msnbc headquarters in new york, test of wills, north yeea launches a ballistic missile. president trump's so far unusually measured. what could happen next? people take to the streets of mexico, demanded respect from president trump as his rhetoric on immigration gets more heated. clash of the musical titans, beyonce and adele competing for

the biggest awards. we'll go live to los angeles for a preview. i want to bring in now, in speaking about the president and north korea here. one of the president's top advisers is touting the administration's response to north korea launching a ballistic missile into the sea of japan. the president issuing a short statement alongside the prime minister of japan, who he was hosting at his florida home. saying americans stand with japan 100%. steven miller calling that, quote, a show of strength. >> last night was a show of strength. saying we stand with our ally, having the two men appear on camera, worldwide, to all of planet earth, was a statement that will be understood very well by north korea. >> msnbc's beth fouhy joins me now on set. we heard from the president, very, very measured, very limited as far as his response. that response didn't include south korea or the united nations. was that a problem that you saw?

>> he didn't mention our allies or international institutions. he stayed very much focused on japan and our relationship with japan. this nation's commitment to the safety of japan. it was a little unusual for donald trump, who we're used to sounding off, tweeting, being quite impulsive with the way he communicates. on something like this, apparently he has learned it's probably better to be a bit prudent, to hold back, not make any assertions, to not reach any further than the evidence that he has at the moment to discuss in public. so, perhaps you're seeing a different type of donald trump when it comes to foreign policy, taking a little bit more measured approach. >> when will he say more? and what will he say? >> steven miller on the shows this morning did suggest we'll be hearing more soon. we know this president said he will take a firm line against any sort of international provocation, particularly from adversaries, this is certainly the case in north korea. we'll see what he says later in the week. he's seeing justin trudeau, prime minister of canada, tomorrow, and benjamin netanyahu

later in the week. this will be a week that is very much devoted to foreign policy and will have more opportunities to discuss this matter. >> focusing on immigration travel ban as well as the i.c.e. raids here. what was the president saying in that? >> he was saying a couple of things in tweets last day or so, the i.c.e. raids, major crackdowns by immigration forces across the country. apparently six states, hundreds of immigrants being rounded up. his point in the past is that he only wants to address people who have real criminal problems, convictions, gang-related problems, drugs. we don't know that the people who were rounded up had any of those, just that they were here illegally. the other tweet he put out was about his ban on muslims and the immigration battle that's going on there. he's saying 72% of those who have come in as refugees in the last week were from those seven countries that have been banned and that stay was taken off. there's a reason for that. that's because the week before when the stay was in place,

people from those countries could not come in at all. so, they all came in the second week. so, had the numbers been divided up over the two weeks, it wouldn't have looked like the major surge that it was. it's because folks from those seven countries couldn't come in the first week the ban was in place. they all came in the second week. >> we know that from nbc fact checking. you're part of that, too. the kind of contrast when you have i.c.e. say these raids were routined, already planned and then him saying this is part of me fulfilling my campaign promise. >> he did milwaukee a campaign promise and signed an executive order, insisting he will crackdown on illegal immigration within this country. not just people coming in from oversea sbts middle east. clearly he is taking credit for it, whether or not i.c.e. had planned to do it on their own. >> beth fuohy, as always, thank you. >> thank you. north korea's neighbor, south korea, is calling the latest missile launch a violation of security

resolutions, saying in part it shows north korea's, quote, fanatically obsessed with nuclear and ballistic missile development. keir simmons has more now from the korean peninsula. >> reporter: view many people here believe this was a test not just of the north korean missile but of president trump himself. this projectile was fired and it's believed by the u.s. to have been an intermediate range ballistic missile, fired from the northwest of north korea. it traveled around 310 miles toward japan before landing in the sea short of japanese waters. but just as president trump was meeting with the japanese prime minister. south korea has condemned the test and said that it believes that this was a deliberate attempt to challenge the new administration's tough line. remember, the defense secretary was here earlier this month, vowing to strengthen south korea's defenses and remember, too, that 28,500 u.s. service men and women are based in this

country. but what really worries people, particularly the u.s. defense officials, is that the north koreans appear to be trying to develop a longer range nuclear capable missile. kim jong-un, leader of north korea, said recently they're in the final stages of developing that kind of a missile. that said, this does not appear to have been a test with a missile of that kind of capability. so this may have been as much a political act as a military one. back to you. >> nbc's keir simmons in seoul, south korea. keir, thank you. last year north korea launched two similar ballistic missiles in the sea of japan. in september, the country is believed to have conducted its fifth test of a nuclear device. what does this most recent launch signal about their capabilities? gordon chang, author of "nuclear showdown: north korea takes on the world."

