Wrongfully impacts the midterm elections, which is what the democrats always intended us . The president tweeting. He also said there is no obstruction. Its called fighting back. He labeled muellers team the 13 angry democrats in charge of the russian witch hasnt. Actually, technical point here, Robert Mueller is a registered republican. As he has done in the past, President Trump teased he has damaging information about muellers investigators. Just wait until the courts get to see our unrevealed conflicts of interest. Thats trump again. He didnt explain what he was talking about, of course. Meanwhile, trumps newest lawyer Rudy Giuliani in his media blitz this weekend taking a hardline tone against muellers investigation. Giuliani told nbc last night that mueller and his investigators were being heavyhanded and were setting the president up for perjury. Lets watch. Lets talk about the mueller investigation. The president saying again on friday that he wants to speak with mueller, answer his questions. So are you prepared to make that happen . Not after the way theyve acted. What is your because theyre trying to trap you couldnt put a lawyer on this show who wants to keep his law license to tell you he should testify. It kind of tells the American People a glimpse of what we have to deal with day in and day out with the abuses not so much of bob mueller, but of the people who work for him. I mean, theyre way over the top. When you look at the questions they pro pound, what do you think, what do you feel . Its like come on in and commit perjury. Joining me right now is senator Richard Blumenthal of connecticut. He is a member of the Senate Judiciary committee. Betsy woodruff is politics reporter for daily beast and an msnbc contributor. And paul lbutler is a former federal prosecutor and an msnbc analyst as well. Always start with the center on this question. Is Rudy Giuliani being clever like a fox . Is he raising the noise level and keeping the stormy story all over the news 24 7 now, to distract the subject, distract everybody from the russian probe which is the real danger the president is facing, or is he just doing it wrong . Because he is supposed to put this story behind the president , and he is putting it out every night and pushing it forward. I think he is doing the president a disservice. Whether he means it as a distraction, he has certainly put the president in a very, very precarious position politically as well as legally. He has directly contradicted him and his denials of reimbursement. He has in effect joined him more closely with Michael Cohen. Yeah. In a bed of quicksand. Its a legal quicksand for him. And there is no such thing as a perjury trap unless bob mueller would violate department of justice what is paerjry trap . Well, a perjury trap is ordinarily, speaking as a former prosecutor where you call a witness into an interview or the grand jury without any real evidence on him and literally ask him questions that are designed to trap him in a contradiction so he can be charged with perjury. All the president of the United States has to do is to tell the truth. Thats all he has to do. What do you think ken starr was doing with the president let me go to the prosecutor on this, paul. What do you think president clinton was facing when ken starr put him in the box and out of nowhere goes from paula jones to Monica Lewinsky . And we all saw the face of the president , like most people, what . I didnt know that was coming. So, again, this was negotiated is what President Trump should do. Usually the grand jury, youre the witness in there by yourself with the prosecutor. The deal with clinton was that his defense attorney could be there and the questioning was limited. Im sure that mueller be willing to do Something Like that with trump, but trump is afraid because he knows the truth will implicate him. Again, the question for bill clinton was relatively simple, did you have a sexual relationship with ms. Lewinsky. And clinton got kind of cute with it. Again, if youre before the grand jury, you have to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. We know donald trump has a really difficult time with that. Betsy, the pr part, the Political Part i should say. I know the legal question raising the noise level, which is what rudy is doing its what were talking about all weekend. Saturday night live, whats her name, Stormy Daniels on saturday night live playing herself. Ive never seen it. Its a travesty. Anybody who is 20 years old now thinks this is american democracy. We wouldnt have gotten this far. Its crazy time. But its raising the noise level. That helping trump because were not talking about russia, which is what would bring him down . I dont think us talking about russia is going to be what may or may not bring the president down. The reality is mueller is doing his own work. He is going to do it regardless of whether we cover it or talk about it or what is happening in the outside noise. The outside noise doesnt matter to mueller. What mueller is working on is his own project. That said, we cannot overstate the dramaticness with which the president s legal team has changed in the last week. Not only giuliani sort of coming of age and doing so much tv all day, every day. But additionally another lawyer started a the white house i believe on wednesday named emmet flood. Emmet flood is take over for ty cobb. Now ty cobb was the guy that was very amicable towards mueller. He would say positive things about the Mueller Probe to the president. Cobb is now on his way out. And the guy who is replacing him, emmet flood, is somebody who is seen as a much tougher, much more aggressive and much less likely to support the idea of having the president sit down. Weve been talking about it all and what rudy is up to if he is up to anything logical. He says in answering george stephanopoulos. George did a great job, pushing him a lot of points on abc. George asked him a great question. Is this the only case basically where he paid off somebody to keep quiet . And he said well, there may have been others, yes. Well, he didnt have to say there may