and end this. >> after 15 futile overnight hours on the senate floor, trying block judge gorsuch, oregon senator jeff merkley joins me. and it looks like he made it. what i learned about barry manilow and it is not what you think it is. this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. good evening. i'm chuck todd in new york and welcome to "mtp daily" and welcome to the first real test of president trump's america first foreign policy which now confronts a 1-2 punch. one in syria, the other in north korea. those mean conthe frontations with much larger powers which backs china which backs north korea. and all of this is churning on the day that steve bannon was removed from the national security council. we should warn that you some of the images out of years qua are

extraordinarily disturbing. last tweak administration said that ousting syria, president assad was no longer a priority. now he is being blame for carrying out what appears to be a horrific kept weapons attack on his own people. russia said assad is not to blame. today, president trump blasted the assad regime during a press conference at the white house with jordan's king abdullah. >> can i quick will ask you if the kept attack crosses a red line for you in. >> it crossed a lot of lines for me. when you kill innocent children, innocent babies, babies, little babies, with a kept gas that is so lethal, people were shocked the hear what gas it was, that crosses many, many lines beyond a red line. >> and they confront him for not confronting assad after a similarly horrific kept attack.

for what it's worth, the president urged the president back then to, quote, president obama do not attack syria. floss upside and tremendous down side. today president trump said point blank that this attack has changed him. >> that attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me. a big impact. that was a horrible, horrible thing, and i've been watching it and seeing it and it doesn't get any worse than that. and i have that flexibility and it is very, very possible, and i will tell you, it is already happened, that my attitude toward syria and assad has changed very much. >> meanwhile at the u.n., ambassador nikki haley delivered an emotional rebuke of assad and blaming russia in part because russia promised to rid syria of its kept weapons stockpiles in

2013. obviously they didn't get them all. here's ambassador haley. >> look at those pictures. we cannot close our eyes to those pictures. we know that yesterday's attack bears all the hallmarks of the assad regime's use of kept weapons. russia cannot escape responsibility for this. in fact, if russia had been fulfilling its responsibility, there would not even be any kept weapons left for the syrian regime to use. >> she's of course referring to that deal that kept the united states from attacking syria back in 2013 when the russians said they were going to do this. this all comes amid growing pressure from republicans today demanding that president trump figure out a way to oust assad. >> i still believer assad has to go. that's the only way to bring stability to that region. >> i don't think there's a

future for syria with bashar al assad in exist tense. they did in words but not in deeds. >> bashar al assad has to go. it may not be tomorrow or next week. isis may be our more immediate threat from syria but we cannot be safe as long as the assad/russian access. >> this is not tonight crisis facing the president on the world stage. north korea carried out another ballistic missile test last night. all of this timed ahead of president trump's meeting tomorrow with north korea's most important ally. chinese president xi jinping. during the campaign and the transition there were serious questions about what exactly an american first foreign policy would look like and whether it would translate from a slogan into a foreign policier document. and let's face it, ever since washington warned of foreign

entanglement, the president has vowed to avoid getting entangled. but that's easier said than done, especially with atrocities are involved of. >> i'm joined by bob cork he of tennessee, chair of the will senate foreign relations committee. talking to you about syria. it feels like we've done this quite a few times. >> several times. >> i want to get you to respond, in particular, what you thought of president trump's answer when he said it's the following. look what happened cross ad lot of lines for me. many, many lines beyond a red line. then he said, i'm not saying i'm doing anything one way or the other. a, your reaction, and b, what's your advice? >> i have to tell you, having been in the refugee camps, meeting with syrians, even yesterday, seeing the photographs that they've put forth of torture, the absolute torture that assad has put

against his people. the bombing of hospitals. i think it is a very, very good thing that this has reached the consciousness of our president, if you will. those of us like you who have been around this for many years want to see that moral clarity about assad. in my opinion, as a war criminal, i think we ought to do everything we can to make sure he is convicted. hopefully this will go from a more sanitary approach to syria, something that he is inheriting, to something that is much more heart felt of the i think this is a very positive development. >> you interviewed, you were one of the people who interviewed, if you want to call it that, to be secretary of state, or at least spoke to him about it. did he articulate what his foreign policy was to you? what he expected of his secretary of state on syria? >> you know, what a great point to bring up, chuck. because what i've seen under this president from the time,

