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tv   MSNBC Live  MSNBC  November 25, 2018 4:00am-4:30am PST

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>> they rise closer to where she's at and hopefully she sees that we're thinking about her. >> i'm craig melvin. that's all for this edition of "dateline." thank you for watching. good morning. i'm dara brown in new york at msnbc world headquarters. it's 7:00 in the east, 4:00 out west. here's what's happening. border deal, on or off? new confusion about a potential trump administration agreement with mexico. asked and answered. the next step in a special counsel now that the president's team submitted his written answers. the magic word about the white house. two dozen democrats just won't say. >> new this morning, deal or no deal. officials with the incoming mexican government are denying a possible border agreement with the u.s. it would represent an overhaul
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of american asylum policy forcing them to remain in mexico while courts process their claims. it is premature to talk about a border deal and two trump administration officials tell us that details are being worked out. president trump tweeted, this is the en for the so-called policy of catch and release, threatening again to close the southern border. more on this story ahead. new remarks from a candidate in the year's final midterm election just two days away. president trump heads to mississippi tomorrow and he will hold two rallies in support of republican incumbent senator cindy hyde smith. she has less than one% mind mike espy. she's facing criticism for public comment about a public hanging and was joking for appearing to accept -- voter suppression. yesterday she said this to nbc news. >> could you clarify and
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articulate? >> if i hurt anybody's feelings, we're just staying on theish issues that are on people's mind, lower taxes, less regulations. second amendment. all of those things. you know, any time i've said anything, something got offended, i apologize. >> could you acknowledge what you meant by the statement? >> yes. i have apologized for anything i could have possibly said. thank you. >> joining me now, two guests. great to have you both here this morning imt >> thank you. >> alex, mexican and u.s. officials appear to be at odds over this possible border deal. can you tell us the latest? >> looks like somebody jumped the gun on this announcement with president trump tweeting it was a done deal. it appears to not be the case at all. this is relating to what trump called catch and release. they weigh that asylum seekers,
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refugees when they come, they can seek asylum and it takes a long time to process those claims. they have been historically allowed to come bo the united states and work and live for sometimes years even though a large number of the people end up getting rejected and have to leave. trump says they would stay behind. the new policy would have them stay in mexico instead of staying in the united states. presumably there's financial incentive for mexico from the united states to support that. but almost immediately, the new administration walked -- they're coming into power next month. this is a very, very important deal for them. could set things off on a difficult foot considering how unpopular president trump is in mexico. and it's possible that this deal may be scuttled now that it's ahead of his skis a bit. >> on twitter, framing this as a victory against this catch and release pol sichlt how does this fit with the question of a government shutdown. does it make it more or less
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likely or are two issues entirely separate? >> you'll see response from people on capitol hill. there border wall and politics about the border have really fueled this concern that there might be a government shutdown. i think this just adds some fuel to that. you're also already seeing immigrant rights groups and interest groups saying this idea, this potential plan forcing asylum seekers to remain in mexico is going to put those people in danger. these are people who are fleeing their country because they're already facing danger or say their lives are at risk. i think they're going to see democrats on capitol hill saying that this is an unnecessarily inhumane policy. you know, attacking just as they did sort of quote-unquote catch and release program. >> alex, with respect to the government shutdown, what are
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the prospects of that happening over the border wall battle and who wins politically if it head that way down the road? >> it's been a fight that trump wanted to have in the past. it teased heading into the 2018 election earlier this month that he might want to set up a confrontation on the border wall because he thought it would benefit him. a lot of the party on capitol hill did not agree with that at all. they thought it would backfire and you ultimately did not have a deadline for after the election in december. i think it's hard to predict the president and what he's going to want to end up doing. i think for both parties in congress, i don't think they're eager to have a big lockdown, drag-out fight over this. might be interested in kicking the can down the road to appease the president that way. >> the mississippi senate runoff is on tuesday. let's listen to remarks that critics have seized upon.
