hello iat msnbc headquarter in new york. the new message from president trump a short time ago. don't worry about the failed gop health bill. in a moment what's behind that president trump tweet and this prediction. >> i honestly believe the democrats will come to us and say, look, let's get together and get a great healthcare bill

or plan that's really great for the people of our country. >> what's next? does the failure make it hard for the president to move on to anyi any items on his agenda? what's behind the interview in which tillerson i didn't want this job. all that and more on "msnbc live." we begin with democrats looking ahead to 2018. nearly 24 hours since the republicans' failed attempt to repeal the affordable care act, the democratic congressional campaign committee is rolling out its first ads for the next election cycle. targeting 14 republicans who voted for the proposal in committee. here is one of the ads set to air. >> promised us on healthcare. >> everybody will be taken care of? >> nobody will be worse off financially. >> now we learn the truth. >> this isn't freedom. your plan makes it unaffordable for people. >> they drop in coverage for 24

million people. >> healthcare more expensive for people. >> there's a tax break for healthcare company executives. >> and leonard lance voted yes? you deserve better. >> congressman charlie dent, one of the republicans who said he would vote against the proposal is calling for bipartisan which congress is willing to work on healthcare again. >> we could find areas of agreement to improve this system. and again, no matter what we do we have to do it on a bipartisan basis. to get a bill through the senate is going to require 60 votes. we need to build a coalition in the house. if we have someone on the hard right who can't get to yes on anything. of course we need democrats to help us get to 218 votes. >> what are the chances after

that happened after president trump put the blame on its leaders? >> the losers are nancy pelosi and chuck schumer. now they own obamacare, they own it. 100% own it. when they become civilized and get together and try and work out a great healthcare bill for the people of this country, we're open to it. we're totally open to it. >> let's bring in nbc's kelly o'donnell at the white house. al let's look forward. what does the trump administration do now after this healthcare fight? >> still reeling from the surprise of how this went down with not bringing the most conservative members in the house on board for the bill that is no more. the president has some ideas about what he wants to do. he did talk about a bipartisan approach to healthcare, it doesn't seem that that is in any way on the front burner. over time, there may be conversations, but right now, this white house and to a great degree leaders in congress are ready to move on to the next big

agenda item. hoping they can get something done. the president gave a preview on this, first reacting to the bill not reaching the floor. here's what he said is next on his mind. >> probably be going right now for tax reform. which we could have done earlier but this really would have worked out better if we could have had some democrat support. remember this, we had no democrat support. so now we're going to do for tax reform, which i've always liked. >> reporter: now, he talked about we could have done this first. when you look at how does a white house decide its priorities, in this case, when you've got a republican white house and republican control of both the house and senate, they planned quite a while ago once the president was newly elected how would they go about their agenda of items. in some ways doing healthcare first set up some of the other plans like tax reform or tax cuts.

why? because for the healthcare bill, had it moved forward and been successful, had it shown a reduction in the deficit, that would have been sort of some money in the bank, if you will, to then go on to tax reform. there was a reason they did it in this order even though it was a tougher task in a way. because tax reform, tax cuts is also very popular among republicans. not as many factions there. the question now, is one defeat going to weaken their position to do anything else? that's a big question now. we won't know the answer for a while. democrats are so buoyed by their victory getting their constituents out, winning this round if you will. there is also a question about will they be more willing to work with the white house or will they -- sense they've got momentum themselves, and again try to stop other agenda items from a republican white house. so a real test for the president. and we'll see how he can rebound from this. no question this was a real

setback in terms of an agenda item completely failing at this point. we'll have to see how he moves next. >> those are very good points. kelly o'donnell, thank you, kelly. let's bring in republican congressman tom reed of new york. good morning to you. >> good morning. good to hear your voice. >> congressman, you are a supporter of the gop's healthcare bill. are you convinced it was the best choice for the country? >> it was a step forward. a lot more work needs to be done on healthcare. this was the first step in the three step phrase we were going to go through in order to address the problems. obviously it didn't work. >> with that said, why do you think at its core it failed before even going to a vote? >> you know, we couldn't get that consensus, let all members speak for themselves. i subscribe to the school of thought, the old reagan school of thought, 80%, you learn early, getting 80% of the loaf is a victory and we should move the ball every day for the american people. that's what's getting lost in

