the president cohesive. srk mark? srk the white house has a lot of big stories to deal with today that are developing. the president has been sitting over an hour waiting to speak. >> i learned from senator corker, it feels like things coming. sounds like they have a plan. >> they have a plan in place. we shall see. >> that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage now. >> thanks. good morning, i'm stephanie ruhle. we are waiting for president trump to speak at the national prayer breakfast at any moment. we'll bring the live remarks. first, we have a lot to cover, starting with tough talking. president trump in a multi-prong, diplomatic attack, blasting a key ally. ready for this? australia. the australia prime minister over the phone. he's taking a brazen hard line on iran. >> we are officially putting iran on notice. >> even reportedly threatening

to send troops down to mexico. new details are out on the botched raid in yemen as the president welcomes home the remains of a member who lost his life. >> something very sad, very beautiful. >> should the raid have been called off? and, down to the wire. trump's nominee for education secretary lose zs two key republican votes. >> i cannot vote to confirm her. >> i was trying to get to yes. i couldn't. >> if one more senator defects, it is game over. so much to cover as mark halperin says, a lot of stories the white house thooz cover today. we are going to begin with president trump flexing his muscle on the world stage and ruffling feathers i the process. this sets up interesting challenges for rex till oreson, who we'll be hearing from in 30 minutes. also, donald trump taking to

twitter, of course, about iran, one of three countries the new administration butted heads with in recent days. you are in luck, we have the best team in business to break it down and a great panel. kristen welker is live at the white house. i want to start with president trump and the phone calls, one to australia, one to mexico. they are our allies, but that's not what happened. >> reporter: doesn't seem so. here is what we know. reports that the call between president trump and mexican president were very heated. he threatened to send in military troops because mexico has bad hombres. the associated press reporting that was light hearted banter according to a u.s. official. based on my own conversations here, the white house pushing back firmly against that characterization of the call. look, the president never threatened to send u.s. military troops to mexico. we are going to press sean spicer about all of this during

the briefing. the other thing is the conversation with another key ally to the united states, australia. in a conversation between president trump and the prime minister of australia, the president became enraged when he learned about a deal that was struck under the obama administration for the u.s. to take more than 1200 refugees from australia. they would have to go through the typical vetting process. that's a two year process. the president, apparently saying, why would we take over refugees? we might be importing the next boston bombers. this was the tweet for president trump last night. do you believe it, the obama administration agreed to take thous of illegal immigrants om australia. why? i will study this dumb deal. this is one of the united states closer allies. the broader question, why is the president picking fights with

allies and what could the ripple effect be? >> could say it was light hearted. where he's not light hearted is with iran. >> reporter: yep. >> can you talk about the hard line the administration is taking there? it fits with what president trump was saying throughout the campaign. >> reporter: it's not a huge surprise, steph. if you listen to candidate trump, he said he thought the iran nuclear deal brokered under the administration was a bad deal and he wanted to rip it up. this was a separate issue. the national security adviser, mike flynn came to the briefing room saying he was putting iran on notice. he said because they test fired a ballistic missile violating a u.n. agreement and because of other provocative actions. we pressed senior administration officials. what does it mean to be put on notice? they didn't rule out a range of actions. everything for more economic

sanctions and potentially military action. this is something we need to press the administration on. this is rattling with iran, not an ally of the united states, but comes on the heels of the u.s. brokering a nuclear deal with them. what could the fallout be? that's what we are digging into. >> we have been told to take him figuratively, not literally. i want to turn to the australia bit. one of the journalists who broke the story about president trump's call to the australian prime minister, philip rutger. you got the details of this. what did you find out? >> this is a call that took place on saturday over the weekend. it was one of five foreign leader calls president trump made. it was contentious and heated. they had a disagreement overhe refugee policy as kristen was explaining. trump seemed to threaten the prime minister. he said, look, this is a dumb deal.

