Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Hallie Jackson 20171215

With new comments or noncomments on mike flynn. Hes talking about the threat from north korea, russia, alabama and taxes, too as we get ready in a matter of hours to finally get a look at the final text of that big plan. Senator marco rubio reiterates this morning hes holding out, looking to leverage his votes for more money for child tax credits. The president today seems to be amenable to that. We have Pete Williams and Peter Alexander standing by. Peter, i want to start with you, were taking a live look now. Any minute the president coming up to speak at the fbi. On his way there, you had an opportunity to talk with him about a lot of headlines related to this speech. Let me put this into perspective. He talked about the fbi. He has slammed the agency before. Hes angry at the fbi because of the russia investigation. And theres a lot of news this morning on where he is, where his head is at when it comes to that investigation. Reporter weve got a little insight into exactly whats in his head as the president came directly to our cameras and spoke to us within the next hour as he prepared to make that trip to quantico. We heard from the president ripping into the russia investigation again, as a democratic hoax. He insisted again there was no collusion whatsoever. You played that sound bite that i think was a good selection that you cut out there. He said people are very angry about the fbi. Its clear that one person is very, very angry about it. Its the president himself. Heres more of what he said when he was asked specifically about his thoughts about the fbi that he shredded on twitter a matter of weeks ago, saying its reputation was in tatters. Its a shame whats happened with the fbi, but were going to rebuild the fbi. It will be bigger and better than ever. Its sad when you look at those documents and how theyve done that is really, really disgraceful. You have a lot of very angry people that are seeing it. Its a sad thing to watch, i will tell you that. Im going today on behalf of the fbi, their new building. Everybody, not me, when everybody, the level of anger at what theyve been witnessing with respect to the fbi is very sad. Reporter that was President Trump speaking on the south lawn, preparing to board marine one. We tried to pin him down on some questions that remain unanswered. One of them, a significant one, when did the president find out that mike flynn lied to the fbi. My colleague Kristin Welker asking that question. The president saying you know the answer. How many times have i been asked this . Apparently not enough because we do not yet know the answer. Unclear whether Robert Mueller does right now. When a followup was posed about whether he would consider a pardon for mike flynn, he see i dont want to talk about any pardon for mike flynn yet. Yet. Peter alexander, ill ask you to tick through other critical headlines not related to russia and the fbi. Stand by. I want to get to Pete Williams in washington. We have to point out as we wait for the president to deliver the speech over in quantico, it was just last week that the fbi said the agencys reputation was in tatte tatters. That was just the latest from the president over the last year. Take a look at your screen because youve got the president s tweets. Workers of the firm involved with the discredited and fake dos yeah take the 5th. Who paid for it . Accusing the agency of being involved. He said it was once cherished. Sad to watch. The fbi is not able to stop National Security leakers that have permeated our government. Then, more recently, everybodys asking why the Justice Department and fbi is not looking into all of the dishonesty going on with crooked hillary and the dems. Hes not in front of the agents themselves, correct . Talk through what we expect to hear from the president at this Graduation Ceremony. Reporter where he is today is at the fbis National Academy in quantico. It does two things. It trains the new agents, but this is not a new agent class graduation. The president is speaking to the national academic, which trains local Law Enforcement and even some international Law Enforcement people from around the country and around the world on how to do their jobs better. Be better managers, policemen, investigators and so on. So thats the audience, the venue though is of course, sort of ground zero for fbi training. So it is the president s first appearance in front of an fbi audience. Hes been critical of the fbi, but hes tried to suggest his criticism is for the fbi leadership under james comey. Hes tried to draw a distinction. He said that it was in tatters, were going to clean it up. The new director he appointed has testified in front of congress. Hes been defensivdefensive. He had a two or three minute answer he adlibbed by saying the fbi i know is very dedicated. The fbi people i know do their jobs well. So hes been a real cheerleader for the agency in the short time hes been there. It is a politically fraught moment, youre right. But the president is trying to draw this little distinction. Even though apparently, at times, he cant help himself. Youre referencing those comments from christopher wray, as we look right now, the curtain having just opened on stage. You can see the folks there sitting and ready to go. I want to go back, as we keep an eye on this live shot here, to Peter Alexander. We want to listen to the president s speech. Were very curious to hear a couple other headlines that you asked the president about