have been others. He could say i dont know. Is that the defense, this was not an electionrelated decision to pay her off 130, to be blunt about it, it is something he does all the time . When ever there is a relationship they have to cover up, they have to hush up, they pay some money out of this regular draw he has of 35,000 a month. That seemed to be giuliani defense to protect him against the charge that this payoff was related to an election, therefore an fcc violation. What do you think . The defense would be it was personal, not political. And we do it all the time. Will that work . And it aint the first time. Right. And i have to keep my former mistresses quiet to protect me against my wife. Right. Will that work in court . It will not work in court. Why not . In my view. I think even before we reach that point we will have a reckoning to take your opening very, very seriously, because i think that giuliani interview indicated that a subpoena to the president of the United States is increasingly necessary and indeed unavoidable. I think were going to have a confrontation, even before that point is reached in court. Today Rudy Giuliani told the wall street journal that the president s legal team hopes to decide whether President Trump should testify by may 17th. By the way, thats five davis the iran decision. This weekend, giuliani told trump said trump could defy a subpoena from Robert Mueller. Well, lets get to your point, senator. Lets watch rudy denying the necessary here. What happens if Robert Mueller subpoenas the president . Will you comply . Well, we dont have to. He is the president of the United States. We can assert the same privilege as over president s have. Are you confident the president will not take the fifth in this case . Oh, how can i ever be confident of that . When im facing a situation with the president and all the other lawyers are, in which every lawyer in america thinks he would be a fool to testify, ive got a client who wants to testify. Please, dont he said it yesterday. And jay and i said to ourselves, my goodness, i hope we get a chance to tell him the risk that he is taking. So he may testify. To the senators point, paul, what about the risk of defying a subpoena . Nixon couldnt defy. The Supreme Court came down against him, 80. They said you have to testify. You have to give over the tapes which brought him down. Bill clinton, his attorney Robert Bennett that. Decide theyd had to respond to the danger of a subpoena, the threat of a subpoena. So why does this lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, think that he can defy a subpoena . So their argument is that the paula jones case was about a civil matter. This is a criminal matter. And the nixon case was about evidence as opposed to testimony. At the end of the day, that will not persuade the Supreme Court. It may go all the way up there, which would take a long time you. Think if they really want not as long three or four months. Yeah. But at the end of the day, the Supreme Court is going to say youre President Trump, not king trump. No man is above the law. Let me ask you, senator, because this is a tricky question. Im looking at it this way. People around here think jeanrobert son in the end will say you have to honor the conservative. Hey may be a conservative, but he is an institutionalist. You can never figure out kenn y kennedy. What do you think the court would do . I cant say it will be unanimous, but all of the legal reasoning and principles that led to the Court Unanimously saying to Richard Nixon you must provide those tapes will. That was a more liberal court. It was a more liberal court. But remember, this is about law enforcement. Yeah. Its about the construction of our constitution. Its about whether our constitutional design prevents despotic president from abusing his power to prevent him from being investigated and brought to justice. I think thats how i end the show with that question. Gentlemen and betty, will the trump people accept the fact that he defies the subpoena . Would the 47 stick with him . I think without a doubt. I think they would say the deep state has tried to subpoena President Trump and he needs to keep fighting. Thats the moment of truth. This is big casino. The prospect of President Trump pleading the fifth to mueller raises significant political risks thanks in part to his own past comments. Here he was, the president , in september of 2016 talking about Hillary Clinton campaign aides. Lets watch that. Her staffers taking the fifth amendment. How about that . They have five people taking the fifth amendment. Like you see on the mob, right . You see the mob takes the fifth. If youre innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment . You know, he talks like a guy on the street corner. What are you doing . You taking the fifth . You have the coat open, the big tie. And he is talk like he might know some of those guys. What do you think of that . He says we all grew up with the idea, fifth amendment. Remember joe mccarthy, fifth amendment communist . If you take the fifth amendment, youre a commie. And we have to begin the conversation not that he was right, of course, but that was the slur. With we have to begin this conversation as good lawyers do by saying everybody is entitled to the fifth amendment, and a judge will instruct a jury no adverse inference from it. Yeah. There is. But the American Public knows that it is for the president of the United States to take the fifth amendment is a staggering admission of criminal liability. It would be earth shattering for the president of the United States. Would you advise trump to take the fifth if you were back practicing . I would advise him not to take the fifth amendment. Would you advise him not to tell the truth . And i would advise him to tell the truth. Even if it brings him down on russia and the rest of it . Well, he presumably thinks he is innocent of any wrongdoing. Okay. Mr. President , did you ever talk to anybody in your campaign about talking to the russians . Did you ever . What does he say . I never talked to papadopoulos. I never talk todman