it's going to hurt me politically. he said this would be akin to australia exporting potentially the next boston bombers, a reference to the boston bombing. trump tried to rub in his popularity, his crowd sizes and victory. 25 minutes in, it ended abruptly. >> do we know who prepped president trump for this call? is he aware of how long australia has been our ally? next to the united states, they have more troops fighting isis than any of our other allies. they have been working side by side with us for decades. does he understand this relationship? >> i assume he has to have understood the relationship and his national security advisers did as well. i believe the vice president had a conversation with his counter part in australia ahead of the trump call. clearly, the u.s. government knew what they were doing with australia. i think trump, he was elected to

disrupt the world order and change policies and redo the agreements in a way that, in his view, would benefit the american interests. that's what he seems to be trying to do here with australia, irrespective with the alliance with australia. >> we are waiting. president trump is at the national prayer breakfast. he's going to speak in a moment. mark burnett, co-producer of "the apprentice" is at the podium. i want to bring in susan from slate. susan, i want to start with you. tough talking is what we knew we were going to get from president trump. people wanted this. this was a change election. but, tough talking, does it not need a level of diplomacy? are you concerned with how aggressive president trump has been in places like australia and mexico? of course. we heard donald trump say america first. that's fine, but does that mean

going it alone? that's the message he's sending which is trouble. people in europe responding to the ban. they are issues people were concerned about on foreign affair. on the issue of iran, he looks like the donald trump everyone knew we were going to get. now people are concerned about how is he handling the diplomacy of what needs to get done around the world. we can't be by ourselves. >> how does america first read to the rest of the world? we know australia and mexico, canada are shocked right now. how are they reading it and what are they doing? america first sounds great. what does it mean? >> ahead of the eu, they put the united states on a list of problem areas, things we have to worry about. he's a polish president. america is more popular in poland than america. literally. for the europeans to look at this as uncertainty and

uncertainty is bad in the markets as you know. i's bad internationally. if this is in service of a policy, that's one thing. to me, cutting off an ally like australia is not a policy, it's a spasm. >> you have to wonder, was he looking for the one line on the refugees? is that what he wanted to come out of the call? look america, i'm not going to let refugees come in. i think it's playing more to that than anything else which is umpb unfortunate. there's a lot of issues. >> pulling tpp out there. you have the pm on the phone, don't blow it up over refugees. >> talk about what's going on in the white house, what donald trump's intentions are and people around him. rex tillerson is standing by his side, waiting to get sworn in. the person focused on foreign policy issues. a person who wants to be part of the conversation whether it has to do with iran or australia.

then mike flynn gets on the podium and says iran, you are on notice. what's going on inside the white house? do you think things are coordinated? >> it's coordinated within the white house. this is the strategy president trump wants. steve bannon is playing a huge role in foreign affairs. hees behind this. for rex tillerson, he inherits a lot. he inherits a crisis, at the moment, with australia and the iran situation. that doesn't bring up russia, china, north korea and syria. a lot on his plate to deal with. >> are they giving rex tillerson an unfair hand? to take the podium yesterday, that missile was launched on sunday. many say reason to say something. did he need to say it yesterday and make tillerson's first day on the job that much more

complicated? >> whether they needed to or not, it was planned. they knew what they were doing when it came to that. it wasn't like the immigration ban or the travel ban. >> i have to interrupt you. president trump shook hands with mark burnett and is taking the podium. he's smiling. he's been waiting an hour. here he is. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. thank you. [ applause ] >> thank you very much. it's a great honor to be here this morning. so many faith leaders, very, very important people to me from across our magnificent nation. so many leaders from all across the globe. today we continue a tradition begun by president eisenhower some 64 years ago.

this gathering is a testament to the power of faith and is one of the great customs of our nation. i hope to be here seven more times with you. [ applause ] >> i want very much to thank our co-chair senator bozeman and senator coontz. we have one guest that was sworn in last night, rex tillerson, secretary of state. [ applause ] >> going to do a great job. some people didn't like rex because he actually got along with leaders of the world. i said, no, you have to understand, that's a good thing. a good thing, not a bad thing.