today on the south loan just within the last hour related to other big news out there. For example, the race in alabama, roy moore not conceding. Taxes to. The taxes as he was walking away, i said why would not release his taxes to people to put this question to rest. The first question i posed to him was specifically his view on roy moore, the republican candidate in the Alabama Senate race, i asked him should roy moore concede. Here was his answer, take a listen. I think he should. He tried. I want to support always the person running. I think were doing very well, well see what happens. Its something thats going to be monumental. It will be the biggest tax cut in the history of our country. As far as roy moore, yeah, i would certainly say he should. Reporter i followed up asking about some of the reservations by marco rubio and mike lee. He was confident that they would be on board at the end of the day. I asked him if hed seen the final bill yet that a lot of lawmakers have not yet seen. He said of course ive seen it. Then he was asked specifically about the special counsel, Robert Muellers investigation about these questions of collusion right now and heres what he said specifically on that topic. There is absolutely no collusion. That has been proven. When you look at the committees, whether its the senate or the house, my worst enemies. They walk out, they say there is no collusion but well continue to look. Theyre spending millions and millions of dollars. There is absolutely no collusion. I didnt make a phone call to russia. I have nothing to do with russia. Everybody knows it. That was a democrat hoax, it was an excuse for losing the election. It should have never been this way, where they spent all these millions of dollars. Even the democrats admit there is no collusion. There is no collusion, thats it. Weve got to get back to running a country. What we have found, and what they have found after looking at this really, scam, is they found tremendous, whatever you want to call it. Youll have to make up your own determination. But they found tremendous things on the other side. When you look at the Hillary Clinton investigation, it was you know ive been saying it for a long time. That was a rigged system, folks. That was a rigged system. When you look at what they did with respect to the Hillary Clinton investigation, it was rigged. And theres never been anything like it in this country that weve ever found before. Its very, very sad. Reporter would you consider a pardon for Michael Flynn . I dont want to talk about pardons for Michael Flynn yet, lets see what happens. Lets see. Reporter that was President Trump, some of the comments he just made on the south lawn moments ago, speaking like a man who has been watching a lot of television in recent days and hours, focusing on a lot of these topics. Hes a fox and friends fan. Some of these topics are ones theyve been focusing on in recent days, weeks, months as well. The bottomline is he spoke about having not called russia during the course of the campaign. We knew donald trump and Vladmir Putin did speak to one another yesterday and that the president praised putin for his nice compliments about the u. S. Compa economy. I appreciate you coming on to talk through those headlines as we keep an eye on that fbi Graduation Ceremony for state Law Enforcement officers. You can see the president there on stage. Hell be speaking any moment. Well have his remarks live. I want to bring in our panel, Kaitlin Huey Burns and shane goldmacher. As we watch the president , i want to talk about what pete and peter discussed. Regarding the president s attitude toward the fbi. I think pete is right to say there has been a little bit of nuance in those remarks. The president has also been critical of fbi leadership. One of his Deputy Press Secretaries was out this morning talking about the president s relationship between the doj and fbi. I want you to listen to what he had to say. The president has full faith and confidence in the rank and file members of the doj and fbi. However, it is troubling. Deeply troubling, that the revelations have now come to light that there is extreme bias against this president with high up members of the team there at the fbi who are investigating Hillary Clinton at the time. Were a little concerned at what were seeing here. Hes talking about concern in the doj and the fbi. Again, drawing a line, delineating between the rank and file members and leadership. Can you do that . Can you draw that line . Hes saying both things. Deeply troubling. Love them but worried. And complete confidence. Extreme bias, complete confidence. This is a careful line hes trying to walk to maintain the thing. How he feels about this mueller probe, youre hearing lawmakers on capitol hill on the republican side start to echo his line of questionsing as it to pertains as to whether this probe should go on. I think there are a lot of questions given that bite of sound, you know, we know hes frustrated. But now you have the Michael Flynn bit of this, youve had a lot of movement on this probe over the past few weeks. There are a lot of democrats who are trying to protect thereat part of part of it. Theres the echoing of republicans. Loud and clear we heard that this week with republicans who potentially have legitimate concerns about whether bob mueller is overstepping the bounds of his investigation. Concerns that Rob Rosenstein tried to lay to rest. You also have some in the conservative political media that have now questioned the integrity of the fbi, you