The red carpet. As im sure you can see the royal guard lining the carpet. They were sweeping that carpet juste the air force one pulled up to makeure it was clean. And President Trump will be soon descending down these steps. And there is a lot of anticipation, excitement. In talking to soddy officials, there is a lot of excitement for the relationship theyll have with President Trump, i think that one official we said before the trip said there is a hope around his presidency and theres a hope theres going to be a Good Relationship not just from a Counter Terror standpoint and an alliance standpoint from security but also from an economic standpoint. And of course trump is someone whos always prided himself on knowing what a good trade deal is making a good deal for the United States. And i think thats something saudi arabia is especially looking towards. Officials repeatedly pointing utto an economy they have here. And i think thats something thats very much on their minds. And alley, if you would, tell us about the significance of this being the first place the president would travel to make an overseas trip . What is the significance . Well, in talking to several senior advisers over the course of several few weeks, there is a lot of stress of being one of the main pieces of the religion faith. To extend a hand to those in the region, a face in the middle east, especially in the fight against terrorism and isis in the region. But its definitely something the president is focusing on while hes here. Of course the significance of coming to this country after all of his antimuslim rhetoric throughout the campaign, he had a largely a lot of them were really energized and mobilized by that rhetoric. And you can see him coming down the stairs right now to with melania. Once trump reaches the end of that red carpet, he will see them, one of the first people he sees. Now were looking athe plane. But we can see the king actually coming down the carpet. Coming close toer to the plane, king solomon walking down, obviously getting ready to greet President Trump as he comes off of the plane. And alley, if you will fowl, there are dignitaries from saudi arabia. Do you only have dignitaries from saudi arabia or those just from the tarmac. I think we only have dignitaries from saudi arabia here. So you can see trump standing, shaking hands. Theres a lot of eyes on how he deals with this. Obviously a ton of aattention coming on the heels of this meeting. And i think one of the things were looking at is how the administration manages to straddle the domestic problems plaguing them at home with the goals set here. It really desperately needs a win neither on the International Stage or domestically. There are people who have been plagued by trying to find what that first victory will be. And alley, we are seeing President Trump and the First Lady Melania Trump meeting with king solomon on the red carpet. And now theyre going take a walk and meet the rest of the dignitaries down. But if you could tell us about this summit . Are they going be discussing business as well . Theres definitely a multiprong approach here in talking to both saudi officials and u. S. Officials. There is also the other prong of trade, of Economic Development in the region. Thats something of course saudi arabia has specifically said they want to focus on. Something one of the top advisers here have said to us is this is really a test of the America First montrau. During the campaign it was really interpreted as his move toward isolationism on the part of the United States, that were going to be turning inwards, what can we do for the American People, the American Worker . Now advisers saying no that doesnt mean retreating from the world stage but showing he can be involved and a leader on the world stage in a positive way doing it with americas best interest at heart. Thats something thats very notable and something that really a lot of trump supporters, advisers, lawmakers, and reporters in general have had a hard time struggling with what exactly is the trump doctrine are we someone whos going to be constantly saying our allies should be footing the bill more to pay for our defense . Thats something hes said repeatedly. But a lot of things to belicking at when youre looking at what is the trump doctrine as it literally forms before our eyes here on the trip. Alley arb youre talking about the trump doctrine. And we know before his dealings, President Trump has had dealings with saudi arabia, and obviously approached the country from a business perspective. But now its political. Hes the president of the United States here. Are we expecting his handlings to be different . Is he going to be able to walk that line between business and politics in this country . If you will, were watching him come an escalator right now where hes going through another procession and going inside the airport. But one of the things weve seen is trump has always been someone whos managed to straddle his business tendencies and bring him to the oval office. Thats what made him such an unventional world leader and such an unconventional president to cover. Seeing his time as a negotiator, as a ceo is going to be different from his time now as a negotiator on the part of america and one of the worlds main leaders. Alley, i