looking forward to seeing her grandchild. and who doesn't really seem to understand why it is that she cannot come. like, the structural factors at play. >> right. and couldn't have been said any better, it is a grand moshlg who is not able to see her granddaughter. "washington post" james mccauley, thank you so much for joining us this hour. that does it for me on this hour of msnbc live. right now more news with my colleague craig medical skrin rig melvin here in studio. he's rattled, that is how one republican close to president trump reportedly described his mood amid concerns of an economic downturn as he faces the possibility of losing his greatest election advantage, the president once again lashing out and fanning the flames of a culture war. plus, thanks but no thanks as the president's culture war plays out overseas. israel reversing course after

announcing that they would in fact allow congresswoman tlaib to visit the west bank now saying no, she is not going to go. and, his own green new deal. president trump's interest in buying greenland generating a lot of reaction oversees. how that country is responding this morning. we'll get to that in just a moment. but we start this friday in the gap, the gap between those troubling signs in the economy and the picture that president trump tried to paint at his rally in manchester, new hampshire last night. the president on defense, perhaps unsurprisingly, considering many say it's a strong economy. that's the main reason they actually supported mr. trump lashing out against trade partners, lashing out against the fed. even blaming the press for wanting the economy to crater. but privately the president is rattled according to the "washington post" calling business and financial assessors to get their assessment on the economy. and also telling axios the

president may be running out of tools to boost the economy, adding that without the narrative on the economy, he can't win. >> you have no choice but to vote for me because your 401(k)s down the tubes, everything's going to be down the tubes. so whether you love me or hate me, you got to vote for me is. there anything better than a trump rally? >> no. >> what about a sleepy joe biden rally? our movement is built on love and it is. that guy's got a serious weight problem. go home, start exercising. a vote for any democrat in 2020 is a vote for the rise of radical socialism and destruction. the destruction of the american dream. >> joined now by nbc news white house correspondent kristen

welker, jennifer rueben who is a political analyst and former adviser to cnbc. kristen, let me start with news i understand just developing. we've gotten confirmation that the president actually phoned the gentleman that he was talking about there at the rally, the guy that he said needed to go home and exercise and lose some weight. what more can you tell us about this phone call from air force one? >> a senior administration official, craig, tells us that president trump did phone that man last night from air force one, turns out the person is actually a trump supporter. now, as you pointed out, he was making fun of his weight. senior official says, look, the president also made some self-deprecating remarks about his own weight. so it should be taken lightly. but, bottom line, he was fired up last night, craig, throwing out all sorts of red meat to the base that. was a part of it. jabbing protesters, that's one

of the things that he thinks really helps to energize his crowd. and then also talking about that other big issue, craig, the economy that you've been talking about. i thought it was notable. he said that voters had no choice but to vote for him because the economy would go into the tubes if he weren't re-elected, craig. >> kristen there is not a president that's known to apologize for a great deal. do we know whether he called the guy to apologize because he was genuinely sorry for saying that he was overweight or did he call the guy because he found out he was a supporter and not a heckler. >> probably a little bit of both, craig. i wouldn't be surprised if once the two actually connect the president makes the point i was gist makijust making light of t situation, i thought you were a protester, but thrilled to leisure actually a trump supporter. we haven't gotten confirmation that they have spoken because we know he left them a voicemail last night traveling home from

air force one. but this underscores, i think, president trump's campaign style, right? he's very in the moment. there's a little bit of performance art to all of this. and so you saw that on display last night, again each time a protester or whoever he thought was a protester was getting thrown out of the rally, he took a chance to use that to try to energize the crowd. and, of course, threw out other red meat to the crowd there as well talking about the economy and of course jabbing at democrats trying to paint them as socialists, a characterization of course that most democrats would reject. craig. >> jennifer, the president also choosing the granite state for this rally, a state he did not win the last time around. the vis the coming as this new fox news poll shows that mr. trump's nationwide disapproval rating now is at 56%. what do we know about what's happening behind the scenes? how worried is this white house about the economy? >> well, i think they're quite worried, at least the people who know what's going on.

