president decides not to release the democrats' memo on russia. a rebuttal to the republican version he allowed to be released last week. and a historic show of olympic diplomacy between north and south korea. what their camaraderie could mean for the u.s. and its allies. of course we'll have all that for you in just a little bit. but we're going to start with what critics are calling another insensitive statement from the president this hour. a short time ago he said this, peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. some are true and some are false. some are old and some are new. there is no recovery for someone falsely accused. life and career are gone. is there no such thing any longer as due process? now, this tweet that you saw there coming after late friday a second white house staffer in three days quitting because of allegations of domestic abuse. speech writer david sorenson is

the individual who stepped down friday after "the washington post" reported abuse allegations from his ex-wife. sorenson telling nbc news, i want to be as unequivocal as possible, i have never committed violence of any kind against any woman in my life. all of that follows the resignation announced wednesday of white house staff secretary rob porter. porter's two ex-wives claiming he was emotionally and physically abusive. porter says reports are outrageous and false. now, friday president trump made it a point to tell reporters, porter did a good job and wished him well but not once mentioning a rejection of the underlying issue of misogyny or sexual misconduct. let's go to nbc's kelly o'donnell at the white house. kelly, the president suggesting at least in this latest statement as you're following that those who are accused are being falsely accused.

>> reporter: well, he's doing that indirectly. of course not naming the staffers that you just identified. and it does draw a line to the events of this week though because we know the president so often tweets about things that are current in his experience. so it's easy to sort of put these two sets of issues together. of course there is a need for due process. that is a widely upheld view in american jurisprudence. this is not a case where there's any criminal activity alleged. this is a case where because of these two individuals who worked in the white house they needed background checks. those are conducted by the fbi. and in the process of doing that former wives for rob porter and david sorenson told investigators about their experiences. that was a part of the background check process. that later became public through media reports. but this is not a case where the former wives went to the media or sought to publicize their own allegations. it first came through the channels based on the employment

requirements here at the white house. so we have a speech writer who didn't need high level security clearance, but a background check is still required. and then rob porter, the senior adviser to the president and we'll call the staff secretary regular presence in the oval office, he did need a high level security clearance that had not yet come through. in part at least because of these allegations. so the president leaning heavily on the issue of rights of the accused instead of acknowledging, in fact not acknowledging at all in the last several days the rights of those who have suffered abuse. and that that abuse is legitimate. so the president by choosing to omit any discussion of the issue of domestic violence, even though his own vice president was quick to do so to say that it's abhorrent and not tolerated by this white house, by omission the president has not done that. he again draws attention to what he describes as the risk to those who are accused.

he does say some allegations are true. he acknowledges that. but the overarching message is one we've heard from the president before, a tendency to side with the person who's been accused of something and not sympathize with those who might have suffered at that person's hands. richard. >> kelly, weekends are normally days of rest in most administrations, but you've been reporting on this a topsy turvy nature because of what has happened with rob porter and sorenson overnight. any sense since you're there at the white house? >> reporter: well, this has been a very rainy day. we haven't had any public events from the president. he has not gone to one of his golf clubs in the area we so often talk about. he is here in the white house based on everything we've been told. not much activity from senior staff but this entire episode raised questions about the leadership of john kelly, the chief of staff, should he have known something sooner, acted differently, more quickly to address these issues when the second staffer's resignation

broke last night senior officials here that i talk to made the point of saying when they were brought this issue from a media report, they confronted the employee quickly, immediately was the word they used. he denied the allegations referring to sorenson. but he did resign. so they are trying to say they're on top of this issue, but it has been a week of real challenges in how the organization has dealt with the security clearance issue and the underlying issue of something that is often kept private and secret, domestic violence. richard. >> thank you so much. white house correspondent kelly o'donnell there for us at the white house. thank you so much, kelly. joining us now an msnbc exclusive jessica leads with us. leads is one of several women, one of 16 women at least who accuse president trump of unwanted sexual advances or sexual misconduct before he was elected. the president has denied all of those accusations. in the days leading up to the presidential election she

