i am a techie dad. i believe the best technology should feel effortless. like magic. at comcast, it's my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. my name is mike, i'm in product development at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. "andrea mitchell reports" starts radiorig s right now. >> and starting now, a house divided. the first lady is calling on her husband to fire a top the security aide as more rumors swirl about a cabinet shake-up.

>> and the people are there for two years, and they are old by the time they leave. it is quite exhausting. >> the power strug thele and the new class of senators come to capitol hill including rick scott who has not won in florida yet. >> are you contending fraud with this recount? >> is this picture outdated by tomorrow? >> and political protection and this hour, the secretary of defense james mattiss is stepping in for the president to the visit the troops at the border that have been deployed in the heat of the midterm battle. >> i don't think that there is much question what happened. it is a political stunt for the midterm elections. >> and good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington, and first lady melania trump is taking a page out of the husband's playbook to take to twitter to send a m

message to president trump under increasing scrutiny and losing more congressional seats by the day. this is the trump's target the r who is the top lieu ten the nant who is at war with secretary mattis and other officials and repeatedly clashing with the east wing especially over the first lady's trip to aftrica. the recent frustrations since the election is boiling over with outbursts against key foreign leaders and staff, and as reported by phil are ruck -- phil rucker and colleagues at the washington with post. joining us to talk about this are phil rucker and kristen welker, our correspondent at the white house. what is happening at the white house? the president is losing his temper, and take on the field e reporter, and even our british allies and certainly the french allies, but what is going on with ms. cardo who is the

national security adviser aide even after the first lady said that she did not the deserve the honor of being an employeet ta white house? >> well, it is remarkable, because i spoke to a white house official who said that yes, she is still here today and continues to serve in the job, but the question is what happens next and what does the future hold for her, and based on my conversations with the sources, the sense is that she is not long for serving in the white house, but where will she go next? will she leave altogether the or assigned to a different agency, and those are among the quest n questions being explored here. but we saw the first lady flex her muscles really in an unprecedented way yesterday, andr andrea, when the spokesperson put out that statement effectively calling for ms. ricardel over the african trip, and the first lady is not just

having tension s wis with her, because her staff has had frustrations with john kelly the chief of staff here, and he is among the top advisers that we are looking at to see how long he might serve in the white house, and of course, president trump has consistently stood by him saying that he will be with him for 2020, but is that still the case? he has had tensions not only with the first lady's team, but john bolton, the national security adviser, and also kirstjen neilson who is at the border right now with the defense secretary, and she is rumored to be on the outs as well. the bottom the line, andrea, we knew that after the midterms there is a staff shake-up, and so we are possibly, possibly starting to see it unfold. we know that this president has privately been fuming about the results of the midterms and other issues, and of course, he is preparing for the mueller investigation to escalate. that is the mood here. a lot of rus waiting to see what if anything happens next. >> and so, phil rucker, you

wrote and your team wrote about the president's anger about the way to paris as at least the real results of the results were sinking in and that he is going to be dealing with a democratic house, and few house members than he expected with the arizona results coming in late in the game. >> yeah. he started to see that the big victory that he claimed last tuesday night on election night turn into a kind of the slow blue wave, and it got him angry and frustrated. this is all going on while he was more than 3,000 miles away from washington in paris, but he was still consuming these political developments, and ordering white house aides back in washington to the prepare detailed briefings for him on all of the races that were still to be called. he was closely monitoring the florida recount efforts which he continues the do now making all so sorts of claims on twitter and elsewhere about voter fraud despite no evidence of that yet. but he is not in a great place.

he was described by the white house officials and others who interacted with him on this europe and sullen mood the whole time, and he was quite irritated saturday, because he felt that he looked terrible in t col can help out here, because she was in paris. was it his decision not to go? the indication at the time was that he did not want to do this, and nobody on the staff told him to do it, but was it in fact the staff that told him not to go? >> well, it was the staff related to the president that the secret service were not comfortable lifting the helicopter through the rain and the fog, but trump decided not to go and what he was angry with the staff over is that he felt like they did not plead with him to go, and they did not impress upon him what a p.r. nightmare

