Her staff. Reporter yesterday during the White House BriefingSarah Huckabee sanders refused to acknowledge of that incident and said that the remarks were meant to cause discourse. Sarah sanders according to this report told the group, im sure this conversation is going to leak, too. Leak it did. Jonathan swan cited five sources saying that Sarah Sanders was more than the comment was leaked rather than it was said. And Mercedes Schlapp said i stand with kelly sadler. A source confirms she does stand with sadler. That aside, the comment, the White House Defense of it, takes us yet across another threshold of what used to be established lines of acceptable political behavior. David . I look at that axios piece and what they report in that art call is that Sarah Huckabee sanders is serious on a day that there was what the white house saw as good news, so much of the news cycle was consumed with talking about this, with the remark made behind closed doors. I want to ask you about another couple of remarks. Thats Rudy Giuliani, the president s personal attorney. He talked about a merger that the d. O. J. Opposed between at t and time warner. He also talked about the prospect of President Trump sitting down with the special counsel Robert Mueller. Our colleague Kelly Odonnell caught up with Rudy Giuliani. What did he have to say clarifying the comments me he made in those two interviews . Rudy giuliani is adamant that the president was out of the loop on Michael Cohens consulting deal with at t. Giuliani said he had no knowledge of it, and that the president did not intervene in the d. O. J. Decision to deny the at t and time warner merger. Of course the reason why that matters is because of of the suggestion that Michael Cohen in many ways improperly influenced the Administration Given that he accepted large sums of money from at t and other corporate clients. Now to the other point about this potential sitdown between the president and the special counsel, giuliani says that they were they thought just beginning, hoping to get a decision made on that by next week but that that was delayed by major news events like the return of those americans from north korea. At that point he says they have a couple of weeks to decide whether to submit for an interview, whether the president will sit down for that face to face with Robert Mueller and giuliani also described mueller as being very profl and quiessi quite responsive. He said the white house hopes to make a little fuss about the lengths of this russia probe given that on may 17th, that will mark one year since Robert Mueller was appointed. Jeff bennett at the white house for us. With me now is eugene scott and also nancy cook. She covers the white house for politico. Let me stick with this axios story for a moment. The White House Communications and press team has been beset by leaks. Several people in the room on friday told me they walk into meetings knowing they cant trust their own colleagues. In big meetings they feel inclined now to keep their mouths shut. Youve done reportings on this Communications Arm of the trump white house. Give us a sense of how the communication shop functions in the white house. The communication shop has been one of the most problematic offices in the white house. It has different people o who came over from the rnc, from the campaign and so theyve really been at war with themselves almost from the beginning. Its interesting that the communication shop, its a bit ironic they ended up constantly stepping on the president s own message. You would think this week they would want the attention to be on the three detainees or the upcoming summit and instead we spend a lot of time talking about the comment from a midlevel staff aid about john mccain. I dont understand what kind of environment youre working in when that would be acceptable and then can you come to work the next day saand still have a job. Thats all have i to say about it. Weve seen Nick Mulvaney defending what happened behind closed doors. Mercedes schlapp is saying she stands by comments leaked to axios and supports the aide who made these remarks. What do you make about this . It not surprising. We know the culture is shaped by who is at the top. During the campaign and since entering the white house weve heard President Trump repeatedly attack senator john mccain. I think he set a tone regarding what is acceptable in his white house. He also repeatedly told people that they should vote for him because he doubles down, he doesnt apologize, he punches back. And the reality is in the last few weeks weve seen john mccain really up some of his criticism of donald trump. And so im not surprised that people in trump world are feeling defensive and wanting to lash back in the same way that they did on the campaign that won the support of tens of millions of voters. Nancy cook, i want to move from the press baefing room into the cabinet room if i could, a subject of the president s ire. Ill read a little bit here from politi politico. Trumps advisers have been increasingly criticizing the Homeland Security chief in private with the president , arguing that she isnt doing enough to improve bored are security and noting that she wasnt a vocal trump supporter during the campaign. Whats your sense of where she stands in this administration, what it says about cabinet officials in the Trump Administration more generally . This is just another issue of back biting in the Trump Administration. Rather than in the communication shop, this is at the cabinet levels. There a number of trump advisers inside and outside the white house that keep stressing for the president that she worked for president george w. Bush and theyre casting her as someone who did not support trump