guzman is set to be in court. would appear in court by video at first. that was overtushed after his lawyers contested. he faces the possibility of life in prison. >> this is always great. hastyuniversity's hasty pudding theatrical society to honor ryan reynolds as their man the year. it's so fun! the dressing up. it's great. we got to get right to it. that is a wrap for this friday. happy friday! "morning joe," right now. ♪ >> when i ran for president, i had to leave the show. that's when i knew for sure i was doing it. and they hired a big, big movie star, arnold schwarzenegger, to take my place. and we know how that turned out. the ratings went right down the tubes. it's been a total disaster and mark will never, ever bet against trump again and i want to just pray for arnold, if we

can, for those ratings, okay? >> hey, donald, i have a great idea. why don't we switch jobs? you take over tv, because you're such an expert in ratings, and i take over your job a then people with finally sleep comfortably again. hhmm? >> wow. >> hold on. that was a national prayer breakfast, right? you and i know, brother, the holiest thing all year that happens washiton, d.c right? >> by far. >> he is talking about firing his agent, talking about arnold schwarzenegger's bad ratings. talking how mark burnett will never, ever under value him again. >> but he landed plane.

we have to pray for arnold. >> there are so many things, though, seriously, we could be praying for, willie. no, i'm serious! you look around the world. you don't even have to look around the world. i think we should all start this morning with a prayer, willie, for the victims. >> emotional. >> the bowling green massacre. >> oh, the bowling green massacre, yeah. >> as always. >> how many victims were there again? >> i'll still counting! >> just one this morning. >> they are still counting! >> just one! >> they are still counting! >> just one! just one. >> you are correct, sir! >> just one. holy cow. i'm dizzy. anybody dizzy yet? >> oh, my gosh. >> i'm dizzy.

it's like how many days of this? >> i think your prayer for ratings has to be specific, though. do you want the demo or the overall number? the lord has to -- the lord works in mysterious prayers. >> donald is praying for arnold's ratings to go down. that is his prayer. >> he didn't say up or down. >> you know he is praying for them to stay down. good morning. it's friday, february 3rd. is it the 14th anniversary for the bowling green massacre? >> i believe it is. >> remember that scene where the oklahoma city council? he made them do like a 26-minute moment of silence? any way. so mika has the morning off. with us we have got political analyst and co-author of "game change" john heilemann and former congressman harold folder junior and in washington is

katty kay of bbc and they love us in england right now. and also with us from "the washington post" david ignatius and also larry o'connor. >> good morning. >> we have an awful lot going on, especially in the foreign policy area, willie. iran, russia, israeli. some surprises. it's almost like rex tillerson got behind the desk and you have mattis behind the desk now and kelly behind the desk. and just for a brief shining moment, last night, there was this jolt back to traditional u.s. foreign policy stances. >> a lot of moves and australia. john mccain and bob corker moving in to clean up the mess behind donald trump. >> the australian ambassador went over to the white house. that was a good meeting. and, in fact, they are going to continue with the horrible deal,

the worst deal ever, but they are going to continue. that which, of course, they have to. >> let's start with iran. nbc news has learned that the trump administration could impose new sanctions on iran as early as today. officials say the sanctions are in response to continued terrorist activity by iran and ballistic missile test, including the one last sunday. among the entities expected to be sanctioned are the irgc and affiliated groups. more than two dozen of which could be impacted. this is according to reuters. in the opinion of the trump administration, the new sanctions will not violate the iran nuclear deal. it comes as a bipartisan group senatorent a letter to the president asking for the continued enforcement of iranian sanctions to consider more writing, in part, iranian leaders must feel sufficient pressure to cease destabling activity from sponsoring terrorist groups to continue testing ballistic missiles and fully enforcement of sanctions and implementation of additional

sanctions are necessary. we are hopeful the international community can unite around the common cause of countering iran's troubling actions and what richard haass suggested yesterday and what bob corker hinted may be coming as well. >> right. this was not sort of general flynn just going out saying something. they had something planned all along. david ignatius, you write in "the washington post," trump that look before he leaps in iran. president trump has taken aim at a country that is supposed by many u.s. allies but he has begun this confrontation without much preparation or strategic planning. so, david, first of all, talk about iran. talk about what we started talking about yesterday which is we should talk to allies first before leaping. also talk about the interesting move in -- toward israeli and nikki haley actually blasting russia at the u.n. and some of the movement that seemed to happen last night. also tillerson's introduction at

state which just got rave reviews from just about everybody. even some of trump's toughest critics. >> joe, first, on iran. national security adviser michael flynn put iran on notice, but not specific on wednesday. my only concern about that rhetoric, which was pretty sharp, was that we have more than 5,000 u.s. troops who are at risk or vulnerable to iranian reprisals. mostly iiraq but around the gulf. and i was surprised to learn that centcom, the command that is in charge of all of those u.s. military personnel, had not been in coordination with the white house before that statement. and that worried me just a little bit because the men and women who are on the sharp end of the spear out there need to be coordinated in policy.

we are now in a iran policy that is pretty familiar. it's more continuity related from the obama administration than a break. we are talking about sanctions for behavior in this missile area. we are talking about continuing the iran nuclear deal. so that is fascinating. on israeli, again, we saw, after some early embraces of the government of prime minister netanyahu's suggestion that whatever you want, israeli is fine with us, a backing away, first on move the embassy to jerusalem in the early stages. we were later told. and then fascinatingly yesterday, a warning to israeli, don't announce too many new settlements, that this would not be helpful for the peace process that clearly president trump wants and his son-in-law jared kushner will lead and a step back to more u.s. national stance and rex tillerson is just

so happy to be secretary of state and help run the place. it's been kind of a drafty over there with so many top officials leaving. state department is a big organization. it needs somebody to be in charge and so i think there was genuine happiness that tillerson showed up. >> again, we are talking continuity right now as david said on iran. continuity when it comes to russia, certainly from what we are starting to hear about keeping the obama sanctions in place. and continuity also on israeli and as we said here very early on, the move in jerusalem is not ever going to happen as long as donald trump thinks he has a shot at doing what he wants to do. forget obamacare. he wants to be the guy that brings the israelis and palestinians together. you have continuity over and over again for, again, at least a brief shining moment. >> a big front page story in "the new york times" saying

this. that story got posted last night, i had a flashback around the same time in eight years ago in 2009, writing a column saying everybody is going to freak out now. all of you supporters of barack obama about look how much continuity between barack obama's foreign policy and george w. bush's foreign policy. in foreign policy more continuity and the nature of things, right? sometimes you have radical breaks with the past but, often, new presidents get in office, having said all kinds of things they are going to be previous from the previous guy in the office and get in there andgo, you know, the stability of the world demands, even if we are going to make changes, we have to do them over time, not in radical ways and you're seeing that again here where reality is meeting the administration and they are saying, okay, we want to do things differently but we maybe have to do it more incrementally. >> we see this time and time

again. in 1992, george h.w. bush, he was going to hold a firm line against beijing. he came out and you said talking about the importance with the relationship with china. barack obama, i mean, they will admit they candidate run against john mccain in 2008. they ran against george w. bush. they go in. they get the briefing. and, suddenly, a lot more continuity than barack obama would have like to have had with bush and cheney. >> on a lot of these issues. >> can you trace it line from harry truman in 1947 so george h.w. bush in 1991. really one policy toward the soviet union during the cold war. it toggled here and there but that was one straight line and there was a reason for that continuity. >> you said well on this show many times when you get that briefing. >> thank you, harold. >> i'll say it again you said it

many times. >> thank you. >> when you get that briefing, things change. in this administration and including president obama who said he would close guantanamo bay and do other things you can't do these things once you actually learn what is happening in the world. this president, one of the things you have to hope other members of his administration, including his secretary of state, are learning these things, are a part of involvement in this decision making and that it's actually happening. john mccain is someone the president didn't go on with during the campaign and seemingly didn't get along with now. hopefully, they are involved more and he involves them in the conversation more because this is someone, whether you agree with him or not if you're president trump, he is someone who has vast experience across the board and across the world and around the world. hopefully, we will begin to see more of his thinking, at least incorporated or at least considered as the president goes forward. >> we have already seen trump playing the good cop/bad cop or at least the tough cop/good cop with james mattis when it comes to torture.

i think you're going to start seeing that more and more with rex tillerson at state, with -- i mean, these are not -- >> do you agree with what the president is doing right now? >> oh, yeah. it was last night was the first time i could exhale. i thought germany was a nightmare. i've personally always wanted to take a harder line on iran but see a hard line from the u.n. on russia and slowing down of settlements in israeli. that's, i see that all as good. continuity. we need a little continuity because you look at approval polls across the nation. i saw one out of germany last night. i mean, our numbers have just collapsed as a nation over the past two weeks. >> obviously, one of the big questions during the campaign was trump's feelings about russia and rex tillerson's relations with russia.

the trump administration is demanding that russia craw from crimea. >> that sounds good. holy cow. >> intrefs in deadly fighting in the region between ukrainian forces. russian president vladimir putin has accused ukraine of starting it all to really support from the new u.s. administration. first remarks to an open session of the u.n. security council, ambassador nikki haley condemned the violence there. >> i consider it unfortunate that the occasion of my first appearance here is one in which i must condemn theressive actions of russia. we do want to better our relations with russia. however, the dire situation in eastern ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of russian actions. crimea is a part of ukraine. our crimea related sanctions will remain in place until russia returns control over the peninsula to ukraine. >> katty kay, what is the

significance of that moment yesterday for the trump administration? >> out of the statements that came out last night that was the most remarkable. this is the fault line for several republican foreign policy experts, including sitting senators who are saying, listen, we will give the president leeway on other issues but we are really prepared to fight if it comes to lifting sanctions on russia over the issue of ukraine and crimea. to hear nikki haley say, point blank, crimea is part of ukraine, which president trump is certainly not stressed since his election last november, that was a real departure from what this president has been saying. now, on this issue of some sense of reversal to american foreign policy, it's been 18 hours. this is new, right? >> yes, yes, it is. >> still, a lot of american allies around the world are thinking we have whiplash. we are very confused about where

america is going and we will see if this is the policy now that tillerson is in and mattis is in and kelly is there. and nikki haley seems prepared to say this kind of thing at the united nations. or we will see if, tomorrow, another ally will be in donald trump's eyesight. >> that is exactly why i used the word a brief shining moment twice already this morning. >> yes. but it's a lot better, right? >> it was a wonderful slice of time from 8:15 until the time i fell off to sleep. it was wonderful. i felt good and felt like i could actually sleep. i did. so, rry, you couldn't say this about the trump administration the first week because there were a couple of guys running around the west wing as we know now that weren't going through prove channels and shoving things in the president's face. but it's very obvious that when you have general flynn coming out yesterday -- and we had a debate on set yesterday -- you could tell that was planned.

a lot of thought had actually gone into that and that wasn't just him doing an al haig taking over the microphone. the same with nikki haley yesterday. that wasn't just her scribbling notes down. you can tell that went through state, that went through the interagency process. yesterday seemed to be the first day on foreign policy, maybe it's because tillerson is at state now and everybody is finally in place, but some order seemed to be coming to our foreign policy team. >> some normalcy, perhaps, in terms of how people here in the beltway and in new york are used to seeing things go and i think that whiplash you were talking about is potentially sort of this disorienteding atmosphere after the first couple of weeks of the trump administration but, you know, part of the premise sear, i think, needs to be readjusted. you just said our policy for the soviet union.

