when the money goes out, we want them to spend the money. not wait around for many years while they get their permits. rural communities have not been treated fairly. we're going to spend 50 billion on rural infrastructure and internet access which is so important. a work force initiative that invests in our most valuable resource, the american worker. we're doing a lot of that. we had a meeting. i had a phone call this morning with prime minister abe of japan. i suggested that he invest more and open up more plans. he announced a number of plans are coming to michigan and other states. we want them to bring in more. they will do that. he said they will do that. we expect to have some announcements pretty soon.

more power for state and local governments to choose projects. we want them to choose the projects they want the most important projects. they know best the needs of their people. we want the states to be very much involved in the choice of where this money goes. after spending trillions of dollars overseas rebuilding other countries, it's time to rebuild our own country and take care of our citizens. the money that we have spent overseas not to mention in the middle east where as of two months ago we spent $7 trillion. yet, if we have to fix a road, we can't fix it. if we have to fix a tunnel, we don't do it because we don't have the money. we spent $7 trillion in the middle east. it's ridiculous. the american people expect all of us to work together to serve their needs. this is an issue where i really

plooef believe we can find common ground. it's the infrastructure issue. it's something great for our country. it's something our country needs. we have democrats here. we have republicans here. we had other meetings. we will have meetings in the future including new meetings with this group. it's a very capable group of people. i think we'll come up with a solution to the infrastructure of our country, which is in very poor condition. we're extremely happy with the bill that was passed because we had to take care of our military. our military was in bad shape. our military will be stronger than it's been before. fwhe we needed that. now i want to spend that money on the military wisely. i want to see if we can get twice the planes for half the price. we're going to make sure we buy maximum equipment and other things with the dollar, not that it's going to be wasted.

our military will be in better shape than ever before and now what we're going to do is have our discussion. we appreciate it. thank you very much. >> thanks, everybody. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >> thanks, everyone. thanks. >> thank you, all. you have to leave. thank you. good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. you saw the president at an infrastructure meeting ignoring shouted questions for a third day in the row. the president repeatedly ignoring those questions about rob porter and domestic violence days after praising the former staff secretary accused of abusing both of his ex-wives. the pressure is on john kelly. defending his handling of the porter scandal as the fbi director refutes the story for

nearly a week. joining me now kristen welker. she's done her share of shouting in the last couple of days and msnbc political analyst robert costa. robert, you're much more quiet about your work but those of us in television have to do the shouting thing. kristen, no answers from the white house. the white house press secretary putting her own credibility online. people openly questioning the chief of staff's credibility, if not just calling him a liar. how does this continue? >> reporter: that's the big question. the white house still can't get its story straight. we're now more than eight days into this controversy and yesterday, of course, you have the f bi come out and contradic saying they gave the white house all the the information they had and closed the case in january.

sarah sanders and raj shah insisted the investigation was ongoing. yesterday we saw this big walk back from sarah sanders saying we were never talk about the fbi but the white house personnel security office. essentially saying that was where the investigation was ongoing. bottom line, that's part of white house. even if there was some type of security hold up there, if you talk to officials who served in past administrations, they say it's very hard to believe that that office wouldn't have made the white house, the senior staff at the white house, the chief of staff here at the white house aware of those findings. one more point it's important to underscore, that office does not give the final say on who gets permanent security clearance. that's done at the white house council's office. there's a lot of sort of questions that continue and as you point out, a lot of buzz

behind the scenes about whether or not john kelly will somedtay go. yesterday from the podium sarah sanders insisted the president still has full confidence this him. >> what are you hearing, there's a lot of reporting by you and your colleagues at the washington post as well as others, that the president is doing what he does. calling friends and complaining about kelly, talking about replacements. we've heard the names. let's bring in paul ryan asked about domestic abuse. >> do you think they should not condone it?

