path until it gets to a bit too late. >> my guests this morning, chairman of the senate foreign relations committee bob corker, former director of national intelligence, james clapper and homeland security chief john kelly. and the congressional race in montana, the republican won, the democrat closed the gap. which party has reason to celebrate. joining me for insight and analysis are msnbc's joy reid, kimberley strassel, charlie sykes and amy walter of political report. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. good sunday morning on this memorial day weekend. the president came home late last night from his first overseas trip in office, and when he did, the russia investigation got much closer to home as well. so much closer, in fact, that it now involves the president's son-in-law, jared kushner. president trump faces a growing scandal that threatens to overshadow his agenda and perhaps his entire presidency. just consider what has happened in just the last week, monday. "washington post" reports that mr. trump had asked his intel chiefs in march to push back specifically on then fbi director james comey's comments on the russia investigation tuesday. former fbi director john brennan testifies that he saw contacts between russian officials and trump campaign members that he thought deserved investigation. spurs, fbs -- nbc news reports that jared kushner is now under fbi scrutiny in the russia investigation, though he is not a target. friday night, the bombshell that kushner and russia ambassador discussed a secret back door channel russian facility so that their prememorial day conversations would not be picked up. the trump administration went out of its way yesterday to field reporters' questions off camera even if they didn't actually answer them. >> we're not going to comment on jared. we're just not going to comment. >> national security adviser h.r. mcmaster did try to defend kushner without saying his name. >> generally speaking about back channel communications, what that allows you to do is communicate in a discrete manner. >> it's very concerning that they wanted to have these communications at russian diplomatic facilities using russian phone lines. that shows that they were really trying to conceal this from the obama administration and from u.s. intelligence. >> the reactions to the kushner story include just simple shock from the intelligence community. >> i can't keep out of my mind the thought that if an american intelligence officer had done anything like this, we would consider it espionage. >> reuters is also reporting that kushner had at least three previously undisclosed contacts with the russian ambassador, including two phone calls before the election some time between april and november. kushner's attorney did not deny the story but responded this way. mr. kushner participated in thousands of calls in this time period. he has no recollection of the calls as described. on thursday nbc news reported that kushner is under fbi scrutiny though not a subject of the investigation like former trump aids paul manafort and michael flynn. as this week, former cia director john brennan publicly acknowledged for the first time his concern that campaign associates wittingly or unwittingly may have been cooperating with russian operatives, though he says he saw no proof of collusion. >> i saw information intelligence that was worthy of investigation by the bureau to determine whether or not such cooperation of collusion was taking place. >> now the senate intelligence committee has asked trump's political organization to gather and produce all documents, e-mails and phone records going back to his campaign's launch in june 2015. mr. kushner was also in charge of the campaign's data operations. >> we knew exactly where our 14 million voters were that we needed in key swing states. jared was an incredible leader to help make this all happen. >> at home the president will not be able to avoid questions as he did overseas, beginning with his own party in congress, many of whom were already losing confidence in his ability to lead. >> i think we have a situation on our hands where you, every few days, there's a new revelation. >> the idea that congress continues to do nothing about russia interference in our election is completely unacceptable to me. in the next work period i'm going to do everything i can to make sure that we sanction russia for interfering in our election. >> former house speaker john boehner told an energy conference wednesday that foreign policy aside, everything else he's done has been a complete disaster. joining me now is republican senator and the chairman of the foreign relations committee bob corker of tennessee. senator, welcome back to "meet the press," sir. >> todd, good to be with you. >> let me start with the allegations involving jared kushner and these meetings that he had where either he suggested or somebody suggested that a back channel be put together in some form, possibly using russian facilities. can you think of any good reason to do something like that in a transition period between one presidency over another? >> look, i think jared has said that he's more than willing to answer any and all questions. they reached out to us yesterday to make sure that we knew that was the case and i'm sure he's willing to do so. i look at what the reports have said about asking questions of him. it seems to me that based on just the reporting that you and others are making, he's not a target. so i think i would just wait. sounds like he's more than glad to talk about all of these things. instead of getting wrapped up into a lot of hyperbole as these things can sometimes do, i think talking with him directly and getting him to answer any and all questions as he said he would do would probably be the prudent course of action. >> i understand that but can you think of any good reason -- let's take, as