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[ inaudible ] >> kate, smith refused to say what she was apologizing for. could this energize republican voters or the opposite? >> it could energize republican voters in mississippi. coming to cindy hide smith's defense. they feel she's under attack. her team has used president trump's talking points. this is an attack by the liberal media, kind of a smear campaign against her. the president will be in mississippi tomorrow to rally his supporters, his base, which is also her base. she has really run on her voting record, which is 100% in support of the president's agenda on
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votes where he's taken a position. so you're seeing people that -- the two of them really run hand in hand together on this. i think it could energize republicans. obviously, democrats are also energized. we'll see what happens on tuesday. >> it really is a close race. alex, mississippi has not elected a democrat to the senate 1982. what are the chances that mike espy may change that? >> it's a very long shot still. there was an earlier round of this race where there was a third republican in the race that split the republican vote. that's why we're in this runoff election. i think that last 10% will be the hardest for him to get. he's hoping for a doug jones situation against roy moore in alabama where moderate whites are turned off by the racialized comments that cindy hyde smith has made. mississippi is both the last state in the country to still use the confederate flag on
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their state flag and has the largest portion of african-americans. about 37%. he'll need a good portion of white to push to his way too. >> hyde smith said this about -- >> when i hear that. she had her head down and she was reading it. my mother told me when you apologize to someone you look them in the eye and you tell them that you're sorry and that you offended them and you try to make reparations if you can. so i can't judge her sincerity. >> kate, is there a sense that espy is worried about alienating rural white voters. does he need their support to win? >> that's not who he's speaking to as alex said, maybe moderate independent, more highly educ e educated urban voters in the
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state. >> we know that president trump as you mentioned, he's having two rallies there tomorrow in support of hyde smith. just yesterday she spoke about her support for the president. >> i want to be that senator that you are very proud that you supported that can carry those conservative values, that can continue to work like we have been working to get the things done of the agenda of president trump. you know, i do have the record of voting with him 100% of the time. >> alex, to you. why is the president's support so crucial for hyde smith. is this what her base wants? >> i think this is what the republican base in general wants. they seem to be very much in lock step with the president across the president but especially in a state like mississippi where the president's approval rating is far above the national average. smith is playing a numbers game, looking at what the turnout is likely to be in a low turnout
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election. hoping to get her base and donald trump's base out. that's why they scrambled to set up these two trump events tomorrow, the day before the election. and basically, i think the calculus is if they can get -- doesn't matter about the people with them. they don't have to persuade people in the middle. they need to get their people to the base because it's larger than the democratic base. >> we'll talk about 2020 coming up. demanding answers after police shot and killed a man in a mall on thanksgiving night. police say they've made a deadly mistake. chris pollone reports. >> no justice. >> no peace. >> in hoover, alabama, near birmingham, a demand for answers. protesters gathered at the river chase galleria two days after police shot and killed a man there thanksgiving night. >> he really did not deserve it. they shot the wrong man.
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>> police and witnesses say it started with a fight in early black friday shopping. shooting and wounding an 18-year-old man and 12-year-old girl. it sent off a panic sending hundreds of shoppers stampeding. >> you heard active shoot and they were shoving us wherever they could put us. >> thursday, police shot and killed a 21-year-old as he ran from the area. they said he was fleeing while holding a gun. >> we were fortunate that that hoover officer was there where he needed to be. >> but now police say evidence shows bradford likely did not fire the shots that hit the two victims. that they're now searching for another gunman. people want to know why. >> they killed an innocent black man. >> hoover police have not identified the officer who fired the shots that killed bradford. the state has taken over the investigation. chris pollone, nbc news. the timeline for the next step in the mueller probe now
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that the special counsel has the president's written answers. is the closing act around the corner?
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after more than 2 1/2 weeks, california's deadliest and most destructive wildfire is 98% contained. the death toll has risen, however, to 87. 249 people still unaccounted for. the camp fire north of sacramento has burned nearly 14,000 homes. more than half of the original evacuation orders have been lifted allowing homeowners to return to see what, if anything, remains. >> we want to go home. even if home is nothing, we want to go home. >> if you would like to help victims of the wildfires, you can donate to the red cross by going to the website or call
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1-800-help now. new insight into plea deal in the russia probe. a close associate of roger stone telling nbc news that he's in talks to cut a deal with robert mueller. of course, he says he was questioned about the wikileaks release of john podesta's hacked e-mails. >> if he had knowledge and transferred that information to the trump campaign, that could be big trouble for all those individuals, including the president. >> joining me now, criminal defense attorney ashleigh merchant. good morning, ashleigh. >> good morning. >> what is the significance of all this? >> this is just another player. i mean, if course i is trying to cut a plea deal, he's got some amount of guilt. his lawyers will not push for a plea deal if he doesn't have culpability. if he wasn't involved. if there's no evidence at all, they're not trying to broker a plea deal. the fact that he's concerned, in plea discussions with special
