Transcripts For MSNBCW Morning Joe 20181211

Their party and this country in the process. Peoples day on a downer, this to me, i say good luck with is now part of the new normal. Youve got populism of the left, real concerns about inequality, that. Mike barnacle. Making ends meet. Youve got politics to the right 2 levto me, the level of hypy against immigration over cultural anxiety and then against a back drop, as i said, here is not surprising. What we used to call the west, no consensus and not a lot of will on how to organize the world. So you add this all up, a lack of international cooperation, i theyve got to know that what never thought when i wrote a book with the word disarray in occurred last week with regard the title i would be an to Michael Cohen, the optimist. Allegations of a campaign guess what, things have turned finance law violation, those are out worse than i thought. Just appetizers, given us by the is there a way out for macron and may looking forward . Special prosecutor in the in the long run, theres a way out. Southern district of new york, theres nothing about this that the the u. S. Attorney here, appetizers because the context, is inevitable. Its not inevitable that things the context of what is with are bad, but yesterday, we about to come clearly is within didnt see the way out. All of the redactions in what we we saw a retreat or a saw last week. And theres a lot to come. Capitulation in france thats and the key here is and we have to remind ourselves here at not going to be enough for those with the yellow vest. This tooable and other tables le theres no way to clearly pay for it. Brexit, theres zero consensus this in this country, we know nothing about what robert on what the next step ought to mueller has and what he can be and no matter what is decided, youve go a truly unload at any moment in time. Divided country and a big part of it is also on us, mika. The frustrating thing about all of this, about all the rhetoric the United States was the principal architect of the world order for the last three that we just heard is that it quarters on of a century. Feeds into the narrative and what were about to hear from now you have a United States, Richard Haass at some point is rather than supporting order and the world as weve known it, whats going on in the world. Weve now become the principal america as a leader is now stage disrupter. Theres no one to take our right or stage left. Place. We are not playing a part on china is very happy to eat our what we should and have always lunch. This is a bad combination. Played a part in. 70 years agos was the advent of its that muumultuous. Were going to dig deeper. The berlin air lift led by who . Now to whats happening here at home region some Top Republicans are dismissing the allegations that donald trump directed his former fixer, the United States of america. Michael co. En, to make illegal even as republicans dismiss hush money payments to two women during the 2016 campaign. When asked if he had any all these accusations and concerns, senator orrin hatch developments, there arer mo mor told krn, the democrats wi cn accusations. According to Court Documents obtained by the New York Times with, maria butina, a russian, will do anything to hurt this president. When he was told the democrats her plea deal includes spending five months in jail. The 30yearold previously pleaded not guilty in july for will do anything. Conspiracy and failing to register as a foreign agent. Hatch was asked if he was concerned about the allegations prosecutors alleged she and hatch said no. Purposefully infiltrated gun rights activism circles particularly with within the nra but i dont think he was involved in crime because even to influence politics in then, you know oh, my. Russias favor. These people are turning into butina tried to broker a 2016 trump. You can blow it out of po meeting between then candidate portion. You can do a lot of things. Donald trump and russian louisiana senator john kennedy president Vladimir Putin. Told nbc news, let me say this the times reports butina will before mr. Cohen. Work with federal and state jesus loves him, but everybody else thinks hes an idiot. Authorities for what could be a prison term. I think most americans think she will like le be deported after her release. Hes a sleazoid person. Additional Court Documents request for the plea deal to be signed off by a d. C. Judge tomorrow afternoon. So gene robinson, as we get more Chuck Grassley dismissed the and more developments, it seems every day theres something new allegations saying they based it from the special counsel or from on what the liar says. Prosecutors. It makes it all the worse that that liar was employed as a republicans dismiss everything out of happened. Close fixer for the president they say hes doing a good job. For more than a decade, but the president is doing a good okay. And here is how House Majority job so let not look into this. Its one thing to say i dont leader Kevin Mccarthy responded buy Michael Cohen as a witness. To congressman adam schiffs lets see the other evidence. Its a completely different thing to say i dont believe any concern that donald trump could face real jail time for making of it. Illegal payoffs during the president ial campaign. The president hires an attorney to solve a problem, he expects him to do it in a legal yes, it is. Manner. I dont see and if schiff is and lets not forget we have the taking this beyond to go forward and say theres a impeachable president and on tape committing offense because of a campaign one of these two election finance problem, theres a lot Campaign Contribution felonies of members in congress who would that he has confessed to have to leave for that same committing. So there is no question as to place. With willie geist, its whether or not he did this. Incredible. To me, this is despicable. Also, what theyre arguing and i dont understand why against is information and findings and allegations coming from prosecutors in the Southern District of new york, not from republicans would say hes a democrats, not from the media. This is a case put together by known liar. They have a recording of it prosecutors, noah rothman. If you go back through history, you look at comments, for example, from orrin hatch during impeachment in 1999. He worried about moral turpitude happening. So this idea that theyre going to continue to stick by donald and now hes coming out saying, trump, not even a discouraging maybe, but hes doing a good word about what is clearly criminal conduct by the job. I dont buy Michael Cohen as a president and his circle is a good witness. Its a completely different standard from one president to bad, bad political strategy that the next. It is. Is likely to, you know, make and the notion that democrats will have to embrace some disqualifying amount of hypocrisy that at the fundamental level, this is about sex, paying off a paramour. 2020 even worse for them. We cant even ask the they cant do that having question if this were about defended bill clinton on those same terms. Politics. Its not even about politics. For the republicans that weve mentioned this morning, youre not leading. Youre not a leader. You are a disapoim. The president s legal team isnt arguing bill clinton, theyre arguing john edwards. The question youll have to ask there are distinctions pass nature of this case, donald yourself is whether or not you were complicit in the damage the trumps case might be more president is doing to this country. That will stay with you forever. Prosecutable because it happened so early in the campaign. And still ahead, how a world but all that aside, theyre arguing now that these order ends and what comes in its allegations which destroyed swraun edwards, rendered him wake. Richard haass breaks down his new cover story on a string of politically toxic is the model that they are following. Global crises. That seems like a bad bet. But theres a case thats plus, 44 senators just going to be laid out by the signed on to an oped urging Southern District. The democrats dont have the to jump the gun on this because capitol hill to defend that case is going to be there. Democracy. But first, here is bill the republicans are foolish for karins with a check on the coming out so far ahead of this. Forecast. Were still watching the cleanup in north carolina. It makes me wonder what the president has promised them so mt. Mitchell got the most snow far in exchange because theres no other way to explain this at 34 inches. Behavior. But on top of that, this is just were 29 in charlotte and below freezing in raleigh one case that evolved from the durham. Were worried about black ice, investigation. Mueller still has to provide his Winter Weather advisories. Full report. And i think it would be wise for by about 9 00 or 10 00, it will the democrats as well as the republicans to keep their powder get warm enough. The next storm is coming on dry until they have facts in front of them. Shore in the pacific northwest. Snow in the mountains. Eventually this storm will be the next coast to coast storm, diving down tt through the it would seem the normal course. Mountains, tomorrow through areas of colorado. Many areas in the 4 to 8 foot Kevin Mccarthy yesterday range, especially the ski resorts. Said his democrat colleagues by the time we get to about, shouldnt take investigating say, thursday, this storm gets trump a top priority when they to texas. So were clear in the east today. But at least its sunny and its retake the house next month. I thinks theres other dry. Here is the storm by the time we problems out had there we should get to thursday. Pulling the moisture up the be focused on. Weve investigated this for a gulf. Were going to get a soaking rain thursday through louisiana into arkansas. Long period of time. If you have plans on friday, both sides have come up with including air travel plans, this nothing in the process. If if by nothing in the process means indictments or rainy mess will be through guilty pleas from 33 people and atlanta, richmond, raleigh, late 3 companies so far, then hes in the day on friday. Right. As for his argument that so if youre heading out this weekend, you have to remember democrats should not make that friday night on the east investigating the president a coast looks wet. No snow, no ice, its a warm top priority, youll recall in storm with just rain. So as far as anyone is hoping 2014, mccarthy and other house for a White Christmas in the republicans set up a special northeast or even the committee dedicated to investigating the 2012 attacks midatlantic, if you have snow in benghazi and in an interview on the ground, you may get lucky the following year, mccarthy enough, but i dont see any celebrated the committee putting storm in our near future. A dent in Hillary Clintons poll numbers. Remember this . Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right . But we put together a Benghazi Special committee, a select life isnt a straight line. Committee. What are her numbers today . Things happen. Her numbers are dropping. And sometimes you can find yourself why . Because these untrustble. Heading in a new direction. This is painful. But at fidelity, we help you prepare for the unexpected the Republican Party screams that it must stand for the rule with Retirement Planning and advice for what you need today of law at the border, teargassing desperate familiars. And tomorrow. But theyre not sure if they want to do the same at the white because when youre with fidelity, house. It doesnt apply. A partner who makes sure every step is clear, the Trump Justice Department has theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Shown candidate trump led a conspiracy by illegally a partner who makes sure every step is clear, directing the paying off of two new listerine® ready tabs™ arent gum, mints, or marbles. Seriously, what is this . Alleged mistressesthe top repub if you guessed theyre tabs that turn into liquid as you chew, so you can swish and clean your whole mouth instantly, then you were correct. And that was a really good guess. Nice job. Theres no excuse for what they did to you. Its a hate crime. Its a miracle he survived. [ gasps ] i got your back. Based on an inspirational true story. They knocked me down, but ive created a world where i can heal. Hey, hey. Lookin good. Welcome to marwen. I got dreams in my head and they wont go welcome to healing. You need to face those jerks who beat you up. Welcome to hope. I have my friends, and they cant take that away from me. Hell yeah. Woo so shark invented duo clean. While deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. Duo clean technology, corded and cordfree. This is moving day with the best andinhome wifi experiencees. And millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. And this is moving day with Reliable Service appointments in a twohour window so youre up and running in no time. Show me decorating shows. This is staying connected with xfinity to make moving. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and twohour appointment windows. Click, call or visit a store today. Er all right. Richard haass, lets read from your new piece in the latest issue of foreign identifies. In your article entitled how a world order ends and what comes in its wake you write in part this, a stable world order is a rare thing. It requires a stable distribution of power and is broad acceptance of the rules that govern the conduct of international relations. It also needs skillful state craft since an order is made, not born. Eventually, with inevitably, even the best managed order comes to an end. Deterioration of a world order can set in motion trends that spell catastrophe. World war i broke out some 60 years after the concert of europe had broken down in crimea. What were seeing today resembles the mid 19th century in important ways. The post world war ii post cold world order cannot be restored. But now is the time to make sure one never materializes. The good news is it is far from inevitable that the world will eventually arrive at a catastrophe. The bad news is that it is far from certain that it will not. Richard, we want to broaden out what is going on in europe. First, i wonder what is our place in the world at least in terms of what america is seeing. Is that the case in terms of how america is viewed at this moment . No. I think this is a i think this is a stunning departure. The United States has advocated. Weve essentially decided the game isnt worth the candle. We saw elements of that under the previous administration, particularly in the middle east, but weve seen it on steroids in this administration where its essentially said the cost of American Leadership are way to great. The benefits arent worth it. America first, were going to pull back. Were going to look out for our narrow selfinterests. Because mr. Trump is essentially determined, i believe incorrectly and invisibly and miss guidedly but hes determined that its not worth it for the United States. The problem is that were forfeiting our advantages and leverages. And were helping the one country out there that is arising and that is called china. The populism you write about in europe in different in every country. You can go across them. How much of that is connected to america, if it is at all, and donald trump being perhaps the most famous selfstyled populist of them all. Were seeing elements of it. Hes reinforced it and youve got a truly divided country there. What Angela Merkel did in germany, opening up the flood gates to immigration, the germans are letting in 8,000 people a day. It just overwhelmed things and you have a cultural demographic pushback. In france, people were yelling about the fact they simply couldnt make ends meet and at the same time, you were raising taxes on gasoline. So the warning for us, willie, ought to be that it can happen here. We can imagine populism both on the left and the right in in this cub and thats a real challenge to the ability to govern at a when weve got enough problems with governing. So you recommend the development of sort of a new order and it seems more like a soft power calculation, multi lateralism and disengagement and what have you. But in the hard power, raw power calculation which still is the underlying, you know, force in international relations, the United States doesnt have a close competitor in china and russia, for example. These are a liberal power and the states around them balance against them as opposed to joining them in europe which is disintegrating, as we can say. And no condition consensus about social organization is the nearest liberal competitor to the United States. Really there is no competitor to america and america cant disengage with the world. All three of them consecutively campaigned on disengaging the world and governed on the precise opposite. So, really, does the United States have any options here . Can it choose to engage in any order or is the order the one that is going to perpetuate . You need hard power, sometimes theres no alternative to military force. But hard power is not going to solve the problem of chinas investment in Artificial Intelligence. Were going to have to invest heavily ourselves. Hard power is not going to open up the World Trading system or maintain it. Hard power is not the answer to a full immigration system. At the same time, the United States is saying we need more fossil fuels. Come on. Before were done in this century, but probably while were still alive, Climate Change will have extraordinary implications. Its going to generate millions of refugees. We need a serious foreign policy. Multi lateralism Marshall Plan was multi lateralism. 41, what he put together in the persian gulf, it involved diplomacy, economics and military force. We need a comprehensive foreign policy. Is there a relationship between the populist movements happening all over and this disintigration of the public world order and can the next u. S. Administration reverse the u. S. Withdraw . Is there time for that . I think there is some relationship between the populist movements. People are feeling overwhelmed. When we dont do enough to manage the world, it has an impact here at home. But we aint seen nothing yet. But imagine how strong the populism is going to be when Autonomous Vehicles and Artificial Intelligence and robotics come on stream and millions and millions of existing jobs go away. So the millions of americans who drive trucks or are counting on one day driving trucks wont have that option. Were going to see the kind of thing were seeing in france, were going to see that in the United States. So, again, what goes on internationally will come here. Can the u. S. Recover . To some extent, but the world is going to be a different place for the 46th president. Some of the things that are influencing donald trump, if you will, trumpism, predated him and will not go away. But, yes, any president has a degree of discretion,s has a degrees of latitude. In our system, the president is the lead actor when it comes to foreign policy. And just like donald trump has unilaterally done things like take the United States out of the transunion partnership or taken United States out of the paris Climate Change talks and so on and so on, the next president could reintegrate the United States in the world. So, richard, the world as a neighborhood, the United States of america, toughest guy on the block, most important guy on the block, but the new people down at the end of the block, the chinese, theyre sort of making a move on want to go become the toughest guy and the most powerful guy on the block. But are we neglecting the role and what has to be the happiness of the older guy at the end of the block, the guy from moscow, putin, and what russia is getting out of all of this chaos . You have to deal with both. Theyre not a super power. But they have the ability to use military force and theyre increasingly using cyber. So dealing with a rogue russia, i actually think so long as putin is in power is a real challenge. China is a different things. How do we discipline china militarily and economically . Can we . Sure. But we have to do it with others. Thats where America First misses the boat. Where, again, we have leverage. Its called alliances. Japan, south yeah, australia, we have to make sure that china understands it can cherry pick the world and just do it once. It has to raise its game to play more by our rules. Well, we had allies. We can hope that our alliances rolled together. Prussia sent two Nuclear Capable bombers to venezuela yesterday. Those russian jets, which were used in russias actions in syria, can carry conventional or nuclear tipped Cruise Missile wes a range of 3,410 miles well within the range of the continental United States. Their deployment comes after venezuelan leader Nicholas Maduro visits moscow last week to garner additional political and economical support even though venezuela owes billions of dollars of debt to russia. Mike pompeo responded to this by saying the russian and venezuela people should see this for what it is, two corrupt governments squandering public funds and swell muching liberty and freedom while their people suffer. Well be following this. Still ahead, President Trump tries to claim that Michael Cohens hush money payments during the 2016 campaign were a simple, private transaction. Gross. And that has Eugene Robinson asking, what has the president be smocking lately . Well get the latest read from genes piece. And were going to sort through brand new poll numbers on trumps approval ratings. It makes trump and his cronies look like the big, bad wolf, u huffing and puffing, but they cant blow the house down. A lot will happen in your life. Wrinkles just wont. Neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repairs dermproven retinol works so fast, it takes only one week to reveal younger looking skin. Neutrogena® discover. O. I like your card, but im absolutely not paying an annual fee. Discover has no annual fees. Really . Yeah. We just dont believe in them. Oh nice. You would not believe how long ive been rehearsing that. No annual fee on any card. Only from discover. [narrator] for powerful suction, you need a shark. With two swappable batteries, at maximum suction the shark ion f80 has more run time than the dyson v10 absolute. Or, choose the upright model for whole home cleaning only from shark. Singular focus, a distinct determination to do whatever it takes, and use every possible resource to fight cancer, and never lose sight of the patients were fighting for. Our Cancer Treatment specialists share the same vision experts from all over the world, working closely together to deliver truly personalized cancer care, specialists focused on treating cancer using advanced technologies, and more precise treatments than before. Working as hard as we candoing all that we can for everyone who walks through our doors. This is Cancer Treatment centers of america comprehensive cancer care network. And these are the specialists were proud to call our own. Treating cancer is more than our mission. Its our passion. Expert medicine works here. Learn more at cancercenter. Com. Cancer Treatment Centers of america. Appointments available now. I can tell you the view of americans on how the president has handled the russia probe is at a alltime low. Approval of trumps handling of the russia investigation has fallen f fallen from 33 to 29 . Support among republicans have dropped 17 down to 51 . It has dropped among independents. Interestingly, approval among democrats has more than doubled to 15 . Overall, 39 of americas approve of donald trump compared to 52 who disapprove almost exactly matching preelection levels. This tells you the president s base is getting smaller and spaller. Also in that poll, muellers numbers have tanked, too. And i think the American Public is fed up with all of the noise around this investigation and the president s tactics are working to some extent, but not to enough. And if we need to look to the proof of that, lets take a look at the Midterm Elections. Thats what the voters were frustrated about. Theyve had enough with donald trump and they want to see government functioning. Im not sure we should trust the mull numbers yesterday. The numbers still are the numbers. Theyre declining. So once we see them develop a case, then the American Public will be able to judge what theyre put ing out. Theyre under a constant withering assault. There apparently will be a report produced by this white house that is attacking mueller personally as well as his connections and the probes conduct and the propose can not defensist. But the point is, that donald trump hes working his rhetoric is working against mueller, but its hurting had him even more at the end of the day. Exactly. And the bottom line is that, you know, they can say everything that they can say about this probe and make every type of accusation on twitter about Robert Mueller and everybody else and call it a hitwitchhun but Donald Trumps numbers are not rising. Theyre tanking. And its a strategy that is not working for them. You write in part, no collusion trump claimed in his monday tweets. Mueller might have a full fledged plot between Trumps Campaign and vladimirs government. But given how tight lipped the mueller team has been, it is ridiculous for anyone to assert with confidence that no such evidence exists. We know mulerer is looking into Trump Organizations business dealings with russians who have close linked to the kremlin. We know he is looking into potential obstruction of justice by the president. And now we know for the first time that prosecutors have implicated trump in a federal crime. But stay tuned. I guess that ultimately points to these poll numbers, as well, because people are starting to see what they ultimately see. And it doesnt look good. It doesnt look good at all. You dont have to step back very far just to kind of take a look at what we already know. We already the president is implicated in ordering two felony offenses and thats on tape. Were pretty sure that happened. We know that there were all these contacts, you know, and it all comes back to russia, this raft of contacts between people in the Trump Campaign and people who represented or claimed to are represent the president. We know all this is happening at a time when the president is trying to make potentially hundreds of millions of dollars on a trump tower in moscow. We have this pretty clear picture of astounsing morality by this president and his circle including his son and his soninlaw and it doesnt take much perspective or i think much sort of political acumen to say, gee, maybe i ought to sort of keep my powder dry on this because this looks like it might not work out very well for the president. I think thats going to be very bad for them. I think this whole sordid episode is very bad for the country and its going to come to a decree cherescendo. Gene just mentioned the country. Im kind of an outlier. I dont think most americans get up and they dont tweet all day. They go to work all day. I think most americans think we do too many polls. Mueller is up, mueller is down, things like that. But for sure, there is an exhaustion level in this country about everything that has gone on since 2016. And eventually Robert Mueller is going to come out with one of the greatest involves ever written. Its going to be a involve about cri novel about crime and punishment and it will be an extensive look at what is going on within the Trump Organization and within the Trump Presidency for many months if not years and that is going to be a true revelation. And at the expense of the country. We will see the damage for decades. Up next, President Trump is set to meet with chuck and nancy at the white house today in hopes of avoiding a partial Government Shutdown over the border wall. We will set the stage for that meeting next on morning joe. The zip code youre born into can determine your future. Your school. Your job. Your dreams. Your problems. indistinct shouting but at the y, we create opportunities for everyone, no matter who you are or where youre from. For a better us, donate to your local y today. So shark invented duo clean. While deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. Duo clean technology, corded and cordfree. And fearlessly devours piles. A lot will happen in your life. Wrinkles just wont. Neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repairs dermproven retinol works so fast, it takes only one week to reveal younger looking skin. Neutrogena® discover card. I justis this for real . Match, yep. We match all the cash back new cardmembers earn at the end of their first year, automatically. Whoo i got my money hard to contain yourself, isnt it . Uh huh let it go whoo get a dollarfordollar match at the end of your first year. Only from discover. The scenery never changes. Thats why this is the view for every other fullsize pickup. And this year, its deja vu all over again. cuz only the ford f150 gives you bestinclass torque, bestinclass payload. And you got it, baby. Bestinclass towing. This is the big dog this is the ford f150. It doesnt just raise the bar, pal. It is the bar. And now, you can get a ford f150 with zero percent financing for 72 months. Only at your ford dealer. As President Trump and congress equal leaders race against the deadline to avoid a Government Shutdown, disputes continue over trumps border wall and other legislation. The president is set to host senator Chuck Schumer and House Speaker designate nancy pelosi at the white house this morning for the First Time Since the Midterm Elections. The Democratic Leaders are prepared to offer trump 1. 