Transcripts For MSNBCW The Rachel Maddow Show 20170216

House and the new administration. Its interesting for somebody like him to have that impressive, that powerful a political job not just because of his own ideology, his own politics or anything else you might be interested in about him, its flat out interesting for him to have such a high level in the federal government specifically because of the fact hes never had a job in politics before. At all. This is his First Time Ever working in government or politics and hes the chief strategist and Senior Adviser to the president of the united stat states. He was in the navy for a while, he worked at Goldman Sachs for a while, he made profoundly ridiculous movies for a while. He ran a right wing protrump web site until trump tapped him to run his president ial campaign this past summer. But if you go back to the mid1990s, go back to 1995 1996 p what steve bannon was doing then was living in southern california, running a small Investment Firm that focused on investing in movies and tv shows and stuff around we can get really, really specific as to some of somewhat steve bannon was allegedly doing at that specific time of his life. Because some of what he was doing at that time in his life is accounted for moment by moment in this Police Report. According to the Police Report weve got from the Santa Monica Police department on new years eve, new years day 1995 into 1996, steve bannon that night slept on the couch in his family home. He was newly married at the time. He and his wife had sevenmonthold twins. Actually, the narrative is comprehensive here so im going to let the Police Report take it from here verbatim. On new years eve, on december 31, 1995, mr. Bannon slept on the couch in the living room. On new years day, january 1, 1996, she i believe thats mr. Bannons wife, got up to feed their twins and mr. Bannon got upset with her for making some noise. This part is hard to read here in the Police Report. I think it says at approximately 0845 hours although depending on how you read that handwriting, see it could be 0815 hours. In any case, its some time after 8 00 in the morning he, mr. Bannon, started to leave the house and his wife asked him for the American Express card so she could go grocery shopping. He said she did not need the American Express card and that she should just write a check. She then excuse me he then went out to the car, she followed. She asked him why he was playing these games with the money, he said it was his money and then outside in the driveway the two of them argued. Apparently the way it went down is she was sit standing in the driveway, he was sitting in his car and they were arguing. Continuing from the Police Report he reached up to her from the drivers seat of his car and grabbed her left wrist. He pulled her duown as if he wa trying to pull her down into the car over the door. According to his wife, mr. Bannon then grabbed her neck also pulling her into the car. She said she started to fight back, striking at his face so he would let go of her. After a short period of time she said she was able to get away from him. She ran into the house with him following her. She told him she was calling 911 and she grabbed the portable phone as she headed for the living room where the twins were. Remember, they had sevenmonthold twins at this point. As she headed for the living room where the twins were, she was dialing 911 on that portable phone. When she got to the twins, he says, mr. Bannon jumped over her and the twins, jumped over her and the twins to grab the phone from her. Once he got the phone he threw it across the room. After that mr. Bannon left the house. His wife then found the phone in several pieces and could not use it. So thats all basically verbatim from the Police Report as you see here and at this point in the timeline, this point in the chronology thats when the police enter the scene. So heres the Police Officer who wrote the report writing in his own voice in this same Police Report on january 1, 1996 new years day at 0850 hours i received a radio call to and then theres a redacted area there, presumably the address. I received a radio call to x address, the radio call was about a 911 hangup where the telephone operator verified the phone was off the hook. On my arrival i was met at the front door by again redacted, presumably Steve Bannons wife. She appeared as if she was very upset and had been crying. I saw that her eyes were red and watery. She first said oh, thank you, you are here. How did you know to come . As i started to tell her about the 911 hangup call, she started to cry, it took her three or four minutes to calm down till she could tell me what happened. She then describes the beating, describes the argument and the beating and him steve bannon chasing her and him grabbing the phone out of her hand and sma smashing it. The Police Officer writes it down in the report. She shows the Police Officer her injuries. She complained of soreness to her neck. I saw red marks to her left wrist and the right side of her neck. These injuries were photographed by and then you get an i. D. Tech name from the Santa Monica Police department. So, again, this is all verbatim. This is a Police Report concerning steve bannon who is Senior Adviser to the white house and this is about an incident that happened on new years day in 1996. The month after this Police Report, february, 1996, local Prosecutors Office decided to bring charges against steve bannon. Steve bannon was arraigned