have some republicans calling for sort of oversight investigation into the doj. What does that say about this moment of where we are . This is the conversation were having politically. You have the president muddying the waters. You have the fbi, the mueller investigation, the department of justice, agents who serve in both parts. Its all a confusing thing for an average person trying to keep track. What the president is doing by throwing in questions of bias and criticism, hes making it seem that mueller is messed up, it all is just rigged. This is his key word. The second part of that, the idea that as you heard the president say just this morning to Peter Alexander, to Kristin Welker, to others at the white house, that this is a scam. The russia investigation is a scam. Ask Paul Manafort if its a scam. Ask mike flynn if its a scam. There are concrete actions being taken from the special counsels office. You have four people connected to either the Trump Administration or the campaign. Which is significant here. And thats why calls for the probe to be shut down, or questions about its integrity. Really are important because there has been progress on this issue. So the president is certainly in a tough spot right here, even if he maintains that this doesnt involve him. There have been movement, its going to be very hard to shut it down. If the probe finds nothing and youre questioning the integrity of it, where does that put you later on . As youre talking here, were watching the fbi National Academy Graduation Ceremony for some of these Law Enforcement officers who started their training in october. The attorney general Jeff Sessions is expected to introduce President Trump. Well keep this up on the screen in and out. When you see Jeff Sessions you know were getting close to the president. We want to listen in to the president s remarks given the conversation were having now, right . What has happened over the last week related to the president and his relationship with this agency. We also want to talk about another major headline today. That is when you heard the president discuss earlier this morning, really just in the last hour or so, saying hes seen the final text of that tax bill. Hes seen it. We have not. We will later on today. This is a big deal, right . Our first look at the final text. Youve got members of the house and senate having hammered out the details for the week behind closed doors. Not everybody is on board yet. You know this. You know that senator marco rubio is now throwing a wrench into these plans. He is out this morning reiterating hes not behind this bill yet. Not unless he gets more money for child tax credits. Garr garret hague is on the hill for us. Walk through when first of all when, what time should we set our alarms to to get the final text of the bill . Reporter even as we speak, members of the Conference Committee are coming into the offices just behind our camera here to sign the final copy of the conference bill. Negotiations are done. There is a finished product that some members have signed off on, even as were talking now. So the president has probably seen it. If he says hes seen it theres probably something for him to look at . Reporter i have no reason to doubt that. We have members of the house and senate coming in to sign it. The guidance weve been given is theyll brief the members of their committee and that we, the rest of the public and media will see whats in it sometime this evening. What makes this all interesting, as you talked about marco rubios complaints and concerns that this childcare tax credit isnt going up high enough. Whatever accommodations have already been made. This bill is done. Well see if theres enough in there to accommodate the junior senator from florida or not. Lets talk about the junior senator from florida. This is a discussion that came up when marco rubio publicly said out loud what he says hes been saying privately. I will tell you that the president is not worried about it, at least not visibly. He thinks marco rubio is going to ultimately get on board, even though senator rubio says he wants more money, he wants to add money to this child tax credit. Heres the big question, and this is one i know you and i have talked about. When push comes to shove when this thing gets up for a vote and its on the senate floor, is marco rubio going to be the guy that tanks this plan . Reporter i think thats extremely unlikely. Marco rubio has gone along with a lot of what the president has wanted to do. Hes put this amendment to add more money in the childcare tax credit. Even when it was voted down he voted tod move this bill forwar. He has not shown to be someone who wants to stop this if he doesnt get what he wants. I have to tell you, Republican Leaders know if everyone is here next week, they could theoretically afford to lose marco rubios vote. They have one vote essentially to give if bob corker stays a no. Its a terrible look for one of the most visible republican senators to go down fighting on a bill trying to add a tax credit that directly impacts american families. Thats something leadership would like to avoid if they can find some compromise for what rubio says he wants. Its not the optics of it, there are questions, too. Questions about having enough frankly people. Bodies on the senator floor to get it done. Senator mccain has been hospitalized fighting to try to get better. His office says hell come back as soon as he can. Senator cochrans office said he should be back. Hes had health problems. Reporter its definitely