Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20180315

And targeting russia. After a sixmonth delay, the administration slapped sanctions on russia for meddling in the 2016 election. And finally joins britains Prime Minister in blaming russia for using a nerve agent on a former russian spy and his daughter. We hold russia culpable for this brazen, brazen act, and despicable act thats taken place on the streets of what is such a remarkable city. Certainly looks like the russians were behind it. Something that should never, of happen. Were taking it very seriously, as i think are many others. Good day, everyone. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington where the pressure is building on white house staffers and cabinet secretaries, facing an uncertain future. While the president sends mixed messages on who is going to be the next to go. Any more staff changes coming, sir . Well, the story was very false. I mean, they wrote a story about staff changes today that was very false. There will always be change, but very little. It was a false story. It was an exaggerated and false story. There will always be change, and i think you want to see change. Joining me now, nbc White House Correspondent Kristen Welker. Washington post correspondent and the reporter from the new york times. We begin with breaking news from House Democrats on oversight and foreign affairs. Theyve written a letter to white house chief of staff john kelly and to the acting secretary of state, the deputy secretary of state, john sullivan, claiming that a whistleblower has told them and given them extensive documentation that highlevel officials at the white house and the state department under Rex Tillerson worked with a network of conservative activists to conduct a cleaning of employees at the state department whom they believed were not sufficiently, quote, supportive of President Trumps agenda. Now, this letter goes to kelly, to john sullivan. Theres always been pressure on the state department, but from these extensive emails and the documentation, as were going through them, including from Newt Gingrich or via Newt Gingrich sent to the state department, this corroborates what weve been hearing the last 14 months, that theres been enormous pressure on state department employees, and it is partly why many resigned. We can see the effects of pressure, whatever it was, ourselves, right . You saw people who didnt have to leave leaving. Many senior career diplomats who could have stayed in their jobs. And you saw the Trump Administration affirmatively pushing out people who were also career employees. They could have kept them at least for a little while, for sort of continuity. There certainly has been a hostility and a tension at the state department. Its been palpable. The documentation here, which i havent fully seen, so i cant comment on it in detail, but if theyve got Communications Going back and forth that include, you know, pressure to fire person x or y, that opens up a whole lot of political and potential legal problems. You know, their employees have a lot of protections. In fact, these were employees who had said they were supportive. They denied, Kristen Welker, that they were not being supportive. One passed on from Newt Gingrich. Chief of staff to secretary of state, christine saccone, who resigned tuesday, along with the ousting of her boss, Rex Tillerson. In this email, it says, newt, i think a cleaning is in order here. This comes from a john bolton adviser. Bolton has been in a out of the white house and talking to the president about getting a toplevel National Security appointment. This says, newt, i think a cleaning is in order here. I hear he has been reasonably good on stuff like this and cleaning house, but there are so many. It boggles the mind. It tells you what the atmosphere has been at the state department and why it is basically cleaned out of the veterans. Reporter it tells you what the atmosphere has been, andrea, and underscores so many of the problems that have bubbled up into the public atmosphere, including those tensions between the president and between the outgoing secretary of state, Rex Tillerson. The fact that they didnt see eye to eye on so many different issues. The fact that you had President Trump undercutting him on a range of different issues, whether it be north korea, the iran nuclear deal, tariffs. That is, i think, a sentiment that has been bubbling down through the ranks. The fact that you have this pressure that you are reporting on right now. I would stress the fact, andrea, that this comes as the president is preparing to hold diplomatic talks, potentially, with the leader of north korea at a very time he needs to be consolida consolidating this state department and officials there, in terms of his outreach. What were seeing, effectively, is a department that has been weakened under this administration, as your reporting shows, andrea. Jeremy, were also, of course, seeing today that, finally, six months after the passage of sanctions by the house overwhelmingly, over the president s objections, Treasury Department is finally sanctioning russia today. Yeah. Its remarkable precisely because President Trump has been so reluctant to implicate russia in anything, from Domestic Affairs to foreign affairs. Remember, it may not have been russia that hacked the election. It was some 400 pound person sitting in his bed in new jersey. Russia isnt to blame for involvement in syria that is putting american troops at risk. The president has been reluctant to condemn any of that. Thats why i think this is surprising. Going back to the story you broke at the top of the hour