Criticized for not informing members of Congress Ahead of the strike. The big question now was it even legal for the president to order the air strike without congressional approva approval. A new poll on impeachment as we await the next steps in the process. How the majority of americans feel about impeachment. The evidence, and removing trump from office. Plus, we dive into the latest fundraising numbers in the 2020 race. Who brought in the big money, and whos now set to break out as were less than a month away from the iowa caucuses. Weve been counting down quite some time. Less than a month indeed. The big, breaking news from overseas and out of iraq, this literally happening moments ago. The green zone there in baghdad, home to the u. S. Embassy and several u. S. Troops and personnel coming under attack from an unspecified number of rockets. This happening with the last couple of hours. The countrys military joint Operations Command confirming this to nbc news, and so far no casualties or damage have been reported, but this would appear to be a major escalation. Nbc news correspondent and Tehran Bureau chief, joining me from neighbors iran, of course. What are you able to tell us from your post right there . Reporter hi, kendis. Thats right. Hearing reports of at least one rocket if not more rockets landing in baghdad. At least one of them has landed in that heavily fortified green zone. Not far from the u. S. Embassy, and kendis, this fits the m. O. Of the iranianbacked militias that operate in that area, something they have been doing for months if not years now, and kendis, this is important to remember it was a series of rocket attacks about 17 of them in the space of about 3 weeks that sparked this crisis that we are in right now. It was because of those rocket attacks that the u. S. Had launched various attacks on hezbollah, khateeb hezbollah. We entered a more dangerous cycle than we had been in before. How far this will escalate remains to be seen. So far only damage, no lives taken. It shows exactly how high tensions are in this region and theyre showing no signs of settling down with these attacks happening almost daily. As you mentioned in your setup, there is a sense of revenge being planned here in iran for the death of Qasem Soleimani. There has been all sorts of messages coming out of this country from the very top leadership, ayatoliah khomeini, vowing a severe revenge against the United States for the attack of his, of the man who commanded all of the military forces here. The man who had built all of these militias in this area, and a network of them throughout this region that had made iran such a force to be reckoned with here. So we have to see how those things develop, but also other messages that are coming out. Qasem soleimanis replacemented. A man calmed general quany. The rhetoric is very, very tough here. Kendis, even though the rockets have been launched into baghdad and were not sure the source of them at this moment, iran may not be in a huge hurry for reveeng on the United States. Theyre masters at playing the long game. They said they will strike at a time appropriate for them. Time and time over the years we have heard u. S. Say all u. S. Assets in this region are within immediate striking distance of Iranian Forces and proxies. So iran for now, it seems, its keeping its powder dry, is keeping america anxious as to what its next move is going to be, but that is just raising tensions more and more here, and i can tell you, kendis, even though there is a sense of revenge here that wants to be exerted for Qasem Soleimanis death amongst a large crosssection of iranians, there is also a sense of fear in this country as to what is coming next. What is irans next move . What is americas next move . And what is going to be the ramifications of these two old enemies slugging it out again in this region . They havent ever done it directly. So are we heading into that direction . So many questions, kendis. So many things up in the air, but right now iran is focusing on the ceremony and the funerals of Qasem Soleimani. His body was being, was being in his coffin in iraq was being taken around baghdad. It was draped in an iranian flag, and people were mourning his death. His body returns back to iran tomorrow. Its going to be taken to various cities across the country for a mass funeral on monday, which is going to be headed by irans Supreme Leader ayatoliah khomeini. A lot of moving parts and a lot of things happening as we speak. Yes. Iran declaring several days of mourning for soleimani as a result of all of this. Joining us from the region in tehran, thank you. And back here in the states, President Trump defending his action saying it was selfdefense. Soleimani was plotting imminent and sinister attacks on american diplomats and military personnel, but we caught him in the act, and terminated him. We took action last night to stop a war. We did not take action to start a war. About 3,000 american troops from the 82nd airborne deployed today heading for the persian gulf. Hans nichols is covering the president in west palm beach. Secretary of state mike pence had this to say earlier yesterday on fox news. Take as listen and your thoughts on the other end. The risk of doing nothing was