ben jacobs is an experienced, well-known reporter. i'll tell you just in terms of this building lots of people who work here at msnbc and at nbc know him particularly because he did a lot of campaign coverage over the past campaign cycle. in case you haven't heard this audio yet, i just want to play you the audio recording that ben jacobs says he was rolling on his own recorder when this incident happened tonight in n montana. this is pretty incredible. listen to this. >> the cbo score because you were waiting to make your decision about health care until you saw the bill and it just came out. >> we will talk to you about that later. >> but just curious -- >> speak with shane, please. i'm sick and tired of you guys -- it the last guy who came in here did the same thing. get the hell out of here. get the hell out of here. the last guy did the same thing. are you with "the guardian"? >> yes, and you broke my glasses. you just body slammed me and broke my glasses. >> get the hell out of here. >> you'd like me to get the hell out of here,

ben jacobs is an experienced, well-known reporter. i'll tell you just in terms of this building lots of people who work here at msnbc and at nbc know him particularly because he did a lot of campaign coverage over the past campaign cycle. in case you haven't heard this audio yet, i just want to play you the audio recording that ben jacobs says he was rolling on his own recorder when this incident happened tonight in montana. this is pretty incredible. listen to this. >> the cbo score because you were waiting to make your decision about health care until you saw the bill and it just came out. >> we will talk to you about that later. >> but just curious -- >> speak with shane, please. i'm sick and tired of you guys -- it the last guy who came in here did the same thing. get the hell out of here. get the hell out of here. the last guy did the same thing. are you with "the guardian"? >> yes, and you broke my glasses. you just body slammed me and broke my glasses. >> get the hell out of here. >> you'd like me to get the hell out of here, i

ben jacobs is an experienced, well-known reporter. i'll tell you just in terms of this building lots of people who work here at msnbc and at nbc know him

guardian reporter ben jacobs has been out in montana covering that race. and just after 7:00 eastern, jacobs tweeted the following. greg gianforte just body-slammed me and broke my glasses. ten minutes later, jacobs tweeted, there was a local tv crew there when gianforte body slammed me. audio is posting soon. naturally we reached out to jacobs, confirmed this was not a joke. we've also reached out to the gianforte campaign to get their version of events. we await a response. there were witnesses, however, and we have one of them on the phone right now. alexis levinson of buzzfeed was in bozeman and saw the confrontation. alexis, are you there? >> hey, i'm here. >> okay, alexis. what did you see? how did this go down? >> so ben and i drove over to this event. it's at the gianforte campaign headquarters. we walked in. it's a bunch of people making phone calls. we had both been requesting time with him. it was clear they were not psyched to give ben time and not entirely clear on why, but one of gianforte's aides indicated there was some sort of issue with s

we were the people who you could hear ben jacobs ask can i get your names? we were setting up to do an interview and arrived early to set up. we were in a room adjacent to a volunteer barbecue for his campaign that was about to happen and then he came in. we started talking and introduced himself and chitchat about bozeman in general when ben jacobson placed his recorder right up to him about here and started asking him questions about the cbo report on the republican healthcare bill and you heard what happened from there. i myself was standing about two feet d jacobs when it happened. there was a table in between. i saw the whole thing when he grabbed him by the neck both hands, slid him to the side. body slammed him and got on top of him and started punching and yelling at him and ben jacobs scrambled to his knees, grabbed his glasses and you heard him talk about his glasses being

it's not the montana way, and i'm sorry and i want to appall jsz to ben jacobs. so to john, didn't expect the apology. what did you think? >> i think it's the right thing to do. i said at the top of the show you should never put your hands on someone. if he can stick to that and the republicans in the heartland can stick to that message, it'll be just fine. >> i think it was a good thing to be able to say he was sorry and do it publicly and do it right away. but we're going to watch if he can be effective about the comments he made about balancing the budget. >> draining the swamp. >> draining the swamp. there's a lot of work to do to make that happen. >> stay with us. a lot more on our covage here on cnn. >> indeed. president donald trump met macron on thursday. and we'll have more on the awkward nato summit next. stay with us. hy. yet up 90% fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more. add one a day women's complete with key nutrients we may need. plus it supports bone health with calcium and vitamin d. one a day women's in gummies and ta

in the case of ben jacobs. if ben jacobs had been attacked by a democrat rather than a republican, i think ben jacobs would be the media darling of the right wing. he would be on every headline of breitbart, back-to-back coverage on fox news. because it is a republican, it's completely different. so everything seems very situation am. but this antagonistic relationship trump has with reporters, i don't think that's going away. i think the conservative base is going to continue to have that it's been like that for quite sometime. it's just stronger. >> it starts at the top, jason. starts at the top. this is donald trump who took some time out of his big boy trip abroad to make comments about gianforte. take a listen. going one step below that, less listen to the various republicans who refuse to reject gianforte even after he assaulted the reporter. had the head of the national republican campaign committees, the chair, said from what i know for greg gianforte, this is totally out of character. charlie dent sayi

