I say to him, be like john mccain, the way he behaves, the way he serves his country, the way he conducts himself in public service. I want my boy to be like him. I dont want him to be like President Trump. Senator bob kerrey, i know we are talking about john mccain and the country should be talking about him. But thank you as well for your heroism and the work you did in protecting this country both overseas and in congress. Middle east tensions are rapidly escalating. Palestinian protesters continue to clash with israelis for the seventh consecutive we can at the border of the gaza strip. May 15th is the day after israels Declaration Of Independence and subsequent war in 1948 in which hundreds of thousands of palestinians were forced from their lands. Fuelling more of the unrest is the of mo of the u. S. Embassy to jerusalem, which is scheduled for monday, the same day as
israels 70th anniversary celebrations. Nearly an protesters have been killed by live israeli fire since the violence broke out on march 30th. At the same time, more violence between israel and iran in syria is raising fears of a possible war. It all comes the same week that donald trump officially pulled the plug on americas participation in the iran nuclear deal. I want to talk more about the Unrest Unraveling in the middle east with someone who helped write the iran nuclear deal. Joining me now, Nuclear Physicist earnest moniz. Sir, thank you for being with us. We appreciate this. I dont know how many ways we can underscore this. There are reasons people may not like iran. And there are valid reasons for which people may be frustrated with irans perform an as a regional neighbor in the middle east. But nuclear deal in part authored by people like yourself was done to achieve some
specific ends. And most people agree was achieving those end. Can you talk to me about that . Absolutely. First of all, let me make clear you can certainly count me among those who are shall we say are concerned about irans behavior with hezbollah, in syria, yemen, human rights, missiles, and the like. As you said, ali, this agreement was it was long known as it was being negotiated, it was focusing on Nuclear Weapons, making sure that everyone, we and irans neighbors, our Friends Allies in that region, would verifiably understand that they had no nuclear weapon, even as we then push back on all of those other behaviors that we obviously dont like. I would just maybe offer one analogy going back to president reagan when he negotiated with the soviet union on nuclear arms control. He focused on Nuclear Weapons as an existential issue even as we
had many, many other disputes with the so yet union. You know, its interesting, because Donald Trumps rhetoric about this is working with some people. I was speaking to somebody the other day who says irans compliance with the aspects of this nuclear deal having to do with production of Nuclear Materials, the jury is still out on that. I want to be clear you made the statement after we made the announcement of pulling out of the deal as International Inspectors who have been on the ground every day since the deal was confirmed the iranians have complied. Lets be clear. Lets be on the record. You are here. The jury is not out on whether or not iran was living up to its end of the deal as it related to Nuclear Materials . Thats correct. Everyone says that, including the president s Cabinet Members. So thats very important. Secondly, i want to emphasize the compliance is not just in terms of how Nuclear Materials
are handled. But very importantly again, Secretary Mat Nis the congress two weeks ago talked about how the agreement put forward a probust verification regime. Iran is also complying in allowing the kinds of inspections that occur not only at the places that they have announced Nuclear Activity but also at other places that the iaea has asked to go to. And thats very, very critical. And that i want to emphasize does not, to use the popular word, sunset. We have forever the ability of the International Inspectors, presumably, often with guidance from intelligence sources in the United States, israel, and other countries, that if there is suspect activity the iaea has access and has access in a time period for which no other country in the world is subject. Besides iran. Does not participating in this deal make it easier or harder to achieve the more
complicated aims in the reej, including limiting irans activity in syria, in yemen, with hezbollah, as you have said . Does it make it easier or harder . I think over time it will make it harder. I think there is a strategic error. And well see how the deal goes. But you know, the europeans have made it clear. Russia has made it clear and iran at least for the moment has said it will continue to comply with the agreement. But you know, history would say that without the United States engagement that may be very hard to sustain over the long term. And now what happens if we have lost that verification regime. Right. If the International Community does not have the confidence in iran not rejuvenating its Weapons Program . You start pull that thread, and its not very pretty in terms of regional instability. Earnest moniz, the former Secretary Of Energy serving under president obama who helped write the iran nuclear deal. Mr. Secretary thank you for being with us. Thank you. With me live from gaza, matt bradley, msnbc News Correspond on theent. These demonstrations will be taking place every friday. They will continue at least until may 15th but thing got really hot today. Reporter thats right we had another day of violence. We saw two journalists badly injured by gunfire on the israeli side here on the gaza strip side. I was talking to people. There is a lot of anger out there. There are protesters who are burning tires. They are