Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Katy Tur 20171215

It started on the white house lawn where the president stopped to talk to reporters. He trashed the fbi and refused to rule out a pardon of mike flynn, who lied to the fbi. Where was trump going on marine one you might ask, the fbi. But wait, theres more. When he got to quantico he addressed a graduating class at the fbis National Academy for Law Enforcement managers. He did have a prompter and at first he did stick to it, praising police. But then you look at whats going on in chicago, what the hell is going on in chicago . What the hell is happening there . Do you think the countrys giving us their best people . No. What kind of a system is that . They come in by a lottery. They give us their worst people, they 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. Theres the fake news back there. Look at them. Fake news. No, actually, some of them are fine people. About, lets see, whos back there, yeah, about 30 . Its all a bit off message for a white house which should be focused on trying to sign a tax bill. This morning senator marco rubio was a no on that bill. This afternoon though it looks like he may be a yes. Just may. But a reminder they can only afford to lose two republican votes and there are still a few others that are on the fence. So lets figure out who they are with a team of reporters and analysts. Of course we just showed a full screen so we kind of gave it away. Lets start with well, lets first introduce you guys joining me from the White House Correspondent hans nicohls, ken delain yan and from New York Times political reporter nick confisori. Hans, weve heard from the president s attorney today, ty cobb, a question about that flynn pardon where he wouldnt rule it out a little bit earlier. Is ty cobb definitively ruling out a flynn pardon . Well, ty cobb is saying there are no discussions. It is not under consideration. I dont think thats necessarily intentioned with what President Trump said earlier. President trump said he hasnt made a decision. He doesnt want to talk about it yet. Ty cobbs statement and President Trumps earlier comments would be entirely consistent but for that yet that President Trump added at the end of his discussion there. Talking i dont want to talk about any pardon for Michael Flynn yet. Thats the daylight. Just because ty cobb says there arent any considerations, he doesnt know whats going on inside the president s mind. From my reading from what the president said he seemed like he was leaving the door open potentially to a Michael Flynn pardon. Indeed. Spent a long time this morning bashing the fbi which was odd because he was at quantico and also bashing the russia investigation which the fbis heading up. Hans, they are trying to pass this tax bill. Theyre trying to get it through this committee and then voted on and then to the president s desk. Can he afford at this moment to be so off message . Reporter oh, sure, right . It looks like they have the votes, if they do have the votes, i mean, the president s messaging strategy is his own strategy. He has several tentacles going on at any given point. Hes got mike pence working the angles on the hill. Ive stopped trying to game out or assess what the president s strategy is when hes giving off the cuff remarks, when hes tweeting. Theres no strategy. Lets be honest. Reporter what you saw today is the president reverting to candidate form and saw he was energized by it. I think the only test on whether or not the strategy is working is whether or not they have the votes for this evening, the late night or whenever they actually call the vote and whether or not how we have on capitol hill. Hes going to have a late night, i think. Hans nichols, thanks so much. Again, ty cobb not ruling out, exactly not ruling out at least a flynn pardon. How surprising would that be for members of the fbi who have been lied to by mike flynn . Well, the interesting thing about a flynn pardon is it wouldnt necessarily stop mike flynn from testifying against donald trump. If thats indeed what he plans to do, katy. Because he has already proffered, given to Robert Mueller, everything he knows about potential illegalities, about whoever else theyre looking at in this investigation. So if hes pardoned, then he no longer has a fifth amendment right against selfin crimination, they could conceivably compel his testimony, he would have to say what they already know he knows, and if its about criminality involving anybody at the white house, a pardon doesnt help them. But it would absolutely be a political earthquake, i think. And other analysts have said, you know, potentially constitutional crisis if he starts trying to pardon his way out of the russia investigation. Also interesting other than trashing the fbi before he got to the fbi and trashing the investigation before he got to the fbi, but also he had a call yesterday with Vladimir Putin where were led to believe he called Vladimir Putin to thank Vladimir Putin for that press conference putin had yesterday where he praised, i guess, the economy of the u. S. I mean, thats got to irk people in the intelligence community, right . Well, certainly, katy, it cant be helpful. You know, putin knows how to play this game. And he knows what buttons to push on the