Transcripts For MSNBCW The Last Word With Lawrence ODonnell 20170126

Thats for us tonight. Well see you again tomorrow. Now its time for the last word with lawrence odonnell. Good evening. Im sorry. I went long into your first minute. Every time i see that video of that reporter. When she gets to the spot of saying i dont understand how you take the oil. And you see that shock, that deadly serious shock and how fully she means that question of how would you take the oil, and there is no answer to it. No. And you think about, you know, iraqis watching that social media compilation of trump talking about that. You think of american soldiers among their iraqi counterparts right now in iraq having to explain what our country stands for. Its just incredibly dangerous. I dont know how they do it. Rachel, thank you very much. Thanks, lawrence. Appreciate it. We have new protests right now in new york city and other cities against donald trump. Protesters are carrying signs saying resist. The biggest such sign was hung today from a crane in washington, d. C. And today donald trump announced that he is going to launch an investigation into all those criminals who have died and not taken themselves off the voting roles. Seems like a weird fight. The election that i won was rigged there is no evidence of that. We live right now with a white house that puts out alternative facts. He is just making stuff up. I havent seen evidence of this kind of widespread numbers that weve been hearing about. To be so insecure as to declare that 3 million to 5 million americans voted illegally is really strange. Half the people in this country illegally of voting age voted. Thats as high a percentage, kellyanne, as people here legally voting. The numbers are just so far out of imagination. I frankly feel very sad about the president making this claim. I felt sorry for him. You won. Move on. There is a lot of people that are dead that are on roles. People are on the roles in two different start, his daughter tiffany is registered in two states. Steve bannon is registered in two states. I want them to investigate are all the people who dont get a chance to vote. Im 100 convinced that if given a chance donald trump would rather have won the popular vote and lost the actual election than the other way around . Another day, another strange plot twist in the presidency of donald trump. Today the president announced that he is going to launch a Major Investigation of some people very close to him, including his chief strategist steve bannon, his nominee for treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin. And in the strangest of all, his youngest daughter Tiffany Trump. I will be asking for a Major Investigation into voter fraud. Those who are illegal, and even those registered to vote who are dead. And many for a long time. Depending on results, we will strengthen up voting procedures. We already have results of the investigation. In the three cases i mentioned, Tiffany Trump is registered to vote in two state, pennsylvania and new york. Trumps nominee for treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin is registered in two states. And steve bannon was registered in two state, florida and new york, until today. In fact, when the president tweeted at 7 10 00 a. M. Today that he was going to have an investigation of, quote, those registered to vote in two state, steve bannon was still registered to vote in two states. His name finally came off the roles in florida during Business Hours today. Today. Now imagine youre working for president ial candidate who rants about voter fraud. And a which in his mind includes anyone who is registered to vote in two states. Now imagine if youre steve bannon. And you remember, youre registered to vote in florida. And you remember you registered to vote in new york. I remember all three times that i registered to vote in three different states sequentially. And i never once unregistered to vote in any state ever. I might still be registered to vote in massachusetts. I dont know. So ive surely been on the voting roles in two states for a while, at least twice. But if i was working for a politician who talked about that stuff all the time, id make sure i wasnt still registered in both of those places. Today. Not yesterday, not last week, not last month, not last year. Today steve bannon got his name off the voting roles in florida just today. So who now is going to approach Tiffany Trump carrying what badge to question her about being registered to vote in two states . We dont know. We have no more specifics on who will actually conduct this investigation. But one thing donald trump already knows without any investigation at all of illegal voters and without any exit polls of those millions of illegal voters he imagines. The one thing he knows for sure about them is who they voted for. Were going to launch an investigation to find out and then the next time and i will say this. Of those votes cast, none of them come to me. None of them come to me. They would all be for the other side. None of them come to me. But when you look at the people that are registered, dead, illegal, and two states, and some cases maybe three states . We have a lot to look into. So were going to investigate