thank you for watching this hour of msnbc live. right now, more news with my colleague, ali. great to see you in person. usually, i'm talking to you -- >> we speak all the time and are rarely in the same place. >> it is a busy day. >> i'll pick it up. historic senate showdown. this minute, the senate is on the verge of the so-called nuclear option over the supreme court nominee neil gorsuch. the rules of the game could change for good toy. we're going to have a live play

by play. breaking news. houseel chair devin nunes is stepping aside from the committee's russia investigation. he is also facing an ethics investigation for allegedly disclosing classified intelligence. we'll have the latest from capitol hill. and clashing agendas. president trump hosts the chinese president at his florida estate. starting today, what both leaders want from the meetings and will trump stick to the campaign promises on trade with china? good morning, everyone. i'm ali in washington, where it is a busy and rainy day for the trump administration on multiple fronts. let's start with the breaking news i just mentioned. we learned just over an hour ago that em battled house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes will step aside from leading his committee's investigations in russian meddling in the election. whether there was any collusion between moscow and the trump campaign. also on capitol hill, right now, the u.s. senate is heading toward what the "new york times"

calls a rattling confrontation over the nomination of judge neil gorsuch to the supreme court. the senate is about to take a showdown vote that could result in republican leaders invoking the so-called nuclear option. changing senate rules so that the gorsuch nomination can proceed to a final vote. over at the white house right now, president trump is preparing to head to his mar-a-lago estate in florida in the next hour, where he' host a high ss summit with china's president, xi jinping. we have all of this covered with our nbc news correspondents, experts, special guests. we begin with house intelligence committee chairman devin nunes's decision to temporarily step aside from the committee's russia investigation. in a statement a short time ago, nunes said, quote, several leftwing activist groups have filed accusations against me with the office of congressional ethics. the charges are entirely false and politically motivated. i believe it is in the best

interests of the house intelligence committee and the congress for me to have representative mike conaway, with assistance from trey gowdy and rooney take charge of the russia investigation while the house ethics committee looks into the matter. kasie hunt joins me now. this has been wild in the way it's unfolded this morning. recount it for us. >> it has been wild indeed, ali. actually, i just was chasing -- i apologize if i'm a little out of breath. we did track down devin nunes. he is here in the capitol. he was in the cloak room. he was going into a meeting in the leaders office. leader mccarthy. he is in there now, we believe, at this point. he refused to comment at this point beyond that statement that he put out earlier today. he would not tell me -- i asked if he believed that he was in legal jeopardize because he ma have broke tennessn the laws ar

providing classified informion. he wouldn't say. he asked me how i was doing. they're heading out on easter recess, so tempted levity if you see that video later. that's what's going on. nothing further from him at this point. so i've also been talking to democrats on the committee, as well, who really are trying to underscore and paint this as something where the -- kind of portray this as a way to restore credibility. one member said that, look, this investigation had an asterisk on is before and now it doesn't. now we can proceed. i think that's how they're putting it forward at this point today, ali. >> if you are not out of breath after chasing somebody on capitol hill, something is wrong. that's the business you're in. let's listen to adam schiff. he just came out of a meeting a while ago. i think we have video. i'll ask the control room if we have that.

>> hey, guys, i need to take this. >> the three men that devin nunes talked about, who he is handing responsibility to, the next highest ranking republican on the committee, mike conaway, trey gowdy and rooney, are they taking over his job as chairman of the committee or just taking over the investigation. how does this all work mechanically? >> they will not be taking over the committee. devin nunes is going to remain for now the chairman of the house intelligence committee. but they are going to be taking over this russia investigation. now, the republican spin they're putting on this is this allows the investigation to move forward while the charges wind their way through the house ethics committee. but, of course, this is a ifican i think, step back for his role as chairman generally, because this investigation has become a huge

part of what the entire committee is focused on right now. ali, i want to underscore one thing about what is going on here, the reason why the chairman recused himself here. that is the house ethics committee investigation. it can be confusing, how the committees and boards actually work. i know we had a big flap over what's called the office of congressional ethics earlier in the year. the house ethics committee deciding to do an investigation is a very significant step, and that's because it means that at least one republican on the committee would have had to say that they think this investigation is worth conducting. so the house ethics committee is evenly split between republicans and democrats. that is what is going on here. they have said -- and they all have to decide together whether or not to proceed with something like this. it does tell you that it is pretty serious here, ali. >> from a branding perspective, kasie, i think we should make that your tag line, kasie hunt, because it can be confusing. let's take the same concept and

