this new book was written by ben rhodes.. hbo caught hims on the night tht hillary lost. >.>> i can -- i mean, i -- i

illusioned soon to be ex president and i mean i think it comes to show how shocked everyone was ben rhodes including the president i think most of them including us in the lead up to election i think you're a little bit more skeptical than most but a lot of us thought you know this is going to be a done deal hillary clinton's going to be president and then it turns out of course that it's well i think barack obama at the same time as as hopeful as he was there at his presidency i think it comes to show that there were some severe consequences that the drum presence that could bring around but i think he also makes the point extremely well he set up shop with that fantastic economy with unemployment numbers are so low when he took over remember barack obama twelve percent unemployment he left a truck with four and i mean it is a great set up and shop can pretty much to do with it what he does i want to pull in this quote about uncle americal before going out of time here because i think it's just telling about the connection to that they have made we can pull that out of where it is chance

obama was in the white house and the latest proof is in a new book entitled the world as it is by ben rhodes rhodes was an advisor to obama for much of his presidency but it's his memoirs from the final weeks of the obama administration between donald trump's election victory and his inauguration they caught our attention for the first time we were offered a glimpse into what obama was thinking about the u.s. and its allies including german chancellor angela merkel as he prepared to transfer power to a man who intended to undo every major achievement that carried obama's signature right joining me to go through this first glimpse into those heady final days of the obama presidency a familiar face here really is fun no arduous it's good to have you back on the show for people who don't know you were a member of the two thousand and eight two thousand and twelve obama campaign's your political campaign strategist now in berlin right here. let's just talk about what you thought when we read about this book the book comes out next week. there's a quote that's getting a lot of headline play where

let's go to ben rhodes, former national security adviser to president obama. and author of "the world as it is." a memoir of the white house. we'll get to that, ben. you heard the president. he talked about trade. and his relationship with allies with north korea as well. what was your biggest take-away from that unscheduled press conference? >> well, my biggest take-away, alex, we've seen something pretty extraordinary the last couple of day which is essentially president trump vacating the alliance with these countries around the world that have served us well for decades. i think a lot of americans would like to see trade deals with the united states but picking fights with your friends is not a way to build that. we building a global coalition. instead, he's picking fights about closest friend which is is disrupting, quite frankly, the international order that united states has led. and isolating us at the same time that we need more friends to deal with challenges from trade to north korea to fighting terrorism around the world. >> you know, ben, there wer

national security adviser under president obama, now an nbc news and msnbc political contributor ben rhodes, the author of the new book "the world as it is, a memoir of the obama white house." >> and willie, he's got to be thrilled. how smooth we operate here. >> he dives right into the nbc family, we've taught him the secret hand shake. ben, just broadly, to ask about your reaction to the decision by president trump to pull out of the iran deal, something you helped orchestrate. in your view what are the implications of that? >> well, first of all, this is something that took seven years to put th. years of sanctions with our allies, years of negotiating these painstaking restrictions on the iranian nuclear program. now you'll see a gradual unraveling of the deal. it's likely iran may restart elements of its nuclear program and that will leave us between a choice of taking military action or acceding to a nuclear capable iran and that' the situation we're trying to avoid. the strangest thing is he's about to embark on this summit with kim jong-un where getting something that looked like th

this new book was written by ben rhodes.. hims on the night tht hillary lost. >.>> i can -- i mean, i -- i can't -- i can't put it into words. i don't know what the words are. >> greg: i could watch that forever. you know what? it needs music. >> i mean, i -- i can't -- i can't put it into words. i don't know what the words are. [ cheering and applause ] >> greg: my favorite part of this upcoming book is when ben rhodes says that obama tried to cheer him up by sending him this message, saying, quote, there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on the earth. that was from obama. but isn't that something someone in the drama club would use as a motto beneath the yearbook photo or maybe it's a tag line on a diamond ring commercial. but it wasn't. it was the president. there you go. all the evidence you could ever need on the difference between obama and trump. obama says there are more stars in the sky than grains of sand on the earth. trump says this. >> the invasion of iraq -- >> wrong. >> that is absolutely -- >> wron

