Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Craig Melvin 20180605

With witnesses in his own trial. So how did a man out on bail and wearing an ankle monitor think the special counsel would not figure it out. And fallout. Former president bill clinton trying to further explain an answer to my question, does he owe Monica Lewinsky a personal apology in the age of the me too movement . Well also share a new revelation from my interview with mr. Clinton. If he was up for election today, he doesnt think hed win. Also, some breaking news on this tuesday. Fashion icon kate spade has died by apparent suicide. Were working to get a little bit more on the investigation. We will have that for you in just a few moments. But lets start at the white house. For about two hours from now, President Trump will be hosting an event that was to celebrate the Philadelphia Eagles super bowl victory. But the team wont be there. And there areic reports as to why. The whithouse put out a state a short time ago which reads, in part, the vast majority of the eagles team decided to abandon their fans. But a source outside the white house with direct knowledge telling nbc news that the president called off the visit by the eagles because he was aware of the bad optics of having fewer than ten people including players, coaches and trainers on hand for the event. Nbcs Geoff Bennett is at the white house, hes got some of this exclusive reporting for us. Geoff, how did we get here . Because it would seem as if the answer to that question would depend on whom you ask. Ye i would appear that way. Let me break it down for you based on our reporting today. We now know, craig, that the president s Statement Last night, his tweets this morning, linking the kacancellation of ts eagles event to his insistence that players stand for the National Anthem, we now know thats a roouuse. No eagles player took a knee or stayed in the locker room during last season and three, as im told by a source familiar, the president , when he learned that just a handful of players, coaches and staffers would be on hand for this event, rather than face the public spectacle of being snubbed, he decided to call it off. We can add to that the statement that Sarah Sanders put out in just the last hour or so. The statement makes clear it was a scheduling issue. Having really nothing to do with the National Anthem. But as you read there, you can he eagles as the white t in a house tries to spin whats happening here. Ill read more of it. She says, unfortunately, the eagles offered to send only a tiny handful of representatives while making clear that the great majority of players would not attend the event. Despite planning to be in d. C. Today. The vast majority of the eagles team decided to abandon their fans. So at this point, we understand people who the white house says are from out of state, meaning they are not from pennsylvania. Could be eagles fans but certainly not from pennsylvania who will be here on hand for this event at 3 00 eastern, which the white house has rebranded as a celebration of america, craig. All right. And theres of course the briefing coming up here at the top of the hour. I imagine this is a question that Sarah Huckabee sanders will be as mr. Bennett, thank you. Michael steele is an msnbc political analyst, hes also former chairman of the Republican National committee. Kimski covers the eagles. And congressman boyle, whose district includes the philadelphia area and for the purposes of this conversation we should note that he is also a really big eagles fan. Mr. Kimski, let me start with you, sir, because you cover this team well. For folks who may not have been following the story closely, why is it that this Football Team would only be sending a handful of its players and staff to the white house . Well, even before the super bowl occurred a couple of different players said they werent going to attend any invitation to the white house. Even before they won the super bowl. And then thereafter, about a half dozen eagles players, you know, also stated that they werent going to attend the white house, you know, because they disagreed with the policies of the current president. A couple of players also noted that the vast majority of the team likely wouldnt show up for su an invitation as well. When donald trump made the invitation to the eagles back on i believe it was may 17th, they should have been fully aware that the turnout wasnt going to be great. Michael, the white house, you know, saying that the eagles abandoned their fans. Were reporting that the president canceled the event because he knew that the optis s would not be favorable. Whats your take . Why would the president go to such Great Lengths to get a picture with the Football Team . I think a number of things in play here, but the center of it is the president s ego. He did not want the embarrassment of ten players and coaches behind him. I think thats a mistake. I think you continue on. Whoever is there is there. They represent the eagles. They have fans that are probably in town to be at this even et cetera. You show yourself to be the bigger person. But thats just not something that trump is ever capable of doing in matters like this. Where he has to put his own ego aside and do what the best thing is to do. Its not about thepresid its honoring the championship team, the way