november, december time frame, where these conversations were taking place until now, is an evolution. we've seen a very positive evolution on china, a positive evolution on israel, a positive israel on nato. and you're right. i mean in fairness, not to get into confidential conversations but syria was sort of a distraction. something that was being inherited. and now i think you're seeing full engagement. this is the kind of thing those of us who have watched this criminal assad do what he's doing with the stance of putin and iran, this is a good development. i really do believe that. something that should bring both sides of the aisle together. now he's focused on it in a different way and seems to have some ownership of it now versus inheriting this mess that was, let's face it, has been mismanaged but now it's his of. >> i'm curious. do you get the expense maybe he

realizes he made a mistake when they shifted policy whether assad should stay or go? >> i think that that policy is something that can be easily reversed. >> do you think it should be? >> it is not like any action has been taken. i think, you know, we've done a terrible job in our nation on regime change. we've ended up creating a lot of problems. i got that. i think we need to assure where he's going on war crimes. we've got plenty of work to do in raqqah and other areas dealing with isis. but i think working with others to ensure this guy cops will to trial and is convicted of all the dastardly things he's done to his own people is where we ought to go. and i think we can leave the other, if you will, to let it evolve a little bit. >> a big part of this will have

to be dealing with russia. you wrote a tough op ed in august of '14 under a headline, obama is an unreliable ally. on syria. you wrote the following. you said when faced with the difficult challenge with the rest of congress, obama reversed course and said he no longer wanted the authority. instead the president jumped in the lap of russian president vladimir putin who offered a way out for assad to survive, even thrive, while turning over syria's declared stockpile of kept weapons to the united nations. president trump seems to have more confidence in putin doing the right thing in syria than even president obama did in your criticism there. do you think he will have his mind changed? >> i hope so. look. i've seen him evolve in a positive way. chuck, we send as many foreign ministers and prime ministers to the white house as we can. we think, we've got a new president coming in. he hasn't had a back ground in

this area. all of that influences them in a positive way. i think rex tillerson is a strategic thinker. he has the opportunity and i hope he will fulfill it in my opinion to be an historic figure with all the issues that are being dealt with right now and his ability to think in strategic terms. he's addressed our committee. i think what's being added to this element, i hate that it is happening with deaths to children and others, but what you're beginning to see the administration feel is that moral clarity that americans, those of us in the foreign policy arena care so much about and some people have felt have been missing and the hearings taking place. so again, i think he's evolving on russia. look, there's no way that he can even possibly attempt to achieve the relationship that he talked about before with putin. we've helped poison the well there. putin has poisoned the well.

but again, hopefully he will begin to see the kind of people that putin supports and the efforts that he supports against innocent people. i mean, this is a terrible thing that has happened. but maybe a wake-up moment for this administration relative to putin. >> are you at all concerned that within a week of the united states, officially reversing its assad policy, he does a kept weapons attack? >> he's been doing this for some time. i'm not sure that i can draw a relationship there. he's been doing these things. they've been starving people on purpose. they hold envoys of medicines from people on purpose. they bomb hospitals on purpose. i don't know that there's any relationship between the two. but hopefully this will mean the president and the team around him will look at assad for who he is and putin for who he is.

