often late night from katy tur beginning of "mtp daily" when she hosts. ten seconds. >> reckoning. talking sex walt harassment. a reckoning, we need to figure out how to stop it and what to do. >> figure out how to hold or political leaders as accountable in business and other industries. thanks to my guests. that does it for our hour. i'm nicolle wallace. "mtp daily" starts right now. hi, chuck. i guess these are your seconds i keep taking. gave them to katy. trying to give them back. sorry. >> nice try. >> failed. >> i saw what you did. good luck. whatever. teaming up on me. >> busted. >> all for katy. busted. no worries. steal time later. if it's wednesday -- washington still can't find its moral compass. tonight as new media figures are fired for sexual misconduct, why is the political world so far behind the rest of the country in this unprecedented national moment?

>> this moment is a moment of truth for the congress. plus -- is it time to revisit the claims against donald trump? >> then his hand touched the right inside -- of my dress. >> reporter: finally, the white house attempts to defend the president's anti-muslim retweets. >> whether it's, it's a real video, the threat is real. >> this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. good evening. i'm chuck todd here in washington. welcome to "mtp daily" and welcome to what's been a difficult day. not just because of what happened at our network with mallauer. lape explain. folks, it's clear, in the entertainment industry and media, no such thing as too big to fail. for whatever reason maybe our tribal politics, maybe decay of american leadership, maybe it's the old boys' club in

washington, maybe it's all of it. our elected leaders operate under a different standard. nbc fired "today" show host matt lauer after inappropriate sexual behave per. charlie rose fired by cbs. harvey weinstein ostracized. kevin spacey isn't working neither is louis c.k. and garrison keillor also fired over allegations of improper conduct. that came out today. compare what's happening in the media and entertainment industry to what's not happening right here in washington and in politics as a whole. roy moore is still running. in fact, the president is backing him now. john conyers, still serving. in fact, nancy pelosi defended him when she was on "meet the press." she since walked some of her defense back. and al franken is back at work. the house today pass add bill requiring anti-sexual harassment training for members and staff.

democratic leaders say there's a zero tolerance policy -- what's thee the zero? they aren't calling for conyers to resign despite multiple staffers claiming misconduct. which conyers denies. regardless what's going on in hollywood and in our world of the media. >> why are you calling for his resignation? if you want to be the gold standard? >> calling for the resignation of someone does not actually create the nomination. >> i can't sit and judge a member and call for their resignation unless there -- unless i've been party to hearing all of the evidence and -- and hearing the defense of the evidence. >> conyers democratic colleagues at the congressional black caucus asked about it today as well by a reporter. >> -- in other industries, other men have faced similar accusations, and gotten out of the way, resigned, stepped down far faster than he has.

right? >> i think you have to give examples. >> harvey weinstein, charlie rose, matt lauer. >> who elected them? >> house speaker paul ryan was asked about this, too, as it relates to congress. >> yeah. >> [ inaudible ] -- media and -- [ inaudible ] why is there a different standard? >> if this hammed to me i know what i would do bp i leave it up to him to sdwhid he wants to do. i think he made a right decision in stepping down from his leadership position. >> ryan and republicans insisting they have no tolerance but ryan didn't have a good answer when faced with allegations against their leader. >> sexual harassment has no place in any workplace let alone in the united states congress. we cannot and we will not tolerate that kind of behavior. >> leading by example on sexual

harassment means congress should say more about the women, 16 of them, who accused president trump? >> right now we're focused on making sure this place works the right way. >> when there's a massive culture we usually look to our president for leadership. this president can't provide it, certainly not on this issue because more than a dozen women accuse him of inappropriate behavior. he denies them all. threatened them to sue after the election. no lawsuit filed. then there's the president's blatant exploitation of this issue. reacting to the news of matt lauer's firing today by calling on nbc and comcast to fire other executives for "pumting out so much fake news" and suggested firing or investigating others at msnbc. just makes you shake your head. folks, both parties have big problems here. bigger than roy moore or john conyers or al franken. democrats have a history with bill clinton and republicans

ridiculous defense these days of donald trump. feels like both parties of stuck because of it. they can't move forward unless or until they confront each of those issues. joining me now is democratic senator mazie hirono of has. welcome ba hawaii. welcome back to the show. you have been very forthcoming, have come on my show and talked about some of the painful things that have happened to you. what is going on in the democratic party right now that there seems to be a hesitance when it's one of your own getting caught up in this firestorm? >> it's not just one of our own. obviously, sexual harassment and worse have not confined to people in the entertainment industry or the democrats or the republicans. this is a pretty complicated issue, as you can see. right? it puts us in a -- you know, trying to figure out, you say this is a cultural moment and i think that underlying cultural

