will get his reaction to what senator john mccain said about him. you are watching "morning joe." dearthere's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced. our senses awake. our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say...if you love something set it free. see you around, giulia only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol® when this guy got a flat tire in the middle of the night, so he got home safe. yeah, my dad says our insurance doesn't have that. what?! you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. a mihappy birthday, swtie! oh, millies. trick or treat! we're so glad to have you here. ♪ what if we treated great female scientists like they were stars? ♪ yasss queen! what if millie dresselhaus, the first woman to win the national medal of science in engineering, were as famous as any celebrity? [millie dresselhaus was seen having lunch today...] ♪ [...rumors of the new d

get to yes. but that was just not something i could sell in the senate. >> laura: john mccain has been kind of a thorn in the side of the trump administration. they have had acrimonious relationship going back to the campaign. right now do you think he's the biggest obstacle to this getting to the ultimate 50/50? >> he voted to get on the bill. i know john mccain well enough to know he is not going to cast a vote on tax reform no matter how he may feel about the current member of the white house. >> >> laura: you don't think that comes into play. >> i don't think so, no. >> laura: let's talk about other issues. there is a whole bunch going on in the country right now. the alabama senate race taking up a lot of oxygen in the political landscape. he is up now in the polls 5%. you favored luther strange. a lot of money went in to supporting luther strange. he didn't win. roy moore won. i actually supported mo brooks. roy moore won. now all these allegations against him. you said he should step aside. he may very well win this election. what does that say about four influence in the s

? senators like john mccain and others have said you take that to the fbi, you do not take that meeting under any circumstances. so the president's defense of his son certainly is wearing a little bit thin with republicans on the hill. >> yeah, pressure on don jr. and pressure on jared kushner. democrats have intensified their calls to remove his security clearance. realistically, what is the like li hood of that happening? >> i think the likelihood is pretty small. i think president trump and people close to him would see that as tantamount to an ad mission of guilt. having said that, jared kushner is in difficulty on a number of levels. thatters the issue of whether he basically admitted the great number of foreperson meetings and the security clearance forms. there is the current issue of this meeting and there is also an interesting story where mcclatchey told reporters investigators are looking into the trump campaign's digital operation, which was overseen by jared kushner under specks or at least worthy of investigation as to whether they have colluded with the prugss during the

mccain and cardin, the administration is slow-walking the administration of these. what is your response? >> with respect to russia, we're being very careful to develop the guidance that companies need because there are important allies and partners in nato who need specific guidance so they don't run afoul of the sanctions act as well. we're working with the treasury department to develop the guidelines so people understand what will be allowed and what will bring them afoul of the sanctions themselves, putting themselves at risk. i have been through one session on that. it's with treasury now. we're going to get the guidelines out so we can begin the full implementation of the act. >>> president trump says that the united states is more respected now in the world than it has ever been. polling to the contrary, notwithstanding, what do you think is the trump administration's greatest achievement internationally since you became secretary of state? >> i think there have been more than just one, but a couple i would highlight is the president called on nato member countries to st

alienated another top senate republican, john mccain. >> rex tillerson is expected to come to the white house for lunch with the president today not long after reports that tillerson referred to the president as, quote, a moron in a newly published article in forbes magazine. the president's counterpunch is, quote, i think it's fake news but if he did that, i guess we'll just have to compare iq tests and i can tell you who is going to win. chris and alisyn? >> okay, joe. thank you very much for that development. let's bring in our panel to discuss it. cnn politics reporter and editor at large, chris cillizza and analyst david gregory. since that's the development, this new "forbes" magazine interview with president trump that has just been published he's commenting on his real feelings of what rex tillerson said. you heard what joe just reported there, that the president said i think it's fake news but if he did, i guess we'll have to compare iq tests and i can tell you who will win. >> when tillerson was asked about this, he said he would not comment on this pit stuff. he did not

congress, perhaps most notably from republican senator john mccain who said an american president needs to be able to back up his statements, and he said he wasn't sure president trump at this point was ready to act. the president's words also likely to complicate the efforts of the secretary of state in the region. alisyn, back to you. >> joe, thank you very much for all that background. the escalating tension between the u.s. and north korea prompting neighboring countries to consider deploying more powerful weapons. cnn's alexandra field is live in seoul. what's the latest there? >> reporter: alisyn, we know a war of words can lead to a mistake. that's the fear. that's what can cause conflict. north korea doesn't need icbms or nuclear weapons to stage an attack in the region where you have 30,000 u.s. troops posted in south korea, another 50,000 troops posted in japan. these are real concerns for the people living here you've got more than 20 million people in the wider seoul metropolitan area, just 35 miles away from the dmz, where there are weapons along the heavily fortified borde

