your free decision guide. this easy-to-understand guide will answer some of your questions and help you find the aarp medicare supplement plan that's right for you. everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. hello. we are live at the white house. i'm chris jansing. and 1600 pennsylvania avenue they are getting ready for a transition. all week long we have seen there have been vans outside of the white house, of the private residence. i was just in the west wing at senior adviser valerie jarrett's office.

big boxes are outside her box, ready for the big move. 11 days left. president-elect preparing to hold his first news conference since the summer. then, starting tomorrow, nine of his cabinet nominees will go to capitol hill, but not without an 11th-hour request from democrats to delay their nomination hearings. plus, president obama's good-bye. he'll be going to his hometown of chicago tomorrow to deliver his last address as commander in chief. i'll talk more about that and more with white house press secretary josh earnest who will join me for a live interview in minutes. two big stories in florida. breaking news. orlando police hunting the gunman who murdered a police officer. the iraq war veteran arrested in the shooting at ft. lauderdale airport in the courtroom for the first time. nine cabinet-level hearings expected this week, beginning with senator jeff sessions' con

dpir mags hearing. democrats crying foul over the head-spinning schedule after the government ethics office complained it didn't have time to fully vet nominees. this as nbc news confirms the president-elect's son-in-law jared kushner will be made senior white house adviser. kushner has already indicated he will resign and divest from his family's sprawling real estate empire. mr. trump making two impromptu appearances outside trump tower. he defend the people he picked for his cabinet. >> i think they'll all pass. i think every nomination will be -- they're all at the highest level. jack was even saying, they are the absolute highest level. i think thair they're going to do very well. >> i want to bring in our correspondents. peter alexander in our washington news room. kelly o'donnell, who is on capitol hill. and here at the white house, we have nbc pentagon correspondent hans nichols. good to see all of you. peter, let me start with you. i guess, this is the week where

the rubber meets the road for the incoming trump administration. we see him make two appearances at the gold elevators, as we call them, to talk about the jobs. but also potential conflicts of interest in his white house are re-emerging. what can you tell us, first of all, about this breaking news on jared kushner. >> a dual story line as we wait for wednesday's news conference which has been delayed since december, where donald trump says he will address those potential conflicts of interest as he tries to build a wall between his private interests and his responsibilities as president. new focus on jared kushner, as you noted, nbc news has confirmed within the last hour and a half will be named as senior adviser to the president. last night i went back and forth with his team, specifically hearing back from an attorney at a prominent d.c. law firm that's been involved in this process to try to pull him, to disentangle him from any potential conflicts of interest. in a statement this attorney told me that mr. kushner is committed to complying with

federal ethics laws and they're consulting with the office of government ethics regarding the steps he would take. at the time i was told those steps have been finalized but that he would resign his position at kushner companies. that's where the 35-year-old, turning 36 tomorrow, is presently the ceo, and divest, in their language, substantial assets in accordance with federal guidelines. he would also recuse himself as the note goes on to say, from particular matters that would have a direct and predictable effect on his remaining financial interests. all of this is important because jared kushner has played a very prominent, if silent to most of us, role side by side with donald trump. effectively in this new assignment he will be working alongside the president, right alongside steve bannon, the chief strategist, and reince pry bu priebus. "the new york times" over the weekend reported when there were concerns about foreign policy matters, specifically when the

chinese ambassador to the u.s. was frustrated about trump's tradition-breaking call to the taiwanese president, that the trump folks basically told the white house, put him in touch with jared kushner, not with donald trump's national security team. chris? >> that's unbelievable stuff. there are so many questions, kelly, about what's going to happen with the ethics office. the trump transition clearly on the offense. i want to play with trump transition board member marsha blackburn said, blaming the ethics office for missing paperwork. >> it's important that the oge get their work done. maybe these guys need to realize they are going to have to work more than 40 hours in a week. >> so, today trump sat down with mitch mcconnell, who holds the power to get these hearings under way, despite democrats demanding more time. what can you tell us? where does this stand, the delay to cabinet confirmations? >> reporter: it is a pr strategy

