Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20170223

There are many. Ning a lot of cases thats what you are seeing. The new order, team trump takes over the annual conservative conference, c pack, a year ago trump skipped it while being slammed by his party rivals. How do you believe President Trump has impacted the conservative movement . I think by tomorrow this will be t pac when hes here. No doubt. And reversal, the Trump Administration rolls back obama era directives that let Public School students use bathrooms that match their gender identity. Something trump said he would not dom. Almost a year on the today show. People go, they use the bathroom they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble. Coming up, we are going to talk to the transgender teen at the center of a Supreme Court case. Thats here, and its live. Good day to you. Take two. Good day to you, im Peter Alexander here in ash ash for Andrea Mitchell following two big stories that highlight the national divide over the trump presidency. First down road at c pac where republicans of all stripes are celebrating the november victory that could reshape the federal government. And then the outrage across the country where voters are voicing their concerns with the president to their republican lawmakers, ready to repeal and replace obamacare. Joining me now, we have a good panel today. White house correspondent kristen welker. Chris sill ias. And Jeremy Peters today at c pac, and von hillyard in arkansas. Kristen, to you out of the gates. We have heard from the white house as they referred to elements of these town halls being professional protesters and the like. It seems like the message today is to try to turn the page and focus on what they think is the sweet spot, which is jobs and the economy. Thats right. President trump meeting with manufacturers here a short time ago, peter. But there is no doubt that they continue to get tough questions about the backlash that republican lawmakers are getting all across the country. They are home on recess. And they are hearing from their constituents who have voiced concerns on a whole host of issues. But one of the more frequent ones, peter, has to do with obamacare. This fact that you have republicans saying they want to repeal and replace it and have yet to really put forward a plan to do that. So a lot of questions, a lot of concerns, a lot of anger out there. You are right, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked about this yesterday. As you played that clip, part of his response is, look, there are angry people, there are concerned people, but there are also a lot of folks who have been paid to protest. What is interesting about that is that if you rewind, back in 2009 then press Seth Robert Gibbs of the Obama Administration had similar reaction when the tea party protests started. Of course we have to wait and see just how much traction what appears to be a lot of frustration is actually going to gain, whether it actually turns into a countermovement to the Trump Administration. But there is no doubt, peter, that this is something thats going to overshadow the administration at least in the coming days while lawmakers remainan recess. Chris, i want to ask you sort of a fundamental question here, as we can look back at 2009 perhaps as setting precedent for what we could potentially anticipate. How much of this is an isolated moment . And how much of this is the start of a movement as best you can sort of gauge it . Yeah. I mean i wish i knew is the short answer, peter. I remember kristen mentioned 2009 robert gis. Thats the exact right thought. I remember sitting, watching those briefings and thinking the same thing, is this the leading edge of something, or is this one of the many things that we see in politics, which is, you know, a very quick rise in passion, a very quick fall . Are there more people, particularly on the left, engaged, passion add, involved than there would be at this time typically in a fouryear president ial cycle . Absolutely yes. What is hard, the election is not until november of 2018 at a minimum, and then obviously november 2020. The hardest thing in organic enthusiasm. The second hardest thing in politics is keeping up organic enthusiasm. We will see, the best friends democrats have in that regard is donald trump in the white house because he is willing and able to prod and poke democrats on the left in ways that we have not seen a politician do before. Jeremy we are going to talk about c pac with you in a second. I want your take. At the end of the day what matters here is not the democrats and liberals that are fired up, per se. Presumably a large number of those people voted for Hillary Clinton or democrats going forward. The question is what do we do with those folks in the middle who gave President Trump a chance . This going the erode support for President Trump or is this americans in their corners. First off, i wonder if many of these people did vote for Hillary Clinton. I think a majority of them did. I think a lot of them felt like donald trump was never going to win, never had a shot at becoming president. They were complacent, stayed home or were exhausted by the political process and stayed home. I do think there is a fundamental difference between what is happening at these town Hall