Transcripts For MSNBCW The 11th Hour With Brian Williams 20180704

Headline for the epa chief and the white house as the 11th hour gets under way on a tuesday night. Good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. Im ali velshi in for brian williams. We begin with a new bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence committee, which unequivocally backs up the findings of the u. S. Intel agencies that russia meddled in the 2016 president ial election with an eye toward helping donald trump win. Specifically the Committee Said it agrees with the conclusion that russian president Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign for the u. S. Election, that the kremlin had a clear preference for trump, that it discredited Hillary Clinton and contrasted her unfavorably to trump, and that by july 2015, russia had already obtained access to Democratic National committee networks. The Senate Committee also said the intelligence agencies overall findings were wellsupported and said there was no evidence of political motivation. This is very different than what weve been hearing from the house intelligence committee. That committee ended its inquiry in march saying the intel agencies had failed to prove their conclusions about putins attempts in favor of trump. Tonight president did not mention russia nor this new senate report. But hes not been silent about russia and the intelligence agencies on twitter. Just a few days ago he wrote, quote, russia continues to say they had nothing to do with meddling in our election. Just this morning he was back on twitter writing, wow, the nsa has deleted 685 million phone calls and text messages. Privacy violations . They blame technical irregularities. Such a disgrace. The witch hunt continues. Trump has also been adamant in person about his feelings regarding the allegations involving russia. I said to myself, i said, you know, this russia thing with trump and russia is a madeup story. I have this witch hunt constantly going on for over 12 months now. There was no collusion. And thats been so found, as you know, by the house intelligence committee. All we hear about is this phone russia witch hunt. Thats all we hear about. Theres no collusion with me. Theres no russia with me. Theres no nothing. Honestly, its a disgrace. Now, this latest report from the Senate Intelligence Committee Comes just weeks before the president s summit with Vladimir Putin. They will meet in helsinki on july 16th. Its been reported that at least one of their meetings could be one on one, no aides at their side, no one in the room where it happens. Today, a team of republican senators led by alabama republican Richard Shelby were in moscow meeting with Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov in an attempt to help set the tone for the upcoming trump putin sitdown. Also today, secretary of state mike pompeo spoke to lavrov by phone, according to the readout by the russian ministry. That conversation was another effort to make sure it all goes smoothly during the summit in finland. Trump has been seeking a formal meeting with putin for months now and has made it clear he believes it will benefit the United States. If we can get along with russia, thats a good thing, not a bad thing. A few years ago putin was in what was called the g8. I think its better to have russia in than to have russia out. Getting along with russia and china and with everything is a very good thing. Its good for the world, its good for us, its good for everybody. Now, trump and putin have met before at previous gatherings involving other world leaders. But the helsinki meeting will be their first summit. Putin is very much driving this. The president is an intelligence recruiters dream. Hes totally transparent with his tweets and public comments. His frustrations, his desires, his weaknesses, this vulnerabilities are all hanging out there. Putin of course is a trained kgb intelligence operator. Now, before trump talks to putin, hell meet with the leaders of nato countries in brussels. That alliance has been tested by the president s rhetoric about its cost and its usefulness to the United States. And most recently, its been reported that trump has written letters to several of the leaders of nato countries accusing them of spending too little on their own defense. Today, a former nato commander pointed out that such a move will likely heighten the tensions within the alliance. Well, its a terrible move tactically. Above all, we need our network of allies, partners, and friends around the world. To undermine it by sending out these letters, the nato heads of state must feel like theyre headed for a root canal with a dentist, going to this meeting. Okay. Lets bring in our leadoff panel for a tuesday night. Jeremy bash, former chief of staff at the cia and the pentagon. Also former counsel to house intel. Julia ainsley, National Security and justice reporter. Michael mcfaul, former u. S. Ambassador to russia. Also the author of a new book, from cold war to hot peace. Michael, i want to start with you. I think its important to realize that when Donald Trump Tells americans about what with regard to nato is good for the United States, i think its important to realize that only once in the history of the Nato Alliance was the socalled article v invoked, the idea that an attack on one is an attack on all, and all the 22 countries come to the aid there are now 22 countries of the attacked country. Only once in history has that actually happened. Thats right. And after it happened, many of those countries sent their soldiers to die in afghanistan