his first big speech to congress, and it had less than no connection with anything that followed in the next year. whatever he says tonight will have zero connection with the course of last year. theater, great, but real consequence, zippo. thank you to my guests, that does it for our hour, i'm nicole wallace. special coverage of the state of the union is continuing with my friend here chuck todd. >> i have friends down here, we could get you down here, come on down, it's a blast. >> if it's tuesday, the state of our union is increasingly fragile. this is nonelection night, but

it is state of the union night. this is the both's first state of the union. the state of our replublic is i trouble. he seems content on trying to attempt to corrupt part of the justice department in an attempt to deal with the russia probe and it is happening under the party that called itself the party of law and order. the president fired james comby because the president claimed this russia thing was a made up story. he went a after andrew mccabe and called his wife a louisiaos. he resigned yesterday. and ray has been forced to defend the fbi against the president's claim it's is in

tatters. he offered the president his resignation. he has been publicly attacked by the president referred to as the democrat from baltimore. and the president reportedly considered firing rosenstein, too. now they have released a memo to underestimate muler. he reportedly backed down, but the attacks on the justice department did ramp up, so why? because the facts are damming? and since they're not on the president's side, maybe he is barring a page from johnnie cochran and oj simpson, go after the fact finders. this is one of the president's top advisors.

>> director mulvaney. happy state of the union day, sir. >> are you inside and warm because i am not? >> i am. is the president going to talk about the russia investigation or russia meddling in the 2018 election. >> i think you will see a quick look back at the successes over the course of the year, and then a look fard. i think you will see a gammet of things reported on. i think it is fairly accurate. i don't think you're going to see anything outside of policy tonight. >> let me ask about russia and the sanctions specifically. there is a lot of mixed reporting out there. they believe some of the sanctions need to be rethought.

it is not clear on if they intend to enforce the sanctions and seriously as they indended. >> i have full faith in secretary mnuchin that he will take the time to do it properly. we will enforce the law, i would not misinterpret the delay by anything but an intention to follow the law. >> when you have that, do they take what they said seriously in that russia is intent on meddling in the 2018 elections. >> does the president of the united states take mike pompey

owe serious -- pompeo seriously. >> i understand, but we have not had a chance to talk to many members of the administration, and let me ask you this, how often does the president appoint potential appointees who they or their spouse voted for? >> chuck, never asked me that question and that's all i can speak to, if you want to talk about the speech tonight and the policies, that would be great, that's what i was told the interview is about. >> does -- >> the last question had nothing to do about the speech tonight. >> you, as a megaof congress railed against overreach at the justice department. do you believe the president tweeting about the director of the fbi -- how does that ncome across as meddling. >> the speech will be on

policies, the accomplishments we had during the year, it will give him a chance to talk about moving forward on a bipartisan basis. i don't think anything you've meaned so far has to do with the speech this evening. is the president going to present his plan as "this is my plan or this is my starting point for negotiation"? i think we offered those ideas earlier this week. as i understand it, the folks that have been on the fill, there is folks on the hard left that don't like, it, folks on the hard right that don't like it. he says i know i give you something two days ago, here is what we would like to accomplish, i think the

negotiation is moving forward, but i know for a paresident wans to do something about daca when we will get something done on daca. >> does daca have to be done before you get a permanent budget deal? or will we have another continuing resolution? some are already talking about another continuing resolution? >> i think you understand this as well as anyone. they're talking about a larger spending bill, there is no chance they would have the opportunity to do the appropriations bill between now and february 8th. there could be agreements on the caps, but -- >> so we're punting? >> the question is, i think that is fair, but are you punting knowing what the deal is at the end of that punt or because you have not reached a deal?

