Well, good evening once again. As we start a new week from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. Day 746 of the Trump Administration. The eve, of course, of the president s second state of the Union Address. And tonight, the feds have spoken once again. The branch of the u. S. Justice department that covers the Southern District of new york has tonight issued what is apparently a wideranging subpoena to the trump inaugural committee. This is a new legal front dating back to before trump was President Trump. This is more pressure on the trump legal team, of course, by the feds. Well have all of it covered as we go along the way here tonight. The trump white house, dont forget, was already dealing with the damage done by a huge leak, someone handed over to axios copies of the president s private schedule for virtually every day over the past three months. That covers nearly every working day since the Midterm Elections. They show that trump has spent around 60 of his scheduled time over the past three months in what is called, quote, unstructured executive time. For example, first schedule from november 7th, 2018, day after the Midterm Elections. This also happened to be the day that former attorney general Jeff Sessions was fired. Turns out trump spent several hours that day in the aforementioned executive time. His only event was a meeting with his chief of staff. Axios notes that the president usually spends the first five hours of the day in executive time, and that those hours are rarely spent in the oval office. We quote, instead, he spends his mornings in the residence watching tv, reading the papers, and responding to what he sees and reads by phoning aides, members of congress, friends, administration officials, and informal advisers. Report does say that not all of the president s activities show up on the schedules that were leaked in this case. And it says a lot of meetings are spur of the moment, while others appear on a more detailed schedule, guarded by a Smaller Group of west wing aides. Nonetheless, axios says this latest revelation has, set off internal fingerpointing and speculation more fevered than any since the New York Times anonymous opped. White House Press Secretary responded to the report with a statement of her own that says in part, and we quote, President Trump has a different leadership style than his predecessors and the results speak for themselves. While he spends much of his average day in scheduled meetings, events and calls, theres time to allow for a more creative environment thats helped make him the most productive president in modern history. Madeleine westerhauth, the president s lead assistant who sits right there outside the oval office, had a more forceful response. And she wrote, what a disgraceful breach of trust to leak schedules. What these dont show are the hundreds of calls and meetings donald trump takes every day. Among those meetings are briefings that trump gets from the nations intel ageagencies. Were learning a lot more about those as well. Not all of it good. According to Time Magazine, and we quote, intelligence Officials Say trump displays what one called willful ignorance when presented with analyses generated by americas 81 billion a year Intelligence Services. The officials describe futile attempts to keep his attention by using visual aids, confining briefing points to two or three sentences and repeating his name and title as frequently as possible. What is most troubling, say these officials, and others in government and on capitol hill who have been briefed on the episodes, are trumps angry reactions when he is given information that contradicts positions he has taken or beliefs he holds. John walcot, author of this piece in Time Magazine spoke to Lawrence Odonnell in the previous hour tonight and described a commander in chief increasingly less engaged with his Intelligence Community. For the most part, lawrence, the briefings have stopped. The president doesnt take them, unlike president obama, who took home threeinchthick notebooks at night. The president doesnt read them. Often doesnt take them. The National Security adviser, john bolton, takes some of them. Vice president pence has taken some of them. He simply ignores them. Troubling stuff. The gulf between trumps beliefs and his intelligence chiefs assessments became public, starkly, last week after a senate hearing. The president criticized his intelligence chiefs and accused the media of misrepresenting their televised remarks. Trump was asked about the intelligence assessments during that interview this weekend with cbs news. Your intel chiefs do say irans abiding by that nuclear deal. I know you think its a bad deal. I disagree with them. By the way you disagree with that assessment . I have intel people, that doesnt mean i have to agree. Trump prepares to speak so the nation about his agenda, priorities. The Washington Post reports trump is at a cross roads at his white house, as it tries to deal with multiple threats to its own existence. Phil rucker is joining us in just a moment, one of three journalists sharing a byline for this piece. They write, the challenges mount at a moment when trump is as unchecked and isolated as ever. Inside the white house, aides describe a chaotic freewheeling atmosphere reminiscent of the early weeks of trumps presidency. With that, lets bring in our leadoff panel, shall we, on a monday night . A. B. Stoddard back with us, veteran journalist, columnist, social editor at real clear politics. The aforementioned phil rucker