and that will wrap up this hour of "msnbc live." i'll see you tomorrow morning on "today." "andrea mitchell reports" starts right now. and right now on "andrea mitchell reports," true lies. a new poll shows more people believe a man indicted for lying to congress than believe the president of the united states, as michael cohen makes a return appearance to capitol hill today. rocket man. new images first obtained by nbc news show north korea is rebuilding a long range rocket site just 48 hours after the failed trump/kim summit. >> this is not just random maintenance activity. this is clearly activity that is designed to send a message. and the most dangerous place to be a child. nbc news travels to a country where cameras have not been allowed in years for a firsthand look at the 1.5 million children fighting for their very survival. >> this is the most dangerous

place in the world for children, harder than syria. it's dangerous because the violence prevents supplies from getting through. and good day, everyone, i'm andrea mitchell in washington where we are on michael cohen watch again. president trump's convicted former fixer says he will be speaking with reporters after a fourth appearance on the hill, behind closed doors today with the house intelligence committee. leads from cohen's previous appearances have already contributed to 81 document requests from house democrats, setting off a confrontation with the white house. joining me now, kasie hunt, paul charlton, and matt miller, former spokesman for attorney general eric holder. kasie, first to you, because this is clearly setting up to be quite a confrontation. you've got three major committee chairs now sending 81 documents plus, even more going to the

state department and other -- you know, the translators from the helsinki summit. we're talking about a massive search now for evidence, potential evidence, and the white house general counsel saying, thank you but no. so what are the possible legal consequences, subpoenas next, then a fight through the courts? >> andrea, that's exactly what democrats have been carefully trying to think through as they've undertaken this oversight mission. what they've wanted to avoid all the way along with going too far, too fast in a way that puts them potentially in a bad position with the courts. so that's why you've seen them be very careful. the leadership, anyway, in talking about the "i" word, impeachment. they've tried to avoid it basically at all costs. they've been pretty methodical at the ways and means committee which is trying to look at the president's tax returns, holding a hearing to examine the legal basis for it and trying to

establish reasons why they would need to see his tax returns as opposed to just demanding them. and they actually are hoping they can rely on some precedents set in the courts during the obama administration for releases of documents, because obviously this was a battle then, republicans had demanded many documents, the obama administration had resisted, but ultimately and in some cases even after president obama had left office, they were forced to turn over those documents to the congress. so that's been a very critical part of the calculations for the democrats. now, you have also seen what feels like overwhelming requests. these 81 entities just on house judiciary alone. that, according to the reporting from our mike memoli at nbc, is a list that was narrowed down from 150 or more entities, so again, trying to exercise some restraint. of course it still comes across as something that is overwhe

overwhelming. again, i do think they have been walking this very careful line to try to make sure they don't lose the support of the american people, because they of course remember what happened with bill clinton, he ended up leaving office, more popular than, you know, he was before. and that's partly because a lot of people came to his defense because they thought the process was unfair. so that's weighing on democrats' minds throughout the whole process. >> today you have rasheeida tla and others on the hill pushing for faster impeachment which nonprofits and other leaders are trying to avoid. >> that is what they're trying to avoid, and you're right, andrea, rashida tlaib holding a protest with activists. and you see it bubbling up on other issues as well, the emerging division between the progressive members of the caucus, some of these new freshmen members and the leadership. there was a very angry meeting

this morning over these comments by ilhan omar that a lot of leaders in the party have said were anti-semitic but there are younger progressives who are standing up in her defense who are saying, let's condemn islamophobia as well. it's a more significant break than we've seen in the initial round. we thought this might happen but pelosi had consolidated power, she had stood up to the president and was getting a lot of kudos from alexandria ocasio-cortez as well as tlaib and ilhan omar, appearing on the cover of "rolling stone" with omar. there is that risk that if they really break into the open on impeachment, it could be a real problem. >> and republicans of course weighing in, they're only too happy to create or exacerbate the divisions among the democrats, especially the

freshmen versus the senior leadership members. matt miller, what about the legal issues here, the precedents pretty clear, but if it gets to the courts this would certainly delay their investigations if you have to have adjudication over every subpoena. >> the long and short of it is there is precedent that establishes the relationship between congress and the executive branch. what usually happens is a period of negotiation, if that doesn't work out eventually the courts will decide. i think most of the documents the democrats want to get, at least those from -- certainly those from people on the outside, they'll be able to get without much problem at all, without much question in the courts. with respect to the executive branch, eventually the courts weigh in. usually what the past shows is congress gets what it wants. the white house may be able to delay turning over documents but ultimately they can't prevent turning them over. about this question of overreach that the republicans and the white house are now charging the democrats with, you know, it's not the democrats' fault that

