peter baker, i must start with you. this is not normal but it is not surprising either, is it?> well, no, of course not. he doesn't like to be criticized and unlike other presidents who often let that kind of slide off their back, president trump is of course going to respond. he's made that very clear now for more than 2 1/2 years in office, if somebody takes a shot at him, even one that was in private cables that were not meant to be public, he's going to fire back. you know, it's somewhat ironic that he puts out in a tweet how much he was criticizing the british, and complains he's criticizing them. his criticism of the british is public, and they're still dealing with imhad. he's not willing -- with him. he was critical in private, again, not surprising, that's par for the course for this president. it's not true that the ambassador is not while liked. he's liked within trump's white house. his staff would show up the british ambassador. i think they are checking off their appointment book and crossing off things they might have had listed there had for the next few months

anne marie mcavoy, "new york times" chief white house correspondent and msnbc political analyst peter baker, and politico senior writer and msnbc political contributor jake sherman. ken, let's start with this new news we're just learning that robert mueller has asked that a longtime aide be sworn in as a witness during tomorrow's hearing with the house judiciary committee. what more can you tell us about that? >> the aides is aaron zebley, robert mueller's chief of staff. an accomplished counterterrorism investigator in his own right and robert mueller's chief of staff during the mueller investigation. and they are asking that he be sworn in to sit next to robert mueller during the judiciary committee part of the hearing. it's not clear that's going to be able to happen because of congressional rules. >> and to do what? and to say what? >> well, i mean, you know, robert mueller is 74 years old. he oversaw this sprawling investigation. it's conceivable he doesn't know the answer particularly with the details to every question and a guy like zebley could help him answer those questions and in

lead-off discussion, our maddox and kimberly atkins, correspondent for wbur and cynthia oxny and peter baker for "the new york times." peter, i am going to ask you to put it into words even though you already have. what does yesterday looked like in context. never get between a member of congress and the door when they are leaving for a six-week summer break. did hopes for impeachment walk outs the door with them? >> the chance for impeachment is relatively long for the reasons that nancy pelosi expressed. there is a political cost to go in forward with a vote on something that's not going to produce results in the senate. you need two-thirds votes. democrats don't have that by themselves. there is some hope that democrats have that robert mueller testimony yesterday may change that dynamic and transform the debate a little bit. that did not happen. it did not produce that, crystal sizing moment as you quote in the paper. what you hear for democrats talking about these days is a way of opening impeachment in query through the committee but without having a vote on the house floor. the concer

. >> here for our leadoff discussion, peter baker, jeremy bash, and back with us here in new york jessica roth. welcome to you all. peter, i note that tonight the head of news max and a long time trump friend and whisperer went on cnn in about the last hour and after making clear he and the president had not discussed this, he straight up said it's not going to be long concerning acosta's time remaining as labor secretary. where do you see acosta's future? where do you see the president's exposure in this case? >> yeah. that's a great question. look, you know, we'll see how this plays out. but this has the whiff of danger for secretary acosta for obvious reasons. president trump doesn't particularly like it when his top advisers come under this kind of scrutiny. it's a distraction from his point of view. he's going to be asked questions about it. his own relationship with epstein is going to be brought into scrutiny. my colleagues andy carny has a story tonight about a party in 1992 when president trump then donald trump and epstein had a party down in florida with 28 women and just the t

let me start with you, peter baker. part of normalizing all that is not normal is reading a sentence like they plan to jail babies and not just stopping for a minute. how is that even done? >> we're 2 1/2 years in, and every morning you wake up and you think, i can't really be surprised about anything new today. and then you're surprised by something new. we will see what the rest of the day brings. we will see what tomorrow brings. it's been an administration that has not been afraid to shatter norms, to do things others wouldn't and to push the boundaries, if you will. the census thing is an example where it seems like the president has been thwarted in his desire. the supreme court said no, you can't add this to the main census because we think the reason we've given for doing it is contrived, that's the word the lead justice used, not a liberal. the president seemed willing to accept that ruling and but stymied because he said you cannot continue with this theme and lawyers do not any they should continue the fight.

