we'll give you a automatic twenty dollar credit. my name is antonio and i'm a technician at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. that's going to wrap up this hour of "msnbc live." "andrea mitchell reports" starts right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," witness tampering? president trump keeping up the pressure on his former fixer michael cohen, who canceled his scheduled congressional testimony to protect his family, raising big legal and political questions. now the senate is subpoenaing cohen as well. will the house follow suit? >> i guarantee you, as sure as night becomes day and day becomes night, that we will hear from mr. cohen, period. >> coming up, michael cohen's adviser lanny davis joining me live right here, right ahead. and the real world. the president caving in to nancy

pelosi on the state of the union speech as cnbc asks the self-proclaimed billionaire commerce secretary about the plight of federal workers. >> mr. secretary, there are reports that there are some federal workers who are going to homeless shelters to get food. >> well, i know they are, and i don't really quite understand why. [ crying ] >> i'm going to lose something right now. and country in chaos. president trump recognizing venezuela's young opposition leader, warning that maduro regime against violence. will the u.s. be drawn into the conflict? >> reporter: are you considering a military option for venezuela? >> we're not considering anything but all options are on the table. >> reporter: does that mean you're considering -- >> all options, always, all options are on the table. >> coming up here we'll talk exclusively to senator marco

rubio, the driving force in america's venezuela policy, right here on "andrea mitchell reports." and good day, everyone, i'm andrea mitchell in washington. president trump is firing back at his former personal attorney and fixer michael cohen after cohen delayed his congressional testimony indefinitely, citing threats from the president which he says have put his family in danger. >> reporter: he says he's been threatened by you and mr. giuliani. >> no, i would say he's been threatened by the truth. he's only been threatened by the truth. and he doesn't want to do that probably for me and other clients, he has other clients, assume, he doesn't want to tell the truth for me and other clients. >> democrats calling the attacks, quote, textbook mob tactics. but they insist they want to hear from cohen.

the oversight committee chairman elijah cummings says, we will hear from mr. cohen, period. joining me now, michael cohen's legal adviser, lanny davis. good to see you, lanny. obviously mr. cohen, your client, under tremendous pressure here, he says that he is afraid to testify because of the president's threats, because of rudy giuliani and what he said on tv. first of all, will he appear before the senate? he has been subpoenaed by the intelligence committee, we've been told. >> well, he has to comply with subpoenas and we have to have some reasonable conversations. mr. cummings we greatly respect and are grateful for his invitation for mr. cohen to appear voluntarily. but the language used by mr. schiff and mr. cummings about classic mob tactics is the answer directly to president trump. it's not about the truth,

because you've hidden from the truth, you won't even discuss direct questions and answers with mr. mueller. it's about your attacking his father-in-law, mr. trump. mr. giuliani, you attack his father-in-law and allude to him being a criminal because he's from the ukraine. this is classic mob technique, to send a signal to the individual who mr. trump has called a rat for telling the truth. now, that word "rat" comes directly out of organized crime. it's also a signal to other inmates in a potential prison situation. but the family of michael cohen has been called out by donald trump. once again, he ducks or lies about what he knows he's done, which is to attack a father-in-law and a wife as a way of getting to mr. cohen. and that is called witness tampering, obstruction of justice. and the house of representatives and the senate need to move to protect mr. cohen by voting a resolution of censure that you can criticize mr. cohen but

don't attack a man's family and intimidate a witness before congress. and that's what needs to be done, andrea. a resolution of censure is appropriate to help mr. cohen feel some peace for his family. >> let me play just a clip of rudy giuliani on sunday with jake tapper. >> when somebody testifies against your client, you go out and you look at what's wrong with them. why are they do it if they're not telling the truth? he's doing it because he's afraid to testify against his father-in-law, because the repercussions for that will be far worse than the repercussions for lying here. if he testifies against some people that are possibly in organized crime, they ain't going to be applauding for him when he goes to a restaurant in brig brighton beach, brooklyn.

