Transcripts For MSNBCW The Last Word With Lawrence ODonnell 20161117

Justice. A president of the United States should not have a racist at his side. Unacceptable. Sometimes it can feel awfully long. Believe me, i know. A lot of activity going on upstairs. Its a knife fight. A stalinist purge. Its disorganized and chaotic. Its very calm. Its very structured. And anyone saying anything else, its someone who is just bitter. Its messed up. Oh, its really messed up. Another name in the mix for secretary of state. Nikki haley. I have no idea if she knows anything about the complexity of the world. Its less frighten to hear a haley than a bolton or july july. Bolton is so far out there. He is bombing everyone in the world. Ive been all over the world. Honorary knighthood from great britain. You look at their background and are you sure this is the right fit . We only know priebus and bannon. Rescind the appointment of mr. Bannon. We will not be involved in the expansion of bigotry, of racism, sexism, homophobia. We have not been contacted. That is very good news. That is what the state Department Press secretary said today. We have not been contacted. The question was have you heard from anyone on the Trump Transition Team. We have not been contacted. That was the answer at the state department today. Same answer at the pentagon. Same answer at the justice department. Its the same answer at every Single Department and agency in the federal government controlled by the president. There is a sign in the lobby of the state department pointing to the transition office. But there is no one there. Because the Trump Transition Team has not supplied the name of the person who will be the official contact for the state department. The state department has a big briefing book waiting for that person. The state department has all kinds of guidelines waiting for that person. They have all sorts of advice theyre ready to give that person. But they cant give that material to anyone but the person who is specifically and officially designated by the Trump Administration as the state department contact. And there so far no such person. This is something that no one outside of the Trump Transition Office should worry about. This is something that america should not worry about. The state department alone has 400 jobs that the president has to fill. I showed you the plum book last night, this giant thing. Its called officially United States government policy and supporting positions. This is the book that contains all of the jobs, 4,000 jobs that the president has to fill. Everybody in washington wants one of these jobs studies this book. Its called the plum book. As the people in washington turn the pages looking for the plum they want, the job that they want. Here are the state Department Pages right here in the middle of the book. About 40 jobs per page. Ten page, 400 jobs. Including, of course, the legislative management officer. Actually, there is one for the house, for the senate. All the undersecretaries, the assistant secretaries. The special envoy for monitoring and combatting antisemitism. Thats in here. All sorts of jobs that the public doesnt know are here. All sorts of jobs that most people have never heard about, that i have never heard about. Rudy giuliani, possible candidate for secretary of state has never heard about. The remarkable slowness of the Trump Transition Team in filling all these jobs is a very good thing. The incompetence of the Trump Transition Team the likes of which we have never seen is a bad thing. And so the longer incompetent people delay in doing what theyre doing, were always better off, whenever incompetent people are delaying what theyre going do. And in this case, the government will essentially be run by the people who are running it now. The top level obama appointees will leave by inauguration day. But the professional permanent staff that lies right beneath them will still be in place, making everything work. Until the trump appointees start populating the offices on top of them. So far there is no indication that we should be eager for the trump employees to take their places in those offices. The rumored frontrunner for trumps secretary of state is former new york city mayor Rudolph Giuliani who has no Foreign Policy experience. He would be the first secretary of state whose last Public Office was mayor, the most thoroughly Domestic Office we have. Rudy giuliani is on the list not because of competence, he is on entirely because of loyalty to donald trump. In pretrump washington where the old rules applied, Rudy Giuliani could never survive the Senate Confirmation process. The fbi background check would show he had an out of control affair with his press secretary while he was mayor of new york, that his marital life became unhinged with his wife kicking him out of the mayors residence of gracie mansion, that he took up residence in a house apartment on the other hand by friends of his. The friends were a loving gay couple. And that is the best thing i know about Rudy Giuliani. Is that in his most desperate moment, desperate time of need, he turned to a gay couple for help. He didnt think no, i cant do that, it will look bad if i go to them. He went where he felt safe. And good for him. Good that he did that. But he needed to feel safe. Because he turned his life into a public mess, a public mess that the new york tabloids covered daily, and that the country never paid attention to, and the country has forgotten. If they did Pay Attention to it. Rudy giuliani would bring conflicts of interest into any Senate Confirmation hearing that would be impossible to clear if, if confirmation hearing operate under the same Gravitational Forces that they used to in the pretrump era. But we are in a new era, a new era where Campaign Rules certainly