factor, both of those men were out all week long. John mccains office has said he wants to be back as soon as he can. I talked to jeff flake yesterday who said that mccains wife was coming out here to see mccain over the weekend. You know, if theyre not physically able to do this, that cuts the margin substantially for what republican senators need. You know, stating the obvious here, john mccain is such an icon within the party. They want him here to be part of this beyond just his vote and mathematical one vote out of 52. Theyre coming up against a really tough timeline. They have momentum on this bill so they want to get it through. When they come back next year theyll have one less republican senator. The other part of this, the challenge for republicans is multidimensional. They needed to pass the tax bill because they need to show they can govern. If and when they do actually vote and pass this through, comes the pr challenge. This is a very unpopular bill. Youve all seen the multiple polls on this. Theyre going to then have to go and sell this to the public and tell them, you know, what theyre getting out of this. And how it fulfills some of the Campaign Promises they made. Its a good point. I want to bring in somebody else into the conversation. I want to bring in allen rappaport. Fair warning, at any moment i might have to cut you off. When you look at some of the policy points to where this is, one of the things i think has flown under the radar is the idea that it seems as though in the final text that has been written there will be the repeal of the individual mandate. There are real questions about this being basically the beginning of the end for obamacare. A real body blow. Talk through what that means and what people should know about that. Yeah, the individual mandate has been at the core of the Affordable Care act. Thats why republicans, not only does it save money by repealing it, but it knocks the law on its heels. It could potentially raise insurance prices over incoming years and well see less people on the insurance rolls because they wont be required to buy insurance. So youre seeing a lot of protests now this week from liberal activists who are saying, you know, republicans are sort of under the radar here, as you said, dismantling the healthcare system. Theyre very upset about it. Any sign i mean its staying in the bill, both the house and senate wanted that. Exactly. Thats going to be in the final bill. Another concern is that because of some sort of arcane budget rules there could be these 4 cuts to medicare starting next year. If democrats dont get on board to waive this rule. We saw a lot of protesters this week outside of senator collins office, because she was the one who stopped the repeal of the Affordable Care act earlier this year. She actually met with some of them. It was a very emotional meeting. One of the activists has als and, you know, was trying as hard as he could to get her to flip her vote on this tax bill. Because, you know, every vote counts even more now with a couple falling by the wayside. When you look at this idea of the repeal of the individual mandate, youve got the cbo saying this is going to result in 13 million more people without insurance. A 10 increase in premiums every year. This is not a provision democrats were excited to put into law. This is what makes the law work. If you require Insurance Companies to provide people insurance, then people will only go buy it when theyre sick. If you take it out the entire financial undermining of the healthcare law can go away. Thats the threat. The argument is people will choose to not have insurance. If youre a healthy young person and you dont feel like you need to pay for insurance, you dont have to is the republicans argument. Your reporting this morning that there is still a little bit of gray area on how all of this is going to be paid for. The tax bill itself. It seems to be an indication that theyve worked out the wrinkles when it comes to how to fund this thing. What are you hearing new this morning on that . Theyre probably going to be raising this repatriation tax for companies that have to bring money back overseas. There was talk yesterday about potentially, you know, sunsetting or letting the individual tax cuts expire a little bit earlier. We heard thats probably not going to happen. Well be waiting to see what final tweaks theyve made to save money here at the end. Final thoughts . Also, youve heard from democrats who are pointing to that, you know, multitrillion dollar number and asking where are we going to make up that money . Theres a lot of concern among more progressive members about cutting into entitlement programs to help pay down some of the deficit and those sorts of things. I think youll see that rhetoric amp up once this bill goes through. This is something, when you talk to democrats, healthcare and taxes are something that they say is really mobilizing and motivating voters, kind of affecting their daytoday lives. I want to thank you for coming on and talking taxes. I cant imagine this is like the super bowl for you. Well be looking for your reporting in the new york times. We have a lot to talk about after the break. You heard the president on the south lawn talk about his former National Security advisor, mike flynn, indicating he may pardon him. Maybe. He hasnt thought of it at least not yet as Peter Alexander reported. The president talked about not just alabama, russia, the special counsel and the threat from north korea. The fate of this top military general