still blocked this hour. appeals court denies a trump administration bid to get the ban reinstated. we'll look ahead to the appeals process and a possible supreme court hearing. i'll speak frto an attorney fro the aclu. both sides are on the offensive as trump's education pick moves closer to a vote. live in houston outside the stadium. update on the halftime show, protests and ramped up security. but first this hour, president trump speaking in his first presuper bowl interview. the president commenting on the rollout of his highly controversial executive order on immigration and current relations with iran. >> it's another big week for the trump administration. judge gorsuch that rollout went very smoothly, i think. >> yes, it did. >> the rugee deal, not so

much. >> i think it was very ooth. you had 109 people out of hundreds of thousands of travelers and all we did was vet those people very, very carefully. >> you wouldn't do anything differently if you had to do it over again? some of your people didn't really know what the order was. >> that's not what general kelly said. general kelly, now secretary kelly, said he totally knew. he was aware of it and it was very smooth. it was 109 people. >> let's talk about iran. your assessment, do you think we're on a collision course with that country? >> it was the worst deal negotiated. >> the nuclear deal you're talking about? >> absolutely, the deal made by the obama administration. i think it's a shame that we've had a deal like that and that we had to sign a deal like that. and there was no reason to do it. if you're going to do it, have a good deal. we gave them $1.7 billion in cash, which is unheard of. and we put the money up. and we have really nothing to show for it. >> possibly you tear it up?

>> we'll see what happens. politico reporter gabriel debenedetti joins us now. a couple of new tweets from the president today. he wrote, just cannot believe a judge would put our country in such peril. if something happens, blame him and court system. people pouring in. bad! in another one, i have instructed homeland security to check people coming into our country, in caps, very carefully. the courts are making the job very difficult! gabe, is this administration ready for what is shaping up to be a very big legal fight? >> whether they're ready is something that they are not necessarily -- they don't want necessarily people to know whether or n they're ready. they're clearly on the defensive right now and very clearly will be weeks and days, if not months of a legal fight. obviously, the white house and people supporting the white house are going to have huge legal teams fighting for this. what is clear is that president trump is still trying to work his way through what exactly the

defense will be. by basically saying it will be this judge's fault if something bad happens, he's really deflecting from the central point here. so i think what you're seeing is a lot of democrats, liberal groups, but a lot of democrat attorneys general, in particular, pushing really hard on this. i think this will be a fight for months. >> gabe, is it your impression that the administration has been taken by surprise by this reaction? >> you know, they have not exactly given their proper -- or a full articulation of what their reaction has been to protests on the streets. you saw the president reacting to, in that interview, that the rollout was not as smoothly as planned, he is not as keen to the public perception of what happened. in that, they may be surprised. we've not seen him commenting on the protests and what he has been reacting to are the legal challenges and those have

clearly gotten under his skin. >> other news from that fox interview, trump getting heat now for not entirely repudiating vladimir putin. senator mcconnell responding. >> i do think america is exceptional. america is different. we don't operate in any way the way the russians do. >> putin is a mess. he's committed all sorts of murderous thuggery and i am opposed to the way putin conducts himself in world affairs and hopes that the president wants to show moral leadership about this issue. >> is trump's rhetoric on putin putting republicans in a tight spot? >> absolutely. you know, right now we're in a period where the white house is trying to figure out exactly what its relationship is going to be with republicans on the hill. you had someone like senator ben sasse, who has never been a big fan of president trump's and this is somewhere he's clearly saying we can agree on some

things but will have to draw a line somewhere. mitch mcconnell, the most powerful republican senator, is saying something pretty similar. president trump we're going to have to just disagree on these things. they have their own priorities here. if they feel as if the white house is lying, is not exactly in concert with their line is, they're not going to hesitate to say it. >> and are doing it in public, that's for sure. gabe debenedetti from politico. >> thank you. here in new york city, trump supporters gathered outside trump tower in midtown manhattan to stand with the president and his policies. morgan ratford was there. she has been talking to those folks all day. morgan? >> reporter: stephanie, we're standing outside trump tower where a group of pro trump supporters are here to show support for the president and his executive orders and the actions he has taken in his initial days in office. they've been chanting things like president trump we support you. different signs like korean-americans for president trump, jews for trump.

