like families do. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. ♪ a very good morning to all of you. i'm alex witt here in washington, d.c. where it is 6:00 a.m. here on the east, just 3:00 a.m. out west. but in just a few hours, the streets of this city will be filled with protesters all demanding change. tens of thousands of students and parents calling for gun control action after the deadly shooting rampage at a florida high school. 800 similar marches being held in cities across this country. but is congress listening? and will this be, finally, the tipping point families are hoping for? >> it's not about how you go

down or what happens to you. it's about what you do afterwards. >> it's not just about stone dougs lass. it's about every school, every movie theater, every park, every community. >> also making sense of yet another wild week at the white house from a veto threat to more staff shake-ups and now new reporting showing there is no ground strategy to the president's actions. plus, the new legal moves made by two women who say they had sexual relationships with president trump. legal analysis ahead on that. but minutes now from daybreak here in the nation's capital, hours from half a million people filling pennsylvania avenue, all this a mere five weeks plus removed from a valentine's day nightmare that sparked this protest. today's so-called march for our lives planned for some 800 cities across this country led by students from everywhere, but most notably, parkland, florida, where a school shooter killed 17 people on that horrific february afternoon. today's rally carrying a message

focussing on gun reform looking to affect change and prevent futures attacks after a string of such incidents at schools across this country. >> i've thought about it a lot, how it's going to be, what it's going to look like. i hope every kid has the opportunity, you know, to cold assign, have their voice heard and ban together to change this policy. >> well, for more on what to expect, we're going to head now to nbc's tammy lightener. a very good morning to you, tammy. what with all are we expecting to happen today? >> good morning, alex. i'm in front of the major stage and there will be some great performers out here. miley cyrus, common, ariana grande, lynn manuel. but most of the people taking the stage to talk are going to be students. as you mentioned, this entire events was organized by students. the brain child of five students who survived parkland. there are about a half million

parents, teachers, students that are going to be marching down pennsylvania avenue. not marching, i'm told, because of the sheer number of people that are going to be on out here. students, teachers, parents from actually all over the entire united states. sister marches, about 800 of them from around the entire world. people coming out here to really show their support and, alex, you have to think about it. it's really remarkable. the entire pretty much entire downtown d.c. is going to be shut down, something that's normally reserved for political events in downtown d.c. so that's a very big deal. we spoke with some of the kids that are going to be marching today. let's go ahead and listen to what they had to say. >> i think that it's really good that this is something that's finally being discussed and it's not only in parkland, but it's the people from baltimore, d.c., you know, like detroit, los angeles, and every other city in the united states. >> columbine, there wasn't

social media. in newtown, they were so young. so i think this one is the one that changed everything because this generation, my generation is not willing to sit down and be quiet about the things we believe in. >> everybody needs to step up for what they believe in and that's when things are going to start moving. so mars like this, they get people involved. >> things are scheduled to start at noon, but, alex, i can tell you, kids started arriving yesterday. very excited, very excited to have their message heard. so we are going to start seeing kids trickle out within the next few hours. they're going to start showing up, start talking and getting their message out there. >> i took the train down from new york to washington yesterday and i had a bunch of excited kids, teachers, parents. it was so inspiring. also, we've already seen twitter pictures of kids having breakfast. lots of eggs, they've got their protein for the big day ahead. there's a lot of good stuff to come from this, we hope .pray. tammy, thank you so much for

that. meantime, the justice department last night moving ahead with president trump's call for a ban on bump stocks. although bump stocks were not used by that shooter at stoneman douglas high school. president trump is at a mar-a-lago resort this morning, but not before promising to reverse a rule by president obama allowing transgenders to serve in the military. also, new insight on how white house aides reacted to president trump's threat to veto the $1.3 billion trending bill which he eventually signed before leaving for florida. people familiar with that discussion said white house aides met with mr. trump and warned him that he might catch blame for shutting down the government on a weekend he planned to spend at his palm beach florida resort. the interview with stormy daniels airs tomorrow night. her law explaining last night,

