue, because again, we're dealing with people's lives. >> and i think your father was a police officer, your mother a county public servant. as you come from a life of public service, what are your immediate goals as the new county prosecutor? >> first i have to say he's a retired police officer. he reminds me of that almost every day. >> okay. >> but, you know, our goals are first and foremost to help

people and keep st. louis county safe, which is the job of the county prosecutor's office. one way we're going to do that is by increasing and better utilizing our divisionary programs for nonviolent offenders. we know when people get the treatment they need, the tools they need in the toolbox, they're less likely to reoffend. it also saves us taxpayer dollars. most importantly, it helps people, it helps families. that's one of the things that we're going to start addressing, day one, or actually before that, as we start putting our transition team together. >> wesley bell, congratulations, we look forward to seeing what you do in the future. >> thanks so much. coming up, lost in space. is america falling behind our military adversaries while the president focuses instead on creating a space force? last night, jimmy kimmel launched his own recruitment drive for the new branch of the military. take a look. >> we're the strong. >> the brave. >> we are the space force.

>> the space force. >> the united states space force. >> we're not entirely sure what we do. >> but whatever it is, it sounds totally bad ass. >> i hope i get a light saber. that would be lit. >> that would be lit. >> so we fight aliens, or -- >> i have no clue. just shut up until we get the spaceship. >> we get a spaceship? >> the country is joining on you to join the space force. it's donald trump's idea. i never count the wrinkles. and i don't add up the years. but what i do count on... is staying happy and healthy. so, i add protein, vitamins and minerals to my diet with boost®. new boost® high protein nutritional drink now has 33% more high-quality protein, along with 26 essential and minerals your body needs. all with guaranteed great taste. the upside- i'm just getting started.

boost® high protein be up for life my dbut now, i take used tometamucil every day.sh it traps and removes the waste that weighs me down, so i feel lighter. try metamucil, and begin to feel what lighter feels like. about the colonial penn program. here to tell you if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 65 and take medications.

what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i just turned 80. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you, too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the number one most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed, and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. and with this plan, you can pick your payment date, so you can time your premium due date to work with your budget. so call now for free information. and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner, and it's yours just for calling. so call now.

your hair is so soft! did you use head and shoulders two in one? i did mom. wanna try it? yes. it intensely moisturizes your hair and scalp and keeps you flake free. manolo? look at my soft hair. i should be in the shot now too.

try head and shoulders two in one. the president has been outspoken going after china for its trade violations. but an even greater threat to america's national security may be from china's military modernization. "the washington post's" david ignatius writes in part america is still largely wedded to legacy weapons of the past, superbly engineered but super expensive. aircraft airiers, bombers, fighter jets and submarines. the chinese are happy for the united states to keep building carriers and bombers so long as they deploy the more advanced

technologies that can disable these systems. msnbc political contributor david ignatius joins me now. david, tell me about your concerns. you've been talking to a lot of experts and know a lot about this. what are the real weapons we should be focusing on? >> what i'm hearing the most about is the way that artificial intelligence systems, a.i. is our shorthand, are being applied increasingly to weapons of war by the chinese, by the russians, and at a somewhat slower pace people fear by the united states. this is the future of warfare. every expert i talk to says that. and there's a real concern that the chinese that are spending billions and billions of dollars are really focused on this and are ahead of the united states and we're just so wedded to these systems of the past that we love every aircraft carrier, but those aircraft carriers are vulnerable and will be increasingly in the future. >> i know the former defense secretary, ash carter, tried to

move this along with silicon valley and other research institutions, but it slowed down. now, is that because of the sequester, is it because of lack of support in this administration? >> i quoted in my column about this several days ago senator john mccain, who spoke of the military industrial congressional complex. there are such strong interests that are wedded to the procurement, processes and weapons systems of the past which represent dollars for contractors, votes for congress, things for admirals and generals, it's just hard to break that. it's going to take leadership from secretary mattis, from the white house, if the united states is really going to step up to this challenge. i heard that over and over again, andrea, from some of the top experts who i was just meeting with this last weekend. >> let me just tell you how far back this goes. i think you may recall this as well as i do.

there was a former budget director named cap weinberger who was ronald reagan's defense secretary. when i asked david stockman, who was then the budget director, why they couldn't cut the budget, he said cap has placed these defense contracts in every key congressional district. >> it is the system. the military services are brilliant at lining up votes to preserve the existing programs that they have. they understand that we're in danger of losing a step in this next phase of defense technology, but they almost can't stop themselves. what we watched today with the space force and vice president pence as an example, the air force is so concerned about its fighter jets that the argument is that they just haven't been paying attention to space the way they needed to the last 10, 15 years. >> at the same time, there's a

lot of opposition not just from entrenched bureaucracies. this is mark kelly, former astronaut, just in the last hour with chris jansing. >> my comment that i made about seven weeks ago. you know, the air force space command already does this. at peterson air force base in colorado, they do this with about 20,000 people. might sound like a lot, but compared to the size of the other branches of the military, it's relatively small because -- and it's sized the way it needs to be for the threat. >> do we need the whole civilian bureaucracy that would support another branch of the military just to move in this direction? what is the point? >> so the point is to break the resistance to giving space the importance that it needs. it is unfortunately a fact that our space systems on which the

united states depends absolutely to project power, we can't do anything anywhere around the world without the space systems that are communication, command and control. those have been left essentially unprotected because the air force did not see the threat from russia and china coming. my sources tell me that the russians and chinese now have weapons in space that could disable our key space assets if they wanted to do it, if they wanted to start a conflict and prevent communications. so the question is how do you organize to deal with this better than the air force has been doing. i understand the argument that you don't want to have a terrible bureaucratic turf war, you don't want to create new bureaucratic positions and obstacles, but something, andrea, has to be done better than it's been done. i've been at peterson air base and seen the existing officers and programs. they're good, it's just in an air force that's still dominated by the cult of the fighter jet,

it's hard to break through if you're in another part of the air force's culture. >> david ignatius, a fascinating debate. thank you so much. thanks for being with us today. more ahead. we'll be right back. the line between work and life hasn't just blurred. it's gone. that's why you need someone behind you. not just a card. an entire support system. whether visiting the airport lounge to catch up on what's really important. or even using those hard-earned points to squeeze in a little family time. no one has your back like american express.

so no matter where you're going... we're right there with you. the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it. don't live life without it.

and that's all for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." thanks for being with us. follow the show online at facebook and on twitter @mitchellreports. craig melvin is up next here on

msnbc. >> good afternoon to you. craig melvin here at msnbc headquarters. in new york city, best defense, an intense amount of scrutiny on president trump and his allies right now. how they are defending themselves in a major trial and a massive special counsel investigation and in the public eye ahead of midterms. plus, hail to the chief. the president has high hopes for his role and power in the november elections, so how does his administration balance that desire with the work of running the nation? we have two people, the perfect two people to ask that question, two former chiefs of staff under two different presidents will join us. and tariffs cost jobs. a south carolina plant ready to close its doors because of the president's tariffs. it will cost more than 100 people their jobs. we will go to the palmetto state in just a few moments. but we start with that mea