enormous. Enormous in the shortterm, the imminent attack Qasem Soleimani was plotting and also highly risky. Doing nothing in this region shows weakness and emboldens iran. It does appear a change in narrative out of the administration. Is there any news on the intelligence front right now at least that were hearing today that led the president to order this strike . Reporter only that there is a planned additional briefings for lawmakers when they return to washington next week. Classified briefings. Officials from the state department and pentagon were on capitol hill friday. That obviously didnt satisfy some lawmakers. You had schiff questioning it. We just heard from congresswoman dingell also saying we basically cant take the president s word for this. Its something similar that pompeo may be getting from some foreign counterparts as hes been making calls all day to africa, to the middle east, to europe, and that same interview that you mentioned from fox news, pompeo suggested a little frustration that the europeans and specifically the germans, french and the british didnt appreciate the action that the u. S. Had taken. So right now we are at a bit of a standstill. The president seems confident and comfortable having this debate about his role as commander in speech inserted into his speech quickly, right off the top talking about the death of soleimani. Well see to what extent this becomes a staple of the president s speech, but its clear he thinks this is an issue that favors him politically. And meantime we understand the Vice President and secretary pompeo have been working phones with allies. Any idea whats their message . Reporter yes. Well, i think theyre talking about the idea of immediate threat. This idea of immediacy and the imnance of the threat presented. For example, on pompeos phone call with his turkish counterpart, from the turkish side excuse me, from the u. S. Side thashs was the readout they gave. This is what they talked about. We should also note pompeo yesterday i believe had a conversation with lavrov and the two conversations, the readouts seemed almost as though they were reflecting different conversations. On all of these we needs to be skeptical and wait to hear from the other side of thes conversation on just what actually happened. Kendis . Hans nichols in west palm beach, a busy vacation couple of weeks for the president indeed. Hans, thank you. And drum beats of war resonating on the campaign trail. More than a dozen democratic hopefuls Holding Events in early polling states today. Many answering questions for a missile strike involving iran. Mike memoli is following the sanders and Biden Campaign in grundy center, iowa and Josh Letterman following the Buttigieg Campaign in clearmont, New Hampshire. Start with you, mike. Earlier today you were there at a biden event and he clearly has his Foreign Policy chops having been in office some 40 years. What did he have to say about this administrations dealing with iran . Reporter well, kendis, were now just 30 days until the iowa caucuses. This iran news has potential to knock some off their closing arguments. Issues they would have wanted to talk about. Joe biden is not one of those candidates. This is an opportunity hes seizing to lean into his Foreign Policy experience to talk about that he was one of the first candidate, in fact to put out a statement on iran. You saw him in dubuque yesterday giving a speech describing President Trumps trumps action as erratic, faulting him for tearing of you the Nuclear Agreement that was developed in the obama administration. And Bernie Sanders is using the moment to question joe bidens judgment. He voted against the iraq war in 2002 while joe biden supported that. I had a chance to ask about those attacks from Bernie Sanders last night. Take a listen how he responded. Were not talking about a country with 6 million people. Talking about 40 million people. A sophisticated country. The moment he stepped back from that, that deal we put together on nuclear, everything has gone, gotten worse and worse. Tell me your a moment to question your judgment about iraq. Bernie sanders among thm talking how he was right, you were wrong. Whats your response to that . I dont respond to bernie. So joe biden not taking the bait there just yet. Bernie sanders is on his way here to grundy center, iowa. At an event this morning not talking about joe biden but the debate that might be coming ahead in congress saying when he goes back to washington he intend to introduce restriction of the president s ability and wants to have debate about the next steps with iran. If Congress Wants to go to war congress should have the guts to vote to go to war. Meantime, pete buttigieg, a candidate, and tulsi gabbard, how has that shaped views towards the president s action in iran . Reporter a big topic, contends is, talking about it during his first stop in nashua. Pete buttigieg emphasizing how as an afghan war vet himself he understands the stakes at play. This is not hypothetical. There are real americans lives that could be at stake if there is a conflict. Also talking about how as a former Intelligence Officer he understands the specific nature of the threat from iran. Were likely to see, its not a conventional type