Meetings and what happened in 2009 and 10. And that is that the Tea Party Movement was about change issing the direction of the republican changing the direction of the republican party. People who were conservative minded wanting to change their own political party. This is different. This is about relitigating the last president ial election. Yeah. And thats a much harder thing, i think, much much harder type of energy to sustain and galvanize around. Von, let me ask you quickly because a lot of republicans, and i have been speaking to some who made this aserg that these are political protesters, that some of them were paid, many individuals were bussed in from strat states. Tom cotton basically said i dont care who was paid how you got here, best i can tell, you are constituents, and im here to lip. You have been covering america outside of washington. Have you seen any evidence of individuals coming in from other states that were bussed in in any form or paid in any way. No i was with Chuck Grassley for two events up in iowa two days ago and with tom cotton yesterday. At the one yesterday in springdale, arkansas where 2200 filled up the high school theater, it was started the indivisible, a group that has been around the country started by exdemocrats congressional staffers and it penetrated the country, into rural areas, into the cities. And i was talking this morning with caitlyn moses, a 23yearold who works at a Furniture Store down the road. There was a customer who came into her store, talked to her about indivisible, caitlyn turned around, created the Facebook Group and the northwest arkansas Indivisible Group. A of the will these people who were at the town hall yesterday said they heard about the town hall through indivisible, the group. Indwi divisible worked directly with tom cotton. He said that the northwest arkansas Indivisible Group reached out their office, okay we will hold this town hall and we will find a venue. I saw no evidence of anybody. You pick anybody out of the crowd they will tell you they are educators, drove from an hour away. One woman runs a Nonprofit Health clinic. A Diverse Group of people. None that told me they were paid. Another headline, this move on the transgender children in america, the rolling back of what was a directive under president obama. Any sense from the white house on the timing of this that sort of didnt fit what had been their message forth these first couple months . Look, we know that arguments are going to start in the Supreme Court in the next few weeks. So i think to some extent they wanted to get ahead of that. But this was really striking, peter, because behind the scenes you had the education secretary, betsy devos really at odds with Jeff Sessions, the attorney general, who did want to move forward with reversing this obamaera directive. What we have seen in the wake of it is a big backlash from a number of advocacy groups, groups like the Human Rights Campaign, which essentially say that this is going to harm children and this is not a states issue. Thats the white houses argue, this should be states issue, something that President Trump argued while he was on the campaign trail to some extent. Still, this is something thats going to continue i think to garner a lot of backlash particularly as they continue to wait for this Supreme Court case. Peter, thats really where the focus is right now because thats going the determine whether or not schools have to allow transgender students to use the bathroom of their gender identity. We will have an interesting conferring on that with the individual at the heart of Supreme Court case in a little bit. Jeremy, specifically on this issue, you had unique reporting on the role betsy devos played in this conversation sort of the flash between her and the attorney general, Jeff Sessions. The white house effectively said there is nothing to see here. What are you reporting and what specifically have you learned . In fact, peter, there is a lot to see here. And you had a extraordinary clash between two cabinet secretaries, a clash that was so severe it delayed the rollout of this announcement and involved betsy devos being called to the oval office to defend her position. And ultimately be told by the president that she lost, that he was siding with Jeff Sessions on this. So betsy devos was left with an alternative, get behind a decision she was not entirely comfortable with that her president was making or defy him and resign. She wasnt comfortable im told with resigning. So she effectively gave in. Chris, behind jeremy right now we are anticipating we will be hearing Reince Priebus and Steven Bannon participating in a panel. A lot of eyes are going to want to see these panelists. They represent the competing elements inside the President Trump white house. President trumps own arc remarks, scheduled to speak there tomorrow morning what do you anticipate from him at c pac that his counsellor Kellyanne Conway said thub t pack, the trump Political Action conference. This week in a lot of ways has been defined by him being a little less trumpian. He still does things like asking jeff ml to tell the story of when donald trump made a hole in one, but in terms of public statements, the statements he gave at the National Museum of africanamerican history earlier in the week, he is