welcome to "kasie dc." i'm kasie hunt. we're live every sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. eastern. tonight the president is ready for the sequel to the north korean summit as he delays tariffs on china. plus, reading for mueller is starting to feel like waiting for gadot. ab solution as we await the special report. plus, my interview with senator kamala harris. we talk one on one about her vision for health care and how she plans to take on the president, as many democrats say it's more important to beat trump than to agree on all of the issues.

but first, the president's former lawyer, ty cobb, once said he expected the mueller investigation to be wrapped up by thanksgiving of 2017. after rudy giuliani joined the team, he said he thought it would wrap up by the end of last summer. nearly a month ago, then-acting attorney general matt whitaker said everything was, quote, close to being completed. and earlier this week it was reported that the justice department was preparing to get mueller's final report as soon as next week. a senior doj official later told nbc news that will not be happening. while the waiting game continues, so too does the slow drip of information about wrongdoing by the president's former advisers. in the sentencing memo released yesterday, mueller accused paul manafort of, quote, repeatedly and brazenly breaking the law for over a decade. the memo said manafort committed crimes while leading the trump campaign and even after he was indicted. the next week we're expecting to

learn more about the inner workings of the president's business dealings when michael cohen testifies before three separate committees on capitol hill. and the stage is set for a remarkable split-screen moment, as president trump will be half a world away in vietnam for his second summit with kim jong-un. and with that, i would like to welcome my panel, with me on set, "the washington post" correspondent philip bump, and msnbc analyst susan del percio and op-ed columnist and msnbc contributor brett stevens and from washington, nbc news justice correspondent pete williams. pete, it's great to see you. basically, i think the question that everybody is frankly tired of asking, we're all on the edges of our seat, when are we going to get this report? and what are we going to learn? what will the public actually end up knowing here? >> so the difference between this and waiting for gadot is this actually will arrive.

and we had thought it would be this week. obviously, it's not going to be. so i would say next week, i mean the week coming, not this coming week but week after, could be the week that we get it. so when i say we, i don't mean the public, i mean it is sent to the justice department. so that's the first step. how do we know this? we know it because of the special counsel regulations. but i think there's a widespread misunderstanding about what the mueller report is going to be. the regulations say when mueller is done, he gives the attorney general a report on his prosecution decisions and what the rules say his declaration decisions, meaning the people he chose not to prosecute. that's it. it's not a long essay about how he spent his summer vacation or every contact donald trump had with the russians. it's very bare bones. and then the report the attorney general is supposed to give to congress is even sparer. it says the attorney general

must notify congress when the special counsel's work is done and about any decision that the attorney general countermand. that is special counsel wanted do and attorney general blocked because it would violate justice department regulations. it's not going to be the starr report. you know, talking to senior justice department officials about the fact this is not the first special counsel under these new post-ken starr independent counsel rules. the first one was actually john danforth, who did a long study about what happened on waco and disastrous fire in the death of the branch davidians. he put out two reports, all of them public, and the message i get from the justice department people is yes, we know, but we intend to follow the rules. and then i think the fight will start between the justice department and congress. they will want to see more and it could go to court. who knows how that will end up. >> that's exactly what i wanted to ask you about, pete. what is your sense how that

legal battle might play out? how long might it take? >> how long might it take? it could take many months. it could take a year perhaps if it goes all the way to the supreme court. here's the thing, normally speaking the justice department doesn't give internal memoranda like this to congress. they don't tell the congress and the public of people they chose to investigate and decided not to prosecute for obvious reasons, privacy reasons and so forth. the problem for the justice department is that they can never say we never do this, because after the hillary clinton investigation, the fbi director, james comey, had a news conference about why he wasn't going to prosecute hillary clinton and sent an enormous, unusually large amount of material to congress, the interview transcripts, reports of interviews, internal documents, that kind of thing. the democrats especially in congress will say there's a precedent here for you to give us more.

and, of course, during the whole whitewater thing, there was a grand jury report that went to the house committee that was looking at possible impeachment. so there are precedents that give congress hope they can get more than the spar legislation the special counsel set out. >> so let me get this straight, having covered the comey press conference and clinton conference at the time i find this to be rather delicious. democrats were so unhappy about what jim comey did putting all of that out tlxt you're telling us it might be that very precedent that ultimately leads people to get more information about what mueller has to say about donald trump? >> yes, i don't know how much it's a legal precedent for the courts to lean on but as a political matter, it does seem -- and you're already starting to hear some of this -- you didn't prosecute hillary clinton but you had a news conference about that and look at all of the stuff you sent to congress. we want the same kind of thing here. >> susan del percio, this has a

certain richness to it but i also think pete's ultimate point, which is after how many months and months of speculation, we may not actually find out what the heck this thing says. >> right. and i just can't help how many things we might find out about other offshoots of this mueller investigation takes. whether it's different courts being sent indictments for get indictments on other folks or if it causes investigations by senator or house investigations. perhaps we find out information that mueller couldn't indict on but maybe it's worth an investigation. i think we're going to be talking about some form of these findings for well over a year. >> philip, you wrote this week about all of the criminal activity by a former trump adviser that the special counsel has already uncovered. and you write, quote, america has been waiting for mueller to present a document that ties all of this together, either in part for evidence proving the president's guilt or exonerating him on charges he and his

campaign worked with the russians. as people have awaited the outcome, it's allowed trump to lump every revelation into a snowball labeled no collusion, parroting the same refrain as the snowball grows, this has been fleshed out slowly over the course of 16 months makes it easy to look what we already learned. mueller's report to some significant degree is already out. you're arguing basically we learned everything that is going to be relevant? >> no, not necessarily. not anything. we learned a ton. the ap had a great piece over this weekend, sort of walked out the narrative. this narrative we saw in the starr report after the clinton investigation we're not expecting to see now. for example, if you go back and look at what mueller's indictment against the russians were alleged to have hacked the dnc or hacked clinton campaign chairman john podesta, it's very, very detailed, what they did, when they did it and how it went forward. it was literally a thousand pages of documents on manafort

that just came out this weekend. all of these pages together, hundreds and hundreds of pages of information about how this thing progressed, what links there were between the trump campaign and illegal activity between the russians. and not a lot. this is what he hangs his head out, not a direct connection and that's the question mark and people are waiting for mueller to weigh in on. in part pause they're so focused on that, they ignore the skads of information that set on the outside. >> what do you hope to find out for the mueller report, what would be the best thing for the country? >> the best thing would be if director mueller tells us whether he found evidence of collusion or not. i think a lot of us have invested him with a high amount of credibility, which he deserves. and the americans deserve a sense of finality. investigations without end are bad for the country and this f

this follows endless paper trails, it does help anyone. i think it doesn't help anyone except for donald trump, who can then start to make the case this really is this endless witch-hunt, an endless sort of environment of investigation into crimes that seem to be everybody necessariant. and phil said something that's so important. this is a report that's hiding in plain sight. what we know is the trump campaign was studded with officials who had ties to russia and those ties, even if they did not involve, quote, collusion or sharing of information, put those information in position to be blackmailed by the russian government had they made it into -- had they made it into the trump administration. if paul manafort had, say, bill casey in the reagan administration ended up as director of cia or chief of staff, imagine the danger we would have been in to have a person in such a position. >> we did, we had flynn. we in fact had it.