returns as well. Pulitzer prize winning White House Bureau chief for the Washington Post. We also welcome back robert costa, National Political reporter, also with the Washington Post. Big night for that newspaper. Hes also moderator of Washington Week on pbs. Phil rucker, your reporting, no other way to put it, shows a disconnect between president and presidency. How has this happened or was it inevitable . Well, brian, i think it was inevitable and its not entirely new, to be honest. You know, this is how President Trump has decided to conduct his presidency and conduct his time in office. He has a very different routine during the day than his predecessors. He treats the Intelligence Services as you just got into very differently than his predecessors, and at this point, hes unrestrained. He has a new chief of staff, acting chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney, who does not have the same control over the president and over his decisionmaking process that john kelly did, the retired fourstar marine corps general who was ousted at the end of last year and the president is increasingly turning to his soninlaw, Jared Kushner, a Senior Adviser in the white house who in many respects is functioning as the chief of staff and making a lot of these decisions as it pertains to the Government Shutdown and the Border Security debate. I have to point on the intelligence issue regarding the president s intelligence briefings, i interviewed him a couple months ago in the oval office. One thing he said really stuck out to my colleague, josh dawsey and i. He said, look, i have a gut, my gut tells me a lot more than anybody elses brain can tell me. Thats how he views the advice hes getting from within the government and within the administration including from his own political appointees. He has incredible faith in his own beliefs and own core instincts. Robert costa, you are always talking to the hill so its in that spirit i ask, what has this leak revealed . If not surprise, is there any kind of embarrassment . Theres not surprise because most republican law make who are have a relationship with the president are often calling madeline westerhout, the president s assistant outside the oval office. They know its often best to go through the president directly through the oval office, not the acting chief of staff or other Senior Advisers unlike so many previous white houses. At the same time, republicans are alarmed in divided government, this is a president who still has a freewheeling style. It worked a little better, they tell me, when republicans had control of the government across congress. But now with democrats in the senate and all these different issues laying before the president that phil detailed so well, you have a president whos challengd and making a lot of calls and a party thats worried that maybe hes not getting the best advice because the white house is not coherent as it once was. A. B. , do i have your permission to call you an institutionalist . Is that okay still . Yes. Having said that, having established that, you were shaking your head when we were talking about the portion of our lead story, dealing with these intelligence briefings. Well, all nations seek to influence and find leverage over every administration. A year ago, we learned that four nations believed our Intelligence Community had concluded that they had ways to leverage and influence Jared Kushner. He was given a wide Foreign Policy portfolio. So much so that the first secretary of state really felt he was on competition with him. As phil points out, Mick Mulvaney has taken his hands off of the wheel so that Jared Kushner and ivanka trump and President Trump can do what they wanted to do before john kelly implemented a more structured environment. The concern here is that if only senators rand paul and Lindsey Graham who are opposite on the spectrum in terms of Foreign Policy, National Security, were just giving their best advice to the president all morning in unstructured time, that would be fine. The fear is by shunning intelligence and his own advisers and the facts, he is seeking input from tv anchors and old buddies in real estate, and, therefore, could end up on his unsecured phone line, be influenced by people who have agendas through foreign actors because theres no longer a check either from general kelly or a regular briefing by the intelligence officials and experts who he actually is engaged with. Hes just turned it off. Well, i got no problem with the tv anchor part of that. Lets look at it the opposite way. Servants and more who have devoted their lives, nonpartisan, they stay in theyre jobs from administration to, studying iran to name one. Thats brainpower. Thats advice. Thats part of what comes with the job. But he has openly, just like he said in that interview, and he told phil openly, he doesnt believe them. He doesnt need to believe them. He goes on his gut. Kellyanne conway said its not that he doesnt that he distrusts them. He doesnt believe them. He has a fixed notion about whats going on with iran right now, whats going on with iraq, afghanistan, and syria, north korea. We know that mike pompeo, that kim jongun in a love letter says he doesnt want to deal with secretary of state, he wants to deal directly with the president. Why . Because he kim jongun knows that hes not taking his intelligence briefings. And engaging with the intelligence presented to him. He is acting on his guts. Hes pretty open about it. Phil rucker, our friends over at Monmouth University are out with