then you have people like secretary mattis, h.r. mcmaster when he was there, secretary tillerson, who pushed back and said we need to find a way to work with the rest of the world. a lot of those people are being pushed out and you have seen it reflected in some of the policies that the president has advanced in terms of getting closer to vladimir putin and china and kim jong-un while getting further away from our traditional allies. clearly, it appears that secretary mattis is not having as much influence on the president as he used to have, particularly when it comes to the tariffs. i know secretary mattis is concerned about getting involved in a trade war and how it is going to undermine alliances at a crucial time for our country, and yet the president is engaging. ofre have been a lot articles written about how the president is feeling increasingly empowered to do what he wants to do and not listen to key advisors like secretary mattis. in that to be moving direction and that has troubling implications for our foreign policy. w

secretary mattis and others tried to push back. to maintain the system of alliances that had served as so well since world war ii. clearly now, the anti-globalists are ascendant within the white house. where does that leave secretary mattis? he is not in that camp. he still wants to build these alliances. i think he still has a good relationship with the president. i don't think there is any personal split as there has been with master and tillerson and the others. -- mcmaster and tillerson and others. let our policy is clearly just in a way to where secretary mattis would prefer not to see us go. >> there was a development overnight that the defense department has been asked to house as many as 12,000 immigrants on three different bases. what is the appropriate level of congressional oversight and press access for these facilities? speaking of defense secretary mattis, how do you think it is being received at the pentagon that they are being asked to pitch in? rep. smith: the overarching point is that we should not be incarceratin

he is the only one unhappy about this because i took him away from general mattis. general kelly, one year today, became chief of staff. john kelly. that is great. general mattis, i am sorry, but i have no choice. it is his calling. thank you, general. i havenew secretary, confidence that robert will continue our progress on behalf of our nation's veterans. last year, we passed a landmark v.a. accountability act along with others and these two people really led it along. they gave us the authority for the first time to remove federal employees who mistreat veterans. unfortunately, there are plenty. they are gone now. i signed legislation allowing veterans to use the g.i. bill education benefits at any point during the lifetime. v.a.tablished the promise hotline, which is working now. every v.a. medical center offers same-day emergency mental health care, as well. we have greatly expanded telehealth and walk-in clinics. we are in process -- processing veterans disability claims more quickly than ever before. earlier this year, with roberts help, we passed veterans ch

robert: who's jim mattis in jim kelly? secretary of state pompeo. we have been quiet this week. wnathan: it's funny you say that. on the trip, as well, in brussels for the nato summit. when you talk to european officials, they will -- i'm sure margaret has had similar conversations -- theye h perfectly normal conversations with jim jim mattis like everything's normal, it's a normal administration and in many senses theyoi are normal things. trump has actually invested more military resources i europe than obama did so they're quite happy with some of the substantive things and mattis has r assure presence but it all comes to the t conclusiont this line that has been fed to them for 12 months of don't listen to the tweets, pay attention to what we do, that's kind of reaching the end of its use-by date, that line, because the rhetoric actually matters in lots of different ways and they know, these european officials and officials know, when they talk to james mattis, he's not speaking for the president of the united states, not evente re. robert: if that's the case, dan, why do th

this weekend people here in the washington will celebrate mattie, t poet. his mom, jenny, is here with more on h son's incredible spirit and the events that will take place this weekend.we ome. it's good to see you again. >> very good to see you. >> early on in mattie's life, you knew he had something to share. what was it tt you saw in him so early? >> i saw a passion for peace. mattie had a way of taking peace from being an an tract conc from being let's end war and making it very real. he had a way ofng tur peace into concrete, what we think, what we say, what we do, and how we live in a community. and i saw that and that's what this celebration is about this saturday is giving those lessons to today's communities. >> so the event on saturday is the national -- national peace day. >> well, you're close. the campaign is nationa pea day. since mattie died, every year c thy of rocksville has proclaimed his birthday as a day of >>peace. is birthday is tuesday. >> his birthday is tuesday and he'd be 28 this ar. that's hard to believe, isn't it? this year is v

