Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20170313

Slam the east coast by this time tomorrow. Right now, the Nations Capital is getting ready. It wasnt until i came in here and i w the line out the door that i realized the snow is coming and people were probably here stocking up for the snowstorm. Washington, d. C. , panic, were right in the middle of it, 20minute wait but everyone was in good humor and well see, probably no snow. Good day, im Chris Jansing in washington. Andrea is making her way to the other side of the world, covering secretary of tate Rex Tillersons first major overseas trip meeting World Leaders in japan, south korea and china. Senior Administration Official telling nbc news, tillerson will help put the finishing touches at president xi jinpings trip to the United States next month. Here at come two major developing stories, first, the House Intelligence Committee awaiting word from the Trump Justice Department on whether any evidence exists to prove the president s claims that former president Obama Wiretapped trump tower during the election. And then on health care, the president and House Republican leaders projecting confidence ahead of a report from the Congressional Budget Office that could send their legislation into a political tailspin. Joining me now nbc White House Correspondent hali jackson and nbc capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt. Nine days into the wiretapping story. The white house kept us in the dark on the incendiary accusation against president obama. How will the white house respond if the doj findings contradict the commander in chief . Reporter i think that is to be determined, chris. We know today is the deadline for the House Intelligence Committee asking for information from the Justice Department on these claims from the president. Which youve heard from his top advisers as recently as today theyre not going to discuss it. You heard Kellyanne Conway on several of the morning shows kick any discussion of this over to congress, talking about how theyre going to wait for both house and senate Intelligence Committees to get through their investigations now expanded into this before commenting any further. So i think its going to be based on our reporting and based on wha were seeing going down on the congressional side as well as the white house side. I think you may not see too much of a response until some of that information comes out once the house and senate Intelligence Committees get through more of their findings. In the meantime you have the republican senator tom cotton cleared this weekend where the Current Health care legislation stands. I want to play a little bit of that. Take a listen. As its written today, this bill, the house of representatives cannot pass the senate, and i believe it would have adverse consequences for millions of americans. I would say to my friends in the house of representatives with whom i serve, do not walk the plank and vote for a bill that cannot pass the senate and then have to face the consequences of that vote. As you know, kasie, tom cotton isnt the only one who is expressing that kind of concern. What is the strategy now . Are speaker ryan and leader mcconnell getting together to alleviate the concerns of moderate and conservative members . What are they up to . A couple things here, chris. Starting with the cbo score that we know thats of course how much this bill is going to cost, and how many people are going to lose coverage if republicans move forward with this. Were expecting that basically any minute here today on capitol hill, and that has the potential to change the debate up here. The question of course how both conservatives and moderates react. I think theres an emerging sense that House Speaker paul ryan is probably in a good place where he needs to be if he wants to get those 216 votes to get this across the finish line but the challenge is going to be in the senate, and of course if it passes the house, everything is very quickly going to shift to Mitch Mcconnell to see just how much power does he have over the republicans in the senate, and tom cotton i think has done some damage to this bill in being very public about his opposition to it. He is somebody who the president will listen to, if cotton comes on tv and he is somebody who is grappling with a pretty unique situation, the state of arkansas one of the poorer states in the country. They have a lot of people on medicaid, they have a republican governor who is struggling with how to keep those people covered, and i think youre hearing that in some of tom cottons criticisms here. So the challenge is going to be of course appeasing the conservatives in the house but still being able to make sure this bill can pass the senate for republicans. I think its looking like thats going to be the bigger challenge. There is unpredictability that could throw a wrench in the process. Hallie, the white house has its own strategy, the. The in a listening session with folks who say they have been hurt by obamacare. I think we actually have gotten our first still photo out of that and were expecting to get some video. Tell us a little bit about that and the white house strategy. Reporter before i get into the Health Care Section of it i want to share new information coming to us from that listening session. Apparently a Pool Reporter as you know, these reporters who go in small group to sort of watch these sessions as they happen, asked the president shouted a question about whether or not the department of justice would in fact comply with these requests from the house and senate Intelligence Committees for essentially the handing over of any evidence to back up the president s wiretapping claim, and chris, the headline here the president not responding to that shouted question. This is now at least the second or third time that he has been asked about these claims, and has not