it would be for him to skip the trip. >> that is a pretty extraordinary turn of event where is the president is blaming the staff for not talking him out of his own bad judgment, carol, of going, and he is the one with who should have said, can i take the car, and what is the backup plan, and won't i look bad if i don't go to the american cemetery. >> and there is an option for the president to the motorcade and he said that the secret service said that it is not an option, and so, what he didn't realize that while he was at the ambassador's residence in paris for 4 1/2 hours, other world leaders and whether it is emanuel macron, and angela merkel or justin trudeau, they had taken the motorcades for an hour or 40 minutes or however long to go out to different site s to the honor the world war i veterans, and so, you nknow, th president really, and there wasn't an effort on the path of the white house to fill the void

if he did not want to take a 90-minute motorcade one way, he could have done something else within the city. >> and let me ask you something else as well, carol and get in with kristen and phil, and how extraordinary that ms. ricardel is still on the job after the first lady called fort it. and i covered nancy reagan when she called for the firing of don regan and he would not allow her to take a hel kopter to to see him in the hospital, and so there were huge problems with the chief of staff and the first lay di, and this is very, very different. and she worked through a democratic friend bob strauss, and others, to find finally get the vice president to fire the chief of staff. with no fingerprint of the first lady's until after the fact, but this is the first lady going on the record and call ing fing fo

national deputy security adviser to be fired, and nothing happens? >> well, there is so many things to the unpack in that, and it is the first lady as you went through, and she had influence on staff decisions, and there has been intentions in the past, and usually it is handled qui quietly. like everything with this administration, staff shake-ups in general are usually handled pretty quietly, and all of this is very out in the open, but the most extraordinary thing is that the fact that mira ricardel is still employed in the white house after the first lady issued an unprecedented stateme statement, and one school of thought on that is that her boss john bolton is currently out of the country, and that is perhaps some decisions will be made once he is stateside. >> that would be a big co complication in that the deputy is in effect the national security adviser given the time zones, and he is in singapore, and so he is on the other side of the world.

and kristen, what about john kelly and his short tenure, and kirstjen neilson whose ouster and infighting of the cabinet meet i meeting in front of the president is one of the reasons that kelly lost his cool and said that he would quit only a few weeks ago. >> and why he became so enraged with the national security adviser john bolton who was apparently criticizing nielsen, and you can remember that kelly and nielsen are closely aligned, and he really ed a vadvocated f to get that position, and so the fact that she is now seen as potentially the on the outs which comes as no surprise that he also may be. but again, in this administration, andrea, nothing is finalized until the president announces it, and we know that he changes his mind, and so there is always that possibility. what we do know though is that there is a lot of eyes on both of them because the president has been frustrated, but what is ironic is that nielsen has been carrying out the policies at the

border, and so a lot of the staff feels that she has been carrying out the exact directives that he has set, and they are surprised that it is taking this turn. but, again, we expect after the midterms not unusual for presidents to the sometimes change some of the top position, and it seems like this the white house is bracing for the possibility, andrea. >> and briefly while i have you white house correspondent, and carol, former white house correspondent, the legal suit against the president brought by cnn, and who has the ability to have a hard pass, and not who questions the president a sound want you to chime in on that. >> well, one thing that is notable, andrea, is that a number of news organizations said they will be filing support for cnn the lawsuit including fox news to tri y to defend cnn right to restore jim acosta's press pass. >> we will have to leave it there. thank you all so much.

musical chairs. florida governor rick scott reporting for duty in the senate while a recount to the decide whether he is the new senator is under way. what is going on there? stay with us on "andrea mitchell reports." ports. oh, look... ports. another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair works in just one week. with the fastest retinol formula to visibly reduce wrinkles. neutrogena®.

carla is living with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. she's also taking prescription ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women with hormone receptor-positive her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus letrozole. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. carla calls it her new normal because a lot has changed, but a lot hasn't. ask your doctor about ibrance.

the #1 prescribed fda-approved oral combination treatment for hr+/her2- mbc. i am a techie dad.n. i believe the best technology should feel effortless. like magic. at comcast, it's my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience.