>>. >> if there is an amendment in the budget deal, will the president still sign the budget deal? >> i have not talked to the president about that, we want a deal. we worked hard to prevent a shut down, hard to get out of a shut down, i think he wants to run the government and we will do everything we can to do that. >> one thing the president likes to talk about is the stock market, it took a real hit today. how will he explain that tonight when he wants to talk about hey look at what i have done for the stock market, and on the day he wants to tout it it took a hit. >> i saw something said that yesterday and today were the first time the s&p has dropped in 100 days. >> is this the danger with trying to connect the stock market with his policies? >> we have made fundamental

changes to the american economy. we talked a little about the tax policy, not as much about the deregulatory agenda, but we think they have fundamentally and strul raleal structually -- >> any, thank you for coming on and sharing your views, sir. >> thank you, john. >> we're bringing in the all-star panel tonight. it's tom brokaw, a good friend of mr. letterman, savanna guthrie, and andrea mitchell.

mr. mulvaney gave you a similar experience today. >> they like to say you're obsessed with russia, and everyone is talking about it because there is a criminal investigation into obstruction of justice. i don't think we can emphasize it too much. it is so extraordinary. he is the subject of a criminal investigation and he is the president of the united states. the president wants to talk about it, he's not happen about it, and the more he takes actions and does things like fire the director of the f,000,000,0fbi, the more in the thick of it. >> and if he had not fired james comey, there would be no robert mu mueller. the republicans have been uniting to release a memo

questioned by his own. >> i would be interested to see if he extends what he said in davos. it was more bipartisan, more concentrated on the economy, and more reasonable. then he comes home to find out his republican friends on the hill think they have the fbi in the cross hairs and they will let him make the decision about whether or not they mention him or not. they said this will be a bipartisan piece tonight. i think it is in the eye of the be holder, it will be interesting to see if he does reach across the border. the fact of the matter is you're all right. covering this town, and the white house, is the fact of the smaller that mr. mueller who is highly regarded former fbi dr director in this city.

who was widely praised when he was apoised is in the midst of an investigation. there is a reality about how much that want to talk about it. >> this is a party that railed against what they thought was too cozy of a relationship between eric holder and the president. this is unbelievable. if a democrat were doing this, or if trump was a democrat, there would be hearings -- >> everything is top sy turvey. republicans always circled wagons on law enforcement, and you have republicans talking about civil libertieliberties,

concerns about the fisa application. i think the president is putting pre pressure through his tweets and republican counter p ecounterpa carry my water. >> and they are, andrea, paul ryan is trying, he is saying don't oversell the nunez memo, trying to dial it back. >> and devin nunez has been an embarrassment to his colleagues. he was in the transition. he went to the white house with a fraudulent claim about the obama administration, national security team, and it was discredited and disproved by the ethics committee, and he is asserting himself here and challenging what a judge renewed involving an intercept that picked up collaterally a trump

campaign aide, picked up talking to a man spying for russian. >> we go from the wide ban of social media and the fey most commentator on another channel is some of the most prominent. you had a front row seat for nixon. and he was not undermining the investigation. >> if he had fox news would hes? >> yeah, i would get on, work at

7:00 and now back to the today show in the morning. there was more commentary going on. it was a different pace but there is a lot of similarity here and we saw today president nixon saying one year of watergate is enough. he tried to shut it down and there was a fair amount of support. i went to phoenix for a rally, and the white house press corp was tiny. we thought they might ride in and lynch us or something. >> i think the president and his alleys and the congress have done a good job muddying the waters. i think in our political time and moment, people are throwing up their hands and it's the same old partisan food fight. i think it has been successful.

>> and throw in the russian novel, and three names for everybody, and it is very difficult to follow. what is not difficult to follow which is the fbi, the memo, russia. all straight ahead as we gear up for the president's first state of the union address tonight on msnbc.

welcome back, the president is not the only one delivering a political message tonight, he is the only one delivering it from a podium. the congress women are wearing all black for the me too movement. the republican women will wear red, white, and blue to support the military. more than 20 daca guests will be in the gallery.

then there are at least a dozen democrats boycotting the address all together including jon lewis. there was speculation that some would teenagestage a walkout. she said if you want to walk out, don't come in. and then there is the president himself, he will be asking for cooperation and cash. not making that last part up. more "mtp daily" in 60 seconds.

welcome back to "mtp daily." andrea, i think i cut you off last time. quickly pick up on this point. i want to get into the memo.