because you have two people, senator mccain and senator flake who do not donald trump to an be a successful president. that's my belief. how concerned are you that for all of this work you have been doing, some people still don't like it, you did something. goes over to the senate and guys? how worried are you? >> i should have brought my other chart in my pocket. we passed more bills here in the house in the first 10 months of the trump administration than obama administration and both bushes. >> laura: what do you say to o'connell? >> this bill can't be filibustered. the bubble rate are because we is to follow the senate rules and here's what we did differently than health care. we agreed ahead of time what this would look like. ha this tax relief would look-alike like. >> laura: what about flake and mccain? >> they are part of the discussion. it's important that we deliver this for the american people and the fact we agreed ahead of time gives me optimism we will get this done. >> laura: congressional approval is 22%. why is congressional approval this low? >> because we haven

physically mocking the way john mccain and mitch mcconnell carry themselves. you talked about him calling luther strange low energy. i'm guessing insults along those lines are being assigned to mitch mcconnell, mitch m. and john mccain who he imitates the thumbs down gesture when he voted on health care. and it brought me right back to his physical mockery of a disabled journalist that brought him so much criticism during the campaign but did nothing to repel his base from him. >> i haven't been able to confirm the axios reporting. one of the great privileges of joining "the new york times" is getting to work with surge koeb leffsky. donald trump does this kind of thing, even in a minor way. he imitates people. i don't know if this particular story is true but it gets to this question again and roy moore is part of this. sheriff clark was part of this. arpaio was part of this. >> what do we, do megan? i joke about my kid, but we now got a president who weaponizes patriotism. whatever you think about what players should do, he's now made that about -- you can't love the flag and kneel duri

senator john mccain amazingly stood up before all of you, eleven days off of brain surgery and as he was doing so, he really lectured your party for a lack of transparency on this whole thing. and a lot of senators up until, you know, the vote, didn't actually know what they'd be voting on. is your party botching this? >> i totally -- i do not defend the process at all. i do not defend it at all, and would, and have said publicly, i would have done the process better, differently. on the other hand, i think john mccain votes for graham/cassidy. as one example of someone who's clearly a critic of the process, is looking for a way forward, i think -- i can't speak absolutely, but i do think john mccain would end up voting for graham/cassidy and that's why i think it is a way forward. >> this morning, i don't know how often you read the president's tweets, but you know, in one of them early this morning, he singled out your colleague, senator lisa murkowski. she was a no vote on multiple versions of this. or said she would have been a no and then yesterday the procedural vote, she wa

are no votes. rand paul and john mccain. one more no vote will kill the bill. so, all eyes gaze northward, to maine, to senator susan collins who over the summer along with senator mccain and lisa murkowski voted nay, thus preventing the previous repeal and replace bill. senator collins joins us now. good to see you, as always. your vote is pivotal on the graham/cassidy health care bill. where are you? yes or no? >> jake, it's very difficult for me to envision a scenario where i would end up voting for this bill. i have a number of serious reservations about it. i'm concerned about the impact on the medicaid program, which has been on the books for more than 50 years and provides health care to our most vulnerable citizens, including disabled children and low-income seniors. i'm concerned about the impact on costs and coverage. we already have a problem under the affordable care act, with the cost of premiums and deductibles. and finally, i'm very concerned about the erosion of protections for people with pre-existing conditions, like asthma, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, and wha

in over 70 combat support missions over vietnam. like senator mccain, really did put his life at risk because of this country's national security. and to impugn the character of somebody like jim clapper on veterans day, who has dedicated so much of his life to this country, i just find that outrageous and it's something that i -- i think that the -- i think mr. trump should be ashamed of but it doesn't seem anything he does he feels any shame whatsoever. >> what is the effect of these attacks, not on you two or jim comey, but on other people in the fbi, in the cia and the nsa, people who are still there, who worked under you and are still there working to try to make the country safer? >> first, i have to reciprocate what an honor it has been to serve with the likes of john brennan and jim comey, who are dedicated public servants and have served this country long and well and with great integrity. i think it can have a positive -- cannot have a positive impact on the morale of the workforce of the intelligence community but i believe in my heart the men and women of the intellig

mccain preparing for possibly the toughest battle of his life. but whether it is the senate floor, a pow camp or a life threatening disease, his daughter says nothing will make him surrender. also demonstrators gather in london to support young charlie gard and his family who are fighting for even the chance to save their son's life. >> -- we ask for the authorities to let him go to the united states to receive treatment that can save his life. ♪ this is a story about mail and packages. and it's also a story about people. people who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams they're handing us more than mail they're handing us their business and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you ♪ type 2 diabetes with fitness, food and the pill that starts with f. farxiga, along with diet and exercise, helps lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. lowering a1c by up to 1.2 points. do not take if allergic to farxiga. if you experience sy

murkowski and john mccain. steve: john mccain was shocking though. >> john mccain was shocking. i think senator mcconnell did the best he could. we have got to deliver on tax reform and other things. todd: ronna mcdaniel thank you very much for being here. >> thank you for having me. todd: call it president trump's action. members of the ms-13 gang being rounded up and arrested in the midwest? steve: high school baseball player is suing his coach for making him ride the bench. that bench right there. apparently that is now considered bullying. an explanation coming ♪ remember me ♪ for history ♪ i just want to say ♪ i just want to say ♪ so that you can spend time on what really matters. marie callender's. it's time to savor. they always refer to me as master sergeant. they really appreciate the military family, and it really shows. we've got auto insurance, homeowners insurance. had an accident with a vehicle, i actually called usaa before we called the police. usaa was there hands-on very quick very prompt. i feel like we're being handled as people that actually have a genuine