michael cohen is withholding it because to testify about that would be very dangerous for the father-in-law and michael cohen. >> is anyone from the cohen family, michael cohen or anyone else going to take legal action against rudy giuliani? >> it's certainly actionable, because he just lied. he's mentally unstable, you can see in his face much less in his words. he's a prosecutor who would prosecute who he just did, there isn't a single fact to link mr. cohen's father-in-law, who 45 years ago under persecution as a jew came from the ukraine and has not a single fact to suggest what mr. giuliani just said is true. so let me say once again, andrea, attacking a man's family, there's one thing that brings this country together, i think. you can go after mr. cohen if that's their design, because mr. cohen is an adversary witness. what does his father-in-law and his wife have to do with anything other than the crime of witness tampering, intimidation

and corrupt intent to try to deter mr. cohen from telling the truth? and i hope the senate and the house, they can vote a resolution of censure, and mr. giuliani can be indicted and certainly criminally investigated for doing what he just did, that is prima facie a crime. >> former prosecutors have been very clear with us, saying that what the president and giuliani have said is a text book case of witness tampering in plain sight. as you know, the law says whoever knowingly uses intimidation, threatens, or corruptly persuades another person, or attempts to do so, or engages in a misleading conduct, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for 20 years or

both. certainly tampering with testimony before the congress would qualify for that. your response? >> there's no question that a criminal investigation is justified by the words he just used, much less the scurrilous, defamatory slur against a man who has done nothing wrong, as cited by mr. giuliani. mr. cohen has not canceled appearing before mr. cummings. he says he's postponing for an appropriate time. >> what is an appropriate time? would it be after he goes into federal custody? >> i don't know. if the congress would act as an institution, republicans and democrats, and draw the line that witnesses that are coming to appear before congress, whether voluntary or under subpoena, are not allowed to be attacked, their families are never allowed to be attacked, and that mr. trump needs to be told, i hope on a bipartisan basis, that this is a line that the american people would say do

not cross, attacking family is not fair game. when congress acts and helps mr. cohen by at least taking action and sending that message to mr. trump, maybe things will calm down. but this was a decision that his family wanted mr. cohen to make and he respected the family's concerns that they expressed fears for their safety. >> is he afraid for himself? the president is not only the head of the justice department, he's in charge of the bureau of prisons. is he afraid for what's going to potentially happen to him once he goes to jail in march? >> first of all, when the top law enforcement person in the country, the president of the united states, it's amazing i'm about to say this, calls somebody who tells the truth a rat, and then praises people who are refusing to tell the truth, then you're sending a signal of lawlessness by the highest office in our country. so mr. cohen is concerned that when you're labeled a rat, and

you're in a federal prison, there could be some danger from other people. but more importantly, i know personally, i know his love for his family. i have seen this love for his wife, his children, his parents, his father-in-law and mother-in-law. they have expressed fears. and what i'm trying to convey, and nobody, nobody that i've heard can defend donald trump attacking the father-in-law and the wife and the family as having anything to do with his unhappiness with mr. cohen's decision to tell the truth. and even more so, the unhinged rudy giuliani who has committed a crime that if he were still u.s. attorney, he would be prosecuting. there's more than enough probable cause here, as you've heard from others. so i would say that mr. cohen is concerned for himself. but the decision to suspend or postpone testimony, not cancel, is a decision that he was more concerned about what his family told him about their fears than

himself. >> what about the conditions, because to be frankly, lanny, you know as well as i, a congress that cannot agree to even open the government on a short term basis is not going to agree on a measure of censure against the president of the united states in a bipartisan way, that isn't going to happen. so will michael cohen testify if subpoenaed under terms perhaps not in open session, witnesses testify all the time to all of these committees in private. will he honor a subpoena? >> well, of course he will honor the subpoena. but what he will do as a result of the subpoena is a legal issue that would come down to reasonable discussions. certainly with the senate intelligence committee, with the great leadership that is a bipartisan committee with senator burr and senator warner, and the house intelligence committee under the great leadership of adam schiff, who did speak out yesterday about a classic mob tactic in denouncing the president, so he'll just have to talk through, and i'll