3 billion for the border wall, short of 5 billion that trump is demanding. Trump has openly flirted with the idea of force ago shutdown to push democrats into embracing the border wall funding. However, in a joint statement, schumer and pelosi stated republicans still control the house, the senate and the white house and they have the power to keep the government open. Our country cannot afford a trump shutdown especially at this time of economic uncertainty. This holiday season, the president knows full well his wall proposal does not have the votes to pass the senate and the house. Republicans, democrats and the white house have until december 21st to reach a budget deal if they are to avert a partial Government Shutdown. Joining us now, contribute heing edit contributing edit, elise mendez. C is the next barrier to the wall Mitch Mcconnell . The deal is exactly as you laid it out. And i think we should step out back and say behind all of this is the reality whoever is seen as the culprit behind one of these shutdowns will be widely criticized. Republicans know that going back to 95 and 96 and again in 2013. No one wants to be seen as responsible for this. The president believes if the contours of this debate happen around immigration and thats winning ground for him, losing ground for democrats and what democrats will say is exactly what you said in your lead, you dont have the votes in the house in order to pass this so its never going to get to Mitch Mcconnell. Take the 1. 3 billion were offering you. Considerate victory and dont be seen as the bad guy who forced a shutdown. Can you use this to reopen the debate about comprehensive immigration reform. Is that just too far away now . It seems at this point that is not the conversation we had before. What we saw even when democrats came to table offering more money for Border Security the president balked and not willing to live up to his claims of comprehensive immigration reform. Whats interesting is were focused on the border. That is drama that the president has stirred up at the same time all eyes are on the u. S. Mexico border his administration is passing regulatory proposals, the period for Public Comment just closed yesterday on something called the public charge which is a definition of the way someone is assessed for a green card, whether or not they will make use of public funds and of government assistance. Moving forward its been narrowly defined up until this point. The Trump Administration is now making it such that immigrants will be assessed based on their previous use. This is part and parcel of the same thing. Child separation was to be a deterrent. What were seeing at the border thats slowing Asylum Seekers down is a deterrent. This is a chilling effect. Thats where their energy is focused. Not focused on a comprehensive solution. Its a chuck and nancy reboot. No reason for them to trust donald trump based on the last round of negotiations. But if this was this time to go into shutdown mode, it seems that donald trump kind of won the last time but after the Midterm Elections how concerned are republicans that the unpopularity of donald trump will really start to touch them . They should be concerned especially based on the polling numbers that you all were just looking at. Democrats feel they have all the cards, right . They felt that way the last time. Also at the same time they were operating in a context in which they wanted to be able to extend daca. They dont have that this time. This time very much about Trump Holding this up over that 5 billion. So, when democrats won the house, performed very well at the state level the president had this press conference you know we can work together. We can do environmental legislation, theres a lot here we can do. This seems like a retreat this border wall ask which is way down from 25 billion that they said they needed. It suggests they are beginning to tailor their expectations to the moment. The democrats have no reason to make this a successful presidency at this point. I think there are very strange dynamics on the hill. As this is happening there was supposed to be Bipartisan Legislation around criminal Justice Reform which republicans are not even sure they can deliver their own caucus votes on. Theres a lot thats supposed to get done between now and december 21st and it would be up to republicans to decide if they have the will within their own party to get it done. All right. Thank you so much for being on this morning. Coming up, well talk to the incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee adam schiff after saying this weekend donald trump faces the prospect of jail time. Well ask him about that. And the New York Daily News helps the president advertise his new opening for chief of staff calling for a quote spineless, clueless flunky to keep the president s charged for tweet storms. Must be fluent in russian. Integrity preferred but not required. Well talk about that ahead on morning joe. Im ken jacobus and i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. I earn unlimited 2 cash back on everything i buy. And last year, i earned 36,000 in cash back. Which i used to offer Health Insurance to my employees. Whats in your wallet . [narrator] for powerful suction, you need a shark. With two swappable batteries, at maximum suction the shark ion f80 has more run time than the dyson v10 absolute. Or, choose the upright model for whole home cleaning only from shark. Or, choose the upright model for whole home cleaning new listerine® ready tabs™ arent gum, mints, or marbles. Seriously, what is this . If you guessed theyre tabs that turn into liquid as you chew, so you can swish and clean your whole mouth instantly, then you were correct. And that was a really good guess. Nice job. I think our intelligence agencies are making their assessments and hoping to make sure theres justice where be. Were focus dont broader region which is figuring out to bring a deal between the israelis and the palestinians. That was Jared Kushner last night pivoting from the murder of Jamal Khashoggi to his long promise middle east peace plan. There was no follow up with his conversations with the crown prince following khashoggis death. No follow up to the New York Times piece Richard Haass that pointed out that Jared Kushner was reportedly even giving the crown prince pr advice as to how to weather the storm after the death of the Washington Post opinion writer of the man who is a father and lived in the United States of america. There was no questions about, im not surprised, but having said that how could Jared Kushner face the cameras and step up right now, given and not answer to that. And is that treason . Its wildly inappropriate. We should not be doing the saudis bidding for them. Its not just Jared Kushner its the entire administration. What we should be doing is get saudis, put pressure on them so they get out of yemen. We should be recalibrating our entire relationship with them. Lets be honest. Saudi arabia is not a reliable dependable ally or partner. You got this reckless young leader who in so many cases is acting against american interests and against saudi interests. We have to be extraordinarily careful rather than aligning ourselves with them as Jared Kushner is doing. He also has this rather vain hope saudis will deliver middle east peace and get the palestinians to compromise. Thats way off base. It depends first and foremost that they are the cuss ttodian the muslim holy places. We have to rethink this entire relationship. Hes completely inexperienced and conflicted. So welcome back to morning joe. Its tuesday, december 11th. Still with us mike barnacle. As you can see the president on the council of Foreign Relations, Richard Haass. Associate editor of the Washington Post Eugene Robinson. Msnbc political analyst and former republican strategist steve schmidt. And president ial historian doris Kerns Goodwin. How do americans feel how the president handled the russia probe which is now at an all time low. A new cnn poll shows since october approval of trumps handling of the Russian Investigation has fallen from 33 to 29 . Support among republicans has dropped 17 . Down to 51 . Its dropped among independents. Approval rating among democrats has more than doubled to 15 . Overall 39 of americans approve trump compared to 52 who disapprove. Almost exactly matching preelection levels. Steve schmidt, at what point are republicans going to be worried about their party as it pertains to this president . At no point, mika. Republicans have already paid a heavy cost for trump and trumpism. When you look at this Midterm Election the president showed up the morning after the election to claim victory. It was in fact a massive reyou d repudiation of trump and trumpism. Well see more of that. At the end of the day for republicans, for the Republican Leaders and everybody who has gone into business with donald trump politically just like every contractor who went into business with him in the real estate business, they wind up by the end of the deal getting screwed. Thats where republicans are going to be. There will be more downward pressure, more costs and you will have a generation of republicans, when we look back at this from the rear view mirror who will have desecrated their party, their country, their duty and they will pay a terrible price for it and the Republican Party, if it recovers, will take many, many years to do so after this trump era begins to close. So, to your point, some Top Republicans are now dismissing the allegations that donald trump directed his former fixer Michael Cohen to make illegal hush money payments to two women during the 2016 campaign. When asked if he had any concerns, senator orrin hatch told cnn the democrats will do anything to hurt this president. When he was told the allegations came from the Southern District of new york, hatch said, okay, but i dont care. All i can say is hes doing a good job as president. Hatch was asked whether he was concerned about the allegations and he said, no. Because i dont think he was involved in crimes, but even then, you know, you can make anything a crime under the current laws if you want to. You can blow it way out of proportion. You can do a lot of things. Louisiana senator john kennedy told msnbc news let me say this about mr. Cohen. Jesus loves him but everybody else thinks hes an idiot. I think most americans think hes a sleazeoidgrifter. Senate judiciary chairman Chuck Grassley dismissed the allegations telling cnn they base it on what a liar says so it hurts the credibility of it. And heres how House Majority leader Kevin Mccarthy responded to congressman adam schiffs assertion that donald trump could face the real prospect of jail time for his role in directing Michael Cohen to make illegal payoffs during the president ial campaign. The president hires an attorney to solve a problem, he expects him to do it in a legal manner. If adam schiff is taking this beyond to go forward and say theres an Impeachable Offense because of a Campaign Finance problem, theres a lot of members in congress who would have to leave for that same reason. You have republicans reading in to something about which they dont really know anything, the Mueller Investigation. Its been a black box except for the few documents, sentencing documents weve seen recently. But as i said earlier its one thing to cast skepticism upon an investigation, worry about the credibility of Michael Cohen and perhaps the motivations of some democrats in congress and perhaps some in the media. Something else entirely to dismiss out of the hand frof ha prosecutors of Southern District of new york based on evidence theyve seen. Theres two things you can fix in life. You cant fix crazy and you cant fix stupid. When you listen to these senators, betting on trump, despite all of the lies, despite the fact that we now know 16 people affiliated with the campaign have contact with russians, despite it all, they are prepared to bet it all that donald trump is telling the truth. Not bob mueller, not somebody who has distinguished himself over a lifetime of career of service to the country, including being a marine officer wounded in combat. Its extraordinary to watch. As somebody who lives in the state of utah, looking at something 80yearold orrin hatch, the hypocrisy is to astounding when you look at what the man said during the clinton impeachment, it just begs the imagination in any capacity i have to describe the hypocrisy in the english language. For the state of utah, when you look at about the trade up from orrin hatch to mitt romney its like trading in a pinto for ferrari. The state of utah and the country will be much better off but the hypocrisy is astounding. Mike let me read and you can take it from here. Hatch worried president clinton lied to the american people. He said crimes of obstruction of justice go to the heart of qualification for public office. Thats orrin hatch then talking about president clinton. Everybody in utah and a lot of people in the country can be relieved by the fact that within a month orrin hatch will be in the backyard staring at the most and out of washington, d. C. But, doris, im struck continually and i think steve is as well, every time you mention the country, you think and hear people who we just saw and were told about senator kennedy from louisiana, senator hatch, Kevin Mccarthy talking about the situation that were in as if theres nothing to see here, lets move along. Yet, when you think about the fact that they have already been, the Mueller Investigation has already exposed the fact that 14 different russians were approached by members of the Trump Campaign team, allegedly intent on giving away parts of the country. You wonder about the tale that history is, tells us about the shaping of america and the fact that these people seemingly know very little about history but who in history would be up to matching donald trump . Youve written about republicans like teddy roast, abraham lincoln. Who is out there in