and right now on a special edition of "andrea mitchell reports," live from the aspen security forum. welcome home. a minnesota crowd cheering the return of congresswoman ilhan omar after she became the target of racist attacks from the president of the united states and his supporters. >> we are not deterred. we are not frightened. we are ready. we are in the ring, we are in the people's house and we are going to continue to keep fighting until we have the america we know we all deserve. thank you. shootdown. tensions rise off the coast of iran after president trump announces the u.s. navy took out an iranian drone in the strait of hormuz. >> this is the latest of many introvolcanotive and hostile actions against vessels in the international waters.

>> coming up next, chris murphy who sits on the foreign relations committee. he'll join me here. and the battle for second. a new nbc news poll shows bernie sanders and elizabeth warren fighting to be the progressive alternative to joe biden as the two senators prepare to face off in the next debate. >> you know, it's about talking about vision for what we'll do. i think that's what everyone on the stage will be doing when we have the debates in two weeks. yeah, in two weeks. and good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell at the aspen security forum in colorado. president trump now saying that he tried to stop the racist chants from a north carolina crowd to send back democratic congresswoman ilhan omar. >> but it was quite a chant and i felt a little bit badly about

it. but i will say this. i did -- and i started speaking very quickly. >> but that video from the event tells a very different story. >> the history of launching vicious anti-semitic screeds. >> send her back! send her back! send her back! send her back! send her back! send her back! send her back! send her back! >> joining me now is msnbc political contributor and former deputy national security adviser ben rhodes. white house correspondent -- i'm sorry, geoff bennett. and nbc political analyst phil rucker. white house bureau chief at "the washington post." and nbc political reporter shaq

brewster. msnbc legal analyst maya wiley. sorry if i got all the names messed up, but first of all, geoff bennett to you at the white house. the president reacted only after ivanka trump and other republicans expressed some discomfort with the way this was playing out. >> that's right. some republicans on the hill sending word through the vice president they were trying to convey this message that they didn't want this send her back chant in much the way that lock her up had become a rallying cry. so you saw that was one of the reasons why the president tried to disavow the chant, although as you rightly said in the damage control that he both mentioned and we heard from kevin mccarthy, the house republican leader yesterday, just doesn't hold up to the facts. but one of the reasons, andrea, in my conversations close to the president one of the reasons we're talking about this six

days after the president fired off the racist tweets is because the president still views these a political winner. there was a reuters poll that came out on tuesday i think it was that showed his standing with republicans actually ticking up a bit. now, with independents and democrats obviously it's a different story. the other part of this too is that donald trump has never really shown a real interest in expanding his base of support and so what he does because he can't increase his own favorability numbers he demonizes and tries to destroy the competition. so since democrats don't yet have a nominee, these four congresswomen are the stand-in for the foil that he so often needs when he's on the political attack, andrea. >> and shaq brewster, it is very clear that the president had for days and days been building this anger against ilhan omar and the other three congresswomen on twitter in public at that rally. >> shaq?

>> that's right, andrea, sorry about that, sorry about the delay. yeah, that's right. people here in her district are i paying attention to what the president is saying and there's lot of support here in the fifth congressional district. you saw that -- a reception she got when she returned home at the airport. hundreds are chanting and cheering along and then she went straight to a town hall right over my shoulder. she went to the town hall that was focussed on medicare for all, but there was plenty of support for her and as i talked with her constituents here in the fifth congressional district of minnesota, you heard not surprise at president trump in these tweets. you heard sadness and some frustration. listen to what i heard. >> i just think she's terribly brave. and courageous. and i think she represents our district very, very well. all people in our district. >> it's really easy to be disgusted at the consistent -- like it's the sexist attacks

from this president against strong, powerful women in general but against her in particular. >> it's clear to me and a lot of voters that he's racist and he's got a message of hate and we're not about that here. >> and i did ask about the charges that she's facing of anti-semiti anti-semitism, one of the phrase all about the benjamin, well, she acknowledged the concerns and apologized and they're not expecting to hear that from the president. andrea? >> maya wiley, what you're hearing from her district, i understand it's her district, it's minnesota. it's a very diverse and welcoming district to all of these somali refugees over the years and years. so maybe it's not reflective of a larger and other parts of

