nbc's jeff bennett is in lafayette park where the rally took place. with what's going on. indeed what happened? you and i spoke a few hours as this was getting underway. there was a small tempest, a small conflict at lafayette plaza. that's dissipated. what are you seeing now? >> hey there, david. we actually walked into the back half of that skirmish. we were trying to make our way from the white house to a live location. we were routed around it by secret service. as you mention, the white supremacists were outnumbered exponentially. there were two dozen of them and the number of counter protesters numbered really into the thousands. somewhere between 1500 and 2000 counter protesters. the white nationalists were outmatched. they were disorganized and dee legitimatized by that poor showing that they had. and we should say good thing they had a poor showing. you did see a real kind of level of organization on the other side that made the effort really mounted by jason kessler to look really, really bad. so at this point -- we should also mention of co

. >> details and insight joining me now, jeff bennett. cnbc editor at large. john hardwood. former federal prosecutor. with the welcome to you all, i'm going start with you. pretty bad week for the president. also with the inspector of cohen cooperating. the mystery national enquirer safe. all these stories about the president allegedly. can you give us a gauge of the president and the staff's mood because we know he's gone on a tweet storm this morning. >> that's true, alex, great to be with you. look, president trump, people close to president trump describe his mood as calm for now, but they say they're certainly bracing for the president to melt down and lash out. as you mentioned, we're getting a view of what's on the president's mind as we often do on saturday's like this based on his twitter feed. apparently up early watching fox news. he tweeted his reaction to a segment about hillary clinton's e-mail investigation. he's also suggesting a new tad deal in the works with mexico. negotiators for mexico and u.s. work out a deal to renegotiate the north american free trad

ed gordon and msnbc white house jeff bennett is live at the white house. he highest level african-american serving on the west wing staff. who has replaced her? >> reporter: after two days of putting questions to the white house officials, sarah sanders got back to us. henry child the ii is carrying out many responsibilities that omarosa has. he does not have the same title that omarosa has and his office is not in the west wing. what matters is not just the white house does not have a top black staffer in the west wing, that's bigger than that is any white house staff, politics aside and any administration really from top to bottom should reflect the overall makeup of america. both in terms of gender and geographic diversity and in terms of racial and ethnic diversity, too. >> there are 40 million african-americans who are citizens of the united states of america. what does it say that they are not represented by a single person who works closely with the president in the west wing? >> well, let's be clear, historically african-americans, minorities in thi

let's start with the nbc news, white house correspondent, our jeff bennett. mcgahn called tru kong. >> reporter: it appears that president trump earned that nickname. disgraced and discredited by bob mueller and his whole group of democratic thugs. anybody needing that much time when they know there is no russian collusion is someone looking for trouble. they are enjoying ruining people's lives. the rest of that tweet is not worth reading. you see the president accused mueller of ruining people ee's lives as the jury is deciding whether or not to convict manafort. the message the president is tailing to his base supporters and so many of his tweet, the president is trying to reassure his court supporters that don mcgahn's cooperation with the special counsel is a good thing. y you also try to see him spelling the notion that don mcgahn turned on him even though the two men set to have a strange relationship. the president values don mcgahn experti expertise. 30 hours is a long time to be talking to federal investigators and some of the president's advisers ar

for more on that, i'm joined by jeff bennett. lso be talking with laura bassett from huff post. and with the guy day to all three of you, we go to you first, jeff. is there any sense about what is driving the president 'tweet storm today? >> no, not really. >> i'll tell you what many are saying. he's attacking the fbi and the hillary clinton e-mail investigation. he's taunting his own attorney general. the president has been under fire given the legal issues facing his former confidants and former associates. he's also having to deal with the fallout from this new book from former white house staff e omarosa. she was on "am joy" this morning, and she revealed an encounter she had with steve bannon. he's still a leader in the alt right movement. he was once the leader of a website, breitbart news which pedals in white nationalism. omarosa asked steve bannon if the rumors about him being a racist are true. here's what she says is his response. >> steve bannon was always straightforward about who he is, where he stood. he was unapolo

