economy. donald trump famously gambled with his casinos in the '80s and '90s. some say he is gambling with this economy and picking trade fights and he doesn't know how they'll end. a former donald trump executive who saw trump working firsthand tomorrow night on "the beat." don't miss it. don't go anywhere now because "hardball" is up next. good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. we're following breaking news out of philadelphia tonight. six police officers have been shot in what authorities are calling an active and ongoing situation. all the officers are expected to survive. the shooting began about 4:30 this afternoon in the nicetown section of north philadelphia, which is where i came from. there is a massive police presence surrounding the house there where one shooter is still inside, trapped, apparently. a police spokesman told nbc news that the incident began when an officer attempted to serve a warrant at that address there. we're going to continue to monitor developments in north philadelphia and bring you the latest. the big political news

tonight is the 2020 democratic race for president is drawing very tight. with the deadline looming to qualify for the next debate, a new poll out today shows the race between the front-runners in a virtual tie. a new economist yougov tracking poll shows joe biden at 21% with elizabeth warren at 20%. senator bernie sanders is third at 16%, then comes kamala harris at 8%, mayor pete buttigieg at 5. for his part, at the rally in pennsylvania yesterday, president trump referenced the recent tightening in the democratic race, using his usual derogatory vocabulary. >> i did it very early with pocahantas. i probably should have waited. she is staging a comeback on sleepy joe. i don't know who's going to win, but we'll have to hit pocahantas very hard again if she does win. but she is staging a little bit of a comeback. what a group. pocahantas and sleepy joe.

>> it was a different republican under fire for comments he made today. iowa republican congressman steve king drew criticism for remarks he made explaining his opposition to abortion, including cases of rape or incest. >> we know the reasons we exceptions for the most of us for rape and incest, because it's not the baby's fault. but i sort of wonder about this. what if it was okay and what if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled those people out that were products of rape and incest. would there be any population of the world left if we did that considering all the wars and all the rape and pillage that has taken place and whatever happened to culture and society? >> wow. king had already been stripped of all his committee assignments by the leadership of the republican in congress this year after he questioned whether the term white supremacy was really offensive.

and a host of democratic 2020 candidates condemned king's comments today, many of them urging to donate to king's opponent j.d.shutlon. i'm joined by michelle goldberg for "the new york times," you're laughing already, yamiche alcindor, a white house correspondent for opinions news hour and ben howe, why evangelicals, there is the book, shows political power over christian values. because judgeships last longer than tax cuts, i think. let me go to senator mccaskill. you know the world. you know the midwest. you know the political world. you know what it's like to actually run in a general election, which neither party knows what a general election is because they don't have to face them. why do these people, these trolls go way back to these arguments about, you know, legitimate rape, talking about this anthropological almost op sis thomas, oh, we wouldn't be here today if it weren't for

rape and incest. why do they bring this crap up? why do they do it? >> well, steve king is a nut. he is a stone-cold nut. he makes todd akin, who was my opponent back in '12 who said you know, legitimate rape, a woman has a way of shutting down her pregnancy. he makes him look kind of mainstream. i mean, this guy, if the people of iowa send him back to congress, they get what they deserve. it's just frightening to me that this guy has a position in our government with all of the things he said offensive to people, black and brown people about immigrants, and now the notion that he thinks it's just fine if a 14-year-old is raped repeatedly by her father that she would be forced to carry that baby and have that baby. i guarantee you he's never sat across the table from one of those young girls like i have when i was a prosecutor. it might change his attitude and

maybe make him not quite so cavalier about it, because it's offensive. i guarantee it's offensive to women. he is basically saying all men rape and commit incest because our population is full of the by-products of that, which of course we all know is not true. >> it's like meier lanski, it's the business we have chosen. it's who we are as a people. yamiche, this is the guy who said latinos that come to america had big legs because they're like cantaloupes because they're carrying all the drugs. this is how far he reaches to make his slurring comments. >> it just doesn't make any sense. and we now see liz chaney, the number three republican in the house saying he has to go. she is echoing in some way what's the 2020 democratic candidates are saying. but just look at what steve king talking about. he is talking about why is white supremacy an offensive term. maybe because all these people died a few weeks ago because somebody was shooting up a walmart looking for latinos because they were talking about