but they dare not to do anything about it, they say, because they're afraid these plans would leak. so they're doing absolutely nothing. which gives you a sense of the circular convoluted thinking that goes on. the biggest threat to the economy, of course, is the trade war that he started. and though it's helpful that he pulled back on this next tranche of sanctions that would good into effect on primarily consumer goods, we still have the ongoing, never-ending trade war. and it has paralyzed business, it is affecting producers in the united states, manufacturers in the united states. so this is not going well. and it's funny you should bring up the polls. i encourage all your viewers whenever you look at these polls, look at the votes of white women, suburban women, college educated women. trump is tanking with all of those groups. and though it's not a totality of the reason, one of the reasons is what we just saw,

women hate this meanness, this bullying, this super macho routine. and he is personally offending and turn off american women. and it's not the white male, noncollege educated voter democrats have to scoop up, it's all of these women primarily in the suburbs just like they did in 2018 when they swept to a majority in the house. and these women hate this behavior. >> doug, "the new york times" also writing this about that new hampshire rally. quote, typically rambling, veering on and off script seemingly at random over an hour and a half. he repeated points that he already made earlier in the evening as if he did not remember already making them. doug, i watched a good chunk of this thing and i venture to guess that you did as well. were you surprised at all about what we saw and heard from the president in nancy peloew hamps

thursday night? >> no, it sounds like a typical trump speech. incoherent, rambling, divisive. that's what we have come to expect from the president, we shouldn't expect anything better from him. he said -- he said this line about how you don't have a choice. i don't know if he thinks he is in, you know, he is running north korea or he is like his friend kim jong-un where the people there don't have a choice. but the american people do have a choice. and they're going to look at his record and they're going to look at the democrats record. and i think you're seeing already in new hampshire a number of the democrats running beat trump head to head pretty -- with a pretty wide margin. nationally that fox news poll that you mentioned trump against a number of democrats doesn't -- he doesn't even get over -- he doesn't even get over 40%. so he's really struggling there. the same fox poll says that 60% of the country believe he's tearing this country apart. and so, look, you know, with the headwinds on the economy, you

know, a number of broken promises he's made to the american people on immigration, on infrastructure, on healthcare costs, he's got some serious issues heading into 2020. >> kristen, the president last night also alluding to this conspiracy surrounding his loss in new hampshire in 2016. here's what he said. >> new hampshire was taken away. it was taken away from us, but we should have. we did great in new hampshire. we should have won new hampshire. but that's okay. i'm not holding it against you because it was not your fault. >> president alleging voter fraud with no proof there. we know that he lost new hampshire by less than 3,000 votes. was that just, kristen, another way to try to gin up the base? >> it was, craig. and this is one of those talking points that i think he sees as a way to energize some of his core supporters. he's been talking about it ever since he won the election, the fact that he lost the popular vote trying to make the case that effectively it was stolen

from him. and of course there's absolutely no evidence pointing to that. but, yes, this is the president in campaign mode and throwing out those types of conspiracy theories. the question is, does it backfire in a state like new hampshire? as you rightfully point out, craig, he lost this state very narrowly in 2016. is this the path to win it in 2020? that remains unclear. >> doug, i want to go back to -- we just had the full screen up here and we'll put it back up and i'll read it for our listeners on sirius satellite radio. this is a poll showing the president versus potential 2020 matchups. matchups on the democratic side. again, this is a fox news poll. all of the contenders on the screen right now, if the election were held today, according to this fox news poll, they would beat the president. joe biden by 12 percentage point margin. are you surprised, doug, at all by these numbers? >> not really.

look, i think that it shows, one, that the president is very weak, that he doesn't have an economic message. he's been running -- ties entire campaign is based on fear. and it's based on painting democrats as socialists. it's not really aspirational. and for a president who does have an unemployment rate where it is today, which he inherited from president obama, the economy was really strong under obama, he has no aspirational message. he has no forward-looking message. i think people want hope and people want to feel good about this country and he's tearing them apart. what you're hearing from democrats is a different approach that they want to bring people together, that democrats want to invest in important priorities such as healthcare, the environment, the economy. and so it doesn't surprise me. and, again, i would be very concerned if i was the trump folks, not just because he's losing these head-to-head matchups, because he's under 40%. and that is really dangerous for an incumbent.

