Transcripts For MSNBCW MTP Daily 20170410

Starts right now. Good evening, im katy tur in for chuck todd in new york. Days after strikes on the syrian air field, americas role in the region remains unclear. U. N. Ambassador nikki haley said regime change should be on the way. Here she is with our own chuck todd on sundays meet the press. In no way do we so peace in the area with russian covering up for assad and no way do we see peace in the area with assad as the head of the seeyrian government. Uprooting assad didnt sneak up with tillersons statements. While sis sis is in focus, assads fate is not defined. The strategy in syria, our priority is first the defeat of isis, then we hope to turn our attention to achieving ceasefire agreements between the regime and opposition forces. We are hopeful that w can work with russia and use their influence to achieve areas of stabilization throughout syria and it is through that political process that we believe the Syrian People will be able to decide the fate of Bashar Al Assad. H. R. Mcmaster said other countries need to step up against the syrian government. Were not saying we are the ones that are going to affect that change. What were saying is our countries have to ask themselves some hard questions. Russia should ask themselves, what are we doing here . Why are we supporting this murderous regime . The Syrian Air Base targeted in thursdays missile attack is already up and running again. What comes next for the u. S. Is enknown . The strategy seems to be showing robust power even if the white house is not exercising it. Then there is the threat of north korea as kim jongun tests his own missiles, the u. S. Was deployed warships to the Korean Peninsula and secretary tillerson is more critical of the nation, calling the handling of chemical weapons incompetent ahead of the first visit to moscow tomorrow. Today tillerson is in italy for the g7 while visiting a world war ii memorial, he issued a stark warning. Rededicated ourselves to holding to account any and all who commit crimes against the innocents anywhere in the world. But what does the followup on these tough words look like . Senar chs murphy of connecticut serves on the Foreign Relations committee. Today sean spicer was asked about the air base that is now being used again by the syrians, the air base that donald trump bombed. The president calls them a proportional a proportional response. Sean spicer says its only being used as a pr stunt by the assad regime. What is your take . Well, the reality is that air strike on thursday night didnt change the balance of power inside syria. It doesnt make life any safer for syrians who are getting tortured and terrorized and barrel bombed and its really unclear now what the u. S. Policy is Going Forward. Youve got tillerson and haley saying Different Things on different days as to whether were just going to punish assad for chemical weapons attacks or were going to extend military protection to other attacks on civilians. I think people are frankly more confused not less confused what the policy is in the middle east. We better get it straight pretty soon. Thats why a lot of us think there should be a debate in congress about what our policy and what our military is allowed to do inside syria. Quwhat do you believe should come next in syria . Ultimately i think you cannot be conducting military action in syria if youre locking children inside. We have to have a policy to allow refugees to come to the United States and get anybody out of syria who wants to get out. Im worried about the buildup of troops in a around raqqa. They should only be used to support arab forces and perhaps Kurdish Forces in retaking raqqa. Im worried well have thois of troops there for the long run. I know restraint is not a popular policy. We have a lot of hubrus and should be limited in our objectives. The United States will have to leave. The debate is whether or not to leave Basha Al Assad in power. Trying to nail down exactly what the white houses plan is for the syrian president. Take a listen. Can you defeat isis with assad still in power . Yes, sure, its not like theres a single track that says you have to do if we can get both at the same time or one happens after another, thats fine as well. I think we obviously the number one threat amerithey fac isis in that region. I dont know that you can defeat isis but you can certainly gobble up enough of their terrorist that they pose a less of a immediate threat to attacking the United States. We have to differentiate between preferences and policy. Its okay to stay americas preference is for Bashar Al Assad to be out of power. Its a different thing to say our policy is to achieve no political or military settlement unless theres an immediate commitment that he leaves. Our focus should be on stopping the blood shed inside syria. And if that means assad has to stay as a transitional figure, that may have to be on the table. Isis can be downgraded to the point where they are no longer a significant credible daily threat to the United States separating assad from the question of how long aassad get to stay in power. Secretary tillerson is going to russia for mtings at the can kremlin. He has taken a tougher posture saying they bear responsibility for assad dropping chemical weapons on his own people. What do i believe the secretary of state needs to accomplish while in moscow . I have low expectations for this meeting but im heartened to see this dramatic black and white change on rhetoric on russia. My hope is that tillerson comes out of it using the same words going in. Kplisty for what happened inside