I will be there to greet them. Very exciting. Lets take you live to Andrea Mitchell live on the hill. Andrea, what can you tell us . Reporter well, the excitement, of course, is the anticipation of seeing these three prisoners, two of whom have been there for quite some time. The fact that theyre coming back with the secretary of state. On his plane, on the secret admission which was not announced in advanced. But telegraphed by the president , interestingly when he came out to break out the news on the iran deal. Were about to here from gina haspel, the nominee to be the cia director. All of this an incredibly busy 48hour period. But on north korea, the president is hoping that his success of his tweet at st. Andrews base with the secretary of state certainly signifies this is their big success so far. The question some critics would say, stephanie, whether theyre raising expectations too high and putting the president in a bargaining position when he should not be sitting down to bargain with kim jongun. That should be left to the professionals. Well see, for now, brings these three home is good news. Nbcs correspondent bill neilly in london. Bill, whats your take . Well, clearly, the president wants to be seen personally welcoming the men home at andrews. A personal triumph. Clearly, this is a confidencebuilding measure by the North Koreans ahead of the summit, because its hard to see how that summit could ever have gone ahead with the three u. S. Men as effectively bargaining chips. Mike pompeo had been in pyongyang, we think for around a day, with a dozen u. S. Officials. He had talks, he had lunch at a hotel from one of kim jonguns officials. From President Trumps tweet, it would suggest that he also had a good meeting with kim jongun himself. Pompeo apparently told the official youve been a great partner in working towards a successful summit. In behihindsight that would be. But we do know that the three men were reportedly released from prison last month and have been health at a hotel. Theyd been sentenced to years of hard labor for allegedly spying and for other offenses. And you know, stephanie, while we knew that this was possibly on the cards overshadowing this possible release was the fate of Otto Warmbier and the american student who was released last year who days after released died. His family now suing kim jonguns regime effectively for murder. So, while their release was expected, you just never know. And President Trump was saying that they seem to be in good health. And he wants to, if you like, take part of the glory at being at Andrews Air Force base to welcome them personally, stephanie. We certainly hope they are. One detainee has been there since 2015. The other two since 2017. Nbcs Kristen Welker is at the white house. Weve heard via the president by twitter. Hes thrilled. This is huge for this president and for the administration. It is an act of good faith, as bill just said by north korea ahead of these planned talks with President Trump and kim jongun. Now, the president has a Cabinet Meeting a little bit later this morning, steph, so that is an opportunity for us to hear personally from us. To get his reaction. Undoubtedly reporters will put a number of questions to him and there were specifics specifically that he tweeted date and place set. Remember, he had floated the dmz as a potential location and that was gaining traction. Is that a possibility . Is that where this meeting is going to take place . Hopefully, well get more details about that later on today. The broader context here is, of course, that the president just yesterday pulled out of the iran nuclear deal. And a number of critics have argued how can the administration engage in an International Agreement with north korea when it just pulled out of this agreement with iran. Will this move yesterday by the president undercut his negotiating power when he goes to get a deal on denuclearization with kim jongun on the Administration Pushes back against that narrative. Very forcefully, making the point, they say theyre going to get a better deal with north korea. Of course, that remains to be seen, the stakes couldnt be higher. But theres no doubt this is a Significant Development for President Trump and this entire administration, steph. We have to remember, pulling out of iran, saying were going through a better deal. We have not seen a subsequent better deal for the United States, following the tpp, following the paris climate accord. Lets bring in victor cho who joins us by phone. Victor, whats your take . Is this so crazy that that just might work tactic working out . Its hard to say just yet. I mean, things are moving very fast right now. Getting these detainees out was clearly an obstacle. Trump could not have carried out a summit with kim with these three held hostage. And if he would have brought themselves back himself, he it would have taken off the attention. The bigger question, while hes gotten the three out this is not a free pass on human rights abuses. As you mentioned earlier, Otto Warmbiers parents are still suing them. Theres many things that this leadership is accused of. So, were far from done on the human rights issue. The other thing is, its important, they