i'm robert costa. we explore how the dismissal of james comey may accelerate the investigation into russian interference, tonight on "washington week." >> he's a show both, he's a grandstander, the -- he's a show boat he's a grandstander, the f.b.i. has been in turmoil. robert: president trump insists he fired fib director comey because of poor job performance not because of the probe into russian meddling or the recommendation of two top justice department officials. but that's not the message the vice president delivered earlier earlier in the week. >> president trump made the right decision at the light time, to accept the recommendation of the deputy attorney general and the attorney general to ask for the termination. robert: and it's not consistent with the president's own words about why he terminated comey. >> when i decided to just do it, i said to myself, i said, you know this russia thing with trump and russia is a made up story, it's an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election, t

i'm robert costa. we'll explain how the proposed legislation could change lives and policy in america, tonight on "washington week." >> this is a repeal and a replace of obamacare. make no mistake about it. make no mistake. robert: president trump scores his first significant legislative win and moves one step closer to dismantling the affordable care act. president trump: most importantly, yes, premiums will be coming down. yes, deductibles will be coming down. robert: now the bill heads to the senate where it faces roadblocks and bipartisan skepticism over a number of key issues, including premiums, pre-existing conditions and billions of dollars in cuts to medicare and medicaid. >> some of you have said, well, they'll fix it in the senate but you have every provision of this bill tattooed on your forehead. you will glow in the dark on this one. robert: but the president is confident he has momentum. president trump: we're going to get this finished and then we're going -- as you know, we put our tax

i'm robert costa. we'll tackle it all, tonight on "washington week." >> did you at any time urge former f.b.i. director james comey in any way, shape or form to close or to back down the investigation into michael flynn? and also, as you look back -- >> no. no. next question? >> president trump eager to move on, calls the ongoing russia investigation a witch hunt, slamming the appointment of robert mueller as special counsel. >> i think it divides the country. i think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things. >> while congress is divided... mueller's appointment has generated bipartisan praise. >> i think it was perfectly appropriate to do that. >> the action shows the urgency of investigating trump-russia possible collusion and interference in our election. >> there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign, but i can always speak for myself and the russians, zero. >> meanwhile, rod rosenstein, the man who appointed mueller, and wrote a memo critical of comey

i'm robert costa. we'll see you next week. ♪[music] >> funding for "washington week" is provided by... boeing. newman's own foundation. donating all profits from newman's own products to charity and nourishing the common good. the yuen foundation. committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you! >> you're watching pbs. announcer: americacan umpire s made possible by a grant from stanford university's hoover institution. we seek to improve the human condition by advancing ideas that define a free society. and by melbern and susanne glasscock. san diego state university and los lobos foundation. jim lehrer: since world war ii, the united states of america has been involved in more foreign conflicts than any other nation. presidents of both political parties have told us that the united states must umpire the world's conflicts. and that if the u.s. does not do this job, the world will not be safe.

"washington post" reporter robert costa. ashley parker, and peter baker chief white house kroerpdent for the "new york times." welcome all three of you. peter i'm going to begin with you. you today were admonished for shaking your head at that briefing. i've heard people speculate there were a lot of things we were watching today. perhaps it was sean spicer's last and he knew it. what do you think we witnessed in that room today? >> that's a good question. you saw a press secretary who was on the bubble himself. he has had multiple he will conversations with his boss over his job security. there is all kinds of conversation about what the role of the briefing will be going forward, will they continue to have them on daily basis the way we have under previous presidents, will they restructure them. tomorrow there is not a daily on camera briefing. he will do it as a gaggle. it means without cameras, on the record but without cameras so it can be televised. i think you will see changes coming forward. it's he the same day that