during the campaign. And that has planted a seed that shes not a loyal soldier and has made the president suspicious whether shell carry out the promises made and hes started to lash out on her in private and questions her policy chops to carry out these campaign promises. John kelly sat down this week for a rare interview. Theres time of great frustration, mostly because of the stories i read about myself or others that i think the world of and wonder if its worth it to be subjected to that. But then i grow up and suck it up. Where do you think john kelly falls . At this point there have been reports his influence son the wane with the government. We havent heard the president speak favorably of him for a while and we havent heard him acknowledged as one of individuals that have influenced some of the most recent successes that the Trump Administration has heard. It will be interesting to see what happens moving forward if he can remain in good grace with the president. But the reality is it often seems as if people who have the president s favor risk not maintaining it and could lose it at any second depending on what happens. Nancy cook, i want to you weigh in as well. He works about a 13, 14hour day, heads home, has a glass of wine, maybe something stronger if his wife is out of town. Just a couple of things we learned from our interview with john kelly. Whats your sense of him in the white house . Hes definitely been marginalized. Hes not necessarily in all of the meetings he used to be in. There are some new advisers, like the new Economic Council director and john bolton, who have their own relationships with president and speak to the president directly. It not that theyre trying to cut kelly out but they can just go to the president directly. I would say secretary of state pompeo has that kind of relationship. So kelly is just not in the middle of things anymore. There are a bunch of outside advisers like Corey Lewandowski who worked on the campaign and kelly had tried to restrict their access to the oval office and restrict some of their influence and that has also fallen by the wayside. The question is who would want to step into that chief of staff role and thats part of the calculus of him still being there. Weve learned a lot about the contracts could give advice on what the president might do being, especially when it comes to regulation, when you look at the way he was selling himself and describing what he could do, how emblematics that . I think it very emwhen and then a bunch of companies and corporations started to panic where they didnt understand this new president and so wasnt just moen who worked on the campaign that really benefited from crumbs outsider status, basically and Michael Cohen ra really not the only one that falls in that category. Do you think things do you think were going to see more changes like that as a result of the scandal weve seen develop here over the last few days . I think we will see just how unkpon situations like this are. This is a bit unique he was working with companies on issues that he has no expertise in but had regarding how decisions are made, the influence that roo of as the details of these type of interactions become more blook. And exra attention on israel as the u. S. Embassy prepares to relocate. What it could mean for a region already explain im not a bigwig. Or a canythingo. But ive got an idea sir. Get domo. Itll connect us to everything thats going on in the company. Get it for jean whos always cold. For the sales team, it and the warehouse crew. Give us the data we need. In one place, anywhere we need it. Help us do our jobs better. With domo we can run this place together. Well thats thats your job i guess. Better than all the rest applebees new bigger bolder grill combos. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. Can be a big bad problem that you could spread to. Family members, including your grandchildren babies too young to be vaccinated against whooping cough are the most at risk for severe illness. But you can help prevent this. Talk to your doctor today about getting vaccinated against whooping cough. Because dangers dont just exist in fairytales. The kayak explore tool shows you the places you can fly on your budget. So you can be confident youre getting the most bang for your buck. Aloha. Kayak. Search one and done. Hey, im curious about your Social Security alerts. Oh just sign up online and well alert you if we find your Social Security number on any one of thousands of risky sites. That sounds super helpful. How much is it . Well, if you have a discover card, its free. No way yes way we just think its important for you to be in the know. All right hey. Ewww everything ok . Being in the know is very good. Yeah, it is. Ooo dont shake dont shake ahhh know if your Social Security number is found on risky sites. Free from discover. Mr. Elliot, whats your wiwifi . Ssword . Wifis ordinary. Basic. Do i look basic . Nope which is why i have xfinity xfi. Its super fast and you can control every device in the house. [ child offscreen ] hey lets basement. And thanks to these xfi pods, the signal reaches down here, too. So sophie, i have an xfi password, and its daditude. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Xfinity. The future of awesome. On monday mmm many around the world will watch at the u. S. Embassy moves from tel aviv to jerusalem. And later it will be observed for the day. Let me ask you what youll be watching for on monday. How important was this decision. We always celebrate it. We thought it should happen 70 years ago. We are glad and proud in welcoming the decision of President Trump to finally do it, not just talk about it. We are fully aware you have to remember, it shouldnt. It does in the even exclude the establishment of an american industry in the capital once they have a widespread negotiation and well have one. The u. S. Ambassador to israel said this to reporters yesterday, the israelis are obviously desire route of this and they made a statement saying the israeli are happy about this. For the president , it a matter of consistency but it also kind of an execution of congress that bypassed many years ago. It doesnt change frig dramatically immediately but it projects to israeli and also our neighbors that america is behind normalization of the whole relation. Stop nurturing the myth of the conflict. Start to deal and try to solve them. This was one of them and it is now sold. The kbs said in the long run we are convinced this decision creates an opportunity, a plorp to and were fairly opt migsic m this statement will ultimately create greater stability than less. Do you agree with him . Much better in english than i am so he put it in a moore kind of eloquent way. Thats basically the same. I fully agree. When you were having negotiations over peace . How big an issue was it . If it had been of course it secondary to the real issue, which are and refugees, jerusalem, and so but as an expression of the american reading of reality, readiness to stand for objective kind of observation and for direct dealing with problems, it is a good signal and its good to see american president during his Campaign Something and then move on to executing it has a certain power and magic, the boldness to do what you believe. And the region has been described as a tinder box, that a lot is happening in the middle east outside of israel. Whats your sense of the administrations strategy toward the middle east . In other words, how worried should they be about all thats happening in iran, in saudi arabia with syria. Do you think they have a cohesive, unified straight ji and they tackle the common challenges, which are first of all the muslim radical and secondly to put corn project on energy, water communication, transportation which are legitimately needed. Israeli is the member of the community of nations in the region. The only weak point is that the other leaders are expecting that israel will make certain steps forward with the palestinians. Not because they have a love aware with the palestinian and you do not sit civil in their o own. Thats the weak poiweek poinf this platform. And we seen the relationship with the saudis get stronger in theneck few months. I dont think that its and now you think the potential is very high. We would tend to say that to form the palestinian, we can only give them something, which is not exact accurate but thats the perception of israel. But as a whole, we have a lot to get. The very legitimatization of israel in the region is a major step towards normalization. You have to bare in mind you already 40 andprobably syria would be the last one might take another clesh yes, another did. A few weeks back i said down with madeline allal briep and os o and after that trip president clinton decided in the roo maining money you write camp david did delineate the terms of any future peace rarngments when it. How much has cleared or evolved since as to what agreement was pafs t and it something we can never accept. So i think it change a lot. Ptb ptbut and the gulf state, egypt and jordan, it mains it someone did its mott clear whether we will have the plet call will and drm nation too go forward a few kwp company but twhach never to lose sight of the opportunity and the direction it dick taste on our immediate step. We should focus on the settlement blocks which include 80 of settlers and our security and republican than did . He said we have to understand. Neff do something that s cous c and start to take the needed steps to separate, to disengage, i call it painful divorce. From not the love aware from the palestinian stays ant witness there you go, quoting american poet. Thats hcoming up. Alright, i brought in new max protein. To give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you dont. Ill take that. [cheers] 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. New ensure max protein. In two great flavors. New ensure max protein. Im jimmy, this is my definition of fresh since 1983. He eats a bowl of hammers at every meal he holds your house in the palm of his hand hes your home and auto man big jim, hes got you covered great big jim, there aint no other so, this is covered, right . Yes, maam. Take care of it for you right now. Giddyup hi this is jamie. We need some help. This week senator john mccain called on his colleagues to jeebt president tru to reject President Trumps pick gina haspel. We should see what effect that statement has on her nomination as weve been discussing a white house aide dismissed, telling her colleagues behind closed doors, hes dying anyway. I want to go to ken delaney who writes about democrats and writes about how close they are to losing the battle against the nomination. Senator mccain reported on his stance opinion torture. One site said she ran a site with waterboarding. She didnt answer specific questions about what he assad but she repeatedly avoided pointed questions from democrats about whether she felt the cias actions at the time were immoral or roaded meshs standing in the world. Thats really important because what the cia did after 911 was a dramatic departure that america does not torture. Whether it works or not we dont do it because its unamerican. And there she was essentially following orders. If shes confirmed, it will deal a blow to those who want to have a moral reckoning for kris use high sense is she didnt answer it in close requests why didnt she do it, do you think . Why wouldnt see declare