my thanks to my guests. "mtp daily" starts right now. hi, chuck. here and i'm six seconds late. >> a lot of reiteration. a lot of js there! j-pod and all this stuff. well done. well done. thank you, nicolle. good to be here. if it's wednesday, it's another day of chaos or as we like to call it, wednesday. tonight -- new calls for senator franken to step down. >> enough is enough. >> democrats try to regain moral authority as republicans double down on roy moore. plus, donald trump jr. in the hot seat. we'll talk to one of the house intel committee members who grilled the president's son on russia today. finally, reactions pour in

from all sides as the president changes decades of u.s. policy in the middle east. >> it is time to officially recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. good evening. i'm chuck todd here new york and welcome to "mtp daily." using forgiven if you're exhausted from the sheer number of important stories breaking on the hour today. donald trump jr. was grilled by congress many investigators for the first time since revelations about his contact with wikileaks. the president recognizes jerusalem as the capital of israel, upending decades of u.s. foreign policy in the middle east. the house took a vote on his impeachment forced by democratic congressman al green. yes, actually an impeachment

vote today. mr. trump threatened a government shutdown could happen in two days as he prepares to meet with chuck and nancy and senator al franken is apparently toast as democrats try to regain the moral high ground and make the gop own its endorsement of roy moore. that is where we begin on this wild wednesday with democrats trying to cleanous a house and republicans do s doubling down. at least 28 colleagues in the senate want al franken gone. another woman came forward with allegations of inappropriate behavior. he denies them completely. didn't matter. democrats, particularly the democratic senate women, appear to have hit their breaking point it started with senator gillibrand of new york. >> senator gillibrand, what was the tipping point on your colleague senator franken? >> obviously, there were new allegations today, and enough is

enough. >> reporter: would you call on leadership to join your calls for senator franken to step down? >> i have expressed my views in a detailed op-ed you can now have access to. i do not feel that he should continue to serve. everyone will make their own judgment. i hope they do make their own judgment. >> the women in the senate led this movement today. important, because it looks like democrats are trying to regain the moral high ground after frankly bunglingy issue badly over the past weeks. initially defended john conyers, despite multiple allegations of misconduct and punted to the ethics committee and hit a breaking point and appear to be simply purging ranks. called for conyers to resign. he announced his retirement yesterday and conyers' allies made it clear, if you're going to make him go, franken needs to go, too. >> there are, to my count, five of these allegations against al franken. there are four, three four

against the congressman. at the end of the day, i would suspect that nancy pelosi is going to have to explain what is the discernible difference between al franken and john conyers? >> now, franken's office said simply they're going to make an announcement tomorrow in minnesota, and it certainly looks like he's preparing to step down. there's the timing of that thursday announcement, it's pretty important. why? because on friday president trump holds a rally along the alabama border for all intents and purpose, it's a rally to fire up roy moore voters, and that is the contrast that democrats want. because the trump/bannon wing of the gop has gone all-in for more despite multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against teenagers, which moore himself denies. bannon held a rally last night where he dismissed all of these allegations as part of some sort of liberal conspiracy. >> this whole thing was a setup. this whole thing was weaponized. right?

you know that. folks down here in alabama know that. this was the jeff bezos amazon "washington post." >> now, a lot of senate republicans are squeamish about the embrace of a child molester and appears democrats will try to make them on it on their own so they don't have the, what franken retort. joining us, vice chair of the senate ethics committee. welcome. >> good to be here. >> getting wired up, and i was getting wired up, chuck schumer added calls for senator franken's resignation. obviously, comes from the leader, smells to me like it's a fait accompli. is that the way you read this? >> chuck, you mentioned in my introduction, i'm the vice chair of the senate ethics committee, and one of the hard and fast rules of serving on that committee is that we don't comment on any matter that is in

front of the committee or may soon come in front of committee. so i'm going to carefully avoid commenting on this particular matter. >> fair enough. let me ask you this -- on the rules of the ethics committee, if senator franken resigns, your inquiry stops immediately? >> we only have jurisdiction over currently serving senators. historically on a number of occasions senators who were the subject of ethic committee investigations wa s and about te action resigned rather than face that action, because that does end our jurisdiction, it ends the inquiry. >> do you believe that the picture of sort of democrats wringing their hands about bad, men behaving badly in their ranks while lecturing republicans on roy moore was a bad look? >> chuck, i think our country is at the edge of a long overdue reckoning about sexual

