Telecommunications firms zte and waway. Joining us is ron insana. I dont even know when ive seen anything like this. Market volatility is nothing new but have we ever seen the kind of swings weve seen in the past two days and really the past two weeks . Absolutely. Percentage basis . Yesterdays 1,000point gain did not even qualify for the top 50 percentage moves in stock market history. Are you kidding . No, im serious. Because it sure felt bad to me. They do. Its the law of large numbers. Back in 1987 when the dow fell 508 points on october 19th, that was a 23 decline coming off 2200 on the dow. Were at 22,000 today. To have that type of day you need to be down 5,000 points. Whoa widely different virp. It always feels rocky. Volatility has been up. Were seeing more 2, 3, 4, 5 days than we typically do and were in the midst of a bear market, where stocks are down 20 from their most recent highs and some stocks are down considerably more than that. And for the reasons you cited, trade war with china, federal reserves Interest Rate policy, whether or not the fed chief jay powell is in the president s good graces. Slowing economy. Whole host of factors of late. And an unusually calm year for the stock market. People got used to it and people liked it. Half of americans at least have money invested in a 401 k , mutual fund, those kinds of investments for sure. I think what you just said may have given them a little breath. Like they can take a breath, step back and realize a percentage basis is not as bad as it might feel. Having said that, theres still a sense of panic. So what say you . First of all, one should never panic. Particularly individual investors with the longterm time horizon and a practiced discipline of investing on a regular basis. If they dont need the money in the next one, two, or three years, you typically dont get worried about this kind of stuff. We had the great financial crisis, the dow fell 50 from its peak. The banks fell 90 on average. That was a much bigger deal and yet we survived that experience as well. No doubt well survive this one. This looks to me like a garden variety, if you will, bear market in stocks. Maybe pressaging a growth slowdown next year. A lot needs to be resolved on the economic front, whether its policy, political turmoil in washington. Any one of those things. The Government Shutdown even, although to a small extent. These things need to be resolved for the market to feel more comfortable. Ron insana, always good to see you, my friend. Thank you. And joining us on the phone right now for the advisory firm, Grant Thornton and adviser to the federal reserve. Im already hearing people, especially after the swings weve seen, using the r word. You certainly have talked about recession. Help us put all of this in perspective. What should people know about what this means for the overall economy . Unfortunately, we are seeing the risk of recession rise. I have a recession in late 2019 and early 2020 and that is avoidable. Ron alluded to factors that could get us on a better course. The straws are piling up on the camels back and we dont know what will break it. Uncertainty about trade wars, tariffs is one of the number one issues. Does the fed have it right . Will they need to pivot and ease . They would if the economy weakened. Whats been the real disconnect is that this is an incredible holiday season. Consumers are spending like crazy. Part of the reason were seeing better spend something low income households that have finally seen wage increases. Theyre not as affected by the stock market. Consumer confidence showed even though theyre not affected theyre worried about the future. How can they not be when they see these headlines . That veil of uncertainty, much of what ron allude to, needs to be lifted, which perfectly in the hands of washington to do. Its one thing to have a trade disagreement with china but we need to know the path forward, the rules of the road and part of the uncertainty were seeing is all across the globe, what are relationships going to be . What is the Global Supply chain going to look like . And how do we move forward without having that fog of uncertainty . How do we lift that fog of uncertainty . That is really up to the administration. We used to have some level of predictability, based on past behavior. This is a president who often rules by his gut or who had his ear most recently. How long do you expect this volatility to continue, diane . Unfortunately i think were in for a lot of volatility to overlayer all of this, we have a Government Shutdown, which means we dont get any Government Economic data, which would enforce the underlying economy versus a year from now and that will keep us further in the dark. Unfortunately were seeing a lot of decisions out of washington that are making this worse rather than better and the fed is just trying to go the best course it l if the fed has to pivot and ease, they will. Right now, theyre looking at Economic Data thats saying the u. S. Economy still has some likes to it but the expansion is a marathon and their job is to pace ourselves and prop it up if necessary. They cant do that if they dont know what the data