. >> geoff bennett, thank you. >>> former president obama will be in southern california for candidates there, campaigning. let's go to nbc's steve patterson in anaheim, california, with more. steve, good morning. >> reporter: sheinelle, good morning. in just a few hours, the former president expected here in battleground orange county to fire up the democratic efforts to flip the house of representatives come november. but everybody is still talking about the searing speech from yesterday. for the first time since leaving office, former president barack obama unloading on the trump administration and the republican party. >> it did not start with donald trump. he is a symptom. not the cause. >> reporter: the former president's return to politics held in front of the crowd at the university of illinois friday delivering a direct attack on republicans in power. >> what happened to the republican party?

battle to keep this nomination, this confirmation process on the rails, andrea. >> geoff bennett, we will have to see how this plays out, because it may backfire against the president. thank you, and of course, the generals a s assembly as presid trump directed the fire and fury at iran. and he also promised more crippling sanctions against the regime. >> we cannot have the world's largest sponsor of r terrorism to possess the planet's most dangerous weapons. and also not weapons that can threaten america or threaten israel with annihilation, and to deliver a nuclear warhead to any city on earth. just can't do it. >> and in the 35 minute speech that started with a boast of america's wealth and unusual tone to say the least in the front of this world body, and listening to the response. >> my administration has accomplished morep that almost any administration in the history of our country. america's -- so true. i did not expect that reaction, but it is okay. [ laughter ] [ applause ] >> and that is the applause when it was finished, but joining me now is msnbc national correspondent

correspondent geoff bennett. aaron delmore. editor-in-chief bob cusack and jeff mason. jeff, we're going to to you at the white house. things seem to be heating up in i guess you could call it a frantic search in this who done it. give me a sense of what's happening at the white house. >> well, the white house and the president are on the defensive across multiple fronts. you got white house staffers still trying to do damage control over bob woodward's book that paints a picture of a chaotic west wing. and of course, this anonymous op-ed in "the new york times" serving up a scathing indictment of president trump. i've got to tell you, when you ask white house officials about this, alex, they often say, why are you so obsessed with this. but it's clear the president himself is still obsessed with finding the author, although we understand he is being counseled by senior staffers at the white house to let this pass. the concern is he's bringing more attention to the claims in the op-ed, which as we know, raises alarms about his fitness for office. and suggests there's a

let me turn to geoff bennett at the white house. tell me a bit more about president obama's strategy. steve mentioned he was speaking yesterday in illinois, at the university of illinois campus there, he attacked the current president directly. what can we expect over the next two months, geoff? >> reporter: we expect him to leave from california. he'll go to ohio and campaign for rick who is running for the democratic governor. and he'll do the same in pennsylvania. look, the president, former president, barack obama's advisers, had intended up to this point to really observe the tradition of giving president trump time and space to come into his full presidency. but you heard the former president obama just yesterday say that the stakes are too high to stay on the sidelines. what is interesting about this, you heard president trump say he was so bored by the speech he fell asleep, we have to say that's not entirely true. we have a team of people who looked into it and found when the obama speech started, the president was talking

and i want to bring in geoff bennett, who covers the white house for msnbc. we thought this was going to be a postpartisan postpresidency for president obama. >> his advisers said he was not going to pull any punches in the speech, and he certainly did not. look, president trump in coordination with the republican congress over the last almost two years has really worked to derail and dismantle key parts of the obama legacy. during that entire time, former president obama had remained silent. that's not unusual. that typically happens when administration changes hands and, you know, new presidents try to reverse key policies. but you heard president obama yesterday, former president obama, really go on this comprehensive denunciation of trumpian politics, president trump, and also the republican party. former president obama really ticked through the list, given trump's embrace of russia, not acknowledging they're an advocacy, the willing to play in the sand box with white nationalists. for those reasons and more you heard obama say the stakes are too high to

