Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live 20170201

Afternoon, democrats facing a dilemma. They are suffering from trump derangement syndrome. Theyre unhinged. Trumps Supreme Court is in, the battle lines are drawn, the question now, what will democrats do in terms of putting up a fight. What could the cost be. And taking on iran. As of today, we are officially putting iran on notice. National security advisor Michael Flynn announcing irans latest Ballistic Missile test has violated a key u. N. Resolution. What actions will the Trump Administration take that is a key question this hour, but we begin with our top story, a trump nomination now in jeopardy, and that is because two republicans say they are going to vote no on betsy devos. That is trumps pick for education secretary. Maine senator Susan Collins, Lisa Merkowski announcing today they have too many concerns to vote to confirm. I believe she is a good person. I know that she cares deeply about the children of this nation. I cannot support her confirmation. I have heard from thousands, trulyhoands of alaskans who shared their concerns about mrs. Devos as secretary of education. They contacted me by phone, email, in person, and their concerns center, as mine do. Lack of experience with Public Education and the lack of knowledge that she portrayed in her confirmation hearing. I guess they need three republicans if all the democrats hold rank. So theyve got two, the question is there going to be a third who comes out now . Right, thats what were watching for, steve. And the list is basically similar to what you might consider when you think about why are senators collins and murkowski the ones coming out here . There are a variety of reasons, but a couple, they both come from rural states where a lot of times there isnt a lot of school choice. You send your child to the local Public School or you dont have any other options. And so, i think you heard murkowski talk about that and there was some concern about how betsy devos came across at her confirmation hearing. Concerns that she wasnt prepared to answer questions and doesnt have the right experience. One question particularly about disability funding, funding for students with disabilities that seem to catch her completely off guard she seemed unaware of is something that has caused a lot of concern behind the scenes. And so, collins and murkowski also came under intense pressure for teachers unions to vote against betsy devos because of this concern about Public Schools. A lot of of course the teachers unions are of course at Public Schools, not private ones. And so thats the concern youre seeing there. Now were watching senators who might share these concerns, they might come from more moderate states, they might have states that are rural, for example, dean heller is the main person to watch in the next 24 hours. Hes a republican senator from nevada where unions are very strong and also, thats the state thats largely rural, as you know, las vegas, the one major Population Center and also reno, but the rest of the state really very spread out. So for the most part, people have to send their children to the local usually Public School. So again, i think those are the concerns that are playing out now, the senate is also trying to accelerate the timetable on this nomination because they actually would need Jeff Sessions to still be a senator if they want to have 50 republican senators to push this through. They were going to try to do sessions nomination next in line, but hes going to have to stick around a little while longer in they think they want to push betsy devos to the front of this line. And of course, the clerk of the senate, even if they manage to hold the line beyond collins and murkowski, they will need Vice President mike pence to break the tie, and from what we can tell, our political unit says we do not think that that has ever happened before in history that a Vice President has broken a tie on a cabinet nominee in the senate. We are still cheque with the Senate Historians office, we cant find one in recent memory, steve. Rex tillerson was just confirmed as secretary of state. This was one of the more controversial picks that donald trump made when it was announced. Tillerson as ceo of exxonmobil had deep ties to russia and russia president vladimir putin. Some thought that would be a barrier to his nomination, some believe it should be. The vote today to confirm tillerson, 5643, largely on party lines. There were four democrats who crossed over and voted for tillerson. Those 43 no votes that tillerson got, thats the most that any nominee for secretary of state has received in more than 50 years. These have typically been more or less noncontroversial nominations. Certainly was not the case with tillerson. There is also another breaking storto tell you about this hour. The president leaving the white house just in the last few minutes with his daughter, ivanka, they are on their way to Dover Air Force base to receive the remains of Navy Seal William owens. Owens was killed in a fire fight in yemen sunday as u. S. Troops were on the Ground Fighting against al qaeda leaders. Owens was killed, three other americans were wounded in the operation. This trip to Dover Air Force base, the first of its kind for President Trump since coming to office. As we say, accompanying him is his daughter ivanka, we also