misconduct, particularly by men. men in positions of power in a wide range of industries and professions. and i frankly think it's good that we are getting to a place where there are lots of folks in positions of power who have misused that power, who are alleged to have abused women or have now been confirmed to have abused women, and whether this is in entertainment or news, in politics or in business, i welcome this development. >> you know, i've heard a lot of, some folks who want to defend whether it's roy moore, maybe defend franken or conyers. i hear the phrase, hey, they deserve due process. let me ask you this. do you think as an elected official, especially u.s. senator, you should be held to a higher standard than simply due process. well, on the ethics committee we work very hard to deliver an appropriate process, fair process. beyond that i don't think i should comment. >> how comment about a citizen?

do you expect that you, senator coons, will are held to a higher standard than the average person in the state of delaware? >> yes. yes. young people who come and talk to me about possibly running for office will often say, well, how much of your public life -- how much of your private life becomes public? eventually all of it. finances, health, relationships. so, frankly, i do think it's appropriate that if you want to pursue a calling to public service, you ought to know that your actions in elected office will be closely scrutinized. we here in the senate are handed a great deal of responsibility and power to make decisions about taxes, about health care, about foreign relations and about how we treat each other here in the united states, and folks who are elected to serve the public need to be serving the public in an appropriate, respectful way. >> over the last few months i've learned a lot about incidents involving loved ones of mine.

and these folks decided to tell me about it now. never said it then. i'm curious, is this something -- and i've talked to colleagues and they've discovered this. are you saying -- noticing this in your life? people suddenly telling you stories that you didn't, you couldn't believe at the time? >> well, chuck, one of the tragic things about gender relations in our society is that there is no end to the disappointment and even surprise from folks who i've long admired. i grew up in the philadelphia area. bill cosby was someone whose records and humor i listened to as a kid. his behavior has been disgusting and shocking and disappointing. there's folks in the broadcast industry who have recently also been revealed to have engaged in a series of conduct. charlie rose, for example. certainly i think it's important that we finally hold accountable people who have mistreated others, and, yes.

this is a time when there are people coming forward with a number of long overdue allegations about misbehavior. >> if senator franken resigns do you think it's an appropriate move? >> excuse me? >> do you think it's an appropriate decision by him if he does resign? i know you don't want to comment on the -- larger text -- >> i shouldn't second guess senator franken's decision, just because of my role on the committee. >> all right. senator coons, the ethics committee. you may be a very busy person over the next few moss regardless whether it's senator franken or senator-elect moore, who knows. senator, thanks for coming on. appreciate it. >> thank you, chuck. joining me now, joan walsh, and noah rothman editor. joan, a lot of democrats wringing their hands over al franken in the last two weeks. it was a no-brainer to them on some of these folks.

it was never a no-brainer on franken. all of a sudden today it was. what do you think changed? >> i think we've got eight allegations now, chuck, when there were one or two, a very different thing. i wrote the first day i thought we should wait for more evidence. i can't say that anymore. it looks like a pattern i think as a party, democrats have to be careful they do give women credence. not believe everything. we can't believe everything. what we really want are fair and rapid investigations. at this point i feel the combination of the number of incidents. one from a right wing talk show host, the other a left wing talk show host. >> bipartisanship? >> so -- and then the number and number of female colleagues and now chuck shoop eschumer saying can't be effective anymore. >> like the republicans saying,

we have to get off our own island. >> a clever strategy if it was. depends who you talk to at the moment what the republican position is on the alleged abusers in their ranks. characterized the democratic response has been discipline. initially the franken response was, well, this isn't something we're going to talk about. nancy pelosi's response, draw fire for her members. say this is, this guy's an icon. can't pass judgment so quickly. then all of a sudden floodgates broke. everybody on the same position. frank han to go. conyers has to go. possibly throwing a hail mary pass. nancy pelosi knew about all of this. it wouldn't surprise me if she did. the instinct, catch fire for her meshes. perhaps that was the standing order. >> joan where does -- are we ever going to get to the point where one of these folks gets forgiven and either party feels -- are we in this sort of, now it's sort of, an arms race