the reason for his rather cryptic tweet with the picture of a dvd. >> that dvd the contains evidence of this relationship. and let me tell you why i sent the tweet. i sent the tweet as a warning shot to michael cohen and any other supporters of the president and to the president himself. to the extent that they plan on disparaging my client, lying about what happened or spinning facts that have no basis in reality -- >> let's bring if in julia manchester, reporter for "the hill" and kevin ser are elli with bloomberg tv. good morning. nice to have you. >> good to see you. >> good morning. >> kevin, with the president being in florida the this weekend, how do you think the white house is dealing with the storm that is stormy daniels, everything that's coming tomorrow night on tv? >> first and foremost, i'm not sure that there is a cohesive plan on behalf of administration

officials to deal with this. it's not something they're openly talking about. the question becomes, does it become a legal fishing expedition and are there new subpoenas for e-mails that could lead to an alternative route. but the bottom line from the other night, i think you had an interesting development not from all the salacious details, but about the president's relationship with ami and that is something that i think is interesting, ami owning the the nation"national enquirer." and that catch and bait type of story line, i think, is one that is worth following. >> you know, you've got to wonder, julia, the president at this point is not attacking, not commenting on stormy daniels specifically in any way ahead of this interview. but is there a sense it's only a matter of time that he will put something out there? he'll say something, it will be reported, he'll put a tweet out there. in his defense, especially

leading up to or immediately after this interview. >> right. so it's kind of hard to pin down that one. it was fascinating to see the president leave the oval office yesterday after signing that budget and reporters were talking to him about karen mcdougall and stormy daniels but he didn't say anything. and i think a lot of this has to do with the fact that the president is married. both of these affairs happened after first lady melania trump had baron. so i think this is deeply personal to that family and i think this shows that the white house is definitely trying to really tiptoe around this. another thing is, when sarah huckabee sanders kind of almost put her foot in her mouth when she talked about the arbitration, her critics would say that i think the white house is trying to be very, very cautious. but one the thing i think we should look at is the timing of the news this week. the president announced john bolton to be his new security adviser 90 minutes before that interview with karen mcdougal

landed. we saw the transgender ban last night and the -- >> as if to deflect focus. >> right. so i would keep an eye out this week. >> and i just want to reiterate that the president says he denies all allegations of sexual impropriety again and again. you bring up karen mcdougal. >> did he ever ask you to hide it? >> no, he didn't, never. actually, no. >> so there was never a conversation of -- >> never. i think once he asked, does your sister know? i said yeah, she knows. he wasn't afraid to hide it at all. i'm not a liar. i'm perceived as a liar. all this and that, all these bad names. i did what i did. i feel terrible about it. but i'm a new woman, new creation, and i'm standing up for myself. >> does this one feel different to you in terms of the interview? if you think about stormy daniels, particularly when she went on jimmy kimmel, there was that coy behavior, did i, and

she was very sort of deflective with the answers. but karen mcdougal comes out and talks about the time of her relationship, that she really loved donald trump. she thought there was something there. again, i think it is important to take away all of the salacious details and all of the gossip and focus on the legality of this. because this is where it's interesting in the sense that she is claiming that her attorney was working with the private citizen donald trump's attorney and also with ami, which owns the "national enquirer" to arrange into some type of settlement deal that would have set her up for a career through various publications that she says was not followed through. so it's that legal arrangement, that type of nondisclosure agreement that when you take a broader step back and look at the culture we're in with nondisclosure agreements, that's what really this becomes an

illustration of. and i think that's what gets interesting is the legal, follow the money, the legal arrangements between the business dealings. >> okay. so we talked a bit about this earlier, at least i showed a graphic. but the "new york times," julia, is giving us insight into how the president's aides dealt with his threat to veto the $1.3 billion spending bill. in the frantic hours before the signing, two senior officials say they were uncertain whether the president would veto the measure ask prompt a shutdown or ultimately relent. white house officials raced to schedule a afternoon briefing for the news media, although they had no idea what they would end up telling reporters. >> another day in the trump camp. >> so this reaction that you hear from white house aides, were there just -- they don't even know what to say. i just tried to demonstrate that. they are speechless, right? >> yes. >> is this why we're seeing more leaks, do you think, out of the white house because they don't know which way the wind is

blowing let alone which direction this president is leaning. >> yeah. no one really knows what the president is going to do. in terms of that bill, i think it's important. the president, i think he didn't and he ended up signing it he is because his own staff negotiated it and he almost -- i don't know that he got caught flat-footed because he calls himself the dealmaker president. but in this bill, there is not a lot of spending on the wall, no cut on sanctuary cities. so i think this is -- critics would say this is an embarrassment to the president. >> and wasn't it reported that the president went on to say i'm not going to sign something like this again because this was too long. >> right. yes. >> $1.3 trillion spending bill. what is that supposed to be, a one sheet? >> and what part of it -- this bill, to move quickly through it, it provides millions of dollars the to bolster security for the elections, bipartisan

