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advisors inside the trump campaign and russia. and democrats have elected former secretary of labor tom perez their new dnc chairman. congressman keith ellison who came in second place was quickly named deputy chairman. joining me now live from atlanta is msnbc political reporter alex sykes wall. >> reporter: hey, stephanie. a very dramatic end, stephanie, after a very heated race. it lasted four months since november. it really tore at the fabric of this party after a devastating loss that has seen the party come out of power more than they have been since the 1920s. this is the first competitive chairmanship race in over 30 years, so tom perez has won. he narrowly won. he only fell short by one vote on the first ballot. then won by 17 on the second ballot, and immediately began working to heal that rift.

keith ellison, the runnerup, also working to do that. they're going to hold a joint press conference in about 15 or 20 minutes to try to reach out to their supporters. as you mentioned, keith ellison being named the deputy chairman. there are a lot of supporters here of keith ellison that are upset by the results of this election and a lot of people outside the dnc who are also feeling that way. to me a lot of work for tom perez who comes from the obama cabinet, who supported hillary clinton in the primary to bring those people into the party and make them feel welcome in this moment when the party needs all the help it can get. >> yeah, alex. it's going to be a big job for him. electing a dnc chair is just one of the stories you come out of this meeting. what has the dnc done in terms of the party's platform in trying to bring together the far left and establishment democrats? >> right. this was another key moment during the democratic primary between hillary clinton and bernie sanders. it came at the end of the primary where both teams got together and sat down and produced what is unquestionably the most progressive platform in

the party's history, and it was a platform that is symbolic in large effect. they're not law. they don't have for of policy, but it is a statement by the party and it's something to try to bring these people into the party, and they're going to continue to use that. i'm sure you'll hear a lot about that from keith ellison and tom perez to show these values, but, you know, a lot of this is going to be about fighting donald trump, trying to bring the grassroots uprising that's happened in the streets, these protesters into the party and turn them into voters so that the party can actually win elections and not just be expressing outrage at donald trump. >> all right. thank you. we'll be staying with alex throughout this hour. to washington now where there is an urgent call. a new call for an investigation into russia coming from one of donald trump's biggest supporters in congress, gop representative darryl issa. >> we're going to ask the intelligence committees of the house and senate to investigate within the special areas they oversee. >> an independent prosecutor?

>> you're right that you cannot have somebody, a friend of mine, jeff sessions, who was on the campaign and who was an appointee. you're going to need to use the special prosecutors, statute an office. we have to work with them. we don't have to trust them. and we need to investigate their activities, and we need to do it because they are bad people. >> that call for a special prosecutor comes as an explosive new report rattles d.c. with the washington post saying officials in the west wing sought to "enlist senior members of the intelligence community and congress in efforts to counter news stories about trump associate ties to russia. the post reporting in the calls were "orchestrated by the white house" and even" included senators richard burr and nunez." he is the very same chairman charged with investigating russia's involvement in the election and what if any ties

the trump campaign had. nbc's monica will ba joins us live from the white house. monica, any reaction from the white house regarding congressman issa's comments? >> no response yet, stephanie. this is a fairly quiet saturday here at the white house, which we really haven't seen much of recently with the president traveling down to mar-a-lago for his recent weekends. we have learned he is working on his joint address to congress and had a lunch with the governors of florida and wisconsin, but no official events today and no official comment, but, of course, these -- this comment from congressman issa notable. he was a very early supporter of then candidate trump, campaigned with him, so the fact that he is now calling for this independent investigator and saying that attorney general jeff sessions would need to recuse himself is absolutely worth noting from somebody who was a very staunch trump ally so far to date. >> that's for sure, monica.