after hes been off the radar a few months, did kim jongun have one of his top commanders executed . Conflicting signals from the Trump Administration when it comes to relations with north korea. Attorney general is introducing donald trump there at the Graduation Ceremony. Live remarks from the president this hour. For your heart. Your joints. Or your digestion. So why wouldnt you take something for the most important part of you. Your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain Health Supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. But he hasoke up wwork to do. In. So he took aleve. If hed taken tylenol, hed be stopping for more pills right now. Only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. Aleve. All day strong. We are back with some breaking news. Any minute the president is set to speak in quantico, virginia. Youre taking a live look on the other half of your screen. The president will be introduced by the attorney general as he speaks to the fbi National Academy Graduation Ceremony. This audience is made up of Law Enforcement officers from across the country. Last week the president bashed the agencys reputation saying its in tattered. The second the president starts talking, well bring it to you live. While were waiting for that we want to note that the president , in addition to talking to the fbi Graduation Ceremony there, is also talking to reporters about north korea. He is saying were going to say what happens with north korea. We hope it works out. It comes as a couple of headlines are coming from the peninsula. You have an International Mystery unfolding there, one of north koreas top generals hasnt been seen for more than two months. Thats sparking speculation he was executed. Youve got these mixed messages on the u. S. Relationship with north korea from the white house and the state department. Earlier this week, secretary of state Rex Tillerson took a little bit of a position that seemed to be not exactly in line with the president , saying he is open to unconditional talks with the country. But the white house is holding firm on its official stance saying first north korea has to show its open to shoppitopping nuclear program. Stand by, i think the u. N. , the secretary of state is there for a high level meetings. We might have a live shot of that. I want to talk through the International Mystery. Youve been reporting this out. A top official in north korea gone. Hes disappeared. Whats going on . Reporter yeah, good morning. This was one of kim jonguns closest aides. His number two. His top general. A family friend even who was close to kims mother. Hes vanished. South korean intelligence is suggesting hes being punished, perhaps even executed as a warning. He really was military elite. Hes usually seen right next to kim jongun. He was last seen two months ago. North korea is saying hes had an impure attitude to north koreas leader. Those charges, if true, certainly serious enough to justify the speculation that hes been executed. We know that crossing kim can be deadly. His uncle was executed for treason, and his half brother was spectacularly openly poisoned by two women at an airport. The minute this general has disappeared, we just dont know quite frankly what has happened to him. And thats the backdrop for this sort of ongoing conversation in washington about the strategy from the u. S. Toward north korea. You have Rex Tillerson over at the u. N. Today. Can you tell us more about why hes there, who hes meeting with and what we expect to see . Reporter well, the most fascinating thing is that a north korean diplomat wont just attend that meeting of the u. N. Security council, which is pretty rare. He will address the meeting, which is, of course, on north Koreas Nuclear weapons program. Hes about number 15 on that list, u. S. Diplomats will be there. And secretary of state Rex Tillerson. We dont know if hell stay to listen or boycott the speech. Its a significant moment, given mr. Tillersons offer of unconditional talks with north korea. Despite those mixed messages from washington, is it talks or no talks . The u. S. Special envoy for north korea is hoping pyongyang will accept tillersons offer. He says that the talks could take place without preconditions. Again, whether President Trump really agrees with engaging with north korea is up for debate. Frankly, no one knows whether this is just good cop bad cop. The u. N. Meeting with the north korean, talking and potentially Rex Tillerson listening. That really is fascinating. Bill neely reporting for us in london. Its a pleasure to have your perspective. Were looking at Jeff Sessions introducing donald trump at that fbi National Academy Graduation Ceremony in quantico, virginia. Back with me is our panel. I want to touch a little bit on what bill was saying to wrap up that conversation. Bill talked about the idea of discussions without preconditions for north korea. The president was asked about that this morning. He really didnt answer. Ive got the transcript in front of me here. He essentially said were going to see what happened. There are a lot of nations that agree with us. We cant let that happen and were going to see what happens. I will tell you that the white house has repeatedly said its position hasnt changed. No talks until they stop messing with the missile tests and stop its nuclear program. How concerning is it that tillerson seems to be out on a limb . Thats the big backdrop. What is tillersons future in this position and what message does that send abroad . Wait a second, i