everybody. his coaches, his teachers, his devoted friends. outwardly happy, inwardly who really knew? >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thanks for watching. good morning. i'm dara brown in new york at msnbc headquarters. here's what's happening. unmistakable message. the federal government releases a warning about climate change at odds with the policy of president trump. this morning, who in washington is listening and what action will be taken as a result. humanitarian crisis. a mayor of a border city asking for help as central american migrants arrive in his city. questions answered, but there is one remaining issue looming over the mueller probe. new today, the starkest warning to date on climate change. the government has released a major report detailing the

impacts of global warming. it found that climate change is worsening natural disasters, threatening human health and undermining quality of life. the report found that the damage from climate change will reduce the size of the u.s. economy by 10% by the end of the century. scientists from 13 federal government agencies estimate that, quote, annual losses in some economic sectors could reach hundreds of billions of dollars by the end of the century, more than the current gross domestic product of many u.s. states. the white house is dismissing the report saying in part that it is based on, quote, the most extreme scenario which contradicts long-established trends by assuming that there would be limited technology and innovation. the critics are accusing the trump administration of trying to bury the report by leasing it on black friday. msnbc spoke with a former energy and climate aide to president obama. >> president trump is obviously afraid of what his

administration is reporting. it's contrary to his agenda. it's contrary to the interests that support this president and, you know, it's really, frankly, quite shameful, i think, for a president who just came out to california and visited the devastation in paradise, california, in malibu where towns have literally been just wiped off the map. >> joining me now, julie manchest manchester, reporter for "the hill." and reporter with bloomberg, tv. what is your read on the report dropping friday after thanksgiving? >> you know, the timing of this is certainly interesting. i think the trump administration knows this doesn't necessarily play well with their policies. as we all know, the trump administration has really worked to roll back a series of obama administration policies on climate change, and they really have put a lot of their focus on more so non-renewable energy sources, such as coal and oil. we know the president's

political base is very big in that rust belt area where coal is a very major industry. so that's a very important part of this, but another part of this timing that's interesting to me is that it comes after he visited the wildfires in california and we're seeing a lot of these more extreme weather scenarios, whether it be hurricanes, wildfires come more frequent. and a lot of scientists and experts have pointed to climate change as a reason for this, so it's interesting that the president went out to california, visited these wildfires. he's blamed a lot of this on forest management, but i think it shows, you know, what the administration, what the president really thinks about climate change. i think a lot of critics will say this is reason to be concerned because of the -- i guess the horrible effects of climate change at this point. >> and the night before thanksgiving the president tweeted about the cold weather posing the question, quote, whatever happened to global warming? and just a week ago the president addressed climate

change while touring the wildfire. let's take a listen. >> does seeing the devastation change your opinion on climate change? >> no. no. i want great climate and we're going to have that and forests that are very safe. >> kevin, any chance the president's position could shift with this report? >> no. look. i think this all comes down to part of the administration's broader strategy. and you saw this in lindsey walter's statement, and that really is they feel that -- and a lot of republicans would argue that innovation would help to offset the costs of climate change but, look, this is a president who withdrew from the international paris climate accord agreement, and that caused a response from the international community. the only way to address the serious issue of the climate change, global climate change, is to have a coalition within the international community. that includes third world countries, that includes europe and that includes china. the president is set to meet in

just a week and a half or so with president xi jinping of china in buenos ar residenticsc and this is a president that has left other world leaders now asking themselves if the u.s. is going to ever participate in the types of global policies that would help to address this issue of climate change. >> the report also says that no area of our country will be untouched from the southwest to alaska. julia, how are house democrats planning to capitalize on this report? could internal divisions within the democratic party undermine their strategy on climate change? >> well, we're already seeing climate change become, i guess, one of the democrat's top priorities going into the house. we've seen speaker nancy pelosi really highlight this -- i should say house minority leader, speaking a little too soon there, really highlighting

