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good morning, everybody. "msnbc live" this hour in miami. this is how beautiful the city looks this morning just after 9:00. day 30 of the trump administration. a big day ahead. i'm thomas roberts. good to have you with me. this afternoon, donald trump takes to the road in orlando holding another campaign-style rally, and there he will once

again be amongst folks that are out to support him. but look at this. here are opposition rallies that are going to be taking place today in los angeles and dallas. we've also been monitoring the schedule of the vice president, mike pence, at the munich security conference where he spoke earlier this morning fpg vice president h mtings scheduled with leaderses from several allied nations this morning. also keeping close watch on the latest governments on one of the worst storms to hit southern california in years. it is deadly, and the worst may yet be to come. we begin with that breaking news from out west and that storm killing at least two people in southern california. take a look at that. a massive sinkhole swallowing two cars in studio city. earlier, crews were able to lift both cars out. one woman had to be rescued. she wasn't injured. nbc's steve patterson is on the scene. explain with the weather they've seen and what's yet to come. >> reporter: thomas, forecasters have called this the worst storm that south korern california ha

seen in years and that's bore out with the flashflooding we've seen, the mudslides, the sinkholes, the power outages, all of this culminating to show how power thfl this storm is and it's proven fatal so far. this morning, southern california ravaged by rainfall. parts of the region getting a month's worth of rain in just one day. the rain and wind proving deadly. in victorville, rescue crews discovered a person dead inside a car submerged on a flooded road pap 55-year-old man was killed, electrocuted, when a tree downed several power lines, falling on top of his car. southern california littered with treece from gusts up to 80 miles an hour, and at one point during the night nearly 150,000 customers in los angeles with no power. gushing water careened down streets, overturning cars, and causing a rush hour washout.

>> from the air it's incredible to see how big this flood is. >> reporter: part of interstate 5 flooded. one driver tried powering through and had to be towed out. the freeway mess making for a painful sight. a massive backup for miles. in los angeles, a gin sinkhole opened in the middle of a residential street swallowing two cars. both drivers are okay. in areas with saturated hillsides, mudslides are the major concern. nearly 200 homes in the threat zone evacuated. >> i'm going to ride the storm. i'd rather be here. if it get really bad, i'll leave. >> the whole mountain is sliding. >> reporter: following a massive slide thursday stretching the length of three football fields, authorities are keeping an eye on a mountain in san bernardino worried more of the saturated mountain could come down. at times it seems nowhere is safe from the deluge, even the mall. >> that is crazy. >> this suburban shopping center parking garage turned waterfall

forcing patrons to get out quick. good news is the majority of the damage from the storm we saw is mostly over with. we'll still have significant rainfall today into tomorrow. the bad news is that when it's all said and done, about 10 trillion gallons of rainfall will have fallen on this already saturated state, which means mudslides are much more likely and more rain in the forecast next week. back to you. >> steve patterson. thank you so much. we turn to politics and new reaction from president trump just a day after tweeting that the media is the enemy of the american people. it was just about 20 minutes ago he tweeted saying don't believe the mainstream fake news media. the white house is running very well well, i inherited a mess and i'm in the process of fixing it. let's advance to the schedule

for today for president trump. he'll be hold what's billed as a campaign-style rally in florida, a day after deliveri remarks yesterday at a boeing plant in south carolina. >> kwwe are going to enforce ve strongly, enforce our trade rules and stop foreign cheating. tremendo cheg. tremendous cheating. we want products made in our factories by our workers stamped with those four magnificent words -- made in the usa. >> usa! usa! >> all right. so all of this as the white house is dealing with heightened scrutiny over alleged contacts between members of the trump campaign and russian officials. another republican lawmaker joining the call for an investigation into russia after meeting with fbi director james comey. senator marco rubio tweeted last night after that meeting, i'm

now very confident senate intel committee i serve on will conduct thorough bipartisan investigation of putin interference and influence. so, again, that came shortly after the entire intelligence committee met with james comey behind closed doors on capitol hill. meanwhi meanwhile, this morning, vice president pence took to the stage in munich to stand by the administration's warning to iran. >> under president trump, the united states will remain fully committed to ensuring that iran never obtains a nuclear weapon capable of threatening our countries, our allies in the region, especially israel. >> want to bring in nbc's kelly o'donnell in west palm beach, florida, not too far from the president's mar-a-lago residence. what's behind the strategy for the rally that's set for this afternoon? and we haven't heard anything yet from the white house in reaction to marco rubio or other