is either. Diane swonk, always good to talk to you. Thank you so much for calling in. Appreciate it. Thank you. Well keep our eye on the dow now down 358. Speaking of the administration, here is a quote for you. People that know how to win, the president s praise for american troops after his first trip to combat zones 23 months into his administration. Nine hours since his return, no Public Events scheduled but the criticism has poured in. The Washington Post said his speech to the troops had, quote, the feel of one of his Campaign Rallies and many of the headlines about the trip focus on his numerous false claims, including this head scratcher. You just got one of the biggest pay raises youve ever received, unless you dont want it. You havent gotten one in more than ten years. More than ten years and we got you a big one. I got you a big one. Joining me now, nbc news chief correspondent Hallie Jackson. Donald trump told troops he gave them a 10 pay raise, that it was their first pay hike in ten years. Neither of those claims are true and theyre both easily refu refutab refutable. 24 hours later they put a lid on and no briefing but is there any explanation out of the white house for why the president keeps saying this . No, and i dont expect one to be forthcoming, chris. Not only is that claim, as you put it, easily refutable, its easily refutable by the people the president was speaking with, the troops in the audience who would have been the ones receiving those paychecks. The troops do receive a pay raise. In fact, in 2019 its a 2. 6 pay hike, essentially, not 10 . They got 2. 4 back in 2018 and, by the way, theyve received a pay hike every year for decades and decades. I think the last year that they did not was before i was born and that was because of a technical glitch, chris. It is easily fact checkable and thats what were doing here. So before you were born, 25 years ago. 24, thank you. Apologize. Marine one landed there on the south land before 6 00. And thats surprising, by the way, after a long overseas trip as you know for the president to not be this is not something that we dont see. However, many of us who follow this president would have said, well, he doesnt sleep a lot and that is going to mean hes going to be active on twitter, but we havent seen like a big, long tirade. He did tweet attacks against democrats over immigration and funding for the border. Whats he saying . We just had one in the last hour or so, right . We had several actually in the last couple of minutes, chris, as the president is on this mini tweet storm about democrats, saying that they are the ones who are being obstructionists over this border wall that he wants built and his money for the border wall, right . You can see it there, democrats obstruction of the desperately needed wall. In another instance, he talked back about that remember that daca for a wall deal, that was a bit of revisionist history because the white house was setting up press releases trying to torpedo that bipartisan deal that had come up. The president is clearly frustrated that theres not more movement in his direction related to money for his border barrier, the wall or, as he puts it, a fence, whatever he wants. As he says, he wants something, essentially. And if not 5 billion for it, then at least somewhere in the ballpark of more than 1. 3 billion that the democrats have already offered. I will say this as an example, something weve seen from the president before, chris, talking about, in all caps, that word, obstructionist, that he repeatedly put in his tweets about the democrats. This is a bit of the whatever bounces off of me sticks to you, political gamesmanship that weve seen from the president in the past. He, we know, in the past has been frustrated, his lawyers have talked about it publicly. Here is the president taking that word thats often lobd at him and trying to turn it around in different context against his political opponents. This thing is lasting at least into next week. In the last couple of minutes, the house has been told dont even bother coming back this week. No votes expected. So were in a shutdown for at least a couple of more days. Hallie jackson with a couple of pieces of breaking news. Bob scales, chairman of the Advisory Board for defense secretary jim mattis Close Combat Task force. Rasmussen, Msnbc National Security and intelligence analyst, robert costa, of course, National Political reporter for the Washington Post and msnbc political analyst as well as moderator of Washington Week on pbs, to which i have been addicted for many years. General, can we just go back to the members of the military . Most americans would be happy to see them smiling and having a chance to meet their commander in chief but i suspect that most of them know whats in their paychecks. Its not so huge that a 10 hike would go unnoticed. What do you make of the president falsely claiming these pay increases and that they havent had any in a decade . I have absolutely no idea. The closest i can come to an explanation that the president seems to get pumped up when he has enthusiastic audiences. Having been in this situation myself before, when he gets around