sup ple supplemental questionnaire obtained z by nbc news, white house officials are actually asked if they are vulnerable to blackmail. it reads in part, quote, with as much detail as possible, please provide any other information, including information about other members of your family, which could suggest a conflict of interest, be a possible source of embarrassment or be used to coerce or blackmail you. that s a change. let s bring in our lead off panel on a busy thursday night. meika, an attorney, matthew nusbuam, white house reporter and vivian solama political reporter for nbc news. meika, based on what we know of publically, what do you make of bannon s testimony before your
political reporter vivian solama. thanks to both of you for being here. robert, talk to me about how it would be best for our viewers to think about a government shutdown that occurs 32 hours from now. you have to think of it really as a political drama that has consequence for people who live here in washington, who work for the federal government across the country. but so many of these services, as you just listed, continue to operate. the question is can this government function? can congress and the white house and the executive branch come together and actually keep this government funded more than just a few days? and that s the political dynamic. they don t have an answer for, even though the federal government itself seems to be okay for the most part should it not get specific funding for a few days. vivian, the speech was interesting that the president just gave. it was actually worked around a campaign. it was speaking very broadly about the economy. i remember in the 3
if there is any dignity about the leadership, if there s any commitment to patriotism, if there s any desire to put country over party this is the week. it is unreel. it is unbelievable to hear the president of the united states of america say something like this. i think his words and his action tend to speak like one who knows something about being a racist. it must be in his dna, in his make-up. congressman lewis, of course, a living icon of the civil rights movement. and he is among those who announced they will not be attending the state of the union address later this month. all this brings us to our lead off panel on a friday night. ken thomas, vivian solama,
which we really saw the sausage making in the works. and, you know, then you have these comments come out, reported the other day. and it s really setback the process a lot. you have, you know, on the 20th will be the one-year anniversary of the president s inauguration. it could also be the first day of a government shutdown. and right now they re trying to come up with some way forward on immigration and spending, but these comments make all of that very difficult to accomplish. vivian, you and our own hally jackson broke a story today about a different interaction that this president had. there s the headline. with a briefer who was there on a business appearance before the commander in chief. tell us the outlines of that story. so this briefer went and talked to president trump about hostage issues, very capable intelligence analyst. and she discussed these issues with him and he sort of
it really lends to this free wheeling spirit this administration has made chaotic to cover. what a nice way to put it. our thanks on friday night to ken thomas, to vivian solama. we appreciate you all joining us. and coming up after our first break, a trial date set in this high profile case in this russia investigation. what we know about the president s physical exam today and when we will learn more about it. and what the mid-term elections are looking like right about now with a big gop name announcing retirement this past week. that and more when we continue on a friday night. hi, i m the internet! you know what s difficult? armless bowling. ahhhhhhhh! you know what s easy? building your website with godaddy.