i think his leadership, his rhetoric, that mattered and made a difference and his focus on very key strategies with the soviet union. it made a difference. i don't think you would say, joe, that jimmy carter would have handled the voetyou're rig over the last 18 hours they have channeled that focus and channeled that rhetoric in a more normal way. >> david ignatius, on iran. i think i have taken a different position for quitesometime, most of the people around the this panel was against the iran deal and i actually like the fact that the trump administration is taking a tougher position on the iran line, but that is one thing. yes, we could go back and forth and toggle back and forth. but we have to have consistency

on nato. we have to have consistency on australia, a country that has a second number of troops fighting in iraq and syria right now, who have fought besides in every major conflict from world war i and world war ii and have given so much in support of us. germany. we have real problems right now with his relationship with angela merkel. there are some things you can blow up but, for the most part, we have to have our allies know that there is going to be continuity, don't we? >> well, i absolutely agree. i think the structure of american power really is this network of alliances, the perception of american continuity and reliability. there is a new team in the white house led by steve bannon, the strategist, and they are pretty revolutionary. they want to blow up that

structure. they think that structure is what they call it the party of davos. they are not so sure they want stability and continuity. i think it's still in the balance and i think a lot of u.s. allies like germany, like japan. japan, a really important ally in asia. prime minister abe is coming to washington on february 12th. they are just not sure what it's going to be like here. they are trying to prepare but still not very many people to the state department to talk to. they have a lot at risk in a strong reliable america, as does britain, as does germany. they are still waiting to see, honestly, joe, they want to know it's for real. >> the party of davos. you know what makes me sorry about that party? >> why? >> i've never been invited. still to come, another night of violent protests this time in new york city. donald trump set to meet with high profile ceos but one won't be there. here is bill karins.

i think bill has been invited. bill? >> no. i just checked my inbox. i know. i thought may have been the day! but it wasn't. nice weekend ahead if you like wintertime weather. cold and chilly. no big storms with the exception of the west coast where we deal with the rain and snow today. and into tomorrow. heaviest rains in oregon and worse in portland, oregon. freezing rain so be careful if you head out. roads on the slick side. cold in the great lakes and now the northeast. windchill in new york city down to 18 and coldest in a long time. 1 in chicago and negative 2 in minneapolis and our friends in nashville and atlanta it's much colder across the eastern half of the nation than it has been. the good thing about the south with the sunshine you'll warm it up and florida is perfect today. no problems. chicago at 26. that is kind of cold for you. the weekend is going to be more of the same. with a warm-up coming. that warm-up starts in the middle of the country saturday and spreads to the east and for all of the super bowl festivities in houston the forecast is fine and temperatures near 70 degrees with mostly cloudy skies. this weekend looking pretty

good, with the exception of all of our friends there on the west coast. washington, d.c., this is the coldest morning you've had in a while but by sunday, we should be back up into the 50s. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. we've done well in life, with help from our advisor, we made it through many market swings. sure we could travel, take it easy... but we've never been the type to just sit back... not when we've got so much more to give when you have the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. ameriprise mattress firmness?

fortunately there's a bed where you both get what you want every night. enter sleep number and the ultimate sleep number event, going on now. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. she likes the bed soft. he's more hardcore. so your sleep goes from good to great to wow! only at a sleep number store. and right now save 50% on the ultimate limited edition bed. go to sleepnumber.com for a store near you.

violent protest at another college campus over another controversial speaker. conservative speaker and vice media speaker gavin mcginest was supposed to speak last night on campus. bere the speech began, protests gathered outside the building where mcginest was set to appear and he was hit by pepper spray on his way inside according to a university spokesman. >> i'm sure i should know this by but who is this guy? they are doing this for a guy i never heard of.

who is alex mcinn es? >> gavin. >> north and south? who he is? >> he is from vice media and conservative guy and said inflammatory things. >> he is cofounder of vice media and host of gavin mcinnes show on compound media. >> they hate him because he is canadian? >> now i feel sympathy. >> i'm sure there is some reason -- go ahead. >> shortly after his speech began, people started to curse at him and shove one another. >> you got to stop that. several people were reportedly arrested. >> what is going on here, larry? i read a book called "the closing of american mind" back in law school about 800 years ago. >> that book was controversial when it came out. >> it was. now people like condy rice and

others are pressured from speaking at commencement addresses. >> i spoke on a radio show and she said they did this when i had mine at berkeley ten years ago. they didn't have bone fires or riot but this is a real danger for the left and democrats. if cory booker were smart he would ask rachel maddow to join him and with others and escort them on to a college campus and say this is not what we do in america. if we disagree, we listen and then we argue with our points. this is ridiculous. and democrats, by their silence, the left by tir silence, are locked in with this. to the america's people's eyes they see opposition to trump as violent thugs. that's not a good thing. >> well, and every time you see a protest -- i remember growing up in atlanta, georgia, suburb

of atlanta, georgia, called doraville. when i was young, every time we saw college campuses burning, it just said the hell out of my parents and made them more conservative. >> that's right. >> in fact, they were democrats their entire life. my dad was republican my by whom was a democrat and whole family was a democrat. i think after the lay chaos in the 1960s, i think 1972 they started voted republican and never looked back. they were scared to death by what they saw on their tv sets. >> i think you put your finger on it. donald trump is seeking to create a new majority of people who felt left out and feel the elites ignore them. ban none is a brilliant articulaarcti articulator of that. democrats need to be careful they don't seem like folks people in the middle of the country feel, ignore them, take

their own interests above other people's. >> harold? >> one of the things that democrats have to understand, first of all, it is reprehensible we don't allow people to come on college campus and speak. if you disagree, go and ask the questions. i hope that racial maddow, who is phenomenal on this network, will go and do those kind of things. democrats are playing a prevent defense, while donald trump and his team are playing the most imaginative offense relentless and their daring. if we don't understand and appreciate this, we will not only be left behind but find ourselves not in power f a long time. we cannot sit back and watch him and say, gosh, this is terrible, he is awful and only say that. we have to offer ideas to challenge him. if you're going to block people from speaking you disagree with and not offer challenge and offer -- then you need to offer something different. >> as a democrat you have to resist but also you have to engage.

>> you have to be pro active. >> you have to engage. stop being shocked and stunned and stop fainting on your couch and start mocking. start ridiculing the stupidity of the ideas you oppose. >> and offer a different direction. >> that's right. >> katty kay, offering a different direction. i'm wondering. this is an american phenomenon as far as the chilling of free speech on college campuses? or does this happen in britain? does this happen across europe? >> the idea of safe spaces on campuses, safe spaces for progressives and liberals' viewpoints seem to be recently american phenomenon. i'm not hearing the same thing about british universities or european universities that people are offered ifnvitations to speak and not able to speak. we have to engage in dialogue

and everybody should be able to speak on those campuses and that is the life blood of democracy is to be able to hear different point of views. there is a moment, i think, protests can be useful. as a matter of fact america has been remarkably free of street protests since the vietnam war. we had, after 2008, you had many more violent, much bigger protest on the streets of europe because europeans still look to the state to help them and support them and the state wasn't doing that. there is moment for protests here possibly too. look at the different reaction to the women's marches and to the protests that happen spontaneously after the immigration ban, for example, was implemented, the lawyers turning up at the airports. and i think most people looked at those and thought that is the way if you're going to protest that is the way you do it, right? there was -- whether it achieves anything, who knows. but if you believe that is there a role for street protests in democracy, they were a shining example of how to do it.

>> protests, great. a couple of rules here. let's not burn things and let's not tear up starbucks. >> definitely not starbucks. >> or bank of america. the atm machine. >> look. the conversation is taking place. this incident is really bad and these things should not happen and people should be allowed to speak. in the larger context here, since trump has taken office, dozens and huge protests we have taken notice of the media and across the country. >> that's great. >> i think democrats are not engaging right now. in fact, quite the contrary. i think what you're seeing right now, whether it gets channeled to effective uses in terms of capturing recapturing a democratic majority in the house or senate which i think is the ultimate goal down the line two years from now we don't know that yet. right now the energy the democrats have on their side and the lack of popularity of the current president right now, i don't think democrats are retreating at all. it seems to me like they are engaging. >> "the new york times" headline.

anarchist -- with violence if needed. >> bad idea. >> i got to say, if -- i think there is a debate on how popular this president is. i know there was a quinnipiac poll that had him at 36 last week. gallup has him at 42, 43%. i saw a ppp poll that had all of these negative headlines and then he ended up being at like 45% approval. i'm not sure david ignatius isn't right. they may know exactly what they are doing as far as insiting this type of reaction and watching it work in their favor. very important to remember that from '68 to '72, there were constant protests out in the street. the may day protest. kent state. it was horrific. it looked like the world was coming to an end. richard nixon went from barely

beating hubert humphrey in '68 to winning 48 states in 1972. this was a reason because parents like mine were scared to death what they saw across america. >> this is why with if the left and progressives make their march look like the women's march they are in great shape but if it starts to look violent, they are in bad shape. a bright line to me. >> we have an example of a persuasive protest this morning. the ceo of uber, travis kalanick, who was on trump's advisory board for business, felt the pressure, not violent pressure but felt the pressure from his consumers, customers who were dropping up the app and picking up the lyfs app so he dropped the board. destroying property and light fires and put pressure on people. it's not i way to do it. >> larry o'connor, final word. >> if you think the women's march was a great shining moment i fully endorse the idea of ashley judd and madonna speaking

on behalf of the democrats going forward. you're conflating the popularity of donald trump with his policies. mark hemming way wrote this week this is an underreported story but the executive order on immigration that caused all of these protests at the airports that actually people like me got very upset about because we missed our flights, that is actually a very popular executive order right now. trump may not be popular. but the policy, that executive order is not unpopular with the american people. so don't confuse the two. he may be unpopular. but his policies are hitting the right note. >> again, i've seen so many conflictg polls. i don't knowhether we say he is unpopular. >> i'm citing the reuters poll from yesterday. >> what was that poll? >> i think 49%. >> 49% approved of the immigration order. >> i was talking about his approval rating. >> oh, yeah, his approval rating. he's not a likeable guy all the time. he is a vulgar man, let's face it! he is never going to reach that

popularity and also, by the way, he's got such a low bar right now. all he has to do is not be hitler and so many voters are going to say, what is wrong with this guy? he's not that bad. >> the new standard in america. that is quite a low. standard, sir! >> it's been the democrats and the media that set that standard. >> may be more right than wrong. >> we have to go to break. gallup actually showed that to be unpopular by, i think, 58%. i saw a poll a him 45%, 46% approval. shakedown and we don't know how it will end up. >> donald trump has overshadow the super bowl. it's friday. we always talk about the super bowl. this is an unbelievable week. >> since we have been talking, trump has tweeted about arnold schwarzenegger and iran and

australia. stay tuned. that is our tease. >> quite a tease. larry, thank you for being with us. greatly appreciate it. >> patriots by ten. take the over. >> wow! >> larry! you got range, man. >> michigan. go blue, tom brady. >> go blue. >> there you go. >> i'm born in atlanta. when the falcons come to town in '66 and he is a hater. it makes me sad. >> he is a michigan man. i didn't know that. i like the guy. >> very low standards for presidents, by the way. they low standard. coming up on "morning joe." >> i think the president should sleep more and tweet less, but that is his call. if politics is music, the president was off key. >> okay. you can always catch lindsey graham every weekend up in the poconos. he has one of the best acts going. i tell you, kids, they come in from scranton. they love him there. you'll love him too. one show at 7:00 and one at 9:00. make sure, as always, tip the waiters and wait recesses. >> two-drink minimum.