dont apply. And who knows what other rules dont apply. The question for the republicans running the confirmation hearings in the United States senate is whose rules are they going to use. Their own rules . Or trump rules. Senator Jeff Sessions is reportedly on the trump short list to be either the next secretary of defense or the next attorney general of the United States. According to the old rules, senator Jeff Sessions could not be confirmed by the United States senate. Because in fact he wasnt. When Ronald Reagan nominated him for Federal District court judge ship, the Senate Judiciary committee rejected his nomination. Something the committee had not done in 50 years. Jeff sessions is now the chairman of the committee that rejected him. He sits beside the ranking democrat Patrick Leahy who voted against Jeff Sessions nomination in that committee in 1986. Strom thurmond, the former segregationist candidate for president was the chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee in 1986 and he tried to get Jeff Sessions nomination through that committee, but he couldnt. Because republicans defected and voted with all the democrats to reject Jeff Sessions nomination when they discovered that when he was working as a prosecutor in alabama, he called the naacp unamerican. And he addressed a black lawyer as boy. Thats why Jeff Sessions couldnt get through Senate Confirmation process under the old rules followed by democrats and republicans. He couldnt get through a republicancontrolled committee. If Jeff Sessions had been an editor of Something Like breitbart, Ronald Reagan wouldnt have even nominated him. The Reagan Administration discovered those things about jeff session only after he was nominated. But that was then. And trump is now. Trump is now. And we dont know what the rules are now. Someone who traffics in much more than what Jeff Sessions said back then will be with the president every day in the white house as his senior strategist. We dont know who will be in that president s cabinet. And we dont know that now for two reasons. Donald trump hasnt decided. And most importantly, we dont know if the old rules still apply. Joining us now, managing editor of Bloomberg Politics and cohost of with all due respect on msnbc. Also with us mike murphy host of the podcast radio free gop. He is an msnbc political analyst. Mike murphy, i want to go to you for the republican perspective on this transition. Its looking pretty messy from where were sitting. Yeah, its messy. Now weve had messy transitions before. But were in New Territory here. I think one of the main reasons why i think there are two reasons. One, there is a culture of infighting in the trump political world. We saw so much of that during the campaign. And its not surprising that hasnt changed. Its just unfortunate. And second, i think most if not all of the senior trump people, i believe this on some authority, thought they were going to lose. So there wasnt that much focus on the transition, at least not as much as you get on a campaign that is highly confident theyre going win. So theyre kind of behind the 8 ball to begin with. The infighting to me is the more worrisome thing because normally these transition efforts are about expanding to get the widest possible talent pool. And they seem to be kind of in a purge mode. And that will not serve president elect trump very well. Were going break in here. We have some breaking news about the trump transition. Were going to be joined by phone now by nbcs kristen welker. Kristen . Hi there, lawrence. Good evening. Im just learning that according to a source familiar with the transition process, president elect donald trump intends to select Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as his National Security adviser. Again, this is according to a source familiar with the transition process. Just to remind everyone who flynn is, he ran the Defense Intelligence agency from 2012 to 2014. He served as a top National Intelligence adviser to general Stanley Mcchrystal in iraq. He was one of trumps top National Security advisers throughout the campaign, as you will recall, a number of Foreign Policy experts distanced themselves from donald trump. Not Michael Flynn. This is someone who is considered a loyalist and as we have watched this transition process unfold roiled by reports of turmoil, donald trump seems to be really focusing right now in this initial phase on loyalists. So it would fit into that broader pattern. Now i would of course caveat all of that that until we hear this from the president elect himself, its not etched in stone. But at this hour, according to the source who is familiar with the transition process, president elect donald trump intends to select Lieutenant General Michael Flynn as his National Security adviser. This is not a position that requires confirmation. This is a pick that like his chief of staff, he gets to choose on his own and have installed. Kristen, any word on when this announcement will be made . I do not have exact timing, but i wouldnt be surprised if we get word within the next 24 hours. Sometimes tomorrow, youll recall eric trump said earlier today its likely were going have some names by tend of the day today. That has not happened. They are feeling some pressure to get some of these names out to start filling in the blanks of this cabinet. So i have not been given exact timing. But i wouldnt be surprised if we learned within the next day or two at the latest. A key point here is that this is a white house job. No Senate Confirmation involved. And general flynn would certainly have a bumpy road in the Senate Confirmation. He would. He is a very controversial figure for a variety of reasons. You know, someone again controversial not just among democrats who are obviously not going to like most of Donald