field, where players are protesting racial injustice. the president tweeting about that. all happening as a former white house insider makes explosive, new claims about donald trump and the "n" word. we'll share details in a moment. all going down one day before the anniversary of the deadly white supremacist rally in charlottesville. a state of emergency already declared in virginia. racists planning to take their protests here to d.c. we're talking with two women personally impacted by this violence. if mother of heather hire, the woman killed in charlottesville, will join me, as well as charlotsha charlottesvil charlottesville's mayor. also, the manhattan madame testifying today. why the special counsel wants her and what she is telling our team this morning. you'll only see it and hear it here on msnbc. our team is set up and ready to go on this friday. we're going to start with president trump up add bedminster, putting himself in the middle of the culture wars again. Coverage of national and international news, including breaking stories. that the nfl is back, and so, too, is the president's crusade against these player protests. he was apparently reacting to what happened last night at the preseason game. a couple players taking a knee during the anthem. few others raised their fists. when the president tweets and says, they want eed to show the outrage at something most are unable to define, the players have been clear. they were not protesting the anthem. what they're demonstrating against, they say, is racial injustice and police shootings of unarmed black men. if you ask the question, why does the president keep ing to this issue? well, people close to him tell me, and i'm sure you have this in your reporting, that he screscrew -- views this as a political winner. when things aren't relevant for the base, this is the president's view. it is one of the reasons he talks about immigration and, yes, about this issue of nfl protests. take a look at what he said in the past about this. >> wouldn't you love to see one of these nfl owners when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, get that son of a bitch off the field right now. out. he's fired. he's fired! you have to stand proudly for the national anthem. or you shouldn't be playing. you shouldn't be there. maybe you shouldn't be in the country. >> reporter: as you mentioned, omarosa is also out with this new book. he was the president's top african-american supporter. she cited three unnamed sources that the president used the "n" word. she said there are tapes to prove it. here's what the "guardian" writes. this is a realization that donald trump was a racist, a bigot. these are omarosa's words. his freesquent uses of the "n" word is part of the appalling black community. at the same time, she's trying to sell books. that's something to keep in mind at the end of the day. >> it bares noting on the george conway thing, he is the husband of kellyanne conway. >> who still works at the white house at a high level. >> yes. but george conway is not donald trump's top supporter. he is not on the same page at his wife. >> true. >> we look at his twitter feed and see the times he sub-tweetingly criticizes the administration. the fact he is defending them on this, i think, is significant. >> when it comes to the tweet from the president, i don't want to be a twitter narrater, we all know how to read twitter, but the president talked about the idea of the players being unable to define why they're protesting. seems questionable based on our reporter because when you talk to the nfl players, who are sending a message by, for example, kneeling or taking action during the national anthem, it is a clear articulation of what they want. they want to draw issues on racial justice. rapists, and things like that. he continued this approach during his black voter outreach, which was not effective, perhaps, obviously. the challenge with all of this, malcolm jenkins, so many players have written op-eds, given interviews, repeatedly tweeted why they're protesting. what hasn't happened is president trump clearly articulating that he understands why the protest is happening. you wonder if this is another example of projection that comes out of the white house when he doesn't understand. he says the person he is going against doesn't understand, trying to confuse his base. for the most part, they tend to be falling for it. >> i want to touch on a final thought as we look ahead to what will happen this weekend and these rallies and protests in washington and elsewhere after charlottesville, a year after that. i covered the president, obviously, a year ago, and so did you. it was the question of, can you bring together the country at a time when they so clearly -- people so clearly wanted to be brought together or felt like there needed to be a moment of june unity? lebron james, a black athlete who the president insulted his intelligence a week ago, talked about this. >> what i noticed the last few months, that he kind of used sport to kind of divide us, and that's something i can't relate to. sports have never divided people. it brings people together. >> the president has made clear that the politics of division, he sees it as a winning issue for him. there's been no desire expressed on his part to bring the country together, even in the immediate aftermath of