but i think it will continue to be an ongoing process for them. >> all right, geoff bennett, michael flynn has flipped. he's cooperating. michael cohen is cooperating. paul manafort is cooperating. matthew brought up the anonymous op-ed. you have the woodward book. is there anybody left the president can trust it. >> apparently not. once against the president is learning that loyalty has its limits. this development with manafort is only compounded by the fact that as you mentioned, it's not just manafort. it's mike flynn. it's michael cohen. it's rick gates. it's george papadopoulos. all of these people proving time and time again that there really is no witch hunt as the president keeps attesting. it's another huge issue for the president. >> this trust issue. we know that the president's stewing, and that's the thing. when he stews, unforced errors like conspiracy theories and puerto rico's death toll happen. >> right. this is, again, the worry of many republican candidates. not only do they have to think about the -- they have the economic environment they want to cheer. they als

we start this morning with nbc's geoff bennett. >> reporter: good morning. the hunt continues for the writer of the op-ed in "the new york times" over president trump's fitness for office. the president has been fuming since and he wants to know who wrote it and asking the attorney general to find out. this morning, president trump taking fresh aim at the anonymous senior administration official behind the bombshell "new york times" op-ed. mr. trump calling on attorney general jeff sessions to get involved. >> i would say jeff should be investigating who the author of that piece was, because i really believe it's national security. >> reporter: the white house immediately dialing back the president's remarks, insisting mr. trump isn't directing sessions to do anything. press secretary sarah sanders is telling nbc news he is concerned that someone is trying to undermine the executive branch and he wants it looked at. white house officials, when asked, couldn't identify any law that the unnamed author has broken in writing an op-ed critical of the president, b

we have geoff bennett with more >> reporter: theis morning, supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh is fhting back over allegations of sexual misconduct. saying i categorically deny this allegation. i did not do this back in high school or atytime. the incident in which allegedly took place more than 30 years ago. detailed in a letter given to top democrat dian feinstein weeks ago. reporting that kavanaugh and a male t friendpped a teenage girl in a bedroom during a high school party. kavanaugh allegedly got on top ofhe teenager and put a hand over herouth before she freed herself and left the room. that male friend denying that account to "the weekly standard." it is just absolutely nuts. ier n saw brett act that way. feinstein received the letter iy well before kavanaugh's hearings began. she only handed over the information to the fbi last we. the woman in question made it clear she did not want this information tbe public. the white house now pushing back. asting the move as a last-minute effort to derail the president's pick. senator orrin hatch blastin d i thocrats does not see f

. >> with us now, geoff bennett, katie benner, and two former u.s. attorneys, guy lewis and barbara katie, your paper surrendered th this -- your paper characterized this as surrender. help me understand. >> you have to recall paul manafort had already been found guilty in another court and he was going to trial again in the district of sclum bcolumbia. he knew that you he could be in prison for a long time and if he were to lose the second trial, he would have very few options. the body was not giving him language that said that he was getting a pardon, so he had little choice but to start to cooperate. and he has close ties to russian oligarchs that are tied to the kremlin. he has an interesting perspective for prosecutors. and he has himself also information on other lobbyists that the government is going after including tony podesta and greg craig. >> want to dil dg into all of t. barbara, you were covering the first trial involving paul manafort in the eastern district of virginia. help me understand the timing. we were looking ahead to the next

. >> okay, geoff bennett. powerful reportering there. ted lieu everybody ises on the how judiciary and foreign affairs committees. what we heard kellyanne conway say, i paused when she said you have to take responsibility for your own actions. you have to be responsible for your own conduct, admitting that she herself is the victim of sexual assault. i don't know how to describe my reaction to that, but i didn't feel right with that. what's your reaction? >> thank you for your question. my heart goes out to all sexual assault victims and we have to reduce the number across america. i don't know about kellyanne conway's personal experiences, but this is a good educational moment for america where people are learning about it and why two thirds don't report and the cost of reporting. i hope the silver lining is we are more aware. >> what do you make of her arguments against brett kavanaugh are being conflated with other allegations, including those levelled against president trump. >> they are not being conflated. dr. ford gave compelling

