with all due respect, sir, you talked about the death panel. we are going to create one big death panel where people can't afford to get >> the president calls the town halls fake. good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, february 22nd. welcome to "morning joe." with us on set, veteran columnist and msnbc contributor mike barnicle. political analyst and co-author of game change mike halpern and former treasury official and "morning joe" economic analyst steve rattner. in madison, wisconsin, "the new york times" reporting yamiche

alcindor. >> senator grassley who, from all reports, did a fantastic job and was very respectful and left hand to people. if they spoke in turn, but he did what i think republicans have to do. there has been, of course, the talk from donald trump and some of his supporters that these town hall meetings are fake, which rich lowry, i think was dead on when he said this is the same mistake that democrats made in 2009. rich lowry is the editor of "the national review." he said this is the same mistake that democrats made in 2009 and it is. democrats would come on this show, going, oh, it's koch. koch brothers live in wichita. you had a thousand of your constituents come out. republicans can't make the same mistake in 2017 that democrats made in 2009 and i don't think they are. the president and may it but the republicans in congress seem to

actually understand this. >> yeah. those are voters, make no mistake. >> well, of course. >> the esident's disapprove rating at this point is at 54%, a new nbc news survey monkey online poll finds 43% of americans approve of the job the president is doing. the gallup daily tracking poll has his approval at 41%. let's break it down. >> let's stop right there. >> okay. >> we have a lot to break down here. first of all, i'm just -- let's talk about those numbers. mark halpern, 43% approval rating barack obama, through much of his presidency is 46, 47. you know, 43% considering how i think is uneven is a polite word. >> chaotic. >> that is a better word. the fact it's at 43% is a surprise, i'm sure, to a lot of people. and suggestion that americans are still giving him a chance. again, i understand. all time low, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. i would expect that number to be

at 35%. >> it expects the floor like obama is in the low 40s which is good enough if he moves to the high 40s and low 50s if he has some success. having a floor is a great thing because it means you don't have new stories saying you're in the 30s or 20s. on the other hand, i think he potentially susceptible to what barack obama had. you got 43 and don't want to lose on it and you keep playing to the 43 over and over again and never try to expand your support out of fear you'll lose some of the 43. >> barack obama talked about -- went after republicans and i know there was this battle. but he played to his base. he stayed between 43, 54, 46% until the end of the presidency. again a danger he plays to his base which is all he has been doing so far which actually i think is a terrible thing to do, first of all, for either side but also a missed opportunity

for guy that wisconsin, michigan, ohio, and pennsylvania and won and states no republican had won since 1984. >> if you listen i think the most significant difference between the obama numbers early in his presidency is the cloud of uncertainty that hangs over the country and the trump administration. more people you hear say what do you think he is going to do? you know? than you hear anything else about him. more than you hear anything about him saying anything, about fake news or immigration. you hear what do you think is going to happen? >> what is going to happen. >> a fearful question. >> we certainly hear that in our circles. >> you heard that last night. >> but a lot of my friends circles in florida, they hear something completely different. fake news? yeah, it's fake news. what is he doing on immigration? is he going to keep the terrorists out and that is what it gets stripped down to. >> that is part of his strategy

at the moment. >> what he ran on. >> and what than ran on. to basically play to the base. he is not reaching out. he is basically trying to solidify what he has. i think a couple of differences between his situation and obama. first of all, obama came i think well in the 60s and higher which is tame for a new president and went down from there. but the economy was still a huge mess. the country was a mess. some of that was the effect what is going on out there. trump in at a time of relative prosperity for all of the problems he is talking about 40% unemployment and growth and he is coming in at the lowest level of any product in modern history. >> you love numbers? >> i love numbers. >> i got him at 42, 43% lowest ever approval rating for a president but i don't know what that means in 2017. i do know whoever runs against him four years from now is saying the unemployment was at 4.7% and what you inherited. whereas barack obama could say i had to deal with double-digit

unemployment. ben sasse had a great tweet on crime staestistics. americans think crime is going up plumm ummeting. which, again, a lot of these numbers at historic lows now. if trump keeps talking about how bad crime is and then you have numbers that show it went up 25% 40 years fro now is setting himself up for a fall. >> he has promised 4% economic growth and every economist tells you it's mathematically impossible so he has to explain that way in four years. >> 31% are angry how the federal government is working and 42% are dissatisfied but not angry. 18% are satisfied and just 7% say they are enthusiastic. 8 in 10 americans say they want

members of the congress to compromise and find solutions. 2 in 10 want them to stand on principle. >> let's stop there. washington is more divided than affair, yet poll after poll the last five or six years show americans want washington to work. they want people to strike deals. this is what we called in congress an 80/20 issue. promise to find solutions. >> they do want compromise to find solutions and this idea is you had people who both supported bernie sanders and who supported donald trump who had some of same grievances so there is overlap in this idea that everyone wants the economy to works and everyone wants the downs devastated by trade deals or devastated by closed factories to find some way out of it and everybody wants a health care system has access for all people or allows people to have them -- the capital to havethat. i should say that when i think

about the numbers and i i think about where donald trump is standing right now he's in some ways keeping his promise. he campaigned on this issue of hard line immigration and then he turned around and did all of these executive orders and we are reporting probably one coming out soon and revamping it. he is really someone got on stage and told you exactly what is he going to do and did it. i think a lot of people in washington and intellectuals are saying what is going on? they are so concerned. even some of the people skeptical of him he is looking like he is getting stuff done. >> exactly. that is exactly what i heard yamiche said is what i hear from all of the trump supporters i talk to who were trump supporters and still trump supporters. what are you so surprised about? he is doing exactly what he said he is going to do. >> well, i think that the dangerous edges here are that he is trying to undermine the media and trying to make up his own

facts and could be while unemployment and the economy worsens he could have undermined the messaging so much that he is control exactly what people think. that is our job. >> yeah. if you look at the issues, yamiche is right, he is doing exactly what he said. it's the noise. it's the ground noise he is throwing out there also. whether he is questioning, mark, the legitimacy of federal judges to do what they have done since -- v madison. he says the media is the, quote, enemy the people, with where he sounds like mussolini or lennon which causes concern that phrase right there makes him sound more like a dictator in training when he sends steven miller out who says the power

has absolute power and shall not be questioned. those are the side issues that i think should legitimately concern people who say i agree with his immigration order but let's go ahead and keep the system of checks and balances in the constitution. >> all of that we need to be vigilant about in the press and general discussion. i think the big things like immigration, tax cuts, health care, infrastructure, regulation, that is a policy that is going to affect the real lives of real people. i have not seen a divide as clear as on immigration. great concern about implemented and legit concern how is people anking by this? anyone who thinks this is not an enactment of what he was talking about were not paying attention. you see a huge divide people saying this is horrible policy from donald trump's point of view and supporters of the tens of millions of people who voted for him this is america trying to get control of its borders back and enforce the law in an

aggressive way there will be clearly be human cost but from their point of view and donald trump talked about this almost every event a human cost to the status quo and his supporters didn't want it. now we see a big policy discussion as there should be. >> i agree with them that he agrees what is he saying they were going to do. he has only done one or two of the things you ticked off. hardest one yet to come. taxes, obamacare, things like that he has to tell us what he is going to do and whether he is going to deliver. >> our job in the media is pretty simple. it's to, you know, just as best we with, grandchildren fake media charges and even enemies of the american people. people get that and just do our jobs. the cost of immigration, what is going to be the cost of implementing this? the financial cost, the human cost, what is going to be the cost and the impact of any tax reform package? and just do it every day with details every single day. >> i think that is the most important thing is the facts.

just get the facts out there. which is what i think we have been saying for some time. it's not your job to be trump. it's your job to get the facts out there and let the people decide. >> mark halpern talked about campaign promises and we will get to the fears of deportation forces which is a word that came up actually during the campaign on our show in a moment. first, packed town halls continue to roar across the country with the president calling the people in them fakers. trump tweeted last night, so-called, the angry crowds in some districts of some republicans are actually in numerous cases planned out by liberal activists. sad. so what will be sad is when he discovers that these are voters, but anyhow, congressman dave bratt who had heavy tea party support met a contentious crowd in virginia.

>> reporter: it was an explosive town hall where the republican took audience questions. >> i was impressed with the way dave handled himself with the -- the ignorance of people out here in the crowd. i thought he did a great job on what he was saying. i think he answered the questions well. >> i tried to explain, right, the two-year transition path and those kind of things so we can work on getting the anxiety level so we can have more sieve discourse. you just hear the anxiety is real and people want real solutions and so we are going to have to pay attention to that. >> anxiety is real. and peopl want real solutions. >> absolutely. virginia beach, freshman republican congressman scott taylor faced a second night of questions from hundreds who showed up early. >> roughly 800 packed into this high school auditorium that held thousand. some waited three hours outside to get that seat at the table. >> people are scared.

>> a lot of unusual activity going on in washington. >> reporter: on donald trump, taylor reiterate he should release his tax returns. he also called on the nation to unite. >> i think that, you know, the country does have to get calm. the president, himself, also has to get pretty calm and reduce those tweeting and reduce tensions, quite frankly, around the nation. >> so i was going to say this is the second night he has done this. that is what representatives are supposed to do. there are leaa lot of people th are running and hiding and all of these people remember showing doing exactly what they need to do. by the way, the more they do the that more they don't get blindsided like democrats did in their own district in 2009. >> in the south overflowed crowds chanting you work for us as congressman buddy carter spoke at a college campus in savannah, georgia. inside he tried to reassure the crowd he has no intention of pulling out the rug from anyone

on obamacare. and according to the local paper, savannah morning news, credit card exited through a side door over security concerns. quote, i regret that. i was really happy about the turnout. everyone has the right to speak and i want to give them that right. i wish we could have been more cordial. got a little rough there. then this moment with congressman steve willmock in arkansas. >> you want to investigate everybody! >> how about benghazi? >> you guys wasted a lot of money on benghazi. waste a little bit on trump! >> you got to say that is pretty funny. a republican saying you guys ought to investigation everybody, even if hillary lost they were going to continue the investigations and, et cetera. benghazi. republicans would tell me on the house floor, they believe benghazi was going to turn, you

know -- be the issue for republicans if they could just investigate a little bit more. >> there is one more. this pop-up crowd outside of california office of congressman daryl issa. spending about 90 minutes answering questions. that's good. >> newt? that is great. all of this. by the way, this was great in 2009 when all of the crowd came out and told everybody on obamacare, hold on and wait. this is absolutely great now. just talking for myself. i'm saluting the members of congress going out and facing the heat. i can tell them from personal experience, that pays off for you. >> i'm saluting that, as well as the crowd. that is a civics -- >> tourist funded west world robots but actually human beings? >> they look very human to me.

>> and they are giving input. input into the legislative process so the elected representatives can understand what is on the minds of voters. seems good. >> you're seeing that they are having an impact and this is the back and forth. this is great. my gosh. this is, what? a month or two after elections? . i can't remember anything like this right after an election. >> des moines register said senator chuck grassley's first town hall of the break was a raucous of jeering and cheering and interruptions. >> my problem is does that extend to people like me who will run out of cobra, aca may not be available for me, and the insurance companies can deny me? that's my question. are you going to allow that to happen? >> i don't see how that could happen because when you go out of cobra, you're going to

immediately go and buy insurance. >> as long as it's if there. >> if it's there and they allow me to buy it. are you going to let them? >> where did you get the idea -- no, where did you get the idea that people in washington didn't want you to have insurance? >> from stephen king's office. >> i don't know what you're talking about. >> they literally said go find a skoun counsellor. >> he said that is more intense? >> oh, yeah. >> i think it's pretty intense. you're feeling up gyms two nights in a row in virginia this isn't as intense as 2009 but you go in there and you answer the questions. >> people are really scared because you see president trump following through on what he campaigned on. so a lot of people fear they are going to lose their health care.

