Dragged into it. Also, across the potomac, Paul Manaforts lawyers presenting their side right now. New details on just how theyre going to defend the president s former campaign chairman. Two words, rick gates. Will they try to pin it all on him . Well, this morning, the war of words between President Trump and former white house staffer Omarosa Manigaultnewman has taken an even uglier turn, with the president taking off the gloves in a new tweet just out this morning. Quote, when you give a crazed, crying, lowlife a break, and give her a job at the white house, i guess it just didnt work out. Good work by general kelly for quickly firing that dog. Manigaultnewman is continuing her scorched earth media tour, releasing what she says is another secretly recorded a eed tape. Well have more in a moment. First, Geoff Bennett is at the white house. Youve been reporting on this throughout the morning, geoff. You just spoke with top adviser Kellyanne Conway. You have new details on what is turning into a culture war here. Reporter it really is. In the last two weeks, President Trump has attacked congresswoman Maxine Waters as being low iq. Hes called lebron james, the nba player and philanthropist, dumb. Now, comparing omarosa to a dog. This tape created during the production of the apprentice, he is alleged to have used the n word. Hes tweeted about omarosa over ten times since yesterday. Why . Apparently, omarosa is bringing a gun to a knife fight. She keeps providing evidence to back up at least some of the claims in the book, including this new tape shes provided to cbs, where you hear Trump Campaign advisers back in 2016, talking about this alleged tape, and how to handle it. You hear Katrina Pierson, the former Trump Campaign spokeswoman saying, quote, he said it, he said it, hes embarrassed by it. In the last half hour or so, i spoke with Kellyanne Conway about all of this. Asked her about the tape. Also about whether it is appropriate for the president to call anyone, a woman, a dog. Take a look. Is it appropriate for the president to call a woman a dog . It is inappropriate for someone to say theyve never heard the president use certain words and never tell us they have concern about it, then say it later on. I didnt they said you told President Trump about the tape. Did you talk to him about it during the campaign . It is my job to tell the president any innuendo, what is fact or fiction. Did you hear that rumor . Hey, hey. Pierson is heard on the tape saying he said it. Shes heard saying he said it. Anything on why would the president be ive worked alongside donald trump for two straight years and never heard him say anything like that. Reporter Kellyanne Conway said she briefed now President Trump during the campaign about the rumors of the tape. She says that was her job. Weve reached out to mgm studios, mark burnett productions, which owned the apprenti apprentice, and they said they wont release unaired material citing contractual obligations. Were at the mercy of omarosa and her timeline of releasing the tapes she has. This bitter back and forth raising much larger questions. Geoff bennett working the beat today. Thank you so much for that reporting. Reporter sure. And the new interview with Kellyanne Conway. I want to bring in my fantastic panel. Political analyst Michael Steele. With me for the hour, Washington ExaminerWhite House Correspondent gabby. And New York Times political reporter ken vogel. Thanks to all of you for being here. Let me read the tweet one more time, then i want your reaction, michael. Okay. President trump calling omarosa a dog, saying when you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the white house, i guess it just doesnt work out. Good work by general kelly for quickly firing that dog. The president has referred to mitt romney and other people as a dog, but what does it mean when he uses it in this context . It means a lot because it touches on so many things that are stereotypes throughout history, when youre talking about a black female, and using that kind of language. You know, put it up there with referring to Maxine Waters as dumb and so forth. Again, it is how the president talks. It is not something we necessarily should accept from the president. I think we really have to start drawing some lines as a public and as american citizens about the behavior of this president and this white house. Draw the lines. Republicans dont seem to be speaking out forcefully. Thats just it. Youre not going to see them say anything. Thats so disappointing. So frustrating. Itll be the American People at the ballot boxes this fall who will begin to lay down their indictment of what they think has transpired with this administration so far. Omarosa notwithstanding, it goes beyond her, in many respects. Even in this particular case with her, i find it ironic with this new release, you know, with the aides talking about this tape. We have her on tape saying the tape didnt exist. Uhhuh. There is a credibility issue