with. it's not the gun that pulls the trigger. it's the person holding the gun. people don't realize, we have very strong background checks right now. you go in to buy a gun, you have to sign up. there are a lot of background checks that have been approved over the years. we can't let that slope go so easy that we're talking about background checks then all of a sudden talking about let's take everybody's gun away. people need weapons. unfortunately for protection. >> that word slope is an nra talking point. >> no. it's a trump talking point. >> and it's happening as the nra this morning is in even more turmoil with a shakeup in its legal team including firing its long-time outside counsel, but does that weaken its influence with the president at all? joining me now is political reporter for the "new york times" jeremy peters and back with me joel payne.