the president attacking joe scarborough and mika brzezinski. the pair firing back today on air and in an op-ed in "the washington post." trump holding a joint press conference with the south korean president. that just wrapped up. sam sweeney is following all of this. >> that joint press conference just wrapping up in the last be minutes. the first international trip for the south korean president. -- neitherad a long president took any questions. the president addressing the situation in north korea, calling the north a menace. thepresident also mentioned former uva student who recently died after the north help them captive. the nuclear and ballistic missile programs of that regime require a determined response. the north korean dictatorship has no regard for the safety and security of its people. or its neighbors. it has no respect for human life. that has been proven over and over again. >> the south korean president also spoke, saying he has invited president trump to south korea. that trip will likely happen later this year. now, to those

he worked with mika brzezinski for many years and knew her father.y the way, what we're not talking about in all of this, her father. very well respected foreign policy adviser just died a couple weeks ago. she just had his services a few weeks ago. i saw people in washington coming back from the service in washington, d.c. and now she's dealing with this. dan rather says this whole thing comes down to common decency. we'll talk about that. i'm thomas and i quit smoking with chantix. i was very grateful to have chantix. at times when i would normally go smoke, i just didn't it's kind of like "wait a minute, i would normally be running out the door to go grab a cigarette." along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side effects may inc

it comes after the president tweeted about "morning joe" host mika brzezinski and joe scarborough. among other things he said mika has a low i.q. and added when he saw her at mar-a-lago she was bleeding badly from a face-lift. it was apparently in response to their repeated criticism of the president on their show. overnight mika and joe responded telling "the washington post" the president has an unhealthy obsession with the show. they also said the president lied about mika claiming her face was not bleeding from a face-lift. abc's janai norman joins us from washington. good morning, janai. >> reporter: good morning and happy friday. as usual there is so much going on in washington but instead of talking about policy or national security, we're talking about twitter and the tweets some are calling the latest example of president trump's cyberbullying. this morning they're the tweets heard around the world. the president launching a personal attack on msnbc host mika brzezinski insulting her appearance and intellect in a pair of venomous tweets calling her low i.q. crazy mika sayi

visit ncicap.org >> mika brzezinski and joe scarborough spoke out this morning saying in part, quote, we have known mr. trump for more than a decade and have fond memories of our relationship, but that hasn't stopped us criticizing his behavior or worrying about his fitness. they say, we have noticed a change in his behavior over the past few years, perhaps that is neither why we were shocked or insulted by the president's personal attack. later today, president trump will be meeting with the new president of south korea. he is in washington for meetings and the two will speak to reporters, a joint statement coming up at 115. later in the day, the president -- the south korean president will be delivering remarks at the center for strategic and national studies live at 6:00 p.m. eastern. c-span where history unfolds daily. in 1979, c-span was created as a public service by america's cable television companies and is brought to you by your cable or satellite provider. former acting attorney general sali yates who was fired by president trump spoke at the aspen ideas festival in colorad

this morning over president trump's pointed and personal tweet against joe scarborough and mika brzezinski. >> tweets like these are inconsistent with the office. >> there's no need for uncivil language. >> it's blatantly sexist. >> today mika responds. >>> wildfires overshadowing fourth of july fireworks. thousands of homeowners are forced to deal with dozens of western wildfires. >>> police say tennis star venus williams was directly involved in a fatal car crash in florida. >>> sharks swimming up to swimmers. >>> and meet the boss who pays for employees weddings and kids college too. >>> "early today" starts right now. >>> good friday morning, i'm frances rivera. sexist, divisive, vulgar and uncivil, just a few of the bipartisan terms used in response to president trump's latest twitter tirade aimed at "morning joe" host mika brzezinski. the response is titled, "the president is not well", noting that mr. trump is not mentally equipped to even watch their show. first nbc's kristen welker tells us how it all unfolded. >> reporter: president trump touting his energy policy but drowning ou

. >> the anchors on that show, mika brzezinski and joe scarborough responding. >> my father just passed away. my mother had two heart attacks. my daughter just lost a friend. those are the things i'm really worried about. those are things that deeply impact me and leave me thinking about at night and hurting and worrying and thinking about the future. the president's tweets, whether they're personally aimed at me or aimed at me in some way, that doesn't bother me one bit. it does worry me about the country. he appears to have a fragile, impetuous, child like ego we've seen over and over again especially with women. he can't take it. >> so here are the tweets in case you haven't seen them yet that are out there. the president saying, quote, low iq, crazy mika along with psycho joe came to mar-a-lago around new year's eve. the president going on to say, quote, she was bleeding badly from a face-lift. >> let's bring if "today in the bay's" tracie potts. the tweets are a huge distraction for the president and republicans as they are trying to stand behind trump's controversial travel bans.

