conversation we could have for a lot longer, i hope you will come back and do that. david wood, his article is well worth the read, and barry mccaffrey. thank you for watching this hour of msnbc. find me on twitter, facebook, instagram. i will not start any wars with anyone, on snapchat at velshi. right now on "andrea mitchell resportr reports" she speaks to susan rice. >> smoke and mirrors. president trump accusing president obama of wiretapping. then the chairman of the house intelligence committee and aide open a new charge of surveillance, also discredited. now the former national security advisor is accused of unmasking

trump intercepts. susan rice for the first time here on msnbc. i'm andrea mitchell in washington where the former national security advisor, susan rice, is being accused of unmasking aids -- the basic charge, political spying. she joins me for her first public comments on these news stories. >> hi, good to be with you. >> hello, this is a fire storm involved with the whole question of the russian investigation and the response by president trump, anow the accusatio ain you. how do you respond? >> this is not anything political that has been alleged. the allegationed is the obama administration -- i was the national security advisor. my job is to protect the american people and the security

of our country. that's the same as the secretary of state, the secretary of defense, the cia director, and every morning to enable us to do that, we receive, from the intelligence community, a compilation of intelligence reports that the intelligence community veselected for us on daily basis to give us the best information as to what is going on around the world. i received those reports as did each of the other officials, and there were occasions when i would receive a report in which a u.s. person was referred to. name not provided, just u.s. person. and sometimes in that context, in order to understand the importance of the report, and assess it's significance, it was necessary to find out, or request the information as to who the u.s. official was. let me give you a hypothetical example. completely made up. let's say there was a

conversation between two foreigners about a conversation they were having with an american, who was proposing to sell to them high-tech bomb making equipment. if they ka to me as national security advisor, it would matter enormously. is it a kook sitting in his living room on the internet offering to sell something he doesn't have, or is it a serious person, company, or entity with the ability to provide that technology to an adversary nap is an example of a case where knowing who the u.s. person was was necessary to assess the information. so twhawhen that occurred, i wo ask if the intelligence committee would go through property access to decide whether or not that information of the u.s. person was provided to me. they would put that question back, and the intelligence community put it through the

determination at to whether or not the identity of the individual could be provided to me. that is what i, secretary of state, secretary of defense, we would do when we received that information. duo it to protect the american people, to do our jobs in the national security realm. >> within that process, and within the context of the trump campaign, the trump transition, did you seek the names of people involved in -- to unmask the names of people involved in the trump transition, the people surrounding the president elect in order to spy on them and expose them. >> not for any political purposes -- >> did you leak the name of mike flynn. >> i leaked nothing to nobody and never have and never would. let me explain this. first, to talk about the contents of a classified report. to talk about the individuals on the foreign side, who were the

targets of the report itself, or any americans that may have collected upon, those people putting theegs stories out are doing just that. i can't describe any particular report, and i have no idea what reports -- i don't know the time frame, the subject matter, and i don't know who they think was collected spupon. >> they allege there was a spread sheet you put out of all of these names. >> no spread sheet, no nothing of the sort. when the intelligence kmount would identify an american, it came back only to the person requested it, brought back to

them directly. to me, or to whoever might have requested it, on occasion, and this is important. it was not then typically broadly disseminated throughout the nation naal security meetinr the government. or the notion that by asking for the identity of an american person, that is the same as leaki leaking. the effort to ask for the identify of the american citizen is necessary to understand the intelligence report in some circumstances. >>. >> the election of names that was prooefed when he came to the white house, in the complex of offices, he said it had nothing to do with the russia investigation. yet now, the allegation is that

you were leaking the fact that he spoke to the ambassador and perhaps to others. >> i deponent know what he reviewed at the white house. what i can say is there is a process to ask for the identity of the persons in the report. those doing that are doing something very long. >> did the pace accelerate in the transition. perhaps when the investigation ordered an investigation into the russian hacking. did the pace of unmasking requests accelerate? >> i can't say the pace of unmasking would accelerate, but if you're asking if there was