peter baker, you have written some of the most totally depressing features this week on the front ofthe new york times" about donald trump's full love affair, full embrace of his election strategy, which is fan the flames of racial strife in this country. where are we at this hour? are we now disavowing the half-ass disavow from yesterday, is that right? >> well, i think your comparison is an atp one. he played it on both sides, denouncing neo-nazis and ku klux klan and the next moment seems to equate them from people on the other side. defenders say no, that's a misunderstanding of what he's saying. the problem is he says so many things and he seems contradictory so it's hard to say where is he coming down. i think where he's really coming down is he doesn't really have a problem with the chant. he sat there, listened to it and soaked it in. send her back is not that different from go back, the way he framed it a couple days earlier. and he believes in drawing red lines in the sand head towards next year's election. this happens to be a line about what america is and how it seals it

peter baker, let me go first to you. you wrote extensively this weekend on the president and race, his long history. we've all been covering this. let's talk about the strategy. he is escalating it today. we heard him say friday he's sorry about the chants and acknowledging he wouldn't do it again. the vice president saying he wouldn't do that again, wouldn't let people do it without calling them out. then sunday morning he was off to the races and today even more. >> strategy for 2020 is to make sure that voters see a choice between him and what he's going to portray as the socialist wing of the democratic party. that no matter how much they don't like him, americans should be wary of democrats that will turn america into, in effect, another venezuela. by making it a race-based argument, he deattracted from the ideological argument, in which there is a big debate about whether the green new deal or medicare for all, some of these ideas that the younger congresswomen are advancing are the right ones for the country. he c

joining ous conversation chief white house correspondent for "the new york times" peter baker and at editor in chief lydia is back. peter baker, you've written some of the most searing, some of the most eloquent, some of the most completely and depressing pieces on the front page of the "new york times" about donald trump's week-long, it's more than a dallion's love affair, full-throated enthusiastic embrace of his re-election strategy which is to fan the flames of racial strife in this country. where are we at this hour? are we now disavowing the half-assed disavowal from yesterday? is that right? >> well, i think your comparison is an apt one where he kind of played it on both sides. at one point he would say we're denouncing neo-nazis. his defenders say, no, that's a misunderstanding of what he was saying but the problem is he says so many things and they seem so contradictory that it's hard to say where is he really coming down? i think where it's really coming down here is he doesn't really have a problem with that chant. he sat there and listened to it. he soaked it in. "send h

i don't think that is over. >> peter baker, as you know well, sometimes you just have to listen to the president and he will preview his own actions. i'm going to play for our audience a quote you know now by heart. this is before the vfw in 2018. >> just remember, what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening. just stick with us. don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news. [ cheers ] >> peter, with that in mind, weren't his comments today just a natural extension? >> well, look, he has repeatedly asked americans to believe his version of events, his narrative that he is setting over not just the viewpoints or recollections of other people who happen to be in a room, but the very videotapes or audio tapes we've seen. we saw him deny that he called meghan markle the new duchess in britain nasty, he denied that the facility in texas that vice president pence saw was crowded and troubled. he denied that he had said, even a small thing like whether he called tim cook, whether he called him tim apple or not. he did, the audio is very clear and he de

not one of his top aides, but him himself. >> peter baker, as the editorial board of your paper pointed out today, nobody should hold their breath this will be a turning point or produce any shocking revelations, but is there any concern from folks at the white house that people who didn't read the book will watch the movie? >> i think the white house feels really comfortable about this in the sense that the president is -- he's sowed the field and he's had three months basically since the mueller report was first delivered -- actually four months since it was delivered to the justice department. you know, he has every single day, including today, practically, given his framing of that report which boiled down to four words. no obstruction, no collusion, even though that's not exactly what it says. if robert mueller sticks to the four corners of this report that's already been out there, you know, the white house feels comfortable that that conversation has already been had. that people have already pretty much dug in to where they're going to be on this issue. either for or against or