joe scarborough and mika brzezinski respond to president trump's tweet attack calling mika brzezinski low iq and crazy. scarborough a psycho and claiming mika showed up at mar-a-lago bleeding from a face-lift. >> we what we've always learned and that is he for some reason takes things so much more personally with women. >> he's so easily played by a cable news host. now what is that saying to our allies? >> reporter: lawmakers, even republicans, denounced it. >> obviously i don't see that as an appropriate comment. >> the president of the united states ought to be modeling the best of behavior. he should be an example for children. >> mr. president, do you regret your tweets this morning at all? >> reporter: the white house defended it. >> when the president gets hit, he's going to get hit back ha harder. >> reporter: president trump under fire with his travel ban. with the temporary okay from the u.s. supreme court, the ban against travelers from six majority muslim countries went into effect last night. now travelers and refugees must prove a bona fide relationship with someone in t

now mika brzezinski and joe scarborough saying donald trump is not well. focusing on.mally we would wonder what's the president going to say. he has the south korean leader in town in washington. he's having an event but not taking questions. the second time this week the president is with a foreign leader where there's not going to be a normal press conference. usually when someone comes to town there's a press conference. this president is so insulated, so wary of taking questions about james mueller and -- robert mueller and james comey, he's avoiding that. we may not hear from him on this today. >> the strategy of sarah huckabee sanders that we played that said, look, he gets punched and punched and you're appalled when he punches back, is that the right strategy for them, do you think? >> i don't know what else she could have said. she's talking about fighting fire with fire. that's true in forest fires. to me, it creates a bigger controversy in this instance. i would love to know one day later if she really is proud of her answers yesterday. >> ivanka trump has m

this obviously doesn't help do that. >> mika brzezinski herself told the president with the picture of a cereal box and tag line, "made for little hands." like -- like a cheerios. it looks like most americans would be happy to see all this stop. more than six in ten want the president to stop tweeting, period. 61% to 32% in a new quinnipiac poll. >> the only one not commenting on the tweet is the president as he await the president of south korea. mr. trump ignored repeated questions about whether he regretted his tweets. today president trump and president moon will give a joint statement to the media but will not answer questions. >> think about the remarkable day yesterday. it began with the president -- you know, about 20 hours ago, trolling cable news hosts on twitter and ended with him host ing a state visit from an incredibly important ally as we try to figure out what to do with north korea. >> remember, he set the agenda. the conversation could have been about health care, could have been about the president with president moon, the travel ban which was a win -- >> two house v

the president launching a personal attack on msnbc host mika brzezinski assaulting her appearance and intellect in a pair of venomous tweets calling her low i.q. crazy mika saying her and joe visited him and she was bleeding badly from a face-lift. i said, no. the string of insults came after brzezinski criticized the president mocking him for having, quote, teensie hands. >> nothing makes a man feel better than making a fake cover of a magazine about himself lying every day and destroying the country. >> the president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts by people on that program. >> reporter: the white house defending the attack but in person president trump not willing to defend his own tweets. >> mr. president, do you regret your tweets this morning at all? >> reporter: still, democrats pouncing. >> stop the disrespect. >> i call him the cyberbully in chief. >> reporter: republicans piling on to the bipartisan condemnation. >> look, what we're trying to do is improve the tone and civility of the debate and this obviously doesn't help do that. >> reporter: the tweets

because the tweets about mika brzezinski are deeply inappropriate.eply beneath the office of the president and set a terrible example for sort of what we want in our political dialogue. the more this becomes a, well, mika said this, and joe responded this then trump said this-you're waiting for, i wonder how friday's episode will end? i think it gets us further afield from what was the root of this, which are tweets about a woman's appearance. a cyberbullying by the president of the united states. and for the average person i think they just throw their hands up and say, all of these people are the worst. >> it wouldn't be -- i agree with you. one of the disturbing things and odd in this case, normally accusing donald trump of attacking the press, and he alone and his perhaps minions if you call them are attacking the press. this would be example, if true, using the press as a con duit another press organization in some way and weaponize within. make no mistake, i'm not convinced of a legal issue but it's an attack on the first mmdment. using the con