voter fraud in all 50 states, right . Or just the crucial swing states that decide the Electoral College . Or should we investigate just the biggest states that always vote for the democrat . You look at california and new york. Im not sure that those statements were we didnt look at those two states in particular. There are big states, very populous states in urban areas where you would have spent more time campaigning. But he played the game according to the rules of the game which is a strategy. That being said, i think when you look at where a lot of the potential of a lot of these issues could have occurred in bigger states, thats where i think were going to look. The White House Press secretary gave the same emphasis the president did to exactly what theyre looking for in this criminal investigation. There is a lot of people that are dead on rolls. That are on the rolls in two different state, sometimes three different states. Thats it. Thats what they want to investigate. The perfectly legal condition of being dead and on the voting rolls. Donald trump and sean spicer apparently do not know that people die in november. People die the day before the election. Some of them die on the way to vote. They die the month before the election, six months before the election, a year before the election. And no one knows that those people are dead. No one at the voting maintains the voting rules maintains that. And the loved ones of those people do not in the first moment think ah, got to get moms name off the voting roles. Have any of you ever done that when your mother died . Oh, i got to make sure she is not on the voting roles. Was that anywhere on your list of thoughts after your mother or father died . Grandmother . Grandfather . Do you know anyone who moved to a new state, registered to vote, and then went through the process of unregistering to vote in the previous state . I dont. And so, yes. People stay registered in their previous states. Sometimes for years. And it is completely harmless. No one votes in their name. And eventually when you dont show up to vote long enough, your name gets taken off the roles. Different states have different time periods for that. But eventually youll disappear from the roles. In the meantime, no crime has been committed, no harm has been done to our democratic process. Paul rhinos this. And the speaker of the house is very eager to echo donald trump whenever he can to back him up whenever he can. But when he cant, he cant. And tonight Greta Van Susteren asked Speaker Paul Ryan about Donald Trumps fevered dreams of voter fraud. And he said this im sure there is some fraud. We passed photo id in wisconsin because of our concerns about this a few years ago. But if he believes that there is a problem to be looked at, the right thing to do is to get an investigation to get the fax. I havent seen evidence of this kind of widespread numbers that weve been hearing about. Republican House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Jason Chaffetz is in the same uncomfortable boat as paul ryan. He is eager to echo donald trump whenever he can, eager to back him up whenever he can. But when its impossible, even Jason Chaffetz just gives up. Tonight chairman chaffetz said i dont see any evidence. But the president has 100,000 people at the department of justice. And if he wants to have an investigation, have at it. I just dont see any evidence of it. The Oversight Committee is not planning to do anything with it. So there is Jason Chaffetz saying people being registered in more than one state is not evidence of voter fraud there is Jason Chaffetz saying dead people on the voter roles is not evidence of voter fraud. In other words, everything donald trump says is evidence of voter fraud is not evidence of voter fraud. We could fill the rest of this program with members of congress in both parties saying there is no evidence of voter fraud. But a president ial investigation is coming. And suspects like Tiffany Trump had better be ready. Joining us now euGene Robinson, Pulitzer Prize winning writer for the waste post. Also with us jason candor, missouris former secretary of state. And charlie psychs, editorinchief of right wisconsin, a cohost of wnycs indivisible, and a msnbc contributor. And secretary candor, i just want to go straight to you. As a secretary of state, the 50 secretaries of state in the country are the people directly in charge of voting in their states. What is your reaction to everything you have been hearing about this from the Trump White House . Lets focus for a second on what you just played the clips of paul ryan, for instance. The only rational response, the only responsible response to this is the president is lying. This is something that the president made up in a lie that he told himself that he needed to hear about his loss of the popular vote that is all that is happening right now. And the reason that somebody like paul ryan responds in the way he does where he doesnt call it a lie is because if you are part of the Political Party that for years has been telling the lie that says there is so much voter fraud, have to take actions that suppress the vote, then its very helpful if the president of the United States makes things like this up. Lets