trump and his desire to be "times'" man of the year. >> it just shows another example of how thin-skinned he is and how it manifests itself on foreign trips where he goes to china. what an easy mark they must see. throw him a big parade. throw him a great red carpet. just sews incessant thin-skinnedness, from steve schmidt. my thank you to you all. that does it for or hour. i'm nicolle wallace. "mtp daily" starts now with katy tur in for chuck todd. >> if it is monday, take me to your leader. tonight, a crisis of leadership. >> it's going to take a long time for me to regain people's trust. >> why both parties continue to circle the wagons over sexual misconduct allegations. plus, the final sprint on

taxes. >> get to 50, what's plan b. if you don't get to 50? >> we intend to get to 50. >> will the republican agenda cross the finish line as the year winds down on the hill? and is mike flynn giving in to the mueller investigation? this is "mtp daily," and it starts right now. good evening. i'm katy tur in new york, in for chuck todd. welcome to "mtp daily." the president is standing by more and more. nancy pelosi is standing by john conyers, and al franken is still standing, which begs the question -- is our political leadership more politics or leadership when it comes to the various allegations of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behavbehavior? in a few hours roy moore returns to the campaign trail first time

in ten days. the white house said this afternoon the president has no plans to campaign with moore in the final would weeks of the alabama special election to the senate. but mr. trump is giving moore's candidacy a big boost in other ways. the president said it's good for our society that women are coming forward with allegations of misconduct, but he's publicly doubted moore's accusers and yesterday escalated the attacks on democratic opponent doug jones. "can't let schumer/pelosi with this. adding jones would be a disaster." at president trump backs more, al franken is back in the senate for the first time since multiple women accused him of inappropriate behavior. >> this has been a shock, and it's been extremely humbling. i am embarrassed. i feel ashamed. what i'm going to do is, i'm --

i'm going to start my job. i'm going to go back to work. i'm going to work as hard as i can for the people of minnesota, and i'm going to start that right now. thank you all. thank you. >> franken's return comes after the house democrat nancy pelosi told "meet the press" we need have a zero tolerance policy on issues of harassment. she slammed republican roy moore as a child molester after he was accused 6 sexual misconduct which he denies, but she defended her democratic colleague john conyers after he was accused of making sexual advances which he also denied. >> john conyers, in or out? >> we are strengthened by due process. john conyers is an icon in our country. >> do you believe john conyers? >> i don't know who they are. they have not really come forward. >> you don't know if you believe

the accusations? >> that's for the ethics committee to review. >> conyers announced after that interview he's given up his leadership post on the house judiciary committee but is not resigning, and as poor pelosi's insistence waiting for the results of an ethics probe, one of her colleagues is not a fan and here's why. >> saying we'll have these allegations against politicians go before an ethics dm s km s c sometimes take years to decide is not real, no offense to colleagues on the committee, but that's not accountability. >> meanwhile, chuck schumer says sexual harassment is never acceptable but reserving comment on al franken. >> the ethics committee is giving a thorough look into this and that's what should happen with everybody. there should be, there are allegations ought to be first a thorough investigation. let's see the result of that

before we make any determination. >> you know, we were going to talk to democrat senator chris van hollen, who we booked to begin tonight's show discussing leadership issues facing democrats in addition to other topics like taxes, but he canceled on us just before the show citing a scheduling issue. i'm joined now by msnbc's garrett haake on capitol hill and my colleague in alabama where roy moore returns to the campaign trail later tonight. not what we don't like to see you guy, but thank you for coming on short notice after van hollen canceled on us. garrett, we have a number of issues, i guess, in congress right now. al franken is back at work and nancy pelosi is standing by john conyers, and the president standing by roy moore. who should be believed?