a personal shot aimed at morning show co-host mika brzezinski. a new poll finds an astounding 71% of the public are against the president's tweets saying they hurt the agenda. nbc's kristen walker reports. >> reporter: president trump touting his energy policy but drowning out his own message with a tweet this time lashing out at "morning joe" for criticizing him. how come low i.q. crazy mika along with joe came to mar-a-lago on new year's eve and insisted to join me. while the show does consistently take aim at him. >> he's covering his hands here. >> he doesn't know his own positions on a health care bill that he's passing. he seems confused. >> reporter: it was the president's very personal shot at mika brzezinski that prompted condemnation from democrats. >> it's blatantly sexist. >> reporter: and top republicans many taking to twitter themselves calling mr. trump's tweet beneath the office of the presidency. >> tweets like this are inconsistent with the greatness of the country teechbs. >> there is no need for such uncivil language. >> what

adrianna: mika brzezinski -- veronica johnson is tracking the track for storms. who will get hit the hardest tomorrow as when? she has got the answers. pro-tip for making ribs: don't go it alone. get these great smoked ribs. thanks. sure. twenty minutes on the grill. and they're done. you think he cares if i smoke ribs for six hours? summer made easy at amazing prices. only at giant. veronica: get ready because he we go play today just a one. maybe you have the day off and you will do a little bit of tr aveling. let's get you through today first. by lunchtime we will be sweating a little bit, at 87. and 92 today.es the higher humidity will make it feel much worse. your chances of seeing rain fairly low. look at the yellow, that is where there could be some enhanced thunderstorms coming our way for the weekend. martinsburg, areas of northern maryland for saturday. robust.orms more we will talk about the timeline of when that rain will be moving to in 10 minutes. julie, how was it looking? julie: it is a busy ride for a friday morning for you guys are

ever using the kind of demeaning rhetoric against president obama that we have heard from mika brzezinski and joe scarborough in which she will and other scurrilous thing well you know i did an interview interrupt you stephanie i suggest that you couldn't even you could even criticize president obama on policy without being called a racist i suggested no conservative host could have ever gotten away with calling president obama mentally ill he would not have had to respond with a tweet because that person would have been fired immediately on the spot now in regards to health care i think that. he is doing what he can do behind the scenes you know present a truck went into office facing two opposition parties of the democrats as well as the republican establishment that really didn't want necessarily the people's agenda to be put forth which president trump was elected to do we see people like susan collins want to fund planned parenthood in on the other end we've got ted cruz and rand paul wanting free market solutions so he's really got a tough battle on his hands and he is dealing with

thursday when he took to twitter to call the show's anchors low iq mika and psycho joe claiming brzezinski was bleeding badly from a facelift when she visited mar-a-lago this past winter. the host wrote this in the morning post characterizing his actions against an unrelenting assault against women. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle were quick to call him out. >> he has demeaned women and himself. >> we are trying to improve, the tone, the civility of the debates and this obviously dun help do that. >> reporter: sarah huckabee- sanders defended mr. trump arguing he is just pushing back against people who attack him every day. meg oliver, cbs news, new york. >>> a local businessman and activist is being remembered this afternoon. jeff guildenhorn. he died wednesday after choking on some food at the palm restaurant. a sign outside his diner reads rest in peace. he opened the eatery in 1989. it will be closed until hurt notice. jeffrey with once run for dc mayor was 74 years old. >>> it has been nine months since an unarmed black man was shot and killed by police and his family is waiting

he also insulted brzezinski's co-host, joe scarborough. it was of prompted by brzezinski's criticism of the white house. >> it clearly was inappropriate and not something that he should have done. it is beneath the dignity of the office. >> i think that the president has been attke members of that program. and i think he has been very clear that when he gets attacked, he's going to hit back. >> before the election, first lady melania trump vowed to fight cyber bullying, but yesterday her spokesperson said this, as the thirst -- first lady has stated publicly in the past, with her husband gets attacked, he will punch back ten times harder. >>> north korea is high on the agenda, i should say, as the president meets again with south korea's new leader. president moon dined with the first family at the white house last night. president trump later tweeted that it was a very good meeting in which they also discussed a new trade deal. moon pledged to stand firmly with the president to see that north korea's nuclear program is dismantled. the whi