>> right. lindsey rocks. bipartisan group of lawmakers try to put a band-aid on the trump's phone call with the australian prime minister. trump is up tweeting this morning. yes, arnold schwarzenegger really did a bad job as -- i can't even read it. we will read it when we come back! afoot and light-hearted i take to the open road. healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine. the north and the south are mine.

all seems beautiful to me.

president trump, mornings was the main attractionion at the national prayer breakfast in washington, d.c. organized by the fellowship foundations which is a christian organization and all of the presidents go to and all of the things they do and this is what he had to say to kick off than annual morning of prayer. >> we had tndous success on "the apprentice." when i had to run for president, i had to leave the show. that's when they knew i was doing it. they hired arnold schwarzenegger to take my place. the ratings went right down the tubes and it's been a total disaster and i want to prayer for arnold, if we can, for those ratings, okay? >> i never heard that patch from the bible before. is that corinthians?

>> at the prayer breakfast that was. here is the tweet we started. this was a few minutes ago. yes, arnold schwarzenegger did a really bad job as governor of california and even worse on "the apprentice." but at least he tried hard. exclamation point. >> this is the president of the united states. >> a couple of more for you. >> how about australia? >> australia and iran and new one about jobs. >> is he positive about australia? >> yes. he apologizes to the fake news media. >> fake news media leaks from inside his own white house. >> thank you to the prime minister of australia for telling the truth about our very civil conversation, the fake news media lied about. very nice. i think he is pointing straight at you, john heilemann. >> funny enough the fake news people were able to accurately read those leaked transcripts from the call. >> they are cleaning up

australia. >> yeah. got help yesterday. john mccain called the ambassador and bob corker did the same. saying we value our relationship, despite what you may have heard yesterday. >> i actually called the ambassador, too. >> did you? >> i did. i asked him for some olivia newton-john. i called him. >> i called crocodile dundee. >> is that who it was? >> did you get the record? >> he said he was going to send them to me. >> look. eugene robinson is joining us next. gene says fighting the supreme court nominee is hopeless and democrats should do it any way. gene will explain when we come back.

imagine if the things you bought every day earned you miles to get to the places you really want to go. with the united mileageplus explorer card, you'll get a free checked bag, 2 united club passes... priority boarding... and 50,000 bonus miles. everything you need for an unforgettable vacation. the united mileageplus explorer card. imagine where it will take you.

withevery late night...g... and moment away... with every click...call...punch... . you've earned your medicare. it was a deal that was made long ago, and aarp believes it should be honored. thankfully, president trump does too. "i am going to protect and save your social security and your medicare. you made a deal a long time ago." now, it's congress' turn. tell them to protect medicare.

is the standard so low? >> good morning. >> is that what you're saying? >> can you read that? >> i'm curious.

because the standard is so low? >> go blue. go blue. >> because i'm a loser is what she is saying? >> you're big. >> talking about your wonderful wife emily. >> tell us that joke about -- >> tell that joke again. >> tell that joke. harold? >> pilot. >> joining us now for the must read opinion pages, pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" with and msnbc analyst, very patient with us, gene robinson. i'll read part of your piece this morning in "the washington post" titled "fighting gorsuch is hopeless. democrats should do it any way.

>> gene, i always was a big believer in politics, that if somebody tried to exact pain on me, i had to make sure that they felt ten times the amount of that pain. if democrats decide to play nice now, i say this is a guy who would like this guy to be confirmed but straight pure power politics. if democrats turn the cheek now over what happened the past year for merrick garland they not only will depress their base but send a horrible message to republicans they could be rolled any time. i agree with you. they can't stop him but they should make this as miserable as

humanly possible. >> yeah. they absolutely should. for the reasons you cited. they need to show the republican majority that they are not going to get rolled that easily. and the base is angry. the base is riled up. you saw right after the inauguration, the day after the inauguration, you know, the biggest demonstration i've ever seen in my 30 odd years in washington, in this town and in other cities. you saw after the immigration order, you saw thousands of people show up at the airports. people are mobilized and ready -- raring to go, and i don't think the democratic base is going to sit still for a passive leadership right now. i think they will find new leadership. let's face it. the republicans control everything. the presidency, the two chambers of congress, two-thirds of governorships and two-thirds of state legislatures. democrats got to get back in the game. >> the senate, john, is the best

place for them to fight. because that is where it's most relevant but most attuned to slowing things down. >> that's right. there is a place to do it, then that is the place to do it. at this point, you want to put mitch mcconnell on the hot seat because that is what this is about. are you forcing him to change the rules to lower the filibuster standard from 50 to 60? right now chuck schumer is in a bind. forget that. embrace the base and fight this battle on principle and make mcconnell do what he doesn't want to do which is to change the rules. so, katty, having covered mitch mcconnell long time and capitol hill, mitch mcconnell doesn't want to change these rules but if he is forced to does he say this is what we have to do to change the rules and so is there on a small chance for the sake of the institution and precedent he'll blink? >> i'm going with the rule change. i think, you know, they absolutely want to get him

through. what is the advantage to mitch mcconnell saying, okay, we stick with the filibuster and we don't change the rules? i don't see how they gain anything from doing that. look. they are in the strong position. they feel the democrats are on their back foot which they clearly are. why extend them any kind of life line? that is what barack obama tried in 2008 and didn't do him any good. this is hardball time. you look at the number of phone calls coming into capitol hill from the democratic base and the switchboard is reporting they haven't had that many phone calls and gene is right you have to give the democratic leadership an outlet. >> this is like a government by retribution now. you get one of ours and we get one of yours. not a shining beacon of democracy. >> that is kind of what the country is sick of is this partisan back and forth. what appeals to me, as gene said

earlier, is this outpouring of citizen action. the marches we saw in washington and new york, all around the country after trump's inauguration, it was just a powerful sign of people wanting to be involved, saying, hey, this is our country too. yeah, there will ab fight in the senate and it will be pretty predictable but more of a bottom-up process for the democratic party. democratic party needs new leadership. there are tired and familiar faces on chiapitol hill and i think that process of change is what the party needs. >> exactly right, david. that new leadership, i think, has to bubble up out of this, what ihinkou be a movement. it's not, you know, we can't ca it a tea party but is there a movement out there and it's going to come up with new leaders who are going to knock off some of the old leaders the way david brad knocked off eric cantor. i think it will happen faster to

the current leadership, i think, if they don't respond to the base. and willie, we will use david's diplomatic term. not retribution. let's call it reciprocity. >> that is a fancy pulitzer prize award winner's word. i'll use that. >> i agree. the country agrees with you. they look at it and they don't see these fights like we see them. gosh, we are still doing this? please stop. democrats have to make a fight. i agree with gene on this and hopefully they do it the right way. he'll be a supreme court justice in a month. >> he'll be a supreme court justice and people like me will be glad he is a supreme court justice. if you're a democrat, the word for the morning actually is retribution. i think you got to go for it. you got to go hard and make them pay for what they did over the past year. eugene robinson, thank you so much. >> thanks, joe. yesterday was rex tillerson's first day at secretary of state and came as the administration hinted at new

sanctions against iran. warned israeli against announcing new settlements. and condemned russia over its invasion of crimea and reassured key allies in asia. what is old is new again for u.s. foreign policy, at least the past 4 hours. a lot of people are breathing a sigh of relief. we will be right back with more "morning joe." it time to let thl you shine through? introducing otezla, apremilast. otezla is not an injection, or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. some people who took otezla saw 75% clearer skin after 4 months. and otezla's prescribing information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. don't take otezla if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. otezla may increase the risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts, or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment.

side effects may include diarrhea, nausea, upper respiratory tract infection, and headache. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ask your dermatologist about otezla today. otezla. show more of you. hei don't want one that's haded a big wreck just say, show me cars with no accidents reported find the cars you want, avoid the ones you don't plus you get a free carfax® report with every listing i like it start your used car search at carfax.com

it's about moving forward not back. it's looking up not down. it's feeling up thinking up living up. it's being in motion... in body in spirit in the now. boost. it's not just nutrition. it's intelligent nutrition. with 26 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. all in 3 delicious flavors. it's choosing to go in one direction... up. boost. be up for it.

but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. 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? i bet there was very little coverage. i bet it's brand-new information to people that president obama

had a six-month ban on the iraqi refuge program after two iraqis came here to this country and radicalized and masterminds behind the bowling green massacre and most people don't know that because it didn't get covered. >> bowling green massacre. you remember that. for the history is written on that? the history is long and absorbing. >> i think ken burns -- >> and meacham's next book is on bowling green massacre, right? >> willie? the bowling green massacre. >> isn't it -- what are you thinking about? here is the thing to point out about this. this morning, donald trump is tweeting about fake news. he is attacking the press for being -- fake news and not noting what occurred last night with kellyanne conway. >> two iraqis several years back in bowling green, kentucky. in fact, rand paul and others

have used this as a talking point for the executive order. there was no massacre in bowling green, per se. they were providing materiel support to al qaeda in ryan and sending weapons and money and also admitted later to planting ieds and nothing took place in bowling green. >> let moon a massacre. >> it wasn't covered like we didn't cover the thousands of muslims touring the streets in new jersey. we just ignore the defendant. >> -- we just ignored it. >> welcome back to "morning joe." joining the conversation is katy tur in washington. and also joining the conversation is tim carney. great to have everybody. we teased last hour the president is up and tweeting this morning on iran. he wrote iran is playing with fire. they don't appreciate how kind president obama was to them. not me. this as nbc news has learned the

trump administration could impose new sanctions on iran as early as today. officials say the sanctions are in response to continued terrorist activity by iran and ballistic missile tests sql, including the one last sunday. among the entities expected to be sanctioned are irgc and two dozen groups could be impacted according to reuters. in the opinion of the trump administration the new sanctions will not violate the iran nuclear deal. it comes as a bipartisan group of senators sent a letter to the president asking for the continued enforcement of iran sanctions and to consider more of them. >> john heilemann, there is highly something they can have bipartisan support for this crazy one off or anything like that. >> right. >> when general flynn went out yestday, it was anned. they prepared for it. and we saw this is what followed behind. >> well, there is no doubt that -- i'm not sure the way at which flynn presented it was the way he would have wanted to present it which this sets ambiguity and we are on notice

and so on. you could see this is the thing we talked about earlier in the show. one of the most fascinating things going forward in the trump administration, you got the president conducting phone calls that -- perhaps disrupt e ive of alliances and flynn behaving in a way no good for stability and diplomatcy. you have the grownups then tillerson and mattis reining things in. i think the tension how foreign policy comes out of the white house versus how it's been kind of muted and moderated by the cabinet secretaries that are key and national security is one of the key tensions going forward. >> david ignatius, that was the case during the obama administration where, unfortunately, the cabinet secretaries didn't have the authority of the power. and, in fact, it was the president ben rhodes and maybe his chief of staff. in this case, trump is at least

signaling, and certainly yesterday, suggests that tillerson and mattis are real forces to be reckoned with. and young white house aides get in their way at their own political risk. >> joe, it's still awfully early. we are just two weeks into this administration to be sure what the pattern is. the first two weeks, it's been dizzying. let's be honest. every day a new disruption and the president wants to be the bomb thrower with tweets and phone calls. we are now seeing things settle into maybe a more predictable pattern. we are seeing the basicses of the united states/i'll relationship and attempts try to repair an relationship with the australian prime minister. i think now it's important that steady reliable cabinet secretaries, rex tillerson and jim mattis are in place and hiring up their teams so that

there will be a better balance for the white house. lets be honest. the first two weeks, the white house was a tornado. i mean, i haven't seen anything like it really ever covering a new administration. so many proclamations and so many knives out for the key people in the white house. my gosh. you know? you wouldn't want to be mike flynn on some of those days reading "the new york times." >> that is the key. inside the white house, katie, if you believe the reports of "the washington post" and "the new york times" and politico, you got bannon and miller fighting, priebus and jared in there and mike flynn just getting absolutely hammered inside there. speaking of tornadoes. we had a tornado of activity but we also have a tornado going on with the staff. the long knives are out. while you have tillerson and mattis and now nikki haley stating pretty conventional u.s. foreign policy last night. >> absolutely. it's confusing. it might be confusing on purpose.