when it comes to that washington post report, why did the white house go to the effort of enlisting members of the intelligence community to refute these stories? >> well, the white house certainly took issue with the way that a lot of these communications and the characterization of the contact between officials from the trump campaign and people in russia, so we should point out that nbc's own reporting does not show that there was any contact with russian intelligence officials and that is a very important distinction. specifically, the intelligence official part. the white house has tried to reach out to allies who could help them knock down this story, but as we learned yesterday from sean spicer who said that the chief of staff, reince priebus, was in touch with the deputy director of the fbi over this, who did not want to go out and knock down this story, so it's important to note also that the fbi says that the chief of staff did not cross a line, but democrats, of course, are

seizing on this, and this is now a big easy target for them to go after as the continuing calls for investigations between the trump campaign and russia continue. stephanie. >> all right, monica. that's some pretty important context there. thank you very much. plenty to explore this weekend out of the trump white house. joining us here in new york, republican strategist -- in atlanta darren johnson, and from washington national political reporter jonathan swan. theron, i want to start with you right out of the gate. tell me about this election of tom perez as dnc chair? does he have any hope of bringing the party together? >> absolutely. listen, this is something that we all worked together to get to this day. i thought if you listen to former labor secretary perez's speech, it was a speech of unity. he was calling for people to unite and let's go out here and really take our message to the voters and start beginning to really find the resources and the talent to really be

contested in the midterms. now, the other thing that's really going on behind the scenes is that a lot of people from secretary perez's campaign, particularly emmy ruiz, the person who ran his campaign, they're already reaching out to keith ellison supporters making sure that they are in the room as far as putting together the plan as we move forward. >> evan, let me turn to you on this issue. you have compared the energy right now to the democratic party to likening it to the tea party. what are his chances of being able to coral that and point it in the right direction? >> well, if he can get to the people that are the indivisible movement, the resistance, to harness it to the 2018 midterms, that's a big problem for republicans. i actually think republicans lost out in this race by not having keith ellison selected. tom perez is much more willing to look at -- at the same time

tom perez faces a huge challenge. three of the last four elections at the federal level have been republican waves of seeing over 1,000 seats in the house, the senate, governorships, and state legislatures flip from democrat to republican. they've got to put a message out that resonates with the american people, and tom perez is now tasked with doing that. >> it's a huge job. i want to change topics just quickly here. jonathan, i want to go to you. what do you make of congressman issa's comments about a special prosecutor? >> the important and unwelcome for the white house. this is something that has been bubbling up for a number of weeks. we know the white house is intensely concerned about that, and they may have made a grave error in pressuring or at least asking officials who connected with the investigation or involved in the intelligence community to talk to reporters.

i mean, it's now raising really serious questions about independence. the fact that you have got a republican in the house tv darryl issa's stature calling for this, it's going to just add to the pressure, and i suspect you will have some senators -- republican senators in the next couple of days ek quoing that call. >> well, same with you on that point, actually, for just a moment. what is your impression of that strategy of trying to enlist help? clearly, the white house feels those reports on the conteacts with russia during the campaign were overblown. did they go about it the right way? >> well, the two parts to this are -- one is you have to sympathize with their position because if you have an fbi -- senior fbi official sort of -- there's real questions about whether this is appropriate -- in private saying to them that there are factual errors, that this is nonsense or whatever colorful language he used. the natural human reaction is obviously wanting to get that information out and to fight

back, but there has to be sort of the overriding goal has to be independence, and it has to be not weighing in to something that is supposed to be, you know, chinese wall from the white house. my sense is that they are very uneasy about this inside the white house at the moment, and there are certainly some that think they've made a big mistake. >> on that note, theron, can we expect democrats to hammer away at this idea of a special prosecutor? >> absolutely. i mean, it's something that shows that there's clearly no coordination with the white house and what other folks are doing, so this is a key issue. especially coming off this dnc chair's race that democrats can really pound the republicans on this issue. >> i want to change topics again and turn to you, evan. there's a report out that the new nsa for trump, mcmaster, held a meeting with his nsc staff, and he said that the label radical islamic terrorism