. >>> geoff bennett joins us now live from shanksville. before speaking he and the first lady also listed the names of the 40 passengers and crew members. >> reporter: that's right, 40 names and 40 bell tolls to mark the 40 people passengers and crew who, let's not forget, sacrificed their own lives averting what could have been, what likely would have been a much greater tragedy just in terms of loss of life. the intended target of flight 93 is believed to have been the u.s. capitol. you heard there the president speaking really in a subdued tones reading from prepared text. he says they boarded as strangers speaking of the flight 93 passengers but entered eternity linked together as heroes. there was a moment towards the end of the speech that raised a few eyebrows. the president wove in what is now a campaign catch phrase. he spoke of radical islamic terrorism. the president's critics say when he talks like that he's suggesting that groups like isis speak for the entirety of the muslim faith. his supporters say if you're going to fight

. >> geoff bennett for us at the white house thank you. >>> i bring in eugene scott for "the washington post" and jeff mason white house correspondent for reuters. let's pull the lens back here and look at this. you have the national cathedral, rows and rows of pretty much everyone and anyone who is anything in d.c. and then as geoff just described, you have the president along with his white house chief of staff jon kelley at the memorial. president trump was the one left out, leaving those tweets for all of us to see. any insight on what's going through the president's mind? >> it was a message both to president trump and to the country about his desire for more bipartisanship and civility in washington, those were values that senator mccain pushed for really his entire political career, and he's been very frustrated and obviously there's been a fairly significant feud between him and the president since the president started running for office, and since he's been in office, and that was on display yesterday at that very, very lovely cathedral service, in which he asked two of his fo

we begin with geoff bennett. >> reporter: final honors for an american original. the late senator john mccain laid to rest where his life of service began, the u.s. naval academy in annapolis, maryland. an aerial salute by navy fighters in missing man formation. today's private ceremony capping a five-day national mourning, a week of emotional tributes to a man who rose above bitter partisanship. >> we gather here to mourn the passing of american greatness, the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly. >> reporter: senator lindsey graham, a mccain family friend, defending meghan's remarks widely seen as a rebuke of the president and hostility towards her father. >> if you say something bad about her dad you will know it. whether you are the janitor or the president of the united states. >> reporter: mccain the class of '58, admiral chuck larson. >> i want to watch the hawks hunt and then take a leave bound for a place next to chuck larson. >> reporter: larson reserved four plots before he died for himself

. >> joining me now is geoff bennett who has been following all of this from new york as the president participates at the u.n. general assembly. geoff. >> reporter: what we saw there from the president and when you combine that with what we saw from the senate majority leader, you can see a well coordinated intentionally choreographed strategy to defend brett kavanaugh and keep his nomination, his entire confirmation process, on the rails. you saw the majority leader cast these allegations as baseless claims. he is sticking to the strategy to you attack the process, democrats, you don't attack the a. accusers. however we saw president trump break free from that last week casting doubt on the claim made by blasey ford. the president believes he is right on the merits. according to a source, he believes that brett kavanaugh should defend himself against what he sees as baseless accusations. and it is also true that i'm told that white house officials realize that if they withdraw brett kavanaugh's to get somebody else new through. so right now, they are sticking with the guy they got an

geoff bennett at the white house. thank you very much. i want to bring in chief international diplomacy analyst. pay attention, michael. we're about to show you. >> i like that. >> michael steele. >> lexi, reporter for "axios." and aaron blake. thanks for paying attention, gang. what are the hot scoops? >> i'm trying to help you. >> i love that you are. thank you. listen, let's talk about some of what the president has to say. let me just also tell our audience here that we expect to hear from senator lindsey graham in a second, who wants to talk about this op-ed. garrett haake is talking with him on capitol hill right this second. we'll bring it to you as soon as we're able to dip into that. michael, let me start with you here. >> yeah. >> you heard what the president had to say. you heard him railing against this person very publicly, this administration official, who is as yet unnamed. how does this end up manifesting itself? >> that's what i was trying to help you on. >> thank you. tell me. >> i was coming prepared for the show. it ma

