that's why booking.com makes finding the right hotel for the right price easy. visit booking.com now to find out why we're booking.yeah ♪ good day, everyone. i'm alex witt here at msnbc world headquarters. it is high noon here in the east, 9:00 a.m. in the west. we begin with a look at the white house. the president and the first lady will be hosting a governor's ball. let's go to that word from the white house into whether the prosecutor should look into alleged ties into the election. one republican calls for exactly that. >> if a girl scout egged your house would you buy cookies from her? i think this is a pretty similar scenario. >> and the explanation for a big break with tradition. president trump makes a decision to do something that hasn't been done for decades. the new poll numbers out today,

some up, some down. at least one tells us whether the president is winning the battle with the media. where is the bar? what are expectations on capitol hill as president trump prepares to speak before a joint session of congress. will the usual decorum hold? of course, hollywood's big night. some are predicting the academy awards will make history for very different reasons and we have a live report here on msnbc live. this is the live picture of the white house later today. the president and the first lady will be hosting the governor's ball, but right now the white house is pushing back on whether attorney general jeff sessions should recuse himself should an investigation into a trump associates and alleged russian ties come to fruition. here's deputy press secretary sarah huckabee sanders a bit earlier. >> i wasn't saying that he shouldn't recuse himself or that he should. my point is i don't think we're there yet. let's work through this process. you guys want to jump to the very end of the line. that's not how this works.

typically you go through a congressional oversight review and let's not go to the extreme and let's play out the way they should. >> after darryl issa called for a special prosecutor to investigate this alleged connection. tom cotton who sits on the intel committee this morning also dismissing this heightened call for an investigation. >> i think that it's far down the road from what our inquiry might reveal in the intelligence committee or what the fbi's inquiries might reveal. that's something that could be decided down the road, but right now there's no credible evidence of these contacts beyond anonymous sources in the media and anonymous sources can't always be trusted. >> anonymous sources is how we found out about a lot of scandal in this country. >> days before the president is set to address a joint session of congress, a new nbc news/wall street journal poll shows him with an approval rating of 48%,a i record low for a new president.

44% called the policy necessary while 45% disagree. and as president trump ramps up his attack against news outlets, 53% of americans feel the media is overstating problems with the trump administration. the poll comes a day after the president tweeted that he would not be attending the white house correspondents' dinner set for april 29th. also new today, new dnc chairman tom perez responding to a tweet by president trump, this one calling yesterday's election rigged. >> congressman ellison and i got a good kick out of that. donald trump up again in the morning tweeting about us. our unity as a party is our greatest strength and it's his worst nightmare and frankly, what we need to be looking at is whether this election was rigged by donald trump and his buddy vladimir putin, and i'll tell you, having jeff sessions oversee such an investigation, it's really unfair to any foxes across america to say that would

be the fox guarding the henhouse. >> let's go now to nbc's kelly o'donnell standing by at her post at the white house. with a good sunday to you, let's talk about congressman issa's comment. how is the white house handling that? >> reporter: well, you heard sarah huckabee sanders who is the principal press deputy secretary, state what i've been hearing from other top officials that in under 40 days into office that is jumping ahead. congressman issa was on the bill maher show which is not a typical show, but a creptsurren events show and he thought a special prosecutor would be appropriate because of jeff sessions' close ties to the white house and to the president during the campaign era. that's about where it is, and darryl issa had formerly been part of the oversight committee, previous chairman of that body in the house. he no longer is, so he can speak about issues of oversight, but that's not his lane currently,

but his point is a valid one to consider, and as a republican it's noteworthy, but we're not seeing any traction from other republicans on that subject yet that could come in time, but at this stage, we're just not seeing it. to give you an example, an ally of the president, governor chris christie of new jersey appeared on television this morning and he was asked about the issue of an independent counsel. is it time for such a thing in here's governor christie's response. >> do you agree with darryl issa that a special prosecutor is needed? >> no. it has shown itself with the professionals there to have the ability to investigate these type of things. i just think, jake, and this is whether you're a republican or democrat, when a special prosecutor gets involved the thing gets completely out of control and that doesn't serve anybody's purposes. >> reporter: and there are other types of investigations that are under way. we know that the fbi is looking at this. we know that the relevant committees on capitol hill are