you know, "the washington post" bombshell and clearly the white house hasn't said much publicly. they seem to be talking anonymously to the "new york times" and they implied that, well, the meeting, it wasn't clear who suggested a back channel and that it was going to involve mike flynn and syria. here's what i don't understand. why would anybody want to set up something like that if it was about syria and not let the pentagon know about it? >> yeah, i have no idea. again, i think it's best to talk directly with these people. i know that from a military standpoint obviously we have ways of de-conflicting with russia on things relative to syria. again, chuck, because i just don't know, these things are -- these sources are not people who are willing to give their names. it's just hard to respond to things like this that, again, no names attached, no dates attached. look, let's let this unfold and -- i've spent a lot of time with jared. he was over just recently in a bipartisan way briefing us on the upcoming trip. they achieved all of their goals. he seems to me to be a very open person, and again, i'd let him speak for himself when the time is right on all these issues and at that time we can actually render judgment on the reality of what did or didn't take place. >> the time is right. i guess i'm a little concerned, do you not have a sense of urgency about this? let's think about the time period here. you just had 17 intelligence agencies report that russia interfered in this election. these interactions in the month of december, senator corker, you would think would trouble many people if they thought that, geez, there's been accusations that maybe they were trying to -- the russians were trying to assist one campaign or the other and then to have these meetings and have them talk about the idea of avoiding american eavesdropping i guess if you want to call it that. none of this troubles you? i mean, do you want to wait until it unfolds? >> no, no, no, no, no, chuck. these recent reports is what i'm talking about. again, as i understand it, jared kushner is more than glad to talk about all of these things. as it relates to the interference in the election, no question. and as you know, we've been allowing for a short period of time for secretary of state tillerson to see if he can change the trajectory in syria, but this next work period, we very much, unless there's some major change in russia's action in syria, plan to double down on sanctions with russia, so absolutely not. couldn't agree more with that. i'm not disagreeing that they interfered with our election and we need to do something about that. if you're trying to tie me into that -- >> no, i'm not trying to tie you into knots, but you just connected potential sanctions on the russia election to behavior in syria. should that be connected or should russia be punished for election interference, period? >> they should and sometimes, chuck, what we want to do is make sure that we're having a good outcome for our nation, so we can act with passion over an issue. on the other hand, if we know that there are some negotiations taking place with our relationship with russia is at the lowest point ever since 1991 for good reason, if there are some negotiations taking place relative to that, does it make some sense to give the secretary of state some time to see where that goes. there are going to be sanctions against russia or at least a codifying of existing sanctions on ukraine and crimea. that is going to happen. but i think my job and many people in the foreign relations community in general is to make sure we have good outcomes. so, look, these -- russia is going to be punished for what it did in interfering in our elections. there's an investigation that's under way. i talk each week multiple times with senator burr and senator warner as to how that is unfolding. but again, to give a diplomat, everybody is going nuts over the 1% issue that we spend on diplomacy and aide, we care about diplomacy in our country, want to make sure that it works. we're want to give it every opportunity, and to wait a few weeks at the request of the secretary of state to see if he can change things in syria seems to me to be an appropriate thing to do. that's what we've done but next work period we plan to take it up. >> i was just going to say, you said a few weeks. it's been four months since they've taken office, so in your opinion, is it now time to decide the russians aren't going to change their behavior in syria? >> well, we'll see. unless there's something demonstrable that occurs, i read the intelligence on wednesday morning down in the skiff. it doesn't seem to me that they've changed their behavior in any way, so i think we're going to be moving on with this. the banking committee plans to do the same, but again, chuck, i don't know what you're getting at here. obviously, yes, it has been six months, so does waiting two or three weeks for the secretary of state to see if he can negotiate a change, does that affect our ability to focus on what they did on the elections, i don't think so. by the way, we're not going to wait for the senate investigation, but there is an investigation under way in the intel community. typically you wait until those things are complete before you take action. in this case, we're probably going to go ahead just because of the clamoring for this to occur, rightly so, we're going to take up sanctions this next work period. >> let me ask you a question about the -- speaking of your next work period, john mccain made this interesting analysis of all the things you guys got to get done in the senate before labor day. here's the reality. we've got 11 weeks between now and the end of september. we've got a repeal of obamacare. we're talking about tax reform, talking about a defense bill, talking about -- there's about three other things, a looming debt limit. how do you pack