mika, it doesn't have to be cash. it doesn't have to be an exchange of cash. whenever somebody would do a fish fry for me in northwest florida, i had to write down everything was napkins, cups, fish. barbecue, it's the same thing. that's called an in kind contribution. the law has always looked at that just as seriously as they've looked at money exchanging hands. and in this case, getting this kind of dirt, attempting to get this type of dirt from -- and to word nate t coordinate the release of that dirt against an opponent, that's worth a ton of money. >> we'll get a sense of how this is playing on capitol hill from kasie hunt in a minute. first, eddie glaude, i assume you'll be talking to your students about this fall about where the truth is going in the age of trump. every day that he is president, he and many of his stooges, members of his team, whatever you want to call him, they're devaluing the truth and this is bringing us to a new place. >> absolutely. one of the things we would have to talk about what does this mean for our democracy, for honest an

. >> i think mika b. said he looks unhinged. >> that's next block. that's what happens when jesse is hung over. he skips to the next block. [laughing] >> what i was saying is that he seems very animated and not unhinged because of the great economic news. one of the things we have for you, we have these manufacturing jobs. created almost 400 manufacturing jobs in the country, since inauguration. i think obama lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs. these are good high paying jobs. that's why he's so excited. >> yes. do you remember my analogy where i said that might not have been on "the five" yet, but the press has to eat every day. >> pre-watters? >> the thing they hate to eat is their vegetables. they hate to eat their vegetables. if you give them dessert first, within the rally, that's what they're going to eat. their dessert is anything against the media when they talk about the russia probe and talk about the other things. they're like, oh, i'm going to eat that first and save the vegetables for last. >> if trump didn't give him all that stuff -- >> g

mika, this is for you.hris collins of new york has been charged with insider trader and lying to investigators alleged to have worked with his son to avoid significant losses on a inesthavestment. prosecutors say collins was at a congressional picnic at the white house last year when he learned that they received bad news about a drug trial for the company's only product. he served on a board for three years until 2017 and remains one of the biggest shareholders. the congressman frantically attempted to reach his son, cameron, who he tipped off to the corporate information days before it was made public. they claim cameron collins and several others used the information to avoid more than $700,000 in losses. when news of the failed drug trial was made public, the shares of the company aplplumme. he refuted the allegations against him. >> the charges that have been levied against me are meritless. and i will mount a vigorous defense in court to clear my name. i look forward to being fully vindicated and exon

still ahead on "morning joe" what do we have, mika? >> we'll tell you about a mother and daughter deported to el salvador, but a judge steps in and orders the plane turned around nap story is coming up. you're watching "morning joe." >> and here's reagan. >> -- and since this is the last speech that i will give as president i think it's fitting to leave one final thought. an observation about a country which i love. it was stated best in a letter i received not long ago. a man wrote me and said, you can go to live in france, but you cannot become a frenchman. you can go to live in germany or turkey or japan, but you cannot become a german, a turk or japanese. but anyone from any corner of the earth can come to live in america and become an american. & the staff needs to know, they will & they'll drop everything can you take a look at her vitals? & share the data with other specialists yeah, i'm looking at them now. & they'll drop everything hey. & take care of this baby yeah, that procedure seems right. & that one too. at&t provides ed

and a lot of people ask me, mika, how do you deal with donald trump?lot of disagreements with him. but i tell people that ideal with this president the same way i dealt with the last president, president obama, when i served while he was in the white house. when the president does something right, i will support it. i will get behind it. if the president is doing something wrong that i disagree with, i will be outspoken about it and that's how i've handled donald trump every single day. i will, for example, commend his administration for some of the work in venezuela and cuba, nicaragua, holding those dictatorships accountable. that's something that's important to my community. a lot of people here are behind that. but when the president says things that are inappropriate, does things that are inappropriate, attacks the mueller probe, for example, i'll push back against that because we see our democracy being undermined in a number of ways and i think sometimes the president contributes to that. and for members of congress, party aside, we have to be w

mika. >> absolutely wonderful. guy who was a united states marine. he spent his life prosecuting the bad guy, going after the mob, going after drug syndicates, protecting americans from the scourge of radical islamic terrorism. >> wow. >> and now he's fighting to stop russia and an ex-kgb agent from undermining american democracy. happy birthday, robert mueller. and thank you for your service to america. >> and thank you, joe. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> thanks so much, mika. i'm stephanie ruhle with a lot to cover today. starting with paul manafort's former associate takes the stand describing years of illegal ti