another poll. All the caveats apply. Its two years out. Yeah. A week is a year in politics, but here you have it. Should he be reelected in 2020, yes, 38 , no, 57 . Thats way underwater for where a president would like to be right about now. And im guessing theres a pretty solid base of recognition for this in the west wing. Yeah, brian, this is not news to those who are helping guide the president s reelection campaign. They know that they have to do things to get those poll numbers back on in a more comfortable space and, you know, the instinct from President Trump and from some of his closest political advisers has been to focus on the base. To energize, mobilize, galvanize, those core supporters, but theres a growing recognition that in order to win back, again, a second time those industrial midwestern states that he carried in 2016, wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, to be sure that he wins florida again, for example, to try to be competitive if some of these other swing states like north carolina, hes going to have to expand beyond the base and what weve not seen yet from the president in these last few months since the Midterm Election defeat, is an expansion of his appeal. An attempt to reach out to people who are not onboard the trump train today, and get them onboard for november of 2020. Well see if in the state of the union he tries to do that. Hes talked about delivering a unifying message tomorrow night, but the focus on the border wall and immigration and the Government Shutdown is really geared at the base and trumps going to need to go beyond the base to win reelection. Robert, right there, well take phils point and that is this message about unity. If worst case tomorrow night is that we get a broilerplate photograph about unity, and starting in the limousine over to the white house, he is tweeting about the idiot democrats, if thats worse case, what is best case for this president at this time in history walking into that chamber tomorrow night . Theres going to be the image tomorrow night of the president , hell be cheered by republicans. Put aside the obvious divide with democrats, there are real tensions on the republican side. Outside of the senate today, republicans are telling the Washington Post theyre very worried about the president possibly declaring a National Emergency at the border and going against what they see as norms of conservatism that they would not like to see messed with and they have a president who still has the partys base in his grip, but the pageantry and the pomp and circumstance of tuesday night will not tell you about all the tensions that are really there in the gop as well as elsewhere. A. B. , with 30 seconds remaining, not to scare anybody or foment anything, you and i were talking about the energy in the air right now that will be in the air in that chamber tomorrow night, especially since theres a whole slew of new democrats in there for the first time. Right. I think the fighting spirit of the freshman democrats will have to be kept in check, and they should give him they should take the high road and give him a nice welcome, let him say his piece. What if he does Say Something unifying . Then they can have the response which is going to be given by Stacey Abrams and can chat it up the following day. I think they should act like theyre the majority and leading the house of representatives tomorrow night. Always the optimist. A. B. Stoddard, philip rucker, robert costa, our thanks to the three of you for starting off a new week here. We really appreciate it. And coming up, as weve been reporting, Donald Trumps legal troubles just got worse on another front, especially here in new york tonight. Tonight, what the feds here would like to know. And later, the audience in front of this president , again, is going to look very different tomorrow night, not to mention how the view will be different right behind him over his shoulder as well. A preview of his second state of the union ahead as were just getting under way on the 11th hour on a wednesday night. This isnt just any moving day. This is moving day with the best inhome wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. And this is moving day with Reliable Service appointments in a twohour window so youre up and running in no time. Show me decorating shows. This is staying connected with xfinity to make moving. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and twohour appointment windows. Click, call or visit a store today. Were back. Some would argue it was Wishful Thinking that led me to call wednesday night right before the break. Ill cop to that, it is monday night. Forgive the error. Back to the other lead story were covering tonight, however. This was brief but urgent. Earlier this evening when the Associated Press reported the following. Federal prosecutors in new york issue subpoena seeking documents from Donald Trumps inaugural committee. The New York Times reporting it out this way, a lawyer working with the inaugural Committee Received a subpoena on monday evening seeking documents related to all of the committees doors and event attendees and that prosecutors also showed interest in whether any foreigners illegally donated to the committee as well as whether Committee Staff knew that such donations were illegal. And theres more as the man on tv says. The Washington Post adds these critical details and we quote, the document indicates that prosecutors are investigating crimes related to conspiracy to defraud the United States, mail fraud, false