brought experts with them, pompeo did from the National Security council and from the state department, which gives me the sense that theyre now entering a phase of prenegotiations. Like specific details about what they want to get out of the summit. So, thats a good sign, but still, the expectations are very high. And theyll only be raised higher as we get closer to the summit the way the president keeps feeting about things. Well, that is President Trumps style. I want to bring in my panel. Princeton university professor, elise gordon, a contributor to time and an aide to george bush, and msnbc contributor and any author john meacham, this book. You got to read it the soul of america were going to get into it in a bit. Lets talk about the news. Whats your take, john . Theres a theme with the news and north korea. Dont Pay Attention to theres that. In Human History the most potentially disruptive geopolitical and actual substance is a nuclear weapon. There are only Nine Countries with them. Which is a remark Robert Oppenheim oppenheimer, einstein, they all believered once its genie was out of the bottle it would spread more rapidly. But its one of the greater american Success Stories going out at 2 00 a. M. Is great. To Andrews Air Force base, all of that is fine. Whats going to endure here is who gets these weapons. Because the people with these weapons are those who have the potential to change the world in radical and permanent ways. Eddie. First of all, im real happy for the families of those released. Im sure theyre joyed and excited that theyre safe and in good health. Thats a good thing. Its good to hear, again as i said before, that folks arent talking about how big their buttons are. Theyre actually in the process of thinking about denuclearization here. But im still interested in the end game here. I dont know what north korea is doing. We have really no clear idea of what the Trump Administrations end game is here. And there are other actors as well. I wonder what china is thinking at this moment. So expectations may be high. But i think uncertainty is even higher as we move into this moment. And you think about this against the backdrop of iran. You think about this, meeting out of the iran deal. The backdrop of the discord of the middle east, what that portends for us. Its a dangerous time. And although were excited about the three men coming home, we need to be aware of how dangerous this moment actually is. Elise. And they were present in the first place. Right. That is exactly why it still is a dangerous and perilous position to enter into negotiations with north korea. And i do think that its proceeding along perhaps more positively than id anticipated when the process initially started. But the problem with that, expectations have gotten a little too high. And domestically, all of the talk about donald trump needs to be nominated for the nobel. And youve got congressional members writing the committee. At this stage in the game, we dont need to be focused on prizes but what we want to accomplish with the summit. And theyve been saying full denuclearization which is just not going to happen, but expectations, coupled with whats on with the iran deal. The pressure is on for something to happen. So the worry is that donald trump is going to give away a little too much in desperation to make the deal. Jon, i know youve got more people to bring in. But to that point, we shouldnt be talking about nobel peace prize. Isnt the president of south korea or Lindsey Graham playing a game. You say nobel peace prize, hes going to lap it up like a puppy and sink his teeth in this. Oh, my gosh, we have a point where every trophy gpresident g trophy. Its like the helicoptering of it. When that rally they were screamed nobel, they looked as happy as ive ever seen him. And so, obviously, a number of people could win the nobel peace prize, and your at oslo when you went. This is either an irrational state actor or a terrorist group to some point, and i think one of the things of trump strategy, distracting the country constantly with this barrage of shiny octobers was that this underlying issue of balance of power in the world gets obscured. But today is one day, where even in this victory, it gives us a moment to think about who has the capacity to end vast, vast amounts of human life. And we want to bring in a former white house National Security team member in the Bush White House and John Mclaughlin, former Deputy Director of the cia. Jaun whats your take on this . A couple things, first, were glad that these three people are coming back. Thats terrific. But two thoughts, first, kim here is putting more and more sugar into the mix. In other words, hes putting more out there to soften up the United States as these negotiations approach. And thats fair enough. Second thought, related to the iran decision that the president made yesterday. I think hes raised the stakes for himself in north korea. In a way that may be more difficult to meet than he understands at this point. Because by rejecting the iran deal, which had a very intrusive inspection regime, hes basically said, in order for the north korean deal if there is one to be credible, it ought tov an intrusive