recounted her story to the "new york times" detailing her experience on a flight with mr. trump in the early 1980s. she's saying mr. trump lifted the armrest and began to touch her, grabbed her breast and tried to put his hands up her skirt. trump responded to leads' accusations at a campaign rally. listen to this. >> the only way they figure they can slow it down is to come up with people that are willing to say, oh, i was with donald trump in 1980. i was sitting with him on an airplane. and he went after me on the plane. yeah, i'm going to go after you. believe me, she would not be my first choice, that i can tell you. man. >> jessica is here with us. thanks for being with us today. jessica, you're laughing when you recounted and saw this again, which you've seen many a time, why are you laughing? >> well, the very concept he can look at me a 75-year-old woman and imagine just imagine what i looked like in the early '80s, you know, it's beyond his

imagination because he likes his women beautiful and arm candy and stupid. >> and so you look back and you're sort of laughing at him is what you're saying? >> oh, yeah. >> just because of the ridiculousness of what this scenario might be. let's take a step back. you've heard the conversation so far with our white house correspondent. we've recounted what has happened now within the last week. this has been a tough week in one scenario here for women. this as we look at rob porter and the ex-wives, this as we look at sorenson overnight, this as we look at other elements that have come out and the statement out from the president today again not recognizing or really acknowledging the fact that we do have a problem, an opportunity when it comes to gender issues. >> it's very unfortunate this business of spousal abuse. it is absolutely beyond conversation to me because it was tolerated in my own family.

my cousin's husband abused her. my cousin's husband killed her. so it's not just the groping that i endured with trump. it is also a family experience that i've seen up close in person what spousal abuse is all about. these are, again, it's as i've said before these are not issues that women forget. these are not issues that they go, oh, that was that and move on. they remember where they were. they remember what they were wearing. they remember every detail of it. the guys, the men choose not to. i don't know whether that's something psychological that they can departmentalize their brain so that what happens at home stays at home and what happens at work stays at work. >> it's potentially because it's

culturally allowed and reinforced potentially. >> exactly. >> and we're not experts on this necessarily. >> no. >> but that certainly could be one of the scenarios here. i wanted to ask you what you thought as my colleague's cayka tur's note not once did you hear she as part of these conversations, these comments coming from the president in individual, an office that many americans will look up to for guidance. >> well, yes, it's hard to look up to this man as guidance. he consistently even going back to the days when he defended mike tyson and spousal abuse then, it's for him, it is his track record. he does not want to address it. he does not want to consider it. he doesn't want to believe it. and that's how it works. >> 16 accusers, there's one case that is potentially moving

forward there. when you take stock of where we are on this saturday and wlapd th what happened this last week, do you ever think that you and your fellow accusers of this president ever see the progress that you'd like to see? >> no. and we haven't seen it yet. we really haven't. for some reason our story just doesn't seem to stick when people like al franken and kevin spacey and all these other people are brought down. it isn't that we want to bring down the president. it isn't that we want to undermine him. it's to the point though we know what the truth is and we would like to have it out there. and i know that a lot of people voted for trump knowing perfectly well of his flaws. and i don't understand it but i

know. i know it. >> while you laugh, jessica, as you were listening to what was said in october of 2016 and then you see what the comments are today, not mentioning the underlying problem here of sexual misconduct. and you look at what appears to be consistent defense of the men in these stories, in these accusations, but not acknowledging the women that potentially could be the victims here based on their claims, although it has not necessarily been proven out in a court. that dynamic. >> yeah. the court of public opinion were so long said that women weren't to be believed or they were counsell counciled by the church or family to go back to these abusive relationships. you know, we had no cultural support to even come forward. >> and now there is more cultural support, as you know,

jessica. >> yeah, the me too movement. >> the me too movement for today, that's right, as we watch that happening all across the country and the world. going back to his tweet here, he uses the word destroyed by a mere allegation. also going onto say in this statement recovery for someone falsely accused and life and career are gone. >> he's very good in putting together perhaps somebody helps him with this, but he's very good perhaps in putting together statements. it's like the charlottesville statement where he said both sides are good people, or i believe that they're good people from mexico, but we want to put up a wall because they're all rapists and druggies. goes on and on. he's very good at sometimes putting just a little bit of a twist so that his remarks he looks like he's covering the bases but he's not selling it. he really isn't selling it. he's a very good salesman.