dont know that theres a person that sees Rex Tillerson staying on. Thats a good question. I want to talk about the message from President Trump speaking now live in quantico. Lets listen. [ applause ] thank you very much, everybody. Thats a lot of years since the last president. And well be back. Thank you to attorney general sessions. Thank you, director wray for hosting me here at the fbi National Academy. To address our wonderful local police and sheriffs from all over america. A very special honor. And its an honor to stand here today with the incredible men and women of Law Enforcement. Thank you. [ applause ] were here to celebrate your graduation from the National Academy at quantico. For over 80 years this rigorous and world Renowned Program has trained americas most dedicated local Law Enforcement officers from all across the country. So respected. Let me begin by saying to each member of the graduating class, congratulations. You left home for 11 weeks to enroll in this program because you love your jobs. You love your communities. And you love your country. Earlier this week, you completed the harrowing six mile yellow brick road. Just signed that beautiful brick. I just signed that brick. Designed for the marines to push even the toughest to their limit. You endured muddy waters, barbed wire fences, icy creeks, steep hills and so much more knowing that your elite training will help save lives. The training you received at quantico will give you that extra edge you need to diffuse a threat, to disarm a criminal and to deliver a child safely to her mothers arms. I am here, not only to congratulate you, but to honor you for your courage and for your devotion. I want you to know that with me as your president , Americas Police will have a true friend and loyal champion in the white house. More loyal than anyone else can be. I tell you. [ applause ] i also want to take a moment to speak to all of the Law Enforcement families here today. You make tremendous sacrifices. American families can sleep soundly at night because of the burden you carry for all of us. On behalf of all americans to every Law Enforcement family here today, and all across the nation, thank you, thank you. Thank you very much. [ applause ] and you do that under the most difficult conditions. You very rarely get the recognition you deserve. I can tell you that. But your families know what you deserve. And ultimately thats the most important thing, isnt it . Its not a news story when our officers save a life, rescue a family or stop a crime. Its just another day on the job. Yet no matter the circumstances, you serve tirelessly, selflessly, and heroically. You do it because you really believe in doing your duty and doing it properly. Being a Police Officer is not just a career, its a calling. And ive seen it. I have so many friends that are Police Officers. So many people in the fbi. These are great, great people. These are really heroes for all of us. So thank you very much. [ applause ] as we as a country must do a better job showing our Police Officers, the respect and gratitude that you have earned and we will do that, so when we return home to your local precincts, i want you to deliver a message to your fellow officers. The president of the United States has your back 100 . [ applause ] i will fight for you. And i will never ever let you down ever. Now, more than ever, we must support the men and women in blue. In the last two years, america has seen a tragic rise in violent crime. In 2015 and 2016, we witnessed the steepest two year consecutive increase in murders in nearly half a century. You look at whats going on in chicago. What the hell is going on in chicago . What the hell is happening there . [ applause ] for the second year in a row a person was shot in chicago every three hours. You dont think these people in this room can stop that . Theyd stop that. Theyd stop it. Just north of our Nations Capital in baltimore, on average someone was murdered nearly every day of this year. Police departments are overstretched. Theyre underfunded. And theyre totally underappreciated. Except by me. [ applause ] instead of holding up our police as the role models and mentors they are, they have been subjected to malicious attacks on their character and integrity. This antipolice sentiment is wrong and its dangerous. And we will not stand for it. Most concerning of all, we have seen an alarming increase in violent assaults carried out against our Police Officers. Last year an officer was assaulted in america every ten minutes. In 2016, more than 140 officers lost their lives serving in the line of duty. These deaths fill our hearts with pain and grief. Every drop of blood spilled from our men and women in blue is a wound inflicted on our nation. And when a brother or sister in uniform is hurt, on that day all of america bleeds blue. I want to send a message today to those who threaten violence against our police. We will protect those who protect us. We believe criminals who kill Police Officers should get the Death Penalty. [ applause ] one of my First Executive orders instructed the department of justice to take all steps and legal action to protect Law Enforcement from acts of violence against them. The department of justice has also announced more than 98 million in Grant Funding to help your local Police Departments hire desperately needed new officers. Also, just as i promised, we are allowing our local police to access surplus military equipment. Something the Previous Administration for some reason refused to do. Explain