there. No doubt about that. This language takes it to a personal level for the president. When i first read that tweet, i figured out what the president was doing. He couldnt say what he really wanted to say. Using the b word in that tweet. This was his way to substitute. You can see him in the moment typing that, probably deleting the b word and typing in dog. Thats how he really felt about it. It is no excuse for it. You talk about the broader language that weve seen from the president. Lets take a quick look back at some of the other examples of this. Some of the other things that President Trump has said. Against congressman wilson, hes used very disparaging language against her. Called Maxine Waters a low iq individual. He said democrats want immigrants to invest our country. Of course, we all remember the shole countries comment from earlier this year. Gabby, some people say, you know what, the media is making too much of this back and forth, getting caught up in the spectacle, but there are real questions here that need to be answered. Yeah. I mean, he has a pattern of saying disparaging and inappropriate things, and i think thats one of the reasons why were even spending time talking about the possibility that there is a tape that exists of him using the n word. Of course, we did hear omarosa on that tape denying there ever was. We heard from several people inside the Trump Campaign in 2016 who said that they were involved in conversations about the possibility of a tape, and that she thur roroughly denied back then. Although it is important to have a discussion about the phrases and terms President Trump and using and has used in the past, it is important to have a conversation about her credibility and whether the claims are true. Congresswoman frederica wilson, who has been attacked by the president and his chief of staff for being wacky, having a low iq, spoke out earlier today on cnn. Lashed out at this latest term he used to describe omarosa. Take a listen to what she had to say. A dog. How dare he. He has taken this country to its knees. The president of the United States is calling a woman of color a dog. How dare he. How dare he call anyone a dog. The significance of the fact you have other voices now, the congresswoman weighing in on this. Yeah. It certainly shows that there is a robust resistance of people calling him out. Not so much with the republicans. Even less so with his base and with voters who were well aware of this type of language, even arguably worse things he said about all women. The access Hollywood Tape in particular. Voters, particularly, again, and his base were willing to turn the other cheek. The question is, after two full years of this, will their distaste for him be more motivating to get him to go out to the polls and vote for democrats, or will they distance their republican representative or their republican candidate from donald trump . Weve seen all manners of approaches to that. Folks in republican districts dont see the need, necessarily, to do that. Folks in swing districts do see him as a liability. Michael, you talked about the credibility issue. Last night, we had Katrina Pierson coming out and saying, look, omarosa wants to drag me into this, say i had a discussion about the n word tape on the apprentice. Thats just not the case. She disputed it. Yet, today, omarosa had a tape of Katrina Pierson discussing the tape. Take a listen. I said, well, sir, can you think of anytime that this might have happened and he said no. Well, thats not true. He goes, how do you think i should handle it, and i told him exactly what you just said, omarosa, which is, well, it depends on what scenario youre talking about. And he said, well, why dont you just go ahead and put it to bed. He said he said it. No, he said it. Katrina pierson saying he said it and was embarrassed. That is despite telling omarosa she never had the conversation. The significance of the recordings . It shows the den of liars and thieves they are. Theyre their own investatifestf corruption and crazy. Why was omarosa recording these conversations in the first place . That was during the campaign, to be clear. She was clearly setting this up for this moment. She was setting this up to drop a dime on her colleagues and people she was working with on the campaign from the very beginning. All of this, you know, fake and phony, you know, oh, my god realization, this was a na narrative she had been scripting. She probably set these people up in these conversations in a way that sort of reveals now her ultimate intent was to show them up in some kind of way. People are getting caught in the lies. Here we are. We should say nbc news has not confirmed the authenticity of the latest recording, but omarosa saying, there are more recordings, indeed. Thanks, guys, for starting us off. Strong conversation. Handing it over now, Paul Manaforts defense finally getting the case. Will manafort take the stand . How soon will the president s former Campaign Manager learn his fate . Thats when we come right back. but i am a simple farmer. My life is here. [telephone ring] ahoyhoy. Alexander graham bell here. 