responded to them, in this particular setting. I remind you he has a press conference tomorrow, we believe when chancellor Angela Merkel comes here to washington, typically when there are these foreign leader visits the president will hold a two and two, so theyll take two questions from in this case the german media, two questions from the u. S. Media. Obviously the washington weather could mess with that if this noreaster is really bad but well look to see if the president responds to the claims in that setting. Now as for the Health Care Part of it, that listening session that youre talking about, yes, a white house official saying these are what they call victims of obamacare. Folks coming in and sharing their stories with the president about how the Health Care Law has affected them. We understand that the president when he was talking about these people, when he was talking about the Affordable Care act he said that obamacare is kind of like the person that its named after, meaning president obama. People liked him, didnt like him in office and they like him after. He believes obviously that is not the case. So we are waiting to hear more from the readout from from the comments from the president in that listening session. We know that tomorrow hes also going to be meeting with conservative lawmakers who are skeptical of this bill, too. Hallie, kasie,han for that. Wel ve it when we get it. From that listening session. Lets dig into the Health Care Battle in washington, joining know Washington Post deputy Editorial Page Editor ruth marcus and allie page, White House Correspondent for the Associated Press. I want to play how theyre rebutting this cbo score. I love the folks at the cbo, they work hard but sometimes we ask them to do stuff theyre not capable of doing and estimating the impact of a bill of this size probably isnt the best use of their time. Ruth marcus, what is your take on that tactic . Uhm, well, i guess if youre going to end up with a cbo score that suggests that millions of people are going to Lose Health Insurance its a smart tactic but its a really irspresponsib tactic. Yes, it is hard to model legislation of this size, health care amounts for a huge percentage of the economy, but cbo has done a better job at modeling these things than other analysts have, and its the kind of responsible scorekeeper that we have, and to suggest, as sean spicer has, and now the omb director has, that we shouldnt Pay Attention to cbo or that it has Better Things to do with its time is just trying to, its trying to mess with the umpire, like athletes do, and cbo is the umpire and its got a long and responsible track record here, a nonpartisan track record. Its run by director who is selected in part by the new hhs secretary, so it bears paying attention to. Okay, i want you both to stand by because were about to get that tape from the listening session that just wrapped up with the president on health care at the roosevelt room in the white house, pool have you had yo, take a look and a listen. Thank you all for being here today. Its a great honor for you to share your personal stories of struggle under the enormous strain imposed on you by the very, very failed and failing obamacare law. Secretary price and i, along with my entire administration, and a lot of people in the senate, and a lot of people in the house are committed to repealing and replacing this disastrous law with a Health Care Plan that lowers cost, expands choice, and ensures access for everyone. You represent the millions of americans who have seen their obamacare premiums increase by double digits and even triple digits. In arizona the rates are over 116 last year, 116 increase, and the deductibles are so high you dont even get to use it. Many americans lost their plans and doctors all together and onethird of the counties think of it, onethird only have one insurer left opinion meaning the Insurance Companies are fleeing, theyre gone, so many gone. The house bill to repeal and replace obamacare will provide you and your fellow citizens with more choices, far more choices, at lower cost. Americans should pick the plan they want, now theyll be able to pick the plan they want, theyll be able to pick the doctor they want, theyll be able to do a lot of things that the other plan was supposed to give and it never gave. You dont pick your doctor, you dont pick your plan, you remember that one. Remember not going to have one size fits all. Instead were going to be working to at least the power of the private marketplace to let insurers come in and compete for your business and youll see rates go down, down, down, and youll see plans go up, up, up. Lot of choices. The plans nobody is thinking of today. They will have plans that today nobody has even thought about, because the markets going to enforce that, with millions and millions of people wanting health care. More competition and less regulation will finally bring down the cost of care, and i think it will bring it down very significantly. Unfortunately, it takes a while to get there, because you have to let that marketplace kick in, and its going to take a little while to get there. Once it does, its going to be a thing of beauty. I wish it didnt take a year and two years, but thats whats going to happen and thats the way it works, but were willing to go through that process. Working together well get the job done, and i have to say this just in closing, then i want to hear some of your stories and well let the press stay for your stories, if you like, but the press is making owe bamacar look so good. Im watching the news, look so good, showing these reports about this one gets so much, and this one gets so much. First of all, it covers very few people, and its imploding, and 17 will be the worst year and i staid once, ill say it against, because obamas gone. You know, things are going to be very bad this year for the people with