Lofting Kites they have set on fire that have been wafting over to the israeli side and setting agricultural fields on fire on the israeli side. This is just a taste, kind of a preview of what we can expect come monday and news. Thats when we are going to see this Great March Of Return thats been going every friday for the last two weeks now turn into a big process. Organizers i spoke to today said they are expecting hundreds had of thousands of people that will rival the violent deadly protest that killed more than 40 people back on march 30th. We can expect to see a lot more violence here. One thin thats interesting, hamas while it has quite a bit of control how the protests are going. The genesis this idea, the genesis of the movement doesnt come from hamas. It comes from ingroups here in the gaza strip. They are hoping it stays that way. They are hoping that hamas which has a Stronghold On Civic Life here that they stay somewhat independent that they are able to exercise protests against the israelis without being under the thumb of hamas. When you go out there, you can see that, there are no hamas flags. Just palestinian flags in the field out there facing israel. We will watch on monday when the u. S. Embassy opens in jerusalem. Matt bradley in gaza for us. At t issued a mea culpa
about hiring Michael Cohen. They released a letter to employees saying that hiring Michael Cohen as a political consultant was a big mistake. They paid Cohen Thousands of dollars for help in dealing with the Trump Administration on a number of matters including the acquisition of time warner that donald trump said he didnt want to see happen when he was president. The Washington Post reports that internal documents from at t detail the 600,000 they paid to cohen and describes his contract, which highlights how he is to quote creatively address political and Communications Issues and advise the company on matters before the federal communications commission. Im joined by tom handberger. Tom, its not clear to me, im not a lawyer. Its not clear what if anything Michael Cohen did may have been illegal. It seems he is involved in
questionable ethical stuff. But at t, a company that has business before the administration, paying the personal lawyer of President Trump through a company that he established in the weeks before the election does not pass a smell test to this economics reporter. Well, i think that your first assessment that there is nothing thats obviously illegal here is correct. In fact, the payment to Michael Cohen, although now the ceo of at t and another company, novartis have apologized for hiring him is not illegal. The concern is, at least in the ideas of these ceos now, its unseemly. Large amounts of money going to a guy who was the president s personal lawyer. Which would appear to be paying for access in effect. Rather than expertise. But its not illegal to pay someone. Its not clear that Michael Cohen was required in this case to register as a lobbyist. He did not register. So the issue here is one of ethics and optics, not a matter of the law. But as Stephanie Ruhle points out and you point out a lot, this is how washington works. Just to put it in context, at t spent 16. 8 million on lobbying in 2017. So this was about 3. 5 of their total of make of that what you will. But the fact is, this isnt all that unusual for the way lobeing works and the way businesses work. Its not necessarily draining the swamp, but its not unusual. Its not unusual. In fact, paying individuals with access to Decision Makers in washington is an ageold practice. It is increased recently. That is the amounts of money that goes to those who have connections. In particular former lawmakers, former public officials. Those include former head of the cia, the fbi, our most augusta institutions can become very wealthy simply providing this kind of advice to private sector
interests. What is a little bit unusual in Michael Cohens case is that he doesnt have the past experience that a former u. S. Official would have. That is at t we know hired him for his expertise at the fcc of which he has none. He has a phone, that might be the level of expertise. Has some expertise in taxi and the Trump Business but fcc matters, nothing that i know of. And Defense Contractors and accounting. It is a mystery why he was involved in any of these businesses. As you point out, it may not be illegal. Tom good to see you as always. Tom hamburger with the Washington Post. Lets talk more. Jill wine bank, a Watergate Special prosecutor and an msnbc prosecutor. While its interesting to me, jill, the optics of Public Companies with their legal departments and optics departments allowing this to happen, paying money to a company established a little
before the election with no expertise in any of the spaces they needed work done. Put that aside for a second. Whats mostly interesting here. Im going to put that back the companies that gave money to Michael Cohen. Money from Columbus Nova. Thats the only group that gave money to Michael Cohen for real estate work. On the other hand they seem to have ties to russian oligarchs. This is all very strange. And i think when we are looking for crimes we need to look at where did the money go . Its clear that nobody hired Michael Cohen for his expertise. He doesnt have any. And he shouldnt have been the gobetween. But that is the only explanation you can have is that people thought that he had access or that he would pass the money on to the president. So we have to once again, just like in watergate, we have to follow the money. We have to see where it went. Thats going to be a key question. So the question and to tom