is not helpful because terrorists are "unislamic." this as president trump seems to use that phrase repeatedly when he makes comments in public. is this a difference of opinion that's a serious issue for them? >> i think it really is whether or not the president listens to his new national security advisor. h.r. mcmaster, he is unbelievably qualified, and both sides of the aisle have not disputed that. i believe he is absolutely correct. anybody who is a terrorist is not an islamist. that's against the fundamentals of islam, but will the president listen to him, and i think we've seen from him meeting with oer generals, be they present or former, he is willing to hear them out. when he met with defense secretary mattis in the transition, he got him to flip on torture in an hour, so hopefully mcmaster keeps the president's ear and stays away from using this language. >> well, jonathan, let me ask you about that. he now has a number of members of cabinet that hold differing opinions to him. we've seen that that creates some turmoil for leaders

overseas trying to interpret this white house. what do you make of this? >> really interesting yesterday. united nations ambassador nikki haley put out what i thought was a comment you could never imagine donald trump making. it was saying that the russians have to decide whether they support chemical weapons or not. it was a very, very tough statement about russia in regards to syria, and it was just way out in front of what weave seen donald trump comfortable with making. almost an ultimate mate imshe put out on her twitter account, and the real question that we have to ask is she reflecting some sort of an evolution of the administration, or is this just her own personal views that have little relation to donald trump's views? i think that's very much an open question. i think most of the international community certainly foreign ambassadors that i speak to very much watch donald trump. i mean, they pay much less attention to the comments of some of these people that diverge. they want to hear it from the president's mouth, and we saw

when the vice president went overseas and made very reassuring remarks regarding the european union, there was a sense of hesitation because they want to hear donald trump himself say that. >> theron, turning to you. who are the democrats believing at this point? >> well, we really don't know who to believe, but i think this is, again, clearly an illustration of this president's inability to really have a concise and comprehensive message that is united when he is communicating to the american people. i think the people who are suffering the most from this disconnect is the american people, and if you look at some of the -- some of the disorganization and the mixed messages that are coming out, want only does it confuse the american people, but it does not help with our world allies as far as building relationships with them. again, i think that democrats -- we're going to have a host of issues to run on and to really point out some of the inaccuracies and inabilities in this trump administration to really govern, but, again, we've

got to take this momentum from today and have a platform and a message about job creation in this country. >> all right. theron, jonathan, evan here in the studio, thank you, guys, very much. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >> thank you. right now in austin, texas, the muslim and latino community speaking out against the trump administration immigration policies. they're calling it a no ban, no wall rally. what they're saying next. and, later, planned parenthood, the target again of congressional republicans. this time in the retooling of obama care. we'll talk to the head of planned parenthood coming up. you're watching msnbc. we always were told we were german. we were in a german dance group. i wore lederhosen. so i just started poking around on ancestry.

then, i decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. it turns out i'm scottish. so, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt.

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where two meernt groups target bid donald trump are joining forces. members of the muslim and lat anneee community are coming together for a no ban, no wall rally. it comes just days after the department of homeland security introduced new policies to crack down on illegal immigration, and days before the trump administration is expected to introduce a revised executive order on the immigration ban. donald trump standing his ground during his cpac speech yesterday. >> you will see the action. i will never ever apologize for protecting the safety and security of the american people. i won't do it. >> msnbc's mariana atensio is in austin, texas where the no ban no wall rally is just getting started. what sets this rally apart from the others we've seen this week. >> i covered one of the rallies

last week, and what makes this one different is that it focuses on, you said it, uniting the latino and muslim communities here in texas. it also opposes sb4, texas senate bill 4, which looks to end sanctuary policies in the state of texas, and i'm here with congressman juaqin castro who is about to take the stage any moment now. this is obviously a border state. what are your thoughts on the border wall, the reason why so many people are out here in this rally today? >> there are so many texans out here because we love our country. we know that it's a nation that builds bridges and it doesn't build walls to separate people. spending billions and billions of dollars on a border wall would be ineffective when we could spend it on schools and roads and so many other things. that's why you see all of the energy and all of the passion from people of every background and every walk of life here. i mentioned sb4.