the geopolitical gain here and the timing of this. would you consider the timing of this launch to coincide with prime minister abe's visit to the united states? >> it could very well be that. there's always a political element to north korea's detonations of nuclear devices and tests of missiles. we also have to remember there's another story here. north koreans tested a musodan missile. the question that trump officials and others should be asking is what's going on between north korea and iran. for the last two decades we've known they have a joint missile program. i think we're starting to see the fruits of that effort. >> this is what i'm curious about, especially when you take the president's response, very measured. we had guests in the last hour that said when it comes to a measured approach in this missile test that he welcomed that, thinking it was the right

thing to do. do you agree with that? >> yeah. i think before the trump administration decides what to do, they should have a very low profiled response. there's a lot -- and it's very difficult. we've had failure over the course of decades in the united states. we've not been able to stop their missile programs. we've not been able to stop their nuke programs. we need to be a little bit humble and think through this. obviously we're going to need new approaches. that's going to take time. and we've got to work very closely with our allies, which means we need to get japan and south korea on board and figure out what to do with china, that's been helping both iran and north korea. this is a puzzle. clearly, they wouldn't be able to come up with a response in a couple of days. >> given that puzzle when it comes to the pieces that can come into play, the pieces that the united states can use, policy tools, do we have them? does the united states have them to respond to north korea? when you said this time around we have to be more humble when it comes to doing that, is there anything tucked away from past

administrations that haven't been implemented, that haven't been used that this administration should now consider? >> there's one thing we haven't done. that is, to impose sanctions on chinese banks that have been involved in north korea's elicit commerce. we can cut north korea off from the global financial system and we need to tell beijing we're sbeersz our own defense. it wouldn't shock markets but it would signal that the united states, for once, is going to decide to deal with north kr korea's problems. they have three launchers that can hit the lower 48 states. only thing they can't do is put a nuke to them. that's only three, four years down the road. >> would donald trump, our president, go out on that limb in unplugging chinese banks, as you say is necessary? >> i don't really know if he will do t i know people in his administration were talking about sanctions on china. you know, there's been no organized response. i don't know what they're going to do. >> all right. gordon chang, appreciate your

perspective. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> here with me to discuss all this, national political reporter for bloomberg politics, bernard whitman, former pollster to president clinton and former republican congressman from new york. thank you, all of you, for your time. when you have the president's response and you say somebody like gordon saying that there's got to be a much more humble approach, what's your take on how the president responded? >> it's an interesting response by president trump. it's somewhat more traditional than we've expected from him, someone who is a very nontraditional presidential candidate and has proven himself nontraditional in the way he communicates, kind of fires off a tweet. he has not done that this time. his response so far to north korea's provocation here has been what you would sort of expect from previous presidents. he has gotten together with his allies, sent his defense secretary to seoul, tokyo, saying the international community will respond very, very strongly and effectively.

he was standing with prime minister abe of japan together, once this happened. and they both gave sort of a joint conference, saying we stand together. we're going to fight back against this. i think he is thinking through this. he has decided not to make any sudden or brash responses, at least as president. that's, i think, a remarkable thing. it's a notable thing, given what people had feared the most from president trump. >> that's what we're watching when it comes to white house responses. interesting take that we got earlier on "meet the press." turning to michael flynn's future, here is what presidential adviser steven miller said on "meet the press" to chuck todd. let's listen. >> the white house did not give you anything to say? >> they did not give me to say. >> on general flynn? >> it's not for me to tell you what's in the president's mind. it's a question for the president, our chief of staff. >> if you were caught misleading the vice president of the united states, would that be considered a fireable offense in the trump

white house? >> it's not for me to answer hypotheticals. it wouldn't be responsible. it's a sensitive matter. >> bernard, sensitive matter. hypotheticals not in his place to answer that. and, you know, the white house didn't give me anything to say is pretty much his response. what is your take on that as far as leaving it at that? >> my take is it's representative of the entire first three weeks of the trump administration, an unmitigated disaster on all fronts, foreign policy not accepted. he completely ticked off our muslim allies with his attempted travel ban. he embarrassed us with our allies by trying to bar refugees to this country. he stood there with prime minister abe and refused and forgot to criticize north korea, calling out the reason for saying i stand with the prime minister 100%. he has a national security chief, who either lied about talking to the russian ambassador about sanctions or has a short hrn term memory loss. he completely did an about-face