regime, at least that intrusive. Thats going to be hard to get. We may be missing something, but its very hard for me to imagine as someone who has dealt with arms control and negotiations and so forth. But i think these two things are related. Basically, as some of your panelists have already said, softening up the president a bit. And thats great, what he did, pocket that. But also i think the president s raised the stakes on his attempt to achieve something in north korea. How about you mike allen, what do you think . Well, i was going to Say Something similar to John Mclaughlin which is yesterday the president prejected pretty substantial a regime of verification and inspections and challenge inspections, substantial but, you know, not good enough in his mind. And now hes saying i need much better than that in north korea. There is a transitive property with what were doing. Youre going to have to get some serious verification regime with sampling with real people on the ground in the international community. He has risen the stakes to a place where i dont think the North Koreans are prepared to go. Well, well have all eyes on these three detainees making their way home hopefully at 2 00 a. M. Next, we got to dig into this one, financial documents linked to the president s personal lawyer appear to connect two of the president s bigot headaches, Stormy Daniels and russia. Its just a burst pipe, i could fix it. laugh no. With claim rateguard your rates wont go up just beacuase of a claim. I totally couldve. wife nope switching to allstate is worth it. We see two travelers so at a comfort innal with a glow around them, so people watching will be like, wow, maybe ill glow too if i book direct at choicehotels. Com. Who glows . Just say, badda book. Badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com sure. Mom,whats up son . Alk . I cant be your it guy anymore. What . You guys have xfinity. You can do this. Whats a good wifi password, mom . You still have to visit us. I will. No. Make that the password you stillohave toovisit us. Thats a good one. [ chuckles ] download the xfinity my account app and set a password you can easily remember. One more way comcast is working to fit into your life, not the other way around. Now, to another very interesting story. Financial documents appear to connect two of the president s biggest headaches, Stormy Daniels and russia. And guess whos in the middle of it. None other than Michael Cohen. Im going to walk you through exactly what we know and what we dont know. Nbc news has reviewed financial documents that appear to confirm that president trumbles personal Attorney Michael Cohen taking in more than 4 million bucks. Thats a lot more than 130 grand between october 2016 and january 2018. All through a Company Called essential consultants. If that sounds familiar, it certainly should. It is the company that cohen set up less than a month before election day and used to pay Stormy Daniels that 130 grand. But according to these documents which have now been reviewed by nbc news, that is just a tiny little piece of the money coming in. We should make it clear, we do not know what the money was for. But we do know where some of it came from. The most notable traction came from a Company CalledColumbus Nova. Run by a man who is the cousin of a man named Viktor Vekselberg. We also know that vekselberg is a Russian Oligarch worth billions and billions ever dollars and very closely tied like all oligarchs are to vladimir putin. We dont know what vekselberg and cohen were involved in the payments and what they were for. Stormy daniels Attorney Michael Avenatti was on morning joe earlier today. This is an enormous amount of money. It is. That is flowing into this account, beginning in october, november, december time period of 2016. Youve got millions of dollars that are being deposited into this account. Where did the money go . Did all of it go to Michael Cohen . Did some of it go back to the Trump Organization . Did some of it ultimately find its way to the program. Ayeyaiyai. We should point out that its not directly and telling the atlantic, quote, this is not a payment. Meanwhile, Columbus Nova released a statement on tuesday saying in part, the firm hired Michael Cohen as a business consultant. The claim that Viktor Vekselberg was involved in or provided any funding for Columbus Novas engagement is not true. It says Viktor Vekselberg was not involved in the decision to hire him or provide money for his engagement. Interesting the New York Times reports that the ceo and mr. Vekselberg guess what they attends, an inauguration together. Columbus nova obtained him as a consultant. Heres the question, why would cohen deal with any company, with any links to russia for any reason, at a time when the president was already under massive scrutiny for russia ties . That is an open question, and one that surely has occurred to special counsel bob mueller. In fact, both is vekselberg and the Columbus Nova ceo has been interviewed. Thats the first part of the story. The other focuses on a series of other payments made to cohens company all made by major corporations all coming in the last month. Pharmaceutical giant nov vast this paid almost 400 