reelection hopes? >> why was it important for you to speak with house >> i think the democrats are investigators today? why come back from ukraine? lousy politicians with lousy policy. two things they have. president trump calling the their vicious and they stick house impeachment inquiry "a together. they don't have mitt romney in their midst. republicans have to get tougher and fight. we have some great fighters but lynching," causing immediate outrage from congress. they have to get tougher and >> to compare the constitutional fight because the democrats are trying to hurt the republican party for the election. process to that is far beneath >> yamiche, it would be very surprising to the democratic caucus to be accused of sticking the office of the president of the united states. together and not fighting >> the president has the support, on this, from lindsey amongst themselves. >> it's pretty clear that the graham. >> this is a joke. president is concerned at least this is a sham. that senator mitt romney could and this is a political lynching. be just the beginning of pushback he might receive from and race against time. the syria cease-fire about to senate republicans who he's going to need if he gets expire as vladimir putin meets impeached and if he then goes on today with turkey's president to trial in the senate, he's going divide up their territory. to need senators like mitt romney to say we don't want to remove the president from office. what the president is really >> reporter: while president saying there is that he is trump focuses on syria's oil, worried that the last few weeks, turkey and russia are focusing really, have shown that on carving up the whole country. republicans have a propensity to push back against him. you see that on g-7, you see

that on syria. good day, everyone, i'm it's pretty stunning to see the president say, look, the andrea mitchell in washington where a prime witness in the democrats are doing something right and we should be emulating impeachment inquiry, veteran them. that's not what he's said in the past. it's clear that the president in ambassador bill taylor, is on some ways feels back up against the hill, a leading opponent to the wall because she's trying to freezing military aid to change the subject. his tweet today on lynching is ukraine. but at the moment, the president has ignited a political bonfire something that you see him by comparing impeachment to lashing out to change the lynching. substantia subject when the subject should stay on the fact that there is with this tweet, that all an impeachment inquiry going through the house. >> and a very important witness republicans must remember what they are witnessing here, a today. that witness's testimony, sam, lynching, according to the long awaited. naacp, more than 3,000 people were lynched in america between this is the veteran diplomat 1882 and 1968. bill taylor whose text message that's more than the number of americans who died on 9/11. said it's crazy to even think in addition, 1,297 white people about holding ukrainian were lynched, many for helping blacks or opposing the hangings. political aid -- military aid to joining me now, nbc's kristen a political campaign. now we hear freshman congressman welker, nbc's garrett haake, and andy levin from michigan,

nbc investigative reporter dan filling his father's seat, this is what he had to say. >> all i've had to say is in my ten short months in congress, hughes. kristen, this is deeply offense it's not even noon, right, and this is my most disturbing day in congress so far. very troubling. thanks. i ha >> this was bill taylor's ive when you realize what's testimony, the initial reaction, happened throughout history. one of the first people to come >> that's right, andrea, and out. >> you don't normally here a congressman bobby rush said this tweet must be pulled, this member of congress speak in that way. it's dramatic, obviously. condition stand. you laid out the painful history we clearly need to know what was of lynching, obviously it dates said and hopefully we'll find back to slavery in this country out eventually. and is linked to that very bill taylor gave a very lengthy painful past for so many people opening statement, that's what living here. our reporters heard, and he had to do so under subpoena because it also comes on the same week the state department tried to that congressman cummings is being laid to rest. hold him back. everything we're getting all of this is really stoking anecdotally from the hill is that it's a remarkable set of racial tensions, andrea. this is a tactic we've seen from testimony, again painting a this president in the past, picture of a potentially corrupt making statements, comments that process going on at the state draw headlines, and in essence department vis-à-vis ukraine and it diverts from other headlines that are problematic for him. withholding military aid. in this case the ongoing