for democrats more than a practical set of tools they have at their disposal. because they can try to shine a light on areas where they think these nominees have questions that continue to need to be answered or if there are gaps in submissions that are required. but mitch mcconnell really has all the cards for this. in this process, it is moving swiftly. when you're establishing a cabinet, of course, it always feels like there are a lot of confirmation hearings, but these are, in fact, stacked very close together, very early in the year. sometimes in new administrations you don't see cabinet-level appointees confirmed for their office until the new administration is up and running. so, there is time, and yet republicans want to move swiftly. it is very difficult for democrats to put up roadblocks, in part, because of changes they made when they were in control of the senate. and so you'll have some philosophical questions that will come up. you'll have rigorous questioning, as there should be. and the one real question mark is for any of these nominees,

has anything surfaced in the fbi checks, the background checks, that is unknown to even the trump transition or others about steps that might put a roadblock in the path of that nominee. that's a question mark, which is why the fbi briefings that have not fully come to congress yet are important in terms of the background checks done on these nominees. but tomorrow, just the first of a day when we have all hands on deck, there will be so many confirmation hearings to keep an eye on. that's a challenge for senators. democrats are saying, that, too is part of it. give senators a chance to properly question and to sort of consider these nominations without it all being stacked so firmly at the front of this term. chris? >> and, hans, a lot of that attention will be on folks dealing with national security. one of those tomorrow being john kelly. what are we expecting? >> there's an urgency to get him confirmed. he's homeland security.

he does not have his letter from the office of government ethics. you submit all your paperwork to oge, in washington shorthand, and they give you a letter saying here is how you could potentially unwind any potential conflicts of interest. we heard from josh earnest. we're excavating a letter from february 2009, mitch mcconnell writing harry reid saying this should be the standard before they get a hearing. here's what mr. earnest had to say earlier today. >> that's why it's particularly egregious that republicans in the united states congress who previously had so aggressively advocated these were completed before these hearings were held, are now agreeing to hold hearings for nominees that do have obvious financial conflicts of interest. >> now, it does take some time to get these letters done. some people have very complicated financials. penny pritchard, took almost six months for that process. >> hans, thanks to you and kelly

and peter as well. thank you so much. joining me now, delaware senator chris coons. so much to unpack here. clearly republicans have said they're not going to delay any hearings, even if fbi background checks are not complete. in fact, what mitch mcconnell said, these are just little procedural complaints. is he right? >> well, chris, these weren't little procedural concerns to senator mcconnell back eight years ago when the obama cabinet was facing confirmation hearings. as you heard from josh earnest, senator mcconnell insisted on having fbi background checks and the office of government ethics clearances before proceeding. i'll remind you, president-elect trump has nominated more billionaires for his cabinet than any previous president. president-elect trump ran on a position that he would drain the swamp and tackle ethics challenges in washington, yet the head of the office of government ethics is already saying publicly, there is cause for alarm in how many confirmation hearings the republicans are rushing forward this week.

the least of these -- >> but there's nothing you can do about it, is there really, senator? >> i'm sorry? >> is there anything you can do about it? >> the only thing we can do, frankly s to raise the alarm to ask the average american who might be watching, who is engaged with these hearings, to reach out to anyone who represents them in the senate from the other party. we cannot proceed durly stop these hearing. i think it's only fair to have the governments ethics office cle charged with clearing these nominees. that's in the public's best interest, especially when we have a president-elect who has obvious yet unresolved conflicts of interest himself. >> there's going to be a lot of tough questions, nevertheless. i want to start with senator sessions. you've known about him for years. you've talked about attending bible study together. don't think you've said publicly