>> absolutely. clearly, we should -- come on. clearly, we should all be condemning domestic violence. if a person who commits it, gets in government then there's break down in the system. >> we should put a circle and isolate that kevin mccarthy, the blink and the nod there behind him because he is one of the leading contenders to replace john kelly in the president's mi mind. >> the president is talking to friends and allies about a possible change. he's been reluctant to move forward in any kind of formal way because going after a seasoned marine general like john kelly is something he's not necessarily eager to do at a moment that so politically charged, has the white house under a cloud about its conduct with regard to rob porter. also facing the white house today is not just the speaker's

comments but it's the fact that these investigations are happening, are about to happen on capitol hill about what the white house did with porter. that means questions will be asked. people under oath about who knew what when. >> i wanted to also play kristen, you trying to get answers out of sarah sanders yesterday. this was the exchange where you tried to drill down on how they could not have known especially after what chris wray testified to on national threats yesterday. >> let me just clarify one more point. you said you didn't get any paper work from the fbi. chris wray said he did submit paper work at the various moments. >> that would come through the white house personnel security office which had not completed their investigation and not pass that information. >> you knowledge you did receive

paper work? >> the white house personnel security office which is staffed by career officials may have received information but they had not completed their process. >> she is saying, this gets into alice in wonderland land. she's saying the white house didn't receive it from the white house because it's a white house office. as you all have been reporting overnight, that security office is just a clearance office. they're a paper work office. they are passing it on. they don't have a policy role in this. >> reporter: they don't have a policy role. they're the coordinating office. again, for a lot fishes who are familiar with how this works and have worked on this process, they say it just defies reason that you would have these alarm bells raised at that office and that you wouldn't have the white house counsel's office alerted,

for example or the chief of staff's office. top officials were alerted and just didn't do anything about it. the question that hovers over all of this, we know there's 30 to 40 officials who still don't have permanent security clearances so how many have been giving access to classified information. that's a critical question that the white house is going to have to answer. >> one of them we know has been given access because it's jared kushner, his son-in-law, who is running the middle east peace operation as well as other top foreign policy issues. thanks so very much. thank you very much. can you imagine in 209, you're in the white house, your the chief of staff with the general counsel not have known that the

white house staff security and other top officials did not have clearance? >> no. absolutely not. for a year, over a year now you have very, very senior people who have had access to some of the most classified and important information that goes to the president and nobody's asked the question what is the hold up here. why was after a month or two months or three months, his -- mr. porter or mr. jared, why is this being held. why can't they clear these people? is it that difficult? the white house counsel or the chief of staff hasn't been informed or wasn't informed that we have a big problem with these people. the career people who do this, whether it's fbi, whether the security office at the white

house, they are not incompetent. the story just doesn't hold up. people didn't want to know why mr. porter couldn't get approved or they kept hoping the issue would go away, ie, maybe one of his ex-wives will change their story. it defies logic or any political analysis that these people should be doing on an ongoing basis for the president. >> porter told don mcgahn a year ago. we know from christopher wray testimony that they submitted the report in march and it was closed by july. that proceeded john kelly. they knew this all that time. >> yeah. they ignored it. no one can tell me that the new

white house chief of staff, when he came in, nobody said to him, by the way, we have a bunch of people here who can't get security clearance and one who the file is closed. nobody said why can't they get approved or why can't jared kushner get approved. is it because his life is so complex, more complex than gary cohen. more complex than other people that have gotten security clearance. that defies logic. it's something there with mr. porter. there was. there's something there with anybody else who can't get cleared after 13 months of being at the most senior level. having seen the information that allegedly some of the senior people without permit and clearance have seen. there's nothing more sensitive in the president's pot of issues he deals with and things he sees that these people are seeing

about the national security and intelligence issues around the world. it's just ridiculous. really kind of fright ping, to be frank with you. if i may, you said the house oversight committee will investigate it. maybe they should give it to nunes and he'll really investigate. >> it's trey gowdy who devilled the democrats on benghazi. >> i'll lay money on the fact you don't see all of these people under oath before the committee. that's nice. they are opening an investigation but porter's gone. the question is, who else in this building who have access to some of the most senior intelligence can't get approved and why after 13 months. the fbi, you can criticize or

the president can criticize all he wants. they're pretty efficient at getting things done. >> the other thing we're going through is more turmoil, back stabbing. when you've got white house officials saying not to the washington post that the chief of staff is a big fat liar, that's not a good thing. >> no. that's not a good thing. that's -- all due respect, that's the president's style. that's the sort of thing he likes. it's chaos. it's turmoil. calling people names. that's been the m.o. of this president even before he was president on reality tv or a candidate. what's different about that? i don't understand. it's not good but this is not your normal sort of presidency and white house.

