acceptance rates. hogg responded by hitting ingram where it hurts calling on her sponsors to abandon her. as of this hour four have done just that. after news broke two of the sponsors dumping laura ingram, she apologized writing, quote, any student should be proud of a 4.2g pa, including david hogg. on reflection and in the spirit of holy week, i apologize for any upset or hurt that my tweet caused him or any of the brave victims of parkland. and here's the response to that tweet from david hogg. i 100% agree, an apology is an effort just to save your advertisers is not enough. i will only accept your apology if you denounce the way your network has treated my friends and i in this fight. it's time to love thy neighbor, not mud sling at children. ingram's apology also came after the pope -- the pope -- voiced his support for these young voices. quote, there are many ways to silence young people and make them invince i believe. it is up to you not to keep quiet. even if others keep quiet, if we older people and leaders, some corrupt, keep quiet, if the whole world keeps quiet and loses its joy, i ask you, will you cry out? steve schmidt joins us today from parts unknown at the table. mark leib vits is here, chief national correspondent for "the new york times" magazine and msnbc contributor who we don't drag to new york often enough. heilman is here, nbc news and national affairs analyst. jim mussina, deputy chief of staff for president obama, also former campaign manager in 2012. and rick sting l, former under secretary of state republic diplomacy, now an msnbc analyst. let me start with you, john heilman, on the news of this. the news of this is that a 17-year-old insulted and really denigrated by laura ingram who as whoopi goldberg would say is a grown as woman taunted a 17-year-old on twitter about not getting into colleges with a 4.1 gpa. i've never seen such a swift come uppings in the court of public opinion and the one that matters to her among her own sponsors. >> laura ingram, the thing she said about david hogg would be pathetic of any adult to any child his age in any circumstance. forgetting about on television and the politics of it. like really? sad. but the real story here is the story of david hogg, who at this moment, we all say, well, there's a march, how much will the march change anything? does this really have legs, this movement? do these kids really have power? in my world, power is the ability to take money away from people, to take advertisers away, to take sponsors away. there is also power at the ballot box. until we get to november, the way you demonstrate you have power is the ability to go on social media and say, you know what, i'm calling for a boycott and you have three advertisers -- >> four, here they are. rachel ray's nutrish, trip advisor way fair and speed i can't pulled advertisements from laura ingram's show. >> they know what she's like. they've heard her trash people before. none of this was new. the new element here is those advertisers understand that these kids and this issue have power and they want to be on the right side of it. it's not about laura ingram. it's that they want to be with this movement and that is a gargantuanly important thing in politics and life. >> i was thinking today about what the reverse would be. i was thinking of a 17-year-old pro life activist came out and some on the left attacked her viciously and said, no wonder you can't get into a university with a 4.1 grade point average. i could not even fathom the viciousness with which the right wing media would treat a pro life teen. have you seen any sort of example, though, of a teen, of a 17-year-old who was very new to political activism -- he certainly seemed ready for the moment. he met this moment. >> completely. >> he's one of the voices i remember covering in the first hours after the shooting. but to have peeled away four major advertisers from laura ingram with the power of one tweet he sent seems pretty remarkable. >> it is changing american politics. when you and i grew up in american politics, the nra was undefeated heavy weight champion of the world. now they are on the run. it's not just these four sponsors. you saw delta airlines, united airlines a couple weeks ago, a bunch of people saying we won't work with the nra any more. that is unbelievable and it is all because of these kids. and these kids continue to be the most underestimated political force of our recent time. >> not for much longer. >> it's unbelievable in the middle of this, they are changing an issue that has been the political third rail for a very long time, and these kids are doing it by themselves. it is unbelievable. laura ingram certainly is helping. >> steve schmidt, you and i have had a lot of talks about both of these subjects, about the power of these kids. we talked in the first days after the shooting about just this, the nra and its defenders having met their match in these kids. we've also had darker conversations about what fox news has become and i wonder if you can weigh in on both planks. >> well, fox news has become a propaganda network. it exists in an alternate reality. it spews forth daily a toxin into the american body politic. it purposefully monetizes division in the country. so, when you see fox news hosts routinely now calling for senior officials at a department of justice or in the intelligence communities to be locked up, the daily assault on institutions, the rule of law, the use of completely crazy alternate reality conspiracy theories as justifications for all of it, we've never seen in any of our lifetimes an american television ostensibly news network do something like that. >> i want to let you finish, but work in an answer to this, too. do you think there is pressure on the trump white house to distance itself from one of the parkland victims? >> no. look, i think at the end of the day that the trump base is where the trump base is. and the trump base, the vessel that communicates to them, is either through his twitter account and then reinforced, of course, on the nightly programming of fox news. the issue with the advertisers is this. the sensibility of brands has changed. it's not what a brand says, it's what