now and at the end of the day leaders don't feel comfortable standing behind anybody? >> i think forgiveness is a long process. forgiveness involves admitting what you did, involves restitution to the women. involves coming clean. so i'm not ready for forgiveness, chuck. i also think we've gotten a little farther in this conversation without mentioning the name blake fahrenthold to actually used taxpayer dollars. >> just like john conyers. >> to settle a claim with an employ employee. this woman on the record said her career was ruined because of hi experience being sexually abused by him. she is now baby-sitting. no longer on capitol hill. that was in the "washington post" yesterday. i haven't heard a word about -- >> i have been stunned. what are they protecting blake farenthold for? bizarre to me that -- it's on the record. they have an accuser on tv.

admitted to settling. wants to pay back the government. okay. it's all there. this -- he's had his due process. >> right. the existence of this office of compliance, which supposedly creates this fund for settling accusations along these lines, discriminatory accusations is itself a scandal. we only know a little what it's paid out and taxpayers are on the hook for these settlements. the obligatory for them to have more transparency when it come to this office and we open that pandora's box, who knows what's coming out. >> oh, i think for the reckoning we almost have to open that box. >> absolutely. >> if we keep thinking there's a secret, it will never go away. tom brokaw joined us. tom, six months ago people talking abouting a franken running for president in 2020. now he's out of a job. stunning. the other thing when you look at it, on the landscape, the rule is, there are no rules.

we don't know -- it's not codified in a way about who is going to pay a penalty where they have to lose their job, authorities will do it because the moore case, one case, al franken another case. goodwill, came forward, admitted what he did. he said questionable issues at the state fair and so on but thought under the circumstances -- but on the republican side you have a man running for the senate. now endorsed by the president and by the republicans in the united states senate because they need the seat. in the 1960s a phrases about applicable to all this called situational ethics. whatever you need to do to make it fit, it becomes ethical. that's what we're in right now. because we have -- in this city "loan in the last week as we all know and then more instances today of well-known broadcasters getting suspended or taken off the job because of allegations of harassment. the rules are very unclear. obviously we're in a passage of some kind and how it all ends is

very hard to say. >> all right. it you're a republican senator who called on roy moore to quit, the leader of your party is endorsing him. you see the other party has basically decided to clean house what do you do? what does ben sasse what does he do? he's on twitter? a good chumpg nk of republicanst nothing to do with roy moore. want to see him lose and don't know what to do? >> smart to create a distance from him. no discipline thousand handle this because the leader of the party, now the republican national committee saying we're onboard with roy moore contradicting everybody who said he should resign about a month ago. it's incumbent on the leader of the party to impose discipline and he has no interest in doing that. i think he likes the chaos. it's up to you to make your own position. >> and faced down his own accusations from 12 to 16 women. >> he'd have been a hypocrite if

he didn't support roy moore. hate to put that -- >> what i worry about as a progressive, you have this situation where donald trump gone through, got elected. sarah sanders stood at the podium two weeks ago and said, well, the difference between donald trump and al franken is senator franken admits it and donald trump doesn't. also, roy moore doesn't admit it. if you don't admit it, you're okay, and if you admit it you're guilty and thrown overboard. this is situational ethics run amuck. i know a lot of democrats are saying this is like asymmetrical disarmament. unilateral disarmament because republicans are not forcing their guys overboard but we are? i mean, i think we should, but it's -- it's not equal right now. >> who's watching, though, tom, and i think this is what -- i heard from young female party leaders who are not happy when nancy pelosi hesitated on conyers. >> on your show. right. >> who said, boy, she just --

missing an opportunity. young women are looking to her leadership on this issue from one party to the other and see neither providing leadership? >> the fact of the matter is, a., it's important here in terms of understanding it, because nancy pelosi grew up in a different era. and -- >> through this had to be a woman in a man's world. >> and also understood what the unwritten ruling were in terms of that kind of behavior. doesn't do great damage, let it go on and work our way through it. we are at a critical, cultural passage i think in politics and in this country, and what worries me some is what i said earlier. there is no codification. you don't know what the rules are. what's permissible, not permissible, how far you can go. >> imagine how absurd if we started to say your hand can go here, not here. arm can go -- that's -- >> sure. >> craziness. >> in the paper about rewriting