hamburgers point. If Michael Cohen was successful in shaking people down or ins canning him he had access he didnt have good for him. Thats the American Dream that he is living. More importantly, though, at t gave him 600,000 and novartis gave him 1. 2 million and he funneled that off into om place thats his business. He took a loan on a property against his inlaws property which is weird given how much money was coming into his bank account but it is curious the money that we need to know where it went is this Columbus Nova stuff, because the other money, maybe they were duped into thinking Michael Cohen could solve their problems. But who is this Columbus Nova and where did that money go . That is the key question, Columbus Nova. But i would say there are Business Issues involved, too. If you are a stockholder on at t do you want your money spent wasted on hiring someone with no skills . There is no excuse for that. And thats why apparently one top official of at t has been forced to resign. Apologies have been issued by at t and novartis. So they made a mistake in doing this. And probably would have never said anything except that they got caught. Yeah. Thats the key issue. But you are right. The russian money is the money we want to find out about. Equally so, what if the at t money was given for a specific action by the president . Then you have a quid pro quo and you have bribery. Other than that, you dont necessarily have a crime. But we need to know where even the at t and Novartis Money went not just the russian money. Giuliani was asked about this. He said it is a dead issue as far as im concerned. That combined with the Vice President tell reporters that he thinks that the Mueller Investigation should wrap itself up because it hasnt found anything. This is the most interesting stuff yet. It is. And you have a real echo again of watergate. You had Richard Nixon saying a year of watergate is enough. And you have the Vice President saying we gave 1. 2 million documents. But you reason is given the ones that are needed. You havent cooperated completely. Dont shut down an investigation until it comes to its own natural conclusion. This is just wrong. And it is more of the obstruction. It seems plain to me. The more they attack the fbi. The more they attack mueller, the more they attack the department of justice. The more they attack rosenstein. Those are things that are obstruction of justice. You can have obstruction even if you dont have an underlying crime. You can. And thats what this looks like. They should be more careful. And i wouldnt be taking my legal advice from Rudy Giuliani or factual statements either because we know how inaccurate he has been. Jill, there is weird stuff going on these days testimony Michael Cohen stuff, the Rudy Giuliani stuff. Its hard to believe. Always great to see you, though, gives us an excuse to talk often. Jill wine banks, former assistant Watergate Special prosecutor. Thank you ali. To the white house. Kelly odonnell is standing by. She covered the Mccain Campaign im sure in that Press Briefing thats underway with the health and Human Services secretary but Sarah Huckabee sanders hasnt started her questions yet, there are going to be a lot of questions about the mccain comments. I would expect that our colleagues in the White House Press corps would ask about a staffer who made this remark about Senator Mccain in the context of the Confirmation Process for gina haspel who is the nominee to be cia director. Mccain has a long Standing Public Rohr record against the use of Interrogation Methods that are commonly referred to as torture. Back in the bush era after 9 11 they were deemed legal under what is called enhanced interrogation technique. He has long been an opponent of that kind of aggressive sort of
interrogation. In part fueled by his own experience in vietnam where he was held for more than five and a half years and was subjected to horrific levels of physical beatings and extreme pain. So much so that as you outlined at the top of the program he hasslingering effects today. Unable to move his arms above his he will boesz. I was there for the campaign, every day of it in 2008 and first met him in 1996 covering politics. I was in dayton ohio when i announced sarah palin as his running mate. In a new book the final memoir as its expected to be john mccains restless wave coming out later this month. He points out he really would have wanted Joe Lieberman to be his running mate. There were lots of reasons based on the Convention Process why he was discouraged from doing that. Lieberman had been the prior
democratic nominee. There is some speak now between mccain and palin. We will talk about that at another time. I know Sarah Huckabee sanders has take ten podium. Those conversations as you stated, we plan for a full day of meetings on the 12th with some time reserved to carry over if necessary. Certainly, the best outcome would be an agreement for complete and total denuclearization. But this is the beginning part of these conversations. Im not going to get ahead of what we expect for that day. But certainly that would be i think the best outcome. And we have been pretty up front about that. Do they think that can actually happen in a day . Im not going to get ahead of this conferring and the process. But there have been several conversations that have taken place leading up to both Secretary Pompeo has had now two meetings that have been part of this process. So its not just one day. You have to look at the broader picture but certainly we have that time set aside at this point. Justin. I wanted to ask about the auto meeting earlier today. I know attendees of these Spitball Sessions often leave with impressions that the president agrees with their position. I wanted to see if you could clarify both if the president or the administration has agreed to open negotiations with california on a National Cafe standard rather than sort of the dual system that could economist. We havent finalized what that looks like. But today we part of that conversation, part of discussion on how best to move forward. We are going to continue these conversations as we have a specific Policy Announcement on that front we will let you know. Sarah . John. Come back to north korea. The president says that he believes that it is kims intention to denuclearization. But when you listen to the man