take it over to the supreme court. we are going to see some sort of development with respect to how congress, how the senate is going to vote on the appointment of neil gorsuch. tell us about that. >> sure. and forgive me, we have not been paying close attention to the senate floor for the last half an hour or so. so it is possible events have moved beyond where we may outline them right now. >> but the culture vote is just starting now. >> okay, perfect. so that vote is what is the filibuster the democrats have been talking so much about for the la weeks and months as this nomination has wound forward. this is the vote wre we will expect that republicans will not get 60 votes to cut off debate. it moves the senate toward a final confirmation vote. you can expect more than 40 democrats are going to vote this motion down. then you're going to start to

see, we expect, the nuclear option, what's called the nuclear option in the senate, to start to unfold. now, that is a little bit of hyperbole. obviously, nuclear war is an intense analogy to use for what's going on over in the senate. it's said that way because this really is a breakdown of the way the senate has historically worked. and the generosity and romc camaraderie that has defined the body's accomplishments over the last hundreds of years. what is it going to look like in practice? on the senate floor, you'll see the majority leader, mitch mcconnell, make a series of motions. he'll motion to change the rules. excuse me. he is going to motion to confirm with -- invoke it with a simple majority vote, likely to be overruled by the parliamentarian. then mcconnell will make a motion to change the rules.

the votes will look opposite. if it is confusing at all, the yeses don't necessarily mean yes, and the noes don't necessarily mean no. it is not as though you're saying yes or no on gorsuch. it'll look reversed when the nuclear option goes forward. you'll see procedural votes, protests from democrats but the process shouldn't take more than the afternoon. >> so does that mean that neil gorsuch will see his appointment as an associate justice to the supreme court by the end of the day? >> not until tomorrow because the other rule associated with cloture will still stand, which is there is a waiting period in between cutting off debate and the actual, final, confirmation vote. we're expecting neil gorsuch will take his seat on the supreme court bench sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening. ali? >> got it. thanks very much for that great reporting. a whole lot of stuff. we have to clone kasie. maybe we have. i'm not actually sure. let's go to the white house

now where my colleague, chris jansing, is standing by. the devin nunes developments first. any reaction from the white house on that? >> yeah, i was just able to grab sean spicer briefly. he denies this was about trying to tamp down the chaos that has surrounded so much of what's going on here. i posed to him, you know, with what's going on, let's just say north korea and syria. put aside the domestic issues he's talked about over just the last 24 hours. health care, infrastructure, tax plan. has this been a distraction? sean spicer said, look, this was always about just getting the job done, getting this investigation done. having said that, we know from sources inside the white house that nbc news has talked to that the president obviously has been concerned about his dropping poll numbers. the white house badly needs a win. they'll probably get it with neil gorsuch, but they could use a legislative win. arguably, the nuclear option could make it more difficult for some of the other things to get

through. this is a way, devin nunes stepping down, sort of taking the one piece of the controversy puzzle out of the equation, allowing him to focus on other things. >> we just saw video of kasie chasing devin nunes down the hall, not getting success with that. of course, chris, i think when you woke up this morning, you didn't think we were talking about nunes. you thought we were talking about the president getting ready to leave for mar-a-lago for probably the most important meeting yet he's had. that is the one with xi jinping, the president of china. two big issues on the table now. one is the campaign promise that he's going to stop china from manipulating its trade relationship with america. but the second and possibly the more important one right now is north korea continues to be belligerent and china is the biggest influence on north korea. what is your sense of how it'll unfold? >> it is easy to say that this is the most consequential meeting and the timing of it is certainly important in that we

had yesterday the test of an intermediate range ballistic missile by north korea, amping up the imrtance. this was always going to beart of the conversation with president xi. because of theconomic interests, president trump likely to put some pressure on him to put economic pressure on north korea. obviously, an extremely volatile situation there. and then the second part of the equation you talked about, think can tell you from following now president trump and as we all did as he was on the campaign trail. particularly in the heartland, he talked about this trade imbalance. he talked tough about china. he talked about bringing them back to more parody. so we know that this is going to be a difficult conversation. obviously, it is something that president xi is prepared for. don't underestimate the difference in styles, as well. while you're having these very critical conversations that would be difficult under any circumstances, you have someone who is used to a very formal type of diplomacy, used to