history who if he or she were here today would be a oneonone match that everyone would pay to say. I would bring teddy roast back. He knew how to deal with a bully. From the time he was little he was beset by bullies and he said you have to make your body to get back at them. But more importantly he understood the way you fight and you fight with humor. When somebody went after him at one point as if he had bribed republicans in order to get Campaign Contributions, he said if this ever were true, if this evidence is true, i should be damned in infamy. Its a wicked lie. Its a monstrous lie. Come get me the evidence or shut up. They didnt have it and that did it. He wanted a square deal for the rich and poor whereas donald trump said i dont like these deals where both sides win. The only ones that matter is where i win and crush the opponent. And he can speak in soft tweets. Speak softly and carry a big stick. Dont hit until you have to and then hit hard. Even the Maxwell House slogan, good to the last drop. Are you worried about the country, for the country . Im getting increasingly worried. When you hear things like this where republicans are not even willing to say we dont know whats going on and at least hold back something, they dont worry their statements now will be contradicted possibly a month from now. We know what they said before for clinton, you know what they say now and it doesnt matter. People are saying, okay, if you lied in those old days even when Franklin Roosevelt said i wont put boys in for foreign wars, he was criticized for something that didnt happen. Or read my lips with george bush. There were consequences when you said something. Eisenhower when he finally had to say he did not say the truth about the u2. He said that was a weather plane. That was one of the worst moments in his life. Now people can say things and two weeks later they can introduce something different. They dont seem to jitter about it at all. Lack of political truth is whats concerning me. Doris talks about speaking softly and carrying a big stick, which could be seen as elegant, dignified strategy, effective strategy. And then we got bam bam as president , bam bam from the fli flintstones. How does he hire someone to work for him to be his chief of staff. That search is more and more difficult. The contenders on the short list signal a lack of interest. Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchkin suggested he would have a hard time to get to a yes. Wall street journal reports white house budget director mic mulvaney is taking pass. One source tells nbc news he could be convinced. Heres what conservative congressman mark meadows said about the possibility of being picked for the job. Hes got a number of people who gladly serve in, you know, in his administration. So any narrative that would suggest otherwise just is not accurate. At this particular point im looking forward to having conversations with the president , if he so chooses, and yet at the same time im focused on my day job which is really about representing the people of west north carolina. Well thats so different than when youre asked to serve you serve. People familiar with the matter have also told the journal that President Trump is considering Chris Christie for the position. What does it take to get to a no when you are asked to serve in the white house . Its extraordinary. Extraordinary departure for people who work in politics. Certainly the case if youre someone who would ever be considered to be chief of staff to the president of the United States. The president asks you to serve the country the answer is yes, mr. President. It would be an honor to do so. What we see is all the careerists putting their ambition ahead of their service. In the case of mark meadows somebody has the requisite dishonesty necessary to be chief of staff to the president in this administration, but as a general proposition, when we look out at the field of we look out at the field of candidates they understand that they wont survive this, that their integrity, their reputation, their careers all of it will go up in smoke. I just think as we see now this public auditioning for this job perhaps bring back omarosa or gary busey or meatloaf or some other contestants. As we watch this unfold from public turning down of this by a 36yearold political operative all you can say when you look at it, though its tragic, what a joke this all has become in slightly less than two years since donald trump raised his hand, swore the 35 word oath of office and then has proceeded to desecrate it every moment of his president ial term since that moment where he said so help me god. What makes it so tragic is this used to be the height of Public Service goal. Imagine to be chief of staff in the white house. Some of our best people have been. Theres also perilous times. Sherman adams ends up in jail. Why no Succession Plan was in place. Theres no plan. The idea, youre right that they are reaching out to people with least experience and people dont want to do it shows the state of public life right now. Richard, the Succession Plan was nick ayers. The assumption was that he would, obviously, take the promotion from the Vice President chief of staff to the president and when presented with that he said thanks but no thanks ill work from the outside. Ill do it for three months as if hes going to be a life guard at the beach. It tells you also too two other things. The chief of staff under this president is impossible. You have a family office. You have people there with unofficial authority. Next year will be point. Mueller will come at you. Youre going to have to represent a president and administration that youre not in a position to represent. Why would anybody want this job . It will be impossible to succeed and this will not be career enhancing. Everyone who goes in there comes out diminished. This will not be an exception. Wouldnt you like automatically need an attorney . I mean, the questions and subpoenas that could be flying. You never know. The New York Times, by the way, has new reporting on the fallout between Outgoing White House chief of staff john kelly and President Trump along with a failed bid to lure young nick ayers, the Vice President s chief of staff into the role. The paper quotes that ivanka and jared, their efforts on behalf of mr. Ayers were widely seen as a coup attempt. Started on behalf of a president who is unhappy with mr. Kelly but could not bring himself to fire him. Ayers rejection of the offer reportedly stunned the couple. The times also reports trump himself couldnt bring himself to personally fire kelly and quote looked for others to do the work for him. Thats not new. At one point even looking to have ayers fire kelly according to three people familiar with the events. Meanwhile kelly himself is reportedly furious with ivanka and jared according to the times. One Senior Administration official says mr. Kelly was known to have kept written notes about mr. Kushner and miss trump and the things they have done or requested which he left on his desk in view of his staff. Knowing trump, gene robinson, to have nick ayers, this sort of, i guess, young republican operative who worked in the white house, worked for Vice President pence, to have that guy turn it down, trump is embarrassed. Hes mad. He should be embarrassed. But, you know, nick ayers, what was always said about him, hes young, very ambitious. Anybody who is very ambitious should look at this job and say this is going kimmey career. Was it good for the career of reince priebus, was it good for the career of john kelly. It was disastrous for both. It was a miserable job. And, you know, if ayers had accepted he would have been, essentially not Donald Trumps chief of staff because he will never have a real chief of staff, he would have been jared and ivankas chief of staff and thats not, that wouldnt work out. Jared and ivanka are not particularly good at running the country that would have alienated or been a constant civil war inside the white house or a continuation of the civil war, the many sided civil war thats been going on since donald trump took the oath of office. Its a total mess. Its the worse job in america. And so, you know, why would he take it . And with jared and ivanka reportedly being stunned because they had been talking to him and wanting him to come on board and thought they had some confirmation that it would happen, i think this is the turning for them where they have to understand that people are just humoring them. Nobody is going to tell them truth. They all know this is bad and just say yeah, yeah and move away from them. Thats hard for them to understand that their power is dwindling. Donald trump running the country is awful. Jared and ivanka running the country is at least as awful as that. Because they are under illusions that they are a lot smarter than they really are, a lot more competent and capable than they really are, and you could its just an unspeakable mess in there. You know, i reassure people that look, its been worse, right . The years before the civil war, things were worse and the country was in a worse pickle. Doris, am i wrong . Im starting to worry that im giving, you know, being not accurate and that things were worse. It hasnt been as bad since the 1850s and it didnt end up that well with the civil war. When you talk about the miserableness in the white house, nobody sees fulfillment in that job. Its hard enough to be in the white house if you have no joy. Do you see President Trump really finding himself in this job . Hes fighting every moment. The only joy is when hes out on rallies. Inside the white house hes trapped. I think thats what joe is saying. At some point he might resign. If this thing gets so bad and he can figure out an honorable way that hes doing something good to leave, hell figure it out. Something in his definition that allows him to go. Another idea for the morning is rather than have jared and ivanka play the role, make them chief of staff. Take the informal power, make them the formal power. Make them accountable. You dont have a second white house. Its time to make this a real white house. If you want the home have positions of responsibility give it. That way they cant undermine others. They have to be accountable. They have to like everybody else live up to the obligations. Right now its a cake and eat it white house. I suppose on the bright side the country now knows who the smartest person was working at 1600 pennsylvania avenue and of course that was nick ayers. Yes. Exactly. At least we know the answer to that question. All right. Still ahead on morning joe, of all the pressure bearing down on the president right now theres one topic that might be the most troubling to the white house. Senator angus king explains which next on morning joe. The white house has tremendous energy. It has tremendous spirit. It is a great place to be working. Many, many people want every single job. I read oh, gee maybe people dont want to work for trump. Believe me everybody wants to work in the white house. They all want a piece of that oval office. They want a piece of the west wing. So many people want to come in. I have a choice of anybody. I can take any position in the white house and ill have a choice of the ten top people having to do with that position. Everybody wants to be there. Seriously, what is this . New listerine® ready tabs™ arent gum, mints, or marbles. If you guessed theyre tabs that turn into liquid as you chew, so you can swish and clean your whole mouth instantly, then you were correct. And that was a really good guess. Nice job. So shark invented duo clean. While deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. Duo clean technology, corded and cordfree. Unstopand its strengthenedting place, the by xfi pods,gateway. Which plug in to extend the wifi even farther, past anything that stands in its way. Well almost anything. Leave no room behind with xfi pods. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Click or visit a retail store today. Joining us now is angus king. Weve been talking this morning and listening to some of your Republican Senate colleagues dismissing what theyve heard from some of the prosecutors reports as well as mueller documents that weve seen that have given us some window into special counsels investigation saying i dont believe Michael Cohen as a witness, orrin hatch going so far to say donald trump has been a good president , im not worried about what ive read and what ive seen. Whats your response to your colleagues in the senate . Well, i think theres several response. Lets talk about mr. Mueller first. I thought the filing last week that really should chill the white house most thoroughly was the one from michael flynn, because hes at the heart or was certainly in the room where it happens, if you will, on the relationship between the Trump Campaign, if any, and the russians. He was in moscow, dinner with Vladimir Putin in december of 2015. He was a high adviser to the president throughout the campaign in the transition, we know during the transition he was in touch with the russians, and i think whats a little chilling for the white house about that is that he, obviously, is giving a great deal of information to the special counsel. They recommended no jail sentence, a kind of prosecutorial pardon, if you will, and there was a lot of material redacted. That goes to the heart of what relationship, if any, there was between the campaign and the russians. Thats the one i think that is the most certificate. What happened in the Southern District of new york with Michael Cohen is also serious. Its a felony, but its of a different order and i think the discussion really should sort of wait until we see the full scope of what the Mueller Investigation and our investigation at the senate Intelligence Committee comes up with. Senator king, i want to ask you for a sense of whats going on in your home state of maine with regard to all of this. Its like a fire hose of news events every day. It sure is. But i suspect that most people up in brunswick, maine or portland, maine, not Walking Around and tweeteding all day. But when you go home can you speak at all to the sense of exhaustion that many people might be feeling about this exhaustion and frustration . Well, i think people are frustrated, and it breaks into groups, and we had in some cases my election is sort of a microcosm of where people are. My republican opponent got 35 , i think that represents a hard core Republican Trump base. My democratic opponent got a little over 10 . Thats Progressive Democratic base. Fortunately i got the rest. But there is a third of the state just as there is a third of the country who believes the president is under siege improperly and all those kinds of things and thats one of the reasons i think we have to wait and see the full scope of what the president is charged with. To be talking about impeachment now only will inflame that third of the country. They will feel its kind of a coup or revenge or Something Like that. Impeachment is a very high standard, in my view, and so people are i think one way to put it is people are waiting for the other shoe to drop. Senator, good morning. Steve schmidt here. You served as one member in a body of 100 people known formally as the worlds greatest deliberative body. Weve seen the remarkable occasion of 44 former United States senators, men and women of both parties write an open letter to the couldnt to the senate talking about the senates really institutional failures at this moment and the possible threat to American Public and american democracy with the abdication of duty. What impact is there inside the United States senate. What have your colleagues said about it . I found it extraordinary particularly when you went down that list and saw who those people were. It was a bipartisan group. Serious people, people who made a real impact in this country. Bill cohen from maine, of course, was one of the key house members. He was one of the six republicans on the House Judiciary Committee that voted for untthe impeachment of richa nixon. Here was a guy who was willing to stand up against his party and do what he thought was right. So his signature on that letter was especially meaningful to me knowing that bit of history and i think its important that we be reminded every now and then that it isnt all about politic, it isnt all about, you know, winning the next election or who is up or who is down or who is going to control the senate. Theres an institutional responsibility here and it goes back deeply into American History. The senate has that role to sort of look closely at these issues and play a leveling role in policy decisions and that letter really was extraordinary. The other thing about it was political, to see all the democrats from states that no longer have democratic representation in the senate and how our politics have become more regional other than Susan Collins no republicans in new england, now that bill nelson is gone, no democrats south of virginia in the southeast. So i think thats a disturbing trend that was underlined by the people that signed that letter. So, senator, the president is in the middle of a tweet storm about the border wall, Border Security. Are we going to get to an agreement on the wall . Well, i hope so. Heres the thing about the wall that i think i havent heard discussed very often. The issue with immigration now is not people swimming across the river and sneaking into the country illegally. These caravans, these people come, Asylum Seekers who are coming to the ports of entry, who are coming to the gates. Putting a wall across Southern Arizona or texas or mexico wont affect that. The other fact is that 40 of the illegal aliens in the country today are here because they overstayed their visas. In other words they got here illegally. This is a long way of saying that the wall isnt the answer to the immigration question that were facing today. There was a time when there were a lot of people, you know, breaking into the country in effect. Thats not happening any more. These Asylum Seekers are coming to places where they are supposed to be. They are not trying to climb over a wall. So its just not the right solution. It doesnt make sense economically. 15, 20 million a mile. Theres other ways to better secure the border. The president s tweet this morning, he makes it sound like youre either for the wall or eren borders. I voted along with twothirds of the senate in 2013 for the stronges b provision ever attempted by the congress as part of the comprehensive immigration reform. Nobody is for open borders. Its a question of smart border control, doing it in a humane and sensible way that makes sense for the american taxpayers. All right, senator angus king, always good to see you and have you on the show. Thank you very much for being on. Doris, i just as you study president s and you study this president and try to keep up with whatever parallels you see in history, what specific things have President Donald Trump done that are unprecedented in American History . Whats the list . Are we really off the charts here . I think what were off the charts are in leadership strengths that most president s at their best exhibit. Humility being one. The ability to acknowledge errors and learn your mistakes. He thinks thats a terrible weakness. Most importantly empathy is the most important quality that a leader in a presidency, a leader anywhere needs to have. The ability to understand loss and learn from it. He argues that hes never lost. Thats why hes the best temperament for anybody who has been president. Of course hes been lost. Bankruptcy. The loss of his brother. If you cant absorb that theres something about you not able to grow. The ability not to grow in office. The ability to control your emotions. Abra lam lincoln would write letters and then wait to school down. Roosevelt made private speeches about people he thought were traitors. But all the president s that ive studied who were at their best somewhere along the line the ambition for self becomes an ambition for the greater good. No longer is the i any more its we. We keep waiting for that moment for President Trump. You have to half selfreflex and dignity and character to make that happen. Im trying to be hopeful and waiting that something will change. Theres a moment where he realizes hes president and not campaigning. That will never happen. We have a president a man of unprecedented loathe some and despicable character. I think about the countrys greatest president s. Somebody you studied, lincoln. Upon the occasion of his assassination somebody who was so skeptical of lincoln at the beginning of his tenure, sherman the great Union General is asked to reflect on his life. He says of lincoln i met all the great men of the world, the industrialist, the kings, emperors, but i never met a person possessing the qualities of greater goodness than abraham lincoln. We have a small man, a vile man, a mean man, a corrupt man, a dishonest man. There will be no growth. There will be no slowing down of any of it. What were going to see in the months and year ahead is the resiliency of the american constitutional system, our republican form of government which has endured since 1787 and singularly was designed by the genius of our Founding Fathers in anticipation of the moment when we would have a man like donald trump as president. It would not have surprised the Founding Fathers that we have a president like trump, maybe the only thing that would have surprised them is it took this long to get there. But now well see the test of all of the mechanisms of our system as we confront what increasingly seems to be an illegitimate and criminal regime in the american white house. Lincoln worried about that precise thing and in an address he said the answer to it was to go back and remember the ideals of the revolution and to teach the home your kid every night like youre reading the bible and then youll put that against the idea of such a person being in power who trying to tear down rather than build up. He saw that happening in the 1830s. He warned against it. That was the answer. Go back to history. Go back to things we know. Doris Kerns Goodwin thank you. Still ahead on morning joe, British Parliament is always a little peculiar to the american eye but particularly yesterday when one member grabbed a fivefoot ceremonial mace from the chamber in protest of theresa may to call off the brexit vote. He was expelled from the room. Well check on where uk politics land on the economists preview of the world in 2019. Thats coming up. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. Bring all the gifts for under the tree and while youre at it. Bring the tree. Ford f150 bestinclass payload. Bestinclass towing. Built for the holidays. Bring home the f150 with zero percent financing for 72 months. Only at your ford dealer. So shark invented duo clean. While deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. Duo clean technology, corded and cordfree. For christmas because they keep getting better. Theres smartouch for selfies, then theres four way stretch for flexibility. They even have smartdri. See . Stays dry. So get isotoner gloves for the whole family. Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® but in my mind im still 35. Thats why i take osteo biflex to keep me moving the way i was made to. It nourishes and strengthens my joints for the longterm. Osteo biflex because im made to move. The Washington Post is adding a new category to its Fact Checking system tailored made for trump era. The post introduced the bottomless pinnochio. Its for false claims repeated over and over claim. Claims but get three or four pinnochios. The only person that meets that standard is donald trump. The post drops most politicians drop a fourpinocchio claim either out of duty to be accurate or concern that spreading false information could be politically damaging. Not trump. The president keeps going long after the facts are clear. Hes not merely making gaffes or misstating things, hes purposely injecting false information into the national conversation. Here are just a few examples cited by the post. Economy is the strongest its ever been in the history of our country. Except for one senator who came into a room at 3 00 in the morning and went like that, we would have had health care too. We need the wall. We started building the wall. Ive had the head of u. S. Steel call me the other day and he said were opening up six major facilities. Our country lost last year 817 billion dollars in terms of deficit. 450 billion worth of things ordered from a very rich country. Saudi arabia. No russia. It was all made up by the democrats. The Mexican Border is very unprotected by our laws. We have very horrible and unsafe laws in the United States. Coming up from bob mueller to Christine Blasey ford we preview the short list yesterday for Time Magazines person of the year. Well find out who took the top spots straight ahead on morning joe. whooshing [narrator] for powerful suction, you need a shark. With two swappable batteries, at maximum suction the shark ion f80 has more run time than the dyson v10 absolute. Or, choose the upright model for whole home cleaning only from shark. I saw my leg did not look right. For whole hi landed. Ing i was just finishing a ride. I felt this awful pain in my chest. I had a pe blood clot in my lung. I was scared. I had a dvt blood clot. Having one really puts you in danger of having another. My doctor and i chose xarelto®. Xarelto®. To help keep me protected. Xarelto® is a latestgeneration blood thinner thats. Proven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt or pe blood clots from happening again. In clinical studies, almost 98 of patients on xarelto® did not experience another dvt or pe. Xarelto® works differently. Warfarin interferes with at least 6 of your bodys natural bloodclotting factors. Xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor. Dont stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase risk of blood clots. While taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. Xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. It may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding or unusual bruising. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. Learn all you can. To help protect yourself from another dvt or pe. Talk to your doctor about xarelto®. The new Capital One Savor card. Earn 4 cash back on dining and 4 on entertainment. Now when you go out, you cash in. Whats in your wallet . Now when you go out, you cash in. This is moving day with the best inhome wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. And this is moving day with Reliable Service appointments in a twohour window so youre up and running in no time. Show me decorating shows. This is staying connected with xfinity to make moving. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and twohour appointment windows. Click, call or visit a store today. China, tech and a rush to the moon, the economist is out with its annual issue previewing the year ahead. Joining us now to run through the list the magazines executive daniel franklin. Always a fun issue. Dove tails with what Richard Haass has been talking about in Foreign Affairs sway look into the future. Weve been talking about europe as it relates to the United States and what were going through here and what we will go through in 2019 whether theres a Democratic Led Congress in the house and also the Mueller Investigation proceeds and he may present his findings. What jumps out at you first of all in 2019 across the world its a big year for democracy, first of all as more than a third of the worlds population lives in countries that will be voting in a National Election in 2019. Coun going to be voting in a National Election in 2019. That includes the worlds biggest democracy, india. Indonesia, the worlds third biggest democracy. And the european union. Across all these places youre going to see the this battle playing out between globalists and nationalists. Thats a huge theme for the year ahead. And then the economy, which i think is looking shaky. A year ago we would have been talking about a synchronized upswing, now were looking at nervousness more or less everywhere. The economic wind is changing. Number two is the markets converging. Number four you have brexit. Yes. Thats been called in some question over the last 24 hours or so. Is the u. K. Going to leave europe . Everything is now up in the air. The whole idea that we were on a smooth or smoothish path toward brexit, which is supposed to happen tend he end of march 201 now completely uncertain. You have the full gamut of possibilities, crashing out with no deal at all, chaos. And pulling out, possibly having another referendum, possibly a new government. All of these things are suddenly real possibilities. Its a tremendous mess. In my lifetime i have not seen such a mess in british politics. Everyone assumes chinas rise. How concerned are people where you are about not chinas rise but china hitting a major speed bump . The economy is slowing. 