the president seems to like that. i don't think anybody should be shocked and think they ought to get back to what was traditionally. you have a president who is the most untraditional and seems to help create that climate. this is just something john kelly or reince priebus or any of these other people created. this climate is created by the president and he likes that or else it wouldn't occur. >> bill, always great to see you. thanks very much. >> take care. a former white house chief of staff and joining me now nbc senior national security analyst michael lighter. you understand security clearances. you've had them in the past. you've worked on them. these are serious issues. people could ask why should we care.

we care because people who have possible business conflicts of interest, people in rob porter's case who could be blackmailed to use their influence. these are people without clearances who are working on some of the biggest issues including the first summit. >> the security clearance process is far from perfect but the security process gives the u.s. government an opportunity to look at people's backgrounds, understand their suitability, their trustworthiness and the opportunity that an adversary might have to blackmail those people to know whether or not they are likely to keep these sensitive secrets safe and away from our enemies. i manage an organization with 1200 people who had the highest

security levels you could have in the u.s. government. there's no position in my organization that was as sensitive as the staff secretary to the president of the united states. this is a position. this is a person who sees everything that goes to the president's desk and deals with from across the u.s. government every sensitive secret that we hold. >> for more than a year he did not have clearance. there's others, dozens in the white house at high levels, including jared kushner. that summit set the table for the ensuing conflict, economic conflict and military embargo. >> the whole year of any president's turn but this president has seen a huge range of national security issues.

whether it's the issues of iran, russia, there's a range of issues that come across the president's desk every single day. there are interim security clearances opinion it clearances. it's not out of the ordinary to hold it briefly. that might be a year or longer. for a senior position in the white house it would be extraordinarily uncommon, if not heard of, for someone to not have a final security clearance. that person either gets a clearance or they don't. to have this drag out for so long, i agree with bill. i have never seen anything remote likely that in my experience. >> we're seeing a defiance or ignoring of norms when it comes to facts from day one, the size of the crowd.

proclamations from the podium and these things matter. they should matter to the american people. why? you've served in government under different political regimes. >> i try to put my politics aside but from being a national security professional, facts matter because they drive policy decisions. you can argue where you are on the political spectrum but you want to make sure you have the same basis of facts. facts matter. until you accept those facts, it's very hard to have a rational strategy to address the threat to u.s. democracy. what we see, have seen in numerous cases at the white house is a difficulty in agreeing on those facts. hence you can't get the policy response. americans should worry. the investigation is important

and critical but americans also want to make sure we have the same level of facts so we can address the security threats out there. not everyone in the world is our friend. the u.s. government needs to act forcely in the places where we need to push back or lead the way. >> senator king, angus king from maine who is an independent but caucuses with democrats. he raised these questions because the president -- until the president accepts the reality that russian meddling in our political process does not delegitimize the election, until he suspects that, this government will not be energized. here is part of that exchange. >> we cannot confront this threat, which is a serious one, with a whole of government response when the leader of the government continues to deny that it exists. >> the fact is i've been told

there's not been one national security counsel principles meeting or deputies meeting on this threat, on the subject. yes homeland is doing something with the states and trying to help. >> this is deeply troubling. i think we saw managsomething r good happen yesterday. they all stood up as a single chorus and said russia is a threat. it was a threat. it will continue to be a threat. we're under attack by the russians in certain ways. that has to generate policy movement. in that policy world and in the white house, we need to be a i believe to distinguish between, as you noted, the legitimacy of president trump's election, which i don't think anyone is questioning and the ongoing u.s. national security threat. that's where facts matter. that's where policy has to respond and try to keep this nation secure in elections and other ways going forward. >> they testified, dan coats