try to be helpful about the reasonable conditions of complying with the subpoena. but remember one thing, andrea. i have to also slightly modify what you said. there is a majority in the house of representatives. they're all democrats. a resolution of censure could be voted tomorrow morning. what donald trump has done, clearly democrats should be censuring. i'm saying to republicans, and i do have a lot of republican friends, you would agree that going to attack family is not fair game. and having any republican speak out right now, the silence is deafening, that donald trump, your attacking a father-in-law and a wife is not fair game. trump voters in the country, some of whom may be watching, this is not what a president under any circumstances should do. and the crime that mr. -- i think that mr. giuliani has committed, there should be a criminal investigation and possibly an indictment, he should be fearful of an

independent prosecution in either the southern district of new york or other places, looking into what he has done as a crime. >> and are you or are any of the members of michael cohen's team coordinating with the federal prosecutors in the southern district or with of course mr. mueller to make sure that his public testimony not compromise their investigations? >> well, certainly a commitment to both the southern district of new york prosecutors and the special counsel's office that he will say nothing in public that would compromise or have anything to do with what's been the subject of their investigations. and he will also cooperate to the extent that there are ongoing investigations which we indicated in a statement we put out about postponing this testimony, this public testimony for a more appropriate time. >> lanny davis, thank you very much, thanks for being with us today. >> thank you. and coming up, the security

threat. all five former homeland security secretaries are urging the president to end the government shutdown including his former chief of staff john kelly. republican congressman will hurd joins me next on "andrea mitchell reports." ♪ ♪ memories. what we deliver by delivering. from capital one.nd i switched to the spark cash card i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. and last year, i earned $36,000 in cash back. which i used to offer health insurance to my employees. what's in your wallet?

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and if we are ever late, we'll give you a automatic twenty dollar credit. my name is antonio and i'm a technician at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. amidst new warnings about air safety, on day 34 of this shutdown, self-proclaimed

billionaire commerce secretary wilbur ross is suggesting that air traffic controllers and other federal workers take out lobes to bridge the gap until they get paid. those remarks are going viral. >> do you worry about safety? >> i do worry about safety. it's kind of disappointing that the air traffic controllers are calling in sick in pretty large numbers. depending on the -- >> many of them can't afford to support their families, though. >> well, remember this. they are eventually going to be paid. put it in perspective. you're talking about 800,000 workers. and while i feel sorry for the individuals that have hardship cases, 800,000 workers, if they never got their pay, which is not the case, they will eventually get it, but if they never got it, you're talking about a third of a percent on our gdp. so it's not like it's a gigantic number overall.

>> mr. secretary, but there are reports that there are some federal workers who are going to homeless shelters to get food. >> well, i know they are, and i don't really quite understand why, because as i mentioned before, the obligations that they would undertake, say, borrowing from a bank or a credit union, are in effect federally guaranteed. >> wilbur ross of course was not in davos because of the shutdown, but he was talking to our colleagues becky quick and aron sorkin on cnbc today in davos. joining us now, kasie hunt and kristen welker, and jonathan lemire, white house reporter for the associated press. welcome, all. kristen welker, i understand the president was tweeting and didn't sound as though he was aware of what wilbur ross had said.

>> there hasn't been any official reaction yet, andrea. but i can tell you that those comments, while they are giving democrats fodder, that's for sure, and i know kasie is going to delve into that, this fits into sort of the broader argument that we have heard from this administration. the president has argued on twitter and in his discussion with reporters yesterday that yes, there is immediate pain right now, but that ultimately this is for what he deems to be a larger good for the country, which is securing the border. we heard that echoed by lara trump as well, andrea, she made her own controversial comments about this. in terms of what's actually being done to reopen the government, the president doesn't have any events on his schedule. we know that there are discussions going back and forth between the white house and capitol hill. but again, there still doesn't seem to be a clear end in sight. but some of those comments that are giving democrats fodder are part of what is fueling some of

the president's difficult poll numbers right now. the fact that a majority of americans hold him responsible for this government shutdown. the white house insisting they're immune to those types of poll numbers, but there's no doubt, andrea, this is becoming increasingly politically difficult for this president, who took the rare step of giving in to nancy pelosi, who said he could not speak on the house floor next week for the state of the union address. the president saying that he will wait until the government is back open, caving to her, effectively, andrea. >> kasie hunt, there's been some reaction from joe manchin, from nancy pelosi. i wanted to play a little bit of that and ask you about it on the other side. >> i guess anybody that talked to the food chain is totally tone deaf, if that's where they are. they're out of touch with reality. i've been all over west virginia. people are hurting. >> i don't know if this is a let them eat cake attitude, or call your father for money.