next to american soldiers. And they were there for several years. I think up to 1,100 soldiers died from countries all throughout the Nato Alliance. So when we talk about what they have done for us, theyve given their ultimate sacrifice for us. Remember, we were attacked. Canada wasnt attacked. Germany was attacked. Estonia wasnt attacked. Yet they all had their soldiers die with us on the battlefield in afghanistan. They came to our defense. Jeremy, lets go back to the senate intel report. The house intel report was sort of unbelievable, they shut that investigation down before they had finished interviewing and hadnt really done a comprehensive report on this. The senate intel report is what most americans are hoping a congressional inquiry looks like. Yeah, ali, its a republicanled investigation conducted thoroughly and in a bipartisan way. And the conclusions were pretty striking, not really surprising, but striking in that they were a rebuke to the president s prevailing narrative. Number one, the Senate Intelligence Committee Found definitively that the Intelligence Communitys assessment was wellsupported by the evidence, wellfounded by intelligence, that not just there was meddling in the 2016 election, but that in fact putin directed it and he directed it to favor donald trump. And secondly, importantly, they concluded that the steele dossier played no role in the Intelligence Communitys assessment. The Intelligence Communitys assessment was based on a very large body of information that has been collected by the u. S. Government that has now been verified on a bipartisan basis. Julia ainsley, for those of us who dont follow this all that closely, how is it that a bipartisan Senate Committee investigating the same thing came to such a different conclusion than the house intel committees conclusion in march that President Trump touts as irrefutable . Ali, these two committees have been taking the same issue and looking at it in a completely different way. We know that the House Committee was very much about politics. Chairman devin nunes was taking some of his marching orders from the white house. He stepped down as chair of that investigation in the house, but he very much kept a hand in it. On the senate side they were seen as the adults in the room. Thats a term i remember hearing, richard burr, republican, leading this, along with senator mark warner, a democrat, really wanted to strike a serious tone because they knew the gravity of what they were doing. And if there were any flaws, political motivations toward the right or the left, they would be undermined. And in this case they also were able to use that bipartisan swing and to show that there was no political motivation in the investigation run by the Intelligence Community into russias interference in the 2016 election. And so they were able to do what the Inspector General did at the Justice Department just last month, where they also determined that there was no political motivation by the Justice Department looking into Hillary Clintons emails. What we have is many investigations, some are investigations of investigations, it can be really easy to get your head lost in all of this. But i think whats clear here is that we had a really serious, longdrawnout investigation into this narrow piece of what the Intelligence Community did. And they found no political motivation. And its probably where i would put my cards rather than the house. Ambassador mcfaul, the timing of this is inconvenient for the president as he heads to russia. He had a discussion with Maria Bartiromo from fox about what he would talk to Vladimir Putin about. Are you going to mention the meddleling when you meet with Vladimir Putin . Im going to mention why the fbi didnt take the server from the dnc. What about deleting 30,000 emails . At some point, mike mcfaul, this gets ridiculous. It does get ridiculous. The good news, all three of you used the word bipartisan, thats a word we dont get to hear very often. We should remember, thats in americas National Security interests when we do that. But to hear our president , hes going to ask putin about what the fbi is supposed to do with Hillary Clinton . Its really disappointing. When i hear other officials say, oh, theyre going to push back hard on this when they meet, its obvious that thats not what President Trump plans to talk about. Instead, you know, what is amazing is all the concessions that hes been floating lately, you know, why did putin want him to win . Because this is a president who said he would look into recognizing crimea. This is a president who wants to look into reducing our troops to nato. This is a president who is in a fight with our closest allies. Thats exactly the outcome that Vladimir Putin wanted in 2016. Jeremy bash, there are 22 countries in nato, but the most interesting part about nato expansion in recent years is that theyre around russia. They border russia, the Old Soviet Union countries, czechoslovakia, estonia, all these countries. These countries are living in remarkable fear now. The Nato Alliance has kept them safe for decades. If russia decides to get expansionist tendencies again, theyre relying on nato to protect them. Guess what, russia is get be expansionist tendencies again. This has to be a big problem that plays into the hands of Vladimir Putin. American Foreign Policy is completely inverted, ali. Instead of supporting the Transatlantic Alliance that has kept europe whole and free and democratic, the Nato Alliance, and instead of working to constrain an aggressive russian government effort across not just europe but indeed