support from republicans and democrats, it provides grarnt money for sandsdy hook promise that they'll be able to apply for state grants provided for the march today and oh, yeah, it kicks the can down the road. it doesn't have that bolstering of the u.s.-mexico border wall. the president tells minority leader chuck schumer, you're not moving fast enough on my political appointees. folks on wall street don't even fwling any more because this is factoring into the cost of doing business with president trump. it would have been shut down number three this year alone. >> i want to get to andrew mccabe. here is what he wrote. i did not knowingly lie or

mislead investigators. i may well have been distracted and for that i take responsibility, but that is not a lack of candor. does he at all address the ig report, though, kevin, that recommends that he should be fired? >> no. and i think that's why we have -- that's why you're going to be hearing a lot more from andrew mccabe. i think former director comey's press tour could reveal some new insights into that. but there's so many swirling around this white house. >> it is extraordinary, though. i want to get your reaction to the fact that andrew mccabe speaks out. he is fighting back. it feels rather unprecedented. >> yeah, and it could provide us with some insights into the upper echelons of intelligence and the justice department about their attitude towards the president. this is a community that really has been dealt a series of blows, i guess, with the firing of james comey, now andrew mccabe, the president almost constantly demoralizing this community in a series of tweets and publicly in speeches.

so i think this is him almost fighting back. and now that he's out of that position, he can do that much freely. but i think it provides us with some insight. >> okay. well, with julia manchester and kevin cerelli, good to see you. thank you for being up with me so early he. coming up next, i'll hear from a teacher at marjorie stone man douglas high school about what she hopes will a happen following today's rally and march. when you combine ancestry's dna test with its historical records...

...you could learn you're from ireland... ...donegal, ireland... ...and your ancestor was a fisherman. with blue eyes. just like you. begin your journey at ancestry.com or a c-anything-o. but i've got an idea sir. get domo. it'll connect us to everything that's going on in the company. get it for jean who's always cold. for the sales team, it and the warehouse crew. give us the data we need. in one place, anywhere we need it. help us do our jobs better. with domo we can run this place together. well that's that's your job i guess. ♪ alright, i brought in high protein to help get us moving. ...and help you feel more strength and energy in just two weeks! i'll take that. -yeeeeeah! ensure high protein. with 16 grams of protein and 4 grams of sugar. ensure. always be you. it's 6 am. 40 million americans are waking up to a gillette shave.

and at our factory in boston, more than a thousand workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. today we're bringing you america's number one shave at lower prices every day. putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. as one of those workers, i'm proud to bring you gillette quality for less, because nobody can beat the men and women of gillette. gillette - the best a man can get.

for hundreds of thousands of students, today's marcher for our lives is more.than a political statement. it is their reality. "the washington post" reports beginning with columbine in 1999, more than 187,000 students attending at least primary or secondary schools have experienced a shooting on campus during school hours. joining me now is alicia blond, a teacher at margaret stoneman douglas high school. two-her students were killed and she was participating in the march in washington, d.c. the message that you hope to send by your participation is what? and is this somewhat therapeutic for you, as well, just being here? >> i think it is. you know, they talk about the different stages of grief and i think i automatically went into

anger mode and i've stayed there for a good month. it makes me angry that kids have to worry about being safe at school. it makes me angry that a couple of daes ago i had a student knock on my door and after she left one of my ninth graders said, you know, is the door locked? and i could see the fear in her. and that shouldn't be happening. that shouldn't be happening in our country that kids have to worry about their safety at school. >> i imagine when you heard about the shooting that came shortly thereafter, the rallying cry of never again by your students there at parkland and then we have another school shooting, how do you make sense of this? how do you talk to your students when they speak to you about this? >> it's very difficult. how do you make sense of something that is so senseless and how do you make sense for kids to tell the kids that

