or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. education is the civil rights issue of our time. i am calling upon members of both parties to pass an education bill that funds school choice for disadvantaged youth, including millions of african-american and latino children. >> good morning, and welcome to "politicsnation." president trump has consistently presented himself as a friend to the african-american community. and earlier this week, he met with the heads of many historically black colleges and

university before signing an executive order making them a white house priority. >> historically, black colleges and universities are incredibly important institutions woven into the fabric of our history, just about like no other. hbcus have been really pillars of the african-american community for more than 150 years. amazing job. >> now social media was already preoccupied with this photo of white house adviser kellyanne conway with her feet on the oval office couch during the hbcu meeting. but for me and many others, the bigger story came in a written statement by education secretary betsy devos, when she released this hours after the monday listening session with those same educators, calling hbcus

"pioneers" when it comes to school choice. critics were quick to point out that hbcus were a direct response to segregation and by no means a choice. is this yet another instance of conservatives exploiting black history for political cover? joining me now is michael lomax, president and ceo of the united negro college fund, who was at the white house for the signing, and stanley nelson, award-winning filmmaker whose latest work is "tell them we are rising: the story of historically black colleges and university." let me go to you first, dr. lomax. you were in the meeting with the president when he signed the proclamation. there have been some that have raised issues with it.

some of the students. i don't know how widespread it is. but it really wasn't a meeting. it was more of a photo op and the reading of a proclamation, isn't that right? >> yeah that was really the executive order being signed. and all of the meetings, reverend sharpton, really had occurred prior to that. the united negro fund, thurgood marshall fund, we have been meeting with white house staff, people from the domestic policy team, really giving them our advice and counsel on what needed to go into the executive order. you know, every president since jimmy carter has issued an executive order creating a white house initiative, but i would characterize the white house initiative in the past as being a tuoothless tiger. it had a roar, but it didn't have a bite. >> does this one have a bite? what makes this -- >> well, so, so, this one, we said we've got to put some teeth into this white house initiative.

we want it to be in the white house. we don't want it to be lost in the bowels of the department of education. it is going to be in the white house. we want it to have an executive director who is able to designate departments of the federal government that will be asked to develop plans. the plans must be developed within 90 days of that designation. there must be annual reports. we also did want some percentages put in there. we wanted to see grants going up to 5% and contracts up to 10%. that wasn't put in it. so, the question is -- >> so, we've got -- in the white house, we've got a percentage, but we don't have the grants, we don't have a dollar figure, so we may have had, rather than having some teeth, some dentures that could come out if there's no money here. >> well, the money side of this will be a part -- we'll see about the money in the president's budget.

because that's where -- >> by and by when the morning comes, maybe we'll see, maybe we won't. >> well -- >> let me ask this question of stanley nelson and then i'll come back to you, dr. lomax. >> okay. >> i think americans need to understand the importance of historical -- historic black colleges and universities. and you've done a documentary. i want to show a little part of it, because i think a lot of people who didn't understand the history, particularly when you had this distortion from the education secretary about pro-choice, the history is very significant. >> yeah. i think that it's very important that we understand the history, that we understand the traditional role that black colleges and universities have served in our community. there seems to be kind of a disconnect a lot of times with the white house from history, and i think it's really important that we understand the history. >> stanley, here's a short clip from your new documentary, "tell them we are rising: the story of

historical black colleges and universities." >> despite the violence and intimidation, the shortage of teachers and resources, the black colleges in the south survived, and they began to produce their first graduates. many of whom were formerly enslaved. >> so, dr. lomax, no one has done better work than united negro college fund in trying to fund these colleges and trying to keep them going, and they are absolutely part of the fabric of black america and america, but again, there are those that are saying that mr. trump, the president, got away with a photo op, there's no real dollar commitment. some people are calling some of the college presidents sellouts. and it's even worse to sell out and you didn't get anything! >> well, i think it's too soon to tell whether we achieved a goal or whether the goal is going to be elusive.