america. what does it tell you though about the way this is playing across america? >> i think it tells us one thing that has always been true is, you know, most americans do not want to be aligned or associated with racism. and that thanks to a lot of hard work from a lot of civil rights activists and justice activists over the generations and it is clear that donald trump has a very long, storied track record of these very explicit, offensive stereotypical racist statements that he has never walked back. they're not new. so part of what you're hearing is this is a pattern. we see the pattern. we don't want to be affiliated with the pattern and we're going to protect the leaders who had been duly elected to represent our districts. i don't think it's just minnesota. i mean, just to be clear, yes, there is a big divide, republicans typically much more uncomfortable with the term

racism being used against anyone. there are some polls and statistics that show that if you say racist or call someone a racist, many republicans will recoil and think you're doing that to manipulate and not because there's something underneath it. but in this case about 45% of polled republicans do feel uncomfortable with the language. now, that's different from how they'll behave on election day. but it does tell you that there is a reason that republicans inside the beltway were concerned with the president and why the president should be concerned unfortunately he absolutely created the chant we heard. he started it on sunday. and he said it around black people for decades. there is a long track record of the very racist things he said related to black americans. not to mention mexicans, not to mention muslims and he shouldn't forget that in 1939 a ship, the st. louis, carrying over 900 jews trying to three nazi

germany were turned back and sent back home. >> to that point, exactly to that point, maya, let me bring in ben rhodes here with me. we're talking about the end of asylum policy on our southern border. which is law, congressional law. it's international treaty. and so these racist views are actually being translated into significant policies involving immigration and other issues. >> yeah, the first point i'd make here these republicans who are voicing their concerns privately are missing the point. they didn't express the concerns when the initial racist tweets came out. it's as if they're criticizing the fire and not the arsonist who set the fire here. this relates directly to the policies. donald trump has run on a platform of keeping the refugees out of the united states and now we see a cruel deterrence policy not working, by the way, saying

we'll treat people so badly maybe they won't come here and then that ignores the fact that people are coming here from central america is because the circumstances are so dire, to have somebody, to have a father, take his child across a river like that father we saw drown. you don't do that just because you want a job. you do that because the situations are so desperate where you're coming from you feel you have to choice. and the republican party has embraced the approach to erefugees and the approach to asylum in terminating the ability for people from central america to essentially to petition to come here is only going to make it worse. if you can't apply for asylum you'll try to risk life and limb to come across the border. and it's also a failure of immigration policy. >> and of course they have cut off the state department's funding to the northern triangle countries which was the one thing that might have been

ameliorating the situation in the three countries that led to all of these people seeking asylum. phil rucker, what about the fact that, you know, thom tillis from north carolina, other republicans, not only coming to the president's defense and coming up with all sorts of ways as kevin mccarthy did to make it into a debate of socialism and none of the elected members of congress are part of socialism and only one member that has is bernie sanders and he's not criticizing him in this. how do these republicans get away with coming to the defense of the president or ignoring it? >> yeah. well, andrea, the republicans including mccarthy, but all sorts of rank and file members of the house and the senate this week have been really contorting themselves to try to criticize this sentiment and this comment that's so racist without getting

on the wrong side of president trump. that's a difficult balance they have and they don't seem to be doing it very effectively right now. this debate is not about socialism. it's about -- it's what the president started on sunday which is a racist attack on these four women of color who are elected to the congress. but when you talk to republican officials and trump's advisers and political team, they want to have a debate about socialism. they want to brand the democratic party as somehow socialist. they see that as a winning argument heading into the 2020 campaign, but the president seems to be taking it much further. you know, than a lot of republicans on capitol hill are comfortable with. they're not willing to say so out loud. >> and i just wanted to follow-up with something that just was confirmed by nancy pelosi's spokesperson which is that she's going to be meeting next week with aoc, with alexandria ocasio-cortez, one-on-one presumably and that they are trying to heal the