a brand does today. and every advertiser, every brand, when you lock on and you spend your money, your resources on a show like laura ingram, you're taking laura ingram on as a business partner. what you're saying is nobody in their right mind wants to be in business with laura ingram. and you don't want to be in business with laura ingram because of her easy and casual cruelty that she inflicts out on people on a daily basis. to john heilman's point, what you see is an example of an adult acting terribly. this is a 17-year-old kid. and by the way, some college is going to be lucky to get that kid. a 4.1 gpa seems pretty good to me. but he sure does seem to have a knack for economics if you look at the boycott that he's been able to arrange and the infliction of monetary pain on someone who was so callous and casually cruel to him. >> 4.1 gpa is like mine times two. >> no comment. i want to -- you were writing about and you're knowledgeable about our new communications vehicles. i want to ask you about the role social media played. almost instantly i saw sort of the reaction and it was swift. it was largely from fox news's detractors, but not exclusively. but the critique about laura ingram was really about her as a woman and a mother. how could you as a mother attack a kid who has just been through what has to be one of the most horrific experiences of his life, the pettiness, the smallness. i wonder if you could speak to what that says about this moment, the coarseness. she is a grown woman, respected in her own circles. she anchors a news program and she had the lack of judgment to tweet at a 17-year-old to taunt him and bully him on social media. >> well, to steve's point, by the way, i'm going to start by this. the admissions director for harvard, princeton should be on the phone to david hogg already. he's a great, great catch. it does show you the power of social media to sway opinion and to do it so quickly. i mean, people did sort of shame her as a mother. what she did was absolutely immature. but it just shows this kind of tsunami-like power that social media has. also to steve's point about fox news, at the risk of committing some controversy, russia today is to vladimir putin what fox news is to donald trump. >> no doubt. why is that controversial? >> it is a support network that is -- will always react positively to everything that he does. it's not journalism. it is propaganda. >> so is the nra, right? >> are we saying something revelatory? >> we say nothing revelatory. >> i don't, you guys do. >> anybody in russia today is going to get -- >> with the exception of a few obvious hours, shep smith's hour, chris wallace's weekly show, that is true of fox all day long. i think other people in this industry have said that. very rarely do they do something that invites condemnation so universally. that's the point. that's why that's where we're starting today. this was her acting so inappropriately in public not just on her show, but taunting a 17-year-old on twitter. >> right. i think, though, what you can't forget is the swiftness by which david hogg acted. he went right to tactic -- sort of tactic red, which is advertisers. >> money. >> he was not even taking the time to message this. what is the most response? what is the measured high-minded -- he just went, boom. within like an hour or so, he had advertisers out on social media. you had the response within 24 hours or less, you had an apology. so, i mean, the question is how many times do you play this card, right? the next time sean hannity mentions seth rich on the air, the next time something -- someone -- this network or cnn does something objectionable to the right, do you actually have a counter reaction and this becomes just another kind of card to play? i do think that the -- what's interesting about the story will play out over the next few weeks. but having said that, david hogg has shown he is not messing around. in a weird way stormy daniels's lawyer, michael avenatti is not messing around. there is a new not messing around ethic among detractors of donald trump and the right, which i think people would have associated with donald trump during the election. >> or a kid who intuitively understands the power of social media, i'm going to flip the switch and it's going to work. there is david hogg and what's going on in laura ingram's head and fox news's head. they are generally good at knowing their audience. even though they cross boundaries and p upset liberals, they know where they can get away with it with their base and not sacrifice any economics for them. the fact that she misjudged this so clearly, the fact she didn't get this would impact the underpinnings of her he can many no i can show, there is fear. this thing is out of control. it is changing the parameters of politics. it's making -- it's throwing the chess board in the air in a way that's causing people whose a lot of comfort, we can do this, this is how the game is played. no, wait, these guys are threatening something here in the status quo and it's causing some people on the right to sort of lose their minds. >> what also is changing is how advertising works. because what we've had over the last ten, 15 years is people not buying content or brands, but buying audience. >> yes. >> all those brands are buying her audience. they know what she does on air is objectionable. what he is doing is linking the content and the person with the advertiser and saying, you're buying laura ingram so your brand is being represented by her. >> we didn't get to this when it happened, but it's important to raise it now. i mean, she does exactly what you said. she knows her audience and she presses their buttons. she had some pretty controversial remarks about famous basketball players who she said to shut up and dribble. let's watch. >> i'm numb to this commentary, like. must they run their mouths like that? unfortunately a lot of kids and some adults take these ignorant comments seriously. look, there might be a cautionary lesson in lebron for kids. this is what happens when you attempt to leave high school a year early to join the nba. and it's always unwise to seek political advice from someone who gets paid $100 