Special Counsel Robert Mueller is scheduled to testify in front of Congress next week. Katie and Joe preview his testimony with National Security expert Jeremy Bash.

From 2009 to 2011, Jeremy served as Chief of Staff at the CIA under Director Leon Panetta and from 2011-2013 as Chief of Staff at the Department of Defense under then Secretary Panetta.

A graduate of Georgetown and Harvard Law School Jeremy was the policy director for national security issues 2000 Gore-Lieberman Campaign and also served as the Chief Minority Counsel for the House Intelligence Committee under Ranking Member Congresswoman Jane Harman.

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William D. Cohan is a special correspondent for Vanity Fair and is one of the most meticulous and intrepid journalists working today – a truly great reporter covering the intersection between Wall Street and Washington.

Bill has also written for The Financial Times, The New York Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, The Atlantic, The Nation, Fortune, and Politico.

In addition, Bill is the author of: The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co., House of Cards: A Tale of Hubris and Wretched Excess on Wall Street; about the last days of Bear Stearns, Wall Street Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World; The Price of Silence: the Duke Lacrosse Scandal; And Why Wall Street Matters.

Bill joins us today to talk his latest book – Four Friends: Promising Lives Cut Short

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This week Katie and Joe review the Trump Family's Excellent Adventure: Part II - Ivanka Trump's prominent role at the G20 and the photo-op diplomacy in North Korea. They also discuss how Donald Trump tried to turn a national celebration into a celebration of himself.

And last week Gold Star parent Khzir Khan welcomed new citizens to this country as he delivered the keynote address in Charlottesville Virginia at Monticello’s annual Independence Day Celebration and Naturalization Ceremony. Khan and his wife Ghazala moved to the United States in 1980 and became citizens six years later, in 2004. Their son U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan was killed while serving in Iraq. This week we give proud American and Gold Star parent Khzir Khan the Final Word.

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On July 4th we celebrate the birth of the American Experiment. The Declaration of Independence -- written in the Spring of 1776 by a 33 year old Thomas Jefferson -- is America’s mission statement. And like all mission statements, the words represented not what we were, but what we aspired to be. In fact, the author himself was a gifted writer, but a deeply flawed person who – like his country -- did not embody the ideas and ideal of that document.

For more than two hundred and forty years, the story of America has been the struggle between those who want to move us close to the words of our mission statement – and those who want to stop them.

It is often forgotten that the Declaration itself was meant to be spoken. 

In 2004 the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library released a previously unknown 1957 recording of then-Senator Kennedy reading the Declaration of Independence in New York on July 4th.

So this week to honor Independence Day -- And to remind ourselves that as a country must continue the struggle to turn America’s founding words into reality – we give John F. Kennedy’s reading of the Declaration of Independence the final word.

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Last week the Democrats held their first debates in Miami -- 20 candidates over 2 nights. Now that the dust has settled a bit Katie gets Joe's take on what happened and what – if anything has changed in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination as a result.

Katie and Joe go through the candidates and talk about who broke out and which ones aren't going anywhere.

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Cindi Leive is the former editor-in-chief of both Glamour and Self magazines. She was the driving force behind barrier- breaking initiatives like “Glamour Women of the Year” and “The Girl Project” which supports girls’ education.

Cindi is the author and editor of numerous books including the 2018 New York Times bestseller Together We Rise, about the organizing of the Women's March.

She has interviewed heads of state, Hollywood and fashion’s biggest personalities, and iconic leaders from all walks of life. Her many awards and honors include recognition from the White House, the United Nations, and dozens of media organizations. She is currently a senior fellow at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Center.

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Welcome to a Special Edition of Words Matter – Joe previews the first Democratic debates held this week on MSNBC in Miami. 20 candidates, 5 moderators, 4 hours total.

The Moderators will be Lester Holt, Savannah Guthrie, Chuck Todd, Rachel Maddow and José Díaz-Balart. 

The first group of 10 appearing on Wednesday:

·      Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey

·      Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts

·      Former Rep. Beto O'Rourke of Texas

·      Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota

·      Former Rep. John Delaney of Maryland

·      Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii

·      Former Housing Secretary Julián Castro

·      Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio

·      New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio

·      Washington Gov. Jay Inslee

The second group of 10 appearing on Thursday:

·      Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont

·      Sen. Kamala Harris of California

·      Former Vice President Joe Biden

·      Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana

·      Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado

·      Author Marianne Williamson

·      Rep. Eric Swalwell of California

·      Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York

·      Entrepreneur Andrew Yang

·      Gov. John Hickenlooper of Colorado.

To qualify, candidates had to receive more than 65,000 individual donations — including from 200 unique donors per state in at least 20 states — or at least 1 percent in three polls approved by the Democratic National Committee. More than a dozen candidates crossed both thresholds, with at least 20 hitting at least one of them.

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This week Katie and Joe sit down with award winning author and the Chief White House Correspondent for the New York Times, Peter Baker.

Peter has covered 4 presidents as a reporter – Presidents Trump and Obama for the New York Times and George W. Bush and Bill Clinton with the Washington Post.

He is also the author of 5 books including Obama: The Call of History, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House and Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton 

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Katie and Joe discuss the legacy of outgoing White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders. Joe explains how damaging Sanders decision to end the White House press briefings has been and what is needed from the next Press Secretary to repair that damage.

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Would Congressional impeachment hearings have the same impact as they did during Watergate? Washington Post media critic Margaret Sullivan talks to Katie and Joe about how the media landscape has changed and how it is far more difficult to have an impact with voters and the American people.

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