though, i think one of the th g things thats worth pointing out is while were all distracted by the various scandals and developments and the russia investigation and trump shading the truth and sometimes outright telling falsehoods, theres real work to undermine the work that federal bureaucrats have been doing. The legacy that they have left. The policies they put in place. Its going on across the government. That has real impact on peoples lives. It has real impacts on the policies and a lot of the social programs they come to rely on, including those at the state department that affect global affairs. Its almost, you know, impossible to keep up with it all. Just misstating completely in his fundraiser last night, anne, the trade deficit situation with justin trudeau. Talking about the meeting with the Prime Minister of canada over this renegotiation of nafta. He is basically acknowledging last night that he made up his own story about the trade deficit. There is really a surplus with canada. Two other things there that are remarkable. A whole lot of things that are remarkable, but ill start with two. One is he was playing this for a laugh, and it worked, right . The room of supporters is laughing along with him as he tells them, yeah, you know, so i walked into the room and, you know, i basically made it up as i went along. The other thing is that it is clear that hes doing it for leverage. Hes boasting to a group of supporters that one way he gets leverage is by making things up. It is kind of an extraordinary thing to say. We also have the spinning of the results of the election by everyone in the republican fi a firmament, Kristen Welker, trying to explain this election in pennsylvania the other night. Clo close election. Winner, conor la. Theyre describing him as a republican and the president closed the deal. The republican was further behind if the president had not gone. Is that credible, perhaps, to the hard core supporters because theyre seeing it only on one network . Look, it may be, andrea, but i do think it is a tough sell. Of course, other part of that recording that was released had the president effectively saying, look, conor lamb won because he supported large parts of my agenda. Obviously, a cautionary tale there for republicans. I think for democrats, when they look at that race, the lessons for them, one, there is something to this potential weakening of trump in these races and, number two, the fact that you have conor lamb distancing himself from nancy pelosi, saying that, look, he may be open to some of the types of ways of dealing with Mass Shootings that would align with President Trumps. He didnt run on a traditional dra democratic ticket. It is true. Youll see both parties studying this race. The big lesson, andrea, is candidates do, in fact, matter. Conor lamb is seen as a strong candidate and someone who eked out this victory in the end in trump country. In this area where trump won so convincingly. So i think in terms of the spin youre seeing from the republican party, look, the bottom line is, if you talk to republicans, they are very nervous about the midterms. This is one more data point that makes them that much more concerned, andrea. Jeremy, how bad is the atmosphere inside the white house . You never know when the anvil is going to fall out of the sky and hit you. People are nervous. Why wouldnt you be . Look, there are people inside the administration that the president has tormenting for some time. Rex tillerson was one, and he is gone. Jeff sessions remains. There is a question mark about how long he stays. He takes the attitude, you have to fire me to get rid of me. Thats what Rex Tillerson said until he was fired on twitter. What is striking about that is not the massive aggressiveness, which weve known trump for for quite some time, he is reluctant to ultimately pull the trigger. He doesnt like confrontation. It was the cruelty of it. Here is this person who has worked for him for a long time. Somebody he gave this had to talk into becoming secretary of state, who had never been involved in politics before. He didnt even have the courtesy to call him on the phone and do it. That just seemed needless. More importantly, do it facetoface, which is what tillerson requested. And youve covered the state department. Youve covered the pentagon and the white house. A trifecta here. Youve seen it all in this town. We keep saying, this is not normal. This is not normal. I thought id seen it all. Certainly, many president s before have taken the easy way out and have their chief of staff or someone else do hard firings. The mere fact that he did tillerson in the way he did it is, you know, maybe not the way that you would want the secretary of state, Thomas Jeffersons job, to be treated. Trump wouldnt be the first to do it. I think the legacy of that relationship though is really going to be one of the important data points in the early trump presidency. How did that go so wrong, so fast, and why could nobody fix it . Anne, jeremy bash, Kristen Welker im sorry. Jeremy peters. I know you know who i am. I certainly do. And Kristen Welker. Thank you, all, so much. It is a busy news day. Coming up, punishing putin. Donald trump finally lines up withblaming russia for attempted murder. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. Reamed into l. Did mom give me too much freedom . Did dad make me lust for too great an adventure . My scars and bruises tell their own story. So heres to you, mom and dad. Freedom and adventure. When it comes to travel, i sweat the details. Late checkout. Downalternative pillows. And of course, price. Tripadvisor helps you book a. Hotel without breaking a sweat. Because we now instantly. Search over 200 booking sites. To find you the lowest price. On the hotel you want. Dont sweat your booking. Tripadvisor. The latest reviews. The lowest prices. Copdso to breathe better,athe. I go with anoro. Go your own way copd tries to say, go this way. I say, ill go my own way with anoro. Go your own way oncedaily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators, that Work Together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. Anoro is not for asthma. It contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. The risk is unknown in copd. Anoro wont replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. Tell your doctor if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, glaucoma, prostate, bladder, or urinary problems. These may worsen with anoro. Call your doctor if you have worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain while taking anoro. Ask your doctor about anoro. Go your own way get your first prescription free at anoro. Com. British Prime Minister tereheresa may at the scene of a crime where a former russian spy and his daughter were poisoned by a nerve agent, while showing a united front with allies. Keir simons is in london. This is extraordinary. Finally, the United States at the United Nations yesterday joined in this united front, blaming the russian government, when the president was just dragging his feet for days and days. Reporter yeah, finally. One question is how was the Trump White House persuaded to join this very forceful statement that has been issued by the United States, the uk, germany and france, and another interesting question is, what are the russians making of this . I suspect we are at the point, just beyond the point, that the russians thought this would go. I wonder whether in the kremlin, in moscow, if they are indeed behind this, tas the british an americans are convinced. If they are, whether they thought it would spur this united statement. Of course, it is only words, but i have some there are interesting aspects to think about. One, for example, is what the british appear to have done is made a chemical weapons argument. Said this is the use of a nerve agent, the most significant since the second world war, and that is significant. That may be the kind of thing that would persuade the Trump White House. Think, for example, the intervention in syria by President Trump happened after the use of chemical weapons. Thank you so much. As the joint statement has been released now by the europeans and signed on by the United States, victoria joins me, assistant secretary of state for Eurasian Affairs in the kerry state department. She joins me now. You had a deal in a confrontational way because of russias confrontation in ukraine. What more can nato, can the brits do . They expelled 23 russians who they say were spies. Now, russia is going to retaliate and kick out british diplomats from moscow, as well. Well, this tit for tat, kicking out of diplomats is a slap on the wrist for russians. What affects their behavior is if you affect your economic interests, as we did at the height of the ukraine conflict. We stopped their roll across ukraine. The question now is are the brits going to have to stand alone, or is the democratic world coming together and say, if it can happen in salisbury, itll happen in st. Louis, too, and were not going to stand for it, and make a cost for president putin. How damaging is it that it took so many days to finally get the u. N. Ambassador to speak for the administration . Up until then, the president was saying, maybe it was and maybe it wasnt. In fact, we understand he was furious that Rex Tillerson acknowledged in a written statement monday night, traveling back from africa, after talking to the British Foreign secretary that, indeed, it was most likely the russian government. What is most important, andrea, is now the president himself, finally this morning, has said that the russians are to blame. As you know, on the hacking of the u. S. Elections in 2016 and the concerns about whether itll happen again or worse in 18 or 20, the president has not paid much attention. Whether this will now help galvanize stronger action from the administration, particularly as we now have a new secretary of state designee, who presumably has more influence on the president and has been strong on the danger of russia, will we get more coherence in u. S. russia policy, and therefore, be able to lead our allies here. Treasury today announcing after six months of delay and a lot of criticism, finally sanctions on russia for meddling in the 2016 campaign. These sanctions are important. As you say, the hill had been calling for them for more than six months. They are for an incident that happened a year ago. Many of them simply catch up with the Mueller Investigation and the russians he indicted. Again, it is important to make this cost for president putin if you want to deter him. That means going to his economy, which is already in difficulty. There was a recent russian poll that indicated the things russians care most about now is their hospitals arent in good shape. We have leverage here. We have to use it. I want to ask about this state Department Report we broke at the beginning of the hour, which is, a whistleblower telling House Democrats and plenty of documentation that there was political pressure from the white house and the state department appointees on career state Department Officials to respond to political directions. House cleaning was ordered. Tell us why that matters. What are the protections . What should be the division between politics and the president