donald trump ran his business and ran his campaign that way. certainly in the chaos allowed him to get away with more than any other candidate would have gotten away with. this is an instance he is trying to have his cake and eat it too. look what i did. i promised you i would build a wall. i promised you that i would repeal obamacare and he is able to at least fulfill that promise in appearance by signing these executive orders. then it's up to congress. it's up to his staff and his cabinet to try to figure out a way to roll these things out if they aren't able to do that or dial it back, he can say, listen, i tried and the wheels of government were what stopped . he has his success and the it get moderated. the problem with that is people are extraordinarily confused all across the country and all across the world. i was at my doctor the other day. he told me he has seen more and more younger people coming in and complaining of heart palpitations and aren't sleeping -- i raised my eyebrows. he said, seriously, people are very nervous and very scared.

they don't know if they wake up in the morning whether or not we are going to declare war on a country because they can't tell where the black line is, if you will, the red line is. >> that is why i said before. it's sort of we are in a shakedown right now. it's going to take a couple of weeks to figure out what tillerson and mattis, where they are, how do they balance what is going on. i can tell you right now, again, not only based on all of my reporting but the reporting i've seen elsewhere that there has been a change as far as a systems change. everything goes through priebus now. >> just quickly to say i think maybe the best example of this and the way in which it looks totally premeditated to me is the torture example and seems calculated to me the notion that trump can say i believe torture works. a base pleasing kind of thing to say but then say i'm not going to -- i'm not going to weigh in and let general mattis decide about this. we know what general mattis' position is which that is doesn't work. it's a classic kind of good

cop/bad cop thing and trump get the political benefits of being a tough guy but basically reverting to the accepted policy and going back to continuity. the policy is the obama policy we will not torture people and it's against the law. >> tim, was do you think? >> we are always tempted to say he is playing three dimensional chess and distraction of this and like an episode of "24." a lot of it is just him. i believe donald trump believed in torture and had he a conversation with jim mattis and that convinced him against it. he slowly drifts back to his position. he is actually, for all ofis reputation as stubborn, and obstinate he is a impressionable man and following the way mattis and tillerson have an ear versus banner or miller or flynn, those three are a little less grounded in my view than tillerson and mattis. why it's important.

he is incredibly impressionable. after a conversation with bannon he could come out thinking one thing and then sit down with nikki haley and thinking another. i think the idea these faints in this strategy is wrong. it's just he is all over the place. >> we are always trying to put historical context to a man who defies historical context. sometimes you have to go back to 1828 and andrew jackson to get more of a picture here. but the first two weeks, this has looked -- we talked to halpern about this -- in one sense, a lot like clinton's setup. clinton wasn't as -- he had people coming from him the thousands of different direction. you have this clinton-esque approach to actually management inside the white house, but mika and i went to nancy reagan's funeral, and one of the things

that everybody was saying was that, you know, nancy was always, you know, accused of being too tough. she had to be tough. >> right. >> because ronald reagan took the last person he talked to, he took their advice and went with it. then it was nancy that had to hammer him hard. >> who is that person for trump? >> there is not that person -- well, i actually think if it's defense issues, it's jim mattis and if it's state issues, it's rex tillerson. >> i have a question of how long that sort of influence can last. i mean, he's got so many people coming to him and he is loyal for as long as he needs to be loyal. he ao is as loyal forlong as he wants to be agree with the person. so my question is for how long is somebody like general mattis or rex tillerson or mike pompeo or any of those folks sit in and deal with the predictability? >> they won't. they won't deal with the unpredictability. i've told people before that

have asked about donald trump, the thing about donald trump is he is not like george w. bush. if he puts you in charge of iraq and you engage in de-baathification and you destroy everything, he doesn't give a damn who you are. you're fired that day. it's all about -- it's what have you done for me? you know? a lot of people don't realize steve bannon was on the ropes the first two weeks because of all the bad press he got. trump was going around telling everyone, why am i defending this guy? you have the same thing this past week. there was all of that chaos. according to multiple reports out of the white house trump called everybody together after the executive order and said, i've been blindsided. this isn't going to happen again. they got these systems in place. i find it hard to believe he is going to listen to kids in the white house instead of general mattis or rex tillerson. >> except the fact that -- >> on foreign policy. >> except generally in the white

house proximity really matters and cabinet secretaries generally have the influence who work close to the president every day. can reince priebus be somebody that donald trump trusts? in that white house right now priebus would be thought of as a force for stability. >> he does. >> will he have that traction or not? i don't know the answer. >> to steve bannon, does he, katty kay, does steve bannon roll him because steve bannon spends most of his time in the oval office. he just hangs out at the white house all the time and trump is without family there. so he is working around the clock. bannon is there around the clock. and everybody else goes home to their families. >> yeah. the traditional setup, whether it was under bush or under obama, as you said, is that the people who have the physical pr president get his here most of the time.

if you're a foreign country trying to deal with the president and have you a president who can be so erratic on things and unpredictable. who is around him in who you have to talk to? it becomes even more important and critical because of the nature of the president. and the truth is we just don't know yet. we just don't know whether there is going to be what allies are hoping for, the steady influence of james mattis and rex tillerson or whether, actually, it's going to be steve bannon, kellyanne conway, who the report suggests is being given a broader role since the immigration ban and michael flynn and whether they have the ear of the president and they are the last people he spoke to, particularly steve bannon, and that is how policy is going to be made. it's incredibly unsettling if you're trying to get a future out of the white house because that can change so fast. >> i'll say it again. it's going to take a while, i think, for the management structure to set in place. willie, though, if you look at the last two days at least, you

look at the statement on iran, anybody could be forgiven for believing that general flynn got pissed off and scribbled something out and then went off and just said it into a microphone based upon what happened the last 12 days but that wasn't the case. there was a plan, there was calculation, they had talked to the hill. the same thing with russia. we saw actually at the united nations very traditional sounding condemnation of russian atrocities. >> the rollout of the executive order of immigration was an unmitigated disaster. it was am mueateur and disaster. supreme court rollout clearly somebody righted the ship. rex tillerson on his comments on russia and israeli and iranian sanctions and the conventional picks. the front page of "the new york times" trump resorts to pillars

of obama's policies abroad. >> but pillars of u.s. policy. >> you say obama. >> right. >> also australia this morning. don't underestimate the importance of him extending an olive branch to australia this morning. >> for all of the concerns about trump and tillerson's relationships with russia here is what nikki haley, the new ambassador to the u.n., had to say yesterday. >> i consider it unfortunate that the occasion of my first appearance here is one in which i must condemn the aggressive actions of russia. we do want to better our relations with russia. however, the dire situation in eastern ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of russian actions. crimea is a part of ukraine. our crimea related sanctions will remain in place until russia returns control over the peninsula to ukraine. >> david ignatius, what is your take on that speech? obviously, something nikki decided to scribble out. that had very much the sound of something that went through the

interagency process. >> it's a traditional statement of u.s. foreign policy toward russia. joe, my sense this last two weeks has been a little bit of a journey and eventually getting to its goal. the president needs to have one person in the white house who controls access, who maintains order. right now, we have got five different centers of would-be authority around the president. that is not good for him. he is going to have to decide is reince priebus the person who controls access? bill clinton's presidency was a mess when he first came in in 1993 and only when he got leon panetta as a strong person to discipline that white house and they became effective. you can't make foreign policy, you can't do it by yourself so he has to find the person who helps him be an effective president, i think, including be effective at working with rex tillerson and jim mattis out in

their departments. >> tim carney, people do forget just how ugly bill clinton's first year was. i remember a year in, you know, "newsweek," conventional wisdom arrows and it was always arrow down and every week it was amateur hour continues at the white house. amateur hour. but leon panetta came in and they had a disciplined structure, and things actually started working extraordinarily well. the question is -- are we there with trump yet with priebus? >> no. >> is it now going through priebus or do you still have priebus and bannon and kushner and kellyanne conway and five points that david was talking about? >> so i haven't seen that priebus has established his credibility personally with trump. everything with trump is very personal. now he could look at a guy like tillerson and say if you run exxon incredibly profitable company that gets you credibility. mattis through his military success the way he so, obviously, is admired across the

military gives him credible. kellyanne conway got him the credibility by winning the presidential campaign and nobody thought he could win. bannon sort of gets trump. hey, this is what you're saying, this populism and this has a real philosophy. all of these people have gotten purchase on trump's mind but i don't see that reince priebus did. priebus made the rnc and made peace and he went along with trump and trump gave him a job but bannon got the job in the white house was the same time and seemed to me priebus is a figure head chief of staff. i think david is exactly right. not one exact captain on this sailboat that is attacking winward. a lot of them and whoever it' going to be is somebody who in the next few weeks proves himself personally to trump to have that credibility, to start calling the shots. priebus certainly isn't there yet. >> people inside that white house, katie, you're telling me now post eo disaster, that

everything has to be through priebus. that said, bannon -- though, again, his presence, other people -- he's in the oval office all the time. >> i think the only thing we have to look at right now is on donald trump's record as a political leader is his campaign. and the only thing that we really learned in his campaign is that ultimately he is the one who calls the shots. >> he is the decider. >> his aides will go in and try to clean up his messes and try to mitigate what he says. no, it's not a muslim ban, just extreme vetting but, ultimately, donald trump is the one that is saying -- stating his policies and that is what is causing a lot of confusion. we can talk about who has his ear and who is going to have influence and how it's going to -- who is going to be, you know, heading up the ship in the white house behind the scenes. but none of that matters if donald trump, himself, comes out and tweets something inflammatory an hour later or decides i do believe in torture and we are going to go after terrorists with that method.

