Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20191206

Support in the polls. I think that voters want to know about possible conflicts of interest. The mayor should be releasing who is on his finance committee, who are the bundlers who are raising big money for him. Is there anybody that you regret representing . No. Did you ever represent a Foreign Government . No. A Pharmaceutical Company . No. And again, im hoping that well get a chance to just be able to push all that out. And can you hear me now . Newly released phone records raising new concerns about the president s use of a personal cellphone to speak with Rudy Giuliani and others. Did russia listen in on his ukraine calls . Frankly russias goal is to try to spread disinformation as well as trying to pit american against american. And no individual at any level should be playing into their hands. And we have breaking news, good day, im Andrea Mitchell in washington as House Democrats work on articles of impeachment. First, breaking news on another Fatal Shooting at a military facility, this time the Naval Air Station in pensacola, florida today. Four people are dead including the shooter. The county sheriff telling reporters that the shooter was killed by one of his officers. Seven others are wounded including two sheriffs officers who are expected to make a full recovery. Were a military town. Our hearts and prayers are connected to all those that serve us every day. This is a resilient community. We will overcome this. But today this is certainly a tragic day. Nbc justice correspondent Pete Williams joins me now. Pete, what more do we know about the victims and the shooter and what caused this . Reporter the navy says this happened just before 7 00 local time, thats central time, in a classroom building at pensacola. Were waiting for word on who fired the shots this morning, whether it was someone connected with the base or someone from outside. There are some local reports the attack was carried out by a sailor, but there are other reports indicating that thats not the case. Tellingly, Authorities Say they have not yet ruled out the possibility that this was an act of terrorism. And that is an investigative aspect thats being followed closely right now, andrea. As you noted, andrea, two of the wounded were sheriffs deputies among the first to respond. One was hit in the knee, one was hit in the arm. Officials say they actually exchanged gunfire with the shooter in two floors of the building and that was one of them who killed the shooter. The fbi Officials Say they have sent experts to help with the forensics investigation to reconstruct what happened, which will be a big chore given the large number of shots that were apparently fired. The military does have strict rules about firearms. Only certain people are authorized to carry weapons on bases. But despite those rules, shooting do happen at military installations. And this by our count is the 19th shooting on a military base in the past ten years and its the second shooting this week at a navy base. On wednesday, a sailor whose submarine was docked at pearl harbor in hawaii killed two civilian employees before taking his own life. The navy is now saying that that 22yearold sailor was unhappy with his commanders and had been undergoing counseling and faced administrative punishment for minor misconduct in the past. So one obvious question is whether todays shooting was somehow connected or sparked by that one. But again, andrea, its i think very telling that authorities are saying they have not ruled out that this is an act of terrorism. Presumably they would do that if they had no reason to think so. So thats a line for us to follow. And just very briefly, do we know anything more about the other victims, those two fatalities . Reporter we do not. Two or three, rather, three, the fourth of course was the shooter, whether they were military or civilian, we dont know yet. Reporter correct. Thank you, i know youll be back to us with any updates, thanks so much for starting us off. Meanwhile, back on capitol hill, it will be a working weeding for House Democrats drafting articles of impeachment against a tough deadline set by Speaker Pelosi, still not decided, whether to include an obstruction of justice charge stemming from the Mueller Report or confine the charges to the president s pressure against ukraine allegedly for personal political benefit which would be abuse of power and also obstruction of congress for refusing to let top officials testify or turn over documents. House judiciary chairman jerry nadler meanwhile gave the white house until 5 00 tonight eastern time to decide whether they will offer a defense with a floor vote possible before the christmas break. Joining me now on all of this, Nbcs Kristen Welker at the white house. Msnbcs Garrett Haake on capitol hill. Nbcs Geoff Bennett here with me on set. Kristen, starting off with you, unlikely that the white house is going to all of a sudden decide theyre going to participate in this, theyve been saying well wait for the senate trial which will be more fair, from their at some point standpoint. But the democrats have to get their act together, literally, this weekend as they write their articles of impeachment. Thats right, and i think the way you have laid that out is right, andrea, the fact that