>> for 20 days. and the point you made, this is another point i'm borrowing, this is like a frog that's been boiled quite slowly. >> that sums it up quite well actually. >> if all of this we know now landed on a single day, it would be -- >> blockbuster. >> blockbuster political bombshell. but because these revelations have come one month at a time over the space of two years they seem less sensational. >> pete williams, how much pressure is the attorney general under here? brand new to the job, always come under a lot of scrutiny on capitol hill. as you point out, he will have to be the one to make a decision how to act and tell congress what he did. what's your sense of how he's handling all of this? >> pressure is an interesting word. he doesn't seem to be someone are under pressure. when you look at him close up, see how he's interacting with people in the precedent, he seems at ease. remember, he's done this before.

and what's the right word, there's a fee dom of having the attitude i don't need this job. that's the tone of the confirmation hearing. i'm doing this because it's my duty but if it and does the work out, i was ready to retire anyway. he's self-assured. he wants to do the right thing. he's certainly aware, if his confirmation didn't make it clear, there's very high expectations they will do more than just work to rule at the justice department, that they will try to get as much information one way or the other to the congress as they can based on what mueller turns over. i think bret's point is a very good one. remember when mueller was appoint theed the special couns counsel, the homework was simple, did anyone in the u.s. medal in the investigation? you were asking that and that's what it is. >> to that point what is the material difference between meaning to collude and doing it by accident, which seems to

sometimes be their defense, we didn't know what we were doing. we didn't have it together. >> at one point it becomes a legal definition. at what point can you held accountable for your actions. even if they don't invite the president now, could they consider doing an indictment? what it shows is how far are the republicans willing to go out on a ledge for him, especially in the senate, if they think something big is going to break and not the president's way. that's what i'm looking at. he has the authority to declare a emergency. if someone has a backbone to stand up to the president, that would be great. those politics will be very interesting. ? story dpg to be the story of my life the next couple of months. pete williams, quickly because i have to let you go, yes or no, do you feel like the public will get like what they feel is the end of this story or not? >> no, because the very simple thing is when mueller is done, remember he worked for the

justice. so did all of the people working for him. those files are all to doj and a lot of this -- any leads that need to be followed up will be sort of spun off to local u.s. attorneys. >> very cheerful. pete williams, thank you so much as always for your great reporting. still to come, richard haass joins us to talk about a high pressure week of foreign policy for the president. but first my interview with senator kamala harris as she makes her first visit to new hampshire. t visit to new hampshire. allergies with sinus congestion and pressure? you won't find relief here. go to the pharmacy counter for powerful claritin-d.

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welcome back. earlier this week i travelled to new hampshire for senator kamala harris's first trip to that state. when we spoke last summer she was, of course, coy about whether or not she was going to run. but now she's in, and she's distinguished herself early in a crowded field, with voters in early campaign states packing her events, eager to hear what she stands for and, of course, how she plans to beat the president. as this primary unfolds, how do you view your path to the nomination? i've heard you say now here in new hampshire you're going to be here a lot. i know you've already been to iowa. but you started out in south carolina. how do you see this campaign playing out for you? >> i plan on working really hard. i plan on talking to as many voters as i can. i feel very strongly that it is important to listen as much as we talk, and actually more than we talk, to hear how people are feeling, what their concerns

are, to be challenged in terms of what the priorities should be, so that the end of this process we not only win but we are relevant. that's how i'm thinking about our path. >> how do you win back voters across the midwest who decided they want to put donald trump in office? >> when it comes down to it, i'm going to compete for every vote, regardless of who people voted for in the last election. and i believe the vast majority of americans have so much more in common than separates us. when people are waking up in the middle of the night with the thought weighing on them, they're not thinking about it through the lens of the party through which they're registered to vote. they're thinking about those issues like personal health, health of their family, they're thinking about can i get a job, keep a job, for students, can i pay off the student loans? those are issues that are pref le prevalent issues that keep people awake in america today. i plan on talking about those issues. i plan on talking about solutions to those problems. and i believe that people will care about that.

>> you don't tend to say president trump in your speeches, you refer to the trump administration. what's the strategy behind that? >> it's about an administration's policy, it's obviously led by the president but it's also about a cabinet and members of the cabinet. it's also how it plays out in terms of the enforcement of those priorities, all of which are bad. >> do you think there's a risk of talking too much or going after the president too much with democratic voters? do you think they're looking at what democrats stand for, is that part of it? >> i feel very strongly, kasie, this has to be an election about america's future. obviously in the context of where we are now but for me my motivation and my goal is to talk about where we can be unburdened about where we've been and unburdened by where we are right now. there's so much at stake. obviously, it is about change. it is about having new leadership in our country so we can get where we need to go.

but truly, we're looking at a world that is in flux. issues like climate change, issues like what we will do to develop the workforce of the 21st century. these are issues that are transcendent issues meaning where will we be as a nation on these issues or will we be forward thinking or looking behind us? >> bernie sanders jumped into the democrat ic race today. you said you're not a democratic socialist. >> i am not. >> what is the difference between a demme and democratic socialist in your mind? >> i can talk about who i am. i believe we have got to have a system that recognizes that it has not been working for everyone equally. so i support capitalism. it in theory is something that requires competition that will allow us to be better and evolve. but there are assumptions also that are wrong, that it applies equally to all people, that all

people can compete equally. that's just not the case in america today. so i also say we have to correct course. we have to recognize the rules over the last many decades have been written in a way that have excluded working middle class families. and that's why i propose, for example, we change the tax code in a way families making less than $100,000 a year will get a tax credit they can collect up to $500 a month because the majority of american families today cannot afford an unexpected $400 expense. we have to correct course. >> let me ask you about health care. you said at one point you thought it would be okay to emt private insurance. now i realize you were on several bills that would not go that far. do you think eliminating private insurance would be a socialist idea? >> no. so my -- i strongly believe that we need to have medicare for all. and within that system -- >> do you think that's socialist or not, medicare for all? >> no, no, it's about providing health care to all people. it's about understanding that

access to affordable health care should not be a privilege, it should be a right. it's about understanding in a democracy, and the way we've constructed our democracy, we at least in concept have said that your access to public education, public health and public safety should not be a function of how much money you have. but in america today, that's not the case. in america today one of the leading causes of bankruptcy for american families is the inability to pay a hospital bill. that's just simply wrong. >> let me ask you also about senator sanders. is he company while his civil rights movement when he was a young man, has struggled to talk to black voters and did in his 2016 campaign. do you think that bernie sanders understands the struggles of african-americans in this country? >> i'm sure he does. i would hope he does. >> you have seen that in his previous campaigns? do you think he's done enough to try to talk to democratic voters who are african-american?

