"smerconish" starts now. ♪ ♪ >>> i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia.welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. the real news in this week's inspector general report is that it confirmed the juflgs that deputy a.g. rod rosenstein once gave president trump to fire james comey. so what does it mean for mueller tries to tell rosenstein there was obstruction of justice? >>> and much fun was made of the over the top hollywood-style movie the president showed kim jong-un at the singapore summit. but as a propaganda exercise, did it actually deserve five stars? >>> plus, a lawsuit accuses harvard of limiting asian american admissions by downgrading applicants regarding personal traits like likability, kindness and being widely respected. do the ivies discriminate against asians? and john travolta with me to talk about his new movie about convicted gangster john gotti, based on a book by his son gotti jr. i'll ask the two of them if the film glamorizes gangster life. >>> but first, we finally got the inspector general's 500-plus page report

♪ ♪ >>> i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia.welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. president trump taking on the world ruffling feathers at the g7 summit with his america first tariffs and demand that his fellow leaders reinstate russia before he heads to singapore to break bread with kim jong-un. what's happening behind the scenes planning these momentous events? i'll ask a former advance man for president george w. bush. i heard a different perspective from this man who i ran into outside the studio this morning -- >> i am a faithful trump supporter. >> what's the attraction to trump? >> backbone. >> backbone? >> that's right. >>> also, two high profile suicides this week designer kate spade and cnn's own anthony bourdain, sadly they echo new cdc findings that suicide in the u.s. is up 25% in the past two decades. is it any coincidence that the most popular course ever at yale university psychology and the good life aims to teach students how to be happy. >>> and miss america pageant ending its evening

. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ ♪ >>> i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia.welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. roseanne goes too far and gets cancelled, but smagt bee's still got her job so president trump is complaining about a double standard. he's right but not for the reason he thinks. >>> and unemployment is down to historic lows but americans are also much less likely to outearn their parents. what's the cause of that economic divide and can that tailspin be reversed? >>> plus, a senior about to graduate places a joke ad on craig's list offering his high school for sale, but in today's school shooting climate, administrators think there was nothing funny about it. what's the lesson there? >>> and roseanne wasn't the only celebrity in a twitter jam this week. anonymous tweets about the nba have been associated to the nba operation of basketball and his wife and his job hajs in the balance. >>> but first, the president wants to talk about double standards and samantha be. let's do that. this week, roseanne barr's show was cancel

back with us michael smerconish and david trunker.tarted off with it's a trap. >> admiral akbar. >> new cnn analyst recently signed. in all seriousness, it may be a trap to not only change the conversation but to distract from the very real questions, michael, about where these children are, how they're going to be reunited, what the plan is, all of those answers are still very murky at best. >> erica, you remember that we've learned the president views every day in the oval office as another episode of a reality show, and i think you're really putting your finger on something significant now because he likes it when the narrative is one of the president versus maxine waters or the president versus peter fonda or robert de niro or jimmy fallon, whatever the issue of the day might be in his mind. look at what's going on at the border, look at this iconic american brand in harley-davidson, now saying we're going to have to move overseas some of our responsibilities, and so you're right, all of these substantive issues that should be tak

"smerconish" is next. >>> i am michael smerconish in philadelphia. we welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. general motors just fired a shot across the trump administration's bow warning that more tariffs might cause less investment, fewer jobs and lowers wages. what does this mean for the president's america first policy? well, the president's top trade adviser peter navarro is here and my view as to why the timing of justice kennedy's retirement virtually assures that his replacement will be no, well, justice kennedy. >>> plus, most americans disapprove of the separation of illegal immigrants from their children but republicans are in favor of it. why? i think it comes down to demographics. >>> after comedian d.l. hughley grew tired receiving advice from white people like megyn kelly, he wrote about it. he's here to discuss his new book, "how not to get shot." >>> but first, in the president's ongoing quest to put america first, he's torn up a lot of the ways in which the country has done business. today an 850-foot-long sh

. ♪ >>> i'm michael smerconish in los angeles.e welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. the immigration issue tearing at people's hearts and minds to the point the president made a rare concession. what is the solution on the border mess? governor john kasich is here. toil in secrecy, his poll numbers are dropping. is america tiring of the russia probe before mueller releases his findings? trump's numbers in the gop is record setting highs, is that because those who oppose him are abandoning the party all together. steve schmidt is the one who chose sarah palin as it has running mate. now, george will is advocating everyone vote democratic in the midterms to quarantine trump. and the current culture of instability is blamed on everything from the president to hollywood, social media and the politically polarized country. what can be done about it? i'll ask film maker, actor and activist, rod rider. the images are as upsetting as the policy. immigrant children housed in tent cities and transported around the

. ♪ >>> i am michael smerconish in los angeles.e welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. the immigration issue tearing at peoples hearts and minds to the point where the president made a rare concession, but what is the solution on the border mess? and as the special counsel ll l toils in secrecy, his numbers are dropping and trump's numbers in the gop are in record-setting highs, is that because those that oppose him are abandoning the party all together. steve schmidt, he is the one that chose sarah palin as the running meat and columnist george will is advocating everyone vote democratic to y r quarantine trump. i will ask rob reiner. first, there is no doubt the images are upsetting as is the policy. immigrant children housed in shelters our transported around the country. i will not defend separating children from parents. i am pleased that the president yielded to public opinion. that is a good thing. people that despise donald trump ought to note he listened to reason and changed his mind. people that

