And the battle has officially begun to repeal obamacare. The first order of business is to repeal and replace obamacare. Great. But what happens next . And, a shocking video. Teens allegedly torturing, you heard me right, torturing a young man with Mental Health challenges. And they did it live on facebook, using antitrump profanities, police arresting the assailants. A city, a nation in ock. Were boing to begin today with a potentially explosive Senate Showdown over the russian hacking allegations. Thats going to take place in 30 minutes. Top u. S. Intelligence officials are set to testify for the first time after that Senate Hearing as president elect donald trump is still doubting whether russia was really involved. Senator john mccain, who you know has been very tough on russia, is set to deliver the opening remarks. Were going to take you there en it happens. And guess what, we have a team of the best reporters and analysts today, standing by, with new and latereaking details. I want to take you first to nbcs hans nichols on capitol hill. Hans, what are we going to expect here today . Well, stephanie, good morning. We know were going to have senator mccain be aggressive on russia. Question the intelligence that trump says he questioned. What we dont know is the reaction from other Senate Republicans and crucially senator elizabeth warren. This is her first potentially breakout moment on the senate Armed Services. And steph, just as crucial, how do the intelligence officials react . Do they essentially pile on to this assessment that russia is to blame for the hacks on the dnc . And how much space do they leave for themselves, and crucially, steph, for their agencies to then make nice with donald trump when he becomes president in about two weeks time. One final note on this, steph. After a very public session, theres a possibility that Armed Services could go into closed session, meaning that he would receive some sensitive, classified information. Steph . All right, thanks, hans. I want to take you live now to trump tower, where nbc Kristen Welker has new information about the psidentelect trump planning possibly a big shake up at the top u. S. Spy agency. Kristen, what can you tell us . Reporter hey, steph. Good morning. Well, transition officials arent saying much about that explosive wall street journal report, which says that president elect donald trump is planning to revamp top intelligence agencies, including the dni and cia. But, what they have acknowledged is that there are discussions underway, they say, to streamline those agencies. To put this into a little bit of perspective, steph, there has been support and talk for making intelligence agencies more effective, taking a hard look at how that might be done. But the fact that this is coming against the backdrop of Donald Trumps recent war of words against intelligence agencies is only enflaming that situation more. Theres also a sense that this might be blowback. Remember, president elect Donald TrumpsNational Security adviser, his pick for National Security adviser, michael flynn, was ousted by James Clapper. So there are some tensions there. Donald trump, though, clearly, starting to realize hes got a pr problem in this regard, tweeting just moments ago, steph, let me read you part of his tweet. He says, the media lies to make it look like i am against intelligence, when in fact, i am a big fan. Theres no doubt hes going to be monitoring those hearings on capitol hill very closely, and it anticipated were going to get a lot more tweets as he watches all of it unfold today here from trump tower. Steph. Hes a big fan of what, exactly . Ive got to ask our guest for the hour, managing editor of bloom brg politics, and captain of team bigly, John Heilemann, and jonathan capert. John heilemann, i want to start with you. Here we are, game time. Are we going to see a fractured gop . Youve got john mccain giving Opening Statements. You know what he said on russia before. People are scratching their heads with donald trump saying, you know, well see. Well, if youre asking the question about whether theres going to be a fractured gop on the question of russian hacking, and on the question of the Intelligence Community, the answer is, yes, quite clearly. This hearing today is designed, explicitly and openly by senator mccain to give the intelligence agencies a chance to fire back, basically, at donald trump. Its designed for other things, also, and hes trying to get to the bottom of the russian hacking matter. And there are substantiative things being pursued here. But the political purpose, as he said yesterday, essentially, he and Lindsey Graham saying, they are behind the intelligence agencies. They believe that he hacked the dnc and they are upset with the way trump is treating the intelligence agencies, and theyre saying, guys, heres a platform on National Television to make your case with one real target. And thats the president elect. And those are republicans, by the way. Okay, then, is it a show . So, is the point its always a show. Donald trump hasnt gotten the intelligence briefing yet. Hell be getting this information tomorrow. And the risk is, he gets it, throws it in the garbage and says, im not listening. Is the goal, lets let the intelligence agencies put this out to the public today. Otherwise, we have to hear it or not hear it from donald trump. Yes. I think the answer to your question is, yes. I think john sets it up nicely, as he always does, about whats going to happen today. It is all about theater and it is all about getting as much information as they can, without violating any of the classification laws out there, so the public can lear and see for themselves whats going on. Butter were dealing with the president elect, who