>> let's just agree that the issue of race in america is a very real issue. that everyone should be informed about. and think about. i just sponsored a bill that for the first time will recognize the crime of lynching, and it was 200 years in the making that finally we would have the united states senate recognize and pass legislation recognizing it to be a crime. >> i imagine most americans already thought it was. >> yeah, but it wasn't. >> which is remarkable. >> and the other piece about this is there are a lot of americans who do not realize the significance of recognizing that for generations, we had a system in america where plaque people were being the victims of horrific crimes, kidnapped from their homes, dragged, hung from trees, castrated, right?

i'm sorry for the graphic detail but there's so much about america's history on the issue of race that is not discussed and is not known, and to our collective detriment. and i would hope and believe that anyone who purports to be a leader in our country would be acutely aware of our history on the issue of race and be sensitive to the implications of and the product of history, of slavery, and the history of jim crow and history of legal segregation and discrimination. and then actual segregation and discrimination, even today, and that we would all know when we want to do the work we do, we represent all people and we should recognize the history that people have in our country, and seek to remedy the harm that may exist. >> let me ask you as we wrap up here, andrew mccabe -- and this is more of a question in the vain of your role on the senate

intelligence committee, where i normally see you. andrew mccabe said that the gang of eight was briefed on a counterintelligence investigation, a counterintelligence investigation opened into the president. are you aware of that? were you aware of that? that something that went to the broader committee as well? >> i condition the talk about what we do in senate intelligence but i will say i'm aware of the reports and wa what he has been saying recently and i think people should pay attention to those reports. >> drouft andrew mccabe? >> i don't know. i believe there's no question, however, that the president has relied on vladimir putin over the men and women who have sacrificed in many cases or willing to have sacrificed their lives, the intelligence community of the united states, to give the president information that he should believe, and upon which he should base his priorities

around who our friends and who are not. and i think there's been a real failure to do that and that's a real subject of concern for me and it should be for all of us. >> and my thanks to senator kamala harris. of course, 2020 democratic presidential candidate. susan, where do you see senator harris in this field? she's sort of taking a quick leap into -- i'm not going to go so far as to say front-runner sattous considering the state of play at the moment with so many people involved but taking note as a member of the top tier, but she has run into a couple tough questions about jussie smollett and some other issues. she did not seem to answer the question about what was the difference between a democrat and democratic socialist there, which i think will be a main attack from the president of the united states. >> yeah, she didn't answer a lot of questions. and that's where she now has to kind of bring it. she did a great rollout. she raised some money. she is in the top tier. i look at it if you name the top three, four people and her name is always in that category.

but now she has to answer some questions and i think she's a little unsteady on her footing. she may know her positions but she's not projecting them. i don't fault just her. there are going to be a lot of people like that. elizabeth warren has lacked details at times. so has bernie sanders and whole host of others. but now you have to keep that front-runner status and you have to bring it every time. frankly, i didn't see her doing that here. >> if i were in the trump re-elect team -- god forbid, but if i were, my number one choice would be bernie sanders as an opponent. my number two would be senator harris. when you're talking about supporting medicare for all or green new deal that are trillion dollar expenses with no real discussion about how you're going to pay for it, that's going to be a very powerful theme for the president to say whatever else you think of me, what they're proposing is fiscally ruin us and it will be

able to obviate some of the fiscal claim that's could be made about this administration. >> how long do you think the candidates can keep the gloves off the others in the democratic field? that was one thing, kamala harris declined a very easy opportunity to criticize bernie sanders, who had announced his run on the day we did the interview. >> i think bernie sanders is an interesting outlier. he has a massive popular following. so i think if they're going to start throwing punches, the last place they will start is bernie sanders. it will come. we will get to the debates sooner than anyone in america realizes. i do want to come about to kamala harris. i think kamala harris is not who donald trump wants to face. i think one of the reasons donald trump was beaten by hillary clinton in the electoral college, a lot of african-american voters didn't come out to vote in 2016. i think she can do better there and i think she's someone who can balance what the democrat are saying to appeal to

democrats, basically the broader base of the democratic party, she can talk that talk but also talk a more moderate talk. what we heard there was a politician who's very good at giving politiciany answers which suggests to me she's possibly well positioned within the field, even outside of the fact she's doing well. >> we will see if that works in a primary where people are demanding so much authenticity from their candidates. that you both so much core coming in tonight. coming up as president trump prepares for his second summit with kim jong-un does he have the nobel peace prize on his mind? president of the council on foreign relations richard haass joins me next. ons richard haass joins me next. only verizon was ranked #1 by rootmetrics #1 in 3 opensignal mobile experience awards #1 in video streaming according to nielsen

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reignites with kim jong-un for a sequel to their first meeting, which the president claims, they, quote, fell in love. president trump and the north korean dictator will meet in vietnam as the u.s. tries to draw a roadmap to rid kim's regime of its nuclear weapons. today the president again brushed off warnings of being outfoxed by the young leader of the hermit kingdom, this as politico reports even secretary of state mike pompeo, the man charged with leading negotiations, quote, expressed

frustration to allies about the lack of diplomatic progress and voiced concern his boss will get outmaneuvered, according to a course with direct knowledge of the conversations. joining that conversation is the president of the council on foreign relations richard haass. he's also the author of "world in disarray: american foreign policy and crisis of the old order. " "still with us, of course, is brett stevens. gentlemen, thank you so much for being here. i want to start with you, richard, because there is i'm trying to figure out how much is at stake with this next summit. how much of it is for the president simply an opportunity to grab the narrative back to where he wants it to be, especially considering that we don't seem to have gotten very much out of this first round of talks. >> well, we didn't get that much out of the first round of talks and the president in some ways then exaggerated what we did. he's also set the bar extremely high, unrealistically high with the phrase denuclearization.

north korea is likely to do many things during our common life times here. one of them is they're not going to get rid of all of their nuclear weapons and their missiles. that's the reason they're taken seriously at the table. they saw what happened to ukraine. they saw what happened to leaders like gadhafi and saddam hussein who gave up their weapons and they don't want that fate. i think can get some things out of the summit. north korea will probably agree to get rid of some facilities for a certain degree of sanctions relief. it will be modest, something for something, but i don't think we're going to change the fundamentals on the peninsula. >> the problem is we've been here before, which is north korea has a policy which you might call cheat and repeat. they've been doing this since the early 1990s. they agree to make concessions, they agree to close down a nuclear reactor. in exchange they get economic aid from the west or from south korea, and then when the process

starts to break down for them, what they do is basically cheat on the agreement, they escalate. there's another crisis and then they try to basically extract bribes. kim's grandfather did this, his father did this, now it appears he's doing it. i would feel more confidence if we had a really canny negotiator on the american side. i have a feeling donald trump is harpgerring for a nobel peace prize. he wants peace at any cost. i will say this, if barack obama were doing exactly what donald trump is doing now, i know very well what republicans on conservatives would be saying about it, that he's giving away the store to a dictator who doesn't intend to make peace. >> do you agree with that? >> there's a danger here we will give up way too much. i hope for example he does not put on the table the american true presence, the core of our alliance rilgsships. >> that's what caused a lot of headaches last time around. >> we're not going to get -- let's actually take something bret said, i'm not sure he will