Trumps appointments, but controversial among many people in the National Security establishment, many people in the republican mainstream. The thing about this appointment that, again, goes to me is if this is true, right, National Security advisers, Like White House chief of staffs, their job if theyre competent and qualified and effective is to be honest brokers in the white house. Thats what theyre there for. Theyre not there to be advocates, generally. Theyre not there to be partisans, ideologues. The ones who do the job very well are the ones who lay out the range of options, filter down the range of options that are available tohe president , lay them out in an honest, brokerish way an let the president ke the choice among those option, which is why in general, when youre putting together a white house staff and putting together a good one, youre looking for someone there who is not going to be heavyhanded. Not someone who has profound passionate commitments, but someone who will play that role of honest broker. Michael flynn not cut that from that cloth. Someone who has very strong views about everything in the realm of National Security and defense. Mike murphy, that point about it doesnt require Senate Confirmation, so you get to pick who you want. But it obviously is a factor in this. But as john says, that job is the one that is physically closest to the president every day. Closer than secretary of state, closer than secretary of defense. And is supposed to be the funnel through which all of that information comes . Right. Its originally a super bureaucratic job to balance all the interests of the security aspects of the cabinet between defense and intelligence. And of course the state department. But really, beginning with the nixon white house, with henry kissinger, it became sort of a super powerful position. But john is right. Its traditionally the honest broker job. The pattern were seeing here, if this is true, and it probably. Its been leak kind of before he was the frontrunner, is that president elect trump is going or the people he knows and people he feels are loyal to him. Thats not necessarily a bad thing. But the trouble thing is i dont know President Trump knows that many people. Im not sure how big the menu. And there is, as john said, some bit of what would i say, controversy that while general flynn is well experienced in intelligence matter, he is a controversial figure in the National Security establishment in both parties. Were joined now by ken vogel of politico. Ken, you have some reporting on general flynn tonight . Yeah, thats right. I was told that general flynn and a guy by the name of carl higby, a former navy s. E. A. L. Who served two tours in iraqi freedom, that flynn and higby were seen recently at the pentagon meeting with some official theres. So i think that we have some seen some preparations being made in this regard, even as you reported in the opening we havent seen the landing teams as they call them actually meeting with folks at these agencies in official context. Now that said, there was just a Conference Call that the Trump Transition Team held with reporters in which they said that they are announcing their landing team tomorrow on the National Security front. This is the nsc. So flynn would be included potentially in that, as well as doj, department of defense, and department of state. So theyre clearly making moves. They may not be moves that insiders like. Flynn has said he would support cutting half the workforce, the civilian workforce at the pentagon. So you see already he is controversial. But that fits in. That reformminded approach fits in with the one that donald trump has espoused so far. John, once again, we see loyalty seems to be the number one characteristics for Donald Trumps selection, general flynn being tightly loyal to donald trump throughout the campaign. Yes. And to get to some of the substance of why flynn is so controversial, in the National Security establishment, it is somewhat frowned upon for people to take extremely harsh partisan roles in campaigns. This is a guy who stood taunt Republican Convention and revelled in the chants of lock her up about hillary clinton. Who has called president obama a liar, who has said the u. S. Justice system is corrupt. He has become someone who for a lot of his former colleagues, people like Stanley Mcchrystal who looked at general flynn and sort of said this is not the person i thought i knew. Not the kind of person who is going to be more buttoned up kind of military figure and that partisan tone. Also, someone who has advocated for a much tighter ties with russia and had raised some eyebrows in terms of some of the consorting he did around washington, seen at a dinner party famously sitting next to Vladimir Putin. Again, raised a lot of eyebrows among National Security officials who looked at him and thought these kind of behaviors were not what they had thought he was like previously. And there is kind of an undercurrent of the stories we read during the campaign this is a guy we thought we knew who seems to have changed in a profound way and become this much more controversial figure, someone who i think youre right, lawrence, put in a position where he had to get Senate Confirmation, again, under the old rules that you stipulated before would have a very hard time. Senate confirmations people should remember in these kinds of jobs, theyre normally routine for defense secretary. And what youre look for is how much turns do you have with the Minority Party . How much trouble do the democrats cause for a particular nominee on the way to actually being confirmed. And usually its very, very little. And in some of these instances, they clearly would be able to stop them and theyd get republicans to switch and stop them. Go ahead, mike. You