how many people have to be in on this if the judge, multiple members of the fbi. some 18 different people being involved in this -- >> it was an extension, a renewal of a warrant that they had been for quite some time looking into carter paige. there was three russian spies. one was tried, convicted, and jailed. he was writing and talking in a secure facility in new york about this man, carter page long before any dossier or anything else. there was a top secret, high powers investigation. >> and we have not seen the

memo, but a application is this think -- >> the renewal application, too. i think the idea about the renewal application is that it is the fruit of the poisonous tree. it was problematic according to the republicans and the remember memo because it relied in part on the steel dos d dossier. and it was not commissioned initially by democrats. fair point, perhaps, but likely the application and the basis for which by which the judge granted the warrant was not just this but a host of things. you have to have a lot of evidence before the judge to get the application granted. we'll see what it is, but -- >> look at how long it takes to explain what happened. it is so easy to make this, oh,

these -- they keep going down that rabbit hole or -- >> i remember being in the small town of wyoming doing some reporting and a woman came up to me on the street and she said the russians, they were probably involves, but i did don't think made a difference in the election. i think a lot of people agree. it is disputable. that putin wanted to put his hands around this election as much as he possibly could and he was encouraged by the president along the way. >> and his cia director said this week that putin is doing it, still doing it, and wants to continue to do it in 2018. this is not clapper or any of the formers that worked for barack obama. if mike pompeo blaeelieves it i

true, the issue that the intelligence agency agrees that it was because of that, and the president takes it that way and he thinks that is what is being alleged and that angers him so much. >> i have had people close to the president try to say "stop doing this to him. he views it not like he was helping russians, why is it on us to compartmentalize it? >> i have been in washington for a long time, and we have had a lot of him throughout the years.

the fact about donald trump is that he doesn't like any kind of criticism and he work for anyone but trump. they said you owe us the money, there it is, and he would walk away and sue them. he believes that everyone works for him and they have to answer to him. he doesn't believe there is three divisions of the government here -- >> but the greek tragedy aspect of it is but for them being so f fixated on the investigation, it is his personal business, and the accusation is that someone was colluding with the russians, but only because of his own actions and following comey an

obstruction investigation that is far simpler. >> i have to bring up scott pruitt said "i believe donald trump and the wlous be more abusive to the skruconstitutionn draum, and this says a lot. he is -- >> he was working with jeb bush then. now he is talked about now that he has worked with this president he has seen up close how good he is and -- this was a critique because the president believes he has all power. i think that he mistakes his power. >> and we have a number of republicans and retired military, the ceos love the

corporate tax cut, that he is breaking down regulations. they're still profoundly disturbed, conservative people, that he is breaking down norms, saying his justice department, talking to the people, investigating him. >> i talked with one very active member of the congress and the senate, and i said what is it like when the white house comes to capitol hill, he said it is all just rah, rah, rah. it's not just the presidency at stake here. the republican party is now all bought in. all in, and those are -- that is very consequential. >> this is trump's party, it was a point of pride for him today. that we have not been this you

yi -- united in a long time. how much does the state of the union matter when you can see and hear the president all day every day. we'll talk to a couple former white house advisors about the dmaj this saturated media environment. we'll have more after this.

welcome back, there is a county doubt clock because we love them here, we're two hours away from our special state of the union coverage. i'll be on your local nbc station tonight with lester holt. you can also get coverage on msnbc at 8:00 p.m., and then you can stream it live on youtube. stream us where ever you want, which ever view you want, whatever you need, we'll be right back.

