. here is the reality tonight. it's hard to get good help. president trump conducting interviews today for a new national security adviser complicated by several heavyweights who said they don't want the job. >> what we have been through the last ten days has been unbelievable. the leaks, fake stories, that stuff is bad. >> we also have a reality check on another false terror attack claimed by the trump administration. >> you look at what's happening in germany, you look at what's happening last night in sweden.

sweden who would believe this? sweden. >> who would believe that from the bowling green falsehood to fake voter claims, we have a reality check on the repeated falsehoods. they also have diplomatic affects. swedens asking what is he smoking. >> roger stone joins me in studio to address allegations swirling around him and the campaign, and george lake hohofs here. russell simmons will be here to explain why he believes we are all muslims now. i want to talk to shawn henry from the fbi. trump has been trying to find his footing on national security searching for mike flynn's

replacement. the interviews i mention continuing at mar-a-lago. petraeus out, harward out, and on policy, new memos are out with dhs saying they wanted to expand the deportation of undocumented immigrations. trump officials tell nbc news they object to some of the language but will be finalized soon. do they open more doors to deportations? shawn henry a former cia official, and teddy goff, shawn, what does it mean when you see this kind of language, is it a guarantee or more deportations or something else? >> i think it is. i think it is resources being

allocated to identify those illegal immigrants who have violated the law. i think one of the most important parts is really going to be how you prioritize, how you use your resources to focus on those who pose the most significant threat. law enforcement along the southern border and elsewhere has been -- through the years and donald trump is looking to make good on his promise and these memos seem to be pushing that forward. >> does it look like they're getting slightly more effective as opposed to the travel ban? >> they did promise us that the new executive ban a version on the travel ban was coming this week too. part of it is it really isn't functioning, and at the white house they're not listening to the people in the agencies particularly the state department and elsewhere with

polices. you get the feeling stephen bannon is doing this lawsuit night on the back of an envelope. you can't put together good policies and executive orders that will stand challenges but we know donald trump really doesn't care about bringing in people with different analyses. >> that's wide open and all of that against a backdrop over the questions of russia. take a listen to john mccain talking about that. >> one thing that you and i know from being around washington, there's probably going to be some more shoes to drop. >> can americans be -- that a congress can investigate this if

necessary? >> i hope so and have to believe so. more hope than belief. >> more hope than belief is not the legal standard at the fbi, shawn. reuters reporting there are three separate russia investigative relations, and questions swirling around donald trump associates. i know there's not a lot you can discuss, but what can you tell us in the context of john mccain saying something that if you take him at his word is depressing. >> the fbi and others in the intelligence community are going to take a look at this. i think senator mccain and others on the hill have spoken publicly about the need for congression congressional oversight and hacking and other relationships that may be inappropriate. that will take some time.

i know director comey was up on the hill talking to lawmakers there and briefing them in a private session an we'll see what the outcome of that is but can say it appears it will go on certainly where members of congress feel like they have gotten the resolution they have looking for. >> teddy there are many differences between donald trump and -- the ideologies, we can say there's a factual matter from the transition from the first month of the administration there were so the open inquiries of the fbi of this nature. so what do you think they need to do the right the ship and what do you think is important for democrats to do right now. >> i don't know that they want to right the ship in the way you're referring to, first of all i think they enjoy chaos, enjoy seeing democrats in a

ka -- a fit. i don't know that they're looking to right the ship -- >> you're saying competence in your view is not their goal? >> i don't think so at all. i think that's perfectly clear. i think they would have liked a little more in the role of the immigration ban, but you don't need to look any farther that he doesn't even placed in the sub c cabinet level. >> who do that work when the tv lights are off and the reporters go home that's a lot of the functioning of a federal government. >> i think this is deliberate to some degree. the russia thing is unlikely to me that will ever consume the

public's attention in a really focused and dominant way for a few reasons, we know that trump likes to throw spaghetti against the wall and likes to create diversions, it's hard to focus on things. i think it creates discomfort for the white house and the leaks that are happening create a seem to create an atmosphere of turmoil, so i think there's a political -- to pursue that. obviously there's a substantive issue that needs to be sorted out but we need do that while also continuing to point out this guy is a faux populist, who