in the iran deal, walked back bold statements about israel and hung up on one of our closest allies in the asia-pacific region, australia. >> you want to jump in. >> bernard, you're perpetuating certain aspects of the kind of fake news that's become so hard to fight against in the first three weeks of this administration. but the fact of the matter is that vulnerability to russia and to its advances was clearly made the case by the obama administration. they were the ones who failed to respond forcefully when russia invaded crimea. they were the ones who allowed 20% of our uranium supply to come under russian control. what the president has said is that he will be -- what he has demonstrated through his cabinet selections is that he will be

knowledgeable, that he will be forceful, that he is not going to allow the united states to be compromised by anyone. >> let's talk about what actually happened in the call with putin. he fundamentally undermined -- president trump fundamentally undermined the cornerstone of nuclear production with that country by criticizing the stark deal and not knowing what it was. he is misinformed and misaligned with all our allies. it is really -- >> it's important -- >> go ahead. >> sure. i think president trump certainly has given countries around the world and leaders around the world a lot to be concerned about. no doubt about that. a lot of the criticisms we heard were valid as far as they go. but i think it's also worth remembering that on two other big tests he has faced on iran and on israel, he has fallen back into somewhat more -- at least somewhat more traditional patterns on israel. he was saying throughout the campaign pretty emphatic support for israel to do whatever it wants with its neighbors. he pulled a 180 and said he

doesn't want israel to build new settlements or expand existing ones saying it could be damaging to the peace process. on the iran deal he has continued to say it's a terrible deal but is not committed to ripping it up. he understands on some level you can't unwind the clock. he hasn't -- he may not have fully grasped the complexities of all these things but now that they're staring him in the face he is thinking about them. >> especially now that we have this meeting with prime minister netanyahu on wednesday, described as very different in the public relationship and now their private, personal relationship as well. especially given the relationships that benjamin netanyahu had with president obama. what can we expect from those meetings? >> the relationship with president obama was strained at best. president obama, unfortunately, whatever he might have said to netanyahu in private, clearly the actions that he perfect sued were not -- indicated that there wasn't support, strong support and friendship for israel in the way that president trump, i

think, will supply. but president trump is also a realist and pragmatist. and benjamin netanyahu supports a palestinian state, has continued to support a solution that will accommodate a palestinian state. the question is, how do you do that? the president was wise to say that in terms of the settlements on the west bank, it's reasonable for israel not to be provocative while we're trying to work out an agreement. and i have a feeling he will discuss that, frankly, with netanyahu wednesday. >> when it comes to the walk back in settlements, and knowing ahead of this meeting that they're going to be held on wednesday, bernard, what is it that you're saying could be taken away? >> personally, i'm glad he's calling israel out. settlements are not an answer to a two-state solution. what concerns me is he sold americans a bill of goods, saying one thing and is doing a complete about-face when it comes to actually following through on a number of his campaign pledges. what does that say about this country that we can elect

someone who will sort of be so inflammatory and gets into office and does the complete opposite? >> besides the president and the prime minister, watching jared kushner, having a presence throughout netanyahu's visit. what will we see as far as jared kushner asserting his influence in the west wing and what more are you expecting from them? >> there have been reports that jared kushner and netanyahu has a relationship that dates back many years. he is an adviser to president trump. we'll see president trump exhibit a much warmer, personal relationship with netanyahu, i think. the main problem with president obama, netanyahu was not so much that the two countries weren't working together, that the united states somehow had abandoned israel but those two had a very bad personal relationship. something just didn't work there. president trump, in the way that many presidents conduct their

foreign policy, he will look at that and say he wants much better pr and at least optics. >> and the whole attitude toward iran. that was a fundamental problem, obviously, in the relationship between the u.s. and israel under the obama administration. and that needs to be fixed. >> i want to ask you about this. senator chuck grassley, i don't know if you read his tweets recently, this afternoon. coming sfwast fewe ining fast a. whoever monitors twitter at the white house and adding messages for the president, apparently not the first time grassley has used this method to get attention from the white house here. so what are your thoughts on this? whoever monitors, what do you have against election opponents because they're killed, imprisoned, poisoned? >> i'm glad that the republicans in congress are finally standing up for the american people and, frankly, standing up for their party. for some reason, donald trump was allowed to hijack the republican party and become the