nonfor being a man of -- known for being a man of his word, secretary mattis, i'm counting on you for your help. maybe together we can wipe out the culture of indifference twoord the american -- twoord

i think mattis' goal is just stay out of the line of fire. keep the pressure on to let the diplomats do the work. where president trump complicates things for mattis is on nato. when trump brow beats nato officials saying you need to spend more, spend more, mattis will then be having conversations saying can you help us in afghanistan, stand up a training mission in iraq. when you look at the argument president trump is making, it's not controversial that nato members need to spend more. the issue really is, why they need to spend more. and the argument from mattis is always, you need to spend more because you don't know what russia is up to. a great power competition. you hear that all the time inside the pentagon. nato countries need to spend more because of the threat from russia. that's not exactly what we hear from president donald trump. nicolle? >> and jason, hans brought us there. "the new york times" reporting trump warns nato allies to spend more on defense or else. president trump has written letters to germany, belgium, norway and

defense secretary jim mattis dead on target, pragmatic.cia is doing a great job staying out of the public controversy, giving the intel needed. but this is bizarre, you know. what is the president up to? the fact is we are in a confrontation with the russians, not just in cyber warfare but on the ground in eastern europe and on the ground in syria. and they're creating mischief in afghanistan. so it's just hard to know where this is all going to play out. but there is no longer a national security council with rational policy options that are debated, one selected, and then rolled out. this is impulsive behavior by the commander in chief. >> and paul rykoff, all the veterans there, they've all served and probably have relatives and siblings and kids who are in the service. it's a military community. they've got to be concerned. here you've got a president who spoke of the eu as a foe but befriends vladimir putin, to the general's point, strips veteran intelligence officials who have worked under different administrations, or threatens to s

mattie had a fantastic message, we need cohesiveness. have opposing views these days. and i think we can all agree, though, that peace is the mosta impo thing. >> one of the highlights of the event this yeae were peac conversations. local leaders, elected officials, educators,po lice, and first responders, discussing ways to increase peace frin the >communities. what a beautiful day to be out there honoring mattie stepanek. also if you're headed to audi field, we are lucking out. >> oh, yes. >> then the start of the week, we don't know what's going on. >> and we have a big game then. wait until w get to that part of the forecast. for now, let's o focushow amazing it's been, how amazing it will be for the remainder of your weekend. with a few rain chances. right now, we're at 89 degrees in washington, d.c. farther north, they're hanging to that 90. 90 in hagerstown. 90 in frederick, 90 in gaithersburg. upper 80s farther south. a flip situation there. forecast for tonight will be around 70 degrees. we are headed to the upper 60s in a lot o

kellyary mattis, general and my friends, tillis. i would not be here without their support. who have come to the military world strive to be like them, a leader. outside of the military oath i have taken, this is the third time i have taken a federal oath, in 2006 and in 2017, my wife is with me. we have known each other since we were young and north carolina. nothing i have done would have been possible without her. as the president noted, our high school was three blocks away from the va hospital. that experience left a lasting

what did mat sis -- mattis say about the helsinki summit?rter: he had no problem with heads of state meeting recalling how everyone laughed when reagan and gorbachev met. he knew what came oof -- came out of the helsinki summit within hours. what is your understanding what came out of the helsinki summit? >> i have talked immediately after the helsinki summit both the chief of staff and national security advisor called me as soon as they got free. there have been no policy changes. >> reporter: he told me he has not been told by the president to work with the russians on the ground in syria. he is considering meeting his russian counterpart. i asked him about russian interference. here's what he said. what is the government doing to halt russian interference in the next election? >> i'm not at liberty to explain what we're doing in that regard. just rest assured there are actions under way to protect our elections or to expose any external efforts to influence the american public to show false news and that sort of thing. >> reporter: he wen