on the other side of trump tower a group of anti-trump protesters have come here to meet their responses and say they feel like the president's actions are fundamentally, in their words, unamerican, and say they do not want the people to believe that the pro-trump supporters represent the voice specifically of new yorkers. stephanie? >> nbc's morgan ratford, thanks for that. turning now to the legal fight over the immigration ban. late last night, federal appeals court rejecting to restore -- travelers from these seven countries are able to enter the united states. by midnight tonight attorneys general in minnesota and washington will have to submit legal briefs in response to that appeals court decision. the justice department has until monday at 6:00 pm eastern to file its reply. joining me now to discuss, aclu deputy director.

mora healy spoke to my colleague, richard lch ui, earlier. here is what she had to say about the executive order. >> this is an affront to the constitution. you're going to see a lot of advocacy, action, and we're just going to continue to press ahead. we'll go as far as we need to. certainly we are delighted rig now to see what the courts have ruled so far. >> cecilia, first of all, what's your overall take on where the legal situation stands right now? >> what we've seen is that many federal district courts around the country have stood up and stayed that the trump muslim ban is unconstitutional and have put a freeze on that ban. at this point, we have the lawsuit brought by the state of washington up at the u.s. court of appeals for the ninth circuit, as you just reported, that's on a pretty fast briefing schedule. notably, the ninth circuit court of appeals did refuse the trump

administration's request, that the ban be reinstated immediately, pending that briefing. i think what you'll see at this point is that a broad swath of the american people and american society will come out in favor of the efforts to resist president trump's muslim ban and to say that this is not only unconstitutional but unamerican. you're going to see american businesses, faith leaders across different religions, more states will jump into this to say that the president's muslim ban is not legal and it's just not right. >> what we're seeing here, logistically speaking, a protracted legal battle. will this clog up our system for some time? >> i don't think so. i think what you've seen is over the past week since the executive order went into effect initially on the evening of january 27th is that the legal system actually works. you saw -- you have seen broad

swaths of the american legal profession jumping into action, whether it was private attorneys, volunteering to go and represe individuals who were being turned away at the airports and detained to now large state attorneys general jumping in to say we are going to stand up for the constitution and against the president's muslim ban to civil rights organizations. everyone is chiming in to say that we are going to go to court. i think the system has worked as it should. federal judges nearly across the board have said this policy by the president looks like it is unconstitutional and we are going to freeze it until we can have full briefing and a decision on the merits. >> let me ask you this. during that freeze, is there a situation now overseas where you have a kind of rush by people to get in under the wire before the ban goes back into place? >> to the contrary. i think what you see is that there was chaos caused by the ban, the executive order going

into place without proper vetting. the regular vetting that would have happened in the executive branch that we've seen across many administrations over past decades. what is happening now that the ban is frozen is that there is an orderly process for people who had valid, lawful visas and refugees who were scheduled to be resettled in the united states now again queueing up as they were intended and as they had been scheduled to do. you've seen the very touching stories, a mother whose daughter in the u.s. was about to give birth, had been afraid she would miss the birth, is now coming in. there was a baby born in iran who was scheduled for heart surgery in the united states, whose surgery was postponed. people are now, in an orderly way, able to come back in to the united states now that the ban has been frozen by the court system. so i think this is an orderly situation. order that has been put into

place by the federal judiciary and no thanks to the white house, which has rolled this executive order out in the most haphazard and chaotic way. >> isn't it possible, cecilia, people had visas who were planning to come to the u.s. in a month and are saying, wait a minute. maybe i ought to come in faster than that? or even refugees who fit that category? >> refugee resettlement happens to a very orderly process, something that the federal agencies plan out in advance with the refugee resettlement organizations within the united states. that is an orderly process and i think that will just take place as originally scheduled. things have to get rescheduled, of course, but that's an orderly process. as far as immigrant visa holders and visitors to the united states, i think that people probably are taking a moment to pause and say what's going to happen next? over the course of just one week we've seen so much chaos and so