of a back ook on "60 minutes." incident he described, mike wallace was a kind of mischievous aggressive guy pap woman worked for "60 minutes" talking to the writer, walked by with a rolled up newspaper and gave her a swat on the fanny. that was going on all over this business and other businesses as well and i've talked to a lot of women who are of a certain age and said, what was that all about? if we're going to get serious about that we need to know what the lines are here. and the lines that are in play in these instances are very important. but it's very murky at the moment and society's going to have to decide what are the particulars? what is the offense? how does it begin and end? >> we're capable of it. >> did it with same-sex marriage. did it on civil rights. we're going to do it on this. >> i agree. >> take a pause. stick around. up next, the son, donald trump jr. gets grilled for hours on capitol hill over the russia

investigation. yet one of those of our five split screens today. we'll be right back. i just got my cashback match, is this for real? yep. we match all the cash back new cardmembers earn at the end of their first year, automatically. whoo! i got my money! hard to contain yourself, isn't it? uh huh! let it go! whoo! get a dollar-for-dollar match at the end of your first year. only from discover. ♪ ♪ work with ai that's been trained by experts in twenty different industries.

the ibm cloud. the cloud for business. yours.

welcome back. big developments. one of the first acts of the new administration, minutes after president trump took the oath of office, michael flynn told a former business partner u.s. sanctions with russia could be "ripped up." that wrissal blower account is being made pub flilic in a lett saying flynn told his former colleague, put things in place because he expected the sanctions which could have blocked the project he was investing in personally they would be lifted. also today, one of the russia investigations most anticipated interview subjects was on capitol hill. the president's son.

donald trump jr. faced hours of questions and still behind closed doors now presumably facing questions on everything from his contacts with russians during the 2016 campaign to his communication with wikileaks leading right up to the election and even after. when we come back in 60 seconds we'll talk to one of the members in the room with trump jr. in that hearing. we'll be right back. ( ♪ ) more people shop online for the holidays than ever before. (clapping)

and the united states postal service delivers more of those purchases to homes than anyone else in the country. ( ♪ ) because we know, even the smallest things are sometimes the biggest. welcome back. sticking with russia, joining me a member of the house intel committee and agreed to take a quick break to talk to us. i will make this quick, i promise, congresswoman. >> thanks, chuck. >> let me start with the basics here. donald trump jr., do you find him forthcoming in this interview? >> as you said, he's still being interviewed. we started at 10:00 a.m. and going strong, at least we until i stepped out, and i think that he has been forthcoming in answering most of our questions.

and obviously he's here with his attorney. we're just going to follow the facts where they lead us. this is an ongoing investigation, but i can tell you that he was drilled for quite a long time regarding the june 6th meeting that he had at trump tower with those russian officials. >> well, let's talk about the june 6th meeting. have you learned new details today you didn't know going in? >> no. but i learned a lot more details about that, which we, the public, you know, already an open source in the public. obviously, i can't tell you any of the classified stuff we have, you know, as a member of the committee, but i can tell you that it's deeply disturbing how many trump officials have either misled or can't remember or in the case of flynn lied about their russian contacts and we have, owe it to the american er. it's a matter of national

security and we're taking it serious and i think we'll get to a conclusion but not sure what it will be right now. >> it's clear plenty of reporting said donald trump jr. went into that meeting in june hoping that it was some dirt on clinton, and according to the russian woman in there when he found out they didn't really have anything he didn't care anymore. let me ask it this way. can he be guilty of something if he didn't get that he was looking for? >> well i think that we're looking to, whether or not there's collusion, and the fact of the matter is that all of the open source, we saw, the e-mail between the communications between rob goldstone and donald trump jr., that he was looking for some damaging evidence about hillary clinton, and, you know, whether he actually got that information or not, i think that it's obviously worth further diving into and, you know, trying to get to the bottom of