divisions within the democratic caucus which have partly been sort of smoothed over by their common opposition to what the president has done this week. but really are divisions between the approach on a lot of things including impeachment and of course environmental policy and other policies. so how do you see that coming together? >> well, that's an important meeting. i mean, before president trump weighed in on twitter over the weekend, there was a real breach between speaker pelosi and the squad but most importantly alexandria ocasio-cortez. who said to "the washington post" last week that she thought that the speaker was targeting these four women of color and that really set off a debate within the democratic caucus. it seems to be in pelosi'ses to make amends and bring the party together. >> phil rucker, geoff bennett

and ben rhodes out with me and maya wiley, thanks. coming up, reaction to president trump's comments about -- about the freshmen congresswomen from leaders around the globe. we'll have that coming up with senator chris murphy joining me live here at the aspen forum. i'm andrea mitchell. you're watching msnbc. spen forum i'm andrea mitchell. you're watching msnbc. ♪ and with bank of america and merrill, the benefits you get can grow, too. as a preferred rewards member, you can enjoy priority service and exclusive discounts... so your growing life can be more rewarding, too. ♪ what would you like the power to do? ♪ this melting pot of impacted species. everywhere is going to get touched by climate change.

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i want to apprise everyone of an incident in the strait of hormuz today involving the uss boxer and navy amphibious assault ship. the boxer took defensive action against an iranian drone, the drone was immediately destroyed. this is the latest of many provocative and hostile actions by iran against vessels operating in international waters. >> president trump on thursday announcing that the u.s. ship had downed a drone. and iran disputes the claims. not clear what the truth is here though. this is the latest in the string of incidents between the u.s. and iran. i'm joined by chris murphy a member of the senate foreign

relations committee. how do we get off this precipice? >> this is a policy not a strategy of escalation without any end game. it's not really clear what the president wants at the end of these series of provocations. obviously negotiations would be best, but the iranians can't read the president some days he seems open to the negotiations without preconditions and other days he says he'll blow iran off the map so the iranian regime has made some offers but they have little hope. the danger here is of course there's a police calculation that the iranians believe they're taking defensive measures and the americans think we're taking the defensive measures and we get into the shooting war and the danger of that increases by the day. >> now, the foreign ministers have said to journalists in new york they're willing to negotiate and they're willing to permit more inclusive inspections but only after american sanctions are lifted. and certainly mike pompeo has

indicated that there are a long list of demands before they would lift sanctions. >> right. so our administration's approach is wholly and completely unrealistic. what we're saying is that we want to re-engage in negotiations and settle every single one of the negotiations -- >> they should stop the nuclear -- >> and the most egregious action of the iranians is the move towards the nuclear weapon. and all the other activity is much worse if they're a nuclear power so divorce them from the nuclear weapons ambitions, then we take on the other bad things they do. trump is never going to get if iranians to agree to give in on all of those grievances at the table. and the first offer from zarif that he made yesterday to reporters frankly is a step backwards in many ways from the agreement that obama negotiated. what they basically said they'll make permanent the inspections that i are currently allowing today if the united states

permanently withdraws our sanctions. that the congress withdraws the authorization, which means they can't be levied again. >> which is a nonstarter, clearly a nonstarter. >> right. >> what about mediation through gulf nations, oman, qatar, others in the region that have strong relations with both countries? >> so the problem there is that these countries in the gulf, the omanis at the top of the list who may be able to bring the parties back to the negotiating table don't trust the president. right, you have to idea who you're bringing to the table so the omanis don't want to ruin their credibility by bringing a trump administration to the table they're just going to use as a -- an opportunity for grand standing. and then you also have the europeans who right now are spending all their time just trying to keep enough business going with the iranians to keep the iranians in the majority of

the nuclear agreement. and the europeans are in no mood to get back to the table with an administration that's constantly attacking them. so the conditions are just not right for negotiations. i wish that weren't the case, but that's what makes these escalatory actions of shooting down of drones so dangerous. if we saw a potential for negotiations maybe there was a path but there isn't which makes the outbreak of hostilities more likely. >> i have to ask you about the president's comments of -- against the four congresswomen. he said he tried to stop the crowd in north carolina, the video indicates that's not the case. he did nothing to stop them and in fact encouraged it with the comments that preceded the chants. clearly, racist comments. how damaging and what do you say to your fellow republican -- to your fellow senators who are republicans who have been silent on this? >> so the crowd was chanting a