this was "the washington post" pooh is to what peter baker wrote in "the times." several centrist democrats seized on the absence of a major revelation to argue if it was time to end house investigations to end the special counsel probe and pivot to legislation. among democrats, perhaps the most disappointed in mueller's performance were members of the intelligence and judiciary committees. many felt blindsided that no one warned them how much mueller had aged and regretful they had forced a decorated vietnam veteran and longtime civil servant into testifying when he was so reluctant in the first place. kim, what are you hearing? >> yes. i mean, let's start from the fact that we should have known that robert mueller would have been a reluctant witness because he himself has said that he would be a reluctant witness. he didn't want to go there and testify at all, but when you're -- when the members of the house, the democrats are trying to come to the conclusion whether or not to back an impeachment inquiry, there are 235 democrat in the house. that means that ther

peter baker, mika, thanks to all of you.iated. >>> still ahead as candidates gear up for next weeks debate, joe biden is vowing to take the gloves off. >> ha did you mean when you said you're not going to be as polite in the next debate? >> we'll see. >> we'll see. but if he continues sparring with his rivals, is this what democratic voters really want? democratic voters really want? to end surprise medical billing. that's when patients are hit with medical bills they thought would be covered by insurance. but what congress is considering would cut money that vulnerabe patients rely on the most. that means seniors, children, and americans relying on medicaid would be hurt. it's already too hard for people to get basic medical care with hospitals closing and a shortage of er doctors. tell congress we can end surprise billing without shredding the safety net. paid for by physicians for fair coverage. you should be mad at tech that makes things worse. but you're not, because you have e*trade whose tech makes life easier by auto

peter baker, thank you.hank you for the western liberalism question during the news conference. we were all a little taken aback by the president's interpretation of your question, but thank you for asking it. and thanks for being here today. >>> coming up next -- as the field of democratic presidential candidates prepare for the next debate, climate change remains a top issue among primary voters. but how does the country balance concerns over the environment with the need for jobs and revenue from industries like coal? nbc's cal perry traveled to montana to find out. cal, this is really the central question as we kind of try to grapple with this as a country and as we frankly fail to grapple with this as a country. there are a lot of people who depend on these old industries for their livelihoods and making that transition is incredibly difficult. you talked to one candidate who didn't make the debate stage about all of this. >> you're nailing the issue. it's a difficult balance especially in a place like

>> peter baker, you've done so much reporting on this as well, it seemed as though after alex acosta held the news conference, it stopped the bleeding at the time. then you have other people coming forward and challenging his events. take us behind the scenes. what do you know about how much pressure he was getting to step down? >> that's a great question. i think you're right. he cam out, gave an hour-long presslm, gave a measured explanation of what he had done, why he had done it. he took questions. he didn't just flee the room like a lot of people do when they come out and read a statement, but his answers didn't satisfy those involved in this, including florida palm beach county state attorney involved in the case, including lawyers for victims that said he was rewriting history. ultimately, his position became untenable. the president's aides told president trump that they thought secretary acosta did pretty well, the president though thought that he probably went on too long, didn't show enough empathy for the victims, and basically, i think writing was on the wall when you sa

. >> joining me now is peter baker, chief white house correspondent for t"new york ti" and glenn johnson who worked under john kerry and his new book window seat on the world. congratulations on the book. pi peter, first to you. these memos, these cables embarrassing but no one is quarreling with the accuracy of this take of his reporting at least back to london and he is be defended by the foreign secretary saying that is what boasts do yet at the same time, its very clear that there might be some people in the foreign service professional diplomats bake in london who are pro brexit perhaps and do not like some of his analysis in the past that he was a british ambassador to the eu and perhaps trying to do them in. >> yeah, that is a great question. i'm not familiar now with the intern politics of london to ultimate who might be the leak but clearly somebody did have it n. for him because this won't help being an envoy in washington. these cables are -- they are meant to be blunt, candid, go beyond the talking points and giving an unregard in additioned view of how things look be in wash

and peter baker said president trump woke up on sunday morning and gazed out of the nation and saw the dry kindling and decided to throw a match on it. it is not the first time nor st likely to be the match. he has a carton of matches and a ready supply of kerosene. >> the message of us against them. and the people he represents to the fullest, the resentment of immigrants, of african-americans, of people that are not white. that is who he's talking to. and it is something that we're going to hear and continue to hear over and over and over again. particularly because the president's campaigning right now. it is not so much governing as pushing agenda items and policies meant to make the base come out and not necessarily -- even to become law. it is about his re-election campaign. >> does this help him, bill? do you think -- i understand the idea of wedge issues that 50% of the country hates and 50% of the country loves. those exist. and immigration is not particularly one of them actually according to polling. but i could understand why going after the pledge of allegiance and the ame