msnbc's newest political contributor ben rhodes. former deputy national security who has a new book that goes on sale tomorrow called "the world as it is, a memoir of the obama white house." congratulations. it's a re well-written book. >> thank you. >> that was a central idea of the critique of the obama administration, particularly like the iran deal, you guys are running casinthe iran deal and you've alienated all of our friends. what do you make of where we are right now between the red carpet being rolled out for northea ile we're giving canada the meta finger? >> well, chris, it is kind of a whiplash on a daily basis because they would hurl that critique at us but barack obama's standing among our closest allies in europe and asia was higher than any president in recent memory. what they've done is profoundly alienate our allies, not just on an issue but to the point where i think in europe and asia they're beginning to fundamentally question their relationship with the united states. i mean, this is the actual crisis that the

the book is written by one of his loyal lackeys, ben rhodes. hbo caught him on the night that hillary lost -- i can't -- i mean, i can't -- i can't, i can't, i can't put it into words. greg: i can watch that forever. it needs music. i mean, i can't, i can't -- i can't, i can't put it into wor words. greg: that is so much better. [cheering and applause] my favorite part of this upcoming book is when ben rhodes says that obama tried to cheer him up by sending him this message saying -- greg: that was from obama but isn't that something that someone in the drama club would use as a motto at the bottom of the photo but it was a president so there you go, all the evidence you need and the difference between president obama and president trump obama says there are more stars in the sky and sand on the earth and trump says this. >> wrong. wrong. wrong. to fire and fear he like the world has never seen. they are sneaky, dirty rat. [laughter] greg: grains of sand, my ass. what you make of this? did you like the video, tyrus? tyrus: he reminds me of ever

. >>> coming up on "cbs this morning," for almost ten years, ben rhodes was one of president obama'st advisers. he joins us in studio 57 to tell us about his new memoir that gives us a behind-the-scenes look at the white house. i'm hena doba. this is the "cbs morning news." olay ultra moisture body wash gives skin the moisture it needs and keeps it there longer with lock-in moisture technology skin is petal smooth after all, a cleanser's just a cleanser unless it's olay. has given karen a drug-free way to improve her joint comfort. just seven days of osteo bi-flex (whispering) ...she's single. leading to high levels of discomfort in her daughter. osteo bi-flex, a drug-free way to improve joint comfort. now, try new topical cream. air wick knows life moves too fast to chase odors. get automatic odor neutralization with air wick pure freshmatic. just load, click and set to forget odors for up to 60 days. now try pure freshmatic free. >>> our top stories this morning. a volcanic eruption in guatemala has killed at least 25 people. the volcano exploded yesterday and sent a shower of ash

how does ben rhodes feel today? he's here to tell us, next.ass towing 2018 ford f-150. best in-class payload and best in-class torque the f-150 lineup has the capability to get big things to big places --bigtime. and things just got bigger. f-150 is now motor trend's 2018 truck of the year. this is the new 2018 ford f-150. it doesn't just raise the bar, pal. it is the bar. booking a flight doesn't have to be expensive. just go to priceline. it's the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40%. just tap and go... for the best savings on flights, go to priceline. >>> spent years as a key member of president obama's administration. ben rhodes met candidate obama in 2011, stayed with him until 2016. when the results were announced, cameras were following him and saw his stunned reaction. >> i can't even -- i can't -- i mean, i -- i can't -- i can't put it into words. i don't know what the words are. >> ben rhodes joins us now. probably not easy for you to watch. >> i'll try to be a little more articulate. >> the

and ben rhodes deputy national security advisor for president obama details his time in the white houseand that's all this weekend on c-span2 book tv television for serious readers. for a complete schedule, visit book tv.org. . . . web site, thank you very much for comping. so, if you have already had a chance to pick

