Mary Trump explains why the president is so 'drawn' to Vladimir Putin

President Donald Trump's niece Mary Trump is continuing to talk to reporters about her new tell-all book, which has become a runaway success, MSNBC's Joy Reid described.

"You write about Donald Trump's sort of attachment to and being drawn to people that are like, I guess like his father," said Reid before reading another excerpt of the book.

"Fred had also primed Donald to be drawn to men such as [Roy] Cohn, as he would later be drawn to authoritarians such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un or anyone else, really, with a willingness to flatter and the power to enrich him," the book says.

Mary Trump said she can only speculate about what the president is trying to gain something from Putin.

"I think there are plenty of reasons to believe that's the case," said Mary Trump. "But, you know, I can speak to the resemblance that Putin may have to my grandfather. One of the things my grandfather did was, you know, through neglect, abuse, and pressure, was turn Donald into somebody who was eminently useful to smarter, and more powerful men. And I think part of the charm, although, again, I am not privy to any conversations with them -- I imagine Putin understands exactly how to manipulate Donald, you know, whether or not there are financial incentives."

She went on to describe a particularly brutal incident for the president when his brother dumped mashed potatoes on his head and everyone laughed. To this day, Mary said, Trump still crosses his arms and gets visibly upset about it.

See the discussion below:

Part 1:

Part 2: