not so easy to bring a human heart to heal. [music playing] tonight, back to the future. a u.s. hockey team wins olympic gold. the president basques in cheers of lock her up. the nation grapples with whether we can do something about mass shootings. this is "kasie d.c." welcome to "kasie d.c." we are live from washington every sunday from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. eastern.

tonight, congress returns from winter break as students and teachers return to stoneman douglas high school. we'll hear from some of them, and congressman and former florida governor charlie crist. will anything happen this time? and later, midterm madness. a legal fight is on to keep republican seats in republican hands. we are joined by congressman ryan costello of pennsylvania. plus, is bob corker about to become a candidate again for his own seat? von hilliard brings us the murky state of play from memphis, tennessee. but first, the mass shooting in parkland, florida, did not produce the same old gun debate. it has been the voices of students that have made this one different. they have organized marches, flooded the state house in tallahassee, and demanded action from elected officials. some are listening. florida's republican governor rick scott who has an a-plus

rating with the nra announced a proposal that includes banning firearm sales to anyone younger than 21. >> i think most members in nra agree with me, this is logical. i'm sure there are going to be some that disagree. but i'm a dad and a grand dad and a governor. i want my state to be safe. i want every child to be in a safe environment when they're trying to be educated. >> meanwhile, a cnn pole released today showed 7 in 10 americans support stricter gun laws, up from over 50% in october. but congress returns tomorrow, and the question remains. what happens next at the federal level? the president has offered up a range of ideas to enhance school safety. most notably, training and arming teachers, and there is some legislation in the works. but, of course, for any piece of legislation to go anywhere, it first has to earn the support of republican leadership. and so far mitch mcconnell and paul ryan have been publicly silent on what, if anything, will actually make it to the floor. but one thing is clear. the students of marjory stoneman douglas high school who resume classes this week will be

watching. with that i'd like to welcome in my panel. national political reporter for axios, jonathan swan. catty kay, and coauthor of the political play book, jake sherman. thank you all for being here tonight. i want to focus our conversation here at the beginning of the show on just what, if anything, could possibly happen. jake sherman, this issue is particularly difficult in the house of representatives where the speaker faces a choice about whether or not to put the most likely of these in congress. and feel free to disagree with me, but it seems this fix nix bill that would have made changes to the shooting that happened in sutherland springs could potentially be a st. louis. the house has already passed it but they're demanding other things, concessions to the national rifle association. is there anything that will get done in congress? >> first of all, most of the people i talk to don't believe there is a legislative solution.

most republicans. there is a split. there are conservatives in the house who say this is a tipping point. i think if anything happens -- and again, far from certain, it's some sort of bolstering of back ground checks and maybe something on bump stocks. this is low hanging fruit stuff. i want to be like abundantly clear here. there's no chance they're going to raise the age to buy any weapons. there's no chance there is going to be an assault weapons ban. there is really no chance that congress is going to approve some sort of sweeping arming your teachers movement that the president seems to be interested in. and if there is a way to get this done, the president would be wise to focus on one or two things that are kind of easy, and there are those things. >> catty kay, what jake just laid out feels to me like really nothing changes very much. >> yeah, these are the things that people who support tighter gun controls would say america should have done years and years ago.

bump stocks seem obvious, firming up the background check seems fairly obvious. the only thing i can imagine would change it, you've seen some corporate response to this that we haven't seen before. that's new over the course of this weekend. that cnn poll is interesting for two reasons. the people who support raising the age limit, 70%. the tense factor. if people start to make this a voting issue for themselves, it's never been on the side of people supporting gun control. if that becomes a voting issue in some districts, running up to the midterm elections maybe you start to see a shift. >> jonathan swan, do you think the president is going to push congress on this issue? >> the problem with the president in any of these issues is consistency and keeping anything sustained. i believe he'll keep it sustained as long as it's on tv and it's an issue in the media. i find it hard to believe that he'll really make a long-term sustained public argument to raise the age, which is really the thing where he's crossed the nra.

on everything else the nra is fine with his position because it's not controversial as jake pointed out. things like the cornyn bill and bump stocks and, you know, some of the arming teachers, which is really a state issue. i mean, they're obviously fine with that. the concern that i hear from leadership, republican leadership, also in the senate, is the sort of christmas tree approach. if everyone starts attaching -- they have some sort of gun control bill and people start putting their own things on it, almost no chance of getting anything done. it has to be probably something modest and narrow. >> right. and the question, of course, will what the students bring to the table make any difference. so that point people have been coming to washington for, frankly, too many years trying to do something about stopping these mass shootings. and now this tragic torch is being passed. in the wake of newtown, parents descended on the capital. this was back in 2013, to work with a bipartisan group of senators. >> let's all share. i can't imagine.