people believed he was going do a bunch of things he's not going to do. >> reince priebus had trouble during a fox interview. one on the national security adviser and reince sounding like he's never been through government where leaks are part of the mix. >> the new nsa director can say i don't want steve bannon as a form of the skurcircuit court council. >> -- will have total and complete say over the makeup of the nfc. those are completely untrue. we have never put demands on an incoming nsa director. >> do you believe from your reporting that reince priebus is

genuinely confused or believes that general petraeus doesn't want this job and calling this fake news as a strategy? >>y i believe if you work for donald trump and you don't use the phrase fake news, he calls in you and yells at you. that is the mon ra now. but any news that comes along that is wrong and convenient that points out he doesn't know what he's talking about or saying stuff that doesn't comport with reality is all fake news and reince priebus is someone respected i think by liberals, conservatives republicans and democrats, a good faith republican spinner and manager for the republican party like sean spicer they have taken the kool-aid out there bashing the media when they know it's wrong. i don't believe donald trump

believes it's wrong, i believe he lives in a world of his own delusions but i do believe that sean spicer and reince priebus do know, everything being fake news is being done in ill-faith and shame on them. >> shawn henry, and teddy goff. thank you. next hundreds gathering at times square in support of muslims. head by fred russell simmons. simmons joining me today as well. also can republican congress investigate on russia? senator bob kerry joins me to discuss.

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protests against president trump and his immigration policies. here is what some of the crowd heard today. >> now is not the time to be silenced by fear. >> today, we are all equals. >> yes, i am muslim. yes, i am human. yes, i belong here. >> i am asking you if you will stand up and fight for us. >> nbc's adam reese was on the scene all day, do people care that the ban is currently blocked or might be a new ban, or is this all about what's happening over the past month? >> they're somewhat hopeful that the change in the ban may be hopeful. hundreds gathered to show solidarity to show diversity is what america is really all about, if we are going to attack

a muslim-american we are really attacking all americans, they can be a critical part of the fight against global terrorism. lots of speakers here today from all walks of life, all religions, mayor deblaj yo. >> people founded by people fleeing persecution, founded to respect all faiths and all beliefs, this is who we are as americans and must be protected. >> as you mentioned russell simmons spoke. said these protections must be protected and there must be a way to overcome some of these misconceptions, they said this isn't a hate rally in times

square, it was really a rally about love and trying to understand muslim-americans both here in new york and across america. >> thank you so much. we're going to have more in our next hour because we're going to sit down who organized. russell simmons will be right here in studio. >> i want to turn toe our new segment called normal or not. no one has ever owned a massive business organization while serving as president. and the trump administration is already facing unusual questions in its first month. that's all in public. sometimes the real story is in private. that's why we here have sent freedom of information request. and we have a special report for you right now. we learned that the trump's approach was not normal. white house staff were at risk on violating criminal conflicts

of interest. and has broken down. that's from the head of the government ethics. >> stepping back is meaningless from a conflict of interest perspective. he would have had to step back any way. >> are toitonight we have more for the first time. these are e-mails between schaub and kushner's team of lawyers. they did consult collaborating on a plan and divesting on many businesses. we showed these to norm eisman. -- although the trump team

apparently was not cooperative, kushner and his lawyers seem to have taken a different approach. so normal or not, experts say this was a normal and proper process. as for norm eisman, he says he does wish his father-in-law could follow his lead, with the most profound conflicts, now the courts will have their say. that is normal or not. still to come donald trump's new war on the media. stay with us.

welcome back, i'm not really a sports nut but do know if you're complaining about the reves you're probably losing. maybe that's why donald trump keeps attacking the press. while detractors want to punch back, picking the wrong fight could land in the wrong hands

is. avoiding the language of the attacker, it avoids their fame and makes their case. it may be hard to get in a question for trump like jim acosta. >> go ahead. >> one more followup. >> can i have a little bit -- peter should i let him have a little bit more. >> just because the attack of fake news. >> i'm changing it from fake news though, very fake news. >> i know. but aren't you -- >> yes, laugh right along while he eviscerates everything you stand for, jim. let's get into it with the professor, and political scientist christina greer. this is what we call a very good panel in the business. professor we'll start with you.