we are anticipating the white house will say they are not going to cooperate with these hearings. The last letter sent by the white House Counsel Pat Cipollone said they see no reason to do so because they see the process as unfair from the start. That is the expected argument or at least part of it from the white house. We expect well get that close to that 5 00 p. M. Deadline. And then what changes . Then the white house continues with its defense mode posture. Weve seen this from President Trump. I was with him with london while he was at the nato summit. He was asked about the impeachment proceedings at almost every stop. And his response was to take aim at democrats, to call this a sham, to call it unpatriotic, and at this point in time it doesnt seem like that strategy is changing. The president essentially saying, if youre going to impeach me, get it over with. He wants to move on to that senate trial when the white house sees obviously as more favorable given that republicans have control of the senate, andrea. And Garrett Haake on the hill, what do we know about the division in the ranks regarding go big, big small, narrow it to ukraine . Do you think any decisions are likely in the next couple of days . I think theyre certainly being worked on, andrea. My reporting is democrats, particularly some of the democrats on the Judiciary Committee where they had been dealing with muellerrelated issues for the last 2 1 2 years now, wanted to include some of the elements of obstruction that were laid out in the Mueller Report in part because they see it as Unfinished Business and in part because they think it establishes a pattern of obstructive behavior by this president that goes right up through his refusal to comply with subpoenas or send aides to come testify in the impeachment investigation. But there are other democrats including some of those from more closely fought addictdistr more moderate districts. Theyre concerned that anything outside the scope of the ukraine scandal itself makes the vote look more political and a harder vote for them. They may be looking at some kind of goldilocks option to keep the obstruction charges related to mueller in one big bucket with obstruction charges related to this matter. The speaker has made it clear shes going to be involved in these articles and does not intend to be surprised at any point by their content. I dont think Speaker Pelosi has been surprised by vote counts, whip counts, or any of these decisions. Whats really been noteworthy, as youve been reporting, garrett, and you were at that incredible News Conference yesterday, Speaker Pelosi is in charge, shes got the gavel, and Geoff Bennett, youve been following her as well, she made that clear again last night. Absolutely. When reporters like garrett put questions to her about concrete next steps in this process shell often say, ask my committee chairman. But the truth is, based on my reporting, shes been in control of this entire thing from the beginning, articulating when to move, and i would think right now shes articulating what articles she wants to see. She said the president abused his power at the expense of National Security and the other being obstruction of congress having to do with the epic stonewalling she and other democrats have had to put up with. The question is does the Mueller Report make a come back in the articles of impeachment the democrats will be drafting. That we dont know. But the House Speaker makes clear this is not a fight she was seeking but its one she is prepared for. Garrett, to include the Mueller Report as another option, another article of impeachment, because of the ten obstruction of justice issues that were outlined very clearly in chapter 2 of the Mueller Report, does that potentially give cover to some who want to vote in favor of some and against others . Is it a safe haven for some marginal districts . It might. Look, there are a lot of political things to take into account here, whether you add the muellerrelated things into the obstruction case here, the obstruction case, a lot of democrats think, is as clearcut as anything the president is accused of doing in ukraine. If you add the muellerrelated charges does it weaken it in the mind of some democrats, or do you pull it out altogether which gives democrats the opportunity to say, i voted for this article but not that one. There is some political value in that. The speaker has kept this in the four corners of the constitution, to cast this as entirely on historical and constitutional grounds. Impeachment is a political act and it will have political consequences. And while the speaker may say thats not how shes viewing this, every member does have to take into account their own political circumstances as they decide whether or not theyll support whatever gets written. But of course were debating about a document that doesnt yet exist. Kristen welker, its extraordinary, you were covering Historic Events at nato and impeachment certainly overshadowed a lot of that as well as the president s behavior and tardiness and loquaciousness with some of his colleagues and their mocking of him and then his precipitous departure and the fact that he was tweeting about impeachment on the way over and on the way back. He was hardly following the advice of former clinton adviser mark penn which