whether you'll support his nomination. do you? if not, what questions do you need answered? >> well, chris, i know senator sessions well. and i have said publicly that he's someone i consider a friend and who i've gotten to know. but i spent the weekend reading through a 300-page briefing book on his legislative record o his public statements, and i had a long personal meeting with him last week. i will have a number of tough questions for him at tomorrow's hearing because there are many issues, civil rights, civil liberties, torture, treatment of prisoners in federal prisons, criminal justice reform, where i believe we have stark differences in our views. and i have not yet made up my mind. i will do my best to keep an open mind, but i will tell you it's clear to me we have very different values and priorities. >> you also met outgoing exxon ceo and trump's nominee for secretary of state last week up. said what he told you about recent russian aggression doesn't fit with the president-elect's public position. so, i wonder if you're looking

for rex tillerson to prove himself as a moderating force on foreign policy or is this a whole new world we're in where you're questioning someone who's a nominee for a critical position and they just might not see eye to eye with the man they're going to serve? >> well, chris, i think it's more the latter. mr. tillerson and i had an hour and a half meeting last week. as i read into his record, he had answers for me on my core questions about whether he understands the difference between being ceo of a major oil company and having relations with vladimir putin in russia to extract shareholder value and being secretary of state where he's fighting for america's values, for press freedom and human rights and for democracy. and he had strong answers about the value of nato, about how he sees putin's aggression in russia -- excuse me, russia's aggression in ukraine and syria. i'm hopeful we'll get similar and strong answers from him in the hearing on wednesday.

one complicating factor is we'll have ongoing hearings for sessions and tillerson happening at the same time. if mr. tillerson gives the same and strong answers in a public hearing as he did in our private meeting, there's a real tension between what he's saying and what president-elect trump has been saying. president-elect trump has still not denounced russia's attack on our election. has still not clearly stood up for putin's attack on our electoral process. and i think that's a major issue looming for his national security team. >> in fact, you've called the president-elect irresponsible for citing julian assange and disparaging u.s. intelligence community over russian hacking allegations. i know you called on him to put down the phone, stop tweeting. he obviously ignored that advice. he tweeted this weekend that only stupid people don't want a good relationship with russia. is he talking about you, senator? >> he may be talking about me or he may be talking about speaker

ryan or he may be talking about senate majority leader mcconnell. both speaker ryan and mcconnell have recently said they don't expect us to have significantly warmer, better relations with russia. and, obviously, a decorated war hero john mccain has pointedly and repeatedly said he views vladimir putin has a thug and an autocrat who is a direct threat to america's security. i think president-elect trump is in for a surprise. if he thinks that he's going to be able to bluster and bully his way through the bipartisan opposition to vladimir putin's attack on our election in 2016. and if he doesn't start speaking more clearly about the threat to our national security, putin's aggression in eastern europe and in syria. >> delaware senator chris coons, it's going to be a very busy week on the hill. thank you for taking the time. >> thank you, chris. msnbc will have live coverage of the president's farewell address to the nation tomorrow night. ahead of his speech, nbc news is

gaining rare access to the commander in chief. lester holt of "nbc nightly news" will fly to the chicago with the president aboard air force one for an exclusive interview ahead of the president's speech. you can watch that conversation. barack obama and the reality of hope friday night on nbc. check your local listings. that leads us to today's microsoft pulse question. a new poll shows americans view president obama favorably but they're divided on his legacy. will president obama be able to secure his legacy after leaving office? let us know what you think. pulse.msnbc.com. we'll check your responses a little later in the show. breaking news. a massive manhunt for a cop killer. the latest from florida where schools are on lockdown and a community is in shock. . also ahead, an accused airport killer officially charged. we are live in ft. lauderdale where the man charged with killing five faced a judge just a short time ago. later, one-on-one with josh earnest. one of the most visible faces of

the obama administration will join me to discuss his time in the west wing and so much more when our live coverage from america's house, 1600 pennsylvania avenue, continues next.

break news in orlando where a manhunt is under way for a man who shot and killed a police officer. it happened near a walmart. police were initially called to the scene after loyd was identified by a shopper. the 41-year-old is wanted in the murder of his pregnant ex-girlfriend last month. in a separate incident, as he was trying to find loyd today, a sheriff's deputy died in a motorcycle crash. msnbc senior editor cal perry is following the latest from our headquarters in new york. cal, do authorities have any idea where loyd might be?

