i think there are people like me who -- i have not voted for a democrat for president since lyndon johnson. if you can believe that. so there are people like me who have been republicans for a long time but who may pull the lever this time for a democrat just in order to keep this president, who i believe is a real threat, an existential threat to democracy, out of the white house. >> thank you both for being with me. tonight the president set to head to france for the g-7 where the white house says he will push for russia to regain its seat at the table. but an important ally says not so fast. new polling shows the drum beat of crisis and outrage has kept the president's poll numbers remarkably consistent and consistently low for this period in his presidency. and our live interview here tonight with new jersey governor phil murphy about the water and

public health cries that has made life a struggle for thousands in the biggest city in his state. as "the 11th hour" gets under way on this busy thursday night. well, good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. on the eve of the president's departure for a major summit where the president and his often divisive rhetoric will be on display on the world stage. the g-7 meeting with it leaders of canada, u.k., france, germany, italy and japan. critics of this president have wandered aloud today if this gathering isn't already more of a g-6 given the disengagement of the u.s. of late, considering we're in a fight with denmark of late. they wondered aloud if this president will indeed be welcomed at the leader of the free world. for starters the president and russia are arguing russia ought

to be allowed back into the gathering. tonight "the washington post" reports, quote, trump has complained repeatedly to senior aides about having to attend, white house officials said. and he sees his planned meeting with britain's prime minister boris johnson considered a potential ally on the world stage as the only bright spot. the associated press reporting the summit will open with a discussion of the world economy and that according to the white house it was added, quote, at the last minute at trump's request. trump has praised the u.s. economy even amid alarming signs of something of a global slow down. did so again at the white house today. >> job numbers have been really good. we have unemployment at a level that it hasn't been at for many, many years. fantastic numbers. the economy has been really fantastic. if you look at the world economy, not so good. >> "the washington post" also

reporting that, quote, trump has publicly gloated about economic problems in china and europe but those strains appear to be holding back the u.s. and china as well. it's probably the most significant economic risk factor in the world right now said gene sperling who served as a top economic aide during the clinton and obama administration. trump's trade wars could worsen already tense relationships with american allies. the president's recent comments about russia and his scolding of denmark are also unlikely to promote unity. >> it's come up should we put russia back in. i think it would be a good thing if russia were there so we can speak directly, not have to speak, you know, by telephone and other things. harry truman had the idea of greenland, i had the idea, other people have had the idea. denmark is losing $700 million a

year with it. it doesn't do them any good. but all they had to do was say, no, we'd rather not do that or we'd rather not talk about it. don't say what an absurd idea that is. >> for the record, reuters reports france has all but ruled out any readmission of russia to the g-7 without some progress on ukraine peace talk. and you heard trump credit harry truman for the greenland idea but today republican senator tom cotton of arkansas said he suggested the idea to the president, even met with the danish ambassador to propose the sale. the ambassador was apparently taken aback. trump also managed to stir up more division here at home with comments on guns, immigration and pulling out the loyalty of jewish voters. >> we have a lot of -- we have a lot of background checks right now. you know, it's a slippery slope and actually your gun owners and

a lot of other people are concerned with. birthright citizenship where you have a baby in our land, you walk over the border, have a baby, congratulations the baby is now a u.s. citizen. we're looking at a very seriously. i think if you vote democrat you're very disloyal to israel and the jewish people. >> there's a u.s. poll that finds 36% of americans questioned approve of the way trump is habdling his job as president, 62% disapprove. and 35% say trump should be impeached and forced to leave office. notably almost twice as many, 59% disagree. almost 6 in 10 americans against it. as of tonight there are 130 house democrats and 1 independent. justin amash of michigan who say they support impeachment proceedings. now to this talk of possible primary challengers for this president.