robert costa with that report he will join us as the 11th hour gets under way. good evening from headquarters in new york. breaking news heading into the memorial day weekend. another bomb shell story from the wraush post. let's quote from the paper. the post quotes u.s. officials briefed on this intelligence, this story means the man closest to the president allegedly wanted to talk outside of known u.s. channels and u.s. officials know this because they intercepted the russian ambassador reporting back home to moscow along with the surprise apparently that the kremlin had been invited in so close potentially to the trump white house. as the post reported quote -- casey cizkas rgey kislyak . the white house traveling over seas did not comment on this story as of yet. there was a second report in the washington post that says the senate intelligence committee is going after everything asking the trump organization to turnover quote -- all of this as we wrap up day 127 of the trump administration the president prepares to head home from his first trip over seas,

robert costa who is host of washington week. the idea of a war room. it is floated out there with existing names. i heard the proffer that this should be legal professionals if you are going to do it and communications professionals perhaps with fresh eyes. >> it's not a terrible idea and in the background, trying to he is a person who about whom stories need to be rebutted and he needs to be in charge. >> what are the russians likely saying among themselves tonight? >> they had quite a week, a banner week. you look at the president and his interactions with nato colleagues there. i really think the most at home we have seen this president thus far in photos was in the oval office wh the two sergeis. thanks to the russian photographers who were allowed in. there was one thing that our allies in europe had wanted to hear from this president. that's obviously embracing article five that did not happen. a good start to the week for vladimir putin and this news coming out that his ambassador to the u.s. was stunned by what he heard from the president's son

thank you all, robert costa, ashley parker, peter baker. we'll fit in our first bream here tonight. coming up, the growing number of people in trump's world that are now part of this russia investigation. and, later, the former presidential speechwriter who writes, quote, jared kushner's charmed life is about to come to a screeching halt when "the 11th hour" continues. looking sharp len. who's the lucky lady? i'm going to the bank, to discuss a mortgage. ugh, see, you need a loan, you put on a suit, you go crawling to the bank. this is how i dress to get a mortgage. i just go to lendingtree. i calculate how much home i can afford. i get multiple offers to compare side by side. and the best part is... the banks come crawling to me. everything you need to get a better mortgage. clothing optional. lendingtree, when banks compete, you win. okay! ...awkward. the future isn't silver suits anit's right now.s, think about it. we can push buttons and make cars appear out of thin air. find love anywhere. he's cute. and buy things from, well, everywhere. how? because our phones have evolved. s

this being reported by our friend robert costa. we have costa with us. let me just quickly tell you what he's reporting. he says the senate intelligence committee looking into this russia committee. they are asking for all documents, e-mails and phone records going back to june 2015. that is when the trump campaign launched. and we do, i believe, have robert costa with us. there he is in front of the white house. robert costa, tell us more about your scoop here. >> there's a bipartisan probe that's been ongoing in the u.s. senate. they've been asking trump campaign associates for months to gather and produce documents. my news tonight is that the actual campaign committee, which is now the re-election campaign for president trump, it was formerly the 2016 committee. that political organization, the main political organization for the president of the united states has been formally asked to gather and produce all documents, phone records, e-mails from june 2015 when the campaign launched until inauguration day. >> and in terms of -- now, let's be clear b

robert costa, given the insertion of the sentence in the letter to comey that is the president clearing the president of being under any investigation, given the tweet tonight going after chuck schumer and calling him a name, do you doubt that this was driven by the president, own ed by the president, especially given the surprise among fellow republicans and even west wing staffers? >> i have no doubt in the course of my reporting that this was entirely driven by the president. of course he conferred with rosenstein and attorney general sessions. but when you see keith schiller, his longtime confidant and bodyguard, now head of oval office operations, be the person who hand-delivers the envelope, the letter to the fbi building earlier today, that tells you how deeply personal and involved the president was. it was a contrasting scene, though, tonight, brian, at the white house. you had the white house talking about the democrats and how they really shouldn't be surprised here and how they really are against comey too. but among my sources on capitol hill, among republicans, they're ner

