Transcripts For MSNBCW All In With Chris Hayes 20170217

Plus a look at todays east room attack on the truth. I inherented a mess. We had a very smooth rollout of the travel ban. I guess it was the Biggest Electoral College win since Ronald Reagan. Why democrats are being locked out of meets with i. C. E. As immigration raids escalate. And with obamacare slowed and a travel ban stalled, the race the resistance is winning. This administration is running like a finetuned machine. When all in starts right now. Im chris hayes. We have breaking news this hour. Nbc news confirms retired vice admiral Robert Harwood has turned down President Trumps offer to replace Michael Flynn as National Security advisor adviser, yet another setback for an administration that has had its full share of them this week. Well have more on that shortly. Meanwhile, President Trump held a press conference to ostensibly introduce his new pick for labor secretary, alexander acosta, that man tapped after the withdrawal of trumps first pick for that job, fast food executive andrew puzder. What ensued, however, was a dizzying 76minute spectacle in which the president lashed out at the media and insisted his administration is running like a finetuned machine. As reporters pressed him over and over about his links to russian intelligence. Among the trump allies who reportedly spoke to the russians during the campaign was the president s now former National Security advisor Michael Flynn seen here leading a chant of lock her up at the Republican National convention. Flynn is confirmed to have spoken to the Russian Ambassador during the transition period and he resigned following revelations he lied about that conversation, falsely claiming he did not talk to the ambassador about the obama administrations sanctions against russia. In fact, the sanctions were reportedly a main subject of flynns conversation and now another bombshell. The Washington Post reporting that flynn denied discussing the sanctions in an fbi interview. As the post points out, lying to the fbi is a felony, though the Trump Justice Department can choose not to prosecute. Now before we get into the president s remarkable comments at todays press conference its important to set a baseline for his truthfulness. In his opening remarks, before he was asked a single question from the press corps, the president claimed his Electoral College victory was the biggest since president Ronald Reagan. Watch what happens when our own nbc news Peter Alexander just a few minutes later points out that claim is simply and demonstrably false. Reporter very simply, you said today that you had the biggest electoral margin since Ronald Reagan with 306 electoral votes. In fact, president obama got well, im talking about republican. Reporter president obama 332 and george h. W. Bush 426 when he won as president so why should Americans Trust no, i was given that information. I dont know. I was just given it. We had a very, very big margin. Reporter my question is why should Americans Trust you when you accuse the information they receive of being fake when youre providing information. Well, i dont know i was given that information. Actually, ive seen that information around but it was a very substantial victory. I was given that information. Ive seen that information around. It is, of course, not true information. There was one question the president was asked lee times in todays press conference, did the president of his aides have contact with the russians during the campaign, a period when, according to u. S. Intelligence agencies, the russians were actively working to help candidate trump win through electoral subterfuge and sabotage . Intelligence Officials Say trumps aides did, in fact, have repeated contacts with russian intelligence. The president , however, refused to give a straight answer. Reporter i i was hoping we could get a yes or no answer on one of these questions involving russia. Can you say whether you are aware that anyone who advised your campaign had contacts with russia during the course of the election . Well, i told you general flynn obviously was dealing so thats one person but he was dealing, as he should have been reporter during the election . No, nobody that i know of. Reporter so youre not aware of contacts during the course of the election . How many times do i have to answer this question. Reporter can you say yes or no. Russia is a ruse, i know you have to get up and ask a question. Very a ruse. I have nothing do with russia. The president claimed the entire russia story is fake news put out by the media but he perhaps inadvertently made some news when he said when asked if the leaks that have driven that story are in fact real. Well, the leaks are real, youre the one that wrote about them and reported them. The leaks are real. You know what they said. You saw it, and the leaks are absolutely real. The news is fake because so much of the news is fake. Joining me now, Elijah Cummings of maryland, Ranking Member on the House Oversight and government reform. Were you satisfied by the president s answers to those questions about russia . No, not at all. As a matter of fact, the president left more questions to be answered, to be frank with you, and i think were going to have to some kind of way get Lieutenant General flynn in a room, swear him in and try to get to the bottom line of certain questions. Clearly the president did not address the question of whether he talked to Lieutenant General flynn about sanctions. As a matter of fact, he went on to say that if it were if Lieutenant General flynn had not had discussions with the russian s he would have told him to, which i found interesting. I have that bit of sound which i found to be one of the strangest moments. I want to play it and get your response to it. Hes asked