someone noted, ben jacobs -- i will note this. we still don't have an answer from greg gianforte about what his response is. this is as we approach polls closing, he's managed to run out the clock here. they've been silent. the nrcc has been silent. everyone has been silent, and we still don't know what his reaction to the cbo scoring of the house health care bill is. you think we'll ever get an answer for that, ben? >> um, i -- we'll find out. for me, what he said was he'll make a determination and if he happens to be elected tonight, i'll be excited to ask him that question at the speaker's lobby when he gets to washington. >> people were posting photos today of what it looks like when you go to congress and you walk around capitol hill where people put microphones in your face all the time because that's part of the job. thank you all for being with me tonight. >>> coming up, the issue that started this whole story as erin was saying, a simple question about the cbo score of trumpcare. why republicans really don't want to talk

ben jacobs. we still alicia acuna on the phone. we seal, or reaction? >> >> we were waiting to hear something about last night. it was very straightforward. hearing from him and mentioning ben jacobs, discussing the fact and reaching out and offering apology. he has been for fox a long time. it was very rattling at the time. they were quite shaken. it was interesting to hear him up there, except the victory, except the results, but also he was somber. to a degree and his behavior. and offering his apology. people here, he heard it, i don't know if you could hear it, but they were telling him as he was saying this that they accepted his apology that he is forgiven and that they do want him to be a representation of who they are in d.c. patti and at the end, you also heard them say that they will not be moving to washington, d.c., that they will be traveling back and fort. >> it was interesting. as you noted, after he apologized specifically to ben jacobs, he also said i am sorry to each one of you. that is not the person i am, and that is not the way i w

ben jacobs. >> well, apology to ben jacobs. we'll see where this goes next. >> it was very much an unexpected apology. >> it was indeed. we'll continue to follow events in montana. but for the moment let's turn our attention to the president. donald trump spent time on thursday in brussels. he certainly made his presence known. first it appeared he pushed one of the prime minister's out of the way. >> and then there was the uncomfortable handshake, and finally a scolding chastising speech to nato allies, much of which seemed to come straight from his campaign play book. >> nato members must finally contribute their fair share and meet their financial obligations. but 23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they're supposed to be paying for their defense. this is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the united states. >> well, former l.a. city councilwoman wensy and you saw the pictures. the awkward handshake, what impression did the president create at the summit? >> well, this wa

someone noted, ben jacobs -- i will note this. we still don't have an answer from greg gianforte about what his response is. this is as we approach polls closing, he's managed to run out the clock here. they've been silent. the nrcc has been silent. everyone has been silent, and we still don't know what his reaction to the cbo scoring of the house health care bill is. you think we'll ever get an answer for that, ben? >> um, i -- we'll find out. for me, what he said was make a determination and if he happens to be elected tonight, i'll be excited to ask him that question at the speaker's lobby when he gets to washington. >> people were posting photos today of what it looks like when you go to congress and you walk around capitol hill where people put microphones in your face all the time because that's part of the job. thank you all for being with me tonight. >>> coming up, the issue that started this whole story as erin was saying, a simple question about the cbo score of trumpcare. why republicans really don't want to talk about

in the campaign they put out very quick to call ben jacobs a liberal reporter. take the parties off it, take the ideology off it. you listen to it right there. and if greg gianforte can't handle a reporter putting a tape recorder or a phone in his face, you're not going to like washington, dude. >> right. >> simple as that. so, in the end i mean you'll let the legal system sort it out but have a right to put your hands on anybody else. he wasn't putting his hands on you. keep your hands to yourself. >> and you have the witness account right there. once you started hearing the eyewitness accounts that's when you started hearing things change. we'll see what happens. >> did you see this? it is a, well, watch it, there it is a little presidential should have. did you see that? president trump pushed aside the prime minister of montenegro during the nato class photo today. >> a lot of people talking about this but i -- >> we'll talk about it a little bit on the other side. we have to go to break now. >> ♪ >> welcome back. fox's ron williams being honored area the

republican candidate gr greg gianforte assaultly assaulting guardian reporter ben jacobs. >> you were waiting to make your decision about health care until you saw the bill and it just came out. >> we'll talk about that later. >> yeah, but it's not gonna be time. i was just curious. >> speak with shame, please. i'm sick and tired of you guys. the last guy that came in you did the same thing. get the hell out of here. get the hell out of here. last guy did the same thing. you are with the guarden. >> you just broke my glasses. >> last guy did the same dam thing. >> you body slammed me and broke my glasses. >> get the hell out of here. >> you want me to get the hell out of here and i would like to call the police. can i get your names? >> hey, you got to leave. >> he body slammed me. >> you got to leave. >> that happened in the united states of america last night. msnbc's garret hake is live in bozeman. what is the candidate saying and how are people reacting? >> hey, saftephanie. it didn't just happen in america but in this campaign office last night. this is the last place, the last t