formal meetings, as we know. president trump is not more traditional, as we've seen in past presidents, particularly in situations like this. part of it will just be seeing how the two of them essentially communicate and get along. but, two, incredibly important things on the docket here. certainly, the most consequential that we have seen in this young presidency. >> chris, we'll check in with you later. chris jansing at the white house. we're going to continue the conversation we just left off. ining me now is msnbc contributor, a former fbi double agent called to brief the house intelligence panel yesterday. he's the author of "how to catch a russian spy." again, we knew we were going to have you on the show yesterday. we didn't know we were going to wake up to devin nunes under pressure, stepping aside from this intel committee, house intel committee. where does this leave us? >> very good question. where does the russia investigation go in the house? is it going to continue? i hope it does.

obviously, ali, i was very surprised to find myself in a position yesterday with no republicans listening to my brief. i don't know if it is connected to nunes leaving today or if it was a more partisan thing. i'm hoping that with this change, perhaps there can actually be a cloning of the senate sort of bipartisanship there with the house. we'll see. >> in truth, where are things? all we talk about is the politics of the committees and whether they're doing anything. people who are calling for an independent prosecutor and others calling for devin nunes to step aside. is there real investigation going on at the moment? >> i think there is with the fbi. you know, the big question for me is what drives me nuts when it comes to all the questions is really the question of what russia did. we're talking about, you know, masking and unmasking, guilty of americans, but we're not talking about what russia did. if they did something, which i believe they did, so far, they've escaped repercussions. >> because we're talking about everything else. >> absolutely. >> there are different silos.

what russia did silo. >> yes. >> there's the who leaked information that is classified information silo. >> absolutely. >> and then there is this new one thrown in this week, where the normer national security adviser, who had the ability and legal right to ask for names asked for names. the implication is susan rice did something wrong or illegal when no evidence has been procured whatsoever. >> absolutely. to add another silo, i went there yesterday trying to get the message that, look, when it comes to counterintelligence, just like after 9/11, we need to look how counterintelligence functions in this country. frankly, i see it as something that functions in the capacity we saw in the cold war. it needs to be brought up to speed. that was my message. completely not partisan. nothing to do with the current 2016 elections. really just the idea that to protect our national security, we need to look at this. i was hopeful the republicans would show. so far, we haven't seen it. hopefully it'll change. >> as an intelligence officer, what is the best way to get to the bottom of complicated intelligence questions?

i know our viewers and all of us would like to be watching the hearings, you know, in congress. but actually, the best and juiciest stuff may not be able to come out in public hearing. >> i think that's right. two things. first, there needs to be an investigation. the second thing is there is a clear appetite by the public to restore faith in the institution, the core democratic principles that guide this country. there needs to be public discourse. we need to balance it with the fact you often hear the terms, source and methods. those need pto be protected cloe to the vest. there is an opportunity for congress to come out and help with restoring the confidence the public has in the institutions. >> thank you for helping us. let's bring in democratic congressman ted lew of california, a member of the foreign affairs committee and also a part of the leadership team. he's serving as an assistant whip. good to see you. i want to first get your reaction to your colleague from california. house intelligence committee chairman devin nun stepping

aside from the house intelligce committee's russia investigations. what is your sense? do you think the house intelligence committee is going to be able to move forward and conduct a remarkably important and non-partisan investigation into russia's involvement in our election? >> thank you, ali, for that question. i am pleased that chairman nunes recused himself from the russia investigation, but that's not far enough. he needs to resign his chairmanship. because he does not work for president trump. under our separation of powers, members of congress are checks and balances on the president. he doesn't understand that, so he needs to resign his full chairmanship. he is in trouble because he may have leaked classified information. >> let me ask you, i want to move on to syria because eyou'r a member of the house foreign affairs committee. president trump is suggesting -- he seemed very moved by the images the world all saw yesterday and seems to have changed his tone a bit on keeping bashar al assad in