on charges of Domestic Violence and battery and dissuading a witness. Now, the dissuading a witness charge ends up being very important here because under the california penal code you get charged with that if you prevent or dissuade another person whos been the victim of a crime or a witness to the crime from reporting that to a Law Enforcement officer or to a prosecuting agency or to a judge. Dissuading a witness. They arraigned him for that, they charged whim that. And part of that could be him grabbing the phone out of his wifes hand and throwing it across the room and smashing it to the point where it wouldnt work while she was in the process of calling 911 on him. Thats what led to the 911 hangup call and the Police Officer verifying the smashed phone when they responded to the silent 911 call. It could have been that. But it could also have been the way steve bannon got off in this case. In Court Documents filed as part of their Divorce Proceedings, Steve Bannons wife explained what happened after she called 911 on new years day. After the Police Showed up and documented what he had done to her, after they took pictures of her injuries, after local prosecutors decided to bring charges, after he was arraigned, she says he basically intimidated her so that she wouldnt testify against him at trial. She said thats how he made the charges go away. Respondent told me i had to leave town. That if i was not in town they could not serve me and i would not have to go to court. He told me if i went to court he and his attorney would make sure i would be the one who was guilty. After receiving that threat she in fact took her twins and got out of town. She was not there for the trial date. She said she didnt return to the area until the attorney phoned me and told me i could come back. So when steve bannon finally went on trial for those Domestic Violence charges and batsry, dissuading a witness, when he finally went on trial in august, 1996, what the report records say for the trial that day is victim witness unable to be located. All right. Because he told his wife to get out of town and not testify against him or else. And so she got out of town and couldnt testify against him. They could not locate the victim witness and so the case was dismissed. So this incident was reported this past summer in august when steve bannon was named ceo of the Trump Campaign. The scecse ceo of trump campaig. After Paul Manafort got ousted, they needed a new guy, they found steve bannon. After they found steve bannon, politico. Com posted this Police Report from the Santa Monica Police department and nbc found further documents from the divorce filings and the abuse claims around the divorce filing. The Trump Campaign never commented as to whether or not they were aware of this stuff in Steve Bannons past when he was brought on to run the campaign. And you know, eventually that story just faded out of the news. To be fair, there was a lot going on at the time. And honestly i think part of the reason that story went away after it was first reported in august is because in, you know, late august Early September nobody really believed donald trump could conceivably win the presidency, right . So whatever kind of characters he was bringing on board to rescue his sinking ship of a campaign, i think everybody assumed they would be out of the news sooner or later, why bother going into too much depth . Then they won. And steve bannon leapt from the campaign to the white house where he is now apparently the most powerful figure in the administration who does not hold the job title president of the United States. And now today, today has been another one of those days in this new administration, this Young Administration where things really did not go well for them. They lost a cabinet nominee today, first time that has happened to them. Something that really shouldnt happen to you if youve got a majority for your own party in the senate but today they lost a cabinet nominee. And, you know, i think its worth being specific here as to how they lost him because when the Trump Administration picked this guy, when they picked the ceo of karcarls jr. To be thei nominee for labor secretary, they knew what they were getting. They were not exactly picking tom perez. Part of the appeal for picking the carls, jr. , guy, was im sure these unpolitically correct ads that he made hisburg places famous for and he gleefully defended in his time as ceo. When he became the ceo of carls jr. And hardys, they rocketed to the charts in terms of federal employment discrimination filed by employees at those two companies. Theres a reason why there have been protests at his restaurants and Corporate Headquarters by people who thought andy puzder was a terrible choice to be labor secretary given how he behaved as an employer. People even dressed up like robots to highlight the fact he openly lamented that he couldnt replace his pesky workers with robots who would be so much better at doing the work because he basically hated his workers. You know what . The administration knew that knew all of that about him when they picked andy puzder to be labor secretary. That was a feature, not a bug. They didnt see that as a down side. Its not like they were trying to pick somebody who would be good on labor rights for gods sake. And so i think that democrats and the groups who protested against andy puzder and his employees who got brave and came out of the woodwork to say what a terrible ceo he was, i think they were right to crow about