>> they sat here for hours and shared their photos and got to know each other. and made plans. like families do. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. good morning. i'm dara brown at msnbc world headquarters in new york. it is 7:00 in the east, and 4:00 out west. here's what's happening. drinks and talk of political dirt about hillary clinton. the new report about how the russia probe began with a campaign foreign policy adviser. ticket prices on the rise for president trump's new year's eve bash at his florida club. the questions about whether it is unfair easy access to the president for the rich. >> three, two, one -- >> and it's 2018 somewhere. early pictures of the new year's celebration.

and we begin with breaking news out of iran where two anti-government protesters have reportedly been killed. iran's semiofficial news agency says they are the first deaths linked to four days of protests. nbc's matt bradley is monitoring developments from our lonsden bureau. good morning. what is the latest? >> good morning, dara. ominous words now from iran's government following that violence you just mentioned. the protests in the islamic republic are entering their fourth day today. iran's interior minister, he warned that protesters would, quote, pay the price for damaged property and other violence. and meanwhile, a local official in western iran, where those two demonstrators were shot dead yesterday, as you mentioned, dara, they said that they were killed not by iranian police, but by, quote, foreign agents. this from a local official in western iran. so this uptick in rhetoric, it's coming as the violence in iran has peaked over the weekend. and protests against iranians' clerical ruling regime are spreading across the country.

yesterday's protests started off as actual pro-regime demonstrations, but quickly turned into yet another day of anti-regime rage. the protests have become the largest since the so-called green movement in 2009 when angry students reacted to the re-election of president mahmoud ahmadinej ahmadinejad. there are fears the iranian regime will suppress this latest uprising over the weekend as brutally as they did the protests back in 2009. back then those months of protests led to dozens of deaths, and thousands of arrests before they were finally put down. and many are worried that we're going see a similar situation here. but unlike the green movement eight years ago, this past weekend's protest started as a reaction mostly to economic grievances. mostly a sharp rise in prices for essential goods. now since then that anger has blossomed into protests against the regime itself. another interesting difference about this weekend's protests compared to the ones in 2009, these protests appear to be far

less centrally planned. because back in 2009, the green movement against conservative clerics, they were led by opposition politicians. the same one who had lost, apparently, to mahmoud ahmadinejad, that conservative cleric who won the president sis back then. so these protests appear to be at least somewhat less -- sorry, somewhat more spontaneous. and that makes them quite a bit more difficult to control. but also to sustain. so it's a very interesting moment in iran, dara, and the kind of moment that we really only see once in a decade. we'll be keeping you up to date on this very uncertain situation as it unfolds. dara? >> matt bradley. thank you so much for that update. now to politics, and new reaction to that "new york times" report on how a foreign policy adviser with the trump campaign may have been the reason the fbi began its investigation of russia and trump associates. the report says george papadopoulos allegedly told an australian diplomat that russia had political dirt in the form of e-mails on hillary clinton. in response to that report, here's what a former watergate

prosecutor told msnbc. >>. big enchilada here is the conspiracy to break in to the democratic national committee in violation of the federal computer crime law and to use those e-mails to help donald trump get elected. all of that is motive as to why donald trump and others were endeavoring to obstruct the investigation and why donald trump told james comey to let the investigation on flynn go. all of this is going to come together in 2018. >> president trump appeared to respond to "the new york times" report with his tweet shortly after the story broke. i use social media not because i like to,ing but because it is the only way to fight a very dishonest and unfair press. now often referred to as fake news media. phony and nonexistent sources are being used more often than ever. many stories and reports a pure fiction. let's bring in kevin cirilli, chief washington correspondent for bloomberg tv and julia manchester, correspondent for the hill.

