back with us tonight is bill kristol, veteran of the reagan and bush administrations. bill, how are we supposed to scare gaish are we supposed to not see the speech steve bannon gave this weekend that lights mcconnell on fire rhetoricically? are we not supposed to hear the war he has pitched against mcconnell and all who report to him? are we supposed to believe this? why are you smiling? >> i don't think supposed to from whose pointer of view? i think donald trump enjoys humiliating people. he lets bannon attack him. he's going to semi support a bunch of challengers to senate republicans. and then he sort of has mcconnell to the white house and in a way forces mcconnell to say these nice things, theep bends for a long time. it's humiliating for the senate majority leader, i think. >> i want to talk to you because i saw your reaction today about what the president said about kaug gold star families. when he talked about the times when he has to call multiple families, quote, for me that's by far the toughest. >> yeah. it was all about him. i think he used the wordy 18 t

back with us tonight, bill kristol, veteran of the reagan and bush administrations. of the "weekly standard." bill, how are we supposed to square -- are we supposed to not see the speech steve bannon gave this weekend that lights mcconnell on fire rhetorically? are we not supposed to hear the war he has pitched against mcconnell and all who report to him? are we supposed to believe this? why are you smiling? >> yeah, i don't think supposed to, from whose point of view? i think donald trump en jjoys humiliating people and he's humiliating mitch mcconnell there. he lets bannon attack him. he's going to semi support a bunch of challenges to incumbent republicans. mcconnell made clear they support all incumbent republicans. then he sort of has mcconnell at the white house? a way forces mcconnell to say these nice things. they've been friends for a long time. it's humiliating for the senate majority leader i think. >> i want to talk to you because i saw your reaction earlier today about what the president said about calling gold-star families. especially comparing his beha

. >>> so much to talk about tonight with bill kristol. obviously a veteran of the reagan and bush administrations, editor at large of the weekly standard and a guy we turn to whenever we can. okay, bill. the comments tonight by bannon to members of the republican establishment who might dream of not being with the trump agenda, devote, no one is safe. we are coming for you. how worried are you about this movement to burn down the house and while they're at it the senate? and then what will it mean to have an r after your name? >> no. i think there's a real civil war in the republican party as you and i have discussed before. i think people have been under estimating this. they've tended to interpret the different sides as psycho drama. there's a lot of psycho drama with donald trump is involved. but fundamentally there's a genuine fight for the future of the republican party. trump and bannon have one vision and they are -- bannon is out recruiting candidates and some of them are spontaneously appearing too. they thought geez in cory stewa

host: bill kristol is back on our desk.s comes out of maine that senator susan collins has announced her plan for 2018, the headline from politico saying she declined to run for maine governor, the decision preserves her role as a key moderate in the senate. is that good for the republican party? because she is most likely to win the seat and another republican would have a tough time. it is good if you care about a republican majority in the senate. one reason i think she is staying as she talked about the need for bipartisanship is she may think that you get to a narrowly divided senate, which is possible, someone like her, especially if she can band together with lisa murkowski and john mccain and a few others, maybe a couple democrats, could become a key swing caucus in the senate. we could see something we have not seen in a long time, which notot a lot of -- which is a reliable majority party shoving things through but a body where there are senators in the middle who can go either way but are almost saying we are goi

. >> i've seen bill kristol on tv, but i don't know a man like that yet. >> okay. t know you like that. >> i -- i'm -- i'm speechless. what can i say? i'm honored to be even mentioned in in back and forth, obviously. >> i'm glad was honored. incredible. the question was will trump respond to eminem's real bodying of him. the true total rap balgs as we cover. now, the trump administration has not responded, but he does have big internet fans including diamond and silk who are activists. they're big on social media. i check out their stuff sometimes. but i didn't know what to make of their attempt on donald trump's behalf to issue their own rap battle response. take a look. >> trump's your president, so get over it. stop crying like a baby and a little -- you said to use the word racism and make a connect, but i'm telling you right now your whole rap was wet. boom. >> boom. >> i love it there like you know what? let's not even look at the camera. that's film a video and never look at the camera once. >> diamond and silk, we love you, but that's my nominee to fallback.