>> no. we're now coming up on really seven hours of a manhunt that's ongoing. keep in mind, this is happening in orange county, the tenth largest school district in the country. schools will shortly be letting out. 17 are still on a lockdown situation. parents are urged to go to the orange county public school website to see which schools are affected and how affected. this reward poster on your screen released by police, up to a $60,000 reward for any information leading to the capture of markeith loyd, wanted for a murder in december and wanted for that murder this morning of a master sergeant debora clayton, a 17-year veteran of the orlando police department. this manhunt is expanding as now the fbi, atf and u.s. marshals are joining that search. >> msnbc's cal perry, thank you for that. he is the man with all the answers. up next, he takes mine live here

on msnbc. press secretary josh earnest joins me from the brady press room right after this. so beautiful. what shall we call you? tom! name it tom! studies show that toms have the highest average earning potential over their professional lifetime. see? uh, it's a girl. congratulations! two of my girls are toms. i work for ally, finances are my thing. you know, i'm gonna go give birth real quick and then we'll talk, ok? nice baby. let's go. here comes tom #5! nothing, stops us from doing right by our customers.

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welcome back to the white house. for better and worse, good times and bad, i'm standing in the room where americans have gotten their information about what's going on in the world and what the president is thinking. this is the brady press room. it's better known as the briefing room. and every day, those of us who are in the press, get to sit in these chairs. we can show you the chairs. as the tv cameras are rolling. frequently at the podium, press secretary josh earnest. and he is here with us live. >> hi, chris, how are you doing? >> it's good. >> it's good to be sitting on this side of the podium as opposed to the other side. >> we have some tough questions once and a while. you and i started our new jobs on the same day. >> that's right. >> can you believe, 2 1/2 years. >> it's gone by quickly. >> yes.

best moments? >> there have been a lot of great moments at the white house. i would say my best moment personally is when my kansas city royals came to celebrate their world series victory. >> i knew it would be that. >> what are the odds? they hadn't won the series in 30 years and they win a year when i am white house press secretary and they come to celebrate their championship when i'm here. so, it was a day that -- a day of my white house tenure i will genuinely never forget. >> i want to talk more about sports and the president, but i want to know something about barack obama that you know that the public doesn't know. >> yeah. what do i know about barack obama that the public doesn't? i mean, it's -- this is a tough question for probably the world's most scrutinized person. >> maybe after the pope, i was thinking the most famous man in the world. >> yeah. it's hard to identify one thing. let me think if i can think of one specific thing about him. i mean, i think the people surmise, but that they don't know, is that he genuinely loves kids. >> oh gosh. >> all those photos that you see

of him through the archives are typically situations not just where there are kids in the room and he finds them, but situations he sought out. he is more likely than anybody i know to cross a room to go and hold somebody's baby or to play with a little kid who happens to be at the white house. whether that's at the easter egg roll where there are thousands of kids or he's in the oval office with the child of somebody who works on staff. >> would any of those children be named walker earnest, who is how old now? >> it's possible he's had some of those fun moments with my son, who is 2 1/2. based on his interactions with the president has no idea how special it is to meet the president of the united states. >> since you brought that up, i'm going to jump ahead and drive the control room crazy, but there was a video in october or november that went viral starring none other than walker earnest, aka. >> superman. >> let's look.