grand. And at t, 200,000. And korea air 150,000. N nov artis entered into a deal. At t said cohens company was hired to provide insight. They did no legal or lobbying work for us and the contract ended in 2017. Again, we can take the companies statements at face value. But when you have Big Companies reaching out like this it raises questions what they were seeking in turn. Interesting to note that the ceo of novartis and how do you get to the bottom of all of it . Avenatti says, theres one way to do it. Michael cohen and the president should cause these Bank Statements of Michael Cohen to be released this morning if theres nothing improper about this. Were not talking about a lot of information. They can pdf the document, they can release it to the media. And the media can go through it and report back whether its proper or not. I want to bring in danldz goldman, and before we get to them, we just got a response from Michael Cohen. His doubts are inaccurate. Daniel, i turn to you first. Heres the thing, Michael Cohen, whether you think hes a sleazy guy or not, it would make sense that he would become a consultant. Companies pay Business Consultants for access and to understand. He is a guy who understands President Trump. And he could say, im going to help you figure out the world of trump. These companies never, ever dealt with President Trump before. And he is a trump whisperer. Its possible. I think what really jumps out at everyone, though, is the fact that this is the same llc that was created in the middle of october of 2016. That made the Stormy Daniels payments. And then this is now being used for odd payments, at a minimum, you have to say that theyre odd and unusual. Hes not registered as a lobbyist. He had no former role with the administration. But a consultant is different from a lobbyist. Well, thats going to be a big question that the prosecutors are going to have, is what kind of consultant work was he doing . You know, i prosecuted russian organized crime cases in the Southern District of new york. And this screams to me as the type of sham llc that you would often see in order to move money around between coconspirators. Now, thats getting way ahead of ourselves. But this is the kind of consulting company, and ive used quotes intentionally, because thats the sort of arrangement that a lot of these elic illicit relationships they would have. But from elliott broudy, one of cohens other alleged clients who entered into another hush money deal, and that cement of money is a pretty similar amount of money that was paid to Karen Mcdougal, the other playmate. Now, were starting to see some of these pieces come together, or potential come together, if Michael Cohen was involved in the Karen Mcdougal payment. That makes a Campaign Finance case much stronger. Because now you have two people who were paid right before or around the election, from affairs that were ten years before. But they would love it if this was only about a Campaign Finance violation. That would be the gift of gifts. But Michael Cohen said i only had three clients. Sean hannity, Elliott Brody and donald trump. He never seemed to mention novartis, at t, vekselberg. This thing feels a little nasty. Perhaps he was preferring to legal clients to give them the benefit of the doubt. Something that i found so interesting about these transactions were the payment schedules and deliberately keeping the sums under 10,000. Trying to avoid federal scrutiny. The effort, though, seemed pretty sloppy. One llc registered in delaware for a lot of activity that they seemed to be hiding. When wouldnt you want to the separate out Stormy Daniels, taking money from the russians at a time when youre the president , who youre the personal lawyer for, is under investigation for ties to russia. It seems a little sloppy even if there isnt anything. I agree. And Michael Cohen just said that the documents are fake. And we dont know where Michael Avenatti got these. We dont know if theyre complete. There are a lot of unanswered questions. I guarantee you the prosecutors do know that. They have these doubts so that is not an unanswered question for them, as it is for us. But where are the 35,000 payments from trump, on a monthly basis. They didnt go into this llc which paid Stormy Daniels. So, you know, in some ways it gives us an inkling on what was going on with Michael Cohen in the past year and a half that are suspicious but there are questions unanswered. Okay im sorry, this smells to high heaven, doesnt it . It does. We can all agree that this smell sts to high heaven. And Michael Cohen, declares the documents are false. Doesnt give that they are truths. And you guys know much more about the legal parts and financial parts of it. It just reminds me of the ninth circle dantes hell. Oh, my gosh. And at the heart of it is treachery. I havent spent a whole lot of time in dantes ninth circle. And Money Laundering and a deep seeded suspicion of what these guys are up to. It seems as if they monetized the presidency. People to feel bad for are Political Drama novelists. Because this reality is so much more extraordinary than anything they could come up with. Michael cohen could say all day long, the document is