unequivocally torture is immoral . One is were a nation of laws, not a nation of fields. Whether we look and we had a national kfga a gap between the two sides. Now of course were in the trump era. That gap has nothing but widened. I think what were looking at here is essentially probably a double standard in some fashion. And by that i mean, look, another fact is that john brennan, the previous director, was confirmed in 2013. He was more senior during the running of this program, far more senior than gina haspel was. Somehow widen and mccain found it in their hearts to conform him. And i dont believe it is, then it kind of and again whether we look it or not, this program authorized by department of justice. We given and how many times more times or different ways she could say that but again understanding were never going to close this gap. I want to pull up piece that was the new york city cipher. This is something that the cia has customarily been doing in do you agree with that, that when you look at the. I gra with that. Quite frankly, there was a lot of feeling in the sense that this certainly. We cant relive in the context of todaywe have to go back to haas 1 i do agree. That program shouldnt have been in og and i would argue that its important she learned the agency has learned from experience and i think learn forward, moving further into the futu future, the provision and i think will be going forward. Im going to put up the while count ands starte e and he said the defet to you utter unwillingness to wrok on i thin what steve vadic toe you this. And mike made a fair point about john brennan. John brennan was the executive director of the agency. He was making the change on type and he said he was opposed. A is what her clinics say. She was running a black sight, where the logistics tns. American standing in pfrp and being acknowledged that it didnt erode america stand, in rn. Quite quickly i saw you shaking nor head about enthusiasm. Whats your response to that . I disagree with that. Ive heard in a fitch again fwn fchbl if the previous administration, had nominated gina haspel, we wouldnt be having this conversation, i dont believe. Well, she was the Deputy Director of the cia. She didnt keep her nobody because of this reason ooj, the very and they decide, frch. They brought him be use nch. So i go back to this i do believe and squchl so often that were never going to get that gap closed. But do i believe theres a double standard here. Ken, thank you very much. I really commend his recent poise. And a look at the contingency plans work on as ter. Hijacking earths Geothermal Energy supply. Phase 1. Choosing the right drill bit. As long as evil villains reveal their plans, you can count on geico saving folks money. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. Unstop right there im about to pop a cap of mmm fresh in that washer. With unstopables inwash scent boosters by downy. Ah, its so fresh. And its going to last from wash to. Wear for up to 12 weeks. Unstopables by downy. Or a canythingo. But ive got an idea sir. Get domo. Itll connect us to everything thats going on in the company. Get it for jean whos always cold. For the sales team, it and the warehouse crew. Give us the data we need. In one place, anywhere we need it. Help us do our jobs better. With domo we can run this place together. Well thats thats your job i guess. This week mike pence called for an end to the russia investigation. And a short time ago Rudy Giuliani told nb the special counsels interview of the president is unlikely to happen soon. He said the president is busy preparing for talks to north korea. He also suggested that muellers team indicated it would not attempt to indict the president. Meanwhile lawmakers on capitol hill are pushing ahead with plan b to protect muellers investigations, focus sing in there will be a request for us to audit the Financial Resources of this investigation. There are some 3 million plus spent or potentially not spent in a correct manner whoop we believe we need to look at it a little bit closer. Joining me, former cia analyst and spobs person pore my sense is from previous reporting this has been a team that hasnt had a huge budget and when you look at it, hasnt spt a. In this case its the exact opposite the the youdy and those who have some kind of jove sight over his investigation, that we have sean from republican laumts from the start. You take mark meadows and couple him from what weve seen from devin do andin pchbl. He knows that the department of justice of cannot han in contempt. He has even threatened imto protect the investigation, and make sure it is on track. Quite the opposite, david. I want to put up the chart here. Looking at the payments made to him by very orpgss, know vafis he results on u. S. Heck matters, how pun it. Of 00 pins then for insides into standing and it solely owned and controlled by americans. Reports that kkt and i want to get a sense of where this puts a visavis russia. But what with vee wernd her about rumor might be taking. I was reading counsels team. The question here were was it just large corporations pstieksr like Michael Cohen, someone with access and into for more going on here . Pb no voltage course, a large did you claiming the paint and ma meeting prp frnl. This company that is connected to this russian oligarch, even though the country says it is wholly american owned, there some dook, in i dont know any yeeand we knew an administration that came in with some rather unorthodoxed ideas, what about it wanted to do with its policy against run or personal k street the inevident pi. Thats ned price, one of our analysts here on msnbc. And rncht kelly, whoing this hi leaving a career to follow a calling takes courage. A personalized Financial Strategy can give you confidence to take the next step. Hi guys aw yeah see how access to j. P. Morgan investment expertise can help you. Chase. Make more of whats yours. Hello. Give me an hour in tanning room 3. Cheers chase. Thats confident. 