with us. i turn it over to reverend al sharpton. good evening and welcome to politics nation. tonight's lead. less than one year into his presidency, the fbi was investigating whether donald trump was working quote, on beha behalf of russia against american interests. that's according to a bombshell new report by the new york times which claims that law enforcement officials were so alarmed after the president fired james comey in 2017 they decided to investigate his actions as a possible national security threat. the president tweeting

repeatedly today has dismissed the report with the white house calling it absurd. the news comes as we finally have a date. february, 7th when michael cohen will testify publicly before the house oversight committee about actions taken as a president's former lawyer. expect some fire there. more than 800,000 federal workers went without pay yesterday. capping off the first three weeks of now the longest government shutdown in our nation's history. multiple employee unions are suing the administration as the president mulls how to move even more federal resources to the border for his ever e vol invol -- evolving barrier even if he has to decide a national emergency to get it.

we start with the russia investigation. greg brower, a former u.s. attorney and former assistant director of congressional affairs at the fbi. let me go to you first greg. when you heard about this new york times bombshell report, how serious is it as one that worked in fbi? the fbi was so alarmed that this president, at that time presidential candidate and president-elect was possibly involved with russia in

interfering with american interests. >> well, reverend, it's seriously social security a serious issue and serious reporting. i was at the fbi when much of this was happening. i don't want to confirm or deny any of the reporting. according to the reporting, this was a matter that was taken seriously by the bureau. i would suggest this is what the american people would hope and assume the fbi would do. an individual might have inappropriate contacts with an adversary, a counter intelligence investigation would be open. this tells us some additional detail about what most of us have assumed or have known from public reporting from the last year plus.

>> there was also an op ed where the writers said what if the obstruction was the collusion. i believe it was benjamin wits that wrote the article. could the obstruction, which is criminal, actually have been the collusion? >> i read the article, the one you just referenced and me makes an interest point. that could -- he could be right. that is is a credible argument. we won't know until the mother investigation is concluded and we learn what the investigation found. ben's point is very interesting, to say the least. >> noelle, as the republican on the panel tonight. you look at this bombshell

report that the white house is denying and the president is tweeting denials. we have heard nothing from the fbi. then on top of that, we have this february 7th date where michael cohen will go before the house oversight committee. there has to be concern among the leadership of the republican party about their president. >> absolutely. i don't think that anybody thinks that there's not going be some new material that michael cohen is going to be releasing to to public. we all know he's been a confida confidante and worked with trump for many years. both in the private sector and when he made his transition into president of the united states. this is his closest pal, his ally and has done legal work. the fact he's going to be

testifying i'm sure is probably getting under the saddle of president trump. >> i know from my own experiences having both adversarial and social meetings with the president before he was president and michael cohen was very close to him. he was the guy you would go to to talk to him and mostly in all the meetings we would have. adrian, what can cohen say that we have not already heard? what can he say under oath that would, in your judgment, begin making republicans in the senate start doing the michael jackson piano wa moon walk away from this president? >> you raise a good point. i think michael cohen has come forward on a will the of issues and disclosed a lot of nfgts. the real question is what will cause the republicans to do the

moon walk away from donald trump? when they start seeing their own polling numbers impacted by some of the actions by president trump and we are starting to see that, that will make a big difference. there's still a lot we don't know about donald trump's business interest in russia and what does russia have on him. the fact the fbi, the counselor intelligence community for the united states of america was actually looking into the newly minted president of the united states to determine whether or not he was a security threat is absolutely abysmal. i think we'll just see what he has to say when he comes forward on february 7th. >> noelle when we look at the fact that you have the senate map of those that will be facing re-election next year, some in states that hillary clinton won in 2016, is the possible testimony of michael cohen and

reports like we saw today in the new york times, is that a cause of concern that if in fact the house impeach the president and i'm saying if, that you may lose a number of republicans to where they hold guarantee that all of us have worked on that he couldn't be convicted in the senate becomes very possible. >> you know, reverend al, that's a million dollar question. i think it depends on the circumstances and to adrian's point, there's a lot of unknowns. we really don't know what's going to be smoking gun quote, so to speak that will come out that public hearing. i think there's been -- there's been some recent articles with them saying that trump has been assisting russia.

