A ruby red state. People are not happy with us being small, angry and narrow. They are starting to say no. Roy moore vows to fight on. Ill be ready to go regardless of whether he concedes or not. Would you vote for or against this bill . I havent had a real chance to look at that and study it. Immigration. Ill have to look. Congratulations on your 25th anniversary. All right. Thank you so much. Welcome back to the second hour of kasie dc. Welcome, amisha, Washington White House reporter and msnbc political analyst ashley parker. White house correspondent jeff bennett and former fbi special agent and nbc news and Msnbc National Security analyst clint watts. Honored to have you all here. We showed a little bit about the tax reform at the top but theres this bubbling controversy over what people are calling the corker kickback. He wrote a letter to the chairman of the finance committee responding to this. There was a report in the International Times about it. He said he received a call from a reporter and there was a suggestion that it was airdropped into the conference without prior consideration and this, of course, the premise of this story is that the lastminute change will benefit bob corkers personal bottom line because he has ownership stakes in some major real estate companies. This seems to me like a lastminute push to show i mean, they do need bob corker to vote for this. They would essentially need bob corker to vote for this. The other thing going on is this is a tax break for people with large commercial Real Estate Holdings. Any other americans may be out there thinking there are Real Estate Holdings but the president obviously has this and corker, of course, was someone who was not a yes before and now he is. Hes been trying to clear himself as someone critical of the president to say we need an answer to this and need to explain what is going on here. And heres a prime example of how you might benefit. Right. He says here, because of the many sensitivities clarity on this issue is very important and i hope youll respond in an ex pid delicious manner. Remember when marco rubio flipped from no to yes, when bob corker did it there was this and what was this incentive to do it and now, of course, we may have found out what the incentive was. I guess we will see. Bob corker seems to be suggesting any suggestion that he had anything to do with the insertion of this absolutely no collusion, he insists. Clint, i want to start with you here. Partially to help explain what is the significance here of emails and they obtained them through some sort of criminal process or subpoena or Something Like that but what is it that they could have possibly learned and why would the Trump Transition Team be so stressed out about the possibility that he has them . Everything that weve been talking about in terms of the relationship with russia as regards to the trump team really happened during this transition period. If you look back going all the way through the Campaign Period to the post election period but before inauguration, this is when all of the communications would be happening. If you look back going all the way through the Campaign Period to the post election period but before inauguration, this is when all of the communications would be happening. What is interesting is it seems like the trump personnel that moved from the campaign into the white house somehow thought that their communications were privileged when they are not. President trump isnt the president until inauguration day. So youve got a misunderstanding on the part of the trump people which begs the question why are they nervous about this. But it was a natural process that the Mueller Investigation was going to go through. They are going to go through that transition period so this should have been expected and not at all surprised. What do you think drove the decision to put out a statement and muellers team very rarely says anything. And some far afield frommed it point of the investigation and theyve decided to Say Something in public. Do you know why . Thats probably the only time they will level the smears against the mueller team. They are trying to set a baseline of fact and fiction so they can get ahead of the narratives being shaped beyond their control. One of the dangers is if its the fbi or Mueller Investigation or cia, you cant really fight back with accusations being leveled at you but you can set the record straight. I think what they are probably trying to do is not let this get out of control like we saw last week where there was speculation on one side or one party is using it as a weapon against the other and say this is why we did this and what it relates to so you have some sort of bearing for the public to take in the news and for it to occur this week. They are trying to undermine the credibility of the it to set it up in a political way. I feel like republicans were saying to let mueller do his job, hes fine. And since the day Michael Flynn set the deal to cooperate with them. He said that the Transition Team thought that their emails were privileged. Thats certainly the case. I talked to the attorney who wrote that sevenpage complaint letter and they contend that they met with the then general counsel of the gsa back in june and that at that meeting, general counsel told them that if anyone asks for access to the emails, they would make the determination of kwha they wanted to do and thats why they say that the gsa properly so they got that advice . Yes. They control their stuff and the gsa, the custodian of the trust. But the way they found out that muellers team got access to the emails is that it showed up in the russia probe and that people were being questioned about things that they only