have to cheat. i can imagine a situation where the north koreans agree to do things. other things are not covered. even though they give up some capabilities, they continue to enhance others. it's like taking some water out of the bathtub at the same time you're putting more in. on the balance, we may not are further along. but if however they sign up to freezing their nuclear program, something the united states wants them to do, then i think we're setting themselves up for a cheating scenario because then they can't improve anything. and i simply do not believe they lock in the status quo. >> i want to ask you about some news today, the president tweeting he will delay this round of tariffed against china and hold a summit with xi at mar-a-lago. what do you think is driving this and will it be for the better. >> >> what's driving this is neither side wants to go to the next step to raise tariffs and so forth. what i think we will get a meeting more modest than the president is tweeting. chinese will buy american

natural gas and agriculture products and we will see a reduction in the $300 billion or so annual trade deficit between us. economist it's they're sitting around this table and wanted bore everyone can explain why that doesn't matter. put that aside. >> fair enough. >> but what i don't think we're going to get -- and you can't get an agreement because it's all about implementation, no matter what the chinese say, it would be hard to take it an face value they're going to stoop stealing american technology, and much less they're going to change their economic model to st creating these things. if they agree to it, no way they implement it. >> the main problem with china is the trade deficit, and our main problem is they steal intellectual property. that's what has to stop. if you're going to use the threat of tariffs to make them stop, that's fine f you think this is about solving a deficit issue, then it's useless. >> quickly before we wrap up, i do want to touch on venezuela and the situation there. we've seen these pictures of

hum humanitarian aid on fire. richard haass, what is your assessment of what's going on there? there are critics of the administration who say they're using it as a political tool to oust the regime but the reality is maduro is starving his own people. what should u.s. policy be here? >> as you say, he is starving his own people. more than 3 million have been forced to leave the country. he should be ousted. we ought not to launch an invasion but this blocking of humanitarian aid is outrageous. it's a violation of basics of international law. he has the responsibility as the head of the country to look after the welfare of his own people. now it's up to the neighbors p. the united states hopefully also, we will persuade russia and china to stop subsidizing this man. once that happens, then i think the military will ultimately move away from him. he's really up to winning the hearts and minds of the venezuelan military. i am hoping the blockage of aid will get some of them to rethink their support for him. >> i'm not a constant critic of

the administration but at this point he's shown leadership. >> thank you both so much. still to come, i'm join live by congressman max rose of the homeland security committee as house democrats prepare to block the president's national emergency declaration. "kasie dc" back after this. feel the clarity of non-drowsy claritin and relief from symptoms caused by over 200 indoor and outdoor allergens. like those from buddy. because stuffed animals are clearly no substitute for real ones. feel the clarity. and live claritin clear.

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common side effects include headache and tiredness. with hep c behind me, i feel free... ...fearless... ...and there's no looking back, because i am cured. talk to your doctor about mavyret. security rages on in washington, acting defense secretary patrick shanahan toured the southern border and with agents there yesterday in the wake of the president's national emergency declaration, shanahan is examining a proposal to shift as much as $3.6 billion in funding for the planned military construction towards fortifying the border. joining me now, democratic congressman max rose of new york. he's a member of the homeland security committee. congressman, it's great to have you. >> thank you so much for having me. >> let's start with we're expecting a vote in the house on this national emergency to essentially force the senate's hands here.

what is your take on how the administration is planning to move this money? congress has allocated it for one thing, they clearly have to take it away from some of the construction projects to build the wall? somewhe >> sure, that's what they're intending on doing. but i think it's important to take a step back and look at the big picture. this president is declaring a state of emergency around the southern border. i wonder what was happening for the first two years of his presidency, when his party literally had the keys to the castle? no declaration of a state of emergency. but now it happens. i believe the reason is because this is politics. it's politics at play. it's an opening salvo to trump/pence 2020 and that's what's wrong here. we're seeing it will be pulling money from some incredibly valuable projects. i have one in my district. thankfully we're protecting it but we're looking to build a sea wall along the east shore of staten island, which was in response to superstorm sandy. we can't be doing this. it's wrong to play politics with national security. >> there are some democrats in

the 2020 field who have been asked about the existing walls, beta owe work among them. he said some of the walls curre currently there should be torn down. does that make sense to you? >> no, i don't think that's what this conversation is about now. we have sensible national security policy. what we can do not is play politics with it. so i think that's what really we have to look at here, not whether to go backwards but how to go forward with technology, with sensible he forcement. i have fentanyl streaming into my district, killing kid, the epicenter is staten island of the opioid epidemic. i don't hear much discussion about that. it's going right through our ports of entry. that's what we have to focus on. >> i was going to say, what do you think is the solution to that? the president has talked about drugs coming across the border. what is your view on that? >> when it comes to fentanyl, we have to deal with the ports of

entry. but not just law enforcement, we need significant investment in treatment and education and prevention. we've done this for public health crises in our history. we did it for the hiv-aids epidemic. what we need is a ryan white care act for the 21st century opioid epidemic. we have not seen it. the president ran on this issue as well. so to bring this full circle, because 2020 politics is dominating everything. the president is trying to fulfill promises. i just hope he tries to fulfill those promises, opioids, infrastructure, draining the swamp. let's focus on that. we can really do great things. >> i'm glad you raised a public health crises because one that is looming a lot of our viewers may not be aware of is the 9/11 victims' fund which is reportedly paying out less to people making claims now because they're essentially running out of money. what are you prosing to try to fix that? >> i'm proposing that it be adequately funded, and it's not me proposing it. there will be legislation

dropped this week with initial bipartisan support arguing that this thing needs to be adequately funded for basically the duration of the century. the reason being is because these folks were there for us at a moment of great national crisis, incredible terror, they put their lives on the line and they were there in the immediate months and years afterwards. you hear politicians on both sides of the aisle say we'll never forget. they come to new york city or they go around the country and they say thank you for your service. this is their opportunity to actually back that up with real action. i expect that there will be significant support in the house and senate for this bill because it's the right thing to do. we have to have their backs. >> have you heard from leadership about whether they plan on moving this forward? and if they haven't said that, what's their argument for not doing it? >> i don't think leadership will be opposed to this, reason being is because, like i just said, it's the right thing to do. you know, on 9/11 we were

attacked. but every person who has died there after from a health issue related to those attacks, that was just yet another casualty of the 9/11 incident. yet another casualty. we have to treat it like that. and compensate them for the illnesses that they're dealing with right now and compensate their loved ones after they pass. >> looking ahead a week or two, we're going to hear from the homeland security secretary, from your homeland security committee, and the oversight committee is already investigating the child separations at the border. what do you plan on asking the homeland security secretary given the chance? >> you know, what i want to talk to the homeland security secretary but generally the entire department, any executive, any official that comes before us, is what is your actual strategy to keep us safe here at home? and what is your evidence, what is your evidence that what you are doing right now accomplishes that? because i don't think they have painted the picture. i really don't. and they deserve to go before not only the committee but the

american people and talk about issues like you tell us there's terrorists in the caravan, show me some evidence. we haven't seen it. and if there is no evidence, then it is wrong you have spoken about it. if there is no evidence, its wrong you have spoken about the caravan in that matter. we are constantly faced with what i call a false chose, maintaining your public security or values. it is ridiculous. this is america. we are open with open arms, we are nation of values and also public safety. i challenge the secretary as well as anyone else in this administration to tell me why we have to choose between those two. >> all right, congressman max rose. thank you for being here tonight. great to have you on set. when we come back, inside the political changing climate. follow the show on twitter and instagram @kasied.c. instagram @kasied.c. ou need. great news for anyone wh-

