kimberly atkins, jonathan lemire. "mtp daily" starts right now. hi, chuck. >> hi, nicolle. happy friday. >> happy friday. >> if it's friday, what's the president's breaking point? tonight, under pressure. president trump backs down on his steadfast support of scott pruitt. so what's the key to get the president to cave on anything else? >>> plus shine on. how former fox news exec bill shine is changing the white house. >>> and reunification delay. why many families separated at the border may be spending even more time apart. this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. >>> good evening, i'm chuck todd here in washington. welcome to "mtp daily." we begin tonight with a simple

last word to you, kimberly atkins. >> i think jonathan is right.he biggest thing here is that the bushes did not support trump. trump remembers that. he remembers that lack of support. whereas you've seen historically bill clinton and george h.w. bush work together or barack obama sit with george w. bush. you won't see that sort of respect given from one president to another in this sense. >> i saw melania trump sit with all the former presidents and she looked really happy. we have to sneak in a break, don't go anywhere. we'll be right back. we have a short amount of time to get our patient to the hospital with good results. we call that the golden hour. evaluating patients remotely is where i think we have a potential to make a difference. (barry murrey) we would save a lot of lives if we could bring the doctor to the patient. verizon is racing to build the first and most powerful 5g network that will enable things like precision robotic surgery from thousands of miles away as we get faster wireless connections, it'll be possible to be able to op

and kimberly atkins is back with me. she is of course the bureau chief there for "the boston globe" there -- boston herald, excuse me. jacob, i want to start with you. something we're expecting to see, as i understand it, in less than an hour. affirming their opposition to making former ambassador michael mcfall and other officials available for questioning by the kremlin. how significant is this? and i would imagine this is something that will pass by a wide marmgen. margin. >> yes, i think in the next ten or so minutes. if mcconnell is putting it on the floor, that means it is going to pass. your assessment is right. the actual meaning of it is limited. it's basically a resolution that expresses the senate's preference about something. this is not law. this won't go to the president's desk. it won't go -- come over here to the house. that doesn't mean the house won't could somethido something. it's just expressing the sense of the senate that the united states government should not, in fact, be delivering our former di

. >> kimberly atkins, one of the things that has struck me is brett kavanagh has been a favorite and the concern about him in these final hours seem to be the fact that he used to work for another republican president. >> right, has close ties, very close ties. >> very troubling. >> yes. that's this whole idea that he is establishment, right? he's close to the bush family, very close to the bush administration. he also played a role in this independent counsel investigation of ken starr which could be problematic for the president if he's pushing against this idea that a special counsel, if he's trying to discredit that. there is a lot of concern inside and outside of the white house. also the paper trail. as you say, the more decisions, the longer someone has been on the bench, the more decisions they have, the more things there are to pick through. with republicans having one slim majority, they don't want to take any chances at all on anyone who would seem to be qualified. you may not like what he rules, but if the qualifications don't seem to be at issue, everything is going to b

. >> joining me now, kimberly atkins, reporter for the broadcast herald. >> and kpliet. >> so kimberlywe at with in thnegotiation. it is mercurial. >> i think a lot of people are wondering where we are. people were wondering where we were after this agreement was struck in the first place back last month after that meeting in singapore. and it was the job of secretary of state mike pompeo to sort of go flush that out a little bit. sort of get more details of that deal and it seems that the opposite happened, where perhaps we're farther apart than in the ging and that raises a lot of questions. it has the united states given up or signaled it would be willing to give up too much in the form of halting exercises with south korea and the president saying w -- he saying would be consider pulling troops from the korean peninsula. those are things obviously that north korea would want and others in the region. we're also at a time where we're at a trade war with china who, if you remember, is our most important strategic partner in these negotiations with north korea to help them get them to

kimberly atkins, chief washington reporter for "the boston herald." frank figliuzzi, and with us at the table jonathan lemire, associated press white house reporter and evan mcmullen, former cia operative and former candidate for president as an independent. the rally, even his friends describe that version of donald trump as slightly pathetic, as someone who is so desperate for attention, so desperate for the cheers and hoots and hollers from the crowd that he puts on a show that really isn't even remotely close to anything presidential. >> yeah, there is a show on comedy central where a guy makes an entire show out of impersonating donald trump. it was almost like president trump was impersonating himself other than being himself. i've covered the campaign and since taking office dozens and dozens of these rallies. i was surprised by my ability to be surprised but i was surprised by the me too moment, elizabeth warren, to make a joke about something that has obviously been a groundswell in the last year or so for a lot of people and has meant a lot