conflict, but if things heat up, asymmetrical tactics from iran. Gorilriluerrilla warfare, perha cyber warfare. Not saying trump shouldnt have taken out soleimani but warning the risk exists this could spiral out of control. Listen to what he had that say this is morning it will require of us following American Values where they have to lead us. American values that unify this country and that can take us in a pretty progressive direction when you take them seriously. What does it mean to take a value like patriotism seriously . What does it mean to come together as a country around values Like National security. Patriotism is not starting an endless war. [ cheers and applause ] kendis, talking with voters here in New Hampshire about how they feel about the strike on soleimani and how the president handled it. A lot of them saying the president did the right thing. That he did what he had to do. That having been said, they are concerned about the fact that a possibility that this could escalate into a broader conflict. Also they say theyre not totally confident in the way the president carried it out. Seemingly without any consultation with congress. All right. Leave it there. Nbcs mike memoli near waterloo, iowa. Josh letterman in the watering hole in New Hampshire. Thank you. Appreciate it. After multiple warnings from the pentagon that putting a hold on military aid to ukraine could be illegal, the office of management and budget now saying the order to keep the freeze in place came directly from President Trump himself. 24r50e69 according to a series of newly unredacted emails reviewed associated by nyus school of law. Nbc news cannot verify the authenticity of the emails. Asked to see them, but were denied. The expose comes as support for trumps removal from office grows. New polling out say 57 of americans say the president committed impeachable actions. The president s refuse toll cooperate with the impeachment inquiry form enough evidence to remove him from office. Not just impeach but remove as well from office. What does this mean for the trial supposedly Going Forward in the weeks ahead . We have followed this the last few months. From our washington bureau, Chuck Schumer says the unredacted emails shows theres a need for impeachment witnesses and search as what he says a devastating blow to trumps allies. How damning are they . Reporter well, to democrats, these emails are critical to the mounting evidence against this president , and they want this evidence submitted in a forthcoming senate trial, but the senate opened for the new year yesterday, and the senate is exactly where they were when they closed at the end of last year. At an impasse. Senate Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell and his counterpart chuck suchumer gave fiery speeches on the floor and both dug into theirs positions. Schumer wants agreement to bring witnesses, new documents in the senate trial before it even begins. Mitch mcconnell on the other hand, hes saying, wait a minute. Do it like we did in the clinton impeachment. Start the trial and after opening statements, then we come to an agreement on if theres going to be witnesses or not. Remember, mcconnell, he wants a speedy trial. He does not want witnesses. So this is his way to try to, try to get out of that, especially before, before coming to an agreement before it starts. Kendis what this really means is that both sides are dug in. They are continuing to be at a stalemate and meanwhile House Speaker nancy pelosi has even sent those articles of impeachment over to the senate yet, and so were entering the new congress coming again, in on monday and we dont yet have a resolution. Sounds like new year, same congress, same impeachment impasse. Reporting from d. C. Thank you, appreciate it. Thank you. Big question on following the deadly u. S. Air strikes against irans top general, should the president have consulted congress before authorizing the strikes . Plus, the devastating wildfires ravaging australia. At least 12 million acres already burned. Is there an end in sight . The latest on the ground, next. When a nasty cold wont let you sleep, try nyquil severe with Vicks Vapocool whoa and vaporize it. Ahhhhh shhhhh nyquil severe with Vicks Vapocool. The vaporizing nighttime, coughing, aching, stuffy head, best sleep with a cold, medicine. 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Should President Trump have consulted with congress before ordering the strike on irans top general . Well were, depends who you ask. Which the security of the nation is at stake decisions must not be made in a vacuum. When you have a Strategic Strike or one that is tactical many times they have to be done in a covert manner and these kinds of initial reactions, the president has the authority, should take the authority and im glad that he did. We should not go to a war with iran based on a president ial decision with no consultation of congress. I recommend that all senators wait to review the facts and hear from the administration before passing much public judgment. Judgment on this operation and its potential consequences. Lawmakers remain deeply divided along party lines with republicans praising the president s actions as bold and as democrats question the legality of the