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Help us do our jobs better. With domo we can run this place together. Well thats thats your job i guess. Well this week the cover of Time Magazine addresses the me too movement by asking can bad men be changed. Its a difficult question to answer but the magazine goes on to explore why it will never be the right time for famous sexual pretty fors to make their comebacks. As many have fallen, a new chorus is debrisigrowing louder. He was acquitted of child pornography charges in chicago in 2008 and most recently accused of sexual coercion and allegedly running a sex cult. He adamantly denies those allegatio allegations. Last Night Protests marched outside his concert demanding it be canceled. The protests come up after action against him. Theyre aligning with the hashtag mute r. Kelly. Yesterday he apple music and pandora. Joining us now is the host of entertainment weekly. Let mow start with you. Help me with the history. These allegations have gone back many years. Nef gone back to 2002, the late 90s, he married her when she was under age. She falsified her age claiming she was 18. Major was quickly annulled. Thats the first instance. Fastforward to 2002 when i interviewed hill. I took you back to the scene. Were in the middle of the white castle in times square. Hes sobbing saying people are coming after him. Less than a week later a tape featuring him allegedly, in having a sexual relationship with an underage girl becomes public record. It becomes the most bootlegged video of the year floated around. He eventually faces trial, acquitted in 2008. The girl featured in the tape says its not her. She never comes forward and does not agree to testify. R. Kellys defense claims his face was cgied on to somebody elses body. Now you fastforward and were still talking about him. Hes involved in the sex cult, as you mentioned before. And this is an ongoing problem. He has faced no theres been no hes not faced any accountability for what hes done. Youre trying to make that happen. To make him face some accountability. What are the goals of the campaign that youve mounted . Mute r. Kelly has two simple goals, to demand accountability for the over two decades of sexually predatory behavior involving disadvantaged young black girls and young women, and second, to send a large message to men in power that they will no longer be able to use their power and influence to buy themselves out of accountability. Lets put up an im an here of the celebrities who have spoken out against him. Look what happened last night. Thousands of people buying tickets. What explains that cultural phenomenon do you think . The ability of people who like his music to see past grievous allegations. People have been able to separate the man from the allegations. They still enjoy his music. He has not been convicted of anything. They may not like what hes allegedly done but they like his music. He has not been a crossover act for many years. He has not had a top 40 single for over a decade. His audience is primarily black. Black women are supporting this man. I want to you weigh in on that as well. Hes victimized black women allegedly here and they havent come forward here. A lot of them havent pressed charges. Well, theres two things here. Largest supporters of the mute r. Kelly movement from the National Organizers are black women. I dynamic of not protecting s l sexually abused women has gone back to inequity. Its something you dont talk about. Something you dont discuss. Its something that we shame the girls who are sexual aabused because at the end of the day, we have to protect our black men against white supremacy, because we know what happens when they go into the legal system. Unfortunately, we have been taught through generation of sexual abuse and that you just dont talk about it. Bureau the bureau of justice statistics released date tha th 60 of black women experienced violent sexual atault before the age of 18. A lot of those women in the concert are themselves victims. I want you to respond to that. There was this cascade of allegations and stories that came out about many men. Are you seeing that is that right to change when things are made against black men by black women. I think black women are finally stateofthearting to fe starting to feel like its okay to tell their stories. His store icily that has not been the case. Uncle was the molester or the pat f passer. Can you imagine being a black women in the 80s and speaking out against bill cosby. That would have been a suicide mission. Thats something you just did not do. So, now youre starting to see a shift. But, again, baby steps in the black community. Its definitely getting better, but, again, women are just getting comfortable with saying i too was victimized. Thank you. Coming up in the next hour. 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Priority you the first survivor of ais out there. Sease and the Alzheimers Association is going to make it happen. But we wont get there without you. Visit alz. Org to join the fight. That does it for me. Im david gura. You can join me tomorrow at 2 00 p. M. Great interview. Have a very good afternoon. See you tomorrow. Im richard at msnbc headquarters. Walking it back. Rudy giuliani attempts to clean up a controversial claim that President Trump intervened in the at t time warner merger decision, plugging the leaks, new reporting that Sarah Huckabee sanders criticized her press team for leaking that