he's respected all over the world and is going to go down as one of our great, great secretaries. thank you, rex. thank you, as well, to senate chaplain barry black for his moving words. i don't know if that's an appointed position? is that appointed? i don't know if you are a democrat or republican, but i'm appointing you for another year. the hell with it. i don't think it's my appointment, but it's the senates. we'll talk to them. your son is here. your job is very, very secure. thank you, barry, appreciate it very much. i also want to thank my great friends, row ma. where is roa? the voice of anangel. that voice is so betiful. everything is so beautiful about roma, including her husband. he's a special, special friend,

mark burnett, for the wonderful introduction. so true. so true. i said to the agent, i'm sorry. my agent said it will never work. i fired him after it became the number one show. it became so successful and he wanted a commission. that's what i really said. we have tremendous success on "the apprentice." when i ran for president, i had to leave the show. that's when i knew for sure i was doing it. they hired a big, big movie star, arnold schwarzenegger, to take my place. we know how that turned out. the ratings went right down the tubes. it's been a total disaster. mark will never, ever bet against trump again. i want to just pray for arnold,

if we can. we have had an exciting life. an outstanding man. thank you for introducing me. appreciate it. it's a great honor. i also want to thank my dear friend, vice president mike pence who has been incredible. and an incredible wife, karen. every time i was in trouble with something, where they were questioning me, they say, but he picked mike pence so he has to know what he's doing. and, it's true. he's been, you know, on the scale of zero to ten, i rate him a 12, okay. i want to thank you. thank you very much, appreciate it. but, most importantly i want to thank the american people. your faith and prayers sustained

me and inspired me through some very, very tough times. all around america, i have met amazing people whose words of worship and encouragement have been a constant source of strength. what i hear most often as i travel the country are five words that never, ever fail to touch my heart. that's, i am praying for you. i hear it so often. i am praying for you, mr. president. no one has inspired me more in my travels than the families of the united states military. men and women who put their lives on the line every day for their country and their countrymen. i just came back yesterday from dover air force base to join the

family of chief william ryan owens as america's fallen hero was returned home. very, very sad, but very, very beautiful. very, very beautiful. his family was there. incredible family, loved him so much. so devastated. he was so devastated. but the ceremony was amazing. he died in defense of our nation. he gave his life in defense of our people. our debt to him and our debt to his family is eternal and ever lasting. greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends. we will never forget the men and women who wear the uniform,

believe me. [ applause ] >> thank you. from generation to generation, their individual lens kept our liberty alive. our freedom is won by their sacrifice and our security earned with their sweat and blood and tears. god has blessed this land to give us such incredible heroes and patriots. they are very, very special and we are going to take care of them. our soldiers understand that what matters is not party or ideology or creed, but the bonds

of loyalty that link us all together as one. america is a nation of believers. in towns all across our land, it's plain to see what we easily forget, so easily we forget this that the quality of our lives is not defined by our material success, but by our spiritual success. i will tell you that and i tell you that from somebody that has had material success and knows tremendous numbers of people with great material success. the most material success. many of those people are very, very miserable, unhappy people. i ow lot of people without that but they have great families, they have great faith, they don't have money, at least not nearly to the extent and

they are happy. those, to me, are the successful people, i have to tell you. [ applause ] >> i was blessed to be raised in a churched home. my mother and father taught me that to whom much is given, much is expected. i was sworn in on the very bible from which my mother would teach us as young children. that faith lives on in my heart every single day. the people in this room come from many, many backgrounds. you represent so many religions and so many views. but, we are all united by our faith in our creator and our firm knowledge that we are all equal in his eyes.

we are not just flesh and bone and blood. we are human beings with souls. our republic was formed on the basis that freedom is not a gift from government but that freedom is a gift from god. [ applause ] >> it was the great thomas jefferson who said the god who gave us life gave us liberty. jefferson asked, can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that theseiberties are the gift of god? among those freeds is the right to worship according to our own beliefs. that is why i will get rid of and totally destroy the johnson

amendment and allow our representatives of faith to speak freely and without fear of retribution. i will do that, remember. [ applause ] >> freedom of religion is a sacred right but also a right under threat all around us and the world is under serious, serious threat in so many different ways and i have never seen it so much and so openly as since i took the position of president. the world is in trouble, but we are going to straighten it out. okay? that's what i do. i fix things. we are going to straighten it out. believe me, when you hear about the tough phone calls i'm having, don't worry about it. just don't worry about it.