much back and forth with the trump administration first saying lawful permanent residents of the united states, who happen to be on vacation or visiting family abroad were trapped, unable to get home to the u.s. they then rescinded that and said, yes, lawful permanent residents can come in and are not subject to the ban. the legal system, the judiciary has gotten involved. we have orderly briefing processes. we have a temporary restraining order that is now in place, nationwide temporary restraining order out of the state of washington by the federal court in seattle. i think you'll see an orderly process. yes, i think peoples' lives were disrupted during the week that the travel ban -- once the travel ban went into effect. and now people are trying, in an orderly way, to go about their business and use their lawful visas to come into the country. >> okay. aclu deputy legal director

cecilia wang, thank you so much. >> thank you. next, a look at the first two weeks of the trump administration. the travel ban, the president's relationship with vladimir putin and why some democrats want to investigate white house ties to russia. 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. ♪ youthat's why you drink ensure. sidelined. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you. ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them.

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call today. comcast business. built for business. vice president pence how the travel ban was executed. the administration has been hit on all sides of this issue. even republicans have criticized the president for the confusion that's followed. then the legality of it, federal court halting the ban and then the morality of it, families reuniting flashing all across the tv. >> communications director for correct the record, who also was the director of strategic communications for hillary clinton's 2016 campaign, and also with us in the studio, andy

sullivan, founder and editor of blue collar corner. thank you all for being here. amber, let's start with you. attorneys general from 16 states now trying to block the president's ban. did the administration anticipate this reaction? >> it doesn't look like it. i think they were hoping by issuing this executive order travel ban so soon after he was inaugurated to put a really strong foot forward that they were tougher on terrorism, tougher on national security than the past white house. and now, as donald trump's series of tweets this weekend are indicating, he feels very frustrated and very wronged by a court's decision to halt this ban in place. it is arguably backfiring on them to issue this travel ban so quickly and so chaotically after he was inaugurated a few weeks ago. >> andy, the rollout of this aside, let's talk about the substance of it.

is this immigration ban a legitimate ban? >> i believe it is. and i think the reason -- there was no good way to roll this out. everyone is saying it shouldn't have been done this way. it's haphazard. but there's really no right way to do such a big, bold move. and this is the kind of things that mr. trump committed himself to in the first 100 days. so, this was to be expected, i believe. >> there may not be a great way to do it but clearly there was a lot of confusion. people could have been told or given a heads up on what to expect when they came to the country. officials at airports clearly seemed to be struggling, especially that first day. couldn't some of that have been avoided? >> maybe but, you know, donald trump is not your typical politician. i don't even consider him a politician at all. this is a very successful businessman who is aggressive and sometimes he makes moves just to see what the other opponents' moves are and from there can work his program a little better. i think he is doing this with

great insight. >> this move certainly triggered a lot of protests. adrienne, i'm wondering if the democrats are organized enough to harness this energy and overturn this ban. >> first of all, as you were saying a while ago, that there is not necessarily a right or wrong way to roll out a policy like this. there is a right way to do that. he is the president of the united states and it's his responsibility to roll out especially when putting forth policies that are very controversial, to do this in a responsible way. to your point about the left, what we're seeing now is the left is more united than it's been in decades, perhaps ever. you're seeing so many different people from different organizations representing different interests, coming together, standing together, helping their fellow neighbor to come together and express their strong concerns about these policies that he is injecting.

and this will be something that we will carry forward to help us in 2018 and, of course, to help us significantly in 2020. >> the president isn't just battling on the immigration front. his comments about putin have raised a lot of eyebrows, vice president mike pence defending the president on "meet the press" today. take a listen. >> he was determined to go forward and see whether or not we might be able to start anew in a relationship with russia. the president have said many times, if we got along with russia, that would be a good thing for the world. if we were able to confront and hunt down radical islamists, that would be a good thing. he is not going to look in the rear view mirror so much as looking out the windshield. >> he's a bad guy but we've done bad things, too. are you comfortable with that moral equivalency? >> i don't accept that it's a moral equivalency.