more reports, after the president requested the compilation of the intelligence, then yet. as the ic went about the business, the intelligence community following up on the president's order, fulfilling the request for the report, they went back to provide more reports to officials like myself. >>. >> did you make more requests to find the identity. was there more instances where you felt you had to make those questions to follow up on the raw data. >> i can't be particular about the pace. understand that over eight years, for me and others who served, it was not uncommon. it was net at times to make those requests to find out the

identity of u.s. officials. i don't have a particular recollection of doing that more treatme frequently. >> was there a particular focus on russia because of the conversations with the russian ambassador, around the time of the expulsion? >> from basically august through the end of the administration, we were hearing more and more and getting more and more information about interference in our process. it was of grave concern. so we took this issue very seriously. we thought it was trushl defend the integrity of our election process, and to respond

appropriately to what the russians did. so yes, there was a pace of reporting that accelerated as the intelligence community got more and more information on that. i don't call with any precision of the volume that may have peaked or spiked at different stages. but i can say that from when this first came to light, in when the administration ended, we got more and more information. >> was there suspension about michael flynn? >> i don't want to talk about any individuals. i spent hours with michael flynn in the transition, as was my speedomet responsibility to provide him and others information for what they needed to do to hit the ground running. we have very civil and corgile

communications. >> did you know he was an unregistered agent for the turkish government. >> you didn't know that? >> when did you learn it? >> in the press like everyone else. >> you didn't know? >> is there true to president trump's claim on twitter, early one saturday morning on march 4th, that president obama was evesdropping on him? >> absolutely false, there was no such collection or surveillance on trump tower or trump individuals if is important to understand that directed by the white house or targeted by trump individuals. the president of the united states, and people in the white house, do not have the ability

to order such collection. that can only come from the justice department through an established process. it never originates in the white house. it didn't occur and it could not have occurred, directed by the white house. >> the president, their associates could have been bandied about by officials, they could have been picked up. >> yes, that is possible. >> and you could have asked for those names, however it is identified, to be unmasked so you would know how significant it was. >> that is exactly right. . >> the fact is whether or not we're talking about russia or any other topic, if i saw an intelligent report that looked significant, and if it is being provided to me, it is significant. i don't so lilicit reports. they're giving it to me, if i

read it, and i think that in order for me to understand is it significant or not so significant, i need to know who the u.s. person is. i can make that request. the intelligence community processes that request throughp. that comes back to me, not to anyone broadly in the national security word, and that is necessary for me to do my job. it is necessary for the secretary of state, or the secretary of defense, or the cia director to do their jobs. we can't be passive consumers of this information and not -- and do our jobs effectively to protect the american people. imagine if we saw something of grave significance that involved russia, china, or anyone else, interfering in our political process and we needed to understand the significance of that. to not understand it would be

deralection of duty. >> what did you then when he made the accusation of pyre tapping. >> it was not typical of the way that presidents treat their predecessors. it is not indicative of the tone and the classify ration that we sought to achieve in the transition. >> there has been republican responses today. they called you the typhoid mary of the white house. >> i have been called a lot of things by folks on the right that are unfair and disingenuous. i won't get into each individual allegation or moniker. >> rand paul is asking you be subpoenaed to be received.

>> let's see what comes. i'm not going to sit here and p prejudge, but the investigations under way as to the russian involvement in our elector ya process are very important and serious. every american ought to have an interest in those investigations going where ever the evidence indicates they should. i have an interest in that as an american citizen. i would want to be helpful in that process if i could. >> do you regret the obama wlous did not decide earlier. >> we did on october 7th. it came from the intelligence community and all of it's parts, came to the conclusion that we took the extraordinary step of

making a claim they they played a part in our electoral process. that was put out in a statement, and the secretary of homeland security. very unusual act designed to put on notice the american people, the secretaries of our 50 states whose responsibility it is to protect the integrity of our electoral infrastructure, and to members of congress that were briefed on the import of this so we did put the message out, and that was net acessary and the rt thing to do. >> do you know how president feels? >> i have not had that conversation with him. >> will we ever get to the bottom of the russian hacking? >> we have to, a hostile

