terrorist attack in atlanta? >> yeah, i said that wrong when i said it. and then you wrote it, which makes you wrong. obviously, i meant orlanta. i have a whole listorlonta. i actually have a whole list that you guys never write about. the horror at six flags. the fragle at rock and the night they drove old dixie down, okay? and there is light terrorism this week when nordstrom decided to stop selling ivanka trump's line of clothing and accessories. okay? and that is nordstrom's loss, because these are high -- high quality products. in fact, i'm wearing one of her bangles right now. it's beautiful. it's shimmery and it's elegant and at $39.99, it's unbelievable, okay?

and don't even get me started on her shoes! because these babies are a real head-turner. >> she's so good at that. >> a head-turner. >> good morning, everyone. it's monday, february 13th. welcome to "morning joe." >> good to have you here. >> political analyst and co-author of "game change" john heilemann. >> hello. >> new glasses. >> "the new york times" reporter jeremy peters, new glasses. msnbc political analyst and professor at the university of michigan school of public policy, former democratic congressman harold ford jr. >> no glasses. >> and in washington, columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" david ignatius. good to have you all on board. we have so much to get to. trump tweeting how great steven miller was. >> look, beyonce was on both shows. >> it was the grammys and music

fans so must have been what both were tweeted. we will talk about it later. >> what did you think about her performance? >> i thought everybody at the grammys was amazing and great and she, in particular, just nrvel. >> really? >> he is being sarcastic. >> adele, woe. what about her? >> twenty one pilots, no pants. i was about to call down to kate, twenty one pilots, no pants. she will have to hear about it at school. prince tribute, fantastic. >> twenty one pilots said they were watching the grammys years ago and said if we win a grammy, we will go up on the stage with no pants. >> last night was one of the better grammys in quite sometime, even if you don't love

all of the acts that performed last night, a lot of great moments. >> for the record. >> we are wearing pants for now. >> i don't like you checking on that for me, jeremy, but okay. >> we got a store first about north korea. my gosh. flynn, talk about a way to get yourself in trouble very quickly. have conversations with russian diplomats that could be against the law and then lie to your vice president and white house about it. they made mike pence lie and made the rest of the white house lie. >> they don't know how that is sustainable. >> it's not. he is going to have to go. when you embarrass your president that way, when you embarrass your vice president that way, when you lie to the white house, lie to the press. >> when you toy with our foreign policy. >> when you're making phone

calls you're not supposed to make and then again you lie about it to officials in the white house. you don't survive that. >> joe, you were pretty brisk on twitter yesterday. brisk and declarative. >> i was. declarative. >> unambiguous, unequivocal. this is the new story of politics where republicans and democrats are in a bad position. democrats, because they lost. republicans, because they are caught in the middle between reality and what trump campaigned on. these people don't want to lose their health. >> harold, this is not going to go away. this is so much like 2009. you could not draw a closer parallel. again, i say it time and time again. if donald trump gets rid of obamacare without an adequate

replacement not what they are talking about in the house of representatives we are going to give you health savings. that doesn't do a poor single mom with three kids struggling to stay out of the emergency room for primary care what they need. if they don't give a proper replacement for this, then trump might as well just give up in wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, ohio, and republicans will get pounded in '2018. >> if this group of people, if they poll and we find a number of people did not granddad polls and did not vote for hillary clint clinton, you have to worry. no doubt enormous parallels in terms of the energy and so forth in 2009 and creation of what we commonly call the tea party movement. to mika's point, democrats and others are going to feel the heat from this as well which is a better thing for democrats heading into next year as republicans i think, without a doubt. >> let me assure my republican brothers and sisters on capitol hill right now, if you think all

of those people were paid, let me reassure, they were not. i have a lot of family members and friends that were in for donald trump from the beginning. they are on the phone with me saying, am i going to lose my health care? which is from the grassroots up. there may be some people being paid there but if you don't believe me, make the democrats day and take health care away, you will find out in '18. >> i haven't heard any republicans say that. the republicans i talk to capitol hill they say they are paid people. they say if they are not paid they are brought out of the district and not people i have to pay attention to. i think it's going to take a while to sink in. >> some of the republicans that won by 89% because of the districts are so jerry make any

difference it may not matter to them. if he wins wisconsin and pennsylvania, he better believe the obama people that voted for him who run away from him is with their hair on fire. if they get rid of obamacare and they don't have something that is at least as good. >> we have more on this coming up later. let's get to our top story. the u.n. security council will convenient later today at the request of united states, japan and south korea to discuss north korea's weekend test of a ballistic missile. multiple nations are discussing the possibility of new sanctions against pyongyang. north korea called the launch a success and their state television released this video they say is of the test. state members claim kim jong-un supervised the launch personally. the missile traveled around 300 miles and crashed into the sea

of japan. u.s. strategic command believes it was either a medium or a long-range missile, not an intercontinental ballistic missile and poses no threat to the continental united states. the test was the first since president trump took office and came during the visit with japanese prime minister shinzo abe. the two leaders addressed the launch with abe calling the launch intolerable and trump saying the u.s. stand behind japan 100%. joining us live from seoul, south korea, nbc news foreign correspondent keir simmons. south korea say it was a show of force to the trump administration. >> reporter: that is the way it's viewed in this region i guess you call it a classic piece of north korea attention seeking. they have done it many times before and, keep in mind, that in a sense, north korea have been starved for attention by the obama attention for many

years. they see a new president as an opportunity to maybe change things, perhaps reset things, so there are two sides to this, i guess. one is the military side. it is the case that they have been able to develop these missiles over time so, in that sense, i guess the obama policy hasn't worked. it is also the case at the same time that the timing is absolutely crucial. what's interesting is to see the russians and the chinese criticize it. the question, though, is how the white house will deal with this going forward because the real fear, of course, is that at some point north korea develop a long-range missile that is nuclear capable and capable, therefore, of reaching the u.s. mainland. >> keir simmons, thank you very much. let's go to david ignatius right now. david, i guess timing is everything. you look at the fact, actually

some positive timing where the president seemed to mend fences with china at the end of last week. they had had a very good call, according to everybody involved in those talks. then this weekend, we saw something that we haven't seen in quite sometime, the president actually spending an entire weekend palling around golfing with the prime minister of japan. two very critical diplomatic outreaches at a critical time with north korea. >> i think you can say that the trump administration really did put its asia policy on a sound footing in the last week. the meeting with abe is the most important sign to both north korea and china that this really most important u.s. alliance in northeast asia is strong. abe took a big risk in coming and kind of jumping into the arms of this president in his first weeks in office.

and the japanese view this as a real success. what was striking about the reaction to the north korean missile test is something the white house and trump's entourage have been thinking about since the day of the election. what are we going to do with the north korean's test is in the reaction was surprisingly restrained. the president had a 23-word statement and left to abe the hard statement, this is absolutely intolerable. >> you know, david, people were critical of that. harshly critical of many things the president has done the past three weeks. i thought that was pitch perfect. let them speak and say we are here and we stand behind you, period. >> and we should remember our secretary of defense jim mattis has been in south korea and japan talking about the hard side of the u.s. power. i think the american power is always more convincing when you say less about it but it's

there. there are plans going forward with japan and south korea for much expanded cooperation in terms of missile defense, in terms ever systems for monitoring what the north koreans are doing and that is where real pushback is going to come and i think trump is wise not to shoot out a tweet, but to be restrained. >> as we mentioned all of this was the backgrop for japs prime minister shinzo abe's trip to the white house and the mar-a-lago estate this weekend where the two covered a wide range of issues. it started on friday when they met for lunch at the white house. trump welcomed the prime minister with a warm hug and kind word, noting two's quote, very good chemistry. they shared this long awkward handshake that clocked in a robust 19 seconds. they hen headed down to trump's estate in florida for further talks. >> donald doesn't like shaking

hands. sanitizer had to come behind. >> that is symbolic and optics matter. >> it really does. >> over the weekend, both president trump and prime minister abe focused on areas of common ground with trump setting aside campaign pledges to force tokyo to pay more for defense aid and abe promised to help the united states create jobs. they also agreed to discuss a bilateral trade framework in the wake of the u.s. withdrawal from the tpp agreement. >> so you had -- you really had in president obama, john, a president that really didn't like to hang out with world leader. he liked to do his job and spend time with his family. george w. bush liked to do his job and go upstairs and watch "sportscenter." you got a guy in trump here for all again the failings we have all talked about. >> this is not a failing. >> this is two days and golfing. i think it was like 36 holes of

golf. they spent a lot of time together at a critical time, too. >> he's a schmoozer. one of the great disparities in trump is this personal charm that almost everyone, including even many people on left, if you actually spend time in his orbit, you kind of like the guy. he has a charisma and charm to him and then there is this erratic behavior. >> even katy tur even said, one-on-one, he is charming. >> he's a charming person and charms even people who are determined not to like him. he can charm them when they get up close and then the erratic public nature of his tweets and all of the other stuff. this is the kind of thing if you abstract it away and say let's not talk about it as donald trump. new president spends a couple of days hanging out with the japanese prime minister, you'd say good idea. >> huge win. i had somebody close to donald trump last night inside the white house say take away the

tweets, his approval rating would be un10%. talking about this weekend that this is what people want to see their president do. i always joked about how saturday mornings were horrible for tweeting. this time, he showed a picture of himself golfing with a world leader who is pretty darn important. >> well, there is that sternal stuff, right? but then there is the internal stuff. he has to get his house in order. in the papers today what are the big stories? my colleagues have a story about mike flynn being on the ropes and the disaster at the nsc. there is a story about chris ready who is a casual friend and quasi adviser to trump saying reince priebus has to go as chief of staff. you have questions about steven miller and trump tweeting yesterday, oh, no, steven miller is doing great and reassuring the public like we need to be reassured that this guy still has a job. he really has to right the ship there. >> yeah. there is so much going on.

i think we need to go to break. quickly, david ignatius, we will tease what we are going to be talking about next, and that is general michael flynn. it's been chaotic in the national security council. you actually have a great lead story in "the new york times" this morning talking about that. i'm wondering how any national security adviser gets past an improper phone call that may have ran afoul of the law, and then lying about it to the vice president of the united states and making the vice president by extension lie on national television and lie to the entire white house. how does any national security adviser let his vice president and let his president down that much and survive? >> whether mike flynn can survive this is precisely what we are looking at. the silence from the white house over the weekend about flynn's future was deafening. the national security adviser's job in the simplest terms is be

an honest broker, to make this implicated interagency process of our foreign policy work and you cannot do that unless you're trusted and your colleagues feel you're a straight shooter and you're going to tell them the truth and carry their messages forward. the problem for flynn, after this revelation that he was not straightforward with vice president pence about what he talked about with the russian ambassador at the time that u.s. sanctions were imposed, this is something he has to speak about directly or i think he loses -- he forfeits that currency of his job. >> i don't know how you get around that it's proven you clearly lied and something you said is something you shouldn't be doing. >> you cannot -- you were there working at the pleasure of the president. you cannot embarrass the president and vice president that way. you cannot embarrass the entire white house that way, especially if you're in that position.