s agenda . Shouldnt he have the right to dictate what he wants his state department to do . It obviously needs full investigation, and it is important the congress will play that oversight role now. The career employees of the state department, the Civil Service officers and the Foreign Service officers, should be viewed exactly like the u. S. Military. They take an oath to the constitution, not one Political Party or another. They give their best advice, and then it is up to the administration to heed it or not heed it. But they need to be treated as the nonpartisan, apolitical subject Matter Experts that they are. Now, thats not to say that when a president comes in, if somebody has been working on a policy and he or she wants to make a change, that that person might not be assigned elsewhere. But to demonize individuals and is not in keeping with the protections that we have for career civil servants. It will drive more of them out. Weve already seen way too many people leave the state department. There are Legal Protections against punishing them, firing them, demoting them, not promoting them. Absolutely. You can put them on different accounts, but you cannot fire them for political reasons. It needs a full investigation. Victoria, great to see you. Great to see you, andrea. Coming up, fake news lawsuit. The parents of a slain dnc staffer now suing fox news. Well explain. Stay with us on Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. No, please, please, oh shrieks in terror heavy breathing and snorting no, no. The running of the bulldogs . Surprising. Whats not surprising . How much money aleia saved by switching to geico. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. The parents of seth rich, a Democratic National Committee Staffer murdered in 2016 in what police say was a botched robbery in d. C. Are gearing up for a battle againstsuing for intenti infliction of distress, accusing the network of exploiting their sons death and running a false story, which claimed that rich may have leaked dnc emails to wikileaks. It was completely not true. Fox later retracted the story but has not said because it was whether the reporting was inaccurate. Richs parents spoke out earlier. I want the people who started the lies, who are responsible for the lies, held accountable. This has got to stop. We lost his body the first time. And the second time, we lost his soul. They took more from us with the lies. We want our sons life and his soul restored, and i want our life back so we can move forward again. Joining me now is leonard gail, the attorney for the rich family. Thank you for joining us today. Tell me, what is the tell me more about the lawsuit, the premise, and what you claim fox did. What fox did was and the other defendants, they basically propagated a story that was false, and they did it for whatever reason. It doesnt matter. They did it with utter disregard for the fact that the riches were mourning the life of their son. They, the defendants, had their own agendas, and they moved forward with something that was baseless. As a civilized society, we have to say, enough. Now, a fox spokesperson declined to comment to nbc news. We reached out about the lawsuit, citing pending litigation. Whats the next step here, and what do you hope to discover . Well, i actually think we know an awful lot. What i guess we hope to discover is why they ran the story in the first place. Though we dont need to prove that. We want to discover what kind of a review they did when or didnt do when they said they were going to do a review after they made the retraction. There are a whole host of questions that need to be answered. The riches are entitled to the answers. I must say, we know enough to know the riches have been harmed and that the defendant should be made responsible for it. Do you think that, in some way, they were trying to use this young man the Police Believe was the victim of a random crime, to you think they were trying to use him and his death to throw off the scent for what others are accused of having done, in terms of wikileaks and hacking into the dnc and releasing, you know, obviously people connected to the Trump Campaign and others, the russians . My own personal view is thats probably what happened. Because they knew that that would be a desirable story to propagate, it would help their ratings, it would be salacious, and they had a feeling they picked the right victim. Seth rich had two qualificati qualifications. One, he was employed by the dnc. Two, he was dead. He couldnt rebut the false claims. I want to reiterate for the purposes of the lawsuit, we dont have to prove why they blew off the truth. We just have to prove they did. Thank you very much. Of course, well be in touch with you. Stay in touch with us as this proceeds. Thank you for having me. Tragedy for this family. Tragedy indeed. Thank you, mr. Gail. Appreciate it. Coming up, again, open for business. How north korea is making hundreds of millions of dollars by violating u. N. Sanctions. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc. Anncr , your brain naturally begins to change which may cause trouble with recall. Learning from him is great. When i can keep up anncr thankfully, prevagen helps your brain and improves memory. Dads got all the answers. Anncr prevagen is now the numberoneselling brain Health Supplement in drug stores nationwide. She outsmarts me every single time. Checkmate you wanna play again . Anncr prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Howd i get this yard . Behind petes great looking yard, is his secret weapon. The scotts turf builder program. All it takes is 4 feedings, with a scotts solution for every season. Its that easy. This is a scotts yard. Where were changing withs . Contemporary makeovers. Then, use the ultimate power handshake, the upper hander with a double palm grab. Who has the upper hand now . Start winning today. Book now at lq. Com. Now, this nbc news exclusive. North korea made nearly 200 million last year by illegally trading goods, despite all the sanctions against the rogue regime. This is according to a United Nations investigation, a new report which will be unveiled later today. Moments ago, i spoke exclusively with hugh griffiths, who oversees the watchdog panel, and talked about how north korea is evading the sanctions. Well, if we look at the ship to ship transfers of petroleum products, such as maritime diesel, which is prohibited under the resolutions, the nois ships. Theyre painting false names on the ships to suggest these ships come from other countries so that the foreign flagships, which come with the fuel, which supply the North Koreans with this prohibited fuel, are less likely to realize that it is actually the democratic peoples republic of korea, the dprk, as we know north korea officially. How much money is north korea able to get through a variety of evasive techniques . Well, our latest report covers the whole of 2017. We were able to calculate that roundabout, approximately, north korea received about 200 million in foreign currency revenue from the sale of banned commodities, such as coal and iron ore. What about chemicals, what have you discovered about any connection between chemical weapons in syria and north ko a korea . When we asked the Syrian Government about what the North Koreans were doing in syria, the North Koreans who are banned completely, and the entire u. N. Security Council Agrees theyre working for komed, the syrians told us that the only North Koreans in syria were there to conduct sporting activities. We asked again, we asked the Syrian Government for the names and passport numbers and contracts for all these North Koreans and their sporting activities in syria at this time of war. That was more than five months ago. We havent heard back from damascus. Finally, on the embassies, you discovered that, for instance, in berlin, they are violating the sanctions by getting money, by operating a hostile out of the embassy in berlin. We have found in our report that a whole host of north korean embassies in africa, in the middle east, in asia pacific, in europe, are essentially used as logistics hubs for sanctions evasion purposes, including arms smuggling, and that many of the North Koreans who are who work for their shadowy arms sales and Procurement Companies are traveling on domestic passports. When there are shipments of scud ballistic missiles, spare parts to the mideast, the shipments are coming from north korean embassies in different parts of the world. Joining me to talk about all of this is admiral james, the former nato commander and chief interNational Security and diplomacy analyst. The significance of this report, which has the authority of the United Nations, on how the sanctions are being violated, on ballistic missiles, chemical ingredients for chemical plants, by north korea to get cash. Yes, china is doing better, but theres still a long way to go. Absolutely. Andrea, you know, you kind of have to react to this like you do watching the movie casa blanca. Im shocked to discover theres gambling in this casino. Anyone who has been observing north korea over the last three decades knows that theyre really kind of a mob family with a flag mas ka rakequerading as country. In fact, it was not mentioned that their largest ability to raise cash is cybercrimincrimi activity. Id attribute several hundred million, if not more. When you put it together, its a lot of cash, and that helps explain the rapid advancement in the north korean ballistic and Nuclear Missile programs, andrea. They could not be doing this without china and russia. Absolutely not. In fact, you can find open source images of those fuel transfers hes talking about. You will see participation by chinese and russian ships. This gets to, how can we really enforce these sanctions . China has stepped up their game. We need to pressure russia to do so, as well. Russia has a border with north korea. Theyre in a maritime zone with them. Were not going to really close the noose on these sanctions without cooperate from china and russia. Russia is the problem right now. With all the cheating going on, and with what else we know about north korea, does that give you pause to have this president , who doesnt study this stuff, and seems to have a romanticized notion of the rogue nation, as he goes into the talks . I find it extremely ironic that the principal advocate within the administration for diplomacy was Rex Tillerson, who just got fired. The president s suddenly had this epif mepiphany and has gon meeting with the sister of kim jongun. I suspect itll be the next act in the drama disney movie to follow. It is hard to follow the whip saw here. More seriously, the other irony here, andrea, is as mike pompeo becomes secretary of state, he is hawkish on the iran nuclear deal. On the one hand, we have an administration that talks about walking away from the Iranian Nuclear deal, but is excited about the prospect of a Nuclear Program with north korea. Very hard to follow all this. Very much, admiral. Thank you so much. Thanks for being with us today on a major breaking news days on all fronts. Thank you, andrea. Coming up next, more breaking news. Mothers day. An nbc news exclusive reporting on the geopot ti popolitics on relationship gone bad in one of the most powerful regimes in the world. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. Duncan just protected his family with a 500,000 Life Insurance policy. How much do you think it cost him . 100 a month . 75 . 50 . Actually,duncan got his 500,000 for under 28 a month. Less than a dollar a day. His secret . Selectquote. In just minutes, a selectquote agent will comparison shop nearly a dozen highlyrated Life Insurance companies, and give you a choice of your five best rates. Duncans wife cassie got a 750,000 policy for under 22 a month. Give your family the security it needs at a price you can afford. But im not standing still. And with godaddy, ive made my ideas real. I made my own way, now its time to make yours. Everything is working, just like it should tailored recommendations, taxefficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. Fidelity wealth management. We have this breaking news from florida. The Broward Sheriffs Office just released Surveillance Video showing the Police Response to the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School a month ago. Gabe gutierrez joins us from miami from the bureau. Talk us through this. This involves all of the allegations against those who were armed who did not go in, including, of course, Scot Pedersen. Reporter good morning. Pedersen was said to fail to confront the gunman. As you mention, within the past few minutes, the Broward County Sheriffs Office released the Surveillance Video from right outside the school building. The 1200 building at Marjory Stoneman douglas. You do not see any audio, and it is heavily reacted. You see there several of the students faces are pixelated. You cant make out the students. In this video, you do not see the confessed gunman, nikolas cruz, at all, as well. You see several different camera angles. As were looking at this video, right there, you see a school employee, as well as a School Resource officer, in the bottom part of your screen. That is Scot Pedersen. You see him radioing the information at that scene. According to Scot Pedersens attorney, he has said that he heard he exited one building and then moved outside the 1200 building. Mr. Pedersen heard gunshots but believed the gunshots were originating from outside the buildings. In the Surveillance Video, what were seeing for the first time, andrea, is the response from Scot Pedersen. Visual confirmation he did not enter the building. What were hearing from students, and what we also heard from the Broward County sheriffs, is why he did not go inside that building and confront the gunman. Again, Scot Pedersen says that he thought the gunshots were coming from outside. Andrea, whats also interesting is that within the last few days, weve also heard those radio transmissions. You saw him in that video, Scot Pedersen, radioing in the information he was getting. The Broward County Sheriffs Office says even in those radio transmissions, pedersen was saying to focus on the 1200 building, and that suggests he did know the gunshots were coming from inside. Again, his Attorney Says that he believed the gunshots were coming from outside. It really speaks to the confusion in the moments immediately during and after the shooting. Andrea, it raises a lot of questions that this School Resource officer, who was armed, could not seem to know where the threat was and could not step in and confront the gunman, andrea. Could not or did not, indeed. A lot of questions remain. Thanks, gabe. Joining us now is jim cavanaugh, retired agent and msnbc contributor. Jim, does the video explain anything more to clear up the dispute between Scot Pedersen and what the officials have said about what he did or did not do . Well, it does clear up the fact that Deputy Pedersen did not press to contact. The protocol is to press to contact, whether you believe the gunman is inside or outside. You have to do that. The president called him a coward. I think it is extreme. Maybe he didnt exhibit exceptional courage, but theres a lot of gray area between those two things. Nevertheless, the responsibility of law enforcement, because hes slaughtering unarmed people, is to press the contact and engage the gunman. The gunman focuses on you, you have a firearm and training. Doesnt mean you have to give up your cover and concealment. What you have to do is do that. What gabe outlined, what the video shows, is Deputy Pedersen stay there and appeared to be on the radio. Thats what the deputy described. Its the details given by the Sheriffs Office. Gabe gutierrez, thank you. Jim cavanaugh, as well. Anotherc news exclusive. A day of exclusive reporting today. This one on the Upcoming Trip to washington by the crown prince of saudi arabia. On tuesday, President Trump will host saudi arabias crown prince. Hes a key ally of the Trump White House, Jared Kushner and others. One of the most powerful and controversial figures in the world known as a reformer but criticized for how hes carried out some reforms. As u. S. Officials now tell nbc news that 32yearold crown prince has kept his mother from his father, deceiving the king about her whereabouts out of concern she might block his power grab when he replaced the former crown prince and others in the royal family. So the inside scoop from our two reporters who broke the story, carol lee, Nbc News National Political reporter and whitney kube, political reporter. What have you learned about whats been going on inside the Royal Household . Weve learned from 14 current and former senior u. S. Officials that more than two years ago, the crown prince, who was not crown prince at that time but was amassing power, made a move to keep his mother away from