i don't? that's what that number has to give them pause. so when they think about, hey, is he saying something i disagree with, should i break with him, that number may give him pause. we're out of time. "mtp daily" starts right now. if it's friday, there's a distinct political weather pattern that is moving through the stormy four-week-old white house. tonight, the fog of trump. >> america is going to start winning again. winning like never ever before. >> behind the bluster and the crowd pleasing rallies are the very real struggles of the new administration being obscured. plus, you've heard of sticking with the union. is donald trump now sticking it to the unions? successfully peeling away traditional democratic support. and why political expression is a slam dunk in the world of

basketball. this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. good evening. i'm chuck todd here in washington. welcome to "mtp daily." no, i don't believe any american is the enemy of any other american. 28 days later and you could argue a toxic fog has descended on american politics just four weeks into the trump presidency. hard to see through the thicket of crises and chaos. makes you wonder, is that by accident or design? because amid the aply koicoined "the fog of trump," we're seeing uncomfortable issues facing this administration get obscured. the spect kacle likely to grow more spectacular when mr. trump holds a campaign rally tomorrow night swirling around the president's ties to russia. but even though they're being

fogged over, those questions aren't going away. the president's carefully worded denials yesterday haven't convinced top republicans including the top republican in the senate who strikingly said this today. >> yesterday the president said in his press conference that nobody he knew of from his campaign was in contact with russian officials. do you believe that? >> i have no idea. yeah? >> wow. not a, oh, that's what the president said. it now appears at least seven congressional committees are now probing an array of issues tied to russia and the election including possible russian ties to the trump campaign. some committees are probing more aggressively than others. we continue to see calls for an independent investigation from democrats and now a handful of republicans. in fact, today a republican congressman signed onto a democratic bill to create a bipartisan independent investigation, think 9/11, iraq war study group, et cetera. there's also continued fallout

from mr. trump's national security advisor michael flynn misleading the white house about a conversation he had with russia. and the president's head scratching comments about why he kept flynn on staff for weeks, mind you, despite being warned he was potentially susceptible to russian blackmail. folks, the russian quagmire facing this white house is not going away, neither is the smor ges board of other problems. and judging by this tweet from moments ago the president is still angry saying, quote, the fake news media failing, "new york times," nbc news, abc, cbs, cnn is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the american people. by the way, he originally ended the tweet by exclaiming, quote, sick. but he deleted that. but, folks, the president's problems aren't a media fabrication. this scroll is just a small sampling of the many controversies and crises that make up the fog of trump. u t the travel ban in there, you get the false claim, bowling green massacre, the crowd size issue, the supposedly these people that aren't voters showing up at town halls, the

foreign leaders. maybe the atlanta falcons blame trump for this as well. if we missed anything, by the way, tweet us using #mtpdaily. bring in tonight's panel, molly ball. "the washington post" chris, of course msnbc panelist and michael also msnbc political analyst. okay, the fog of trump. it is four weeks ago that we were here. i do want to go back to this press conference because it did accomplish one big thing if you're donald trump. there was a feeding frenzy on russia on thursday morning. today, as i noted, there's a ton of russian questions still out there and that's not going away and there's a lot of people on capitol hill upset that that wasn't the front pages today. >> no, we're talking about -- >> press secretary donald trump did his job, didn't he? >> talking about the press conference. what's next? well, look, i mean the guy's a master at that. i know from talking to folks that he'd been a little bit restless around the white house recently.

wanted to get out, wanted to engage. didn't like the way the narrative was being painted out there. so he wanted to deliver that narrative. and he did by all accounts very effectively. certainly for a lot of the base support that he has. and the question now becomes and people joke about him becoming his own, you know, press secretary. >> if i were sean spicer i would worry about losing the job to him. i think the president is the only person the president believes can do that job. >> he's the best at telling his story. >> here's the difference for me because people say this is what he did from the campaign, in the campaign he created a new outrage and people moved on. a campaign is a narrative. a campaign is a message and there's nothing more to it. it's just communication. there is more tooverninghan just communication. and these investigations and the actual fact that he's not really getting anything done that doesn't go away just because the front page headlines -- >> there are real world consequences to molly's point. in the campaign you could say the sky is orange and the next day something else happens and