my name is mike, i'm in product development at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. florida's republican senate hopefuls rick scott showed up for the are freshman reorientation at the capital and even though his election is

mired in a fierce battle with incumbent bill wilson and the election hit another snag after palm beach said that it started to overheat, and stop working which forced the staff to recount nearly 175,000 early votes that had to be recounted. and joining us now is kasie hunt on capitol hill, and you is the republicans making the decisions on the house side where that is interesting where jim jordan apparently is pushing to be the republican leader? >> that is the most interesting race dynamic that we have go g ing on at the capitol today, andrea, and some reports that the white house is getting involved. we don't have any indications that kevin mccarthy is in trouble in the bid to be majority leader at this point, but jim jordan is challenging him and caused plenty of problems in the past. there is some discussion, and like i said, some reports that indicate that jordan is perhaps

interested in being the ranking member of the judiciary committee and that is going to cause problems with the delicate balances of power, because other people are in line of that job, and jordan has been divisive figure inside of the conference, and he has pushed the conference to the right, and made it very hard for people to get their work done, but the president sees him as a pit bull attack dog on the president's behalf on cable tv, and that is what is go dg on there. and in the senate, we have had leadership election, and no changes to the the democratic structure and so chuck schumer at the top there, and for the republic republicans you have joni ernst joining the leadership for the first time in several years they will have a woman in the republican leadership and she ran against deb fisher for the position that she is going to ho hold, and so you can expect to the hear more from her coming up. and then of course, the big question going to be answered not for a couple of weeks, and that is if there is a serious challenge for nancy pelosi for the speakership, and there is some conversations about that in the hallways and connor lamb of

pennsylvania who won the special election coming out to say he is going to vote against nancy pelosi on the floor, and that is a complicated thing potentially for her, and at the same too so far, nobody has stepped up to run against her, and you can't beat somebody with nobody, andrea. >> and rick scott showing up, even though he does not have the senate vote yet, and just so that possession is 9/10 of the law, but right now, they are counting the ballots down there in florida. thank you, kasie. before i let you go, i wanted to congratulate you first of all on you and your team winning the jones barone award tonight from the -- sorry, from the television news director the's foundation. it is a big deal. i knew skwon baron -- john baro and joan barone, and she would

be so proud of you for your coverage of the sexual harassment on caple toll hill. >> and we have to thank the whole team of course who did incredible work relentlessly covering sexual harassment on the hill even when it fell out of the headlines. >> it was a big win for you and for nbc and the team. thank you. in georgia a federal judge is going to decide if more ballots are going to be counted in the election and giving more time to certify the results. morgan joining us. >> andrea, we are outside of the federal courthouse here in atlanta, and we are waiting for a judge to tell us any minute of what he has decided and this is in reference to a lawsuit she filed on is sunday to the effectively give the additional days to count the balance so that the state can have further time to tally up the votes. this is part of abraham's push in the last hours to make sure

that every vote is counted. her team says that there are 27,000 to 28,000 absentee and provisional ballots yet to be counted, and they claim they need 18,000 of the votes to force a recount. and in fact, they issued a brand-new ad yesterday hitting the air waives to ask the local jordans if they have had issues of voter suppression and giving them a suppression hotline to call if they have had issues, and they have said they will fight until the finish. and on the other hand, brian kemp's team is releasing a statement saying that they will let it play out, and the abrams team has gone from desperate to delusional, and they say that mathematically, there is no way that abrams can in fact win this, and right now as it sta stands, this hour, there are three counties to certify the ballots. andrea. >> and morgan, you have been there so long that you will be able to vote, because you will

have legal residency to vote. >> i have my driver's license. >> thank you, morgan. and the defense secretary james mattis is at the border, and speaking of the troops. the latest than visit coming up. stay with us. ♪ traders -- they're always looking for advantages. the smart ones look to fidelity to find them. we give you research and data-visualization tools to help identify potential opportunities. so, you can do it this way... or get everything you need to help capture investment ideas and make smarter trading decisions with fidelity for just $4.95 per online u.s. equity trade. fidelity. open an account today. ♪

open an account today. i wono matter how long moment to addresago you served,erans. you earned the powerful va benefit that lets you buy a home with no down payment. and with a newday va loan, you don't have to save up to move up. and because newday usa has been granted automatic authority by the va, they can say yes when banks say no. helping veterans buy homes. that's newday usa. go to newdayusa.com, or call 1-844-637-2859. whooo! want to take your next vacation to new heights? tripadvisor now lets you book over a hundred thousand tours, attractions, and experiences in destinations around the world! like new york! from bike tours, to bus tours, to breathtaking adventures, tripadvisor makes it easy to find and book amazing things to do. so you can make your next trip... monumental!

secretary of defense james mattis is in texas today to meet with the troops deployed in a preelection controversial move. one that many critics are calling a stunt. matt mattis is going there in place of the president who canceled his trip there today. and mr. trump ordered this deployment before the midterms in what he called an invasion. >> at this point, i do not anticipate military personnel coming into contact with the the migrants. the military police will be providing police, and avoiding any obstacles.