committee, senator john mccain, susan collins, senator chris murphy from the government oversight committee, congressman elijah cummings and one of the president's fiercist critics on capitol hill, congresswoman maxine waters. >> i think we have mr. happy here this morning. jeff is going to be here. >> he's not mr. happy. >> first, here is bill karins tracking more severe weather out there. bill, what have you got? >> unfortunately looks like tornadoes will make headlines later today. 27 million people at risk today, one of the rare days where we get a high risk of severe weather and tornadoes. that means we're pretty much guaranteeing a tornado outbreak will take place. area of greatest concern is here in kansas and oklahoma. wichita is the biggest city at risk later this afternoon. tomorrow, almost the same areas, 18 million more people at risk from kansas city down to the dallas-ft. worth area. we continue a very active week of severe storms. by far, today is the most dangerous. how about the heat pumping up the east coast. yesterday was hot. today it will be even hotter. 97 in

one of them. john mccain we have to see what he will do in this situation. mitch mcconnell this is the hail mary. this is the last opportunity for the democrats can start filibustering again. the deadline is september 30th. brian: governor christie says i don't want to do this because it's going to block grant stuff to my state. obamacare got more than. this i'm not going to take less money for my state. everybody is looking at their own interests. and as lindsey graham told us a couple days ago, massachusetts, new york, as well as california got a disproportionate amount of funds from obamacare and he wants to even it out. and he thinks that could possibly bring in susan collins and with an adjustment both alaska senators. steve: one of the problems and the opposition is late to mobilize because they didn't realize wait a minute the republicans are actually going to take a vote on this in a couple days. trying to mobilize people to find out what's in it one of the things out there is apparently there are a number of experts that say under the graham-cassidy plan, insurers would be abl

. president trump says that steve bannon is a good person and not a racist. attacking mccain, even as he deals with this floundering agenda, another blow with his latest diatribe. the president blames senator john mccain for the failure of his effort. >> i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> this is cnn breaking news. a stunning display. the president just spanned the flames of the charlottesville violence by saying there is blame on both sides asking why there is no focus on what he calls the alt left and saying counterprotesters attack the white supremacist rally. he refused to condemn the alt right saying you had people that were very fine on both sides. earlier, the president shared a social media post from an alt activist and conspiracy theorist which the former head of the ncaa called a racial dog. then they show cnn being hit by a train called trump. a car slammed into a crowd protesting the racism rampage. so far, only five arrests have been made. witnesses are still being sought for the bloody beating of an african-american man. there is growing fallout. the presi

order to change the status quo. >> senator mccain not back in washington, the margins means that the gop can lose one vote. the president is meeting with victims of obamacare where we expect a comment he will be with vice president pence, guys. rob: we do expect a comment. the president's statement comes this big push for repeal and replace comes as incoming communications director lays out a new vision for his department. anthony scaramucci promising to reset the culture and more importantly stop the leaks. >> if the leaks don't stop, i'm going pair down the staff because it's just not right, chris. it's not fair to the president or fair to america and people in the government but something is going on inside the white house that the president does not like and we are going to fix it. i would like to reset the culture inside the comms department so people recognize that i'm actually there receiver them. >> anthony scaramucci will travel with the president this week. president heading to west virginia for the national boy scout. heather: well that brings us to look at who is talking,

mccain as we did the senate vote. so words of john mccain who was indeed a profile encourai of en tonight, murckowski, senator from maine, colins. for our last hour of coverage, my friend ali velshi takes it away here. >> good evening, i'm ali velshi, breaking news right now after seven years of campaigning and long-held promises senate republicans have been soundly defeated in their attempt to repeal obamacare. the loss comes after they lost one last-ditch effort to kill the bill that they have derided for so long. it looks like it all came down to senator john mccain who received a round of applause as he walked into the chamber, signaling the thumbs down and keeping the affordable care act the law of the land. msnbc's garrett haik has been with us through the evening, garrett, i think that is your camera on senators -- you have a different camera. there are senators mike enzy leaving the senate chamber, tell mu me how it went down from your perspective, you said people didn't know where john mccain was going on this. >> i think six hours ago this result would have surprised a l

the shooting. senator john mccain's treatment for brain cancer could keep him out of washington for weeks. maybe even months. likely without objection, congress has a long-standing tradition in which no one questions ailing lawmakers taking time to recover. taking up to a year or more to recover. now back to hannity for all your headlines, log on to foxnews.com for it have a great friday. >> sean: from what i understand, the reports are that the president did not want you to go. tell us what happened. >> he did not. he has been generous throughout the process. he wanted to bring new folks and to rev up the communications process, and my decision was to recommend to the president that i give antony and sarah a clean slate to start from. so that they could talk about the president's agenda and help move it forward. and he after some back and forth understood that the offer that i was making was something that was in the best interest of this administration. i thanked him for the opportunity. and i'm looking forward to watching anthony and sarah do a tremendous job. >> sean: welcome ba