doing more orthodox president ial things. It will be tough for him, i think, to stick to that because this will be, in essence, a sort of campaign rally. Wasly, hes appearing in his formal capacity as the president. But theres going to be this is a red meat audience. I was just listening to ted cruz being interviewed by mark la vin before i came on with you. Ted cruz is throwing out things how the Democratic Group smell worse than the republican group. Everyone was laughing. Thats this crowd. Right. Does donald trump is he able to, if he has a prepared speech, which i assume he does, is he able to stick to it on a certain message, or does he go as is his, you know, want, for free form and break with what i think has been large will he by his measures successful week of his presidency thus far . In superficial terms this has been their strongest week so far with fewer diversions and distractions as weve witnessed in the past. My panelists thank you guys very much. Coming. Right here, the same week the white house gets tough on immigration, the secretary of state Rex Tillerson and its Homeland Security secretary john kelly are in mexico today. They are trying to cool some tensions. They will make their first public statements with their mexican counterparts any moment. We are watching. You see the podiums are set. We bring you there live. Blah blam did you make that . I did. Nt. Hey, come look what lisa made. Wow. You grilled that chicken . Yup i did. Nt. Mhm, lisa. You roasted this . Uhuh. Nt. Introducing smartmade by smart ones. Real ingredients, grilled and roasted using the same smart cooking techniques you do. You own a grill . Smartmade frozen meals. Its like you made it. And you did. Nt. More doing chores for dad per roll more earning something you love per roll bounty is more absorbent, so the roll can last 50 longer than the leading ordinary brand. So you get more life per roll. Bounty, the quicker picker upper s. Right now, rex, who, as you know, hes in mexico, i said, thats going to be a tough trip, because we have to be treated fairly by mexico. That was President Trump a short time ago. The secretary of state and Homeland Security head are expected to speak any minute now. You can see where the lecterns are is the up in mexico city. The top cabinet officials there on a mission to smooth over things days after the announcement of a deportation crackdown and a month after mexicos president abruptly cancelled a white house trip triggered by that dispute over who would pay for the wall along the southern border. Joining me now, the former chief of stap staff for the department of Homeland Security. The president says the u. S. Relationship with mexico as you heard is quote phenomenal right now. I want your take from your unique perspective here with relationships on both sides. What do you make of that statement . Is the relationship quote phenomenal at this moment . Peter, thank you. Nice to be here. The reality of the situation is that the relationship is not phenomenal. I think when the president says that the secretary is in for a very difficult meeting he is right hes right on. As a matter of fact what we are hearing in the Mexican Senate and in the house of representatives, they are encouraging the president not to meet with either secretary tillerson or secretary kelly especially with reports that indicate that folks are unsure, does the secretary really speak for the administration . How involved is he in Foreign Relations matter within the white house. Marco, let me be clear. Thats what the Mexican Senate is saying right now . They are encouraging their president not to meet with Rex Tillerson and john kelly today . Do you have reporting you had formerly advised this president about whether this meeting is going to take place . Their desire is to have a productive conversation based off of items that they can all agree to beforehand instead this surprise diplomacy that the administration has been engaged in. They release these memos and then they send their emissaries to try to bring them into the fold after the fact. So what they are saying within the president s office is that they would want to be engaged. But they do need to have the ability to have conversations ahead of time, not be surprised and blind sided by some of the action is that the administration has been carrying out in a last couple of days. Apparently this is the way they operate. Lets talk leverage a little bit. Who has the upper hand here . Donald trump of course considers himself a master negotiator, obviously. He basically said to president nieto dont even come here unless you are going to talk to me about how we are going to pay for this wall. Where are the place where is there is the potential for any agreement . I think there is a concern primarily on the economic front. They for years have been engaged in the immigration discussion based off of an economic policy, not as an enforcement only policy. I think thats part of where this leverage comes in. If you look at the Security Priorities that the president has laid out in these memos, one of the big rubbing points with the Mexican Administration is that they have declared that they are willing or prioritizing the deportation of immigrants, whether or not they are from mexico. Mexico, in the press today, the administration actually