listen to what nancy pelosi had to say about this. He wants to investigate something that can clearly be proven to be false, but he resists any investigation of the russian disruption of our election and any connection to his mpaign. Ive prayed for him. But then i prayed for the United States of america. Gene robinson, you know, i dont often believe a lot of what politicians say about their prayer habits. But that sounded convincing. It did. It did. It sounded like a rather desperate prayer at that. This is really weve never seen a situation like this. Is a president s fixation, obsession, insecurity, whatever. This mixture of psychological factor really that causes him to be unable to believe he lost the popular vote that more people voted for hillary clinton. Therefore there must have been all this fraud. And when donald trump, you know, real estate tycoon says crazy things, as he did for years on his twitter feed and in public, kind of nobody pace attention or the New York Post puts it in page 6. When the president of the United States says crazy things, he can launch an investigation. He can make members of congress react as if there were something there. This is a really crazy situation. And its frustrating for those of news the media. Do you Pay Attention to the crazy stuff like this . Meanwhile, there is a lot of substantive stuff going on as well. Its like drinking from two fire hoses at this point. Yeah, it is. Charlie sykes, an amazing report in the New York Times now about the source of Donald Trumps thinking on this. There were three staff people who remain unnamed who reported to the times what donald trump said when he said this to the congressional leaders, which is what got this whole story started. He told the story of what he called a famous golfer named Bernard Langer who apparently was briefly famous at one time a long time ago. While he was standing in line, mr. Langer in florida wait fog vote for mr. Trump, and then he saw others voting who were clearly illegals and shouldnt be allowed to vote. And then Bernhard Langer himself was turned away from voting. And its a completely outrageous thing that happened to Bernhard Langer. And thats the story he told to the congressional leaders. And the New York Times has discovered Bernhard Langer does indeed live in florida. He is a citizen of germany. He does not vote in the United States of america. And that is the source of donald trump the only source he cited to the congressional leaders. Do you remember what you asked Anthony Weiner when you had him on . What is wrong with you i agree with Gene Robinson here. This does not help advance any sort of agenda. This is this obsession, this crazy obsession that has no basis in fact whatsoever. And you know that paul ryan is doing Everything Possible to be joined at the hip with donald trump. And yet there is this recognition this is crazy. And also, it is politically stupid. Were talking about the fire hoses. Today is a day that he is talking about his signature issues and what does he do . And so this i marked this down to just an obsession and lack of control. But also that story, you know, once again raises the question. This is the president of the United States. Where does he get his information . How does he evaluate information . This is a man who talks to alex jones, who goes on info wars and that is a level of crazy and scary all by itself. Yeah, and gene, thats exactly the point of the Bernhard Langer story is the ability to separate fact from fiction, which has always been a problem for donald trump. And now it is a problem for the world because the president of the United States demonstrates an inability to separate fact from fiction. Exactly. And so the world is reduced to hoping that there are people around donald trump. And people in congress, people in our government who know how to react to this stuff, and who dont who dont do inappropriate and perhaps Dangerous Things based on this sort of government by anecdote, often wrong anecdote that donald trump seems determined to practice. I will correct one thing you said, lawrence. Bernhard langer is a great golfer. He plays on the senior tour now. And he was great on the pga tour as well. His daughter told the New York Times that he doesnt really know donald trum maybe he has met him once. She doesnt know where this story came from. Jack nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and tiger woods. Thats my entire knowledge of golf. Jason kander, to this point of being able to separate fact from fiction, here is somebody who is getting intelligence briefings. Here is somebody in a position where the flaws in separating facts from fiction have led us to war in the 21st century. This is the thing at the center of all this that is so worrisome, that he can hear a story from somebody at maralago and that does it. What winds up happening is you have a president who is making claims that undermine our democracy and then saying he wants to investigate it instead of actually investigating attempts by a foreign adversary to undermine our democracy. If youre watching Vladimir Putin youre thinking thats exactly what i want him to do. The other thing i would add about the New York Times story, it turns out in the anecdote even that the