president. He knows if the president is fixated on his popular vote victory, electoral vote victory, wants to hear about how the economys doing well and its a way of softening the president at a time when the president himself is trying to soften opposition to russian interest in the u. S. So again who was at this quantico visit today . Were there fbi agents . Well, there may be some, but this was the National Academy, a tenweek course for about 250 Law Enforcement leaders from around the country. So state and local police, many of which are probably Trump Supporters and he certainly gave them a lot of red meat, you know, calling for the Death Penalty for cop killers and that sort of thing, katy. Nick, he also went after the media, as he always does saying about 30 of them back there were good people. He got a cheer from the room. Should we read into that . Well, you know, its shocking because out here the republicans are saying that the fbi is a haven for liberals and partisan democrats and yet the president can get a laugh for attacking his enemies at this ceremony. Look, the attacks on the media are like a warm blanket for the president. It makes him feel good. Its just a reliable line in any public setting for him. And as ken pointed out or perhaps it was hans, he seems kind of energized in kind of any place where you can get that kind of a response and have that kind of an exchange with an audience. Nick, ken, gentlemen, thank you very much. Happy friday. And peter ahern is a retired fbi special agent in charge who was with the agency for 29 years and did work for Robert Mueller. Peter, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you. When you saw the president today on the white house lawn talking about the fbi, talking about this investigation, whats the reception hes going to get from inside the agency . Well, i think the agency, the rank and file of the fbi and people are smart enough to realize a lot of thats politics. It can be disheartening. I think, you know, theyre human. The agency analysts, the support people, and it does hurt, but more importantly than that is does it stop you . Wont dissuade them. Theyll wake up tomorrow, theyre going to work and theyre going to do their job protecting this country. Thats what they do. So the president and his supporters, lots of folks on fox news are pointing to these antitrump Text Messages. And edits made to comeys announcement on Hillary Clintons use of a private server changing. The wording on that from grossly negligent excuse me, to extremely careless. That in addition to the Text Messages that the president has been seizing on and his supporters have been seizing on, does that is the concern that people might have with this investigation justified because of that . Well, i think overall i think the perception can be very hurtful and harmful. But the best answer to perception are facts. And facts are presented, facts come out in any investigation, then thats where the truth will lie. You look at the issue right now and the fbi personnel wondering what the reputations are like. And recent polls, despite what the president might say, and, again, hes the president. He can say what he wants like any other american, but the perception in the polls of the fbi and what the American People think are the things to look at as well as congress as a whole. Those are the key things that make people go to work every day. And law fare has a pole shows theres a lot more confidence in the fbi than the president might want for the people. Take a look at all the tweets. We showed them a moment ago, show them again, all the tweets the president ha e has sent out recently about the fbi. The media is spending more time doing forensic analysis at melanias speech than the fbi spent on hillarys emails, that was from last year. People angry at some point the Justice Department and the fbi must do what is right and proper. The American Public deserves it. Tucker karlsons Opening Statement about our once cherished and great fbi was so sad to watch. James comeys leadership was a disaster. So hes going after the fbi over and over again. He also has some high profile people supporting the anger he has towards the special counsel. Got john bolton, former u. S. Ambassador to the u. N. And supporter of the president tweeting out this, there is something fundamentally unnatural constitutionally about an unrestrained independent counsel muellerinvestigation. So if you have john bolton doing this, you have the president going after this and then you hear about potential subpoenas into his financial records with deutsche bank, would you consider that to be the president considers it to be a violation, but would you consider that to be outside the scope of the special prosecutors probe . Not at all. I think everything pretty much is fair game. And a lot of people have to realize when you do an investigation, a lot of times its not just to prove the positive of an investigation. It could prove the negative. It could make an allegation or an issue disappear based on the facts that something did not happen. So to be effective to do what you have to do you have to have access to everything and to do what you need to do. And thats what former director, you know, mueller is doing right now. He will look at everything that he can look at