whfight back fastts, with tums smoothies. it starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue. and neutralizes stomach acid at the source. ♪ tum -tum -tum -tum smoothies! only from tums hi there, everyone. i'm alex witt at msnbc world headquarters in new york. it's a bit past 1:00 p.m. in the east and 10:00 a.m. in the west. an appeals court this morning denying the trump administration request to reinstate the travel ban. this happened past 3:00 a.m. eastern time hours after the justice department filed an appeal to lift the temporary restraining order put in place by federal judge james robart on friday. vice president mike pence is confident the order will prevail all while defending the administration against claims of bias. here's what he told my colleague chuck todd this morning. >> did the president undermine your case when he told the

christian broadcasting network that they would prioritize christians? >> the president was reflecting on the fact that christians who have faced persecution across the wider middle east have not been treateded on on. >> so it's religious. >> it's not a religious test. >> the trump administration cited a decades-old immigration case and said the ruling conflicts with the basic principle that, quote, an alien seeking initial mission to the united states has no constitutional rights regarding his application. president trump is standing by his unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and here's what he said in an interview which will air right before the super bowl tonight. >> many people have come out and said i'm right, you know that. >> i know, but you have to have data to back that up. >> when you see illegals and people that are not citizens and they're on the registration rows, bill, we can be babies and you can take a look at the registration and you have

illegals, dead people and it's a really bad situation. it's really bad. >> meanwhile, president bernie sanders coming weeks before the hotly contested election for the new dnc chair. >> despite the real they we have an extreme right-wing republican party which is way out of touch with the american people on every issue, they now control the white house, the senate, the house and two-thirds of the governor's chance. if we continue along the same way i think you'll get the same results. >> we'll check back in with nbc's kelly o'donnell staying in west palm beach, florida, right near mar-a-lago where the president iss staying this weekend. the the president is making new remarks about vladimir putin. >> the president is enjoying down time today at his west palm beach golf resort. also working the phones today with some foreign leader calls and he taped an interview that

you're referring to and this is one of the presidential traditions. the network that hosts the super bowl typically gets an interview with the president and this is one tradition that donald trump chose to participate in among many and he sat down with bill o riley and this interview will be seen in full connected to the super bowl coverage, but we've gotten some early clips and one of the things that's already getting a lot of attention because it sort of adds to the narrative that president trump's relationship with russia and vladimir putin can be perplexing to certainly american leaders and people who have concerns about foreign policy and so here is bill o riley and president trump talking about what the relationship between donald trump and vladimir putin looks like right now. >> do you respect put snin? >> i do respect him. >> do you? why? >> i do respect a lot of people and that doesn't mean i'm going to get along with him. he's a leader of his country and

i say it's better to get along with russia than not and if russia helps us in the fight against isis whi is a major fight and islamic terrorism all over the world. >> right. >> that's a good thing. will i get along with him? i have no idea. >> he's a killer. putin is a killer. >> we have a lot of killers. what? you think our country is so innocent? >> reporter: and it was the back portion of his comments that really got attention. we have heard the president before talking about wanting to have a working relationship with vladimir putin especially with respect to potential cooperation fighting isis, but to suggest that the united states is somehow on the same footing with some of the conduct of vladimir putin who is tied with ordering the murder of journalists, carrying out some thuggery as one republican senator called it today, that is what is getting attention. that the united states when it conducts operations around the world does so following the kind

of code of war in the international sense and so that has definitely rubbed a number of people wrong. foreign diplomats and certainly members of congress and people that are just concerned about the president's way of speaking when it comes to russia that may send the wrong signal. so that's certainly getting a lot of attention today. that's one portion of an interview that will air later today. we got that as an early clip and they have previewed it and there will be more news to be made in it. >> we'll do so as well. thank you so much, kelly o'donnell near mar-a-lago in west palm beach. let's bring in bob cusack, editor in chief at the hill and sabrina sadiqqi with the guardian. it appears that donald trump is determined on this travel ban. he's digging in his heels. politically speaking, do you see this as a winning issue for him? >> well, right now no because he's not winning. he's not winning the legal