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After that will come closing arguments before the jury gets the case. Lets start in virginia where Paul Manaforts lawyers are beginning their defense. Right now, Julia Ainsley is outside the courthouse. There has been a little development, a delay this morning. What do you know . Reporter yeah, thats right, kristen. There is a delay. We expected to get started at 9 30 this morning. They still havent let the public into the courtroom, as both sides are talking to the judge about an issue that is under seal. It is something they both filed motions on yesterday. It could be a holdover from what we saw friday, when the judge took a three and a half hour recess and seemed to go talk to the jury during that time. It could be they are making a case that a juror has been spoken to or talking about the case, which theyre supposed to be independent minded. It has to get through this, kristen, before the defense can move on. Were not sure if theyre going to bring evidence or witnesses. They really dont have to. Thats up to the prosecution to carry that burden to prove that Paul Manafort is guilty. Of course, if we do hear from the defense, were going to expect that they will try to tear apart the credibility of rick gates. Thats manaforts former business associate who testified here. They wanted to pull him apart, show he had a secret life, that he embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars from Paul Manafort, and that it is really him who should be on trial here. And Paul Manafort was more removed from a lot of the financial crimes than the prosecution is making it out to be. We can expect that once we get going, kristen. It is not clear at this point what this issue is or when itll be resolved. Another mystery inside that courtroom. If you get more information, let us know. Julia ainsley, fantastic reporting, as always. With us is joiyce vance, msnbc contributor. With me, gabby, a Washington Examiner writer, along with vogel. Thank you for sticking around. Do you read anything broader into the delay, or does this happen when you have a new day in court . This isnt something that just happens. Theres been a lot of speculation, that the topic of the sealed motion is some sort of a problem with the jury. The judge will have a few options here. If it is a very limited sort of interference with the jury, maybe somebody saw one news article or read a headline, he could possibly cure that by having a conversation with the jurors, instructing them to ignore that sort of a problem. If it is a more significant problem, the judge still have a pretty good tool in his tool kit. He has alternate jurors. He could dismiss a juror with whom there was a problem and replace them with one of the alternate jurors. If there is significant argument going on in this area, the defense may be arguing that the entire jury pool has been tainted by whatever happened and asking for a mistrial. The important issue for the judge to resolve will be whether any interference that happened was so significant, that if manafort is convicted, it could cause an appelet court to come in. This is a continuation, to come extent, of what happened on friday, when we were all wondering if there was a significant issue with the jurors. Thats right. It is important to say that were all speculating, but these are educated guesses being made on the basis of some activity by the judge and the parties. Well have to see. Issues, significant issues with juries, are rare. Increasingly in an era of social media and ready news availability, problems can happen. The judge is doing the right thing, addressing it now, so that if there is a problem, he can try to cure it with instructions or replacement, rather than having an issue dog behind any conviction the prosecution could obtain and impair its viability on appeal. Joyce, once this does get underway, what are you anticipating from the defense . There has been a lot of speculation that the defense was just going to rest. Is there any expectation that is now going to happen, or do you expect them to call witnesses to the stand . Are they going to try to resolve their entire case around rick gates . Everybody has a chrrystal ba on this issue. Im not sure mine is any better than anyone elses. I would not look to see manafort take the witness stand. Itd be dangerous. He could try to impair rick gates credibility. This he could try to bolster his own with character witnesses. Could put on folks who suggests his financial situation was so secure, the allegations of fraud are ludicrous. Well have to wait and see. Resting without putting on a case doesnt seem to be a strategy that gets him across the finish line here. For him, the finish line is only convincing one juror to vote against conviction, so the jury hangs. He doesnt need an outright acquittal to