because of a health scare for john mccain. will the delay help or hurt the bill's chances? i'll talk to the man who counts the votes, republican senator john cornyn of texas. >>> and what do voters in trump country think of the president right now? the latest from a special new nbc news/"wall street journal" survey. joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news special correspondent tom brokaw, presidential historian, doris kearns goodwin. former head of the american conservative union al cardenas and danielle pletka of the american enterprise institute. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >>> good sunday morning. to those who remember watergate, the seminal moment may have been when white house counsel john dean said he told president nixon there was a cancer on the presidency. this appears to be the week that the russia story has metastasized. the gap between the original story donald trump jr. told and what we have learned to be the truth grows by the day and with each new piece of evidence, the white house is forced to revise and extend its remarks. in one week we move from

not exactly true, the real accomplishment, koraccording to john mccain, is gorsuch. that's really the only achievement that the president can directly link to him. the stock market, as you said, the stock market has for months and month s and months, the former president was in office, the stock market was on the rise, the economy was rising. yes, this president has continued that trend. it's not all his doing. i mean, for this particular thing in the white house, would you want -- can you imagine if barack obama had done something like this? >> no, look, i -- >> no, answer my question. can you imagine if barack obama's white house had done something like this, what would you be saying tonight? >> i would be saying the communications director in barack obama's white house shouldn't say that and shouldn't do that. they should serve the president and serve the country anding yo saying the exact same thing. >> ana, you mentioned peter king. you said republicans should stand up. you were disappointed with what we said, how he's trying to make sense of what anthony scaramucci said. here's

murkowski, to say to john mccain, to say to others, hey, you guys vote for us or nancy pelosi is going to write this bill. we can't do anything about it. donald trump's going to go with crashing crash temperature look at three of the president top priorities. tax reform, infrastructure and infrastructure. he could chang the back bill the way some of the other prjs do a big infrastructure bill, democrats and labor unions can get on board with and support the nat efforts now, which are pretty robust. he could get all that done by christmas, if he decide that's where he wants to go. make no his take, he will be allen eighting t. >> yerp because ati think this president has proved that so many times over that what's, like, the big news here? >> and as you know, i think donald trump probably made a decision sitting across the room. he looked at chuck schumer, he looked at nancy pelosi, let's do the deal. if you listen to people in the white house, they were shocked and surprised. obviously mitch mcconnell and paul ryan were uncomfortable with the way it happened. he just said chuck, nancy, let

post," will join us. and we have just learned that senator john mccain is returning to the senate tomorrow for the health care vote. the latest on the health care vote is ahead. whuuuuuat?rtgage offer from the bank today. you never just get one offer. go to lendingtree.com and shop multiple loan offers for free! free? yeah. could save thousands. you should probably buy me dinner. no. go to lendingtree.com for a new home loan or refinance. receive up to five free offers and choose the loan that's right for you. our average customer could lower their monthly bills by over three hundred dollars. go to lendingtree.com right now. >>> as the scout law says, a scout is trustworthy, loyal. we could use some more loyalty, i will tell you that. >> and guess who wasn't a scout? that's right. donald trump. we have breaking news tonight. "the washington post" reporting that president trump and his advisers are privately discussing the possibility of replacing attorney general jeff sessions. the post is also reporting that the president could install a new attorney general as a recess appointme

mccain both about that, the foreign trip but also about the troubles here at home. they're not going to go away. abby: that's going to be a great show, chris. chris: thanks, guys. clayton: ed henry and newt gringrich all here life. pete: plus big moment for protecting the president, dan who led trips like this before, will be life next. clayton: a take on his sword dance. [laughter] that keep you warm inside. marie callender's. it's time to savor. how if guests book direct ater, choicehotels.com and stay twice they'll get a $50 gift card? summertime. badda book. badda boom. got you a shirt! ...i kept the receipt... book now at choicehotels.com to f...nerve pain shoots and burns its way into your day... ...i hear you. when that pain makes simple errands simply unbearable... ...i hear you. i hear you because my dad struggled with this pain. make sure your doctor hears you too. so folks, don't wait. step on up. and talk to your doctor. because you have places to go... ...and people who can't wait for you to get there. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands

the last several hours to find an acceptable rationale for comey's firing. john mccain said he's disappointed in the president's decision. marks a rare break with mccain from lindsey graham. lindsey graham voiced support for the firing of comey. >> on the other side of the aisle, democrats calling for a special prosecutor. senate minority leader, chuck schumer. >> this investigation must be run as far away as possible from this white house and as far away as possible from anyone that president trump has appointed. >> president trump ready to fire right back on twitter. quote, crying chuck schumer stated recently i do not have confidence in him, james comey any longer then act so indignant drain the swamp. with more reaction let's bring in phil mattingly. >> reporter: two words uttered most by both republicans and democrats in the wake of that stunning firing of fbi director james comey was shock and surprise. with the exception of top congressional leaders the vast majority of lawmakers on capitol hill simply were not informed. according to several gop aides i spoke to they didn'