today has been saying no way are we going to succumb to a situation where the United States is deporting nonmeks kanes bac nonmexicans back to mexico. The leverage i think is in addition to having the economic discussion they want to secure the security piece. You need knowledge and technology. In order to get intelligence, you need mexico at the table. Marco lopez has a unique perspective, the former chief of staff of the department of Homeland Security. Former adviser to president pena nieto. Thank you for your insights. We appreciate it. Thank you peter my pleasure. We are waiting or secretaries Rex Tillerson and john kelly to speak. Those are live pictures from mexico city. We will bring those to you live. Ahead here, more on the raucous town halls. What do Trump Supporters have to say about his first monday in office. The live report from the battleground state of ohio. Its next. Here on Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. My business was built with passion. But i keep it growing by making every dollar count. Thats why i have the spark cash card from capital one. With it, i earn unlimited 2 cash back on all of my purchasing. And that unlimited 2 cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business. Which adds fuel to my bottom line. Whats in your wallet . Ahyou the law . Weve had some complaints of. Is that a fire . Theres your payoff, deputy. Git velveeta shells cheese. Theres gold in them thar shells. Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® first 30 days, i would give him 100 as far as what he has tried to accomplish in the first 30 days. Really . Yes, i would, i dont see anything he has done wrong. I wouldnt give him a a. Lower. The president has been individual vitriolic and talks hatefully and abruptly with many people in this country. I would give him a lower grade. Mixed reactions from the people in nelsonville, ohio a town that voted overwhelmingly for president obama in 2008 and 2012, but it flipped this past go around, supporting trump this past november. We are live in nelsonville with more on the conversation over beers and a little bit of barb dew cue, i trust. What are you hearing from the folks there as they break down one monday into the presidency of trump . Peter, there was a political shift here in the last election at the top of the ticket. Donald trump won this down, nelsonville, 5,000 people. Its still a blue county, Athens County went for Hillary Clinton by a sizable margin but there was a change in tone in town. Im at the mine tavern, the only one at the bar. Christie person is our bar. You are life long democrat. Yes. You voted for secretary clinton. Yes. And you dont like what you are seeing with these town halls. Some people would i is a that a democrat should be fired up about what you are seeing at the taun town halls. You are disappointed, how come . I just dont think it is what it is. People voted him in. I dont think we should disrespect our president. You think its disrespectful the way i think you know, i mean some people are. Some of the riots, that they are Burning House why . Why is it do you think a lot of democrats in this town flipped and voted for a republican this past election . A lot of people want change. They think i dont know. I like i said, born and raised democrat. But i will stand behind my president. And i would never disrespect the president. Thats just i dont think thats right. It is what it is. And we all just need to get along and try to fix things. One of the things, peter, that we have heard a lot here is that the rocky boots store, they used to manufacture boots here and they moved those jobs to latin america. They kept the Retail Operation here. Peep want jobs here and they want to find a way to get jobs and get back to work and Donald Trumps message here sold better than Hillary Clintons message at least in nelsonville. Whether thats going to remain the case going forward, whether this town is going to become a red town well have to wait and see. But it certainly went red this last election. Tristy being one of the few exceptions. Peter back to you. I think you are right, that issue of jobs critical here. For Everything Else that we focus on in places like michigan, pennsylvania, ohio and others see new jobs arrive i think a lot of people are going to stick with this president. Coming up momentarily we will take you to mexico. Thats where we are waiting on the secretaries of state Rex Tillerson and Homeland Security john kelly. They are going to be speaking. We will bring you there live to i have go you insights into conversations they are having with mexican leaders as they try to smooth over tensions over the new deportation guidelines rolled out by the president. And the teen at the center of the transgender case in the Supreme Court joins us live next here on msnbc. Nosy neighbor with a keen sense of smell. Glad bag, full of trash. What happens next . Nothing. Only glad has febreze to neutralize odors for 5 days. Guaranteed. Even the most perceptive noses wont notice the trash. Be happy. Its glad. Befi was active. Gia, i was energetic. 