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government's analysis of climate change and counter conclusions that the burning of fossil fuels is harming the planet. huh. the president's own administration released a report last fall warning the damage caused by climate change could knock a whopping 10% off the size of the u.s. economy. deputy security advisor, charles kupperman said the president was upset his administration had issued the assessment evening though it's required by law. the reporting follows the president's decision to nominate kelly kraft to be u.n. ambassador to the u.n. she currently serves as ambassador to canada made headlines in 2017 for saying this about climate change. >> i think both sides have their own results from their studies.

i appreciate and i respect both sides of the science. >> is that how science works? to be continued. a lot more to come tonight on "kasie dc," we'll talk about how the muller report could spill over in the race. plus, some misgivings about the bernie sanders bid for the nomination, specifically, he's not a democrat and watching the sunday shows, so you don't have to. have to staying at hampton for a work trip.

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the stage is set as president trump and kim jung-un prepare to meet again. >> what does the president need to do to be considered a success? >> pariah state. >> we don't know what constitute des nuclearization. >> the previous was a test. >> let them test nuclear weapons and then cower when they have made a threat. test, pray and cower. it has been up-ended. >> with the president heading to vietnam later this week, the release of the mueller report appears to be on hold. >> we know the mueller report will not be turned over to william barr this week. >> his report will help us make the final report. >> i think they will have to

make it public. >> it is critical the american public knows what happened in 2016. >> everything about this has become political. the way to end it is for the truth to be out there. >> i think you will see a deal with potential obstruction of justice. >> you have to ask yourself why these people are not telling the truth. >> you should wonder why people lie. >> he has indicted 37 people. >> now, they can muellerize the mueller report. it will be the most vitriolic in american politics since before the civil war. >> welcome back to "kasie dc." msnbc contributor, noah rothman and vice chair of the new york state democratic party and msnbc political analyst. thank you all for being here. noah, what steve bannon was -- that's quite a statement to say there will be more vitriolics

since before the civil war. however, we are setting up for a bruising situation, almost no matter what this mueller report says, it's simply going to put people further into the corners where they already are. >> you start to see democrats with the process of there won't be a definitive -- from it and looking to new york. and what to do is to in tra vene in this process and the president would sit back and have olympian process and be tisk, tisk, no, he wants to get down in the mud. this is a departure from the

past and a different kind of guy. >> what about the fact it's not coming this week and might come next week. pete williams was on the show. he said, none of us will get an ending to this story, okay, i know what happened now, i know what mueller was investigating. won't this drive everybody insane? >> of course. we will have a fight over the fight over the fight. a bunch of pre-battles that set the term for the rest of the year. it will be publication or non-publication. democrats are on the other side of the foot like the fisa investigation, don't release these things. now, saying this is too important to keep secret. we have to know what came out of the report or investigation, the public has to know. that's the first fight. after that, the fight over the contents if we actually see them and if we get there that will up-end american politics completely. >> democrats have hung so much on this report, anything to do

with the president's contact, well, let's wait for robert mueller. where does that go or direction does the party take if we don't get an answer? >> one of the things i'm worried about in that context is this non-answer fight, fight, fight, is what donald trump is good at and how he on view skates the weird nuance that they write the story. >> he gets to write the story for themselves. >> that's dangerous for us democrats because he's good at it and what kellyanne conway is paid to do and she's very good at it. what does it mean for democrats? we have to be more prepared for when this release comes out. map out a, b, c, d lanes. we have to be ready to be nimble and very much focused in one way as a team to really make sure that the mueller report, if it isn't, you know, big neon lights, send the president-elect to jail right now, which it's

unlikely to be, that we're able to keep people focused on what, whatever the nuances of it are, is going to be a massive content of information that's not going to be good for the president. >> i think the president has been extremely savvy and smart in the way he has set this up. we are now all talking as if there has to be some big new reveal in this report to justify some action against him. there's also a school of thought we know a lot of things we need to know in the in diameters that have already come down and relationships overseas and people's contact, his people were quite willing to entertain discussions with russians for the elections and dangling things for his business. there is a lot already. he's framed it, if there isn't anything big in here it's over. >> in many ways is a win for the president. all of this is likely to seep

into the rapidly accelerating 2020 democratic primary. just ask a top republican. the mueller report will be out soon. if there is no evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and the russian intelligence community, then, that should be the end of all of this. i've seen no evidence of collusion. if the democrats keep pushing this, it will blow up in their face in 2020. >> some of the candidates challenging the president have been circumspect on things like the mueller investigation and talk of the 25th amendment, while others have gone a little bit further. >> is it wise for the institution of the presidency to have informal talk of the 25th amendment? a lot of progressives like the idea. is that good and healthy. >> i will answer that question by saying this. there are right now a number of investigations, most significantly the mueller investigation looking in this case whether there was collusion between the trump campaign and

russia. i think it's a little bit preliminary to be giving you answers before we see results of those investigations. >> should people be talking about the 25th amendment? >> again, i don't talk about it. >> if the 25th amendment is to be used in case of death or if the president of the united states is incapacitated. is president trump incapacitated. it's an interesting question. i don't know if he's incapacitated. i know he's wrong about almost all the decisions he has made. i know he is harming this country by sewing division and hate, and i think this country needs to elect a new president in 2020. whether he's incapacitated, we need medical advice to tell us that. >> cnn reports, the president is following the primary closely. inside the white house, the president is watching announcement rally, tuning into town hall sessions with voters

and listening careful to commentary on the democratic presidential race. his feelings fluctuate who he will or would like to run against. his team is working to sew divisions among rivals and looking for opportunities to quote cause chaos on the left and right. and there is a fundamental question how to handle the president. when i spoke to ckamala harris this week, i asked her how to handle president trump. >> president trump has said you had the best rollout to him? what's your response? do you think he's afraid of you? >> i don't. >> he has a nickname for you. is it a compliment? >> i'm beyond speculating how he's thinking. >> you don't tend to say president trump inure speeches, referred or refer to the trump

administration. what's the strategy behind that? >> it's about an administration's policies and led by the president. it is also about a cabinet and members of the cabinet and how it plays out in terms of enforcement of those priorities, all of which are bad. >> tonight, kamala harris did say in iowa, we need somebody who knows how to prosecute the case against this president. >> noah, i have to confess, i'm a little mystified about democrats unwillingness to go against the president. we have to be for something, can't just be against the president. it worked in the mid-terms in 2018. when you're in the primaries, all you want to do is pete the president. >> he's always in the room but i think it's a smart strategy to keep from confronting him directly and keeps their powder dry for in the general.