>> ben jacobs is a smart reporter. he was getting a question about a breaking news of the scoring of the health care bill. the audio tells the story. the campaign spin contradicts it, discounts it. it is a lie. it is an attempt to demonize jacobs as a liberal reporter. that speaks to the ugliness of what they are trying to tap into. the candidate flipped out to a question he did not feel comfortable answering. and the candidate, the republican candidate the night before election physical slammed ben jacobs to the ground, but started punching him. this is not behavior that is acceptable for any adult, let alone representing the people of montana. >> he caught an assault charge. david gregory, it is a no-brainer. the campaign can say whatever it wants. it is fabricating the story to cover the guy losing it over what this reporting was asking about. that is one component. doesn't seem to be much of a case in the defense of the assault charge. he lost his cool and did something stupid. he should go through the system. in t

the reporter for guardian reporter ben jacobs today made an audio recording with republican account greg gianforte while clearly some physical altercation took place between them. now the reporter said consistently that he was body slammed by the republican candidate. an account from another reporter who partially witnessed the incident would seem at least to back him up on that. but the candidate put out a statement tonight saying no, basically that he was assaulted by the reporter. so this is a bizarre turn for the night before that big election. the county sheriff there is going to be holding a press conference in that incident very soon. msnbc will keep you updated tonight as we learn more. that does it for us. we'll see you again tomorrow. now it's time for "the last word." good evening. >> i heard of october surprises in a special election. this is the may surprise? >> it is such a weird turn of events. i'm sure you've heard the audio of the confrontation between ben jacobs and greg gianforte. it's like -- it sounds like warner brothers cartoon audio of somebody cartoonishly portra

ben jacobs. >> an apology and a win for the montana republican accused of body slamming a reporter. what message does it send to elect greg gianforte hours after an alleged violent outburst? >>> and the fbi taking a closer look at jared kushner, part of its russia investigation. what led authorities to focus on the president's top adviser and son-in-law? good morning, everybody, and welcome to "early start." i'm dave briggs. >> and i'm christine romans. it is friday, may 26th. it is 5:00 a.m. in the east. breaking overnight, montana has a new congressman, a new congressman with a court date. just 24 hours after he was charged with assault for apparently body slamming a reporter, the republican, greg gianforte, scores a decisive win over democrat rob quist. >> there are the final numbers. gianforte's victory celebration relatively subdued. he took a contrite tone, owning up to making a "mistake." joining us with the latest, cnn's ryan young in boseman, montana. good morning to you, ryan. what are you hearing from the people of montana regarding the message this might or might not sen

ben jacobs is an experienced,

the reporter is ben jacobs. he works for the british newspaper the guardian. the candidate is greg gianforte. the reporter was recording audio of the exchange when the scuffle broke out. this following recording happened in front of witnesses. >> let me talk to you about that later. >> but there is not going to be time. >> speak with shane, please. sick and tired of you guys. the last guy that came here did the same thing. get the hell out of here. get the hell out of here. the last guy did the same thing. you with the guardian? >> yes. you just broke my glasses. >> the last guy did the same thing. >> you just body slammed me and broke my glasses. >> again, we have a live report coming up on this. it's now in the hands of local law enforcement in montana, and election day in montana is tomorrow. . >>> but first, as promised, day 125 of the new administration. and again tonight another new headline on russia and the trump campaign from "the new york times." quote, senior russian intelligence and political officials were discussing how to exert influence over do

that's not really how ben jacobs described what happened to him when he spoke to our colleague chris hayes last night. >> i was hoping to get the most basic statement on the cbo report. i wasn't expecting -- i think i wasn't expecting detailed policy, but then again, i also wasn't expecting to be body slammed. >> did gianforte's aides or himself say anything to you after that? >> no. they asked me to leave between the police and the paramedics. i was not quite paying attention to anything else. >> reporter: and craig, as you know, as anyone who has covered capitol hill knows or anyone who has watched coverage on capitol hill tv knows, reporters getting in the face with politicians asking questions is pretty much par for the course. we'll know in a few hours, or maybe tonight depending on how the counting goes, whether greg gianforte will have that opportunity, still. >> to be clear, we still don't know how the congressman feels about the new health care bill since the cbo score came out. we still don't have is the answer to that question. >> reporter: they have not answered that. >>

i'm sure you've heard the audio of the confrontation between ben jacobs and greg gianforte. it's like -- it sounds like warner brothers cartoon audio of somebody cartoonishly portraying a physical assault. we'll have to get more information hopefully from the sheriff in terms of what happened here. but if this candidate did essentially beat up this reporter, break his glasses and send him to the hospital for x-rays, it is hard to know what the precedent is for that in american politics in terms of what that means for this race and what that means for what happen next. >> yeah, the audio sounds like a battery. i could see or understand a statement that might come out and say well, this was what we believe to be property property. and we had a misunderstanding, it -- et cetera. but the statement sort of posits well, this was aggressive and badgering and tries to make it sound like the reporter initiated contact that that would be a big deal if it were true. and if it were not, it seems like it might make the situation worse. >> there is the comp indicating or interesting facto