problem is for the longest, longest time, since time in memorial, i would say, women have been treated at behavior tolerated before, no longer. how do we change attitudes towards women so these kinds of behaviors stop. that's what i'm interested in doing. that's what i'm focused on. >> right. and my question to you is -- shouldn't it be up to the elected leaders of our country to show leadership here? are you concerned that it looks terrible right now that it's industry leading the charge to try to clean up its act and the last place that's cleaning up its act is politics? >> i think that we are in the sense that we have procedures. you know? we are -- figuring out how we can best deal with the kinds of complaints that have come forward, the allegations.

we want to create a process whereby victims can come forward and where they can be listened to. right now i don't think that the processes we have that deal with complaints against the house or senate members is good. so we need to reform that. when this whole thing first began, i said we not only need to make those kinds of institutional changes, but we need to make some cultural changes. if we think that people stepping down or people getting fired, in power, that that's going to change, i -- the behavior will continue as long as we do not confront in our culture that women for the longest time have been deemed objects. so when are we going to start talking about that, chuck? >> i understand, but senator, you have to start somewhere. right? >> we are -- okay. let me just say -- >> are you comfortable serving with al franken? comfortable serving with john conyers? >> i have served with them before we knew that, that they engaged in this kind of behavior. which, by the way, anybody who engages in this behavior should

be held accountable. notice that good people do bad things. gee, i wish that life were so black and white that you can't pick up a single person who, good person who has done bad things. so this gets a little complicated but occurs in a culture where women are seen as objects. i keep going back to that, because until we change that, and it happens in our schoolrooms, happens in our bod rooms, in tboard rooms, halls o pourer. every woman i know experienced this kind of harass nont some degree or other and it's going to keep on happening. not going to change unless we as a culture can get our arms around, what the hell are we going to do with this? >> how do we thing that if not holding leaders accountable first? my contention would be this -- shouldn't the first people held accountable be those that are representatives of the american people? >> i think everyone should be

held accountable. starting from the president of the united states who has now denied he said those things on "access hollywood." what? is it that all you have to do is deny allegations and you're home free? that is not so. so it starts with, yes, our leaders. we should provide the kind of example that will enable our voters to say, hey, this is the kind of person who stands with us who is for us. i agree. but this is a cultural moment. i'm with you on that. and we need to take this moment to figure out how the heck we're going to get our arms around making the kind of changes that will prevent this kind of behavior from being tolerated, and ignored. >> i can't help but continue to hear -- i hear you. i also hear, though, there is, and it's- -- look, it's happened to many elected officials. there seems to be a hesitance to be too critical of a member of your own party, but for instance, just now you had no

problem going after president trump and you see, can we get through this moment without sort of, the right always going, oh, yeah. what about bill clinton jand the left always going, oh, yeah, what an donald trump? that's the problem we're in here, senator. >> exactly. i think that it just -- it just shows what i'm talking about. that there's no democratic or republican problem with this. it's a societal problem. people in power engage in this kind of behavior. so the fact that the president himself now denies it or roy moore denies it does that make the problem go away? it does not. it does not depend on what party you're in, because for us to think that way means that we're never going to get our arms around how the heck we're going to stop this from happening. this is an important conversation for us to be having. it is not easy. as i said, there are good people who do bad things. there are bad people who sometimes do good things. leit life is not simple. i just want us as a culture to finally, finally address that

women have been putting up with this b.s. since time in memorial. it's a good thing we're not talking about it now, holding people accountable, but we don't have all the answers yet. ious obviously we're all wrestling with this. i feel there is nothing i can say that will assuage everyone's concerns because we're still wrestling with it. i freed to talk wineed to talk more. >> it's not my personal frustration with you but with the leadership. >> i am frustrated, too, you see the angst. too much tribal politicism. so i get it. >> i'm working on ways to resolve it in some fashion culturally. >> you've spoke out more than just about anybody else on the hill and that is evidenced by just not today but on a lot 6 our episodes. "meet the press." thank you, senator. >> thank you. aloha. >> and to you. i mentioned, in moments of