there he is, but one as of now, former massachusetts governor bill weld announced his white house bid back in april. joe walsh, now a conservative radio host says he's considering a run. so is former south carolina congressman and governor mark sanford who himself was primaried by a pro-trump candidate, lost his seat. earlier today both men made the case for challenging trump. >> somebody's going to get in there and go after him. these are not conventional times. look at the guy in the white house. these are urgent times. somebody needs to make that case. i have yet to hear any potential republican make that case. >> i think that the more the merrier and it equates a more robust conversation that needs to take place frankly to improve the republican party. >> that brought about this prediction from a long time

republican strategist and trump critic. >> i think you have several primary opponents and i'm with that philosophy let 100 blossoms bloom when it comes to the primary. >> let's bring in our lead off discussion on a thursday night. nancy cook, jill colvin, and here in our new york studios tonight, former democratic senator from the state of missouri, claire mccaskill. and senator, you outrank the rest of us, so we'll begin with you here in new york. it seems to me this trip the president embarks on tomorrow night, one of those cases where like it or not -- and i know you don't like it one bit -- he speaks for all of us. he is america's president on the world stage. how do you think his colleagues, the leaders of other countries are being briefed on how to handle him this time around? >> probably to ignore him. >> really?

>> i don't think there's any upside in trying to go to the place where we've always been, that the american president has led the free world, has been a leader. he is not reliable. he loves to attack our allies and cozy up to the bad guys. this whole thing with putin, the notion that he's trying to say that it was because he outsmarted obama when it was because he did something on the world stage, putin, that has violated every principle of how countries should behave. he invaded a country and took over, and that's why he was kicked out. and that's why france and our other allies are saying, hey, we're not going to let him back in until they acknowledge that you can't behave that way. so i really think most of our allies are now thinking, well, let's see if america signs up for another term.

if they don't, then it's an aberration. if they do, then i think it changes the world order on a more permanent basis. >> let's put it another way, that title we toss around. we've always traditionally customarily called our presidents the leader of the free world, a very american thing to do. do you differ with that title where this guy is concerned? >> he's not the leader of the free world now. because he doesn't -- he can't build a coalition, brian, to take on china and russia. that's why they want him to win again. we need alliances again. we need countries who agree with the world view of democracy and freedom and freedom of press, freedom of religion.

all of the freedoms my republican colleagues used to wave around the senate chamber. what he's doing is he can't put that alliance together anymore. and who benefits from that? the two biggest beneficiaries of that china and russia. >> who is the leader of the free world? >> i don't think we have one right now? and by the way europe's a mess. this would be the moment for an american president to try to unify europe because of the strategic importance of europe to our national security. but instead of trying to unify europe he has been on a mission to bust up europe. and it makes no sense for our national security, but that's what he's done. so i don't think right now -- i think merkel would have been the leader of the free world if she were still there because of the strength of her tenure in office and her strategic mind, but now we have a new leader there. so i don't know that right now you can spot one person who's the leader of the free world. but we know who it isn't. it's not donald trump. >> i'll come back to this very

point in just a few minutes. hey, nancy, if this president if reports are true that he's been dreading the trip, if he's hoping not to go, what do they hope to get while there? anything? >> well, i talked to several senior administration officials today and i don't think they're very optimistic that the g-7 will really produce anything tangible. what's interesting to me they're going in this aggressive way to try to sell these european countries on what they call a pro-growth policy. and so they are going to sell them on tax cuts and deregulation and, you know, those sorts of things that the trump administration has done over the last few years. and they're sort of going to go in and aggressively say, you know, europe wouldn't be doing so poorly if they were following these policies. i think critics of that would say, you know, our deficit has really risen in the last few years since trump took office and, you know, the tax cuts were fine but they were sort of a one time shot of stimulus. and so i think some critics would take some issue with that.

but people i talked to say they're going in roaring with this message and i think that'll setup some potentially adversarial conversations. >> hey, jill, it happened again yesterday. such a fuselage of words and distractions. look over here, look over here. the president made legitimate news in his shouted 35 minutes of comments in front of the idling helicopter, but even we could not get our arms around all of it. and the following emerge from the haze to clarity today we'll talk about it on the other side. >> we're holding thousands of isis fighters right now, and europe has to take them. and if europe doesn't take them, i'll have no choice but to release them into the countries from which they came, which is germany and france and other places. so we're going to tell them and we've already told them, take these prisoners that we've captured because the united states is not going to put them in guantanamo for the next 50 years and pay for it.