his father out of concern that she would somehow try to block his plans for expanding his power and eventually being in the position that he is in now, which is the heir to the throne. And over the years, he created various excuses for why she was absent. Sources told us the king would say tell people he misses her and ask where she is. And shes been told, or hes been told various reasons why shes not there such as shes out of the country receiving medical treatment. And so this is something that the u. S. Has been aware of for some time. I think people are looking at it, taking a fresh look at it now, because theres growing concern within the administration about the way, as you mentioned, the crown prince is carrying out some of the reforms that he wants to adopt in saudi arabia. And this is coming at a moment when this white house in particular has really embraced him. He is their point person in the middle east and is key to all of the president s policies and has gotten very close with Jared Kushner. Fact, thats the first summit, overseas summit the president went to was riyadh last may. There are huge implications for this. Some of the controversy is the way he arrested at the ritz carlton, a story we were all covering, a number of the other princes and wellknown investors, wellknown u. S. Investors, saudi prince salawed, for instance, and controversy for the way they were treated in the ritz carlton, allegations of torture. Why this is important, this leader is going to be, very shortly, taking over the throne, if hes not already the ruehler. What were seeing here is a pattern of behavior. He is controlling. He is manipulating. With his own mother, you know, its one thing that he arrested all of these people who some members of his family, people who were very high up in the saudi government and in the saudi aristocracy. Not only taking them, imprisoning them, taking their money, forcing them to sign things so they could have their freedom. It just shows the level hes going to usurp this power, to take over power in saudi arabia. Whats particularly interesting about the ritz episode, that was right after he had a meeting with Jared Kushner, only days later, he started rounding all these people up. So theres a very close relationship here. The real question is, you know, how many actual conversation, how much communication is occurring between the Trump Administration. The saudis have denied this . The other side is permitting women to be involved in sports. To drive. To have greater access to all aspects of saudi society. Also diversifying the saudi economy. Do not just be an oilbased ramco, their major well, the largest oil company, nationalized oil company in the world. But the fact that they are trying to get into other kinds of investments and modernize the kingdom. I think theres broad anyone weve talked to, and if you talk to anyone who is close to saudi arabia, everyone agrees they want them to move into the direction of change, more diversity, freedoms for women. The concerns people have is twofold, one, how hes carrying that out, the tactics that hes using. Theres concern how he handles his mother might be, to some people, irrelevant, but its reflective of how he is going to govern the region and sort of instability that he could bring to the region. Thats where the concern comes in on that front. The other part of the controversy of course is yemen. Courtney, youve covered this as well in your role in the pentagon. This civil war in yemen, which people have described as their vietnam, their quagmire. As he very strongly goes against iranianbacked influences in yemen. Yes. Theres of course a u. S. Military component to it. The war in yemen, to call it a quagmire is an under statement. Its at a complete standstill. Theres the war with the huthys. Theres the battle against al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula which the u. S. Military is part of. The u. S. Is providing a nominal amount of support but a little bit of military support to the saudi and emreiraties who are involved in this proxy war with the iranians against the huthis. A complicated story, but it gets down to family relationships. The saudi royal family is unlike any other. Yes. Thank you so much to both of you. Well be right back. Heartburn. No one burns on my watch try alka seltzer ultra strength heartburn relief chews. With more acidfighting power than tums chewy bites. Mmmmm. Amazing. I have heartburn. Ultra strength from alka seltzer. Enjoy the relief. At planters, we put fresh roawhich has its drawbacks. An, guys, know anything about this missing inventory . Wasnt me the cheeks dont lie, chet. Irresistibly planters. 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™. A lot more news coming up. Thanks for being with us. And follow us mitchellreports. Craig, think theres enough breaking news today. I dont think so, Andrea Mitchell. But we will start there. Craig mitchell at msnbc headquarters in new york. The United States taking steps to punish russia with new sanctions and joining naty o allies to demand answers after a russian spy and his daughter were poisoned in england. He admits i didnt even know. President trump defending himself after a leaked recording reveals he bluffed his way through a meeting with canadas Prime Minister, making stuff up off the top of his head. And biding his time. Joe biden on the campaign trail in pennsylvania. Some call it a proxy war with the president. Is it setting up a possible fight in 2020 . Well get to that. We start with the new tough talk and action from the Trump White House on russia. The Trump Administration announcing just a few hours ago its imposing new