could have known by having access to the emails. And this included things about jared kushner, which seems to be a central concern. Yes. Why is why i think this probe has gotten President Trump and supporters of him very nervous because he always said he wanted to be very narrow and only about financials and what youre seeing now is the investigation touching off on not only his kids but his soninlaw and sources that i talk to say that these things can just spin. Were talking about people with very complex financials and this could kind of go in any direction. Whats your sense of what kind of trouble kushner is in . Well, his lawyers has repeatedly said that hes in no jeopardy and fully cooperating. When i interviewed him a while ago, he said he has no plans of leaving washington. She recently asked if she should be looking for a new home, which speaks to their state of home and there are a number of people in the administration who think kushner should be in a lot of jeopardy because of his role in the administration and if you just get out of the white house, he would be fine. If he feels like hes here to say, it backs up what his lawyers are saying but if you look at the number of things that the mueller people are being looking at, he was doing everything, especially during the transition. Right. Jack of all trades. One key part of this that we havent talked about too much is the role of the fbi and the agents on muellers team. After tweeting that the fbi was in, quote, tatters, the worst in history last week, trump said this shortly before believing to speak at the fbi academy. Its a shame what happened to the fbi. Were going to rebuild it but its very sad when you look at those documents and how theyve done that is really, really disgraceful and you have a lot of very angry people seeing it. Its a very sad thing to watch. But exactly one hour later, here he is speaking in front of Law Enforcement officers. Being a Police Officer is not just a career. Its the calling. And ive seen it. I have so many friends that are Police Officers. So many people in the fbi. These are great, great people. These are really heroes for all of us. So thank you very much. Clint watts, what is your sense of how this is being received by the fbi and we havent talked at length about this but the Text Messages that were exchanged, that have kind of caused some of the political angst around the Mueller Investigation, whats your view of how important that is . I assume he got awareness of the issue and that points to the professionalism of mueller. What i love about President Trumps comment about making the fbi bigger and better, we actually did that after 911 and that was director fbi who made it big are and better. In one sense hes battering the Mueller Investigation and hes talking about making changes and 30 minutes later hes down in quantico and ultimately the damage is to the institution. And if youre trying to do an investigation, criminal white collar, violent crimes, counterterrorism, do you think those guys are going to help you or support you or have sources that are really trusting the fbi . It really does remarkable damage to our federal Law Enforcement with comments like that. Jeff bennett, were you surprised at what the president said when he said there was no collusion and he was not going to fire mueller . I wasnt surprised because he has said that in the past. The difficultly with President Trump is he can say this on a sunday night and then tomorrow night Say Something entirely different. But i was not struck at all to hear the president say that there was no collusion, im not going to fire bob mueller. Ashley, do you think its going to wrap up soon, et cetera . I think he is. A number of people close to him say they think ty cobb is incorrect. They dont think hes lying but that his assessment of the situation is wrong and they are worried that the president is engaging in magical thinking. Ty cobb has been given a clear ending which is the end of the year. The interesting time to check back to see if the president Still Believes him is january 1st, january 2nd. If we get that far. All right. A lot more to come coming up in this next hour. The dnc is getting a taste of momentum. Deputy chair Keith Ellison is joining me and Carly Fiorina will speak about tax reform and Sexual Harassment and the culture in washington. Youre watching kasie dc. Democrats are riding high after wins in alabamas special Senate Election and last months virginia governors race. But tonight theres a new reason for them to be optimistic heading into next years midterm elections. Our brandnew wall street journal poll finds 50 of registered voters want democrats to control congress. Thats compared to 39 who want republicans to stay in charge. Joining me now, minnesota democratic congressman and deputy chair of the dnc Keith Ellison. Thanks for coming back on the show. Really appreciate it. Of course. My question for you is, do you think that these results in virginia and alabama are papering over in some ways the divisions within the Democratic Party . Or do you think that this is a stunning win in a Southern State that nobody expected. Do you think the winds are Strong Enough that those divisions are not going to matter . I think that any functional party has people within it who are unified on the values but have different ideas about how to get there. Thats not a bad thing. Its okay. We had a Great Community process last week and came out with a lot of core agreement that those Unity Commissioned ideas are going to go to the rules committee and i believe were going to come out with a stronger, more transparent, more open, more delicate and voter focused than ever. We put a lot of money and trained people on the ground in