defense secretary james mattis has been publicly very critical of russia for months, a tone president'spresident trump's overwhelming optimism in helsinki about russia. >> constructive dialogue between the united states and russia afford the opportunity to open new pathways toward peace and stability in our world. >> reporter: as he attacks america's nato military alliance. >> nato has not treated us fairly. >> reporter: all in stark contrast to his very skeptical defense secretary who says russian president vladimir putin is an adversary. >> putin seeks to shatter nato. he aims to diminish the appeal of the western democratic model and attempts to undermine america's moral authority. >> reporter: james mattis taking a very different view of russia. >> he's an immensely gifted, very talented, incredibly brilliant guy who has a perspective of russia that is now flying in the face of what the president just said. >> reporter: mattis, when asked if russia interfered in the 2016 election? >> yes, i believe they did. >> reporter: on the very day of the helsinki press conference, a highly res

for others the fire moved too fast in the seaside town of matty and unspeakable tragedy was revealed as daylight broke enough to see me all. this morning we discovered this place with twenty six people. men women and unfortunately children. they were found in the courtyard of a villa huddle together hugging the image is too graphic to show. enos you know mothers don't carry on building as they were in groups of three and four. there were friends and families who are trying to protect themselves. or innocent. but. the devastation is evident everywhere and matty have banned and litter the streets some with the key still in the condition the cleanup will have to wait. multiple fires are still batting around athens too many for greek fire fighters to tackle in spain cyprus and other european countries have a fit assistance. well they don't need correspondent to youngest pop dimitri on the line from athens close to what i thought was a five russia welcome we've been hearing about horrific incidents as people flee the fire towards the say. yes. finally the fire contained more or less today

meets the criteria mattis noted in the late in the letter that more is required in britain but at the same time stress that france is boosting its spending despite not meeting the two percent threshold the pentagon is demanding and it's left donald trump again saying that washington's nato partners just expect the u.s. to foot the bill with the piggy bank that they'd like to take from whether it's military protection you look at nato nato we're spending ninety percent of their dough now it's all wonderful and we like to help out but it helps them there in europe helps them a lot more than it helps us we're very far away so we have this incredible germany is spending one percent of our much smaller g.d.p. we're paying close to four percent of a much larger g.d.p. now so that doesn't work folks what we asked political analyst chris bambery whether he thinks the u.k. will actually give in to washington and boost defense spending. position away in this so-called special relationship between america and britain it's always the united states has called the shots and britain has put a trail

the secretary of defense mattis has said. they host 28 military bases, saving us about $2.5 billion. nato is currently today taking part in five active missions to include of course the mission in afghanistan. over time nato contributed 40,000 troops saving the united states some $49 billion. nato in the process losing more than 1,000 of those service members and nato has come to our aid on a number of occasions to include after 9/11, but after hurricane katrina when they coordinated elements of a rescue mission. all of that is really pennies on the dollar when you think about nato's core mission and what nato does for us. it is about deterrence and ensuring there is not a colossal world war initiatied by russia that would draw in the united states. if that were to pass, it would be trillions of dollars and the u.s. investment in nato because of that is a really smart economical idea. >> i go back to the folks that have our back. you have the president's meeting at the nato summit and the president's meeting with the currentl

secretary mattis though, the defense secretary, is one to watch, hallie. that's because according to three sources, secretary mattis is somewhat concerned about surprises here at nato. he wants to stay close by the president's side. he wants to avoid any unpredictable instances that could royck the alliances more than they already have. the breakfast this morning, which got off before the official summit got underway, certainly not what he was anticipating. the exact opposite of wh, what trying to avoid. dana white said secretary mattis looks forward to a productive summit with our nato allies. certainly, it's something to watch as we continue to track this. of course, we're watching for the reaction back at home, as everyone braces not only for this summit but the critical face-to-face next week with russia's president, vladimir putin. the real concern, hallie, is the types of tense moments we all witnessed this morning at the breakfast could weaken this alliance and ultimately strengthen putin's hand heading into next week. hallie? >> kristen, hang with