abadi puzder having his nomination pulled. Hes the first cabinet nominee to fail in the confirmation process and thats a big deal but its worth being clear why he was pulled. Why this happened today. I mean, honestly, all the stuff about his terrible labor record has been known about him all along. Thats why they picked him, right . Its not a surprise that with a record like that he was going to getconfirmation. But they didnt need democrats to vote for him for his confirmati confirmation, they could have confirmed him just with republican votes. And on the republican side of this story today, theres all this noise, particularly into this evening, about how andy puzder didnt get confirmed, of course he had to get his nomination yanked because he wasnt right wing enough on immigration. You see noise about this. He hired an undocumented worker. Fine, but the that was reason enough to stop the andy puzder nomination, why hasnt it stopped all the other trump cabinet nominees who have that same problem who are all steaming ahead through the confirmation process . Okay, then, they say its not just the undocumented worker in his own home, its his politics on immigration. He wasnt right wing enough, he wasnt antiimmigrant enough in terms of his policy views on immigration, thats why he lad to go. Those politics have been true about andy puzder. They have been on display and known about him since before he was picked for this job. The Trump Administration knew all about them. All that about him when they picked him. Republicans have known those were his politics on immigration. If any of that was a problem about andy puzder why was Mitch Mcconnell as of yesterday still saying oh, yeah, andy puzder is going to be confirmed . Why did john cornyn, the number two republican . The senate, why did he say as recently as yesterday hes good, full speed ahead, im confident he will be confirmed. Hes a good nominee. Right . If any of this stuff, left or right, if any of this stuff was truly a problem for the andy puzder nomination, why was his nomination fine until now . Why was it fine until today . What changed today . This changed today. The most frightening thing was leaving because once i made that break and once i made it public and remember my exhusband was a public figure, everyone knew him and knew what he was doing and once i made that public he he vowed revenge. He sedley see you in the gutter, this will never be over, you will pay for this. Turns out what changed today is the nature of andy puzders steve bannon problem. Steve bannons Domestic Violence charges were from 1996. This Oprah Winfrey episode, which we all got access to today, flfs 1990. And what changed today, what led to the yanking of the first trump cabinet nominee was at that at 1 00 in the morning this morning politico. Com posted online these clips of andy puzders exwife wearing a disguise appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show on a program titled high class battered women. She wore a disguise including those big glasses and she discussed the same alleged physical abuse by andy puzder in their marriage that she testified to in their earlier Divorce Proceedings. She filed Court Documents where she said that andy puzder assaulted and battered me by striking me violently about the face, chest, back, shoulders and neck without provocation or cause leaving bruises and contusions to the chest, back, shoulders and neck as well as two ruptured disks and two bulging disks among other injuries. And you heard her say in the oprah clip, right my exhusband was a public figure. Andy puzder was a wellknown public figure at the time. He was a prominent crusading antiabortion activist lawyer in missouri at the time that all this went down with his exwife and those claims from the Divorce Proceedings, they tracked broadly with what a newspaper called the river front times had reported about him and his divorce in 1989 and it was a newsworthy thing because he was such a well known public figure. What they reported at the time was this puzders exwife alleged he had hit her and threw her to the Kitchen Floor and unplug it had phone after she tried to call police for help during the altercation. Puzder acknowledges Police Responded to that altercation between him and his wife, his wife sought a protective order against him. In seeking the order she alleged he attacked me, choked me, threw me to the floor, pushed his knee into my chest, twisted my arm, dragged me on to the floor, threw me into a wall, tried to stop my call to 911 and kicked me in the back. Andy puzder denied those allegations when they became public in the press in missouri in 1989. After her oprah appearance in 1990, his wife also later rescinded her allegations of his physical abuse as part of their further Divorce Proceedings and the child custody wrangling. Since andy puzder has been a Trump Administration cabinet nominee, his exwife has further recanted those allegations saying none of it ever happened, she made the whole thing up. But there are these contemporaneous claims, right . I mean, some of what was in their divorce filings has been reported on, its been made public, some other parts of those divorce filings interestingly were sealed by the court the day after his nomination was announced to be labor secretary in december. That was a little strange. An activist group has been suing to have those divorce records fully unsealed given the Public Interest and puzders potential ascension to high public office. But it is one thing to see these