an incroatian of latinos. maybe it's a idea when he is talking about women being rape and having to carry their rapist's child, he is divorced from reality. women die in childbirth. there are states where rapists still have actual access to their children where they can get visitation rights. under our laws. these are real life consequences that people are dealing with, and you have a sitting lawmaker making almost light of the things that are really tragedies in a lot of people's lives. >> let's talk politics. why can't a conservative, and you can say at minimal he is a conservative. at worst a right wing crazy. why do they have to go into the crazy erogenous zones of the far right to keep these people behind him. steve king doesn't have to talk like this to keep his peeps behind him. why does he go that far? >> i think he does have to go that far to keep his people behind him. a lot of his base online, and in their communities, and the more excited they are with the idea they have someone who is going

to radically support their agenda, they will. i think that's the only way they'll stay with him. >> why does he just say i think abortion is immoral? >> why can't he say that? >> yeah. >> because he needs to provide rationalizations. this is what the evangelicals do with just about every group in the republican party. they find ways to rationalize amongst themselves, not to convince anyone else, not to bring anyone else in, not to make a position that anyone else would find appealing, but just to make sure within the community, they can feel okay with what they're doing. >> michelle, the problem with the argument, the counterpoint from him would be okay, we're going to force women who were raped or the victims of incest to have babies, because the law is going to come into their world and make them have the baby. does anyone think through what kind of country we would be if that were the case? >> i think they have thought it through, and i think that's what they want. i think he saying two things. saying yes, i am in favor of forced birth for women who have

endured horrible violence and trauma, but i think he is saying something else, and i think it's probably what he really believes which is that he sees rape and forced birth as important building blocks of civilization, and maybe even all worth it if it ultimately leads to the birth of steve king, right? >> maybe you think it's that self self-ref rential. >> he said i might not be here were it not for rape and pillage. so who can criticize rape and pillage? >> the visagoths. >> i think i spent more time than anything the last two years trying to figure out how the democrats are going to run a good candidate in 2020, someone who can win and hold the center of the democratic party and the left together to actually add up to a working, winning majority. and my question then, i think they could do it. the question is the failure of biden in the last couple of

weeks to exploit the opening he has as a moderate, because he's got that lane all to himself, what's going on? what do you see happening here? he's not played the game effectively in the last couple of weeks ago. your thoughts. >> well, i think first of all, there is a lot of time left. second of all, i think he probably doesn't see anybody encroaching in that lane. if you're just looking at this from a cold political standpoint, i think he feels like he's got it staked out. i don't know. i haven't talked to him about it. i will say this. i think, chris, this is a different kind of election because people forget that the majority of people that will vote november 2020 will not claim either democratic party or the republican party. they will look at the binary choice. and we have something that will unite the middle with the democratic party, and that is donald trump. and i think donald trump is such a unifying force for our party. i think we can withstand a few

bumps in the road through this tortious presidential primary process with so many candidates and so many people out there trying to play gotcha. >> michelle, that's the question. can trump turn the question to oh, you hate me, but i'm here. i'm not a left winger, social i'd the country. do you want to go to the left or stay in the middle with this crazy guy you've got as president right now but he is going to leave your taxes alone. >> i think he'll make that argument if he is running against elizabeth warren. he'll probably make that argument if he is running against anyone. but i think he can make the converse argument about biden. you'll see a lot of trolling about biden's records, a lot of efforts to depress voter turnout, to disillusion the base. you might see a lot of trolling about his lack of energy and the campaign. any of these candidates are going to have vulnerabilities. i just came back from iowa, and my sense when i went to events

for warren. i went to events for biden. i went to events for harris. i went to the state fair. when i talked to actual voters, i don't think that these lanes that we talk about are really real. i spoke to a lot of people who are trying to decide between elizabeth warren and joe biden and don't see them as really that ideological different, because on the stump they're both talking about their hard scrabble childhoods. they're both talking about middle class economics. i think people are making decisions using different metrics than we are in pundit land. >> the same access we all have, said very liberal, elizabeth warren. somewhat liberal, surprising, bernie. he is a little bit to the right of her. but they are interesting. ben, your thoughts. >> this is anecdotal, but i'm from south carolina and that hasn't been my experience. the experience i have had is not that elizabeth warren and joe biden aren't that far apart from each other if that's what said,