>> and he is in a difficult position, and joining me is the security analyst michael lighter, a military the veteran himself, and, so the secretary is trying to talk the around the fact that the president said that the troops would fire on stone-throwing migrants, and first of all, nobody says that there are stone-throwing migrant, and the troops cannot engage vol untarily. >> and unless that stone can go 800 miles. >> and so he did not give it a military code name, and he is trying the work around a mess that was put in his lap. >> yes, and jim mat tis is doing the right thing as the secretary of defense. he has to listen to commander in chief, and he has to keep the moral up for the troops, and he has to make sure that the troops are operating within the domestic laws, and the like. and so let's be clear, the military's involvement in the southwestern border is not

entirely new. president bush did it, and president obama did it, and there are logistical aspects they support, and the thing that is new is a, the size, tantd rick. and so the secretary is doing the rhetoric from what the true mission of the troops is, and that is not out of the ordinary. >> it is not out of the order, but the timing is suspect, because of the election, and not the invasion and they were not arriving here yet, and no indication to be crossing the border, and applying for asylum which has been counter manded by executive order even though it is afforded in the treaty. >> that is it. and what he is doing is to keep the military in the right lane, while there is all of this other stuff, and both the identification of the mission and the sending in of the troops and the other rhetoric around the invasion which is frankly so out of line with tradition and facts on the ground, and again, i think that there is still more than 1,000 miles away, and so we

have troops deployed and troops away from the family, and -- >> over thanksgiving. >> and costing taxpayer r money, and at the same time the military is stretched thin on missions where only the military can do it. i think that for secretary mattis, that is one of the most depressing pieces of this is because he has needs and they is a near peer in china and other troops, and so they are being used in a way that homeland security is well positioned to address this slow-moving migrant crisis. >> and you have a fact that the president even said that he would send as many as 15,000 troops and 5,200 is already an outsized number for the mission, and what about the national security crisis with writ large and ms. ricardel is coming into

contact with mike pompeo and wanted a job in the pentagon and my reportering, and others and a very big job, and deputy undersecretary, and the undersecretary, rather, and the fact is that she did not get that job. she kept sending over people from the transition formattis to hire and he did not hire any of the nominee, and she has been out to get him, and arguably poisoned the well inside of the white house now that bolton is with her. >> and andrea, not that long ago that i and others were sitting here at the table talking about the change in the national security adviser in john bolton coming in, and what we are seeing in slow motion now is a large scale shake-up of the national security personnel the trump administration. it started and mira ricardel is one piece, but i expect that kirstjen neilson of homeland security will move on. and i suspect that general

mattis will stay, but remember that the two most important national security officials in this government, and if we have further shakeout with the deputy national security adviser, you moving people around at a time when we face real crises that and let alone some of the imagined ones. >> that is a very important perspecti perspective. thank you so much. >> thank you very much. >> and lessons learned. election night. and steve kornacki with the five takeaways and even as we have some races up in the air. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. ♪ ♪ comfort. what we deliver by delivering.

with a $500,000 life insurance policy. how much do you think it cost him? $100 a month? $75? $50? actually, duncan got his $500,000 for under $28 a month. less than a dollar a day. his secret? selectquote. in just minutes, a selectquote agent will comparison shop nearly a dozen highly-rated life insurance companies, and give you a choice of your five best rates. duncan's wife cassie got a $750,000 policy for under $22 a month. give your family the security it needs at a price you can afford.

oh! oh! ♪ ozempic®! ♪ (vo) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than seven and maintained it. oh! under seven? (vo) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? (vo) a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death. oh! no increased risk? ♪ ozempic®! ♪ ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles. do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching,

rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. tell your doctor if you have diabetic retinopathy or vision changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase the risk for low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. i discovered the potential with ozempic®. ♪ oh! oh! oh! ozempic®! ♪ (vo) ask your healthcare provider if ozempic® is right for you. ♪ the new capital one savor card. earn 4% cash back on dining and 4% on entertainment. now when you go out, you cash in. what's in your wallet?