government inserted itself in our election process in a aggressive way with biassed intent is the conclusion of our intelligence agencies. it is important the american people understand that and that we improve our defenses in the future. if we don't, we should well assume we were trying to do so. >> thank you so much, joining us now is dick durbin joining me now, you have been listening to susan rice, the allegations and the accusations escalating from the republican side. this is no longer any simple question, what about the charge that the obama administration evesdropped -- >> you just completed this

interview where she says it didn't happen. trying to make sure she understood the russian involvement. they were protected unlesshey were a relevant part in the investigation. i find it surprising what they have on substance. they tell us that the russian government hacked into our election with an effort to try to change the results. we know that because of jim comey, the head of the fbi. when it comes to that particular much, they want to keep it in an intelligence community. when anything comes up, let's hold and open public hearing on it. let's get to the heart of the issue. what did the russians do, who was involved if anybody?

>> is this part of the main act? is this a die version? what is going on here regarding this accusation, the ak cue station of leaking. >> i put it in the same category of the wiretapping of trump tower. it was totally false, even republicans concede it was false. now comes the question of was there a leak of information when it came to unmasking the identity of people. it is a good question, but not the central question. what were the russians doing and who was involved on the american side, we ought to get out before the american people as quickly as possible. >> i want to ask you about what mitch mcconnell said this morning out the threat of the nuclear option. given the filibuster threat from the democrats. let me play that for you. >> if democrats follow through

on their threat to suggest this widely respected judge to the first successful partisan filibuster in the history of the senate, i doubt there is a single nominee from this president that they could ever support, ever. when president clinton nominates steven breyer, i voted to confirm mim, i voted to confirm ruth bader-ginsburg. i thought it was the right thing to do. he won the election, he was the president. the president gets to appoint supreme court justices. >> your response to that? is it worth taking the risk of a filibuster that will change senate rules forever? >> andrea, i'm smiling because i heard that speech and responded to it on the floor. there was senator mitch mcconnell, posing for holy pictures about his cop ration with previous president's and

failing to mention merrick garland. he was refused a hearing, a vote, and they would not meet with the man. the first time that ever happened in the history of the united states senate. i'm sorry it has reached this point. perhaps with the next nominee we will. >> thank you,enor dick durbin. john mclaughlin will join me here on susan rice's first comments on the unmasking claiming here on msnbc. t me! somebody will get it... ♪ (dog barking) anyone can dream. making it a reality is the hard part.

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the trump white house lead by tweets from the president and donald trump jr. today are trying to shift the spotlight on the russian hacking investigation to charges of improper spying by susan rice. we just watched her strong rebuttal. >> the allegation is that somehow obama administration utilized. >> i leaked nothing to nobody, i never have and i never would. >> joining me now is john mclaughlin. i apologize to the incorrect tape there, but you heard what susan rice was saying.

you know the system. the national security advisor asks you as the acting cia director back in the day to unmask raw intelligence. what happens next. >> there is a standard you apply here. it would have been applied if it was nsa, the fbi, or the cia. the standard is the unmasking of this person's name essential to national security. it is important to understand what happened. there is another standard, and it has not been mentioned in anything that i heard so far. sometimes you unmask the name in order to protect an american citizen. let me give you an example. let's assume a senator is talking to some foreign national, and the monitoring of that national picks up something in that conversation that is of concern. or perhaps the senator is talking to someone that he doesn't know who that is.

hypothetical. you want to go to the senator, have that unmasked, and go to the senator and say you need to know who you're talking to, it's not going around anywhere, but for your protection and information, it was picked up in advertently. that is the system right there. >> there is a small number of people who can reveal these nations to a national security advisor. they are all professionals. they would be the director of fbi and the national security agency, occasionally the director of cia if this is a human source report. listening to susan rice -- >> what do you think is going on here? >> i had two or three reactions. when people say this is not what president trump tweeted about, this is not about president obama obama wiretapping trump tower, the second reaction i

had, and thinking back to my own time in government, she was doing her job. that is what national security advisors are expected to do. as they say sometimes you do this to protect an american, not just out of an idol curiosity. in addition, i would say, the calculus here is that is used is very professional one. it is hard for me to believe that the directors of these agencies would consent to unmasking for political reasons. that is -- you just don't do that. there is another thing that occurred to me listening to all of this. and that is it is a messy transition, but they were starting to make foreign policy. we only have one president at a time, but we recall for example the call that the president made to the president of taiwan which was essentially breaking with

the long standing one china policy. you have to you will have maybe greating context. >> the president has started talking, let's listen in. >> we have iron workers, insul l insulators -- it never changes with the iron workers, let's hear it, laborers. painters. fitters. plumbers.

operators. operators all right, i'll tell you that. electricians. not that good. where is my local 3? where is local 3, that wasn't that good electricians. they became so rich they don't have to -- let's do that again, electricians? that's better. bricklayers. boilermakers, elevator constructers. good job. sheet metal workers. roofers. plasterers. plaster, well yeah, that is -- not using as much plaster as we used to, fellas. sorry about that, not sure i can do much. we brought back the coal miners, i'm not sure about the plasters. how about the comment masons.

and of course -- our wonderful teamsters. that wasn't very good, james. really you're the backbone of america. with the talent in this room, we can build any city at any time and we can build in better than anyone. but we're going to do even better than that. together, we are going to rebuild our nation. you're the keepers of the great trades and traditions that built our country. from the new york skyline to the golden gate bridge, you represent the workers whose hands, skills, and dreams will build the great landmarks of our future. every day your members live out what i call the american creed.

they're on the job before dawn and after dusk, and they never quit until that job is done. you know that. true. true. [ applause ] >> we saw this grit on display when the construction trades helped rebuild new york city after 9/11. [ applause ] that was a terrible time, we were all there. it was a terrible time in this country's history. worst attack in the history of our country. worse than pearl harbor. in pearl harbor they were attacking military. here they were attacking civilians. i saw what happened within a very short period of time and we were back rebuilding. and rebuild you did, and i really congratulate you, it took a lot of courage and strength, thank you. the fact is you take pride in

every part of your work. every joist, bulk, and rivet. you're not only builders, but artisans. you're very talented people. enriching our cities and landscapes with works of great beauty. and just as you take pride in your work, our nation takes great, great pride in you, believe me. and it is time that we give you the level playing field that you deserve. [ applause ] thank you. thank you, fellas. washington and washingtll stree done very, very well for themselves. now it's your turn, and you're

going to be also sharing the wealth. and you know for many years we have been taken advantage of by other countries. all over the world, they took advantage of us. we had leaders that didn't have a blue or worclue or worse. that's not going to happen any more, folks. you see what is going on right now. the trade deficit went way down, just announced before i got on stage, and i will tell you, we're going to have a whole different set of values when it comes to representing our country. that i can tell you right now. this election was all about returning power to the people. i have spent my life working side by side with american builders and now you have a builder as your president.

one of my first acts as president was to stop one of the great sellouts of the american worker. i immediately withdrew the united states from the disaster this would have been a disaster. this would have been another nafna nafta which, by the way, is a disaster. i took you out of the transpacific partnership. thank you. that one wasn't even close, and you know it. i know it. everybody knows it. next, i cleared the way for the destruction of the keystone, xl, and dakota access pipelines.

[ applause ] it is looking like that is going to have about 42,000 jobs. that is some number of great people. that is a number of great people, a lot of beautiful people. and say joined me in the oval office when we approved the keystone permit. and i joke that day can you imagine the head of this big canadianompanyn this case, they build pelis and they failed. it didn't rk. they paid millions and millions and hundreds of millions of consultants and lowers, and they failed. and it was over. and then one day trump wins and a few days later they get a

knock on the door. sir, the keystone pipeline was just approved. can you imagine. i want to see the expression on his face. they came to the office. they did say you have to use american steel, you have to fabricate it here. they already bought 60% or 70% of it, so you can't be too wild, right, but i was signing the order, and i said where did they buy the steel. i didn't like the answer. i said who fabricated the answer. i said from now on we will put a cause, maize in america, we want american steel made in america. 100%, folks. right? and you will be hearing more about this in the very near future, but as the next seven