brzezinski said the tabloid hounded her family to get the story. >> they were calling my children. they were calling close friends. >> you're talking about the national inquirer. >> reporter: the president has ties to the inquirer which endeersed him during the 2016 campaign has relentlessly attacked his adversaries. publisher david pecker are close friends and allies. the national inquirer's editor in charge dylan howard issued this statement. at the beginning of june we accurately reported a story that recounted the relationship between joe scarborough and mika brzezinski, the truth of which is not in dispute. at no time did we threaten either joe or mika or their children in connection with our reporting on the story. we have no knowledge of any discussions between the white house and joe and mika about our story and absolutely no involvement in those discussions. after the explosive accusation from the couple on air, the president responded tweeting, watch low-rated morning joe for the first time in long time. fake news, he called me to stop a national inquirer article. i said

got plenty from joe scarborough and mika brzezinski. plenty of megtive comments from a lot of tv anchors, but to go after mika brzezinski for what he says, she was bleeding badly from her face-lift? that is pretty outrageous. >> it is outrageous. there are a lot of ways to come at the criticism, because there's so many levels of ridiculous to that tweet, but i actually am coming at it, actually, not as a woman, which is the way you can, but as a parent. i have a 6-year-old boy. what -- how do i explain to him that you can't say things like this as a 6-year-old when he's looking at a guy who's the president of the united states who thinks that it's okay? how do you do that? >> let me get anna into this. certainly it's not the first time the president made statements along these lines involving women. listen to this, this goes back during the campaign, and years earlier, although the "access hollywood" tacame out during th campaign. >> you know, you can see there was blood coming out of her eyes. blood coming out of her -- wherever. but s

the president's early morning sweet slammed brzezinski's intelligence, mental health, and appearance. trump suggested she has a low i.q., was, quote, crazy, and crudely said that she was bleeding from a purported face-lift during a holiday visit to his palm beach estate. there are pictures of brzezinski from that visit and the pictures dispute the president's account of how she looked. critics and supporters alike say the president crossed the line. >> completely inappropriate. >>re tone of the debate. this obviously doesn't help do that. >> we're not always going to get along. but there's no need for such uncivil language. >> some conservatives defended the president by saying "morning joe" has attacked trump personally and unfairly. we'll see what happens next. leon harris in the newsroom. >> leon, thank you. we'll stay tuned. >>> president trump got two victories in the house as he tries to advance his immigration agenda. one bill forces so-called sanctuary cities to honor federal government requests to detain suspected immigrants for an additional two days. if the cities refuse, t

and he owes mika brzezinski an apology but he will not do it. the impact internationally is that the world leaders are looking to him as the american voice on the hill. you now have senators once again cringing and distancing themselves but ultimately going to stick with him. but brian, we can't overlook the fact that donald trump is the face of the republican party, the party that once boasted reagan, and the bushes, this is a man who we know insults women, and immigrants, and war heroes, and if that is donald trump, that is the republican party. >> i heard it put sarcastically tonight, what are the americans waiting for, a president polling at 36%, a health care bill polling at 12%, or a president that goes against its incumbent, all of those three things have happened. >> let's be clear, republicans don't want to talk about this. it was clear all day trying to talk to them about health care, that this -- they could not escape the conversation about these tweets and they absolutely don't want to talk about it any more. they want to talk about

you don't attack women. >> brzezinski did have this to say on twitter tweeting out a picture of a cheerows box with the caption made for little hands. >> the trump administration plans to arrest parents and other relatives who authorities believe smuggle their children into the u.s. many children across the border fleeing gang and drug violence and stay in the u.s. with parents close relatives or family friends. >>> time now 5:04. we have new information this morning in the redskins fight to keep their name, the justice department is giving up the legal fight over the name of the washington redskins. in a letter to a federal appeals court the department said they are dropping legal action against the name because of last week's supreme court decision where a rock band won the right to copyright their name despite an offensive racial connotation. >>> the fourth of july weekend is here and e packed roads according to aaa mor than 44 million people are traveling 50 miles or more this weekend. 37.5 million of though he is the expected to drive. almost 3.5 million will be flying this weekend

today, brzezinski and co-host wrote donald trump is not well. our concerns go beyond the personal. americas leaders and allies are questioning whether this man is fit to be president. this, as senate republican leadership continues to struggle to reach a health care deal. let's begin with it at the white house with boris sanchez. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, poppy. the op-ed, mika brzezinski and joe scarborough refuted the claims including they asked him to stay at mar-a-lago over new year's eve. the president has an unhealthy obsession with him and questioning his mental health. yesterday, the president had a chance to response to reporter who is asked him about the tweets, he declined. he tweeted about this show this morning saying it is fake news and continuing this feud with the hosts who were actually supposed to be off today, but they decided to go into the studio and respond to the president's twitter tirade. here is some of what they said. >> it is unbelievably alarming that this president is so easily played. he's so easily played by a cable news host. now, wha