charlottesville, as you say. >> is there anything you can point to that he is doing to help the african-american community? >> no. >> hbcus, for example? >> he's done a lot of photo-ops. if you talk to the presidents of the hbcus afterwards, they felt they were used for props. so far, he sees his base as buying into these culture wars. wanting to -- being in favor of his attacks on nfl players and other prominent african-americans. it is very difficult for anybody, other than omarosa, at least old omarosa, to get on board of the policies. >> thank you. eugene scott, thank you for coming in. we'll continue this conversation with the new mayor of charlottesville, who is on our show live in a couple minutes, along with the mother of heather hire. where we are now, a year after the incredibly important and pivotal day in this country. also up next, the special counsel setting its sights on the manhattan madame. a long-time friend of roger stone, how davis might be a key witness in robert mueller's investigation. we may be in the final hours of paul manafort's trial from the prosecution's perspective. why the judge in the case, in a rare move, said sorry to prosecutors. i don't keep track of regrets. what they're going to ask about. she says she didn't take over his scheduling, e-mails, secretaryise secreterial work until 2017, after the election. we're focusing on the buildup into the 2016 election. she's saying she wasn't working with him at this time. clearly, prosecutors are interested in what she might have to say. having been his secretary. >> what is roger stone saying about this this morning? >> he says he hasn't spoken to her about her testimony, on advice of his lawyer. he trusts she's going to testify honestly. he expresses his warm feelings towards her. he reminds me this morning, actually, she's extremely close friends to her. b godfather to her only son and loves the boy. he keeps hitting on that point. it also tells us, and is illuminating, how close their relationship is. there are a whole host of questions that the grand jury might ask her. >> anna, you'll be monitoring that and keeping up conversation with the principals. >> thanks, hallie. >> let me bring in a former federal prosecutor. cathy, thanks for joining the show. what does it mean to you that robert mueller's team is talking to kristin davis, this buddy of roger stone's? >> the important thing is he is talking to more than one person who is close to roger stone. there's been a flurry of activity in the last couple of weeks about a number of roger stone people that have been subpoenaed. i find it a little strange that she doesn't know what she's going to be asked about because she was interviewed last week. >> right. >> presumably, she had an attorney with her. presumably, her attorney has gotten her protection, immunity or a promise of no exposure or any kind of prosecution or harm from this. i would assume that from the questions she was asked, that she has a glimmer of what she's going to be asked about in front of the grand jury. it is the prosecutor who will be asking the questions. it is rare -- it happens -- but it is rare that the grand jury asks the questions when you're in a grand jury, especially a federal grand jury. it is interesting she is doing it so quickly. she was interviewed last week. one of the reasons a prosecutor brings someone back to a federal grand jury is to lock them into their testimony. to make sure they have them under oath so that down the road, they can't change their testimony, or to make sure they have them in the box. >> roger stone was on cnn talking about some of this, cathy, and i want to play you what he had to say. >> i'm also mindful of any prosecutor's ability to squeeze underlings, to get them to compose testimony against a bigger fish. i have not been contacted by the special counsel's office. i've made it abundantly clear that there's no circumstances under which i would testify against the president. i would not rule out cooperating if they think i can be helpful. >> shat situation notwithstanding, does roger stone have reason to be worried? >> the reason he hasn't been contacted might suggest he could be a target, or at least a very serious subject that's being looked at. generally, prosecutors work from the outside in. they go to people with less exposure or people they consider to be less in harm's way to give them immunity or to give them protection from being prosecuted, to go after the bigger fish. in this case, i think they may be thinking it is roger stone. the fact he is talking about, he realizes people can compose or be squeezed would suggest that he is well aware of the situation, that people may be saying things that he considers to put him in legal jeopardy. >> cathy fleming, thank you for comingperspective. we want to talk about the orr legal battle now over in virginia. prosecutors are expected to wrap up their case today against president trump's former campaign chair, paul manafort. big moment. we are staking out the courthouse. who is the government talking to, calling as the final witness, and what is happening today and next week? >> reporter: well, just as i left, they were still getting underway. they hadn't called a witness yet. there was a lot of discussion between the two sides right in front of the bench. we couldn't hear. that seems to possibly be a disagreement or something