>> okay, ladies and gentlemen. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> mark martin has been to the white house more than once. the first time was after he lost his son daniel at sandy hook, and he was there again this week to meet with another president about a national solution for mass shootings. >> this is my little daniel. i've been holding up pictures of my little daniel since the day he was murdered at sandy hook elementary school. and here we are again. here we are again trying to

figure out what the hell are we going to do about this. five years, i'm sick of this. i'm sick of having to figure this out. these are my other two children, james and natalie. james and natalie are in high school now. james is a senior at newtown high school and natalie is a sophomore. believe me when i tell you the laws of odds and averages don't make us immune that this could happen to us again. this could happen to you. that's why i'm asking for your help. we need to do something. and you know who is doing something? are these amazing high school students. oh, my god, what a force to be reckoned with. that is a no [ bleep ] constituency that is speaking up, and they are protecting their own future. they are not going to be intimidated by corporate greed. they're not going to be bullied by money and power. they want to fix this and they're going to do it, and let's help them, too. [ applause ]

>> katty kay, we are talking in a way that reflects the experience that we felt after i covered -- i was in the room with joe manchin when that happened. and the conversation started out as let's ban these assault weapons. let's limit the size of magazines. let's do all of these things and what they came down to was a proposal to expand background checks that then couldn't pass the congress. can these high school students make a difference? >> well, they couldn't pass the congress not just because of republicans, right? it also couldn't pass because of those five democratic senators who found themselves in an impossible position. i think jonathan has it.

it depends how long this stays in the media and we're going to have this huge big march on march 24th. it will be all over our television screens. if they can keep up a public awareness campaign, that could start perhaps to shift things. but i fear we're back in the territory of the tiny things that ought to have happened that seem to obvious, what happened so many times after the shootings. >> can i make a point? a lot of these republicans -- i've said this a few times now. i think people need to keep this in mind. the country is drawn -- congressional seats are drawn where a lot of people, members of congress go home every weekend to picnics and barbecues and political events where their constituents are carrying guns and all they hear from their constituents is, okay, you're going to start here. what's next? are they going to take my purse poll next? are they going to take away my ability to protect my family? so i think a lot of republicans go home and their view is enforced and it's informed by the fact that their constituents in a lot of these dikts have not moved. and it makes it very difficult politically internally for the leadership, for paul ryan and

kevin mccarthy to move. >> we also haven't seen -- we see these young kids doing, you know, incredible speeches on tv. but we haven't seen that turned into a fear some voting force. >> that's right. >> it's hard to think of an election that was won on a gun control message -- >> in ten days, though -- >> i'm not talking about this weekend. if you look at the last 20 years, election s have been won on a gun rights platform, but not the opposite. >> it hasn't been a single issue. >> what did you take away? one thing i thought was interesting was rick scott coming out. he hasn't announced or said whether he's going to run for

senate or not, but it struck me that he was crossing the nra on this question of how old you should be to buy one of these guns. whether that's simply a reflection of the fact that i -- i do not doubt this is going to be a front and center issue in any florida statewide race come the fall. the question for me whether this becomes national. if this is a signal to republicans, hey, this is a place where we should move or is he protected by the president? >> i think it all comes back whether people start making the phone calls on the other side of the argument. we're all saying this. this has been the issue. people have voted consistently and call their members of congress consistently in favor of the second amendment and gun rights. we haven't ever seen people calling. and if this translates into that movement, then potentially you have people like rick scott who feel that they want to do things, even if it's on a statewide level. >> amy walter did an excellent piece a few days ago. the pew research shows twice as many gun owners called their member of congress after gun control. we see a lot of the intensity but the actual intensity has been historically with the gun rights crowd.

it is important to keep in mind. >> today students were allowed to return to marjory stoneman douglas high school for the first time since the mass shooting there. parents also joined for what was called an open house before the official start of classes on wednesday. melissa is a teacher at marjory stoneman douglas. during the shooting she hid 19 students and herself in the closet of her classroom for over half an hour. she joins me now from parkland, florida. melissa, thank you so much for being here tonight. i really appreciate it. >> hi, thank you for having me. >> can you take us into the classroom today? this was your first day back at school. what was it like? >> actually i went back to school for the first time on thursday. i was the only one who was there. there were administrators, but i felt like it was really important for me to go back and stand in my classroom and sort of deal with whatever feelings i had about that. so, today was actually the third time i've been in my room since this happened.