. >> robert costa, break up the banks can sound so pleasing during campaign season. isn't this one of the talking points that actually made some bernie voters trump voters? >> that's true, brian. there is this strain of populism that's coursing not only through the american right but through the american left. when we see some of it being played out in the white house with the advice of peter navarro, who is a counter-voice to gary cohn who stephanie mention is influential with the president. you have cohn and others within the white house, more traditional voices working idea logically against navarro and bannon as they plot out economic policy. >> peter in a is a elevatoro is no competition to peter cohn. >> former president of goldman sachs. >> that bernie contingent that was feeling donald trump when he started talking about breaking up the banks that was during campaign time, when he was rallying against hillary clinton for those goldman sachs speeches. now look who he is flanked by? billionaire alley. so that populist enthusiasm that there was specially from th

robert costa with that report tonight.ur gets underway. >> good evening, once again from our headquaters here in new york. the breaking news we have been covering on this friday night heading into the memorial day weekend. another bombshell story in the washington post. let's quote right from the paper, it says, jared kushner and russia's ambassador to washington discuss the possibility of setting up a secret and secure communications channel between trump's transition team and the kremlin using russian diplomatic facilities in an apparent move to shield their preinauguration discussions from monitoring. the post quotes u.s. officials believed on this intelligence. this story means the man closest to the president allegedly wanted to tal outside of known u.s. channels and u.s. officials know this because they intercepted the russian ambassador reporting back home to moscow, along with the surprise apparently that the kremlin had been invited in so close potentially to the trump white house. as the trump reports it, quote,

. >> let's bring in robert costa from "the washington post." robert, you've been on this show enough to know where we're at. we're trying to track this attempt to building a relationship from the new trump team coming to russia. they've been trying to reach trump through manafort, who has had long-standing relations financially with the russians and of course more recently with flynn, who they gave 34,000 bucks to, to work out a little dealith rt, the propaganda arm there. and now apparently we're seeing now something under scrutiny with regard to kushner, who had his own orders, marching orders from trump, to go meet with the russian ambassador, to meet with the russian bank president. what is this from both ends? explain how it meets in the middle if it does. >> it meets in the middle in this sense. the russians, especially russian diplomats, who are under high scrutiny from the tension community, the u.s. intelligence community, we're always monitoring their activities. that's why different news organizations are able to report out transcript

you start seeing his support falling below 80 to 75, 70%, then he has real reason to worry. >> robert costa, a dual question for you. do you see the advice of outsiders actually taking hold and message discipline occurring finally to the president or do you think it is just the taxing nature of his first overseas trip? that's one and number two, i usually ask you what it's like to be an elected republican right now on capitol hill. >> the first question. people inside and outside the white house are pleasantly surprised the president has been able to stay relatively on message, as they say, during this foreign trip. but they acknowledge in conversation that once he returns home and he faces mounting questions about russia, about the special counsel, that kind of message discipline is not necessarily going to be the same as it was abroad. and what the president is really dealing with is the president prefers to be his own messenger. he takes a lot of advice, but how much does he follow? that's an open question. for elected republicans, this is a difficult time. they're happy, they tell me, w

robert costa with that report tonight. he will join us as "the 11th hour" gets underway. >>> good evening once again from our headquarters here in new york. the breaking news we have been covering on this friday night, heading into the memorial day weekend, another bombshell story in the "washington post." let's quote right from the paper. it says, jared kushner and russia's ambassador to washington discussed the possibility of seth up a secret and -- of setting up a secret and secure communications channel between trump's transition team and the kremlin using russian diplomatic facilities in an apparent move to shield their preinauguration discussions from monitoring. the post quotes u.s. officials briefed on this intelligence. this story means the man closest to the president allegedly wanted to talk outside of known u.s. channels, and u.s. know this because they intercepted the russian ambassador reporting back home to moscow along with the surprise, apparently, that the kremlin had been invited in so close, potentially