then you say remember, that's -- you just ran through, chuck, seven committees. that doesn't go away because he did a good job as his sort of de facto press secretary yesterday. does it change something for bad for him russia, to something better for him the media is terrible, sure. but those investigations don't stop. you're looking at a good performance behind a podium. >> let's talk about the two conversations. right now he decided i'm going to have a conversation with my base. i'm going to fire up that 30% to 35% that is with me through thick and thin. >> when has he not had that conversation? >> what's interesting is i'm still sort of shell shocked by a paula page comment yesterday actually happened before the press conference, the governor of maine who many say was trump before trump, the governor says we got to tell him that the tv show's over and he's got to move on now. by the way, mitch mcconnell in a weekly standard interview was published yesterday noted that he said, he makes everything harder. essentially by he likes what

he's doing on some of these issues, but the tweets basically, as he said, take away 10 to 15 points from the approval rating. >> that point from mcconnell is important because as we all know at this table the hill is nothing if not about process. and that process has a life to itself. it has a rhythm. it has a feel. and everything has an orderly approach. he is now creating a whether or not he will new way of doing this. this is asymmetrical form of governing to your point, molly. and the base and supporters out there are loving the hit. but the question does get to governing and how do you translate that into something -- >> he doesn't have majority. he doesn't even have 45%. that's his problem right now. >> the other thing i think is important because i do this all the time, you tend to align trump base supporters with republican base, there are concentric parts of it, but they're not the same thing. go watch if you're nerdy, go watch part of mcconnell's press

conference today before the break and contrast that with trump. the other thing, imagine if trump only today, if the only thing trump did was give that speech at the boeing plant. >> yeah, winning. >> versus -- >> that's a great message. build things in america, look at what i'm doing. and instead he does all this other stuff, bookending tweets and the morning tweets, this tweet which can get a huge amount of attention about fake news media and the enemy. he can't do it. so this idea of like if only he did x, you know, if only i was eight feet tall i would be in the nba. >> yeah, yeah, my favorite one is always, well, if my uncle had -- never mind. >> exactly. >> yeah, yeah. but, molly, is this a tactic? i can't help but wonder it's almost like shiny metal object, tweet, shiny metal object tweet, so the base does see the boeing stuff. the base, by the way one thing he's done consistently almost every day is he does have a jobs event in every day in some form meeting with an industry leader.

that is one thing that they have done extraordinarily well. and i think that's what his base sees every day. i think he's trying to distract washington. don't think it is a tactic. i think this is a person who does not have a lot of self-control. but it doesn't matter. i do want to disagree with the idea that the problem is how popular he is. i don't think his approval rating is the problem. he's not up for election for four more years, we should want a president who's willing to be unpopular in the service of getting big things done. the problem is a lack of effectiveness. the problem is a lack of effectiveness. and the problem is this chaos that is consuming the staffing process for the white house, that is consuming mitch mcconnell's day so he can't -- you have consolidated republican control of congress, they should have been able to push a lot of things through on day one. they've gotten practically nothing done. >> i believe it was eight years ago this week. >> yeah. >> that president obama signed the stimulus package. >> yep. >> he had unified control of government and basically in four

weeks signed a near trillion dollar bill. >> they don't know -- i mean, it's take all the personal leaking that goes about what trump does at night, take all that out. what's one of the messages you get out of the nsc, hhs, of all these bureaus and agencies, they don't know where they're going the next day. the idea that the national security council is looking at his tweets in an attempt to define what he wants them to do, that is not -- this is not republican, democrat, green party. that is not a healthy way to go about creating national security policy. >> right. i want to make a turn here back to the topic that i do think he was trying to push off the front page and that is russia. and while, again, i think he successfully with the political theater did it, he did terribly on answering specifics. here's a little montage. >> during your campaign has

anyone of your team communicate with members of the russian government or russian intelligence? and if so, what was the nature of those conversations? >> i own nothing in russia. i have no loans in russia. i don't have any deals in russia. >> can you definitively say that nobody -- >> oh, i had nothing to do with it. i have nothing to do with -- i told you. i have no deals there. i don't know anything. >> so you're not aware of any contacts during the course of the election? >> look, how many times do i have to answer this question? >> can you just say yes or no on it? >> russia is a ruse. i have nothing to do with russia. to the best of my knowledge no person that i deal with does. >> no person that i deal with, present tense -- >> i have nothing to do with russiasent tense. >> he never answered the specific question. by the way, a whole bunch of people on capitol hill noticed that including mitch mcconnell. >> that's why it hangs around. >> that's why mitch mcconnell said what he said. >> exactly. that is mitch and other republicans way of kind of sending the signal that you've got to deal with this. because it's getting to the point where now we're having to