>> and were you there with your students today? what was the atmosphere like with the community at the high school? >> i think everyone is sort of uncertain about, you know, how we move forward. there were students there. there were parents there. it was an optional event for teachers and students. so, i mean, i think people are sort of feeling out how they feel whether they're ready to come back. some teachers may not be ready to come back. some students may not be ready to come back. the district has said that they're committed to working with everybody in terms of, you know, in their own time and what do they need and how can the district support them. >> one of the proposals that the president has advocated in the wake of what happened at your school is the possibility of teachers arming themselves and carrying guns in the classroom. is that something that you personally would consider or feel comfortable with? and do you think it's good policy across the board? >> no, it's not something i'm comfortable with. i think it's a terrible policy.

it doesn't solve the problem at hand. it creates new problems, you know, in terms of where is it going to be stored? and what happens if a student gets their hands on it? what happens if the wrong teacher has a weapon? i don't believe it would have helped in this instance either because you're bringing a hand gun like a concealed weapon is a hand gun to a fight with someone who is armed with, you know, an ar-15. so, i feel -- i honestly -- it's a terrible policy. >> the president has also said that he wants to harden schools. what do you take away from that framing of it and what do you think should be done to try and physically protect schools if anything? >> i mean, we're already doing a lot of those things. you know, most schools -- in our district schools are fenced. there is a single entry point. you have to come in, show your

driver's license in order to gain access to the school, even to pickup your student. i'm not sure what hardening the school looks like. i don't know if that means like metal detectors, bullet proof glass. to me it seems it's the same as arming the teachers. it's like miss direction from the problem at hand. when are we going to talk about these assault rifles and whether or not that's the type of weapon we want civilians carrying around in our society. so, i support the idea of strengthening security but i don't know how much farther we can actually go. i mean, i don't support the idea of turning our schools into some form of like military compounds because our schools are supposed to be a safe place for kids to come, like a home away from home. and the idea of, you know, turning it into something that is so heavily guard and had protected as opposed to looking at the issues at hand just doesn't seem to make sense. i don't know where the money is going to come from for this either. >> the broward county sheriff's

department has been on defense over how they handled this. scott israel was on cnn earlier today. i want to show you that clip and talk about. >> are you not taking any responsibility for the multiple red flags that were brought to the attention of the broward sheriff's office about this shooter before the incident? >> i can only take responsibility for what i knew about. i exercised my due diligence. i have given amazing leadership to this agency -- >> amazing leadership? >> yes, jake. >> do you think that they showed amazing leadership here? >> i mean, i think what happened with the broward sheriff's office in terms of how many times, you know, they were called out, you know, to deal with this particular individual, i think, you know, scott israel pointed out the other day they have limited power in terms of, you know, what they're able to do and so i think that is sort of indicative of the problem, too. i don't think the problem is just assault rifles. the problem is, you know, whether or not law enforcement has the ability to take an individual that they think is a threat and have them, you know, examined by medical professionals. i think there is an issue with funding for mental health. so, i think it sort of leads into the bigger problems. my issue, you know, with politicians is that they want to

talk about all these other pieces, but they want to leave out the assault rifle piece. and i think we have to have a conversation about all of it so that we can actually make our kids at school safer and our society safer at large. >> melissa, thank you very much for your time tonight. really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> we have much more to come on "kasie d.c." ivanka trump and donald trump, jr., representing the u.s. abroad. we will have peter alexander's exclusive interview with the first daughter. plus, jonathan swan with two very interesting, shall we say, exclusive scoops about how the president wants to handle some drug dealers. all drug dealers, perhaps. but first republican congressman ryan costello joins me on set. you're watching "kasie d.c." you know what's awesome? gig-speed internet.