this is character building for you, it will all end up very well as long as you don't get your paychecks. >> kasie, you want to put this all in context? >> andrea, i mean, kristen is right in that this is giving democrats plenty of fodder. but i think that it's also recognized across the board by republicans and democrats, when you talk to them privately here on capitol hill, we happened to show two democrats saying this out in public, but there is very real pain across the country. and that is something that's being picked up by members of congress. it's a common misperception that most federal workers are based here in the washington area. there are of course quite a few concentrated in the metro area, but the reality is 80% of them are across the country. and members of congress are hearing that, from their constituents. and, you know, there's been some reporting, "the washington post" did a story out of macomb

county, the home of the original reagan democrats, as i'm sure you remember, it's an area that swung from obama to president trump, and they found this may be the first area where a lot of these trump supporters are looking around, seeing their friends and neighbors having to avail themselves of those services that wilbur ross seemed to dismiss, and they're saying, you know what, maybe we needed a little more of the status quo because this simply isn't working for us. and i do think, andrea, you are starting to sense a shifting ground here on capitol hill that points toward a more likely resolution of the shutdown. it's very unclear as yet what that actually looks like. but i will say that there have been some early signs that this is getting worse and worse and that that pressure has been building. >> and jonathan lemire, what about the standoff between nancy pelosi and the president on the state of the union and the fact that he basically caved in to her last night, saying he's going to delay the speech until after the government reopens? >> it was the president giving credence to political reality and frankly the rules of the

capitol. but still a remarkable moment that he blinked. president trump has built his own political identity about being a fighter, a counterpuncher, about not backing down, and he did so here. the white house had been having discussions about seeking an alternate venue for the state of the union. of course their preference was to do it in the house chamber. they considered the senate, they considered perhaps a white house address, although we know the president was very unhappy with how the oval office speech looked a few weeks ago, he thought he appeared lifeless and flat. there have been discussions about having an event out in the country with, quote, real people, but there were fears that would just look like a standard trump rally. the hope was to have it in the house. but nancy pelosi held firm and she called the president's bluff and he did back down in that late night tweet last night, which was sort of remarkable, saying he would wait to deliver the state of the union until the government is reopened. there's no question the pressure is building here. these remarks from trump officials don't help.

certainly it's an administration that from the top down has struggled with empathy. president trump himself, whether it's hurricane victims, or earlier this month saying the federal workers would have to, quote, make adjustments because of these zeroed paychecks that they're now receiving. he has struggled to connect with those workers. and in some ways people around the white house have tipped their cap to speaker pelosi saying in some ways this was a political master stroke by her, denying him the state of the union, because that is a political pain he feels, depriving him of that big stage. >> thanks to all of you very much. our colleague, you've been tied up here, kasie, kelly o'donnell is reporting mike pence is heading your way, coming to the republican lunch, trying to shore up votes, no doubt, before the key senate votes this afternoon. so you'll be seeing the vice president coming your way shortly. >> he does come to all these lunches, andrea, and my question is, he lost a lot of credibility because he came into one of them and said the president --

there's some agreement between the vice president's camp and the republican senators here on the hill about exactly what message he communicated, but mitch mcconnell understood that he said the president said he would sign the resolution and not have a shutdown and here we are 35 plus days later. >> it will be interesting to hear about what he tells them today about what the president is willing to accept. thanks so much to all physical you. former chief of staff john kelly now publicly breaking with trump in this ongoing shutdown crisis, joining all the former homeland security secretaries, all, republicans and democrats, calling for an end to the shutdown and full funding for homeland security, highlighting concerns over potential threats to the nation and losing critical staff to the private sector. texas republican congressman and former cia officer will hurd's district includes long stretches of the southern border and he joins me now. congressman, thank you very much for being with us. what's your first reaction to this letter from secretary kelly