>> jeff bennett at the white house. thank you. >>> in ft. worth, texas, today a deadly collision between a passenger train and a dump truck. the truck was nearly destroyed on impact, two people inside were killed. 11 people aboard the train were taken to the hospital, two in critical condition. >>> tonight marks the one-year anniversary of hurricane harvey, the wettest hurricane ever measured, dumping more than 27 trillion gallons of rain on texas. the flood waters have long receded but a recent study found 40% of residents are still struggling to rebuild. >> reporter: the flood waters have long receded, but what hurricane harvey left behind -- struggle for kim charles. >> it's anshell. >> reporter: it's home. >> that's where we are right >> reporter: it's been a year and charles is one of the many residents in hard hit southeast texas that still feels underwater. >> we're still in limbo trying to figure out what to do. >> reporter: she's applied to fema twice, but says her applications were kicked back on technicalities. harvey swept into t

jeff bennett, thanks very much for your reporting. we'll be checking back in with you tonight. >> sure. >> meanwhile i want to welcome in my panel with me on set, former rnc chairman and political analyst, michael steele. whouts reporter for l.a. times and nbc political analyst eli stokols. polster and msnbc political analyst cornell belcher and the president of the national urban league and former mayor of new orleans, mark morial. thank you all for being here tonight. michael steele, i want to start with you as somebody who is -- there is a lot being ascribed to what i think is still your party, although you have had some major differences over the course of the last year. >> we're working that out. >> but what do you read into what you saw today with this frankly dismal showing, and what the president had to say about it so far? >> i kind of ignore the showing in all of that. that's "melodrama" that will play itself out one way or the other. 24 people, 400 people, that is what it is. how that is ultimately framed in my view is what

nbc's jeff bennett tonight on how the first lady is coming to the defense of james. >> reporter: latest squirmish in the ongoing btle between president and professional athletes.ee twng that the lebron was interviewed by donn. le he made him look mart which isn't easy to do. he slammed the president. >> he used sports to divide him. >> reporter: the trump twitter fop athletes in support of lebron james. even the first lady stepping in, lookg to do good things on behalf of our next generation. this week he opened a school for under privileged children in his >> kids want to know if we know him about him wre twitt. >> reporter: the president ended his twitter wit i like ike. jordan telling nbc n support lj. he's doing amazing job for his community. >>> and wizard star guard bradley biehl also weighing in on the controversy on twitter. biehl replied to the president and said, quote, tiertd red of end quote. >>> switching gears would you pay though sajds of tlars for sneakers. lots of folks came to arlington to do that. sneaker festival offers young adults to sellesigner shoes the event was

jeff bennett has more. let's talk about it. what are the numbers that you are seeing in the interpretations of it all? >> reporter: the numbers look pretty good for the president, alex. after a week that saw president trump's former campaign chairman convicted on eight counts of fraud and his lawyer to a felony, you have the president's job approval rating remaining virtually unchanged. this from "the wall street journal." the day the news broke about mfrt and cohen, it stands at 46% approve, and 51% disapprove, but look. despite the durability of trump's approval, most voters are not convinced that the president himself is completely insulated from the legal problems of his associates. you have got fewer than 3 in 10 voters convinced that trump himself is not implicated, not involved in the wrongdoing of these six trump associates who have either been convicted of crimes or pleaded guilty, and on that point, you have the top democrat on the house intelligence committee, adam schiff. he was on the sunday shows today da talking

. >> nbc's jeff bennett wraps up the day. >> reporter: two separate demonstrations, both in the shadow of the white house. >> back up. back up. >> reporter: some of the same groups, white supremacists and counter protesters gathered for a sequel. >> we're in 2018. we're not in the jim crow era. white people are becoming a minority in the united states and europe, and we face real discrimination. >> reporter: organizers of the white nationalist rally expected up to 400 demonstrators. in the end, only a couple dozen showed up. outnumbered by counter protesters who held their own rallies throughout the city. >>> what did you think when you saw only 2 dozen or so of these white supremacists get off the train? >> d.c. is heaven, that's what i know. >> we're supporting one another and then they didn't get what they wanted. >> reporter: unite the right leader jason kessler pushing for what he called white civil rights. >> it's okay to be white. white lives matter, too. >> reporter: law enforcement on high alert all day. a coordinated effort to prevent a repeat of the bloody brawling that erup