jonathan capehart, and kimberly atkins, join me now.sing a twitter handle to advertise himself as personal attorney to donald j. trump? that seems unethical. >> right. we know he has new legal representation, it sounds like they're giving him good legal advice and he's listening to it, he's taking those signs off. it doesn't necessarily mean he's flipping. but it certainly opens the door for that possibility and allows him to take his own interests into account. all of the hallmarks are there for a flip. he faces serious criminal charges himself. >> he hasn't been charged with anything yet. >> he hasn't been charged but he has investigations and he knows information useful for this investigation. >> he could be signaling, pardon me, pardon me. he can't be parted for state charges, but the federal charges could certainly be covered. he could be sending a warning flare up to the president. >> sure. remember, the other thing to keep in mind about michael cohen is not only did he advertise himself as the president's personal attorney but he

kimberly atkins and david sir illa. thank you for being here today. >> the white house continues to try to correct the record on the president's comments in helsinki. we'll break it down. next. ctus calamity". (man 1) i read that the saguaro can live to be two hundred years old. (woman) how old do you think that one is? (man 1) my guess would be, about... (man 2) i'd say about two hundred. (man 1) yeah... (burke) gives houseplant a whole new meaning. and we covered it. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ booking a flight doesn't have to be expensive. just go to priceline. it's the best place to book a flight a few days before my trip and still save up to 40%. just tap and go... for the best savings on flights, go to priceline. your hair is so soft! did you use head and shoulders two in one? i did mom. wanna try it? yes. it intensely moisturizes your hair and scalp and keeps you flake free. manolo? look at my soft hair. i should be in

kimberly atkins of the "boston herald," and mark landler of the "new york times." announcer: this is "washington week." funding is provideby -- newman's own foundation donatin all profits to charity and nourishing the common good. ku and patricia ewing committed to bridging cultures in our communities. the excellence in journalism founedation, corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you once again, from washington, moderator robert cosbe. : good evening. the decision looms. but presint trump i still deciding. who will replace justicenthony kennedy on the supreme court. the top three contenders all federal judges could secure a conservative majority on the bench. but not before facin a political firestorm on capitol ll. president trump: i think you'll be very. impress these are very talented, brilliant people like justice gorsuch. we hit a home run there. and we're going to hit a home run here. robert: the finalists are kavanaugh and kethledge and amy coneyrrarrett. t is the youngest at age 46. while both kavana

david brody, and kimberly atkins, chief washington reporter and columnist for the boston herald. welcome to sunday, it's "meet the press." >> announcer: the longer running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >>> good sunday morning. happy july. the announced retirement of justice anthony kennedy this week helped make one political reality clear, despite his overall unpopularity, president trump is winning and the democrats are reeling. the supreme court, mr. trump is about to shape the court for a generation by choosing a possibly tie breaking conservative justice. how about the republican party, the president's approval rating among republicans is around 90%. elected republicans fear criticizing him and the party has become a cult of personality, his. >>> how about fake news. mr. trump has turned that phrase, which initially referred to the russian stories in the election in 2016 into an applause line. how about credibility. if the reporters fact check his statements they consider being biassed if they don't, the statements gain traction, either

kimberly atkins for the boston herald. welcome to you both. you are here in our new york studios and i will begin with you based on home field advantage alone. you think this is actually what it is purported to be? >> i don't think they are talking about a deal at this point. >> let's go there. do the feds get angry if they say our guy got wobbley and he wants to talk about the deal you offered? >> it's unclear if they offered a deal and that's not how it would work. i think they wouldn't be angry, so to speak, but the usefulness diminished if he is behaving badly. manafort wanted a com of months of a delay and got six days. that's not going to help him. the advantage to assure the delay goes to the prosecution that can stream line the case and get all their ducks in a row. this was a win for the prosecution. >> we noted that on the new start date for the trial, the white house announced that the president plans to go to a rally that night in tampa, florida. what should we make of that? >> i predict it will be the stem winder. we have seen the