in charge of north south relations he says the reason why we are doing this is because the program is complete. The reason we are shutting down the test poup is because we dont need it. Akin to somebody who builds a house and enters into negotiation to tear it down. What gives you confidence that kim actually wants to take apart something that he just built . Look, the president is going into this with eyes wide open as he said many times. We will see what happens. But this is certainly a process that has moved in the right direction. Weve seen some signs of good will from north korea. Just this week with the three americans brought back home. Also, the stopping of the Ballistic Missile tests. Stopping with their research and development on their Nuclear Program and we are going to continue to push for complete and total denuclearization. We are also going to continue maximum pressure until we see that happen. Again, stopping the Ballistic Missile testing, stopping all this testing, according to that official is because they dont need it anymore. They are done. Kinds like you can put the saws and hammers away because the house is done. Again, the president has been very clear that we are going into this. Certainly we would like to see something happen. But as he has said, we are going to see what happens. We hope not just for north korea but for the entire world that they do the right thing and that this goes forward in a way that i think everyone would like to see. Ayman. Thanks sara. This week the ceos of at t and novartis said it was a mistake for their companies to work with the president s lawyer. Does the president think it was a mistake for his lawyer to work with them . I think this further proves that the president is not going to be influenced by special interests. Its the definition of draining the swamp, something the president talked about repeatedly during the campaign. For anything beyond that i would
direct you to the president s outside counsel. Draining the swamp. I think its clear that the deputy of justice opposed the merger. And so certainly the president has not been influenced by any or his administration influenced by any outside special interests. Was the president aware blake. Sarah, you said in this room the other day it is unlikely there is going to be an Infrastructure Bill this year. That was supposed to be the signature legislative item of 2018 for republicans in this administration. Can you lay out for us what exactly is your is this white houses legislative agenda for this year . Certainly we would love to see something done on immigration. Its something the president has been talking about for a long time. We have laid out the principles and the priorities that we would like to see as part of an immigration package. There is still some movement on that front. We would still like to see something happen. We would love for congress to actually show up, do do their jobs. Democrats to stop opposing good
legislation and actually fix our broken Immigration System. Is it fair to think the assume that immigration is a Priority Item for this year. It has been for the president and certainly something we will like to see. David. Two questions. We have heard a lot about white house aide kelly sadler and her comments about Senator Mccain reportedly saying in a meeting the president shouldnt worry about the senators opposition to the nomination of haspel because he is dying away. Megan mccain wondered allowed today why the aide still has a job at the white house. Does she still have a job . Auto aim not going to comment on an internal staffer meeting. Do you know if he was aware when he said that about the Freedom Of Information documents that showed last year Administrator Pruitt had dinner in rome with a catholic cardinal
who was under investigation for child sex abuse. I am not aware of that i havent spoken with the president about Administrator Pruitt today. Does the white house not think you need to condemn these remarks or im not going to validate a leak one way or the other out of of an internal staff meeting. Are you saying she didnt say this . Again im not going to validate a leak out of an internal staff meeting one way or the other. Does the president regret what he said during the campaign about john mccain when he said he wasnt a war hero, he prefers people that werent captured . I believe the president has spoken about that. I havent talked with him specifically about that. Jeff. If you wont comment on the specific comment, what does the white house believe about Senator Mccain . Is there a tone set from the top here where it is allowed for an aide to say hes dying anyway. There is not a tone set here. We have a respect for all
americans. And that is what we try to put forward in everything we do, both in word and action, focusing on doing things that help every american in this country every single day. I think if you look at the policies we have put forth you will see that reflected. Why not apologize to Senator Mccain. I am not going going to get into a back and forth because people want to create issues of leaked staff meetings. Does the president have confidence in Secretary Kneelen is. As we have said before, if the president has no confidence in a Cabinet Member he will let you know. What more does the president Think Nielsen can do now under the law that she hasnt done. Does he want her to close the u. S. mexico border. He wants us to do a number of i think this. He wants us to work with congress as we have laid out time and time again and as we have called on them to do. If democrats in congress would