obamacare. Theyre going to have tremendous increases. And the republicans frankly are putting themselves in a very bad position. I tell this to tom price all the time, by repealing obamacare, because people arent going to see the truly devastating effects ofby ma cair. Theyre not going to see the devastation in 17 and 18 and 19. It will be gone by then. Whether we do it or not, it will be imploded off the map. So the press is making it look so wonderful. So that if we end it, everyones going to say oh, remember how great obamacare used to be. Remember how wonderful it used to be . It was so great. Its a little bit like president obama when he left. People liked him. When he was here, people didnt like him so much. Thats the way life goes. Thats human nature. The fact is, obamacare is a disaster, and i say this to the republicans all the time. By repealing it, by getting rid of it it, by ending it, everyones going to say it used to be so great, but it wasnt great and i tell tom price, and i tell paul ryan, i tell every one of them, i say the best thing you can do politically is wait a year, because its going to blow itself off the map, but thats the wrong thing to do for the country. Its the wrong thing to do for our citizens. So with that, id like to introduce some of the folks and you could say a few words about your experience with obamacare and perhaps the press will even report it. Would you like to start . He why, thank you for this opportunity will president. Our rates are three times they were before obamacare started. We have one provider in our county. We have very little options for what we can and cannot do. Were a Small Business owner. Were actually not a brick and mort mortar. We are cattle ranchers. We cant afford our equipment if were paying these rates year after year after year. Our food source is in jeopardy because of this Health Care Law. Thats my basic. I know. So the tape obviously has ended, but that was one of what the white house is calling the victims of obamacare. Let me bring back julie pace. Couple of things to deconstruct out of that from what we heard from the president , not the least of which he seems to be tempering what has been his optimism about how all of this is going to change for the better, saying it could take a year or two for things to kick in. Whats your take on what you just heard from President Trump . Well, its so interesting to hear President Trump talk about this versus paul ryan talking about this, in a lot of ways youre actually hearing i think a little more realism in the president s comments than you sometimes hear from speaker ryan, who really seems to be employing this strategy of go fast, go with the one option thats on the table. Weve heard that in these private meetings that trump has been having hes been more open to negotiations. So theres this interesting divide and you almost feel like President Trump may be more willing to accept the fact that there is this clash among republicans on the hill, and almost be preparing for an outcome that recognizes that the current bill wont get through the senate, then speaker ryan who is intent on getting this legislation that he has introduced through with almost no changes. And ruth, i mean, is that what you heard from this . Because when you look at how the white house is selling this bill, President Trump tweeted today and im quoting him obamacare is imploding. It is a disaster and 2017 will be the worst year yet, by far republicans will come together and save the day. Whats your reaction to what you just heard from the president . Well, its interesting. There is a real gulf between candidate trump and President Trump to build on something that julie said, both as candidate and as president. Hes been very strong, talking about the disaster of obamacare, this new concept of victims of obamacare, but as president , as candidate he talked about how it was going to be quick. It was going to be easy. He was going to come up with something that was going to be wonderful and it would happen, you know, sort of almost overnight. As president , he has discovered what his predecessor and pretty much everybody who spent time with health care knew all aening lo, which is that its really complicated, and so you can hear him sort of giving people much more caution than he ever gave them as candidate. This is going to take a long time. Its going to take some time for you to feel the change. We are potentially harming oursels politically by trying to fix this, and its just a really dramatic change. And while hes pushing the health care, julie, the focus has been diverted because of all the wiretap allegations. If the Justice Department doesnt have any evidence to back up his wiretap claim where does that leave President Trumps credibility with his own party, with the American People and frankly World Leaders. Hes meeting with Angela Merkel tomorrow. It leaves him pretty much on his own, which is where hes been on this since he first sent out these tweets a little over a week ago on this. Is the white house worried about that . You know, its interesting. People in the white house seem to wish this whole episode would go away. We cant let it go away because it was the president himself that put it forward. So you see them sort of stepping around it saying oh, well it will be up to the investigative committees on the hill to bring this forward, some people acknowledging they personally do not have any evidence but pointing back to trump saying well as president he gets more information. I think that they would be very happy if somehow they could just sweep this under the rug, but that again is not possible because its something that the president put forward and he really is on an island right now and if we dont see the Justice Department today put forward evidence, its only going to i think heighten this sense of isolation on his part. Where do you see this going from here, ruth, assuming there is nothing here that we see given to the Intelligence Committee today . Well the notion that the Justice Department is going to somehow conjure evidence out of nothing i think is illusory. Its not going to happen. The evidence as far as we can tell for what President Trump alleged simply does not exist, and i think you really put your finger on it. It has cost not just because he smeared his predecessor without any evidence whatsoever, but it has cost him his credibility with the public. It has cost for his credibility with the hill, and it has cost for his credibility with foreign leaders, and its really easy to lose credibility and very hard to get it back once youve done it, and the way that theyve handled this, trying to sort of kick the ball to investigative committees, maybe its the best play under the circumstances, but it strikes me that it would have been a smarter play if out of character for the president to just say hey you know what . Sometimes weve all tweeted too quickly and this was one of those times. Ruth marcus, jewulie pace, thank you. Coming up, ned price former cia analyst joins me here on Andrea Mitchell reports, only on msnbc. 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Trying to figure out some way of building some kind of trust in a very quick moment. Ishat all customers are satisfied before they leave. You have to love our goal, without a doubt, so one of the big stories today weve been talking about, todays the deadline day for the Justice Department to turn over any proof to the House Intelligence Committee to back up President Trumps claims that then president obama ordered a wiretap at trump tower before the election. Heres what senator john mccain had to say on sunday. The president has one of two choices, either retract or to provide the information that the American People deserve, because if his predecessor violated the law, president obama violated the law, weve got a serious issue here, to say the least. Do you have any reason to think that this charge is true . I have no reason to believe that the charge is true, but i also believe that the president of the United States could clear this up in a minute. Joining me now on our beautiful perch high over washington, d. C. , ned price, former cia analyst and most recently you know him as the National Security Council Spokesman in the Obama Administration. Good to see you again ned. Good to you, chris. Does john mccain have a point or given the benefit of the doubt to the Trump Administration could there be National Security classified reass that we have not seen as the American People the proof that a lot of people are asking for . Senator mccain absolutely has a point and his point gets to the heart of the issue. President trump could very well just ask for the answer but they havent done so and sean spicer has been very pointed in saying that no one in the Trump White House has done so because they know the answer they would get if they went to director comey at the fbi or the department of justice. They now understand that the president went off the reservation in his saturday morning tweet and President Trump himself reportedly understands that but by not asking that question, they maintain this plausible deniability, they maintain some doubt about whether theres any truth there and in doing so they punted it to congress. Theres a lot for congress to investigate in terms of this administrations ties to russia but this is a knowable fact, a fact that everyone who would be in a position to know denied its true. Weve been calling this deadline day when the rubber meets the road. What if the Justice Department dun respond . In the Obama White House there was a Cardinal Rule the white house did not interfere with the matters of department of justice. This administration to date seems to have taken a different approach with senior white house officials including the white House Counsel seeming to get involved in doj matters. I certainly hope that this administration respects that independence that is so important on the part of the department of justice to follow the truth wherever it leads. What do you see happening today . I wouldnt want to wager on this. Weve seen this take lots of twists and turns and i never expected wed be in this situation to begin with but i certainly hope that this matter is behind us soon, the president retracts his comments and i would certainly hope issues an auto poll gee to president obama. We were talking about this with the panel a short time ago. Say there is no evidence. Does it have an impact, a, with the American People, or did they just sort of brush itff as you know, he tweete in haste. Does it have an impact y on his meeting with Angela Merkel or Rex Tillersons trip that Andrea Mitchell is going on to asia . Absolutely. Look, every single crisis this administration has faced to date has been man made, of their open doing but there will come a time in the not too distant future where thisthis administration f ace threat from isil, north korea, aggression by one of our adversaries and with tweets and statements like this the president is chipping away at his credibility, his credibility as commander in chief. There is nothing more important for this country and for National Security than for the president to maintain that credibility. So clearly i hope this is something we can put behind us shortly. Waiting for this information is the Intelligence Committee. They sent a letter to the deputy acting attorney general. Heres what the top ranking democrat on that Committee Adam Schiff had to say yesterday. Either the president quite celebralib deliberately made up charge or perhaps more disturbing the president really believes this and heres where i think its consequential, george, if six months from now the president should say that iran is cheating on the nuclear wi agreement if hes making it up its a problem. If its