here in the east coast. he is expected to miss the vote on the tax bill scheduled for later in the week. we heard president trump talk about that. let's bring in the panel. we want to start with msnbc correspondent at the white house jeff bennett. jeff, good to have you with us. bring us up to speed on what we heard. we were not able to hear all of the questions that were directed at president trump. we were able to pick up some of the answers. fill us in on what we have missed. >> well, i heard the president respond to kelly o'donnell who had the first question. our colleague kelly o'donnell asked him about the story out today, broke last night that the trump transition team, at least one lawyer with the trump transition team is accusing special counsel robert mueller's team of improperly accessing e-mails sent by the transition. you heard the president say, you know, not so good, not so good repeating that there was no collusion between his campaign

and the russian government. i spoke not too long ago with a source close to the trump transition team who says two things. one, that he believes the source that the mueller investigation did illegally -- he put it -- obtain the e-mails. he also says they were used as part of the ongoing russia probe which is noteworthy. as a result we have seen a rare public comment from the special counsel's spokesman about this defending robert mueller's practices, his processes. >> i want everyone to stay with me one second. we are going to try to rerack that tape and play it for all of our panel so everyone can have a chance to weigh in. let me introduce who will be with us to have this discussion. we have with us cynthia alkazny, former prosecutor. frank figliosi and pulitzer prize winning journalist charlie

savage, author of "power wars" and an msnbc contributor. let me go ahead and play it so we can follow up on the discussion. [ inaudible ] >> not looking good. it's not looking good. it's quite sad to see that. so my people were very upset about it. i can't imagine there is anything on him frankly. as we have said there is no collusion. there is no collusion whatsoever. but a lot of lawyers thought that was pretty sad. [ inaudible ] >> go ahead. [ inaudible ] >> a little louder. helicopter. a lot of noise. >> today is the anniversary of -- >> yeah. that's right.

it is the anniversary. hopefully everything will normalize with cuba. but right now they are not doing the right thing and when they don't do the right thing, we are not going to do the right thing. that's all there is to it. we have to be strong with cuba. the cuban people are incredible people. they support me very strongly. we'll get cuba straightened out. [ inaudible ] >> no, i'm not. no. what else? what, are you surprised? what? i did speak to senatcindy mccai. i wished her well. i wished john well. i understand he'll come if we needed his vote, which hopefully we won't. the word is that john will come back if we need his vote. that's too bad. it's tough. he's going through a very tough time. there is no question about it.

but he will come back if we need his vote. thank you very much, everybody. >> all right. so you were there just listening to president trump once again upon returning to the white house from camp david, taking impromptu questions from the press pool gathered there talking about the mueller investigation, talking about cuba as well as john mccain ahead of the tax bill vote expected later this week. jeff bennett, let me come back to you quick and i want you to tee off the conversation by explaining what this e-mail story is. you heard the president say it's not looking good, people upset, there is nothing on them, we have said there is no collusion, as well as lots of lawyers thought that it was sad. what was he referencing there when he was talking about those e-mails? >> he says lots of lawyers. i talked to the one lawyer who wrote the seven-page complaint letter named cory langhoffer. he sent it to members of congress saying mueller's team by obtaining the e-mails and

using them for the investigation, that that potentially violated attorney-client privileges and the unreasonable search and seizure protections provided by the 4th amendment. that's the allegation. we have talked about how mueller's team refuted that allegation. there is at least one government official who says members of the trump transition team should have known just by virtue of the fact they were using e-mail accounts that ended in .gov that their e-mails were property of the federal government. this is the issue. there are people who are independent observers of this who say this is an attempt by trump allies to discredit the mueller investigation just as it is ramping up. just as it is getting closer and closer perhaps to the president himself although we should say we don't have reporting to suggest that the mueller investigation is targeting the president himself. >> right. >> but as sort of the apex of this investigation. this is an attempt to discredit it. >> cynthia you heard the