certainly we got the nation's attention about the importance of historically black colleges, the importance of issuing an executive order, the importance that these institutions play. now we're going to find out, are they going to put their money where their mouth is? are there going to be teeth? is there going to be enforcement capability with respect to the executive order when it sets goals and demands equitable treatment of hbcus, which is the language of the executive order in terms of federal funding. so, this president has to submit a budget. is he going to put $1 billion in title 3? is he going to make -- is he going to extend the $85 million a year in additional funds that president obama put into that? is he going to make year-round pela grants available to all students? is he going to clean up the loan programs? is he going -- if he has a trillion-dollar public works program, can some of that money be spent on hbcu campuses? >> that's the kinds of things that we really need to hold their feet to the fire and press

for. you know, stanley, i don't know that there is a real understanding with many americans of how important historically black colleges and universities are. i know even me personally, who didn't go -- my daughter, my youngest daughter, ashley, went to hampton, and i received an honorary degree from bethune-cookman college. in fact, it was the first time my father went with me. he had left when i was a kid one day when i graduated high school from virginia union university. so, all of us have these personal stories. >> right. >> but it was because these colleges were forced -- were not forced, they were founded because we were forced out of the mainstream of education, so there's no black family this didn't touch. that affects even now because i'm only a generation away from my mother not being able to go to school where she was born and raised. >> right.

i think it's really important that we understand that historically black colleges were probably the biggest engine of black people getting into the middle class that we've ever had in this country, that, you know, from 1865, when the civil war ended, to 1965, we're talking about 100 years, basically, african-americans could not go to schools other than black colleges. so, 90% of black people who went to college went to historically black colleges and universities. my father and mother both went to historically black colleges and afforded me, you know, and my siblings, the life that i have and then my kids the life that they have, all coming out of historically black colleges and universities. and i think it's really important that we understand that history and understand that this was not a choice. there was no place else you could go. and historically black colleges were formed mainly by african-americans to fill that

need, because this was the only place that we could go, and we believed in education. >> right. >> we believed education was the way out. >> dr. lomax, do you get a sense from your conversations with the trump administration that they understand the significance that stanley nelson just brought and that you've given your life to in terms of the importance of these institutions, even going forward? because when you see the tweet by the education secretary, betsy devos, it's almost like they really don't even understand the history, aside from the insult saying it was school choice, they don't even understand the history, and that there wasn't a real meeting or exchange with the president who does know some blacks. i mean, i've known the president for the last 30 years. we've fought, argued, and even agreed on some things when he supported some democratic mayoral candidates, but i don't

know that he and them understand the depths of what historical black colleges and university really mean to this country as they weigh the budget and the things that you raise. >> well, i think they've learned some talking points. the question is have they really absorbed the history behind these institutions? and you know, that's yet to be seen. i mean, one of the things that did happen after secretary devos made her comments is a number of the institutions said, we want you to come to our institutions, we want you to meet our students, we want you to learn our history, we want you to walk across our campuses and experience what it's like to be at an hbcu. and you know, what i would say to black college students at historically black colleges around the country is we've got to educate this administration, and we can't sit on the sidelines. we can't marginalize ourselves. we can't refuse to be engaged in this discussion and to make the case for what is important to be invested in our institutions. so, i welcome the chance to do

that and to give a history lesson or multiple history lessons to the secretary of education. >> stanley, the one thing that i think you wanted to do with the documentary as part of really understanding for this country, of the significance, the importance in the part of american history and the bedrock of america in education of what these institutions represent. do you think coming out of this meeting, this can be something that leads to that? is this just the president using some black faces for a photo op? thank you, check that box, bye? >> frankly, i'm not sure. but one of the things that i think that's really interesting is that in history, throughout history, black colleges have been led by the students. and so many times in the civil rights movements, other places,

the students were pulling the administrations of black colleges forward. so, i'm not sure that i think it's such a bad thing. you know when students stand up, i'm always kind of feeling good, you know, because -- >> i feel bad when they don't. >> yeah. there's never been a change, there's never been a revolution by old people in the history of the world. so, when young people stand up, i think it's a good thing. >> yep. thank you for that, michael lomax and stanley nelson. coming up, once again, president trump goes on the attack, and once again makes allegations without offering any proof to back them up. is this the new normal? we'll be right back. this is "politicsnation" on msnbc. 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