so i think the confusion it causes cannot be overstated and i think that is going to be the real issue going forward. what exactly does this administration believe and what could they possibly do next? and what is donald trump going to say that could inflame tensions anywhere around the world or even here at home? >> david ignatius, the next 24 hours is going to be fascinating for two reasons. one is because you go back and look. saturday mornings, they are usually the most chaotic times for the twitter feed. i think it's the sabbath and jared is not around. i don't know exactly why it is. but saturday mornings, i think that john lewis tweets go out on saturday mornings. other very destructive tweets go out on saturday mornings. another reason why is i'm really curious to see with the next 24 hours, will they look as conventional to our allies and enemies as the last 24 hours? the last 24 hours on iran, on

russia, and on israeli, very conventional, very rational. >> i think our allies are holding their breath, joe. i think that they so much want stability. european union is meeting today and the european leaders have been saying we are frightened. we are frightened that america has left the position in our world that it held for seven years. so i think people would love to see some stability and continuity. and they would love to see a president trump who now turns to executing his strategies. he has laid them out. bam bam bam. amazing first two weeks. if he now turns toward the steady hard work of governing, there would be a lot of relief, i think. >> tim carney, thanks so much. great having you on and we hope you'll come back next week. >> thank you. still ahead on "morning joe," the great tom brokaw joins the conversation. plus the fight with arnold

schwarzenegger grabbed headlines but we will talk about what the real news was out of yesterday's prayerbreakfast. ♪ you can say i lost my belief in a politician ♪ you know i work at ally. i was being romantic. you know what i find romantic? a robust annual percentage yield that's what i find romantic. this is literally throwing your money away. i think it's over there. that way? yeah, a little further up. what year was that quarter? what year is that one? '98 that's the one. you got it! nothing stops us from doing right by our customers. ally. do it right. let's get out of that water.

hei don't want one that's haded ally. a big wreck. just say, show me cars with no accidents reported

find the cars you want, avoid the ones you don't plus you get a free carfax® report with every listing i like it start your used car search at carfax.com

in a recent interview, president trump's long time doctor revealed that trumps take the hair growth drug propecia. >> listen to this. >> it is number one health growing medicine to help hair growth. side effects may include the following. excessive tweeting and necktie elongation included. >> now it makes sense. >> a lot of side effects. >> a lot of side effects. >> a lot! all right. we got nbc news. i didn't know that. >> excessive tweeting. >> elongated tie. >> tie?

i must use the stuff. sometimes my tie is wild. all right. trump ties? >> they are long. >> if you're tall, you don't have to worry about them coming up to here. >> you can tie it. >> you never have to worry about it being up here. >> how many ties do you own? >> there was a time where every time we would go over there, back probably four or five years ago, here some ties. have some ties. >> had a kiosk in the lobby with ties. >> i know. >> all sorts of things there. >> they are collector's items now because nobody is telling them any more. >> nordstrom has just taken out the yvonivanka line of clothing >> i have some of her dresses i wear on the weekend. those are collector's items too. just joking, tom.

it's just the necklaces. we have nbc news correspondent tom brokaw here who is sorry he came here. >> you're the last guy i want to hear a lecture about ties. >> me? >> you. >> i think the ties i wear with my sweat pants are actually beautiful. i think the -- any way. we don't -- we have got a legend here. i think we should stop talking about sweat pants and ties. so we have been seeing a lot of video of protests, marches, things burning in the streets. "the new york times" talking about anarchists, saying on the front page that they are going to resort to violence if they -- help put this in perspective. i was a young kid in '68. i remember seeing some of the images with my horrified parents looking on. but i don't really remember it. over the first two weeks, is this picking up the momentum to be something like '68? >> well, looking at berkeley, which was just short of anarchy in my judgment, it was so

reminiscent of what i was doing on that campus in '68. i spent a lot of time on that campus. they did help the change of the rules about student participation and so on. the violence you see here only feeds the beast. it will only solidify the trump followers in saying these are not people that i want to be associated with. this is not how you respond. they are supposed to be -- they go to one of the great universities in the world. they are privileged people at that university. and they can't hear somebody who comes and has a message that is completely contrary to what anybody else wants to hear but is allowed to speak on the campus? i think it's outrageous, quite frankly and i think it's contrary to what they are attempting to do. they are trying to -- say if those are the best kid at universitiesnd how they respond to a speaker who has an

unacceptable message in my judgment, you can listen to them at the same time instead of burning down the campus. >> yeah. to tom's point. again, my mom's family, democrats their entire life. they saw the chaos of the late '60s and started voting republican in '72 and never looked back. >> and tom's point is not lost on donald trump either. he just tweeted professional anarchists thugs and paid protesters are proving the point of the millions of people who voted to make america great again. obviously, he is going to make some hay out of this. another way of doing it. we saw the women's march a couple of weekends ago where millions of people out in the streets. we have, this morning, travis kalanick, the ceo of uber, resigning from trump's advisory board. not because people were smashing the windows of starbucks but people were putting financial economic pressure on him. >> a lot of young people come to me and say i'm just outraged by what is going on. i said rage is not a policy. that is my advice to them. you've got to figure out what you want to do.

for example, there is going to be a big pushback about judge gorsuch on the part of the democrats and make that one of a testing places for them. the fact is that this man has a very distinguished background in the judicial world. he has a doctorate from oxford. he is -- i have friends in the federal judiciary who don't agree with his philosophy but say there is not a better judge in the federal circuit right now than him so why pick that as a fight? because who are you going to get next? and what issues are you going to raise given the reality of where the democrats are at this moment? >> honest. i think to that point, i think if the democrats come out and push back on absolutely everything and say, no, none of this is acceptable, they lose their credibility. pick your fights -- pick your battles wisely and then you have the authority to say, no, we are standing on principle and betsy devos is not goods education

secretary. >> they are playing by the republican playbook, frankly, the last eight years. the other thing is the democrats have a lot of reconstruction to do of their own party and that is what they ought to be thinking about and that is where they should be beginning. out in middle america saying what do we need to know from you after losing the house three different times. >> david ignatius has a question for you, tom. >> tom, you've watched america evolving over so many years. do you think there's a danger that the democrats really will lose this moment and that donald trump is in the process of building what will be a lasting majority party in this country? >> they have all heard this too much around here but i'm a big believer in the ufo theory. i don't think anyone is permanent in the american politics. i think donald trump is operating on what i describe as

a ready, fire, aim basis at this moment around the world. and why you would want to get in an argument with australia, one of our very strongest allies and, and with china moving into the south china sea and all of the military cooperation that we have with australia, makes no sense to me whatsoever. why pick a fight with australia? >> the winner of that, katty kay, was china. there is no doubt. a huge winner in any rift between the united states and china. and australia is china. >> right. you and i were tweeting about this back and forth yesterday, joe. if you play nice with nobody, you soon end up with no friends. donald trump, tom seems to be making the calculation that you can have just individual bilateral relationships on every issue but you see this happening fairly quickly with russia and iran and with germany. at some point these relationships in intertwined with each other and to what extent can donald trump blow up the existing system of

complicated alliances that might be couple b cumbersome. it's the give and take of international relations that works as australia is a prime point. >> joe, over the course of the post-war years from end of world war ii until the beginning of this century, the united states led the way to create a western culture and a western alliance in which we were all in it together. we were tarred with europe and tarred with other emerging nations to try to share our values with them. that seems to be gone. it's all ad hoc now. you know? we are paramount, take it or leave it. i don't think that that is how the world works now when you got rising powers like china and southeast asia and other places. doesn't mean you have to roll over for them but you got to find a new way of dealing with them. i just can't imagine that just picking up the phone and yelling at people is going to advance the interests of us over the long haul. >> the problem with australia, of course, you know so much about the greatest generation.

from 1942 to 1944 australians were carrying a lart part of the load going from island-to-island. they lost 50,000 people in world war i fighting with us. the australians have been a key ally. >> not only a key ally then but now as well. they are the biggest trading partners that china has. they sell a lot of their resources to china and at the same time china wants the south china sea and guess where the jumping off place is in it's australia. you look what they are doing, in my judgment, wrongly with the whole issue about who we are going to allow into the country. i do think there has to be a better vetting policy than we have. no question about that. i do think some of the fall with all of this lies with the obama administration that took their eye off of syria, just closed their eyes to it and that was building up. but the fact is that most of the

terrorism that we have had in this country, in san bernardino and orlando, and other places, including ohio state, and the marathon bombers in boston, they were already here. >> home-grown. >> now there are people out there in america who are looking at this, maybe disenchanted or trouble young men who are is islamic background and say i don't have a place in this country. look at the attitude that he has about us. >> we shall see what happens. tom, thank you so much, as always, for being with us. we greatly appreciate it. >> thank you. >> thank you for your patience. katy tur, thank you as well. >> thanks for having me. still ahead, the president pledges to, quote, destroy a decades-old provision that plays a key role in the separate of church and state as we currently know it. we will talk about that when "morning joe" returns. (man vo) it was may, when dad forgot

how to brush his teeth. (woman vo) in march, my husband didn't recognize our grandson. (woman 2 vo) that's when moderate alzheimer's made me a caregiver. (avo) if their alzheimer's is getting worse, ask about once-a-day namzaric. namzaric is approved for moderate to severe alzheimer's disease in patients who are taking donepezil. it may improve cognition and overall function, and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. namzaric does not change the underlying disease progression. don't take if allergic to memantine, donepezil, piperidine, or any of the ingredients in namzaric. tell the doctor about any conditions; including heart, lung, bladder, kidney or liver problems, seizures, stomach ulcers, or procedures with anesthesia. serious side effects may occur, including muscle problems if given anesthesia; slow heartbeat, fainting, more stomach acid which may lead to ulcers and bleeding; nausea, vomiting, difficulty urinating, seizures, and worsening of lung problems. most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, dizziness, loss of appetite, and bruising.

(woman 2 vo) i don't know what tomorrow will bring but i'm doing what i can. (avo) ask about namzaric today.

[he has a new business teaching lessons. rodney wanted to know how his business was doing... ...so he got quickbooks. it organizes all his accounts, so he knows where he stands. ahhh...that's a profit. way to grow, rodney! visit quickbooks.com.

joining us now from the white house, nbc news national correspondent our buddy peter alexander. good morning. big meeting on the schedule this morning for the president. >> supposed to be with his business advisory council minus one today.

the uber ceo travis kalanick will not be here and heavy excrete knee from uber inside the company and from customers who basically accused uber of collaborating with president trump by even participating. agreeing to be a part of this advisory council. we now know that kalanick spoke with trump and condemned a statement where he opposed the travel ban. he tried to clarify to those who have had great frustration about this. he said the bottom line is that those who were upset, he writes joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda but unfortunately misinterpreted to be exactly that. the implicit assumption has created a perception reality gap between who people think we are and who we actually are. so he won't be present. gm, walmart, jpmorgan expected

to be in the room today and elon musk went at this from a different way and he'll be there. he thinks it's important tbe in the room where he can be constructive in giving the way policies should be changed. i think this is also a test of president trump and perhaps a test of his restraint. he tweeted this morning touting this meeting today made no reference of the uber ceo. i think we will all agree in past situations like this, this would have been an easy opportunity for donald trump to try to show strength and swing back, so to speak. on this part, he has been silent. >> they talk about a meeting he held on tuesday where he heard it from his employees and the external pressure of the customers. peter, thanks so much. the first jobs report of 2017 comes out in our 8:00 hour. we will bring you the numbers right as they cross. >> it isn't what elon musk said.

you don't have to agree or disagree but i'm going to go in there because i want to have influence. >> right. >> the only problem is elon musk is not losing customers right now because of what the situation it. it's easier for him. 200,000 people deleting the uber app, you're going to do something about it. >> a pure response to the market. >> yes. there was a movement. >> capitalism. >> there. new reporting ahead to get the supreme court nominee confirmed without going nuclear. tell you how that works when we come back.

audi pilotless vehicles have conquered highways, mountains, and racetracks. and now much of that same advanced technology is found in the audi a4. with one notable difference... ♪ the highly advanced audi a4, with available traffic jam assist. ♪

safety doesn't come in a box. it's not a banner that goes on a wall. it's not something you do now and then. or when it's convenient.