intel committee members about that comey briefing. >> reporter: no, and i don't expect that we will today, but the president is talking about the fact that he's going to be holding meetings today. we might be able to make the link that that could be related to the national security adviser openingecause we have been told he would be working on that, interviewing in esnce, potential candidates for that job. on the rally side, it's an interesting distinction because this is not an official white house event. a campaign business still exists for donald trump. it's an outside political organization. they are sponsoring today's rally and are paying for it. and the president, who long before he became president, spent most of his winter weekends here in florida, is continuing that pattern, but he's adding in work at his home and then a rally like this where he's connecting with voters. that's something that aides say is important for the president, not just to be inside the white house but to be out face-to-face

with supporters and voters. getting out of washington with two of his grandchildren in tow. president trump appeared ready far big change of scene after a tough few weeks in office. ♪ proud to be an american today returning to the same orlando site where he held the september 2016 campaign event. >> we're going to put a lot of people to work. >> reporter: meanwhile, friday, on the first leg of his weekend travel -- >> i love south carolina. i love it. >> reporter: the president hit the trail with something candidate trump never had has a backdrop -- air force one. built by boeing, president trump came to join that company's celebration unveiling a new aircraft and landing his own campaign-style message at their party. >> and we are going to fight to get more jobs and better paying jobs for the loyal citizens of

our country. believe me. >> reporter: avoiding controversy and heated rhetoric during his visit with family along for the tour. but back on twitter, the president said his feud with the media is bigger than him. the fake news media is not my enemy. it is enemy of the american people. tweet storms frustrate senate republican leader mitch mcconnl. >> i've been pretty candid with him and all of you i'm not a great fan of daily tweets. what i am a fan of is what he's been actually doing. >> reporter: late friday, supreme court justice sam alito stood in for the president and vice president to swear in the new director of the environmental protection agency, scott pruitt, a longtime critic of that very agency, after democrats fought hard against his nomination. and in palm beach this weekend, aides say the president will meet with job candidates for national security adviser to

replace the fired michael flynn. so the president can't really escape the pressures and the duties of governing. he's got to fill that important job for the national security council as his top national security adviser. where things stand on that this morning, thomas, the acting he ooh certainly seems to breathe in some energy when he's at an event like thoo that, and it may be a way for them to try to say tho those who are observing his presidency that there is a response coming from voters. it has been an environment where he found success during the campaign and wants to keep that going now that he's president just four weeks in. thomas? >> kelly o'donnell reporting in west palm beach. great to see you. thank you. >> we move up north to an amazing scene in western new york. take a look here. a spillover crowd for an upcoming republican town hall meeting. nbc's beth fouhy is in asheville, new york, where the meet willing get under way. the last hour we spoke inside.

now moving outside because so many people showed up? >> reporter: that's right, thomas. right after you and i spoke, the room went to capacity of about 120, and there were dozens more people standing outside so a staffer of congressman reid, the republican congressman who represents this area, came out and said she wanted to move the whole thing outside so that everybody who showed up could get a chance to put some questions to the congressman. so we're all out here now waiting for him. i'd say the large majority of this crowd are folks who are concerned about the direction of the country under president trump and want to ask questions of the congressman. the congressman is close to president trump, one of his early supporters on the hill. but we have some supporters of trump and congressman reid here. a little more twers crowd. i'll take you to a family who has strong reasons for being here. carol and mark are here because their daughter is facing severe health challenges. can you tell me why you decided

to come out? >> yes. this is our daughter, lauren. she's 30 years old. she has cystic fibrosis and she needs the provisions of the aca including pre-existing conditions and no lifetime limits to survive. >> whashg, what do you want to say to tom reid given your daughter's situation? >> we'd like to encourage mr. reid to seriously consider. we know that repeal is going to happen, okay so, let's get a reasonable replacement, a repair for obamacare. let's take care of provisions that are so important to people who desperately need them. that of course being the lifetime caps. our daughter's surgery would be a million dollars. over the old system, that's a lifetime cap. she'd have her operation and have nothing else to take care of thers rest of her life. >> did you expect when you came to this town hall meeting you'd see this outpouring, this crowd? >> it's great. >> this is a very red community and we didn't expect to see this