directly, did you direct Michael Flynn to talk to the ambassador on sanctions day . Heres what he had to say. No. I fired him of because of what he said to mike pence, very simple. Mike was doing his job. He was calling countries and his counterparts. So it certainly would have been okay with me if he did it. I would have directed him to do it if i thought he wasnt doing it. Do you understand that . No. Unfortunately our president says quite often contradictory statements within a minute of each other. So thats why we need to have this Bipartisan Committee somewhat like the 9 11 committee of distinguished citizens, no congressmen, no senators, bipartisan, to really get into how all of this happened, what was the relationship between the Trump Campaign and the russians and try to figure out how to make sure that this does not happen again. And by the way, our bill, the bill to create that commission for the first time today, got our first republican cosponsor, we already had all of the democrats so hopefully this is going to open the door and some republicans will begin to join us on that. Youre saying you have a republican cosponsor on a bill to create a 9 11style commission to investigate the russian hacking . Who is that . That is a congressman from north carolina. I wont get into his name right now. Hes agreed to do it. Hes agreed but it hasnt been made public. No it will be public tomorrow. Okay, well well make a little news tonight. Theres more interest from Jason Chaffetz on your committee in investigating leaks than what has been revealed by those leaks and i understand this is something that is of great import, obviously classified information important, the transmission of that. Chaffetz says he asked the doj Inspector General to investigate the flynn leaks, he sent a letter to that effect. The president himself has said the spotlight has been put on lowlife leakers, they will be cut. And New York Times reporting theres going to be an intelligence review possibly by a billionaire private equity guy named Steve Feinberg to hunt through the intelligence agencies. Is there a war being declared on if Intelligence Community . Sadly and i say it very sadly i think there is. One of the things that is bothering me let me be clear. I dont like the leakage of information, particularly classified information, but you have to understand whats happening here, chris. We have a group of agents, some in cia, some in the fbi, they dont know who the president is. They dont know whether bannon is making the rules, they dont know whether this 31yearold fellow named miller is making the rules and they dont know whether President Trump is running the country. So they have a lot of them have lost faith and so what theyre doing now is going to the media and trying to get their stories out. Chris, this reminds me so much of what chaffetz and i did with the secret service. The secret service had similar types of problems. They couldnt the secret Service Agents were coming to us because they couldnt go to their higher ups so they were fiching retaliation. They didnt know they were fearing that nobody would really listen to them and they didnt know where to go. What did they do . They come to us. And its not necessarily, chris, a thing of partisanship, its people fighting for their democracy. Period. So i want to get to something the president actually said about you, a story he told about you in just a moment but one more question on this line here. There are people who say and i think across the ideological spectrum, theres something dangerous about the Intelligence Community sabotaging the elected president by putting these leaks out there, wrenching control back from the white house. You view this as a defense of democracy, is what youre saying . I think it is defense of democracy but at the same time i think its dangerous. What President Trump needs to do is sit down with the Intelligence Community. Keep in mind that he beat up on them pretty bad early on but he needs to talk to them because they i think they dont trust that if they give them the information that its going to be effectively dealt with. They dont think so. They also appear to be, some of them, that he is possibly implicated or compromised which is part of what the commission that youre proposing would investigate. I want to play a bit of the press conference that revolved around you, sir, today. The president told a story about what he said was a canceled meeting between two of you. Id like to play that and get your side of things. Take a listen. I actually thought i had a meeting with congressman cummings and he was all excited and then he said oh, i cant move, it might be bad for me politically, i cant have that meeting. I was all set to have the meeting. We called him and called him and he was all set. I spoke to him on the phone, very nice guy. I hear he wanted that meeting with you as well. He wanted it but we called, called, called, called, they cant make a meeting with him. Everyday i walk in i said i would like to meet with him because i do want to solve the problem but he probably was told by schumer or somebody like that, some other lightweight, he was probably told dont meet with trump, its bad politics. And thats part of the problem of this country. Is that an accurate characterization of what happened . Its not accurate. The meeting was never scheduled. As a matter of fact, we were working on a meeting and i his staff fully understands that we were meeting about the high price of prescription druggins they know that i was working with Bernie Sanders who ive been working on the high price of prescription drugs for the last three or four years and bernie and i are putting together a bill and i wanted to go in, chris, whenever i met with the president to present the bill to him because he knew thats