the middle east, in fact american Foreign Policy is now upside down. Were now supporting putin. Were supporting russias Foreign Policy. And were undermining the alliance that has kept american National Security interests protected. Julia, there are republican senators who are meeting with lavrov. Republican senators do not share Donald Trumps view that we should be giving russia a warm hug right now. Thats right. I mean, hes been cautioned not just on this. Hes been cautioned on what hes doing on trade policy. It seems its really difficult, though, to get inside the mind of donald trump, whether youre a republican senator or even an adviser very close to him, or especially if you have expertise. Hes really in the business of his own pr. He sees himself as the consummate business leader, someone who can strike a deal. And i think that might be why he wants to have this oneonone meeting. And he isnt being talked out of the idea of how damaging that can be to his public image and how many questions americans would have about that. Thats kind of the most common question i get, is why is he still going out of his way to defend russia, to talk about crimea, if he is trying to say that he won this election fair and square . Mike mcfaul, you said the idea of a meeting in which there is no one else in the room, given the shadow that donald trump is under, it just doesnt make sense. I agree. It doesnt make sense. I devoted my columns in the Washington Post this week, calling it the personalization of Foreign Policy. All president s do that, but trump has taken it to an extreme. And he doesnt think about Americas National interests. He thinks about his relationships with these people. And he thinks about getting along with a guy like putin and kim jongun as the objective of the meeting. And that is not traditionally the way we do things. And especially to do it with no notetaker in the room, thats really dangerous, because then putin gets to read out the meeting in the way he thinks is in russias national interests. Gentlemen, julia, thank you for joining us. Coming up, President Trump chats with three more potential Supreme Court nominees. And embattled epa chief scott pruitt pushes back on reports that he wanted Jeff Sessions job. 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. I spent the last three days interviewing and thinking about Supreme Court justices. Such an important decision. And were going to give you a great one. Were going to announce it on monday. And i think youll be very impressed. These are very talented people, brilliant people. I think youre going to really love it, like justice gorsuch. We hit a home run there. And were going to hit a home run here. And step by step, we are making America Great again. President trump offering an update about his potential Supreme Court picks during his event in west virginia. Earlier this evening the president promised to reveal his choice next monday, july 9th. The white house says President Trump spoke to three potential picks today, a total of seven this week. We can assume senator mike lee was one of those seven people interviewed by the president. A spokesman for the republican senator confirmed to nbc news that the president spoke to lee by phone on monday and that the senator was in utah. Robert costa of the Washington Post reports President Trump interviewed cavanaugh, barrett, amul thapar on wednesday. Those four judges are indeed under consideration along with senator lee, Thomas Hardiman and joan larsen. Shannon pettypiece, robert costa, and Phillip Elliott join me. Welcome to you all. Shannon, lets start with you. You were with the president in west virginia. And he one of the first things he spoke about was the Supreme Court. You got a sense that hes happy with how this is playing out . We do. Hes still planning to make a decision by monday, any day now. Hes been really charging along on this. This is something he could have anticipated coming, its not one of those issues that came out of nowhere. For him, hes in a position where he can score a lot of points with his base. Can he get someone through congress . That will be congress problem. But if he can pick a solid conservative prolife justice, his base will love him for it and it will overcome a lot of the other shortcomings that hes had in their eyes over the past year or so. Robert, lets talk about the list. The president said there would be five, he said there would be two women on it. We now know hes talked to seven, there are two women, so we know theres a few more men in the mix. Theres a war among conservatives pushing for jung kavanaugh, some pushing for judge kethledge, and some for Amy Coney Barrett. The president is very much monitoring the News Coverage per white house officials today. They say he takes seriously that judge kavanaugh has connections to george w. Bush, is supported by the republican establishment. Hes torn in a sense because he knows judge gorsuch was also supported before he was nominated for the Supreme Court by that same republican Establishment Community and it worked out, in his eyes. Phillip, not on that list of seven people is senator mike lee of utah who has confirmed that hes spoken to the president. Where does he fit into this . From people ive spoken to on the hill, the conversation between senator lee and President Trump went far better than either had anticipated. There is an expectation that this was a courtesy phone call, a nod to say, look, senators, im considering one of your own. But in the process of the conversation, both sides came away feeling a little better about this. Im still not