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on the idea of raising the age of assault weapons from 18 to 21, are you personally supportive of that? >> i'm very skeptical about that because the vast majority of 18, 19, 20, 21-year-olds are law abiding citizens who aren't a threat to anyone. >> what about the ar-15 specifically? >> here's the problem, chuck. there's a lot of hunting rifles that are as powerful as an ar-15. the difference between the ar-15 and an awful lot of commonly sold rifles is just cosmetic. it's got a grip under the barrel and it's painted black.

that doesn't change its lethality. >> republican senator pat toomey's answer showing how nuanced or confused the gun die bait has become. it was after all senator toomey to expand background checks following the sandy hook shooting. let's bring in another lawmaker from pennsylvania, ryan costello. thank you for coming in. >> nice to see you. >> you are in a suburban philadelphia district. do you think assault weapons should be banned? however should this go? >> it's a good question. if you saw congressman brian mast put out an op-ed this weekend which i think is on point -- >> you support an assault weapons -- >> what's the definition of it? we have to have a working definition we can all agree to. i think the real problem now with this debate is you have people very passionate saying the same words, meaning different things. if we start -- the toomey-manchin bill should pass. there is a mix everyone can agree to and we move into the

discussion and hopefully develop a vocabulary that everyone can wrap their arms around. >> yeah, let's kind of explore this a little bit more. you're essentially saying if it's crafted correctly you could support a certain type of assault weapons ban? >> yeah. i mean, if you look at what congressman laid out, you're looking at the type -- how quickly the bullets come out, what types of bullets are used. those are the sorts of things we >> yeah, let's kind of explore this a little bit more. you're essentially saying if it's crafted correctly you could support a certain type of assault weapons ban? >> yeah. i mean, if you look at what congressman laid out, you're looking at the type -- how quickly the bullets come out, what types of bullets are used. those are the sorts of things we need to lay all the facts on the table so we are all using the same definition, which i think was the point of his editorial. he also went and laid out four or five other things i think we need to get done. >> the leadership, the house republican leadership has essentially paired in this kicks it was the fix nix bill. much different from the assault weapons been. they paired that with conceal

carry reciprocity. if you have a concealed carry -- if you have a concealed weapons in one state it has to be recognized by other states. >> right. >> do you think leadership -- do you think that is a right thing to do to force people to connect those things? >> i voted against the reciprocity bill because i don't think in one state -- in a state that has less of a background check system or permitting system in order to get a concealed carry, you shouldn't be able to go from west virginia into pennsylvania if you don't have to do in west virginia what you would have to do to get a carry in pennsylvania. i voted against it. having said that, i think the fix nix everyone can agree to. moving forward i hope leadership will take up what can pass. we get into a challenging space where toomey said it couldn't get past the senate. the frustration is there are those that may be be engaged in the vocabulary debate. this bill would not have prevented the tragedy that happened, but this bill is common sense. so your inability to do even the common sense stuff really frustrates me and i'm asking myself, why don't you do the stuff that should get done

regardless -- >> it should be easy. >> that's where i think most of the country is. 70, 80% of the country has a gun safety reform set of principles we could easily put into action and that's where i am on it. >> the polling certainly shows that. your district has been redistricted. it looks like they have put you into a new version of your district that if, in fact, those lines hold, would have gone for hillary clinton for -- by 9 points. are you going to run again for reelection? >> interestingly, in 2012, mitt romney ron the district by 1. in 2016 hillary clinton won it by one. now as it's proposed hillary would win it by 9. only now do some people deem it to be a fair district. the problem with this redistricting issue, aside the fact the judges did something they weren't allowed to do, there's no statutory or constitutional authority to do what they did. i think in federal court next week, it may very well get struck down. but as we talk about the gun debate, this is a very important

point. jake sherman mentioned it earlier. this redistricting plan, which i think will get struck down as unconstitutional because the judges didn't have authority to do t makes conservative districts more conservative, democratic or liberal districts more democratic and liberal, and increases polarization in the state. >> some say it represents the number of democrats who live in pennsylvania. >> actually 538.com says pennsylvania is the single most democratic clustered state in the country. that's because one-third of all democrats reside in either philadelphia or allegheny county. if we're talking about compactness, unless you want to spread out and not focus on compactness, which is what the court said they wanted to do, necessarily there's going to be some districts that are very,