to either prove or disprove at the end of the day thats what its going to be all about. Listen, you know, this is today, but in my 30 years at the fbi, the criticisms, the post 9 11 criticism, the criticism of ken starr when he was a special counsel, you know, waco, ruby ridge, these things happened. The fbi is not perfect by any sense of the imagination. But as ive said before pretty damn close when it comes to it. But in the end its the facts that have to be proven or disproven to make sure that this country has the faith that the fbi can do the job that theyre charged with doing and the mission. Peter, you worked for Robert Mueller. How do you think hes dealing with all this . Is it getting under his skin . Not at all. Former director mueller was impressive just like every ive worked for seven directors in my span in the fbi including, you know, with the exception of director wray, who i met and is continuing on pushing those priorities that the fbi have to deal with, very complex ones. But as far as bob mueller he was, i think after 9 11 that criticism, those questions that came up he saved the fbi, i think, when there were people trying to break up the fbi, forming Domestic Intelligence agency which would have never flown in this country in my opinion. But hes brilliant. He is tough. And he demands the best of his investigators and his lawyers. And ill tell you what, i wouldnt want bob mueller chasing me, i can tell you that right now. Just quickly i want to put up on the screen we have a graphic showing the confidence in the fbi from law fare, no confidence, just about 15 of the public, but confidence or high degree of confidence about half of the public. So it does seem like there still is substantial support for the fbi out there. Peter ahearn, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate your time. Come again soon. Thank you. Youre welcome. Coming up next, senator marco rubio may have just flipped his vote on the tax plan. What changed . And will it be enough to get it to the president s desk by christmas . Oregon senator ron wyden joins me live in just three minutes. [ keyboard clacking ] [ click ] [ keyboard clacking ] [ clacking continues ] good questions lead to good answers. Our advisors can help you find both. Talk to one today and see why were bullish on the future. Yours. Talk to one today and see why were bullish on the future. But on the inside, i feel like chronic, widespread pain. 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In case you need some Light Reading over the weekend, the final version of the republican tax plan is going to be released at 5 30 tonight. All 503 pages of it. Theyre expected to vote on this bill, that is the congress, next week. But do the republicans have the votes to pass it . Well, the one definite no now could be a yes. Thats senator marco rubio. Earlier today President Trump signaled he wasnt worried about little marco. I think theyll be great. Theyre great people. They want to see it done. I know him very well. I know how they feel. These are great people. And they want to see it done. And they want to see it done properly. Showing hes got some leverage. Nbcs garrett hake is on capitol hill. Garrett, we have marco rubio in the no category right now, but is it going to be enough . Reporter katy, i think its time to move him. Just as youve been reading the introduction it sounds like marco rubio got enough what he wanted hes moving to a yes vote. He asked for an increase in the refundability of the Child Tax Credit, basically putting more money in peoples pockets and he tweeted, its the second of a couple tweets but says for far too long washington has ignored and left behind the american working class. Increasing the refund blgt of the Child Tax Credit from 55 to 70 is a solid step toward broader reforms which is broet pro growth and pro worker. Katy, this morning we learned that this final Conference Committee bill did have an increase in the amount of refundability of this Child Tax Credit. The open question on the hill is whether or not that will be good enough for marco rubio. While he doesnt come right out and say it in the tweet, it sounds like this is enough to put his vote back in the yes column. Garrett, who else are we watching right now . Were watching bob corker. I think hes likely to be a no. Watching jeff flake and Susan Collins who both have promises from leadership that arent directly tied to this bill, promises that they want to see kept. And then im watching john mccain. John mccain was out all week long getting treatment at walter reed for complications from his treatment for brain cancer. Its a question, its an open question on whether hes going to be physically able to show up here and cast his vote come tuesday or wednesday when the senate decides to move forward with this. Msnbcs garrett hake on capitol hill. Thank you so much. Reporter you bet. Joining us now democratic senator ron wyden of oregon, hes the Ranking Member on the finance committee. Senator, thank you so much for being here. Yep. Lest talk about taxes. Have you seen the final version of the bill . Well, first of all, what we were told after the secretive process we were told that we could come on in and review and read and sign a bill in the amount of time you would normally take to go to a portland