The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Donald Trump appears to be distancing himself from his own Republican Party, perhaps hoping to avoid association with expected midterm losses, despite being responsible for the unpopularity Republicans are suffering for their association with him. Ben Wikler, former DNC chair, joins to discuss. 

How did a long-standing plan by the Department of the Interior to refurbish the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool turn into the mess that would become Donald Trump's highest profile public humiliation (so far)? David Fahrenthold, investigative reporter for the New York Times, talks about his reporting on how the project spun out of control in the most Trumpian ways.

Donald Trump appears not to understand that the resources of the presidency are not his personal property, as his vanity projects are taking an ever-increasing amount of his attention. Now a federal appeals court has shut down construction on his White House ballroom with a reminder that he is not a king. Rep. Jamie Rasking joins to discuss.

Michigan Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II talks about how Michigan Democrats are uniting after their contentious primary in which Abul El-Sayed emerged victorious.

Jen Psaki and a panel of her MS NOW colleagues watch the primary election returns in Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Connecticut and discuss the intra-party dynamics this primary season.

Jen Psaki sets the record straight on extraordinary Democratic enthusiasm in this year's midterm elections, as evidenced by exceptional turnout in the primaries so far, and points out that despite the media's obsession with intra-party competition, Democrats are actually very unified with candidates in even the most contentious primaries supporting each other once the contest is over. And meanwhile, Donald Trump's distortion of the Republican Party is producing seriously flawed candidates.

Senator Jon Ossoff points out that between regular leaks to the press and a White House full of advisors with self-interests and ambitions for 2028, it can hardly be surprising that details of secret protective measures surrounding the president are exposed to the public.

Jen Psaki talks with David Crowley, the new Democratic nominee for governor of Wisconsin after defeating poll-favorite Francesca Hong. While Crowley's victory was a surprise based on polling, he was ready to win and discusses the keys to his success and his plan moving forward to the general election.

2nd hour:

Retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and former White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby joins MS NOW's Jen Psaki to discuss Donald Trump's claims that the United States has "complete control" over the Strait of Hormuz and new reporting for The Washington Post that the CIA questioned the credibility of Israeli intelligence about an Iranian threat to Trump that ultimately led to Trump's secret flight out of Turkey last month. 

MS NOW's Jen Psaki talks to MS NOW Senior Medical Analyst Dr. Vin Gupta about the dangers of Donald Trump's executive order rolling back federal childhood vaccine recommendations.