Federal judge today wound up more like a good news bad news proposition. A few hours ago a federal judge agreed to a 90day delay in the Stormy Daniels suit against the president and notably his attorney, Michael Cohen. But in doing that, the judge agreed it appeared likely cohen will face charges linked to that separate criminal investigation. This week the president s ties to cohen were back in the spotlight amid speculation about a possible pardon. Mr. President , what about Michael Cohen . Are you considering a pardon for Michael Cohen . Stupid question. Mr. Trump was also asked for details about his relationship to cohen. Mr. President , how much of your legal work was handled by Michael Cohen . Well, as a percentage of my overall legal work, a tiny, tiny little fraction. He represents me like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal. He represented me, and, you know, from what i see, he did absolutely nothing wrong. Crucial comment right there, it turned out. Meanwhile its been reported that the newest member of the president s legal team, one Rudolph Giuliani of new york, is trying to work out an interview between trump and special counsel robert mueller. Today the president welcomed the House Intel Committees finding, authored only by the republicans on that committee. Theyre in the majority, that there was no cooperation with russia by the Trump Campaign. Its a witch hunt. Thats all it is. Ive always said there was no collusion. The constant churn in the president s cabinet was also a theme this past week as we witnessed the precipitous collapse of white house dr. Ronny jacksons bid to run the va. According to reports tonight, jackson has gone back to work in the white house medical office. His nomination came under intense scrutiny amid allegations of drinking on duty, misuse of medications, and at one point this week, the president seemed to suggest jackson should end his quest for the job. I wouldnt if i were him . I really dont think personally he should do it. So after jackson did drop out, the president hinted partisan politics had made it hard for jackson to continue. I called him today. I said in a certain way, in a very big way, youre an American Hero because youve exposed the system for some horrible things. Ive had it happen to me with the russian collusion hoax. Its a hoax. This week the president also played host to two critically important leaders, but in very different ways. He welcomed french president Emmanuel Macron and german chancellor Angela Merkel to the white house. At the top of both leaders agendas, keeping the u. S. From leaving that iran nuclear deal. President trump appeared to be mostly focused on warning iran about resuming its nuclear program. Theyre not going to be restarting anything. They restart it, theyre going to have big problems, bigger than theyve ever had before. Trump continued his efforts to remake u. S. Foreign policy by talking up the remarkable summit between the leaders of north and south korea and putting himself at the center of the effort to end decades of hostility. You feel like its your responsibility for this to eventually get settled between north and south korea . I think i have a responsibility. I think other president s should have done it. I think the responsibility has fallen on the shoulders of the president of the United States, and i think we have i think i have a responsibility to see if i can do it. And if i cant do it, it will be a very tough time for a lot of countries and a lot of people. Its certainly something that i hope i can do for the world. We get a kick every once in a while out of the fact that ill be watching people that fail so badly over the last 25 years explaining to me how to make a deal with north korea. I get a big, big kick out of that. Lets bring in our leadoff panel, shall we, for another friday night. We are so happy to welcome to our broadcast katie rogers, White House Correspondent for the New York Times, Catherine Lucey is back with us, White House Reporter for the associated press, as is jeremy bash, former chief of staff at cia and the pentagon and an Msnbc National Security analyst. Hey, jeremy, i want to do something unusual, and that is first things first. Go back up to our list of particulars about the news today and ask you what we should think about this federal judge ruling in the trump cohen matter. Well, cohen won the battle but he lost the war because he won a 90day reprieve from the civil suit that was filed by Stormy Daniels and her attorney against him basically to nullify that hush agreement where Michael Cohen on behalf of President Trump paid stormy 160,000. So the federal judge there said, we cant go forward with the civil suit. Why . Because Michael Cohen is likely going to be indicted based on evidence collected by that raid on his offices, his hotel, and his home. And, therefore, theres too much factual overlap between the civil case regarding Stormy Daniels and the federal criminal investigation into Michael Cohens conduct. And so, brian, just to kind of wrap this up here, you have a very distressing development if youre in the Michael Cohen legal camp. So, katie, if you were assigned the News Analysis thought piece for tomorrows New York Times, as people left the west wing tonight, people on the staff, what do you think the mood was after this week that was . Well, luckily im not a signed that News Analysis, brian. Thanks for having me by the way. I