know that delaware senator chris coops is traveling with the president to Dover Air Force base. Developing in washington right now, back to politics, democrats have a dilemma right in front of them right now. Donald trump last night, he made it official, his pick for the Supreme Court, neil gorsuch. Gorsuch a federal judge on the u. S. Court of appeals. Hes known as a staunch conservative. Democrats are furious. They believe the Supreme Court pick was stolen from president obama, and this raises all sorts of issues for them. If you go back a year ago where this all started, remember, it was Antonin Scalia who passed away, hed be sort of a stall ward of the conservative side of the court, president obama picked merit review garland, that should be the replacement. Republicans said no, you know what, we would rather stall and keep this seat open for the entire president ial election, garland would probably be voting closer to the liberal wing. It would change the balance of the court. They decided not even to hold hearings and now look at this, donald trump is president , hes got his own nominee up there, neil gorsuch and he would probably slide right there to where scalia was, id logically. Democrats, theyre furious, they think a seat was stolen that president obama should have been appointed on the other hand, it will not change if this appointment goes through the overall balance of the court from what its been for the last few years. The dilemma for democrats, youre furious, you think you were robbed on this one. You think the republicans crossed a line they never should have crossed. How hard do you fight this when it could be not too long in the future potentially, one of those democrats could retire, could leave the court and then the balance of the court would be at stake. Do you want to fight this one now when the balance is in that stake or do you want to fight that one in the future . That is the question. Weve got this and other news to cover. Peter alexander at the white house, jack lind kwis and chris alyssa from the washington post. Peter, you, that dilemma, democrats are facing, their base wants them to go all out against this Supreme Court pick, are they going to follow what their base wants . Reporter well its a good question, to give you a sense of how angry the second base particularly with the implementation and in fact the policy, this travel ban that donald trump announced just a matter of days ago. There were protests outside of senator Chuck Schumers own home last night encouraging him, urging him to basically be defiant to the end on this specific pick. We know specifically about neil gorsuch, the judge he was on capitol hill remains there right now. Hes been traveling with Vice President pence, met with several republican lawmakers today, including mitch mcconn l mcconnell, met with senators connoren, cory gardner as well. And this afternoon, within this hour, hell be meeting with the democrats, senator joe manchin here, they will need eight democrats to peel off to get that 60 votes necessary for there to be a confirmation of him without the socalled Nuclear Option that donald trump himself suggested. This is sort of an overruling of the tradition where basically it would just require a simple majority. They could force it through, a lot of pressure right now on democrats to pursue this route. Donald trump saying to mcconnell, if they see the same gridlock now as in the past, go nuclear, mitch. Heres what Chuck Schumer said when asked a short time ago. If this nominee cannot meet the same standard that republicans insisted upon for president obamas Supreme Court nominees, 60 votes in the senate, then the problem lies not with the senate, but with the nominee. The answer should not be to change the rules of the senate, but to change the nominee to someone who can earn 60 votes. Reporter of course this administrations made it clear they think this is someone who deserves 60 votes, trying to reinforce that point today. President trump met with some conservative leaders of communities, specifically focussed on the Supreme Court issues. Antiabortion rights group, the nra was in the room today. Small business groups, tax reform groups, all of whom came out to the microphone here at the white house within the last several hours and basically said theyre going to do everything in their power to push ahead and try to support this nomination, focussing on judge gorsuchs quote, impeccable credentials as they describe them. Oofbl widely respect z a z a conservative jurorist. The question is whether or not he gets the respect of the democrats to get the 60 votes he needs. Peter alexander, thank you for that. Democrat senator jack reid from rhode island, he joins me now. Senator, thanks for taking a few minutes. Well look, ive seen this and youve seen this, there are a lot of democrats out there, a lot of activists in your party who say look, this seat on the Supreme Court, this vacant seat that should have been filled by barack obama, republicans were wrong to stall all last year. That should have been Merrick Garland on that seat. Democrats should do the same thing now, not even consider Donald Trumps nominee for this court spot. Do you agree with that . Well, i think we consider the nominee, but we do it with great sort of trepidation. Someone who would allow regulations to properly be impleme implemented, there are serious