exactly what was discussed during that 20-minute meeting. >> look, the various investigations going on, i could argue at kniss poithis point ine credibility attacked at one point or another. are you concerned that mueller's credibility has been hurt by news that one of the, one of the former now lead fbi agents investigates at one time hillary clinton's e-mails and involved in this seem to express political text messages and then some -- how disturbing of an allegation is that to you? >> i think mueller has a reputation that's been above reproach, and i think that it's obviously a little damning to have this fbi agent, but i don't think that it will taint his ultimate conclusions. i think that it's really important that we get to the bottom of the facts, and there are lots of hearings going on and lots of folks giving testimony. i think it's going to be really challenging for all of us to

really take in all that information and come up with a single report out of our committee as well as the senate committee. we're counting on mueller, to be honest. he's the only person that seems to have all the pieces of the puzzle or the ability to get all pieces of the puzzle. so his investigation is probably the most paramount. >> congresswoman, i'm curious. have all elected members been in and out today? everybody made their presence known? in some of these house interviews, it's only been the democratic members that have shown up. many republican members haven't on the house side. what was the turnout today for donald trump jr.? >> you can imagine for donald trump jr. both sides had almost all of their, if not all of their members come in throughout the day. like i said, it started at 10:00 a.m. this morning and is still going on. i think it's incumbent upon all of us and we do. those who, if we missed an interview, to actually read the

transcript. obviously all of this is about putting together sort of this jigsaw puzzle. i have to tell you it's really disturbing how many questions one responds to as, to the best of my recollection, no. you know, very sort of vague answers in some respects. >> do you get the sense that, at all in some of the q and as and back and forth that donald trump jr. is not giving you some information, because he's awaiting an interview with mr. mueller? >> i didn't feel that. i felt he was trying to be forthcoming, all but one question that was asked by adam schiff, i'm sure our ranking member will probably talk about that when he, when the interview concludes, but for the most part he did answer most of our questions, and the answers weren't always very, you know, detail-oriented. they were oftentimes to the best of his knowledge, no. so, you know, look, i think at

the end of the day, watching his demeanor, being able to question him not only about the series of e-mails but also about wikileaks was really important to this investigation. >> one of your democratic colleagues today introduced the idea of impeachment and it got a vote. you voted present. why? you didn't vote either way. voted just present. >> i'm a member of the house intelligence committee, and so i thought it was not, most of us thought it was not, important that we didn't appear to know more than what our other colleagues knew. i think it's a bit premature and obviously i want the results of our investigation to come forward before i actually, we actually face impeachment. >> remiss if i don't ask you what's going on in your home state of alabama. doug jones is -- what is the democratic enthusiasm level in alabama? it's such an unusual race. obviously it's frankly all the

headlines are demoralizing if you will. not exactly an uplifting campaign. that usually spells low turnout. is there democratic activists engagement and what does it look like? >> absolutely. doug is actually the ideal candidate, and a really big contrast to roy moore. i can't say that, say enough about how enthusiastic the millennials are as well as seniors. lots of canvassing going on, a big tv effort in most cities as well as the rural areas. we're excited about doug jones and one candidate that earned support of alabamians. as a native alabamian i can tell you that we deserve better than having a senator whose voracity, integrity and character will be questioned the whole time they're in the senate. i can't predict what will happen, but i can tell you the democrats are energized and there are a lot of moderate republicans that have come up to

me throughout our time and to doug and said they're willing to vote for him. i really hope so. those of us from alabama, spent our life trying to get over some of the negative stereotypes about alabama, we know that doug jones will be the person who will keep alabama going forward and not backwards. so we're going to work hard. i know i'll be going to lots of churches this weekend as i did last weekend and we're excited about having john lewis come and join me. >> oh. all right. a little news about john lewis. congresswoman from alabama, get back to that hearing room with donald trump jr. >> i do thank you for sharing a few minutes with us. still ahead, a shift of biblical proportions. president trump breaks from decades of u.s. foreign policy, deciding to formally recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. what it could mean for middle east diplomacy and the chances for mideast peace. we'll be right back.