to figure out logistically today. we do know the government plans to call four witnesses, hallie, and those would be the final witnesses. two of those have gotten immunity, meaning they've had actions until the past that could be criminally prosecuted, but they won't be because they're koob rating. that's dennis raico and james brennan, who worked at the federal savings bank, which is the bank that loaned manafort $16 million. it was run by a man who democrats in the house are looking into, who may have been promised a job as secretary of the army in exchange for that loan. we're expecting more details on that. i will say, hallie, today matters for the prosecution. how they end matters. going into this, how many witnesses a defense calls, whether or not they even call them, they want to leave this jury with an impression. the final witnesses really matter. there is a reason rick gates didn't come today at the end. he was a little more dangerous. he could have said something that would have upset some of the jurors. many jurors think he should be behind bars longer for what he did. they want to end with someone safe but memorable. makes sense why they're calling the people who are at the heart of the financial crimes, but also someone who they can rely on to give an accurate portrayal of the facts. >> julia in virginia watching it all. thank you. the judge, too, apologizing to prosecuting in aors in all of t we want to talk about how charlottesville is bracing for a solemn anniversary one year after the violent white supremacist rally left a woman dead and dozens hurt. heather heyer's mother is here to talk about how life has changed. here's what she said last year about her daughter's legacy. >> they tried to kill my child to shut her up. well, guess what? 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>> reporter: the judge was prepared and did turn an airport around over the deportation of a woman and her daughter. this was a woman who is a plaintiff, known as carman in the litigation, protesting and trying to seek relief from the changes about the rules of political asylum. her case would be one that would fall under the sexual violence/domestic violence part that would allow people to get protection and remain in the united states. the rules have changed. she was being deported. the judge said while in the midst of having a legal case to represent her interests, she was spirited away. he called that outrageous. the plane was returned to the united states, and carman and her daughter will continue in the united states as this case moves forward. this is all about what are the rules for political asylum? it is about the harder line the trump administration has taken. there are those who do not meet the requirements, who are being deported. in this instance, she was a part of active little gaigation. the court is looking for what is the rem edy and who can be accountable? the attorney general, the top law enforcement official in the country, to be threatened of contempt by the federal judge. that is the standoff happening case by case over the changes to immigration at a time when a woman and her daughter are at the center of this. we don't know where it goes next, except the case will proceed. the administration has held firm that they believe a narrowing of what qualifies as political assignment should be the way to go. hallie? >> kelly o'donnell, thank you for that great reporting. appreciate it. it is not the only immigration story in the headlines this morning, by the way. laura ingraham from fox news, she's clarifying comments that got her in hot water earlier this week. here is what she said on her show wednesday night. >> some parts of the country, it does seem like the america that we know and love doesn't exist anymore. massive demographic changes have been foisted upon the american people, and there are changes that none of us ever voted for, and most of us don't like. now, much of this is related to both illegal and, in some cases, legal immigration and, of course, progressives love. >> here is how she addressed the comments last night on her show. >> the purpose of last night's angle was to point out that the rule of law, meaning secure borders, is something that used to bind our country together. despite what some may be contending, i made explicitly clear that my commentary had nothing to do with race or ethnicity. >> all right. kimberly and aaron are back with me now. there are a bunch of advertisers who targeted lauren ingram in the boycott when the comments were first made. she went on the air last night and said what she said. this is somebody who i have seen at the white house consulting, talking with folks she knows there, as sometimes happens when you are in the orbit with donald trump. talk through a little bit of how we got here. >> one of the undertalked about story lines has been the mainstreaming of what people would call white anxiety. it is, of course, starlted durig the 2016 campaign, using coded language. steve bannon and the nationalist elements, the breitbarts of the world were pushing this for a long time. the president, trump, who had sympathies for this argument, certainly seized upon that. we've seen it not just come from certain elements within the white house, but also kind of seep into conservative media. if you look at fox news' primetime programming, you'll see a healthy