know, lawrence, what john just mentioned there about the ties with russia. He advocated for closer cooperation with russia in the middle east. Those would be things that would raise concerns among republicans who are already uneasy with the nice things that president elect trump has said about putin, has said about warming of relations with russia. And people around him like flynn, like paul manafort, his former Campaign Chairman who my sources say is still talking to president elect donald trump and has close ties to the prorussian Ukrainian Party in and oligarchs there. Those are the things that would raise concerns among hawkish republicans. Hold on, mike. I want to get to kristen before she has to go. Kristen welker, the Trump Campaign has said they will have their official designees at the state department, defense department, and National Security agencies tomorrow. What are we hearing about the rest of the government . Some of those they are more than a week away from getting their official contacts ready. Thats right. And i think theyre feeling some pressure to fill in these blanks before thanksgiving, many of them at least. If you look back at past administrations, theyre probably a little bit behind where former president george w. Bush was. He filled out his cabinet fairly quickly. President obama, it took him a number of days to do that. And it took former president bill clinton even longer. So theyre not so far behind at the same time, lawrence, i stress that point, they are feeling the pressure. They want to start naming names. Particularly because they have all of these reports of turmoil. One more point ill just make about flynn is that were already seeing, and weve seen democrats come forward and start to express their opposition. Adam schiff, who is the Ranking Member on the House Elect Committee said earlier today id be worried about an impulsive president with an impulsive National Security adviser. So even though this isnt a position that necessarily requires confirmation, i think youre going to see some pushback if and when this does happen. Kristen welker, thank you very much with this breaking news tonight. Thank you. Mike murphy, i think i cut you off there as kristen was joining us. No, just a point about general flynn. He has a reputation for having a very strong point of view, which is not necessarily a bad thing. But in that job at the nsc, youre supposed to be the fair broker that all the other interests can work with. And there was this leak story about early in the process for candidate trump to get Intelligence Briefings that flynn attended and kept interrupting the professional briefer from the Intelligence Community, leading governor christie who at that time had a larger profile in trumpland to interrupt and tell him to pipe down. Thats not normally the personality you see in a National Security adviser. Supposed to get all the feuding departments and agencies to work well together. And ken vogel, what is the word youre getting on other potential nominees . Today was a day when other names started to emerge. People like nikki haley and others for different jobs, additions to the possible lists. Yeah, i think were going to see them focus on these landing teams as they call them, and the ones that interact with the actual agencies and the sort of facilitate the transition of power. And well see some hints in them, the folks that are named to them. Folks who are going to be possibly nominees themselves, or the allies of those folks will be the folks on these landing teams. Thats why i think this news about general flynn was so interesting coming the day before they announced the landing team for National Security. So thats something to keep an eye on these landing teams. And it also, as kristen suggested, an effort by the trump team to change the narrative. Its not a coincidence they had this press call hastily organized tonight. An hour before the call they sent out a email to reporters. Every morning theyre going to have calls to update reporters on who donald trump is meeting with as well as possible nomination announcements. And john, the crucial thing about the socalled landing teams, the official designees, thats how you actually populate those 400 jobs in the state department. Getting the secretary is the easy part. Compared to what the rest of those jobs are. Yes. And its one of these things that goes to one doesnt want to disqualify people from the presidency who have never served in the military who are have never served in Public Office before. Its fine in principle that an outsider could come in and become president of the United States. But one of the things youre lacking if you come from that background is a lot of connections to the kind of networks of policy and regulatory and administrative specialists who you would populate a government with. Donald trump obviously know mismany people in the country. But does he know 4,000 people through his extended networks. I dont mean personally. In the way that someone like barack obama, george w. Bush, bill clinton could with effort and preparation eventually fill those 4,000 jobs with people who all at least met minimum qualifications and often exceeded minimum qualifications. Its not clear if donald trump has that. Even if he thought he was going to win, he does not have that and he did not think he was going to win. Theyre in a difficult posture. I agree with you in some sense that letting the bureaucrats, if you will, letting the career government officials run things is an okay idea for a while. The problem is those jobs will eventually be filled. And the question is at some point when they start to just fill them with people, if theyre really late to this party, who will those people be . And how much damage can they do . And most of these jobs are not Senate Confirmation