statements, wire fraud, and money laundering. This is a big escalation of the investigation. Its already been wildly reported that the inaugural event guest list included a number of politically connected the wall street journal first voted back in december the Southern District of new york is, examining whether some of the committees top donors gave money in exchange for access to the Incoming Trump administration, policy concessions or to influence official administration positions. The investigation was launched after that april 2017 fbi raid on trumps lawyers home and office. We know that Michael Cohen has been cooperating with prosecutors. A trump president ial inaugural Committee Spokesperson had this response tonight. Weve just received a subpoena for documents. While we are still reviewing the subpoena, it is our intention to the assistant attorney general during the obama years, he also worked for the Senate Judiciary committee. And our friend, robert costa, of the Washington Post has agreed to stay with us. Elliot, i have to start with legal 101 for all of its laypeople getting the story. Run through it again. These are the feds. Is there any relationship with the Mueller Investigation writ large, and why is this coming out of the Southern District of new york . Now, remember, this all stems from that search of Michael Cohens house. Now, the investigation started with the special prosecutor. Thats robert mueller. But then ultimately, the Southern District of new york, the prosecutor in manhattan that you mentioned, had a case, and its not entirely clear how they got it, either it was passed on to them by the special prosecutor or it was just an investigation that they were doing independently. Either way, they were investigating Michael Cohen. The prosecutors in new york, in a search of his house, found the tapes that led to these questions about the inaugural committee. What this all shows is the tremendous peril that Michael Cohen poses to the president of the United States because what youve got is an individual with 30 years of background with the president , and the tapes and the Bank Receipts and the texts and the emails. Even as much as the president tries to place distance between himself and Michael Cohen, youre going to keep seeing things like this happening and with cohen going to testify before Congress Later this week, or next week, like freud would say, sometimes a Campaign Finance allegation isnt just a Campaign Finance allegation and theres going to be more and may not be things you can charge the president with criminally, but when your fixer is turning over tapes of conversations he had, youre just going to find out more. I want to play this from a lets call him a former u. S. Attorney from new jersey who was a guest on chris hayes tonight who seems to concur with your view. Ive always thought that that was the bigger problem for two reasons. One, because the Southern District of new york has no restrictions on their purview. A guest on chris hayes tonight who seems to concur with your view. Ive always thought that that was the bigger problem for two reasons. One, because the Southern District of new york has no restrictions on their purview. All right, bob mueller has a task. Its russian interference and potential collusion in the 2016 election. Southern district of new york is whatever the heck you want. If you got Michael Cohen, the president s former lawyer, as a tour guide, that means you can go anywhere. So, robert costa, thanks to elliot and now chris christie, weve established that this is an area of high peril for this president. I need you to take us back to that time. How did the crowd around donald trump view the inauguration . Its an important thing to step back and look at history. Michael cohen was not only a could be a tour when the president elect decided to get rid of governor christie as the person running the transition, it led to a whole new group of people who had a lot of access to planning this inaugural committee and the inauguration. I remember many interviews with steve bannon, the former chief strategist to the president , cringing almost as he recalled how big the inaugural committee got over the few months before that january inauguration and how it really should have just been much more simple and there are a lot of points of entry. With many points of entry for this inaugural committee, there are also potential problems. And Michael Cohen is someone who was a confidant as the president who was seen as someone you went to if you wanted to get access to the president elect. Now that hes cooperating, there are certainly people inside of the president s circle who are a tad concerned. And robert, back to you on the subject of rigor and tradition, did they work with anyone who had done this with for bush or the previous bush or reagan or was this one of those we can do this, lets not consult on how it was done before . There were people with experience involved, brian. You had Reince Priebus coming in as chief of staff who was running the Republican National committee. Veteran hands of past administrations were involved. The problem was, as a reporter, i saw it up close, was that President Trump was such an outsider, his inner circle was so isolated from the mainstream of the Republican Party and the usual apparatus that was involved in planning that. Even though some organizations became involved because it was the presidency, they may not even know trump, they wanted to get involved. It was still President Trump and his inner circle, his