crisis we as a country look to the president for leadership in this case the president has his own history of sexual harassment. here are a few of the women who game forward with accusations during the presidential campaign. >> at that time he turned to me and embraced me and gave me a kiss on the lips. and i remember being shocked, and, because i would have just thought to shake somebody's hand. >> when we entered the room he grabbed each of us tightly in a hug and kissed each one of us without asking permission. >> he then grabbed my shoulders and yanked his knee very aggressively and placed his hand on my chest. i pushed his chest with space between us and said, come on, man. get real. he repeated my words back to me. "get real" as he began thrusting his gentles. >> the person on my right who unbeknownst to me at that time was donald trump put their hands up my skirt. >> he did touch my vagina

through myunder wear, absolutely. >> he pushed me up against the wall, and had his hand all over me. tried to get up my dress again, and i had to physically say, what are you doing? stop it. it was a shocking thing to have him do this. >> bring back the panel. former msnbc political analyst and politico chief economist affairs and msnbc political analyst. susan, start with you. had you a podcast conversation today with somebody i had a conversation with earlier. the house democratic leader nancy pelosi. we heard there from senator hirono. you can feel the angst among democratic elected officials on this issue. >> absolutely. >> you see it. i thought she was much more eloquent, senator hirono about the angst. >> you gave her a tough grilling, chuck, and a couple things. number one, i do think our instinct is to look for people

to blame for this. the men are accountable for these actions. let's say that. let's say it over and over again. okay? >> hard stop. john conyers is accountable. al franken, donald trump, all of these folks. >> number two, i'm so glad in your introduction, and she emphasized it again, you know, we've all been around this town a long time. neither party has a monopoly on this. number one. and so i think it is, your frustration, that came through in the interview. i think it's on the mark. analytically, it's ridiculous the idea there's a partisan version of this, not surprising, though, because it is -- it's a trump factor. we have to acknowledge, it's a trump factor. >> let me put my cards on the table michael. i'm frustrated because we hold outlines a hell of a lot more accountable than anybody in your business and it really -- we just do. >> we're frustrated, the last couple weeks. trust me. >> we are. >> no. >> and i think with all due

respect to the senator, you heard her twisting on that vinyl a little bit in trying to answer the question very carefully. because she doesn't want to go back to her caucus and have nancy or the leadership come to her saying that wasn't helpful. and not in terms of the broader argument but the specific argument with respect to the members who are alleged to have behaved badly. i think you hit the nail on the head. as did she. on two points. one -- this thing does not turn around until someone in leadership i don't care if it's nancy, i don't care if it's chuck, i don't care if it's just a lonely member, stands up and goes, enough. mr. conyers, step down. mr. franken, step down. president trump, you need to take a hike. i mean, you've got to call it, push the country to the point where they have to confront the second point which is, women have been carrying this baggage for a long, long time. men behaving badly has been an

accepted practice across the spectrum, and now all of a sudden we have to confront it and they want to try to shift the blame around the spectrum? >> trump isn't going to step down. that is what's driving this as a political story. i just want to say one other thing and i want to hear what you have to say. let's also not forget that women are so marginalized here. really, these are not unrelated phenomenon and i say now, nancy pelosi is the only woman at the table. in congress. you know? exactly. in the -- >> and also the strongest leaders can actually use the pulpit for good in this case and democrats are missing a moment. >> you were saying -- >> and we're seeing -- >> nancy pelosi had a big opportunity herants and we actually are seeing in the democratic party one of the things that actually showed up in the election and it's generational. ask younger members of congress, regardless of gender, definitely he would not be on that tolerance. they're missing that moment. also that what we're seeing, just like we said once we

elected president obama we're going to have a post-race america. we're having the exact same conversation because we had clinton almost getting to the bullpen. equally here. feminists. she, too, can be president. in fact, opening ourselves and rogsdsing we are have a cathartic movements, not as far ahead actual chuculturally as w. far more than reckoning. having real conversations. it has to start in the schools. it's too late by the time somebody gets into congress. >> at home and in schools, yes. >> but this political problem. let's get down to brass tacks. it's clinton and trump. >> yeah. >> okay? that is -- that is how each side is rationalizing their -- timid behavior. i think it's an excuse, to be honest. >> by the way, it is a total excuse. we started reporting here in washington, you know, after tailhook. i watched, you watched, we all

watched the clarence thomas and anita hill hearings. the packwood hearings, read the diary. we have had how many scandals involving abuse of power on capitol hill and women and sex and gender. you know what? women are what percent of congress today? -- >> that's what -- michael that is the most -- a very important point here. >> that's it. >> ask, why are we handling it swifter? because there's nor equality in the leadership of every media company and entertainment company going on today than there is in the united states congress. >> absolutely right. if virginia is any trend line potentially for the democrats or women more broadly speaking, that will likely change next year. could very well change next year as more women on the tail end of this type of story, among other things, decide, you know what? i'm just going to take this from the boys and do it the -- it's time to run for office. >> again, virginia and across the board.