people are not listening to them that our government that is supposed to be -- you know, as i pulled up into your studio here this morning, i looked ahead and saw the capital and i thought to myself, the men and women that inhabit those halls he aren't listening to the people. are we truly a government of the people and by the people? because if your government is not listening to you, to the cry of the majority of americans that want gun changes, to answer your question, i don't know what to tell these kids, to be kwie honest. >> look at the return here on this monitor. these are kids that are outside right now. they're live here in washington. they've made their signs. i read that, one, their college essays are going to be about this. i imagine this will not be a unique concept for, you know, schools across this country, universities, higher education that are going to get all these applications talking about this. how much do you feel like parkland, though, because of

what's happening today the is the catalyst for a sea change, a tidal wave of change in this country? >> i completely believe that. i am so proud of our students that went out at the very beginning. we all went out minutes, hours after this event and we haven't stopped speaking. we will -- you know, whom with ever will listen to us that they'll go out and they will make their voices heard. and i think that it happened in parkland for a reason. for the this change to occur. >> it has an extraordinary education for these kids. you're all about teaching them about how to get through life and giving them practical skill

set. >> i am so proud of the way they have handled themselves, how articulate those students are. and i just have to say, also, a thank you to everyone who has reached out to us. the alumni of our school that, you know, we're a school that's been opened since 1992 and we have such an amazing alumni. you know, one of my former students that is in israel and led the march there, the documentaries that are being done about the event, you know, by former, the song that one of my students wrote and will be performed today. such an incredible body of work by these kids and their teachers that have spoken out and the parents. these incredibly brave parents that have lost their children and are still going out and are

at the forefront of this fight. mr. guttenberg, to name one on of them. incredible courage by these parents. it's very difficult for me to speak about it because mrs. petty that's been out speaking about, you know, gun control and just -- i marvel at their bravery and their ability to be a voice for this movement. >> alicia, i know it's going to be a very important day for you and for the thousands that have gathered here. we thank you for your courage and being here, as well. >> thank you for having us. we believe in the movement, so thank you. the president, is shake up in his legal team, could this mean mr. trump is considering a sit down with robert and mueller and what are the risks to that analysis, next. have you smelled this

new litter? no. nobody has! it's unscented! (vo) new tidy cats free & clean unscented. powerful odor control with activated charcoal. free of dyes. free of fragrances. tidy cats free & clean. when no scents makes sense.

brbut how will his dentured to thicope with... a steak. luckily for brad, this isn't a worry because he's discovered super poligrip. it holds his denture tight and helps give him 65% more chewing power. leaving brad to dig in and enjoy the tastiest of t-bones. super poligrip, helping you enjoy the foods you love. discover card. i justis this for real?match, yep. we match all the cash back new cardmembers earn at the end of their first year, automatically. whoo! i got my money! hard to contain yourself, isn't it? uh huh! let it go! whoo! get a dollar-for-dollar match at the end of your first year. only from discover. cohigher!ad!

higher! parents aren't perfect, but then they make us kraft mac & cheese and everything's good again.

mr. president, would you like to testify to special counsel robert mueller, sir? >> i would like to. >> he answered it. new developments in the russia investigation as r as a shake-up

in the president's legal team could be paving the way for an interview with john mueller. john dowd strongly opposed a sit-down with the special coup. but his resignation may indicated plans for the president to indeed testify with mueller. joining me now with more, doug burns. doug, an early good morning to you and thank you for joining me. >> good morning. >> let's get right to this here. john dowd resigning this week following the addition ooh joe digenova to the legal team. how does that reflect how he may be approaching the russia investigation now? >> it's a little hard to say, alex. it's one of though things, which is what you just said, with maybe there's a shift that he should, in fact, sit down. but the other one may be simply a frustrated -- to the fact that he thought the investigation was going to be wrapped up and there's this intense frustration in that it wasn't. so i'm not so sure, honestly.