ben jacobs is a political reporter for the guardian and was asking the candidate a question about the republican health cair plan. he was having -- healthcare plan. the scuffle was caught on tape by the journalist and by fox news reporting team. let's see a clip of that. >> cbs, we know you are waiting to make your decision about -- >> i will talk to you about that later. >> bus i was curious now. the last [indiscernible] you did the same thing. get the hell out of here. get the hell out of here. the last [indiscernible] >> you just broke my glasses. >> last time did the same thing. >> you just body slammed me and broke my glasses. >> i would also like to call the police. can i get you guy's names? >> all right. this incident threatening to up end an already close race for montana's lone seat. gym reports the reporter grabbed his list, but alicia who was in the room at the time backs up the reporter's account. >> keith ray lee and i were setting up for an interview. with greg gee forte, he came in the room, exchanged niceties and a couple minutes into the conversation another man walk

. >> where is ben jacobs now? you said he's on his way -- >> last i saw him, he was in an ambulance. paramedics were saying in these situation situations you don't have to go to the hospital but we advise people to go to the hospital. so he's headed there. then the cops came out. they're taking witness statements. i have to go to some law enforcement sent tore give a formal interview after this. >> wow. >> that's how it went down. >> alexis, i appreciate you telling us what you saw and heard. more after a quick break, including audio of the incident. and more arrests in the manchester bombing. the average family's new, but old, home: it stood up to 2 rookies, a one-coat wonder named "grams". and 3 staycations. behr. number one rated interior paint, exterior paint and stain. right now, get incredible savings on behr. only at the home depot. radio: scorching heat today folks[ barks ]ol out there! walter! stop suffering with hot ac. cool it yourself with a/c pro. just connect the hose, squeeze the trigger and check t

ben jacobs was asking greg gianforte about it. this is a big race. the white house democrats fighting hard. abc's david wright has the story, good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, george. you know, we talk about covering the rough and tumble of politics. well, normally that's just a figure of speech but in bozeman, montana, not so much, a special election to choose the state's one and only house member. the front-runner now facing criminal charges accused of body-slamming a reporter for asking a tough question. >> rp states that he was assaulted by greg gianforte and he states greg body-slammed him and kicked his arm. >> reporter: overnight montana's republican candidate for congress, greg gianforte cited for misdemeanor assault. >> i'm sick and tired of you guys. >> reporter: he was about to do ab interview with fox news when ben jacobs uninvited came into the room to ask him a question. >> the cbo score. as you know you've been waiting to make your decision about health care until -- >> we'll talk to you about that later. >> yeah, but the

ben jacobs. >> reporter: it's sad that some people just don't trust reporters. i walked into the room, walked around yesterday, talking to the people in the room who were quite energized by this campaign. some of them actually kind of pointed toward this apology, showing the kind of man he was. they believe he's a strong christian man with a strong business background who's made a great living who they believe could go to washington and kind of make sense of things, and that's why some people said they were more drawn to him after this incident. now, we went to the grocery store and talked to other people and they said, look when they were standing next to their children, this is not the kind of behavior they want to see from them, but they do understand that this state votes red and they believed he was going to have a chance to win no matter what. of course, he still has a court date. he has to be in court before june 7th, so this is not over yet, guys. >> by no means is this over, though the election is. ryan young, thank you. >> sometimes you win the electio

ben jacobs made an audio recording of the incident that seems to back up his claim that the candidate assaulted him basically out of nowhere while jacobs was asking him question ises about health care. but gianforte's campaign released a statement saying it was basically the opposite, that ben jacobs apparently assaulted greg gianforte, that he grabbed his wrists, and the two of them end upped on the ground together. and it was the reporter's aggressive behavior that lead to the altercation. it's worth noting that ben jacobs' account was backed up not only by his audio recording, but by an eyewitness account by other people in the room, namely a pox news correspondent and camera crew. and also late last night, the montana sheriff for that county charged the republican candidate. charged gianforte. charged him with misdemeanor assault for allegedly body slamming the reporter. should it be noted that that sheriff is campaign donor to mr. gianforte. now, this all happened just hours before the polls opened for that special election. they open this morning at 7:00 a.m. local time. here is

ben jacobs. >> note what was missing there. there's no indication whatsoever he reached out personally to ben jacobs to actually apologize. no apology for defaming him with a statement from his campaign that read, in part, and i quote here, jacobs grabbed greg's wrist and spun away from greg, pushing them both to the ground. both ben jacobs and another reporter who witnessed the assault, of course, categorically denied that happened and said the only aggressor was soon to be congressman gianforte, an assertion backed up by the audio of the assault. quote, it's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer barbecue. that statement, which we now know was a complete and total lie, a fabrication, that was issued by a person by the name of shane scanlon, gianforte's spokesperson. that's shane right there. we asked shane to come on the show tonight, and we've reached out to the gianforte campaign for comment with no reply. right now shane scanlon, as far as we know, h