have a few seconds delays here from what youre seeing in person. President trump is now going up the escalator with king solomon into that building. And just describe the area there. Like, how are people reacting to President Trump arriving today . Well, we have a lot of excitement. In driving in last night, we arrived on the press charter. And driving in last night the are a lot of Saudi Arabian and american flags draped across through the airport but lang the roads theres some bill boards with trumps face on it saying together well prevail, really advertising. Theres a lot of Public Relations effort that went into putting together this campaign and this summit. I will say in this airport here, we are in the mid90s. Definitely a hot one here. A lot of folks that ive spoken to at the embassy say this is pretty good. I think, you know, that same kind of that weather is not impeding the excitement at all. You saw the royal guard to meet trump. And now is when the work begins. And alley, if you would, we are seeing the images now of President Trump inside the International Airport with king solomon. And if you would, the next step to this, obviously this is the meet and greet, saying hello, how is the next event going to be setup for President Trump . Are we going to be easing into the day or is President Trump going to be getting right to the political heart of the matters here in saudi arabia . Well, i think there are a series of bilateral meetings. Some of them are closed press and some of them only open to the pool, the small group of reporters that travel with the president throughout the trip to document and report on some parts that might be too intimate for Standard Press to cover. We will have several of those meetings today. And i think thats something thats always been fascinating with trump. Hes never been someone who delineates business from leisure time. Hes really someone that does it all at once. Hes been very quick to find time negotiate. And weve even saw in past meetings with negotiateiators when he had both of them at maralago, his palm beach estate, it was dinners and time to meet and greet and time to talk with their wives as well as top advisers. And so it really is a mixing of getting to know these people in a former setting, getting to know them in a negotiating set, and also getting to know them over meals. Of course that remains to be seen because trump is someone who has repeatedly in a lot of these crises were seeing in d. C. , definitely fit this bill, he kind of makes his own controversy. All of us hold our breath and wait to see what his reaction is going to be on his social media platform. And i think thats something advisers and watchers of this leader have thought repeatedly over time is will he selfsabotage on social media. And weve seen it time and time again. Weve it in reaction to the special counsel earlier this week when he called it a witchhunt, saying no one has ever been treated as unfairly as him. I imagine there will be an effort on the part of the administration to not talk about a lot of the controversies that are dogging him at home, dealing with special counsel and looking into that alleged meddling now, dealing with the firing of director comey, really all those crucial questions that are dogging the administration as they embark on this first critical trip. Theres a lot of questions on how they can try to placate in some way and answer these questions that are still lingering over these controversies. And alley, we know theres a whole agenda set for the president and his agenda here. But, curious, how much do you think the Saudi Arabian government and other government officials are really weighen on the domestic issues at home . Do you think theyre really following whats going on here in the United States or theyre focused on what their agenda is set and looking forward to President Trumps meeting to continue that agenda . Are they paying attention to whats going on here in the United States . I think in the conversations we had, and lot of those conversations were happening as the news continued to break domestically. Of course its hard not to Pay Attention to whats going on at home, but i also think that a lot of the leaders hell be meeting with today, are concerned but focused on the tasks at hand. I think these meetings are a Good Opportunity for them to see how President Trump functions on the world stage. This is, of course, his first foreign trip. Having seen him on the campaign, usually a campaign will have a foreign trip in it. Trump did not do that. The only time he went overseas, he went there at the time for his family, his son and daughter were at that point very involved in that construction project and that was for the campaign. We havent really seen President Trump interacted with World Leaders on the foreign stage. As i said earlier, there is a basis in a lot of these relationships. But i think when youre here the leaders in each of these countries are really looking at the task at hand right now. And i think thats important. I think on israel front we are looking at a lot of reporting that nbc itself has done that says information that was discussed with the foreign Prime Minister earlier last week was intelligence from israel. And i think thats important when you look at that meeting