president say there is nothing on those e-mails. he said people were upset and as jeff pointed out lots of lawyers thought it was sad, although we have only one lawyer who's come forward officially talking about this within the past 24 hours or since the story broke, i should say. but this is potentially significant. what you are seeing now is it's not the vague claim coming out of the white house of republican that is the mueller investigation is biased. there is now an allegation of specific legal wrongdoings, that he obtained e-mails illegally, crossing the line. is there merit to the argument that we are hearing come out of the trump for america transition team? >> no, there is not. the reason why they are doing it is because they are going to feel the heat of the mueller investigation and they are worried there will be indictments. listen, when you get a government computer you are told whatever you put on the government computer is -- you do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. you might remember that in the

last week when the fbi and the doj lawyer had e-mails that they ended up being turned over to congress because they did not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. that didn't seem to bother anybody in the trump administration. it's the same premise. when you get a government computer and a government e-mail address, that's the government's property. you are essentially consenting as you use it that it can be discovered. that's what happened here. it is unclear to me why they didn't know that. but they didn't. the reason why they figured it out is because in the course of the investigation they used the e-mails as they were questioning people in the white house and all of the sudden somebody went, oh, no, they got the e-mails. of course they did. they're on a government server. >> it would seem very naive of members of the trump transition team to not know a government computer was going to at some point be targeted as a result of the investigation when so much

of the activity and the alleged activity happened in and around that window of the transition. charlie, let me ask you quickly, if i may. i will come back to you, cynthia. charlie, we have been talking about the narrative coming out of the white house and its allies that they have been building against robert mueller and his investigation. there are now some concerns that they are possibly laying the groundwork for firing the special counsel. in fact, trump's lawyer has denied that. here's what democratic congresswoman jackie spear said today. >> the rumor on the hill when i left yesterday was that the president was going to make a significant speech at the end of next week and on december 22 when we are out of d.c. he was going to fire robert mueller. >> she's definitely not mincing words about what's going to happen and how that's going to play out. what have you heard about plans to possibly fire bob mueller.

is that a montpossibility. >> first trump would have to fire rod roaden stein, the person overseeing bob mueller and he has to find that there is a good cause for removing mueller, that mueller committed misconduct. he said as of the hearing when he came before the house judiciary committee on wednesday there was no good cause, he saw no reason to remove him. he's standing as a firewall between bob mueller and the president. there is something else here that's being overlooked in the conversation. it is important for your listeners and for everyone to understand. this letter from this trump lawyer is being mischaracterized. nowhere in that letter does he say or allege that mueller committed an illegal act by obtaining or receiving these e-mails. he says that the government agency that was the custodian of the e-mails should have consulted the campaign before it

turned the e-mails over to mueller and that its act of turning the e-mails over to mueller without having done that allegedly was illegal or improper. the allegation of an illegal or improper act is pegged to the government services agency, the gsa, not to the office of the special counsel. everyone is reporting this as mueller illegally obtained. what he's really saying is agency illegally provided. >> cynthia, what do you think of charlie's distinction there? >> i think -- >> he's citing the letter but also raising a valid point. >> right. it's a smart distinction. more than that, this is a letter that went to congress. lawyers don't battle over illegal issues and motions in limine in letters to congress. that's not the way the system works. if they were upset and thought they had a case they would be in front of a judge moving to get those e-mails back. this is a press attempt to go

after mueller to hurt his credibility because they are afraid indictments are coming, plain and simple. >> frank, a republican on the house judiciary committee last night told fox news that he's gotten the go ahead to subpoena some top officials from the fbi to talk about, quote, alleged bias in the bureau. i know you and i have talked about this in the past about the professionalism of the agency and how it is being attacked now by republicans for bias. take a listen to this and i will get your reaction on the back end. >> we're going to subpoena andrew mccabe, peter struck and, judge, your opening was perfect. that lays out the story. subpoena andrew, bruce struck, bruce orr, his wife, and lisa page. i also think the chief of staff of the fbi needs to be brought in. >> frank, i'm not sure what the strategy here is, but it seems they just want to bring the whole house down in investigations. if you guys want to continue with the mueller investigation