you endorse everything he said about mika brzezinski? do you agree with what he said?uld like the entire twitter wanter to go away? >> of course you would because it's hurtful to someone you want to support. if you want to be a leader, you need to step up. do you endorse what he said about mika brzezinski. >> i would never, ever want one human being to disparage another human being. >> then say what the president said was wrong about mika brzezinski. >> you're trying to pressure me to say something i'm not willing to say. >> why not? if you want to be a leader and you want to call out what's wrong, do it. >> i'm saying the whole conversation is wrong. we need to get back to the issues that americans and your viewers -- >> decency and how our president treats other human beings especially women is a meaningful issue. if the media is wrong, it should be called out. you know what? there's one president and there's a lot of media. there's one person at the top of the chain. there's one ultimate leader and there's a lot of media. you really want to put him on equal footing

where the apology to mika brzezinski? >> good point. >> wondering. >> ben's argument, this is a tweet he doesn't think should have happened but the president got right back to his job. jake tap der a brilliant job, often does yesterday, pointing out yet another fact. look at what the president has tweeted about, official statements from the white house, since inauguration day. 85 attacks on the media. 67 tweets about jobs. 27 about the military. cornerstones of his campaign, and promises he made about his presidency. he also said, we're going to be doing a job that hopefully you will be so proud of your president. you will be so proud, he said. do you think americans are looking at this and believing that he is focused on those things? and so proud? or something else? >> i -- i don't think so. simply because while he did tweet about other things yesterday with regard to energy and national security and immigration, he set the agenda first thing in the morning by tweeting a personal attack against a television host. and wh

instead of this effort, the public policies, or the professionalism of mika brzezinski, and what she does as a reporter in doing her job, is what we do in our jobs, is initiating public policy that helps men and women in this country. and would that the president of the united states instead of proposing a budget and a repeal of a health care bill that can only hurt american people -- women and children -- around this country, that he would stand tall and say that my job is to make sure that families have the education that they need, the health care that they need, the good jobs that they need, in order to provide economic growth in the united states of america, what he does is he demeans women, but more than that, he has demeaned himself in this process. and we know it and the country knows it. >> thank you very much. n this weekend, c-span's city tour with the help of our comcast partners, takes book tv and american history tv to portland, oregon, as we explore its rich history and literary culture. saturday we'll visit powell's city of books, we'll go inside to see its vast colle

trump's particularly personal tweet about one of his frequent critics, msnbc host mika brzezinski, and her appearance is earning the president sharp criticism from the left and right, especially among women. a president who has thrived on pushing the envelope of civility and pounding his critics, proving he has not lost the ability to shock and change the conversation. white house correspondent kristen welker has details. >> reporter: president trump touting his energy policy today, but once again drowning out his own message with a tweet. this time lashing out at msnbc's "morning joe" for criticizing him. "how come low i.q. crazy mika along with psycho joe came to mar-a-lago three nights in a row around new year's eve and insisted on joining me? she was bleeding badly from a face-lift. i said no." while the show does consistently take aim at him -- >> he's covering his hands here because they're teensy. >> he doesn't know his own positions on a health care bill that he's passing. he seems confused. >> reporter: it was the president's very personal shot at mika brzezinski that prompted

we had the president tweeting and going after mika brzezinski. had the white house deputy press secretary, sarah huckabee sanders, suggesting to americans that they watch these videos on line where people are going after cnn employees and trying to get them to say something off the cuff that would be damaging to this company, and i guess damaging to journalists overall. it almost feels like a hunting of journalists that's being advocated by this white house. and i think it's terribly damaging to american confidence in the first amendment, american confidence in the news media. the only thing we can hope for, wolf, when we hear these kinds of comments is that the american public will finally get sick and tired of this and really rally to our side. i do think that's going to come. >> david, you write for the "washington post." i'm sure you've gotten plenty of criticism. all of us have gotten plenty of criticism. how should the white house react to this? because clearly they're not reacting the way you want them to or i want them to. >> i don't want