trailblazer game, katy. This whole process has been a sham. The fact is this is a historically unpopular giveaway to the multinational corporations at the expense of the middle class. And the republicans know if theres any real sunlight on this, this bills going to dry up. And thats why theyre moving with the speed of light. But im telling you this debate is far from over. Republicans seem to have acquiesce, they moved child tax dollars, going to benefit people. Do you support that effort . This bill is still skewed dramatically in favor of the multinational corporations and those at the top. And the president repeatedly said he didnt think he should be getting any tax relief. Hes going to get a whole lot of tax relief. I mean, the top rate is going to go down. The top rates going to go from 39 to 37. Im telling you, the middle class writes 70 of the Economic Activity in the country are getting the shaft here and they know it. Lets talk about what is in this bill and whats not in this bill. Remember, were not going to see it until 5 30, so we only have the reporting to rely on. This was tweeted, theres going to be a higher, whats being removed from the higher tax bill i should say the Higher Education tuition waiver tax, not there any longer, student loan deduction not there any longer, medical expense deduction not there any longer, Johnson Amendment repeal, not there any longer. Fetal personhood language, hold on, what is fetal personhood language . Well, what they were trying to do was to extend breaks to kids that werent even born. But, i mean, the reality is some of those things that you mention not being there we got knocked out. For example, this Johnson Amendment, that is basically Citizens United 2. 0 that the republicans have been pushing. They want to get the churches into politics. We are talking about billions of dollars and billions of dollars worth of deductions. Democrats got together and got it knocked out. But what people still need to remember is the bottom line, the breaks for the multinational corporations, that reduction from 35 to 20, well over a billion dollars a trillion dollars, excuse me, is permanent in the relief for the middle class is temporary. Thats what people are going to remember. Its a double standard and its written in the black letter law. And the individual tax rate going from 39. 5 top tier i should say down to 37 and removal of the alternative minimum tax for corporations as well. What that means, katy, is in effect they are rearranging the chairs at the country club. Thats really what has been going on for days. Senator, hold on, when you talk about but when you talk about this bill and you talk about you were successfully able to get a number of things out of the bill, if you were successful in doing that, why cant democrats if youre so appalled by the bill and all of you seem to be work to get it delayed to have more of a process for public hearing for potentially the senator from alabama, the incoming senator from alabama to be seated. Why does the democratic influence stop there . Well, we certainly ought to have the dually elected senator from alabama be part of it. The democratic moderates ask for exactly what youre talking about. The opportunity for a bipartisan effort. Katy, ive written the only two bipartisan bills in the last 20plus years, one was a member of the president s cabinet. It hasnt been for a lack of effort, the problem was Mitch Mcconnell decided on day one that he wanted to use the most partisan process called reconciliation, our way or the highway. Thats whats been senator michael bloomberg, former new york city mayor, billionaire himself is calling this in an editorial the trillion dollar blunder. He says nevertheless if it doesnt go through President Trump is going to blame you, im sorry, that was my question i was reading wrong off my notes. Forgive me. So my question though is you have billionaires like Mike Bloomberg coming out and saying this is a bad idea, democrats saying this is a bad idea. In a year and a half when the midterms come and potentially democrats maybe theyre able to retake both houses of congress, i dont know, well see, are you guys going to end up just trying to force partisan legislation through reconciliation again . I mean, are you worried about this pingpong effect from where one party get sboos power and does things their way, next party get sboos power, does things their way. Can you commit if democrats regain either house or both houses that you will work with the other side . Because isnt that what the American Public wants to see . They certainly do, and its not just rhetoric. Let me give you some examples. I initiated with chairman hatch an effort to get an agreement on the Childrens Health insurance bill. Senator murray working with senator alexander on health care. I mentioned the bipartisan tax reform bill. Weve got a proposal to fight fire, we want to do that, but its pretty hard to do it if the republican leader on day one, on the very first day says were going to just take the most partisan process. And the reality is Mike Bloomberg article you mentioned, because i followed what he has had to say, makes our point. He points out that the Multinational Companies in effect have trillions on hand right now. They are awash in capital. Its the middle class, the