have success. Ken, what are you going to be watching for once the trial resumes, presuming it does . The resolution of this issue with the jury, i mean, what joyce is laying out here, is really the defenses bestcase scenario. Thats what theyre hoping for, something that could give them the potential to get a hung jury, or if there is a conviction, to have grounds for an appeal. You have some folks in m manaforts camp who emotionally want him to testify, because they think hed be the best person, making the case that rick gates is responsible here, not haim for the financial crimes, but it presents a lot of problems. Both exposing him to questions from muellers team in this case, and then also opening the door for potential more ammunition for another case that is coming up next month in the d. C. Circuit on some of these financial issues, but also on registered foreign lobbying. Ken and gabby, stick around. Joyce vance, thanks so much for all your insights. Really appreciate it. First, james comey, then andrew mccain, and now peter strzok is the latest fbi official with special counsel ties to lose his job. Are the firings at the fbi complete . Does strzok do lasting damage to Robert Muellers investigation . Well take a look when we come right back. Tech at safelite autoglass, we really pride ourselves on making it easy for you to get your windshield fixed. With safelite, you can see exactly when well be there. Saving you time for what you love most. Kids whoa kids vo safelite repair, safelite replace it was always our singular focus, a distinct determination. To do whatever it takes, use every possible resource. To fight cancer. And never lose sight of the patients were fighting for. Our Cancer Treatment specialists share the same vision. Experts from all over the world, working closely together to deliver truly personalized cancer care. Specialists focused on treating cancer. Using advanced technologies. And more precise treatments than before. 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A suspect is in custody after a suspected terror attack near parliament. Police say a speeding car crashed into a group of cyclists and pedestrians during the morning rush hour. Three people were hurt, but theyre all expected to survive. Now, this happened at the same location as an attack in march of last year that killed five people. Another breaking story out of europe, at least 22 people are dead in italy after a highway bridge collapsed during a massive storm. It happened on the country east northwestern coast, south of milan. The bridge fell over part of the city, and more people may be dead. Nbc news Foreign Correspondent matt bradley is in london. What do we know about this collapse . Reporter one of the things officials are worried about, kristen, is this bridge didnt just span over a body of water. It was over an industrial area. People working below the bridge will also be among the dead and injured. So as you mentioned, the death toll, the 22 people dead, that is expected to rise. Investigators are peeling away the layers of the bridge. Theyre attempting to rescue survivors from really the dozens of cars that were seen falling. Youre looking at some of this dramatic video. Among the potential victims may be some of the rescue workers. As you can see, the images are showing rescue workers desperately trying to extract people from cars and buildings crushed beneath this bridge. It is incredibly dangerous work. Alongside the human cost, the political fallout is likely to be huge. Poor infrastructure has been a topic in elections as it is in the United States. Some politicians are trading blame for the tragedy, even as the dust is settling. Matt bradley, thank you for that report. Appreciate it. Well continue to stay in tuch wi touch with you on the breaking news. After peter strzok was fired by the fbi, there is fallout. The veteran was removed from the russia investigation last year after it was discovered hed criticized donald trump in Text Messages to a fellow agent he was having an affair with. Something he spoke about for hours during a fiery congressional hearing. Let me be clear, unequivocally and under oath, not once in my 26 years of defending our nation did my personal opinions impact any official action i took. If you want to represent what you said accurately, im happy to answer the question, but i dont appreciate what was originally said being changed. I dont give a damn what you appreciate, agent strzok. Did you look innocent into your wifes eyes and lie to her about mr. Chairman, it is outrageo outrageous. Shame on you. Shame on you. There were fireworks, thats for sure. The office that handles disciplinary matters inside the fbi recommend strzok will suspended, but the decision was ov overruled. Joining me is the former assistant of the fbi and the president of the Law EnforcementLegal Defense fund. Gabby and ken are here, as well. Ron, ill start with you. Because it wasnt clear that peter strzok had to be fired, can you explain