joe biden are a lot more appealing to from where i'm fro people who don't like trump. but i don't think not liking trump is a great strategy anyway. >> anyway, for a democrat to win in south carolina? >> yeah, i think biden could do well. >> could win the general? >> yeah. >> wow. >> the strategy in 2016 and the talking points from democrats in 2016 is even if bernie and hillary clinton were having this bloodbath, everyone is going to coalesce because donald trump is such a crazy figure. every democrat thought okay, this is clearly going take that. obviously that did not work out. i think pete buttigieg summarized the democrats' issues really well this the last debate. he said no matter what policies you're going to run, we're going to be cast as american socialists. and the president has settle odd on that language. >> do you think biden looks like a socialist? >> i think the president is going to continue to make that argument. i'm not saying it is correct. >> there is nothing about a culture that looks like a leftist. >> these democrats are going to destroy your way of life. and it's democrats who are going to have to say that's not clear.

but i think that's the argument. >> a lot of people i know are dying for a winner, and they want somebody who look likes a winner. they don't want to put up somebody who might win. a former republican congressman is urging his party to find someone to primary the president in the republican party. in a "new york times" op-ed, former illinois congressman joe walsh writes president trump needs a challenger from the right side of the party. the fact is mr. trump is a racial arsonist who encourages bigotry and xenophobia to rouse as i base and advance his political prospects. he adds mr. trump isn't a conservative. he is reckless on fiscal issues, he is imp competent on the border, clueless on trade and he subverts the rule of law. senator, your thought. that's a republican who wants to see a real challenger. i'm not sure bill weld fits the bill, because bill weld is a liberal republican from massachusetts. >> well, frankly, one of your guests has written a very good book that can speak to whether or not a challenge from the

right would work, because if there wasn't vulnerability on trump from the right, it would certainly be around fiscal policy and things like ethics and integrity and morality. and typically in the republican party, you would see the evangelicals that would be clamoring to get a challenge to him from the right. but he has managed to coopt a lot of those. but let me say this about what yamiche said. i get in 2016 we thought, well, doesn't matter, because we can beat trump. the problem was in 2016 none of us believed that trump could win. so a lot of people stayed home because they thought it was done. all of the punditry, all of the polls said hillary clinton was going to be president. i think everyone was shocked, including donald trump that he won. i don't think that will be the case in 2020. >> all i know is the experts when i said there is a lot of angry people on pennsylvania that don't like hillary clinton. there are a lot of them. the ivy league crowd all crowds togethers. we're all intellectuals.

she is has made her way. they don't have to vote for anybody. here is the question about it. evangelicals. they got a shot at this 7-2 conservative court if this guy trump gets another four years. ruth bader ginsburg might retire, something might happen. steve breyer might quit. they have a shot at permanent ham tonian control of the court. >> they came out in record numbers before for donald trump. they still even in some of the elections where there were less of them, they still have more support, 81% for roy moore. of the ones who came out. but i think the problem is this is the promised land, what you're talking about. supreme court? that is -- if they can achieve that, there is no amount that donald trump can do, nothing he can say, no amount of cursing to upset people or using the lord's name in vain that is going to prevent people from voting for him.

>> i think it's important to make the distinction we're talking about while evangelicals. and the people i'm talk nothing in the african american churches are saying this person is someone in president trump is someone who is using racist language who is really dividing our country. and the white evangelicals that i've been talking to, they're saying we do have a problem with this ethics, and yes, the courts are important, but the tweets and the talk about the invasion, that works on evangelicals that i've talked to. some of his evangelical supporters of the president, they're excited about the president's language. so i think yes, it's the courts, but it's also his race baiting that is helping him get in the white vel vote. >> the african american vote, they have their own issues like buttigieg. would they go for him? >> they have their own issues and there are some people that are going to question whether or not there are going to be some african americans who want to support homosexual presidential candidate. but i think honestly, a lot of african americans that i've talked to say if it's between pete buttigieg and the president, i'm going to go with pete buttigieg because i have already seen what president trump will do.