all that in? and so far, i've seen no strategy for doing so. i've seen no plan for doing so. there seems to be a lot of concern among your colleagues that you have no idea how many of these things are going to get done in the next three months. >> well, it's obvious that not all of those things are going to get done in the next three months. there is a lot to do. we're right now meeting on health care. the meetings have been, i will say, very substantive. i would have liked for them to be more in the public so you're bringing the public along. there seems to be some consolidation beginning to take place on tax reform. i had a great discussion this week with fred smith at fedex who's working with many business associates. there seems to be something gelling there. but, no, we've got a lot to do, there's no question, and we're going to do the best that we can. but we have a full two-year congressional cycle here to get many of those things done, and again, i think we're moving along in a thoughtful way with way too much work, you're right, to get done. a lot of people to get confirmed nomination-wise, spending issues, a lot to get done. it's a privilege to serve in the senate to try to accomplish those things and we'll move along as quickly as we can. >> all right, senator, i'm going to leave it there. got a busy show this morning. senator bob corker, republican from tennessee. thanks for coming. >> you got it. earlier this morning, i spoke with homeland security secretary john kelly and i began by asking him about the jared kushner news. >> i know jared. he's a great guy, decent guy. his number one interest really is the nation, so there's a lot of different ways to communicate, back channel, publicly with other countries. i don't see any big issue here relative to -- relative to jared. >> even with somebody that was at the time our own intelligence community had collectively said this was a country that had infiltrated our election, did this show good judgment? >> well, you know, it was before the government was in place during the transition period, i think, from what i understand. i think any time you can open lines of communication with anyone, whether they're good friends or not so good friends, is a smart thing to do. >> had you ever in your lifetime of government service both in the military and outside of it, had you ever used another government's communications facility, though? the idea sort of going around american communications? >> well, no, but i didn't have to. i mean, in my previous life we wouldn't do that kind of thing, but politics being what they are, a better way of putting, not politics. but kind of interaction here in washington, there's a lot of ways to communicate with people. >> intelligence sharing is something that's extraordinarily important to your job. if you get to the point where you now have our own intelligence community not very comfortable with how this administration is dealing with intelligence, how problematic is that for you? >> for me, and again i don't necessarily accept this -- the issue of -- the issues related to intelligence being a problem right now, but for me, i mean, i interact with my counterparts overseas all the time. i rely on all the intelligence community to make decisions that i make. it's not an issue for me for sure. >> did you -- i want to just one more time go back to the russia thing. are you concerned that if there is a back channel over here that it is going to actually disrupt our ability to know what the russians are up to? >> just because you have a back channel, if indeed that's what jared was after, it doesn't mean that he then keeps everything secret. i mean, he shares that. but the back channels, as i understand it and of course every administration has had it forever. back channel communications with people are ways to communicate with people, again, not in front of the press as an example, but that information is not necessarily kept secret from the rest of the government. >> does jared kushner have the same level of security clearance that you do? >> i don't know. >> on intelligence? >> i don't know. >> is that something you should know? >> not necessarily. everything we do in the security world, classification world, of course before i would start talking to anyone, i would make sure that they had the requisite security clearance. i'm cleared for top secret compartmented sci, that kind of thing. >> is jared the same way? >> i don't know, but if i had to talk to him or anyone else about zbenls intelligence, that the level i was briefed in i'd make sure that they had that clearance before i talked to them. >> i got to ask you about a comment you made on friday. here it is. let me get you to explain. >> i was telling steve on the way in here, if he knew what i know about terrorism, he would never leave the house in the morning. >> i have to admit, it was a little jarring. i don't know if you meant it tongue in cheek or not. what do you mean by that? >> there are incredible plots against the united states, terrorism plots against the united states. the really, really good news is that we have incredible men and women that are protecting us every day. the away game overseas, department of defense,ia, nsa, the home game fought by dhs, local law enforcement, fbi, every single day there are people plotting to try to hurt us from a terrorism point of view. and every single day we beat them, the men and women of the law enforcement, again i say the dhs, fbi, dod, we beat them every day, but we have to be perfect. they just have to be lucky once. >> it was interesting to me that you seem to say that you wouldn't sleep at night. i mean, how serious -- if we had a threat level the way the u.k. has it, would we be at the highest level? >> well, i mean, we have no specific threats right now. otherwise we would be at a higher level. >> okay. >> but there's always a threat and we just