specifically why he was . Was that the right move . Well, the fbi uses what is akin to sentencing guidelines. All agents are on notice of what conduct or misconduct leads to a violation. Theyre aware of what the potential penalty range is for acts of misconduct. They will conduct what is akin to a presentencing report that you have in courtrooms, to say here is the agents position. Here was the alleged offense. Heres the gravity of what the misconduct was. I think in this case, one of those factors, these are known as the douglas factors, and one of the factors to me stands out. What was the harm to the fbis reputation . Here, the harm, i think, is incalculable. A Senior Executive who certainly should know better, wrapped within an adulterous affair. None of this is good for the fbi. Writ large, for retired folks like me. I think that harm, i think, gave the Deputy Director plenty of latitude to say, termination. And gave President Trump fodder on a daily basis. He tweeted about him, the fact that he had delegitimized the fbi. To that extent, the president s tweets are accurate in the minds of many in the public. Great damage has been done. Peter strzok paid the price for it. I want to play you a sound bite from the attorney for peter strzok, sort of looking forward, what his potential options are now. Get your reaction on the other side. Why was peter strzok fired . I dont think that you can rationally reach any conclusion, other than it was political. When are we going to hear directly from there strzok . Is he going to speak out publicly in the way that james comey did . Pete is considering his options. Do you expect him to speak out . Could he take legal action of his own . Kristen, he could. He can appeal. He can sue. He can make some claims against the government and the fbi for the termination. I dont think hes going to get very far, to be perfectly honest with you. Ive got to tell you, listening to ron, who is a very experienced former fbi agent, sort of describe the harm to the fbi, im struck by that. That makes an impression on me because i feel the same way. Look, when i was with the u. S. Attorneys office, the department of justice, when ron was with the fbi, the fact of the matter, kristen, is we were held to a higher standard. Thats all there is to it. We were expected to operate above and beyond the call of duty. Integrity was an integral, central part of our role, of our service to the United States government. I agree with chris wray and the assistant directors decision. Following up, the president tweeted about ten times just in recent days on this topic, including about the attorneygeneral. They were all in on it. Clear Hillary Clinton framed donald trump for things he didnt do. On fox and friends, if we had a real attorney genergeneral, witch hunt never would have started. I was clarify, the ten tweets are just from today. What are the implications for the attorneygeneral here . Look, let me pin it a little bit here. I do draw a distinction here. I dont mind, and certainly, the president has every single right to be critical and to oversee his attorneygeneral and the attorneygenerals office. I mean, he is the president. The attorneygeneral operates at his pleasure, in most respects. But i dont like this daily tweeting, criticizing and condemning and name calling the attorneygeneral of the United States. I dont think thats good for the department of justice. I dont think it is good, frankly, for the president. I dont think it is good for the cause of justice. Ron, of course, this all takes place against the backdrop of the russia investigation. Take a look at this new poll out today. It was pretty eyebrow raising, if you look at the numbers. You essentially have the majority of people, 66 , saying Robert Mueller should complete his investigation before novembers congressional elections. What is the broader impact on the mueller investigation, and does he care . Is he listening to this type of timeline or those polls . I say that bob mueller has thick windows, right . Bob mueller is not deaf to whats going on in the American Public and the american conversation. I think he has to hear and sense a sense of urgency. That is the bob mueller i actually know. There was always a sense of urgency with all our investigations, but he has to hear this. Were impatient. We live in a 24 7 news cycle. We all want to know. We all want to know right now. The results of everything. We want to know it immediately. I think that hes working with a sense of urgency. I think there is a lot that bob mueller has and knows that we dont. Gabby, just very quickly, weve seen the president intensify his ait cttacks again the special counsel, and this development gives him more ammunition. Hes used the firing of peter strzok to excscalate the criticm of the mueller probe. It may play into the decision of whether hell hit with mueller eventually. That seems to be the last component before this investigation is wrapped up. We dont have an answer, as to whether or not itll happen. Great point. Rudy giuliani continues to make the same exact point. Great conversation. Thank you, guy, ron, gabby, and ken. Stay with me. Not backing down. Keith ellison defendi ining him against Domestic Abuse claims on the same day he tries to clinch a primary win in minnesota. Will the accusations take him down . Steve kornacki will join us at the board, breaking down the most competitive races to watch today that will have a big impact in november. Im alex trebek here to tell you about the Colonial Penn program. 