two folks who this guy claimed were going to vote actually got a provisional ballot, which for all we know means they werent allowed to vote. This whole story is an example of the system working. Charlie, i would love anyone working this the white house now for donald trump to tell me of the time when a loved one of theirs died and they after they did everything they had to do in response to that, they then went and made sure that that loved one was removed from the voting roles. There is a kind of inhumanity, a kind of lack of comprehension about how life works when you move from one state to another, when your mother dies, when your grandmother dies. The president and sean spicer dont seem to understand what happens in those situations. No, i thought that was a very powerful point. First of all, we can argue about whether or not there is voter fraud here or there. But its not when people die in this particular way. When you were talking about that, i thought about when my mother died suddenly when she was 87 years old, a few years ago, back in 2007. And as you were pointing that out, it never entered my mind to go in and take her name off the voting roll. I dont know whether its on to this day. As you point out, this is not things people think about. It is basically, this is part of the process of human life amount. To try to gin this up into massive scandal, it is silly and senseless. I for one would be delighted to discover my mother is still on the voting roles in massachusetts. And she would be dlieded to still be on the voting rolls in massachusetts. Thank you for joining us. Jason, were going to need you later. Please stick around. Coming up, breaking news. The president of mexico has just responded to Donald Trumps plan for the border wall. Weve done well in life, with help from our advisor, we made it through many market swings. Sure we could travel, take it easy. But weve never been the type to just sit back. Not when weve got so much more to give when you have the right financial advisor, life can be illiant. Ameriprise breaking news at this hour. The president of mexico has just responded to Donald Trumps plan to build the wall saying very forcefully mexico will not pay for that wall. We have fresh video of what president of mexico has just said. We will bring that to you next. For lower back pain sufferers, the search for relief often leads here. Today theres drugfree aleve direct therapy. A high intensity tens device that uses technology once only in doctors offices. For deep penetrating relief at the source. Aleve direct therapy. 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. Introducing new depend silhouette active fit, with a thin design for complete comfort. They say move it or lose it and at my age, im moving more than ever. Because getting older is inevitable. But feeling older . Thats something i control. Get a free sample at depend. Com. Breaking news tonight. President of mexico has just issued a video saying that mexico will not pay for the wall donald trump wants to build. Lets take a look at what the president of mexico had to say. This video just in. [ speaking spanish ] that video just in from mexico. President of mexico saying absolutely no way that the president that mexico will pay for that wall. Also tonight breaking news from the Associated Press. The Associated Press reporting a senior Government Official says mexicos president is considering cancelling next weeks visit to washington following president Donald Trumps order to begin construction of a wall between the two countries. A nation without borders is not a nation. Beginning today, the United States of america gets back control of its borders, gets back its borders. The secretary of homeland security, working with myself and my staff will begin immediate construction of a border wall. Donald trumps promise that mexico will pay for the wall has become complicated and convoluted. He now says that mexico will reimburse the United States after the United States pays for the wall. Here is donald trump here is Donald Trumps response earlier today. He has to say that. He has to say that. But im just telling you there will be a payment. It will be in a form, perhaps a complicated form. That was donald trump responding to the point that mexico will not pay for the wall. He is saying that the president of mexico, as he just said, has to say that. Tonight with Greta Van Susteren, paul ryan also suggested that the payment for the wall could be complicated. Were going pay for it and front the money up. But i do think there are various ways, as i know you know is mexico going to pay for the wall there are a lot of different ways of getting mexico to contribute to doing this. And there are different ways of defining exactly how they pay for it. A lot of different ways of getting mexico to contribute to doing this. There are different ways of defining how to pay for it. Now try tra t next time youre splitting a bill at a restaurant and you t upnothing, and you say to your fellow diners there are different ways of defining how to pay for this. And you pay to pay for dinner with your conviviality, wit, and general good cheer. Here is how complicated paying for the wall was during the trump campaign. Who is going to pay for it . Mexico 100 . The president signed an executive order today to restrict funding to what he called sanctuary cities that do not extend full cooperation to federal authorities on immigration enforcement. The biggest cities that would be targeted in the trump order are in california. Today kevin deleon, the leader of the California Senate tweeted cutting off funds for cities that refuse destructive deportation programs is unconstitutional. See you in court. Joining us now kevin deleon, California State Senate leader. Also with us rick stengel, former undersecretary of state and an msnbc contributor. Senator deleon, you have hired the former attorney general eric holder to represent california in such matters. What do you see in the executive order about sanctuary cities that youll be legally challenging . Lawrence, let me be very clear here. What President Trump did today is unconstitutional, and qte frankly, its unamerican. And california as a state, as the golden state, we wont stand idly and allow him to separate mothers, separate and break up families, separate children from their mothers and mothers from their children. Youre absolutely right. We hired legal outside council. The former u. S. Attorney general eric holder. We are at this very hour looking at all the Legal Options that are before us. But the reality is this is that the federal government and donald j. Trump cannot commandeer and enforce local municipalities, local police agency, local government, and the state of california to do his work. So the california will not be a cog in the Trump Deportation machine. He has threatened us by withholding dollars. But i want to put this in context. When he threatens the state of california by withholding dollars, precious dollars that we need, he is actually threatening Senior Citizens who are in early signs with dementia or alzheimers, Young Children who have or are on the spectrum who have autism or aspergers. He is actually threatening the very people, u. S. Citizens, californians, and americans. And when he threatens california, he actually threatens the economy of the United States of america because were 13 overall of the gdp of the u. S. Mr. Secretary, this notion of mexico paying for the wall was always childish. Now that is being admitted by donald trump and paul ryan. Theyre saying no, no, no, well pay for it. And now theyre getting into this game of there are some creative ways in which mexico can then reimburse us for the wall. Ways that are so creative they cant even describe them. Well, he is trying to have it every which way. And he will have some explanation eventually that exonerates him from having said that. But i want to go to what the senator was saying. Because the rule that the senator will exploit to say that this is unconstitutional is the 10th amendment. The 10th amendment, beloved of conservatives. Bob dole used to carry a copy of the 10th amendment in his breast pocket. The 10th amendment says the federal government cannot coerce or commandeer the states or localities to do these kinds of actions. This is the thing that has been celebrated by conservatives and even by donald trump. And he is using the overweaning power of the federal government to do something which the American People dont actually want. Yeah, and recent Supreme Court decisions indicate that the federal government cant force the states to do these things. Senator, the striking things about this include the very simple mathematical fact that california contributes more money to the federal treasury than any other state in the union. And it does not get back as much as it contributes. And so the notion that there would be some that the federal government would then restrict the flow to california, which is already a very generous donor state to the federal government is doubly ironic. Thats correct, lawrence. Youre absolutely right. We send for every dollar we send to washington, d. C. , we actually get back 78 cents on the dollar. Ironically speaking, we actually subsidize other states, red states. States that overwhelmingly voted for donald j. Trump. We subsidize their roads, programs. I do find it ironic. He is withholding dollars from california. He is withholding our tax dollars that belong to the people of california. I really want to underscore this. Were talking about political blackmail. Were talking about political vengeance. This is not a monarchy. I know he fancies himself as a king. But this is a republic. And we do things in a democratic way where we engage in dialogue, we debate. And hopefully the strongest ideas win. But to politically blackmail a state like california, the fifth largest economy in the entire world, and to maliciously with strong intent go out of his way to actually harm the people of california, i can tell you this. This is very unamerican. And californians are not going to stand by it. And frankly, well see him in a court of law. And the law seems at this stage to be very heavily on the side of the states. I think as the senator says, let the courts decide. I mean, this is something that the constitutional speaks to. This is something that the Supreme Court speaks to. This is something that conservatives like Justice Scalia have supported all along. So i think it will be