people who buy cars, people who sent kids to school, who buy houses, thats where you get the big economic multipliers, why henry ford said he wanted to be successful, but in order to be successful is people need to have the money to buy these cars. Oregon senator democratic senator ron wyden. One last thing, go lakers. Oh, not over the blazers. Yeah, over the blazers. Never over the blazers. Early 2000s, games lakers against blazers, im sorry, we trounsed you, senator. But weve got damian and c. J. Now. Well be back. Well see. Thank you so much. Come back soon. Glad to have you. Lets do it. And the president has the power to change the face of americas courts forever. So here is the question, if you barely seen the inside of a courtroom, should you serve on the bench for life . Any of you not tried a case to verdict in a courtroom . Ok, so with the awardwinning geico mobile app, our customers have 24 7 access, digital id cards, they can even pay their bill beep bill has joined the call. Hey bill, were just phone hi guys, bill here. Do we have julia on the line too . k, well well just phone hey sorry. I had you muted. Well yea lets just phone so what i was thinking ok well well phone yeah lets just go ahead phone oh alright the awardwinning geico app. Download it today. But he hasoke up wwork to do. In. So he took aleve. If hed taken tylenol, hed be stopping for more pills right now. Only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. Aleve. All day strong. We are the driven. The dedicated. The overachievers. We know our best investment is in ourselves. We dont take no for an answer. We fight for what we want. Even for the things that were once a given. Going to college. Buying a home. And not being in debt for it for the rest of our lives. But were only as strong as our community. Who inspires and pushes us to go further than we could ever go alone. Sofi. Get there sooner. Have you ever tried a jury trial . I have not. Civil . No. Criminal . No. Bench . No. State or federal court . I have not. Do you know what a motion in limine is . I would probably be able to give you a good definition here at the table. If you are making a face right about now, youre not alone. That was President Trumps pick to be a District Court judge taking questions from republican senator john kennedy. That clip from Matthew Spencer petersons confirmation hearing posted by democratic senator Sheldon Whitehouse now has more than 4 million views on twitter and spencer is not the only trump judicial nominee to have faced criticism. Bret didnt disclose his wife was chief of staff to the white house counsel. He also had never tried a case. And the daily beast reported that tally investigated paranormal activity, not disqualifying, but not exactly qualifying either. Then theres jeff mateer, the Dallas Morning News says he described transgender children as evidence of, quote, satans plan. Remember, these are lifetime appointments, the white house now says that both of their nominations will not be moving forward. But where does that leave Matthew Spencer peterson . Lets go to nbc news chief justice correspondent pete williams. Pete, what exactly are the requirements to be a u. S. District court judge . And what sort of vetting do they go through . Well, i dont think with peterson its a matter of vetting. They certainly were well aware that he didnt have any trial experience. Hes been in private practice basically specializing in election law, thats the kind of law he advised senators and congressmen on when he was a congressional staffer. And then perhaps the thing that got him nominated is the fact that he served on the federal Elections Commission alongside another commissioner named don pagan as you know became the white house counsel. Obviously you know mr. Ma began thought he was the right person to have the right temperament. Two things have to be said here, katy, ive talked to several legal scholars, former prosecutors say they know a lot of people who could have answered all those questions and aced them who would make lousy judges. But on the other hand its very unusual for the president to nominate someone who has absolutely no trial experience whatsoever as a prosecutor or defense lawyer. Thats just trial experience is just not what hes had. Thats what judges do. So that makes the nomination somewhat controversial. Senator Chuck Grassley tweeted yesterday, pete, that the senate has confirmed 12 Circuit Court judges this year. Thats the most in the first year of any president in u. S. History. Pete, these are lifetime appointments, what sort of impact will they be able to have on the country for a generation . Thats an astonishing record really. 