mika brzezinski, megyn kelly then u. could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. blood coming out of her -- wherever, but she was, in my opinion, she was -- off base. >> again, that was during the campaign. you might say the president was mad about one debate, but remember, the "access hollywood" tapes, this is who he is. >> you know, i'm quite automatically attracted to beautiful -- i start kissing them. like a magnet [ laughter ] when you're a star, they let you do it. whatever you want. >> whatever you want? >> grab them by the [ bleep ]. you can do anything. >> we were told before we come on the air, you see these, get shocked then say why be shocked given the history? i don't know if shocked is the right word, but he's the president of the united states. you can't just say, oh, forget about it. it's trump being trump. >> right. well, and you know, this also comes in the same week in which a video went viral of his ca calling over an attractive irish reporter to the resolute desk and talking to the leader in ireland saying what a pretty smile she had. she must

>>> some of the repercussions of the attack on mika brzezinski continue. sarah huckabee sanders painted the president, the white house and herself as victims instead of the woman the president today attacked. >> look, everybody wants to make this an attack on a woman. what about the constant attacks that he receives or the rest of us? i'm a woman and i've been attacked by this show multiple times. but i don't cry foul because of it. >> whatever you might think of that answer, this is far from the first time she's been put on the spot by something that the boss has tweeted or said. randi kaye has more. >> good afternoon, everybody. >> reporter: she's the white house principle deputy press secretary. often on defense, like with this evolving narrative over fbi director james comey's firing. >> accordingly, the president accepted the recommendation of his deputy attorney general to remove james comey from his position. >> isn't it true that the president had already decided to fire james comey and he asked the justice department to put together the rationale

taking time to go after the media and today's target of choice msnbc host joe scarborough and micco brzezinski president tweeted "i heard poorly rated "morning joe" speaks badly of me then how come low iq crazy mika and crazy joe came to mar-a-lago and insisted on joining me. she was bleeding bad from a face-lift. i said no. >> i was stunned when i saw that and -- i was, too. >> it's not just us. i mean, there were all kinds of even gop lawmakers who came out -- i know one republican senator who is a frequent critic of the president tweeted please just stop. this isn't normal. it's beneath the dignity of your office and that's just one of several but i was stunned that you attack somebody personally when you're the president of the united states. >> even speaker ryan even came out and said, you know, this is not appropriate for the president to be saying these types of things. >> but the question is can anybody stop it. >> right. >>we asked you guys about this on facebook, have the president's tweets gone too far. denise wrote whether you support him or not this is not okay. >> gus chimed in n

he fired off a pair of crude tweets taking aim at msnbc host mika brzezinski who had been critical of the president. i heard poorly rated joe speaks badly of me. how come you iq crazy mika brzezinski came to mar-a-lago three nights in a row around new year's eve and insisted on joining me. she was bleeding badly from a facelift. i said no. mika brzezinski responded with this tweet poking fun at what has been a sensitive subject for the president. the war of words gaining traction with more than a handful of criticism falling on the presidents shoulders. nebraska senator getting in on the twitter train. these just stop. this isn't normal and its any the dignity of your office. >> i am appalled. this is the president of the united states. you don't do things like that.>> reporter: the white house reacting with us. i don't think you can expect someone to be personally attack day after day, minute by minute and sit back. they knew what they were getting.>> reporter: overshadowing immigration votes. >> what we're trying to do is improve the town and civility of the debate. this doesn't hel

the "morning show" host, mika brzezinski, talking about having graphic reference to a facelift. tonight, the white house defending the tweet saying the american people elected a president who fights fire with fire. here's abc's chief white house correspondent, jonathan karl. >> reporter: tig welcoming the president of the south korea to the white house. but earlier today, donald trump being anything but presidential. launching a harsh personal attack on msnbc television host mika brzezinski, calling her "low iq crazy mika." saying that she and co-host and fiancÉ joe scarborough came to visit him in mar-a-lago in december and quote, she was bleeding badly from a facelift. i said, no. the twitter outburst came after brzezinski criticized the president on her show this morning. >> nothing makes a man feel better than making a fake cover of a magazine about himself, lying every day and destroying the country. >> reporter: the president's tweets touched off an avalanche of bi-partisan condemnation. >> i think it's so blatantly sexist, i don't think there is any question about it. >>