looking at it, and there will be stages to come where there will be other data points, reports will be put out. new information may surface and perhaps then, lawmakers and others will look at this and decide there needs to be some sort of change. the balance of power, of course, is that a branch of government can call for what is known now as an independent counsel and special prosecutor and a common term, but not the accurate one the way the law is written today. so we'll just have to see if we get there, but with the republican in the white house and the republicans controlling both chambers of congress that may be a harder thing to see happen, we'll see, but it is certainly the buzz this weekend and it's being talked about because this issue is one of great concern to many americans. was there a russian interference in the election? u.s. officials say yes, was there, but were there contacts with trump officials and that we don't know enough about yet and there are persistent rumors of that, reports of that and more has to be done to dig it out. >> that's the reason for a

potential investigation. >> kelly o., thank you very much from the white house for us. >> you bet. on the heels of kelly's report, let's bring in bob cusack, editor in chief at the hill with a welcome to you guys. always good to see you. jeremy, i'll begin with you here. you heard from chris christie, former u.s. attorney, say that when a special prosecutor steps in that's when things get out of control. what do you think would have to happen to get it to that point? >> i actually think that the evidence of history is on the other side. i think when congress steps in is when things get out of control and congress very easily, the republican-led congress can pump this and say yes, we'll take it off of our plate and we're going to endorse a special prosecutor and then they don't have to worry about it anymore. they stop getting asked about it because as long as they keep saying there's no need for any investigation of either sort, a congressional one or a special prosecutor, they are going to keep getting asked about this, and it is going to be a

distraction from the numerous policies that the republican-led congress has said it would tackle from tax reform to a repealing and replacing obamacare to infrastructure. you name it. they are getting very little done right now because they are so distracted by the chaos and scandal surrounding the administration. >> how significant is it that darryl issa is the one? conservatives in southern california, he's the one calling for this. >> he is, but he's also somebody who is in a very tough position politically. his district is a very close one. he, i believe, in 2016 the last election by one point or less than that. >> very close. >> he has to draw a line and differentiate himself from donald trump and let his constituents know that he is not going to blindly follow president trump which is what his democratic opponents will paint him as being. >> all right, bob. let's take a listen to a bit

more here from chris christie about the chief of staffer surrounding reince priebus. >> first, i think the assistant director of the fbi has to be spoken to by director comey. he shouldn't be initiating that conversation, in my view. i don't think reince thought he was doing anything wrong and i have absolute confidence in his integrity, but you need a prosecutor when dealing with these issues because perception matters. >> for reince priebus' part he says the fbi reached out to him first on this. how big a buzz is it with this incident? how big is it? >> i think it's overblown. from priebus' perspective, according to the white house's account it is the fbi who raised this and while there is a story that is false it is common sense to say is there anything you can do to shoot it down, and i actually think christie has a good point here, too, is that if you're going to raise that issue then you can't just raise the

issue and say we're not going to get involved. i do think, though, that how the trump white house has dealt with the press, sometimes not commenting until after something is published has hampered the administration, but i do think that this was something -- remember, the fbi and priebus were on the same page. they weren't on a different page. so i think this issue will probably fade after a little bit of time. >> okay. jeremy, you were there at cpac. so talk about that whole affair and whom you think that most helped to serve. is there any sense of the euphoria in some corners of the trump presidency that could end up with republicans overplaying their hand? >> i think right now the movement is a bit unfocused. it has a number of policy priorities, but none that have really emerged beyond repealing obamacare as the centerpiece. they know they want to repeal obamacare and what do they do