testified that the iran nuclear deal is working. climate change is a problem. the budget deficit is a fiscal crisis, a dire threat. none of those positions are accepted by this president. >> we had talked before about the risks of the white house politicizing but the intelligence community and the fbi and federal law enforcement. yesterday was a good day largely for national security professionals and the leadership the intelligence community and chris wray because they stood up and played their appropriate role as neutral arbitors to what they see. >> thank you. coming up, red flag. fact checking the white house's claim that the chief counsel did not see fbi report on rob porter. you're watching andrea mitchell reports. machine plap

butch is like an old soul that just hates my guts. (laughs) (vo) you can never have too many faithful companions. that's why i got a subaru crosstrek. love is out there. find it in a subaru crosstrek. i accept i don't i even accept i i used thave a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. but no matter where i ride, i go for my best. so if there's something better than warfarin, i'll go for that too. eliquis. eliquis reduced the risk of stroke better than warfarin, plus had less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis had both. don't stop taking eliquis

unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for any bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. i'm still going for my best. and for eliquis. ask your doctor about eliquis.

woman: i'm a fighter. always have been. when i found out i had age-related macular degeneration, amd, i wanted to fight back. my doctor and i came up with a plan. it includes preservision. only preservision areds 2 has the exact nutrient formula recommended by the national eye institute to help reduce the risk of progression of moderate to advanced amd backed by 15 years of clinical studies. that's why i fight. because it's my vision. preservision.

the finger pointing continues over who knew what and when in the rob porter scandal. sarah sanders saying it's not the white house fault but pl blaming the white house security clearance office inside the white house. >> you said the investigation

was ongoing. christopher wray said it was closed in january. who's telling the truth here? >> both. the fbi portion was closed. the white house personnel security office, who is the one that makes a recommendation for adjudication had not finished their process and not made a recommendation to the white house. >> new questions are being raised about why white house counsel don mcgahn did not sound the alarm sooner. joining me is bob bower and b benjam benjamin. welcome both. bob, you're white house counsel, the white house staff secretary, rob porter, comes into your office in january. after january 20th, when the first week of the administration and says i've got this problem in my personal life. i've got two ex-wives have been

charging abuse and the fbi will be asking me about this. you say okay, never mind. then the fbi reports in march this is a problem for the clearance, which is not proceeding. then fbi reports in july that the issue is closed. he doesn't get clearance. you still don't say anything to the chief of staff, to the president of the united states or to mr. porter. >> in the normal course, without a question. >> what would have happened? yo . >> this is consistent across the board and facts we probably still don't know yet. in the normal white house course they would immediately alert the chief of staff. the red flag would have gone way up. it's not clear to me, of course, what it was that mr. porter told mr. mcgahn about what the allegations were. there was a report in the washington post there was a very vague exchange. the allegations were forthcoming

but con tent was not specified. when someone tells you something like that is in the works, there's a duty to inquire and duty to report immediately. >> then in march when the report comes in from the fbi, you have a duty to read it. >> certainly. at this point there was confirmed reports of spousal abuse. not clear what else needed to be known at that point. it's not clear what further investigation was required. there's no suggestion, for example, there was some doubt about the accounts. they were coordinating some false story. why months and months past and most recently the suggestion from sarah huckabee sanders they needed to wait on a recommendation from the office of administration. >> what is that office? >> it's logistical role. it goes to the chief of staff's office or con currently to the white house chief of staff and

white house counsel. it's not obvious what it means to say in the piece you just played. a recommendation had not been made for adjudication. i don't know what that means. it doesn't corresponds with my experience at all. >> big picture, ben. the legal ramify kaications of . these are security clearances of this. those are in place for a reason. i'm sure there are instances where these things don't work cleanly. >> first of all, the biggest big picture is that the fundamental job of the white house counsel and the chief of staff is to prevent a situation like the one that developed last week, which is you have a sudden removal of a very senior white house aide for acknowledged security problems that would preclude a

clearance in a fashion that's maximumly embarrassing to the president. this was not a good risk with national security to have something who had this spousal abuse history in a position that close to the president and that touching, that kind of sensitive information on a day-to-day basis. it was not a good reputational risk for the president and there's a scandal in his white house about having such people in senior positions. it's possible, i suppose, to imagine how it could have been handled worse. i'm not sure i can see that exactly sitting here right now. >> let's bring it back to mike flynn where the white house clearly did not do a proper vet.