that one. Explain it to me, please. [ applause ] never understood that one. Somebody out there can explain it. Anybody want to stand up and explain it . It would be tough. We want to bring down violent crime, then we must stand up for our police. All of us gathered here today share a common goal. We want every child to be able to walk safely home from school. We want every mother and father to know that their children will be secure when they tuck them in at night. No family should have to worry about bullets flying through windows or gangs recruiting on street corners. Every american child should be able to grow up in a safe community, surrounded by a loving family and preparing to embark on a bright, beautiful future. As president , my greatest duty is to protect our nation and to protect our people. As we have witnessed recently, america faces grave threats. Terrorists have struck in the streets and subways of new york city twice in a few months. Both terrorists came to our country through the dysfunctional immigration system that we are correcting. Rapidly. One came through chain migration. Chain migration. The other visa lottery. They have a lottery. You pick people. Do you think the country is giving us their best people . What kind of system is that, they come in by a lottery. They give us the worst people, put them in a bin but in his hand when hes picking them is really the worst of the worst. Congratulations youre going to the United States. Okay. What a system, the lottery system. Were calling for congress to end chain migration and to end the visa lottery system and replace it with a merit based system of immigration. [ applause ] we want a system that puts the needs of american families, taxpayers, and security first. That is why i have also directed the federal government Law Enforcement to work closely with our state and local police to destroy criminal cartels like the savages of ms13. [ applause ] already this year, the department of justice has worked with partners in Central America to arrest and charge roughly 4,000 ms13 members. And the department of Homeland Security has arrested nearly 800 ms13 gang member and associates. A an 83 increase from the previous year. And were much higher this year than we were last year. And well get rid of them completely very soon. Right . Right . [ applause ] theyre working hard. Earlier this year, i. C. E. Officers conducted the largest crackdown on criminal gangs in the history of our country. In just six weeks, i. C. E. , these are great people, and the Border Patrol jaenlagents, great peopl. They arrested 1,400 suspects and nearly 600 rounds of narcotics. Over 600 pounds. Thats a lot of stuff. Recently, prosecutions of criminal firearm possessions were up 23 . To any member of ms13 listening, i have a smemessage you. We will find you, we will arrest you. We will jail you. We will throw you the hell out of the country. Somehow i like it better than jail. Jail, we have to take care of them. Who the hell wants to take care of them . [ applause ] you know, the jail stuff is wonderful but we have to pay for it, right . But these are killers. These are people that are sadists in many cases. We dont want them. Theyre getting out of here. Our city should not be sanctuaries for criminals. They should be sanctuaries for americans. Its our duty to serve the hard working citizens of our country who raise our families, cherish our values, salute our flag, and make this land our home. These are the citizens you represent and these are the citizens you courageously protect. By the way, you are great people. You are incredible people. Just so you understand. You are great people. Doing an incredible job. But i hope your families know that. Id say 90 agree, right . The other 10 , thats not working out so well. We heard from one such hero among us earlier us earlier to class spokesperson, d. E. A. Officer craig wilds seeing his father sitting in his seat where he was 15 years ago. Where is his father, by the way . Where is your father . There he is. [ applause ] hes better looking than you, by the way. Its a great story. Its fantastic. Thank you for being here. Thats really nice. Youre proud of your son, right . Good. So am i. That day craig watched his father speak at this podium. When he listened to his fathers words was filled with pride and such devotion that at that moment he, too, decided to become a Law Enforcement officer. Terrific. Today its incredible that his own children have joined us for this special moment. His daughter, ashley, is carrying on the legacy of her father and grandfather. She now serves in Law Enforcement at the fbi. His son, austin, is in college, and no matter what he chooses to do i think we can confidently and we really can with great confidence say that this you will always be better because of his fathers lifelong example of selflessness and courage and of love. So thank you, craig, and your family. Its a terrific story. It really is a great honor to be with you. Thank you very much. [ applause ] but as i look out in the audience today, i see many young, bright faces. To them and to many other Young Americans watching at home of which there are many, you see theres the fake news back there. Look. Fake news. No, actually some of them are fine people. About, lets see who is back there, about 30 . You are the men and women who teach them what it means to be a Police Officer. You are always there for us. The men and women in blue in the dark of night, in the rush of danger, you break down doors, race down alleys, chase down