Transcripts For MSNBCW The Last Word With Lawrence ODonnell 20190125

Bennett is known as being quiet i mean, softspoken. Hes a quietly confident person who does not need to yell to make his point. And to see him out there with no notes, to see him out there with no staff, to see him speaking from the heart like that in a way that absolutely blew up, all the more powerful because of his because of his personality. Because of his quietness. And thats what makes it the hollywood moment. It is the mr. Smith moment. Because he is, as you put it, mildmannered. When you were talking about it. And softspoken. It wasnt a person anybody expected this from. Let me give you one more technical detail about this that was fascinating for me and that is that when a senator rises to speak there is a microphone that is attached to their desk and they pull it right out. It looks leek a pen. It looks like a black pen like this and they pull it right out and they drop it they actually tend to just drop it right in the pocket of the suit coat. Right . Thats what ted cruzs microphone, thats where it is before Michael Bennett starts speaking. Michael bennett jumped up without even grabbing his microphone. And that did two things. Number one, he wasnt wired to the desk. It allowed him to move around as if this was Clarence Darrow in the courtroom. And it really added a level of drama that ive never seen a senator able to convey because of the physical movement. The other thing, thats why youre hearing his voice dip off at certain points. Because hes moving away from that microphone. Because the mike is sitting the mike is in a static position and hes moving around. Yeah. And then the other part of it is this. Most senators if they get up and forget to pick up the microphone, you dont really hear them at first. Which is to say Michael Bennetts really, really loud. And hes not anywhere near the microphone. So im telling you, it was ten times louder. Perfect. I cannot wait to see you do this. It was extraordinary. One other thing. We have faye smith tonight, rachel. She wasnt on this show last night, but people saw her because i showed video of her at Mitch Mcconnells office. Shes a federal krarktd whos been unable to pay her bills. And shes worried about being evicted. And she reached our audience last night like no one ive ever seen. I was getting phone calls and texts from people wanting to hp her, wanting to know whats happened to her. So faye smith is now going to join us as a guest tonight and shes got a lot to tell us about whats happened since she went to Mitch Mcconnells Office Yesterday. Thats amazing. Well done, my friend. Thank you, rachel. Thanks, lawrence. Thank you. Well, nancy pelosi said no to donald trump again today, and so tonight a defeated president finds himself alone in a hell of his own creation, a Government Shutdown which he thought was going to make him look strong but makes him look weaker every day, with his polling numbers getting worse all the time and with republicans defecting from the trump sinking ship every day every time theres a vote. Nancy pelosi beat donald trump once again today, and this time, this time nancy pelosi beat donald trump in the United States senate. The senate took up a spending bill which nancy pelosi had passed through the house of representatives which would reopen the government for a few weeks, and it won a majority vote including six republican votes. Those were Six Republican Senate votes for what nancy pelosi wants and against, six votes against what donald trump wants. Senators mitt romney, lamar alexander, Susan Collins, lisa murkowski, johnny isaacson, cory gardner, all republicans, all cast their votes in favor of their federal government worker constituents, the government workers in their states who are suffering, and they cast those votes against donald trump. The vote was 5244. And when President Trumps vote came to a vote it actually came to a vote first in the United States senate today. All those republicans who voted for the pelosi bill after the trump bill, they voted for the trump bill. But two republicans voted against the trump bill. And so the vote on the trump bill was 5047. Each bill needed 60 votes to pass. And now the the Republican Senate leader and the democratic leader Chuck Schumer are discussing what happens next, and no one knows what happens next. Least of all President Trump. President trump says he will support whatever. Whatever Chuck Schumer and Mitch Mcconnell agree on. But donald trump said that the last time that Chuck Schumer and Mitch Mcconnell agreed on a spending bill which they then passed through the United States Senate Unanimously in december. And after they did that and after donald trump promised that he was going to sign it, he changed his mind. After they passed the bill. Donald trump said he was now opposed to it. And so today reporters pressed the president on exactly what he would be willing to accept. Temporary spending without money for the wall . Just to reopen i wouldnt be happy with it. I wouldnt be happy. But we have a lot of alternatives. Wouldnt be happy with it . Wouldnt be happy with it . He didnt say he would veto it. Thats what hes supposed to say if hes going to veto it. With a normal president wouldnt be happy with it means he wouldnt sign it. But this is donald trump, so no one has any idea what he means. Here is one of the alternatives for reopening the government, whatever that means, that the president suggested today and that no one understood. One of the ideas suggested is they open it, they pay sort of a prorated down payment for the wall. Hmm . Well, heres Nancy Pelosis masterful response to whatever that was. That is not a reasonable agreement between the senators. Do you know what hes talking about, what size down payment hes asking for . I dont know if he knows what hes talking about. Do you . What about a prorated down payment . I dont know what that means. You cannot go wrong with the American Public saying you do not know what donald trump means. No one does most of the time. That donald trump has the worst cabinet in history and the Worst White House staff in history is beyond dispute. The most incompetent staff and cabinet in history. What is now sadly beyond dispute is that donald trump has the cruellest white house staff and the cruellest cabinet in history. This is a truly vicious form of cruelty. Its the kind of cruelty that is so oblivious to the way real people live that theres no limit to how much harm they can do to those people because of that obliviousness. I have shown you on this program the president s top economic adviser saying on video that he believed the Government Shutdown was like giving federal workers vacations. He said that with a smile, filled with the cruelty of the oblivious man. It was commerce secretary wilbur rosss turn today. Wilbur ross is a billionaire who is possibly the most corrupt and certainly the most incompetent commerce secretary in history. And he said he cant understand why government workers are going to homeless shelters to get food because they should just take care of themselves by getting loans. Wilbur ross doesnt know that when youre not wilbur ross you cant get bank loans standly. He doesnt know what it is to be denied credit. And the credit union in his own department, the Commerce Department credit union, is charging 9 on personal loans if, if you can qualify for one. If anyone working in the Commerce Department or anyone else in the federal government were to ask wilbur ross how much of a loan should i get for how long, he has no idea. Nancy pelosi said this about wilbur rosss suggestion that 800,000 federal government workers should do what hes always been able to do when his businesses hit a bump in the cash flow, just pick up a phone and get a loan. I mean, is this the let them eat cake kind of attitude or call your father for money . This is character building for you, its all going to end up very well, just as long as you dont get your paychecks. Joining our discussion now, Jason Johnson, politics editor at theroot. Com and msnbc contributor. And adam gentleson, the former deputy chief of staff to senator harry reid. Adam, i want to begin with you with what you saw in the senate today. We saw six republicans cross over to the democrats on a bill that did not include any funding for the wall. As this proceeds, that six could easily double and then it could easily triple. This was an important vote because while the top line was that both bills failed, beneath the surface there was some significant movement, and six republicans defecting to the democratic side, obviously it didnt get you to a point where the bill can pass, but thats the kind of movement that starts to trigger big momentum shifts among senators. And senators look at that vote and they see the democratic side gaining momentum. So Chuck Schumer emerged much stronger from this vote today than he was before it and mcconnells position has been significantly weakened. Mcconnell may want to be getting weaker because he may be wanting to show trump that he cant hold the line much longer. But the bottom line was that today was a good vote for democrats and Chuck Schumer emerged from that bill much stronger than he was before he went into it. Yeah. And jason, thats one of those things that everyone working in the senate knows and i think a lot of the press knows but people out there tend not to, that you can lose a vote in the senate like Mitch Mcconnell, you can come up on the short end of a vote and be glad that you did because youre actually trying to teach a lesson to the unreasonable people on your side, which in Mitch Mcconnells case includes donald trump. And so what you didnt see today was anybody attacking those six republican senators for going across the aisle. Theres no indication that theyre paying any price, even with donald trump. Yeah, lawrence. What were getting to here is were past the Performance Art part of these wall negotiations and now were going to get . Actual work done. Nobody wants to be the 60th vote, but everybodys happy to be 57, 58, or 59th. And thats what were about to head to. These first six senators and you look at them. Youve got, you know, Susan Collins from maine who knows shes going to be challenged. Lisa murkowski, who knows she might be challenged. Isakson from georgia where hes got the super bowl coming in a week and he doesnt want that mess. He doesnt want a potential walkout at Atlanta Hartsfield jackson. You have a lot of different senators, sometimes from red states, sometimes from blue states, who are saying hey, look, we need to get this done. Theyre providing the cover. And really what im sure Mitch Mcconnell has explained to the president right now is like look, i can only hold this line but for so long. I can only put the gandolf stand down and say you shall not pass. At some point im going to be overcome by these senators. If you dont want to get embarrassed, youre going to have to come up with some kind of deal we can both work through. I think that will happen by this weekend, and i suspect probably by the first week of february this might be over. I want to read what Chuck Schumers Office Issued tonight, minority leaders Office Issued this statement. This is about that weird prorated thing, whatever thats supposed to mean. But the president said just to lay down the markers on it, the statement is senator schumer and Senate Democrats have made clear to leader mcconnell and republicans that they will not support funding for the wall, prorated or otherwise. And so adam jentleson, Chuck Schumer is echoing Nancy Pelosis no. It is a unified no. It is a flawlessly repeated no on the wall. And theres nothing else they say about the wall. Donald trump has been moving and changing what hes been saying about the wall every single day, both how much money he wants or whether it is a wall or how much wall there will be, how seethrough the steel spikes will be or whatever it is, but from nancy pelosi, Chuck Schumer, its simply the word no. Thats right. And its impossible to overstate how important it is that theyve been able to maintain that unity both within their own caucuses on each side of the capital and then together and having them issue statements, you know, basically echoing each other. Its just enormously important. And what theyve done is theyve sort of taken any sort of sense of dems in disarray that media love to focus on, any sort of drama on the democratic side out of the picture. There hasnt been any. Theres nothing for the press to cover. Which has allowed all the focus to be squarely on trump, squarely on his changing position, his weak position, and its been buttressed by polls showing the public overwhelmingly blames trump and supports the democratic position. So that the unity has been enormously important and huge credit goes to both Speaker Pelosi and leader schumer for being able to hold that line. And now theres a group of bipartisan senators who are reportedly working on another version of the pelosi bill which is a funding the government for three weeks with no wall. And that includes people like lindsey graham, whos a little bit surprising to see on that list on the republican side. I want to go back to what seemed like the conclusion of a drama yesterday, but the real final moment was today when the president issued his own verbal surrender on this. And that is the whole state of the union where nancy pelosi finally had to put it in writing to the president yesterday, saying absolutely not, youre not coming here, were not going to do the concurrent resolution that luz to come here to do your state of the union. Forget, it its over. That seemed to get through to him. Because listen to what the president said today and how full his surrender to nancy pelosi is on this after pretending to his followers that he was simply going to bully his way right into the building, grab a microphone that night and give the speech anyway. Lets listen to what President Trump had to say about it today. Well, its really no choice. I mean, i would have done it in a different location, but i think that would be very disrespectful to the state of the union, to pick some other place. I could have done it. I could have gone to a big auditorium and gotten 25,000 people in one day, and youve been there many times. But i think that would be very disrespectful to the state of the union. So what she said i thought was actually reasonable. Well have the state of the union when the shutdown is over. Jason. What she said i thought was actually reasonable. The word surrender doesnt appear anywhere there, but thats what i heard. Yeah, yeah. Speaker pelosi is from baltimore and she laid this down and Donald Trump Backed up. He was the fact that he had the sergeant of arms there and she told the sergeant of arms no. The president of the United States is facing something that really in two years he has not faced from congress because he hasnt had a Democratic Congress before. Trump has lost in the courts. Trump has lost in the polls. Trump has lost in elections hes endorsed. Hes never lost a legislative battle before. Hes never lost a symbolic legislative battle. And thats whats happened here. Hes not going to get his wall. Hes not going to give the state of the union when he wants to give the state of the union. And at the end of the day i dont think hes going to get much money even for Homeland Security or any sort of Border Security he wants. Jason johnson, adam jentleson, thank you very much for starting us off tonight. Really appreciate it. And when we come back, faye smith will join us. You saw her on this program last night on video at Mitch Mcconnells office crying as she tried to explain what the Government Shutdown means to her and how she might be evicted from her home. And the breaking point in the United States senate today was a thing of beauty to behold. One of the most extraordinary speeches i have ever seen in the senate. It was a moment of heartfelt eloquence and outrage. But first tonight, air Traffic Controllers and airline pilots, Flight Attendants say they cannot calculate the risk of flying during the Government Shutdown. If youre flying this weekend, on super bowl weekend, you have to listen to this. Even though youre not going to want to listen to this. Thats coming up. And saying, really . So capital one is building something completely new. Capital one cafes. Inviting places with people here to help you, not sell you. And savings and checking accounts with no fees or minimums. Because thats how it should be. You can open one from right here or anywhere in 5 minutes. Seriously, 5 minutes. This is banking reimagined. Whats in your wallet . It would do more than haul. If i built a van, it would carry my entire business. Id make it available in dozens, make that thousands of configurations. It would keep an eye on my fleet. [ beeping ] and an eye out for danger. With active brake assist. If i built a van, id make it available in diesel and gas. And id build it right here, in south carolina. Introducing the all new sprinter starting at 33,790. Built in the usa. Mercedesbenz. Vans. Born to run. Not long ago, ronda started here. And then, more jobs began to appear. These techs in a lab. This builder in a hardhat. The welders and electricians who do all of that. The diner staffed up cause they all needed lunch. Teachers. Doctors. Jobs grew a bunch. What started with one job spread all around. Because each job in energy creates many more in this town. Energy lives here. Captain Sully Sullenberger tweeted this about the Government Shutdown. Like the air Traffic Controllers and pilots unions im very concerned about threats to safety caused by the shutdown. Our air Traffic Controllers deserve to be paid. The traveling public and the American People deserve better. This shutdown must end. And theres this from sarah nelson of the Flight Attendants association. Not only are we aviations First Responders, we are the last line of defense. And we are going to work today understanding that the layers of security that need to be there, the layers of security that were put in place after 9 11 when the tsa was created are not there. This is about our safety and security and our jobs and our entire countrys economic stability. No one will get out of this unscathed if we do not stop this shutdown. The Government Shutdown, the tsa announced that unpaid tsa officers who