>> today, president trump sounded like somebody, frankly, it sounded very similar to me, that period of that three or four-day window when president obama, secretary of state kerry, when they were preparing the country for a military response. president trump sounded like that was on the table. do you believe he can do it without an authorization from congress if he chose to do so? >> well, the president has authorities that he can undertake for 60 days and then have a 30-day extension. i will say that i do hope, unless there is some element of surprise that's necessary for some reason i'm unaware of, i hope he will come to congress and i think he will find congress very willing to authorize appropriate measures in this particular case. i go back to the op ed in 2014. look, i'm sorry. chuck, it was one of the lowest moments in foreign policy.

we didn't even notify those that he were going in with us against assad of what was happening. it hurt our credibility. what i hope doesn't happen is we lay out some rhetoric, if you will, that may sound like something is going to happen when it isn't. hopefully president will come to congress if this is what he wishes to do. and he will find support. >> final question today from the new york times, president trump accused the former national security adviser of committing a crime. the president said, do i think, asked if she committed a yim this, do i think, yes, i think it will be the biggest story. appropriate for the president to accuse her without providing evidence? >> well, look, i don't know that should i speak to those comments in particular.

i do hope that the national security adviser rice will come testify before congress and clear up, if i think she should testify under oath before congress. >> the burden on her? is the burden on her or the president who just went to the "new york times" to accuse her of a crime? >> i think any official who has been in this wide array of discussion that's taking place, i encourage officials to come in and testify and clear things up. it is good for the american people. i think, you know i'm more prone to measure comments and i'm not that entertaining to your audience because i'll a more measured person and i apologize. i don't want to respond to the other. >> senator corker, as always, appreciate it. appreciate you coming on and sharing your views.

>> thanks a lot. >> i bring in tonight's panel. charles sikes, and julian, she was by the way one of the financial times report here's interviewed president trump last weekend. almost all. let's start with syria. we were talk during one of our breaks. one thing that i didn't bring up with either in that interview was the person that president trump was standing next to today. an important person on the syria issue. king abdullah who is dealing with more syrian refugees than perhaps any other nation in the world. the jordanian king. >> i think it is very important, this statement came out from president trump a few hours after meeting him. because king abdullah is a very smooth operator. he exudes this air of credibility. he is very persuasive. i would imagine he is just the kind of person, if anybody

could, who might be able to persuade donald trump to change his tune. >> i have to say though, he campaigned, and frankly, his world view, i would argue, this is one of the consistencies of donald trump. basically, hey, you do your business, we do ours. you leave us alone, we'll leave you alone. your sphere of influence, essentially, that's why the russians did like trump's foreign policy views. that didn't set -- president trump didn't sound like candidate trump anymore. >> you wonder what is the expiration date on the new donald trump. there was no trump doctrine. that i think came out in your interview, that it is pretty objection that donald trump hadn't really given much thought to syrian policy. now you have the reality. here's the reality check. that every problem in the world cannot be solved by a tweet. he cannot continue to campaign against barack obama. he has to move ahead. what we did not get was any sort of an indication. what is he actually planning to do and what does this mean for

his bromance with putin? this is why the relationship with russia matters in the real world. >> he is not the first president who campaigned saying, boy, we get too involved around the world. and then suddenly they're in the moment. you say, i don't want to be the world's policeman and then you realize, america is the only officer on the beat. >> he's learning this as other presidents have. he made it so central to his campaign message. far more than any other president. it is part of that populism. america first. we won't send people to pointless wars in another couldn't ninth. it is great that he was moved and touched. that shows he's a human being. to throw out as you suggest, document a whole new world view after basically being elected president on another one.

when does that expiration date happen in. >> there has been one person who has been very consistent that quite visible and that's nikki haley. she's been saying consistent reply first of all, russia needed to recognize some of the problems it was causing and slicked, raising syria over and over again at the u.n. security council. >> her and samantha power. nothing changed with them. >> what she's been saying has been largely drowned out by the focus on donald trump. what has happened today is that trump has come around nearer to her view and that's causing a lot of discussion among other members of the security council. and one other very interesting thing is that even though rex tillerson has been almost entirely invisible, nikki is the person empowered to speak. >> my question is what the obama team faced, members of the

capitol hill faced. do you really want to punish assad, but how? what are the options? >> president obama used to say, you have no idea. it is a series of, he used a four letter word the words ty at the end. a whole bunch of those options. >> and there was probably a time when there were options and they kept getting smaller and smaller and smaller. you wonder at what point do they sit around and say, what are the options? i'm slightly reassured, the fact steve bannon will not be at the table when they're discussing what kind of military force we use. but we don't know what the options are. and i think it is always a mistake to read too much into what donald trump's words are on any given day. who is the next person in the room in nikki haley? steve bannon? who will it be? >> and he simplifies it.