the conversation. a lot of people talking about democrats, republicans, it's the american people that are suffering as a result of the inaction we're taking. >> you mention the word consensus. take me to the final hours before this went down. you were a yes vote. what was it like behind the scenes in those final moments? it had to be sense. were you trying to convince others. how would you describe it? >> sure. obviously, it was a big piece of legislation. and it was the moment, but i got to give credit to our leadership, to our speaker who truly did listen to the input from our members to the white house. i have been to the white house in the last couple weeks more than i have been in the entire seven years i've been in congress. the engagement from the white house bodes well going forward because it built relationships between members white house and our leadership. that's going to make us stronger as we go through the process. >> everything is 20/20 hind sight. do you think he could have craft adbi ed a bill that would be more palatable for everyone involved?

why wasn't that done weeks ago? >> well, you know, you can always arm chair quarterback this. i always look forward. take the lessons we're going to learn and at the end of the day if you put the focus on the american people and us coming together, i co-chair the problem solvers caucus. there's a group of members that are about governing. i'm going to be a voice to that as we go forward. the american people deserve that. >> moving forward, was that the last chance to get something done? take a look at these numbers, public support of the bill was 17% heading into the final debate. does that signal to you that after seven years with the affordable care act the public has an expectation that the government will provide a similar level of healthcare coverage? >> well, as you see the results of the affordable care act, obamacare going forward with higher premiums, less choice, the dynamics of the field will change over the next six to 12 months. that may bring people together.

i was hoping it would be part of the effort to avoid the pain that's going to come upon the american people. as we go forward, that's the scenario we face. hopefully we can deal with it sooner rather than later. >> do you think there's an expectation from the public that at least some type of -- a little bit more government help? >> well, i think there is an expectation that the reforms that make sense. the preexisting condition, the 26 i don't minds year olds on t plan. we need to do a better job in communicating the ideas in black and white and build off of that as we go forward and irk withing with colleagues on the other side of the aisle. >> here is what president trump said about where he thinks healthcare reform should go from here. >> but i'll tell you what's going to come out of it is better bill. i really believe a better bill. there were things in this bill i didn't particularly love. and i think it's a better bill. we could have had thing s i woud

have liked more. if we could have bipartisan, i think we could have a healthcare bill that would be ultimate. the democrats know that also, someday in the not too distant future that will happen. >> do you think that's a realistic expectation? >> i do. the problems of healthcare are not going away. we serve the american people. they're the ones we represent. their voice. i care deeply about them and that's the scenario that will be the reality we deal with the issue of healthcare in the future as we go forward. >> why don't you think that there was more of an effort to reach out to democrats before? >> well, i think there was. but obviously there was -- this is a partisan issue in d.c. it was clear that it was shirts and skins. that's a shame. i'm part of the efforts to try to bridge that divide and have those conversations. we engage our constituents in the town halls we do. as we go forward, hopefully people can move away from this. we shouldn't be celebrating the pulling of the bill, we should be talking about what this does to the american people.

now we've got to come together. that's the bottom line. we have to come together as a mention. >> you mentioned house speaker paul ryan, he spoke about the gop's growing pains, kind of what you just said. do you think he bears any responsibility for failing to unite the party behind this plan? was it the content of the plan to blame? >> well, you know, i have greatest respect for paul ryan. known him for seven years. he's got a great policy mind. he's got an ability to listen that is so critical to be our leader. i think he'll be just fine going forward. he did the best job he could given the scenario that unfolded. going forward we'll learn and grow from it and become stronger to do the work of the american people. >> speaking of going forward, your committee chairman is saying the failure to pass the bill could make tax reform harder. are you concerned about that? >> obviously, whenever you have a setback you got to look at the big field and how it impacts positively and negatively. i'm confident. again, the american people are suffering from a broken tax code. if we listen to the voice of the american people, it is amazing