12 nominees to the appeals courts, by contrast in his first year president obama only had three. Now part of that is the fact obama got off to a very slow start in nominating judges. Theres always an argument about whether the record of nominations has to do with how fast the senate is acting. But all these nominations, thats what the constitution says, theyre all lifetime appointments. And this is the place where perhaps more than any other elections have consequences. When you get a democratic president whos in for eight years as president obama was, as president clinton was, you see the courts shift to the left. When you have republican president s, youll see the courts shift to the right. And this is the beginning undoubtedly of even if President Trump serves only four years, his judicial nominations are moving so fast that he will be changing the direction of the federal courts. And of course thats what elections are for. And reminder to our viewers when asked about why they were voting for donald trump, a lot of his supporters would talk about judgeships, would taumd e talk about the supreme court, would say they want different people controlling the courts. Pete williams, thank you so much for joining us. You bet. And joining me now is former head of the department of justices civil rights division, currently the president and ceo of the Leadership Conference on civil and human rights, venita, thank you so much for being here. Obviously the president hasnt been the biggest fan of the courts since taking office but even much before that when he was trying cases in his business life, even trump university. Does that have something to do with whos being picked for the bench . Well, you know, i think that theres undoubtedly no question that the president has had a failed legislative agenda up until now, but he has certainly had a lot of success with the courts. Hes been moving very swiftly. And the Federalist Society and Heritage Foundation have been feeding the list of nominees over to the white house. But whats happened this week, i think, is really significant because theres been a record set of confirmations of Appellate Court judges, but this week two of them, bret tally and jeff mateer were withdrawn in part highlighting the absolute lack of adequate scrutiny and vetting thats happening for these nominees before theyre being put forward. And that i think is really troubling. You saw the video of mr. Peterson obviously now gone viral. That was an instance where theres a real question about his own qualifications. But theres a lot of questions about some of the most extreme nominees like mateer and tally before they were withdrawn whove demonstrated really strong antilgbt, anticivil rights, anticivil liberties positions that should have been disqualifying from the getgo. And some of these folks are getting through. And theyre going to affect justice and access to justice for a lifetime. Not only that but lets talk about just the makeup of who Donald Trumps judicial nominees have been, what theyve looked like. 90 of the president s nominees are white. 81 are male, vanita . It is an astonishly hom genous group. 91 , when you think about that statistic, that is mind boggling and simply unacceptable for 2017. And youre seeing it not only with the courts. Youre seeing it with the appointments to u. S. Attorney positions, the u. S. Attorney positions are often pipelines for future nominations to the federal court. Youre seeing it in his own cabinet. I mean there is this really is a white male administration and an administration that is putting more white men into these positions. And federal courts sometimes people dont really understand that federal courts are a vital part of our democracy. So much of the issues around money and politics, around jobs and education and health care, things that really affect people and their bread and butter everyday lives are being decided by our federal courts. And so to have such a ho moj nous group being put into these lifetime positions, again, its going to have a very long lasting impact. And thats why the Leadership Conference coalition and other groups are pushing really hard against some of the most extreme nominees. Vanita, i want to ask you before were totally out of time, last week the Senate Confirmed a judicial pick that received a unanimous not qualified rating by the aba, the American Bar Association, donald trump can certainly pick his justices, but the senate has responsibility of confirming them. What do you say to the senate for confirming somebody that was not qualified according to the American Bar Association . I think that when i know that happens and when theres inadequate scrutiny and the senate and chairman grassley are pushing people through without adequa adequate vetting that is a failure in their role and responsibility. I will say ive been heartened by the fact senator kennedy conservative republican from louisiana clearly understands what his role is on the Senate Judiciary committee and is asking exactly the kinds of questions that frankly the White House Counsels Office should be asking before theyre putting people forth. But you saw in that video with peterson that he is taking his job very seriously. And is i think fairly dismayed by the prospects of some of these most extreme nominees. And everyone in the Senate Judiciary committee should be doing exactly the same thing. Thank you, vanita gupta, appreciate your time. Thanks. And well be right back. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz xr. A once daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. Xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. Xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. Dont start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. Tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. 