refused to work hit a record high last weekend, and now air Traffic Controllers, pilots and Flight Attendants are warning travelers they cannot guarantee their safety saying we cannot even calculate the level of risk currently at play, nor predict the point at which the entire system will break. And when that system breaks, people die. The Washington Post reports that unpaid air Traffic Controllers are waiting tables and driving for uber in the time left over from their tenhour shifts, tracking the position and speed of aircraft to prevent collisions. Joining our discussion now is trish gilbert, executive Vice President of the national air Traffic Controllers association. She was on air Traffic Control for 21 years. And sara nelson, the president of the association of Flight Attendants. She has been a Flight Attendant for 23 years. Trish gilbert, i flew a couple of weekends ago p and immediately tweeted my thanks to the air Traffic Controllers when we miraculously took off on time and landed early. And there wasnt much attention then to what was going on in air traffic. I was very concerned about it. Where are we now and what is it like trying to for air Traffic Controllers trying to do their full work shifts, concentrate on that air traffic while theyre worrying about how they pay the rent . So you know, were 34 days in, much too long already. Its unreasonable and its reckless. Air Traffic Controllers main job is to prevent planes from hitting each other. Yes. That is giving them turns, giving them climbs and descents to miss other planes. They need to be focused on doing that job 100 of the time. They shouldnt be driving for uber before their shift. They shouldnt be waiting tables. They should be getting rested. Fatigue matters. The stress matters. Theyre not sleeping at night now because theyre worried about not just the paycheck theyve missed and the next one theyre going to miss tomorrow but how long is this going to go on. Are they going to have to sell their house . Are they going to have to sell cars . Are they going to have to keep their children out of college . What are they they dont have any idea when theyre going to get their life back. Their life is on hold and theyre making daytoday decisions for something that they did not ask to be a part of. Theyre political pawns in a reckless game of chicken. And they need to be pulled out of that game. They need to be able to do their job and do it with 100 of the people that are furloughed that need to be there to support them, Quality Assurance specialists, training specialists, air space and procedures people. Those are key people to get us ready for the super bowl and extra traffic were going to have flying in and out of atlanta. Were already looking at delaying the planning for the daytona 500 and the nascar circuit. The flyins. All that stuff is signature by the wayside on top of the lack of maintenance on equipment because we are on a fix policy at faa. Thats unacceptable and its reckless. It needs to end soon. Sara nelson, whats the awareness of your passengers these days . A couple of weeks ago i didnt detect anybody was concerned about this but i suspect by now its finally registered with the passengers that there is a new strange kind of risk involved in air travel. People are asking and the crews are asking, were actually getting requests to our union. Were getting tons of mail to our union asking is it safe to fly . Just listen to sara, when you say that, youre saying flying professionals, Flight Attendants, are saying is it safe to fly . Yes, they are. They are asking that question. Listen to what trish just said. Okay . The job of an air Traffic Controller, highly stressful job, highly trained job. They have to get it right 100 of the time. Flight attendants are aviations First Responders, but were also aviations last line of defense. And we know when we come to work that were coming to work in a system that has a whole set of layers of security. And safety. And when you pull away those layers, youre making it youre entering risk into the situation. And Flight Attendants are very aware of that. We count on all these other people to do a ton of work behind us so that we can take off and get people from point a to point b safely. And were very concerned because the people who come to work and keep us safe, and we really have to recognize what these air Traffic Controllers are doing. They are coming to work now, were going on 35 days on the shutdown. Its unprecedented. Its more than twice the time any shutdown in history has occurred. And theres a reason for that. Because theres incredible risk for our country when were doing this. And they are coming to work under the stressful situation because they know very well if they dont come the airplanes stay on the ground. And maybe we will avoid casualty by doing that and loss of life, but we are going to have massive, catastrophic economic pressure on this country. There will be massive job loss. And no one will get away unscathed. So these people coming to work are doing it for all of us and theyre working very hard to keep us safe and theyre make sure that it stays safe, but in order to keep it safe theyre probably going to have to cut down the capacity thats out there. And in the meantime weve gots people who are totally stressed coming to work. And my members are very aware of that and theyre asking questions about it. And the traveling public is asking questions about it too. And trish, whats your quick answer to your friends and loved ones who ask you is it safe to fly now . Sara had it right on the head. Were going to adjust capacity. Because we do have a 30year low in fully Certified Air Traffic Controllers. So were already working the overtime. And we havent been hiring since the shutdown started. So were losing people coming in the front door and we have 20 and 45 in the new york area but 20 nationwide eligible to retire. And they are frustrated and looking at retiring before they were ready to. So that would leave us at a situation where we couldnt staff our towers and our radar rooms across the country, which means planes will stay on the ground if we cant put them safely in the air. Trish gilbert, sara nelson, thank you both for joining us tonight. Really important information. Thank you. And when we come back, the woman who went to Mitch Mcconnells Office Yesterday to try to tell him about her fears of the Government Shutdown and how she might be evicted. Faye smith will join us. Great news, Liberty Mutual customizes uh uh i deliver the news around here. Sources say Liberty Mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. Over to you, logo. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Carla is living with metastatic Breast Cancer, which is Breast Cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. Shes also taking prescription ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women with hormone receptorpositive her2 metastatic Breast Cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus letrozole. Patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. Before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. Carla calls it her new normal because a lot has changed, but a lot hasnt. Ask your doctor about ibrance. The 1 prescribed fdaapproved oral Combination Treatment for hr her2 mbc. Now to the movie moment. The most important thing that was said by a politician in washington today. And it came as some of the greatest dramatic moments in the senate sometimes do, from the least likely source. You could follow news in politics attentively and not know that democrat Michael Bennett, the senior senator from colorado, has been serving in the senate since 2009. He is one of many mildmannered senators who do not go out of where way to seek attention. Hes the kind of senator who you think might not even have a breaking point. But that breaking point came today on the 34th day of the Government Shutdown that has left 800,000 federal workers unpaid. His breaking point came when texas senator ted cruz expressed his concern for some of the First Responders who are not being paid. Senator ted cruz is the single most disliked senator in the body by democrats and republicans for many reasons, including the fact that ted cruz himself personally caused a Government Shutdown in 2013 at a time when 14 counties in colorado had suffered a state of emergency from flooding. And no republican senators or Democratic Senators supported that shutdown. That was a ted cruz shutdown. When ted cruz finished speaking, senator bennett was so agitated that he jumped up from his seat without grabbing the microphone if his desk but being unwired by that microphone on the senators desk allowed him to pace the floor. And when you listen to him now, know that usually when a senator doesnt pick up that microphone the microphone isnt really capable of picking up the senators voice. But Michael Bennett took us back to the days in the senate when no one ever needed a microphone. He reached into his soul and delivered a thing of beauty. Perfection. Something everyone who was lucky enough to be on the Senate Floor Today at that moment will remember for the rest of their lives. The outraged passion of the gentleman from colorado. These crocodile tears that the senator from texas is crying for First Responders are too hard for me to take. Theyre too hard for me to take. Because when you when the senator from texas shut this government down in 2013, my state was flooded. It was under water people were killed peoples houses were destroyed their Small Businesses were ruined forever and because of the senator from texas this government was shut down. For politics. That he surfed to a second place finish in the iowa caucuses. But were of no help to the First Responders, to the teachers, to the students whose schools were closed when the federal government, it was shut down because of the junior senator from texas. Now, its his business, not my business, why he supports a president who wants to erect a medieval barrier on the border of texas. Who wants to use Eminent Domain to build that wall. Who wants to declare an unconstitutional emergency to build that wall. Thats the business of the senator from texas. I can assure you that in colorado if a president said he was going to use Eminent Domain to erect a barrier across the state of colorado, across the Rocky Mountains of colorado, he was going to steal the property of our farmers and ranchers to build his medieval wall, there wouldnt be an elected leader from our state that would support that idea. Which comes to my final point. How ludicrous it is that this government is shut down over a promise the president of the United States couldnt keep and that america is not interested in having him keep. This idea that he was going to build a medieval wall across the southern border of texas, take it from the farmers and ranchers that were there, and have the mexicans pay for it isnt true thats why were here. Because hes now saying the taxpayers have to pay for it. Thats not what he said during his campaign. He wasnt finished. Watch now. Watch Michael Bennet as his feelings about ted cruz surge and he has to hold himself back from making this even more personal than it already is. Over and over and over and over again he said mexico would pay for the wall. Over and over again. That was at i was going to talk about what he said about the junior senators father but im going to let that alone. It was after that. Donald trump said about ted cruzs father that rafael cruz was involved in the assassination of president John Fitzgerald kennedy. Ted cruz was briefly outraged by that but has since then actually brought his wife and his children to the Trump White House and forced his children to shake the hand of the man who said their grandfather was involved in the assassination of president kennedy. Since i left the staff of the United States senate i have never once wished i was back on the senate floor. Until today. When Michael Bennet rose to speak. After this break, one of the people senator bennet was speaking for, faye smith, will join us. She went to Mitch Mcconnells office to tell him that she might be evicted because of this Government Shutdown. Faye smith will join us next. I used to book my hotel room on