embassies on lockdown and the president still looking where to go now. our team is here covering all of this. kristen welker here with me at the white house and, kristen, i want to start with you. we in the last few minutes have confirmed some information about these reports that president trump wants to dump out of this paris climate deal. what you got? >> we have been working our sources throughout the morning and according to two administration officials, the president is leaning towards pulling out of the paris climate agreement. look, this is not a big surprise. this is something that he campaigned on, but then another source who is familiar with the thinking inside the white house says the fact that this was effectively leaked out, as a final decision, is part of the frustration here behind the scenes at the white house. that the president hasn't, in fact, made that decision. that the comp's team doesn't have a messaging strategy and they're getting ahead of the president effectively.

so, what does this all mean more broadly, hallie? we were at the g-7 summit and six of the seven leaders there committed to the paris agreement and, of course, president trump was the one hold out. highly controversial here back at home. we know that the president was sent a letter by more than 20 senators, republican senators saying that they, in fact, want him to pull out. but democrats and some here within the west wing disagree. ivanka trump, his daughter, jared kushner trying to push him to stay in. and if you look at some of our very recent polling taken in april, 67% of americans say they want immediate action on climate change now. the president tweeting himself that he would be making the announcement some time this week. so, i think that nothing will be final until we hear from the president himself, but, haley, if he does, in fact, decide to pull out, highly controversial move, but, again, something that he campaigned on and something

that his supporters want to see. >> kristen, you hit a lot of topics that we'll drill down on. i want you to stand by on other news of the day. but i want to go over to casey hunt. one of the pieces of fallout we're talking about is the reaction on capitol hill. already this morning we're hearing from some on the hill looking like the president may get out of the paris deal. again, not necessarily a surprise. you listen to him on the campaign trail. walk us through what you're hearing there. we know that two dozen senators had asked president trump to do exactly this. >> that's right, hal. this is breaking down as you might expect through party lines. the more conservative members of the republican conference and also geographic. mitch mcconnell, the senator from kentucky, the state that has long relied on coal. that is often sometimes a predictor of what you'll hear from a lot of these senators. at this point reaction still early. but i want to show you a clip

that will give you a sense where conservative republicans stand and some of that democratic criticism on the other hand. take a look. >> i'd hate to see us harm our own economy to agreeing to -- >> listen to this. >> already $2 trillion of regular compliance cost put on the american. they're born by middle class who pay higher prices for everything they purchase. >> i think what the consequence will be, inevitably, will be the diminishing of confidence in our government. in our commitment to preserving the environment. clean air and water but most of all, saving the planet. >> so, i think one thing you want to watch for as the president makes a final decision on this and when we hear from more members of congress. you get a different tone from members of the republican party. a group of house republicans who signed on to a letter urging the

party to take more of a leadership role on climate change. and there was a sense that potentially there was a shift going on there. so, i think to a certain extent, there is some friction between the old guard republican party and the new and, then, of course, you have the president as something of a wild card here in this situation. those are the folks i would keep an eye on going forward here. >> smart perspective, kasie hunt, thank you. the president has promised a decision in the next few days. kristen, back to you at the white house. another big development we're following. not just paris, but russia. the idea that mike flynn, the former national security adviser, agreed to hand over some of the documents related to the investigation. white house reaction to any of this? what are you hearing? >> not yet. we know that they're setting up a war room to essentially respond to all of this. but mike flynn, former national security adviser saying that he will turn over documents, papers

related to the investigation to the senate intel committee. we know that the president's attorney michael cohen saying he is willing if he is subpoenaed. they asked one of the president's former aides epstein and saying they need more specific information before they can actually do that. this is an investigation that is deepening. that is widening and that is why you have the administration setting up a war room here. the president looking to some of his former campaign staffers like ousted campaign manager li lewendowski thinking about bringing them back in the fold. if not in an official capacity, in some other form. this is administration digging in as this investigation expands. >> kristen welker there at the white house. thank you very much. we'll see you later on today on msnbc. i want to bring in my fellow

correspondents. and here with me on set and "washington examiner" sarah westwood. let's talk about paris here. we're seeing reaction internationally on this. the u.n. secretary-general has tweeted climate change is undeniable and climate action is unstoppable and climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable. no where in there does it say president donald trump or united states of america, but it's pretty clear what he is talking about. real clear push/pull on this. what is your reaction to what we're seeing on paris? >> my first reaction. isn't it nice to have a statement written -- we're not used to that these days. i have press release envy here. i think what we're seeing is a lot of confusion. reports out this morning. the decision had already been made and i think that is probably fairly close to the truth. but then we had the president