it was bals isis. if we get rid of isis, muslim terrorism in the middle east. that will take care of it and we'll lead and everything will be great. suddenly he'll realizing it is a far more rt complicated situation. >> donald trump does not seem to be a man who can multitask. he focuses on one thing tad. he is dealing with this incredibly important summit with the chinese leadership, this bubbling crisis in north korea. if there's anything that could knock north korea off when it has launched another syria, it is the middle east and syria. >> the irony on this issue, this north korea gave the united states leverage on china in this issue. the timing of it was really bad for the chinese in this case. it will be intesti to see how he uses that leverage in this meeting that begins tomorrow. >> absolutely.

and there's a big difference between the chinese, and they want to tread softly not to provoke them. the united states seem to be rattling the sabre. >> we have a lot to get to. we didn't get to the susan rice situation. i promise you, we'll get to that. after he spent 15 straight hours speaking on the senate floor, he says he's still awake. i'll spend a few minutes with jeff merkley. realize that ah, ts not exactly a fortune. well, a 103 yeah, 103. well, let me ask you guys. how long did it take you two to save that? a long time. then it's a fortune. well, i'm sure you talk to people all the time who think $100k is just pocket change. right now we're just talking to you. i told you we had a fortune. yes, you did. getting closer to your investment goals starts with a conversation. schedule a complimentary goal planning session today.

welcome back to "mtp daily." in that interview in the "new york times," the president went out of his way to defend bill o'reilly, following a series of sexual harassment claims that'll keep coming out and becoming public. "the new york times" reported over the weekend that o'reilly or fox had paid five women, a collective $13 million to settle

various sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior claims against the fox news anchor. o'reilly has claimed the claims were without merit. and he said he is a person i know well. as he good person. i think he shouldn't have settled. i don't think he did anything wrong. if you're surprised about the president's comments, one thing we know about president trump. he values loyalty. here's what he said about roger ailes. >> finally roger ailes, is he advising you? >> i don't want to comment but he's been a friend of mine a long time. and i can tell you some of the women who are complaining, i know how much he's helped them. i've always found him to be a very very good person. >> at least 35 advertisers have pulled their ads from the "o'reilly factor" in the last few days.

s. 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 ♪ why pause a spontaneous moment? cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates r chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. to avoid long-term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. if you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. ask your doctor about cialis.

monument, the grand he is the most democrats standing solidly against gors, he won't have enough votes. and despite bipartisan attempts, the senate, another version changing the rules so supreme court justices can be confirmed by a simple majority instead of 60 senators. last night, politico published a report that accused gorsuch of copying word structure from other sources and failing to cite them. he is essentially being accused of plagiarism. while they refuted the charges and claimed they lacked foundation, it doesn't appear to be doing anything to bring the senate back from the brink here. and lawmakers are now blaming each other for their current

predicament. >> it is not the tradition of the senate to filibuster a u.s. supreme court nominee. >> what we are poised to do at the end of this week will have tremendous consequences and i fear that someday we will regret what we're about to do. i'm confident that we will. >> even though each side thinks their side is more right than the other, neither side is happy with how we got here. jeff merkley staged an all night talk. it did put hill in the history books. his speech was the eighth longest senate floor speech since 1900. you see there. basically tying huey long. so joining me now after a nap is the one person in the u.s. senate that may end up with my nickname that some people like

the throw out there. sleepy eyes. welcome to meet the press daily. >> thank you. >> let me start with, you sort of, you've been one, in 2013 you argued for that filibuster change at the time. you said this on the floor. you said today's rule change is a 56th for the american peel. the endless abuse of the filibuster on nominations has done great damage to the independence of our courts. nominees deserve an up or down vote. why doesn't the same criteria apply today? >> when we changed the rules, we did that after a year of trying on work with republicans to end their attack on the obama administration and the courts. they were leaving a tremendous number of seats empty. they said we are going to stone wall this president in every way. totally inconsistent with the concept of three co-equal branches.