. >> i have to jump in, mika. it's absolutely possible and i warn people not to assume just because michael cohen entered into a plea agreement without a cooperation agreement apparent from its face. he still may be presently cooperating, planning to cooperate and the critical information, he only recently started talking to prosecutors. prosecutors need weeks maybe even months to debrief a defendant like michael cohen or a cooperating witness before they decide to cooperate him and vet him making sure his story is accurate and truthful. only then will they even consider granting that precious 5k1. from this point forward prosecutors are very, very cautious purchasers of the testimony of michael cohen, and might back out of the deal at any time if they decide he's not truthful and not give him the benefit of his bargain. it's very important to realize that he may be cooperating, and he may cooperate in the future. it's absolutely true that defendants can cooperate even after sentencing under the rules, and it'sals

>> a few things going on, mika. certainly don mcgahn's imminent departure announced with dispute whether he's leaving or president trump fired him is emblematic what's going on in the white house. they have lost, struggled from the beginning to recruit top-flight talent into the building and we've seen a steady stream of departures with few big names replacing them and the legal team in particular has had, shall we say challenges. rudy giuliani is far more of a public spokesman, tv personality than a lawyer. certainly in the building. flood is someone who people around the president have respect for, think they is a top-flight lawyer but there is very little with him, and a lot coming. not only is it going to be whatever mueller brings to the table when he issues his report. if the democrats flip the house this fall, which, of course, a lot of people including trump allies expect and fear, not only will you have impeachment talk but according to our reporting, a lot of people in the white house are terrified even if

don't you agree, mika? >> i don't get it.multy, thank you very much. thank you, both. >>> coming up, president trump has recently praised saudi arabia's leadership and hammered canada's. now those two countries are locked in a growing diplomatic dispute. will the u.s. take sides? the president might but will the u.s.? there are two separate things there. that's all next on "morning joe." how'd that go? he kept spelling my name with an 'i' but it's bryan with a 'y.' yeah, since birth. that drives me crazy. yes. it's on all your email. yes. they should know this? yeah. the guy was my brother-in-law. that's ridiculous. well, i happen to know some people. do they listen? what? they're amazing listeners. nice. guidance from professionals who take their time to get to know you. hi! how was your day? it was good. it was long. let's fix it. play "connection" by onerepublic. (beep) ♪these days, my waves get lost in the ocean♪ ♪seven billion swimmers man ♪i'm going through the motions ♪sent up a flare need love and devotion♪ ♪trade it

far more dangerous for our democracy. >> mika, ewant to jui want to j a second. i watched an hour-long interview i did with him in 2007. his cadence, his nigh eyes. he was a different guy. look at old interviews with donald trump. he's not just younger. his entire mannerisms, entire way of speaking is different. so i'm glad we brought that up, because we all kicked that around a long time. >> watch our reaction. >> then it became kind of the norm. >> the page turns. the worm turns. >> so glad you brought that up, because that is an ongoing -- i think at this point almost a given when you watch this man's behavior. >> that is where we're at. got a sense from everybody. state of mind watching that rally last night, and with that we go to the major developments yesterday. willie? >> i mentioned those national security directors in the white house yesterday. they gathered in the briefing room reportedly at the president's personal instruction, top national security and intel officials delivering a strong and clear message about russia's continued interference in the

mika oing. philip bump, national correspondent for "the washington post." philip on this issue of security clearances, john brennan had his revoked. we hear him speaking out tonight in this same studio a few hours ago. he talked, one of the things he talked about was trying to prevent this from happening to other former and current officials. does he have any ability to do that? >> well, so one of the things he mentioned i thought was interesting is that he was trying to engage in a legal case to actually do so. i'm not a lawyer so i don't know the extent to which that would be successful. it's clear that he recognizes what the threat here is. i mean, president trump's absolutely right, clearly this has done nothing to silence brennan, he was probably harsher in his language tonight than he's been at any point in time in the recent past. he recognizes there is a particular threat. if you are someone who donald trump still has power over in the government, who someone like bruce or.if he gets his security clearance revoked, that changes his career, makes it