syria but the Trump Administration has to understand the hands off approach they have taken up until the last two days may have allowed russia to think that it could get away with not exercising a veto power over this chemical weapons attack. I hope the aadministration comes to congress and works with us on a russia sanctions bill that will give us more leverage when were deciding the fate of syria and ukraine and work with them on a host of other problems in the region. Theres a lot going on. On the one hand you have syria and russia and other youve got north korea and china. Donald trump launched the missiles on syria while the chinese president was at maralago. Was that unilateral show of force meant to send a message to china that we will deal with north korea alone if we have to . Im sure thats what trump hopes the strike conveyed but again, lets be honest about what we did here, we took out a veryimit d stre intended to only hit a handful of small military assets. Im not necessarily sure that ty measure necessary does that Say Something abou were willing to take every measure necessary to unwind their nuclear program. Is that saying the chinese though, whether or not they should be working with us or forcing them to work with us in some way . I dont think it is going to be the air field in syria thats going to convince the chinese to come to the table. Here i dont think that trump is necessarily wrong, that we need to put all of our cards on the table with the chinese right now to force them to work with us on north korea. That may involve some deal on other issues like taiwan or economics trade to get something done on north korea, but that will be how this works out, putting all of our cards on the table, not trying to scare them into working with us just because were willing to take one small limited action inside syria against an air base. Senator, final question. I was just talking to one of your colleagues a moment ago and he told me that democrats will restore the 60vote threshold when theyre back in power for Supreme Court nominees. Has that been a discussion behind the scenes among democrats, that this is something that needs to be reinstated in order for the senate to work in the bipartisan way it was intended to work . Well, senator markee and i will have conversation about that. I dont know ive been privy to that conversation happening behind closed doors. In fact, we frankly telegraphed the oms at times to republicans, if they want to break the comity that existed over Supreme Court nominations they may live to regret that day because there will be a democrat in power in the white house perhaps when the next vacancy, a swing vacancy comes up. I dont actually think republicans should bet the farm on democrats reversing course if and when we take control of the senate. Do you believe they should though . In the spirit of working together, in the spirit of bipartisan cooperation in the senate, especially Something Like the Supreme Court, should the democrats restore the 60vote threshold . We have to have a broader conversation about how the senate works. The fact is en we had a 60vote majority for president ial appointees and District Court judges, republicans abused that privilege. Half of the filibusters of District Court judges happened during obamas time in office. Over the course of history, half of them. Mitch mcconnell during president obamas time in office, so we have to step back and say to the extent the minority has the ability to filibuster anything, theyve got to use that much more responsibly than they have in the past. That should apply to democrats as well as it applies to republicans. Senator murphy, appreciate your time, sir. Thank you. Michael crowley, the Senior Foreign Affairs correspondent for politico joins me now. Lets start with a little reporting that your colleague did about a closed door meeting with the communication team. He says in his reporting that mike dubke told assembled aids the foreign lacks coherent Foreign Policy, there is no trump doctrine. This happened all before those syrian airfield strikes, so what is the biggest hurdle here for the Trump Administration . Reporter well, i think it is to figure out what they think and to try to coordinate a president who campaigned on a set of values and prinls president ials that is not shared by a lot of his top most influential Foreign Policy advisers with their world view and figure out if theres a way to get everybody on board. Trump has shown us in his own words that he is very flexible. It may be now that he is coming around to people who are on his National Security team like secretary of defense mattis, his National Security adviser, h. R. Mcmaster and increasingly were hearing from nikki haley, a more kind of conventional establishment world view where that is not that different maybe from what you would have seen from a jeb bush or a marco rubio. But, you know, Donald Trumps rhetoric in the campaign was in a very different place, and i think theyre trying to figure out what is our vision, how do we reconcile it with what we said before and is this what President Trump really wants. Partially because trump himself is not really an ideologue but somebody who campaigned on America First, but campaigned also on this idea he would know best and he would make the decisions that are best, which is part of the reasons his supporters had this blind faith in him. So are the aides left to try to figure out what he believes or is there a point where hes going to communicate exactly what he wants, the, the president of the United States wants Going Forward . You know, it really does