after? what goes in its place and where do republicans and conservatives agree on that? this movement, the conservative movement has always been better focussed when it has an obvious opponent. right now it's in power. it controls the white house and both houses of congress and is on the verge of retaking the reliable majority on the supreme court. so that transition from opposition party to governing party is a difficult one, and i think that under president trump the question really is just how much of the priorities of this new administration are going to be true conservative ones and ones that are your die-hard conservative movement folks? >> i'm curious, your thoughts where republicans stand on that. assess the movement to repeal, to replace and of course, it's what john boehner had said when he said, look, i don't think anything will happen and he spent a quarter century in congress and it was hard to get people on the same page. >> this will be extremely difficult and if there were easy

answers the republican party would have put out its replacement idea. paul ryan says they're right on track and they'll be releasing a bill in the coming days, but march is very important for the republicans to get on track on tax reform and obama care because if not, i think this white house could turn on the republican congress. conservatives are already criticizing the republican-led congress, and if republicans on capitol hill and the trump white house are fighting over a languishing agenda, that is music to democrats' ears. >> all right. >> jeremy, let's take a look ahead to the president's speech on tuesday to congress. what do you know about that? do you expect it to be dramatically different from the cpac speech that we saw that seemeded like a somewhat standard stump speech and do you think he's capable of giving a different speech? >> i think he is. i don't know that right now he wants to shift course off of

this very pugilistic combative posture where he's basically attacking the press as his enemy. this is what trump has always been best at doing, creating an enemy and doggedly going after it, and right now, as you said at the top of the show his approval ratings are the lowest in recorded history for a modern president. he needs an enemy, and he needs to keep hammering it, and right now that is the opposition party and the media. >> yeah. bob, your expectations for tuesday? >> i think it will be surreal for a lot of people especially democrats who are still smiling from the election. >> i think he needs a more positive tone than the inauguration speech, but i also think he will probably mention the media, but i don't think we should harp on them. people will remember what he accomplished and not his tweets with the media and without a doubt, that works with his base and it's likely he bashes the

media on tuesday. >> do you wonder why he keeps discrediting the media? why does he keep doing it? do you think there's something bigger coming down the pike, some big story and he wants to get out in front of it that way? >> he honestly believes that some in the media are out to get him, and he said at the cpac speech, not all of the media, but it worked for him. the one thing that usually republicans who complain about the media doesn't work for him, but trump is getting very good at getting under the media's skin, but when you go to that well all the time it does become a big old, and i think he's got to watch that because every speech now he's bashing the media, and he may want to scale it back just a bit. >> jeremy peters and bob cusack, thank you so much. i appreciate you being part of the media. just saying. thanks. happening now, louisiana, investigators are trying to piece together a horrific crash in new orleans last night after a car plowed into a crowd at the mardi gras parade injuring more than a dozen people.

nbc's sarah dallof is there. what happened? >> reporter: good afternoon, alex. amazingly, there were no deaths or life-threatening injuries when the truck which was driven by a suspected intoxicated driver, went over the median and into a crowd of people who were enjoying one of new orleans' famed mardi gras parades. at least 21 people were injured including young children and a city police officer. the driver who has since been identified as 25-year-old nielsen razuto was detained at the scene. he has since been booked on charges of first-degree vehicular negligent injury. city officials say they planned for crowd safety, keeping in mind, of course, the terrorist events of recent months, but they say there was just no predicting that this would happen, alex. >> sarah dallof in new orleans. what a mess that is. thank you for that. gop under pressure. how bad could it get if republicans don't get their version of health care right?

