Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Kate Snow 20170217 :

MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Kate Snow February 17, 2017

[ applause ] that our Great Service members have the tools, equipment, training and resources they need to get the job done. As George Washington said, being prepared for war is the best way to prevent it. Katy tur is earning her pay today. Shes still with us. You were listening to the boein event. Youve covered him for, what, a year and a half now. Talk about the change in tone from yesterday to today. This was a very different event. We would see this on the campaign trail where he would go off at a rally and next day be back on message, back on prompter. That was mostly steve bannon getting in his ear saying, bud y time to get focused. Youre going to lose this election unless you really adhere to a message as much as you can. We saw that here today. Its unclear who got in his ear, whether anybody did get in his ear. Its been a tumultuous week for the president. Hes been facing down one controversy after another. Today was his chance to really try to turn the news cycle in his favor. He got out in front of a large crowd of people, cheering him on. South carolina, obviously, a state he won big. He needed to do something. He needed to not do something wrong in this scenario. He needed to keep the message on him getting out,there talking about jobs, talking about industry, talking about boeing and how hes going to lower the cost of the addition of air force one and all hes going to do for the american worker, which in many ways which is what got him to the white house. Stay with me, if you will, for a little longer. I want to welcome in msnbc alease jordan, time columnist and former adviser for senator rand pauls president ial campaign, and kareem jeanpierre now Senior Adviser for moveon. Org. I just realized were four women this afternoon. This is good. This is great. This has been a tumultuous week. I dont think anybody would deny theres been a lot of ups and downs in the last five days. How would you rate things on a friday afternoon, where is this white house and how organized is the administration . It clearly was a shaky week for donald trump with the firing of general mike flynn, his natial security adviser, and then his labor secretary nominee got ousted, essentially. Then yesterday he gave this combative 77minute long press conference where he really attempted to reclaim the narrative and by going out there himself, you know, thought that he could represent himself better than anyone on his staff. Then today you see him coming out with a disciplined public appearance, where he is reading from, it seemed to be, prepared remarks. And stayed more on script than he has since really becoming president. I think it was an attempt to recast the narrative and to regain some control over a news cycle that hasnt been kind to his management of the white house and his initial rollout of his first few policies. A lot of people talking about the 77minute press conference yesterday. And a lot of the press coverage, i have to say, watching it in the last 24 hours, has been pretty negative about the president and his freewheeling style. Have i to play some sound. We went out and talked to trump supporters, people who voted for him in the first place, and asked them about what they thought of the press conference. Take a listen. Though put out there only what wants to be heard, not the actual truth or anything else like that. You can only go by what the president actually comes out of his mouth. We dont know what to trust anymore. Its not black and white like it used to be. I do believe a lot of them are out to see theyre not out to do whats necessarily right. Theyre out to bring in numbers. Like on russia, do you think thats blown out of proportion or i think its definitely blown out of proportion. Now, again, those are all iowa voters. I dont know if they all voted for donald trump but it was an area where he got a lot o votes. That was from our Vaughn Hilliard, whos been out canvassing areas of the country that maybe we dont get to quite as often. My question is to you, when you hear that, and tomorrow the president holding this big election rally down in florida, again, those will be his people, right . He frequently says that he wants an eightyear term. He wants two terms in office. When you hear that, there are a lot of voters that want that. Yeah, its not its not surprising that his voters are saying this, potentially the people who voted for him, because his diehard voters arent going anywhere. What we saw yesterday normally president s do those types of press conferences, theyre trying to send a message to the world, right, some sort of worldwide message and really trying to bring that home. And what we heard yesterday was a message conveying a message only hitting a party of one, his people. It was essentially, hey, i won, all of you can drop dead. The problem here is that if youre one of our allies looking around the world and youre hearing around the world and youre hearing this message, you cant be feeling good about what he said. If youre a republican or democrat on the hill, you cant really be feel reassured about what donald trump did yesterday. It was a classic kind of narcissism textbook narcissism, if you will, what we saw. It shows that he hasnt really grown into the role of presidency and so he was doubling down, continues to double down on the same people who voted for him. Thats a narrative were starting to hear. He she just used the word classic narcissism. I think weve heard quite a few democrats actually questioning the Mental Health of the president of the United States. I think thats a very tricky road to go down, especially since these arent psychiatrists who have ever treated president trp. I think its inappropriate and that while i do understand the speculation, i think its much more important for everyone to focus on the actions that are happening within this white house, the policies that hes pursuing. Unless the chaos that of every minor tweet and insult and focus in on what are these policies going to be that are really going to impact