allegations in court filings, one thing to read the handwritten Police Reports from the responding officers describing the smashed phone and the evidence of the injuries, its another thing to see a woman on tape talking about in the the first person. Heres what he threatened me. Heres what he said he would do to me. Heres why i was afraid. We knew that this oprah tape existed. We knew that for several weeks. We and lots of other news organizations had tried to get it. You bead surprised how difficult it was to get but the open a ra winfrey folks made a Screening Room available for u. S. Senators to come in to personally and privately watch that episode so they could see this part of andy puzders past for themselves but even as they were showing it to senators nobody had access to it. You could not find it anywhere online, nobody could see it. Nobody could circulate it, nobody could judge for themselves in the public. No press could comment on it until 1 00 a. M. This morning when politico finally got it from one of the other battered women who appeared on that show who had a personal copy of it all these years and handed it over to politico. They uploaded the tape at 1 00 a. M. And by 3 00 p. M. Today andy puzder was out. In the space of a week theyve had their first Major Policy Initiative destroyed by the courts, they have lost theirize inner in National Security advisor in a huge scandal and as of today they had to pull their first cabinet nominee and its worth being clear about it. If youve watched the show for a while you may notice that im really not one of those people who makes those, you know, people on the right and people on the left are both wrong about this. Im not one of those people who does this left right facile equivalency thing. I dont do that. You know me, i never argue things that way but in this case there really are people on the right and people on the left who are understandably crowing about andy puzders nomination being pulled as if it is their scalp to claim but all the issues people had about him both on the right and on the left, they had them all along. The issues on the right, the issues on the left, they have been known about from the beginning. Neither of those sets of issues wright or left was on track to taken a di puzder out and then the day the public gets tape about his Domestic Violence, the white house, this white house, whoevers in charge at this white house decides that this is not the conversation they want to be having right now. This is not the type of heat they want to be bearing right now. This is not the kind of stuff they want stirred up. President trump said as he took office that he was going to sue the living daylights out of all the women who accused him of sexual assault. He was going to sue them all, force them all to recant. That threat so far has faded away as has the News Coverage of that particular scandal about the new president. The other most powerful american the white house is steve bannon. He personally has lurid detailed welldocumented allegations of Domestic Violence in his past. You can read the Police Report yourself. But people have found whole new worlds of stuff to freak out about steve bannon instead so you can criticize this landmark moment today in the news, this first failed cabinet nominee. You can criticize andy puzder for any number of thing december pending on your ideological views and where youre coming from but the one thing different about today, the day they decided to pull his nomination, the one thing that is different about today that today we got that tape. That is a 100 guaranteed dredge for all of the same kind of dirt on the president of the United States and on the guy with whom he is running the white house. And that they could not allow to happen and that is how this went down. Americans 83 try to eat healthy. Yet up 90 fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. Lets do more. Add one a day womens complete with key nutrients we may need. Plus it supports bone health with calcium and vitamin d. One a day womens in gummies and tablets. That has everything to do with the people in here. Their training is developed by the same company who designed, engineered, and built the cars. Theyve got the parts, tools, and knowhow to help keep your ford running strong. 35,000 specialists all across america. No one knows your ford better than ford. And ford service. Right now, get the works a Synthetic Blend Oil change, tire rotation, Brake Inspection and more for 29. 95 or less. Ronald reagans first National Security advisor was a man named Richard Allen. Ronald reagan actually went through six different National Security advisors in his time in office but Richard Allen was the first and less than a year into that gig allen was accused of taking money, taking a thousand dollars, basically as a describe in exchange for him arranging an interview with first Lady Nancy Reagan for a japanese magazine. He sold access to nancy reagan for a thousand dollars. Also two nice seko watches. They were digital watches. Newspapers in tokyo today said Richard Allen accepted two wristwatches from the japanese magazine that interviewed nancy reagan last january. The magazine showed allen with two friends who asked him to arrange the reagan interview. Now reports here say that before leaving for washington last january, the two women stopped at a dutyfree Discount Store like this one. They purchased two ladies wristwatches, one silver colored. Writer kamisaka is quoted on january 16 mrs. Takase gave allen