peter baker, you and i have seen a lot over the years. but i have never seen a president of the united states arousing a crowd with rants of send her back. >> yeah, no, that's a different level than we've seen before. obviously in the 2016 campaign, we saw a lot of lock her up chants about hillary clinton. that was a new type of campaigning we hadn't seen before. this takes it to a different level. it suggest physical you're an american citizen but don't agree with the president's policies you should leave the country. divided not -- democrats are very upset about this, but even republicans are uncomfortable about it. the head of the house republican campaign committee said that that kind of language has no place in american politics. he disavowed it. but he didn't disavow the president. he said the president doesn't have a racist bone in his body. he's making a distinction between what the crowd was saying last night and the president's actions. >> jeff bennett, tell me of a strategy as you cover the white house. what is the playbook he'

. >> that brings us to our leadoff discussion on a thursday night and for that, peter baker, chief white house correspondent for the "new york times," kimberly atkins for wbru, boston's npr news station, and david jolly from the state of florida who has since left the house and his political party. kim, i'd like to regin with you from ashley parker of the "washington post" in attendance last night in north carolina. the president paused as if to let the moment unfurl to fan oxygen onto the racial animus to his base. he let go of the lectern and stared forward before swiveling to right. for 13 full seconded the crowd shouted that omar, a u.s. congresswoman and citizen should be sent back to the country from which she fled. in the aftermath, many in trump's orbit squirmed and wriggled sighing that perhaps the crowd had crossed a line but generally unwilling to condemn the president himself. kim, do you get the unmistakable view that this has become more ominous by the day over four days of this? >> i think so. look, we know, we've seen from the last four years that there are places where d

peter baker, thank you.you. >>> by the way, in his final interview with his home state paper the "dallas morning news," ross perot was asked what he wanted to be remembered for. he said he didn't worry about that. according to the paper, his parting words in that 2016 interview were this. quote, texas born, texas bred, when i die i will be texas dead. ha. we'll be right back. as dead. ha we'll be right back. when you need the fuel to be your nephew's number one fan. holiday inn express. we're there. so you can be too. >>> right now, former trump associate is testifying before the house intelligence committee behind closed doors. it's part of the committee's investigation into russian election interference. he worked with michael cohen in the 2016 presidential campaign for plans on a trump real estate deal in moscow. he said i'll answer everything question without exception and i always have and i always will cooperate with anything the u.s. government asks of me. a new report shows members in congress, not b

peter baker and nancy cook. i appreciate all of you joining me tonight. still ahead, detention facilities through the eyes of children. the stark warnings tonight from pediatricians about the lasting effects of this trauma. plus, government attorneys scrambling this afternoon, trying to catch up to a presidential tweet. former solicitor general of the united states neal katyal will join us. and 2020 candidates descend on iowa for the 4th of july holiday. we've got the latest from the trail tonight. "the 11th hour" just getting started on a wednesday night. hey! i'm bill slowsky jr., i live on my own now! i've got xfinity, because i like to live life in the fast lane. unlike my parents. you rambling about xfinity again? you're so cute when you get excited... anyways... i've got their app right here, i can troubleshoot. i can schedule a time for them to call me back, it's great! you have our number programmed in? ya i don't even know your phone anymore... excuse me?! what? i don't know your phone number. aw well. he doesn't know our phone number! you have o

joining me now to start things off, peter alexander, kasie hunt and also peter baker. thanks to all of you for being with me this hour. peter, i have to start with you. you are at the labor department there for secretary acosta's remarks which we're expecting in about a half hour from in yonow. we don't expect him to step down, right? >> that's right. we are inside the labor department. not often our cameras are in here. we'll pan the camera over, you can see the podium, the lectern set for alex acosta, secretary of labor, to speak in the next 30 minutes. and we have new reporting to share. in a conversation with a person familiar with the matter, i'm told that president trump spoke to secretary acosta yesterday afternoon and in that conversation, i'm told that the president urged acosta to hold this news conference to address these questions from reporters relating to acosta's role during that plea deal, the nonprosecution agreement in 2007, the plea deal finalized in 2008 as it relates to the case with jeffrey epstein. now, the president you will remember didn't initi

