hill. vladimir putin on offense, firing a parting shot at president owe ba marx while pulling donald trump closer in their strange international bromance reaching a whole new level. putin came to trump's defense accusing the obama white house of trying to undermine mr. trump and stating that individuals who created that 35-page dossier of unverified allegations against trump were "worse than postfutures." putin's comments come in the midst of a public battle between trump and cia director john brennan over who leaked that dossier and one week after trump told reporters he considered the russian president viewing him favorably as an asset not a liability. joining me is kristen welker outside trump tower and bill neely in moscow. donald trump saying on twitter he's going to keep his twitter account and continuing to escalate the feud with the cia,

the intelligence agencies, specifically director brennan and other leaders and also the workforce by implication and also with the obama white house, what started so smoothly is certainly going off the tracks. >> reporter: that's right, andrea. this is an issue that continues to get under his skin, questioning the results of the election and so you continue to have mounting tensions between the president-elect and the intelligence community, as you mentioned john brennan was blistering in his comments to the wall street surgeon dismi dismissing the fact he leaked information about president-elect donald trump and e excoriating for him comparing the links to naltsie, germany, pointing to the men and women who have given their lives for the sake of serving in the cia. for him it's clearly personal and clear this clash continues to escalate, but it does from

the perspective the president-elect trump because anything that potentially casts a cloud over his victory is something that roils him. behind the scenes some of his top officials trying to tamp down the heat over this. they say the bottom line is he does respect the intelligence community, they seem to understand that this is an unprecedented divide that we're seeing now, just three days before the new president is inaugurated. the fact that there are these ongoing tensions between the incoming commander in chief and the intelligence community he's about to lead, the big question, will he be able to shift the mar narrative? will he try once he's in the oval office. >> the reaction from moscow, kristen, bill neely, you were at a news conference that foreign linster lavrov held today. they've moved on. they are clearly moving on from the obama world to the incoming trump world and quite a courting back and forth between trump and

putin. >> reporter: yes, extraordinary allegations, andrea, from vladimir putin and extraordinary a russian president is defending an american-elect president three days before the inauguration. putin interestingly didn't use the word obama once, there's no love loss between them but he said the outgoing administration his accusations against them clearly. he said we're seeing a continued heated political struggle in washington, even though the election is over, with trump's conclusive victory, the aim of this struggle, he says, is to undermine the legitimacy of the president, to tie the president-elect's arms and legs to prevent him from realizing his promises to the american people, including improving relations between russia and the u.s. he talked about those allegations that have been circulating about trump. he said they're obviously false. he said the people who spread them are worse than prostitutes, and one other astonishing

analogy, andrea. he said what's going on in washington at the minute reminded him of kiev, of ukraine in 2014, in other words a revolution, an attempted coup d'etat. quite extraordinary and explosive comments from vladimir putin defending donald trump. >> this whole situation with russia between moscow, bill, and kristen, and the white house has been amazing as well as of course most importantly the incoming trump administration. for more let's trill down on the president-elect's fight with the cia director and also what's going on with vladimir putin. with admiral james, msnbc chief international security and diplomacy analyst and former nato supreme allied commander. admiral thank you very much. first of all your read on vladimir putin's comments today. >> i think throughout this entire period, andrea, going

back to the russian hacking into our election process, the real goal has been to undermine the confidence of the american people in our democracy, in our government, so for vladimir putin to launch the idea that this now reminds him of a coup d'etat like in ukraine in 2014 is just another arrow incoming from someone who has been on that riff for a solid six, eight months now. >> let me ask you about john brennan and his extraordinary interview with the "wall street journal." they were taking it silently, but i think the accusation that he had leaked that dossier was a bridge too far, as well as the nazi analogy. what is your take on this escalating rhetoric between the president-elect and the cia leadership, outgoing leadership, if you will, but also the effect on the workforce? >> well two very proud, very energetic individuals.

donald trump and john brennan, and they are completely, completely broken in their relationship, and it is an escalation, probably the best line of the last few days was when dr. martin luther king's son went to trump tower and emerged and said everyone is speaking with too much heat, too much fire. let's tone it down, because none of this is doing the country any favors. what we need to think about is, what does congressman pompeo, the incoming cia director, have to do? i would argue he needs to put his arms around the workforce and frankly president trump would be very well served to get out to langley early and make the point that, hey, we've had some disagreements, but i have faith in what you do. i revere the stars on the wall representing those fallen cia agents. he's got some damage control to do, in my opinion. >> in terms of what brennan said about the stars on the wall, the reminder, very pointed reminder to donald trump about the

sacrifice of those in service in the intelligence communities, not only those who put their lives on the line overseas but also those who work for very little pay here and often without being able to even discuss what they do with their families, their friends, their neighbors. >> exactly right, and well worth knowing that those stars have no names under them. in other words, you go to the vietnam wall right next to the lincoln memorial and the name is right there. you can put your flowers there. these are those who have fought in the shadows, in very brave way ways. >> and is there a right and wrong here? you got two proud guys, john brennan, as you know, 30 years in the community, had ups and downs, was criticized internally at various times, legendary fight with democrats on the hill with dianne feinstein over the torture report but still in terms of his relationship, is he

reflecting the way a lot of men and women in the agencies feel, given all this public criticism with tweets that put air quotes around the word intelligence? >> he is, and in that sense he is doing the right thing, which is to give voice to the entire intelligence community in a way that nobody who is going to stick around is going to be able to do. don't think john brennan is going to beetting the white house christmas card every christmas going forward but he's done his duty as a career cia agent. i think it is incumbent upon president-elect trump having vented his frustration understandably about the leak and the sense of undermining his election, let's get beyond that. he really needs to build those bridges to that community. it will live or die on its success in managing intelligence, andrea. >> and nato, with trump again

yesterday calling nato obsolete, a lot of blow-back from our european allies from angela merkel and you got them all gathered various summits around the world, including at davos. lot of concern in europe about this approach to nato. you were a nato commander. what would be your message to trump about nato? >> well i had a chance to deliver it in person. i went to trump tower in early december at his invitation to discuss world events and the possibility of working in the trump administration, and we talked about nato, and i thought he at that time had a pretty balanced view, saying yes, there's great value here, but we need them to up their game and pay a bit more, and i left that meeting thinking nato would be in a pretty good place. i see general mattis coming in talking about it very positively, same with secretary designate tillerson. i think it's probably going to be okay, but it is a warning shot across the european's

boughs they need to up their 2% goal to the terms they mandated. as donald trump the riff on the nato is obsolete but it's "very important to me" i'm hanging on that phrase and hoping. >> thank you so much, admiral, for being with us today. now we have breaking news on obamacare. our brand new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll it is more popular nationally than ever before. mark murray joins me now the new numbers, this as the cbo issues a report saying 18 million people wool be taken off the rolls with repeal if there's no replace. >> exactly. according to our new poll 45% of americans who actually think that the health care law or obamacare is a good idea, versus 41% who think it's a bad idea, and while those kind of seem to be mixed, hugely popular numbers, that 45% in good idea andrea is higher than it has ever been. this is a question we've

continued to ask since 2009 when the health care law was being crafted so the health care law is more popular than it has in the past and you have to go back all the way before it's passed to find a point where the good idea outweighed the bad idea. there's one other set of numbers in here i think that's very interesting. you have 50% of americans, andrea, who have little to no confidence in republicans being able to come up with a replacement plan that works better and puts the health care system into a better position and so that is going to be a challenge for republicans as we know they have the political power to be able to repeal large parts of obamacare. the question is, can they end up having a replacement and one that's popular with the american public. >> and with all the criticism of all the polling before the election, this is a different kind of poll than who are the likely voters who is going to come out in terms of the way the internals work, the weighting of the polls. explain. >> that's right. this say public opinion poll and