friends, his business associates, who were making decisions and that has led to a lot of things happening that could be under legal scrutiny. Back to elliot, counselor, so youre sitting there, i dont think theres any structure left of string called the trump inaugural committee, though, they have someone serving as a spokesperson. Is this subpoena, this lands with a thud, is this looking for whats the expression, all papers, affects, and records, and do most people, you think, respect that and know the penalties for lying to the feds . I think they do. If you notice, this is the first time anyone connected to the Trump Administration has gotten a subpoena and not immediately gone and done a press conference saying this is a fraud, this is a hoax, this is a witch hunt and im not going to comply with it. It seems right they do have an interest in complying. What is interesting, this is the second time weve heard of a Major Investigation into the trump inaugural committee. As you said at the beginning, brian, in december, there was reporting that the special counsel had been investigating these, you know, saudi and emirati businessmen paying to play and weasel their way into the Trump Administration. And now what were seeing is an investigation that seems more domestically focused, even though they can also look into the foreigners as well, and so both the prosecutors in manhattan, which as you know, is the most powerful and probably most prestigious Prosecutors Office in the United States of really good folks that i worked with and i know well. Both they and the special counsels office seem to be approaching this Campaign Finance and also public corruption question from two different angles. Elliot, in 15 seconds or less, is it only jealousy or professional respect that leads others in the law to refer to them behind their backs as the sovereign district of new york . I think its fear, just fear, like, that they dont come after me, i think thats it. Our thanks to both of you gentlemen. I am certain well invite you back, probably on this same topic, if not before. Robert costa, the Washington Post, for sticking around. For elliot, for having the superb taste and a perfect last name. Counselor, thank you very much for coming back on our broadcast. And coming up, a big reason why its anyones guess what we might expect come tomorrow night , when we come back. Audible members know listening has the power to change us make us better parents, better leaders, better people. And theres no better place to listen than audible. With audible you get a credit good for any audiobook and exclusive fitness and wellness programs. And now, youll also get two Audible Originals titles exclusively produced for audible. Automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you dont use them, and if you dont like a book just swap it for free. Enjoy 100 ad free listening in the car, on your phone or any connected device. And when you switch a device pick up right where you left off. With our commitment free guarantee, theres never been a better time to start listening to audible. The most inspiring minds, the most compelling stories, the best place to listen. To start your free 30day trial, text listen27 to 500500 today. As weve been saying here, tomorrow night, President Trump will deliver his second state of the Union Address on capitol hill, as weve mentioned. Following the recent shutdown and while the fight over his border wall continues, the president and the people around him say, they insist, hes going to talk about unity. Last week, President Trump officially accepted House Speaker pelosis invitation to address congress writing her, we have a great story to tell, and yet, great goals to achieve and listen to what the president has said just in the past few days when asked to preview what we might expect come tomorrow night. President trump, your speech i think its unification. I think its industry. Weve had incredible republican support. The problem is the democrats, you know, when they say we dont want to build, as an example, we dont want to build the wall because it doesnt work, or because its immoral, well, its also immoral the people that come into our country that shouldnt be here and kill people. Thats immoral, too. Thats a lot more immoral. So, but i really think its going to be a speech thats going to cover a lot of territory, but part of its going to be unity. Are you saying now you expect to declare a national i dont want to say, but youll hear the state of the union and then youll see what happens right after the state of the union. Okay . Are you saying that you will that we should be prepared for you to announce at the state of the union what you are going to well, im saying listen closely to the state of the union. I think youll find it very exciting. Can you tell us some of the themes that are important to you in the state of the union speech . Most of the themes you would know. Economic development and success. No country had the success weve had over the past two years. Well be here in this studio listening carefully. We hope youll be with us as well. Coming up, new reporting on a topic that is certain to come up in the president s speech tomorrow. N the president s speeh tomorrow im alex trebek here to tell you about the Colonial Penn program. If youre age 50 to 85 and looking to buy Life Insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. What are the three ps . The three ps of Life Insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. A price you can afford, a price that cant increase, and a price that fits your budget. Im 65 and take medications. Whats my price . You can get coverage for 9. 