inaccurate, aka, fake news. But the fact that the ceo of Columbus Nova has been questioned by mueller. That vekselberg, his Russian Oligarch cousin has been questioned by mueller. And is it not even slightly bizarre that vekselberg was at inauguration. What would that guy be doing there . You raise another point that Robert Mueller in the investigation months ahead of us. They know so much more than us. This is new to us, but not new to them. That is going to be the critical question. And Columbus Nova is trying to distance itself from vekselberg for obvious reasons. But the real question is going to be are there links between vekselberg and Columbus Nova. Thats where these sham llc concerns come in. What kind of consulting was Michael Cohen doing for a massive Investment Firm that doesnt necessarily have business in the administration, like at t with their merger. This is highly suspicious. What is Michael Cohen actually offering in a form of any consulting to such a significant company, and thats why the connection to vekselberg reeks as eddie said. Can Michael Cohen be doing all of this without trumps knowledge . I spoke to a ceo this morning who knows Michael Cohen and he knows donald trump. He said watch out, theres a good chance cohen built this sidehustle around the president without trump even being aware. And if thats the case, the president s not going to like that. Heres one we do know about donald trump, though, he hates it when people in his circle of trust monetize his name. Monetize his brand. They got into big trouble when they went to china. Yeah. He doesnt like it. He calls it conflict. And Michael Cohen has wanted trumps affection. Hes wanted to be in trumps good graces. It seems unlikely given the track record and given that Michael Cohen reveres donald trump that he would freelance. And the other point i want to make is, donald trump is known for not paying his debts. He didnt just overpay. And the fact the amount of money he would have given Michael Cohen on retainer far exceeded what Stormy Daniels was needed for payoff. Donald trump isnt known for paying more than a dime than he has to. What does it say that neither Rudy Giuliani nor the president has denied this . Theyve said nothing. In the past, theyve attacked aft avenatti. And 130 grand, no big deal. Lets pay it. Were not talking about 130,000, mayor giuliani. This came out 12 hours ago. Well 12 hours is a lifetime. You guys are raising questions because i think its entirely possible that Michael Cohen that was spurned for a seat in the white house, or a job in the white house is now trying to use his connections to have a side hustle. I mean, this is a guy that while even while he worked for the Trump Organization had a side hustle. So, its not at all out of the question that he would try to do that. And mwho knows what he promised them. Right. The problem now the president has, though, in this situation, he cant go and attack Michael Cohen, because by all accounts, Michael Cohen is under Serious Investigation onsd on tand on t precipice of cooperating. And hes just going to push him into the hands of prosecutors and thats a dangerous place to be. It will be fascinating to see how this plays out. Michael cohen has been with the president for years and knows where all of the bodies are buried. It could be the case that Michael Cohen has a side hustle. It could be the case that he doesnt. Yeah ahh number one. Lets try number two. Number two, Michael Avenatti is a beast. Thats true. Hes a beast. And he keeps popping donald trump and all of his folks in the mouth repeatedly, hes a beast. He is. Jon meacham says he may be t savior for us. And i dont understand why he wont release her. Because avenatti added in the complaint a defamation claim. He cant just sale that the case is over because he has a defamation claim. By the way in avenatti has the inflows to this bank account, he has the outflows, presumably, too. He sort of has foreshadowed that last night and this morning. This morning. Lets see where it is. Hes been brilliant in slowly rolling out a lot of things over a period of time to keep this at the top of the news as were discovering. So, my guess is, youre absolutely right, eddie, theres more thats coming on this front. And i would point out, too, look at the timing of what he did yesterday. True. I mean, he killed the news of the iran deal practically in one big stroke. He really isn a master of the media cycle in a way that i think donald trump probably respects him on some level. Im intrigued. Im excited. Im scared. Im a little grossed out. You know what, i owe Michael Avenatti an apology. For the last few weeks, i said, what do you have left to say . I was wrong, brother. The democrats can learn something from you. You are messing with trump a lot more than they are. We are Just Moments Away from what is shaping up to be a very contentious hearing for nominee gina haspel. And while were doing that were learning exactly what haspel is expected to say to the Senate Intelligence committee itself concerning harsh interrogation techniques and torture. I want to go live to kendall laneny on capitol hill. Okay, ken, the house released some prepared remarks. What did it say about torture, gau because