latest project. good morning to you. guest: good morning. host: it is called "trump's takeover." can you give us a sense of the word your tried to imply by the word takeover? guest: it is the current republican party in washington versus the donald trump. it is what he did and they did over the year beginning in the summer of 2016 when they really do not understand who donald trump was. they did not feel like he cared because they did not believe he would win. from that moment until the ceremony at the white house on december 20 after the tax cut is passed and they are all praising him, the astonishing difference between how they felt about him at the beginning and how they felt about him at the end of his first year is what the film is about. host: give us a sense than exactly how they did feel about him at the beginning and the end and why that changed. guest: at the very beginning, as i said, i don't think they expected him to win. i don't think they felt they needed to spend any time at all. trump comes to washington in july for a kind of victory lap as the presumptive nominee of

bannon, president trump's former fired chief strategist is trying to pitch his own plan to stifle the mueller investigation. but will the president listen to had man who once said not only lost his job, he lost his mind? >>> we've also got new revelations tonight what they were looking for in that raid on michael cohen. we have more on that in a moment. a lot to get to in this hour. i want to bring in cnn's chief white house correspondent mr. boris sanchez. thank you for joining us this evening. incredible news coming from "the washington post," reporting tonight steve bannon is talking with west wing aides and congressional allies trying to stop the west wing probe. give us highlights here. >> this is really fascinating. step one in sometime tyming is further believes the president should make the team rework their strategy. he thinks they should stop cooperating all together with the special counsel. he also had something interesting to say about the president's ability to invoke executive privilege, and this is really important. he believes the president should invoke executive pri

the second year in a row, donald trump skipped the white house correspondent's dinner. his last visit there apparently wasn't enjoyable. remember those jokes barack obama told about him in 2011. but he didn't skip a beat when it came to attacking the media. instead of going to washington, d.c. to do it in a hilarious monologue, trump went to washington township, michigan, rallying his base with his usual free willing rants. perhaps it's best that trump wasn't at the dinner because he probably would have been even angier than he was in 2011. after comedian michelle wolf unleashed 20 minutes of scorching riske comedy, sparing no one, mike pence, not members of trump cabinet and not the media either. prompting some criticism from trump's allies and from some in the fourth estate. here's some of that monologue, at least the safe for morning tv version. >> here we are, the white house correspondent's dinner. like a porn star says when she's about to have sex with a trump, let's get this over with. mr. president, i don't think you're very rich. like i think you might be rich in idaho but in

forest fire that is the trump presidency. >>> sources tell cnn that fbi agents may have seized tapes of phone calls during the raid of trump's lawyer. >>> president trump talking about prime minister theresa may working on the response to the chemical attack in syria. good morning. welcome to "early start." i'm alex marquardt. >> i'm christine romans. it is friday the 13th. april 13th. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. 11:00 a.m. in northern syria. we will have a report in a few minutes. in the book, fired fbi director james comey blasts donald trump in brutal terms calling him unethical and untethered to truth and insurantitutional val. ego driven and personal loyalty. it exploded into public view last night. cnn obtained a copy. comey calls the trump presidency a forest fire and says aspects of the loyalty oath and boss in complete control reminded him of the days prosecuting the mob. >> and comey recounts the first meeting with president trump. comey said the only question of the russian meddling, you found no impact on the result, right? >> and the d on oossier and the unverified claims

>>host: ron kessler, your new book you say president trump bravado and exaggeration and controversial comments is a means to the edge and you say 80% of the time the staff says he has a plan that he sticks with the 20% he wakes up and goes a different direction. talk about the donald trump the dealmaker. >> like a boxer he is always diverting attention bobbing and weaving counterpunch it is all an act. and on top aid 26 years joining the organization there were only seven employees she knows him better than anyone and she said there are two donald trump's one is the one you see on television who makes these outrageous comments to get attention for his brand if he is still the center of attention every day through conversation for the media but then there is the other donald trump that the insiders know that is just the opposite who is thoughtful, he listens, careful about making decisions, his chamber of commerce during the campaign help him with his properties and a month or two later they met with donald and said he was thoughtful and he listened and i was so surprised

report released. no evidence that the trump campaign colluded, coordinated or conspired with russia. clinton campaign paid for opposition research obtained from russia. wow! must end now. it was one of the clearest articulations, if you can call it that, of his intention or desire to end investigations into russian interference. and it also came on the very same day that nbc news is reporting that a key figure in that trump tower meeting in which the president's son, son-in-law and campaign chairman, two of those men under scrutiny by the special counsel, one charged with numerous crimes by the special counsel, met with a russian informant. that's right, the russian lawyer who met with the president's family and campaign team to deliver dirt on hillary clinton now describes herself as a lawyer and informant for a top kremlin official. this is brand-new reporting from nbc's richard engel and is based on e-mails that show that the russian lawyer in question natalia veselnitskaya has now recanted her earlier denials of russian government ties. she acknowledged to nbc news that, quote,