office. he says that military action is now on the table. what do you have to say about that? >> i don't know what the president is talking about because he's already been doing military action in syria. a few weeks ago, president trump deployed 400 u.s. ground troops without any debate in congress to fire artillery to take back a city in syria. we need to know what strategy this administration has, who was supporting us in syria, how long we'll be there, what are the objectives? president trump needs to tell the american people and congress what he is doing. >> congressman, if i remember correctly, you were born in taiwan? >> yes. >> all right. so i want to get your perspective, as an american who has history in asia, about how president trump is going to handle this, so far, i thk, the most important it meeting he's had, the two-day summit with china's president. trump's conversations with

imbalancing trade with china and the issue of north korea. what is the approach you expect and hope president trump will take in conversations? >> based on president trump's past performance with world leaders, i have no expectations. i just want the president to not embarrass us. i'm an american. i want him to make us proud. i want him to be strong. i believe in free trade. i also believe in fair trade. that's why i oppose the transpacific partnership. i hope the president gets china to do much more on north korea. that is a major issue, not only for china, but for the united states. >> congressman, i understand why a lot of people oppose the transpacific partnership, and it is not clear it would have been good for american manufacturing workers in particular. did we inadvertently, by giving it up, allow china a bigger space in asia to be the patron to other countries that it definitely is to north korea? >> it gave china additional space but it doesn't mean we

can't negotiate fair trade agreements with the countries in asia. i hope that's something the president talks about. we really should focus on how we can make trade both free and fair. >> all right. as it relates to north korea, what is it -- what's the best way to approach this? do we get tough on china about trade, or do we sit with china and say, look, we'll make some concessions with you, but you have to solve this north korea problem because you have more influence in north kree dworea anybody else does. >> fir of all, i don't want the president to give away the story. he needs to stand strong for america and get china to engage in north korea. it is a mutual self-interest for both countries. north korea has a crazy leader. they have nuclear weapons. when they threaten, it threatens not just south korea, japan and the united states but also china. china needs to understand they're a critical player in north korea. i am, as a member of the house foreign affairs committee, deeply disturbed that the president has not told the

american people what the strategy is in north korea, what our objectives are and how we plan to achieve the objectives. >> hopefully we'll find it out in the next few days. representative, thank you for being with us. >> thank you, ali. breaking news. you see it on the whole screen. we are watching the senate floor. the cloture vote is underway. kasie hunt was just explaining this to us. this is over the supreme court nominee neil gorsuch. this is not the vote to nominate him, to appoint him. this is about the cloture. we're watching the senate all hour. it'll go on for a few hours. once in a while, you'll see the image of kasie chasing devin nunes down the hall to try to get some comment from him. she stayed on it. he didn't give her an answer. that is what kasie hunt does for us. she doesn't let anybody get past without getting a question. the wild west wing. a divide inside the white house. idealogical groups fights for the president's favor. what it means for the

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experience it in imax. let's go back to capitol hill and katie hunt. we're going to be doing that a lot today because there are a lot of votes and things going on there that are going to require interpretation. kasie, first of all, we were running the video of you trying to get comment from devin nunes. to be clear, he didn't give you any. >> he did not.

he referred us to the statement he put out earlier today. and he was interested in making -- he is a very polite, nice guy. we obviously -- i've covered him off and on, and he has been somebody who has been on shrill -- capitol hill a long time. you probably heard him making conversation in between my attempts to get him to tell us whether or note thinks he is in legal jeopardy. he wouldn't say anything beyond the printed statement earlier today, when he said leftwing groups were going after him and he was stepping aside from the investigation simply because it had become a distraction. >> one of the people who filed the complaint to which he referred was richard painter, the ethics officer under george w. bush, hardly described as a member of a leftwing group. >> that's right. he is one of the people on there. i mean, it is mostly dominated by the crew, the center for responsible ethics -- i'm going to screwcronymacronym.