fort about the russians. I never talked to my kids about the russians. I never talked to roger stone about the russian. And thats the point, chris. The question would be did you conspire with the russians to subvert our democracy. And his answer would be i cant say because it would incriminate me. If i told the truth, it would incriminate me. What does that say . A friend of mine, a lawyer in philly, involved with politics all his life once told me if youre not running for office again, take the fifth. What do you think of that, paul, that advice to a client . As a defense attorney, anyone who has a competent lawyer would advise President Trump to take the fifth. Again, hes got one posture as the subject of a major criminal investigation. Right. But another posture as the president of the United States, the presumed leader of the free world. But if he lies he wont be president. Well, thats up to congress. Thats anybodys guess. I think its big its the reckoning is coming. I think what you said the fact that Rudy Giuliani is out there saying dont testify, even if youre subpoenaed. I think thats the heart of the question. Is it a monarchy or is it a Constitutional Republic . Thank you, senator Richard Blumenthal as always, and as always of connecticut. And thank you, Betsy Woodruff for being here as the reporter on the thing. We we have a reporter, a politician and a prosecutor. Coming up, Rudy Giuliani continued his about the Stormy Daniels. He is out there muddying the water about what trump knew about the hush money payment. Rudy says he got everything straightened out. But for rudy and trump, the credibility gap is what you think it is, not good. Plus, how much damage has trump brought to the political situation in this country . Its to the point where john mccain is reportedly telling friends he doesnt want the president coming to his funeral. Jon meacham talks about the dark days in american politics with us tonight. And some republicans running in primaries are still trying to out [ trumpet playing ] outtrump, trump. But there is worry Don Blankenship could end up the winner tomorrow making it easier for joe manchin to get reelected. Finally, let me finish with trump watch, and you wont like it. This is hardball, where the action. Thank you. Call in the next ten minutes. And if thats not enough, well look after your every dollar. Put down the phone. And if thats not enough, well look after your every cent. Grab your wallet. beeping sound computer voice access denied. And if thats still not enough to help you save. Oh the new one well bring out the dogs. Mush dogs barking the old ones just fine well do anything, seriously anything, to help our customers. Thanks. Ally. Do it right. This is not just a yard. Its where memories are made. And you have the best seat in the house. The john deere x350 select series with the exclusive mulchcontrol™ system. Nothing runs like a deere™ well, god help us. President trump is ready the make an announcement on the iran nuclear deal. This afternoon the president tweeted ly be announcing my decision on the iran deal tomorrow from the white house at 2 00 p. M. Trump has until saturday technically to decide whether to extend sanctions related to iran under the obama deal. Earlier today President Trump berated former secretary of state john kerry, attacking him for reaching out to World Leaders in an attempt to salvage the accord. Trump tweeted the United States does not need john kerrys possibly illegal shadow diplomacy on the very badly negotiated iran deal. He is the one who created this mess in the fist place. Thats trump. Well be right back. Your brain changes as you get older. But prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. The name to remember. I want some more of it. I try so hard, i cant rise above it dont know what it is bout that little gals lovin. Applebees new bigger bolder grill combos. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. Just tell me what do you need for this to all go away . A resignation. I solved north and south korea. Why cant i solve us . Sorry, donald, its too late for that. I know you dont believe in climate change. But a storms acoming, baby. What do you think of that ever happening in your life . Welcome back to hardball that was of course saturday night live with Stormy Daniels playing herself, Stormy Daniels. And while she was the talk of late night, Rudy Giuliani also made plenty of noise this weekend, adding to the confusion surrounding the daniels controversy. Days after launching a blustery media campaign, Rudy Giuliani appeared on fox news to try and clarify what the president knew or did not know about the 130,000 in hush money paid to Stormy Daniels. Instead, he said he still doesnt have all the facts straight. Lets watch rudy. Did you misspeak or did people not interpret what you were saying . Were you talking about the facts or were you talking about the law, mr. Mayor . Im talking about the law and the conclusion. The facts im still learning. This is 1. 2 million documents. Ive been in the case for two weeks, virtually one day in comparison to other people. So im not an expert on the facts yet. I dont know what to say about jeanine pirro, who i used to think was really great in her investigations of cases involving spousal abuse were fantastic on that stuff. I dont know what she is doing. Anyway, the next day, Rudy Giuliani left open the possibility that Michael Cohen may have made hush payments to other women. This is an amazing acknowledgment. Did Michael Cohen make payments to other women for the president . I have no knowledge of that. But i would think if it were necessary, yes. But yes. Meanwhile, politico reports the president has been gripping not groping gripping to his associates that Rudy Giuliani has failed to shut down the Stormy Daniels hush money saga. Thats according to white house aides. The report adds that the president , quote, has expressed frustration that giulianis media appearances are raise mortgage questions than theyre answering. Aides, quote, expect the president to fire giuliani if his behavior doesnt change. For more im joined by sam