majority of candidates just elected was generationally young. there is a very different -- they don't -- they don't feel they have to hold their tongue. i have to share, i was a staffer -- >> don't hear that message. the young members in congress standing up. >> a handful. >> first to call out, kathleen rice, a member of the younger generation. >> in all fairness, i was working on the hill when the monica lewinsky scandal came out. the difference, contrast people here actually having conversations openly of the sexual harassment happening today did not happen back in '98. if anything, gave people to say it was okay to do even more. >> pause. the conversation will continue. chat more today. up next, president trump's bizarre retweets of anti-muslim videos and the white house's even more -- bizarre response. no other way to put it. keep it here. my medicare? i'm open to that. lower premiums? extra benefits? it's open enrollment.

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welcome back.

we say a lot that we have run out of words for. just how abnormal everything feels these days but it's things like this that make us say that. today president trump retweeted totally unverified inflammatory anti-muslim, anti-immigrant videos. the president of the united states of america. these were originally shared by a member of a far right uk political group calmed britain first. two of the three videos retweeted by the president claimed to show muslim individuals attacking people. a third captioned, "muslim destroys a statue of the virgin mary." nbc news could not verify the fringe group the claims what the videos show. the dutch broadcasters says one is not a muslim grig mamigrant attacking a dutch person, as it claims to be. amazingly today, press secretary sarah huckabee sanders defended the president's dubiously sourced anti-muslim videos. wait until you hear this. >> whether it's a real video,

the threat is real. and that is what the president is talking about. that's what the president is focused on, dealing with those real threats. and those are real no matter how you look at it. >> does it matter that -- >> look, i'm not talking about the nature of the video. you're focusing on the wrong thing. the threat is real and that's what the president is talking about, is the need for national security. the need for military spending. and those are very real things. there's nothing fake about that. >> folk, the president has almost 44 million followers on twitter. 44 million. those almost 44 million users were exposed to unveried hateful content directed at muslim individuals by the president of the united states of america. and the white house defended those actions. this conduct is frankly disrespectful to millions of muslim-americans who whom the president is supposed to serve and protect and muslims around the world. theresa may condemned the president saying it was wrong for the president to have done

this. rebukeed by senators on both sides of the aisle as well. more on this one right after this. buick has great deals planned for you this black friday. or, if you prefer, crimson red tintcoat friday. or quicksilver metallic friday? ♪ ring in the holidays with buick. it's the enclave black friday event at your buick dealer. get 20% below msrp on all 2017 enclave premium models. that's over $10,500 on this specially equipped enclave. you or joints. something for your heart... but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember. let's get the lady of the house back on her feet. and help her feel more strength and energy in just two weeks. yaaay! the complete balanced nutrition of ensure with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. ensure. always be you.

welcome back. the panel is back. michael steele, susan and maria theresa. all right. lead story today should be that -- what the president did in any other obviously this is in our own house today and what happened is a pretty important thing we had to cover with what happened to matt lauer, but susan, this, start with you. the international beat here. explain a little bit more about who this muslim -- this far right british nationalist group is and what was the president doing? is this a farage business? >> i think it is. president trump almost identified himself with the sort of pro-brexit british far right. we've moved away from it, but, remember, after he was eleshgcta year ago a lot of conversation about the populist right wing

internationale. and this is the -- the stew, the media environment that trump and those passing this on to him live in. you know, i think -- look at the twitter account of donald trump's son, donald trump jr. >> oh, my -- >> look at that. i think you'll see, my guess is, a convergence between that and some of the more extreme things donald trump tweets. does it matter? even now, a year later, this is one of the raging debates among foreign policy types. i hear all the time the divide between the, don't pay attention to the tweets. pay attention to the policy. it's not that bad. the world hasn't blown up. versus the people who say, you want to know what this guy really thinks? we're deep into the world of right wing conspiracies about muslims. >> it's deeper. what he's doing, connecting the dots of extreme dots together