stop playing political games we would love to secure the border, we would love to close the loopholes in the system. We would love to get a fix on daca. There are a number of thing we have laid out. We would love to see all of those things get done. Is republicans pushing for a vote on the floor to get this going . If it addresses all of those problems certainly we would support things that actually fix the broken Immigration System that we have. The secretary of Homeland Security made a statement which she said the president was rightly frustrated about congressional inaction. Why was that frustration to the secretary. Why did the president direct his frustration specifically at her at the Cabinet Meeting . Again i am not going to get into a back and forth on an internal meeting however i can tell you that the president and the secretary share the frustration. Democrats have got to stop playing games. They have got to stop doing this just because it is a midterm
year. They still have to do their job. And ooeld wields like to see them fix our Immigration System. Not only is the administration frustrated but americans are, too. 80 of americans would like to see this problem fixed. They want something to be done. They are begging congress to do it. And certainly, i think not only does the president have a right to be frustrated. He has a right to be angry. He is, he is expressed that. He has done it publically and he is going to continue to do that until we can fix this flob. In nafta, is the white house on track to meet speaker ryans deadline on that next thursday on nafta. We are continuing in the conversations and we have made progress. Hopefully we will get there. By thursday is the president willing to revisit this after the elections in mexico and the mid terms . We will let you know. Kristen. A follow up on one of my colleagues, to be clear, Doescaly Sadler still work at this white house. Yes, shes to. To follow up, more broadly,
does the president set the tone or bear responsible for the tone in this white house . The president as i mentioned just a moment ago supports all americans. If you look at what he is doing every single day, he is showing up to work. Hes working hard to make this country better. Whether its through building our economy, creating jobs, defeegt isis, fixing our judiciary system, helping with ilLegal Immigration problems that we have the president is addressing a number of issues. That is what our focus is. That is what we are doing here every day. And that is what the president has i think laid out very clearly what his interests are. My question is a little different. Does he bear responsibility for the tone set here at the white house and all of the staffers who work here frankly. Certainly does. And i think he has done a good job of laying out what the priorities of the administration are and that what they are doing is helping impact americans all across the country. Sorry kristen i have got to keep
moving. So many of us have spoken to people who said they have heard these comments, do you say they are lying . Are they lying. Go ahead. Sarah, general kelly came out and endorsed in an npr issue a pathway to citizenship for temporary restrictive status for people who have been in the United States for some time. Does the president share the generals view on that. I havent seen that specific comment from the interview. I know that the president and general kelly want to fix the system. Did jen alkyly oppose the administrations push to actually give a deadline to some people who have been here over 20 years to leave the country . I would have to look at the comment before i could weigh in. Right here. Go ahead. Thank you sarah. South korea has a huge stake in whatever kim and trump agree upon. Will president moon or another
representative of south korea be at the talks . I dont believe there are plans for them to be part of that specific day. But certainly have been a partner in this entire process. And as you know, president moon will be here on the 22nd to continue those conversations. And we continue to be in lock step with the south koreans. Unt hunter. On monday the president Tweeted Quote the fake news is working overtime and said 91 of the news about me is negative, parentheses fake. Do you have views about whether all the stories about the president are fake . No. Why would he say that . I will take one more question. To follow up on the payments that Michael Cohen received from at t and novartis. You said this is a sign that the president wont be influenced. But just to clarify, does the president think it is appropriate for his personal
attorney to be Collecting Payments from private companies, presumably saying that or presumably promising to influence policy or to give them strategy on Government Policy . I think the bigger point is that the president is isnt going to be influenced by outside special interests. He is going to do what he finds to be in the best interests of americans across the country. Thanks guy, hope you have a great weekend. And a happy mothers day. Sarah Huckabee Sanders ending her Press Briefing. She started with the health and Human Services secretary on Prescription Drugs, then she want to questions saying about the comments made reportedly made about john mccain she is not going to comment on an internal meeting. She took a few questions on that and swatted down any ability to get a real answer from it and said that they respect all americans in the white house. Did not specifically offer any apology, clarity, or embrace of john mccain. Kristen welker trying to get to the bottom of not only whether
