Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Ali Velshi 20191018

Katy tur, thank you. Have a good weekend. Te hello, everyone. Im Chris Jansing in for ali velshi. In impeachment terms, this is deadline day. Right now, window for White House Acting chief of staff and Energy Secretary rick perry to submit subpoena documents is closing. Mulvaney has already said he will not comply and the white house is scrambling today to undo the damage mulvaney caused to the president s no quid pro quo defense. A full court press including just a short time ago the president brushing off concerns and so was Energy Secretary rick perry. I think he clarified it. Its just a terrible witch hunt. This is so bad for our country. I think he was straight up with what he said. You know, i think straight up how . Connect dots when the facts would by by basically saying that there was no quid pro quo in the sense of what those folks out there would like for it to be. That were going to give you this money unless you go investigate joe biden and his son. I never heard that said anywhere, anytime, in any conversation. Meantime, perry, unlike mulvaney, who is defying the subpoena, has left the door open saying he is still working things out with the Energy Departments General Council and will do the same before deciding whether to testify. So while we wait for word from him and, again, the deadline is today, democrats are gearing up for another week of testimony on capitol hill after four long days of testimony this week. Joining me now from the white house is nbcs hans nickels. So hans, lets start with what were thinking about right this second. Do we know anymore about whether rick perry will comply with the subpoena . No indication that rick perrys moved beyond the answer he gave this morning and hes going to let his counsel, his attorneys work it out. But when you look at what rick perry is saying publicly, hes basically articulating the Trump Defense and, that is, theres nothing to see here. Nothing done wrong. The revealing testimony, chris, that weve had over the last week, two weeks, has come from officials that we hadnt heard from before. So fiona hill. Mr. Sondland over at the state department. Those are people that had basically been silent. At this point, though, we know what perrys version of events are. So i dont know how much more officials on capitol hill will learn based on what he testifies. Unless there is a radical departure. One quick note on this. I do think its significant the president says perry will stay on to the end of the year. Its a lot harder to testify when you still want to get invited to those cabinet meetings. Excellent point. Meantime, the white house is blaming the media of course for taking mulvaneys words out of context even though we heard him say what he said. The doj says that what he said is news to us and trumps personal attorney jay seculo very quickly released a statement distancing himself saying the president s Legal Counsel was not involved in acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaneys press briefing. In addition to all that, two sources tell nbc news that mulvaneys admission angered and confused allies of President Trump inside and outside the administration. One of them calling it an unmitigated disaster. So is the white house in panic mode . Whats the mood there . I wouldnt quite go to panic mode. I mean, in some ways, this feels like after some of Rudy Giulianis Public Comments where people of the white house are almost rolling their eyes wondering how they might clean it up. What ultimately matters here its true of rudy, its true of everyone. Is what the president says about you. If he thinks that you are defending him well, he will stand by you. And what the president said there is that mick clarified his comments and theres nothing to see here and lets move on. What you did hear from the president is them trying to go on offense and bring this story back to joe biden saying that george kent, one of the state Department Officials that has been testifying, indicated there may have been a concern with hunter biden back in 2015. The president seizing on that trying to stop playing defense and go on offense. Chris . Hans nickels at the white house for us. Thank you so much. Now, house dems have been building the case for impeachment. Deposing key figures. I want to take moment to walk you through some explosive ohn bolton referred to efforts to pressure ukraine as a drug deal. He didnt want anything to do with it. And he likened giuliani to a walking hand grenade. Tuesday, Deputy Assistant secretary of state george kent told house investigators that he was told to lay low after raising concerns about Rudy Giuliani. He testified that acting chief of staff mulvaney effectively pushed aside top state Department Officials and instead appointed three political appointees to spear head policy. Energy secretary rick perry, Gordon Sondland, and vulkar. A trio who call themselves the three amigos. On wednesday, michael mckinley, former top aide to mic pompeo told investigators he resigned last week for two reasons. The failure in my view of the state department to offer support to employees. And second, what appears to be the utilization of our ambassadors overseas to advance domestic political objectives. Then there was thursday. Current Eu Ambassador Gordon Sondland testifying that the president directed top u. S. Diplomats to work through his personal lawyer, rude just giulia Rudy Giuliani on Ukraine Foreign policy. Sondland said he didnt understand until later that giulianis goal may have been an effort to involve ukrainians