. >> for more i'm joined by democratic senator from missouri claire mccaskill, peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times," and michael steele, former rnc chairman and former lieutenant governor of maryland. michael, i have to start with you. what are your feelings as a republican all of your life about hearing a republican president talk the way he is about people of color? >> it's disgusting. it's not part of our history. it's not what we've stood for. it is not based on the founding of this party. it's championing of the freedom of african slaves, putting in place the mechanisms, the structures inside and outside of government to help those transition to economic opportunity here in this country. it is not the party of reagan. it is not the party of kemp when the leader of that party says the things that this president has said about a great city, the city of our national anthem, the star spangled banner, the city that wears very proudly the scars of the growth of this country, the troubles that we see in inner cities in this country, but also the hope of th

peter baker, i can't wait to read "the times." i say women are top of the fold in every major newspaper including "the wall street journal." >>> how has trump's attack on minority lawmakers going to play to nonwhite americans? is he saying that you're a foreigner even if you were born here? >>> and what about naturalized citizens? does trump think you're not fully american? i'm going to talk to an immigrant who is now a member of the united states congress. >>> after a day of almost complete silence, as christina talked about, some republicans are coming forward to condemn the president's divisive words. some. at least two gop congressmen called it racist. why is it so hard for republicans to call this man out when he says such terrible things? much more coming up. stick with us. ancestry...gave us context. this...whole world ...of people ...adventurous people... and survivors. it was interesting to think about their lives... their successes... and...their hardships. i think that's part of what i want my kids to know. they come fr

peter baker and nancy cook. i appreciate all of you joining me tonight. still ahead, detention facilities through the eyes of children. the stark warnings tonight from pediatricians about the lasting effects of this trauma. plus, government attorneys scrambling this afternoon, trying to catch up to a presidential tweet. former solicitor general of the united states neal katyal will join us. and 2020 candidates descend on iowa for the 4th of july holiday. we've got the latest from the trail tonight. "the 11th hour" just getting started on a wednesday night. 1tg started on a wednesday night [alarm beeping] {tires screeching} {truck honking} (avo) life doesn't give you many second chances. but a subaru can. (dad) you guys ok? you alright? wow. (avo) eyesight with pre-collision braking. standard on the subaru ascent. presenting the three-row subaru ascent. love is now bigger than ever. - i like to plan my activities before i take trip, so by the time i get there i can just enjoy the ride. with tripadvisor, it's easy to discover over 100,000 bookable things to

peter baker and nancy cook. i appreciate all of you joining me tonight. >>> still ahead, detention facilities through the eyes of children. the stark warnings tonight from pediatricians about the lasting effects of this trauma. >>> plus, government attorneys scrambling this afternoon, trying to catch up to a presidential tweet. former solicitor general of the united states neal katyal will join us. >>> and 2020 candidates descend on iowa for the fourth of july holiday. we've got the latest from the trail tonight. "the 11th hour" just getting started on a wednesday night. hy. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should mo

"the new york times" peter baker has the latest reporting on the resignation of dan coats. >> i'm nott loyalist fits there as well as hack. he is a political hack for donald trump. >> we need to take a look -- >> if you saw his tirade at robert mueller. a war hero from vietnam. and a man that led us through 9/11. i think hack fits ratcliffe much better than loyalist. >> we have to take a look at all of the foreign policy and intelligence positions. top positions. it's disturbing. >>> plus, the president starts this morning with fresh attacks against congressman elijah cummings and the city of baltimore. extending now to a third straight day. >> and now he's attacking al sharpton. >> author, veteran and baltimore native, wes moore joins us with his thoughts. and we'll talk to senator chris murphy who says he can no longer stomach the president's twitter feed so he's decided to unfollow him. "morning joe" is coming right back. him. "morning joe" is coming ghrit back i used to book my hotel room on those travel sites but there was always a catch. like somehow you wind up getting less. bu