like at mike pompeo and mattis. do you have faith in the team? >> i do have faith in his national security team. mattis and mike pompeo, they share the same goals that the majority of americans share. we don't want the north korean threat. >> by the way, that's the right attitude from democrats. so many democrats -- i'm going to quote "the new york times," nicholas kristov. he said democrats are more interested in undermining trump than supporting the peace process. >> but a lot of democrats have come forward with the right view of expressing caution. right? trump did jump into this. and this is -- there's a reason why past presidents haven't gotten anything done. >> we're going to solve world peace today. >> it's over. >> so president trump is scheduled to meet with russian president vladimir putin july 16 in finland. jon huntsman confirming today the two men will have a one-on-one. ahead of that meeting, republican lawmakers were in moscow to you talking to russian foreign minister sergey lavrov. the group of seven including richard shelby who

. >> years after the death of 13-year-old matty stepanek his legacy of hope andveace on.a rare4, since the city of rockville has honored him with a day of peace on his birthday, and this year governor lry hog haeks panned that to a statewidest. today his motherni j explained how matty was able to make such a huge impact during his very short time here on earth. >> matty had a way of taking peace from being an abstract ncept, to being from let's end war and making it very real. he had arnay of tng peace into concrete what we think, what we say, what we do and how we ve in a community. >> jeppi also suffers from the same disease th tookll of her children. the peace day celebration is this saturday in ckville at king farms. >> what a wonderful tradition to honor him. >>> still ahead, new clues four years after a notorious crime captured headlines in our region. >>> plus, students mourning the death of a teenager as another classmate clingso life and reaction from friendsch we'll take a cser look at that road where that accident happened. >>> some pop-up showers for some of u

locked in a final embrace dozens of bodies discovered in the popular seaside village of matty east of athens families had huddled together for safety but found no escape. the early this morning we discovered apart from three other victims further away this place where unfortunately there are twenty six people men women and unfortunately children. because with the keys left in the ignition the doors open and first aid supplies left on the seats picture emerges of people abandoning their cars and trying to escape on foot within hours mattie had all but been destroyed survivors describe running for the sea to escape the choking smoke military and coast guard vessels along with dozens of private boats joined the effort to rescue more than seven hundred people from the beaches some survivors were discovered at sea thanks emma. we headed towards the sea and fell into the water to get away from the smoke we went in as far as we could after almost in a pretty good model of what upsets me and that i carry in my heart is that it's horrible to see the person next to you drowning and not being ab

that.ary mattis has done ukrainians now have an anti-system called the javelin, a russian tank driver in eastern ukraine, you might be a little bit more now because that system can take out a t-72 tank. on energy, you know, in the congress, in the bill, we opened anwr for responsible exploration. you've probably seen that in alaska. that's something, that over 70% and st cans, democrats republicans, have been pushing for, for almost 40 years. and i lly got that done, want to do a shout out to all my fellow alaskans. people who have been working on that for decades. congressman young, the late great senator stevens. hundreds if not thousands of alaskans. bipartisan. we got that done. i think that will be good for country t good for the for the reasons i talked about in terms of energy as an american power, to help our allies and push back gainst our adversaries and we're doing that, and, as i mentioned, the numbers of energy roduction, oil, gas, renewables, are hitting all time ighs, and are some of the top of any country in the world. that's good for alaska, and it's good for america

well that's going to al-jazeera producer alan scopus who's on the line she's joining me now from matty near athens i mean we're seeing horrendous pictures here being sent into the new center helen just describe to us what you can see where you are. there are streets full of cars that have been burnt on both sides of the street there are homes with the residents sitting outside there are some homes are partly burned some have been police burnt some have minor damage but still they are appreciative for the fact that they are still alive because it just tolls still stands at fifty there are concerns that it will rise one hundred fifty six injured in the hospital adults eleven of them in serious condition and sixteen children also have been have hospitalized so yes they are grateful of those that are and are grateful even though they may have lost their property but they are devastated because of the fact they don't know how it will be able to rebuild what they had you in a place called mattie just on the outskirts of athens a very popular holiday destination of this this of course could n