order, Vice President mike pence defended the strike in a series of tweets even going as far as trying to connect soleimani to the 9 11 attacks. Those claims disputed in a fact check by the new york times. Joining me to break that down, net price, former special assistant to president obama and ned good to see you again. Pick up quickly there on that part, that tweet there by mike pence trying to create an association there with 9 11. You know, kendis, weve heard the Vice President before try to connect a country in the middle east to 9 11 and we remember how that worked out. This has eerie echoes what Vice President chain di in 2002 and 2003 and the leadup to the invasion of iraq. We clearly have not learned our lesson, and i think this also underscores the credibility problem that the administration faces. The credibility problem that surfaced not for the first time in this erroneous tweet or highly misleading tweet from Vice President pence but a credibility problem that surfaced over the course of the past three years. When you have a president and when you have senior advisers around him who have consistently undermined and even attacked our Intelligence Community and even their i analyses whether it was on russias attack on our election, whether it was irans continued compliance with the iran deal and which trump jettisoned or the caulpability f the death of khashoggi. Weve been told by the president not to believe what the Intelligence Community is saying and now turn around, listen to us when we cite intelligence. They cant have it both ways. Claiming selfdefense in its mission to kill soleimani. Trying to prove to congress and the American Public there was an imminent threat . Reporter a question of legality. Right . The short answer as to whether this was legal or not and its an unsatisfying one, frankly, we dont yet know and we dont yet know that because we have not seen the underlying intelligence. The public hasnt seen a declassified version of it and the administration only yesterday started briefings for congress. Tra frankly the question of legality is somewhat beside the point. The administration could make a case it was legal both under domestic and International Law but there are certain things in the National Security realm refer to as lawful but awful. Think may well be one of them. I say that because the question at hand is not solely was it legal or not. It may well have been legal. The question we need to be asking is whether americans are safer in the aftermath of this or whether they are more vulnerable. Thats the operative question. When the Administration Says they did it to deter an eminent attack, depending when shifting explanation you ride and believe, we ask also what are the repercussions . A task of the Intelligence Community to weigh in advance of this. Where would iran and its proxies, which have global, a Global Presence by the way, be expected to retaliate . And what would that retaliation look like . I fear, kendis, it wont be a retaliation that takes place over the course of a day or week but something well see over the course of months and years as we have seen in instances of previous iranian retaliation. You posed the question there whether or not americans are safer or more vulnerable. Youve worked in National Security and know this stuff. What do you think the answer to that question . At this stage i cant help one conclude unfortunately that americans are less safe because of this. I say this because this is a network wir the region, the middle east wired. Of course, we know there are tens of thousands of troops in places like iraq, in syria, in afghanistan. In qatar and uae. Where the quds force has a presence and i note the presence is local, extends beyond the middle east and beyond south asia and goes to the west, to western europe, to south america. Even to the United States where we have seen the quds force plan and attack in washington, d. C. Where i am right now. All right. Msnbc National Security analyst and contributor ned price joining us. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. The other major headline, internationally were following, death toll in the australian wildfires growing. At least 23 people confirmed dead in the countrys worst season fire on record. The Prime Minister there calling in 3,000 military reservists as the threat escalates. Weather conditions worsen as temperatures reach 109 degrees fahrenheit. A look at the destruction. More than 12 million acres burned with no clear end in sight. More than 130 massive fires are burning throughout that country, and over half of them are doing so while still not under control. Back to the breaking news were following and the tensions in the middle east. A look at the u. S. Military presence in the middle east, and what it means for the situation on the ground there, and also looking at how soleimanis death could have an impact on u. S. Relations with china and north korea. I dont keep track of regrets. And i dont add up the years. But what i do count on is boost high protein. And now, introducing new boost mobility with collagen for joint health. When taken daily, its key nutrients help support joints, muscles, and strong bones. New, boost mobility. The United States has the best military