directly or indirectly in the president s 2020 reelection campaign. Now, of course that same day, we heard that stunning admission on camera from Mick Mulvaney that the president withheld military aid to ukraine until the country agreed to investigate a Conspiracy Theory involving the 2016 elections. Saying to the press even get over it. Joining me from capitol hill is nbcs jeff bennett. So as the picture starts to become clearer as were hearing from these various people, both behind closed doors and in the briefing room, we know democrats feel their case is filling in fast. But what are you hearing from republicans . Well, chris, republicans up until yesterday, their preferred talking point had been President Trump wasnt involved in any quid pro quo. That was until Mick Mulvaney really drove a mack truck through that chosen line of defense. Weve talked before about how you dont need to have a quid pro quo for there to be a crime when an american citizen solicits foreign interference or anything of value from a Foreign National in connection to a u. S. Election. The other thing republicans are still making a lot of hey about is the process. Theyre making the point these depositions should not be happening in private. If impeachments going to be an open political process, this should all be happening in the light of day. And adam schiff has explained specifically why thats not happening. He says right now the house investigators are acting as grand jury. Theyre on a Fact Finding Mission and they dont want potential witnesses to be tipped off by prior testimony. They also dont want the white house to be tipped off after the case that democrats are building. That said, though, there will be a time for some of this at least to happen publicly. There will be public hearings. Adam schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, said some of the people who already testified privately might be called back to give public testimony. Chris. All right. Thank you so much for that. I want to turn the discussion to my panel. Joining me now, andy, former white house chief of staff for george w. Bush, as well as an msnbc political analyst. Joe winebanks. Msnbc contributor. And chris whiple, author of the gate keepers. How the white house chiefs of staff define every presidency. So, look, clearly between mulvaney and this weeks testimony, democrats feel their case is stronger now. I want to play for you one member of congress who was in the room all four days for all the testimony talking to me earlier today about what he learned behind closed doors. The metaphor that i like to offer is that its as though were using an old 35 millimeter camera and were rotating the lens in order for the picture to come into clearer focus, higher resolution. Were already above basic capable focus on what went on here. The depth and breadth of it. Were on our way to High Definition. But from each and is High Definition just so i understand the analogy, is High Definition drafting articles of impeachment . Well, i think theres some people that would be willing to do that, frankly, with basic cable resolution. Are you one of them . Are you at that point . I think the president has committed Impeachable Offenses. Yes, chris, i do. Joe, how much stronger do you think the democrats impeachment case is now than it was at the start of the week . Well, given the president s behavior, every day leads to another potential piece of evidence and more and more can be gathered. But you have to know when to stop. And as a prosecutor, you could investigate organized crime or this white house forever. But you dont need to when you have enough. And right now, enough is sufficient. They have very clear evidence. The memo of the conversation between zelensky and trump lays out, i need a favor, though. That is asking for help and its not help for america. Its help for his political benefit. And that is impeachable and illegal. And so thats enough right there. But then you add the text messages, which were very clarifying and made it very clear that everyone knew that there was this quid pro quo. Even though a quid pro quo wasnt necessary. But its illegal to withhold the release of money that congress has already said it should be given out. They appropriated the money. Its illegal to stop it. But clearly, they did. And then you add to that mulvaney saying what he said, which is, yes, we held up the money until they started an investigation. He said it wasnt of biden. It was of the server, which is equally a Conspiracy Theory. But hes ignoring the fact that we all read the conversation and it said, i want you to investigate the bidens. And when Lindsey Graham says i didnt hear him mention biden, thats because theres no actual recording of the conversation. He read that he asked for the investigation of biden. So its deceptive to say i didnt hear him mention it. Well, he didnt. But lets all use all of our senses. What you see, what you hear. Those all count and americans should be paying attention to the evidence in plain sight. And, andy, theres this very methodical building of a case by democrats behind closed doors. And then you have Mick Mulvaney saying what he said. I wonder i dont know was it painful for you as a former chief of staff to another republican president to watch what unfolded yesterday . What was Mick Mulvaney doing do you imagine . I mean, he wasently even ont ee to talk about ukraine. Im a big Mick Mulvaney fan but i did pain for him because i felt as if he had gone beyond that which he should have said. And im sure that after he did it, he had to eat a meal of crow with the president