those travel sites but there was always a catch. Like somehow you wind up getting less. But now that i book at hilton. Com, and i get all these great perks. I got to select my room from the floor plan. Very nice. I know, im good at picking stuff. Free wifi. Laptop by the pool is a bold choice. And the price match guarantee. How do you know all of this . Are you like some magical hilton fairy . Its just here on the hilton app. Just available to the public, so. Book at hilton. Com and get the hilton price match guarantee. If you find a lower rate, we match it and give you 25 off that stay. If you find a lower rate, we mcome hok. , babe. You nasty nightime heartburn . Try alkaseltzer pm gummies. The only fast, powerful heartburn relief, plus melatonin so you can fall asleep quickly. Oh, what a relief it is from the first loving touch pampers diapers are the 1 choice of hospitals, and have been for over 40 years pampers swaddlers the 1 choice of hospitals, nurses parents burning of diabetic nerve pain these feet raised a bouncing boy and climbed the ladder in the hardware business. But i couldnt bear my diabetic nerve pain any longer. So i talked to my doctor and he prescribed lyrica. Lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions, suicidal thoughts or actions. Tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worse depression, unusual changes in mood or behavior, swelling, trouble breathing, rash, hives, blisters, muscle pain with fever, tired feeling, or blurry vision. Common side effects dizziness, sleepiness, weight gain, swelling of hands, legs, and feet. Dont drink alcohol while taking lyrica. Dont drive or use machinery until you know how lyrica affects you. Those whove had a drug or alcohol problem may be more likely to misuse lyrica. Now i have less diabetic nerve pain. Ask your doctor about lyrica. Now i have less diabetic nerve pain. And if you feel, like i feel baby then come on, oh come on lets get it on applebees. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. Nothing can prepare you to hear those words. Stage 2 Breast Cancer. I have three little kids. I cant have cancer. So we decided to travel to Cancer Treatment centers of america. Dr. Fernandez was wonderful. He said it was up to me to do whats best. Its about giving her options, where amy has all the information to make a decision thats best for her. We left on day one feeling like were gonna beat this and this is the place thats gonna help us do it. That feeling is priceless. Learn more at cancercenter. Com. Appointments available now. The most important voice on this program last night was not mine and it was not one of our guests. It was a woman you saw only on video at Mitch Mcconnells office hoping to explain to the majority leader what was at stake for her in the shutdown. Here is what she said. Im here today to see Mitch Mcconnell though him im on a Second Chance program. I counted on my rent paid on time. I have no more money coming in. Im a guard at Smithsonian Institute and i need my rent paid and i have nothing and i need to know when is he going to open things back up . Because i am about to be evicted. If i dont have my rent in by the 1st of next month through the Second Chance program i will be evicted. And joining us now is faye smith. Faye smith, thank you very much for joining us. I know a lot has been happening and a lots happened for you since that was on Television Last night. I can tell you that i was getting phone calls during the show, texts during the show from friends of mine who wanted to help you when they saw your situation. What has developed for you since last night . Thank you for having me this evening. You go through stages with this Government Shutdown and this furlough thing. And right now my stage is happiness. My happiness is because ive had so much outreach of love from everyone. Lord, everybody has donated to me, have been there for me, have helped me. And i love you all so much. I wish i could just hug everybody. I have my rent paid now. I have my rent paid for up to two months now. Thanks to all of you. And i also have a new special friend, mr. D. L. Hughley. He called me today and reached out to me with his wife. And they all have blessed me. So i would like to say thank you for him. Thank you. Well, as you know, i spoke to you this afternoon. I told you that d. L. Was calling me last night during the commercial breaks right here and texting me and he wanted to get in touch with you and i was very glad to be able to put you together. And he told me last night he wanted to help you in whatever way you needed. You also have a go fund me page. But youre just one, faye. Youre just one of the workers. Youre actually one of the contractors. So youre never going to get the back pay. Never. As a contractor. And theres more contractors like you than there are government workers, over a million. Talk to us about your friends and others who you know are in this situation who havent had that moment to get our attention and therefore this direct help that youve been able to get. Oh, we just i just pray for my sisters in the unions, pray for my coworkers, because so many of them have children with daycare. They cant get them to daycare. They have medicine. I have one particular friend, shes a diabetic and she cant get her medicine. Another one that has her mom and her children living with her. And everybody depends on that one check. It has devastated everybody that i know. I have a sister. She has daughters. Five people in one family furloughed. Come on. Five people in one family. Faye, what would you say to President Trump if you had a minute . President trump, no disrespect. Miss nancy is not going to give you that wall. Mr. Trump, you need to stop holding us hostage. Thats what youre dog. You need to go back to work. Youre worried about the wall. You better worry about whats going on right here. Im from southeast benin road. Little girl from southeast benin road. Crossing guard at one time called me mama faye. I know what the kids are like out here. They love their family. And we need to get back to work because you know what . Youre worried about the wall