this is not just one administration, one person, one attorney general, one tent. these are matters that concern all of us and we all have to participate in this process. as john lewis talked about, not only marching but making your concerns heard in the halls of power. not just protesting. that's very important also. it's a part of why this country is great, but also coming to people in positions of power and saying this is what we need from you. so much of the work that we've been able to do has been because people have raised these issues and concerns to us, and we've sat down with them. i've traveled this country talking to people about policing issues, about the issues of vulnerable victims, about human trafficking, about national security, about their fears, and their concerns. and my hope and my confidence is that the people of this great country, and that's all the people, citizens, community leaders, law enforcement alike, will continue to make their voices heard, so the next administration has the benefit

that i've had to work with them. >> attorney general, i was just handed some breaking news regarding the investigation in the orlando pulse nightclub shooting which i know you're well aware of now. the fbi has confirmed to nbc news that the wife of the orlando shooter omar mateen was arrested in the san francisco bay area. what can you, if anything, tell me about this new arrest in this case? >> well certainly i can confirm that the arrest did occur in this case, and this is an example of the fact that investigations do continue long after they're publicly discussed, that this is a matter that we continue to take very seriously. it was always our goal and we said from the beginning, we were going to look at every aspect of this case, of every aspect of this shooter's life to determine not just why did he take these actions, but who else knew about them, was anyone else involved? is there any other accountability that needs to be had here in this case. so this is still an ongoing matter. i'm not able to give you much more on that but i can confirm that the ongoing investigation

did lead to that arrest. >> thank you very much attorney general loretta lynch. we greatly appreciate you joining us for this final exit interview and we wish the best for you and to you. >> thank you, tamron. >> and thank you for watching this slightly extended version of "msnbc live" with tamron hall. let's turn over everything to "andrea mitchell reports." andrea? >> and tamron, congratulations on that interview, thank you. right now on the special edition of "andrea mitchell reports" live on capitol hill. as washington readies for a transition of power, backlash, more fallout today after congressman john lewis' comments to chuck todd on "meet the press" and donald trump's response tweeting the civil rights leader who was almost beaten to death in selma is all "talk, talk, talk, no action or results." >> i don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president. i think the russians participated in having this man get elected, and they have

destroyed the candidacy of hillary clinton. >> for someone to use his stature to use terms like this is not a legitimate president. it's just, it's just deeply disappointing to me and i hope he reconsiders it. >> on this day honoring martin luther king jr., john lewis, who was there. >> if it hadn't been for martin luther king jr. i wouldn't be a member of the house of representatives since 1987. if it hadn't been for martin luther king jr., i don't know what would have happened to our nation. he freed us. he helped liberate us to make our nation a better place, to make our world a better place. trump care, donald trump says after rebealing obamacare there will still be "health care for everyone." a departure from congressional republicans plan and democrats, who are digging in to defend president obama's signature law.

>> what we are saying to the republican republicans if you want to improve the affordable care act, let's work together. but if you think you're simply going to throw millions off of health insurance, you've got another guess coming. >> and nato under fire. the president-elect breaking with six decades of u.s. policy and his own nominee for secretary of defense. >> and i said no comment that nato had problems. number one it was obsolete because it was, you know, designed many, many years ago. number two, the countries weren't paying what they're supposed to pay. >> coming up, i talk to outgoing national security adviser susan rice, who has a warning for donald trump about russia. is russia a friend? an ally? or an adversary. >> it's more of an adversary than a friend and certainly not an ally. it's very important that the united states stand very firmly

against russia when it is aggressive and acting in ways that are adverse to our interests. good day i'm andrea mitchell on capitol hill, a dr. martin luther king jr. holiday for the house. georgia democratic congressman lewis has just finished speaking at an mlk scholarship event in miami. >> so i say to you, as role models, never give up! never give in! stand up! speak up! when you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something, to say something and not be quiet. >> and joining me now nbc white house correspondent kristen

