David Gura hosts coverage of national and international news, including breaking stories. Issue even after the league itself changed the policy to keep these protests from happening. Even when the league isnt even playing. When its in the off season. The president still seems to relish going after africanamerican athletes. Its something that he just seems to always jump at. Something he seems to prioritize. This is unusual. This is not typical behavior for a president. President s dont normally go after private citizens or people who participate in sports. But trump does it again and again. I think thats part of the reason, he gets so much criticism from people in the civil rights community. Theres a lot at play here. Hub ris is one part of it. I was talking to Congressman Ryan from the 13th District in ohio a few moments ago. As the president prepares to go to ohio, insulting one of its favorite athletes whos probably not the wisest thing for the president to do. Lets talk a bit about whats going to greet the president when he shows up there in the High School Gymnasium in ohio, begins to stump for balderson, the republican candidate in thespection election that takes place tuesday. I bring up the wilk bettes berr rally again. When he talked about the boring stuff, namely the election thats going to take place in pennsylvania. How much do you expect this to focus on the Special Election . How much do ohioans want to hear about ohio from the president . I think the president is probably going to do what he usually does in these situations. And thats talk primarily about himself. I think this race is a real conundrum for republicans. This is about the purest test youre going to get for exactly what the climate will be, come november, for republicans and whether or not they have any hope at all of holding on to the house of representatives. You think this isnt just a Special Election and by virtue of that all this attention is being focused on it . Districts. You have two types of republicans sort of writ large in the house. Republicans who would benefit from having trump show up in their district and republicans who perhaps are a little more nervous about it. You might look at car bello in florida who has a challenging reelection. Will hurd in south texas who also is very much far from being a lock. Its unlikely well see trump show up in either of those districts. Mimi walters in california whos a very powerful member of the house who also is in you know, has a challenging reelection bid, and likely would not benefit from the president s presence in her district. Its a big country. There are republicans from all sorts of backgrounds and districts. Every district is a little bit different. But of course there are many districts that do stand where the president s presence does potentially stand to be quite an asset for members. Its kind of the question here, especially in districts like this one in ohio where its very much close. Is the president more of a feature or a bug. Does the president materializing in these districts have potentially the adverse effect
of galvanizing democratic voters . Bringing those people to the polls because theyre frustrated to see the president in their backyard. We can theorize about that stuff. Well see what happens in a couple days. I think very much perhaps the biggest sign that well get from this particular Special Election is just how much of an asset can the president actually be to members of his Party Running in complicated districts. The president is on vacation. With the caveat im not a member of the meteorological society. The weather here has been soupy. He hasnt been able to golf like he wanted to. Hes been alone with his thoughts. I think weve seen that with all tweets we woke up to this morning. I want to ask you what hes grappling with. He was promised a final verdict here on whether or not the lawyers are going to advise the president to testify or consent to an interview here with bob mueller. Give us the State Of Play on that. This has been an eightmonth back and forth. Its been an incremental thing. Where do things stand as you see it now . The show goes on, right . We saw Rudy Giuliani out, saying the other day that they will decide within the next week or ten days whether or not to Grant Mueller an interview. I dont know, david, that i buy this notion that the president is eager to sit down. We know early on in the process when the investigation, Special Counsel investigation began, the president did not want to. I think he and his advisers say this because they think it projects innocence and strength. But, you know, this will be a key test here. And i think it will be another one of those episodes, whether you are a trump supporter or you loathe the president. Thats how you will absorb this news. Its going to be just like the rest of the russia investigation. It will move no ones opinion and, in fact, only make people dig deeper in on their opinions of this president. My thanks to both of you, i appreciate it. Jeremy peters and betsy woodruff
