Daca really over . We are not abandoning the discharge petition. This is mtp daily, and it stigarts rht now. Good evening. Im chuck todd here in chicago. Welcomily. We are going to tell you whats really going on with the president s lawyer, Michael Cohen. Is he flipping . Is he not flipping . Whats the deal with splitting with his lawyers . Whats it all mean for the president . This is a story thats been the subject of intense speculation today. But the key word is speculation. Okay . The only confirmed is he is going to get a new lawyer. We will get to the bottom of that later in the hour. We bin tonig with a development thats arguably much more urgent in this moment. Folks n the last 24 hours have seen multiple warn prosecution inside the Republican Party that presint trump isnt just overtaking the gop. Hes turning it into something that resembles a cult. All of a sudden, that word is starting to pop up more and more, and its all coming from the right. Heres republican senator bob corker earlier today. Its becoming a cultish thing, isnt it . Its not a good place for any party to end up with a kultdlike situation as it relates to cultlike situation as it relates to a president that happens to be of purportedly of the same party. Then there is republican congressman mark sanford. Hes someone who has warned the party about becominge ing ing a personality. He did sn this show. But his criticism the president cost him his job. Sanford wasefeated in his primary last night after the president told the base not to vote for him. Heres sanfords warning to his party as he concede the race last night. We are about as a nation is not being for or against one personal. Again, we are a nation of laws not men as the Founding Fathers said. Heres what an ideological congressman said . Mark sanfords losing in South Carolina is pretty much Proof Positive that the gop is not really caring about government. It is really a cult of personal. There is that warning again f. Those warnings are right, bar the door. Ask yourself what that means for the guardrails of american democracy. Its congresss job to act as a check on the president. But in the wake of sanfords loss, this was the message from some republicans. Donald trumps popularity with republicans is unprecedented. So with all politics being local, if you are not on the same page as the president , in 85, 90 of your base is you could see where that could cause a problem. Look n my district, i got 70 of the vote in the general election. The president got 66. If we get in a fight he keeps his 66 and i keep my 4. I love that tom cole. He would keep his four. Probably right. Can you blame them for being worried . They have seen some of the most conservative voices, pure conservative voices pretrump lose because of insufficient loyal to trump. Folks, if this is the president now, you have to now start thinking differe about the consequences of saying, ousting mueller, firing rod rosenstein, pardoning Michael Cohen, using the Justice Department to settle scores, limiting press freedom, flexing your executive authority. You name why would theepublica party stand up against any of that if they see that standing up to him on just one thing can bring an end to your political career no mart how Truly Old School conservative you are. Tonights panel, david ignatius, carol lee, Michael Steele. Man, michael, i swear, you are days you get put in this horrible box. Whats is your party a cult . Is Donald Trumps following a cult following . It is. Is bob corker are they right . I think they are, chuck. I think in large measure they are. You see it play itself out in how the leadership has responded to this president , the lack of pushback against the things that do go outside the bounds of the institutions that we support, the policies that republicans have traditionally held on to and advocated for. All of that has gone by the wayside. The president has been very effective at leading up to and now executing on using his popularity and that relationship that he has been able to forge with what was once a small minority of the party, now bigger part of that party as a cudgel against those who dont support a policy or the outside of this who personally he does not connect with where there is this disconnect because you know they are n on the same page as the president on a lot of other things that go beyond policy. Yeah, i think this language thats now beginning to revolve within the party around this cult of personality has resonance with a lot of members because they are acting very afraid of it. David ignatius, heres what more from eric erickson. The president pees in the punch bowl of the g7, insist the russians come back into the organization then apply flies off to singapore to make kissy face with a man who inhumanely treats his own people. Do you think thats right . I think the silence from the republicans over this last week of the strange in some ways unprecedented actions President Trump has taken the silence has been deafening. I take Michael Steele seriously when he says this is in effect a cult of personality. I go back two years to just remembering the way donald trump mowed through the republican establishment during the primaries. It was an insurge ensy. It was aimed at the party leadership. It was aimed at sweeping away gop leadership, i traditions. It has come full circle. People in the party are afraid of him. They dont want to cross him. We will have to see whats next. The only thing that will change this i think is if there is a buildout Democratic Victory in november. Then republicans will come back to where they came from. To me, im with david on this. I think its the ballot changes the calculation for these republicans and nothing else at this point, Mueller Mueller could have i think President Trump in prague with physical evidence. Right. And i dont know if this Republican Party would feel comfortable standing up to him. Yeah, i