but the one thing that i think mika noticed even as a liberal democrat was the greatness of the man. the greatness of the leadership. she saw something in him that she saw in her father that she saw in other presidents and diplomats that she had crossed in her life and mika just knew that somebody great had left our presence, and, my god, anyone that feels a sense of despair only need to read john mccain's final words to understand not only why he was so great but why america's greatest days really could lie ahead if we only get out of our way. our own way. >> well, joe, john mccain would be the last person who would want anyone to despair today, and i think maybe what mika saw and what she thought whenever she saw or heard john mccain was quite simple. she saw america, and she saw an american, and she saw someone whose life story symbolizes, in a sense, what this country is all about. his history is our history. we don't teach our history very well to our children or to one another, but his history is fairly familiar now. given his passing. in his history, it is one of continued sur

mika. >> zainab, jump in. >> i'm saying we have to do the right thing, not the safe thing.k its way out. if we do the safe thing and we rush into conclusion, it will back fire on the democratic party also. >> whoever party wins is the american people at the question in the moment and we need to do the right thing by the american people. for me, the question, it's for someone who attacks truth so much, we need to own truth. and we need to make truth great again. we need to tell the truth and we need modeling, someone to tell the truth out loud and full rounded truth. >> but the challenge we face, ultimately, if we're pueratriot the sense that ultimately truth is perceived subjectively. truth is truth. but it is perceived subjectively. and if we do this the wrong way -- >> tell rudy julie a annie that. >> no, no, i am saying truth is truth. but the perception matters. if this is done without due process, you lose those trump supporters who were a political constituency of -- >> let me be very clear. i'm not making an argument to rush to judgment. i'm making this argument, tha

bring in our leadoff panel for friday night, jonathan allen, nbc news national political reporter, mika oyang, and phillip pump, national correspondent for the "washington post." phillip, on this issue of security clearance, john brennan had his revoked. he talked -- one of the things he talked about was trying to prevent this from happening to other former and current officials. does he have any ability to do that? >> one of the things he mentioned is he was trying to engage in a legal case. it's clear he recognize what is the threat is. president trump is right, this has done nothing to silence brennan. he was probably harsher in his language tonight than he's been at any point in time in recent past but he recognizes there is a particular threat. 23 you are someone who donald trump has power over in the government, like bruce ohr who works for the department of justice, that changes his career, that makes it so he's not able to work which is the point brennan made and brennan wants to make it so you can't use it to punish his enemies within the executive branch of the government. i t

chris jansing picks up the coverage right now. >> joe and mika, thank you very much. a deal. special counsel robert mueller reportedly willing to limit investigator's questions in a bid to secure an interview with president trump. >> he's always been interested in testifying. i'm not going to give you a lot of hope it's going to happen but we're still negotiating. >> shut it down. trump's legal team on defense after the president takes to twitter to call for an end, an immediate end, to the russia investigation. >> it's not an order. it's the president's opinion. >> yes, they can. former president obama endorses dozens of democrats ahead of the

>> well, mika, back in february i was on this show and said the same thing.ules of the road in place and that's the bill that i have with senator mccain and senator warner that's called the honest ad's act that simply says you have to follow the same rules that tv and radio and print does in that you have to put the ads out there and then you've got to put disclaimers so we know who is paying for them. facebook has voluntarily done that now since the zuckerberg hearings. he said, okay, we'll follow the rules. they've also said they would support our bill. but until then we have gotten no support for the bill and we now suddenly a bunch of the big media companies are saying, you know what, we're now establishing that this foreign entity russia tried to influence our election. they're getting bolder as dan coats said. the red lights are flashing. it's time to protect ourselves before the next election. that is why they discovered these fake accounts that were basically trying to sew more discontent and it wasn't about candidates, it was about issue ads and curr

mika has the morning off. so, john, first of all, got so much to talk about. first of all, john heilemann, hold up the tabloids this morning, because they basically say what i knew they were going to say. which is, you know whoever is in charge of writing headlines for the tabloids, we're like, you know what? i'm going to get in a little late tonight, because we can just -- we can recycle all the anthony weiner headlines and -- and go that direction. >> yesterday was kind of christmas, if you're, if you work on what they like to call "the wood" at the new york tabloids. first one i like. right to the "new york post." see it here. what's in the safe? inquiring minds what to know. reference to reporting we'll talk about today from the associated press that there is a safe in david picker of the "national enquirer" from that office. yesterday david picker flipped the thing donald trump would like to outlaw. >> what's in the -- by the way, john heilemann, interesting, looks a little like geraldo. >> yeah. the safe. >> the infamous safe since geraldo rivera knocked