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Could they derail him . What do you anticipate the impact is . They are serious. Keith ellison has been a progressive rising star, the first muslimamerican elected, or the only muslimamerican serving in congress for quite some time. Obviously, the cochairman of the dnc, a hero in progressive circles. He is, we should point out, denying the allegations. We have a statement from him. Quote, karen and i were in a longterm relationship, which ended in 2016. I still care deeply for her wellbeing. This video does not exist because i have never behaved this way. Any characterization otherwise is false. Firm denial. Yes. A firm denial. Saying that this video doesnt exist. They disagree on that point. She says the video does exist, as you mentioned in your top read, but shes not going to release it. One twist on this is that the allegations were initially released to the public by her son. He wrote a lengthy facebook post. He claims he saw the video and confronted ellison about this issue. She has since put out a lengthy statement talking about their relationship and what she says was an ongoing pattern of emotional abuse. She details this one physical incident. Of course, as you point out, four days before the primary. There is also early voting in minnesota. It is possible many democratic voters already cast their ballots for ellison before the news broke. I wonder what are the broader implications are here. Democrats have not shown a real willingness to tolerate allegations, or these types of examples within their own party. Again, ellison is firmly denying them. But there is a pretty large groundswell against tolerating anything that remotely runs up to the line. Thats right. A lot of my sources, my democratic sources, are actually somewhat privately conflicted. Al franken is in the forefront of peoples minds. Kear Kiersten Gillibrand talked about the backlash for saying that he ens essentially should leave the senate. You have another woman accusing a powerful man in the age of me too. Many think they believe the woman. Thats how the party should present itself. Some people are, of course, defending ellison. All right. Kasie hunt, we know youll continue to stay on top of it. Good to see you. You, too. Thank you. Along with minnesota, there are primaries today in wisconsin, connecticut, and vermont, where democrats are eyeing potential pickups. Steve kornacki is here with what to Pay Attention to. Steve at the board. Great to see you there. We love when youre at the board. What are you going to be watching for today . A lot of stories all over the place. Lets focus in on this one right now. After the 2016 election, republicans were bullish looking to 2018. Dpr democrats a little nervous at this dynamic. What you see here are the democratic senators. Ten of them up for reelection this year in states that donald trump carried in 2016. Today, one of those states, wisconsin, youve got a primary will on the republican side for the u. S. Senate. Tammy baldwin, a democrat. Remember, trump is president , in part, because he was able to win wisconsin. We will see who the republicans pick there in wisconsin. Now, the good news for democrats is, Tammy Baldwin right now, this one, so far, not materializing as the neckandneck, nailbiter race republicans were hoping it would be. Baldwin against two opponents here. Theyre leading by double digits right now. Well see these two republicans facing off in a primary tonight. Nicholson, a former democrat. Not necessarily on board with trump early on in 2016 and later. Well see who emerges from that. Right now, democrats at the start of this cycle, this was one of those they had to eye nervousness. Theyre getting some more positive indications here out of wisconsin. Something else, Minnesota Senate race there. Were looking at some house races, as well. Itll be a state we keep a close eye on this fall. Minnesota, steve, is interesting, obviously. President trump didnt win there. That, arguably, tonight, at least, has a lot of seats up for grabs. Right. In minnesota, heres the funny thing, you look at the map nationally. Where could democrats pick up . We can find all sorts of districts. Where can republicans actually pick up democratic seats . They are few and far between. The opportunities there. Really . The answer to the question becomes minnesota. Heres the fascinating thing. Three gee i cant haographicall districts around the perimeter of