true its a bigger question. The question would American People believe him . Would people around the world believe him . That has real world consequences. What do you sees is the most significant potential real world consequence . What if somebody who worked in this area for so much of your professional life i dont want to say keeps you up at night, youre finally able to have some sleep but what is it about this in particular that really gets to you . Well look, the president s credibility there is no realm more important for the president s credibility than that of National Security. Whether its iran, something from north korea, the president needs to have that unassailable credibility to speak to the American People and to speak t the world. We can all look ba over the past eight years and administrations prior to president obamas, where president sf the uned states have had a solemn obligation to address the nation in the wafr math of tragedy and disasters. If the president tweets before consulting with his advisers it chips away at that credibility, to address this country on a solemn, on a dire matter, his credibility could well be called into question. And james mattis has been at the pentagon for two months, the Associated Press is reporting not a single political appointee has joined him. We also hear there will be a budget coming out thats going to cut back on a lot of government employees. Are you concerned at all about that . Absolutely. Look, the department of defense is the organization that is responsible for prosecuting the war on isil and safeguarding our Nuclear Arsenal and responsible for deterring and responding to aggress on the part of oured isser have sears. The fact that the rooms are bare, that offices are bare within the pentagon is a matter of great concern but its not only dod. the department of state. Its the department of the treasury. Its other department and agencies that have a lot of the American People think government is bloated and might take this as good news. These are the individuals who should be siingin the offices who are responsible for safeguarding our National Security. This is notomething wehould gamble with, not something we should take a chance with, individuals who have important functions to perform and its important theyre in place as soon as possible. Ned price, thanks for coming in. Still to come that blizzard warning, a massive and dangerous winter storm set to deliver more than a foot of snow, strong winds and its going to hit millions on the east coast tomorrow. Well have an update on the forecast next, right here on Andrea Mitchell reports, only on msnbc. E your dreams. At vicarious visions, i get to be creative, work with awesome people, and we get to ma great games. what i like about the area, feels like Everybody Knows each other. And i can go to my local coffee shop and they know who i am. Its really cool. New york state is filled with bright minds like lisas. To find the companies and talent of tomorrow, search for our page, jobsinnewyorkstate on linkedin. Search for our page, knows how it fee to seeetes your numbers go up, despite your bt efforts. But what if you could turn things around . What if you could love your numbers . Discover oncedaily invokana®. Its the 1 prescribed sglt2 inhibitothat works to lowea1c. 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Everybody comfortable with the air temp . I could go a little cooler. Ok. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Welcome back. Millions of us bracing for a powerful winter storm set to slam the east coast tomorrow, that storm expected to pack dangerously high winds and several areas could see well over a foot of snow. The mayor of new york has Just Announced all city schools will be closed tomorrow. Nbc meteorologist Indra Petersons has the latest forecast and nbcs Gabe Gutierrez in washington, d. C. , where severe storm prep is under way. Indra is this the storm of the season . One of the biggest orms of the entire season and late in the season. Chicago still seeing flurries and lakeeffect showers possible through the evening hours. Then the real system, it hasnt formed, watching that. Take a look at what were expecting here, 121 Million People under these advisories that will be impacted by the storm, even blizzard warnings are now up as of this morning, jersey as well as long island, coastal sections of connecticut and keeping a close eye on towards massachusetts, the low continues to move closer to the coastline and that could have dramatic effects as far as snowfall amounts. It has not developed yet. As you go through the evening hours tonight we are going to start to see some of the showers already forming around d. C. Keep that in mind. The heavy stuff really strengthens as we go through the overnight hours. D. C. , philadelphia, new york city as we go toward your morning commute tomorrow here comes the heavy snowfall, one to three inch snowfall rates per hour. Late morning commute thats when boston will get in on the action as well. This guy will be staying with us all day long, heavy snow, strong winds and low visibility is going to be out there. By the time were at noon, notice looking at snowfall, well push you further as we go towards the evening commute time. Still seeing leftover showers towards new york city but pay close attention to boston, look at this, right on the line, this is why we have watches instead of warnings ritround the cape. Wee looking at rain, wintry mix d ow. So this low moves a little further offshore or closer to the shoreline youll have a huge difference in the amount of snowfall you expect that is why were paying close attention. Wednesday wraparound showers out there and eventually the system will kick out of here. Well keep a close eye on it. Gabe, we already heard flt may yor from the mayor of new york city, keeping kids home from school tomorrow. Whats going on in d. C. . What