they are tough. we have to be tough. it's time we are going to be a little tough, folks. we are taken advantage of by every nation in the world, virtually. it's not going to happen anymore. it's not going to happen anymore. we have seen unimaginable violence carried out in the name of religion. acts of want and slaughter against religious minorities, horrors on a scale that defie description. terrorism is a fundamental threat to religious freedom. it must be stopped. it may not be pretty for a while. it will be stopped. we have seen-- [ applause ] >> by the way, general, as you know, james "mad dog" shouldn't say it in this room, never lost

a battle. always wins them and always wins them fast. he's our new secretary of defense, will be working with rex. he's right now in south korea going to japan, going some other spots. i tell you what, i have gotten to know him really well. he's the real deal. we have somebody who is the real deal working for us. that's what we need. so, you watch. you just watch. things will be different. we have seen peace-loving muslims brutalized, victimized, murdered and oppressed from isis killers. we have seen threats of extermination against jewish people. they cut off heads of christians. not since the middle ages have we seen that. we haven't seen that, the cutting off of heads.

now they cut off the heads, they drown people in steel cages. haven't seen this -- haven't seen this. nobody's seen this for many, many years. all nations have a moral obligation to speak out against such violence. all nations have a duty to work together to confront it and to confront it viciously, if we have to. i want to express clearly today, to the american people, that my administration will do everything in its power to defend and protect religious liberty in our land. america must forever remain a tolerant society where all faiths are respected and all citizens feel safe and secure. we have to feel safe and secure. in recent days, we have begun to take necessary action to achieve that goal. our nation has the most generous

immigration system in the world. but, these are those and there are those that would exploit that generosity to undermine the values that we hold so dear. we need security. there are those who seek to enter our country for the purpose of spreading violence or oppressing other people based upon their faith or their lifestyle. not right. we will not allow a beachhead of intolerance to spread in our nation. you look all over the world and see what's happening. so, in the coming days, we will develop a system to help ensure that those admitted into our country fully embrace values of religious and personal liberty and they reject any form of oppression and discrimination. we want people to come into our nation but we want people to

love us and to love our values, not to hate us and to hate our values. we will be a safe country. we will be a free country. and we will be a country where all citizens can practice their beliefs without fear of hostility or fear of violence. america will flourish, as long as our liberty and our religious liberty is allowed to flourish. [ applause ] >> america will succeed as long as our most vulnerablecitizens, and we have some thatare so vulnerable, have a path to success and america will thrive as long as we continue to have faith in each other and faith in

god. [ applause ] >> that faith in god has inspired men and women to sacrifice for the needy, to deploy to wars overseas and lock arms at home to ensure equal rights for every man, woman and child in our land. it's that faith that sent the pilgrims across the oceans, the pioneers across the plains and the young people all across america to chase their dreams. they are chasing their dreams. we are going to bring those dreams back. as long as we have god, we are never, ever, alone. whether it's the soldier on the night watch, or the single parent on the night shift, god will always give us solace and

strength and comfort. we need to carry on and keep carrying on. for us, here in washington, we must never, ever stop asking god for the wisdom to serve the public according to his will. that's why -- [ applause ] >> thank you. that's why president eisenhower and senator carlson had the wisdom to gather together 64 years ago to begin this truly great tradition. but that's not all they did together. let me tell you the rest of the story. just one year later, senator carlson was among the members of congress to send to the president's desk a joint relution that added, under god to our pledge of allegiance. it's a great thing. [ applause ]

>> because that's what we are and that is what we will always be and that is what our people want. one beautiful nation under god. thank you, god bless you and god bless america. thank you very much. thank you. thank you. >> that, of course, was president trump speaking. it was a bit of a groundhog day when it began. he was speaking of himself abdomen and his businesses, speaking of mark burnett who introduced him. he asked people to pray for the now host of "the apprentice" arnold schwarzenegger. he gave the most comprehensive explanation for the travel ban. he referenced the fallen navy s.e.a.l. who was brought home yesterday, laid to rest in

delaware. that was after the raid that took place in yemen over the weekend. that was a clearly, more measured president trump, something we haven't heard. he said mad dog maddox. he talked about people getting their heads cut off. he made it clear saying people coming into this country are welcome to be here with complete religious freedom. there's a lot of questions around what does that mean. i'm going to bring in virginia democratic senator, mark warren. senator, you heard president trump there speaking specifically about the travel ban. what was your take? >> well, i agree with the president th our country is a land of religious and individual freedom. i was a little taken by the fact that his comments about isil referenced the barbaric acts that isil has taken out against

christians. he didn't refer to the fact that the vast majority of people killed by isil are actually fellow muslims. many references made to beheadings of people caught in cages were almost all muslims. my fear is, as a member of the intelligence committee, this ban being viewed around the world as a ban on muslims is doing extraordinarily negative things to the reputation of america. when you have an item that both iran and isil -- iran and isil are sworn enemies one a shia nation, the other a sunni terrorist group, isil. when both of those enemies use this travel ban for propaganda. isil is use zing it to recruit, to spread venomous thoughts about america, inside america for people that could be potentially self-radicalized.