but at that point, the letter from the white house had still not arrived at the fbi. >> robert costa, you were at the white house tonight. inside the west wing. there are reports the communication shocked all the employees there, the employees were there late. as you have heard, the "washington post" is reporting this as well, this seems to have take ten west wing staff by surprise in that they did not expect this big of a dust up. >> it was quite a scene tonight brian outside of the west wing, a cool night. sean spicer the press secretary came out and he gave briefing but there was no looet lights on, it was just reporters with their recorders purring forward asking spicer questions. during the course of his briefing outside on the driveway of the white house he was asked about this grab jury investigation that may be going on, about general flynn and russia. he didn't have any comment on that and the lights were on throughout the west wing. i saw chief of staff priebus, kellyanne conway, the counsellor, and others having meetings and having intense discussions as this issue continue

"washington post" highlights reporting from robert costa and ashley parker taking a at the president and his seeking of outside counsel when issues to looking into of russia. the report says people briefed on condition spoke of anonymity, they couldn't talk publicly, the attorneys who have to the white house and listed, inalists people.ng to it says mark kasowitz is expected to take a leading role, he helped trump with divorce records, real estate transaction allegations of fraud at trump university. the other gentlemen have spoken team, fficials about the according to a person familiar with the process. one more quick call, kenneth desoto, wisconsin, house bout to come in, calling on democrats line. go ahead. what i was eth -- wondering, donald trump, he and he has ften barred seven countrys from oming into the united states and then he turns around and ecides to go visit the seven countries, that he has barred from coming to the united states. by putting down their god nd saying their god is not the iing. -- he is judge host: i think you are talking bout differences between the tra

our team is in please, kristin welker on capitol hill, pete williams, and robert costa, the moderator of "washington week." kristin, first to you, you just caught president pence on the hill. >> did the president fire director comey to impede the russian investigation. >> as you know, he is not under investigation. and as former director clapper of the director of national intelligence said, there is no evidence of collusion. >> but director clapper -- >> but they said there is investigations into the possible ties between russian officials and campaign officials. >> that is not what this was about. he put the safety and security of the american people first. by accepting the deputy attorney general to remove director comey as head of the fbi. they have to have confidence, and because of the actions that the attorney general outlined to the president that were endorsed and agreed with by the attorney general. >> the president made the right decision at the right time and now we look forward to finding that individual that can leave that education, and the outstanding men and women of

i'm joined by robert costa, national political reporter for "the washington post" and msnbc political. let's try to distinguish what the president was up to. when he tried to kill this story by going to the national security agency head and going to the head of national intelligence, was he trying to kill the story or trying to stop the investigation? what is he up to? can you parse that? can you figure that out? >> it's an important distinction. at times he seems to be trying to stop the narrative about russia. at other times, there are allegations he may be trying to obstruct justice. >> when he says, kill the investigation of anyonflynn, is because he likes flynn or flynn has stuff on him? >> trump allies say they're friends. but a lot of reporters and republicans and democrats in washington say it's about more than friendship with general flynn, that the president's actions mean he's trying to, in some way, protect the white house, protect his presidency, for whatever reason. >> what's the general thrust of the president's defense right now? he's overseas with the pope and the vat

robert costa, stay with us. so, so much for being on this morning. >> thank you, al. >>> still ahead on "morning joe," president jimmy carter will join us live. >>> plus -- >> i think he is the premier and most important threat more than isis. i think isis can do terrible things but it's the russians who are trying to destroy the very fundamental of democracy, to change the outcome of an american election. i view the russians as the far greatest challenge that we have. >>> coming up, moscow's strategy in all of this. and france's new president not afraid to speak truth to power, whether it's traditional allies like the u.s. or rising adversaries like the russian. even when he's standing right next to vladimir putin. you're watching "morning joe." >> doesn't look happy. >> we'll be right back. ♪ you might not ever just stand there, looking at it. you may never even sit in the back seat. yeah, but maybe you should. ♪ (laughter) ♪ at crowne plaza we know business travel isn't just business. there's this. 'a bit of