venezuela alleges behind an attempted assassination over the weekend i don't know not a bit of chemical no mika in that sense the. british newspapers like the guardian appeared to question whether it was some kind of hoax but then outlets like channel four news in the state mandated b.b.c. have continued to promote regime change in venezuela or arguably where internationally monitored elections recently secured victory for president but during his donald trump secretary of state when he was his boss at the cia any time you have a country as large and with the economic capacity of a country like venezuela america has a deep interest in making sure that it is stable as democratic as possible and so we're working hard to do that i am. always careful when we talk about south and central america in the cia there's a lot of stories. could that media laughter at the aspen security summit really be referring to cia interference in the americas that even included backing for groups linked to the assassination of a soon to be saint archbishop ranariddh with celebrating mass in the chapel of the hospital

one of the voices you heard was mika brzezinski accusing the president of become unhinged.w they manage to think with those brains of theirs. >> this said more about their mental health than it does the president's. i just completed a book on this topic called "mad politics." our political arena has become so crazy and obsessed with this president that they make outlandish accusations that the heartland of america can see are completely ernts. you look at -- completely errant. you look at this president and the barrage of attacks he endures every day. then you compare that side by side to his list of accomplishments and you know this president is arguably one of the most of sane occupiers of the white house ever in the history of the united states. gregg: lawrence, what do you think? >> the media, i don't think they should be worrying about the president's words. i think they should be looking at their approval ratings. last poll showed they were lower than congress. everyone hates congress. how are your ratings lower than congress. but the media played a dangerous game. ba

press and they are now saying that everyone close to the president knows that he is not well, like mika brezinski, and the claim that the president is not well by chris matthews, do we really think that those 10,000 people cheering in pennsylvania and wilkes-barre were stupid and couldn't figure out if this president were smart with the program or not with the program? >> kellyanne: well that's the thing, judge. all across the country, and i traveled frequently out on behalf of the white house, he was in florida and pennsylvania already this week, and he does that for a very specific reason. he takes the case directly to the people, and the middleman doesn't like it. he communicates with all of us the very same time what's on his mind at any given moment through his vast social media platform and cuts out the middleman. i don't want to lose sight of how much affection and appreciation there is in this country for the president and his policy. people know exactly what you just said, a booming economy. and people know it. i went through the crowd last night in pennsylvania, they are there

press and they are now saying that everyone close to the president knows that he is not well, like mika brezinski, and the claim that the president is not well by chris matthews, do we really think that those 10,000 people cheering in pennsylvania and wilkes-barre were stupid and couldn't figure out if this president were smart with the program or not with the program? >> kellyanne: well that's the thing, judge. all across the country, and i traveled frequently out on behalf of the white house, he was in florida and pennsylvania already this week, and he does that for a very specific reason. he takes the case directly to the people, and the middleman doesn't like it. he communicates with all of us the very same time what's on his mind at any given moment through his vast social media platform and cuts out the middleman. i don't want to lose sight of how much affection and appreciation there is in this country for the president and his policy. people know exactly what you just said, a booming economy. and people know it. i went through the crowd last night in pennsylvania, they are there

remember joe scarborough, mika brzezinski, they claimed they got a call from the white house where they were threatened to stop saying negative things about the president. >> they were told they would have to apologize, they would have to say we're apologizing or the "national enquirer" would run a story that would embarrass them. >> let's listen to that moment. it was striking and maybe emblem matt atic. >> we got a call that the "national enquirer" is going to run a negative story against you guys and and it was donald is friends -- the president is friends with the guy that runs the "national enquirer" and they said if you call the president up and you apologize for your coverage he will pick up the phone and basically spike this story. >> they didn't do that and the "national enquirer" ran the story. >> and you can see why. they were working hand in glove. look at the headlines about hillary during the campaign. >> that's a good point. >> they were making staggering unbelievably fictional claim. >> they said she was six months away from death. >> lung cancer, alzheimer's disease, ha