95 a month. I just turned 80. Whats my price . 9. 95 a month for you, too. If youre age 50 to 85, call now about the number one most popular whole Life Insurance plan available through the Colonial Penn program. It has an affordable rate starting at 9. 95 a month. No medical exam, no health questions. Your acceptance is guaranteed, and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason. And with this plan, you can pick your payment date, so you can time your premium due date to work with your budget. So call now for free information. And youll also get this free beneficiary planner, and its yours just for calling. So call now. There is an update tonight on the thousands of Migrant Children separated from their parents at the southern border. Under the Trump Administrations much talked about zero tolerance policy that started in the spring of last year, over 2,500 children have been pulled apart from their families, but this weekend, the administration admitted in Court Documents that thousands more, thousands more, may have been separated before any official accounting was required by the court. And the office of Refugee Resettlement said in those documents that reuniting the remaining children may be out of, the realm of the possible. Because of a lack of resources. In other words, they cant afford to do it. During tomorrows state of the Union Address, you probably wont hear President Trump mention these children, but its probably quite likely hell talk about what he calls the crisis at our southern border. And he could declare, as you know, a National Emergency. However, several republicans are now urging him not to do that, and notably, they include republican senator john cornyn of texas, one of only four states that actually borders mexico. I think its a dangerous step. One, because of the precedent it sets. Two, the president s going to get sued and it wont succeed in accomplishing his goal. And third, because i think ms. Pelosi may well introduce her resolution of disapproval that will pass the house, and then come over here and divide republicans. So, to me, it strikes me as not a good strategy. Cornyns comments right there are really important as well because hes in management. Hes number two to Mitch Mcconnell in the Senate Republican majority. A majority that holds, for now, in the senate, while democrats have taken control of the house. And remember this, that means an important visual in the House Chamber tomorrow night. Watch that man on the right. No more paul ryan, weve chosen to give her a smile, nancy pelosi will sit alongside the Vice President and will be looking over Donald Trumps shoulder during the speech. Our friend, jeremy peters, is is back with us, political reporter for the New York Times and we welcome back andrew oh, my god, i knew it was going to happen. Ristucia. Andrew, you have always been so kind and patient with me. Im so sorry. Andrew is back with us, White House Reporter for politico. Jeremy, which donald trump shows up in the chamber tomorrow night . Maybe we should attack it that way. Since the night of his election, President Trump has been really unable to express any type of bipartisan sentiment, any type of ability to bring the nation together on that night he said im the president for all of america, not the president for just republicans. That, we saw, end pretty quickly because instantly, as soon as he started governing, as soon as he started actually selecting his cabinet during the transition process, we knew that was not the case. So there are republicans in the senior officials in the administration including Vice President pence who are urging the president to offer some type of olive branch, some type of grace note in the speech, to nancy pelosi. He doesnt want to do it. We saw in the interview that he did with peter baker and Maggie Haberman where he said shes bad for the country. Thats not a grace note. How do you go from bad to the country to madam speaker, will, you know, will you hold my hand and we can sing bipartisan notes of grace . I just dont see it happening. Andrew, with public polling showing 60 40 against the construction of any further border wall, you got to wonder who the real constituency is for this remaining in that chamber. What can he say on the topic of the wall, for that matter, what can he say about any of this . Yeah, i mean, i think jeremy is right here. I mean, hes going to be trying to, at least his aides want him to project a message of unity. They want this to be a conventional speech. The reality is washington is anything but unified right now. The wall is a great example. You know, its a device of policy. Certainly nancy pelosi made it clear she has no interest in giving him any money for that wall. What can he say thats really going to change anything . Its a great question. Frankly, what can he say that he hasnt already said . I mean, this is a president who communicates very regularly with the american people. The state of the union speech used to be a moment where the public could actually, you know, get a sense of what the president is thinking. Everyone knows what this president is thinking. Its just not a surprise at this point. And jeremy, when you lose cornyn, that was critical what he said and he said it publicly and on the record. For a while now, for the past year and a half of the two years of the trump presidency, we have been expecting, anticipating, predicting, these moments of