robert costa, is that the case? has the bill changed? >> the bill has been tweaked slightly by congressman macarthur of new jersey. they've come up with this amendment that would enable states to choose whether they keep some of the insurance regulations under the affordable care act. under the andrew jackson point, we could use more discussion of the war of 1812. hick try, jackson was controversial because of how he dealt with the native americans. so it is intriguing to see him citing andrew jackson. >> the health care bill that you just mentioned, has it optional for the states to choose whether they're going to cover preexisting conditions, allowing some states to hike up the premiums for those who do have preexisting conditions. was the president upnaware of that or has something changed? >> based on my reporting, the president has not been deeply involved in the revival of health care talks. it's been the vice president, the freedom caucus in the tuesday group. it was somewhat startling to see the president wasn't fully familiar wi

sot: robert marshall, contra costa county fire marshal//"oddly enough this was our second structure fire of the day that was caused by a cigarette." with temperatures soaring into the upper 90's fire fighters say it's lucky the flames didn't spread into dry brushand onto surrounding homes."we're very fortunate you know because it's so dry out here it could have been easily the whole block up in flames."antioch police haven't responded yet but it is suspected this could now be treated as a criminal investigation because of the grow operation that was clearly more than the 6 plants alowed per home by state law. lawrence karnow: it was another hot day away from the coast. temperatures again soared into the 90s in the valleys. but at the coast it was a much different story. a sea breeze and fog had temperatures there running 30 degrees cooler. you can see some of the fog along the coast now while the skies inland remain clear. the sea breeze has picked up again but with a strong ridge of high pressure above the fog won't make it that far on shore. a big cool down is coming but it will be slo

altogether, robert costa is and different subject altogether, robert costa is gearing up for "washington what's on tap? >> reporter: judy, tonight we're going to delve behind the scenes of president trump's explosive decision to fire f.b.i. director james comey. our roundtable of reporters will have the latest on why this story continues to reverberate around washington and how it may impact ongoing investigations into russia's meddling in last year's election. that's coming up on "washington week." judy? >> woodruff: tomorrow on pbs newshour weekend: continuing coverage of the reactions to president trump's decision to fire f.b.i. director james comey, plus how a small african nation became a prized location for military bases. >> the ceremony illustrated just how many other nations have a military presence in france, italy and japan. now, add china to the list. to protect its economic interest in the region, china is building its first overseas military base here. on track to be completed this year. that's chinese navy frigate in the harbor. the base seven miles north of where the amer

hallie jackson, co-author of today's front page new york on times piece, and robert costa author of plenty of stories of his own. this sounded like a therapy session. i mean, i wanted to hand sean spicer some pills or something. what is going on in that briefing room? >> you said he was advisably irritated. he appeared to be somebody who wanted to get out of the room which we saw him do after about 20 minutes of taking questions and 10 minutes of a fairly lengthy recap of the week that was, his trip overseas, starting with the activities in saudi arabia from what 9 or 10 days ago, notable he wanted to talk about the trip, notable that they didn't hold a briefing occurring that trip except for rex tillerson on day one. now two saturdays ago essentially. so in this briefing i think we saw a couple notable things. highlighted by the nonresponse to the jared kushner drip, drip, drip that has come out now over the past three, four days. sean spicer blasted what he called a false thenarrative. there was not an alternate set of facts and i think that is fairly significant given the constant quest

still ahead on "morning joe," we'll bring in "washington post's" robert costa to take us through the explosive reporting on the accurate timeline of comey's firing and speak with an independent voice on the intelligence committee, senator angus king, and from the house intel committee, congressman jim himes. the new polling joe mentioned, new problems for the president's approval ratings and republicans in congress, and that was before the firing of the fbi director. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? start your day with the number one choice of dentists. philips sonicare removes significantly more plaque versus oral-b 7000. experience this amazing feel of clean. innovation and you. philips so