the state. All represented by democrats. These three districts all represented by democrats. They didnt just go to donald trump in 2016. They went to trump by large margins. Down here, trump won by 15 points. Trump won by 15 up here. Trump won by 31 right here. Youve got walls, vacating his seat. Nolan vacating. You have opportunities for republicans to move into the districts and flip democratic sites. You see pederson, 31 trump district. Hes been winning in a district like this for a while. A little more skepticism. This may be the only state. One of the only places republicans have the chance to flip democratic seats in november. It is going to be an exciting night. Steve kornacki, we know youll be tracking it all for us. Thank you. Thanks. President trump taking another shot at one of his rivals from the 2016 campaign trail. How his attacks on john kasich may actually help the Ohio Governor if he decides to take on the president in 2020. Well take a closer look. I never count the wrinkles. And i dont add up the years. But what i do count on. Is staying happy and healthy. So, i add protein, vitamins and minerals to my diet with boost®. New boost® high protein nutritional drink now has 33 more highquality protein, along with 26 essential and minerals your body needs. 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Call unitedhealthcare and ask for your free decision guide today. Call unitedhealthcare when did you see the sign . When i needed to create a better visitor experience. Improve our workflow. Attract new customers. Thats when fastsigns recommended fleet graphics. Yeah now business is rolling in. Get started at fastsigns. Com. Obamacare, we got rid of the individual mandate, which is the most unpopular aspect. I would have gotten rid of everything, but as you know, one of our one of our wonderful senators said thumbs down at 2 00 in the morning. President trump taking a new shot at the ailing senator, john mccain, during a Campaign Fundraiser in upstate new york. That wasnt the first snub of the day. Earlier, at fort drum, new york, the president signed the john s. Mccain defense act, but not once did the president mention the former prisoner of war and the chairman of the committee battling brain cancer. Theyve been fierce critics, with mccain calling Trump Supporters crazies in 2015,2015 candidate trump questioning mccains war hero status. Hes not a war hero. He is a war hero. Because he was captured. I like people that werent captured. Okay. I hate to tell you. Back with me, Michael Steele former rnc chairman, and the Washington Examiners gabby morgenlo and michael, let me start with you. Its not a surprise he continues to take swipes at senator mccain, reminding everyone of the fact that he voted against repealing and replacing obamacare. The bottom line is yesterday he didnt even mention his name to resign this bill that bears john mccains name. Yeah. In this whole thing with the president about john mccain, from that moment on the couch where he questioned his war hero status, you say youre frustrated, gone from frustration to sad, to disappointed, to this is just pathetic. I mean at this point. Does it matter politically . He doesnt lose anything with his base. We know that. It should. He was a stalwart of the party. He was our nominee for the presidency. This mans record donald trump cant even, you know, talk about leadership and the qualities that are required for leadership when it comes to john mccain, but its disappointing that the base and republicans in the senate, some of his own colleagues, you hear crickets after moments like this. There should be a National Outcry by republicans against this, just on the principle. I mean we dont need a president talking about people the way he does, number one. Certainly referring to one of your own the way he has in the past. In this case just outright ignoring him while promoting a bill that has his name on it. The people who voted for donald trump were voting against the republican establishment embodied by john mccain. But thats not excusing it. Explaining the policy. I get that. And i understand that. At some point you have to grow up about it. Its just not appropriate. Thats when we started to understand how significant the war between the establishment and the trump side of the party was when he survived that moment criticizing his war hero status. Another feud with another republican insider, john kasic. Read you a recent tweet by President Trump referring to john kasic, the very unpopular governor of ohio and failed president ial candidate john kasic hurt Troy Baldersons recent win tamping down enthusiasm. Another great candidate. Even kasic Lieutenant Governor lost the race because of his unpopularity. Credit to troy on the big win. People think kasic did help balderson. Does that tweet actually help kasic if he decides to get into the 2020 race . Look, kasic is a governor of a state, a very important state, hes done well, popular still in the state, despite what the