what i wanted to meet him w him about but i wanted him to sign on and say im going to convince the republicans in the senate and house to help you with this bill so we can help americans pay cheaper prices for prescription drugs. Thats what its about. So for the record you would happily meet with the president of the United States . Im looking forward to meeting with the president. I can hardly wait. One more question i have here about april ryan who is the reporter who you saw in that clip. I would like you to respond to afternoon interaction she had, a question she asked about the Congressional Black Caucus and his response. Take a listen. Sure. Reporter are you going to include the cbc, mr. President , in your conversations with your urban agenda, your inner city agenda am i going to include who . Reporter are you going to conclude the Congressional Black Caucus. I tell you what, do you want to set up the meeting . Do you want to set up the meeting . Are they friends of yours . Reporter im just a reporter. Set up the meeting. What do you make of that . That was interesting. First of all, i dont think he knew what the cbc was and then i think the young lady, miss ryan, cleared it up and made sure he knew what it was and a lot of people assume all black people know all black people so and then the idea that the president would ask somebody in the press pool to set up a meeting with the Congressional Black Caucus, hes the president of the United States of america, he can make that phone call himself. I laughed it off but its consistent with what weve seen from President Trump all along. At least he didnt ask frederick douglass. Thats right. Congressman Elijah Cummings, thank you. Thank you. Up next, can we talk about what we witnessed today . How to deal with the president of the United States whose words cannot be taken at face value after this twominute break. Get to the places you really want to go. With the united mileageplus explorer card, youll get a free checked bag, 2 united club passes. Priority boarding. And 50,000 bonus miles. Everything you need for an unforgettable vacation. The united mileageplus explorer card. Imagine where it will take you. Why pause a spontaneous moment . Cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. Tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Do not drink alcohol in excess. To avoid longterm injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. If you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. Ask your doctor about cialis. I love to see businesses that just started from ground up grow into further success. It just feels good to know that im helping someone else. My first goal is to learn about their business, what theyre currently doing in their advertising. Pull some research, create a great story. Trying to figure out some way of building some kind of trust in a very quick moment. You have to love to work with people. Our goal, without a doubt, is that all customers are satisfied before they leave. A lower approval rate than congress. I think thats right. Peter, is that one right . I think they have lower i heard lower than congress. The public doesnt believe you people anymore. Maybe i had something to do with that, i dont know. But they dont believe you. Theres more to Donald Trumps war on the median than using them as a political foil to replace having an opponent in an election. Its a battle, really, over the truth and who controls it. For president , it seems, objective facts arent even part of the equation. Instead, truth is the reality defined by whomever commands power and public opinion. We saw that play out in the president s attempt at a weird Jedi Mind Trick over his inauguration crowds which were observably smaller than president obamas. We saw today in his prescription of the travel ban which produced chaos that played out live on social media and the news. Let me tell you about the travel ban. We had a very smooth rollout of the travel ban but we had a bad court. We had a bad decision. Thats the only thing that was wrong with the travel ban. Very bad for the safety and security of our country. The rollout was perfect. Im joined by tim carney, from the washington examiner. Do you recognize a sort of special category of untruthfulness from this president thats distinct from, like, the mundane and normal untruthfulness of politicians in general . Its true. All politicians well, almost every politician lies. Politicians as a class lie. Donald trump lies more and in a different and sometimes more baffling way than the average politician but what you were getting at, hes aided in his fight over the truth because the media, which messes up when covering every politician, messes up different in degree when covering donald trump. This is the line ive heard from the not protrump but the kind of antiantitrump right which i would put you sort of in, right . Maybe. Which is the idea of i dont like trump but his enemies are also bad or the people covering him and theyre screwing up and that gives him credence. Well, so, yes. I believe firmly in the media and i believe donald trump lies more than most politicians and that we are the First Amendment is a crucial check on the power and when you look at the behavior of the media, the sobriety has been lacking in the coverage of donald trump. We had a muslim woman detained thanks to the trump travel ban as a Time Magazine headline when she was detained in december. The. Many mlk bust removed when it wasnt. Thats a great example. Thats come up multiple times from the president of the United States from sean spicer. It was a mistake, it was corrected and youre right, it was wrong and i can understand if i were the subject of that error i would be mad but they like having that mistake. Heres whats happening and i wonder if you agree. They like