on today's "morning joe" program, brzezinski had been critical of mr.. >> nothing makes a man feel better than making a fake cover of a magazine about himself, lying every day and destroying the country. >> reporter: but the personal nature of the president's tweets drew immediate condemnation, including from republicans on capitol hill. house speaker paul ryan: >> look, what we're trying to do around here is improve the tone and civility of the debate, and this, obviously, doesn't help do that. >> reporter: south carolina senator lindsey graham: >> tweets like this are amconsistent with the greatness h the country and the office. >> reporter: on twitter-- where ubse-- other republicans begged the president to stop. nebraska's ben sasse wrote, "this isn't normal." white house deputy press secretary sarah huckabee sanders said the president was provoked. >> i think that the president is pushing back against people who attack him, day after day after day. a reporter: oklahoma republican james lankford invoked the recent shooting of republican congressman

for all of us at nbc >>> mika brzezinski and her fiancee co-host unload on the president.ace lift. >> new accusations and new war of words now on "extra." >>> the hosts of "morning joe" cancelled their swraks to fire back at trump. >> he attacks women because he fears women. >> her proof she didn't have a face lift. claims he threatened to hit them with a tabloid piece. >> where to begin. >>> jay z confessing to cheating on beyonce in. >> we're decoding the lyrics from his album. >>. >>> we have lionel richie and mariah carey teaming up. >> the camera starts to push in. tom cruise and jerry bruckheimer are planning a surprise. >> why 70 is the new 30. hollywood's ageless beauties revealing their surprising anti-aging secrets. >> what is the secret. >> good genes and a lot of money

the latest criticism, tweets aimed at mika brzezinski. i hear poorly rated morning joe speaks badly of me don't watch anymore. then how come low i.q. crazy mika and psycho joe came to mar-a-lago. three nights in a row. >> zeent think it's a surprise that he fights fire with fire. >> reporter: press secretary sarah huckabee sanders defended it. >> it's kind of like we're living in the twilight zone, they do this day after day. and the president defends himself and everybody is appalled and blown away. i think that the president has been attacked mercifully on personal accounts by everyone on that program. and i think he's been very clear when he gets attacked, he's going to hit back. >> reporter: the president's behavior, sanders argued is not beneath the dignity of his office. >> i think that he shows that every day in the decisions that he's making, the focus and priorities. the only person that i see a war on is this president and everybody that works for him. >> reporter: still, a slew of top republicans quickly criticized the presiden

he called scarborough "psycho joe" and called brzezinski "crazy" saying she has a low i.q. and he commented at her appearance on a new year's eve event at mar-a-largo. it's not sitting well with lawmakers from nancy and lindsey graham. officials responding in all kind of ways saying the president is a bad role model to another tweet from a u.s. senator asking the president to please stop saying this is not normal. the folks we talk to also say enough is enough. >> this is what we have seen so far. everything is fair game. it seems like a hypocrisy. i don't find it surprising. >> parents say the name-calling sends a message to kids like her young son. >> i know trump is kind of mean. >> the president of the united states can be a bully why shouldn't my 6-year-old boy be. >> he gets in trouble over it. he will sent to the principal's office but the president can say or do whatever he wants. >> hours ago in the daily press briefing the white house pushed back saying the president was only defending himself. >> did the president go too far with the tweet in the deeply personal

but it is that vicious, vicious personal attack tweet by the president aimed at msnbc's own mika brzezinski and joe scarborough that is dominating the headlines this morning. the hosts of "morning joe" responding to the president just a short time ago. >> the president's tweets, whether they're personally aimed at me or aimed at me in some way, that doesn't bother me one bit. it does worry me about the country. he appears to have a fragile, impetuous, child-like ego that we've seen over and over again, especially with women. it's like he can't take it. the white house claims that we attack him. no. we report on his lies. we are upset when he doesn't tell the truth and he bullies people. that is true. it is unbelievably alarming that this president is so easily played. he's so easily played by a cable news host. >> we have got our incredible team of reporters and analysts here to break all of it down. let's go live to the white house first and nbc's kristen welker. the president was watching this morning actually. you know, he likes to say that nobody watches and the rate rgs low, but he cer

i mean, yes, it's true, mika brzezinski criticized him. that's definitely true. but mika brzezinski is not the president and these remarks don't have equal weight when they're delivered from each of them because one is the president and one isn't. it will always come down to, well, he felt attacked. or they attacked him or he didn't do this. you're getting sort of half of the page as opposed to the whole page. >> i wonder how much of this is, as a civilian, as a businessman in new york, donald trump was used to, you know, positive tabloid coverage because he was calling up reporters pretending to be a spokesperson and, you know, selling his own stories and planting stories and stuff and leaking stuff. but the idea of, you know, a critical press, that every white house feels the press is critical of them and they should be. that is the role of the press to be critical. sure, there are some networks that would want to be an organ of the white house, it seems or a devout enemy of the white house but most reporters want to be fair and accurate and try very hard just

