listen up, heart disease.) you too, unnessa er visits. and hey, unmanaged depression, don't get too comfortable. we're talking to you, cost inefficiencies and data without insights. and fragmented care- stop getting in the way of patient recovery and pay attention. every single one of you is on our list. for those who won't rest until the world is healthier, neither will we. optum. how well gets done. hi, everybody, good morning. happy easter. 9:00 a.m. in the east. 6:00 a.m. in the east. one day a show of military hardware, the next a

high-profile missile failure for north korea. this morning we have new reaction for escalating tensions with the u.s. as vice president pence touches down in south korea and had a message for american troops in the region and back here in the states, a street brawl between anti and protrump demonstrators clashing in california with fists. ends in a bloody mess. what sparked the fighting? we'll talk about that. the stories about alleged trump russ russ russia collusion off the front pages. what is driving that story, plus. >> hey, kids, happy easter. get out of here. get out of here. go. get out of here. get out of here. all right. shut up. >> spicy is the easter bunny but don't go anywhere. we got more from snl highlighting the reality here on msnbc live. let's get right to it. we begin with breaking news and north korea's failed missile launch a day after that country

put on a display of military hardware during its parade. in an attempt to fire a mid range ballistic missile late yesterday fizzled out four or five seconds intohe test and that's what u.s. officials are saying. north korea launched the missile from a navy base on the country's east coast. it was reportedly a subbased missile test fired from land. the news agency is reporting a short time ago, u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson spoke to its counter part and no word on whether that was after the north korea launch. this as vice president mike pence was heading to the region. he arrived in seoul south korea this morning and at a military dinner delivered remarks to u.s. and south korean troops. >> this morning's provocation from the north is the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face every day in the defense of a freedom of the people of south korea and the

defense of america in this part of the world. >> so nbc's janice mckay fryer joins us. do we have any indication north korea may try another attempt at launching a missing? >> there is always the possibility that's the unpredictability of the regime in north korea. this was a deep embarrassment for kim jong-un as warships are the heading to the region to detour this provocation and just after parading his arsenal through pyongyang and showing off what experts believe may be the prototype of a missile designed to potentially reach the united states. now, that north korea launched something is really not a surprise. there's been speculation for weeks that a nuclear or missile test was in the rks. what isn't clear at this point, thomas, is the reaction to it, the extent of the reaction, particularly from the united

states. president trump has said that north korea is a problem that will be dealt with but so far on this test, he has been silent with only a brief statement, acre knowledging the test and its failure from the defense secretary general james mattis. mike pence waded into this heightened tension in the region. he's on a ten-day tour of asia and in seoul and will meet tomorrow with south korea officials to give them u.s. security assurances but even the vice president is barely acknowledging this test. this suggestions that this is the official white house policy to deny north korea the sort of attention that it might be looking for. thomas? >> the satisfaction. we know the north korean people definitely see the demonstration of military might in the parade. they don't know about the failed missile test. i want to talk to gordon change of the "daily beast." gordon, first your take on this

missile launch and how deep of an embarrassment is it to kim jong-un and his regime? >> it certainly is an embarrassment, the one thing the united states should do maybe instead of not talk about this is try to talk to the north korean people about it. becaus to undermine kim jong-un's missile program and his nuclear weapons program is is mention its failures. people there are starting to understand in a very real way they are not as prosperous and well off as people in the region and especially the south koreans and one way to undermine him is say look, why are you so poor? your missile programs aren't working. >> we're looking at this parade and the precision of those marching in it and the arm me this country has. we're unsure of the different weapons demonstrated and capabilities but gordon, when it comes to how quickly north korea

could attempt another test launch, do you think it's going to happen quickly and soon? >> yeah, i think it will happen quickly and soon because kim jong-un wanted to put an exclamation point at the end of this massive parade on saturday and that was the missile test. because it failed, i expect something else, either another missile test or a provocation of some sort but he can't let this pass. >> do we think because south korean officials say the missile was fired from shin -- sinpo. could this be more threatening? >> yeah, this looks like the missile they set off on august 24th. there is a land based version on february 12th they tested. it appears to be the same type of missile and it seems to me what they did was hurried the test because they wanted to have some sort of success, which may account for its failure so soon after launch.