president will host a state dinner for the french president. it's the first state dinner of the trump residency. you want to live on our companion network, c-span3. we'll have live coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. eastern time. we have more details on the french president, three-day vist earlier today on washington journal. >> tom of vanity fair, writer for the publication who just put together a long piece taking a look at the french president and his influence. good morning. >> guest: goodnk morning. >> host: thank you for joining us. give us a sense or describe presidenten crone and his relationship with president trump as it currently stands. >> guest: sure, emmanuel macron is a very young man and he just turned 40. he has never been involved in electoral politics before. my contact with him let me to consider him an intelligent, focusedte, determined, leader and he is actually trying to put through a set of ambitious reforms at home and not without provoking a certain amount of protest. his relationship with president trump is interesting. i don't know he could call it a friendship

democrats are hoping to keep their recent momentum going in a state that went for donald trump by 21 points in 2016. >>> plus the growing controversy over the white house physician, dr. ronny jackson. the president's pick under fire tonight under allegations of drinking while on duty and improperly handing out prescription medication like candy. that's a quote. and there's more. a source telling cnn that dr. jackson drunkenly banged on a female employee's door in 2015. becoming so disruptive the secret service stopped him out of then concern he had then wake president barack obama. i want to bring in "the new york times" columnist nicholas kristof. we'll have to stop and go to the breaking news and get to our reporter down in arizona. thank you for joining us. what did you make of this first state visit? >> it was fascinating because trying desperately to woo president trump on the issue of the iran deal and angela merkel will be here later this week. they desperately want the u.s. to remain in the iran deal because essentially there's no alternative if he blows it up on may 12th. an

turning point in the legal cloud that is hanging over the trump presidency. the trump justice department tonight is considering charging a key witness in the russia probe with a crime. potential target is the former deputy to james comey, andrew mccabe. he's a central figure, of course, because he's one of the few people who can corroborate james comey's accounts of alleged misconduct by donald trump. you probably heard his name because he was the first deputy fbi director to be fired in american history. in that unusual secretive friday night process overseen by jeff sessions, involving a topic investigating hillary clinton, which jeff sessions had claimed he was recused from. and that firing came after months of public attacks from donald trump himself. you see there, who argued mccabe was racing to retire with pension benefits. mccabe losing effectively those benefits because of the doj firing over an alleged lack of candor for his conversations with the press about hillary clinton. this week, donald trump is blasting mccabe's old boss james comey and calling for him to go

. >> reporter: he's been called donald trump's pit bull. >> cohen knows where all the bodies are buried because he may have buried most of them. >> the loyalest of trump. >> breaking news, trump's lawyer raided. >> the agent is armed by multiple search warrants. >> raided by the fbi. they stuck their foot in the door so he could not close it. >> how big of a deal is it? >> a huge deal. >> what were they searching for ? >> they're looking for evidence of hush payments to women. >> is the pattern the pay off to protect the billionaire? >> you are going to get the $150 billion for it. >> who is not just a billionaire anymore. >> he was a candidate and the president of the united states. >> any violation of campaign laws that's done willfully and knowingly is a crime. >> a new line of invasiestigati and it is not apart of the russia probe. >> where could it lead? tonight a cnn's special report, "hush money" trouble for trump. >> we are following breaking news, the fbi raids the office of president trump's personal lawyer and long time fixer, michael cohen. >> monday morning inside the iconi

, "you're not a king, you are a president." >> trump's response is classic trump, "who am i going to blame?" >> don't mess with donald trump. donald trump doesn't forget. >> somebody needs to stand up and say, "this is not our party, this inot normal." >> tonight on frontline' "trump'takeover". >> frontline is made possible by contributis to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. d by the corporation for public broadcasting. major support is provided by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdanf and pe world. more information is available at macfound.org. additionalupport is provided by the abrams foundation: committed to excellenc journalism. the park foundation, dedicated to heightening public awarens of critical issues. the john and helen glessner family trust. supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires.ro and by theline journalism fund, with major support from jon and jo ann hagler. >> breaking news from campaign 16, marco rubio... >> narrator: washington, 2016. >> ...chris christie have suspended their cam

. joy" with my friend joy reid. >> president-elect trump's first question to confirm that it had no impact on the election and then the conversation to my surprise moved into a pr conversation about how the trump team would position this and what they could say about this that no one to my recollection asked. so what's coming next from the russians, how might we stop it, what's the future look like. >> good morning and welcome to "a.m. joy." in a move that has donald trump rage tweeting all morning, former fbi director james comey is spilling all the tea with a new book and media blitz starting tonight. telling his version of events surrounding the 2016 election in the early days of the trump administration. while it may be seen as an attempt to clear his name, comey is after all the man the clinton camp blames for their loss. he pulls no punches when it comes to donald trump. in his book he describes in detail trump's attempts to bring him into a mafia like political family that values loyalty to donald trump above all else. the quote, forest fire, that is the trump administration.