a bunch of 18 and 19yearold kids in a combat zone, who are always enthusiastic with a visitor like the president , i guess it tends to pump him up. As far as the troops not knowing they got a 10 raise, you can bet that at the end of every month, the 31st of every month they check their leave and Earnings Statement to see what their bills are going to be. I will also say this. The troops are gotten a 5 overall raise over the last two years. Compared to my day when i made 200 a month, kids today in our military, to be frank with you, are very well taken care of, chri chris. As they should be. Bob costa, the president made a speech that was overtly political, including attacks against democrat business name over funding for his border wall. The winners and losers with trumps strategy on border wall strategy. I want to play that for you. Its a win win strategy for the president with his base and the democrats with their base. Frankly, i think it is a lose lose strategy for the country and how we should be governing and focus on the important problems of the day. But this is another example, as i said, of breaking with norms. President s just dont air domestic disputes on foreign soil particularly in front of troops. Is this what we expect now and well talk about it, but nothing will change . It does not break with the central norm of the trump presidency, which is having a one dimensional combative ethos and approach to any challenge that looms before him, rather than making a broader appeal. As the president looks at 2019, Robert Muellers investigation political and economic uncertainty, whether its the shutdown or speech in iraq, were seeing him again and again in recent weeks in the wake of the midterm elections not move to the center as so many president s in recent history have done after theyve been humbled at the ballot box, but moving toward his base and trying to shore up that support ahead of a particularly tough year. The president thanked troops for the near illumination of the caliphate in syria. Thats different from an unequivocal tweet, we have won against isis. As he goes to talk to the troops and the people who will be on the front lines of the continuing fight, whats the reality . I imagine, country, with his prepared remarks for the troops he was more precise in his claims. Of course, there is an argument to be made that we have done a terrific job of rolling back the territorial aspect of isis, the fiscaliphate. But that was not the only source of strength for the organization and thats why i think the president overreached when he used words like isis is defeated or isis in syria is defeated. As weve seen many of our allies, certainly our intelligence agencies dont look at it that way and isis still remains a potent threat in the region but also globally. And, general, the president also had this to say about foreign policy. I want to play more of what he said in front of the troops. America shouldnt be doing the fighting for every nation on earth, not being reimbursed in many cases at all. If they want us to do the fighting, they also have to pay a price. And sometimes thats also a monetary price. So were not the suckers of the world. Were no longer the suckers, folks. Nobody has a military like us, but were all over the world. Were spread out all over the world. Were in countries that most people have never even heard about and, frankly, its ridiculous. General, should the criteria for where the United States military gets involved be whether or not the majority of americans have heard of it or can find it on a map . Thats a great question, chris. Ill have to say what we just heard the president talk about in that piece is really the core issue we should be talking about this afternoon. His point, i think, is valid in the sense that the United States cant be strong everywhere. And ever since 2014 during the obama administration, it looked as if the United States was pivoting, if you will, away from wars in the middle east and more toward a confrontation with china and russia. Well, chris, that costs money. What the president is trying to allude to here, i think, is the fact if you try to be strong everywhere, you cant be strong at all, in any particular region of the world. So whats important to consider is this critical rebalancing of our resources and our strategy in the years to come. And are we leaving the middle east too soon . Are we walking away from our allies, whether they can pay or cant pay . Its in a condition that may allow these terrorist groups to reemerge. At the same time, facing down putin and facing down the chinese military. Its a very tough balancing act. General mattis did a brilliant job up until next week and well see where we go from here. Nick, the question becomes, where does this leave us, Going Forward . When you look be at the things that the president has had to say, they are sometimes contradictory, unclear. Sometimes he puts out tweets and even commanders have suggested theyve not gotten the direct orders. After what you hear the president say yesterday can you form some sort of opinion of what the next two years of a military under President Trump might look like . I think its