it's also significant to talk about defense secretary james mattis. he, according to sources familiar with his thinking, has been concerned about these unscripted, unpredictable moments. he is trying to make a point of staying very close to the president's side during this summit because he doesn't want to roil allies any more so than they already are. that moment undoubtedly will only add to the tensions. as you all have been discussing, the broader implications are the high stakes summit president trump will have in president putin in just a few days from now. if these alliances are weakened, the concern is, it gives president putin the upper hand. >> senator king, thank you very much, liz sherwood-randall, and andy card, former chief of staff for george w. bush. >>> coming up, friend or foe? president trump calling russia a competitor. but will he stand up to vladimir putin at their meeting in finland on monday? former homeland security secretary michael chertoff joins me right here on "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. wee, until her laptop crash

secretary mattis obviously with his counterpart. my understanding is that the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff has a good working relationship with his russian counterpart. we need to invest more in that dialogue right now because the u.s./russia relationship is in dangerous shape. and we need to work to improve that. >> we're going to see how these senior u.s. officials react and if any of them decide it's time to move on. this is a very, very sensitive moment in american history right now. we're going to continue this conversation down the road, but our special coverage will continue right after a quick break. alright, i brought in new max protein ...to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you don't. i'll take that. [cheers] 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. new ensure max protein. in two great flavors. new ensure max protein. tap one little bumper and up go your rates. what good is your insurance if you get punished for using it? news flash: nobody's perfect. for drivers with accident forgiveness, libe

. >>> right now defense secretary james mattis meeting with his counterparts in the balkins states as a top u.s. intelligence official compares the threats of cyberattacks today to warning signs before the terror attacks of 9/11. plus the transcripts of lisa page's closed-door interview with house lawmakers, will they be released? one congressman says yes. >> i have been a big supporter of releasing the transcripts if you are going to do a deposition. i think at a minimum, the transcript needs to be released to the american people, absolutely. (honking) when your craving strikes, you need your wing nut. ( ♪ ) no one can totally satisfy a craving, quite like your wing nut. no one can totally satisfy a craving, hi there.me! so, what do you look for in a vehicle? sleek designs. performance. dependability is top on my list. well then, here's some vehicles that deliver on that. woah! wow. oh jeez! that's our truck! it's our truck! and they're our cars! that's my chevy! chevy's the only brand to earn j.d. power dependability awards across cars, trucks and suvs three years in a row. awesome.

defense secretary james mattis is in brussels too and the defense secretary looked forward to productive talks today but multiple sources tell nbc news mattis has been worried the president might make tensions worse and that extends to capitol hill where they are looking ahead to monday's meeting with presidethe president and vladimir putin that worked to undermine the alliance. >> i'm very concerned we have a rough meeting with nato and then some kind of meeting with putin and it works against our country's national interest. >> reporter: a joint declaration, including the u.s. takes aim at russia's aggressive actions. it's not clear how the president will handle putin one on one. the risk irritating friends while looking friendly with their enemy. hallie jackson, nbc news, brussels. >>> i'm richard engel, tonight following president trump's criticisms, the uk announced it sending 400 more soldiers to fight in afghanistan, part of nato's mission there. when not fighting, nato is preparing. we were there for recent drills right on russia's doorstep. this display of military might is abou