tonight, those memos james comey famously wrote about his conversations with donald trump. they've been handed over to congress and promptly leaked to the media. and tonight comey has already weighed in. >>> plus so many moving parts this evening. the president's new lawyer, rudy giuliani, coming onboard to negotiate a speedy conclusion in the russia investigation. there are new developments on a slew of major players, michael cohen, rod rosenstein, andrew mccabe, and what it all means for the president during another day at his resort and under investigation as "the 11th hour" gets under way on a thursday evening. >>> good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. day 455 of the trump administration brings major developments in the russia investigation. another wild one. a lot of them breaking just tonight over these past few hours. chiefly we now have the 15 pages of memos that former fbi director james comey drafted about his interactions with president donald trump. earlier tonight the justice department sent those memos to congress, and as things so o

should have his credentials pulled because he shouted a question at donald trump during the easter egg roll. >> this is troubling to me that if you are somehow independent from the station you are labeled an enemy of the state. if you are on board with the administration you are probably going to have your multibillion dollar deal approved by the federal government. this is what you see in putin's russia or erdogaireerdogan's tu. that should not happen in the united states. we were talking, that's the norm around the world, we thought we were immune, it and turns out we're not. >> that's something we should pay attention to. that does it for us tomorrow night, rachel will be back tomorrow. now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." >> good evening, joy. the boycott continues this hour and david hogg is going to join us in this hour. he got it started. >> excellent. i'll be watching. >> once again we learned what the president of the united states is up to today from the kremlin, instead of the white house. two weeks ago when president trump called president vladimir

>>> breaking overnight. president trump tweeting his reaction to the james comey memos just turned over to congress and leaked to the media. >>> rudy giuliani joins the trump legal team. he plans to give the mueller investigation a little push. >> what do you think happens when you demonize law enforcement? >>> the sheriff in florida not holding back after the death of his deputies. >>> a bank about to be slapped for a $1 billion fine for fees they should not have paid and insurance they need didn't. i'm christine romans. >> i'm dave briggs. friday, april 20th. 4:00 a.m. in the east. 11:00 a.m. in moscow. we are live shortly from that location. christine, the memos took 45 minutes to leak to the media. that is where we are in 2018. we will talk about them shortly. we talk about that now. president trump tweeting on the reaction of the declassified versions of the memos from james comey. the president wrote, james comey memos just out and show clearly there was no collusion, no obstruction. also he leaked classified information. wow. will the witch hunt continue? the critics find th

todd. >>> tonight, we're following several breaking stories, republicans taking on trump with action to protect bob mueller on the hill. also, donald trump's epa chief grilled. will trump stand by him? and my special report about what people may be getting wrong about why the trump/kanye bromance matters. >>> we begin with donald trump's defense of his personal lawyer completely publicly backfiring. michael cohen headed to a federal courtroom today. trump was trying to stick up with him, but instead made an admission, that you probably know, the entire trump team has been trying to hide for months. this is about the stormy daniels hush payment. >> mr. president, how much of your legal work was handled by michael cohen? >> well, as a percentage of my overall willing work, a tiny, tiny little fraction. but michael would represent me and represent me on some things. he represents me like with this crazy stormy daniels deal. he represented me. and you know from what i see, he did absolutely nothing wrong. >> cohen barely did any work for trump, but that tiny little fraction does i

controversial trump to your meeting admits she had closer ties to the kremlin. >>> ancient latles between guests, humans and giant sloths. you're probably thinking i really wanted to know that. it has to do with fossil footprints. >>> live from cnn world headquarters in atlanta welcome to our viewers here in the united states and around the world. >> this is cnn news room. >>> 5:01 on the u.s. east coast, north korean said medium describes the summit as historic. kim jong-un appeared relaxed and comfortable as he crossed into the south for a day-long sum submit with the president. they planted a tree together and took a long walk from their aides and press to talk. >> at the conclusion they vowed to formally end the korean war and denuclearize the peninsula. united states president tweeted his approval. they should be very proud of what is now taking place in korea. >>> cnn's paula hancocks has covered summit. day after the meeting what is the overall sense among people who watched and prance where things go from here? >> reporter: well natalie, there is a certain amount of opt nypt. both