himself tweet out something contradictory. my report this morning shows a fair amount of cune fusionfusio their contacts in the white house tell them who knows. just another day in the trump administration. >> one of the things that strikes me is my reporting from nbc that there is a real sense of frustration there is a tactic. somebody leaking something to push the president towards one direction and this is something we have seen before on the campaign trail. >> people leaking in the white house? their own agenda? that's what our sources were suggesting, as well. the pull out camp trying to push him out and the stay camp mounting their own alternate campaign to try to get something. >> public media campaign via leaks which the president hates. >> what our reporting panned out was similar to yours and similar to glenn's that no final decision has been made. what is interesting here and i asked sean spicer in the press

briefing. what is the president's stance on climate change? are humans contributing to this? he didn't have an answer. we're talking about a climate agreement, but no one really knows where the president actually stands right now on climate change whether it's real but he has gotten a lot of additional information since then. i continue to press the white house to give me what the president's position is on climate change. >> pull back for a second, this matters on a bigger level than just, you know, which faction in the west wing is pushing which agenda. real international fallout here. you heard kristen talk about it. g-7 countries saying there is consensus that we support this and we back this. you saw the tweet that glenn thrush from the secretary-general there. when it comes to the international fallout, we'll see angela merkel later today publicly speaking with the leader of china, et cetera. how do you see this playing out on the international stage. this could be a real signal if donald trump does pull out.

>> the stay in campaign is focused on what the diplomatic repercussions would be. affect u.s. standing with our allies in multi-lateral institutions. president dump tr president trump doesn't see this clearly and he worries about the impact it would have on squjobsd that seems to be his primary concern on all things climate change. he doesn't care about twhether climate change is a hoax or whether this would help the environment at all in the world. he cares more about the political aspects -- >> job here in america. >> glenn, there is a poll that we had last month showing two out of three folks say immediate or some action is needed to address climate change. how do you see this -- listen, like the pundit question with how you see this playing out. but it's worth asking because it is something the president campaigned on again and again and part of what got him to the

white house in the first place. >> here's the inest thering thing. on almost every major issue, the president is on the wrong side of the polling. particularly when you kind of look at the youth cohort. this is a slam dunk in terms of national opinion about climate change and that was an extraordinary moment in the briefing yesterday. i couldn't agree more. >> yep. >> where you just had this moment where sean spicer spends a lot of time with the president of the united states saying he's never heard him discuss his opinion on this. i think we should step back for a second and ask ourselves how odd is that? this is an issue -- i'll just give you a personal example. i visited my kids' schools, i have middle schoolers. i talked to their class. all they want to talk about is climate change. that's something younger people are intensely focused on. it's an extraordinary admission. >> this speaks what you're talking about, the idea of a generational divide specifically

on capitol hill with republicans looking at this through different prisms. >> yeah. the other thing that we're doing is another instance and we've seen it with chancellor merkel where we are surrending what a lot of people on both sides of the aisle the moral high ground on an issue. i was with president obama in 2009 when we were pressuring the chinese. bizarre to think that the tables have turned and we are now becoming because of these sorts of positions and we can't presume because we don't know what he's going to do yet, a bit of an international pariah on this issue. >> next time we'll get you on set, glenn. thank you. appreciate it. sticking around on set shannon and sarah. much more to talk about. the aftermath of that suicide bombing in afghanistan district killed 80 people and hurt hundreds more. this car bomb went off near kabul and right near government office buildings. house speaker paul ryan has come

out in the last few minutes here condemning the attack saying this is another gruesome reminder that the taliban and al qaeda, isis and their affiliates are only interested in terror and hate rather than ending two decades of bloodshed. i want to bring in now richard engel who is live in london. drill down the location of this. this is a very secure area. how did this happen? >> well, it's clearly not a very secure area, but it's supposed to be. it is the diplomatic corner of kabul and right now the muslim holy month of ramadan. this bombing went off at 8:30 in the morning. because it's ramadan people go to work generally a little bit early. they generally show up at 8:00 in the morning so they like to leave early so they can get home for their break fast meal. as people were going to their offices and most of the offices in the diplomatic quarter would be at a major u.s. military base there working for a large afghan telecom company that's there or