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Ask your doctor about lyrica. Back live of you can see the live picture from mexico city where we are still waiting for the secretary of state Rex Tillerson followed up by the department of Homeland Security security john kelly. They will be speaking about their conversations taking place in mexico on this day. We will take you there when that conversation, those comments, begin. Now we want to get back to our conversation about the issue of transgender. This was President Trump on the today show last april months before the administration reversed course on federal protections for transgender students. One of the best answers i heard was from a comment at a timer yesterday saying, leave it the way it is right now. There have been very few problems. Leave it the way it is. People go, they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. There has been so little trouble. Demonstrators outside the white house last night voicing their concerns about the Trump Administrations plan to now rescind the obama era order that allowed Public School students to use bathrooms that matched their gender identity. Joining me now is the Virginia High School student gavin grimm a transgender teen whose case against the school board over rest room access is now headed to the Supreme Court. Gavin, we appreciate you being here. Thank you. Thank you for having me. I just want out of the gates, i just want your gut reaction. When you heard this news, when the headline came out from this president , this white house, what was your gut reaction to that . I was very disappointed. I dont think i was necessarily surprised. But it was it was just upsetting to hear. It was disappointing. Walk me through those protests last night. What are you hear from folks there, the community that gathered several hundred out in front of the white house making their voices heard. I was hearing fear and frustration. But louder and more powerful was so much love and so Much Community and so much resilience, and determination. We talk about transgender students, the issue of transgender as a policy issue, and it gets all mixed up in politics. We forget that ultimately its about people. I just want to really get your views on this. Gloucester high school initially let you use the mens bathroom but then decided against it. Can you walk us through a little bit about what happened there, and just the way for a young transgender individual like yourself, what that experience is like. Yeah, so gloucester did i lou me to use the mens room for a period of roughly seven weeks. There were no incidents verbal or physical. Then a member of the community allegedly made a complaint and the school board had a hearing and decided to bar me from the mens room. When you are a High School Student or even just a student in general and you are someone who doesnt necessarily fit any social norms or stereotypes it can already be very difficult to get through life and avoid being bullied and stigmatized and discriminated against and then to have a school board set this precedent for your school saying the student should not be treated the same way as other students its very difficult and very frustrating. Gavin the way you described it i thought was powerful in one of the conversations you had, you said it was othering when you described it. What did you mean when you said it was othering that experience. It means it designated me as someone who was different from my peers, someone not deserving of the same rights and same opportunities and the same spaces. Loretta lynch i want to play a clip from what she said in may of last year when the department of justice announced a civil rights lawsuit had been announced against the state over of North Carolina over their bathroom bill. Heres the thoerge. No matter how isolated no matter how afraid, no matter how alone you feel today know this, the department of justice and indeed the entire Obama Administration want you to know that we see you, we stand with you, and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward. Obviously, this is now a different case, but how do you feel . Do you feel seen . And what is the message thats being sent to transgender teens in this country . I definitely feel like this conversation is one thats happening across the nation at a greater degree than it ever has before. And thats a positive thing. But right now transgender students are probably feeling alone and they are probably feeling afraid because their government has just basically said that the protections that they do have, they dont feel that those are deserving of still being there. Your case expected to be heard by the Supreme Court i think its march 28th, something to that effect. What was your reaction when you heard that you were going before the Supreme Court with this case . I was just so honored to have the ability to have such a incredibly huge platform and hopefully im going to be doing something very positive. Gavin grimm, we appreciate your kindness and coming to be with us and we wish you the best. Thank you very much. Thank you. Joining me now, chad griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign here on set with me right you no. I want to get your take if i can chad quickly. The Trump Administrations move really had no immediate effect because in effect this wasnt being enforced right now. I want to get a sense from you, does the take the wind out of the sails of the Transgender Movement . Or what is the actual impact this announcement by the administration . Peter, i think it did have impact. And gavin grimm, who is a hero to us all and so eloquent in speaking for transgender students all across the country, he said it exactly right. This message that this president , a bully in this action sent to transgender youth all across the country he said that this government, the federal government, the department of education, the department of justice, is no longer standing up for transgender young people. And what is perhaps most offensive of all is they did it under the guise of socalled states rights. That is the excuse that has been used by those who oppose equal rights throughout our history. Its what governor George Wallace used. Its what governor orville falbus used of the its outrageous that this president undermined protections for transgender young people. How many states right now are already requiring Public Schools to allow transgender students to use the rest rooms that match their gender identity . And i guess where do you see that going right now if this issue is then forced back to the states . It is an important question because what the Obama Administration did was actually extend the protections that already exist under title nine. By putting the guidance forward, it just articulated the best practices that schools could use. And that was done. Because teachers and principals were asking for this guidance, how best to treat our transgender students equally in this country. And businesses, 80 of fortune 500 companies troekt their transgender employees. Most major cities broke their transgender respects. But a number of states have attempted to attack transgender students like North Carolina, like texas is trying to do today. And its the job of the government to stand up to those bullies and protect all students equally. And thats why we have to send the message. Our job is to stand up to the bully that is the president in this case. But our job is also to stand up for those being bullied. Betsy devos said simply as second of education ksk, recently confirmed. She said she has dedicated her career to protecting all students. I guess the question is, she insists this ds not impact any stupts right now. Does this actually impact students. What secretary devos and the president should do is sit down with the thousand parents that sent a letter to the president asking them not to do this. Those same thousand parents have now, today, asked the president to sit down and meet with them. This does undermine Protection Force transgender people. And secretary devos should spend the time instead of tweeting and issuing press releases. If she disagrees with the decision stands up and speak out about it. What she should do is sit down with transgender students, with their parents, and hear their concerns, hear why they are hurt by this action f. She does that, and if this president actually does that, i think they would be hardpressed to continue to defend this hateful position. Chad griffiths with the Human Rights Campaign nice to see you in person. Thank very much. Rex tillerson, secretary of state, and john kelly, secretary of Homeland Security are in mexico trying to smooth the tensions between the u. S. And our southern neighbor. We are waiting for them to speak. We will take you there live. First joining us live is senator cardin the top democrat on the committee. You and your colleagues sent a letter to the secretaries to emphasize the important of this partnership between the u. S. And mexico. But President Trump said today that the u. S. Needs in his words to be if you have on mexico. Do you think your letter accomplished anything . Are you comfortable with his phrasing that America Needs to be tough on mexico . Im not happy at all about that. I was in mexico last week with two of my colleagues, i had a chance to talk to their government officials. Its no question that our relationship with mexico has been adversely affected. We need their cooperation in order to protect our borders. We need their cooperation on stopping Illegal Drugs from coming into the United States. We need their cooperation in regards to immigrants coming into america. What mexico does on their southern border in regards to people coming from Central America is very important to what happens on our border with mexico. So we need mexican cooperation. Sorry to interrupt you, how much faith do you have that the new secretary of state Rex Tillerson actually can sort of act independently . Do you think his hands are tied, in effect, by this president , who has been putting his hands in all things . Well, mr. Tillerson is the secretary of state. Hes our top diplomat. I think his message to mexico will be very important. I hope ease very clear we want to work with motion cothat we both understand that we are both stronger together when we work together. Do you think he is out of loop. He hasnt been involved in a lot of conversations so far including the visit from the Prime Minister of israel, benjamin netanyahu. Do you think that the secretary of state, you are hoefly involved in Foreign Relations in this country. Do you think he has his happened on the pulse of it given he seems to be on the outside of all of this. I know its our from dags for our secretary of state to be the national diplomat. He has the resources, the personnel, the expertise in his