in the case you saw for senator gillibrand, who is she going to alienate by saying the president is probably able-minded at this point. >> to be fair, that question is farther down the road -- >> what donald trump got in trouble with the 2016 primaries, when he was asked to denounce people sordid in his orbit, he couldn't do it and refused to do it, perhaps he feared alienating minor constituentsies or anybody at all. that's what i saw with senator gillibrand, i don't think the president should be dispatched because he can't think for himself, incognizant right now. that seems to be something you should be able to say. >> i see a mixture of fear among the candidates, who wants to be on the other end of president trump's twitter feed day in and

day out. the first one to go after him in a personal way will get the bazooka. >> he has taken on elizabeth warren but not kamala harris? >> possible because she hasn't gone after him in the same way warren has. he has a real thing with warren and goes back to the pocohantas days. he tends to kick back at people who punch at him. why -- him when you have democratic people to appeal to. i don't think there's anyone who cares about donald trump's opinion in a democratic electorate about the candidates. >> i agree with that but i think there are democratic voters who want to elect a nominee who is tough and not afraid of the president and take the president on in a way secretary clinton

didn't when it gets to the general election. if we want to look at who spobced responds to him clearly and doesn't get upset at him and gets under his skin we look at the nancy pelosi playbook. >> he's forefront in my mind he doesn't have a nickname for kamala harris and nancy pelosi and said behind doors to respect her and not be afraid of her. she has not been afraid to fight with her in a very direct way. do you think the democratic nominee needs to demonstrate that to win? >> i do think the democratic nominee need to demonstrate that. people know donald trump is a bully, relentless, and he's mean. we need to know that the nominee can take that and give it right back. but we also want to know they can do it in a way they don't get sucked down the trump rabbit

hole and they can still keep their message in place at the same time, which is really what nancy has done so well. we don't want to nominate -- and people don't want to nominate somebody who doesn't seem like they have the ability to punch. >> do you think there's anybody that meets that criteria? >> i don't know yet. it's so early in the process. far too early to judge it. the fear is to turn into mike e ebinatti who gets down in the gutter with president trump everyday but not anything vote efforts care about but that's the risk. he will be here the end of this challenge. that's fair and they should be waiting and focusing on each other and talking about issues and things they want to do if they get elected to the presidency, what they care about. >> i keep going back to the

republicansfeld one after the another by president trump. >> i haven't seen anybody in his field that has quite the command of his social media barbs and repertoire. if i'm in their position, i don't want to get into a mud wrestling match with him right now. later maybe but there is a long way to go. >> many will enter and few will win who in the past tried diplomacy with north korea. >> and acosta under pressure saying he broke the law as a u.s. attorney. i'll talk to the reporter who blew that story wide open. first, congressman meeks says bernie sanders isn't a democrat and should run for

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tomorrow, president trump will head to vietnam for his second high stakes summit with north korean leader, kim jong-un and hopes to come up with more plans to denuclearize. mike pompeo weighed in on the nuclear threat level with north korea. >> do you think north korea

remains a nuclear threat? i know he said it is no longer a nuclear let the from north korea. >> he said it has substantially taken down the risk to the american people. it's the process of the secretary of state to keep the american secure and we're aiming to achieve that. >> okay. that's a direct quote. joining me is gregory meeks. good to have you. >> good to be here. >> let's pick up where the secretary of state left off. do you think it's smart of the president to be holding a second summit with kim jong-un considering what they haven't done previously? >> no, i don't. i think he is elevating a guy who is a brutal dictator without getting anything in exchange.

he's free to move around without anything -- i think about it and how the president pulled out of the iran agreement where there were verifiable checks and balances and you had other nations working together, clearly there was something in return to turn to kim jong un where there was nothing in return. >> we do seem to have stepped away from the brink of a conflict with north korea, where we spent part of the early days of this administration. do you see that as a positive or think it is indicative of the united states stepping back from its most significant demand? >> i think the bottom line is we need to have verifiable evidence and verifiable agreement that north korea will not be producing nuclear arms, because until we have that, it's still

just a conversation away to going back to threatening one another. what we need to make sure is that they do not have nuclear weapons. the only way that you can do that is by putting a process in place similar to the process put in place in iran, where you have people on the ground testing and checking on a consistent basis and free to do so at any time. the one area from a broader perspective, where republicans in the senate have shown a significant willingness to president this president, at least symbolically, has been in some areas of foreign policy, whether syria and support for nato. there have been places where they have broken with the president of their own party. do you see any opportunities inure committee on the house to work with republicans on any related issues or do you feel things are still too partisan for that? >> i hope. -- i just came back from brussels and munich, germany and

there were 51 members of congress there, democrats and republicans. we were there to make sure the eu and nato, know in a bipartisan manner, we stand with our ally, something the president has not been clear on. the president has gone back and forth. to a large degree, we were there to make sure they know there's an executive branch of government and legislative branch of government and that legislative branch of government in a bipartisan way strongly supports the european allies and nato. let's talk domestic politics for a second. we noted before you came on, you said you think bernie sanders should run as an independent because he's not a democrat. why do you think that's the case and what kind of impact -- do you think the impact he will have in the field is damaging? >> let me be clear to take the statement in its entirety. i said if bernie sanders wants to run, he should run as a

democrat if he wants to be a democrat. i don't want somebody who has been dedicated and focused on the party, i think that's the appropriate thing to do and invest in the party. if you're going to be the party's nominee. i use as an example for example, michael bloomberg, who was an independent. >> right. >> he's thinking about running for president and what he decided to do was reregister as a democrat to run in the democratic primary. that's the appropriate thing to do. >> do you think bernie sanders understands the fundamental concerns of african-american voters? >> clearly, the last time he did not and why he did not get the vote he thought he would get. ultimately, i think what we need to do -- maybe we need a new face on the scene. maybe we need to look at that now, opposed to the candidates that ran previously. we have another set of candidates that's running now and maybe that's what we need to

look at and see and look at individual's records. the reason why african-americans did not support him was for his whole history in congress he didn't do anything with african-americans. we look at your full track record to make that determination. >> how important is it you think the democrats have a diverse ticket this time around? >> it's clear if democrats are going to win, whether it's the ticket or not, somebody's got to be there to be the voice. you look at the number one supporters of the democratic party, you better start listening to some black women number one. they're out front and know what they're talking about. if you're not listening to black women, you're in trouble if you're a democrat in the united states of america. >> certainly, the single most important constituency in the primary. before i let you go, sir, are you ready to make an endorsement in this 2020 election? >> no. it's far too early. it's exciting and i think it will be a good debate system and