want to bring in geoff bennett who is live from the white house lawn. and tell us more about paul manafort's stunning past couple of days. >> paul manafort struck a plea deal yesterday that requires him to cooperate fully, truthfully, completely and forthrightly with investigators in any and all matters the government deems relevant. so the season of this cooperation agreement couldn't be any broader. it includes manafort being fully debriefed by prosecutor, handing over any relevant documents, testing at any proceedings and even participating in undercover work. and robert mueller and his team of investigators likely have a wide range of questions for manafort from his involvement in the infamous trump tower meeting where dirt on hillary clinton was promised to his knowledge of russian oligarchs. what we don't know yet is whether manafort has damaging information on donald trump. now, given the similar statements you just read from the white house and the president's outside legal team, you can see the message they are trying to sell, that the manafort

and geoff bennett, thanks to you as well. >>> former vice president biden was in pittsburgh today to march in the labor day parade. he spoke to nbc and had words of encouragement for democrats ahead of tomorrow's hearings. >> reporter: tomorrow is the beginning of the supreme court confirmation process. what is your advice to democrats about how to handle this going forward? >> stay in the room. demand answers. keep pointing out that you have -- they have not given the material that was expected of the committee. >> let's nichols, ben wittes, e in chief of the legal blog "lawfare." thank you both for being here. and mr. whitis, i want to start with you. you have worked with mr. kavanaugh over the years in different ways. what is your take on -- and you heard pete talk about the prep that would have gone into this -- how he is going to handle this coming week? >> so i think he will be extraordinarily well prepared, and there is sometimes a temptation on the part of senators to think particularly senate staffers that you are going to write the perfect question that's going to be someth

geoff bennett of the nbc news. mark landler of "new york times." and molly ball of "time" magazine. seung min, thank you for joining us. what drove this decision by senator flake, a decision that surprised hisle cues, surprised the country? >> i think what was so stark today is just this rapid change of momentu for the nomination which revolved around senator flake. senator flake issued a statement that he would take a yes. he had taken the night to digest this reting testimony from dr. ford and judge kavanaugh. he made it clear he had notade up hisind. he was showing so much kepticism about where he would land. he said whatever i decide and whatever we decide there's going to be a much doubt as there is certainty. so when he issued that statement, i was a little surprised that it was early. it was interesting and we figure, wow, that gives us the extra momentum that kavanaugh to needove forward with this nomination and advances out of the judiciary committee onke th committee vote. and then several other things happened. first, we saw that dramatic confrontation with two women who

nbc's geoff bennett reportswa i a fitting good-bye for an american maverick. r eporter: final honors for an american original. the laten enator johmccain laid to rest where his life of service began. the u.s. naval academy in annapolis, maryland. an aerial salute b navy fighters in missing man formation. day's private ceremony capping a five-day national mourning, a week of emotional tributes to a man whoose above bitter partisanship. >> we gather to mourn the passing of american greatness. the real ing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly.en >> reporter:or lindsey graham, a mccain family friend, today defending meghan's remas, widely seen as a pointed rebuke of the president and histy hostioward her father. >> if you say something bad about her dad, you will know it whete's the janitor or the president of the united states. >> reporter: at the naval academy cemery,ccain now resting alongside his best iend from the lass the '58, add mrl chuck larson. w >> it to watch the hawks among the sycamore and then take

and let's bring in geoff bennett. he joins us now from just outside the white house. okay, geoff, i've been talking about it for the last hour. just a few weeks ago the president tweeted his praise for paul manafort, specifically for refusing to in the president's words, break and get a deal. when andrew weissman gets up in court and calls paul manafort cooperating, that sure sounds like breaking and cutting deal. >> reporter: you're right about that. we're waiting to see what the president has to say about all of this. we just got a statement from the white house press secretary, sarah sanders. it reads this way. this had absolutely nothing to do with the president or his victorious 2016 presidential campaign. it is totally unrelated. what she's speaking to there of course is that the charges have to do with manafort's work before he voijoined the campaig. look, it's clear that the president hired someone, a campaign chairman, who according to the court documents who through at least up until 2016 was committing crimes, laundering money through, as the court document