one of its board members was bill kristol. the former editor of the weekly standard. very prominent never trump voice in our debate today. and then it becomes a private organization. we do know that a new york hedge fund billionaire who has contributed to many conservative causes is a major funder of the "washington free beacon" today. >> jeanine: paul singer was someone that was antitrust as well? >> very much so. certainly in the never trump camp. later endorsed marco rubio. and actually wanted to somehow stop trump at the convention. there is a last ditch effort. mr. singer was very anti-trump at the time. >> jeanine: do we know who else -- did they seek this opposition research on? i understand it was not just donald trump. >> that's a good question in the answer is i do not know. they did say tonight when the free beacon acknowledged my report -- they published an acknowledgment. they said in the fall of 2015, donald trump was the leading candidate if you remember back then. in the fall of 2015, they started this opposition research project with fusion gps, looki

. >> joining me now, bill kristol. , this report in "vanity fair" is making waves right now, partly for the way it came down. it connects with a trump allies, trump aides and republicans who seem to be worried about how he is leading the country and how he approaches national security. >> they are. the story i gave is interesting. i'm particularly struck by the quote which has steve bannon saying there is only a 50% chance that trump finishes out his material. if you're a reporter and, zbab serious reporter, you call steve bannon up and say did you say this? and he would say that's not the case or maybe yes, it is the case. it suggests that bannon might be a source for the story. he could be a source or at the very least bannon did not deny that quote so that suggests to me that bannon is out there fanning the flames on stories that trump isn't being well served by his staff. it is chaos in there. but i am struck by that. even the trump supporters now have a very mixed view of trump. >> and bill makes a great point peel

bill kristol, editor at large with "the weekly standard." always good to see you. >> good to see you. >> same question, different way. you have many people who tell you privately that they are with you in this fight inside the -- conservative movement, you sort of are stand alone if you're looking for elected officials to be behind you. why do you think that is? >> i think they're intimidated. trump is president. they have trihings to get done, personnel and favors, constituents, voters, mostly pro-trump. not constituents mostly pro-trump, this day and age, senators and congressmen forget supposed to represent their constituents. 6 65% for trump. you can't ask them to go against any stance they don't approve of. that's happening. they're cowelled by trump. donald trump might think he had a lovefest at the hill, what he tweeted. they were rolling their eyes, as they always do when discussing trump. unhinged on a couple of things they said but not going to say it publicly. can this go on? it's not affable behavior, not unknown in politics. all

bill kristol. thanks for your insights on what looks like a historic day. >>> coming up, how the trump campaign was, yes, spreading russian propaganda in the days before the election. you heard that right but it is nuance. i'm going to explain and talk to a former watergate prosecutor. bob mueller keying in, trump's inner circle. what are top white house lawyers saying? i spoke to one today. i have that reporting. >>> and later trump giving himself a ten for his puerto rico response. also making a complete 180 with comments about hurricane katr a katrina. we have that. i'm ari melber and you're watching "the beat" on msnbc. when it comes to heartburn trust the brand doctors trust for themselves. nexium 24hr is the number one choice of doctors and pharmacists for their own frequent heartburn. and all day all night protection. when it comes to frequent heartburn, trust nexium 24hr. during the yellow tag sales event, you can get $3,500 off a hard day's play. from now until october 31st, save on a worl

bill kristol, and stephanie cutter, a top adviser to the obama white house and his re-election campaign. welcome, all. bill, i'm going to start with you today, and actually -- >> start with stephanie. she has more recent experience with secretaries of state and you know -- >> fair enough, but first, i want to put this, rex tillerson came out today, clearly trying to save his job, knowing that it was an audience of one watching mid-air, mind you, on his way to las vegas. here's a compilation of rex sillerson praising the president today. >> president trump's america first agenda has given voice to millions who felt completely abandoned by the political status quo. president trump's foreign policy goals break the mold of what people traditionally think is achievable on behalf of our country. he loves this country. he puts americans and america first. he's smart. he demands results wherever he goes, and he holds those around him accountable for whether they have done the job he's asked them to do. >> now, that was the secretary of state this morning before answering the specifics. he did t