recitation of the president's tweets. he can't disavow because they were commanding what he had announced the day before. that omar and others who opposed him of a different skin color should go back to their country of origin, whatever that may be. so it's totally disavow something he originated and the republicans have to call him out on this. i understand that many are tired of having to constantly answer for the president's outrageous behavior. but he crossed a line here that unfortunately many of his followers are willing to go with him on. and if we don't collectively -- republicans and democrats say there's no place in this country for the most important person, the president of the united states, engaging in overt racist language then i think we risk the whole democratic experience

falling apart. i don't think we should take for granted this miraculous experiment that's lasted for 240 years, a multiethnic nation that hasn't have to persist if we allow this president to divide us. i don't think we should assume this sticks around for another 240 years. i think it's that important. >> have you said that to fellow senators? >> maybe not in those exact words but i think we have all used, you know, our friendships and our relationships across the aisle to explain to them the political downside of getting cross wise with the president is a small price to pay for the survival of the republic and i know that sounds like hyperbole. i get it. a lot of the republican friends will think i'm overhyping the threat but i think if you let him get away with this, he's telegraphing what this is the next year and a half is going to be like. what his re-election campaign is going to be all about and if that's what we have to live through the next year and a half

it's a danger to democracy. >> chris murphy, thank you. and coming up next, round two. less than two weeks ago until the next democratic debate. steve kornacki joins me to set the scene. this is "andrea mitchell reports" live from aspen, coming up next. up next. when you start with a better that's no way to treat a dog... ...you can do no wrong. where did you learn that? the internet... yeah? mmm! with no artificial preservatives or added nitrates or nitrites, it's all for the love of hot dogs.

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welcome back. one out of four democrats would cast their votes for former vice president joe biden if the primaries or caucuses were held today that's according to a new monkey poll conducted after the first democratic debate, but the race for second place is heating up. elizabeth warren and bernie sanders both trail biden by 9%. both totaling 16% in this new poll. kamala harris just behind in a virtual tie. she's at 14% with her fellow senators. joining me to break it down, steve kornacki at the big board and nbc news national news reporter josh lederman joining me in aspen. steve, tell me about the new online poll and you think is the

significance. >> yeah. look at the full results here as you mentioned joe biden is out in front nationally in this poll. that's the good news for him. of course his lead it is single digits over sanders and warren both tied for second. certainly we have seen warren move up, kamala harris has moved up. almost a three-way tie for second place. interestingly in a race that basically has two dozen candidates, you're getting 71% support is concentrate among four candidates out of a field of more than 20 candidates. you see there's only four who are in double digits so there has been some separation right there. it will be interesting obviously headed into the next debate to see that biden lead. it has shrunk, will it shrink more out of the debate, will he get into a more solid place? the divide when it comes to race on the democratic side. this is interesting, take a look among white voters in the democratic race. you have joe biden he's running

in second place here. warren's in first place among white democrats. sanders, harris the rest. then you see among black voters a different story. joe biden in front by 23 points over bernie sanders, kamala harris a strong lead from bernie over joe biden here among black voters. it's the reason we show him ahead nationally. you see that nine-point lead there for joe biden. that nine-point lead is powered by black voters. that becomes a big question for joe biden is that going to be durable for him? >> and josh, you have spent a lot of time with pete buttigieg. he's had his own problems among the black community with the police problems in south bend, where he's the mayor. but he's a big front-runner on money, $24.5 million in the last quarter. >> that's right. we continue to see this gap, andrea, between the amount of money he's raising outperforming all of the other candidates including joe biden and bernie

sanders and the fact that his poll numbers are not catching up. they're not catching up among the african-american voters and he's doing everything he could do to try to improve his numbers with african-american voters. about half of his events and speeches now are geared in one way to addressing his douglas plan which is specifically geared towards economically helping african-americans, trying to show he understands the racism issue and is taking it seriously. yet, we still see him barely registering within the margin of error when it comes to african-american voters. >> steve, when we look forward to the next debate, we know what the match-ups are going to be, how their dividing the 20 candidates and what you'll have is a face-off between sanders and warren and a rematch between biden and harris. do you think harris will perhaps hang back more in this -- this time and others will begin to really try to beat up on joe biden? >> that's the interesting question. yeah, you mentioned, andrea, the first night sanders and warren.