party of putin. he says more nice things about putin than he does about our allies like australia and than he does about previous presidents and it really shows that the republicans are realizing that the president with an approval rating, republicans are ready to take them on. >> it's remarkable. can i just say it's remarkable that the chairman of this judiciary committee has to communicate with the white house and president through tweets? especially if it's a member of the same party as the president. that's very unusual. that only happens when there's disagreements. >> is it unusual, though? is it unusual given this administration, knowing that as we talked about and reported on before about policies being -- >> historically unusual. it's historically unusual. >> okay. >> it hasn't happened with previous presidents. it does show that senator grassley has some strong views about these things and all of his concerns. at least some of them are not being heard by the white house. >> and he's following the president's lead, going to twitter to express some of those

things and inspire a response. >> i can't fault twitter for that. >> as we've just seen, it certainly is not going to be the end of those 140 characters. all of you, my panel, sahil, bernard and nan, thank you for being with me. mexicans march today as president trump talks tough on immigration. on your medicare part d prescriptions. at walgreens we make it easy for you to seize the day by helping you get more out of life and medicare part d. now with zero-dollar copays on select plans... ...and rewards points on all prescriptions, walgreens has you covered. so drop by and seize the savings! walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy.

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>> reporter: comparing president trump to hitler and deportations that mexicans have been seeing with a lot of anger and frustration through the weekend in the united states. now i spoke to several of these protesters. many of them who came here with their families. i want you to hear one protesters who explains to me why it was important for him to march today along with his wife and daughter. let's hear it. >> we are against trump's policies toward mexico. i think he's a terrible politician, racist man.

seems that they want to just give away the country to this guy in the white house. so that's why we came here. >> reporter: so, frances, you can even see some trucks behind me picking up the barricades from the march. we saw a lot of police presence here. but the march did not get violent at all. it was just the burning of the trump pinatas in the end, the more, i guess, the thing that caught our eye at the end of the rally. this actually happened across mexico. 18 cities total rallied against president trump today. it was a show of national unity, if you will, against president trump. and this is the first time that we've seen mexicans take to the streets since president trump took office and since policies like his executive order on the wall and immigration have taken place. so, for many mexicans today, it was a day to vent against president trump and also to vent

against their own president, and his handling of the crisis with president trump. as you know, frances, the mexican government has reiterated they will not be paying for the wall. many mexicans here think that his concilliatory tone is something that they came here to protest today. >> we've seen children and families out there. mariana atencio, thank you very much. to the loss of a legend whose smooth vocals soothed millions. ♪ we're in this love together we got the kind that lasts forever ♪ >> that's jazz singer al jarreau who died at the age of 76 this morning at a los angeles hospital. he was hospitalized for

exhaustion two weeks ago, forcing him to cancel his 2017 music tour. milwaukee native topped music charts and won seven grammy awards in jazz, pop and r & b with big hits like the one you just heard and also "mornin'." nickname acrobat. and the international jazz day concert he played last year atity white house. he is survived by his wife and son. benjamin netanyahu comes to the white house this week. some possible points of serious disagreement. american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services

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find new roads at your local chevy dealer. welcome back. want to give you a live look at west palm beach. you have air force one right there, about to take off with president trump on board, returning to washington, d.c. after wrapping up his weekend at his mar-a-lago estate as he hosted japanese prime minister shinzo abe. he just tweeted this. just leaving flchlt big crowds of enthusiastic supporters lining the road that the fake news media refuses to mention.

very dishonest. along southern boulevard, further down on their way to the airport, they past several large groups, about 100 to 200 protesters lining the streets. protesters with signs there as the president is leaving florida, headed back to washington, d.c. ahead of tomorrow's meeting with canadian prime minister justin trudeau and wednesday's meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. university renaming its residential college to honor -- calhoun's legacy as a white supremacist and arden supporter of slavery. students celebrated it as a victory and they took no time in rebranding the building. president trump will welcome benjamin netanyahu to the white house wednesday n a recent interview, the president said the relationship between the u.s. and israel was repaired.