cohen facilitated to daniels. donald trump famously said "ask michael." agents looking for potential documents on a separate arrange arrangement with karen mcdougal, she had an affair with donald trump in 2006 but that payment run by the "national enquirer" which is run by a close confidante of donald trump as well. we're learning about documents related to a taxicab medallion company that cohen owns. trump calls this a "break in." in fact, it was planned by the fbi and it sparked with originally with something that was uncovered in bob mueller's special counsel probe. and we don't often read donald trump's tweets unless they have something important. here they are. "attorney/client privilege is dead." "total witch-hunt." that's a remarkable statement from a president whose own lawyer has just been basically surveilled and evidence gathered approved by his own deputy attorney general. the witch-hunt is coming from inside the house. meanwhile, donald trump seems to be trying to leave some door open to having bob mueller removed. here's the white house on that today. >> repor

exclusive on the mueller investigation. in the clearest sign yet that president trump is considering sitting down with the special counsel even though that's the last thing his advisers want, sourcing telling cnn that trump has begun to prepare for a possible interview with mueller. in another exclusive we have learned that one of the trump campaign's earliest foreign policy advisers who was not coffee boy at all, in fact he literally had a seat at the table, was part of the effort to expose damaging information about hillary clinton during the campaign. joseph schmitz pushed the fbi and the house intelligence committee to review materials from the dark web he thought were willing's missing e-mails from her private server. sources say they believe the material was fake. let's discuss it all now. i want to bring in cnn's chief national security correspondent mr. jim sciutto, our legal analyst michael zeldin, robert mueller's seshl special assistant. juliette kayyem and cnn contributor garrett, the author of the threat matrix inside robert mueller's fbi and the war on global terror. we

relief. so what are we going to give for this freezing of tests. so we have to see when trump sits down with kim jong-un. north koreans never give out anything for free. they are looking for something from us. >> do you believe new efforts? >> it is phenomenal that this is taking place, but hugely skeptical. nothing out of this regime has ever had any semblance to truth. we have followed this regime forever and our insights from a distance but a good depth and knowledge on how he operates. we are seeing the pain of the economic sanctions has begun to start chip away at the inner circle. if he himself is feeling the pain, and his elites are feeling the pain, he are going it pay attention and now the second thing, everything has come as a rule of his quick visit with xi jinping. look, you got to back up and stop doing certain things. i got your back. you're going to be okay. but your regime is going to be obliterated if you continue along this path. you have to stop. denuclearization is probably not a possibility, but what is, is this freeze. good start. few more conditions have to be set

readable but i noticed in the beginning and in the end, the bookends are donald trump in office, the introduction and afterward but really the start of the book is the 2013 miss universe pageant in moscow. how did you take that as a starting point? >> if you were looking for a moment that the trump russian story comes together, it's really there. you have donald trump and moscow, and he's there to preside over the miss universe pageant, but what is his real agenda? is it a business deal to build a trump tower and moscow, and secondarily although a part of that is to meet vladimir putin to cultivate a relationship with vladimir putin. >> you are describing an almost being on this quest to meet vladimir putin. >> he was obsessed with getting a meeting with putin. he hoped putin was going to come to the universe -- miss universe pageant, and he was told that putin would be calling. the one day come he's only there two days and one night. and the afternoon of the patch itself he's asking everybody around him, is putin coming? have we heard from putin yet? he was pretty much obsessively f

cohen is someone who has been really loyal to trump for well over a decade. and trump in return has treated him like garbage. he has taken him for granted and not appreciated michael cohen in a way that he has wanted to be appreciated. if you walk into michael cohen's office in 30 rock he has paraphernalia from the inauguration. he never got a place from the administration and was disappointed that he never got a place on the campaign and the president never gave him one. so so this is something where he could be signaling, for example, that stay strong, michael. we may pardon you if you don't flip and don't start talking to the authorities. or it could be as simple as he has been talking to michael cohen and cohen has reassured him he will stay strong. regardless this is clearly something that the president is very, very sensitive about. we saw last week he was furious when he got news that cohen's office had been raided. he called it an attack on the country. this is something that he and his advisers feel is actually a greater threat to him than even the mueller investigation. >>

with president trump turned over to congress tonight, and cnn has obtained a copy. those memos are, of course, a key part of robert mueller's investigation of potential obstruction of justice and they are full of fascinating details. we're going to go through them page by page, and we will bring you all of it tonight. i want to go to cnn's justice reporter. laura, good evening to you. you have been combing through the comey memos detailing his interactions with president trump. what are you learning? >> reporter: well, don, the memos are detailed and full of color. they cover everything from president trump's alleged loyalty request to james comey as well as their conversations about former national security advisor michael flynn. and i want to read to you a couple of the new bits of information that we've got tonight from these memos. the first is a january 27th meeting at the white house at dinner with james comey and president trump. and here's what james comey writes. in addition to president trump requesting loyalty he said and i quote, he then went onto explain that he has seriou

points. at one point it was down more than 700 points. president trump threatening a trade war with china and after a weaker than expected jobs report out this morning, let's get try it christina. these trade fears, why such a dramatic drop today? >> reporter: it is pretty clear. president trump ratcheted up a war of words with china overnight and floating the idea of $100 billion in tariffs on additional tariffs on chinese goods. the market doesn't lying it for three reasons. one, it doesn't like sabre rattling. it thinks there may be a cleaner way to get china to the negotiating table. remember, they're our negotiation partner. it has lots of levers kit pull. two, there was a lot of confusion when administration officials came out after president trump's floating this idea. on the one hand, we had trump's economic adviser, larry kudlow trying reassure the market this is part of a negotiation. the next minute, treasury secretary steve mnuchin comes out and says there's the possibility of a trade war. the market is trying to figure out if this is a negotiating ploy or if president t