>> you think he misspoke? >> no. >> adrienne, president trump has regularly defended vladimir putin. is it the position of the administration -- >> he can't even get along with our long-time allies, australia, mexico, being prime examples but consistently defends putin and russia in general. so many unanswered questions we have about his relationship with putin, which is exactly why we need an independent investigation to look into this. >> and, amber, you know, house minority leader nancy pelosi said she wanted to investigate the president's ties to russia, to figure out why he keeps saying nice things about putin. take a look at this. >> i want to know what the russians have on donald trump. i think we have to have an investigation by the fbi, financial, personal and political connections to russia and we want to see his tax returns so we can have truth in

the relationship between putin, who he admires, and -- >> i want to go back to the -- >> democrats seem to be scrambling to battle president trump on a number of issues. are they organized enough to do it effectively? >> it's unclear. because you're absolutely right. donald trump presents them with, quite frankly, a lot of opportunities to try to go on the attack. everything from not releasing his tax returns to saying nice things about vladimir putin, to this travel ban that was rolled out in such a chaotic way. and i talk to democratic operatives who say they're struggling to figure out which message to drive home on any given day. by the time you write a press release, say, criticizing donald trump for something or go give an interview, like leader pelosi did, or go on the senate floor and give a speech donald trump has already tweeted something else that's been controversial. i think that democrats are united in trying to oppose donald trump in whatever way

they can. but how you do that, with a clear, consistent message every day is difficult, made more so difficult by the fact that donald trump is just breaking all the norms and taking up all the headlines. >> and let's turn to you for a moment, andy. you focus on blue collar issues. let's take a look at what president trump has done the last few weeks. he got rid of the rule mandating that financial advisers work in the best interest of their clients. he reversed a cut to the fha annual premiums, making it more expensive for first-time homeowners and instituted a federal hiring freeze, many of which are middle class americans. how does, at least those particular actions, resonate with that group of people? has he done other things that make up for them? >> i'm going to tell you right now. everything you just said, any blue collar guy would not be able to make a connection to his

present financial state. when donald trump comes over and says, okay, i'm going to lower corporate taxes and i'm going to relax regulations to every guy who works with his hands and woman who works with their hands for a living and builds things and builds products and does services for the general public, i'm telling you right now, that, to them, means investment and job creation. that's what we're about. >> so they're hearing what they want to hear from this president? >> they're hearing the things that, yes, they want to hear and that they can understand. you're talking about issues that are going to go over the johnny lunch pail and sally housecoat's head. they're not going to understand all of that. all the intellectuals and the limousine liberals and everybody of that group, yeah, you're going to understand that. that's their homework. they're taught to learn about these points. but you've got people getting up very early in the morning, coming home where the sun is already down and both parents in the workforce right now. they want to hear about money.

they want to hear about investment and new jobs. >> even if some of these issues will end up in a vacuum? >> stephanie, it very well might. right now, this is what they consider paramount in their lives. >> amber phillips, adrien nechlt and andy sullivan, thank you very much. >> thank you. political controversy in lady gaga's half time show. we'll stop by boston and atlanta. what fans are saying moments before the patriots and falcons face off. did you make that? i did... n't. hey, come look what lisa made. wow. you grilled that chicken? yup! i did... n't. mhm, lisa. you roasted this? uhuh... n't. introducing smartmade by smart ones. real ingredients, grilled and roasted using the same smart cooking techniques you do. you own a grill?