it was set or what the general tone is, how the tone is set in the the white house. Tell me about the exchange you had with sarah . First to the big question, ali, which is does selly sadler, the staffer here, who made those comments, essential saying john mccains vote, he is quote, dying anyway. Does she still have a job . One of my colleagues asked that question. Sanders dodged initially. I went back and asked again. She was brief. She said yes. Then i asked her, basically, does the president bear responsibility for the tone here at the white house. Of course in the past he has criticized matter in mccain. That goes back to the campaign trail. He said i like people would dont get captured. He is a p. O. W. Someone regarded as a war hero. A lot of people thought it was going to be the end of then candidate trumps campaign. He went on to win the primary. The two men have had a fraught relationship. Listen to my we to Sarah Huckabee sanders. Does the president bear responsibility for the tone set in this white house tmplg president as i mentioned just a moment ago supports all americans. If you look at what hes doing every single day, he is showing up to work, he is working hard to make this country better, whether its through building our economy, creating jobs, defeating isis, fixing our judiciary system, helping with the i will league Immigration Problems that we have. The president is addressing a number of issues. That is what our focus is, that is what we are doing here every day. And that is what the president has i think laid out very clearly what his interests are. My question is different. Does he bear responsibility for the tone set here and all of the staffers . He does, i think he has done a good job laying out what the it is proo of the administration are and what they are doing is helping impact americans all across the country. Sorry kristen, i have got to
keep moving on. So many of us have said they heard these comments. Are they lying, sarah. Go ahead. So an attempt to ask her again, if in fact the white house is making the case that the comments werent said, they are not doing that, ali. Thats what is so remarkable. They are not denying that these comments were stated. I was a part of a team of reporters that confirmed it with nbc news overnight. And we have three sources with direct knowledge of the conversation who essentially heard this person make this comment. So i asked her frankly, are all of these people lying . And she wouldnt answer the question. I think that is what makes this remarkable. The white house showing no signs that sadler is going anywhere. But certainly, the criticism continues and continues to mount. And continues to raise real questions again about the tone within this administration. When you have a president who has not refrained from lashing out at some of his some of
the people who he has challenged, whether it be on capitol hill or elsewhere, ali. It is kind of interesting. Because this is one one of those things that Good Communications people can actually tachblt there are a lot of people saying acknowledge, apologize and move on. Now its become something different. Kristen welker in the white house. In the last hour President Trump unveiled a plan to tackle an issue since he talked about since the president ial campaign. That is the rising cost of Prescription Drugs. The American People deserve a Health Care System that takes care of them. Not one that taxes and takes advantage of our patients and our consumers and our citizens. These reforms are just the beginning. Okay. Heres what the president is calling for. Stopping manufacturers were the regulatory process. Disk medicare plan d sponsors more power when negotiating with Drug Manufacturers. Requiring manufacturers to include list prices in advertising. This all sounds good. Is it going to do anything to reduce drug prices . This is a subject i like talking about. Lets look at the problem. According to the department of health and Human Services the United States spence 300 billion a year on Prescription Drugs. Makes sense. We are an industrialized society and an aging population. Medicare and medicaid account for 40 of the Prescription Drug spending. Medicare is the largest buyer of Prescription Drugs in this nation. Its actually bigger than many nations spend on drugs. Here in the United States, Drug Manufacturers are allowed to set their own prizes and they raise them as much as they want. Drug Companies Say the higher prices help them Fund Research and investment making the United States a leader in bringing new drugs to the global marketplace. Critics say it makes drugs less accessible to people who need them the most. The president Say Americans pay more for Prescription Drugs
because foreign governments can export low prices from Drug Companies. This is nonsense. Laws in canada and other places with universal Health Systems allow them to negotiate drug prices. The federal government is banned from negotiating cheaper prices. This isnt about other countries. This is about a law that prevent medicare from negotiating lower prices. The president also went after the pharmaceutical and health care lobbies which spend millions of dollars on lobbying. Pharma, according to the center for responsive politics, it has spend 26 million in 2017. Already this year, its spend more than 10 million. Obviously they going to ramp up now. Joining us to talk about this is Georgia Republican congressman buddy carter. I love talking to congressman