are vigilant every day. again, the 99.9% of americans can sleep safe in their homes at night. their children are protected, they are protected, but it is a relentless mission of our law enforcement, intelligence, military people to protect america. >> did british prime minister theresa may have a point when she complained to the united states about leaks? >> she did. >> it did come from our side? >> i don't know where the leak came from but i will tell you this. as i always do in cases like this, i immediately called my counterpart in uk, and after offering my condolences about the attack, and unbelievably, the third time in 120 days i've done that, i've called the minister and offered my condolences. she immediately brought this topic up, and if it came from the united states it's totally unacceptable. i don't know why people do these kind of things, but it's borderline if not over the line of treason. >> you believe it's treason to leak some of this stuff, you believe that? >> i do believe it is. i believe when you leak the kind of information that seems to be routinely leaked, high, high level of classification, you are telling -- >> what was leaked in this manchester bombing you believe maybe even meets a treason -- >> i think it's darn close to treason. >> mr. secretary, we've run out of time. i have to leave it there. coming up, how unusual is it for an incoming white house to attempt to arrange a back channel with a foreign government to elude u.s. monitoring? i'll ask my next guest, former director of national intelligence, james clapper. but first, throughout the show as we go to break on this memorial day weekend, we pause to honor our fallen men and women in uniform since last memorial day. we go on break, w men and women in uniform on this memorial day. prestige creams not living up to the hype? one jar shatters the competition. olay regenerist hydrates skin better than creams costing over $100, $200, and even $400. fact check this ad in good housekeeping. olay. ageless. the beswith neutrogena® beach? beach defense® sunscreen. helioplex™ powered, uva uvb strong. beach strength protection for the whole family. for the best day in the sun. neutrogena®. welcome back. as questions continue to swirl about the trump transition team's communication with the russians, i want to walk through the timeline of when specifically all of these events took place because we have learned more at least through the month of december 2016. it was on the 1st or 2nd that jared kushner and mike flynn met with russian ambassador sergey kislyak. later in december, kushner meets with sergei korsof. calls take place between flynn and kislyak. joining me is the former director of national intelligence, james clapper. mr. clapper, welcome back to the show. >> thanks, chuck. >> before i get to the rest of the story, you just heard secretary kelly talk about the leaks that took place. we know the u.k. complained about the manchester bombing and they responded to some of these leaks as they sort of walk up to the line of treason. some might say, hey, they're just leaking out something that they think the public should know. where do you draw that line? >> well, i think, first of all, i have to say that leaks are damaging. they're corrosive. they risk compromising sources, methods and trade craft. as we've seen recently, they damage relationships with crucial partners. u.k. and israel come to mind. and this is particularly serious now, because in my experience, 50-plus years in intelligence, i don't know of a time when we depended more on friends and allies for sharing information in intelligence, particularly with respect to terrorism. so, i know secretary kelly takes this quite seriously, and he should. the legal definition of what's treason, i'll leave that to the lawyers, but just from a practitioner's standpoint and intelligence issue, leaks are bad. >> let me go through the issue that's been the bombshell this weekend, the issue that jared kushner, a private citizen, a private adviser at the time to the president-elect was having meeting with the ambassador, sergey kislyak. and they hid these meetings with public eye. we also learned that he met with the head of a russian sanctioned bank. are these things that you would have known? >> well, yes, they would have. and just to reinforce john brennan's, former director of the central intelligence agency, his comments before the house committee on intelligence, i have to say that without specific -- specifically affirming or confirming these conversations even though they're in the public realm, they're still classified, but just from a theoretical standpoint, i will tell you that my dashboard warning light was clearly on and i think that was the case with all of us in the intelligence community. very concerned about the nature of these approaches to the russians. if you put that in context with everything else we knew the russians were doing to interfere with the election, and just the historical practices of the russians who typically almost genetically driven to co-opt, penetrate, gain favor, whatever, which is a typical russian technique, so, we were concerned. >> and this is what's likely triggered the fbi's now extra attention to jared kushner that we've been reporting, that they believe he has more information, they're saying he's not a target. it would have been intelligence like this that would have triggered it? >> well, i think so. i think john alluded to his concerns that he expressed to the fbi which is the proper channel. i have to say, you know, at the time i left i did not see any smoking gun evidence of collusion, but it certainly was appropriate for -- given all the signs, certainly appropriate for the fbi to -- and necessary for the fbi to investigate. >> sergey kislyak, the russian ambassador to the united states, there's been different ways people have described him. does the intelligence community