because that sharing of classified information is one of the key pieces of the United States alliance with a lot of these other conaddress. And that intelligence sharing is critical to Homeland Security and things of that nature. So you want to make sure when you look at meeting, thats something thats kept in mind. And that is one of the controversies that does invite it opens the door to talking again about all the domestic issues that are plaguing him at home. In saudi arabia i think theres an eye towards whats going on here. But i think that next trip will have a shadow of the controversies were talking about on the home front. We are seeing pictures of President Trump and kin solomon. They finished their welcoming tea ceremony. But im curious. When do you think were going to hear from President Trump initially . Is there going to be a bilateral News Conference . Obviously, in a possible News Conference beforehand . Is he expected to speak later today . As i mentioned there will be pools made. Whether or not there are remarks in that, sometimes he allows questions, sometimes he waves, sometimes handshakes. Its unclear whether or not there will be those kinds of, you know, official remarks. But i will say its notable that as affright now there is no press conference on the schedule. And of course there is an effort to put one on, were being told by the white house. But i think its notable we wont at this point definitively see a press conference on this foreign trip. And of course we did get a press conference with him right before he left on the trip. I think there are a lot of questions i think reporters would like to ask him especially now with this International Trip piled on top of the questions we already had on the stateside front. You say there are no notable press conferences that are going to be held, do you think that the press corp, rather the white house is trying to keep President Trump sort of on point and is sticking to his agenda here with saudi arabia . Do you think theyre trying to really keep this a focused trip for him . Well, i do think there is a push on the part of a lot of people in the white house to focus on whats going on right ehind in washington. And i think that in talking to a lot of these officials, theyre looking at this as, you know, a real test of can they apply this America First doctrine on the world stage. And thats important to lot of them especially like the ones like Steven Miller who were integral in forming that on the campaign trail. Now putting that into practice is going to be very interesting. As far as the press conference goes, your guess is as good as mine. The idea could be with reporters. It could be a scheduling thing. But at this point its notable theres nothing on the schedule right now. And alley, real quick quick, last question here. Does this pomp and circumstance were seeing on the red carpet, is this normal for saudi arabia or are they going a step above for President Trump . So this is my first white house, my first foreign trip. As far as i know, this seems to be a standar fair. But, again, i was not here for obamas trip, so i dont know that i can speak to that as accurately as i hope to. And on the ground, you said there had been excitement building from last night. So going forward, now that he has arrived, has the mood changed at all . I think the mood right now is really to just get down to business. We heard from the poolers that flew in with him, that trump spent a lot of time talking with h. R. Mcmaster and also spent a lot of time with Steven Miller, the person writing the speech. And i think thats something thats notable. Hes really preparing for the task at hand. And i think thats something thats notable. Its time now for the work to start. Alley, on the ground for us. Thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it. And weve been watching President Trump and the first lady melania arrive in riyadh, saudi arabia. And this is the beginning of this nine day trip where he kicks off in saudi arabia. Well have live coverage and live programming. Well go back to regular programming after our break. Finding time to get things done isnt easy. But weve got the Digital Tools to help. Now with xfinitys my account, you can figure things out easily, so you wont even have to call us. Change your wifi password to something you can actually remember, instantly. Add that premium channel, and watch the show everyones talking about, tonight. And the bill you need to pay . Do it in seconds. Because we should fit into your life, not the other way around. Go to xfinity. Com myaccount the federal investigation to russia sabotaged in the 2016 campaign now reaches all the way into Donald Trumps white house. The probe has identified a Current White House official as a significant person of interest. Not just any official, sources told the post, but someone close to the president. This comes right as the investigation is shifting into a higher gear, entering what the post describes is more active phase. Theyre starting to conduct interviews and issuing subpoenas. And theyre not just looking at possible collusionetween the trump cal pain and russia. Theyre examining whether any Trump Associates may have committed financial crimes. As the fbi probe moves forward, so does the Senate Intelligence