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about an hour from now, super bowl li will begin as new england patriots quarterback tom brady looks to break the record with a fifth super bowl ring. patriots will have to overcome atlanta falcons with the top scoring offense in the nfl. blake mccoy is in the heart of patriots company with fans eagerly awaiting the kickoff to the big game, joining me now

from boston. i'm a little jealous of where you are now. not too many patriots fans in new york city and i'm pulling for them. let me ask you this. how does this one rate emotionally for fans? after a season where brady was suspended for the first four game games. >> deflate gate has weighed over this entire season. there's a chance here that this is a chance for the patriots to redeem themselves. fifth win as quarterback is history making if he's able to do it. let's talk to dave who owns the causeway bar and restaurant in boston. you're clearly a big patriots fan. >> i'm looking forward to the game itself. i wish they would skip over everything and kick it off right now. i get so amped for the game. i can't even wait around for it. national anthem and everything i'm so excited i want to skip it. >> lady gaga is the real reason. >> yeah. i don't even pay attention to half time. just skip over it and keep

going. i'm so excited. i can't wait. want to get this win today. >> with deflate gate, is that weighing over the team? is it a chance to redeem themselves? >> i don't think the team itself even cares. it will be fun to take the trophy from goodell but i don't think they're paying attention to it. i think it's more the fans paying attention to it. >> if they do win tonight an interesting snapshot of goodell presenting tom with that trophy. private party on the bar of the second floor. this is hillary. she's a big patriots fan. >> yes, i am. born and raised i vermont. new england is definitely my am. >> what are you looking forward to most tonight? >> being with everyone, all the patriots fans that are also my friends and raising money for the mentorship. >> has a little pool going on over there. patriots are favored to win, three-point favorites,

stephanie. looks like your team has a chance at pulling this off. >> not entirely comfortable with three points. you need to get a hat, scarf or just something. blake mccoy in boston. >> can i borrow your hat? >> thank you very much. atlanta falcons have an added burden of history today. in their 173 combined season of major professional sports leagues, atlanta team has won a championship just once, atlanta braves in 1995. nbc's sarah dallof joins me now from atlanta. the falcons have been to the super bowl once, almost 20 years ago, losing to the denver broncos. how much are fans there concerned about the patriots? they should be very concerned, of course. >> they're feeling really good about it, stephanie. quarterback was named mvp, widely considered to have one of the best offenses in the league this season. they're not really looking at the patriots as a concern right now but more as an obstacle,

standing in between them and their team, bringing home a championship. now we know, this is a bit of a david versus goliath situation. a team that's been to eight super bowls versus the team that's been to one two decades ago. but fans are feeling optimistic. a lot of enthusiasm here at this bar in midtown atlanta and across the city. people arriving hours before the game to get a goodseat. and it's not just the fans. city officials getting in on the excitement and the building enthusiasm. atlanta's mayor, in fact, signed an order that bars can stay open until 2:30 monday morning. usually they close at midnight. so that's an extra 2 1/2 hours of celebrating or drinking away their sorrows. people are feeling confident that it will be 2 1/2 hours of celebrating. >> i'm sure, sarah. that bar is bound to get more

amped up as the night goes on. thank you very much. the war over betsy devos. tv ads air in support of the education secretary nominee. the vote right now looks to be a perfect split at 50/50. what happens this week in the "saturday night live" sketch everyone is talking about. melissa mccarthy channels white house press secretary sean spicer. >> it's not a ban. >> excuse me ? >> the travel ban is not a ban so it's not a ban. >> i'm using your words. you said ban. now i'm saying it. >> the president -- don't let sinus symptoms bring you down now!

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>> more now of president trump's presuper bowl interview. after vowing to build the wall with mexico, the relationship with our neighbor to the south has been brought into question. here is what president trump now says about how he wants to work with mexican president enrique.

>> that if his army couldn't handle the drug cartels that u.s. army soldiers would. did you say that? >> we have to do something about the cartels. i did talk to him about it. i want to help him with it. he's a very good man and we have a good relationship, as you probably know. he seemed very willing to get help from us because he has got a problem. >> got a problem. >> and it's a real problem for us. don't forget, those cartels are operating in our country and they're poisoning the youth of our country. >> at this point, do you consider mexico a corrupt country? because this stuff has been going on for decades. >> i love the people. i really like this administration. i think he is a good man. we get along very well. but they have problems controlling aspects of their country. there's no question about it. and i would say the drugs and the drug cartels, number one.