it's using state-of-the-art simulators to better prepare for any situation. it's giving offshore teams onshore support. and it's empowering anyone to stop a job if something doesn't seem right. at bp, safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better. ( ♪ ) ♪ they tell me i'm wrong ♪ ♪ to want to stand alongside my, my love ♪ ♪ whoa, talkin' 'bout my love ♪

that was press three for that one. >> you're just making things up now, harold! >> hey, listen to this. >> pilots. >> any time. any time. >> pilot. >> president donald trump. >> pilot. >> has vowed to overturn a law restricting political speech by tax-exempt churches and move

up-end 363 years of tax law. yesterday he returned to a campaign trail pledge to do away with the johnson amendment. >> our republic was formed on the basis that freedom is not a gift from government, but that freedom is a gift from god. among those freedoms 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. >> do you know how long that law has been in place? that was lyndon johnson. >> it was senator lyndon johnson. >> not like barney johnson from last week. this is lyndon johnson from 1954. >> a law named for senator

lyndon johnson of texas for opposing political candidates at the risk of losing their tax-exempt status and repealing the law would require an approval because it's in the tax code. >> i don't think that status. it will require approval from congress. >> i don't think that's going to happen. >> jeremy pets has more reportg on this. what is the likelihood of destroying the johnson amendment? >> it's going to be a high bar to clear in congress. that's because there are a lot of republicans who will vote against this because of the flood of unintended consequences. if you appeal a mesh sure like this, it appeals to churches and other tax exempt organizations. the larger point in what donald trump was trying to do is throw a big hunk of red meat to his base, the religious right, in particular. i'm imagining donald trump was just like me and really never heard the johnson amendment until a few months ago.

but, this is a checklist item for the religious right. part of the bargain that donald trump made in securing the nomination was going to the conservative right and saying what do you need from me? part of what he needed to give them, a conservative supreme court justice is the johnson amendment. this is a big ask and favor he did for them yesterday. >> john, it's -- i don't think it will pass the senate at all. >> there's a number of other reasons it will never pass because of the u.s. constitution, the separation of church and state. >> what's that? >> u.s. constitution. >> which amendment? >> the one that separates church and state. here is the thing, though. i continue to listen to jeremy talk about it, it is true. i find it after now, a year and a half, i find it astonishing when you hear the words donlds trump's base and religious right. it's one of the most

incomprehensiincom incomprehensible things in politics. the religious right found common cause with donald trump. i say that with no criticism of either side. they are the strangest bedfellows. >> not only did he have support from the religious right, evangelicals, historic. he had a higher percentage of votes from evangelicals than anyone before. by the way, these are the people who helped elect me. >> yes. >> i mean -- another heathen. i told them i was a heathen. don't vote for me because i'm not. >> you laid it out from the beginning. >> i will say, i know these people. i grew up with these people. these are my people, baptist church. i'm stunned -- i'm not stunned they supported him, i'm stunned they supported him in record numbers.

>> it proves something that congressman bill clay who you served with, his son in now in congress. he wrote a book saying they are permanent interests. clearly, the evangelical community found an ally. his life is not something they talked about everything. his term as president has been exactly what they wanted. people support people whom -- frankly, i think they are surprised he has been someone who fulfilled their agenda more than any republican president. any president. >> look at the supreme court. obviously, that's the number one issue for so many evangelicals. hi's done exactly what they would have wanted him to do with the supreme court. >> you know, i'm sure the evangelicals feel donald trump is not our pastor, he's president, he's a deal maker and

he's bringing us the deals we want to see. you couldn't watch him at the prayer breakfast and not think that's odd praying for ratings, but i don't think that's really what this alliance is about as others have been saying. >> we talked about this during the campaign, too, joe. it's not that he's a perfect christian, they thought he would stand-up for them. >> for what they believe. >> what they believe. they felt the little sisters were bullied. they violated their religious beliefs. they felt he was going to push back. >> this is not a perfect experiment in a lab. you cannot separate the fact that he was running against hillary clinton. >> that's true. >> you just can't do it. >> right. >> on all of these. all of these match ups. you have to remember that it was a clinton that had been in politics fighting what they believed in for over 40 years. >> yet, he did well with the evangelical community against

ted cruz. he ran against 16 republicans, many of whom were more naturally aligned by temperament and personal history. others had a better evangelical base than them, rick santorum, mike huckabee. he crushed them in the republican nomination fight, which is what i find more baffling. i understand why they supported him against hillary clinton. i find it less comprehensible against the other republicans. >> they don't always want somebody like them. look, they went for ronald reagan over jimmy carter, which was one of their own. what they did want in this election is a fighter, somebody who would stand-up for them because they felt so scorned by the left and many in the establishment of their party. >> a different topic you are reporting on, the supreme court nominee, judge gorsuch. there may be a way for republicans to get him through

without going nuclear, how do they do it? >> i don't know democrats are going to force the nuclear issue. senate democratic leadership is not settled on that as their path here, willie. i think there are two camps. the leadership view that i think chuck schumer is sympathetic to. t an all-out bonkers opposition at all cost recitizen tense. maybe a few democratic senators in the red states that trump won, vote for him and getting him a path to 60 before there's actually a filibuster. ed wheelen, this scholar said democrats are going to lose this. they need to figure out the best way to do that. they want to preserve the filibuster option, a lot of them, at least, for a fight over a justice kennedy retirement or ginsburg. >> trump supporters were

undereunde underestimated in the campaign. why they supported donald trump three times married, dubious history was one of those times. we spoke to a trump supporter on the mexican wall. we never thought there was going to be a check. we knew it was going to be complicated and the money would come later. the media portrayed it as mexico would pay for it up front. we never believed that. there was sophistication amongst trump supporters and why evangelicals voted for trump is one of those instances. >> thanks so much. great reporting this morning. great to see you. >> thank you. still ahead, nbc news learned the trump administration could hit iran with new sanctions as early as today. plus -- >> my first days here, i'm on the job. hi. i'm the new guy. [ laughter ] >> secretary of state rex tillerson spending his first day on the job trying to calm

concerns from foreign allies. >> he got rave reviews from some of donald trump's toughest critics. also, harold ford and a joke about a pilot. ight... and moment away... with every click...call...punch... and paycheck... you've earned your medicare. it was a deal that was made long ago, and aarp believes it should be honored. thankfully, president trump does too. "i am going to protect and save your social security and your medicare. thankfully, president trump does too. you made a deal a long time ago." now, it's congress' turn. tell them to protect medicare.

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 stake my place. we know how that turned out.

the ratings went right down the tubes. it's been a total disaster and mark will never, ever bet against trump again. i want to just pray for arnold if we can, for those ratings, okay. >> donald, i have a great idea. why don't we switch jobs, you take over tv because you are an expert in ratings and i take over your job and then people can finally sleep comfortably again. hmm? >> you have to love that. what are we supposed to think? >> hold on. that was at the national prayer breakfast. right? you and i know, brother, that's like the holiest thing all year that happens in washington, d.c., right? >> by far. >> and he is talking about firing his agent, talking about arnold schwarzenegger's bad ratings, talking about how mark

burnett will never, ever undervalue him again. so, good morning. it's friday, february 3rd. this is, of course, the 14th commemoration. is it the 14th anniversary of the bowling green massacre? >> i believe it is. >> remember before the oklahoma city council and he made him do a 26 minute moment of silence? anyway. mika has the morning off. we have former democratic congressman, harold ford jr., washington anchor for bbc world news america. they love us in england now. >> yeah. >> david ignatius. he can tell us about the massacre and radio host of the weekly standard, larry o'connor. great to have all of you here. we have an awful lot going on especially the foreign policy area, willie.

iran, russia, israel. it's almost like rex tillerson got behind the desk and you have kelly behind the desk. for a brief, shining moment, last night there was this jolt back to traditional u.s. foreign policy stances. >> a lot of moves. also, australia. john mccain and bob corker behind the desk. >> the ambassador went over to the white house. that was a good meeting. in fact, they are going to continue with the horrible deal, the worst deal ever, but they are going to continue. they have to. >> let's go through this. start with iran. nbc news learned the trump administration could impose new sanctions on iran today. the sanctions are a response to continue terrorist activity by iran and ballistic missile

tests. the irgc and affiliated groups. two dozen could be impacted according to reuters. in the opinion of the trump administration, they will not violate the deal. it comes as a bipartisan group of senators asked for the continued enforcement of iranian sanctions to consider more writing, in part, iranian leaders feel pressure for the activities from sponsoring terror groups and continued testing of ballistic missiles. the additional sanctions on iran for ballistic missile program are necessary. we are hopeful the international community united around the cause of the troubling action. this is what was suggested yesterday and what bob corker hinted was coming as well. >> this is not general flynn going out saying something.

they had something planned all along. david, trump should look for he leaps by putting them on notice for aggressive behavior. president trump has taken aim at a country opposed by many u.s. allies. the confrontation about preparation and strategic planning. david, first of all, talk about iran. or talk about what we started talking about yesterday, which is we should have talked to allies first before leaping. also talk about the interesting move toward israel and nikki haley blasting russia at the u.n. some of the movement that seemed to happen last night. also, tillerson's introduction at state got rave reviews from just about everybody, even some of trump's toughest critics. >> joe, first on iran, national security adviser, michael flynn putting iran on notice was not

specific on wednesday. my only concern about that rhetoric, which was pretty sharp is we have more than 5,000 u.s. troops who are at risk or vulnerable to iranian reprisals mostly in iraq but around the gulf. i was surprised to learn that the command that is in charge of all the u.s. military personnel had not been in coordination with the white house before that statement. that worried me a little bit because the men and women who are on the sharp end of the spear out there need to be coordinated in policy. we are now in an iran policy that the pretty familiar. more continuity related from the obama administration than a break. we are talking about sanctions for behavior in this missile area. we are talking about continuing the iran nuclear deal. it's fascinating.

on israel, again, we saw after some early embraces of the government of prime minister netanyahu. suggested whatever you want israel is fine with us. backed away from the early stages. we were later told. then, yesterday, a warning to israel. don't announce too many new settlements. this would not be helpful for the peace process that clearly president trump wants and his son-in-law will lead. that's a step back to a more traditional step. so happy to have a secretary o ate to help run the place. it's been kind of drafty over there with so many top officials leaving, state department is a big organization. it needs somebody to be in charge. i think there was genuine happiness that tillerson showed

up. >> again, we are talking continuity right now. continuity when it comes to russia certainly from what we are starting to hear about keeping the obama sanction in place. continuity, also, on israel. as we said here very early on, the move to jerusalem is not going to ever happen so long as donald trump thinks he has a shot of doing what he wants to do more than anything else. forget obamacare. he wants to be the guy that brings the israelis and the palestinians together. >> right. >> you have continuity, conti e continui continuity, continuity for a moment. >> "the new york times" saying this. that story got posted last night. i had a flashback to around the same time eight years ago in 2009, writing a column saying everybody is going to freak out now, supporters of barack obama. look at the continuity between

barack obama's and george w. bush's. here are the places you think it's going to be changed. it's sort of the nature of things, right? radical -- sometimes you have radical breaks with the past. often new presidents get in office and they say how different they are going to be from the previous guy. they get in and go, you know, the stability of the world demands. if we are going to make changes, we have to do it over time. you are seeing that here, reality is meeting the administration. okay, we want to do things differently, but we need to do it more incrementally. >> we see it time and time again. in 1992, harold, bill clinton ran against the butchers of beijing and george h.w. bush daring to tip a glass. in the transition, he wento the white house, came outside talking about the importance of the relationship with china. barack obama, they didn't run against john mccain in 2008.

they ran against george w. bush. they go in, get the briefing, suddenly, a lot more continuity than barack obama would have liked to have had with bush and cheney on a lot of these issues. you can trace a line from harry truman in 1947 to george h.w. bush in 1981. it was really one policy toward the soviet union. toggled a little here and toggled a little there. that was one straight line. and there was a reason for that continuity. >> you said well on this show many times -- >> thank you, harold. >> you said it well many times, i'll say it again. when you get the briefing, things change. this president, including president obama who said they would close guantanamo bay. you can't once you see what is happening in the world. you hope other members of the administration including the

secretary of state are learning these things and involved in the decision making that it's actually happening. john mccain is someone the president didn't go on with during the campaign and didn't get along with now. hopefully they are involved more now and he involved them in the conversation. whether you agree with him or not, he is someone who has vast experience across the board and around the world. hopefully we'll begin to see more of his thinking incorporated or considered. still ahead on "morning joe," we are going to get to the russia story next and what nikki haley said. it sounds like past administrations plus, protests break out in new york over a controversial speaker. we'll talk about that when "morning joe" returns. out here that has everything to do with the people in here. their training is developed by the same company who designed, engineered, and built the cars. they've got the parts, tools, and know-how to help keep your ford running strong.