, trump and other white house officials. and rudy giuliani joins the trump legal team. he says he wants to negotiate an end to the mueller probe. and for the first time ever a sitting senator makes history by bringing her newborn baby to the senate floor during votes. >> good morning, everyone. it's friday, april 20th. leakers hookers and wiretaps, those are just some of the details in the newly public memos from james comey about husband conversations with president trump. after congressional republicans threatened top justice department officials with contempt charges the doj handed over copies of the comey memos and they quickly landed in the press. the memos are consistent with comey's claims while offering new details about allegations in the steel dossier and the investigation of michael flynn. comey writes that at his private dinner with trump in january of 2017 the president told a story about flynn, then pointed his fingers at his head and said the guy has serious judgment issues. comey adds that he quote, did not comment at any point during this topic and there was no me

. >>> you have to ask michael cohen. mike's my attorney. >> he's been called donald trump's pitbull. >> cohen as someone said to me knows where all the bodies are buried because he may have buried all of them. >> the ultimate trump loyalist. >> michael cohen's job was to keep donald trump secrets. >> i never come across a situation where mr. trump has said something that's not accurate. >> breaking news, trump's lawyer raided. >> armed with multiple search warrants. >> the fbi now has access to every e-mail, every communication. >> how big of a deal is it? >> it's a huge deal. >> what were they searching for? >> they're looking for evidence of hush payments to women. >> is it a pattern of pay offs to protect a billionaire? >> the side deal was i'll wish-wash the story. >> any federal violation of campaign finance laws that's done knowingly and willfully is a crime. >> i'm not worried. >> michael cohen has just disclosed in court that the client who had requested to remain unnamed was shawn hannity. >> controversy rains down on president trump's self-proclaimed fixer. >> stormy danie

. pruitt did get a few encouraging words today when president trump on a very windy tarmac, responded to shouted questions about whether he still has confidence in pruitt with the words "i do" and followed up with this on air force one. >> i think that scott has done a fantastic job. i think he's a fantastic person. you know, i just left cold and energy country. they love scott pruitt. they feel very strongly about scott pruitt. and they love scott pruitt. >> but trump has offered kind words for plenty of top aides, right before they've gotten the ax. and trump seems to be cooling on pruitt. officials familiar with the president's thinking tell nbc news that as recently as last week, trump had been considering firing attorney general jeff sessions and replacing him with pruitt. but a source said that is now unlikely in light of pruitt's ethical lapses. and pruitt, for his part, just keeps on making the situation worse. in an absolutely disastrous interview yesterday, pruitt insisted there was no problem with his sweetheart deal to stay in a condo, co-owned by the wife of a top energy lob

. >> the disgusting liberal mainstream media have attempted to label mr. donald trump as racist. >> in his mind, going after his boss, he was going to fight back. it's a lawyer that trump would want. >> the self-proclaimed fixer to the president. >> the job here is to protect the king. that is something that michael cohen apparently did very well. >> before michael cohen became entangled in a presidential scandal, he was the kid from the suburbs who revered donald trump. >> michael was drawn to him, his personality, his brashness, his approach to life. >> i think they both defined they wi themselves by what they wear, drive, what they can buy and sell. >> will that admiration and loyalty be enough to protect the president? >> i just heard that they broke into the office of one of my personal attorneys, good man. >> attorney client privilege is not a magic wind. if he is helping you commit a crime. >> if he flips, you are in trouble. >> he said he would take a bullet for the president. when he said it, he sounded like he meant it. >>> hello. welcome to a special edition of "headliners." in

diplomatic victory. >>> and closing in on cohen. investigators focus on president donald trump's long time attorney. >>> plus -- ♪ a young music star's life can you tell short. we remember deejay and producer avicii. welcome to our voouer here and around the world. i'm natalie allen. newsroom starts right now. >>> and we begin with the major announcement by north korea. its leader kim jung-un says he will close one of the country's nuclear sites and suspend further testing. here is how state tv reported his statement. >> translator: under the proven condition of complete nuclear weapons, we know longer need any nuclear tests, mid range and intercontinental ballistic missile tests and that the nuclear test sites in the northern area has completed its mission. >> it is worth noting that the statement doesn't mention short range missile tests or any plan to scrap what they already have. the surprise announcement comes just days ahead of an historic summit with the president of south korea. donald trump praised the move in this tweet, north korea has agreed to suspend all nuclear tests and c