the gold one for his wife. She later told him he could swap for the silver. He answered i might as well keep them both. That was said after allen was a National Security advisor and thus came under a 100 limit on gifts. Mrs. Kamisaka said each watch called 1,000 yen, almost 150. When they ask you gold or silver the answer is no, neither, cant do it, thank you. Wrong answer ill take them both. In the end the Justice Department cleared Richard Allen of wrongdoing but he was forced to resign as National Security advisor after less than a year on the job. Before long, another reagan National Security advisor was forced out in a different scandal. Bud macfarlane resigned in the middle of the irancontra scandal. He pled guilty to four criminal counts of withholding information to congress for that scandal. He was pardon bid george h. W. Bush. The guy who succeeded him was forced to resign because of his role in irancontra. He was convicted of multiple felonies for lying to congress and obstructing the investigation into the irancontra scandal. He got his felony convictions reversed on appeal. But bottom line here, not all our National Security advisors have hit it out of the park. Weve had National Security advisor scandals before. Heck, we had three big ones in one presidency under ronald reagan. But this thing were going through right now with Michael Flynn and him being forced out as National Security advisor, we never had had a scandal like this. A lot of the beltway reporting on the flynn scandal is focused on who he told about his conversations request the russian government during the transition. What did he tell them about those conversations . When did he tell them that they happened . Was the Vice President lied to and for how long . Why did the president wait so long to fire mike flynn after the Justice Department told them he was lying about his contact with the russians and the russians could be blackmailing him. All of these are reasonable questions and none of them have been explained well enough. Heres the forest these trees keep falling in. We have multiple reports now, each citing multiple sources saying Michael Flynn had repeated contacts with the russian government during the campaign before the election. And its not just him. We now have reporting from the New York Times last night and cnn later last night again citing multiple sources saying that it was not just flynn, it was several people from the Trump Campaign. In cnns words, constant communication with russia, including russian intelligence officials during the campaign. While russian intelligence was interfering with our election to help get donald trump elected. These contacts are concrete and verifiable things, intelligence sources say there are call logs, there are intercepts, there are transcripts of them. And officials at the top levels of this white house up to and including the president himself have nevertheless been denying up and down that these things ever happened. Did you or anyone in your campaign have any contact leading up to the campaign . Did anyone involved in the Trump Campaign have any contact with russians trying to meddle with the election . Absolutely not. And i discussed that with the president elect just last night. Those conversations never happen ed. I hear people saying that like its a fact on television, thats not only inaccurate and false but dangerous. Just to button up one question, did any adviser have any contact with the russians trying to med until the election . Of course not. I though suggest that is to give credence to some of these bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy. Back in january the president said nobody had been in touch with the russians. Today can you say definitively nobody on the Trump Campaign, not even general flynn, had any contact with the russians before the election . Theres nothing that would conclude me that anything different has changed with respect to that time period. Lets diagram that sentence theres nothing that would conclude me that anything different has changed with respect to that time period. So thats a no . The president , Top White House officials have flat out denied that there were any contacts between the Trump Campaign and russian officialsofficials. Those were lies, there was contact between russian officials and the Trump Campaign. Why did they lie . In addition to the ongoing fbi, cia and u. S. Army investigations into mike flynn we also just tonight got this letter from the Senate Judiciary committee requesting a full briefing from the fbi and the Justice Department on the circumstances that led to the recent resignation of Michael Flynn keynote here, this letter is not just from the democrats on the judiciary committee. Oh, this letter is also from chuck grassley, the republican chairman of the committee. Then again, its worth remembering the head of the harm that from whom they are asking for this briefing, the head of the department is now Jeff Sessions who, of course, was part of the donald Trump Campaign while the Trump Campaign was talking to russia during the campaign, Jeff Sessions has said he has no intention of refusings himself from any Justice Department investigations of the Trump Campaign even though he was part of it at the time thats now being investigated or that ought to be. So what happens next here. I might know. And thats next. And thats next. That driverless car . I have seen it all. Intels driving. The future traffic lights, street lamps. Business runs on the cloud. And the cloud