and does anybody in congress right now have the -- the moral high ground right now to lead on sexual harassment? >> boy, katy, it's lahard to sa. as you laid it out it is sort of a moral moosh right now and that's part of the problem. frankly, i think it makes things more incumbent on us in these jobs to be really specific about what we talk about with these allegations, about how we treat these issues, and -- and to not put everybody into the same big sort of immoral gross male politician bucket. a couple of these things are going to get adjudicated in some form or fashion here on capitol hill. the conyers issue will go in front of the house ethics committee. the franken issue in front of the senate ethics committee. the moore issue, i don't even want to put in that same bucket, because the amount and the types of allegations are so severe and so different, and have been so across the board, disputed in

essentially shrugged off by moore himself. but there's a real -- representative rice's issue bab the ethics committee is legitimate and a concern and something i think leaders up here have to address. these bodies are slow. they're opaque, and couldn't -- could hardly be better designed than to protect their own members. and i think that's a real problem, and it's going to cause a real reckoning, if we have the patience to see it through, because a lot of these cases especially in front of the house go on for years without anything becoming public. >> is rice's opinion shared by anybody else in congress? is anyone else talking about it behind the scenes? the ethics committee, maybe it's not the best place to deal with this right now. >> reporter: not loudly. also a feeling, i think, among lawmakers, particularly male lawmakers, anybody else could be next. the idea having some form of due process here, as ugly or opaque as it may be to people on the

outside, a lot of lawmakers here would much rather have that or some other form of almost protective slow walking here so that a single allegation or an allegation or two does not immediately, calls for someone's resignation. you're seeing lawmakers are careful. frankly, katy, up, i think, to women to be the leaders on this. and to be the ones who put forward legislation or push hard on making there be other forms of accountability. doesn't seem anyone is in a particular rush to change that system right now. >> and speier and gillibrand have the metoo act. we'll see if it goes anywhere. two weeks to the special election. roy moore all but absent i think the past 11 days, but back on the campaign trail tonight. a new ad out. how are they feeling at the moment? >> reporter: katy, it's important to take a step back and look.

we've had this conversation over the last few weeks but we're about to have the election in two weeks. democrat doug jones, republican roy moore. one campaign making them available to press questions, able to ask, would you confirm neil gorsuch? what is your san francistance o justice? and other kpacamp has been miss. roy moore tucked in a town that is roy moore country. a place went by 83% for donald trump just one year ago. the campaign tells us we should expect to see him holding more events over these final two weeks but the difference is stark. doug jones in hale county yesterday. at the auburn/alabama game, took questions there. the interesting part, does this actually have impact on what happens in this race? i was talking to a presbyterian minister down the road in fort payne who told me his

congregation, cannot fathom anyone in his congregation voting for doug jones because of his stance on abortion. and the vibe he gets from people in his congregation, a lack of confidence in roy moore, and he said he personally plans to vote for the republican, he said many in his congregation will stay home. whether that has a large enough impact in such a republicanekals a question. can't get people out to the polls, could doug jones actually have a chance on december 12. >>? >> that's my question. good for doug jones or good for roy moore? >> reporter: the question what is turnout? democrats haven't had much of a reason. black voters, young voters, more democratic, haven't had a competitive election in years. there isn't much to judge based on really what does a high turnout look like for that constituency? doug jones, i said, in

greensboro, alabama, part of the black belt. they haven't had a reason to come out in years. will they come out on december 12th? should get a better sense of numbers heading out of today. >> vaughn hilliard, guarantarre haake. go to our panel for today. msnbc political analyst with us and political analyst advisers to the rand paul campaign and an msnbc contributor reporter as well for the "new york times." guys, thank you for rushing in a little earlier. i know we had van hollen, we'll bitter about losing van hollen last minute. talk about leadership now. pelosi yesterday standing by john conyers, calling him an icon. you have the president standing by roy moore. obviously, their political interests are leveraged in each one of those decisions. what about the interests of women? can you look to anybody in washington at the moment?

i'll go with you. >> i think the problem right now is we're just looking out in this wasteland of moral blindness when it comes to political leadership to actually take out and remove and push out of office members who have crossed important boundaries and have committed sexual harassment, sexual assault in some cases. you're seeing a complete lack of political will to push the envelope and to do the right thing and to push for accountability, when it comes to their own. >> what is, or what does, leadership on this issue look like? >> i think it starts with no tolerance. taking a very strong line against this kind of behavior. >> what's nancy pelosi deference of zero tolerance? >> that's where she got in some trouble on "meet the press." you need to extend it from that to further airing of these matters, not just within the federal government but in society at large. and rob portman, senator rob portman of ohio is the chair of the relevant senate committee,

and he should be holding hearings on this so that we tell a national story that reflects on this watershed moment that we have and it's also very, very important, i think part of lead leadership, to avoid conflation. we've had a terrible problem of conflation. roy moore should not be mentioned in the same sentence with any of these other people, because he stands credibly accused of molesting children. all the others, the other three dozen, whatever horrible things they did, it did not involve children. if we don't keep that distinction, i think we'll have a real problem. >> i mean, the moore campaign, or potentially republicans i guess -- here's the thing. there is a lot of conflation. those in congress who are accused of inappropriate behavior at the very least. and they stay in congress. is that a way for republicans in