. but then, there's a second thing, which is president trump talking openly about whether michael cohen would flip which can sound itself like an admission of guilt. why? well, think about it. you cannot flip on an innocent man because there's no material to incriminate him. we have more on that very point later on in this show. as for cohen, the heat's only building, reports that as a lawyer he may have worked to silence another woman, he's now working with the feds as well. let's start with kelley holida.. shelby in the world of trump land, which many of us have been educating ourselves on. >> living day in and day out? >> there's truly no one who plays the multiple roles like michael cohen does. do you remember during the iraqi sanctions, they would look at certain tubes that were dual use, so they could be used for peaceful or military purposes. cohen is sort of like that, except he's quadruple use. and what seems to be under review here is did he do some lawful things as a lawyer, did he do some shady things as a fixer and did he do some crimes. >> he's involved in trump's re

before the united states and its allies bombed syria's chemical weapons. president trump: these are not the actions of a man, they are crimes of a monster instead. howie:einstead. howie insteadhow -- howie: the strikes have sparked debate. joining us, gillian turner, guy benson and adrienne elrod. gillian, the airstrikes were successful. but we have a classic media debate some saying the president should have gotten congressional approval. others are saying he is betraying the non-interventionist he ran on. gillian: nothing grabs the american press attention and spins earn one * in a frenzy more than a pending war. the fact that reporters can't get in on the ground and cover what's happening in syria from the inside is leading to the wildly different opinion about whether this is the right thing to do. howie: by and large the mainstream media approved of the attacks. it's the partisans on the left and right who were picking it apart. guy: that's true. but this some crossover. some on the left and right questioning his legal authority to do this. generally when the media sees a limit

trump, no word yesterday. "the lead" with jake tapper starts now. >>> a tweet storm and for the first time ever the president tweeted about stormy daniels. so a tweet stormy. "the lead" starts now. >>> president trump trashing the sketch of a man who allegedly harassed and threatened a porn store on his behalf, probably not the best way to prove you don't have intimidation. and he said he didn't fire slippery james comey because of the investigation. if only a year ago he said on camera what was foremost when he decided to fire comey. oh, wait. >>> plus secret mission. the president tweeting about a previously secret meting between a top adviser and kim jong-un. did they set the table for a historic and risky one-on-one sitdown? >>> welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. president trump is striking back after stormy daniels and her attorney release this composite sketch of the man who allegedly in 2011 threatened stormy and her daughter for talking about her alleged relationship with mr. trump and saying she should keep quiet or else. quote, a sketch years later about a nonexistent m

robert mueller's investigation. according to a new report, the russian lawyer who went to trump tower said she is, quote, an informant and closer to the kremlin than previously disclosed. >>> plus republicans on the house intelligence committee are releasing their disputed report on the russia investigation. why they think trump exercised poor judgment. >>> and north korea vows to meet with peace and demdemilita ri e ze -- >>> while the welcome has been very different, the issues have very much the same. iran, syria and trade. >> we're working on a lot of different subjects including trade, including nato, including military of all types, and we have a really great relationship, and we actually have had a great relationship right from the beginning, but some people didn't understand that. but we understand it, and that's what's important. i think we'll be talking about iran, probably, but i don't necessarily expect it one way or the other. i know we'll have a very good discussion with iran. as i did with emmanuel who just left, the president of france. we'll be having discussion

porn star stormy daniels are today converging on one man -- michael cohen, trump's personal attorney and, as "vanity fair" describes him, a self-styled real life radon van. trump last night threw cohen under the bus, blaming him for an alleged hush money payment to porn star stormy daniels, but we're learning today the stormy saga may be the least of cohen's legal worries. it now appears bob mueller's russia probe may be zeroing in on him. mcclatchy reporting special counsel the bob mueller's investigators are particularly interested in actions involving michael d. cohen, trump's personal employee and a former trump organization employee. among other things, cohen was involved in business deals secured or sought by the trump organization in georgia, kazakhstan and -- wait for it -- russia. unpacking the trump/cohen relationship and their shared legal woes take a village. joining us, our favorite friends and reporters from the "new york times," michael schmid, jennifer rubin, opinion writer for the "washington post," phillip rutger, white house -- we were both up at 11:00. we