press when they are now saying that everyone close to the president knows that he is not well, like mikarzezinski, and the claimez that the president is not well by chris matthews, do they really think that those 10,000 people cheering in pennsylvania were stupid and could not figure out to that this president was smart with the program, not with the program? >> well, that is the thing, judge. all across the country, and i travel on behalf of the white house. and we see the president out quite a bit, he will go to the third rally this week in ohio. he was in florida and pennsylvania already. and he does that for a specific reason. he takes the case directly to the people. cuts out the middleman, and let's face it, the middleman does not like it. cuts out the middleman when he communicates as all of us at the same time, what is on his mind, at any given moment through his vast social media platform, cutting out the middleman. and i do not want to lose sight of how much affection and appreciation there is in this country for this president and his policies. people know, they feel and they

. >> thanks so much, mika. hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle, we begin the day with all the president's guilty men. has trump's paul manafort is found guilty on eight felony counts and his longtime attorney and so-called fixer implicates the president in a federal crime. i have an amazing team of reporters and legal analysts standing by. but first, i want to take you through what exactly made it such a historic day and possibly the worst day in donald trump's press presidency thus far. michael cohen pleaded guilty to counts and campaign finance laws. a man who once said he would take a bullet for donald trump stood before a federal judge and admitted at the direction of an unnamed candidate, presumably president trump he paid off two women for the principal purple of influencing the 2016 election. that is an apparent reference to payments made to "playboy" star stormy daniels. and the lawyer summing it up outside the courthouse. >> he worked to silence two women who had information who he believes had information t

mika presents key, dumb as a pile of rocks are you surprised people saw a race in this?hat he needed to do more than sports. he is engaged in his community and that means talking about politics. he has in kitchen now. that is a reaction that is not against people of color, itra transcends race, i think lebron james is better than that. i think that everybody knows donald trump is incredibly transparent. he says all these things about all kinds of people on the fact is, donald trump is actually quite fair in the nature of who he is going to attack and trade based on the nature what they are doing as he reacts as what he sees. >> brian: i wish he wouldn't have done it. i wish he didn't do it personal tact. don lemon is not dumb. keep in mind, the president played golf this week with lindsey graham. a man he is insulted repeatedly took his phone number and read it to the hole world. >> one of the things that goes back to our first conversation, go after people on policy. talk about the issues that affect our lives, the personal back and forth from the media to the president

. >> thanks so much, mika. i'm stephanie ruhle with a lot to cover today. starting with paul manafort's former associate takes the stand describing years of illegal activity. >> these people didn't commit one stray crime. gates is up confessing to a bunch of crime. >> he's not done yet. gates is scheduled for more hours of testimony starting in this very hour. we're going to take you live to the courthouse. >>> while the buckeye state battle kicks off, voters in ohio head to the polls today in a hotly contested special election. despite holding a rally and tweeting endorsement, the democrat insists the race, well, it is not about the president. >> how much is donald trump on the ballot in this race? >> well, he's not. is social security going to be cut? is medicare going to be there? >> a new report from "the wall street journal" says facebook asked big banks to share detailed financial information about their customers. that's you and me. >> from now on, facebook will do more to keep you safe and protect your privacy so we can all get back to what made fac

. >> thanks, mika. hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle. starting with too close to call. the election in the buckeye state separated by 1700 votes. >> can you believe how close this is? we are in a tie ball game. >> but that didn't stop president trump from declaring victory and claiming credit. all this, for a seat up for election again this november. >> over the next three months i'm going to do everything i can to keep america great again. >> to keep america great again. that sentence doesn't even make sense. >>> sex, lies and betrayal. manafort's defense team goes after rick gates painting him as the ringleader who stole millions from manafort to support a lending. >> had a great day. >> a great day. >>> and turn signal, tesla's ceo elon musk comes out of nowhere on twitter, suggesting he has securelied funding to take the company private in what would be the biggest buy outin history. hearings the question, is it for real? or is it musk to punish the sellers of the stock and the doubters of what he thinks is his genius? >>> we begin, of course in the state of ohio wh

