we'll say thank you to him and also charlie sykes.hank you so much for your time today. >>> we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ (baby crying) ♪ ♪ don't juggle your home life and work life without it. ♪ ♪ and don't forget who you're really working for without it. ♪ ♪ funding to help grow your business... ♪ ♪ another way we have your back. ♪ ♪ the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it. like you do sometimes, grandpa? and puffed... the powerful backing of american express. well, when you have copd, it can be hard to breathe. it can be hard to get air out, which can make it hard to get air in. so i talked to my doctor. she said... symbicort could help you breathe better, starting within 5 minutes. symbicort doesn't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. symbicort helps provide significant improvement of your lung function. symbicort is for copd, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema. it should not be taken more than twice a day. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of dea

. >> let's get the inside scoop from charlie sykes and msnbc contributor.adopt. >> charlie signpes. garrett haake in salt lake city, utah, where he interviewed romney ahead of tonight's debate. and susan page, "usa today" washington bureau chief, right here. welcome all. garrett, first to you, mitt romney certainly signaling on the one hand, on the other hand, he's being very cautious going into this primary, having come in behind the leading candidate, so surprising some in a convention. >> yes, i wouldn't pay too much attention to the results of the convention. that has a lot more to do with the nature of how utah nominates its politicians. this is still very much still his race to lose. you heard a little bit in the answer, the dilemma he is in. when donald trump acts like a kpz republicconservative republ romney will support him. they line up fairly well on immigration. they line up on some big republican issues. but it's never been a secret that mitt romney and donald trump could not be more far apart on personal style, personal bearing and sort of the degree their personal cha

charlie sykes, this smells. mean, these cousins, you know, they're like nephews in the old papal court. they're actually sons and daughters. i mean, excuse me, does anybody not think these people are working for their cousins in russia when they pour this money into the funds of the inaugural committee, to lavish excitement around donald trump, their guy. >> yeah, this is the most toxic, just most toxic part of the swamp when you think about it. and going back to this arbitrary one-year deadline, every single week we find a new aspect. we learn something else about all of these connections, and you know, david connrn's book h documented all of this in great detail. what i find fascinating is that all of the strands, all of the tentacles of trump world's corruption appear to be coming together and that robert mueller has a picture. and we don't know what he knows, but he's going into all of this. not just the conspiracy, not just the obstruction of justice, but things like money laundering and pay for play and th

charlie sykes, an msnbc contributor. and caroline polisi is a criminal defense attorney. where do we start? let's start with this. i'll start with pimp because i have to wonder how ugly this can get. giuliani using words like this, street talk like that against another lawyer. these are two lawyers fighting about the law and whether it was broken and he resorts to this street talk. what do you make of it? >> i think there's a certain -- it sounds like a big word, chris. a certain amount of derangement in how rudy giuliani has been reacting to politics, not just to this case but in the last year or two. i remember during the campaign, i went up to him and asked him about people at trump rallies chanting "lock her up." he was a former fortunately prosecutor. he worked in the justice department. i said what do you make of that? is that the way people should behave? he put his face inches from mine. he turned beet red, and he started saying, she's guilty. she's guilty. if you talk to people who used to work for him, they all worry. they're worried a bit about rudy giuliani. h

charlie sykes, steve kornacki, our broadcast continues right after this break. >>> in normal times, most, not even a fraction of americans, could name the deputy attorney general. these days, the opposite is pretty much true, where rod rosenstein is concerned. in this era of trump, he's well known, thrust into the spotlight when his boss, the attorney general, pulled himself out of all things russia related and that's a lot these days. now some republicans, as we mentioned, in congress, are trolling rosenstein with the idea of possible impeaching him. today, rosenstein slammed those threats, saying the justice department is, quote, not going to be exhorted. and the president wrote on twitter, mueller is most conflicted of all, except rosenstein, who signed fisa and comey letter. no collusion, so they go crazy. but today at an event at the newseum in washington, in celebration of law day, rosenstein appeared perfectly at ease with his current situation, and the questioning of rosenstein got under way with a critical question. >> i'd like to begin with a question that's on everybody's mind

charlie syke, contributing eder to to the weekly standard and an msnbc contributor. charlie, does this sound like the swamp the president railed about? >> this is the swampiest swamp we've ever seen. he didn't drain about the swamp. >> who's scenario. >> here's the question, bob mueller knows more about this than we do and we don't know whether there was actual pay for play, but why would at&t and novartis give money to a shady, low-rent, mobbed-up hack like michael cohen who runs this s secretive slush fund that pays off porn stars? you couldn't even make up this scenario. how ironic that donald trump would make this an issue. i think it's another example of trumpian projection. >> to answer his question, is the answer something that should come legally from prosecutors or is it just something for the boards of directors? >> well, it could be both. i think there's definitely potential criminal charges here against michael cohen. i think the harder question is going to be whether there are charges against donald trump or against anybody else. but as for michael cohen,