rupture between trump and the Republican Party. They have yet to come because trump has existed in this world that is separate from consequence. Really kind of separate from reality when it comes to just the rules of political gravity. This is different. This feels very different because what happened last week with the vote on syria and afghanistan, where the Republican Senate voted to rebuke this president didnt get much coverage, actually. It didnt, but people should have paid attention to it because it was Mitch Mcconnells way of sending a signal to President Trump saying, we are not afraid of you. We will do this to you again and they will do it certainly if there is this declaration of National Emergency by the president. That will be tricky, though, because you already have people like Lindsey Graham who are saying, we need to get behind this president , so where does the party come out at the end of the day, if there is a vote to rebuke him on the wall in the National Emergency . I dont know, but its not going to be pretty. Andrew, to put this in private ryan terms, i think what cornyn was doing there was offering suppressing fire for his boss, Mitch Mcconnell, by delivering those three points as he did calmly and directly. Mcconnell now doesnt have to make the further argument that says publicly, dont you dare declare a National Emergency. Also, andrew, we have two complications. This National Emergency weve been mulling over, talking about for over a month, how emergency is that . How is it also an emergency if your intel chiefs on the hill last week dont list it in their priorities, dont mention it at all unless asked about it . Thats exactly right. I mean, republicans that weve been speaking to over the last few days are, really feel like the president has sort of painted himself into a corner on the wall, and they, frankly, dont see a clean way out of this at this point. I mean, this is the president has made this his signature issue. Its, frankly, unclear how hes going to get the money to build it. You know, and at the same time, i think, you know, youre looking youre looking at just an incredibly divided republican caucus, you know, you have the Lindsey Grahams of the world out there who are basically saying, you know, we need to do what the president wants and youre having, you know, rank and file serious members of the republic cab party including leadership questioning that approach. The next few days are going to be a bit of a mess to say the least. Both these gentlemen, jeremy and andrew agreed to day with us. After the break, is executive time the euphemism were being led to believe it is . When we come back. If you have medicare, listen up. Medicare alone only covers 80 of your cost, leaving you to pay the rest. Changes to medicare are no laughing matter. If you dont know the plans available now, you might end up with a doctor youre not so comfortable with, or even worse, being forced to pay thousands in medical expenses due to coverage limitations. Thatll be how much . Understanding all the options, lets face it, it can be downright confusing. Thats why i love healthmarkets, your insurance marketplace. They search thousands of plans from leading Insurance Companies to find a plan thats right for you. Plans that have Prescription Drug coverage, dental and vision care, and that offer extra benefits you may not even know were available. Some plans may eliminate your out of pocket cost like copays and deductibles, and theres even plans with no monthly premium. They can find you a plan to let you keep your doctors. I know thats important for me. You may also qualify for special subsidies that lower your Prescription Drug costs. Healthmarkets doesnt just work for one insurance company. They work to help you, and they do it all for free. Hi, im dr. Thomas stackhouse. Its a new medicare year and that means more changes and more confusion. Many people may worry about the high cost of medical care and Prescription Drugs. The key to maintaining your health and saving money on your healthcare cost is finding the right plan for you. Dont go it alone. Make sure to explore all of your options to find the right plan for your needs. Having helped enroll people in millions of policies with an a plus Customer Satisfaction rating, you can trust healthmarkets. You can enroll today. Call healthmarkets now for free help. Its easy to find the medicare plan that saves you money, so you can enjoy more of the things you love. Call now to take advantage of this free service. Now is the time to update your coverage or enroll for the first time. Call healthmarkets now. Call the number on your screen call this number now. Audible members know listening has the power to change us make us better parents, better leaders, better people. And theres no better place to listen than audible. With audible you get a credit good for any audiobook and exclusive fitness and wellness programs. And now, youll also get two Audible Originals titles exclusively produced for audible. Automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you dont use them, and if you dont like a book just swap it for free. Enjoy 100 ad free listening in the car, on your phone or any connected device. And when you switch a device pick up right where you left off. With our commitment free guarantee, theres never been a better time to start listening to audible. The most inspiring minds, the most compelling stories, the best place to listen. To start your free 30day trial, text listen5 to 500500 today. I went to the best schools, im, like, a