. >> senator john mccain joins us live for an exclusive interview. >>> and republicans divided. president trump starts negotiating the replacement to obamacare with his own party. >> if we do not act to save americans from this wreckage, it will take our health care system all the way down with it. >> gop leaders say the bill is good to go. but other conservatives say not so fast. >> the bill as it stands really is dead on arrival. >> can trump use his presidential power to make the deal? a top administration official will be here live in minutes. >>> plus -- cory booker, the rising democrat on taking on trump. >> this is a toxic environment being created right now. >> and his own political future. >> are you going to put yourself forward to be that person, to be that leader? >>> and the best political minds will be here with insights on what happens next. hello, i'm jake tapper in washington where the state of of your union is hearing echoes of the old trump catch phrase "you're fired." in a dramatic standoff, the one known for targeting major corruption cases in new york city, refused to resi

to explain the bill and have a policy discussion about it. john mccain was asked last week by a reporter, what does this bill do? what problems will it solve? what are some of the distance in it. and he said, these are about getting the freedom caucuses and moderates together. >> no, those are two different issues. >> have the democrats ever rushed something through? just laughing. i remember stimulus packages who have stuff in there from d.c. and people's notes. up next, these three people will tell me something i don't know. news coming up here. you're watching "hardball," where the action subpoena. it takes to replace it.ee-qt what are you supposed to do? drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement™, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. smart. with liberty mutual new car replacement™, we'll replace the full value of your car. liberty stands with you™. liberty mutual insurance. "how to win at business." step one: point decisively with the arm of your glasses. abracadabra. the stage

liberty. steve: john mccain catching heat or on this comment for trump's war with the press. >> first thing the dictators do is shut down the press. we need to learn the lessons of history. steve: trump, dictators, same paragraph? steve: lee carter put the week's most controversial sound bites to the dial test and your grades are in. brian: brand new video of harrison ford's disaster on runway at lax ♪ so put me on a highway ♪ and show me a sign ♪ and take it ♪ to the limit limit one more te ♪ widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. she also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior. or swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fe

imposed by the obama administration, congressional leadership including senator john mccain have been very cool on that instead saying they want to do the opposite. they want to impose more. this is what trump had to say. >> i don't know the gentleman. i hope we have a fantastic relationship. that's possible and it's also possible that we won't. we will see what happens. i will be representing the american people very, very strongly, very forcefully and if we have a great relationship with russia and other countries and if we go after isis together, which has to be stopped, that's an evil that has to be stopped, i will consider that a good thing, not a bad thing. how the relationship works out, i won't be able to tell you that later. i've had many times where i thought i'd get along with people and i don't like them at all. and i've had some where i didn't think i was going to have much of a relationship and it turned out to be a great relationship. >> so sometimes being charming works, got a little laugh in the room. but what do you interpret from that? >> well, i think that trump is

mccain and jeff flake. i think things will start to narrow a bit on these two senators, and in terms of just them being major holdouts in the end. they will say it's over principles. the president and his team will say it's personal. but according to lobbyists i was talking to, those are the two they're worried about the most and they were saying they could forsee a situation where mike pence would have to be the tie breaker. >> bob, there's so many moving targets here. you have jeff flake, and you have john mccain. imagine john mccain voting for this bill for a lot of different reasons. mainly on policy. but jeff flake as well. but then you even go to bob corker. maybe he's changed his mind, but when he was on this show, he was talking about the deficit and talking about it would blow $1.5 trillion hole in the defic deficit. now some estimates have it over $2 trillion. how does susan collins support that? it seems to me holding all but two republicans in check is a pretty tall order. >> so add to heidi's smart points, when you think about the core problem here for senate repub

at in part chairman burr who stepped out and troubled by it. >> and ben sass and john mccain, the usual heroes but minus them -- >> by the way, you only need three heroes in the senate to change things. >> silence with regards to paul ryan, haven't heard from him, mitch mcconnell. >> what has happened to paul ryan? >> there's a willingness on the part of democratic trump to flaut democratic norm we can talk process, there's optics and then there's substance. the optics is it looks bad, he fired the guy leading the investigation around russian ties and campaign. the substance -- politics and optics are bad but substance of it though, you've been talking about madison and hamilton and checks and balances for two years now. don't worry about the totalitarianism, the system -- and here you have a guy whose personality, strong man, whose actions -- >> i have no doubt that the system will continue to work and that's the thing, hugh, we've had all of these stress tests and we've had the president's aides going on tv on sunday saying the president is not subject to the checks and balances

compared john mccain to george wallace. he had said if mitt romney were elected we would go back to segregati segregation. he has the ability -- now he's saying, by the way, this isn't a legitimate president and he's fund raidsing off of it. and so trump has a right to defend himself. i agree with the vice president elect. funny thing is you look at what's going on right now and we're all talking about it, but the fact is this is a win for trump. we're not talking about his secretaries -- you know, the secretaries that are up last week that testified in congress. and frankly, republicans just passed in the house in the senate the ability to kind of defund obama care. we're not talking about that. >> i want to go to fernando. first off, i want to go to what's some of the congressman's constituents have said about this back and forth. one trump supporter saying this about the comments made. take a listen. >> the irony of all this is that congressman lewis, who is so, so much on the side of diversity and tolerance is being incredibly intolerant of the voters who have a different viewpo