million a year to bounce a ball. oh, and lebron and kevin, you're great players, but no one voted for you. millions elected trump to be their coach. so, keep the political commentary to yourself, or as someone once said, shut up and dribble. >> laura for you either. i actually think lebron did finish high school. he's done more for cleveland than i'm sure laura ingram has. she's got the facts wrong. this is maybe the information gap in her audience. this is pushing every obnoxious racial button. back to what steve talked about with advertisers, her advertisers are in business with someone who is pushing every racist button that i can think of. when she said that, i remember thinking of george w. bush's speech about emboldening racism. i think that's exhibit b -- exhibit a being charlottesville, and just the fact that advertisers didn't question their partnership with laura ingram after that was shocking. >> it's shocking that there's still 15 other advertisers who as we went on air haven't fired her. it's unbelievable. i want to go back to mark's point. we are watching social media change politics by the nanosecond, right. a 17-year-old kid immediately took on a really powerful, really well respected right wing lunatic in my view, but whatever. we'll figure this out. and took her down. the moment after she went after lebron james who would is a friend of mine, one of the most successful business people in america. >> i love him. not as much as -- >> he's what everyone wants their kids to be. he's unbelievably well spoken, unbelievably great. those obama campaigns, he was a natural at this. i want to trauk aboalk about da one more second. i'd look at these universities, screw you, i'm filing for office. if i was him i would announce today i'm running for state legislature. he turns 18 later this year. he would be a -- >> run his campaign for free? >> i would write a check today whatever it takes. >> steve schmidt, i want to you button this whole thing up. you brought us to being in business with laura ingram. i want you to button up that conversation. but also bring us back to your thoughts on david hogg and what he achieved today that you and i work for multiple politicians who were attacked by laura ingram and they never eked out an apology from her. >> no, that's right. john heilman talked a minute ago about fear. and we think about politics today, we think particularly about the republican majority and america's greatest scared rabbit paul ryan. and we look at all these republican members that are scared to death, scared to death of fox news, of laura ingram, of rush limbaugh. and what you see in this young man is a quality of character, fearlessness. maybe that's what happens after you've been down range of an ar-15 that kills your classmates and comes close to killing you. you lose all fear because this kid is not scared. he's not scared of the nra. he's not intimidated and scared by laura ingram. laura ingram huffs and puffs. you have half the republican party hiding under the table. half of them are hiding under their bed. they're so scared. so timid so skittish, not these kids, though. and i think that it's going to be definitional to the political debate that we see play out between november of 2018 when i think trumpism will be roundly repudiated in the next presidential election in 2020. but it's such a contrast, these kids, to the elected officials in the republican party. >> perfectly said. steve schmidt, thank you so much for jumping in and spending some time with us. we're glad to have you. when we come back, the white house loses its glue. hope hicks, one of the president's most trusted advisors, says good-bye to the west wing, leaving some aides wondering if he will replace her or add her responsibilities to his own. also ahead, michael cohen, the president's fixer, on that alleged sexual relationship with porn star stormy daniels suffers a set back at the hands of, his lawyer. we'll explain. six months after puerto rico was devastated by one of the biggest hurricanes ever to hit the island, a new report suggests storm victims in texas were treated better and helped faster than those living in puerto rico. we'll talk to actress and activist rosie perez. every legacy comes with a burden. an expectation to surpass. but that's the point. ♪ bring us doubt, and we'll bring you the first car with true hands free driving for the freeway. bring us a challenge, and we'll reinvent what it means to own a car. ♪ bring us all your expectations, and we'll defy them. again, and again, and again. gas, bloating, constipation and diarrhea can start in the colon and may be signs of an imbalance of good bacteria. only phillips' colon health has this unique combination of probiotics. it helps replenish good bacteria. get four-in-one symptom defense. if you only knew what happened in the breaks. one of the original cast members of the trump production took her final bow today. hope hicks, one of the president's most trusted aides said good-bye to the president to her job as white house communications director. in her wake she leaves a vicious fight to fill her job and a raging debate about whether the president may opt to simply fill her shoes himself. hicks' departure comes at a time of incredible upheaval in the west wing. trump's allies have suggested in recent weeks chief of staff kelly is also at times on thin ice and the president muses about doing his job as well. why not? he's got plenty of executive time. panel still here and joining us is robert costa, national political reporter for the washington post, also an msnbc analyst and on pbs. talk to us about the departure of hope hicks who isn't just beloved by the president but also an important witness in the mueller probe, she may not be leaving washington in the rearview mirror just yet. >> sheepz not leaving just yet. today was her formal last day, but she is expected to still come by the white house in the coming weeks and months to wrap up loose ends with her job. but what you're seeing with the departure of ms. hicks is a c-change inside the west wing for people who report on the daily. it's not just her departure. rob porter leaving, johnny mcentee, the body man, shiller long time body