preparations are under way . Looks like the calm before the storm here. Exactly right, chris. Here at the National Mall things are calm, some tourists around here, the sunny skies, a bit chilly, but again, as you mentioned just a few hours were expecting that snowstorm to hit here, local authorities are expecting anywhere from four to eight inches of snow, about 200 salt trucks at the ready and again were expecting to see that start around sunset. Schools here in the d. C. Area at this point are still open. Now, in the morning commute in chicago today a very treacherous commute. This is their first significant snowfall in several months, since december actually. Now several cities up and down the east coast including d. C. , parts of new jersey and of course as you mentioned new york are preparing for this storm, people running to Grocery Stores, stocking up on supplies, as you mentioned the mayor of new york Just Announced all new York City Schools will be closed tomorrow. There will be 1600 snowplows also at the ready, as well as 280,000 tons of salt, so again, here in d. C. Were just getting ready in the, after sunset is when the snowfall is expected to start here and continue through the night. Chris, back to you. Its so funny we think of ourselves as hearty bunches here in washington, and new york, but ive heard from both places, peoplecy it was chaos at the Grocery Stores yesterday. Thank you, gabe xwgut ruz and indra thanks to you as well. Still to come youre fired, new york citys u. S. Attorney ousted by the president after refusing to resign, an aboutface from november when trump said he wanted him to stay. Well break it down with a former Justice Department official next right here on Andrea Mitchell reports. St. Patricks day because the irish have all the fun. Ancestrydna can reveal your true irish roots, even if you never knew they were there. With a simple dna test, you can discover if youre irish, or one of 25 other ethnicities. So save 10 on ancestrydna right now and find out just how much fun youll have. Save on ancestrydna through sunday. 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Okay, time to do this dont let your bladder always take the lead. Ask your doctor if myrbetriq is right for you. And visit myrbetriq. Com to learn more. At angies list, we believe there are certain things you can count on, like what goes down doesnt always come back up. [ toilet flushes ] so when you need a plumber, you can count on us to help you find the right person for the job. Discover all the ways we can help at angies list. Because your home is where our heart is. Heres to the wildcats this i gotta try. Bendy. Spendy weekenders. Whatever kind of weekender you are, theres a hilton for you. Book your weekend break direct at hilton. Com and join theeekeers. Now to at bankrupt decision by the Justice Department asking for the immediate resignation of 46 u. S. Attorneys who served under president obama. The move is not uncommon as new administrations often clear out political appointees from the previous president but its usually done gradually. In a stunning turn of events prominent new york prosecute your pete bharara was fired as he refused to resign. We had a good meeting, i said i would absolutely consider staying on. I agreed to stay on. I have already spoken to senator sessions who as you know the nominee to be the attorney general. He also asked that i stay on and so i expect ill be continuing to work. Joining me is matt miller, former Justice Department spokesman under eric holder. How are you doing . Im good. Is there a reason why anyone should be concerned about this . It is typical for sort of a cleaning house of political appointees, is this much ado about nothing . No, i dont think it is. It is of course typical that every administration, every president brings in his own u. S. Attorneys to replace the ones from the previous administration, but whats so unusual about this case, what President Trump did, usually the u. S. Attorneys are allowed to stay on for a transition period where they can at least have time to transition cases theyre working on over to the career staff to work with the Law Enforcement officials, both at the state and federal levels that they partner with, and they have noticed either weeks or months in the Obama Administration we let u. S. Attorneystay on until their ccessors were nominated and confirmed by the senate, and instead, what the president did is give them three or four hours notice to clean out their desks and get out, which makes no sense from an administration of justice standpoint. It gives them no time if they really are pursuing critical cases on terrorism or financial fraud or Violent Crime to be able to work with their, the people that work for them and for Law Enforcement officials to really come up with a good succession in transition plan. As you pointed out there are people in career positions who are there presumably picking up the slack. What is the real world implicati implicati implications, what are the concerns you have, matt, about the way this was done . They will be able to pick up the slack and work on a transition. You have to wonder if there are any things that the u. S. Attorneys themselves are working on whether theyve had time to fully brief the people that work for them but then the bigger concern i have is really about the Southern District of new york, Preet Bharara. I worked with him. I dont think he would have made the issue that he did if it were just about being fired. He understands that the president gets to pick his own u. S. Attorneys if he wants. The tweet that he sent yesterday where he compared what happened to him to what happened to the moreland commission, Governor Cuomo tried to disband or did disband the Commission Investigating his administration for corruption, thats concerning and i want to know what preet talked about with the Deputy Attorney general why he