clear that the president is committed to making sure were not overstretched around the globe and not taking on too many commitments that leave us stretched beyond our means. On the other hand, what was troubling about what he said in iraq was that he framed our participation in the coalition there as some sort of transactional thing. It was something we were doing that we were somehow suckered into and that we werent doing what we were doing in syria and iraq in pursuit of core National Security interest of the United States. And i dont think thats what our military believes. And thats troubling. Imagine aye imagine Going Forward well see the president want to pull back on the degree of u. S. Commitment overseas. Major general robert scales, Nicolas Rasmussen and robert costa, great conversation, gentlemen. Thank you so much. Happy new year. Happy new year, chris. Day six of the Government Shutdown. No vote scheduled. You just heard that new report. Dont come back. Thats basically the word to the house after a gloomy assessment this afternoon from the Number Two Senate democrat. Well talk more about this with someone who represents a lot of those furloughed federal workers, congressman jerry connelly, after the break. Jerry connelly, after the break. Yeah, this is bob barnett in chicago. john foley i was there when bob barnett made the first commercial Wireless Phone call. We were both working on that First Network that would eventually become verizons. That call opened the door to the billions of mobile calls that weve all made since. Im proud i was part of that first call, and im proud that im here now as we build americas first and only 5g Ultra Wideband Network that will transform how we all live, once again. bob the first call that weve made on the cellular system. This just in. Were getting our first look at the 8yearold boy who died in federal custody, felipe gomez alon d alonso. An investigation into his death continues at this hour. A 7yearold also from guatemala died in custody earlier this month. K Kirsten Nielsen says there will be a change in policy. Seeing a picture certainly does drive it home. Is there a sense among people who have been on the front lines with these folks that what was announced yesterday, the changes that were announced are going to make a difference . Are they going to have the resources that they need to help avoid this from happening again . Chris, i think that picture just shows what a young and vulnerable population were talking about. Same thing that was drawn to mind when we saw pictures of jakelin earlier this month and from people i speak to, they say they put some changes in place and theyre just adding to that. After jakelin died theyre trying to increase the number of personnel in those remote locations and after this death theyll add emts and paramedics to do what they call a secondary screening but that still just involves an interview and review of their medical history. That isnt having doctors there. Its not having Trained Medical professionals who are taking temperatures and getting vital signs. They still rely a lot on the word of the parent and the word of the child. And with jakelin, spanish wasnt even their first language. So interpreters. There are a lot of things that you need in these locations in order to provide a situation where these deaths dont occur. If you can remember these places were not built for children. They were built for adult men. And i can just remember reading some of the reports about how cold it was, just for some of these kids, that all they had was a mylar blanket. And then you have secretary nielsen, suggesting the problem is that theyre overwhelmed. Nobody is denying that but she seems to be suggesting that the problem is that the democrats want open borders. This is not a record year. If you look at we dont have all the statistics for what is now fiscal year 2019. If you look at fiscal year 2018, which ended in the fall and weve seen a progression of that with numbers slightly higher. Were not at numbers that are record high. 2014 was the record high, 2016 and then 2017 under that. Numbers are rising compared to how it was when trump first came into office. We saw a dip then. Why are we then seeing record numbers of children dying . It has to be because theres a change in migration flows and part of that is because theyre being forced to take more dangerous routes as it becomes harder and harder to enter the legal way. Secretary nielsen headed to the border tomorrow. Were not going to see anything, right . No. It will be closed press. She is going to el paso, texas, and yuma, arizona. Those are sectors of the border where weve seen populations, lot of crowding trying to get in through illegal entry points. She will be there. She may make a statement. There may be something that we will get. Apparently shes there to check on the medical resources we have. They wont let reporters in with her. Julia ainsley, thanks to you for continuing to report on this important story. Im sure well be talking to you again soon. Meantime, we continue in this government partial shutdown and no end in sight. In fact, as we heard from Hallie Jackson moments ago, house