not just in his words. >> i'd love to see them after the polls. that would be very education. you're an expert. your book's called "the immoral majority." >> i was going to say. it might be white evangelicals, but you're talking about 26% of the electorate in the last four elections. so it is huge voting bloc. >> yes, definitely a huge voting bloc. >> extremely consequential. >> and they ignored completely the new york-based media, completely. thank you, claire mccaskill. >> as always, thank you, yamiche alcindor, and ben howe. coming up, the latest on the breaking news out of philadelphia in north philly where six police officers have been shot. this incident began at 4:30 this afternoon in the nicetown area. plus double standard? recent gaffes by joe biden have democrats concerned as they should. but the president of the united states can't get through his speech without making multiple false statements. yesterday he took credit for signing a bill he never actually signed and made false statements

about the united states trade policy with japan. well, montel williams is a former republican party member and he is calling out his former party for using hate, fear, and lies over their country and says the president is dangerously unfit to confront a world he says is on fire. join us later in the show. stick around for montel. much more ahead. stick with us. when i was diagnosed with breast cancer, i went straight to ctca. after my mastectomy, i felt like part of my identity was being taken away. my team made me feel whole again. cancer treatment centers of america. appointments available now. our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy! whoo-hoo! great-tasting ensure. with nine grams of protein and twenty-six vitamins and minerals.

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welcome back to "hardball." we continue to follow the developing situation in north philadelphia where six police officers have been shot and are being treated for nonlife-threatening injuries at this point. police urge residents to avoid that area. the suspect, who is holed up in a building in north philly near temple university is not currently in custody, continues to fire on the police, in fact. sources tell nbc news that police were in the scene, serving a warrant. well, there is a massive police prisoners surrounding the building, as you'll see here. a spokesperson told nbc news

they are attempting to talk to the shooter to get him to surrender. here is an audio, audio clips from over an hour ago when police arrived on the scene. >> be advised, cars be advised, second assist, shots fired, shots fired inside. give me s.w.a.t. asap, long guns, asap. this is nathan 1080. >> cars, stand by. >> the president of the united states has been briefed on this shooting. he continues to monitor the situation from his vacation home in jersey. for the latest i'm joined by nbc 10 reporter aaron baskerville who is on the scene. thank you joining us. what do you know right now? >> i'm just staring at a whole bunch of officers. we're in north philadelphia about two miles north of temple. and right now a whole bunch of officers are kind of huddled behind their vehicles in cars, and they're just focused on that

building in that area where that gunman is still holed up right now. some of the homes in this area have been evacuated. me personally, i've heard at least 40 to 50 different gunshots. these are volleys, they are rapid-fire, about seven or eight gunshots and five minutes later seven or eight more gunshots. that continues for about a 30, 35-minute period since i've been out here. where i'm at, my exact location, it's kind of died down for the most part. but you talk about some of the details. some of our sources are saying at least one officer, maybe two went inside that house, serving a warrant for drugs. they went inside that house, started to arrest a couple of folks. according to our source, that's when at least one gunman downstairs apparently started firing through the floor upstairs. there were other officers outside who obviously heard the gunshot and came rushing towards that home. they took on some gunfire. there is any good news

whatsoever right now is the six officers that have been shot are facing nonlife-threatening injuries. we've tlaerd may be a couple of injuries. they weren't shot, but maybe injuries responding. we haven't heard any gunshots in the last 30 minneapolis or so. but my position right now, i'm staring at 50 officers who are waiting to see what happens here. >> thank you so much, aaron baskerville. that's from my area. my grandparents lived there for years. let my bring in jim cavanaugh, former hostage negotiator for atf and tom winter, nbc news investigative correspondent. jim, this is a row house neighborhood, working class neighborhood. i don't know what we know, but you start shooting in those neighborhoods there is lot of people around. >> one of the earlier reports, i