look situational. I mean i think that what he wants Going Forward is to look strong and is to look like he is and it is sort of win the moment i guess. I mean as you say, he is not ideological guy. Unlike a lot of president s, i dont think he is interesting in the duelling theories of Foreign Policy, the realists, internationalists and the neocons. I think he is looking for strength and the idea that, you know, hes not going to be pushed around and he is delivering for the countryn some sense. So i dont think that hes going to come out and articulate some grand vision. I really think that the people around him to some degree are coming up with the vision thats pretty mainstream, but then they have to adapt it to whatever trump thinks is happening in the moment because it is clear that this is the guy it is almost like somebody, like the movie mo moment ow momento you cant remember what happened the day before, it is like he has amnesia and theres a fresh start for him. He will have this establishmentoriented team bringing him with a set of options but trump comes to it with a fresh pair of eyes, not interested in the prologue and theory around it but what will work in the moment. I hope youre not suggesting he gets his old tweets tattooed on his body to check them out. Wont go that far. Talking about syria and the missile strike, the air base donald trump hit on thursday, the Syrian Regime has already flown a couple of planes out of it. The white house is calling that a pr stunt, saying the air base is not operational, they had to wheel the planes in that were prefueled and let them take off. Lindsey graham had a slightly different view of it. Here is what he said to our chuck todd on meet the press. Here is what i think assad is telling trump by flying from this base. I think he is making a serious mistake, because if youre an adversary of the United States and you dont worry about what trump may do on any given day, then youre crazy. Pretty provocative from lindsey graham. It is. And my reaction is who is provoking trump more. Is assad provoking trump by doing this or is lindsey graham, who long wanted deeper u. S. Intervention in syria, who was really critical of barack obama and now is pressuring trump to go deeper, do more to try to push assad out of power, is he using this as an opportunity to try to go after trumps pride, to try to say, hey, you cant let this guy push you around . I mean in other words graham maybe is sort of the instigator here because graham doesnt want to see these strikes that we saw the other night just on this one airfield to be the end of the story. He thinks there should be a much deeper american involvement in syria, that there should be a coordinated campaign to try to push assad out and hold him accountable for what hes done there. Despite what trump did on thursday night, theres really there doesnt seem to be any appetite in this administration for at this point pressing further down that line. So i see definitely the ultimate cull pa ability here is assad but i see graham as a little bit of a provocateur making sure this gets trumps pride involved. Final question in a couple of se sentences, can you sum up what Rex Tillerson would like to get out of russia tomorrow . Think he would like to get the russians to say theyre going to pull bac support of assad, we realize the use of nerve gas is something we cant stand now, and we understand the United States have some lines you have drawn and youve come in and are willing to enforce them. Lets go back and restart a Peace Process that includes you, the americans, and in good faith we will try harder than we have before to find a solution that gets assad out of the picture. Weve heard you, washington. Im skeptical that will be the case. The russians when they dig in, they dig in deep. I dont think that that air strike was really enough to change their calculus at this point. It is hard to set parameters when you dont know exactly what the president of the United States is going to say on any given any day. Michael crowley of politico, thank you very much. Absolutely, katey. Thank you. Coming up, the trump team tries to smooth over west wing drama. We will have the latest from the white house just ahead. Stay tuned. Theyll call back. No one knows your ford better than ford and ford service. Right now, during the big tire event, get a 140 rebate by mail, on four select tires. And youre about in to hit send all on some embarrassing gas. Hey, you bought gasx® unlike antacids, gasx ® relieves pressure and bloating fast. Huh, crisis averted. We continue to follow developments out of san bernardino, california. Suspected Domestic Abuse a suspected domestic dispute turned to blood shed inside an Elementary School earlier today. Investigators say the shooting happened iide one o t classrooms. Right now female teacher and the alleged shooter died in an apparent muder suicide. Two students were also shot and are in the hospital, listed in critical condition. Right now police are not releasing the age or names of those children. Police will be holding a briefing in the next hour or so with more information, well of course bring you any new developments in the story as they happen. Well be right back. My business was built with passion. But i keep it growing by making every dollar count. Thats why i have the spark cash card from capital one. With it, i earn unlimited 2 cash back on all of my purchasing. And that unlimited 2 cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business. Which adds fuel to my bottom line. Whats in your wallet . Welcome back to mtp daily. A new week offers a new opportunity for