2018 to go about the, what about-ism route for roy moore? yeah, roy moore's in office but democrats are protecting al franken. protecting john conyers? >> absolutely. the mantel of metoo is up for grabs in politics and a conflation problem. all rooted in male entitlement sexual. but a problem with congress. not in other workplaces. it's not ibm. the senate can't decide who's in the senate, and the house can't decide who's in the senate. these are political institutions, and at some point the will of the voters has to come into play and it's up to them. >> so do the voters care about this issue as much as we may think they do? when we talk about it? do voters care if al franken touched anybody inappropriately or john conyers touched anybody inappropriately if those voters are democrat as vice versa with roy moore? do you have confidence that issues matters in the day-to-day lives of regular voters?

>> i'm sure it matters to them a lot but they will weigh that in an election setting. who's is worse, how bad is the offense and how does it stack up to their apology and contrition afterwards, but the thing is, these are political decisions fundamentally. it's unsatisfying for everybody. right? you want there to be a framework he has to submit to bethe problem, there really isn't and the ethics committee is definitely not it. >> what happens -- what should happen to al franken? he's arguably done the least, least inappropriate thing with this alleged groping. arguably, in comparison to what's alleged against conyers and what's alleged against, obviously, roy moore. what should happen with him? is an apology sufficient? >> i want to know more. why i'm not one of those people trashing the ethics committee even though they have covered things up in the past. >> took years. >> doesn't take years and shouldn't take --

>> rice thinks it's years. >> and in the al franken matter. for instance, the woman alleges that he put his tongue down her throat during a rehearsal. there are witnesses. we should hear from those witnesses. did that really happen? you know? was it part of a skit or not? we know from the photographic evidence that what he did was pretty bad. nothing to make excuses over it, but i don't think we can figure out what his punishment should be until we know more about the details. >> i differ fairly strongly on that. i think this is an opportunity where democrats can lead. stake out a line in the sand. say that we are not tolerating behavior like this, behavior we know, because there's photographic evidence, that -- al franken -- >> he wasn't in the senate at the time. >> that other women have come out accusing him of the grabb g grabbing. is that something that's acceptable from senators in our country? that's the question that we are deciding on right now. >> we had a famous senator later

went on the supreme court had been in the kkk. robert bird, majority leader of the senate, had been in the kkk earlier in his career. do we want to extend this to people's entire lives? we need to show a certain amount of -- distinction. >> so where should the line be? >> in a bunch of different places, but the first one is between child molesting and groping. >> yeah. should be a very -- easy line to -- >> an easy line. what about the harder lines to draw? what about the al franken line, the conyers line? >> and al franken does not have a problem in that one, because these women weren't working for them. one of the worst things about a lot of these abuses. >> tweeted saying -- she said she felt she couldn't say anything, because he was a comedian, had power, presumably in hollywood, he could affect her career. >> doesn't hold water. all these other cases including liberal journalists actually

interviewing people for jobs doing this. there bosses. very nornt drawing distinctions whether power is abused not just inappropriate behavior. >> it's not the job of mitch mcconnell to stid wdecide who i the senate or of the speaker paul ryan to decide who is in the house. the problem, we as a country and society have not come up way framework how to evaluate these questions beyond the law, beyond the statute of limitations, occurred a very long time ago, where facts are difficult to discern and people asked to make their own judgments about the accusations and part of me feels a campaign, believe it or not, politics is actually a good solution to this. if it falls outside of a senator's duties or if it falls outside legal framework, people can decide, is this person a person i want to represent me, acts forgivable or not and put it to the people.

>> but -- how does that apply to roy moore? >> he's been -- >> accused of molesting children. statute of limitations well passed. >> i'm saying applies perfectly. he can be voted against for it. >> if not -- if alabama voters vote him into the senate, is that just the way it is? in the senate the next six years? >> that is the way it is, or the senate should kick him out. >> and they should, children -- important to enforce the line between bad behavior and abusing children. >> the bottom isn't children, as was pointed out last week, i don't really know where the bottom is. guys, come back to you later in the hour. up next, talking to a republican member of congress about the final battles of 2018. keep it here. ( ♪ ) more people shop online for the holidays than ever before.