and i don't have a crystal ball, of course. but i'm not so sure that the president is going to sit down. because after all, it's fraught with lots of risks. >> yeah. which means john dowd probably was serving the president well from the president's perspective, right? is it because there's concern about how this president can play fast and loose with the facts and that he speaks his mind unedited, shall we say. and when you're in a legal situation, you're being deposed like this under oath, that can present a tremendous problem. >> well, why you are you read my mind, alex. the point is, with any witness, okay, it's very difficult in a very complicated white with collar scenario, political scenario, hundreds of thousands of documents, all kinds of minutia. it's treatmently difficult. then just add in that this particular witness can be combative he, you know, shooting from the hip and so forth and mott necessarily focused 100% on

all the minutia. and it just makes it that much more difficult. but, again, i think that the president may ultimately conclude, you know, getting a lot of opinions that it is fraught with lots of potential peril. i don't just jump right in and say it's a perjury trap. but at the same time, when the issues are this complicated, there's no way, a, a reasonable witness could, you know, remember it all and, b, particularly this witness, alex. >> with regard to some reports we have on out there to say mr. trump's attorneys are discussing four main topic wes trump's the team, the circumstances of the june 2016 tower meeting, the crafting statement of don jr.'s role, the firing of james comey, the firing of michael flynn. where do you see it goes if he questions the president? >> i think those bullet points are pretty much the tomical

overview. but there's yet another peril that i didn't discuss and that's that in an interview, the investigators can go down other roads. this swaegsz, alex, is a little different because it involves the president of the united states. so there's more dialogue back and forth about what the parameters are. but any lawyer will tell you when you go into an interview, you're concerned, worried that it could veer off in other directions. the president's team might turn around and say, wait a minute, that's beyond the scope he of what we discussed. but it can get difficult is the point. those are the areas, alex. >> let's face it, this isn't the only legal area the president is dealing with right now because there are accusations from women who have taken legal action against the president. karen mcdougall filing that complaint relieving her from an agreement with the "national enquirer"er. legal experts are saying, doug, that cervos's case could be the greatest threat to the president because it's not based on a

contract, but rather it's tort law. just quickly explain the difference there and do you agree that could be the biggest threat? >> no, i do agree with that, alex. on the other two cases, you're talking about confidentiality agreements and if they're upheld they'll be confidentiality. in the summer cervos case, it's not about the underlying affair. it's about defamation. the point being when the president said she is lying, she's fought being truthful. that defamed her. and we had a block burst ruling here in new york where the judge is allowing the case to proceed and the real peril would be a disposition where questions would have to be answered. so i agree with you, i think that's the more troubling of the three instances, legally speaking. really quickly, we have attorneys from stormy daniels have asked the trump organization and two banks to save all those records of the $130,000 payment that was made to her. is that a standard positive, do you think, by her legal team? >> yeah. no, i think that is press er

vacati preservation of evidence is quite standard. >> doug burns, thank you for joining us. >> my pleasure. let's go back now live to washington, d.c. thousands of students are participating in the march for our lives to end gun violence in the wake of the shooting at the stoneman douglas high school. here if in d.c. with the latest, blain alexander. blain, i understand you are the there in front of the stage, ultimately, where there are going to be some extraordinary acts performing. you've got some extraordinary kids right there and talk about why they are here. >> good morning to you. we are standing just feet away from the where this whole thing will take place. but just to make it very clear for you, this march is slated to start around noon. we're still more than five hours away and already i'm here with this dedicated group of young people. talk to me about what brought you here. it wasn't your parents, really,

this idea to come down here to d.c. was your idea. >> well, as students, i think it's really important that we not only realize that there needs to be change made, but also to be part of the change. we came down to d.c. because even in massachusetts where we have good gun laws ands there's not a lot that can be changed, we still feel that if we come and show that we're in support of the other states who still need help and show the government that we're here to make a change, then if we're here, then they'll see that and they'll acknowledge that. >> so i want to back up a a little bit and just kind of take a look at your signs. you guys have some very color canful signs out here. this one caught my eye, though. i'd rather write my clelg college essay than my friend's obituary. talk to me about your thoughts about making that sign and has this dominated your conversation in school. you're a sophomore right now. i am a sophomore. i do talk to my friends a lot about politics and i think the way i made my sign the way i did

is because i was thinking one day about how i'd rather do anything else than watch my friends die. and i think that thought drove me to be here and to be with my friends and to take a stance against this. >> alex, this is just one group of people we've seen. i don't know if you can tell by my attire, it's not warm out here. we're sitting at about 35, 36 degrees. i want to introduce you to two more people that i've met. it's not just students. people were already meeting folks who have been affected by gun violence. i want to talk to you guys real quick. you're from charleston, south carolina. >> yes. >> you're from here in d.c. we've seen kind of some of the biggest mass shootings in recent history. you were directly affected by them. >> yes, we were. we had nine of our beautiful citizens slaughtered while they were praying at bible study in the ame emanuel church. >> and when you heard all this that was going on, what was with it that sparked a need for you