the president to try and move on from the inner white house drama encircling top aides. We saw an attempt to smooth things over this weekend as Reince Priebus held a meeting on friday afternoon between two figures representing the war between two factions inside trumps or bit. Steve bannon and Jared Kushner. This is about more than personality tensions between top aides. There are deep philosophical and policy differences at issues from everything from americas place in the world to the role the federal government plays in our lives. Last week there was evidence kushners west wing role was expanding as he took a trip to iraq with the chairman of the joint cheefls of staff while bannon was removed from his spot on the National Security council. White House Press Secretary sean spicer today called reports of infighting over blown. Even some members are weighing in with steve king tweeting to the president , steve bannon is the linchpin to your energized base. Conservatives are an endangered species in your white house. For more we bring in nbcs chief White House Correspondent hallie jackson. Hallie, where does steve bannon stand as of tonight. Reporter presumably inside the west wing in his office, katie, at this exact moment. He is still on staff. It is our understanding based on our reporting from our team at the white house the dust has settled a little bit when it comes to reports of a shakeup in large part due to the meeting that you just talked about that we report out on friday afternoon at maralago, Jared Kushner, steve bannon and Reince Priebus and the chief of staff was giving a message of we have to work this out, we can have differences but we cant have the drip, drip leaks to the press. The president not pleased by reports, particularly on a week when he have confirmation of Supreme Court justice neil gorsuch. Todays ceremony was in the rose garden. Thats what his team wants to talk about and not as sean spicer was pressed about multiple times today, reports of infighting he called over blown as you called out, that he called sensational. No surprise spicer would aim his fire at the press saying the media got away with the story a little bit. Clearly there are ideological differences though when you look at where the advisers are, but the president as his team pointed out, is somebody who wants to bring people together with a diverse point of view. The question is, and i talked to somebody part of a Previous Administration who talked about what it is like in those first 100 days when there is infighting and the point was made that, listen, there needs to be a diverse set of opinions but there also has to be the discipline to say, hey, this is what were doing, were not going to leak it or talk about it, were going to get it done. Is there a sense of cohesion in this administration, in the west wing about where exactly theyre going on a daytoday basis when it comes to messaging, what their strategy is, what their policy is, what the trump doctrine is . Reporter yeah, well, listen, you talk about the trump doctrine. It is a question that comes up in light of the reporting by shane which was questioned about Foreign Policy. The white house has pushed back. You heard sean spicer today layout the America First doctrine, as a veteran of the campaign trail you are well familiar with it as his supporters are as well. When it comes to cohesion, thats the big question mark, right . Because you have different policies that have been put out there that are inconsistent with what he said on the campaign trail. Like for example, the action he took in syria as weve been talking about. The question is going to be can everybody come together, can they get it together essentially over these next 20 days or so that are left in the first 100 days . It is a symbolic time period but it is important nonetheless because i think the administration understands messaging and the framing of those rst 100 days will be important to how the American People view the president s first three or four months in office. I would also add this, that the administration is pointing to what they say is a president making good on some of his campaign promises. For example, the Supreme Court pick. That was accomplished today. What they have not made good on is Something Like healthcare reform, it was a big promise of the president s on the campaign trail, that failed, as well as tax reform and infrastructure too. Katie. Thank you very much, hallie. Lets go to tonights panel. New york times Senior Editor carolyn ryan. Obviously the white house is pushing back on a lot lately. Theres always a story that they totally disagree with. There was a meeting though between steve bannon, Jared Kushner that Reince Priebus was moderating, i guess. Can you resolve those ideological differences . Is that possible . No, not on i mean it is a matter of can you get along well enough to serve the president though. Can you put certain things aside . What if you dont know where the president stands . Well, thats the key here. But there is something that is worth noting, is that the president had the same point of view as Jared Kushner up to 20 months ago. Yeah. So he is more aligned there. But what you also have to ask yourself the question if youre in the white house right now is do you want steve bannon on the inside and with you or do you want him on the outside running a media empire. To that point, there was a report that brightbart was told not to run any negative articles about Jared Kushner. Right. Theres certainly questions about how powerful he might be with this brightbart connection, and you make a good point about