jobs. Go ahead. And i think they limited the pool tonight. Because they announced on his press call that they would have not just a lobbying band for people incoming, but a fiveyear post employment lobbying ban. Thats unprecedented. Thats more than twice as long as what president obama had. And president obama actually had a difficult time finding people who were career Government Services professionals because lobbying is such a part of the industry here that, you know, anyone who wor in this community who is qualified, chances are at some point in time they will do something akin to lobbying whether theyre actually registered as a lobbyist or not. It was recognize the see this was an effort to drain the swamp sort of approach to creating a new government. But i think it also may play into this problem that he is having of attracting a wide pool of talented and experienced folks. Mike murphy, you are the problem with you are not a lucky republican. They need you. Well, the problem with draining the swamp is you also kill everything that lives in the swamp. And some swamp life is useful and has an important role. I agree the point about the career staff. But one of the worries, im up here today. I have a role, a defense oriented think tank. One thing you got to remember, if you get your top appointments wrong, you start to lose professional staff. Yes. And because Donald Trumps controversial to begin with, there is some stress. Like the Master Sergeants of the army, the machinery runs on this professional staff. You dont want to lose them. And so you have to be careful about the signals you send there has been talk about some of the people in the National Security council, the long time not partisan staff. And ill be interested to see if the next wave of leaks indicates unhappiness there. Thats something the trump people have to manage. Lastly, id say haste does not solve the problem. If theyre Getting Press heat for being slow, thats bad. But better to be slow and right than quick and not good. I would be careful if i were them about rushing stuff if theyre not ready. It looks like in many areas theyre not time. We have to get a quick break. Thank you all. Really appreciate it. Thanks. Coming up next, the man donald trump has named to be his senior strategist. Could not, absolutely could not pass a background check if, if were still using the old rules. How else do you think he gets around so fast . Take the reins this holiday and get the mercedesbenz youve always wanted during the winter event. Now lease the 2017 gle350 for 579 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. [burke] hot dog. Seen it. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. 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Its especially so when its a customer thats doing such good and important work for the environment. Together, were building a better california. I call upon mr. Trump to rescind the appointment that he made of mr. Bannon. A president of the United States should not have a racist at his side. Unacceptable. That was senator Bernie Sanders saying in effect that he wants washington to operate under the old rules, where someone like steve bannon would never be allowed to visit the white house, never mind work there. 169 House Democrats signed a letter to the president elect today urging him to, quote, rescind this appointment immediately. Under the old rules, steve bannon could never get a security clearance. But there could be a new rule, the trump rule. The daily beast reports today that if steve bannon is denied a security clearance, the president could simply overrule that denial and order that security clearance. Joining us now, tim mack, Senior Correspondent for the daily beast. Tim, you reported on this extensively in the daily beast today, including the various processes involved in getting the security clearance. What are people telling you about someone like steve bannon going through the process to get a security clearance . Look, steve bannon raise as lot of regular flags. And what National Security experts are telling me, in particular, these experts are experts in getting security clearances is that he would have a bumpy road. He would have a very difficult time getting a top secret clearance if he was anyone else. When you go through this top secret security clearance process, they ask about your foreign tire, whether you have any ties with violent groups, whether you have ever been arrested. And steve bannon has ties to the notorious altright. He has ties with far right groups in europe, in germany, in france, and in the past he has been charged with domestic abuse. This was some time ago, though, in 1996. And what are the what do the experts tell you about the likelihood of a president overruling a judgment on security clearances . Do we know whether, if that is done it would be made public . Would we know that the president overruled and in effect granted the security clearance himself . A couple of things. Firstly, weve never had someone appointed to such a senior level in the government in the white house, the top strategist to the president to need to set very many precedents in this regard. But ultimately, the president can choose who he or she surrounds himself or herself with. Steve bannon, if president elect trump wants him to have a security clearance, will get a security clearance because the president can overrule the Intelligence Community and the fbi investigators. Now that may come at the expense of his relationship with lawmakers, the fbi, with the office of the director of National Intelligence. But he can do it. But as i say, will we know if he does it . Is it a public process where we would know that he has done that . Its not a public process. Its possible that that information could get out there. But fbi investigators and people in the office of the director of National Intelligence typically keep these sorts of things under wraps. But its impossible to tell if that sort of information might leak if there are disaffected bureau agents, if there are people working intelligence who are unhappy about a man who under any normal circumstances would not be given access to the nations top secrets. Tim mak, thanks for your reporting tonight. Thanks for joining us. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Coming up, a republican senator wants the senate now to investigate the hacking of the Democratic National committee emails and any possible linkage to the russian government and Vladimir Putin. Russian expert will join us and also get his reaction to this news that general Michael Flynn is on the verge of being announced as Donald Trumps National Security adviser. P is for privileges. O is for ordinarily i wouldnt. L is for layers of luxury. A is for alll the way back. R is for read my mind. And i. Cant see a thing. S. See you in the morning. Polaris, from united. laughs. here it is. Hey dad wishes do come true. The lincoln wish list sales event is on. Get exceptional offers on the lincoln family of luxury vehicles. Sign and drive off in a new 2017 lincoln mkc with zero down and a complimentary first months payment. Like their photo claims tool. It helps settle your claim quickly, which saves time, which saves money. And when they save, you save. Thats auto and Home Insurance for the modern world. Esurance, an allstate company. Click or call. Esurance does insurance a smarter way, which saves money. Like bundling home and auto coverage, which reduces red tape, which saves money. And when they save, you save. Thats home and Auto Insurance for the modern world. Esurance, an allstate company. Click or call. Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn was a Campaign Adviser to donald trump when he said this i dont think anybody knows it was russia that broke into the dnc. She is saying russia, russia, russia. Maybe it was. I mean, it could be russia. But it could also be china. It could also be lots of other people. It could also be somebody that is sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, okay . Did general flynn guide him in that answer . Did he approve that answer . Did he give him that answer . Admiral mike roger, the current director of the National Security agency and the commander of u. S. Cybercommand visited donald trump today at trump tower. Here is wt admiral rogers said yesterday. There shouldnt be any doubt in anybodys mind. This was not something that was done casually. This was not something that was done by chance. This was not a target that was selected purely arbitrarily. This is a conscious effort by a nation state to attempt to achieve a specific effect. So maybe now donald trump and maybe general flynn think it wasnt somebody sitting on a bed fooling around, doing some casual hacking. Senator Lindsey Graham now wants congress, the senate specifically, to hold hearings to investigate what russia has been up to. Senator graham says russias misadventures throughout the world, including whether they were involved in hacking into the dnc should be investigated. Were they involved in cyberattacks that had a political component to it in our elections, graham asked. If so, putin should be punished. Joining us now, adrian karitnitski. The Donald Trumps National Security adviser lieutenant flynn. Lieutenant flynn general flynn has a very strong relationship with russia today. The main propaganda vehicle externally of russia. He participated in their tenth anniversary celebration in moscow, this vehicle of disinformation. This is russia tv . Its russian tv, the broadcast to the outside world. Theyre on all your cable stations. In any event, he was there, and he has been a frequent, you know, guest op their talk shows. He has a cozy relationship with this kremlin propaganda vehicle. And he is also an advocate of a close cooperative relationship with russia. So i think this is actually kind of related to what the head of the nsa said, which is mischief against the enemies of russia or the critics of russia. We saw it in the dnc. But we can also see it potentially operating within the Trump Administration. That is to say if there are particular candidates or people in positions of power that russia doesnt like, they could try to knock them off to create a better array of policy makers that would be more suitable to kremlin interests. Its really fascinating. So what Lindsey Graham is talking about there is the tip of a possible iceberg. Hack dnc emails, that could be small compared to what they do now. Absolutely. Current members of congress, people who speak out, there have been a lot of these hacks by these two entities that have been identified as russian linked. And theyre called cozy bear and i dont remember the other. There are these two entities that have been linked to hacks on against western entities, including george soros foundations, including the dnc, including john mccain, including ad infinitum. This may be the last time we hear a president of the United States say Something Like this. At least for four years. Lets listen to this. In recent years, weve made historic investments in nato, increased americas presence in europe. And todays nato, the worlds greatest alliance is as strong and as ready as its ever been. And i am confident that just as a americas commitment to the Transatlantic Alliance has endured for seven decades, whether its been under a democratic or republican administration, that commitment will continue. Including our pledge and our treaty obligation to defend every ally. That last line noted that that commitment will continue, our pledge to defend every ally. When Vladimir Putin hears that tonight, he can look