>> unless you want to push alternative facts on the american people, which i'm worried about and see that happening with the steven miller interview. frightening things. >> this is him pushing alternative facts. >> to the president. >> to the president of the united states and the vice president lying to them and embarrassing them. he has let them down. he has to go. we have independent senator angus king who will help decide the fate for president trump's pick for supreme court. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> we have that exiting nor'easter and blizzard up in maine but the story changed to the west coast with the evacuation of 180,000 people at 5:00 p.m. last night. the order went out because of concerns of the oroville dam and these are pictures of the spillway and massive erosion taking place and worried the

hole there on the left is what they were worried could give way and sending a wall of waterdown stream. huge traffic delays. let me explain with the maps here. the dam, itself, is safe. this area here. the tallest dam in our country. all of the water was supposed to go down this spillway until a huge hole opened up in the middle of the spillway on thursday and friday. they said, let's use the emergency spillway. that is this area here to the left where the red is. it's literally just a mountain side. the water was supposed to harmlessly go down that. the picture here shows all of this huge hole opened up and the greatest concern what they were worried about there. thankfully the water levels lowered by three feet and trying to send it down the damaged spillway and lesser of two evils. up maine a huge blizzard and d.c. to fiphilly winds high and relax this afternoon and they

gusted to 66 last night in washington, d.c. we will watch that exiting blizzard in maine and the catastrophic flooding in california as we go throughout the day here on "morning joe." we will be right back. ♪ monday monday ry click...call...punch... and paycheck... you've earned your medicare. it was a deal that was made long ago, and aarp believes it should be honored. thankfully, president trump does too. "i am going to protect and save your social security and your medicare. you made a deal a long time ago." now, it's congress' turn. tell them to protect medicare. itbut one i think with quesa simple answer. we have this need to peek over our neighbor's fence. and once we do, we see wonder waiting. every step you take, narrows the influence of narrow minds. bridges continents and brings this world one step closer. so, the question you asked me. what is the key?

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and now donald trump can't shake hands right. >> thank you. thank you very much. ♪ ♪ >> that is so funny. >> he doesn't like shaking hands. >> those aren't edited? i like the tap-tap. >> remember the beginning of the

campaign when with, like, way, way back, you were like, he's not going to really like doing this because he has to shake too many hands. >> he is not into that. >> human contact. >> no it's germophobe. i've known this type. no, it's like they do not want to shake hands! >> i'm just the opposite. >> or they want to cover their hands. >> people drop food and the three-second rule? >> you like the germs. >> i lot the seven-minute rule. >> you see germs on people's hands because people don't wash their hands. there is actually some logic to it. you pass on germs. >> you got to be strong. >> totally. >> it makes you stronger. let the germs in and fight them off and you become even stronger. you don't want to be like fdr, right? >> i think they teach that in medical school. >> five minute rule. >> it's five-minute rule. two people stepping on the food

and you can still eat it. kids, trust me. republican lawmakers, boy, they had a rough, rough weekend. >> combative constituents at town hall meetings in their home states over the weekend. on friday, we showed you congressman jason chaffetz getting jeered back home in utah last week. and this scene over the weekend in georgia. >> shame shame shame shame shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! shame! >> voters in georgia chanting shame at an event hosted by the staffs of senators david perdue and johnny isaacson and the lawmakers were not there and much of the crowd drove to the small town from metro atlanta. after initially refusing to take questions, aides took notes on their concerns on a variety of matters, including, get this -- the future of obamacare and

education secretary betsy devos. it was a similar scene at the louisville international airport in kentucky where protesters did not offer senate majority leader a warm welcome home. mcconnell reportedly did not leave through the airport terminal resulting in the crowd chanting "mitch is a chicken." in wisconsin, tense moments during a town hall on saturday featuring congressman jim sensenbrenn sensenbrenner. the republican fielded questions on social security and obamacare and health care and the crowd chanted "liar." protesters in cincinnati who waited to greet senator rob whartman portman on friday never got a chance. portman did not show up. a spokesman for the senator said he was unable to make it due to early senate votes and in florida there were loud

protests. >> here is the deal, harold. >> loud crowds. >> ayou and i served in chronic. if there were crowds there and they were from outside of my district, come on in here and we will some sanka. i don't care, right? all of the sanka you want. i'm going home with my kids. but if they are in your district and you see faces that you recognize and people that maybe voted for you in that crowd, that's when it gets a little scary and when people start calling your offices nonstop, that's when you start going, wait a second, there might be a problem. >> what is going on? >> no doubt, betsy devos' confirmation that stirred more controversy than i think people initially thought. i am pleasantly surprised that the education lobby, the public education lobby has been as strong as they have been and i don't think they were strong as they were but they have proven to be stronger and no doubt health care is stirring this.

you and jeremy's conversation from the outset here i think the republicans keep on. do you keep on dismissing this people outside of the district or recognize there is something afoot here much like seven or eight years ago. i think there could be something serious here if you're a republican and even if you're in a district that is drawn away the benefits if you're a u.s. senator and you hit the primary point. if you're donald trump those four states you won which democrats have won consistently the last 25 years, that's where the worry has to be. i think it makes it even more critical that a replacement is provided when the repeal to obama comes. >> it has to be. >> if his approval ratings are where they are right now a year and a half from now with the mid terms coming up, you're going to see republicans in congress. >> or even six months from now. >> wait a second, though. let's talk about his approval ratings. where are they? >> i don't know. >> are they 45%, 46%? if you believe the automated polls which are more accurate than the personal poll, he is

45, 46%? >> that's not great. >> let's wait and see. this is going to settle out and we will get a better sense where trump is at. and particularly congressmen running for re-election. i think the great parallel right now between 2009 and today is the sense of denial on the part of the incumbents. democrats were in denial in 2009 and 2010 they looked at the town halls and tea party we have safe districts and it will be fine and don't worry about it and they paid the price and now republicans are doing the same thing. they are paid advertisers and don't live in my district. just believe your eyes when you see this kind of energy fermenting, it's a threat to you. >> how interesting is it, david, following up on what john just said? how interesting is it that donald trump looked at the crowds when he was running and

said, i don't care what everybody is saying, i'm seeing these crowds and i'm seeing the energy and i'm going to win. guess what. we were all wrong. he was right. now you see the crowds. you see the energy. and you've got some republicans going, oh, the same thing democrats were saying about donald trump's crowds. this is problematic for the republicans. >> i think you put your finger on it, joe. when you see crowds turning out spontaneously all over the country, something is going on. i just would note there is one number that has nothing to do with approval ratings per se and that is the economic growth number. donald trump can get the economy growing faster, if he can add jobs and economic growth in pennsylvania and michigan and states unhappy blue collar voters gave him the presidency, then he is going to be in better shape. i think then he begins to be able to negotiate and compromise. let's not forget that for a a lot of these trump voters, it is about the economy and we will

see. he's going to be pumping a lot of stimulus in from what we can tell and that is going to have an effect. >> all of this other stuff goes away. if people have tangible examples of the way that their lives are better. >> losing health care is not going to make their life better. >> exactly right easement here is the problem, though, for donald trump. he doesn't have what barack obama had. when barack obama came in, he had a miserable economy. unemployment went into double digits. >> right. >> the economy was teetering on the brink of collapse. so he could point back and say, look at all of the things i did. donald trump got into office and unemployment was at 4.7%. two years from now, what is it going to be at, 2%? >> their jobs are gone and stolen by everybody abroad. there is misery. there is carnage. the murder rate is at its hei

highest level. >> therein lies the problem. >> it's creepy. >> you say -- well, it's actually -- >> i mean that in all seriousness. >> actually, it's not just -- as you say, quote, creepy, it's shortsided politically. david, you can say the crime rates at a 47-year high but if it's at a 47-year low and bumped up only a little bit next year, two years from now how do you improve on an already good situation you say is carnage if it gets even worse? same thing with unemployment rate. do you remember what jimmy carter did to gerald ford? you and i are the only ones that remember this. talked about the misery index for gerald ford which it wasn't that bad. four years later, ronald reagan said you talked about the misery index in '76? what is it in 1980 and when he went in for the kill. are you better off today than you were four years ago? >> i think you summarized what

the question really will be in two years and that is are you better off? we have a president who campaigned as an insurgent and said i'm going to make your lives better and the country great again. if the numbers don't show that and people don't feel that in their gut then he has got a problem. he is going to be pumping so much stimulus. larry summers, great economist, has talked about the economy being on a sugar high for a while. that may happen. and if that does, i think trump will get some benefit. already the financial markets, obviously, are roaring along thinking, whoopie, we are going to get better tax breaks and more spending, more stimulus. >> if banks lend more money to small businesses, if you see growth and the materials and aspects of the economy, companies that bill out and provide those materials, you'll see growth and wages going up in cities and small areas. you have tim ryan on this show talking about ohio and jobs being lost because there was no

broadband buildup. if those expand i think you can see a growth not only in jobs but in wages and even optimism amongst a lot of people frankly who voted for donald trump in big numbers. no doubt the economic growth -- why democrats need to introduce an information and manufacturing growth act and lay out these things. if you think the health care alone is going to do it, we are kidding ourselves. it's the economy that is most important. >> still ahead on "morning joe." >> it's a great question and i'll answer it in full. you know and i know that no foreign national living in yemen or any other country has a constitutional right to demand entry into our country and, chuck, i'll be glad to come back on your show when that is done and walked us through how we kept our country safe across the board. i believe we should have a program in which american workers are given jobs first. i think that i look forward to us rolling out immigration reforms and i'll be able to announce very clearly when we do that what those do. i think my views on this issue

have been well discussed and well publicized and i'd love to have a conversation with you. >> well, the eyes have it! steven miller had a busy weekend. he is not talking about the president but talking about i need mine. >> and himself. >> we are going to be talking about -- also. >> this is scary. >> a bizarre blizzard of phone calls that we received around the table after that interesting performance. >> tremendous. >> my teeth hurt. we will be right back.