and other people. And unfortunately, thats kind of a reality for lots of chiefs of staff. I had several meals of crow because yeah, but you didnt have a meals of crow that implicated your president in a potentially impeachab Impeachable Offense that i recall. Thank you. I dont think i did. And i dont think im quite sure you didnt. No. But first of all, the impeachment process, im in favor of it Going Forward to understand what are the facts . I am troubled that there has not been kind of a process that has been simple and explainable to all parties. The republicans are shut out. This is a democrat push. Theyre calling it like a grand jury. And a grand jury, you cant talk about whats said at a grand jury meeting. So there was lots of fluff and hyp hyperbole coming out of this. I dont think the chairmanship has done a good job of clamping down expectations. Instead, he elevates them and i think thats wrong. He should just be working to be credible and have the facts come out. I want the facts to come out. I want that to be used to determine whether you should go forward with impeachment or not. And then Going Forward with impeachment is very different than having a trial in the senate. I want the facts to be solid, understood, recognized by all parties as facts, not some parties. And lets just go forward with it. But i just think the process has been too closed, too incestuous. Look the name of your book is gate keepers, how white house chiefs of staff define every presidency. How does Mick Mulvaney if at all help define this presidency . Well, it was an incredible performance and i couldnt agree more with andy and jill. But i have to say my pal andy is being polite, as usual. White house chiefs of staff are effective when they are seen and not heard. And andy would be the first to tell you that he didnt want to be the guy in the cheers Television Show where Everybody Knows your name. We will never forget mulvaneys name after yesterday. But the striking thing to me is what we learned about mulvaney and the senior white house staff. This is a cult worthy of jonestown. We have known for a long time exactly who donald trump is. Donald trump is incapable of seeing any difference between his own personal interests and the countrys interests. What we learned yesterday is that mulvaney and the enablers are on the same page. Theres no defense for what has happened here. And so they want us to think this is normal. Get over it. Well, let me tell you. There is nothing normal about this. Its reminiscent of contra when you think about a rogue foreign policy. But the difference there was that trading arms for hostages is almost noble compared to trading arms for personal dirt on your opponent. So heres where we are with a white house full of enablers and a president who has committed Impeachable Offenses right and left. Well, i think whats clear and a lot of questions have been raised about this. That all the norms have gone outt out the window. There is a great analysis in the New York Times about how the president has redefined what it means to be president ial. In fact, last night, he mocked being president ial. I want to play that. Its much easier being president ial is easy. All you have to do is act like you youre stiff. Look. Ladies and gentlemen of texas, it is a great honor to be with you this evening. You know, andy, its one thing to flaunt norms and its another thing to commit an Impeachable Offense. And i wonder do you think that because so much of what were seeing in this administration has been done and said in the open, that in some ways its almost making it the norm . It has less impact on us than it would have for the president. First of all, times have changed. The social media aspect of the presidency are so different and brings the mob much closer to the role and thats always a danger for democracy. I was offended by what President Trump did in making fun of Abraham Lincoln is who he was making fun of. And i thought that was wrong. Look. It is what it is. The the times have changed. The social media has changed. The fact that donald trump was a Television Star in a Reality Tv Show says that times are different. Hes a different person. Hes changed the way. Unfortunately, too many people are copying him. Too many people are copying him even on the democratic side, especially in congress. I mean, do you think that there is anybody who is running for president right now, including the republicans who are challenging him and the democrats who are still running, that this will be the accepted norm Going Forward if whether or not he wins reelection. I mean, has donald trump redefined the presidency that much . I think donald trump has redefined how you might become president. Hes changed it from an effort that was wellorganized where it was really grassroots politics, not media market politics. And i live in New Hampshire. New hampshires the greatest state for i call retail politics versus wholesale politics. And we expect people to come to New Hampshire and be challenged on the streets of New Hampshire or in the living rooms of somebodys home in New Hampshire. And thats where you find out can they put up with the grief of running for president . Because the grief of running for president is much less than the grief of being president. And donald trump wasnt tested that way. And unfortunately, most candidates are not tested that way because of the nature of social media and the big foot of reality tv. And this is more of a tv show than it is a grassroots effort to pick leaders in our democracy. We have a great democracy. Its a republic. We elect people to represent