and others, all concerned about the effect on homeland? we've heard from the faa people, we'll talk about that in a moment. what about the homeland concerns about this continuing shutdown? and you've got workers either not being paid or are concerned about their next paycheck. >> we've got to take this letter seriously. these are folks that have led this, done this, don't have to worry about preliminary rolitic ramifications, and they say it's a threat to national security. it's still more likely for a terrorist to get a fake passport from europe, fly into one of our airports and do an attack in our country. that's why we need a strong tsa. let's talk about cyber defense. when we're at 100% strength, we still don't have enough cyber defenders to protect our

information infrastructure. by the average, the large american company gets 54 million attacks a day, that's one company. then you have the border patrol, men and women in hard places, doing hard work, they aren't getting paid for their work. you've heard me talk many times about how we need to talk about technology. if we get operational control, meaning we know everything that goes back and forth across the border at any time, we need technology. we do have innovative technology but guess what, the contracts can't be finalized because the government is shutdown. all the tools in our toolkit that we need to protect ourselves are tied up in this shutdown debate. >> the democratic proposal, the counteroffer, is apparently $5 billion for border security, high tech improvements, everything but a physical wall. should republicans, not just you about other republicans, go along with this because it improves our border security

more immediately than the wall will? >> it's important to see the details. all we've seen is a high level talking point. we'll see what comes up tomorrow. ultimately i think we can complete the secure fence act that was passed in 2006. it was amounted in 2008 when speaker pelosi was speaker for the first time. all the senior leaders in the democratic party had voted yes for this. we can complete the secure fence act, do some replacement, do some secondary barrier, have a lot of technology to double down on our ports of entry, have a permanent daca fix and tps and then address root causes in central america through state department, usaid. that's what ultimately a final solution is probably going to look at. those are the planks. and so the fact that the president, you know, proposed some of these planks this weekend, that we're seeing a response from the speaker tomorrow, i think this is a good sign that we're moving forward because ultimately 800,000 people being impacted is crazy. in my hometown of san antonio,

2,500 federal employees had to go to the food bank last week in order to get groceries. jose andres, the famous chef, has the world central kitchen that is providing tens of thousands of people with food. not just in washington, d.c. but they're opening up in other parts of the country. so you're seeing an impact, you're seeing an impact there. so this is something, we shouldn't be thinking about what's a republican solution, what's a democratic solution. we should be talking about what's an american solution for us to actually secure our border, get our employees back to work. we're the greatest country on the planet. we shouldn't have federal employees having to go to soup kech kitchens. >> wilbur ross said today on cnbc that he couldn't understand why people are going to food kitchens because they can get bank loans to tie them over. >> so opm just announced that federal employees that are furloughed or not working have to pay for the government part of vision and dental.

so not only are federal employees not getting a paycheck, their expenses are increasing because of this. now, if you get a loan, you're going to have to pay interest. that's additional money that they haven't included into their weekly expenses. about 70% of americans, plus or minus a few, have less than $400 in their savings account. this is a lot of uncertainty. we're introducing crisis, a crisis into 800,000 homes which we shouldn't be doing. >> will hurd, congressman, thank you very much, thanks for being with us today. >> always a pleasure to be on with you. and meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of venezuelans are taking to the streets demanding freedom as police are using rubber bullets and tear gas to drive crowds back. president trump took the unusual step of immediately recognizing

the democratically elected senate president, juan guaido, as the legislate leader. secretary of state mike pompeo today says nicolas maduro has no legal right to order american diplomats out. >> the regime of former president nicolas maduro is illegitimate. his regime is morally bankrupt. it's economically incompetent and it is profoundly corrupt. it is un-democratic to the core. i repeat, the regime of former president nicolas maduro is illegitimate. we therefore consider all its declarations and actions illegitimate and invalid. >> joining me now, republican senator marco rubio who serves on the foreign relations and intelligence committees and has been a key player behind the

scenes on this whole policy towards maduro and venezuela. thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. >> tell me this, senator, the president says all options are on the table and maduro is threatening counteractions, and russia supporting maduro and threatening actions. what are the risks that the u.s. is going to get involved in something militarily here? >> that never has been the goal of everyone. everyone wants a peaceful transition here. the president is right, all options are on the table because the united states retains the option of protecting its national security. but i think it's important to cover this and view this in the right lens, okay? for a long time, since i've been here, people have been saying we've abandoned the western hemisphere, not enough attention is being paid to it. this is the biggest issue in the western hemisphere. here you have an international multilateral coalition, it's not just the president. 11 latin american countries and the oas have all said the exact