welcome back, what is a shelf life of the state of the union speech these days. mostly likely the answer is not very long. these days, we hear the president's thoughts on twitter multiple times a day. tonight seems like just another speech unless, of course, he

doesn't stick to the teleprom teleprompter. let's go to a few people who have dealt with the state of the union addresses themselves. josh earnest, i want to start with you. i think you started to feel this early on, this is not just a trump phenomenon, the state of the union resonatesle less and less every year. it was a challenge for you. >> we started doing it earlier in the year. on 2016 we did the state of the union on january 13th. let's get the year off to a good start. the other thing we started to do was release policy proposals in the start of the speech. >> there is no more post spinning the speech any more, is

there? >> no, we would still travel, but you will recall in 2016 president balm did do a little travel. the idea of going to red states to talk about his vision for the country. we did a town hall meeting in baton rouge, louisiana. it didn't have the desired effect. >> you were in the administration where the last state of the union had some legs the day after. >> there was a state of the union plan that included a slight rollout before, teasers, then the speech, and then it would be a cadence every week for four weeks. and then you would kind of build it, you would have hearings on capitol hill around the tax

cuts, there was a plan. >> i feel like the unique plan, the president is ever where. this is not special tonight. there is pomp and circumstance, but we hear from him constantly. >> it may not be special for him, but it is very special for our democracy and the world watches us to see how our democracy does it. that's why i hope that tonight will not be a protest night. i don't want the world to see our democracy as one where people are rude on the floor of the house. >> it seems like there is an expectation that someone will pull a joe wilson on him. >> it seems more likely to come from the gallery and not the members. but i do agree that the kind of media attention that the media had previously been showered on, they say the union address is not there any more, but this is

stishl a special night. i believe -- i still have good memories of 5:30 on the night of the state of the union address, the map within the blue goose podium. practicing the times, the pauses, and the pronunciation of names. >> the or story was cropping up, and you know it will overshadow the speech, do you just plow through it? >> yes, don't let someone else affect the agenda that you worked so hard on. don't be disconnected. this f there was a crisis where america and the world are paying attention to, don't look disconnected for that, but but i

invite a debate for something that you're involved in that does not relate -- >> even if it is a subtle message, we're going to jump on it. >> this is also something else we would be doing the night before, trying to pick up exerts of the speech that we could release early. then you would try to get 20 or 30 seconds on the nightly news. but you don't think that nightly news will -- >> they will, but tonight it is a -- there is so much other news -- >> it may not lead the news the way it has in the past, you're probably right. >> let me ask about the state of the union response. it is never easy. look, people -- >> people only remember it when you screw it up. has there been a good one? i'm trying to remember. jim webb gets some credit because his resonated at a time when you were -- but you were not popular at the time, so

maybe anyone would have resonated. >> i agree with that. i think the responses are yesterday's way of doing business and we don't need them any more. you don't need the response. i think most of the response will be a social media response. >> there is several responlss tonight. >> i think it is worth rethinking the way they are put together. it is too often they look like watered down versions of the state of the union. you would capitalize on the outsider advantages. and it should be delivered somewhere other than washington, outside of a cheering crowd. >> but i remember they tried this against bill clinton, it has been tried and it us looks -- you always watch it and think go on, but it looks like it's scene, sfliegt.

>> yeah, if it was a rally and there was cheering crowds, it would have a different field. >>. >> i like the state of the union address to be the article one, two, and three of the constitution coming together. and words can be spoken -- >> you want john roberts to -- >> i think it is good to see that, see the generals come in, the cabinet come in. >> i'm with you on the pomp. my father used to intimidate me. it is that person, i think it is great as a civics lesson. >> it is getting harder and harder and it is also an acronistic, but the state of the

union is very different from what it was -- >> i think some day -- did you think about that? >> congress is the host. congress is the host. >> i think the other value is that it does set it apart as a different speech in is a time when the name that room are different if is a cue to the news media and those watching at theme this is something they should pay attention to. do they do is that? and the world pays attention to it. >> you're very earnest. thank you, both up ahead, as it just mentioned when it comes to the democratic state of the union, you get to choose your own adventure.

tonight, i'm obsessed with the democratic response to the state of the union speech. there is one official, but there is one, a lot more, then there is elizabeth guzman who just on a seat in the house of delegates, she will give a spanish language response. those two. then there are unofficial responlss r responses by progressives,

bernie sanders, he will watch the speech and respond to what president trump has to say. then, you have congresswoman max se maxine waters on b.e.t. and donna edwards will be addressing the working parties family. what do they all have in common? they might not have enough in common. if you have five plans, five chances, trying to respond to this president, you could argue you have no plans. the one thing they can agree on is president trump. but you to be for something, too. we'll be right back.