say comments and make comments that are not going to be user friendly to the administration. >> the first clip you played to me is the most illustrative. do you have any -- well, i don't own anything in russia. >> that wasn't the question. >> that wasn't even close to the question. and, again, if he wanted to clear up ownership loans, he could release his tax returns and that would go a long way to doing that despite him saying there's nothing in those -- there is. so, again, it's so easy for him, it would be so easy for him to say i and no one on my senior campaign staff had any contact with russia from the beginning of the campaign to the end. if it was true. you're telling me he couldn't talk to the ten people who were on his senior leadership team and say did you ever talk to them, do not lie to me, and come back with an answer. the only thing you can conclude is -- >> he's leaving it out there. that's the problem. >> and why is the question. >> right. he's leaving this out there, molly. >> he is. but the problem is because there are all of these investigations and because even his own party

is not going to be satisfied with taking his word for it, we will eventually get answers to these questions. this is not the kind of thing where you can distract from the issue and it goes away. it's going to hang over his head. there are very devoted and professional, you know, senate and house and intelligence community investigators who are going to be looking into this. it's not going away. >> michael, i go back to the easiest way to deal with this is i want to get to the bottom of this. what did the russians do to this election? i'm just as upset as anybody else is. let's get to the bottom of it. we are fully cooperating. why is that difficult? >> because i think in some sense to do that is to admit some culpability, some defeat that there was something wrong and the posture and the presence that he brings to the table is that i'm always right and i've got this -- i've got control of this. that's something he doesn't have control of. because to your point, if he doesn't know who did it, he

really doesn't want to know if someone had that kind of contact. >> in his mind to the challenged point in his mind he's basically on a 70-year undefeated streak. >> that's right. >> that's how he thinks. >> he won year, one two. >> of course. [ overlapping speakers ] >> was he king of the playpen? >> he was the king in the nursery, right. >> you do have to think of it in those terms. this is someone who views any concession as a huge defeat. and as a not only defeat sort of politically speaking but as a reflection poorly on his hash tag brand which he is very, very interested in maintaining sfwl molly, taking him at his word he still doesn't want the idea that russia helped him. if he knew nothing about it and the russians did this all on his own, that would still bother him and it would struggle with it. >> well, that's right. i think to both of your points, it distracts from the legitimacy of the victory in his mind, and

that's why he keeps making these claims about nonexistent vot fraud. in addition he has to maintain the self-image of a winner even when it's contrary to the facts. he cannot admit he had any help from foreigners and he cannot admit that he did not win the popular vote. so he invents this alternate reality to live in. and this is a component of that. >> molly, michael, chris, none of you enemies of anybody? >> well, the chairman -- >> my cats. >> i got a few. >> we are as no group of americans wants to be -- >> no, it's terrible. >> it really is one of the more awful things to say. >> but it's m.o. >> saying you're the enemy. >> because he believes conflict he creates he wins in, everything is survival of the fittest. >> that's not a presidential leadership moment. coming up, how trump's popularity may have reshaped the american political landscape in the rust belt. up next we'll talk to one of the country's most influential union leaders. keep it right here.

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welcome back. if you're a red blooded american political junkie like me, you've got a healthy obsession with ranking stuff, american presidents and c-span. well, today i got my fix for all three. 91 presidential historians joined forces to rank our 43 presidents. trump not included. and of course grover cleveland has two numbers. in ten areas of leadership as part of a c-span survey that was published today. it's a terrific survey. so who's first, who's worst, who's up and who's down? hone honest abe took the stop spot held ranking in every one of the surveys conducted every eight years by c-span. other top getter, washington, both roosevelts, ike, eisenhower, lbj round out the top ten, despite his rough marks in the international relations category, oh, what some of us might call vietnam, that one i have to admit is a head

scratcher, top ten with vietnam in there? anyway, president obama debuts on the list at number 12. now to who's up and who's down historians are saying i like ike. he has jumped from ninth to fifth since the survey began. i think america's only independent president after washington i think people starting to view him that way. but the hits keep coming from andrew jackson after being bumped from the front of the $20 bill he's dropped five spots to number 18. and the bottom five presidents tyler at 39, then harding, pierce, andrew johnson and buchanan who's been in last place in every survey c-span has. when you sort of lose the union, you're going to be there. they all rank lower than william henry harrison who served for only one month. we'll be right back.