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two heads of the consumer financial protection bureau you don't have one. office of management and budget director mick mulvaney showed up to work for first day of cfpb director with doughnuts for the staff. he was appointed by president trump after the agency's former director richard cordray stepped down last week. the problem, mulvaney wasn't the only one appointed to the job. leandra english was appointed deputy director to become director. english file add lawsuit to stop mulvaney from taking over. representatives from both were scheduled to be at hearing in front of a federal judge on the lawsuit just a few minutes ago. despite the lawsuit, mulvaney held a round of meetings today as interim director of the cfpb, did not meet with leandra english, though, though he called the bureau a joke, he will be spending three days a

week there and "protect people without trampling on capitalism." >> this agency will stay open. rumors i'm going to set the place on fire or blow it up or lock the doors are completely false. that being said, the way we go about it, the way we interpret it, enforce it will be dramatically different under the current administration than under the last. ch playing♪ ♪

from our family to yours... may all your wishes come true this holiday season. welcome back. congress is coming back to a jammed packed to-do list ahead of the holidays and countdown to a government possible shut douchb is on. the focus, tax overhaul. senate republicans trying to pass their bill earlier this month, and if the senate gets their version passed the two bills have to be reconciled before getting to president trump's desk. beyond taxes, government funding runs out on december 8th and republicans need democratic votes to get a new spending bill through to overt a government shutdown. house and senate leaders are heading to the white house

tomorrow to try and strike a deal. remember, the last time they had this kind of meeting the president sided with democrats on their deal for the debt limit. government spending, and hurricane relief. this time around, democrats are looking for deportation protection for daca resilients, the children of undocumented immigrants and a clash looming over military funding levels and more, and also this week, the house votes whether to impose mandatory sexual harassment training for lawmakers and their staff. joining me to talk about this, charlie dent of pennsylvania. congressman, welcome. a lot you have to do. what's the biggest challenge that you think you're facing? >> well, i think the most immediate challenge, katy is the fact that -- we need to get to a budget deal, that is, an agreement on the top line

spending issue for the federal government that has too happen immediately or very close to immediately. by early this week and end of next week. it will take the appropriations committee, bumping up to the christmas deadline. december 8th -- >> nine lemp slagislative days. will you get there? >> we need to pass a resolution to fund the government from december 8th forward until closer to christmas. that must occur. of course, layered over top of this we also have d.r.e.a.m.ers, daca you mentioned. children's health insurance program and, of course, overall, the tax reform issue. so the immediate issue right now is a budget agreement, and then we have to write the omnibus operations fund. >> and fisa reauthorization, sanctions and sexual harassment vote. a lot of stuff happening.

what are the chances that the government shuts down? >> i think they should be rather small. i mean, heaven forbid if we can't pass a short-term continuing resolution from december 8th until say, december 20th. and shame on us. we should be able to do that hopefully without too much drama and the question, add children's health insurance program to that resolution. something like that could happen. i don't think there should be a shutdown. we need democratic votes. we don't have 218 republican votes in the house to pass an omnibus, haven't had in the past i don't think we have them now pt the democrats have leverage. the question, are they willing to play ball? i think they are. we need them to pass the budget agreement and operations bill. >> they do have leverage and nancy pelosi already said they will use daca as leverage. so if they're going to do that, i mean, where should republicans fall on the issue of d.r.e.a.m.ers?

>> well, i have no problem if want to include the d.r.e.a.m.er/daca issue into this year-end mix. i'm fine with that. candidly, most republicans voting for the budget agreement or the, and the omnibus would probably be more inclined to vote for a fix on the d.r.e.a.m.ers, provide for a legal status. >> permanent or kick it down the line to march fix? >> no. a permanent fix. i feel confident of that. one of the challenges in our conference, a heck of a lot of time and effort spent taking into consideration views of people who aren't going to vote for the bills anyway. right now i think we ought to look at those people who will vote for the agreement, the budget agreement and the omnibus and in most cases prepared to vote for daca. just republicans. >> talk about taxes. voted for the house bill pup it doesn't have individual mandate rebeal. senate bill does. if they pass it with that included in there bill, will will you stand on voting for the final version of the bill?