same thing this administration has, along with france and albania and kosovo and a growing number of countries that will join today that are basically saying, follow the constitution, the constitution that by the way was put in when chavez was president. that constitution did not recognize the election that took place in may. it was a fake election. therefore there is a vacancy in the presidency. under that constitution, when mr. is a vacancy in the presidency, the president of the national assembly, just like here in the u.s., the third in line of succession is the speaker of the house, the president of the national assembly assumes the presidency as an interim president and has 45 days to call new, valid elections. that's what's happening here. we're supporting that along with all these other countries because we're either for democracy or we're not. and power -- we argue that power only belongs to those who have the arms and the weapons and the army to kill people, well, that's authoritarianism. we believe in democracy. we'll either support it or we don't. i understand people argue we

haven't consistently done it around the world, but we're doing it in the western hemisphere, it's close to home and it impacts us directly. >> what are you hearing from venezuela as to where the military is going to land? are they going to keep supporting maduro or is there a chance they would move over to this young opposition leader? >> so i would encourage people to view this in the following way. the generals, the stars and bars at the press conferences with the fancy uniforms, all those guys are getting corrupt deals from oil, from currency manipulation, from selling gold overseas. they all have -- so their loyalty is not to maduro, it's to a regime that guarantees them security and money. if they find someone else that could do it, they would support them. that's different from the military. the chain of command there is not like our chain of command. they know if they order troops into the street to start killing venezuelans, a significant percentage, if not a majority, of the soldiers are not going to do it. the average rank and file soldier, they have high

desertion rates. you saw the crowds yesterday, many of the soldiers have loved ones in those crowds. they go home to wives, mothers, fathers, siblings, who during the day are protesting. they're not getting special benefits. they're in the military because it gives them a job and protects them at some level but the chain of command is deeply compromised. they're the people, the mid-level officers, that we should be focused on. they're sworn to uphold the constitution of venezuela and under that constitution, the interim president is the president of the national assembly. >> should we consider a naval blockade to stop oil exports? >> i want everybody to think about it differently. there's more than two options here, status quo or cutting everything off. primarily valero and chevron import heavy crude and sell it into the marketplace. it's a refining business they're

in. we pay them for that crude. does that oil belong to maduro or to venezuela and the venezuelan people? what i would encourage, for the sake of the jobs it creates in the u.s. and for the people of venezuela, i would encourage working with president guaido to ensure that those payments, for those imports we're refining for them, are payments that end up in the hands of the venezuelan people to help rebui builbuild venezuela, not to enrich the regime. treasury is looking at this, the national security council has done a lot of work on this under john bolton. there are a lot of intelligent people working on all the different options. >> in other words, to escrow the profits from oil refinery proceeds, and make sure it gets to the legitimate leaders rather than into maduro's pockets. >> let me give one example, venezuela will need about $50

billion to rebuild its electric grid, that's how badly degraded it is. it will need massive capital investment because its production of crude oil has dramatically declined. people have quit, their equipment hasn't been kept up. you have a bunch of generals who know nothing about the industry running these companies and basically stealing any money that's there. there's a lot of work to be done. our most immediate priority today is to ensure that working with the lima group and the oas, the majority of the country, the oas, that we can put together a way to deliver humanitarian aid through president guaido to the people of venezuela. after that it's helping him put together a package to rebuild the country with international support, not just the u.s., and of course the calling of the elections. it's important to point out, guaido has said clearly, he's the interim president. his job is to bring stability and call new elections so the people can decide who they want their next president to be. >> what about the safety of our embassy employees and staff, how secure are they, given these threats from maduro? >> we expect them to be treated

like any diplomats are. their job -- that is to be respected. their job is to have relationships with the government of venezuela, the constitutional government of venezuela as recognized by over 15 countries around the world and the oas, is the guaido government. obviously we're going to intact with them. two things. number one, we're always going to be constantly watching to make sure that none of our people are brought in in a dangerous situation. we pulled people out of havana because we didn't know how to protect them from mysterious attacks that left them injured. it's not for me to make announcements, these are decisions made by the president, but if any harm should come to these diplomats from the united states, i want everybody to know that the consequences that this administration will impose will be swift and decisive. i know this for a certainty. i think that message needs to be clear for good or for -- a lot of people don't like them. i work with them well on a lot of issues, i disagree with them