>> i'm doing my thing. >> that's potus. >> i know, that was potus. >> that's potus. people were watching that on a loop. i know you're here a lot, you work long hours, but what 2 1/2-year-old knows the term potus? >> only someone who has heard his father refer to the president as potus for 2 1/2 years. it's the shorthand we use around the office and the shorthand i use with my wife at home occasionally. >> tell me what it is like to work here. there are some extraordinarily intense moments. there have been some tragic moments. we have seen it president tear up. what's he like in those situations? >> the president is a genuinely reserved guy. he doesn't show his emotions often, but there are certain things that really resonate with him. i think this goes back to the thing i was saying before about the president's genuine affection for children. the thing the president dave

i've seen the president get more emotional about more frequently than anything else is gun violence. particularly, gun violence that has claimed children as victims, as we so tragically saw in the shootings in newtown four years ago now. that is something that is close to the president's heart and that is something that wells up so much emotion inside him not just because of what a profound tragedy it is, but the way our dysfunctional system of government in congress has failed to do anything about it. even some common sense steps that are strongly supported by just about every american. the vast majority of gun owners support some gun safety measures the president was trying to advance in the aftermath of that tragedy to make those tragedies less likely to happen in the future. there's no one piece of legislation that the president can sign that will prevent every single act of gun violence but there are some common sense things we could do that would make those acts of violence less likely and less frequently. but yet there aren't enough

courageous people in the united states congress to act on it. it's sorely disappointed by that. >> i remember vividly last january and he came out, and it is maybe the most emotional i have ever seen him. i think we have that clip. let's play it. >> and from every family who never imagined that their loved one would be taken from our lives by a bullet from a gun -- every time i think about those kids, it gets me mad. >> every time i think about those kids it gets me mad. do you think that's his biggest regret, that that didn't get done? >> i think that's his biggest frustration. i think that's the thing he's been most frustrated about. there's a strong consensus around the country about the benefits of some of those common sense measures.

for whatever reason, there weren't enough courageous people in the united states congress to advance that legislation that wouldn't prevent every act of gun violence but would certainly make it harder for people who shouldn't have a gun from being able to get their hands on one. >> i wonder if you have been talking about this later, cody keenan, the president's speechwriter, he has a huge speech tomorrow. people were standing out in subzero freezing temperatures to get tickets to the hottest speech in town, his farewell address tomorrow, back in the place where it started, chicago. is that a big subject of conversation now as there are only 11 days left, what we d what we didn't do, what was left on the table? >> people are certainly taking stock of their tenure here. i know the president is taking stock -- >> is that what this speech is going to be about? >> no, i don't think it will. the president could recite the many accomplishments but his aspirations tomorrow. for a farewell address, the president does have an interest in looking forward and to

consider certainly the progress -- the context in the progress we've made, what lessons can we learn that will inform our ability to overcome the challenges that lie ahead president. the president is hopeful we'll be able to draw on the same kind of priorities and values that helped us make the progress we've made over the last eight years and use them and draw on them as we confront the challenges that lie ahead. that's where the president's thinking is. as president of the united states and someone who's had a unique vantage point on examining what our country has done to make progress, he wants to share some lessons learned with the american people tomorrow night. >> sharing them with one of those citizens donald j. trump? >> listen, the president -- let me say here that the president doesn't just have one person in mind when he's considering the audience that will hear the speech. the president is interested in all americans, whether they supported president obama or not, and wants to appeal to this notion that he's often cited, that there is far more that we have in common than dwisd ivide in this country.

this common value as americans, this idea that everybody who works hard should have an equal opportunity to succeed. everybody get a fair shot and fair shake. those are the values the president believes will serve the country well moving forward because it ensures we're drawing on the same set of values. we're not democrats and republicans wearing red and blue jerseys. we're americans first. if we take that approach to trying to solve the problems that we have, or the challenges we're faced with in this country, it doesn't mean it's going to be easy to solve those problems but it means we are going to eventually solve those problems because when the american people have gotten together to fight for a challenge and to confront it and look to make our country better, we have never -- we've never failed. >> you sound like a politician yourself. let's go up to your -- the place where you're more comfortable. if people knew how often when people get a chance to come in here, this is where they to want have their picture taken. >> it is. >> i don't think i've actually ever stood up here. and i see desiree is out there, your assistant. what is it like and what do you