by far anywhere in the world. We have the best intelligence in the world. If americans anywhere are threatened, we have all of those targets already fully identified and i am ready and prepared to take whatever action is necessary. Of course, President Trump there praising the u. S. Military while defending his decision to order the killing of irans top military general. Some 3,000 u. S. Troops are now deploying to the middle east in the aftermath of that strike. Joining me now, a medal of honor recipient and msnbc military analyst. Colonel, happy to have you here. Walk me through a little bit of the lay of the land. I mentioned the 3,000 additional troops that are part of the 82nd airborne on their way from north carolina. What are they doing and where . Prepositioned somewhere. Before the dawn of recorded history, i was in the 82nd airborne, a young soldier. One company, the 82nd, is always on alert. All of its equipment is ready, ready to go and on a moments notice and sometimes you get in the planes and wont know until youre already in the aircraft whether or not its an exercise or youre actually going into combat. Okay. It could be followed by an entire, the rest of its battalion of the 750 troops ready to go within 72 hours and all air support. Typically theyre used to spearhead actions including securing airfields, which you may have to do in this case if theyre going to evacuate baghdad. Take everybody out to the airfield and, the airfield has to be secured and that will be done by the 82nd. Talk about the region right now. All of these countries, all surrounding iran. Theyre literally, there are tens of thousands of u. S. Troops all over the place. Whats most vulnerable now . About 100,000. Okay. Large majority of whom are at sea in the gulf one way or another. The most vulnerable, of course, are outposts. Like where . Like afghanistan, for example. We have them in syria and also in iraq. Syria, 500,000 still there. Relatively small number of people and difficult to secure them certainly against things like rockets. Second, diplomatic posts, such as consulates, for example. You saw what happened baghdad where we have the largest embassy of any of ours in the world. Its tough to secure Something Like that in hostile terrain. Talk about the numbers overall. I believe we have a look at them from your chart. So these are u. S. Military personnel that be deployed right now, not counting the 3,000 on their way, right now to the middle east. Theyre in and around the middle east. Can be deployed into the middle east on a moments notice. The large majority you see here of deployments are at sea. Aboard the harry s. Truman Carrier Battle Group and say the iranians try to take any sort of action, there are a lot of u. S. Personnel ought over the place, not counting the Embassy Personnel and such. If for lack of a better term theyre possible targets, a lot of people are all over. How do you protect them . Israelian targets, like the president said, theyre already targeted. Whats going to happen and already happening, counterattacks from proxies. Rocket attacks from militias and so on, on vulnerable locations. Theyre not going to bother big encampments of americans because of the retaliation well give. A close are look at the previous map of iraq. And at play here. So the u. S. Embassy in baghdad. Its within the green zone. It came under attack today. At least from one rocket. Not the first time, by the way, and it wont be the last either. Wont be the last. Well see a state of thf spa who are doing this . Iraniansupported and inspires militias. So that iran is culpable deniabili deniability. Its not me. I had nothing to do with it. Consulars are much more secure. Mentioned the 82nd airborne at the beginning. One of their jobs evacuate places like the consulars. Tense weeks . Weeks, months ahead, very tense. Appreciate you being here. Thank you so much. So there are two elements actually at play and not on any of the colonels maps. Talking about china and north korea. Both countries have good diplomatic relations you know, colonel, with iran. The generals death comes just after north Koreas Kim Jongun pledged to develop strategic weapons. So what does all of this mean for u. S. Relations with these countries . Gordon chang is a columnist with the daily beast and author of these books on these countries. Nuclear showdown and the coming collapse of china. Thank you for being here. Tense times we live in now. Tell us about the longstanding relationship between iran and china and north korea. Iran and china are Strategic Partners as they call themselves, and iran is very important for china, because its its entry into the middle east. Where it competes on day to day with the russians. One thing about this china iran relationship which is important in the long term is that china has actually been supporting Irans NuclearWeapons Program with technology, components, equipment, materiels, and so theyve been doing that directly, but more important doing it indirectly through pakistan. Some of this cooperation has been cut off, but nonetheless, china has always been behind the iranian program. Whats going on . Give me the big picture on this. Focusing on iran and china and north korea, i remember just last saturday we talked