>> doug, thank you. kristen welker, big thanks to you as well. enjoy the weekend. jennifer, stay with me i want to talk to you about something else. >> thank you. partially backing down a day after bowing to pressure from president trump. israel saying it's going to allow the congresswoman tlaib to enter the west bank to see her ailing grandmother. she says she's not going. what her grandmother is saying about all of it. plus, as the democratic field narrows, new polling reveals a shift in the top tier that could present a new opportunity for some candidates. this as some are spending the day quoting black religious leaders. one of them set to speak, julian castro. he'll join me in just a few minutes. he'll join me in just a few minutes. ♪ ♪ applebee's handcrafted burgers

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the michigan congresswoman rashida tlaib telling israel no thanks after of that country's about-face on banning her and minnesota congresswoman ilhan omar. they said today that congresswoman tlaib will be allowed to enter israel to travel to the occupied west bank to visit her 90-year-old grand mother. congresswoman omar remains blocked from entering the country. congresswoman tlaib's response in a tweet this morning. silencing me and treating me like a criminal is not what she wants for me. it would kill a piece of me. i have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions stands against i believe in.

fighting against racism, oppression, and injustice. let's put this into perfective. jennifer are you again and ayman. ayman, i'll start with you. what do you make of the government's about-face and the congresswoman's response to is that about-face to not go? >> there's a few different ways to look at it. politically this could not have gone any worse for israel. if you didn't think that the israeli government wanted to give this story much attention, they could have let them in quietly. this probably would not have -- their visit would not have drawn the kind of media attention that it has. but you wake up this morning it's on the front pages of all the major news papers. people who are staunchly supportive of israel are condemning this. politically it's gone bad for israel. but it has exposed and given a glimpse to the international committee and the u.s. in what they have to do in making these choices. she said she couldn't visit had

grandmother, 90-year-old, she hasn't seen her in a decade because of the restritictions israel has put on her. she ultimately said she's not going to go because of these conditions, it shows you the dehumanization that many palestinians are posed with on a daily basis choosing between their basic rights and express themselves and having to choose their family under certain conditions and restrictions. >> for folks not familiar with the situation, why does israel have the final say or who travels to the west bank and gaza? can one not travel to those areas without israeli permission, especially a member of congress? >> absolutely not. the short answer is no. there's a possibility to go in through egypt. the egyptians don't do anything that they don't want them to do to do on the border though. anything that's going into the west bank and into the gaza strip at least from israel proper, that's the 77 line, has

to have the approval of the military and the upper echelon. so there's no way a sitting member of congress would be able to go there and see the reality on the ground for herself. >> jennifer, this political controversy, like a lot these days, started with the president tweeting, saying israel would seem weak if it allowed these two congresswomen to enter the israeli decision to bar the two members of congress coming within an hour of that tweet. and now this partial reversal, congresswoman tlaib's rejection of the offer. the foreign minister also responding via tweet a short time ago. what's your sense of all of this, jennifer? has it turned into an international crisis because of a trump tweet? >> i wouldn't say it's a crisis. i would call it a debacle. for the israeli prime minister to jump like a little lapdog, like a little poodle every time trump sends out a tweet is frankly embarrassing for a country that prides itself on

exercising its democratic rights, exercising its own autonomy. it makes israel look like it's critics claim, like it is not really a democracy, like it is not willing to listen to critics. it makes them seem like they are indifferent to the u.s./israeli relationship. these are members of congress of its closest allies and here they are giving them the back of the hand. they also saiet a terrible precedent because all kinds of countries will seek to exclude all kinds of congress people. and as far as trump, it's backfired for him as well. it takes a lot of doing to get groups like aipac, which was the principal lobbyist for u.s./jewish relationship -- or u.s./israeli relationship to get on the wrong side of israel and on the wrong side of donald trump and these things, but he

macked to managed to it. he has republicans criticizing it, democrats, so he just looks like again he doesn't know what he's doing. and secondly i think this is done some real damage to the u.s./israeli relationship in the long run. it depends upon bipartisanship. everyone knows that's what's essential to keeping that relationship and immense damage has been done to it. >> "the washington post" spoke to tlaib's grandmother. this is part of what she told the post a short time ago. i am proud of her. who wouldn't be proud of a granddaughter like that? i love her and am so proud of her. it's a highly visible case, ayman, but how typical is the separation of families living in the occupied west bank in gaza? >> oh, it's -- i can't imagine that there's a familiar that i does not have that separation. keep in mind you're not only talking about the west bank and gaza, you're talking about four