>> what do you think's next? >> i guess we are going to see more and more stories come out as women get stronger and stronger. >> and is you spoken with your fellow accusers recently? >> no. no. we have kind of a loose e-mail conversation going. for the most part though since i'm so much older than the other women and i thought their stories would have so much more impact. >> but what's real is real regardless of time. >> yes. and women remember when these situations happen, whether 8 years old, whether 50 years old. they remember what they had on, where it happened, how they got out of it and they don't forget. men it's like scratching an itch. >> we have seen and the last administration when it came down to race where the president of the united states stepped forward giving a speech on race said he not necessarily wanted

to give at that time. we're at now an opening here at the me too movement. we're at an opening right now when we look at gender and gender equality where there's an opening based on the very debates. who do you think can come forward and be that big person for the country to talk about this and lead on it? >> wow. there've been some very powerful women come forward, but they're still being dismissed. they're still being, oh, it's the president of now or planned parenthood's president, it's truly we don't have some guiding force which would be nice to have. but i'm hoping just the sheer numbers will overwhelm the situation. >> when wooe seeing some numbers, jessica. >> we need more women in government, local, state, federal. >> or close to 400 women are running for congress right now. >> well, let's get them in.

>> get them in as well as you get more men part of the conversation. >> we need business to address the equal pay business. because we have the laws on the books. >> yeah. >> tell me how in the world we could get the laws on the books and not get the into the business that we're still only making 76 cents to every dollar. >> how is your thinking changed? you just retired last year as a stockbroker. also not necessarily a space that is easy when we talk about the issue of equality, but now that you've retired, a year out, we're now talking about a president trump because before the election you had not retired as of yet, right? >> right. >> a year later how do you reflect back on that? >> well, i've been amazed that my -- i joked amongst my friends, my little 15 minutes of fame has somewhat seemed to have legs. so it has moved forward.

maybe because of my age, maybe i add a little bit of gravitas to the whole situation, but it has been amazing to me and really hopeful. you know, it's like watching the second women's march. >> do you get women reaching out to you? >> yes. >> what's one you remember recently? what was said to you? >> i go to my local y and i swim and i take exercise classes. and there isn't truly a day that goes by that i'm there that somebody different comes up to me and says, you know, they all say the same thing, oh, everybody to my face says the same thing. they say you are so brave and thank you. >> yeah. >> of course saying you're so brave scares the shit out of me, but moving right along. and then they tell me their story. and that's why i say women remember. >> yeah. and when we have based on the statistics every 90 seconds.

>> yes. >> a woman being assaulted in america. >> we need the colleges, the university, the education system to step up. we need the military very badly we need the military to address this. because it is hideous in the military. >> jessica leeds, i can't thank you enough for being so open and coming in today to speak with us here at msnbc. thank you so much for being here. >> it's important. thank you. >> appreciate your time. and we're going to have mmun president trump's defense for his staffers now accused of domestic abuse. our panel joins us next after a short break. our home team will help you every step of the way. still not enough? it's smaller than i'd like. we'll help you finance your dream home. it's perfect. oh, was this built on an ancient burial ground? okay... then we'll have her cleanse your house of evil spirits. we'll do anything, (spiritual chatter) seriously anything to help you get your home. ally. do it right.