then we are just going to try to investigate everybody that we can and create an investigative qualifyi quagmire here. what do you make of this? >> we are seeing a strategy play out here. it's disgraceful to have it happen on the hill. what should be a serious various committees at the senate and house investigation has turned into really a public relations debate so that the public can see dirty laundry aired. we are talking about a professional law enforcement organization. we have been through this many, many times, right? it's as professional as going to your doctor and having him or her do the right thing for you professionally. it is the same thing within mueller's team and fbi offices throughout the country. airing this out on the hill doesn't get us anywhere but more confused and distracted from the actual case at hand. it's a bit like -- you know, having trump complain about the records being seized from the custodian of the records is a

little bit like the schoolyard bully now claiming he's being picked on. it was done legitimately as is done in tens of thousands of white collar crime cases. you get the documents from the custodian of the records. that's what happened. >> frank, should -- as we have heard from the lawyer from the trump for america transition team should they have been notified by the mueller investigation that these e-mails were being sought? >> there is no legal requirement to do that. personally, i have led or touched in my fbi career tens of thousands of white collar cases. there is no legal obligation to do that. >> another point to mention is i believe robert mueller is a registered republican. interesting to see how the strategy of bias plays out. jeff, cynthia, frank, thank you very much. charlie, stay with us. i'll talk to you about a phone call between vladimir putin and trump later this hour. president trump moments ago addressing reports tonight that senator john mccain's health will keep him from returning to

the senate for a crucial tax cut bill vote this week. what that will mean for republicans in the days ahead. while republicans are confident they'll pass the bill, will they be as happy on election day 2018 given the new poll numbers? plus, new signs of stress in the relationship between the president and none other than his secretary of state. how it's impacting the most dangerous foreign policy challenge facing the administration. fast acting zzzquil liquicaps help you fall asleep fast, like stop staring at the clock fast,

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i did speak to cindy mccain. i wished her well. i wished john well. i understand he'll need if we ever needed his vote, which hopefully we won't. the word is that john will come back if we need his vote. and that's too bad. he's going through a very tough time. there is no question about it. he will come back if we need his vote. >> that was president trump moments ago talking about senator john mccain's critical vote on the impending tax bill vote that's expected for this tuesday. in the last hour cbs news reported he would miss the vote because of treatment for brain cancer he's receiving in arizona. joining me now, sabrina sadiki and matt bennett former deputy assistant in the clinton white house. good to have you with us this evening. we have been talking about the numbers on this tax vote. republicans say they have a

52-48 majority in the senate. any indication this could put the tax cut bill in jeopardy? john mccain not being here for the vote on tuesday. or will they likely still have enough votes to pass this despite his absence? >> well, i think as you note they have a narrow majority over the senate. at the end of the day republicans can only afford to lose two votes. in that scenario vice president mike pence would act as a tie breaker. he said they would be okay without john mccain because bob corker has said on friday that he will support the final bill. even susan collins and marco rubio as well, two other potential hold outs announced their supportr from the bill. or susan collins appears to be leaning to voting for it and ron johnson from wisconsin. those are key people to watch. the math looks like it is there but anything could change last minute as we learn more about

what's in the bill. this is not like health care. there is a lot more support for this tax plan. >> i'm curious to get your thoughts about the popularity of this. polls show the bill is actually not widely popular with the public, at least some of the polls. we are putting it there for you. you can see the latest marist poll. 52% think the bill will hurt them. 30% think the bill will mostly help them. hard to say it's widely popular. are republicans going to have a tough time running on it in the months ahead for 2018? >> i don't know that they have a choice. they have staked a lot of their electoral fortunes, particularly in the midterm elections. this is less of an issue for president trump because he's not up for election for a few more years. it seems to me that a lot of the economic effects of the bill, at least the positive ones republicans have posited would happen are going to happen earlier rather than later.