believe he basically is an agent of the kgb -- excuse me, the fsb, the old kgb? >> given the fact that he oversees a very aggressive intelligence operation in this country, the russians have more intelligence operatives, than any other nation that's represented in this country. still after we got rid of 35 of them. and, so, to suggest that he is somehow separate or oblivious to that is a bit much. >> why didn't we kick him out? why didn't he specifically get sanctioned? if he basically is viewed not as the ambassador to a country, not as a diplomat but as basically the american head of an intelligence agency, that's sort of what you just described. >> i'm reflecting an intelligence perspective. intelligence people are paid to be suspicious and of course that -- whether to expel people or declare them png, at least in the last administration, was an interagency determination. so what we did do was get at 35 of the more notorious intelligence operatives and ask them to leave quickly. >> one of the caveats in "the washington post" bombshell story was that the russians frequently will do misinformation, even in intel channels. how often does that happen? how likely is it in this case? >> well, it happens a lot. it happens overtly and covertly and certainly that was one of the tools that the russians used in the run-up to our election, was fake news, misinformation, paying trolls to insert phony information in social media. so this is standard practice of the russians and the soviets before them. >> if jared kushner's meeting with somebody that you referred to that sort of oversees a large intelligence operation, and while you said you didn't see any smoking gun on collusion, how close to the line is that in your mind? >> well, it certainly arouses your concern, about what's going on. given russia, at least for my money, is our primary adversary. they are not our friends. they are in to do us in. i have to say as well, chuck, we have kind of a time-honored custom in this country that we have one president and one administration at a time. oncoming administrations don't get a head start before the end of the current president's incumbency. >> what would you like to see? what's the appropriate action now that you would like to see take place against russia? is sanctions enough at this point? >> well, i think really not for me to say what happens now. i think certainly sanctions are a compelling, powerful weapon. the russians don't like them. i think the actions the last administration took, the sanctions and the other actions on the 29th of december i always thought were a first step. i haven't seen any change in russian behavior anywhere that would merit a relaxation, and if anything, an increase in those sanctions as we've learned more about -- more has become public about what they're going to do. as i said at senator graham's subcommittee hearing on the 8th of may, they are only emboldened. they're going to continue to interfere in our political process, and to me that's the big story here and what american people should be concerned about. >> james clapper, i have to leave it there. the former director of national intelligence. you're almost going to be referred to as a member of congress. we see you up there. >> oh, i hope not. >> anyway, mr. clapper, thanks for coming on and sharing your views. >> thanks, chuck. when we come back, much more on the russia investigation. plus, republican greg gianforte who infamously body-slammed a reporter won that congressional race in montana. but the democrats closed the gap, so which party has more reason to smile this weekend? first, we continue to honor those who have fallen since last memorial day. fallen since last memorial you know how your hair tangles the minute you wash it? new pantene. the first shampoo with active pro-v nutrient blends fueling hair 100% stronger that's instantly smoother and tangle free. because strong is beautiful. welcome back, panelists here, charles sikes, radio guy and nbcs in political analyst and walter. and joy reid and kimberly strassel, columnist for "the wall street journal." the president is tweeting, not specific to what he's referring to but i think you get an idea. starts with it is my opinion that many of the leaks coming from the white house are fabricated lies. then he says, whenever you see the words sources say in the fake news media and they don't mention names it's possible that the sources don't exist. fake news is the enemy. okay, walter, it is not a specific. we don't want to assume that he's referring to a specific story. it's likely it's what's going on with his son-in-law? >> look, after what we're learning is, we don't know if there's a fire but there's a whole lot of smoke and that cloud is walking other things. i think it's the president right now trying to get back on course. we saw going overseas, having a foreign trip, nine days. this was going to reset. they're going to be talking about that trip today. we're not talking about the nine days he spent overseas, we're going to talk about what happened here. we're going to talk about it. with senator corker, the black cloud is also blacking out what he needs to reset, what republicans need to reset is getting points on the board. they have a republican house and senate in the white house. and nothing is moving. the one thing that has pass the house care bill not particularly popular. it's stuck in legislative purgatory in the senate. and the budget, they're not going anywhere. meaning if you're a member thinking about running are re-election in 2018, you're not just talking about the russia piece, you're talking about what happened at home about what you're able to accomplish. >> by the way, charlie sykes, we hear all week long, there's going to be a weekly shake-up story and it doesn't happen. and then the president vetting his tweets. well, i think they've gotten to him in this case. he used the