distinct territories. the west bank in east jerusalem. israel has a separation barrier there that makes it hard for families to go from east jeers to the west bank. but then you also have the palestinians who live inside israel who have relatives in the west bank. and sometimes because of the closures and the checkpoints it's a very complicated landscape. that's what the occupation is meant to be, it's a very complicated matrix. family divisions, family unifications always a pressing issue among palestinians. palestinians have a hard time getting back, the refugees have a hard time getting back to see their family members. and so congresswoman tlaib's case is an example of just one of many millions of palestinians and their inability to see family on a regular basis. >> thank you both. enjoy the weekend. is the elizabeth warren surge real? why the latest poll in the democratic field might be making even joe biden's team a little nervous this morning. and we'll go live to atlanta

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this morning vice president joe biden may be looking in his rear view mirror to see one particular went 20 contender gaining on him. there's a new fox news poll that shows elizabeth warren is picking up momentum. biden's still up with democratic voters. candidate of choice, 31% of voters support there. warren just 11 points behind them followed by bernie sanders, then senator kamala harris. at his rally last night, president trump seemed to make it clear that he's noticed warren's rising popularity. >> elizabeth warren [ booing ]. >> i did the polka hahn tas thing. i hit her really hard and it looked like she was down and out. but that was too long ago, i should have waited. but don't worry, we will revive it. it can be revived. it can be re -- right?

>> i'm joined now by leah, ceo of the democratic national committee and she's also at the inaugural black church presidential candidate series in atlanta this morning. with me on set here in new york, tiffany cross, cofounder and managing editor of the beat d.c. if you don't subscribe you should check it out. leah, i want to get your feedback on the event there in a moment. but you just heard the president there renewing his attacks on elizabeth warren. is that as good a sign as any that she is now being viewed as a serious threat on the campaign trail? >> i think it's the best sign. you know, the president is engaging in his usual politics of personal attacks and the fact that he's now set his sites on senator warren would seem to indicate that he is concerned about her rise and concerned about her candidacy. >> sanders there, as you saw flipping five points in the poll among democratic voters. in a hypothetical matchup, leah,

against president trump, he's got a pretty noteworthy lead. in fact all of the leading democratic contenders bested the sitting president in that fox news poll that we just showed a few moments ago. does that present a problem for joe biden who's argument from the start was if you want someone who can knock out donald trump you have to vote for me? >> you know, i think democrats and really americans of all walks of life are really ready for a change and ready to get rid of this -- this divisiveness and the rhetoric that our president is exhibiting every single day. so i think this is a case of vote blue no matter who. you know, every candidate has to put their best foot forward, be very intentional about their policies and about the practices that they are instituting in their campaigns and what they are presenting to the american people as options. people want a change. people want to feel that the american dream is within their reach and that they, you know, are involved in a community of

american citizens who are all striving for the same things. the president has been the exact opposite and so all our candidates have to do is present their best vision, present their best proposals, their best plans and i think any one of them as the polls showed this morning, can beat donald trump. >> stand by for me, leah, just moment. tiffany, what continues to fascinate me specifically, south carolina, in part because i'm from south carolina. >> yeah. >> but joe biden's support with black voters in the palmetto state right now, there's a poll out right now, he's leading by 30 points. 30 percentage points with black voters there specifically. how? how is -- how is -- when you've got a senator harris and krcory booker, how is it he's able to hold on to such a lead there? >> i think a lot of it is name recognition. but joe biden has deep roots in south carolina as you know.