and the meter of the free world, that we are the ones that are moving forward and saying this is what it means to be humane and have civil rights. instead he's saying it's okay to be racist. the group he retweeted was responsible for the death of the up and rising elected official, and her husband today said how can you retweet this? he was responsible for the death of my wife. >> michael, few people, few republican leaders did sort of criticize the president for this, but i've got to show you what senator orrin hatch said when asked about it. listen. >> i'm not aware of it. i don't pay much attention to his tweets. i'll say this for you. he's been one of the best presidents i've served under. and the reasoning is, he's not afraid to make decisions. he's not afraid to take on the -- the big mouths around here. >> set aside, interesting what senator hatch said there, on that front. i think he served under president reagan. >> i think so.

>> and george h.w. bush. >> curious if he thinks donald trump was a better president than reagan and the bushes that he served under. we know quietly a bunch of republican senators are pulling their hair out. >> that's the problem. that's the enabling problem right there. that's the -- donald trump hears that, i'm doing all right. i got orrin hatch now. >> right. >> i'm the best president he's ever served under. i'm doing all right. as long as my side, my team, players on my team keep enabling a screwed up quarterback who can't get the ball down the field, can't get across the finish line, can't deliver, creating all kinds of noise in the stand, as long as you congress to say, you know, that's the best quarterback we've ever had on the team, the best player on our team that's what you get. >> speaking code kand and cadin racial friction. that is dangerous. the fact we had someone get, two

immigrant indianss kill baed because the president -- remember this? did not use his pulpit to say this is not who we are and now we have orrin hatch saying this is okay? this is a problem. >> by the say, to show the white house spokespeople that try to defend the president here. a gaggle on one of the deputy press secretary's that they conducted. read it. audio not so good. read it full screen. does the president feel muslims are a threat to the united states? deputy press secretary shaw, no. look, the president addressed these issues with the travel order. >> that's not the right shaw. >> wrong -- >> that's the wrong raj shah there. good point. raj shah -- >> obama -- >> going back to the president's spokesperson. no, look. the president addressed these issues and issued earlier in the year in a proclamation. many citizens can come to the united states without travel restrictions. those that pose public safety or

terrorism threats to a worldwide security review overseen by the department of homeland security is why there were certain travel restrictions put in place. correct me if i'm wrong. i'm not a lawyer but play one on tv. now admitting that the travel ban was used -- >> exposed the end game for the travel ban. absolutely. now fascinating to watch how sarah sort of tap dances around that little bit of truth. your own deputy said this. who's telling the truth here? >> a point. i think there's a connection between this story and our previous conversation about sexual harassment in washington. there's a crisis of confidence in our institutions and our leadership when they can't address basic issues. that hatch statement i think is a great example of that. you know, the point. sort of naked emperor in the room. >> orrin hatch feels -- the guy playing the violin on the "titanic." >> let's hear the music? >> the best president we ever had? like, the credibility which was

already under siege is -- is now under full assault, seems to me. and, of course, in the end we'll survive that, but it's the hollowing out of people believes in our institution. >> head of one of the institutions is actively trying to delegitimate ease the institution. stick around. still to come in the midst of this cultural hurricane over sexual harassment and it hit right here at home on nbc news. we'll be back in a minute to talk more about that. ♪shostakovich playing ♪

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still to come here on "mtp daily," conspiracy theorist in chief. now reporting president trump still doubts whether president obama was born in the united states and a hole lot more. we'll be right back. 1,200 workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. today we're bringing you america's number one shave at lower prices every day. putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. as one of those workers, i'm proud to bring you gillette quality for less, because nobody can beat the men and women of gillette. gillette - the best a man can get.