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and thanks for sticking with us. president trump coming to the defense of staffers accused of domestic abuse. a short time ago the president tweeting this, peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation. some are true and some are false. some are old and some are new. there is no recovery for someone falsely accused. life and career are gone. is there no such thing any longer as due process? let's bring in grace rout, political reporter from new york one. kurt columnist for "the huffington post" and former breitbart spokesperson and adrian elrod, former director of strategic communications for hillary clinton's presidential campaign. your response first, grace. you were listening earlier to jessica leeds' response to this, one of the 16 accusers of sexual misconduct of the president -- of donald trump before he was elected. what did you think about what

she said as well as where we're at and how the president is reacting to what's happening to his white house? >> i mean, her remarks are incredible and are part of this broader narrative of women who have stepped forward to accuse the president himself of misconduct. and, you know, referring back to the president's tweet calling it a mere allegation, in his case as you noted 16 allegations of sexual misconduct, not to mention the "access hollywood" tape where he's recorded talking about how he's allowed to get away with grabbing women by the genitals. so in his case he's made it very clear. when it comes to in particular white men in positions of power, he sides with them. we've seen this across the board, not just with rob porter and the kind words he had so aabout him this week, but also about roy moore over at fox news bill o'reilly. and this just leads to a bigger narrative with him. additionally on the tweet, he talks about due process as

somebody who's in new york covers politics here, we're very familiar with what's known as the central park five case. that was back in 1989 five black teenagers were accused of having raped a woman who was jogging in central park. donald trump at the time took out full page ads in the newspapers calling for the death penalty to be brought back for these boys. years later they were exonerated. their convictions were thrown out. and even then, even when dna evidence showed that they had not committed these rapes, president trump refused to accept that they had been wrongly accused. so this is someone who only cares about due process when it comes to him, perhaps other people like him. but when it comes to african-americans, others, he's not all that interested. >> he seems like he's alluding to the court of opinion as opposed to the court of law, at least at this point from what we understand in all these different cases. you alluded to how he discussed other issues of roy moore as well as roger ailes.

let me play a little bit of that and then i'll get our panel's reaction. >> he totally denies it. he says it didn't happen. and, you know, you have to listen to him also. roy moore denies it. that's all i can say. he denies it. and by the way, he totally denies it. he's a very good person. i've always found him to be just a very, very good person. and by the way, a very, very talented person. look what he's done. we certainly wish him well. it's a obviously tough time for him. he did a very good job when he was in the white house. and we hope he has a wonderful career. he also, as you probably know, he says he's innocent. and i think you have to remember that. >> so when we look at this, adrian, and we're going back in time here and then we get the tweet today, tone deaf has been used in terms of criticism of the president so far. this is a real issue though across america. >> yeah, no, absolutely.

and, look, i think grace was spot-on when she said that when it comes to white powerful men, donald trump always takes their side no matter what the accusation is, no matter what the allegation is. but i want to touch on something about the staff secretary position and rob porter. i actually worked -- i'm kind of aging myself here. i worked in the clinton administration back in the late '90s. i simply cannot imagine the staff secretary of the white house not having a security clearance. and the fact this administration is turned a blind eye in order to keep somebody who they deem to be very competent, i.e. rob porter, which they don't have a lot of competent staffers in the west wing, to keep him in that job when these serious allegations have taken place with photographic evidence that he certainly did domestically abuse his ex-wife is just horrifying. >> kurt. >> i think that if you are a woman working in this white house right now, you need to seriously reevaluate how you feel about that knowing that you're working for a president who is a sexist. you're working for a chief of staff who will look the other

way knowing that the staff secretary had been accused of domestic violence. there's photo evidence of this. he's instructing his staff to lie about what he knew and when he knew it i think at some point you have to look inward and decide do you really feel okay being a part of this. if you're kellyanne conway, hope hicks, anybody working in that building right now, how can you look yourself in the mirror knowing what these people represent, knowing the danger they pose to our society? what really gets to me is the broader impact of all of this. there are people right now who believe it's going to be okay to continue to abuse women, to continue to impose physical harm against them because the president says it's okay. the president looks the other way while doing it. the president believes the other people and not the accusers. this is a chain, a pattern of behavior that has been in place since during the campaign and never relented. he's shown his true colors. this presidency has shown what they want to do to america and take it backwards to a point where it's okay to demean women, to not give them equal rights, to not give them the opportunity

to advance themselves. how can anyone be okay being a part of an administration like this? >> and, adrienne, as we look towards 2018, will there be a reaction to this whatever you might call it coming from the white house, the supporting as what kurt is saying of this sort of behavior. will it reflect itself in that me too vote that has so much been talked about? >> sure, absolutely. i mean, i don't think after the 2016 elections and hillary clinton losing narrowly to donald trump that we would have ever seen 2017/2018 as being the years of the women, but we are seeing this now. you have record women who are running for congress, who are running for down ballot offices across the country. it's very exciting to see. and i think you're going to see a massive retaliation by women. both democrats, republicans and independents at the ballot box in 2018. >> kurt, ten seconds. >> women outnumber men in america. if they show up to vote, their voice can be heard. they can be the vehicle of change that we so desperately need in this country. >> all right.