relations suffered a setback after president obama refused to block a u.n. resolution condemning israel's settlement building while trump promised israel his full support during his presidency that may not extend to settlements on contested land. he recently told an israeli newspaper, quote, i'm not somebody that believes that going forward with these settlements is a good thing for peace. for more on this, i'm joined by the former deputy spokesman of israel's foreign ministry for foreign affairs. you have donald trump saying yes, they have repaired the relationship but can that actually happen when it comes to this change back and forth? >> democracy allows us for a reshuffling of the cards. we have an opportunity to re-engage and relook at the relationships between israel and the united states in the framework of the political process in the middle east. i, for one, believe it's a land

of improbablities. any idea of a new approach for the region might contribute to the ability to move forward this is actually a very good thing. >> you say it's a good thing. how much are we going to factor in the relationships that we have with president trump and prime minister, knowing that there is also this public relationship that they have, a personal relationship they have also and with the president's son-in-law also coming into play? >> it actually bodes very alley well-in the sense there's an understanding to israel's security needs and this first meeting between the president and prime minister in this capacity will allow for a greater understanding of what lies ahead. let me tell you one more thing. under the past administration, many people felt israel had been under exaggerated criticism as a result of the impasse in the political process. that brought a situation in which the palestinians never had to talk a moment to evaluate their position or even to engage in direct dialogue with israel

because they failed their own advocate would either be in the white house or in the international community. now we face a different situation where the palestinians will have to rethink the status and understand that if they don't negotiate directly with israel, they might stand to lose. >> time for one more question to ask you about donald trump, especially when to have a tough talk on iran and ballistic missile test. >> i think it's crucial because even if israel did not feel that the agreement was the best one that was achieved if it's not enforced, then the world itself, u.s., israel and the entire region stand to lose. an enforced agreement is a good thing for israel, the u.s. and the region. >> good to hear from you, shahar azani, former spokesman for the ministry of foreign affairs in israel. more stores are getting rid of trump-branded products after nordstrom faced the president's wrath. will other companies worry about crossing president trump? tech: this mom didn't have time to worry about a cracked windshield.

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government official confirmed by nbc that intermediate range ballistic missile. last night president trump in florida with japanese prime minister shinzo abe said the u.s. stands behind japan 1 hundr100%. more snow is expected in new england along with strong winds and coastal flooding. the trump administration is standing strong in its defense of the president and his top adviser, kellyanne conway after comments they made surrounding ivanka trump's brand last week. white house senior policy adviser steven miller insisted it was being blown out of proportion. >> the president stood up for a member of his family and the white house counselor made a

lighthearted, flippant comment that nobody would interpret as what's being cast by you in the media and others and everybody has taken this to a level that it does not merit. >> raising an ethical question for others. head of the oversight committee firing off a scathing letter to the white house demanding answers. savannah sellers, nordstrom at the sescenter of all of this, seeing a bump in the stocks. >> it actually did help them. they have broken that trump twitter curse we've all sort of been talking about. the department store is the first company to experience a surge in their stock after being mentioned in a tweet by the president. after the store pulled ivanka trump's line which they decided was poor sales, trump tweeted ivanka was treated so unfaurly by nordstrom.

their stock has gone up 7%, which is very different than the dive that others have taken. >> what are we talking about here, regular retailers? >> absolutely. kmart and sears have joined the list of companies no longer carrying trump-branded merchandise. neimann marcus came out last week as well, discontinuing jewelry line citing poor sales there. >> also remembering that you have uber, the whole car service company there also getting in on it. >> yep. lots of businesses all being affected by this administration. on the other end of that spectrum after nordstrom saw a bump in their stock, uber has been receiving ongoing backlash, causing ceo to leave trump's advisory board in an attempt to distance himself from the president, following the social media campaign to #deleteuber.

that campaign began a few weeks ago after they found themselves in the crosshairs of the strike at o'hare airport. 2,000 people deleted their app in one week. turning to other ride sharing services like lyft. interestingly other ceos and businesses don't seem to be affected. elon musk of tesla remains on that advisory board and they have not noticed any business hits yet. >> savannah sellers, thank you. >> thank you, frances. nordstrom stocks soaring instead of sinking, will other companies be concerned about crossing president trump? joining me now marketing and advertising consultant peter shenkman. you see nordstrom's taken a hit when the president calls them out. now there seems to be a reversal from that. is that something we're going to start seeing? >> we will see it a little bit more, when companies dump the line. nordstrom dumped ivanka's line

and their market surged. there's a campaign #grabyourwallet that's been going after every company that has any trump relation. as soon as they lose them they go out and say, hey, go shop there now. now they're okay. now they're okay. it's the equivalent of the person who wears the shirt that says "i love the mets or any team playing the yankees." as soon as they go against it. now that nordstrom is aligned with trump, you'll see an increase in sale. >> tjx, tj maxx, marshall's, when it comes to ivanka trump's stuff or signage, kind of throw it away. is there a hit they could take on the downfall? >> at this point, honestly, everything that trump does every day, we look at it and say that's unprecedented. that's all we say. oh, my god, what did he do now. i think the horror of the things he says is start to wear off.