the press screwing up. They take steps to lay land mines where other administrations would like to hand hold. The executive order is a great example. The obama administration, whether the substance was right or not would have had an ontherecord briefing, they would have tried to communicate what they thought the legal case was for it. They wouldnt have dropped it and let people run with it and that does induce higher errors, but i think they want people to screw up. Youre creating a Conspiracy Theory which im not saying is wrong. Conspiracy theories are often right but i just think they dont want remove the intention and its easier to mess up while covering trump because the administration is so much less careful. That is absolutely true. Thats my point, yes. Which is another reason why more sobriety is called for. Jack shaffer had a great peace where he said these journalists saying were going to gird our li loins, time to fight the Trump Administration, how about buckling down a little more . You know the serious work of journalism is boring. Its checking facts. I agree there is a certain kind of part of it, too, is plausibility, part of what is screwing with the thermostat of journalists is that there are certain kinds of things an straight might do that would not scan as plausible and you would say, well, theyre not going to take the mlk bust out. But then your plausibility and you know this as a journalist. Enough gut check sense of like does that story seem like it scans . And i think everyones judgment of that has gone haywire precisely because there are so many things that shouldnt scan that they are doing. Thats right but it tells us as much about trump as it does about sort of the makeup of the media. And with trump you have two factors, one hes a republican and that is a foreign species to much of the media. You know thats the story in every newsroom. I disagree with that, but continue. Two, trump is such an erratic character. He is so different from every politician. His relationship with the truth is so much more casual. Hes so much more likely to say untruths. Combine those two factors and its impossible for the average journalist to sort of say, oh, well, thats not plausible. And also the doesnt care if hes caught in a lie. That moment when Peter Alexander; it was hilarious. Its not a huge deal that he was wrong about this but it was that emoji where its like hey, what the he can. He just didnt care. Someone gave it to me, i dont care. The last thing here, i wonder if you agree with me on this, ive watched the wayrepublicans are this Trump Administration. One of the things is he does feel like theres a desire to replace Hillary Clinton with the media. Hillary clinton was not particularly trusted. He won a forced choice between him and her. She went away, the democrats are a minority power in both houses of congress. Theres an active choice to make the media the new Hillary Clinton. You have to have an enemy. This is something all politicians know. This is why in the 2010 election when democrats had all of congress they tried to make it be the chamber of commerce or charles koch or Something Like that and theyre tuning in on the media. The danger is that we are very incapable of judging how thats playing. We get very sensitive about the attacks and ive seen reports that a lot of people out there i dont know if its most they think trump is beating us. They think trump is running against the media. 100 there is a certain proportion of the electorate, i dont know how large it is that enjoys it and the point he made about how your trust is low, that is an undergirding statement of fact that drives this. And he wants to make the trust lower. Clearly, thats the whole agenda. Tim carney, thank you for your time. Thank you. Coming up, why were some members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus locked out of a meeting on capitol hill with officials from i. C. E. . That remarkable scene and what happened inside next . Vers a gent to help block six key inflammatory substances that cause your symptoms. Most allergy pills only block one. And six is greater than one. Break through your allergies. New Flonase Sensimist. Or keeping a Hotels Guests cuttinconnected. I to 35,000 fans. Businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink. But with my back pain i couldnt sleep or get up in time. Then i found aleve pm. The only one to combine a sleep aid plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. And now. Im back aleve pm for a better am. Are they fighting here . Whatever it is. Its hunting. The great wall. Rated pg13. On capitol hill today, members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus were shut out of a meeting between a Bipartisan Group of lawmakers and immigration officials including the acting director of i. C. E. The chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus attended the meeting as well as nancy pelosi but congressman Luis Gutierrez and others from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus who said they wanted to participate because the stories they are hearing from immigrant communities right now are terrifying were prevented from entering. They here in there fighting for us, were very proud of nancy pelosi and the democratic leadership. They here in there fighting for us. We sent them in there, whip hoyer sent them in there to fight for us. Inside that room, i. C. E. Officials briefed members on what one congressman described as a mass deportation plan in which all 11 million undocumented people in this country are now subject to arrest and deportation. Well tell you a story of what that looks like on the ground. Its a shocking one after this short break. And youre talking to your rheumatologist about a medication. This is humira. This is humira helping to relieve my pain. And protect my joints from further damage. Humira has been clinically studied for over 18 years. Humira works by targeting and helping to. Block a specific source. Of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain and. Stop further joint damage in many adults. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas. Where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Talk to your doctor and visit humira. Com this is humira at work. Tech at safelite, we know how busy your life can be. Mom oh no. Tech this mom didnt have time to worry about a cracked windshield. So she scheduled at safelite. Com and with safelites exclusive on my way text she knew exactly when id be there, so she didnt miss a single shot. I replaced her windshield giving her more time for what matters most. Tech howd ya do . Player we won tech nice thats another safelite advantage. Mom thank you so much team sing safelite repair, safelite replace. A democrat who was at todays meeting with officials, hispanic congresswoman Michelle Grisham told nbc news that they were informed by i. C. E. That trumps immigration executive order, not the travel ban, another one he signed, opens all 11 million undocumented immigrants to deportation. Joaquin castro said after ctte the meeting its hard not to conclude that President Trump has started his mass deportation plan. Its already clear theyre doing things differently. Theres the story of a woman reportedly detained after her Domestic Abuse hearing in el paso, texas, in a hallway outside the courthouse. She was the victim and the county attorney suspects it was her alleged abuser who tipped off i. C. E. Agents. Think about that for a moment theres a story of men being tim kained after exiting the Rising Hope Mission Churches hypothermia shelter in fairfax county, virginia. Oscar Orlando Ramirez said agents allowed him to go free after verifying he was in the country legally. Others from the homeless shelter corroborated the story. They say they saw multiple latino men taken away in a van at a nearby shopping center. Its unclear if those men left the shelter. Perhaps most controversially, a daca recipient arrested. A young man brought to the country without documentation as a minor shielded from deportation and who twice cleared government background checks, immigration advocates dispute the man was a gang member as alleged by i. C. E. Today President Trump addressed the change in enforcement tactics. Some people are so surprised were having strong borders. Thats what ive been talking about for a year and a half, strong border. Theyre so surprised. Thats what ive been talking about to the press and everybody else. Cities across the country today stores were shuttered, protested mounted in a day without immigrants coordinated action. Joining me christina jiminez, cofounder of united we dream. Christina i wonder if you can talk about what kind of Ripple Effect these stories anecdotally about these i. C. E. Detentions are having amongst folks documented and undocumented. Thanks, chris, for having me this is clear terror in our communities. There were raids in brooklyn, new york, the borough right next to mine. I grew up undocumented. My parents are undocumented. My brother jonathan is a daca recipient. That means that i fear my family could be next like guadalupe, a mother who has been here over 20 years with children that were born here who was deported. Jeanette who had to seek refuge in a church and you have Daca Recipients that even though the program is still current are also getting detained so this is unfortunately the impact that the executive orders that trump signed in the first week as president that is basically criminalizing all of us and putting all of us at the risk of deportation. What do you say to people who say you are here in violation of the countrys immigration laws and this is an enforcement of that law. What i say to people that think like that, chris, is my parents are my heroes. My parents and i came to this country over 16 years ago fleeing poverty and violence in ecuador where i was born and all we have done is worked here, raised our family here and try to fulfill dreams like me being the first person going going to college and that presents no threat to this country and thats what i will tell to these people. You said your brother is a daca recipient. Are you daca eligible . Im not. Im not a daca recipient. So your brother is. The pat was asked about dhaka. The executive action former president obama took to protect a category of people who has been brought here as children from deportation. This is what the president brought here today. To me its one of the most difficult subjects i have because you have these incredible kids in many cases, not in all cases, in some of the cases theyre having daca and theyre gang members and drug dealers, too. But you have some absolutely incredible kids, i would say mostly, they were brought here in such a way, its a very, very tough subject. We are going to deal with daca with heart. I have to deal with a lot of politicians, dont forget, i have and to convince them that what im saying is right. Do you believe that . Was that encouraging to you . No chris, if trump or anyone in his administration, including general kelly who is leading the department of Homeland Security now. If they cared about young people, if they cared about people like my brother Jonathan A Daca recipient they wouldnt be terrorizing us and terrorizing our families and deporting in less than two weeks over 600 people so no we dont believe him and it needs to be clear to them that if they want to claim that there is some sort of as he says heart on this situation and dealing with our communities is that, one, they need to leave the daca program in place and stop terrorizing our communities from deportation which means