kurt, adrienne, thank you. grace will be sticking around. thank you all three. >> thanks, richard. democrats accuse the president of hypocrisy after blocking the release of their russia memo, plus the third in command steps down from the justice department. what rachel brand's departure could mean for robert mueller's investigation next.

the white house late friday announced president trump won't allow the release of a house intelligence committee memo drafted by democrats. in the letter white house council mcgahn said although the president is inclined to declassify the february 5th memorandum because the memorandum contains numerous property classified especially -- it's a controversial move after president trump declassified a republican-backed memo written by congressman devin nunes that many democrats said was little more than an attempt to discredit the russia investigation. the entire house intelligence committee including republicans voted last week to release the democratic memo as well though. joining me now benjamin whittis, msnbc legal analyst and senior fellow at brookings institution. we also have frank, msnbc national security analyst,

former assistant director for counterintelligence at the fbi and now chief operating officer at ets risk management. benjamin, let me start with this. so the memo stopped by the president yesterday, he had up until saturday, today. again, it's about ten pages long. and many critics now saying this is clearly a political move coming from the white house and from republicans. >> so, look, i mean, the problem with releasing the original memo if we assume as democrats allege and as the fbi says that there are substantial inaccuracies in it, is that the effort to rebut it requires that you release more information. and so by releasing the original memo you create an impossible situation in which you either then have to release more information or you have to let inaccuracies stand. and it's a, you know, it puts the democrats and frankly the fbi and the justice department

in an extremely difficult situation. >> yeah. difficult situation for the republican memo. a difficult situation for now the democratic memo. frank, i want to play a little sound from you. adam schiff, who is the really lead author of this democratic memo responded to the president's now-denial release of the letter. this is what he said last night. >> the white house apparently has a newfound admiration for the fbi. >> i was going to -- >> we wouldn't want to release anything the fbi might be concerned about. they're sending the memo back to the committee, the same committee whose majority crafted the false memo to begin with. because they know the chairman has the president's back. that's the white house strategy. >> now, it's possible but not likely here, frank, that there could be a wider vote in the house to then still release this memo. probably not going to happen as most watchers will say. what do you make there of adam schiff's criticism? >> well, he's on the money.

the president had no qualms about releasing the nunes memo even though the doj and fbi said it would be extraordinarily reckless. yet he's not allowing the democratic response to get out. so he's putting the democrats in a very tight box right now because if they come out and release it anyway, and by the way there is a procedure for them to do it, it would be very difficult but they could do it, but he could then call them leakers. he could say they're violating the law. it's interesting, it's almost like i would love to have been a fly on the wall for when the first time he read that ten-page memo, which was probably the first time he ever saw a cogent cohesive rebuttal of his statement that the republican memo totally vindicates him and i'm sure he wasn't happy to read it. >> the reporting which we don't know if he did read it and does not like to read in general things longer than one page and that was a ten-page rebuttal coming from the democrats. related to all this when the two -- the three of us were talking last weekend. it was the issue that the republican memo was clearly coming out to potentially go

after rod rosenstein, right? this as the individual who is really leading mueller's investigation is a decision maker when it comes to mueller asking for resources and steps in moving forward. now we have rachel brand, the number three there at doj saying that she is going to resign. according to the reporting that we understand right now, the question is what does that mean next? because if rod rosenstein is gone, then now it's no longer going to be rachel brand, benjamin, you know her, i understand you did speak with her too. >> i did. i talked to her yesterday. i was, you know, frankly when i saw the news i was concerned that there was, you know, something terrible had happened either that she'd been pushed out or that she was resigning in protest, something. and she assured me that was not the case. there had just been a job that had come along at walmart that she was disinclined to pass up at the very senior levels.