>> well, i've made it clear i very much am concerned and opposed to the idea of including repeal of the individual mandate in the tax reform bill. i believe we're conflating two issues. will make tax reform, enactment much more difficult, if we include that health care provision. so i'm not -- i want to look at the bill in total, but i've been clear with my leadership that's a problem. some of us voted against the house health care legislation and voted for the house tax reform bill and they could, leadership could lose votes from members who voted for the house tax reform bill if this provision is included in the final package. >> congressman, we talked last week about the ethics committee and you used to be the head of it. if they do pass, if the house does pass the harassment training this week, what more can be done in order to prevent

this sort of behavior from happening going forward? >> well, i think numbers need to have conversations with each other about these issues. i don't know we've had enough of those discussions. i heard your previous panel. i do want to let you know that i think at least in the house and particularly under speaker boehner, there was enforcement of certain standards. if there's was misconduct, behavior or scandal, members resigned. two resigned because of marital infidelity. in each case with staff and resigned over that. a resignation in the house a little over a month ago over a similar scandal, infidelity and hostile work environment. resignations are often forced. never got through the whole ethics process because members leave well beyond the time the house would actually issue a sanction. it's important that the members of the house have these conversations among themselves, because we all hear stories about some members' offices

being very difficult places to work. >> you do? what stories do you hear? >> you hear things ar some offices are difficult work environments. not sexual harassments. i'm just saying difficult work environments. high turnover, far too demanding in some respects. you hear that or maybe a member who's got temper issues, volatile, a bit volatile. you hear those kinds of conversations and it's important for members to think about how they treat their staff. i've always been proud of the fact that i've had one of the lower turnovers among staff on the hill and always proud of that. felt we provided for a good work environment and members have to think how they manage their staffs. to try to make sure that their staff want to come to work every day, feel welcome and not going to have their head chewed off for the smallest of infractions or errors's we need to have more conversations how to make capitol hill a friendly place for all employees. >> do you think conyers should

step down? >> do i think conyers? >> yes. >> well, i think he did the right thing by stepping down as ranking member on judiciary. i believe that he has the right to be heard in the ethics committee. sounds like these charges are very credible. >> and speaker boehner would basically force these resignations in the past. so is speaker ryan not doing his job in that regard? >> well, look. again, that was -- boehner was -- mostly among republican members. to be fair, i remember when nancy pelosi is in charge she also saw resignations, too. remember eric massa and anthony weiner, both stepped down because of their infractions. speaker ryan, a resignation a little over a month ago when speaker ryan was involved. i'm sure he was very engaged in that conversation. i do believe speaker ryan has been engaged. but at times like this, you're talking about a member who's 88 years of age, i believe,

congressman conyers. whether or not he's going to listen to colleagues, i think many would encourage him at this point it might be better to step aside than go through this process. you go through the ethics process, these types of charges brought against this member, he's going to spend a lot of money. a lot of money defending himself, because witnesses will be called. there will be all sorts of folks, the accused, or those bringing charges will be also heard from and then mr. conyers would be the respondent, able to be heard. this is going to cost a lot of time and effort and it's emotionally draining for everyone involved. so i think it's often in the best interests that members step aside when they get in these kinds of very serious situations. >> congressman charlie dent. thanks for showing up. >> thanks, katy. great to you with you as always. and coming up, former white house security adviser michael flynn looking to strike a deal

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the weekend. former national security adviser and top trump campaign surrogate michael flynn's legal team told the president's legal team they would no longer share information with them. that could be a sign that flynn has been flipped, or she at lea least -- he is looking to strike a deal with mueller's team. federal investigators gathered enough evidence to bring charges in the investigation into flynn and his son mike flynn jr. a white house official tells nbc news that there's no concern that flynn will implicate the president. "there is no answer-thgst at th house that general flynn is taking whatever steps are in his best interests." joining me, attorney general of new jersey from 2008 7 to 2010 d now distinguished scholar at the nyu law school. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> how common is it for lawyers to enter into a joint defense