guard for the president. he left in the past year. it really changes the people who are around the president of the united states minute by minute, hour by hour. >> robert costa, let me read you something from new york magazine today. inside the cut throat battle to be the next hope hicks. the race to fill hicks' voitd is a clandestine parade of all the worst human impulses. she will leave behind a press operation that is inherently broken, rife with scandal and petty divisions that have only worsened amid the cyclical staff sheddings that have defined the first 14 months of donald trump's administration. it's some beautiful writing and some exquisite reporting on not just the vacuum, but on how vicious the candidates are to replace her to one another. >> it is vicious on one level about people jockeying for the job inside of the white house from different administrative posts. but the real story about the com's position that's open based on my report thing afternoon is it's kellyanne conway's if she wants the job. she may take it on an interim basis to take over the responsibility of managing communications and strategy for the white house. she's a confidant of president trump. as we see with almost all of his picks, whether it's for the department of veterans affairs of ambassador bolton or larry kudlow, he's turning to people he knows at this moment. as much as people who don't know the president that well trying to be the communications director, conway is an ascended presence in this west wing. >> let me put up a list of people who have won jobs, if you can use the word won in the last few weeks, and ask you, john heilman if you can figure out what they have in common. john bolton, larry kudlow, jackson, attorney joe digenova, was offered the job but ultimately couldn't take it because his wife represents mark corallo. that was a legal conflict with the president for reasons unknown. you're smart. why didn't the president see those guys? >> the fact they're tv supporters, sort of a -- >> make you think. >> boy, seeing white men seen on tv. defending them. jackson to be fair is not a pundit by trade. >> he had a turn at the podium we all know the president was really happy with. >> yes, and who wouldn't want to have -- you're a physician shave 30 pounds off your weight and say -- and say you're going to live to be 123 just because your genetics are so good. >> great genes. >> the president is a creature of television. if there were -- the ideal person for him in any given job would be a tabloid gossip columnist who also was on tv all the time. those are the worlds in which he lives. those are the worlds in which he looks at those people's credibility. we know what he did. it all goes back to the early part of the campaign where he was as happy as he could be where it was just him and a couple people on the plane watching the shows. that's his model of -- watching the shows. that's it. >> that's what he does. >> an ideal job for a gossip columnist who gets to be president of the united states. that's like the hybrid we're dealing with. >> right. >> and has a show. >> and has a show on cable preferably. to actually reality check this for a second -- and you worked in the white house -- this is a mid-level staff position. we're back to communications director -- that we're treating like a photo op as if it's a foreign leader visiting the west wing, in the rose garden having this big ceremony on all the networks all of a sudden. this is the communications director of the white house and there is a great deal of discussion who replaces the mid level staff person at the white house which is somewhat bizarre. this is a bit of a media scold on my part but it's actually genuine. >> i was about to say -- but let me push back. i think we cover hope hicks and i think she's described as the glue because of what she means to any of us -- i haven't talked to her, but what she means to him. >> yes. >> that job, mark, to your point that will be the fourth person to have that job in a year. that job is useless because donald trump is the communications director, right? i don't care who has the job. it can be kellyanne, it could be alley mcbeale. it doesn't matter. he is the communications director. >> remember, president obama never looked at the television except when he was walking by it and happened to be on. president trump watches it all day long. that is the job of the communications director. >> maybe the bad press coverage to george bush because he didn't watch the news. i take your point. the larger frame is all the people that are supposed to be sort of helping him do his job are reportedly of less and less influence than ever before. there is a report that kelly is losing his clout as the president blazes his own path. kelly is rarely on the line any more when trump calls foreign leaders. last week when trump spoke with vladimir putin days before the united states decided to expel dozens of russian diplomats, kelly wasn't on the call. there is also some reporting, i think, that while he had met with bolton, he wasn't in the room when mcmaster was fired or bolton was hired. and it depends on the day. but you hear that kelly is in, kelly is out, trump may do that job himself, too. >> if you look at the harvard business review, i don't want to put trump in the category of any executive leadership. one is disempowering all those people below you so they are quarrelling with each other so nobody has any power over you. that's had i style of leadership. it is a very weak insecure style of leadership. we haven't seen that in a white house maybe ever. >> robert costa, important meeting went down today, probably more important than anything we've talked about in the first 29 minutes of this sho show. our secretary of defense met with the incoming national security advisor, a polarizing figure and disclosure, someone i know, john bolton. i think we have a little bit of video on an open mic that we caught. let's watch it and talk about it on the other side. >> -- >> so, that is certainly bolton's reputation. >> it is. and the defense secretary, of course, has the nickname mad dog so you have mad dog meeting the so-called devil incar nate. those are his words