this administration really by any measure is the most openly corrupt administration of any in modern history. let's remember, before the democrats took control of the house and senate, the president, his campaign, his personal business, his charity, his inaugural committee, were all under criminal investigation. the reason why democrats are having to get off to such a fast and aggressive start is because while those investigations were going on in a criminal context, the house of representatives and the senate for two years did nothing. so democrats are having to get a fast start out of the gate. that's only because for two years there was no oversight at all and they're having to play catch-up a little bit. >> and to paul, what about some of the more sensitive issues such as looking for the particular notes on the helsinki summit between vladimir putin and the president, of course, the translator. might they be getting into areas of national security that they don't have a right to or does the intelligence committee have legislate oversight over this?

>> a couple of thoughts, andrea. number one, remember, this is a constitutional mandate. so the house is now doing what it is the constitution calls upon them to do, and that is oversight of the executive. and as for its sensitive and confidential information, perhaps even governmental secret information, there are vehicles in which the house can receive that information. that's why we have a house intelligence subcommittee. that's why someone like adam schiff, a former federal prosecutor, who as you know, andrea, has hired a former prosecutor from the southern district of new york who will be able to look through that sensitive information, determine what if any of it is relevant for the american public and how it is, if it's important enough, it should be revealed to the american public. >> i also want to ask about michael cohen and this whole issue of the pardon. matt miller, there is a lot of reporting as to what happened, apparently michael cohen did at one point talk to the president about a pardon, was a pardon being dangled, was it cohen's initiative? how do we sort this out? >> i think that's obviously one

of the questions he's going to have to answer today. look, there are a couple of things related to obstruction of justice that this committee is clearly very interested in getting to the bottom of. one, there was a conversation between michael cohen and the president sometime after his house and his office were raided. he revealed that in his open testimony last week. number two, there were conversations between michael cohen's attorney and rudy giuliani about a pardon. we don't know who initiated that conversation. we don't know how rudy giuliani responded, whether he completely ruled it out as he said or whether he in some sense kind of left it dangling out there. number three, there's the question of who in the white house and on the president's outside legal team reviewed michael cohen's false testimony to the intelligence committees and what changes they might have suggested or what they knew was wrong but they let him testify to anyway. i think we know the broad thrust of those discussions. but the details are critically important. i think that's what the intelligence committee has to get to in the same way that the justice department has to get to the bottom of it.

i'm sure based on what cohen has said about ongoing investigations, they're very much trying to do that. >> kasie hunt, paul charlton, matt miller, thank you very much. california congressman ro khanna joins me now, congressman, great to see you. what more needs for learned and what followups do you have on insurance on some of the other financial issues on weisselberg and some of the members of the trump organization from your hearing last week? >> cohen's testimony was pretty explosive. he showed two documents that the president was paying him while he was president in an illegal scheme. just today, as you know, andrea, they've offered six more checks. this was a systematic scheme for almost a year where the president is taking meetings with heads of state or senators and then at the same time worrying about how they would illegally pay off michael cohen. i think we need more testimony from weisselberg, from donald trump jr., from eric trump, to

really understand the type of financial fraud that was there. today i think cohen will focus probably on the moscow project, what the president told cohen about that and whether he told him to lie about it. and a lot of unanswered questions about what the president knew about the wikileaks and how much knowledge he had of that illegal activity. >> and how concerned are you about the information i believe since your hearing about security clearances, from the reporting that there were -- the president overruling his own security advisers regarding at least jared kushner? >> i'm very concerned. look, i know jared kushner. we've worked together on modernizing federal websites. this isn't a partisan issue. i have no problem with kushner at the white house office of innovation. but to give him a security clearance and give him access to sensitive information and then there are reports he's talking

to mbs in saudi arabia, that should be deeply concerning to the american public. that is not standard protocol. the president is overturning the judgment of very senior people who understand national security. we need to know why that happened and we need to make sure it's not going to continue to happen, that sensitive information is leaking to foreign leaders. >> i want to ask you about what's going on in the democratic caucus. it sounds like they're having a great deal of difficulty working on this democratic resolution, what to include, whether it should mention omar, whether it should mention, you know, anti-islamist rhetoric as well, other racist problems that have been against different groups including omar. what about her comments? i believe you spoke to the congresswoman. can you clarify what's going on right now within the caucus? >> andrea, i'm not going to be -- i'm going to candid, it is a debate. there are different perspectives.