what will come down to it is the bottom line. if her pieces, her merchandise wasn't performing and not doing the sales they needed to do, now you have trump, who has a very low approval rating. that translates. who wants to have a product line that associates with the worst approval rating in history? >> you have companies taking the hit who went after trump and now those companies associated with trump. >> those hits happened prethree weeks ago. everybody saying give him a chance. now they're saying we gave him that chance. it's still not working. now there's a much more negative connotation with his brand. we're seeing that people protesting outside everything that has to do with trump, mar-a-lago, hotels, all around the world. do you want to invite a protest in your store or is it better to cut bait and move on? >> if you're an executive of these companies, how do you do business and go about it in this

new trump arena? >> they say no publicity is bad publicity, except what happened to uber. 2,000 people deleting the account, that's a big number. you have to be very aware of that. no company ever went bankrupt by shutting up. right? no company ever went bankrupt by saying, you know what? we're not going to get involved in this. if there's a way for them to walk away without bringing any noise to themselves, that's what they should be doing if they are truly embedded with trump or the trump brand they have to question and ask themselves, are we targeting an audience that we're going to lose money from because we're associated with? if so we need to leave. >> how tough is that, given that we're so early into this and in measuring it? >> unfortunately, i mean, we are a society that has the attention span of a gnat. we see something. that's terrible. we make an assumption. it's currently not going very well for him. if all of a sudden in three months -- if in three months his approval ratings go through the roof -- stranger things have

happened i suppose -- if that's the case, businesses, it will be very ease toy say we want to align with them. obama administration, and even in the reagan administration, the rare moment where the president was caught wearing something with a label on it. in the '80s, one of the presidents was caught wearing a members only jacket. members only stock shot through the roof. everyone wanted a members only jacket. now it's sort of the other way. >> certainly something to watch when it comes from that and the dollars that will follow or won't follow because of it. peter shenkman, thank you. music industry honors its best. preview of the rivalries and politics that could come into play. my colleague, ari melber will be here, taking a look ate a story you may have missed this week. 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

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night. grammy awards kick off in a few hours in los angeles. there's also talk that some nominees will boycott the event. steve patterson is live in l.a. talking about these bigger artists, battling for top grammy honors tonight, steve. >> the glitz, the glamour, the red carpet, star-studded performances. no matter how you feel about the show itself, this is music's biggest night. but it also promises to be a little provocative, maybe a little bit political as we explore and check out some of the biggest highlights and store lines heading into tonight. take a look. tonight's 59th grammy awards, shaping up to be the mother of all diva duels, beyonce versus adele. ♪ beyonce leads the pack with nine nominations, hoping to spin grammy gold out of "lemonade," up against adele for best album,

record and song. ♪ hello from the outside >> another major story line? who won't be attending this year's ceremony. drake with eight tour. while kanye and justin bieber are expected no shows after questioning the relevance of the grammys. ♪ and singer frank ocean is boycotting the awards altogether by not even submitting his critically acclaimed album over concerns of racial inequality. >> the issue of race is one that is coming up a lot and on the top of people's minds, the grammys are concerned about it. ♪ i've got a hundred million reasons to walk away ♪ >> reporter: another question looming, will lady gaga take on president trump when she performs tonight with metallica. she avoided controversy at the super bowl. this year, the grammys look back at some fallen i'd a een idols, george michael and david bowie. bowie is up for best alternative

album. the it would be his first win for music. it is guaranteed someone will win their first new artist. the odds on favorite, chance the rapper. ♪ his debut effort coloring book is also up for best rap album, but only exists online. >> another criticism is that the grammys are out of touch and this year they overhauled their regulations and are now allowing streaming albums. >> reporter: a nod to the modernization of music on the night the industry celebrates the best in the biz. and the producer of the grammys, the guy doing it for almost 40 years, ken airlick is telling artists to essentially be political, be as political as you want. he tells nbc news he already expects one sort of political moment at the show, but, again, he's encouraging as many artists as possible to speak their mind. so we should see something a little bit controversial tonight