questions about his tenure as a circuit judge and thats what we have to look at. And it should be exhausted. And therefore, democrats need to follow that same follow that same thing in this case, you would be rewarding that behavior if you consider this nomination. It sounds like you disagree on that point. The critical line here is 60 votes. Thats the standard that was applied to all the nominees that president obama sent. They succeeded because they had the skill after careful examination of their records and they had to demonstrate it, judicial templement to become justices of the United States Supreme Court. Thats the line were committed to hold. Thats the line we will hold. I think in that process, well get a chance to examine very closely the nominee and make a determination based upon his suitability to the Supreme Court which is a much Different Court of a district court. Makes the ls of the land. Thats the line we intend to hold. When you talk about that line, when you talk about 60 votes, youre talking about a filibuster right there, and you heard donald trump himself saying and certainly republicans have made no secret about this, they have a majority in the senate right now. They could just change those rules. They could invoke that Nuclear Option and bring that threshold down from 60 to 50 and say hey look, democrats under harry reid a few years ago to get some obama nominees through, they changed the rule, they changed that filibuster rule for executive branch nominations. So wouldnt republicans just turn around and do that if you insisted . They could try to do that, the reality is when it came to justices for the United States Supreme Court, we are consistent and we maintain that consistency and the republicans should maintain that. And theres another aspect too. Anyone who goes on the court should not be viewed from the day one as a partisan nominee. They should be viewed as someone who has been able to attract bipartisan support. Thats what happened with the latest edition to the Supreme Court and consistently with very few exceptions thats the case without our history. We have to be very, very clear about the 60 votes, its something that will adhere to and its also something thats critical to the success of anyone that goes on the court. Let me just ask you, maybe take a step back here a broader question about how this process of confirming Supreme Court justices has broken down because it seems to me, in every one of these impasses i hear about a new rule that supposedly exists. Right now you are stressing this idea of 60 votes being critical. Ive heard Mitch Mcconnell defend what the republicans did last year by saying hey look, theres a tradition of not considering Supreme Court nominees in election years. What it seems like when you add all of these together, were moving closer to a place where hey if if you party doesnt control the senate, youre out of luck, youre not getting your nominees through. I think what we have to do is again, try to maintain the standards as best we can. And its very clear,he andard for Supreme Court nominee, thats the standard president obama operated under, he was able to get two extremely well qualified individuals on the court with republican votes as well as democratic votes. And again, i think the notion last year wasnt just we were not going to do it because its election year, i meant there was a refusal to sit down and talk to judge, to make an assessment of his skills and his abilities. And again, i think those excuses arent prohibited now. Were talking about making sure that we can fully examine, fully review this individual, make a judgment about his abilities, his capabilities to serve on the United States Supreme Court, and then following the tradition and rules of the senate of have a decisive 60 votes to get on to the final vote. Senator jack reid, democrat from rhode island, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it. Now over to chris alyssa, writer of the fix blog for the washington post, chris, a lot breaking in the world of politics this afternoon. Let me go back to what we were talking about at the top of the hour here. So we have been asking this question, is one of Donald Trumps nominees for the cabinet going to be scotched by the opposition . Democrats have their best chance right now it looks like with betsy devos, you have two republicans coming out, if theres a third, it looks likes that could be it for her, do you think theres going to be a third . No. Because i think theres going to be a massive amount of pressure exerted on pat tumy from pennsylvania whose mentioned, cory gardner from colorado whose been mentioned, by the leadership of the party. And the white house. But by the Mitch Mcconnell, john connorens of the world say come on now, you give in here, and it doesnt look good. It doesnt help us out. I would say steve always with the caveat, unless Something Else comes out about betsy devos between now and the weekend or whatever that vote is going to happen, that can change things. Murkowski, you know, you can understand Susan Collins same thing, theyre both in the middle of the party by and large, pat tumy has not been just got reelected. Cory gardner the chairman of the not too distant past and has designs on running either of the Senate Leadership chain or for National Office at some point. I think just like with marco rubio that he wasnt going to