members have been told now, dont come back. Were not expecting any votes in the house this week which means barring some kind of unexpected break through this Government Shutdown will, indeed, go into next week, potentially the new year, potentially january 3rd when democrats are going to take over. Mike vickaria is on capitol hill for us. I suppose we shouldnt be surprised. Yet at the same time, its got to be frustrating for those who feel its impact. Its been clear the last several hours, if not the day or two that this thing is sort of baked in now. The expectation that this partial Government Shutdown will likely last until january 3rd, the day that the new session of congress convenes, when nancy pelosi and the democrats take over the house. The house is not like the senate. The House Majority can pretty much do anything it wants whenever it wants as quickly as it wants and nancy pelosi said she would pass a spending bill designed to reopen the government on that day, january 3rd. How long the senate will take to act is an open question. Ma, meadows just walked past me, first member of congress ive seen in the building today. Meadows was in the oval office that day when speaker ryan and majority leader mcconnell was there and reversed course not signing that spending bill. The president standing firm, reversing course, wanting his 5 billion. Thats likely where well be standing the next several days until next thursday when the new congress convenes, chris . Mike viqueira, thank you for that update. Congressman connelly from virginia, good to see you. You, too, chris. You have 55,000 federal employees in your district . Something like that, right. What is your response to the president s claim that most of the people not getting paid are democrats . What an absurd claim. I mean, i have no earthly idea what percentage of the federal employees in my district are democrat or republican. What difference does it matter . These are Public Servants who tend to the needs of our constituents and the country. They put in long hours. They make sacrifices and they deserve better. For him to sudden ly make a partisan issue out of this in terms of their affiliation is a disgusting turn for a president who seems to know no lows. These individuals, whatever their party or lack thereof, have been posting a lot on twitter. Ive been following the shutdown stories and youve been hearing from your constituents, im sure. What are they telling you about the very real impact this shutdown has had on them already . The biggest single concern is the uncertainty about the future. If were going to stay shut down for a few days over the holidays and then get back up and running and be made whole again, that, maybe, we can manage, though its not desirable. But if this is indefinite, if were going to have sort of a standoff that has no easy exit, then that is a different matter. And i think the stress that have uncertainty grows for federal employees and federal contractors, who also are embedded in almost every federal agency. Yeah. And there are also peripheral jobs. Thats right. If you work in a restaurant in a neighborhood where federal workers are or clean their offices, those are also people who arent going to work. It cant have helped with their nerves when the u. S. Office of Personnel Management tried to helpfully tweet out a letter template for federal furloughed empl employees, in other words, send Something Like this to people who hold your mortgage, your car loan and say hey, can you wait . Were not getting paid, which leads to the question, are you confident in a plan that these workers will get their backpay . Weve always made sure that federal employees, after a shutdown, are whole in ret retrospe retrospect. And i have no reason to believe that we wouldnt honor that. Certainly a democratic majority in congress will honor that. I think that is in the cards but getting there and when we get there is the question mark. Nobody likes the stress of the uncertainty. Public servants want to go to wosh. They dont want to be idled and certainly dont want to think that this could go on for weeks. Its a great shame to this administration and the Outgoing Congress that we arrived at this point. Another week has gone by and nothing has happened. Congressman gerry connelly, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. My pleasure, chris. Rudy giuliani saying the president wont be giving Robert Mueller any more written answers. Our own ari melber joins us next to break down the years court battles. N the years court battles. I didnt like something having control over me. I wanted to stop. The thing is i didnt know how. Chantix, along with support, helps you quit smoking. Chantix reduced my urge to smoke to the point that i could quit. When you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. Serious side effects may include seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking, or allergic and skin reactions which can be lifethreatening. Stop chantix and get help right away if you have any of these. 