battles and he went after a judge that was appointed by george w. bush. so legally, they're not winning. eventually, they think they are going to win this, but overall trump is not one to back down and the president certainly is not going to be backing down on this issue or other ones, but without a doubt, headline wise, remember, they moved the supreme court announcement up a couple of days, why? because the headlines were very bad for them and that was a smart move, but when you're losing in court you will lose in the court of public opinion, too. >> sabrina, in that super bowl interview, we heard a clip of that, but the president is in another clip holding firm to his claims of 3 million illegal voters still, and bill o'reilly pressed him a bit on it suggesting that he show proof. is there any conventional wisdom on what trump's calculation is to keeping to this claim? >> well, this is a claim that he's obviously made repeatedly and the fact of the matter is donald trump is not someone to ever admit that he's wrong. there's no rea political

calculation other than he has shown himself to be very thin skinned and i think when people talk about the popular vote or he sees some of the resistance to his presidency and he thinks that delegitimizes his victory when he did win as far as the electoral college is concerned and there was zero evidence that there was widespread voter fraud. those arne him wish he would drop that talking point, but the fact of the matter is that he's not someone who apologizes and as we've seen any time that he makes baseless claims, it's just a way of sort of feeding this narrative that the media is against him, that his opponents are conspiring against him and that's his way of sort of, i think just elevating himself in the public opinion. >> you know, sabrina, i remember this powerful piece that you wrote about about what it's like to be muslim and cover this election and if you look at where we are now with this

executive order and what would you take away with the election conk and covering the administration. >> the big question people are asking is is what donald trump is proposing to ban muslims we're not willing to rule out a database of some kind for muslims in the u.s. of course, the travel fwhan he enacted on the seven muslim majority countries is not a total shutdown, but people should have taken him both seriously and literally during the campaign. i think that's the takeaway as opposed to the distinction that was being drawn that maybe he was going to change when he assumes the oval office, and i think that people who are watching this very much view the intention as keeping with the campaign promise to scrutinize muslims and to scrutinize, in particular, those who are trying to come to the country because he's are muslim majority countries and it makes very clear an executive order that preference would only be given to religious minorities and

that's very much walking up to the line saying as much as you can that you would have to be non-muslim to be prioritized for entry. the takeaway here is he's meeting the rhetoric that we saw on the campaign trail and that's concerning for those within the muslim community. >> bob, you've got republicans in the senate including senate majority leader mitch mcconnell and they're trying to distance themselves somewhat from the comments the president made. they've been drawing parallels between putin and the u.s. those comments. we think back to nicki hailey this week condemning russia. which is that of the administration? >> we have yet to see. remember, russia is a friend of iran and trump campaign very much going after iran and as well as the nuclear deal that president obama negotiated with him. so i think that could be a bone of contention. one of the things that trump does keep repting and he did

in that interview with o'reilly is that maybe he won't remain a friend of putin and it is causing tension with republicans on capitol hill and they don't know why he keeps saying that he respects them and he appreciates what he's done over there, but that relationship, and it's more aggressive which he has in reese end day, and resistance and it remains to be seen, but without a doubt, whether it's russia or the voter fraud, republicans want to move on to other things with the economy. >> i've got a couple of questions to you guys on this next topic and i'll go with you first sabrina, i know you're writing, and the takeaway on the trump white house. >> the people he surrounds himself with or is integral to how the administration will move forward and certainly in term of priorities and in these couple of weeks you're seeing the imprint of steve bannon and

steve miller who are behind the travel ban and the effort to crack down on sanctuary cities is something that breitbart news and bannon's former website was very invested in, and i think that people like reince priebus and sean spicer who have more of the institutional knowledge have struggled to exert their influence so that's important in two ways and one is it mainstreams that protectionism and nationalism that were among the themes of donald trump's campaign and then it also puts in power people who don necessarily understand how to make decisions that imct the entire federal government which is why you saw that chaos and the rollout of the travel ban where the appropriate agencies were briefed and there was chaos across airports all over the country. so i think that you're really seeing that struggle in terms of who is going to influence the direction that this president takes as well as his own involvement in micromanaging every aspect of his presidency