michael steele, kimberly atkins as always. kick break for us. when we come back, how the nra made it into the news today and the status of the mueller investigation. >>> we get questions on the witch hunt. when you see this thing going on, and i will tell you it's driven a wedge between us and russia. but it has driven a wedge. they drove a phony wedge. it is a phony witch hunt rigged deal. >> vladimir putin offered to help robert mueller today. he suggested mueller could travel to russia and together they could interview the 12 russian intelligence officers he indicted last week. putin followed up with this. >> did you want president trump to win the election, and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that? >> yes, i did. yes, i did. because he talked about bringing the ut-russia relationship back to normal. >> there you have it. with us in new york, former new york district attorney. counselor, thank you for coming back in. let's pretend you are part of the staff assembled by the special council. what stands out to you? what are

michael steele, kimberly atkins as always. kick break for us. when we come back, how the nra made it into the news today and the status of the mueller investigation. >>> we are talking about all these different things driven a and russia and maybe we just knocked down that's wedge. they drove a phony wedge. a phony witch hunt rigged deal. >> vladimir putin offered to help robert muller and suggest heed can travel to russia and interview the 12 russian intelligence officers for hacking the democrats. >> did you want president trump to win the election and did you direct your officials to direct you to do that? >> yes, i did because he talked about bringing the u.s.-russia relationship back to normal. >> there you have it. with us here in new york, former attorney for the southern district of new york. a distinguished fellow and criminal justice at the pace university school school of law. what stands out to you? what are you interested in and what took place today in helsinki? >> there are so many things. i think the biggest thing is they gave tr

kimberly atkins for the boston herald. welcome to you both.re here in our new york studios and i will begin with you based on home field advantage alone. in the start of a chile like, this i tend to be a bit of a cynic. i heart that and thought i wonder if they are talking about the contours of a deal. you think this is actually what it is purported to be? >> i don't think they are talking about a deal at this point. that ship has likely sailed, perhaps with the obstruction of justice. that was the last nail in that potential coffin. >> let's go there. do the feds get angry if they say our guy got wobbley and he wants to talk about the deal you offered? >> it's unclear if they offered a deal and that's not how it would work. i think they wouldn't be angry, so to speak, but the usefulness diminished if he is behaving badly. he is a less valuable witness. this six-day adjournment is fairly routine closer to the beginning of it, often times the government is producing a lot more evidence because they are constantly investigating until the trial a

and kill -- kimberly atkins. welcome to you all. harry, home field advantage must have some advantage. >> not the man. he's really a classic washington insider. he knows everyone in town on both sides of the aisle. >> literally born there and raised in the suburbs. >> well respected, genial, likable, et cetera. about his jurisprudence, he has an aggressive view of certain parts of the constitution, especially executive power, what kind of things the president can and can't do. and -- and this is going to be hard for democrats to try to explain to the american people, but he wants to shrink the sort of administrative state, the alphabet soup of the epa, et cetera that have so much to do with people's lives on the ground and that he thinks have had too much power basically since the new deal. what about the notion of this guy, when he gets to the supreme court, could be handed the case of the trump presidency, in effect, pulling himself out of the case, recusing himself from that case. >> a few things. first of all, he said that in 20

michael steele, kimberly atkins as always. kick break for us.we come back, how the nra made it into the news today and the status of the mueller investigation. . sfx: [cell phone dialing] no. no, no, no, no, no. cancel. cancel. please. aaagh! being in the know is a good thing. that's why discover will alert you if your social security number is found on any one of thousands of risky sites. need a change of scenery? the kayak price forecast tool tells you whether to wait or book your flight now. so you can be confident you're getting the best price. giddyup! kayak. search one and done. metastatic breast cancer is relentless, but i'm relentless too. mbc doesn't take a day off, and neither will i. and i treat my mbc with new everyday verzenio- the only one of its kind that can be taken every day. in fact, verzenio is a cdk4 & 6 inhibitor for postmenopausal women with hr+, her2- mbc, approved, with hormonal therapy, as an everyday treatment for a relentless disease. verzenio + an ai is proven to help women have significantly more time without diseas

robert costa, tom goldstein and kimberly atkins, appreciate you coming on. new signals in the russia investigation over truth and testimony. we'll talk about both. >>> and later, more on what this president's supreme court nomination could mean for this president's legacy in office. we're just getting started on a monday night. ahh... summer is coming. and it's time to get outside. pack in even more adventure with audible. with the largest selection of audiobooks. audible lets you follow plot twists off the beaten track. or discover magic when you hit the open road. with the free audible app, your stories go wherever you do. 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 to the next month if you don't use them. so take audible with you this summer... on the road... on the trail... or to the beach. start a 30-day trial and your first audiobook is free. cancel anytime, and your books are yours to keep forever. no matter where you go this summer