in that sense there is the opportunity for them to take advantage of whatever potential bump in economic growth or job creation in 2018. then once we get out past 2019 and '20 the picture becomes uncertain. politically the potential advantage is there. >> picking up on that point, the potential advantage for republicans to just go out and say we delivered a tax cut, they are billing it as one of the largest tax cuts in decades. despite the fact that it may not necessarily benefit everyone. not all middle income folks are going to receive that benefit. is there a risk, do you think, for democrats to try and run against this tax bill, especially if the economy, the stock market continue to do well? >> i really don't think so. it's true there will be a sugar high in the economy and the stock market will continue to surge. but that's going to wear off quickly. i also think if you look at the

affordable care act in 2010 president obama and the democrats did their best to argue this is going to bring stability and security to everybody's health care but they just got hammered by a relentless assault from republicans which was enormously effective and helped them to take back congress. i think the same thing will happen here. it is very, very easy to characterize this as a ridiculous bill that benefits only the wealthy. >> let me ask you about the elections and campaigning, the reports from the washington post. the president is eager to campaign extensively for republicans. in 201, we know that he loves a good political rally. he campaigned and certainly endorsed roy moore. he supported the virginia race. he doesn't have a good track record in 2017. do you think republicans will embrace his endorsements or try

to keep distance since he's 0 for 3 this year alone. >> i think a little bit of both. it depends, of course, on which republican you are speaking of and in more moderate leaning states they may want distance as the president's approval numbers remain at record lows. he still has pretty strong support among the republican base and some of those more reliably conservative districts having him on the campaign trail could help boost turnout. one of the most telling statistics in alabama was his approval rating in the state of alabama very deeply conservative state was fairly split. 48, 47% between those who approve and disapprove. there is indication he's losing supporters. that speaks to why republicans are eager to pass this tax plan. they haven't had a lot to show. they want something they can run on that would help boost the president's own promises he wept. >> i will give you a chance to weigh in. president trump, a liability or

asset for 2018? lanhee? >> as sabrina said he could be an asset where they are looking to motivate the republican base. if there is disaffection in the base president trump could appeal to that. in some places it will be a definite down side where he's under water, where the electorate is moderate. it depends on the condition of the state as well as the particular district we are talking about. >> matt, last word to you. >> that's right. democrats are just baying at the moon, they are so angry, so fired up. remember, hillary clinton won 23 house districts that have house republicans in them currently. we need 24 seats for democrats to retake the house. he'll be an enormous liability for republicans. >> great to have you with us this afternoon. thanks for joining us. >> thank you. >> coming up, the putin/trump phone call today. what it says about the relationship and our president's affinity for the world's most

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welcome back, everyone. time for a look at we said they said where we take a look at how the international media deals

with stories making headlines in the u.s. tonight -- >> of course the main story in the international papers is that shocking win by democratic doug jones defeating roy moore haunted by allegations of sexual misconduct. >> that was shock and awe across europe as allies respond to the stunning upset in alabama. god's fool from france's liberation newspaper calling moore a candidate who campaigned on christian values. its competitor calling it a set back for trump. in the uk, an opinion piece in the guardian, charlene white writes in alabama black women saved america from itself as they always try to do emphasizing the importance of the african-american vote in a state that struggled with a bloody civil rights movement. the bbc taking a shot at roy moore for riding his horse saying the next time he saddles up the horse it will be to ride off into the sun set.

in germany where trump has butted heads with angela merkel the weekly zeit calling the win the miracle of alabama. the victory of jones makes it clear america has changed since the election of trump. moore's defeat seen as a win for decency that america's moral compass is still intact. and alabama voters proved politics isn't just about party interests but decency and morality as well. that's we said they said for this week. now more on one of our big stories today. from russia with love. president vladimir putin and president trump speaking by phone today. the second conversation between the two leaders since thursday. the white house says putin thanked the cia for a tip that helped prevent a series of bombings at a cathedral and other areas in russia. the suspected terrorists are now in custody. putin assured the president of the kremlin's cooperation if

russia were to discover information on terror plots towards the united states. joining me now is josh lederman from the associated press. back with us once again is charlie savage, "new york times" reporter and msnbc contributor. great to have you with us. josh, this is the second phone call between the two leaders in the past three days. the first was initiated by president trump after putin praised him in his four-hour, year-end press conference. how beneficial is it for the united states to foster open communications with russia? we know this is a stated objective of president trump but now we are finally -- it seems at least based on this phone call seeing that come to fruition. >> right. i think there are two things going on with the call today and the promotion of it by the kremlin and the white house. it allows the president to take a victory lap on stopping a terrorist attack, tough on terrorism. the second is it allows him to troll critics a little bit on the russia issue. here everyone is concerned or at