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waebl. welcome back. for a while, after his mild address to congress tuesday night, i began to wonder if donald trump is maybe turning a corner into normalizing his presidency, but then the leader of the free world was at it again. yesterday, trump released a flurry of tweets shortly after dawn, accusing former president obama of spying on him. one of trump's tweets read, "how low has president obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process. this is nixon/watergate bad," or in parentheses, "or sick guy." obama's response "neither president obama nor any white

house official ever ordered surveillance on any u.s. citizen. any suggestion otherwise is simply false." so, once again, trump makes strong allegations without offering any evidence or details. is this the new normal for this white house and for the country? joining me now is joe madison, radio talk show host on sirius xm, and matt welch, editor at large of libertarian magazine "reason." let me go to you first, joe. you know, you and i and others from the beginning have raised questions about trump. you co-hosted the civil rights market we spearheaded the national action network, we raised real questions the week he's coming in, there's been protests. and then it looked like on tuesday night to most of the pundits and the talking heads and the editorial writers he changed his tone. maybe he's turning a corner.

and even i, who's seen him bob and weave for decades, said maybe he is growing into the presidency. and then this, joe! i mean, he just can't help it. >> well, let's deal with tone, and then let's be honest and deal with substance. >> well, the policy didn't change. >> that's exactly right. and one of the things i suggested to my audience was here's what you do. print out the speech and read the text. anyone in political science, that's what you encourage your students to do, so you don't get caught up in the style. number two, let's understand something -- him referring to watergate. the fact that after watergate it was codified that presidents cannot call for a wiretap, so

they didn't even understand that history. and then number three. let us keep in mind, where donald trump is getting this is from the same talk show personalities that started this stuff that president obama was not a citizen. so, this is just a continuation -- >> the whole birther movement. >> absolutely. >> but matt, the question of -- there's no question about all of us say the policy didn't change, if you listened to the content of the speech or read it. the volume or delivery changed, but the content was the same. he didn't back up. in fact, he dug in in some areas. but the fact that many people wanted at least the tone and the affirmature of the president as a responsible, thoughtful person, that is what i think a lot of people were looking for. and then you see these kinds of

tweets yesterday, saying, no, wait a minute, he hasn't grown in tone or become more thoughtful, look at this. >> i think it says more about the media, the pundits, even you, and the sense of dislocation that the trump candidacy and the trump presidency has given to the nation's political class, this expression of relief. it was temporary, because obviously, it wasn't going to last. but on tuesday night, everyone's like, my god, finally, it happened! all these trump critics, people who have been digging on him from left and right were so relieved because he ran as an opponent to their world, not just the world of politics and ideology, the world of manners, of morays, of this is how the political class talks acceptably about stuff. he has talked unacceptably about stuff from the beginning. so, for one speech -- i was watching this speech and i was hearing not those tonal elements, i was hearing him make sort of heavy breathing accusations about illegal

immigrant criminality. there's a bunch of things that he said in there that were flatly untrue, and then i go on twitter and see this reaction from -- >> well, the civil rights is untrue. >> everyone talking about this, but this was an expression of relief from a political class that wants their old world back. they're not going to get it, ever. >> but i don't even -- i disagree with that. i don't think that it's about, joe, wanting the old world back in terms of our politics or our policies. i think just the fact that we all relate to young people, have children, want to see a president that operates with manners that matt talks about. that's not trying to have your world back, that's trying to have some level of stability in the world! >> and not to frighten young people. i have a grandson who has a name from his father, who by the way, is kenyan. and you know, he's scared. you know, 11, 12-year-olds,

younger children, they're listening. they're frightened. you know, this is what most people -- i don't care if it's the barber shop, beauty shop, or the political class, almost everyone, including republicans, are saying the same thing, that these folks are really -- they simply don't know what they're doing. but let me say something real quick, reverend sharpton. i think -- and you know donald trump, as you've pointed out -- i think that he is one of the slickest presidents we've ever had, because jeff sessions was the real topic, the real headline this week. and what donald trump is very capable of doing is switching the narrative from sessions to -- >> oh, no doubt about it. >> -- this discussion, and that i think was planned by him in the wee hours of the morning. >> no, well, i think the one thing that i keep telling people -- i do not think donald trump is in any way not one of the smarter in terms of savvy, in terms of how to deal with

media and all, and he's a tough guy. everybody's saying, let's have meetings with him. don't think he's agreed fraid t disagree. but what i think, matt, that aside from the outrageous thing of raising something like president obama ordered my phones tapped without giving evidence, without giving evidence, as outrageous as that is, and as much as i may disagree with his policies and continue to protest and march and all of that, i think that we all, conservative or republican -- i've talked to republicans on the hill that are very concerned about the tone and the style of the presidency. i talk to people as i travel around the country. young people are actually frightened about their future because they feel he's on the edge here. this has nothing to do with content. we all agree the content -- the election we lost, we understand that. we've lost elections before.

