Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20180118

See what happens, its up to the democrats. And love is in the air. The pope makes history at 30,000 feet when he married two flight attendants on his plane while flying over south america. This never happened before on a papal plane and that is the pope married a couple who hadnt been married in church. Its totally legit and everyones happy. Good day, we brought that to you because there should be something to be happy about today. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington. No happiness here, the battle over immigration driving a wedge between the president and his chief of staff. For the first time, President Trump publicly at odds with john kelly who said candidate trump was not fully informed when he promised a border wall between the u. S. And mexico. Theres been an evolutionary process that this president has gone through, as a campaign, i pointed out to people in the rooma they say things during the course of a campaign that have not been fully informed. Hes definitely changed due to the daca issue and building the wall. In an Early Morning tweet storm, President Trump fighting back hard, reiterating his promise to build a border wall. Joining me now is nbcs peter alexander. Garrett haake on capitol hill, and jacob sokeroff. Its always quite a drama when you have all these guidelines for a Government Shutdown. But when y b reporter not just on the issue of immigration, the president talked about one of these key sweeteners, which is chip for six more years, the president said that chip should be part of a longTerm Solution not a 30day or shortterm extension. The president wasnt entirely clear that this was in fact a longer Term Solution for chip more broadly. That is a statement the white house has posted to try to clarify the president s position here, the white house previously said the president liked the cr, politico posting that the president according to one of the press secretaries, rob shaw, that the president supports the resolution in the house, they go on to say that Congress Needs to do its job and provide more funding with the troops and military with a twoyear set of budget caps, but the president wants to ensure our military and National Security are funded, he will not let it be held hostage by democrats. Important to note, the military does not just shut down, even when there is a Government Shutdown, however those soldiers and other members of the armed forces may not get paid until that shutdown concludes, but this is the first time the president s been at the helm during one of these shutdown show downs, and his negotiating style with that back and forth with kelly and that tweet this morning, show that sometimes it can be a complicating factor. You even had john cornyn, one of the Republican Leaders pointing out that this is a sixyear extension of that Child Health Insurance program not a shortterm extension. So what is the outlook there, have you been going through the halls talking to people . They are losing some democrats who wanted to go for this child Health Extension and give up on the d. R. E. A. M. Ers, others are saying now, its an absolute bottom line, theyll take the shutdown. And then both sides gaming who would get the blame, the republica republicans having both the presidency and capitol hill. Reporter no one in either house knows where the president stands on all these key issues. On the house side of this, the president s tweet this morning makes it a lot easier for democrats to walk away from supporting this spending deal, if the president doesnt even support this extension of the childrens Health Insurance program, why should i . The president even tweeting this morning, the House Freedom caucus this morning were saying there were leaders in the house that dont think it can get done. You heard john cornyns tweet, you heard Mitch Mcconnell on the immigration part of this saying they dont know where the president stands. And thats increasingly what im hearing talking to senators from both parties, they want to see some president ial leadership on this, they want to know what kind of deal can be struck. And andrea, just within the last 10 minutes a new wrinkle in this, jerry moran, a republican senator from kansas just put forward the idea of doing an even shorter cr, just a handful of days, just getting into next week, on the idea that it would force these parties to negotiate on the daca portion of this, potentially jamming up the white house and other negotiators on this, and see if they cant force a deal through, setting all these other issues aside just to get this done. Thats sort of the grahamdurbin forces are excited about. Its an intriguing possibility. Well see where it goes, the next six hours are going to be very interesting. Get your Running Shoes on. That of course is a possibility of a compromise on the d. R. E. A. M. Ers, which went completely off the rails after that president ial comment last week. So jacob, you have revisited a d. R. E. A. M. Er that you first met at cal state fullerton and talked to the people really affected by that. I wanted to play some of that and then come to you. Your sister was telling me she thinks about studying abroad if deportation ever happened, do you ever run through your options in your head what you might do . Yeah, im pretty set on staying here, whatever happens, happens. Reporter