whether you want him as part of your tent or not. But i think the more profound issue here is going back to what you said earlier in the show, when you have a post ideological president , it is much more difficult for aides to know what theme attically and message wise they are moving toward, are they in alignment with the president when he is so to use his word flexible, to use other peoples words capricious or inconsistent. So you are going to have, i think, more dramatic ideological dlashes as pa clashes of this administration. The criticism on Jared Kushner is he is young, hes inexperienced, he doesnt know what hes doing, he is a democrat, but would democrats rather have him the one in charge, him being the one in Donald Trumps ear rather than somebody like steve bannon, even if he is inexperienced . So i think hes probably been given a lot, and jared is a capable guy. I dont know who is cape able enough to handle all in that portfolio. Two, trump ran this way. He talked about tearing up trade deals and tearing up other deals with countries and renegotiating them on the fliechlt he never laid out a strategy or philosophy, just said he would do it better. In his mind you have to come to him because he is going to get it done better. The question in the white house, and i think you said it very well, you have to do what is in the president s interest. This president is about getting the best deal transactionally with whomever he is dealing with. What deal has he gotten so far thats been the best deal . Im not making im trying to understand him. He is looking at figuring occupant whether it is syria, china, mexico, the congress, remember, after healthcare fail he said were going to move to taxes and work with democrats. He had schumer over and praised schumer. What could change is if they loose the kansas and Georgia House seats which would inject a different political thiing in the white house and might damage steve bannon more than Jared Kushner. To hear steve bannon called Jared Kushner a democrat, it seems to me thats a desperation throw at the end. If thats your best case to say to the president , you should listen to me, i would have to give the advantage to jared not only because he is family but i would say the message is one thats not only that, the president wants to win as we know. Right now he hasnt been delivered many wins. I dont even know what that means any longer. It means healthcare did not go the way he wanted. When he says that over and over, does the president know what a win looks like . If he knew what a win looked like, wouldnt he have gone to the democrats and said, lets find a way to make it work . He knows what he thinks is a win. Whatever is in front of him, if he speaking about healthcare, he wants to win it. Whatever he wants to define a win as, he didnt win that. That was something bannon was involved in. He wanted a win on the travel ban. He didnt get that once and then didnt get it again. Something steve bannon driven. He will start going to people who can lead him with successes, and right now because of the trust factor with Jared Kushner he probably knows how to best manipulate donald trump in thinking how to win. And Jared Kushner has what the others dont have, which is he is married to ivanka so donald trump cant so easily get rid of them. Gary kohn and him see to be developing thats a big problem as well. I mean but also, trump is loyal until he is not loyal. Steve bannon you could argue got him to this point by getting him on message at the end of the campaign and disciplining him a little bit more in terms of trump. But now according to people that i speak with, steve bannon is in a precarious position because Donald Trumps poll numbers are not good, he hasnt gotten any quote, unquote, wins like susan is saying and jared is out to get hiand the family is out to get him. It took the family months to get rid of Corey Lewendowski and he was arrested for assault. That is true. So ultimately, even if bannon is dangerous on the outside as susan alludes to, is there a way for him to survive . I just think that youre right, that you do not want as a chief strategist, no matter how powerful your connections to the right wing, to be picking fights or in public fights with the spouse of your bosss favorite child. I just think it is a loser. Theres got to be a way for him to somehow mitigate and get back into hes not going to win by sort of throwing things into this also goes to the fundamental problem in the white house right now, which is that there are three or four to five, depending on who you talk to, ways to the president. Youre supposed to have a chief of staff, all roads go through the chief of staff to the president. You have multiple ways of entry, if you will, and thats also very different because they come from different points of view. I find it interesting that Reince Priebus is the one thats holding this meeting between the two when Reince Priebus was the one allegedly fighting with steve bannon. So i mean it is all hes not going anywhere. Dont go up against the president s children, you will lose, and we have seen that in the past. Unless you are winning before then. Unless you are winning before then. Right. Carolyn, harold, susan, stay with us. Still ahead, as neil gorsuch takes his seat on the Supreme Court, we will take a look at the cases on the docket and where he could make his mark. Stay tuned. You have access to indepth analysis, level 2 data, and a team of experienced traders ready to help you if you need it. Is like having the power of a ading floor, wherever you are. Its your trade. E trade. Start trading today at etrade. Com sfx engine revving silence i use whats already inside me to reach my goals. So i liked when my doctor told me that i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by activating whats within me with onceweekly trulicity. Trulicity is not insulin. It helps activate my body to do what its supposed to do release its own insulin. Trulicity responds when my blood sugar rises. I take it once a week, and it works 24 7. It comes in an easytouse pen. And i may even lose a little weight. 