at the number of foreign embassies based in this district. as people were on their way to work, suddenly, a truck bomb. it was a tanker truck exploded and according to afghan officials, 80 people were killed. about 300 were injured. there's been no claim of responsibility. but when you look at the location, the diplomatic compound that it was near both an afghan telecom company and the german embassy, the german embassy just came out with a statement not long ago saying it's not sure of it if it was the target or afghan company or just the district in general that was the target. but when you look at this highly symbolic international business and diplomatic center of kabul, this was an attack to send a message, a message against the afghan government. against foreign governments that are supporting the afghan government. most of the victims, however, were just regular afghan sevi e

civilians who were on their way to work on this ramadan morning. no claim of responsibility. the taliban was quick to come out with a statement saying that it wasn't responsible. the taliban has carried out many kinds of attacks but generally it prefers to carry out attacks against afghan soldiers, police and foreign troops in the country. and likes to distance itself when a number of civilians are killed. isis, however, has not been so discriminating. so the suspension right now this is possibly the work of isis. >> richard, can you put this into context politically back home we know the president was considering sending thousands more troops into afghanistans and looking at the proposals on his desk. how do you see this playing out? >> well, i think there are going to be more troops going to afghanistan. the military wants it. and generally we've seen the president following the military advice that he is given.

there are, officially, about just over 8,000 american troops in afghanistan. but the situation has not been stable. they are working. they are working with afghan partners as they're called. the afghan security forces and border guards. but the military commander say they need more. so, that number of 8,400 could be increased by up to 5,000 u.s. officials have said in the last month or so. >> richard engel live for us there in england. richard, thank you very much. appreciate it. up next, we are getting out of the beltway and heading down south as lawmakers take a bit of a break from capitol hill. but you know what, it's no vacation. garret is live at a town hall live in covington, louisiana. what have you got coming up? >> they are lined up around the block here with questions for this republican senator and a lot of folks i talked to say they want to give him a piece of their mind. that's next.

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so, in just a few minutes from now senator bill cassidy in louisiana will take questions at a town hall in his state. facing constituents back in their home state during this recess. in a joint appearance yesterday, throw in a little bit of shade on whether obamacare can be repealed fully by congress.

garret is at that town hall for us and former rnc chairman and friend of the show, michael steele is joining us, as well. garret, first to you. who is in the room, what are you hearing? give us a sense of the flavor down there? >> hallie, good morning from a hot and muggy southern louisiana today. there is a crowd forming out here over the last hour and a half or so. they're just starting to let folks in. but this is a very republican parish but only an hour fm n orleans which went about 80% for hillary clinton and those are the folks we're seeing in this line. i would say about 5-1. critics of senator cassidy who is a republican as opposed to supporters. a lot of folks driving in from new orleans and surrounding areas. they seem to have more that they want to say to senator cassidy than they want to hear from him. but i did ask one woman sort of what's on the agenda and what she wants to hear from the senator today. she was waiting in line.

take a listen. >> i would like for him to promise not to cut medicare, medicaid, to improve the trump care bill that's going in and to promise to impeach trump when the evidence is supplied. >> do you think you'll hear that today? >> oh, no. we didn't get any answers last meeting. all we got were deflection. >> and, so, to senator cassidy's credit, he has held a number of town halls this recess and previous recess. he's one working on his own health care bill in the senate and not part of the republican working bill on this issue. do expect health care to be topic number one. >> thank you very much, sir. michael, over to you. lots to talk about. i want to start with what congressman mark walker faced yesterday in north carolina.

listen. >> make sure we keep some sort of order here. >> my question is why. why were you proud of yourself for putting through the hca bill with and hurt 23 million people. how many constituents. why would you be proud of that? >> for 6 1/2 years fixes and adjustments made to obamacare. the truth is -- >> so, this has become a little bit of a story line over the last month or so. republicans on recess going back to these town halls and getting that kind of a reaction, michael. 44% of voters say they're less likely to vote if they end up voting for the health care proposal. how concerned are you? how deep generally is the concern right now in your party? >> the concern inside the party is real and it's palpable. you know, my concern is that they're too deaf, blind. you come to the american people with the lie that you're going to repeal or replace for seven or eight years now and you get