impeachment inquiry on capitol >> sam stein, thank you so much. hill, as you pointed out, a key witness, bill taylor, testifying yamiche, keep listening and behind closed doors today. watching, this is about one of your mentors, good news president trump clearly wants delivered first class, yamiche's the focus to be on his tweet, on friend and mentor, our friend, this conversation. the u.s. post office announcing and yet we know that that today it's honoring esteemed testimony is ongoing and will undoubtedly yield some revelations that will add to the journalist gwen ifill with her broader scope of the ukraine matter that we've all been witnessing. now, my colleague peter alexander pressed hogan gidley, very own forever stamp. gwen, who would have been 64 the principal deputy press years old on september 29th, died three years ago of cancer but she lives on in our hearts secretary at the white house about the use of the word and minds forever, now on a stamp as well. coming up, quid pro woe. "lynching." gidley said the president has been good for african-americans and cited the low unemployment rate. how mixed messaging is hurting the white house is struggling to defend this. >> even the republican leader in the white house's defense. the house, minority leader kevin defen. mccarthy, had difficulty with it. garrett haake, i want to play defen. fights cancer, this for you and get your repairs shattered bones,

reaction. >> that is not the language i would use. relieves depression, >> reporter: why wouldn't you use that language? restores heart rhythms, >> i don't agree with that language. helps you back from strokes, pretty simple. and keeps you healthy your whole life. >> but he is not -- it's not universal among republicans, as from the day you're born we just showed lindsey graham we never stop taking care of you. coming to his defense. what is the mood up there? is the solid wall of republican support for the president, given everything that's happened, ukraine, syria, the attempt to use the doral for the g-7, are republicans getting shaky on president trump? there are lots of people who are >> andrea, i cannot count the confused about which medicare number of times something like this has happened in the time plan is right for them. hey, i've been covering capitol hill that's me. i barely know where in the trump administration to start. well, start here with where the president tweets me, karen. i'm a licensed humana something offensive, tweets sales agent. well, it's nice to something that catches meet you, karen. i'm john smith. republicans off guard, and splits his own allies, makes it hi, john. at humana, we know impossible for people up here to you're unique. so you have different needs from other john defend him. you can sub in paul ryan for smiths. yeah, i've always thought so. and together, we can kevin mccarthy and play the tape find a plan that's right for you. great! i go to the doctor a for dozens of similar incidents couple of times a year. and i over time. have some prescriptions. but i'm

lindsey graham is on an island. never fully sure of what's he is the only republican i have covered and what's not. with humana's all-in-one medicare heard to try to defend the advantage plans, you get coverage for hospital stays, president's language. doctor visits, and part d everyone else has tried to divert their answers to the idea prescription drug benefits. all that they think this process is for an affordable, and sometimes, no monthly plan premium. do you have any more information? sure. i'll get a decision guide in the mail to unfair. you today. they're free. once again, as i said, we've finally. someone who understands seen this so many times, the president out in front trying to the real me. your health and lead his own defense and leading happiness is important to us. his troops into a canyon where call or go online now to get your free decision guide. call a they will not follow. licensed humana sales agent today. it makes it frustrating, tiring, for both parties, to be either trying to defend an indefensible conduct by the president and running out of language to defend it. >> a key witness up there will not be diverted, because william taylor, a veteran diplomat, he replaced yovanovitch in ukraine. dan, you've drilled down deeply

into this, dell us the significance of taylor's president today. >> it's no wonder that the president is trying to distract. this is a really important witness. this is someone who was there right after yovanovitch left. we've seen his text messages. he clearly was not red to accept what the house was trying to push, an investigation for political personal gain for the president. here is bill taylor, a career political diplomat who came out of retirement no woto work, so don't really have leverage on him. it's telling that the president is tweeting what he is today to try to be provocative and to divert. >> we don't know how many other text messages there are or what this seat? other evidence he has, but this seat is reserved for the restless. clearly he can talk about kurt those who need to move. volker, he can talk about gordon and roar. sondland and some of the other and ride. political appointees who were up, down, over.