runs on intel. I wonder what the other 2 runs on. car horn 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. Dont stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. Brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. Dont take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers, a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. Tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. Talk to your doctor about brilinta. Im doing all i can. That includes brilinta. If you cant afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. Jeff sessions was chairman of the National Security Advisory Committee alongside Michael Flynn. He was a Senior Adviser in the Trump Campaign. The first senator to endorse him and nominated him at the Republican National convention in cleveland. Attorney general Jeff Sessions must recuse himself immediately. Any investigation headed, directed by or influenced by the attorney general will be jaundiced from the very start. Senate democratic leader Chuck Schumer arguing that a senior official of the Trump Campaign cant be in charge of an investigation into the Trump Campaign for obvious reasons. This has to do with the trumps contacts with the russian government. Tonight the republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary committee asked the Justice Department for a full briefing on the mike flynn and russia situation. Your guess is as good as anyones in terms of how much worth there might be in a Justice Department briefing on this subject. Now that the head of the Justice Department is Jeff Sessions who, again, was part of the Trump Campaign. But in addition to that question, theres brand new breaking news right now from the wall street journal. Can we put this article up on the screen . Spies keep intelligence from President Trump. Heres the lead u. S. Intelligence officials have withheld sensitive intelligence from President Trump because theyre concerned it could be leaked and compromised. This cites current and former officials familiar with the matter. In some of these cases of withheld information, officials have decided not to show the president sources and methods the intelligence agencies used to collect information. Those sources and methods could include, for instance, the means that an agency uses to spy on a foreign government. Theyre not showing him that stuff because theyre not sure, in short, if he can be trusted with it. Hes the president. Joining us now is senator chris murphy, a member of the Foreign Relations committee, one of the fiercest critics of National Security advisor mike flynn up until the time when he left his job this week. Have you seen this . Ive seen early reports and its consistent with whats been happening since december. There is a war being waged between President Trump who after the election accused of Intelligence Services of politicizing the report about russian interference in our election to hurt him and now clearly members of the Intelligence Service are pushing back by releasing information to News Services about these contacts between the Trump Campaign and the russians and if these reports are true perhaps withholding information from him. This is not good for the United States but clearly the Intelligence Services are watching trump and his advisers withhold information from the American Public. They watched for 14 days as the Trump Administration did not reveal to the American Public what they knew, which was that Michael Flynn had conversations with the russians and they are taking matters into their own hands. Ultimately, rachel, this is why we need a credible investigatory process, whether it be through the Intelligence Committee or independent commission because the in an ideal world these leaks or these whistleblowers would be coming to the investigatory body rather than leaking only to the press. And that to me i feel like thats the crux of the matter right now. Weve all been worried about the new administration and their attacks on the press and calling the journalists of the United States of america fake news and elevating protrump blogs as if theyre equivalent to the Washington Post or nbc news or something in the press briefing. Weve all been watching that is a Media Business story. Clearly in terms of this story about the context with the russian government were seeing the New York Times and the Washington Post and the wall street journal and nbc and cnn and all these other outlets do good work in terms of getting this information to the public. My question remains whether or not we should expect this to continue to be just a journalistic enterprise or whether there will be any part of the u. S. Government that gets to the bottom of this that does the investigatory work and that ultimately brings prosecutions if this turns out to be a criminal matter. Well, therein lies the problem. Right now there is not a credible investigation in the United States. You have investigations open in both Intelligence Committees but both paul ryan and Mitch Mcconnell have hamstrung them so they cant get to the bottom of this affair because Jeff Sessions at any moment could interfere with the fbi investigation you cant trust that that investigation wont be compromised. Remember, we got used to attorney general lynch deciding to give director comey free range with respect to the clinton email issue but theres nothing stopping sessions from coming in and telling comey what he can and cannot do and then to the extent that the cia has been looking into this or the army is