on some. this president does things other presidents didn't do and wouldn't do and we've seen some of that decisiveness here for good, in the case of venezuela. i also think they deserve credit because the u.s. is not doing some unilateral action. we're working through multilateral organizations, the oas has been reinvigorated. the reason the coalition of nations has stuck together is because the trump administration has not gone further than this coalition and haven't fractured it as a result. >> how can you be sure that our embassy staff is secure? can we evacuate them if necessary? >> well, there's no doubt that we have the capability to do so in the united states and we have strong allies in brazil and colombia and others. i'm not going to get into tactical details, that's not what i do, that wouldn't be for me to decide. i'm saying we expect them to be respected. we expect for them to be safe. and if the maduro regime, which is not the government, they're now an armed gang that possesses weapons and the ability to harm the population. if they're responsible for any harm that comes to these people,

we'll do what we need to do to protect our personnel, to protect them and bring them to safety. but we'll also impose grave consequences on the people responsible for that harm. that should be left very clearly understood. that's not some idle threat. i'm telling you, i can't go any further than that but i'm telling you the consequences will be significant. >> senator marco rubio, thanks for being with us today. >> thank you. we'll be right back. we'. but when it comes to colon cancer screening... i'm not doin' that. i eat plenty of kale. ahem, as i was saying... ...with cologuard, you don't need an excuse... all that prep? no thanks. that drink tastes horrible! but...there's no prep with cologuard... i can't take the time off work. who has two days? and i feel fine - no symptoms! everybody, listen! all you need is a trip to the bathroom. if you're 50 or older and at average risk, cologuard is the noninvasive option that finds 92% of colon cancers.

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i hope the senate and the house, they can vote a resolution of censure, and mr. guiliani can be indicted and certainly criminally investigated for doing what he just did, that is prima facie a crime to threaten a witness before congress. >> michael cohen's legal adviser lanny davis just moments ago here, raising the stakes. joining me now is democratic congressman eric swalwell, member of the house intelligence and judiciary committees. thank you for being here on a busy day. is there any chance that the house will censure rudy giuliani? >> not at this time. my position, and i think my colleagues share this, is the president has clearly i think obstructed, intimidated witnesses. he's actually even tried to influence a jury deliberation with paul manafort. we should collect the evidence and conduct our investigations and see where we need to go. i don't think we should do

one-off after one-off. we should look at all this in the context of what's going on here, and that is he is doing this because he doesn't want the truth to come out. you only do this because you don't want the truth to come out. if you don't have anything to hide, you don't conduct yourself the way the president's been acting. >> do you think that lanny davis has a legislate cause of fear of what might happen to himself in prison, his family, his father-in-law, others related to him? >> yes, this is a fear, andrea, i've worked with for years as a prosecutor. so the subjects may be different, we may be talking about the president of the united states, but this is how gangs conduct themselves. this is how ms-13, the president's adversary, conducts themselves. what they do is try and intimidate people who have left the gang by threatening their family, by telling them if they cooperate, harm will come to them. first we have to do what we can to protect the witness. we have to do what we can to make sure the witness protects themselves. but we also have to make sure the witness knows the best thing they can do is to come forward, tell the truth, and not allow this type of tactic to be used, because there will be other

witnesses who have this pressure applied to them. >> is this a case where he should appear in public or do you think that before the house committee and before the senate intelligence committee, that he should have private testimony? >> i think as it relates to russia and an ongoing investigation, we in the intelligence committee may seek private testimony. i think his story has to be told, though, before congress, before the american people, in a john dean like way. >> you mean in public. >> yes. >> you mean that lanny davis should appear in public no matter what these threats -- excuse me, i'm sorry, michael cohen. >> i think that day will have to happen. but i think right now, though, if there are issues with the mueller investigation and not wanting to compromise sources and threads that they're following, the house intelligence committee is able to meet with mr. cohen the same way that we met with him last time, which is below ground, you know, and ultimately that would hopefully be released. >> should he appear in public before senate intelligence, before he honors this