it's good for the democratic candidacy and for the party. >> thanks, congressman meeks. still to come, a coast guard officer accused of plotting an attack on democratic politics and journalists and the president adamant he doesn't have to tone down his rhetoric when criticizing his opponents. c when criticizing his opponents as someone in witness protection, i can't tell you anything about myself. but believe me... i'm not your average consumer. that's why i switched to liberty mutual. they customized my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. and as a man... uh... or a woman... with very specific needs that i can't tell you about- say cheese. mr. landry? oh no. hi mr. landry! liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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a new piece out this weekend from maureen dowd lays bare about joe biden's soul searching whether to run for president. it was why president obama told him it was hillary's turn and biden tried to accept it. hunter biden and the ailing beau had wanted their father to run. they did not want a clinton restoration. biden succumbed to the pressure. he realizes now he should not have succumbed to that and let them weigh it out. now he weighs whether to put his family in the 24 hour a day spotlight and writes as trump's reality tv took over the white house, biden had to deal with his own family's scandal louse

headlines. it seems as though the former vice president is getting closer and closer to running. there is that history in the wake of beau's death and his wife dating his brother, hunter biden. and this president obviously has no hesitancy or decency really around dragging something like that into the public eye. >> running for high office is incredibly hard on the families no matter who it is including president trump i'm sure. they get a lot of scrutiny. to me, what's striking about that column, you look back at his near decision in 2016 and this decision, so much of it is rooted in the family and feelings about the family and the history and tragedy of the family. it's not rooted as much as in what's the rationale for

running? what are my big issues? what's my vision for the office. i think it will be hard for him to get in the race in a big way if my rationale is my family wanted me to run or my family does or does not. that's the next step but how does he fit into the current party now going towards a new formation. >> first of all, joe biden has wanted to be president for decades and tried repeatedly to win the high office. a big part of the rationale is he thinks he can beat president trump and partly because he thinks he can appeal to the voters who voted for obama but didn't vote for hillary clinton in 2016. can that carry him across or does he not have enough there? >> i do. i think why maureen dowd's observation is astute that he will dive into this mud and almost has to, and sordid to

think about it all but necessary in part because joe biden does have the capacity to appeal to the status quo voters who abandoned hillary clinton and fall into donald trump's camp, maybe not necessarily the republican party's camp but donald trump's camp. of those in this field now joe biden has the capacity to remind voters what they were voting for when they voted for democrats. >> do you think biden represents -- he's, in some way, on the wrong side of the generational argument, democrats say we need a new face. on the other hand, perhaps he is familiar enough to people he could pull it out. what's your take? >> you look at the tale of the tape on him, it would say he's not going to move people. this is not his time. his time has passed. i think there is something about joe biden or uncle joe, as he's

referred to, does transcend to all parts of the party and does involve and excite young people. generally, that's not the kind of candidate we will see for higher offices moving forward necessarily. i think there's something special and unique about him. i agree there is no question donald trump will go as low as he has to do for any candidate and in this case will bring up personal issues. i have to think that in the case of biden, bringing up personal issues about a family that has suffered such tragedy -- >> might actually backfire. >> might backfire. i know we've said that a lot of times about donald trump. >> sure. >> this time with the family, so much tragedy and distinguished patriarch, joe biden, it might backfire. >> and rel affection from the american people. i wanted to show you the sound bite of kamala harris framing how she might run

against donald trump contrasted to the interview where she wouldn't engage. take a look. >> we will need a fighter. the last piece is this, we will need somebody who knows how to prosecute the case against this president. >> so some applause there, nick, on prosecuting the president. sort of interesting she frames it that way. in the context of the primary her record as a prosecutor is actually something coming under scrutiny. >> she's framing it as prosecution is my history. in most primaries, in most campaigns being a former prosecutor was a plus. >> especially if you're a democrat. >> especially if you're a democrat. democrats would try to recruit former officers in the military and prosecutors, now, fairly, she is getting scrutiny for her record in san francisco and in california, and i think she has to get through that. that is a central element of this primary is criminal justice

issues. it goes back to joe biden, was like mr. crime bill. he also voted with the gop on a bankruptcy bill, voted for the iraq war. i think if he runs he will have to face all those same hurdles. >> don't forget anita hill. >> this party is in a mode of going over its past sins in a big way. >> i grow with you. that's countered by the party, even the growing left wing of the party wanting to win and knowing four years of trump is worse than not having the perfect left wing candidate in the house. >> they would and would no being tough on crime is an asset. i don't think they're there yet. they're definitely involved in a conversation amongst themselves. >> they certainly weren't even by the end of hillary clinton's bid. traveling to new hampshire this time of year is not for the faint of heart. the "new york post" reports new

york city mayor bill de blasio tried to show fortitude of traveling in near blizzard conditions in iowa and ended up in a roadside motel after chowing down at a gas facing restaurant for dinner. more of "kasie dc" after this. ♪ here i go again on my--- you realize your vows are a whitesnake song? i do. if you ride, you get it. geico motorcycle. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. woman: this is your wake-up call. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, month after month, the clock is ticking on irreversible joint damage. ongoing pain and stiffness are signs of joint erosion.

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something is not -- is prohibited from being part of any public record, it has a way of making it more difficult for people to bring forward claims, isn't that accurate? >> senator, i think something that has changed over time is trust of government. and i think that that's relevant to the issue that you raised, because there was a time when keeping something -- when having something confidential was less of an issue. >> that was labor secretary, alex acosta during his confirmation hearing in 2017, defending the plea deal his office reached with billionaire, jeffrey epstein, when acosta was the top federal prosecutor in miami. now, a federal official says acosta, during negotiations, illegally kept the agreement secret from dozens of girls who claimed they were lured into his international sex trafficking ring. epstein has been a free man for

years after pleading guilty to prostitutions charges and serving just 13 months in jail. the deal granted immunity to ko core conspirators and other teenage girls claimed they were abused in his circle. joining me is julia brown, who won a polk award for her reporting on this story. good to have you. >> thank you. >> i want to start by asking you about these face-to-face negotiations acosta had with epstein's attorneys. was acosta, the now labor secretary, unusually involved in this case? >> well, i'm told by other former prosecutors this is what stood out to them as being the most odd thing about this, is that, you know, you have the federal prosecutor himself involved in one particular case,

to the point he's meeting, you know, one-on-one with the defendant's attorneys, not in his office, but at a marriott hotel 60 miles away from his office, and that this particular meeting raised a red flag to them, that something just didn't seem to be right with this. >> what motive could acosta have had for treating this case differently? >> well, you know, he is an ambitious prosecutor. he had a very good reputation at the time. he had been taking down a lot of drug lords. he had handle a lot of high profile cases and he was sort of considered a rising star in the republican party at this time. epstein was -- had a lot of friends in both political parties and he wisely hired