closely you just might hear the breaking hearts of joy and read representative adam schiff and bill kristol get her break now and start watching the hawks. you know that i got. welcome ready to watching the. tyro's tour and joining me today in t.v. radio host and commentator extraordinary steve malzberg thank you for coming on again today to talk about these rather interesting issues we've seen this week it is my pleasure thanks for having me back so steve i want to start let's talk about the rehabilitation if you will of george w. bush you know he spoke out against the trump this week so did obama but i think bush is kind of the bigger story in that because obama kind of expect that it started i think his rehabilitation started last year you know what the whole appearances on ellen in the mainstream news media kind of fawning over his paintings of war veterans many of whom let's not forget he created with the invasion and occupation of iraq i want to ask you is the left's hatred of trump kind of a boon for those looking to whitewash george w.'s legacy of let's be honest torture unconstitut

bill kristol, give me your general reaction to secretary tillerson. >> i never expected to see that exchangef the united states. his defense of president trump ends up being that president trump forces action, he's a disrupter and we need change. i believe we need change. but it's unusual to defend the president, not, he has a strategic vision and it's complicated but rather he tosses hand grenades into the room and that forces change. >> what did you make, congresswoman, of the fact that he still will not answer the question as to whether or not he called president trump a moron over the summer? >> i'm sure he's embarrassed. it was supposed to be a private meeting and somehow it got out to the press and he just reminds me of a soldier of mainly committed and dedicated to his general and he's not going to step out of line no matter what he may think personally. >> interesting. president trump spoke to the values of voters, some are here in washington, d.c., on friday. he said this. >> in the last ten months, we have followed through on one promise after another. i didn't have a schedule but

website funded by hedge fund billionaire paul singer andy founded in part by twitter celebrity, bill kristol. that's where it all began. we promise you not a single person in f washington is surprised by that. a former state department official joins us tonight. david, thank you. i'm glad you're here. we'vee had many conversations about russia over the past year, you and i. you've expressed outrage about collusion between the trump people and russia. now that we know that the hillary campaign colluded with russia and took information from russia to affect the outcome of the campaign are you outraged? >> i never expressed outrage that there was collusion i expressed outrage that russia interfered in our election which all intelligence agencies agreed to and i said that needs to be investigated and if there is collusion, that's a very serious crime. >> tucker: we know the russians gave information through a couple of cutouts to the hillary campaign and the democratic national committee to influence the election. how is that different from what you just said? >> that's not what happened. the ne

what do you say when bill kristol is tweeting his anger and paul ryan and mitch mcconnell. you have the base separate from trump of damage of change, of being unable to present something or win or present an alternative, they were unable to defeat him. doesn't that speak about the party itself or the lack of leadership. that's the core of the issue. >> is an interesting question. one of the questions i had asked was the seat represent continuity or not in the republican party. was this a hostile takeover of an otherwise coherent party. he is a symptom of things that are wrong rather than in the facts. he is an effect as well. i think all of that incoherence is playing out on a national stage. the garrotte right now. they control the presidency, the house, the senate, a majority of the supreme court, and yet what is getting done? what is getting accomplished. this is the moment we step back and you say the republican party has gone very good at understanding what it was against, we hate barack obama, want to be hillary clinton and make liberals cry, we hate the news media bu

so what do you say when bill kristol is also showing his anger on a regular basis on twitter. paul ryan and mitch mcconnell. you've got the basis separate from trump is being able to present an alternative to. doesn't that speak about the party itself or the lack of leadership? >> guest: this is an interesting question because one of the questions i have to ask this donald trump represents continuity in the movement in the republican party, was it a hostile takeover in otherwise healthy party or was it a black swan events and came to the conclusion the dysfunction of ththat dysfunction andthe partyg condition. obviously, donald trump is a symptom of standing alone in the republican party that obviously he is in effect as well and i think that in all of those divisions and that incoherence playing out on a national stage where we are at right now. republicans control the presidency, the house and senate. theoretically what is getting done, what is getting accomplished. and i think this is the moment where you step back and say they've gotten very good at understanding what it w

bill kristol, walk home by way of that dome behind you and fix what's going on under there. thank you as always for coming on the broadcast with us. another break and up next, what donald trump wants us to know about what may be the lasting image from his trip to storm ravaged puerto rico when "the 11th hour" continues. >>> last thing before we go here tonight, president trump sat down for an interview with former arkansas governor fellow 016 presidential campaign opponent mike huckabee, also happens to be the father of press secretary sarah huck bier sanders. the two men talked about a number of topics over 27 minutes but what's getting a lot of attention was that moment in puerto rico. destined to be one of the lasting images of the trump presidency when he starred throwing rolls of off brand paper towels top puerto ricans in the crowd at an event to hand out relief supplies. it was instantly criticized as disrespectful. and criticism of that moment and trump administration's overall response to the storm damage has clearly bothered the president. >> we did a great job. an