america celebrates that effort. A lot of this is a lot of hooy. Its unfortunate noise. But at the end of the day, its o. E president with a bruised theyre trying to spin this thing to make it seem like its the Philadelphia Eagles fault for kneeling during a football game. Well, thats a lie, they didnt. They didnt want to be there. Yes, there were players who didnt want to come but a lot of it has to do with how hes talked about those very same players, calling them sons of pitches. Yes, youve got to understand you put that crap out on the street, it comes back in this way, and youve got to deal with it. This is how the white house wants to deal with it. Congressman, theres this recent Washington Post Kaiser Foundation poll and it found that 63 of americans say its never appropriate to deal during the National Anthem. Again, this according to that particular poll. Congressman, does it seem as if the president has figured out that this is perhaps a winning issue for him, that this could be something that really appeals to his base . That would explain why he continues to go after the nfl . That must be the reason because, you know, and i think this has been lost over the last six or seven months, actually the nfc protests, kneeling during the anthem, were kind of dying down. You saw more players do it when Colin Kaepernick first started it i think about 2 1 2 years ago. They were really dying down. Until that night, i believe he was campaigning in the florida panhandle, just trying to reach the alabama market for that senate race, and then he just brought up the issue, hisrowd went wild and ever since then it has been something that hes gone back to. One thing i do want to point Sarah Sanders said the eagles have abandoned their fans. This is one lifelong eagles fan who completely defends my team. The eagles havent let any of their fans down. We can see thank yrough that. This is all about a president who is very petty and has a very fragile ego. Once he found out that so few players were going to show up, he decided to cancel the whole party. Congressman, the president akg this a about him. Resou twe there. You know, this one of the things that its really forced me to think about and we can talk about this with all three of you, the anthem protest. Have they been and by that i mean, michael, initially, it was Colin Kaepernick and he made it very clear why he was kneeling. Now all of a sudden its become about the president. Its become about the national and the anthem. How did we get to that point . We got here because the president brought us here. It was almost 18 months after Colin Kaepernick first took a knee that this president even said anything about it. He riled up that base in the midst of a hted Senatorial Campaign special election because he was trying to rally his base to go vote and he used this as a political foil. So here we are. I want to know all these people saying, this 53 of people saying it is never appropriate to kneel during a National Anthem. When theyre at a bar pushing back their beer and the National Anthem comes on, do they all stand and put their hand over their heart . Do they do it when theyre at a picnic and they hear it . This sort of false patriotism around this issue to me is galling because its nothing more than a political stunt. People protest. Weve always accepted this in this country. Unless youre standing there in the middle of the field burning a flag or stomping on it, this type of protest which, by the way, was brought to Colin Kaepernick by men and women in uniform, a soldier told him this is an aiaay to do it. Thats why he did it the way he did it, the most respectful way possible. Theres nothing wrong with that. I dont know how we why we abandon the free speech opportunities of nfl players while the rest of america get to sit in the bar and have a beer and not stand up and salute the flag as well. Its just crazy. Jimmy if i can piggyback on that. Go ahead, jimmy, go ahead. If i can piggyback on michael and what the congressman said a moment ago. This was dying out. Back in september, as the congresswoman alluded to, donald trump made comments, as he said, in alabama and thereafter you know, about the players, i believe he said they should be fired if they knelt or disrespected the flag in some way or the anthem. At that point, the nfl players were kind of united in that. He saw a major reaction from that. He saw aajorreaction in turn from the big majority of the fan base that, you know, disapproved of those actions and he saw at ibelieve, as an opportunity to kind of pander to, you know, the people who, you know, cant disrespect america, so you have a situation where he does not want this to die. In my view, donald trump doesnt care about the National Anthem cares more about pandering to the people who are mistaking what the message of the players is, which is racial inequality and Police Brutality and trying to make something of it that its not. Which is disrespecting the military in some way. And thats not happening. So in december, malcolm jenkins, who was who would raise his fist during the National Anthem, came to an agreement along with other pler with the nfl. In which the nfl provided 80 something Million Dollars over the xt seven years that would go toward it would fund basically programs for the police and education and the people and how they can all work together. And