to that critical moment and you got bub ks. so the american people look at you and say, what are you saying to me? you go to the town hall and that's a deadly mix for a congressman when they're constituents. whether they are supportive or not supportive of the president. when their constituents look at them and go, you know, you're letting me down. that's a real concern for them and it should be. >> some chatter inside gop circle that people coming up to town halls, whatever, they're not republicans anyway. here as part of an organized effort. is that a productive response to what they're seeing in town halls? >> it's an honest response because it is factually true. it was noted in the piece before. the folks there were from louisiana who were, you know, 5-1 against. the district the congressman represents is largely a red

district. the town hall meetings are not necessarily indicative of exactly where that congressman may stand with his constituents in his district. not like 2010 where those town hall meetings were a lot of conservatives, as well as others who were fired up and charged up. >> shannon and sarah, we showed you her joint appearance with senator grassley and she told folks about obamacare, "you can't repeal it entirely." you have to have 60 votes and we don't have 60 votes at this point. what is the path that they're going to take over here on the hill? >> it's hard to know. the senate majority leader says he doesn't even know if they can get 50 votesreconciliation. republicans are kind of left to fight each of his or her individual battle at these town halls. >> each one is an island kind of thing. no unified agreement. there are some republicans who want to just apply even cosmetic

changes and leave it mostly as it even to people who want to totally dismantle the system and it's not clear where they're going to meet in the middle when they have to do this through budget reconciliation. >> they don't have a good, clear message. they need to get on offense. they need to have a product they're proud to sell and either members don't know what the product is, or they're not proud to sell it. it does curtail insurance for people. helps the deficit or fits in with their ideas philosophically. but they have to come up with a better message and a better product to sell. to the point of the town halls. i think from talking to gop, you probably don't have that much to worry. but four house members in smaller districts where things can be swayed a lot by turnout where turnout is normally small. even a small republican district. if you have more democrats turning out, that could sort of change that balance there for you. >> quick last word to you because the president suggested that republicans should do

health care and tax reform and 30 days before the recess. what say you? realistic? >> i think they lay health care aside for the moment and that is an opportunity for trump to be meage. the house and senate to be on message and republicans to finally talk about something in terms that they're more comfortable. >> msnbc political analyst michael steele, good to see you back, my friend. shannon and sarah are hanging out with me. coming up next, some of the palace intrigue white house staff shake up. with msnbc confirming some nuggets here. stick around. what's the best way to get

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trump is leaning towards getling out of the paris climate deal, but big flag, these sources areologist pointing out no final decision has been made. at least not yet. still not clear if the u.s. is going to pull out all the way, which could take years or get out of the u.n. treaty. in just a few hours looking at the other side of the aisle, hillary clinton will talk at a tech conference. other speakers include former microsoft steve balmer and sherry redstone.

how about this, have you heard about nasa officially announcing its first ever mission to "touch the sun." they're sending up this special space probe that will face big temperatures and orbiting within 4 million miles of the sun's surface. set to launch in the summer of 2018. help collect data to help improve forecasting, too. new details about some palace intrigue inside the white house. in just the past hour we learned former deputy campaign manager david bossey is leaning against joining the staff and that no final decision has been made. he was seen over the weekend holding some meetings here, presumably about this war room being developed to deal with the fallout from the russia investigation. the development follows this new from "new york times" today. trump weighs shakeup, he faces recruiting challenge. check out that by-line. peter baker chief correspondent from "the times" and back with me bloomberg's shannon

pettypiece and "washington examiner" sarah westwood. peter, let's start with you. typically in an administration you might have people lined up down pennsylvania avenue and what are you hearing from outside the administration about jumping in? >> yeah, there's a challenge here, obviously, what you have seen in the four months since he took office the president who is his own chief communicator and his own decider and resistant to advice. you know, that's a good thing from a political point of view in the sense that he has, you know, thrilled audiences of supporters over the last year and a half with his sort of unfiltered, unscripted, anti-political correctness kind of approach. but from the point of an adviser, it could be very frustrating. when they lost their communication director yesterday, who said he is stepping down, they checked in with four differenteople who might replace him all of whom said no. it's a real challenge for them to see if they can find epeople