kevin, i want to start with you, because how significant is this revelation? >> well, it's pretty significant. and look, i think that the notion that this is going to continue into 2018 is the right one. i mean, there's just court dates that are scheduled for later this year. but also i think it's worth noting that prominent republicans within the republican party are pushing for this to continue forward. and the notion that a lot of these intelligence community institutions from the cia to the fbi, i mean, these are very much pressing forward with their investigations. and at the end of the day, to be quite candid, it doesn't really matter what -- what the media has to say, it really matters what these investigations come out with. and so the media very important. but in terms of the investigations, i mean, that's not fake news. that's real news. and until those investigations are concluded and come forth, this is definitely going to be something that the administration is going to have to worry about. >> and julia, what does this report do for the gop argument about the dossier? >> so, kind of almost negates

that argument, to be honest. so the gop is arguing that the dossier was really a politically motivated catalyst to get this investigation into the trump campaign rolling. however, this shows the report shows that this was going on way before, and that we see that papadopoulos isn't really much of a coffee boy, like the white house has been saying, as the campaign has been saying. clearly papadopoulos was talking with high level foreign officials such as an australian diplomat about what had been -- what he knew in the campaign. so, we really have to see where this is going. but to kevin's point about the ongoing investigations, we're seeing the senate intelligence committee, their investigation, they said it's supposed to wrap up in the early months of 2018. however they still have several interviews to go. i think this really could play in to where this investigation goes. on the senate panel. >> and kevin, does this revelation further help put president trump and the gop's escalating ataxes against the

fbi now into perspective? >> a little bit. and i think that it's important to note here just what this does in terms of the -- the -- the shaping, rather, of what the administration halves trying to do with george papadopoulos and crafting him as someone -- or arguing that he was someone who was a low-level campaign official. i mean, look, a lot of folks on that trump campaign were acting a bit very different, to say the least, in terms of previous government campaigns and political campaign that the united states is used to during elections. but, i think it gets to the heart of the matter. which is that as these campaigns continue in 2018 and 2020 and beyond, what is the relationship that these folks are going to be having in any campaign, regardless with how they communicate to the international community, as a so-called low level staffer, such as george papadopoulos was doing? and it comes to the issue, and the heart of this issue, and the case that the justice -- or that the intelligence community has

launched against people like paul manafort the president's former campaign chairman, who was charged with conspiring against the united states, as well as folks like george papadopoulos, which is, are you disclosing who you are representing, and is there a process set up for these campaign aides, such as george papadopoulos, to disclose what type of interactions they're having with foreign governments. that really should be where this conversation, when all of this is said and done, changes, to prevent this data from happening again. >> and kevin, you talk about the heart of this case. julia, what does this do to the predictions about how long the mueller investigation will last now? will this carry out through much of 2018? >> yeah, i think it's possible. i mean we see that watergate took a substantial amount of time though i'm not trying to completely compare the two investigations, they're very different. however i think this definitely could play into it and this is something mueller's team will definitely be looking into. like kevin said, the argument that the trump campaign was very

inexperienced had never -- the campaign staffers had never really dealt with something like this before, isn't going to -- i don't think work in mueller's eyes. because the team's eyes because it's just -- this is something that should be -- should have been reported, and there should have been a streamline as to how to deal with it. >> and who cares? who cares if they were inexperienced? they should -- there has to be -- this is the united states. this is the bedrock of democracy. there has to be a system in place set up for disclosures in order for who folks are discussing. and so the question becomes, what charges will these investigations ultimately bring forward? or what conclusions? and we should note, i mean, whether folks like it or not, is that there's growing urgency, at least on some faction of the republican party to target bob mueller and his investigation and to look for conflicts of interest. and i, you know, i think that's also going to be something that folks in the republican party

are also going to have to grapple with this forthcoming year, as well. >> kevin you talk about the urgency. but i want to ask you about the timing of this. what do you think about the timing of this? and what does it do to the whole dossier thing. why would they bring this out now? >> that's what's been really interesting. and i think that both critics of the investigation, as well as folks who just want it to go on and be transparent as possible and get to some conclusions is that the timing of all of this has risen questions about all of this. and look the trump administration, dara, as you know, as julia knows, is saying what is with all these leaks, leaks, leaks about the investigation? whether it's from the intelligence community or from congressional leaks. and that's also something that folks just want to have this play out in a fair way just to get to the bottom of it, to prevent whatever happened and if anyone did anything wrong they should be held accountable. that's really, i think, where all of this is going to be headed and it's not operating on any time line. just look at the 2016 election. we all know the intelligence