. >> jeff bennett at the white thank you. >>> in fort worth, texas, today if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. . >> dumping more than 27 trillion llons of rain on texas. the floodwaters have long receded, b a recent study found 40% of residents are still struggling to rebuild. katie beck hashe stories. >> reporter: the floodwaters have long receded, but wict hue harvey left behind. >> this has been home since. >> reporter: it's a far deeper struggle for. >> reporter: it's been a year, and charles has been one of the manyesidents hard hit in southeast texas that still feels under water. >> we're still like in limbo tryingo figure out what to do. >> reporter: she's applied to fema twice for help, but says her applications were kicked back on technicals. harvey swept into texas and stayed for days swallowing wa hi, cars, and homes. the storm claimed 6 lives and prompted 30,000 water rescues. >> 80% to t85% ofhe structures in our city ere somehow impacted by t

>> thank you, jeff been fet, fr -- bennett, for that. look, i know you both were watching that clip about rudy giuliani, so jeff, i want to ask you first, there are a few points here that he makes with chuck todd. first he says that we're going to unload on him like a ton of bricks. second -- meaning robert mueller. secondly, he says, we're not going to fire him, okay, because there's always the question that comes up as to whether or not the white house will end up firing. and third, is he going to revoke security clearances, chuck asks him. he does not answer that. then he kind of muddies the water about whether issuing indictments within 60 days of an election, he's not doing that, potentially, but he can take a break. there doesn't seem to be clarity on what that justice department rule is. what do you make of all this, jeff? >> number one, it seems to be a continuation of a strategy that giuliani has followed and that that team has followed to try to undermine the mueller investigation. that has been multi-pronged for many weeks, and

and jeff bennett. it is very clear that omarosa, whatever evidence she has has gotten under the president's skin. >> without a doubt. that is not something up for debate. she has caused the week to be spoiled for white house staffers. sort of crumble underneath them, omarosa was in a lot of rooms. she attended a lot of meetings. and people in the white house tell us that even though she didn't have a large policy portfolio and even though she doesn't have that much of a record of accomplishment to roll out. many colleagues criticize her for being there. she managed to place herself in the room for a host of meetings. and having conversations. and people don't know how much of that she taped. it is the big question mark. it is the open question and that is why there is so many agitation in the white house. >> she may have been one of the most productive people around every meeting she was in she taped. >> trump staffers live in fear of omarosa's next tape. three times in a row she made an allegation. th

let's start the conversation on this friday with jeff bennett, he's at the white house. just so we are clear, jeff, the president was asked about revoking security clearances. he brengs he mentioned bruce's name and then he mentioned mueller's name. he says mueller should write his report. tell us more of the president's thinking if you can jeff on this topic. >> reporter: one way to interpret this is president trump is walking right up to the line. he knows taking steps to shut down the russia investigation would blow back on him so instead what he's doing is he's hitting robert mueller and the special counsel team over and over again as a way of discrediting any of their findings. the president is doing this as he's got vulnerabilities swirling around him. when it comes to security clearances, the president feels embolden by this by stripping john brennan's security clearance. and those close to the president says -- much like his presidential pardon power. something that he can do unchecked. now you add to this list, this doj official named bruce orr. let me explain wh

. >> lonnie chen and jeff bennett thanks for joining us. >> the jury in the paul manafort trial are givingndications that they're wrapping up their deliciouses. deliberations. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from any one else. why accept it from an allergy pill? flonase relieves sneezing, itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose, plus nasal congestion, which most pills don't. it's more complete allergy relief. flonase. >>> jury deliberations set to resume tomorrow morning in the trial of ex-trump campaign manager paul manafort. so joining me now are white collar criminal defense attorney glen ivy and "wall street journal" reporter aruna. thanks for being here. not surprising, friday, the jury asked for more time. they have a lot of evidence to go over. is a fact that a verdict hasn't been reached yet a good sign for paul manafort? >> well, i would have been surprised if they had come back that quickly. i think as you mentioned, 388 exhibits, 18 counts, fairly complicated legal matters to sort through. so i would think they would take at least a few days to get through that. now, on the ot