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Vasquez its going to be lifechanging, and lifesaving. Breaking news on capitol hill, senator marco rubio is a yes on the republican tax bill. Republican marco rubio wanted the Child Tax Credit expanded. He got that from 1,100 to 1,400. This means that the republican bill is all but going to pass and go to the president s desk. We are still eyeing a number of other senators that are out there including senator flake, senator corker, senator lee perhaps, but probably not. And of course john mccain. But right now it does look that the republicans have the votes they need for this tax plan. Meanwhile, today u. S. Secretary of state Rex Tillerson again urged north korea to drop continued development of its nuclear program. In an address before the u. N. Security council and north koreas u. N. Representative, tillerson said pyongyang knows that it needs knows what it needs to do to get to the negotiating table. The sustained cessation of north koreas threatening behavior must occur before talks can begin. North korea must earn its way back to the table. The Pressure Campaign must and will continue until denuclearization is achieved. We will in the meantime keep our channels of communication open. Msnbc chief International Security and diplomacy analyst and former supreme allied commander at nato, admiral james joins me now from medford, massachusetts. Admiral, thank you so much for being here. Weve been getting mixed messages from the white house and Rex Tillerson when it comes to north korea. Earlier this week tillerson seemed to offer an opening on north korea without any preconditions. Today he even omitted a line from his u. N. Speech that said no preconditions for talks. So what are what exactly is going on . Why are we getting those mismatched messages . We are getting mismatched messages because for the whole year that secretary tillerson has been in the saddle he seems to be just in his own chamber over in foggy bottom. Theres really no very evident communication. He doesnt seem to get the talking points. And that would be just kind of mild bureaucratic nonsense, katy, except this is about the biggest diplomatic issue of our time whether we can avoid a nuclear war or not. If were going to do that, we have to do it diplomatically. Were going to do that we have to have the white house and the state department in sync. So far were not seeing that. Then there is Vladimir Putin and russia. Yesterday during Vladimir Putins press conference he praised donald trump for the economy, then donald trump called him and thanked him for that. Does Vladimir Putin have President Trump figured out, admiral . You know, currently the dean of the fletcher of school of law and diplomacy, so one charitable interpretation this would be, you know, trying to be diplomatic. But, katy, you have to have cleareyed view of Vladimir Putin. He supports a war criminal, assad. Hes entrenched our elections with cyber, hes invaded ukraine. By any measure hes running a sug ok si from moscow. So for the president of the United States to call him whether or not he was praising the stock market high really does not serve our interest well as a nation. And take this Rex Tillerson, secretary of state, also slammed russia and china in his remarks today on north korea. He said russias continuing to allow north korea labors to work in slave like conditions to fund Nuclear Weapons programs and calls into question russias dedication as a partner for peace. So how does that jibe with the president s friendly call with putin yesterday as well . Does not at all. And with President Trump hes unafraid to stay really harsh things about fellow domestic politicians and other international leaders. The only individual on the national or International Scene that he has consistently refused to call out for bad behavior and has consistently spoken well of is Vladimir Putin. So incredibly mixed messages. And really at a time when this north korea tension is rising and rising. I would say the chances of an open conflict are approaching 30 . Wow. Thats deeply worrisome. 30 , admiral . I mean, thats scary. Let me break it down slightly, katy. Id say 10 a Nuclear Exchange and 20 we exchange ordinates, missiles, bombs, rockets, but somehow step back from the brink. This is big and we have to have a president and white house in sync with the state department. Thats kind of Mission Number one before we can even get to the hard stuff. 10 does not make me more comfortable. Admiral james starvidis, thank you so much. Happy weekend, i guess. Now to news related to Robert Mueller russia probe. A judge just ruled former Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort can be released from home detention after his multicount federal indictment last month. We are going to follow this story and well obviously bring you any developments as they arise. And well be right back. I am totally blind. And non24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442142424. This holiday, the real gift isnt whats inside the box. Its whats inside the person who opens it. Give ancestrydna, the only dna test that can trace your origins to over 150 ethnic regions. And open up a world of possibilities. Save 20 for the holidays at ancestrydna. Com. When food is good and clean and real, its ok to crave. And with panera catering, theres more to go around. Panera. Food as it should be. I would doubt myself that i could actually quit. That i could climb that hill and get over it. 