Okay, im out. Im late. I owe you 50 seconds, david. I will pay you back. Thank you very much, alex. Appreciate it. Hey, everyone. Im david gura at nbc headquarters in new york. A tale of two president s. President barack obama is blasting President Trump. He was trying to take credit for this incredible thing thats happening to our country. And president obama says President Trump is capitalizing on resentment. It did not start with donald trump. He is a symptom, not the cause. Hes just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years. President obama is speaking in anaheim, california. Well bring you his comments live as soon as they begin, which collude or not to collude. George papadopoulos, former Campaign Aide to donald trump, sentenced to 14 days in prison after he pleaded guilty to lying to the fbi about his contact with russian operatives. President trump mocking that sentence on twitter. And turmoil in the Trump White House. Bob woodwards new book hit store shelves on the heels of the anonymous oped published in the New York Times. But we begin with former president barack obama back in the arena campaigning for Democratic Candidates in california today. Well look at live pictures of anaheim where hes scheduled to speak around 2 45 p. M. Eastern time. This comes one day after he took on his successor, President Trump, calling him, quote, a threat to democracy and accusing him of promoting fear. It did not start with donald trump. He is a symptom, not the cause. [ applause ] hes just capitalizing on resentments that politicians have been fanning for years. Well, President Trump wasted no time. Here is how the current president responded. And he said, what did you think of president obamas speech . And i said, im sorry, i watched it but i fell asleep. I found it very good, very good for sleeping. Like always, Steve Paterson is in anaheim, california, where president obama is scheduled to speak shortly. Also with me is charlie savage, a washington correspondent for the New York Times and msnbc contributor. And tracey is with us in new york. The former president is scheduled to be there stumping for seven Democratic Candidates out in california. What can we expect today, steve . Reporter well, expect sort of the cliff notes speech that he delivered in illinois yesterday. You can hear the crowd now surging behind me. This traditional republican stronghold, orange county, has been packed filled with democrats. This room probably about 800 strong now. A very small room, standing room only, so the democratic turnout here is at a maximum. They are awaiting former president obama to make his remarks in a few minutes. Hes expected to sort of talk about the same things he mentioned in illinois. Searing indictment of the Republican Party, of the Trump Administration, and something i think got lost in a lot of the coverage, an indictment on millenial voters who he framed as sort of too complacent to come out to vote. So that is going to be a huge focus of today, getting people ready to vote, getting people to sort of stand up and make a change. Thats sort of been his message moving forward. And it has been really embraced by the Democratic Party here in california. Meanwhile, republicans also say they are awaiting the president saying that his campaigning has done nothing but brought them good fortune. We will see today as hes set to make his speech in a few moments. Part of this, though, is that indictment on the Republican Party. The former president framing the party as sort of the party of the paranoid. One who will play a sound bite for you, actually, sorry, we dont have the soundbite for you, but thats another topic expected to talk about in just a few minutes, stumping for the seven candidates who are at the forefront of the fight here in california. These are districts that voted for Hillary Clinton. But having a traditional incumbent republican at the head of the district. So again, surging democrats awaiting for the president to sort of step in and sort of join the fight here as hes been doing now lately. And joining the political fight, david. Steve patterson at the Anaheim Convention center. Well check in with him throughout the afternoon as we await comments from the former president of the United States. Let me turn to Geoff Bennett at the white house. Tell me a bit more about president obamas strategy. Steve mentioned he was speaking yesterday in illinois, at the university of illinois campus there, he attacked the current president directly. What can we expect over the next two months, geoff . Reporter we expect him to leave from california. Hell go to ohio and campaign for rick who is running for the democratic governor. And hell do the same in pennsylvania. Look, the president , former president , Barack Obamas advisers, had intended up to this point to really observe the tradition of giving President Trump time and space to come into his full presidency. But you heard the former president obama just yesterday say that the stakes are too high to stay on the sidelines. What is interesting about this, you heard President Trump say he was so bored by the speech he fell asleep, we have to say thats not entirely true. We have a team of people who looked into it and found when the obama speech started, the president was talking with reporters. And when the obama speech ended, he was shaking hands with some people he had met along the campaign trail. But what trump said was that obamas reemergence on the National Scene will help energize the Republican Base and drive them