committee which Just Announced james comey will testify in open session some time after memorial day, his first public warner for his reaction to the news that someone in the white house is under investigation. Well, chris, im not going to comment on anything i may have been briefed for as a member of the gang of eight, any classified information, but weve got a lot of work in front of us. The president told russian officials in the white house that james comey was crazy, a real nut job. Whats your reaction to him telling a russian officials that . I find it outrageous. You know, its one of the reasons i believe so strongly james comey deserve an opportunity to come before our committee in open session and tell his side of the story. Its remarkable that a president would demean a director of the fbi that way and say that to the russians. This may have been the same meeting where he was also disclosing classified information. In a certain way, you just cant make this stuff up but every day there seems to be another, oh, my gosh, kind of moment. And i got to telyou, iis veryvery concerning to me. Its one of the reasons why the Senate Intelligence investigation, while i commend the fact at the appointment of mueller to lead the criminal and Justice Department investigation, our counterintelligence investigation, weve got to pick up the pace. Its more important than ever. Well have a different standard. There may be actions that are criminal that and certain actions they may not hit that mark in terms of being criminal but theyre still factual and ultimately for the American People to then make their own judgments. What more would you have to say . Senator Patrick Leahy tweeted this is what obstruction looks like and then quoted the president. What more would you have to see . What more evidence would you need to convince you that the president has committed obstruction . Listen, while i went to law school, i never practiced a day of law so im not going to weigh in on the legalities but it sure does seem inappropriate, to say the least, that the president would both make these kind of comments to the russians as well as the whole underlying reason that he has now acknowledged repeatedly that he fired james comey because of his concerns about the investigations into his associates who may have had possible collusion with the russians during the campaign. Senator Lindsey Graham who, of course, is on judiciary, basically said yesterday, look, or two days ago, mueller is in charge now. Well have to step back. Everyone in congress is going to have to step back, let mueller do this. And we should just get back to business. Go to work on the tax cuts and Obamacare Repeal and replace. Whats your reaction to that . Well, that may be. I cant say what the Judiciary Committee may do or not do. Director mueller, im glad he was appointed but that simply means theres a new boss for the already existing investigations that have been ongoing. We know now from many, many months. But i can assure senator graham and everybody else that the Senate Counterintelligence investigation is ongoing, full steam ahead. We are redoubling our effort. Weve picked up momentum as we start to go beyond the intelligence community, interviews and now starting to interview people that were affiliated with mr. Trump and his campaign. Weve still got a very, very critical job to do. And were going to do it senator mark warner, thank you for joining me. Coming up the amazing measures former fbi director james comey took to avoid interactions with President Trump. That after this quick break. New neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair with the proven power of retinol. Reduces wrinkles in just one week. Neutrogena® whuuuuuat . 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The relationship between President Trump and then fbi director james comey is now, of course, under intense scrutiny, particularly since its known the president called comey a real nut job when he met with russian officials in the oval office. Benjamin wittis, a friend of comeys spoke about a number of relationships they had about comey and President Trump. Wittis described a scene two days after the president s inauguration at a white house ceremony honoring Law Enforcement officials. He says comey was hoping to get through the event unnoticed. He really wanted to kind of blend in and not be singled out. And hes a hes 68, so when its tough to do that. Its really hard to blend in. Hes wearing if you watch the video of it, hes wearing a blue blazer, and he stands in the part of the room that is as far from trump as it is physically possible to be and also against blue drapes that are the same color as his he chose that spot . He chose that spot because it was almost like a camillian, camouflage against the wall. Blend in. So he described thinking hed gotten away with that. Then he has to go over and shake his hand. Hes become more famous than me. And its a long walk across that room. And what he told me was that it was bad enough that he was there. It was bad enough that there was going to be a handshake, but, you know, there really wasnt going to be a hug. And so if you watch the video, he extends his hand and comeys arms are really long. He extends his hand preemptively and trump grabs the hand and pulls