. >> the report, ben jacobs, is standing by with our exclusive with him. we'll hear from him in a moment. >> not something you expect to see. montana's only empty house seat, voters in montana go to the polls today and it was sparked by a question about health care. jacobs was trying for a response from the congressional budget office but the health care bill will lead to 23 million more insured in the next decade. the white house democrats fighting hard. good morning david. >> reporter: good morning, george. you know, we talk about covering the rough and tumble of politics. well, normally that's just a figure of speech, but in bozeman, montana, not so much. a special election to choose the state's one and only house member. the front-runner now facing criminal charges accused of body-slamming a reporter for asking a tough question. >> rp states that he was assaulted by greg gianforte and he states greg body-slammed him and kicked his arm. he has the recording of it. >> reporter: overnight, montana's republican candidate for congress, greg gianforte, cited

in the case of ben jacobs. if ben jacobs had been attacked by a democrat rather than a republican, i think ben jacobs would be the media darling of the right wing. he would be on every headline of breitbart, back-to-back coverage on fox news. because it is a republican, it's completely different. so everything seems very situation am. but this antagonistic relationship trump has with reporters, i don't think that's going away. i think the conservative base is going to continue to have that it's been like that for quite sometime. it's just stronger. >> it starts at the top, jason. starts at the top. this is donald trump who took some time out of his big boy trip abroad to make comments about gianforte. take a listen. going one step below that, less listen to the various republicans who refuse to reject gianforte even after he assaulted the reporter. had the head of the national republican campaign committees, the chair, said from what i know for greg gianforte, this is totally out of character. charlie dent sayi

. >> well, ben jacobs, thank you for coming on to clarify this situation. good luck going forwards. i welcome you back to new day when you have the scoop and you are not the subject of the story hopefully. >> thanks. i hope not to be the subject of any more stories in the foreseeable future. >> you are making strong points on this one, ben jacobs. thank you. be well. >> thanks. >> hard to believe anybody dealing with a situation like that. >> he doesn't want to blame all politicians. he says he has good interactions with people on the right. he's not grand standing. he's not forwarding an agenda, but he did clarify facts. he was not in a private room. he did not interrupt a private discussion. he did not touch john forte and he didn't see this coming. he didn't even respond once it happened. he didn't even return force. i don't know how the guy escapes the charges except they are misdemeanor charges, which are pretty low level. >> let's discuss this with chris cillizza and david axelrod. david axelrod, what if this candidate with an apparent hair trigger wins today? >> they may have

once ben jacobs left, mr. g salman gianforte looked it up in our field producer was there and apologize. he apologized multiple times. and then his press guy he left and then came back and told us that he didn't see the whole thing. he's came counted toward the end after everything had happened into heard the noise. he asked us what it was that we saw. they could be a genuine question, him just asking what did you see. it could have been what it was a could be reporting as well? i really can't say. i know that we did have that exchange and then we were told the sheriff's department had arrived and we would talk to the sergeant. >> kimberly: they also released a statement that really did not match up with your eyewitness in a statement and observations by yourself, and also the producer. >> it didn't match. we noticed that immediately. when that statement was release released, the photographer in the field producer and i were sitting in an witness interview room at the sheriff's department, the justice center,

ben jacob. >> an apology, and a victory for the montana republican accused of body slamming a reporter. the overnight results and more of what greg gianforte had to say. >> and the fbi is taking a closer look at jared kushner as part of its russia investigation. what led authorities to take a closer look at one of the president's top advisers, and his son-in-law. good morning, to an early start. >> nice to see you, i'm glad to be back, i'm christine romans. we welcome all of our viewers here and around the world. breaking news, montana has a new congressman just hours after he was charged with assault for body slamming a reporter. he scores a decisive win over the democrat, rob quist. >> and the celebration was relatively subdued. he owned up to a mistake. joining us in bozeman, month month, good morning to you, good night, whatever it is. interesting, because it's not apparent if this assault on the reporter hurt or maybe even in some cases helped gianforte, what do you sense? >> reporter: well, good morning, dave, i can tell you sometimes it helped in this situation. we went inside w

once ben jacobs laughed, mr. gianforte looked at the three of us standing there. me, our photographer and the filled producer and apologized. he apologized multiple times. and then his press guy shane left and came back and told us he didn't see the whole thing. he came in toward the end after everything had happened and we heard the noise. he asked us what it was we saw. it could be a genuine question, him just asking, what did you see? it could have been to see what it was we were going to be reporting. i really can't say. i just know we had that exchange. then we were told that the sheriff's department had arrived and we needed to talk to the sergeant. >> kimerly: they released a statement that did not match up with your eye witness statements and observation by yourself, the cameraman, and the producer. >> it didn't match. we noticed that immediately. when that statement was release released, the photographer and the field producer and i were sitting in a witness interview room at that sheriff's department. we discussed how different it was from what we had se