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do you and your stastaff fee in control at the white house? >> the judiciary is not supreme. there is no such thing as judicial supremacy. what the judges both at the ninth and district level was to take power for themselves that belong squarely in the hands of the president of the united states. >> steven, the three judges say you're flat wrong. >> no. the three judges made a broad overstatement. this is a statement between those who believe we should have

control and those who believe there should no borders and no control. this is a usurp patient of power. the end result of this, though, is that our opponent, the media, and the whole world will soon see, as we begin to take further actions, that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned. and the bottom line is the president's powers in this area represent the apex of executive authority. we will have unquestionsed military strength beyond anything anybody can imagine. we have a president who has done more in three weeks than most presidents have done in an entire administration. 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. i'm not going to make a comment on that. i don't have any information on it. i do want to say that sean spicer as always is 100% correct and what he said is true and important and i agree with him. >> so then you are making a comment on it? >> i'm not going to make any new

comment. it is a fact and you will not deny it that there are massive numbers of noncitizens in this country who are registered to vote. that is a scandal. we should stop the presses. that is the story we should be talking about and i'm prepared to go on any show anywhere any time and repeat it and say the president of the united states is correct 100%! >> that's a white house adviser, right? >> oh, my god. it's not even funny. >> oh, my god. it was so much worse. >> it's much worse. >> than i ever thought. >> it's much worse. >> wow. >> 100% correct. >> 100% correct. it is a fact and you will not deny it, a fact that was actually a lie. and, then again, he learned this, i guess, in autocracy -- >> you told me not to say it!

>> what did he say about the power? >> powers of the president have very substantial and will not be questioned. >> they will not be questioned. that -- no, no. >> oh, my god. >> they are questioned, my young little -- >> lad. >> -- miller. they will be questioned by the court. it's called judicial review. alexander hamilton and james madison wrote about it in the federalist papers. it was enshrined in madison's constitution. andrew jackson -- you go into your president's office, you know that one? and you look -- you look on the walls and there are all of these pictures of andrew jackson and books of andrew. he talked about judicial independence. he talked about the importance of the judiciary. you really need to go back and read the constitution and, seriously, the white house has got to stop embarrassing themselves by putting this guy up! you got tons of phone calls.

>> that was the worst. >> i had people working me. wasn't miller great? no. that is the worst performance of anybody -- that made susan rice, the sunday after benghazi, look smooth. that was horrendous and an embarrassment and when you have somebody saying, it is a fact and you will not deny it, and then saying the president will not be questioned. >> wow. well, aren't we king? >> if you actually read it, just to be clear about it, in some ways it's worse. this is the quote. the end result of this, meaning the challenge of the immigration order, though, is that our opponents, media and whole world will soon see as we begin to take further accesses, that the pou powers of the president to protect our country are substantial and will not be question. which is an assertion i don't want the president not being questioned but nearly unlimited executive branch authority to do

whatever it wants. >> that is the talk of the dictator and not somebody who is president of the united states. and i would hope the president of the united states would give him -- fill up his lunch box, put him in the corner and put him at his desk and have him read the united states constitution and the federalist papers and have him read the wors of our founding fathers and have him read the words of andrew jackson -- >> yes, he is being rewarded. >> he can't be rewarded for this. >> here is the tweet. tell the truth. they love this guy! >> let me say this. again, i will say it. we told everybody when it was coming that donald trump is going to win the republican nomination. we said it early. let me tell you something. this sort of talking, this sort of thinking, i'm just telling you right now, oops, let me look at the date here. i'm just telling you right now, monday, february 13th, 2017, if that sort of thinking were

enacted into policy, we would have impeachment proceedings within the next six months. donald trump would be impeached if they did not adhere to -- by the way, if they didn't adhere to what the courts were saying. by the way, the most bizarre thing about this is, maybe he just stupid. maybe he is just -- maybe he is ignorant and maybe i shouldn't be so tough on him. any fool -- any fool in their first day of law school knows -- i knew the second i heard the ninth circuit, ninth circuit. they are going to -- they are going to overturn this or put a stay on it and it will get to the supreme court and they will turn around. they got the supreme court. they are going to get their fifth vote. they are going to fill up hundreds of judicial vacancies over the next couple of years. he so he is pick a fight and sounding like an autocrat. >> and they love that. >> when he doesn't have to!

they are creating -- they are creating something, soe can gow and say it. what? are they testing? are they testing this to see if we are going to sit back like sheep and say nothing? wait. i want to read it one more time. >> denounce him during the confirmation hearing because he will be asked about the independence again and these comments will be put up there front and center. >> let's split this quickly, david ignatius. the president does have substantial powers when it comes to the borders and when it comes also to securing this country. i've written about it. i wrote that the ninth circuit decision was wrong. i believe it was wrongly decided. that said, we have these debates. but when they say, david, that the president has substantial power and it will not be questioned, it will not questioned. please. tell me, what goes through your mind when you hear that? >> what it sounds like another

country, not the united states. the way in which judges have been singled out, one of the things that steve miller said was talking about the unelected judges thinking they can run things. donald trump's own comment about the so-called judge, referring to the judge in washington who made the initial district ruling, these are deeply offensive to our system and deeply offensive to judges. judges do not like being singled out in this way and having their authority challenged. the issue here is judicial review. it is central to our system of government. you are absolutely right in that steven miller doesn't seem to get that. but we are a long way, i think, from courts and their role being overturned. trump has said maybe i'll have to go back and draft a new order for the district court and go back to the district court

because i've lost in the appellate court. he is seeing, i think, the reality of his choices. what steven miller said should worry everyone because it's a challenge of the way our government work. >> from the top down they loved his performance. >> they praised it. >> they thought it was good. >> what is so unbelievable is, harold, is the president had a good weekend with the japanese prime minister. good call with china. and this -- >> a good thing happening today with justin trudeau and ivanka and women's economic platform being pushed. that's good, finally. >> pushing the economic platform, that's great. but all they had to do this morning was quietly issue a new executive order. >> right. >> and would have put this behind. why do they put him out? why did they push him? why did they have him say undemocratic things and do violence to the united states constitution when they didn't have to?

why do they keep doing things like this? at first, you want to say, oh -- then you starting going, wait a second. are they saying how far they can push? every republican in washington, d.c., if you do not speak out about that, then you are doing yourself a disservice and never call your constitutionalist again. just call yourself an pathetic little limbing. you just had somebody say the president will do whatever the hell he wants to do and we are not going to listen to the courts and we are not going to listen to congress. >> can you imagine if they put rex tillerson or jim kelly about what happened and to comment to north korea and the kind of things we are going to do to respond in no tweeting by this president to your point. i think he had a great weekend. we will see what happens. you have to think it will lead

in that direction but to put steven miller out reinforces there is strange tensions still there in that white house that need to be worked out. >> there is anti-democratic tendencies in that white house. >> i'm trying to be kind about it. >> there are anti-constitutional forces in that white house. this is very clear. >> and for your message to republicans, it's a threat. it's going to get worse. you deal with it now or you're in big trouble. we are all. >> powerful republicans were shocked. i can't even repeat what they are calling steven miller. >> oh, go ahead! >> i'll show you when we go to break. >> we are back in a moment. >> he cannot -- he and michael flynn have stepped on a great weekend.

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still ahead, he led the u.s. delegation in north korea nuclear talks.

four-time ambassador christopher hill joins us with his latest on the north provocation and rick stengel is here as well. and much more on steven miller and michael flynn. >> guys, could you full screen that part where steven miller says the president will not be questioned? could you just do that for me? >> yep. on it. >> thanks. we will be right back. ♪ why do so many businesses rely on the u.s. postal service? because when they ship with us, their business becomes our business. ♪ that's why we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. ♪ here, there, everywhere. united states postal service priority : you trust #1 doctor recommended dulcolax. use dulcolax tablets for gentle dependable relief. suppositories for relief in minutes. and dulcoease for comfortable relief of hard stools. dulcolax. designed for dependable relief.

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and are now dead. >> i'm looking at the real numbers here and they directly contradict everything that you're saying! >> all right. any other questions? >> yeah. just mentally, though, are you okay? >> are you kidding me? >> is that jeremy? >> he is going after jeremy. >> i'm not laughing right now after what we saw. welcome to "morning joe." it's monday, february 13th. with us is political analyst john heilemann. former democratic congressman harold ford jr. "the new york times" reporter jeremy peters. i just saw you, jeremy! associate editor for "the washington post" david ignatius. joining the conversation is former undersecretary of state under president obama, rick

stengel, a fellow at harvard law school. >> it is riveting in a frightening way. >> i ask my republican brothers and sisters to look at this very closely and begin to understand how dangerous this is. >> and also understand the white house is behind this 100%. >> do you feel like you and your staff there, that you're in control of events at the white house? >> i think to say we are in control would be a substantial understatement. we have equal branches of government in this country! the judiciary is not supreme. there is no such thing as judicial supremacy. what the judges did both at the ninth and the district level was to take power for themselves that belong squarely in the hands of the president of the united states. >> steven, the three judges say you're flat wrong. >> no. the three judges made a broad overreaching statement. this is and ideological disagreement between those who believe we should have borders and should have control and those who believe no borders and

no control. this is usurp of impatient power. the end result is the whole world and media will soon see we begin to take further actions the power of the president to protect our country are very substantial and not be questioned. the bottom line the president's powers in this area represent the apex of executive authority. we will have unquestioned military strength beyond anything anybody can imagine. we have have a president who has done more in three weeks than most presidents have done in an entire administration. we stand with our ally and two men on camera to all of planet earth was a statement that will be understood very well by north korea. i'm not going to make a comment on that. i don't have any information on it. i do want to shay that sean spicer as always is 100% correct and what he said is true and important and i agree with it. >> so then you are making a comment on it? >> i'm not going to make any new comment. it is a fact, and you will not deny it, that there are massive

numbers of noncitizens in this country who are registered to vote. that is a scandal. we should stop the presses. that is the story we should be talking about and i'm prepared to go on any show anywhere any time and repeat it and say the president of the united states is correct 100%! >> it is a fact and you will not deny it. and the power of the president, the powers of the president are very substantial and will not be questioned. and will not be questioned. our opponents, the media, the whole world will soon see as we begin to take further actions that the power of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned. that sounds like a spokesman for vladimir putin. it sounds like a spokesman out

of turkey. so, steven miller, let's take you to class for a second here because i know you didn't go to law school. i don't know what type of school you went to, but they certainly didn't teach you civics and certainly didn't teach you the united states constitution, certainly didn't teach you separation of powers, certainly didn't season you the federalist papers, but you walk into that office so that guy on the wall that you see a lot of pictures of and his name is andrew jackson, the seventh president of the united states. your president is a big fan of andrew jackson. so you can, obviously, read because i saw you reading cue cards or something while you were talking there. i'm not sure. maybe you were just nervous. >> somebody holding a sign with writing. >> this is andrew jackson. your president's hero. all of the rights secured to the citizens under the constitution are worth nothing and a mere