what comes to mind? >> well, the first thing is what richard nixon said when i'm not a crook. you say i'm not a crook, the people think of you as a crook. and if people write not the enemy, which is what a lot of reporters are writing right now. rather you should point out that you're protecting the truth and explain why and that's very importan important. >> so the reporter jim acosta is trying to get at some sort of confrontation with the president. most people never have that moment. what do you think is the right wa i -- way to make that advanc? >> give the real news. you say it, blank, get it out

there. it's called framing first. something that trump does all the time. preemptive framing, he gets his view out there first so you think of everything in terms of his frame. >> trump is always on offense so when you have the entire press room chuckling along, what exactly is funny? this is someone saying the enemy is the free press. by constantly saying it's fake news, no very fake news and everyone is laughing you're running out the clock. we talked about this last week with the press, these shows all these networks now patting themselves on the back to try to hold this president accountable, where were we a year and a half ago? the horse has left the barn. this is a man systemically trying to dismantle the constitution starting with the press, now going to undocument

it just regular immigrants in the country, i don't understand what is chuckle worthy for anyone in that room? >> i agree. we learned as the professor says repeating what he says, treating every utterance as the next day's news whether it was lock her up or build the wall or chanting along, it was basically giving him free publicity for his agenda, where we thought it was all so ridiculous it would be transparent and no one would want this agenda. in fact we were broadcasting his message. >> literally, the political point of that is the hillary clinton campaign spent money running adds that rebroadcast his voice they thought was offensive and didn't really play out that way. >> both of us thought it was

offensive, but the people who like him liked that he speaks his mind. >> professor, take a listen to senator john make can ccain on >> if you want to preserve democracy as we know it you have to have times an adversarial press and without it i'm afraid we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. that's how dictators get started. the first thing the dictators do is shut down the press. i'm not saying president trump is trying to be a dictator i'm saying we need to learn the lessons of history. >> what do you say about that? >> first president trump is trying to be a dictator putting a gag rule on parts of the

administration, like the food and drug administration. but the press is absolutely f s necessary. in order to preserve democracy. if you don't have information by a gag rule or shutting it down by calling it fake then you have a problem. it's not just a problem about the press or about the word fake news. it's a problem about democracy itself just as mccain said. >> also about intelligence. christina the notion that we have a government that plays a permanent and none partisan role in providing information to the public, it would be like here is the rules for handling meat so people don't get sick, or the state of the labor.

>> it's not democratic versus republican air. this is part of the problem, because it's not trump. we know he's a step above a grade a idiot to use a professional term. so we know information is freedom and he wants to be a dictator and used to steam rolling his life throughout that way. the media is the fourth arm of the government. the media has to serve as the additional check and balance so you have mccain laying out this argument. mccain, you have been voting 97, 98% of the time so it's up to the republicans to stand up to this president when it matters voting against these nonsensical cabinet positions. >> are you being unfair to john mccain because we did withdraw his position for about forei14 . >> yes, he did. >> the counter argument is that

they're indeed responding to courts, he has a freedom of speech. they are responding to the courts, they're going to change the travel ban. they talk smack about the press but say they have not done anything that physically imposing, you can point to worse times not going back through history is the best defense. just to be clear that's their view they're not doing that and yet, and yet when you see the word enemy, right, are you supposed to take it literally or not? >> i have two reactions, i think we should take it literally, i think he means that, and as professor says, don't get pulled into these little side shows, he insulted cnn or this or that, but cover all the shortcomings with the muslim ban. cover all the problems with the nsa.

cover everything that's going on with his involvement with russia and be less absorbed in what he says broadcasting what he says and -- >> less of him and more about policy. >> and really just becoming part of his show. that's what's happening to us. >> that goes to the other question for the professor. i don't want to put you on the spot on tv. i don't know this is answerable, but you look to the way donald trump interacts with people. his body language, the way he comes in the room and when i was out on the trail you would see him and he was happy to be back out there yesterday happier than doing the work in washington, do you think people in the moment as we saw in the press come start to lose some of the courage they would have had in a different room, do you think he's effective that way or what do you think is going on psychologically. >> he is effective and always

strategic in everything he says and every tweet. i've done an analysis of all the tweets, they preemt preemptivel things, take away so that paul ryan can do whatever he wants in congress. he deflects criticism, so if someone criticizes him he criticizes the person who criticizes them, get the messenger, these are strategic moves. every tweet is strategic, he's a salesman. he knows how to use other people's brains to do it. so he is constantly using your brain to his advantage. and it's very important not to think he's an idiot but to think

he's really smart, doing something and that he's covering up for what the republicans in congress are doing right now. what you see is antics, strategic moves. >> i was familiar with opp, other people's property. but just taught us opb's, other people's brains. >> will the congress hold the president accountable with an independent investigation with serious allegations in the links with russia? we'll have that and a lot more. s stay with us.