let's get the inside scoop from jeff mason, reuters white house correspondent and kimberly atkins for. natalie azar, nbc news medical contributor. first of all, kimberly, we've seen lobbying from lots of big lobbies. guns and tobacco. this is primarily nestle and other breast formula operatives. we believe it's behind this? >> yeah, pushing the u.s., the administration on trade? >> yeah, the baby formula lobby doesn't get as much media attention but it's very strong. for decades it's really pushed the united states from the health and human services to the w.h.o. to really not adopt these standards that really encourage preft d breastfeeding, despite the countries that support it. in third world countries it's really important because when formula is given and pushed into a lot of these countries you see a rise in infant mortality rates because they're mixed with water that may not be clean and people may not know the benefits of breastfeeding. it's an important initiative but the lobby is strong enough to have a strong influence over the united states and growing given these strong-a

>>> my thanks to frank and kimberly atkins, evan mcmullen. that does it for the hour. i'm nicole wallace. we will be back monday for deadline white house. >> it's a fest us have for the rest of us and the president is airing grievances. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm steve kor nabbingy for chris matthews. the shock jock is at it again. fresh off the resignation of his administrator scott pruitt, president trump did what he does best. riled up the base and attacked critics. he was at a rally in montana and trump delivering an hour long speech that played like an extended airing of grievances. he mocked the media and the democratic party. congresswoman maxine waters and senator john mccain and gorge h.w. bush. the democratic senator and possible 2020 candidate, elizabeth warren and the me too movement. >> say i'm debating poke hopt as. i promise you i will do this. you know the kits they sell on television for $2? learn your heritage. in the middle of the debate when she proclaims he is of indian heritage because her mother said she has high cleek bones. we wil

robert costa, tom goldstein and kimberly atkins, appreciate you coming on. new signals in the russia investigation over truth and testimony. we'll talk about both. >>> and later, more on what this president's supreme court nomination could mean for this president's legacy in office. we're just getting started on a monday night. >>> we would not recommend an interview with the president unless they can satisfy us that there is some basis for this investigation. what we're asking him for is there the witch hunt that a lot of people think it is or is there a factual basis for this? george, he wants to testify. >> that's hard to believe that anymore mr. mayor. >> it is hard to believe given all the things that show how tanlted this investigation is. this is the most corrupt investigation i have ever seen. >> you think robert mueller is a biassed man? >>, no but i think he is vounlded by biassed people. >> rudy giuliani re-emerged. tonight he was at the white house as trump announced the nomination of judge kavanaugh to fill the supreme court vacancy. after going

kimberly atkins, chief washington reporter for "the boston herald" and sam stein, politics editor foraily beast. kimberly, this was unprecedented. she was doing her job and it did at least elicit universal press solidarity including the president of fox news. >> it did, it brought all the press together. she was acting as a pool reporter. she was doing her job on behalf of a broad number of journalists. >> all the rest of us. >> all the rest of the journalists to get information from the president, asking questions. it's very typical. often after the press is told to go, shouting questions get answered by the president. it was her job to do that. but this is also a president who callsenemy of the people. politically he calls this a win because it plays well with his base. >> there were questions about michael cohen, yes, sir about news of the day. often he wants to answer those. >> yeah, let's put aside that there's anything controversial that she did. this was a completely routine act of covering the white house. these are incredibly newsworthy moments and topics to cover. any other

. >> joined by our fourth of july panel, mooibl michael steel, msnbc chair and kimberly atkins, a msnbchair and john meacham journalist, author of a great new book. welcome all. happy fourth of july. steel, this is -- this is a fight going on inside your party there defining patriotism. look, this is not the first president that wrapped himself in a flag and own it but he does it in such a heavy-handed way. >> he does it in a heavy-handed way, but i think the way you set the argument at the beginning is how it's all about. it's about him. he sets it in terms of his own presence. you are loyal to him. you are loyal to what his efforts, his words are. and that has begun to take its toll inside the party. i think you finds now a number of republicans who are really asking themselves, is this what republicanism is or going to be in the 21st century? has it changed so much that the very things we once stood for, law and order, not with a stick, but respecting the constitution and the principles that come with that. are we really pro-family, as we've seen over the last few weeks? the struggle