president says. Yeah, i mean i think i think in terms of kasic he ignores the stuff from trump and tweets. Its pa threatically childish. In terms of his plans i can see him mounting energy in that regard. In fact, kasic actually sent out a fundraising email citing that tweet last night. If you had any doubt that our message is working this should put that to rest no matter how inaccurate his statements are. Now is our chance to build on that success. Yeah. In this case hes not ignoring it, hes seizing on it. Gabby, it would be very astounding to see a republican challenge this president in the primary. But possible. It would be. I think his name is certainly out there. Jeff flake is another potential contender. I do think youre hearing from other republicans, marco rubio did an interview last week with the ap saying it would be foolish for a republican primary, they would be handing the white house back to democrats. Theres certainly a rift between republicans and folks like john kasic and jeff flake who that is a possibility. We shall see. Gabby and ken, thank you. First time. Indeed. Michael steele, thank you for being here. Coming up next, what our sources are telling us and todays big picture. To stay successful in business you have to navigate a lot of moving parts. We have your back with expert advice on topics from getting funding to creating eyecatching marketing and well focus on ideas for growing your business bringing the moving parts together. Join me weekend mornings at 7 30 on msnbc or connect with us any time on all your devices. Its Pretty Amazing out there. The world is full of more possibilities than ever before. And American Express has your back every step of the way whether its the comfort of knowing help is just a call away with global assist. Or getting financing to fund your business. No one has your back like American Express. So where ever you go. Were right there with you. The powerful backing of American Express. Dont do business without it. Dont live life without it. And lets check in with our top notch reporters on what their sources are telling them. Gabby, i want to start with you. Scoop from inside the white house. Yes. I spoke with somebody yesterday close to the white house who said that, you know, this whole situation with the recording inside the situation room and some of the other recordings that omarosa took of her conversations with President Trump really shook general kelly. Hes worried about this persisting inside the white house and others might Start Recording conversations and so he is looking at some rule changes. We dont know what would happen. Of course staffers inside the white house are already required to put their phones in lockers at the beginning of the day or not bring them into the west wing. Theyre prohibited from bringing them inside the situation room but there could be further changes to prevent this from occurring again. Officials trying to determine how she was able to record that conversation. Ken, you have news on the Paul Manafort hearing . People close to manafort tell me after watching two plus weeks of the trial, theyre even more surprised he chose to stay and try to fight the charges, as opposed to striking a deal as his former deputy rick gates did. Not only has he run up additional millions of legal fees on top of the huge debt that prosecutors already demonstrated he had going into 2016, but having spent a couple days in the courtroom last week, i can tell you from my perspective looked like he was just getting crushed. Wow. That is interesting. A lot of people wondering why he didnt just cooperate with prosecutors. Great scoops, great conversation throughout the hour. Ken, gabby, great to see you. Thanks so much for being here. Appreciate it. And now for todays big picture, it comes to us from West Virginia, where the house of delegates took the extraordinary step of voting to impeach all four of the state Supreme Court justices for excessive use of state funds. Justice catchum resigned last month, one spent 500,000 on her office including 20,000 on an oval rug. Another justice spent more than 300,000 to renovate his office with an expensive couch and decorative floor inlay. The average income in West Virginia, by the way, just 43,000. The photographer here rick lee for the West VirginiaSupreme Court of appeals. Pretty astounding there. A warning to all. Thank you for watching this hour of msnbc live. Right now, more news with my colleagues, ali velshi and stephanie ruhle. Good to see you. Well catch up with you later this afternoon. Im ali velshi. Im stephanie ruhle. A dog . How dare he. He has taken this country to its knees. The escalating battle between President Trump and his former protege omarosa after she went back on tv revealing more recorded conversations with white house officials, trump took his insults to another level. In a tweet this morning he called omarosa a crazed lowlife and then congratulated john kelly for firing her and then referred to her as that dog. Now