was to focus on doing your business, go overseas, be the leader on the world stage, and do that, ignoring impeachment. Thats what was so remarkable about this week, andrea, the fact that the goal of this trip in part was to try to turn the page, at least temporarily, away from impeachment, to try to remind people he is the commander in chief, he is there having these high stakes Foreign Policy discussions with these other foreign leaders, and then at every turn he was asked about impeachment when he was sitting next to these leaders. Of course that remarkable video that surfaced of some of americas closest aallies, the leaders of those countries seeming to poke fun at President Trump, the leaders of france, canada, as well as the uk. President trump was infuriated, he called Prime Minister trudeau twofaced because of it and its one more thing that added to his frustrations. He said he decided to not hold a News Conference but come home because he had already answered so many questions. But its something that hovers over everything the president does. Well be listening closely, he has an event at 2 00 p. M. , reporters will be asking him to try to get a window into what the white house will say about whether they will cooperate, andrea. I will bet you the president who said he never looks at the stock market will be bragging about the stock market, which is up again on the basis of a good jobs report today. So cheers on that. He does have some talking points that are not about impeachment. Kristen welker, Garrett Haake, Geoff Bennett, thanks to all. And coming up, everybody is working for the weekend. Democrats on the house Judiciary Committee burning the midnight oil through the weekend as they work to finish drafting articles of impeachment. Democratic congresswoman zoe lofgren will join us. Join us and there are things we wouldnt. When work is worth it. Work is worth it. Work can be closer to home. Pay more. Make us proud. Careerbuilder. Work can work. Find your work at careerbuilder. Com when youyou spend lessfair, and get way more. So you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one. For small prices, you can build big dreams, spend less, get way more. Shop everything home at wayfair. Com the best of pressure cooking and air frying now in one pot, and with tendercrisp technology, you can cook foods that are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The ninja foodi Pressure Cooker, the Pressure Cooker that crisps. Doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Members of the house Judiciary Committee are working through the weekend, drafting articles of impeachment against President Trump. As impeachment investigators prepare to present evidence to them monday with a vote expected before the holiday break. O one member of the Judiciary Committee has lived impeachment history. California democrat zoe lofgren says President Trumps conduct is worse than watergate because it involved a foreign country. Joining me now is congresswoman zoloft from california. Congresswoman, great to see you. Let me ask you about the articles of impeachment. Should they be confined to the Current Situation of ukraine, abuse of power, obstruction of congress and the like, or should it dip back into the Second Chapter of the Mueller Report, ten very clear instances of obstruction of justice . I think the drafting of articles will be a collaborative effort. As you know, the speaker has asked that the chairmen of the three committees collaborate, really all the members will be collaborating. And that decision will be made not just by the Judiciary Committee but in a collaborative way across the caucus. Which way do you prefer . I think a narrowlyfocused matter relative to the material being reported to us from the Intel Committee is probably the most timely article to adopt. But we, as i say, will be listening to each other. I would hope republicans would also be involved with us. This is about the constitution and we would welcome their input as well. There was quite a moment with nancy pelosi yesterday when a reporter from sinclair asked her whether she was doing this because she hates the president , parroting what doug collins had said earlier on fox news, the ranking republican, of course, on judiciary. And she was really very much taken aback by that, offended, making the point that to her mind, all of her disagreements with the president on policy, whether its on daca, separation of children, that those gun laws, that those issues are for the electorate, that should be policies to be determined in the following november, but that this is a matter of the constitution and that she as a person of deep faith which we know to be the case with her, really took offense at anyone questioning. What was the reaction within the caucus to that very strong statement by the speaker yesterday . Well, she did state the truth, which is we have many policy disagreements with President Trump, thats for the election. Impeachment is about whether the president s conduct threatens the constitution, the national interest, the good constitutional order, and thats why we are proceeding. Its what our oath of office requires us to do. A lot of people dont understand the role that catholic faith plays in Nancy Pelosis life. I do, and many of us in the Democratic Caucus do. But i understood where she