many people here to let mr. reid know there are other people in this area. >> reporter: one family who decided to come out to have a conversation with congressman reid. back to you. >> what time is it supposed to begin? how quickly is it supposed to begin? >> reporter: any minute. at 9:15 this morning. congressman res here so it will getnder way shortly. >> blue skies, chilly weather. great to see so many folks out there. joining ne i yamiche, your reaction to some of these town halls. the protests happening nation wild a little more routine. how do you think this affects folks like congressman reid in that red district, seeing that many folks show up and the type of message they need to take

back to washington and donald trump? >> i think the message they'll end up taking back is this idea whatever they do to replace obamacare they have to tread cautiously and there are a lot of their constituents, even people who support donald trump, really looking very hard at how they're going to continue to help people access health care, because i think a lot of donald trump supporters, while they wanted to fix the affordable care act, they also don't want a lot of the things that are really important, including pre-existing conditions, to be taken away. this isn't rally surprising in some ways because i interviewed some of the people who is running this now publicly available listing of town halls and these are really organizers taking the time to really list all these places and encourage people go to these town halls. i think we'll see this for the next year or so or longer until republicans come up with a clear plan of what they'll do with obamacare. >> we're seeing the congressman on the scene in asheville at that overcapacity crowd. they were going to have it inside but moved it outside because so many people were

there, but fielding questions now. mike, from what you hear from congressional democrats, because of this outpouring of people interested and wanting to hold their leaders accountable -- hold on. let's listen in to the congressman. >> -- do the work for the people. >> reporter: there are a number of people here who have concerns about the country under president trump. what are you going to say to them? >> i'm going to say let's have a conversation. let'look forward shgt not backwards. the election has come and gone. he is our president. he will be our president for the next four years. and let's see it as an opportunity. let's see where we can agree, where can we come together to solve america's problems because that's what he's focusing on and what i'm focusing on when it comes to things like bringing back manufacturing. i know a lot of people in this crowd as i'm look around, they've lost their jobs, their hope for the future. this is an opportunity we can seize. >> reporter: do you have concerns about questions about

whether president trump's campaign staff had contacts with russian officials before the election? >> i'm very confident. having that meeting in the oval office, that was a conversation we had. i am very confident the issues with russia are not of concern in regards to those campaign contacts or anything associated with that. that is something i think this take care of itself. what we have to do is focus on the american people, start focusing on getting this country back to work, start talking about how we'll build the infrastructure and how we'll fix our broken tax code. okay? let's get in here with them, all right? >> so nick, can beth hear us? okay. that was our beth fouhy asking the questions of congressman tom reed, what we'll be talking to the folks about today and also about concerns of trump campaign officials having any type of back channel ties to the russian government prior to the election. yamiche alcindor with me, mike

willis. mike, let's play off of that question about russia and issues because of james comey going to the hill last night and addressing the senate intel committee, marco rubio saying that he wants to have a bipartisan investigation. how do you think that's going to play out? and will there be not just depths interested in this but true republican interest that do not want to be, you know, turning a blind e to something so serious? >> right. that's kind of the million-dollar question right now. there's plenty of pressure coming from democrats. they've got bills, they've got letters, they're doing everything they can to put the pressure on the republicans but they know very well they don't control either the white house or the congress. so their hands are tied in a very real sense, and they're calling for a 9/11-style commission, which would be -- it wouldn't even be congress members. it would be an outside group, bipartisan, and that's the direction they want to go. the reason being that that would be very transparent, it would be

open to the public eye, whereas the senate and house intel committees are very much -- operate behind closed doors. so, you know, you can see the republicans want to defend the white house, obviously. they don't want to reveal anything. and actually the 9/11 commission was the same way. the republicans who controlled congress at the time did not want that commission to be formed. a republican being in the white house. it was only until the 9/11 victims, the family members came down to washington and said, hey, wait a minute, we have to get to the bottom of this. this is what the democrats are going to try to do. they'll keep the pressure on, keep it in the public eye. they want something like the 9/11 victims to come down to washington and force the republicans' hand. you're already starting to see a little bit of the drip. walter jones, republican from north carolina, he came out this week and he supported the democrats' bill to form this independent commission. rubio's comments indicating moving in that direction. so we'll see. it will be a matter of how much pressure do the republicans face. >> mike, great to have you on.