and walmart announced that last night. so, i mean, i don't think there's anything terribly untoward here. i do think it's a very dangerous situation for the reasons that you just articulated, which is that we used to have rod rosenstein supervising the mueller investigation and then if anything happened to rod rosenstein like he refused to do something and the president fired him, which he clearly wants to do, i personally had a lot of confidence in rachel who was -- who would have stepped in as acting deputy attorney general. and therefore acting attorney general for purposes of the mueller investigation. with rachel gone, the chain of command is a little bit hollowed out. and i'm, you know, i think that should make everybody nervous, frankly. the other issue that's really unclear is who the heck is going to replace her.

because imagine what it would take to find somebody who under these circumstances is willing to accept a nomination to be associate attorney general and who's plausible to get confirmed. you know, at precisely a time when, you know, somebody like rh -- rachel brand finds an offer from walmart attractive, it is a toxic environment and one where it's going to be very hard to replace her. >> the doj losing its highest rank obviously woman here at the doj. so it would go to solicitor general noel francisco. a trump appointee. frank, does this worry you? do you think mueller has a backup plan that we don't know about right now that will mitigate this situation? >> yeah, so regardless of brand's motivation for her resignation, this vacancy is a fortuitous occasion for the white house to put their own person in. whether it's truly the solicitor

general coming in or someone else, we don't know, but what we should know is that bob mueller's watching all of this. bob mueller is a master strategist. he spent a successful career thinking of next moves. and this is a trip wire for him. this is an indicator for him. just as in the terrorism world you look for trip wires and indicators that an attack might be imminent. he's looking at this and he's planning. and i would venture a guess he's got what i'll call a prosecutorial parachute, what's that? if he sees a termination attempt coming or sees someone coming in who's going to tightly constrain his remit, he may have a package of draft filings, charges, he may have a filing of a draft of findings to present to congress. and he may release and press that button if he thinks he's about to be booted because of a rosenstein replacement. that's what we need to watch for. but knowing mueller he's the strategist, he's probably got an emergency package ready to go. >> and new york state attorney

general a part of that potential package too. >> absolutely. >> where that, again, would circumvent what is happening on the federal level. great conversation. wish we had more time. frank, benjamin, thank you both. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> all righty. after the break, history at the olympics. a live report from south korea on the games, the political plays between north and south korea and what the vice president thinks of it all. >> the world has agreed that we need a nuclear free korean peninsula. and we're going to continue to put all the pressure to bear economically and democratically while preserving all of our military options to see that that happens. you may be missing. a key part of your wellness that you may be... overlooking. it's your eyes. that's why there's ocuvite, from bausch + lomb. as you age your eyes can lose vital nutrients. ocuvite helps replenish those nutrients. ocuvite has lutein, zeaxanthin, and omega-3.

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well, the winter olympics are now under way. among the most closely watched events there global diplomacy. setting up potentially first meeting of korean leaders since 2007. in a historic meeting between kim jong-un's sister and south korean president's moon jae-in. while north korea continues its charm offensive, as it's been called, the u.s. is still talking tough. before departing back to the united states vice president pence told reporters, quote, i leave here very confident that we are going to continue to do the things that we know have to be done to continue to pressure north koreans to abandon their nuclear ambitions. for more now joined by nbc's

chris jansing in coastal city. is there a connection to make? >> reporter: i think the chasm is wide, richard. you can call it a charm offensive. some call it pure propaganda, but the north is clearly taking advantage of this opportunity on the world stage. kim yo-jong goes into this meeting with president moon, you showed the picture. she's carrying a blue folder with north korean crest on it and inside it is that personal invitation from kim jong-un. well, tonight she was at the women's hockey game between the unified north korean team and switzerland. the team lost 8-0, but i was there and the stands were packed with the north korean cheerleaders waving unification flags. i took these pictures on my iphone, sea of red, they were cheering, we are one. we also saw people holding peace signs. this is exactly the image that kim jong-un wants to project. by the way, the cheerleaders were also at speed skating tonight, but out of the line of sight of vice president pence