president assad will be decided by the syrian people. >> and earlier today arizona senator john mccain taking on secretary tillerson saying his comments, quote, served to legitimatize the actions of this war criminal in damascus. >> one of the more incredible statements i've ever heard came from the involvement of hezbollah of the iranians, of the russians. i'm sure they're encouraged to know that the united states is withdrawing and seeking some kind of new arrangement with the russians and it is another disgraceful chapter in american history. >> with me senator ben card en, democrat of maryland ranking member on the senate foreign relation iz committee. good evening, sir. and tonight many people are trying to rewrite their views of what they thought should be done back in 2012 and 2013. we're in the 6th year of this crisis in syria. i should note that back in 2013 you, sir, and the senate foreign relations committee, you were one of the ones who voted we should do something. >> absolutely, we should have taken more definitive action. but the question is what do we do now. in the wor

question here. you have lindsey graham, you have senator graham, you have john mccain, a lot of people saying, you know what, they agree with this decision. in some ways it seems like a 1 yan f -- 180 for them. what do we make of that? >> this is something for john mccain and lindsey graham, their foreign policy, they are harsh, harsh critics of obama's nonintervention in syria, so so it shows this is a high priority for them. and that trump, you know, is someone who can defy expectations. there's a very good chance incomes week lindsey graham and john mccain will hammer him on his russia ties or something else. but this syria air strike has been popular with large parts of the establishment in both parties. >> have to live it there. thank you for your time today. >> thanks for having us. >>> the nation's improving job picture over the first three months of the year. how much president does president trump deserve and will continue? so much lobster, so little time. at red lobster's lobsterfest any of these 9 lobster dishes could be yours. so don't resist delicious new lobster mi

his life back, but that is not the way john mccain is put together. we're about to see the way john mccain is put together. that is our broadcast for tonight. thank you for being here with those 5 1/2 years of his life back, but that is not the way john mccain is put together. we're about to see the way john mccain is put together. that is our broadcast for tonight. thank you for being here with us. good night from nbc news headquarters in new york. the arizona republican has been diagnosed with brain cancer. people around the globe cheer him on as a legendary fighter. >>> plus, president trump voices new frustration over jeff sessions. the president said he would not have made sessions attorney general had he known he would recuse himself from the russia investigation. >>> signs of life for the health care push. after lunch with the president, a group of key senators with a late night meeting to try and revive their stalled health care bill. >>> good morning. it's thursday, july 20th. vietnam war veteran, presidential candidate, and tough as nails senator john mccain has been diagn

mccain could go. time for him. brian: he has five more years he just got re-election. is he not going anywhere. ainsley: sexual he is ca escapa. rivalry. watergate leaks and clinton. >> senator kennedy went into the river with mary jo. the story gets deeper and deeper. we did some investigation. it turns out according to him he waited on the bank for a long time trying to figure out what he was going to do worrying about his career, the senator. and mary jo was alive in that car for hours. by that choice, by worrying about his own career, his own self-interests, mary jo died. steve: it's not just current time it's historical. >> take you from the beginning all the way up. ainsley: congratulations, we are proud of you. the swamp. brian: see you on radio in an hour -- a couple hours. 12 minutes after the hour. steve: coming up, the left seems to be dodging the fbi investigation into bernie sanders wife which eric was just talking about just like bernie was dodging fox news yesterday. >> where are you from? >> fox news. >> cbs is reporting on this, politico is reporting on this. do you s

about $54 billion in additional money for our military. senator john mccain said that is not enough. what's your reaction? >> we are going to spend a lot more money on military. we really have to. we have though choice. a lot of people think it's a tremendous amount of money. it could be actually $30 billion more than that. we are going to upgrade our military very substantially. remember this i also am going to get involved in negotiating. we have many planes and boats and ships that we're spending too much money individually on. we are going to get involved in negotiating. we are going to be able to get, i think, a lot more product for our buck. and i'm going to be very, very serious about it. we saved 700 million plus on an f-35 after i got involved. and i have to tell you lockheed was terrific. but we saved a lot of money on airplanes and that number is going to increase very substantially as we keep going. we will be having the greatest military that we ever had by the time i finish. brian: mr. president, you will have the biggest -- if tradition means anything and i know sever

was recover a fumble. and so it was a little bizarre. you saw mccain right there, he doesn't even know what's in the house bill. he says he doesn't have to pay attention because the senate will write a different one, then go back to the house and see if the freedom caucus can pass what the senate put up there. it's deception by omission. both sides aren't telling the full story, the other person's position. i think everybody wants to get to health care. yes, the republicans passed this on a political basis but democrats are democrgoging it. >> so, bill, just -- are they participating in a rouse in the rose garden or do they really think senate is going to read this bill and think it's good for america? >> mccain doesn't know what's in the bill. those in the rose garden don't know what's in the bill. they voted for something they haven't read, they haven't seen, the cbo hasn't scored. >> steve on our show said no one will lose their health care. not one person. >> that's absolutely false. that is fake news. i mean, the cbo for the first bill scored the 4 million americans would lose the

