Transcripts For MSNBCW The Last Word With Lawrence ODonnell 20170707

We dont know how this is going to work out. Watch this space. That does it for us tonight. Now its time for the last word with lawrence odonnell. Good evening, lawrence. Good evening, rachel. I watched the beginning of your show tonight after that cliffhanger that you left last night. Theres so much to talk about in it, but the basic lesson seems to be that the people who are telling us that its all fake news might want to actually produce, deliver some fake news that they can therefore point to as proof that its all fake news. Yeah. I dont know who i mean i dont want to speak to the origin of this thing, this forgery that we were shopped. I think the bottom line is we all need to do Due Diligence all the time. But it is worth being aware that somewhere, for some reason and we dont know what that reason is somebody is shopping pretty good forgeries of what appear to be nsa documents about trump and russia. And so its just i felt like its kind of a weird thing to do a news story about, but i sort of feel like i need to send a flag up the flagpole to just let everybody else know what we have figured out because i cant believe that its only going to happen to me. I imagine this may be happening to other news folks as well. Oh, no. Its a very relevant report, especially with what weve seen happen at cnn. This is what its like when youre on the receiving end of this. You ended up handling it differently and more carefully than possibly anyone else who would have received that. Well, we had to get a lot of help with this. This was like an all hands on deck sort of thing. Listen, people try to you know, in politics and in life, there are dirty tricks and pranks, and its just sort of a its a moment to really be on your toes. It was also a great detective story to listen to. Thank you, my friend. Thanks, rachel. Thanks, lawrence. Cheers. Well, at least no one is saying donald trump became president today. We want to see fair press. We dont want fake news. He doesnt want a fair press. He wants a fawning press. Will you once and for all, yes or no, definitively say that russia interfered in the 2016 election . Well, i think it was russia, and i think it could have been other people in other countries. Donald trump is the only american who does not believe that the russians interfered with our elections. Obama, when he was president , found out about this. He did nothing about it. To say he did nothing would not be accurate. For example, the sanctions that the Obama Administration put on putin the president of the United States ripping another president of the United States on foreign soil. And the cia. And in the press. Thats unseemly on its own. Hes saying that obama did nothing about it, which lends it legitimacy. So which is it . Nobody really knows. Nobody really knows for sure. Nobody really knows, yes. Your Intelligence Community says they absolutely do know. Donald trump has just undermined the strategic standing of the United States by sha sha essentially saying his own intelligence agents are unreliable. Hes inexperienced and he doesnt have the temperament for this kind of thing. Because hes the president of the United States, thats whats going to get us into trouble. The president of the United States flew to poland to deliver this Important Message today to the polish people and the world. Here is that message. Nbc is equally as bad despite the fact that i made them a fortune with the apprentice, but they forgot that. Now, i know it sounds like it, but that was not just another goofy trump line. That was the president of the United States trying to communicate what he believes is an important american principle, a trump rule, that if you make money for a corporation and if that corporation owns a news division, then everyone working in that News Organization should be publicly nice to you all the time. This will be one of his ignored points, of course, in a day of Public Comments that disgrace the american presidency and reduce it to something nasty and inane. And we will consider and discuss much more of what the president had to say today. But for the moment, lets just focus on this one trumpian bit, this sentence that is so i to ignore when so many of his other sentences seem so threatening to truth and a free press and other things. Now, lets not argue about how much of a fortune Donald Trumps tv show made for nbc. Suffice it to say that hundreds of nbc shows have made much more money for the any network than Donald Trumps tv show. The president clearly believes though that nbc and msnbc owe him friendly and positive News Coverage because he once worked on an nbc show. Well, so did bill cosby, a show that made thousands of times more money for nbc than Donald Trumps show ever did. Most of the world does not enjoy a free press that is as free as the american press. Many wellmeaning people around the world in those countries dont believe that the press should have more freedom than it already has in those countries. America and american president s, when they go abroad, have spent centuries now trying to convince the world of a value, that the First Amendment style free press represents. Now we have an american president who is telling the world that if money changes hands, that changes everything. If money changes hands, that changes the rule. If money changes hand, then that should limit the freedom of the press. And nbc news and msnbc should remember that donald trump a tv show sometimes turned a profit for nbc. I made them a fortune with the apprentice, but they forgot that. They forgot that they owe me. Thats going to make sense. Its going to make sense to some people around the world, in government and out of government, who dont yet have an americanstyle appreciation of a free press. It certainly makes sense to donald trump and everyone in his family. This really is the way he thinks. Now, we know hes lying about nbc producing fake news. He knows its real news. Hes just lying