d day, and the democratic gains are growing stronger with more house pickups in the democratic senate win in arizona, and a deeply divided electorate could signal warning signs for both parties in 2020. join g ing us is national politl correspondent steve kornacki at the big board, and jen palmeiri, and amy stoddard from clear politics. and steve, first, the takeaways from a week out? >> well, the big picture in terms of the democratic gains, the high may be 40. it is the suburbs and no surprise here.

i get that this is a story that we told in 2016, a lot of the suburban areas didn't like donald trump, a tnd the story o 2018, and now they are taking it out on the whole party. and check it out. this is what you will see, the republican-held districts coming into the election, but they have voted against trump in 2016. they had voted for hillary clinto clinton, but sent republicans to kopg, and two years into the trump era, look at all of the democratic pickups, and it will be more in the uncalled races, and a lot of the suburban districts, and that is sort of the heart of the democratic gain, and the suburban areas that are not liking trump and extra inroads for democrats in suburbs in the metro areas, and in the sun belt of phoenix, and atlanta and houston and dallas and some trouble signs there for republicans, and talk also about the rust belt that we spent so much time in 2016 looking at the areas of the traditionally blue k collar areas, and the democrats have had some success winning it

back there, and there are concerns there for democrats to ohio in particular where a state that barack obama was a able to carry twice, and ohio sort of bucking the national tide for democrats and going strongly for the republicans. and some other warning signs for democrats there, and that is going to be politically contested turf in 2020 and obviously in florida, it is a state that the trump narrowly won in 2016, and if they can flip it there, and recounts are pending there, but it is looking like the democrats may come up short in florida and painfully short for them. of course sh, the new democrati party emerging from this is a record number of women and female democrats coming to congress, and a more diverse democratic party and a party pushed by the base that is a lot more energized in the trump era, and what is that going to the look like over the next two years and how does the public e rea act to that and the reaction to trump, and now a new variable, and the democratic congress and what is the reak sh reaction to that is going to be and do the waves last? donald trump is now the third president since the 1990s who came to office with with the

sizable majority in the house, and then watched that majority vanish in the first midterm election, and the first is bill clinton and barack obama both rebounded and two years later won re-election and what is donald trump's fate going be in 2020? >> steve, that is raising a a question, a question, and that brings in jen, and when you look at the 2020 democratic contenders, i am counting more than 20, and you have probably more names on your list, but the fact is that which way does the party go? lesson that progressives did better than one would have thought even in texas and georgia and even if georgia does not turn out, and with stacey abrams' victory or the connor lambs are the future of the party? >> well, if i look at the positive signs for 2020 coming out of the result, if you can see that democrats won statewide in pennsylvania, wisconsin,

michigan and ohio. right. so you can, and by the way, you can get to 270 with the states that hillary won, and winning just michigan, wisconsin and pennsylvania. you don't have to the win ohio. and that is going to get you to 270, and so that is going show you that it is possible. i bet you that the next the democratic candidate who is our nominee in 2020 will win at least three of those states and maybe not ohio. but, the future is arizona, tex texas ga. and i felt that in '16. that you can kucan could see th states moving, but not ready enough. i know that we like to frame it as a choice of ooeither you are appealing to people in the midwest or appealing to the people in the sun belt, but democrats have shown that they can win in both places, and candidates in 2020 should do that. and you know, i think that what the results showed is that

people if you are running on the issue that is important to you, and it is true to, you know, the candidate that you are, and it is what voters care about, and you can be able to win and a big warning sign for trump is that immigration did not work for him. you know, there is a poll out today from the global strategy group saying that it is a turnoff and the caravan is a turn theoff for 60% of the candidates, and trump went there four times for john tn tester, that did not work. and if that is not going to turnout his base and enough to the -- and a turnoff to the independents, that is a worrying sign for him in 2020. >> and so what is a.b., your takeaways, and first of all, what we have seen is women candidates and women from the military did well. >> yes, most experts in the party the like jennifer who i have great respect for is going