stein, politics editor at the daily beast and mimi rocah who is a former federal prosecutor. Im going to go mimi on this. What is rudy up to . Is he up to something . Is he clever like a fox . Why did he say there may have been other cases where there is coverup money paid, hush money paid to women to cover up relations they had with this president . Why would they do that . I think the strategy is this. He is trying to say there is a slush fund of money that trump gave to cohen or authorized to cohen, and cohen used it to deal with problems as they came up, including women problems. And that would give trump some deniability about knowing what the payment was for. So i know you have this money. I know you use it to deal with problems, but i dont know exactly what kind of problems and i dont know if it really was during the campaign. So he is trying to distance trump from that payment. The problem with that is first of all, as we know politically and to the public, the story keeps changing. It looks really bad. There is a credibility problem. But also, under the law, there is a saying that you cant stick your head in the sand and therefore, you know, be free of whatever crime youre being charged with. He cant just say i didnt know what was going on, you know. I closed my eyes, stuck my head in the sand. Here its really plausible that he did know what was going on, either in this individual payment or in multiple payments. Well, if he always paid off women for past relationships as a norm, an m. O. As they say in the law, does that deny the fact that he did it in this case because he is facing an election before the American People the next week . Does it somehow he says i do this all the time. It has nothing to do with an election. Sam, i mean, the public, if you like trump, 47 would say yeah, he always does this. Hes had affairs with women. He always does pay off these people. Sure. Okay. Lets grant them this. Its an amazing defense. There is a logical hole here, though. Okay. That no one is pointing out. How does Michael Cohen know who to pay . At some point, trump has to say please take care of this woman. Well that. Threaten them. So everyone who comes with a threat gets paid . Thats a stupid system. That makes no sense logically. Obviously at some point in their weird concocted excuse, Michael Cohen has to be approached by trump. Trump has to couldnt just come up and say give me 50k . If thats the case, this is free money. Also, let me just say this. Rudy went out and said essentially i spoke first and found out the facts later. Sometimes you have to step back and wonder whats going on here. He literally he admitted he spoke without knowing. Maybe a gentleman is too nice the word of President Trump that is notorious at not paying bills. He just likes to delay the payment as long as possible and maybe get out of paying the thing and move on to other people to do business with, different other people. Other vendors. So in this case, why would he authorize that so easily without even a conversation . In fact, even saying yes. He claims he never said yes, pay the woman in question. Stormy daniels. And thats the kind of evidence that prosecutors and investigators are looking for right now and may already have if it exists through the search of cohens office. Theyre looking for communications and other kinds of documentation that show that despite what trump says now, he did indeed know. And also, if what giuliani is say, and its a big if, if its correct, if there are other payments to women, where did that come from . Cohen now, weve heard some conflicting stories. Cohen said he took 130,000, took a home finance loan which i dont know if thats going to turn out to be accurate or not, and there may be some possibility of fraud in that loan if he did indeed. Ive heard people going to the super bowl and home finance money. It cant really be a punishable crime, is it . Do people really go to jail because they use money to go to a super bowl that they were supposed to use to fix the garage or whatever . The weight room . I hadnt heard that. Not standing alone. But, you know, standing alone meaning if that was the only thing he did. But if its part of a bigger scheme and you lie on a loan application, and the point is if there are lots of other women being paid, where is that money coming from . 35k a month. A regular flow of trouble. Its a slush fund. He wont pay his legal bills. He is not paying off women. Ive watched politics for so many decades. Ive never really i know youre supposed to obey the finance rules, and you should. But ive never heard of them being treated as felonies. How did it become a felony because he didnt record properly the payment because it was a campaign . The jury couldnt decide. We get these cases. Isnt there a reasonable doubt there that it was not really for the campaign, that you can find one out of 12 jurors say . Giulianis point is this had nothing to do with the campaign. It was about protecting the reputation of the family. It was about making sure that melania wasnt hurt. But that is defied by this notion of both the timing of when it happened, the fact that it was so far removed from when the actual affair took place allegedly, and also the fact that there is a slush Fund Involving other women. These two things cant possibly coexist. Trump had to have known that a payment was being made. She would not how would Stormy Daniels have known to go to Michael Cohen, say this happened five years ago. Im not coming out. I know trump has no involvement of this, no knowledge of this, but i know you control the slush fund. You make a strong point. Alan dershowitz who was informally been counseling the president uwas asked about the mayors strategy on sunday. This moving fast. Here is what dershowitz said. Is this legal strategy that mr. Ju giuliani is performing here . No, i think this is a very bad week for the trump people. Im telling you, im sorry, mimi, i take that with a grain of salt. If we he were the lawyer defending it, he would be very good at it. Your thoughts . What is the worst thing that could happen to donald trump in this whole