only national reporters there. >> where is ben jacobs now? >> last i saw him, he was in an ambulance, the paramedics say in these situations, what paramedics say, you're welcome to say no, you don't have to go to the hospital, but we always advise you to go to the hospital. so he's headed there. and the cops are taking formal witness statements. i have to go to the law enforcement center to give a formal interview after this. >> wow, that's -- alexa, i appreciate you tells us what you saw and what you heard, more after the break. >>> also more on the manchester bombing and on preventing additional acts of terror. when you have allergies, it can seem like triggers pop up everywhere. luckily there's powerful, 24-hour, non-drowsy claritin. it provides relief of symptoms that can be triggered by over 200 different allergens. live claritin clear. what makesheart healthysalad the becalifornia walnuts.r? the best simple veggie dish ever? heart healthy california walnuts. the best simple dinner ever? heart healthy california walnuts. great tasting, h

ben jacobs was asking greg gianforte about it. this is a big race. the white house democrats fighting hard. abc's david wright has the story, good morning, david. >> reporter: good morning, george. you know, we talk about covering the rough and tumble of politics. well, normally that's just a figure of speech but in bozeman, montana, not so much, a special election to choose the state's one and only house member. the front-runner now facing criminal charges accused of body-slamming a reporter for asking a tough question. >> rp states that he was assaulted by greg gianforte and he states greg body-slammed him and kicked his arm. >> reporter: overnight montana's republican candidate for congress, greg gianforte cited for misdemeanor assault. >> i'm sick and tired of you guys. >> reporter: he was about to do ab interview with fox ben jacobs uninvited came into the room to ask him a question. >> the cbo score. as you know you've been waiting to make your decision about health care until -- >> we'll talk to you about that later. >> yeah, but there's -- if

but nowhere near what occurred to ben jacobs of "the guardian" tonight. a really stunning development. and something that gianforte, if he wins this special election, he's going to have to deal with this on capitol hill every day, reporters asking him questions, don. >> yeah, so they're getting really, really touchy about answering questions about the health care plan or health care bill. what's going on, manu? >> you know, it depends on the member. this, clearly, is a piece of legislation that is not -- is troef controversial. it's not very popular in a lot of members' districts, not in some states. the senators are actually re-writing the house plan. the party is deeply divided over this issue, a central campaign promise, that they said they would deliver on, dating back from the passage of the affordable care act in 2010. and now this is decision time, for the party. so it's a tense time on capitol hill, where they have to make some key decisions, as they get closer and closer to the midterm elections. and that's going to be harder and harder to delive

ben jacobs. >> note what was missing there. there's no indication whatsoever he reached out personally to ben jacobs to actually apologize. no apology for defaming him with a statement from his campaign that read, in part, and i quote here, jacobs grabbed greg's wrist and spun away from greg, pushing them both to the ground. both ben jacobs and another reporter who witnessed the assault, of course, categorically denied that happened and said the only aggressor was soon to be congressman gianforte, an assertion backed up by the aud yoeaudio of the assault. quote, it's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer barbecue. that statement which we now know was a complete and total lie, a fabrication, that was issued by a person by the name of shane scanlon, gianforte's spokesperson. that's shane right there. we asked shane to come on the show tonight, and we've reached out to the gianforte campaign for comment with no reply. right now shane scanlon, as far as we k

ben jacobs. [ applause ] >> that's not the person that i am. and it's not the way i'll lead in this state. >> we know! >> rest assured, our work is just beginning. but it does begin with me taking responsibility for my own actions. >> so, most political analysts expected him to win but it was closer than the recent presidential election. steve kornacki has more on how the election actually played out. pretty interesting stuff. >> all right. well, republicans, the bottom line is, they get the win that they wanted. the result they wanted out of montana. greg gianforte will go to congress now. he defeats rob quist in that special election. republicans will say, that's the story. a win is a win is a win. democrats will try to sell this as at least a moral victory and something that could be significant heading into the midterms in 2018. why? democrats say, look, donald trump won this state by 21 points last november in this election, it looks like a seven-point margin, a seven-point victory for the republicans. so, democrats will say, hey, we ate i

three people from fox news witnessed it and backed ben jacobs account. >> republicans on this in general have taken attitude of not crazy about this kind of thing but avoiding discussing it and saying the voters will decide or to concussion on the legislative agenda. taking that attitude towards a congressional candidate who the committee is supporting might be a colleague of theirs. it's unfortunate. it's bad as a matter of principle. civility. and the character. i don't think it's bad for the republican party. what kind of the party is looking like to an intelligent 25-year-old who is fwhig what his or her political allegiance should be. party of the donald trump. concertificate va tichl is the ideology of sean hannity. they don't understand -- congressman and senators are elected. they don't understand how much damage control to what the republican party looks like. >> one of the things -- i don't know if you went through this. when i first heard about it i thought, you know, as a reporter does, you know, i want to hear what both sides have to say. they are putting out the statement.