that in her agenda, and we saw that alexandria, representative from new york, she held up protests in pelosi's office last week or the week before. this could be a major point for democrats to really push across. and i think this could be a point where they could really unite because i'm seeing progressives as well as your more moderate establishment democrats come together on this issue. i think this report could potentially be a unifying figure in that. >> kevin, right after the president's -- i want to skip to this because we had -- after thanksgiving he was calling for the troops abroad. he said about authorizing troops at the border to use lethal force. let's listen to that. >> if they have to, they're going to use lethal force. i've given the okay. yeah, they have to. i hope they don't have to. i'm not going to let the military be taken advantage of. do i want that to happen? absolutely not. i have no choice. but you're dealing with rough people. >> powerful words there, kevin.

what is the conventional wisdom on whether it is legal for the military to use lethal force on american soil? >> there are people questioning the increase in u.s. troops along the u.s./mexican border. the president is doubling down in terms of his rhetoric in terms of issuing them. this was something that the president did in the closing arguments of the mid-term elections and many would argue that it cost him in subburban districts around the country. it didn't boyd well for him in the final days of the mid term elections. the president has been increasingly critical of secretary nielsen and says that he would like her to be more tough on the issue of immigration and now you're hearing the president responding to questions as this issue of the caravan, you know, becomes

more -- comes to -- really closer to the border. the final point that i would say on this is now the president is staring down a congress that is going to dramatically shift. while there has been some plans that have been floated in the past couple of years on the issue of immigration, bipartisan plans, it doesn't seem that this administration wants to negotiate at all with democrats on the issue of immigration. >> and on that point, with this border wall possibly a government shutdown? the president's threatening actually. do you think that's going to happen? >> you know, i think the president's going to leverage that. we've seen other democrats saying we're simply not going to put money towards a border wall though we'll say maybe you'll get a little bit of something for border security. i don't see them really compromising on this issue, but to the president's rhetoric on this, i think this also points to a much broader point in that after the mid term elections we saw that the president wasn't talking too much about immigration but he knows that this is something that's going to really rally up his base. and i think he really enjoys talking about this topic and he knows that his local base loves hearing about it. i think he believes that, you know, pulling out all of these

stops, all of thissi issue in particular will help him politically with his base. i don't know if it will help him with democrats or moderates, but he likes his own base. >> julia and kevin, thank you for being with us. we have questions about ivanka trump coming up. robert mueller has written answers from the president, but the two sides could still battle over one big remaining issue. ♪

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in a two-hour window so you're up and running in no time. show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. jerome corsi, a close associate of former trump advisor roger stone, tells nbc news he's in talks to cut a plea deal with special counsel robert mueller. corsi, a conspiracy theorist, says he was questioned by prosecutors about john podesta's hacked e-mails. for weeks corsi has signaled the

pressure is mounting. >> i fully anticipate the next few days i will be indicted. >> part of kristin welker's report on "nbc nightly news" last night. join me is danny ce valos. this is percolating. is this a big get? >> whether it threatens president trump depends on a number of assumptions about the link of connection. first, corsi relates to roger stone, and of course roger stone was involved with president trump. if the communication about the wikileaks dump of podesta e-mails went from corsi to stone to trump, then there is a possible connection and that could potentially be something that corsi could provide information about, but, i caution, it depends upon a number of different links that haven't been established yet. >> danny, also today new york

state judge denying throwing out a lawsuit saying trump and his family violated charity laws with the management of their foundation. trump's attorney said the case should be dismissed because of the supremacy clause suggesting a sitting president should not be sued. where does this go? >> in the new york supreme court which is the trial court in new york decided that this issue has been resolved years ago and the new york state supreme court can decide the issue against a sitting president if the lawsuit relates to non-presidential duties. and that was decided long ago in clinton v. jones. even though the trump team threw everything but the legal kitchen sink at this complaint, the state court did allow it to proceed against trump and others. >> and adding to that, justice frank kavanaugh said a president should not be distracted. your prediction should this wind up in supreme court?

