ashley parker, robert costa. our thanks to you both as always. coming up, an interesting incident in federal court today. in a case against donald trump. something you don't see every day. josh gerstein takes us inside that courtroom when we come back. >>> president trump has been accused of profiting off his presidency, and today a lawsuit to determine if he violated the constitution reached its highest level thus far. at issue is the rarely used emoluments clause, which basically says the president can't accept money from a foreign state. in this case a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of d.c. and maryland point to the profits brought in by the trump international hotel. it's just down the street from the white house. it's the landmark converted former post office building just steps from the mall. a popular spot for visiting foreign governments. the future of this case seems uncertain right now, however. josh gerstein of politico, who was in the courtroom and waiting to join us in just a moment, wrote today, "a federal appeals court pane

ashley parker, white house reporter from "the washington post." frank figliuzzi, former saecht director for counterintelligence at the fbi. from "the new york times" mike schmidt and here at the table former u.s. attorney and former senior fbi official chuck rosenberg. matt miller, former chief spokesman at the department of justice and former cia director john brennan joins us. let me start with you, chuck, we are in this sort of -- let's just fess up. we've all got our phones in front of us because we really are in this moment where anything can happen at any time. our viewers are i think growing impatient with this idea that we're all on mueller alert. but we are on mueller alert because the white house is on mueller alert because the attorney general is on mueller alert. >> that's right. we're all on mueller alert. to tamp it down just a little bit, what mueller is doing is really important. that report matters a lot but that report is not the whole ball game. by the way. when that report is transmitted to bill barr, bill barr has a tough call

. >> with us tonight, ashley parker, our white house reporter for "the washington post." robert acosta, also with "the washington post," he's also moderator of washington week on pbs. he does not sleep much either. >> ashley, welcome back, it is great to see you. i will start by saying if this is couples performance art, it is the hyper uncomfortable look away variety. what do you think is at work here and i know you have a very, very memorable vignettes from election night regarding this couple. >> yes, i was in the ballroom for president trump's party and i was standing there and george conway, once it became clear that trump was going to win, he came and tears were streaming down his face. he was standing next to a group of people next to me, he's weeping with joy and pride, she did it, she did it. she managed this campaign and she got him elected. he was truly happy for her in that moment. it is striking to see how from a public point of view descended in just those two years. is this performance arc for the trump's era. people i have talked to, no, if you are not in a

ashley parker, the president has been all over the map on how he feels of this investigation. on the one hand he says he would be happy to sit down with robert mueller, he never did that and he would never do it. then he says i am happy that everybody sees the mueller report but he thinks it is a witch hunt and a hoax and maybe he'll use it to his advantage in the campaign trail in 2020. do the white house have any idea what they'll do or waiting to find out what's in the mueller report? >> they don't have a concrete idea in part because they like the rest of us don't know what's in the report. it is hard to push back on or respond to something that you don't know the content. i will say some people i have spoken to, there is a plan. people are ready. they're going through what they think is the most scenario in coming out of that report. you can imagine president trump if it turns out that he's exonerated as he claims he'll be having a different response than if the report contains some sort of smoking gun which to be clear no one and the president believe it will be happenin

back with us, and we're so happy to have her from "the washington post," white house reporter ashley parker. chuck rosenberg, former u.s. attorney who worked on the staffs of robert mueller and james comey, is here. frank figliuzzi, former fbi assistant director for counterintelligence, bloomberg opinion executive editor tim o'brien and ring stengel, former undersecretary of state for federal diplomacy at the table. all, lucky for us, msnbc contributors. let me start with you, chuck rosenberg. i'm beginning to think we got it wrong again when it comes to special counsel mueller in that what may be happening is less than a grand finale and more of like a relay race, handing off bataans to various other jurisdictions. is that possible? >> very possible. in fact several relay races. the report he's writing is important because of what he was asked to do to examine russian interference in our election is important. but there's a lot of other stuff going on, nicolle, including the southern district of new york. even when robert mueller and his team finish their report, i am -- and i'm keenly int