i think with the comments that michael cohen is going to make, i think back to your point on whether or not it will sway any republican senators to do some sort of a turn their back on trump, i think it actually depends on what the smoking gun quotes are from michael cohen. i don't think there is any way we'll know until that comes out. >> greg, let me ask you on a legal point. i know you're not confirming or denying anything when you were at the bureau. on a legal point, if, in fact, michael cohen, hypothetically, because we do not know what he's going to say. has any direct link maybe when donald trump's came out of meeting with the russians it was his father that he dacalled and briefed and the president was directly involved in a lot of these conversations and involved in a lot of information that was

passed to the campaign. we're told that manafort gave polling data to russians, if any of that is confirmed, would that reach a legal bartha pu fsh -- that puts this president in jeopar jeopardy. >> i think he has nothing else to lose and will tell the truth to the congress and american people. i've seen oop la lot of witness over the years. i've seen a will the of witnesses lie. i've seen a lot of witnesses see the light and tell the truth. i think this is one such witness who has decided he's done with the lying and he's going to tell the truth. that will make his testimony very interesting. i suspect, i assume that everything that the american public will hear from michael cohen at this upcoming hearing is already known to the special

counsel and his team and has been fully digested and evaluated in terms of their calculus with respect to who has been indicted and who may be in the future and how they see this investigation. >> adrian, what as a democrat and what in, i would put you in a possibly unfair position but what would you predict most democrats will be looking for in this testimony from cohen? what would be a legal smoking gun, may not be a political smoking gun and vice versa. what is it that democrats are saying if he says this, then it's all over politically. >> i don't know if it's one thing. we're looking to understand what president trump's relationship is, business from a business standpoint with russia.

clearly putin has something on him. we have known this for a long time. there's still a lot of unknowns. given that michael cohen was known as the guy who does all of trump's business work and is the person in the meetings with him and the person who does his dirty work. he knows all these secrets. he will be sitting under oath. there's so many different unknowns that we want to know here. democrats aren't looking at this at the standpoint of how the dots can be connected. these have national security implications and that's why the story came out and the new york times that notes that the fbi was looking into whether or not the sitting president of the united states was a national security threat to our country.

panel sticking around. calling the president a toddler having a tantrum. i'll ask a newly elected congresswoman how this shutdown will end. that's next. you're watching politics nation. . you're watching politics nation. . . i was just finishing a ride. i felt this awful pain in my chest. i had a pe blood clot in my lung. i was scared. i had a dvt blood clot. having one really puts you in danger of having another. my doctor and i chose xarelto®. xarelto®. to help keep me protected. xarelto® is a latest-generation blood thinner that's... proven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt or pe blood clots from happening again. in clinical studies, almost 98% of patients on xarelto® did not experience another dvt or pe. xarelto® works differently. warfarin interferes with at least 6 of your body's natural blood-clotting factors.

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tonight many americans are feeling the impact of the partial government shutdown. check out this list of about 420,000 workers who are working without pay that include air traffic controllers, tsa officers, fbi agents, food inspectors, just to name a few. what is the new congress planning to do? she calls this political terrorism. >> tell us how it affected people in your district. people that you were sent to congress to represent that got a paycheck seeing zero dash zero zero on yesterday.

>> that's weekend i went home, i did a town hall and i heard over and over again from federal employees whether it's fbi agents to federal prison guards, most of whom were law enforcement and many of whom were republicans about how they were struggling to feed their families. it's really devastating. we have a lot of air traffic controllers and aviation specialists. because of that it's controlling all of the flights coming in and out of southern california and we're seeing, i had a woman who came to my office, her name is christy.

it's really awful. i'm mad which is why i'm speaking tliek and we have to find a way to end it. a lot of people think we're talking about some bureaucrats in washington. this affects real people. maybe if they got a note from the government saying we're going to shut down but the rent will be paid or the mortgage but you can't go to the grocery store with a note. you can't go to the gas station with a note. this affects people all over the country that work for the government or that are contractors or work for contractors with the goth. >> we just passed this legislation that i believe the president will sign to pay back the back pay.