but this kind of tone bordering on being out of control is scary for a lot of us! >> go look at the statement that senator ben sass, republican from kansas -- kansas? i think so -- released yesterday. he talked about how we need to, because of these tweets, we need to get down to the bottom of this accusation and have some -- >> right. >> -- and have some disclosures that come out of this, because right now we are on -- and i'm going to mangle this slightly -- but a civilizational, like a threatening sense of -- >> like a crisis. >> -- of dislocation. >> right, right. >> this is a conservative republican saying that. there is a feeling out there that he's just rolling dice here in a reckless type of sense. >> and joe, i think that even those of us that are in the anti-trump in terms of policy, those of us taking part in the protests and all that, even we have tried to have a level of trying to communicate in a sane

and responsible way as we express our outrage. it seems that there is no rules to where he would go in terms of allegations, statements, even the use of his language. >> and that's why it's very un-american and why you have most americans that are either on the right or left that are very concerned, and quite honestly, outraged. and you know, the key word now is resist. this is not difficult to get to the bottom of. look, the obama administration has made it clear, not only was this -- would have been a violation after what happened in watergate, but former president obama's record is very clear. they would not allow a single staff member to even suggest that this type of thing be done -- >> no. >> and that's on the record. >> well, i don't even think they have to go as far as defending it. i would say there's no evidence there! you can't argue against something -- >> none.

>> -- that somebody standing on a corner in manhattan would just scream, and you hate to think that kind of person or that style of person is sitting in the oval office. thank you, joe madison. thank you, matt welch. >> thank you. coming up, some call this a case of environmental racism. our "gotcha" moment when we come back. ♪ ♪

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so, with this new team in the white house, it is not surprising that epa carbon reduction programs would be on the chopping block. tragic as it is. but there's much more. also slated for cuts are public health initiatives that benefit low-income and minority communities, including water improvement on alaskan native lands, grants for native american tribes to fight pollution, support for minority-owned small businesses, funding for environmental justice education, and grants to states that deal with lead cleanup, the same lead that has been harming the people of flint, michigan. so, to keep it real, the burden of these cuts will fall hardest on the health of those already most at risk, and that is

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it was 100 years ago this week that president woodrow wilson signed an act granting u.s. citizenship to people born on the island of puerto rico. that law started a debate that continues even today over what exactly is the island's relationship with the u.s. puerto ricans have a limited form of citizenship. they have no presentation in congress and cannot vote for president, but they can travel freely and work legally on american soil. and this coming june, puerto ricans will go to the polls to choose between two options,

those who want to push for statehood and those who want to keep its current u.s. commonwealth status. joining me now is congressman luis gutierrez, democrat from illinois. both his parents migrated to chicago from puerto rico, and he's a member of the immigration and border security subcommittee. thanks for being with me this morning, congressman. >> good to be with you this sunday morning, reverend. >> now, before i get into the 100-year anniversary and the vote in june, you sit on the committee. the president is supposed to come with his travel ban and his immigration policy this week. you also are the son of two puerto rican parents who migrated here. many puerto ricans -- i live in new york, travel a lot and meet people that are puerto rican

descent and have done activism there. many are swept up in this whole anti-immigration fervor, and many people think that if you're attacking mexicans, that's all latinos, and how does a policeman or a immigration officer know the difference between a mexican and a puerto rican? isn't this, as you deal with citizenship, isn't this whole profiling of people that are latino something that is front and center in the puerto rican community? >> absolutely. and if you look at those who support comprehensive immigration reform and those that have stood steadfast and in the forefront of the fight for a better immigration system, a fair immigration system, one that really protects families, and the fight against deportations. you see the puerto rican community together and united with the latino and the immigrant community.