yamiche, you as well. sorry fwe we got a little cut short listening to congressman reed. appreciate your time and your perspectives. he's called the president's chief political analyst, a stone cold racist, so does congressman hakeem jeffries regret that statement? to folks everywhere whose diabetic... ...nerve pain shoots and burns its way into your day... ...i hear you. when that pain makes simple errands simply unbearable... ...i hear you. i hear you because my dad struggled with this pain. make sure your doctor hears you too. so folks, don't wait. step on up. and talk to your doctor. because you have places to go... ...and people who can't wait for you to get there. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands... step on up and talk to your doctor today. we were in a german dance group. i wore lederhosen. so i just started poking around on ancestry. then, i decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. it turns out i'm scottish. so, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt.

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it would have been fine if it wasn't so serious. to hear the president of the united states ask a reporter to reach out for a meeting with the congressional black caucus who deals with a legislative agenda is kind of funny. and i would say to him, utilizing his words, you know, he should use his african-american -- i think he

has one, maybe amoroso. >> we have congressman meeks reacting to the president's remarks on a possible meeting with the congressional black caucus after being asked a question during thursday's news conference by april ryan. i want to bring in democratic congressman hakeem jeffreys, member of the congressional black caucus and the judiciary committee. good to have you on. i had one of your members on in the last hour, congresswoman lawrence, who was talking about the fact that discussions are in the works to set up a meeting with the president and the cbc. do you know what dates have been put out there and what conditions are out there for this meeting? >> well, it's my understanding that discussions are under way in a very preliminary fashion, and it would seem to me that the primary condition would be if there's going to be a meeting with donald trump, that there has to be a there has -- a meaningful discussion around

criminal justice reform, the need to end massive incarceration in america, the need to repair the voting rights act after it was devastated by the supreme court back in 2013, the need to develop an economy that works for hardworking everyday americans and not just big business. these are issues of importance. and if president trump is willing to have a meaningful discussion about how to move these things forward, then i would expect that an engagement with the congressional black caucus is likely sooner rather than later. that, thomas, however, is a decision that will be made under the leadership of chairman sedrick richmond from new orleans in partnership with the membership of the cbc. >> all right. sir, i want to ask you about a comment you made on our air yesterday. i just want to remind folks what you had to say. take a listen. >> we're looking forward to an open dialogue. steve bannon, however, should not be in the room. he's a stone cold racist and a white supremacist sympathizer. it would be hard for me to participate in any meeting with steve bannon that normal is his presence in the white house.

those are very serious accusations. is steve bannon not being in the room part of your own condition with the cbc of how this meeting can take place constructively? >> well, i don't set conditions for the cbc but from my perspective it doesn't seem to me to be a productive thing to have steve bannon, given his history, in the room. what possibly could he add to the discussion of value that would lead to a productive conversation around dealing with issues of importance to the african-american community? >> do you think that president trump is going to hear those comments and use that as any type of leverage to not have a meeting with the cbc, to feel insulted by a comment about steve bannon, his top strategist? >> it's not clear to me, but he made the decision to bring steve bannon into the white house. it seems to me there would have to be some consequences. otherwise we'll normalize the presence of such an individual. you've had democrats and republicans, people all

throughout the country who have questioned the decision to bring someone like steve bannon into the white house. and so my observations are nothing novel. >> so we did see the president address the issue of racism during his thursday press conference. and this happened with an exchange with a reporter who is jewish and also reports for a jewish publication. take a look. >> so here's the story, folks. number one, i am the least anti-semitic person that you've ever seen in your entire life. number two, racism. the least racist person. >> and so reporter, sir, had asked about a flare-up of violence and scares that have been happening at jewish centers around the country. donald trump went on to tell this reporter to sit down. that reporter appeared on fox news late they're night saying he wasn't insulted by the way that he was treated by the