carter for many reasons, one of which is because he was the only Pharmacist Serving in the United States congress. He was there when the president made his announcent in. Alex azar understands the industry. He was the president of eli lily in america. The president carrying on about other countrys extorting has to be put in context. The American Government cant negotiate prices the canadian government can negotiate prices with pharmaceutical. Is that the heart of the problem . Im not sure it is the heart of the problem. I think what the president is also saying that intellectual Property Research and development that we americans pay for is being stolen essentially by other countries and they are using it and getting cheaper prices on these medications that we have to pay so much for. Ali, today is a great day for american consumers. This is a president who truly gets it. He understands what Common People are struggling with. The tax cuts and jobs act. Now addressing Prescription Drug prices what we have done to
increase our military spending. All those things are things that people were concerned with here in america. I dont get as much a chance to talk to you as i like. I want the stay focused on Prescription Drugs for a minute. Sure. I agree with you, i dont think that negotiation is the heart of the problem. I do think pharmacy ben Fete Managers and the middle man as the president calls them might be a bigger part of the problem. Listen to what the president said about that today. We are also increasing competition and reducing regulatory burdens so drugs can be gotten to the market quicker and cheaper. We are very much eliminating the middlemen. The middlemen became very, very rich. I dont find myself agreeing with the president of the United States all that often but the milledmen are a big part of issue. It doesnt exist anywhere else in the world. There is no Pharmacy Benefit Managers in the way they are in the United States anywhere else in the world. How on earth do you get rid of them . Well we can get rid of them. Again, heres a president who truly understands. I have always said, the most immediate, the most Significant Impact we can have on Prescription Drug prices is to have transparency. The pmbms, the middlemen, if you ask them whats your mission . They will say it is to keep Prescription Drug prices low. Its not working out well for you at all. They bring no value to the system whatsoever. What they do is increase the price of the medications and dont pass the discounts on to patients to the consumers. Whats the solution . Lets think big. How do you make drug prices more accessible to consumers while ensuring the Drug Companies make money so they can continue to develop drugs. You know, they make the argument they make lots of drugs, done make money on some of them, they need to have Blockbuster Drugs and they have got to get a lot of money. Whats the recipe for success here, as a guy who is pharmacist who has had to deal with customers who probably have had some difficulty paying for their
medication whats the answer for you . Transparency. No question about it. Thats the key here. Thats all we have ever also for with the middle men, the pbms is show us, show us what is happening here. Why is it when i speak to the ever inner of epipen, when i ask them when it leaves you how much does it cost . 150. I said when it gets to me the pharmacist its 600 . What happened in between . What happened there . Do you think when you talk about transparency i think of stories we have done in the last several years about drugs that were increased in price by hundreds of percent. The shaming certainly from the media didnt often cause companies to do anything about it. What is the feeling that if they are transparent about pricing what will happen . There will be public pressure to reduce prices . People cant boycott their Cancer Medication . You are exactly right. What will happen is that what the president has proposed is to
have the discounts applied at point of sale. Let the patient see the discount when they buy the medication. That will make all the difference in the world. Whats the problem with the fact that the Pharmaceutical Companies are some of the biggest will beyists in our part of town . Lobbyists in your part of town. They have influence. They are able to give talking points to members of congress that prevented legislation from going into effect that allow the American Government, Medicare Part d sponsors to negotiate prices. Again, the president kept talking about other countries. I come from canada, where they do negotiate the price of drugs, because thats what they can do. Thats what the president proposed. He identified that today. He said look we need to be able to negotiation on behalf of as you pointed out earlier, the largest payer the biggest payer in the whole drug system is medicare. And they need to be able to negotiate prices as well. And thats part of what the president and secretary azar are proposing. Representative buddy carter
thank you for joining us. The only Pharmacist Serving in the United States congress. Did President Trump almost lose a is her inability to secu our borders . Nielsen a protege of Chief Of Staff john kelly reportedly told colleagues she was going to resign. The white house is pushing back on that story. Well have the details after the break. Youre watching msnbcs. baby crying dont juggle your home life and work life without it. And dont forget who youre really working for without it. Funding to help grow your business. Another way we have your back. The powerful backing of american express. Dont do business without it. A top priority. Here is some of what the white house Chief Of Staff john kelly had to say about immigration during an interview with npr news. Let me step back and tell you the vast majority of the people that move illegally into the United States are not bad people. Theyre not criminals, theyre not ms13. But they are also not people that would easily assimilate into the United States. They are overwhelmingly rural people and the countries they come from, 4th, 5th, 6th Grade Education is kind of the norm. Theyre coming here for a reason and i sympathize with the