remember in the first debate warren did not get on the same stage with joe biden and again, elizabeth warren will not have that opportunity. you wonder if she's disappointed by that. you mentioned we can take a look at the lineup for the second night. the lineup, right, harris, does she say go for a repeat of what she pulled off the first time or satisfied with what she did the first time? the other question though is think of castro and cory booker, do they look at what harris pulled off in the first debate and say, my turn. let me take a shot. >> and you can expect they will be. then of course the big question -- will joe biden be better prepared to respond? a lot of big issues coming up for the candidates especially because there's a much higher threshold for the third round of debates and they have got to prove themselves. for some of this this may be their last stage on the national stage. steve kornacki, josh lederman.

tensions are escalating between the washington and tehran after the president said an iranian drone was downed. much more coming up. an iranian drone was downed. much mor e coming up. hey, who are you? oh, hey jeff, i'm a car thief... what?! i'm here to steal your car because, well, that's my job. what? what?? what?! (laughing) what?? what?! what?! [crash] what?! haha, it happens. and if you've got cut-rate car insurance, paying for this could feel like getting robbed twice. so get allstate... and be better protected from mayhem... like me. ♪ let's see, aleve is than tylenol extra strength. and last longer with fewer pills. so why am i still thinking about this? i'll take aleve. aleve. proven better on pain.

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player. a very bad player. they're a nation of terror and we won't put up with it. i'm not looking for war. and if there is it will be obliteration like you have never seen before. we will continue to increase pressure on tehran until the regime abandons the dangerous activities and the aspirations. i'm not sure that their leaders care for their people. if they do, they'll make a deal. if they don't, they're just thinking about themselves. and they're selfish and they're stupid if that's what they're doing. >> months of tough talk on iran leads the international community wondering what comes next after the announcement of a downed iranian drone by the united states? joining me now we have our experts nick burns former u.s. ambassador to nato. former acting cia director john mclaughlin and security analyst rick rasmussen from the counterterrorism center. i can't think of a better group of people to talk about this.

first of all, we have not worked with our international partners. we have walked away from the iran nuclear deal which was multilateral as you know. europe is left trying to repair the damage and we are sanction all of them with secondary sanctions making it impossible to get humanitarian aid to iran. >> on the surface, the administration is right to call attention to the fact that iran is a violent troublemaker. they're causing big problems in the gulf to international shipping. we need allied support to help escort some of the vessels in and out of the strait of hormuz but we don't have it because we walked out of the nuclear deal unwisely. that deal was important because we had britain, france and germany and russia behind us and now we're alone. if you sanction the european allies it doesn't make them ready to help us in the gulf.

the president is not wrong in some of the statements you showed about the trouble they pose to the entire world but the united states acting alone despite our awesome power is never as effective as acting with allies. >> john mclaughlin, you were working for decades without any partisan affiliation in the intelligence community. and it strikes me that in the past republican or democratic administrations, nick as well, there always was a strategy. there were deputies meetings, there was a game plan. if you threaten and do this, then this might happen. then you would do this. and here we have a situation where the president says he called off a military strike within ten minutes of launch making one think why didn't he know about the civilian casualties before hand? why didn't he have all of the information? what was the run-up to this? what was the run-up to the strategy of getting out of the iran nuclear deal?

what comes next? >> that's exactly right, andrea. i think most of us who have looked at this, we don't disagree that iran is a bad actor but we don't see any strategy for moving through this mess that's been created and coming out on the other side in a productive way. i mean, at the point we are now, there are really only two avenues out of this mess. one is fighting and one is negotiating. and the president has not at this point set up a clear path in either direction. i mean, the iranian foreign minister yesterday put an interesting idea on the table. some are dismissing it. i think it's an interesting idea to he says -- >> an opening bid. >> essentially we will agree to -- it's a complicated additional protocol but it means that the international inspectors would have access to everything on two hours' notice that they want to see. it's an opening bid and our state department ought to in the