president trump asserting america and russia, thursday the president said if we can get along with russia that's a positive thing. also ties with russia could make it difficult for him to strike a

deal with vladimir putin let's get it with senator wbob kerry. >> you look at this russia story. what is your view as someone who's been on the inside of this? >> the western alliance, yes the soviet union no longer exists, but free open trade. free partnership. it's been working. vladimir putin is not part of that group because he doesn't have democracy, he doesn't have an open society. he has all the elements of a dictatorship. so if you embrace vladimir putin what you're doing is embracing what the united states doesn't

stand for. so my view is diametrically opposed to vladimir putin views. >> what about the second piece of this question that's made it so difficult right now which is the question of corruption. is there any way that the u.s. is going to get an answer to whether there was corruption, ca carrots or sticks, vis'a vis vladimir putin? >> i don't know, you have to trust they will be wide open. but the point i'm making is let me put it this way, among the most bipartisan foreign policies right now, it's bipartisan, republicans and democrats came together an said we're going to sanction russia, then we accelerated and tightens those down as a consequence to the

hacking interference of the u.s. election, so if the americans are looking for opportunities to see democrats and republicans working to the it happens to be sanctions against russia as a primary instance of that. >> what do you say to someone at home watching saying i heard nay know was good, important for a long time, now i hear we overpay for it. >> it isn't just nato, the most important thing is the western alliance. there's a thing called the west, it's a liberal democracy, economy h, trying to reach a agreement on trade, economic, transportation issues, that alliance has been phenomenally successful. russia has opposed the west and done a number of things to interfere and if trump doesn't recognize we are the leader of the west. it's reasonable for secretary a

mattis to say you have to put up a little more money, that's a roundsi rounding air. we didn't come out of the war and say it's america first, no that's not what we said. we built the imf the world bank not just the economy that's sustainable. >> you talk about what's sustainable from the global view and look at the president's immigration policies. you said directly to president trump your executive order doesn't make me feel like i'm living in a great country, i urge you to reverse yourself as quickly and as humbly as possible. >> if you look at how the united states has developed itself, you say when was the period of the

greatest growth and prosperity, it's prior to 1924, that was the first time repassed racist legislation, then the italians, then the greeks then the asians, specifically identified in that legislation. it wasn't reversed for another 50 years. i don't object to defending our borders, quite the contrary, we have a right to say who can and can't come. >> but you think the original ban is religious disskrim natcr, it wasn't just that, none of the countries were a doinger anger . when the president says to audiences that all these people are rushing through there's no effort to detain them. that isn't true. that's a lie or it's inaccurate or however you want to describe it but it misleads the american

people not just with these seven countries, since 9/11 america has been involved every single time there's been one of these incidents. >> senator bob kerry. thank you very much. >> is that enough? >> i think the viewers would take more, they're telling me it's time. >> after losing that key round in trump. the trump administration preparing a new order. next head to head with a republican attorney general who says law is on the president's side. ken paxton. and trump's a at an all time historic low. are some supporters bailing in we'll talk to one woman who is collecting trump regrets from around the country.

and i listen to these judges talk and talk and talk. so unfair. so we'll be doing something over the next couple of days. we don't give up. we never give up. we had a court that i disagree with. i disagree with big league. here is the bottom line. we've got to keep our country safe. >> president trump arguing while he doesn't give up he will revise the travel ban. i will talk to the fist attorney general to have trump ban back in court. now how it can be different. perhaps sparing syrian refugees from a total ban that's according to "the wall street journal." many arguing the travel ban is not a bad idea but it is

illegal. our special guest today says those people are wrong, the law is on the president's side. ken paxton joins me from dallas, good day sir. >> thanks for having me on have been looking forward to it. >> you have been backing the president saying he has this legal authority why? >> yeah, we cited statute federal law that says he has the right to restrict for as long as he wants, if he views to be detrimental to the country, so the court should have looked at instead of looking at due process rights of illegal aliens. >> you say these kind of challenges cannot be based on comments the president made during his campaign for office.