submarine tillerson. Im skeptical that the names i hear right now as maybes are the kind of people who will vote against her. And then theres this other question of neil gorsuch, the Supreme Court, just listening to jack reid there a second ago, so his line there is this idea of 60 votes. Democrats hes basically say democrats can and will filibuster, he would need 60 votes to get the nomination con if i wered. And on the republican side, they could just change the rules if their senators all agreed to that. Democrats are being pulled in a number of different directions, but were we just hearing the direction theyre likely to go on this . Hold hearings, treat it as a normal nomination and insist on a filibuster . I think strategically speaking, thats probably the smartest thing they can do, now theres a couple of complicating factors here. One is the number ten. Ten senators up in 2018, democratic senators, donald trump carried their state, that includes four excuse me five that he he carried by double digits. Joe manchin, joe donnelly in indiana. Theres going to be only pressure among those people. The second thing is, whats the next step in this plan . Right now, you saw whether you agreed with it or not, you mentioned this, you saw it with the opposition to Merrick Garland, this is too late and it would swing the election of the court. Were now not about to have an election. It is the democratic argument, well, well hold it open for four years. Thats a hard case to make. And i think by nominating who trump nominated, he makes it harder to say this person is fundamentally ill equipped to serve, the argument is harder. Its hes probably too conservative. Which, again, when you win, you get to pick who you want to have on the court. Thats just thousand works. Yeah, and it is true, after everything that happed over the last year, there are plenty on the left who probably would agree with keeping it own for four years. Absolutely. Absolutely. And the thing is, to your point, steve, look, Chuck Schumers in a tough spot, the leader of the democrats and the senate. Hes caught between a very, very energized activist base. Right. And then sort of the fact that he does have these concerns with the high camps, manchins, who are worried about getting reelected in very republican states in 2018. Trump democrats. Thats one of the story lines here to follow in the senate for the next two years. Next four years really. Washington post, msnbc contributor. Thanks as always for the time. Thank you, my friend. Okay. Quick break. Up next, putting iran on notice. Thats how President Trumps National Security advisor Michael Flynn described the white house response to the testing of a Ballistic Missile. What does that actually mean . What is going on here . We are going to go live to the pentagon, get reaction to that, plus protests continuing across the country and around the globe over President Trumps executive order on immigration. The first polling numbers are out and it may surprise you where they stand. Were going to show you those numbers, coming up. sfx park rides, music and crowd sounds oooh when your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. sighs sadly try this. Only aleve can stop pain for 12 hours. 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Com President Trump has severely criticized the various agreements reached between iran and the Obama Administration as well as the United Nations as being weak and ineffective. Instead of being thankful to the United States in these agreements, iran is now feeling emboldened. As of today, we are officially putting iran on notice. Thank you. As National Security advisor mike flynn at the white house today saying the administration is officially putting iran on warning. Now Trumps White House is concerned about a Ballistic Missile test sunday by iran that they believe violated a United Nations resolution. Trumps ambassador to the u. N. Nikki haley issuing a warning of her own yesterday about that missile launch. We are not going to show a blind eye to these things that happen. Were going to act. Were going to be strong. Were going to be loud. And were going to do whatever it takes to protect the American People and the people across the world. All right. Lets bring in nbc News Pentagon correspondent hans nichols, hans, a lot of confusion about what exactly is being said and whats happening here. The backdrop to all of this that iran nuclear deal, take us through it. What does this message mean. Well, we dont know, steve, and thats maybe not a great answer, its the clearest one we have. Right now at the white house, they are briefing an official saying nothing is on the table and nothing is off the table. Thats not going to lift the cloud of uncertainty. And frankly, a cloud of worry after mike flynn went to the podium and said that there will be consequences and that iran is on notice. We simply do not know what that means. There are a variety of options that the white house does have at their disposal. Youll recall at the end of last year, december, Congress Passed over the president s objections not his veto, but over his objections the iran sanctions act sailed through the senate. It gives the president the authority to impose new sanctions. Now if president obama did on this, steve, he just threat go into law. He didnt veto it and he didnt sign it, but that gives authorities to President