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We used 50 fewer ingredients added one handed pumps and beat the top Safety Standards the new johnsons® choose gentle hard to believe, isnt it only a few more days in 2018, a year that felt like would never end after breaking news after another. From the ongoing russian investigation. 2018 was a year that often played out in the courts. Ari melber takes us through the top ten headlines. Number ten, border fights, President Trump separating immigrant family. If you dont want your child to be separated then dont bring them across the border illegally. A federal judge halted the policy and ordered the administration to reunite the families while other judges struck down trumps policy to defund sanctuary cities. Number nine, trump attacking the rule of law. A stunning report out tonight says President Trump was poised to order the criminal prosecutions of two of his biggest political adversaries. President trump ordered the firing of special counsel Robert Mueller back in june. Legal experts say those moves would be illegal and trumps own white House Counsel blocked them. Number eight, the rise and fall of michael avenotti, a lawyer who became famous overnight for representing Stormy Daniels and taking on trump and his lawyer, michael cohen. He surged in a Political Climate hungry for warriors against trump. When they go low i say we hit harder. But he ended the year, announcing he wont run amidst a Domestic Violence allegation. How do you plea to the sole count . Michael cohen, guilty, your honor. Guilty of Campaign Finance violations for trump hush money and lying to congress about trump tower moscow. Number six, a change in Law Enforcement as juries convict Police Officers of committing murder in the line of duty. Theres no justification for shooting jaquon mcdonald. Not one shot. Not the first shot. Not the 16th shot. Jason van dyke, guilty of seconddegree murder. Two officers convicted this year compared to one murder conviction for officers in the past 13 years. Number five, the Supreme Court upheld trumps travel ban, the court ruling in a 54 decision that trump had not exceeded his authority. Number four, bob mueller indicting russians for election interference. The indictment charges 13 russian nationals seeking to interfere in the United States political system, including the 2016 president ial election. An historic development, the first u. S. Indictments of foreign election meddling in the modern era. Number three, Paul Manafort convicted, former Campaign Chairman found guilty on eight counts, including tax and bank fraud and later pleading guilty to conspiracy, striking a deal that bob mueller now says manafort broke by lying to investigators. Number two, me too prosecutions, a movement that has been growing and moved from activism into the courtroom this year with prosecutions and convictions. A guilty verdict in bill cosbys Sexual Assault trial. This was the max sentence, ten years. Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been indicted by a grand jury on rape and criminal sex act charges. 99 women accusing weinstein of harassment including angelina jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow and rose mcgowan. He should go to jail forever. He stole so many lives. He stole your lives. Do you get it back today . I think today is a damn good start. 2018 also showed the limits to that movement. The top legal story of the year, Brett Kavanaugh confirmed to the Supreme Court by two votes after an intense battle over Sexual Misconduct allegations. This whole effort has been a calculated and orchestrated political hit. I believed he was going to rape me. I tried to yell for help. Brett put his hand over my mouth to stop me from yelling. Brett kavanaugh, sworn in by the justice hes replacing, after days of denying the Sexual Misconduct allegations against him. Wow, what a year. Joining me, ari melber, host of the beat. And former federal prosecutor and professor at georgetown law. I was going to ask you, ari, before i saw the piece, whats going to resonate into 2019, but as im watching it, everything it seems, pretty much. The Mueller Investigation isnt going to go away, the impact of a new justice on the Supreme Court will be significant not just next year. The me too movement isnt going anywhere. It was an extraordinary year. In looking back, as we all do in news and in life, donald trump is a unique president and controversial one, the evidence shows it was larger than trump. The me too movement. Those kind of convictions. Prosecutors taking womens testimony and acting on it in ways they didnt used to is a huge change. The other story we had about police, i think everyone understands its rare to see Police Charged let alone convicted of murder and most officers never even use their firearm. The fact that were seeing juries react differently. Theres a lot of change in the country that goes beyond washington. I want to go back to that. But lets talk, paul, about what was an obsession for so Many Americans this year and the president as well, which is the Mueller Investigation. Yes. Nbc news is reporting that the president s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said the president and his legal team will not give the special counsel any additional written answers. So, where does