department to represent our nation on Foreign Policy issues. I understand that President Trump has a different way of doing business. You cannot conduct Foreign Policy through a tweet. You need to have the expertise of our secretary of state and his team. I hope thats the case. Your colleague senator Susan Collins said i think it was earlier this week wednesday that she is open to using a subpoena to investigate the president s tax returns for potential connections to russia. Heres exactly what she said. Then ill get your eracks. Will you s p the president s tax records to see if there are any russian connections . I dont know whether we will need to do that. If its necessary to get to the answers, then i suspect that we would. The initial decision would be made by the chairman and the vice chair. My hope is that well have a lot of voluntary copraying. And keep in mind that in some ways this is a corporate intunt intelligence operation. Are you confident that the investigation into russias interference in the election will accomplish what they need to . Or will only a 9 11style commission as you have suggested be able to get to those facts . I think we need a fulltime commission, a fulltime attention by its members to russia attack on the United States what they did in the last election. We need the confidence of an incommission that has broad jurisdiction that independent commission that has broad majored that can look at what russias motivation was and how to broke ourselves against russia in the future. I think an independent commission is the beside way to go. We also need congressional investigations. And i hope that senator collins, that we will look at the text tax returns. I think thats an important part. This is the first president that has not released his tax returns. They are important for america to see any connections he might have in foreign interests. The new National Security adviser is general h. R. Mcmaster a pick that received prads on both sides of the aisle. I know you werent happy how things were under mike flynn. But are you satisfied this is a pick that you can get hyped and one that is good for america . So far what ive heard has been positive. We want the president to have a team around him that gives him all the information he needs to make the critical decision. To date we have not seen that type of a team at the white house. So its encouraging to see him reach out to people who have more credibility and experience in this area. Just to conclude i know you are going to be holding one of these town halls coming up, inits this weekends on sunday. You are a democrat so you may not see the same anger that some republicans have been seeing right now. But i just want your perspective as you witness these contention town halls right now, do you think this is the start of a movement or this is an isolated moment where a lot of liberals and democrats liberal activists as the president himself describes it are just venting frustration. Is this something bigger than that or just a release. I think its bigger. His policies have americans greatly concerned. Whether it is the repeal of the Affordable Care act. Millions of americans feel vulnerable we are going back to the day when health cares with a privilege rather than a right or his immigration policies where people feel threatened or recent actions restricting rights of transgenders. I think all of that puts america at fear. And people will react. Thats why these town hall meetngs are as animated as they are. Senator cardin, thank you, we appreciate it. On the left side of your screen we have been looking at live pictures from mexico city where apparently the meeting between the secretary of state Rex Tillerson and department Homeland Security head john kelly going a bit long. This was supposed to have started a shorttime ago. We will take you back there once they begin speaking. Well be right back. You are watching Andrea Mitchell reports. Or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. 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Oscar mayer deli fresh. Sweet mitchell reports im Peter Alexander. The most anticipated cpac speaker not named donald trump will take the stage just a few minutes from now. Nbcs casey hunt is in maryland at the conference. Obviously there has been a lot of interest from the president s chief strategist, thats steve bannon. But i want to ask you about a man that may be familiar to some of our viewers, Richard Spencer, a White Nationalist. Heres what we heard earlier today in a speech that targeted spencers faction of the movement. This hatefilled leftwing fascist group hijacked the very term alt right. They stole the term specifically to confuse us. We know who these people are. They met just a couple months ago in washington, d. C. To spew their hatred and make their hooil h highly hitler sla as lutes. They are antisemites. They are racist, they are sexists. They hate the constitution. They hate free markets. They hate pluralism. They hate everything, and they despise everything we believe in. Strong words there from one of the individuals who is behind the Group Sponsoring this conference. We know that spencer showed up at cpac. What happened next . Well, peter, spencer did show up at cpac. You remember him also as the White Nationalist who was punched in the