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we have to repeal. that's what we told voters we'll do. we have to repeal and replace it. remember what the american people were sold. they were sold a bill of goods on this thing. i tell people, they were sold a caribbean cruise and they got the titanic. >> republican congressman jim jordan founded the house freedom congress this morning. let's bring in the governor from arkansas asa hutchinson. thank you for joining me. you were at governor association meeting there and there was a leaked report showing your party's replacement plan to the aca would lead to millions losing coverage and the report also suggests it would be worse in states that did not expand their medicaid. many of those states do have

republican governors. would healthcare be an anchor around the neck of your party if it is not handled correctly? >> well, it's important to handle it correctly, and that's the message that we have to congress is that, one, you need to listen to the governors because we're in the field. we're putting this health care to work every day. also, we need to get it right, and i want america to be assured that we're going to be urging as governors, congress to be careful about it. it's a given that the affordable care act will be repealed, but what we replace it with and that system, they need to listen to governors who have to get it right, and i am familiar with that leaked document, as you say. that's a work in progress, first of all. we're resolving issues and we're trying to come together as governors to be able to present to congress a unified approach as to what needs to be done. we need flexibility to manage the programs, and we want to be able to work with congress to save money to bend the cost

curve, the increased costs in medicaid down the road, and it shouldn't just be dumping it on the federal government, the cost or burdening the state, but it should be a shared partnership, and so i don't think the fear and the estimates that you're projecting are reality. it's a very appropriate document that -- that we're still working on and we hope to be able to reach consensus on. >> fear and projections that i'm projecting are those in the document because we're reiterating what a is in the document and i'll grant you it is an incomplete document, sir. let's look at the popularity. there is a poll that shows 54% of americans support, they approve the aca right now. only 43% disapprove. can you talk about any surprise you have with that? and also put that relative to the mood of those in arkansas in regards to obamacare. >> well, in arkansas president trump has a 60% approval rating.

the affordable care act is not something that is popular. that's something that people elected their representatives to repeal, and so whenever you look at what we've done in arkansas, we've under the previous administration expanded the medicaid and there are 300 and some thousand covered by it. we want to manage that, and to improve it and save the costs on it. >> governor, did you see anything that happened with those town halls, particularly senator tom cotton from your state. those folks were angry, and they seemed to be the angriest about obamacare, the aca, and they're not getting what they need and what they signed up for. >> well, that indicates to me if 2,000 that come out are not happy with their health care then that says they're not happy with the affordable care act because that's the program right now. and so i think whenever you see that level of intensity, they're

trying to express that health care is a concern. you need to make sure you get it right. some of them probably are saying they like the affordable care act. some people are saying they don't like it, but it's going to be repealed and that's a given. we want to get it right. >> but sir, is it a given? let's take a listen to what former speaker john boehner said about his expectations. here it is. >> they'll fix obamacare. i shouldn't call it repeal and replace. that's not going to happen. we'll fix the flaws. >> is that what's going to happen? that seem kos contrast with what you suggest to me. what do you see happening here? >> well, i see congress take a very thoughtful approach to it. there is a commitment to repeal the affordable care act when you talk about the individual mandate to buy insurance and the employer mandate. i expect those to go away whenever you're looking at the medicaid expansion, part of the affordable care act.

i expect much of that to be returned to the state and the tricky issue is to make sure you don't penalize those states that did medicaid expansion and you don't penalize those states that did not accept it and to equalize those in some fashion and the best way to do that is by working out a partnership arrangement on the financing and given the state's flexibility to cut the costs, serve and save money. that is the objective and i think congress is going to be responsible and handle that in an effective way that does not -- and we want to make sure that the people of america does not get concerned that there will be such a dramatic shift that their health care tomorrow will be uprooted. it's not going to be whatever happens. there's going to be a transition period allowing the states to implement this in a way that assures coverage, does not overly disrupt the system, but over the long term makes it sustainable to have a cost-affordable program. >> governor, a look ahead to

tuesday night. do you expect the president to deliver the same kind of speech like the one he gave at cpac or a different speech that has more detail and substance to it? >> i expect it to be totally different, and just my view on it is that he recognizes this as an opportunity to speak to the american people. i expect it to be more unifying, but still clear in the direction he wants to go to reduce regulation and to work toward more economic strength in the united states of america. i hope that he addresses the immigration and gives confidence as to we're going to enforce the law, protect the border and also be a compassionate nation that has a high regard for immigrants. i hope and believe that his speech will be different than cpac in the sense that it is going to be a broader perspective, speaking actually to the world as well as to the united states. >> all right. republican governor of arkansas, asa hutchinson, governor, thank

you very much for your time. appreciate it. >> alex, great to be with you. staying at the top of the pack when it comes to nuclear weapons. could president trump's words set off an arms race? that's coming up. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? 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.