welker, nbc national correspondent peter alexander and nbc chief global correspondent bill neely in moscow. kristen first to you on the whole issue of john lewis and also obamacare. let's start with john lewis and the mlk holiday and the reverberations from chuck todd's exclusive interview on "meet the press." >> reporter: there is a mounting backlash, andrea, really on both sides, this striking contrast to the fact that the nation is pausing to mark martin luther king jr. today, in terms of the backlash that we are seeing, first democrats, who are call on president-elect trump to extend the olive branch. congressman cummings saying that he should be the one, since he is the president-elect, to reach out to congressmen john lewis and to try to resolve this issue, but you have members of trump's transition team who are pushing back as well, sean spicer earlier today on the "today" show saying hey, it was congressman john lewis who started this. vice president-elect mike pence

calling on congressman lewis to retract the comments, saying that they're damaging, just four days out before the inauguration. what it underscores andrea is that the president-elect as a candidate and now as he prepares to enter the white house, has really struggled to reach out to this key group, to african-americans, and so i think that this whole back-and-forth really bringing that issue to the fore, also notable that the president-elect is going to be meeting with martin luther king jr.'s son, martin luther king iii, here today at trump tower. so we'll be tracking that very closely, andrea, and try to get any reaction after that meeting here, that highly anticipated meeting. >> also the fact that in his tweets, donald trump disparaged the district of john lewis though it was sorm inner city struggling district caricature of it, it is one of the most well-to-do areas of atlanta,

'emry university and a number of institutions are and the buckhead district. peter alexander at the white house, there's also donald trump talking to robert costa and "the washington post" about health kcare for all taking on big ph pharma. >> reporter: the customary republican line with the administration the idea of universal access. that's different than insurance for everybody, but donald trump went further insisting in fact that this plan was in the final stages, he said specifically it's down to the final strokes. he said it would include lower numbers, much low are deducti e deductibles. this poses real challenges for republicans right now of course during the course of their time as the opposition to president obama voted more than 60 occasions to repeal obamacare but have broadly opposed the idea of further expansion of

government involvement in the health care system. we heard this morning from sean spicer, the incoming press secretary for donald trump, who said basically in effect in an effort to elaborate, this would be about marketplace solutions, adding greater competition to the system, nonetheless it has a lot of republicans asking questions about exactly how donald trump is planning to go about this. donald trump said in that interview that he would be waiting for his, the representative tom price of georgia, the incoming health and human services secretary, to help with this process. that ultimately that confirmation is up to the senate finance committee, and at least to this point, no date for that hearing has even been set. >> and to bill neely in moscow, because donald trump is still stirring a storm about nato, saying that it's obsolete. we'll get to what marco rubio said this morning about that, a republican, but moscow is agreeing with donald trump about nato, even though trump is disagreeing with his own defense secretary, who says that if he

didn't have nato you'd have to invent it. that's been the most successful defense alliance in history. >> reporter: that's right. dimitri peskov the spokesman saying we agree with donald trump. nato is obsolete. it's a vestage of the past. well, you know, donald trump's comments in some respects are music to the ears of the kremlin here. when he was talking about that possibility of some kind of deal or deals, you know, in some respects the kremlin is not saying very much. they're just waiting and listening to what donald trump is saying, and they're saying very little themselves. dimitri poskov saying this morning, let's be patient. let's wait until donald trump takes office before we pass judgment on his initiatives. but you know the idea of some kind of grand bargain, nuclear reduction and a reduction or an end to sanctions, it's almost unheard of. these are two totally different

issues, and linking them together i think would cause alarm, maybe not just in washington, but certainly in the nato capital brussels and in brussels today, there is a great deal of alarm at some of the things donald trump has said. nato is obsolete, almost encouraging the european union to break up, and saying those things about angela merkel that he's not sure how long he can trust her for. so donald trump's comments clearly causing offense in western europe. here, they're being greeted with delight as they wait for the promise of his presidency. andrea? >> thanks to you and of course to kristen welker and peter alexander, and on "meet the press" congressman lewis gave chuck todd his thoughts about dr. martin luther king jr.'s relevance in today's political climate. >> the scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in american society and we cannot sweep it under some rug