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>> i don't want companies leaving our country, making their product, selling it back no tax, no nothing, firing everybody in our country. we're not letting that happen anymore, folks, believe me. >> coming a few days after boeing workers in south carolina voted against unionizing. significant loss for the labor movement and outcome seen as perhaps an early test of the strength of unions in the trump era or perhaps just the south. democratic politicians have long counted on union workers solid component of their base but this year donald trump own brand of populism drove some of those bricks and mortar union members to his side in 2016. he was propelled to victory in a wave in states. exit poll out of ohio found union workers there overwhelmingly supported president obama 60-37 in 2012 ended up supporting trump last year 50-44. how about that? president trump's first monday in office he met with a group of

union leaders from across the country, the same day he signed an order to withdraw from the transpacific partnership trade deal. before his inauguration he held a separate meeting in his office in new york with afl-cio president trumka called it honest conversation. the man himself is right here. welcome back to "meet the press daily". >> chuck, thanks for hing on. >> so, first let me talk about the boeing, you try to unionize those workers down there. they got -- you got clobbered. it wasn't a close vote. what happened? >> well, i mean, the laws are stacked against americans, american workers, the laws in this country are bad for that. and, look, it's just the beginning. it's the first vote. we'll be back. and each time we come back more and more workers will come on because they'll understand that the only way you're going to get a fair shake, the only way you're going to increase wages, get stronger benefits is through a union, having a collective voice on the job.

>> why do you think they didn't believe your argument this time? >> well, i think because they had a generation of being taught you had a governor in the state that in her state of the state address she was going to run unions out of south carolina. they'd been taught in the south that unions are bad even though unions are nothing but the workers that are there. >> let me ask you though about rank and file union members. democratic party has a cultural problem with some of your members. that's what many people assume the problem is. is that your diagnosis for why anywhere in ohio it's a startling number he won a majority? but the thought was 40 to 50 he was going to get among sort of at least the bricks and mortars, the trade unions. why is that? is it all cultural? >> well, first of all, let's just put the facts up on the table, chuck. donald trump got 37% of our members, that's actually three points more than mitt romney got in our overall membership.

unfortunately for hillary clinton she got ten points less than barack obama got because they weren't buying some oft. look, lack of an economic message that addresses kitchen table issues is what they were looking for. the economy hasn't worked for working people for a number of decades. they're angry. they're looking for somebody who they believe will actually change the rules to benefit them. not corporate america. not wall street. not the rich, but change the rules to benefit them. donald trump came along and said two things. >> he said he would do that. >> he said two things that stuck with them. he said i'm not going to let wall street get away with murder. >> uh-huh. >> and two, the american economy works best when it works for american workers. now, i agree with both of those statements. now it's up to him to put those statements into being. to actually into reality, to stop talking about keeping jobs

here and formulating policies that will keep jobs here. hopefully bring jobs back to this country in manufacturing. >> what do you make of what he's done with carrier? what do you make of some of these deals? and some will say, oh, it's a little blustery, but he seems to be making a rhetorical effort and seems to be picking up the phone. and some of these companies seem to be a little nervous. >> i applaud him for every one. every job we save in this country for an american worker particularly good paying middle class producing job it is exceptionally well done. so we're happy that that happened. i mean you're going to have to do more if you're going to save american manufacturing than just save a couple jobs here or couple jobs there. you need policies. >> what has he done so far? he's pulled out of tpp. he's been rhetorically basically working the phones. he does a jobs event almost every day. it's the one disciplined thing i think you could say he's doing. what's he done so far that disappoints you on that front? it sounds like he's been doi everything you would hope a

republican president might do. >> not so. a number of his picks for cabinet posts were anti-worker, anti-union. you know, puzder was a terrible pick for the secretary of labor. devos for education. i could go on down a number of those lines. and then just recently, i mean, he did a couple of things that fly in the face of what he said in the campaign. he took away -- he signed an executive order to do away with the fiduciary rule. the fiduciary rule says if i give you economic advice, it has to be in your best interest, not my profit line. it would cost workers will get 25% less in their retirement savings over a 35-year period because that rule's eliminated. he did away with weakening of dodd/frank's bill. that's not only letting wall street get away with murder, it's letting them get away with murder for profit. trying to do away with the