he has a home there and vacationed there for years and he was the vice president to the first black president and so i think that does carry weight. and i think a lot of people who participate in these polls, specifically in south carolina, are older black voters. and so those folks do tend to have more of an antiquated outlook on politics and they think -- their idea of electability is not always in sync with the rising majority of the country. some of the younger voters. a lot of younger voters when they look at obama's presidency and the policies, it wasn't an anomaly for them, that's their floor. where it's some of the older voter ceilings. so they look at joe biden as somebody that could get something done. that's not necessarily true or false, there are other people in the field. let me just say quickly also, you talked about cory booker and kamala harris. listen, i think these are two great candidates but you do have to consider with kamala harris a lot of people assume that a lot of black voters, particularly black women voters would immediately fall under her camp. while she's a formidable contender in this race, think

about her background and her story. >> as a prosecutor? >> well, not just a prosecutor, but even her pedigree, so to speak. when she's talking to people about being a hvc graduate and belonging to the first black sorority, there are plenty of places in this world that you talk to people that are just like this and that doesn't connect. she's having to tell a different story. but she needs to introduce policy that speaks to some of the working class members of the glak community and the community at large, quite frankly. >> how do we explain cory booker's struggle with black women specifically? >> i think this senator booker we were both in miami for the national association of black journalists and i had the chance to interview him. i think one of his challenges is while people want to see someone on stage who can beat donald trump, they want to see a fight. cory booker has championed this message of love and love can conquer all. a lot of people, not just in the black community, but across the country know that wars are not won by love, they're won with fight. if you can't say unequiv vocally

and apologetically that this president say white premmist d supremacist, that will put a gap between you. but i think people want to seymour of a fight from him. >> five of the 2020 canned datsd are talking to black church leaders there, millennials today, tomorrow the conversation series, what do voters there in atlanta want to hear from these candidates? >> well, you know, we are gathered here, the young leaders conference 5,000 black church millennials to hear from these candidates. the five of the 20, as you've said. and what we're here do is to really judge the candidates or hear what they have to say about the issues that concern us from our particular viewpoint as people of faith, the values and the principles that guide us around how we care for our neighbor, welcome the stranger. so we're going to be talking about those issues. how are we feeding people? how are we clothing people?

how are we building community in this time and age when community is hard to find? and what about the issues, the pocketbook issues that affect so many, you know, student loan debt, agagentrification and ris healthcare. these are issues that are concerned to us because of our vantage point of faith, but we have a particular lens as black faith people who are disproportionately impacted by gun violence and overpolicing. that's what we want to hear the candidates address today and we're excited to have them here that the first of its kind forum. >> good tluk in atlanta, thank you. tiffany, stay with me. one of the contenders set to address that crowd in atlanta, former hud secretary julian castro. he'll join me after the break. also, completely ridiculous, that's one most responses from

deigni danish politicians for president trump buying greenland. that's ahead. greenland that's ahead i don't keep track of regrets.

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aens babies? castro slapping back saying hey, jack, reference to jack dorsey, i thought twitter was working to remove white supremacists from the platform? julian castro happens to be standing by for us this morning at the inaugural black church presidential candidate conversation series there in atlanta. secretary, thanks so much for being with me. thanks again for your time as always. first of all, why -- why bother responding to congressman king? what led you to even respond via twitter? >> >> because people have had enough of steve king. especially in light of what just happened in el paso and the wave of white nationalism that we see in our country. people need folks in congress, whether they're democrats or republicans, that are going to try to unite people. and there's been, with the exception maybe of donald trump, nobody that's tried to divide people more than steve king. and done it in such a bigoted

way. and he continues to do that. as you can imagine, craig, i've traveled now a lot around iowa, including in the fourth congressional district that steve king represents. and i'll tell you, people there have had enough. they don't see him as effective. they're embarrassed that a lot of people when they think about public servants in iowa they first think about steve king because he's been so bigoted it's. bizarre like those comments about rape and incest from the other day. so, you know, i just want to remind people, including the folks who run twitter, because i think our social media platforms have a role to play in what they allow and what they don't allow. remind people that if we're really going to come together as a country, we need to root out this kind of bigoted, extreme behavior, including by members of congress like steve king. >> you'll be speaking to a pretty critical constituents r

constituency today. what message do you most want to convey? >> i want a country where everyone counts. and particularly for young african americans today, too many do not get a first chance in life. we talk a lot about giving folks an effective second chance, but too many don't get an effective first chance. too many are going to failing schools, living in neighborhoods that have too often been neglected, that need more opportunity. and so during this entire campaign i've put out a vision for the future of our country where we make investments in education, in housing, in job opportunities and we have a tax code that invests in some of the most underserved communities in our country. and i'm going to be taking about that today. i also want people to know that i haven't been bashful about tackling issues that a lot of