least some of trump's critics about whether he's too close to russia and he's essential fist bumping president vladimir putin about the cia intelligence. no questions asked, we should always share information to help stop it but this allows the president to show he's not going to be bowed by those who continue to raise concerns about potential collusion with russia. >> charlie, i want you to listen to -- we'll play this sound bite from the president's remarks at a pensacola rally this month. i want to compare it to vladimir putin's comments during his end of the year press conference. we were talking about it on thursday. the two leaders literally talking about the same exact points in lock and step. watch this. >> the stock market -- >> the markets. >> hitting an all time high record. >> how they have grown.

>> economic growth. >> this attests to the trust investors share. >> consumer confidence. >> in the american economy. >> surged to 3.3%. >> they have trust in what president trump is doing. >> it's all psychological to a large extent and that creates greatness. >> with all due respect. >> they call themselves the resistance. >> for the opposition of president trump. >> did you ever see the signs? resist, resist. >> you know, all of this has been invented. >> these fake people back here. >> made up. >> a lot of similarities and talking points between the two there. i'm curious for your thoughts on what we can gather from the president's relationship with putin when you look at comments side by side like that. >> that was a clever editing job. my compliments to the staff for that. that was funny. it's clear the two presidents would like to move past this issue that's ensnared both of them and especially if russia did -- well, we know russia did

try to intervene in the election. we don't know if the trump campaign colluded or not. they were hoping to get -- what they were hoping to get out of the trump administration, so far they probably haven't gotten much of. trump has been so hogtied by the investigation and any hint of relations that might be payback for that assistance. as for the sharing of information about a terror attack, you know, that's not something that would have happened at a presidential level. the intelligence agencies of both countries would constantly be sharing that kind of information for reasons of mutual benefit regardless of how good or bad the relations are at a diplomatic or political level. >> let me ask you about the washington post story about president trump doubting u.s. intelligence. it reads who are the three guys in the world president trump most admires? president xi of china, erdogan

and putin, they are all the same guy. what does it tell us about the president's foreign policy? >> that the president is more inclined to engage and seek cooperation and respect from leader who is are strong figures, sort of authoritarian-leaning leaders from president erdogan of turkey to egypt, putin in russia, king salman in saudi arabia. they can get in a room and get things do and approach the world in a strong, we are doing what we have to do way. >> great to have you both with us on this subject. straight ahead, the mystery over who bought the world's most expensive house finally solved. plus the u.n. security council taking aim at president trump's decision on jerusalem. we'll talk about that. before we go to break, we are

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stories making headlines around the world. in pakistan, isis suicide bombers attacked a christian church wounding more than 50 and killing nine. police killed a suspect and injured another before he detonated his vest. in southern chile, five dead and 50 missing after mud slides in santa lucia. torrential rains called the side of a hill burying homes in the area. in toronto, ontario, autopsies are under way for a billionaire couple found dead in their home this week. police say the deaths appear suspicious, but have offered no further details so far. and in france, the crown prince of saudi arabia is the new owner of the world's most expensive residence, a mere $300 million mansion. the crown prince imprisoned the country's business elite in a drive to crack down on corruption. coming up, international hot spots for the trump foreign policy team including one showing cracks in the relationship between the president and his secretary of state.