mean thats weve seen the only thing that scares republicans is notng t reelection. And right now the thing thats causing that to happen the most is donald trump. Trump is now the head of a party that essentially rejected him in terms of the establishment and the institution of the party. What better revenge for him to turn it into a test that the ultimate test for him, the only test he really cares about, which is a loyalty test. And we have seen this become sort of increasingly almost a self fulfilling prophecy where the republicans are afraid to take ontrump. Those who do wind up losing an election and are weakened and trump essentially gets more power and gets more influence. Whether that changes in november based on the election results, i dont think we know yet. Michael steele, there was another trump tweet that i want to highlight from today before he landed. I think he was getting close. He sai funny to watch the fake news, especially nbc and cnn they are figg hard todown p korea. 500 days ago they would have begged for this deal. Lab like war would break out. Fake news, promulgated by fools. Head of the Republican Party, president of the United States basically says kim jongun is to be believed more than Americas Free speechless at that and yet not shocked anymore by him. Why is this a cult, why is the information loop that the trump followers are following that is allowing this to be allowing them to be so easily bam boozeled . They believe that trump is going to deliver on the vast majority of thing that he set out to deliver on as a candidate. They look at the tax cuts. They look at even on the Health Care Battle they dont fault the leadership on the trump team. They fault the leadership in the congress for that failing. At turn they continue to make the excuse for the president. This is the success and the strength of this president. Hes not held accountable for anything he says, does or anything that he tweets. There is no penalty he has had to pay. Everyone else has had to pay in response to what he has said, done, and tweeted but not him. Im not convinced with the november elections coming up that that turns against the president if he loses the house. Honestly, i dont think he gives a damn where whether he has the majority or not. Because the only player in any room he is in is him. He doesnt need the leadership to negotiate for him. Thats what the base and supporters like. I think you are right, it is an interesting point, which is democrats blow republicans out in november. The president will say, well, its because they are all the old establishment. Thats the old guard. Good riddance. He probably will say that. He may well snooshs what will wake up the Republican Party . Chuck, he may well sayment that but the democratic controlled house next year means a very different world for donald trump. It acts as a significant check on hispower. You mentioned the i word, impeachment. But lets hold that aside for the moment. You know, he may think this is what the republican establishment deserves, but his presidency would be significantly altered, and he understand that. I just think its going to be fascinating, through the summer, through the late summer, to watch how republicans play this. That will be the best barometer on where trump really is. Serve yen to him or will they speak out because they are afraid of going down. Carol last week we had joni ernst gently confronting the president. And sh but she had a political chit on her side. Her farmers were essentially panicked about tariffs. But that is a gentle pushback sothing in your own backyard that contradicts the president for you to be believed. Right. I think Lindsey Graham talked today about criticizing t president to make added vae. Thats line that republicans are walking. I think when you see the president get in the mode of settling scores and lashing out at people, its when they have gone into what he perceive as making it personal, about him. Or somehow you know, not just criticizing his policies in a way thats a little gentler, but the personal stuff. So you haveine republicans who managed to be successful with criticizing the president on a policy issue or gently disagreeing. They have largely been successful because they have stayed away from the personal attack. David, before i let you go, and before we go here, i wanted to turn the conversation a little bit to sort of the internatio that pps made with the g7. And goat susan rice. She wrote this in an op ed. If mr. Putin were calling the shots he would advise withd from the tpp. Pull out of the iran nuclear deal, there is no evidence that putin is dictating american policy but its hard to imagine how he could do much better even if he were. Not mentioned was cancelling military exercises with the south koreans, and cutting a basically cutting your own deal with the northans. This has been deeply unsettling for u. S. Allies. Trumps movet the g7 to alienate our traditional closest partners and adversary back in i particular was upsetting. I think people should remember, in this period of seeming uproar, houses turned upside down that there are elements of power, especially on military tionships that remain pretty much as they always have been. Nato continues to operate. The u. S. Military continues toffoli ason every day arouto h day around the rld. There are elements of continuity. The inteigence relationships similarly continue. I think what i hear from diplomats that i talk to is that thats an element of reassurance when the white house is so disruptive. All right. Very quickly, how concerned are you that more and more elections around the world right now in some of our ally countries will basically from the most antitrump, answer american candidate can win im thinking most acutely mexico, and that this is now going to me contagious. If i could follow that up. You put your finger on the issue. The question is, whats the political blowback from President Trumps actions as countries and their publics begin to react to an america that no longer seems friendly in the traditional way. How do they begin to change . How do they reach out and make new arrangements . In particular with china. Whatever else you could say about this period, china has been an enormous beneficiary. Im going to leave it there. But that has been if anybody has benefitted more, more than even russia, its been china. Thank you, stick around. Up ahead, Michael Cohens legal drama. The president s attorney is expected to part ways with his own attorney. Why is that . What would that mean . Does that mean he is thinking about flipping . There is a lot of speculation to get into. We will have that after the break. At fidelity, our online u. S. Equity trades are just 4. 