dose of this, not just on her show but the other shows that bookend her. this is a large portion of the country that relies upon them for their news. i don't think her comments were shocking in the context, but the fact she said this and is saying, oh, i was talking about the rule of law. she wasn't talking about the rule of law. it was legal immigration. >> she had a message to white supremacists and white nationalists, saying you are anti to the beliefs i hold dear. you have reporting on republicans and the idea, right, that there is a sense they need to come out and denounce incredibly strongly people like the folks who are going to show up here in washington, the racists who will show up. >> this is something the president hasn't done. white supremacists and nationalists don't have a place in the republican party. denounce the protests or rallies that are happening in d.c. and across the country. this weekend, you'd think you wouldn't have to tell folks to do that. the republicans i talked to want to do that. they fear in the long run, not doing so is basically signing a death certificate for their party. >> politically. >> politically. they have to be able to appeal to young people. they have to be able to appeal to people in urban and suburban districts who find this repellant and don't want to be a part of the party that looks like it is protecting or embracing white supremacist. >> until ten hours ago, i was in new jersey because the president is there, and so is melania trump, the first lady. her parents happen to be in the northeast, as well. becoming u.s. citizens. via a process that some critics call chain himigration. some critics including melania trump's husband. why is it okay for the in-laws but not everybody else? >> well, i guess because it is the law right now, is the argument the white house would make. it is the argument that the lawyer made. this appears to be the first time we've actually seen it confirmed, that that was the process that was used here. there's been all kinds of questions about exactly what -- not just her parents' immigration process was, but also hers. this is something that two years ago, she promised to address in a press conference, and we're still waiting two years later. we'll see. >> aaron and kimberly, thank you. coming up next, we want to keep this conversation going. heading back to charlottesville a year after the violent rally left one woman dead, dozens more hurt. we'll talk about how the city is preparing for this weekend. and the message from the mother of the woman who lost her life. she'll join me next. i held her. i found my tresiba® reason. now i'm doing more to lower my a1c. i take tresiba® once a day. tresiba® controls blood sugar for 24 hours for powerful a1c reduction. 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>> i'm trying to. i cannot hear you clearly. >> okay let's see if we can get through it. if it is bad, we'll stop and come back. let me start off talking about this. you've just come into office. you were not in office last year. in the last year, since the rally, do you believe president trump has helped or hurt progress in your city? >> can you repeat that, please? >> we're going to have some technical issues here with the mayor. we'll come back tot m back to t when we figure that out. i want to continue the conversation with susan bro. her daughter, heather heyer, was killed during last year's protests. susan is joining us. thank you for coming on the show in what i am sure is an emotional day for you. >> thank you. i tend to block emotion when i'm working, so it is my work ethic. >> understood. tell me about how you are remembering heather today. how are you remembering your daughter? >> i'm trying to speak up for the issues, just what she would want done. not the focus on her, but the focus on the issues that still need to be resolved. >> you said last year, and i remember watching you speak at her memorial service, you said you were determined to make heather's life count. tell me more about how you've done that in the last 365 days. >> well, i've tried very hard to educate people about issues, about standing up, empowering themselves, accepting responsibility for their actions, stand up and be counted. that's been my original focus. since then, i went on the pilgrimage with black lives matter charlottesville. i've adjusted the narrative more to include racial issues. draw the focus that way. that's what heather was here to support that day. >> yeah. you still live in charlottesville. you didn't leave after all of this happened. how has the town changed? >> i don't actually live in charlottesville. i live about half an hour north. >> got it. what have you seen in your community then, and in charlottesville, since this rally happened? >> well, in my community, i don't know. i'm hardly there, except to sleep at night, buy a few groceries. sleep at night. in charlottesville, change in personnel. more people having difficult conversations, hopefully. hopefully that will continue. just trying to get to the bottom of things. i know mayor walker has made some valiant efforts to make some change. many a times, her efforts have been thwarted. she's working hard to that end. >> you've said before, susan, that you've had to hide your daughter's grave to protect it, to keep that location secret. is that something you still feel like you