carrying water for the president powering through. this seat is for those that get down in it. and rudy giuliani. he could talk about giuliani. >> that's right. and he knows a lot more than into the fray. what we saw in those text the arena. messages. he was in on this communication this seat is not for spectators. with ambassador sondland, a political appointee who the ♪ gladiator president had asked to basically ( ♪ ) take care of ukraine and pursue this agenda which he apparently thought would help his political prospects. taylor is a career professional. this is not someone who shoots from the hip. he's also probably someone who embattled white house acting can't be intimidated. this is a vietnam veteran. chief of staff mick mulvaney kept his head gown during he's very experienced, he's very yesterday's cabinet meeting. perhaps because he had publicly acknowledged the ukraine quid seasoned. he clearly did not like what was pro quo which the president was being proposed and you see that reminding himself to vigorously in these text messages. deny with a handwritten note to what else does he know, what himself reading no quid pro quo. other documents could he share? the white house is nervous. which a new "washington post" it's behind closed doors, it's like a grand jury. op-ed calls not a very good one. it's hard for them to counter what's going on. >> that's one of the big former deputy assistant general complaints from mike pompeo and steve scalise and republicans on the hill, this is behind closed writes it is very unlikely to doors. hold up you against a series of

but this is exactly the format witnesses which are already told that benghazi took as well in the story of where the clear goal of putting pressure on those earlier interviews on volodymyr zelensky was to get ukraine to deliver dirt on a political opponent. and joining me now is that on that either. former assistant attorney general harry litman. mike pompeo could be the real so why is it inadequate for the loser out of this testimony president to just hold up that today. at his level, bill taylor would know what was happening on the note that he writes to position seventh floor of the state that there is no quid pro quo? department where pompeo and his >> you know, it is funnily what inner circle live. they even want to achieve by it. >> it's got to be very uncomfortable for the secretary. it seems to be a kind of slogan all of this has to be for them. it is wrong in a couple ways. uncomfortable. first, it is just wrong on the he's come under criticism for not protecting ambassador law. this would be the kind of yovanovitch, not coming out exchange and pressure that he publicly to defend her role, put on zelensky in order to get even though she was told she had the military aid would be a done nothing wrong. these unbased, unfounded classic quid pro quo if you want to talk law in latin for the -- allegations came out against her. if you are in criminal court. you can see his discomfort when he's asked about these things. but the bigger point here, and i >> and lashes out at people like think the dems are playing bill byrnes who is a demi god smart, i think that they want to sort of vault over the legal niceties and go more to the kind among foreign affairs people.

of crystaline of abuse of power he told george stephanopoulos that this really presents. that byrnes was auditioning to anyone can understand quid pro be elizabeth warren's secretary quo or not that he was using tax of state, which set off rocket payer money that was supposed to be for the security interests of the united states and using it flares across washington. for his personal petty political >> they see themselves as interests to get ukraine to nonpartisan professionals, like deliver dirt on a political opponent. that is really what happened soldiers. now they see themselves being here. that will be the focus of the accused as partisan somehow and dems. they take offense at that and i think that the legal because they've served under nicety of no quid pro quo, if different presidents. anybody even understands it, bill taylor served for decades. including the republicans, won't yovanovitch served for decades. have much purchase. they faeel under siege, that they're under some sort of political attack. >> and nbc is reporting that the democrats are zeroing in on they want to be able to tell abuse of power on a very simple their side of the story and set and very focused impeachment the record straight. >> dan, thank you. article. >> yeah, i mean i think that is kristen welker and garrett haake, thank you as well. smart. i have to say after a pretty california congresswoman karen bass joins me now. i want to ask you about the disappointing juncture president's analogy on twitter post-mueller report when the that the impeachment inquiry is like a lynching. develops seemed disorganized, i