. >>> anton gunn is a gold star family member, and bill kristol is with us, founder and editor of "the weekly standard." let's start with breaking news, the idea a, quote, massive intelligence failure may have been behind what happened in niger back in early part of this month. surprising? >> the phrase intelligence failure always komg comes up in something like this. i take the side of mattis to say, look, everyone is investigating, as you heard hans in the reporting, they're briefing congress in real time as it happened. when something happens like this and not know, of course, there's some sort of intelligence gap. i'm curious about overhead surveillance and requirements and needs, as courtney said, the pentagon has said for a long time they don't have enough isr for africa. >> isr. >> intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. because the size of africa. for a while it was all of the drones are being used in iraq and afghanistan. as those wars draw down, there would be more than available. but africa is enormous. we have troops everywhere. so, it's not as easy as one may think

ambassador under obama, and bill kristol, the founder and editor at large of the weekly standard.do you view of today's meeting? >> i actually don't think so. this was presentation of credentials that all ambassadors do. it is done on a quarterly basis in the kremlin. so there were others present. wasn't just a one-on-one meeting between putin and the ambassador. so there was not a substantive conversation. >> and do you think there is tension between his role as a high profile fixer? if you look at him here with putin, the best case scenario is he somehow cleans up some of this. the worst case is that donald trump who has pressed other aides into all sorts of assignments may press him. >> i think he has a tough assignment. i think he was a terrific hire. i've had a chance to speak to him. two big challenges, you just played his testimony. he is pretty explicit about what the drugs in 2016. his boss, the president, is not. so there is a policy difference for the new representative of the president of the united states in moscow. and number two, let's be honest. ambassadors in the

thanks to bill kristol for remembering this today. he was a blanket i blank stupid moron. he hate it when you called him a moron. all morons hate it when you call him a moron. that from kauch catcher in the rye. >> it seems to be. i mean, the thing about this whole story today, you know, what tillerson said or didn't say or didn't deny saying, that's one thing. but this image of the vice president of the united states going to the man who occupancy an office, thomas jefferson occupied -- >> hey, pal, time to get on board. >> exactly. and instructing him in essentially how to suck up to the president of the united states, because that's the way you stay on the team. that's the way you stay in the administration. that's the way you get anything done by the sort of flattering and the sort of -- >> and then the videotape appearance for an audience of one. somebody on social media said it looked like a hostage tape. >> this level of object seekousness is something we're not used to seeing in the united states of america. we see it in north korea. >> will this define the rest of

bill kristol, i want to start with you.r general reaction. >> i've been watching for three decades and i never expected that exchange with the secretary of state. his defense of president trump is he believes in action. he's a disrupter, he does these things and congress will work them out. we need change. i believe we need change from president trump's policy, which mostly failed. it's weird. it's unusual to defend the president and not he has a strategic vision, here is how we're implementing it. instead he tosses hand grenades into the room and that forces change. >> what did you make, congresswoman, of the fact he still will not answer the question as to whether or not he called president trump a moron in a private meeting over the summer? >> i'm sure he's embarrassed. it was to be a private meeting and got out to the press. he reminds me of a soldier just remaining committed and dedicated to his general. and he's not going to step out of line, no matter what he may think personally. >> interesting. president trump spok