Stormy Daniels mess . He is embarrassed . Not really. Because he keeps getting mulligans from the cultural right, the religious right in this country and republicans generally. They dont seem to mind this happens all the time with him that doesnt seem to hurt him politically. So what is the legal threat to this president that might cause him to be indicted or face impeachment or what . Or is it just mullarkey, stuff, and its going to be a problem for Michael Cohen. He is going away for 20 years, but not the president . Whats interesting, chris, is part of why giuliani came out and their story keeps changing is in reaction to Michael Cohen also having come out a little bit and said, you know, this giulianis messing this up. He doesnt have this right. And then trump came out and said okay, giuliani doesnt have it right. Were going to fix this. So i think they are running scared from Michael Cohen because he knows the truth. Hes the other person in this whole scenario who knows the truth. And thats who maybe prosecutors are going to talk to. And theyre digging through the evidence. And, look, we dont know all the crimes right now because we dont know all the evidence. But it does look like there is potential criminal some kind of Campaign Finance there is potential bank fraud. I think we dont know yet about the source of the money. With cohen. But what about trump . You think trump might be guilty of something here, in this case . Well, its going to really depend on his level of knowledge. Yeah. And that will come from either Michael Cohen talking and through communications that investigators get in that search. I will say that the Southern District of new york in the brief that they filed in response to the tro that cohen filed, there was a whole section that was blacked out tro . Temporary restraining order, sorry. Back in the cohen case the Southern District filed a brief. There was a section blocked out about why they were able to get a search warrant. They werent storm troopers. They were doing their job after they had a warrant to go there. Exactly. By the way, i have to say to both of you, i think ben stillers performance of Michael Cohen is as good of alec baldwins of the president. It is so the swagger, the haunted look, the whole thing. He even looks like the guy. Thank you, sam stein. Thank you, mimi rocah. Up next, a guide for surviving the Trump Presidency. Jon meacham is coming here. His new book takes a look at how our country has survived even the most divisive eras how we got this far without trump. Now we have to figure out to get farther with him. This is hardball, where the action is. Called audible. You can listen to the stories you love while doing the things you love, outside. Everyones doing it shes binging. Theyre binging. And. So is he. So put on your headphones, turn on audible and binge better. My digestive system used to make me feel sluggish. But those days are over. Now, i take metamucil every day. It naturally traps and removes the waste that weighs me down. So i feel. Lighter. Try metamucil and begin to feel what lighter feels like. And try new metamucil fiber thins, made with 100 natural psyllium fiber. A greattasting and easy way to start your day. You can do it. We can do this. At fidelity, our online planning tools are clear and straightforward so you can plan for retirement while saving for the things you want to do today. Whoo we have to be strong. We have to take our country back. We have to run the country properly. Welcome back to hardball that was then candidate donald trump promising voters that he was going to take our country back. Well, the 2016 president ial campaign in the Trump Presidency have marked a divisive time in american politics, to the point where Washington Post columnist dan baltz asked readers, quote, does it bother anyone that President Trump has been caught lying . Does it bother anyone that this is not new . Does it bother anyone that the president has been shown to be a liar . But as president ial historian jon meacham writes, the soul of america the battle for our better angels, this isnt the first time america is going through a chaotic moyrd like this. He writes today the alienate ready being mobilized afresh by changing demography, by broadening conception of identity, and by an economy that prizes Information Age brains over manufacturing braun. We are frequently vulnerable to fear, bitterness and strife. The good news is we have come through such darkness before. Im joined by jon meacham, the author of so the soul of america the battle for our better angels and he is also a msnbc contributor. Trump is out there blowing the trump for tribal separation and division. Is that part of our history, that kind of thing . Sure, absolutely. In 1920s, the ku klux klan was reborn, had probably five million members in states ranging from oregon to indiana, colorado. And the entire argument, it was one to White Working Class and middle class folks saying immigrants were coming and taking their jobs. They were changing the culture, and we, the white man of america, had to stand against him, against this mode. There was a klan governor of georgia, a man nameded Clifford Walker who gave that speech calling for, get this, a wall of steel to keep people out. Yeah. And that was about the the definition of white was not including catholics, was not including jewish people, right . Absolutely. It was pretty protestant white notion, right . Absolutely. It was the forerunner to what was the thurman vote in 48, the wallace vote in 68. You know we forget, wallace got 13. 