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administration's north korea policy. take a listen. >> we need the dprk to come to the table for talks. we are ready to talk any time they'd like to talk. >> north korea must earn its way back to the table. the pressure campaign must and will continue until denuclearization is achieved. >> it's been widely reported that the president and the secretary of state don't see eye to eye on the number of foreign policy issues. north korea just being one of them. when asked by reporters about the discrepancies, rex tillerson had this to say. >> the president's policy on north korea is quite clear. there is no daylight at all between the president's policy and the pursuit of the policy. >> i want to welcome to the show ambassador thomas pickering, former u.s. ambassador to multiple countries including israel, jordan and the u.n. he's cochair of the nuclear crisis group. with us ambassador christopher hill, ambassador to south korea as well as a representative to nuclear talks with north korea. he's now chief adviser to the

chancellor in global engagement, university of denver and author of "outpost, a diplomat at work." let's start with north korea. you know, i would call it a discrepancy between rex tillerson and the president. rex tillerson coming out saying we should talk without condition saying that multiple times. the president saying, no, there is a condition only if north korea agrees to talk about denuclearizing that country. is there or are we reading too much but from your position is there a disconnect from what we are hearing from rex tillerson and the white house? >> obviously very large. till tillerson tried to bridge that out of loyalty to the president. but rex tillerson has been saying that and months ago trump said don't listen to tillerson, we are going to take care of this. the important piece here is when is the right time to begin to talk when you are increasing

pressure? it's certainly before the pressure ends up in conflict. i think we are getting close. i was in south korea last week. talked to a lot of them. they are very, very much disturbed, by the wdisturb ed by the way the situation is going and the president's attitude. chris hill will tell you because he's been deeply involved in negotiations in the past. there comes a right time when you have leverage left to exercise once you get to talks. but the notion that the other side has to give you what you want at the end of the talks is the price for beginning talks has been tried by the united states a number of times and it just doesn't work. rex tillerson is right. we should be engaged and talking now. it will take obviously time and nobody is sure they are going to turn out to be exactly what we want. but we've got to make an effort here to turn the leverage that the president's been focusing on to the kind of outcome we'd like to see. >> ambassador hill, if i may ask, as somebody who sat on the negotiating table with the north koreans in the past, is it a

disservice when the president of the united states talking to north korea is pointless, a waste of time is what he said when rex tillerson talked about it in the past, undermining his own secretary of state. what is different about what the president is doing now compared to what we have been doing as a matter of policy which is trying to negotiate with the north koreans for the past several years? >> well, what the president is trying to do is say that everyone who came before him was wrong, they didn't know what they were doing, wasting time, causing our country to have great peril. and i have come along to sort this all out. clearly he can't even sort it out with his own secretary of state. in trump's defense, which is not a line i have used often, i must say mr. tillerson caused his own problem because he's been all over the map. i'm not sure when he was trying to walk himself back, as tom said, what he meant by they have to earn their way to the table.

talks need to have a point, a purpose. it doesn't means the a precondition. there needs to be a purpose. the purpose is to discuss denuclearization. this is what we tried to do for years. i think the problem was that the secretary implied, no, we'll just talk. i think we invited this retort from the white house. but as for what other people are thinking about, no one seems to know what our policy is. they have a vague notion that the president is going to be tougher about this than the secretary of state. but frankly, we don't have sustained diplomacy on this. we don't have people deployed and the reason we don't have diplomacy is we don't have enough diplomats. you have to give both people blame for this. >> let's switch gears and talk a little bit about the saber rattling that's continuing with iran this week with ambassador nikki haley standing in front of what she claims is an iranian rocket that struck near the saudi capitol, calling it indisputable evidence of the

resolution violating actions. funny enough, javaz zarif tweeted a picture of the u.n. ambassador next to colin powell, comparing her colin powell comp her to the infamous speech at the unit where he laid out his case for the bush administration's invasion of iraq. and as you can see there, he says, when i was based at the u.n. i saw this show and what it begat. nikki haley's evidence seems thin by different people's analysis. were you convinced by this presentation that iran is, as she said, violating u.n. security council resolutions? >> not necessarily so. i'm not an expert in rockets. i didn't get a close look at it. in all honesty, there's no question at all that the iranians have taken the opportunity to help the houthis

in yemen and that continues. what we ought to look at is zarif that he'd be prepared to negotiate with the saudis and it's time that should happen. i think that's right. interestingly enough, just last week when the former president of yemen since murdered unfortunately said he was ready to begin negotiations, the saudis jumped in, too. there's an opportunity here. i'm not sure that nikki haley in fact saw that opportunity or indeed helped to promote it by her actions in new york, which i think tend to reflect a policy now which i think is sadly mistaken that we should be demonizing our enemies, demonizing russia, demonizing iran, demonizing china. it doesn't get you very far because it means it's harder to talk and for the political price you pay for trying to open up any relationship is fairly high.