or some dark corner. we have to continue to do all we can to move us closer to what dr. martin luther king jr. calls the beloved community where we can redeem the soul of america and lay down the burden of hate, separation and division. >> and joining me now is jamie harriso harrison, chairman of the south carolina democratic party and a candidate for democratic national chairman. jamie thanks for being with us today. >> thanks, andrea. >> congress took on donald trump, and there's a lot of criticism that he should not have raised the legitimacy question, that sean spicer and others pushing back and saying that donald trump was elected, hillary clinton is coming to the inauguration, to continue to challenge the legitimacy of this election is unfair, and undemocratic. your response? >> well, sean should just be

prepared for the same treatment that donald trump provided to president obama, the same treatment that republicans and respect that republicans gave to president barack obama, the same types of treatment and respect that donald trump's going to receive over the course of the next four years. there are a lot of questions out there as it relates to what russia did in this election and to have the republican party diminished at and not really have the curiosity to look into that andrea is a big slap in the face to all of the american people. and so equal treatment, sean. be prepared for it. >> congressman lewis according to donald trump's tweets and i wanted to read some and get your reaction, congressman john lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart, not to mention crime infested, rather than falsely complaining about the election results, all talk, talk, talk, no action and results, sad. congressman john lewis should

focus on the burning and crime inner cities of the u.s., i could use all the help i could get. could you unpack that? john lewis' district in the buckhead neighborhood of atlanta. >> in addition to the intelligence briefing he misses he should take a few political lessons. he needs to visit the district, stephen colbert know your district he can brief them on where these are. john lewis is a national icon, a national treasure and he should be treated in such a manner. it's a tragedy to see the types of things that we hear from president-elect trump. he needs to understand that african americans just don't live in ghettos. we don't just live in neighborhoods where people get shot. it is very, very sad to see the way that he looks at the world,

and hopefully the american people will see the fear that so many of us knew months ago that we are now about to embrace upon for the next four years. >> i don't even have to mention what happened on the edmund pettis bridge and what a young john lewis endured. even today talked about how a former klan member in his 70s came to him in his congressional office not too long ago to apologize for beating him almost to death that day on that bridge. let's talk about the incoming cabinet and what advice donald trump may be getting from african-americans, because the only cabinet member nominee of color is ben carson, and he's had a fairly rocky debut at his confirmation hearing. >> you're right, andrea. dr. carson, i went to yale

university and so going to yale, dr. carson was seen as just such a great icon, and then seeing his performance as a presidential candidate was very, very disappointing. this is probably the least dianniversary cabinet that we've seen in at least the past 20, 30 years, so it gives you great pause, particularly when jeff sessions is going to be the man in the justice department giving his history, given that you have someone who has been accused, steve bannon accused of anti-semitic tendencies there in the white house. it just doesn't give a lot of hope and faith to folks of color in this country. >> jamie harrison from south carolina, thank you for joining us on this dr. martin luther king jr. holiday. >> andrea, thank you. coming up face-off the latest round in donald trump's fight against the intelligence community, just days before he takes office. you're watching "andrea mitchell

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i would hope that the president-elect would today pick up the phone, put down the twitter stuff, and just give john lewis a call. >> is that something that president-elect might do or would consider doing? >> sure. i mean i think he's shown a willingness to reach out to all americans. i wouldn't put it past him to do that. >> will donald trump reach out to congressman john lewis after disparaging him and his district on twitter? what are the implications of trump's continuing bat well american intelligence agencies. bill crystal joins me now. thank you very much for being with us. i wanted to play a little bit of

what john brennan had to say to chris wallace on "fox news sunday" about the incoming president and this whole battle that's been going on with the cia and the other agencies. let's watch. >> do you think that mr. trump understands the threat from russia? >> i don't think he has a full appreciation of russian's capabilities and intentions and actions that they are undertaking in many parts of the world. >> what is your reaction to that? >> in this case i think i share john brennan's judgment, whether he should have just refused to answer the question is an open, would be a fair question to pose to mr. brennan. i can see why he's a little exasperated by the president-elect who tweets things about our intelligence community, accused him of leaking without knowing whether he leaked anything or not and