him into a hug but the hug is entirely onesided. So one guy in the hug is shaking hands and the other guy is hugging. And comey was just completely disgusted. Disgusted . Disgusted by the episode. The showdown between the president of the United States and fbi director he fired to take pressure off the russians is about to happen in full public view and well talk about it, next. Yes neutrogena® ultra sheer. Unbeatable protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer with a clean feel. The best for your skin. Ultra sheer®. The beneutrogena®. Skin. So one guy in the hug is shaking hands, and the other guy is hugging. And comey was just completely disgusted by it. Disgusted . Disgusted by the episode. He thought it was an intentional attempt to compromise him in public in a way that would that would so and emphasize concerns that half of the electorate had about him and the bureau. As fbi director james comey had several unsettling episodes with President Trump who we now know was thinking about the russia investigation when he fired comey and who bragged about it afterwards to russian officials in the oval office. He called comey and asked him when federal authorities were going to put out word that President Trump was not under investigation. Mr. Comey told the president he should not contact him directly but follow the proper procedures. There were reportedly several other interludes between the president and comey before he was fired. Tonight we learned comey will have a chance to give his full version of events in public testimony to the senate in a few weeks. Joining me, naveed jamali, former deputy secretary of labor and, chris, let me start with you. Someone who worked in the white house for a while, how forthcoming do you anticipate comeys testimony to be when he finally goes before the Senate Committee . Thank you for having me on. Hell be very forthcoming about what the procedures are for contacting the fbi working through white house counsels office, the department of justice. I spent four years in the obama white house, and what we have seen over the last couple of weeks in terms of contacts is unprecedented. We were warned up and down about not having contact with Agency Officials about investigations, whether it was the fbi, i. C. E. , epa, any enforcement action, we should not have any contact. The fact you have this amount of contacts between the president and the fbi director is really shocking. Nongets just the president. You have Reince Priebus also talking to him. Just to be clear. You are saying in the white house, you and your colleagues and the president did not and would not have called the fbi director or other agents for updates or to ask them to come out with a statement . Absolutely not. Bob bauer would have dragged me to the white house chief of staff and had me fired if i had done anything like that. And what is also amazing, you go back and look at the history of wateate. Richard nixon went to haldman, to the cia, to the fbi to stop that investigation. Donald trump cuts out the middle man and goes straight to the fbi director. Its shocking. Naveed, whats your reaction to the stories emerging about the way that comey was trying to sort of negotiate this relationship . Yeah, i think thats an interesting point. Theres been a lot of sort of buzz about why didnt comey resign . Why did he bring this up the minute this happened . People should understand as chris is sort of pointing out here, the level that perhaps this conversation took place didnt rise to some sort of criminality. And i think that it was probably the right thing to do to sort of sit on this. But i sort of feel like in the military with this term command undue influence. Theres an investigation in the ucmj, a commander cannot exert his or her influence to shape the direction of the investigation. Md to just use that construct here, it certainly seems that there was, whether by design or not, that there was an attempt here to steer things in a particular direction and thats, boy, if you are the commander in chief, thats just you just cant do that. Chris, respond to this. You know, the point that benjamin wittis is making there, the grasp there was to reaffirm the distrust that half the half of the electorate had for comey because of the Clinton Campaign and robust and empirical evidence, extremely powerful effect on the election, helped get donald trump elected, what do you say to people who say this guy is a grandstander and a dept machiavellian factor. But all the liberals who suddenly love him are forgetting all their reservations about the man. Look, i dont know jim comey, but what we have seen over the last 110 days or so from this white house is a complete disrespect for the rule of law. And that starts with the way theyve treated ethics, with conflicts of interest. This is not a president or white house that just accidentally had these contacts because they hadnt had the right level of training. They went into these contacts with an intention to send a message to the fbi director. And thats improper. Naveed, with the news theres someone in the white house right now who is a person of interest in the investigation, just talk me through what it would be like to be in the fbi right now working on that investigation with someone who is close to the president as someone youre investigating. The first question theyre probably looking at is how far back do we have to go. Its not right to think this started in 2017. The russian involvement started in 2017. 