think that they are playing it >> well, i mean, he's well here. we have witness after witness essentially saying that us carrying out our constitutional coming behind closed doors and mandate to provide oversight and including bill taylor who made investigation, the checks and it clear in a text what was balances, we're a co-equal going on. branch of government, that performing our constitutional duties is equal to a hate crime. and i think this will be and to evoke the horrific legacy pointing to a kind of devasta devastating video presentation of lynching, and, you know, with clips that had dadam schifl during the years when lynchings took place, they were advertised like sporting events. present to the house as a whole people were told to come out on that will bring home the broader a sunday, bring your family, theme of abuse of power as watch an african-american be opposed to any crime as it were burned, watch an african-american be hung. such as bribery. there is a museum called the i think the overall theme is national memorial for peace and emerging very well through justicch is a museum that individual witnesses with no documents this history. i would s i would suggest that the president go visit that. know difference he clearly doesn't understand the constitution, he doesn't mote differen motive to lie. understand our constitutional duties and doesn't understand or >> and before i let you go, what have an appreciation for u.s. history. one thing that is consistent is your reaction to william barr about this president is every time his back is against the and the assistant attorney wall, he uses race, he throws

general durham circling the out race as a bomb to divert the globe trying to dig up attention. and i think that it is just completely different narrative for what was happening actually another egregious example of him in 2016 with the origins of the being unfit to serve. counterintelligence >> and i wanted to read to you investigation into russia's hacking of the u.s. election? something that lindsey graham has just said, when asked to >> yeah, you know, it seems clarify what he said by quite bizarre to me. supporting the use of the word lynching, this is what he said. i understand why barr put durham this is a political lynching, in charge of this investigation. okay? what is a lynching? a mob grabs somebody based on but one of the good points of it their color, their religion. was that durham has a very good they destroy their life. nobody is saying that the reputation for being nonpartisan president is going to be and now it looks like barr is driving toward a very particular physically hurt here but this is mob rule, that's what lynching result and one that seems like a is about. once you grab somebody, you don't hear their side of the story, you destroy them. almost a fantasy on the facts, it's a kangaroo it's a all this crazy almost novel stuff about mifsud and the like. sham, it's political, it's not and for the attorney general to be personally on the street personal. >> lindsey graham, a senator instead of an agent to listen to from a southern state, should frankly be ashamed of himself. tapes is i would just say to try to minimize torture and extremely -- it is murder and say the equivalency unprecedented. >> and raises a lot of questions

because this is a powerful of, this is just him being hammer indeed. ganged up on, he should be ashamed of himself. thank you so much. and coming up, finish the fight. >> you're right, people should you are watching andrea mitchell go to that museum that brian reports. reports. cologuard: stephenson and others helped colon cancer screening for people 50 and older at average risk. create. thanks very much, karen bass, as honey, have you seen my glasses? always. >> good to be on. i've always had a knack for finding things... former president jimmy carter was hospitalized last ...colon cancer,to be exact. and i find it noninvasively... night after falling at his georgia home. no need for time off or special prep. the carter center tweeted this it all starts here... morning, he has been admitted to you collect your sample, phoebe sumter medical center for and cologuard uses the dna in your stool to find 92% of colon cancers. observation and treatment of a minor pelvic fracture. you can always count on me he is in good spirits and looks to know where to look. forward to recovering at home. oh, i found them! i can do this test now! the 95-year-old, the ask your doctor if cologuard is right for you. covered by medicare longest-living ex-president, and most major insurers took a fall earlier this month. he told me that no injury could keep him from the organization he's dedicated much of his post-presidency to, habitat for humanity. mr. president, i've known you a long time, we've known each other, i've seen you all over the world. you're now working with a black if you have moderate or psoriatic arthritis,

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scherzer named game one starter. the underdogs hoping that maybe shark magic can help us finish the fight. let's go nats. and that does it for this edition. follow the show on line, facebook and twitter. and here is ali velshi. >> thank you. have yourself a great even. hello, everybody. it is tuesday, october 22. coming up, crucial developments in president trump's impeachment inquiry. today the top u.s. diplomat in ukraine who is called ukraine's policy crazy is testifying behind closed doors. why the white house might be nervo nervous. and president trump is ramping up his war of words comparing the impeachment inquiry to a heinous part of american's history, lynching. and plus we're just two hours away from the turkey cease fire since we're obviously lost, expiring and turkey's president i'm rescheduling my xfinity customer service appointment. is meeting to talk next steps. ah, relax. i got this. what it means for america's influence in the region. which gps are you using anyway? >> and president trump's legal team strikes a deal with