measured all americans, all adults as opposed to a poll that you would have before an election, where you're trying to measure likely voters or trying to handicap what would it end up being a horse race. i mention the national polls like the nbc/"wall street journal" poll had hillary clinton ahead. she ended up carrying the national popular vote by two percentage points. our last poll had her ahead by four points in a multiple field horse race but still, this is a poll that has to do with approval, measuring public opinion, sentiment, not trying to actually gauge who is going to win or come ahead in a particular contest. >> and you've got a lot more in the poll coming up. i know at 5:00 on "mtp daily" msnbc 5:00 eastern. we'll wait to see the numbers as well. mark murray thanks so much. coming up next, trump's world, leaders around the globe scrambling to react to a new moving target, donald trump's foreign policy. chris coombs of delaware joins

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we're going right to the white house briefing, josh earnest his final briefing. let's listen. >> i had no relevant washington experience. i was sleeping on the floor of a college buddy's apartment that had a spare bedroom and by spare, i don't just mean it was an extra bedroom, it was an empty bedroom, containing only the items that i had managed to load into my car when i moved here from texas so it's fair to say there weren't too many other people on the tour that night who thought i would stand here in front of you as something other than a tourist. so it's been an extraordinary journey and this has been an extraordinary chapter. this is the 354th white house daily briefly i have led as the

press secretary. mark can check me on that number. not every briefing started exactly on time. there might have been a briefing or two that went a little longer than you would have preferred, but you have to admit, there was a lot to discuss. we had plenty of shameless plugs for the kansas city royals to squeeze in, there was of course the freedom caucuses infamous tortilla coast gambit. there was congressman steve scalise who reportedly compared himself favorably to david duke, there was the reintroduction of the word snafu into the political lexiconas we were working to pass tpa, discussing the various ways you can catch zika, ebola, and the various reasons scientists recommend you vaccinate your kids so you don't get the me seeless. jon stewart hooked me up as i struggled to explain why a couple of our political ambassadors for some reason had no idea what they were doing.

stewart's segment at least made my friends laugh. president-elect trump of course took advantage of the opportunity to light me up as a foolish guy who makes even the good news sound bad, and i have to admit that even that one made me laugh, but it wasn't always fun and games around here. there was the time that i tangled with senator schumer about dhs funding for new york city, and the time that i tangled with senator schumer over the iran deal, and the time that i tangled with senator schumer over the jaxta legislation and the time i tangled with senator schumer about the wisdom of passing obamacare and the time i tangled with senator schumer over trade promotion authority legislation and to think we spent most of the last two and a half years complaining about how unreasonable republicans in congress are. the daily briefing of course is the most high profile part of the secretary's job but not the only part that matters. the more important part is working with all of you and

ensuring the freedom of the press and ensuring the freedom of the press that keeps this democracy vital. when i first entered this role i worked closely with the white house travel office and department of defense to reform the billing process for your flights and military aircraft including air force one, making the bills more transparent and smaller. in the last two and a half years we cajoled governments in china, and eth yoepwraia to host news conferences on their soil allowing theeaders of the countries and their citizens to see firsthand what it means for independent journalists to hold those in power aaccountable. of course it was the end of the year news conference that the president convened in this room in 2014 that got much attention as any other, because president obama called on eight journalists, all women, and finally, everything about this final week makes me think of all the incredible people whom i've been blessed to work with these past eight years. i only had this opportunity because robert gibbs pulled me

aside election night in chicago to tell me he wanted me to come work with him at the white house. i'm only here because jay carney, jennifer palmieri and dan pfeiffer supported and encouraged me when i was the deputy and advocated for me when jay stepped down and benefited from the cabinet who have important responsibilities for part of their formal job description but tend to help me out every time i asked for it, denis mcdonough and susan rice and ben rhodes and i've only been able to do this job because i have an incredible team around me. my assistants jeff tiller, antoinette rangel, now desiree barnes, all patiently supported a guy who let's face it, sometimes isn't so easy to assist. the white house stenographers, dominique dansky-berry, beck dori sine, amy seans, indicate mccor mick and peggy ntam.