>> so quick fact check here from the website defenseone. trump administration officials have emphasized the u.s. is not holding any captured isis fighters. the syrian democratic forces supported by the u.s. are currently holding 2,000 of them. but, jill, think about what that statement means to allies that you're about to break bread with. >> exactly. and look, this is pattern we have seen with the president again and again. it seems like whenever he's traveling to an allied country, whenever he's supposed to be meeting with a world leader that is ostensibly supposed to be america's closest friend he winds up sort of lobbing one of these grenades. we saw him do it to theresa may repeatedly, insulting her while he was in the air about to land,

about to greet her. it seems the closer he is to a country the more he sets up this adversarial tension before he arrives. i don't know if it's a power play that the president is doing here, if he's looking for some kind of distraction. we know that the president really doesn't enjoy especially this kind of trip, the kind that includes bilateral meeting after bilateral meeting, a lot of sort of pomp and him having to sit through dinners and sit through policy discussions. those just aren't the kind of interactions he enjoys. >> nancy, back to a point you were making about what the president has been saying about the economy. watching the air war against the notion, god forbid, of the economy going to hell in a hand basket, there's the democrats are pulling for it, that's one of their sets of reasoning. and there's what you mentioned saying, look, it's the world economy dragging us down. >> yeah, i mean there is some truth to that. there is a global economic slow down. germany is hurting, the european central bank. the president last week said the bank would cat interest rates by the end of the year.

part of the economic slow down in the u.s. is really self-inflicted and it's due with this trade standoff we've had with china. we haven't had that show up yet in things like consumer spending but i feel a lot of businesses are feeling economic uncertainty. and the white house is really unwilling to acknowledge that because it is a policy area that the president feels so strongly about and he feels he wants to be tough on china and he refuses to back down on that. but, you know, it is really something they'll have to explain and be on the defensive about over the next few months. >> jill, questioning the loyalty of jews has been something used in the past to kill jews. what do you think the president's underpinnings of his thinking is there? >> it seems from the supporters of the president i've spoken to, they feel that the president maybe didn't quite understand what he was saying there, the kind of loaded language that he was using and what he was attempting to do there is something the campaign is interested in, which is

potentially trying to peel off at least some jewish voters in places like florida, where if you could win over, you know, a couple of 1,000 people in certain counties by making the case the democratic party is moving in a direction away from supporting israel, that the president repeatedly has pointed to members of the democratic party, trying to elevate them as new progressive members as the face of the democratic party, sort of trying to scare moderates away from considering voting for a democrat instead of him. so the president's language also is intended it seems to resonate with evangelical and christian voters who have been quite supportive of him. policies like moving the embassy to jerusalem, those kind of policies he's implemented are interestingly enough actually more popular among christians and specifically evangelical christians than they are amongst

jews. even though the president has been very out there trying to put on a happy face and spin this positively, my sources in the white house have made very clear that they are concerned about this, that the president is deeply concerned about this. and that that's part of the reason why we've been seeing over the last two weeks or so the president really lash out in all these different directions. >> and finally, senator, you mentioned the russian goal. and they're frankly for very little expense doing a bang up job. do you in your former capacity as in the senate or just walking around you, do you look back at brexit as perhaps the first bit of soviet election experimentation that the world saw? >> yeah, in fact, when i was traveling in estonia several years ago the estonia people were telling us that putin was sending in propaganda. if they join nato, that nato soldiers could rape the women there without any consequences.

they were very aware of the games that were being played by putin to try to undermine democracies and undermine the west. and he's found a great buddy in this quest to do this by the name of donald trump. and talk about a primary, think about this for a minute, brian. the orthodoxy of the republican party has been blown up by this president. free trade, gone. fiscal conservatism, record deficits, and being a hawk as it relates to putin and russia and what they can do to our country if they are not checked. those are all gone. the notion that he's not getting a primary opponent tells you how far the republican party has gone from what used to be iron rock rib orthodoxy. >> and on that, our thanks to senator claire mccaskill, nancy cook, jill colvin for starting

us off this thursday night. coming up one trump biaugrf describes the president's recent behavior as unbridled unmanageable panic. that author coming up with us next. and later we've heard his pleas for help on the water crisis. our exclusive interview with the governor ophil murphy.

i am the chosen one. somebody had to do it, so i'm taking on china. i'm taking on china on trade. >> our next guest is shaking his head on those comments from the president. bloomberg opinion writer and our next guest tim o'brien writes

today, quote, you need a certain kind of appalling narcissism to be comfy promoting yourself as heaven sent in a televised press briefing and as a diety on twitter. he goes on the trump of the past few weeks is the same disordered figure the past several decades with i suspect a big dollop of something new in, unbridled and unmanageable panic. that perceived fear may be an an economic slow down. even as his aides warn of a business climate at risk of faltering the president has been portraying the economy as phenomenal. back with us tonight tim o'brien, executive editor of bloomberg opinion.