this is a situation that was dying down. I thought there was , you know, both sides were kind of seeing where each other stood and they were it was the progress was being made. And now outf nowhere, he kind of intimidates the nfl into introducing a policy which will now make protests they can fine teams for protests and, in turn, the teams can fine ayers. Thats all its going to do is rile up the players who are going to react and donald trump once again has his way in which he can pander to his base which thinks that people are disrespecting the military when its really nothing to do with that whatsoever. Congressman, thank you. Jimmy. We turn now to some tragic breaking news this hour. Fashion designer kate spade was found dead inside her new york city apartment this morning. Her death is being investigated as an apparent suicide. Thats according to four senior Law Enforcement officials. The 55yearold became an icon after building a fashion empire on her handbag designs. Nbcs Stephanie Gosk is following this. At this moment, Law Enforcement officials are telling us that kate spade may have hung herself. That the call came in this morning at 10 20 to 911 from her manhattan apartment. As you mentioned, ss years old. This is a woman whose name is one of the largest in the industry. Her name and her brand. She has a 13yearold daughter. Shes married to andy spade, david spade. Those bags weve all seen them have become iconic. She actually sold her stake in that company in 2006. And has recently just started a new line called francis valentine. Those names taken from her family. And now the sad news today that she appears to have taken her life. And, again, its very early, we certainly dont want to get into speculation, but we do know at this point whether there had been a sort of problems . Had she been dealing with ng that might have led to Something Like this or do weot know . Tigns a this point. And certainly someone who gets to this point this is obviously with someone as famous as this an opportunity to shine aightn Mental Illness and the difficulties that People Struggle with. There are always signs. There are always triggers. And its a time to talk about what those are and how to deal with people who might be suffering through them. Tremendous loss. Not just for the fashion community. Kate spade. Stephanie gosk, thank you. I know youre going to continue to follow the story. Well have more on this throughout the day here on msnbc. When we come back, though, well turn back to politics. Its a controversial theory. Im going to talk to the Washington Posts dana milbank who says president clintons handling of the Monica Lewinsky scandal 20 years ago helped clear the path for donald trump today. Why Paul Manafort could spend his days awaiting trial in jail. When the judge will make that decision and if the allegations are true, what was manafort thinking . Mom . Dad . Hi i had a very minor fender bender tonight in an unreasonably narrow fast food drive thru lane. But what a powerful life lesson. And dont worry i have everyt handled. I already spoke to our allstate agent, and i know that we have accident forgiveness. Which is so smart on your guys part. Like fact that theyll just. Forgive you. Four weeks without t c. Okay, yup. Good night. With accident forgiveness your rates wont go up just because of an accident. Switching to allstate is worth it. Come hok. , babe. Nasty nighttime heartburn . Try new alkaseltzer pm gum. The only fast, powerful heartburn relief plus melatonin so you can fa aeep quickly. Oh, what a relief it is former Trump Campaign chairman paul mafort could go to jail before his trial en begins. Special Counsel Robert Mueller wants a judge to revoke manaforts bail, claiming he tried to tamper with potential witnesses in the case against him. Prosecutors say hes repeatedly sent encrypted messages to two potential witnesses over the past several months. One of those wss says he thought manafort was trying to, quote, suborn perjury. In the last hour, his lawyer saying, quote, manafort is innocent and nothing about this latest allegation changes that. The decision about his bail next week. He pleaded not guilty to charges of illegally lobbying on behalf of the ukrainian government. Our guest, former associate independent counsel in the whitewater investigation. Natasha berstrand is an msnbc ntributor. Manaforts out on bail. His travels been restricted. Hes on house arrest. Hes wearing at least one ankle monitor. What does it tell you that, if true, Paul Manafort thought he could actually get away with this . Well, it suggests that hes potentially used to cutting corners and getting away with things. Obviously mr. Mueller is a different animal altogether. It was a little shortsighted and very naive. And of course we dont know sitting here whether these charges are going to prove to be accurate, but if weve got documentation demonstrating that these communications happened, its not a he said she said situation. This is probably provable with docume documentary evidence. The question is if the judge will revoke his if hes sitting i ja, then i think the pressure to cooperate with mueller really shifts. We get into other issues of potential what mr. Trump might do in respond, the par e that, that were hearing floating around every day out of the white house right now. Natasha, one of your colleagues at