about the firstever joint exercises between russia, china and iran. The military exercise. Does this give us any indication about chinas willings in to stand militarily with iran . China in the past has said it would defend iran even in world war iii. A lot of that was rhetoric. You brought up something very important. The join naval exercise in the gulf symbolized to the world you had china, russia and iran together in essentially a tripartite alliance. Not formal allies but effect lively coordinate actions and worked closely. We can see it with reactions from moscow and beijing. And what has been the reaction from beijing to the u. S. Strike. Beijing has been very quiet. Sort of almost like we cant quite figure out what to do, because they did tell everyone, exercise restraint. The u. S. Should exercise for restraint but in contrast to what moscow said. They were corrosive in its talk. Talked about grave consequences. What the u. S. Did was illegal. The u. S. Was afraid to go to the security council, all the rest of it. So moscow was much, much more belligerent than beijing and the chinese are still trying to figure out what they should do, i think. Can we expect action from any of those countries in the coming weeks as a result . China will work behind the scenes to heb iran. Russia most probably the same. Russia probably more in the spotlight. Jinping, a tough guy. Wouldnt be surprise fundamental he gets fronts and center. Maybe not this week but sometime down the road. The last time weve been at a dangerous point like we are right now wouldclearly accelera last week when we talked. Right now you do have a region which is afire. Gordon chang, thank you, thanks. The bill political headline from the campaign trail. New fund raising numbers from the president s candidates and what do they mean . Less than a month away from the iowa caucuses. So when youre ready, search my denture care. Poligrip and polident. Fixed. Fresh. And just between us. When his cancer relapsed, my mom heard about st. Jude. Julian was referred to st. Jude Childrens Research Hospital where our discoveries have helped increase the survival rate of julians type of leukemia from 4 to 94 . St. Jude gave me my son back. Your son. And sons and daughters everywhere. Donate now at stjude. Org or shop wherever you see the st. Jude logo. Fundraising totals from the last months of 2019 are rolling in and some democrat ip president ial hopefuls made their largest hauls yet. Senator Bernie Sanders leads e pack with more than 34 million. Largest of any candidate yet this cycle. Sanders along with buttigieg, yang, warren, biden and booker improved from previous totals but elizabeth warren, her fundraising decreased by nearly 15 . With me now, two strategists. Michael, read the tea leaves. Are these going to reflect in the results possibly . And when iowa comes up february 3rd . When you talk about donors and fundraising, it talks about energy. Bernie sanders certainly has Grass Roots Energy with his campaign. Look at mayor petes fundraising, same is true. You look at elizabeth warrens fundraising, you see kind of that lack of enthusiasm right now and the effect that the medicare for all discussion has had on her campaign. And President Trump pulled in 46 million in the Fourth Quarter and has more than 100 million cash on hand. You see the total right there. Impressive numbers. How do these numbers stack up to fundraising numbers to previous incumbent president s in the past . Its a recordbreaking number. Thats exactly what makes the Trump Campaign feel very good about where theyre at. They got to the figure of about 154 million combining the president s Reelection Campaign with the rnc and two joint committees pulling it all together. Thats big. Another bigger thing, win reid debuted, a platform launched to rival what act blue does and get the small dollar donations. We all know its all about the money, honey. This time its really about that small donor, the gra grass root energy, coming from republicans even when democrats say its not. He is in a very good place and should not be discounted. A win led him to better totals end of 2004. If it is all about the money, honey, Hillary Clinton far outraised trump in 2016. The dynamics, have they changed or does it really matter innymore to raise a lot of money . Ill take that one and say, look, it doesnt matter a lot. Whats happened we live in a new political era really anything can shift the giving from the small donor. Look how stacked that field is of democrats. Essentially what we saw between hillary and bernie, tit for tat between the two. This is a spread out, still massive field. I remember what happened to ben carson back in 2015, beating out cruz and rubio. What happened, in march of 2015 dropped out after he didnt finish in the top three of iowa, New Hampshire, that super tuesday. Look, anything can happen. Anything can happen. Even with less than a month to go before the iowa caucuses. Michael, weigh in. The numbers once again for the democratic field, how much they raised over the last three or four months of last year. As you look at that, who do you get a sense is losing steam and picking up steam as we enter the home stretch before iowa . I think its got to be elizabeth warren. If you asked me two, three