jeff bennett is in foggy bottom where white supreissu supremacie marching.expect these unite the right white nationalists protesters to arrive. their plan is to march from here over to the white house which is in the shadow of the white house. that's about a mile away. when they get off the train, they will be greeted by a hundred or so chalk messages left by counter protesters. there's a message that says love, not hate. there's another quote over here from malcolm x. you see a message that says be nice. the world is cruel enough. they expect up to 400 demonstrators. compare that 400 number to the 2,000 counter protesters who are all around washington including where we saw. the primary goal is to keep the counter protesters and the protesters separate to prevent the violent, deadly melee we saw last year in charlottesville. >> we expect later onto see the prote protesters emerge. >>> next, ocan she even do that? we'll ask an attorney, next. ♪ ♪ ♪ i put a spell on you ♪ yeah, because you're mine ♪ with chase atms serena can now grab cash on the go, all with

joining me now, jeff bennett, chief white house correspondent.operating with mueller investigators? >> for a lawyer to share so much with investigators scrutinizing his client is unusual, but white house counsel don mcgann views his role as protecting the office of the presidency, not specifically the president, so that makes him different from rudy giuliani, the president's outside attorney, so mcgann has an entirely different motivation, but "the new york times" reports mcgann's cooperation began partly as a result of the decision of the result of the president's team of outside lawyers to fully cooperate with the mueller team. the president's lawyers at the time said they believe president trump, their client, had nothing to hide and that they could bring the investigation to a quick end by collaborating with the special counsel. that has clearly changed over time as the president's outside legal team has changed. eric? >> geoff, what do we know about the relationship between don mcdan and president trump? >> first, we should say don mcgann is

. >>> starting at this hour, jeff bennett and laura basset and john harwood. we'll begin with jeff. let's get to what the president is saying about this with a good day. >> president trump is lashing out again at former cia director john brennan. it's the president's latest effort to counter criticism he's faced since deciding to strip brennan of his security clearance. the president is hitting back predictably on twitter, and now he's suggesting that there's some misdeed or mistake in brennan's past which the president says warrants further scrutiny. the president saying it without offering any evidence. here's the tweet. has anyone look add the mistakes brennan made while serving as cia director in he'll go down as the worst in history and since getting out, he's become nothing less than a political hack who cannot be trusted with the secrets to our country. and we should point out that before being named cia director by former president barack obama, john brennan served in the agency for more than two decades where he briefed both democratic and republican presidents. but the pre

joining me now, nbc jeff bennett at the white house. chief for "the washington post" and political analyst, senior writer for politico, jake sherman, look, we knew the president wasn't going to go to arizona if for the funeral. apparently not going to take part in d.c. stuff. he's got that mccain controversy that's going to linger i think until we see him laid to rest, but ideal good and will why now? it seems like he's got good economic news he could be talking about. >> certainly this something the white house officials are trying to talk about in past tense. pointed to a statement put out yesterday. trying to move on. we know the vice president will speak at the simoceremony at th u.s. capital and a delegation of senior white house officials will go to service was on saturday. some white house officials say they're relieved the president got to a point they wanted him to be on saturday night, issuing a statement. issuing the proclamation and moving on to other issues like trade and economy. only reason we're talking about google toda

. >> jeff bennett from the white house. thank you, sir. again, president trump and president kenyatta is set for a bilateral meeting at the white house. we are told of 15 minutes from now, we are seeing military members getting into place there. we'll keep you abreast. let's stay with us for a moment here. president trump and the first lady there and melania trump is set to greet president kenyatta and his wife there at the white house. >> margaret kenyatta is the wife of uhuru kenyatta. there you have the initial hello. the greetings and the exchanging of pleasantries and his wife mrs. margaret. the president of kenya meeting with president trump. first lady, melania trump is heading into the white house. we are told it will be a brief meeting and after that, they are expected to comment to take some questions. we'll take you back to the white house when that happens. call it pizza gate, 2.0. violent attacks against small businesses accusing them of being involved in democratic party affiliated child sex abuse rings. it felt like my heart