th work as hard as anybody at the white house and complain as less as anybody at the white house. [ applause ] applause is appropriate at that point. i think the only team that may contend with them might be the research department here at the white house led by alex plotkin and kristen bartaloni. i hope you get a chance to thank the stenographers for their work. they make your life easier. others stretched as thin and at least as effective as any team of press wranglers we've ever had at the white house, nsc colleagues, carl wook and d du tiontowat patiently explained to me things i didn't know so i could in turn explain them to you, my team and lower press, patrick rodden-bush, katey hill is as talented and dedicated as any press team in this time. i begged brandy to join this team when i got the job and her

performance far exceeded the sky high recommendations i got from people all over. they are all katie, brandi and patrick going places. eric schultz is simply the best deputy that anyone in any field could ask for. >> here, here. >> he shows up early, he sta stays up late, he's defendant, inside joke, always prepared, loyal, his judgment is sought after throughout the halls of the white house, not jt by me but by various members of the senior staff. when you're president of the united states and widely regarded as among the most thoughtful and eloquent speakers on the planet it must be hard to watch someone go on tv and speak for you. i suspect that's why when the president offered me this job he said he wouldn't watch my briefings. but i know that he saw parts of them on the very rare occasions that he watched cable tv and he never second-guessed me. not once. he didn't just give me the opportunity of a lifetime, he

had my back every single day and i'm grateful for it. but there is one person who contributed to my success more than anyone else, she doesn't even work at the white house. my wife natalie -- when the president of the united states called me into the oval office to offer me the job. i got back to the desk i saw several missed cell phone calls. i called her back, told her i was sorry missed her calls but i had the best possible excuse. she's extended more support and understanding than i could ask for, even as she was becoming the best mom any 2-year-old kid to hope for. when i missed the mark up here she didn't hesitate to tell me about it. i followed her advice. so thank you, sweetheart, for your patience, your loyalty, your counsel and your love. without it, i would not be standing here, and i will never be able to make it up to you, but i look forward to spending

some more time with you and walker so that i can give it a shot. serving as the white house secretary has been an incredible honor. i've had the opportunity to advocate for his vision of the country, the same vision that deeply resonated with me when i signed up to work for him in iowa in march 2007. we'll go on to make a difference in new ways, i take heart in knowing that all of you will still be here. i draw confidence in knowing that you are driven by the same spirit that prompted those young kids i mentioned at the top of my briefing a couple of weeks ago to move to an iowa town they'd never heard of to organize support for the obama campaign. you have the same determination as the young people who are moving to washington, d.c., today, with no job, with no contacts and no prospects, who are hoping to work in the trump administration. you're motivated in the same way as the career civil servants, the ones at the department of education who is trying to stretch her agency's budge tote

ensure as many hispanic kids as possible can get a decent education. you have so much in common with these people because each of you and what you do every day is critical to the success of our democracy. there will be days when you'll show up to work tired, the same is true to the obama, and there will be days where you will feel disrespected and many of the young republican staffers who move to washington looking for a job, will feel that way at times, it's hard to pound the pavement in this town when you don't know anybody. there will be days where you will wonder if what you're doing even makes a difference. and i know that our civil servants sometimes wonder the same thing. but i assure you, if you, the most talented, experienced effective press corps in the world didn't play your part in our democracy, we would all notice. your passion for your work and the centralit to the success of our democracy is a uniquely american feature of our government.

it's made president owe pa bama better president and a better public servant and it's because you persevere and you never go easy on us. so even though it's my last day, you better not let up now. so in that spirit, let me s for the last time, standing up here, josh, you want to get started with questions? >> sure. thanks, josh. [ applause ] >> i'm not interrupting because he was saying nice things about you guys, because i largely conc concur. when i first met josh earn est, he was in iowa. i think he was wearing jeans. he looked even younger than he was, and since my entire campaign depended on communications in iowa, i gave

