Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Craig Melvin 20170208

Republican shutdown. Defending the ban, President Trump on the offense today, slamming the judicial system and the judges who are now considering whether to uphold his controversial imgration ban. And trumps secrets, an exclusive new report alleging the president is seeking advice from white house veterans to stabilize a power struggle thats how unfolding inside his administration, but we start with that uproar over senator Elizabeth Warren, the progressive favorite, talk to my colleague kasie hunt a short time ago about being silenced on the senate floor over the nomination of Jeff Sessions. Take a listen. The facts may hurt, but were not in the United States senate to ignore facts. Were in the United States senate to exercise our constitutional responsibility to advise and consent on nominees and my view is that part of my constitutional responsibility. Senators today lined up to defend warren, leader Chuck Schumer calling it selective enforcement of an obscure rule. Several Democratic Senators have also read the words that got warren in trouble, a statement and letter from Coretta Scott king in 1986 opposing sessions nomination to the federal bench. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, this is fro Coretta Scott king, thank you for allowing me to this opportunity to express my strong opposition to the nomination of jefferson sessions. Mr. Sessions has used the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens in the district he now serves and he now seeks to serve as a federal judge. Anyone who has used the power of his office as United States attorney to intimidate and chill the free exercise of the ballot by citizen should not be elevated to our courts. Kasie hunt with me now fresh off that interview with senator warren. One of the things that struck me about that conversation is that the senator seemed to go out of her way to say she did not necessarily think this was being done to her because she was a woman. Reporter craig, thats right, and you know this was something that democrats seized on immediately, and the suggestions that this was happening, she was being silenced because in part she was a woman is something that bubbled up right away and that has been an immediate topic of conversation, and thats clearly part of the aim for these male senators who this morning have been going to the senate floor and doing the exact same thing or at least close to the exact same thing, reading that letter. Republicans have come out and said that the reason why senator warren in particular was silenced was because this was part of a much longer speech and she was warned previously before they ultimately went through and invoked this rule 19, the arcane rule that prevents one senator from impugning the character of another on the senate floor. But i pushed Elizabeth Warren on this point and what she made of it. Take a look. Do you think what senator mcconnell did last night was sexist . I think what he did was wrong. I think that reporter but it wasnt sexist . I think reading the words of Coretta Scott king on the floor of the United States Senate Honors the senate. Reporter so senator warren a little bit careful in how she framed that there. I also went on to ask her whether this was the first step in a potential 2020 president ial bid for her and she was similarly shrugging off that question. She said no, and then went on to talk about Jeff Sessions, but clearly this is something that fits into a broader context of where the Democratic Party is. I also asked her about that and she said look, we are the opposition party, and i think she clearly wants to be seen as a leader of this opposition, and that could set her up for bigger things to come. Republicans are saying hey, were happy to have the Elizabeth Warren, this liberal person that we think is out of step with many americans, be the face of the Democratic Party, but its also possible that you know, this turned into something that senator mcconnell and republicans did not expect to happen. What has been the response from republicans there in the Upper Chamber . It would seem as if based on what we saw last night with the vote, at they are backing senator mcconnell. Is that still the case today . From what i can tell being up here this morning, yes, that is the case, craig, although of course you dont have them going down to the floor and using this rule again. Democrats are saying thats evidence they were silencing warren perhaps because she was a woman. It could also be a sign that you know what . They want to let this kind of dissipate. Obviously this vote on Jeff Sessions will happen tonight at 7 00 no matter what and the bottom line sessions is expected to be confirmed as the next attorney general of the United States. So i think for Mitch Mcconnell and the republicans backing him thats really what matters and they feel this is going to be over by the end of the day no matter what. You mentioned some of the other senators taking to the floor. Senator sanders last hour talking about precisely why he did that with andrea mitchell. Lets take a listen, Bernie Sanders and senator udall i hope our leadership doesnt bring these trump tactics of shutting people off and shutting debate off into the senate. I think its very clear senator mcconnell