think one of the things that strikes me about the west wing is how much it takes to rattle them at this point. They describe their work as in the trenches with each other. I do think that one of the obstacles for this crew now will be dealing with a president who is obviously very frustrated with the Ongoing Investigation and also who appears to be visibly trying to distance himself from Michael Cohen. I think as Michael Cohens legal problems mount, theres a growing distance there, and i think, you know, for white house aides, i think managing that managing his tendency to sort of go back and forth on cohen, i think last week he was encouraging him to stay strong on twitter, and yesterday it was stupid question. And then it was i barely know the guy on fox friends. So i think for the west wing aides, just knowing which end is up is often a problem. Catherine, now it can be told yours was the voice in the distance that got President Trump to react to the 130,000 payment. He was standing in the doorway, in front of the press cabin there on air force one, making the choice not to of course enter the press cabin on air force one. How surprised were you to hear that he went there on cohen visavis stormy on fox friends . Well, it was notable, wasnt it, brian . Two weeks ago when asked did you know about this 130,000 payment, he said no. I asked why did cohen make it, then . He said, you know, Michael Cohen is my lawyer. Youll have to ask michael. But then this week on fox friends, he clearly said that cohen did represent him in, quote, this crazy Stormy Daniels deal. So he seems to be struggling with what he should say in this matter, and you saw he says two things with fox friends. He spoke about cohen represented him. At the same time he also said he does a tiny fraction of my legal work, and you saw in court in new york, you know, those words were quickly seized upon as an example of why, you know, certain papers should be usable and not subject to attorneyclient privilege. So one thing that it shows is that every time he speaks about this, i mean it potentially creates new legal vulnerabilities for him. Thats right. As a layperson and not a lawyer especially and as has been described, a guy who doesnt always take the advice of counsel. So, katie, if we take a look back at this week, does the dr. Jackson incident become a kind of i dont mean to diminish him or the incident. Does it become a blip on the time line of the Trump Presidency, or is there a deeper cautionary tale there about things like vetting . I think theres totally a deeper cautionary tale about things like vetting. Mainly that it doesnt seem to happen in this white house to the degree that perhaps President Trumps predecessors might have carried out hiring and vetting individuals i think, you know, starting with somebody like rob porter and now, you know, dr. Jacksons nomination. I think there are serious questions about how the president is appointing new nominees for very highprofile, very highresponsibility jobs and their readiness for it. I mean this came out. It was kind of a land speed record to have somebody say, never mind. I dont want to go through this. So going forward, one would assume that these questions will be put to the white house. You know, how is the president picking his nominees and why . Jeremy, as the member of this panel who is a veteran of the agency and the pentagon, this next one is to you, and its about the korean peninsula. This has been the situation my entire adult life, and while i dont have your schooling, i was taught that our president s in succession have done their level best to, a, keep the lid on and, b, diminish north korea as a global power. Why does the president keep saying that this was left to him, that this was almost uniquely his burden to bear . Well, i think he wants to make a political point about his predecessors, but theres a broader National Security point here, which is that we do have a handshake. We do have a hand clasp. We have two leaders walking across each others borders, and thats good. Wed rather have dialogue. But we dont yet have any specificity as to what the actual end agreement will be. We dont know whether u. S. Troops will remain on the peninsula. We dont know whether or not u. S. Military will be permitted to exercise. We dont know whether or not north korea will be permitted to retain their icbms or their nuclear arsenal. So at this point we dont have really anything more than has already been promised over these last 6 1 2 decades. So the real result is not a meeting or its not an accomplishment. The accomplishment will only be when, in fact, we have concrete results. And yet, jeremy, i cant stop watching these pictures. Just seeing kim speaking in front of the media live and in person next to his counterpart from south korea, seeing how he reacted, how he conversed, how he related to the other side, endlessly fascinating. Absolutely. I mean it hearkens back to images weve seen of the berlin wall falling, of the handshake on the white house lawn between arafat and rabin, and other momentous times and global events. This is one thats going to be remembered, brian, but again the ultimate significance i think has yet to be written. Catherine, what a week it was, disparate week on the Foreign Policy front. Think about macron, the french leader who plays up the president , then goes before a joint meeting of congress and could not have been more critical. And