agreement, for flynn's lawyers and the white house's lawyers? >> a very common practice. when people are the subject of an investigation it's normal for people who know that the subject with other people, that there's a group of them to have a common defense agreement. that protects the attorney/client privilege and let's them form a strategy together. >> how common to break that agreement? >> also not uncommon. as a rule, what we see are people will form these types of agreements and if someone wants to have a conversation with the government and it could be as you mentioned because they're cooperating. could also mean they're talking about plea deal, at that moment lawyers are ethically bound to break out of that agreement and not be a part of those strategic confidential agreements. >> and all sorts of angles. not reveals information with foreign governments and a plan to smuggle out, to kidnap somebody in america and deliver

them back to turkey, muslim cleric. nbc news also reported that there is enough out there to indict not just michael flynn but his son. so do you expect that robert mueller has leveraged flynn by saying i'm going to go after your son in a way that will force him to try and work in some way with mueller? >> so if we think about what's been happening with michael flynn and publicly reported, there has been a great deal of evidence supporting allegations that he has not been forthright in telling the federal government about not registering as a foreign agent and a number of ways they could gee o to micl flynn, we have you on at least three or four federal charges we want you to cooperate and as far as his son, could about great motivator. >> does the fact they have

broken this jda, joint defense agreement, michael flynn has something on somebody higher up than him? >> at this point, no. when you see this kind of thing that's broken, a joint defense ate agreement is broken. reported earlier that flynn's lawyers went in to see mueller's prosecutors it is very possible today was the first day that an attorney proffer was made with the attorney -- >> attorneys will sell whatever he has in the best convey they can. doesn't necessarily mean he has something? >> yes. doesn't mean the government accepts it. when someone cooperates with the government, first question, can they provide substantial assistance? giving the government information about a crime committed they don't already have or want another narrator in the room to tell them and also prove it's true. could be the beginning of a lengthy process and process and plead and don't come to agreement. >> if they're looking, mueller's looking at obstruction and the president's reasons for firing james comey. we know he was trying to get him to drop the investigation into

flynn. what could flynn tell mueller that would aid him in the obstruction case? >> flynn is potentially a really important witness. remember, he was with trump during the transition and close him them and then there the first 24 days of the administration as all of these conversations were taking place. the investigation already going. he is really somebody, not just somebody who's in the white house. he's somebody potentially in the room during conversations. that's really important. >> what could he say to mueller that would be a nail in the coffin for trump in the obstruction case? >> what mueller's team wants to know, were there conversations about sanctions with russia? was there a quid pro quo involving the election? the president publicly stated that he has no knowledge of any communications between his camp and campaign and the russian government. so it's potentially flynn might be able to testify and provide information about that. all of that would be very relevant to the investigation. >> and would he -- any reason to

believe that donald trump may have told michael flynn i'm going to try and get you out of this investigation? or that flynn may have told donald trump he was in all sorts of legal hot water for not registering as a foreign agent? that sort of thing? that would give mueller more -- more of a foundation to say that the president interfered wrongly into a federal investigation? >> we already know that the president had said to jim comey, look, go easy on michael flynn. he's a good guy. we already know there has to have been a conversation between the president and somebody else leading comey to believe he was investigating him and part of what was happening with flynn. we know there were conversations that likely took place. we don't know who was in the room, what was said. and those are exactly the questions mueller's team will try to pin flynn down on if cooperating. >> he was there during the campaign, flew on the plane with president trump. had his ear, was part of the process of picking people for

the transition team. he advised him on a number of issues. in many ways his right-hand man much longer than even someone like steve bannon. thank you for coming in. appreciate it. coming up, the president versus a democratic senator. a new fight over an old slur. we'll be right back. ♪ psoriatic arthritis tries to get in my way? watch me. ♪ i've tried lots of things for my joint pain. now? watch me.