to say that you have to capture the passion in the bottle of the progressive movement, and you can still compete in the republican strongholds in the midwest and do both, but i don't think so. progressives won blue seats like in '14, but looking at the candidates like connor lambs and the military vets that the party recruited did better, and certainly seats to be hard to the hold on to, because they have to run to the middle and govern from the middle, and so picking a nominee who is too liberal is a mistake for the democratic party, and that said, they havener turned out in midterms before, and they absolu absolutely turned out in gang buster numbers and more participation than in 104 years. they have to keep it going, and build on the midwest victories and create a wall in michigan and ohio, and they have a path to 2020 as long as they have a candidate who does not send the

independents who flipped by 24 points, and 12 points for trump in '16 and now 12 points to democrats, and they have flipped by 24 points f. a liberal nominee sends them are running back into the arms of trump, that is a problem for the democrats. >> and in looking at that, steve kornacki, it is -- is it too early to be talking about 2020 when we are trying to figure out what happened in 2018? >> well, we can see that some of the trends that defined the election, and think about how they might play out over the next few year, and the discussion now sh, and to give an example of the senate race in texas where beto o'rourke who got all of the energy from the democratic base nationally and the republicans said too far left, and he did not win, but beto o'rourke came within three points of winning, and that is a lot better than democrats usually do. and where is that energy? in the suburbs of houston and austin and in the suburb s s is austin and you saw explosive turnout, and suburban areas and

some of the counties have been republican in the recent past, and they flipped democratic, and it is interesting to me that the sort of the progressive-driven campaign of beto o'rourke resonate ed d in the higher inc suburbs around texas where you got the extra energy, and the question it raises to me is that if that is where the energy, and the suburbs and the higher income area, and the college educated areas and the white l collar people are, and so if that is writ large, is there a tension there that when you are talking about a state like michigan and the democrats trying to win it back and sort of the blue collar voters there and the older voters there, and a difference of the democratic p party on fire in the suburban areas and trying to win back trump areas. >> that is the debate going forward. jen? >> and the democrats in the rust belt states proved that you can do it. it is not a question of -- and i know that we would like to divide it up to a liberal

candidate to do well and moderate candidates, and that is not who won. the candidates who won were just good candidates, and i think that people are going to be looking for people who can unitet the kcountry and bring te country together and looking through that lenses and not so much a soft ideological lenses that is a reflection of liberal or moderate and i don't believe that is how it is going to go down. >> i have proof for that for from all of you, and thank you to all of you it is possible to bridge the political divide. look at, this first lady michelle obama sitting down with the first daughter and correspondent jenna bush hagar, and speaking about mrs. obama's relationship with a very different president. >> i got a text from my dad this morning that said to send michelle my love, and i thought that it is so interesting how

people are so interested in y'all's friendship, and that hug was like the hug that went around the world. why are so people hungry for that though? >> because i think that the political discourse, and the way that it is shown in the media is that it is all of the nasty parts of it. we are all americans, and we all care about our family and our kids, and we are trying to get ahead. we have different ideas of what is the best way to get there, but it does not make me evil. and that does not make him, you know, stupid. it is just a disagreement. and that is how i feel about your father. you know, he is a beautiful funny kind, sweet man. i don't know fi agree with him on everything. >> or much. >> on much. maybe not. >> well, actually, you had time over coffee, you might agree on more than you think. >> and think they in america, it is hard, and that swr we want to

be, and be, and i think that our relationship reminds us that we can get there. quem, you a second behind your brother, stay focused. can't nobody beat you, can't nobody beat you. hard work baby, it gonna pay off. you got this. with the one hundred and forty-first pick, the seattle seahawks select. alright, you got it, shaquem. alright, let me see. very high triglycerides with diet and exercise deserves the hard work that went into the science behind vascepa. prescription vascepa. vascepa, along with diet and exercise, has proven results in multiple clinical trials.

vascepa looks different because it is different. over a decade of extensive research and development achieved proven results. that's the prescription power of vascepa. vascepa is not right for everyone. do not take vascepa if you are allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. tell your doctor if you are allergic to fish, have liver problems or other medical conditions and about any medications you take, especially those that may affect blood clotting. 2.3% of patients reported joint pain. ask your doctor about what the science behind prescription vascepa can mean to you. amarin thanks the clinicians and patients who participated in the vascepa clinical trials. discover.o. amarin thanks the clinicians and patients who participated i like your card, but i'm absolutely not paying an annual fee. discover has no annual fees. really? yeah. we just don't believe in them. oh nice. you would not believe how long i've been rehearsing that. no annual fee on any card. only from discover.