he also happens to be the author of "trump nation, the art of being the donald." the president really didn't like it the last time we had a conversation here, so what could go wrong? what do you see that is familiar in this tablo the last few days? >> it's always risky to say new yorkers know something the rest of the country doesn't, but new yorkers know who donald trump is. and anybody who's been in new york since the 1970s is very familiar with how donald trump rolls. free association, self-aggranddizement, self-preservation, nonlinear thinking. none of this is a surprise. and he's been insulated i think by wealth and celebrity from having to learn from his mistakes over the years. and he's just sort of perpetuted the same.

so i don't think donald trump without a lot of factual basis to what he's saying or even preparation because he prides himself on freelancing. >> isn't the problem here that people who get caught in this economic downturn will know it and feel it and suffer no matter what the verbiage coming out? >> that's totally true and i think that's what's ringing in the back of his mind now. i think when you looked up at the heavens and said he's the chosen one he's looking at his evangelical base. i don't think he's under any illusion he's the second coming, but i think he knows it's a useful political tool. and he's worried he's down in the polls, the federal deficit is slowing. most of the weakness in the

economy now is trade induced, of his own making. he can't blame it on the fed. and you're starting to see not only weakinous in job numbers but in the midwest, farmers in the midwest are angry right now. that messaging is not working with them. he's been out there with sunny purdue. >> in 30 seconds or less why the obama obsession, preoccupation, so many more references just yesterday? >> because i think that obamaa thentically pulled the country out of an economic crisis and he and his administration and the business community laid the foundation for the recovery that put the ind in trump's sales. he knows that in the back of his mind. if he gifts the country in a manageable deficit, job losses and wage downturns, he is going to look bad next to barack obama. i think he's profoundly aware of that, brian. >> as i said what could go wrong. our thank tuesday a frequent guest of ours, tim o'brien for joining us on this third night.

coming up the governor of the state of new jersey standing by to talk with us about a public health crisis in the largest city in the state. that's after this. they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again!

sleep number 360 smart bed. you can adjust your comfort on both sides your sleep number setting. can it help keep us asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. and snoring? no problem... and done. so you can really promise better sleep. not promise... prove. and now, all beds are on sale! save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus 0% interest for 24 months and free home delivery. ends saturday.

i've been to phil murphy's home, the governor's home. i've been there. if this was in his neighborhood they'd be digging up the streets now changing the pipes going in. to say to poor people, stand in the hot sun. to say to poor people you're going to get two cases with 24

bottles in it and i'll see you next week is really asinine and insulting. and you can say anything you want, but, governor, your action is speaking louder than your words. >> some tough words there. that was in this studio at this time last night. that was bishop jegt row james, one of the pastors of the new jersey state police. large portions of of newark, the largest city in the most densely populated state in our union remained without safe drinking water. thus far it's been the churches that have stepped up to solicit bottled water donations to replace the lead contaminated water that flows through the taps of about 15,000 households. governor phil murphy who joins us in a moment has not declared a state of emergency. there's no time when those lead pipes which brings the water from the street and into the homes will be torn up and replaced.

the city handed out filters, they didn't work, and two cases of bottled water every two weeks isn't enough for so many families. and thus far the people who qualify for bottled water have been told by and large they've got to come and get it. and for most that has meant long lines in the hot sun. so with us as promised on the broadcast tonight new jersey's democratic governor phil murphy. governor, first off thank you for seeing through your commitment and joining us tonight. and let's first off stipulate one thing. lead pipes and lead in newark's water predate your term in office. but with 15,000 households living 16 ounces at a time wondering every day where and how they're going to get clean water, why hasn't the state stepped in? why no distribution? why hasn't the national guard been called out? >> brian, it's good to be on. the state has stepped in a in a big way and i appreciate all the faith leaders, corporations and