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welcome back. as we said top of the show, we never like to be the news. that happened today. nbc news terminated longtime "today" show host matt lauer after a complaint from an nbc news colleague. we are as nbc news said in a statement this morning by andy lack, deeply saddened. mr. lack goes on to write "while it is the first complaint about matt lauer in the over 20 year with nbc news, this may not be the only snt. we create a workplace

environment where everyone feels safe." we were shocked to learn the serious allegations against our longtime colleague and deeply broken one of our own, the accuser treated the way she was. matt lauer has not commented publicly since the termination. and joining me, senior media editor and media correspondent for npr. claire, start with you. i know nbc news is dealing with potentially more accusations on this front and variety of new reports out and haven't been able to verify all of them. dealing with the story the same as every other one at every other network. claire, talk bigger pig chectur. why are media companies acting as quickly as they are? >> the volume of accusations and depth of accusations leaves

media companies with no option but to go for the zero toleraere policy and fire people when they see these things going on. we see time and time again. another instance with garrison keillor, popular npr post, and they've -- parted ways with him today also. that's two today. i mean, this roller coaster moves on and on, and it's taking any number of scalps in its wake and when it stops nobody knows. >> david, it's sort of odd, i'm sure you probably had the same thought. you and i have i think been around this town about the same amount of time. been around this business. i've always thought of the mainstream media as being a little more politically correct. a little bit more ahead of things. this case frankly, our industry has been caught being an old boys' club. >> that's fair. i do want to offer one small

corrective, garrison keillor, major radio presence not part of n npr. that said you're right to point to media, pointing the finger at others and accusing them of wrongdoing and at this point we're taking a hard look at nbc, cbs, npr. tough moments. i don't think it's limited to the media industry by a long shot. i think that happens to be where people have the microphone and have the moment to say, look, this is an opportunity to take charge, and in terms of the pressures you're seeing built there, there's the media environment we're in. this is going to get rightfully tough and close scrutiny and major scrutiny from all sectors. you have the workplace environment, news organizations lose control of their newsrooms. journalist can be tough figures, ask tough questions. they'll lose control of the newsrooms if they don't in actuality and perception act tough on this and same thing. audiences, matt lauer, figure in

homes of millions of americans, particularly american women. thought of as somebody who preyed upon women in ways he's accused in "variety" and "new york times" and subsequent accounts in recent hours, tough for the network to achieve. moral and marketing reasons the issue is front and center in the c suites. >> and also, claire, interesting to see that, i guess -- is this the end of sort of -- is it -- does it seem as if the celebrity, entertainer or the high-profile news person -- why are they the most likely person to be doing this? is it -- celebrity puffing up their own? too big to fail? >> yes, a sense of when you become powerful and people will do anything you want them to do, that there is a sense of power that changes the structure of your brain chemistry and makes you think you can have anything you want at all.

whether it's kind of your assistant or a relationship with somebody who's not interested. i think there's something to be said there for that idea of celebrity and power being part of the problem. one thing i did want to bring to your attention, chuck, is the amount of time news networks are spending covering this story. which perhaps, as important as it is, it's taking away time from other topics. i have an analysis that shows 288 minutes of broadcast network time since the harvey weinstein story broke have been dedicated to sex harassment stories just for a comparison note. 88 minutes were dedicated to the russia story. so -- you know, seeing this dominate headlines across many, many weeks now, and you know, we'll see where it rolls next. >> you could argue, though, we went two generations without covering the topics enough. maybe -- >> absolutely. >> overcovering it now is long overdue on that front. david, seems to be also, we have to have credibility here as we

try to hold people in power to account on their behavior. whether it's the president, this one, a former president, members of congress. we've taken a hit as an industry here. is it going to make it easier for these politicians to survive their own scandals, because we're the, "what about-ism?" >> probably an element of that and ways in which you see the president himself credibly accused by multiple women on the record of sexually harassing them, in some cases sexually assaulting them. we won his election, is still in office but deflecting and pointing at nbc's troubles today as i'm sure he's going to do with other news organizations as problems arise there. same token, the only way to keep faith with your audiences and the people you cover and with your oh newsrooms cover things muscularly. our top news executive forced out beginning of the month, lesser but significant

allegations that affected the climate for women at my network and we reported on it musk colo colo muscle -of-muscularly. a name for something president trump did this morning. maybe you can figure out what it is, after this. i kept looking for ways to manage my symptoms.