out to the polls. The president said this, if that doesnt get you out to vote, nothing will. And david, he has a point. Because when barack obama won the white house, democrats over successful elections really lost the country. They wrapped up historic losses at the state and federal level. Not all of that is obamas fault. He was really a singular character, the nations first black character, that drew out a certain kind of democratic voter and led to a backlash that overtime brought about the election of donald trump. David, i want to play a tape from president obama speaking in illinois yesterday. Lets take a listen to what his message was to the audience there in urbana. The politics are of paranoia and has found a to home in the Republican Party. Charlie, what did you hear in that speech yesterday . He talked to republicans and conservatives. They gathered largely in the audience, comprised of largely students in that area, who did he speak to . Although we in the media tend to play this as obama going after trump, this one guy against the other one guy, if you listen to the speech, including in segments like that, he was really critiquing the entire Republican Party and what it has evolved into before trump arrived on the scene. This is the evolution of the Republican Party into the party of sarah palin, the party of conspiracy theories about benghazi, the party of climate change, denialism and the sort of the tea party thing that was maybe about deficits but maybe was about a reaction to a black president that led to the culmination of the trump presidency. So trumps not on the ballot in november. And hes telling liberals at least, you need to not just be thinking about voting against donald trump, you need to be thinking about this party, our opponents and what they have turned into. In a way that trump has not such a world historian figure but just a symptom of a larger pathology. He talked about a lot of contemporary issues, talked about things that happened recently, including the president s tweets about and to Jeff Sessions, the attorney general. Lets take a listen to what he had to say about Jeff Sessions. It should not be democratic or republican. It should not be a partisan issue. To say that we do not pressure the attorney general or the fbi to use the criminal Justice System as a cudule to punish our political opponents. I have heard the term unprecedented used several times today. Talk about what president obama is doing here. How big of a moment is this that president obama has made to go in a direct fashion against his successor to talk about the issues so explicitly . I think a pretty big one. You see this and hes definitely breaking with precedent here. But one of the other things in the speech yesterday is this is the first time you saw former president obama use trumps name. Thats very different for him, but i also think a little bit its a signal that, hey, youre going to be out there during the midterms, so am i. And sort of challenging trump in terms of trying to energize each his perspective base. Geoff bennett, yesterday the president was traveling and the day before as well. There were media availabilities and times he spoke to reporters. And he kept being asked about the oped in the New York Times. Well talk about it over the next few hours, but what is the latest . The president was described as a volcanic mood, trying to fare out whoever wrote this oped. The Senior Administration official. What is the latest from the white house on that piece that appeared in the New York Times . Reporter well, david, people close to the president say hes enraged and frustrated by this and been fuming since the oped was published. But i have to tell you even if sources close to the president werent telling us that, it would be entirely evident based on the president s own statements, his own tweets and comments about it. So yes, he does want to know who was behind this oped. He suggested his attorney general should get involved, should investigate. Although the white house is pushing back on that. Theres been some reporting that the president has whittled this list down to just a handful, maybe a dozen or so of people. He said that himself, that he has it narrowed down to four or five people. Ill tell you based on our reporting, theres nothing to suggest that it is actually the case. But again, this is something that has consumed the president s attention. Of course, this compounded by the new book from bob woodward which really underscores a lot of the same things evident in the oped. All this against the backdrop of the former trump loyalists, close confidants, who struck the cooperation deals with federal prosecutors. So the president is really catching it from all sides here, david. I got to read a statement from the New York Times yesterday after the president suggested the Justice Department may go after the New York Times in some way. To find out who the individual is, quote, were confident that the department of justice understand that is the First Amendment protects all american citizens and that it would not participate in such a blatant abuse of government power. The president s threats, both underscore, why we must safeguard the identity of the writer of this oped and serve as a reminder of the importance of a free and independent press to american democracy. Charlie savage, on one side of the fire wall, his colleagues on the editorial wall on the other. Bear in mind, charlie, i want to ask you to talk about the bob woodward book. Here in short form, we are allowing