wasnt willing to resign. Is there a case he has open looking at the Trump Administration, looking at the Trump Campaign . We know hes investigating fox news in a criminal matter. Is that whats behind this . Those are questions that really need to be answered, and they need to be, that need to be asked by congress and the Justice Department has to explain more about why they did this. Do you really think they have to explain it though . Frankly theres so many other things that are roiling here and this is we should be fair about Preet Bharara hes gone after republicans and democrats alike. Hes not shown a proclivity for one party or another. Wall street certainly heavily on his radar. So what do you think the consequences of this will be or will there be no consequences . You know, its going to depend what the underlying facts are. Look, if this was just, you know, i think the decision by the white house was rash. I suspect what was behind it was their kind of paranoia about leaks and all this talk on the right about purge and getting rid of career officials and holdovers. If thats all it was, it was bad governance and a bad way to run the government, but not a rule of law issue. If, however, the firing of Preet Bharara had something to do with a case he was investigating and their wanting to get rid of him this is the tip of the iceberg and as this unlds and as he explains and people in his offexplain what it is theyre looking at, we could be on the cusp of a big major scandal but we honestly dont know yet. Let me ask you about Something Else thats going on, Jeff Sessions recusing himself from the russia investigation. How do you see this playing out, wither awaiting for the deputy ag to be confirmed. He had the hearing last week and lawmakers want the Justice Department to turn over evidence of trumps wiretapping accusations. Where do you see all of this . On the question of how this investigation goes forward theres a very clear precedent. The last time an attorney general recused himself because he was investigating people close to the president , the Deputy Attorney general who was then jim comey now of course the fbi director appointed a special counsel to investigate it because he recognized there was no way he is someone who meets with the president and white house officials could fairly oversee that investigation while he was constantly sxw lly inter with them. When Rob Rosenstein is confirmed and i expect he will be, hes going to have to take a hard look at it and if he doesnt appoint a special counsel i think there are always going to be questions about whether that case is being pursued independently. Then of course there is this question about whether trump was wiretapped. I say question. I think we know the answer its very clear there was no wiretap of trump tower. Theres no reason to think that the director of National Intelligence jim clapper wasnt telling the truth and jim comey made tleer include leaks those are the facts. The Justice Department will have to come out and just at some point say look the president is wrong about this. They have to say that to defend the integrity of people at the Justice Department, people at the fbi, the president was up fairly questioned and his reputation is tarnished. Thanks for having me. Come up, real world impact, how the Health Care Debate is causing uncertainty far beyond the beltway. This is Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc. For lower back pain sufferers, the search for relief often leads. Here. Here. Or here. Today, theres another option. Drugfree aleve direct therapy. A tens device with high intensity power that uses technology once only available in doctors offices. Its wireless remote lets you control the intensity, and helps you get back to things like this. This. Or this. And back to being yourself. Aleve direct therapy. Find yours in the pain relief aisle. Start here. At fidelity, we let you know where you stand, so when it comes to your retirement plan, youll always be absolutely. Clear. Its your retirement. Know where you stand. Parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what . You could apply for a Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan whenever you want. No enrollment window. No waiting to apply. That means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Medicare doesnt cover everything. And like all standardized Medicare Supplement Insurance Plans, these help cover some of what medicare doesnt pay. So dont wait. Call now to request your free decision guide. It could help you find the aarp Medicare Supplement plan that works for you. These types of plans have no networks, so you get to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. Rates are competitive, and theyre the only plans of their kind endorsed by aarp. Remember these plans let you apply all year round. So call today. Because nows the perfect time to learn more. Go long. The press is making it look so won telephoderful so if we e everyone will say remember how great obamacare used to be, remember how wonderful it used to be. It was so great. Its a little bit like president obama. When he left, people liked him. When he was here people didnt like him so much. Its the way life goes. That was a short time ago President Trump making his. Itch to replace obamacare this as Republican Leaders hope to move quickly and send their plan to the senate in less than a month. But while Insurance Companies are waiting for specifics, Small Businesses are caught in the middle. Msnbcs jo ling kent has our story. Reporter as republicans and democrats on capitol hill battle over repealing obamacare even within their own parties Small Businesses are caught in the confusion. As a Small Business owner i am in a constant struggle to do right by my team within the constraints of our balance sheet. Reporter this lawyer opened glens Garden Market in washington, d. C. , five years ago. She employees 