charlie sykes, steve kornacki, our broadcast continues right after this break. crisp leaves of lettuce, freshly-made dressing. clean food that looks this good, eaten at your desk. panera. food as it should be. now delivered. and experience more adventure it's with audible.utside audible has the world's largest selection of audiobooks and for just $14.95 a month you get a credit good for any audiobook. if you don't like it exchange it any time. no questions asked. you can also roll your credits over to the next month if you don't use them. with the free audible app adventure goes wherever you do. start a 30-day trial and your first audiobook is free. just text listen17 to 500500 to start listening today. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember. >>> in normal times, most americans, not even a fraction of americans, could name the deputy attorney general. these days, the opposite is pretty much true, where rod rose

jonathan capehart, msnbc contributor also charlie sykes and from pbs news and white house correspondenttor and opinion writer at the "washington post." carole, what charlie, what's going on here? ike ricocheting thuy rudy giuliani, ty cobb quitting now the president calling out rudy giuliani saying that john kelly is his bff? >> well, reminder that the problem in the white house and the trump is administration has never been a personnel problem. it's been a leadership problem that you don't fix by changing either the chief of staff or the -- the lawyers involved in this. all of this flows from the character, the personal, the judgment of donald trump, and that's pretty much the way he wants it. >> and dan boss was moved to write a lead in his ain the rti the "washington post." doesn't sound like the straight reporter we've seen in the past. "does it bother anyone that president trump has been caught lying? that this is not new. that the president has been shown to be a liar?" jonathan? >> well, one, you are right to point out that the "washington post," senior veteran political correspo

many of you recognize charlie sykes from his time on msnbc started when his name came to our attention by conservative radio talkshow host in milwaukee wisconsin he has written a polemic how the right has lost its mind. a reagan biographer is presenting two books ronald reagan and every authorized biography the making of a reagan conservative. [applause] i will start asking the authors and the impact they hope it would have. >> it is a joy to be with you all. i am a scholar of public opinion with the conversations that i have liar people getting things wrong or making the choices that they are? in my mind if you take that to the extreme we are not capable to have that democracy so instead of asking what are they getting wrong how are they understanding their world? so the book is focused on wisconsin but people in rural small towns research was in wisconsin and to listen to people so i wrote the book so look at what the small places in my state to understand the feeling that many people have about not being respected and overlooked how that comes from real experience hoping for somethi

joining me now charlie sykes msnbc political analyst and author of how the right lost its mind. hewitt host of saturday mornings right here on msnbc. hugh, i'm going to start with you. how do you defend the rudy giuliani comments? he all but admits that the campaign f offered, wanted to commit a crime? >> it is not a legal strategy. it is a political strategy. it is not a good political strategy. it is a good legal strategy. buried in there is the assurance that the special counsel's office cannot and will not indict him. it doesn't go to whether or not he can be subpoenaed. he said we are not going to sit down with them. he is running a political strategy in the message. i don't agree with part of it. but i agree with the key finding, a year into the investigation, no evidence that is public from the special counsel of collusion. >> charlie, what do you make of the giuliani comments? how defensible are they. >> well, of course this is a political strategy. what a poisonous brew of transactionalism and cynicism to watch conservative commentators and republican join in this attac

charlie sykes, contributing editor from "the weekly standard," and e.j., "washington post" columnist and senior foley oh with the brooking ins and msnbc contributor as well. what former acting attorney general sally yates said about this today on "morning joe." >> i think what we're seeing here is the president has just taken his all-out assault on the rule of law to a new level, and this time he is ordering up an investigation of the investigators, who are examining his own campaign. you know, that's really shocking. >> i'm going to repeat that, mimi. an investigation of the -- investigation of the investigators, who are looking into something that involves him. what's your take on it? >> absolutely. i think sally yates is right. it's shocking. he's claiming he wants an investigation of whether this informant was, you know, put there for political motives but really what he's done is using the power of the presidency to try and order an investigation and derail a legitimate investigation for his own political purposes. and it really is frightening. i think the people who believe in

