But first, new questions and changing explanations from companies now finding themselves smack in the middle of a controversy over big payments to Donald Trumps personal attorney Michael Cohen. Im crushing it, reads the headline in the Washington Post, quoting cohen, touting how he leveraged his access to President Trump. Those promised brought millions of dollars into cohens business essential consulting. Among the companies putting cash in cohens coffers, drug giant novartis and at t. Msn Msnbcs Ali Velshi taking a look at all this. Let me start with the basic. Some people might say this happens all the time. People were surprised. They got a president they werent expecting. They wanted to go and find out anything they could about him. So they paid 1. 2 million to a guy named Michael Cohen. Its weird on a lot of levels. Theres some part of this thats a bit swampy. Novartis ceo put out a statement saying we made a mistake entering into this agreement and were being criticized by a wor
My love for america will be weighed favorably against them. I lived and died a proud american. We are citizens of the worlds greatest republic, a nation of ideals, not blood and soil. We are blessed and are a blessing to humanity when we uphad those ideas at home and in the world. We helped lift more people from tyranny and poverty than anywhere in the world. We weaken this when we hide behind walls rather than tear them down. When we doubt the power of our ideals rather than trust them to be the great force for change theyve always been. We have always had so much more in common with each other in disagreement. If only we remember that, and give each other the benefit of the presumption that we all love our country. We will get through these challenging times. We will come through them stronger than before. We always do. Do not despair of our present difficulties, but believe always in the promise and greatness of america, because nothing is inevitable here. Americans never quit. We n
Rewriting of history books, particularly on afghanistan, has many people asking where does he get this stuff from . The answer may be directly from his buddy over in the kremlin. More on that straight ahead. We want to begin with day 16 of the Government Shutdown. President trump now back at the white house following his camp david retreat with staffers from the white house, but Vice President mike pence stayed behind in washington today for a second straight day of Border Security negotiations with top congressional staffers. Both the white house and democrats are holding firm on their positions with no deal in sight. We have a National Emergency. Just read the papers. We have a crisis at the border. I may declare a National Emergency, dependent on whats going to happen over the next few days. Threatening talk from the president he doesnt have the power to execute. Were asking for 5. 6 billion. Theyre offering us zero. Sounds like were simply arguing about one variable. Just how much
Vivid and troubling picture of the cost of the ongoing shutdown. The failure to fund the fbi undermines essential fbi operations such as those designated to combat crimes against children, drug and gang crimes and terrorism. Payroll deadline at midnight. Meaning hundreds of thousands of federal employees are more likely to miss a second paycheck. You dont want, you know, the Mortgage Company to tell us, you know, were going to be starting the, you know, foreclosure process. I mean, thats stressful. With no end in sight. This is like the most horrible experience ever. Because i need my i need my cancer treatments. I need whatever medical necessities that come along with this disease. So thats what scares me most. When was the last discussion about this trump tower deal . Because rudy got everybody really confused, i have to say. He goes on meet the press and says could have been through the election. Then he said he was talking in hypothetical terms. The reality is, it wasnt a deal. We
Vice president pence slams european allies. Does that mean regime change . Does that mean war . I think what it means is nations across the middle east and here in europe need to be willing to follow the lead of the United States of america. Coming up, more on the threat from iran in another Andrea Mitchell exclusive with israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And stuck in the middle. While the president looks for land mines inside the budget bill, the senate plans to vote on it later today. But federal contractors get stiffed, with no chance of back pay, all as lawmakers hold their breath, waiting to see what the president will do. Lets all pray that the president will have wisdom to sign the bill so government doesnt shut down. And good day to you, im Kristen Welker in washington where President Trump is pushing back on another bombshell book, this one from former fbi Deputy Director Andrew Mccabe, telling his side of the story nearly one year after being fired by former attorney