Hates everyone in the white house. And then there is the nbc news exclusive about the president and his thoughts last summer on Nuclear Weapons. President trump said he wanted what amounted to a nearly 10 fold increase in the u. S. Nuclear arsenal during a gathering of the highest ranking narnl security leaders. According to three officials who were in the room. Nbc added according to the officials present, trumps advisers were surprise pd. It was after this meeting that officials heard secretary of state Rex Tillerson called the president a moron. Donald trump responded today. Lets watch. Do you want to increase the Nuclear Arsenal . I never discussed increasing it. It wanted it in perfect shape. That was fake news by nbc. I think somebody said i want ten times the Nuclear Weapons that we have right now. Right now we have so many Nuclear Weapons, i want them in perfect condition, perfect shape. Thats the only thing ive ever discussed and its frankly disgusting the way the press is able to write whatever they want to write and people should look into it. Secretary of Defense James Mattis put out a statement today, recent reports that the president called for an increase in the Nuclear Arsenal are absolutely false. This erroneous reporting is irresponsible. The nbc story never said that the president called for an increase. He told his National Security advisor s he wanted an increase. Its not the first time donald trump has made alarming statements about the Nuclear Weapons or shown a lack of understanding about the historic nature of Nuclear Deterrence himself. He was in in 2015. Lets watch him in action. Nuclear should be off of the table. But if there is a time for it to be used, possibly. When you said that. Theyre hearing a guy running for the president or the United States talking of maybe using Nuclear Weapons. Nobody wants to hear that. Why do we make them . If i was against iraq i would be the last to use them. Can you tell the middle east were not using a Nuclear Weapon. I would never take my cards off of the table. How about europe . Im not taking it off the table. You might use it in europe. No, i dont think so. Im just sayin. I am not taking cards off the table. Im joined right now by carol lee, one of the authors, wall street Journal White House reporter eli stoeckles and christopher hill. Let me go to carol. This whole discussion about trump that he seems to not understand and i believe he doesnt understand. He doesnt understand the history. So Margaret Thatcher explained, the reason we didnt have a third world war with russia all those years because Nuclear Weapons made war impossible. The purpose of a Nuclear Weapon was to get old to rust to become useless and never be used. Trump said to me, why are we making them . If youre not going to use them, why are you making them. An 8yearold knows that you dont use Nuclear Weapons. He was shown a chart of Nuclear Weapons stockpile for the u. S. And russia from the beginning of the 1950s to now. It peaks in the 1950s for the u. S. He looked at it and said i want that. Why dont we have that. At the peak. Yeah. Now its 4,000 and then it was 32,000 which is a tenfold increase which is what he was saying he wanted. Why is he denying it now . Well, if you look it sounds ridiculous. Also he said he never increased an increase in Nuclear Weapons. Of course he did. He discussed it publicly and discussed it once he was in the white house. If you did explain it to him, what i meant was, mr. President , during the briefing of the generals you were shown a graph and you pointed to the graph, the optimum point saying i want to go back to there. You did say that, right . What would he say . I have no idea. I presume he would say what he always says which is a pushback on anything that he doesnt like when he sees it in print or watching it on tv. Its fake news. But he went in this briefing, it wasnt just neck weapons. It was every military, troops, whether its equipment, all around the world and we talked to three people who were in that room, a small group of people, everywhere they went he said i want more, more troops, you know, more of this, more of that. Thats just how he thinks about these things. And he was getting a wide ranging briefing on the u. S. Deterrence, u. S. Security in the world, global security. Global map. And it was after that meeting where tillerson called him a moron. Correct. How do you what is the causialty of those meetings, briefings including the request for ten times the military, leading to the term moron. How do you report the connection . There was a lot going on at the time. It wasnt just that. Tillerson and the president were having we dont know specifically what tillerson was referring to, what he was referencing when he referred to the president as a moron. He was coming out of that meeting. That picture looks like he was a moron, that discerning look from the left there. There was a meeting the day before on afghanistan where the president left some of his advisers in the room with their jaws dropped for some of the things that he was saying in there, including firing the commander in afghanistan. The secretary and the president were not getting along. They had just argued over the iran recertification, the nuclear deal and it was a contentioco contentious time. We dont know specifically lwhy the secretary called him a moron. Let me ask you about this. This does seem to jive i wouldnt say lunatic but wild statements that hes saying were going to flatten north korea, going to kill everybody in the country. President s dont talk about nuclears weapons like that. When he stood on the stage of the United NationsGeneral Assembly a couple of weeks ago and said in his speech to the entire world we will potentially destroy north