>> the biggest concern -- >> very realistically. >> question talked about this yesterday. is donald trump going to do what donald trump said he was going to do? >> on "60 minutes." >> and make a replacement in place on the day of the repeal. i think the town hall meetings suggest he will do exactly that. if republicans try to repeal and come up with a solution that does not provide people health care coverage, i don't think trump is going to follow that. >> well, the problem is, we happen to have some charts exactly on this subject today. >> how excited. >> the bunch line -- the problem is that where is the money going to come from? there is about -- a trillion dollars of taxes that pay for obamacare now and pay for the subsidies of medicaid and things like that but the republicans want to take away those taxes because they don't like taxes. fine. take away those taxes so how does it work? not a single republican plan out that there would keep all of those 20 million people who have insurance in the last eight

years on insurance. it just doesn't exist. >> if you look at the nbc poll that we are showing this morning, we show this, did we show this part that only like 1 in 5 americans want all of obamacare repealed? >> right. >> another 25% that want parts of it kept in place. there it is. only 22% want to repeal all of it. 46% want to repeal parts and 29% say none of it. for years we have been talking about people can't afford health insurance. it's gotten outrageously expensive. >> thank you, president obama. >> people are not dumb in this section of the company. obamacare has been in affect, the aca has been in effect six years now. for six years, the republicans have been saying throw it out, repeal, it doesn't work with no

replacement option ever put on the table really. and people know that. they just want to repeal it. what is the replacement? what are you going to replace my health care with? >> look at the affordable care act, 52% say they have a favorable opinion of the affordable care act and 45% say unfavorable. passing this in 2009 would make it part of america's social fabric were exactly right. americans want that safety net now for health care insurance. >> a lot of the health care industry is invested in the current system and worried about what comes next. steve suggested -- >> but that system is collapsing. >> and was collapsing before the affordable care act. >> no. what i'm saying is the affordable care act system is collapsing even if hillary clinton got elected -- >> no -- >> they would have had to reform it because the insurance company

were fleeing as quickly as possible. >> steve opened up the discussion the problem for republicans. if you keep the popular parts -- >> you can't afford to do that. >> can't afford to and it's not a coherent system and philadelph fundamental changes some want is what the president has keep concept activism about. the challenge and change this is republicans don't agree amongst themselves including a republican president what they want to do. >> they turned people up on base list for republican hatred for obama people are like, repeal! wait a minute. wait a minute. i don'want to lose my health care. >> but obamacare, i'll say it again, and most health care experts would agree, obamacare was not working as it was. you had big insurance companies leaving because the system -- again it was a patch work of ideas that, altogether, was

falling apart. >> it would have been easy to fix. everything like this, whether social security you have to tweak or modify it and obama couldn't get anything done in congress and simple fixes could have kept the system working. >> still ahead on "morning joe," we will get the latest on the president's plans for immigration reform amid fears of deportation forces. we will also bring in the weekly standards bill kristol and kasie hunt and howard dean and chief white house correspondent for "the new york times" peter baker. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back.

♪ why do so many businesses rely on the u.s. postal service? because when they ship with us, their business becomes our business. ♪ that's why we make more e-commerce deliveries to hes than anyone else in the country. ♪ here, there, everywhere. united states postal service priority : you

but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business...

which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? weeed your password so we can lock down the system. my password? yes,the password that i use?ord. yes, sir, your password. there's been another breach! sir! right. okay. i-h-a... ...t-e-m-y-j-o-b-1. ihatemyjob1? wanna get away? now you can with southwest fares as low as 59 dollars one-way. yes to low fares with nothing to hide. that's transfarency. sfx: clap, clap, ding

pray for our president. but that requires all of us, as americans, toed what we can when the president is not doing what he needs to be doing, to stand up and do our part too.

and, right now, i think it's the responsibility of all americans, especially republicans, and let me say this. especially republicans in the senate. >> yes! >> that he when you have a president of the united states -- when you have a president of the united states of the united states that questions judicial review and questions the legitimacy of a federal judge to stand up and say this is not right and we are going to call it out. when you have a president that actually questions free speech, the first amendment and news organizations that are doing their job, i think it's incumbent upon my party especially to stand up right now and speak out. because i always say this of everybody that gets in the white house. you think you're at the center of the world now? you don't own this place. you are renting this place out. the american people are letting you have this. the republican party needs to know there is going to be a time after donald trump and they are going to be judged for the next 50 years on how they responded to the challenges today.

a very dangerous for me to say because it was a strong republican crowd. everybody out there had nascar shirts. they edited out when i'm proud to be american. >> that is really good. were you nervous? >> only nervous that i would fall asleep because it's so late, right? >> that was cool. >> that was an elvis costello song. >> what is wrong with that? i thought it would be a good one. >> there is widespread fear this morning. >> by the way, he knows elvis costello. >> he does? >> he is dropping names left and right. my left toe is fractured. he said he is good friends with elvis costello. >> a good friend to have. >> he has been a guest on this program, elvis. >> elvis has. >> upstairs, remember that morning? >> i think a couple times. >> he should be back. >> we need elvis back. elvis is king. >> decland patrick mcmanus.

>> new directives from dhs label undocumented immigrants. the detention of those caught until their court hearings ending so-called catch and release. the immediate deportation for those in the u.s. under two years. also sending refuges from central america to mexico. and prosecuting or removing guardians found to be smuggling their children into the u.s. dhs says it will add 5,000 border patrol agents and planning to add 10,000 more i.c.a. agents while ramping up the 287 gg program to round u people something scaled back by the obamacare administration. the white house sayshis is enforcement of existing policy. >> is one of the goals here mass

deportation? >> no. the message from this white house and from the dhs is that those people who are in this country and pose a threat to our public safety or have committed a crime will be the first to go and we will be aggressively making sure that that occurs. remember, everybody who is here illegally is subject to removal at any time. that is consistent with every country. if you're in this country in an illegal manner, then, obviously, there is a provision that could ensure you be removed. >> mark, you have said this is the biggest disconnect between red state america and blue state america. i agree. my only caveat to that is i think there are a lot of people in blue state america that also think, wait, they are here illegally. what is wrong with the government deporting them? i know that is not popular in this area code. >> or in most of the media. >> or in most of the media.

i'll be the first to admit -- what? i remember san francisco said if you want sanctuary sicity. outrageous thing. you could go to san francisco and they wouldn't prosecute you. what? that is kind of up to the federal government. so i think this is an issue that the media -- i think this is like abortion. this is -- this is an issue that the media has a complete blind spot on where most americans are. >> i agree 100%. and not necessarily the biggest gap but as big as any other gap. >> as abortion, let's say. >> yeah. you go to any part of the country that voted for donald trump' their view, tell me the story of how immigration has affected the united states and they will focus mostly on the negative. crowded schools. people are no driver's licenses.

hospital costs. their neighborhood is changing. and a belief that donald trump has you can't be a country if you can't control your border. go to blue america and they will say this is going to hurt families, this is going to hurt children, this is going to keep us from having the work force we need. there is truth in both sides. >> i think that is where the media lies. >> media lies 100% there. >> a network interviewing a familiar and a child that was going to be hurt and they were breaking the law. >> yes. >> very hard. >> there needs to be extraordinary excrescrutiny how is implementation but try to reduce the incentives of people coming here illegally is what trump ran on more than anything else. >> both sides. you know, you're a local reporter. >> yeah. >> go find a kid who has been hurt. you can go out there. mika, find somebody who lost their job because of illegal immigrant and find somebody whose child was beaten up in school by an illegal immigrant.

but the hypocrisy the same conservatives freaked out i can pell new pensacola, florida, when we had hurricane ivan in 2005 you couldn't get insurance fast enough to fix up home. guess who wen up without workers' comp. and fixed those homes? in red state america and blue state american and in all of american that is the rank horse you know what. it's just outrageous. we have an economy, let's face it, we have an economy that is built on illegal immigration. some parts of it, mika. we have an economy that is built on that. that is why i say why don't you just legalize it? but there's such a blind spot there. >> i totally agree. >> what is interesting to see what happens is obama only deported those who committed serious crimes.

trump is basically said anyone who has committed any crime can be deported including that means showing up and getting a job and fixing your roof and saying i'm legal. the interesting thing you hear evidence. >> most americans would cut you off and not most but the majority of americans say, but steve, they are illegal! the first act they took when they came to america was illegal! they broke the law coming into this country. >> yeah. >> and why the media can't figure that out is -- because it guarantees you the majority -- >> there is a human side. >> i know there's a human side. but all we hear are those sides of the story. go and find somebody who is hurt by us enforcing our laws. go and find somebody. then we can't even talk about that side of it and then everybody is shocked when donald trump. >> goes to arizona and talks

about the crime rate. >> and thousands and thousands of people there because nobody in the media talks about it. >> explain how he is going to pay for it and deal with the disruptions in the economy if people are afraid to come out and work or if people are actually deported who don't allow the work in this country. >> part of the roots of our great country of ours is planted in generosity, open arms, open doors, come here. bring your poor, your tired, whatever, okay? >> and most persons would say, yes, come here. legally why somebody in paeckkin be here 15 years. >> boy be shocked in a syrian refuge could get here in less than two years. . i'm telling you, when i was in congress, the hardest thing to do -- this was 10, 15 years ago -- was getting somebody from across the world connected with their family here, whether it was from pakistan.

i keep saying pakistan because one case i worked on forever. a guy just wanted to be with his family, for god's sake. he was trying to do it legally. he busted his ass for years. then somebody walks across the border and is here and everybody said we have to be compassion to that person. what about everybody across the globe who is trying to do it legally? >> the way this story is going to be played out is carried out in two elements in this society. the president and the government and the media. how we report it. there is a very good piece in "the times" today an explanatory piece about the potential cost of -- human being, not ma is deportati deportation. i get that. everyone gets that. the cost of this is going to cost like 8500 per person. >> we can't afford tichlt the hiring is going to cost

billions literally billions. >> thereat lie to all of this is the economic line. this country right now which is $20 trillion in debt can afford to deport 300,000 to 400,000 people a year. another lie is the fact that barack obama was lax in this. obama deported more people than anybody ever. he was called the deporter in chief. >> and put -- on the border, too. >> and i'm telling you. for conservatives and republicans understand this. he pushed the boundaries in many cases. if we want to do more, mika, we are going to have to pay a lot more. like if you want to replace a affordable care act and keep the promises donald trump made, get your checkbook out it's going to cost you tens of billions of dollars. >> yamiche, i think it's more important than ever that news organizations are clear, twacfal and unbiased. it's a challenge, is it? >> it is a challenge in some

ways i think you can really sit down and talk about the facts. the issue, i think, is the perception that is really hard to change people's perception. if you have an administration that is saying they are going to put on their website the crimes committed by immigrants and not also offer up the fact that majority of crimes committed in the u.s. are committed by americans, then it's really hard to explain to people that actually these immigrants are not people that are complete criminals, that the country is being somehow taken over by these people. i think as much as the media is putting out facts, there is this idea if you go and you blame you not having a job for somebody, a brown person or thinking that person owes you something or that person somehow hurt your family by being in this country, then it doesn't matter how much facts we present you. a lot of people are just -- to those ideas. >> is it important to point out that that person is here illegally and, therefore, breaking the law? >> i think it's important to point out exactly what that person did. so if that person came over

illegally you can say that. i think it's also important to explain to people what the economy of immigration is here. there was a great story in "the times" about california farmers who voted for trump and were very excited about him but now terrified that if he continues -- if he deports people they are going to be gone. >> exactly. >> it's obamacare. >> it's a nuance. >> that is the case is i think we, the media, need to be fair on both sides saying, yes, a lot of people are here -- that are here illegally should not be here. if they commit crimes, especially if they defraud the government, they should go home. we have to be honest about the fact that our economy in red state and blue state america. >> up on the roof. >> is run. up on the roof. up on the roof working without workers' comp. working without benefits, working without anything. guess what. they can stop your house from leaking tomorrow. or you can wait four months for the good hands people to come

and bring their contractors. i want to show you this poll that just came out last night on immigration impact on america helps more than it hurts. 58%. guess what. you know the people who believe that? it's very limited number of people. only people who use computers. it's only people who actually use the internet. it's only people who actually like look at silicon valley and like intel. >> we have to go to break but you're right. let's go! >> they are all immigrants! hold on. no! this point needs to be made! >> i think you're making it! >> they are all immigrants! silicon valley. it's not fueled by guys like me. >> no. >> it is fueled by guys like me being bossed around by people like immigrants who we were blessed as a country to have come here. >> that's why our millennial kids have little shoulders. >> your roofs are going to leak and restaurants will close.