president because he believes that he does have a compassionate heart toward the concerns of the jewish people. but then he xwoes on to say he's the least racist person you've ever met. do you feel as if there is an issue with president trump and his perspective on racism solely because his top strategist is steve bannon? >> no. i think that we should look at president trump's own history of dealing with issues related to the african-american community and other communities of color and it in and of itself is very troubling. we know for five years donald trump perpetrated the racest lie that barack obama was not born in united states of america even though there was every reason in the world to believe that that was not true. it was just an attempt to delegitimize the first black president of the united states of america, and someone, who, by the way, did a tremendous job. he also had adverse histories

relating to the centralark 5, calling for them to gethe death penalty, even thohhey were five black and latino individuals who were wrongly convicted. there's a history there donald trump will have to deal with in terms of his own doing. in terms of the steve bannon phenomenon, the reality is this -- steve bannon ran breitbart news. breitbart news is a self-described platform for the alt-right. the alt-right promotes, in the view of many americans, anti-semitism and white supremacy. white supremacy equals racism. therefore, through a process of deductive reasoning, the person who ran breitbart news has some questions to answer as it relates to the level of respect he has for tolerance and diversity in our society. >> congressman hakeem jeffries, sir. good to have you on today. appreciate your time. look forward to having you back. >> thank you, tom. we head out west for breaking news we've been following today in california with more storms and danger.

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intel's driving...the future! traffic lights, street lamps. business runs on the cloud... and the cloud runs on intel. ♪ i wonder what the other 2% runs on...(car horn) great to have you with us. this is "msnbc live." good morning from miami, florida, on this saturday, february the 18th. that's where i get to report from this morning. good to have you with me. i'm thomas roberts. 33 minutes past the hour. here's what we're watching for you today as we show you that shot in florida, it is a different story breaking news from the west coast dealing wit weathe a powerful storm killing at lst two people in southern california and across the state now fear of flooding and mudslides has forced hundreds of people to evacuate their homes. joining me now, meteorologist bonnie schneider. explain what we saw with the system. there could be insult to injury with something else.

>> that's right, thomas. we're looking at preliminary records already in santa barbara where more rain is headed pi the time we get to sunday so some big changes ahead. i'm sure we'll get more records as we tally the numbers. a little bit of a breather for los angeles, but many at risk particularly in the burn areas for debris flow. that's been a big problem, mudslides. for the rest of the weekend, there's a threat of a new storm coming in, storm one working its way through yesterday and certainly this afternoon. storm two well offshore. all this moisture impacting so many and not just in california. we'll watch for moderate rainfall totals but by monday, the second storm could bring heavier amounts to northern california. now weather this second storm we'll be watching for rain and snow late on sunday, strong winds, particularly along the central coast. that's where we'll see some of the heavier amounts of rain. if that's not enough, as the storm works its way through los

angeles it will bring about the chance for rain and thunderstorms today and tonight in and around arizona and new mexico and later on as the first part of the week the flet for flooding exists into texas. one storm affecting so many place. we'll watch out for the risk for flashflooding early monday so westward, all the way up into california and texas, that's where there's a threat for flooding. ? thanks so much. we'll talk again soon. we turn our attention back to politics and look back at some of the areas that voted for president obama twice before flipping to vote for donald trump in 2016. one of those areas, dubuque iowa, union, longtime democratic river town, and von hillier is there for us. give uthe bac story on reaction, how people feel trump is doing so far after supporting him. >> reporter: thomas, just a little under one year ago we spoke from iowa here, just before the iowa caucus. there was a question whether

trump built a coalition that was loyal and that would vote for him. in this democratic stronghold, barack obama won here overwhelmingly in 2008 and 2012, but trump since last november took it by a percentage point. i came back here yesterday to dubuque, talked with several voters who were obama to trump voters. i've been on the road three weeks, ohio, pennsylvania, ohio, talking to trump voters to see where we stand near the end of month one of the trump presidency. the sound here reflects much of what we heard across the country. >> it's only been three weeks. why bail on somebody that -- look at obama. look at how much good he done over eight years. we've got to give him time. >> i think the media is spinning it. a lot of times -- >> obama kept everything on the down low, where trump is not afraid to speak out and call it as it is. >> i think it's been a really rough ride for him, and i think the democrats are giving him too hard a time.

let's see what he can do. >> reporter: in a midsized town like dubuque and in small towns across the country, what i keep hearing from voters is wait a second, give him a chance. it's about the broader agenda despite the white house internal draw that, questions of conflict of interest, despite michael flynn, potentially the trump campaign being connected to russia during the campaign. all of that aside, for a lot of these towns it still comes town to particularly job, living wages, which you hear over and over. they say the executive orders, the drama aside, we voted for him for a reason. we know what he said many in the last year and a half. we're not going to bail on him now. >> what is the substance that will help people the most for e folks what that voted for him. that's what people care about. vaughn, great to see you. back on the road. vaughn hilliard. thank you.