. >>> let me bring back in kim r kimberly atkins and sahi sahil kapure. >> michael cohen was not a normalr. have i taped a conversation with clients? no. michael cohen is a fixer. he was meant to clean up donald trump's messes. the idea that you can't hustle a hustler. of course, he was using the same tactics to protect himself that he was using to protect the president. these tapes are, obviously, whatever tapes that exist are given to authorities. if protected by privilege, the authorities will act in that way. i think the professor is right, the most likely reason for that tape they waived privilege is for some reason, they don't think it is that bad, but they want to protect the others that might be coming forward. >> sahil, you said you had a hot take. >> it is lukewarm. i have so many questions. why was he recording this? it was an unusual thing for a lawyer to do. did he want insurance, if trump threw him under the bus? was attorney/client privilege waived or pierced? if it was pierced, it could be under a crime fraud case. there are more questions than answers here. i'm looking fo

robert costa, tom goldstein and kimberly atkins, appreciate you coming on. new signals in the russia investigation over truth and testimony. we'll talk about both. >>> and later, more on what this president's supreme court nomination could mean for this president's legacy in office. we're just getting started on a monday night. still a chance here. it's willingham, edge of the box, willingham shoots... goooooooaaaaaaaallllllll! that...was...magic. willingham tucks it in and puts the championship to bed. sweet dreams, nighty night. as long as soccer players celebrate with a slide, you can count on geico saving folks money. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. pressure, what pressure? the players on the... pressure, what pressure? looking for a hotel that fits... whoooo. ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over... ...200 sites to find you the... ...hotel you want at the lowest price. grazi, gino! find a price that fits. tripadvisor. >>> we would not recommend an interview with the president unless they can satisfy us th

joining me now, kimberly atkins, chief washington reporter for the boston herald and nbc contribut contributor. also columnist for the "washington post." i want to get your opinion for the foe comment. he's aligned with the eu for decades, putting them in the same ballpark as russia. first from you, kimberly, on this. what are your thoughts on that? >> on the one hand, it seemed a little unusual that he was openly calling russia a foe. he spends much of his time saying how important it is to get along with russia and be friends with russia. so on the one hand, he's actually acknowledging that they are a foe, that they're not an ally, friend or competitor, but on the other hand looping them in with the european union. which was probably music to the ears of vladimir putin, because a key goal to russia is to weaken the western alliance, and that's exactly what they're hearing coming out of the president's mouth, which is why you saw that strong response from the eu being put in the same league with folks -- with countries like russia and china, which clearly they are not. >> yeah. he clearly use

. >> let's bring in peter baker, harry littman, and kimberly atkins. welcome to you all. harry, home field advantage must have some advantage. so, we'll begin with you. what stands out to you about this nominee, what should the folks watching at home know about this man and his jurisprudence? >> about the man, he's really a classic washington insider. he knows everyone in town. on both sides of the aisle. >> born there and raised in the suburbs. >> well-respected, genial, likable, et cetera. about his jurisprudence, he has an aggressive view of certain parts of the constitution, especially executive power. what kind of things the president can and can't do. and, this is going to be hard for democrats to try to explain to the american people, but he wants to shrink the administrative state. the alphabet soup of epa, eoc, et cetera, that have so much to do with people's lives on the ground. and that he thinks have had too much power, basically, since the new deal. >> and let's go right after this, what will become, we're living in an era where people assume the fix is in. i

kimberly atkins is chief washington reporter for the boston herald.lso an msnbc political contributor. what do you make of oprah's reason for not getting into politics in 2020? >> i think it's one reason why there are some folks, despite the popularity of the idea of an oprah presidential campaign, knew that she wasn't going to do this. this is somebody who has, you know, she's a self-made billionaire, she's perfectly happy running the empire that she has and she frankly doesn't need this job despite the fact that so many people rally around this idea after she gave that very inspiring speech at an award show, talking about the future and it seems people are looking for somebody who is inspirational like that. but i think it could be perilous for democrats to sort of rally around the same kind of reality television-type person that the president is, especially if they want to make the argument, look, we've been having so much chaos because we have somebody who was not experienced at the wheel. we don't want to make that same mistake. i think she knew.