we're joined by kimberly atkins for wbur, peter baker, chief correspondent for "the new york times,"arry burger, former federal prosecutor in the southern district of new york. i want to go to bird on this one. a couple of things. unpack this. the secretary of labor said today it wasn't his fault because if he hadn't gotten involved as a federal prosecutor, there wouldn't have been any jail time at all because the state wasn't going to put him away for any time. and secondly, don't blame me for this crazy deal where the guy can come out every day and go to work six days a week when he was supposedly in jail that is something that was cooked up after the deal and in violation of the deal. how true are those claims? >> what you see there is acosta really trying to pass the buck to the state prosecutors. essentially he is saying the state had negotiated this terrible deal. we had to swoop in and try to save the day, but i think that really falls short. first of all, if he really wanted to swoop in and save the day, it sounds like there is a 53-page indictment that his office had drafted

robert: ginning me, peter baker r "the new york times." a was, nationalpo corrent for the pbs news hour. shawna thomas, f vice news. and brian bennett, white house correspondent for "time" peter, we have the census here of paper, it's a piece but also a broader debate about the country, about its future. y does it mat her peter: it sounds like the wonkiest debate in washington st i whether one question should be on a piece of paper. why is it fundamental? it's about power and money. the reason it'sbout power and money is because we divide america up into disicts based on this district of columbia yumet. paced on how people respond to thissen. -- to ts census. whether eff more money or less money depends on how many people are said to live in your community. some people won't answer the --e won't answer census because they're afraid of the citizenship question. the president said for the first time something very relegaling, for the first time he seemed to acknowledge that he wants bcitizenship to be theis for redistricting. right now it's b

you can take it to peter baker.t we put in quotes, the tweeting and everything that's happening with these four. i think it must be discounted. i think they have to learn that what is trending on twitter does not reflect reality. we have seen time and time again twitter take over the media landscape and create all sorts of headlines and sub headlines and online headlines that mean nothing when you actually go out into the real world and talk about what matters to people. you learn at a young age when you're in a public position that you can play the twitter game. but that's not the long game. that's day trading. and nancy pelosi seems to make a lot of sense. if there's nothing to be learned from her, you can go nuts on twitter and say she's been racially insensitive. but i think she has a lot of experience to offer to these young freshmen and i really would be able the racial a accusations. >> i'm careful about the racial accusations. peter baker, i'm not trying to sound polly annish, but it sounds like poboth sides

a petition challenging the may election which they say was rigged protests to be going on since peter baker was announced as president. a senior somali officials have been buried after a suicide bombing in the capital claimed the attack in mogadishu saying it was an assassination attempt on the u.n. special envoy american diplomat james swan the bombing killed 9 officials from the local government headquarters mogadishu mare. was injured and is in critical condition protests have been taking place in occupied east jerusalem against the demolition of palestinian buildings israeli demonstrators joined those rallying just meters away from the prime minister's home on thursday rob matheson has more now from west jerusalem. since the demolition of the houses and what he follows on monday there has been an international phone donation of the houses and the buildings being torn down countries like the united arab emirates saudi arabia but also the united kingdom germany and spain have all said that this was something that should not have happened but these protesters tonight i've been in the cente

petition challenging the may election which they say was rigged protests have been going on since peter baker was announced this president's senior somali officials have been buried after a suicide bombing in the capital and chabad claimed the attack in mogadishu saying it was an assassination attempt on the u.n. special envoy american diplomat james swarm the bombing killed 9 officials in the local government headquarters mogadishu monell model was injured and is in a critical condition. we are here to bury 3 of our beloved district commissioners we send our condolences to all people of somalia these terrorists are not just talking to government officials but democracy and the freedom of this country we need the people to collaborate with the government to eliminate these terrorists. and have been protests against the demolition of palestinian buildings in occupied east jerusalem israeli demonstrators joined those rallying just meters away from the prime minister's home on thursday rob matheson has more now from western michigan says the demolition of the houses and what he follows on monday