. >>> right now defense secretary james mattis meeting with his counterparts in the balkins states as a top u.s. intelligence official compares the threats of cyberattacks today to warning signs before the terror attacks of 9/11. plus the transcripts of lisa page's closed-door interview with house lawmakers, will they be released? one congressman says yes. >> i have been a big supporter of releasing the transcripts if you are going to do a deposition. i think at a minimum, the transcript needs to be released to the american people, absolutely. jean woke up with knee pain. but she's got work to do. so she took aleve. if she'd taken another pain reliever, she'd be stopping for more pills by now. only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. aleve. all day strong. i've been making blades here at gillette for 20 years. there's a lot of innovation that goes into making america's #1 shave. precision machinery and high-quality materials from around the world. nobody else even comes close. now starting at $7.99. gillette. the best a man can get. you mig

i would have to think jim mattis, who has a different world view than donald trump.y all -- it's tough. i'm glad they're in their positions. i think they're both great and honorable people. i think they should stay as long as they can. but it's clear, the president's vision of the world is quite different from their own. >> it is. >> and people they represent. >> it is. and that's reflected in the rhetoric that those men choose to use when it comes to russia, extra i compared to the president. the point that marco rubio had yesterday when he was speaking to jake here on cnn, what i thought was really interesting, you may not like the rhetoric, but the action is much more important. and he pointed to action taken by mattis this week. let's listen. >> the rhetoric matters. the policies matter even more. and that's why we need to deter. that's why i agree with arming the ukrainians. this week we sent additional military aid to ukraine. if we keep doing those things, hopefully the rhetoric gets better on it. >> he was talking about mattis and additional military aid to u

secretary mattis to maintain his influence with the president he serves. >> we do.. >> well, your question what corrupts. it is the fact that you have to play to the president's narcissism all the time. obviously that keeps them viable, but on the other hand it corrupts the process. >> exactly. we have to sneak in our last break. thank you, hans, for spending some time with us. we will be right back. it's pretty amazing out there. the world is full of more possibilities than ever before. and american express has your back every step of the way- whether it's the comfort of knowing help is just a call away with global assist. or getting financing to fund your business. no one has your back like american express. so where ever you go. we're right there with you. the powerful backing of american express. don't do business without it. don't live life without it. these are the specialists we're proud to call our own. experts from all over the world, working closely together to deliver truly personalized cancer care. expert medicine works here. learn more at cancercenter.c

the president is meeting with defense secretary mattis and secretary of state pompeo today. you've got to assume russia is at the top of the agenda. >> in part because every time secretary mattis has an opportunity to talk about the threat russia poses, he brings it up. mattis has reor yepted the entire defense department to look towards a high intensity conflict. that means conflict with either russia or china. everywhere he go, he talks about russia, the threat it posed, and also the importance of alliances. just recently we had the presidential comments about montenegro, wondering why we would fight for montenegro. when mattis was on the plane flying to croatia after that summit in brussels, what did he do, he welcomed montenegro, celebrating their coming into nato. stephanie, if you were to juxtapose that with what the president says, you'd almost think they were from different administrations. as you well know tomorrow is the anniversary of that july 20th meeting where the president went to the pentagon, had that two-hour global forces lay down. as you reported at the t

secretary mattis said, these forces of isolation are real and american. if you don't spend more, this is the reckoning you're going to have. to the point, 2% spending is not controversial. it is bipartisan. you go back to the '80s and '90s and find debates about nato countries spending more. the controversial things the president is considering, though the council disputes this, is moving troops out of germany. >> right. >> when you look at the dollars that mattis spends, there is an initial $4.3 billion for the europeans to build the initiative that is sending troops to countries like poland, having potentially more permanent stations, permanent rotations in poland. that's what the nitty-gritty has done at the pentagon. trying to make sure you're building partner capacities from the ukraine, which isn't there, but also estonia. >> thank you for your perspectives. eugene and betsy, i'll ask you to hang out. and i'll ask you to hang out with our hour for the rest of this week. starting tomorrow, you will see me in brussels. i'm traveling with the president