accuses the intelligence community as if we're living in nazi germany. we have disagreements with john brennan at "the weekly standard" some of the things he's done as cia director and russia it's startlin startling, he lashes out at everyone, donald trump, except vladimir putin. it reflects putin his view of the world and i think an awful lot of americans are worried about that. >> bill, i wanted to quote the donald trump tweet against brennan, which is another whole question why would he do that. >> right. >> given how controversial this war between him and the intelligence agencies have been. there's only four or five days to go, but this is what he tweeted. "oh really? couldn't do much worse, look at syria, red line, crimea, the buildup of russian nukes. not good. was this the leaker of fake news?" so this is trump taking on brennan on fit twitter. >> he's president elect of the

united states, going to be sworn in, in four days. is it wise, is it prudent and i'm not talking even about politics here or kind of courtesy. he has serious obligations. should he be denigrating our standing in the world? he said nato is obsolete. when you're president do you want to say the alliance of which you're an integral part is obsolete? you could say work to improve it, meanwhile standing by the treaty obligation. he's so far away of the way other presidents have. they've inherited policies and inherited personnel and disagreed with transitions rocky as the power gets handed off from one party to another but they've tried to be careful not to damage the country when they're making their own political points and i think that's true of president obama when he was president-elect and president bush when he was president-elect, goes all the way back and trump's just, it's not even, fine he may make a

couple of errors but seems to have no appreciation he should be thinking this way. he's not been thinking as a president-elect for the last two months. hopefully on friday he starts to think as a president. >> and in his response to the british paper to "the london times" when asked about putin and merkel, does he have respect for merkel he said "i've had great respect for her, thought she was a great leader," this was an interview published in "the times" of london. i start off trusting both merkel and putin but let's see how long that lasts, may not last that long at all. to equate merkel a nato ally, the strongest ally economically and militarily in europe with the u.s., with putin is just extraordinary. >> i think look, i think on the other side i think marco rubio whom i like very much was unreasonable to ask rex tillerson the secretary of state nominee to say putin is a war criminal. an incoming secretary is not going to say that.

george schultz didn't say that about oath ghastly leaders around the world. on the one hand i sort of depart from my usually allies and foreign policy defending tillerson on that but how can trump, four days from now be president working with angela merkel? i look forward to getting to know all the world chiefs, the u.s. and nato one of the greatest achievements. it's not very hard, if you put yourself in the mind that i'm no longer speaking my mind wherever i want, no longer rallying my base and shocking people. carefully selected surprises, that's one thing but just popping off in this way it does become damaging, somewhat damaging when you're president-elect, very damaging when you're president. >> and finally, this is just breaking so we have not confirmed this independently, "the washington times" is reporting that monica crowley is stepping down at the assistant national security official or communications, a very important white house post. she was not present at the training exercise of the

incoming national security officials and the entire national security cabinet on friday, that took place at the white house. so that was significant. she's been criticized because of plagiarism accusations, harper collins has withdrawn the book she wrote that cnn first wrotes aplagiarized largely, her ph.d. thesis called into question and the one report she is stepping down. bill, is that, if this is confirmed is that wise right now given all the controversy around? >> it is wise and points to a bigger question i saw earlier in new york, more hopeful about trump, i'm hopeful, more confident about trump's prospects than i am, he said look, he's going to have a secretary of state and defense extremely accomplished people, great distinction. they're not going to sit there and do foolish things because donald trump tweets or has an idea one day and that i think is

a hopeful, i respect mattis tremendously and i don't know tillerson and i disagree with him more but i have respect for them. the nfc looks more questionable. it will be interesting to see, what do mattis and tillerson, how do they behave? what does the trump administration, does it look like trump with his advisers or policies being made by serious cabinet secretaries? >> bill kristol, thank you so much. the whole question of how to cover this new administration is now being raised. take a look at this moment from november 1981, the briefing room in the white house was renamed in honor of reagan press secretary james brady, grieve usually wounded in the assassination attempt on president reagan. >> hey, jim! >> reporter: still partially paralyzed brady was back to help open a refurbished briefing room. he's known affectionately as the