was coming from. I can attest to that just from knowing her offcamera over the years and decades, in fact, that that was just a moment, it was a moment that really affected a lot of people, also the president s response that she was having, you know, a nervous fit. That seemed sort of genderrelated, to you . The president projects. You know, i understand he said he doesnt believe that she prays for him. I guess what that means is that he doesnt pray. That shes nervous . Hes not a nervous person, but he may be getting a little nervous. And just briefly, denny hecks surprising resignation, surprising to those of us on the outside, safe district, washington state, and in his letter saying the impeachment changed his mind, that this has been very draining. Is that a common i do understand that. This is not something that anyone ran for office to do. Its depressing that the president would engage in these activities that threaten the constitution. Its so depressing. And yet we have to deal with it, because its our oath of office. I do understand why denny wants to go home. Hes a wonderful member of congress, a very serious legislator. And he has done great work on the Intel Committee. And i think he deserves a retirement if thats where he is. Congresswoman zoe lofgren, thanks very much for being with us. Thank you very much. Lets go back to nbc news justice correspondent Pete Williams, more breaking news on the deadly shooting in pensacola. Reporter andrea, we had say the at the top of the hour that authorities had not ruled out that this was a possible attack of terrorism. We can say now a little bit more about why that is their position. We have been told by several Law Enforcement officials familiar with what happened in pensacola that the person who fired the shots was a Foreign National who was here in the United States for training. Now, this is a common thing that happens with many countries, especially countries who receive military equipment made in the United States. They come here for training on how to operate that equipment, or how to be interoperable with United States forces. We are told that the person who is the suspect, if you will, the person they believe carried out the shooting, is or was a Foreign National from a middle eastern country that was here to receive training. Were going to not get into any further details about the country or the name of the person until we have further confirmation of that. But i think thats a telling detail about why the Authorities Say at this point theyre not ruling out terrorism. Now, lets stop for just a moment and say the mere fact that this was someone from another country or a middle eastern country that carried out this attack doesnt necessarily mean that it was terrorism. A person could have the same kind of motives that someone from the United States would have in carrying out an attack as well. But thats why this is an area of inquiry for the federal authorities to be heavily involved in this case if terrorism is a possibility here. No one is saying at this point that thats what it was, to emphasize that. But it cant be ruled out at this point. I think thats why the authorities are saying it remains a possibility, andrea. As someone who understands this as deeply as you do, the f16 and other advanced aircraft which are used in pensacola, Foreign Nationals do train there because we sell those planes very heavily throughout the middle east. There have been some very wellknown figures from the middle east, from members of the royal families from various countries, who train in the United States, in texas, in florida as well. So were not reporter and frankly, weve heard conflicting reports on whether this person was in the United States to receive Pilot Training some people have said that but other people have said no. So we cant say it was someone to receive Pilot Training, just someone in the u. S. To receive some kind of training at the Pensacola Air station which obviously has an aviation component. Thanks for all of that, were following that and well have any updates. Thanks, pete. Reporter you bet. Next, the gloves are off, democrats are on the trail and on the offense, taking swipes at one another, even taking on voters. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports, stay with us on msnbc. L reports, stay with us on msnbc. Maine lobster and crispy crabstuffed shrimp rangoon. How will you pick just 4 of 10 . It wont be easy. Better hurry in. The best of pressure cooking and air frying now in one pot, and with tendercrisp technology, you can cook foods that are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. The ninja foodi Pressure Cooker, the Pressure Cooker that crisps. We dont see who youre against, through or for,rs, whether tomorrow will be light or dark, all we see in you, is a spark we see your spark in each nod, each smile, we see sparks in every aisle. We see you find a hidden gem, and buying diapers at 3am. We see your kindness and humanity. The strength of each community. Weve seen more sparks than we can say. About 20 million just yesterday. 