need to do? >> always. that's an agreement i had with the cemetery from day one. we don't want well-wishers trampling other people's graves. we don't want nazis trampling other people's graves. if i needed further confirmation, till's marker is constantly shot up. the remembrance markers have constantly been vandalized. you know, heather is nowhere in the same league as that. she was not assassinated. she was a random act of a hate crime. but, yeah, there's no point. we've got this memorial where i'm standing now for the public to handle it. >> you visit the memorial of heather. how do you plan to remember heather this weekend? obviously, coming out and speaking about the issues important to her is one way to do it. tell me more. >> going to bring flowers to put on the street at the time when she was killed. then i'm going to keep continuing with the work as i see fit that, you know -- to move racial justice forward. justice for the lgbtq community. you know, i believe america is about give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to be free. that was the america i was brought up to believe in. those kinds of things are what heather's focus was. that's what she was standing here to support. >> when you talk about the work you do, susan, some of it, obviously, is political. i want to ask you about something that's happening in virginia, down there. the republican senate candidate, stewart, is known to embrace causes backed by white nationalists, use divisive rhetoric. the president congratulated him, saying he shouldn't be underestimated. curious about your reaction to that. >> my reaction is a non-reaction because i have the heather heyer foundation, a 501(c)(3). i'm not allowed to have political opinions. >> can you talk about whether you think the president has helped or hurt progress in charlottesville? >> i personally couldn't say one way or the other. i can tell you what david duke and richard spencer and jason kessler, and i believe matthew has said, which is the administration has given them the go-ahead, the thumbs up, the wink and a nod. that's their words, not mine. i have no information about it one way or the other. >> okay. susan bro, remembering your daughter, heather heyer, as we all are today, and this weekend. i appreciate you coming on the show and joining us here. thank you for making the time. >> thank you so much for having me. it is an honor. >> on sunday, of course, the one-year mark of the deadly fights in charlottesville. msnbc will be sharing the story of a former white supremacist who has dedicated his life to reforming others. 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may have trouble getting off the ground. the message from former military experts and members of congress seems to be, washington, we have a problem. >> one small step step for man. one giant leap for the military. >> you will have the space force. >> that's where it's at. space. >> space force. people love that. >> now, that space force is a step closer to becoming the sixth branch of service. first new branch of the military since the fair force split from the army in 1947. goal? to have it up and running by 2020 abo2 2020 with the trump administration hoping to reorganize and create a new elite joint force, space war fighters to help combat russia and china's aggressive moves beyond earth's atmosphere. >> ifs not enough to merely have an american presence in space. we must have american dominance in space. and so we will. >> i am joined by executive editor of defense one back with me. kimberly atkins and aaron blake. kevin, here's the thing. this announcement came out in the last 24 hours. there are big questions. we learned things how this is going to get laid out. we don't know a lot of things. what are your biggest questions? >> the biggest questions are whether or not we'll get to a full space force. there's agreement space needed to be elevated and more attention. secretary of the air force and the general in charge, more man than a year ago asked for attention. like u.s. special operations command. which means all services fun nel into it. of the manage anybody that -- they deploy the troops out where needed. whether in europe, pacific or some other thing. space force, an equal service. that's where it gets dicey. and you have a whole lot of polite smiling at the pentagon, saying we're going hand this off to congress and everyone in congress is kind of saying, okay, let's bring it because it's got to come next year in the budget. >> congress has to approve a new branch. >> there's not a whole lot of full support. >> before i get to that. i think you raised something interesting, there is an agreement there needs to be a space elevation. how do you join the space force? do we know --? >> like i did. i go to space camp. no. twitter is having so much fun with this because there an air force academy and naval. is there going to be something to recruit space rangers? >> people love this. people big the idea of getting the u.s. back into space in a way in a competes with frankly, russia and china as we mentioned, who are making moves. >> we compete plenty. >> wait a second. jim doesn't think so. here's what he said warning about u.s. satellites. being vulnerable. >> predict weather, the way we understand climate and of course a lot of people don't realize every banking transaction in the united states