sanders, who came close to getting the democratic nomination. john mccain, another nominee who almost got there but not quite. >> you see the senators, they are here, the congress mmen, senators, the incoming cabinet, a lot of the vips, military personnel. through those doors president obama and the first lady michelle obama will be walking out together with the incoming president donald trump and incoming first lady melania trump. after their coffee, their tea, their hour session inside the white house, a private little meeting, they'll b walking out, getting into the motorcade, driving to it up to capitol hill for this moment in american history, a truly important moment that i want to reiterate what we've been pointing out, this is something that we're watching closely but the whole world will be watching as well, because the signal will be significant. >> the trump children making the walk down, we'll see them soon on the platform, the walk that their father will do not too long from now, that remarkable view that he's going to have as he walks down those stairs and sees not just the

awkward get well message for john mccain. >> and i can tell you, we hope john mccain gets better very soon. because we miss him. he's a crusty voice in washington, plus, we need his vote. >> and humble brag. president trump short on legislative wins, still claiming that he beats all his predecessors. >> we have signed more bills and i'm talking about through the legislature, than any president ever, for a while harry truman had us. now i think we have everybody. i better say think, or they will give you a pinocchio. >> you wouldn't want those pinocchios. good day, i'm andrea mitchell in washington where senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is running out of options, falling back on a 2015 plan for a straight obamacare repeal now that the first two senate bills are dead. the trump white house stunned by monday night's tweets from republican senators jerry motra and mike lee, minutes after the president wrapped up a dinner with senators who were already on board with the legislation. the president tweeting, pushing for full repeal, blaming democrats, calling on senators to let ob

fought for by i believe hillary clinton was an advocate for this program at one point. john mccain advocated and fought for this. it's now kaput. does the white house have any capacity to understand that they bring in to question potential ties and coziness with russia when they make any sort of foreign policy decisions that counts as a win for russia and vladimir putin? >> i think so. you heard sarah huckabee sanders really get questioned sharply on that very point. and was asked specifically if this program came up when president trump had that meeting on the sidelines of the g20 dinner. did he discuss it with russian president vladimir putin? sarah sanders said not she was aware of. so we'll try to stay on top of that and see if we could get any more policy details about what was discussed there, but i think that's where the problem comes, nicolle. the fact that you have this discussion that lasted some length of time. and that the white house hasn't provided a readout to the point about well, they didn't provide a readout for his other meetings that evening. it was clear based

where they can't exactly see how they're going to get back, particularly with senator mccain being out. that's a crucial vote for this. they plan to spend the next couple of days trying to see if repeal and replace could get the votes, if repeal only could get the votes. republicans mixed the messages, the constant shifting from the president, sometimes within the same day, is hugely unhelpful because republicans also want to move forward. they want to put a bill on his desk and have that bill signed, but it's really unclear day-to-day what bill the president actually wants to sign. chris: we asked you for questions for the panel, and f.d. tweeted this: could donald trump have done more to dig into health care legislative process? was there a lack of presidential effort involvement? congressman chaffetz, you know, i looked into this. the president has not made, since he took office, a single major speech that was really devoted to repeal and replace. and say what you will about obamacare, and i know you've got a lot ofs with it, but -- lot of problems with us, but president obama barns

touch on all these issues. >> i want to give you a chance to respond to an op-ed senator john mccain wrote, where he invoked your name, sir. in a recent address to state department employees, secretary of state rex tillerson said conditioning our foreign policy too heavily on values creates obstacles to advance our national interests. mccain goes on to write, with those words, secretary tillerson sent a message to oppressed people everywhere. don't look to the united states for hope. our values make us sympathetic to our plight and when it's convenient we might officially express that sympathy. pretty tough words from senator mccain. what do you say in response? >> first, i would say if anyone has earned their right to express their views, senator mccain has. i have great respect to the senator. i think the point that i was making, chuck, in that message to state department employees is an important one to understand. and that is that america's values of freedom, treatment of people, human dignity, freedom of expression throughout the world, those are our values. those are enduring v