others who have stepped up to offer water and contributed water. the state has stepped up for 75,000 cases. so the fact of the matter is water it being zriblted every day. in fact it's now four cases in four different locations in newark. there were no line-ups in the hot sun today. we checked at each of these locations. if you're disabled or elderly the water is coming to you. and, by the way, the bigger picture is lead service lines is not just a newark problem, it's not just a new jersey problem, it's an american problem. newark are many, many years was on a testing regime with the federal government and there was no evidence of lead exceedance. this began a couple of years ago and there had been a series of methodical steps newark has taken including a ten-year program to replace all the service lines of the state, changing chemicals to flush through the system which looks

like it'll have some positive outcomes. i hope sooner than later. as you mentioned, passing out filters. and all of the recent challenges have been based on three data points, three different households. each household saw the lead come down, but two of them didn't see it come down far enough. so in an abundance of caution we have gone aggressively to distributing bottled water, opening up testing to i believe many hundreds of different data points. and in particular for women who are pregnant, nursing, children under the age of 6, the elderly we ask only they use bottled water to cook, to drink. there's no bathing exposure. that's not an issue.

but many steps have been taken by newark. the state has been with them every step of the way and we will continue to be. >> you've got little kids growing up in newark being tested for lead exposure and in danger of brain damage on top of being born with just about every disadvantage we can name. do you believe this is public health crisis? >> it's a public health challenge for sure. i also want to make sure folks realize that for all the challenges, brian, you just outlined, newark is a city on the rise under a terrific mayor. and i think any insinuation we're dealing with newark differently than we would with any other community has no basis whatsoever in fact. i say up and down the state as newark goes so goes new jersey. whether it's dealing with this lead pipe challenge or the environment or public safety or education, whatever it may be. we also interestingly enough had a summit in essex county yesterday. you saw a rainbow of different dimensions in those communities. so this notion we're doing

something differently in newark than we wouldn't do elsewhere is completely basis. as newark goes, so goes new jersey. >> well, let me try that again. we're talking to you from middle town. you go down your driveway about 32 miles and i grew up what used to be the behind the shop right food market. so we share a town. my hometown, your current residence. are you telling me that the folks who are well-off in middle town would be waking up all of these mornings trying to have to scrounge for 16 ounces at a time of clean water for cooking and drinking and all of their daily needs the same as the folks in newark are? >> brian, i'm saying unequivocally we would handle middle town -- we had a summit about six months ago of

communities up and down the state with lead service line exposure. you have urban communities, suburban and rural communities. the notion of a ten-year program the state is supporting meaningfully to replace all the lead lines in newark is something we would do in other communities. the notion of switching chemicals, a key part of this is when the right chemicals run through the pipes they're prophylactic and prevents the lead from leaching. the other comment i would make is this is an american crisis. we have a big-water infrastructure crisis and we need the federal government to step up in a big way. our congressional delegation has been leading on this, but we need a national water infrastructure renaissance, and i hope that's one good result that comes from this. >> let's talk also about optics because optics can also speak for real life in this case. you've got churches who do take

it upon themselves to get water to folks and senior citizens high rises who can't afford water and can't come down in the elevator to get it. you've got flint, michigan, sending water to newark, new jersey, which can't look good for all the echoes of that water crisis. >> listen, flint's situation was a very different one with all due respect. we have to make sure we understand the facts here. the source of water in flint had lead exposure in it. that is not the case in new jersey. the puqualmic source has been deemed by the epa as being completely clean of lead. it's the lead service lines that are in the process of being replaced. if folks are having trouble figuring out how to get water please i beg of them to call 97367336303. it's a 1 stop show. and the city has in the past 24 hours increased the give outs of water to four cases of bottled water. remember this is just for cooking and drinking and it's

not for bathing. we're trying to balance an abundance of caution on the one hand while recognizing on the other, these are three data points. and we don't want to panic people beyond any natural reason to. we're now testing aggressively. i hope sooner than later, in the matter of a couple of weeks we'll have enough data points to draw conclusions. were the filters faulty, was it just those homes? draw conclusions. were the filters faulty, was it just those homes? is there a particular chemical we need to add into the mix, et cetera? i say to folks bear with us, that's the number to call and god willing we'll have a much clearer sense of the way forward in the next few weeks.