to come up from south carolina? >> these kids are our hope. congress is isn't paying attention and their agenda is what we tell them it is. not what the nra tells them it is. if congress is not afraid, they should be because come november, we are going to turn the tables and we're going to elect a new congress. so you're hearing a lot of passion out here, alex. you're seeing a lot of people come out and we're seeing more and more people streaming in by the minute for what's gearing up on to be a very large march out here today. back to you. >> blain, you say that it's chilly, but i think lawmakers in congress are going to the feel the heat of this particular march and rally. blain alexander, thank you so much in washington. we'll see you very soon. white house shake-up, what to expect from john bolton as national security adviser. is the negative reaction to him just about partisan politics? hey, need fast heartburn relief?

try cool mint zantac. it releases a cooling sensation in your mouth and throat. zantac works in as little as 30 minutes. nexium can take 24 hours. try cool mint zantac. no pill relieves heartburn faster. copdso to breathe better,athe. i go with anoro. ♪go your own way copd tries to say, "go this way." i say, "i'll go my own way" with anoro.

♪go your own way once-daily anoro contains two medicines called bronchodilators, that work together to significantly improve lung function all day and all night. anoro is not for asthma . it contains a type of medicine that increases risk of death in people with asthma. the risk is unknown in copd. anoro won't replace rescue inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than once a day. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, glaucoma, prostate, bladder, or urinary problems. these may worsen with anoro. call your doctor if you have worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain while taking anoro. ask your doctor about anoro. ♪go your own way get your first prescription free at anoro.com.

the blade quality you'd expect from gillette at a price you wouldn't. the new gillette3 and gillette5. available now for $7.99. gillette. the best a man can get. my time is thin, but so is my lawn. it's been worn down to ugly thin grass! now there's new scotts thick 'r lawn, the revolutionary 3-in-1 solution for weak lawns. with a soil improver to strengthen roots! seed to fill in gaps! and fertilizer to feed! the result, up to a 50% thicker lawn after just one application. ♪ ♪ now yard time is our time. this is a scotts yard.

new reaction to the latest trump administration shake-up. president trump's choice of former u.n. ambassador john bolton for national security adviser raising major implications for u.s. policy. >> i would say for the military, i have three words. sharpen your swords. he is someone who is going to reach for the military instrument. >> he's a hawk on north korea. he's going to urge the president to rip up the iranian nuclear deal. >> the era of leading from behind is over. >> this bolton move highlighted what the "new york times"

describes as another week of chaos, which included the congratulatory call to john putin, wall street's drop in light of china tariffs, h.r. mcmaster out, bolton in, the playboy model interview and the cart the mattock lead up to the government funding signing. joe watkins, former white house aids to president george h.w. bush and msnbc mill analyst rick tyler. i'm changing gears. i'm sitting now with rick here in d.c. instead of in new york. i'm just saying. i don't know about you, joy, you have to get up from philadelphia. >> i want to start with you, rick, and the assumption that john dowd is going to push more aggressive action, rather john bolton will push more aggressive actions towards opponents. do you think that is the case? >> that's kind of been his case. i like john builton and actually

the president has a right to pick whoever he wants in this position. but i'm not sure it's the right position for him. the national security adviser should be presenting all different types of points of view. he should be making sure the president sees every situation from every angle. john bolton would be one of those people -- john bolton's history, he has a very distinct point of view. he has strong opinions about foreign policy, how the military should be used and our posture in the world. and you can agree with those things or disagree with those things, but as national security adviser, you should be presenting a broad perspective of options, not focussing on singular options. >> and this is an option you think john bolton, that he is like minded with this president? >> no. that's the other thing. john bolton, remember, was an apologist for the iraq war. he still is. donald trump ran his campaign on foreign policy that was opposed to adventurous wars or american

international ism, getting involved. he wanted to pull back and he that talked about that. he was a very strong point. he says he was against the iraq war, though he never provided any evidence contemporary to the time saying that he was against the war. john bolton is 180 degrees out of phase. i can defend the president to pick his own people. i just wish i could find a thread that holds it altogether. there doesn't seem to be one. >> serlina, i guess the question is how much of john bolton's reaction, how much is it do you think it's about partisan politics? is it possible democrats are are reading too much into it since the president does rely a lot more on his own instincts than his advisers? that's for sure. >> i think that's a scary thought because you want the president to get, as rick said, a diversity of opinion so that he can come to the best solutions, particularly when it comes to serious national security concerns. and john bolton, you know, as rick mentioned, he's still for the iraq war. he still thinks that was a good