made a mistake. I think he owes Elizabeth Warren an apology. I think we immediately need to take a revote on that issue to make it clear that were not going to allow this to become a precedent. All right, kasie hunt for us there on the hill, thanks. Fantasticber view by the way. Thanks, craig. Returning to the white house now, President Trump today railing against anyone, including judges, who would agree to upholdhenjunction on his immigration and travel ban. Take it from him, he said, hes a smart man. Its as plain as you can have it. I didnt and i was a good student. I understand things. I comprehend very well, okay . Better than i think almost anybody. For more lets go to Kristen Welker now. Lets talk more about what the president said in front of that group of police officers, kristen. Reporter craig, he had very sharp language for this judicial process, and frankly, for the judges who were currently weighing his travel ban. He said that he doesnt want to accuse the judges of being biased, but then he suggested that a ruling against him is political. Take a listen. I dont ever want to call a court biased so i wont call it biased, and we havent had a decision yet. But courts seem to be so political, and it would be so great for our Justice System if they would be able to read a statement and do whats right. Reporter as pete william has been reporting its unlikely that will impact the outcome in any way but craig the broader question may be, does this president respect the division between the executive and judicial branches and how does he see that distinction . Sean spicer his press secretary was asked a number of tough questions about that yesterday and said yes he absolutely does think that distinction is important, but these fresh comments raise a whole host of new questions, so expect that to be one of the key topics when sean spicer briefs in just about 45 minutes from now. We also understand that the president seems to have run afoul of some ethics watchers with this new tweet about ivan ka. Ivanka. Let me read you the tweet and we can analyst. My daughter ivanka has been treated so unfacial b by nordstrom. She is a great person, always pushing me to do the right thing, terrible this raises a number of ethical questions and senator bob casey retweeted that and linked it to the government ethics office, so you can expect some debate about this on capitol hill, whether this does in fact violate ethics rules but the other thing, craig, ivanka stepped down from her brand, so the question is, why is the president tweeting in defense of his daughter, if shes no longer directly related to this brand . Kristen, let me interrupt you for a second. President trump right now at the white house, meeting with intel ceo. Lets listen in. Announce this year . Its really in support of the tax and regulatory policies that we see the administration pushing forward, that really make it advantageous to do manufacturing in the u. S. Thank you, press. Thank you all. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right, sorry about that, Kristen Welker. President trump in the oval office, well get back to kristen later. Lets bring in senator bill cassidy, republican from louisiana. Senator, thank you so much for your time this afternoon. The big question of course today there in the Upper Chamber, why silence senator warren, but not silence Sherrod Brown or tom udall or Bernie Sanders who subsequently read that letter from Coretta Scott king . Two things, first your correspondent suggested there was a difference between the two incidents. She said substantially did the same thing. She seems to suggest there was a difference, number one. Number two, senator warren was warned so there was this kind of warning given, but the key issue isnt silence. The key thing is Jeff Sessions qualified to be attorney general. Susan collins, the moderate republican, senator from maine, when introducing sessions spoke so highly of him, and so much of his character, as did others, so i think, i look at sessions, say hes qualified. And those that allege these things from distant past, there are many others that say no, that is not true. So on balance it seems hes a fairminded man who has done his best to protect the rights of individual americans. Thats actually the critical issue, not this side show if you will. Roughly six and a half yrs o, congressman joe wilson, as you know, republican from south carolina, he interrupted president obamas appearance before congress, and he screamed you lie you were in the house at the time, you had an opportunity to vote yes on a resolution condemning that breach of decorum, but you voted nay. How do you square that vote on decorum with the one that you took on warren last night . Different chambers, different rules. Ones the house, one is the senate. Theyre just different issues. Lets move to the travel ban. You have called for it to be refined. Clearly the president does not believe that it needs to be refined. What specifically would you change about the action . I think youve already seen it refineded. My point is as a physician, i know many physicians from those countries that provide valuable services to americans, and theyve been in practice 20 years, sometimes in inner city or in rural areas that other doctors are not. You saw Reince Priebus come out the day after or the next