community, i.e. james comey, are not going to operate on anyone's time line but your own. >> julia, what is your take on this timing? >> i agree with kevin. i think it's interesting, i guess, you know, why -- where it comes out as it comes into 2018. i mean, i think it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out in the election cycle. i think, however, i'm not saying there's any political lines between it. but, i mean i think it does play into like i said, with the senate panel, and them trying to wrap up, i think it's going to play into that as well as the other congressional panels, and the mueller's probe. >> julia manchester, keviner s islely. please stay with us. what is behind the largest protest iran has seen since two thaud nine? we'll ask my next guest. >> two, one -- and this is what 2018 looks like, at least in auckland, new zealand. these fireworks went off about an hour ago. a spectacular sight at the sky

tower. the next major city to ring in the new year, sydney, australia. that happens at the top of the hour. so that's the idea. what do you think? hate to play devil's advocate but... i kind of feel like it's a game changer. i wouldn't go that far. are you there? he's probably on mute. yeah... gary won't like it. why?

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unrest in iran for the fourth straight day is reportedly spreading to the capital with crowds confronting police. a protest yesterday ended in clashes and social media video shows a wounded man being carried to safety. joining me now is world news editor with the daily beast and msnbc contributor, christopher, these are the largest protests in iran since 2009, what is behind it, and how significant are they? >> well, this is, you might say, a different class of protest. the people who started protesting in mashad, a lot of them may have been organized by the hard-line elements in the

regime to undermine the government of president rouhani. but it quickly got out of control. because there's a lot of unemployment, buying power has gone down, basic commodities have gone up. the economy is not recovering, at least for most people in the country, despite the lifting of a lot of sanctions as a result of the iran deal -- the nuclear deal. so, there's a lot of discontent, and people now are turning directly and attacking the government, and saying this is the fault of the mullahs, this is the fault of the theocracy, something's got to change. but there's no leadership to make it change. so it's a very uncertain situation. >> and christopher, one iranian official already said that the foreign intelligence services may have played a role in starting the clashes. is that a comment directed at the u.s.? >> well, of course it is. and if you listen to what president trump has been saying over the last several months, you can easily make the case

that the kinds of chants that are being heard in the street today, in iran, even calling for the return of the shah, talking about ending the foreign adventurism of iran, all of -- all of those points are the kinds of points that trump and his supporters have made many times about iran. so, you can see how they would make that case. but is it true? very probably not. this is very much a home-grown protest movement. people are sick of the mullahs. they want change. but they're not sure how to get it, apart from going in the streets. >> christopher, do you think that this is the beginning of something really big going on here? or do you think it's going to be tampered down by the government? >> i am afraid it probably will not lead anywhere good. i think most likely it will be tamped down by the government. if it gets more violent, and spreads more extensively, then we'll see really major unrest in iran, and huge instability in a country that's, for better or worse, better off for the middle

east if it's stable than if it's in turmoil. >> and christopher, on the broader topic of u.s. foreign policy here, the white house national security adviser, h.r. mcmaster told "the new york times" that president trump's approach, quote, has moved a lot of us out of our comfort zone, me included. and richard haass, president of the council on foreign relations says we're beginning to see countries take matters into their own hands. this is a case in point here. they're hedging against america's unreliability. is u.s. global leadership now a thing of the past? >> well, i think it probably is. at least in the sense that we've known it. because, what the united states stood for for the last 70 years was an idea of an international order based upon laws and common interests. and president trump has essentially thrown all that up in the air. i think his national security adviser mcmaster is probably among those who originally thought, and there were many, that a little bit of