about that. We know hes lying about that. But he is not lying about the idea that nbc news and msnbc should be nice to him because he used to work for nbc. And he is now in a position to spread that kind of poisonous transactional thinking around the world. He is in a position to encourage foreign leaders who want to restrict the news media in their countries. If any other president of the United States had said Something Like that, Something Like that one sentence, it would be the wildest thing that that president said all year, and that president would have to retract it immediately and insist that he didnt mean it. But not donald trump. He says Something Like that, and it just gets lost in the avalanche of other comments that he made today, including his continued refusal to acknowledge the unanimous view of the american intelligence agencies that russia did interfere in our election. I said it very simply. I think it could very well have been russia, but i think it could well have been other countries. And i wont be specific, but i think a lot of people interfere. I think its been happening for a long time. Its been happening for many, many years. You again say you think it was russia. Your intelligence agencies have been far more definitive. They say it was russia. Why wont you agree with them and say it was . Well, let me just start off by saying, i heard it was 17 agencies. I said, boy, thats a lot. Do we even have that many intelligence agents . Lets check it. We did some heavy research. It turned out to be three or four. It wasnt 17. And many of your compatriots had to change their reporting and they had to apologize, and they had to correct. Now, with that being said, mistakes have been made. I agree, i think it was russia, but i think it was probably other people and or countries. And i see nothing wrong with that statement. Nobody really knows. President trump had no harsh words for Vladimir Putin, who directed directed the russian interference into our election, and instead he managed to blame president obama for the russian interference in our election. The thing i have to mention is that barack obama, when he was president , found out about this in tirms of if it were russia, found out about it in august. Now, the election was in november. Thats a lot of time. He did nothing about it. Why did he do nothing about it . He was told it was russia by the cia, as i understand it. It was well reported, and he did nothing about it. They say he choked. Well, i dont think he choked. I think what happened is he thought Hillary Clinton was going to win the election, and he said, lets not do anything about it. It is, of course, not true that president obama did nothing about it. He confronted Vladimir Putin directly about it, and president obama authorized the intelligence agencies to make russias interference in the election public in october on the very same day that this became public. I just start kissing them. Its like a magnet. And when youre a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Needless to say, the Obama Administrations public warning about russian interference in the election was largely drowned out by Donald Trumps bragging about sexual assault. If the world was looking for clarity or confidence in how President Trump will deal with north korea, this was what we got instead. As far as north korea is concerned, i dont know. Well see what happens. I dont like to talk about what i have planned, but i have some pretty severe things that were thinking about. That doesnt mean were going to do them. I dont draw red lines. President obama drew a red line, and i was the one that made it look a little bit better than it was, but that could have been done a lot sooner, and you wouldnt have had the same situation that you have right now in syria. That was a big mistake. But i think well just take a look at what happens over the coming weeks and months with respect to north korea. Its a shame that theyre behaving this way, but they are behaving in a very, very dangerous manner, and something will have to be done about it. Joining us now, david ruth cough, columnist for the washington post. Also with us, max boot, senior fellow for National Security studies and a former defense policy adviser for romney 2012. David, where to begin . In fact, please begin wherever you want on the president s Public Comments today working from what we just heard about north korea on back to everything we heard today. Well, youre absolutely right. We heard a lot of outrageous things. We heard another bumbling, inarticulate performance that was unleaderly, attacked our press, attacked our Intelligence Community. But i think something bigger is happening here in this 24hour period we should look at because the president is systematically dismantling the American Leadership role in the world. He stood next to a polish leader who is restricting freedom of the press, which is something weve fought for for decades. And he lined up with him and attacked the press. So he undermined our ability to lead towards a free press. He had his secretary of state today, rex tillerson, talk about becoming allied with russia and iran and syria in syria, going away from the values that we fight for. Today, because hes taken steps back on trade, the europeans and the japanese announced one of the biggest trade deals in modern history that doesnt have the United States involved in it. Tomorrow when he meets with Vladimir Putin, as it happens, hes going to be doing it as exactly the same time the g20 is meeting to discuss energy and climate, a meeting he doesnt want to be in. At the same time, of course, he is cozying up to a man who undermined american democracy, the principle thing weve fought for over the course of the period of past century. And he is not going to bring up the issue. He is going to effectively reward putin with the meeting, and today i took not the Intelligence Community line on that interference in the election. He took the putin line of that interference. So