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counsel, that indicates that he's got some level of guilt and he had some level of a role in this. that's one more piece of the puzzle where hopefully we'll see this completed puzzle and all these little pieces have been put together. he's one more piece of the puzzle that potentially exposes the president. >> of course, he is a conspiracy theorist. if mueller has signed him up. what does this tell about you proof backing corsi up. >> a lot of the witnesses that the special counsel has brought forward, a lot of those who have gotten plea deals, michael cohen, he's a conspiracy theorist. he may not be a wonderful witness but when you've got a lot of people who are not necessarily wonderful witnesses but they corroborate the same story and they put together the same cohesive story, it lends credibility to that story. so while coursey in and of himself may not be completely
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worthy of belief, if he has some statements corroborated by other people, make stone or cohen, who knows, if they're corroborated. that lends credibility to those statements and that tea theory. he is a vital piece of the puzzle because he can corroborate other people's statements. that lends credibility to those individuals' testimony. >> we'll see where that lands. the president and his legal team submitted written answers to rob you ert mueller. the special counsel still wants to question the president over his actions while in the white house. is this all about obstruction of justice? >> yes, of course he wants to question him. yes, this is about obstruction of justice. any time you issue written answers, you can control the information. lawyers love that. because you're able to control and not necessarily answer the question. if you answer -- if you ask a question, the clintons for
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example, did you have sexual relations with that person. well, you can answer i didn't have sexual intercourse with that person. i didn't necessarily answer the question. that's what happens in the written interrogatories that the president finally answered. he can control the information. he doesn't necessarily have to answer all the questions. if it's not a face to face interview, mueller is not able to follow-up and say, well, you didn't actually answer my question. what i asked you was this. there needs to be some face to face actual conversation with special counsel where they're able to actually follow-up on these questions and probe deeper. i know that the president wants to hide behind he's so busy and can't sit for this. this is something the american people want. you can't really trust -- >> you bring up how busy the president is. what about the timing? what does this tell you about how close it is they are to
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brapg it up? >> i think they want to wrap it up before the end of the year. without the president sitting for the interview, how ke wrap it up? you need to question the president. >> ashlee merchant. thank you for breaking it down. why democrats may be running for president but refuse to say it. are they just playing coy. ♪ a wealth of information. a wealth of perspective. ♪ a wealth of opportunities. that's the clarity you get from fidelity wealth management. straightforward advice, tailored recommendations, tax-efficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. fidelity wealth management.
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in politics. power and paychecks in congress is running out of time. the senate gets back to work tomorrow in the first of its 15 remaining days in session. the house has only 12 more days and returns tuesday. a new gallup poll shows a split among americans on the new democratic controlled house. 39% saying the country will be better for it. 24% say worse off. about a third of america says it just won't make a difference. more democratic presidential hopefuls are forming their
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intentions out loud adding to a growing list of candidates likely to run in 2020. the latest kersten gillibrand. >> i'll give it strong consideration. >> listen, i say more the merrier. let everybody get in. >> a new nbc news report looks into why some democrats are sending all sorts of signals they're running but won't say it out loud. we're back now with our panel, kate and alex. author of that piece we were talking about. alex, you talk about a list of two dozen presidential candidates and would-be trump challengers who have yet to utter the words i'm running. why are they hedging? >> once you utter those word, you officially become a candidate according to the federal election commission. once you officially become a candidate there are all kinds of legal and political ramifications. you have to start accounting for every dollar you raise and
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spend. you have to disclose all of that to the federal elections commission every month and politicallies the first quarter of fundraising support, you have to show a strong number to show strength. people are deliberate about when they launch these things, their presidential campaign to raise enough money as possible to show the world how strong and how much they're appreciated. they play the legal game, they say i'm looking at it, i'm thinking aboutt maybe i'll run to control the timeline for legal reasons. >> why do you think this list is so long? do they believe they can beat president trump? >> i mean, president trump has mobilized democrats like no other president seems to have been able to do. you do have a lot of people on capitol hill. mostly senate democrats who are agitating to take on the president, if you will. and alex makes a good point about the fundraising.
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these folks are quietly quacourg donors. if you look at potentials, like kristen gillibrand in new york. they don't want -- it might be a litmus test for democrats in the -- in the 2020 race. that they don't want corporate pac money. we've seen that sort of growing and being sort of toxic almost. a number of people, cory booker in new jersey, other people in the senate, senate democrats who are likely to be contenders for 2020 saying we don't want corporate pac money. that's a clue maybe as to the people running. >> it certainly is an interesting list. we'll be watching. alex, and kate thanks for joining us on this sunday. that will do it for me. i'm dara brown. thank you for watching.
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