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Many insurance plans cover chantix for a low or 0 copay. You only earn double withmiles when you buy stuffds, from that airline. Is this where you typically shop . Is this where anyone typically shops . Its time to switch to the capital one venture card. With venture, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, everywhere, every day. Not just airline purchases. Seriously. Double miles. Everywhere whats in your wallet . Today is the last day for americans to sign up for Public Health insurance. Obama enrollment for 2018 ends today. This years Enrollment Period was abbreviated to just six weeks. Thats 4568 the time for enrollment compared to last year. Wonder why . Last minute took to twitter to voice frustrations claiming technical issues prevented them from signing up. Average premiuming for next year the silver plan jumps 37 . Though the number of all enrollees eligible for lowcost plans at 75 will increase to 80 . Msnbc correspondent in hollywood, florida, at an Enrollment Center in florida with the highest number of aca enrollees in the country. I heard you talking down there before, and while theyve seen a lot of people signing up, its not exactly their record. Doesnt mean people are happy with obamacare. Right . Reporter it is actually a record for florida as of now, katy. Were talking slightly over 800,000 people compared to slightly over half a million from last year. Over here in all of these rooms were seeing navigators meet with people who want to get in on obamacare before its too late. They even have a countdown clock at the entrance of this Enrollment Center in hollywood. Come in here with me, you are looking 0 to sign up your husband and child for obamacare and you also work here as a navigator. Why enroll your husband and child right now . My husband, hes selfemployed. Gives flexibility from any site that medical bills, since he works in the construction field. Reporter he got his insurance through his employer before . Hes selfemployed and now has opportunity to get insurance. Reporter a lot of people saying gives more freedom. Tell me, why is it important to figure out your familys health care today, before obamacare ends . As a mom i want to make sure that my daughter and my husband, they have insurance so that if we have any unexpected, you know, god forbid, any incidents, we are ready to pay those bills. Reporter thank you. Now, katy, just like this woman, millions have signeds for obamacare. Actually a record nationwide compared to last year. 4. 7 million americans enrolled in the aca as of last saturday. Thats 650,000 more than the previous year. Not bad for a plan that was said to be dead, doomed and done with. Katy . Not at all. Msnbcs Mariana Atencio in hollywood, florida. Thank you. After the break, youll want to wait for this. One more thing. For your heart. Your joints. Or your digestion. 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Since her resignation this week, president ial aide am rosa omarosa said staffers didnt know how to interact. Facts pointed out in a new piece by nbcnews. Com. Until this week, newman and ben carson were the only black voices amon more than 30 cabinet secretaries and senior Staff Members around trump. Yesterday press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders claimed they have a really diverse team across the board, and pointed to secretary carson as an example how team trump is reaching out to minorities. Nbc news got an exclusive interview today with carson, and we obviously asked him about all of this. Reporter are you concerned about a lack of diversity in this administration with omarosa the departure now . On topic. Reporter i asked a question on topic. Youre talking about something reporter ill be happy to ask another question about that but i think this is an important question given dr. Carsons position in the administration. I mean i think it has nothing hes the hud secretary, housing secretary. Hes not in charge of the white house personnel. I would simply say that, you know, were focused on everybody, and, you know, in my department at hud i dont think youll find any lack of diversity, and, you know, we just have to stay focused on what the issues are, and right now the issues are, there are a lot of people in our society who are hurting, and we want to actually get them in a position where they become selfsufficient. That is not an answer to, is there diversity in the white house. Right. Ali velshi, brilliant about that interview late to is the aide talking offcamera. Really interesting. A nonanswer. Just the conversation the aide doesnt even want that question asked. Ben carson has a the most awkward of all interviews i think in tv news. You know, hes an interesting guy, but thats not really his forte, to be answering questions like that, but it wasnt a complicated question. The idea of their not being enough diversity is an interesting issue, the answer not answering is interesting. Just say it. Zero, more than zero. We cant count the number of black people in our organizations can you tell us theres one . More than one . Two. This whole thing is a little interesting. Or frankly, for judicial nominees. Lots of white men. Don