5 in 1968. Carried what, four states, didnt he . So trump, its hard to use the word apotheosis with trump in the same statement. But in many cases he is the culmination of a long historical journey that goes back to reconstruction and even earlier, obviously. We were a slave holding nation, for gods sake. The constitution takes cognizance of slavery itself. What i didnt know until you wrote it in this wonderful book, after the civil war, the confederates, the ones who lost the military battle of the civil war, they had a political plan which denied suffrage to blacks, denied them real citizenship, have on the record a policy of white supremacy, period. Did they even like that term . They called it white supremacy. The phrase lost cause was coin 1866. Not even a year after appomattox. The argumentth was by Alfred Edward pollard writes that the war is over. The shooting war is over, but this is now what he called a war of ideas. How is this different than trump today . Trump basically writes off African Americans by saying the first African American president was basically an illegal immigrant. He snuck in the country. He is really from kenya. He then went after all the people who come here to get jobs who are mexicans or Latin Americans as rapists and then he goes after the muslims, and a lot of them live here, theyre all terrorists. How was that different than the way it was done right after the civil war by the klan . I dont think it is. This is an ancient american strain, and its a big strain. The american soul as i think of it has room for dr. King, but it also has room for the klan. And any given era is determined by which side wins out. And its usually a struggle, as you know in your bones. The winning side is about 52 or 53 . Close call. Its always a close call. Its always a close call. Let me ask you we only have a couple minutes here. Back to bennett. In his profile, a profile now on senator john mccain who is currently fighting brain cancer, we know about that, the New York Times reports the current plan for his funeral is for Vice President pence to attend the service to be held in Washingtons National cathedral, but not President Trump with whom mr. Mccain has had a rocky relationship. Were getting the word he he is still alive. He is still with us, but he doesnt want trump there. Yeah. What does that say about our country . There is a picture of them together. What does it say about the president of the United States basically being persona non grata by a u. S. Senator . That were in a hobbessian state of nature right now. Trump during the campaign, remember, maligned senator mccains war record saying i prefer my heros who dont get shot down. Yeah. So i admire senator mccain for not being falsely hypocritical, even in death. He doesnt like the guy, doesnt want him there. Here is the great thing that jonathans piece in the other reporting seems to show. The two of the people who eulogize senator mccain in the fullness of time are the two men to whom he lost the presidency of the United States, and that tells you everything about a sense of country and of duty. These arent perfect guys. Theyre driven by appetite and ambition. But enough of the time they get it right that theyve led us to a better place. And thats what we all have to try to do right now. I must say about donald trump versus john mccain, john mccain was shot down over hanoi. He was bombing right in over the lake. Ive seen the statue that the communist built of him over there. And i dont think donald trump really risked actually being shot down over hanoi because he said his biggest challenge was to avoid sexually transmitted diseases. That was his vietnam, as he put it. Its really amazing to compare yourself to john mccain in terms of heroic terms. Jon meacham, you have done it again, a great book with so much history of what weve thought and valid. Up next, John Blankenship is surging ahead. Catch this in tomorrows West Virginia primary. It has republicans in panic mode. He is trumpier than trump, but even the president is actively campaigning against him he is too trump for trump. Are the republicans headed for a repeat of alabama, another loser . Youre watching hardball. People said it just made a mess until exxonmobil scientists put it to the test. They thought someday it could become fuel and power our cars wouldnt that be cool . And thats why exxonmobil scientists think its not small at all. Energy lives here. Your digestive system has billions of bacteria, but life can throw them off balance. Try align, the 1 doctor recommended probiotic. With a unique strain that realigns your system. Realign yourself, with align. Most people come to la with big dreams. We came with big appetites. With expedia, you could book a flight, hotel, car, and activity all in one place. I needthats whenvice foi remembered that my exex exboyfriend actually went to law school, so i called him. He didnt call me back if your exex exboyfriend isnt a lawyer, call legalzoom and well connect you with an attorney. Legalzoom. Where life meets legal. Welcome back to hardball. The party of triumph or the party of trump has another crisis on its hand, this times thanks to a candidate that has declared himself trumpier than trump. There are reports that don blankensh blankenship, a bombastic coal baron who has spent time in prison is surging ahead of tuesdays West Virginia senate primary, and a lastminute campaign is under way to try and stop the guy. The West Virginia race is the highest profile of three critical primaries tomorrow night with other races in ohio and indiana. In recent weeks blankenship has made headlines by launching trumpstyle personal attacks against Mitch Mcconnell and the family of his wife, transportation secretary elaine chao. Trump Mitch Mcconnell has created jobs for millions of china people. While doing so, mitch has gotten rich. In fact, his china family has given him tens of millions of dollars. The war to drain the swamp and create jobs for West Virginia people has begun. I will beat joe manchin and ditch cocaine mitch. This is how bad its gotten. Today trump weighed in on the race, tweeting Don Blankenship currently running for senate cant win the general election in your state, no way. Remember alabama . Blankenship fired back at a town hall today. Its really sad that the pressure on the president and the misinformation and the untruths that he has been given would cause him to suggest that you vote for two guys that have failed you, because i will not fail you. He also told west virginiians only he can outtrump trump. Lets listen to that. While West Virginia really loves trump, its his policies that they love. Im basically trumpier