energy policy, trade policy, democracy policy, the values we stand for on the battlefield, these are the things america has been known for for 75 years. And one by one, in one day, theyre being obliterated by this man who is systematically destroying americas standing in the world. Max boot, i agree with what david had to say, and i also have the impression that donald trump doesnt have the vaguest idea that hes doing any of that. Hes just being donald trump, but its especially jarring, lawrence, i think, when you see donald trump taking the donald trump show on the road. I mean this kind of stuff is bad enough at home, but its especially jarring where its before a foreign audience where hes not just speaking for his base. Hes supposed to be speaking for the entire country, and he doesnt seem to understand that. Remember just ai few days ago when he said what he does is, quote, modernday president ial. Well, im kind of an oldfashioned guy, and i prefer oldfashioned president ial. And im thinking back to one of my heroes, Ronald Reagan. I mean can you imagine Ronald Reagan going abroad in 1981 and saying, oh, theres no evidence that theres any soviet expansion. Thats just our Intelligence Community saying that. They often lie. But if there is any expansionism, its not my fault. Blame jimmy carter. Its all jimmy carters fault. That guy was a loser. I mean you could not imagine Ronald Reagan or any previous president saying anything remotely like that. But as david suggests, were used to this kind of stuff coming out of Donald Trumps mouth. It almost seems normal right now, but it shouldnt be normal. We should be outraged that he is not representing america in the way that america should be represented. The point about it not being normal and outrageous is exactly why i isolated that one little sentence about his history with nbc because that in itself is so wild and crazy, and yet its tucked in to this giant sandwich of crazy stuff that makes look what happened today. Go ahead, max, quickly. I was going to say its incredibli incredibly destabilizing to americas leadership role because for decades weve been telling other countries they need to promote freedom of speech, all the liberties that we take for granted. Now any twobit dictator in the world who wants to repress the media can say, its just fake news. Im opposed to it like donald trump. He is basically giving a license to every strongman around the world to act on his worst instincts. David, can you explain to donald trump why it is in our interest for poland to have a free press . I dont know if anybody can explain anything to donald trump. I doesnt want to be briefed. He uses these tweetlength briefings. You would think it was evident on its face that a free press benefits any society. But trump is allergic to this idea. Hes been fighting the idea of a free press from the very beginning. But i just want to bring up one other thing. We are now 20 minutes into your show. Today the head of the office of government ethics quit the United States government because i feels the president of the United States is profiting from the presidency and that the at moss for protecting ethics is so odious, he cant do business anymore. You made a comment that one line would have stood out in a presidency. The head of the government ethics quitting because he thinks the president is corrupt and its like the third item, the fourth item of the news for the day is a sign that we have crossed away. The one thing we have to remind ourselves. Mass do this is not normal. We are not in normal times. This man is undermining the United States. And as i said in a column that i wrote for the post earlier in the week, the single biggest National Security threat that we face as a country today is the president of the United States. Max, the thing that donald trump doesnt seem to know is that historically in the countries that do not have anything like a free press, and the less free press they have, one of the most lied about entities in their news media historically has been the United States of america. Of course. I mean he shows very little awareness of what this country has stood for for more than 200 years, and its especially jarring when you think about the timing of this, the fact that it was just two days ago that we were celebrating the fourth of july, the issuance of the declaration of independence, which said that all men have these rights. Among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Donald trump seems you irutterl unaware of that. I was struck reading his speech in warsaw, the fact that he didnt talk about freedom. He didnt talk about democracy. What did he talk about . He talked about the shoadowy forces that are threatening to erase culture, faith and tradition. This is the way that blood and soil, european populists have talked for decades. This is the way that Stephen Bannon talks. But this is not the way american leaders have talked since 1776 because we believe that there is a heck of a lot more uniting us than bonds of culture, faith, and tradition. We believe there are shared ideals, our shared commitment to the principles embodied in the declaration of independence that we celebrated two years ago, and donald trump seems either oblivious to those principles or hostile to them. Thats unprecedented. Thank you both for joining us. I really appreciate it. Pleasure. Coming up, we are now 11 hours away from President Trumps meeting with Vladimir Putin. What will they talk about . What wont they talk about . And will we ever know the truth of whatthy take about . And what is Mitch Mcconnell railey trying to do with that Health Care Bill . Is he really trying to pass that bill . Youre not taking these. Hey, hey, hey youre not taking those. Whoa, whoa youre not taking that. Come with me. Youre not taking that. Youre not taking that. Youre not taking that. Mom, im taking the subaru. Dont be late. Even when were not there to keep them safe, our Subaru Outback will be. vo love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Pressure. I feel it every day. But at night, its the last thing on my mind. For 10 years, my tempurpedic has adapted to my weight and shape, so i sleep deeply. And wake up ready to perform. Nothing performs like a tempurpedic, and our july 4th event is the perfect time to buy one. Save up to 500 on select tempurpedic mattress sets. Find your exclusive retailer at tempurpedic. Com so we know how to cover almost alanything. Ything, even a coupe soup. [woman] so beautiful. [man] beautiful just like you. [woman] oh, why thank you. [burke] and we covered it, november sixth, twothousandnine. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum yeah, and i can watch thee bgame with directv now. . Oh, sorry, most broadcast and sports channels arent included. And you can only stream on two devices at once. This is fun, were having fun. Yeah, we are. No, youre not jimmy. Dont let directv now limit your entertainment. Xfinity gives you more to stream to more screens. What i expect is that President Trump will meet putin. Hes going to like putin. Putins a straight shooter, straight talker. Theyre going to bond over things like, you know, their common dislike of fake news and the deep state. And putin is going to try to play to trumps ego, to say you and i need to Work Together against these enemies, especially those in your country, so that we can do big things together. Thats the thing i fear. The one thing that seems predictable about the Trump Presidency is how donald trump will behave with Vladimir Putin. The president s meeting with Vladimir Putin is scheduled for tomorrow at 9 30 a. M. Eastern time. Attending the meeting will be President Trump, secretary of state tillerson, president putin, sergey lavrov, and translators. Last week, National Security adviser h. R. Mcmaster told the New York Times theres no specific agenda. Its really going to be whatever the president wants to talk about. That, of course, means that donald trump will begin with the size of his Electoral College victory and the size of his inauguration crowds. But Vladimir Putin has something more serious in mind. According to the daily beast, his Foreign Ministry has said the agenda will concern everything from syria to ukraine to returning two intelligence complexes on u. S. Soil, even to gay rights in chechnya. Joining us now, evelyn farkas, an msnbc National Security analyst. Also with us, aid re an car nis ski, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and an expert on russia. Adrienne, this is the buffoon meets the spy master. Can it be anything else . If you think about it, there will be two people on each side in the room who have some role to play in the discussion. Two of them have 20 weeks each of Foreign Policy experience. The other guys have 20 years each. So even from the point of view of a more normal presidency, this is unprecedented that a president would step in when president obama went in as a relative novice, he brought people like mike mcfaul and people who had spent years studying russia, years understanding their adversary. We have two guys involved in business transactions who are trying to get action going on russian soil. Evelyn farkas, adrian reminds us that the least experienced president in history, who is an obvious ignore a muss about all things will be sitting there with the least experienced secretary of state in history. Right. And im also worried. I assume theyll have an interpreter there. I dont know whether putin will want to speak in english. But im more worried that there wont be perhaps a note taker there unless of course secretary tillerson is going to take notes, which i would hope that he would do, but im guessing that he might not do because secretary lavrov wont take notes. Im sure theyll figure out a way to get a note taker in. Im worried about the record as well because, you know, thats how how we hold officials accountable if we lack trust. Not only are they inexperienced, but there are some question marks hanging over the president and even to some oextent, secretary tillerson with regard to how strongly and firmly he will deal with russia and whether he understands the real objectives of this kremlin. So im worried because its going to be a very chummy atmosphere. Obviously we know that President Trump is exceedingly comfortable with lavrov just based on what happened in the oval office right the day after he fired former director of the fbi comey because we got those pictures. It will be just as chummy, and thats actually the moment when hes supposesd to be firm and sy stop meddling in our politics and stop invading our neighbors. If you can do those two things, maybe we can talk about cooperating on syria and a whole host of other things. H. R. Mcmaster has said there is no trump agenda in this meeting, none. I think theres a clear russian agenda. The russian agenda is the old policy of linkage. Theyd like to link cooperation on the middle east and fighting terrorism with a Carte Blanche to menace their east european neighbors. I have to say when trump was on script, and i assume this was prepared by the National Security team, some of the messages he had were right. He even talked about cyber terrorism. He talked about russian destabilization in ukraine and russian alliances with unworthy regimes like syria and iran. But off script, he is completely unpredictable and the weakest link in the current ann entourage of is rex tillerson. Evelyn, are we going to have any accurate sense of what was said in that room . Im afraid that we wont. I mean thats exactly the point i was trying to make earlierment. I would agree with adrian that some of the things that were said in the speech in poland today were good. They were healthy. They were useful for our alliances, showing strong support for nato and for our allies who are members of the alliance. But at the same time, it became very clear to me that in the language that President Trump used, he still thinks the number one threat to the United States is terrorism. And