a little something called instinct. prosecutors over his tax been using it for years. returns, but now the fight could go all the way to the supreme yeah, that's what i'm afraid of. court. he knows exactly where we're going. my whole body is a compass. oh boy... the my account app makes today's xfinity customer service simple, easy, awesome. not my thing. in syria, that so-called

cease-fire negotiated by the u.s. is set to end this afternoon. will turkey resume an all-out attack against the kurds? turkey's president erdogan met with russia's president putin today to divide up zones in syria for which areas russia and which areas turkish troops were control, this after the pentagon's plan to withdraw u.s. troops, to reposition them in iraq. the baghdad government says americans can transit through iraq but cannot remain there history. the president offered his own revisionist history of the u.s./kurdish alliance. >> we're working with the kurds. we have a good relationship with the kurds. we never agreed to protect the kurds for the rest of their lives. >> nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel is on the ground in northern syria. i'm sure it's surprising, richard, for you to hear the

american president say we were there protecting the kurds rather than fighting isis or having them be the ground troops against isis for us. >> reporter: this is one of the most disgraceful moments for u.s. history in the middle east. president trump is abandoning an ally, an ally that is now on the run with 70,000 children living in camps in the desert, the children of u.s. allies who are still u.s. allies despite all of this. and it's happening in real p, k adding insult to injury as the kurds are losing their homeland, facing ethnic cleansing. day after day president trump keeps saying they're not important, that they never had this great friendship, that the u.s. never had any debt to them, that there's no responsibility here, that he's bringing the troops home, that he wants the oil. if you saw just recently courtney kube at the pentagon

was reporting that it took lindsey graham going to the white house with a map to show the president, to say, hey, look, don't pull all the u.s. troops out of syria because look, there's some oil there, you might want to stay there. so it wasn't the fact that the kurds are being pushed off their homeland in hundreds of thousands already. it wasn't that hundreds have already been killed. it wasn't that the u.s. is breaking this bond with an ally, an ally that lost 11,000 men and women fighting against isis. it's not that he's pulling out american troops that still have a mission here. this is still the largest concentration of isis fighters anywhere in the world. it was, look, there's some oil there, as if theseind in syria are going to be going around with pails, picking up cr to convince the president to maybe consider not completely abandoning the kurdish people,

maybe completely not abandoning syria but leaving a few hundred troops there, maybe. and while this bonfire is spreading here in the middle east, you have right now vladimir putin and turkey's president erdogan looking at a map in sochi, dividing up the country between themselves and the kurds are heading out to camps in the desert. it is a disgraceful moment. >> richard, it is so disgraceful and so agonizing, i can't even imagine what it's like for you there, among the troops, the men and women you know, general mazloum and others. and in afghanistan, we're drawing down. in northern syria, we did not notify our allies, our european allies who are there, the jordan annia jordanians and others, and we're drawing down without notice in afghanistan as well. >> reporter: more amazing reporting coming out of

washington, they're saying they're drawing up emergency contingency plans in case president trump wakes up tomorrow and decides he wants more troops out of -- more troops home, more endless wars to end, andf afghanistan which would lead to the immediate collapse of the afghan government and the takeover by the taliban. so they're now drawing up contingency plans in case president trump has some sort of mood swing like he had here. to be clear, and this has never been made clear, president trump keeps saying he's bringing the troops home out of the middle east. he doesn't really care what happens if erdogan and putin want to carve it up amongst them, who cares, we have no debt to the kurds. the kurds fought in isis with us. there is a bond of honor that u.s. officials repeatedly said they would honor. the troops in syria are the most elite forces, they want to be

here, they have a mission. their mission is to fight against isis. this area has the highest concentration of isis fighters anywhere in the world, still. >> richard engel, thank you so much, be safe out there. joining me now is republican congressman mike gallagher who serves on the armed services committee and is a military veteran himself. congressman, what is your reaction to all these twists and turns and the president's rationalization for it? >> well, my primary concern in syria is that we can see cascading effects. in other words, our deterrent posture in the region could collapse. if we allow erdogan to bully us and force us to back down, what signal does that send to the iranians? and at a time when it's increasingly likely that the iranians will again attack the saudis, that could actually drag us into a bigger war that we want to avoid. the best way to avoid we're in the middle east is to have a strong, forward-deployed