like. jeff sessions warning the white house he will do something if donald trump tries to take control of the mueller probe by firing mueller's boss, deputy attorney general rod rosenstein, and the news is sessions says he might quit over that, which is the kind of move that can change a single personnel decision into yes a massacre. "the washington post" reporting tonight sessions went through the official channels as trump's furry at rod rosenstein's peaked after approving the fbi raid on his personal attorney, michael cohen. there's a lot packed into that sentence. first the idea of corrupt intent. people in this administration, people loyal to trump, are worried trump would fire mueller's boss over a lawful raid of the president's lawyer. the president does have the power to fire doj officials for any reason, except an illegal reason, an obstruckive reason. "the washington post" goes on saying sessions wanted to convey the untenable position that arearrod rosenstein's firing would put him in, sessions in. it may be more than untenable for sessions if he has reason to know a

digital firm linked to trump under investigation in the united states and the uk. let's fast forward. watch that talking point because you may hear a lot more of that from mark zuckerberg when hes his silence and speaks to the united states congress. the questions for him are significant. apple's tim cook is getting questions from chris hayes and kara swisher tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. "hardball" starts now. >>> is pruitt through it? let's play "hardball." >>> good evening. i'm chris matthews back in washington. at the end of another wild week at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. the president ordered troops down to the border. he forced a game of chick within china over a possible trade war. without giving evidence made another startling comment about women immigrants getting raped at levels never seen before. amid all this, trump has reportedly sidelined his chief of staff and is publicly standing up to his living it up epa director scott pruitt. pruitt is facing mounting questions about ethics and spending habits. there's his reported taste for luxury travel that he often sits

president trump's first official state visit. a number of crucial foreign policy issues and a lavish dinner on the agenda. >> this state visit is very important for our people and very important for us. >> under examination. the senate postpones dr. ronnie jackson's confirmation hearing for va secretary because of concerns about his background. >> this is a moment where the president valued sort of personal rapport over experience. >> this, as cia director mike pompeo gets one step closer in his bid for secretary of state after a key last-minute reversal. >> i changed my mind. i've decided to go and vote for director pompeo because he's assured me that he's learned the lesson. >> we begin with crucial high-stakes meeting between president trump and the president of france. an official a rival ceremony for emmanuel macron and his wife is set to take place at the white house any moment now with full military display ahead of tonight's state dinner. this is the first state visit hosted by president trump and several key issues are definitely at play, including the iran deal. syria, russ

joins us with the latest. >> reporter: a message from donald trump to bashar al assad and his russian masters. firing more than 100 missiles into the heart of syria's chemical weapons program. >> i spoke to the president this morning. and he said if the syrian regime uses this poisonous gas again, the united states is locked and loaded. >> reporter: defense secretary james mattis, in a late night pentagon briefing, not shutting the door to future military action, but also not saying what would lead to more air strikes. >> right now this is a one-time shot. and i believe that it has sent a very strong message to dissuade him, to deter him from doing this again. >> reporter: it was shortly after these horrific videos emerged of an april 7th chemical weapons attack in a damascus suburb that the pentagon began planning for military strikes. the target list, a chemical research center in damascus, and two chemical weapons and equipment storage facilities located west of homs. after first light, as the damage emerged, the pentagon said there were no reports of civilian casualties and all th

received that is president donald trump's personal intervention into the michael cohen matter, his lawyer who is under criminal investigation, we've confirmed, this comes on a evening that we're also learning that rudy giuliani personally met with bob mueller. that is interesting, controversial and appears to reflect new negotiations about a donald trump interview with bob mueller, the good news there from the trump side is that ruddy's working, that somehow these leakings. they don't come from the special counsel's office itself. i'm going to be joined in a moment by an excellent panel on this. i just want to give context to this breaking news. this letter which is dated today is written from president trump's attorney to judge wood who will be overseeing a very high stakes hearing tomorrow in new york about all those ver sensitive materials that were seized by the fbi in the raid of michael cohen's office, of his hotel room and his home as well as the seizure of his phones and this is something that i don't think has ever been said before, at least not to to my knowledge on the news. th

the russians' vof involvement in the trump tower meeting. today we're also seeing what donald trump jr. told investigators about it because he's saying the very first topic that veselnitskaya raised was hillary clinton's donors, which indicates that she knew the purpose of the meeting, that is to say, where it started was offering this derogatory information about clinton. so, yes, the meeting was about dirt on hillary clinton. and, yes, now we know the russians had a link to putin, who was kicking off the conversation. you know, the learning curve about what really happened here may not be that steep after all. >> this is the first time we've ever done any of this. you know, i'm still way in the learning curve on all of this. basically, yeah, i want to hear the information. that's what we do in business. if there's information out there, you want it. then you make what you do with it. >> let's be clear. campaigns do want information. but information in someone else's office, you can't just steal it. that's a crime. ask richard nixon. information offered by a lawyer for the kremlin?