attorneys with acosta's old law firm, kirkland and ellis. they were all alumnus of this, you know, very powerful law firm. you know, he was friends with these lawyers and he respected these lawyers. kenneth starr was among them. kenneth starr was a mentor for alex acosta. so, i think a lot of it, at least initially, had to do with being in this circle of republican lawyers. >> one of the guys, so to speak. >> yeah. >> acosta had been said to be on the short list for attorney general. now, of course, democrats are demanding he be fired from his current job and not promoted. here's what the president had to say about all these swirling allegations and questions just a couple days ago. >> mr. president, do you have any concerns about the labor

secretary and the jeffrey epstein case? >> i really don't know too much about it. i know he's done a great job as labor secretary. that seems like a long time ago. he's been a fantastic labor secretary. that's all i can tell you about it. that's all i know about it. >> how do you see this playing out for acosta going forward? >> it's hard to say. i mean, there's been a lot of scandal involving cabinet members in the trump administration. some of them are still there. some of them have left. it's hard to say exactly how it will play out. it does sound like there is a growing bipartisan support, number one, for an investigation, which has already been launched by the justice department. but, i think that there's voices now on both sides of the aisle calling for him to step down. >> julia, just to make sure

everybody really understands the gravity of what we're dealing with here, what were the profiles of the victims of this man? >> these were girls who came from underprivileged families. some of them were pretty much homeless. they went from house to house. they were very transient. not all of them but a good deal of them came from very poor families. they, you know, as one girl told me, i thought this was pretty poignant the way she explained it to me, now in their late 20s, early 30s and they look back on this and feel very ashamed what they did. at the time, this woman now in her late 20s said to me, at the time, we were stupid poor kids. she said, i just remember wearing the same pair of shoes for three years in a row. they were too tight for me. i thought if i went there and gave this guy a massage, what he was hiring them ostensibly for,

to give a massage, i thought i could buy a new pair of shoes. it's a pretty poignant thing. a lot of people who don't grow up that way don't understand why these girls went there in the first place. you're going to a stranger's home. i think they didn't realize really what they were getting into. >> absolutely heart breaking. julie brown, thank you so much for your incredible reporting. >> thank you. coming up, investigators say a coast guard official stockpiled weapons and compiled a list of prominent democrats and journalists coming months after a dozen explosive devices were sent to the president's critics. he president's critics. s here to change this story... with giant solutions like turbotax, quickbooks and mint that give everyone the power to prosper.

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because we believe all men deserve a razor just for them. the best a man can get. gillette. this week we can learned of the chilling terrorist plot. ascribing to murdering civilians on a scale rarely seen. the u.s. coast guard officer is accused of targeting tv hosts and democratic politicians. during a search of his home investigators found 15 firearms, 1,000 rounds of ammunition and a list of leaders, activists, political organizations and

msnbc and cnn hosts. president trump did not comment on the arrest until he was asked about it on friday. >> it is a very sad thing. when a thing like that happens. and i've expressed that. but i'm actually getting a very complete briefing in about two hours. >> do you think you bear a responsibility for monitoring your language when it comes to that. >> no i don't. i think my language is very nice. >> haskins so far has been charged oj drug and weapons charges. noah rothman, president's assessment. his language has been very nice. >> well he's not inviting violence against his protesters like he was in 2016 so much. but that is cold comfort because the movement sort of got away from him. he had his first campaign rally weeks ago and there was violence there. people are primed for it. i don't think he could stop it if he wanted to. so the president does share responsibility. he's a little reckless with his language. less than 2016 but not enough. and if you think democrats and the entertainment media complex heightened language, heightened

sense of existential cage danger had some role in the attempted assassination of multiple members of congress in a baseball field in --. donald trump deserves some blame here too. >> how do we walk back from this. >> there are always people of unsound mind and weak mind and violent tendencies look for inspiration in a terrible way. some find wit isis, some on the web and some in the words of the president. he's been inciting his followers against journalists since the day he began running for president over and over calling them the enemy of the people. it is very simple to say the words matter. and i can't say that his words inspire this one man and this one instance. but we are all responsible for the way we talk in politics. and the way he talks about journalists and about his opponents is irresponsible and can lead to violence i think. >> and then you have sarah sanders just flat out lying. saying that the president's words about journalists have never been anything negative and

have just been supportive. so that just adds and insult to injury and more danger to the situation. >> -- twitter feed -- >> right. >> -- not the case. >> right. >> so michael steele, a good friend of the show was asked about why the president hasn't praised law enforcement. >> why would we be surprised a self proclaimed nationalist wouldn't speak out against a self proclaimed white nationalist. these are his people. all right? and he's not going thank law enforcement. because he's probably not happy about what law enforcement did. >> now is that where we are? are these donald trump's people? >> well i think that's actually quite unfair. to suggest that the president is unhappy that this gentlemen was apprehended before there was

blood shed. i don't think there is any evidence for. it goes far beyond what is appropriate to con tell the president for which is excessive rhetoric. he throws his arm around representative --. and also he also give the journalist a good go. that's the sort of thing he likes to do. he likes to invite that sort of speculation that he's -- that intensity that anti-press intensity is something that he appreciates. but i don't think it is fair to say the president wanted blshd here. that goes well beyond the bounds of appropriate rhetoric and precisely what we're criticizing here. before befo re at subaru, we're taking on distracted driving with sensors that alert you when your eyes are off the road. the all-new subaru forester.

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we see eye to eye i believe. but you will be seeing it more is and more the next couple days. what's going to happen? i can't tell you. i think eventually it would. but i can't tell you. i'm not in a rush. i don't want testing. as long as there is no testing we're happy. >> president trump talk about the north korea. before we go let's talk about what you are watching in the week ahead. noah? >> i'm watching that. unfortunately it is not just testing. they are building devices. they are testing engines. continuing to produce fissile material. there's been less than no progress. i'd love to see an inventory come out of the summit. i suspect we won't get and it that will confirm we don't have a negotiating partner in north

korea. >> what are you going for? >> my home town hall new york city is having a special election for the public advocate. most people watching this broadcast probably haven't heard of but it was bill dede blasio's last job before mayor. blasio's last job before mayor. so anybody could win. and a person could win almost by a fluke because so few people are going to actually be voting in this election. go out and vote if you are a new yorker but i'm curious to see how it is going play out. >> and it is a special election so democrats, republicans and independent kansas all vote, which is unusually in new york. >> and i'm going to be watching share schiff's close door hearing with michael cohen. i think that will bring us more information harking back to the conversation about the mueller report that will feed the conversation even more and maybe bring us more facts. >> i'm goings to be watching the split screen of testifying at the oversight committee when the president is overseas.

also thank you to uncle murray. thank you to susan for being on and to uncle murray for watching. that is it for us here tonight on "kasie dc." back next week from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. eastern. for now good night from new york. r now good night from new york this is an msnbc special presentation. >> this is a jagged little puzzle of a story. here are some of the pieces. a bitter race for the white house. a candidate who would do anything to win. maybe even conspire with a foreign government. a secret campaign meeting in an iconic tower on new york's 5th avenue. and in this case a mysterious woman who may have tipped the scales at a time when america seemed to be coming apart at the seems. i'm not talking about