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With trulicity, i click to activate whats within me. If you want help improving your a1c and blood sugar numbers with a noninsulin option, click to activate your within. Ask your doctor about onceweekly trulicity. Welcome back. Japanese car maker toyota announce ad major investment in manufacturing today. The company is committing over 1. 33 billion in its kentucky plant. President trump praised the move as further evidence that manufacturers are now confident that the economic climate has greatly improved under his administration. A spokesman for the coil told the New York Times the president s policies did not play a role in the decision but the Company Shares his goal of growing the economy and jobs in the u. S. After the break, how Justice Gorsuch could make a difference on the court. But first, for the rest days financial headlines. Heres julia boorstin. Thanks. Stocks closing slightly higher. The dow up about a point. The s p also up a point. Wells fargoer climbing back over aggressive sales practices thated tllions fakts. More than 5,000 Bank Employees lost their jobs. The s. E. C. Wants to block a plan allowing passengers to make inflight phone calls. Two s. E. C. Commissioners would have to block the move. Thats it first in business worldwide. All you need is love plays my friends know me so well. They can tell what im thinking, just by looking in my eyes. But what they didnt know was that i had dry, itchy eyes. I used artificial tears from the moment i woke up. To the moment i went to bed. So i finally decided to show my eyes some love,. Some eyelove. Eyelove means having a chat with your eye doctor about your dry eyes because if youre using artificial tears often and still have symptoms, it could be chronic dry eye. Its all about eyelove, my friends. Itthat can make a worldces, of difference. Expedia, everything in one place, so you can travel the world better. Ukeep you sidelined. Thats why you dnk ensure. With 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. For the strength and energy to get back to doing. What you love. Ensure. Always be you. Shell unease you all the better just to please you shes precocious, and she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush all the boys think shes a spy, shes got bette davis eyes today for the first time in over a year, all the seats on the Supreme Court are filled. Neil gorsuch is now associate justice neil gorsuch. After being sworn in today. Succeeding the late Antonin Scalia after a long battle. He was given the oath by the associate Justice Anthony kennedy. Gorsuch clerked for kennedy in the early 1990s ask is the first to is it on the court with a former boss. President donald trump took a curtain call of sorts for getting gorsuch on the bench within his first 100 days in office. Ive always heard the most important thing that a president he of the United States does is appoint people, hopefully great people like this appointment to the United States Supreme Court. I can say this is a great honor. And i got it done in the first 100 days. Thats even nice. You think thats easy. Gorsuch becomes the youngest member of the court by more than a deck it a. And as the most junior justice, he will take over clerical functions like holding the door to the conference roonl from Justice Elena kagan. There are 13 cases left to be heard. He will hear his first oral arguments next week. Joining me from washington details, petewilliams. So 13 cases left to heard. Where could gorsuch make his mark . Well, of those 13, the biggest one is a test of religious freemont. It is a challenge to about half the states laws. That say that no state money can go directly or indirectly to a church. This case comes from columbia, missouri. Theres a Lutheran Church that wanted state money to put a rubber surface down for its preschool. The state said youre qualified in every way but youre a church so we cant give you the money. The church says it is discrimination. The state says were not interfering with your religious practices but we wont subsidize them. He could provide a decisive vote. It is fobl court could have split 44. But now it is back to its old balance leaning conservatively. How is this justice going to fit on the Supreme Court . Will i be a replacement for scalia . Well, when he came here 23 years ago, to be a clerk for justice kennedy, he came to clerk for birnl white who was just retiring from the Supreme Court. A fellow coloradoan. He used to say, whether theres a new juts, theres a new court. They break down and new ones come in so well to have see how Justice Gorsuch fits. In in many ways hell be just as conservative, in some more, some less than Justice Scalia. But Justice Scalia tend tubed polarizing figure. That is not Neil Gorsuchs style. Wouldha be more persuasive . Well have to wait and see of. So mayor garland wasnt even given a confirmation hearing by republicans last year. Will we be hearing from him in the future . Will he have a major role to play in the d. C. Circuit in. Well, yes. Absolutely. He is a couple blocks away on the court of appeals for the d. C. Circuit. It is often referred to as the most important Appeals Court in the country. Many challenges of acts of congress, challenges come through that court so some big deal issues come through here. His stamp will be on a lot of cases that come through for review. So we wont hear the end of him. Whether a future democratic would nominate him for the Supreme Court, hard to say. He was on the edge of what is considered to be too old to be nominated for the Supreme Court but he will still be a very active peas court judge. Pete williams in frochblt Supreme Court. Appreciate it. Still ahead, there is the lid. Also election day stakes in kansas. Stay tuned. Staff meeting. Noon . Eating. 