bubble, except guaranteed to them by an independent judiciary. andrew jackson, july 5th, 1822. you come out and say the president will not be questioned? you're unworthy to be in the white house. you're unworthy to be in government if that is what you believe, unless it's vladimir putin's government. i'm just saying, the white house has to walk this line back. >> well, they tweeted the president, himself, tweeted, joe, that he did a great job, so maybe you ought to -- address that as well. >> i can only hope that the president of the united states. >> was too busy playing golf. >> too busy working with -- >> please, god, make that the case. >> visiting with the japanese prime minister. david ignatius, a moment we need to stop. you had spokesman for the white

house yesterday go out on all of the shows and say the power of the president will not be questioned. and then making matter far more concerning. the president of the united states tweeted his congratulations for that performance and staff members called all of us working aus an telling us what a great job steven miller did yesterday, when he basically sounded like a little autocrat on tv. >> fortunately, federal judges do not take orders from steven miller. and the judges who are reviewing this case, the district court judge who began it in washington and this ninth circuit panel, are trying to construct quite narrow rulings. what they said to the white house was you have enormous powers as commander in chief over issues of national security, over issues of who gets across our borders. but you have to present evidence

of a threat that justifies what you're trying to do. that was essentially the core of the appellate court ruling. and when steven miller says this is ideological, this is about those who wants borders and those who don't, that is the outrageous part. all that courts are saying, under our system, you have to show why you want this. >> the most outrageous part of it, john heilemann, is the fact this will ultimately be resolved in their favor. they are going to have a majority on the supreme court with judge gorsuch and fill 125, 150 federal judgeships. they could have quietly done an executive order this morning without him saying that yesterday and gotten everything that they wanted to get. >> see, i think the thing that is troubling about it, i don't think it's just limited, although in this case if you read the plain language he used he is talking about the

judiciary. one generally gets a sense the last few weeks there is kind of pervasive view in the white house which we will not be questioned. they direct that toward the press and direct that toward their political opponents and towards someone within the party and towards the judiciary. the reality is that, yes, you will be questioned. you'll be questioned by everybody. that is what the gig is here, right? >> they are undermining the truth and the media. >> it's the job of various institutional restraints on the president to question and challenge the president and try to hand the president's authority in various ways. the president will push back. but the notion they have sort of an impulse towards you will not question us and we will do as we wish and you will sit in the corner and be quiet is not going to work. >> it's more than that. >> rick, we have warned on this show, time and time again, don't trash the intel community. they will cut you into a

thousand pieces. donald trump is learning that now. and michael flynn is learning that now. they are not listening to common sense. and this leads nowhere. this sort of thinking leads to defeat for the republican party in 2018. fdr tried a court packing scheme. >> right. >> it was the only time his presidency was in trouble. donald trump's low point in the campaign was when he questioned judge curiel. you can't do that. if you want to criticize movie stars and criticize the public and you want to criticize -- fine, go at it, but you do this, then you start talking about our constitution and you start questioning the checks and balances that have protected this country from tyrants for 240 years. >> i think, joe, what they are

setting themselves up for is a presidency where you have a conflict between the article 2 branch and the article 3 branch like the nixon administration and setting a template for that right now. >> what happened to nixon? >> well, in that kind of autocratic authoritarian language didn't play well for the american people and no president is above the law. they actually have some institutionala aal prerogatives >> early retirement i think is the word you're looking for. >> nixon had an early retirement but a fight so unnecessary. again, redraft the executive order this morning, put it out, and you'd get most of everything that you wanted. again, you're going to control the supreme court. you're going to control the federal courts. ideologically, they are going to control it ideologically.

you pick a fight with the judiciary and say we will not be questioned on something so temporary? it lead me to believe that they are actually looking for a fight. they are testing. >> they are. >> they are pushing the brourne boundaries and want to see what americans will put up with and won't put up with and steven miller wants to see if they can trample judicial independence. >> you get the sense broad groups within the media were wrong about the outcome of this election. there seems to be an enduring and residual anger on the part of those in this administration, still with the media. to see the media and the entire world -- >> somebody -- somebody told me last night, said, you know, you hear about the sore losers all of the time. i've never seen a group of people who are sore winners. >> they can't seem to let it go. the point i tried to make earlier. kelly and tillerson should have

been the faces yesterday saying we will come back and redo this order. tillerson speak to the foreign policy challenges. allow the leadership and allow those who many believe will be the adults in this administration to come forward. to mika's point the larger issue with the president remarking so positively about steven miller, while with abe down there in florida, which seemed to be a great, great weekend. now you got trudeau coming to the white house. you just step all over your message with steven miller who has no clear view what he is talking about. >> the japanese prime minister, i think, had a great weekend. >> it was odd that tillerson wasn't there. >> he had a great phone call with china. he actually -- david ignatius said, he reset our policy in asia. >> no doubt about it. >> after a couple of stops. >> i was excited to talk about trudeau's visit and finally talking about a platform for women. >> this is going to be the first

meeting, actually, but a foreign leader is coming and at the top of the agenda is going to be women in the work force. that is historic. >> should be hopeful. >> but we can't do that when you have a quote like this that david ignatius, every republican on capitol hill, starting with the judiciary committee in the house and senate must condemn. our opponents and the media and the whole world will soon see -- this literally sounds like a scene out of "star wars." i swear to god. >> he talked about planet earth. >> our opponents, the media and the whole world will soon see, as we begin to take further actions, that the power of the president to protect the country are very substantial and will not be questioned. >> around the entire planet earth! >> and will not be -- david ignatius. >> is he a trekky? >> there is no way that

republicans can remain silent on capitol hill on that last line. >> when an order is delivered to planet earth, that is tough to contest that. but i was up on capitol hill several times last week, and i noted, among the republicans that i talked to, concern about the tone that you've been talking about in these first three weeks of the administration. republicans are watching this very carefully. they do see the dissent around the country, the demonstrations, they are self-interested and weary of trump from the beginning. what i think going on in the white house is a battle who is going to control. steven miller may have got a nice tweet from the president but he and steve bannon are facing a kind of, you know, court in the white house. so many different factions now. i think we will see how this plays out. reince priebus, the chief of

staff, is under attack. general flynn, the national security adviser, may be gone soon. he is under attack. a very unstable white house. that is another feature i frankly can't remember this early in an administration. >> it's monday morning, 7:00 monday morning and "saturday night live" has already written. the only question is we know who is playing bannon. what slight young woman is going to play little miller? that is the question. what female with very slight female. >> i don't know but they better have a lot of sweat on their upper lip. another member of the trump administration under fire is national security adviser michael flynn for his phone conversations with the russia ambassador. "the washington post" revealed last week, mika, that he was actually on the phone. >> disgust u.s. sanctions against russia in the month before trump's inauguration. that is now proven there are records he lied. he lied about talking about the sanctions and then mike pence lied for him.

>> on christmas day, he had sent a text to the russian ambassador to express not only christmas wishes, but sympathy for the loss of life in the airplane crash that took place. those conversations that happened to occur around the time that the united states took action to expel diplomats had nothing to do with those sanctions. >> that leaves open the possibility there might have been other conversations about the sanctions? >> i don't believe there were. >> okay. okay. >> -- more conversations. >> so mike pence lied because nbc learned from an administration official that michael flynn lied to him. >> great. >> saying that he didn't discuss sanctions with the russian ambassador. "the new york times" reports that there are transcripts of this phone call. rick i don't know how you can

remain national security adviser if you've lied to your vice president and your president and you've lied to, as steven miller might say, planet earth. >> maybe he violated the logan act which is a private citizen negotiating with a power. the thing that worries me he would know that conversations of the russian ambassador in washington are conversations that people have awareness of. >> he should know that. he should know that. >> he always been a questionable candidate. >> you're told every single conversation you have is a representative of the government is being monitored. that same thing happens here as well. he should have known that. >> the story in "the new york times," which is the big story about flynn, which talks about generalized chaos on the national security counscil, has late in the stories after a series shocking reporting. at the end it asserts that flynn doesn't understand what is --

what you need to have congressional approval for in terms of arms transfers from the united states. so there are questions about that go to basic questions of court competence beyond these questions of whether he has been honest with his boss and mike pence about some of these things. whether he is competent to do this job in terms of his situational awareness of what actually is required to be the head of the national security counc council. >> flynn has always been a questionable choice for national security adviser. seems to have some inappropriate lurchy moves over time and problems on twitter. i say he would be the first to go and i hope i'm right. the thing i think is really troubling about this, equally as troubling as what we saw from steven miller, is that flynn spends a lot of time with donald trump. they sit together on planes. they are together all the time. the influence he has on this president is very strong. >> what is interesting also is the story that flynn actually leaked out last week, talking to other people saying donald trump was calling him at 3:00 in the

morning. >> right. >> and asking him about a strong dollar. it sounds like he was mocking the president behind his back. >> now here is steven miller on the flynn situation. >> before i let you go, does the president still have confidence in his national security adviser? >> that is the question that i think you should ask the president, the question you should ask reince, the chief of staff. i'm here today as a policy adviser and my focus in answering the policy questions that you have. general flynn has served this country admirably and three-star general and head of the defense intelligence agency and i look forward to having more discussions about this in the future. >> so the white house did not give you anything to say other than that on general flynn? >> they didn't give me anything to say. >> so you cannot say whether or not -- >> asked and answered, chuck! >> asked and answered. >> most of us, david ignatius,

on planet earth, would look at that response and say, okay, not much of a ringing endorsement for michael flynn there. >> during watergate that was known as twisting slowly, slowly in the wind. mike pence has just been left out there for this weekend. >> mike flynn. >> mike flynn for this weekend. he's going to have to do something. the president will have to either step up and make an announcement. flynn will have to try to make some kind of statement about what happened in the phone calls with russia. i don't think rick stengel mentioned the logan act which bars private citizens fro getting involved in disputes. i don't think that is about that. i think it's being forward with your public. the logan act has never been enforced in all of its history. i think the issue why wasn't he more straightforward? the problem that pence has --

excuse me flynn has there is a record of the conversations he had with russian ambassador and will be brought into this debate either by congressional committees or others. >> you have two problems. michael flynn lying to the vice president. >> which is really important. >> about something extraordinarily important. then the vice president actually having his reputation tarnished by going out and repeating that lie. then you have michael flynn mocking the president of the united states behind his back with the president calling him at 3:00 in the morning asking him about monetary policy. that is -- you cannot have a national security adviser that is lying to your vice president, lying to your white house, and mocking you behind your back. >> unless you have a president that is okay with that. >> no. >> unless you have a president that said, he made a mistake, oh, it was -- kellyanne made a

mistake by making a mockery of the white house. oh, i'm being a dad. they break literally all of the rules and they lie, they change what reality is like the weather. and then undermine the media and undermine the judicial system. at some point we all have to ask ourselves what is really going on here? >> at the end of this "the new york times" piece and points to two other problems. second to last paragraph. several staff members said that mr. flynn was not familiar to call up the national guard in an emergency for a natural disaster like hurricane katrina or the detonation of a dirty bomb in an american city. that is sort of an incredible thing to think that the head of the national security council doesn't know how to -- is not familiar with those procedures on. also the fact it's in the story suggests, as does all of this, the degree to which the rest of the national security team in donald trump's world is trying to cut this guy's throat.