presence. that's my primary concern. my secondary concern would be the role that putin is playing in this process. it's my belief that putin's goal is to insert himself, really to drive a wedge between the u.s./turkey relationship. erdogan is doing a good job of hurting that relationship by himself but we can't allow putin to become the power broker in the region because it relates to the first concern. the signal it will send is that putin, if he backs you, you will survive anything and all the authoritarians around the world will finland-ize towards russia away from american influence. >> carol lee, our investigative reporter here, reported that lindsey graham and a fox news expert had to visit trump at the white house with a map and

showed him the oil fields, which would be a very difficult mission to protect, putting troops in harm's way to guard the oil fields when we've actually bombed some of our own facilities so the russians and other forces can't take those facilities over. >> i would just say, when the president signaled his decision last year, a group of us who are military veterans in congress met with him, voiced our disagreement. he listened and decided to change his mind and offset troop reductions with a corresponding increase in allied presence. i think that was a good decision. hopefully we can figure out a way to minimize the damage a withdrawal will signal. to those who want us to get out entirely from the middle east, i would argue we have arrived at the moneyball approach. we don't need hundreds of thousands of troops in these countri

countries to have influence. and we don't have to pull out entirely. there is something in the midd e middle, where we work with our allies to advance our interests so that we don't get dragged into wars on someone's terms. >> that's exactly what we were doing and it was working. there was at least an equilibrium there. let me ask you about the impeachment inquiry and where this stands, especially today after the president compared the impeachment inquiry to a lynching. how do you react to that language? >> well, i didn't see the tweet, i just saw your previous segment. that rhetoric shouldn't be used, plain and simple. for anyone trying to defend it, i would just point to the outrage we all had when we had democratic members of congress using the language of concentration camps. let's look at how we can you'kce our rhetoric. my view is that boomers broke the basic institutions of democracy and we have to find a

way to repair them. as for impeachment, it's hard for me, not being on any of the requisite committees, to even have access to the documents i need to make an informed choice. i hope the process gets opened up and i hope accusations that serious will result in an equally serious process which right now we don't have. >> congressman mike gallagher, as always, thank you. thank you for your service. >> thank you. antigovernment protests that have paralyzed lebanon, a toddler named robin was stuck in traffic with his mother when a dozen or so protesters chanted and carried flags surrounding their car. robin's mother begged the men to stop because the noise was bothering her son. the protesters obliged and instead started singing the ultimate ear worm to calm the boy down. [ singing ]

one of the "baby shark" singers tells nbc news, after the song they went back to protesting, a song that has truly gone global especially here in washington. coming up, putin under pressure. how vladimir putin teamed up with hinge ungary's prime minis. do your asthma symptoms ever hold you back? about 50% of people with severe asthma have too many cells called eosinophils in their lungs. eosinophils are a key cause of severe asthma. fasenra is designed to target and remove these cells. fasenra is an add-on injection for people 12 and up with asthma driven by eosinophils. fasenra is not a rescue medicine or for other eosinophilic conditions.

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they met with the whistle-blower. nobody knew that. we just found out. they knew. and where is the person that gave the whistle-blower the information? because is that person a spy? or does that person even exist? i have a feeling that person doesn't exist. i think schiff might have made it up. >> president trump on fox news monday, escalating his attacks against the whistle-blower who exposed the ukraine scandal and house intelligence chairman adam schiff from leading the inquiry. new reporting on vladimir putin and hungary's right wing prime