there. These children right here thats going on and they cant provide for their family, its going to be its going to be Something Else here. Im not saying but im saying that we hurt. Were angry. Were frustrated. We need work. All i know is work. Ive worked hard all my life. I have two daughters and two grandchildren that ive always wanted to help with them, not support them because my daughters support her family. But i help them. And i cant even help them. I have a granddaughter in second year in college. I have a grandson talking about graduating this year. I cant even help. Come on. I need you to look around us. Dont let whats going on in these other lands and your wall and all this. You need to look right here in washington. You show more love to putin. Young kim . Show us some love. Stop it. Let us go back to work. Miss nancy already told you. Shes not going to give you the money for the wall. I think miss nancy is awesome. I dont like being out of work. But guess what . I know shes going to help us. And i know what shes doing shes doing it for a reason. Because everybody cant be a yes man. Shes not a yes man. She is a ooh. I love her. I love her. Well leave it there, faye. Faye smith. Thank you very, very much for joining us tonight. And im so glad that d. L. Hughley and others have come yes. To help you. Really glad you could join us tonight. Im glad things are better for you tonight. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you, faye. And we are joined now by sam stein, politics editor of the daily beast. Hes also an msnbc political analyst. And Jason Johnson is back with us. Sam, first to you. Your reaction to faye smith. She was really the face of this suffering. I think she brought it through to people last night in a way that theyd never seen before. Well, yeah. I mean, theres thousands, tens of thousands of stories that are emerging just like this. And its not isolated as initially suspected in the washington, d. C. Beltway area. Its across the country. And what were seeing is that lawmakers are beginning to hear from their constituents. Those constituents are showing up at town halls. Theyre showing up at congress. Theyre showing up at food banks. Its becoming a major local news story. Its becoming a Major National news story. Its beginning to move the needle a little bit. The Washington Post today just came out a little while ago, noted that within the Republican Senate caucus there is angst. Its expressed privately. But its there. At how this is playing out. And theres a real desire for it to come to a conclusion. Were beginning to see breaks in the ranks partly because these people are beginning to speak up about the suffering theyre enduring. Jason johnson, whenever theres a standoff like this in the United States senate, the thing you want to know is which leader asked for the meeting . And we have a report tonight indicating that after the votes today it was Mitch Mcconnell who asked Chuck Schumer for the meeting. Which is a very good sign for Chuck Schumer. Right. If youre the guy asking for hen, then youre the guy whos probably going to be ready to negotiate. But i think the bigger issue here, we have to understand how cruel this is and how disturbing it is that its not the pain of people like miss smith thats finally moved this administration, its their embarrassment and their realization that they have faced real opposition. I had a student ive been tweeth about this today. Had i a student come into my office today. This is a 20yearold kid whos battling cancer. Okay . And has to deal with food stamps in order to get her tuition paid because so many things are backed up by the federal government. This has an impact on my students. This has an impact i know several people who are contractors. And these stories of pain and suffering, that didnt move Mitch Mcconnell. That didnt move ted cruz. What moved them was the realization that were just never going to get the votes. So im still disgusted that we have a senate that we have one part of our house we have one part of congress that didnt care about the American People. They only cared about the fact that they couldnt get their power move done in time and now theyre going to have to negotiate. We have reporting from the Washington Post now, breaking news actually at this hour, that the Republican Senate is really coming apart over this shutdown. They are reporting republican senators clashed with each other and confronted Vice President pence inside a private luncheon on thursday as anger hit a boiling point over the longest Government Shutdown in history. This is your fault, senator ron johnson told majority leader Mitch Mcconnell at one point according to two republicans who attended the lunch and witnessed the exchange. And sam stein, ive been at he those lunches on the democratic side. They rarely get heated. But when they do, its always because the room knows that they are on a sinking ship. Yeah. And for a variety of reasons. One, the first one is that they all took a vote before the end of the year to open the the gove to keep the government running and keep the spending at current levels. So theyre all on record saying theyre fine with the resolution democrats want but now theyre being asked to go against that very vote to support the president who said he would gladly own the shutdown to support a policy thats not really well liked by the american republican. All the while, poll numbers show theyre on the losing side of the battle and trumps own Public Opinion polls are plummeting as well. So theyre not done. Theyre not, they may not be politics but theyre not politically done. They look at this and recognize theyre in a very difficult situation. They want to get out of it. And weve seen president ial candidates announcing these days. This is the spot on the calendar where senators decide if theyre running two years from now and some who might have decided that they are. This week and especially after todays luncheon on the republican side, and Mitch Mcconnell himself could easily be sitting there saying why do i want to be elected back into this body two years from now, especially if were