for meeting the ambassador. what you're seeing say real power dynamic at play. the defense secretary is well aware that the incoming secretary of state, should he be confirmed, mike pompeo is friendly with john bolton. they have established a rapport in recent years going back to president oba pompeo's days in the house. who really influences the president? whether it's mattis, pompeo or bolton, it's going to be a crucial thing to watch in coming months on issues like the iran nuclear deal and kim jong-un. you see mattis trying to be proactive and building a relationship with bolton because there is not much of a relationship there. >> i want to ask you about two men. i think you know both of them. the white house physician who we talked about a little bit elevated to be the secretary of veterans affairs. and i want to read you the last line from the outgoing secretary of the va who i believe worked with your old boss as well. >> yes. >> secretary shulkin writing in "the new york times" today as i prepare to leave government i'm struck by a recurring thought. it shouldn't be this hard to serve your country. your thoughts on both men. >> ronny was my doctor in the white house. he was one of the single nicest human beings you ever want to meet perhaps the worst cabinet choice. >> why? >> he's donald trump's suck up doctor. he has no ability to run the second largest agency in the federal government. ronny's job was to be the smylie guy on national television. now he's going to try to fix the most broken system? he's going to sit there and smile and be exactly what he is, a great guy and they're going to run over him like a steam roller. >> let's not leave that there. what happens? we're in a critical moment for the veterans of the wars in iraq and afghanistan with ptsd and tbi -- that's a pretty dire indictment of the guy put in charge of the agency that is going to take care of them in the health system. what happened? >> you and i talked about this in the past. who wants to take that job? who from the administrations you and i worked for would walk into this and take one of those jobs, especially that job, where you have to make really ugly decisions, take on the hill every single day? that is a really difficult job. no competent person is going to would want to work for donald trump. >> president bone spurs has now in this week exhibited a great degree of disrespect for existing soldiers and for past soldiers. the past soldiers he's probably a great doctor, lovely man who is not qualified to run this agency and deal with the problems, incredible problems, the issues of ptsd, the issues of suicide among veterans, all the things afflicting the people who served and suffered more than anybody for our country. and earlier this week in order to try to keep his political promise to build this ridiculous wall on the mexican border, he talked about taking money out of the defense budget that we go to fund our current soldiers making the extraordinary sacrifices for the country to keep a campaign promise, a longer discussion we can have here, all of us agree it is fundamentally ridiculous. >> the thing that amazes me having been in government, one of the things you realize is the only people who can be effective in government or change government are people who understand government. trump comes out of a world where he doesn't care about organizations or institutions. he doesn't value the experience of not? who has led an organization. he chooses somebody who is good on tv who never managed a two-car funeral before and puts him as head of an agency that has 350,000 people working for it. that is astonishing. >> and there are lives at stake. go ahead. >> if you want to think in the most shallow possible way, if he's thinking about a tv presence for the va head, there's going to be probably televised confirmation hearings on the hill and there's going to be a lot of people, i imagine some republicans, too, who are going to want to nail him. he's going to have to be, you know, on a game he may or may not be capable of playing. those could be quite ugly. and i assume will be pretty closely watched. >> all right. rick, you're leechlg us. thank you for starting us off. are you staying or going? no one tells me anything around here. when we come back, even the lawyers have lawyers and tv s i surrogates these days. we'll tell you who is going to be here after the break. your brain naturally begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. - learning from him is great... when i can keep up! - anncr: thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. - dad's got all the answers. - anncr: prevagen is now the number-one-selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. - she outsmarts me every single time. - checkmate! you wanna play again? - anncr: prevagen. healthier brain. better life. can you say unequivocally that the president was never in any way aware of the $130,000 of the agreement itself? >> the president was not aware of the agreement. at least michael cohen never told him about the agreement. i can tell you that. you asked a whole bunch of questions, so let me cover that. so, you asked about 12 days before -- >> not aware about the agreement. what about the money? he >> he was not aware of any of t. he wasn't told about it. michael cohen left the option open. that's why he left that signature line. the option open to go to him. he chose not to. >> wow, that was david schwarz, the lawyer for trump's lawyer and fixer michael cohen, the michael cohen who paid $130,000 in hush money to stormy daniels. but did schwarz just step in it there by admitting trump wasn't aware of the agreement and does that give stormy daniels from it? here to answer it is former federal prosecutor who joins us now along with melissa, former new york city council speaker. they can't get me to read anything around here. but i was reading your tweets because you have a long string on this. i think the first time you came on i said i got to know you because i follow you on twitter. take me through why that was such a big gaff legally. >> so, if you look at the contract between stormy daniels and trump, who is referred to as d.d. in the contract, there's all sorts