why do you claim that? >> we think it's unusual to base a legal opinion on campaign rhetoric. we think it should be based explicitly on law. >> you have taken different views and there's a lot of debate. i want to play from your colleague from washington state who brought a challenge victorious on this at least first procedural round. >> yes, texas did file in support of the president. no other state from my understanding has joined them. yes, of course the president has broad authority when it comes to issuing executive orders, when it comes to immigration. however, those powers are not without limit. >> this is not a party or popularity contest, but do you

agree that you are lonely -- >> look, we're a big state, almost 28 million people so i don't feel that lonely, it affects our state maybe more than other states because we are a border state. washington and minnesota are not. we're fine with it because we feel like we're right on the law, not because we're filing individually or whether he had 20 states it's about the law. >> a lot of these claims are different from what we hear in public. sean spicer has said an you also, it's a public and legal argument that these -- criteria don't even coverage a large percentage of muslims in the world. i wonder what the claim is there. if you imagine a government policy saying we are going to prevent say 10% of jews around the world from entering the country, it might not affect the

majority of the jews but targets some and thus suspect. >> as you might know texas has involved with federal lawsuits particularly related to immigrations and refugees because governor abbott and i have been concerned about bringing in refugees that have not been vetted properly. they certainly weren't telling us any background. so that's really what it is about the safety and security of our citizens so the fact that donald trump came out and issued this travel ban is exactly what we were looking for -- >> sir, what i'm asking is certainly it cannot be that the constitution doesn't care about discrimination even if it hits a a minority -- >> this is a identified by congress in 2015, these were some of the countries identified in their legislation so i don't think it was surprising that president trump looked at these

countries if you look at iran, iraq, syria, sudan, somalia, yemen these are countries with a history of terrorism, so i think it's legitimate to consider the concerns of citizens first and non-alien residents last. >> you're facing some trials of your own a special prosecutor stating there will be true trials for allege financial improprieties. what will your defense be, do you think it's fair to split it in two trials? >> my defense is i'm definitely not guilty. it's more costly to the tax payers, but it would be a better situation to just get this over with and my preference would be to get it over with because i'm looking forward to my day in court. >> do you consider this as a

political operation. >> for me it's been very political so i'm looking forward to have my opportunity and you will see it will be a good result. >> attorney general paxton thank you very much. >> thank you. >> is there voters regret? if your one of millions who sent donald trump to the white house and might be regretting your vote, there's a place on twitter you can vet. joining us is a student in halifax, kansas. tell us what you're up to. >> so, i guess this project is just sheds some light on voters who are regretting voting for

trump. >> not everyone is on twitter, if you're not i don't really recommend it generally, but you have put together interesting one, i voted for you, you're a coward, may you be impeached asap. how do you find these tweets? >> i search for them manually. >> what would you say -- what are you finding that maybe different? >> well, i certainly think it is true the majority don't regret their votes but i think it's important especially for those who didn't vote for donald trump

to get a sense of hope and relief to know that not everyone feels the same way, not everyone is a dogmatist and a lot of people are sort of in some people's view coming to their senses and i think it can help a will the o of people. >> for folks who don't use twitter, do you think social media is opening up a different place for people to talk about this? we have heard so much criticism to polls and polling. we were talking about framing earlier, this is people's own words, this says i voted for you but you act like a child. take your phone and throw it in the river. time to lose your binky. you're never going to be polled on your binky. >> yes, i think social media allows people to broadcast their

true thoughts and starts a conversation for those who regret voting for trump and others who can try to get them on their side. >> erica, thank you very much tonight. >> thanks for having me. >> we have a lot more in our next hour. diving into reports that congress and the fbi are investigating links between the trump administration and russia. i have a key figure in that case. and how should the media respond? and russell simmons, pop icon, right here, the demonstration in new york against the travel ban. that's all coming up right after a quick break.

here is the reality right now. the russia questions only mounting. >> 2017 is going to be a year of

kicking russia in the ass in congress. >> first, we need to understand the parameters here. >> the congress and the fbi are investigating russian links. in 60 seconds i'll be talking to roger stone as he pushes back against "the new york times" report with contact with russian officials. also from friend to fo. >> we are here to make a change, promote unity, and recognize our beautiful brothers and sisters of the muslim faith. >> gathering protesters, for i am a muslim too rally event there in new york city. all that and clapping back.

we have a panel of reporters from the "washington post," npr and daily beast, how the press should confront attacks from donald trump. now a fast pace search over mike flynn resigned after questions about his ties to russia. four american officials say, senior contacts had contact with russia intelligence officials. >> your response to this "the new york times" -- >> well i think you meant alleged contact. it