it's hurt the city of austin. funds are being blocked because the city has refused to comply with this bill. what extent should sanctuary cities not comply with federal immigration policy? >> well, most of all i think what austin is saying is that police officers and courts and sheriffs can't be immigration officers -- failing to pass a comprehensive immigration reform bill to say who can stay and who has to go. everybody agrees that if somebody is a violent criminal, if they're dangerous to the community, that they should be gone. there are millions of people that are paying taxes and many of them like the dreamers that have only known -- do those folks have a pass to be able to stay. >> what do you hear from people here in the streets of texas?

what are their concerns? >> well, you know, the people of texas are concerned about what they're hearing from the trump administration. most folks are against the wall. people don't want to get into a trade war with mexico. remember, of all the states in the nation, texas does the most trade, so trade with mexico has created so many jobs in texas and so many businesses in texas. when we talk about a border adjustment tax or some kind of tari tariff, you talk about killing policy -- >> thank you so much. -- that is a concern, obviously trade with mexico as you heard, stephanie, but many people here have told us that they live in fear. you know, even in cities like austin. many people here are muslim and latino. that is actually a growing segment of the population, and they told us that, you know, now with these new policies, they're afraid. people concerned about trade and people concerned about their

family members and their loved ones being deported. stephanie. >> two separate groups finding a common cause. thank you very much. coming up, equal protection. the trump administration rolls back obama era protections that let public school students use bathrooms that match their gender identity. something the president said he would not do almost a year ago on the "today" show. leave it the way it is. there have been very few complaints the way it is. people go. they use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate. there has been so little trouble. you don't let anything keep you sidelined.

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>> i finally have a message for president trump from one republican to another. this is a disaster, and you can still fix it. you made a promise to protect the lgbtq community. call me.

>> some tough words from transgender icon caitlyn jenner who is adding her voice to the growing number of credit i objects taking aim at president trump for reversing obama administration guidelines that allow transgender public school students to use the bathrooms of their choice. let's bring in transgender activist candace cox. candace, thank you very much for being with me today. >> thank you, stephanie. glad to be here. what does caitlyn jenner's voice do for this discussion? >> it's impaerative because she was an outspoken person for the republican party and president trump, and having caitlyn to even step forward and say from one republican to another we have to do something, and this is unacceptable. hopefully it doesn't fall on deaf ears. >> candace, white house press

secretary sean spicer weighed in. he was asked about this reversal of transgender bathroom guidelines. take a listen to what he said. >> the president was asked at one point caitlyn yenner was in trump power, and he said that's great. that's consistent with everything he said. it's a states rierts issue. that's entirely what he believes. that if a state wants to pass a law or rule or an organization wants to do something in compliance with the state rule, that's their right. but it shouldn't be the federal government getting in the way of this. >> what do you make of that argument that this is a state issue? >> well, you know, i think that that is passing the buck, if you will, by just trying to say that it's a state issue.

>> any time you are talking about equal rights, how do you say that they want to leave it up to the individual states to offer this that? that's what it sounds like to me when i heard that. that makes no sense. >> what recourse do transgender advocates have when it comes to this decision by the trump administration? what can you do now? >> what we have to do now is we really have to step our game up. we really must educate the population. one thing that i have really been pushing is that throughout all of the dialogue between bathroom access and equal rights for lbbtq, but in particular transgender individuals, is that

we have talked about the rights of everyone else. we have yet to talk about what it meebz to be transgender, what transgender americans really look like, what are the needs of transgender americans, and what threat, which there's none, that we have posed to safety, and that's something that we haven't talked about, and that's what we really have to start talking about more now. it is up to us to educate the voting population so that hopefully in 2018 and then in 2020 they're able to second a message that says that they're educated and they don't fall for this scare tactic and the rhetoric that we're seeing currently coming out of the white house. >> all right. candace cox, thank you so much for joining me. we are going to go live now to a press conference, the new dnc chair, tom perez. excuse me. that is his new deputy dnc chair, keith ellison. let's take a listen. >> extend an invitation for me