of representations -- >> what is d.d. again? is it something dirty? if it is, don't tell me. >> david denison. i'm just using that because if you look at the agreement, that's the language that's used. but it says throughout that agreement that d.d. makes all sorts of representations and agreements and concessions. d.d. releases claims. d.d. makes representations. d.d. agrees to a whole number of things. well, you don't need to be a lawyer to know, for the folks at home watching this, that to agree to something you actually have to know about it. to make a concession, to release claims you have to know about them. it's just common sense. it is completely incompetent and unethical for a lawyer to enter into an agreement on his client's behalf without letting the client know about it. it's just -- and this lawyer should not be admitting that his client did that on national television. i think the president's lawyer's lawyer needs his own lawyer. >> that would be the lawyer representing the lawyer representing d.d. that's why i was reading your tweets. >> that's right. >> what you're putting this in is sort of damned if you do and damned if you didn't. so, either he didn't tell donald trump and that invalidates the contract because you can't represent your client's interests if you haven't told them about them, or as stormy daniels's attorney michael avenatti contends, the contract is invalid because the president, d.d., didn't sign it. is that where we are? >> well, it actually would probably be better from a legal perspective if trump admitted that he knew about the contract and just didn't sign it because what he could say is, i knew about this contract, i entered into this deal, but i never actually signed it, but the fact that you took the money is evidence that the deal was completed. but for some reason they're trying to have their cake and eat it, too, and it's creating a lot of problems. and there's a number of ethical problems that cohen is admitting to. obviously the payment is another ethical problem. you can't as a lawyer make payments on behalf of your client in a litigation. so, that's another problem. >> we haven't had you on this show since the idea that one of the greatest legal dangers for the president may be a campaign finance violation as articulated by trevor potter in the 60 minutes piece watched by i think close to 20 million people, more than 20 million people last week. and my friends sort of outside of the political world who seem to have more interest in this story than anything involving the mueller probe for some reason, keep asking me if that might be sort of an ironic way that donald trump gets forced either into a deposition or into real legal peril, that someone ten days before the election paid a porn star who alleges a sexual relationship with the president $130,000 to keep quiet. >> well, i think it's very likely at this point to get him into a deposition unless there is a quick resolution with stormy daniels, which does not appear to be happening. and you know, nicolle, this isn't the first time this happened. paula jones had a litigation with bill clinton that famously went up to the supreme court. the supreme court held that he was not immune from that suit and he sat for a deposition, which ultimately became very consequential in his impeachment. so, i think there are very serious consequence potentially for donald trump here. it's too soon to say whether or not there will be more serious than the mueller investigation, but there certainly are very serious consequence here and it has been completely mismanaged by donald trump's legal team. >> i know you well enough and your views on the president to take a wild guess that you're not surprised by his conduct. but i wonder if there is anything surprising by how badly he executed nondisclosure agreements with porn stars. >> well, let me say this. first of all, the lawyer and the lawyer of the lawyer -- >> that was the spokesperson to the lawyer's lawyer. something like that. >> exactly. if anybody believes what he said in that interview, absolutely not. i don't think anybody at this table believes that donald trump knew nothing of this. and i think we need to step back a minute. let's put this in perspective. you were talking about the candidate, now president of the united states involved in a payoff scheme, an individual who has complete disregard for women, who is miss misogynistic who is a telemundoing to silence a woman through payment, monetarily, and also bullying and intimidation. this is corrupt and to me it is amoral and is dangerous for this country and sets us down a really dark path. this is an individual, again, who rile does not value our democratic institutions and does not value the truth and is going to try to utilize every attempt to use what is before him to benefit him. so, this is a very dangerous moment that we find ourselves in and i think we can't lose perspective. i'm not a lawyer, i can't get into that. i do know that i don't believe anything that is being said by these representatives and, again, we also have to take into account the tactics as he's using to try to silence this woman who i think at the end of the day is going to win and prevail in this situation. >> you disagree with any of that? >> no, but i think you said the most important thing which is average voters out there are focused on this story. >> it really has broken -- >> i'm a big believer in social listening. people actually talk about it online. not just paid, people talk about it. this story is dominating everything. it's taken the president off of his message in an election year where the republicans are desperately trying to change the subject and we're spending day after day talking about a porn star pay out. >> the difference seemed to be unlike -- i thought that the accusers when recast in the me too movement after he was president might have that effect. sadly tragically they did not. but i think because stormy daniels, the worst thing she said about heron counter was she didn't want to have sex with her, but she realized she got herself in the room with him and went ahead and said i'm not a victim. the me too movement is not about me. the reason she