joining me now is chief white house correspondent for "the new york times" peter baker and professor kay whitehead. welcome to you. peter, let me start with you. what's at political play here for the president? is he trying to start a race war? >> obviously, it's a continuation what he has been doing with the first term democratic congresswomen of color. he decided picking at the racial scabs is a good play for him. he is trying to push back on critics. congressman cummings has been one of his toughest critics, particularly on the border. it doesn't bother him people see this as racial. otherwise, he would landle hann a different way using rat invested and no human would want to live there, he had to know would inflame racial animosity. he got pushback, not just from baltimore but national politicians, democrats and some republicans are unhappy about this. he says he is not the one playing the race card. the democrats play race cards by interpreting his remarks that way. >> in the meantime, obviously, this solidifies his base for many people. does he run the risk of losing many of the

when asked by "the new york times'" peter baker about putin, recently declaring that the end of westernberalism, president trump clearly did not understand that he was was being asked about democracy in the u.s. and europe. >> comments to the financial times right before arriving here was that western style liberalism is obsolete. i know you probably haven't read the interview. >> he may feel that way. he sees what's going on and if you look at what's happening in los angeles, where it's so sad to look and what's happening in san francisco and a couple of other cities which are run by an extraordinary group of liberal people. i don't know what they're thinking. >> david? >> it's just amazing to hear president trump comment on something as fundamental of western-style liberalism. he has visions of nancy pelosi when phrases like that are uttered, who knows. >> this is the world stage. embracing mohammed bin salman, two weeks ago called out by a u.n. commission for not only not cooperating with the investigation but being largely responsible for the death of khashoggi. >> that's right. and

. >> following the remarks, peter baker summed things up, quote, in his dry, lawyerly, scripted statement, mr. mueller gave voice and mr. trump's efforts to impede the investigation. he chose in the end to speak out just this once if he has his way, to plead for a deliberate assessment of the facts from a deeply divided political system that shows no willingness to look at the findings. he did not accuse the president of a crime. but mr. mueller seemed to hint that he might have if he thought he could and he pointedly refused to exonerate mr. trump. likewise, he implied that congress could pursue impeachment without directly recommended it. late last month, we learned the house and judiciary committee will have a chance to question robert mueller directly in public on july 17. the chairman of the two panels said the agreement came after they issued a subpoena compelling the former special counsel's testimony. on that note, let's bring in our guests for our discovery, national justice and security reporter, form assistant fbi director for counterterrorism who worked for robert mueller in h

peter baker analyzed the outbursts for "the new york times." his assumption that the house democrats must have been born in another country or that they did not belong here if they were fits as an us against them political strategy that has been at the heart of mr. trump's presidency from the start. heading into next year's election, he appears to be drawing a deep line between the white native born america of his memory and ethnically diverse increasingly foreign born country he is presiding over challenging voters in 2020 to declare which side of the line they are on. during a made in america event at the white house today, the president armed with notes including his own special spelling of al qaeda went there again. >> all i'm saying that if they are not happy here, they can leave. they can leave and you know what? i'm sure that there will be many people that won't miss them. i look at omar, i don't know, i never met her. i hear the way she talks about al qaeda. al qaeda killed many americans. these are people -- quiet, quiet. quiet. >> are

. >> still with us are jeremy bash and peter baker. jeremy, let's talk motive.s mitch mcconnell possibly have to gain by holding up or destroying this kind of legislation? >> well, i don't think he's a russian asset, but i do think he's doing the bidding of the president. it's strange, brian, because, of course, a paper ballot doesn't favor a democrat or republican. a rule that says that you have to call the fbi if a foreign advisory nation tried to pedal dirt on your opponent, clearly mitch mcconnell thinks drufrm will be angry, will shed a tear, will wag his finger or tweet at mcconnell if mitch mcconnell does anything to suggest that the threat against our election is real as it pertains to 2020. >> what a new and strange feeling for patriotic americans of a certain age. we know we are exposed and vulnerable. we've been told as much by the people we respect, and yet we witness our own country seemingly powerless to do anything about it. >> well, not just powerless, but polarized. we don't even agree what needs to be done or the idea that we were attacked and