reason, but the laws are the laws. According to the New York Times and politico, kellys protege Kiersten Nielsen wrote a Resignation Letter after the president bee rated her in front of the entire cabinet earlier this week. He accused her of failing to secure the border. Nbc news has not independently confirmed the story. A spokesperson denied to both publication she had drafted a Resignation Letter. But in a written statement nielsen didnt deny she nearly quit. It reads in part the president is rightly frustrated existing loopholes and the lack of congressional action have prevented this administration from fully securing the border. I share his frustration. These are complex issues and i will continue to direct the department to do all we can to implement the president s security focused agenda. Moments ago White House Press secretary Sarah Sanders was asked about why the president took his frustration out on secretary nielsen. Im not going to get into a back and forth with you guys on an internal meeting. However i can tell you that both the president and the secretary share the frustration that congress is simply not showing up to work and getting their job done. Democrats have got to stop playing games. Theyve got to stop doing this just because its a midterm year. They still have to do their job and we would like to see them fix our Immigration System. Not only are is the administration frustrated but americans are, too. 80 of americans would like to see this problem fixed. They want something to be done. They are begging congress to do it and certainly i think not only does the president have a right to be frustrated, he has a right to be angry and he is and hes going to express that. Hes done it both publicly and hes going to continue to do that until we can actually fix this problem. Joining us now to talk about this is politico employment and Immigration Reporter ted haas en, who could wrote the politico report. Ted, put aside whether Kiersten Nielsen is in trouble with the president or not. Fundamentally the president has really hitched his wagon to this Immigration Question and hes frustrated by possibly a lack of understanding of the way government works, that the exec stichl is a coequal branch of government. Unless Congress Gets this done he doesnt get to build the wall and get the border done. I was speaking with a dhs official who said nielsen, the Homeland Security secretary is under a tremendous amount of pressure to come up with results here. But really there are limitations to what any secretary will be able to do when it comes to
ilLegal Immigration. I mean certainly there are policies that can change, but the things the president is asking for and that hes trying to do would have to be done by congress at the end of the day. So, again, putting aside the president s frustrations, Kiersten Nielsen says this is a complicated issue. Thats a fact. This is a really complicated issue. Democrats couldnt fully get their head around it, Republica Republicans cant get head around it. We can agree a lot of americans are concerned about this issue. They are. We have lots of immigration issues. Many are not about the southern border and people with a 6th Grade Education. Theyre about a Labor Shortage in industries in america. Is there any real comprehensive work that is likely to happen in this administration . I think as you remember, back in february the senate actually tried to debate immigration and kicked around some different proposals. But at the end of the day none of they have were able to advance. And part of that is what the white house is asking for. I mean, they have a fourpillar plan that involves cutting Legal Immigration in half. And thats just not palatable to most democrats. Actually all democrats in the senate. And then also to many republicans, moderate republicans as well. So, unless there is some flexibility with that plan, it seems unlikely that there is some kind of Immigration Legislation that is going to be reached in the next few months. Well, youre the perfect guy to ask this to. You deal with employment and immigration. When the president carries on about 4, 5, 6 gdp growth, we have squeezed all the productivity we can squeeze out of workers. The only way to get higher gdp growth its labor and productivity. The concept of cutting Legal Immigration into America Doesnt Square with what most economists think you need to grow the economy. That is absolutely right. I mean, i think most economists would say cutting Legal Immigration will lower gdp, gross domestic product. But that being said, the administration, when theyve gone out and argued for this proposal, they said its not just about growing the economy and gdp. That its also cultural and its about who is coming into the
country and how that can change the culture of the United States. Very interesting topic, ted. Well continue the conversation. I like having it with you. Ted hess en is a politico Immigration Reporter. Lets look at markets. The markets are ready for lets see where they are now. As of yesterday we had a sixday winning streak. Looks like were going to have a sevenday winning streak. You can see the dow just after 2 00 was down just a little bit, but it has recovered nicely. We are not up to where we were at the beginning of the year. This market has taken a beating in the First Quarter of this year. But we are were doing okay. Were getting back there. Were continuing to cover that with you. Where you are winning on the market. You may be losing on gas prices, though. Oil continues to set record highs. So, thats it for me. That wraps up the hour for me. Im going to see you back here tonight. Thank you for watching. Have a great weekend. Deadline white house with Nicolle Wallace starts right now. s hi, everyone
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