very smart person. Is donald trump an intellectual . Trust me, im like a smart person. I love to read. Actually, im looking at a book, im reading a book. Im trying to get started. China has total respect for donald trump and for Donald Trumps very, very large brain. When my intelligence people tell me how wonderful iran is, if you dont mind, im going to just go by my own counsel. Just ask him and you will learn that pretty much no matter the room, President Trump is the smartest guy in it. It would be one justification for executive time, wouldnt it . Allowing the president to be alone with his thoughts. And with liz phone and his phone on fox news. Hey, andrew, the loyalty premium of donald trump certainly collides against the narrative of this dreadnaught of a leak that our friends at axios have come across. Thats exactly right. This president demands loyalty from everyone around him, but clearly he doesnt often get it. The fact of the leak itself says a lot about the people that the president is surrounding himself with. Its caused quite a bit of consternation in the white house over the last 24 hours. To put it bluntly, somebody gave that to axios with the intention of embarrassing the president , with the huge amount of time hes spending in executive time, sometimes up to five hours of time where hes reading the newspaper, watching cable news, calling friends and allies. And he does hold some meetings then, the white house insists. But it doesnt look good for this president. I was reminded today how much is passed down between president s. Lbj said, dick, you are going to want to use these recordings i set up. Jfk always talked about how refreshing it was to take an afternoon nap. Lbj started it. And both guys as president went up to the resident one to two hours in the afternoon, jammies, darkened room, showered, second shift started, and both worked well into the evening. That was president ial rigor at work. Im not sure they had as much unstructured, unscheduled sometime as this president. Those were the days when a twomartini bunch was acceptable. You would need that nap. But this is the nature of donald trump, as long as ive covered the guy and been around him in his office, hes constantly taking calls, making calls, bringing people in. There is the fact hes not somebody who ever sticks by a regimented schedule. Like the Family Office at trump tower not far from here. It was always a carousel of a cast of characters rotating in and out. Some of whom are now indicted. And you dont want to put things on the schedule, because you dont want people, like whoever it was that leaked the schedule, to find out and leak it to the press. I think what this leak says is more about what the culture at the white house is, and what the people who work for him think of him. And that is not much. Its the latest in a string of incidents, whether its books, an oped written, about the level of mistrust they have for him, another incident where people who work for the president say, we dont trust you. And you dont deserve to be president. So were going to undermine you as much as we can. Andrew, im going to ask you publicly, if you come across anything tomorrow night, feel free to come into our coverage, well have this studio filled with our anchors and contributors. Thank you so much for being a part of our coverage tonight because of what you cover every day. Andrew and jeremy, thank you, both of you, very much. Coming up, be ready for a night heavy in symbolism. And thats just the folks in the audience. Well help you be ready with a viewers guide, when we come back. We promised you a viewers guide. When we see you tomorrow, it will be for, in effect, postgame coverage of the state of the Union Address. The most striking visual for the home audience will be the new speaker, nancy pelosi. Another big change in the chamber, most of the lawmakers sitting there are democrats. Even though the senate is republicancontrolled, the House Chamber is vastly larger than the senate. And they get to host. Symbolism will be visible on television. Many of the women on the democratic side are expected to wear white for the suffrage and womens rights movement. While many of the men will wear white lapel ribbons. Each member of congress is entitled to bring one guest, and many have chosen to bring someone memorable and visible as a protest. Federal workers, and victims of violence. Another four are bringing Transgender Service members. And another one, an undocumented immigrant who worked at a trump property. And it works both ways, the white house gets to invite several guests. Many this year are on border or crime or an economyrelated reason. One kid, a sixthgrader from delaware who says hes bullied in school because of his name. Joshua trump will be in the president s box tomorrow night. Thats our broadcast for this monday night, as we start off a new week. See you for all that coverage tomorrow evening. Thank you for being with us. Good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. Good night from our nbc headquarters here in new york. President Trumps Inaugural Committee gets subpoenaed by federal prosecutors. Investigators want to see documents related to do for months and spending including any possible foreign donations. Chaos in virginia. Governor Ralph Northam is receiving calls to resign and Lieutenant GovernorJustin Fairfax is speaking out about what hes calling a totally fabricated of Sexual Assault against him. President trump will address the state of the Union Address as another Government Shutdown looms