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president trump falsely claimed a speech that the media has purposely failed to cover terrorist attacks because when he was flipping through the channels the other night, only tbs was brave enough to air the story of the american scientist gunned down by libya. while signing the new executive orders on crime, president trump said a new era of justice begins and it begins right now. then he spent 20 minutes struggling to get into a batman costume. >> joining us now is democratic senator chris coons of delaware and sits on the judiciary and foreign relations committees. good to have you on board with us. this is the first time you've been on "morning joe" without your dad watching.

so our blessings to you and thank you for being on and i know it's a very tough time. i want to start with the conversation we have been all over the map here taken by the interview with steven miller on the sunday shows and, of course, the national security adviser's problem with the truth. >> really quickly. just your gut reaction to the president's authority will not be questioned? >> that is a simply stunning statement. the idea that a senior adviser to the president would go on camera and say the president's authority will not be questioned shows both a striking lack of understanding of the structure of our government. >> nice way of putting it. >> complete lack of respect for judicial independence. make confirmation for judge gorsuch harder. fountain president doesn't walk that back, i think he will have more and more problems on a bipartisan basis. >> i was going to ask, can you assure us that my republican friends in the united states

senate are concerned about this type of talk? >> privately, i know many are concerned. publicly, i'm waiting to see some action. that's -- >> they are expressing private concern about this sort of autocratic talk? >> absolutely. >> okay. thank god. >> but the challenge isn't talk. it's actions. >> i know. time will come if they don't walk this back and if this continues, a time will come when everybody is going to have to stand and be counted. >> we need to get to north korea. haven't we learned from are this candidate and now this president that if you don't stake your ground earlier, this only gets worse? >> yes. >> haven't -- are republicans going to really sit back and not say anything? >> they can't. >> they can't be. >> to the senator's point, if they don't, it will complicate not only judge gorsuch's confirmation but make it more complicated in the senate. >> let's talk about north

korea's missile test this weekend. let's be positive about some things that the president did. he had a long weekend with the japanese prime minister. they spent a lot of quality time. they had a positive press conference. a good call with china. we don't want to just focus on this little kid and his autocratic dreams and his messages to planet earth. let's talk actually what the president of the united states did this past weekend. the meeting about the japanese prime minister. that was a positive sign at least, wasn't was it not? >> as a candidate, the president, now president trump said a lot of alarming things about pushing back our nuclear umbrella from japan to south korea about perhaps movingware from the one china policy. the last few days they have wean him reverse those positions in the face of a north korea nuclear launch that could threaten american bases in japan and guam. he stood clearly shoulder-to-shoulder with our

japanese allies. i am hopeful he'll take stronger steps to defend them. he is now realizing we need china's help in pushing back on cor cor korea's aggressive actions. >> how do you feel he is doing in terms of a global policy? yes i think what he did with abe was positive. what about the collaboration between the white house and state department is so essential in make foreign policy? >> the role of mike flynn, the national security adviser, is even more concerning. you just had up up a piece from "the new york times" talks about turmoil on the national security council. typical the national security adviser closest to the president and makes sure the information flow to the secretary of state and secretary of defense continues and that the process is professional and appropriate and thorough. turmoil is not a word i like to hear describing the national security council. and i was very troubled that

steve bannon was elevated and earlier that the chairman of the joint chiefs was apparently sidelined. so i'm concerned, both about mike flynn's, general flynn's uneven relationship with the truth, the very embarrassing situation he put the vice president in, and i do think if president trump is going to continue to be a stronger effective voice in international relations, he has to have a national security adviser he can trust and a national security council that is functional. he has got a strong secretary of defense, a promising secretary of state. but if his national security adviser is untrust worthy and untruthful and his national security council staff is in turmoil that's a big deal for us in terms of international relations. >> why is it we are hearing about bannon and hearing from miller and hearing about flynn, which from the get-go were questionable? >> they are trying to kill reince priebus with leaks. and there is a ballots for supremacy inside the white house and what is so shocking to me,

harold, is that these two would dare do that after they humiliated the president of the united states with their sloppy executive order. and the president has admitted that privately, that they can't make these sort of mistakes again and here is steven miller, once again, stepping on a positive headline for the president. >> it is confounding to say the very least. i guess building on that. i would ask senator coons, i heard the minority leader chuck schumer saying it behooves china to put the wood to north korea after what happened and you probably were in the senate when the vote took place. i think obama urged a piece of legislation allowing the u.s. to take steps against china firms that do weapons with the weapons complex in north korea. what does that mean when a minority leader says that and what action can be taken by the senate? >> this is the first big challenge for president trump p.m. the senate can and should

on a bipartisan basis take tougher action. we are making progress in assembling a bipartisan group of senators to insist that sanctions against russia not be rolled back without approval by the senate. i think we can and should step up and take stronger action against north korea and against chinese firms that have involved in supporting north korea's programs. frankly the president needs to take control of his national security apparatus. if mike flynn genuinely lied and lots of evidence about this, and if i were president, i would dismiss the national security adviser who had lied to the vice president and who was on record as having lied to me. >> so rick stengel eluding to your piece. what is more of a pressing foreign policy challenge? isis or north korea? >> i don't think isis is an existential challenge as president obama has said and as i say in my piece we have done a good job in combating them. i think north korea represents a real threat, real threat to the kind of rebalanced ace that we have where 40% of the world's economy is and i think as the

senator says, i mean, we have to have a partnership with china so that they can put the wood, as you said, on the north korea. therapy the only ones who can. >> senator chris coons, thank you very much. >> thank you, senator. and we are thinking about you and your family. >> thank you. >> rick stengel, thank you as well. coming up, the future of nafta is a major topic of discussion when president trump meets with canadian prime minister justin trudeau at the white house today. we will set the stage for another packed day in washington next. ♪ ♪ ♪

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you know he who ruled planet earth? >> who did. >> i'll tell you who really ruled planet earth and doesn't need a judiciary, lady gaga. we are still talking about her. she killed is and you say you're going to see? >> i am. after seeing her in the super bowl, i was absolutely convinced that this is a good use of my money to spend a couple of hundred dollars on lady gaga. >> she owned planet earth and a lot of great performances last night. bruno very good last night as well. joining us from the white house is nbc news national correspondent peter alexander. president trump will visit canadian prime minister justin trudeau to the white house today and talk about women issues and

good news and finally getting to something i know women are really watching this white house. peter? >> i think you're exactly right. >> reporter: the first face-to-face meeting for the prime minister of canada with the president of the united states. they are going to have a working lunch as well as a round table discussion focusing on women in the workplace and they will be launching for lack of a better word a task force. i just hung up with a senior white house official saying this is the united states canada council for the advancement of women business leaders and female entrepreneurs. they are going to have 10 ceos and some canadian and americans here today. the ceo of youtube will be among those in attendance. it's notable that president own daughter ivanka brought together some of the individuals in attendance today. obviously, women's issues have been a top priority to her. that's not the only topic on the agenda today. trade will be significant. canada trying to avoid being a target of president trump's insistence he is going to be renegotiating nafta but bring together these two polar

opposites. a 45-year-old canadian prime minister, 70-year-old president of the u.s. one who is a liberal and one who has been inclined to welcome refuges 40,000 already arriving in canada. prime minister trudeau has 50% of his cabinet is women. president trump far fewer women inside his cabinet. much more protectionist in his policies so far and, obviously, his position in terms of immigration, the executive order there is clear right now. we also have some new reporting we should tell you about. i spoke to some senior officials this morning about a conversation you guys have been having all day which is the topic of the national security adviser michael flynn and white house adviser this morning. a white house official this morning tells me that some aides have been pushing president trump, they are encouraging him to fire the lieutenant general michael flynn so this is one more thing we are watching over the course of this day as the winds howl through the outside of the white house. >> chilly morning. peter alexander, thank you very much. >> cold out there on planet earth. >> it is. as for this visit with trudeau

and ivanka trump, so funny to watch them deflecting nordstrom and kellyanne talking about buying her huff and ivanka has given up her business and put it aside and moved her family to washington for this reason, to talk about building a platform for women. so i just thought it was such an unfortunate side track when they all were talking about what nordstrom was doing because actually what she wants to do is really productive and necessary. >> this is another example. this is sort of inner white house chaos, john heilemann, that you take the president's daughter, who is working up to this meeting where you've got the prime minister of canada, you've got the president of the united states. i think it's a first time that women in the work force has ever been a central issue in one of these meetings. all last week, tweets and the president's own people kept stepping on ivanka trump's plan to do this, which, by the way,

she was -- she was really pissed off, especially what happened with kellyanne. stop trying to help! just do these -- >> or the suck-up factor. >> that she is trying to do. >> the topic of today, if you look at the -- if i look at my inbox the course of the last 20 minutes, seems like the topic of the day is now going to be more broadly speaking whether a white house staff shake-up in the offing. a lot of reporting now coming out that potentially reince priebus job is in jeopardy and michael flynn's job is, obviously, in jeopardy and president trump going according to these people he is ready to start -- >> by the way -- >> cut them loose. >> the president questioning this weekend to associates down in florida, questioning whether sean spicer should be fired. >> yes. spicer, yes. spicer, priebus and flynn all mentioned prominently in a lot of reporting this morning about people who might not be there

much longer. >> but not steven miller? that is so frightening. >> the bottom line he sent that tweet yesterday. it's hard to -- ivan the trump -- this is the troubling part of this, right? you've been on the war path all morning about steven miller and donald trump sent that tweet out giving an ata, boy, to miller. that is a guy who whatever the merits, seems to have the president's full backing at this moment. >> remember, this is a press who over the course of his 18-month campaign, had three or four different campaign managers? the ax is going to fall. just a matter of time. >> it's going to fall on the wrong person. >> he has to go back. i can only hope the president was busy doing work of the nation to not see all of the things that steven miller did. hopefully he so busy dealing with japan -- >> maybe that tweet was -- >> maybe he didn't know what he was talking about? is that where we are? >> andrew jackson, i want to read this again. andrew jackson.

all of the rights secure to the citizens under the constitution are worth nothing and a mere bubble, except guaranteed to them by an independent judiciary. steven miller's version of that is we will not be questioned. the president has supreme authority. the president to protect the country. very substantial and, quote, will not be questioned. >> who is playing him on "saturday night live"? >> the president is likely to get his treasury secretary today when the senate votes on the nomination. the confirmation to another party line vote. >> angus king of maine joins the table next on "morning joe."