as well. >> steve patterson live in los angeles, thank you. back with us now, sahill this is capour, talking about the celebs and politics here, probably a few musicians making a statement tonight. when you have that producer saying bring it, make political statements, do you think this is about politics or maybe relevance ratings? >> i think it is about the fact that we live in a political climate that has caused a lot of people to be fraiafraid. i think the idea that you can really separate politics from other aspects of life is questionable. politics touches every walk of life. it is the air you breathe, it is your health care, it is your safety, and i think you can stop people from speaking out about that if they feel strongly about an issue. i suspect we'll see some of that tonight as we have before. the question is, number one, how

effective it is. as we saw with meryl streep's criticism of donald trump at the golden globes, it created a feedback loop on the left where it galvanized her people, created another one on the right where president trump went after her and then, you know, whipped up his base. the second thing is -- a problem when celebrities use their microphone to promote theorys that are scientifically dubious or false, anti-vaccination theories that require expertise that they don't have. >> let me bring in nan and bird here. you have some industry experts saying the grammys seem out of touch, the guys, bieber, drake, kanye boycotting it to. you to think they want it to get political, they want people to get revved up and angry and they're just there to be a statement at the grammys? >> i think the producer wants the musicians to be themselves. music has always been political. and musicians and performers channel and reflect a culture that is around them. there is no question that donald trump and the past few months

has stirred the passions and anger of tens of millions of americans, look at the protests that continue to grow and spread across the country. i would expect it see with the likes of lady gaga, katy perry, laverne cox and beyonce for the fireworks to fly, and as well they should. the responsibility of democracy is to rise up and make sure your voice is heard, not just on election day, but every day. >> here is the risk they take when it comes to the fans and going against that. we saw that in 2003 with the dixie chicks, they said they were embarrassed, george bush is also from. and then we saw her fans, boycott their music. country music when it comes to that. can we see something like that? >> based on the number of republicans who were -- thanks to the efforts of katy perry or despite the efforts of katy perry and beyonce and jay-z, adele, you know, all of whom had things to say about trump versus clinton, i can only hope they keep speaking up because i think

it -- i think these folks live in the bubble behind the velvet rope. you know. they all got -- they got their special protections and tax code, if you look at page one of the 1040, line 24, line 26, i forget which one it is, but they get to write off most of their lifestyle. when they talk about these things, they're not paying for it and they have armed guards too. >> we see lady gaga with her meat dress, there is this dress, we're just getting a look at this. these are the arrivals happening now. i'm not sure who this artist is, but make america great again. >> it proves the impact of president trump on popular culture. he is obviously -- >> pop culture, we're talking about a celebrity star. as far as reality show. >> that's right. >> look at the back there, you see the trail. >> there you go. >> talk about standing out -- >> she's on the trump train.

>> one of the few artists on the trump train. there is a lot of musicians that will have -- that will try to derail that train and let's hope they can. >> you say derail, what are you expecting? >> i think that the public protests that have sprung up in the last few months are really sort of turning into a movement. and finally are crystallizing the opposition to this president that we did not see significantly enough on the campaign trail, sadly, to hillary clinton's demise. >> quickly -- >> all of this reminds me of one thing that president obama said before he left office, the mark of our free society, we can criticize our president without retribution. >> expect to see tweets late night from donald trump. >> and early. >> let's see the industry open up to people with an alternative point of view. people who support conservative causes, whether they be fiscally conservative or socially conservative, are severely penalized in the entertainment industry. >> we'll see what's going to happen. >> that's not free speech.

it goes far beyond -- >> we have to leave it at that. watch tonight and i'm sure the censors and delays all having -- depending what the artists say or do or wear, we'll be watching. that does it for me here on "msnbc live." i'm frances rivera. ari melber picks up things at the top of the hour. see you back here during the week.

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good evening. i'm ari melber anchoring from msnbc world headquarters for the next two hours. and here is the reality, right now. north korea, testing president trump. an unexpected ballistic missile test from north korea did not get a ballistic response from trump or much response at all. the president speaking for under 20 seconds and held his fire so far on twitter. why the new tone? plus, executive power beyond question? the white house firing back at protesters today, sending out a controversial trump aide steven miller with a message for the