we negotiated, we went into the old chambers ask bared our souls and came out with a deal. the deal republicans broke few weeks later en they said they would never allow a debate on three of the circuit court seats in the d.c. circuit. it was an early version of let's steal these seats. we didn't change the supreme court for a very good reason. that's where the buck stops. he have other court can make decisions. it is the case of a lifelong appointment. a person may serve for four or five decades and their views matter and the way they're put on to the court matters. that's why it is important to send a vote to the president. it is intended to say to the president that, nominate someone from the judicial main stream.

but gorsuch is not from the judicial main stream. >> there's nothing says it has to be 60 votes. you just made a case about lifetime appointment. well, there's lifetime appointment for circuit judges and federal judges. to many people this is a distinction without a difference yes. ithe highest court. but once you go down this road for the lower courts, this was inevitable which was the point that many republicans made four years ago that you're laying the ground work for a rationalization for the out party at the time, which was the republicans, to essentially run rough shod. >> first it wasn't the tradition of america. in fact, the early senate after the first year got rid of their motion to close debate because they didn't need it. they heard every one out which set the stage for the famous filibuster in world war one over arming the civilian shipments.

second of all, in this context, we are dealing with something that never happened in u.s. history. a seat was stolen by one bhaigs no action in the senate. in 16 times we've had an open seat during an election year. 15 times, every time until now, the senate took action. confirming 11. refour. they always took action so what happened? the result of where we are now is because last year for the first time in u.s. history, the majority decided to stone wall nominee. take no sxaks steal the seat in an effort to pack the court. the that's the point. nobody has clean hands here. each side uses, rationalizes their position based on the behavior of the other side. so you know, that's why it looks inevitable. because it seems to me the next time, the next time you guys are

in power, how do you not just say, okay, they changed the rules. we'll keep going and we'll change the rules for the filibuster. >> i'm more concerned about the supreme court. if the theft of the supreme court seat succeeds for the first time in u.s. history, that means there is, all the rules off. it is pure partisanship from here onforward. it fractures the speaking with riftcourt. every 5-4 decision that the stolen seatarticipates in will have a cloud over it. there are other reasons. the president's team is under investigation for potentially having conspired with the russians to undermine the elections. that's potentially treasonous conduct. we need on clear that cloud before the debate continues. >> i'll curious. do you think that democrats collectively, and i'll going from the white house on down to you guys in the senate. did you not fight hard enough for had merrick garland in

hindsight? >> we fought hard. we brought it up continuously. >> did president obama fight hard enoh for it in. >> i think he pushed it very hard. again, there was no lever to come fell senate to do something. it had never been seen in history to stone it was seat. i wish we had found some way to force the debate to happen. but mitch mcconne wt to the floor within hours of the death of slia and said, this is theed intent. we are not going to consider this nomination, whoever it is, whoever it is, from the president. and we are going to stone wall it. we are going to steal had seat. totally unprecedented. incredibly damaging. even now the reason i spoke all night was to say this is so important to the future integrity of court. stop what you're doing. take this train off the tracks.

let's find a way to both not destroy the integrity of the senate and fracture the court. >> we'll see. still 48 hours. you never know what might happen in this final debate. get some sleep, sir. >> thank you. >> senator merkley, thank you for coming on. still ahead, the president is eyeing some new vetting measures. how far can they go legally in doing that? we'll get a reality check on that. stay tuned. ♪ ♪ everyone deserves attention, whether you've saved a lot or just a little. at pnc investments, we believe you're more than just a number. so we provide personal financial advice for every retirement investor.

what's the best way to get v8 or a fancy juice store?s? ready, go! hi, juice universe? one large rutabaga, with eggplant... done! that's not fair. glad i had a v8. the original way to fuel your day. i use what's already inside me to reach my goals. so i liked when my doctor told me i may reach my blood sugar and a1c goals by activating what's within me with once-weekly trulicity.