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joining us now member of both the intelligence and armed

services committee independent senator angus king of maine. good to have you on board with us. >> so much to talk about. >> nothing to talk about. >> no, no. >> let's what we like to start with? >> let's talk about that extraordinary statement yesterday. >> this is the talk of the morning. mr. trump meet mr. mattis. division of powers independent judiciary and fundamental principle of our constitutional. warren burger in 1974. >> youngstown case on truman. president have expansive authority in foreign policy and national security but it's limited by the constitution. >> not limited.

>> there is a system of checks and balances.is, i don't want to sound like i'm puffing up lawyers, but miller and trump, i don't think have a -- miller doesn't. >> that's what he said yesterday. that's -- this is a -- the thing that really bothers me, i think you had this comment earlier. what you are seeing appears to be a somewhat systematic effort to delegitimize any opposition, the press, now judiciary. >> yes. >> tweeting so-called judge. that guy wasn't a so-called judge, he's a judge appointed by the president of the united states, confirmed by the senate. >> 99-0. >> he's not a so-called judge. remember the tweets of the

intelligence in quotes? you are delegitimizing institutions. >> we didn't even talk about him talking about voting rights. we didn't talk about all the things that led up to this. talk about a systematic, targeted campaign to delegitimize all systems. we can't pretend the president doesn't know about this and tweeted something he didn't mean, we have to stop thinking that maybe he doesn't get it or maybe he's not smart enough or maybe he's not educated in rules of the law. we can't do that anymore. this is becoming dangerous. >> you are starting to see a pattern. >> there's a pattern and there seems to be an angle. i'm not going to say what it is. joe, you told me not to. but, i will tell you that, at some point, we are all going to have to say it, what this looks like. i understand getting ahead of your skis -- >> let's not get ahead of your skis. >> i understand that. that's why i'm going take your

advice. >> they have to walk back the comment that the president won't be questions. >> we have to start saying what we all are thinking. >> the dangerous territory that every one of trump's opponents said. >> we'll say it again. steve miller went on, did the sunday shows, donald trump approved it, patted him on the back. i have never seen him reverse course that way. >> he's already complimented steven miller. he supports him. he thinks he's done a great job. how does all of this factor into the confirmation hearings over judge gorsuch? we have a clear clash here, a clash over what the role of the judiciary should be and what the role of the executive should be. i think there are a lot of democratic senators, your colleagues, who are going to want the judge to clearly articulate what he believes the

separation of power should be. and, going further than that, if he would condemn steven miller and donald trump for taking such an expansive view of the president's power. >> i haven't met with him yet. this is a delicate position. they don't want to prejudge cases that come before them. you can use it as an excuse to not answer the questions. i think he's going to have to answer the questions straight forwardly. we need to know what his views are, particularly on this issue. the comments on, saying it's disheartening, those kind of things, that was somewhat reassuring. he didn't say it publicly. you can't whisper in a senators ear and not say it public. >> his spokesperson didn't say he said that. that is heartening a nominee would say that. he is going to be confronted with all these statements the white house is making right now,

especially what stephen miller made yesterday, the president's power will not be questioned. >> it's hard to tell where he's going to end up on these things. he clearly is a judge's judge. he thinks about the judiciary. he has deep respect for separation of power. really, i think we are going to have to dig in. it's going to be a tough -- it's going to be tough questioning. >> sounds like you haven't made up your mind yet. >> i have not. i'm starting to read his opinions. >> you are going to do what senators are supposed to do instead of prejudging, you are actually going to the hearings to listen. >> that's what they hired me for. i have gone to a lot of hearings, i make a practice of going to hearings of important issues that i'm not on the committee. i went to rex tillerson's hearing, i'm not on foreign relations. i went before the environment committee. you learn a lot from being there. i can tell you what i have learned, the seats for the audience are not as comfortable

as the seats for the senate. >> there you go. thank you so much. great to have you on the show. republican members of congress return to their districts and get an earful from angry constituents. are we seeing the beginning of a tea party-like movement on the left? what is this? "morning joe" is back in a moment. ♪ heigh ho heigh ho ♪ ♪ heigh ho heigh ho it's off to work we go here's to all of you early risers, what's up man? go-getters, and should-be sleepers. from all of us at delta, because the ones who truly change the world, are the ones who can't wait to get out in it. make earning bonus cash back so why do scomplicated?k cards they limit where you can earn bonus cash back to a few places... ...and those places keep changing every few months. the quicksilver card from capital one

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which makes you wrong. obviously, i meant orlanta. i have a whole list here that you never write about. the horror at six flags. the slaughter at fragle rock. the night they drove old dixie down. okay? then there's light terrorism this week when nordstroms decided to stop selling ivanka trump's line of clothing and accessories. okay? that's nordstrom's loss because these are high, high quality products. in fact, i'm wearing one of her bangles right now. it's beautiful. it's shimmery. it's elegant and at $39.99. it is unbelievable. okay? don't even get me started on her shoes. because these babies are real

head turner. >> she's so good at that. >> a head turner. >> good morning, everyone. it's monday, february 13th, welcome to "morning joe." >> good to have you here. >> we have co-author of "game change" james heilemann. >> hello. hello. >> you look awake today. jeremy peters. political analyst at school of public policy, former democratic congressman, harold jr. and editor for "the washington post," david ignatius. >> my gosh, flynn. talk about way to get yourself in trouble right away. russian diplomats that are against the law then lie to the vice president and white house about it.

they made mike pence lie and the rest of the white house lie. >> i don't know how that's sustainable. >> it's not sustainable. he's going to have to go. when you embarrass your president that way, when you embarrass your vice president that way, when you lie to the white house, lie to the press -- >> when you toy with our foreign policy. >> when you are making phone calls you are not supposed to make. then again, you lie about it to officials in the white house, you don't survive that. >> months ago, i said he would be the first to go. >> much to talk about. did you see these town halls over the weekend? did you stee the town halls ove the weekend? >> a lot of republicans didn't show up. >> those who did, this is kind of the ongoing new story of politics where republicans and democrats are in a bad position. democrats, because they lost. republicans because they are caught in the middle between

reality and what trump campaign done. they don't want to lose their health care. >> this is not going to go away. this is so much like 2009. you could not draw a closer parallel. again, i say it time and time and time again. if donald trump gets rid of obamacare, without an adequate replacement, not what they are talking about in the house, that doesn't do a poor, single mom with three kids struggling to stay out of the emergency room for primary care what they need. if they don't give a proper replacement for this, then trump might as well give up wisconsin, michigan, ohio and pennsylvania. republicans are going to get pounded in '18. >> if this group of people, if they poll and we find there are a number of people that did not go to the polls or to hillary clinton, you have to worry. there's no doubt, there's

enormous parallels to the energy of 2009 and the tea party movement. to mikas point, this is not just affecting republicans. democrats and others are going to feel the heat as well. it's better for democrats without a doubt. >> let me share with my republican brothers and sisters who think they were all paid. let me assure you, brothers and sisters, they were not. i have a lot of family members and friends that were all in for donald trump from the beginning on the phone saying am i going to lose my health care? this is from the grass roots up. there may be some people being paid there. if you don't believe me, make the democrats and take health care away, you will find out. >> there's nothing fake newsish to that. >> i haven't heard the republicans say that. the republicans i talked to on

capitol hill and inside the trump administration say they are paid protesters, unrepresented. if they are not paid, they are brought from out of the district. they are not people i really have to pay attention to. i think that it's going to take a while to sink in. >> some of the republicans that won by 89% it may not matter to them. again, if donald trump cares to win wisconsin, ohio, pennsylvania and michigan, he better believe all those obama people that voted for him who run away from him with their hair on fire. >> right. >> if they get rid of obamacare and they don't have something that is at least as good. >> listen to your people. we have more on this coming up later. let's get to the top story, the u.n. security council set to convene later today at the request of the united states, japan and south korea to discuss north korea's weekend test ballistic missile.

multiple nations are discussing possible sanctions agangs pyongyang. they are calling it a success. state television released this video of the test. state media claims leader kim jong-un supervised the launch. the missile traveled around 300 miles and crashed into the sea of japan. the u.s. strategic command believes it was either a medium or long-range missile, not intercontinental and poses no threat to the continental united states. the test was the first since president trump took office and came during the visit with japanese prime minister, shinzo abe. they discussed the launch saturday night with abe calling the launch intolerable and trump saying the u.s. stands behind japan 100%. joining us live from seoul, south korea, keir simmons. keir, south korea says this was a show of force to the new trump

administration. >> reporter: yeah. yeah, that's the way it's viewed in this region. in a sense, i guess you could call it a classic piece of north korean attention seeking. they find many times before and keep in mind that in a sense, north korea had been starved for attention by the obama administration for many years. they see a new president as an opportunity to maybe change things, perhaps reset things. so, there are two sides to this, i guess. one is the military side. it is the case they have been able to develop these missiles over time, so in that sense, i guess the obama policy hasn't worked. it is also the case, at the same time, this is about politics. as you mentioned, the timing is absolutely crucial. what is interesting is to see the russians and the chinese criticize it. the question is, how the white house will deal with this going

forward because the real fear, of course, is that at some point north korea developed a long range missile that is nuclear capable and therefore capable of reaching u.s. mainland. >> all right, keir. >> keir simmons, thank you so much. >> thank you. let's go to david ignatius. timing is everything. look at the fact and actually positive timing where the president seemed to mend fences with china at the end of last week. they had a very good call, according to everybody involved in the talks. this weekend, we saw something we haven't seen in quite some time, the president spending an entire weekend palling around, golfing with the prime minister of japan. two very critical -- two very critical diplomatic outreaches at a critical time in north korea. >> i think you can say the trump administration put its asia policy on a sound footing in the

last week. the meeting with abe is the most important sign to most north korea and china that this really most important u.s. alliance in northeast asia is strong. abe took a big risk in coming and kind of jumping into the arms of this president and his first weeks in office. the japanese view this as a real success. what was striking about the reactions of the north korean missile test is something the white house, trump's entourage has been thinking about. the u.s. was restrained. the president has a 23-word statement. he left abe the hard statement, this is absolutely intolerable. >> there were people that were critical of that. i have been harshly critical, but i thought that was pitch perfect. let them speak and say we are

here and we stand behind you, period. >> and, joe, we should remember our secretary of defense has just been in south korea and japan talking about the hard side of the u.s. power. i think american power is always more convincing when you say less about it, but it's there. so, there are plans going forward with japan and south korea for much expanded cooperation in terms of missile defense, in terms of systems for monitoring what the north koreans are doing. that's where real power, real pushback is going to come. i think trump is wise not to shoot out a tweet, but to be restrained. >> as mentioned, all of this was the backdrop for the japanese prime minister, shinzo abe's trip to the white house in florida. the two leaders covered a wide range of issues building a personal ra pour. it started friday when they met

