save the nra. the nra cannot survive without your help. as you well know, gun haters have tried for decades to destroy your gun rights. the nra cannot survive without your help. save the nra. contribute by phone. when they use lines like that to get gun owners to part with their hard-earned money, we now know what those membership dollars actually fund. and this is important whether or not you care about the nra. this is important for the country. because, i mean, once again, we're having another serious moment as a country where in revulsion after more mass shootings we're thinking seriously about the prospects for gun policy reform. we're heading into a presidential election season. there's a reason that democrats are feeling their oats. heading into a presidential election season, it is hard to ignore that such huge majorities of the public like 90 % majorities of the public actually do want something like universal background checks nationwide in order for anybody to be able to buy a gun. there have been recent reports that the nra and

i'm no longer an nra member. being right no longer feels righteous because in the wake of more mass shootings, agents of senseless violence that send innocent people running for their lives, leaving children orphaned and loved ones dead on the ground. we must do something about guns. we have a problem in this country and that problem is hate. one of the things we must do to begin to solve our hate problem is to put down our metaphor weapons, our defense, our special interests and be honest about the role that guns play in this culture of hate in america and the honest, simple answer is it's too many for too many sick people to get their hands on guns. people with the kind of hate in their hearts as the el paso and h dayton shooters, las vegas, san bernardino shooters are not going to be cured of their hate by taking away their guns, but we also don't need to hand them a killing device and 100 rounds of ammo and say please don't do anything bad. a kid who shows videos of mass killings on a first date and had a hat

kenny weakened nra leads to -- can a weakened nra lead to gun less -- lost? here is joel weber on tech -- loss? here is a joel weber on tech lash. >> there in the zeitgeist right now, tech lash, one of the words of the week. people outraged at tech and the privacy issues. when we thought about that, this image resonated more than any other with us. it was this image that a company , joel stein's story, he experimented with how to take back privacy in his own life and disable tech from encroaching in his world. he found a mask. the cover images creepy -- image is creepy. it is for facial recognition technology. it speaks to a larger thing. there is tech lash, in d.c. especially. that is a theme. antitrust is a theme. those things feel out of your domain as an individual. this cover is an attempt for us to say, you as an individual, what can you do in your daily life that will still have a modest consequence? asol: it is not so easy -- joel's story shows us, it is not so easy. >> he has been on gmail 15 years. the thing that is so part of his life. it's where h

. >> so the nra loves him but this isn't about the nra, he claims. >> this isn't a question of nra, republican or democrat. i will tell you i spoke to mitch mcconnell yesterday. he said i've been waiting for your call. he's totally on board. >> keeping help honest, he's not on board. he said he'll take up the issue and only after the summer recess perhaps because that's when acre over the ki -- anger over the killings may have calmed down. the president left for vacation to the hamptons and then tole h golf club in new jersey. he couldn't stop himself with an ode to himself. >> chuck schumer in particular loves my china policy, as you probably know. i said i can't believe it, you actually like something that i'm doing. he said not like, love. >> so much love from schumer and the people at dayton and el paso to rock star kind of love according to some in the administration, respect the office, love. flush with all that love, the president went on to say he's winning and winning big with china and the nice young letter kim jong un sent him. basically getting any legislation through divided congr

three letters, the nra. according to the post, trump spoke with the chief executive wayne la pierre and he told the president that expanding background checks, quote, would not be popular among trump supporters. so now what? joining us now is a "washington post" reporter behind the story, josh. tell us more about this call. >> so wayne la pierre, the head of the nra called the president on tuesday after the president seemed to publicly support some expanded background checks. nra officials had been in close touch with nick mulvaney, but wayne la pierre elevated it to the president. there's been a lot of people in the president's ear. lots of advisers, lots of friends from new york. kind of a various group of people. but the nra is particularly important inside the white house where many of the aides in fact are a little less liberal than

don't worry about the nra. they're on our side. half of you are so afraid of the nra. there's nothing to be afraid of. >> today's big question is this. will the president retreat on gun control this time as well? joining me to talk about this, white house correspondent hans nichols. political white house reporter gaby orr and aaron blake. hans, let me pick up on that last theme. the president said remarkably similar things about gun control last year after the parkland shooting. we had some of that in our montage that we played. in fact, here's the president in his own words again. it seems like we may not have that sound bite but it's similar to what we had in the montage that we played earlier talking about his support for the nra, the second amendment and his support for background checks. what is different this time around? >> kristin welker asked that very question to president trump on the lawn and the president responded with a simple word. he said time. now, he also seemed to suggest that the house has changed and that's true. now house democrats are in control