very democratic in the city. but be that as it may, i mean, here's what should happen. the legislature should pass redistricting reform package. that's how it should get done. >> so, if the court allows this to stand, will you run for reelection? do you have any hope of winning reelection if it stands? >> i imagine i would win if i run. the question -- this is what i think is going to happen. i think the federal district court is going to strike that down. the state supreme court had no authority to do what they did. in fact, they did two things that are totally outrageous. there are two districts protected under civil rights law under the voting rights act. a majority, minority district. there were two of them. the state supreme court just got rid of one of them. no expert testimony, no explanation as to why they would get rid of one of those districts -- >> the upshot is what you think is what they did is illegal? >> no question. >> congressman ryan costello, thank you very much. we'll be keeping an eye on all of that in the week to come. up next an nbc news exclusive with ivanka trump. peter alexander sits down with

the first daughter at the winter olympics ahead of the closing ceremony in south korea. "kasie d.c." back after this. ♪ ♪ i'm jimmy, this is my definition of fresh since 1983. ♪

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leading the presidential delegation at the winter olympics in pyeongchang. her visit comes as a trump administration announced new sanctions against north korea. the, quote, largest ever against the regime. in an nbc news exclusive, peter alexander sat down with the first daughter ahead of the closing ceremonies. >> reporter: ivanka trump's visit here in south korea not exclusively ceremonial. delivering a message of unity to a crucial u.s. ally. >> we are 50 miles away from north korea, so affirming the u.s. position and our joint position of maximum pressure with our south korean partners is very important. >> reporter: after kim jong-un's sister attended the olympics opening ceremony, local media called her north korea's ivanka. is that a fair comparison? >> i don't think so. i'd far rather be compared to my sisters in south korea who are thriving --

>> reporter: she addressed the debate at home following the parkland massacre and her father's controversial message some teachers should carry guns. you're a mom of three young children. do you believe that arming teachers would make children safer? >> to be honest, i don't know. obviously there would have to be an incredibly high standard for who would be able to bear arms in our school. but i think that there is no one solution to creating safety. >> reporter: are you advising your dad on this, do you advise him on other topics? >> i think that having a teacher who are armed, who cares deeply about her students or his students and who is capable and qualified to bear arms is not a bad idea, but it is an idea that needs to be discussed. >> not a bad idea. joining me now, white house reporter for the washington post and msnbc political analyst, ashley parker.

and my panel is back with me as well. quickly on this gun point, jonathan swan, is this another example of -- ivanka trump seems to be breaking with her father a little bit on this question of arming teachers. >> i think if you lined up ivanka trump's view of the world with donald j. trump's view of the world, you wouldn't find an enormous amount of policy overlap. i think it was pretty clear watching that clip she wasn't

entirely on board with the idea of teachers walking around with guns. >> not entirely on board. ashley parker, let's switch gears. you took a trip with the president recently to asia. what were kind of your take aways from that trip as far as where we are with north korea? there are these new sanctions but there may be conversations opening up. >> sure. it was a fascinating trip in part because the vice-president went there. ostensibly he was going to be at the winter olympics ceremony. all throughout the aides were telling the case he was not there to watch the games and cut a ribbon. he was there as this one man superhero to try to combat north korea's olympic efforts. it's an open question how successful he was, but almost every stop, he announced these sanctions that were coming. he met with north korean

defectors. he toured the ship, the south korean ship that was torpedoed by the north in 2010. and i reported when we got back that it turned out when he left washington, he had known he was prepared to take a secret meeting with the north koreans. again, this was not opening up negotiations. his plan at the time was basically that he was -- the president believes in talking. he believes in talking. he was basically going to reiterate to the north koreans face to face all that stuff that donald j. trump is saying, he actually means it. so, you should be aware of that. and at the last minute the north koreans, about two hours before the meeting, they pulled out because they weren't happy with his rhetoric. and that's basically how the trip went. >> katty kay, how close are we to the nuclear brink with north korea or has that over the course of the weeks at the olympics, have we come back from the brink or closer to it? >> most north korean analysts would suggest the detente between south korea and north korea was designed around the olympics. the south korean wanted to hold a successful olympics. the last thing they wanted was for the north koreans to test a ballistic missile while the games were happening. one watcher said to me it is a bit like the mafia. you pay your protection money and they got their olympic games without any intervention. the question is what happens now. the games are over. nobody thinks that actually the north koreans are for any long period of time going to stop playing good guys. they may want to look like they want good neighbors, but the program is going to accelerate. meanwhile, the pentagon plans are being drawn up for some kind of military strike, a bloody nose type. that's what they would hope, strike against north korea. most people think we are closer