. he assassinates political rivals. john mccain and were i talking about this in his office yesterday. he murders and naeassassinates political rivals in the creme l kremlin. he is one of the subsidy stabilizing forces on the planet. >> so here is donald trump on bill o'reilly with the super bowl. and then during the campaign on "morning joe" in 2015. a couple of stabs at the question and sound bites for you. >> do you respect putin? >> i do respect him. >> do you? why? >> well, i respect a lot of people but that doesn't mean i'm going to get along with them. he's a leader of his country. i say it's better to get along with russia than not. and if russia helps us in the fight against isis, which is a major fight, and islamic terrorism all over the world. >> right. >> major fight, that's a good thing. will i get along with him? i have no idea. >> reporter: putin is a killer. >> we got a lot of killers. do you think our country is so innocent? do you think our country is so innocent? >> i don't know of any government leaders that are kills in the american -- >> well, take a look what we

to be at the table to accomplish that. >> you're with senator mccain on that. start from scratch for all practical purposes. get to work with democrats, come up with a bipartisan compromise, if you will, to try to improve the affordable care act and not necessarily appeal it or simply let it die. is that right? >> we've always wanted to have the future direction. i've always advocated, if you're going to repeal it, let us know in the states where we're going so we can plan stability in our delivery of health care. that's very important. now, i believe that there is a consensus that between democrats and republicans that we've got to change things. if that's the case, democrats should come to the table and say, we will join that effort. i think with that, we can actually accomplish something, and i hope that in washington they can accomplish that. >> well, asa hutchisonson, democrat of arkansas. more than happy to work with republicans and don't want to see the word "repeal" as part of that process. we'll see what happens next. governor asa hutchinson's arkansas. thanks for joinin

prosecutor. brian: as is justin amore and senator bush and senator mccain and some republicans are also doing that i think it would have been good for the president to work the phones because he is the best at that. listen, this is my school of thought. this is what i'm looking to do. we all know the russia investigation is going nowhere. how do i get this done with the least amount of ancillary dang. ainsley: here is the bottom line. he is the boss. and he gets to decide who works for him. someone who works for him who is not supportive of him he gets rid of them. he has the ability to do that. brian: of course. and there is no corruption involved. the timing of doing it to get more republicans on the same page so they know what's going on someone like susan collins was able to speak coherently about it other republicans are being pulled over in diners and restaurants asked to comment. that to me is a problem. ainsley: you ask the intelligence community a lot of them are upset for being so public and having press conferences and ring so much information. steve: given the fact ther

, quote, the intrusion into a u.s. political party. senator john mccain traveling this week with other senators said there is no doubt moscow is the culprit. >> it is clear that russia has attacked the united states of america. all of our intelligence agencies will affirm that that is the case. we will work in the congress to have stronger sanctions in order to prevent further attacks on the united states of america. >> reporter: and while we await that comprehensive intelligence review of the election hack that was ordered by president obama we are told by officials that part of the reason the intelligence community is so confident is because of the high quality intelligence it has on russia compared to other cyber hacks involving countries like north korea. >> thank you very much. trump has come out and said that he knows something that the rest of us don't. according to one of his advisers he may just be saying that for attention. >> do you think he is playing us? >> there is a possibility he is a little bit. >> jim joins me now. come out and said i know something and i will tell yo

by senator lindsey graham, john mccain, as well as democratic lawmakers. we don't have the answer to that question. >> carl, i'll state the same thing in a different way. what did the president know and when did he know it? just like the watergate scandal, is this deja vu for you all over again? >> we don't know yet. all we know is the russians tried to hijack an american presidential campaign and they tried to do it through relationships around donald trump. and now we need to know all the facts, and the president has not been forth coming. his aides have not been forth coming, and republicans should embrace and open wide investigation as there was in watergate. it was republicans who joined with democrats as patriots in watergate to find out what had occurred in a presidential campaign, and had it indeed been hijacked by the president of the united states and those around him. that's the situation we're faced with, and all patriotic republicans ought to be saying, hey, open up, mr. president, let's see what happened here. let's get past this, if nothing happened. but we need to kno

have happened back when you were with the mccain campaign if i had come to you anded i've got bud i didn't see overseas and they have some dirt on barak obama and i really don't like this obama character and i'm looking to defeat him. would you be interested? >> yeah, i would have called the director of the fbi. >> that simple. >> that simple. any loyal american does that. this meddling, which is acknowledged by our intelligence services, this attack on our election systems, it seems to difficult for so many republicans to understand this, but this was not an attack on the democratic party. this was an attack on the united states of america. if a foreign adversary reaches out trying to interfere in our election process by trying to did he leverage, to hurt the nominee of one of the two parties, in this case i'm a republican, so it would be the democratic nominee, you call the fbi. full stop. >> steve, this calls for total speculation, but i'm curious how you'll answer. how does this end? does this end with a two-term, 79-year-old president relaxing, enjoying the rest of his life at

arizona. jeff flake, john mccain. lindsey graham has stepped up in certain ways in this situation. i wish it was -- i wish we could confidently predict that, brian. i wish we had already seen enough where we could say, oh, this is how it will happen. we don't know that yet. there is a statue waiting to be sculpted to the republican senator who does that in this situation. this -- it calls for that in a way that is so obvious and so clear. and believe me, there are plenty of people on the democratic side right now who are having private conversations with who they think that republican can be, or those republicans. there may be three or four. maybe five, who they think they can pull over into a cooperative approach to this. chuck schumer doing an unprecedented thing tonight, saying he wants all democratic senators on the floor at 9:30 a.m. when he speaks. when we've seen all the senators on the floor in the past, brian, it's usually been both parties. it's usually been for something extremely grave. and they all gather for whatever that is. i can't think of a situation where one of the par