>> the president is never going to abandon the nra, chris. and so we have to act accordingly, and when the white house and when the senate. but we gave the nra the benefit of the doubt for too long, which is they had a perverse interpretation of the second amendment in he reality, carol's reporting has shown, it's worse, it's greed and gristing and perhaps the red flag if you will on this, should have been that the russians were funning the nra and they allowed it to happen anyway. there are no gun rights in russia. the fact that the nra would take all of that money shows it was about greed and mr. lapierre's hotel stays, trips and suits, i think they're on the ropes, what we should do is put our foot on the pedal and not just have future bans. we should have present bans, these weapons if you grandfather them in assault weapons and the magazines, they'll be around for decades when the public wants them all gone now. >> the nra did well in the obama years under a democratic president, the idea that the gun control was an adjacent threat to it

. >> this isn't about the nra. >> this isn't a question of nra, republican or democrat. i will tell you, i spoke to mitch mcconnell yesterday. he's totally on board. he said i've been waiting for your call. he's totally on board. >> and keeping them honest, he's not on board, not even a little. the senate majority leader said he'll take up the issue and only after the summer recess perhaps because that's when maybe anger over the killings in dayton el paso might have calmed when people might not pay such close attention. as for the president, he left town for his own summer vacation, the tahafr hamptons a president expressed optimism but couldn't stop digressing from the subject at hand to a note to himself. >> jump as you probably know. i said i can't believe it. you actually like something. he said not like, love. >> so much love for the president and his policies from schumer and people at dayton and el paso two rock star love according to some in the administration respect the office, love, flushed with that love, the president went on to say that he's quote winning

how does he plan to beat the nra? watch for that tomorrow afternoon right here on msnbc. >>> but next, why a former cia director just said trump is basically decapitating the intel community. so why treat your mouth any differently? listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99.9% of germs. try listerine® and for on-the-go, try listerine® ready! tabs™ stimulant laxatives forcefully stimulate i switched to miralax for my constipation. the nerves in your colon. miralax works with the water in your body to unblock your system naturally. and it doesn't cause bloating, cramping, gas, or sudden urgency. miralax. look for the pink cap. who used expedia to book the vacation rental which led to the discovery that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. expedia. everything you need to go. expedia. yof your daily routine.lf so why treat your mouth any differently? listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99.9% of germs.

the top nra executive signed a document promising the nra would contribute $6.5 million to the company for 99% ownership. according to a copy of the document reviewed by "the wall street journal". the plans eventually fell apart when the relationship soured. but that's not the only dodgy property deal. documents show he asked the nra to pay about $13800 to rent an apartment for a summer intern part of a 15 year history. ripped off nra members for the benefit of himself and those to him. according to internal document wayne spent over $270,000 of your money on clothing between 2004-2017. in two instances he spent almost $40000 in just one day. at this beverly hills branch of a luxury boutique and a new report revealed that tens of thousands of dollars of nra donor funds were used on flights and luxury hotel stays for hair and makeup artists for wayne's wife and they traveled with her for events because apparently those are the only two stylists in the whole country capable of doing the job. why shouldn't your nra dues paid for his wife's beauty entourage? what's that? because she's wort

tell us about the nra reaction after that. polly: one of the big things that happened after that is that a lot of corporate america very quickly chose to cut ties with the nra. that was very unique. the nra had a number of different corporate sponsorships. for example, if you were an nra member, you could get a discount on a flight or car rental. almost all of those relationships were severed. that was a huge difference in what we have seen before. it was a huge difference from what the nra had seen before. they were very used to staying quiet. maybe issuing a week on. by the time they were going to issue a statement, all of these companies had already said we are done with this group, we do not want to have anything to do with them. carol: what is also interesting is, didn't the former nra chief lobbyist, right, longtime powerbroker when it came to the nra and dealing with washington, he actually went to the white house and met with the president? polly: that's right. about two weeks after the attack, the president sat down w