the grievances laid out by people in Bob Woodwards book set to be released this week. Whats the effect these two things have on the white house as you see them . Well, it is certainly a onetwo punch reminding people that even those who are very close to the president , who are, in fact, working for him, see that this is a very unusual moment. This is not a normal presidency. And, you know, they all reinforce each other. Its not like we first heard this from bob woodward or the anonymous oped. All our sources and not just the New York Times has been hearing this from the start. There was the earlier fire and fury book. That resonates with this as well. This is just a very strange time for america. And even those closest to the white house appear to be fully aware of that. And that is part of the unusual nature of the times we are living through. I want to ask you about the latest on bob muellers investigation. We had the sentencing for George Papadopoulos yesterday. He will spend 14 days in jail as a result of the crimes he committed. Talk continues about interview between the president and Robert Mueller and his team. Rudy giuliani on thursday telling the ap the questions will be answered in written form. That was not going to happen. He backtracked on that. You heard a fine piece just looking at the role of Rudy Giuliani here and articulated or defining that strategy in some way. What is your sense of the latest of what his legal team is thinking . Yeah, i think it is very obvious. You keep seeing Rudy Giuliani shifting the goalposts. And it seems as if its hard to figure out what his broad strategy is, if there is any, but what is interesting right now when we look at the time period we just entered, it says arbitrary 60day window ahead of the mid terms. Sop kind of seeing how Rudy Giuliani moves forward and sort of what, if he continues to sort of wave to this pr campaign, but i think one of the interesting things is they are really trying to present a narrative that they are trying to cooperate with the special counsel. They are trying to be open to different options when it comes to the interview. But i think when you talk to any legal expert, they will say the worst thing donald trump could do is sit down with the special counsel. You know, they really see it as just a situation where he would not be very successful at all. And i think recently i was speaking with a number of folks who worked with mueller over the years who really said that they believe hes not really banking on the interview with the president , but really is going to just keep his team working and moving forward, even during this window ahead of the midterms. Abbie, thank you so much for joining me. Geoff bennett joining me from washington, d. C. , thank you. Up next, well talk about George Papadopoulos as we await comments from president obama. With Liberty Mutual new car replacement well replace the full value of your car. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty phone ringing a phones offers big button,ecialized phones. And volumeenhanced phones. , get details on this state program. Call or visit and accessoriesphones for your mobile phone. Like this device to increase volume on your cell phone. phone ringing get details on this state program call or visit welcome back. We are live at the Convention Center in anaheim, california. We are waiting for president obama to speak on behalf of seven Democratic Congressional candidates. The president having spoken in illinois yesterday is hitting the campaign trail in earnest. Hes expected to go to pennsylvania and illinois in the coming months. He endorsed 81 candidates for office just a couple weeks ago. We are now seeing him hit the campaign trail a day after attacking President Trump directly. We will bring you the comments from the 44th president of the United States live just as soon as they begin in about 20 minutes time. As we heard, George Papadopoulos has been sentenced to two weeks in prison. President trumps former Foreign Policy adviser was sentenced friday after admitting he lied to the fbi about contacts he had with russia. The judge also fined papadopoulos 9500 and ordered papadopoulos to compete 200 hours of community service. And hell be on probation for one year after he is released from custody. Well n a new interview with cnn taped just before that sentencing, George Papadopoulos responded to a question about whether he told the Trump Campaign about the russians claim to have on then candidate Hillary Clinton. I might have, but i have no recollection of doing so. I cant guarantee it. All i can say is my memory never shared it with anyone on the campaign. Joining me is ken delaney along with guy lewis. Ken, let me start with you. Put this into context for us here. Two weeks time, not a whole lot of time, what does this tell you about the course of the investigation . This sentencing yesterday . Well, look, George Papadopoulos as it turns out was not quite as big a fish as some people thought he might be when the arrest was announced. There was a lot of talk of, did he wear a wire or was he cooperating . It turns out he did not cooperate with the mueller team, so he didnt get a downward departure from the sentence for that, but the reason he got 14 days or not 30 or 60 days is because he had no prior criminal record and the judge seemed to take to heart and believe his expressions of remorse in the courtroom yesterday. And his apologies for his conduct and to his family. But look, that question that he seems to have no memory of the an