gaining or losing . Shes losing momentum. Asked me two, three months ago i would have said likely to be frontrunner. Look at the field now. Biden outpaces the rest of the candidates. Senator sanders continues to be a prodigious fundraiser. If i was a republican id be worried. Democrats have such a big field and are still raising prodigious amounts of money. Whereas republicans have a single knt theyre donating to and the Congressional Committee as well as Democratic Senatorial Committee is outraising republicans. Heading into the general election it will be interesting. Set it up for you there as republican strategist, worried . Heres the thing. I dont think republicans are worried be a sanders at all. The one trailing trump. Goes sanders, buttigieg this is january. Look at the money theyre hauling in. Yeah. Thats a lot. I think that should give pause to republican fundraisers and say whats happening here . Thats not something they counted on. Reality, the president spins situations. What we see here is a new reality and this president wants to be, it seems, at this very moment in time a wartime president that could drive more dollars, too. To democratic pockets. Lets not count anything out. We shall see. Out of time. At least for this segment. I get a sense well talk again counting down to iowa. Thank you both for being here on this saturday. Up next, how the Trump Administration is nixing federal workplace protections for lgbtq employees. Why . Your home at a great price, the way it works best for you, ill take that. Wait honey, no. When you want it. You get a delivery experience you can always count on. You get your perfect find at a price to match, on your own schedule. You get fast and Free Shipping on the things that make your home feel like you. Thats what you get when youve got wayfair. So shop now the Trump Administration is scrubbing federal workplace protections for lgbtq people. The latest move by the department of interior with rarts of Sexual Orientation deleted from its antidescripen aches guidelines. Joining me, the Deputy Director for transgender justice at the aclu lgbt and hiv projects. A lot of letters there. Whats going on here . Whats the federal government doing and why . What were seeing now is the continuation of a slow and cal lated attack by this administration on lgbtq people happened with internal policy like we see with the department of interior stripping away protections for federal workers and external policies with respect to enforcing federal law. Realtime situation. What does it mean when they remove this from the part of the interior . What does it mean for lgbtq workers . Two things i think. One if part of the strategy to make it lawful to fire or otherwise discriminate against lgbtq workers in contest of federal workers and workers at large under federal law prohibiting this because of sex, part of the larger strategy. Its actually about sending a public message that this administration is not invested in the Lgbtq Community and taking steps across the federal government to encourage discrimination against lgbtq people. Not just the government i get a sense. In years past, federal government and military led with integration and led in being forward with a lot of things, and Many Companies have followed as a result. So if you have the federal government in a situation like this, saying that were not going to protect those from the Lgbtq Community, what impact, farreaching impact does that have beyond federal workers . An important point. Hugely problematic for the entire landscape across the country. Sends a message not just to large employers like federal agencies, federal workers themselves and companies, well also see state legislative systems coming in convening and well see an escalation of assaults on lgbtq people particularly trans people. Weve seen six billaled prefiled in states targeting trans people. Its going to be a serious problem for the community particularly people of color and lgbtq those experiencing the most discrimination. And some states dont have protections for these employees. Trump was first, however, nominee to mention lgbtq citizens in his Convention Speech back in 2016. Has he delivered much on the promise that he delivered then . I would say hes delivered nothing. I dont know how much of a promise it was other than the recitation of letters in what were seeing is from inauguration through the president a systemic assault on the Lgbtq Community going as far as in october arguing before the Supreme Court it should be lawful to fire a worker because that worker is lgbtq. Looking at serious assaults on our rights. In this moment in particular its important as we hear about potentially military intervention across the globe potentially in the service of defending lgbtq people globally, remember we have an antilgbtq regime right here in the United States. Gay rights now. You see the trend lines right now. Where do you see it happening . I see our movement, i see that people are going to continue to fight and build power. We are a public acceptance. End of the day, a lot of things are under assault. We have to be extra vigilant because we have a lot of work to do appreciate your time. Thank you. 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