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welcome back. i'm alex witt here at msnbc world headquarters in new york. as we approach the bottom of the hour, here's what we're monitoring for you. this sad news to share out of hollywood, veteran actor bill pac paxton died saturday due to complications from surgery, he was in "twister and "titanic." he was nominated for hatfields and mccoys. he earned three golden globe nominations for his hbo series "big love." bill paxton just 61 years old. let's take you overseas now. massive crowds in trafalgar square and they're gathered for the first open-air screening by

the city. matt is there in the thick of things. let's talk about what this is all about and what folks will see. >> reporter: politics always follow behind the academy awards or not so far behind, excuse me. this is no different. this year we're seeing the outrage and anger washing up on to european shores and so just today as we're getting ready for the academy awards in l.a. we're seeing an outdoor premiere screening of "the salesman" by iranian director askar farhadi, before donald trump implemented the immigration restrictions, he was going to be traveling to l.a. and now he still is in tehran where he addressed us just moments ago and this huge square gathered in iconic trafalgar square. i spoke with the london mayor sadiq khan. take a listen to what he said. >> at a time when people are putting up ban, they're trying to motivate people by fear

there's talk of walls being built, we want to send a message of hope, building bridges and showing the world that you can bring people together by, you know, by being positive and uniting people. that's what this film is about. showing the world we're open. >> reporter: so this isn't just about donald trump. this is about london, as well. this is all coming together under sadiq khan's slogan of #londonisopen. he's trying to send a message and trying to deal with some of britain's own demons. if you remember, just almost a year ago britons voted to leave the european union in the so-called brexit. a lot of that vote was motivated by fear of immigration and a lot of the same conversations that have been going on in the united states. sadiq khan is saying this city, london is voting overwhelmingly is still open to immigrants and it's still a center of culture and a truly global city. that's the message that he's trying to spread. not just to donald trump, but to

britons here in the uk. back to you. >> this is seriously great publicity for this film, "the salesman." can you guesstimate the crowd size there and quickly, the makeup? do you see a diverse crowd? old, young and the like? >> reporter: it's a hugely diverse crowd of thousands, and the fact is that they're all coming out into trafalgar square, which i don't know if you can see very well, it's dark, it's rainy and it's cold. they're not here because it's a pleasant environment and they're a part of this act of defiance and protest against exclusionary language not just from donald trump and his supporters and other politicians in britain. we're open, this city is open to culture, immigrants and to everybody. >> is anybody telling you, shh, be quiet! we're trying to watch the film because isn't it playing behind you? >> i've got a lot of people, but they all seem to be pointing their cameras at me and not at the film, so. >> you're a star there in london, as well. >> thank you very much, appreciate that. >> there's a nuclear arms race

in the offing after president trump's comments this week. the likelihood of that coming up. 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

president trump is renewing calls for nuclear supremacy. here's what he told reuters in his first comments on the issue since taking office. >> it would be wonderful. a dream would be that no country would have nuke, but if countries are going to have nukes we're going to be at the top of the pack. >> joining me now matthew crane, associate professor of the department of government at georgetown university. good day to you. what do you make of these comments and what do you say to those who fear his approach could set off an arms race. >> thanks for having me on. they're actually pretty consistent with what u.s. leaders have said about this issue over the years. hillary clinton when she was secretary of state said that the united states should be stronger than anybody else with more nuclear weapons than we'll ever

