Coverage of national and international news, including breaking stories. Democrats favor, but does suggest theres a larger issue that would be playing nout the fall midterm elections on the democrats be. In this case, youve got democrat plus seven. Likely he may be able to put balderson over the top. But youre right, i think you have to look at the numbers on the final result as well, but not just the wl outcome. Kevin, when youre looking at the numbers and you heard what people are saying, youve got to watch the numbers. Not just the w and the l. What are you watching in this because both sides are saying were going to extract something from this. One district to the National Conversation and of course the midterms i agree with everything that was said. Two additional points is specifically looking at the Democratic Party, even the fact this is just just the come so close to begin with in such a typically conservative leaning district really does speak to something that i hear from republicans, which is also democrats really have the momentum in terms of enthusiasm. Thats something even if regardless of who win, that gap, whether youre looking at ohio or southwestern pennsylvania, that special election, is something that cant be undertalked about. The second point i would just quickly make is what types of democrats are running on and what types of democrats are winning. That tension, you mentioned House Minority leader nancy pelosi about future leadership of the Democratic Party is incredibly important even beyond the context of the realaeeareal going against President Trump and his policies. Not only within itself, but also the willingness of democrats to move away from what they have been. Were going to discuss this laettner this show. I want to move on to something related to this, which i was mention ng the introduction. That is of course whats going on now between President Trump and lebron james. James in an interview this week
that was aired twice on cnn with don lemon. Host an anchor at cnn. Well, james as we know here, critical of this president. The president then tweeting and basically calling don lemon not smart and being critical of what has been said, favorite son of ohio. Ohio 12 here. That doesnt seem to make a lot of sense, laura. It doesnt make not now at least. It doesnt. Setting aside just the galling racism of a white man calling two black men unintelligent, im setting that aside. Its incredibly politically stupid to insult the iconic sports hero of the state hours before youre going to campaign there. Its like he just wrapped up a present and delivered it to the democrats. Its such an own goal. I want to know what he was thinking. Add to that, the other language here, peter, that has come up. For instance, Maxine Waters from
california. Also africanamerican, an not only that very element that many critics have brought up about this president who he likes to call out. The nba nfl players notwith standing. Theres also the response that just came out that comes from Melania Trump. Breaking some might say what the president might say or the energy of what the president said saying this, it looks like lebron james is working to do good things on behalf of our next generation and just as she always has, the first lady encourages everyone to have an open dialogue about issues facing children today. Her platform centers around visiting organization, hospitals and schools and she would be visiting the i Promise School in akron, ohio. That is relating here peter to lebron James Community efforts here. That statement coming from Melania Trumps office. Peter. Absolutely. Its very interesting. You have to wonder whats happening today in bed minister between the two of them. This is a straightforward repudiati repudiation. Pretty much her saying this Anti Bullying Campaign that she has taken you know as a first lady applies to her husband, too. You know, doesnt necessarily mean anything except it is rather extraordinary. You saw ivanka trump saying she did not agree with her father about the press being an enemy of the people. This women in his household are not guilty agreeing winot agree tone. So, peter, what is happen Ng The East And West Wing right now . With this latest statement come Frg The First Lady . Its very interesting. I would love to know that right now. I dont have any reporting on it to share, but its, you have to imagine theres some real tension going on. Its playing out in a very public way. Ivanka trump was asked about this and gave her answer. Melania wasnt asked. Didnt have to put this out. She could have ignored it. But she chose to speak out on
this. She chose to directly contradict her husband in a powerful way. That you know, does make you wonder whats happening inside the trump family. And what we understand, kevin, is that cnn did ask for a response, they didnt have to respond. But Melania Trump did respond. Two things. First, i think i would piggy back off of what peter said in the sense that i think that really what youre seeing is that ivanka as well as the first lady are really kind of engaging with richard, you know, critics and thats Something Different than weve seen, but the second point is look, i dont think theres really many folks who are going to be voting off of this lebron james President Trump feud. But i think to the point of How Politicized And Heighten Ed The Culture has become around everything from hollywood to sports, this is a perfect illustration of that. Delaware, ohio, where will we see the president in the next