get rid of the executive orders that you signed the first week. Christina jiminez, thank you for your time tonight, appreciate it. Thank you. Another setback from the Trump Administration as the grassroots Resistance Continues to grow stronger. Plus, tonights thing 1 thing 2. Its my favorite moment in the show and it comes right after this break. If you have moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis isnt it time to let the real you shine through . Introducing otezla, apremilast. Otezla is not an injection, or a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. Some people who took otezla saw 75 clearer skin after 4 months. And otezlas prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. Otezla may increase the risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. Side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Ask your dermatologist about otezla today. Otezla. Show more of you. Is. Thing 1 tonight. Toward the end of President Trumps press Conference Today he said i want to find a friendly reporter. Judging by the president s response, the question he received next, one might think he was the victim of a severe verbal attack. Let me just tell you something that i hate the charge i find it repulsive. I hate even the question. Can you guess what question President Trump was asked which he called repulsive . Heres a hint its related to last nights thing 1 thing 2 and well play you that question in 60 seconds. Consider an aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like any of these types of plans, it could help you with outofpocket medical costs. Call now and request your free decision guide and explore the range of aarp Medicare Supplement plans. Start gathering the information you need. To roll into sixtyfive with confidence. Its about moving forward not back. Its looking up not down. Its feeling up thinking up living up. Its being in motion. In body in spirit in the now. Boost. Its not just nutrition. Its intelligent nutrition. With 26 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. All in 3 delicious flavors. Its choosing to go in one direction. Up. Boost. Be up for it. Let me just tell you something that i hate the charge. I find it repulsive. I hate even the question. A reporter asked a question at todays president ial press conference that donald trump called rebullsive. Here is that question. Reporter i havent seen anybody in my community accuse either yourself or any of the anyone on your staff of being antisemitic. We understand that you have jewish grandchildren, you are their grandfather. Thank you. Reporter however, what we are concerned about and what we havent heard being addressed is an uptick in antisemitism and how the government is planning to take care of it. There have been reports out that 48 bomb threats have been made against Jewish Centers all across the country in the last couple of weeks. For the second day in a row, the president was asked about rising antisemitism, that report of threats being called into Jewish Centers. You heard the reporter began by saying members of his community do not view President Trump or his staff as antisemitic, simply asked what government plans to do about the uptick of antisemitism. Okay, sit down, i understand the rest of your question. So heres the story, folks. Number one, i am the least antisemitic person that youve ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism, the least racist person. In fact, we did very well relative to other people as a republican reporter im not quiet, quiet. Quiet. See, he lied about he was going to get up and ask a straight simple question. So welcome to the world of the media. But let me just tell you something that i hate the charge, i find it repulsive. I hate even the question because people that know me and you heard the prime minister, you heard netanyahu yesterday, did you hear him, bibi . He said ive known donald trump for a long time and then he said forget it. So you should take that instead of having to get up and ask an insulting question like that. With every click. Call. Punch. And paycheck. Youve earned your medicare. It was a deal that was made long ago, and aarp believes it should be honored. Thankfully, President Trump does too. I am going to protect and save your Social Security and your medicare. You made a deal a long time ago. Now, its congress turn. Tell them to protect medicare. [ rear alert sounds ], by Willie Nelson ] [ music stops ] again just cant wait to get on the road again [ front assist sounds ] [ music stops ] [ girl laughs ] on the road again like a band of gypsies we go down the highway [ beetle horn honks ] no matter which passat you choose, you get more standard features, for less than you expected. Hurry in and lease the 2017 passat s for just 199 a month. By this time eight years ago, 28 days into the obama administration, the president had already signed an equal pay law that has been languishing in congress, he signed a Major Health Care bill expanding insurance to millions of low income kids. He was on the verge of signing a 787 billion stimulus package to try and save the economy and the senate had confirmed 28 members of his team. 28 days into the Trump Administration the senate has only confirmed 13 members of his team, the pat has signed two significant pieces of legislation, one repealed a law requiring Oil Companies to be transparent about payments to foreign governments, the other signed today as coal miners looked on in hard hats in the white house allows Coal Companies to dump debris in streams theres still no sign of the muchvaunted plan to repeal and replace obamacare. Today President Trump insisted it will happen next month and defended his administration. I turn on the tv, open the newspapers and i see stories of chaos kays. Yet it is the exact opposite. This