you have the national security advisor who was representing turkey and having unreported meetings with russians at high levels. >> also being interviewed by the fbi about security breaches or about his conversations with foreign officials and as he's now acknowledged his plea not telling the truth in response. that was brought to the attention of the white house in an urgent setting an not acted upon in a timely fashion. there's a very consistent pattern here which is that the fbi is much more concerned about the suitability of senior white house staff or their offices and security clearance privileges. then the president and the white house counsel are.

that's a disturbing reality but i don't think it's subject to much question at this point. >> the only comment i would make is it's unclear exactly how the decision making process in the white house is structured. what authority, for example, the white house counsel has given p up. i know it's not an easy job and i can't imagine what kind of job it would be with donald trump at the top. >> thank you. good to see you both. coming up, raining on his parade. wait until you hear how much president trump's military parade could cost. that's next. stay with us. les. essential for vinyl, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz xr. a once daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate.

xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. needles. a must for vinyl. but for you, one pill a day may provide symptom relief. ask your doctor about xeljanz xr. an "unjection™".

tripadvisor compares prices from over 200 booking sites to time to bask... in low prices! find the right hotel for you at the lowest price. refreshing, isn't it?. tripadvisor. touch is how we communicate with those we love, but when your psoriasis is bad, does it ever get in the way? embrace the chance of 100% clear skin with taltz. taltz is proven to help people with moderate to severe psoriasis achieve completely clear skin. with taltz, up to 90% of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. in fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. don't use if you're allergic to taltz. before starting, you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms, or if you've received a vaccine or plan to. inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz, including worsening of symptoms.

serious allergic reactions can occur. ready for a chance at 100% clear skin? ask your doctor about taltz today. and go to taltz.com to learn how to pay as little as $5 a month. president trump was so enamored with that parade when he was in paris last year, he ordered his own. he ordered the pentagon to plan a military parade here at home. budget director is acknowledging a t a congressional hearing that it would cost millions. 10 to $30 million. >> i've seen various different cost estimates from 10 million to 30 million depending on the size of the parade. we have not accounted for it this this year's budget because it come up at the last minute. >> joining me now, i should point out it's ash wednesday is elyse jordan.

welcome. i should point out happen valentine's day. >> happy valentine's day. >> there's not a whole lot of love in washington these days. jake, just wrote a fascinating article for foreign affairs. we'll talk about that in a moment entitled the world after trump. the cost of a military parade. you're in the white house as a former advisor. imagine a president saying i want a parade. what do you do to talk him out of that? >> a parade without any specific purpose. it's in the a parade to welcome troops home from the specific battlefield. it's seemingly is parade to stroke the president's own ego at a time when the deficit is approaching $21 trillion and we hear yesterday from the director of national intelligence that

the debt is the greatest security threat faced by the united states. it makes so sense this 10 to 30 million vanity expenditure is what the country needs now. >> you have reporting that the president of the united states, as he does, is musing, calling friends, complaining about john kelly. how he handled the rob porter case. the president expressed sympathy. what about the chief of staff with the washington post with a blaring headline that some of the people working for him are calling him big fat liars. jake. >> this is a big challenge. >> it starts to pile up.

he knew. >> your piece in foreign affairs. to is a term. >> what a trump administration has done is given up in terms of leadership.

a departure for america's role. over countries will come to the fore. >> the agency leaders. >> you have a long tradition bipartisanship when it comes to foreign policy and looking directly at the world as it is in responding to those threats.