what we can get done together. that's when we are strongest as a country and history has proven that. >> let's say two things you would do differently in light of the failure of this last initiative. what would you say? >> i think making sure that we're always put in the context in what we're doing in the perspective of the american people. putting their voice first, getting their voice to washington, d.c. listening to the constituents. getting into the communities. you bring that to the table, powerful voice that unites rather than divides us. >> don't you think that's what happened? i was thinking, sitting here with all the town halls with people who didn't want to lose obamacare. people are screaming, it's a matter of whether their representsi representatives can come up what they're happy with. >> as you're having those screaming matches you have to break through the screaming and making sure the conversation

occurred. over time it's amazing when people start talking to each other, amazing how strong the policy comes. >> i'll leave it on that positive note. thank you for your time on this saturday. >> thank you. when president trump decided to pull the plug on his healthcare bill he picked up the phone and made a call to a journalist. a tale of why you should sometimes answer a call even when it says blocked. redictable, there's no other way to say this. it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced, our senses awake, our hearts racing as one. i know this is sudden, but they say: if you love something... set it free. see you around, giulia ♪

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i've been saying for the last year and a half, that the best thing we can do politically speaking is let obamacare explode. it is exploding right now. >> president trump is standing by that dire prediction, tweeting this morning, quote, obamacare will explode and we will all get together and piece together a great healthcare plan for the people. do not worry. >> joining me now is the

contributor to time magazine and john harwood chief washington correspondent for cnbc. good afternoon to both of you. >> hey chan. >> where does the healthcare fight go from there with that type of rhetoric? >> that is extraordinarily irresponsible rhetoric from a president to in effect root for the explosion of a program that he is now responsible for managing. i suspect that he will not sit back and let it explode for the simple reason that that's going to whicome back on him and the republican party. remember, they control the government right now. now obamacare has some problems and there are difficulties getting enough young healthy people into those exchanges. if you have those problems exacerbated there will be increased pressure to figure out ways to solve that problem.

it is possible that you could have a bipartisan deal at some point. i don't think democrats are going to come running into the arms of this president as he suggested yesterday. >> let's pick up on that. at the same time, you have the president blaming democrats. he told them he was open to the idea of working together on healthcare in the future. can you see other democrats taking him up on that offer? >> potentially you might see it in the sense that you would have a technical fix. the way the bill was passed, democrats have acknowledged this, it's going to need a fix, need some changes. and as john was saying, there are problems with the way the program has been enacted. so down the road potentially democrats might be open to doing some sort of legislative fix in other words to improve the bill. what they've never been open to repealing and replacing it trump care with the way president trump and paul ryan had envisioned. now that process is dead, if

they want to begin to negotiate some sort of fix, i've heard from democratic sources on the hill they might be open. >> i want to play on how robert costa learned about the republican setback. >> the president called me and said, look, i'm pulling the bill i made the decision and wanted you to know and he walked through why he thought that and said he didn't blame speaker ryan. it might take away from the conversation, about 15 minutes long, this is a president who is adjusting to washington. obviously, disappointed that his healthcare vote is not coming up. but very kind of self-aware that this is a moment for him where he has to react and figure out a way forward on a lot of different fronts. >> do you agree with robert's assessment about what he's learning in his first 65 days on the job? >> i'm not sure. this was not just failure for president trump.

and i think it is a mistake for people to think this is because trump didn't have his act together. this is a republican party failure. republicans have been talking in the congress for seven years about repealing and, replacing this program. if paul ryan was president, they could not have passed that bill. so i do think the president has got to have success on future initiatives, he's got to invest in them in ways that suggest he cares about the details. he cares about what's in them and pushes them with passion and conviction. by contrast, in this case, he was out giving speeches saying, well, we have to do this healthcare first but what i really want to do is cut taxes. that doesn't suggest the kind of passion you need for major legislative achievement. >> i let you pick up on what john was talking about. what lessons in your opinion do you think on governing ryan learned here? >> ryan or the president? >> let's start with ryan. >> for paul ryan, i think, you know, this has been a major blow