minister coordinating to manipulate the president before that critical phone call with ukraine's new leader. that is of course the heart of the impeachment investigation. joining me now, frank figliuzzi, nbc news national security analyst. your reaction to the president, because the chilling effect against whistle-blowers is pretty profound, if you have the president of the united states calling a whistle-blower who has come forward, who has been validated by the inspector general, and is now being called a, quote, spy. >> well, i think we're seeing a strategy here that's not new to us, andrea, which is that you attack the origins of an investigation. we see it going on in the form of attorney general barr's attempts to destroy the origins of the special counsel inquiry. but here is the bottom alone for whistle-blowers. there's been complete vindication and validation for this particular whistle-blower in the fact that he's enabled

and emboldened career professional after career professional to come forward and tell the truth in depositions to the house intelligence committee. that's a win for whistle-blowers and people who want to do the right thing. when you can do something called parallel construction, that is, take an informant's or asset's information and develop it on your own so it stands alone and you don't need to expose your source, that's a win. that's exactly what's happening here and that's exactly what's frustrating the president. evaluat he has nothing left to do but attack the whistle-blower, who apparently is somebody who is not need ed from an evidentiary perspective anymore. >> what about the prime minister of hungary and vladimir putin

manipulating president trump, poisoning the well and turning him against ukraine? >> we're learning a lot from the reporting regarding the hungarian head of state. we get more insights about the kind of people who can influence and manipulate this president. and we're getting more insights about what it takes to survive in the white house. that is, the closest advisers to the president didn't want this meeting with hungary's leader to even take place. he's an autocrat, he leads his nation with increasing nationalistic fervor. who won the day? mick mulvaney, who made the meeting happen. this president wants to hear only that which he agrees with. if you can figure that out as a foreign head of state and feed him a narrative he can bite on and agree with, you can now

manipulate and compromise that president. that's what putin is doing. the notion that putin may have teamed up with the hungarian leader to present a common theme and narrative is particularly disturbing from a counterintelligence perspective. a leader who only hears what he wants to hear is no longer a leader, andrea. he becomes a follower of anyone clever enough to feed him the narrative they want to feed him. >> and here is another example, right from that cabinet meeting yesterday with the president, proving your point about how he relates to totalitarian leaders. this is president trump about north korea. >> north korea, i like kim, he likes me, we get along. i respect him, he respects me. we could end up in a war. president obama told me that. he said the biggest problem, i don't know how to solve it. i said, did you ever call him?

no. actually he tried 11 times. but the man on the other side, the gentleman on the other side, did not take his call. >> the gentleman on the other side. first of all, according to ben rhodes, susan rice, the deputy national security adviser, president trump never tried to call or communicate with kim jong-un, just factually wrong. >> i challenge the white house to show their data and counter the denial here that these 11 attempted calls were made. again, what we're seeing is the president aligning himself with the wrong people and in the process, allowing himself to be manipulated. whale we're all focused on russia and ukraine, rest assured, north korea is playing this president. they continue reportedly to develop a unique submarine capability, to deliver the ability to fire missiles from that submarine. they continue to test missiles

and some kind of secret agreement has been worked out between trump and north korea that as long as you don't embarrass me, as long as you don't outwardly show development in your nuclear program, all will be well. that's what appears to be happening here. the president, again, being manipulated and by the wrong people. >> frank figliuzzi, thank you so much. and coming up, critical mass as republicans rally around the president. a majority of americans now say it is time for president trump to be impeached and even removed from office. details next. stay with us on msnbc. e you have a clear plan to cover the essentials in retirement, as well as all the things you want to do. because when you're ready for what comes next, the only direction is forward.

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if it's not a shark, it's just a robot. impeachment politics are casting a dark cloud over the president's mrl futurpolitical . a new cnn poll shows 50% of americans polled say mr. trump should be impeached and removed. republicans are still rallying around the president. yamiche alcindor and sam stein join me. sam, first to you, these poll numbers, the president's approval rating is steady as you go at 41%, 57% disapprove.

>> as dramatic and chaotic as the presidency always is, it's always remarkably steady, always high 30s, low 40s approval and mid-50s, high 50 disapproval. steady, they must be somewhat relieved. >> this is always the question, as to, yamiche, the base hasn't completed abandoned him. i wouldn't want to be at 57%