bc's geoff bennett has more on that. >> reporter: sheinelle and harry, good morning. thexplosive report of the man in charge of the rsia investigation potentially puts his job on the line. now st look at what i being exposed in our department of justice and fbi. >> reporter: president trump lashing out at the fbi during the fri night campaign spot in missouri. hours after the new york times reported that deputy attorney general rod rosenstein discussed invoking t 25th amendment last spring. and rosenstein even suggested wearing a wire to secretly record conversations with president trump on at least two occasions. two justice department officials tell nbc news that rosenstein was being sarcastic. a person in the room for one of the meetings tells nbc he was serious. >> the prospect of a high level justice department official secretly recording the president in private, even in jest, that is something you do not see in past presidential history. >> reporter: rosenstein's remarks came after grew angry afterg the firf james comey. rosenstein this morning denying the expl

. >> let's bring in geoff bennett and elena plott. and andrew is our congressional reporter for the daily beast. jeff, that was that mood, i think it was a great way to start conversation here. and what you saw, everybody together, laughing, also crying here. but also remembering some of the a mamazing things about senator mccain. >> and made the more remarkable when senator mccain designed all of it. the ser vus was vice was as muc senator mccain and it was about all at things that make this country great. you heard from meghan mccain, george bush, barack obama, lif s up john mccain as the paragon of self sacrifice. and it wasn't just this notion that thinking that the past was a better time than the present. it really has to do with the fact that, yeah, our politics to a certain degree have always been divisive, but you didn't have the person occupying the oval office being the one really leading the anger, stirring the grievance. so here is a bit more of what former president obama had to say. >> i never saw john treat anyone diffe

. >> geoff bennett with us, covering msnbc news. there's some questions i have on this process. household names brett kavanaugh we all know. blasey ford is becoming known. garrett bentry we are getting to know how does it change the process. >> he's a 29-year-old outside press aide who was consulting with grasley senate judiciary committee helping to to respond this allegations against brett kavanaugh. he given the reporting from heidi, resigned today over past allegation of sexual harassment that he denies, nonetheless, created a problem with him to continue working with this committee. just another development adding to what had already been a stressful back drop to this, coloring the decision-making for christine blasey ford determine wlg she will appear next week or how. we have an acceptance from her attorney saying she will appear but we're waiting to see the details on it. >> kevin, you talk to members of the committee all the time, i want a sense of the republican members about the political pressure that they are under, the practifractures emerging as process continues.

joining me, geoff bennett and also eli stokeles. they are talking about a trade agreement between south korea and the u.s. they were also talking about the north koreian issue and what is going on there. it is all being overshadowed by what is happening can kavanaugh and what is not happening with rod rosenstein. >> that's right. and i think world leaders at this point as they try to work with this administration and this president, they have come to understand that this is at least domestically a presidency that is sort of in constant crisis. and also a president that is hard to rely on staying in one place for any given time. so i think that is the way that a lot of the other leaders, whether it is president moon or other people that the president will meet with, or those who will hear him speak tomorrow, that is how they come into the second jen general assembly is a lot of wariness with the approach. for a little while there was some hope that maybe they could work with this administration, that it wouldn't be quite so chaotic,