then the leader of germany and then whats going on in north korea, absolutely astounding. Yes. I mean theres a whiplashinducing element, i think, to this political moment all the time. But you certainly see that this week. Theres just so much going on. I do think its interesting to see the contrast with the macron and the merkel visits. Macron obviously came in. There was a big state visit. The red carpet was rolled out. You saw a lot of affection between the two. Merkel obviously was a more brief visit today. That said, both of them came in with key goals and messages, and its still not clear what the results are. Both are looking to see what trump is going to do on the iran nuclear deal, what he is going to do on tariffs, and they dont really have answers yet. Two things to note as we prepare to say goodbye and run to a break. Macron got a state dinner. Merkel went out apparently in georgetown last night. And tomorrow night the Correspondents Dinner in washington, the president is having a rally as a kind of counterevent. Wont that all be interesting . Our great thanks to katie rogers, to Catherine Lucey, and to jeremy bash. Thank you all for being part of our conversation at the end of a long week on a friday night. Coming up for us, two intelligence veterans share their take on this House Intel Committee russian report and what wasnt found. And later the reallife effects of white house chaos on the rest of the country. Trump friends and foes alike. The 11th hour just getting start, as we said, on a friday night. Millions of you are online right now, searching one topic. That will generate over 600 million results. And if youve been diagnosed with cancer, searching for answers like where to treat, can feel even more overwhelming. So start your search with a specialist at Cancer Treatment centers of america. Start with teams of Cancer Treatment experts under one roof. Start where specialists use advanced Genomic Testing to guide precision Cancer Treatment. That may lead to targeted therapies and more treatment options. Start where theres a commitment to analyzing the latest research and conducting clinical trialsto help each patient get the personalized cancer care they deserve. Start at one of the Cancer Treatment centers of america hospitals near you. The evolution of cancer care is here. Learn more at cancercenter. Com experts hey, want thedone. Est internet . And now, Xfinity Mobile is included. You can get up to five lines. You can save 400 bucks or more a year, which you can spend on a funktastic music video. Dance party boom. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Come see how you can save 400 or more a year with Xfinity Mobile. Plus, ask how to keep your current phone. Visit your local xfinity store today. President trump was all too happy to get the news from the House Intelligence Committee today. The republicans in charge wrote and released the final 250page report which found there was no evidence of collusion between the Trump Campaign and russia. Democrats on the committee accused republicans of prematurely closing out the investigation out of a desire to protect the president. The New York Times sums it up this way, quote, the strikingly divergent conclusions closed a chapter for a Congressional Committee that, while charged with oversight of american spy agencies thats the important part has fractured into warring factions that often seemed to see the advancement of political agendas as their primary mission. Heck of a sentence there. The president wrote on twitter tonight for his part, quote, House Intelligence Committee rules that there was no collusion between the Trump Campaign and russia. As i have been saying all along, its all a big, unexplained capital letter h, hoax, by the democrats based on payments and lies. There should never have been a special counsel appointed. Witch hunt. Counsel spelled wrong. And today during a meeting with the german chancellor Angela Merkel, the president said he was honored by the report. It was a great report. No collusion, which i knew anyway. No coordination. No nothing. Its a witch hunt. Thats all it is. There was no collusion with russia if you can believe this one. There was she probably cant believe it. Who can . But the report was very powerful, very strong. There was no collusion between the Trump Campaign and the russian people. As ive said many times before ive always said there was no collusion, but ive also said there has been nobody tougher on russia than me. With that all being said, if we can get along with russia, thats a good thing, not a bad thing. But there has been nobody tougher on russia than me. I was very honored by the report. It was totally conclusive, strong, powerful. We should note the Senate Investigation into russian interference is ongoing, and of course there is special counsel Robert Muellers investigation. Here with us tonight to talk about it, clint watts, former fbi special agent and member of the joint Terrorism Task force. His new book out next month is messing with the enemy, surviving in a social media world of hackers, terrorists, russians, and fake news. And malcolm nance, a veteran of naval intelligence, special ops, with 35 years working in counterterrorism and intelligence. He happens to be the author of the plot to hack america how putins cyber spies and wikileaks tried to steal the 2016 election. And so its for good reason both gentlemen are msnbc analysts and the only two