phrase, it is my opinion before putting that out about fabricated ties. we did a search, he hasn't put that out before. >> you almost think these of low-energy tweets from the president. the lawyers are not looking at the tweets. look, the nightmare here for the white house this is not an alignment of the planets. it's a collision of the planets. we're not talking about drip, drip, drip anymore. it's a torrent. and i think that the difficulty of this white house dealing with this is going to be exponentially raised by the fact it is jared kushner. listening to the folks we had an earlier, the reluctance of the administration to criticize jared, because this is family. this is one of the reasons you avoid nepotism in politics. he's the one guy you can't fire, he's so close to the president, this raises the threat level exponentially. >> kim. >> i think we're having a discussion that is absolutely divorced from reality this week. it's astonishing. it's 2008, we're having an election, candidate obama, he's not even president-elect sends william miller over to iran to establish the back channel to let the iranians know should they win the election, they will have friendlier terms. this is a private citizen going to foreign soil, obviously to evade u.s. intelligence monitor and establish a back channel. with a sworn enemy of the united states who is actively disrupting our efforts in the military in the middle east. so is that bad judgment? is that a bad thing that happened? back channels are completely normal. they have been all the time. reagan did them. obama did them. everyone did. i'm not quite sure why supposedly, having at least the president now elected, setting up a back handle with the russians is somehow out of balance. >> well, here's one key difference, in october, months before this latest meeting, and it was one of 18 separate contracts that we now know of between the trump campaign and russia our primary adverse in the world. >> and a superpower. >> -- in october, the collective judgments of the 17 intelligence agencies is that russia took an active measure to interfere in our election. you don't think that iran is doing is that. it's happening in october. so in december, the now president-elect decides he's going to name jim mattis, his secretary of defense. but he doesn't open his back channel. he sends his real estate developer son-in-law -- or the real estate developer son-in-law decides to open a back channel. and it isn't a back channel. you don't go to the adversary country and say let's open something up in your security. we set i up in your facility which even takes them aback because that's bizarre. the idea that we're going to do that in your facility. with a real estate developer who has no foreign policy experience what so far. and then is a candidate in terms of former policy, why are they back channeling a bank, a kremlin-connected russian bank. and why is reuters report saying pat of the discussion was a possibility of opening up community for financing for trump-related -- >> well, we don't know the answers to any of those questions because what we're getting is -- >> that is not a back channel. >> you have to follow the money. you have to follow the meeting. the lies. >> we don't have any of that information. >> to derail this investigation. and the reality is here that jared kushner and the trump administration apparently trusted the russians more than the intelligence community but how can this not be spiuspiciou? >> why would you trust -- by the way, you can't foreet intelligence services and also the defense was being run by the brac administration. they did not want the obama administration to know what they were doing. >> why would they hide? what did they want to talk about? why did he use russian -- >> why would you not want to have all of these people in these departments with information to go on 0 to leak on a daily basis in the coming months to try to derail your president? >> the months, the election was over. we handle that power all the time, are yo telling me tha thesnow elected trump administration didn't trust john brennan? that somehow the straight arrow guys in the intelligence services were going to work to actively undermine where they seen as a dissident? that has never happened in the history of the united states. >> one of the pieces that came out this week, the fisa court regulation that they said thebrethe obama administration had been actively engaged by unmasking people's identities on a routine basis which they did not abo acknowledge to the court that brought up major concerns? >> who said that? >> the fisa court. >> do you know how difficult it is to get a fisa against an american? >> we're not talking about what i just mentioned. >> i'm going to pause this conversation because i do have to go to break because i have to pay for bills. we are a for-profit. coming up, hillary clinton first criticism of president trump. >> even denying things that we see with our own eyes like the size of crowds. >> but as we go to break, we continue to honor our fallen men and women in uniform from last year. ♪ only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol® ♪ [dramatic ♪ ic begins] ready! charge! charge! (in chinese) charge! let your reign begin. evony, the mobile game. download now. you know new pantene.r tangles the minute you wash it? the first shampoo with active pro-v nutrient blends fueling hair 100% stronger that's instantly smoother and tangle free. because strong is beautiful. welcome back, data download time is donald trump remaking the republican party? well, there's evidence that the gop was becoming trumpian before trump even got there. dana cheney analyze the were going back to 2010 to help us understand the trend. education is a key major. in 2010, 39% of college grads called them republicans. in and 45% for the democrats, a six point jump. a big swing overall when you look at