to that option than we are aware of. >> rosy assessment. jonathan schwan, the security clearance with ivanka trump's husband, jared kushner, the president said i defer to john kelly. he also seemed to suggest john kelly thinks he knows the right way to handle the situation. is jared kushner going to continue his job the way he has been? >> it's a huge tbd. with the security clearance something is holding it up. i don't know if john kelly knows what's holding it up. the senior level of white house, nobody knows exactly what it is. and i don't even know if jared knows exactly what it is. we don't know. we're in this period of limbo and i suspect he may get some grace period, but it could actually kind of backfire in a few months because if it still hasn't -- if kelly says, all right, in three months we'll revisit it, if it's still not done, that's going to be a problem.

>> right. ashley, wasn't this supposed to be answered on friday, this question? >> it absolutely was. it is very much an open question the last i had heard. again, this was sort of theory. was that kushner may have been get what is described as a carve out. because he ended up -- >> special treatment? >> certain special treatment. the reason it was given because you may recall he had to update his forms a number of times because he hadn't disclosed everything. >> right. >> his final forms came in later, they could use that to justify kicking it down the road. >> if you're not cleared by june 1. >> exactly. >> just ahead, congressman john conyers resigned in disgrace denying accusations of sexual misconduct. we'll introduce you to rachid a talib and would be the first muslim woman in congress. we're back after this.

the lowest rate in 51 years.

[ audience reacts ] >> thank you very much. thank you. >> that was former democratic member of the michigan house of representatives, rashida tlaib being run out of a trump speech after protesting. now she is running for congress. tlaib is campaigning in michigan's 13th district to fill the seat left after congressman john conyers was forced to resign amid sexual harassment allegations. she joins me now live from detroit. thank you so much, rashida, for being with us. appreciate it. >> thank you, kasie, for having me. >> this is a seat that was held by john conyers, longest serving member of the house. family members are competing for

this district. why do you think there is a reason why it might fall to you? what exactly is your rationale for running here, and do you think that you can beat these two congressmen? >> absolutely. you know, a lot of our families in the 13th congressional district. they're sick and tired. they want somebody that goes beyond just the voting, beyond just the same old rhetoric that you hear. they want somebody that will vote the right way, go out in the community, fight side by side with them, join the movements for all the kinds of issues around the economy, around education, around a number of issues. and a lot of folks that know me here in the 13th congressional district will tell you, you know, i will stand by them to stop water shut offs and protests as well as introduce bills and push it through committee. people want that. they want to raise the bar of what they expect in a member of congress.

i think, kasie, so many of us have just been getting the same old style over and over again, and i think people want a mom that has a lens, a different lens that can really see things differently than what we have been able to get in congress now. and you know, i'm sick and tired of a lot of us are sick and tired. we're sick and tired here in michigan especially we've gotten thrown billions of dollars of tax breaks to millionaires where we're closing schools, education system falling apart. we have potholes, all these kinds of issues, infrastructure right here. people are sick and tired of it. and i don't think they want another typical member of congress. i think they want something different and i provide that. >> do you think electing another person with the last name conyers would represent simply more of the same in >> absolutely. just looking at, you know, the past things that have been

brought up in regards to various issues, i know for instance for me what i can provide. and my character and a lot of folks will tell you this, is i help people through everyday kinds of issues. that is as critical to me as introducing legislation that helps change our lives for the better. and people want somebody that gets it and understands it, not somebody that will inherit yet another position based on name recognition. here, i think looking at the number of people i've spoken to, you know, over -- close to over 50% -- nearly 50% of the families in the 13th congressional district don't own their own home. and that alone is a cornerstone of the american dream. and we haven't been able to address those issues. and i know when i talk about it there's a lot of confidence and understanding that i take it very seriously and that i won't back down until it actually gets done, where people have easier access to owning their own home and being able to provide a stability for their families and their children. >> katty kay has a question for you.