i don't believe he's accomplishing his goal of making america safe. that's why so many of us, both democrats and republicans think this ban needs to be rescinded. we already have extraordinary vetting processes. i wonder a little bit when you see what is heart breaking to me, when you see iraqis, for example, who worked with our military, who put their lives, their family lives in jeopardy who received a green card to america now excluded. how does that make america safer and how does it show we are going to stand by those who join us in the fight. we saw over the weekend a report the president hung up on the auralian pme minister. australia is one of what's called the five is. the five countries we share the most intelligence with in terms of fights against terrorist groups like isil.

to get off on a bad foot with that key an ally, i think is not a thoughtful approach. so, one thing i want to add is that's why i put forward legislation yesterday that says take the national security council that for 70 years served presidents of both parties and, on a one stroke of the pen, president trump dramatically changed that national security council. he took off the chairman of joint chiefs of staff, took off the director of intelligence as permanent members. he put his chief political adviser, mr. bannon, who is out of the mainstream views and made him a permanent member of the security council. i think that lack of advice may be leading to these bans or actions with the australian prime minister, what appears to be not thought through approach to the raid in yemen this past

weekend. we would return, the head of the national intelligence chairman of joint chiefs of staff and say before you can put a political adviser like mr. bannon on, you have to get consent of congress. now, this may not pass, but i think it sends a strong signal the president needs to be more thoughtful and really make sure that the adviser who is are advising on national security are the one who is have national security background. >> senator, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us. senator mark warren. i want to bring my panel back in. what was your take? >> a lost opportunity for president trump. he cou have used this for a time when everything is so hot as an inspirational or unifying moment. if not the national prayer breakfast, when would you do it? he lost an opportunity there. it's clear he constantly wants

to be at battle with somebody. he could have taken himself a long way with getting poll numbers up if he took a little time to unite. >> that was more cerebral president trump than we have seen. >> he talked in a softer volume. >> that is a great point. that is a great point. >> stylistically, he asserted he had faith. there are a bunch of contradictions there. rex tillerson, getting along with leaders is good. three minutes later, i have to talk tough to leaders. everyone is trying to get something over on america. when trump talks about our values, he's changing our values. he's changing the norms and the values change. one used to be openness. not literally border openness, but inclusiveness. the idea on the statue of liberty. when he gives a message contradictory to that, when you are a cold hearted person and i

don't care about that, it's a strategy in the fight against terror. the fact we include muslims, muslim-americans just feel like americans thachlt is keeping us safe. good vetting so far, but the fact that compared to europe and the rest of the world, americans are americans and very rarely do muslims not feel part of america. what happens now? what happens after the ban? there are costs to the ban. i don't know if there are benefits, but there are costs he doesn't talk about. >> the tough talking whether with adversaries or allieallies is a differentppach and maybe progress. or is i so dangerous and he doesn't realize it because he's never been in that seat? when he was talking about the true value is to have spiritual value, not monetary value, he said by the way, i'm an extraordinarily busy guy. he has a terrible track record.

he's gone bankrupt several times with debts all over the world. it's scary to say he's a fixer. >> we won't know until we see his first test at president. donald trump was elected because people wanted fundmental change. i think hearing things plain spoken. maybe it's not what government needs, but what the people want. there's a difference between those two things. he's trying to implement a travel ban. the government is not ready for it, yet the public supports it. >> then when do the two cross? yesterday a poll was out. 49% of the people polled felt good about the travel ban. >> it doesn't happen until something bad happens. i mean when something cracks, when something goes terribly wrong, there will be judgment on it. we'll see if his economic plan works based on job numbers. security issues, depend on if

something happens. that's where it gets tested. >> the president in chief is the diffuser in chief. there are flair ups all over the world. nato jets buzzed by the russians and chinese finding submersibles. if he acts like he did when the president of mexico got him upset or the prime minister of australia got him upset lives are in the way. the public will see it. >> no one wants him to be tested. rex tillerson will be speaking to the state de department. we are going to bring that to you live as soon as it begins.