it does seem the leaders of the national security policy and donald trump's administration are out of step with donald trump himself on some very key issues notably yesterday there was consensus that the russian -- there was russian interfe interference during the 2016 election. there's not much dissension from that. you see again and again where the argument where the leadership, they're being sober minded and believe this. the man at the top might not necessarily believe it. what is the end result when directly at the top the president may not believe that some of these issues are actually threats. >> it was frustration expressed by a number of senators that there isn't a more proactive initiative to stop the russians from what they are doing as we speak because the president has

been so reluctant to accept the idea of russian meddling. >> it's hard to think of an analogy where a u.s. president is told that there's a clear and present danger to america's national security. he's going out of his way to ignore it or down play it. the reason he's doing it is because he can't accept russian m meddling in 2016 because he sees that as unsdermining his electoral victory. as he sees the intelligence officials testified, russia is coming for us in 2018. now it's time for all of us, democrats and the republicans and the president and commander in chief to come together to do something about that. i have my doubts that he will. i think that is a huge problem for a national security. >> how do you identify the russian bots and the suspect

sites. nbc news is online with a listing of 200 sources that are suspect and that twitter has blocked. >> i found it interesting yesterday that one of the over arching themes officials who testified was that the private sector has to step up their game a little bit more in trying to identifying the interference into their own system to help the government further secure americans. i thought that was an interesting thing that's going to be further developing. what is the responsibility of the private sector in this era of misinformation propaganda and bots. >> thank you both so very much. the world after trump is the article in foreign affairs. coming up next, high flier. bh why is epa chief already under fire for his costly travel habits. still taking luxury first class

flights around the world. you will not ploobelieve the co. stay with us. 1, 2, 3, push! easy! easy! easy! (horn honking) alright! alright! we've all got places to go! we've all got places to go! washington crossing the delaware turnpike? surprising. what's not surprising? how much money sean saved by switching to geico. big man with a horn. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. but one blows themisturizer all out of the water. hydro boost from neutrogena®. with hyaluronic acid to plump skin cells so it bounces back. neutrogena®

but through goodt times and bad at t. rowe price we've helped our investors stay confident for over 80 years. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. today's senior living communities have never been better, with amazing amenities like movie theaters, exercise rooms and swimming pools, public cafes, bars and bistros even pet care services.

and there's never been an easier way to get great advice. a place for mom is a free service that pairs you with a local advisor to help you sort through your options and find a perfect place. a place for mom. you know your family we know senior living. together we'll make the right choice. and another member of president trump's cabinet is back in the spotlight for his

costly travel habits. epa chief scott pruitt facing new scrutiny including a round trip flight that e took last ju italy for meetings at the vatican to attend an energy summit. one of the most exclusive luxury airlines. according to receipts, that ticket cost taxpayers more than $7,000. pruitt says the white house signed off on this costly trip. let's kbet the inside scoop from sam stein and kimberly atkinatk. welcome both. so emirates? i have never flown. i u hear it's fabulous. >> there's no better way to travel. o or just from d.c. to new york. listen, this has become a reoccurring problem for this administration.

>> and for mr. pruitt. >> the costs are minuscule compared to everything else, of course. but the message that it sends is is directly in contradiction with what trump was supposed to represent. here we have these d.c. insider elitists misusing your money. this should be a government of the people. but this administration seem os to turn a blind eye. it's not scott pruitt. tom price was brought down by this. and we have this new report. >> it's an inspector general report on veterans affairs. >> so this report is rather wild. essentially, they took a trip to europe in which he brought his wife. and they were publicly saying that this was all done above board. it was cleared by the internal ethics department. that the receipts for a trip to

wimbledon got them this tickets. . it turns out to have been a lie. they were not even friends. they couldn't find text messages. they falsified e-mails that would justify the reason for the trip being a reward or an award er ceremony. and the cost of the trip was far greater than what scott pruitt had. they were caught. they had been caught. this is the type of scandal that any other administration would have led prth much quickly to a resignation. we have seen a resignation in the case of tom price shs but i don't know considering all the other stuff that's happening between the payoffs to the porn star and the rob porter saga whether this will even register on the richter scale. >> what about this budget? not only cuts in medicare and medicaid, but there's talk that the president want. s to use some sort of a blue apron program for food stamps. >> exactly. when you compare that to this lavish travel that the president

in his budget, which the budget itself is not going to get past, but it's a statement of the president's priorities. and one of the ideas is to in lieu of funding, to give snap program recipients a r harvest box, which essentially is a box of packaged non-parishable food. they are calling it it was pitched as a blue apron. it is not. there's no fresh fruit or vegetables in it. and the people would have less of an ability through the cards to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables. it's being criticized not just for that fact. but for the fact that it is taking choice away from these people. it's essentially the government saying we know better than you how to make choices in how you feed yourselves and your family. it harkens back to the days of government cheese being issued by the government. >> the point here is valid.