bill kristol is waiting to see if we see that moment. philip, you contributed to a piece, speaking of the president's mood and temperament because it is germane to some of the news you and i talk about on this broadcast. you contributed this piece on the iran deal in which the president threw a fit. tell our viewers about it. >> well, he's thrown a fit over this iran deal because we've had these quarterly deadlines, basically, every three months where the administration has to decide whether to certify whether iran is complying with this nuclear agreement. and he's been convinced the first two times in april and again in june to move forward, so fert fie iran's part of the deal. he's been convinced of that by tillerson, mcmaster, by others he views as more traditionalist in nir thinking about policy foreign and he sort of lost it the last time around. and that was an indication to a lot of the people in his administration and in his cabinet that the president wanted a different solution. so they came together to figure out this way for h

i think bill kristol is entirely right. lieutenant generals never leak anything. that story is so juicy, it would have been all over the white house and the department of defense and state and elsewhere. look, war in north korea doesn't make any sense for anyone involved. certainly not the regional players. and here we are, drifting towards armed conflict before next summer, not a peep out of the congress of the united states on what appears to be president trump's almost unilateral thought that he can do preventive to north koreans. instead of that conversation, we're actually having an argument on who has a lower iq, the president or the secretary of state. this is not a very serious administration in many ways. thank god for secretary mattis and john kelly in the white house and h.r. mcmaster and other people, who seem to have their stability of the administration in their hands. >> you mention north korea. i wanted to play what the head of the house foreign affairs committee said a few hours ago about the iranian nuclear deal. take a listen. >> i would enforce

first of all, the washington free press, that's bill kristol's organization.ating trump? >> well, chris, "the new york times" is reporting this hour that that publication is financed by paul singer, who supported marco rubio. now, the times says that singer also had no knowledge of the dossier and as you said, the "free beacon" says in their statement that they funded -- they fired fusion gps to do opposition research on trump, but they had nothing to do with the dossier, with christopher steel, that former british intelligence officer or anything to do with the russia research. >> who was putting out the word that it was a republican candidate? we all got the idea it was one of the candidates against -- remember we were going after marco rubio and he denied it. how did that trail lead to another republican candidate rather than this neo conservative ti organization. >> well, the bank roll of this organization was a rubio supporter so maybe that's -- >> okay. let me ask you about jim wools i testifying. he has been a major player in this town. what about this

so what do you say when bill kristol is all tweeting his anger on a regular basis on twitter? paul ryan, and mitch mcconnell, that you've got basis separate from trump of damage, , of change, of being unable to then present something or when or present an alternative, all of the men and women whose up on the stage unable to defeat him. doesn't that speak about the party itself or the lack of leadership? >> guest: this is an interesting question because one of the questions i had asked was does donald trump represent continuity and discontinuity in the conservative movement and the republican party? was as hostile takeover of an otherwise healthy party? was it a black swan event? the dysfunction in the republican party was a pre-existing condition. obviously, donald trump is a symptom of things that were in the republican party rather than simply an effect. he is an effect as well and i think you're saying some all those divisions, that incoherence point out a national stage but it is look where we're at right now. republicans control the presidency, the house and the senator t

bill kristol, walk home by way of that dome behind you and fix what's going on under there. thank you as always for coming on the broadcast with us. another break and up next, what donald trump wants us to know about what may be the lasting image from his trip to storm ravaged puerto rico when "the 11th hour" continues. pain and constipation, and you've tried any number of laxatives, probiotics, and fiber, it could be wearing on you. tell your doctor what you've tried and how long you've been at it. linzess works differently from laxatives. linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. it can help relieve your belly pain and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements that are easier to pass. do not give linzess to children less than six, and it should not be given to children six to less than eighteen. it may harm them. don't take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. if

bill kristol, another never trump leader, was one of the founding board members of the leaders of thegin. this comes out of the never trump feeling. remember to 2015 and donald trump has been leading the race and all the smart people in politics say he will implode and people will get tired of him and there will be a big gap and he will be over but what happened was at that time some people began thinking what if he doesn't implode and what is he keeps leaving the race, maybe we can help them along. they created this opposition research is a trying to bring trump down. abby: the take away from this is when we talk about the dossier is that it is now funded, according to your report, by this lawyer who was working for the dnc and for the hillary clinton campaign and paid for by funds he was getting from both of those places. what is the biggest question that still remains in your mind, byron? >> how the changeover occurred is the free begin said they funded the project until may and if you remember on may 3rd donald trump won the indiana primary and clinched the operation and after tha