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For the first time Elizabeth Warren has started calling out at least one of her opponents, specifically mayor Pete Buttigieg, who is closing in on her in the polls. Warren now seizing on recent scrutiny by Interest Groups questioning buttigiegs time a decade ago working for a major consulting firm, mckinsey and company which more recently has helped the administrations Border Control and deportation plan. Shes also going after buttigiegs private fundraisers. The mayor should be releasing who is on his finance committee, who are the bundlers who are raising big money for him, who hes given titles to and made promises to. And he should open up the doors so that the press can follow the promises that hes making in these big dollar fundraisers. Mayor pete claims he cannot reveal his client list at ma mckinsey because he signed a nondisclosure list and the work for President Trump happened years after he left the firm. I signed a legal document about client names. Im calling on mckinsey to release me from that so that client list can go out. I can think of four times since i left that i opened the newspaper and be disgusted about what i saw, pharma being one example. Joining me is nbc reporter ali vitali tracking the warren campaign, nbc correspondent mike memoli in cedar rapids, iowa, with the biden company, and mike murray, senior political editor. Ali, why is warren suddenly going after mayor pete . I think, andrea, you can read a few tea leaves here. First its who shes going after and then its what shes going after him on. We know mayor Pete Buttigieg has been rising in the polls. Warren if you ask her says she doesnt do polls, shes just running the race. But weve seen subtle changes in terms of the way shes been restructuring her events to be more question and answer focused and engaging on the question of one of her opponents and attacking mayor Pete Buttigieg by name. You were right when she said she was attacking him on being more transparent as to who his donors are. She urged him to open up his fundraisers, to press so that they can see what was going on in those rooms, asking to return to the transparency thats been the norm across Democratic Politics across the last few cycles. Were seeing her engage on this because its an issue that generally works with her Larger Campaign message. Her main theme is anticorruption. We know she wants to get money out of politics, she doesnt do the big dollar fundraisers. I think asking for that transparency both on the fundraising front and also as it pertains to buttigieg and mckinsey fits that larger narrative. That may be why shes comfortable going on the attack. As it pertains to buttigieg, this is something that warren is not the only one asking him to do. The New York Times Editorial Board came out with a piece yesterday saying hes going to have to be transparent about the work hes done at mckinsey. If you think about it in the larger context of all these candidates who want to go up against donald trump, they need to have transparency. Good points, mark murray, but in buttigiegs defense, he went into the military, he was in afghanistan, hes had a very varied career, and its been a long time since hes been at mckinsey. The New York Times had an interesting investigation into Pete Buttigiegs time at mckinsey. He was working on things as random as grocery prices in canada to iraq and afghanistan issues, they were trying to rebuild the governments there. What stands out to me, weve moved on in these debates, andrea, going on from actions that actually people have undertaken that you end up doing x, y, or z, and that makes you unfit for office as opposed to you worked for a company like x, y, or z, we need now to go into you. As ali is saying, there is transparency, but the other thing, the other undercurrent of this discussion is that Pete Buttigieg shouldnt have worked at a firm like mckinsey and that makes him suspect. I do like when i believe it was Vaughn Hillyard who asked buttigieg what did you learn at mckinsey that could help you as president , he said, math, which is kind of fun. It might help with the budget or some of the other things that president s are supposed to know about. Lets talk to mike memoli, though, with joe biden, we saw joe biden very feisty yesterday, hes got john kerry with him today, a big endorsement in terms of northern policy and experience from kerry who of course notably won iowa, thats what helped propel him into the leadership of the democratic primary and the nomination. Lets just see a little bit of john kerry stumping for joe biden in the last hour. So iowa, when you caucus in february, dont just send a message. Send us a president. Send us a man who can put the world back together. Send us joe biden. How is that playing out there, mike . Well, andrea, as you can see, the former Vice President still working that rope line behind me, they just finished up in the last 20 minutes or so. I promise you, if the technology allowed, i would be up there trying to ask him questions, as you know. Weve seen things we havent seen so far on the seventh day of the no malarky tour. One is the endorsement of john kerry for his close friend joe biden, saying he wasnt here against anybody but for joe biden. We also saw joe biden back on the teleprompter for the first time on this sevenday tour. This no malarky tour, for all the jokes about the name, has been an important ramping up of the effort of the campaign to show commitment for the former Vice President at a time when his polls have been slipping. And the reaction