guys we wanted to have on to talk about this. Clint, i want to take a Customer Service angle with you about house intel. I assume you pay your taxes, and i know i pay mine. We are customers. They are working for us, using our money. This is the committee in the house where we are supposed to trust that they will deal appropriately with our secrets provided were both patriots and we care about the home team. Why shouldnt we be angry that it has devolved into this partisan mess . It is the biggest example probably of the decline of American Democratic institutions because this was one of the two committees the other one being the senate Intel Committee that was seen as the gold standard. This was the two places that did oversight. This is where you saw, you know, bipartisan usually congressmen working together, trying to do oversight. And this report is utterly worthless. It is lacking in depth. Theres more out there on the internet. I have more in this notebook probably on this investigation than is in that report. So its really doing no service to the citizens of this country. Malcolm nance, we learned more today thanks to Richard Engels interview with this woman, veselnitskaya, the russian attorney who shows up in trump tower for a meeting, the purpose of which was later changed in the public memory. A lot of people had their suspicions about her. Im going to roll Richard Engels interview with her, including a very curious way she describes herself at the end. Well talk about it on the other side. The only reason im asking these questions is because of the contact that you had with the most senior people who are now in our government. You said your relationship with the prosecutor general is what . So as were used to hearing every day, im a lawyer, and im an informant. And, malcolm, i heard bill clintons white house lawyer, jack quinn, say tonight that he thinks this is putin pressing a button to say to trump and the u. S. Government, im the captain now. Heres a few of the things i can control, and dont forget im involved in your process. Thats an excellent example. I actually used it as putins own personal guardrail, sort of a way to hedge trump in. You have a person here whos on the verge of leaking information. I thought the most Extraordinary Part of Richard Engels interview, which i think is Just Brilliant journalism he always does well is when he got her to admit that she worked for a special military unit that was associated with the fsb. And we all know what is. That is the gru, Russian Military intelligence. And so technically shes from the judge advocate Generals Office of the gru or some other military Intelligence Organization where she specializes in legal work and obviously as a cutout. So that being said, i just think its fascinating that she would come on television and leak just a little bit of information, enough to make everyone on the mueller side pretty excited, but its going to make the white house a little worried, i believe. Clint, i want to read you Laurence Tribe from harvard law school, smarter than the average bear. Donald trump was in the building when now confessed russian spy veselnitskaya met with donald junior to trade antihillary dirt for trumps promise to dilute antikremlin sanctions, but nunes shut down the house inquiry into what trump knew and when. Trump putin conspiracy plus obstruction of justice. Agree . Disagree . Agree. Theres several points in this document when you go through it where you see them go. They ask somebody a question, and they say, no, somebody else. For example, ukraine and offensive weapons. That changed in the rnc platform. You see it in the document. They go and ask was manafort involved in this . No, manafort didnt know anything about it. It was somebody else in the campaign. But it stops. No followup. Right. And senator mccain has brought this up repeatedly. It was a complete shock to him. The Republican Party going soft on russia. This is really odd, yet this policy change happened. They didnt explore it. Its not even in the report. And we know a lot of these leads are being run down by the Mueller Investigation. Im sure were going to find out more. In every aspect, this report is going to look foolish because were going to have a great investigator, our nations best, come forward with so much evidence thats going to put so much light into this. This will look like amateur hour. Ive come to believe its not overstatement to refer to mueller as our nations best. Malcolm, this is what john brennan doesnt speak often, but when he does, make sure youre strapped in. A highly partisan, incomplete, and deeply flawed report by a broken House Committee means nothing. The special counsels work is being carried out by professional investigators, not political staffers. Scs findings will be special counsels findings will be comprehensive and authoritative. Stay tuned, mr. Trump. Any disagreement with that, malcolm . No. And leave it to john brennan, former director of the cia, to cut right to the chase. Hes absolutely right. The information that is in this report, some of it actually reveals that there was even more potential conspiracy, collusion, and cooperation than we knew before. The sequence that adam schiff tweeted about tonight, the Telephone Communications between donald trump jr. And a blocked call shows us that theres you know, the Mueller Investigation is not going to not look into that number and get the actual owner of