convinced that the math makes sense, to take a sitting republican senator out of it. And the more and more the president think about it, hes a little skittish about this. After all, utah should be a safe seat. But we heard that about doug jones as well. Let me ask you, phillip, about Amy Coney Barrett. There are a lot of republicans who are energized about the idea of a conservative woman being the fifth conservative justice on a Supreme Court that has to deal with a lot of issues that conservatives hold very close to the heart. She is i think its fair to say she has expressed a certain hostility toward roe v. Wade. While the president says hes not going to ask the candidates about these things, he doesnt have to. The federalist society, the heritage foundation, and the sitting senators will know about this indeed. How does she fit into this . Shes an outspoken catholic, a devout member of that faith. Some of the biggest fireworks at her confirmation hearing for the federal court were there her civil life and her faith and the president sees this as a potential wedge issue, not just for catholics but all people of faith, that perhaps hostility towards organized christianity could be a topic that could feed a sense of victimhood that is so potent with the president s base and could motivate voters heading into the next election. And shannon, we had a dry run, because Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the seventh Circuit Court by this senate. Senator feinstein went after her about matters tied to her faith and her religious practice. So speaking of that victimhood, she can hold that banner well for the conservative base. Well, she can. But this is going to be a political fight unlike its going to be a bigger fight than a lot of people have seen over many issues in a long time. Its going to be a very difficult needle to thread in the senate. You have two republicans at least, Lisa Murkowski and susan collins, who are prochoice, who have concerns about putting someone on the court who they are concerned could overturn roe v. Wade. She could fall into that category. Of course you have a few democrats who went along and voted for gorsuch. I mean, its really a very delicate balance here. Both sides bases are gathering up enormously for a battle here. I think this decision monday, thats going to be the easy part. The real fight is going to be what happens in the coming days. Robert, there are a few democrats who have in the past voted with the president on a Supreme Court nominee, on neil gorsuch. There are a few republicans who are problematic. John mccain, because hes not around. There is jeff flake who has made noises about not supporting a candidate tied to other matters. And then you have rand paul, who the president says always does the right thing in the end, and statistically thats probably true from the president s perspective. But you always have to deal with rand paul. Apparently the president is trying to do that this week. The post reported tonight that senator paul and the president have spoken in recent days, mostly about his concerns about judge kavanaugh. There are concerns among some conservatives, social conservatives, but his positions on the constitutionality of president obamas health care law. Also certain decisions he has made on abortion rights even though he has dissented as some conservatives have over these various cases. We dont have time to get into it, but the way he dissented has raised some eyebrows among those on the right. This is all being litigated, discussed inside the white house as they make this decision. Part of that process is calling senator paul to reassure him and talk through his wariness about judge cavanaugh. Phillip, there are really four constituentscies here. There are establishment conservatives, movement conservatives, and then congress. The president has to thread that needle. He has to name somebody on monday who has a good chance of having the support of all these folks. Of these seven candidates, its not obvious. No, its not. And thats why all of us trying to put this in boxes, trying to figure out maybe venn diagrams is a better word than boxes. In the end this is not going to come down to some pro conlist, plus this, minus that. It will come down to what feels right for this president. And to this point in his presidency, the president s gut has guided him to some victories that really the Supreme Court is one of them. Exactly. We cant question his gut and his instinct. His tactics and approach might be anathema to what Mitch Mcconnells office would like to see, but his gut has gotten him to victories. And this will be his legacy. Thanks to all of you. Coming up, the policy change making undocumented immigrants choose, leave the country with your kids or without aasylum. Asylum is apparently no longer an option. 