who are willing to come in at this point. >> our reporting is indicating that the president is actively seeking advice in what would happen in a staff shakeup in some sort of move that would go up to chief of staff, reince priebus. people like gary koen and you have david leaning against coming to the white house. can you sort it out for us? do we have any clear indication of what is what or is it up to the president when he wants it? >> very up to the president. one thing we lurbed very clearly in the four months is this is very fluid. it changes from day to day and hour to hour even. just a few weeks ago we were speculating about the fate of steve bannon who was fighting with jared kushner, his son-in-law. today not only bannon not pushed out, seems to be as strong as ever. so, we ought to be careful on the sort of palace intrigue kind of analysis. but, they do matter. because it's not just about

personalities. it is about the approach of a president on major policies like the paris climate change treaty you were just talking about. not treaty of agreement. >> let's talk about that, right? one of the things we have discussed here is the idea of leaks in the administration. can they bring in anybody to stop the leaks? what do you do? how do you cut those off at the source? is it possible? >> you have a problem with lea antweets. as peter was alluding to this president is always going toe his own press secretary and always his own chief of staff and always be his own strategist and communication manager. it will take a strong personality and there are strong personalities who in the business world we have worked with donald trump, you know, who were able to say no and able to manage him. but that's a rare person. and whether that person, as peter is suggesting, wants to go in and put their career and their name on the line, there was a great quote in a buzz feed article last night where someone said it is like watching a horrific bungee jumping accident

and then asked someone if they want to go next. if you're outside, are you going to be the next person to step in those shoes and try to take on this president and these tweets and this administration? >> sarah? >> i think you're exactly right. had all these problems with leaks and we heard since almost day one that reince priebus is potentially on the bubble. we heard that a lot from the former campaign officials who were considered outsiders. now they're almost like the insiders. there's been potentially even some others that the white house has reached out to gauge their interest in joining this war room that is insiders and outsiders. it feels more real now that the outsiders are being brought back in and some of the inside rsz we're hearing from all over the place. not just the agitators that reince priebus is potentially on the bubble. >> peter, last word to you. not just inside the white house here. i had one source say to me this is not a government for the people, it is the government of

no people, essentially. not a lot of folks appointed to these key positions. how do you see that playing out? >> a lot of cabinet members are still basically one person left standing sort of "home alone" kind of situations. >> worst movie ever, but, yeah. >> i liked it. but any case rex tillerson might not like it. he's there by himself. they named a few nominees, but not very many. hard to -- people loyal to the president are not really in place. you're left dealing with career people who are, obviously, committed to the public service but not idelogically and politically in sync with you and hard to affect change that way. the president said maybe i don't need all these people. once you spend a little time in government it's important to realize that you have people who are, you know, your choices in some of these important positions. >> pet baker, will i see you over here at the briefing later today? >> yes, sir, yes, ma'am, absolutely. be there very soon.

it will be a fun one. >> thank you. shannon and sarah, ial make you stick around because we do have more to discuss. heading overseas to talk about foreign policy. hitting the key milestone and trying to protect the u.s. from an outside missile attack. we're headed live to the pentagon to show you more about this graphic that you are watching right now. stick around. the opioid my doctor prescribed for my chronic back pain backed me up-big time. before movantik, i tried to treat it myself. spent time, money. no go. but i didn't back down. i talked to my doctor. she said: one, movantik was specifically designed for opioid-induced constipation-oic- and can help you go more often. number two? with my savings card, i can get movantik for about the same price as the other things i tried. don't take movantik if you have a bowel blockage or a history of them. movantik may cause serious side effects including symptoms of opioid withdrawal, severe stomach pain and/or diarrhea,

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the pentagon's test missile test over the pacific ocean a critical milestone. check it out, right, during this test the u.s. launched a missile from the marshall islands aimed at waters right off california. then a missile killing interceptor was launched from vandenberg air force base and hit its target right over the pacific as we watch that unfold there. hans nickels is live at the pentagon. tell us why this is important. put this in perspective. it hasn't had the best track record. presumably more testing to come in. >> there is more testing to come. we just learned here at the pentagon next fall there will be an additional test and that test will differ from the one successfully conducted yesterday and there is a great deal of cheering here at the pentagon on how successful they think this direct hit is. what will be different next time is they'll send actually two interceptors and two so-called kill vehicles. still have one missile coming in. the missile they tested yesterday did have a decoy. we're trying to figure out more

about that. what it decoy aspect of it was. it was a couple thousand miles off the coast of california to the northeast of hawaii. which means it crossed the hawaii threshold. it also had been in the atmosphere. that is outside of the earth's surface. so we're learning more about this. here's the big question in all of this, though. a single missile headed from north korea. at the end of this year in the budget, they're asking to have enough funding for 44 missiles based in vandenberg. still a long ways away from being able to deal with multiple threats. hallie. >> anything from north korea, hans? >> i haven't seen it and normally i sort of north korean websites and have not seen a reaction from north korea on this. >> hans' late-night habits. >> they are quick and fast and a lot of times we learn from them first about a launch from north korea. >> totally right.