these next couple of days could be crucial as to whether or not theres a fix to daca, are you in limbo a little bit. We have never been sure, we knew that daca was a temporary aid. Reporter are you going to try and renew . Yeah, yeah, of course. Jason, california has more d. R. E. A. M. Ers than any other state. Its 800,000 total across the country, and thats what we have to remember, these people came to the United States when they were Young Children and i met that young woman about four months ago when she was at cal state fullerton when she was in limbo when she wasnt sure if President Trump would pass daca. These young people, what theyre going to do, depending whether or not there is a fix to daca, miriam said she might study abroad if she gets deported, shes never been to mexico. And her brother said hes going to stay in los angeles if theyre not able to fix this thing and wait to see if they come and find him. Peter alexander, and of course garrett haake. And attorney general javier, you as a top california official, have the legal responsibility to perhaps enforce this if it comes to a showdown for all of your young residents . I remember those days on the hill and you never want to watch a brated movie more than once anyhow. I think its unfortunate whats going on, there is by partisan support for a daca agreement that would give permanent status, there is i believe bipartisan support to the new d program. Now its on the brink again. And if congress had its own way to do this without the interference of the white house, a good agreement could be reached. But as you just mentioned, it seems like 2 white hou s like t continues to get in the way. I hope they would work feverishly, and theres no reason why no good agreement on daca and a good agreement on the childrens Health Insurance program couldnt get reached now. When you talk about the words that the president keeps using, is a big california case, regarding someone who was here illegally. So this whole immigration issue is very focused on your state, enforcement, people who dont get picked up. What more can you do with homeland perhaps to protect people from those cases that do crop up . This has been one of the president s big arguments. On a daily basis, in fact including today, my division of Law Enforcement in the state of california is likely working with i. C. E. , with fbi, with dea, to go after sex traffickers, drug traffickers, potential terrorists, what were not going to do is work with them on deportation, thats their job, they shouldnt try to commandeer us to do their work. And certainly whatever they do, theyre going to do according to the law. They have a lot of good hard working folks in Law Enforcement, including in i. C. E. We understand that they have that responsibility, well work with them where we can in doing the types of work that keep our people safe, but they should not ask us to do Immigration Enforcement in california when were trying to keep our people safe from the criminals that are roams. Theres a clear way to move forward with our partners at the federal level in Law Enforcement, there should be no disagreement here and we could just do this the right way. What about i. C. E. Is planning a passive immigration sweep. Its rumors, its just like the rumors going on in d. C. About the budget and the rest, its all rumors. We obviously are going to be prepared to deal with what happens in our state of california, we expect everyone to respect the u. S. Constitution and we expect the people here in california to respect california its laws and well make sure that everyones aware of their rights and responsibilities and california has some new laws starting in 2018, and its important that people know their rights and responsibilities. Because as the saying goes, ignorance of the law is no excuse. What are you telling people to do in these very tenuous days . I just did a meeting with the three systems of higher education, where all four of us came together to say, right now the department of Homeland Security is taking applications again to renew your authorization under daca for another two years with your work permit. You should seriously consider doing that, talk to someone that gives you good advice whether its your attorney or someone you trust and make a decision, but right now theres a possibility for you to renew your status and you should. I also want to ask you about marijuana legalization, because you have joined 18 attorneys general to ask congress to advance legislation to ask the Marijuana Industry to participate in the Banking System in states that have legalized recreational pot because theres an effort to perhaps retaliate against the banks and the banks are obviously nervous about financing some of these start ups. I think california made the right decision, we decided to regulate not criminalize marijuana and we have a lot of people who come forward who want to do it above ground, they dont want to do under ground economy stuff, thats against the law, theyre willing to follow the rules, get a license, get a permit, report their income, we think thats the way to do this, and it makes it tough when these businesses that are out there doing it transparently, cant find a way to bank their business. And if you have to do everything with cash, that becomes dangerous for everyone. So were asking the federal government to help us make sure that those who want