need. kennedy said that the united states should be, quote, second to none, when it comes to nuclear weapons, and i think it's important to remember that the united states doesn't try to deter attacks on itself with its nuclear arsenal, but we extend nuclear deterrents to 30 other nations, nato allies, south korea, off taustralia and they' counting on our nuclear strength and the united states should have a nuclear deterrence for peace in those region, as well. >> where does the u.s. stand on the world stage with its nuclear arsenal? >> well, you know, the united states has a robust nuclear arsenal, but one of the things that's concerning is that russia in recent years has been relying more, not less, on nuclear weapons. it's violating this intermediate range nuclear forces treaty, a treaty that's been in place since 1987. russia is in violation of that, building new nuclear weapons and also, russia has this escalate

to de-escalate nuclear strategy basically that they'll use nuclear weapons early in a conflict to deter the united states and others in europe from getting involved and giving them the ability to coerce our nato allies in eastern europe, and so the idea would be to develop nuclear capabilities that would allow us to counter these new russian nuclear threats. >> but as you know, matthew, in terms of numbers, currently russia has slightly more nuclear warheads than the u.s. both together have enough to destroy all of human civilization. why the idea that more nuclear weapons are necessary? >> i agree with the first part, but not the second part. the united states and russia have another treaty, the new s.t.a.r.t. treaty that we signed in 2010. the united states is a couple of warheads below the treat. the russians are a couple hundred above. as you point out, the russians have more currently, so the united states could increase its number of deployed warheads consistent with its international agreement and that

would be one way of strengthening the arsenal. on the point of destroying the world many times over, it's actually not true. one of the things the u.s. does differently than other countries is we comply with the laws of war and so the united states doesn't plan to use nuclear weapons against enemies. we plan to use our nuclear weapons against an enemy's nuclear weapons to destroy them before they can be used and that means our number of nuclear weapons depends on the target which means it has to be directly in proportion to the enemy's nuclear weapons. >> so you don't think that the numbers that we have, these thousands of nuclear warheads and i'm not talking about destroying the world many times over. i'm talking about just once. we don't have enough to do that? >> we don't. it's a commonly-used line. i have a new book coming out called "the knowledge of the nuclear war strategy," i cited colleagues of mine at the laboratory and they estimate it would take 140,000 nuclear

weapons to kill every american citizen, getting ghastly here on a sunday afternoon. russia has 1,000. so roughly 1/140th, and nobody should down play the devastation from a nuclear exchange. they're the most powerful weapons on earth, but nowhere near the ability to destroy the world many times over and if russia is going to have more, then we need more to protect ourselves and our allies. >> very quickly, how do you measure nuclear dominance? >> um, one simple way is warhead count, but i think in practice, you want to think about the scenarios. what are the nuclear threats that russia poses? how would they use nuclear weapons and if they did that, how would we respond? and of course, the point isn't that we want to respond or we want russia to use nuclear weapons, but if they see we have an effective response they'll be deterred from moving in the first place, and so i think that's what you need. you need a clear ability to

respond to the threat the enemy poses, and i'm afraid that right now we don't have that. matthew crane, georgetown university, we'll keep an eye out for your forthcoming book. thanks for joining me. >> thank you. is tom perez a strong enough lead tore counter president trump and the gop? i'll ask former dnc chair howard dean about that next. >> in our next hour a political activist tell us why the threat of cessation in california is something that should be taken seriously. nosy neighbor with a keen sense of smell... glad bag, full of trash. what happens next? nothing.