>> and the internet is shuing down. >> coming up -- >> isn't that funny about the california ranchers? dah, dah. >> it's obamacare. >> now they are leaving. now they might leave. oh, wait. my son is not going to go out there and do this work! >> wait. i want my health care. >> i'm not talking about my son, but the rancher's son. >> who is going to cut the grass on donald trump's golf courses? >> the dutch. >> howard dean is ready to endorse. >> they are fleeing. >> they need to be safe. >> the party's former chairman reveals his choice only on "morning joe." knowing where you stand. it's never been easier. except when it comes to your retirement plan.

but at fidelity, we're making retirement planning clearer. and it all starts with getting your fidelity retirement score. in 60 seconds, you'll know where you stand. and together, we'll help you make decisions for your plan... to keep you on track. ♪ time to think of your future it's your retirement. know where you stand. explore your treatment options with specialists who treat only cancer. every stage... every day.... at cancer treatment centers of america. learn more at cancercenter.com/experts [he has a new business teaching lessons. rodney wanted to know how his business was doing... ...so he got quickbooks. it organizes all his accounts, so he knows where he stands. ahhh...that's a profit. way to grow, rodney! visit quickbooks.com.

z2a1gz zx9z y2a1gy yx9y it's realing beauty doesn't stop at my chin. roc®'s formula adapts to delicate skin areas. my fine lines here? visibly reduced in 4 weeks. chest, neck, and face cream from roc®. methods, not miracles.™ this is the story of green mountain coffee and fair trade, told in the time it takes to brew your cup. let's take a trip to la plata, colombia. this is boris calvo. that's pepe. boris doesn't just grow good coffee,

boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm to grow even better coffee and invest in his community, which makes his neighbor, gustavo, happy. that's blanca. yup, pepe and blanca got together. things happen. all this for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee. packed with goodness.

will donald trump make it all four years of his term? >> that's up to donald trump. >> what do you think, joe? >> well, i think if he continues the way he continued the first month, i just don't think it's sustainable and i don't think it will last four years. >> or will we get used to and it build a callus on our sole and will our sole be a big toe? >> my lord.

>> right that have i wrapped myself in the american flag and said, proud to be american. >> that is nice. i like it. howard dean joins it is discussion next on "morning joe." with every early morning... every late night... and moment away... with every click...call...punch... and paycheck... you've earned your medicare. it was a deal that was made long ago, and aarp believes it should be honored. thankfully, president trump does too. "i am going to protect and save your social security

and your medicare. you made a deal a long time ago." now, it's congress' turn. tell them to protect medicare.

joining us from washington former governor of have the and former chairman of the democratic national committee, howard teen. good to have you on the show this morning. >> thanks, mika. >> dnc chair endorsement from howard. who do you think? >> pete buttigieg. a south indiana mayor and 36 area two tours of duty in afghanistan and most important thing he is the outside of the beltway candidate. this party is in trouble. our strongest age group that votes for us is under 35. and they don't consider themselves democrats. they elected barack obama twice. they didn't elect hillary clinton but voted 58% for her and don't come out for the mid

terms or down ballot candidates. our party is old and we need this guy running this party. i had dinner with him last night. he is really, really capable and smart. he runs a city of a hundred thousand people and got a thousand people in his work fors and he is what we need. >> >> the mayor joined us earlier on "morning joe" and told us what democrats need to do differently to beat donald trump next time. >> you got to show up everywhere. i think a lot of communities an a lot of parts of my community that felt like nobody was talking to them. we got so caught up in the show and so busy talking about him they were asking, who is talking about me? welso simply have to show up everywhere. even in deep red counties. i can te you that it matters. even the ones we are going to get beat in, it matters if we get 80/20 or 60/40 because when you add that up statewide, that could be the difference. >> governor, what happened to the democratic bench? who is sitting on that bench? >> there are good people on the

bench but they are not empowered. our leadership in their eye 60s and '70s and the potential power in this part is under 35 years old. if you want to change this party have you to have leadership that looks like the people you are going to change. we need outside of the beltway and i've had enough of these endorsements from senators angle congressman. we need somebody with administrative service and serving in the military helps because pete is organized and he's been in an area that most people wouldn't want to go to, afghanistan. i just think this guy is the real deal and i think this is the only way that we are going to curreapture this generation get them to align with the democratic party. this is our future and not a 50-state strategy but a 50-year strategy and can't do it unless we are willing to pivot outside the beltway. >> let's do pure politics here. handicap the race. senator perez and ellison have

been chosen. how do you think he could win the dnc chairman? >> i think pete is a lot of people's second choice. perez and keith, who i like a lot and campaigned for, a very good guy, but they -- you know, they representertain interests inside the democratic party who are at odds with each other. the fact that neither onef them has locked this up by this time tells you something about the nature of this race. i think it's time for an outsider. i was an outsider. i came in. we didn't have the house, the senate, or the presidency and when i left we had the house and presidency and the senate. you can do this in four years. but you can't do it if you don't move the party outside the beltway where the voters really are. >> thank you so much, howard dean. greatly appreciate it. >> thank you, howard. >> thanks. >> a guy who was a dnc chair and 50-state strategy that people mocked and it ended up paying great dividends, which what the democratic party to do, a

50-state strategy. to follow-up yesterday. we said that president trump needed to go out and condemn anti-semitism by name. >> yeah. >> i certainly did. soon after and he has done it directly. of course, ivanka trump started right away and talking about that. anti-semitism certainly, again, it's been out there for some time but it needs to be strongly condemned as it was condemned yesterday and by name. coming up, from defense to homeland security to his former and current national security advisers, donald trump is surrounding himself with military generals. why nbc tom brokaw says it's a positive thing for the president. hydro boost water gel. instantly quenches skin to keep it... ...supple and hydrated... ...day... ...after day. with hydrating hyaluronic id, ...supple and hydrated... which retains up t1000 times its weight...

...in water. this refreshing water gel... plumps skin cells with intense hydration and locks it in. for supple, hydrated skin that bounces back. hydro boost... from neutrogena®. see what's possible. when i was too busy with the kids to get a repair estimate. i just snapped a photo and got an estimate in 24 hours. my insurance company definitely doesn't have that... you can leave worry behind when liberty stands with you™ liberty mutual insurance

don't ever let anyone tell you you can't change. that is what life is. change. it's not some magic trick. it's your will. your thoughts become your words become your actions become your reality. change is your destiny. now go chase it. the whole country booking on choice hotels.com. four words, badda book. badda boom... let it sink in. shouldn't we say we have the lowest price?

nope, badda book. badda boom. ha youver stayed with choice hotels? like at a comfort inn? yep. free waffles, can't go wrong. i like it. promote that guy. get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed. when you book direct at choicehotels.com. book now. the new york high school that held a thousand. people waited outside to get that table. >> people are scared. >> a lot of unusual activity going on in washington. >> on donald trump, taylor reiterated he should release his tax returns. he also called on the nation to unite. >> i think that, you know, the country does have to get calm. the president, himself, also to get pretty calm and reduce those tweeting and reduce tensions, quite frankly, around the nation.

>> i guys just want to investigate everybody. >> how about benghazi? >> you guys wasted a lot of money on benghazi. waste a little bit on trump! >> the last i heard, these jobs are not coming back and now these people don't have the insurance they need because they are poor! they work those coal mines and they are sick! the veterans are sick. the veterans are broken down and they are not getting what they need! if you can answer any of that, i'll sit down and shut up like elizabeth warren! >> okay. that is one way to put it! she persisted. an eventful recess for the members of congress in the age of trump. welcome back to "morning joe." it's wednesday, february 22nd. still with us we have political analyst mark halpern, former treasury official steve rattner and joining the conversation, host of msnbc "politics nation" and president of the national

action network reverend al sharpton and a visiting fellow at the american enterprise institute tim carney and senior write of politico and cowrite of "the "playboy"" jake sherman. >> i want to underline it again. you look at that. the republicans right now they are watching that and republican congressmen and congresswomen and senators saying i'm not putting myself in that position. that is exactly the position you want to put yourself in. you sit there like mitch mcconnell did. you listen and back and forth and let people scream, let them do what they want to do. mitch mcconnell has been doing this a long time. you get in there. you listen. and you have this back and forth. you keep doing it. i guarantee you by the 100th town hall meeting they are not screaming at you, you're signature dositting down and talking through it.