. >> i don't even need mika to tell me, i believe it. good morning, everyone, i'm stephanie ruhle with a lot to cover today. starting with a united front. top intelligence and national security leaders coming together to warn of new election interference. >> our democracy itself is in the cross hairs. >> we acknowledge the threat. it is real. it is continuing. >> within hours, the president went back to this. >> we're being hindered by the russian hoax. it's a hoax, okay. >> no, it's not and he knows it. and just in this morning, the brand-new jobs report. as apple joins a club of its own, blasting past a market milestone to cross $1 trillion in value. we're going to break it all down. we've got a lot to cover this morning. but i want to begin with president trump undermining a major show of force by america's top national security officials. his officials. the top intelligence officials say the russian threat is very real. vowing to protect american elections from a pervasive campaign by russians to interfere in this year's midterm elec

. >> joe and mika, thank you very much. i'm chris jansing, in for stephanie ruhle. this morning, let's make a deal. special counsel robert mueller reportedly willing to limit investigator's questions in a bid to secure an interview with president trump. >> he's always been interested in testifying. i'm not going to give you a lot of hope it's going to happen but we're still negotiating. >> shut it down. trump's legal team on defense after the president takes to twitter to call for an end, an immediate end, to the russia investigation. >> it's not an order. it's the president's opinion. >> yes, they can. former president obama endorses dozens of democrats ahead of the midterms. but will it matter. >> don't boo, vote. >> we begin today as the plot thickens, reports that president trump is really pushing for that face-to-face interview with robert mueller. so we know mueller wants it. the president wants to do it. right now, it's just his attorneys holding him back. i've got a great team to help me break it all down. before we get to them, here's what's going on. new d

. >> thanks, mika, joe. hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle. facebook says it has found dozens of fake accounts, all part of a covert campaign to attack the american democratic process. surprise, surprise, just before the 2018 midterms. was it the russians again? and what can actually be done to stop it? >> that has everything but the kitchen sink in it. it will be the sanctions bill from hell. >>> and it is all about the base. the president rallies his faithful in florida, playing loose with economic backs. but guess what -- we have got more fact-check. >>> china had others, remember this, have targeted our farmers. and you know what our farmers are saying, it's okay. we can take it. >>> and the sky's the limit. ceos cash in thanks to the president's tax cuts. new numbers this morning on who that tax cut is benefitting and whether or not it's trickling down. we're going to begin this morning with that new attack on the american democracy. facebook uncovers yet another attempt at foreign influence, pages pushing divisive and damaging political

mika brzezinski -- mcgahn.cgahn reported about the information president's desire to control the investigation including taemattempts to fire mueller himself. rudy giuliani says the following. sarah sanders responded in a statement. support for mcgahn's cooperation came from a former white house counsel who survived the scandal of watergate, john dean tweeted, mcgahn is doing right. and that john dean reference certainly inspired one of the president's tweets today where he talks about what he refers to as the failing "the new york times" and their article. in that tweet, he says that they make a comparison that don mcgahn giving hours of system must be a john dean type rat but i allowed him and others to testify. attorney for don mcgahn also tells me because the president asserted no -- he did so honestly as anyone interacting with a federal investigation should. >> never a dull sunday morning for you, kelly o'donnell. thank you very much. chuck todd is nbc's political director and moderator of "meet the press

the very beginning, getting everybody together on air force one, concocting the lie about adoptions, mikaosecutors will look to somebody's

he said, go pull an article about joe scarborough and mika. i want to know about this and that. i wondered why he asked me. i wasn't his press secretary. he was working around the people who would -- >> and the negative coverage -- >> i was giving him whatever -- when the president calls you and says get this and that for me, i did it. yes, i was one of the people feeding him the things he's asked for, because he's the president of the united states. when he calls and asks, you answer. >> you talked about you were offered a job on the campaign. you have shown me the e-mail offer, i have read the offer that you received from laura trump. >> it wasn't from lara trump. it was e-mailed from the campaign. >> from the campaign. >> yes. >> and i want to put up the nondisclosure agreement here. it is a very stringent one. it said this, the no disparagement clause during the term of your service and after, you agree not to disparage the campaign. mr. trump, mr. pence. any trump or pence company. any trump or pence family member. any trump or pence family member company or an asset, any o

. >> thanks so much, mika. hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle, excited to be back this morning because we've got a lot to cover, starting with the west wing exodus. another lawyer to leave the white house just hours after the president confirms don mcgahn is leaving, much to the surprise of mcgahn himself. but now trump's inner circle is worried that without the proper support around him, president trump may lash out if the democrats retake congress. and left behind, traditionally safe democrats are facing a string of primary challengers. >> i won't wait my turn. my mother did not raise me to ask permission to leave. >> i think that experience doesn't mean that much if you're not actually good at governing. >> and president trump doubles down on his attacks against google, accusing the search giant of not promoting his 2017 state of the union after years of pushing people towards obama's. here's the problem, trump didn't deliver a state of the union in 2017. get your facts right, sir. >> they're really treading on t