trulicity is not insulin. it helps activate my body to do what it's supposed to do release its own insulin. trulicity responds when my blood sugar rises. i take it once a week, and it works 24/7. it comes in an easy-to-use pen and i may even lose a little weight. trulicity is a once-weekly injectable prescription medicine to improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. trulicity is not insulin. it should not be the first medicine to treat diabetes or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take trulicity if you or a family member has had medullary thyroid cancer, if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to trulicity. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms such as itching, rash, or trouble breathing; a lump or swelling in your neck; or severe pain in your stomach area. serious side effects may include pancreatitis, which can be fatal.

taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases your risk for low blood sugar. common side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite and indigestion. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may make existing kidney problems worse. with trulicity, i click to activate what's within me. if you want help improving your a1c and blood sugar numbers with a non-insulin option, click to activate your within. ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity.

where are the legal lines? can people be forced to hand over passwords or maybe more at the airport? my day starts well before

i'm in the kitchen. i need my blood sugar to stay in control. i need to shave my a1c i'm always on call. an insulin that fits my schedule is key. ♪ tresiba® ready ♪ (announcer) tresiba® is used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. don't use tresiba® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. don't share needles or insulin pens. don't reuse needles. the most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause dizziness, swtiting, confusion, and headache. check your blood sugar. low blood sugar can be serious and may be life-threatening. injection site reactions may occur. tell your prescriber about all medicines you take and all your medical conditions. taking tzds with insulins like tresiba® may cause serious side effects like heart failure. your insulin dose shouldn't be changed without asking your prescriber. t medical helpight away if you have trouble breathing, fast heartbeat, extreme drowsiness, swelling of your face, tongue, orhrhroat, dizziness, or confusion. ask your health care provider if you're tresiba® ready. covered by most insurance and medicare plans. ♪ tresiba® ready ♪

ykeep you sidelined.ng that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. for the strength and energy to get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you.

welcome back. president trump's executive order on travel is tied up in the courts. but the administration is considering new extreme vetting steps for visitors and visa seekers. quote, the change would ask applicants for their sheenls and passwords so officials could see information posted privately in addition on public posts. homeland security has already experimented with askingor people's handles. this would reportedly apply to people in our visa waiver programs like the uk, japan and australia. authorities already have the legal right to search any object passing the bored he and that

includes your smartphone. by the way that applies to u.s. citizens as well as foreigners. here's john kelly earlier today. >> it won't be done routinely for pple coming from anywhere. it won'te done routinely from anywhere. but if there's a reason to do it, we will in fact do it. this is nothing new we could if we want to, and in some small numbers we do. we don't take them to be frenlsicily taken apart. >> he is referring to phones. a relatively small number of travelers get screened. the numbers between 2015 and 2016 have increased five fold. the national political director for the american civil liberties union. good to see you. i guess i'm trying to understand the legal boundaries here. you know, i don't want this to be a debate about whether we should be doing it. i want to get to what's legal and what is not. >> can i raise a couple of

issues? >> yes. >> so one is in the questioning of the any personful are they asking about what is your faith? how often do you pray? what are your ideological views with regard to your religion? we've heard from the press that they are asking those which is a religious test. if you go down that road you've now violated -- >> but rt if you avoided the religious test. >> so that's one element. >> if you avoid that, that would keep you off a legal problem. >> right. and the interrogation should be equally broad based. it shouldn't know looking for muslims only. the second issue with social media. as do you a search of the phone, are you could not an unreasonable search for the amendment violation by accessing somebody's e-mail, somebody's private data. are you going beyond something that should require a warrant. we believe the constitution applies to all people. like -- freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, guarantee of due process, those apply the