>> ms. tlaib, it's katty here. there is only one other muslim. it's not that easy for muslim americans to get elected in congress or perhaps they haven't run in numbers. i want to know how much of an issue it was for you campaigning in the 13th district. if it comes up, how do you respond to? >> first of all, there are two. congressman keith ellison, by the way, take full credit for the fact he is a detroiter himself. was born here and raised here. and there is also congressman andre carson who i dearly respect and love and adore the number of things he's been able to work on. look, i've run before three times very successfully for the state legislature. of course, it comes up, but people tend to put that aside

and look at my record, look at the fact that i'm a hard worker, and the fact that i really do care about making their lives better. and people want to just have that direct human contact. and you know, right away, people like, oh, yeah, you're the one who helped get the petroleum coke removed from the river front. so, the issue they may not be able to pronounce my name, the fact i am arab american, proud arab american and of muslim faith kind of fades into the background and people just focus primarily on the fact i can get results done. they love the fire that i bring forward. they love the fact that you'll see me with my kids at various rallies. i try my best to come to the ground up versus what we have been able to see now in congress, which is sending out press releases, doing these kinds of statements is not what people want. they want something different. they want something that is a little bit more aggressive in

getting things done. i am a person that leaves the campaigning at the steps of the capital and when i walk in, i want to get things done. >> rashida tlaib, very quickly before i let you go, yes or no, will you support nancy pelosi as leader of the democratic caucus in the house? >> i can't answer that right now. i can tell you -- >> no yes or no? yes or no. >> probably not. i'll tell you right now, probably not. >> probably not, okay. rashida tlaib, thank you very much for being on tonight. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >> next hour on "kasie d.c."? >> we don't want to fight to break the glass ceiling. we want to build a whole new house. >> she would have. a new co-working space coming to washington, d.c. for women. soon across cities. i'll talk exclusively to actress to political fact, to multi-million dollar company. that's still to come on "kasie d.c."

to call the swan dive. you have a couple swoops out tonight, jonathan. what new have you learned? >> number one, in singapore, they execute people who traffic in drugs. often drug dealers who are not necessarily in american terms regarded as kingpins. trump loves the idea -- >> of executing drug dealers? >> kellyanne conway said it's more nuanced. she said he's not wanting to execute low level drug dealers but people dealing in fentanyl. you know where they have a drug problem?

china or the philippines, but he talks of these regimes where they're not soft on drug dealers. anyone holding out hope he would do drug sentencing reform, it would be not in the way they are thinking. the second one is trump has been pushing his personal pilots of trump force one to be the head of the federal aviation administration, which has a budget running in the billions. his name is john duncan. the president used to sit on the tarmac with john duncan. he would say, if you had a pilot running the faa, you would never have any of these problems. >> sitting on the tarmac when he

was running for president? >> no, when he was a private citizen. and i compared it to cosmo cramer on "seinfeld" appointing his golf caddie as a consultant. they said he's more than a pilot, he has a lot of other experience in the aviation sector. so he's on a short list of this job with the acting administrator. >> is this somebody you were familiar with, is she somebody that was buddy buddy with the president? >> not particularly. but trump flew on trump force one and we flew on a different plane. trump is buddy buddy with the people who surround him. they are the ones that are able to put articles in front of him, plant ideas and he listens to them and often echoes their ideas even on policy. >> one thing that would help solve the nation's aviation woes is passing a long-term faa authorization bill. he's been unsuccessful in doing that, as the republican congress has been for many years.

>> just so wonderfully trump. that you have your guy there. >> he's trump's pilot. >> jonathan is very fair to this show. thank you for your time tonight. much more when we continue, including congressman and former florida governor charlie crist. plus, why practically no one was watching when the most interesting thing at cpac happened. and a twist this week, our team of producers watches cpac so you don't have to. we're back after this. cpac has always been about big ideas. tax cuts. obamacare. the individual mandate. by the way, what a nice picture that is. i would love to watch that guy speak. campaign promise. the fake news.

an emotional scene in parkland, florida. students and parents return for orientation after a deadly shooting and local authorities are facing criticism for not doing enough to prevent the tragedy. plus, growing questions about why some, including president trump's most trusted advisers including son-in-law jared kushner are still without security clearance. and fallout after cpac, why one facing backlash is saying in a new op-ed she's glad she got booed. good morning,