my perspective is that her remarks were inappropriate but she's apologized and we should move on. any statement should condemn not only anti-semitism but all kinds of hate. that will be the emerging consensus and hopefully we can get there by tomorrow. >> do you think you can get there by tomorrow? because the speaker said she was hopeful it could happen this week. it's not clear whether -- what the timing is. do you think it will be this week? >> i think she's hopeful. there are growing pains when you have the kind of diversity in the caucus. out of candor we should acknowledge there are different perspectives and large debates. that said, here is my hope. andy levin, a new member of congress, and rashida tlaib, also a new member of congress, talked about the peace plan for the middle east. the one advantage of having all this incredible diversity and debate is it may lead to a more nuanced and thoughtful foreign

policy. it now reflects the country's demographics much better. i'm hopeful we'll get past these debates and be more constructive. >> will you oppose any republican efforts, kevin mccarthy and others talking about trying to force omar off the foreign affairs committee? >> absolutely. she's a freshman member of congress, young in her career. yes, she misspoke. yes, that was wrong. yes, she should apologize. but the piling on is just totally uncalled-for, especially when you look at the history of comments from many republicans and many other members who have misspoken and they didn't face those consequences. so let's have a sense of proportion. you know, i'm sure many people in their freshman term have said things they regret. she has apologized, she's accepted responsibility. it's now time to move on. >> speaking of rashida tlaib, you were just speaking about her. what about this impeachment push from some of these freshmen members?

>> you know, i think nancy pelosi has the right judgment, which is first we have to build the evidence. the american public doesn't know all the evidence yet. as you know, andrea, mueller's investigation has been in private. the southern district of new york has been confidential. first we have to make the case on the evidence and hopefully we'll get some republicans on board. when the tide turned against nixon, it was when the tapes were released and even republicans started coming on board. i think what pelosi and nadler want to do is make a systematic case. >> ro khanna, congressman, thank you so much, always good to see you. >> thanks, andrea, great to be on. coming up, fallout. new evidence that north korea is rebuilding its nuclear sites after the collapse of the trump/kim summit in hanoi. stay with us on msnbc. msnbc.lif. boom! i fell 22 feet, completely shattered my pelvis, in the middle of the woods. i called my wife, she thought i was jokin'. i said, "man, i'm not... i'm not." i was so lucky that day... saved my life.

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there is new evidence today that north korea is rapidly rebuilding a key missile site possibly in preparation for a test. experts say these commercial satellite images first obtained by nbc news show that north korea is rebuilding the site for long range missile, a three-stage missile banned by the u.n., a missile that could reach the west coast of the u.s., going as far as denver or chicago. the images were taken only to days after the summit between president trump and north korea leader kim jong-un fell apart. >> chairman kim promised me last

night, regardless he's not going to do testing of rockets and nuclear, not going to do testing. so, you know, i trust him, and, uh, i take him at his word. i hope that's true. >> is that trust deserved? joining me is nbc news national and military reporter courtney kube, part of the nbc team that broke the story, and victor cha, director of asian affairs in president george w. bush's national security council, who did this work on the report on this symmetry with his group. victor, when you first saw this image, having tracked this dormant site, that had been dormant since august, two days after the summit this imagery, very clear imagery, what are you seeing here that alarms you? >> so the first thing, andrea, to emphasize the first point, you pull down images every day, every time you get a clear shot, to see what's going on. there was really nothing happening at this place since august. after kim promised trump after

singapore that he wasn't going to do anything there. and then so it's really striking that only a couple of days after the summit, we see this activity, opening environmental shelters, doing maintenance on the railway transport structure, doing work on the rocket test stand. these are very clearly not simply maintenance activities. they're either meant as part of a process to actually start stacking a missile, but we don't know that yet, or it could be just to send a message to trump. >> now, when you talk about opening the environmental shelter, you're talking about revealing the launch pad. >> yeah, it's revealing the launch pad. again, it's not activity that you would undertake under a normal maintenance basis. we've seen some trucks move around there before. we've seen some construction equipment. but there was a flurry of activity that took place when we got these shots that really made everybody stand up and look. >> you've reported in the past about -- which we as well reported, based on your research and a lot of other imagery, that