to join him in his leadership of the dnc. >> he is our leader. he is our chair. i think tom is ready to call on all americans to help reveal the democratic party and stand for the values that we all share with your prosperity for all, respect for all, inclusion of all, and we're ready to do it. >> all of us are united in the idea that tom is our chair, and we're proud to be part of the dnc and we're proud to say that this day is the day that the democrats come together, chart

that new course for a bright future for the american people. thank you. >> is today a turning point for the democratic party? >> i think we're very excited about today. you see feel all across america. there are more rallies today. we're going to win a special election if delaware. you have an opportunity here in the sixth congressional district of atlanta, and i think we have a real shot there. we're moving forward in new jersey, in virginia. i think we're going to elect a democratic governor in both those states. we're ready to hit the ground running, and what we also know is that our party succeeds when we have a real presence in all the states and territories, and so it's not just the presidential election. what we are united on is our very, very strong belief that our mission of this party, this committee is to elect people from the school board to the

senate, and the best way to do that is to help do that party-building. congressman ellison did that in minnesota. we see it being done elsewhere. we have to do that because we've lost a lot of seats. over 900. >> if you can care about having health care taken away from them, have their religion taken away from them, if you care about those people and back tom perez for chair. that's what you have to do. this is not some sort of a little sort of -- it's not a small thing. it's a big thing. the very fate of our nation, i believe, is in the balance right now. all hands on deck. i trust tom perez.

if they trust me, they need to come on and trust tom perez as well. that's what i'm telling them. let me tell you, i've had a benefit of sitting next to this man on many, many debates, and, of course, tom and i were friends before that, and i have heard a vision that i share. it got to the point where, you know, we kind of agreed on a lot of things. you know? there was one press report -- i love you guys, and you know that, but one press report that said there's not enough arguing going on in this particular race because i think there's a consensus that, as tom said, we're going to build from dog catcher to the senate, and we're going to fight in every state and every county, every territory, and democrats abroad. there are fights going on like today. steph nir hanson is on the ballot today. our revolution led to bernie sanders, who i want to thank, by

the way. i want to thank having rallies in every congressional district having a lot of -- it's got to be channelled into the democratic party, the dnc, so we can win elections. is that right? >> yes. >> do you agree with yoo you are new democratic that says he believes president trump has already done several things that legitimately begs the question of impeachment and if so what plans? >>. >> are you now seeing republicans call for a special investigation of what happened in the run-up to the election. that's disrespectful to all foxes to call it the fox guarding the hen house. we have to make sure that it is fair. if the tables had been turned and hillary clinton had won the presidency with the help of

donald trump -- with the help of putin -- i confuse putin and trump because they're so similar, and the help of all this hacking, the republicans -- how many benghazi hearings did they have? 15? there would have been articles of impeachment filed already. i hope this independent investigation is done, and i'm glad finally to see some republicans calling for it as well. >> did it happen in the second ballot? when was the decision about deputy chair? how did that come together? >> we've been friends for a long time, and when we sat down to talk about this campaign, number one value was there's no one -- not just the two of us, but there was no one in this race who wanted to win at any cost. this race is not about keith ellison. it's not about tom perez or any of the other candidates, and it's about making sure that

we're helping the immigrant who is being potentially sent home. it's about making sure we're helping that worker who has lost his or her job and needs help? that's what this is about. we need that in order to move forward, it's imperative to be united. we have spoken about how to bring together unity, and if the tables had been turned, i would have been honored to serve under congressman ellison. we've spoken about this for some time. neither of us document the days, but we have spoken about it for some time because we think it's really important. i'm very honored that we're here together because we are the embodiment of good synergy. >> you still perceive that --