you know thats the Sticking Point for a lot of people. Reporter absolutely is, stephanie. Gina haspel has just walked in. What shes going to say considered torture, look, i can offer you my personal commitment that under my leadership the cia will not restart such a detention and interrogation program. The implication of that is even President Trump who said that torture works during the campaign orders her to do it, she would resist but for Many Democrats that comes under the category of necessary but not efficient. Because in addition to this assurance, they want her to answer questions about what her role was when she ran a site. She wasnt in the room, she wasnt the interrogator, but she supervised the base and may have had authority to stop the techniques. And investigators want to know what was your view about them . Many people believed they were immoral and related to torture. What do you have to say about it, mishapsls haspel. Hes going to be questioned there, and you can see it up on the screen there going to be introduced by evan bayh. Were going to give him a pass, he cancelled in joining us on tv yesterday. Okay, hes busy. I want to bring in John Mclaughlin, john, whats your reaction to ms. Haspels prepared remarks . I think shes going to say exactly what ken suggested she was going to say. And i think thats right at this point. She has other things that senators are looking for and ken alluded to this a bit, i think senators will be looking for whether particularly democratic senators, will be looking for whatever this is the person who can stand up to the president and on issues where the Intelligence Community disagrees and has a contrary view. For example, i dont know precisely what the Intelligence Committee has said about the iran nuclear agreement. But i think they view it as one in which the iranians have been in compliance. And i would expect that i know her quite well. And i know this is a very accomplished woman whose experience and what ive observed about her, shes full of swelling grit, honesty, and she will speak the truth, particularly when power doesnt particularly doesnt want to hear the truth. I think theyre looking for that as a cia director, because this is the person in the government in a National Security team who is not in a chain of command that makes her implement policy. This is a person who is supposed to look at a situation objectively, cleareyed and so forth. I think she needs to assure people that shell do that. And i think more broadly i think she needs to convey the idea which i think she will, i hope she will, that that was a very difficult, extraordinary emergency time, back then, around 9 11. We all remember it. But i think shell convey i hope shell convey, the idea that theres a different consensus now. The company has moved on. The situation is quite different. And we should be looking forward and not looking back at that. And those are some of the things id anticipate from her. John, thanks very much. This is not going to be an easy afternoon for gina haspel, but given her career, shes faced worse. When we come back, were going to begin tracking these statements. Well bring you those statements live. Up next, the other countries involved in the iran nuclear deal. Theyre vowing to keep intact. Lets do an ad of a man eating free waffles at comfort inn. They taste like victory because he always gets the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed, when he books direct at choicehotels. Com. Or just say badda book, badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com. So we know how to cover almost baweve anything. St everything even close claws. [driver] so, we took your shortcut, which was a bad idea. [cougar growling] [passenger] what are you doing . [driver] i cant believe that worked. I dropped the keys. [burke] and we covered it. Talk to farmers, we know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum and back pain made it hard to sleep and get up on time. Then i found aleve pm. The only one to combine a safe sleep aid. Plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. Im back. Aleve pm for a better am. Welcome back. Iranian lawmakers burned a picture of an American Flag while chanting death to america in Parliament Today in response to President Trumps decision to pull out of the iran nuclear deal. Meanwhile, our european allies who have expressed Major Concerns over that decision are vowing to salvage the deal without the United States. President rouhani said iran remains committed to the deal but warns tehran is willing to start its Nuclear Activity if the remaining countries can not find a way to continue forward. Back with me. Elise gordon. Elise, every other country in the agreement including russia and china. Saying they want to save the deal. What does that mean . Meaning russia having more diplomatic ties more so than we do. You got the attention of the United States. Would we punish countries that still trade with iran . Thats going to put us in a perilous position with our allies. I would point out or mark contrast with how quickly the Trump Administration proposes reinstating sanctions with iran, and but with russia, but hey, thats our Foreign Policy these days. John president obama writes in a democracy, there will be always be changes in policies and priorities from one administration to the next. But the consistent flouting of agreements that our country is a party to risks eroding americas credibility and puts us at odds. Unusual for a predecessor to be as straightforward and blunt. Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. I think george bush gave a speech about not building walls. Do you agree with the sentiment . Oh, absolutely. Elections have consequences. Unquestionable, and trump campaigned on this. Im still unclear about whether he knows whats in the deal or what percentage of americans can tell you what part of this deal is now going to be talked about during this period. And i think thats a danger. Its a complicated piece of diplomacy, which a weapon that can wipe out massive swaths of human life. And yet it was put in this populist frame last year, all breitbart view. And what president obama is talking about is the view that helped us win the cold war. Ronald reagan wasnt the only person. Truman was a democrat put in structures. We went from detente and hawkish and back and forth but ultimately, that was a bipartisan victory. And our greatest have come when its been bipartisan. And trump didnt know what was in the iran deal. He doesnt know what was tpp. What obamacare, and the tax bill. He doesnt know what was in the massive budget that he signed and he now regrets. But hes going to quickly find out what some of the consequences can be at home. Gas prices going up. Cnbc is reporting that boeing could lose 20 billion in aircraft deals. Could that impact President Trump and republicans come midterms . Absolutely. Absolutely. Were already preparing for a blue wave. The summer is here. People get in their cars and as gas prices spike as they typically do, hes going to feel the effect. The Republican Party will feel the effect. Lets be clear here, hes been involved with hardliners in iran. Hes stepped in the mess that is the conflict. And hes tried to rearrange things in this region that is already volatile. And the likelihood of war has been increased in the region. And i just want to say this, for 17 years, ive had to raise a child until a world full of war. Im just tired of death. And to have someone who doesnt have the patience, the mental acumen or the curiosity to be well, hold on, its not President Trumps fault that youve been raising a child for the past 17 years in a time of war. No. Hes only been the last year. And ive been critical over these last 17 years. Americans, we seem to have become were okay with people dying. Sad thing is, we forget about it. Millions of people have died. To eddies point that was what President Trump campaigned on, he was going to have a less interventionist and hawkish Foreign Policy. And how what he did ed with iran make the world a safer place how does that conflict that in the middle east . And you combine that with hubris with actors in the world. And you just think about the nuclear deal that president obama should have done more to have congressional approval of it. You should have said that he could have dealt with the Ballistic Missile problem. At the end of the day, the bad deal is all we have. We have he had moments of threats to create leverage. And he could have dealt deal an tougher. They were open to instead of just his empty threats and leaving it with nothing remaining. Ive been thinking about it because this is what we think about, Winston Churchhill this week. Last weekend theres i definitely was not thinking of Winston Churchhill. But i love that you were because youre here. Its the greatest achievement on the tenth of may is the an verse riff him becoming prime minister. And he gave a speech at harvard september, 1943 where he said americans the long arm of the world has reached out and brought americans out into complexity and into struggle and into war put might say you dont want it, you want to stay over here. But the price of greatness is responsibility, and we cant roll that back. We cant build a wall. We cant withdraw from agreements that are about stabilizing a world that has grown ever smaller and is only going to get smaller. Thats what john thought about last weekend, for me it was salt or no salt. Okay. We are watching the opening statements, its true, on the haspel hearing as soon as her testimony begins well bring it to you live. Coming up next, its hard to believe, but it has been exactly one year, one year since President Trump fired james comey. It feels like a thousand years. And the staffing decision that changed the course of the trump presidency. Well, President Trump, jared kushner, maybe one other person that knew about it and it impacted everything. Ley do your worst, doctor. I will. But first, a little presentation. 