and three quarters years, meaning eight years, we believe in two simple rules, buy american and hire american, that's what it is going to be. and that is not just a low began, it's a promise, believe me. . the era of economic surrender has come to an end. come to an end. we have surrendered as a era of economic victory for o country has just gun. no longer we listen to those failed consultants that made one wrong prediction after another. delivering nothing but soaring trade deficits, and a big, fat, shrinking workforce. we watched as our factories have

shuttered, almost 70,000 vak tire our jobs stolen, and blue collar wages have declined. we have seen the pain inflicts on our fellow americans. we didn't just off shore our jobs, it was a big part of the american dream. we enriched foreign countries at the expense of our own country, the great united states of america, but those days are over. i'm not, and i don't want to be, the president of the world. i'm the president of the united states. and from now on, it is going to be america first. we're going to bring back our

jobs, and yes, we're going to bring back the american people. as i travel the nation, i heard the pleas of the forgotten men and women of our country. the people that work hard and play by the rules but who don't have a voice. together we are their voice, and they will never ever be forgotten again, that i can tell you. i don't know if you saw, but if you watch the democrats now, the anger and hatred, and they're trying to figure out where did all of these people that voted for donald trump, they said the electoral college is very, very hard. they say almost impossible for a republican to win. the odds are stacked. they would say there is no way to 270. there is no way to 270.

i thought maybe i should not be running. maybe i should not run. there is no way, the people are telling me, the same people, theyre saying there is no way to 271, but there was a way to 306. wasn't that exciting. places that nobody -- donald trump won the state of michigan. they say, what? donald trump won the state of wisconsin -- they came out of the blue and we didn't even need them. and we love those two states. we won the state of pennsylvania, ohio, iowa, south carolina, north carolina, and florida. we ran the coast and if you don't run it, you can't win. a huge disadvantage. electoral college, very, very tough. they say almost impossible for them to win, i had the support of, i would say, almost

everybody in this room. we had tremendous spoupport, we had tremendous support, we really had the support of the workers, tremendous support of the workers, would you like to make a change, folks? because if anyone wants to make a change, you won't be having so many jobs, that i can tell you. your jobs will be a whole different story. because in the last decade, you lost 750 construction -- think of this, 750,000 construction jobs. real wages have fallen 15%. and approvals for infrastructure projects take up to ten years. since taking office, i signed one action after another to

eliminate job killing regulations that stand in our way. i had a chart, is that chart around here some place. did you have that? i have to show this chart to you, it is amazing. this is, if you want to build a highway in the united states. these are some of the permits you need. a process that can take way over ten years. and it just never happens. at the end of the period they vote against it, and we're getting rid of these many regulations. 17 agencies. many permits at each agency. . in february alone we added 60,000 construction jobs in the country. i ordered expedited

environmental reviews. environmental and energy projects across the country. no longer do you have to wait for year after year for approvals that never come. i took historic action to lift the restrictions on american energy production and to put our miners who have been treated horribly back to work. consumer confidence they have great people. consumer confidence at the highest level inform more than a decade. you have seen all of the charts, all of the studies. the national association of manufacturing reported the most optimism in the history of it's surv survey. an old survey. 93% are optimistic about the future.

the home builder confidence index at the high eest level in ten years. we're going to protect your jobs by protecting the brorder. literally, in a short period of time, we have record reductions to illegal immigration. record reductions. down 61% since inauguration. >> and we will crack down on vis

aabuses. we have done so much for the worker and so much for the military, so much for the police officers. our men in blue, and women in blue, who are not treated fairly. we're fighting for workers of all backgrounds and from all walks of live, but to achieve true progress, we must remember our legacy. we're the nation that built the tallest skyscrapers on what was once the hudson river, and put neon lights of las vegas in the desert. if we continue to punish or builders we will not be that nation a nation any longer. i'm callingen everyone to come together in the great rebuilding of our country.