who was sitting with south korean president moon his staff says the topic of that invitation did not come up but the language of the vice president since arriving in south korea has been very tough. repeatedly calling the north the most tyrannical regime on earth. now, the administration's concern is that while moon sees an opening from the olympics to calm the threat, they see moon providing a forum for a brutal dictator. and so the vice president now as we showed on his way back to the u.s. publicly suggesting his trip here was successful. he did though suggest the u.s. is considering the toughest economic sanctions yet against north korea. in the meantime, president moon says he is open to traveling to pyongyang for a meeting with kim, if kim is willing to talk about deescalating the nuclear threat. so there's plenty of sports drama here, always is in the olympics on the field of play, but the political drama has only been escalating, richard. >> you've been to many olympics, chris, and this was just day one. >> i know. >> we'll be talking to you more.

thank you, chris jansing there covering the olympics for us in south korea. entire theaters sold out ahead of the release of the movie "black panther." next, we're going to hear from one man who's using the film to empower young children of color. >> we are home. h. so we're a go? yes! we got a yes! what does that mean for purchasing? purchase. let's do this. got it. book the flights! hai! si! si! ya! ya! ya! what does that mean for us? we can get stuff. what's it mean for shipping? ship the goods. you're a go! you got the green light. that means go! oh, yeah. start saying yes to your company's best ideas. we're gonna hit our launch date! (scream) thank you! goodbye! we help all types of businesses with money, tools and know-how to get business done. american express open. there'swhatever type ofhe end of eweekender you are,ton. don't let another weekend pass you by. get the lowest price when you book at hilton.com

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let's go! let's go! fandango saying black panther is being praised for the impact on the black community. it is set in a fictional african nation, the super hero is black, the 31-year-old director is black. all lead to the black panther challenge, a fundraising campaign to send african american kids to see the movie.

people who look like them, portrayed at super heroes. >> how was it? >> it was excellent. whatever you see in the trailer, the movie, it exceeds your expectations. >> it is 11 out of 10. >> yes. >> this interest has exploded, $300,000 to get kids to see this movie. >> it has been amazing, people have been, we live in a time where people understand we need representation and inclusion, not just in firnlgs but in story telling. >> looking at them, rebecca, they were fair and accurate, black in america, black in afri africa. >> what was surprising was that cougar tackles the theme in the movie. this is is a marvel movie?

>> yes. >> i am glad you are doing this. this is why we need it. >> so, for me, i was lucky enough to hear from rebecca and other people that film is everything that we were hoping that it is going to be rirt. it is not only a film about black people, it is also about a nation which never was ravaged by colonialism. these amazingly fierce black women. and black chair, without being toxic or things of that nature. >> it is showing is it is a main stream film, a main stream media. in recent years, main stream,

ethnic media. >> what i like to tell people is black culture is american culteur, the fashion, the food, everything. people thought, can marvel pull this off? over 90% of the cast is black. yes, absolutely, they can do that. >> kids being able to see this for free. do you think it will change a lot of ideas of what i can be? what i could be, if i am a young african american youth? >> i hope it opens up the need for access. it is not just about the black panther, it is barry jenkin,kids see a sense of themselves in this movie, the access in the community, standing behind our art. >> i want to read something from

jamill smith. he said, this is a movie about what it means to be black and america, africa and the world. rather than dodge complicate d about race and identity, a film grapples head-on with the issues affected modern-day black life. >> i agree with that what is so great about this movie, we are living in a time where black skin and black bodies are literally targets in america. this narrative.

i agree with everything that rebecca said. i am hoping that not only will we continue this narrative of black excellence, also, black futurism, and afro futurism, and people black being more than blank targets, but black life and black experiences. >> one day after publicly defending porter, president trump goes on twitter to ask about due process. and a resig nag of another white house official accused of abuse.

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good afternoon, we will start this hour with president trump's controversial comments. he tweeted this. >> after a second white house staffer in three days quitting because of allegations of domestic abuse. the