bear his aides wore "the bear is back" buttons. >> in dedicating these new facilities let me just say that i hope this room is always filled with as much integrity and good humor as jim brady has brought to it. >> the briefing room stands as the culmination of decades of increased press presence at the white house, that could be changing as donald trump's aides are suggesting moving the press to workplaces across the street, the briefings across the street or outside of the white house complex. joining me is jeff mason, president of the white house correspondents association. thank you very much. i know you've had meetings and discussions with sean spicer, the incoming press secretary and i know they say this is not a definite thing but they're raising the issue. explain to the public why it is important to have eyes on and access to the west wing itself, why being across the street or outside the complex is a completely different situation for the working press. >> it's very important, andrea. it's critical for journalists who cover the white house to be

able to do their jobs and the way they do that is by having access to the people who make decisions, and to the people who communicate those decisions to the rest of the country, and to the rest of the world. for decades, the press has had work space behind that press briefing room that you just showed in that really nice clip earlier and it is very important to us to maintain that accessibility and that proximity to the incoming administration, just as we have for years and years. the reason that's important is, if something happens, let's say the president needs to come out and make a statement, the press is right there. if we're working on a story, we can walk back into the area where the press secretary sits and his deputies sit and ask them a question. we don't get to walk around the west wing. of course journalists would love that but that's not on the table but it is a fact and it is precedence for us to be able to get back and talk to the people who are part of the president's press staff. that is an important principle we will continue to fight for. >> and bill clinton tried in the

first 48 hours when he came in as white house correspondent to lock that door so we didn't have access to the press secretary and other deputy press secretaries. that was changed because there was such a negative explosion of commentary about it. public raeeaction. the news media in our poll only got the support of 13% on american people on par with congress, pretty low down, but we are the eyes and ears and it may be more important now than ever before, reince priebus was quoted as saying those seats in the briefing room were just put in under obama. those seats were put in, in september '81. they have the same ever since with the addition of new organizations, but that front row has been the same. >> that's right the seats have been there for years. i'm glad you played the clip with the president and mrs. reagan and the former press secretary. this is a pin upheld by

republican and democratic administrations. we'd be pushing for this regardless of who had won the election or who would be coming into office. it's important to emphasize that sean spicer has said that his interests right now is just in looking at having more space for briefings, but there's a difference between having briefings with, in a larger space versus having press conferences in a different space. there's a long precedent as you know doubt know having covered this place for having press conferences in the east room, having press conferences in the old executive office building, but that press briefing room is an important symbolic place for the press to be, and having that access to the door behind that press room and getting into those areas where the press staff sit is a very, very important value. >> and jeff, i know you got to go, just to make the point. >> sure. >> behind that briefing room are the offices, the cubicles where we work, the wire services, the newspapers, all of us down in the basement. those are the workplaces for the

white house correspondents, so that they can be at the ready to run out and see if something is happening. >> that's exactly right, and things do happen, and they happen at a last, at the last minute, and that's the reason the press is here. and i guess that's sort of our broader concern about any attempt to move press out of the briefing room, is that that would precipitate a broader move to get the press out of the white house, and that is something that the white house correspondents association has made clear is unacceptable, and it's also i think, it's not only in the interests of reporters, it's also in the interest of the incoming administration, and any administration to have press there, and close by when event happen, because as they will find out very soon, events do happen and they happen without notice, and that's what the press is here to cover. >> jeff mason we really appreciate it. i know this is a busy time for you. thank you so much. >> my pleasure, thanks for having me, andrea. coming up, donald trump's targets kicking off his inauguration week. trump takes on a civil rights icon, nato, the cia director,