. >> thanks, mika, thanks, joe. good morning, i'm stephanie ruhle, with a lot to cover today, starting with shifting the goal post. the president responds to reports that he is very worried about his son's legal feature by making it clear. don jr. did meet with a russian lawyer to get dirt on hillary clinton but now he's insisting that's not illegal. as the president's lawyer tries to explain his own statements about why the meeting took place in the first place. >> it was in the case at that point, what, a couple of weeks. i had bad information at that point. i made a mistake in my statement. >> bad information means someone lied to him or he lied to us. businesses are struggling to stay afloat after the trump administration changes the visa process. as the president sends out a series of tweets on tariffs. stick around for this fact check. and a progressive powwow. democrats gather for a subtle of ideas before the midterm elections, but are they losing sight on 2016 by focusing too much on 2020? >> we have to talk

i think he called sister mika on msnbc dumb. he uses dumb across race, across gender.hat when he focuses on people of color and talks about that -- uses that kind of language, we have a history that goes a long way that accents the deep white supremacist overtones even as he's calling a white male dumb or white woman dumb. so that, yes, paris, it's true. he's an equal opportunity gangster across the board. our challenge is going to be -- and i will tell you this, brother paris. if somebody call you a vicious name and i thought it was wrong, i would defend you based on principle even though we don't agree on a whole lot. but we human beings. and i know there's gangster in me. there's gangster in you. there's gangster in trump. there's gangster in anderson. the challenge is how do we get control of those gangster elements such that we live a life of some decency and a slice of integrity? that's what we're talking about. it's all about accountability. accountability. accountability. >> paris dennard, professor west, i appreciate the discussion. thanks very much. >> thanks

. >> another nbc colleague, mika bra zinke called neurotic, called puerto ricans still recovering from hurricane maria a year later ingrates, gave a former miss america miss piggy, and he's called rosie o'donnell a fat, ugly slob. >> miss piggy, mirror mirror mr. president. as chief of staff john kelly lamented to the press corps how women used to be scared, maybe he should take -- excuse me, women used to be sacred, maybe he should take that up with his own boss. the president has called women vulgar terms, called breastfeeding mothers disgusting, said he can treat them like blank and, of course, you know he is free to grab them by the genitals. i remember when ivanka trump was asked about that tape and she said she never heard her father speak like that, but after hearing the tape she found it very jarring. well, first daughter ivanka trump, senior adviser to the president, advocate for the advancement of women and girls, what do you say about the long list of other things? still jarring? >> okay. not just this. the president has issued a travel ban initially aimed at muslims, based

you know, mika and willie and i and mark halperin said he had a chance to win the last two weeks. didn't think he was going to. a chance to win, and seriously, you would have thought we said locusts were going to be descending from the heavens and eating the flesh other every human being in america. i'm here to tell you now a 40% president loses midterms and 40% president doesn't get re-elected. ain't going to happen. but reserved al, let's wrap this up. we have quite a few people on here who have known donald trump for ten years. so interesting to me. gene had said, talking about the guy's not well. gene had said before that people keep their prejudices buried when they talk. certainly in public. i'm sure he never said anything inappropriate to you racially, but i can tell you while donald trump said inappropriate things behind closed doors and certainly was not a feminist behind closed doors for the decade i was with him, i can tell you and mika would tell you the same thing. he never once said anything remotely insensitive behind closed doors regarding race. never once. the fir

mika has the day off. going through all of the paradoxes, all of the conflicts internal to the united states of america and its greatness, and you talk about also arcing towards -- ever upward in our trajectory of civilization. john mccain had some conflicts. he had some contradictions. he had sharp elbows. he had sharp edges, and yet in all of my years dealing with the man it made me love him even more, even when i knew at times when he loathed me, he was a straight shooter who spoke his mind, and he was exactly what america needed not only in the 1960s in vietnam, the courage that he showed, the extraordinary strength he showed, but also in the age of trump. a mon wa whman who just didn't t a tweet from a blustery president because he had been through hell and back and he could put up with it. >> absolutely. as the greek said, character is destiny, and his character as a young man, both before his captivity and afterward, were those salient elements that you just described. he was a young man who i think