it. democrats now have the edge with college educated voters. the reverse is true with those in a high school degree or less. republicans have seen a five-point jump with that group, while democrats have seen a five-point drop. also a pretty significant swing. this education gap follows geographic trends we've been following. it helps explain for instance why districts have a higher graduation rates, in the sixth district of georgia outside of atlanta. plus other areas where republicans have seen the most growth, men over the age of 50, rural voters up five points. and those between the ages of 50 and 64 are now four points more republican than seven years ago. for the democrats there's a seven-point jump in those making 30 to $50,000 a year. 18 to 34 year olds, gen-z up six points those with postgraduate degrees up six points. bottom line, we're in a political realignment. we're in the middle of it. that's why it's not clean and going to take more than one election to help figure this out. these trends do help to explain why barack obama won two terms and why, frankly, trump won in november. it's making it a bit more predictable than we had become you'd to. before we go to break, we want to note the passing of hall of fame pitcher jim benning who died yesterday. benning was the only member of congress to throw a perfect game in the major leagues. and we lost a member of our extended msnbc family, zbigniew died. our thoughts go out to mika and the entire family who tweeted, chief at the helm. we love you dad for your love and devotion you showed us all. coming up "meet the press" end game and postgame. brought to you by boeing. always working to build something better. hey allergy muddlers are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec® it's starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. "meet the press" end game is brought to you by boeing, always working to build something better. back now with "end game." i feel like it's political speed around here. we got to try to get all of this stuff in here. montana, amy walter, you do this for a live. republicans win by six points in a state that has a democratic senator but looks dem graphically like a trump state. who should feel good right now? >> it's like peewee soccer, everybody gets a trophy. on the republican side, they get a win. they win -- period. it's not just because they have a person in that seat who's a republican but it's good for recruiting and retainings right? this is the time of year when people are trying to get candidates to run and candidates to support for re-election. a toxic environment, bad for winning. bad side, if you're democrats what you're lacking forward to is the margin in a lot of these special elections. a lot narrower and a lot closer. a traditional democrat can be five points in montana. 12oiin kansas. if democrats are going to take control of the house they've got to overperform nationally, somewhere between five and eight points so it's not going to help in a really deep red state like montana. >> but charlie, it does seem like georgia is a must win for the democrats, isn't it? >> oh, very much so. in terms of setting that narrative. but i will say the real significance of what happened in montana is once again, we've moved the line. we've moved the line in termses of-of-the-acceptable behavior. >> you're referring to the body-slamming? >> body-slamming itself is not as significant as the reaction to the body-slamming in the way that so many republicans felt that they rationalized this. and what's been happening is this -- you know, whether you want to call donald trump the role model-in chief. the fact that there are so many republicans conservative, and i am one of them who now model their behavior in. the thin-skinned nastiness that mimics confidence. >> let me throw in mark sanford put a voice to this, republican from south carolina. respectfully, i'd split that the president has unearthed some demons. i've talked to a number of people back home about it, they say, well, if the president can say whatever, why can't i say whatever? he's given them license. >> i don't think you can blame the body-slamming of a reporter on president trump. but it is true, we look to the president to set tones and standards. i think all of us would be happier if president trump in general was exuding more of a respectful tone to everybody. people like that he's blunt spoken and that's fine but there's a difference between being blunt spoken and crude and discourteous in politics. >> wds havemeaning. ideas have consequence. it's one thing to be upset with the bias of the news media. but again, we've moved the line to pure raw loathing. >> last word. >> and you when donald trump this morning tweet that journalists, presumably he means journalists of the "washington post" and "the new york times" generally make up even sources. during the campaign, one of the most chilling images that stuck with me was a gentleman at a trump rally who had a t-shirt on that said rope tree journalists. to whoop people up to attack people anyone ahead of that experience that he's ahead of that party. >> that's all i have. have a happy and safe memorial day weekend. we're back next week. because if it is sunday, it's "meet the press." hey team, i know we're tight on time, but i really need a... ...sick day tomorrow. moms don't take sick days. moms take nyquil severe: the... ...nighttime sniffling,sneezing, coughing, aching, fever best... ...sleep with a cold, medicine. new neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair wrinkles? your time is up! with the proven power of retinol. reduces wrinkles in just one week. neutrogena® a corporate exec who made time for romance and her three daughters. >> she was the best mom. >> then, she disappeared, dozens joined the search. >> we need nikki to come home. >> then, they found her launching a mystery that would divide this fa