>> it's -- it's a coin flip, but kavanaugh has a point that there has been plenty of case law saying that the president is different from other people. if you arrest him, if you involve him in a lawsuit, you essentially arrest the entire executive branch. that doesn't happen with a single member of congress and it does not happen even with a single supreme court justice or any single member of the judiciary. so while that argument carries some weight, on the other hand, clinton v. jones established long ago that a president is susceptible to civil litigation, especially where the litigation does not relate to his presidential duties. >> danny, "the new york times" reported this week that the president wanted to order the justice department to prosecute james comey and hillary clinton. the report says that the white house counsel don mcgann told the president that he had no authority to order such action and had the lawyers write a memo for trump warning that if he asked law enforcement to investigate, he could face several cops sequences including

possible impeachment. could this be considered abuse of power? >> this harkens back to the concept of what we call in coat crimes, crimes of attempt. and although this isn't a crime, the concept is similar. the idea that how far did president trump go in inquiring about or actually trying to prosecutor investigate comey and/or lynch? if he just was musing aloud during a meal or over coffee, then maybe it doesn't go to the level of attempt, but if he took substantial steps, significant enough that his attorneys felt the need to issue a memo telling him why he could not do that, now we get further and further into the substantial step towards the activity that could qualify for attempt, at least the way legal minds think of attempt. and if it is an abuse of power, that is an impeachable offense,

even if it is not a crime. >> danny, the president's legal team has submitted written answers to robert mueller, but a new article in politico says mueller is not done with trump and that the special counsel still wants to question the president over his actions while in the white house. is this about obstruction of justice? >> there are no rules binding the special counsel to accept the written answers that trump's team has submitted to the special counsel. as suspected, if mueller finds that these were incomplete answers, he can ask them to resubmit new answers to questions. he could insist on subpoenaing the president and taking his chances with the supreme court to find out whether or not a sitting president can be subpoenaed to appear before the special counsel or the grand jury or to do really whatever the mueller team has in its arsenal of tools. >> danny cevallos, a lot to take in on this saturday morning but thank you so much for breaking it down for us. well, happening now and unfolding humanitarian crisis just south of the u.s. border.

thousands of central american migrants stranded in tijuana. the mayor is asking the world for help. nbc's hans nichols is at the u.s./mexico border south of san diego. hans, what's the situation like where you are? >> reporter: well, dara, good morning. as you know, president trump sent some 6,000 troops to the border. they've been laying razor wire. they're setting up base camps all for an initial cost of 72 million. now just behind me you see the border crossing. the mayor of that city, of tijuana, has called this a humanitarian crisis as thousands of migrants are sleeping outside. this morning competing calls for action on both sides of the border as 5,000 central american migrants are way layed in tijuana. president donald trump tweeting from mar-a-lago, fix the border for once and for all now. while the mayor of tijuana has

declared a humanitarian crisis in the city and his appeal as migrants camp out in soccer stadiums with some getting to within 500 feet of the border. the mayor criticizing his own government and warning that they need to take donald trump's threat to shut the border seriously. >> we will close it for a period of time until we can get it under control. the whole border. i mean the whole border. >> reporter: the president calling for congress to come together on a major border security package after his thanksgiving day attack on judiciary while talking to troops overseas, the 9th circuit blocked his plan to block any asylum action. >> it's a terrible thing when junchs take over your protective services, when they tell you how to protect your border. it's a disgrace. >> reporter: for the 5800 u.s. troops on the border after spending the thank giving holiday away from their home, no

time line on how long they'll be there. >> as long as it takes. >> reporter: president trump raised the possibility that they could respond with lethal force. >> if they have to, they're going to use lethal force. >> reporter: now, dara, behind me on sunday, a group of migrants are thinking about making the crossing. they want to use and use a quiet day so they avoid any discomfort,s any inconvenience to residents of both sides of the border. it's clear that they aren't looking for a confrontation. dara. >> hans nichols, thank you so much for that report. ivanka trump and the fallout from her hundreds of e-mails. which is why you didn't grab just any cheese. you picked up new kraft expertly paired mozzarella and parmesan for pizzahyeah! kraft. family greatly. i that's the retirement plan.e, with my annuity, i know there is a guarantee. it's for my family, its for my self, its for my future. annuities can provide protected income for life. learn more at retire your risk dot org.