that is why in my address to congress, i called on law maema to pass legislation that is a one trillion dollar investment in the infrastructure of our country, and we need it. with your help, we can rebuild our country's bridges, airports, sea ports, and water systems. we will stream line the process to get approvals quickly so long delayed projects can move ahead. and with lower taxes ohe middle class and businesses, we will see a new surge of economic growth and development. all of you have come to the nation capital to call members of the house and senate to action. you also called the your

president to action. you can tell progress that the building trades, and it's president, are very much united. [ applause ] thank you. together we are ready to break new ground. we will build in the spirit of one of the great projects of our nation's history. the mempire state building was forged in the great depression. we have all seen the pictures. workers putting them in the air. they moved 60,000 tons of steel,

install 200,000 cubic feat of stone, and laid 10 million bricks to build that american icon and they did it in a record time. 17 months, hard to believe. think of that, built in 13 months in the depression. nowadays you could not even get a permit or approval in that amount of time. when they secured the last piece of steel, they marked the moment as we still do today, with what is called a topping out ceremony. 1050 feet above the streets of new york city, they hoisted a beautiful and great american flag.

>> they did a good job. notion iron workers, you better believe it. it was an american flag that represented american projects. the big, bold, and daring kim . for the hardships of depression and the battles of world war ii and they emerged from these tria trials stronger and more united than ever before. now we must, between, summon that same national greatness to meet the challenges of our time. only miles from the halls of coming and the news rooms of washington, you will find once thriving cities marched by empty lots and once booming industrial towns that have become rusted and are in total disrepair. standing before me today in this very hl are the men a women

who if given the chance can transform these communities. you are the citizens who can rebuild our cities, revive our industries, and renew our beloved country. and i know you will stop at nothing to get the job done. for the rest of their lives, everyone who worked on the empire state building knew when they looked up at that great new york skyline that they had lifted the stars and stripes atop the tallest flag pole on earth and that somewhere high above the city streets their place in history was carved into beams of steel. in the future when we become the trials and we are trials of our times, we, too, will emerge stronger and more united than ever before. it's happening. you watch.

when we rise above the cynics and critics who live only to defend the status quo and to defend themselves from failure, then we, too, will construct a lasting monument to national greatness. in this future our nation's workers and craftsmen will look way out at the vast open landscape and they will build new bridges and new schools and new landmarks and they will proudly raise up for all to see a bright and beautiful american flag. and when we see that flag, we will remember that we all share one american home, one american heart, and one american destiny. may god bless our nation's builders. may god bless our nation's workers. and may god bless the united states of america. thank you very much. thank you.

thank you. >> president trump speaking to the building trades across town here. this afternoon, the senate will vote on a procedural motion to proceed with the president's nomination of neil gorsuch for the supreme court. chuck schumer had a final warning ahead of this to get judge gorsuch confirmed to the supreme court. >> if senator mcconnell wants to change his view of the 60 votes all of a sudden, and republicans decide to go along with him, it won't be because democrats started it because that's not true. it won't be because democrats won't confirm any president trump nominated justice, because that's not true. will be because they choose to do so and they will have to to bear the unfortunate consequences. >> former new hampshire senator kelly anne has been working with

gorsuch through this process and joins me now. thank you, senator. >> no worries. >> your response to this challenge that has now been laid down by the democratic leader? >> my response is that it's quite clear that the democrats would not approve anyone that has been nominated by president trump. we have judge gorsuch who got the highest rating from the ada. he has had support from the spectrum include president obama's solicitor general, governor ritter, former governor of colorado. you had him testifying for 20 hours answering almost 300 questions for the record, very well respected, ten years on the tenth circuit, exceptionally qualified and yet they're going to block his nomination from an up or down vote. why wouldn't they allow the up or down vote? if you look back at what justice kagan and justice sotomayor, they were able to have the up or down vote. even going back to justices