here was very strong. It was interesting, andrea, in a campaign in which joe biden has talked a lot about barack obama, it was interesting to hear him heaping praise and credit on john kerry for some of the chief accomplishments of the obama administration, leading into issues of being ready on day one. Both of them former chairs of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when the Foreign Relations committee was a very big deal in terms of policymaking. Mike bloomberg, the latest entry into the race, one of the two billionaires in the race, to some criticism from the rest of the field, was on cbs this morning with gayle king and said the strongest thing hes had to say, mark, about the others in the race and what propelled him in. I watched all the candidates and i just thought to myself, donald trump would eat em up. You think all the candidates who are running today, he would eat them up . Let me rephrase it. I think that i would do the best job of competing with him and beating him. He tried to moderate it but it was a pretty tough statement about the others, especially joe biden. Two things are going on, andrea. All the polls weve seen show democratic voters like their field. At the same time we have more Democratic Candidates get into the race and other people say, hey, i should have a place at the debate stage. The challenge for bloomberg, and i think this is the challenge for the cory bookers of the world and also for Amy Klobuchar who has crept up in the polls a little bit, for the last now two or three months weve seen a very consistent top four in this democratic race and its really the top four and everyone else. Michael bloombergs path is saying, hey, i hope theres split verdict in the early states and i can end up winning on super tuesday and make a move there, but thats a risky bet. And the top four . Pete buttigieg, joe biden, Elizabeth Warren, bernie sanders. Not necessarily in that order. Correct. Mike, i know youre going to catch up with joe biden any minute now. Coming up, call me on the cellphone. New security concerns about what the president s continued use of an unsecure mobile phone means and whether hes been compromised by foreign surveillance. Stay with us. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. People 50 plus at average risk. Some things are harder than you thought. And others are easier. Like screening for colon cancer with me, cologuard. Im noninvasive and you use me at home. Im also effective. I find 92 of colon cancers using dna in your stool. So why wait . Cologuard is not for those at high risk for colon cancer. False positive and negative results may occur. Ask your Healthcare Provider if cologuard is right for you. Most insured patients pay 0. Laso you can enjoy it even ifst youre sensitive. Se. Yet some say it isnt real milk. I guess those cows must actually be big dogs. Sit i said sit the wait is over. Tmobile is lighting up 5g nationwide. 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A place for mom is a free service that pairs you with a local advisor to help you sort through your options and find a perfect place. A place for mom. You know your family we know Senior Living. Together well make the right choice. New evidence today that President Trump is still defying security guidelines and using his unsecure personal cellphone, raising the question of who is listening in. The Washington Post reporting that President Trump routinely communicated with his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others by cellphone, leaving himself vulnerable to monitoring by russia and other foreign spies. Joining me now, kimberly atkins, senior Washington News correspondent for wbur, bostons npr station and msnbc contributor, and juan seraty, an msnbc security analyst. It strikes me when we go to the seventh floor of the state department, we have to leave our cellphones, or we go into the roosevelt room for a briefing at the white house, you have to leave your cellphones, and certainly when you go down to the nsc, if youre a white house staffer, youre supposed to leave your cellphone outside. And this administration has broken every rule about this, at least at the white house, not the state department and other places. Juan, what is the risk here, as obviously the white house, this president , is the richest intelligence target for everybody. Yeah, i think the risks are twofold. One is you have the ability of Foreign Intelligence Services to listen in, obviously to be able to track the president s thinking, his most intimate thoughts. We can track that on twitter. Exactly, thats the most open and transparent. The other part is, getting people to call him in ways to include what hes seeing, hearing, who hes meeting with, so its also a channel of influence. If Foreign Intelligence Services, the good ones like the russians, know what the president is thinking, who hes talking to, who his patterns are, they can then inject operations into that. Its a twoway vulnerability that the president should be very conscious of. No doubt the secret service has talked to him about it. Hes not a conventional president , obviously, and he does his own thing. Kimberly, everyone does it. Ive done stories for decades on how we listen in on allies and remember when Angela Merkel was offended when it was reported there was eavesdropping