and that's because of the success the nra has had in lobbying him. but it's not just the nra. there are also nra-aligned members of the administration who have had the president's ear who have been making this case, making the political case to the president against any of the new gun restrictions. >> guys, around this table, i have to say when trump first said after the shootings, background checks, we're going to do background checks this time. you saw a parade of trump friendlies go on television and say, this time the president really means it. i'm back to my comment on trump having no convictions. he means it this time. he's laying down the law and going to go against the nra. i want to play one now because as i watched it happen, i thought are you people idiots who are? because if you had seen the way he bailed on the parkland promises, if you have seen the way he speaks every year at the nra convention and things he says in that room, you know there was no way he would go against the nra. here's one of the people who went on television, one of the president's minions wh

the nra protection racket. they make it clear that they will support you for public office as a candidate if you toe the line. but if you depart from the nra script on any issue, they will support a primary challenge. they will come after you hard. >> even a little, if you depart a little bit, right? you still fundamentally, the second amendment is in the constitution but the idea you might want enhanced background checks like #90% of americans plus do that is a departure from the nra script which will cost you your support from the nra. >> well of course and what they say about the second amendment has nothing to do with the second amendment which talks about a well regulated militia. this is hardly a well regulated militia when any kind of kook can get ahold of a semiautomatic weapon and kill 20 people in a matter of seconds. this is not to do with the second amendment. this has to do with the nra's distortion of the second amendment. but we can fight this, in both political parties. in the republican party,

the nra endorsement -- the nra is in turmoil. they have a choice to make whether they will fight like a cornered badger or work with the president to get some sort of sensible changes enacted into law. the nra endorsement matters in republican primaries. the only thing bigger than second amendment support in the republican primaries is support from the president of the united states. support from president trump. if president trump gets out and is clear and consistent on the policy, we can see changes. >> but i go back to the point of what happened shortly after parkland. he did come out and say he supported background checks back then. here we are still reeling from two more mass shootings in this country. nothing happened. >> why believe the president this time? he didn't do anything when it was young students killed in their classroom. >> to a certain extent, triumph of hope over experience. the president is caught in between two political forces. he needs a massive turnout. strong second amendment supporters in order to recre

>> donald trump coddles the nra. donald trump loves the nra. he has no reason to be afraid of it because he sees them as an alley. >> let me show you all the things that donald trump has attributed this epidemic of gun violence to in his career. >> mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun. we must stop the glorification of violence in our society. this includes the gruesome and grizzly video games that are now commonplace. the bad guys aren't giving up their guns. and you're not going to be giving up your guns either. if we had guns in california on the other side where the bullets went into a different direction, you wouldn't have 14 or 15 people dead right now. if even in paris if they had guns on the other side going in the opposite direction, you wouldn't have 130 people plus dead. if they knew there were guns in the room it might not have happened. >> maria, where do you start? [ laughter ] >> when you have a presidential candidate that says i can shoot someone on fifth avenue and get away with it, he encompasses what viole

and in the meantime, he has cozied up to the nra. he's depending on the nra to dump a lot of money to help him get re-elected in 2020. you also have a congress that is full of -- especially republicans who believe that they need the nra and its supporters to get re-elected and, you know, that makes it very hard to actually get something done. but i will say, anderson, the most striking moment to me the last few days, was the moment where the governor of ohio went up there a day or two after the shooting in dayton and basically got shouted down by people of different backgrounds. i'm sure republicans and democrats, that shouted "do something." that resonates with a lot of americans right now. republican and democrat. 90% of whom support background checks. i don't believe people are going to just let it go. >> i want to ask you about reporting today by axios that trump campaign officials, some of them believe the democratic candidates calling the president a white supremacist, that that could help him win re-election. could it both emb

president. >> because you're afraid of the nra. >> who else is afraid of the nra, margaret? >> so you can see even in the tweet this morning from the president where he's saying he's going to talk to a variety of stake holders, including the nra to get their very important views. there's two ways to read that. he's either telling the nra brace yourselves, i'm getting ready to get behind gun control, or he's signaling that he's going to talk to the nra. we don't know until it happens. that's part of the strategic challenge for mcconnell and the senate republicans who feel that they want to do something on background checks, is the president going to hold their hand the whole way or are they going to get out in front and he takes two steps back. so that is part of the reason why it's been difficult to advance something that seems like a fairly moderate step. but the other part of the reason is that i think many of the republicans in office themselves are not sure, president aside, whether they will then face the primary challenge or in fact whether this legislation will accomp