the atlantic wrote, in part, quote, at the height of his powers as a political consultant, Paul Manafort was known for his cool. While others panicked, manafort rarely had a hint of frazzle. Bert muellers allegation that manafort a tempted to tamper with the witness permit us to peer inside manaforts mind as it has functioned in a very different set of circumstances. He seems unae to muster strategic thinking. He has shown himself capable of profoundly dunderheaded miscalculations. How does this accusation fit into his reputation, natasha . Well, hes known to be kind of a reckless player. He does have a reputation for, as kim said, cutting corners and feeling like he is really invincible when it comes to the law. Hes been doing this for years and years and it was o recently that he was discovered to have been laundering money and working in violation of the foreign agents registration act for decades. So this is something that isnt necessarily surprising, but in terms of manaforts character, ecse this the first time hes done it. Back in december, mueller tried to revoke his bail for the first time when he found out that he had violated a Court Gag Order by ghost writing oped trying to revamp his image as a defender of the west and as this player who was trying to bring ukraine closer to wesnd reshape his image even after he had been indicted. So this is the second time that mueller has actually tried to change his bail terms. And this time its not going to work aording t lal experts i speak to, because the judges and judges take witness tampering extremely seriously. And it would be very, very surprising if Paul Manafort did not have his bail revoked, according to the people i speak to. This is very much in line with manaforts character. The most surprising element of it, of course, is he should have known he was under constant surveillance and electronic surveillance. Yes, kim, i mean, you know, just going back to what natasha said about legal experts and she reminded us that this is a judge that has dealt with manafort once before on a bail issue. The likelihood that this judge is going to rescind his bail next week, where would you put that likelihood . I would agree with this assessment its a high likelihood the bail will be rescinded. The reason hes on house arrest is because the expectation is hell behave. Thats the idea. Not everybody gets that goody in terms of waiting to go to trial. A lot of people have to go to jail and wait for trial. At this point, two strikes youre out. This is also a judge that denied his motion to dismiss the indictment. So ss not having any shes not sympathetic to the notion that hes a victim here in this entireprocess. I would think in terms of upholdin ensure the integrity of the court system, of the judicial system, of the prosecutorial system, that shes going to, very serious ly, take this motion, i think its highly likely she will revoke his bail. Something that caught a lot of folks maybe not by surprise butertaly raised a lot of eyebrows during the press briefing. Sanders was asked to explain the changing stories about who dictated this letter about that meeting in trump tower with the russians. Take a listen to what she said yesterday and well talk about it on the other side. Here it is. If you say one thing from the stadium that it wasnt dictated by the president and his lawyer is saying something entirely different, how are we supposed to know at to believe . How can we believe what youre saying from the podium if the lawyers say its entirely inaccurate . I cant comment on a letter from the president s outside counsel and i direct you to them to answer it. John. Literally, you said he did not dictate. The lawyer said he did. What is im not going to respond to a letter from the president s outside counsel. We purposely walled off. And i will refer you to them for comment. The problem is she had already talked about the letter. So how now can she try and wall herself off . Really quickly. Right, exactly. She had said the president did not dictate the statement but simply offered input as any father would. This is not a credible excuse. The fact she now is trying to say this is something entirely separate from what she has to deal with just in terms of it being something separate for the lawyers that trump wrote. She already lied about it, which means there are serious questions to be asked about why there were so many people aroun the president trying to cover up the fact that there was this very lau misstement which of course did not mention that the reason why the Trump Campaign officials, his son, and soninlaw met with the russians is because they wanted to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. Want get to some breaking news. Sete Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell just canceled part of the augustrecess. Taking away valuable Campaign Time from sitting members of congress. Well go live to capitol hill. Despite enjoying high approval office, former presiden in clinton revealed to me in an interview just a few days ago that he does not think he would stand a chance in todays political environm i dont even know if i could win any kind of a race today. George woke up in pain. But he has plans today. So he took aleve this morning. Hey, dad. If hed taken tylenol, hed be stopping for more pills right now. 