that telephone number. This kind of coincidence is just unheard of. But this report as it exists right now is an abject failure. It is very clearly a political document designed to provide cover and to misuse the intelligence process and abuse the intelligence producers out there. Its really a disgrace. So, clint watts, this woman, this lawyer from russia, fullon spy in your view. And second part of the question, do you believe mueller is leagues ahead of this . Yes. I would assume at this point hes done exhaustive interviews. We also saw, if you remember, back to the Internet Research agency, the troll farm. When that indictment came out, it was really detailed. It had all sorts of specifics, things ive been studying for years that i didnt know were in that document. You saw him use sources and methods, talking about we heard them say, hey, its time to cover our tracks. This is really advanced stuff, and hes going to be having those insights in his report. I think what will be interesting is how it balances out with the senate Intel Committee. Theyve really focused mostly on the election interference. They did a really strong report. Harris and lankford there have done a really good job of putting a bill forward. Thats the kind of recommendations we need from congress. So it really looks appalling when we see this from the house. I think the Mueller Investigation is going to be so rich and deep in so many different ways whether its collusion or obstruction and really even other crimes that have been discovered. I think its going to be so much more in depth. Malcolm if i could talk you out of academia and back into working for the home team and told you you had to pick a trench for the mueller effort and work for one of those sub counsels, what area would you volunteer for duty in . Oh, thats a fascinating question. You know, there are two events that i think that we havent heard from, that i find absolutely fascinating. When i first heard them, i found them stunning. First was Jared Kushners meeting at the Russian Embassy along with general mike flynn where he asked for, you know, a back channel, using their secure cryptographic systems to moscow. That right there, any other person in the United States would have been hauled in by the fbi, polygraphed to the nth degree, and quite possibly brought up on potential charges of espionage or abuse of classified information because how did he know he could get a secure back channel at that embassy . Well, the director of Defense Intelligence was sitting right next to him. That needs to be torn apart just for the safety and security of this nation. Wow, put it that way, this starts to sound serious. And youre absolutely right. I had forgotten about that chapter in this story because were all human at the end of the day. But these are both authors and clint watts, please come back on when your book comes out. And malcolm nance, were happy to sell copies of yours. Gentlemen, thank you both for coming out on a friday night to be with us. Coming up, one of the nations Top Republican political strategists is here with the residual effect, lets call it, of the trump chaos weve been covering politically. The 11th hour continues after this. Ahh. Summer is coming. And its time to get outside. Pack in even more adventure with audible. With the Largest Selection of audiobooks. Audible lets you follow plot twists off the beaten track. Or discover magic when you hit the open road. With the free audible app, your stories go wherever you do. And for just 14. 95 a month you get a credit, good for any audiobook. If you dont like it exchange it any time. No questions asked. You can also roll your credits to the next month if you dont use them. So take audible with you this summer. On the road. On the trail. Or to the beach. Start a 30day trial and your first audiobook is free. Cancel anytime, and your books are yours to keep forever. No matter where you go this summer make it better with audible. Text summer17 to 500500 to start listening today. But im not standing still. And with godaddy, ive made my ideas real. I made my own way, now its time to make yours. Everything is working, working, just like it should right now, our party has simply become, it seems, an apologist for certain actions of the president when we shouldnt be. On the second level, politically its just not smart for us as republicans. I mean we saw what happened with the Midterm Election in arizona im sorry the special election leading up to the midterms. There is no way to spin that than were in trouble here. Again, the kind of talk even by a republican whos retiring and doesnt have to worry about it that does get your attention. Republicans pulled off a victory, yes, in this weeks special election in the arizona eighth congressional district, but the margin of victory has some republicans like theres senator jeff flake admitting theres trouble on the horizon. Republican debbie lesko won by a fivepoint margin, but as our nbc News Political Team points out, its a district that, quote, President Trump carried by 21 points in 2016 and which mitt romney won by 25 points in 2012. David wasserman of the Cook Political Report also got our attention this week when he wrote on twitter, quote, there are 147 gopheld house seats less republican than arizona 08. Its time to start rethinking how many of those are truly safe in november. So we thought long and hard, and we could only come up with one name, the