3 45 . Uh, compliance training. 6 30 . Sams baseball practice. 8 30 . Tai chi. Yeah, so sounds relaxing. Alright, 9 53 . I usually make their lunches then, and i have a little vegan so wow, you are busy. Wouldnt it be great if you had investments that worked as hard as you do . Yeah. Introducing essential portfolios. The automated investing solution that lets you focus on your life. Tech when your windshield needs to be fixed. Trust safelite autoglass. For these parents, driving around was the only way to get their baby to sleep. So when their windshield got cracked. Customer we cant drive this car. Tech . They wanted it fixed right. So they scheduled with safelite. Our exclusive trueseal Technology Means a strong, reliabe bond, every time. At safelite, we stand behind our work. Bye, bye. Because the ones you love, sit behind it. parents whisper jingle safelite repair, safelite replace. On a perfect car, then smash it into a tree. Your Insurance Company raises your rates. Maybe you shouldve done more research on them. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Liberty mutual insurance. Welcome back. Were following reports alabamas Governor Robert Bentley plans to resign today. The Lieutenant Governor is set to take the oath at 6 45 p. M. Eastern. Bentley is expected to make a statement shortly. Here, looking at a booking photo, he was boogd in the montgomery the county jail a short time ago. Impeachment hearings for t government kicked off this morning, following power, abuse and coverup allegations. It all stems from a scandal that broke last year. Recordings that suggest that he made remarks to a female aide. The House Judiciary Committee claimed he tried use Law Enforcement and intimidation to keep it all a secret. Both the governor and that aide have deny ad physical affair. The governor claims he has done nothing illegal and did not misuse state resources. The Alabama Party has called for the governorser resignation but he kols face a criminal investigation. They are looking at finding sthat he may have violated Campaign Finance and ethics laws. When you havmoderate to severe ulcerative colitis, the unpredictability of a flare may weigh on your mind. Thinking about what to avoid, where to go, and how to work around your uc. Thats how i thought it had to be. But then i talked to my doctor about humira, and learned humira can help get and keep uc under control. When certain medications havent worked well enough. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Raise your expectations and ask your gastroenterologist if humira may be right for you. With humira, control is possible. Today the eyes of the whole country are on kansas. This special election tomorrow makes a difference not just for kansas but for the whole country. Its time for the lid. That was texas senator ted cruz a few moments ago campaigning for rob estes. Our panel is back. Not jr. , susan del percio. Not only is the country watching kansas but theyre also watching georgia. The cook report upgraded isratings. Georgia six, where we have the democrat, osoph, campaigning to get tom prices seat, leaned to toss up, where ted cruz is at was likely republic, now leans republican. Thats a big deal. Worrisome for the republicans in terms of the momentum, energy, and money seem to be. We dont know the outcome of these races at this point, but in politics, power is the perception of power. And just to echo what harold was saying, if the democrats were to make gains unexpectedly in these areas, it undermines trump. It undermines the administration and his pull numbers and it suggests that something is going on that he will be further diminished. Are republicans worried . He ran in a nontheological way, trump. If he doesnt get back or govern i was not for him, but he appealed to democrats in michigan and ohio and pennsylvania, but hes run a bannon play. The bannon play may be appealing to some people, but its not appealing to the majority of people who wanted to see him elected, trump, that is. A win for democrats in these areas would be a wakeup call to say you have to change or were going to change you. Is that going to be heard, seen . I dont know if well hear or see it. Is donald trump going to hear it if it happens . Yes, because i think harold made a good point earlier. I rarely have women agreeing with me. This is great. This is the type of thing that could get into Donald Trumps head. How is he losing republicans . He was elected president. I think that could really bother him. It could also have an effect on the messaging out there right now that republicans are, you know, losing ground. This is not the president and the leader that they hadhought they had hoped for. A win for Jared Kushner . Ultimately . I think its a win for those who are not aligned with that right wing of the republican party. And i dont think jared is aligned with it. Hes aligned with the president , which i still lets play devils advocate when were