worry about most -- there's my chair with the green cord in it. >> yes, it does. >> what's it like to speak for the leader of the free world? >> the first time i walked -- i stepped up to this podium to answer questions from the reporters, i was actually taken aback at how close they were sitting to me. that even though you're -- you know, we're elevated, four inches off the ground and i have this podium separating me and them, it felt like the first time that i was in here that there was a wall of people, just inches away from me who were scrutinizing my every word and every movement. so, that was the first thing i was surprised by the first time i came out here. but i will say the thing that i am most focused on and the thing i think is most important -- essentially two things. the first thing is making sure what i'm saying is accurate, it stands up to scrutiny. that's thing i hold myself to a high standard to. i know the reporters that cover me every day. they should. that's part of the process. the other thing is i want to come to the briefing prepared to

give people an authentic view of what the president thinks. i want to make sure that i understand what the president's approach is to a wide range of problems so i can help you guys get inside his head. give you and the american public some insight into why the president thinks this particular issue is important or why the president has chosen this particular approach. a lot of the calls the president has to make are not obvious. these are 51-49 calls and hoping you understand why the president believes this option is the 51 option is the -- i think, is what i can best do to serve the president. but it's also the most -- i think the most effective way for me to persuade the american public that what the president is doing is the right thing. if people had a clear understanding of what was driving the president and why he was making these decisions, i think we're going to be much better positioned to make a persuasive case to the american public that the president is doing the right thing and for the right reasons. >> josh earnest, it's been a

pleasure. i didn't get to talk more about the royals, but i wish them luck as long as it's not get miami. >> sounds good. >> 11 more days. thanks, josh. when it's time to move to underwear toddlers see things a bit differently thanks to pampers easy-ups while they see their first underwear you see the best way to potty train pampers easy-ups our first and only training underwear with an all-around stretchy waistband and pampers' superior protection so you'll see fewer leaks

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it's absolutely what you need right now. absolutely scottsdale. welcome back. i'm chris jansing live at the white house with some of the stories we're watching for you this hour. a massive manhunt under way in orlando for this man, 41-year-old markeith loyd who's accused of shooting and killing an orlando police officer just this morning. schools on lockdown as manhunt enters its seventh hour. loyd is also wanted in the death of a pregnant woman. sadly, a sheriff's deputy was also killed in a motorcycle crash while searching for the suspect. police minutes ago updated the search. >> we're not going anywhere. if we don't have this individual by night fall, we're not going anywhere. we're going to stay at it until we find him. in charleston, south carolina, the prosecution has rested its case in the sentencing phase of the charleston church massacre trial.

dylann roof faces the death penalty. the jury could begin deliberating his fate tomorrow. and more developing news out of florida. the man charged in the deadly ft. lauderdale airport shooting made his first appearance in court today. handcuffed and wearing a red jump suit, esteban santiago was escorted from his cell to the courthouse. accused of killing five and wounding six others, facing airport violence and firearms charges, this as chilling video originally obtained by tmz reportedly shows the moment the attack began inside the baggage claim area, passengers seen running for cover. nbc's mariana is at the courthouse in ft. lauderdale. walk us through what unfolded in court today and what we learned from the court documents that were filed in this case. >> reporter: so, chris, esteban santiago made his first court appearance today. he's charged under three main

statutes, two carry the death penalty. in court, as you described, he wore a red jumpsuit, a chain around his waist and hands cuffed to the back. he seemed to shake at some points, skiddish, if you will, and gave yes or no answers directly to the magistrate. he confirmed his last employment was as a security guard at signal 88 in anchorage, alaska. he was also assigned a federal public defender today. his next court appearance is set for next tuesday, january 17th, at 1:00 p.m. his arraignment is set for january 23rd. i'm actually now standing in front of broward health medical center in ft. lauderdale where hospital staff just told me that 54 people were initially brought here after the shooting, five people remain hospitalized and two of them are still fighting for their lives. chris? >> thanks for that, mariana.

the president-elect facing mounting pressure to accept american intel about russia's hack on our election, but instead of giving in, he's doubling down. calling, in fact, for a better relation between moscow and washington. when did mixing food, with not food, become food? thankfully at panera, 100% of our food is 100% clean. no artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, or colors. panera. food as it should be. parts a and b and want more coverage,