it is a long time group that's focused on government transparency. several people who work for that group were part of this. i'd have to get a little more clar clarity whether that's what he was referring to, but you're right. the other piece is the ethics committee doesn't launch an investigation unless it is at least a little bipartisan. a republican would have had to say, okay, we want to proceed with this investigation. >> let's get to the other piece of news going on. we've been showing the viewers pictures of the senate. as of now, tell me what's happening. we had a cloture vote. what is happening next? >> well, the one question i would have for you -- and apologies, again -- >> you're on the other side. >> we're outside of mccarthy's office so we're away from the senate. the last i heard -- >> i'll give you the update. >> -- from the senate producer -- okay. >> 44 democrats voted to

filibuster. the final vote tally, if it is finished -- i'm asking in the control room -- it would be 56-44. that is not enough to overcome the filibuster. >> right. so the one thing i would say is it does matter whether or not that vote has been called. nbc news standards is that we do not report that something has succeeded or failed until the vote has been closed. because it is possible to change your vote if you are a member of congress. but the reality here is that it looks like there are enough votes here to sustain a filibuster for democrats, which we knew. that's not necessarily a breaking news. what you'll see after they call the vote, that will mean the filibuster is sustained. mitch mcconnell then, we expect, will make a series of motions to change the senate rules to allow them to use a simple majority vote to confirm a supreme court nomination. again, they went almost all the way there in 2013. in 2013 when democrats controlled the senate, they said, we want to do this for our

judicial nominations and for cabinet nominations, with the one exception of supreme court justices. so, clearly, that was important to them at the time. now, obviously, you're seeing a further breakdown of this. democrats are still really focused on what happened to merrick garland. they'd argue, what we're doing to judge gorsuch is no worse. it is basically the same thing as what they did to merrick garland. but, of course, here we are. this break down of a major senate tradition, so significant that it is referred to as the nuclear option, ali. >> right. a lot of people ardefer to november 2013 when harry reed made a decision that there are certain nominations, with the exception of a supreme court nomination, but a number of nominations that could proceed on the basis of a simple majority in the senate. that's the distinction. a lot of people say harry reed started this thing. it was a little bit different, what harry reed did.

>> it was a little bit different. we wouldn't be talking about this story today if it had been the same thing that had happened back in 2013. but at the same time, it was a move toward what we are seeing today. now, there are people who raise the question of, okay, does this mean the end of the legislative filibuster? we know that any major legislation requires 60 votes to pass through the senate. mitch mcconnell, the senate leader, was asked about that when he was taking questions from the press earlier this week on this topic. he said, categorically, no, there will never be an end to the legislative filibuster. only time will tell us the answer to that question. he said as long as he is the leader, that wouldn't happen. that said, this is an additional step further. harry reid in 2013 specifically said this rule change he was making was not going to apply to supreme court nominees. clearly, now, mitch mcconnell is changing that again. >> kasie, thank you for pointing out, this vote has not been called yet.

we are waiting for that to happen. when it happens, we will bring that news to you. it does look like it is in the concluding moments but it is not done yet. i'll let you know when it is done. kasie, thanks for keeping us up to speed. >> thank you for talking me through it. >> we'll be back with you shortly. this morning, behind the scenes intrigue at the white house following the ouster of president trump's controversial chief strategist steve bannon from the powerful national security council. let's bring in nbc news's diplomacy analyst, served as the nato ally commander from 2009 to 2013. led in syria and iraq and elsewhe elsewhere. good to have you with us. there seemed to be bipartisan approval when it came to people of the establishment when it came to the idea that steve

bannon at least officially was removed from his role with the national security council principles committee. what's your thought? >> it is absolutely the right move by the administration. having steve bannon on there was an enormous mistake. it just injects politics into a deliberation, the principles committee, where it does not belong. i would say if you would, steve bannon, a former navy lieutenant, ran into a force known as army general h.r. mcmaster. i think army won that army/navy game, and i'm glad to see it. >> let's go back to it for a second. mcmaster was praised as a selection. some of the military were surprised he took the job pause he -- because he is known as a no-nonsense guy. a senior official told me mcmaster will resign before he is fired at the job because he will not be bullied. >> absolutely correct. if there is one officer i would

count on to speak truth to power, it's h.r. mcmaster. he wrote a brilliant book about this, about the failure of the joint chiefs of staff to speak truth to the powerful president, lyndon johnson, about vietnam, which brought us into thepiral of vietm. h.r. mcmaster is grounded in truth and reality. he is no-nonsense. that's a huge asset in the white house. i'm very happen foy sy to see t. it is not just steve bannon leaving but permanent addition of the chairman of the joint chiefs and the director of national intelligence. >> who should have been there from the beginning. >> always. absolutely. >> let me play for you what vice president pence said about this bannon move. >> i think the president's action, adding the chairman of the joint chiefs, adding the director of national intelligence and moving a couple of our senior personnel off the national security council just