small businesses or all the pieces at the federal work force and in a district like mine that's focussed on ero space, you see all of that trickle down. that's something that will take our community a long time to recover from. what i keep saying is the reason i said political terrorism is this is being used as a tool that's not acceptable. let's have the debate around border security and immigration. we have to end this shutdown first. it's about this wall that is a vanity wall. republican and democrat. aside from the fact that there may be some disagreement on how to do border security, why are we seeing the american government workers held hostage

and how do we break this dead lock? we're in our third week. >> this is about trump. on the democratic side and even we had republicans vote with us, we just now have passed multiple pieces of legislation that are going to open up every part of the government except for the piece that would deal with the border security aspect. that's the part we want to negotiate on. the senate has pretty much unanimously gone with these pieces of legislation as well. mitch mcconnell is not allowing it to come to a vote. we need the american people to call their senators and express how they are feel iing and say u need to open the government and have the debate in the right way about how we want to have border security.

we have people whose lives are at stake. they are not working at their full capacity. we would have an out break. we are just beginning to see the full effect of. we're willing to come to the table and figure out what the right solutions are. >> i was on the hill on thursday. one of the things that is exciting to many of us is this is a very diverse congress now and especially the class you've been elected in, very diverse and racially in terms of so many things and how do you feel when you hear a white male congressman like steve king saying when did white nationalism and white supremacy become a bad word.

the congressional black caucus through its chairperson called him to be removed from economy assignment. how do you feel as part of the most diverse congress we have seen hearing people act like there's nothing wrong with white supremacy? >> it's devastating. karen bass has been a tremendous mentor for me. she helped kacampaign in my district. one here we are, we're representing a changing time in politics. to see someone like steve king, he's an archaic figure. he just doesn't represent who we are as a nation. to have him saying these things publicly is a national embarrassment. it's crushing to people and the way they are supposed to feel as american citizens. i think she's right to say he should be removed from his

committee. i hope we get him out of his seat all together and we get every one out of their seats who continues to express those opinions and those have been normalized by donald trump and so the most important election we'll see next time around is in 2020 getting him out. >> when we see we're not talking about those of us black looking at white supreme si. usually those that hold the views hold that against the lgbtq community. this is frightening this kind of politics is still in office in this country. >> it's an example of the prejudice that exists for every single aspect toward people who are not fitting into this traditional old white man kind of since of what's normal. i'm a bisexual woman who has --

i ran on this kiebnd of concept- >> and you were very open about it. >> i was. it was a risk in my district. i had lots of friends and people and consultants tell me that's something that is possibly going to cost you this election. i said i have to be who i am. i believe that america's changing and that we're starting to accept people for who they are. when you see somebody like steve king and my opponent, the person i unseated was known for having terrible views towards the lgbt community. we are seeing america change. we need to make sure our representatives reflecting those views and on the right set of history. >> you read the president's tweet denouncing steve king's comment. >> i haven't seen it yet. >> neither have i and neither has the american people.

stay with us. guess who compare trump's proposed border call to a zoo fence. you have three minutes to guess. starting now. minutes to guess. starting now

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for my weekly memo to trump but this time with a twist. this week it's directed toward president trump's eldest son, don junior who earlier this weekend a now deleted instagram post made the case for his father's proposed border wall with mexico by comparing it to a zoo fence. this isn't the first time that junior has made a biassed remark but let me tell you what i think about comparing migrant children to animals that need to be kept in cages. donald junior i know you have seen down through the years and we debate politics but when we start comparing human beings to animals that neeld d to be held cages in the time of steve king talking about white supremacy, the american people of all

parties and all races deserve better examples out of the first family than that. people we can disagree with how they should be allowed to enter or not this country but when we start talking about they are like people that should be put in cages like zoo, like held like animals. what are we saying to the world. what are we saying about ourselves. no human being ought to be on display like an animal in the zoo no matter what our policy on border security. let's try and rise up. fisher investments tailors portfolios to your goals and needs. some only call when they have something to sell. fisher calls regularly so you stay informed. and while some advisors are happy to earn commissions