don't know if it's resolved from nbc philly is that officers were trapped inside the house. that poses quite a great dilemma for s.w.a.t. supply and demanders if that's the case because they have to get their rifles trained to keep the shooter away from their officers if they are trapped inside. and what aaron just reported, maybe they were on the second floor trying to make some arrests. it is possible. that could be still ongoing. no shooting for 30 minutes may mean the shooter is dead. may mean there is ongoing negotiations, may mean they're still trying to get him on the phone. we just don't know. the critical point is are there any philly police officers still in there. if there are, they're talking to their commanders. they're talking to their s.w.a.t. commander on their phones, on their radio, and they're trying to make sure they can get their rifles between those officers, the s.w.a.t. rifles on target between those officers and any shooters. >> we don't know where they're being held. ransom or held captive, do we? >> right. or maybe in another room in the building and a shooter in

another room, but they don't have access to leave, like they can't go in the hallway because the shooter is active. so they may not be shot. may not be wounded, but they may just be trapped. the squad commandler have to deal with that. that was an early report. i don't know if aaron and his team in philly have verified it. it's a big issue for s.w.a.t. command. also, any other people who might be wounded in there could be bleeding. so there is a critical time frame here as well. >> thank you so much, jim cavanaugh. let's go to tom winter. tom, what are your sources telling you? >> a little bit of late information here. first off have i the answer to jim's question as to clorpt there are officers inside of that house or whether there are any injured. there are no injured officers inside the house. as far as whether or not there are still officers hold up inside, that's information i'm aware of. but with respect to the ongoing law enforcement situation and officer safety, i'm not going to discuss at this time. in regards to this, this incident happened approximately 4:30 this afternoon. it was due to a warrant that was

being searched, a warrant that was being executed at this residence as part of an ongoing narcotics investigation. there was initial concerns the suspect involved, the shooter here has an ar-15 style weapon. police are incredibly concerned about that. at this time they are trying to talk to him and trying to implore him at this point to end this. so more officers are not injured here tonight. six officers shot. the good news or the silver lining here, chris, if there is any is that all those officers are expected to survive. in addition to that, there had been some local schools, even a day care facility nearby. the indications that we're getting realtime here as i've been on the air with you and as you've been discussing it was that they would be able to safely evacuate those centers. but this is still very much an active scene in the philadelphia public right now is really concerned about officer safety moving forward and some things inside that house. >> amaze leg familiar territory

for me. thank you, tom winter and jim cavanaugh. it's a loathe close neighborhood where neighbors all know each other. coming up, double standard. recent gaps by joe biden have democrats worried. the president of the united states can't get through a speech without making multiple false statements. how about a double standard with the president? he is getting off easy for what he says. are these gaffes or lies? that's next on "hardball." ♪ limu emu & doug look limu. a civilian buying a new car. let's go. limu's right. liberty mutual can save you money by customizing your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. oh... yeah, i've been a customer for years. huh... only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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joe biden is not playing with a full deck. this is not somebody you can have as your president. >> i do think when you hear time after time these slip-ups from him, people question his mental acute to a degree. >> we see that joe biden is in a weakened position. he obviously can't remember, you know, just basic facts. >> welcome back to "hardball." following a series of gaffes by former vice president joe biden, president trump and his allies are trying to shape the narrative that the democratic front-runner isn't fit to be president. however, the president has his own problems, don't you think, gets fax right, don't you think? here are some of the false claims trump has made just yesterday during his speech in pennsylvania. >> i got sued on a thing call emoluments. you ever heard the word? nobody ever heard of it before. they went back. now nobody looks at obama getting $60 million for a book. that's okay.

many car plans that are coming in from japan, they send us hou thousands and thousands, millions of cars. we send them wheat. wheat. that's not a good deal. >> well, actually president obama didn't sign a book deal until 2017 after he left office. it wasn't a emoluments situation. and wheat is a very small part of what we export to japan. then there might be the lies he tells. >> veteran's choice. you've been hearing about it for 45 years. i got it approved. >> actually, president obama signed the veteran's choice program into law in 2014. and then there are sloppy mistakes like these. >> that's a lot of people back there for an 11:00 speech. that's a lot of people. >> the president's speech was actually held at 2:00 in the afternoon. when he looked at his watch, it should have said 2:00, and it did but he said 11.