. >> the last i checked, the nra has over 500 members. that's a tiny fraction of the number of people who is they want background checks. in fact, there is a lot of nra members who say i want good, safe gun culture, we should have background checks. so why does wayne lapierre keep winning these fights? >> because there is a belief inside the republican party, whether it's merited or not, that the nra is an organizing apparatus for republican politicians -- >> is it? >> not in an official way, but so many republicans i cover in congress, especially, stephanie, they say they can't trust the republican national committee to always get out the vote, they don't have union supporters in the same way some democratic politicians have union organizers working alongside them on the campaign trail. they need the nra as an organization to help get out the vote in some of these red states if they want to win. that's why they fear losing its support. >> but let's look at some math here. jeff, the parkland shooting took place in february of 2018. since

the nra and we learned the nra had been in touch with the white house. so if he changes course as a result, it wouldn't be the first time he did so after consulting with the nra. i want to add one other thing, brian. there is a lot of focus on the chronology of what happened during the trip. i thought maybe the most significant thing today was before the president even departed when he was asked about white supremacy in america, he again seemed to draw equivalence between racialism on the right and his view on the left. he actually didn't really make a strong effort to condemn white supremacy as a serious and growing problem in the country as many current and former law enforcement officials think it is. he suggested there is extreme mism on all sides as he did after charlottesville and, you know, i thought that was really striking and shows that on that score the president's remarks on monday, i think were more of an aberration than a sign of what he's really thinking and how he's going to proceed. >> indeed a drama playing out on the air at fox news wi

are you on the side of the nra? are you on the side of those families that are burying their loved ones tod? it is that raw of a choice. there is no in between. and unless we talk about it that way, and we start talking about it, well, we can do this and this and this, it is very good to have discussions about policy, figure out what will work. i'm glad to do that. but the policy things are right there on mitch mcconnell's door step. let's get them done. >> all right. well, you don't just have 30 seconds here, senator. you are welcome back any time. >> thank you, stephanie. i very much appreciate it. >> all right. senator amy klobuchar. coming up, president trump set to address the weekend's attacks in 30 minutes from now. but instead of being asked what action he plans to take, many are asking, did your words, mr. president, contribute to the carnage? e?e also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. from the da

but what's changed here and this will be a test for the nra as well, this organization is not the nra it was two or three years ago. they have had an enormous amount of internal turmoil. chris cox, their long-time top lobbyist is no longer part of this organization. we're having headline after headline over the problems that they're having. so i think it will be interesting to see if they really do have the muscle that they have had in the past or if they are internally distracted. you could see it playing either way, where does like this brings the organization back together again, but they saw real losses in 2018 in those midterm elections. >> in the suburban districts. >> absolutely receipt. the organization just is not as united ait's bes it's been in t. >> even though the president said he didn't talk this way after parkland, we'll pull up this clip after parkland sounding exactly like he sounds now. >> we're going to be very strong on background checks. we'll be doing very strong background checks. we want to be very powerful, very strong on background checks. we certainly have

but is the nra in jeopardiy. >> they are tap dancing thinking this means a weakened nra. the nra is happy to let them gloat and celebrate premature turl. all of the membership with supportive of the second amendment even when they are furz with the leadership appear many are. the idea you can count the nra out and say they are not a factor in the gun control debates or not a factor in the next election i think is a little premature. obviously we saw a sign of that today with the wayne lapierre phone call to president trump. >> could wayne lapierre be in jeopardiy. >> that is a good question. a lot of members would like to see new leadership at the top. he has done a good job of creating a board and leadership at the nra that will support him no matter what. making sure he gets rid of the people who won't. some of the previous board members we have seen depart left because any raised concerns about the way the nra was spending money and then they were stripped of all their committee responsibilities and said there is no place for me here. but wayne lapierre remains a power

the president, nra and congress. will the two mass shootings lead to new regulations or will the moment pass again? >>> and fund-raiser. the president met by protesters as he collects millions in campaign cash. details on what sparked the controversy. >>> democrats descending on iowa. the annual wing ding dinner bringing out the 2020 candidates as they battle it out to make it to the next debate stage. >>> but new this morning, a week after the deadliest mass shooting of 2019, activists will lead a march in el paso today. their demand, gun regulations now, and their main focus and criticism, the president's rhetoric. they say it's not helping. also new, authorities reveal the suspect in the el paso shooting confessed to targeting mexicans using an ak-47 assault rifle. and in a separate case, reflecting the ongoing threat of gun violence, the fbi announced the arrest of a 23-year-old man who was planning to attack synagogues and a gay bar. they say he had legal firearms and bomb-making materials and was promoting whit