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i have decided to run and will be making a formal announcement in the next week. >> i am a candidate for president of the united states of america. >> two more names added to the official list of candidates running for president in 2020. that makes four elect eed democt who is will run. i know some more will be running shortly.

let me go to you first adrian. what type of candidate do you think the democrats, i'm talking about the voters, will be looking for in the 2020 race. there's those that call themselves progressive. there are those that say they are moderate. those to the right, what do you think will be the candidate type that will have the most appeal to the democratic vote? >> i think to your point we'll see a lot of people run in this democratic primary but i think voters will be looking first and foremost for somebody who is putting forward an aspirational message or a message they can support and believe in and puts forward a compelling case to move our country forward and who they believe can defeat donald trump. i think you'll see a lot of people especially some of the potential tier 2 candidate that flirt with tier 1 status.

i think you'll see the democratic primary voters look long and hard at a lot of candidates. you may some up in the polls one week and down in the polls the next week. one of the things i want to stress is i thought secretary castro's message today at his rally in san antonio was so inspiring and compelling. that's in such dire contrast to what we're seeing from president trump. frankly with a lot of republicans who are trying to tear people down. who are trying to build a wall. who are supporting politics that would move our country back and have supported policies that are moving our country back. it will be really wonderful just to hear people talk about positive policy changes that they want to make to this

country instead of tearing people down. >> when you look at the growing list of democrats that will challenge your party, what do you think were the issues of immigration, criminal justice reform, voting rights, foreign affairs, what do you think will be the argument for president trump in re-election and what will be make him more as a ruvue if a democrat can come through and hit him on some of the issues like the government shut down that he may not be able to easily defend? >> one of the biggest issues you'll see is going forward immigration. he built his presidency around the wall, around immigration.

the democrats have said we are a nation of immigrants. we want people to come in. i think this will be a clever thing in 2020 to see how this message will be branded for the democratic party going forward and whoever gets the nomination for 2020 is going to set the tone of what the democrat party, what their message and their voice is continuing on. if you have someone like a k cast castro, that's more refreshing than an elizabeth warren. i've heard a lot of favorable comments from castro's uplifting speech rather than how she announced going to get the beer and every day americans. >> greg, i know you don't go politics as a profession but looking at history, when we saw

wat watergate and nixon coming out of nowhere was unknown governor named jimmy carter, could the legal issues that are clouding this administration that may turn even worse, could that, in your judgment, set the stage for maybe someone that is not considered top tier clearing the path because they can return this country to a sense of integrity and a sense of abidesing by a legal process that cannot in any way be breache breached? >> if 2016 told us anything, it told us that anything is possible when it comes to the next presidential race. my legal clients don't pay me for political advice especially with respect to are tpresidenti

elections. my advice would be look for someone that can win. that's what the republicans should be looking for as well. elections have consequences. it's all about winning and both sides need to be looking and focused on that. i'll tell you as an aside, i was in my home state of nevada recently at an cent at tevent av law school and the keynote speaker was joe biden. i had the privilege of spending time with joe biden before the dinner. basedon upon that conversation and based upon the impression that most in attendance at that dinner had, he seems to be, at least taking a serious look at it. as i said, anything is possible. it will be very interesting to

watch. will we see a republican challenge to the president. will there be republican primaries. if he falls, will we see a lot of republicans try to jump in that contest or will they say we're going to push pence forward? first of all, will there be a republican challenger? i don't know. if there is it will be someone like a john kasich. someone that is clearly an adversary of the president an not afraid to get support and run against him without fear of ramification. the other thing you talked about is if president trump is no longer there, will pence be pushed forward. i feel like if trump is not in, i don't think they will look within that whole administration to push anyone forward.

e i think it will be someone totally new and different. >> i'm going to have to leave it there. thank you. up next, the financial strain for hundreds of thousands who just missed their first paycheck. i'll show you the impact of this game of political chicken and what is having on the american family. n and what is having on the american family (clapping) every day, visionaries are creating the future. ( ♪ ) so, every day, we put our latest technology and vast expertise to work. ( ♪ ) the united states postal service makes more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, affordably and on-time. (ringing) ( ♪ ) the future only happens