>> have you figured out what kind of a tariff you're going to levy on mexico to pay for the wall? >> it's very unfavorable. we're losing our jobs to the mexico. you look at these massive plants. i've turned it around already. ford has been phenomenal. they canceled the plan. >> you intimidated them. >> no. >> they're afraid of you. >> general motors, mary barra. >> they're afraid of you. >> no, no, they want to do what's right. >> why didn't they do what was right in the past? they're afraid of you. >> because the wrong people spoke to them. they want to do what's right and are bringing jobs back to michigan, ohio, and pennsylvania and all the places that have lost the jobs. that's already happening. i think you're going to see a tremendous job growth in this country. >> turning now to the fight over the education secretary, betsy devos will get a final senate confirmation vote tuesday in a major showdown for the future of education. democrats seeking to pick off enough republicans to block her.

so far, they've got two. lisa murkowski and susan collins, making it a 50/50 tie which would require vice president pence to be the breaking vote. she has been a strong advocate of charter schools and vouchers with no public education experience. conservative groups are on the offensive before tuesday's vote, launching half a million dollars worth of tv ads, supporting her confirmation. >> washington liberals oppose giving low-income families the same educational choices as everyone else. they're attacking president trump's choice of betsy devos for education secretary. devos believes in giving families a choice. charter schools, online schools, parochial schools and outstanding public schools. >> let me bra bring in randi weingarten, president of the american federation of teachers. thank you very much for being with me today.

let's start with the education system. many people say that it needs help and a shock to it like betsy devos is exactly what's necessary. why is your organization so opposed to her being the secretary? >> that's actually what happened for the last 15 years until a couple of years ago when 85 senators got together and passed a neufeld law. we've been having shocks to the system since no child left behind, race to the top, with a fixation on testing. and, frankly, that ad that the people who favor her are running is absolutely wrong. she has done the kind of shock to the system in michigan and 75% of the charters do poorly. 80% of the charters do badly on reading and 84% do badly on math scores. because they're all for profit and they don't actually have the accountability we need. do all public schools work?

no. do we need to actually help them all work for all children? absolutely. but you need somebody who actually knows what special needs children are and what they need. you need somebody who understands that we don't have anti-gun rules in schools to deal with grizzlies. and you need somebody who is actually connected to children and to teachers who is not hostile to public education. >> you've got about 48 hours until the vote. how are you going to take that message to senators? what can we expect to see? >> all weekend long -- first off, at this point it has now become a populist uprising. there are -- you know, the senate phone lines, you can't reach a senator anymore in washington because the phone lines are just clogged. people have gone to, this weekend, north carolina, ohio, west virginia, colorado to try to talk to their senators, the

same senators who voted for the reform to localize instruction, to give parents and teachers the voice that we're looking to use. we're asking them to actually do what's good for kids right now. so i think it's an uphill battle. this is the first time, even if we lose this vote, the first time in history that a vice president would have to get a nominee -- would have to vote for a nominee to be there. people don't want their kids' lives one more time disrupted with people who don't know what they're doing. we need people in education who knows what he or she is doing to help kids. >> you called this a polipulist uprising. is it true that people who voted for donald trump are upset with this pick? >> absolutely. look what happened with susan

collins, lisa murkowski and joe manchin. if you understand rural schools where a lot of people voted for donald trump, they want localized control of their school systems. more than that, they want their public schools to be the center of communities. they don't want it disrupted one more time. they don't want it defunded one more time. and that's what betsy devos has done in michigan to urban kids and to rural kids. >> she has gotten some support. she got a major endorsement from nebraska republican senator fisher, who has long supported education, fisher saying devos ensured her she would not impose mandates related to vouchers on schools. where can you find common ground if devos is confirmed? >> i gave a speech a couple of weeks ago in washington talking about what do we do to help every public school succeed? how do we focus on children's