that august 24th and the february 12th launches, they were successful. >> so it's not a matter of if but potentially when north korea launches a successful strike aimed say guam, alaska or hawaii. what timeline would you give that? >> i don't know if they will actual launch a strike but the fact they areaking fast progress indicates within four years or so, they will be able to have a long-range missile able to hit the lower 48 states. on the parade on saturday. they showed a canister on top of a mobile launcher. that canister resembles the canister used for china's df 31 missile and df 31 launched from north korea would be able to reach the west coast of the u.s. >> gordon, you talked about administration's attempt to inform the north korean people. what about china's influence on pyongyang? where does that stand and does this attempt deflate what president trump assumed was

leverage china has? >> yes, i think the reason why kim jong-un launched this is a number of ones. one was to show to president trump that china did not have very much sway over pyongyang. the president there really leaned very hard on the north koreans not to detonate a nuke in connection with this parade on saturday, ask nd so things w looking like china was having leverage, so i think kim jong-un said no, no, i'm not buying it. we'll do something that delegitimizes the chinese. >> thank you so much. i know you've been working through the night on this story keeping us informed. we appreciate your time and expertise. thank you. >> thank you. i want to go to west palm beach florida. kelly, the president has been tweeting today. what's he saying? >> well, good morning, thomas and happy easter. part of what is notable about the tweets today is that the

president had taken a very -- based on his history, lengthy break. we had last seen him tweet early afternoon friday, none at all friday night, none on saturday, but this morning, he has returned to his def vavice. one includes happy easter, that is notable but on a couple key topics. why would i call china a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the north korea problem? we'll see what p haehappens. he said he would label china a currency manipulator and that's a problem with the value of the chinese currency against the u.s. dollar, however, the president's relationship with president xi certainly developed and it's believed president xi exerted some influence on north korea to tamp down on ambitions, despite the launch that we saw,

the failed launch. so the president commenting on that and then just seconds ago, he commented on the tax marches that occurred yesterday. i did what was almost an impossible thing for a republican, easily won electoral college. question marks are brought up. the tax march was staged around the country, estimated to be as many as 150 locations with resistance energy as they described it from the marches that took place aft the inauguration. that happened around the country and it was a place for many people to talk about their concerns about the president, not releasing his tax returns and in some instances, to vent frustration. peaceful, it was not. in berkeley, california saturday clashes between demonstrators both for and against the president.

angry words, scuffles, emotions boiled over. a string of arrests. while that got out of hand, a more focused message around the country. >> we're marching to demand that donald trump release his tax returns. >> reporter: organized protests, promoted as tax marches brought people together. >> somebody has got to start to hold this man accountable. >> reporter: armed with signs and celebrity sightings. actress debra messings in new york. >> we want to show his tax returns. >> why? >> we want to see what they show. >> it was the resistance that did that. when we fight, we can win. >> in president trump's florida backyard, west palm beach. >> every other president has shown their tax returns and i think there is something in there he wants to hide. >> in washington d.c. marchers went past monuments and demanded president trump compile with the decade's old tradition of disclosure.

as candidate trump, he refused and claimed he would open up his books when ira audits were complete. >> i don't mind releasing. i'm under a routine audit and it will be released and as soon as it's finished, it will be released. >> the president pays his share of tax and disputes critics that suggestion returns could reveal improper business ties but white house officials now say don't hold your breath waiting to see his w-2s. >> he's not going to release his tax returns. we litigated this through the election. people didn't care. they voted for him. >> reporter: and the president today linked his electoral college success to kerr ycurios his part why anybody would still be interested. the president is going back to dwight eisenhower have routinely released returns and those that might have been understand you are autodidit, the question is