us and our government and thats what a republic is. We should be the shining example on the hill and our democracy is a little bit tarnished right now and thats troubling to me. I serve as the chairman of the National Endowment for democracy trying to spread democracy around the world and its a little embarrassing. Can i just say theres nothing normal about any of this thats being called out on a daily basis. Remember the last time the state Department Rose up against barack obama because they didnt like his political views . Never happened. Of course. Chris whiple, andy card, jill winebanks. Thanks to all of you. Great conversation. Up next, were going to be live in Northern Syria where just one day after President Trump touted the pause in the turkish invasion as a quote incredible outcome, the gunfire and mortar shelling continues to be heard. Youre watching msnbc. Heard youre watching msnbc. When you shop for your home at wayfair, you get more than Free Shipping. You get everything you need for your home at a great price, the way it works best for you, ill take that. Wait honey, no. When you want it. You get a delivery experience you can always count on. You get your perfect find at a price to match, on your own schedule. You get fast and Free Shipping on the things that make your home feel like you. Thats what you get when youve got wayfair. So shop now kickstart my heart by motley crue truck honks wheels screeching clapping sound of can hitting bag and bowl clapping always there in crunch time. Great riches will find you when Liberty Mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. Wow. Thanks, zoltar. How can i ever repay you . Maybe you could free zoltar . Thanks, lady. Taxi only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Here, hello starts with hi mple. How can i help . A data plan for everyone. Everyone . Everyone. Lets send to everyone [ camera clicking ] wifi up there . Ahhh. Sure, why not . Howd he get out . a camera might figure it out. That was easy glad i could help. At xfinity, were here to make life simple. Easy. Awesome. So come ask, shop, discover at your xfinity store today. Were following the breaking news out of barcelona. Take a look at these pictures where fresh clashes have broken out between riot police and protestors. This is the fifth day of these kinds of protests. Continuing anger over the jailing of catalan separatist leaders, estimated today more than half a Million People joined in rallies around the country. They blocked a motorway at the spain france border. There were huge backups there. Were going to continue to watch this. But you can see that these are violent protests in barcelona where it is now 9 24 p. M. Meantime, fighting has continued along the Turkish Border in northeastern syria. Contradicting President Trumps announcement just 24 hours ago of a great day for civilization in the form of a temporary ceasefire. Here, you see those plumes of smoke rising. A fire burning on the outskirts of a town along the syrian and Turkish Border. Thats part of the pause agreement. Nbc news has not independently verified who is responsible for the violence youre seeing there. But it is a direct contrast to what President Trump insisted just a short time ago, that all is well with the pause. Were doing very, very well with turkey. Theres a ceasefire or a pause or whatever you want to call it. There was some sniper fire this morning. There was mortar fire this morning that was eliminated quickly. A lot of pain for a couple of days. And sometimes you have to go through some pain before you can get a good solution. But the kurds are very happy about it. President erdogan in turkey is satisfied with it. And we are in a very strong position. Joining me now, nbc news chief correspondent richard engel. You heard the president say we are in a very strong position. Give us a clear sense of what you are seeing and whats happening on the ground near the border. Reporter so President Trump is right on one thing. That the ceasefire is more or less holding. There have been some skirmishes today. There was some exchanges of fire. But mostly, it is in the one pocket where you were showing the plumes of smoke around this right on the turkish syrian border. But in general, throughout the length of the area, it has been much, much quieter today than it has been over the last ten days or so. But the profound issues here remain what will happen next. There are deep concerns tonight among the kurds. The kurds are not at all happy with this agreement. They said they are facing ethnic cleansing. About a quarter of a million kurds have already left this area and they say that this is just the beginning of a campaign and it all goes down to the ceasefire agreement. So, yes, the ceasefire agreement did create a pause. It did stop temporarily except for a little bit. The major turkish offensive that has been under way. But the the cornerstone of that agreement was to seed a part of Northern Syria, the part of Northern Syria where i am right now, to turkish control. The part of of of syria that is being seeded to turkey is where the kurds live. And they say by seeding it to turkey, that will lead to their displacement. It will lead to a civil war. It will lead to vendetta killings because turkey doesnt want to just control this pocket here in Northern Syria. It plans to resettle about a million to two million, sometimes erdogan says three million, refugees who are living in turkey right now and to bring them here. That is a displacement campaign. That is a campaign that has not even begun yet. So already, because of the fighting, a quarter million