everyone. also, we learn this through the military commissions. through gaunlt trials, that the supreme courter also believed that noncitizens have rights that are afford under the constitution. >> i understand that. let's go to the question of legality. you believe they run into legal trouble if they dip into religion. >> and you know that's what they're doing. they're asking, what is your faith? mohammed ali's son. why was he flagged? because of his name. oh, you have a prayer app on your phone. why? this is targeting muslims specifically. that's a religious test. >> if you get there, that is what would be considered to be a violation of the constitution. >> for sure. that would be a muslim ban 3.0. >> so what is an extreme measure that you believe they could do it legally? >> it has to be broad based, it has to apply to everyone. as you're entering the country,

whatever procedures you have in place should not just apply to six countries, muslims from this part of region. it should apply to everyone. what we're learning is the visa resfrikss are happening, the visa denials, they're during largely amongst people who are muslim, who have muslim zmams coming from muslim countries. >> let me be devil's advocate. if they ask everybody their religion when they come in. what would that say? would that fast constitutional test if you're looking for -- >> here's my next question. so who gets denied? so who is not allowed? >> what is your -- you think they have to provide that before you can find out. >> so if chuck todd says i happen to be christian. i happen to be muslim. hey, chuck, you're welcome to the united states. sorry, we just didn't have space for you. >> what are the legal rights for somebody not a citizen who has their phone seized? >> so, as you go about that process, i think it is important

to know that you do have rights. there are certain things you don't have to respond to. giving over your phone, making sure that you've eliminated some of the appls, don't have your e-mail on there. certain best practices that you should have to protect yourself. as you said, then take your phone and look at some of your social media stuff. so just delete that information. if we see that they're trying to go into your cloud and trying on dig up old stuff. that will get into the zone of unconstitutional search. >> this is about protecting the united states. so searching everybody's phone, if they're searching every phone, looking for everything. >> stop right there. >> i don't know how -- i don't know how they would actually do it but i'll asking you. >> i would ask you not to believe this is about national security. we would not have muslim ban 1.0 and then 2.0 being delayed for

press purposes the this was about national security. this is simply to enact present trp's political agenda to have total and complete shounl of all muslims entering the united states. that's what this is about. understanding that is the first principle about understanding any of it. >> do you believe in any legal challenge to these vetting procedures, that that rhetoric that he said, you believe all of that will be admissible and it should contribute to a judge's decision. >> it has already been admissible. the judges are already using it. they are already telling us that it matters. and i applaud them. it is an important context to understand his motives. as he empers federal agents, i. krerks agents. it has to be muslims because the read that told me that. >> so you believe they will be struck down. >> i think we'll learn about cases that violate and go over

the line and then we'll build a case and then we'll take president trump to court as we have. >> appreciate you coming in. thank you. a lot more ahead. we'll talk susan rice and the president.

she'll unease you ♪ ♪ all the better just to please you ♪ ♪ she's precocious, and she knows just ♪ ♪ what it takes to make a pro blush ♪ ♪ all the boys think she's a spy, ♪ ♪ she's got bette davis eyes you're lng livat the white house. ♪ ♪

♪ wanna get away? now you can with southwest fares as low as 59 dollars one-way. yes to low fares with nothing to hide. that's transfarency. you totanobody's hurt, new car. but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do? drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had liberty mutual new car replacement™, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. smart. with liberty mutual new car replacemenre™, ace the full value of your car. liberty stanith you™. liberty mutual insurance. when it comes to heartburn... trust the brand doctors trust. nexium 24hr is the #1 choice of doctors and pharmacists for their own frequent heartburn.

for all day and all night protection... banish the burn... with nexium 24hr. time for the lid. let's bring back the panel.