Trump. One quick note on the nuclear agreement, its the joint comprehensive plan of action. Most of the heavy stuff on that has been transacted. We have unfrozen a lot of the money, its been shipped back to iran in terms of whats going on with their enrichment. That is on its course. So in some ways, and this is the view of secretary mattis. That is that going back on the agreement now doesnt make a whole lot of sense because the United States is already given up a lot. Now its up to iran to comply and theres always been the concern that this could die by a thousand cuts because of technical violations. Whether or not this ballistic launch is a technical violation or inconsistent with either the u. N. Resolution or the ucopa could be the subject of conversation. Hans nichols over there at the pentagon, thanks for that. Meanwhile, remember her . Well after laying low mostly since the election, Hillary Clinton has just decided what shes going to do next. Two new gigs shes announcing today. Well tell you about that. And much more on the the days headlines, thats next. Had. The classes, the friends, the independence. And since we planned for it, that student debt is the one experience, im glad shell miss when you have the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. Ameriprise all right. Time now for a check of the headlines at half hour. Betsy devoss nomination could be in jeopardy. Republican senators Susan Collins of maine, murkowski of alaska, both announcing they will not confirm devos. Also today Senate Confirming Rex Tillerson as secretary of state and three more of the cabinet picks have now advanced to the full senate for consideration there. Now Jeff Sessions, hes the nominee to be attorney general, georgia congressman tom price for health and Human Services and Steven Mnuchin to be the treasury secretary. All of those moving forward today. President trump saps that Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell should end the ability of democrats to filibuster Supreme Court nominees if gridlock holds up his choice of neil gorsuch to serve on the Supreme Court. He was meeting with senators who will decide if he should fill that vacant slot. President Trumps National security advisor Michael Flynn, he said today the administration is putting iran, quote, on notice. After a Ballistic Missile test. Now it is not clear what flynn meant by that. Flynn also saying that irans actions threatened stability in the middle east and elsewhere. And the Standing Rock souix tribe is going to court. That declaration coming one day after north dakota senators say the army corps of engineers was directed to allow construction to proceed under a section of the missouri river. That is near the reservation. Former democratic president ial candidate, former secretary of state, former first lady, Hillary Clinton, were talking about here. Said she will have more to say about the 2016 election. Pubbisher psi of a ed shuster announced that clinton is going to publish a book of personal essays that includes her thoughts on the campaign. And this from the my producers forced me to do this file, beyonce and her husband, who i am told is jayz, well they announced today that the superstar singer is pregnant with twins. Can you believe it . I certainly cant. The couple has a fiveyearold daughter already named blue ivy. There, are you happy . My producers, im sure they are with that one. I know its a big deal, people like beyonce. Protesters gathering at airports this weekend to protest President Trumps executive order imposing a temporary travel ban on people from seven predominantly muslim countries. New polling suggests they may be in the minority on this issue. Check this out, first polling weve gotten since Donald Trumps executive order, a reuters poll, 48 of people say they agree. They mostly or totally agree with Donald Trumps executive order, 41 say they disagree. You can break this down and see no surprise here, right, a major party gap on this. Look at that, democrats 23 support, 70 oppo, th republicans, complete opposite, 82 support, 13 oppose. Independents, they are split pretty much down the middle. A little bit more on the support side. Now, in terms of the reaction on capitol hill, pennsylvania congressman charlie dent, hes one of the republicans who has come out opposing the move. Dent issued a statement this weekend saying in part, this order appears to have been rushed through without full consideration to the wide ranging impacts itll have as a result. I fear this order may be impair lives, divide families, and create uncertainty for Many American businesses that operate internationally. Charlie dent, republican from pennsylvania joins us now. Congressman, thanks for taking a few minutes. So you expressed your concerns, you saw those scenes of protest all over the news this weekend, all of those stories about people being held up at airports, im curious, when you see a poll like this, 48 of people say hey, they still support it. 41 oppose it. Does that surprise you . No. I think the major concern that most americans have with this order is the fact that it was implemented so poorly. And it was implemented in my view very unfairly. As i said, the reason i became so engaged on this issue, steve, was that i was alerted to this Early Saturday Morning when my neighbors called, got ahold of me and said our family members are at philadelphia