one man we wanted on this broadcast to address this for us, and thats longtime republican strategist mike murphy, who worked with john mccain in addition to a number of other gop candidates including but not limited to jeb bush, mitt romney. He happens to be a senior fellow at harvard university. So, mike, this tweet by mr. Wasserman just got in our heads and rattled around all week. When you put it this way, 147 gopheld house seats less republican. Remind our viewers how many the democrats have to pick up to flip the house. Well, depending because there can always be another special election or something between now and, you know, actual election day in november. And you never want to have it by one seat because then chicanery. But they get to the high 20s or 30, i think the current count is like 32, 33 seats. I havent looked at it exactly, but lets put it this way. They are really, truly in striking distance. I mean we can declare victory that we won in arizona eight, but its a point spread system kind of like football. What happened there was the equivalent of the new England Patriots beating a Good High School team by only one touchdown. So, yeah, we won. But the very fact the game was that close in such an unbalanced district, as you say, that has 150 more districts that are more republican in front of it, thats how deep into republican world this was. You know, you could discount this if it was the only special election that went sideways, but the pattern has been democratic overperformance since Donald Trumps been inaugurated just about across the board. So thats about as plain as it gets that we have a real political challenge here in the party. I know you brought up the patriots in the same week our giants made a rare great draft selection, but theres time for that discussion later. Anyway, the classic disconnect, which i know you talk about a lot between Mainstream Media on the coast and actual americans. The media assume rank and file republicans are panicked and abandoning the president. What is your experience in actual america . Well, i think donald trump is in a culdesac politically, which is he has a good grip on republican primary voters, who arent the same as all people who identify themselves as republicans. But theyre the biggest activists. Most polls show he has around 80 , four out of five support of real republican primary voters. So heres the problem. If youre in the Republican Congress and even in a tilt republican district, the independents are against trump. Youre taking that heat. The democrats are wild against trump. Theyre all, you know, very, very intense. So youve kind of got all trumps enemies and his friends alone arent enough to win. So these guys are caught in a real vice, and so its hard for them to attack trump because the nominating electorate that picks him, the republican primary vote by four or five to one like trump, but everyone else doesnt. Now, i do believe those trump numbers, if we lose the house or if we, god forbid, lose the senate and the house could change into 19 and really turn republican politics upside down. But today the base is staying with trump even though the political cost is rising. Thats important. You fear that a flip could be something for keeps and that means one to two to three cycles. Yeah. Well, no. I think that if theres a flip and the laws of politics flip and Speaker Pelosi or whoever it might be is making policy, then the guy whose brand is built on win, win, win, were never going to stop winning is going to be the guy who had the biggest republican loss in a long time, and that might start changing minds in the party. Because even though hes at 75 , 80 favorable, normally youre at 90plus. Hes still got one out of five republicans who dont like him now. Its enough to control the party, but well see how losing works. Elections a while away. This korea summit will be full of good optics. Im not sure there will be any good policy outcome, but it will get tremendous media. The very fact that, you know, nobody stabs anybody with a fork at dinner will be portrayed as a huge victory. So the president , if hes start, can get a bump out of this, but i dont know if its enough to help all the other problems he has. Were going to have to wait and see. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why were always so happy to have mike murphy on our broadcast, especially late on a friday night on a week like this. Thank you as always. Thank you, brian. Coming up for us tonight, the question we ask often. Just what is it were witnessing . Luckily we have the best people to answer that around here. One of them standing by to talk with us after this. Better, faster by daft punk is heard throughout. sound of typing sound of exhaling sound of drilling jimmy shouting james brand vo the Worlds Largest workforce works for themselves. We work for them. Quickbooks. Backing you. No president should fear public scrutiny of his program. Without debate, without criticism, no administration and no country can succeed, and no republic can survive. And that is why our press was protected by the first amendment. The only business in america specifically protected by the constitution. John f. Kennedy spoke those words on this date 57 years ago. He gave the address titled the president and the press before the American Newspaper Publishers Association at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel blocks from here in new york