we spend a lot of time looking at this expensive travel, talking about military parades and those are costly endeavors. but we're talking here about billions of dollars being taken away from poor people and their ability to get nutritious meals essentially. that's a scandal of far greater magnitude than a military parade, which is also kind of a scandal. >> speaking of scandal, this is something i thought i would never say. $30,000 payment now acknowledged by the president's long time personal lawyer to stormien daniels. does that make it okay? >> it doesn't. it doesn't necessarily rid him of potential problems with the federal elections commission if they found it was an inkind donation. but again, that goes to sam's point. at a time where so much is going on in this administration, that's something that would have stopped any other administration or campaign in its tracks. it remains more of a footnote to

all the other news that's going on. >> there's too much going on. >> this next story is for you. the olympics are alive. the state of colorado sent 36 athletes to pyeongchang to compete in the winter games. and colorado's two senators wanted to note that. they are paying homage in a video sharing which sports they are enjoy iing the most. >> if you could compete in one sport, what would it be? >> curling. ♪ >> we're proud of you. thanks for being great representatives of colorado and our country.

skbr we're proud of you and we can't wait to share your victories when you come home. >> that being asked about the rob porter scandal. let's take that. >> that have served this nation more honorably or sacrificed more for this country. than the family of general john kelly. john kelly's service in uniform, his distinguished service at our department of homeland security where we saw a dramatic reduction of illegal crossings at our southern border and distinguished service as chief of staff gives me and the president great confidence in this good man. i want the american people to know not just john kelly, but family members in uniform, here and gone, have served this nation with a love and a patriotism and a passion that

should inspire us all. >> it sounds like you think he should stay. >> john kelly has done a remarkable job as chief of staff for president of the united states. and i look forward to continuing to work with him for many, many months to come. >> in year one you did a lot of overseas travel on behalf of the president. this year you planned a midterm campaign schedule. you're off to the great state of it texas. >> we are. >> that's not a swing state. >> some elections are coming up. and midterm elections for the party in office in the white house are historically challenging, but i like our chances this year. i have been on the campaign trail. the president is is out there and we have a record made possible by u majorities.

it's amazing to think about how far this country has come just in the first year of this administration. rolling back federal red tape, literally transform iing the federal judiciary, more court of appealed judges confirmed in the single year than in ever confirmed in american history. and our newest justice to the supreme court and then at the end of the year seeing us pass historic tax relief for the american people. tax relief that has earned 4.2 million americans a raise or a bonus. you see the strength in this economy. the doi namic growth over the last year. >> mike pence talking to mike allen. what he said about rob port r was that the administration has no tolerance for domestic violence and the white house could have handled it better. you heard a ringing endorsement for john kelly calling him a good man, a very good man. that trying to put to rest a lot

of rumors swirling around washington in the newspapers and elsewhere on television that the president has been calling friends to complain about john kelli's management of this and other issues and asking about possible replacements including gary cohn, kevin mccarthy, but this word from mike pence today very deliberately setting the tone that john kelly is here for now, if not permanently getting that endorsement from the vice president of the united states. and that does it for this e edition. a busy valentine's day. remember the show online, facebook and twitter. peter alexander is here. you have a lot on your plate. >> thank you, andrea. good afternoon to you. it's afternoon already. what a day it's been so far. i'm in washington. it's peter alexander in for craig melvin. follow the money.

the six had-digit payment made weeks before the election and now the president's long had-time lawyer telling nbc news he used his own money to facilitate a payment to the porn star who report ed to have claimed she had a sexual encounter with president trump. and blame and isolation for john kelly inside the white house in the wake of a domestic abuse scandal involving two aids. also today, a new deal. a group of bipartisan senators say that e we could is have a new immigration compromise in a matter of hours but will republican leadership and the president buy in? we have a full plate on this wednesday. we start, though, with the stormy daniels money trail. the scandal was brought back to the front. the president's lawyer confirms that he was the one who helped facilitate a $130,000 payment to daniels weeks before