about 2016? monday for the taxes and extensions in some people's cases and then the president apparently does not think this should be a reoccurring issue. we saw that many people question that and there will be challenges on going to try to get him to release his taxes. it is something that is not required by law, but has been custom. and we're still waiting to hear, thomas, on this easter sunday if the president will attend church services. he and melania do belong to a church here in palm beach where they were married and son was baptized and tomorrow big test for melania trump for the easter roll. typically tens of thousands of children and families participate in the white house easter egg roll. logistically, huge test and her team is not as fully staffed up as some white houses past. that will be a challenge for them to see how well that comes together. thomas? >> we will see if the president

prays outside of the church of the 19th hole. kelly o'donnell, great to see you, thanks so much. a timeline of how did the u.s. get here with north korea and can the finger be pointed back to the obama administration? i'm going to ask a member of congress about that, next. whether it's bringing cutting-edge wifi to 35,000 fans... or keeping a hotel's guests connected. businesses count on communication, and communication counts on centurylink. even if you're trying your best.be a daily struggle, along with diet and exercise, once-daily toujeo® may help you control your blood sugar. get into a daily groove. ♪ let's groove tonight. ♪hare the spice of life. ♪ bab slice it right. from the makers of lantus®, ♪ we're gonna groove tonight. toujeo® provides blood sugar-lowering activity for 24 hours and beyond, proven blood sugar control all day and all night, and significant a1c reduction.

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i'm concerned that we've gone so long without tangible actions and a clear definition of policies that now we seem to be back in the game with president trump's disruptive actions. we're defining our interests pretty clearly. >> there is part of my previous conversation with rep francis rooney after north korea's failed missile launch early this morning. joining me now democratic

congressman. we appreciate you making time for us. what is your reaction to congressman rooney's comments there and the conversation where president obama wanted congressional approval for four, something the gop didn't want to give. did president trump skirt that route and do the right thing there based on assad's actions which sends a strong message to kim jong-un? >> i actually don't really have a problem with what he did. it was a minimal response to a horrible piece of news, and what i think he needs to do now and what i think senator mcconnell, the majority leader and speaker ryan have to do is demand he come to congress not just to ask for permission to do anything else, but also to seek approval for what he just did. i think we have to reassert the congressional war making prerogatives and i think that's the way it should be done. i doubt if he'll do that but if the president will, but i think

that congressional leadership should. i listened to all of these and i'm reminded of me college, u.s. diplomacy court and the thing i took away, the united states is really with rare exceptions never has a consistent foreign policy. most all of our foreign policy actions are taken on anned ed a dealing with dictators and te them on and cozy up with them. i don'tnow if this represents a cohaerent policy. >> we can see if they justify actions towards one regime or administration based on another. would you say the improve that president obama used for a north korea and syria over eight years didn't work? >> right, nothing has worked. i think we're failing to lose sight of one thing, that is that

kim jong-un is rolling out the same strategy that's always been used by dictators around the world and that's to kind of create enemies around them because that's the only way he can hold on to power and hold on to support of his people when they think they are under a threat. that's what he continues doing. i don't think we can take that lightly or cavalier or count on it. i think we have to regard them as a serious threat they potentially pose but i think we have to realize that this is a lot of saver rattling done i think as much for internal consumption in north korea then for any other reason. >> american presidents use that to create enemies to make them look emboldened and policy choices and strengthening american -- >> absolutely. >> -- consent in defending the national interest. after president trump and -- >> and to win elections, too. >> and to win elections. but after that meeting with the president of china and donald

trump in flida, china turned back to -- turned back north korean coal ships. we had gordon on and he says he thinks president trump may have over estimated leverage of china. can they put on the economic pressure of the north korean regime and finally, china act as a willing partner? >> i think they can. i think it will be margely morefective than the economic pressure we and allies have put on north korea over the last ten years or so. they don't seem to care much about what kind of damage is done to their people and what kind of hardships they impose upon them but they are dealing with serious economic sanctions and have been for sometime. china has the ability to do more and i'm glad president trump met with the chinese president and apparently, it had some effect. so i think that's all positive. >> another big issue, we had kelly o'donnell reporting, the