have left. There are only two million kurds in the area and u. S. Officials, numerous u. S. Officials ive spoken to, are deeply worried that when president erdogan now that he controls this area, now that he controls this area because it was given to him in this deal with President Trump, once he opens the gate to millions of refugees to pour in here, that will be the end of the kurdish presence here. So, yes, temporarily today its a little better. But the longterm future is absolutely terrifying for the Kurdish People right now. Also tell us what you know about what the kurds said earlier today. They warned of further isis prison breaks. What more do we know about that . So amid amid this conflict, there is the isis question. And the isis question is really at the core of all this. It is isis that that started this this this tension, if you will. Because a few years ago, 2014, the United States came and made its alliance with the kurds here in Northern Syria because of isis. The the the u. S. Was looking for a partner to fight against isis. Isis was spreading all around the world. It was exporting terrorism. And the kurds made a partnership with the u. S. Military. It was actually the other way around. It was the u. S. Military that reached out and said we need a partner to help us fight isis on the ground and the kurds raised their hand and said, yes, we will do it. And they fought together for the last five years and while they fought together, the kurds formed this autonomous zone. This autonomous zone that has just been seeded to turkey and now because the kurds were working with the americans, they feel that they are they have targets on their backs and theyre going to be pushed out of the region forever potentially. So what happens to all the isis people who are still here . All the isis prisoners that the kurds and the americans locked up. They are still most of them in guarded camps. Most of them are still contained. A few hundred have managed to escape and are on the loose. But who will control them now is somewhat of an open question. The kurds, for now, are still guarding them. U. S. Troops are still in this country. Although, they are in a process of consolidating their forces as they prepare to leave. And this transition, a very messy, potentially transition that will involve ethnic cleansing to Turkish Authority has not quite begun yet. Richard engel in Northern Syria for us. Thank you, richard. Appreciate it. And coming up, were looking at whether acting white house chief of staff Mick Mulvaney opened himself up to being subpoenaed to testify in the impeachment inquiry into President Trump after he publicly declared the delay in hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to ukraine over the summer was tied to the Justice Department investigation into the 2016 election. Ari melber will join me next. And this just in from the white house, President Trump scheduled to meet with deputy Energy Secretary to discuss nominating him as rick perrys replacement as secretary of the department of energy. He has been the deputy since august of 2017. And once again, lets take a live look at the protestors in barcelona after Spain Supreme Court convicted 12 separatist leaders of illegally promoting the wealthy regions independence and sentenced nine of them to prison. Again, five days of protests. Day five, half a Million People taking to the streets. Youre watching msnbc. E streets. Youre watching msnbc. Im your cat. Ever since you brought me home, that day. Ive been plotting to destroy you. Sizing you up. Calculating your every move. You think this is love . This is a billion years of tiger dna just ready to pounce. And if you have the wrong Home Insurance coverage, you could be coughing up the cash for this. So get allstate and be better protected from mayhem, like meow. Did the acting white house chief of staff Mick Mulvaney just open himself up to more subpoenas . Thats the question after mulvaney appeared to blow up the president s impeachment defense live on national television. He admitted that the white house withheld nearly 400 million in military aid to ukraine to further the president s political agenda. He, of course, since backed away from that claim. But we heard him say it. Lets bring in msnbc chief Legal Correspondent ari melber. So i wanted to get you in here after i read the New York Times which said quote seeing the white house say like mr. Mulvaney are often immune to discuss their private conversations with the president. But talking about them publicly in such an extended way could undermine that legal protection. Yeah. Help us understand it. Its a great question. Basically, there are exceptions to privilege. The two big ones are if its not a secret anymore like mulvaney blabbing. Or if its a crime because you dont get to use a privilege to shield a crime. Lets put crime to the side because thats a bigger debate than everyones going to have in this country, especially if theres an impeachment and a trial. But mulvaney clearly laid out his view that they conditioned the money on this investigation involving the dnc. So itd be very hard for him in a court or in congress to have a good claim, a lawful claim, that this is a privileged secret because he just told us about it. Yeah. And he talked about it repeatedly open though then he backed off. Look, we know impeachment is a political process, right . But the democrats are doing what i think any good lawyer would do at trial with these closed door testimony. They are putting together a narrative with witnesses that could tell a story to a jury and in this case, the jury obviously