have a vision for the future, so all they can do is stoke up grievance and look to the past. >> ben rhodes. the book is "the world as it ." it's the world you had to learn that it is. >> yes. >> you started off with a view of the world that is very different are than the one you ended with, ben rhodes. >> thanks a lot. i really appreciate it. >>> when we come back, why the united nations today says that the trump administration is violating human rights. that's next. at the marine mammal center, the environment is everything. we want to do our very best for each and every animal, and we want to operate a sustainable facility. and pg&e has been a partner helping us to achieve that. we've helped the marine mammal center go solar, install electric vehicle charging stations, and become more energy efficient. pg&e has allowed us to be the most sustainable organization we can be. any time you help a customer, it's a really good feeling. it's especially so when it's a custhe environment.ngsuch r together, we're building a better california. >>> the united states of america at the order of the pre

i'll speak with foremaner obama adviser and author ben rhodes and our correspondents are standing by with full coverage. but to the breaking news. a new indictment by the special counsel robert mueller. we begin with our justice correspondent evan perez. walk us through these new charges. >> reporter: these new charges represent the latest effort to pile on pressure on paul manafort to make a deal and tell prosecutors what he knows. the former trump campaign chairman is now charged obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct this investigation. and this week we saw prosecutors accuse manafort of witness tam perg and they asked a judge to consider revoking his bail until he goes to trial later this year. he's already facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison if he's found guilty of the charges that he's already facing which are money laundering and other financial crimes and failing to register as a foreign agent. this is all related to work that manafort did before he joined the trump campaign to lobby on behalf of the pro-russian government in ukraine.

. >>> and ben rhodes, msnbc political contributor and was president obama's security ad adviser and author of a book. and i want to start with a process question. we saw how quickly this executive order was prepared and now see the fallout from it being pushed through hastily. give a sense how it was done traditionally, how it was done when you worked in the white house? what's different about this executive orders and others have come about? >> what's different, they scrambled to mutt it together because of the catastrophe created on border. because of decisions that they made. this is the important point. first of all, they decided anybody who reached the border potentially to seek asylum as a criminal, and decided to implement a terrible policy of ripping children away from their parents. so the outcry came and they scrambled to put together an executive order to create a short-term fix on the family separation policy which they didn't even have to implement in the first place. so thus far all they've done essentially is try to patch up the terrible decision they made in the first place

i'm pretty excited to talk to ben rhodes about this next saturday.dent obama reportedly asking aides during that time, what if we were wrong? he had read a column asserting the liberals had forgotten how important identity was to people and had promoted an empty sort of cosmopolitan globalism that made many feel left behind. the quote was, maybe we pushed too far. maybe people just want to fall back into their tribe. don, what do you think happened there? do you think that's what happened? >> that's heavy stuff. that's -- you know, i think that ben rhodes explained it in a lot more eloquent way what van jones said on election night in that this was a white lash. van was not wrong, but it was a harsh, you know -- it makes you look at a very harsh reality of what might have happened there. you know, i don't think that the president did anything wrong, the previous president. by no fault of his own, he was adopted by the world as a transformative cultural figure. and that happened at the same time that the democratic party essentially became the party o

some context around them, i do believe that undermines tfreedo of the press in this country. >> ben rhodese world as it is, a memoir of the obama white house." ben, thanks for being with us. and welcome to the team. nbc team, at least. >> thanks a lot. >>> in an open letter to president trump, senate democrats are calling on the administration to reverse course on its policy of separating immigrant children from their parents at the border. citing findings from the american academy of pediatrics, the senators write, this policy has traumatized children who are fleeing extreme violence. our government has a humanitarian duty to the children and families seeking asylum in the u.s. to end this policy immediately." today the president blamed democrats again though for that policy. >> the democrats -- this is a democrat bill. the democrats can end that very quickly. all they have to do is sit down with us and negotiate a real bill that allows us to keep criminals out of this country. >> joining me now, democratic senator chris murphy who represents the state of connecticut. senator murphy is 1