simply represents a very routine evolution of the national security team around the president. >> so that seems okay on the face of it, but now the "new york times" reports that bannon was there in the first place to keep an eye on president trump's first national security adviser, michael flynn. he lasted 24 days before forced out for misleading vice president pence and others about what he'd discussed with russia's ambassador. so the point here is that mcmaster doesn't need keeping an eye on, or is this a demotion for bannon? what does this mean? >> it is a demotion for bannon, who as i understand it, is now going to be put in charge of health care, kind of a poison there, i'd say. h.r. mcmaster, this shows he is consolidating his control over the white house security apparatus, which is absolutely necessary. the job of a national security adviser, which is what general

mcmaster is, is to bring the inner agency together. to enable secretary of defense mattis, secretary of state tillerson and the other inner agency cabinet members on the principles committee. he's the right guy to do it because he does not have a big ego. he just wants to get to the right answer for the nation. >> admiral, always a pleasure to talk to you. thank you for joining us. >> thanks, ali. we have breaking news on the stuff we've been following on the senate floor right now. democrats have voted to filibuster judge neil gorsuch's nonation to the sueme cour 55-45. to block a procedural vote -- or procedure that needed 60 votes to move on to a final vote on gorsuch's actual nomination. this sets up the so-called nuclear option. we'll have more on the other side. stay with us. like centurylink's broadband network that gives 35,000 fans a cutting edge game experience. or the network that keeps a leading hotel chain's

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ask your hep c specialist about harvoni. we have not been treated fairly on trade for many, many years. no president has taken care of that the way they should have. we have a big problem with north korea. we're going to see what happens. >> president trump on fox this morning, talking a little bit about his upcoming meeting today with chinese president xi jinping at mar-a-lago in florida. the two do have a lot to talk about. he mentioned the two things on the agenda. trade and north korea's nuclear program. how is this meeting playing out in china? i'm joined from seoul, south

korea, with an eye on what's going on in china. a lot of tension in south korea because of what north korea has been doing with missile tests in the last week. what's going on? >> ali, north korea is a prime concern for president trump and xi jinping as they meet for the first time. in south korea, the issue is seen as crucial. tension is high on the korean peninsula with the regime of kim jong-un on a steady run of tests and provocations over the last two months. the latest just yesterday, firing a ballistic missile into the sea of japan. however, there are not expected to be any big break throughs at this summit. no significant policy changes. president trump will press xi jinping to have china put more pressure on north korea to halt the nuclear programs and impose punishment if it does not. he has also said the u.s. is prepared to act unilaterally if need be.

china will continue to take the position that dialogue is the way to go. this is an old page of the chinese pay bolay book. they continue to push it and position china as a broker between the u.s. and north korea. but this idea that there is a moral equivalency doesn't wash with u.s. officials. they see pyongyang's weapons ambitions as the problem, as the reason for the deterioration of regional security, not the u.s. and south korea. while there are a number of issues that are on the agenda for presidents trump and xi, like trade, north korea is likely the one to test the u.s./china relationship. ali? >> always good to see you, old friend. i'll talk to you later. >> thanks. let's continue this discussion with our panel. lindsey ford, the director for security programs at the asia policy institute. also a senior adviser at the

defense department. also, international trade lawyer who served as a member of the u.s. international trade commission. welcome to both of you. thank you for being here. >> good morning. >> let's start with you. the two matters that donald ump wants to talk with esidt xi about are not unrelated. trade brings us prosperity, cheap goods, jobs, but also peace. generally, you don't go to war with countries with whom you are trading. we trade an awful lot with china and we need china to sort out the north korea problem. what's the best approach for the president right now? >> i hope the president is successful in helping the chinese understand that it is in their national interest to take care of north korea. if it is the chinese that built the box that contains north korea, they need to be the one that goes to the north koreans because of their economic ties. we don't have that. china does. north korea is so important to china. they've got to say, we need you to give back, step away from the lines you're drawing. >> just to underscore the point, somewhere between 90% and 100%