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this is moving day with the best in-home wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. and this is moving day with reliable service appointments in a two-hour window so you're up and running in no time. show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. breaking news out of paris where protesters have taken to the streets and are battling riot police. these are live pictures. the demonstrators are wearing yellow vests as they try to make their way to the french presidential palace in protest

over higher fuel taxes. they're using water cannons and tear gas grenades to run off demonstrators believed to numbers in the thousands. right now there's no confirmation of any injuries. there are reportedly similar protests in various cities across france in its second weekend of fuel protests. we'll keep you posted on what's happening there. politics and president trump this week defending his daughter and white house advisor ivanka trump's personal white house e-mail use. >> have you talked to ivanka about the e-mails. >> yes, i have. very innocent. short period of time. very early on. there was no deletion of e-mails like the 33,000 plus probably 100,000 hillary clinton did after she got a subpoena. there was no bleach pit. there was no anything. just innocent e-mails. there were no classified e-mails. a much different idea. >> we are back with our panel.

kevin, is the president right in drawing the distinction? is his argument valid here? >> well, i mean, i think two things. first and foremost, there is a lot of criticism from sources that i spoke with not just in the democratic party but also republicans who were scratching their heads and wondering why after the presidential campaign would any member of the trump administration use personal e-mail accounts, especially when the candidate donald trump made it such a component of his presidential campaign. the second point is that a spokesperson for her attorney, ivanka trump, has said that essentially this was during a period of time in which -- before she was briefed officially on behalf of the administration to use these e-mails. she said she's turned them all over, but the final point that i would note is that there's no reporting right now to suggest there was any type of private e-mail server. that said, i fully expect her to be called to testify before the newly democratic controlled

congress or at least at minimum that the democratic controlled congress will be looking into this come january. >> we'll see if that happens. julia, we do know that congress wants to probe ivanka's private e-mail use in the white house. what do you think is going to happen there? >> to kevin's point, the democrats are really going to go after this. i think they saw hillary clinton, one of their i guess leaders during the 2016 campaign, get completely i guess completely under scrutiny for this. they're going to want to see the same thing happen to ivanka trump. i think this goes to a broader point with her role in the administration. i think a lot of critics would say that ivanka trump uses the first daughter role when it seems convenient to her and she also uses her role as the president's advisor when it seems convenient to her. and i think critics would point to her private e-mails and the use of that as potentially, you know, how this -- how these two roles have played out for her. >> julia manchester, great to

have you this morning. kevin, always a pleasure. thanks for being here this saturday. >> thank you. that will do it for me. i'm dara brown. thank you for watching. at the top of the hour it is "up" with david gur ra. first, it's your business with j.j. ramburg. a new beginning. some welcome relief... or a cause for celebration. ♪ what's inside? ♪ [laughter] possibilities. what we deliver by delivering. the full value of your new car? you'd be better off throwing your money right into the harbor. i'm gonna regret that. with liberty mutual new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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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. good morning from bell light, wisconsin. coming up on a special small business saturday edition of "your business" this restaurant/grocery store wants to become the tourist destination for beloit's main street. they need help. we'll bring in our "your business" makeover team. plus, i sit down with linda mcman to talk about how important it is to support your local businesses. and we'll show you exactly how the money you spend on your local businesses helps the entire community. when it comes to making this small business saturday the most profitable