well-being, engage in learning, build the capacity of the woforce d how do we collaborate together? and i asked her to come to schools with us, schools that really work. there are charters that work. i won one in new york city, 100% graduate ration rate. lots of public schools work. work with us to actually build it. whether you work outside as a philanthropist or she gets this nod. at the end of the day, most of the republicans are scared of donald trump. i think that lisa murkowski and susan collins, because they understand schools so much, they just said they couldn't vote for somebody who is that uninformed about what needs to happen to help all kids succeed. >> regardless of where you fall on the political aisle, we can all acknowledge there's a lot of work that needs to be done. >> teachers have done amazing work all throughout the last few years but there's a lot more we need to do. >> randi weingartner, thank you

very much. last night on "saturday night live," melissa mccarthy lampooned white house press secretary sean spicer. >> today when he entered the room, the crowd greeted him with a standing ovation, which lasted a full 15 minutes. and you can check the tape on that. everyone was smiling. >> i'm also concerned about steve bannon. a lot of people are saying he's the one behind this muslim ban. >> yeah, all right. you guys -- you guys still aren't getting it. you need some props? my words too big? i've got to show you in pictures? great. okay. here we go. when it comes to these decisions, the constitution gives our president lots of power and steve bannon is the key adviser. okay? and our president will not be

deterred. and his fights against radical moose lambs. anybody else have any questions? >> yeah, wall street journal. are you okay? >> you come at me like that, i will put you in the corner with cnn. >> nazi news! >> like that? you like that, dork? you like that, dork? >> please, not the corner. next, super bowl li outside the stadium in houston with die-hard fans and some protesters. and the half time show. will lady gaga get political? next hour richard lui will have

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when you finance through gm financial. find new roads at your local chevy dealer. super bowl li begins in just about 40 minutes. but the cheering isn't the only sound in houston this weekend. protesters against donald trump voiced their outrage. nbc's jacob rascon joins me from houston where it looks like the protests have petered out. what did you see earlier today? >> reporter: so earlier today i would say we had maybe 400 or 500 protesters. you can take a look at how many are left. there are a few dozen in either direction. what they're doing is chanting at those who are driving by headed toward the game. you can see falcons and patriots fans as they're walking by. and when you talk to them, they

talk about how they're upset about the ban on refugees, they're upset about a host of other things that have happened in the president's first two weeks in office. and in fact, let me bring in one of them. why did you feel it was so important to be here for this protest today? >> because it is important for the community of houston to use this platform to speak out against the policies of the trump administration, such as the refugee ban, but also the restricted travel for people that have legitimate visas and insinuations against mexican people that they're all rapists and murderers. >> reporter: what do you hope this and other protests accomplishes? >> i hope it begins to build a consciousness in larger communities that people realize that it shouldn't be afraid to speak out and speak their minds against the president who didn't win majority of the vote, lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes and that his policies and racial attacks against other people can be opposed successfully. a lot of people are afraid to speak out, especially when somebody like that is in the

executive office. >> reporter: thank you so much for your time. we appreciate it. for context, i'll end by saying there are tens of thousands of people here. we have been here for a few days. go cowboys. cowboys didn't make it. most of them are here, excited about the game. this is a very small percentage. but they have been a lively group, here for a few hours. now mostly going home. >> jacob, just quickly, were there any protesters against the nfl? the nfl has come under lots of criticism for concussions and a few other issues. did you see any of that there? >> reporter: that's a good question. but in the last few days, as we have looked at the signs and talked to the people, i haven't met a single person who said that specifically. doesn't mean they're not here, but at least not too many of them. >> all right. thanks, jacob. jacob rascon in houston, we appreciate it. want to bring in shawn henry, the president of proud strike and former executive assistant director of the fbi. thank you for joining me. the game starts in a little more than half an hour.