he named ben jacobs in the apology. >> ron, to prove a.b.'s point. there were despicable things to our kyung lah on the ground reporting about how they delighted in what was happening here. although there were witnesses and audio tape of the assault. here is one. my gop voter to me just now knowing i work for cnn. that audio made me cheer. she smiled as she walked in to vote for gianforte. the next one. montana gop voter, upon learning we're from cnn, you are lucky someone doesn't pop one of you. obviously violence is okay, i guess, when it is against journalists. >> i think it is deeper than that. my last book ten years ago was called "the second civil war." it was metaphorical. we are living through something like a slow-motion culture political civil war. each side in it feels the other is not only wrong headed, but a threat to the country. and the space between the two coalitions, they separated so much. look at montana. montana is roughly 85% white. 75% rural. 70% non college. you could not map the coordinates of where trump was strongest or whe

ben jacobs. i also want to apologize for the fox news team that was there. i'm going to washington to get things done. to drain the swamp and fight for montana families. >> he is contrite in the apologies. gianforte endorsed by president trump to fill montana's congressional seat which was vacated by the president's interior secretary. gianforte due in court next month. faces six months in jail if convicted. breaking news meantime in the investigation into the russian election meddling. the fbi is reportedly looking closely at the president's son-in-law. sources say investigators are, focusing on contacts between jared kushner and russian officials including meetings with russia's ambassador, and a russian banker. but nay point out that, kushner is not a target of the investigation and not accused of a crime. >> president trump in sicily gathering with world leaders for the g-7 summit. taking part in a full day of meetings expected to focus on terrorism, trade and climate change. ight when it comes to their financial contributions for defense. >> 23 of the 2

ben jacobs, reporter for the guardian says he was body slammed by greg gianforte. we recorded some audio earlier. hear now the entire clip. >> because you were waiting to make your decision about health care -- >> let me talk to you about that later. >> yeah, but -- >> speak to shane, please. sick and tired of you guys. the last guy did the same thing. get the hell out of here. the last guy did the same thing. you with the guardian? >> yes, and you just broke my glasses. >> the last guy did the same thing. >> you just body slammed me and broke my glass. >> get the hell out of here. >> i'd also like to call the police. can i get your guys' names? he just body slammed me. >> the campaign put out this statement quote tonight as greg was giving a separate interview in a private office, the guardian's ben jakens entered without permission, aggressively shoved a recording in greg's face and began asking badgering questions. after asking jacobs to lower the recorder, jacobs declined and jacobs grabbed greg's wrist and spun away pushing them both to the ground. it's unfort

this morning the reporter who alleges the assault ben jacobs fired back. >> the only thing in gianforte statement that is factually correct is my name and my place of employment. i never touched or came close to gianforte. >> let's get to our nbc reporters mike viqueira on capitol hill, garret hake in bozeman, montana, where that incident occurred and peter alexander on capitol hill with breaking news of sorts on the fbi search and steve kornacki is here to break down that special election and the implications nationally. vick, let me start with you. republicans on the hill, they seem to be rejecting the violence, not so much the candidate, though. >> well, that's right, craig. i think the thing that shocks people on the hill, whether members, staff or the journalistic community that reporter was asking mr. gianforte the candidate for the house of representatives about his opinion on of all things a congressal budget office report. wasn't asking about malfeasance or misbehavior in any way, shape, or form. i have spent the morning speaking with republicans started the day speaking to eac

it had been ryan zinke's. >> he's accused of body slamming a reporter ben jacobs. jacobs recorded the incident. >> i'll talk with you about that later. >> i don't think there will be time. >> i'm sick and tired of you guys. the last time you came in here, you did same thing. get the hell out of here. get the hell out of here. the last guy did the same thing. are you with the "guardian? ". >> yes. and you just broke my glasses you guys did the same damn thing last time. >> you broke my glasses. >> after he was asked to lower his recorder, jacobs declined. he grabbed the reporter. jacobs grabbed greg's wrist and spun away from greg. you're shaking your head at the table because we're hearing two different versions of what happened there. >> yeah, we are. >> we'll talk than. >>> we're talking this story, the white house is dismissing a cbo office. it was voted on before a new cbo score came out reflecting last-minute changes. now the cbo report, a nonpartisan report, it was released yesterday, says 23 million more people will be uninsured under the house bill. that's

ben jacobs. i also want to apologize for the fox news team that was there and i'm sorry to each one of you that we had to go through this. that's not the person that i am and it's not the way i'll lead in this state. >> reporter: gianforte was a strong favorite throughout the campaign and that continued even after he was charged with the misdemeanor assault wednesday. however, the last minute controversy unnerved republicans but it's unclear right now if any impact this body slamming incident had on the polls as many voters had already voted early. over to you, wisdom. >> all right, annie yu reporting. thank you very much annie. 4:50 is the time. also in the news this morning the white house is redoubling its efforts to eliminate all federal funding for cleanup for the chesapeake bay. in fiscal year 2018 budget $73 million has been wiped out. the decision has alarmed environmentalists who see the bay getting cleaner every day. this mom environmental scientists gave the bay a grade of c. the best