through twitter and through public pronouncements has cast doubt on the nationshtional intelligence agencies, who is siding with russia. I remember there was a time that the idea that a president of the United States would even give the benefit of the doubt to the russian president was not even i cant even find the word for it, because it is so unbelievable. So we, i think, kristen made a very good point in that, you know, the backdrop here is, yes, maybe the intelligence agencies do need to be, need to be streamlined, but when you have a president elect who has cast serious doubt on their effectiveness, that sets up a tension there that is not only republican against republican, but the president against the Intelligence Community and sets up a really serious National Security problem that we cant even anticipate now. Right, its the question of, i think, you know, yesterday mike pence mad this point about its a healthy American Value to be skeptical. And certainly there are a lot of people on the left that are skeptical and have been for a long time. But be skeptical in private. Not even that. I think the problem for trump is that the skepticism that hes exhibiting towards first of all, its not just skepticism towards the intelligence agencies. Its mockery. And secondly, the skepticism is not being exhibited towards people like Julian Assange whereby with there seems to be on trumps part kind of a he tweeted this morning, trying to clarify his positions. Like, i dont necessarily believe assange, but he seems to, if you look at all of his twitter commentary on this matter, seems to give much more credibility to Julian Assange than he does to the collected wisdom of the american intelligence establishment. That is not applying skepticism in kind of a healthy way. Then how do we possibly take his last tweet, where he says, you know, wi really like the intelligence agencies. Im sorry, what. He says he likes intelligence, in quotes. Thats literally what he says. He also says hes like a smart rson. So the like is the but heres the thing, with donald trump. He can tell you at 9 00 a. M. , the sky is blue and 9 05 say, i never said that. And is reasonably confident that the people who support him will be with him stemp of tp of the. Okay, but this is crazy. He can, and why can he . Not long run, you asked the question about, hes going to have this briefing tomorrow, can he just throw it in the trash . He cant, really. Because the truth is, although donald trump is a force of nature and is the most potent Political Force descending on washington when he becomes the president of the United States, the reality is theres going to be a twoyear investigation of the russian hacking, its going to be bipartisan and go on for a long time. These institutions, the senate, the republican party, the intelligence establishment. They are going to be there long after donald trump leaves office. Whether thats in four years or eight years. And as powerful as trump is at this moment, hes coming up against institutional washington. And institutional washington has pr prerogatives, imperatives that have extended further into the future than donald trump. So why this question, there will be a truth in the end about this russian hacking thing. It will be uncovered over the course of a long period of time in a bipartisan way. And trump can say whatever he wants about that. But in the end, he will lose that fight over the longterm. Or this is a whole new world. And weve been saying for months, until this happens, until this happens, and he keeps plowing on through. I still believe in truth. But while these investigations are happening, and we get to the truth of the hacking, there is still the enterprise of the United States that has to go forward in, you know, realtime. And so, while the president of the United States is doing battle with the Intelligence Community, he then has to rely on them to help keep us safe. This does not set up a very good situation for the president , for washington, for the American People. You know what else is happening realtime . Senators are beginning to file into the room for that event, thats going to take place in just a few minutes. I want to bring kasie hunt in. Tell us what you think were going to hear today . Reporter well, steph, the senators are starting to walk into this hearing room behind me for a hearing thats set to begin at 9 30 up on capitol hill. And i think this is the beginning of a very intense focus on what has happened with russia and this hacking and i think one thing to focus on are Donald Trumps tweets, comments about Julian Assange. Thats something thats really angered both democrats, moderate democrats, and some republicans up here on capitol hill. John mccain and Lindsey Graham both very concerned about this, obviously. Were going to hear a lot from mccain this morning. I think one thing to watch is for what donald trump says, if anything, about casting doubt on this intelligence assessment. Were not going to learn anything new from this Obama Administration report at this hearing today, simply because the president and president elect donald trump are in the process of being briefed on it. But if trump casts doubts on what that says, on this information, i think you can expect a remarkably strong reaction from both democrats, but also some republicans up here on capitol hill, who have very real concerns about it. One perso who could suffer from that is rex llerson, the secretary of state nominee. Hes been making the rounds up here, im told that he has been making a good impression. Hes had strong answers on russia in the view of the people that i have talked to. But at the same time, if this issue blows up, he could become somebody who takes a fall for it. Do you agree with that . I think the tillerson is going to have some difficulty. I believe in the end, hell be confirmed. But we had john mccain yesterday, although he later clarified this was a joke, said he was as likely to support tillerson as the prospect of pigs might learning to fly. There are russia hawks, john mccain, Lindsey Graham, rand paul, maybe, marco rubio, who are going to ask some very tough questions. I think Rex Tillerson is making a good impression now and will make a good impression at his hearings, hes likely to become the next secretary of state, but if this matter becomes enflamed and trump continues, especially after his briefing tomorrow, to cast doubts on the intelligence agencies and continue to seem to be inexplicably, mysteriously and suspicionraisingly proputin, tillerson is going to be the sharp end of that spear and where that argument will get litigated in the senate, for sure. And the more that trump does those things, the messier that hearing becomes for tillerson. Maybe he still gets through, but it could become a very ugly thing. I think tillerson, people will be looking to tillerson to see whethe okay, if donald trump is going to be proputin, can we rely on you to be the backstop . Wheres the checks and balances . Can we rely on you to be the check on the president . And thats going to be very, very interesting to watch. Well, guess what, were going to do it here. Were going to take a break. Were minutes away from the hearing beginning. Well take that to you live as soon as it kicks off. And senator angus king, who will be asking some questions at that hearing joins us next. Tech at safelite, we know how busy your life can be. Mom oh no. Tech this mom didnt have time to worry about a cracked windshield. So she scheduled at safelite. Com and with safelites exclusive on my way text she knew exactly when id be there, so she didnt miss a single shot. I replaced her windshield giving her more time for what matters most. Tech howd ya do . Player we won tech nice thats another safelite advantage. Mom thank you so much team sing safelite repair, safelite replace. Sometino big deal. Ing gums bleed. But my hygienist said, it is a big deal. Go pro with Crest Pro Health gum protection. It helps prevent gum bleeding by targeting harmful bacteria on your gums. Left untreated, these symptoms could lead to more Serious Problems including tooth loss. Gum crisis averted. Whattwo servings of veggies . V8 or a powdered drink . Ready, go. Ahhhhhhhh shake shake shake shake shake done you gotta shake it i shake it glad i had a v8. The original way to fuel your day. Welcome back. Im stephanie ruhle. Youre watching msnbc and we are just minutes away from top u. S. Intelligence officials testifying for the very first time at a Senate Committee hearing for russias hacking and interference in the u. S. Election. Joining me now, one of the senate who is will be asking questions at that hearing, independent senator, angus king of maine who also serves on the intelligence committee. Senator, thank you, i know we dont have much time because youve got to head into that room, what do you believe we are going to hear today . Donald trump and other skeptics have been asking for hard, hard evidence. Is that whats going to get delivered . I think youre going to get a Firm Conviction and the opinion of the leaders of the intelligence agency, which, by the way, they stated back in october that this was a russian operation. I think youll get confirmation of that, but heres one of the difficulties, stephanie, with this hard evidence standard. We want the public to understand whats going on, we want the evidence out there, but we dont want to tell our adversaries how we got that evidence. In the intelligence committee, we call it sources and methods. Youve got to be able careful to not reveal how you gained access to this information, to not give away to your adversaries what your tulles are. So theres a little bit of a challenge here, but i think the evidence is very strong, what i have seen and heard is very strong. And i think were going to hear more of that today. One of the questions im going to have is, whats your level of confidence in this evence . Is it firm, is it solid . And tnk were going to hear a lot of confirmation from the findings of the intelligence, the 17 agencies of the Intelligence Community in the United States have come to collectively. This morning, reuters reported that there was proven russian interference. Russia then took that content, gave it to a third party, who then provided that to wikileaks. Will that get confirmed . I dont know what the testimony is going to be, but i can tell you, one of the pieces of evidence is that this is absolutely consistent with what russia is doing and has been doing in other countries. I was in the ukraine and poland last winter. John mccain was in the Baltic States just last week. The one thing we hear from those countries is, wah out for the russians messing around with your elections. Disinformation, fake news, messing around with computer hacks. In france, theyre even funding one of the political parties. So, there is a huge effort by the russians to do just what they appear to have done here. And so, thats a bit of evidence in and of itself. Senator king, John Heilemann here. Im curious, were seeing reporting that donald trump and his team are contemplating an overhaul of how intelligence works in washington, d. C. And a streamlininge ining of that bureaucracy. What kind of reception will that get among people who follow intelligence closely on capitol hill . Is there a belief that that kind of some kind of a good faith effort towards streamlining would is perhaps in order . Well, i think theres always you know, theres always an opportunity to streamline or to make