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tonight "i'm obsessed" with something president trump tweeted. traditionally in moment of crisis or national trauma, we hope to look to the president of the united states for comfort, guidance, stability maybe even wisdom. think of president reagan after "challenger." president bush immediately after 9/11. president obama after the murders in charleston, south carolina. today we are struggling with what we're learning about the pervasiveness of sexual harassment and assault in our society. something so many women have known for so long often having lived with it for years in silence. in this moment of national reckoning, what does the current president of the united states do? a man accused by more than a dozen women of sexual misconduct? not only tweets his joy at the news that our colleague matt lauer has been fired for inappropriate sexual behavior, then casually throws out the

names of nbc news personalities on air and off suggesting their next or should be. this isn't an isolated incident from this president. remember mr. trump told us we wouldn't believe what his investigators were finding out about president obama's real place of birth. or how he knew he really won the popular vote because millions of el lisle residents voted for hillary clinton. or had evidence more people attended his inauguration than president obama. there's a name for what president trump is doing. fake news. another name for it. u.s. senator played the same dangerous game in wheeling, west virginia in 1950. this senator said the following -- i have here in my hand a list of 205 that were known to the secretary of state as being members of the communist party and whom nevertheless are still working and shaping the policy of the state department. do you know who said that? do you remember what became of him? ege and ege and you start trading. >>yeah, 5 years already. 5 years, hmm. you ever call your broker for help? >>once, when volatility spiked...

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time for the lid. the panel is back. all right. it was interesting to see both the times, among the 17,000 other headlines we've been talking about today. both the times and the post have sources telling them that the president is simply making stuff up again. saying, claiming that the "access hollywood" tape isn't his voice. that president obama, he still questions his birth. what do we make of it? >> it's a strategy. >> do you believe it is a strategy? >> i absolutely do. he understands that in order to make a democracy strong, you need a strong judicial system and a strong oversight from the media. the more he sows doubt of the authentic of the media, the same thing. there was a reason why when he was running for office, he went after a judge. he wanted to stay why is corrupt. that's why he put jeff sessions

in there. this is part of his strategy and whereas americans we have to be fully diligent. >> let me read you one xermt. mr. trump told a republican senator that he wanted to investigate the recording that had him boasting. we don't think that was my voice, mr. trump told the senator, according to a person familiar with the conversation. >> do i agree that it is calculated. on the other hand, i would say, it is another in the category of events that i put in the box of shocking but not surprising. >> is this in your putin box too? doesn't putin deny everything? >> they might have a certain convergence of interests in a sort of authoritarian techniques. but actually, vladimir putin is almost the polar opposite. he is a very calculating, rational, very well briefed leader who is very disciplined and in fact, trump is as people have put it correctly, a chaos

machine. >> they both have the same aim. to create a question mark every time someone actually tries to hold them accountable. >> i actually disagree with that. i think they don't have the same aim. their interests might converge but let's not forget. that actually, vladimir putin's view of how to advance russia's national interests has been pretty consistent. >> to kill journalists. >> and the bottom line is that donald trump's interests here is not in anything other than himself. so that is very important. it's not an ideological convergence. >> this is going to do long term damage. it has already done to it parts of your party that literally put party over character. party over everything. over fact. and i fear that this disease is spreading beyond one ideological -- >> it goes to both of them are

saying. it is a full frontal attack on all the institutions. i go back to something very profound and a lot of people he glossed over. when mr. bannon had that little round i believe it was reince priebus. he was sit go on the stage and they were laying out. this is what we're going to do. the third thing he was going to do. whenever people give you the last thing they're going to do, that's usually the first thing. was deconstruct administrative state. a lot of people thought it was just the institution. the regulation. no, baby, that's not what it is. it is the things we have come to rely on, believe in, and hold dear. so it is whether it is the media, our judicial system, our politics as a whole. this administration under this president has a plan to deconstruct completely those things we've come to trust. at the center of it, what makes it work is the clip you blade

orrin hatch. when you sit back and you have the leaders of the country going, there is best president i've ever served under. knowing ago didgone well that's not true. >> you know you can see it in washington just among professionals. in the political spector, this idea of, are we in a crisis or not? do you think we're in a crisis? are we in a crisis in this country? >> oh, yes. >> we are, we basically -- >> yes. >> this is crisis. >> people are paying attention. that's why what we had in virginia. >> there it is. never tell maria she is lying. >> we'll be right back.

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it's been a full day. good thing we have beet peet with ari melber. i'm out of time. a lot of stuff to get to. >> we have a lot going on. thank you very much. i want to tell our viewers about several stories we're covering. first, mike flynn's failure to register. and i have a report on how the cases work and what it could mean for flynn as well as democratic lobbyist tony podesta. and developmentes on these reports of sexual harassment on capitol hill. new pressure on john conyers to resign. congresswoman jackie speier is here. and "today" show anchor matt lauer fired today over an allegation of inappropriate