in them therr hills on your guarantevacation.find gold but we can guarantee the best price on this rental cabin. or any accomodation from hotels to yurts. booking.com, booking.yeah but one blows them all out of the water. hydro boost from neutrogena®. with hyaluronic acid to plump skin cells so it bounces back. neutrogena® should happen everydred five hundred years, right?

fact is, there have been twenty-six in the last decade. allstate is adapting. with drones to assess home damage sooner. and if a flying object damages your car, you can snap a photo and get your claim processed in hours, not days. plus, allstate can pay your claim in minutes. now that you know the truth... are you in good hands? matt whitaker is on the the

job today in iowa as the justice department has released the legal opinion that he has every right to be appointed acting attorney general, although, he is the first in history not to have held a job previously confirmed by the senate. joining me now is msnbc analyst mimi rocah, and southern district attorney in the new york, and security analyst matt miller who was former chief spokesman for eric hoelder in te doj. and so now, the justice department has issued an opinion, but it is not match ing that of a number of expatriots that we have interviewed to say nothing of the george conway op-ed. and in fact, the justice department should not be led by someone who has never been confirmed by the senate. >> that is right, andrea. look, i think that the fact that we have this memo with a different opinion is important, and obviously, it is the department of justice office of

legal kocounsel, but it is not e final word, and the fact that we have differing views from very well educated and practiced legal scholars on both sides of the aisle, and remember that there is quite a few conservative people just shows ultimately this would need to be decided in the courts. the travel ban, the office of legal counsel found the travel ban permissible before that was struck down by the courts. so it's definitely not the last word, although it's obviously important. and it does not speak at all to the other important issue about whether whitaker should recuse himself, which i think, you know, many people, again, on both sides of the aisle think he should. >> by the time it gets to the courts, to both of you, matt, won't it be moot? because he's there temporarily until someone is nominated permanently. >> that's exactly right. for this to be litigated would take months, maybe even a year to make it all the way to the supreme court who would have the final word. and to some extent, given the fact that we're even left debating the constitutionality of this appointment, including

the recusal question, which is another thing that will have to be decided by the doj and ultimately decided by the acting attorney general shows the checks and balances. the president is constrained by constitution and law but also constrained by political pressure. and it's fairly clear what the president's motive was here. jeff sessions is the sixth cabinet official to leave in this administration. if the other five cases, the deputy stepped up into the job, as is the normal practice. it's clear that the president went around that process and i pointed whitaker here, instead of rod rosenstein, because he wants someone who will help constrain the mueller investigation. presidents usually wouldn't do something like that, not just because of the constitutional questions, but because they'd be constrained by political pressure from doing that. and our system is broken down because there's no one in the republican party who's willing to stand up and say, mr. president, this isn't appropriate. >> and speaking of the mueller investigation, mimi and matt, briefly, we are waiting on answers, answers that are clearly being written by the

president's lawyers, to questions, as we understand it, that would be limited to just the russia intervention in the election itself and possible collusion. mimi? >> right, yeah, so, look, i think to a certain extent, you know, mueller knows that this president is never coming in and sitting down for an interview, as i think he should, like other doj employees, other elected officials have done. but -- and so, you know, getting these written answers is a way for him to -- for trump to be on the record. so he can't later say, you know, i didn't get to tell my side of the story. i don't know how useful they actually are going to be to mueller. it does box trump in, to a certain extent. but to me, this is a little bit of checking a box. >> and very briefly, matt, do we still think that mueller is going to proceed and try to litigate the subpoena issue and fight that out, slugging it out

with the white house? >> i suspect not. i suspect the timing of these answers which is related to the timing of jeff sessions being fired and the new acting attorney general being appointed. i suspect that the president knows that mueller no longer has the leverage of a subpoena to threaten, because the acting attorney general wouldn't approve one. so now the answers he gives will be very circumscribed, to say the least. >> and do not involve obstruction. >> that's right. >> that whole issue. >> circumscribed to only one area. >> matt miller, mimi rocah, thanks, both, so much. coming up, california burning. firefighters racing to contain wildfires across the state, the worst in state history, the death toll climbing. a live report, next. ath toll cln a live report, next. ♪ the greatest wish of all... is one that brings us together. the lincoln wish list event is here.