maybe shy be saying, i'm michael smerconish and i approve this message. hard to classify and yet it explains the health bike i'm launching today "clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right american life in:lums." yes, i borrowed with permission that 1972 steelers wheel hit song that's also the opening every hour for my sirius xm radio program. i'm not making a penney, copper or otherwise on this project. i'm thrilled that all authors proceeds benefit the children's cries treatment center which provides social services to kids the victim of trauma. that's a cause all of you are supporting by beg here today. my above my wife who is here and front and center is on the cctc board and i applaud her work and the work of everybody else who is involved in that cause. >> so, the book is a collection of 100 of what i consider to be my more memorable columns published fromhe 1,047 by my count, from the philadelphia daily news and inquirer. i'm extremely greatful to the ily us? enfirer for the permission to publish this work and i'm very grateful to temple another

joining us to discuss is michael smerconish and margaret. this is a trump administration policy. jeff sessions, steven miller, they have talked about how they are purposely doing this as deterrents. >> john kelly. >> john kelly. they could interpret zero tolerance however they want. george w. bush started the zero tolerance policy, referring all the illegalen trapbts for prosecution, but they didn't separate the children from adults because they felt that was in humane. the trump administration is interpreting it in this way in order to be a deterrent. is there any sense, margaret, other than sort of the media outcry about this that public sentiment is catching on and turning on and demanding a change to this policy? >> i think this weekend, and the last few days have been pivotal in painting a different narrative than the one the administration initially talked about as they tried to explain this policy. i was going to say justify this policy. the second wave is this is the democrats' policy, which we know it's not. there is a tremendous amount of internal division inside both t

. >> let's start there with michael smerconish, host here on cnn.el, you, lawyer hat, you think this ig report will make it more difficult tos we prosec an obstruction case against the president. why? >> i do. i don't think the president has been exonerated. i've gone through the 500 pages, and i don't see exoneration anywhere in the document. but insofar as it relates to the firing of comey, what i do see in that report is an affirmation of what rod rosenstein wrote in this memo back in may of 2017, where he provided the justification for president trump to fire comey. and here's the awkward situation that it sets up. seemingly, what mueller will do when he finishes his report relative to obstruction is hand that report to who? to rod rosenstein. and he'll be handing a report to rosenstein. rosenstein has skin in this game. i don't know how rosenstein doesn't have a conflict in so far he himself is a critical witness to having provided the predicate to the president. now as you have correctly pointed out, this comes down to what was in the presiden

do not miss smerconish saturday mornings 9:00 a.m.tern here on cnn. >>> next, an iconic american brand, harley-davidson now moving some of its production overseas. this is all connected to president trump's tariff policy. always, he's to shower his generals with praise, but now it seems the president's relationship with some of them has frayed. let's get into that. almost $800 when we switched our auto and home insurance. with liberty, we could afford a real babysitter instead of your brother. hey! oh, that's my robe. is it? when you switch to liberty mutual, you could save $782 on auto and home insurance. and still get great coverage for you and your family. call for a free quote today. you could save $782 when liberty stands with you. liberty mutual insurance. a single tap offerss to peace of mind.y, uber is giving you new ways to tell loved ones you're on your way. uber is moving in a new direction. forward. does your business internet provider promise a lot? let's see who delivers more. comcast business gives you gig-speed in more

. >> with me now, michael smerconish, and author of a brand new book "cleaowns to the left of me jokersht." let me quote roger stone, the same roger stone who said two weeks ago he was ready to be indicted said, "the special counsel has awesome powers, as you know, but the president has even more awesome powers." was that message received, michael? >> listen, roger may be a beneficiary. who's to say which way this whole thing goes in the end. i don't know what the president's intention is but even if his intention wasn't to send a message to those who are somehow caught up in the mueller web, no doubt that's the impact that all of this is having. in the case of d'souza, it's a two-fer. it's a bone to the base and a message to some who might face criminal prosecution or are already facing criminal prosecution that he's got their back, he's going to be loyal to them. i don't think it would spare michael cohen if that case should develop along state charge lines, we really doesn't know, b -- don't know but i'm sure it's having consequences with some individuals. >> in the way of trump tele

." >>> "smerconish" starts right now. ♪ ♪ >>> i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia.nited states and around the world. general motors just fired a shot across the trump administration's bow warning that more tariffs might cause less investment, fewer jobs and lower wages. what does this mean for the president's america first policy? well, the president's top trade adviser peter navarro is here. and my view as to why the timing of jus

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." >> "smerconish" is next. having it problems?visor how to get on demand tech support for as little as $15 a month. this week get boise case paper for only $29.99 at office depot office max. it can grow out of control, disrupting business and taking on a life of its own. its multi-cloud complexity creating friction... and slowing innovation. with software-defined solutions, like hpe onesphere, you can tame the it monster. hewlett packard enterprise. clouds, apps, and insights faster. i we worked with pg&eof to save energy because wenie. wanted to help the school. they would put these signs on the door to let the teacher know you didn't cut off the light. the teachers, they would call us the energy patrol. so they would be like, here they come, turn off your lights! those three young ladies were teaching the whole school about energy efficiency. we actually saved $50,000. and that's just one school, two semesters, three girls. together, we're building a better california. ♪ >>> i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. we welcome our

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"smerconish" is next. >>> i am michael smerconish in philadelphia.ers in the united states and around the world. general motors just fired a shot across the trump administration's bow warning that more tariffs might cause less investment, fewer jobs and lowers wages. what does this mean for the president's america first

. >>> "smerconish" starts now. ♪ >> i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. the united states and around the world. roseanne goes too far and gets canceled. but samantha bee still got her job so president trump is complaining about a double standard. he's right. but not for the reason he thinks. and unemployment is down to

"smerconish" starts now. ♪ ♪ >>> i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia.ld. the real news

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[applause] >> booktive continues with michael smerconish who talk about why his views have shifted over the years. [music] [inaud conveations] >> ladies and gentlemen, i was

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