. >> we'll talk about that in a second with the new yorker piece on david pecker. >> don't forget the also cozy relationship that once existed between "morning joe" and president trump. that's sort of gotten lost in this. they cultivated a relationship with him over the course of the election for a very friendly place for him to come. joe scarborough is now saying that donald trump has changed. i don't think anyone covering the campaign or donald trump for a decade would say they see a different trump. but there's a lot of massaging going on around in this story. >> gloria, i want to hear from you, because we're hearing back and forth from them, looking at you, the legal -- potential legal legs. on either side of this. >> well, we have a free press, and we have a president who has the power of the bully pulpit. we see both of these things happening at the same time. in order for the president to use some press that's friendly to him, you know, he has the right to do that. and that's been happening over centuries of time, but as was pointed out, if there's going to be this type of blac

the president has a long history with david pecker, ceo of the parent company. remember, it endorsed the president during the 2016 campaign. their first endorsement of a candidate in 90 years. and it went after trump's rivals. >> the president of the united states has a bully pulpit unlike anybody else. he plants in david pecker's national even quirer a lie about him. >> trump said pucker should run "time" magazine. >> and brian stelter is with me now and former communications director for the ted cruz campaign and former obama white house ethics czar. we should also note he is involved in a lawsuit against president trump over receiving payments from foreign governments. let me start with you. does this look like blackmail? >> well, jim, it does. it depends of course on whose version of the facts you believe. and then there is an additional issue about whether it's legally actionable. but however you slice it, it's not right for a president of the united states to behave this way, even if you accept the story as he tells it. >> yeah. and so many of these questi

trump is longtime friends with david pecker, c.e.o. of american media, that publishes the tabloid. in response to the allegation, the president tweeted it was scarborough who called him to stop the article. "i said no." sources tell cbs news scarborough called the president's son-in-law, jared kushner, in april, about coming "inquirer" story. at some point in that conversation, kushner suggested an apology from scarborough might prompt the president to intervene. through a spokesman the "enquirer" said: >> this was a magazine that, frankly, in many respects, should be very respected. >> reporter: during the campaign, mr. trump praised the "national enquirer" and cited its articles about political rivals, especially senator ted cruz of texas. the tabloid had publish aid picture it claimed showed cruz's father was kennedy assassin, lee harvey oswald. >> all i did was point out the fact on the cover of the "national enquirer" there was a picture of him and crazy lee harvey oswald having breakfast. now, ted never denied that it was his father. >> reporter: there is no evidence cruz's f

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 no. bad show. scarborough quoted the president's tweets and called him out. yet another lie. i have texts from your top aides and phone records. those records show i haven't spoken with you in many months. nbc confirmed to cnn scarborough told nbc news exec tichlutives the

president and chief executive of american media, inc., that owns the enquirer and details how david pecker did the bidding for donald trump through the campaign, attempting to attack his opponents and one official from american media actually told him that pecker had an agreement that the enquirer would not write anything that damages trump, even letting trump write his own by line. i pointed out that bashing trump was not the same as bashing american media. to me, it is, pecker replied. the guy's a personal friend of mine. so, brianna, there's history here between these two men. >> there is, and i think this is why some people are looking at this and they're able to believe it, because there is this allegiance between president trump and the publisher of the "national enquirer," and what's more is what we've learned from jim ooks's reporting is that jared kushner was one of the aides who had this discussion with joe scarborough. i'm not sure if you recall, but there was a profile on jared kushner a couple months back, and he, as owner of the new york observer, a couple of editors said tha