sign and drive off in a new lincoln with $0 down, $0 due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. only at your lincoln dealer. gimme two minutes. and i'll tell you some important things to know about medicare. first, it doesn't pay for everything. say this pizza... is your part b medical expenses. this much - about 80 percent... medicare will pay for. what's left... this slice here... well... you have to pay for that. and that's where an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company comes in. this type of plan helps pay some of what medicare doesn't. and these are the only plans to carry the aarp endorsement. that's because they meet their high standards of quality and service. review aarp medicare supplement plans and their rates in this free decision guide. call united healthcare insurance company or go online.

visit aarpmedicaresupplement.com to request yours. even apply online... any time. oh. speaking of time... about a little over half way and there's more to tell. like, how... with this type of plan, you'll have the freedom to choose any doctor who accepts medicare patients. great for staying with the one you know... or finding... somebody new, like a specialist. there are no networks and no referrals needed. none. and when you travel, your plan will go with you anywhere in the country. so, if you're in another state visiting the grandkids, stay awhile...enjoy... and know that you'll still be able to see any doctor who accepts medicare patients. learn more with this free decision guide. call or go online to request yours. tick, tick, tick, time for a wrap up. a medicare supplement plan helps pay some of what medicare doesn't. you know, the pizza slice. it allows you to choose any doctor, who accepts medicare patients... and these are the only plans

of their kind endorsed by aarp. whew! call or go online and find out more.

in california, wildfires continue to rage across the state. a new flare-up erupting in the hills outside of los angeles now. more than 50 people have died across the state. many more are still not accounted for. some 9,000 structures, mostly homes, have been destroyed. nbc's steve paterson has been covering these fires and joins me now from chico, california. steve, talk to me about where you are now and the people there. >> reporter: yeah, andrea. as we've been reporting, the fire here in northern california, the campfire incinerated an entire town, burned to the ground. mostly the people we spoke to left just with the clothing on their backs. you're talking about the home

you grew up in to homeless in minutes. take a look at this. this is a pop-up grassroots sort of bazaar that has popped up in the middle of a walmart parking lot. it was one person who had a food truck and an idea. he set up here, started helping people, and five days or six days later, this is what you see. i can't even show you the entire thing. there's an entire tent city on the entire -- on the other side of this. people have come from all over. we've seen donations, just about every minute of every hour here. joining us is a guest here, ramona. >> ramonda. >> reporter: i'm so sorry. so you're from sacramento? >> yes. >> reporter: what made you come here? >> there's many people who need things. i made packets that have toiletries and stuff in it and i wanted to bring that here. we have coworkers that donated clothing items and all of that. >> reporter: did you know how

bad this was? the situation? >> no, i didn't. you see things on tv, but when you actually get here and see the people that are here and that are camped out in the parking lots and things like that, it's just devastating. >> how many people have you pet that have just lost everything? >> well, i know -- i worked with someone that i know that lost everything and i know people that know people that have lost everything. >> ramonda, thank you so much. obviously, the need is tremendous here, but people helping people. it's a positive thing we've seen, and so much chaos and devastation in that fire. >> steve paterson, that is a true thanksgiving story. at least some hope, a glimmer of hope and human compassion in the face of such tragedy. thank you, steve. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." here is stephanie ruhle for " l ""velshi & ruhle". >> thank you so much, andrea. i'm stephanie ruhle. my partner, ali velshi, off today. it is wednesday, november 14th.

let's get smarter. >> i want to see how the troops are doing who have been deployed in support of the department of homeland security and the customs and border patrol agents on the border. at the present, i do not anticipate military personnel coming into direct contact with migrants. about 5,900 troops are deployed to support the border patrol. i anticipate, right now, it could go around 7,000. we can estimate costs all we want. i would prefer to give you real costs. right now, i can't give that to you. >> reporter: boy, talk about high drama in the building behind me. melania trump's office throwing down the gauntlet, basically. questioning the job of that national security official. chief of staff john kelly, caught in the crosshairs, too. >> the heated battle in florida just got even more conflimplica. the supervisor of elections for palm beach count