2019 is an awkward year for china, because years ending in the number nine funnily enough carry with them a lot of tricky anniversaries. The may 4th movement which was a protest movement which is part of the history of the Chinese Communist party. They celebrate it, but its a protest against authority. Fs it was invoked in 1989 in ten m tiananmen square. Push back against xi jinping. Pushback, nervousness. But he is also extraordinarily powerful. Theres a big debate, i think, happening in china at the moment and not least pushed by the trouble that china is having with the United States. And there are some who find that thats good for the Reform Movement in china. Theyre getting pressure and it strengthens the hand of System People pushing for more reform. Certainly in the west the right parties are not really covering themselves in glory. Macronism is on its heels in france. The toryto the rise of progressive populism, the pushback against centrists and populist rightism. Were going to have a lot of populism in europe. We have a number of elections for the European Parliament which is a kind of free ride for protest movements because people dont care so much what the actual makeup of that parliament is. People care more about national politics. But in that election they get a chance to say that theyre fed up with whoevers in power. I think youre going to get shock aftersho shock in france. Something jumped out to me that had nothing to do with any of this. Thats the moon rush. I dont know if its because it es spiring or what, but you said in 2019 theres going to be a moon rush. 2019 is the 50th anniversary of the landing on the moon. That is helping to inspire a lot of activity in lunor explorat n exploration. Its part of the great excitement that there is today in space travel. Theres a lot of private activity. Huge amounts of satellite launches and so on. Number 13 on the list is the yankees winning the world series. Really . Yes, really. Its an important note. The economist always the leading prick tlead ing predictor of whos going to win the world series. Thank you so much. The world in 2019 issue of the economist is out and available now. And amid the talk of a possible recession on the way next year, we will talk to the veterans of the last financial crisis. Thats coming up this morning. Also the incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee adam schiff after saying this on sunday. We have been discussing the issue of pardons that the president may offer to people or dangle in front of people. The bigger pardon question may come down the road as the next president has to determine whether to pardon donald trump. A whole new way to care for newborns is born new johnsons cottontouch™ wash and lotion made with real cotton and enhances your gentle touch a new soft a new touch a new gentle new johnsons cottontouch™ baby cooing choose gentle but allstate helps you. With drivewise. Feedback that helps you drive safer. And that can lower your cost now that you know the truth. Are you in good hands . [narrator] meet sharks newest robot vacuum. It powerfully cleans from floors to carpets, even pet hair, with ease, and now for cleaning surfaces above the floor, it comes with a built in shark handheld. One dock, two sharks. The shark ion robot cleaning system. Certainly theyd be Impeachable Offenses because even though they were committed before the president became president , they were committed in the service of fraudulently obtaining the office. 10,000 protesters on the streets, palace in lockdown, a police crackdown, a thousand arrests. Its the start of a revolution. As a result if we went ahead and held the vote tomorrow, the deal would be rejected by a significant margin. Wow. Talk of president ial impeachment in america, paris in flames and a brexit deal ripping europe to pieces. As Richard Haass calls it, a bad day in politics for what we used to call the west. Joe is off today but with willie and me, we have mike barnicle, noah rothman, republican strategist susan dell pers owe. President of the council on Foreign Relations and author of the book a world in disarray. And boy, does it seem to be. Pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor for the Washington Post Eugene Robinson. Are these crises oneoffs or are they world wide populism still burning. I wish they were oneoffs. But at the risk of starting peoples day on a downer, this is now part of the new normal. Youve got populism of the left. Were seeing that in france. Real concerns about inequality, making ends meet. Youve got politics of the right against immigration over cultural anxiety and then against a backdrop what we used to call the west. No consensus and not a lot of will on how to organize the world. To add this all up, the domestic challenges against authority, the lack of international cooperation. I never thought when i wrote a book with disarray in the title, i would turn out to be an optimist. Things turned out worse than we thought. Is there a way out for macron and may looking forward . In the long run theres a way out. Theres nothing about this thats inevitable. Its not inevitable that things are bad, but yesterday we didnt see the way out. We saw a retreat or capitulation in france thats not going to be enough for the yellow vests. Theres no way to clearly pay for it. Brexit, theres zero consensus. Youve got a truly divided country. A big part of us is on us, mika. The United States was the principal architect of the world order for the last three quarters of a century. Now youve got a United States rather than supporting order and the world as weve known it, weve now become the principal disrupter. China is very happy to eat our lunch. This is a bad combination. Its tumultuous. Were going to look much deeper into whats going on in europe coming up. Some Top Republicans are dismissing allegations that donald trump directed his former fixer Michael Cohen to make illegal hush money payments to two women during the 2016 campaign. When asked if he had any concerns, senator orrin hatch told cnn that democrats will do anything to hurt this president. When he was told the allegations came from the Southern District of new york, hatch said, okay, but i dont care. All i can say is hes doing a good job as president. Hatch was asked whether he was concerned about the allegations and he said no, because i dont think he was involved in crimes, but even then, you know, you can make anything a crime under the current oh my hes turning into trump. Honestly, these people are turning into trump. If you want to, you can blow it way out of proportion. You can do a lot of things. Louisiana senator john kennedy told nbc news, let me say this about mr. Cohen. Jesus loves him but everyone else thinks hes an idiot. I think most americans think hes a sleazeoid grifter. I cant imagine basing any prosecution on the word of mr. Cohen. Senate Judiciary Committee Chuck Grassley said they based it on what a liar says, so it hurts the credibility of it. That liar was employed as a close fixer for the president for more than a decade, but okay. Heres how House Majority leader Kevin Mccarthy responded to congressman adam schiffs assertion that donald trump could face the real prospect of jail time for his role in directing Michael Cohen to make illegal payoffs during the president ial campaign. The president hires an attorney to solve a problem, he expects him to do it in a legal manner. If schiff is taking this beyond to go forward and say theres an Impeachable Offense because of a Campaign Finance problem, theres a lot of members in congress who would have to leave for that same place. Willie geist, its incredible. To me, this is despicable. And also what theyre arguing against is information and findings and allegations coming from prosecutors in the Southern District of new york, not from democrats, not from the media. This is a case put together by prosecutors. If you go back through history, you look at comments, for example, from orrin hatch during impeachment in 1999 he worried about moral turpitude and obstruction of justice and these things being disqualifying for being in offense. To see him less than two decades later coming out and saying, maybe, but hes a good guy, hes doing a good job, i dont buy Michael Cohen as a witness. Its a completely different standard hes using from one president to the last. It is. I kind of find the reaction among republicans and republican pundits to be a little unsatisfying. The notion that democrats will have to embrace some disqualifying amount of hypocrisy in order to argue at the fundamental level this is about sex, pairing off a pa paramor. I find that unconvincing not just because embracing hypocrisy is no obstacle for a political actor but because these are difference in kind. Also because the president s legal team are not arguingre a. John edwards was acquitted on five others. There are distinctions as to the nature of this case. Donald trumps case might be a little more prosecutable because it happened so early in the campaign. Theyre arguing now that these allegations which destroyed john edwards, rendered him politically toxic are the model they are following. That seems like a very bad bet. Whats interesting is theres a case thats going to be laid out by the Southern District. The democrats dont have to jump the gun on this because that case is going to be there. The republicans are foolish for coming out so far ahead of this. Makes me wonder what the president has promised them in exchange, because theres no other way to explain this kind of behavior. On top of that this is just one case that involved from the investigation. Mueller still has to provide his full report. And i think that it would be wise for the democrats as well as the republicans to keep their powder dry until they have facts in front of them. It would just seem the logical course. Some more from House Majority leader Kevin Mccarthy. Speaking yesterday, he said that his democratic colleagues should not make investigating President Trump a top priority when they retake the House Majority next month. I think americas too great of a nation to have such a small agenda. I think theres other problems out there that we really should be focused upon. Weve investigated this for a long period of time. Both sides have come up with nothing in the process. If by nothing in the process means indictments or guilty pleas from 33 people and three companies so far, then hes right. As for his argument that democrats should not make investigating the president the top priority, youll recall that in 2014 mccarthy and other House Republicans set up a special kmi committee dedicated to investigating the 2012 attacks in benghazi. In an interview the following year, mccarthy celebrated the committee putting a dent in Hillary Clintons poll numbers. Remember this . Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right . But we put together a Benghazi Special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today . Her numbers are dropping. Why . Because shes untrustable. Its painful. The Republican Party screams that it must stand for the rule of law at the border, tear gassing desperate families, but theyre not sure, theyre just not sure if they want to do the same at the white house. Doesnt apply. The Trump Justice Department has shown candidate trump led a conspiracy to commit a Campaign Finance felony by illegally directing the paying off of two alleged mistresses for their silence to help him win the election. The republican reaction has been disgraceful. The Top Republican in the house, Kevin Mccarthy shamefully, pathetically says the law shouldnt be enforced. What a suckup. Gop senators hatch, grassley and kennedy have become trump. This week theyve tried to divert attention from trump to Michael Cohen, who trump hired for decades, ignoring the Justice Department and scoffing at the rule of law, what makes this country work. The same Republican Party that demands that the full extent of the law be brought down on 2yearold babies ripped from their mothers arms at the Mexican Border believes we should ignore the apparently illegal actions of a billionaire who won the white house, quite possibly by committed felonious acts in the final weeks of the campaign. And fantastic. In america no man is above the law and they know that. But dont tell that to these republicans, who continue to defend a politician who is trashing the rule of law, destroying their party and this country in the process. To me, i say, good luck with that. Mike barnicle . Well, mika, the level of hypocrisy here is not surprising. Its fairly predictable. Kevin mccarthys comments that we just played in context are ridiculous. And im sure that somewhere within them, within Kevin Mccarthy, within senator kennedy from louisiana, within senator grassley, theyve got to know that what occurred last week with regard to Michael Cohen, the allegations about Campaign Finance law violations, those are just appetizers given us by the special prosecutor and the Southern District of new york, the u. S. Attorney here, appetizers. Because the context of what is about to come clearly is within all of the redactions in what we saw last week. Theres a lot to come. The key here is and we have to remind ourselves here at this table and other tables like this in this country, we know nothing about what Robert Mueller has and what he can unload at any moment in time. The frustrating thing about all of this, about all of the red rick th rhetoric that we just heard is it feeds into the narrative about whats going on in the world. America as a leader is now stage left or stage right, depending on your political view. We are not paying a part in what we should and have always played a part in. 70 years ago was the advent of the berlin air lift, led by the United States of america. That is a distant dream. This countrys role in the world is now lost in the fog of the past. Still ahead, the kremlin 2016 and another guilty plea, an accused russian agent is poised to start cooperating with prosecutors over an alleged attempt by moscow to influence the nra. Voicecommand navigation with waze wifi Wireless Charging 104 cubic feet of cargo room and seating for 8. Now thats a sleigh. Ford expedition. Built for the holidays. And for a limited time, get zero percent financing plus twelve hundred and fifty dollars ford credit bonus cash on ford expedition. Ford credit bonus cash [narrator] meet sharks newest robot vacuum. It powerfully cleans from floors to carpets, even pet hair, with ease, and now for cleaning surfaces above the floor, it comes with a built in shark handheld. One dock, two sharks. The shark ion robot cleaning system. Hi. Maria ramirez mom maria Maria Ramirez. Mcdonalds is committing 150 Million Dollars in tuition assistance, education, and career advising programs. Prof Maria Ramirez mom and dad Maria Ramirez to help more employees achieve their dreams. Because they let me to customize my insurance,irez and as a fitness junkie, i customize everything. Like my bike and my calves. Liberty mutual customizes your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. New listerine® ready tabs™ arent gum, mints, or marbles. Seriously, what is this . If you guessed theyre tabs that turn into liquid as you chew, so you can swish and clean your whole mouth instantly, then you were correct. And that was a really good guess. Nice job. tand in your garage,son a brand new john deere. Thats not a mirage. With 60 months financing at 0 , say happy holidays to money well spent. If additional offers are what you desire, visit your john deere dealer before they expire. Now, start up your engines and drive out of sight. New john deere equipment for all and to all a good night. See your john deere dealer today to discover more great deals and special financing offers. New year, new deere. This is moving day with the best inhome wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. And this is moving day with Reliable Service appointments in a twohour window so youre up and running in no time. Show me decorating shows. This is staying connected with xfinity to make moving. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and twohour appointment windows. Click, call or visit a store today. Even as republicans dismiss all these accusations and allegations, there are more developments. A Russian National accused of running a campaign to influence powerful conservative americans reportedly has agreed to plead guilty. Maria buttinas plea deal includes cooperating with prosecutors after spending five months in jail for alleged crimes that predate the 2016 election. The 30yearold previously pleaded not guilty in jewuly sf conspiracy and failing to register as a foreign agent. Buttina reportedly tried to set up a 2016 meeting between President Trump and Vladimir Putin. She will most likely be deported after her release. Additional Court Documents request for the plea deal to be signed off by a d. C. Judge tomorrow afternoon. Gene robinson, as we get more and more developments, it seems every day theres something new from the special counsel or prosecutors. It makes it all the worse that republicans dismiss everything out of hand. They say hes doing a good job. Thats the cover. The president is doing a good job, so lets not look into this. Its one thing to say i dont buy Michael Cohen as a witness. Its a completely different thing to say i dont believe any of it. Yes, it is. By the way, that other evidence, everyone seems to forget that we have a tape. We have the president of the United States on tape committing one of these felonies or directing Michael Cohen to commit one of these two election Campaign Contribution felonies that he has confessed to committing. So theres no question as to whether or not he did this. And i dont understand why republicans would say, oh well, you know its all just the word of a known liar. This known liar has a recording of it happening. So you cant really deny its going on. The other thing that i think republicans are forgetting just on the sort of basis, look how it worked out for them in the Midterm Election, not very well. So this idea that theyre going to stick by continue to stick by donald trump not even a discouraging word about what is clearly criminal conduct by the president and his circle is a bad political strategy that is likely to make 2020 look even worse for them. But they keep marching down this road. I mean, we cant even ask the question if this were a democrat because its too painfully office that if this were a democrat, the same republicans that we have mentioned would be going crazy. But its not even about politics. For the republicans weve mentioned this morning, youre not leading. Youre not a leader. You are a disappointment. The question youll have to ask yourself for the rest of your life when you look in the mirror is whether or not you were complicit in the damage this president is doing to this country. Good luck with that. That will stay with you forever. Up next, the incoming chairman of the House Intel Committee congressman adam schiff is standing by. Whats topping his list for the coming term next on morning joe. Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® for christmas because they keep getting better. Theres smartouch for selfies, then theres four way stretch for flexibility. They even have smartdri. See . Stays dry. So get isotoner gloves for the whole family. [narrator] for powerful suction, you need a shark. With two swappable batteries, at maximum suction the shark ion f80 has more run time than the dyson v10 absolute. Or, choose the upright model for whole home cleaning only from shark. Joining us now the incoming chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, democratic congressman adam schiff of california. Also with us visiting scholar ap the Carnegie Endownment david ro rothkauf. You had a twitter thread that was retweeted and got a big response by a lot of people. Summarize the argument that you made so that i get it perfect. Well, i guess i was summarizing the full litany of things we know about the Trump Administration so far. You know, sometimes i think we get a little punchdrunk because every day theres some new story and it makes us forget the one the day before and the day before. Its not just maria buttina. Its not just what Michael Cohen has said. Its not just Paul Manafort or the trump tower or Jared Kushner or the meeting in the s seychelles. Its about russia moving in on ukraine and us not doing anything about it. So what youve got is a breathtaking scope of contacts by 14 members of the Trump Campaign on a dozen deferent levels. There is quid and there is pro and there is quo here. So theres a lot of people who say you havent proven collusion. This is the most sweeping case of collusion thats ever been presented. And its not the only case against trump, because theres the Southern District of new york case and theres the case on emoluments and theres the case on his charities and so forth. I think sometimes we have to take a step back to realize this is by far the most sweeping scandal in the history of the american presidency. So adam schiff, if you could respond, what is your biggest concern right now and where are you laser focused . It appears this president could be implicated in many ways in impacting the sanctity testiof election process and also perhaps putting our National Security at risk. I think david is absolutely right. Whats always made this so challenging is the public has learned different facts just within the russia investigation in a day by day drip by drip fashion. When you learn it that way, its hard to see how does this all fit together and just how damming dam i damning is the picture it presents. It is a pretty damning portrait with multiple contacts in the Trump Campaign, multiple lies about the meetings that took place and concocting false stories about what the meetings were about. Its a pretty damning portrait. Even now we dont see all the pieces. I think some of the most interesting aspects of the filings in the last week, from my point of view, is the reference, for example, that Michael Cohen provided information that is core to the special counsels investigation visavis the Trump Organization. Now, what does that mean . If its central to the special counsels investigation, its also central to ours in the House Intelligence Committee and it certainly sounds like thats on the issue or collusion or conspiracy. Does that mean that theres more than the trump tower that the Trump Organization was involved in with the russians . Or is there more to that transaction than we know . One of the things i think will be fascinating to see if we can glean from the plea agreement with buttina and im pretty circumstance spe circumstan was that a prearranged question. And if so, who was doing the prearranging . Bob mueller may know some of the answers to some of these questions. Its our intention, the intel committee, to find out and do what we said we would at the beginning, which is follow the evidence wherever it may lead. You will take over as chair of that Intelligence Committee just over a month from now. Theres great anticipation of that among democrats, among progressives. What will be day one inside that committee for you . Where will you begin in that committee in congress . Right now we are outlining our investigative plan, which is really something weve been working on for quite some time. Now that we know well have the gavel and subpoena power, what witnesses will we want to bring in first, what documents should we go after . There are certain ones were well aware of. I think i would put Michael Cohen near the top of the list. I think he has demonstrated a willingness to cooperate with the special counsel. Were already with his attorney to find out other areas of his testimony that may have been inaccurate or incomplete. We certainly want to explore that area of core interest visavis the Trump Organization. But there are numerous documents that we were not allowed to pursue. One of the first documents that i want to make outreach to get is the phone records that would indicate whether the president was in the know about the trump tower meeting with the russians in advance. That is the meeting with Jared Kushner and with his son and with Paul Manafort that he denied knowledge of. We know theres a call from a blocked number during the setup of that meeting. We want to know was that from the president of the United States. Congressman, so it seems as though according to public reporting the russian provocation in the sea of azuth may have been just a prelude. Vladimir putin may see a window between now and ukraines elections on the 31st for another land grab. How would you like to see the administration respond perhaps in order to preempt that or afterwards in order to punish them since the sanctions regime on moscow doesnt seem to have imposed any discipline on moscow. I think the key is not to wait until theres another effort at a land or sea grab. The administration can telegraph to the russians this would meet a very severe response, that it would require additional military assistance to ukraine. Frankly, i think one of the mistakes made during the Obama Administration was not providing defensive weapons to ukraine. We had committed to them in 1994 as part of the budapest memorandum that we would help ensure their sovereignty. I dont think weve lived up to that. So defensive weapons and also strong diplomatic outreach to the russians to assure them we will push back hard if theres further aggression, that were serious about implementation of the mensk accords. Robert mueller is the artist who is going to give us the full portrait. Are you at all concerned about too much emphasis being placed on two separate investigations. We get it piecemeal dropped every couple of weeks by mueller and this fever of impeachment as opposed to lets wait for the whole thing to drop and take a look at it. I think its probably a mistake to focus too much on any one investigation. I know congressman schiffs committee is going to look at areas mueller doesnt look at. For example Money Laundering is an area theyre likely to look much more deeply. We have the Southern District of new york with another investigation. Weve got other suits. The crimes of this president are so sweeping that theyre more than any one investigation with actually take in. You talk about a fever for impeachment. I think theres plenty of reason why this president would be impeached based on just what we know. But would it benefit us to wait a few months longer, hear what mueller has to say, watch the kmi Committee Investigations on the hill, yes, i think it would benefit us because i think its very, very important that we send a message that the american system of justice works, that president s are not above the law and that when we call a president to account, we are doing so with deeply grounded, rigorously investigated cases that make the case beyond a reasonable doubt, because we dont want to create a situation where people are saying it was a political move as opposed to a move in the name of justice. Congressman, you have a lot on your plate obviously with the Mueller Investigation and looking into things with trump. And should perhaps you wait until the full Mueller Investigation comes out to pursue that . In the meantime, youre going to be the incoming chair of the intel committee. What about things like saudi arabia or north korea, for example . I think that warrants what the president has said a severe investigation into north korea. These are going to be very High Priorities for us. Youre absolutely right. Russia gets the most attention, but its not the only threat that we face either internally or externally. We are going to be doing deep dives into saudi arabia and north korea. One of the responsibilities of our committee is to determine whether were getting the best intelligence from these places, what those intelligence agencies can tell us not just about the kashoggi murder but about our reliance on saudi arabia, on the stability of saudi arabia, on saudis role in the war in yemen, the peace process. With respect to north korea, can we believe the assurances by our president that we can now sleep well at night because north korea is ir ref ka isiv irrevoch towards denuclearization. So that will be absolute priorities. We are not going to be able to have the luxury of waiting until bob mueller is finished. There was some discussion of that initially, whether the congress should defer to the special counsel. That would have meant we would be deferring for a year and a half. But we are going to look at issues in particular that may not be the subject of the special counsels work and Money Laundering is very much among them. Congressman adam schiff, thank you so much. Up next, well find out who Time Magazine picked for its 2018 person of the year. [narrator] the typical vacuum head has its limitations, so shark invented duo clean. While deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. Duo clean technology, corded and cordfree. And fearlessly devours piles. Havi is not always easy. Plaque psoriasis its a longdistance journey, and you have the determination to keep going. Humira has a proven track record of being prescribed for over 10 years. Humira works inside the body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to symptoms. Most adults taking humira were clear or almost clear and many saw 75 and even 90 clearance in just 4 months. And the kind of clearance that can last. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal, infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms, or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Join over 250,000 patients who have chosen humira. Ask about the 1 prescribed biologic by dermatologists. Humira. And go. Time magazine has announced its choice for 2018 person of the year. It is the guardians, which highlights specific examples of courage in journalism including murdered Washington Post columnist Jamal Kashoggi. Also two journalists imprisoned in myanmar. The staff at the capital gaze e gazette. Good to see you this morning. We were just talking about how agonizing this is for you all every year. Take us inside the room. What was the debate and how tough was the choice . This was a tough year. I watched your segment yesterday and it looked easier around this table than it was for all of us back at the office. You know, the main story lines of 2018 were moving really into last week. So it was a tough year. I think when we really stopped to look at the major themes, the Common Thread is the manipulation, abuse of trust, democracy in crisis. So we chose to highlight these individuals who are standing up for truth and Free Expression at a moment when technology and the political environment are threatening both around the world. Was there any hesitancy within the debate around the table about this selection, about the selfreverence about the media, ourselves, selfabsorption, stuff like that . These are people, all of them who took great risks, faced unimaginable obstacles, in some cases gave their lives for the pursuit of facts, of truth. You know, theres an extraordinary quote from kashoggi in one of his last columns where he says i still wake up every morning and ponder the choice ive made to speak my mind. This is an existential question for democracy, for freedom that extend well beyond journalism, well beyond trump, well beyond all of us. Whether it is or not its going to be interpreted by the president and his allies as a rebuke of him. He calls the media the enemy of the people. Its been a very bad year for journalists. So this is deserved. But is it a rebuke of this president . For all the name calling, we still live in a country in the United States where a News Organization can sue the white house and win at the hands of a trumpappointed judge. Were a country where Jamal Kashoggi actually took refuge. The rhetoric, i think lots of signs and evidence of it being used by dangerous actors around the world. And thats an issue. But the u. S. , for all our trouble, for all the contentiousness, remains a beacon, i think, for hope and for truth and for Free Expression around the world. When you look at who else was in the running, if you will, number five was the president of south korea. How so . Kicked the conversation, brought the north back into the fold. Well see where it all goes, but a brave and remarkable move. But its still very much unfolding, which i think is why he landed where he did. I think one of the main themes, story lines of the year, certainly. When does the inhouse debate about the Selection Process begin . How long does it go on . How many meetings are there . Its been nonstop pretty much 24 hours a day for three months. We start with a terrific meeting of the entire staff at the end of september where people around the world dial in and we debate and discuss the people of the year, the themes of the year. Its really a great way to actually a lot of wonderful story ideas come out of it, but its a spirited discussion of the entire staff. Over time the circle narrows, but the debate continues. Some years theres an obvious player early in the process. This year, as i said, the story lines were moving really into last week. Three weeks left. Who knows what can happen . Number two was donald trump on the list, number three was Robert Mueller. Weve gotten drips and drabs out of his investigation. His year may be next year perhaps. Were at the beginning of the crescendo of this story. He has had a remarkable, methodical year. About three dozen people and entities charged with almost 200 crimes laid out in pageturning detail the way the russian influence unfolded. It certainly had enormous impact on the year but i think this will be the big story of 2019. Well see. What was the conversation between one and two . What did that debate look like . All president s, especially this president s had extraordinary impact, of course on the year and the headlines around the globe, reshaped the supreme court, immigration, regulation and exposed the weaknesses of our system. But i think what was interesting about this year is that it also exposed the strength, revealed the strength of the system. And we saw a blue wave bigger than most of us predicted in the house. Democratic victories in the state legislatures. Many rebukes in the courts for trump. And of course the Mueller Investigation steamed ahead. Coming up next on morning joe, we have the rare chance to sit down with those three men who played key roles in getting the country through the 2018 financial crisis. Their take on whether it could happen again ten years on. Thats next on morning joe. The greatest wish of all. Is one that brings us together. The lincoln wish list event is here. Sign and drive off in a new lincoln with 0 down, 0 due at signing, and a complimentary first months payment. Only at your lincoln dealer. From capital one. Nd i switched to the spark cash cardt. I earn unlimited 2 cash back on everything i buy. And last year, i earned 36,000 in cash back. Which i used to offer Health Insurance to my employees. Whats in your wallet . [narrator] for powerful suction, you need a shark. With two swappable batteries, at maximum suction the shark ion f80 has more run time than the dyson v10 absolute. Or, choose the upright model for whole home cleaning only from shark. Tremfya® is for adults with moderate to severe or, choose the upright model for whole home cleaning plaque psoriasis. With tremfya®, you can get clearer. And stay clearer. In fact, most patients who saw 90 clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. Tremfya® works better than humira® at providing clearer skin, and more patients were symptom free with tremfya®. Tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. Before starting tremfya® tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. Ask your doctor about tremfya®. Tremfya®. Because you deserve to stay clearer. Janssen wants to help you explore cost support options. Thats a look at the special panic. The 2008 financial crisis. Behind the scenes of americas economic collapse. Now a decade, can you believe that. It unveils the unlikely relationship that developed over the course of that time between our next guests, former u. S. Treasury secretary and chairman of the pulsen institute, henry paulson. His successor, the 75th secretary of the treasury, Timothy Geithner and also the former chairman, distinguished fellow at the brookings institute, ben bernanke. Did you see sorkins movie . Theyre like, no, we were there. We lived it. So mr. Secretary, lets start with you. This was a moment in time unlike the likes of which none of us had seen before. None of us were prepared for. Wed all read that what happened in 1929 yep. But there was a time, a week or so, when we really didnt know whether all the banks were going to go under. Whether the economies we knew were going to go under, there was going to be panic in the streets. Talk about that time and that uncertainty and your instinct on how to move this country through it. Well, we were we were looking into the abyss literally because i think there is a time if we had one more Major Institution go down, the whole system would have gone down and we wouldnt have known how to put it back together again. It would have been very difficult. This was but it wasnt really that one week. This thing went on for an extended period of time. And there were plenty of scary moments. But to me the enduring memory of that is how the u. S. Government came together. Because we saw some of the worst behaviors leading up to that time. Ultimately, we saw great bipartisan cooperation, you know, democrats, republicans. We saw continuity between the administrations. We saw people working together. And to me, the other enduring memory is, you know, george bush and his leadership. And of course working with these two guys. The moment where you thought, my god, we may not be able to navigate out of this . Right, it was really tough. I think one of the first moments for me was when after lehman failed, after tim negotiated with aig, to prevent collapse on top of that, hank and i had to go to congress. They took our questions and they were very, you know, interested. And they basically told us that congress has nothing to do with this, this is your dear and were not going to this is no promise of any kind of support. Early on. The big problem we faced was that it took a while before the impact of the crisis really began to be felt on main street. Initially, it looked like we were running around. Looked like we were trying to bail out our friends on wall street when we were really trying to protect the economy. Early on that wasnt so evident. Political support only came through a period of time. Secretary geithner would use the term abyss. Just as a practical matter what did the abyss look like . How bad could this have been . Hank said famously were three days away from the economy not working. Companies across the country where at the point where they were not going to be able to meet payroll and lose the capacity to finance themselves. They ended up firing millions of people. Thats one way to think about it. The economy cant survive the collapse of the Financial System. Theres no way to separate the interest of the average person from a collapsing Financial System. Theres no choice for the country except to step in and do whatever it takes to try to keep the core of the system furn functioning so the lights stay on. The secretary was talking about how democrats and republicans work together. We saw the celebration of george h. W. s life and his ability to bring both sides together and make difficult compromises. Can you talk about how that happened in september of 2008 . Between an incoming president who will be the first to admit he ran against george w. Bushs legacy and ran against it hard and tough throughout that campaign. But even in the middle of the campaign, everybody came together to do what they thought a lot of credit goes to the outgoing and incoming president. George w. Bush was a standup guy. He did very unpopular things in order to support the effort to stop the collapse of the Financial System and he was willing to take actions to try to reduce the pressure on obama when the new president came in. Meanwhile, president obama also embraced the effort. He appointed tim geithner who was involved in these things, made him the treasury secretary. So president obama, he called me, he talked to hank, you know, he was engaged as well. So the leadership from the two president s was really critical. And then i give credit to the leadership in the congress. People like barney frank and chris dodd and Richard Shelby and many other people who did kron tribute. When the chips were down, the congress did what they had to do. Both these president s were willing to try to let a bunch of people around them figure out what was best for the country, despite the terrible political costs of most of those choices. And willing to have people debate what made sense. Figure out what was best of the terrible options available. And focus on what was right and what was effective, not their political interest. Final thoughts, mr. Chairman . Were doing this we participated in this documentary ten years later. We thing its important for people to remember this. You know, the enemy is forgetting. If we forget about what happened, its going to be too easy to say well, you know, we can unwind protections. Its important to keep alert and make sure our system is Strong Enough so whatever new shocks hit, well be able to absorb them without having consequences for the economy. All right, the special report, panic, the untold story of the 2008 financial crisis is available to watch on hbo go and hbo now. Henry paulson, Timothy Geithner, ben bernanke, thank you. By the way, by the way, i really think that secretary geithner needs to see too big to fail. He had billy krupp, like a rock star. Pretty good. They say hes awesome. Paul giamatti. Yes. William hurt. Oh, my god. Three for three there. Very good. Our thanks to ben bernanke, hank paulson, tim geithner. What does it for us this morning. Ayman mohyeldin picks up the coverage right now. Hi there, everyone, im Ayman Mohyeldin in for Stephanie Ruhle this morning. Lawmakers set to grill ceos this morning. The Company Faces scrutiny on its handling of user data and allowing conspiracy theories to flourish online. While republicans want to know if conservatives content is being censored. Help wanted. President trump reportedly frustrated over his search for a new chief of staff after his first choice said no thanks. With no plan b in place, the white house is left scrambling as many top political activists show no interest. Hopefully hell choose somebody he has great chemistry with. Will help him navigate the next couple of years. On the clock as a potential Government Shutdown looms, pelosi and schumer head to the white house today to try to work out a deal but the Democratic Leaders come to the table emboldened after a victory in november with an offer smaller than one voted on this year. And the grand reveal. With so many to choose from, we will revile politifacts lie of the year. First, the c eo of google it will be his first time testifying before congress, at a time when theyre raising new questions about how big tech goes about doing its business. I got a great team to help break it all down for us. First, i want to explain why todays hearing is actually so important. As you know, google is the largest Search Engine in the world. Handling two out of every three online searches in the United States. Thats about 71,000 searches every second