i'm joined by donna edwards and former florida congressman david jolly, who is no longer affiliated with the party. mr. jolly, why do we give trump a free ride on things like crowd size, and his peeps don't seem to care at all about the stuff you have to decide is he stupid or is he a liar? >> i don't know that he gets a free ride. i think we've had him under intense scrutiny rightly so the last three years, but it's important how he can conceptualize. >> we don't say he is losing it. with don't say he doesn't have a full deck. we don't make comments about his iq like he does with biden. he is talking competence. >> well, i think some of us do. and to your point that we contextualize what we hear from donald trump is malice, ignorance, manipulation and intended to stoke division. the president of the united states knows he is lying where as how we contextualize how we

hear from joe biden and other candidates are what we have historically considered gaffes of a candidate. and i think in each case, it's important that we ask for explanations. i mean, we at -- we are tacking at people who are asking to be the next president of the united states. but we have to keep it in on the text. in donald trump we see lies based on manipulation, malice, rooted in dwiivision and dangers and joe biden are gaffes that need an explanation and follow-up. >> when he hears the word liberal democracy, they must be thinking about phil burton in california. no. they're talking about countries. a gaffe by the former vice president at a recent fundraiser reportedly misstated the locations of the mass shootings. he corrected himself later in his remarks. president trump also had trouble remembering one t location of one of the shootings dur his address last month. here he goes.

>> may god bless the memory of those who perished in toledo. and may god protect them. may god protect all of those from texas to ohio. >> toledo is where danny thomas is from. nobody says he is losing it. nobody says no full deck. >> look, the fact checkers have checked more than 12,000 of his lies, misstatements, whatever you want to call them. but i actually do think some of this stuff is intentional. remember the whole birther thing. >> have i people in hawaii checking this out. >> it wasn't on purpose. it was deliberate. there are things that he does are that are really deliberate and that are harmful and dangerous and that his people act on. i think it's important to call this out. i hate the comparisons. until a comparison fweeb somebody who makes an occasional couple of mistakes.

when biden makes comments like poor kids and white kids, and then he realizes somewhere in his head a bell goes off and oh, god, i just made an ethnic comment about who the wealthy kids are. no, there is wealthy black people and hispanic people. so he corrects it. he is hearing it as he makes the mistake. >> when i hear the difference between a candidate who was there and then he self-corrects. and if you lack at that room and the comments coming out of that room, the people in that room were not offended. look, both democrats are giving biden a pass. you can't see that that's really having a demon. >> look at this. here is trump who rarely admits getting anything wrong. this is true for one of the most inane issues. remember back in 2017 when trump said the infamous late night coc coc coc coc

cocofefe tweet. >> do you thihave concern? no. >> why did it stay up so long? >> the president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant. >> david, was it fraternity code, pigeon english, whatever you call it, pig latin. what kind of language was he talking? the other topic is it's the analogy, it's not the story, it's the cover-up. when we see him trying to lie, oh we all know what kofefe meant. they see the defensiveness. the opportunity, i think, for biden and any other democrat running, and to be fair, every single one of these democrats will make a gaffe at some point.

we also get to evaluate how they handle it. your colleague nicole williams talk about how george bush 43 leaned in, made light of them, made fun of himself. i think the opportunity like somebody for joe biden because we know where his heart is in contrast to donald trump, when he makes the comment there is a leadership moment he can embrace and the american people embrace him for. i did misspeak, but it is important. and here's how i want to clarify. on the simple gaffes, acknowledge them. what we see in donald trump is more obfuscating than lying. this is a president with a thin skin who is defensive. and the american people see that right away. >> you know, i love the way you talked about the birther thing, because he was elaborate about it. he embroidered it. he talked about how he has detectives in hawaii, a lie. and we're picking up interesting stuff. not only did he accuse barack obama of coming into the country

illegally, sneaking in, but he said he didn't have a real presence at the prestigious schools he went to. nobody knew him. what was he suggesting? he doesn't exist? he was very elaborate in these conspiracy theories. >> they were lies. >> what you describe is something that is really true of him. he takes these things and then embraces these conspiracy theories and puts them out there. and then he says oh, well, somebody said, as if to cast it off on someone else. on this birtherism thing, i think you have to connect the dots between that and the central park five and the recent statements on charlottesville and down the rest to connect this line where he's saying that somehow an african american guy who claims he wants to be president really couldn't go to the good schools. he couldn't get into the good schools. and by the way, we haven't even seen his grades. he went so far as to ask president obama where is your transcript. >> you can believe he got in on