elected into a minority . Well, yes. This isnt so much fun if im not in charge and thats why some of these republicans will be looking at i. The weakness of this presidency and the weakness of the policy positions that he puts these republicans in will make it hard for them not just in 2020 but it increase the number of democrats who will be running against him. I was talking to my uber driver today, and we were having this conversation. Look, my wife is furloughed right now. This is turning people into voters. My kids are angry about this and deciding to register to vote. This wont be the ted cruz shutdown that people forget with in a year and a half. The financial consequences of this, assuming it doesnt mess up the economy if i fall, theyre going to have real concerns about this. Heaven forbid they try this again. It is not like trump wont lie to again if he doesnt get what he wants on some other issue. And we saw, for all we know, Mitch Mcconnell wanted them to split. Mitt romney, Susan Collins, others, theyve paid no price. There isnt any angry trump tweeting at them for the way they voted today. No. Remarkably, he didnt go after them. He tried to high flight other vote for his legislation even though it performed worse than the vote. That is telling in its own right. And yeah, this is a political problem for the Republican Party that theyre beginning to realize. Im not totally sold it will last until november. The possibility is that it really exists and we could end up in another Government Shutdown situation in a few weeks. Thats why the democratic demand has shifted. It is no longer that we wont fund the wall. It is now, we will no longer be taken hostage so i wouldnt be surprised if democratic lawmakers in the next couple days say you have to make an assurance that we wont just find ourselves on the same cliff two or three months from now. And representing the area where the super bowl will be played, and one of the busiest airports in the world, and he voted against the president today. We now have, were going to hear more of this. The dangers of air travel now. You have air Traffic Controllers, pilots, Flight Attendants saying it is no longer safe and we can no longer even calculate what the risk is. Thats something will reach republican senators beyond just him. And lawrence, that hits on two different levels. To the Atlanta Mayor yesterday. Youve got cities now trying to come up with ways trying to provide temporary loans to tsa agents to manage what will happen next week. Delta airlines is losing 2 million a week. So isaacson is not the only person getting hit by angry constituents, this coalition cannot hold the center cannot hold on this coalition and thats why i think Mitch Mcconnell is trying to cut a deal. He would rather cut a deal now and save face than lose to republicans who provide 60 votes for a democratic bill and a house bill. Thank you both for joining us. Really appreciate it. When we come back, a very special last word about an inspiring story about immigration in america. To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best to make you everybody else. Means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight and never stop. Does this sound dismal . It isnt. Its the most wonderful life on earth. boy got it. Its the most wonderful life on earth. dad its slippery. boy nooooooo. grandma nooooooo. dad nooooooo. dog yessssss. vo quick, the quicker picker upper bounty picks up messes quicker and is two times more absorbent than the leading ordinary brand. boy hey look, i got it. Bounty, the quicker picker upper. [sneezing] you dont want to cancel your plans. [sneezing] cancel your cold. The 1pill power of new advil multisymptom cold flu knocks out your worst symptoms. Cancel your cold, not your plans. New advil multisymptom cold flu. That strip mall sushi, well,t im a bit unpredictable. Lets redecorate. Whatsyamatter tanya, i thought you loved being spontaneous . I do. And if youve got the wrong Home Insurance coverage, i might break the bank too. So get allstate, and be better protected from mayhem, like me. Time for the last word. Anthony started as an intern at nbc news and he joined the team created this show eight years ago. It is a better show because Anthony Reyes was there at the creation. When he left the last word, he went to work in the Treasury Department at the Obama Administration and then in the California Senate for senator Kevin De Leon who was then the leader of the senate. He is one of the countless Inspiring Stories of immigration. He he was born in the Dominican Republic and came to this country as a child. His grand mother is another one of those inspiring immigration stories. She was born in the Dominican Republic 94 years ago. Tomorrow and saturday, anthony and his family will say their farewells to his grandmother at her wake and funeral in brooklyn. She leaves 22 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren, and this country is lucky to have them here with us helping this country live up to its ideal of greatness. Thats tonights last word. The 11th hour with Brian Williams starts now. After two failed senate votes, mcconnell and schumer try to make a deal and the president on the losing end says he has alternatives if they dont include wall funding. As we approach day 35 of the shutdown, federal workers who never dreamed they would need to rely on a food bank are about to miss a second pay period. Plus, a subpoena for michael cohn, the man who needed guilty to them and well learn about paul manafort, what he has been accused of withholding from the guilty thats tomorrow. All of it as the the 11th hour gets under way on a thursday night. Good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. Day 735 of the trump administration. At the conclusion of this hour, it will be day 35 of the longest ever Government Shutdown. Nearly 1 million federal workers will miss another paycheck. That means a full month with no income. And look at these pictures and remember what this is not. This is not federal aid from fema. This is not Disaster Relief after a hurricane or a tornado or a fire. This is a food bank, charity in