95 workers and wants to continue to offer coverage to her employees. Frankly its not as expensive as you would think but really got us mileage in terms of being an attractive place to work. Reporter vogel is concerned her costs will rise if the current republican plan is adopted and forced to raise store prices. The anxiety mirrors the mood inside some Insurance Companies. Health care providers are awaiting specific details to plan next years coverage. Health plans are feeling a little better about 2018 and hope that within the next four to six weeks they will commit to continuing on next year but we still need to resolve a couple of those uncertainties. Reporter the biggest uncertainty . How much the republicans proposed plan will cost providers. Were all working a little bit in the dark here. Thats highly unusual and makes it very difficult to have a factbased conversation. Reporter the nonpartisan ca Kaiser Family foundation. Across the country, the marketplaces are still pretty stable in most places but in pockets of the country, there are real problems when people in the marketplaces dont have a plan currently, that they use. Reporter with major insurer humana decides to leave the exchanges President Trump is facing a more complicated landscape. Its a critical moment where a lot will depend on what the Trump Administration does or doesnt do in this kind of interim period when the marketplaces are hanging in the pa balance. Reporter for vogel theres no time to wait for congress to make a final decision. We offered health care before we were required to, well offer health care if we are no longer required to. From a planning perspective it is absolutely impossible to predict what our obligation will be. We expect a lot of questions on health care when any moment now we expect the White House Briefing to start with sean spicer. But as we wait lets bring in the Washington Post ruth marcus and bring in nbc senior Political Editor mark murray. This put at administration in a tough spot they want to sell the positives in the bill but the devil is in the details. What are the details you see right now that will trip this up . Well the details are that under obamacare some people do better than others. If youre healthy, very young and reasonably well off, youre not going to get the subsidy. Youre not going to be eligible for subsidies. If you are older, you could be in a way worse position under trumpcare than you were under obamacare. This is borne out by some of the studies that have already been done. Its borne out just kind of by the logic of the way the program is set up, and so you could easily imagine as President Trump has had his event today with the victims, in quotes, of obamacare, democrats doing their own pieces with potential victims of trumpcare and the thing thats complicated about this is that a lot of the people who could be worst off under the republican plan are the very people, very counties, very demographics that supported President Trump especially people in the rural areas. You had actually Vice President pence in kentucky over the weekend, sending i guess a not so subtle message to the senator from that state who has been against the bill. Take a listen. This is going to be a battle in washington, d. C. , and for to us seize this opportunity to repeal andce obamacare we need every republican in congress and were counting on ken kent. At the end of the day after a good and vigorous debate we know kentucky will be there. Rand paul aggressively fighting this bill. Where does it stand on the senate side . What will happen next . This is where its a headache for the Trump White House and republicans who want to push this because not only when you get to the United States senate, do you have conservatives who are in opposition like senator rand paul from kentucky but also the moderates like Susan Collins from maine, as well as cory gardner from colorado and so if republicans try to make the legislation more conservative to be able to move it out of the house, that might please rand paul but going to anger some of the moderates, so that push and pull, that is very tough. One other note about kentucky, while Vice President mike pence railed against the Health Care Law in kentucky, kentucky has been one of the big Success Stories under obamacare where the uninsurance rate went from above 20 in 2013 to close to 7 to 8 now, and so youre seeing the Trump White House wanting to go into some of the Success Stories to be able to have a rhetorical argument against it. Mark murray good to see you. Ruth marcus thanks for sticking around for the show. Thanks a lot. Were waiting for the press briefing to start. That will do it for this edition of Andrea Mitchell reports. Tomorrow on this show, an dree why will join us from tokyo. Follow the show online on facebook, on twitte twitter mitchellreports. Find me on twitte twitter chrisjansing. Katy tur is up next on msnbc. Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. Im katy tur in for craig melvin in new york a twohour block on msnbc. Any moment were expecting the daily White House Briefing with press secretary sean spicer, and while there is a blizzard watch up and down the east coast, d. C. Is battening down not just for the snowstorm but the political storm surrounding health care. The nations official number crunchers in the Congressional Budget Office are expected to tell us today or tomorrow how much the Republican Health care bill will cost, and how many people it will or will not help. President trump today blaming who else, but the media for the poor reception this bill has already received. The press makes it look wonderful so if we end it everyone will say remember how great obamacare used to be. It was so great. Its a little bit like president obama, when he left people liked him. When he was here, people didnt like him so much. Thats the way life goes. Thats human naturnature. When all