it was their failure to look at the problems these people were having. >> you mentioned ben rhodes. he has this quote in it. he spoke about what you were just saying. why they lost and obama wondered why the reason he was rejected was to do with race. he said i was 10 or 20ty years s later. the previous administration left so many people behind. the economy wasn't working for working people. >> if you look at the similarities you have two big spending presidents that felt they could just apply their world view and make peoples lives betterhether it was standarding wars i war -- starts in the middle east or having massive spending programs. that made peoples lives worse. it made it harder to start a dropout of the workcelotf entirely. you had employment numbers going up. you had a huge part of the labor force that wasn't participating at all. >> that's what is changing now. they talk about the 1%. the people really ben b benefitg right now were in the work force. looking ahead, what do you think the impact will be of the trade strategy. >> it depends on the long-term goal. both sides

heather: ben rhodes has a book coming up? no wonder i see him all over the place.ey: absolutely. massachusetts graduation made extra special when a military dad surprised son during his year-long deployment. take a look at this. [inaudible] [cheers and applause] carley: that just gives me chills. dad says that his son's look on his face made all the planning and all the secret-keeping worth it. peission to be there.m special carley: appreciate it. heather: 26 minutes after the top of the hour and s set for subpoena showdown, president trump's legal team vowing robert mueer forces him to if testify. our next guest and attorney calling the counsel's bluff, why she says it's just a threat get president trump t cave. >> i address you not as chairman of british monarch society and foundation but a brend, -- friend, a fellow defendant of the crown. royal accent fakeer, this guy fooling people for years with british accent, turned out to be bogus. heather: back with fox news alertou, bloody violence braking out after antifa breakthrough rally. protestors throwing bottles

ben rhodes is the brother of cbs news president david rhodes. he book. the meeting is back on. i know you're not a fan of president trump, but doesn't he get his due? >> look. i think diplomacy is compared to military conflict. the north koreans made commitments to denuclearize in the future but have not followed through. >> let me turn to the book. there's a lot that has gotten a lot of press. i know this is about the entire administration, but let's talk about this comment from president obama. what if we were wrong. what does that mean? >> president obama wasn't unlike a lot of americans after the election. we were trying to figuret out. was it the russian meddling, the campaign that the democrats ran. i was sitting with him in his presidential limousine and he read a column that said democrats maybe pushed too far and maybe got away from the sense of identity that's important to people, part of which was what president trump had stoked. but i think, frankly, the reality of any number of causal factors led to president trump and that led to th

that is what he told to ben rhodes in confidence.ife and is refuting, taking on just about everything that obama stood for. they are in shock. they couldn't believe it, but a lot of the country was in shock. i still replay those network tears from election night but, no, they were surprised. no one was more assured of his own rightness than barack obama. so when this occurred, they were, you know, the reaction was, how could this happen? note though, i understand. i haven't read the book, brian, they then say or rhodes says, of course it was hillary who was running on the same campaign we beat her on. they're always right. and our side is always wrong. brian: yeah, he said i should have known that hillary was vulnerable, that is how we beat her in 2018. >> right, right. brian: attacking her the way he did, they factored in donald trump used racism and other things. that is additional hit. i want to bring you to this quote. president obama, maybe we pushed too far? maybe people just want to fall back into their tribe. what do you thin

look at the video of ben rhodes and you'll understand everything.tion, ben rhodes the master of lying, has no words to explain the loss of hillary clinton. this is why they were doing what they were doing. she had to win at all costs. that's why an intelligence is -- asset with us put in the campaign let's not argue whether it's a spy or informant. we need one answer to one question, why was the operation started? we still don't know? an australian embassy and now a maltese professor in rome and trey gowdy the documents. >> sean: the fix sin for hilary. she doesn't obstruct justice but martha stewart did. do we have equal justice under the law, look at masking and intelligence and fixing the hilary campaign. fisa abuse. it's rotting from the head down and the fbi rank and file will expose it. this dovetails nicely the whole mccabe memo and first of all the president could fire comey because he didn't like the color of his socks. he didn't need a reason but when you add that to what john solomon what he is saying, fbi documents bringing it right to t