yes, you are absolutely right, reverend, my mom and dad came here as migrants from puerto rico. they came as citizens of the united states. yet, they confronted the same discrimination, the same bigotry, that every -- remember, when they got here, it was 1952, so separate but equal was the law of the land. >> right. >> and i assure you, there was a colored place to drink water and a white, you know which one they had to drink from. so, they've experienced the same discrimination here, and they understand. and you're very correct. so, when trump says mexicans are murderers, rapists, drug dealers, the impact is on the totality of the latino community. as a matter of fact, in modern american parlance, mexican is a catch-all phrase for latinos. at least, when he speaks to his audience and he says mexicans, i assure you that people who see

me on the news think of me in that category. >> and i think that a lot of people don't understand this, which is why in my judgment it is basically bigoted, racist. i mean, because you're broad-painting a whole nationality of people, origin of people, and it goes into race as well, because when i went out marching in arizona around sheriff arpaio, what is the difference between latinos and blacks and somebody from trinidad or barbados if you're pulling somebody over? it's about they're different. >> sure. >> they're not one of us, us being white, male americans. and i mean, this is the root of why many of us are so outraged with these policies they're talking about around immigration. >> two things i'd like to share with you, rev. number one, it is almost a rite of passage for puerto ricans, those of us born here in the united states and on the island of puerto rico, to be told go back where you came from when

the opposition cannot win the argument any other way. and second, i want to recall to everybody that in 1984, in the city of chicago, we established the first kind of sanctuary policy under then mayor harold washington, the first african-american mayor. his director of employment opportunities was asked by immigration agents to prove her citizenship and her legality, and he passed an executive order back in 1984. so, city of chicago's been a forefront. >> yeah. >> who was the first person confronted? it was a puerto rican woman working for the then mayor of the city of chicago, so, that's -- it's clearly established that the impact is on all of us. >> now, congressman, you've put up a bill dealing with this whole question of statehood and citizenship. there's a vote in june. tell us what this means and tell us what you're trying to do. >> well, so, the resident

commissioner of puerto rico, a member of the republican party, has proposed statehood-only admission bill before the congress of the united states. that is not what the plebiscite in puerto rico is going to reflect. in puerto rico, it's going to say you can vote for statehood, you can vote for independence, or you can vote to have a continuing relationship with the united states but in which your nationhood or nationality is preserved. so, given the fact that those are the three that are being voted on in the plebiscite on june 11th, i thought that the congress of the united states should have a playing field in which the members of congress understand what it is the people of puerto rico are going to be voting on. so, free association with the united states, it's kind of -- like, think of a treaty between the united states and the people of puerto rico governing each one but in which the people of

puerto rico and their nationhood is one that is recognized independence and statehood. and look, i don't think it's fair that before the congress of the united states, months before there's a plebiscite being held in puerto rico, that you only have one solution being presented before the members of the congress of the united states. >> all right. we're going to have to hold it there. thank you for being with us. >> thank you. >> congressman luis gutierrez. up next, we'll go live to selma, alabama, where 52 years ago african-americans marched to demand equal voting rights, and now attorney general jeff sessions is messing up with those rights. details when we come back opinion

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towards civil rights and the work that still remains to be done. >> welcome back. this week marks the 52nd anniversary of the selma-to-montgomery march for voting rights. selma marked the turning point for the civil rights movement as it emboldened president johnson to push congress on the legislation that would become the voting rights act. but this week, attorney general jeff sessions' justice department announced that it would not continue an obama-era lawsuit against the state of texas over a controversial voter i.d. law, laws that these have long been a focus of activists like myself, as they have been found to specifically curtail minority voting, threatening the gains that brave folks at selma risked their lives for all those years ago. i've joined the movement when i

was a preteenager, and i was taught about the fights in selma. i was 8 years old when the march happened. i was taught among others by reverend jesse jackson, who as a student went to selma after the beating on the bridge called by dr. martin luther king. he's joining me live from selma this morning. reverend jackson, this is not only historic recognition for you and the generation that you have come out of of student leaders in the late '50s and '60s, but it's nostalgia for you. this is where you really hooked into the king movement. >> it really is. i came here as a student in 1965, and i speak again today 52 years later. what's critical about selma, brother al, is that we've been denied the protected right to vote for 85 years. when they removed the troops in 1880, they removed protections. and during that season, we were 5,000 lynchings between 1880 and