roberts and alito. so this is something the democrats are leaving the republicans with no choice here when it comes to this nomination. >> now, senators feinstein and leyhe who of you worked with closely, they both say this is because judge gorsuch was unwilling to answer basic questions like brown versus board of education, an established precedent. >> well, andrea, i think they should go back and look at his testimony on brown versus board of education where he said he thought that plessi versus ferguson which was overturned in brown versus board of education was a stain on our nation's history and that he thought that brown was the correct decision. so i'm not sure what they're talking about in that regard, but it's been clear that judge dw orsuch answered questions as prior nominees have, within his judicial ethics including the standards set forth by justice ginsburg at the time and those applied by prior nominees. so me, this is a red herring. unfortunately we're in a position where if they aren't

going allow this nominee to go forward, who, then, would they allow that president trump would nominate. and this -- as you look back to the election, this was a big issue in the election, the american people weighed in. >> now, let me ask you a question as a foreign policy expert to someone who is on armed services and travels and knows intelligence. susan rice was here and flatly denied that she leaked anything and that what she did was out of the ordinary in asking intelligence officials to grant the unmasking of incidental people who had picked up with incidental collection and that this was not the spying that has been alleged. you know the players. and you've seen what dick durbin had to say, that this is all a distraction from the main act, which is what russia did. should they be looking at russia more seriously than this? is thi part of the inveation? what is your take? >> well, i can tell you i know senators burr and warner and they are conducting a bipartisan investigation in the senate. but i have to say, when it comes

to ambassador susan rice, i'm really surprised at the unveiling that has been revealed here. i think that needs to be looked at. it seems unusual and i think certainly the questions have to be answered about it because it took the context of a presidential campaign and that raises real questions of whether there was some political motivation there. >> thank you very much, senator. >> thank you. >> former senator kelly ayat from capitol hill. and president trump says he's ready now to take health care reform off of life support, telling our own kristen welker that he is still negotiate, moderate and conservative republicans. words backed up by action on vice president pence in capitol hill in two monday meetings. joining me now is kristen welker at the white house and casey hunt on capitol hill. nice dress, kristen. >> thank you. it was quite a meeting, andrea,

that is for sure. and the president indicating that he is not ready to give up on health care. as you say. and a couple of headlines. i asked him how serious he thought this effort was to revive the push. he said, look, this is not about reviving it. he said he's a businessman and these negotiations are ongoing. and so he seems to think there is room for getting something done. when i asked him if he could work with democrats, he said the reity is he thinks tensions relations are just too raw right now. so he thinks he can still get something done with the same conservative republicans who, of course, derailed the initial effort and moderate republicans and according to some of our conversations with folks who are familiar with these talks, one of the potential compromises that they're looking at is allowing states to waive certain regulations as long as they can prove that they're going to lower premiums. of course, house speaker paul ryan talked about this today. i'll let casey handle that

angle. but the bottom line is, the president is striking a note of optimism even though this is going to be tough slogging, andrea. >> and are there enough republican votes unless he brings some of those democrats over? >> yeah, andrea, i hate to pour cold water on the president's plans here on this one, but i have to say that the members.here on capitol hill, i think, are doing just that. i mean, there were conversations this morning in a closed door meeting with the house republican conference where some of these conservative members who had been talking to the vice president, to rooieince priebuso others in the white house, who want to see this by the end of the week. leadership has no intent to do that. not in that amount of time, andrea. >> and kristen, how is it you end up in the oval office doing an interview with the president? >> well, what happens, i was meeting with one of his senior officials who surprised me. we finished our meeting and this

person said, hold on a minute. i waited in the hallway and then i was brought into the oval office completely unnounced, comptely impromptu. the president very gracious to take a few minutes and answer some of my questions about health care. but andrea, it was a big surprise and it was impromptu, that is for sure. >> well done. thank you so much. katie is up next right here on msnbc. >> hey there, andrea. good afternoon to you. start ago two hours news block, a busy news day once again in the nation's capital where president trump finished speaking to the building trades union moments ago. and race responds for the first time, the former national security adviser responds to attacks that her request to reveal the identities of some trump aides were surveilled was for political purposes. the exclusive interview. life support, top white house officials work to go resuscitate health care