. >>> the nra may be why. i'll talk about what happens now with the ground swell of momentum behind gun reform with two of the parkland shooting survivors now at the forefront of the movement. >>> also a hard sell. a team of female trump loyalists spreading out in key states looking to woo suburbans specifically but with a low approval rating, their job only going to get harder. >>> pushing the limits. the latest move by the trump administration that would keep migrant families detained even longer. we'll dig into that in a moment. >>> we start this hour waiting for president trump due to leave the white house any moment now. and if he talks to reporters, we may find out more on the president's thinking about his changing positions on changing this country's gun laws. tuesday the president appeared to be backing off, open to expanding background checks on gun buyers, the week after mass shootings after shootings in dayton and el paso, he seemed to be at odds with the nra. now with a conversation with the nra c

and in the meantime, he has cozied up to the nra. he's depending on the nra to dump a lot of money to help him get re-elected in 2020. you also have a congress that is full of -- especially republicans who believe that they need the nra and its supporters to get re-elected and, you know, that makes it very hard to actually get something done. but i will say, anderson, the most striking moment to me the last few days, was the moment where the governor of ohio went up there a day or two after the shooting in dayton and basically got shouted down by people of different backgrounds. i'm sure republicans and democrats, that shouted "do something." . th that resonates with a lot of americans right now. 90% of whom support background checks. i don't believe people are going to just let it go. >> i want to ask you about reporting today by axios that trump campaign officials, some of them believe the democratic candidates calling the president a white supremacist, that that could help him win re-election. could it both embolden his base and a

that's really -- >> are you talking about the nra here? i know you've written about the role of the nra and you feel that their influence on politicians is a big reason that gun control laws haven't been at a federal level. >> are you kidding me? the nra is educating -- >> they've had internal trouble. my question is do you think they're as powerful now as they were a few months ago and if not does that open a window, perhaps, for some political movement on this? >> no, i don't buy it at all. the fact that our president is more concerned about calling the head of the nra than reaching out to people that have been impacted by these shootings, that speaks -- they are controlling our government at this point. cyril, we don't live in a democracy in the last few ship and a tyranny governnd by the nra and other corporate congr s conglomerat conglomerates. >> you feel about this on the gun issue specifically? >> well, yeah, the gun issue specifically and other -- there are other issues in the country as well where corporate conglomerates as well,

>> i mean, look, the president himself is saying right now that he wants the nra at the table. he wants to listen to them. he wants their voice in this conversation. at the same time, though, the nra itself has been undergoing a great deal of changes and has, it seems, lost some of its power. >> are they as powerful as they used to be? >> well, it's changing. it's tarting to look like they may be losing some of their power on capitol hill as more of these shootings happen. there is less sway they seem to have. this particular episode might be the big test and indicate they're the nra does not have as much sway among lawmakers as they used to. >> also, you say the winds might be shifting in congress. and mitch mcconnell, the senate leader, did say well, we're going have a debate. we're going to have a debate next month. so he's not bringing people out of recess. he's not bringing people back to talk about this, much less vote on it now. he just says we will talk about it in a month's time or so. >> that's why skeptics of immediate gun legislation are given pause here, because we

donald trump got $30 million from the nra. he serves the nra. he came out and said they are very strong backers of mine. they are very strong backers. they gave me money and i did what they wanted. that is called a swamp. allowing all of these mass shootings to happen over and over. >> that is ridiculous. >> here is what we know as a matter of fact. twice he said he wanted background checks. twice he talked to the nra. twice it changed. it is on him. information sharing matters. covering the transactions matter. red flag laws matter. it is not either or but about all of it. attacking it with an urgency that suggests you get how big the problem is. thank you. i appreciate you making the case as always. >> thank you. >> now we go to the other side of the ball. what about the democrats? we kind of looked deeper inside the poll. it is not just about the two-headed animal on the left of sanders and warren. i do not mean it as an insult. it is an insight. what about harris. what happened to kamala harris? what does it say about where that party is? th