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Once i moved here i didnt want to live anywhere else. I love that people in this counity are willing to come together to make a difference for other peoples lives. Together, were building a better california. We are watching capitol hill right now. This is where senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell has canceled part of the august rece recess. If the recess is canceled, that means members have far less time to campaign ahead of those november midterms. Nbcs kacie hunt covers capitol hill for us. She joins me now. Any idea where mcconnells doing it . Well, craig, the official line f mcconnells office is democratic obstruction, surprise, surprise. They cite 100plus clocher votes in the senate. But the reality here is the overarching political environment. We obviously havnalking lot about the house in the context of the midterms. Senate has gotten less attention just because its been viewed as less likely to flip. The reality there, mcconnell has a oneseat majority and there are quite a few democrats in red states defending their seats. So if yourene of those rs and yougot a month in august to go home to campaign, to try to get out in front of voters and constituents and convince them to send you back to washington, its probably better for you to be out there at home in august than here. For mcconnell, he only has two vulnerable members or vulnerable seats really. One of them obviously is retiring. Jeff flake is leaving the senate. The other one is dean heller in nevada. Thats only a couple or one really person hes taken off the board for august but hes going to poll all those democrats, about a half dozen, they will probably have to be here at work that potentially puts a kink in their plans to try to get reelected. So always, you know, another angle here, craig, and there will be you will hear different explanations. I would say he has canceled most of the august reset that he says theyre going to have one week u and then theyre going to be back here for three weeks. This is not something that typically goes over well generally. Politics aside, everybody likes to take vacation, get a little bit of a break in august, go out of town with their families, et cetera. So well see how the news is taken up here on the hill. I think if most folks saw the legislative calendar, a lot of folks wou conclude our lawmakers spend a fair amount of time on vacation anyway. Fair enough. Kacie hunt there on capitol hill with some breaking news for us. Thank you. Former president bill clinton publicly apologized again for his affair with Monica Lewinsky last night and how he handled it. His acknowledgement came after his comments to me on lewinsky drew a bit a backlash from critics and even supporters. Overnight, bill clinton apologizing again. I meant it then and i meant it now, i apologize to my family, to Monica Lewinsky and her family and to the american people. Before reporter his new public apology coming hours after facing questions here on today about his handling of the Monica Lewinsky scandal in the late 90s. Do you feel like you owe her an apology . No, i do i do not ive never talked to her, but i did say publicly on more than one occasion that i was sorry. Reporter the former president voicing support for the me too movement but facing sharp criticism for his comments from the interview. Nobody believes that i got out of that for free. I left the white house 16 million in debt. Reporter some allies including former clinton spokesman joe lockhart took issue with the former president s focus. I think in that interview he succumbed to being the victim and feeling victimized. Reporter social media erupting. One user writing, bill clinton still refuses to take responsibility for what he did to Monica Lewinsky. Lewinsky herself did not comment directly, simply tweeting, shes grateful to the myriad people who have helped me evolve and gain perspective in the last 20 years. And linking to a vanity fair piece she wrote in march discussing her consens affair that reads, in part, now at 44, im beginning, just beginning the implications of the power differentials that were so vast between a president and a white house intern. Now, shes being supported by other me too activists. Actress rose mcgowan tweeting at clinton, in part, a human life was altered and destroyed due to your selfishness. Prior to his over night comments, she and others demanded clinton apologize, something the presidt never did privately but did do publicly back in 1998. And again last night. I meant it then and i mean it today. I live with it all the time. Dana milbank is the Political Columnist with the Washington Post whos just written an opinion piece about the former president. Always good to see you, my friend. Thanks for coming on. You covered the Clinton White house. In this particular piece, you write, in part, quote, in bill clinton were the seeds of donald trump. Clinton set us on the path or at least accelerated us down the path that led to today. Connect the dots for us. Well, craig, i mean, obviously bill clinton was not the first politician, the first president to lie in office. I think if we look back in retrospect, we see the beginnings of what we see now. And you saw some of that in your interview with him yesterday. It was a i mean, there was the original lie. There was the, you know, personal indiscretion. There