. >> with us tonight, ashley parker, our white house reporter for "the washington post." sta, also with "the washington post," he's also moderator of washington week on pbs. he does not sleep much either. >> ashley, welcome back, it is great to see you. i will start by saying if this is couples performance art, it is the hyper uncomfortable look away variety. what do you think is at work here and i know you have a very, very memorable vignettes from election night regarding this couple. >> yes, i was in the ballroom for president trump's party and i was standing there and george conway, once it became clear that trump was going to win, he came and tears were streaming down his face. he was standing next to a group of people next to me, he's weeping with joy and pride, she did it, she did it. she managed this campaign and she got him elected. he was truly happy for her in that moment. it is strieking to see how froma public point of view descended in just those two years. is this performance arc for the trump's era. people i have talked to, no, if you are not in a marriage,

ashley parker, joyce vance, thank you for spending time with us. after the break, nancy pelosi's birthday gift, donald trump promising the 2020 election will be about the very issue that delivered big wins for democrats in 2018. >>> also ahead, barbara bush left the republican party before she died because of what donald trump did to it. that and other revelations from the bush family matriarch in a brand-new biography. and the 2020 taking their claim to the high road and generate enthusiasm among small-dollar donors. always a good sign. a good sign truecar is great for finding new cars. you're smart, you already knew that. but it's also great for finding the perfect used car. you'll see what a fair price is and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. now you're even smarter. this is truecar. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. mental health...hiv. patients with serious diseas

with us for more tonight two top reporters from "the washington post," ashley parker and phillip rucker. ashley, i watched between two and three hours of fox news in prime time tonight. so much of it centered right at the news media. a demand for apologies, kind of relitigaing the points that have been made over two years. talk a bit more about the president potentially using this as a political weapon recognizing, again, we're all reacting to a four-page letter thus far. >> well, it's a political weapon in the eyes of the president and his allies in a couple of ways. number one they plan to use it heading into 2020 and they're going to say that for two years now the president has been saying no collusion, no collusion, this is a witch hunt. and according to this summary of mueller's report that they found, there was no collusion. so for any future investigation, for any ongoing investigation, and there are some, and congress is about to launch a number of investigations and even any future bad behavior by the president potentially, they're going to point to mueller's findings or what t

i want to bring in ashley parker.s great to see you, girl. >> good to see you. >> so talk through some of this. you have reporting on what the president must be thinking about here, why he continues to reiterate these attacks. he was asked about this overnight by fox business network's maria bartiromo. >> this is a longtime grudge that came to a head at the beginning of the 2016 presidential campaign. senator mccain accused trump of riling up the quote unquote, crazies in the republican base with his immigration rhetoric. that's when the president said he prefers war heroes who aren't captures. in that moment a lot of people thought, including in the republican party and the media that would end trump's presidential bid. it did not. it's an interesting question why this came up now. our understanding is the president saw a news report over the weekend about the senator's role in providing a copy of this dossier that outlined the president's possible ties to russia to the fbi. he blames that dossier and senator mccain

i would like to welcome ashley parker, yamiche alcindor, brendon buck, jeremy bash, and nbc news national security and justice reporter july ia ainsle. and in alabama we have joyce vance. joyce vance, i'd like to start with you, in terms of the thinking behind not deciding to prosecute this obstruction of justice question. we know that mueller himself didn't make a determination on this point. in fact, barr says that the report cites evidence in both camps. that there was possibly obstruction or that there was not. how unusual is it, and does it cast suspicion on this letter from william barr as democrats are insinuating? >> you know, this is a sort of 15 on the richter scale, i don't know how high the scale goes, but this is a big earthquake, because prosecutor's central jobs is to make decision about the evidence and about the law in the hard cases. and barr's letter, which is a summary, it's not the actual conclusions of the mueller report, tells us that mueller laid out evidence on both sides of the issue. acknowledged that both legal and factual issues were difficult but never came t

kristen welker, ashley parker and kimberly atkins.idates keeps on growing, but joining me now is the first democrat to enter the race. join us next on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. reports" only on msnbc of soft-serve ice cream? i got cones, anybody wants one! oh, yeah! get ya some! no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. ed! ed! we struck sprinkles! [cheers] believe it. geico could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. a cfp professional is trained, knowledgeable, and committed to financial planning in your best interest. find your certified financial planner™ professional at letsmakeaplan.org. find your certified financial planner™ professional when did you see the sign? when i needed to jumpstart sales. build attendance for an event. help people find their way. fastsigns designed new directional signage. and got them back on track. get started at fastsigns.com. and got them back on track. you're smart,eat you already knew that. but it's also great for f