so far. >> bob, a bit earlier i spoke to the political article any it draws parallel of the trump white house and the nixon white house. the most dangerous enemies are from within. is that the case? >> it can be, without a doubt, when you have these power struggles at the white house, that can also backfire, but i think that's what the president wants. remember the obama white house was no drama. this is -- this trump white house is a lot of drama, a lot of tension. some power struggles going within it. all white houses have had power struggles and all aides want to be very close to the precedence ney proximity as well as just being able to walk into his office, but without a doubt, if some of these power struggles, the people who are losing maybe they can leak more information and that can be a detriment to the new administration. >> thank you, guys. bob cusack and sabrina sadiqy. thank you so much. we're following a couple of

protests and dueling ones happening today, one in new york city under way with trump supporters and one anti-trump is taking place ahead of the super bowl game. we begin in houston with nbc's jacob rascon. jacob, a good day to you and this is day two of the protest in houston. what's going on behind you there? >> reporter: so we have this weekend, we have 150,000 people descending on the city. a small number of them, though maybe 400, 500, i'm not sure have gathered specifically as a protest, protesting donald trump, and a lot of donald trump out there and you have a congressman from houston speaking now. with me i have a woman named cat clemens. i hope i got that right. >> you did. >> why was it important to show up today? >> i think it's important to put the pressure all of our congress people and our senators that whatever has happened in the last two weeks is not acceptable to us. this has been a very scary time

for people of color, for the lesbian, gay, bi, transgender community and immigrants. it seems like it's untending so we want to the continue to put the pressure on them. >> reporter: show me your sign. is this the ban, the wall, is that among your biggest complaints? >> there are so many, i feel like i need to continue to buy stock in office depot because i'm making so many sign, the issues keep coming and these are really important and it's important that the media continue to bring that up. >> reporter: and you've brought, of course, your children with you. we see a sign that says future feminist and another sign over there. >> this group of protesters, alex, will march to the stadium, in fact, it's a two-mile march and of course, as they go there they'll meet up with some of those who have come here for the game. back to you. >> we've spoken to ron mott who is covering security there who says they're only going to get so far so they may not disrupt the actual security of the game itself, and i have to tell you

the traffic, the tie-up getting into the game for people trying to go to the stadium that might be a different thing altogether. thank you so much from houston. we appreciate that. >> nbc's morgan radford is outside trump tower. you're there with trump supporters. what are they telling you? >> we're outside with the trump supporters, but there's now become an interests face-off between the pro-trump supporters and the anti-trump supporters who have come down here to fifth avenue to respond to them, but i want to take you to the pro-president trump supporters people like felix. why are you out here today? >> i voted for donald trump. donald trump is a great plan and he's not the racist people think he is. >> reporter: why do you say that? >> listen, the guy is a pro-american meaning that, you know, he wants every american to achieve the american goal whether it is a black person, an asian person, a white person, a

gay person, he does not discriminate. there is not one discrimination thing that he said on the campaign trail that makes donald trump a racist person. yes, he made some crazy comments, but i don't hold him to his words. i hold him to his actions. >> reporter: do you feel confident that he can do the things you want to see happen for this country? >> absolutely. i think he's already started doing it, and i think he's going to be great for the country. i can give him, i guarantee i can give him two more years in office. 2018 will be the mid-term election and during that time he'll achievest mo of the things that he said on the campaign trail. >> reporter: felix, thanks for that. lots of people like felix have come out for that, and they're saying they support president trump and they're trying to give this man a chance to do his job, but on the other side here, you can see this group of anti-trump supporters who have come and they've come to say that they do not feel confident that he can do what's here. lauren, why have you come to

respond to the supporters. >> generally i only go to anti-trump rallies and i wanted our voice to be heard in the face of the small little crowd and i do not want the country to think this is the voice of new yorkers. that's what we're seeing, alex e as we see tension right here in front of trump tou or fifth avenue. >> lots of passions running high. morgan radford. how does the rest of the world see the president's travel ban. i'll ask coming up. beyond is a natural pet food