i have a great relationship with the nra. i have a lot of respect for the people at the nra. i have already spoken to them on numerous occasions. numerous occasions. frankly, we need intelligent background checks. this is not a question of nra, republican, or democrat. i will tell you, i spoke to mitch mcconnell yesterday. he is totally on board. he said, i have been waiting for your call. he is totally on board. i spoke to senators, friends of mine, pretty hardline senators. when i say that, i say that in a positive way. hardline for the second amendment. they understand that we don't want insane people, mentally ill people, bad people, dangerous people, we don't want guns in the hands of the wrong people. i think the republicans are going to be great and lead the charge, along with the democrats. i spoke yesterday to nancy pelosi. we had a great talk. i spoke to chuck schumer. we had a great talk. chuck schumer in particular loves my china policy, as you probably know. i said i can't believe you actually like something i'm doing. he said not like, love. chuck schumer is gre

we are beating the nra. they weigare warer than they'ver been and we're stronger than we've ever been. >> the nra said -- ed. >> the nra opposed us at every single turn over the last almost seven years. red flag law, this is a law that allows families or police to petition a judge for a contemporary restraining order if someone is armed or dangerous. there are 17 in place. 12 passed since the shooting in parkland. nra opposed every single one of them. >> this is untrue in your position it is the nra's long standing position that anyone who's been adjudicated of danger should be denied access of firearms? >> then why would they oppose bill that's would keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people? >> shannon watts, thank you very much for joining us. >>> and tonight tune in for a special report called "a nation in crisis." brian williams, rachel maddow will take a hard look at gun violence and hatred in america, only on msnbc. as we head to the break, a look at the names of the people killed in the violent

i know the power of the nra. i've had a lifetime with the nra and in my political career i know they've spent a lot of money against me. i know they attack politicians like me. and i know that my republican colleagues that are supported by the nra know that. and i don't know that they lack courage, but they certainly have shown no sign of standing up to the gun lobby and i don't know what to say to that question about what the chances are. i just hope that public officials will do their job and their job is to stand with the american people and stand up for public health and public safety in a better society. and as i said, i will say again, how important it is that mitch mcconnell call the senate back on monday. we could pass the background check bill in an afternoon and people could get back on a plane and go back to their homes and their children and grandchildren and whatever else they're doing in august in the evening. we could do it that fast and we would all then -- we do a resounding vote and the presiden

the nra background checks are off the table. we have reaction from a senator and a deep red state who's been personally lobbying the president to

and i thought whate said today talking about "i love the nra, the nra love me, but we may fall out over this" -- he didn't quite say that, he said at best they might be neutral on this, they are cing around. these are baby steps. we're not talking about oweeping refothe gun laws in the united states. we are about tightening background checks. but evenhawill face the ieth of opposition from the nra . wheard from the president today was someone who said i am prepared to take on the nra on this, but we have been herre be if you want to put a skeptical te on this come after parkland he said people are too afraid of the nra. the nra had dinner at the white house and he dropped his proposals. we will see what happens. nada: senate majority leader d mitch mcconnell has refu reconvene the senate and he says it will wait to vote on this. is there the risk that momentum fizzles out by then? jon: yes, there is, but i think the president saying what he said today has put his stamp on this as a proposal that ought to go forward. i think it would look weak -- i don't think people will forget in three

the nra got ahold of him. he doesn't have the political might right now to push back on the nra. democrats have actually won the culture war on guns, progressives have. they just haven't used it as the hammer, the political issue to actually become an electoral issue in recent cycles and i think that democrats are going to have to make that change and make that a realish yao you t i vote on to change the pattern of thoughts and prayers and no action. >> speaking of the culture wars and influence, jeremy, a little bit of a turn here because someone you've written about, david koch. we learned this morning he died. he is 79 years old and had been in ill health. talk a little bit about what his impact has been on modern american politics. >> so if you look at the grass roots movement, the energy on the right that helped fuel president trump's rise, the apparatus, the machinery, the money that the koch brothers devoted to american politics really helped give that energy kind of an architecture and infrastructure to come about and make political change. what i don't think they expecte