robert costa, as always, thank you. michael steele, thank you. and jay, you're great.ou. >>> up next, hillary clinton speaks out about why she lost the 2016 election. she strongly suggests trump and the russians were in cahoots. that's the heart of this whole investigation, trying to nail that thing. this is "hardball," where the action is. you were made to move. to progress. to not just accept what you see, but imagine something new. at invisalign®, we use the most advanced teeth straightening technology to help you find the next amazing version of yourself. it's time to unleash your secret weapon. it's there, right under your nose. get to your best smi up t50% faster. visit invisalign.com to get started today. there's nothing more than my vacation.me so when i need to book a hotel room, i want someone that makes it easy to find what i want. booking.com gets it. they offer free cancellation if my plans change. visit booking.com. booking.yeah. i use what's already inside me to reach my goals. so i liked when my doctor told me i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by

thank you, ashley parker, robert costa.next, with so many people crying foul on what we're hearing from the trump administration, the intelligence committees of both the house and the senate have their work cut out for them to flesh out the truth, don't you think? we're going to hear from members of both of those committees in a second -- actually a minute or so coming up here on "hardball." this is "hardball," where the action is. that's it? yeah. ♪ everybody two seconds! ♪ "dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance..." through the tuition assistance program, every day mcdonald's helps more people go to college. it's part of our commitment to being america's best first job. ♪ i needed something more to help control my type 2 diabetes. my a1c wasn't were it needed to be. so i liked when my doctor told me that i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by activating what's within me with once-weekly trulicity. trulicity is not

i'm robert costa. why the president's son-in-law is being considered a person of interest. plus, how trump's america first agenda played out on the world stage. tonight on "washington week." >> the f.b.i.'s russia election investigation takes them inside the white house, directly to jared kushner. but unlike former national security advisor michael flynn and former trump advisor paul manafort, kushner is not considered a subject in any federal probe. still, the russia questions are only mounting. and the former head of the c.i.a. tells congress he saw evidence last year of russian officials interacting with people involved in the trump campaign but stopped short of calling it collusion.

i'm robert costa. we'll tackle it all, tonight on "washington week." >> did you at any time urge former f.b.i. director james comey in any way, shape or form to close or to back down the investigation into michael flynn? and also, as you look back -- >> no. no. next question? >> president trump eager to move on, calls the ongoing russia investigation a witch hunt, slamming the appointment of robert mueller as special counsel. >> i think it divides the country. i think we have a very divided country because of that and many other things. >> while congress is divided...

i'm robert costa.e explore how the dismissal of james comey may accelerate the investigation into russian interference, tonight on "washington week." >> he's a show both, he's a grandstander, the -- he's a show boat he's a grandstander, the f.b.i. has been in turmoil. robert: president trump insists he fired fib director comey because of poor job performance not because of the probe into russian meddling or the recommendation of two top justice department officials. but that's not the message the vice president delivered earlier earlier in the week. >> president trump made the right decision at

i'm robert costa.e'll explain how the proposed legislation could change lives and policy in america, tonight on "washington week." >> this is a repeal and a replace of obamacare. make no mistake about it. make no mistake. robert: president trump scores his first significant legislative win and moves one step closer to dismantling the affordable care act. president trump: most importantly, yes, premiums will be coming down. yes, deductibles will be coming down. robert: now the bill heads to the senate where it faces roadblocks and bipartisan skepticism over a number of key issues, including premiums, pre-existing conditions and billions of dollars in cuts to

few miles away first responders with contra costa fire protection district found this vehicle on fire on juanita drive in walnut creek marshall/contra costa county fire protection district: "we do believe these car fires to be connected to those earlier fires">this week there has been 7-vehicles set on fire... 2 in lafayette, 2 in walnut creek, 2 in brentwood and 1 in martinezfire investigators are checking surveillance cameras in the area of crenscenta court and juanita drive for any possible clues. so far no one has been injured