couple of hours, do you think this will be a point he makes on the response from lebron, from the first lady about the lebron issue . I would be surprised if he commented on his wife going against him here. I think she has been asserting her independence in various ways lately. She sawer her press shot Clap Backened criticizes her and they said the first lady watches whatever she wants. I think its embarrassing to trump and i would be shocked if he brought it up. Thank you for kicking off the show. Within ten days, thats when well know yes or no, if the president sits with the Special Prosecutor whos telling us that and why. How do you win at business . Stay at laquinta. Where were changing with contemporary makeovers. Then, use the ultimate power handshake, the upper hander with a double palm grab. Who has the upper hand now . Start winning today. Book now at lq. Com. I know, right. We are seriously ikeeping up with the joneses. I know, right. We are seriously keeping with the andersons. We are finally keeping up with the fords. Keeping up with the garcias. Keeping up with the harveys. Keeping up with the wahhthewahh the romeros. Carters. Patels. The allens. Wah. Wolanskes. Right, them. No one is going to have internet like this. No one is going to have internet like this. Gig to more homes than anyone. Not just the joneses. Over here. Xfinity. The largest gigspeed network. Muellers team. Also, the Washington Post is reporting new information on suspect eed russian agent, mari qua patina. All this as questions loom over whether hell sit with an interview. Lets bring in joyce vance and david priest. Thanks for being with us. According to politico, and Rudy Giuliani, that the president will make the mueller sit down call within ten days. Does that mean anything particular to you . Ive lost track of how many times now Rudy Giuliani has put this story to the forefront. The president is deciding in ten days or the president is is making a decision about what the conditions are on which hell speak to bob mueller. It seems like the trump side of this equation feels like they have some benefit to keeping
this on the front burner. The reality is if mueller need an interview with the president , he has the tools at his disposal to get one. He can issue a subpoena and get that interview without negotiating. If he only needs certain portions of an interview, hell work out an agreement with the president , but the most important thing to understand is that its not the president s decision to make. Witnesses and witnesses in criminal cases dont get to decide whether or not theyll speak to federal prosecutors. The question also is there an advantage one way of the other, subpoena or negotiation and that what might mean for the president depending on what mueller does here. No i think theres more of a game going on here than anything else. The president doesnt want to testify regardless of what he says. The president does not want to testify unrestricted. That is to go in for a live interview with all Pe Ques Being on the table and his lawyers dont want him to do that either. So hes trying to put this off,
to put pressure on the Special Counsel to agree to limit the questions. Mueller and his team are trying to get information from the president that they know the answer to already and they just need to get the president on record saying it. But theyre also setting up for an accommodation idea. Theres also a tension when it cops to the president who has way too much to do in too little time and theres been great deference shown to the president protecting his time against things like this. Well, in this case, the president has demonstrated the tv watching. A lot of things that show shehe not as busy to make that case. So i think mueller is going out of his way to show negotiation so if it does go to the courts, whether he has to follow the subpoena, he can show accommodation either way. As you were watching at the press briefing, we had five officials come out and speak about russia interference. And i was thinking joyce, what
did you take away of this tale of two administrative messages coming out from the five officials that were there during the briefing then the president contradicting that. Its disstressing that the president of the United States uses russias interference in our elections as a hoax, his word, but it is reassuring that we have Cabinet Secretaries and other high ranking officials who are willing to publicly stand and talk about ongoing russian interference and maybe begin to take steps toward it is sort of push back that our country needs to be making on a systematic whole of government effort to protect our upcoming elections. Theres also this development. Maria, move on to this in the russia investigation. According to the Washington Post, quote. Cozied up to an extrump aide. J. D. Gordon, who served as
trumps director of National Security for six months. Saying the story is part of a smear campaign. David, what do you make of this coming from the Washington Post . Yeah, i dont know the details of it. I dont think any of us do. But it rings true based on what we know about her and her other connections and people she was trying to reach out to. Perhaps the most interesting part of the reporting was that he volunteered without really knowing her to say come along with me to a sticks concert, a 50yearold man a 20 somethingyearold woman. And im surprised by that. Couldnt he have picked journey . At least dont stop believing has been remade in the last ten years by the glee cast. Sticks is a really odd choice if youre trying to make that connection. Youve got joyce to laugh it up tr here on that one. Whats your topic on this . She seems to have been remarkably successful not only at tolerating the music of my