him a pretty good once over, and there are a couple things i learned about him right away. number one, you know, he's just got that all-american manmade good looking thing going. that's helpful, let's face it. face made for television. then the guy's name is josh earnest, which, if somebody is speaking on your behalf, is a pretty good name to have. but what struck me most in addition to his smarts and his maturity and his actual interest in the issues was his integrity. you know, there are people you

meet who you have a pretty good inkling right off the bat are straight shooters, and were raised to be fundamentally honest, and to treat people with respect, and there are times where that first impression turns out to be wrong, and you're a little disappointed, and you see behind the curtain that there's spin and some hype a and, you know, posturing going on, but then there's others who the longer you know them, the better you know them, the more time you spend with them, the more you're tested under tough situations, the more that initial impression is confirmed,

and i have now known this guy for ten years almost, and i've watched him grow, and i've watched him advance, and i've watched him marry and i've watched him be a father, and i've watched him manage younger people coming up behind him, and he's never disappointed. he has always been the guy you wanted him to be, and i think that you know, if you're the president of the united states and you find out that this is the guy who has been voted the most popular press secretary ever by the white house press corps, that may make you a little nervous, thinking well maybe the guy's kind of being too solicitous towards the press, but the fact is, is that

he was worthy of that admirat n admiration. he was tough and didn't tell you all you wanted but he was always prepared, always courteous, he ways tried to make sure he could share with you as much of our thinking and our policy and our vision as possible, and tried to be as responsive as possible and that's how he trained the rest of his team to be. so of the folks that i've had the great joy and pleasure of working with over the last ten years on this incredible journey, you know, this guy ranks as high as just about anybody i've worked with. he is not only a great press secretary but more importantly he is a really, really good man, and i'm really, really proud of

him, so josh, congratulations. >> thank you, sir. [ applause ] >> and natalie and walker, thanks for putting up with all of it, because they've made sacrifices, too. >> thank you, sir. >> before you go, response to vladimir putin? [ inaudible comment ] >> where are you going on friday? >> and with that, president obama interrupting josh earnest's last briefing and declining to answer a question about vladimir putin. he said that will be tomorrow, he's having his final news conference at the white house tomorrow. joining me democratic senate chris coombs member of the foreign senate relations committee. vladimir putin going after the obama white house, defending donald trump, strong language back and forth. where are we right now moscow and the incoming administration? >> this is a really remarkable time, andrea. first i hope we're going to see more of the white house press conference under a trump administration.

second, it's my real hope that president-elect trump will distinguish himself, distance himself from these outrageous accusations by vladimir putin. we have a bipartisan senatorial investigation into whether or not there were inappropriate ties between the trump campaign and the russian government led by vladimir putin. there's clear evidence russia engaged in a widespread activity to undermine the integrity of our election. it's important we listen to the intelligence community and members of congress, not to vladimir putin who doesn't have our best interests at heart. >> the accusations between john brennan of the intelligence community, the cia director and donald trump, tweets back and forth, defending himself saying he was not the leaker of that, and reacting on my reporting is to the analogy that the intelligence community was acting like nazi germany. that analogy really put them over the edge. >> stunning.

>> and talking about the stars on the wall, the men and women who have sacrificed, different their lives. >> andrea a year ago when vladimir putin sat down with a group of senior leaders at the kremlin and sketched out the idea they might somehow be able to undermine the strength and the durability of american democracy, our alliance with nato, our closeness with the eu, they couldn't have imagined they'd succeed this much, to have a public dispute between our president-elect and the outgoing head of the cia, to have so much tension and discord between the united states, angela merkel, nato, eu, just caused over the last few days by some of the reckless and irresponsible tweets by the president-elect, it's my hope that we will see some forces in the trump administration pushing towards the center, and that some of the voices in congress both republican and democrat that are cautioning president-elect trump against taking the side o vladimir putin against our vital european alli, will yet win out and stabilize the path forward here. >> what is the prospect for rex tillerson here on the committee