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everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. with a little over a week remaining before he's sworn in as president of the united states, donald trump is under increasing pressure from the left and right to accept the intelligence officials' conclusion that russia was behind the dnc hacking. >> i've had a chance to review the full classified report, and i completely concur with what you just heard the president say, that is, that the sourcing is very strong. the confidence is high and it's high for good reason. >> let me say this, if after having been briefed by our intelligence leaders donald trump is still unsure as to what the russians did, that would be incredibly unnerving to me

because the evidence is overwhelming. >> despite being briefed on the allegations, trump is refusing to back down. instead, blaming democrats for the cyber security breach, tweeting this, only reason the hacking of the poorly defended dnc is discussed is that the loss by the dems was so big that they are totally embarrassed. joining me to discuss, democratic strategist and former chief of staff to senator joe manchin, msnbc political analyst rick tyler. this morning, donald trump's adviser, kellyanne conway, doubled down on the idea the hacking did not influence the election. i want to play what she said. >> i do want to say there's no smoking gun when it comes to the ne nexus between these hacking results and the election. there are people on tv and elsewhere trying to confuse people into believing that is the case. >> is this a diversionary tactic by the democrats, chris, because they lost so big? >> well, if it is, then we're

much more sophisticated than i could imagine. i mean, the reality, i think, here is really simple. if every intelligence agency is telling you the same thing, and these are, you know, experts and professionals and you're choosing to ignore it, and you're the president-elect, what does it really say? and you're having bipartisan criticism of that kind of analysis. i mean, i think that's happening here is the trump -- incoming trump administration from donald trump on have to basically decide, are they going to put america's national security interests first by admitting that clearly russia was trying to do something nefarious in this previous election or are they going to still continue to make this about him, meaning donald trump, and his candidacy? they can't seemingly distinguish between the two. and until they do that, they're going to continue to have a serious political problem. >> well, rick, in an interview

reince priebus said trump believes trump was behind the intrusion. what do you do with the differing voices inside? >> which -- what do you mean, which voices? >> you have reince priebus saying he actually does believe the russians had something to do with this. he's doubling down on the fact that he doesn't. is that not a problem when your incoming chief of staff has what's a pretty significant difference of opinion with the president-elect? >> i definitely think so. and it is -- it is mystifying to me why the president-elect donald trump can't just look at the report and say russians were involved and be concerned with it and be done with it. he seems to be the only one raising the idea that the russian involvement actually did change the outcome of the election. i don't know anybody who's positing that. do we want the russians to get involved in elections? absolutely not. is there any evidence they tampered with ballots? no. is is there any evidence that

the trump campaign coordinated with them? not so far. so, if they tampered with releasing information, we know -- look, i think it's a fair point that the dnc didn't have enough safeguards to allow the russian hackings but the russians are the bad characters and donald trump should show concern and move on. i don't know what he is so concerned about. >> let me ask you both quickly because we just got another tweet from kellyanne conway affirming what nbc news has reported, essentially, that jared kushner will be a senior adviser to the president. she said the official announcement could come quickly. it will be quite a power couple, jared kushner, ivanka trump. any problem with that? >> at least a former senate chief of staff and someone working campaigns, when you have multiple power centers it creates a challenging environment, to say the least. i think the most difficult job, to really frank, is going to be reince priebus because he's going to be chief of staff in

name but he'll have multiple centers of push and pull, whether it's jared kushner, whether it's steve bannon, you know, whether it's kellyanne conway. all these other different actors, and to think that now you have to manage these personalities, it is going to be a motley crew of influences. i mean, this happens in every white house, to be fair, but it's going to be really challenging in this one. >> do you think it's going to be any more challenging in this one, rick, than in the past? >> maybe slightly so. chris is right. in every white house, family members are involved, they don't have official roles. now we have family members who will have official roles. it's unclear to me whether the law will be applied here, whether it's legal for him to do this or not. regardless, chris is right. you always have these family influences within the administration, and, you know, they have outside influence because in the end family is family and staff is temporary. >> rick tyler, chris kofinis,