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of being there for my son's winning shot. that was it for me. that's why i'm quitting with nicorette. only nicorette mini has a patented fast dissolving formula. it starts to relieve sudden cravings fast. every great why needs a great how. if this had occurred under a democratic administration there would have been a special prosecutor, and there would have been a ne9/11 commission. the fact that it's not is the hypocrisy, the oversight that should be occurring is not oking and this is why you have leaks and the intel community talking to the press and this is why the white house is trying to discredit the press because they know there's more coming. >> that is arizona congressman ruben gallego, a democrat and a

member of the armed services committee. his comments come 48 hours after his colleague republican darryl issa called for a special prosecutor to look into the trump campaign's potential ties to russia. howard dean, former governor of vermont and former dnc chair and susan delpercio. >> howard, to you first. do you think there is a double standard at play here? >> oh, of course. look, everybody does that in politics and the republicans are in power and all of the things they did as an opposition party will now be either done by the democrats or called out by the democrats. of course, there is a double standard. >> what about the congressman's assertion, susan, that there's more coming? do you think there's something to that? >> no, well, other than it seems that the amount of leaks is never-ending when it comes to this administration, and this

white house and that there's nothing being done to kind of settle down and stop these conflicts that are happening within, plus that and the relationship with the intelligence community. so i don't know that the congressman has any information specific, but it would seem natural that there are going to be more leaks. >> why do you think, howard, that this administration is trying its darnedest to discredit the media? >> because that's where i think there's more coming. that's the best evidence, helene cooper said that on "meet the press" this morning that when somebody goes after the media like this it's in order to sort of prevent what they know is going to happen next which is more stuff, and there is more stuff. i mean, i obviously get a lot of news and i get a lot of news from twitter, some of which is very, very good and a lot of it from other parts of the world and there's definitely more coming. the stuff that's out there, and i'm not talking about the crazy conspiracy theory stuff. there were a lot of

conversations with the trump campaign and the russians, a lot more than we've talked about, and i think that's eventually going to get to the mainstream media so the crazy stuff gets reted. trump will have more and more trouble. issa is a bguy that barely won his congressional race and he's probably doing this to save his owe own neck and you will see a problem for the republicans and there are about 24 of them and you'll see more republican congressmen will get on the bandwagon for their own self-preservation. >> do you agree with that, susan? >> think it's easier to call for a special prosecutor because then it takes it off the plate of congress and they get to move on. >> so right. >> thank you, governor. >> that's so right. right on. on both sides. >> on both sides. absolutely. >> it's an easier way to go. i think when it comes to the press, however, donald trump believes so much in winning that he can't -- that means someone

has to be losing. he can't go after the house or the senate so the press is the target right now. he wants to have that war, but i think at the end of the day people are going to get tired of this. they want to see policy. they want to see what the job numbers look like, and he can have this war all he wants, but if people don't see a change and that their lives are getting better. >> right. >> no matter what the press reports people will know what their own truth is. >> i get a sense that that's beginning to happen now. i think people are getting a little tired of the same dog and pony show this way. howard, let's talk about some people that have painted the dnc race as establishment versus progressives. does labor secretary tom perez's win, does that establish democrat depp democrats? >> it does. the young guy who is the future of the party as are many and his generation got shut out across the board not just in that election, and perez was

supported by president obama and vi vice president biden who were making calls into the meeting. perez has a long history of really strong credentials on things like civil rights and voting rights. so i think we ought to give him a chance. it wasn't my candidate, but i think he's got good potential. the real problem is not which one of these relatively progressive people he chose and the real problem is how we'll touch the real democratic party, the people going to the airports and the people out marching in the women's marches. these and the people going to the town meetings and these are the real democrats and the establishment inside the beltway are so far behind these people and much further than they were when president obama took office. that's got to be fixed and if that can't be fixed we'll find another mechanism to contact the democrats outside the beltway and maybe tom can do that. we should give him a chance. >> is that it's because of governor dean and it's to his credit that you now have a