for more on this, i also want to bring in by phone msnbc contributor charlie sykes. thanks for calling in today to weigh in. i want to ask you, you may have not heard what the president had to say at the top of the show but we played a bite from a rally where he talked about calling roseanne to say congratulations on her ratings, and as he looked out at that crowd, it was a rally style crowd, he sort of offhand mentioned to them hey, this is a show about us, this is people like us. what do you think -- weigh in here on the politics of this and how the president has brought race to the forefront in such a defining way. >> well, first of all, i mean, as i tweeted out earlier today, this roseanne 2.0 was never going to end well. she's an erratic figure who has been prone to some of these intemperate comments. abc should have known that. to this larger point, donald trump has given permission to people to say things out loud that once would have been stigmatized. the bigoted comment at the bar now becomes something that a celebrity endorsed by the president of the united

david french, rich lowry, charlie sykes.t of come patriots of and they are unloading on pence. >> arpaio was pardoned. you are pardoned because maybe it's thought that it was an unjust sentence. he was convicted of a felony. >> in the court of law. >> for disaobeying a court order the release people who were being held on suspicion that they might not be american citizens. now arpaio has a whole history of really bad i think disgusting behavior. but i think what you see there in mike pence is a kind of sole selling. it's like watching somebody who sold his soul for a mess of pottage. >> it surprised me that people are surprised that mike pence sold his soul. i don't know who going to tell them who has boss has been the last two years. right? but the fact in a mike pence is a total apologist and lackey for the worst elements of this administration maybe it does some as a surprise. >> it's what he said. >> what he said. >> it's not just that he -- he called arpaio a champion of the rule of law. that is the thing. he deliberate

to talk about all of it, katie rogers, white house correspondent for "the new york times," and charlie sykeslongtime conservative radio host, contributing editor and podcast host for the weekly standard. also happens to be the author of the book "how the right lost its mind." charlie is also an msnbc contributor. so, katie, if you had to write the lead-all for tonight in politics, what's the message of tonight? voters are voting on local races, their own congressional districts, but had they pooled their votes and sent a message to washington, what would it have been? >> well, i think first of all, i think that this primary has been sort of notable in these states because of how diluted the republican party has appeared. there's been a lot of squabbling and infighting leading up to these primaries and a lot of that is because president trump had to be urged by the senate majority leader to say anything in the case of west virginia. some of it is him hanging back because he has not historically been reliable to sort of deliver on a candidate he's either endorsed or spoken about. >> charlie, p

well, here to talk about it, charlie sykes, longtime conservative radio host, who is these days contributingdcast host for the weekly standard. he is also the author of the book "how the right lost their mind." he is an author and an msnbc contributor to boot. also back with us here in the studio in new york, our friend steve kornacki. so, charlie, i'm going to put a graphic up on the screen, proving the long-held theory on the part of so many in washington that the secret weapon for the republican party is named nancy pelosi. she represents a congressional district in san francisco. this is a quote from her this week. we will win. i will run for speaker. if that quote is turned into a hand bill and sent via direct mail to every republican registered voter in this country, you'd be amazed how much money they will raise. i'm not sure the democrats have, on top of all the good she does in her party as leader -- i'm not sure the democrats have ever come to grips with the toxicity that name conjures in the rest of the country. and it's tom perez's mistake to make, i guess. >> well, you know, you

donny deutsche is here, msnbc contributor charlie sykes, contributing editor for the weekly standard. steve schmidt is also back with us. he's in washington today. donny, let me start with you. you're michael cohen's friend. how is he doing? >> he's okay. i spent an hour with him yesterday and spoke to him today. we have to remind ourselves a few things. he has not been charged with anything. michael said as far as avenatti's document, a couple things. not only are therein acsizz, there are inconsistencies. he brings up a very interesting point. is he looking for a g machine man's badge? all this avenatti as it relates to cohen, he is in a civil contract suit with cohen. all this other cloak and dagger stuff, he's acting a bit out of bounds as far as where his path would normally take him. so, that was michael's point of view. michael is okay. he's more worried about his family than anything else. we forget when somebody is going through this they're a person and they have children and their children are affected. he told me his daughter was graduating college looking for a job. that'

. >> dana milbank, charlie sykes, thank you. >>> huge pile of cash for china going into a project branded with, you got it, the trump name. it's raising questions about the timing of the president's 180 on china and its economy. how the white house is responding to that one. >>> plus, the day of the catastrophe. new clashes are erupting on the west bank after israeli forces killed dozens of demonstrators. the primary process turned upside down in pennsylvania. can redrawing districts help democrats peel off seats from republicans? >> is there a difference in the political ideologies on this side of the line and that side of the line? >> absolutely. >> you might be able to make a big difference. even though i live with a higher risk of stroke due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin, i'm up for that. eliquis. eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk better than warfarin. plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. so what's next? seeing these guys. don't stop taking eliquis unless your