in 2009 the democrats said it was the koch brothers even after they all lost! it wasn't the koch brothers! they live in wichita. i know as a guy that has been in politics, for somebody to get out of their house, to rush home from work. let's think through this. they rush home from work. they feed their kids. right? homework is lined up and get in the car and a lot of times have to get a babysitter and then run out and then they wait for three hours to go talk to their congressman. then they sit through a three-hour town hall meeting and they come back home. and maybe their kids are asleep, maybe they are not but they have sleep fast because they have to wake up at 5:00 to go to work the next morning! that is real! and it was real in 2009. it's real in 2017. >> those are voters and they will show you how real it is at

some point. 54% disapproval rating for president trump. 43% approve of the job the president is doing. 41% is gallup tracking poll. 41% are angry out the ferguson is working and 42% say they are not satisfied. 8 in 10 americans say they want members of the congress to compromise and find solutions. 2 in 10 want them to stand on principle. reverend al, brings back to the protests and packed townalls where a lot of folks who vote for truut don't want to lose their health care which puts republicans in a tough spot. >> very tough spot. i agree with joe. it is foolish to ignore people coming to the town halls, the

republicans. it's also foolish for the president to ignore it because they expect that you are going to protect them while you do your politics, and i think that a lot of people that were opposed to what was called b obamacare because they had their feelings about obama, wait a minute, i didn't mean my preexisting condition and i didn't mean my children not held under my insurance until he is 26 and i think the rubber is meeting the road now. the question is whether the democrats can organize that or have alternative candidates with solutions because i think the big takeaway from these polls. people want their problems solved. they don't just want to be angry. they want solutions. >> too far left and they are over their skis and back where they started already. which is right here for democrats. >> jake, politico is out with new polls this morning, particularly on obamacare. what did you guys find out? >> i think you're seeing some slippage in the opposition to

the health care law. 45/45 the approval rating at this point and early janua 41-52. and that is the approval rating. now the big issue, i think, for republicans is there is a sharp split between the people who want all of it repealed, 27% and 26% want it expanded. i think the big problems for president trump the president said he plans a replacement planned out soon and that is news for the people on capitol hill working behind the scenes. they need to do something and soon. because they have heard for now almost seven years that this law is going to be repealed. we do not have a replacement on the horizon. and republicans are beginning to feel what you just said a couple of minutes ago, joe. you can't do all of this stuff unless you want to spend a boat load of money and republicans are not in a place where they are able to do that. i think this is becoming not only a political issue but a

massive substantive and legislative issue. >> tim carney, i think the person i'd like to be least right now in washington, d.c. is paul ryan who has spent his entire life being a deficit hawk. but you look at what the president is promising, which is more coverage, costing less, and you look at the 20 trillion dollar debt and you look at these protests, which republicans, i don't think, are going to be lulled into a false sense of security like democrats were in 2009. and suddenly, paul ryan is thinking, man, how do i make all of these numbers add up? how do we stop a 20 trillion dollar debt to becoming a 30 trillion dollar debt? >> president trump is making paul ryan's job harder. he is saying you can have more coverage with less cost to the taxpayer and more choice. whether trump thinks government is a magic wand to do that or the market is going to magically do that, i don't know. but when you talk to conservatives on the hill and conservatives in think tank world, they wince every time

trump makes that sort of rainbows and unicorns dancing on thrabows promises because it makes the voters demand that then. >> you can see this coming, can't you, tim? at least conservatives. it always say we end up writing bigger checks at the end of the day. >> democrats are -- >> heartless cold people we are tauled b called. if they can't see this, let me tell them how it turns out. they are going to fight behind you to try to come up with this great well-reasoned thought-out responsible bill. they are going to put it out there. then donald trump is going to go, no, it doesn't go far enough, they are cold-hearted and we are going to make it cheaper and we are going to give them more coverage, right? >> the democrats come in after that and say it needs to have even more coverage than that. you remember this, joe, the way it always worked. republicans say we do no child

left behind and have all of this money for schools and democrats said we want more. more prescription drug coverage. we want more! you can't outspend the democratic party. >> by the way, he is exactly right! there was never anything we put on the house floor that the democrats didn't say they are cold and heartless, we want more. like if you asked them how much you want in an increase or something? 4%. okay. we give 4% and then they are on the floor screaming five minutes later, republicans are cold and heartless, we need a 6% increase and exactly what republicans -- republicans are set up for the kill here. >> look. i'll skip the adjective you but talk about the facts. the republicans put out a blueprint for their health care plan last year. the fact it would significantly reduce the number of americans who get health care, it just would. >> which donald trump won't follow them. >> then donald trump should say obamacare is great, we got to make some changes to make the exchanges work and things like that. what else will donald trump want

to do except keep the 23 million on health care? >> there is nothing else. mark? >> three mistakes. partisan way, he wasn't honest about there being winners and losers, and he didn't convince people it would cost less for better coverage. >> can i add a fourth? >> yeah. >> i brought in big pharma and hospitals. >> the president is under the precipice of making all four of the same exact mistakes and if they do they suffer the same fate. present the country a plan that people don't feel good about. when you have winners and losers people are going to lose coverage. >> they are going to own the problem. >> the worst part of it for the republicans even if i accept what you say as the mistakes that obama made, he ended up having 23 million people insured that didn't have insurance. it's worse if you go through -- >> it's just what tim carney -- >> the amount of people -- >> that works.

>> yes, sir. >> so if you're going to make a mistake and tim is exactly right. if you're going to make a mistake, you want to make the mistake on the side of handing out gifts to people. >> exactly. >> you don't want to be the santa claus that comes along and says, wait a second, that bike i gave you? that was for the person next door. i need it back! we can't afford it shram! hold on . we will take off the wheels. >> he gave coverage to 23 million people and trump may take coverage away from millions of people. that's like even worse! >> tim, can i ask you something? >> much worse. >> tim, i take it you hang out -- i don't know. i could be totally wrong. maybe i'm assuming wrongly but i guess you hang out with a good number of republicans like i do because i've been a republican and a conservative or at least conservatives. how many -- i know a lot of conservatives that voted for trump acros the country who are

either on t affordae care act or have family members in the affordable care act. do you share that experience with me? >> sure. but i also know the alternative that people who lost their health care plans because obamacare outlawed it and the problem is now that any health care you have, if it's different from what you had in 2008 you think of it as obamacare. and so that is either good or bad. so the people who said, oh, obamacare covered all of these people, that is true. but i think even more -- the public perception of it certainly is confused because everybody thinks my employer plan is obamacare or this is obamacare. so the public, it's a problem with public policy polling. this is an incredibly complicated issue like no congressman read both of those bills. no voter out there read both of those bills. when we say we oppose or favor obamacare there is no content to that idea. that is entirely up to congress to say here is how -- here is

what we are going to keep from obamacare and here is what we are going to take away from obamacare because the voters don't know what is in the bill. >> let's bring in another choice chief white house correspondent for "the new york times," the peter baker. >> wait. don't we need to say the failing "the new york times"? >> they are doing pretty well today. >> they just hired laura kim so now they are successful. >> your subscription is up. stock price up 45%. >> peter baker is covering nine stories a day. foreign policy, domestic policy. >> and he is 23 years old. >> boyish, but accomplished a lot. >> a rough year for all of us. >> people have talked about the generals and the fact that the president has a predisposition towards them. you got a piece today about the threbig generals in the cabinet and o in the cabinet and one at the national security counl and kind of the attitude they have. talk about that. >> it's very interesting. he appointed h.r. mcmaster, the lieutenant general who is one of the people responsible for

helping turn around the war in iraq in the later days of the bush administration as his national security adviser and he joins john kelly and mattis at defense. three interesting men who served in iraq and forged in the fires of iraq and national security leadership coming to these posts. very interesting dynamic. first time all three of these. michael flynn and now mcmaster. all three of these held by senior military veterans but some people find it comforting because these are people who have been through very difficult circumstances and have been very independent minded so people think they might be willing to tell the president when he might be wrong. >> again, seen as a moderating influence. not 1962. as you say they know what a losing war looks like. mika point out.

each got to where he is today by bucking the military hierarchy. which is fascinating when the knock that we have and a lot of people have for donald trump is he likes surrounding himself with yes men. he has picked three of the most independent minded generals he could find in an organization that just absolutely encourages you to go along to get along. >> well, that's right. h.r. mcmaster made his name as a young officer with a dissertation that became a book and criticizing the military leadership during the vietnam era for not speaking up to the greater leadership and not stanng up to lyndon johnson. he said the way the bush administration went to iraq is wrong and badly handled. he fought against the prevailing military strategy at the time to introduce a new way of looking at counterinsurgency is the

basis for petraeus surge operations later on. he has repeatedly done things that didn't necessarily endear him to the people above him and stoums losing out on promotions as a result. donald trump has picked somebody for somebody known for thinking outside of the box and who might speak up when things go a different way. >> how do you think this is playing out inside the white house? do you think trump is going to listen to these guys? what happens to the steve bannon power access in this configuration? does he city stay on the nsc? how does this end up in your mind. >> steve bannon is the president's chief strategist and former president of breitbart news and taken a seat on the principles committee and cabinet part level of the senate security council. sean spicer was asked would mcmaster change how he wants the

structure? we will see how it works out. i think neither mcmaster nor mattis nor kelly, they are going to speak their mind and have great credibility. i think it's going to be hard if they take different positions for president trump to dismiss their advice and you've seen this with mattis. trump said let's readminister torture and mattis said i don't think that is effective and the president backed off. these have the ear of the president at the moment and see ho influential they are going to go. >>ake sherman, also, it's not just torture where these generals have spoken up. but whether it's nato where you have general mattis saying if nato didn't exist, we would have to invent it because it's so critically important. or russia. it seems that everybody around donald trump are of one voice and that voice sounds like a

traditional not just republican, but traditional mainstream foreign policy voice. >> general mattis was in baghdad the other day and said we are not here to take your oil. mike pence at the eu we will continue to work with the eu and continue to support the alliance. it almost does seem and struck me this morning when we were putting together the playbook that mike pence is the one who is going to st. louis today to talk about the economy at a factory in st. louis and not the president. so it's almost like there is these paralleled tracks of a presidency basically where you have donald trump kind of doing his thing and the white house on twitter frequently and pence and others touting top political lines and something unlike we have seen in recent history. >> peter, our complaint on this air, time and time again, when he was talking about having john

bolton as secretary of state or even rudy giuliani as secretary of state, or i forget the name of the guy from kansas that he wanted to be his dhs. chris cobalk. our argument around the table if you're the disrupter, then you be the disrupter inhi you need to have people that know the system around you in your cabinet. it actually, when it comes to foreign policy that does look, you listen to what jake just said, sounds like exactly what is happening is trump shouts and tweets we are going to get out of nato unless you guys pay your 2%, right? >> right. >> and scares the hell out of the nato countries. the president says we love nato and suddenly the nato countries are saying maybe we will pay our 2% and looks like trump has done exactly that. he has surrounded himself in the cabinet with establishment figures and he is actually, as jake said, the disrupter in

chief here. >> no that's right. i think a very good point. he is confusing the heck out of our allies what are we supposed to be listening to? the president or what everybody else is saying? maybe a good negotiating tactic, right? people are if you start off with a guy saying you have to do this and you have to do this and then another fellow showing up don't worry too much but, hey, pay up. >> exactly. >> peter baker and jake sherman, thank you very much. reverend al, you have a piece, your latest piece in "the huffington post" and i'll highlight one point of it because you look at the president's touring of the smithsonian's national mutual of african-american history and culture yesterday and you worry, it's a photo op and nothing more but you point out it's good he went and at least saw some of the history. i ask, especially given that it remains to be seen how his policies will impact women and minorities, because of the horrendous role out of this immigration order and how

hand-fisted it was on so many levels. there are, though, some optical steps that he is taking and opt ticks do matter. >> i think that optics can matter. the question whether it's an empty gesture or beginning of him really doing something substantive. i heard him, yesterday, denounce the anti-semitic attacks and threats that we have seen, unprecedented seeing what we saw in the cemetery in st. louis. that is racism and he never went to this is what i'm going to do about it. i'm going to instruct the attorney general to aggressively find who did this, therefore, i'm going to deal with -- let me say this. every modern president, including richard nixon and george bush 43 who we marched on about katrina in new orleans and about the vote, met with civil rights leaders, met with the congressional black caucus.

they knew that all of us would be opposed to this. >> you've talked to him, right? >> on the phone. >> about meeting with him? >> about meeting. i think he needs to meet and he needs -- there are things in the republican politics you could do nixon was the one who had arthur fletcher bring about the concept of affirmative action. you take federal thrift which is about 500 billion dollars. no black managers of those funds. you're talking about federal funds that we are participating in. veterans. you deal with -- if he had met and said in the railroad trust fund i'm going to bring in black managers and i want to see them take some of those profits and invest in affordable housing and things in your community rather than the developers, these are things that are within the republican model that clearly we going to want to deal with just as issues and other issues that we may debate but there are things we can deal with.