i respectfully disagree. While i will not downgrade terrorism, i mean its clearly an ongoing threat to the United States, russia is the immediate existential threat to us. Theyre the entity that tried to take down our democracy if you will. They attacked our election. And they also have nuclear wins, a andthy also have a military Modernization Program and a doctrination that is very dangerous. It employs surprise, which is dangerous when youre dealing with Nuclear Weapons but also even with Cyber Weapons of the type that they have and the way they might use them, again, according to their doctrine. So i think were in a very dangerous space with russia right now. The last thing you do with a bully like putin and someone like putin who has over time taken more and more hes invaded one country in 2008. He invaded another one in 2015. Then he went into syria hard core and really challenged us. Then of course the meddling in our elections. If we dont stand up to putin, i will keep on pushing, and that is not in americas interest, and its not in the interest of our very alarmed allies, including not just the europeans but the japanese. Earlier in the segment you mentioned the trade agreement. Our allies are going to forge along without us, and that will not be to the benefit of the United States of america and its citizens. Vladimir putin is on the verge of meeting the proven weakest negotiator in the history of the american presidency. Its going to be quite a meeting. Adrian and evelyn, thank you both for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Thanks, lawrence. Coming up, former republican congressman who was part of the leadership of the impeachment of president bill clinton in the house of representatives says that the charges that could be brought against donald trump are far more serious. He will join us. It certainly makes me feel a sense of pride the tenacity of not only that he showed in his life but was given to me through the slaves that im birthed through as well. It makes me think that theres really no excuse for me in any area of my life to not be able to conquer anything. Take the zantac it challenge pill works fast . Zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. Nexium can take 24 hours. When heartburn strikes, take zantac for faster relief than nexium or your money back. Take the zantac it challenge. America should have the right to know what the motivations of its leaders are, and they need to know that financial interests, personal financial interests, arent among them. That was Walter Schaubs exit interview today with cbs news. Walter schaub is the director of the office of government ethics for another week or so. He is resigning that position six months before the end of his term. Walter schaub did not publicly frame his resignation as a specific protest against the ethical lapses of the trump administration, but when asked by cbs news if he thought the president and his family are using the office of the presidency to enrich themselves, he said this. I cant know with what their intention is. I know that the effect is that theres an appearance that the businesses are profiting from his occupying the presidency. And appearance matters as much as reality. Joining us now, kathleen clark, professor of law at Washington University in st. Louis. She is one of the country a leading experts on ethical stands for government officials. Also joining us by phone, david from, Senior Editor for the atlantic. Kathleen, your reaction to wa Walter Schaub a resignation. Its a fiveyear appointment by the president and its meant to extend beyond one term of the presidency. So he was going to be leaving in six months. What does it mean to you that hes leaving six months earlier . Well, its a shame that he decided he could serve the public better by leaving the government. So its a great loss for the public. But Walter Schaub has done a terrific job as the director of the office of government ethics and has really shown extraordinary leadership in the last year or so. And david frum, historically, the office of government ethics power comes not so much from its ability on the enforcement side, which it wasnt really designed to do, but its supposed to be one of those agencies where Everyone Wants the stamp of approval of the office of government ethics, and they will do anything to get it. Not so with the trump administration. This resignation puts a spotlight where a spotlight is needed. Were talking today about a challenge that is brought by some Public Interest groups about disclosures of assets that Jared Kushner failed to make. But we should all be even more concerned, if possible, by the omissions of debts in the disclosures from both President Trump and Jared Kushner. President trump probably owes at least double what it is that he has disclosed on his forms. That raises the question to whom is he beholden . What does the president owe, and to whom does he owe it is going to be one of the most important questions of this presidency. Kathleen clark, now President Trump gets to appoint the person who will be examining the ethics issues for the president and for the trump family. Thats correct. And what we hope will happen is he will actually appoint someone who will show the kind of independence and leadership that Walter Schaub has done. Our fear is that he will appoint someone like his own white house counsel, who seems intent on protecting donald trump as an individual rather than protecting the people by representing the office, acting on behalf of the public. David frum, this is an appointment thats subject to senate confirmation. So what can we expect from the republican majority in the senate when they examine donald trump a choice to head the office of government ethics . I dont think that question is going to come up because if you ask me what my expectation is, i expect hell leave the Office Vacant for months and months and months. Kathleen clark and david frum, thank you for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Wall