city. With us tonight, the man who reminded us of the anniversary of that event, say nothing of the fact that it was here in midtown manhattan, our president ial historian and author michael beschloss. Michael, teach a little civics here. Why is that both important and so relevant 57 years later to where we are right now . Well, if kennedy came back, hed see a president in President Trump whos screaming about the press all the time and talking about fake news and Running Press conferences like today that are very different from jfk. You know, when kennedy said that in 1961, he and we had just been through the bay of pigs, that failed invasion of cuba, and what he was saying in that speech was, i wont like it, but you should report even more about the flaws in my programs because you might prevent them. I was amazed to hear from one of our producers that in a phone call today, you said there were broader lessons from what we just witnessed this week, the nomination of dr. Ronny jackson to the much larger job, head of the second largest bureaucracy in all of government, to be the head of veterans affairs. Nominations show a lot about a president s values. Brian, you and i heard during the last campaign, donald trump said over and over again, i feel so strongly about the plight of the veterans and the department of veterans affairs. Elect me, and ill fix it. And the way he fixes is by appointing someone with no administrative or serious political experience, who was destined to fail in that job Ronny Jackson even without all the personal problems that were raised. And i couldnt help but note what a momentous week this was on foreign affairs, on our soil and on the korean peninsula. You had the leader of france come here and kind of very adroitly work on the american president as a diligent boxer would, only using much more gentle hand and footwork, while at the same time last night the pictures that came in to us from the dmz between north and south korea, nothing short of remarkable. With these steps, the leader of north korea, the dictator becomes the first to enter south korea certainly since the cessation of hostilities. And a moment in history if it leads somewhere. You know, not maybe of the magnitude of nixon going to china or sadat to jerusalem in 1977, but has that potential. And heres a case where where historians of the future will know in a way that we cannot today, you know, how much of this might be owed by President Trump and if President Trump had a role in bringing this about, hell get some credit from history. I note you also know a lot about how news and history was covered in the moment. We witnessed this week an attempt by the president , and weve seen those from time to time of him to either distance himself from someone we know to be close to him, i. E. , Michael Cohen of new york, or try to change the nature of the relationship. When weve seen previous president s do that in the 60s, 70s, 80s, was the coverage perhaps more robust and more direct than it is now . Do you think we take more steps to be kind and watch our wording because of whatever fear or Political Correctness . Well, i think sometimes thats true. You know, a tiny parallel would be in 1964 Lyndon Johnsons old very close senate aide bobby baker of whom he said, if i had a son, this would be the boy, got into real trouble, finally went to prison. And johnson said, i hardly know the man. So at least he was being rather up front for back then. And finally on macron of france and im sorry to hop around no, its great. Have you ever seen a case where a president of a foreign nation comes here, is hosted at the white house, addresses a joint meeting of congress, and gives a speech as explicitly critical of his host as macron did . No. That is rare, and what you see that were watching in realtime that we havent seen before is people like macron, Angela Merkel trying to see how they can handle donald trump and maneuver him around. Usually we see it from the other side, you know, the goliath american president dealing with these european leaders. This is really something weve not seen before. One thing we have not seen also during the last year and a half has been donald trump growing in the presidency, becoming less impulsive, more disciplined. We really havent seen it. He really should study. On that cautionary note, what a luxury to be able to talk to you after a week like this as we always say. Michael beschloss, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks brian. Love it always. A quick break for us. Were right back with more after this. Every Fire Department every Police Department is part of a Bigger Picture. That Bigger Picture is statewide mutual aid. California years ago realized the need to Work Together. Teamwork is important to protect the community, but we have to do it the right way. We have a working knowledge and we can reduce the impacts of a small disaster, but we need the help of experts. Pg e is an integral part of our Emergency Response team. They are the Industry Expert with utilities. Whether it is a gas leak or a wire down, just having someone there that deals with this every day is pretty comforting. We each bring something to the table that is unique and that is a specialty. With all of us working together we can keep all these emergencies small. And the fact that we can bring it together and effectively Work Together is pretty special. They bring their knowledge, their tools