>> the deputy chair are all about -- certainly fundraising is one component, but we got to lead the fight. not only against donald trump, but the fight to make sure that people understand our affirmative vision of inclusion and opportunity. we have to make sure that we are implementing our shared vision of change so that we're no longer simply the committee that helps elect the president. we're the committee that helps to insure that we are electing people up and down the democratic ticket because we want to take back the house of representatives, then we have to take back statehouses, take back governor's mansions, and we have to make sure that we're working together on the issue of internal culture change within the dnc and equally importantly we need to do more to collaborate with our partners in the progressive movement because you watch what's going on and the threats, and we can't be doing it alone. we have to be in partnership. the union movement is under

attack. planned parenthood is under attack, and the democrats will always be there to defend our friends. >> what do you say to that? will you stay in the house, sir, as deputy chairman, or will you leave the house? >> true. >> i look forward to listen and learning. i've already begun that, because we're all in this together. when i have gone out in the road over the course of the last -- how long has it been? two, three months. i've had fascinating learning moments talking to people. some of them video for senator sanders. some of them voted nor jill

stein. some of them voted for hillary clinton. what is so important is for us to understand what unionitis us we are staring unbelievably threats right in the eye right now. we have to be united moving forward because we have so many people across this country that are fearful. i know that we all have work to do, but i think our diversity of viewpoint is our strength as a party, and i look forward to listening and learning and earning the support and trust for everyone. >> i love passion. people have passion because they want to make sure that we address the abiding issues of inequality. when congressman ellison and i work together on the overtime rule, when we worked together to insure retirement security for

everyone, when we were side-by-side on the fight for 15 movement, that was addressing those passions. i met a woman in detroit that was part of the fight for the 15 movement in the night before it's over. she slept in her car with her sweet children. we can do better than that. i have the same passion because america is only america truly america when everybody has a fair shake, and not enough people are getting a fair shake, and that is why we are so aligned. >> i absolutely will remain in the house of representatives, but i believe this is a good synergy because with tom leading the way at the dnc, me assisting him, i'll be able to be a messenger between the other democratic institution that is we need to be in communication with too. i think tom would agree that we need to build a little -- we need to stop so much siloing and find a way for institutions to

cooperate. i'll number the house, but -- >> how do you get that money to the statehouses? >> that's all right. >> both of you have talked a lot about party building and the need to build infrastructures so that you can elect people all the way to where you want to go. can you talk about about over the next couple of months changes and the actions we're going to see at the committee to begin to create the infrastructure and what it's going to look like? >> we can understand what the immediate opportunities are, what the immediate needs are and understanding those immediate needs we will be moving forward. i expect over the next week to ten days that we are going to get a pretty comprehensive e-mail or, you know, some sort

of directive out to members asking them a lot of questions. as you heard me say earlier today, there's an incredible amount of talent in the dnc. i think they are chronically under-utilized, and we talked about that before. among the questions that we want to discuss collaboratively, how do we channel this remarkable energy at a grassroots level? how do we partner with the individuals? how do we turn that energy into sustainable momentum around the areasonable doubt forable care act, and what are the immediate infrastructure needs of the dnc? after the election, you know, roughly there are a fair number of people that were laid off that tends to happen after elections, and so there are basic nuts and bolts that we have to do. there's a lot of external outreach we need to do. not only for members, but to the broader community, and, know, this is like doing some maintenance on a plane when it's

at 25,000 feet because you can't just shut the plane down. i'm very excited about the weeks ahead, and we're looking forward to making use of the two of us, but also the other candidates who have all said, you know, how can i help, and the answer is going to be quite a bit. >> the budget has not been transparent. that was discussed during the debate. hundreds of millions have been spent on national contracts where over is,000 seats were lost. how are we going to make sure that money goes to states that -- >> transparency is a critical foundation for any organization, but especially for the dnc, and transparency is something that you are talking about on many levels. transparency, for instance, means making sure decisions are made in ab open and transparent