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 65 and take medications. Whats my price . You can get coverage for 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 number one 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. And with this plan, you can pick your payment date, so you can time your premium due date to work with your budget. So call now for free information. And youll also get this free beneficiary planner, and its yours just for calling. So call now. We shared a lot of sorrow together, suffered a lot. If you see this message, i just want to say youre going to get out. What we went through is not easy. A guatemalan mother separated from her children was finally reunited with her kids in new york today. But more than 2,000 other children are still held in Detention Centers across the country. Health and Human Services officials are struggling to reunite the families despite a looming court deadline. Nbc news reports a new order from the Trump Administration is giving parents two options. Either leave the United States with your children or be deported and leave them behind. According to the report, the new instructions do not allow parents who were separated from their children under President Trumps zero tolerance policy to reunite with their children while they await their decision on asylumasylum. Back with us is Julia Ainsley who coauthored that nbc news report. Julia, what does this mean for parents . This is a false choice, ali. This form is handed out at Detention Centers now. They can sign here and say they can repatriate back to their own countries without their children, that would allow the childs asylum case to continue to play out in the United States. Or they can decide to reunite and repatriate in their home countries. But the lawyers ive spoken to say a lot of their clients have been forced to sign these forms before theyve had their asylum cases heard. Those lawyers are instructing their clients not to sign. They say you have the right to asylum, do not sign this. But not all of these immigrants have legal counsel. They dont all know that. And so theyre being presented with this very difficult choice where they have to decide do they see their child again or do they allow their child to stay here and continue their asylum case. And in many cases does the parent try to stay in the United States so that his or her own asylum case can continue. So its really been this pressure put on these parents to try to leave the country as quickly as possible, because as we know, the thing that this administration has been trying to deter and crack down on through all of these policies, whether its separation or prolonged detention, is fast claiming asylum. And this is the latest iteration of that. I cannot repeat enough times, the claiming of asylum is an international right. It is not actually a crime. There are certain things in the process of trying to get to the United States that may be a misdemeanor crime. But the act of seeking asylum is not actually a criminal offense. The president is enjoying the idea that hes taking a strong line and his base is agreeing with this. But in fact new polling indicates that 58 of americans disapprove of the president s handling of immigration, 39 do approve, and thats in keeping with the numbers who support the president , this is not an unusual poll. But theres an ad being taken out by a conservative group called the becoming american initiative. Its a conservative group. Lets listen together. Through this golden door has come millions of men and women. These families came here to work. Others came to america in often harrowing conditions. They didnt ask what this country could do for them but what they could do to make this refuge the greatest home and freedom of history. They brought with them the values of family, work, and freedom. Let us pledge to each other that we can make America Great again. That is amazing. Thats ronald reagan, using the words that donald trump has coopted, talking about welcoming refugees and immigrants to america, an ad put together by a conservative group. I think that thats really i think that carries more weight, right, ali, that thats put together by a conservative group. I was just discussing these poll results with my colleague today, hes following the midterms more closely than i am. One thing he reminds me is that immigration is such a hot button issue for conservatives, and while a lot of democrats might feel strongly about the way immigrants are treated, they tend to rank it lower. Its not necessarily the thing that gets them to the polls. But i think that weve seen a shift. I think weve seen it through the rallies last week, through ads like this, that this, what is happening now at the border, what happened with the travel ban, is in a new place that they havent seen before. This could bump up that issue for democrats and it could even swing some conservatives on the issue, who say, you know, i want laws to be enforced, i want strong borders, but this is a step too far and in some cases could go against their religious beliefs as well. Thank you, Julia Ainsley. Epa chief scott pruitt denies he was scheming to become the new attorney general, when the 11th hour continues. I just couldnt put up with it anymore. I love this administration, i love the president. But scott pruitt, i mean, i couldnt be a part of it anymore. I joined the Trump Campaign even before his announcement. Why that was was because of the whole message of draining the swamp. Not only did we not drain the swamp with this man, i think we put a bigger swamp creature in there. The former deputy chief of staff to epa administrator scott pruitt explaining exclusively to chris hayes why hes speaking out against his exboss. He said pruitt once had a Young Employee put a 600 hotel charge on her personal credit card. I saw where the chief of staff, ryan jackson, had to give one of the younger staffers, literally pulled six 100 bills out of his wallet and gave it to this young lady. Because she had charged something for the administrator and not gotten reimbursed . It was hotel rooms for the inauguration that his family stayed in, is what it was. Pruitt is currently facing more than a dozen federal investigations relating to a variety of ethics scandals. Yet there is a new report tonight that says just within the past few months, the epa chief was setting his