We need to slow down and get it right. Like mom used to say, you rush and you make mistakes. Democrats are going to continue in their headlong rush to pass a government takeover of health care. From where i stand and frankly Many Republican senators stand who are troubled by the pace is of concern. We should have had more time to digest it. I guess history has a funny way of repeating itself. What a difference eight years doesnt make. Republicans today sounding a lot like republicans back in 2009 on Health Care Reform. Only this time, they are battling themselves. Can President Trump and House Speaker paul ryan bring their own party on board . This as one new report says at least 15 Million People, joe, will lose their Health Care Coverage under the new gop plan. This morning, we are going to speak live with the u. S. Secretary of health and Human Services dr. Tom price. Plus, the man responsible for whipping votes in the house, Republican Congressman Steve Scalise and congressman tim ryan on the democrats game plan. Good morning, everyone. Its friday its friday, march 10th. With us senior Political Analyst for nbc news and msnbc mark halpern. Political analyst john heilemann. And mark and john have big news to announce and get to that in a moment. Congratulations. We love it. Joe, youre down in washington for some meetings but you couldnt make it back up because of the weather. Did you see the little girl . Speaking of the weather. We will explain this to you. Oh we will have that. Bill karins will talk about the incredible wind and rough weather across the country j new a moment she is okay. Shes okay. But before we dive into new. Joe, what is your take in washington . You had meetings yesterday on where things stand across the board. Two big takeaways. One, everybody is questioning
why the house did what they did, why they handled health care the way they did. The senators, tom cotton is right. So many senators believing they made a mistake by repeating the mistakes of the democrats in 2009, rushing into this. And the concerns also being whispered in the white house. Really surprised that the house gop team didnt have everybody together, that they didnt have the Freedom Caucus on board. And that they were blindsided the way they were. So a lot of surprise on that respect. On another sort of theme we keep talking about, there is absolutely no evidence as John Podhoretz said that anybody who supported donald trump the day of his election does not support him today. In fact, people in the Business Community are even bigger supporters and more excited about what they believe is going to be sort of financial regulatory and tax relief that they have needed for quite sometime. And, mika, over the past year and a half, you and i ran across a lot of people who were afraid to admit it and they are not afraid to admit it now. They are more in Donald Trumps camp Business Community than ever before. All right. We will talk more about that coming up. First, fbi director james comey was on capitol hill yesterday where a congressional source says he met with lawmakers to discuss the alleged wiretapping of trump tower. Comey met with the leadership and top ranking members of the Intelligence Committees on the senate side, as well as in the house. But despite sources saying he pushed the Justice Department to make a public denial he was tightlipped when approached by nbcs kasie hunt. Are there any people wiretapped in trump tower . Mcconnell who know its not true i have to evidence of it but do an investigation. I thought the best part of that interview yesterday, willie, we havent played yet when they asked Mitch Mcconnell, is mexico going to pay for the fall . He goes, ah h, no. He is emerging early as one of our favorites in answering the questions. He is not going to be cow tow to some of the republicans. As you said on the first part of it the about comey visit. So much of this is theater. You say Mitch Mcconnell knows that the president of the United States did not wiretap trump tower. All of these congressmen and senators know its an easy phone call to make and easy answer to get. Now they are going through the
for Maladi Forities to wait for the official process to play out. We spend one week on this that last saturday morning tweeted this this is a waste of time for the country. We should be getting into the Health Care Bill and focus on important things. The fact this has occupied so much time and space looking into an allegation that patently is untrue if you ask anybody who knows, is a waste of time for the country. Mark halpern, though, i think its an interesting conundrum for the media because i think we move on so much and its, at some point we have to focus on that and get and answer. So many shiny pennies across the table here we could move on into oblivion. I found when i was in washington and joe found is the Business Community has really compartmentalized. They are just not focused on things like the president s twitter feed. They are focused on the legislative agenda and on the calendar. Mitch mcconnell kind of some
days compartmentalizes and some days does not. I think make or break here is health care and youre seeing them adjust to the question of could they get the house this passed through the house quickly . They still think they can but is it a good idea . Should they slow down for the sake of the longterm health and prospects of getting it through the senate . The question youve been putting on the table for weeks now, joe. Yeah. Nobody is going to convince me this is a smart move. They should start with tax reform, they should start with Regulatory Reform. Mark halpern, i dont think we can underline enough to people in the media that havent spoken to the Business Community or people who are marching in the streets or people who are supporting. If you want to get into Donald Trumps approval ratings, youre going to have to convince a Business Community that they should be concerned about the tweets, they should be concerned about the bizarre statements, they should be concerned about all of the things that a lot of
people in washington in the washington and new york bubble are concerned about, and a lot of americans across the country are concerned about. They are just not. In fact, it is shocking just how little they care about anything other than Regulatory Reform and tax reform. They have completely compartmentalized everything else. And i just say this. I am just reporting by the way, people that own the Media Companies that have people that are going around and we are all talking about how shocked and stunned we are at Donald Trumps lack of respect for Constitutional Values and president ial traditions. The Business People that run the Media Companies are, obviously, thinking the same thing because ive yet to meet a Business Person that is not thrilled he is president of the United States. Joe, we should say this extends not just to republicanBusiness People. Oh, no but democrats in washington, in new york. A lot of the washington Lobbying Operations for major firms are run by democrats who are still in their jobs placed there during the obama years, and they are compartmentalized and their focus is on Regulatory Reform and tax reform and not just jockeying for favorable outcomes but enthusiastic for their companies. Its shocking, mika. Last year, when we talked to people and ask who is supporting trump and no one would admit it and come whisper is to us later on. Yeah. Thats not how it is in 2017. They will tell you right up front, a lot of great things are about to happen. Its kind of surreal. Is really is. Its not surprising that, you know, the Business Community with the prospects of tax reform, the prospects of an administration doesnt care very much about Budget Deficits and run an inflationary Fiscal Policy and Regulatory Reform and