consumer protection bureau. $12 billion returned to consumers in the last couple of years because of that. so it's a mixed bag. he says one thing but his policies haven't been -- >> doesn't sound like you're giving up on him though. >> no, of course not. look, i think i owe it to the american worker to try to solve their problems and help them. and if donald trump proposes a policy that actually helped workers, is good for the economy and it's consistent with our values, then i will work for it. i will fight for it. >> let me ask you about the new labor secretary. you had some nice words of him. you obviously weren't a fan of puzder. you said acosta deserves serious consideration. we've gone routinely violates labor law to a public servant with experienceenforcing . where are you on it? >> well, we're going to vet him. but he does have a history of enforcing the laws that protect workers, which is a real plus. whereas puzder had a history of violating the rules.

>> is there a chance you could endorse this nomination? >> we'll look through records and the answer is there's a possibility. >> all right. >> would i say that tonight? not ready to yet. but i think this is a major step in the right direction when it comes to working families and protecting workers rights. >> all right. richard trumka, always good to check in with you. thanks for coming in, sir. >> thanks for having me. >> all right. still to come, what have we learned and not learned from president trump's first months in office? we're going to hear that later in the lid. then we're going to talk though in the short term about immigration. you've seen a lot of crazy breaking news, how much of it's fact, how much of it's fiction? we'll be right back.

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ahead this hour we look at the realities of the president's what some people say is a mass deportation plan. is it real? but first here's deidre bosa. >> thank you, chuck. the dow rising four points continuing its winning streak, s&p up almost four points and nasdaq gaining 23. the department of justice suing united health care for allegedly overcharging medicare. the suit says united raked in hundreds of millions of dollars illegally. the provider denies the claims. and free meals in coach will be returning to some delta airline flights beginning this spring. meals will be offered on 12 transcontinental flights. that's it from cnbc, first in business worldwide. it's an important question you ask,

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welcome back. president trump says we can expect to see a new executive order updating that immigration and refugee travel ban some time next week. but that's just one of a multitude of immigration related issues this new administration is confronting. another of the president's executive orders expands the pool of undocumented immigrants considered a priority for deportation. it has sparked protts and panic in some communities. yesterday lawmakers met with the acting head of immigration and k custom enforcement, i.c.e., hoping to learn more about the president's directives dealing with deportation and border security, interesting some lawmakers were shut out allegedly due to limited seats. democrats who didn't make it inside the meeting called the directives quote, chilling, and said it appears every single undocumented immigrant is at risk whether or not they've been convicted of a crime. a big question still lingers about what will happen to the undocumented people brought to this country as minors. yesterday president trump gave

little details on its outlook when it came to those doca recipients. >> doca is a very difficult subject for me. i have to deal with a lot of politicians, don't forget. i have to convince them what i'm saying is right. i find it very, very hard doing what the law says exactly to do. and, you know, the law is rough. >> alfonso, president of latino partnership conservative principles. alfonso, let's try to clear up. what is your understanding? i know you've probably been in touch with the administration trying to get a better understanding of what i.c.e. is doing. >> look, the raids that happened last week are consistent with the raids that wer happening the last two, three years. same type of raids. in fact, this particular raid may have been planned even before trump took over. they were not indiscriminate

raids, they were going after criminal undocumented immigrants. 70% of -- >> define criminal. yeah, let's define criminal. because some people argue that anybody that's here illegally is a criminal. >> no -- i mean, if you look at his executive order, has he expanded the definition? absolutely. could it include people who were deported and then returned. or people who just have a dui, or people who may have used a fraudulent document, a fake social security -- >> like what happened to the mother that became a sort of a symbol. >> right. but in the end i always say we have to look in practice what happens. how the executive order is enforced. and what we saw last week is that they were really going after criminal elements where some people without criminal records were detained, absolutely. but that has always happened. so there is no evidence right now to say, and that's what

we're hearing from democrats, from some liberal activists and sadly some in the media that, you know, we're starting to see massive deportation, indiscriminate raids, of all sorts of immigrants including those that don't pose a threat to the security of our communities. and that's flatly wrong. there's no evidence to conclude that. >> all right, now, let's talk about the what got stirred up this morning. there was an a.p. news alert said the president was going to call up 100,000 national guard troops. and it's all based on what appears to be what is standard in this town when there is some drafting of implementation of executive orders, staff-to-staff drafting. >> right. >> that there was some sort of staff-to-staff communication between dhs staff and white house staff. now, the white house says it's not a white house document. that is a fact. but that doesn't mean white house staff weren't in here. and that seems to be at the heart of the concern with some immigration rights activists, which is there are elements in the white house that are pushing for a broader definition here. >> well, that may be the case.