than trump when it comes to those policies, but im a much more mild mannered and much more in line in terms of the social issues in West Virginia than even President Trump. Lets bring in the hardball round table. Eugene robinson, the Washington Post and msnbc contributor. And sahil kapur National Reporter for bloomberg politics. What i see is a guy selling ice cream or the local ford dealership, the guy that really shouldnt be on television, but he owns the company so he does the ads. I thought that was the strangest ad. I dont know if he is going to win in West Virginia. Look, the whole thing is really strange. If youre too trumpy for trump, who are you . What are you . China people. He is trying to clean up china people. Its crazy. This is a threeway race. Theyre all close to 20. Exactly. Anything can happen in a threeway race. One person is surging, elena. I used to try to pick them all the time. Where they stood before the election and who was surging. It was real simple. And this guy is surging and theyre close which suggests he might well win the nomination to go against joe manchin. He has momentum. But manchin would beat him, wouldnt he . Hi, woe be in a better position than any of the other candidates. So why interest republicans doing what i think the democrats are poised to do sometimes, commit hare kari . Why do they want to do that . There. Is a bit of a murdersuicide going on between Patrick Morrissey and evan jenkins who are the two other republicans who are running. Theyve been beating up on each other so long. They ignored him. Straight up the middle. Souhail, they tried to put him down by ignoring his appropriateness for the office. Maybe the people of West Virginia want somebody who isnt appropriate for the office. With edont know what is going to happen, but republicans are clearly alarmed enough to sound the alarm and to urge west virginiians to come out and reject blankblankenship. The scorched earth almost burn it down attitude. Roy moore took advantage of it in alabama. Don blankenship is trying to claim that same thing there is no idealogical policy. Richard murdoch, indiana, who knocked off Richard Lugar got beaten by donnelly, a democrat. Lets see. Todd akin, the other rape candidate. What do you think . The two rape candidates. And then christine odonnell, the witch candidate who was not a witch. She is not a witch. And Sharron Angle who wanted Second Amendment remedies like dont shoot the policy you dont like there. Is a long history of republicans shooting themselves in the foot. The problem is that west virginiian s were told donald trump could never possibly win. Its hard for the man who defied that exact phenomenon to convince these same voters that kno no, you have to believe me many this time. With mine disasters . Exactly. Look, i think that would be a negative, right, in West Virginia. 28 or 29 guys were killed in the mine and he on the other hand it. And you got convicted for it. Went to jail. Went to the pen for that. However, if you accept that nationwide republicans and democrats, Donald Trumps floor is Something Like 35 . Yeah. Its not out of the realm of possibility that you could get 35 for a trumpier trump in West Virginia, right . Among republicans in West Virginia. Thats not that much of a stretch. You know, i think of d. C. Where we had marion barry who was extremely popular with poor people here. The more the government went after him, catching him with dope and everything, the more people that rallied to him. Maybe its one of the weird parallels when youre really down and out like the west virginiians always feel is down and out that they feel that theyve got get even with the boss. But here is the boss. Im sorry. I dont know. Theyre also hearing the most from blankenship. He has outspent both candidates on television. What do you think of the way he behaved there, that month tone . Bartels and james. He is trump without the charisma it seems. Who knows what works these days . Who knows what works on television. I dont know. There is an element of trump to his voters that is fun. This guy is not fun. Who wants to put up with him on television for six or 12 years . Maybe they dont want to watch television. Anyway, the round table is sticking with us. Up next, theyll tell me something i dont know. This is bills yard. And bill has a noweeds, not in my yard policy. But with scotts turf builder weed feed, bill has nothing to worry about. It kills weeds and greens grass, guaranteed. This is a scotts yard. And gryou wouldnt accepteed. From any one else. So why accept it from your allergy pills . Most pills dont finish the job because they dont relieve nasal congestion. Flonase allergy relief is different. Flonase relieves sneezing, itchy, watery eyes and a runny nose, plus nasal congestion, which pills dont. Flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. Most pills only block one. And 6 is greater than 1. Start your day with flonase for more complete allergy relief. Flonase. This changes everything. Well, tonight vanity hair is reporting longtime trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is in a difficult spot. The report which just broke in the last few minutes says cohen is consumed by lawyers since the raid of his office, and quotes cohen who says id die for my wife and my kids, and this is all ruining their lives. The report also notes that cohens friends told him that trump chiding giuliani was a signal that the president was looking out for cohen. Wow. Thats what he needs and i guess is always getting. Well be right back. Squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom and floss to set a good example. You fine tune the proposal, change the water jug so no one else has to, get home for dinner and feed the cat. You did a million things for your family today but speaking to pnc to help handle all your investments was a very important million and one. Pnc. Make today the day. But behr premium stain y can weather any weather. Overall 1 rated, weathers it all. Find our most advanced formula exclusively at the home depot. This ones below market price and has bluetooth. Same here, but this