for him. this is something that paul ryan has been working on for years. since he became speaker he has been trying to get his conference to come up with some plans to replace obamacare. you know, that didn't happen while he was speaker. and in the last year, and then this whole big push was really, the first test of his speakership on something that really mattered. a bill that was absolutely crucial to pass. the fact that it didn't pass was -- is very brutal. and you've seen now not only this freedom caucus flank which used today dog speaker boehner, ryan took over from after his support for his speakership collapsed. also this bloc of moderate republicans to his left. and he's now sandwiched between the two factions within the house. it's incredibly difficult for him to appease both sides. and if they think getting healthcare was difficult, getting tax reform is going to be even more difficult coming up in the future. >> let me try to squeeze in one more topic. i want to turn to the democrats pushing ahead with their plans to filibuster neil gorsuch's

confirmation. take a listen. >> it's the seat that merrick garland was nominated for. mitch mcconnell held it up for a year. if they can hold it up for a year just to elect a president under a president that had no investigations. they should delay it for a while. i'm not saying forever, i'm not saying an amount of time. let's see where the investigations lead. to have a president under investigation, appoint a lifetime appointment, that's wrong. >> how do you see this playing out? the merits of the merrick garland argument, what should we expect? >> the democratic effort to stop gorsuch is going to fail one way or the other. if they insist on a filibuster, i think republicans will break out the nuclear option and vote him in with a majority. it's going to be difficult to hold democrats together against him. he presents very well as a nominee. he's unquestionably qualified. and i think the argument that

chuck schumer is making he knows is a hollow argument. democrats don't believe in saying, well, we're going to stop the processes of government because of an election, which is what republicans did in 2016. or because of an investigation. there's a vacant supreme court justice, donald trump has nominated somebody qualified for the job. i don't think they'll be able to stop it. >> good discussion, thank you for talking with me on this friday. still ahead, tough questions from voters, the demands and issues they have for republican senator lindsey graham at a town hall today.

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you are free to go. tide and downy together. like paperless, multi-car, and safe driver, that help them save on their car insurance. any questions? -yeah. -how do you go to the bathroom? great. any insurance-related questions? -mm-hmm. -do you have a girlfriend? uh, i'm actually focusing on my career right now, saving people nearly $600 when they switch, so... where's your belly button? [ sighs ] i've got to start booking better gigs. turning now to columbia, south carolina, with senator lindsey graham is about to hold a town hall meeting. how will his strenconstituents ? beth did the collapse of the gop bill fire people up or create the opposite there? >> reporter: we are here at the

columbia convention center. people are rolling in to talk to senator graham. there are several hundred people here. they are fired up. we spoke to several people outside as they were lining up to come in here. the reason they're fired up is because yesterday after that collapse of the house health bill, senator graham sent out a series of tweets, saying next move on healthcare collapse and replace. he wanted to see obamacare completely collapse, forcing democrats to come to the table to negotiate a new deal. the folks said they don't like the sound of that at all. >> i think we need to fix it, not replace it. i think we need some bipartisan support. we need to step back at this point and say replace is done. you know, let's have a bipartisan effort to work and fix it t. obviously, the democrats have offered to fix it but haven't got a buy in from republicans.

let's work together it can be fixed. there are things that are wrong with it but let's work together. >> i'm here to stand up and be the voice for the people. our lawmakers are not listening to their constituents. they're actually a lot of i, i, i, every town hall i've actually witnessed and watched on television, we hear lawmakers say i feel, i want, i believe. never what the people believe, never what the people want. so we're here, i'm here, because we will speak for ourselves. and we are wanting the message to be heard that if they don't want to hear us, then we will vote them out and we are looking towards the midterms, 2018. and we're going to vote them out in 2020. and we're going to clean house. >> reporter: and things will get going here in a few minutes. senator graham will take the stage and take questions. >> good sound you were able to collect there h. thank you for talking to us.