this isn't a question of nra, republican or democrat. i will tell you i spoke to mitch mcconnell yesterday. he's totally on board. >> cnn's kaitlan collins is live at the white house. what do we know about any further action the president may be considering? >> reporter: well, the president says that the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell is totally on board but he doesn't say exactly with what and we know that despite a radio interview yesterday where mcconnell said the senate would consider some kind of new legislation potentially as you noted when they get back from their vacation, he did say any specific legislation he was going to endorse and his office came out after the president made those remarks and made clear that he has not endorsed any legislation yet on that. so the president says they've got this tremendous support from congressional lawmakers, not just democrats, including republicans, but we should note there are less than a handful of republicans who are on the record supporting any kind of specific legislation rela

i have a great relationship with the nra. i have a lot of respect for the people at the nra. i have already spoken to them on numerous occasions. numerous occasions. frankly, we need intelligent background checks. this is not a question of nra, republican or democrat. i spoke to mitch mcconnell yesterday. he is totally on board. he said, i have been waiting for your call. he is totally on board. i spoke to senators, friends of mine, pretty hardline senators. when i say that i say that in a positive way. hardliners for the second amendment. they understand that we don't want insane people, mentally ill people, bad people, dangerous people, we don't want guns in the hands of the wrong people. i think the republicans are going to be great and lead the charge, along with the democrats. i spoke yesterday to nancy pelosi. we had a great talk. i spoke to chuck schumer. we had a great talk. chuck schumer in particular loves my china policy, as you probably know. i said i can't believe you actually like something i'm doing. he said not like, love. chuck schumer is great on the china s

this was trump himself wanting to reach out to the head of the nra. so once they were connected, i am told by somebody briefed on the call who actually heard the tail end of it that trump was pretty unequivocal and not interested in pursuing expanded background checks and that instead he wanted to focus all of his energies now on focussing on funding for mental health reform, and prosecuting gun crimes across the country at the federal level. so as those clips you showed just, you know, revealed to your viewers, we've gone from parroting the idea the slippery slope argument is bad and very meaningful back ground checks are on the horizon to trump assuring wayne la pierre this is not something the group needs to worry about. >> he was telegraphing this i think yesterday on the tarmac where he was talking suddenly about, you know, there is a very strong background check already and now clearly then fascinated he was the one to reach out to wayne lapierre today. the white house is telling cnn background checks aren't off the table, which i mean, again, t

the president, the nra and congress. will the two mass shootings lead to new regulations or will the moment pass yet again. >> another day another north korean missile test, another letter from kim jong-un as well. making sense of the trump policy approach after this latest incident. >>> happening right now, growing outrage over the largest immigration raid in the state. 680 people arrested, half remain custody. yesterday president trump defended the raids as a possible deterrent. >> i want people to know that if they come in to the united states illegally they are getting out, they are going to be brought out. it serves as a very good deterrent. if people come in to our country illegally they are going out. >> child welfare service are grappling with children separated from their parents. i.c.e. officials say they did not notify child protective services because it might have tipped off the immigrants of their plans. >> new reporting from "the washington post" that a construction company with the trump organization has

voters that the nra can mobilize. and the second reason is fear. they are trapped between wanting to appeal to a broader audience, suburban women, for example, which would be delighted to get some real gun control and their hardcore base. for many of these people, certainly congressman and gerrymander districts but also some senators in red states, it's just too big a gamble for them. they might pick up some suburban women, but they can't afford to depress enthusiasm in those deep, deep red areas. so they are making a political calculation. i think what they're seeing what we're beginning to see is that political calculation has to change. we saw how suburban women turned out in droves. we saw 40 seats in the suburbs flip. so i think the more people who feel passionately about this issue, many of them moms, moms demand action. the harder it is going to be for those republicans to do nothing. many of them still-and certainly in the house they aren't going to do anything. but you may see a little bit of softness around

and that's something i just never associated with the nra. when i got my bolt actio action .22-caliber moss burg rifle from my dad along with an nra card when i was 12 years old, it was a wholesome organization. i think it's now become nothing more than a front for gun manufacturers, and i think it attracts a very dubious element of people who just see no limit to the amount of firepower that they need to protect themselves. >> you know, james, the white house is eyeing this proposal that would try to identify early warning signs of violent behavior in people with mental illness. so they're trying to shift the debate from guns and the availability of them to mental illness. but the reality is there are mental illness issues in every pocket of the world. but every pocket of the world does not have the mass shootings that the u.s. does. what is your reaction to that? >> so, christy, the available data we have, the fbi conduct at preincident indicator study between 2000 and 2013. they looked at about 160 mass shootings, and i believe they determ