but he's being blasted for using unusually personal and crude terms aboutmika brzezinski.. the tweet referred to low ratings.... referred to joe scarborough as 'psycho joe'...but then, aside from calling brzezinski "low i-q crazy...." he described a meeting with her in which he claimed she was "bleeding badly from a face-lift." at the white house today...aides insisted the president is just punching back against critics.. susan sanders - i don't think so. i think the president has been attacked mercilessly on personal accounts by members on that program and i think he's been very clear that when he gets attacked he's going to hit back. rep. paul ryan, r- house speaker: obviously i don't see that as an appropriate comment. we're trying to keep discourse civil and this isn't helping to do that. paul ryan is just one of a number of republicans who are criticizing the president. others, like senator susan collins tweeting that "this has to stop." meantime, a new poll shows that 69 percent of americans think the president's useof twitter is "reckless and distracting." pam and st

>> reporter: the president called brzezinski low iq, crazy mika. and alleging that during a visit to mar-a-lago over new year's eve with co-host and fiance joe scarborough she was bleeding badly from a face-lift. the co-hosts responding today. the president's petulant personal attack compels us to say that mika didn't have a face-lift. she did have skin under her chin tweaked but this wasn't a secret. >> he should resign. >> i think it's so blatantly sexist i don't know there's a question about it. >> reporter: even many republicans who the president needs to carry out hi republican senator lisa murkowski from alaska tweeting, stop it. the presidential platform should be used for more bringing people down. >> the president's tweet was completely inappropriate. >> tweets like this are inconsistent with the greatness of the country and the office. >> obviously i don't see that as an appropriate comment. >> reporter: even conservative pundits weighing in. bill cristal calling the president a pig and commentator erick erickson tweeted, my god, someone

. >> the president called mika brzezinski "low iq, crazy mika," and her co-host, joe scarborough, "psycho joe." the string of insults came after brazinski criticized the president on her show. this morning, she and her co-host hit back hard. >> i will insult him over the muslim ban or say that he's a racist. i'll say he's a racist with what he said about david duke. all of these things through the year. and for some reason, he always goes after mika. >> mm-hmm. >> and it's always personal with mika. he attacks women because he fears women. >> he has a fixation. >> brazinski and scarborough were supposed to be on vacation today. they postponed that to go on the air and respond to the president this morning. they also wrote an opinion piece. do you see the title there? "donald trump is not well." the article says "our concerns about his unmoored behavior go far beyond the personal. america's leaders and allies are asking themselves yet again whether this man is fit to be president." this morning, the president's counselor, kellyanne conway, came to the president's defense on "good morning a

msnbc's mika brzezinski. also the travel ban officially going into effect tonight amid concerns and confusion about who's allowed in and who's not. >>> scandal strikes at the heart of the vatican. a top cardinal, one of pope francis' top aides charged with sexual abuse. >>> high rollers. recreational weed about to be legal in sin city. tonight dos and don'ts before you think about lighting up on the strip. >>> and what's next for the digital revolution that changed the world ten years ago today. >>> "nightly news" begins right now. >>> from nbc news world headquarters in new york, this is nbc "nightly news" with lester holt. >>> good evening. it's great to have you here tonight. as at least one prominent republican said today, this morning's tweet by president trump is beneath the office of the presidency. mr. trump's particularly personal tweet about one of his frequent critics, msnbc host mika brzezinski, and her appearance, is earning the president sharp criticism from the left and right, especially among

for their parts, scarborough and brzezinski. watched located "morning joe" for first time in a long time. fake news. he was responding to the account offered by mika brzezinski and scarborough on how the top white house aides that said they'd spike a story in "the national enquirer" if joe and mika covered the president more favorably. >> we got a call that "the national enquirer" is going to run a negative story against you guys. it was -- you know, donald is friends with the president's friends with the guy that runs the "national enquirer." and they said, if you call the president up and you apologize for your coverage, then he will pick up the phone and basically spike the story. >> i was told yesterday by two sources close to the president that his feud with scarborough and brzezinski has been brewing for months. here's how mika responded to the harsh words for her. >> i'm fine. my family brought me up really tough, this is absolutely nothing. but i think for me personally. but i am very concerned as to what this once again