is the american people. What are some of the missing chapters if you think there are some that youre looking for next week . Its a great question. I think most of the chapters are in. I can think of one thats missing. Heres whats in. High crime or bribery. Thats whats in the constitution. What we just talked about. Democrats have subpoenaed people. Theyve heard from whistleblowers. We wanted them to do something for us. So that part really feels like its in there. The other thing is what about the subject of all this . The president of the United States. Is he standing up and saying i was misunderstood or people did things i didnt know about . Everyone agrees bad things happened but it was never proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that the president was knowing and directing all the bad things. Well, here, donald trump has filled out that chapter to use your word because he said, yeah, ill ask again. I welcome it. Ukraine, kchina, who . I mean, he sounds like hes making a deal on the white house lawn. Some people like that about the president. They say hes blunt. Other people say hes basically going to the nation saying we do crimes, what more do you want to know . That may be debatable what you think about it. So those chapters are filled. To answer your question whats missing . Well, there is a big question here when you really drill down about how this plot was executed and what did they get in return . And thats where you have to look at what ukraine did. You have to define whether this was really an investigation that touches on the bidens or this other company. And did that happen or not . And i dont think at this stage weve seen that chapter. The evidence of that fully detailed. So youve got a special coming up this weekend and i think for a lot of people who cant follow this necessarily minute by minute or just sort of want to see how this all dcomes together, you talk to some really smart, informed, interesting people. I just want to play a little clip from aris special this weekend. We are in a sea of craziness and it is all bad. The whole world is watching. The whole country is watching. A president is asking a Foreign Government to intervene and to involve themselves in an election here in this country. That, by the way, is criminal. You want to start with anonymity . Lets start with anonymity. No. The house had to move forward. Politics be damned. So tell people why they should give up a part of their sunday to watch this . Im just going to tell you youve already got me hooked. Well, its very nice to say. As you say, chris, weekends are special. Its family time. Do you really want to dig into impeachment . What you just showed and thank you for the shoutout was some of the great experts weve heard from. Ill be honest just speaking for myself, we dont always get to some of those deep subject Matter Experts on our nightly coverage. So we just heard from example really . News flying at you . One of the people we just saw there was a retired federal judge, tim lewis. He was appointed by bush to the federal Appeals Court and hes walking us how to do a trial like this. That might not be a breaking news story but we go deeper. This sunday, judge nancy is on with us as well as a historian who profiled the impeachment that came closest to ever removing a president. Jon johnson. 19th century. One vote shy. Were going even deeper into the way, way back machine. So really look its up to the viewers. If youre interested in going to the 19th century for your impeachment history, we got you on sunday. If not, just keep it locked on the week nights. Listen. People should watch this. People should watch this. Youve got do you have two specials this weekend . Well, this is not mine. This is Michael Moore and i think its great. Columbine, right . Wanted to revisit his documentary looking at the gun policy issues. So that documentary airs. Michael moore joins me on the beat tonight. Were going talk about that. Oh, great. I know i saw you somewhere with Michael Moore. So were going to dig into that tonight and saturday night on msnbc where that airing of the documentary. Im just going to say this is personal. You should work harder. Thank you, ari melber for coming. Thank you, Chris Jansing. Sunday, ari hosts trump in ukraine impeachment crisis. I dont think he sold it that great. Its not all about johnson. Its really something you should look at about the impeachment inquiry and where its headed. Dvr it. Weve got that breaking news. Trump has just tweeted as about a new nominee for Energy Secretary. It reads i want to thank secretary of Energy Rick Perry for the outstanding job he has done. He will be leaving at the end of the year to pursue other interests. Rick was a great governor of texas and a great secretary of energy. He is also my friend. At the same time, i am pleased to nominate the deputy secretary dan brewett to be the new secretary of energy. His experience in the sector unparalleled. A total professional. I have no doubt that dan will do a great job. Hans nickels. This all moved pretty quickly. We were all saying how fast will he tweet given what we had heard from rick perry that he was going to move on and hes kind of almost did an exit interview today. So what can you tell us . Well, the timing on perrys departure is still according to the president is still the end of the year. So hell still be serving the president and, therefore, less likely perhaps to be fully forthcoming or to even agree to appear as we were talking earlier at the head of before those committees. The replacements going to be dan. As you mentioned, he is the