korea, that rhetoric was never in his speech. Yes, it was going to be a tough speech about iran but that rhetoric was added by the president himself who has always demonstrated reflexive need to amp the rhetoric up and talk tougher than everybody else. Its not surprising that he would see that chart and say i want the most nukes because he always wants to be the toughest, strongest and he equates military strength and weaponry with toughness. Marly speaking im going to get the weirdo. Im going to kill all of those people as retaliation doesnt seem like the right American Point of view. This summer the president and his rhetoric in north korea has been ratcheting up. Lets watch it in action. North korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. Mr. President , what do you mean by military solutions or lock and loaded as it relates to north korea. I think its pretty obvious l. Were looking at that clearly and i hope they understand the gravity of what i said. And what i said is what i mean. The United States has great strength and patience. But if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy north korea. Rocketman is on a Suicide Mission for himself. And for his regime. You know, you have to put a lot together. If somebody were visiting from another planet and just watched our leader, theres a guy talking about wiping another country off of the map sitting next to his wife. What is she doing. Other picture with his daughter. He behaves like a royal leader making these decisions. And talking about the absolute intersection of people. Trump tweeted this weekend, president s and their administrations have been talk to north korea for years. Agreements violated before the ink was dry making fools of u. S. Negotiators. Sorry but only one thing will work. Interesting. Those comments arent sitting well with the majority of americans however. A new Associated Press poll found that 67 of us say that the president s comment made it worse. Twothird say its worse. 8 say they like the way hes doing it and 67 are concerned about the threat posed by north korea to the United States. Put this in respect to normal world relations, normal moral behavior about one country talking to another. And again bring in trump sitting there with his royal family. I think the whole idea thing, its like the roma novembers. A royal family dictating. I remember them as being much more measured in their comments. These comments bear no relation to reality. I guess he outsourced his speeches to a north korean. So hes coming across as a north korean leader. The problem is he doesnt seem to understand he seems to want to make statements to the north koreans that they would find familiar. He has a chinese audience out there, a south korean audience out there who is very concerned. Theyre living within the range of the north korean artillery let alone the missiles. He ought to be trying to show a little dignity and frankly that he knows whats going on. I mean increasingly he seems over his head and some people are saying hes out of his mind. So these are problems in terms of diplomacy. Lets assume theres a sane general among those people goose stepping to the tune of their dear leader in pyongyang and theyre trying to get some sense across with the other generals and they hear their adversary, the president saying only one thing will work. What do they here . What theyre hearing is no one in north korea wants to be moderate at that point. They hear that kind of stuff and its grist for their propaganda mill. I think hes talk like them and theyll say oh my gosh hes really serious. But they bluff every day of the week. They talk about sea of fire in seoul. Talked about surrounding guam in fire. They bluff all of the time. If hes trying to sound like a north korean hell come across as a blufferer but do everyone else he comes across as not understanding what hes talking about. That is the most worrisome thing. Hes looking at charts, why cant we have more weapons. He doesnt understand what theyre explaining to him and he doesnt understand that frankly our military is not anxious to spend money on military weapons. They would like to spend money on things that are useful for the military world. Its a complete absence of an understanding of what the job entails, what he should be doing. He should understand what the Nuclear Weapons are, which is not to use them. Ill go back to 4iz quote to me last summer, why are we making them if were not going to use them. President trump was asked today whether he was on the same page as secretary tillerson on north korea. Lets watch his response to that. I think i have a little bit different attitude on north korea than other people might have. Other than your secretary . And i listen to everybody but ultimately my attitude is the one that matters isnt it . Thats the way it works, the way the system is. But i think i might have a different attitude and way than other people. I think perhaps i feel stronger and tougher on that subject than other people but i listen to everybody and ultimately i will do whats right for the United States and really whats right for the world. Because thats really a world problem. Thats beyond just the United States. Thats a world problem. Im a little stronger. I think my brotherinlaw worked in north korea and the use of the word strong is interesting. Thats the second time in i dont know how many, a few days that the president questioned the strength of his secretary of state. Is this an arm wrestling contest with him and tillerson . I think theres a bit of a contest of wills. These are two former ceos who are used to calling the shots for their entire career. What ooh thes the effect on americans. My attitude is the one who matters. Hes asserting his supremacy over