that leave us . What about a facetoface interview . Yeah. That means that Robert Mueller has to make a decision in 2019, does he treat the president of the United States like he would any other subject of a criminal investigation and require him to submit written statements and also subpoena him to the grand jury . Typically they dont subpoena targets but we know trump isnt at that stage yet. The law is that the president can be required to submit testimony in a civil case. Actually required to testify in a civil case and required to submit evidence in a criminal case. It may go up to the Supreme Court but, again, thats a decision for Robert Mueller more than it is for Rudy Giuliani or donald trump. It is worth reminding people that Rudy Giuliani, not so long ago, was talking to Chris Wallace about this. Here is what he said. Does he want to interview the president . Good luck. After what they did to flynn, trapped him into perjury and no sentence for him . 14 days for papadopoulos . I did better on traffic violations. So youre saying good luck, no interview . Thats a joke but over my dead body. No, i could be dead. Ari, over my dead body. What do you see Going Forward . The big question everyone has, is it about to wrap up . Last time there have been special or independent counsels we saw president s testify. George h. W. Bush did it in the l libby case though it wasnt videotaped so it wasnt as memorable as when clinton did it in the ken starr case. Will it wrap up soon . My money is on we have no idea. As they pursue leads sometimes you get new evidence and new cooperating witnesses that extend an investigation. I think bob mueller is by the book. I think he will pull every thread and when hes done pulling he will close it up. Whether thats february or another year from february, we dont know. I could talk about this for the rest of the hour. Fascinating stuff. Thank you guys. My producer is telling me i cant talk about it the rest of the hour. Paul butler, ari melber, thank you. Thanks, chris. Federal employees out of work as the shutdown continues. Were keeping our eye on wall street where the wild ride contin continues. Take a look at the dow. Now its recovering most of the losses of the day down about 110. Maybe well end up breaking about even. Youre watching msnbc. Breaking about even youre watching msnbc. The new Capital One Savor card. Earn 4 cash back on dining and 4 on entertainment. Now when you go out, you cash in. Whats in your wallet . Now when you go out, you cash in. New listerine® ready tabs™ arent gum, mints, or marbles. Seriously, what is this . If you guessed theyre tabs that turn into liquid as you chew, so you can swish and clean your whole mouth instantly, then you were correct. And that was a really good guess. Nice job. For each job exxonmobil creates, many more are created in the community. Because energy touches so many industries, it supports 10 million u. S. Jobs. Allow you to take advantage of Growth Opportunities with a level of protection in down markets. So you can be less concerned about your retirement savings. Talk with your advisor about shield℠annuities from Brighthouse Financial, established by metlife. President trump has just tweeted again about why he wants a wall. Here it is. Border patrol agents want the wall, he claims. Democrats say they dont want the wall, even even though they it is really needed and they dont want i. C. E. They dont have much to campaign on, do they . An open southern border and the largescale crime that comes with such stupidity. That tweet follows some other controversial comments about federal workers who are affected by the partial Government Shutdown. The president asking on twitter if his opponents, quote, realize that most of the people not getting paid are democrats. Well, virginia senator mark warner who has a lot of those federal workers in his state tweeted federal employees dont go to work wearing red or blue jerseys. Bob mennenez tweeted that guaranteeing that our dedicated government workers have guaranteed security should not be a partisan issue. The shutdown affects about 800,000 federal employees. About 420,000 considered to be essential so theyre working without pay and they wont be paid until the shutdown is over. Another 380,000 have been told to stay home until the funding bill is approved. Joining us to talk about it, jackie simon for the American Federation of Government Employees whose union represents about 250,000 to 00,000 of those affected workers. So let me start with the president s tweet. What would prompt him, do you think, to write something about the people not getting paid being democrats . Well, i think that its clear evidence that this has nothing to do with Border Security or immigration policy. Its pure politics. And its a rather cavalier attitude when whats really going on are 800,000 federal employees having to either having to work without a paycheck or being locked out of their jobs. Being prevented from going to work. These are real people with real bills. Real responsibilities, both to take care of their families and really important jobs in the department of Homeland Security and the department of justice, hud, elsewhere. It