on her. I guess the wikileaks dump, which exposed a lot of this. But the fact is, to use a cellphone, i mean, we use burner phones when we go to certain countries to avoid the hacking. Right, right. Were just reporters. Disinfected every Electronic Device i had when i went to china and came back. Recall, politically, all the people defending or who will defend President Trump about this are the same people who were treating, four years ago, Hillary Clintons private server like it was the biggest National Security threat that the world had ever seen. And still are. There is a reversal on that because he is the president of the United States, the stakes are so much higher, and certainly higher at a time like this when Rudy Giuliani as we speak is in ukraine. Russian intelligence are all over ukraine. Hes collecting information, i think its almost certain that Vladimir Putin and russian intelligence officials are payroll feeding him information that is beneficial to them as he continues this, quote unquote, investigation that hes carrying out. Including everything juan said, the National Security implications are huge here. Gordon sondlands cafe in kyiv, the president was talking to him. Talking loudly. This brings to mind the larger implications of ukraine. Ukraine didnt get all its money, as it turned out, and the argument that they eventually got some of the money that the republicans are making should cancel out any of the offenses. Lawyers have made the point that the solicitation in and of itself is, they argue, the democrats, an impeachable offense. The constitutional lawyers did last week. But the fact is, it also weakened, weakened the new zelensky presidency at a critical moment when he was heading into negotiations with Vladimir Putin. Juan, what is happening next week . This is the big untold story, how much the ukrainians are weakened by not just the call, the question, the controversy, but the ongoing impeachment drama while zelensky is trying to govern, while hes trying to build credibility. On monday hes going to face Vladimir Putin in negotiations over what happens next in ukraine. This is probably their first meeting. This is their first meeting. Its the first head to head matchup, if you will, between the new ukrainian noVice President and putin, the savvy, wily leader of russia. And the stakes are incredibly high. The challenge here is, is zelensky going in feeling empowered, does he feel he has the backing of the u. S. . Right now all the indications are that thats not the case. How does putin take advantage of that at the sensitive moment of negotiations . Well have to see. But the problem is weve drawn ukraine into this, with Rudy Giuliani out in europe again, raising lots of questions. Its just not smart and its not good for our long term interests and weve got to think about whats happening in ukraine while were doing this dance with impeachment. It wasnt just the 400 million in weapons. It was the meeting. Zelensky still has not had that white house meeting. He wanted the white house welcome, the embrace. The whole point was to get it before this meeting with putin. Now hes going into putin and not only does he not have the white house meeting, hes been humiliated with the phone call release which the ukraine was not aware was going to be released, at least the memo of the socalled notes of that phone call, showing him being subservient and being pressured, on top of which, Vladimir Putin and his services probably know everything thats been said between Rudy Giuliani and President Trump on their cellphones. I think thats right. Theres also the weakening with european allies. You remember with the transcript, zelensky was not speaking kindly about france and germany. France and germany are hosting the talks. And so he needs european allies, he needs the u. S. This is a moment where we have undercut an ally at a critical time when he has to appear strong internally within ukraine and in the face of negotiations with putin. What great reporting on your part. The former deputy to the National Security adviser, thank you very much. And kimberly atkins. You cant make it up. Thank you both. Coming up, backwards and in high heels, nancy pelosi outstepping the president , outdancing the president after he taunts her with claims she had a nervous fit. You dont want to miss her response, on Andrea Mitchell reports. Sponse, on andrea mit reports. This is my body of proo. Man 1 vo proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. Man 2 vo proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis. Woman 2 vo . With humira. Woman 3 vo humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. Humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. Avo humira can lower your ability to fight infections. 