manner. transparent in budget sg a huge priority in terms of making sure that as we build a bulk, we're including members of the dnc, we're making it, you know, available, and then as we spend money, making sure the procu procurement process is fair and impartial. >> we have a steep learning curve. we have the same shared value in making sure that the dnc is firing on all cylinders and we have work to do, and that's no different than a number of the jobs i've had the privilege of starting recently where you go there and listen and you learn and then -- yes, ma'am. >> there you go. you have your new dnc chairman there, tom perez, saying they've got work to do. that might be the understatement

of the day. standing along side his deputy, keith ellis-on-, who was challenging him for the job. a lot of talk there about unity and what they need to do to unify the party. one thing they are unified on is calling for an independent investigation into alleged ties between the trump campaign and russia, so you'll be hearing a lot more about that, and also hillary clinton has weighed in on this issue of unity. she just tweeted moments ago congrats to dnc chair tom perez and deputy keith ellison. excited for strong unified party standing for best of our country into the future. >> we're going to turn now to planned parenthood, and its supporters who are sending a message to house speaker paul ryan this hour. they are holding a rally in his home state of wisconsin. something that appears to be supported by a republican draft proposal to repeal and replace

obama care. obtained by nbc news yesterday. nbc's beth fooey is in milwaukee where the rally is taking place. beth, nice to see you. you've got cecil richards there. what's been happening? >> i do. i'm really honored to have cecil richards here, the president of planned parenthood. just at a big rally here in wisconsin. home state of speaker paul ryan. cecil, thanks for being with us. >> absolutely. >> what's your -- what's the organization's message to paul ryan today? >> pay attention to the voters in his district and to the women of america who are saying they rely on planned parenthood for basic preventive care, and it is the threat to take away that access to care will create chaos and put a lot of people into a situation where they can't have access to the health care that they depend on us for. >> we have donald trump as president. we have full republican control of congress. we have a house speaker who says he is going to defund planned parenthood. pull federal funding from the organization. how threatened is planned parenthood? >> i think it's important to

remember, he is not going to did he defund us because we don't get a big check from the federal government. we get reimbursed for the health care services we provide, and it's important for folks to remember, federal funding doesn't go for abortion at all. it has not for many, many years. we're talking about denying women and young people the access to planned parenthood for basic preventive care. birth control and well women visits, cancer screens and the like. those are the stories we heard today from folks in his own district, from wisconsin, saying planned parenthood is a health care provider they rely on, and in many cases women told stories of the fact that it was at planned parenthood their cancer was detected and they're grateful that they're now cancer-free. >> but he says that women can go elsewhere, that there are other options for them. there are federally qualified health care centers all over the state of wisconsin wirks all over the country, that can do the same sfervices as planned parenthood provides, but without the stigma of abortion. is he right? >> the community health centers have said we cannot take up the slack. we cannot. the 2.5 million bashpatients th

come to -- no one is prepared to save them. the public health community has been very clear, and the women today speaking were very, very clear. if the planned parenthood centers are shut down, there is nowhere else for them to go. in racine, wisconsin, there is no other federally qualified health center that provides reproductive health care. literally in his own district there are thousands and thousands of people who would immediately lose access to care. >> supporters heard stories, and some are coming to congress next week to be able to testify. if he won't hear from them here in wisconsin, we'll have to bring him to washington d.c. >> thank you. there you have it. stephanie, back to you. >> one question for you. you know, i've been seeing these protests across the country on a number of different issues.

do you see your cause being energized specifically and in a greater fashion in recent weeks? >> sorry. i guess you're not hearing me on ifb, but beth, thank you very much. >> up next, up in smoke just like me here at the anchor desk. the growing marijuana industry gets nervous as the new trump white house signals a shift in policy over recreational use of pot. you're watching msnbc. american express open cards can help you take on a new job, or fill a big order or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services