tir schaub will join chris hayes tomorrow night at 8 00 p. M. Right here on msnbc. Coming up, what would paul ryan have done if president Hillary Clintons fired the fbi director who was investigating her . A former republican congressman who was part of the Impeachment Team on the bill clinton case says that the republicans would already be pursuing impeachment if Hillary Clinton had done what donald trump has done. Pain isnt always fair. Im not going to let it change my life. Aleve is proven stronger on pain than tylenol 8 hour. And only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just 1 pill. This is my pain, but i am stronger. Aleve. All day strong. I love you, basement guest bathroom. Your privacy makes you my number 1 place. To go number 2. I love you, but sometimes you stink. New febreze air effects with Odorclear Technology cleans. Away odors like never before. Because the things you love the most can stink. And try febreze small spaces to clean away odors for up. To 30 days. Breathe happy with new febreze. Is to always keep track of your employees. R micromanage them. Make sure theyre producing. Woo employee of the month you really shouldnt leave their side. Vita coco coconut water, hydration comes naturally. Introducing the new sleep number 360™ smart bed. The only bed smart enough to change sleep as we know it. It senses your every move and automatically adjusts on both sides to keep you comfortable. And snoring. Does your bed do that . Right now save on sleep number 360™ smart beds. Plus, its the lowest prices of the season with savings of 500 on our most popular p5 bed. Ends sunday. Nts. From far away. But they honly see his wrinkles. Hes gotta play it cool to seal the deal. Better find a way to smooth things over. If only harry used some. Bounce, to dry. Yeah he would be a less wrinkly, and winning at life. Nearly fifty years at of experiencety, has taught us that were not so different. We all want to be healthy humans. We all want strong bodies for our families, who we love. Most of the time. The drive to whip up a gourmet dinner. Or order out, and destroy the evidence. And Healthy Hearts to pursue our passions, celebrate friends victories. And endure their endless victory dances. We get it, youre good at bowling. Thats why natures bounty packs our nearly fifty years of wisdom into all we make. Because were all better off healthy. The charges facing President Trump now are more serious than the charges that got president bill clinton impeached by the house of representatives says former republican congressman bob inglis. In 1998, congressman bob inglis, a South Carolina republican helped the House Judiciary Committee draft the impeachment articles against president clinton. Obstruction of justice is what hes accused of. Now, if the man had discretion, he would resign. If he had a shred of dignity or honor, he would resign today. But since he doesnt, we move on to a separate thing, and that is proof. We must now see if there is proof that he has committed these crimes. Now, a former republican congressman, defeated in his last Reelection Campaign largely because of his support for al gores position on climate change, bob inglis says that a public censure or reprimand may have been a better idea in the clinton impeachment case. Bob inglis also says that if a democrat in the white house had fired an fbi director who was investigating her, paul ryans house of representatives would be pursuing impeachment charges right now. Joining us now, former South Carolina congressman bob inglis. Congressman, youre seeing just pure partisan hypocrisy hire. If this was a democrat firing the fbi director, and the fbi director testifying about certain kinds of intimidation tactics used in conversations with the fbi director, you would expect this Republican House of representatives to be moving toward impeachment already. Well, yes. Lets say that Hillary Clinton had won and lets say that james comey, director of the fbi, had reopened the investigation into her use of the private email server. Lets say that she didnt like that and that she fired him. Republicans would be howling, and rightly so because it would look very suspicious. But donald trump has basically done those things, and republicans are whimpering. Thats a real problem. We need to get to the bottom of this. We need to restore confidence in our government, in our a electoral system. So its incumbent, i believe, upon my party to really get to the bottom of this and to pursue this vision of russia connections with real vigor. In a piece that you wrote about this, you say that the difference between republicans now and republicans during the nixon presidency who helped, in effect, drive Richard Nixon out of office oncet they discovered the crimes he was involved in, you say the big difference now is the presence of sick oh fantic media. What do you mean by that . Well, if you watch fox friends, what youll sigh is a steady diet of basically fawning over the president and the vice president. Anything they say must be true. I remember when donald trump made the ub substantiated allegation that barack obama had wiretapped him in the trump tower, that morning on fox friends, they were basically repeating that allegation as though it had been proven fact, completely dispensing with what journalists should do, which is say, well, this is something they said, but now lits get to the bottom of this. Anyway, based on that kind of thing, what you end up with is a media that supports that 38 that is donald trump a support and gives them the steady diet of explaining, rationalizing, normalizing his behavior. And the result is that we dont have what we had back in the nixon days, which was very credible republicans facing three 30minute nightly news broadcasts knowing that they had to be straight with those folks that were asking them questions on those three 30minute broadcasts. A lot of us have been looking at the Republican Party in the house and in the senate and wondering when someone