doesn't alienate trump supporters is because she doesn't attack him. what do you think of the story and maybe sort of the divide among the political media and people? >> well, i would say that, yes, the story is captain say vindicating a lot of people as evidenced by the 60 minutes ratings. i'm not sure he is paying a political price just yet within the context of this. i think right now looks like it could be much higher legal price. it certainly could be a very, very -- it could even be material to his pre-nup with melania. it could get pretty in the weeds. >> how does that work? >> i'm not -- >> your mba with a porn star you cheat on me with? >> i think this does take up a lot of oxygen to your point, jim. i also think -- i do wonder if this will be the thing his base turns on him for. i tend to think not. >> pick this up about the possibility of a pre-nup. this is an alleged sexual relationship, took place after he was married. do you think those two things could be intersecting this his legal woes? >> sure. >> a couple things. you've got stormy daniels. you now have eight women who have gone to michael avenatti and claimed she had similar ndas they signed. we don't know if it's true. he doesn't claim to have vetted them. we've heard steve bannon say there were many more than that. out there in the world are some number of women donald trump had extra marital affairs with, we believe, who signed ndas, many of whom now want to come forward and tell their story. in that nda, which is a boilerplate document, but has some provisions in it that relate to things like paternity, there are all kinds of things that could make for stories potentially that are more damaging than he had sex with this one adult film entertainer once. and, yes, there are lots of pre-nups that get written wherein fidelity voids the pre-nup, or causes -- incurs a penalty. i think the question of the timing and one of the things donald trump might well be concerned about what melania trump's recourse might be if proven he had extra marital affairs while married to her. >> he's on a plane now. good luck. thank you all. coming up, it's been six months since the island of puerto rico suffered one of the greatest natural disasters in its history. for many the federal response to the tragedy did as much damage to the spirit of the island and the people who live there as the storm itself. we'll talk to actress and activist rosie perez about where things stand today. ♪ if you have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months, ... with reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. and the otezla prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. tell your doctor if these occur. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. other side effects include upper respiratory tract infection and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ♪ otezla. show more of you. attention homeowners age sixty-two and older. one reverse mortgage has a great way for you to live a better retirement... it's called a reverse mortgage. call rfree information kityour with no obligation. it answers questions like... how a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money and more. plus, when you call now, you'll get this magnifier with led light absolutely free! when you call the experts at one reverse mortgage today you'll learn the benefits of a government-insured reverse mortgage. it will eliminate your monthly mortgage payments and give you tax-free cash from the equity in your home... and here's the best part... you still own yohome. call now! take control of your retirement today! months since hurricane maria ravaged puerto rico. 10% of the island is still without power. the government slow response to the disaster was just investigated by politico which found a double standard in the president's handling of relief effort between hurricane harvey and mary you. here is a statistic. nine days after the hurricane, fema approve $141.8 million in individual assistance to harvey victims, versus $6.2 million for maria victims. joining me at the table is actress and activist rosie perez an ramon rodriguez and assisting in the recovery on the island. let me start with you. how is the island doing? how are people doing and where do things stand in terms of getting the assistance folks need from the federal government? >> the island right now is still really struggling. it is doing better than it was when the storms first came. but there is a lot of folks who still don't have homes. they don't have roofs over their heads and water is still an issue. my father is in the mountains just got electricity four days ago. so it is -- it is still in a desperate situation. working with hard 911 and putting on rules made a big difference in the effort with the carpenters and firefighters and the emt was incredible and continuing to raise more money for the organizations doing great work like hard-line 911. >> i don't want to anything anything away from the organization's work but why is it need and why wasn't the federal government -- that is their job. where was the federal government? >> well, that is -- >> you want to jump in. >> that is the issue. i think the report presented that, there was no leadership from the top either. no expression of concern or seriousness paid to puerto rico the way it was paid to houston or florida. and i think the data that politico was able to get access to looking at fema applications and the resources deployed to the island, there was to preparation in anticipating the severity of this hurricane versus there was preparation done in other circumstances. so this is egregious and the work that rosie and others are doing on the ground, humanitarian work where people are doing to be supportive is important and we need to continue to pressure the federal government that the response has been egregious and inadequate and the work is not done and there is still a lot of work to get done and resources that have to be deployed. so i do hope that people take the time to read this article. there is also great reporting happening on the island as well that is showing the glaring deficiencies and discrepancies that exist. this is not over. and i know it