other people in this race have not. for instance, police reform. because too often young black men especially, are mistreated by police. excessive force or lethal force is used on them. and so i've put out a whole platform on how we can increase transparency and account blabil in our police departments. i'm looking forward to the conversation today because it's an important one after we've had a president that is so focused only on the 37% of the country that he considers his base, the next president needs to be one that is focused on everybody. especially people who have left behind too oftentimes. >> secretary, as you're probably aware there's a new fox news poll that puts you in tenth place among democratic contenders in the 2020 race. you're polling at 1%. that is a -- that's a pretty deep deficit. what's your strategy to radically shift the dynamic? >> well, my strategy over the

next 12 days or so until the deadline to get into the september debate is to do everything that i can to travel into these early states and make sure that people know about the strong, compelling vision that i have for the future of the country, the kind of president that i would be. and yet one more poll, i need one more poll out there to get into the september and october debates. i believe we can do. once we get into the fall, we'll have a smaller field of candidates and i believe there's real opportunity there for people to start making more comparisons. one of the challenges right now is with 20 something candidates, i think a lot of people are sitting on the sidelines. they haven't made up their mind. you're probably going to see the numbers start to move as we get into november, december, january before the february 3rd iowa caucus and i want to be right there making the case. and i've been doing that for the last several months. we have gotten some good traction, more people coming to the events, our fund raising is

a lot stronger now. we're getting more media attention. it's going in the right direction i just need to make sure that we get into that debate and go from there. >> secretary, a lot of democrats have talked about the possibility of democrats taking back the white house. but still not controlling the senate. and how that would perhaps be some of what an exercise in futility to a certain extent. there have also been folks that said julian castro would make a great u.s. senator, perhaps he should run for that seat that john cornyn holds. have you reconsidered running for the senate seat in texas? >> i have not. i'm not going to run for senate. i'm running for president. my brother had thought about, joaquin, who's a congressman had thought about running for senate but decided not to. i do think that we have a strong field of people who are running in that democratic primary against john cornyn and that will have a good nominee that can beat john cornyn in 2020.

and so people should know that in texas you're going to have a democratic nominee will make that a very competitive race. but my experience is executive experience, including it think two candidate maybe, along with the vice president, that has federal executive experience. and so my direct experience is actually related to what i'm running for. as president you are a federal executive and that's what i was when i was secretary of housing and urban development. i see the role that i'm running for as consistent with my experience and that's why part of the reason why i'm in this race. >> julian castro there for us in atlanta, georgia. secretary, thanks for your time and good luck by the way there at the -- with the conversation. >> thank you. >> democrats are upping the ante in their investigations of president trump. the president's former campaign manager corey lewandowski has been subpoenaed. the house judiciary committee

wants him to testify next month about the president's efforts to, quote, obstruct the russia investigation. by nbc's count, this is the seventh subpoena this year by the house judiciary committee. i want to bring in ken delaney of nbc news national intelligence and security reporter. ken, first of all, what's this about and perhaps more importantly, will cory lewandowski even show up? >> there are strong signals that he may resist. he went on twitter and called this a sad and pathetic attempt harassment and his lawyers expressing skepticism about this subpoena. but it will be up to the courts to determine whether they will be forced to testify. that's something that's being litigated right now. as to what this is about, it's essentially about trump asking lewandowski to help squash robert mueller's russia investigation. and particularly this is what jerry nadler said it was about, he said these witnesses were involved in trump's extensive

efforts to obstruct the special counsel's investigation. they will help the committee determine whether to recommend articles of impeachment against the president. and then he added no one is b&f t above the law. there were some meetings in july of 2017 in which the president asked lewandowski to go to the attorney general, jeff session wlors had recused himself from the mueller investigation and to ask sessions to get back involved and to order all investigations into the trump campaign to stop and to order that the investigation only look at future russia interference. now, lewandowski never carried out that order and no charges have been filed regarding obstruction of justice in this matter. but members of congress believe that this amounts to obstruction and potentially an impeachable offense, craig. >> we'll leave it there. more to come. ken dilanian, thank you. not for sale, that's how greenland is responding to president trump's apparent from tr