interesting to see it play out. And it will take a while. Rick stengel and senator deleon, thank you both for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it. Thank you rk, lawrence. Coming up, what donald trump doesnt want us talking about. Thats next. All eyes are on olay ultimate eye cream. Allure best of beauty and Marie Claires most wanted. Eyes show emotion, not your age. Olay eyes. Ageless. Stop clicking around. Travel sites to find a better price. The lowest prices on our hotels are always at hilton. Com. So pay less and get more only at hilton. Com. Time for tonights addition of what donald trump doesnt want us to talk about. So you think that the potential that he may be impeached is high . I think they would occur after midterms, and only if the house flips to the democrats. So the potential is there, yes. If he abused power, if you do anything you dont have a lot of good will in a reservoir. He is beginning his presidency successfully in my view with a very few bold initiatives. But with the highest negatives of any incoming president since gallup kept track that says to me thin ice. Move carefully. That was Katie Courics interview of conservative radio host hugh hewitt yesterday. There are new reports of donald trump profiting from the presidency very directly, including one from cnbc that reported that Donald Trumps maralago resort in florida doubled its initiation fee to 200,000 after Donald Trumps election. Joining us now david corn, the Washington Bureau chief from mother jones and an msnbc political analyst. David, mother jones also hath has reports that are building up this giant category of trumpian profiteering from the presidency. We could spend all night talking about the conflicts of interest that remain. Today in mother jones we reported that at the inauguration, trump gave vip treatment to foreign Business Partners who are working on deals or have done deals with him in indonesia and in dubai. One of them posted on instagram or facebook video of her riding in a car or bus along the inaugural parade route, there it is right there, during the inaugural parade. I dont know how they got this special, you know, privilege to do this. But apparently if you do deals with donald trump and his family, this is what you get. You get a ride along the parade route. I think right behind donald trump. So theyre selling access. Theyre selling, you know, boosting the price of maralago. Theyre expanding the hotels. He is still in violation of the emoluments clause. He hasnt given us a list of the banks he owes money to which he promised during the campaign. He has appointed two ethics advisers, which he promised to do. One is a longtime gop lawyer. The other is a Trump Organization lawyer. This is all absurd, ridiculous. And we dont need to the take our lead from our friend hugh hewitt. Any ethics adviser, anyone who works this seriously says this should not stand. And david, i think for sanctuary cities who are worried about donald trump, it might not be as scary as they think. Especially if you have a trump property in that city. Yes. The ceo of trump hotels at a Panel Discussion yesterday said there are 26 metropolitan areas in the u. S. And we are in five. I dont see any reason we couldnt be in all of them eventually. Those are mostly sanctuary cities that trump hotels want to move into. I guarantee you the cities that donald trump wants to get his hotels into will not suffer the restriction of one dime of funding. And we still have a situation where the president of the United States still owes hundreds of millions of dollars to overseas banks that have regulatory interest in the United States that are not resolved. And he is not cant recuse himself. But he is not getting rid of this conflict. And dont forget, Jared Kushner violating the antinepotism law. Its everywhere you turn you see on the white house website pages that are basically promoting ivanka trumps products. Its really kind of nuts. And we reported on this before the election. And people are catching up now. But he better hope the democrats never come close to gaining control of congress. Donald trump knows right now what the chances are of him getting a permit to operate or open a hotel in a sanctuary city that he is trying to restrict funding from as president he knows those chances are zero. I have a feeling this whole sanctuary cities threat may evaporate without seeing anything happen. But well have to watch it. Well, he is the only guy i think who looks at the presidency as a stepping stone to greater business opportunities. David corn, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Appreciate it. My pleasure. Coming up, action taken. Very important action taken because donald trump is now in charge of our Nuclear Weapons. There are members of congress who want to take action to control that. Thats coming up. The newly advanced gle can see in your blind spot. Onboard cameras and radar detect danger all around you. Driver assist systems pull you back into your lane if drifting. And will even help you brake, if necessary. It makes driving less of a production. Lease the gle350 for 579 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. Mercedesbenz. The best or nothing. Cmohappy birthday i survived a heart attack. Im doing all i can to keep from having another one. And im taking brilinta. For people whove been hospitalized for a heart attack. I take brilinta with a baby aspirin. No more than one hundred milligrams as it affects how well it works. Brilinta helps keep my platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. Brilinta reduced the chance of another heart attack. Or dying from one. It worked better than plavix. 