i think the problem is he's surrounded by people and this is something i agree with joe on, that are more limited than he is. he is from new york and used to dealing with a variety of things. we disagree. atlantic city. but these guys are culturally deprived. they don't know how to talk to people like us. >> little miller? he communicates beautifully. >> there is a "the wall street journal" article that mark was just talking about how he is a product of manhattan. >> right. >> he a product of new york. >> out of borough product. he knows how to talk to people. >> they underestimate him because they are limited. he needs to stop listening to them and bring in people that will stand up' -- >> the "the wall street journal" article talks about how on issues of gay rights. >> right. >> he has actually -- he has been more forward looking and more forward thinking than, as

you said, all of the people that he surrounds himself in with. >> he has supported freddie, a latino for mayor of new york. for mayor. donald trump. now i disagreed with him and i marched but he joined the freddie ferrar campaign so here is a guy more culturally exposed than people stall the caucus and you don't need to meet with the civil rights leader. yes, we disagree and fight. kids are shot in chicago. we have no time for posturing so i hope he turns the visit yesterday into thinking how am i going to be perceived in history? i don't need to be the first modern president that wouldn't talk to people that were critical of me. >> reverend al sharpton, thank you very much. tim carney, thank you as well. >> tim, thanks a lot. we love having you. >> thank you. >> we hope they let you in your offices after you're on our show. it doesn't cause you too much grief, does it? >> i bring some of these msnbc

cooties but is there a spray for that. >> i use that before i go home. >> that's good. up next, kristen welker is standing by at the white house with some interesting numbers on foreign policy from our new nbc poll and tom brokaw will join us as well. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. start here. at fidelity, we let you know where you stand, so when it comes to your retirement plan, you'll always be absolutely...clear. it's your retirement. know where you stand. you'll always be absolutely...clear.

dearthere's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced, our senses awake, our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say: if you love something... set it free. see you around, giulia ♪

mattress firmness? fortunately there's a bed where you both get what you want every night. enter sleep number and the ultimate sleep number event, going on now. sleepiq technology tells you how well you slept and what adjustments you can make. she likes the bed soft. he's more hardcore. so your sleep goes from good to great to wow! only at a sleep number store. right now, save 50% on the ultimate limited edition bed. sale ends sunday! go to sleepnumber.com for a store near you. mom,on my car insurance of money by switching to geico. i should take a closer look at geico... you know, geico can help you save money on your homeowners insurance too? great! geico can help insure our mountain chalet! how long have we been sawing this log?

um, one hundred and fourteen years. man i thought my arm would be a lot more jacked by now. i'm not even sure this is real wood. there's no butter in this churn. do my tris look okay? take a closer look at geico. great savings. and a whole lot more.

♪ joining us now nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker. you have more from this morning's new nbc news survey monkey poll. tell us about that. >> reporter: hi. that'sright. our numbers are giving us a look into a whole host of areas, including how americans view the president's foreign policy. so first up, take a look at this first number, mika, how worried are you that the u.s. will be engaged in a major war in the next four years? 36% very worried and 30%

somewhat worried and 25% not too worried and after recent provocations by north korea and iran and russia and this administration slap a new round of sanctions on iran so could be part of the concerns there. americans role in world affairs. 41% less active and 32% at current level. this look at this one. 80% say it is good for the u.s. and 15% say bad for the u.s. here is why that is significant. the president says he sees nate tow obsolete and comments the vice president tried to walk back this week overseas to brussels when he tried to reassure nato allies. seems like on most of america on board of being a part of nato and making sure that maintains a strong alliance. finally, this one. u.s. foreign policy should take allies interests into account

even if it means compromises. 62% say yes, sthey agree and 34 disagree. putting this into a broader context what we are seeing he at the white house right now is a little bit of a reset on a number of different topics. today, the president sending his secretaries of state and homeland security to mexico to try to soothe concerns among top officials there in the wake of the president of cancelling trip to the united states. >> thank you kristen welker. joining us is nbc news special correspondent tom brokaw. good to have you on, tom. >> good to be here. >> thanks for being here. tom, so many of us grew up hearing stories about generals

overreacting every soviet proindication and jfk never trusted -- i think when we hear a president surrounding himself with generals, we immediate go back to the bay of pigs and cuban missile crisis what we learned our entire life in school. what about these generals? >> this is an entirely different military culture especially in the army. the contradiction is that donald trump said in the course of his campaign, i know more about isil than any american general and now surrounded himself with best of breed. after vietnam, the army especially, did an amazingly effective job of creating a new culture for its general officers. they went to graduate school and lived in a civilian society and became experts in the culture and they were fighting wars or expected to fight wars. the three he has put in place, you would have in any

corporation, any academic setting of any kind because they know what they are up against. mcmaster has written a wonderful book about what went wrong i vietnam. i spent time with these generals when i was in iraq and afghanistan and you would always have an enlightened conversation about the difficulties that they would be facing. one of them said to me in the opening rounds of iraq, tell me how this ends. so there are a lot of reservations on the part of them as we went to war but, at the same time, i do think the country is well served by these men who have spent their lives assessing risk around the world, understanding the cultures we are dealing with, and not being afraid to raise their hand and say, wait a minute. >> one of the things that is going on, one of the optimistic things people should be hopeful about in the appointments of general mattis and kelly and mcmaster, they are fully familiar with the toll that 15,

16 years of war have taken on the american military on the pentagon. >> john kelly, especially. >> especially general kelly who lost a son in afghanistan. but the idea that this country can continue with less than 1% of its population fighting these wars, that will not -- you cannot do that. they all realize that. >> i raise this in every public lecture that i give. i think it's a moral for democratic society to -- and i think there are a number of ways you can begin to deal with it. the millennials will try to decide how connected they want to be to the institutions of governance. ypt create a new public service program that, for example, hillary clinton said i want to give free education but it was a free lunch. if you get a certain amount of governmental assistanceance when you're in college you owe the country two years of public service. you can do that in civilian

clothing and support troops what is going on down range, as they say. you can do the noncombatant roles in afghanistan and in iraq. we have got to find a way on connect it. i'm going to be doing this spring for special operations and for the rangers and for other groups that have formed their own foundation show to take care of the families. and when i go there, i'll say to the young men who are showing up, how many tours? and they will say, 11 or 12 or 10. and i've lost three friends and, sir, i'd like to go back tomorrow. we can't put that enormous burden on a very small section of our society. it's not enough to hold up a sign that says welcome home. we have got to do a lot better than that. >> i want to ask you about a puzzle we couldn't figure out yesterday and get your wisdom on it. why do you think the president's judgment who is questioned by so many people picking people who every agree is so so outstanding? >> hard for me to know. i think he may be in awe of them when he meets them.

i think he sees their depth, their range, their command, and they have got all of the stuff on them. it's hard not to be impressed by them. and, as i said earlier, this is a different breed. these are not just war fighters. these are diplomats in military uniforms because they have to go in and reorganize societies and it's not surprising. >> it goes to something you said yesterday, mika, which i always tell people when i was hiring in congress, you know, we have all got to know what we don't know. and you suggested yesterday that donald trump knows what he doesn't know which is one of the, i think the most critical things for any president and so in this field, he is getting the best and the brightest. >> i remember during the campaign, the biggest concern was, especially as he began to close in on this, many disagreed that he was doing that, but here

on this set, we thought had he a chance. the biggest concern was foreign policy and, gosh, how would that go? he has literally shorted up on every level. i mean, this latest hiring is unequivocal and unanimous across the board and people are comfortable with it. i think this is one area he is like, listen, i will let people who have done this take care of it and i'm going to focus more on finding my voice domestically. i'm just vexed, though, by his inner circle versus this incredibly strong foreign policy team, because the inner circle is so vastly limited. as reverend al put it earlier, culturally inept. >> we have seen this with bill clinton who just had a calamatus

start. people don't remember how bad it was. i don't think we can judge, even though we do it three hours every morning, i don't think we can judge donald trump's presidency by his first month. we will not know how the inner circle works and michael flynn is already gone for six months to a year. >> what we are seeing i think in the white house right now is let's get a team and play football out on the field. no rules. we will just have a scrum and go at it. i think you arrive at the white house with a sense of superiority. you won the presidency, after all. you walk in there. no one, i don't care how often they have served in public office, is prepared for the chaos of the decision making that is suddenly on your desk. >> and how quickly it comes to you. >> it comes to you right away. >> you're thinking i'm going to signed this executive order and my base will be happy. >> yeah. >> you don't realize the second you sign that executive order, the chain of events that take place immediately because you're

not running a campaign. you're running a country. >> and however you may want to plan for it, by the way, something else will come in through the window or under the door or will come in from congress or it will come in from somewhere else. when jim baker was the best white house chief of staff, in my judgment, in my lifetime and served so admirably as the secretary of state, they would have a 7:00 meeting and say, okay, here is our idea for today. one idea. this is what we are going to concentrate on. president reagan would examine in at 8:30 or quarter to 9:00, boys, what do you have for me today? mr. president this is what we think we ought to do and march toward to the end of the day. now, there would be surprises along the way. but the team was signed on to one idea and it was conscious of what the hill would say. chris matthews, who was working for tip o'neill at the time, said he uld walk into the office and see baker in a back room in tip's officend chief of staff of the white house would have gone to the hill

quietly and say, mr. speaker, here is what we are thinking about this week. we want to give you a heads-up on this and we want to find a way to work with you on this as well. so that was a seamless organization. >> i don't get -- is kellyanne conway gone? or are they hiding her or what happened? kellyanne conway, little miller, it's just vexing to me. these are not -- this is a huge void. tom brokaw, thank you very much. earlier in our show you heard howard dean make his pick for dnc chair, mayor of south bend, indiana, pete buttigieg. the president is weighing in. >> he also predicted -- >> keith ellison? >> didn't he predict obama was going to win too? >> i don't remember that. >> we will be right back.

this is the story of green mountain coffee and fair trade, told in the time it takes to brew your cup. let's take a trip to la plata, colombia. this is boris calvo. that's pepe. boris doesn't just grow good coffee, boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm to grow even better coffee and invest in his community, which makes his neighbor, gustavo, happy. that's blanca. yup, pepe and blanca got together. things happen. all this for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee. packed with goodness.

only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol®

how is mika? >> she is doing great. >> are you co-host or the host and are you co-hosting and you're host and she is the co-host?

>> it's actually morning mika. >> it's "morning joe" mika? >> she is in charge and always been in charge. >> i understand she is the one who banned kellyanne conway from coming on your show. >> she is. she is. >> that's a strong move. >> it got to a point where kellyanne would keep coming out and everything she said was disproven five minutes later and it wasn't disproven by a fact checker. in fact, it was somebody else in the administration would come out and say that is not true. >> a quicker way to say that entire sentence. >> which is? >> she just lied. >> well, yes, exactly. >> one way to put it. up next policy versus performance. "the new york times" jeremy peters is here with his new reporting on the downfall of the now former breitbart editor who was disinvited from speaking at cpac.

my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet?