face at Donald Trumps inaugurations during the festivities. That video widely circulated on social media. He came here to cpac and he was in the hallway with a name badge and a credential around his neck saying initial he felt welcome but pretty quickly he was thrown out by the organizers here. We followed him out to get his story about how exactly that happened. Take a look. What happened here . They stripped you of their credentials here at cpac. Yes, they did, thats their right i guess. But they issued them in the first place. Yes. What was their rationale, did they discover who you were. Discovered who i was and the fact is people want to talk to me. They dont want to talk to these boring conservatives. I think everyone everyone recognizes there has to be identity politics in the world. White people define the United States you but we are now experiencing an increasing minority status. We should say that cpac has said that he is not welcome here. That he bought a ticket. He was not invited, and that they have refunded the money. They have not taken his money for the ticket. And of course this is somebody who has been widely reputiated by critics, by others in the republican party, as you noted the organizers were on stage saying that they reputiate this kind of language and talk. But of course this has bubbled up and Richard Spencer did hold a gathering of White Nationalists in washington shortly after trumps election saying hail trump and other things. This is something that has been content of comenting back and forth between the conservatives in the establishment who are wrestling with how to deal with it. And of course that has come to the forefront a little bit here at cpac, peter. Casey thank you for the report live at cpac. Joining us again, chris is a list lizza, the founder of the washington posts fix blog. In effect this is the pregame show to Reince Priebus and steve bapon, two of the inner circle members the closest advisors to the president with competing perspectives in the conservative movement as it were, win republicanism more bradley. I want to get your sense as we anticipate hearing from steve bannon a person that a lot of people have opinions on but a very few have probably heard speak. You are right peter, this is the yin and yang of the Trump Administration. Bannon, the sort of voice of the people coming from the movement, conservative end of things. Priebus, former Republican National Committee Chairman and sort of the establishment of the establishment. I think your point about bannon is the one im most interested in. He is probably the most powerful person in the country that we havent heard very much from. He doesnt go on sunday shows doesnt grant interviews outside of talking to occasion ally talking to breitbart where he was once chairman. He has lots of power but not someone we are used to being able to see, ask questions, appear on a panel, or even in a friendly seth. Reince priebus we hear from fairly often. To me, bannon is the person to Pay Attention to in this. I want to ask you about that relationship from your reporting. Im at the white house so im doing similar reporting on this. But that relationship between bannon and priebus is unique, you have got tiers, spokes on the wheel. One going to Kellyanne Conway, another to jared kushner, another one to bannon and priebus, and another to ivanka trump as well. He has set up this circle, the big four plus ivanka, who you could argue is probable bleep the most important of them all. But the big four, her sort of competing against one another, priebus and bannon say they are friends. Who knows. Any minute live here on msnbc as we look at one of the other proceeding panels taking place. We will hear from steve bannon and Reince Priebus, set to take the stage at the conserve till Political Action conference. Plus we are still waiting to hear from the u. S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson and secretary of Homeland Security john kelly after they wrap up their meeting with their mexican counterparts. We are hoping to bring you all of that live. Stay with us. This is Andrea Mitchell reports msnbc. We see wonder waiting. Every step you take, narrows the influence of narrow minds. Bridges continents and brings this world one step closer. So, the question you asked me. What is the key . Its you. Everything in one place, so you can travel the world better. Glad forceflex. Extra strong to avoid rips and tears. Be happy, its glad. When you hit 300,000 miles. Or here, when you walked away without a scratch. Maybe it was the day your baby came home. Or maybe the day you realized your baby was not a baby anymore. Every subaru is built to earn your trust. Because we know what youre trusting us with. Subaru. Kelley blue books most trusted brand. And best overall brand. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. That will do it for edition of Andrea Mitchell reports. Im Peter Alexander. Craig melvin up now on msnbc. Good the sigh peter. Thank so much. Craig melvin in new york city. Lots happening this hour. We are once again waiting for secretary of state Rex Tillerson and miss mecke can counterpart to start speaking any moment now. This is in mexico, of course. Also happening receipt now in National Harbor maryland any moment, we are expecting a rare public confab in the world of