talking about georgia and ossof who is running for tom prices seat. 8 million. But most of that is coming from outside groups. Is that do they run the risk of raising a bunch of money, making a big splash, but having voters say im not going to vote for a democrat. This happens a lot in special elections. They get elevated beyond their Immediate Impact and sometimes they become national rooting contests for political junkies and for people who donate money because they dont have another game in town. So thats theres a possibility that locally that would be seen as intervention. Where do things stand with the republicans in gres at the moment . Were on recess. Everyone had been talking about health care, but that didnt make forward progress in the final days before recess. Is there a concern that more town halls are going to pop up in this recess and theyre going to hear more from angry constituents, angry it wasnt appealed or angry it might get repealed. I think theres confusion out. I dont think you have the urgent otestsou saw weeks ago when people really felt threatened and vulnerable. Theres confusion about whats happening next, whether there will be another attempt, and basically, where the administration is going. I dont go that that turns out people in the numbers it did previously, but i think there is that confusion. Plus, we see a shift going to Foreign Policy. And thats a big difference right now, whats leading in the headlines, and the fact you saw democrats and republicans really coming together on that this was a smart, wise reaction by donald trump. So what is a win for donald trump . We were talking about that earlier. What would a win be Going Forward. What should he focus on . Fwl not getting a story about his team being disorganized. Taxes and showing a valid and legitimate attempt to reach out to constituents beyond those who brought hem into office in a serious tax plan might suggest that the administration is moving and making progress getting serious. Two things will be talked about, talking to former colleagues. The special election is in kansas. There will be a lot of talk about that. And no doubt when theres a shift of Foreign Policy, members of Congress Take that opportunity to try to educate during town hall meetings. If you look at the polling data, it suggests perhaps a majority of americans are in support of the strike. Were all talking, i think, rightly and correctly, about whether or not theres a philosophy, a strategy, a longterm goal here, trying to be achieved, but Everyday Americans are watching this and support what their president did, which is what you would expect. Congress would be focused there. Theres nothing urgent happening domestically right now. If the white house would take this time to really look inside and figure out what they want to do during these two weeks and use this as kind of a reset when they come back, thats wt they should do. We will see. I dare not use the p word. Pivot. And happy passover. Good job, harold ford. Caroline, harold, susan, appreciate your time. After the break, new york state gives it the old college try. Stay tuned. Stay with me, mr. Parker. When a critical patient is far from the hospital, the hospital must come to the patient. Stay with me, mr. Parker. The at t network is helping First Responders connect with medical teams in near real time. Stay with me, mr. Parker. Saving time when it matters most. Stay with me, mrs. Parker. Thats the power of and. Sfx engine revving silence for years, centurylink has been promising fast internet to small businesses. But for many businesses, its out of reach. Why promise something you cant deliver . Comcast business is different. We deliver superfast internet with speeds of 250 megabits per second across our entire network, to more companies, in more locations, than centurylink. We do business where you do business. In case you missed it, new york will be the first state with Free Public College tuition for most students. Starting in september, the state will subsidize tuition for students of families who make less than 100,000. An estimated 80 of new york families with College Aged Children could qualify for the program. Governor andrew cuomo unveiled the program today. Its a life changer. Long overdue, first in the nation. You now watch the other states start to copy what we do because its smart. Its common sense. And were new york, and we lead the way. As with anything, there may be politics at play here. Cuomo is one of Many Democrats trying to establish their liberal bona feeties ahead of the president ial election. He first announced the College Program in january with progressive icon bernie sanders, who youll remember made free college a big part of his 2016 campaign. That will do it for us tonight. For the record with greta starts right now. Hey there, greta. We have breaking news. A governor booked at the county jail. You heard right. A governor. Alabama Governor Robert Bentley expected to resign any moment now. The Montgomery County Sheriffs Office just released a mugshot of the governor after he was booked on two misdemeanor charges. The governor faced imachment proceedings today. He was accused of abusing power and using state resources, state money, to cover up his alleged affair with an adviser. Those allegations include trying to block the release of steamy phone calls. Lieutenant governor cay ivy is expected to be sworn in later this hour. Turning to syria and the critical question, did the russians know about the chemical weapons attack on those innocent syrians . The Associated Press reporting late today that u. S. Officials believe russia k