♪ heigh ho ♪ heigh ho ♪ heigh ho heigh ho it's off to work we go here's to all of you early risers, what's up man? go-getters, and should-be sleepers. from all of us at delta, because the ones who truly change the world, are the ones who can't wait to get out in it. watry...duo fusiong heartburn relief? because the ones who truly change the world, duo fusion goes to work in seconds and lasts up to 12 hours. tums only lasts up to 3. for longer lasting relief...in one chewable tablet try duo fusion from the makers of zantac

joining us now nbc news be capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt. editor at large of "the weekly

standard" bill kristol. >> and on capitol hill jeremy peters. >> this is an all-star lineup. i don't know where to start. >> we can start with the milo incident at cpac. >> bill kristol had a great tweet of all time or at least the last 24 hours. he said yesterday -- i never seen in washington more of a sigh of relief over like a 24-hour time period than flynn being traded out for general mcmaster. never seen anything like it. >> he was very close to president trump and national security adviser. people i knew in the foreign policy world and maybe people can disagree with us but say the more conventional reagan type stuff it's 12 or 18 months trying to figure out how to contain interim and hope the state department and defense department and cia can do their jobs and keep the national security council marginalized

which is hard thing to do. they are an important part of the government. hr mcmaster i think is respected by foreign policy experts and national security experts isres. it's 180-degree turn. i can't remember anything quite like this, actually, and certainly in the first month of the presidency. the degree of the reversal. >> it really is. >> did you think it would blow up that quick, flynn? >> yes. >> and what was unpredictable is he would not be replaced with somebody so good. >> yes. >> there was early on a concern trump to flynn, and even before the russia stuff, and just the way he handled himself in meetings, and trump will blow up on television, and in meetings he is the deal maker. >> right. >> and flynn was just the opposite. i think that probably made trump uncomfortable.

>> i remember being at the white house. i think you all may have been there around the same time, and it was the day he made all the calls to foreign leaders and we were standing outside the oval office windows looking in, and i remember we remarked at that time, a few weeks into his presidency, flynn moved into a chair that much further back in the oval office to the rest of the people clustered around the desk and pacing in front of him and you could tell visually, he was on his way out. >> don't you think the way the team was built that that's ultimately what righted the ship as well, because flynn all of a sudden looked dramatically different. >> we will see if the ship is righted. and i am still struck that -- >> we need to get to tillerson, and what could be going wrong there. >> tillerson is the biggest

challenge and getting tillersos pers in there. jeremy peters, ctainly republicans have on the hill have certainly breathed a massive sigh of relief that they traded flynn for mcmasters and suddenly the area they were most concerned about when donald trump was elected is the area now where they are most come tpoefort -- comforted. one of the things that impressed me the most about dwight eisenhower, he didn't pick people he knew, he didn't pick buddies and pals, and trump has followed those footsteps in his foreign policy team. >> yes, and trump has sought out people with deep military experience and it was important to him and it's important to people who are advising him closely, like steve bannon, and

they believe in order to make life and death decisions you need around you the people that understand the true sacrifices of war, and with trump, it's whether or not trump listens to these people and that's a nagging concern or worry despite the fact there are some relief that he is picking smart and capable people. >> and you wrote today about the cancelation of one speaker. what is the state of cpac. is it bigger than ever? the president is going, which is a big validation for them. >> that's absolutely right, and the question is, mark, for the conservative movement, what does it looks like under the leadership of the president to be a conservative, and that's why milo was asked to speak, and he fits a mold in which

modernism has become a performance art and you have a need for these characters who have big personalities and they provoke but they don't really have ideas, and that's what i think is so worrying to a lot of conservatives, and i am sure bill crystal could speak to this, but i talked to matt lewis yesterday about this, and he was saying, can anybody tell me what milo's views are on tax policy or immigration? no. he's a renegade, a bomb thrower, and, oh, yeah, he's politically incorrect and that's all you need to be a conservative these days. >> matt schlep said something,

and -- >> it's not because milo has different views on issues, but it's because he said things over the years over decency, and i think some should stand for decency. >> kasie, you will be back in our next hour. for our new poll on president trump's first month in office, plus -- >> in 2009, white house press secretary, robert gibbs, said i hope people will take a jaundiced eye to what is the grassroots lobbying. >> that did not work out too well. >> president trump seems not to believe it now, and that's still to come on "morning joe."

♪ [dramatic ♪ ic begins] ready! charge! charge! (in chinese) charge! let your reign begin. evony, the mobile game. download now.

z2a1fz zx9z y2a1fy yx9y looking for clear answers for your retirement plan? start here.

or here. even here. and definitely here. at fidelity, we're available 24/7 to make retirement planning simpler. we let you know where you stand, so when it comes to your retirement plan, you'll always be absolutely...clear. ♪ time to think of your future it's your retirement. know where you stand. i haven't seen you for a long time. how are you doing? >> i've been busy. i'm on obamacare. if it was not for obamacare we would not be able to afford insurance. with all due respect, sir, you are the pan that talked about the death panel. we are going to create one big death panel in this country that people can't afford to get insurance.

don't appeal obamacare, improve it, for god's sakes. >> town halls grip the country as the president calls them fake. good morning, everybody. it's wednesday, february 22nd. welcome to "morning joe." we have mike barnicle, and mark halperin, and steve rattner, a in madison, wisconsin, misha. >> it's interesting that you are seeing these town hall meetings, and the other side of that, of course, senator grassly, who did a fantastic job and was respectful and listened to people if they spoke in turn,

and he did -- i think what republicans have to do, there has been the talk from donald trump and some of the supporters that these town hall supporters are fake, and i think rich lowry was dead on when he said this was the same mistake that democrats made in 2009, and it is. democrats would come on the show, and go, oh, it's all the koch brothers, and no, you just added 1,000 constituents that came out. republicans can't make the same mistake in 2017 the democrats made in 2009. >> i think it's disturbing. >> i don't think they are. >> calling them fake. >> the republicans in congress seem to actually understand this. >> yeah. those are voters, make no mistake. >> of course. >> the president's disapproval rating at this point is at 54%,

and 43% of americans approve of the job the president is doing. >> let's talk about those numbers. mark halperin, 43% approval rating, and through much of barack obama's presidency was 47%, and 43%, considering how i think uneven -- that's a polite word. >> chaotic. >> that's a better word. and the fact that it's 43% is a surprise to a lot of people, and americans are still giving him a chance. again, i understand. all-time low, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and i would expect that number to be at 35 >> i agree. it shows perhaps that his floor, like barack obama's floor is in the low 40s, which is good enough, if you have some success to move him to the high 40s or low 50s if he has a success, and having a floor is a great thing because you don't have news stories saying you are in the 20s or 30s, and on the other hand he is susceptible to what

barack obama had, which is you got that 43, and you don't want to lose it and you play to the 43 over and over again, and never try to expand your supp t support. >> that's what barack obama did, he went after republicans, and i know there was this battle, but he played to his base and stayed between 43 and 45, 46% until the end of the presidency, and there's the danger that he plays right to his base, which is all he has been doing so far. actually, i think it's a terrible thing to do, first of all, for either side, and it's a missed opportunity for a guy that won wisconsin, michigan, ohio, and pennsylvania, and won states no republican has won since 1984. >> if you listen out there, i think the most significant difference between the obama numbers in his presidency and trump's number right now is the cloud of uncertainty that hangs over the country and over the trump administration.

you hear more people say, you know, what do you think he's going to do, than you hear anything else about him. more than you hear him saying anything about fake news or immigration, and you hear what is going to happen? >> yeah, it's a fearful question. >> we hear that in our circles, but in -- a lot of my friends' circle in florida, they hearing is completely different. fake news? yeah, what is he doing on immigration, and how is he going to keep them out? >> he's not reaching out and he is trying to solidify what he has. there's a couple differences between his situation and obama's, and obama came in in the 60s and maybe higher, and then he went down from there. the economy, remember, was still a huge mess, and so some of that

was the affect of what is going on out there. you have trump coming in at a time of relative prosperity, for all the problems he is talking about, we have growth, and he's coming in at the lowest level of any president in modern history. >> let's talk numbers. you love numbers. you got him sitting at 42%, the lowest rate ever for a new president, and i don't know what that means in 2017. i do know this, whoever runs against him in four years from now, he inherited the unemployment. and there was a great tweet last night on crime statistics. look at my twitter feed. it's about crime statistics, and america thinks crime is going up, plummeting. again, a lot of these numbers are at their historic lows now. if trump keeps talking about how

bad crime is, and then you have numbers that show it went up 25% four years from now, he's setting himself up for a fall. >> i will give you one more thing, and he has promised 4% economic growth. >> that's not happening. >> it's impossible, mathematically impossible. he will have to explain that one away in four years. >> looking at these numbers closely, 31% are angry about how the federal government is working, and 42% are dissatisfied but not angry, and 18% say they are satisfied and just 7% say they are enthusiastic. and 2 in 10 want them to stand on principle. >> let's stop there. washington is more divided than ever, and yet poll after poll in the last five or six years show americans want washington to work and they want people to strike deals.

here by -- this is what we called in congress an 80/20 issue, compromise to find solutions. >> they do want compromise to find solutions, and this idea is you had people that supported bernie sanders and who supported donald trump who had some of the same grievances so there's overlap in the idea that everybody wants the economy to work and everybody wants the towns that have been devastated by trade deals or closed factories to find some way out of it, and everybody wants a health care system that has access for all people or that allows people to -- the capitol to have that. and i think of where donald trump is standing right now, he's in some ways keeping his promise, and he campaigned on the issue of hard line immigration and turned around and did all of the executive orders that we are now reporting there's going to be one coming out soon, revamping it, and this idea that he is somebody that got onstage and said what he was going to do and did it, and a

lot of people in washington are saying, what is going on? it feels so uncertain. but the people that are even skeptical of him, he is looking like he is getting things done. >> that's exactly what i hear from all the trump sporters that i talk to who were trump voters, and are still trump supporters, and they go, yeah, you guys are going crazy -- what are you so surprised about? he is doing exactly what he said he was going to do. >> i think the dangerous edges here are that he is trying to undermine the media, and trying to make up his own facts, and it could be that while unemployment and the economy worsens, he could have undermined the messaging so much that he can actually control exactly what people think, and that is our job. >> if you look at the issues, he is doing exactly what he said.

>> right. >> it's the noise. it's the ground noise he is throwing out there also, whether he is questioning mark, the legitimacy of federal judges to do what they have done since marbury v madison, and when he says the media is, quote, the enemy of the people, and that phrase right there makes him sound like a dictator in training when he sends steven miller out, and says basically the president has power and he shall not be questioned. i think those are the side issues that i think should legitimately concern people and say, yes, i agree with his immigration order, but, you know, let's go ahead and keep this system of checks and balances in the constitution. >> all that stuff we need to be vigilant about in the press and the general political

discussion, but i think the big things like immigration, tax cuts, health care, infrastructure, regulation, that's a policy that is going to affect the real livesf real people, and i have not seen a divide as clear as what we are seeing on immigration, and great concern about how it will be implemented, and it's a legit concern, and how are people going to be affected by this. i think you see a huge divide, and you see people saying this is horrible policy from donald trump's point of view, and in support of tens of millions that voted for him, this is them trying to enforce the law, and in an aggressive way where there will be human costs, and there's a human cost to the status quo, and his supporters didn't want it. now we will see a big policy discussion, as there should be. >> i agree with you saying he is

doing what he said he would do, and he only did one or two, and the hardest ones are yet to come like obamacare and taxes. up next, we will take you through some of the contentious moments in the town halls across the country as thousands turn out to meet their representatives and senators and give them an earful. later, the president moves forward with dramatic immigration reforms, and we will right back. ♪ ♪ lease a 2017 lincoln mkx for $369 a month. only at your lincoln dealer.

only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tynol® z2a1gz zx9z

y2a1gy yx9y ♪ king arthur: ready! washington: charge! empress wu: charge! (in chinese) king arthur: charge! ♪ let your reign begin. evony, the mobile game. download now.

it's my decision ito make beauty last. roc® retinol, started visibly reducing my fine lines and wrinkles in one week. and the longer i use it, the better it works. retinol correxion® from roc. methods, not miracles.™

packed town halls continue to royal across the country, and trump calli them fakers. the home crowds are in numerous cases planned out by liberal activist, sad. so what will be sad is when he

discovers that these are voters, but anyhow, congressman dave bratt met a contentious crowd in virginia. >> it was an explosive hour. >> i was impressed with the way dave handled himself with the ignorance of the people out here in the crowd. i thought he did a great job on what he was saying. i think he answered the questions well. >> i tried to explain the two-year transition path, and those kinds of things so we can work on getting the anxiety level so we can have more civil discourse. you hear the anxiety is real and people want real solutions and we have to pay attention to that. >> wow. >> absolutely. >> and scott taylor faced a second night of questions from hundreds who showed up early.