for confirmation, decisive vote seems to be in the hands of marco rubio, a republican. >> he didn't acquit himself very well in the confirmation hearing. we a nine-hour-long hearing. it is clear is he well experienced, he's seasoned, he's traveled around the world extensively, he knows world leaders and he gave some strong and firm answers, answers that really differed from president-elect trump's positions on the jcpoa, on the paris climate agreement, on the importance of nato and that was encouraging but on human rights and on climate change in response to withering questions from senator rubio and others, he didn't do so as well, so i think his confirmation is uncertain and largely in the hands of a few undecided members. >> teresa may in the uk is talking about a clean break on brexit. it takes time to disentangle. there's talk between the incoming trump administration and the brits about a bilateral trade agreement, a relationship that doesn't really help america

that much, given the size of the european union economically, and what they can offer, rather than frankly, this connection to great britain. >> it's a puzzling choice, if i may. when given the opportunity to retain some economic ties, some ongoing ties to the eu, to choose instead a complete self rens of ties with the main union, they're one of our closest, most important strongest econic and political partners and if the trump administration seeks to move forward a bilateral deal with the uk, it will get a favorable hearing fairly quickly, but i am surprised that prime minister may has made this strong step to completely sever ties with the european union. >> can i infer from what you've said, have you decided how you're going to vote on tillerson and what are you going to do about sessions? you're on judiciary also. >> i've publicly said i will vote against jeff sessions for attorney general. we worked well in the six years

we served on the judiciary committee but far too many policy areas he has opposed bipartisan efforts to make progress. mr. tillerson and i had a constructive hour and a half meeting the week before his confirmation hearing. i am still weighing my vote on that. i am undecided and i am meeting with nikki haley, the nominee to be the u.n. ambassador this afternoon, consulting with a number of my colleagues republican and democrat before reaching a final decision on rex tillerson. >> chris coombns thank you very much. >> thank you. >> see all of the preparations of the inauguration well under way on capitol hill. chris jansing has a preview of what to expect. >> reporter: hi andrea. it's noon on friday when donald trump will take the oath of office, give his in all url address and with the obama walk through the bronze door known as the columbus door or the rotunda door and there will be a helicopter waiting for the obamas.

we are told their ultimate destination is palm springs. it's been reported, we have not confirmed that, and then there will be a troupe review, donald trump will go back up here with his wife melania, representat e representatives from the armed force also come by and he'll get into a limousine for the parade, expected to be short, maybe 90 minutes long and he's headed into the oval office to get down to work. >> and thanks to chris jansing. we hope it doesn't rain on friday although rain is predicted. donald trump's inauguration week is off to a combative start to say the least after slamming the cia chief, calling nato obsolete and of course the political backlash over his response to congressman john lewis. as many as 48 democrats are telling msnbc they will boycott the inauguration. joining me now is walter isaacson, former editor of "time" magazine, president of the aspen institute. >> great to be back with you. >> studies foreign policy seriously here and abroad. walter, the mood, the tone,

we've seen contentious transitions before, this one seems more edgy. >> it's not just more edgy. it's really weird. for 70 years the goal of russia has been to separate the united states from its allies especially germany. there's been a bipartisan from truman all the way on, and now you have an administration coming in that's attacking the cia and the cia sees as its mission keeping an eye on russia, so this is all very unnerving when it comes to foreign policy. >> unnerving also, you mentioned germany. the relationship with angela merkel, for donald trump yesterday to be comparing putin and merkel and putting them on the same level, when -- >> i think he's actually showing preference for putin which i find baffling. he said nato is obsolete, and in some ways nato is a bit obsolete when it came to fighting terrorism in the middle east. it was not suited for that, but what nato was created for, you

know, almost 70 years ago, was stopping russia's incursion into europe, right after it had taken over half of germany, and at the end of world war ii, and that is more relevant now than ever, given the expansionist policies of putin, the way he's done crimea, the way he's threatening the rest of europe, so i think nato has become far more relevant, not obsolete. >> and it doesn't even speak to how nato came to our defense after 9/11, and has been engaged ever since in afghanistan. >> well, we share basic values with our western european, with our european allies, i should say and we don't share basic values with putin's russia, and so i think it's a bad time to be calling into question which side we're on especially since his national security adviser designate, his secretary of state designate have all been awarded medals from russia. this is just very confusing to me why he would align himself this way. >> the cia dispute, there are