35,000 specialists all across america. no one knows your ford better than ford. and ford service. right now, get the works! a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation, brake inspection and more -- for $29.95 or less. mattress firmness? fortunately there's a bed where you both get what you want every night. enter sleep number and the ultimate sleep number event, going on now. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and at adjustments yocan make. she likes the bed soft. he's more hardcore so your sleep goes from good to great to wow! only at a sleep number store. and right now save 50% on the ultimate limited edition bed. go to sleepnumber.com for a store near you.

may not always be clear. but at t. rowe price, we can help guide your retirement savings. so wherever your retirement journey takes you, we can help you reach your goals. call us or your advisor t. rowe price. invest with confidence.

shox the spike from friendly relations from the kremlin. the trump administration is

demanding russia withdrawal from crimea. >> boy that sounds good. holy cow. >> increase in fighting between ukrainian forces and accept ratists. >> i thought i was going to have to teach my kids russian, you know? >> president putin accused ukraine of starting it. in her remarks at the open session, ambassador nikki haley condemned the violence there. >> i consider it unfortunate that my appearance is one i must condemn the actions of russia. we do want to better our relations with russia, however, the dire situation in eastern ukraine is one that demands clear and strong condemnation of russian actions. crimea is a part of ukraine. our crimea-related sanctions will remain f place until russia returns control to the ukraine. >> what is the significance of

that moment yesterday for the trump administration? >> all the statements that came out last night, that was the most remarkable because this is the fault line for several republican foreign policy experts including sitting senators. they are the ones saying, listen, we will give the president leeway on other issues, but we are really prepared to fight if it comes to lifting sanctions on russia over the issue of ukraine and crimea. to hear nikki haley say point-blank crimea is part of ukraine, which president trump is not stressed since the election last november, that was a real departure of what this president has been saying. now, on this issue of some sense of reversal to american foreign policy, it's been 18 hours. i mean, this is new, right? >> yes. yes, it is. >> still, a lot of american allies around the world are thinking we have whiplash. >> that is why --

>> we are confused on where america is going. we'll see if this is the policy now that tillerson is in and kelly is there and nikki haley seems prepared to say this thing at the united nations or tomorrow if another ally will be on donald trump's side. >> that's why i say a brief shining moment. twice this morning already. >> it was better. >> it was a wonderful slice of time from 8:15 until i fell off to sleep. it was wonderful. i felt good. i felt like i could actually sleep. i did. you couldn't say this about the trump administration the first week because a couple guys were running around the west wing that weren't going through properhaels and outing things in the president's face, but it's very obvious when you have general flynn coming out yesterday, we had a debate on set yesterday, you could tell that was planned.

a lot of thought had gone into that. that wasn't just him doing an al hague, taking over the microphone. the same with nikki haley yesterday. that wasn't just nikki haley scribbling notes down. you can tell that went through state and the inner agency process. yesterday seemed to be the first day on foreign policy maybe because tillerson is at the plate. order seemed to be coming to our foreign policy team. >> some normalcy, perhaps in terms of how people in the beltway and new york are used to seeing things go. the whiplash you were talking about is potentially disorienting atmosphere after the first couple weeks of the trump administration. part of the premise here, i think, kneneeds to be readjuste. the policy for the soviet union had a through line. reagan executed the policy in a very different way, you would

agree. his leadership, his rhetoric, that mattered. it made a difference. the focus on key strategies with the soviet union made a difference. i don't think you would say jimmy carter would have handled them the way ronald reagan did. we are going to see very different rhetoric and maybe different focus from this administration. i think we are already seeing that. now, yes, you are right, over the last 18 hours, they channelled that focus and channelled that rhetoric in a more normal way. coming up on "morning joe," sleebties call for not using uber. also ahead, s trksz eny hoyer joins us from capitol hill. you are watching "morning joe." why pause a spontaneous moment?

cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis.

( ♪ ) ♪ they tell me i'm wrong ♪ ♪ to want to stand alongside my, my love ♪ ♪ whoa, talkin' 'bout my love ♪

it was another night of violent protests at another college campus over another controversial speaker. mcginnis was scheduled to speak at new york university at an event organized bay republican group on campus. protesters gathered outside the building where mcginnis was scheduled to appear. he was hit with pepper spray on the y inside.

>> i'm sorry, i'm sure i should know this guy. who is this guy? they are doing it to a guy i don't know. who is alex mcginnis? is he a historian? who is he? >> a conservative guy that said inflammatory things. >> is vice conservative? >> he is apparently a canadian writer, actor canadian on compound media. >> they hate him because he's canadian. now we are doing this -- >> now i feel sympathy. >> for some reason the anarchists went that way. go ahead. >> after the speech began, people cursed at him. several people, reportedly, were arrested. >> larry o'connor, what's going on here? >> first of all -- >> i have a book called the

closing of the american mind back in law school like 800 years ago. >> that book was controversial. >> it was controversial when it came out. now, people like condy rice can't speak at commencements. >> it's not new. i spoke on my show, they did it when she had her book at berkeley. they didn't have bonfires and riots, but this is a danger for the left and democrats. if democrats were smart, if corey booker were smart, he would ask rachel maddow to join him and escort them on to a college campus and say this is not what we do in america. if we disagree, we listen, then argue with our points. this is ridiculous. democrats, by their silence, the left by their silence are getting locked in with this. to the american people's eyes, citizens across the country,

they see opposition to trump and conservative values as violent thugs. that's not a good thing. >> every time you see the protests, i remember growing up, i remember growing up in atlanta, georgia, a suburb of atlanta, georgia and i tell you what, every time we saw college campuses burning it scared the hell out of my parents and made them more conservative. >> that's right. >> in fact, they were democrats their entire life. my dad was republican. my mom was a democrat her entire life. the entire family were democrats. after the chaos of the late '60s, 1972, they started voting republican and never looked back. they were scared to death by what they saw on their tv sets. >> i think you put your finger on it. dru president trump is seeking them those that feel the elites are

ignoring them. democrats need to be careful they don't play into that. that they don't seem exactly like the people that folks in the middle of the country feel ignore them, take their own interests above other peoples. >> one of the things democrats have to understand, first of all, it is reprehensible we don't allow people to come on college campuses to speak, if you disagree, go and ask questions. i hope rachel maddow, who is phenomenal on this network will go and do those things. donald trump and his team are playing the most imaginative offense relentless and they are daring. if we don't understand and appreciate this, we are going to be not only left behind, we are going to not be in power for a long time. we cannot sit back and watch him, say gosh, this is terrible, he's awful. we have to offer ideas to challenge him. if you are going to block people from speaking you disagree with

and not offer challenge and offer something different, are going to sit here on the sidelines. still ahead, steny hoyer joins us trying to reassure australia that yes, they are still a critical ally. you are watching "morning joe."

liberty mutual stood with me when i was too busy with the kids to get a repair estimate. i just snapped a photo and got an estimate in 24 hours. my insurance company definitely doesn't have that... you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance

president trump continues to put out statements over twitter this morning. a new radical islamic terrorist attacked a museum in paris. france on edge, again. get smart u.s., all caps. he's referencing breaking news out of paris. hours ago, a french soldier opened fire on a man who allegedly attempted an attack with a ma chet tee.

the man said god is great in arabic. claire, what more do we know? >> reporter: well, as we speak now, hundreds of people have been evacuated from the louve and police are investigating the scene. before 10:00 a.m. this morning, a mancariing a knife entered the commercial area, the commercial maul and he came across a patrol of four soldiers who were on guard at that moment. he shouted and threw himself on a soldier trying to stab him. the soldiers shot back and shot him seriously, wounding him seriously in the abdomen. he was taken to the hospital where, apparently, he's still conscious right now. no soldier was seriously injured. meanwhile, there were 1,000 people inside the commercial

area and inside the museum, which is one of paris' top tourist attractions as you know. they were locked down and released throughout the morning. obviously, the police wanted to see if there was a bomb in the area, in the facility. an anti-bomb squad came to make sure there were no explosives, which, apparently, there were not. this is one of the biggest tourist attractions in paris. this is a big blow for the image of france who is trying to have foreign tourists along with american tourists to come back and feel secure. back to you. >> sounds like the soldiers acted quickly and thank god none of them were hurt seriously. thank you very much. the news in finance, yahoo! joining us at the table. good morning, we have jobs numbers. the report released moments ago. let's bring in dominic chu.