sights on an even higher cabinet post. Cnn reports, quote, pruitt directly appealed to President Donald Trump this thing to fire attorney general Jeff Sessions and let him run the department of justice instead. According to three people familiar with the proposal, the offer further signals how confident he has remained in pruitt, despite a dizzying number of ethics issues. The epa administrator responded to the story, telling nbc news, quote, this report is simply false. General sessions and i are friends and i have always said i want nothing more than to see him succeed in his role, end quote. Lisa friedman, Climate Change reporter for the New York Times, and still with us, Shannon Pettypiece of bloomberg news. Lisa, it is difficult to keep track of Scott Pruitts scandals. Now we know hes trying to take someone elses job. But you know what the real story is here. The real story is that scott pruitt is doing the job he has been put there to do. There is no agency that conservatives hate more than the epa. And he is attempting to dismantle it. Well, first i would say we have a handy guide of all the investigations on our site, if anyone needs to keep track. But, you know, youre absolutely right. The president very much enjoys the job that scott pruitt has been doing. He enjoys a strong relationship with the president. There are people in the white house, including chief of staff john kelly, who have urged and continue to urge President Trump to fire scott pruitt. Were being told that, you know, he is you know, the president is increasingly getting the message from people around him that mr. Pruitt could be a liability for him in the midterms. But you know, weve seen time and time again that President Trump very much supports the regulatory rollbacks that mr. Pruitt is doing at the epa. Shannon, the list on the New York Times is comprehensive. Some of it seems unethical. Some of it is just weird. Some of it is both weird and unethical. When White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders was asked about this, here is what she said. This was two months ago. Lets listen. Reporter can you explain why he still has a job in the president s cabinet, and also how his behavior is in keeping with the values of draining the swamp . Again, were evaluating these concerns and we expect the epa administrator to answer for them. And well keep you posted. Shannon, that was two months ago. Were evaluating these concerns. Where are we now . At the time it was not if but when pruitt would be fired and they were looking for the right moment. But somehow the storm quieted down a little bit. And pruitt was able to make it through for a couple of more months and here we are again. I was on the plane on air force one, hogan gidley briefed reporters today, one of the white house spokespeople. He called the recent reports troubling, he said the president is looking into them. When we said, well, youve called these issues troubling before, this is not the first time this has happened with scott pruitt, and pushed back on this, and he said, well, the president is very happy with the job scott pruitt has been doing around regulatory issues, exactly to this point. What we saw with tom price, the moment a scandal came out, he was gone, because the president wasnt happy with the job that tom price was doing. He wanted him out of there. Here, hes in a bind because hes very happy with the job scott pruitt is doing around getting rid of all these regulations. Thats the difficulty therein. And who would replace him if he is removed . Lisa, theres some talk that john kelly doesnt like scott pruitt and the reputation that hes earning the administration and he wants to get rid of him. But the bottom line is maybe the president s patience with scott pruitt will run out. Its kind of weird, because in most of our organizations, that litany of behavior would have caused some reaction other than praise from our bosses. But thats what scott pruitt gets. We cant tell these days when the president starts to praise somebody more or less, whether that person is nearing the exits or not. What does it look like, what does a scott pruitt resignation look like . Is it a resignation, a firing, a moving of scott pruitt somewhere else . I can tell you all of us are holding our phones close to see whats going to be tweeted. But, you know, the general thinking i think around this is and look, weve talked to people close to mr. Pruitt who think he could be gone as early as tomorrow. Weve talked to people who think he will stay until he wants to leave. However it happens, were told pretty consistently that, you know, the president will let him leave with dignity, perhaps in a way that he wants to leave, perhaps after a regulatory victory. One thing to note is that the epa intends to submit a new version of the clean power plan. That was former president obamas signature climate plan, to the white house for review this week. Thats a pretty big deal. It would be significantly weaker. It might survive legal challenges and it would be a great way for mr. Pruitt to put in place something that would be hard to roll back, that whole companies, utilities, and others really do feel comfortable with. And he has had a close relationship with Energy Companies for a long time, going back to his days as a politician in oklahoma. Thanks to both of you, Lisa Friedman and Shannon Pettypiece. Coming up, a fact check on the president s warning of an infestation of ms13 gangs. We respect i. C. E. You know, i. C. E. Is the one, these are tough people, and you have to be tough. And when they have a problem with ms13 gangs