here's what ben jacobs told msnbc earlier today. >> i tried to ask an important issue for voters. this is a major piece of legislation, making sure voters have the information they need. i don't know what i could have done differently. it just sort of -- i just tried to do my job and do my job the way i'm supposed to do my job. >> and joining us now david jolly, former republican congressman from florida and senior editor for business insider and msnbc contributor, thank you guys both for being here. david, i'll start with you. >> thank you. >> you have the disadvantage of not being at the table with us. it strikes me the republican party has a lose/lose situation in a lot of ways. either they lose a special election that wasn't on the target list of democrats' 23 congressional seats hillary clinton won the congressional district. >> right. >> or they have to serve with greg gianforte and somehow excuse his presence for the next couple of years. which is the worst -- >> joy, it is a remarkably low bar to be a republican candidate in trump america right now. he should lose. and rep

and a reporter from "the guardian," ben jacobs, tried to press gianforte -- not even press so much as to just simply ask a question for his stance on this now that the cbo has released that price tag, and the audio released speaks for itself. here's what happened. >> -- the cbo score, because you know you've been waiting to make your decision about health care until you saw the bill, and it just came out. and -- >> we'll talk to you about that later. >> but there's not going to be time. i'm curious -- >> speak with shane, please. >> just -- >> sick and tired of you guys! the last guy that came in here, he did the same thing! get the hell out of here! >> jesus! >> get the hell out of here! the last guy did the same thing. are you with "the guardian"? >> yes, and you just broke my glasses. >> the last guy did the same damn thing! >> you just body slammed me and broke my glasses. >> get the hell out of here. >> you'd like me to get the hell out of here. i'd also like to call the police. can i get your guys' names? >> hey, you've got to leave. >> he just body slammed me. >> you've got to

>> guest: well, as you disclose, the reporter, ben jacobs, very diligently and the world mild-mannered is probably clichÉ. not an aggressive reporter. he's not the kind of guy who he jumps over the rope line. he was simply asking to respond to the cbo score of the american health care act and said he couldn't officially take a position on how much it costs. this is something we were waiting for. they were reporters waiting for this to dry. then just happen to push harder because he thought there wouldan be another chance. pushes you harder because as the fox news team that witnessed a sad comment he was playing the recorder to gianforte, pulled into the calm and asked him for questions. >> there were witnesses outside the candidate and his staff. >> guest: yes. there is the fox news team that was there to write about the story and had this not happened it would have interviews with both candidates and state of the race tape deal. waiting to reporters, wrote a column last night, there shouldd be a statement that contradicted it. they thought is unprovoked. they had to take a minute.ere

for his part, ben jacobs calls it the strangest moment in his life. with polls opening in just a few hours, the fallout for gianforte has been swift. three of the state's biggest newspapers have rescinded their endorsements, and democrats have already rolled out facebook ads attacking gianforte for the alleged body slam. >> the democratic candidate, rob quist, so far declining to comment on all this. one other thing worth noting here, the sheriff, brian goodkin, has confirmed he gave gianforte's campaign $250 -- i'm thinking it's $250,000. >> no, $250. >> okay, but he says it will have no bearing on his investigation. early voting has been under way for weeks and hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots have already been returned, so there's really no telling how wednesday's events will affect the election, but already you've got more than 250,000 votes already in. >> that's right, 259,000. >> but the polls open. you've got all these newspapers yanking their endorsements. unprecedented there and really bizarre events. >> well, look, he's got bigger p

while there are questions left unanswered by gop house hopeful altercation with guardian ben jacobs, investigations and records are shocking, disturbing and without precedent. that's why the billings gazette is doing something without precedent. we are rescinding our endorsement of him. >> we are seeing democrats running ads about this on facebook. >> as they should. >> sure, but john doesn't think it is a game changer but does it have an impact maybe not in montana but beyond? >> i think so. if you read the tea leaves, we had a win for democrats in new hampshire and new york, they were two flips from red to blue. you are seeing democrats pick up steam and momentum. this kansas, democrats came a lot closer. the john os awe race in georgia we almost clinched the 50% threshold to avoid a run off. we clearly have momentum and if this race is a nail biter and we come within striking of winning the seat it could be the beginning -- >> yeah, trump carried by 20 points. i don't know -- now it is to the detriment of democrats if for some reason the democrat wins, doesn't know how you pin it

ben jacobs. i also want to apologize to the fox news team that was there. and i'm sorry to each one of you that we had to go through this. that's not the person i am. it's not the way i'll lead in this state. >> gianforte is facing a misdemeanor assault charge for the incident in which his response to a journalist turned violent when he grabbed reporter ben jacobs and threw him on the ground. president trump, while in italy, expre expressed his pleasure with the outcome. >> a great win in montana. >> and eric, according to the sheriff's office, gianforte must appear in court by june 7. eric? >> eric: meanwhile, he's headed to capitol hill. once he's sworn in as a congressman, could he face any punishment in the house? >> still a big question. the u.s. congress has the power to decide whether or not to seat him. our senior capitol producer, chad pergram said there's no efforts to keep gianforte out and there's not been a legitimate question of seating someone in more than 30 years. he will likely be sworn in after the current recess in early june. paul ryan