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And mikes won them, which is important right this minute, because if he could beat americas biggest gun lobby, helping pass background check laws and defeat nra backed politicians across this country, beat big coal, helping shut down hundreds of polluting plants and beat big tobacco, helping pass laws to save the next generation from addiction. All against big odds you can beat him. Im Mike Bloomberg and i approve this message. The amount of Student Loan Debt i have, im embarrassed to even say. We just decided we didnt want debt any longer. I didnt realize how easy investing could be. Im Picking Companies that i believe in. I think sofi money is amazing. Thank you sofi. Sofi thank you, we love you. I dont hate anyone, i was raised in a way heart full of love and always pray for the president and i still pray for the president. I pray for the president all the time. So dont mess with me when it comes to words like that. Take that. That was Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she prays for the president. Shes not buying it. She claims pelosi had a nervous fit, adding i dont believe her even close. In a cnn town hall last night, pelosi fought back. When he calls someone nervous, hes the nervous one. When he suspects somebody is not praying, hes probably not praying. Steve israel and rick tyler is joining me and also former speaker of Newt Gingrich to both. Steven, you know the speaker well, her matchup against the president yesterday . Yes, nancy pelosi does not have a nervous fit. She has nerves of steel. You saw that yesterday. I think it is interesting andrea, there is a really important precedent for when nancy pelosi had to guide her caucus through some tricky terrain because she believes that the substance out weighs the politics, and it is the Affordable Care act in 2009 and 2010 when there was tremendous measure from her not moving forward, when the politics looked really complicated and volatile. She made the decision then that the substance of the issue out weighed the politics. And, she made the same decision and the same calculation with respect to the impeachment process. Shes the end of the torpedos and let the president take the hit. Shes methodically navigating her caucus through this and building her sentiment and will arrive at success when this vote is held. There is no better rick tyler at a count. Remember that moment where she stood up in the candidate room against the president and you have this picture of all men at the table and she stands up and walks out and went viral for a very good reason. It is remarkable. I agree the congressman, pelosi can take issues that transcends politics but politics is driven by leadership. Leaders can change the politics of the issue and it is done through communications over and over again. During the whole impeachment process, pelosi got to, shes good in some way become the face of impeachment, it is unavoidable. Shes the speaker. She will have to convince the American People that shes attempting to do the work of congress, the work of the government. Thats a really tricky balance. It demonstrates leadership. Which means you have to methodically communicate what it is you are doing every step of the way and not so much gets drawn into the president s name calling and tic for tat, back and forth. She was according to the New York Times, steven, editing some of the copies that adam schiff was planning to read at the intelligence hearing. Shes extraordinary detailed and to follow up onto ricks point, i said it before on your show, she have one thing on her walls. When we had those contentious leadership meeting, that was a portrait of congressman, Abraham Lincoln before he was president. There was as portrait of him sitting on the floor of the house. When we were struggling through those issues, she would point to that portrait, remember what lincoln said, public settlement is everything. It means she understands to ricks point, you got to shape the sentiment. Thats a task that shes prepared for and excels at. And i cant resist this on a completely different subject, rick rick tyler because you worked with senator ted cruz. He kept his bet and with tim kaine, he put the jersey and his hat. I think it was an Anthony Rendon shirt and put on that hat and bought some texas bsh cue. Barbecue. Virginias microbrew. All in good fun, right . The right team won. We are all good there. Thanks so much to both of you and as we wrap up, wrapping up a contentious week. It is great to turn to nbcs kevin tevos. Who brings us this story of a heartwarming listen. Reporter it was a field trip unlike any other. School children in michigan invited to the local courthouse. Welcome to the courthouse on this amazing day. Reporter to attend a special hearing. It was adoption day in family court. 37 foster children united with their new families. There are so many emotional stories. Reporter Michael Clark jr. Came to celebrate right along with him. Reporter hes been with his foster parents for about a year. Today they are one. We asked him and he was just like, the class is my family. Reporter tonight found their forever parents. We are thinking there are so many options for billing a family this day. Reporter one boy learned an important lesson about love and commitment. Nbc news. And we thank you kevin for that. That does it for Andrea Mitchell reports. Remember to follow our show online, have a wonderful weekend. Chris jansing is in for voovel and rule. Hello everyone, well have live reporting from the scene as we learn more about the suspect. And the november jobs report is out, it crushed expectations. Well look at the big picture ahead. Well begin with the developing story, breaking news at a naval base in pensacola, florida. The suspected gunman who killed three people and injured seven others was a Foreign National who was in the u. S. For