to do this the right way, the legitimate way and pay their taxes and show us exactly how theyre doing their business the right way, they should be able to bank the way any other legitimate business can. And so our effort and its a by partisan effort to make sure that this industry does it the right way, not the way its been done in the past, the wrong way. Thanks for being with us, a lot on your plate today. And coming up, crisis,President Trump meeting with the military officials, top military brass at the pent in the tank. And we thats coming up next on Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc. And sometimes, i dont eat the way i should. So, i drink boost to get the nutrition im missing. Boost high protein nutritional drink has 15 grams of protein to help maintain muscle and 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d. All with a great taste. Boost gives me everything i need. To be up for doing what i love. Boost high protein be up for it you can do it. We can do this. At fidelity, our online planning tools are clear and straightforward so you can plan for retirement while saving for the things you want to do today. 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At this hour, President Trump is now meeting with senior military leaders at the pentagon as north and south korea overnight agreed to field a joint womens hockey team. Thats a first, and to march together at next months Winter Olympics under the korea unification flag. This however could undercut the trump administrations intention to take a hard line against north korea. Saying russia is not helps us at all against north korea. Thats the issue were struggling with. Thank you very much. General, i wanted to ask you about this, there was the summit in vancouver that i was covering, where tillerson and others are trying to take a hard line against smuggling, theyre talking about maritime interdictions possibly, now overnight youve got this northsouth agreement that has the u. S. Concerned that its sending too soft a signal to kim jongun. How do you feel about that . During the last 30 years, three generations of this family have provoked the United States and the regional partners, then demanded negotiations and then got a reward and then provoke again, so we shouldnt assume anythings going to come out of the northsouth dialogue, not that its necessarily bad. The economic sanctions may well indeed be having an impact on knot korea. But at the end of the day, it is impossible to imagine that the North Koreans will denuclearize, so to some extent, this is all background noise, we have to go through the motions, but we need to be prepared to live with a Nuclear Armed north korea that can hit the United States. At the same time they have reiterated over and over again, the administration officials, tillerson overnight on his flight back, that denuclearization is their demand, its their goal before any talks can take place . Well, no question. It looks to me as if were in this binary decision process, we can either at the end of the day, mitigate the danger of a Nuclear Armed north korea with icbms that could reach the entire United States, within a couple of years, or we can entertain the notion of a conventional first strike. I dont think were going to do the latter because the Immediate Impact would be a disaster. So again, i think backing off a larger strategy needs to be attempt economic constraints on the North Koreans to make them pay a price, but part building credible Ballistic Missile defense. And at the same time, the president telling reuters that it is very possible a standoff cannot be resolved peacefully. There is reports about a socalled punch in the nose, a bloody nose possibility, a limited Nuclear Strike to try to get their attention. How are they really seriously considering Something Like this . I dont think so. I think what actually is happening is, the armed forces, i think, quietly are preparing for war. Clearly thats a potential outcome, certainly if the North Koreans miscalculate and do some gross provocation, fire 100 artillery rounds into downtown seoul, something of that nature, i think we would end up in an immediate war. But most of this is background movements by the armed forces to enhance diplomacy, which i dont think is going to work. So again i think the problem is were going to end up with a Nuclear Armed north korea, at which point andrea, the sad part of this is our strategy will be preemptive Nuclear Strike when we think theyre about to launch, so it will raise the anxiety and the danger level of a Nuclear Conflict enormously when they actually have a dozen icbms that we think will work. And obviously what happened in hawaii where you are now, doesnt make anyone feel any more comfortable. I want to ask you about one of your prior jobs. You were the white house drug czar and now we have an unprecedented opiod epidemic, the president has signed off on that. This 24yearold Trump Campaign worker was in effect running the office of drug policy, he was made deputy chief of staff after the person nominated for chief of staff had other legal problems, couldnt be confirmed. How does it happen in a National Crisis like that youve got this young man with nothing but limited Campaign Experience put in charge of the war on drugs . Well, andrea, its utterly preposterous at every level, there were 66,000 overdose de h deaths last year, this is