personalities and edgy issues between someone as strong as john brennan and of course donald trump, but what i am hearing from the workforce is a great sense of unease about the criticism, the broad-based criticism against u.s. intelligence. i don't know what you're hearing. >> of course there's unease and the people who have struggled their entire lives to keep on top of the situation in russia, and the threats it poses and china. they've got to feel unease about this. this is, you know, it's benjamin franklin's 113th birthday today. >> you are the author of the book on ben franklin. >> if he were alive not only would he be 1 s113, he'd be appalled. he tried to bring the country together to understand what the basic values are. that's what i think donald trump had the opportunity and still does have the opportunity to do so to say okay, let's figure out

what our values are and let me reach out, because i'm an unconventional president-elect, but i can reach out and make everybody feel like they're part of this country. i just keep waiting for that to happen. >> and in terms of 48 people now saying that they will not attend, a lot of this could be politics. john lewis did fire the first shot with chuck todd but the response to demean him to say he was all talk no action when he almost lost his life on the edmund pettis bridge and also to take him on, on his district, with a caricature of his district, which is very middle class and well-to-do district by happenstance. it is not what was described. z>> characterizing atlanta. that's beside the point. if you're trying to heal the nation, he made that shot at john lewis, but then to continue it all night, and then just i think this morning, there was

another one, john lewis is somebody who has helped shape the history of this nation, and on an inauguration week i would think he'd want to be kind, open, embracing, you'd want to follow the values of people like ben franklin. >> you're a pulitzer prize winning writer for many books. >> not quite, but. >> let me ask you about the message in the speech. the speech is important. what should be his speech? >> look, america is coming back economically, and we're strong in the world. we need to make sure that everybody has the opportunity of health care, that we try to recreate $35 an hour jobs, which has been part of trump's message, the middle class jobs, but also let's try to all pull together right now. let's not be so divisive, and that means showing acts of kindness, and openness, and i just think that message would

resonate so much because people want each new president to succeed. >> you have so many awards, can i give you one -- >> nobel peace prize you could gi me. >> walter, thank you very much. >> andrea, great to be with you. much more ahead as washington readies for a transfer of power. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc live from capitol hill. befi was active.gia, i was energetic. then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy.

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at this hour the wife of the man who carried out the pulse nightclub attack in orlando is in federal court in california. noor salman, omar mateen's widow was arrested monday in her home living in northern california. salman is charged with obstruction of justice and aiding and abetting in the massac massacre. her attorneys say she had no advanced knowledge and prosecuting her dishonors the shooting victims, because they call her an innocent victim as well. according to law enforcement

officials she knew her husband was preparing to carry out some kind of attack but didn't tell anyone. someone reportedly told the fbi after the shooting she drove her husband t pulse nightclub at least once. 49 people were killed there, dozens injured, one of the deadliest terror attacks in the u.s. much more coming up ahead as washington readies for the inaugural of donald trump. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc, live from capitol hill. american express open cards can 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. find out how american express cards and services i have age-related maculare degeneration, amd, he told me to look at this grid every day.

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and joining me now is jen psaki, white house communications person. your job at the white house an enormous job as communications director. before that you were at the state department and so you know all of the foreign entanglements. vladimir putin as the president prepares to leave office here, blasting the obama white house accusing the white house o

leaking fake news, information that has never been verified about russia being compromised, donald trump, this harsh rhetoric towards the white house, what is your reaction to that? >> there's been a lot of reflections happening in the white house in our final days. we have not spent a lot of time thinking about how to get validation from president putin and certainly haven't over the course of my time working for president obama. i think that's probably the case for the intelligence community as well. what people shouldn't forget here is that the reason the president asked for this review by the intelligence community is because he's concerned about the threats to our democracy, the threats to the democracies of many of our friends and allies around the world and the work doesn't stop on friday, when he leaves office. there's a lot of work left to be done. these are really serious issues, but we're not spending too much time sweating what president putin has to say about this. >> as you look at this transition, it's notable and