airport, they have been detained, they have visas, and they are told they are going to be sent home. This was very unfair. These were not Syrian Refugees, these were syrian christians who are visa card holders awaiting their green card, as soon as they would have had their visa stampeded, they would have been legal, permanent residents. They were literally vee sas were cancelled in midair. That was fundamentally wrong. These individuals had been in process since 2003, we encourage people to come through this country. If were doing this to people who enter illegally, were going to encourage more illegal immigration. A the love syrian christians are being told g to mexico, come across the border and hire a coyotewhh icis dangerous. And then claim asylum once you get in the country. We dont want to encourage people. This is unfair. I hear you, and i think that raise ascii question here, youre raising concerns about people over the weekend with green cards, people who were being processed for green cards, who were held up at airports. And the administration now has largely backed off of that. But what about the broader implications of this order . Im curious what your position is there. When youre talking about this ban, this temporary ban on immigration from seven muslim majority nations, youre talking about a temporary total ban on refugees . Youre talking about indefinite ban on Syrian Refugees . What about that part of it . Is that something youre concerned with . Is that something youre opposed to . Well, i am concerned about it, steve, yes, because we have to be very clear about one thing. There are a lot of people in this world who are very dangerous. Some of them live in fairly nice places, like in europe. I think i believe our bigger threat, the islamic extremist throat is going to come to us through europe. Citizens of yaurp yan countries are currently radicalized can enter from belgium and the uk. They are enter in on a passport through the visa waiver program. People coming from there are good People Living in some really rough places like syria. And ill tell you, i talked to the syrian christians among others, you know, there are a lot of good People Living in a tough place. And i think were taking our eye off the ball if we just say that the people who get screened more vigorously, certainly question enhance that vetting. I would agree. But at the same time, you know, people coming with visas are more thoroughly screened that are coming in today. I think we have to get this into perspective. There are threats all over the place. Not just in the southern countries. Republican congressman from pennsylvania. Thanks for the time. Quick piece of news too we want to bring people up to date on here. Betsy devo donald trums nominee to be education secretary, t republicans senators turns against her. We are hering dean heller, republican senator from nevada, it wasnt clear where he was going to vote. He has now said he is for. He will vote for betsy devos, again the key here for opponents, they need three republicans, there was some talk that heller might become that third. He now says he will vote for devos. Well continue to keep an eye on how that is developing. Meanwhile, donald trump, hes been president for less than two weeks right now, he is already set one record. Well tell you what it is in our most important number of the day. That is next. vo maybe it was here, when you hit 300,000 miles. Or here, when you walked away without a scratch. Maybe it was the day your baby came home. Or maybe the day you realized your baby was not a baby anymore. Every subaru is built to earn your trust. Because we know what youre trusting us with. Subaru. Kelley blue books most trusted brand. And best overall brand. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. And her new mobile wedding business. Tte at first, getting paid was tough. Until she got quickbooks. Now she sends invoices, sees when theyve been viewed and tada, paid twice as fast see how at quickbooksdotcom. I will fight for you with every breath in my body and i will never, ever let you down. [ applause ] that was donald trump in his inaugural address, that was the promise he made, and it brings us to our most important number of the day today which is 43. As in, let put it up there, 43, that is the current can we move it over there, guys . There it is. That is the current Approval Rating of donald trump. 43 approve of his job as president right now. 51 say they disapprove. Obviously this speaks to polarization, this speaks to a disapproved number, this is gallop, they track this thing every single day. Thats where it stands today, 51 . And he crossed over 50 a couple of days ago. To put this into some context here. Check this out. Gallop again, they do these very regular pollings of Approval Ratings for president. It took donald trump all of seven days until his disapproved number crossed or hit 50 , obama took hundreds, george w. Bush, kblint, george h. W. Bush, look how much time it took to reach this same level. Obviously this is something, it speaks to the nature of donald trump as a politician, certainly as a president. His critics will point and say my god, weve never had a president this unpopular before, but you might to want keep one other thing in mind, remember in the campaign, this was a theme of the campaign. It was that donald trump was racking up negative numbers on all sorts of fronts like weve never seen before. Did he have the temperament to be president . Exit poll, only 35 say yes. Even qualified to be president . 