joining me on this saturday. Some disparaging tshirts were removed from washington, d. C. s museum, after that institution faced major backlash from journalism. One shirt read, you are very fake news. The shirts were among the top selling items in the museums gift shop, a long with Donald Trumps signature make America Great again hats. The newseum has apologized in a tweet, writing, we have made a mistake. A free press is an essential part of our democracy and journalists are not the enemy of the people. Up next, the interview, and what it would take for the president to sit down with bob mueller. 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. Your hair is so soft down for hours. Did you use head and shoulders two in one . I did mom. Wanna try it . Yes. It intensely moisturizes your hair and scalp and keeps you flake free. Manolo . Look at my soft hair. I should be in the shot now too. Try head and shoulders two in one. Are you ready to take your then you need xfinity xfi. . A more powerful way to stay connected. It gives you super fast speeds for all your devices, provides the most Wifi Coverage for your home, and lets you control your network with the xfi app. Its the ultimate wifi experience. Xfinity xfi, simple, easy, awesome. Welcome back. When it comes to collusion over these last few month, President Trump and his legal team have been moving the goal post. By the democrats, theres no
collusion between me and my campaign and the russians. It was a short meeting. So i think from a practical standpoint, most people would have taken that meeting. But Nothing Happened from the meeting. Zero happened from the meeting. Nothing illegal about that. Each even if it comes from a russian or german or american, it Doesnt Matter. They never used it is the main thing. Never used it. They reject it. What exactly would the crime here be . Its not illegal to talk to foreigners. Nobodys claiming that any information changed hands. Though even if it did, so what. Theyre not going to be colluding about russians. Which im not even sure if thats a crime, colluding about russians. You start analyzing the crime. The hacking is the crime. Trump today following his lawyer Rudy Giulianis lead in pushing a new defense. Not so much with the solution, but as he tweeted this morning, collusion is not a crime. Trump adds, that Doesnt Matter because there was no collusion
except by Crooked Hillary and the democrats. This weekend, the debate over whether or not President Trump will sit down for an interview with the Special Counsel and his team comes to a head. Rudy giuliani telling nbc news Hes Spending Saturday and sunday coming up with the response to Robert Muellers latest request for an interview. Joining us now, former u. S. Attorney greg bower and legal analyst danny cevallos. Just out with this piece, great headline, encapsulating where we are. Trump at a precarious moment in his presidency privately brooding and publicly roaring. Greg, let me start with you. You heard the way the notions of collusion have evolved i think you could say over these last many months. I want to get you sense of the argument giulianis making. Whats he weighing when it comes to this interview . Whether or not you think hes going to define the terms . I really dont think so. I think to most federal
prosecutors, its sort of a joke that the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation could dictate the terms of an interview. Given the president s Special Status as commander in chief and as the chief executive, you know, it may be that in order to get his interview, the mueller team is willing to negotiate some things around the margins. But the bottom line is the Trump Legal Team is not going to be able to dictate how an interview goes. If one happens. Danny, what do you make of what giulianis been saying . He was talking about the evolution of these last many months. Theres been constant evolution this week in terms of what Rudy Giuliani has said. In what courtroom is he waging battle . Is it in the Traditional Court or the public court . Is that his primary purpose at this point . It appears to be. From the beginning, i cannot picture Rudy Giuliani going to the warehouse where the bankers boxes worth of documents are and reviewing them and going through
the gritty work, defense work, that the other attorneys must be going through. I think more than anything, rudys out there, trying to put together a dialogue. The other thing, part of that dialogue i think is very important to point out is this. If hes saying, hey, weve been talking about sitting down for an interview, weve been talking about sitting down for an interview, i have scheduled these interviews with u. S. Attorneys and heres i mean, its just like what was just said. This is what i imagine that dialogue going. Here are our demands, that is what we want. The mueller teams like, yeah, whatever. And then they say, we have that demands. And the mueller team says, whatever, the terms are the terms. You never get to dictate terms with u. S. Attorneys. They make verdict wale no promises. Its the worst sounding contract. We offer you virtually nothing, may not prosecute you for the words that come out of your
mouth. Its a very grim process. The decision a Defense Attorney to sit his client down is one of the toughest decisions Defense Attorneys make. I heard you laughing. Youve been on the other side of this. Youve been in on those interviews, what danny described there. I would agree, 100 . I would imagine that ive never had a conversation like that during my time as u. S. Attorney with one of my ausas because they would never bring to me the offer. Its a nonstarter even at the ausa level. I think unfortunately for mr. Giuliani, and this is a dangerous thing and a high stakes matter like this. He seems to really not know the facts. Simply doesnt know what hes talking about oftentimes when hes on the air. Speaking on behalf of his client. In my estimation, thats a dangerous thing in a serious matter like this. Greg brower, i want to return to what was in that headline. That is the president publicly