will step forward and react to President Trump the way i or xi wouldry act to a democrat doing the same thing. Do you have any candidates you expect at some point to stip up to this challenge . Yea, i think there are some people that really are being pretty clear. Senator ben sasse, for example, has been very clear. Lindsey graham, from my state, has been clear, especially about the tweets and the demeaning of the office of the presidency and the demeaning of the country by those tweets. And so i would expect people like that to show a little bit of independent nerve and some real respect for the office and respect for the process to step forward. Quickly before we go. What kind of reaction have you gotten from your former colleagues for taking this position . Well, i think that some of them are very grateful. In other words, that somebody is out there saying something that doesnt face the 38 . I got to admit, you know, its easy for me to say these things because ive been shot through by the 38 . So having been killed by them, you know, it doesnt hurt anymore, they can go ahead and shoot away. Theres some real liberty in that, but i hope that those that are in elected office will eventually show that kind of courage. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Great to be with you. Coming up, why today was a very bad day for republican senators who want to repeal obamacare and a very good day for 23 Million People who would lose their Health Care Coverage if those senators succeed. Imbs. Thats the height of mount everest. Because each day she chooses to take the stairs. At work, at home. Even on the escalator. That can be hard on her lower body, so now she does it with dr. Scholls orthotics clinically proven to relieve and prevent foot, knee or lower back pain, by reducing the shock and stress that travel up her body with every step she takes. So keep on climbing, sarah. Youre killing it. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. Choicehotels. Com. Badda book. Thats it . He means book direct at choicehotels. Com for the lowest price on our rooms guaranteed. Plus earn free nights and instant rewards at checkin. Yeah. Like i said. Book now at choicehotels. Com cohigher ad higher parents arent perfect, but then they make us Kraft Mac Cheese and everythings good again. woman vo o my husband didnt recognize how tour grandson. Eeth. woman 2 vo thats when moderate alzheimers made me a caregiver. avo if their alzheimers is getting worse, ask about onceaday namzaric. Namzaric is approved for moderate to severe alzheimers disease in patients taking donepezil. Namzaric may improve cognition and overall function, and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. Namzaric does not change the underlying disease progression. Dont take if allergic to memantine, donepezil, piperidine, or any of the ingredients in namzaric. Tell the doctor about any conditions; including heart, lung, bladder, kidney or liver problems, seizures, stomach ulcers, or procedures with anesthesia. Serious side effects may occur, including muscle problems if given anesthesia; slow heartbeat, fainting, more stomach acid which may lead to ulcers and bleeding; nausea, vomiting, difficulty urinating, seizures, and worsening of lung problems. Most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, dizziness, loss of appetite, and bruising. woman 2 vo im caring for someone with moderate alzheimers. If you are too, ask about namzaric today. Be the you who doesnt cover your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. Be the you who shows up in that dress. Who hugs a friend. Who is done with treatments that dont give you clearer skin. Be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara® just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. Stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. Some serious infections require hospitalization. Before treatment, get tested for tuberculosis. Before starting stelara® tell your doctor if you think you have an infection or have symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. Always tell your doctor if you have any signs of infection, have had cancer, if you develop any new skin growths or if anyone in your house needs or has recently received a vaccine. Alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. Some serious allergic reactions can occur. Do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. Most people using stelara® saw 75 clearer skin and the majority were rated as cleared or minimal at 12 weeks. Be the you who talks to your dermatologist about stelara®. \msnbc. If youre one of the 23 Million People worried about losing Health Care Coverage when the president signs the republican Health Care Bill into law today was a good day for you. And it was a very bad day for republican senators who are hoping to pass that bill. The republican leader of the senate Mitch Mcconnell mite actually be one of the many republicans who really doesnt want to pass that bill, even though he wrote it. Maybe thats why Mitch Mcconnell has never said anything that a majority leader usually says when he is really trying to pass a bill. Not one word about how confident he is the bill is going to pass. He has refused invitations from reporters to express any confidence at all. And every time he refuses that invitation he makes it easier for republicans who are opposing the bill. Passing bills in the senate is far more complicated than the house with the senatary more complicated rules. The majority leader needs everything to line up just right. He needs to use Party Pressure which Mitch Mcconnell has chosen not to do. He needs to express confidence i he never has. And he needs momentum. He needs to move as fast as possible, which mcconnell has deliberately not done. Today Mitch Mcconnell admitted publicly in his home state of kentucky that the republicans might never be able to agree on a bill. If my side is unable to agree on an adequate replacement, then some kind of action on with regard to the private