deputy. In the past, the president has this preference for actings. You recall last week the president said he was going to announce his Homeland Security secretary. He hasnt done that. Now, i know the week isnt over and the president could still surprise us and tweet something out. Heres what we know about dan from his official biography. He is a long time congressional staffer. He worked for a lawmaker from louisiana. Big in the energy business. He appears to have worked for the Ford Motor Company and their Government Affairs, as well as usaa. Typically, those jobs mean that youre a registered lobbyist. If youre head of the Government Affairs office, for say ford, as he was throughout most at least part of the obama administration. So it looks like hes going to be number two. Well find out more if he has any conflicts. But it does look like he represented both usaa and Ford Motor Company. Now, his name will be going to the senate for confirmation vote to be the next secretary of energy. Chris. Hans nickels at the white house. We appreciate it. And up next, intense negotiations are under way as the three biggest drug distributors in the country aim to settle thousands of opioid cases to the tune of tens of billions of dollars. Just ahead in the start of next weeks First Federal trial to determine whos responsible for the nations Opioid Crisis. But first, history was made today as nasa astronauts Christina Cook and jessica completed the first all female space walk. 248 miles above earth. Thats live look at them getting unsuited after the space walk. The two replaced a power controller that failed over the weekend and in doing so, realized the dream of a lifetime for both of them. We called ourselves Space Sisters because we were together really joined at the at the hip going through all the classes together. Jessica and i are held to the exact same training standards. Were treated the same in terms of assignments for various missions. To quote a member of congress, thats one giant leap for womenkind. Youre watching msnbc. To present to you today. [son] who are you talking to . [son] that guys scary. The first item on the list is selecting a chairman for the. For the Advisory Board whats this . As well as use the remaining. Child care options run out. Lifetime Retirement Income from tiaa doesnt. 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Government estimates that opioid addiction has cost more than 504 billion when you add up healthcare, criminal justice, and lost productivity cost. Nbcs ann thompson is here with more. Do we know anything . Does it look like there will be a settlement . So the reasonchris, is because there is a trial. The First Federal trial involving the Opioid Crisis thats supposed to start on monday. It involves two counties you know well in the state of ohio. Cuyahoga and summit. And they say that the the distributors of opioids and the makers of opioids conspired to create this crisis because they put profits in front of people. And so that is the lever that the federal judge in the case is using to try and settle all 2,000 cases. In fact, there are more than 2,000 cases that are in front of him. So the judge presiding over the case, dan polster, according as he tries to keep this case from going to trial. I mean, when you talk about something this complex, the amount of time, the amount of money, the potential liability here would lead you to think that both sides would potentially want to get this before you know, before they go before a jury. You would think that but part of it is you have these cities and towns that have absolutely been ravaged by this crisis. They have seen people die. They have seen hospital bills run up that cant be paid. The Law Enforcement cost. The lost productivity. I mean, the number you said. 504 million i think was the number. Theres a study out that says in the last four years alone, its closer to 731 billion. Excuse me. Billion dollars. And the majority and guess who is paying that and the majority and guess whos paying that bill . Its individuals and businesses. Really the government has the smallest slice about 29 of that. The way the legal system works, its not clear to me, but do they have to reach an agreement by when they are supposed to start this trial . No. They could reach a settlement if it does if it does go to trial, they could reach a settlement up to the moment before the jury announces its verdict. But what is on the table, at least as far as we know, is a 50 billion proposal to 22 billion in cash, 29 billion in antidrug treatments and products and distribution. And that is whats on the table. But its a very fluid situation. And the question for the small particularly cities and counties is are we really going to see that money . Because we need that money. We dont need it going to the states or to attorneys. We need those dollars. Anne thompson, we will keep watching. Thank you so much. And up next ali velshi is in jerusalem where mike pompeo met with Benjamin Netanyahu, one of the many leaders outspoken against turkeys invasion of syria. Hey, guys hi mrs. Patterson. 