of america's strongest friends and allies alongside -- speaking alongside james madison -- james mattis. >> we have already established a very close working relationship with the trump administration right from the outset. >> reporter: the secretary's administers said they focused on peace ability in the endo pacific, and the dealing -- denuclearization of north korea. the summit wrapped up just as pompeo is expected to testify before congress wednesday at about the trump meeting with latimer putin. >> i think one of the things that gets lost is --n maligned behavior is unequaled in the history of the united states. >> reporter: outside the building roughly 2 dozen protesters gathered to speak out against the trump administration's foreign policies. >> there are countless issues and it's alarming and everyday i try to speak out and speak in the community because we are purple -- not red and blue. >> they say he is complacent because trump is endangering us all. >> reporter: defense secretary james mattis addressing the tweet where trump sent a warning to around not to threaten the u.s.

caught up in the fires a word of warning though from the mare pheno that's the region surrounding mattie who is said that hotels and resorts have still not been explored there are real concerns for a cheese but the figures could rise rapidly we know that the number of missing is in three figure digits at the moment so we're talking about at least one hundred people missing if not many more of course many of those are feared dead of course parker with the latest there from. that terrible fire thank you. well japan's record breaking heat wave has now been classified as a natural disaster officials say at least sixty five people have died in the unprecedented temperatures over the past week and more than twenty two thousand people have been admitted to hospital with heat stroke in some parts of tokyo the mercury is had forty degree celsius for the first time forecasters say high temperatures will remain until early august. to about half of the people sent to the emergency rooms for heat related ailments are over sixty five but they've accounted for eighty percent of the deaths. well i guess

secretary mattis was very clear that right now the u.s.y de-conflicts with the russians but he says he has no orders right now with secretary of state pompeo or president trump to do so. the head of centcom suggested in an interview this week while traveling over seas that it would give him pause to work with the russians on the ground. today we hear from the russian ministry to try to drive a wedge between the president and his generals and saying there's undermining. that's not the message that we're hearing from secretary mattis and others. they believe it would be risky to work with the russians on the ground in syria. >> shepard: thank you. gordon chang is here. author of "nuclear show down." good to see you. >> good to see you. >> shepard: is there any evidence that the north koreans are beginning the process of denuclearizing? >> not yet. >> shepard: as if you think they might? >> they might that really depends on whether trump is really -- >> shepard: you sat in this studio with me for years and you have told me the same thing for

terry gates, general mattis comment they pay me for their opinion and they give them to them. >> is a mention in my statement, the secretary recently directed the independent inspector general to act as a subordinate. i can go through his direct quote, but do you think that is appropriate? the inspector general coming from the military life, the inspector general is an integral part of any military organization. i'm not familiar since i left va with all the particulars are talking about, but the ig is a partner, is not subordinate to the secretary. va because of the work this committee has three prongs of what i would call the investigation and enforcement tool. not only the inspector general, that the office of the general counsel as well as the accountability in the global protection office. my vision is that those three offices work symbiotically. va software is everyone in this committee knows, with places like phoenix because the ig office at that time was not as diligent as it should be and it lost the train on it. >> you do not believe the ig works for you, do you? >> i believe

defense secretary james mattis is in brussels too. the the pentagon says the secretary looked forward to productive talks but multiple sources tell nbc news mattis has actually been worried the president might make tensions worse with military partners. that worry extends to capitol hill, where lawmakers are looking ahead to monday's meeting between the president and vladimir putin,orke to undermine the alliance. >> i'm very concerned we have a ough meeting with nato and then meeting with putin and it worked against our country's national interest. >> reporter: while a joint declaration by all nato nations including the u.s. takes aim at russia's aggressive actions, it's not clear how the president will handle putin one on one. the risk, irritating friends while looking friendly with their enemy. hallie jackson, nbc news, brussels. >>> now to a significant development in the case against indicted former trump campaign chief paul manafort. a judge shot down manafort's request to stay at his current prison in virginia, choosing to send