. >> mike viqueira and jeff bennett outside the metro station at george washington united states. the white nationalists are expected to come to george washington university and make their way to the plaza just north of the white house. we'll follow this all afternoon right here on msnbc. >>> i want to bring in betsy woodruff, a reporter for the daily beast and gabe, let me start with you. what we have heard from the president on this thus far. it's confined to 280 characters. the riots in charlottesville a year ago resulted in senseless death and division. we must come together as a nation. i condemn all types of racism and acts of violence. peace to all americans. let's go back a year ago, the extraordinary press conference that took place here in new york in trump tower in the marble foyer. how has his approach to this, his awareness changed at if at all? >> i don't think it's changed much at all. i think there are some se plant cal differences on the margin. he understands his solid base comes from the alt-right, so he wants to keep them in the tent. as i reported in a piece i

i'm joined now by nbc news white house correspondent jeff bennett. on the campaign trail over and over and over again, donald trump saying how good he was at getting projects in ahead of schedule and under budget. >> reporter: yeah. look, katy, this is pretty damaging for president trump's most coveted construction project the long promised southern border wall. you have a watchlog report saying the wall would blow through the budget and miss key deadlines and may not work as planned. all tolled the dhs would probably waste billions of dollars. that's assessment from the gao. all because the department hasn't fully completed a cost and construction analysis. so here's what we know. we know u.s. customs and border protection tested eight prototypes. president trump visited them back in march. said each design would work better than existing fencing. but the thing to know about this report, you have the government accountability office saying that dhs agrees with its recommendations, agrees with its assessment that there needs to be tougher scrutiny. t

and jeff bennett. certainly, you've been watching the coverage of the stories. it could fill 100 books at this moment, what he has done for a public servant, and the simplicity that drove him, just to be that, a public servant. how is the white house reacting to the passing of what so many have called this lion of the senate? >> richard, as you mentioned this evening, the flag above the white house is flying at half-staff. the lights are on at the residence meaning that president trump is awake and presumably watching this coverage on cable television. the two-sentence tweet we got from the president is likely all we're hear from the president and the white house to mark the passing of senator john mccain. the president saying, my deepest sympathies and respect go out to john mccain. no making mention of john mccain the man, his life, the legacy, that ends with an exclamation point. and to talk too much about president trump feels inappropriate and disrespectful, given the way that president trump disparaged john mccain over the last six months. but listening to

." >> jeff benefigeoff bennett, thy much. i want to dig into this more. josh and lynn is joining me. lynn, let me start with you. geoff bennett mentioning the 2'7" district in new york and this is a district that sort of hugs buffalo, it is in upstate new york. and donald trump won that district by almost 25 points back in 2016. you look at the electoral record for the congressman who has announced he is suspending his campaign. chris collins won that district 67% of the vote back in 2016. let me put the same question to you as i put to jeff, what is the import of this as you look ahead to the midterms? >> it depends if he gets his name off the ballot. that is the next question we have to ask. local authority determine the rules for elections. if his name stays on the ballot, then it might make it improbable that a democrat would be elected. after all, a long time ago when a congressman by the name of dan lo rosten rostencowski was running, the republican won. so he first has to get the name off the ballot. if he does and they nut another credible candida

jeff. >> new technology at a bay area airport that will help you get through security faster. >> mila kunis here. music from taylor bennett. a great show. stay tune. >> happening now, we are continuing to track the nelson fire burning near the vacaville border. 10% contained. many families allowed to return home, still some mandatory evacuations in effect. be right back with more news. arl make history. she )s bringing cannabis oil to class! we take you inside the fight between her family, school and the state. when you join us for today in the bay. monday from 4:30 to 7. but can it make people go blind faster? researchers at the "university of toledo" say "yes." >>> no secret staring at your phone is bad for your eyes but can it make you go blind faster. researchers say yes. over time it causes significant vision loss. wear sunglasses that filter uv or blue light and avoid looking at smartphones or tablets in the dark. >>> airport is getting a 3d scanner. checks for explosives. tsa says lines at security checkpoints. oakland radars are their first pre season game of the year. sports next. while other burger places sesae