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Tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. If you take asthma medicines, dont change or stop them without talking to your doctor. So help heal your skin from within, and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent. Whyou should be mad that airports are complicated. Hes my emotional support snake. But youre not, because you have e trade, whose tech isnt complicated. It helps you understand the risk and reward potential on an options trade. Dont get mad. Get e trade. Now that a pause is underway in the conflict between the Turkish Military and kurdish forces, secretary of state mike pompeo met with allies in the middle east amid the growing concerns about the situation in syria. Earlier he talked to israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in jerusalem who, of course, remains one of the president s closest allies and who joined the rest of the International Community in condemning the turkish incursion. Just moments ago, pompeo wrapped up a meeting with nato secretary general yen stoltenberg. I know that in the moment the moem when president erdogan called President Trump, President Trump made very clear that this was unacceptable that we were opposed to their incursion, their crossborder activity. We are cognisant. We said in yesterdays statement that turkey has valid security concerns along that border. But we didnt think it was the right way to approach it. Joining me now is Msnbcs Ali Velshi who is live inner jerus. So you have the unique opportunity to be on the ground and traveling. Give us your sense of the broader sense of the white house strategy and what youve been seeing and experiencing there. Reporter well, its hard not to come to the conclusion that the white house is absent a strategy on turkey and syria and possibly the broader middle east. Because for secretary pompeo to suggest that the white house is determined to stop the damage done from this incursion doesnt really make a lot of sense because it was october 9th when donald trump quite unexpectedly suggested that u. S. Troops are going to be pulling back from the turkey syria border. The whole world knew when president erdogan of turkey was at the united nations, he showed a map about what turkey wants to do and it wants to take that area as donald trump said clean it out of certain people and put other people in. So the idea that this is anything other than a u. S. Creation that we are now talking about imposing sanctions on turkey, which is a nato ally, to stop them from attacking the kurds, who were our allies in the fight against isis, is sort of nonsensical. Thats number one. Number two is that this, you know, President Trump has been referring to this as a pause and a ceasefire. Ceasefire suggests that there are negotiations underway and that some good may come of it. This is more accurately called a pause. Its five days for the kurds to get out of the way so that the turks can finish their work in Northern Syria. Now the general representing the kurds has already come out and in a conversation with u. S. Officials has said we are not interested in ethnic cleansing. We are not interested in getting out of the way. We can do certain things to accommodate turkeys needs but we cant go all the way. Now fast forward to mike pompeo, went to turkey to visit the turkish leadership, then came here to talk to Benjamin Netanyahu to tell him not to be too alarmed because the israelis are worried that this has strengthened the iranians in the regime. Pompeo stopped at nato which you just played to assure nato allies that the u. S. Commitment to the alliance is strong because turkey is a nato ally. So this is complicated on many levels and it has led to the shuttled diplomacy traveling around the world to try to reassure everybody that there is a strategy here. But increasingly, chris people are thinking that there isnt a white house strategy on the middle east. When you say people are thinking, is the suggestion that the leaders that they have been meeting with are not reassured . Reporter yeah. Look, i think with israel, its a slightly different situation because President Trump is so close to the israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and an important thing to keep in mind is that netanyahus got a few days left to form a government. It does seem there have been a few setbacks to that which could trigger another election in israel. And the biggest thing he has going for him is his chumminess with donald trump. So to have the u. S. Secretary of state pop in and have a bit of a photo op with you is probably more useful to netanyahu than anything else right now. So i dont think israels got much to worry about with its alliance to the United States. But kind of anybody else who has an alliance to the United States has got to be looking at things and saw, wow, the kurds had troops die and now the u. S. Has dropped them like a hot potato. So it does cause people to worry. Ali velshi, safe travels to you my friend. Before we go a quick look at the scene in barcelona where there is protesting continuing, spains northeast catalonia region including barcelona virtually paralyzed by strikes and marches in its fifth day, 500,000 people on the streets that have sometimes turned violent. We are going to continue to keep our eye on it. But thats going to wrap up this hour for me. Im Chris Jansing. You can always find me on twitter. Have a good weekend, everybody. Deadline white house with Peter Alexander in for Nicolle Wallace starts right now. It is 4 00 here in new york. Im Peter Alexander in today for my friend Nicolle Wallace. Unrelenting news in the impeachment inquiry with donald trump. We are watching capitol hill as the clock ticks down on subpoena deadlines tonight for two Top Trump Administration officials at the heart of this ukraine scandal. Trumps Energy Secretary rick perry who was identified this week as one of the, quote, three amigos tapped with carrying out the president s Pressure Campaign against ukraine and who incidentally just notified the president that he plans to resign soon. And acting white house