2016. The fbi is trying to think, how far back do we have to go . Theres this interesting case with this russian bank and Jared Kushner n his failure to disclose that connection on his security forms. Its a wide net and the fbi is probably going to go back a lot farther than 2017. They are now looking at financial crimes. Your point is the portfolio of what investigators can look at is, you think that the signals are being sent and the reporting is fairly broad . Yes, i think that, you know, when it comes to this, if there was collusion, which i tend to not think is the case, but this nex nexus, it probably didnt occur just in 2017. We go back to the counterintelligence side, these are things that take years, operations that take years. Theyre probably going to go back quite a few years. Naveed and chris, thank you both. Another set of damaging reports to the white house coming up just minutes after air force one took off for the president s first International Trip. Plus, james comey isnt the only one who wanted to avoid a hug from donald trump. And thats tonights thing 1, thing 2 after the break. Can you love wearing powerful sunscreen . Yes neutrogena® ultra sheer. Unbeatable protection helps prevent early skin aging and skin cancer with a clean feel. The best for your skin. Ultra sheer®. Neutrogena®. Thing 1 tonight weve documented President Trumps oddly aggressive handshakes turning a friendly gesture into a power tug. Even with his Vice President , his secretary of state Rex Tillerson or, most notably, his Supreme Court pick. But the yank and pull isnt the only move this president deploys. As we just discussed, there was the president s oval office half embrace with then fbi director james comey when he pulled an uncomfortable comey into a hug. But comey is not the first person apprehensive about an unwanted hug in front of cameras. Hillary clinton worried about the same thing and we know that because there is video of her practicing how to avoid it. You dont want to miss thing 2 in 60 seconds. At the first president ial debate last year, donald trump and Hillary Clinton took the stage and shook hands. She avoided what happened to now fired fbi director james comey, an unprovoked embrace from donald trump. And that was no accident. Felipe raines tweeted, not easy to avoid the unwanted trump hug. Sometimes it even takes practice. And posted a video from their debate prep taking two days before the first showdown with raines playing the part of trump. Ladies and gentlemen, Hillary Rodham clinton and donald j. Trump. Hey. Ok can we. Sfx balloon squeals goodbye oof, that milk in your coffee was messing with you, wasnt it . Try lactaid, its real milk, without that annoying lactose. Good right . Yeah. Lactaid. The milk that doesnt mess with you. Will you be ready when the moment turns romantic . Cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. Tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Do not drink alcohol in excess. To avoid longterm injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. If you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. Ask your doctor about cialis. And get medical help right away. Does your makeup remover every kissproof,ff . Cryproof, stayproof look . Neutrogena® makeup remover does. It erases 99 of your most stubborn makeup with one towelette. Need any more proof than that . Neutrogena. Right now, the president is in the middle of a 14hour flight to saudi arabia. The first of five countries he will visit on his first overseas trip. He left his home country at the end of a truly astonishing week of fastmoving, stunning news about his very young president. It was only monday that the Washington Post reported that trump revealed highly classified information inside the oval office. And tuesday we learned about the comey memo saying he asked the fbi director directly to drop the investigation into former National Security adviser michael flynn. On wednesday, the Justice Department appointed a special counsel to investigate russias interference in the president ial election. And there were smaller stories like the Turkish Security forces beating a Peaceful Protesters on the streets of washington, d. C. , as their president looked on. Today, the president departed this country on air force one headed for saudi arabia at 2 30 p. M. And just 30 minutes later the plane barely out of the d. C. Metro air space. The New York Times dropped the report the president told russian officials hed been under great pressure but firing james comey, quote, a real nut job, took the pressure off. Two minutes after that, a Current White House officials a person of interest in the russian investigation. Who knows what will happ tomorrow, or even in the next five minutes. But were going to take a few minutes just to talk about all of this with sam cedar and leon wolf right after this break. Look at the why ive been treated lately. No politician in history, and i say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly. Nelson man della sailing, hmm. Joining me is leon wolf and sam seder. We havent seen anything like this in