. >>> on the heels of that, let's go to geoff bennett. what are we hearing about this deadline 90 minutes from now? senate judiciary republicans are proposing a wednesday hearing. that's a day earlier than she has requested, as both sides are really stepping up pressure on each other. the reps who control the panel have so far rejected several -- including a request to recall other witnesses in addition to just her and brett kavanaugh. that's important, because it's not a he said/she said case. mark judge, whom ford said was present for the alleged attack. so at this point, i can tell you white house officials are watching and waiting ahead of this new 2:30 p.m. eastern deadline, as we all are to see if christine blasey ford will accepted the latest terms to testify at what would be a blockbuster confrontation with brett kavanaugh next week, and frankly we understand there are internal disagreements about whether to use an outside counsel to question ford. the image of 1 is republicans men on the judiciary committee grilling a woman at th

geoff bennett is standing by for us. the president has yet to comment on this at least today, but i understand you have new reporting on why that is. >> reporter: you're right, but i'm told the president is taking the advice of senior white house officials and top senate republicans who have urged the strategy of presidential restraint. president trump for the most part has really heeded their advice with a few glaring exceptions such as last week when he cast explicit doubt on dr. ford's credibility, but i'm told with the super can't this is where he does take the advice of others, so mostly silent, except for the tweet, where he talks about the fbi have aition, which he has now ordered. the president, kavanaugh's defenders make the point he's undergone six previous investigations, all of those turned up nothing. the expectations is the seventh one will turn up nothing as well. though i will flag that some legal experts could, if it chooses, in many ways determine the results of what the fbi finds by tightly controlling

for more on what they might hear, i'm joined by geoff bennett, pete williams and danny cevallos. geoff, let's start with you. there have been complaints from democrats for a while they are not getting all the information they want with respect to kavanaugh's time as staff secretary in the bush white house, but this request -- this denial of information is a new one orchestrated by this white house about george w. bush papers. >> right. and the lawyer who is handling the document review for former president george w. bush says explicitly that the former president instructed him to err on the side of transparency and disclosure, but when this attorney had conversations with the trump whouite house and tru justice department their thinking was they wanted to claim executive privilege and withhold these documents. so the reason why you hear people like dick durbin say they are only seeing about 6% of all the documents related to brett kavanaugh's service. we should say, though, that the white house counters that there are already somewhere in the neighborhood of 300,000 documents tha

i'm joined by geoff bennett, white house correspondent for nbc news. the former congressman dave jolley also joining us from. florida. geoff, what do you make of this back and forth, this latest dealings? they're saying, the republicans, if they don't respond by 10:00 tonight. >> yeah. >> they're going to vote on monday basically. >> it's a take it or leave it offer. look, we've already blown past one deadline which is 5:00 p.m. eastern. and the republican counteroffer at this point is to have this hearing on wednesday. to bring in outside counsel we understand that would question dr. ford alongside some of the other republican senators. but you saw there they agreed to meet her demands for security and things like that. but people close to dr. ford make the point that this is really a job interview for brett kavanaugh. it's not an interrogation or trial for dr. ford. they're really trying to limit that aspect of it. >> how about the gaming from the other side, from dr. ford? there is a lot of gamesmanship. she said she wants to have him speaking first

. >> geoff bennett, thank you from the white house. >> let's bring in michael avenatti, stormy daniels's lawyer, of course. i want to get the reaction for the president calling on a.g. sessions at least opining to investigate "the new york times," is there a scenario where that is legally possible? and also the process of administering lie detector tests to administration staffers? >> well, i think it's ridiculous. you know, it's more of the same from this petulant child of a president. you know, i hope the american people are paying attention, and i hope they are. what we have is president trump more interested in trying to find out the individual in his administration that wrote an op-ed piece, than he is, as it relates to getting to the bottom of the russia interference in our electoral process. i mean, the president is directing the attorney general and others within his staff, his administration, to expend valuable resources, taxpayer dollars, et cetera, to get to the bottom of this. which, frankly, it should be a minor issue to him, as opposed to russia and other very important iss