everyone. A week ago Sara Huckabee sanders said how can he disrespeagree w the cabinet. Nay ear there to represent him. Its a little different than if he were disagreeing with somebody in the campaign. What were talking about has huge stakes for the American People. It wasnt too long ago that we referred to pem like that as dictators. People like saddam hussein. Carol lee, great reporting. Another amazing bit of reporting. Eli stoeckles, great to have you on. Coming up, first it with us Rex Tillerson calling trump a moron, then it was bob dorker from tennessee, now trumps good friend tom bar rack, one of the same friends of his is shocked by the rhetoric that trump has been using in office. Three early trump allies are sounding the alarm about the president. Is anyone going to do anything about it . Plus, the pictures of devastation from california are stunning right now. Entire neighborhoods burned to the ground. Were going to have an update on the deadly fires raging in california, in the wine country. We heard it again today, trump attacking the press. He needs a boogie man and he always seems to find anytime the people covering him. Truth hurts. Finally tonight well finish with trump watch. This is hardball, where the action is. You nervous . Has grown into an enterprise. Thats why i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. Now, im earning unlimited 2 cash back on every purchase i make. Everything. Whats in your wallet . Ltry align probiotic. N your digestive system . For a nonstop, sweet treat goodness, hold on to your tiara kind of day. Get 24 7 digestive support, with align. The 1 doctor recommended probiotic brand. Also in kids chewables. Speaker of the house paul ryan was forced to respond today to senator corkers revelations about President Trump. It comes after corker described the white house as an Adult Day Care Center and warned that trump could lead us sbhoo world war iii. Heres how the speaker attempted to cover over the corker revelations. I think its just talk it out amongst yourselves. My advice is for these two gentlemen to sit down and talk there u their issues. I think thats the best way to get things done. That is a coverup. This was a revelation by corker, the behavior in the white house. It wasnt a feud between two politicians. That word from spiker was an attempt to cover up serious whistle blowing within this administration. Well be right back. Now that we have your attention. Capri sun has four updated drinks. Now with only the good stuff. Do you know how to use those . Nope. Get those kids some new capri sun welcome back to hardball. Fist it was secretary of state tillerson calling the president a moron, then came senator bob corker raising the president s very fitness to serve. And today tom barrack, the fellow who ran trumps inauguration is the latest to speak out. A former advise tore the president told the Washington Post hes been shocked and stunned by the president s rhetoric and inflammatory tweets. He told the post, quote, he thinks he has to be loyal to his base. I keep on saying who is your base. You dont have a natural base. Your base is now the world and america. You have all of these constituencies. Show them who you are. Hes better than this. And the new vanity fair piece out late today, sources close to the president say that the public criticism matches what theyre seeing privately, an unstable president , losing a step and unraveling. The president is quoted as saying i hate everyone in the white house. For more on this im joined by a National Political report wer the Washington Post and of course an msnbc political analyst. We talk about a Pressure Cooker atmosphere where the president has to let off steam or he will blow one of these days. Tell us about that situation. There are two camps around the president who are deeply concerned. You have his friends who think hes distracted, not getting along with his party and then fellow republicans on capitol hill who see the stalled agenda wondering can this be put back together again. What stops him from focusing. Why isnt he thinking every day at this point i need a tax reform bill. I need to put together enough votes in the senate and house to get it done or i will be a loser by years end. Why doesnt he focus is it mental . Emotional . Whats stopping him from doing the job he got elected to do . Talking to people inside the white house, they say hes so flummoxed by Congressional Republicans burned by the experience in health care and other issues and hes stepped back a bit from trying to fully engage with trying to sell the tax plan. He laid out some of the principles tonight in harrisburg, opinion but otherwise hes putting the onus on speaker ryan and leader mcconnem mcconnell. Whats the reaction of the political republican world. What do they make of him right now . Right now most senators and congressmen im talking to on the republican side say senator corkers comments to an extent reveal some of their concerns but because of the lingering issues in taxes theyre not ready to break away as corker did. They want to get something done and run on an issue sbe ieds the confirmation of gorsuch in 2018. Is that one of the Things Holding him together and making him stubborn, he has the support rock ribbed base out there . Ive been in pennsylvania, georgia, all across the country talking to trump voters. They have a grievance against the economy and political class. They like that the president is a total outsider. They didnt mean theyre going follow him on everything. We saw that in the Alabama Senate race. Theyre still with him in many polls. I found 10 mrs. In the latest ball found that hes not level headed but support his job performance. Thats tricky stuff. Van tir fair is reporting that some of