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♪ ♪ president trump is often no fan of opinion poll, but analysis by our friend stephen shepard at politico indicates the president is more popular than believed. shepard found the president's average approval rating for five

automated and internet polls was 48%, but only 41% from four polls done live over the phone. experts think the difference may lie in some people's reticence to admit their support for the president in live interviews, something which may have been repeated during the election and with the actual voting. meanwhile, the administration continuing to defend the travel ban. mike pence giving this take on the rollout of the order. >> the american people welcome the decisiveness that president trump has shown on this issue, putting the safety and security of the american people above the niceties of communicating with people in washington or in some cases around the world. >> joining me now, california congresswoman karen bass a member of the house foreign affairs committee and a democrat joining us from los angeles. i am always happy to welcome you from my home city. >> thank you. >> your reaction to that statement from the vice president? what do you think? >> well, you know, i think if you look at what's happening

around the world and the response, i think it has been overwhelmingly anpposition. the fact that there were protests yesterday in london and paris, i think it really goes to show that people are not supportive of this policy. >> so, ma'am, you sit there on the house foreign affairs committee. >> i do. >> how do you think all of this legal turmoil is being perceived not just in those demonstrations that you're citing around the world, but in their houses of congress, their houses of parliament, along their leadership? >> i do think that they're perceiving it very similar to us. even amongst my republican colleagues, now, of course the hard core ones are very happy with this policy, but i don't believe that the majority of my republican colleagues are feeling that way. i think that everyone is nervous because you don't know from minute-to-minute and what is he going to tweet in the next couple of hours? i think this has not only the nation very frightened, but it has people around the world.

every time i come home to my district, i can tell you that i am in meetings and i was in a meeting last night with over 60 people who were telling me without question that they are frightened, they're frightened by his presidency. they're frightened by the fact that we never know what he's going to do from minute-to-minute. >> i'm curious, representative bass, you believe that the republican colleagues have their concerns. have they voiced them to you and if they have, do they do it in confidence and if they're not voicing them, is it because they're afraid of retribution? >> well, they are voicing them in confidence. i think they're absolutely afraid of him. they're afraid that he'll tweet and maybe go to their district and have a rally and they know that he has support in their districts and their poll talked about him having 41% who are supportive of him. that's the mority of him of the country that isn't in support of him and if you compare to how his presidency,

like barack obama, for example, that came in with over 70% of the public supporting him, i think it is very dramatic that 41% of the u.s. public is in support of him. that's very low. >> it is. the president continues to say that this ban makes us more safe and one of a series of tweets that he asked yesterday, what is a country coming to when a judge can halt a travel ban and anyone even with bad intentions can come into u.s.? what do you think? >> that's exactly what is frightening because that's a ridiculous statement. you know that people just can't come into the united states willy nilly and as far as i'm concerned i think he's doing propaganda for isis. i certainly don't think he means to do that, but because he speaks so erratically and makes statements like that that are just outright lies, you know, i think he just gives them fuel for the fire and that is the type of thing that makes people who especially folks who follow current events frightened

because i know that he's making a statement that makes no sense at all. that shouldn't come from the president. >> to be honest, you are reflecting the sentiments of leaders in iran who say it's adding fuel to the fire for those who want to oppose and do harm to the united states. speaking of iran. i want to ask you about the administration putting that country on notice and vice president pence saying it would be wise to not test president trump's resolve and iran holding military drills just a day after the trump administration imposed new sanctions over a ballistic missile test. do you see the drills as a direct message to the u.s.? >> i don't know if they're a message to the u.s. or not, but i certainly don't feel that his response is helpful and i think it's not just me and people in iran that feel that the statements he makes is giving fuel to the fire for isis. many military leaders and many intelligence officers have said the exact same thing, but it's not just iran. i mean, his response to the