geoff bennett standing by his post at the white house for us. good sunday morning. let's get a sense of what is happening there on this sunday morning. >> reporter: good morning, alex. president trump is on the defensive across multiple fronts. white house staffers are trying to do damage control over bob woodward's new book that paints a picture of chaos in the west wing. then there's this anonymous op-ed in "the new york times" serving up a scathing indictment of president trump. add to all of that, former president barack obama back on the campaign trail criticizing trump while urging democrats to get out and vote. now, mr. obama is expected to campaign for democrats this fall in pennsylvania, ohio and illinois. but to kick things off yesterday with a rally in california. >> good to be back. i love you, too. >> reporter: former president barack obama in anaheim, california, headlining his first campaign rally of the 2018 midterms to help democrats take back the house. >> we have a chance to restore the sanity in our politics. >> reporter: president obama echoing

geoff bennett said earlier today that back in the 1970s, ron ziegler, nixon's press secretary, used to regularly lie to the press and later was called the press, said they were doing shabby journalism and later had to apologize when everything came out. bob woodward, let's listen to what he's saying. he's saying directly a lot of these people, based on his own experience, are feeling like this is something they're compelled to do. they've got to make these denials. >> and on this idea that woodburn said. it's profound. he said the truth emerges. donald trump is running from his own ugly truth. >> and everyone is more and more comfortable in sharing those truths now, right? we had fire and fury. then unhinged. now we have fear. and also, remember, omarosa said i'm not the only person who had tapes. everybody walked into the white house with a gopro and tape recorder. so, clearly, people are more and more comfortable because they recognize the public will believe them now. that's what this white house is worried about. not just that you have a certain number of leakers and people who con

let's go straight to the white house and nbc's geoff bennett. that is not all the president is tweeting about this morning. walk us through what he's saying about bob woodward's book. when president obama was in office, president trump tweeted out, please, the obama administration can't possibly try to go after woodward. fast forward, that is exactly what president trump is doing. >> you got that right, look, the president is dismissing and trying to discredit bob woodward just as he has every other person who's written bookings that purport to capture what happens behind the scenes here at the white house. the takeaway from bobwoodward's book is the president is unprepared, uninformed and unprincipled. you can understand then what accounts this new reaction from the president. he says this, the woodward book is a joke. just another assault against me, in a barrage of assaults. many have already come forward to say the quotes by them, like the book, are fiction. dems can't stand losing. then he writes this, appearing to quote the "today" show, i

pete williams and geoff bennett, thank you so much for starting us off today. appreciate it. >> sure. >>> keeping up appearances after a weekend's worth of calls for bipartisan cooperation as a way to honor the memory of john mccain, will the leaders from the senator's party listen? congressman peter king of new york joins us next. you're watching msnbc. stay with us. msnbc. stay with us to the junior prom with. he was a cutie! and if you go down, that's me, above him. you won best looking in your senior year of high school? somebody had to win it. my best high school moment was the day i walked across the stage. my dad...couldn't read real good, so, it was a milestone for me. ancestry now has over 300,000 yearbooks from all across the country. so go back to school with your family, and discover more of their stories. start searching for free at ancestry.com. >>> he was honorable. always recognizing that his opponents were still patriots and human beings. he loved freedom, with the passion of a man who knew its absence. he respected the dignity inhe t inherent

. >> nbc white house correspondent geoff bennett has more reaction from the president. jeff, with a good sunday morning to you. i know that you had a chance to speak to the president and ask several questions on this, so what all did he say? >> reporter: president trump said yesterday of the fbi they're going to do whatever they have to do. here is the thing, alex, i was part of a small nbc team that reported yesterday that the white house is limiting the scope of the fbi's investigation into sexual assault allegations leveled against brett kavanaugh. now, the "wall street journal" and "the new york times" also published similar stories yesterday. now, we saw the president refute our reporting in a tweet last night, but here is what we know and here is what we're standing by according to multiple sources. while the fbi will examine the allegations of christine blasey ford and deborah ramirez, the fbi has not been permitted by the white house to directly -- directly investigate the claims of julie swetnick who as you know accused kavanaugh of engaging at sexual misconduc