idea. and to sit here in 2018 and to have a national security adviser with that view with all that we know now about what led us into the iraq war is really a scary thought. john bolton has a career of sabotaging diplomacy. when we have an issue like north korea, that is going to continue to percolate. that is something that we need. we need more diplomacy, not less of it. >> here is another scary thought for those in the diplomatic arena, joe, because it was an op ed that john bolton wrote last month and that's getting a lot of new attention. it's headlined the legal case for striking north korea first. what do you expect from him in terms of acting on this and other hawkish commentary that he's made prior to his appointment? >> well, this would seem to be a counter intuitive pick, i think, by many people. john bolton is the ultimate hawk, of course, and while he was anxious to show aggression in these kinds of cases.

the president obviously wants to have a conversation with north korea's leader and having john bolton at the table probably makes that a little bit more difficult. unless john bolton becomes the person who does what national security advisers do, which is they advise the president of the united states, but they also listen and they don't try to lead from their position. because they're a staffer, at the end of the day. they're not the commander in chief. but this certainly is going to be very interesting to watch. as was pointed out, a lot of what john bolt kwon says and advises may run contrary to what the president has said as a candidate ands as president of the united states. >> all right. well, so to the other john that was taking the headlines this week, john dowd and his resignation as the top lawyer handling the russia investigation, what does this signal to you? >> that the president is going to go back to what he knows best, which is he's just going to take it to robert mueller.

he's going to try to undermine this investigation in any way he can. he's been systemically doing that. but his other lawyers have convinced him to not attack mueller directly. he's now thrown that playbook out and dowd is hiring different lawyers who may share his point of view. dowd wants to be the top dog lawyer. dowd has a real concern about him testifying in the mueller investigation. trump said yesterday he would. we don't know if he wants to or not. it's real peril for him. my contention is he's got to find a way to get rid of mueller as quickly as possible and do it before the 2018 midterm he elections. that's where he's going. the reason i know that is because the white house keeps says there is no plan to fire mueller. >> i understand what you mean there. i know we've talked about that in person together. joe, really quickly, reports

that the white house aides said there was no grand strategy to the president's actions, he got up each morning this week not knowing what he would do. what's your reaction to that? >> that is really very unfortunate commentary. so every day, every few minutes there's breaking news. i have friends who tell me they can't pull away. it's great for ratings, of course. it's great that people are saying tuned all the time. but it's not helpful to the business of the united states. you're running the government, the country. the president of the united states needs to be focused on the business of our government .not distracted by lawsuits coming from women, accusers and others which are serious and need to be considered. but he needs to be about the government's business more than anything else. >> yeah. all right, you guys, that will away wrap for this block. i'm going to let the rose among thorns lead off in the next hour, so i'll start with you, serlina. thank you. then and now, the parallels between the civil rights

movement and the new movement for gun control, coming up. for all the noses that stuff up around pets. there's flonase sensimist. it relieves all your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. and all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. flonase sensimist.

not in this house. 'cause that's no average family. that's your family. which is why you didn't grab just any cheese. you picked up kraft mozzarella with a touch of philadelphia for lasanyeah! kraft. family greatly. moyou know, could never happenl shoothere. but those same people are the ones who saw all the signs and never said anything. the obsession with guns. being bullied. even posting on instagram about shooting up the school. i mean, no one said anything. i mean, i'm sure tomorrow somebody will wish they had said something.

you may be at increased risk for pneumococcal pneumonia, that can take you out of the game for weeks, even if you're healthy. pneumococcal pneumonia is a potentially serious bacterial lung disease that in severe cases can lead to hospitalization. it may hit quickly, without warning, causing you to miss out on the things you enjoy most. prevnar 13® is not a treatment for pneumococcal pneumonia... it's a vaccine you can get to help protect against it. prevnar 13® is approved for adults to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. you should not receive prevnar 13® if you have had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. if you have a weakened immune system, you may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects were pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, limited arm movement, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, less appetite, vomiting, fever, chills, and rash. help protect yourself against pneumococcal pneumonia.