♪ spread a little love today ♪ spread a little love my-y way ♪ ♪ spread a little something to remember ♪ philadelphia cream cheese. made with fresh milk and real cream makes your recipes their holiday favourites. the holidays are made with philly. 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.

let's get the big guy in place. the ford year end sales event is here. i can guide you in. no, thanks , santa. i got this. santa: uh, it looks a little tight. perfect fit. santa needs an f-150. that's ford, america's best selling brand. hurry in today for 0% financing for 72 months across the full line up of ford cars, trucks and suvs. for a limited time, get an additional $1,000 cash back on top of 0% financing for 72 months. get these exclusive offers during the ford year end sales event.

still ahead, a capitol controversy. president trump's jerusalem decision and the shock waves could be creating around the world.

liberty mutual saved us almost eight hundred dollars when we switched our auto and home insurance. with liberty, we could afford a real babysitter instead of your brother. hey. oh. that's my robe. is it? you could save seven hundred eighty two dollars when liberty stands with you. liberty mutual insurance. pepsoriasis does that. it was tough getting out there on stage. i wanted to be clear. i wanted it to last. so i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. and keeps on working. now? they see me. see me. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you- cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis...

...find clear skin that can last. don't use if you're 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. 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. never give up. see me. see me. clear skin can last. don't hold back... ...ask your dermatologist if cosentyx can help you find clear skin that lasts. we are the driven... the dedicated... the overachievers. we know our best investment is in ourselves. we don't take no for an answer. we fight for what we want.

even for the things that were once a given. going to college... buying a home... and not being in debt for it for the rest of our lives. but we're only as strong as our community. who inspires and pushes us to go further than we could ever go alone. sofi. get there sooner. after more than two decades of waivers, we are no closer to a lasting peace agreement between israel and the palestinians. it would be folly to assume that repeating the exact same formula would now produce a different or better result.

therefore, i have determined that it is time to officially recognize jerusalem as the capital of israel. welcome back. that was president trump earlier today fulfilling a campaign promise declaring jerusalem the capital of israel and in turn beginning plans to move the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. a decision that upends nearly 70 years of u.s. policy, led to protests and harsh criticism from leaders around the region including important u.s. allies and members of president trump's team. general mattis and rex tillerson. and he touted a number of caveats. saying the announcement doesn't mean a change in position on boundaries or contested borders. whether it's about israel or even the city lines in jerusalem. so joining me now is robin wright, joint fellow at the woodrow wilson center and u.s.

institute of peace and contributing writer for "the new yorker." okay. other than the president saying officially, there's part of me, explain what really actually changed today and what really actually changes over the next five years, frankly i think ten years before they even break ground? >> well, there actually is a facility in jerusalem if they wanted to open an embassy tomorrow they could. but they're talking a lot about three or four years. what happened today was the equivalent of throwing a diplomatic bomb into the peace process. the president decided he wanted to do what every republican and democrat president for the last 70 years refused to do. recognize israel as the israeli capital. before in is a peace process. there has always been working assumption this was going to be a reward for making peace and not something that was handed out on a silver platter beforehand with nothing tangible in return. that's the problem for the trump

administration. it's taken this grand gesture, the israelis deeply wanted. he's responding to a campaign promise, and addressing his base, but this has upended the working assumption about how you achieve peace in the middle east, and produced a backlash from a host of allies in europe, in the middle east. representatives of the three great abrahamic religions, represented in israel. the pope, the islamic conference organization and even some american jewish groups. this is the beginning of what could be a very turbulent period. >> did his comments talking about, it doesn't rule out essentially didn't quite say it this way, doesn't rule out the idea of an east jerusalem as capital of a palestine and things like to? how much does that help including those caveats? >> well, the caveat of saying, yes, for the first time endoers add two-state solution is important, following in the tradition of the last three

american presidents, and that, of course, opens the door for moving the american embassy to israel, to west jerusalem, and eventually if there is a two-state solution, creating an american embassy to the palestine authority or the palestinian state in east jerusalem. so it didn't close the door on that option, and the president was very firm in saying that he's still committed to the peace process and that this was not to shape the boundaries of future states. >> not to be polly annish, i always envision one embassy with two entrances. that's just me. the jordanian government indicated they felt it was a violation of the u.n. charter. countries called for emergency u.n. meeting. what could come of this? >> it could play out at a lot of different levels. you could see it play out in international organizations like the u.n., the secretary-general not mentioning the president talked about his concern about unilateral measures. this could play out in the