will your business be ready when growth presents itself? 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 ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. ma sure the germthey bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. because no one kills germs better than clorox. when you hit 300,000 miles. or here, when you walked away without a scratch.

maybe it was the day your baby came home. or maybe the day you realized your baby was not a baby anymore. every subaru is built to earn your trust. because we know what you're trusting us with. subaru. kelley blue book's most trusted brand. and best overall brand. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. by simply enjoying it. boost® simply complete. it's intelligent nutrition made with only 9 ingredients, plus 25 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. and look where life can take you! boost®. be up for it.™

welcome back. you are watching msnbc and we are monitoring two live events. moments ago, president trump spoke at the national prayer breakfast. on the right, we are looking at the state department where rex

tillerson, who was sworn in last night to be the new secretary of state will be arriving any moment now to give his first address to the department. i want to bring in my colleague, andrea mitchell, who knows this best. rex tillerson, we have heards lots of positive things about him. business people say rex tillerson is a real guy. it's a phrase that fortures me. what does that mean, rex tillerson, real guy. >> reporter: i'm not sure what real guy means in that context, steph. hundreds and hundreds of state employees, civilian workers, diplomats, they have been home alone since john kerry left this building on the 19th of january. they hbeen waing for someone to represent them. the interest they care about deeply. the refugees, the people who made visa, they are responsible for the green cards, the vetting, once the u.n. does the vetting in the refugee camps. it's the state department and

homeland officials who process all of this. it takes 18 months to two years. they believe deeply people who are displaced in civil wars and conflicts arnds the world need a refuge and they have, in the past, been the united states of america. the decent against those executive orders that were not done in consultation with the state department, with the professionals has cut very deeply here. you have never seen decent as widespread as it has been. in the past, we have had, over the years going back to vietnam, maybe 50 or 60, maximum 100 people siding a formal decent. it's sanctioned, channelled, protected by the whistleblower laws. it's a way they can speak truth to power, if you will. they are not allowed to be retaliated against for doing that. in this case, upwards of 1,000 people signing this letter

saying they disagreed profoundly with the executive orders. they said, they agree with a lot that is being done. there are people in this building who have not been entirely comfortable with, for instance, the iran policy, the wayitis been executed. there is a lot of diversity here. they want somebody sitting at the table. they are hoping rex tillerson can have that voice, especially because the president seems to put so much faith in him. he did a shoutout to him at the prayer breakfast. don't know if tillerson has left to come over here, only a few ocks away from the state department. >> besides seei him on tv and reading about him, do many people know rex tillerson? he's been working for exxon for 40 years. he's a true outsider. >> reporter: they don't know him. he has been in transition meetings. still no deputy. still no other appointments,

nominations. they have to be confirmed. this is the slowest start we have seen in many a year. partly because chris christie is running the transition, was fired and all the people he suggested put in place for the nsc, the national security council at the would you say and state and other agencies were basically blacklisted, i'm told. they are not viable candidates. so, the nsc has the advantage of not needing confirmation for their staff, but they are unstaffed at the director level. anyone below mike flynn and mcfarland, the deputy, they don't have a spokesperson, for instance. they don't have anybody communicating the decisions being made. the state department, which does need confirmation has not n nominated people let alone send them to the hill. they hope once they have a cabinet secretary, i should point out by a divided senate,

56-43, the most deeply divided vote for a secretary of state in american history. >> bob corker said this morning on "morning joe" how optimistic he was about secretary tillerson. we heard from condoleezza rice and good faiates praising them. we now how bannon's elevation devided people. >> reporter: from all reports, there is a general alliance among james maddice. john kelly, the former colleague and tillerson had a meeting without mike flynn last week. then there is steve bannon. he is the outlying delving deeply into foreign policy and makes professionals uncomfortable. rex tillerson will be speaking in moments. you are watching msnbc.

are you getting this? these numbers are off the charts... sir! what's the status? there's a meteor hurtling towards earth. how long until impact? less than a minute. what do you want to do, sir? listen carefully... if we all switch to geico we could save 15% or more on car insurance. i like the sound of that. geico. because saving fifteen percent or more on car insurance is always a great answer.