95. So no matter what you trade, or where you trade, youll only pay 4. 95. Fidelity. An accounto until her laptop cras. Her salon was booked for weeks, having it problems . Ask a business advisor how to get on demand tech support for as little as 15 a month. This week get boise case paper for only 29. 99 at office depot office max. [ drum roll ]. Emily lapier from ames, iowa. This is emilys third nomination and first win. Um. So, just. Wow it is an honor sharing the road with you. And of course, to the progressive snapshot app for giving good drivers the discounts no, i have to say it for giving good drivers the discounts they deserve. Safe driving but prevagen helps your brain the diswith an ingrediente. Originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. The name to remember. Welcome back. A Significant Development in the legal situation surrounding President Trumps personal lawyer Michael Cohen today a. Course close to michaen tells nbc news that the president s longtime personal lawyer and fixer is expected to split with his current set of lawyers and plans to hire new counsel. Folks, we dont know why cohen has decided to change up his attorneys but we knot has a lot of people talking and wondering. It could mean that cohen preparing to cooperate with investigators. We know that thats how rick gates changed lawyers dpus just before he agreed to cooperate with Robert Muellers investigation. Multiple people familiar with the matter tell nbc news cohen hasnt even spoken witness federal prosecutors yet. This could be about money. Maybe his lawyers decided he cant pay. Or it could be that cohens lawyers think cohen has lied to them and they want out. Even still, it could be that cohen is trying to signal to the white house that he is in trouble and he might need a pardon. Or it could be none of those things. The move is a Significant Development for Michael Cohen. But time will tell if it is a Significant Development for President Trump. I want to bring in a couple of experts, two msnbc legal analysts from sort of both sides of the table here. Oner district in the Southern District of new york, prosecutor side of things and criminal defense attorney danny is a val owes. I wanted both of you because i wanted to see if we could get into the mindset of both sides of this. Danny, i want to start with you. You change lawyers why . There are a number of reasons why a client may separate from his counsel. It could be nonpayment of bills. That happens all the time. Defense attorneys call this rule one, as in the first rule is you have to get paid. It could also be a situation where the attorneys mt withdraw. Attorneys Must Withdraw from representation for example, if a client is seeking advice to commit a future crime. Im not saying thats what is happening here. But that is one of the instances where attorneys have to withdraw. One example might be that cohen simply doesntt these attorneys anymore. There has been irretrievable breakdown in the communication between counsel and client, disagreement on strategy. Any of these reasons are valid reasons why attorneys and clients separate from each other. There e some instances where it voluntary and some instances as in the commission of a future crime where an attorney must seek to withdraw. Without knowing more, and we are not likely to hear more, because its privileged communication, we are left speculating as to what the true reason is, whether its money or something else. Mimi rocha,hespeculation, the rumor wire went berserko because the initial report about Michael Cohen changing lawyers sort of indicated this could be him preparing to flip. Walk me through that side of things. What does that look like, when you guys were working with be some you were going to prosecute that suddenly was going to cooperate. Walk me through that process . Well, so, danny is exactly right. As you said, we are speculating as to why cohen has switched lawyers. But it is true i cant give you a statistic, but in my experience people do often change lawyers before they cooperate. Heres why. In order to cooperate, someone has to come to terms with the fact they are eventually going to have to plead guilty and accept fom responsibility and admit to crime. And a lawyer who is advising a client to do that, somes the client doesnt want to hear that. So the instinct may be i want a new lawyer because they want a lawyer who wont give that advice, we go to trial, beat this. I dont know what happened here. But in my experience that happens quite a bit. Then what happens is you get another, and another lawyer who is also hopefully a good lawyer tells them the same thing. Sometimes cliento hear it more than one time, from different lawyers before they can come to terms with it. Interesting. It does often that change, that kind of turmoil in the team, in the legal representation, there is often a shakeup before there is cooperation think for that reason. I wanted to make one point, though, which is about what cooperation means. Cooperation is a process in the federal system. Even today when people were saying he has a new lawyer,goin. Even if that