hans nichols keep an eye on that and report back. thank you, sir. back with me now sarah and shannon for international headlines. i want to stay overseas. some striking moments in the last 24 hours and one of them is what sean spicer said in his press conference, his press briefing yesterday when he was asked about the relationship with angela merkel. you haveinternational fallt ready yet the press secretary says the relationship is let me listen to describe it. >> i think the relationship that the president has had with merkel, he would describe as fairly unbelievable. they get along very well. he has a lot of respect for her. they continue to grow the bond that they had during their talks in the g-7. and he views not just germany as an important american ally. >> now that we're hearing this reporting that we're all sort of triangulating here that no final decision made on pairs and he's

looking to lean away from it. how is that going to impact the relationship with angela merkel, do you think? still fairly unbelievable? >> the comments she made over the weekend were in part based on the fact that president trump did not affirm the u.s. commitment at the g-7. if he was going to do that, the g-7 would have been a good time. so, i think that was the immediate catalyst. but some friction between the two of them. trump has openly cheered skeptics and president trump has called her refugee policies a disaster for germany. so, it's almost surprising that we haven't heard this kind of rhetoric from merkel earlier given how much we've seen, how much uncertainty president trump has created for the eu and for merkel herself. >> the president has tweeted about trade with germany. he's gone on sort of trade tirades before uagainst other countries. and today angela merkel is meeting with one of the leaders. how do you see that relationship evolving?

>> in january we all thought the trade war was with china or mexico and, instead, more likely with canada and germany based on the actions of this administration. going after canada early on and now going after automakers in germany. i mean, it only makes trying to figure out this administration's foreign policy more complex. in january, we probably would have thought the tensions of his first international trip would have been with the middle east. if he was going to do europe in the middle east, middle east would have been the hard part. europe breezed right through. instead, middle east, saudi arabia, went like a dream and europe where a lot of the hiccups are. everything has flipped on their head. here you have germany ready to fill the void and that speech by merkel saying, listen. if there is a void, we're ready to fill it and the same thing with china and asia. we're ready to fill in and be a leader in that region. >> guys, thank you for being here with me this morning.

much appreciate it. more to talk about, too. it is significant that the president is leaning towards getting out of the trade agreement. no final decision yet based on our reporting despite what else you might see. how that decision could play here at home after the break. [ music stops suddenly ] ah. when your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. awww. try this. for minor arthritis pain, only aleve can stop pain for up to 12 straight hours with just one pill. thank you. ♪ come on everybody. you can't quit, neither should your pain reliever. stay all day strong with 12 hour aleve. i know you worry i can't keep up with our weekly tee times. dear son, but i've been taking osteo bi-flex ease. it's 80% smaller but just as effective. which means you're in big trouble, son. improved joint comfort in seven days. osteo bi-flex ease. made to move.

>> hillary clinton and al gore support the paris deal, which will over $5 trillion. we're going to cancel the paris climate agreement. we will also cancel billions of dollars in climate change payments to the united nations. we will use that money to help rebuild america's infrastructure. >> it could not be more clear, right? that's president trump last year on the campaign trail, promising to -- you heard him -- cancel the paris climate agreement, though the majority of americans think some type of action on climate change should happen. ladies, thank you for being here. i want to talk about this. this is something we all knew was on the president's list of things he wanted to get done in his administration. he did, after the election, seem to step back a little bit, leave