a Public Health crisis. Governor crihristie actually dia credible job on this opiod commission, but nothings happened. One of the republican congressmen, mayor of a large city had thought he was going to get the job, he talked to me about it, he would have been a fine leader and then it disappeared when they put that fellow moreno in there who had to drop out. So i cannot imagine what they are thinking of, the onational drug policy is being run by a nonacting director. We wanted to bring you this happy news as promised, from the papal plane high over south america, pope francis making history today, marrying two flight attendants from his plane during a flight to santiago chile, the two were supposed to get married in 2010, but then the earthquake happened and they were never able to marry. They were super happy. The first i heard about it was this morning too. Its not like it was part of the plan. Congratulations to everyone. And thank you to the pontiff. And coming up, silent treatment. Steve bannon and Cory Lewandowski stonewalling house investigators, can they be compelled to answer questions about their time in the white house . Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. Your body was made for Better Things than rheumatiod arthritis. Before you and your rheumatologist move to another treatment, ask if xeljanz xr is right for you. Xeljanz xr is a oncedaily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. It can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. Xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. Dont start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. Tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. Your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. Tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. Xeljanz xr can reduce the symptoms of ra, even without methotrexate. Ask your rheumatologist about xeljanz xr. This bogus claim of privilege is absolutely unfounded and untenable. And it should lead the house and Senate Intelligence committee to take the individuals to court. Bannons claimed executive privilege and any other such unfounded untenable claims should be tested in court and they should be held in contempt. Senator Richard Blumenthal and former connecticut a. G. Dismissing former white house aid Steve Bannons claim of executive privilege. First, to you, lets talk about executive privilege and this claim that was made and the white houses unusual response to it. Well, thats right, andrea, theres really two Big Questions hanging over the house in terms of the Intelligence Committees investigation today. And the first is will there be some agreement be reached between steve bannon and the white house and between members of the Intelligence Committee that would provide for them to continue this testimony that was interrupted on tuesday over this claim of privilege. And then the second question is what does the house Intelligence Committee do if theres no agreement . Let me catch you up on what happened in the last hour, i just spoke to tom rudy of florida which is one of the republican s oversees this investigation, he said if he receives no more information from steve bannon and they will have to take the next step, which is to hold him in contempt of congress. And he also told me that were not expecting steve bannon today and if not, they need to prepare to go to court. And thats will be the first time in the russia investigation to invoke executive privilege. I also want to take a moment to talk to you about your exclusive reporting about the foreign registration by the same firm that did all the data mining, all the social media for the campaign, cambridge an analytica. They were working on propaganda from the same people that were slamming qatar at the same time that the u. S. Was changing policies with qatar. Because the firm cambridge analytical came to their we were able to take a closer look at this and see that its Parent Company slc actually was paid 333,000 by United Arab Emirates to kind of do a p. R. Campaign that was against qatar. A lot of this was aimed around the u. N. General Assembly Meeting in new york a in september of this year, there were a number of facebook ads trying to get people to link qatar to terrorism, which as we know is a link that a lot of the gulf countries made this year when they decided to isolate qatar, and this was something the president endorsed. And we believe by talking to lawyers in this space, that this is part of the mueller effect. The fact that mueller has dived into this industry, this foreign lobbying industry that really operated under ground is that the people are scrambling to disclose this kind of information, and we have seen filings go from 50st on first time filings and Supplemental Information go up by as much as 35 . This is fascinating, and its been going on all along but they didnt take it seriously unt until back on june 9, this was right after his secretary of state had tried to quiet the storm against qatar, this is the president. The nation of qatar unfortunately has historically been a funder of terrorism. At a very high level. And that was a complete shock to the secretary of state in the rose garden, he had just given a speech with the opposite point of view, mattis and tillerson were flying around the world trying to quiet this storm between persian gulf neighbors and now this kind of explains perhaps why the