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welcome back. at the half hour, here's what we're monitoring. happening now, police in las vegas are investigating an attempted robbery. multiple suspects broke the glass doors and entered the jewelry shop. this cell phone video shows what appears to be a person wearing a pig mask leaving the casino e. police say the suspects fled the area through a parking garage. take a look at this picture. it's not from a movie. police in virginia arrested this 31-year-old man who was dressed as you see here as the joker from batman. he was walking around town carrying a sword. he's charged with wearing a mask in public, which is a felony in virginia, by the way.

millions of people are facing the threat of severe weather today. this is video from outside of arkansas where a tornado damaged several mobile homes and flipping a few. at least two people were injured. this is from vancouver, washington where a small tornado uprooted trees downed fences and ripped shingles off of rooftops. attorneys for paul man afort say he's offered to answer questions about relations with russia. good afternoon to you. >> hello. >> why would he put this offer on table? could it have repercussions? >> that's great question, it's not only paul manaformanafort, others have offered today give testimony. it remains to be seen how serious an offer it is.

all three men are believed to be under fbi scrutiny. we don't know whether they're asking for immunity in exchange. all three of these guys have been accused in this dossier of conspire ing with russia, to help trump and hurt clinton. they all deny that. the allegations are on the table. the fbi is investigating and it will be interesting for the public and house and senate intelligence committees to to say. >> i want to play a sound bite. >> there is a lot of information in the reports that i've seen which were dozens, that would lead me to believe that the last administration and numerous agencies had a pretty good idea of what trump was up to. >> can you clarify whether trump or his associates knew?

>> were they monitored or -- >> we won't know that until we actually receive all of the documentation. >> what's going on here? is this a retraction on the chairman's part? >> you saw it there, that was a back track. i mean, he threw a stink bomb into the investigation of trump/russia. on his own he held a news conference, saying he had seen that trump and his aides were monitored in surveillance reports. two days later he said, well, i can't say that they were monitored. this may have been foreigners talking to foreigners overheard by the nsa or evesdropped on by the nsa about trump and his aides. which happens all the time. it's routine. there are rules about blacking out the identities of americans when they appear in intelligence reports.

n nunes is suggesting that. the way he want about it, having a news conference and going to the white house and allowing trump to say he felt vindicated. that's leading to democrats to suggest this was a ruse to give trump cover. it's made it difficult for anybody to take the house intelligence committee investigation seriously as bipartisan effort. >> never a dull day. even on a saturday morning. nbc's ken delaney. thank you for talking to us on this saturday. we told you about in columbia, south carolina, senator lirndsey graham is holding a town hall. >> judge gorsuch is one of the best people i think president trump could have chosen. i'm going to enthusiastically support him. and if the democrats try to filibuster him, they will be making a huge mistake.

let me tell you a little bit about the judge. you don't want to listen? let me tell you why i think -- let me tell you why i think he's well-qualified. the american bar association gave him the highest qualified rating you could give somebody. he's been a judge for ten and a half years. he's decided 2,700 cases. he's been reversed once. and i don't think president trump could have chose a better conservative judge to replace judge scalia. and i intend to vote for him. so how many of you are glad that i voted for sotomayor?

>> no! >> kagan? ali alito? roberts? well, whether you like -- here's the one thing i can tell everybody in this room. i voted for every supreme court justice that came out of committee. by republicans and democrats. and let me tell you, let me tell you about garland. hang on. hang on. here's what joe biden said in 1992. in 1992, joe biden said -- just listen to me for a second.

in 1992, bush xli was going to have an opening, they thought in the last year of his term that a republican appointee was going to retire from the court. here's what joe said. it would be our pragmatic conclusion that once the political season is underway, and it is, action on a supreme court nomination must be put off until after the election campaign is over. if someone steps down, i would highly recommend the president not name someone, not send up a name if bush did send someone up, i will ask the senate to seriously consider not having a hearing for that nominee. so in 1992, joe biden, the

chairman of the judiciary committee said once the campaign season is afoot, let's let the next president pick. i thought that made sense then, i believe it makes sense now. judge garland is a fine man. he was well-qualified. but the next president, in my view. should replace scalia because he died in february after three primaries had started a week before the south carolina primary. and to everybody who holds -- that boos judge gorsuch, you're not persuading me at all. matter of fact, if you can't understand this is a qualified nominee, then you're not listening. if you don't understand that elections matter, then you don't understand america.