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thaifr said to me and communicated, stay out until you get the funding for the wall. i think if you ever really lookedlook ed at those people, i think they would say keep going. this is far more important. >> i can relate and i'm sure that the people that are on the receiving end will make adjustment. they always do. many of those people that won't be receiving a paycheck, many of those people agree 100% with what i'm doing. >> the government shutdown is now the longest in u.s. history

with federal workers caught in the middle. despite president's assurances, three unions have filed a joint lawsuit alleging that the federal government is breaking the law by requiring employees deemed quote essential to continue working without pay throughout the partial shutdown. joining me now is everet kelly and ashaki robinson. let me ask you, everet, i'm worked closely with the union of government employees that you're secretary treasurer of. we do king daybre breakfast and i've talked to a lot of government employees as i was in

washington this week. i haven't found said any that said president trump go ahead. stand up, get the wall. we're with you. have you been able in any of your membership or even those that are not members of the union but are government employees or government contractor employees see any evidence of what he is saying that they are spothing him on th -- supporting him on this? >> thank you. we've not seen anything such. our members are telling us to get the government open. they want the government open. >> you're on the ground. you're the president of the local right there in washington, d.c. tell us the effect on people. put a face on it. make this so people understand this is not just politics. we're not talking about pawns in a political chess game. these are real people with real families that are really now in

some desperate situations. >> well, it's not hard to explain to most people that we all expect a paycheck. when you've committed your life to federal service and you've committed your life to the mission of your agency, you expect to get paid for your work. agency, you expect to get paid for your work

we feel confident. we had the same type of issue to happen in 2013. we won those lawsuits and feel comfortable that we'll be doing the same thing this time. >> for those members of congress that are watching you, what would you say to them and what would your appeal be as the would your appeal be as th working under these uncertai >> i just have one plea and that is to mitch mcconnell. >> do your job so we can do ours nap is all he has to do. he doesn't have to be the president, he doesn't have to figure out what the president will do as he is moving forward, just do yourov job so we can do

yours. >>. >> mr. kelly, with all of the lawsuits and all, is there any way the unions and those supporting theun unions can bre this deadline and put these workers not only back to work because they're still working, but where they will get paid. what can be done externally or do we need the congress and the senate to just override this president. >> i think that we would have to have the congress and the senate to override the president. i think that is their job. they just need to do their job and themselves not be pawns for the president. i they mitch mcconnell needs to do his job and call for a vote. i believe if a vote was called for, the vote would turn out in favor of federal boemployees, tt is what we're asking for and what we need desperately. >> how do you feel about senator mcconnell who could call the vote has left town.

he is not only doing his job, but he is not even there. >> i feel absolutely no surprise. i don't think anyone does. if anyone -- if he cared about federal employees, if he actually cared about his subsequents, we would not be here right now. >>ly have to hold it there. thank you everett kelly. ett kel. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, month after month, the clock is ticking on irreversible joint damage. ongoing pain and stiffness are signs of joint erosion. humira can help stop the clock. prescribed for 15 years, humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems,

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as i said earlier, i spent thursday on the hill meeting with several newly elected congress people. congressman del gato, my friend and colleague that just recently. one of the more interesting meetings i had was with a congresswoman who, in all three meetings were serious policy meetings around voting rights and economic inequality. and how they come with a passion to really turn this country back forward where it needs to go and beyond. something i have fought for in all of our lives b.

>> i promised her when he comes to the action network, i saw she can dance, i'm going to teach her some things. >> you think we were dancing a little after a serious meeting? we will really dance when the government workers get paid when we can get some of these areas that are disproportionately in areas that have suffered from environmental and racist environmental policies, when we can deal with nick inequality, we're really going to dance. i believe some of those newly elected bring a new passion and a new drive this is not a generational fight, this is a fight on what america needs to be about. that does it for me, thanks for watching, i will see you back

here tomorrow night at 5:00 p.m. eastern for "new edition and a live edition of politics nation accounts. up next is nicole wallace. >> hi, everyone, it is 4:00 in washington. without enough support in washington, trump is corners. he gets desperate. the white house has started laying the ground work for national emergency. a fire storm that could pave the way for an end to the three week government shut down. democrats