there's a president who seemingly loves mr. putin and vice versa, but everybody else in his party and most other people who look at the country are now on the demonization road there. >> let me ask you about that claim. unfortunately, we've all been somewhat scarred by the iraq weapons of mass destruction claim made at the united nations. we'll be skeptical of any intelligence put out in front of us. do you think that nikki haley made a case when we don't know if that rocket was shipped to iran from yemen? >> there are iranian rockets all over the place. i think it's something that needs to be pursued, but i don't think she made, how to put it, a slam dunk case. i think what really is clear is that no one has been comfortable or many people have been uncomfortable with the iran nuclear deal because it did not address regional issues. let's start talking about regional issues. this is what javad zarif has

been saying, the university of denver graduate, javad zarif has been saying for a number of years. okay, let's talk about these issues. yet there the u.s. has been unwilling to sit down with the iranians on the. high time we got the saudis together and the iranians and ourselves and talk about the difficult regional issues because the middle east is continuing to go in the wrong direction. >> the same with the middle east, i want to talk about the issue of jerusalem. on monday we expect the united nations to vote on a draft resolution about trump's rejection of the resolution to the city. mike pence's visit was delayed. he's saying it was because of the tax vote. thousands of folks gathered in front of the u.s. embassy in indonesia, in jakarta,

denouncing trump's israel decision. there's obviously a lot of tension that is building up as a result of this decision. ambassador pickering, i know that you served in israel. this decision and tomorrow the international community is going to reject it, the united states is going to be standing alone on the world stage saying that jerusalem is the capital of israel. have we undermined our own efforts when it comes to trying to get an international coalition by then turning around and dismissing the international community on many issues but on this particular issue, dismissing the international community that is saying jerusalem or at least the eastern part of jerusalem is occupied palestinian territory? >> i think for 70 years we had a position that we wouldn't take any steps with respect to jerusalem which would in any way prejudge the outcome of negotiations. that's been, in my view, always been the right policy. what president trump did served no u.s. interests. it may have served some interests on his part, some fence mending with the jewish

community. obviously prime minister netanyahu liked it, but i don't really think the israelis ever expected anything like this to drop in their laps. we can see the violence. we knew the violence was going to take place. it's a tragedy if anybody is hurt much less people killed over an issue that help nos palpable u.s. interest. it doesn't serve any interest but that it in many ways has added a negative burden -- >> right. >> -- to the president's interest in solving this, the most difficult of all problems. i think that's certainly true. we could have done things that other people suggested like perhaps saying, okay, we'll look at a jerusalem. it will be capital of palestine, the capital of israel. we see those as both logical outcomes in the negotiations, something that secretary kerry said a while ago. >> we have about 30 seconds left to the end of the program. the plo representative on this program in d. clchlt told us the

two-state solution mediated by the united states is dead. do you see an opportunity for the europeans and others to work as credible mediators between the israelis and the palestinians going forward? >> i do. >> i don't think the europeans -- >> i'm sorry, ambassador hill. >> sorry. too many ambassadors here. >> we're lucky. >> i don't think it's dead, but some how the trump administration has to get itself out of here. becauses a ambassador pickering said, this does not serve our interests well. >> it's great to have both your expertise with us this evening. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you. >> that will do it for this week. join me back here next sunday to break down the issues of the week. reach out to me on social media.

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this sunday, a political earthquake. democrat doug jones' win over roy moore in alabama changes the political calculus for 2018. >> we have come so far, and the people of alabama have spoken. >> republicans may be relieved that roy moore is gone -- >> i'm really, really happy with what happened for all of us. >> -- but democrats suddenly sense the possibility of taking back both the house and the senate. >> i think that the energy going into 2018 has already begun. >> my guest this morning, democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia and republican governor john kasich of ohio.