is not being covered as much in the press but we're just starting and it is the tip of the iegbe-- of the i the challenges in getting the adequate response from the administration. >> and remember when mayor cruz had a binder and dropped on the table and said "we are died." . why are ngo's building roofs on people's houses and how is this happening in america in 2018. >> like melissa said, it comes from the top. from the throwing of paper towels at puerto rican american citizens. it was really disgusting. and shameful. that said, puerto ricans are very resilient people. and they are coming together. and when i partnered with my friend ramon rodriguez and heart 911, it was a small group that went down there. and ramon came up with this wonderful idea with this apprentice program and said, you could give a man a fish, or you could teach him to fish. so the car penters and work force that we brought down there, we were teaching the people of puerto rico how to build their own roof in case a hurricane hits again. and the government again does not heed the call, they can help themselves. >> but this is -- this is like teaching people survival skills. you served in the last administration as an adviser on aids policy and now you are teaching people how to build their own roofs in america in 2018. just step back, did you ever think this where we'd be. >> i never thought in all of my years -- like i said before, my father, god rest his soul, served in world war ii and so did my uncle. and we shed blood, we are americans, not just here on the mainland but in perfect as well. and the lack of respect and response is not acceptable. it is not -- >> does it turn into political -- there is a lot of reporting that people have left the island. that with kids in school, they don't want to miss out of the year. do you think the politics in a state like florida, or the politics change because of the president's response? >> yes. i do. >> how? your a political junky. how do they change? >> people will go out and be motivated to vote and that is work we have to do on the ground. let me a-- add, there are group talking about a community-based rebuilding process that we have an unelected fiscal control board in puerto rico making decisions on unelected board chosen by congress that is making decisions on how money will be spent on the island and whose prime interest is the bondholder. we want a community-driven process where there is accountability to the people of puerto rico in terms of how the money is invested and that it goes directly to aid and not to pay the bond holders and the vulture funds. so that is important. we've seen it happen. after 9/11 here in new york with the lower manhattan development corporation and after katrina in louisiana and new orleans, so that we need to basically do the here for puerto rico as we move forward. >> and you bring up the financial, donald trump talked about when he went to puerto rico was, you screwed up our budget. how did that feel? >> it was very hurtful and for the people down there on the island. when we went down there and walking through the neighborhood of playita which is part of san juan, when you go to the eiffis you go to the main part -- the tourist part. it is back on its feet, it is not 100% and that is fantastic and we need more to go towndown the -- to go down and you step out area and the devastation is still there. so they were asking us what is up with the president? what is up with donald trump? where is fema? and we had no answers no answers for them. we said, we don't know about them, but we're here. and we're here and trying to help. so let's get to work. and they did. and what really broke my heart is that we met this one woman, the roof of her -- the entire second floor was gone. and she kept going to her house just to -- just to make sure it was still there. >> it is heartbreaking. >> and when she saw us walk down the street, she turned to ramon and said, fema? fema? fema? >> a and he goes no. and she just goes oh. and just that desperation is just -- and here is the thing. when we talk about tourism in puerto rico that is important. i was talking to my friend jeffrey wright and he's down there in puerto rico and i said what are you doing down there? he said i'm taking my hard earnearn dollars and going on -- >> and is that what everybody should do. go on vacation. >> you are americans and you don't need your passport and use u.s. dollars. it is a beautiful island. >> there are communities. and samantha bee made a t-shirt company on the island to invest. and when reporters do coverage, hopefully local talent could be employed to provide opportunities and skillsets. to we have talent and opportunities and experience and we would hope the opportunities are created. >> ramon, tell us what we can do? >> i think supporting again like organizations like hard 911 and "today" i'm brave. we went down there and shot a documentary highlighting this apresent is program where we are working with locals and teaching them carpentry and raise awareness and keep people talking. there is a great opportunity to really focus on sustainable solutions. renewable energy. puerto rico is in a geographical location where we have sun, water and wind and take advantage of those. >> and rosie perez. >> exactly. and rosie perez. >> before you go, i have to tell you, you are starring in my favorite new show ever and it makes me happy for an hour once and a week and i'll take it. thank you. congratulations. thanks. be sure to visit power for puerto rico.com. i'm nicolle wallace and "mtp daily" starts right now. keep it pg today after yesterday. >> i thank you because it only went downhill from there with michael steel. >> and we are all unhinged. >> we need more women at the table -- >> always. >> thank you very much. if it is thursday, we're talking pure politics. >> tonight the risks and rewards of all or nothing politics. >> i've asked republicans and democrats in congress to come together -- >> plus in a divided republican party, could president trump facing a primary challenger in 2020? and what the roseanne reboot teaches us about surviving family holidays in the age of

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