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Saudi arabia, absolutely. Youd be fine with them having Nuclear Weapons . No, not Nuclear Weapons. But they have to protect themselves or they have to pay us. Its going to happen anyway. Its only a matter of time. Theyre going to start having them or we have to get rid of them entirely. You have so many countries already, china, pakistan, russia, you have so many countries that have them. Now, wouldnt you rather in a certain sense have japan have Nuclear Weapons when north korea has Nuclear Weapons . And they do have them. They absolutely do have them. And now he has the biscuit. Donald trump has what every president has had before him during the nuclear age, a card with codes necessary for launching Nuclear Weapons. That card is supposed to be in his pocket at all times. I say supposed to be because this is donald trump. We now have a president who for the first time in history we cannot be sure is always actually in possession of the biscuit because hes donald trump. That card with the nuclear codes, the biscuit, is the most important thing that is passed from one president to other. There are reports that donald trump is still using his personal cell phe, which is unsecured and a wildly reckless way for a president to communicate. So Donald Trumps respect and understanding of the National Security issues that are now his responsibility are not as clear as some might like them to be. Two people who feel that way are senator ed markey of massachusetts and ted lu of california. They have just introduced a bill that limits the president s use of Nuclear Weapon. The bill states the president may not use the armed forces of the United States to conduct a first use Nuclear Strike unless such strike is conducted pursuant to a declaration of war by congress that expressly authorizes such strike. All president s during the nuclear age have implicitly had authority to order first use Nuclear Attacks. They didnt have to wait for missiles to be headed at this country before launching Nuclear Weapons. The idea of limiting first strike by american president s has been debated long before donald trump ever decided to run for president. But on january 20th, when the biscuit passed from president obama to President Trump, the issue immediately took on new urgency. The congressman who has introduced this bill will join us next. Theres a denture adhesive that holds strong until evening. Fixodent plus adhesives. Just one application gives you superior hold even at the end of the day fixodent. Strong more like natural teeth. Still trying to find how ara good site. Going . They all. Want. To. Charge me. Have you tried credit karma . Credit karma doesnt do taxes. Does credit karma do taxes . Yeah, and theyre totally free, so theyll never take any of your refund. Oooh, credit karma. Huh . We. Probably still want those. Yeah, good call. File your taxes for free with credit karma tax. 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Ask your hep c specialist if harvoni is right for you. Can you tell the middle east were not using a Nuclear Weapon . I would never say that i would never take any of my cards off the table. How about yump . Im not going to take it off the table. You might use it in europe . No, i dont think so. Im just saying. I am not taking cards off the table. Im not going to use nukes. Okay. Joining us now, democratic congressman ted lieu of california, the coauthor of the restricting first use of Nuclear Weapons act of 2017. Congressman lieu, thanks for joining us tonight. Now i know you introduced this bill last year in the Previous Congress before you knew who the next president was going to be. So you were as eager to restrict a president clinton as a President Trump . Yes, lawrence. Thats correct. And thank you for pointing that out. But let me first say this. America, we have a problem. Our president believes in conspiracy theory, believes in alternative fact, and has anger control issues as reported by the Washington Post. And now his hands are on the nuclear trigger. That should scare us all. Its why we reintroduced as legislation to restrict his ability to launch a Nuclear First strike. In the nuclear age with intercontinental ballistic capability, its hard to think of a more unstable person who has had this. It really would be in the soviet union, russia, china, or the United States for all practical purposes, france, the uk. They have this capacity. Weve never once, never once worried about who that person is who has this. Thats correct. We always trusted our commander in chief to be the check on the use of those weapons in terms of knowledge, temperament, control. We dont have those checks and balances now anymore. And keep in mind as a current launch approval process is the Judicial Branch and the legislative branch are completely