it doesn't mean that it's actually going to happen. the problem is that this memo is leaked. you know -- >> probably leaked to kill it. usually when something like this happens it's in attempt to kill it. >> so there's brainstorming through i.c.e., dhs and perhaps the white house and different alternatives are considered. it doesn't mean they're going to go with it. they're going to go forward with it. in fact, sean spicer denied it completely, said they are not seriously considering using the national guard to deport undocumented immigrants. the problem is that this feeds this environment of fear. and, look, i understand if people in the hispanic community and other immigrant communities have fear every time there is an immigration action there is fear. but this has been exacerbated by democrats, by liberal activists who are using this for political gain. and that really annoys me. look, i would be the first one, if they start systemically and massively removing people who have no criminal record, believe

me, i will complain and i will criticize the administration. but that is not happening right now. >> let me ask you about doca. >> yeah. >> what did you hear from the president? >> well, i think the president is seriously considering an alternative. i mean, remember that right after the election his first interview he said they were going to find a solution, that we were all going to be proud of the solution. that was yesterday interesting article in "los angeles times" basically saying they're looking at ways to rescind daca as if that's the only thing they want to do and don't want to take care of the so-called dreamers. but the fact of the matter is that reince priebus three weeks ago on another network said that they were going to talk to congressional leadership to find a legislative solution for dreamers. so at this point we're all focusing on enforcement actions, possible mass dortion when he hasn't -- remember he said on day one -- >> he wanted to and didn't. >> it's still there. now, are there some elements within the administration that may want to see tough enforcement? absolutely. but that doesn't mean they're

going to prevail. right now what we're hearing from the president i find it very constructive. i am not ready at this point, i don't think we have evidence to reach any, you know, conclusion of armageddon or a police state going after undocumented immigrants. and i think it's unfair to even mention that because it scares people in the community. >> definitely a lot of fear right now. you see it. you feel it. >> more than necessary. >> well, you're my bellwether here, alfonso, that's why we invite you on. you're always very clear. >> i try. >> where you are on these things. i appreciate it. thanks for coming in, sir. want to take a quick moment here to note the passing today of a washington legend, bob michael. he was the longest serving republican leader in the history of the house of representatives, never did make it to speaker. michael though a native of peoria, illinois, and a world war ii veteran, represented his hometown district in congress for 38 years. he was the republican leader in the house for 14 years from 1981 until the time he retired in 1995. just as his party swept into control of both the house and

the senate. here's illinois senator dick durbin remembering michael today. >> every politician alive should aspire for that moment like bob michael when the last words of tribute to his public service are, he was the face of decency in public service. his replacement as republican leader in the house marked the end of an era of civility. congress has never been the same. >> interesting note there from senator durbin. michael was known for his skill at compromise and for getting along with democratic leaders. and it was in part for that reason that newt gingrich chose to challenge his leadership. in a statement house speaker paul ryan called michael, quote, a happy warrior revered for his decency and commitment to what's right. president george h.w. bush said in part, quote, bob was a masterful legislator. there were some who thought he was too easy going with his friends across the aisle, but no

one accused him of being soft after the invasion of normandy. back in 1992 just after bill clinton won the election michael was on "meet the press" and spoke to tim russert about being in the minority party. >> as i look at it on the republican side during the carter years we only had 143 members in the house and we were a force enough to really make some people be accountable on some of the issues. now we got 175 members, so we'll be a force to be -- to contend with. but i want to make absolutely sure that we're pulling together as a unit because in unity there's strength. >> well, he did unify that caucus in those first couple of years. words of wisdom there possibly for the democrats these days. bob michael was 93. ♪ why do so many businesses rely on the u.s. postal service? because when they ship with us,