the door open to maybe not pulling out. why do you think there is surprise, reports he might follow through on what he said? susan, i'll start with you. then crystal. >> he seemed to be putting out a lot of feelers out on this issue. there is some talk now that this was something that jared, his son-in-law, andpushing for, and be pushback against his son-in-law because he's not happy with him. he said it, so it was definitely an easy way of keeping a campaign promise and trying to change the subject from russia. >> crystal? >> the president said a lot of things on the campaign trail, and a lot of those things have not come to pass. he also pledged he wouldn't touch social security, medicare and medicaid. we've seen a difference in the direction since he's become president on that issue. he promised everybody would get health care coverage. obviously, that hasn't come to pass. ultimately, i can't say i'm completely shocked here. you just have no idea what this president is going to do on any

given day. it seems to depend on the last person he happened to speak with. so i think that, you know, we shouldn't be shocked, but you just never know with this president and his rhetoric on the trail hasn't matched up with what he's done as president. >> we've already seen some reaction from different ends of the political spectrum to the news he may follow through and pull out of the paris deal. earlier, it was called, quote, an abdication of american leadership. crystal, is that hitting the nail on the head, or is that overstating it a little bit? >> it's not overstating it, especially when you consider his other actions on the international stage. when you think about what angela merkel has just said, essentially saying, we can't rely on the u.s. anymore, we can't rely on britain anymore, they're not partners. this president has gone against the post world war ii and post cold war order of standing alongside liberal democracies. i think this pulling out of the climate treaty is another example of how america is really allowing other nations to lead

the forward in the world and not serving as good partners to our close european allies anymore. >> susan, you're shaking your head. >> at the same time, this is a voluntary agreement. he could have stayed in or not. it doesn't really matter. what is important is he is trying to change the conversation from the headlines that he doesn't like right now. i think that's why the story was leaked. >> i want to switch to another story coming out, which is the ap reporting that the president has been handing out his personal cell phone number to world leaders. that is typically not what happens diplomatically. why doesn't the president trust the people who are supposed to have these secure lines of communication? he's a guy who is used to business, used to the way business leaders deal with each other, which is to do this kind of thing. susan, concerned about this? >> yes, i am concerned. it is one thing to handle your business operations that way. maybe he's had a lot of success doing it that way. but now he's dealing with other

elected officials. so he can't just say, communicate on my terms. plus, there is a security issue there. as we know, they're not as secure lines as the normal means of communication. >> i mean, hallie, it e, it is outrageous when he ran his presidential campaign attacking hillary clinton for her handling of classified information. now he is going to go around handing out his cell phone and, in theory at least, having conversations with world leaders onlines that are not secure. i'm sure we can be confident this president is going to be very careful with classified information. it is not like he just spilled the beans to the russians because he felt like it in the oval office one time. >> maybe he'll start texting. >> is that car ssarcasm there? >> little bit. >> i want your take on the potential for maybe a shakeup, or at least the president looking for advice. listen, this is something the president has done often. he did it on the campaign trail. spitball around, asking folks

what they think about x, y or z. susan, from your perspective, you are plugged into the republican circles. what are you hearing from folks you talk to about olive branchs getting reach o to from the administration to come work? >> they are reaching out, but the calls are not being returned. there's a lot of people who are concerned now in joining an administration that really doesn't have their back. doesn't even have the self-control at the top. until the president starts showing some self-control, he will not be able to hire the people who can best serve him. >> susan, crystal, thank you both for joining me. >> thanks, halle. >> thank you, ladies. you know the time off, louisiana senator? it's started. one of many stories we're monitoring live. we'll have more in the next hour. frankly, more after the break. stick around. >> announcer: it's time for the your business entrepreneur of

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that wraps up another wild morning here from the north lawn of the white house. i'm hallie jackson and i'll will around all day long online, facebook, twitter, instagram and snapchat. say hello to my colleague, stephanie ruhle, who is back with more news. >> thank you, hallie jackson. on msnbc, we have breaking news. sources say president trump is leaning toward pulling out of

the paris climate accord. it would be the biggest act to undo former president obama's legacy on climate. i'll be speaking with the woman who advised president obama on the deal about what this should signal to the world. and the tweeter in chief. the president's late-night tweeting causing a covfefe. no laughing matter. comedienne kathy griffin apologizes for participating in a photo shoot of a mock beheading of president trump. the secret service is investigating. a deadly attack taking place. a suicide bomber targets the diplomatic quarter in kabul. 80 people killed. we'll tell you who is suspected in this tragic hit. good morning, everyone. i'm glad to be back with you. i'm stephanie rhule at our msnbc headquarters here in new york city. we've got to