americans lives for better or worse. To karines point, do you think there is a sense on capitol hill right now, elise, i was up there on tuesday down there on tuesday, and there were some republicans i talked to who seemed a little nervous about whats going on because they cant get their agenda potentially through congress as fast as they wanted to. And i do i think part of the speculation about Donald Trumps mental state is just because he has been so erratic in his public presentation and his management style. So, it makes everyone so nervous. If hes going to be able to have the discipline to actually execute and to take the mandate that he has and implement some republican policies that have really been on the back burner for eight years of the obama presidency. So, i think that there is a lot of anxiety among the gop just because theres so much they want to get done. And they are hoping donald trump isnt going to be a weak president , selfhobbled and selfcrimed just because he isnt able to appoint good people within his white house and within his cabinets and cant actually get anything done. That is totally valid. A lot of concerns are on the hill about just that. Donald trump not being able to actually get anything done. But the perception that he enjoys outside of the beltway, among those who voted for him, at lea f now,s one getting quite a bit do by signing all of those executive orders. They appreciated his long list yesterday of this is what ive done. Here are my accomplishments. Precisely. So, if it doesnt get through the house or senate, likely at the moment the blame is going to shift to them, not donald trump. His popularity among those who like him will stay the same. Pew has a really interesting point of research out right now. It says among republicans donald trump is actually enjoying higher support than either george w. Bush did or reagan did at this time. Thats quite notable considering his favorable numbers are pretty low across the country. So, if hes able to maintain that pefsh ant base of support, maintain this perception that hes fighting for him, and thats exactly what you saw in those interviews our own Vaughn Hilliard was able to do, he still stands a chance of being able to maintain the excitement going into the 2020 election. You know, guys, were 26 days in. We have a long way to go. I know if feels like hes having a Campaign Rally, technically, in florida. Hes having a Campaign Rally because he wants to remind everybody that he can still draw crowds and he is still he still is the leader of the Republican Party. Karine, let me ask about this point that the pictures were seeing out of South Carolina, if we can show that video again. Hes speaking to a very friendly audience of American Workers at the boeing plant. A lot of them probably did vote for him and not a democrat. I want to ask the democrats and how do they attract can they move any of those trump voters back over to your column . Well, i think the diehard trump voters, i think theyre pretty much in trumps camp. Were talking about South Carolina, as we mentioned earlier in the hour, that he won that he won that state very well. Its not at all surprising. We have to remember, he was on teleprompter here today. I mean, this is just 24 hours after what we saw i believe was the real donald trump yesterday when he was off the teleprompter, where he was really wanting to go after who he thought who he thinks are the opposition party, his opposition. So,ou know, i wouldnt put too much stake into today because as we know from from the campaign, he never really stayed on message for more than 24 hours. I want to play more sound. This is mitch mcconnell, the majority leader, talking about the president and his agenda. Take a listen. I like what hes doing. Ive not been a fan of the extra discussion, but were going to soldier on. We like his positions and were going to pursue them. Not a fan of the extra discussion. That might be the nicest way ive heard someone characterize President Trumps persona. What does congress do next . I mean, how do you see this . They take a break next week, or the house does anyway, what do you see coming along first . Well, youre seeing the starts of some republican dissent already against trump, which isnt a good position for him to be on, especially this early on. Your representative mark sanford had a really probing interview with politico and talked about his misgivings with donald trump. He was on our air a little while ago saying the same things. And then also, you know, you have there is a republican congressman whos choosing to support an investigation into the russian allegation. So, i think this slow build is a dangerous thing for the Trump Administration if they dont keep the republicans, you know, under their keep everyone in check and keep them supportive of their agenda. Do you see obamacare speaker ryan said the other day it might actually happen the first week of march, which is coming up now in, what, a week and a half, two weeks from now. Is that really practical that theyll have something to vote on . Well, yesterday senator rand paul, who i used to work for and mark sanford put forward a replacement bill. There is an option thats put out there and supported by the freedom cs. You , whether other senators and congre members who have districts who would really be impacted by a repeal and that would take away some of the obamacare provisions that their constituents support, whether it would be able to make it through is another question in and of itself and will be an extremely tough battle, i think. I think well leave it there. Great to have all you guys with us this afternoon. Thank you all for being here on a friday. Appreciate it. Have a great weekend. Coming up, fbi director james comey shows up on capitol hill for some kind of meeting. Who did he meet with . And the Senate Confirms Oklahoma Attorney general scott pruitt for epa despite democrats making every effort to delay that vote. Plus, ill be joined by republican congressman bill flores of texas. Where do the efforts to replace obamacare, we were just talking about, it where do those efforts stand today one month into a new administration . Everyone deserves attention, whether youve saved a lot or just a little. At pnc investments, we believe youre more than just a number. So we provide personal Financial Advice for every retirement investor. I just want to find a used car start at the new carfax. Com show me used trucks with one owner. Pretty cool. [laughs] ah. Ahem. Show me the carfax. Start your used car search at the allnew carfax. Com. Or keeping a Hotels Guests cuttinconnected. I to 35,000 fans. Businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink. becky ive seen such a change in einstein since he started eating beneful. The number one ingredient in it is beef. einstein the beef is fantastic becky hes a very active dog. He never stops moving. He has enough energy to believe that he can jump high enough to catch a bird. It has real beef, grains, vegetables, and he loves it. Well, we were coming for an interview. So he wanted to wear his tie. einstein its my power tie. It gives me power. vo try beneful originals with beef. With real beef as the number one ingredient. Healthful. Flavorful. Beneful. Some breaking news to get to you. Fbi director james comey has just left a closeddoor meeting on capitol hill. Nbcs kasie hunt joins me live from the location of that meeting, inside the capitol. I cant see you yet but i think youre down in the base many, arent you, in the capitol, what they call the crypt . Reporter yeah, im going to walk over this way, if you want to come follow me. I am trying to oh, youre near the subway. Shes down by the subway. Reporter were trying to talk to mr. Vice chairman, can you give us any information about the content of this briefing . Not even the topic . Subject matter . Sorry. Reporter okay. That was we were just trying to talk to senator warner up. May be seeing pictures now of senator byrd, the chairman of the intelligence committee. Senator, can you tell us anhing about this meeting . Was russia the subject . We werent talking about any of the investigation. This is part of it. Reporter did you ask at all for this briefing or the fbi director . [ inaudible ] reporter thank you, sir. Kate, i apologize. We were just trying to speak to senator warner and senator burr, the chairman. Neither one would tell us what was going on. Let me walk the viewers through this. Oh, there you are. Reporter yes, hi. I apologize. This is reporting in action. This is what were seeing. Reporter yes. So, i apologize if it was a little kilter. This is whats known as the senate subway. To my right underneath the floor is the secure its called a skiff. This is where senators get briefings from people like jim comey about highly sensitive information. Theyve been down there now for at least an hour, if not longer. A very long meeting with fbi director comey. Were not sure if there were other people in the room briefing because theres been an unusually tight hold on whatever has been going on and what theyve been talking about. Normally you can at least get senators to stop and talk a little bit, even if its broad about the news of the day or what was discussed. As you saw there, both warner and burr were extraordinarily tightlipped about what they heard. Burr said, i said from the beginning im not going to talk about this investigation or say anything about that investigation, so that actually kind of alludes to the fact that it might have been focused on i dont want to go so far as to say safe to assume, but about the Senate Committee on russians meddle. Thats been the news of the past week. At this point, again, we dont know exactly what it was they were talking about but it was several it was over an hour, behind closed doors with jim comb y intelligence committee, and senator Chuck Schumer was in the meeting, although he would not even confirm he, in fact, attended. Schumer is a member of the gang of eight, eight members of congress privy to the highest levels of intelligence. Thats just the leaders in the house and the senate on both parties side. Speaker of the house, minority leader. As well as the chairman and vice chairman of the respective intelligence committees. Again, i wish hi more to tell you about what they were talking about no its fascinating. Reporter we do know it was pretty abrupt. This is a pretty unusual event for a friday afternoon, especially before a holiday weekend. Yeah, yeah. Again, where kasie is standing is the basement, if you will, of the Capitol Building. Theres an escalator behind her. To your left is where the subway is that takes senators back to their offices, right . Just to paint a picture for people. Its between the Capitol Building and the dome their offices. Youre trying to grab them as they make their trip back to the office. Let me ask you about one other thing on capitol hill. Big news this afternoon. That is scott pruitt for the epa head being approved by full senate, which democrats tried to stop. Reporter thats right. This was a bit of a lastminute push to try to derail this nomination from democrats. Its related to theres a court case going on in oklahoma where scott pruitt, who is just now the recently confirmed head of the Environmental Protection agency, was sued over some emails that government groups wanted him to release. A judge said, you have to turn those emails over by next tuesday. That prompted democrats to start an overnight talkathon saying we need to get the information out of these emails before we can say yes or no. The calendar the ball was already rolling here in the senate for a 1 00 vote. That happened, as we expected. There were a couple democrats that voted yes on pruitt. Joe manchin of west virginia, heidi hitekamp. Democrats tried to delay it. There was a motion on the floor that failed. Now the nomination of pruitt is ready to be sworn in potentially. Im not sure if we have scheduling information on that yet but he has been confirmed as the epa administrator. Scott pruitt, of course, former Oklahoma Attorney general, which is why those court papers and things were coming into play because hes still involved or was involved in suits ongoing in oklahoma. Kasie hunt, ill let you go back over there by that door a

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