president of mexico, the prime minister of australia. he's not handling foreign affairs in a proper way. he still hasn't settled into his role as president and all of us are friedened how long it will take him to realize he is president of the united states. this is not a reality show and not trump businesses and he is supposed to be responsible for our entire nation and the role that our nation plays in the world. >> how long do you expect that to take until that realization comes to him. is there a way that you can offer to diffuse the situation here? i honestly don't know what to do. maybe when the rest of his cabinet is in place, maybe he'll start listening to people around him? i say his cabinet and then that's scary, too, because no one in his cabinet has government experience. so the way that he's going about things, i don't know if it will take a major crisis. my concern is that he might be the one responsible for a major

crisis whether domestic or international and we cannot have a president who behaves in this manner. you don't call up the president of plexi of mexico and tell him that he's got bad hombres out there and he's ready for prime time and that's the way it is. he really has to learn how to do his job. >> congresswoman karen bass, always good to see you. >> thanks for having me on. how politics is spilling into the sports world. the effort to keep sports and political protest straight epar houston. ankfully at panera, 100% of our food is 100% clean. no artificial preservatives, sweeteners, flavors, or colors. panera. food as it should be.

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the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly and win at business. welcome back, everyone. i'm alex witt here at msnbc world headquarters in new york. at 31 past the hour, here's what we're monitoring for you. anti-trump protesters will soon be marching through the streets of houston, the site of tonight's super bowl game. security already tight there. so will this crowd create new

challenges for law enforcement. nbc's ron mott has more on that front for us. right there in front of the stadium let's talk about the security measures in place now and how officials are handle these protests. >> protester gathering at a part not too far from here, alex and they'll start heading this way and we'll have to see how close they get to the stadium. some of the fans are also starting to arrive here. security, as always, very tight. i spoke to an fbi agent, the special agent in charge in houston about this additional element of protests and they've been planning this for three years and they could not have foreseen what we're seeing in houston and presidential protests and political protests and we will have them again today. here's what he had to say about how these protests may or may not affect security near the stadium. we've opinion prepari for it

and we've inspected it what is going on with the event. >> if yesterday is any sign of a lot of these folks are protesting various issues, the vice president mike pence is expected to attend the game tonight. we don't know what time his arrival will be here at the stadium and which course he will take from the airport to get here and whether he will encounter any of these protesters. it's all sort of up in the air with the protesters. they have been lawful and orderly for the most part. apparently, there were a couple of people detained yesterday and law enforcement wants them to come out and make their voices heard if they do so lawfully. alex? >> that's what they'll do, we hope. thank you very much ron mott from outside that big game stadium. president trump's criticism of the federal judge who blocked an immigration order, should the president is use the words so calm. i'll speak to jeff sessions about this next. touches sticks with them.

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let's go now to the latest in the travel ban. a federal judge's suspension of the ban is still standing after a motion to immediately restore it was denied. msnbc's chief justice correspondent pete williams has more. when do we expect more developments? >> alex, it will be a couple of more days before we know how this will play out in court. it was just after midnight saturday when the department asked the federal appeals court on the west coast to immediately put the seattle meeting on hold after the president called it ridiculous and said it came from a so-called judge, but the court declined to act immediately and it asked for a response before it's going to rule. this morning the trump executive order remains on hold. border officials are proceeding as though it never existed. travelers who arrive from the the seven countries that had been covered by the order are again allowed to come here and the visas that have been suspended by the order are once

again deemed to be valid. after the justice department filed its motion last night, the appeals court said we're not going to act now. it asked for a response from washington and minnesota. those are the states that prompted an order. the brief from the states is due at midnight tonight eastern time, 9:00 pacific. then the justice department has almost a day until monday at 6:00 eastern or 3:00 pacific to file a reply. only then after it has received all of the briefs will the appeals court act. that means monday night at the earliest for further court action and whichever side fails to prevail can ask for an emergency order from the u.s. supreme court so this will play out for several more days. >> pete williams, thank you very much for that. >> let's bring in esther, spokesperson for senator jeff sessions. welcome to you. always goed to see you. let's get right to what the