demonstrations playing out at home, some violent where protesters marching across the country clashed with protrump forces about the release of donald trump's taxes. do you envision a scenario where the president would release his taxes? >> well, no, i really don't. we have on a weekly basis raised the issue in the house and tried to get the house to use its legal authority to compel the release of those tax returns to know aviail. this is a problem we have. we have a situation with the governor that promised to release returns and he owns multiple businesses and once elected he refused to do it. we have a repub connecticut trolledegislature just as we have a repub connecticut trolled c -- republican controlled congress. media is tough when you're dealing with tax returns. the demonstrations, we had one

in my city of louisville yesterday and these need to be on going and we need to insist upon better transparency out of this white house. i was outraged as i think many were when he decided he owns the visitor logs to the white house. it's not his house. he can keep the visitor logs but can't keep them to the white house. this is an essential part of having an open government in this country and i'm very fearful that this is a pattern with tax returns and visitor logs and some of these issues that were elaborated on in the new york times about appointing people in conflicts of interest and giving waivers. this is really a serious thing that i'm glad people are rising up in the streets and we need to keep at it. >> as much taxpayer money going into mar-a-lago and security and he helipads. >> congressman, sorry, i have to jolt but thank you and have a

great easter. >> no problem. >> so changing the conversation, president trump effectively taking stories off his campaigns' alleged ties to russia off the front pages. is this a calculate media move? we've got some answers coming up. my business was built with passion... but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. with it, i earn unlimited 2% cash back on all of my purchasing. and that unlimited 2% cash back from spark means

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new business friendly environment. new lower taxes. and new university partnerships to grow the businesses of tomorrow today. learn more at esd.ny.gov pope francis presided over mass with tens of thousands there in attendance. afterward the pope gave an easter message encouraging believers to keep the faith and remain joyful despite war, tragedy and hate in the world. this is the orthodox easter. the easterand ester rallies occurs on the same day. reaction from who will know when and where the u.s. military will take action next. we'll have it for you. go.

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good morning everybody and welcome back. at the half hour, this is what we're watching for you. people in turkey have about another half hour to vote in today's referendum that would concentrate power and you see him here vote egg earlier. a yes vote would allow him to remain president until at least the year 2029. another dozen years. ocpponents say the reforms woul create an authoritarian government. >> reaction that came in, president trump's national security advisor refusing to say how administration will respond to future attempts of north korea to launch and test its missals. >> while it's unclear and we do not want to telegraph in any way how we'll respond to certain incidents, it's cleared the president is is determined not to allow this kind of capability

to threaten the united states. and our president will take action that is in the best interest of the american people. >> lawmakers on both sides of the isle praising president trump for putting pressure on china. here are senators bernie sanders and jo mccain. >> the key i think to this situation i think president trump understands this. is dealing with china, the partnership with china and countries in that region so what we have to focus on. >> china is the key. they can stop this if they want to because of their control over the north korean economy. this may be the first test of this presidency but china can shut them down and we should be -- whether currency manipulators or not, we should expect them to react to prevent a cataclysmic event. i'm not blaming trump. i'm blaming republican and democrat presidents over the last 20 years while they continue to make progress. >> joining me now, colonel jack

jacobs. great to see you today. let's talk about this. what do you make of the failed missile test and how concerned the u.s. should be about north korea's sublaunched missiles and their futures? >> there are a couple separate issues here. the first is a test itself that was very much for public consumption back in north korea. he wanted to demonstrate also that those in the region that he could do it and that failed. over the longer term, the real herb sh issue is whether or not the united states and russia can get together to squeeze north korea to make sure that it does not continue to try to mate and ballistic missile with a nuclear weapon. we've been talking a lot about threat of enter kintercontinent ballistic missiles but we have