one has Leather Seats use the cars. Com app to compare price, features and value. My dai need my blood sugar to stay in control. I need to shave my a1c. Weekends are my time. I need an insulin that fits my schedule. Tresiba® ready announcer tresiba® is used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. Dont use tresiba® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Dont share needles or insulin pens. Dont reuse needles. The most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause dizziness, sweating, confusion, and headache. Check your blood sugar. Low blood sugar can be serious and may be lifethreatening. Injection site reactions may occur. Tell your prescriber about all medicines you take and all your medical conditions. Taking tzds with insulins, like tresiba®, may cause serious side effects like heart failure. Your insulin dose shouldnt be changed without asking your prescriber. Get medical help right away if you have trouble breathing, fast heartbeat, extreme drowsiness, swelling of your face, tongue or throat, dizziness, or confusion. Ask your Health Care Provider if youre tresiba® ready. Covered by most insurance and medicare plans. Tresiba® ready were back with the hardball round table. Gene, tell me something i dont know. The National Urban league with out with this annual state of America Black report. This year focuses on the dearth of africanamericans in hightech jobs, in Silicon Valley its 5 or less. Thats a challenge. We have another special election headache building for republicans in ohio there is a primary there to replace patty bury, and one of the candidates running believe would put in another southwestern pennsylvania situation in which she would be unelectable in august and theyre concerned about losing an election in a place where trump won by 10 points. Pattern is there. The biggest part of the story that nobody is talking about is trump has confirmed a record of 15 court of appeals judges who are dyed in the wool Federalist Society conservativists. They drastically want to restrict what kind of federal power courts can rolling back rights. Theyre in office now. Theyre in office now. All of them are in their 40s and 50s with lifetime appointments. Theyll be shaping the law for years to come. Thats powerful news. Thats great stuff. Well be right back. Into retirement. And market volatility isnt top of mind. Thats because they have a shield annuity from Brighthouse Financial, which allows them to take advantage of Growth Opportunities in up markets, while maintaining a level of protection in down markets. So theyre less concerned with market volatility and can focus more on the things theyre passionate about. Talk with your advisor about shield annuities from Brighthouse Financial established by metlife. Metastatic Breast Cancer is relentless, but im relentless too. Mbc doesnt take a day off, and neither will i. And i treat my mbc with new everyday verzenio the only one of its kind that can be taken every day. In fact, verzenio is a cdk4 6 inhibitor for postmenopausal women with hr , her2 mbc, approved, with hormonal therapy, as an everyday treatment for a relentless disease. Verzenio an ai is proven to help women have significantly more time without disease progression, and more than half of women saw their tumors shrink vs an ai. Diarrhea is common, may be severe, and may cause dehydration or infection. Before taking verzenio, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection. Verzenio may cause low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infection that can lead to death. Serious liver problems can occur. Symptoms may include tiredness, loss of appetite, stomach pain, and bleeding or bruising more easily than normal. Blood clots that can lead to death have also occurred. Talk to your doctor right away if you notice pain or swelling in your arms or legs, shortness of breath, chest pain or rapid breathing or heart rate. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include nausea, infections, low red and white blood cells and platelets, decreased appetite, headache, abdominal pain, tiredness, vomiting, and hair thinning or loss. Im relentless. And my doctor and i choose to treat my mbc with verzenio. Be relentless. Ask your doctor about everyday verzenio. Trump watch, monday may 7th, 2018. I think after several months of speculation about the trump role in the russian conspiracy, we are approaching the moment of truth, a reckoning of whether this president accepts constitutional rule or not. It will come when the Supreme Court declares that donald trump, like Richard Nixon and bill clinton before him must bow to a subpoena to deliver himself to give testimony under oath. I suspect this will be the moment of truth, as i said, the reckoning of what this whole matter has been about. Does this president respect rule of law or doesnt he . So all that happens or doesnt happen over the next several months will end up with this moment. If trump decides that he will get hurt if he testifies and therefore should not, we should all be vigilant, totally alert to what happens next. Well need all of us at that moment to decide what we think of the importance of adhering to the american constitution. More to the point, when we think of an elected official, in this case our highest official who refuses to adhere to the constitution, he took an oath under god to protect. Thats hardball for now. Thanks for being with us. All in with chris hayes starts right now. Tonight on all in im facing a situation with the president and all the other lawyers are, in which every lawyer in america thinks he would be a fool to testify. Ive got a client who wants to testify. Thats Rudy Giuliani defending the president. Im at the point where im learning, and i can only i cant prove that. I can just say its rumor. Tonight the say anything strategy. How do you separate fact and opinion . And why it just might work. Rudy never changes. Where is rudy . Plus, new details about what the president s other lawyer might have done for his client. Did Michael Cohen make payments to other women for the president . I have no knowledge of that