looking into this, those are agencies that trump has a lot to do with and say about as well. So right now you dont have a credible nonpartisan investigation that these individuals in the Intelligence Services who may have information can give it to and trust it is going to end up getting all of the doors that need to be unlocked unlocked. Do you expect because of that and thats really alarming, what you just laid out do you expect because of that that the pressure to have a special counsel, to have a truly independent legislative investigation legislatively sponsored investigation into this, do you think there is traction there . Do you think theres any chance that will happen . Well, listen, i think youre seeing this issue move by the hour. Richard burr, the head of the Intelligence Committee, today made it clearer that he was hope to letting his investigation go wherever it led. Lindsey graham who has been on the front lines of this since the beginning opened the door to supporting an independent investigation or special prosecutor today. So by the hour youre seeing more and more republicans understand the gravity of this. And i think that theyre looking at the scope of history, theyre wondering what a year from now or two years from now will look like if they stood in the way of this investigation happening. So i dont ultimately know whether Mitch Mcconnell will let this nonpartisan or independent process play out. But youre seeing movement happen in that direction in realtime. Senator chris murphy of connecticut. Thank you, sir. Clearer and actually a little scary which is happening more and more each time we talk. Thank you, sir, appreciate it. Thanks, rachel. That breaking news tonight just posted from the wall street journal, the headline, spies keep intelligence from President Trump. U. S. Intelligence officials have withheld sensitive intelligence from the president because theyre concerned it could be leaked or compromised. Officials in some cases have decided not to show the president sources and methods that the intelligence agencies use to collect information because they dont trust that its a safe thing to communicate to him. Much more ahead tonight. Stay with us. What on earth are they fighting here . Whatever it is. Its hunting. The great wall. Rated pg13. This is one gorgeous truck. Special edition. 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 . 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This is boris calvo. Thats pepe. Boris doesnt just grow good coffee, boris grows mindblowing coffee. And because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm to grow even Better Coffee and invest in his community, which makes his neighbor, gustavo, happy. Thats blanca. Yup, pepe and blanca got together. Things happen. All this for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. Green mountain coffee. Packed with goodness. One of the new things about the trump era that is not easy to report on command the government, i think, is purposely making it difficult to report on is whats happening to immigrants now that the Trump Administration has taken over. We can confidently report that in less than a week, since last wednesday, more than 680 people have been rounded up in immigration raids in at least 11 states. Ice, immigrations and customs enforcement, they have arrested and deported people in california, new york, georgia, north carolina, south carolina, indiana, illinois, kansas, kentucky, missouri, wisconsin. And the new president campaigned on building a wall and he campaigned on vilifying mexicans and mexican immigrants in particular as a uniquely criminal class of people. Well now hes in charge and these new raids are, were told, a direct result of the executive action he signed making it easier for. I i. C. E to Deport Anyone. Making it easier to Deport Anyone with even a minor criminal record. Thats how we got here with hundreds of deportations in less than a week i. C. E calling it routine. Other people saying this is not routine. The other thing we are seeing is resistance to this change in policy and raids. Late last week, the Immigration Reform group called united we dream, they launched what theyre calling a new network called here to stay. Theyre saying if you went to an airport when you heard about the travel ban and said refugees are welcome here or if you said immigrants are here to stay, now is the time to follow up on that. Its to get volunteers to promise to show up bodily to be there on the spot to try to protect immigrants who are at risk of deportation because of the Trump Administrations policies to try to stop people from being taken out of their homes and workplaces and have their families taken apart. They launched this new network before midnight last thursday, called here to stay. Tonight united we dream says more than 24,000 people have signed up pledging to bodily stand up for immigrants in their communities. Joining us now is christina jiminez, a cofounder of united we dream. Ms. Jiminez, thank you for being here, appreciate your time tonight. Thanks for having me, rachel. Let me ask if i explained that right. It wasnt a lengthy explanation but thats what i understand in terms of how youre what i unde terms of how youre approaching this tactically and what this network is for. Did i basically get it right . Yes, you got it. This is a network of ally, folks all across the country who are committing to join news this moment to protect immigrants from deportation. What we are seeing right now is the direct result from