administration is running like a finetuned machine there has never been a presidency thats done so much in such a short period of time. Theres zero chaos. We are running this is a finetuned machine. That is completely at odds with what certain republicans in congress are saying about this administration on the record, one of whom is in full maverick mode as were sticking around to hear that quote next. Are your allergies holding you back or is it your allergy pills . Break through your allergies. Introducing Flonase Sensimist. More complete allergy relief in a gentle mist you may not even notice. Using unique mistpro technology, new Flonase Sensimist delivers a gentle mist to help block six key inflammatory substances that cause your symptoms. Most allergy pills only block one. And six is greater than one. Break through your allergies. New Flonase Sensimist. Cmohappy birthday i survived a heart attack. Im doing all i can to keep from having another one. And im taking brilinta. For people whove been hospitalized for a heart attack. I take brilinta with a baby aspirin. No more than one hundred milligrams as it affects how well it works. Brilinta helps keep my platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. Brilinta reduced the chance of another heart attack. Or dying from one. It worked better than plavix. Dont stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. Brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. Dont take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers, a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. Tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. Talk to your doctor about brilinta. Im doing all i can. That includes brilinta. If you cant afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. The search for relief often leads. Here. Here. Or here. Today, theres another option. Drugfree aleve direct therapy. A tens device with high intensity power that uses technology once only available in doctors offices. Its wireless remote lets you control the intensity, and helps you get back to things like this. This. Or this. And back to being yourself. Aleve direct therapy. Find yours in the pain relief aisle. As the flynn scandal unfolded, senator john mccain told reporters its a dysfunctional white house, nobody knows whos in charge and nobody knows whos setting policies. Then he added this. Whos making the decisions in the white house . Is it the 31yearold . Is it mr. Bannon . Is it the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff . I dont know. That sentiment was echoed by Republican Congressman charlie dent on our own air last night. I believe that the white house must be much more clear in terms of its policy agenda. I feel if youre a president of the United States and want to deal with Health Care Reform or tax reform its imperative the president present a proposal to congress in bill form. Thats the ideal way to do it. Then congress will chop on it. Its a function of leadership. I think the white house does need to become more engaged on the policy specifics or proposals theyre advancing. That hasnt happened yet and i hope it happens soon. Because the white house isnt taking the necessary steps to get bills to kochk, their legislative agenda at the moment is floundering. The opposition is growing. Hundreds of people showing up to republican town halls to protest the repeal of the aca, prompting other republicans to avoid them all together. Vice news reporting the first two months of the new congress, 292 republicans have scheduled 88 inperson town hall events. 35 of those sessions are for representative Jim Sensenbrenner of wisconsin who does a lot of them. According to a tabulation, in the first two months of the previous congress, republicans held 222 inperson town hall events. Joining me now, jim manley and former Republican Congressman david jolly who represented floridas 13th district from 2014 this will in year. I want to talk about the town halls and legislative agenda but i want to start with the latest news about harwood. This is an individual who ive been talking to folks for the last two days, widely admired, obama people like him a lot, republicans like him a lot, highly respected, offered the job it appears to succeed Michael Flynn and turned it down. One reporting saying a friend said he called it a s sandwich. Whats your reaction to that . A word i cant use on tv or my mother is going to get mad at me. Its another example of the gang that cant shoot straight. You know, i am in a weird position where i am desperately hoping that someone with good jumts and character is going to take this job because what weve seen so far is scary and will get worse. The obama people i talked to yesterday were encouraged by it and hoped he would take the job. David, lets talk about Political Capital in normal terms the last week would be seen as a disaster if this was another administration they would be viewed as hemorrhaging Political Capital there would be fear republicans in Congress Getting nervous looking at the disasters, the setbacks and Approval Ratings but weve been here before. Ive covered a trump implosion half a dozen times. A dozen times. What do you think the psychology a republican member of congress watching this is . Listen, today is a turning point. Today was historically bad not just for President Trump but also for the office of the presidency. Its obvious to the nation the emperor has no clothes. Our boy president surrounded himself by a team who tells him his coat is beautiful and hes not wearing one. But before the left takes vindication for from that lets recognize as a country the heart break in this and what we saw today, the anxiety that we might be faced with a president who today is not up to the task of the office he ran for and what do we do with that . I think