to remember we have allies in the region. we have japan. south korea very much concerned about the development of any weapons and destabilization on the peninsula and so we're going to have to act. we're going to have to act not alone but with china and i think senator mccain is correct. there is a lot of blame to go around. both we and china have been ignoring the problem for decades, administration after administration and find ourself in this situation where we're really not very far away from a genuine crisis when something has to be done, has to be done soon and if it's not done, then there is going to be a real problem? we think about our allies in the region and the vice president visiting with our own american men and women. if we talk directly about these types of weapons and development of them and submarine missiles can elude radar detection. in thinking about allies in that

region, what's the best course of action? we have 28,000 u.s. troops stationed in south korea. >> well, we're going to have to work on two fronts. first of all, we have to figure out what the strategy is going to be in the region. i don't think necessarily we have one. that's what general mcelderry ma -- mcmaster has to do. we'll have plans for responding to various levels of provocation and deception. separately, we need to work very, very hard to ensure in the next 18 to 24 months, which is i think all we have to prevent north korea from having ade a deliverable nuclear weapon. they have been working hard on solid fuel rockets, which is what this test represented. it's important that we make sure that they don't get there, solid fuel rockets are the kinds that can be employed in submarines,

and can be employed on the ground without warning. so what is really essential here is that we finally, i think, have gotten the attention of the chinese, now we have to work extremely hard to make sure that we and the chinese are on the same sheet of music, that we have a series of responses to various levels of provocation from the north koreans and that we ensure that if there is another test for example, nuclear test that the chinese do what they say they are going to do and that's squeeze the north koreans. >> colonial, great to have you with me. happy easter to you and yours. i'll bring you to the conversation with congressional reporter for "the hill." good to have you both. molly, let's start with you and reaction and senator sanders and mccain praising president trump's negotiating with china

and north korea. is that the general consensus or more aggressive reaction that will escalate this crisis and that means improv >> some do worry about that escalating of the crisis and in fact, minority leader nancy pelosi said congress needs to be called back to d.c. and debate the use of force and she said the saber rattling toward north korea is a great concern and members of congress need to have classified briefings and find the plan of attack in north korea because if you look at what happened when the u.s. turned the "uss vincent" around, you know, some asian scholars were telling us that was because that was to put pressure on china. still, because china doesn't want a very strong u.s. presence in that region, however, members of congress want to know what is the plan? >> now, kevin, the headlines they have switched, the trump administration is a whirling of

taking on different enemies around the globe right here. congressman david talked about the saver rattling from this administration. do you think that there is a real argument here that districts from the different scandals or truly big issues that need the full and complete attention for this administration and his cabinet? >> well, thomas, that's a great point. molly makes a great point, as well. it wasn't too long ago then candidate donald trump said on the campaign trail china would be a currency manipulator. the first one i would make is earlier this morning president trump tweeting he's trying to pressure the chinese to work with or work with european, as well as u.s. allies to pressure north korea to take a different plan of attack regarding their military by not labeling them a currency manipulator. the second point i would make is it was just a couple weeks ago when people like senator john mccain and lindsey graham had

severe questions for this current administration with how exactly they were going to deal with not only russia but with north korea and suddenly, you are now seeing bipartisan praise as we just saw in the last segment from the likes of not only senator mccain but also senator bernie sanders for how this administration is looking to tackle north korea. >> when we think about the praise that president trump is getting, we're also watching these different special elections and different seats as he's being elected in kansas and the georgia special election to fill the vacated spot. the person there that has a lot of heat, molly is the candidate in osoff. do you think he really has a shot at this? he has a lot of outside money at georgia to grab that seat. does he stand a chance? >> i think he does but the thing is that he has to win over 50%

of the vote to move on. if he doesn't, there will be a run off in may, i believe, between the top two vote getters. even though the district was 2% more for trump than before, you know, so it's a smaller margin, it still tends to be a republican district so he really, if he wants to win this, he's going to have to get the 50% and that's tough. >> right, we've seen the bellwether in kansas about the vacated by there. great to see you btoth. happy easter time. rocking easter yellow. we like that. >> i was going to wear my bunny ears. >> i have my easter tie on. >> i saw that on the commercial break and bunny ears, you didn't need to take them off. thank you very much. >> president trump's 180 on russia, the rhetoric traumatically different. is he doing this to deflect questions about people's