democratic party that's focused on a 50-state strategy and that it's a full-time job and often i don't think the governor gets enough credit for early on saying this needs to be a full-time job and that is, i think, one of the biggest takeaways from this election that dramatically changed for the party. >> and perhaps now more than ever given what they've got ahead of them, the democrats, but howard, when you put together what he did, what tom perez did immediately after being elected and he brings in keith ellison who was his major opponent. >> right. >> he's aware that establishment versus progressives, we've got to bring them together if we have to do something. >> that's right. i think that was very smart. keith is a very decent human being and i've known him a long time and i campaigned with him in his first campaign and for him to accept that graciously was very important. i'm not worried about the unity of the party and i'm worried about the beltway crowd continuing to think the way they have in the last eight years and that's hurt us badly. to refer back to chuck todd this

morning, the table he put up was absolutely devastating. 11 senators gone. nine governors gone and 987 legislative seats gone, that is a record that we'll have to dig deep to undo, and it's not going to be fixed inside the beltway unless the dnc can get outside the beltway and that's why am a little concerned about it. >> very quickly. susan, i'll let you answer this. what do you expect from the president tuesday night? >> i expect broad strokes and a little bit of reflection on the campaign which are both unfortunate. he needs to turn to policy leadership, and unfortunately, i don't think we're going to see that. it will be interesting to see how the congressional republicans respond to that. >> as always, good to see you both. susan and howard, thank you so much. enjoy your sundays. >> thanks a lot. donald trump tweeting the oscars is past prolog.

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it is oscar night, and here's a look at the preparations in los angeles for the ceremony starting just a few hours from now. millions, of course, expected to tune in, but one person who may

not be watching is president trump. the white house says instead the president will be hosting a function in washington, d.c., but thanks to his twitter feed we already know the president's view on some of the oscar nominees. samantha sellers is joining me with that. with a happy sunday to you, savannah, what all did you find? >> president trump might not be watching the oscars this year since he'll be hosting the white house governor's ball with first lady melania tonight, but we do know that president trump has watched the academy awards several times. no tets were sent out last year, trump watched and tweeted the show calling the show, quote really boring. in 2013 trump live tweeted throughout the show sending a flurry of tweets saying that host ellen degeneres was having a hard time with her lines. we also know a lot about the president's thoughts on several of this year's nominees. less than two months before the election back in september, trump tweeted about best actress nominee natalie portman saying natalie portman trying too hard

for an oscar nom calling it sad. emma stone was the host of saturday night live when trump tweeted it was unwatchable and not funny. he tweeted about denzel washington in the past, noting in 2015 that the star gave a, quote, wonderful commencement speech at dillard university. supporting actress octavia spencer has been vocal herself on twitter about the president. in july she tweeted about the republican national convention saying it was like a car wreck. can't look, but can't look away. of course, we know about the meryl streep-donald trump tension that began with streep's comments during an acceptance speech at the golden globes. let's listen. >> so hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigner, and if we kick them all out you'll have nothing to watch, but football and mixed martial arts which are not the arts. >> trump then called the actress overrated in a series of tweets

that night. we'll be keeping an eye on that if streep takes home the award tonight. >> we should all be so overrateded. all i'm going say to your report, savannah, is i just can't. >> it's amazing that we're able to see so much of what the president of the united states thinks about something like this. >> i agree. we'll see you soon. thanks so much. >> he makes his home in russia any l and helps california break away from the united states. spread pn drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. she also prescribed lyrica. fibromyalgia is thought to be the result of overactive nerves. lyrica is believed to calm these nerves. for some, lyrica can significantly relieve fibromyalgia pain and improve function, so i feel better. lyrica may cause serious allergic reactions or suicidal thoughts or actions. tell your doctor right away if you have these, new or worsening depression, or unusual changes in mood or behavior.

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hi there, everyone, i'm alex witt at msnbc world headquarters in new york city. it is 1:00 in the east, 10:00 a.m. in the west. we begin with reaction from the white house pushing back on reports that officials tried to get the fbi and lawmakers to clamp down on russia stories. here's sarah huckabee-sanders a bit earlier. >> the fbi has already said the story is b.s. those are the