joining us to discuss the developme developments, ashley parker, jason johnson, kimberly atkins, and bill crystal, editor at large. ashley, you wrote the definitive tick to ck which you described s walkback week. this white house still very much trying to undo the damage done by the president'shelsinki. >> they sure are. one of the challenges that you're reporting on and we saw sort of reporting from helsinki onwards is you do have some adults in the room. it's not necessarily that people don't tell the president no or don't tell him you really rattled the global community or that was not a good look. but the president at the end of the day, determines what he's going to do. except for all of the interventions or all of the aides saying, it's not backing down, just reassuring allies, that allies are standing tough. they can do that and the president may hear it and the president will send out a tweet that they don't know that is coming, or an overcorrection or he may say something unexpected or off script at a campaign rally. so it's a walkback, followed by a step in it and another w

. >>> joined by assistant attorney general tom dupree, kimberly atkins, chief washington reporter for "the boston herald" and ms.s in contributor. jonathan allen also at the table. tom, to you first, broadly here. is rudy guiliani at all in trouble for what he just said? or is michael cohen more in trouble for what rudy guiliani is talking about? >> hallie, i can't make sense of what rudy is saying. and rudy likes to freelance a bit. >> a bit? >> and it's difficult to tell times whether he's actually intending to make news or whether he's actually intending to make a disclosure or whether he just didn't phrase it the right way. i agree, if it turns out there was a premeeting before this meeting at trump tower, that is very significant. it does seem a little peculiar that rudy, if that is what happened, would disclose it in this way. >> although he seemed to be saying that cohen was lying about this meeting anyway, so he was bringing it up just to bat it back down. >> but why even go down there. what's that's puzzling about this. >> there is also this piece, broadly seen under the umbr

joining meor analysis is halle jackson, democratic pollster, cornell belcher, and kimberly atkins. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >>> good sunday morning. happy july. the announced retirement of supreme court justice ant ahony kennedy this week helps make one political reality clear. president trump is winning, and the democrats right now are reeling. the supreme court, mr. tmp is about to shape the court for a generation by choosing a possible tie-breaking conservative justice, and he has already filled the lower courts with like-minded conservatives. how about the republican party? the president's approval rating among republicans is around 90%l ted republicans fear criticizing him, and the party has become a cult of personality, his. how about fake news? mr. trump has turned that phrase, which initially referred to the phony russia generation to support his story, to discredit reporting. if we faithfully fact check the president, we risk being considered biased. either way, mr. trump wins. erthe mue investigation. the president has succeeded in convincing millions tha

kimberly atkins, jonathan lemire. "mtp daily" starts right now. hi, chuck. >> hi, nicolle. happy friday. >> happy friday. >> if it's friday, what's the president's breaking point? tonight, under pressure. president trump backs down on his steadfast support of scott pruitt. so what's the key to get the president to cave on anything else? >>> plus shine on. how former fox news exec bill shine is changing the white house. >>> and reunification delay. why many families separated at the border may be spending even more time apart. this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. >>> good evening, i'm chuck todd here in washington. welcome to "mtp daily." we begin tonight with a simple question. what makes the president, of all presidents, cave to the pressure? here we are some 24 hours after the white house -- actually president trump, i think the white house wanted to yield to this pressure a while ago, but president trump yielded to the pressure on epa chief scott pruitt. we are still dealing with the aftermath from the president's 180 on a zero tolerance policy at the border whic

nbc's hans nichols is at the white house, and ashley is a political analyst, and kimberly atkins from the brld and msnbc contributor and jake sherman a senior writer for politico. and before we go, i want to play two sound bites for you. and one is the president yesterday calling this whole investigation, this mueller investigation, the investigation into russia a witch hunt while he is standing next to vladimir putin. listen. >> we have had a phony witch hunt deal drive us apart. >> this is the biggest wedge. this is the biggest wedge. >> it is the thing that he told me when he went in, and he said, what a shame. he felt it was very hard for me to make a deal. because of, you know, all of this nonsense, and much of the case. >> and he used the word nonsense. >> you have to understand that you take a look and look at all of the people, and some of them were hackers and then 14 people, and then they have 12 people, and these are not 12 people involved in the campaign and then you have had many other people, and some told a lie, and you are looking at flynn and it is a shame, but the fb