38 say yes, positive opinion of him, vast majority of people did not. And yet, donald trump, it was close, it was a very close election . Still was able to win the election. Its not to say that donald trump with the 43 Approval Rating is a very popular president right now. Or that shes shown much of a sign to grow this number, hes interested, but the question with trump may be a different one than weve asked before. Maybe can he keep that base that would just enough to get him elected . Can he keep it together, not necessarily can he be overwhelmingly popular. That may not be his goal. 43, most important number of the day. Quick break here, coming up, democrats are facing big time pressure from their base toig in on against president trums Supreme Court nominee. Is this the fight they should pick . Should they go all the way on this one. Were going to break it down with our panel. That is next. Have conquered highways, mountains, and racetracks. 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All plans like these let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. These are the only Medicare Supplement insurance plans endorsed by aarp. Call now and request your free decision guide. And start gathering the information you need to help you go long™. Lets give the man a chance. Talk to him. My goodness, dont shut 12 down before we get started and two wrongs dont make a right. Thats joe manchin, democratic senator from West Virginia urging his colleagues to hear outs Donald Trumps pick for the Supreme Court, neil gorsuch. Democrats have been threatening to string out and maybe blockade the confirmation in retaliation for the saga of president obamas pick of Merrick Garland for the Supreme Court. Garland of course his nomination got no activity. Not even a hearing from republicans basically for an entire year. Here with me to discuss joe walsh, msnbc political analyst and National Correspondent at the nation and zaire flores, republican strategist, spokesperson for attorney general dez knee Jeff Sessions. Joan, ill start with you, joe manchin, a democrat, and this is a debate democrats seem to be having. How do they handle this . Democrats are furious over mayor garland. This is a seat that obama should have nominated it for. Manchin says two wrongs dont make a right. I say that some people think that, but its also kind of a juvenile thing to say. I understand what senator manchin is saying, hes in a tough race in a red state that donald trump won. Hes voted for all of Donald Trumps nominees so far. But, the prevailing feeling in the party right now is we want to play by republican rules. So youre saying that would mean no hearings i think there will be hearings. Im not sure, nobody knows yet, steve. I think there will be hearings and there should be hearings. I dont think we should be as savage as republicans were to garland. Let the democrats lay out how extreme, let the republicans talk about his greatness. In the end, theyll use the filibuster to deny him 60 votes. I dont think he gets 60. And jack reid on earlier, thats pretty much what he was saying. He was thinking this is going. Sarah flores and let me ask you about it, look, republicans, it was basically a year ago almost to the day Antonin Scalia passed away. President obama picked a replacement, republicans wouldnt even hold hearings if democrats turn around and behave pretty much the same way right now, is it a case of fair is fair . Well, voters had that decision to make in november, and according to exit polls, about 20 , fwhun five said the Supreme Court was their most important issue, of those, 57 voted for donald trump. So, people clearly wanted donald trump to pick next Supreme Court nominee and boy did he pick a qualified guy that neil gorsuch. Its hard to argue hes not qualified, in fact nobodys arguing that. And this is a guy who has said and will say in his hearings hes going to follow the law and follow the constitution. Thats what confirmation hearings are about. Let me ask you, this is obviously, this is a sore point with democrats. We just went through. Leaving a Supreme Court seat open basically for a year, trying to get your own parties president in there to pick a successor from the same philosophy. Is that a healthy thing for this country . Oh, i think our confirmation process for judges and justices has been unhealthy for quite a while now, starting probably with the democrats killing the nomination of robert bork. Here we are now, and you have neil gorsuch as the nominee and like chris was saying earlier, you have ten democrats and trump states wre going to have a ry hard time explaining to the vast majority of their constituents who voted for donald trump why donald trump doesnt get to pick a Supreme Court nominee and one as qualified as neil gorsuch. Who will be as fair and as constitutionally minded as neil gorsuch. So this scenario ha joan you were describing if democrats insist. Donald trump addressed what he thinks should happen then if they do this. Lets listen. If we end up with the same gridlock we had in washington for the last longer than eight years in all fairness to problem. A lot longer than eight years, i would say, if you can, mitch, go nuclear. So, go nuclear means change the rules, no