childhood, but working her way into relationships with people who had the potential for relationships in a prominent role. This i think is very disturbing. We dont know the full detail of the operation she was running at. But one thing that we can be certain of is that although shes been arrested and is being prosecutor cuteded, shes likely not the only one. This should serve as a wick up call for us to disregard the president s effort to call this investigation a witch hunt and remember that primarily, the Special Counsels investigation seeks to look at russias efforts to exert inappropriate influence on her electiour elec our governmental processes and that it needs to continue until the Special Counsel needs hes done the work hes been asked to do. Very intriguing perspective on the russia investigation. We have a Walk Up Song For David And Joyce next they come on here to msnbc. David, joyce, talk to you in a little bit. Coming up, the Trump Administration taking a legal hit after trying to shift responsibility for reuniting separate families on to the aclu. Oscar mayer deli fresh ham has no added nitrates, nitrites or artificial preservatives. Now deli fresh flavor is for everyone. Like those who like. Sweet. Those who prefer heat. And those who just love meat. For those in school. Out of school. And old school. Those who like their sandwich with pop. And those who like it with soda. For the star of the scene. Cut and the guys behind it. Oscar mayer deli fresh. A fresh way to deli. Sweet a fresh way to deli. Stop fearing your alarm clock. With new zzzquil pure zzzs. A drugfree blend of botanicals with melatonin. That supports your Natural Sleep cycle. So you can seize the morning. New zzzquil pure zzzs. You know how painful heartburn can be. For fastacting, longlasting relief, try doctor recommended gaviscon. It quickly neutralizes stomach acid and helps keep acid down for hours. Relieve heartburn with fast acting, longlasting gaviscon. And helps keep acid down for hours. This ijust listen. vo theres so much we want to show her. We needed a car that would last long enough to see it all. avo subaru outback. 98 are still on the road after 10 years. Come on mom, lets go avo right now, get 0 Apr Financing on the 2018 subaru outback. Phone Ringing a Phones Offers big button,ecialized phones. And volumeenhanced phones. ,
get details on this State Program. Call or visit and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. Like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. Phone Ringing get details on this State Program call or visit
hold on a second, mr. President. Thats what a federal judge just told the administration. They must fully reinstate daca. The judge gave the government 20 days to appeal before that Reinstatement Order goes into effect. That as a different federal judge called the efforts to reunify the children with their families unacceptable. The Trump Administration had proposed the american civil l Liberties Union and other nonprofits that ta take the lead in locating and identifying the parents still in u. S. Cust by, but the second judge ruled the Trump Administration is solely responsible for reuniting the hundreds of children who remain separated from their parents. Joining me now, emily and michael singleton, a republican consultant and contributor for the hill. What do you make of these latest
developments of two separate judges making moves here on immigration. One of those very important if you will, Campaign Issues that the president brings to bear as we now come into the mid temperaturterms. Hi pock rasy and the president is trying to rely on a private organization to fix their error. I think the administration didnt think about this properly and it could hurt republicans in certain districts and states going into midterms. Because its going to give an advantage to democrats to be b able to say look, the administration has not been able to properly address immigration, they havent been able to provide or push forward any Policy Initiative for comprehensive reform. If you look at these judges, they have a legitimate argument to make. The administration is saying we did get it right the first
time. The argument is sound. I dont know how they would think that any argument theyve made is sound. Just like i dont know they can say any policy is sound. It is insane that we are a democracy, this country would be separating families to say from the beginning its an acceptable thing to do. It is unbelievable that the administration has taken no responsibility for bringing these families back together. We heard congressional testimony this week that they never intended to bring families back together. They now say their job is donfy theyre toddlers. One toddler has died and 400 parents have been b deported without their children, sometimes being tricked. This is inhumane. Look, people were running for office as a reaction to the election of President Trump. But the elections that were going to see in november are not
going to be about trump. Theyre going to be a referendum on this Republican Congress who has been unable and unwilling to stand up to him and reign this administration in. And it is not known whether that death of that child was related to the Detention Facility specifically as of now. That we understand here at nbc news. We play this out. Look forward to how far this issue might go. Do you believe here that the president as he has said in the past, might push this to a shutdown if he doesnt get what he wants on immigration . The risk here is w