joe and mika have the morning off.ol hill yesterday with the senators. i'm listening to john cornyn who comes on the show and we like, feigned ignorance about why former officials have security clearance. knees. >> what you're seeing in this case is actually an antipathy on john brennan. imagine if the partisan roles were reversed and there's plenty of times in covering congress, you know, supreme court fights a good example, replay the same quotes and put them in the mouths from the other party when that fight comes back around. this is a situation where if president obama was doing this imagine the outrage coming from the reside. similar dynamic here. i do think susan collins is somebody willing to challenge the president. she had that message there. bob corker somebody who is willing to speak out strongly. bob corker won't be in congress in a couple of months. that's the untold story. no matter what happens the democrats and the wave there are going to be far fewer people holding elected office in washington who are

robert gates i remember before the election was a man who did not support donald trump at all but mika and i remember having a private conversation with him and he said the same thing that general hayden said privately, which was we only have one president at a time. >> exactly. >> and we have to do everything we can do to make donald trump a successful president. we have no other choice. and so that's why when you see bob gates finally speaking out, it carries the tremendous impact that it does. >> it does. and just to re-enforce what that letter said, that had the signatures of bob gates and judge william webster. these are not political people. these are career people. judge webster went from the federal judiciary to the fbi and then the cia, held in such high regard a man in his 90s who has never spoken out like this, ever, and i've known him for more than three decades. these are the people so unusual on that list, to re-enforce the point that it was a breaking point. these are people who usually keep their heads down and do not enter the spray. and they said in that letter that t

joe and mika have the morning off and we'll begin with president trump revoking the security clearance of cia director john brennan. white house press secretary sarah sanders announced the action yesterday by wrereading statement by the president. >> mr. brennan's line and recent country is consistent with access to the nation's most closely held secrets and facilities. the very aim of our adversaries. >> focused on a nude to protene among those he holds responsible for the russia investigation saying, quote, i call it the rigged witch-hunt is a sham and these people let it. so i think it is something that had to be done. on msnbc yesterday brennan said the president is acting out of fear. >> i think he fears individuals who could damage him. could damage his standing from the american people. look at the way he's been referring to bob mueller. bob mueller who is a national treasure and an icon within the law enforcement and justice communities who is doing his level best to investigate russian interference in the election. i think mr. trump is getting more and more concerned. more and

mika will be back tomorrow, and willie returning on friday, and you know, mike, by the time willie returns on friday, of course, the yankees will only be 3 1/2 games behind. >> no, no, no. no, no, no. joe -- you know better than most, it's 162-game season. they play the game every single day. there are ups and downs. there are, you know, dark moments. light moments for the read sd s spectacular all year. won yesterday, late, but they won. the important thing. the yankees are still -- >> what a win that was! >> joe -- joe -- >> sam stein, as you -- >> as you know, joe, it's all going to fall apart. we're going to be in a pud many of tear -- puddle of tears when the yankees overcome us and probably lose the wild card game. >> so, sam, sam -- >> children, go to your room. go to your room. >> let's just acknowledge what's happening here, mike. we're falling apart. >> pump the brakes. things are going to be fine. >> all right. >> oh, my -- okay. i -- geez. i mean, sam you said -- >> yes? >> -- i know we're going to blow it. >> yeah. >> by the end of the year. we're going to blow it by september

i think mika and i talked about having lunch with them one time very early. in the white house.weekend. and my biggest takeaway was she stood in line just like everybody else to get a sentence in. i think he treats just about everybody the same. she's first among equals. and i do believe that they are thinking that one day she'll be president or one day she can succeed him. but there's no doubt -- she's not had a lot of influence on him. yameesh, when we talk with the border, it's been the aclu. the white house has deferred to the aclu. so ivanka trump, the first of the aclu. instead of using her powerful position to do it herself. >> i mean, just this morning, what we know is there are still hundreds of children who are still separated from their families. and then there are parents who are deported without their children. i talked to an immigration lawyer over the weekend who said he's very worried about all these different -- basically all these different access points where you could look at this. there's kids that are with their parents that are still stuck in jail. the kid