Health Insurance market must occur. Majority leaders on their way to passing bills dont ever talk about what will happen if any dont pass the bill. Because the majority leader has to convince his own party to hold hands and vote for a bill that is going to pass. Remember when the rumor spread the week before the fourth of july that Mitch Mcconnell was going to find way suddenly to revive his Health Care Bill and have a vote on it on that friday before the fourth of july recess. It sounded impossible at the time and of course it didnt happen. Now republicans in the congress and in the white house are let going be known that the senate will not vote on the Health Care Bill next week when they are back in session. And any might my get to it a week after that. Momentum isnt everything in legislation. But it is important. And Mitch Mcconnell has completely lost the momentum. Today he sounded like a defeated legislator. So where we end up if republicans are not able to agree among themselves is the crisis will still be there. And well have to see wlat way forward is at that point. Up next, what was that we just saw . What is Mitch Mcconnell really up to . Does he really want to pass a bill he knows is politicly toxic to republican senators Reelection Campaigns . Noo introducing the easiest way to get gillette blades text blades to gillette on demand text to reorder blades with gillette on demand. And get 3 off your first order for her compassion and care. He spent decades fighting to give families a second chance. But to help others, they first had to protect themselves. I have afib. Even for a nurse, its complicated. And it puts me at higher risk of stroke. That would be devastating. I had to learn all i could to help protect myself. Once i got the facts, my doctor and i chose xarelto®. Xarelto®. To help keep me protected. Oncedaily xarelto®, a latestgeneration blood thinner. Significantly lowers the risk of stroke in people with afib not caused by a heart valve problem. It has similar effectiveness to warfarin. Xarelto® works differently. Warfarin interferes with at least 6 bloodclotting factors. Xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor interacting with less of your bodys natural bloodclotting function. For afib patients wellmanaged on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® compares in reducing the risk of stroke. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase risk of stroke. While taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. It may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. If youve had spinal anesthesia, watch for back pain or any nerve or musclerelated signs or symptoms. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. And before starting xarelto®about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Its important to learn all you can. To help protect yourself from a stroke. Talk to your doctor about xarelto®. Theres more to know™. [boy] cannonball [girl] dont. [man] not again [burke] swan drive. Seen it. Covered it. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum youre not taking these. Hey, hey, hey youre not taking those. Whoa, whoa youre not taking that. Come with me. Youre not taking that. Youre not taking that. Youre not taking that. Mom, im taking the subaru. Dont be late. Even when were not there to keep them safe, our Subaru Outback will be. vo love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Im in the position of the guy with a rubiks cube trying to twist the dial in such a way to get to at least 50 members of my conference who can agree to a version of repealing and replacing. Joining us now igor wallsky the president of the center for american progress. I have seen a majority leader less enthusiastic about passing his own bill. I have long doubted that Mitch Mcconnell really wants to pass this thing. Yeah, he is not terribly excited. But the significance of what he did today was really put a lie to this claim weve heard out of the trump administration, from republicans, that obamacare is beyond repair. There is nothing you could do. Its going to die. If Mitch Mcconnell is saying hey if this fails well find a way to fix it in a bipartisan way. What that means is if you stabilize the markets theyll continue to function for years to come. Yeah and Chuck Schumer jurpd out immediately with an offing approving comment about what mcconnell said today expressing eagerness to work with mcconnell if he fails with the republicans. What he means is work to shore up and improve the current version of obamacare. Yeah, make sure premiums are affordable, that the out of pocket payments are affordable, people have options. Surers need certainty but its all doable. I think look, if the fear that mcconnell is putting in his conference is get in line with in bill and if you dont you have to work with democrats, and that is like some some big obstacle they have to overcome if thats what it takes, great. But he isnt even present going as a scarey tlernltive he presents it as the perfectly logical next step. Ive looked at him through the whole exercise and thought he knows this hurts republicans if he passes it and becomes law. Why would he want to do that . I think he was hoping it died in the house and never got to him. But here we are. Also the bill is exactly what mcconnell wants, which is take services away from lower and middle income americans and give a huge tax cut to the rich. Thats what mcconnell has been fighting for his entire career. I dont know that he doesnt want it maybe not in this way. But he certainly wants the guts of it. You get the last night thank walks ieg orr. Thanks. The 11th hour starts now. Tonight tear gas and riot police ahead of meeting with World Leaders German Police try to take back the streets of hamburg. Plus blaming obama. And foreign soil the current u. S. President blames the last one over russias role in the election, while questioning how much russia is even to blame. And raising the stakes. How north korea has adds one more big layer to the