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let's see, aleve is than tylenol extra strength. and last longer with fewer pills. so why am i still thinking about this? i'll take aleve. aleve. proven better on pain. should the united states buy greenland? more importantly can we buy greenland? nbc news has confirmed that president trump floated the idea of buying greenland, which is

part of the kingdom of denmark. "the wall street journal" adds in meetings, at dinners, mr. trump has asked advisers whether the u.s. can acquire greenland. and according to two of the people he's asked his white house counsel to look into the idea. well, the foreign ministry heard about the entire idea and tweeted back greenland is open for business, not for sale. let's bring in michael crowley, covering foreign policy. and back with us, tiffany cross, cofounder and managing editor of the beat. michael, was this for real? do you think they were considering buying greenland? >> you know, i think that in this administration, when people say there's no way they were seriously considering this, you know, we can't say no it's not possible. no one could possibly be serious about this. i mean, president trump goes to places no one has gone and, yeah, i think that -- look, i

don't think the process really formally started. "the washington post" is reporting some aides were tasked to find out more about it. this would be a long, involved process. it would involve congress and appropriating money. so i think it was in the earliest stages of seriousness, but i have to say, you know, i don't think it was just the president kind of making a joke at a dinner to crack people up. he thinks there could be potential here down the road and in fact, you know, something interesting i have learned from good coverage of this is that the united states government including specifically the truman administration has actually explored this idea before. so, you know, the more you learn about it, it seems a little less crazy but i have to say i don't see this happening any time soon. if ever. >> the truman administration reportedly at the time offered $100 million for greenland. we did buy alaska. i mean, this wouldn't completely unprecedented i guess, tiffany, but what does it say? what message does it send perhaps to our allies and our

foes even around the world about america's interests? >> you know, i'm a little concerned when i hear the descendants of colonizers taking land from indigenous people and we're talking about taking their autonomous land. remember trump talked about the white people that came here to the continent and tamed it. and that's a concern for the people there. this is something you know his supporters are like just blind followers of his and i wonder when this becomes a talking point of his on the campaign trail, can anybody at the maga rally point out greenland on a map? i would be very interested and curious to see or tell us what kind of government greenland is or who the indigenous people are. i highly doubt it. i think when you have a lack of understanding of global diplomacy, you can easily throw out these asinine ideas and have, you know, the sheep

following the wolf. >> but michael, this is -- do you think this is one of those situations where also we have heard that this happens in this white house from time to time with -- where the president will float an idea and the folks in the room listen to the president and they leave the room and they basically laugh about the idea and it's never followed up on. do you think this is one of those situations or do you think -- you know, the white house counsel actually made some calls and did some legitimate inquiry? >> here's what i think it's possible it was a little less than a total joke because the trump administration and national security officials predating the trump administration have taken a great interest in the arctic and the idea that there's a growing strategic great power competition in that icy, although increasingly melting and that's part of the story, part of the world. so the competition with china and with russia, china wanted to

build some airfields in greenland that defense secretary jim mattis was concerned about. i don't think mattis was saying we should buy greenland, but the reason i think people might, you know, kind of take a second thought and have a conversation about this is because it's not just like some big piece of land and no one knows where it is and it's all kind of ridiculous. there is this sort of strategic component. having said all that, again, i really don't think this is something that's likely to go forward. but greenland actually does have a strategic significance that makes it interesting to talk about. >> michael, thank you. tiffany cross, thank you. yes, greenland is that big. andrea mitchell will have much more on the back and forth with tlaib in the next hour. that's why we redesigned humira. we wanted to make the experience better for you. now there's less pain immediately following injection. we've reduced the size of the needle

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that wraps up this hour "msnbc live." and right now on "andrea mitchell reports," thanks, but no thanks. congresswoman rashida tlaib rejects israel's belated offer to visit her palestinian grandmother in the west bank. if she agreed not to talk politics. after president trump's unprecedented pressure campaign to stop tlaib and congresswoman ilhan omar. >> i'm not out there just having this kind of hate agenda. that's what he's doing. i have a policy agenda. a justice agenda. seeing green. president trump expresses