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that are going to include -- >> this is asheville, new york, where congressman tom reed was holding a town hall. so busy they had to take it outside. >> all right. the tax credits allow you to use your -- allow you to use your money to buy the plan that works for you. [ shouting ] >> boo! >> those are concrete examples of what we're trying to do. >> what about the middle class? what about the working people? >> you will have access to that money immediately for -- >> boo!

>> the question i asked for input because i want to listen to this ip put. how do we get health care costs down? we have the pharmaceutical competition. >> all right. listening to congressman tom reed take questions about obamacare and what the plan is from the trump administration and republicans on the hill about repeal and replace. he's there talking about a tax credit that would go back to folks. but some people in the crowd are yelling that's only going to help the rich. how will this help the working people, how will this help the middle class. again, this is an oversized crowd. they were supposed to be inside there but over 100 and some folks were inside, they got to capacity, so they brought the meeting outside. beth fouhy is on scene and we'll chat with her later. it's a little hard to hear. jonathan alter and karrie lewis

from the independent women's form um and a columnist. good to have you both with me. interesting scene playing out live while we talk here. jonathan, what do you think that represents for congressman reed to take back to new york? >> it remind me of what the tea party was doing during the summer of 2009 and spring and summer when democratic congressman got a real earful when they went home. and now it's happening to republican members of congress, and congress folks respond to their constituents. if they don't, they're not there for very long. so you can expect this activity, if it comes from people who live in the district and most of these folks do, i'm not sure about this particular case, but generally most of the folk who is show up in these meetings are from the district, they're not paid outsiders as some republicans have been charging. that's a real issue for these congressmen. they need to listen. >> we know that this is happening in different spots across the country where

congress folks are going home and having these meetings, hearing from their constituents. meanwhile, we know that donald trump is going to be holding his own rally later in orlando today. the crowd will probably be a little difrent. probably more folks will be showing up. but when it comes to the media and donald trump saying that the media is an enemy, you know, an enemy of the american people, do you think the president is taking this rhetoric a bit too far? just because he doesn't like certain stories? some stories that happen to be harsh because they have facts and they hurt? why would he attack the media and say that we are now an enemy of the american people? >> well, i think a lot of the american people have been saying essentially that, and have felt as though they have not been getting a straight story from the media. look, in every other industry the customer is always right and i know a lot of members of the media are loathe to hear it right now, but they've lost a lot of trust and it's not just paranoia. you look at something -- i was

looking at the center for public integrity shows where the campaign contributions of journalists and media members went, and no surprise, 96% of donations went to hillary clinton. you had during the campaign places like "the new york times" saying they're throwing out the rule book, they've not going to be -- they weren't going to even pretend to be objective. so this is -- it's not just donald trump being overzealous in saying that the media is biassed in this instance. everybody knows that the media has been biased far long time. yes, the media has to do their job but they also have to try to earn back the trust of the american people and show a little bit more objectivity than they have been. >> so the thing about that is -- and, you know, donald trump is a huge media customer. he is watching all the time. he talks about networks that he likes specifically does they do

not press him on very specific irk shoes of concern to the american people. when yous prehim on specific concerns, you are then delegitimized. is that a problem with his own credibility? i mean, he said i can take a bad story as long as it's true. >> but i feel like this is -- the media seems to be shocked this is happening. president obama did the exact same thing in always singling out fox news as if they were somehow illegitimate because of what was on there. >> with all due respect, president obama did not do the exact same thing. you and i both read in the literature of totalitarianism about communists and fascists and they always -- the formulations are always the same. so-and-so is a, quote, enemy of the people, and that person, you know, is marched to jail or whatever. i'm not suggesting that donald trump is going to march everybody in the countryside like the khmer rouge, but that's a very, very dangerous formulation, not one that barack obama -- let me just finish.