affirmative action, didn't deserve these prestigious, or he didn't go there, or nobody remembers him. >> but i do think we have to hold the account to account when he lies. and it's hard for somebody like medical to even say the word lie because where i grew up, you didn't do that. but you got to call a liar when you see it. >> thank you, donna. you're a gentle lady to still consider the old rules of behavior. thank you so much because i can like them too. david jolly, thank you. i know you're having a hard time with in political party you used to be a member of. up next, former republican montel williams is out with a blistering op-ed column about the man he calls inept, emotionally unstable and actually president. you're watching "hardball." with fidelity wealth management you get straightforward advice,

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and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. - ( phone ringing ) - get details on this state program visit right now or call during business hours. welcome back to "hardball." an opinion piece put out today on usa today, montel williams has a stark warning for america. the former republican and talk show host writes the president seems to have gone off a

narcissistic cliff with america facing a rising tide of white nationalism and a world on fire we have a leader who is dangerously unfit. makes everything about him. and takes advice on war and peace from cable news hosts. he notes we wake up each morning to the president of the united states live tweeting "fox & friends" and litigating a laundry list of personal grievances. as protests flared in hong kong with the specter of another tiananmen square looming large and three mass shootings in a week, the president was busy tweeting conspiracy theories about a suicide and waging a twitter war with a former employee who is now a private citizen. williams adds, "tuesday, as the situation on hong kong continued to deteriorate, the president predictably made the crisis about him." montel williams concludes "that is absurd, and we need to say so, because the world is watching."

williams didn't limit his criticism to just the president, and that's up next on "hardball." oh, come on. flo: don't worry. you're covered. (dramatic music) and you're saving money, because you bundled home and auto. sarah, get in the house. we're all here for you. all: all day, all night. (dramatic music) great job speaking calmly and clearly everyone. that's how you put a customer at ease. hey, did anyone else hear weird voices while they were in the corn? no. no. me either. whispering voice: jamie. what? "burger! i want a sugar cookie! i want a bucket of chicken! i want....." "it's the easiest, because it's the cheesiest"

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humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. announcer: humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. man 3: ask your rheumatologist about humira. woman 4: go to mypsaproof.com to see proof in action. . welcome back to "hardball." the opinion piece in usa today, montel williams had a strong mental for members of his former political party, republicans. he writes, "my former party has spent the last few years covering for president trump's incompetence, instead of telling the president his behavior is

unacceptable, even crazy" republican leaders have chosen ambition, hate, greed, fear, lies and winning the next election over their country." "because of my country's intransigence we are most likely stuck with a president npc until the next 2020. please treat voting like your country's future depends on it. a low turnout will lead to four more years of chaos and depravity." i'm joined by montel williams, host of "let's be blunt" the podcast. montel, what is it? it's august now, his third august in national spotlight as the republican leader. what gets you now? what are you most afraid of this august of 2019? >> i'm afraid that's what happening as i said in my op-ed piece, have we reached a point now only two years in where we just as a nation don't care anymore. we've heard it. the din is so loud that every

single day the absurdity is so loud, you can't each pick which absurdity to focus in on. is it now we've gotten into his presidency for two years and people are just fed up? they're just done. they don't care. he'll good away in two years. that's what they may think ah, don't worry about it. it will come back to normal maybe in six years. what they don't realize in six years this country that we have all and people like myself have put a uniform on to protect and serve may not be here anymore. >> what oath do the republicans take? because they're very loyal to this guy. they're loyal to a higher oath. that's to him. what's that about? >> i don't understand that at all. they stood up when they accepted their placement in office and said i do solemnly swear or affirm that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states against all enemies foreign and domestic, yet they don't recognize that the domestic one is the one