ben rhodes is like someone glued 100 beanie babies together. hillary cannot blow her nose without a consultant. [laughter] john kerry is so wooden that termites consider him an all-you-can-eat buffet. i am relieved. peace is more attractive than more. yet some of the left would feel worse if there was a drug. >> first, tonight headline, president trump says there is no longer a nuclear threat from north korea. >> i miss the fear. >> what now? >> the fear of imminent nuclear war. do you remember when everyone was telling us our lives were in danger? it gave me a rush. >> that is pretty [bleep] upped, dude. >> are you bummed that you can't be afraid anymore? >> i think i was feeding of the paranoia. >> you need catastrophic. >> will make america afraid again? >> no, just you, sourpuss. it's a stimulant that reactivates your brain fear receptors giving you that hysteria you crave. use it on the go. >> i don't feel it working yet. >> hello, tom. >> why did you do that? >> no, you are sneaking up on me. >> it's great to see you outside again. what?

msnbc political contributor ben rhodes. and author of the book "the world as it is, a memoir of the obama white house." and correspondent mark lander with me here in singapore. mark, let me go to you first, because it's been such an extraordinary 24 hours here. the president arrives, he's talking about how well this is going to go. he then is secluded for the rest of the day with advisers. we hear from secretary pompeo. we were at the briefing. you got to ask a question of the secretary. they're projecting such positive vibes towards kim jong-un, and nobody is correcting what peter navaro, what the president himself has been tweeting today and what they've been saying about canada's prime minister. >> it's really a bizarre spectacle here. you've got the president and secret state projecting just incredible optimism about what's going to happen here tomorrow, and brushing aside as though it's almost irrelevant, an absolutely unprecedented blowup between two close allies. mike pompeo saying it's anner ta -- an irritant that c

joining ben rhodes in conversation tonight is another of the top thinkers jeffrey goldberg. you may know him as editor-in-chief of the atlantic as a contributor for the countless publications in the "washington post" to the new yorker to new york magazine and a dusty author that detailed the experience on the israeli military person specifically the encounter with when he came to the friend perhaps the most relevant for tonight's podcast the conduct of several landmark interviews with barack obama that spanned the presidency from beginning to end please try me in welcoming ben rhodes and jeffrey to politics and prose. [applause] [inaudible] welcome, everyone to politics and prose. thanks for coming out in such large numbers of. we are going to try to cover all of american foreign policy from 1945 to present. in the first five minutes. then we'll see what happens. to make it easy for you because you don't have experience in public speaking i thought i would start with literally the easiest question i could think of and then move towards syria. [laughter] the easiest question

brian: i surprisedhat ben rhodes got permission to write about his inner thoughts.verse president, usually. president obama, he is the cowboy. he is answered, it was a clean cut cowboy. he answered the guy a wild man in bill clinton. barack obama is the professor answers the cowboy, people like to label them. here comes somebody says i'm pro-america, america first. he speaks from the heart. abby: this talks we know better than everybodylswe hear that fry clinton. you guys don't understand how great i am. the country wasn't ready for my awesomeness. hillary clinton says the country wasn't ready for a woman president. steve: how many times we heard we wound up as donald trump as president because of barack obama. that he went so far one way, america wanted to do a course correction. brian: ben rhodes, don't take it personal, mr. president. you would have gotten elected third time. president obama got himself elected but not many other people elected. he worked harder than hillary clinton. they talked about in the excerpts, go out with coffee shops enroute to appearanc