collusion between the trump campaign and russia. it's being hailed as a victory by president trump. we'll talk about the need to end the special counsel witch hunt with former congressman jason chaffetz. also president trump's bold global leadership leading to historic break threw *s. -- with breakthroughs. the president sits down with german chancellor angela merkel. we'll consults i season den i -- -- we'll discuss the i dise ascendancy. possible peace on the korean peninsula and no collusion in the russian investigation. john roberts has our report. >> it looked like a watershed moment. the leaders of north and south korea laughing, embracing. has the world taken a closer step to peace or is this just another north korean deception. president trump began his day with the u.s. list team. >> i want to express my hope that all of the people of korea, north korea and south can some day live in harmony, prosperity and peace. and it looks like it could happen. reporter: but the u.s. heard talk of concessions before only to get played by north korea. president trump said this time it feels di

journalist ronald kessler with his book on the trump white house. he is interviewed by jenny thomas of liberty consulting. >> he's like a boxer. very intentioned, bobbing and weaving, counterpunching. it is all an act. i interviewed one of his top aides. when she joined the organization there were only seven under -- other employees. she knew him better than anyone. she said that there are two donald trumps. one is the one on tv who makes these outrageous comments to get attention for his brand, and even if it creates negative public city, he still becomes the center of attention every day, both in conversation in the media, but there's the other just theump, who is opposite. he is thoughtful, he listens, he's very careful about making decisions. "afterwards" on c-span2. >> for the second year in a row, president trump chose to skip the annual white house correspondents dinner and hold a rally. event in michigan, the president talks about the -- the accomplishments of his administration, the upcoming midterm elections, and the controversy surrounding his pick for veterans affairs am

robert: president trump rattles global markets after threatening china with billions in new tariffs. i'm robert costa. u.s. troo head to the border and t embattled e.p.a. chief fights to keep his job. tonight on "washington week." trade war. president trump: you have to go after t people that aren't treating you right. robert: president trump calls for an additionalli $100 b in tariffs on chinese goods, escalating the feud between the world's two largest economies. plus -- >> this president has shown tremendous courage. robert: will e.p.a. administrator's scott pruitt's unwavering support t f president help him with a storm of controversy. questions about h housing arrangement, first-class travel. and president trump continues on his crackdown on undocumented immigrants. president trump: we cannot let people continue to come through. until we have a wall and proper security, we're going to be guarding our border with the military. be : we discuss it all with kayla tausche of cnbc.r michael schef the "washington post," geoff bennett of nbc news andn susaasser of politico. >> this is

trump. jake pearson, lisa green and mimi rocah, thank you all. that is "all in" for this evening. "the 11th hour" with brian williams starts now. >>> the breaking news we're covering tonight. james comey and the book that could rock the foundation of the trump presidency. tonight the detailed allegations revealed by the former fbi director and two reporters who broke the details of this story are standing by. >>> plus an nbc news exclusive. interview talks break down between the mueller and trump teams in the wake of the michael cohen raid. and tonight "the washington post" is reporting trump allies are worried that cohen raid swept up audiotapes of sensitive conversations. >>> and the looming decision with global implications. how close are we tonight to an attack on syria? "the 11th hour" on a thursday night begins now. >>> good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. day 448 of the trump administration, and during this time when the president appears to be mulling over firing both people and missiles, along comes trump nemesis and former fbi directo

. remains unclear which of these fronts pose the grave est danger to donald trump's presidency. is it special counsel robert mueller's front the man putting in so much pressure on president trump that he's brought in rudy giuliani for his legal team. or is it michael cohen now the subject of a wide ranging criminal probe that could lead to indictments, prompting trump allies he would flip on the president. or the front involving adult star stormy daniels. his client will not rest until she can tell the full story about her affair with the president and his effort to silence her. that is driving the most headlines this hour is one of the trump's own making. james comey's famous memos to self, memos to file after they threaten to subpoena. a picture of the president obsessed with the russia investigation, desperate to end it and fixated on his relationship with vladimir putin. the memos are completely consistent with james comey' public comments with his interactions with trump and expose new details about the details in the steele dossier as well as michael flynn. with us to dive in

you next "fox news howie: a media eruption that president trump's lawyer raised the issue of pardon and it's unclear if the president knew by the. >> if john dowd knew about this. did the president know about it? did he sanction it or direct him to do it? was it obstruction? >> if it's true, the president is not acting with a clean conscience. >> why would there be conversations of pardon if there was no wrongdoing? shouldn't the president want to find that out first? >> one problem with this story, it's fake news, because one of trump's lawyers put out a statement. howie: john dowd strongly denied the report. the president fired his va secretary david shulkin in favor of his doctor. what if trump has perfectly good reasons to fire him. the president declines to the hype over stormy daniels. >> he tweets about me bleeding badly from a facelift. that i show up at mar-a-lago bleeding from a facelift. he punches back object everything. but on stormy daniels, absolutely nothing. >> why isn't the president fighting back? he has had no problem doing it before. howie: the media tells us tr