bennett did not mention anything about a payment in his statement. and jeff, argento's attorney, we reached out to her several times and have not heard anything back. >> troubling to hear details about. all right, jericka, thank you. >>> the president today presented the medal of honor, the highest award for valor, to the widow of air force technical sergeant john chapman. he gave his life protecting fellow troops in one of the ugliest battles of the war in afghanistan. >> john gave his life for his fellow warriors. through his extraordinary sacrifice john helped save more than 20 american service members. >> we have more on all of this. here's david martin. >> reporter: al qaeda was waiting for air force sergeant john chapman and a team of navy s.e.a.l.s when they came off the helicopter. >> the enemy was in basically overhead positions around him on three sides raining down fire in three different directions. >> reporter: lieutenant colonel michael wendelken spent 2 1/2 years analyzing every frame of surveillance video of the 2002 battle in afghanistan. >>

i want to start with geoff bennett who covers the white house for us at msnbc. jeff, as "the washington post" put it today, president trump has yet again tweeted about his personal legal issues in way he perhaps shouldn't have? >> it's a great point because, look, the president's position is one that's on its face really only leading to more questions. the president is asserting that the 2016 trump tower meeting with the russians was part of the normal course of politics. he says nothing came of it, yet he is insisting vehemently he knew nothing about it. why make that argument? we don't know. here's what we do know, and you spoke to some of this. when "the new york times" first learned of the trump tower meeting and pressed the trump white house for a response, the president dictated a false statement that said the meeting was focused on the adoptions of russian children by americans. after we learned that statement wasn't through the president made the argument that, hey, it's not a crime to lie to the press even if it means misleading the american public by extens

jeff base as bill gates making them a multibillionaire. he adopted informally a number of these americans such as lauren delano, such as robert bennett forms as his american sons and did business with them exclusively and he gave a present to the american sons not only banquet that his mansion, he also gave them portraits of himself that they would then bring back to america and they would hang in a parlor and accounting houses. to have a picture in your office or parlor was a sign of-- to your visitors that you were in the most exclusive and lucrative mercantile club in the world. he of course said when he was in the opium trade he said he was willing to shut the opium trade leads to the first grade complex and tragic complex between the middle kingdom and the western world with the first opium war that lasted between 1839 and 1842 in which china decides to enforce its anti- opium laws and basically the chinese government said to be american and british traders and over-- hand over 20000 chests of opium or else. well, after a siege of the factory district the americans and british hand over this opium worth of the hundreds of millions of

jeff flake is my friend. he and john mccain and i along with lindsey graham and marco rubio sat down with chuck schumer and bob menendez and michael bennett 68 votes. it's an indication when john mccain is the leader, when he brings us together, things happen. now he's gone. will someone step up? i think they will. someone will step up in his memory and try to bring leadership again to solve the problems that we face. >> you know, i hope you're right. i do, though, want to ask you more broadly, senator, there's been a lot of criticism in the past several days of the president, his slowness in issuing a statement honoring senator mccain, that he had to be pushed to again lower the flag over at the white house. even his staff told nbc we are doing what we can to be respectful this weekend, but we can't stop the president from tweeting off message if that's what he decides to do. lindsey graham and others have expressed this hope, that mccain's legacy will be a more bipartisan washington. i wonder, senator, realistically given the atmosphere these days, dow re do you have real hope of that happening? >> i have hope that it will happen in the

jeff. >> chilling case. adriana diaz, thank you. >>> actress asia argento today denied having a sexual relationship with an underage actor. argento, one of the leading voices of the "me too" movement admits paying000seimmy bennett. in a statement, she says they were just friends, and she made the payment at the urging of her boyfriend, celebrity chef anthony bourdain, to keep the matter private and to help bennett economically. bourdain took his own life in june. >>> parts of hawaii are under a hurricane watch tonight. hurricane lane, a category-4 storm with winds of 155 miles an hour, is expected to pass close to the big island and maui on thursday. residents and tourists are being told to prepare for heavy surf and potentially flash flooding. >>> up next tonight, relatives overcome with emotion as a father accused of murdering his family appears in court in colorado. >>> and later, students topple a confederate statue. why did i want a crest 3d white smile? dinner date. meeting his parents, dinner date. so i used crest. crest 3d white removes 95% of surface stains in just 3 days, for a whiter smile that will win them over. look for a one dollar coupon in this sunday's paper. >>> a heartbreaking scene in a col