region where the president of turkey is called for a summit of islamic leaders to coordinate their response and play out on the streets, which is the most volatile part of it. what's error important really i last few years, coordination between palestinian security forces preventen individual incidents of violence from exploding into a third intefadeh. the danger, that that implodes, palestinians will feel no incentive to cooperate and there won't be the kind of mechanisms in place to prevent the explosion on the streets that then mushrooms into something longer and more dangerous for the whole region. >> you said something at the beginning. you said this is something that israel wanted. clearly, netanyahu's government and his allies wanted it, but is this as clear cut with the israeli public? >> i think that's a wonderful question. and it's not clear at all.

in fact, i had a former u.s. ambassador to israel say to me that he hadn't in four years heard anyone mention it to him except when they were asked about it. i think this is something that the israelis accept jerusalem as their capital, where their government ministries are, parliament, the supreme court. and that taking this, making this step actually does put, addresses your first question and that is, does it change all that much given the fact we will not have an embassy for three or fo four years but it's the step that responds to whether it's domestic politics or allies in israel, it does that. not much more, actually. >> all right. robin wright. how worried about you about tomorrow's protests? >> i'm worried more about the long-term unraveling of the process, and the ability of the arabs to actually engage with an administration. the credibility of the

administration on the peace process really put on the line by this move. so i worry about the process. i worry about the streets. not just tomorrow but i think these are the kinds of things that unravel over the long term. >> for sure. palestinians can't speak with one voice. big, big troubles there. robin wright, as always, thank for sharing your knowledge with us. already appreciate it. still to come, why i'm obsessed with someone -- pulling a kinsley. accidentally telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. we'll be right back. i love kiwis. i've always had that issue

with the seeds getting under my denture. super poligrip free. it creates a seal of the dentures in my mouth. just a few dabs is clinically proven to seal out more food particles. try super poligrip free. ♪ discover card. i justis this for real?match, yep. we match all the cash back new cardmembers earn at the end of their first year, automatically. whoo! i got my money! hard to contain yourself, isn't it? uh huh! let it go! whoo! get a dollar-for-dollar match at the end of your first year. only from discover.

welcome back. tonight i'm obsessed way stunning admission from a conservative commitment. admitted, wrote the tax bill to stick to the democrats. the tax bill apparently written with the goal hurting the democratic party apparatus. don't believe me? what conservative economist stephen moore advised the trump campaign on tax policy told bloomberg news about the republicans' tax overall plan. "it's democrats. they go after state and local taxes which weakens public employee unions go after university endowments and universities have become playpens of the left and getting rid of the mandate is the way to eventually dismantle obamacare." give moore some credit for pulling a michael kinsley-style gaffe. right? accidentally telling the truth,

dropping any and all pretense. whether a democrat or republican, rich or poor, agree or disagree with the tax plan, we all can agree we like for any legislation to be argued on its merits. i don't think either party should use a bill as weapon against the other time. especially targeting unions health care, blue states, social safety net, higher education all in one bill. yes, a conservative to-do list. not just president trump's to-do list but is there a way to do it without it feeling like simply some partisan attack? we'll be right back. (avo) when you have type 2 diabetes, you manage your a1c,

but you also have a higher risk of heart attack or stroke. non-insulin victoza® lowers a1c, and now reduces cardiovascular risk. victoza® lowers my a1c and blood sugar better than the leading branded pill. (avo) and for people with type 2 diabetes treating cardiovascular disease, victoza® is now approved to lower the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. and while it isn't for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight. (avo) victoza® is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take victoza® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. stop taking victoza® and get medical help right away if you get symptoms of a serious allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis.

so, stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area. tell your doctor your medical history. gallbladder problems have happened in some people. tell your doctor right away if you get symptoms. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite, indigestion, and constipation. side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. ask your doctor about victoza®. time for "the lid." the president's decision on jerusalem. i just covered it as a former policy story. but you can make an argument about this is about politics through and through. >> well, first of all, anybody

who has spent any time in the middle east, and no one has spent more time than she has and knows it well. i've spent a lot of time over there. the fact of the matter is that donald trump has no investment in that part of the world in terms of being a man who wants to rearrange the arrangements of something that's working well. it has been working fine. it is imperfect but held a kind of fragile peace. now he has given hezbollah -- >> and hamas. >> to light the fires, saying, see, that's who they are. they're against us and now we have to go to war against them again. and then the other thing is the king of jordan, i'm a big admirer of his. he is holding the line and working with us, not just on the middle east and hezbollah, but he's been very important in fighting. now he is stuck being the best

friend united states has and he has called for a hearing on it. i don't know whether they had to do it now. that i know sheldon addison who is a very big shaker in this party, very passionate about israel. owns a numb ovewspaper oh there. when he was work with businessmen, they could hear adellson in the back ground. if they were reluctant, he would get on the phone with them and ream them out. so this is a chaotic time for a very explosive part of the world. >> was this good domestic politics? >> he thinks so. >> with evangelicals. i don't see how it is good domestic politics for him. it is as though he has lit a match and thrown gasoline over there. it has no practical effect but it is a statement of intent. it is rallying people up. the state department officials

in jordan have warned americans to expect violence. it seems to have no likely outcome except that. >> i think what was striking, he was alone in making this decision in his administration. nobody else wanted to do it. now, some will say, well, the hamas ts of the world are always looking for an excuse so don't blame president trump. >> if this is a domestic political issue, one of the things you want to avoid is chaos abroad. warfare abroad. anything that makes you look like bad, unsteady hand on the tiller. we've not seen something explosive yet. we might in the near future but the geopolitical reality that's brought the saudis to the table, that brought egypt and the uae together, that dawned on the diplomatic class that all conflict does not spring in frakt the situation. it is possibly even a moot issue when it comes to the sunni

kingdoms, and the forces in tehran and lebanon. that's the real issue. i think we should be hesitant about declaring this a complete disaster without seeing anything unfold. >> it is interesting that the president seems to have the gulf state allies. he is giving them carte blanche a little bit. on yemen. >> i must stay best speech he's made since he became president, was when he was talking to the summit and said if you have isis members, put them out. >> do you believe he did it because the sunni gulf states were going to to look other way on this decision? >> for me to try to understand why donald trump does almost anything is not -- >> will the sunni -- how about this. will the sunni arab states look the other way? >> it depends on what the reaction is.

>> at home for them. and also in the region about how explosive it becomes. look. the sunni leadership in saudi arabia has known for some time they have to get something done about it. but is this the way? >> to this point, the issue of the israeli-palestinian peace process, we're on the verge of a saudi arabia the-american war. that's the focus. >> that should be the focus. that should be a focus. but then he brings it back to the center. it's kind of crazy. >> we shall see what happens tomorrow. i'm relieved a lot. >> plenty of nights left. >> you know what i don't have? a lot of night now. thank you very much. we'll be back.

you might take 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.

just serve classy snacks and bew a gracious host,iday party. no matter who shows up. do you like nuts? ♪ ♪ protect sensitive data from millions of kinds of malware, with a cloud that's secure to the core. the ibm cloud. the cloud for business. yours. the cloud for business. are made with smarttrack®igners material to precisely move your teeth to your best smile. see how invisalign® treatment can shape your smile up to 50% faster today at invisalign.com i'm not really a, i thought wall street guy.ns. what's the hesitation? eh, it just feels too complicated, you know? well sure, at first, but jj can help you with that. jj, will you break it down for this gentleman? hey, ian. you know, at td ameritrade, we can walk you through your options trades step by step

until you're comfortable. i could be up for that. that's taking options trading from wall st. to main st. hey guys, wanna play some pool? eh, i'm not really a pool guy. what's the hesitation? it's just complicated. step-by-step options trading support from td ameritrade

i am way out of time. "the beat" starts now. my apologies. i owe you 8 seconds. >> thank you very much. on our show we're following several developing stories. new leads on the trump money trail. al franken facing calls to resign from the most powerful democrats in the country tonight. the householding a vote about the process of impeaching president trump. we have news on that story. and later i have a special legal report on a key law that bob mueller can use potentially against trump officials. we begin with a breaking story about how bob mueller convinced mike flynn he