what would you say is the biggest challenge during the game? >> this is a national special security event. there is a lot of enhanced resources and security capabilities that are at the game. the fans will be seeing the traditional type of physical security that we expect at major events like this. patting them down, prohibiting the use of coolers and backpacks and the like. all have to go through mag any tom terz. at a security event like this, it begins miles away from the event, where the use of technology has become so prevalent for law enforcement agencies in the last decade. they'll be using video cameras, aerial surveillance, weapons of mass destruction capabilities to try to detect and identify a potential threat of that magnitude. so this is a wide scale security event, worked by many different agencies at both the local, state and federal level. lots of coordination, stephanie. >> shawn, i've been reading a lot about the improvements in

facial recognition and that that's being relied on more and more at events like this. what can you say about how quickly that technology is improving? >> that type of technology has made its play in law enforcement over the last couple of years. it continues to improve, particularly in areas where a law enforcement has a particular individual that they're looking for, they may also use it in coordination with other types of security capabilities, where they're doing physical surveillance, trying to identify somebody in that regard. law enforcement is going to pull out all stops. the idea here is really to identify the threat as far away from the mass of people as possible. the attendees at the game. and to try to mitigate the threat before they have the opportunity to impact people that are attending, stephanie. >> and security isn't limited to houston where the game is being played. boston is restricting bars on admitting people and also restricting parking and traffic in certain areas.

how do you think this year's super bowl security is different from the security in previous years? >> you know, i think that post 9/11 there has been this dramatic change in security. and every year it seems that there are enhancements that continue. when we saw some of the activity we have seen in europe, in the last year, agencies or organizations have all really built up their security capacity because they see what happens at soft targets. when you have large gatherings of people, there is the potential for these low tech type attacks. we have seen attacks with knives and with vehicles and the like. so everybody recognizes they really have to be on alert. the most important thing i think is for people to enjoy themselves, and recognize that while they have to be alert and have to be aware, they don't need to be afraid, have confidence in the law enforcement and the intelligence agencies to protect them, stephanie. >> not everyday is super bowl

sunday. we have sporting events every week in this country. what do you say to people who avoid going because of concerns about safety and security? >> you know, i attended a hockey game this afternoon. and there were magnetometers, physical pat-downs. i think that the venues have become so much better at securing the facility, being aware of the threats, coordinating the private sector venues, coordinating with law enforcement, that they really made it somewhat transparent and very easy for people to get through the security. again, i think sports takes us away from some of the real world stress that we face as citizens, and you should be able to go to the venue and enjoy the event and have a couple of hours of relaxation. >> all right. shawn henry, thank you very much. we appreciate it. we have a trump tweet. not a controversial one this time, about the super bowl. he just tweeted, enjoy the super bowl, and then we continue, make america great again. that does it for us this hour

here at msnbc. i'm stephanie gosk. my colleague richard lui picks up our coverage next. he'll have the latest on the legal fight over president trump's immigration ban, plus the rollback on dodd/frank. barney frank reacts to the changes just made to his signature legislation. getting r. u could start your search at the all-new carfax.com that might help. show me the carfax. now the car you want and the history you need are easy to find. show me used trucks with one owner. pretty cool. [laughs] ah... ahem... show me the carfax. start your used car search and get free carfax reports at the all-new carfax.com. and my life is basketball.west, but that doesn't stop my afib from leaving me at a higher risk of stroke. that'd be devastating. i took warfarin for over 15 years. until i learned more about once-daily xarelto®...

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say hello to internet speeds up to 250 mbps. and add phone and tv for only $34.90 more a month. call today. comcast business. built for business. very good afternoon to you here, here a sunday at msnbc. i'm richard lui live in new york. president trump today defending the rollout of his embattled immigration ban and how he'll fund that wall on the u.s./mexico border. >> for the trump administration, judge gorsuch, that rollout went very smoothly, i think. >> yes, it did, yes, it did. >> but the refugee deal not so much. >> i think it was very smooth. had 109 people out of hundreds of thousands of travelers and all we did was vet those people very, very carefully. >> you wouldn't do anything differently if you had