welcome back, our all-star panel is back.

tom brokaw, sa vvanna guthrie, andrea mitchell. how does this have legs? a government shut down happened on monday and we didn't even talk about it on sunday. >> that's a condition of our times unfortunately. we have been for a lot of things. here are two events they believe have disappeared from the landscape and i will surprise you, but stop and think about it for a moment. the las vegas mass shooting and the texas shooting. we don't talk about them any more. two of the worst in the country's history, and they're off of the grid. we're not even discussing them. >> is that the era of trump or the gun issue? >> i think it's the era we're living in. it's all of the things coming at you 24/7.

stop and think about that, a terrorist attack, conducted by an american. >> the largest in the country, but not even by a dozen, it wasn't even close. >> and i wonder what they're thinking. those that survived and those that lost people. >> we had a report on a valiant survivor that is just starting her rehab and it was so poignant. and savanna, you covered gabby giffo gifford. not many democrats are yelling, you lie be. >> the gally is going to be

loaded with activists. it is unfortunate, we have been friends for a decade now, where is the radical middle, when will they rise up? >> reasonable people can't be angry because they're reasonable. you don't hold um a sip a sign says "i can be persuaded" the tribalism is so corrosive, these are moments that should be moments for our country. >> and he is so over exposed on twitter -- is this the new, or is he even more so? >> yes, absolutely. it's not just that he stops and takes questions that we love, more often than his predecessors, but it is unique. >> you cannot overstate the social media aspect of it all. in my line, there are guys out

there in their underwear that could not get a date for the prom but they can send these messages out when ever they want to. >> in another era, if we had a young kid named kennedy giving a state of the union, we would say is the dynasty coming back? but he doesn't have a boston acce accent. >> i wonder why anyone takes the gig of the responls. it is an honor, and he is someone they feel is an up and comer. >> up and comer, but i have been talking to democratic women wondering why they did not choose a woman to try to capitalize on the advantage that democrats feel they have and they are certainly not -- >> that is an interesting decision by them that they did a young white guy. a male. >> democrats and republicans

have both been affected by the movement and the scandals. but the fact is they could have chosen a hishispanic, a woman, person of color to better represent, but this is such a start young man. >> yeah, but the fact is, folks, we're generations away from c camelot. there has not been a prominent kennedy, he gets good notice. >> he kept his head down, he has a winning personality, but has that ship sailed, in effect? the kennedy draw? and i think probably unfortunately for a lot of people, you know, it saddens them to think it has. but there is a new reality, we're moving on now, what is so striking to me about the people running these days, women who

are veterans. they have served in the military. >> tammy duckworth is someone to respond to the state of the union. i'm surprised they didn't do that. she is having a baby. that's a great story. >> the first sitting senate tore be pregnant in the senate. >> the democrats have multiple responses. in football teams, when you have two quarterbacks it means you have none. you're an eagles fan now -- >> i am by marriage. what was our question, oh, we have so many responses. does it really matter, how about

the response. >> does it reflect the demonstration of unity? >> guys, thank you, i will be be you all night. up ahead, the hawaii false alarm that sparked real panic and what lead up to it is downright bizarre.

well incase you missed it, the strange tail of the hawaii missile false alarm gets stranger. an emergency worker sent out a false alert telling people a missile was approaching. the sheer panic until they issued a correction 38 minutes later. they just issued a statement. the warning officer at the alert organize nation terminal claimed to believe in a written statement that this was a real message. the computer system did put up a prompt that said "are you sure you want to send this alert"? i think it goes without saying

that the protocol for sending mass emergency alerts should probably be more difficult than something like a microsoft office prompt. good evening, chuck. thank you very much, we're now hours away from donald trump's first state of the union speech. they will tout his record on jobs, taxes, and immigration. but it comes amid the most volatile two weeks that trump is resisting new sanctions on rush that, and stories that his own lawyer and fshlbi director -- today, he says the white house is moving towards different