has nothing to do with what he seems to be saying it has to do with. Jackie, i want to remind people of what the president said on Christmas Day because he had some reporters into the oval office and talked about the workers. Heres what he said. Many of those workers have said to me and communicated, stay out until you get the funding for the wall. These federal workers want the wall. The only one that doesnt want the wall are the democrats. Is that what youre hearing from your workers, including those who are not being paid, that theyd rather have the wall than a paycheck . Absolutely not. Overwhelmingly, our membership wants to get back to work immediately. They want to get their paycheck, do their jobs, and they really dont like having their motivations or their status questioned. President trump has tried to politicize federal employment in many cases. And as the lawmakers you quoted at the beginning of this segment said, federal employees are not interested in partisan politics when they are on the job. They are doing their work for the american people. When Corrections Officers in the department of justice go into a federal prison to protect communities from incarcerated individuals, they are not doing so as democrats or republicans. Theyre not really thinking about partisan politics. Theyre doing their jobs. As are fema employees. Transportation Security Officers who are making sure everyone is safe as they fly around the country during the holiday season. This is not about politics for any of them. Its about going to work, doing their jobs and supporting their families. Well, what we know is and we learned this in this hour, that the house has been told stay home. Theyll not have anything to vote on this week at least. Jacque simon, thank you for taking the time to talk with us. Were just moments from the closing bell. The dow, what . Now in positive territory. Erasing a 600point drop earlier in the day. Well get you caught up. Youre watching msnbc. Shield℠annuities from Brighthouse Financial allow you to take advantage of Growth Opportunities with a level of protection in down markets. So you can be less concerned about your retirement savings. Talk with your advisor about shield℠annuities from Brighthouse Financial, established by metlife. So we improved everything. We used 50 fewer ingredients added one handed pumps and beat the top Safety Standards the new johnsons® choose gentle the dow roller coaster isnt over yet. Its recovered after dropping sharply this morning and into the afternoon and then yesterday it surged more than 1,000 points even though the session before that was one of the worst christmas eves in the history of wall street. You following all that . Morgan brennan is. Shes coanchor of squawk alley on cnbc. You cant make this stuff up. Its crazy. Whats going on now . Were obviously thrilled to see it back in positive territory, but it looked like a disaster not so long ago. Strap on your seat belts. Another wild ride today on wall street. The dow is up 176 points may not seem like a lot after that 1,000point gain we saw in the dow yesterday. That said, at the lows of the session we were down more than 600 points, the equivalent of 2 losses again today for the dow and other major averages. To see the dow and s p 500 in positive territory. The nasdaq near the flat line is an incredible comeback. Theres not a lot thats changed in terms of headlines or fundamentals for this market. You still have the u. S. china trade risks, the fed and rising rates and worries about the Global Economy and whether youll potentially see Economic Growth in the u. S. Slow down. All of these are still swirling around. With the averages down 10 so far for december, perhaps not surprising you could even call it promising to see buyers coming back into this market in this final moments of trading. Cnbcs morgan brennan, never a dull moment. Thank you for coming on. Appreciate it. Thats going to do it for me. Im chris jansing. Deadline white house starts right now. Hi, everyone. Its 4 00 in new york. Im elise jordan in for nicolle. Donald trump cant seem to get out of his way. Even when he does the right thing like visiting troops in the combat zone for the first time, the president manages to do the wrong thing. He either doesnt know or doesnt care about some of the longstanding principles that define the office he currently holds. For instance, dont politicize a visit to our nations soldiers. Hes guilty of that after slamming democrats while pushing his domestic policy agenda, the wall, in front of a captive audience at al Assad Air Base yesterday. Theres more to trumps visit than just the destruction of norms, important as they are. For all Donald Trumps bluster about how he opposed the iraq war when he actually didnt, he seems intent on repeating the mistakes of the past. 15 years after we first invaded by not bothering to meet with iraqi leadership. If trump wants the men and women of the middle east defeat isis and not sacrifice american blood and treasure, shouldnt he sit down with iraqs democratically elected leadership. The iraqis were insulted enough to call it a
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