president was so determined. Steve bannon and his connection to cambridge analytical. I think its not clear from reading this public filing is whether or not the president himself just sort of bent to the same p. R. Campaign that this firm and others were lining up to do on behalf of these very wealthy gulf countries or if it was more of a kind of underground relationship, that it was a personal relationship he had with cambridge analytical. Theres more to cover, but these filings are just fascinating to go through because you realize these sort of connections that have been happening underneath our feet in washington for years that have just really gone undisclosed. Great work, both of you. Thanks so much for sharing, this is the underbelly of washington lobbying and well get it and stay on the beat. And coming up, budget battle. What would a Government Shutdown look like . How about the u. S. Troops around the world, u. S. Senator Tammy Duckworth joining us next. Theres nothing more important than your health. So if youre on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b heres why. Medicare only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. 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Youll be able to choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. Whether youre on medicare now or turning 65 soon, its a good time to get your ducks in a row. Duck quack call to request your free decision guide now. Because the time to think about tomorrow is today. But he hasoke up wwork to do. In. So he took aleve. If hed taken tylenol, hed be stopping for more pills right now. Only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. Aleve. All day strong. If for any reason it shuts down, the worst thing is what happens to our military. The group that loses big would be the military and were never letting our military lose at any point. President trump at the pentagon this morning, hes still there right now meeting with the top brass, warning that a Government Shutdown would pose a real threat to the military. In reality, the military has always been exempt during past shutdowns because they have always been considered essential personnel but it could affect their play, and joining us now is senator Tammy Duckworth, an iraq war veteran. Lets talk about a shutdown and military readiness, first lets talk about if theres going to be a resolution and if the shutdown can be avoided. I dont know if it can be avoided. This is in the hands of the white house, the senate and the house of representatives, its up to them whether they want to shut government down or not. But either way, if theres a shutdown or just a continuing resolution, the military will be hurt, so will veterans, and childrens Health Insurance programs, we need to pass a budget is the bottom line. When the president points out protecting the military, he doesnt point out that a good number of these d. R. E. A. M. Ers, this daca resolution, th. There are thousands of d. R. E. A. M. Ers serving in our military, and generally with the d. R. E. A. M. Ers they generally bring Language Skills with them. But the president is being his usual misleading self. The bottom line is that the military is hurt whether thats a cro rrkr or a shutdown. What they need is to pass the budget so they can continue to build up and do the necessary training for readiness. I want to ask you about your trip to north korea, rather to south korea and japan, sorry, north korea on my mind because of the agreements today there, with the south to have joint womens hockey team, as well as to march under a unification flag, highly unusual. And japanese officials are telling us as well as some u. S. Officials privately saying theyre quite nervous about these talks, about whether it will undercut the hard line that a president and his defense secretary. One of the things i heard from both military and civilian leadership on the ground in korea and in japan, both american diplomats and American Military commanders as well as the Japanese Military commanders as well as their civilian personnel is that we must maintain an ironclad defense, linked arm in arm, at the same time these talks should be allowed to continue. Actually they were quite optimistic that the North Koreans came to the table. But theres no illusion that the North Koreans are not continuing to improve their program. One of the things i learned on the ground while i was in south korea, is that the sanctions are starting to take effect and thats important. The president said slammed russia for its cheating and thats been pretty well determined that russia is not cracking down on the sanctions being broken, cheating, military supplies going in and out, what more can we do with both china and russia to stop cheating on these sanctions . Well, i think that both china and russia are themselves susceptible of the sanctions on the International Community on them. Actually the exportation of slave labor and both china and russia exploit and use slave labor from north korea and that returns actual currency back into north korea, so we have to shut that down. The chinese and the russians, from what im hearing from the folks on the ground is theyre starting to adhere to the sanctions but not near enough, thats why we have to put pressure on both nations as well as other countries around the world that continue to do business with north korea. And regarding the