for lunch at the white house. trump welcomed the prime minister noting their good chemistry. they shared a long, awkward handshake, which clocked in a robust 19 seconds and headed down to trump's estate in florida for further talks. >> donald doesn't like shaking hands. >> i know, good job. >> the sanitizer had to come behind. >> that's symbolic. optics matter. over the weekend, both president trump and prime minister abe focused on common ground with trump setting aside campaign pledges to force tokyo to pay more for u.s. defense aid. abe promised to help the united states create jobs and discussed a bilateral trade framework and the withdrawal from the tpp agreement. >> you had, you really had in president obama, john, a president that really didn't like to hang out with world

leaders. he liked to do his job and spend time with his family. george w. bush liked to do his job. you have a guy, in trump, for all the failings -- >> this is not a failing. >> this is, two days. i think it was like 36 holes of golf. they spent a lot of time together. at a critical time, too. >> he's a shmoozer. one of the great disparities of trump is this personal charm that almost everyone, including many people on the left, if you spend time in his orbit, you kind of like the guy, he's got a charisma and a charm. >> katy tur said he's charming. >> he's a charming person and charms people who are determined not to like him. then there's the erratic public

nature of his tweets. this is the kind of thing, if you abstract it and say let's not talk about donald trump, new president spends days hanging out with the japanese prime minister, good idea. still ahead, we'll talk about the situation in korea with ambassador christopher hill who spent years were east asian affairs. first, protests across the country with republicans getting a hard time back at home. we'll try to separate grass roots movements from turf grass activism when "morning joe" comes right back. did you know, 90% of the world's largest supercomputers run on intel? that means you can take a universe of data - in your case literally - and turn it into medical discoveries, diagnostic breakthroughs... ...proof that black holes collapse into one singularity. i don't know what that is. but yes. innovation runs on supercomputers... ...and supercomputers run on intel. you are super smart. and super busy.

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on friday, we showed congressman jason chaffetz getting booed in utah. this weekend in georgia. >> shame!

shame! shame! shame! >> voters in georgia chanting, sham shame on friday. the lawmakers were not there. much of the crowd drove to the small town from metro atlanta. after refusing to take questions, aides took notes on their concerns on a variety of matters, including, get this, the future of obamacare and education secretary betsy devos. it was a similar scene at the louisville airport in kentucky where protesters did not offer mitch mcconnell a warm welcome home. mcconnell did not leave through the airport terminal, resulting in the crowd chanting, mitch is a chicken. in wisconsin, tense moments during a town hall on saturday, featuring congressman jim.

he fielded questions on social security president trump's travel ban and health care. one person yelled liar on the response to the future of obamacare. protesters in cincinnati who waited to greet rob portman on friday never got the chance. he was scheded to appear at a chamber of commerce i vent and did not show up. he was unable to make it due to early morning senate votes in florida as well. they were pretty loud protests. >> yeah. here is the deal here. you and i -- >> loud crowds. >> -- we served in congress. i don't know about you, if there were crowds there from outside of my district, i say come on in here, we'll have sanka, i don't care, all the sanka you want, i'm going home with my kids. if they are in your district and you see faces you recognize and

people that voted for you in that crowd, that's when it's scary. when people call your office nonstop, you say wait a second. >> what's going on? >> there is no doubt, betsy devos' confirmation stirred a lot more controversy than i think initially people thought. i am somewhat surprised, pleasantly surprised the public education lobby has been as strong as they have been. they have proven to be a lot stronger? there's no doubt health care is what's stirring this. you and jeremy's conversation from the outset say the republicans keep on. do you dismiss it as people from outside the district or recognize there's something afoot here like it was so many years ago? i think there could be something serious if you are a republican. certainly, if you are a u.s. senator and hit the primary point, if you are donald trump, the four states you won, which

democrats won consistently, that's where the worry has to be. i think it makes it more critical that a replacement is provided when you repeal obamacare. >> it has to be. >> if his approval ratings are where they are right now, a year and a half from now, with the election midterms coming up, you are going to see republicans in congress. >> six months. >> wait a second, though. talk about his approval ratings, where are they? >> i don't know. >> are they 45%-46%? if you believe the automated polls, he's 45%-46%. >> that's not great. >> let's wait and see. this is going to settle it. we are going to get a better sense of where trump is at and congressmen running for election. wait a few months to see where we are at and where his approval ratings are. the greatest parallel between 2009 and today is the sense of denial on the part of the

incumbents. democrats were in denial in 2009. >> totally. >> they looked at the town hall meetings and the tea party and said, we have safe districts, we'll be fine, don't worry about it. they paid the price. republicans are doing the same thing now. they are paid agitators, they don't live in my district and never vote for me anyway. believe your eyes. when you see this energy fermenting, it's a threat to you. coming up on "morning joe," as the trump administration goes back to the drawing board, new headlines on immigration raids. are they business as usual or a new wave of enforcement? we'll talk about that, plus, 100,000 people evacuated in california and deep concerns over a dam there. we go live to california, straight ahead.

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this morning, winter threats from the east coast to the west. schools close and heavy snowstorms to the east. out west, 188,000 evacuated in california as a dam is under heavy pressure. bill, what's the latest? >> let me show you the set up for the dam. this is the tallest in the country. the second biggest in california. this is the oroville dam. the dam is structurally intact.

there's no problems with the dam. it's the problem with the spillway. the water is at the peak. the dam is doing its job. that's what happened on friday. everything was working fine until this huge hole opened up in the spillway. after that big hole happened, they said, okay, we are going to use our emergency reservoir. this is the emergency spillway, how it was supposed to work. everything was going fine until the mass erosion started taking place. they were worried that would give way a. joining us now live is nbc national correspondent miguel almaguer. what is the situation this morning? >> reporter: bill, good morning. emergency personnel have been working around the clock to assess the situation. they say things are fluid. it's not the oroville dam in jeopardy, it's the emergency spillwell. if it goes, communities downhill could be in trouble. the emergency spillway at the

oroville dam is, this morning, in its own state of emergency, warning of an imminent failure. state water officials ordered the immediate evacuation of 188,000 people. >> we thought we were okay, then all of a sudden, bam, you have to leave. >> you have to make it very, very critical and difficult decision to initiate the evacuation and couldn't risk the lives of thousands of people. >> reporter: the sudden emergency strigerring chaos as families jammed roadways out of oroville. >> straight through here, make a right wherever you can. >> reporter: gridlock lasting for miles and for hours. >> i'm concerned about getting out. >> reporter: with the massive reservoir at over 100% of capacity, engineers spotted the erosion near the emergency spillway. lake oroville holds enough water to hold the entire state of connecticut in a foot of water. the tallest dam in the nation, a

soaring 770 feet, it sits above several communities in butte, and yuma counties. officials say if the emergency spillway was actually to give way, a 30 foot wall of water could cascade. that is why the concern is so high. the 188,000 people remain evacuated for now. the bad news, bill, we are expecting, as you know, another rainstorm midweek. they have to release more water to make way for the rainfall we are going to get. >> the storm wednesday and one on saturday. miguel, the good news is since the evacuation order took place, the lake is down three feet. it's no longer eroding the bay. they poured open the gates. here is the stat. picture the mississippi river going through st. louis, two-thirds of that amount of water is going down this spillway right now. picture mississippi going down the damaged spillway. that's what they are doing to save the emergency area. the only other stories, ending

the blizzard in maine. up to a foot to foot and a half of snow. boston wasn't too bad. windy problems from d.c., philadelphia and new york. laguardia has up to two hour delays right now. portland, maine, this is what it's supposed to do in maine. this is snowmobile weather. you are watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. liberty mutual stood with me when i was too busy with the kids to get a repair estimate. liberty did what? yeah, with liberty mutual all i needed to do to get an estimate was snap a photo of the damage and voila!

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this is "the people's court." this is the plaintiff, the president of the united states. he claims some phony judges are being very mean to him. these are the defendants, the three judges from the ninth circuit court who heard the case for trump's travel ban and said not in our house. they are accused of letting bad hombres pour into this country. >> judges why did you agree with the lower courtings rejection of the ban. >> it was our conclusion it violated the establishment claus

because of a religious test. >> overruled. >> president trump, that is enough. >> i'll allow it. >> joining us now, author, columnist, jeff greenfield. what do you make of the white house adviser who says something like this, jeff? our opponents, the media and the world will soon see as we begin to take further actions that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial and will not be questioned. >> it sounded better on the original. it's the kind of statement that is so unnecessary. obviously the president has huge powers in foreign policy. of course they are questioned. the congress can question him. >> that's the beauty of our country. >> the courts question him. that kind of attitude, you know, is what helps fuel the anger. the real question may be among the people who like trump and voted for him, how does that

resinate? i'm not sure they are offended by it, they may agree with it. >> you touch on an interesting point. what stephen miller represents inside this administration is a school of thought that is taken very seriously, an economic populism. miller was brought on from jeff sessions office, before trump was the voice of that nationalism. >> economic nationalism is one thing. it's quite another to toss out judicial review that has, as the senator said, gone back to 1803. >> it is possible to be an economic nationalist and not thortarian or without a wave the hand at the fundamental structure that kept our country free and prosperous for x number of years. >> but, i still come back to

this, so far, rather remarkable situation where people, law school scholars and some republican senators will be pushing back institutionally on this point. no, you don't have unlimited power. part of what got trump into the presidency was many people thought this was impossible was the feeling that all this old stuff, it's rusted, it's broken, it doesn't work anymore. >> the constitution? >> the machinery of how we govern. >> this goes directly to the constitution of the united states of america. this goes directly to the foundations that were laid down by madison and by hamilton. >> that's why it's so dangerous. if it's appealing to people to say break the china, we need somebody to come in and upend the table. >> they are pushing as far as they can go. >> the people that push back, you are the old guard --