and all of these others that came in through these horrible and weak immigration laws that surely were strengthening up, were going get them done, we need tough laws. We need fair laws. But when these people come into our country and come in illegally, and then they disperse throughout the country, and all of the sudden you see nests of ms13, you know, its like you are liberating towns. We sent i. C. E. In. There is no evidence of towns being liberated from ms13 in america. President trump earlier tonight speaking about immigration and the ms13 gang, as he often does. Just this morning the president wrote on twitter, quote, when we have an infestation of ms13 gangs in certain parts of the country, who do we send to get them out . I. C. E. Its not just today. If you watch the president often, you know he often cites ms13 as a major immigration effort. Lets see what he gets right. First of all, the gangs roots are in 1980s los angeles. One of several gangs that sprung from high poverty areas that were long neglected from the government and economic development. Many gang members were deported back to el salvador in the 1990s, and the group took advantage of the weak government in el salvador to consolidate power, take control of large areas. Its now actually one of the driving forces getting immigrants from Central America to seek asylum in america. All right. Back in the United States, the gang has about 10,000 members. It sounds like a lot. This is according to the department of justice, but its actually less than 1 of the more than one million gang members in the United States. However, i dont want to minimize this. Ms13, trump is right how vicious they are. They are accused of 27 brutal murders on new yorks long island in the past five years or so. In the new york city suburb, the group is known to lure teens to isolated areas where they are killed. One boys head was smashed in. His bones show signs of a machete attack. Theyre as real and serious a threat as many other lesser known u. S. Gangs. But they are not the immigration danger that trump and others have held them up to be. Nbc newss Jacob Soberoff spoke with the borders rio grande sector chief. Do you know how many ms13 members you caught here . Right here were looking at a 300 increase over last year. How many people is that . It comes out to about i think its 180. And how many people total last year . Last year 187,000 people. Okay, lets just look at this now. 180 gang members out of 187,000 people detained. Okay . That means that ms13 members, after the 300 increase make up less than. 1 of people detained at the border. Less than a tenth of 1 . Ms13 is a menace, but when it comes to immigration, it is not the infestation that trump warns about. Okay, just ahead, the commander in tweets explanation about the mistakefilled tweets that hes posted on twitter. The 11th hour is back after this. 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So call now for free information. And youll also get this free beneficiary planner, and its yours just for calling. So call now. Isnt it ironic getting ready to go to the g7 in canada to fight for our country on trade, then off to singapore to meet with north korea and the nuclear problem. Robert de niro, a very low iq individual, has receivd too by real boxers in movies. Russia continues to say they had nothing to do with meddling in our election. The last thing before we go is about the president s twitter feed. While we all are prone to typos, this president could benefit from one piece of advice every journalist has heard. Everyone needs an editor. In march one tweet had two mistakes in the first four words. 25 minutes later the correction came. Alex baldwin is of course alec baldwin, and dying is spelt with a y. But the other Trump Twitter mistakes live on without correction, like this one on the threat of a north korea missile. Missile is spelled missile missile, and the word stopped generally has two ps. We all make mistakes, but the irony of tonights president ial twitter typo didnt go unnoticed. At 5 19 p. M. Eastern time, real donald trump tweeted, quote, after having written many bestselling books and somewhat priding myself on my ability to write, it should be noted that the fake news constantly likes to pour over my tweets, looking for a mistake. I capitalize certain words only for emphasize, not because they should be capitalized. Capitalization aside, as the folks at Merriam Webster point out, pour over, means to read or study carefully. Power over to make expensive cosmetic. They added comb over to comb from the side of the head to cover the bald spot. Still others took exception with the president s claim that he has written many bestselling book, including j. K. Rowling. These are her tweets. Rowling even noted trumps own art of the deal ghost writer talked to the media. Two years before his publication, schwartz claims he and trump had this administration. If i were you id write a book called art of the deal. Thats something people would be interested in. Youre right, trump agreed. You want to write it . The president fixed todays tweet fixing pore. Thats our broadcast for tonight. Good night from nbc headquarters in new york. Yes, its wednesday. We are talking politics and patriotism on this fourth of july. A big happy fourth of july to everybody. Im chuck todd here in washington. Welcome to a special edition of mtp daily. Stood a day many of us celebrate the birth of our nation, popping up the grill, opening a beer or two, taking in a movie, perhaps, watching fireworks with the family. Its a they when a lot of folks think about what it