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and bold firecracker red shrimp are too big to last so hurry in. for someone of john lewis' stature to lend credibility to the baseless assertions of those who question the legitimacy of this election is deeply disappointing. i hope he reconsiders it. >> vice president-elect mike pence this morning and joining me here on capitol hill "the washington post" anne greer and john than capehart. this fight against john lewis and donald trump was john lewis inappropriate to question the legitimacy and the response from trump? what is your take? >> look, congressman lewis' opinion. he's basing it on the fact as we all know from the intelligence community that there was russian interference in the american election so we can have a fight over whether that is true or

not, but it's the president-elect's response that is what's outrageous here. at what point will president-elect trump actually act presidential? that's the moment for someone who is supposed to be the leader of the free world, incoming leader of the free world, to show some grace, and he didn't, and as you pointed out earlier in an earlier interview, to go after congressman lewis' district and not actually know what his district is, one, and specific, and then more generally, talking to an african-american member of congress about the way african-americans live, in such a generalized way, so many months after the election, so many months after the campaign, when everyone under the sun tried to get through to him that not all african-americans live in ghettos, not all african-americans live in neighborhoods where they can get shot as he likes to say, and so to my mind, this fight between

the president-elect and congressman lewis over the legitimacy of his presidency is beside the point. it's more about president-elect trump at what point does he decide to actually be presidential? >> he has said that he's going to stay on twitter and stay on his personal twitter account, rather than adopting@potus because he has 45 million followers so many more than the white house account and keep tweeting to go over the heads of the news media. >> yes, probably could sean spicer's great chagrin. this means that trump can continue tweeting what he wants to whenever he wants to. >> about nato, about john lewis. >> will nato, john lewis, "saturday night live," three of the topics in the last couple of days. at any hour, on any subject, separate and apart from what his spokesman says, and certainly by trump's design, separate and apart from what the regular news

media is reporting. >> you guys hang here for a moment. we have now confirmed peter alexander confirmed monica crowley has stepped back and will not be the spokesperson for the nfc. there had been plagiarism accusation answer major concerns about her back ground. up next the exit interview, my conversation with national security advicer susan rice, next on "andrea mitchell reports" and then back here on capitol hill. with jonathan and anne. boost it's about moving forward

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donald trump is signaling he might lift sanctions against russia, even as there is controversy over his national security adviser even talk to russia's ambassador on the same day over the sanctions over russia's hacking were improved. i asked susan rice about trump and russia. let's talk about russia. donald trump seems to have a very different view about russia, about vladimir putin. is russia a friend? an ally? or an adversary?

>> it's more of an adversary than a friend and certainly not an ally. we found that it's possible on some issues where our interests overlap to work constructively with russia as we did on the iran deal for example or the new s.t.a.r.t. treat y russia's behavior is aggressive its annexation of crimea and invasion of ukraine and horrific involvement in the civil war in syria on the side of assad, where it has been responsible for mass atrocities. so russia's behavior has become more problematic. it has threatened our partners and friends in europe and around the world, and so it's very important that the united states stand very firmly against russia, when it is aggressive, and acting in ways that are adverse to our interests. >> donald trump has actually said that being a friend of vladimir putin's could be an asset. >> we have one government at a

time, and it's vitally important that we respect that principle, because when we engage with foreign entities, friends, but adversaries even more so, it's necessary that we communicate with one voice, and i am hopeful that that principle has been respected. >> it seems like a coincidence perhaps, perhaps more, that there were conversations between the russian ambassador and the incoming national security adviser on the very day that these russians were being sanctioned and expelled. do you think that's just a kons dens coincidence? >> i have no basis for knowing otherwise. >> what would be your advice to the trump team about having a clear view of vladimir putin, and keeping those sanctions? >> that's vitally important, but i think these sanctions ought to remain both those that we have imposed with respect to ukraine as well as those that came from their interference in the

election. >> in your experience here, almost a quarter century of public service, what do you see as your biggest achievement? >> i'm particularly proud of the fact that under president obama's leadership we secured a deal to prevent iran from getting a nuclear weapon and cut off all of its pathways to a nuclear weapon. i'm proud of the work we've done on climate change, so that we can hand off to our children and grandchildren the potential for a much safer planet. i'm prould of td of the openinga which not only completely repositioned the united states in latin america but ended a failed policy that had clearly not delivered results over 50 years. >> are you concerned, given what the president-elect has said, that iran, cuba, that these things that are legacy achievements, in your view, are going to be reversed? >> i am inclined to believe that when a new administration comes in, and has to weigh the