. >> ashley parker joining us now. white house reporter for "the washington post" and msnbc senior contributor. you recognize the conclusions as transmitted by attorney general william barr. >> that's right. you would expect certainly in talking to people in the president's orbit a sense of relief and that's what they felt, but it's not just relief. it is defiance and anger and a realization that they believe from the rnc to the trump campaign to white house aides themselves, that they now have a political -- going into 2020. they can go out and say -- the president can say, for two years i told you there was no collusion, i told you this was a witch-hunt, and i was right. just look at the mueller report or look at the summary of mueller's report. when there are investigations in new york, congressional investigations, this is going to be the exact message they are going to use, but they believe it is going to be a lot more effective having been in their minds essentially vindicated by mueller's findings. >> and, kimbe

ashley parker for "the washington post" and an msnbc political analyst. ashley, thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> you write in this piece that mulvaney is trying to achieve what he never could as a conservative fire brand in congress. talk to us about that and pull back the curtain for us. what's going down? >> so mulvaney when he was a member of congress was a part of the house freedom caucus, and it was a sort of conservative, a little on the fringe group of members who were bomb throwers and fire brands and they were sort of stuck to ideological purity and they kind of relished frustrating and capac p pereighting republican leadership. he could never stop republican leadership from doing what they wanted to do but he couldn't enact policy from this far right fringe caucus. he has this dual stance. on the one happennd, he's letti the president do what he wants to do. he's not trying to be babysitter. he's not trying to cut off the people in the president's inner circle, but he has this very powerful perch and he's sort of helping push th

geoff bennett and ashley parker, thanks to both of you. dhs wants to deport on a company migrant children, will congress allow it? we'll take a look at that after a quick break. stay with us. technology that captured carbon like trees we could help lower emissions. carbon capture is important technology - and experts agree. that's why we're working on ways to improve it. so plants... can be a little more... like plants. ♪ whooo! want to take your next vacation to new heights? tripadvisor now lets you book over a hundred thousand tours, attractions, and experiences in destinations around the world! like new york! from bus tours, to breathtaking adventures, tripadvisor makes it easy to find and book amazing things to do. and you can cancel most bookings up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund. so you can make your next trip... monumental! read reviews check hotel prices book things to do tripadvisor a cfp professional is trained, knowledgeable, and committed to financial planning in your best interest. find your certified financial plann

with that i would like to welcome in my panel "the washington post" white house reporter ashley parker, white house correspondent for pbs news, former chief communications adviser for paul ryan, brendan buck, former chief of staff at the cia and department of defense, jeremy bash, and nbc news national security and justice reporter julia ainsley. of course, in birmingham, alabama, we have former u.s. attorney joyce vance. thank you all for being here this evening. joyce vance, i would like to start with you in terms of the thinking behind not deciding to prosecute this obstruction of justice question. we know mueller himself didn't make a determination on this point. in fact, barr said that the report cites evidence in both camps that there was possible obstruction or that there was not. how unusual is this, and does it cast suspicion on this letter from william barr as democrats are insinuating? >> this is sort of a 15 on the richter scale. i don't know how high the richter scale goes but this is a big earthquake because prosecutor's central job is to make decisions about the evidence

ashley parker saying this has been the ominous elevator music of donald trump's presidency.ing, invariably haunting. we have been talking about that. >> sure. >> how much does this quiet the president, versus move us to the symphony mode? >> he can catch his breath. what does that mean? nothing. at this point, where i'm at, a moment of profound sadness because i fear that the spin off, if these indictments go to other offices, other agencies, whatever it may be, what does it mean for the average american? i think of the woman in hoomaha. what does it mean to her? there's an erosion of trust led by this president. what does it mean after today, unless i get something explosive, i can't go back to the republicans and say, look, there's a gotcha here. i fear, unless we see it in the investigative report, it's not a legal report, it's an investigative report that lays out facts. there's going to be a lot of spin from both sides. unless we see a smoking gun, this does nothing. >> that's not a failure of the report -- >> no, no. >> that's the success of the president. >> that's wh

and peter baker and white house report information the "washington post," contributor, ashley parker,ty leave! >> thank you. >> i saw you instagramming about being a little like, i don't know, like walking on the moon when you come back to work after having a baby. your baby is so cute! >> yes. going on maternity leave felt stressful and coming back after the baby is stressful. >> i will give you a oncesy for your baby you dress like a boy a lot. who else at this table is pregnant? who could it be? >> i doubt it's michael steele. >> peter? not peter. it's not me. >> i am expecting a baby in august. we're so excited. >> so, kasie. kasie often asks for advice and her text yesterday, how do i tell management? my advice, come on "morning joe." we just told them. >> and you said, how about we do it in the next block. i haven't told my husband. >> "morning joe" baby. i can't wait. you have to bring it here. >> i will. >> you promise? >> i have to talk to my husband. >> i'm still working on ashley. there we go. >> this next story is our lead story. congratulations kasie. at least 50 people h