suspicions there was some kind of collusion during the general and primary campaign and in the next hour, sean spicer, should he be allowed to keep his job? first, speaking of sean spicer, melissa back on "saturday night live" doing her imitation of him. here is an easter message from the white house complete with the bunny ears. >> y'all got your wish this week, didn't ya, huh? spie spicey finally made a mistake and president trump recently bombed syria while eating the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake america has ever laid eyes on. that's a fact. okay? people love that. look on that cake. now in defending the president's decision, i said that unlike syrian leader, the leader of -- son of a -- what is his stupid name? bazuka felicia, a mr amad rasha.

hi my name is tom. i'm raph. my name is anne.

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all right. so back to politics and president trump's 180 stance after the syrian chemical attack, just how much did russia know in advance of the attack? >> right now, we're not getting along with russia at all. we may be at an all-time low in terms of relationship with russia. this is build for a long period of time. be a fantastic thing if we got along with putinnd russia and that could happen a it may not happen. >> so joining me now is alona, host of "the alona show." great so have you here . appreciate your time. russia and vladimir putin had words back and forth. do you think both are protesting, don't protest too much. do you think we're falling into that category yet? >> i think vladimir putin, the

russian government are learning the same lesson millions of americans that voted for donald trump learned when they thought he would improve their health insurance, which is donald trump is somebody who is unpredictable and completely inconsistent as a leader. if anything looks like the russian government, maybe the russian public, if you look at the way russian media over the last couple months have really shifted their tone and the popularity that donald trump had among people in russia, they have been blind sided and maybe realizing that they got duped, donald trump was not going to be a reliable partner. >> how much do you think the trump putin frenemy talk is a bonus on the go political stage at this point? >> it always could be a bonus. you never know. i feel like donald trump learned a lot or tries to emulate vladimir putin because putin's administration is one that doesn't like to deal in facts a lot of the time. deflection --

>> strength through no matter what price. >> plausible deniability. that's the name of the game. deny, deny, deny. donald trump does that, too. in terms of approximately ticks, russia'sosition on a gio politics is one of wanting to be a power player and a key power player on the global scene. it's a politics presentiment you have there. while putin maybe was able to out maneuver barack obama the last time chemical weapons are used by bashar al-assad's regime and russia able to step in, now russia is in an uncomfortable position where they may be losing friends and can't be on bashar al-assad eastsi's and ch abstained. it may have had over the united states. >> because as you say, the ocho boll -- obama administration out maneuvered because they would

see withdraw of the chemical weapons and the trump administration also de facto falls manipulated by this because of the chemical weapons attack. what is the putin i can't support assad anymore read lid ? is there one? >> i can't claim to speak for the russian government or know what they are thinking on that regard. i think the move by china was something that we should read a lot into because in the past, china has always vetoed the u.n. resolutions with russia and they on stained from this vote which means they are not showing support. getting to the point how much longer can russia continue something like this? for donald trump, what he's learning and some people might call this a distraction, i think donald trump is somebody who is so intimately affected by the way that the media talk about him, the way that public opinion

looks at him. he's learned that bombs work. he's been showered with praise since so he's probably trying to distract from all kinds of issues at home. look at the protest on the street. >> it's a validation of acceptance and hearing mccain and sanders actually aligning on a talking point. >> right. well that's -- you're always going to find bipartisan consensus unfortunately in my opinion when it comes to military action, you know, on the part of the united states and that's where everyone needs to cool their timbers a little bit because people i think tend to buy into this hysteria when you mention russia. automatically, you assume there is conspiracy or something negative going on there and maybe just wait to be some of the war drums. again, look at what is happening with north koreahere we had the question of an attack on north korea be something realistically brought up. russia and the united states are