ask your doctor or pharmacist about prevnar 13®. wemost familiar companies,'s but we make more than our name suggests. we're an organic tea company. a premium juice company. a coconut water company. we've got drinks for long days. for birthdays. for turning over new leaves. and we make them for every moment in every corner of the country. we are the coca-cola company, and we're proud to offer so much more.

make their way to the nation's capitol, a documentary looks at "hope and fury: mlk the movement and the media" premieres tonight on how dr. king used media. one civil rights activist makes a connection between the black lives matter movement and the 1955 murder of emmitt till falsely accused of hitting on a white woman in mississippi. till was tortured, beaten beyond recognition, and lynched. his body dumped in a river. >> the body of michael brown laying on that ground for four and a half hours shocked america back into its consciousness once again. it woke so many people up that thought emmitt till was a figment of the past and not a very relevant figure of the pregnant. till is is michael brown, tamir

rice, sandra bland, and eric garner. >> joining me now is cofounder of campaign zero. brittany, a good morning to you. i want to get into emmett till. how she insisted on an open casket. what kind of an effect did that have on the civil rights movement? >> well, when mamie till opened that casket up, she said she was doing so because she wanted the world to see what had been done to her son, to her boy. and that was a choice that as i said in the documentary really shocked america back into its consciousness and out of our dry place to really reckon with what we were doing in places we wanted to ignore. and the more that we do that, the more we can have the important conversations. we often say that protest is simply the act of telling the truth out loud and in public. that's what she did in that

case. >> martin luther king jr., how did he use the media to fuel the outrage? and do you see the same tactics among groups like black lives matter? >> we are absolutely using several of the same tactics today just with different mediums. of course, telling the truth out loud and in public is what protest is. but if no one hears the truth, we're not making a sound and not making a difference. so leveraging every single source of media that we have whether it's traditional and mainstream media or social media to tell that truth is absolute critical. and doing so in a way that elevates more voices every day. from lbgtq people of colo fr, t low income people. it's not just one experience. it's a common experience in america. and it's one we have to be careful to fix. >> and i'm sure that's what you hope is the big takeaway from

this "hope and fury" documentary that'll be on tonight. i want to look at what's happening today with you. mlk, john lewis, jesse jackson. these were men barely out of their teens when they got involved in the civil rights movement. what does that tell us about these students taking part in today's march for our lives here in d.c.? >> well, the parkland teens and young people involved with march for our lives are a reminder that every single social movement that has been successful in america has a critical youth component. think of diane nash when she got involved in the student sit ins in nashville and really helped lead the way for change in the south. and the work that she continues to do today. it starts a lifetime of activism. a lifetime of caring about things that are bigger than ourselves and speaking about things that matter. i am deeply inspired by the b k parkland teens just by so many

others who know that age is just a number but truth always, always matters. so they're inspiring not just a nation but an entire world. and i'm deeply thankful to them not only they're leading all of us adults but that they're being thoughtful to create an intersectional and diverse movement to represent cities from parkland, florida, to chicago and baltimore and ferguson included. >> brittany, yours is a voice we're grateful for and listening to as well. thank you for joining me on this saturday morning. appreciate it. >> thank you. and for all of you, we invied you to watch "hope & furry" it airs tonight at 8:00 eastern. it will be rebroadcast here on msnbc. at the top of the hour, you'll hear from more about the change they hope to see as a result of today's nationwide rallied.

the blade quality you'd expect from gillette at a price you wouldn't. the new gillette3 and gillette5. available now for $7.99. gillette. the best a man can get. my secret visitors. hallucinations and delusions. the unknown parts of living with parkinson's. what plots they unfold, but only in my mind. over 50% of people with parkinson's will experience hallucinations or delusions during the course of their disease. if your loved one is experiencing these symptoms, talk to your parkinson's specialist. there are treatment options that can help. my visitors should beones i.

so that's the idea. what do you think? i don't like it. oh. nuh uh. yeah. ahhhhh. mm-mm. oh. yeah. ah. agh. d-d-d... no. hmmm. uh... huh. yeah.

uh... huh. in business, there are a lot of ways to say no. thank you so much. thank you. so we're doing it. yes. start saying yes to your company's best ideas. we help all types of businesses with money, tools and know-how to get business done. american express open.