day, somewhere around there, saying that those who are permanent residents with green cards, that this ban does not apply to them, thats number one, thats a good thing. Im all in favor of that. Secondly there was a statement within there that those who had served as interpreters for our troops, helping our folks stay out of harms way or within harms way to get out, that that would be a positive factor in terms of allowing them to come over. They shoulbe here. I am all about them getting here. Im hoping the administration uses those positive factors in a very broad, very efficient, very quick sense. We need those folks who helped our troops to get over here and out of their own harms way. This morning President Trump as you probably saw or heard at least criticized the judges last night, said that it was disgraceful, says that the country is at risk while this is being blocked, while its tied up before this threejudge panel. Do you agree with that assessment . Are we at risk . Is it disgraceful . First, i did not hear the quote so i cannot docooperate o it. I note in the state of the union speech President Trump called out the Supreme Court president obama i think you mean. President obama im sorry. President trump is obeying the injunction. Think about that. President obama disobeyed judge feldman. We should pat him on the back because hes obeying the law. Stay with me. Stay with me. President obama disobeyed the injunction from judge feldman in new orleans when he told him to end the moratorium after the bp oil spill, disobeyed the judge in mcallen, texas, when he told him to stop giving special ben pits were talking about President Trump. I am saying we should be inkurnlgd. That hes following the law . President obama didnt. We are encouraged we are seeing a positive cnge oneredent to the next, obama ignoring feldman and the mcallen, texas, judge, to trump although hes criticizing nonetheless is obeying the injunction. It shouldnt be a new development, after obama it was a new development. Before i let you go i want to ask you about the folks there in your state, of course number of tornadoes touched down yesterday at least seven landed in and around the city, seven confirmed so far. The governor declared a state of emergency as you know. So far no deaths reported, what else can you tell us . How are the folks there doing . The worst injury was a woman pregnant on a bridge, the bridge crushed, car is crushed. She has had an arm amputated, that is the worst weve heard of. Thank you for your concern. Our hearts have to go out to those victims and frankly our state has had recent flooding and some other things, so we feel a little bit like the plagues of job, but were resilient state and i look forward to us recovering but we sure would like a break from this. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of new orleans. Senator cassidy thank you for your time this afternoon, shir. Thank you. That brings us to todays microsoft pulse question of the day, did senator mick mcconnells silencing of senator warren on the floor of the senate backfire . Cast your vote at pulse. Msnbc. Com. Well check your results later in the broadcast. Under consideration, the Appeals Court reviewing the president s controversial immigration ban. Pete williams walks us through the next legal steps. We are also once again doing what we seem to be doing so often these day this is time of the afternoon, keeping a close eye on that podium. Sean spicer, White House Press secretary, set to hold a Daily Briefing roughly 30 minutes from now. Hes known to start a little early. When it happens well bring it to you live. [ all sounds come to a crashing halt ] ah. When your pain reliever stops working, your whole day stops. Awww. Try this. For minor arthritis pain, only aleve is fda approved to work for up to 12 straight hours with just one pill. Thank you. Come on everybody. Aleve. Live whole. Not part. Parts a and b and want more coverage, guess what . You could apply for a Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan whenever you want. No enrollment window. No waiting to apply. That means now may be a great time to shop for an aarp Medicare Supplement Insurance Plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Medicare doesnt cover everything. 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If you are a good student in high school or a bad student in high school, you can understand this, and its really incredible to me that we have a court case thats going on so long. Nbc news justice correspondent Pete Williams in washington for us this afternoon following the twists and turns. Pete, lets just start with the main arguments made on this very interesting, first time ive listened to a Conference Call with three judges on live television. It was quite fascinating. The basic claim here is the government says this Appeals Court or this District Court judges order should be lifted so the government can enforce the ban. Who gets hurt most . Is the government hurt the most by keeping the stay in effect that stops them from enforcing the travel restrictions, or are the states hurt more by keeping the ruling in place . Thats the immediate question before the court but as you heard, craig, they got into a lot of other questions that touch on it, such as did the president act legally, did he act under the con