and equipment and the proficiency to get the job done. And the whole time i have been in the fire service, pg es been there, too. Whatever we need whenever we need it. I do count on pg e to keep our firefighters safe. Thats why we ask for their help. How the news ton at the top of our broadcast brought still more evidence of how one man is becoming a larger and larger part of this story of the Trump Presidency and thats his long time personal lawyer and fixer as he is called Michael Cohen. The president admitted the first time that cohen represented him in quoted this crazy Stormy Daniels deal. The president then said cohen handles just, quote, a tiny, tiny little fraction of his legal matters. But President Trump and Michael Cohen go back a long way. That relationship is part of a closer look added Michael Cohen we are presenting this week as part of the headliner series and here now a preview. He is brash. He is someone who a pit bull. His first inclination is to fight. Tough talking. The disgusting liberal main stream media have attempted to label mr. Donald trump a racist. In his mind, going after his boss, he was going to fight back. Its akind of lawyer that trump would want. The selfproclaimed fixer to the president. The job here is to protect the king. That is something that Michael Cohen apparently did very well. Before Michael Cohen became entangled in a president ial scandal, he was the kid from the suburbs who reveered donald trump. Michael was drawn to him his personality, his brashness reproach to life. They both define themselves by what they wear and what they drive and what they can buy and what they can sell. But with will that admiration and loyalty be enough to protect the president . So i just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys, a good man. Attorney client privilege is not a magic wand. If the attorney is helping you commit a crime or conceal a crime. If he flips our into trubl. He said he would take a bullet for the president and when he said it he sounded like i men it. Youve been warned. Make a note set for dvr for headliners Michael Cohen hosted by ari melber, 9 00 p. M. Sunday on msnbc. Coming up back with one of the more unusual comments of the day when the 11th hour continues. Racing isnt the only and with godaddy, im making my ideas real. With godaddy you can get a website to sell online. And it will look good. I made my own way. Now its time to make yours. Everything is working just like it should im alex trebek, here to tell you about the Colonial Penn program. If youre age 50 to 85, and looking to buy Life Insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. What are the three ps . The three ps of Life Insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. A price you can afford, a price that cant increase, and a price that fits your budget. Im 54. Alex, whats my price . You can get coverage for 9. 95 a month. Im 65 and take medications. Whats my price . Also 9. 95 a month. I just turned 80. Whats my price . 9. 95 a month for you too. If youre age 50 to 85, call now about the 1 most popular whole Life Insurance plan, available through the Colonial Penn program. It has an affordable rate starting at 9. 95 a month. No medical exam, no health questions. Your acceptance is guaranteed. And this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. So call now for free information. And youll also get this free beneficiary planner. And its yours just for calling. So call now. The last thing before we go here ton. People who have written books about this president , some who have ebbed observed him up coalesce, covered him many years observed that he lax empathy. A couple of notes here, not everyone that is. Not everyone is born with it. Not everyone can learn it. Nor is it necessary to sustain human life. For some people this was encapsulated later learned in the phrase written for him by hope hicks on that card after the Florida High School massacre. It said i hear you. Well today added a white house event the president addressed members of the u. S. Olympic and paralympic teams and comments perhaps meant one way perhaps came out another way. So today on behalf of the United States i want to thank you every olympian and par olympian and that was just incredible with the paralympics was so incredible and so inspiring to me and i woodrich its tough to watch too much but i watched as much as i could. President trump at the white house today. And that does it for the broadcast on friday night and for this week. Thank you for being here with us as always and guided for all of us here added nbc news headquarters here in new york. Tonight on all in. There was no collusion. With russia. You can believe this one. As the president spins. She probably cant believe it who can. And nbc news exclusive. The pretext of the meeting was i have information about your opponent. Now reporting that the russian lawyer from the trump tower meeting had deeper kremlin ties than we mueller probe. And why the sudden pause in the stormy suit. And the growing firestorm over paul ryans decision to fire the house chaplain. May their efforts these days guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws. And as the president celebrates i get a big, big kick out of that. What to make of the historic peace talks between north and south korea. All in starts right now. Good evening from new york. Im chris hayes. On the very same day the president took a victory lap ov