was also, a joe lockhar id, this tendency to make himself the victim, which we of course see all the time in President Trump. There is also tendency to blame the press. He kept shoving it back to you saying you were phrasing it completely neutrally. He was using a very similar phrase to the fake news media. He was talking about imagined facts when, in fact, they were the actual facts. So it just made me think back to that time when i was covering his impeachment. I thought the ill peampeachment ridiculous, i didnt think he should resign, but i have to say in retrospect it did seem if not to start us to this trump path it did accelerateus. You wrote my perspective changed because of the me too movement but also because of what followed clintons affair. He had only lied about section. But the george w. Bush administration started a war under false pretense. And now trump governs with utter disregard for truth. Are you saying that if clibten had resigned, we might not have gone to war with iraq, we might not have President Trump . Well, would knows, craig, its impossible to know what might have happened otherwise. Of course, i mean, bill clinton came along two decades after watergate. So this has been going on for some period of time. But i remember the defense of clinton at e te saying the personal is not political. Thats why people liked his policies even though they didnt like the way he behaved in a moral sense. I think were seeing now with trump that the personal is political. So i think it was wrong to detach it then because its very much the man is not credible in anything he says. Hes dishonest. Hes mess treistreated not just but the rule of law. I think that was a fallacy you can be sort of have morality privately and still be a good leader. The former president also expect some time talking about what he lost as a result of the lewinsky scandal. Well, i dont think it would be an issue because people would be using the facts instead of the imagined facts in other words to even make this case. You have to ignore some of the facts as some of the older women who ha written about this and an amazement, saying, can you believe people were saying this guy was defending the constitution . And of course he shouldnt have resigned. If the facts were the same today, i wouldnt. Nobody believes that i got out of that for fr. I left the white house 16 million in debt. Reminiscent, dana, of that interview a while back where i belie it was Hillary Clinton who said they were dead broke when they left the white house. What do you make of that . I have a very tiny violin for them on this one, craig. Maybe its true he was 16 million in debt. But come on, over the next 15 years, according to forbes, the two of them brought in 240 million, 189 million of that was from bill clinton, thats from speaking fees, book royalties. And youre asking him this question as hes making more money, you know, flogging a novel with james patterson. So, you know, the flip side of this is of course Monica Lewinsky who has acknowledged her responsibility in this really hasnt recovered from this. She will always be known. That is the first line in her obituary. You know, hopefully shes happy in her life but you dont recover from that. Stick around for me if you can, mr. Mill bank. Voters in eight states as you know heading to the polls right now. In the largest primary battle of the year inclin california where both parties facing some big concerns. For democrat, indications suggesting the blue wave might not be so big after all. For republicans, they might be shut out from a crucial race altogether. I thought i was managing my moderate to severe Crohns Disease. Then i realized something was missing. Me. My symptoms were keeping me from being there. So, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of Crohns Disease after trying other medications. And the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. 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Co you know what that music means. Voters in eight states are voting at the polls in todays primaries for the 2018 midterms. The main event, we just made it purple for you, to california. Thats where the stes top two primary system has everyone guessing. Meanwhile, while thats happening, were watching the podium on capitol hill. Thats where senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell is expected to officially announce he is canceling part of the august reset, cutting into Campaign Time for incumbents. Our kacie hunt noted that part of the motivation here most certainly political. Senate majority leader likely to come to that podium and blame democrats in part for holding up some nominations. Well take you there when it happens. Were also watching the polls. Nbcs Steve Patterson outside of a polling station in san diego. With details on the golden states crowded gubernatorial race. Hey, craig, hello from a busy polling place here in san diego. This is a big deal for obviously a lot of reasons. Youre talking about the person that is going to run the worlds fifth largest economy. Yet in this sort of bizarre California Political twist, everybody today is more focused on whos going to take second place than whos got the top tes toda that is for a few reasons. Number one is Lieutenant Governor gavin newsom. The guy has been running for almost three years now, since 2015. Hes