of north korea's economy is because of china. >> i've heard those statistics, right. >> it really is. >> true economic power, right? >> that's what it is. >> leverage. >> so at this point, the campaign was all about being tough on china. peter navarro, who has been appointed by president trump, is all about how china has been abusing us for a long time. is that the battle to fight today, or is it a different battle, to say, we really need you to work on the north korea stuff and then we'll talk about trade? >> you know, i think they're going to try to tackle both. but the challenge is going to be, as ialways is wi china, how do you prioritize? when you go into ultimately what is a negotiation, you have to take and you have to give. i think it is unclear yet where they intend to take and give. everything i've heard is on north korea, the administration takes it very serious. they see this as the top, urgent issue they have to address. i expect at some point, they're

going to have to give on other issues. it is unclear how exactly that'll shake out. >> we spent a lot of time worrying about iran and nuclear stuff when we weren't paying attention to the fact we have an unfriendly administration in north korea who we don't know what the box is that china has established for north korea. we don't know whether kim jong-un is operating on his own, or china is okay with everything he is doing. >> you know, i think actually, there are fairly clear signs that china is not okay with everything that kim jong-un is doing. there are growing signs that china doesn't have the degree of political influence over this north korean leader that they may have had in the past. so i think we have to be realistic and the administration has to be realistic about the pressure points that the chinese have. they are likely on the economic side. but the real question is, is china going to want to go there? >> right. >> they have fundamentally different interests than us when it comes to north korea. >> okay. i'll ask you about trade with china. to some degree, we have been enablers of this, right?

since the early '90s, we decided americans enjoy inexpensive goods manufactured by people who earn lower wages than americans do. it's hurt us on the manufacturing side but we have cheap goods in america. how do you put your foot down with china? what do we want them to do? if you agree that china i a manipulator of currencies and trade, what is the fix? >> think president trump is correct to focus on discriminatory and distortive trade policies. i think the trade representative, the government at all levels have identified these. i think it is going through that and using all means, whether executive action, whether it's congress, whether it's the government agencies, putting all those on the table and saying, we need to address these high priority issues which have been there. >> you're an expert at this. i'll break it down for the audience. this iphone, probably made in china. probably made by somebody who earns 1/10th of what that'd make in america to make it, if not by a robot. this is always going to be

cheaper than the equivalent made in the united states. how do we solve the problem? >> it is a big problem, right? it's not just about trade policy. it is tax policy. it is regulatory reform. it is talking about how can u.s. companies best utilize their resources in the united states. so i think the supply chain on something like the i phone might change over time if there are changes in the united states. i'd like to see the rust belt get innovative companies saying, the jobs of the future, where the u.s. is clearly a leader in innovation. 45 million jobs that depend on ip intensive is industry. it is 1/3 of the economy. let's spread it out across the united states. let's have china recognize that they cannot be using regulatory protection through their competition policies to try to leapfrog on technology and steal our technology. i mean, that's really a critical issue that i think the president should bring up in his meetings, which is they cannot leap frog by stealing our intellectual property. even though we want them to be

innovative, the chinese. >> good discussion. that's a big discussion about creating new industries in america that our manufacturing workers can participate in. i'd like to have that conversation on a day when we have less going on nothan we ha now. >> thank you. democrats voted moments ago to filibuster judge neil gorsuch's nomination to the supreme court. that was the first step. a procedural motion is up next. all of this is going to lead to the so-called nuclear option. we'll bring you the latest on that right after this. umbrellas!!

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we're going to take you back to capitol hill now. joining me now is cakacie hunt. we concluded one vote, and we had i believe four democratic senators not support the rest of the democratic pack on this and it ended up being a 55-45 vote? >> that is right, ali. and those four senators we saw break with this, we expected that to happen, it is red state senators, and they didn't see it as a worthwhile thing to ph filibuster this nomination. they're concerned about losi a general election karater than a primary challenge from their own party, and it was plateeed by many activist groups helping this get to a point where it did succeed. the last was

now a series of motions that require the senate to vote. so if you go back and look at what and forth.

you will see the senate go into a roll call vote on an x procedural motion or a y procedural motion. we are looking for the vote to change the senate rules. >> you understand that every time i ask you an about secure questi -- obscure question and you provide an answer, i will just keep asking you obscure questions. thank you kacie and mark. all eyes on the senate today to see how this develops. we'll keep a close eye on the senate floor. this as president trump is just moments away from leaving the white house for his -- danielle romanatti will never sell online. she wants to connect with her customers in the store. will your business be ready when growth presents itself? american express open cards can help you take on a new job,

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