>> roughly 800 people packed into the school auditorium that holds 1,000, and some waited more than three hours outside to get that seat at the table. >> people are scared. >> a lot of unusual activity going on in washington. >> on donald trump, taylor reiterated he should release his tax returns and also called on the nation to unite. >> i think the country does have to get calm, and the president himself has to get pretty calm and reduce the tweeting and reduce tensions, quite frankly, around the nation. >> again, and i was going to say, this is the second night he has done this, and that's what representatives are supposed to do. there are a lot of people running and hiding, and all of these people that we are showing, they are doing exactly what they need to do. by the way, the more they do that, the more likely they don't get blind-sided like democrats in in their own district.

>> down south there were overflow crowds chanting you work for us. inside he tried to reassure the crowd that he has no intention of pulling out the rug on anybody on obamacare, and savannah morning news, he exited through a side door over sk security concerns. he said he regrets that and he wants to give people the right to speak. >> and this is in arkansas. >> you want to investigate everybody. >> what about benghazi? >> you guys wasted a lot of money on benghazi, and waste a little on trump. >> you have to say, that's

funny, a republican saying you got to investigate everybody, and talking about if hillary lost they were going to continue the investigations, and in benghazi house republicans told me on the floor said benghazi was going to be the issue for republicans if they could investigate a little more. >> and then the pop-up crowd outside the office of darrell issa, and they were calling for civil discourse, and spending 90 minutes -- >> that's right. >> yes. >> allf this -- >> that was not planned. >> by the way, this was great in 2009, when all the crowds came out and told everybody on obamacare, hey, hold on and wait. this is great now. i am just talking for myself, i am saluting the members of congress that are going out and facing the heat. >> sure. >> because i can tell them from personal experience, that pays off for you.

>> i am saluting that as well as the crowd. >> yeah. >> that's a civics lesson. >> and not funded robots, but human beings. >> they looked very human to me. >> and they are giving input into the legislative process so the representatives can understand what is on the mind of the voters. that seems good. >> you are seeing that they are having an impact, and this is the back and forth. i can't think -- again, my gosh, this is, what, a month or two after elections? >> it's immobilizing on many levels. coming up on "morning joe," new polls show a majority oppose building a border wall, and half support immigration.

with every early morning... every late night... and moment away... with every click...call...punch... and paycheck... you've earned your medicare. it was a deal that was made long ago, and aarp believes it should be honored. thankfully, president trump does too. "i am going to protect and save your social security and your medicare. you made a deal a long time ago." now, it's congress' turn. tell them to protect medicare. that ride share? you actually rode here on the cloud. did not feel like a cloud... that driverless car? i have seen it all. 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) we have a question about your brokerage fees. fees? what did you have in mind? i don't know. $6.95 per trade? uhhh- and i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee? guarantee? where we can get our fees and commissions back if we're not happy. so can you offer me what schwab is offering? what's with all the questions? ask your broker if they're offering $6.95 online equity trades and a satisfaction guarantee. if you don't like their answer, ask again at schwab.

i actually think we should pray for our president, but that requires all of us as americans to do what we can when the

president is not doing what he needs to be doing, to stand up and do our part, too. right now i think it's the responsibility of all americans, especially republicans, and let me say this especially republicans in the senate, that when you have a president of the united states -- when you have a president of the united states that questions judicial review, and questions the legitimacy of a federal judge to stand up and say this is not right and we are going to call it out. when you have a president that actually questions free speech, the first amendment and news organizations that are doing their job, i think it's incumbent upon my rty, especially, to stand up right now and speak out. i always say this of everybody that gets in the white house, you think you are at the center of the world now, you don't own this place, you are renting this place out. the american people are letting you have this, and the republican party needs to know there is going to be a time after donald trump and they are going to be judged for the next

50 years on how they respond to the challenges today. >> it was a very dangerous thing for me to say because that was a strongly republican crowd, everybody has nascar shirts on. they edited out when i sang "proud to be an american." >> that was good. were you nervous at all? >> only nervous i would fall asleep, because it's so late, right? >> that was cool. >> that was an elvis costello song. >> never sung before. >> good job. >> he knows elvis costello. >> he does? >> yeah, dropping names left and right. my left toe is fractured. he was good friends with elvis costello. >> he has been a guest on this program. >> a couple times. >> yeah. >> we need elvis back. he is king.

>> there's widespread fear this morning that president trump has deployed the deportation forces. remember that? labeled undocumented immigrants charged with a crime, just charged, and the detention of those caught until their court hearings, ending so-called catch and release. emmedia deportation for those in the u.s. under two years, and also sending refugees from central america to mexico, and prosecuting or removing guardians found to be smuggling their children into the u.s. dhs also says it will add 5,000 border patrol agents and is planning to add 10,000 more ice agents while ramping up the 287g program, recruiting local police to round up people something that was scaled back under the obama administration. the white house says this is all

enforcement of existing policy. >> is one of the goals here mass deportation? >> no. the message from this white house and from the dhs is that those people who are in this country, and pose a threat to our public safety or committed a crime, will be the first to go and will be aggressively making sure that occurs. remember, everybody who is here illegally is subject to removal at anytime, and that is consistent with every country, not just ours. if you are in this country in an illegal manner, and obviously there's a provision that could ensure that you be removed. >> mark, you say it's the biggest disconnect between red state america and blue state america. i agree, and my only caveat to that is i think there are a lot of people in blue state america that also think, wait, they are here illegally, and what is wrong with the government deportable them? i know that's not popular in

this area code, or in most of the media, and i will be the first to admit, sanctuary cities, what? i remember during they had during the first gulf war, and san francisco said they would be a sanctuary city, and i thought we even had a draft -- there was an outrageous thing. you can go to san francisco and they wouldn't prosecute you, and i would say, what? that's up to the federal government. i think this is an issue -- i think this is like abortion. this is -- this is an issue that the media has a complete blind spot on, where most americans are. >> i agree 100%. and that's as big as any other gap. >> like abortion, let's say. >> yeah, you go to any part of the country that voted for donald trump, and ask how did

they focus on the immigration, and tphaeur neighborhoods are changing and a belief that donald trump has that you can't be a country if you can't control your border. and you go to blue america, and they will say this is keeping us from having the workforce we need. >> i think that's where the media lies. >> 100% there. >> interviewing a family, and that child that was going to be hurt, and they were breaking the law. it's very hard. >> and there needs to be extraordinary scrutiny over how this is implemented, and the notion of how we enforce the law, and it changes the narrative, and that's what trump ran on. up next, taking a look at the legal implications of all this, and a bit later, craig melvin joins us with his view of the president. you are watching "morning joe," and we will be right back.

my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means thousands of dollars each year going back into my business... which adds fuel to my bottom line. what's in your wallet? at angie's list, we believe there are certain things you can count on, like a tired dog is a good dog. [ dog barking, crashing ]

so when you need a dog walker or a handyman, we can help you find the right person for the job. discover all the ways we can help at angie's list. th...oh, baked-on alfredo?e. ...gotta rinse that. nope. no way. nada. really? dish issues? throw it all in. cascade platinum powers through... your toughest stuck-on food. nice. cascade.

this is the story of green mountain coffee and fair trade, told in the time it takes to brew your cup. let's take a trip to la plata, colombia. this is boris calvo. that's pepe. boris doesn't just grow good coffee, boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm to grow even better coffee and invest in his community, which makes his neighbor, gustavo, happy. that's blanca. yup, pepe and blanca got together. things happen. all this for a smoother tasting cup of coffee. green mountain coffee. packed with goodness.

you know, mexico is the hardest country in the world, just about, to become a citizen of, and they send people over here. and i am not talking about just mexico, but coming from asia and all over the world. >> i understand what you are describing, but tell me the how? are you going to have a massive deportation force? >> you are going to have a deportation force. >> now he is sticking to it. that was in november of 2015. >> he said, yes, we are going to have a deportation force. >> where is kasie? oh, right there. >> you have been taking a look at the new dhs guidance on

strengthening immigration and border enforcement. what are you seeing in your report stphg what is drastically different? >> that's a great question. two memos on border enforcement and the immigration actions that go on inside the u.s., and a bunch of this is real stuff, hiring boarder agent and making it faster on deportable people, depending on where they are located, and basically ramping up what you are seeing there, that's referring to the cops that can be on the beat and more involved in the immigration. that's the real stuff. and then there's stuff we don't know whether it's real or not, but there's a section that says let's count up all the u.s. aid to mexico and a nonintelligence variety? why? who knows. maybe leverage on paying for the wall. and another point says let's start planning and designing and building the wall, and those are

words on a piece of paper. will it happen? that's the estion. >> obviously this was not like steven miller deciding i apm going to play president or dictator, and they did an interagency review of this? >> yes. >> does it looks like it will pass the test in the courts? >> yes, and there are other policies ruled as chaotic or ill logically, and there was a lack of regard for the judicial system and he said with regard to the travel ban at one point, our power will not be questioned. >> oh, my god. >> can you quote "star wars" or the emperor if you want, but welcome to the united states, this is not the way we do things under the rule of law. and i will say this whether you agree or disagree, it's a better process. >> it's a better process, and explain to the viewers, if you will, who may not like donald

trump's immigration policy, but the president is given so much authority. >> absolutely. >> in this area, especially, and even the ninth circuit would be hard pressed to stop this, right? >> the new immigration stuff we are talking about today? >> yes. >> absolutely. look, the two greatest powers is the war-making power and the immigration power, and the contiguous enforcement for the united states, it's a very strong power. when you talk about these kinds of things, this is further than the obama administration went, and whether people want to hear this or not, it's similar to what barack obama did, and the interesting part is, for now, they are maintaining the programs that protect child arrivals here, and that was something that the president -- the previous president was very proud of and they are not changing that yet. >> the dreamers, it's very interesting, the dreamers were not touched. >> right. >> and an administration

official ss that does not mean -- they are not going to uch dreamers. if they were, they would have done it at this point. donald trump is not going to have his fingerprints on that? >> yeah, you mention the dreamers, and don't lose sight of the jobs angle. 60% of undocumented workers live in just six states, and california, new jersey, texas, florida, and how many of those went for trump? florida and texas, and so the majority of four of them did not. and so 60% of all undocumented workers are in those six states, and there's 8 to 9 million -- the estimates are sketch y -- undocumented workers. and it could have an impact on the economy. you know this very well. you are not going to get any business owner who is going to sit up here on national tv and