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.

the military's central command says an unknown number of civilians, including children were killed. the white house adds that an estimated 14 militants were also killed. unnamed u.s. military officials tell reuters that the mission wasapproved, quote, without sufficient intelligence, ground support or adequate backup preparations. the raid was the first mission approved by president trump. for more reaction, i spoke earlier with former nato supreme allied commander and former democratic candidate wesley clark. good morning, general.

details are coming in about this raid that took place in yemen and there are anonymous sources within the military that say the president acted too early and without enough intelligence. can you explain how the decision making process works? >> normally in something like, this the intelligence is collected, the raid is planned and it's briefed up the chain of command. in my experience, we've always gone overboard to make sure all the details were covered, all the intelligence was there and we really took very, very protective measures to avoid civil want casualties. sometimes things don't work. sometimes the intelligence isn't accurate or sometimes there may be a glitch and you may not get the latest update so things can go wrong on these. i think we'll have too see this one unpacked. i know what the implications are on this. but i'm sure the guys down there in the military wanted to do this exactly right, exactly by the book and get the kind of

results for the enough team that people expected them to get. i'm sure they're more upset about this than anybody else is. >> then where would the notion of half baked come from? would that group that would be preparing, would they present the new president with a half-baked plan? >> i'd be very surprised if they'd do this. we just have to wait and see what went wrong in this and whether the armed forces want to disclose all that publicly is another matter. >> that was part of my earlier conversation with general wesley clark. mike, this operation that took place in yemen over the weekend, does it surprise you we're just two weeks into this new administration and these anonymous weeks are coming out. why do you think that is? >> i withhold judgment on this because as the general was saying, if people who should know approved it, that says

something. if you look at the leaks on all the executive orders, if you look at the fact that -- i've talked to journalists who say they cover these beats and they say they don't get cell phone messages from one or two people, 30 people coming to them leaking, he's about to issue this executive order, they're scared to death of the orders. they feel they've been cut out of the process and the don't like where things are going and the only recourse is to get it to the press. >> i don't understand. they don't like they're cut out of the process. is this a personal power play or are the lacks happening because they're worried about the safety of the american people? >> i think it's two-fold. there's a very pattic duty among the people serving our country right now and they do believe we should have operations in place to handle what's coming in on these executive orders, i.e.,

the travel band and people to the prepared to handle it. and they want to make sure the white house doesn't come out with alternative facts and they want to make sure it doesn't hurt them professionally down the road. >> and these are people who believe in the process because they are the process. they're not mindless bureaucrats. if you have an outcome, you have to do it the right way, they feel it's not being done in the right way so we won't get the income. you can have such an objection with the way the ban was implicated, and now there's talk of this religious freedom act. people in the government are saying, whoa, hold on, people should know about this. >> change election. we're waiting just moments from now, the newly sworn in secretary of state, rex

tillerson, will address the state department for the very first time. we'll take a quick break and be back in two.

no artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, or colors. panera. food as it should be.

all day long on twitter and right now i'm going to send you to d.c. with my colleague, hallie jackson. >> hi, everybody. i'm hallie jackson on capitol hill. beyond jam packed. we're taking a live look at the state department where any minute rex tillerson is showing up for his first day on the job. there's the welcoming committee. day one for rex tillerson and the honeymoon is over, iran calling president trump inexperienced and has to be careful and is going to keep on testing the ballistic missile despite being, quote, put on notice but washington.

and details of blunt talk towards another nation, this one a friend. so just what happened on that phone call between the president and the leader of australia? and we have another day of confirmation chaos, republicans jumping ship. possibly another boycott on the way. >> i was trying to get to yes. >> i certainly cannot support her confirmation. >> all of it as president trump wraps up talk at the national prayer breakfast. ali arouzi is in at the ron. andrea, you are at the state department. what do we know about how this incoming secretary of state is going to handle everything on his plate within the first 30 minutes essentially of getting on the job where you are? >> as you can imagine, this is a very tough challenge for any incoming diplomat. he is not a