search for a strategy here say there's an opportunity for diplomacy. now, i hope someone does that rather than brushing it off as not the whole -- the whole package. >> nick, right now there are -- nick rasmussen, we have two nicks here. there are leaks coming out of the administration that the president wants to get rid of dan coats the national -- the director of the national intelligence. it's exactly a year since this moment when he was here with me and we were informing him -- >> made some news that day. >> we were informing him and we shouldn't have been the people informing him that the white house had just tweeted an invitation to vladimir putin to come to the white house only days after a disastrous helsinki summit. let's play a little bit of that. you'll see the reaction. i'm wondering when you watch that, in helsinki, what was your gut reaction watching him

validate vladimir putin's assessment over yours? >> well, my thoughts there were that i believed i needed to correct the record for that. >> i don't what to say we have breaking news. the white house has announced on twitter that vladimir putin is coming to the white house in the fall. >> say that again. >> you -- vladimir putin, coming -- >> did i hear you? >> yeah. yeah. >> okay. >> yeah. >> that's going to be special. >> now, nick, since then, he has held up the standard of the intelligence community by testify honorably and accurately about the threat from north korea despite what the president said about the friendship of kim jong-un and he's saying to

congress they're not about to denuclearise in the near future. where do you see the intelligence community? >> this a cyclical phenomenon and the leaks have come and gone. director coats is pretty consistent. i'm going to keep doing the job of the intelligence professionals and i think the intelligence professionals that work in the intelligence community appreciate that approach. he will be exposed to politics because again he's engaged with the white housen a daily basis but i think he does his best to insulate the professionals of the intelligence community from that process. it's not easy. it bleeds into the environment in which it's not productive. but i have to give director coats a tremendous amount of credit for taking seriously his responsibility as director of national intelligence. >> and nick burns, the fact that we have more than 20 vacancies or actings in senior positions,

which gives the president direct authority over hiring, firing, no senate confirmation, no ability for any of these cabinet officials to create chiefs of staffs, their own policies. >> well, we have never had a situation like this in the post world war ii history when so many senior ambassadorships and state department, defense department and positions are vacant. it weakens the united states. i know the president thinks that he's the only one who counts. he's said that to the media but he needs a big government behind him and i think the three of us have all been career officials. we have all served republican and democratic administrations. we have a fantastic civil service and foreign service in the country, loyal to the government, they'll work hard. this administration does not trust the senior career professionals of the state department, and the cia and the fbi and that is a massive -- they're weakening the united

states. >> and it's something to think about as robert mueller is ready to testify for first time ever. thank you, nick burns, such a useful way to have dialogue on and off camera as well and of course john mclaughlin, we so value all of you have efforts and nick rasmussen as well. thank you all so very much. it's mueller time. he is scheduled to testify next wednesday. a preview next, as we report live from the aspen security forum in colorado. port live from the aspen security forum in colorado. that needs t. small things. big things. too hard to do alone things. day after day, you need to get it all done. and here to listen and help you through it all is bank of america. with the expertise and know-how you need to reach that blissful state of done-ness. so let's get after it. ♪ everything is all right what would you like the power to do?® ♪ all right

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democratic house judiciary committee chair jerry nadler is chair, jerry nadler is asking hope hicks to come back to clarify her closed door testimony. given the apparent inconsistency between your testimonies, ill like to give you the opportunity to clarify your testimony on a voluntary bases. hicks's testimony is coming to question after the fbi released documents on thursday describing a skiers a series of calls and messages before the election of october of 2016 discussing hush payments to stormy daniels. hicks' attorney issued a statement saying hicks was not aware of those payments until november a month after those

calls. joining me now, our chuck rosenberg and our fbi official and our ken dilanian. what's the significance of hicks and do you think legal exposure there? >> clarify that. >> i think it makes sense to have her come back like what she said, based on what i have seen andrea. i am not sure she's in any real legal jeopardy and here is why. i don't think the questioning was precise. you have to have extraordinary precise questioning and frankly members of congress are not known for that. i ask someone whether they are present is different than asking them do they have any communications or were they on the phone or e-mailing or hear about it secondhand. there are ten different ways to ask a question. it is not clear to me that hope

hicks testify falsely. to have her back and clarify and ask for additional questions is certainly a good idea. >> and when we think about the mueller testimony this week and anticipation of this, of course it has been, we are going to see a lot more and of course we got our excellent documentary previewing at 9:00 on msnbc on sunday night. can, ken, we read the report and a lot of americans have not. hearing robert mueller answer specific questions. do you agree with the president when he says no collusion. do you agree with the president when he says complete exoneration. those are questions that are within the fourth quarters of his report.