look in the camera and say, yes, my business relies on undocumented workers, and they will not have the protections because nobody is going to say it, but everybody whispers it in the corners. >> there are a lot of republicans, that not only voted for donald trump, but contributed to donald trump and the state of florida whose businesses run on the backs of the illegal immigrants in florida, and that's just a reality. that's not even a close call. >> there's a story a couple years ago, and the numbers are off so forgive me -- >> 58% of america says immigration helps america more than it hurts america. >> i grew up in los angeles and san diego. >> you grew up in los angeles or san diego? i don't know if you knew, is two cities. >> yeah, i am the chargers of human beings, so it's fine. no, i moved to san diego, so it

was fine. there was a chicken farmer in georgia, and he needed 150 people a year seasonally, and he had zero job applications. >> and in those predominantly six states -- let's look at the poll we released this morning at 6:00, 50% of americans approve of donald trump's policies, this order of banning immigrants from seven muslim countries, and a lot of people can call it a muslim ban all they want, but you are going to hear what the administration should have said before, which republicans would say, obama and the congress picked out in 2016. >> it was a travel ban and then not a ban, and it was confusing where we got to the language on this. donald trump has touch add nerve, and he has such good

instincts from the broad brush perspective, and clearly the implementation of it was a completely different story, but i do think that there's some sensitivity in the administration around how to do this, these broad stroke things without -- while still considering the dreamers, for example. there's also an understanding that it would likely be unattainable to go after them in an aggressive way, and the behind the scenes signals are they will do it in congress and write a law to protect these kids, and the republicans said we don't think the president should be tkhaog unilaterally, and it could be untouchable. >> and we talked about the story that said white house policy adviser, steven miller, he is not a lawyer. he's 31, right? >> yes. >> he spoke with u.s. attorney, robert capers, on how to defend

the president's travel ban executive order and the white house issued a statement on that story. >> mark halperin, that's specific information, and both of them are denying that call ever happened. >> yeah, although -- we need to know more, and they never spoke to each other and they may have communicated indirectly or whatever, and it's clear the white house has a strong interest making sure the lawyers rushing home in the middle of the night knew how to defend the order, and they were probably flying pretty blind. >> yeah. i think little miller was talking to himself about it when he wrote it up. does anybody have any indication that he did talk to anybody and research this, and maybe even talk to the president about it? >> please.

>> don't be so disrespectful. >> i am not being disrespectful. i am asking. >> some people call him the space cowboy. >> i know way more about "star wars" than i ever want to know. >> never say that again. >> there will be a ban. >> so there's been a lot of provoking of judges, which, i don't know, maybe it's just me, but you just don't want to provoke federal judges. i can't understaline this enoug and in the nbc poll this morning, 60% of america has a great deal of confidence in the judicial system, and the white house should say they screwed up. >> get rid of the kid. >> they are doing it the right way this time. >> whether you like it or not,

they are going through the process, and it's going to end up better for them. >> the last time the president tried to judge this much, he ended up writing a $25 million check. they settled that case for a lot of money in trump university, and whatever you think about the exkwau t equities, they settled. and ultimately, we are told at nbc news they are working on an order to try and respond and address things in the ruling. so watch what they do and not what they say. they talk a lot of smack and it's unfortunate, and it upsets a lot of people around the country on those that understand the judges are nonpartisan, and if we look at how they are responding to the rule of law while talking smack about it,

but it's a mixed message but good if they make changes. >> the system works. it has always worked. the ninth circuit, and i am surprised miller and the rest of them did not know, and i am a conservative, and i don't want anything going through the ninth circuit, because it is far left of center, as i always said, like the fifth and 11th are right of center. and those courts represent the districts where they are, california, and the west coast, and where the ninth circuit is is far more liberal, and -- >> no question the ninth circuit has a higher reversal rate based on what you have at the supreme court right now, and you have 40-plus cases challenging the original travel ban, and if there's a new travel ban, we will look and see what other challenges come out of it, and the administration as a legal fact hurt itself by rushing things out and antagonizing the

judiciary as if they can cut them out of the process. they can't. president obama learned the hard way, and he got blocked on one thing and had other things that got through. maybe the do over will be easier to defend. >> you are taking a look at where things stand with president trump's first month in office. tax reform, we will begin with that. >> mika, it's just you and i. >> right here, talk to me. >> i am good. i just feel like there's a theme. >> feeling awkward, now. >> there's a theme. >> new glasses. >> now i can see. first priority, repeal and replace, i will let you deal with that. and tax reform.

we are waiting on the skinny budget. and presidents have to put out their first budget, and obama was late and trump is past the deadline and hopefully we will get some indication of where we are going to stand. we are in tax acronym hell, and the senate just can't get onboard. >> and people like tom cotton are not going to do that. >> they are not. the house seems to be okay, and retailers hate it and walmart have five different lobbying firms in d.c. -- >> yeah, i am getting phone calls all the time about it, and you are totally right. >> what about infrastructure? >> this is my baby, and the infrastructu infrastructure, and here the problem, and let's say all of us went to dinner, and mika, you want whatever it s. and you know what happens? we disagree to the point where we don't have dinner. that's where we are with infrastructure, and everybody has a plan and there are so many plans, and increasingly with my

sources on the hill and in the private sector, ie, lobbyist, are worried nothing will get done. and the hope is sweeteners will inbound a tax bill. i heard that is week. >> that would be a terrible joke to play on the people that voted for trump because they wanted change. >> yeah, and that thread is right, we are slowly snowballing towards not doing anything at all, and republicans came out of the gate and we are goi to move fast on health care and tax reform, and i think tax reform is something where the ball does seem to be rolling in the right direction for republicans, but you are right, this border adjustment tax, which in the teleprompter, you wrote tariffs, and i could say paul ryan could give us a lesson on how border taxes are not tariffs, and that's hard to explain. you are watching one at a time the big priorities falling down, and the status quo is congress not doing anything.

>> infrastructure, especially, if the republican congress doesn't do it, this is one area, watch trump make a deal with democrats. >> yeah, and those conservative principles on spending will be gone again. thank you both. >> thank you. up next, under pressure to confront rising cases of anti-semitism. craig melvin joins us with his interview with the president. keep it right here on "morning joe." well, a 103 yeah, 103. well, let me ask you guys. how long did it take you two to save that? a long time. then it's a fortune. well, i'm sure you talk to people all the time who think $100k is just pocket change. right now we're just talking to you. i told you we had a fortune. yes, you did. getting closer to your investment goals starts with a conversation. schedule a complimentary goal planning session today.

only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol® 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. ♪ [dramatic ♪ ic begins] ready! charge! charge! (in chinese) charge! let your reign begin. evony, the mobile game. download now.

except when it comes to retirement. at fidelity, you get a retirement score in just 60 seconds. and we'll help you make decisions for your plan... to keep you on track. it's your retirement. know where you stand. mattress firmness? enter sleep number... she likes the bed soft. he's more hardcore. you can both adjust the bed for the best sleep of your life. find our queen c2 mattress at $599. sale ends sunday! go to sleepnumber.com for a store near you. imy moderate to severeng crohn's disease.

i didn't think there was anything else to talk about. but then i realized there was. so, i finally broke the silence with my doctor about what i was experiencing. he said humira is for people like me who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief. and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight inftions, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. if you're still just managing your symptoms, talk with your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible.

in a moment, we talk about bob melvin and his interview with the president. but first, contentious town halls grip the country as the president calls them fake. >> it's foolish to ignore people coming to the town halls. >> this is the same mistake democrats made in 2009. i am saluting the members of congress going out and facing the heat. >> people want their problems solved. they don't want to just be angry. >> the president's disapproval rating at this point is 54%. >> the fact that it's 43%, it's a suggestion that americans are still giving him a chance. >> you arrive at the white house with a sense of superiority, and nobody is prepared for the chaos of the decision-making that is suddenly on your desk. >> whoever runs against them

four years from now will say, the unemployment was at 4%. a lot of these numbers are at historic lows. >> anybody that thinks this is not an enactment of exactly what he was talking about was not paying attention. >> widespread fear that president trump has deportation forces. >> go to blue america, and they will say, this is going to hurt families. >> we have an economy that is built on illegal immigration. why don't you just legalize it? >> dnc chair endorsement? >> pete, and our strongest age group is under 35 and they don't under themselves democrats. >> there you go. president trump is publicly condemning the recent wave of attacks against the jewish community in the country, and he faces criticism for not going far enough and speaking out.

>> he was at the african-american history museum yesterday for a private tour, and flanked by his daughter, ivanka, and ben carson as well, and we thought it would be important to ask the president if he would once and for all condemn the actions of those with anti-semitic actions around the country, and here's the president's response yesterday. >> will you denounce anti-semitism, once and for all -- >> i do all the time. i do all the time. i think it's terrible and horrible and whether it's anti-semitism or racism or anything you want to think about having to do with the divide, anti-semitism is likewise, it's just terrible, and you don't know where it's coming from but i certainly hope they catch the people. i think you maybe have had it for longer than people think,

and maybe it gets brought up a little bit more, but i will tell you that anti-semitism is horrible and it's going to stop and it has tostop. >> you are denouncing now once and for all? >> of course, and i do it, i give it every chance. >> were the people around him happy with that? did they seem nervous at the discussion? >> it seemed like he was prepared for that question yesterday. >> it seemed like he was ready to say it. >> yeah, it did. his daughter tweeted about it the day before and hillary clinton tweeted about it the day of, and it seems like he was ready for the question, and it seemed like yesterday he had genuinely been moved by what he saw in the museum, and he spent before he got to us, he spent 45 minutes touring and after us he spent another 45 minutes. >> al sharpton said when he was here today, people forget, and

he's a new yorker, and he endorsed hispanic candidate -- he is socially and culturally unattached from the public figure he shows the world. >> yes, i think that would be an accurate assessment. i will be honest with you, and you know the president, it was my first time meeting him, and he's charming. he was very charming. >> he is. >> and it was a little odd yesterday that, you know, we had not anticipated having the entire entourage stand behind him for the course of the interview, or stand with him, and we get there, and he's like, oh, dr. ben carson wants to join us, and he has an exhibit on the third floor that they both were excited about seeing. >> critics of the administration would point to steve bannon as somebody who is jgenerating som of this behind the scenes. was he there for the interview? >> he was not there for the interview and we did not g into that, and we did not get as

much time as i would have liked, and he has been one of the many criticisms with regards to his administration's not just relationship with that -- how shall we say, joe, help me out, and i don't want to get myself in trouble -- with that part -- >> he made a lot of money. i think it's a matter of record, he made a lot of money at breitbart pushing that agenda. >> and i don't think the president has come out as forcefully as a lot of folks would have wanted him to come out and take up on that. >> you got in trouble when you said he was charming. it starts right there. >> i know. >> it's the truth, by the way. he is. >> nancy pelosi will tell you, he's charming. and what did hillary clinton say? he's fun to be around. >> some would say he's a beautiful mosaic.

>> and what is interesting, craig, what you saw is -- i was trying to explain to people -- >> in ten seconds. >> flynn would take what he did publicly privately, and trump in personal settings, he doesn't want to scream and yell and fight, and he saves that for the microphone. >> i forget how long you guys are on the air? >> just three hours. my goodness. this is quite impressive. >> don't pick up your phone. stephanie ruhle, i am pwrepm br you eggs, tomorrow. >> i want to know if you think steve miller is charming? if you think president trump is, how about steven miller? >> president trump dispatches his secretary of state to mexico, and house speaker, paul ryan tours the border and the guidelines