trumps executive orders. This is trumps america where no one is safe. If you are an immigrant, or you look like an immigrant like myself, youre at risk, and no one is safe. What are you asking people to do . You asking for demonstrations or for civil disobedience or direct action . Weve seen some very dramatic action earlier this week in arizona, or late last week in arizona with people actually chaining themselves to the wheels of a van that was taking away one woman whose case had become a real cause celebre in the phoenix area. What are you asking people to do . Were asking people to do, and weve already seen it, rachel. When we know someone or a family in our community is in danger of being deported or i. C. E. Agents are around in your neighborhood, show up. Show up to peoples homes. Provide your church. Show up when people have to show up to court or when they have to do an i. C. E. Checkin. For example, just today, jenette, who is an immigrant woman who was supposed to show up to an i. C. E. Checkin actually took sanctuary in colorado. And thousands of people showed up with her and have opened the church and are supporting her so that she doesnt get deported. Similarly, danielle who is a doctor recipient actually was detained by ice on friday. He is still in detention in seattle, washington. And weve had hundreds of people that already showed up and that have committed now to have an action, a rally outside of the Detention Center over the weekend as well. So we are already seeing this. And what we are seeing is that people are really eager and interested. Because they are against what trump is trying to do in our country. This is not what america is about. And people want to join us in stopping these deportations and saying we are here to show up to ensure that immigrants are here to stay. And everybody watching right now, if you are against trump and his agenda of hate and deporting people like immigrants, show up. People can join the network by texting here to stay to 877877. And you can stop us in stopping deport take, cristina jimenez, cofounder of unite wed dream. Thanks for helping us understand what youre doing. Keep us apprised as to how this organizing effort goes. Thanks, rachel. Well be right back. Stay with us. Companies across te growing the economy, with the help of the lowest taxes in decades, a talented workforce, and worldclass innovations. Like in plattsburgh, where the most advanced transportation is already en route. 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I usually make their lunches then, and i have a little vegan so wow, you are busy. Wouldnt it be great if you had investments that worked as hard as you do . Yeah. Introducing essential portfolios. The automated investing solution that lets you focus on your life. That has everything to do with the people in here. Their training is developed by the same company who designed, engineered, and built the cars. Theyve got the parts, tools, and knowhow to help keep your ford running strong. 35,000 specialists all across america. No one knows your ford better than ford. And ford service. Right now, get the works a Synthetic Blend Oil change, tire rotation, Brake Inspection and more for 29. 95 or less. Every so often the news gods give us a story that is so outlandish, that is so baldly frankly upfront ridiculously, you kind of get pass on being outraged about it. You can be outraged if you want, but you can also just the news gods i think are in good humor tonight, because theyve given us one of those. Maybe its been a hard week for them too. I dont know. But weve got this one final story. We just got it in tonight. Its nuts. Its laugh out loud nuts. And it is about bare naked corruption, naturally. That story is next. When you find something worth waiting for, well help you invest to protect it for the future. Financial guidance while youre mastering life. From chase, so you can. It can seem like triggers pop up everywhere. Luckily theres powerful, 24hour, nondrowsy claritin. It provides relief of symptoms that can be triggered by over 200 different allergens. Live claritin clear. With not food, become food . Thankfully at panera, 100 of our food is 100 clean. No artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, or colors. Panera. Food as it should be. This is outrageous. It is also the funniest thing ive heard all day. You might have read recently if the New York Times they reported that a wealthy real estate family was in talks to buy the Miami Marlins Baseball Team. And if youre thinking when you see the headline about that, Kushner Family, is that any relation to Jared Kushner . Then yes, grand slam for you. Jared kushner is the soninlaw of the president , also Senior Adviser to the president. And it is that Kushner Family, led in this case by jareds brother that is reportedly in talks to buy the Miami Marlins Baseball Team. We knew that tonight here is the update. In addition to the news what the Miami Marlins are possibly being sold to the white houseconnected Kushner Family, were now hearing that the owner of the Miami Marlins is up for a nice new ambassadorship. Want to be ambassador to france . Think the Kushner Family might possibly get a better deal on the Baseball Team deal if they throw in the ambassador to france to go along with the negotiations . Just asking. Just wondering. That does it for us tonight. We will see you again tomorrow. Now its time for the last word. Ari melber sitting in for lawrence tonight. Good evening. Good evening. Some people say youre really