they've sworn the secondary oath to of allegiance and that they will give unwavering support. chris, come on. every single day, you a president of the united states like some of these republicans. take a look at mitch mcconnell who made sure he made a deal to lift some of the sanctions against the russians who ensures that his state got a $200 million investment in an aluminum factory because it's all about money. how much money can i make and give the perception that i'm making money for you when that money is going right in their pocket. >> let me ask you to help script a tv show. this is like "veep" only it's not like "veep" because it's real. "veep" was a funny show. this is a show about the president of the united states. getting up every morning at 6:00, waiting for the newspaper to arrive. this is what i hear goes on. sitting in a beautiful bedroom up top of the white house. the paper is delivered in paper, the actual "new york times." he reads it and begins the country's agenda by tweeting out his grievances. >> are you sure he reads it or

someone colors in, putting a little stripe across a couple of lines. >> i have an insider. i'm just saying, this is based on the timing when the people at "the times" know when his paper gets to him physically. and his tweeting begins like then. >> when he gets a synopsis. when some other aide reads the newspaper and reads the entire article, pulls out one or two little talking points and hands it to him, then he responds by doing things. come on, the president of the united states is selling t-shirts to make fun of chris cuomo. but using a derogatory phrase, and that is what a lot of people in this country don't understand right now, we look at what we perceive as racist comments coming from the president, we think that they're only going to be directed at brown people. but let's remember, chris, go back in time. remember, this country for a period of time, we fought riots in the streets because we didn't like polish people. we fought riots in the streets because we didn't like italians.

we fought riots in the streets because we didn't like croatians. we don't like anybody that we claim is different from us. now we've got the president of the united states selling t-shirts. really disparaging italian americans by using a term "fred do"fre "fredo ♪ . >> you know your history. no street level windows because they didn't want the protestants throwing the rocks through the windows. that was how bad it was back then. >> how about some more history, chris. look, a week ago, the president was disparaging my hometown, which is baltimore, maryland. but let's also remember that there was at one point in time baltimore was the capital of the united states. and baltimore also was one of probably the most instrumental states -- or cities in this country that helped build our infrastructure the way it did when we had bethlehem steel. we had mccormick. we had all these other business

there's that left the city and left the jobless rate. he was disparaging the city that was probably one of the greatest cities this country ever had. >> baltimore also had the political convention. montel williams, thank you. it's great to hear your voice. >> thank you. up next, how speaker pelosi is trying to save the peace in northern ireland as brexit threatens it. you're watching "hardball." ins, so you only pay for what you need. nice! but uh, what's up with your partner? oh! we just spend all day telling everyone how we customize car insurance because no two people are alike, so... limu gets a little confused when he sees another bird that looks exactly like him. ya... he'll figure it out. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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my mother's family was made up with the shields as the conroys, the quinlans. they were irish catholic to the core. my father's mother, on the other hand, was a protestant who emigrated here from northern ireland. nevertheless, the two families melded into one, and that one was comprised of my four brothers and me. well, you might say we're an early personification of the good friday agreement of 1998 which i was happy to cover for my old newspaper, the san francisco examiner. there are the headlines. what i love of course being who i am is how good friday brought peace between the two sides, catholic and protestant, nationalist and unionist, and an agreement to sharing governing northern ireland and to solve their differences peaceably. what i loved most was the end to the troubles, the violence that had plagued the north for years. well, today there is a risk, brexit. the british exit from the european union threatens to reestablish a border between northern ireland and the republic of ireland putting up that hard border emperils the peace that's endured these 21

years. speaker nancy pelosi yesterday said the united states will not agree to any u.s. trade deal with the uk if it brings back that hard border. i'm glad to see her out there making this position clear as hell. we americans believe in the promise of good friday. that's "hardball" for now. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. tonight on "all in." >> a major sell-off here on wall street today. >> stocks plummet on growing recession fears. >> when the curve inverts 10s to twos, bad things usually happen regarding the economy. >> tonight what we know about what's happening to the american economy and what the president is doing about it. >> our economy is doing great. then moscow mitch says that he is the grim reaper. >> new reporting on the kremlin ties to kentucky as democrats turn up the heat on mitch mcconnell. plus, the growing calls for donald trump's attorney general to recuse himself from anything having to do with jeffrey epstein.