roaring. I want to read one of his tweets that continues to resonate i think. The one in which he calls out Attorney General jeff sessions. He says this is a terrible situation and they should stop this rigged witch hunt before it continues to stain the country any further. Bob muler is totally conflicted. Its a disgrace to usa. I was fascinated by the way giuliani and the white house spun this. That is to say this is the president expressing his opinion. He was not ordering his Attorney General to do anything. Just want to know what you make of that argument. I guess in a sense its a legal argument there. Theyre say ignore this. This isnt something that has legal weight. What do you make of that distinction . Well, interestingly, despite what the president may have intended and its a curious thing for the commander in chief to Say Something like that via twitter and not really mean it. But the impact i think is whats the most important aspect of this. The impact of course is the
attorney, the Deputy Attorney general, the fbi director, have, it appears, ignored that command or suggestion or opinion or whatever you want to call it. And that will continue to be the case in my view as this is just Background Noise that doj leadership is simply ignoring. Thanks to you as well. Telling just how it is in the office. You show up and theres no negotiation over the terms of the interview. Up next, attacking lebron james. He wrote these words, i like mike. Keep in mind this is a fourtime nba mvp, a threetime nba champion and twotime olympic gold medalist. Michael jordan responded. What he had to say about what the president said next. This is the ocean. Just 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. Ive been Making Blades here at gillette for 20 years. Theres a lot of innovation that goes into making americas 1 shave. Precision machinery and highquality materials from around the world. Nobody else even comes close. Now starting at 7. 99. Gillette. The best a man can get. I we worked with pg eof to save energy because wenie. Wanted to help the school. They would put these signs on the door to let the teacher know you didnt cut off the light. The teachers, they would call us the energy patrol. So they would be like, here they come, turn off your lights those three young ladies were teaching the whole school about energy efficiency. We actually saved 50,000. And thats just one school, two semesters, three girls. Together, were building a better california. What i noticed over the last few months, that hes kind of used sport to kind of divide us and thats something i cant relate to because i know that sport was the first time i ever was around someone white. You know, and i got an opportunity to see them and learn about them and they got an opportunity to learn about me and we became very good friends. And i was, like, oh, wow this is
all because of sports. Sports has never been something that divides people. Its always been something that brings someone together. Last nights reair of cnns one on one interview with lebron james must have struck a chord with President Trump. He just tweeted, james was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, don lemon. The unveiling of a New Elementary School he founded in his hometown of akron ohio. Now, firing back in a tweet, saying, whos the real dummy . A man who puts kids in classrooms or one who puts kids in cages. And nba legend michael jordan, reticent to weigh in on politics, tells nbc news he supports l. J. Hes doing an amazing job for his community. But heres the pivot. James is an icon and sports hero from ohio where the president will rally his base later today in a lastminute effort to help republicans save a must win
house seat in the 12th district. Was the president s tweet just an insult or red meat for his base ahead of that visit . Joining me is tyler tines along with democratic strategist joel payne. Tyler, let me start with you. I want to focus on what we heard from lebron james in the clip at the top. Sports historically, traditionally, being this unifying force. What has the president been doing with sports . How has he upended that over the course of the administration . I think its a little bit shaky to assume that the president himself is the one thats upending all of sports. This environment has always existed in the United States throughout the entire history weve seen black people. The athletes are only here to entertain us. But at the same time, we are seeing a new difference in what the presidency is doing and using governmental power. This is no longer fodder for a red base. This is no longer words hes using before rallies. This is policy and sweeping across the political right where republicans all over the country are using this in attack ads,
using this to raise campaign dollars, to the point where the president is disinviting athletes from the white house. Its no longer just fodder. We have to believe this is policy from the right. A directive from trump. And that is only going to become worse as time goes on. I want to get your reaction to this. Youve been on the receiving end of this from affiliates of President Trump. He used that slur when speaking to you on fox news just a few weeks back. I want to have you look at the lines that jeremy peters, a guess i had on just a few minutes, drew. When the president talks about people of color, talks about africanamericans, the insults tend to be one note. We hear his insults about congressman maxine water. He continues to call her a low i. Q. Individual. He has insulted other athletes including Colin Kaepernick. Whats your take on what happened late last night . What it says about the president s perspective about race more generally . David, the president has weaponized race. Okay. Theres no doubt about it. And i think jeremys o