tearing down obamacare. It doesnt surprise me that both the stock market and the Business Community are where they are. They are beyond the tweets. There are realities that are still playing out here especially on the russia front as the story, not the distractions but the actual, as progress occurs and as we learn more daybyday, that is still a story that the Business Community may be a lagging indicator on that. If that story ends up progressing and doing fundamental political damage to the administration, the Business Community will eventually look up and say, okay, we have a problem here. For now their focus compartmentalized way and what affects our bottom line and for now good for them but the reality may catch up to that. The one caveat i would throw in, mika, ive talked to the head of a large Multinational Corporation yesterday and the head of a Small Americanbased business who both said this talk of tariffs and protectionism scares the hell out of them and border tax is something they think would be devastating especially to a Small Company to
their bottom line because so much of what they have to make comes from out of the country and if there are tariffs those prices will be passed on to sxurmeds. That i consumers. There is a big picture and longterm consequences to some of the things that have happened in this administration so far. The Vice President has weighed in on the revelation that former National Security adviser Michael Flynn performed more than 500,000 Dollars Worth of lobbying for turkey before election day. Flynn registered his work as a Foreign Agent in paper work filed with the Justice Department on tuesday, disclosing work performed from august through november 2016. Here is press Secretary Sean Spicer, followed by Vice President mike pence, reacting to that news that they just learned, apparently, yesterday. Was the president aware that Lieutenant GeneralMichael Flynn was acting as a Foreign Agentwhen he appointed him to be the National Security adviser . I dont believe that that was known. I would refer you to general flynn and to the Department Of Justice in terms of the filings that have been made. Had the president had known that, would he have appointed him . I dont know, john. That is a hypothetical im not prepared to ask. Let me say hearing that story today was the first i heard of it and i fully support the decision the President Trump made to ask for general flynns resignation. Youre disappointed by the story . The first i heard of it and i think it is it is an affirmation of the president s decision to ask general flynn to resign. Joe, what is your take . For me, it seems deeply concerning that they had no clue about this since flynn and trump spent day and many flights and
nights together traveling on the campaign trail. This seems impossible. The fact that that man was a Foreign Agent of turkey, who has been hostile towards u. S. Interests for a good part of the Syrian Civil War and was getting paid at the same time he was delivering a Speech TrashingHillary Clinton at the Republican National committee. Saying lock her up. Yeah. Saying he was an agent of a foreign country of turkey throughout the inphases of the campaign, and even when donald trump got elected. Its shocking. I guess it shouldnt be shocking. This is the sort of thing that would not happen in past administrations, but there are apparently, everything goes ethically. By the way, i would like some clarification from the white
house at some point. Did donald trump fire Michael Flynn or did Michael Flynn resign . Because if Michael Flynn resigned, donald trump acted angry and said a good man was hung. Right wing websites are still saying that now he fired him. John heilemann, right wing websites are now going out and talking about and right wing columnists are talking about how Michael Flynn was set up and he had no due process, and he did nothing wrong. Well, did he resign or did donald trump fire him . And if donald trump fired him, if these right wing websites are right, then why is he such a weak president and why did he fold the things that arent true . It is a confusing situation. Donald trump and all of his Public Comments has basically acted as if Michael Flynn was persecuted. A good man driven from office by the hounds in the mass media and mike pence trying to put a nice
gloss and saying that vindicates the president s decision to fire him. This guy was not only acting as a Foreign Agent, literally as a Foreign Agent, not Metaphor Kalli while he was traveling with donald trump and close to donald trump as anybody. He was the person who became the National Security adviser and somehow the president and others right now, at least the official explanation, they had no idea that he was acting as a Foreign Agent when he was appointed to be National Security adviser. That is one of the most extraordinarily, if its true, they did not know, one of the most extraordinary failures of vetting ive ever heard of. On there are so many unheard truths here its hard to know what happened on any level with literally anything we have talked about since the show started today. The press needs to followup and need to keep asking the question. Did they know . If they did know, that is bad as if they didnt know. Because if they didnt know, it was one of the most unprofessional sloppy Vetting Processes that ive ever heard
of in washington getting paid 500,000 by turkey, a hostile gwyn again, the past four, five, six years, a hostile player as it pertains to syria. Only becoming more helpful over the past year or two. I mean, isis used turkey to get into syria for the better part of the civil war. And this guiel is getting paid and is a Foreign Agent of turkey. So staggering. I cant process it. Hold on onto it for a a second, halpern. They have made a joke of the entire Transition Process and this presidency has no credibility where we stand right now. I dont say that with hysteria. I say that with a deep sense of concern how we often cover this story because there are people
who believe trump from start to finish and hes not telling the truth. Youre not shrill. Youre just sad mad, mika. Im so sad. And know look closely. She is not crying. I know she is a woman. I may not make it to the commercial. Maybe you think she is crying but no, she is just pissed. Mark halpern, finish your thought. They have to do some Soul Searching over there because they are still vetting people for top jobs. This guy was at the center of the Foreign Policy apparatus during the campaign and in the government, and who brought his son, his controversial son with him, and they have got to do some Soul Searching and put out the facts and have to figure out how could such a thing has happened . I can think of a few examples from Previous Administrations of things in this direction but literally nothing like this that ive ever seen. Its important to point out this is not something from his deep dark past. This lobbying was happening from august until november in the heat of the president ial campaign. Im checking four boxes. He w