if you think that only liberals can get their nominees and a conservative can't, then you don't understand america. and i don't believe that the constitution was written so that you get everything you want and i get nothing. that's not the way the constitution was written. so to all the people who beat on me for voting for sotomayor and kagan, here's what i told you. i didn't vote for obama, but he won. and he had the right to pick qualified people. i didn't vote for trump. but he won. and he's got the right to pick qualified people. and i'm asking no more of the democratic party than i ask of

myself. so i'm going to vote for neil gorsuch. if they try to filibuster them, they'll be turning the country upside down. it will be a sad day. and i will vote, if necessary, the change the rules. all right. let's take some questions. >> the question is from julia -- >> let's listen to him for a second. >> this question is from julia from south carolina. >> julia hewho. >> julia houston. >> there you go. >> the question is, is there a mechanism in place to limit president trump's spending until a full investigation is conducted concerning issues? >> no. there is an investigation going on of what russia did to our

election. there is nobody yet been found guilty of anything. the fbi is looking into it. i haven't seen any evidence that president trump himself was involved in collaborating with the russians. so the answer is no. but here's what will happen, i think. i think the senate is doing a pretty good job with warner. i'm doing a pretty good job i think if i say so myself with white house. we wrote a letter to the fbi wanting to know if there was a criminal investigation. we finally found out there is. don't you think congress should stay out of the fbi's way? yeah. so i promise everybody in the room that when it comes to russia, we're going to get to the bottom of it. i want to let my republican friends know. any republicans here? thanks for coming. let me tell you why i'm so upset about this. it was the democrats today, it could be the republicans

tomorrow. here's what i believe about america. when you attack one party, you attack us all. i really do believe -- we're going to hop in here. you're listening to senator lindsey graham in south carolina. if we hear anything we'll take you back to is. joining us is congressman brenda lawrence. she's on the house oversight and government reform committee as well as a member of the congressional black caucus, good afternoon to you. >> good afternoon. >> have you been listening to this town hall? >> i have. >> i will say, i don't know if you have monitor, they have these green cards and red cards. and i think it's red if you disagro disagree and there's a sea of red. how many of you are democrats and republicans. he's not in a room with too many supporters. what do you make of the whole thing? >> you know, there has been, based on just attack after

attack after attack on things that are very important to the american citizen. they're very concerned about our freedoms and rights. you know, right of religion. freedom of religion, freedom of press. rights for women in america. we just went through healthcare. it's an uprising of the american citizen who are not being dormant and being victims. they're saying you will hear me. and i have town hall meetings and they're packed. they're not putting up the red cards because it seems like they're being ignored. so they are coming out to make sure that people are hearing them and know what their concerns are. they're monitoring. i am so excited about american citizens who are really engaged and watching what's going on. so this is going to be a time -- we went through it as democrats.

the republicans made the comment during the aca of they were going to fix it. they had a plan it's what they wanted to do. but one of the things i think they missed was what is best for the people and what are the people saying. >> with that said, then, you heard president trump yesterday saying that you know, perhaps there's an opportunity, you know, if democrats when they feel like they can come to me and work on something. do you think that will happen? >> you know, my question is, did you see a single democrat walking into the white house being invited by the president to discuss our have input on the plan that the trump care plan? no. there is not. i'm a democrat. i have not been asked, invited or discussed the plan. it was completely all republican. the one learning curve that i think i hope they learn is that they cannot rule without any input and without crossing the aisle.

>> do you think that democrats will cross the aisle as well? it sounds to me. you hear these people in front of senator lindsey graham. we can't continue this way on either side where everybody is screaming, no one's listening, we're not getting anything done. >> so i want you to know, democrats have put bills forward to fix the affordable healthcare act. it was shut down because it was from the democratic side. i hope -- i went to congress understanding that this country was built on a two party system. our constitution is not republican or democrat, it was both parties coming together. i hope that happens. >> before i lose your this afternoon, i want to talk you about the president's relationship with the african-american america community. is it fair to say there's a rocky relationship there what were you impressions of that meeting? we weren't there, what happened? >> we went with the intent with