>> or the media or the judiciary. undermining. or you are reality. >> i think sooner, rather than later, this is going to come down. you have been on this point a lot. the republican senators, conservatives, institutionally conservative as well. >> and constitutionally conservative. >> do they say to their president of their party, we like taxes, we like the supreme court nominee? this is a danger to the system and we are going to push back? i don't think we know the answer. >> let's bring in the dean of school of international studies at the university of denver. ambassador christopher hill. he writes as a foreign officer and ambassador to korea in the memoir, "the outpost." >> thank you for being with us. let's start with north korea. what is your reaction to the events this past weekend? >> first of all, this missile is

obviously another example of their testing program, testing of military equipment more than testing of our president. they have been quiet for the last month because they don't want to interfere with what's going on in south korea, an impeachment process against the center right president and the expectation of a senate left who might be more lenient on north korea. this all changes that. i think it speaks to the fact they have an ongoing missile testing program. sooner or later, it will be a crisis. what happened over the weekend is more a dress rehearsal for a crisis. i guess the problem the trump administration continues to have is they don't have too many people, you know, who are working on these issues. it's still a sort of home alone. you can see the secretary of state, barely in office wasn't seen this weekend and obviously, as you reported, the national security adviser has other things on his mind right now. nonetheless we are in a better

place this week than last week. the meeting with abe. it obviously went well. president trump's terse statement, too terse for me, i would like mention of south korea. believe me, it was better than other things. gone is the talk about we need to harangue the japanese about their military spending and give them nuclear weapons. it was a dose of realism. >> sometimes, mr. ambassador, less is more. i was quite comforted by the remarks. also, the positive call with china. it suggests that someone, perhaps secretary mattice, after visiting asia put this on top of the president's agenda. >> somebody gave him reality str scrub, which is frankly, taking the whole one china policy and putting that back on the table

to mix the metaphor, a dog that's not going to hunt. it's just not going to work. i think it was a good sign. in the coming weeks and months, he's going to have to work with the chinese and set priorities. do we want a trade war with china? do we want to fan tensions with them or try to work on north korea? it's a proposition that doesn't have success. china doesn't want them to make progress and we ought to be able to work with them better than we do. >> mr. ambassador, it's jeff greenfield. is there a sense you have that you describe as a better sense of days calming the fears in the international community that our new president is, in fact, prepared to up end the table of 70 or 80 years worth of geo political assumptions? >> the visit by secretary of defense mattice to korea and japan is very important. it was important in reasewering

those two countries and reassuring allies around the world to some extent they can see that the continuity. they want to see continuity from us. they want to see a continuation to our commitments to them and more importantly, understanding the commitments to the countries also involve a mutual interest. this is not something we are doing as a favor to nato members or a favor to japan. we have real interests of our own. i think that mattice visit is extremely important. i think what is disquieting is the fact they don't have the team dmeployed yet. they don't have a deputy for secretary of state tillerson. flynn is just not getting the job done at this point. i think it's an open question whether he's going to be around. >> not getting the job done and i think running out of time to do that job. ambassador, thank you so much.

there were very positive meeting this weekend. >> yeah. >> with the japanese prime minister. the realignment of the china policy seen as positive and comforting for allies. secretary mattice going to asia. continuity. today's news, meeting with justin trudeau and talking women in the work force. they are positive headlines that stephen miller is stepping on or any white house aide would be stepping on if they went out sounding like a tyrant saying the president will not be questioned. these are the sort of things, again, i talked to a white house aide last night who said if you take away twitter, i think the president's rating would be up 5% to 7%. and i think, i don't think i know, everybody inside agrees with the assessment.

they keep stepping on good headlines unnecessarily. >> president trump took ownership of what miller said. it's his now, like it or not. >> yeah. >> i'm not sure he likes it or not. we don't know. let's turn to cnbcs sarahizen live at the new york stock change. what are you watching? >> investors like what they see out of the trump administration. we are set to open at record highs starting on an upbeat note. the dow, the s&p 500 and the nasdaq all at record levels here. it's been a mix of the policies and the rhetoric from the trump administration. for instance, president trump hinted at a quote, phenomenal tax plan that is coming soon. that excited investors. we have earnings, we are knee-deep in earnings season that have been good enough to keep the rally going and the focus on trade relationships. they judged the meeting with prime minister abe to be positive, successful. they didn't get into currencies

or trade deficits the contentious aspects. the trade relationship to watch today is the u.s. and canada with the visit with the prime minister trudeau. unlike mexico and japan, it's much more balanced. we import as much from them as we export to them. one fact to know here in terms of power dynamic, canada is our biggest buyer of exports. 18% of u.s. exports go there, but canada is more dependent on us. 75% of their exports go to the united states. back to you. >> cnbcs sarahizen, thank you very mch. now, to last night's grammy awards, which were all about adele. let's bring in "morning joe" grammy correspondent. he's been covering it 37 years. i like the title. thanks so much. adele opened up the show with an incredible performance, then took home awards in five

categories becoming the first artist ever to sweet the top three categories, best album, song and record of the year. she vested beyonce for the top spots, including the wirn herself. >> tonight, winning this feels full circle. a bit of me has come back to myself. i can't possibly accept this award. i'm very humbled and gracious, but my artist of my life is beyonce. this album to me, the "lemonade" album is so monumental. so monumental and so well thought out and so beautiful and soul bearing. we got to see another side to you. we appreciate that. >> what a tribute. paying tribute to beyonce. adele was caught in the middle of the night's more difficult moment that came with a tribute for the late george michael.

she stopped mid song realizing vocals were off key. ♪ fast love >> i can't do it like last year. sorry for swearing and i'm sorry for starting again. can we please start it again. i'm sorry, i can't mess it up for him. i'm sorry, i can't. i'm sorry for swearing, i'm really sorry. >> she just wanted to get it right. after apologizing profusely for the vocal error and the f-bomb, she finished beautifully. they honored the late david bowie. he released the album days before his death last year. he won five awards winning all categories for which he was nominated. another big moment, this tribute from bruno mars honoring the late prince. the reviews are in and it was an

electrifying performance. there's a couple lighter moments on the night. watch what happened when the winner of the best pop duo was named. >> and the grammy goes to -- stressed out. 21 pilots. >> yes, that's right. 21 pilots decided to ak cement their grammy without pants on. there's a story behind it. they explain it began years ago before their music career took off. >> i called him up and said, hey, josh, come over to the rental house and watch the grammys. he said yeah, who's hanging there. a couple of my roommates coming to watch with us. as we were watching, we noticed every single one of us was in our underwear. seriously, josh turned to me. we were no one at that time. he turned and said if we ever go to the grammys, if we ever win one, we should receive it just like this. >> i give them credit.

i can't end without mentioning cee lo green in a gold ensemble. >> wow. >> that looks uncomfortable. >> yes. >> thank you. >> a couple things, very interesting. i was watching beyonce last night and i said i have seen that somewhere before. where have i seen this. >> no you haven't. this is beyonce, pregnant with twins. >> i'm sure i saw it somewhere before. this is where. in music and lyrics. >> what is this? this is horrible. >> drew barrymore and hugh grant. am i right? it was the same performance. i saw her go out last night and i said this is where hugh grant comes out. >> she won't be here tomorrow. >> why is that?

>> criticism of beyonce. you don't criticize -- >> i love the music. she was a great actor. >> interesting. >> what was that? >> by the way, i have to say, also, one other insight here. may get me fired, but i'm going to tell the truth. i like stephen miller. i'm concerned about people buzzing voters in. i think there were voters bussed in from canada to vote for adele. that's the only reason beyonce would not have won in what was a remarkable year. >> there were interesting costume possibilities. they are always dull affairs. >> yes. >> they might take a hint or two from what we saw last night at the grammy's. something like that. up next, president obama was dubbed the deporter in chief. >> yeah. >> now it's the trump administration targeting undocumented immigrants in raids

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you are not supposed to make, then you lie about it. you don't survive that. >> the silence from the white house over the weekend about flynn's future was deafening. >> turmoil is not a word i like to hear describing the national security council. he needs an adviser he can trust. >> the powers of the president to protect our country are substantial. >> it sounds like another country, not the united states. >> susan rice looks smooth. if that sort of thinking were enacted into policy, we would have impeachment proceedings in six months. >> that language doesn't play well with the american people. >> miller and trump, i don't think have a gut level understanding of checks and balances of the constitution. >> every republican in washington, d.c., if you do not speak out, never call yourself a constitutionalist again. >> shame! shame! shame! >> this is the ongoing new story

of politics. >> this is so much like 2009. if donald trump gets rid of obamacare without an adequate replacement, all those obama people that voted for him, who run away from him with their hair on fire. >> a sense of denial on the part of the incumbents. they are paid agitators. believe your eyes. it's a threat to you. >> now there, hundreds of undocumented immigrants were rounded up in at least a half dozen states. what immigration officials label the routine enforcement surge that targeted individual criminals. president trump twooeted yesterday the crackdown is merely the keeping of my campaign promise. political analyst, victoria has a new piece on nbcnews.com. she argues it may be prudent to take a step back. she says thus far, we cannot say that the trump administration is

doing anything differently than the obama administration. stylistically, obama and trump are worlds apart. president obama did not publy sis i.c.e. surges, instead, letting them carry out policy. president trump is highlighting the surge on twitter as his fulfillment of campaign promises. victoria joins us now. it is bragging rights, almost, that he's doing almost exactly what president obama has been doing. >> this is nothing new. we have seen these types of immigration surges targeting undocumented nationals and so what we saw this last week really isn't that much different. if we see over the next couple weeks or months spikes in numbers we can say this is a new ball game. i think it's very dangerous to jump to conclusions and say we are staying normal because of

the panic in the immigrant community. my sense is, wait and see. don't panic yet. >> why do you think there is a different stylistic approach here? what is the strategy? what does it engender across the country when you hear this type of publicity of what's been happening already for years? >> this is something w saw during the campaign, he was going to get tough on immigration, gofter undocumented folks, round them up. i think the rhetoric is not new. the one thing, the devil in the details is a new classification of criminals. criminals have always been prioritized. under the new executive order president trump put forward, he says we are going to consider a wider net of criminals. you can have a deportation order and that makes you a criminal. you can have a misdemeanor for a

traffic violation and you are a criminal. >> jeff? >> to your point, the obama administration was embarrassed by the deportation. it went against what the base wanted. here, the same policy may be trumpeted as, see, i'm doing what my voters wanted me to do. even if it's not different. >> it's all the frame. i hate to see it. in the obama administration, he ducked his head. there was that talk of president obama being deporter in chief. i think we are seeing the same set of facts so far and trump is highlighting it. the fascinating thing here is the frame. so far, the same actions, but just two very different personalities taking them forwards. >> victoria, thank you so much. that does it for us this morning. >> jeremy, five seconds, what did you learn? >> no. >> thanks to you, i got a history lesson in andrew jackson

who was not a squish when it came to using executive authority. wary of the judiciary. >> three seconds, john? >> the grammys were great. >> one second. >> beyonce was going to give birth. i was disappointed. >> i told you. >> stephanie, go. >> beyonce may have given birth. thanks, joe. thank you, mika. good morning, i'm stephanie ruhle. so much to cover. under fire. the white house refusing to defend general michael flynn. >> does the president still have confidence in his national security adviser? >> that's a question that i think you should ask the president. >> as another senior adviser creates a fire storm over voter fraud. >> voter fraud is a serious problem in this country. >> for the record, you have no evidence. >> distraction is what it is. breaking