look at that video of ben rhodes and then you'll understand everything. the night of the election, ben rhodes, master of lying, has no words to explain the loss of hillary clinton. this is why they were doing what they were doing. she had to win at all costs. that's why an intelligence asset, whatever you want to call it, was put into the trump campaign. let's not argue about whether it's a spy or an informant because that's irrelevant. sean we need to know one answer to one question: why was the operation started? we still don't know. we -- an australian ambassador, professor in thehe uk, now a mat tiesj -- maltese professor in rome's in absurd. >> hannity: do we have equal justice in the law? look at masking. surveillance. leaking hillary clinton campaign. fisa abuse. all of this is rotting from the head down. f.b.i. rank and file will expose it. this whole mccabe memo -- first of all, the president could fire comey because he doesn't like the color of his socks. he doesn't need a reason but when you add that to what john solomon is now -- what he is sa

. >> ben rhodes can't find the word. they all thought hillary was going to win. "boston globe" wrote this team's pragmatic idealism are enough to make you weep with all that has gone missing. >> laura: samantha powers was unmasking individuals every day, somehow over at the u.n. she said, we have to make it harder to dismantle, meaning the foreign policy apparatus, iran deal's gone, what else? >> climate change. >> >> laura: gone. >> and cuba. those are the three benchmark things they celebrate in the documentary, on a day when donald trump has brought north korea to the white house, this is a hard documentary to swallow. how time has devoured what was supposed to be the ultimate narrative. >> laura: i would have been loving to sit next to ben rhodes on the sidewalk. >> i can't speak. >> laura: i've got to take a moment. >> i'm going to take a moment now. >> laura: raymond, on a rival network, there's an anchor who seems to stand there, no matter what she says, ann coulter has wild new info on joy reid's nasty blog, next. as a control enthusiast, i'm all-business

. >> there's a new book out by a long time aid of former president obama ben rhodes, and he writes thisthe book. he said "obama not usually an outwardly sentimental man attempted to pass a torch of sorts, and he referred to a meeting with you. justin, your voice is going to be needed more, as he leaned on his knees. you're going to have to speak out when certain values are threatened. you brought this up you feel as if you're going to step up in certain ways. when did you interpret what president obama was trying to pass to you. >> we're going to be polite, but we're also not going to be pushed around, and that need to be firm about projecting our values and defending not just our citizens but citizens around the world. liz: that was canadian prime minister justin trudeau talking about the advice former president obama gave to him before leaving office. now, listen to this. trudeau taking up that advice. showing that canada is quote being firm. now speaking out against the administration's trade tariffs on canadian steel and aluminum. >> the idea that we are somehow a national security

. >> laura: ben rhodes earlier tonight on another network, msnbc, he was very concerned about a lack of, i guess, a piece of paper and pencils and pens. let's listen. let's watch. >> right now the only person who will know what is discussed is donald trump. will he tell his own government what's been discussed? will it be accurate? will he try to make himself look better? >> donald trump, kim jong un, probably not the two most trustworthy people in the world. they are the only ones who know what was discussed besides the interpreters. that's the whole reason why you always have somebody. >> i have bennett assuming the interpreters had a dual role, . >> laura: one guy is torturing people and the other guy, the americans, they are the same and they're going to spin it to their best reputational advance advances. >> i think it was ronald reagan who said that if he could walk on water, some of his critics, the headline would be "reagan can't swim." there has seems to be a look oe dark cloud in the silver lining. it's absurd andn addition, whatever happened in the 45 minutes, the fact is

an early look at longtime ben rhodes' memoir due out tuesday, mr.f we were wrong. he'd read a column asserting how they thought it was important to people. and globalization that let people feel behind. maybe we pushed too far behind. maybe we pushed too far. let's bring in columnist for daily beast and msnbc analyst. welcome to you both. jonathan, do you think there's any truth to this idea that the president could have gone too far with globalism when many americans may have wanted to fall back in their tribes? >> yeah, i think he was having a lot of second thoughts after the election. i had a chance to speak to him i guess in december 2016. he sounded really deflated. not remorseful but just analytical about what had happened. you know, he's a -- he's a rigorous thinker. and he believes as martin luther king said, and he's quoted martin luther king many times on this, that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice. and i think what he was thinking is maybe on that arc which was long. he was maybe a little early on the ar