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. So, howell. Going . We had a vacation early in our marriage that kinda put us in a hole. Go someplace exotic . Yeah, bermuda. A hospital in bermuda. A hospital in bermuda. What . What happened . I got a little overconfident on a moped. Even with insurance, we had to dip into our 401 k so it set us back a little bit. Sometimes you dont have a choice. But it doesnt mean you cant get back on track. Great. Yeah, great. Id like to go back to bermuda. I hear its nice. Yeah, id like to see it. No judgment. Just guidance. Td ameritrade. One year ago today feels like a lifetime. President trump fired fbi director jim comey. A new oped by bloomberg described as trumps biggest mistake, an ouster that changed the course of the russia investigation. John meacham back with me. Hes the author of the new book the soul of america if thats not an ideal mother day gift, i dont know what is. Do you agree with that . Its an ideal mother arizona day gift . And fathers day gift, yes. Biggest mistake in trumps presidency . Oh, lord, thats a category, isnt if . I dont know if its the biggest mtion mistake. I think its a manifestation of its the tip of an iceberg and we dont know how big it is below the surface. I think director mueller is in a place none of us are. Every day we learn something. I was very skeptical of the russia story in the beginning. Now im a lot im closer to thinking that theres a lot of theyre there. The worry about combing was the same worry about what happened to sally yates early on if the wasnt as though we werent on notice. So sally yates is dismissed for enforcing what she thought was the rule of law. Comeys dismissed explicitly. People talk about oh, will trump answer the subpoena. Hes already told lester holt the whole thing and he wasnt under subpoena. Remember he says i wanted him to stop the russia investigation and he wouldnt so i fired him. But from a historical perspective, in the beginning you were skeptical of the russia investigation, not so much now. Right. It almost seems like the opposite for the american people. So for voters out there who are saying why i do care about this, it doesnt impact my life. Well, theres an arc to these things. When people say oh, the republicans in congress, they need to be more like barry gold water. Do you know when that was . August 7th, 1964, 26 months after the breakin and 36 hours before he resigned. It was the very last moment. So we tend to cut out acts 2 through 4 in our memory, right . We have act 1 and then we have act 5. And i think were probably really at the end of only act 2 or so here. And there are its unquestionable that the conventions of the presidency, this is why i wrote the book, the convengtions of the presidency have by and large served us well. But its not just about the presidency. The country is shaped by the voices of protest, the kids from parkland, i call them kids, i dont mean that. Thats all right. The students from parkland who are really on the gun issue the moral equivalent of john lewis and diane nash and the young civil rights activists who came out of nashville and did the freedom rides and walked in the streets and were willing to become true martyrs shedding their blood for a cause allergy than themselves. That was the broad base of reform of finishing the civil war, not 50 years ago, and it was about protest and resistance from people far from power finally getting the attention of people in power. And American History is shaped by these forces. We naturally focus because its fascinating, john adams said the first character of the rerub, meaning the president , will always be the object of all eyes. Shakespeare wrote plays about kings. But remember, politicians are far more often mirrors of what they see than molders. If we all get on the right side of things and defend these institution, were going to be okay. We are the change agents. Hey mom, guess what youre get soungd. John, thank you so much. You know how im end willing the show. Theres always good news somewhere. New york City Brokerage firm btig celebrating its 16th annual charity day. More than 80 athletes, politician, Business Leaders and even a couple journalists inclugtd me came out to rep their favorite causes yesterday. The net commissions on all of the dayss trades were donated to charities benefiting more than 200 nonprofit organizations. They expect to donate more than 4 million just for one afternoon of trading. That is some Good Business and that wraps us up this hour. Im stephanie ruhle, you can find me all day long on twitter. Coming up right now, more news with my friend hallie jackson. Thank you much, my dear. We want to get you right to capitol hill because the former spy is stepping out of the shadows and into the spotlight. Gina haspel, the nominee for cia director is set to give her opening statementny minute now before senators over on the hill inside that hearing room. Her role in post9 11 terrorist subpoenas is expected to be front and center and it is all fld some of what weve heard so far from law makers. How she will respond to those questions is going to be crucial. The nations top spy hanging in the balance. We have more breaking news on the other side of the world. The high stakes meeting in north korea paying off. Mike pompeo got the release of three detained americans. Theyre all on their way back to the United States right now setting the stage for that president ial summit with kim jongun. We have a lot to get to in the next five or six minutes before we take you over to the gina haspel hearing had she begins to deliver her opening remarks. We want to start o