there were 20 other sites, undeclared sites. so kim jong-un has been cheating since singapore, he's still expanding, he's still making nuclear fuel , which he had promised not to do. he's also not given notice to the u.s. as he said he would in singapore. >> right, to the u.s. or the u.n. the u.n. banned north korea from possessing ballistic missiles or ballistic missile bases. yes, we've been researching these 20 other bases that they have that don't appear to be part of any of the negotiations. the negotiations seems to be focused on richer facilities. there's a lot that needs to be part of a definition of denuclearization. >> and courtney kube, john bolton has said now that if kim jong-un does not begin to

denuclearize as promised, they would even consider increasing the sanctions, not lifting the sanctions as the president had been indicating. >> yeah, that's right, we heard from him last night about that. he talked about these crippling sanctions the u.s. has already levied on north korea and said if north korea doesn't start to go forward with this vague agreement that they made in singapore last summer, that there would be potentially even more sanctions that the u.s. could levy on north korea. when we first reached out, as you know, last night, when victor and his group first came to us with their amazing work, their amazing research being done by beyond parallel, we went to the white house and asked them about this and said what is your response to this. sarah sanders, the white house press secretary, declined to comment on it, talking about it being an intelligence matter, saying she doesn't comment on intelligence. then today, when she was asked about it by our kristen welker in the white house driveway, she said they're continuing to talk. the diplomatic lane still seems

to be open here. victor, who is sitting there, and his group are doing tremendous work, exposing all the things north korea continues to do despite this declaration made in singapore last summer to try to denuclearize the korean peninsula. >> and of course this tracks completely with what the intelligence committee testified to, that kim jong-un is not prepared to give up his weapons, which he believes is the key to the success and survival of his regime, which of course the president then disagreed with, saying the intelligence chiefs should go back to school. victor, what are you looking for now? what's next on this horizon? >> we want to see if there's more activity taking place, what they're doing with the construction planes, with these doors, if there's more movement. obviously if they're starting to stack a missile, that would be alarming. but we don't see anything like that yet. >> what are you looking at elsewhere in north korea? what kind of detective work are you doing? >> some of the sites that we've talked about are well-known, some are not so well-known.

we've fingered a couple that we'll try and push forward on if we can get more imagery and analysis on. the important thing is, you've been covering this issue, you know this so well. the most discouraging thing is the north koreans seem to be behaving the way they've always behaved despite the fact that they've had two meetings with the u.s. president, something they've wanted for 60 years. that's the most discouraging part of this. >> what about the decision to cancel joint military exercises? the pentagon has always said they're important for readiness. >> that's right, i've been covering the pentagon and the military for 14 years. i can't tell you how many times i've heard about the critical nature of these exercises, that the u.s. and south korea do twice a year, for interoperability between the forces, for readiness and whatnot. it's not a surprise that they decided not to go forward with

these large scale exercises because president trump has now talked about them being provocative. if in fact the u.s. military and south korea would go forward with them, wouldn't that be considered an act of provocation against north korea, now that the president has spoken about it that way. >> courtney, thank you so much for your reporting, victor, as always, thank you. and coming up, michael bloomberg bowing out of the 2020 race, vowing instead to throw his money, and evaluated a lhe it, behind democrats in the race. and hillary clinton targets donald trump with a "mean girls" meme. >> why are you so obsessed with me?

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michael bloomberg is taking himself out of the 2020 race but putting his money in. the former new york city mayor and the billionaire announcing he will not run for president but instead will focus on helping democrats win. in an op-ed for his namesake media outlet, bloomberg writes, i believe i would defeat donald trump in a general election but i'm clear-eyed about the difficulty of winning the democratic nomination in a crowded field.

he adds, i'm fortunate enough to be in a position to devote resources needed to bring people together and make a big difference. boy, could he. this is also another sign that joe biden is definitely getting in. joining me now, heidi przybyla, nbc news political respondent, and yamiche alcindor, an msnbc contributor. welcome, both. heidi, mike bloomberg has been wanting to run, i can't tell you how many cycles he's polled, he's looked at it, i've talked to him, others have talked to him. he sees the reality in a field that's tilting so far to the progressive side. a centrist guy with his background and our polling this past weekend, people don't like socialists and don't like -- >> right. his calculation in 2016 was that hillary clinton was the centrist candidate and that she got in and therefore there wasn't really space for him. this time it's because the party is moving in the progressive direction. and you can't help but think