ooh want to bring ben rhodes back in. the president has really alien ailed some of america's closest allies on the issue of trade. what do you make of his comments that other countries are calling up begging to negotiate? >> reporter: that's not what they appear to be doing, kristen. i'm watching president trump tout the obama economy. the seven years drop in the unemployment rate that put us where we are today. what he's doing through these trade actions is putting these trades at risk. reciprocal events are costing yours. and what president trump has done, ailelienated our closest allies in japan, china and the world. that's going to hurt our workers and frankly won't lead other countries to be calling president trump. they're going to call each other to make deals around us. that's ultimately very bad for americans. >> ben rhodes. we covered a lot of ground today, my friend. thank you for joining us. appreciate it. >> reporter: thanks, kristen. >>> house republicans engaged in a war of words with rod rosenstein during

>> i think i'm where ben rhodes was.layed this masterfully and to have a plateau of military capability but i don't think he has any intention of giving up his nuclear stockpile. he's going to play this. trump mentioned possibly a second day in terms of a summit. maybe he's going to storm out the first day and go back the second day and say he got them to make some concessions. i think he's going to say there is this process but i don't think we're going to see a denuclearizing. >> the first day of the campaign completely trashing your opponent saying he's no damn good and the second half talking about the future of pennsylvania. >> you're right. >> thanks to kim jong-un. thank you john brennan. great to have you on. up next, there's plenty to get to with the "hardball" roundtable tonight from another embarrassing headline about scott pruitt. he keeps stepping in it. he's supposed to be against pollution. now the latest nbc polling ahead of the elections looks very good for the democrats to grab the house. plus, vice pre

chris matthews is with us having just gotten off the air with tonight's edition of "hardball," and ben rhodes is with us. ben joins us, as they say, from the obama administration. former deputy national security adviser to president barack obama. if you've been on an amazon or a bricks and mortar bookstore the last couple days you saw his new book that just came on to the market. both of them always have books. >> a lot of administrations represented here have. you noticed? >> yeah, that'strue. >> let me ask you. we've been talking a lot thus far this hour about the decision to hold this summit. not necessarily what we're going to learn as the outcome of the summit. we'll find out over the course of the evening. how did that -- what was the process around deciding things like this? the obama administration? who do you decide to say yes to when they ask for a meeting with the president of the united states, and how do you decide? >> you look from opening, rachel. with cuba we saw an opening and reached out to the cubans to see if they wanted to establish an open channel. but i met with raul ca

here is ben rhodes, former national security adviser to president obama. >> this is really complicated good deal? i have heard president trump articulate, what is he trying to achieve here? if you go into a meeting and don't know what you're trying to get out of the meeting, you're less likely to achieve something. my concern is north korea makes an empty process to give up the nuclearweapons, we will denuclearize, but there's nothing underneath that. they have done that before twice. and the question is whether donald trump just wants to celebrate a victory, but there is really nothing underneath it. >> we'll bring in adam mount, senior fellow with the american federal scientists. and we have a professor of studies with us as well. you have seen how kim jong-un has arrived. as we look at the information coming into us, this is a little bit new for us, actually, to put together the word leader of north korea doing x and doing y. and we have seen z. what is your reflection on what we have seen so far? >> it is unprecedented. and that is why this is captivating. north korea is very adapt