geoff bennett, what are we expecting to see from the white house? is this a lot of bluster or are these things happening behind the scenes? >> you know what's remarkable about listening to that? the president just the last hour on air force one said, yeah, i think we should change and strengthen our libel laws. it's fairly remarkable, those two things taken side by side. i would just say we have seen the president really crib messaging from lawmakers. so we heard what senator graham said in the halls of the capitol. expect the president to say something similar. i make that point because it was a couple of days ago, yesterday in fact, where we heard rand paul say this is an issue of national security. it's national security. if this person that wrote this op-ed shared with reporters intelligence secrets, this is a dangerous thing. just today the president said it's national security. it's national security. when pressed for details, he didn't offer them. >> and in terms of national security, what in that op-ed specifically was a problem for national

. >> you heard our colleague there geoff bennett asking some of those questions, stef. was also pressed on whether the white house could commit to that thursday time line. she was noncommittal. so much of the focus, particularly in the wake of that tweet i just read has been focused on the president's rhetoric as it relates to this issue, stef. >> i can't tell you how angry the president's statements that was just read makes me -- >> i actually could tell. you were exploding in your seat. >> i have, in my circle of friends, some experience where daughters have been -- not necessarily -- inappropriately handled, if you will. the parents never found out until they were informed by a third party. loving parents. that expression is horrid. it has nothing to do with whether or not a child who has just had an experience like this would, in fact, confide in her loving parents and then take it to the authorities. that happens rarely, if ever. >> to that exact point, you can take christine ford out of this. but when you think about the president of the united states and his judg

i want to bring in nbc's geoff bennett who has new reporting out today, nick confisori and katie fang. the president not happy with that portrayal and also not happy with interest with how this investigation is proceeding. >> reporter: that's right. in just the last few minutes the president fired off another tweet, this time he says, wow, just starting to hear the democrats who are only thinking obstruct and delay are starting to put out the word that the time and the scope of the fbi looking into judge kavanaugh and witnesses is not enough. hello? for them it will never be enough. stay tuned and watch. already today we've heard from top white house officials that they are not micromanaging the process, but that this reopened background check won't be a fishing expedition, either. here is what we know, the white house counsel's office has limited the scope of this investigation by issuing a witness list to the fbi. not on that list, david, is julie swetnick, the third kavanaugh accuser, nor are kavanaugh's former classmates, some of whom who provide a very different picture of his al

my colleague at the white house geoff bennett. >> reporter: good morning, kristen. george papadopoulos faces up to six months in jail after pleading guilty last year to lying to the fbi agents connected to the russia investigation. that is why in the court document he is pleading for lien ylie lieniency. papadopoulos is contradicting what attorney general jeff sessions said under both a proposed meeting with russian president vladimir putin. papadopoulos says sessions and donald trump apparently suppo supported his idea that trump meet with putin during the campaign. the white house has dismissed papadopoulos' testimony as disc dishone dishonest. >> the latest twist. geoff, thank you. >>> for the first time, we are hearing from the uber driver in florida who fatally shot another driver after threatened in the scene caught on camera. the sheriff calls it a classic case of stand your ground. we have tammy leitner with more on the story. tammy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it all started at this bar. an uber driver called to pick up a woman who had been dri

. >> thank you, geoff bennett at the united nations. we will be right back. don't forget that the past can speak to the future. ♪ ♪ i'm going to be your substitute teacher. don't assume the substitute teacher has nothing to offer... same goes for a neighborhood. don't forget that friendships last longer than any broadway run. mr. president. (laughing) don't settle for your first draft. or your 10th draft. ♪ ♪ you get to create the room where it happens. ♪ ♪ just don't think you have to do it alone. ♪ ♪ the powerful backing of american express. don't live life without it. so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, corded and cord-free. and fearlessly devours piles. not long ago, ronda started here. and then, more jobs began to appear. these techs in a lab. this builder in a hardhat... ...the welders and electricians who do all of that. the diner staffed up 'cause they all needed lunch. teachers...