suspects, and bring down criminals. And you do it with strength and skill and pride. Theres a reason your children look up to you with their eyes full of awe and full of wonder. Theres a reason they rush to the window just to catch a glimpse of your sirens flashing by. Because to them and all of us and to me you are the guardians who keep us safe, who ward off danger, and who confront evil so that the good will always prevail. You represent the best of america. And you leave us with a debt we can never hope to repay. Today we honor you. We thank you, and we know that by your example some of the children here today and watching at home will be inspired to fill your shoes to continue your service to follow in your footsteps. And to take the oath to carry the badge, to wear the shield, and to join the ranks of heroes. Thank you to our police. Thank you to our sheriffs. Thank you to the fbi and thank you to our Law Enforcement families. God bless you all. Thank you very much. [ applause ] you have been listening to President Donald Trump speak at the fbi National Academy Graduation Ceremony there in quantico, virginia. The president calling members of the fbi great, great people, about a week after he said the agencys reputation is the worst in history. A couple other notable moments there including at times what felt like a 2016era campaign rally. I want to bring in Pete Williams, our justice correspondent. I think you were listening to the speech and had an opportunity to listen. These are Law Enforcement officers in the room, saying he essentially had their backs. At one point 10 might not be so great but the other 90 were. Tell me what the headlines are to you. I thought he was talking about family relationships there. This has been the consistent theme of this administration unwavering support for local police. The Justice Department has changed the policy very straight forwardly saying theyre not going to pursue pattern and practice investigations against local Police Departments as aggressively as the Obama Administration did because in the opinion of the attorney general basically continuing the line of the president they believe they are making it harder for the police to do their work. They wont be as aggressive. This is a consistent message from this administration that they will be 100 behind local police in whatever they need, and that was the message here. Not speaking so much to fbi agents although he was very complimentary to federal agents from the Drug Enforcement administration, immigration and customs enforcement, fbi but state and local Police Officers. And, pete, it wasnt just this focus on Law Enforcement officers, he touched on immigration. This is a message weve been hearing a lot from the white house. The idea of migration, what they want to do to reform an immigration system which is a big battle in january after the start of the year from the politics perspective. You heard the president reiterate what weve heard him say time and time again. The system is rigged for certain immigration policies. Is this the right audience for that . Do you think that was part and parcel the president trying to sort of send a message while he knows he has this National Audience here . I suspect many people in the room agree with the president on that point that they believe the immigration of the lottery system or Diversity Program isnt sufficiently capable of finding people who could be a threat to the u. S. Its been a consistent theme of the president especially after the indication that the person who carried out the terror bombing in the subway in new york on monday came here through a combination of the socalled chain migration system where one Family Member brings others in and then the original person in the family getting in under the diversity or lottery program. He also, pete, discussed the idea of a Death Penalty for people who go after Law Enforcement officers. And that is not necessarily a new message from donald trump either. No, but it comes at a time the country is turning more against the Death Penalty. The lowest approval is now down to 55 . The majority of Americans Still support it but that is growing. The number of death penalties and executions carried out is the Second Lowest since in the modern era of the Death Penalty. Only last year was lower. Its a combination really of states not being able to carry it out because of the lack of chemicals but juries imposing the Death Penalty because of concerns about evidence and fairness. Pete williams, thank you very much for joining this show. I want to bring in the next host ali velshi and stephanie ruhle. The president making those comments about how the lottery system works. Theres no balls that pop up. The concept i think the president was missing you dont just buy a ticket to get into this. Then you get chosen and then you go through a whole other approval process to get into the United States. Its only one well hear more from. Its good to see you in new york. A great surprise. Good to see you. Good morning, everyone. Im stefphanie ruhle. And im ali velshi. Lets get started. Its a shame what happened with the fbi but were going to rebuild the fbi. It will be bigger and better than ever. People are very, very angry. President trump speaks at the academy graduation. I am here not only to congratulate you but to honor you for your courage and devotion. With me as your president Americas Police will have a true friend and loyal champion in the white house more loyal than anyone else can be. He said the bureaus reputation is in tatte