♪ think i'd give up showing these guys how it's done? please. real people with active psoriatic arthritis are changing the way they fight it... they're moving forward with cosentyx®. it's a different kind of targeted biologic. it's proven to help people find less joint pain and clearer skin. don't use if you are allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms of an infection. or if you have received a vaccine, or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur. with less joint pain, watch me. for less joint pain and clearer skin, ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. welcome back. speaking at the white house at an event honoring native american veterans who served in

world war ii as navajo code talkers, the president revived the derogatory nickname often used for senator elizabeth warren during the campaign. >> we have a representative in congress who they say was here a long time ago. they call her pocahontas. but you know what? i like you. >> the comment was unprompted and met with silence in the room. moments later senator warren responded to the attack with my colleague ali velshi. >> it is deeply unfortunate that the president of the united states cannot even make it through a ceremony honoring these heroes without having to throw out a racial slur. >> the white house press secretary defended the president and knocked warren's characterization of the comments. >> i think what most people find offensive is senator warren lying about her heritage to

advance her career. >> reporter: racial slur. said it was a racial slur. what is your response to that? >> i think that's a ridiculous response. >> pocahontas is not a racial slur, everybody. just listen to sarah huckabee sanders. rachel maddow will be. tune in. ♪ you don't like my lasagna? no, it's good. -hmm. -oh. huh. [ both laugh ] here, blow. blow on it. you see it, right? is there a draft in here? i'm telling you, it's so easy to get home insurance on progressive.com. progressive can't save you from becoming your parents. but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto.

progressive can't save you from becoming your parents. was supposed to be a wake reup call for our government?sh people all across the country lost their savings, their pensions and their jobs. i'm tom steyer and it turned out that the system that had benefited people like me who are well off, was, in fact, stacked against everyone else. it's why i left my investment firm and resolved to use my savings for the public good. but here we are nine years later and this president and the republican congress are making a bad situation even worse. they won't tell you that their so called "tax reform" plan is really for the wealthy and big corporations, while hurting the middle class. it blows up the deficit and that means fewer investments in education,

health care and job creation. it's up to all of us to stand up to this president. not just for impeachable offenses, but also to demand a country where everyone has a real chance to succeed. join us. your voice matters. welcome back. it's time for the lid. panel is back, jonathan, leigh, "washington post" has an interesting article. woman approached the paul manafort with dramatic and false tale about roy moore appears to be part of undercover sting operation. project vertitas, james

o'keefe's outlet trying to bait people to admitting liberal bias in the media. approached the "post" with this story saying wanted reporter to say this would defeat roy moore and give opinions about moore and race and president. "washington post" because they're intelligent and this was sloppy, picked up on this being total bs. nick, take it away. >> this doofus bust is actually a really good example of proving how good the journalists at "washington post" are. should all watch the video and read the story. it's great example of meticulous, fair and honest journalism. cosmic irony of course is that a group that's set out to prove that journalists are liars has to go around lying their ass and making things up to get a false allegation printed against the

senator they a claim they're trying to help. too dumb to believe. >> this follows the robocall with bernie bernstein, hard not to roll my eyes, claiming to be offering cash for stories about roy moore. don't worry, won't do any fact checking. even said in the robocall. funny, ridiculous and absurd but also scary, real effort to undermine everything that we do in the media. and john, it's going to be problematic going forward. it is already. >> it is, because what it means if news organization makes slightest mistake and it's easy in this business as any other, then it has potential to discredit everything else that that news organization is reporting, even if it doesn't deserve to discredit it. then pretty soon people just

have harder and harder time finding out what's true. by the way this james o'keefe, prosecuted for stunts in the past, made it seem as if there's widespread vote fraud, impersonation at polling places. one of his stunts a few years ago that led to this ridiculous commission that trump has on voter fraud. sometimes when you have right-wing provocateurs, even if they don't succeed in all stunts can have bad long-term implications. >> why is this the only route to undercut reporters, why cant the right-wing provocateurs as jonathan calls them find a -- i don't get it. >> find a way to prove that roy moore is innocent, so trying to destroy the messenger. look at past couple of days,

donald trump -- >> any concern in the future -- >> donald trump himself railing against cnn on twitter, television shows and media outlets he dislikes, discredit the messengers instead of the actual reporting. i would argue over the past year seen some of the most incredible investigative journalism with weinsteen and now with the "washington post." >> thank you. read this story, it's fascinating and ridiculous. we'll be right back. (♪)

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that is all for tonight. be back tomorrow with more "mtp daily," "the beat" with ari melber starts right now. somebody needs to ask roy moore or his campaign whether or not he knew about this. significant question. >> looking at that attempt there to basically get in between fact finding around accusers and use them to attack the press is some kind of new low. i think. >> i've run out of predicting where the low will be. i think we're going to go fall straight through to the other side. >> and through the looking glass, as it were. thank you katy. top story is breaking news on where michael flynn sent his