let me just finish. the reason our media, our press is protected by the constitution and is the only institution that is so protected is because everybody from the founders through modern predents have understood that our role is to question power. that's what we're doing here. truth comes before power. >> -- the thing that is frustrating is the sense of -- no, there wasn't. >> two wrongs make a right? okay, they didn't do their job under obama so they now should not question trump? is that what you're suggesting? >> no. they absolutely need to be questioning donald trump. >> good. >> but in a way that seems a little bit balanced. there are some conservatives and people out there not even conservatives, normal americans who look back and remember things like the irs scandal, the press was tremendously uncurious when they learned that the irs was being used to target enemies of the president. this was, you know, conservative groups being denied their equal rights. and nobody in the press seemed

to shake that off and just accept the line from the administration. that was a tremendous loss of trust with the american people. so, you know, it's nice to say now the press' job is to speak truth to power. where were you for the last eight years? a lot of people are asking that and saying the press is going overboard and jumping on everything that happens in the trump administration who they very quickly had said was their enemy. so there is a sense that this is -- you know, there needs to be a lot more balance. >> do you think specifically for the irs -- >> -- more important. >> a lot of americans are skeptical of the irs to begin with. anyone is skeptical of someone taking their money. do you think we'd get faith back in the irs first they just happened to release donald trump's taxes? would the american people have faith in that institution? >> no. this wasn't about the irs. if you remember, maybe you forgot the irs scandal entirely. >> no, i know exactly what you're talking about but i'm talking specific chi about the trust in the irs. you're making a -- talking about that calculated point of what

happened to conservative organizations. >> the irs isn't supposed to be in the business of releasing people's tax records. in fact, tt's one of the questions a lot of people ought to have been asking about how his own tax records were leaked. that's not the irs' job. that's exposing -- >> there was only one person -- one other signature on that tax document, his second ex-wife, marla maples. >> fine. >> maybe marla maples delivered that to somebody? >> maybe the irs bureaucrats are taking it into their own hands to release things. but there wasn't any curiosity when it came to that. it seems to be very one-sided. this is, again -- i know it's frustrating for members of the media, but this isn't just a few conservatives who feel the media have been biased. this is the majority of the american people so you should take it seriously. >> it's not frustrating for the media. the media is not being interim dated. you said the media is in trouble with the american people. actually the circulation from-in

"the new york times" and "washington post" is way up. the viewership of msnbc and other networks is way up. this idea that somehow the american public is siding with donald trump in his attack on media is not borne out by the facts right now. facts right nog of facts, that's the realm that we want to be dealing with. >> correct. >> there are plenty of examples of bad stories. i would concede to you kerry that there was bad reporting during the obama administration. there is some bad reporting during the trump administration. the larger point, though, it is our job to go seek facts, to hold the president accountable especially when he is not very consistent with the truth on many, many occasions nowadays. >> that's the whole thing. it's not just the president. that's the whole thing of what journalists want to do for all stories, represent all sides and voices, no matter where they come from. >> the truth first before balance. >> balance is good truth is better. that's the key point.

>> jonathan, kerry, thank you. i got to run. we're going to follow the town hall that's taking place boyce terrius cversions in new york. this is in asheville where the republican congressman is fielding questions about obamacare. more on that. this is the silverado special edition. this is one gorgeous truck. oh, did i say there's only one special edition? because, actually there's 5. aaaahh!! ooohh!! uh! holy mackerel. wow. nice. strength and style. which one's your favorite? come home with me!

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want to keep you posted on this following the town hall that's taking place where new york republican tom reed is catching hit for the party's plans to scrap obamacare. we'll take you back there coming up in the next hour. stay tuned. i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment with breo. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo is specifically designed to open up airways to improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization

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are they fighting here? whatever it is... it's hunting. the great wall. rated pg-13. that's going to do it for me this hour. thanks for your time. straight ahead joy reid talks to journalist april ryan about her exchange with president trump. whether it be with customer contracts, agreements to lease a space or protecting your work. legalzoom's network of attorneys can help you, every step of the way. so you can focus on what you do

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