brokering for a continuing resolution, this is what Lindsay Graham had to say just moments ago. My main reason for wanting a deal soon is the military. The crs are killing the military. I agree with the president. So im not going to do anymore long term crs and come to a collusion, and its not that hard to do if you get the mindset i want to do it. What do you see as a possible outline of a deal . If you look at some of the things that need to be included. We need first and foremost, yont t beyond the cr, we have to pass a budget. We need to stop kicking the can down the road. As far as a cr is concerned, theres no fix for va health centers, we need to overall the victims choice program. It just goes on and on. D. R. E. A. M. Ers of course are a major Sticking Point as well. I dont see how any of us can get to a yes when there are all these problems and we have no solution, we need to sit down and pass a budget. Thats what the military need, thats what veterans need thats what children need in this country. And having their say, the president takes over the editorial page of one of his favorite targets the New York Times. Thats on our inside scoop next. S good luck out there, captain thanks but i dont need luck, i have skills. I dont have my keys. on intercom all hands. We are looking for the captains keys again. They are on a silver carabiner. Oh, this is bad. As long as people misplace their keys, you can count on geico saving folks money. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. The New York Times Editorial Board is opening up their column space to trump voters giving the men and women who are sticking with the president a full page today in the paper to make the case for him and allowing former supporters who are now disillusioned from the trump first year in have the floor. Welcome all. David, its great to see you, tell me the thinking behind this novel approach behind the editorial page. I think the editors who made this decision put it out in the paper. They said we at the New York Times have been extremely critical of President Trump, many of the oped columnists like me are very critical of him and we want to give his supporters a chance to make a case, its important for what an oped page should be and its important for his critics to hear why if you look at the poll numbers, theres still 30 to 40 of Americans Still support him. As Margaret Turner wrote, trump is a vulgarian in the way he tweets and sometimes talks. However, as rich lowry wrote in national review, his presidency is better than his tweets and he has made significant progress. A shrewd reader of the New York Times, obviously. But the fact is his tweets have an impact on the relationship he has with john kelly, something well be talking about in just a moment. On congress when he tweets he doesnt support the continuing resolution because it doesnt have a longterm financing for Childrens Health program, when senator john cornyn, a strong republican had to say no, thats not true, it has six years funding. I mean the tweets have an impact. I think as a general matter, theyre over played, but in the last two weeks i have seen two tweets that have directly undermined his administrations own priorities on capitol hill. The one last week over fisa reauthorization and the one today. President does not know his own policy and is susceptible to the opinions of the last person hes talked to. Leaders on capitol hill thought very carefully about what theyd need to do to try to get the shortterm deal through. It seems evident someone talked to trump on the phone or popped in the oval office and sold him on the idea this chip provision wasnt a good idea and he tweeted about it and undermined his own party and quickly had to backtrack. That sends such a signal of not being engaged, not understanding. I would just add one other tweet that was pretty significant. January 2nd, my Nuclear Button is bigger than yours. The tweet heard round the world. Ruth, this idea, though, of letting, you know, supporters and past supporters who have now we thought their position on donald trump have some space in the paper, is a pretty interesting you do it every day in the oped page. I want to say this to most loving way to my friends at the New York Times editorial page and oh, here we go. But what took you so long. We have been on the Washington Post oped page and online engaged in this effort since the election to make sure that our page and our website is broad enough to reflect the views of a variety of americans including the significant numbers who voted for President Trump. And so weve done two things. Weve done the kind of callout. We didnt put it instead of our editorial, we put it online. But call out to trump voters to say whether theyre happy with the president S Performance or not happy with the president S Performance. It was very interesting. And we recruited a number of contributing columnists, hugh hewitt, gary abernathy, who heads a small newspaper in ohio, and others who have been much more supportive than our regular columnists, both conservative im still waiting for my phone call, ruth. Dm me, we can talk. Who have been much more supportive of President Trump. Because we found ourselves, after the election, in this really unusual and unexpected situation, where the conservatives and the liberals were competing with each other to see of our regulars who hated trump more. Perhaps some of