filibuster, 50 votes and republicans, they have a majority to start with, they could change the rules. So the case republicans are already making on that front is saying hey look, democrats sort of went there a couple of years ago, harry reid, he changed the filibuster rules for some obama nominees. So if republicans turn around and do the same thing, whats the difference there . They may do the same thing. Mitch mcconnell on one level might want the support of democrats to reign in donald trump. Depending on where this goes. Right now theres complete comedy between them. But that could change, but he might actually drop the bomb and do that. But i also want to add, do you remember that john mccain and ted cruz, who are not normally bedfellows, both suggested before the election that Hillary Clinton not be able to pick a nominee, that the seat be held empty for four years. So, im just saying, the republicans in the last two years obamas whole presidency really, but in the last two years have played a kind of really deceitful hardball and i think democrats are fed up. And for sure the Democratic Base is fed up. We will see how they handle it in congress. In the senate, excuse me, how the democrats will respond to that base. Joe walsh, thankou both for joining us. Now over to the cnbc market wrap. Thanks so much, steve. U. S. Equities closed mostly higher after the fed kept Interest Rates unchanged as widely expected. The dow rising 27 points, s p inched up almost a point, and the nasdaq up 28. Thats it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. American express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. Find out how American Express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open. Com. That goes beyond assuming exbeingredients are safe. Ood to knowing they are. Going beyond expectations. Because our pets deserve it. Beyond. Natural pet food. That just tastes better. With 10 times more vitamin e. And twice the omega 3s. Because why have ordinary when you can have the best. Only egglands best. Better taste. Better nutrition. Better eggs. A girl with golden locks broke into a house owned by three bears. She ate some porridge, broke the baby bears chair, and stole some jewelry, a flatscreen tv, and a laptop. Luckily the Geico Insurance agency had helped the bears with homeowners insurance. They were able to replace all their items. Including a new chair from crate and barrel. Call geico and see how easy it is to switch and save on homeowners insurance. You are looking live at the arena in lexington, kentucky. What a road weve traveled together. You know, thanks so much to you for sharing your time with me. What great memories weve had over the last almost 50 years. But now, its time for me to turn over the play by play to those fine young announcers who are growing up at espn. Make no mistake about it, im going to miss games like this. Signing off for the very last time last night on espn. A long career, and if youll permit me here for just a minute, i want to offer a salute, not to a great sports caster, but to a great broadcaster. Lets go back to the 1980s. The Television Revolution was finally catching up to sport. Instant replay, sleep graphics, innovative camera angles. Mic microphones. It was the first time you could start to say that the best seat to watch a big game was maybe not in the stadium, but in your living room. The tools were there for great television, but what about someone to take those tools and to turn them into drama . That, that was brent mustburger, he was at cbs in the 1980s, he was the face of cbs sports in the 1980s and cbs had every major event back then. Super bowls, final fours, the nba, college football, what musburger brought was the instinct of a great story teller. The stakes, the tension, the conflict, the urgency. Even before the game started, he had your heart racing with anticipation. Flushed. Throws it down. Caught by boston college. I dont believe it. Its a touchdown. The eagles win it. Theyll have to throw it up, turn around, and its good. Its tied and good. I dont believe it. Brent musberger and cbs sports, it was a golden age for a certain kind of television. And unfortunately, like everything, it didnt last. Cbs moved him out, others moved in on cbss turf, technology kept evolving, but he made a great second career at espn and abc, he reinvented himself as the elder statesman of college football. And at 77, he still had it. I watched him as a kid in the 80s and i was mesmerized back then and i love that we were all still watching him decades later until last night. So, heres to a legendary broadcaster, to a very happy retirement from broadcasting to brent musberger, the one and only. I will miss that guy. Thats going to do it for us here this hour, im steve kornacki. Reminder, Chris Matthews special town hall on President Trumps first days in office. Mtp daily starts right now. If its wednesday and the white house tries to get irans attention. Tonight, the Trump White House sounds the alarm on irans missile test. We are officially putting iran on notice. What happens now . Plus the democrats dilemma over the trump Supreme Court pick. Do leaders on the left have the desire or the discipline to be straight up obstructionist, knowing theyll still lose the ultimate fight. Are they going to live up to the same standards that they imposed on republicans. Well hear from both sid