commitment, this prior commitment to the house oversight? i mean, how should lanny davis and how should congress work this out? >> i'll say this, andrea, he should appear before congress. i'm not going to get in the way of what chairman cummings is doing and chairman schiff is doing and chairman burr are doing. but we should not let the president of the united states intimidate and prevent a witness from coming forward, just as he is trying to get his way by forcing a wall to create a shutdown, we have to not let that happen, because if he does get his way, he'll just shut down the government to get his way again. if he is allowed to keep michael cohen from testifying, other witnesses will think twice as well. it's very important that we hold firm and secure that testimony and protect mr. cohen. >> thanks very much, congressman eric swalwell, thank you for being here. >> my pleasure. coming up, weathering the storm. coast guard workers relying on food pantries to try to make ends meet during the shutdown. we'll talk to a retired rear

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shutdown. 50,000 coast guard employees, among those federal workers who will miss their second paycheck tomorrow and now rely on food pantries and other emergency resources. joining me is retired reared an initial carey thomas, the ceo of coast guard mutual assistance. first, people should understand, this is the only military branch which is not covered under the shutdown. everybody else was except but the coast guard because it's under homeland, not dod. they have not been paid. >> that's right, they're not going to be paid until this is resolved. >> that's right. >> tell me some of the places where these officers are serving. >> they're a signed in southwest asia. they're assigned in the pacific patrolling the south china sea. they're all over the world. fighting drug smugglers in the caribbean eastern pacific. those men and women are standing the watch. they're wearing the uniform of

the country. and they're worried about their families at home. >> the commerce secretary with our colleagues on cnbc today. this is what he had to say about questions about why coast guard families should be worried about feeding their families. >> mr. secretary, there are reports there are some federal workers going to homeless shelters to get food. >> i know they are. i don't really quite understand why. >> that was our colleague andrew ross sorkin. what do you do and what do you say to the leaders, democratic and republican, about getting this thing resolved? >> this is the most difficult situation. our coast guard families, civilian and military members, they're not being paid. they're having to rely on food shelters. having to rely on diaper banks, dog food banks. there's this great coalition that's going on to help coast

guard relief. you have in kind work that's being done and you have financial work that's being done. and so that's the charity that i represent, is the financial piece of it, and we're doing all we can do to try and help the men and women of the coast guard. >> the president keeps talking about a wall. but so much of our border security, drug interdiction is at sea. and these are the very people being hurt. >> border security is a multifaceted approach. it does require international effort. and the coast guard is an integral part of that. >> what -- are you hearing what kinds of personal dilemmas are you hearing from constituents? >> people happen to call their families, their neighbors, for help. we got a call from a ship yesterday. they do very difficult labor intensive work. very physically demanding. they were needing money to help replace their uniforms. i think the last time the military didn't have enough money for uniforms was the civil

war. >> extraordinary. carey thomas, admiral, thank you so much. thanks to all the men and women at sea and at home working on our behalf. we value their service and their valor. >> we're so grateful to be here. if anybody wants to help, coast guard mutual assistant. >> we will put it up on social media. thank you again. rear admiral carey thomas. we'll be right back. k. k. ♪ there goes our first big order. ♪ 44, 45, 46... how many of these did they order? ooh, that's hot. ♪ you know, we could sell these. nah. ♪ we don't bake. ♪ opportunity. what we deliver by delivering. from capital one.nd i switched to the spark cash card i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. and last year, i earned $36,000 in cash back.

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thank for being with us. remember to follow the show online, on twitter. @mitchellreports. chris jansing is in new york. chris. >> andrea mitchell, breaking a lot of news today. i'm chris jansing. ali velshi and stephanie ruhle are on assignment. it's thursday, january 24th. let's get smarter. >> michael cohen is now subpoenaed by the committee to testify. >> your client under tremendous pressure here. he says that he is afraid to testify because of the president's threats. because of rudy giuliani and what he said on tv. first of all, will he appear before the senate? >> he has to comply with subpoenas and we have to have some reasonable conversations. mr. giuliani can be indicted and criminally investigated for doing what he just did, that is prima