beth, jillian, president of the united states accused a former national security advisor to president obama of committing a crime today and didn't produce any evidence. >> he's getting awfully good at that and it is utterly shocking he would do such a thing. he's sort of in this mode right now -- >> it's so shocking it's not the lead story right now. >> true. and there is such a fire hose of news every day that things that would have elevated to the level of def con10 in a normal administration is like a secondary story in this one. how about the fact that neil gorsuch our nominee for supreme court was caught pledge rising and that's not even being discussed to the. democrats haven't brought this up. there are so many other things to be talking about. in terms of susan rice, he's in a mode now where the obama administration, the president himself and his staff need to be blamed for the things that are going wrong in the white house. susan rice is so radioactive on the republican side. trot her out, have a little bit of connection to reality, like

the bear est little tether and she's the story. >> lit up your radio back six months ago, right? anything susan rice -- >> oh, absolutely. >> susan rice and all of a sudden you get calls. >> absolutely. that's a hot button for all conservatives and republicans. not only did the president of the united states accuse someone of a crime without any evidence, but he exonerated bill o'reilly without any evidence. this is the new normal where the president of the united states wai weighs in on all of this. don't be surprised if you don't get the explanation. >> here's the issue. it is the new normal. when the financial times was in the white house last week last friday, i actually asked the president, do you correregret a your tweets? there have been crazy ones. he said no, i don't regret them. if you're going to do hundreds of tweets, you may end up with a clinker from time to time. that was a quote. he thinks tweeting and the off the cuff remarks are what

enabled him to win the election last year. it connects him with the voters and makes him seem like a man -- >> now he's the president. he is the chief magistrate. >> it is allowing him to basically wield power. >> it is giving him some conservative cover. just when conservatives were starting to stray, not happy about health care, makes him feel uncomfortable, throws susan rice to the caldron. you want susan rice to testify? >> she knows a lot of things. >> she knows a lot of things. >> it does not change the underlying dynamic. i think there ought to be an investigation. we're in a post-truth world. at some point let's find out what the truth s. let's get to the bottom of this, put everybody under oath. this keeps that story line alive that much longer. >> president of the united states accused now a private citizen of committing a crime and no evidence. it's shocking.

>> it certainly is shocking. i can say right now around the world people are looking at the white house and feeling completely lost how to deal with this, what to make of it. there are other authorities around the world who have entire desk monitoring these tweets. >> chuck, you're the polling guy. his poll numbers could not be worse. he basically is the president of the conservatives who hate susan rice. he needs to expand that. he's not going to get anywhere in terms of a legislative agenda moving anything along he promised the people who voted for him if he's only playing to that audience, if he's inclined to believe susan rice is a kr t criminal. >> how to win a new cycle. >> going into the white house, i won, you didn't. and that tells you everything you need to know. >> okay. when we began this day, some on my staff said it's kind of a slow news day. never say that. beth, charlie, jillian. thank you. after the break, the best bit of cocktail party trivia i've heard

in ages. just trust me. stay tuned. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ lease a 2017 lincoln mkx for $349 a month. only at your lincoln dealer.

i mwell, what are youe to take care odoing tomorrow -10am? staff meeting. noon? eating. 3:45? uh, compliance training. 6:30? sam's baseball practice. 8:30? tai chi. yeah, so sounds relaxing. alright, 9:53? i usually make their lunches then, and i have a little vegan so wow, you are busy. wouldn't it be great if you had investments that worked as hard as you do? yeah. introducing essential portfolios. the automated investing solution that lets you focus on your life.

well, in case you missed it, barry manilow is a music machine. he's been selling out shows for decades. he wrote the state farm jingle and today he opened up about why he hid his sexuality for years. he's the writer and co-writer of plenty of his hit songs including copa ka ban a, this one's for you, i made it through the rain.

the man who wrote the songs who made the whole world sing. i write the songs, that was actually written by bruce johnston, a current member of the beach boys. there's one to grew on. who knew? that's all for tonight. for the record starts with greta. you like that bit of barry manilow trivia? >> i had no idea. so, i learned something. thank you, chuck. >> you're welcome. >> and tonight president trump, well, he did it again. he blamed the president, he blamed president obama for that horrific gas attack in syria. now, this is the first major global crisis under president trump's watch and the president today and after rightfully laying the blame on syrian president bass ar all assad, he couldn't help take a swipe at obama and the obama administration. >> the obama administration had a great opportunity to solve this crisis a long time ago when he said the red line in the sand. and when he didn't cross that line after making the at