what they recognize that mueller is a reluctant witness. they think just by articulating the misconduct they see in that report that most americans have not read, that'll be a powerful statement and specifically refute the president's missed information that mueller found no collusion and obstruction. they want to focus on the five independenc in in cidents. mueller did not say it in the report, they feel they can get mueller to talk about the evidence. >> chuck, you know the man and you know how reluctant he is. what kind of witness do you think he'll be during the public and how different will he be in the private section.

he's an extraordinary careful cabin man. he's a reluctant witness. he's been a reluctant witness. nobody likes to go up and testify on capitol hill, bob mueller particularly. i don't think he's going to stray from the document. he said he would not. one thing i have learn in working for bob mueller, you ought to take the man for his word. >> over 12 years as fbi directory, he had to testify frequently before congressional committees and there were times when it was not that friendly. >> he knows how to deflect question that he does not know how to answer. the report speaks for itself. >> maybe it does and it does not. a lot of folks rather see the movie than read the book. i understand that.

andrea is not going to stray from the document. we understand the president is in the oval office and we'll be hearing from him very soon within two-minutes or so. he was meeting with michael collins and the family of neil armstrong, after that apollo moon landing. i want to advise all of you and welcome to all of you. my live conversation coming up with former national security adviser susan rice from the aspen security format forum here at 1:45 eastern is going to be played. we'll be doing that live and i am going to ask her of all the questions of iran and the racial

comments. it will be susan rice and a former u.n. baambassador of a j that's in vacant in december. chuck rosenberg, some final thought as we wait for the president's comments that are going to play out from the white house being replayed from what just transpired in the oval office. final thoughts leading into the mueller testimony this week? >> i will be watching it. i don't know if eagerly is the right word because i anticipate it will be more theater than substance. that also worries me, too andrea. the record that mueller and his team wrote is so important. it is really important for folks to understand it and i hope that this hearing gives us a chance to bring it to life. >> with that, the president in

the oval office just moments ago taking questions from the press. >> do you take that tweet back? >> i am unhappy of the fact that a congresswoman, in this case, a different congresswoman can call our country and our people garbage. >> those people in north carolina. that stadium was packed. it was a record crowd. i could have filled it ten times as you know. those are incredible people and incredible patriots. i am unhappy when a congresswoman goes and said i am going to be the president's nightmare. she's going to be the president's nightmare. she's lucky to be where she is, let me tell you. the things she has said are disgrace to our country, thank you very much everybody. try, thk you very much everybody.

asap rocky is a situation in sweden. sweden is a great country and they are friends of mine and leadership and we are going to be calling and talking to them and we have already started. many members of tl african-american community have called are friends of mine and said cou"could you help." i don't know asap rocky but i can tell you his tremendous support from the african-american community in this country and when i say african-american, i think i can say from everybody in this country because we are all one. i have been called by so many people asking know help. >> she was telling me can you help asap rocky? you are working on a statement

on that? >> well, we'll be working with the state department and we hope to get him home soon. >> we have had a really good relationship with sweden. we had a really good relationship in sweden. that's pretty much it. thank you all very much. >> hopefully we are in good shape in the debt ceiling. when i first came into officer, i asked about the debt ceiling and i understand that debt ceilings and i certainly understand the highest rated credit ever in history and the debt ceiling and i said i remember to senator schumer and nancy pelosi, would anybody would use that to negotiate with? they said absolutely not. that's a sacred element of our country. they can't use the debt ceiling to negotiate. don't forget president obama

during his eight years -- he created, he doubled the deck. you take every president and every prior president, prior president obama he then took and double the debt over $10 trillion with a "t," not a "b," president obama put $10 trillion to double the debt. it was 10 and went to 20 and everyone above 2 even above 20. when they start talking about using the debt ceiling as a wedge to negotiate or things that they want. they told me strongly that they'll never use it. that's a very sacred thing in our country. we could never play with it. i would have to assume. just remember also, the previous administration double the debt in our country. you take all