saying mr. president, you asked the question what do we have to lose. we wanted to educate you. we went into that meeting saying for whatever reason, the president has the wrong perception of african-americans. we're broke, uneducated, unemployed and in a gun ridden community. 40% of america lives in rural -- african-americans live in rural america. we are in suburbs, we're in urban cities, we're educated. mr. president, it's harmful, it's destructive to our relationship with you categorize all african-americans in a certain way. and also, when you say that the first african-american president, you lied on them and said he wire tapped you. mr. president, you said that he was the worst president ever. this is not going to be a relationship that is being developed when you are constantly putting out this rhetoric. and also, we talked about his

proposed budget. if you really care and want to make a difference in the african-american communities or inner cities -- we talked about not just african-american but poverty in america. mr. president, you need to look at your budget and what are your priorities. when you take away meals on wheels, when you cut after school programs, when you cut summer jobs you are having a direct impact on the quality of life of people in urban cities and rural america and poverty overall. so this was our laying down. coming, looking him in the eye. saying we are here, mr. president. you appear to have been misinformed or you don't understand. we have erased that excuse. we gave him a 120 page document of what we have to lose. this is wha we have to lose, mr. president. we wanted to educate him. he listened. he was not rude.

he was respectful. we'll see what happens from this point. >> thank you for your time on this saturday. we'll continue to follow senator lindsey graham in that town hall meeting in south carolina. we'll be right back after the break. that. who's that? the internet loves what you're doing. so build a site in under an hour. start for free at godaddy. ♪...run around and desert you

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a town hall there with senator lindsey graham. it has quieted in a bit. we'll break in when it warrants. secretary of state rex tillerson will attend a meeting in brussels next friday. joining me now is pj crowley former assistant secretary of state for public affairs under secretary clinton. and the author of red line, american foreign policy in a time of fractured politics and failing states. good afternoon to you. >> hello, how are you? >> i'm good. what do you think really happened here? was this a simple scheduling

issue or were other priorities being elevated above nato? >> well, i do think it was a scheduling glitch. the nato meeting is important. it's fundamental for a foreign minister to be there and the secretary of defense as well. we do have an important meeting coming up between president trump and president xi of sunshine. it's kind of important for the american secretary of state to be at both of them. >> i want to ask you about an interview with erin mcpike of the independent general roouv. he said i didn't want this job, i didn't seek this job. my wife told me i'm supposed to take this. how do you dtake that? >> rex tillerson as the ceo of a multinational corporation has relevant skills and enviable understanding of how the world works. he can a successful secretary of state. but i think, you know, where

he's had a slow adjustment is, you know, a ceo of a multinational corporation can literally travel around the world under the radar. he has the choice of when to be visible and not. a secretary of state does not have that choice. you know, the secretary of state of the most powerful country of the world needs to be visible and needs to help the rest of the world understand how america sees its interests, what it's prepared to do and enlist the support of the world to try to solve, you know, significant problems. i think this week, you know, he began to grow into that job a little bit. but, obviously, it's been a slow adjustment period for him. >> it's interesting you mention this. i was going to ask you in your book you look at how previous administrations approached foreign policy. how much do you chalk up to him being the new guy and what would you equate to being part of the learning curve? what do you consider a significant shift in approach to

foreign policy? >> one of the major concerns for secretary of state tillerson as well as secretary of defense jim mattis, they still don't have anything approaching coherent team in place. they've got a lot of acting assistant secretaries. they are very competent people. but it's very, very important for the trump administration to begin to put its policy making process in place. and, obviously, besides that you have the unexpected departure of michael flynn. there needs to be a more significant learning curve. it's not just the secretary is going to attend the nato meeting, what do you want to accomplish there. it's not that president trump is going to meet with president xi of china. what do you want to discuss. issues being discussed is north korea and what to do about that increasing tlehreat.

we need to be able to see a much more effective and significant learning curve in the coming weeks. >> team will tell and i'll talk to you again. thank you for the time. voters react to news the gop healthcare bill has failed. we'll take you to a town hall meeting in south carolina to hear from constituents. >> sounds like a reasonable republican. and there are times he doesn't. so i want to hear what he has to say, especially about healthcare. >> what do you want to say to him? >> let him collapse and replace. i want to hear work together like this gentleman just said. ♪ ♪ everything your family touches sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products.

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