virginia and also were proud of getting making history in a lot of places with all of the delegates that were elected to the house of delegates in virginia. We really went down ballot, kasie. We didnt win the top ticket. We went down ballot and were most proud of that. And if you look at fayetteville and other parts of the city, our promise to work up and down the ticket, we see it being fulfilled. And we believe we have grassroots energy. You brought up the Unity Commission which is in response to some of the discord that you all experienced in 2016. Right. I want to play a little bit of what tim kaine had to say about that and the elections in virginia and then well talk about it. Take a look. You bet. The virginia race last month, we were all pulling together. We have a tough primary for governor on the other side and then in the week before the race, they were having a firing squad about whether the 2016 election was rigged. The problem that dems have right now is that President Trump is unpopular. How do you avoid that . Well, i just have a different take. My take is that its natural and normal where people have the right to offer their views that people will offer those views and those views wont always be the same. Its okay. As democrats, we believe in coming together and i think the National Part of the dnc, we are organizing. We are on the ground and making historic investments in technology and investing up and down the ticket and going all over. Were strengthening every single state party. So i just think that we are heading in the right direction. I dont think me or tom perez believes that were done. Weve got a lot of work to do. Everybody knows that. But the fact is, things are going in the right direction and im excited. You know, i tell you, i was in texas over the weekend and just the spirit is all over the place and i feel that were not just planning for next election, were playing for the next two or three decades as we make these Core Investments which i think will pay off more and more. Congressman, you voted in favor of a resolution that would impeach the house of representatives and your leadership voted against it. Do you think the dnc should say that they will advocate for the impeachment of the president . Kasie, if you asked me to vote yes or no, im going to vote yes because i think President Trump has done enough things to deserve it. But you need 218 votes to pass a bill. So lets just let the mueller process work its way through. Lets continue to build the case. Lets continue to find the evidence no matter where it leads. The fact is that if i would never be the one to bring that resolution but if you put it on the floor, you know, i had to vote my conscience. I dont think this is anything to be too concerned about. Mueller is doing a thorough investigation. Hes asking the questions. Hes obtained the cooperation where he needs it and i, for one, think that we just need to continue to support that investigation and to resist those people who try to undermine the investigation. We feed to have a process that is allowed to move forward and find the evidence where it may be, whatever it is. Do you think that Bernie Sanders should run for president again in 2020 . You know, bernies a great friend of mine. I supported him last time. As dnc officer, i cannot longer advocate for anyone in the primary. Let me ask you about an issue that i know that has been important to you and that has been in the news this week. Thats net neutrality. There was a major decision in the fcc. Terrible. What do you think are the next steps . Are there any options in congress . There are some republican who is have criticized the decision that the fcc made. Do you see room for bipartisan cooperation here . You know, were always looking for help to protect an open internet. The internet was started out with public money with a grant that is a defense grant and built up by with public support and to now close it off and to let the biggest commercial interest exploit it, throttle and block people, i think its a travesty. This is a tremendous commissioner of the fcc and she has been speaking all over. Shes trying to help the American People have access. You know, the vote of the fcc, those three commissioners who voted to basically open it up for commercial exploitation and close it down for people, that was wrong. Now, were going to be looking for allies wherever we can find them to try to say that the internet is going to stay open and that well be able to have the new entrepreneurs, activists who want to be on the internet and communicate and can be there but i tell you, we have seen already the dangers of throttling and blocking on the internet and we have to resist it. So were going to stay for an open internet. Thats what were going to do. Congressman Keith Ellison, thank you very much. Talk to you soon. All right. Into when we continue, my conversation with Carly Fiorina on the rapidly evolving culture for women in washington and what is next for her. Kasie dc is back after this. Welcome back to kasie dc. We have a new statement from the office of the doctor treating senator john mccain who, of course, has been hospitalized at walter reid this week. He says he has responded well and had a viral infection. Thats a new information about what was going on with senator mccains health. The doctor says an evaluation of his underlying cancer showing that hes responding positively. Theres a statement from john mccain when they initially announced his condition. We also have a new statement from his office. They say senator mccain has returned to arizona and will undergo physical therapy and rehabilitation at the mayo clinic. So this answers that question of whether senator mccain is going to be in