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the trump administration is putting states on notice when it comes to the legalization of recreational marijuana. it is threatening to enforce federal marijuana laws even in states that have legalized the drug. marijuana advocates are heeding the warning and preparing for what could be a long legal fight.

the cannabis industry has become a multi-billion dollar business. it's expected to create more jobs in manufacturing over the next few years and may prove difficult for the trump administration to crack down on. joining me now is taylor west. she's the deputy director of the national cannabis industry association, and mark, ceo of canna royalty, the king of cannabis, i guess you would say. taylor, i want to start with you. i want to play some comments white house press secretary sean spicer made on thursday about marijuana and get your reaction. here he is. >> i do believe you'll see greater enforcement of it, because, again, there's a big difference between the medical use which congress has through an appropriations rider in 2014 made very clear with the intent of what their intent was in terms of how the department of justice would handle that issue. that's very different than the recreational use, which is something the department of justice i think will be further

looking into. >> when you hear those words, do you think that they're going to have a chilling affect on your indust industry, taylor? >> they're certainly disappointing to hear given that they directly contradict what president trump said multiple times on the campaign trail, which is that he believes marijuana should be a state by state issue and that the federal government shouldn't interfere. it's also disappointing because it directly contradicts the values of economic growth and limited government. this is a small business driven industry that's responsible for tens of thousands of jobs, billions of dollars in economic impact, and they're doing all of this while playing by the rules. they're being set up by state and local governments. i think it would be a huge mistake on the part of the justice department to try to overthrow the voter approved programs and send all of that economic impact back to criminals and cartels.

>> the cannabis industry has -- interestingly, attracting a lot of female executives. why do you think that's the case? >> you know, it's a new industry, so it doesn't have these built in structures over generations that have tended to favor men simply for no other reason than because they were there first. there is a real opportunity here for women to come in on the ground floor, and when you have women in leadership positions, that tends to lead to more women in leadership positions. it's been a really exciting thing to see, and it's also something that this industry and the movement that helped create this industry has really made a priority in terms of advancing. >> i want to bring you in here. the president has talked a lot about jobs. the cannabis industry has created thousands as we've been saying. is that enough, though, to really keep the administration off the backs ofompanies like

yours? >> i really think it is. the opportunities in the cannabis sector are endless, and keep in mind, this is a compound in a plant that was kept into the corners of society for a long time, and now not only is it a product that's generating a lot of interest from the public because it makes them feel better, much more so than alcohol or tobacco or other thin things, but it's a plant that hasn't been able to be researched, so the opportunities that are being exposed now through medical research is phenomenally attractive, especially from job creation. it's -- i think it's only the beginning in terms of the aspect of this plant and this sector. >> mark, if the trump administration does pursue further legal action on this,

how do you see this playing out? >> well, i sort of disagree with the other guest in terms of my understanding of what the administration commented on a few days ago in the sense that i think what i heard is they're going to focus on the types of things that i think all of us agree we don't want to have happen. like the wrong people getting the wrong compounds or the wrong types of products. beyond that i think that what i did hear and some other of the commentary was the acknowledgment that cannabis is a factor, but especially on the medical side, and so i think the first focus rightly should be on the transportation of cannabis across borders in the states and other pipes every types of things that are going on that are elicit, but i think, again, it comes back to a huge opportunity on the one side to help people feel better, and i

think the public has spoken very clearly about how they feel about the cannabis sector, and on the other side and very closely related is the idea that you can create a lot of jobs and a lot of positive economic impact through this sector. >> all right, mark and taylor. we'll have to wrap it up there. thank you both. that's it for more this hour, but up next, the new faces of the democratic party. can they lead their fellow democrats out of the fog of the 2016 election? stay tuned. my colleague richard lui is next here on msnbc. ou hit 300,000 mi. or here, when you walked away without a scratch. maybe it was the day your baby came home. or maybe the day you realized your baby was not a baby anymore. every subaru is built to earn your trust. because we know what you're trusting us with. subaru. kelley blue book's most trusted brand. and best overall brand.

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