>> and that's your message to the people living 16 ounces at a time? >> it's not 16 ounces at a time, brian. it's four cases of water. and by the way, if you can't come physically to get the water -- and we checked all four distribution centers today. there were only small lines when the distribution centers opened. there was no meaningful lines or waits for people who come. there was none of this notion of people standing around the blocks waiting for the water. if that were to happen, we've got a lot more water and man power we can deploy. and as you can imagine we're not spiking any footballs here. we're monitoring this not just day to day but frankly hour-to-hour. and again if you can't get out to get water, if you're not sure whether or not your home is in a lead service hine, no problem. 973-733-6303. >> first of all, thank you for honoring your commitment and coming on. secondly lead pipes and lead water issue in new jersey

predated your time in office. yet this is a crisis that has been placed directly in your lap, and we appreciate you coming onto talk about it. the governor of the state of new jersey phil murphy joining us tonight from middle town. coming up for us as we continue, the reach of one american company and all of our daily lives in ways we don't realize. it happens to be a colossus in republican politics. the news tonight in a new book about the coke brothers. after this. if you have medicare, listen up.

medicare alone only covers 80% of your cost, leaving you to pay the rest. changes to medicare are no laughing matter. if you don't know the plans available now, you might end up with a doctor you're not so comfortable with, or even worse, being forced to pay thousands in medical expenses due to coverage limitations. that'll be how much? understanding all the options, let's face it, it can be downright confusing. that's why i love healthmarkets, your insurance marketplace. they search thousands of plans from leading insurance companies to find a plan that's right for you. plans that have prescription drug coverage, dental and vision care, and that offer extra benefits you may not even know were available. some plans may eliminate your out of pocket cost like copays and deductibles, and there's even plans with no monthly premium. they can find you a plan to let you keep your doctors. i know that's important for me. you may also qualify for special subsidies that lower your prescription drug costs. healthmarkets doesn't just work for one insurance company. they work to help you, and they do it all for free.

hi, i'm dr. thomas stackhouse. it's a new medicare year and that means more changes and more confusion. many people may worry about the high cost of medical care and prescription drugs. the key to maintaining your health and saving money on your healthcare cost is finding the right plan for you. don't go it alone. make sure to explore all of your options to find the right plan for your needs. having helped enroll people in millions of policies with an a plus customer satisfaction rating, you can trust healthmarkets. you can enroll today. call healthmarkets now for free help. it's easy to find the medicare plan that saves you money, so you can enjoy more of the things you love. call now to take advantage of this free service. now is the time to update your coverage or enroll for the first time. call healthmarkets now. call the number on your screen

call this number now. i'm guessing you have heard of the coke brothers, the billionaire siblings charles and david coke. the family business, and a political machine pouring big money into political causes. in his new book called kochland, christopher leonard notes how previlous their company has become. he writes the company has become embedded in the hidden fruct of

every day life. before we bring on the author we want to show you how our own ali velshi and a friend of his named jane chose to illustrate the reach of coke industries into our every day lives. >> meet jane, i want to follow jane, just a person as she interacts with coke products throughout it day. jane wakes up on a good nights sleep on a mattress made from a memory foam from vista one of cokes products. she grabs her work out shirt and yoga pants lulu lemon and both of them contain lycra, a material made by invista. then she gets her kids off to school, she make sure they take their backpacks which contain another invista product.

the paint on the outside of the belts running her engine are produced by srg global, guardian glass srg, both divisions another coke company. she works in a building with guardian glass and also hardwood floors made by georgia pacific, another brand. and after long day at the office jane heads to the grocery store to pick up some bread and corn. the wheat and grain on the corn of the cob were likely grown with fertilizer. and she returns to her house. her son is working on a computer with a usb hub mode by molex, a coke company. her daughter is listening to headphones padded with material. and she gets in her bed with that coke produced memory foam. >> thanks to ali. that is the reach of coke industries into our every day lives.