president decided to judge robart's ruling of the tweet. it is ridiculous and will be overturned. first of all, is it right for the president to call a judge a so-called judge. >> it does feel that democrats across the country suddenly have amnesia. they're upset about this, but when president trump invited the supreme court to sit in the well of the congress and then berated them in front of a democratic crowd when they were sitting with the democratic side and democrats didn't have a huge problem, and through history, plenty of presidents have disagreed with judges on the supreme court. i didn't think this was one way or the other and he disagreed with the opinion and he did so. >> here's the deal. the language that's being used. i didn't ask you what president obama did, do you think that the

president of the united states is calling a judge a "so-called judge." >> i'm an attorney, when you're looking for an injunction there has to be a likelihood of success on the merits because the likelihood of success on the merits when you deal with the president and immigration authority which is quite large. so, yes, hisudgment is rightly called into question here. >> okay then i suppose senator sessions should condemn at all this language, a so-called judge? >> the looking for condemnation from everything and all sides has turned into a bit of a silly game. >> it would be a full-time game, don't you think? >> if democrats would have their way, it would be. they want recounts and condemnation and they want to protest anything, if donald trump came out for puppes the democrats would come out against

them. >> what about the washington post that the president's flurry of executive orders that they have senator sessions' fingerprints all over it and is that an accurate, and it's been reported that he had no role in the immigration executive order. ideologically, i think senator sessions and candidate donald trump were very clear about what they wanted to do on immigration, and donald trump is fulfilling his campaign promises. i know that democrats don't like that, but he said he was going to do it and now he's doing it and they're up in arms about it. at the same time, however, they are bringing a new meaning to the term obstructionism. you can add up all of the cabinet members left unconfirmed by this point in a presidency and add them up from george washington to barack obama. combined they're less than what donald trump has outstanding and donald trump can complain about executive orders and obstructing

cabinet members simply to protest the president who they will not accept in november is getting out of hand. >> what about the president from his pre-super bowl interview that's going to run. let's take a listen to part of that. here it is. >> many people have come out and said i'm right. you know that. >> you've got to have data to back that up. >> when you see illegals, people that are not citizens and they're on the registration rolls. look, bill, we can be babies, but you take a look at the registration. you have illegals, you have dead people and you have this -- it's really a bad situation. it's really bad. >> so, look. he's still holding on to the notion of 3 million illegal voters without showing any clear proof. do you think he should just drop this or is this an investigation that the justice department should pursue? >> understand why the president's frustrated. his legitimacy, his candacy and his presidency has not gone a day without being questioned by democrats. it's funny. they're the ones who wanted a

recount who said there was voter fraud in michigan and pennsylvania and nobody condemned them. they, in fact, spent millions of dollars on a recount, but when president trump said there are dead people on voter rolls which we know to be the fact in some places then it's somehow unacceptable. i think the problem here is that democrats refuse to accept the election results and until they do there will be this tension in the country where we have a new presidency, a new white house and they're going to be things that they don't like that are going to happen now. that's the way it works. it works this way in 2009. they need to move on. >> sarah, what about the parallels that president trump drew in that same interview with the u.s. and president putin? >> oh, when he -- yes. again, i think this does come down to questioning his legitimacy and i think president trump is not making an equivalency between the united states and russia. i certainly don't agree that there's any equivalency between

the united states and russia and i don't think he does either and i think he's making a point with leadership in the u.s.' relationship with russia. i haven't seen the whole interview. i've seen the clip of it and vice president pence has come out and said that he was not making that equivalency, i believe that. >> sarah flores, thank you very much for your time. >> thank you, alex. an exchange of tough talk between the u.s. and north korea. is it rhetoric or a fuse to a potential military showdown, and coming up at the top of the hour on "meet the press," mike pence, nancy pelosi and paul ryan.