of america requires a timing signal from gps which means if we lose that in this country, we have no milk in the grocery store within a matter of three days. it's a threat to the united states. >> is he wrong? >> no, he's not wrong. gps is kind of like the one topic that all the space proponents keep pushing on to reporters. it's serious, but look, the reality is you have is tsatelli in space and people trying to attack. but we've had a story where the army and u.s. military is looking at things like putting robot arms on satellites in space that could go up and physically and attack others. that's all crazy. a lot of what this is about is human space flight, having men and women back into it. and again to have a space force, you need recruiting, uniforms, spousal support. a million things that are not ready and probably will never be ready by 2020. >> well 20, the time line does seem aggressive based on the folks we talked to. here's the thing. president trump seems pretty serious about it now. 9 wild thing is he was not at first, by his own admission. here's what he said in march. >> i said maybe we need a new force. we'll call it the space force, and i was not really serious and then i said what a great idea. maybe we'll have do that. >> it's like a huge -- >> moving forth to make this happen. >> one political problem with this is that members of the military are important aspect of the support for republicans and the president. and the fact that he and mike pence are out talking about this amongst some people makes it seem like they really don't fully understand how the military works just as kevin was pointing out, the aspects already in place. while this might be fun and to folk fun at, it could be politically perilous in one way. >> is it a good idea? are russia and china weapon identifying space? >> i think the question like kevin raised is, is this a disproportionate response to a very real problem? you can talk about the fact that we need to even out trade with other countries, but do you need to launch a trade war to accomplish that goal? do you need to take these very serious steps like creating a sixth branch of the military to accomplish that? >> you're saying the president is either 0 or 100. >> they're going have to put forward the funding. >> sounds like you're saying he's 0 or 100 or not a lot of middle ground. >> it's almost like he likes big things. >> kevin, it's also seems to be politically popular, people like nasa and space. president's fund-raising, sending this e-mail to supporters saying it's the logo for the new gear. here's the logo option. >> that's dangerous. i tweeted a little bit just quite a bit. does the marine who donates the most get to rename? the idea to reach out to create the logo. >> not really going to create the logo but to get people excited. >> the base is different that the military. it's not a voting block. space force is a pun ch line. the space mission is 100% serious, you knnuclear weapons. idea of the full space force was just such a flip ant thing, the reality of is is real that's why i think the pentagon has not in the first proposal said we're going to start a space force. idea to create a command i think is the perfect solution. military will get a four star command, congress can say that's a good idea and everyone who doesn't want a space force can say we gave the president what he wants. >> kevin, you have told us what your sources say inside the pentagon about all this but i want to ask kimberly and aaron, on any story, any topic, what are your sources saying about a story you've been working about? >> i've been talking about democrats who are a little wary of nancy pelosi's plan to tag. because the democrats are in a bit of a glass house about this. i mean they expect that president trump and other republicans will fight back noting that senator menendez for example had a mistrial of his own charges. other people such as al franken trying to make a comeback. >> our sources say pressure is building on nancy pelosi to make changes on her own position. >> my is on the 2018 election. so the race for congress is very important obviously, the race for senate also important. governors races are hugely, h e hugely important for democrats. this is the way they prevent republicans from being able to draw these maps all over again because they have monopolies on a lot of these throughout the country. there's concern that's not being treated seriously. and the prospects are not as good there. i think we're going to see a push over the next couple months to make sure there's an adequate focus. stakes are very important. arguably even more important than whether they can win the majority in the house by a couple votes. >> aaron, kevin, kimberly thank you. we want to wrap up with today's big picture. for it, we're heading over to yemen where we told you about the saudi-led strike. i it wouldn't warn you, this is intense. a wounded little boy. he's in torn clothes, covered in his own blood, dust all over his face. he was hurt in that explosion, and here, he's waiting in the hospital in desperate need of treatment. he is actually one of the lucky ones because a lot of his fellow kids who were in that bus ready for summer camp didn't make it. war is now the world's worst humanitarian crisis. 22 million people need aid and protection. this photograph here by afp and getty.