taken out of it. It relies solely on one person, and thats the president. And now people are realizing he may be unhinged. As i reported on this program, on an incomi Nuclear Attack from china or the soviet union, currently the only possible origins of such an attack on us, the president could have as little as six minutes to make a retaliation decision before that strike hit us. How could we expect to tie a president s hands in that situation and say you cant do it without a decoration of war . I served in the u. S. Military. I believe in any countrys ability for selfdefense, including our ability for our inherent right to selfdefense. So this bill does not affect our ability to respond if there were a Nuclear Launch strike against us. This is talking about a premeditated Nuclear First strike by the american president , if for example, donald trump simply wants to go off and launch Nuclear Weapons. This is what its designed to do. And its based on the constitution. The framers gave the greatest power they knew at the time to the congress, the power to declare war. They never would authorize one person to have the ability to destroy the world in less than one hour by launching hundreds of Nuclear Weapons. Congressman ted lieu, thank you very much for joining us tonight on this incredibly important issue. Impossible to describe how important it is. Really appreciate you being here. Thank you, lawrence. Coming up, will donald trump bring back torture . He seems to want to. Ion. This is one gorgeous truck. Oh, did i say theres only one special edition . Because, actually theres 5. Aaaahh ooohh uh holy mackerel. Wow. Nice. Strength and style. Which ones your favorite . laughter come home with me trade up to the silverado all star edition and get an average total value of eight thousand one hundred fifty dollars when you find your tag. Find new roads at your local chevy dealer. Do you know how your you might be surprised. 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The Washington Post reports that the white house may be reviewing its policies for handling terror suspects. The post says an executive order drafted by the trump calls for policy review that authorizes the cia to reopen black site prisons overseas and potentially restart an Interrogation Program that was dismantled in 2009 after using methods widely condemned as torture. Here is what White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said today about that executive draft order. It is not a white house document. I have no idea where it came from. But it is not a white house document. Jason kander is back with us. He is a former army captain who served as an Intelligence Officer in afghanistan. And jason, i just wanted to read to you what senator john mccain said about this today in his statement. He said the president can sign whatever executive orders he likes, but the law is the law, and were not bringing back torture in the United States of america. Whats your reaction to this . My reaction is that im really thankful that there are people like senator mccain, people in the Intelligence Community and i hope people in the president s cabinet who understand that torture doesnt work. That its counterproductive. Its not consistent with american values. And thats why no matter what the president may want the say to his base, i guess, this i would think not going to happen. One reason why the videos of torture that the cia actually had were destroyed was to eliminate a possible legal liability for the people who conducted that torture. And everybody in this field knows that. And so two reactions strike me if the order were to come down from a Trump Presidency to start torture. First, who would do that . Who would take that risk, even with a president ial order to face possible legal jeopardy . And then and who would refuse that order coming down the chain of the command from the president . Well, in the military, within the chain of command, you have an obligation under the uniform code of military justice not to obey an illegal order. So thats exactly where this wod fall. But in my opinion, we dont en need to get that far in the conversation because even if you are somebody who doesnt agree about the law on this, this doesnt work. When you talk to folks in the american Intelligence Community, i still have friends who are still working in intelligence, the overwhelming opinion is that this would not work. Its very similar actually to the consensus on global warming. I would imagine the same amount of people in the Intelligence Community who think torture works is about the amount of people in the scientific people who dont believe in global warming. Jason kantor, thank you very much, we really appreciate your unique perspective. Msnbcs live coverage continues into the 11th hour now with brian williams. Tonight, putting pen to paper. The president takes executive action on a border wall. But who really pays for it . And isnt that where Congress Comes in . Plus the president goes there again, saying the feds will look into his claims of widespread voter fraud, despite a mountain of evidence proving those claims wrong. And the new commander in chief says again, torture works. And his words ricochet around the globe. The 11th hour begins now