consequences, for example, of trying to undo the iran deal, which enabled us to achieve a critical national security objective without the use of force, that involves our closest allies and partners, who are very much part of this, when you think about what the consequences would be, of the united states unilaterally walking away from the deal the only people that would benefit are the hardliners in iran and those who want iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. so that is not sensible, when you dig into the reality of the situation. and i think many of the other areas, where the rhetorical position may have been to change policy, but the realities of the situation may militate against that course. >> is there anything you could have done differently in syria? >> something obviously all of us wrestle with, with great frequency. i think it was a correct choice not to involve the united states directly militarily in syria in the civil conflict between assad

and the opposition. there are those who may dispute that with the benefit of hindsight but i think those were the right choices, but that doesn't mitigate our feelings of great frustration at the loss of so many innocent lives, at the fact that this conflict has had impacts on neighboring countries as well as our friends and allies in europe, so this is a horrific challenge, it's one of the most difficult policy problems i've ever seen and i think that the difficult choices that president obama made will prove in retrospect to have been right but it doesn't mean we sleep any better at night knowing that the human toll has been extraordinary. >> and your proudest moment or the best part of the legacy do you think? >> well, as i said, it's those things that we've chosen to do

and succeeded in getting done like iran, like climate, like cuba, that another administration might have not taken the time and effort to try to achieve or taken the risk in some acases. i'm proud where we've taken those risks and succeeded that we have materially moved the needle for american security and american interests. >> susan rice after nearly 25 years in government service on and off, and we will be right back. help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com.

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but now is a good time to start thinking about how you want things to be. go long™. let's bring back "washington post" anne greer and jonathan capehart. lot going on the past couple of minutes with first of all john kerry saying it's inappropriate for donald trump to be going after angela merkel and one of our strongest allies.

angela merkel in new zealand actually saying i think that we europeans have our destiny in our own hands. picking a fight with your strongest ally in europe right now four days before you get sworn in. >> yes and on somewhat uncertain ground for trump. he sort of threw it out there, he said that she had made a terrible, terrible mistake by admitting so many refugees and he said no one knows where they came from and of course many in germany took umbrage and said wait a minute this was a government decision for which angela merkel has suffered politically but nonetheless a government decision and they know where they came from and why is trump insulting her essentially. she has sought to take herself out of that and say first we will talk to the american president when the american president is president, and secondly, we can make our own decisions, thank you very much. >> and jonathan he's going to

stay on twitter on his own account, and this is going to be a continuous work in progress. how much do we pay attention to what he's tweeting? he is the president of the you united states it's being noticed abroad. >> i say we pay attention to what he's tweeting only in that he will be president of the united states. what we really need to focus more attention on is what he actually does, because we have seen that he will say two plus two is four in one minute and deny that he ever said that the next minute. >> mlk iii, martin luther king iii is entering trump tower for a meeting with donald trump. in the very little time i have left, jonathan, i have to see to the readers of the vow column new york times sunday we want to congratulate you and mick schmidt from the office at the state department on your beautiful wedding, the owe fish yent was eric holder. both of us who love you jonathan and nick and anne as well wants to weigh in here i'm sure, just

wants to say well done. >> thank you. thank you. it was very important to us that eric holder be the one to harris us, given his role in helping to usher in marriage equality in the country, and as you saw in the picture there, me and nick, and our moms there, is just a wonderful, wonderful moment. >> well, we've watched this relationship develop and blossom and may you be happy together for the rest of your lives. >> thank you, andrea. >> and jonathan and anne on that happier note, much more ahead on "andrea mitchell reports." that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet?

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call your doctor if this happens. using januvia with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. to reduce the risk, your doctor may prescribe a lower dose of the sulfonylurea or insulin. your doctor may do blood tests before and during treatment to check your kidneys. if you have kidney problems a lower dose may be prescribed. side effects may include upper respiratory tract infection, stuffy or runny nose, sore throat, and headache. for help lowering your blood sugar talk to your doctor about januvia. that does it for us, "andrea mitchell reports" live from the capitol. chris jansing is next. >> thanks, andrea. good afternoon, i am chris jansing live in washington, d.c., where in four days donald trump will be sworn in as president of the united states. never give up, congressman john lewis speaks about fighting in justice in