forward to january where that kind of talk stops according to the candidate who donald trump was. Well, i think that the array of people that hes going to put in and the candidates that are being discussed short of general flynn are people who will try to prevent that kind of commitment from being watered down. These are pretty hawkish people, people who are committed to the Transatlantic Alliance. I think where trump will push is to push these allies into greater military spending so that there are no free riders. But losing the loose talk about having separate but equal relaonships within the Nato Alliance is pretty dramatic and pretty scary to many of these countries. What would you be looking for in any of the personnel decisions coming up in the Trump Administration that would be that would send a strong message to russia . Well, i think that most of the candidates have been touted for secretary of defense and secretary of state are well, you may question their competence, but certainly the signals that sent to russia would be pretty tough. Even Rudy Giuliani spoke about a containment policy visavis russia post crimea. So senator session, senator corker, these are people who have very tough positions on russia, very strong positions regarding lethal weapons to ukraine. They are likely to give no comfort that means they could become prey to russias cyberwar. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Coming up, Donald Trumps big kkk supporter david duke, who has never been happier with result of a president ial election than he is now has once again gone on an antisemitic attack, this time against a United States senator. Even a rodent ridealong. [dad] alright, buddy, dont forget anything [kid] i wont, dad. [captain rod] happy Tuesday Morning captain rod here. Its pretty hairy out on the interstate. Traffic is literally crawling, but there is some movement on the eastside overpass. Getting word of another collision. [burke] it happened. December 14th, 2015. And we covered it. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum youre hetruck, suv. Used car, thats smart. Truecar can help. Its great for nding a new car, but you already knew that. Its also great for finding the perfect used car. Youll see what a fair price is, and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. So, no matter what youre looking for. 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He wanted it to be electors making independent decisions about who should be the best president s. He didnt expect them to ban together and basically make political alliances to choose the next president. And so Alexander Hamilton himself tried to get an amendment to the constitution that would change his own design of the Electoral College. But he failed. And yesterday Barbara Boxer, senator from california took up Alexander Hamiltons mantle and advanced in a constitutional amendment to change basically eliminate the Electoral College. She introduced that in the United States senate. And so today, so today david duke tweeted this. Thank god our ancestors established a just system. These jewish supremacists should stop trying to change everything. Were joined now by jonathan greenblatt. He is the ceo of the antidefamation league. Jonathan, here is someone who has cheered the election of donald trump. And the only thing he sees, the only thing he sees when Barbara Boxer takes the floor in the United States senate is a jewish person. He doesnt see anything else. Right, right. Look. David duke is a great example of the kkk redux. 50 years ago he would have been hiding behind a white hood. Today he hides behind a keyboard. But the result is the same. A twisted vision that really doesnt understand what makes america great. And here we have steve bannon in the white house. Someone who in sworn testimony by his wife said that he didnt want his kids going to school with jews in los angeles. This is an unthinkable thing in any previous white house. If that was on the record for anyone, you would never have to have object. Have you ever, has the adl ever objected to anyone a president has chosen to bring into the white house on the job . Certainly not in recent memory. But these are very unusual times. And look, even if we dont focus on the gossip, the facts are the same. This guy created breitbart, essentially as the haven for the altright. A band of White Supremacists who hate immigrants, jews, muslims, African Americans, anyone who doesnt comport to their notion of white supremacy. And what do you expect . Do you feel like there is now any kind of new jurisdiction for the adl . There has to be a new attentiveness. Well, the adl was founded over 100 years ago with a mission to stop the defamation of the jewish people and secure justice and fair treatment for all. Well fought for African Americans in the civil right community, the Lgbt Community in the 90s. And today were fighting for immigrants and people in all minority communities who find themselves under assault by this new resurgent movement of white supremacy. What do you say to the people who say well, so and so, whoever it, whether donald trump or anyone, cant be an antisemite because he is related to, because his soninlaw, because something is happening out there, lawrence. Since last tuesdays election night, we have seen a surge in hate crimes across the country. We have seen vandalism, acts of violence, verbal harassment. In real world, im not even talking what is happening on social media. So its hard to ascertain intent, but the outcome is pretty scary. Jonathan greenblatt, thank you very much for joining us. Its a sad subject. I wish we werent in it. Me too. But here we are. Thank you very much. Thank you. Coming up, the big changes the democrats made in washington today as they now brace for their role as the Opposition Party