how does it look? >> jobs created, 227,000. this is in january. the beefy expectations economists had. also, the unemployment rate ticking slightly higher to 4.8% up from 4.7% last month. also, average hourly wages, how much people are making up one tenth of a percent, a slight improvement. i will point out that the private sector gained 237,000 jobs. that's driving most the job gains there. also, the retail industry, the construction industry and the food service and hospitality industries are the ones that contributed the most to the overall job picture. that's a big deal there, of course. i want to highlight things on the business end here. president trump looking to put executive orders in place to repeal some regulations on the financial front, ones that regulate banks, known as

dodd-frank rules. also rules on what advisers, financial advisers can do for their clients and how they charge people. that will be on the agenda as well. the ceos getting set to meet. a lot of high profile people are talking taxes, regulations, women in the work force and job creation. back to you. >> we are talking dodd frank in a moment. the jobs number encouraging? >> an encouraging number. the one thing that remains to be stubborn is the fact that wages are not going up at the rate we would expect them to traditionally during a recovery. it's something that alarmed the obama administration anytime they want to tout numbers there were the wages people were concerned about. president trump said he would approve that. the president gets this the night before. i was wondering if there would be tweeting going on in

anticipation of whether or not this was bad or good. >> theusiness advisory council this morning, you know so many have to be concerned about the executive order last week that miller and maybe bannon drafted up and got him to sign and that he signed. there's got to be concern there. there's got to be concern about getting high-tech workers into this country. there's got to be concern that they are able to get the type of workers they need for their corporations. how big of a part of the conversation do you think immigration is going to be? >> well, it's a significant part of the conversation. you talk donald trump being the ceo and commander in chief and he, himself, has business operations and employees throughout the world. for this not to have come to the forefront is alarming. obviously you talked about how frustrated you were after speaking with people inside the white house and how quickly this was put together without

consideration of things like this and oversight. we are seeing major silicon valley and tech companies are coming together with lawsuits against the executive order specifically because of this. they have employees who depend on traveling back and forth to the u.s. >> women in the work force today, something they desperately need to talk about. there's not a lot of diversity in that cabinet. look at one shot after another, a lot of white men back there. looks like 1953. >> a lot of white men. look at the peoe there for the round table as well. not significantly the number of women you want to have there at the table as well. silicon valley is not represents with as many women as one would like. a lot of conversations to be had about diversity. >> john? >> there's a good story if you are interested in the topic on the front page of the "washington post" a story about this. the thing you were talking a second ago, the silicon valley issue, you have the lawsuits and

a lot of the executives who came out against the executive order, the meeting at trump tower where they tried to play nice. i think a lot of people expected there was going to be confrontation between the technology and trump. it's coming to a head. this is tim cook, the ceo of microsoft, amazon. these are pillars of the innovation economy. there's not a world in which you can make an american economy come back to life in the way we wanted to in terms of overall growth and wage growth without those companies being totally in the game. >> it's so interesting. this is where you are going to see the world view of bannon collide with the world view of the people running, you know, apple and google and all these other companies. by all reports, that tech meeting, during the transition went over very well. most of the tech leaders were

very surprised that trump said he was going to roll up his sleeves and help them out. but, their vision of the world and steve bannon's vision of the world are radically different. if donald trump wants to get bu buy-in from the 21st century ceo's and the tech giants, he's not going to be able to do it dragging around a philosophy of the 1900s. let me correct myself, the late 1800s. go ahead. >> they conjoined the list of people blind sided by trump. people that thought they had meetings with them and a good understanding and then he does something that they were not necessarily expecting in a way that hurts them. they feel they had a good relationship and it didn't work out that way. one of the most extraordinary things in a way that donald trump said in the past couple weeks is when he said we are going to make it like it used to

be. like it used to be done. the idea that the president of the united states wants to look backwards and not look forwards, i mean is donald trump ronald reagan or trying to hold back the tide? this is the globalizationship left port and it's going to happen. these manufacturing jobs are never going to come back in the numbers that this administration is suggesting they will come back. he has to get with silicon valley to create the industry of tomorrow. there's not an option here. >> the executive order over the weekend. another thing that is freaking silicon valley out is the draft that leaked that they were going to do another executive order cutting back on h1 visas. that is a holy grail for the technology industry. they are the life blood of that

industry. you are looking at this story about trump, another executive order on dodd-frank, another kettle of fish. >> front page of the wall street journal, trump moves to undo dodd-frank to regulate the banks. the trump administration saying the burden is too heavy, we are going to roll back the regulations. they can't do it unilaterally but they can chip away at it. >> this is in line with republican views as well. this is something the republican party was frustrated with throughout the obama years. this is music to their ears. they are frustrated with the regulations on them, the companies aren't allowed to grow the way they could with dodd-frank. undoing this would, by many on wall street be a positive. >> a month ago, a story in the wall street journal had the heads of big banks saying we would like to see modifications. here are specific things we

would like to see. we don't wanlt to see the whole thing torn down. we have learned to live with it. >> it's the same as obamacare. a lot of people were against obamacare. even on the hill, they are reluctant to blow the entire thing up. from republicans. >> go back to the conversation about foreign policy. business leaders like continuity like heads of states abroad like it. when you tear things up, you see companies and countries that rely on things staying stable say whoa, whoa, whoa. change it on the margins, but don't blow the whole thing up. >> when a leader came into my office in washington, d.c., it could have been a power plant from tampa, florida. we are fine with regulations. >> tell us what they are. >> you have gimpb the regulations, okay. here is the deal. make them as tight and tough as you want. we will spend the next five years figuring out how to adapt to the regulations. every time we adapt to those

regulations, washington changes them again. i heard it time and time again over my four terms. make the regulations tough, okay? but give us certainty and stop changing it. when you are going in and going to completely tear up, you know, obamacare, going to go in and tear up dodd-frank, go and completely tear up what's been our immigration policy all these years, the ceos have to deal with it up and down. it's that uncertainty that is a problem. i'm uncertain, really, what to do now. >> really. >> that pause. it's very effective. by the way, there is a reference. somebody said yesterday on twitter that the trump administration could learn from harold, he won the nobel prize

for literature five, six, seven years back, maybe ten years back. i wonder how many people inside the trump administration, oh, yea, the pause. >> i thought you were going to refer to a different thing on twitter, the thing about beyonce. >> no. >> i'm not going to do that. >> and the world stood still, beyonce's announcement. >> harold's pilot joke. >> you see harold and think he's a mild mannered fellow. not at all. >> no. >> if i could make one more point. >> we would love for you to. >> when we talk about taking for granted america is where the business and innovation comes from in this country, a story condoleezza rice told a few weeks ago, when she was secretary of state and meeting in russia and boasting about how the world's best scientists and engineers came from russia, that may be true, but they ail live in silicon valley and tel-aviv.

this whole america first may be a great slogan, but when it comes to attracting the world's top talent, you know, you don't want to shut them out. >> if we don't expand the visa program, we are going to have people coming over here, going to our universities and creating jobs in new delhi instead of north carolina. >> yeah. >> it is so shortsighted. >> the tom friedman idea. staple it to the back of the diploma. >> advanced degree, staple a green card to the back of it. that's not in their best interest, it's in ours. coming up next, a provocative new cover. i never saw that coming. it comes as some of america's top allies are trying to figure out what to make of this new president. steny hoyer spoke to the

ambassador yesterday. congressman hoyer joins us next. keep it right here on "morning joe." ( ♪ ) ♪ they tell me i'm wrong ♪ ♪ to want to stand alongside my, my love ♪ ♪ whoa, talkin' 'bout my love ♪

♪ to want to stand it's about moving forward ♪ not back. it's looking up not down. it's feeling up thinking up living up. it's being in motion... in body in spirit in the now. boost. it's not just nutrition. it's intelligent nutrition. with 26 vitamins and minerals and 10 grams of protein. all in 3 delicious flavors. it's choosing to go in one direction... up. boost. be up for it.

the market.redict but through good times and bad... ...at t. rowe price... ...we've helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. when you're close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment? if you have modera to severe psiasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques.

in fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. do not use if you are allergic to taltz. before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you are being treated for an infection or have symptoms. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz. including worsening of symptoms. serious allergic reactions can occur. now's your chance at completely clear skin. just ask your doctor about taltz. in a moment, we are going bring congressman steny hoyer. fif first, a look at the ground we have covered on the first 14 hours of "morning joe." >> iran, russia, israel. a jolt back to traditional u.s. foreign policy stance.

>> nbc news learned the trump administration could impose new sanctions on iran. they are demanding russia withdrawal from crimea. >> a warning to israel. a step back to a more traditional u.s. >> continuity, continuity for a moment. >> reality is leaving the administration. we have to do it more incrementally. >> when you get the briefing, things change. >> allies around the world are thinking, we have whiplash. >> i can't imagine picking up the phone and yelling is going to advance us. >> violent protests. >> democrats are smart. this is not what we do in amica. >> violence that will only solidify trump tower. >> they make their marches look like the women's march. they are in great shape. >> a big pushback on the part of the democrats. >> they can't stop him. they should make it as miserable and humanly possible. >> the democrats have to get

back in the game. >> the democrats are going to lose this. they need to figure out the best way to do that. >> the master minds behind the bowling green massacre. >> we should all start this morning with a prayer. the victims of the bowling green massacre. >> how many victims were there? >> still counting. >> just one this morning. >> and there's the light of the morning, how many victims in the bowling green massacre, just one. >> that's the best line of the morning, by far. >> kelly ann conway is tweeting this morning, i meant to say bowling green terrorists. >> i think it's important. people should go on the twitter machine and find @thebgmassacre. forward that account, it's brilliant. >> democratic whip, congressman

steny hoyer of maryland was one of many lawmakers that spoke with australia's ambassador of the united states. john mccain, many others did. i did as well, steny, but only to ask for olivia newton john albums. you did it for a more important reason, that is to reaffirm they have been one of our most loyal allies and the only country that fought by our side in every conflict the past century. >> australia has been our strongest, most loyal ally and being with us in the hot spots, not just as observers, but really in the fight with us. i thought it was extraordinari unfortunate, apparently the conversation between the prime minister of australia and the president was such that clearly it was offensive to him. he handled himself very, very

well, very diplomatically and responsibly. the fact is, i wanted to tell the ambassador, look, you have a lot of friends on the hill who clearly understand australia is one of our best friends and we need to treat you as such. in retrospect the trump administration is going through with it. they think it's something a friend would do for a friend to help them out. >> congressman, obviously we have a strong diplomatic relationship with australia and a strong economic relationship as well. >> correct. >> a close ally in trading partners at the internal poll thag suggests the majority of australians are looking and would like to have closer economic ties with china. are you concerned at all, that will affect our relationship with australia?

>> clearly, that will but i will tell you this. i think my view is they are looking at that because, of course, one of the first things the president did was to say, look, we are going to ovuate the tpp agreement. that came as no surprise. he said that in the campaign. obviously both of our candidates said it as well. but the way it was done, in such a presip douse, no collaboration or discussion with the 11 other countries we had agreements with and entered into long negotiations with obviously destabilized that relationship and led the australians to think the only option for them may be entering into some aeent with the chinese. that unfortunate. >> it's katty kay in washington. how many people will you have to

call for thing that is went wrong from the white house. >> over the last ten days and 15 months, who knows. who knows what president trump is going to do at any moment and give offense to people that we need to be -- have confidence in us and we need to have confidence in our relationship with him. i thought secretary tillerson, yesterday, at the state department clearly made it very apparent that he understands that we are, in fact, in this together with our allies and we need to have the confidence of our allies and we need to have full communication with our allies so they are not surprised and not put out on a limb. i don't have a lot of confidence that president trump is going to learn that lesson. nothing the last 15 months gave us confidence he will. >> steny, john heilemann here. >> hey, john. >> dodd-frank is under assault now, today, executive order by donald trump about to dismantle

it. to what extent can he do and what can democrats do to stop it? >> i haven't seen the executive order, therefore i can't comment on it. dodd-frank is a statute, it is law. the irony is president trump is doing exactly what the republicans so bitterly complained about and that is trying to legislate by executive order and you take the authority of the congress of the united states in terms of law making. we'll have to see, specifically, but clearly it's a law. he can't do a whole lot. >> right. >> i think he would meet with some, probably positive discussion if you say, look, how do we more easily implement. i think joe is right, give us whatever the regulation of the law is and give us stali and time to work with it. don't keep changing it on us. >> joe is right on that.

>> all right, congressman steny hoyer thank you so much. >> thanks, joe. >> hope to see you on the hill. quickly, what did you learn today? >> about a new twitter account, the bowling green massacre. i'm going to get my information from this account going forward. >> #neverforget. >> that does it for us this morning. hope you have a great weekend. watch the super bowl. go falcons. thank you so much for your patience. stephanie ruhle picks up coverage right now. >> thank you so much, joe. good morning, i'm stephanie ruhle. we have breaking news. a blockbuster jobs report out and president trump meets with ceos this morning and the head of uber bailing protesting the travel ban. trump's new executive order today, loosening the o bo ma regulation on big banks after the financial