what we do with that is listen, for the last eight years republicans in congress have suggested rightfully that the constitution says congress is a coequal branch. Just as we tried to assert our authority during an obama administration, now is the time for the Republican Congress to own the Article One Authority of the congress, stand up and lead the country and let the president find his footing as he will but lead from capitol hill. Thats an interesting idea that gets to the interplay about what this domestic legislative agenda is going to be because we havent even had the big fights yet. Here i thought, jim, you are you have battle scars to show for the time youve spent in the majority, in the minority on capitol hill with these fights. Heres a walk article about House Speaker ryaneeting with the white house. Early january House Speaker ryan met on the issue of tax reform. The delegation with the president elect attending with senior counselor steve bannon, future chief of staff reince priebus, jared kushner, future counselor Kellyanne Conway and future Senior Policy Adviser Steven Miller or as john mccain calls him the 31yearold. Ryan asked whos in charge . Silence. How much does it matter that they do not have their ducks in a row in the white house to weather an agenda to get pushed through by the republicans in congress . It makes an enormous amount of difference if only because theres differences not only within the House Republican caucus on tax reform and obamacare and differences between the house and Senate Republicans so the fact is on tax care and Obamacare Repeal, theyre floundering and the only way they will get something done is with leadership the president and i doubt theyll get much of that if anything out of this guy in the weeks and months to come if only because hes so consumed by his antipathy towards the press and hes raging, jerking from one direction to the other everyday and he cant simply focus on trying to move a basic legislative agenda. Its hard. It takes work. You need to spend the time trying to put together coalitions necessary to get something out of the house and senate and hes demonstrated a complete lack of ability to do that. To that end theres a problem when you scratch the surface about Obamacare Repeal where you have the House Freedom caucus saying we want something similar to 2015 which is a nogo for a lot of socalled moderate members. Theres 20, 22 republican members in districts Hillary Clinton won. You have to think they are looking at the town halls, looking at their switch board the mobilization happening towards them will make a difference in terms of how they vote. But i love the fact were talking about a congress and whether or not they can pass something because listen, Donald Trumps most sincere moments are when he is lying. He cannot be trusted. So paul ryan has the ability as speaker of the house to push a republican agenda. Look, who knows what but he cant who knows what the obamacare replace element look like. Can he do it with the president of the United States not on board . Put it on his desk. What we used to say to republicans in congress, pass legislation, put it on obamas desk and dare him to vie foe et. Let President Trump figure out how to get his sea legs, he wont do it with this ineffective team but we dont need an ineffective congress. Push the agenda. Put it on the president s desk. You know what i think part of the problem with that is david, i dont know if the voters wanted that in this sense. Voters i dont know if im serious, i dont think this election im with you, i got you. I dont think this election was won on tax reform. Can we agree that whatever happened in this election in terms of what it ratified and what the electorate chose its not like the paul ryan vision of america was what won the election. Trumps appeal doesnt bear that much relationship to the kinds of things Mitch Mcconnell and paul ryan want to get done. It bears no relationship depending on the days, sometimes it does, sometimes it doesnt. Hes an empty vessel and the speaker is trying to carve out something for him, throwing around his weight to advance an agenda but the speaker was on another network tonight saying that the Obamacare Repeal is on track to try and get done. Thats simply not true and the idea that tax reform is going to get done any time soon is ridiculous again, given the divisions within the republicans, not only the House Republican caucus but the house and senate as well and there is no president ial leadership. David sorry to interrupt. One more. The only thing, you and i have been looking at numbers that show how tight house and Senate Republicans are holding towards the president right now. Whats going on is theyre afraid of getting on the wrong side of a trump tweet storm and thats going to continue million is something else, town halls, organizing, pulling in their own district. The mobilization that is building. That will be a question for them of which theyre more afraid of which is what a lot of politics come down to. Jim and david, thank you, appreciate it. Thats all in for this evening. The Rachel Maddow show starts right now. Good evening, chris, thanks, my friend. You bet. Thanks for joining us at in hour. It was april 29, 2014. He tried to get up off the gurney in the middle of it. His name was clayton locket, they were trying to kill him but they could not figure it out, they couldnt get it done they made more than a dozen tries inserting iv lines into him, more than a dozen tries. Including into his arms, into his legs, into his groin and the whole time he was supposed to be knocked out but he was not unconscious. He was awake. Rooit writhing, ar back, talking about how much everything hurt. It went on for ten minutes, then 20 minutes, then 30 minutes and then 40 minutes at one point he