the two most heavily nuclear articl armed nations in the world and i don't think we should be rushing or glad that tensions might be escalating between the two. >> not promoting the use of them. great to have you here. thank thank you so much for your time. >> coming up next, is it all about the brand? a new theory why ivanka and jared kushner seem to be taking power from steve bannon and others in the west wing. break through your allergies. try new flonase sensimist instead of allergy pills. it's more complete allergy relief in a gentle mist you may not even notice. using unique mistpro technology, new flonase sensimist delivers a gentle mist to help block six key inflammatory substances that cause your symptoms. most allergy pills only block one. and six is greater than one. break through your allergies. new flonase sensimist tidy cats lightweight with glade clean blossoms. our newest odor fighting scent! gives you the power of choice plus... the power of pleasant. exclusively in lightweight!

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welcome back, everybody, we have some fresh tweets this morning from president trump after those protesters we showed you earlier hit the streets nationwide in the different mars around the country. all of these folks demanding the release of trump's tax returns, so he tweeted, i did what was an impossible thing to do for a republican, easily won the electoral college, now tax returns are brought up again. then someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. this election is over. so i want to bring in msnbc analyst and former bush/cheney

adviser and chris kofinas. chris, you look tan like you've been in vacation. have you been jaunting somewhere and relaxing? >> no, they did an extra special job on the makeup today. >> kudos to the d.c. makeup department. so let's talk about the electoral college. robert, yes, he did win the electoral college, but isn't that beside the point, because there are curious americans, whether they voted for him or not, that want to know whether or not there are any type of deep ties or debts owned to foreign countries. >> yes. full stop, he won the election. that was, obviously, almost six months ago. now it's time for governing, it's also time to maybe respect a little bit of precedent here. every single president, to my knowledge, since richard nixon has voluntarily released their tax forms, and even those under audit, as well. the reality, we as americans,

regardless whether or not you're curious or not, have the right to know if the president, a, is in debt, how much taxes he and his family pays, and thirdly, what type of deductions they take, and fourthly, what type of debts they mayo to a foreign government. that's the interest of full disclosure with respect to the president, for lack of a better term, having his hands on almost every single major decision that this country faces. it really is about transparencyhere, and i would hope that the president would stick by his own original word by saying he would release his taxes once the audit is done, but go a step further and release taxes even when an audit is under way. >> we'll see if 2016 happens. tax filing day upon us. the paid folks that trump alleges were out there, he's messed up before via tweets talking about paid protesters and had to mop that up later about the right to assembly and protest for all americans. chris, do you think that is going to come back to bite him? >> i'm not sure what comes back to bite him with his supporters.

i mean, i think we have to come to terms with the fact he's not your typical president and never will be. i don't think he'll ever release his tax returns. i don't think he'll ever stop, you know, tweeting. i don't think there will ever stop being an aura of controversy surrounding his administration, and the idea you're going to attack, you know, people who are basically fulfilling their democratic right to protest is kind of surreal, but the notion that a president of the united states does that is even more troubling. but this is, again, i think how trump looks at his presidency. he doesn't really care, and that is, i think, the difficult challenge when people from both sides try to address him. >> all right, real quickly, guys, i want to get this in, the jared kushner, ivanka trump duo, their influence and wanting to get rid of bannon. what do you make of the tag team against him, robert? do you think he can survive? >> i think he does survive in the short term, but in the long term i don't bet against family.

i think jared and ivanka have their father and father-in-law's best interest at heart and they believe steve bannon is pushing him too far to the right. >> well, if everybody takes a look at "saturday night live" on their dvr from last night, they'll know jared kushner won america's next top strategist for this white house. guys, thanks so much. chris kofinas, robert traynham, good to s you at home. i'm thomas roberts. "am joy" is coming up next. failed ballistic missile test out of north korea, what does the u.s. not understand about the show of force and what can be done to ease fears in the region? join next. ...it starts a chain reaction... ...that's heard throughout the connected business world. at&t network security helps protect business, from the largest financial markets to the smallest transactions, by sensing cyber-attacks in near real time and automatically deploying countermeasures. keeping the world of business connected and protected.

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