peter baker framing the president's position on page one today, writing president trump woke up on sunday morning, gazed out at the nation he leads, saw the dry kindling of race relations and decided to throw a match on it. he has a pretty large carton of matches. that is the front page of today's "new york times." the president pouring more gasoline on this political firestorm today, labeling the women radical, attacking them for, quote, foul language, disgusting alcohols and racist hatred. all this on twitter, exploiting tensions between them and the speaker of the house. congresswoman ocasio-cortez is responding to the president today. >> it's unfortunate that he feels the way he feels about people of color in this country. it's time to move on from him and his conception of america that we have tried to move past for a long time. >> msnbc contributor kimberly atkins for wbur. kristen, first of all, you had a conversation with mark short from the white house today, trying to defend a president and i want to play some of that for all of us and have you respond to it. >> how is it not ra

joining me now the white house reporter from npr and peter baker and msnbc diplomatic analyst.both. let's go ladies first here. why does the president continue to single out joe biden? >> it fits with what president trump has really done from the beginning. he's always been invested in showing that he feels like he's better than former president obama and biden is definitely a part of that. and it also helps now because biden is the front runner. and it shows that biden is really on the -- on president trump's mind. and so by him -- and so what trump is able to do is say, look, you don't want to go back to biden, i fixed all these things, i stood up to china and all these other areas, so you don't want to go back to that. it's a way for him to do what he always likes do, which is to pick on obama and then to also set himself apart from biden who right now is at the head of the pack. >> you know, peter, something that you've written about in your latest piece, even if the president isn't calling out bind by name, he's taking a veil swipe at him when criticizing the obama adminis

. >> following mueller's remarks, peter baker of "the new york times" summed things up this way. quote, in his dry, lawyerly, scripted statement, mr. mueller gave voice for the first time to the damning details he uncovered about russia's efforts to disrupt american democracy and mr. trump's efforts to impede the investigation. he chose in the end to speak out just this once if he has his way, to plead for a deliberate assessment of the facts from a deeply divided political system that shows no willingness to look at his findings through his dispassionate eyes. he did not accuse the president of a crime. but mr. mueller seemed to hint that he might have if he thought he could, and he pointedly refused to exonerate mr. trump. likewise he implied that congress could pursue impeachment without directly recommending it. late last month we learned member of the house intelligence committee and judiciary committee will have a chance to question robert mueller directly, in public, on july 17th. the chairman of the two panels said the agreement campaign after they issued a subpoena compe

. >> it appears yesterday we started with this antidote where peter baker asked him if he still shares the values of western liberalism, democracy and freedom. he said the western cities are -- no, i am not for coverage of people's ignorance. there is something wrong with him, you know. there's something wrong with him, michael steele? >> complete and total out of touch with anything close to reality if you think western liberalism is the west coast of -- >> the liberals in the west? >> the liberals in the west coast. >> this interview was laughable. this president, i have to give him some cred on this when tucker asked him, what do you want to do about it? i don't know. what am i supposed to do about people living on the street? it plays to this narrative, you mentioned the base, it plays to this idea, reinforcing the idea of us versus them. starting the conversation with, you were just in osaka in tokyo and the streets were clean and people -- there was no graffiti. >> he said no one was peeing -- maybe something is wrong with tucker carlson. maybe i'm worried about the wrong dude. >

host: peter baker is writing this morning, president trump stepping across a low concrete market 3:40 six local time and walked 20 steps to the base of a building on the north korean side for an encounter on television, and unprecedented camera-friendly demonstration of friendship intended to revive talks. president trump escorted by chairman kim back over to the line to south korea. the two briefly addressed journalists before slipping inside of a building known as freedom house for a private conversation. the president said he would invite mr. kim to visit him at the white house. the president did not bring up a denuclearize north korea. he did talk about a new round of negotiations at the ministerial level. thet: he is minimizing rocket tests they had earlier this year. saying those really weren't much. you can see he is really determined to get this going. this was the president seeing this as a potential big foreign policy cu. he thinks he has a relationship. far as they knew everyone they had negotiated with previously was still alive because there had been earlier reports that