the first one is "the medications of marcus" i was told this is jim mattis, our secretary of defense,s' favre resident book, i have a biography here on the rise of theodore roosevelt, i'm looking forward to that. this is the 50th anniversary of the tragic death of senator record kennedy, chris matthews has a new become out about senator kennedy, got ton know senator kennedy's grandson, joe kennedy, member of the house here, and this is really something i'm looking forward to. i have another book here, says "1587: a year of significance." a become recommend i by secretary mattis, bout the ming dynasty in china and he says if you want to understand -- modern china you need to understand china. and this is how to look interest the mindset about the contemporary middle east and what is happening in islam. this book is something was recommended to me, called "immersions" a book about science, called "the skins and moist of fresh water mussels." and we have the largest amount of mussels in alabama. and this is one you can throw like a rock and hurt somebody. the definancetive book about cub

i think secretary pompeo, secretary mattis have been very clear. john bs been very clear regarding what they believe the u.s. posture toward russia should bt the presids the one i think who has sent mixed messages. so ifhis administration wants to get on the same page, it starts at the top. ultimately it's the approximate the and his rhetoric th need to be addressed. >> it is so interesting because we've seen so many breaks wi protocol in so many ways with this president but in particular th meeting one-on-one with vladimir putin only having their translators in the room, not having anybody from his cap cabinet, so it's hard to know if secretary pompeo knows what else was said. >> we saw pompeo alongside james mattis this week at, stanfo at hoover institution. he seemed uncomfortable. uestions about what exactly went on in that meeting. he frankly seems maybe out of the loop inerms of what happened. and i think the administration has problems when the press secretary answers the question about whether ambassadors could be called up by russia to ans

defense secretary james mattis are scheduled to meet their australian counterparts. the austral australia has been exempt from u.s. tariffs on steel, but if those tariffs reduce chinese output, that could lead to lower demand for australian steel. fa reno's group, indivisible south bay, is a progressive grassroots citizen organization. they're hoping pompeo and mattis will do what they can to calm fears and to avoid international embarrassment such as the fallout with president trump's meeting with russian leader vladimir putin. >> i do believe that both mattis and pompeo are working from within to influence the president, sometimes in positive ways, and i think we're all for that. >> reporter: the group acknowledges that so far even national protests have done little to change policies coming from the trump white house. but they see this event as a big opportunity to send a message to the u.s. secretaries. >> we feel it's important for them to stand by their oath to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution. and today unfortunately that means keeping a close ey

james mattis is a fine man.al view towards these issues. >> if i might add -- >> max, and then dana. >> i just have to say, as a former republican who quit the party after donald trump's election, the republican party is really a profile in cowardice right now. as i wrote today in "the washington post," in my lifetime the republican party has gone from denouncing useful idiots to becoming useful idiots. donald trump is effectively vladimir putin's useful idiot, wittingly or unwittingly serving the interests of russia. most republicans are too cowardly to do anything about it because they're more concerned about their political future, they're terrified donald trump will tweet against them. they're not upholding their oath of office. this is truly disgraceful, what's going on. the desperatiisgrace is not jus part of the president. it's on the part of his enablers in the republican party. >> the congressman talked about the fact that even his advisers have talked about this idea of saying it's okay to send a forme

we feel the same way about secretary mattis. the way he conducts himself and what he does, i think there's tremendous faith in both sides of the aisle and his ability in what he does. much of what you're hearing today has nothing whatsoever to do with you and i would agree with you that the policies that we're putting in place in many cases are stronger than have ever been put in place. i agree with you. it's the president that causes people to have concern. i'd love to have some insights as to, for instance, at the helsinki conference to create an eqiuvalence to what he said at helsinki and the notion of even thinking about exchanging diplomats, sending diplomats over to be interrogated by putin, to even think about that, to let that be said as an official statement coming out of the white house, this is my opinion and i believe it's right, to purposely cause the american people to misunderstand about the cause them to doubt nato and really drive public opinion against nato, that to me was purposeful, not unlike what happened r