"the new york times" is calling this new book, kochland, among the new books written. the author joins us right after this. these folks, they don't have time to go to the post office they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again!

sleep number 360 smart bed. you can adjust your comfort on both sides - your sleep number setting. can it help us fall asleep faster? yes, by gently warming your feet.

but can it help keep us asleep? absolutely, it intelligently senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. so you can really promise better sleep. not promise... prove. and now, all beds are on sale! save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus 0% interest for 24 months and free home delivery. ends saturday

you saw the setup, and now as promised, the author of the new book "kochland", already a "new york times" best seller. business reporter christopher leonard with us tonight. christopher, we've seen big companies before and we've seen entities with huge political clout before. is it fair to say we have never seen a company this big with this much political clout before? >> well, i think that's absolutely fair to say. you saw in the introduction how deeply imbedded this firm is in everybody's lives.

and it is also one of the largest companies in the united states with annual sales larger than that of facebook, goldman sachs and u.s. steel combined. so, the corporation itself is massive, but the political network that is really run out of the ceo's office of koch industries is unlike any political network in the united states. over 40 years, charles koch has patiently built one of the most effective political lobbying machines in the country. it has one of the largest registered lobbying shops in the united states. it has a constellation of think tank that seed washington, d.c. with ideas. it has one of the largest donor networks in the nation. and then, finally, it has this army of volunteers and employees, if you will, called americans for prosperity, that can literally deliver voters to very specific targeted offices in washington, d.c.

so, i think this is fair to say this is unique in america. >> what do they make of donald trump and what's the short version of what he makes of them? >> well, the two networks are in tension with each other. charles koch has been patiently trying to make the republican party more libertarian. this has been a long-term project. charlts koch believes there's no good government program. donald trump has a completely different vision. we could call it america first, if you will. donald trump is not only willing, but sometimes eager to use dramatic government intervention, think trade wars, tariffs, tearing up trade deals, and the koch network really sees the trump revolution as a danger. and i think they know that if donald trump wins re-election he could redraw the priorities of the republican party for a generation. >> strikes me sitting here, i had surgery in a building donated by them, they do give away a ton of money to charity, we should note that. also strikes me, i'm sitting in

rockefeller center. is there a modern day parallel to the rockefellers, to andrew carnegie, to jeff bezos? >> there's a direct parallel. you know, reporting this book, it is amazing how history sort of repeop repeats itself. and we do live in an era of corporate power that we haven't seen in the united states since the early 1900s, when you had these barons like john rockefeller or andrew mellon. once again, we have seen wealth consolidated into the hands of a few individuals, and i think what's most important is that in the united states today, you could have a decade of economic growth but most americans don't advance economically during that time. the gains are captured by a handful of people like charles koch. a century ago, it was john rockefeller, but the structure is the same. >> thank you very much for coming on our broadcast and good luck with it. we'll follow the story and its progress.

we appreciate it. >> my pleasure. coming up for us, what we could not fit into this broadcast last night due to a flurry of words in front of an itling helicopter, but we found time for it tonight. we'll play it for you on the other side of this break.

last thing before we go tonight. so intense was the flurry of yesterday's words that a couple of things got by.

the president touched on so many topics during his shouted q&a with reporters in front of the helicopter, from calling himself to a chosen one to an anti-semitic loyalty trope to threatening a close american ally with the release of fictional terrorist prisoners. there was something else. the president talked again about how he was received after the shootings in dayton and el paso where, remember, in el paso, a member of congress there said the people there felt like they had targeted on their backs because the president had called them invaders. >> these people, the families and also the people that were so badly injured that i was with, they love our country. and frankly, you want to know the truth, they love their president.

and nobody wrote that. nobody wrote that, because you didn't write the truth. "new york times" doesn't like to write the truth. they love -- they totally love our country and they do love our president. so, when i went to dayton and when i went to el paso and i went into those hospitals, the love for me and me maybe as a representative of the country, but for me and my love for them was unparalleled. these are incredible people. but if you read the papers, you'd -- it was like nobody would meet with me. not only did they meet with me, they were pouring out of the rooms. the doctors were coming out of the operating room. there were hundreds and hundreds of people all over the floor. you couldn't even walk on it. so, you know, there's a lot -- there's a lot to happen. the people in dayton, let me just explain. people in dayton, people in el paso, these are incredible people. and those victims and the survivors and the families, i love those people. >> donald trump on how he was

received after the two massacres that left a death toll combined of 31. and with that, that is our broadcast for this thursday night. thank you so very much for being here with us. good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. headquarters here in new york. >> this morning, we are looking ahead to the g7 summit. president trump will meet with world leaders and encourage alliesag to be more like americ and newe warnings that advisor are telling president trump the economy will slow over the next year and the president thinks he can convince americans otherwise. brazil's president says the country lacks the resources to fight the flames. good morning, this friday, august