you could organize some columns to explain john kelly to the president and the that is not possible. I mean, this feud between the president and his chief of staff today over the wall, immigration policy, its a pretty big rift. It is a pretty big rift. You cant as trump seems to understand, you cant really have your chief of staff who is your main representative, going out there, telling Congress Something different from what youve said yourself. Hes the chief negotiator right now, rich lauery, hes up there on the hill as we speak trying to put together a short term cr or a shorter term continuing resolution to get keep the government open and why would they listen to john kelly if the president is going to undercut him . Yes, this seems a misstep by kelly. I mean, no matter how uninformed your boss is, you dont go and tell people that your boss is uninformed. Maybe you slip up in a private meeting. But then he went and repeated it on a cable channel. And this is obviously the sort of thing that just drives trump completely nuts. I would think for the good of the white house you would want this to be papered over very quickly because john kelly is the main force that has helped establish a somewhat more reasonable rational and efficient process at the white house and a lot of people on outside who are on the fence about donald trump feel better about him because kellys there. So if for some reason this rift grew broader and if kelly were out, that would be a very big deal and very bad for this white house. And, ruth, i just wanted to play nancy pelosi just now has told us, the world, what she thinks in no Uncertain Terms about the latest compromise thats been put up by the white house. This is a this is like giving you a bowl of doggy doo, put a cherry on top and calling it a chocolate sundae. This is nothing. This chip should have been done in september, first of all. Second of all, we wanted ten years. We wanted permanent chip. Which, by the way, saves 6 billion. How does she really feel . How does she really feel. We just wanted to show you there is no agreement on the democratic side to this latest proposal. The other thing thats out there now is the president and his exercise regiment, now that his doctor has said, you know, he should get some more exercise and take a look at his diet. Ruth, the exercise that he gets is what, more he walks. He walks . I thought it was really interesting because most of us when our doctors say hey, you should lose weight and hey, you should get some exercise, of course we say yes and yes and im going to really try hard on the exercise. And for my doctor out there, im going to really try hard on the exercise. Not President Trump. The doctor said hes okay, on diet. But not so much on the exercise. Now hes telling us he walks. But, you know, i would like to see the president ial fit bit and a daily report of how many steps there are because i cant count that many. He does use a golf cart. He does use a golf cart. The way i think about this, hes a lot like most americans. Most americans should eat less and exercise more. I think some of this i understand hes a public figure and the president but ill confess some of this to me doesnt rise to the level of a National Issue that Everyone Needs to be debating but i understand why we do end up debating it. President ial health is pretty important. It is pretty important. Im just im not yet convinced the fact hes a little overweight translates itself into a major issue for were going to leave that there. Tell that to dr. Lawrence altman. Thank you, rich lowery in new york. Stay with us. Shes really good at social media. She buys stocks in companies that stand for something. You like her. Shes always up on the latest trends. She got in early on the whole goat yoga thing. And her sunsets are always nofilter. You like her. But youd like her better if you made more money than she does. Dont get mad at just marea. Get eatrade. Essential for vinyl, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz xr. A once daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. Xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. Xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. Dont start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. Tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. Your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. Tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. Needles. A must for vinyl. But for you, one pill a day may provide symptom relief. Ask your doctor about xeljanz xr. An unjection™. And thank you for joining us today. You can follow on the show online and facebook at Andrea Mitchell reports. Craig melvin up next. Good afternoon to you. Do they have the votes. We are one day away now from a Government Shutdown. Tensions are high. Deals are being cut. But time is running out. So will washington be able to get it done . And if they dont who gets blamed . Also, privilege protection. Members of trumps inner circle are refusing to answer questions in the house russia investigation. Now many on the committee are questioning whether thats even lawful. And obamas back. A new report dives into his plans to hit the campaign trail. What the former president sees as his greatest asset and his greatest liability. But we start with the countdown to shutdown. As President Trump heads to pennsylvania this afternoon to tout his tax plan. How its