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bp gives its offshore teams 24/7 support from onshore experts, so we have extra sets of eyes on our wells every day. because safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better. welcome back. tonight another example about how everything, everything is becoming politicized. there's no event less political or should be anyway than an nba all-star game. the slam dunk contest is more interesting. nobody plays defense and it's basically a weekend-long celebration of a great american sport. but this year may be more than that. unlike the nfl or major league baseball, the nba has become a magnet for political expression, primarily from stage left. three examples, one, 2014 after the owner of the l.a. clippers was heard on tape telling his girlfriend not to bring african-americans to games,

clippers players protested by wearing their shirts inside-out during pregame practice hiding the team name. two, nba moved all star game from charlotte to north carol a carolina -- new orleans to protest the outspoken bathroom law. and not hiding his feelings about donald trump the day after the election. >> i just feel if somebody was in that position show mature and psychological and emotional level of, you know, somebody that was his age. it's hard to be respectful of someone we all have kids watching misogynistic and xenophobic and racist -- >> it's been interesting to watch why the nba or not nfl or major league baseball why has the nba been the most outspoken politically? well, it's more urban, it's more african-american and has a somewhat more narrowly defined fan base than football or

baseball. and perhaps doesn't feel the need it has to please everyone. you can see that even in the nba commissioner. so don't be surprised if on monday we're talking about another political statement, maybe from a coach, a player, owner, the commissioner. free speech lives in the nba. enjoy all-star weekend. we'll be right back. cles out he that has everything to do with the people in here. their training is developed by the same company who designed, engineered, and built the cars. they've got the parts, tools, and know-how to help keep your ford running strong. 35,000 specialists all across america. no one knows your ford better than ford. and ford service. right now, get the works! a synthetic blend oil change, tire rotation, brake inspection and more -- for $29.95 or less.

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time now for the lid. i gave them an assignment, so they are back. the assignment -- hopefully you remember the assignment. >> what have you learned in this fimonth and what was the moment that you learned it. what was your pick? >> i do resent being pigeon hold. i feel like what i have learn what trump has learned this is being going to be harder than he

thought. the moment i learned it was awareness is nothing happened on obamacare. >> let me play a moment from preinauguration on that issue. >> we're going to be submitting as soon as our secretary is approved almost simultaneous shortly thereafter a plan. it will be repeal and replace it will be simultaneously. it will be various segments, you understand but most likely be on the same week, could be the same hour. >> same minute. >> sorry. >> there was first day of the administration but we're stretching the definition of -- >> we know he is struggling with

it. >> at 12:37. >> i thought you were going to play the clip where he said we're going to cover everything. everybody will have insurance. they are running around like chickens with their head cutoff. but they would like some direction and instead they feel the president is not focused on the issue at all. a lot of the appeal to trump to people who like him is he would be a decisive leader to get the deal done. he has consolidated control of capitol hill. he has the republicans who would like to move republican policy initiative and the big ticket items are flon dering.

>> like molly, a gradual process. two things, one we don't know it's going to be a press conference until he starts talking. basically, he dispatches with the labor -- the uncertainty and doing where he did it. >> the east room. >> east room. a setting that hosted a lot of historic moment using the power of the presidency to make a simple point. appearances matter. did i know some of it in the -- yes, did i know to the extent first, second and third how it looks. everything is how does this look and how does it make me look. >> sean spicer clothing.

>> that's nothing moment. what it looks like is what it is. >> mine is a culmination of both. it's always been about would donald trump change the presidency or will presidency change him. my conclusion is donald trump is doing everything in his power and has begun to fundamentally chan how we look at the presidency. the moment for me was all around the tax returns and he decided, i ain't giving you my tax return and everybody was like, okay. >> not everybody. >> i'm doing my way and the collective reaction was okay, because we don't have his tax returns. >> help doesn't have

ideologic -- and steve bannon is the most influential person in the united states right now. whethn we come back a world view warning you might have missed. keep it here.

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it would be nearly impossib to misthe senator

john mccain and donald trump don't always see eye for eye. while spiking at the munich conference today. today, mccain said the original organizer of the conference could be appalled. >> they could be toward old ties of blood and race and secreta secretaryism. minority groups especially muslim. that would be alarmed by the growing enable and unwillingness to separate truth from lies. >> we should note mccain never mentioned the president by name. we'll get a chance to ask him this weekend. my guess on "meet the press"

will include mccain and the chief of staff reince priebus. that's all i have for tonight. i'll be back monday. for the record with greta starts now. don't you dare leave. i need to ask you a question. "for the record" tonight fbi on capitol hill. we'll have the latest into general flynn that trump campaign and russia. also president trump getting out of dodge at explosive press conference, he hit the road headed for florida why a rally or why now. dive deeper into white