thanks. up next, a new report on how president obama might try to impact policy after he leaves the oval office. and the president is the focus of today's microsoft pulse question. a new poll shows 57% of americans view president obama favorably, but only 32% felt he kept his promises. we're asking you, will president obama be able to secure his legacy after leaving office? so far, still time to weigh in on this 87% yes, 13% no. our address, pulse.msnbc.com. before fibromyalgia, i was active. i was energetic. then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. he also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better.

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as president obama prepares to give his last address as commander in chief tomorrow night, chicago, new speculation about the role he'll play in politics after he leaves office. politico reporting two of his major goals are to help rebuild the democratic party and to, quote, salvage his legacy.

joining me at the white house, politico chief washington correspondent edward isaak dovare. fascinating for me is not just how will he use his bully pulpit and influence but how much will he have? what's your reporting telling you? >> well, it's a big question. there is a lot of hunger in the democratic party to have leadership. it's important to note they do not have any clear leaders in the democratic party at this point. and a lot of love and admiration for barack obama among democrats. a desire to see him out there, but a desire to see him maybe tackling trump more head-on than he wants to do. >> and how uncomfortable is he with that idea? he is somebody who honors history, honors tradition. the tradition has been very clear. you step back. he's already going to be in the washington. you step back, you let the new guy have the limelight. >> right. but that was -- and that was the plan had hillary clinton won. that was initially the plan even if trump won.

as he's been thinking through the different aspects of this, all the different ways in which trump may be directly combating things he put in place in office over the last eight years, it -- it may draw him out in ways, whether it's about deporting children, the dreamers or undoing the iran deal or the paris agreement. these are things crucially important to the president, but more important to him are about the shape of the country and things that may get him engaging more than he ever wanted to. >> there are also things he's cared about that are more in the affirmative kind of action. i would expect, wouldn't you, to still see him caring about what to do with the criminal justice system, how to inspire young black men? >> right. but the question is how to get involved in the direct political activity. what we probably won't see is barack obama out on the campaign trail the way, say, bill clinton was over the years in between when he left office and then when hillary ran the first time, and even in the eight years since. but we also won't see barack obama do the george w. bush

thing, it seems, we are just gets to the end of the presidency on january 20th, gets on that hl kopter, goes away. we basically never hear from him again as a political figure. >> a senior couple aides told me he needs to sleep first. he doesn't sprik me as the guy that needs to sleep. before we go, let's take a final look at today's microsoft pulse question. divide on president obama's legacy. will president obama be able to secure his legacy after leaving office? 87% of you say yes, but there is still time to weigh in at pulse.msnbc.com. we'll be right back. (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. even mer-mutts. (1940s aqua music) (burke) and we covered it, february third, twenty-sixteen.

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i'm chris jansing coming to you live from the white house. before i let you go, a quick reminder of the big night for us here on msnbc. "for the record" with greta debuting 6:00 p.m. eastern. for now, i turn things over to my colleague, kate snow in new

york. >> great to see you. good afternoon. i'm kate snow. here are our top stories this hour. in a week and a half, donald trump will become the president of the united states. but the road there is a rocky one for some of his cabinet picks. a new conflict today between democrats and republicans over the approval process. we're now just a day away from president obama's farewell address. this afternoon a brand-new series from chris jansing, who you just saw, she's aevaluating our 44th president's legacy from the perspective of the people who know him best. finally, the ft. lauderdale airport shooter was in court for the first time today. esteban santiago is accused of that shooting. he could face the death penalty in the killing of five people on friday. plus, new video of the moment the gunman open fire. let's start this hour with politics. my colleague hallie jackson is monitoring the latest out of the trump transition team. what did we say, 11 days to inauguration. ha a bit of a controversial new choice for president. he's