galvanized a lot of support on the democratic side. Hes got the name recognition. Hes got the political capital. Hes pulling way ahead. That means the second reon, as you mentioned, is that socalled jungle primary. The top two primary. It says the top two candidates in all these races across california move on to the general primary election in november. That is an existential crisis for tepublican y. For a number of reasons. At the top, theyre looking at the top of the ticket. Theyre seeing the u. S. Senate race that appears to be all democratic. Top two vote getters right now are democrats. And theyre looking at democrats pouring all this money into the governors race to make sure that is true here as well. Despite that, a republican has emerged, john cox. Hes a businessman from illinois. Hes galvanized a lot of support. He targetedonservative tal radio pretty early. Wen after p news. Hes goal valvanized a lot of t republican vote. Hes also now gotten an endorsement from President Trump. Whos tweet support for cox. Not one, not two, but three times. You may think in deep blue california a trump tweet maybe doesnt mean a whole lot, but it does. Cox spoke about that support last night at a campaign event. Want to play that for you right now. I think what it did is it cemented the feeling of republicans, that i was the right candidate to tackle the problems of this state. Just like the president , im a business man. Ive had 40 years of experience meeting budgets, hiring people and holding them accountable. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor gavin newsom taking a little flak from his own party for targeting cox because he believe also the strategy is to go after a republican he may do better against in a general election. Heresnewsom. My biggest concern is apathy. My biggest concern is people one thing and it doesnt manifest unless people convert their point of view to an actual vote. Meaning polls dont vote, people vote. Donald trumps support of john cox, i think that was a game changer y respects i thi campaign, and i think youre seeing a lot of consolidation around john coxs candidacy because of the trump support. The polls, the race for second place, is very tight. Keep in mind is now a state where independents are now registered ahead of republicans. All this coming up today. Well be here live at the polls, send it back to you. Let me bring back dana milbank. Dana, this idea that youve got too Many Democrats running out there in california, it might end up actually hurting the party under these primary rules. What do you say to that . Well, its sort of the law of unintended consequences. These were put in place particularly in western states, the jungle primary, toix things up, to get some of the partisanship out of it. You do have thi potential t backfire in that way. There are a couple of house jungle primaries out there where democrats have been worried that two republicans would sneak in. That worry seems to have faded as the election has a proeched in the last couple of days. But you could certainly see why gavin newsom would rather run against a trumpendorsed republican in november then a fellow democrat. That would sort of take all the the fizz out of the race to run against a fellow democrat. And as you guys pointed out, a trump endorsement still counts for something among the Republican Voters of california in this primary fo but in a general election, trumps endorsement has made him a dead man walking. Dana milbank, i want to get your take on one more thing. Something else the former president bill clinton said to me about politics and his viability today. Heres what he said. Politics has always been a contact sport. Its a tough business. You dont want to get its like if youre a quarterback in pro football, you cant complain when you get sacked, right . I mean, its a contact sport. The analog in politics is now hit first and it doesnt matter if its a lie or not, just keep telling it. I dont even know if i could win any kind of race today. What do you think of that . Do you buy that . You think if you were running today, he would not be as formidable as a force as he was 20 years agoing . I agree. I think for slightly different reasons, not just because of the rough and tumble but because of the ideological changes he wouldnt have been Lieutenant Governor of arkansas. That wouldnt happen general or governor of arkansas. Very likely with his moderate position it would be chosen as a democratic nominee for the same reasons that Republican Party would today reject not just george w. Bush but Ronald Reagan could not survive a republican primary today. Leave it there. Always good to have you, dana milbank, thank you. Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein pled guilty in court, three charges involving rape and criminal sex acts and two allegations from two separate women, one in 2004 the other in 2013, weinstein is free on 1 million in court, should be back in court in september. The pageant says its pageant days are scrapping a swimsuit competition and no longer judge contestants based on their physical appearance. Gretchen carlson says the decision comes as a result of me too movement. Carlson said the organization is proud to evolve. And we continue to keep a very close eye on devastating situation in guatemala, a volcanic eruption has taken the lives at least 69 people so far. Officials at this point are not sure how many more are missing at this hour. Hundreds of rescue workers are struggling to search for low areas and against impossible conditions near and around the volcano. In hawaii, lava destroyed more than 100 homes in one of the states rural districts. The volcanic activity on the big island has not let up since early may. Its Pretty Amazing out there. The world is full of more possibilities than ever before. And American Express has your back every step of the way whether its the comfort of knowing help is just a call away with global assist. Or getting financing to fund your business. No one has your back merican express. So where ever you go. Were right there with you. The powerful backing of American Express. Dont do business without it. Dont live life without it. Attorney general Jeff Sessions just defended a controversial policy that separates my grant children from their parents when they arrive at the u. S. Border. Xbl every person that enters illegally like that should be prosecuted and can be given immunity to people children with them reclessly and improperly and illegally. They should never do that. Well taken care of within 72 hours, taken the health and services, to be sure they are properly cared for. The law requires us to keep children in a different facility than we do for adults. A new nbc report shows that part of what he just said there is not the case. Hundreds of these children who have been separated from their parents are now stuck at these rder stations. Courtney is one of the reporters who brought that story. Walking tlous through what your found in your reporting. What we found is about 300 the 550 children helgd at temporary border stations have been there for more than 72 hours and that a significant portion of those are children under the age of 12. So as attorney general Jeff Sessions just said in that sound bite, they are not spending less than 72 hours but thats not always the case. These are the temporary border facilities where kids come in and they are processed. They are separated from their parents and then they are suo become the custody of the department of health and Human Services hhs. They are taken to other longer term facilities where it typically takepwds of 4 days until they are placed with a Family Member in the United States or something is its a longer term solution. My colleague and i found out though that theres a backlog now. Hhs whos holding over 11,000 children right now, processing them, is running out of space to keep these kids. The facilities are now at or near capacity. So theyve started looking at military installations and other federal facilities down near the border. A couple of the facilities they are looking at are Goodfellow Air force base and fort bliss, all in texas, craig. What do we know about the conditions of these facilities . The temporary facilities where the kids have been these 500 children are right now are just not meant for a longer term solution. They dont tend to have the medical care. They dont have individual sleeping areas and tend to be in a larger area with a bunch of kids. We dont yet know where these this next solution will be for hhs. s not the first time that immigrants have been housed on a military installation and theres various options that the federal government will have to decide on. It will be hhs that will be touring these facilities. You know, it could be everything from a large field that becomes where they build actually build strungt tours to unoccupied dorms. We just dont know yet. They are doing site surveys this week and next week. It almost sounds they are making this up as they go to a certain extent. You report that the policy seems to catch them off guard. W can that be . They just werent prepared for this large influx of children. So the numbers really do fluctuate quite a bit. Every month were hearing how much thousands of people came across the border and are now being going through this process. But hhs was not prepared for as i said, as our story reports, they are not holding 11,200 children and its not a very quick process. It takes upwards of 45 days to get them through to get them se well, they just dont have the space for it right now. They need to expand it out. Its not first time theyve used these military installations for this kind of thing but it seems as if they need a new solution to what is becoming now a problem and backlog at the border. Courtney, thank you. When we have time here, we like to leave you with a smile. So lets do it. Gerbe rext officially debuted the new ad campaign for 2018 and this years gerber baby is making history, lucas warn is the first child with down syndrome to be give the iconic title in the 91year history. The company ceo and president says it was lucas smile that put him ahead of more than 100,000 contestants. He ads just went up on facebook and instagram, they say their son is already getting more attention wherever he goes and hes loving it. We are too. Hope that leaves you with a smile. That wraps up this hour. Katy tur joins me now from oh, look on a beach in california. First off, what a cute little baby. Secondly, yes, were in huptington beach california, at least its gloomy. It is nice but im in the stud studio, you win. It is gorgeous here, its 2 00 p. M. In the eastern and 11 00 a. M. Here in huntington beach,