1950, denying the right to vote, denying the right to access. selma's turning point was it brought in federal protections, federal oversight, and jefferson davis sessions made the case that it was wrong that the federal protection was intrusion on the state of alabama. he still holds that position. so, by the time it got to shelby, judge roberts and the sessions ideology prevailed. and now the protection had been removed, and therefore, you see massive retreat on the voting rights act today. >> and that impacted this last election. i remember sitting in the courtroom during the argument, and when justice scalia talked about voting rights as a racial entitlement, i was sitting there with martin luther king iii, and we looked over at you and john lewis and others of the generation preceding us and those that were younger than us, and this is going to impact all of us, and it already is. >> well, it is, because al, the voting rights act of 1965,

african-americans couldn't vitamin, but white women couldn't serve on jurors, 18-year-olds couldn't vote, serving in vietnam. you couldn't vote on college campuses. you couldn't vitamin bi-lingual. so, it took us 25 years to get from the right to vote to the protected right to vote with enforcement. and they used schemes like juriy meandering and role purging. all of these schemes were used. so, while we fight wars for democracy, we're declaring a war on many americans, denying them access to voting today. and so, today the march is as relevant as ever before. >> all right, well, i wanted to go back in my own history, because you and reverend bill jones and others raised us knowing the importance of selma, which is why many of us go every year, even though we weren't there in the beginning. and you were there as a young man who then raised me as a young man to understand it. so, i'm respecting my elders this morning. thank you for joining me from

selma. >> the irony of this is mentioning you're older than me, al. >> up next, final thoughts on the line that connects me, the selma march, and jeff sessions. stay with us. even a "truck-cicle." [second man] how you doing? [ice cracking] [second man] ah,ah, ah. oh no! [first man] saves us some drilling. [burke] and we covered it, february fourteenth, twenty-fifteen. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ befi was active.gia, i was energetic. then the chronic, widespread pain drained my energy. my doctor said moving more helps ease fibromyalgia pain. he 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

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i remember in 1965 when the edmund pettus bridge became the scene of troopers stomping and beating marchers on that bridge. i was not even 10 years old, and i remember the vivid pictures. i remember my mother being so rattled by it because she was born and raised in dothan, alabama, and she knew firsthand what it meant in selma, alabama. and she would tell me how she couldn't vote in her home state. i was born and raised in brooklyn, new york. i learned the direct impact of

being denied the right to vote from my own mother, not from history books, which is why many years later, as i had come into my own adulthood, one of the proudest moments of my life was on the 50th anniversary of that march across the edmund pettus bridge, i marched over the shoulder of the first african-american president of the united states as he stood next to john lewis, who was beaten on the bridge that day my mother talked to me about, and holding hands with the woman who was tear-gassed there. and as i marched across that bridge, i thought about my mother and the millions of other mothers who were denied the right to vote, who were now protected by the voting rights act. that brings me to attorney general jeff sessions, who, ironically, was born in selma, alabama. he's meeting with civil rights

leaders, including me, this week. and front and center in the agenda of that meeting must be the opposition to their continuing to fight the voter i.d. laws in texas, some of the strongest, and in my opinion, some of the most reactionary laws in the country. their opposition to the continuation of the voting rights act as we know it. attorney general sessions needs to be able to be challenged and have to explain why in a time that we have seen courts certify and make it clear that many of these laws are discriminatory, that the impact is basically more on people of color, and specifically blacks than others, and yet, they are dropping this

from the pursuit of justice. they will not fight against the texas i.d. laws as discrimination, and their attitude of that voting rights around the country. so, 52 years later, we are back with a native of selma that sits in a position saying, no, i'm not moving forward. i'm saying that we went across that bridge 52 years ago, and we got a voting rights act. our voting rights are still now being jeopardized with new laws, from jim crow to james crow jr. esquire. i understand that we will discuss his view as attorney general. he must understand our view as those that have had to fight for a right we should have gotten upon our birth and then had to fight to protect it because

people gave their lives to get it to us and to give it to us. that does it for me. thanks for watching. and to keep the conversation going, like us at facebook.com/politicsnation, and follow us on twitte twitter @politicsnation. i'll see you back here next sunday. 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? youthat's why you drink ensure. sidelined. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure.

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wow. nice. strength and style. it's truck month. get 0% financing for 60 months plus find your tag and get $5500 on select chevy silverado pick-ups when you finance with gm financial. find new roads at your local chevy dealer. good morning, everybody. i'm thomas roberts here in new york at msnbc world headquarters. 9:00 a.m. in the east, 6:00 a.m. out west, day 45 of the trump administration. and with no new statements at this hour from the white house, we still have lots of reaction to that twitter flurry from the president about the obama administration and claims of wiretapping. >> they did spend time listening to conversations between then senator jeff sessions and the ambassador to russia. >> more accusations flying from one of the president's former campaign managers. you'll hear exactly what he had to sa