the last decade or so, and from specifically investigatory at some point, what does it all add up to in our mind . I mean, i dont think weve seen anything like this even a decade ago because its coming from so many different directions. Ifrl do think theres a multitude of agendas at play here. I think were seeing leaks from people around the fbi, i think were seeing leaks from the National Security state. But frankly, someones in the white house a lot of people in the white house. I think they turned on him. I think a lot of people turned on him. I know you tweeted the other day you perceive mike pence as house of cards individual. Theres a lot of people having to do with donald trump getting himself out of this predicament. Ive been tracking the debate on the right which has been roiling since donald trump got on the scene and headed discussions about the americans relationship to him is. What has the last week done for that debate . Its interesting. I think its kind of crystalized with a lot of different people. I havent seen a lot of people who i follow who have kind of gotten on the trump bandwagon. Not even the trump bandwagon. There were people in my bow. I was one of the never trump people who after he was elected said lets give the guy a chance and hope he succeeds. I dont have much hope. Optimistically you would want the next four years to not be like the last six months. If you believe the polls, there are people who voted for trump who now think hes doing a bad job. Right. That is a key point. We keep giving this hes at the floor. Hes the lowest hes ever been in approval ratings. The cumulative effect has been that there are people saying hes doing a bad job who didnt think that before . Yes, but not as many as you might suppose. When we look at his numbers going down in terms of republican approval, but we dont see thats across the country. In those congressional districts, you can imagine that its not hard to believe that those numbers are actually higher than they are amongst republicans general speaking. In terms of Donald Trumps performance, of course, i dont want him to turn the country into a dumpster fire. But the republican party, the entire infrastructure, and you can take it from john mccain picking sarah pay lynn, mitt romney kissing the ring, you can take it from john bay nor dont bring up birther bills. If youve ever been at a Surprise Party or a situation where youre blindfolded theres a sense you have this profound vulnerability. And right now thats basically whats being done to paul ryan and Mitch Mcconnell by donald trump. They do not know where this is going. It is remarkable to me they are willing to walk along with this . I said all along throughout the 2016 election that it seemed to me to be kind of like a 1986 type of a feel where the election issues were i thoug more cultural than they were political. I think a lot of people missed that. Now weve zoomed past the entire 68 to 72 period. I said this on twitter earlier this week. As a republican back in the 90s there were a lot of times we assumed bill clinton was dead. Weve seen donald trump survive so much and its incredible. I agree. Youre nodding your head. Sorry for yelling, guys, but in the middle of this s show, they are still trying to take away your mechanic and ruin the internet. He wants to end payments of key backstroke subsidies and other reporting suggesting the administrations been telling insurers get on board. They still have power and are pursuing this agenda. I think that on the ground the greatest force of rchsz is coming over health care. Theyre not coming in. You get a little bit of youre just doing what donald trump wants you do, but youre also getting poignant questions about health care. One thing thats come up over the past couple months is that people are beginning to appreciate the Patient Protection part of the Affordable Care act. The Affordable Care act as it came to be known sort of oversold the affordable part, frankly, but the Patient Protection part is something that affects a lot more americans approximate. I will say the closing thought here is that, if they turn back to the agenda, i dont think theres a tremendous amount of clamoring for that Health Care Bill or the tax cuts, fry. Im not sure pivoting back into that is going to be the thing that saves him. Leon wolf and sam seder, thanks you to both. If you are anywhere around the new york area on sunday, ill be at hehman college in the bronx to talk about my book. Its a great inspiring book shop you can read about on our facebook page. The Rachel Maddow show starts right now. Tonight, the friday bombshells, as air force one goes wheel up for an overseas trip, two big stories drop. First the New York Times reporting President Trump told the russians james comey is a nut job, told them the pressure is off the russia investigation because comey has been fired. Then from the Washington Post, a senior white house adviser is now a significant person of interest in the russia investigation, a person likely to be on Board Air Force one with the president right now as the 11th hour gets underway. Good evening once again from our headquarters here in new york. This was day 120 of the trump administration. If the russia investigation was ever just a distraction or a subplot, as of tonight, it