that ben rhodes says, there was a celebrity general culture that we acquiesced to, and that he has regrets about the hey high holebrook was treated and he ands tried to course in the second administration which is how you had a more diploma bents around the time hoff the iran deal, the cuba thaw, the paris climate change accord, but there n enough for our friend,arned richard holbrooke. >> you talked which most of us have not to all nine of our section state. tell us some of what you learned and their impressions of these people. >> i'm tremendously grateful that they gave such access. i think to a one these are men and women who earnestly believed in their country and wanted to make it a better place, went about that in very different ways. to a one i think they've all weathered a lot of controversy. maybe not george p. schultz. anybody remember a george p. schultz. he is 97 by the time i talked to him. doesn't gave ton of interview. he was lovely to get on the phone with me and quite grumpy which i think he has earned the right to be. he is 97. he was frank and grumpy but what is happeni

ben rhodes joins us. thanks for being here. congratulations on the book. european leaders in the of president trump's election woring about a decline in u.s.-europe relations and talk about angela merkel a. how do you anticipate this summit will play out, the g-7. >> i think trump will find himself isolated and that is bad for the united states and for american workers. and i wrote in the book xi jinping when he warned him there might be trade actions from trump and xi said if an immature world throws the world into chaos, he would know who to blame havthe high ground on the united states and i fear our allies will turn to china foz a trading partner instead of us. >> to play devil's advocate, is it not true that for the last 20 years, 30 years, there has been consensus in washington on trade deals that has been better for corporate america and wall street than it has been for the middle class in this country. which has shrunk significantly. isn't president trump right at least abou >> thetainly a trade deal in the '90s, nafta, clooin into the wto that did

kennedy: maybe ben rhodes can tell us. you are talk can about $5.4 billion. they are funding hezbollah. >> this is sounding more and more like a money laundering operation. they started with commemorative coins from the franklin mint. it shows you what a horrible proves that is they tried to hide this. they night was a bad deal. it's the kind ofeal where you hope you get kissed beforand. it wasn't even a good deal for the iranian people either. kennedy: that's a good point that you don't hear much about. a lot of americans are confused about the deal. what do we get out of it. but doitsd erode your trust in -- but does it erode your trust in government? cat. kat: i have no trust for people in power. of course, there was more to the story than what we heard. of coue, had to do extra more than what we heard. i'm not surprised,ed always. >> it's so that this much money and the harm that could come from flipping a switch like that wasn't even considered or disclosed. >> i'm not one these crazy conservatives who thinks obama s the anti-christ. but i'm str to under

exposed now by one of his own cronies, a new book, former white house advisory or be ben rhodes details how president trump reached out to canada -- president obama reached out to canadian president trudeau and others, urging leader to fight against president trump and defend the values they share. joining us, tom fenton, judicial watch president. let's start with i guess preparing the battleground as some would say, for obama as a shadow president. create a shadow government, and create a international alliance to work against a sitting president. just how -- is that not illegal? >> well, you know according to the obama gang, who targeted general flynn with a logan act potential violation, i don't know why it wouldn't apply to president obama. undermining president of united states by working with foreign government leaders is very basis of logan act. but it just shows you how hypocritical president obama has been. when you have his minions going out there and ambushing general flynn, based on absurd notion that his contact with the russians and presidential transition may have violate

. >> shep: of course ben rhodes went in to talk to castro's next of kin 20ore president obama went in. >> yes. >> shep: thanks so much. >> you bet. >> shep: i mentioned that the president didn't even give the south koreans a heads up before pulling the plug on the joint military exercises that happen every year. so what effect might that have? after all, those are not provocative. they're security exercises. ourilitary says they're essential to security against attacks. we'll talk to the people that say they could send the wrong signal to allies around the world. first a day-long standoff has ended in tragedy. four young children are dead. details from orlando next. i had a very minor fender bender tonight in an unreasonably narrow fast food drive thru lane. but what a powl life lesson. and don't worry i have everything handled. i already spoke to our allstate agent, and i know that weha aenforgive. which is so smart on your guy's part. like fact that they'll just... forgive you... four weeks without the car. okay, yup. good night. with accident forgiveness your rates won't go up just