there's a lag time perhaps in the staffing of the nfc, an exercise on friday, what concerns do you have going forward, literally taking it from the obama per sxekive about how ready the trump team is to take over. >> well i think, andrea, every transition is different. we've tried to follow the model that the bush team followed with us, which is -- it's important for people to remember including the incoming alleged mrg it's not just about your relationship with the white house correspondents association, it's about the message you're sending to the world. the united states is one of the only countries in the world where there are diminishing numbers of countries with a free press, where we have three press briefings almost every single day. you have battles with reporters,

arguments with reporters, you may have disputes, but that's an important part of democracy, and it's an important part of who we are as the united states and i'm hopeful that they'll continue that tradition as well. >> an important message very much so, jen psaki, thank you so much. >> thank you, my pleasure, andrea. >> thank you for all that you have done and to increase communication from this administration. john mclaughlin served as acting cia director and deputy cia director for the george w. bush administration and joins me now here. thank you very much for being with us. >> good to be with you. >> when you look at what the dci, what john brennan had to say in the "wall street journal" and the escalating war of words with donald trump, donald trump comparing the intelligence community to nazi germany, what's your reaction to that? >> i find it absolutely disgusting, andrea, that the president-elect would compare these people to nazi germany. think about it. there are 117 stars carved on

the wall in marble in the lobby of the cia. one-third of those stars have been carved since 9/11, so this is dedication carved in marble that he would compare these people, who will be the pointy end of the spear for him, to nazi germany is frankly disgusting. >> what are you hearing from the workforce? there are some who are saying well that's just a dispute between john mclaughlin, between the leaders and donald trump and they're political. does brennan reflect what the men and women are saying? you talk to them all the time. >> i think he does. i think the average person is going to work hard for this president. there's no concern about that. but they're going to have deep concerns about whether he is able to absorb facts. this is so far the administration playing pretty loose with facts, and whether he can take a bad message when there is bad news to be delivered. so far, he does not react well to things that are in some way displeasing to him. part of being president is you've got to hear the whole

thing, the good, the bad, the ugly. >> you were not political. you were career in the agency. >> that's correct, yes. >> and is this a case where people just didn't support donald trump? because there are also a lot of military people in cia who may have favored donald trump. so we're trying to get our arms around why is this a big deal? why should people be concerned about the intelligence community and the incoming president not communicating? >> well, i think the main concern for me is this -- it's really within a one-way battle. the intelligence community has done really nothing to hurt donald trump. they briefed him on the russian hacking. i don't believe they've been leaking anything about donald trump or about anything else. so i think the concern here is really a one-way concern that, for whatever reason, this president-elect has chosen not to have even a modicum of trust in his intelligence

professionals, who are at the end of the day going to be front line troops for him. these are soldiers without uniforms. they take the same risks. they get information that he has to have, and it's not that they deserve to be coddled. they're accustomed to controversy. they have thick skins. he may have noticed that his tweets don't really move them as much as he has moved others with some of the hostile tweets he's put out, so they're going to work hard for him. they're professionals, but i think they deserve a modicum of respect. >> good to see you and thanks for rushing over here today. much more ahead. we will and be right back. pizz. um. something wrong? so when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day? you want the whole thing? yes, yes! live whole. not part. aleve. i've got a nice long life ahead.

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andrea, thank you. good afternoon i'm craig melvin at msnbc headquarters in new york. so much happening this hour. first of all, firing back. president-elect donald trump lashing out at his democratic critics and pollsters as his farve favorability ratings tank. and some of the top cabinet nominees what, it looks like for some of his most controversial picks who threaten to up-end departments of education, commerce, health and human services and the epa, if they get confirmed? we'll focus on those issues, plus immigration, all in this hour. and a walk through history. we will take you through the steps the future president will take friday morning as he makes his way to the platform to take the oath of office as the 45th president of these united states. let's start with the president-elect and whether his