irrationality, a little bit of keeping the adversaries and enemies guessing about what we might do, was a good thing. but president trump goes way too far. and the question is -- the question has become, is what -- is his manner of conducting foreign policy a mad man theory, or is it really the act of someone who is pretty nuts. and a lot of people, a lot of allies, especially, of the united states, have concluded that they just can't rely on trump. they can't move him out of the presidency of the united states. they have to just wait him out. and in the meantime they have to find their own means of pursuing agendas that they think are more rational than the ones pursued by the united states. >> christopher, one of those reports suggests that mr. trump seems most interested in discussing military options on north korea, and his rhetoric makes white house advisers nervous. how do other countries feel about hayes propose? >> well i think nobody wants to

see a war in korea, including probably including president trump. but i think this is a perfect example of the mad man theory. if you keep pushing, if you keep talking about war, the idea is, you will be taken seriously, and it won't just be dismissed out of hand as a possibility. up to a point, that is a good thing. the problem is, if our bluff is called, if the american bluff is called by kim jong-un, and a war does begin, it will be a far more disastrous war than any we have seen since -- well not even since the korean war. since world war ii. hundreds of thousands of people will be killed. so, this is a very dangerous game, indeed, and the idea that china and russia will help us get out of it seems to have been blown already. they came up with very hard -- they voted for very harsh sanctions at the united nations security council, but already we see that those sanctions are being broken. >> and christopher, real --

>> it's a dangerous game, and not a very convincing one. >> real quick, we know that it is new year's eve and there's heightened security around major population centers in europe, and you're in paris, is that putting a damper on celebrations there? >> well, you might say. i mean, you can probably see some of the red and white tape strung around the arc de triomphe around me. there will be tens of thousands of people trying to get into that area tonight. they'll all have to go through security checks, and here's an important thing, in france, no glass bottles. so if you're taking a bottle of champagne to celebrate the new year, it's going to be confiscated. >> christopher dickey live for us in paris, happy new year, my friend. thank you. coming up, the shutdown showdown. can congressional leaders hammer out a deal with the president to avoid a shutdown, and maybe save daca? and we invite you to join us later on msnbc live. we'll have one of the reporters

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now back to politics. congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle are reportedly set to meet with top white house officials wednesday on the agenda, spending an immigration reform. let's bring in kevin cirilli, chief washington correspondent for bloomberg tv and julia manchester, reporter for the hill. julia, what should we expect from this meeting? >> it's interesting. president trump will not be at the meeting, instead he'll be having general john kelly, his chief of staff, in his place, and we'll see mark shore and nick mulvaney sitting in, as well. it's going to be interesting because we've seen democrats walk away from these meetings in the past and have claimed various concessions when the president was there. it will be interesting to see how these talks go with the people standing in his place. but i think we're going to see the white house try to really push the president's agenda, in that he wants to -- he has said

he wants to fix daca but he wants to get democrats on board with building the southern border wall. this is something democrats have said they would rather not be a part of. but we saw chuck schumer and nancy pelosi kind of brush off the president's tweet on the matter last week, saying oh, we're not going to negotiate through the press. so we'll really have to see what happens. >> and kevin, what kind of position should we expect democratic leaders to take after president trump tweeted on immigration the other day, saying no wall, no daca? i mean, is he setting up a fight with republicans who after said from the beginning that their interested in protecting the dreamers? >> oh, to be a fly on the wall of the republican conference committee. because, look, i mean, a lot of these folks, these deficit hawks who were concerned about the deficits in the republican party up on capitol hill when they were dealing with tax reform, they went along with this plan by president trump, and now they've got to deal with daca. look, democrats have drawn the line in the sand. they are not going to budge at all on the issue of daca.

and so that's where president trump -- >> we have to wrap you. we are out of time guys. thank you so much. happy new year to you both. thanks for being here. we'll continue this conversation next weekend. that will do it for me. i'm dara brown. thanks for watching. at the top of the hour it's "politics nation."

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