in congress. Your Insurance Company wont replace the full value of your totaled new car. The guy says, you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong Insurance Company. With new car replacement™, well replace the full value of your car plus depreciation. Liberty mutual insurance. He wears his army hat, he gets awalks aroundliments. With his army shirt looking all nice. And then people just say, thank you for serving our country and im like, thats my dad. Male vo no one deserves a warmer welcome home. Thats why were hiring 10,000 members of the military community by the end of 2017. Im very proud of him. Male vo comcast. Democrats in the senate today voted in a new leader. But they might have more than one leader now. Thats next. Simulation initiated. [beeping] take on any galaxy with a car that could stop for you. Simulation complete. The new nissan rogue. Rogue one a star wars story. In theaters december 16th. The United States senate on the democratic side todayad their election for the new leadership team. Chuck schumer, as expected, was elected the democratic leader. The minority leader of the senate by his Democratic Senate colleagues. Bernie sanders was elected to a leadership position created for him. They are calling it the chair of outreach. Elizabeth warren is in the position called vice chair, which was the position Chuck Schumer had before he was el rated to minority leader. There are two kinds of leaders now in the Democratic Senate. One is the leader of the senate, the leader of the democrats in the senate that is clearly Chuck Schumer. But who will be the leader of the opposition, which is a different job . Unofficial job. Joining us now, rt rybak, vice chair of the Democratic National committee and the former mayor of minneapolis. He is the author of poll hole confidential my life as mayor of minneapolis. Mayor of minneapolis being makes you a distinguished successor to the last mayor who found himself a democratic nominee for president , hubert humphrey. Thats quite a distinguished lineage you have there. Im wondering now. We know Chuck Schumer is going to be the minority leader in the senate. Thats a job that is filled with a variety of burdens that make it difficult for him to always be in all instances the strongest voice of opposition in the senate. That makes me wonder about Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in the senate. Both of whom are in a position to simply step forward whenever they choose as strong voices of opposition to what the republicans are trying to push. What do you expect to see from Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in this new senate . I dont think their voices ra going to change at all. Its what democrats have always been saying. We are stronger together, but were going to fight like heck if anybody tries to divide us. Thats what trump talked about in the campaign. If he goes back there, were going to fight like heck. Its why i supportedeith ellison for supporting the chair in the dnc. I know keith. He is not going to take a lot of stuff. He is going to be in the halls of arguing. But he is going to go out to the protests and talk to people. Its why somebody like a tim ryan can go to a bar in youngstown just as well as in congress and talk to working people. Democrats know how to carry the message. We just have to take some telephone new voices and bring them forward. What is your advice to democrats when legislation starts to come their way in the house and in the senate, especially if it is a, say giant tax cut that includes some tax provisions that they like . Well, i believe we stand strongly against having the tax code used to make the income disparity in america any worse than it already. Democrats know that. I think we should not do what the republicans did, which is to spend eight years say thanksgiving would do absolutely nothing. Because we do stand for the country. So if there is a big bill to do Infrastructure Improvements and it is about working people, lets do that. But lets absolutely fight with every ounce that we have to protect health care and make it even better. And i think the fact of the matter is this is a tough moment for democrats. But its also exciting to see so many people out there mobilized. Lets take all that energy. Lets be the democrats we know we have always been. And maybe every once in a while in an opposition that lets you get even more tougher and clear about what youre about. I think thats a good thing for democrats. And what do you say to democrats who are dispirited, who have turned off their tvs. They dont want to hear any of this news. They want to rest from all of this . Boy, i would too. Id like to curl up in a ball like hillary said she would, but she is out. And i think we all have to go do that. The fact of the matter is we dont have the luxury of pulling back from this. I remember the first few months of the Reagan Administration when all sorts of things happened too fast. We cannot allow that to happen. Get out there. Battle, fight. We know what we believe and well come back and win. Or not if we sit back. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Thanks. Msnbcs live coverage continues now into the the 11th hour with brian williams. Thats next. The breaking news tonight, two big names have surfaced for two big jobs in the incoming Trump Administration, including a trump confidante and a popular governor who would be a first as secretary of state. All in the family, the growing influence of trumps soninlaw jared kushner, a close advisor through the campaign and transition and now he may be headed to the west wing with or without formal title. And Hillary Clintons first public appearance since conceding the president ial race. Tonight she speaks out on division, defeat, and disappointment. The 11th hour begins now