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china's unleashing some harsh words at the united states after they said they were standing firm with japan. >> there is no misunderstanding in washington that we can firmly 100% shoulder to shoulder with you and the japanese people and the prime minister. >> both japan and china claim sovereignty over the islands in the east china sea. let me bring in gordon cheng.

big welcome to you. let's get right to it. is secretary mad dispo poking aa nest here? >> this is basically the same thing that secretary of state john kerry said april 2015 when he also made the same confirmation. now, the chinese, no matter what we say are going to be upset about this. but there is very little we could do except deter them and that's what maddis did. >> why the fight over these islands? >> china did not actually claim these until 1971. but now they have expanded their territorial ambitions. also, it is good politics inside that that to criticize the japanese. so i think that's why we're seeing more pressure on tokyo

these oo days. >> w are y hearing about chinese reaction to donald trump's presidency so far? >> the chinese are certainly concerned and there is really a bifurcated approach. the chinese military has taken a hostile view of this. but chinese diplomats, though, i think they have pretty much dismayed. they don't know what to think. they actually supported trump last march when he talked about withdrawing from japan and south korea. now maddis has said the united states will stand with tokyo and saul. >> so is there a concern over a military proposals and the military direction, or is it over trade or both? can you put them in perspective. >> it's both. i think they're especially concerned about the remarks of secretary of state tillerson when he talked about china not

allowed to occupy the reclaimed islands in the chinese sea. those comments were reiterated by sean spicer. so that is certainly a read line for them. but also trade because there has been talk in washington of a much tougher attitude towards china and i'm sure we are going to see that after they get behind the spat with mexico. >> what do you think the calculation is for donald trump is here? >> well, i think that he came in saying to his base that he was going to do something about preserving american jobs. and the country that has been most responsible in the view of trump for taking those jobs away has really been china. so there is going to be a lot of action. this whole thing wh mexico i think is really just trump telling the chinese that he is willing to exercise power because he can push mexico around because we've got a much

bigger economy. china is a different story for him. so i think this is really a story to beijing when he has all these problems with mexico. >> before japan, secretary maddis made that stop. north korea blasted these exercises has a rehearsal for an invasion. do you expect some reaction from kim jong-un to test trump. >> we have not seen a provocation this year and there are a couple of reasons for kim jong-un to remaingressives are e back the presidency, so i don't think he wants to do anything to upset the political in the south. if he stays quiet, that's probably the result he'll get. also, china does not want to see this missile defense system being deployed, so they don't want him to do anything

provocative. >> let's take a listen to some of what secretary maddis said while in south korea. >> america's commitment to upholding our allies remain iron clad. any attack on the united states or on our allies will be defeated in any use of nuclear weapons could be met of a response of it become effective and overwhelming. >> what do you make of those comments gordon? is north korea a nuclear threat to the united states? >> now now, but they will be in three or four years. they just don't have the ability to make a nuk to them. but they will have that within the decade, certainly within the half decade. that is why there is this concern in washington, which is what the obama white house told the trump transition team.

>> thanks. it's an important conversation we're having. up next "meet the press" and among moderator chuck todd's quest, mike pence. have a good sunday. suck on and point decisively with the arm of your glasses. have a good sunday. business wizardry.s, mike p. have a good sunday. abracadabra. you've just gone from invisible to invincible. step two: before your meeting, choose la quinta. the only hotel where you can redeem loyalty points for a free night-instantly so you can prepare to win at business. book now at lq.com

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or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. this sunday confrontation and chaos. the fight over president trump's travel ban. he vows to get it reinstated, calling the ruling ridiculous and tweeting about this so-called judge. but what are travelers supposed to do now? plus, president trump's head spinning week. a supreme court week. >> outstanding legal skills, a legal mind and has earned bipartisan support. >> putting iran on notice and holding testy talks with allies mexico and australia. >> when you hear about the tough phone calls i'm