that he watched what happened with howard schultz and the backlash that he's gotten and kind of put his finger on the pulse right now, the kind of billionaire fatigue, if you will, the pulse of the democratic party, and calculated that he would be more of a white knight if he swooped in with his money to help on specific causes and with specific candidates. and this is potentially the last time we're going to be doing this parlor game with mike bloomberg because i think he's made a definitive decision here. >> and it does also mean i think he's clearly talked to joe biden, everybody's talked to joe biden behind the scenes and he knows what i think we've all inferred from other signals that joe biden is getting in and that that space that joe biden occupies would really make it even more difficult for mike bloomberg to compete. yamiche? >> i think that's pretty fair. there's this idea that michael bloomberg is clear-eyed, looking

at the field and saying, how can i best help this movement. because when you listen to the polls and talk to people, democrats are hungry for someone to beat donald trump but also someone who's going to be part of this progressive base and have these ideals that show that the democratic party has moved really to the left. so when you look at something like joe biden possibly getting in and you look at bernie sanders screaming about billionaires and elizabeth warren setting the rules where you can get your money from, michael bloomberg says this isn't the time for me. it's interesting that he'll be starting this organization dedicated to carbon and climate change because in some ways that's going to be a policy that democrats will have to articulate in addition to the fact that they want to beat donald trump. >> washington state's jay inslee who got in, is campaigning on the climate issue. hide me, that issue hasn't been polling as a major concern, we saw in the midterms, health care was the issue. but jay inslee and others, and mike bloomberg, can put a lot of

money and high profile appearances behind this. also, hickenlooper, the former governor, former mayor of denver, two-term governor, he raised $1 million in 48 hours. >> definitely a sleeper issue. i think you'll see a number of other candidates, inslee has claimed this space as being a defining issue for him but you'll see other candidates jumping in on that as well. i think the broader landscape right now and decision within the democratic party is how do they reconcile this tug to the left, this progressive wave, with history, and recent history, andrea. in 2018, if you look at where all of the major victories were for the democratic party, they were moderates. they were moderates like abigail spanberger in virginia, elissa slot kin sl slotkin in michigan. they say they're concerned about electability but there is

increasing this litmus test tug to the left on issues like medicare for all and the green new deal. >> and yamiche, the hillary clinton comment to local channel 12 in new york that she wasn't getting in the race, then there was some pushback from some of her, you know, close allies, telling maggie haberman, "i didn't mean to be definitive about that," and she got into this whole "mean girl" kind of tweet with the president, because the president tweeted, crooked hillary clinton confirms she will not run, aww shucks, does that mean i won't get to run against her again, she will be sorely missed, and that of course led to her response, yamiche. >> it's one of those things that hillary clinton continues to be this bogeyman that president trump likes to use. i was at cpac where people still had hillary clinton for prison on. i think as heidi and you were talking about, this idea of billionaire fatigue, i think there's also hillary fatigue.

the reason we see this large field of democrats running is this is the first election where there isn't a big name in the race like an obama, like a clinton, and democrats feel like they can finally run and whoever wants to run can run. of course michael bloomberg is saying that's too crowded for me, i'm not going to do that. we're seeing hillary clinton making it clear i'm not to be even considered for this. >> wanting to keep her name out there and stay relevant. we'll have to leave it there for today. we'll have a lot of time to talk about 2020. heidi przybyla and yamiche alcindor, thank you. coming up, a devastating look at a country whose children are trying to survive. stay with us, right here on msnbc. , right here on msnbc. was missing... me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications.

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now to a remote country where more than a million and a half children are inviting for their survival without help from the outside world. many are facing starvation but a violent war has made it impossible to send aid and for them to tell their story until now. nbc's cynthia mcfadden is back from the central african republic with this amazing exclusive about what she and her team found. >> thank you, andrea. the kids are caught in a brutal,

man made disaster. the size of texas, the central african republic has some of the richest deposits of natural resources in the world, gold, diamond, uranium. an ongoing civil war there has left its children among the poorest and hungriest. on our recent visit we met an extraordinary and surprising group of young people who are making a profound difference. [ singing ] >> reporter: why is there joy in the streets in a country teetering on the verge of famine? the answer is the boy scouts of the central african republic. it's dangerous work you do. >> yes. >> reporter: where do you find the courage? >> we know there's danger. >> reporter: this is a war zone. >> this is as dangerous as the assignment gets. >> reporter: carol stern is the ceo of unicef usa. she says the scouts are one of the few things holding this country together. for the past six years, 14 armed groups keep the people here in a

constant state of fear. this is the most dangerous place in the world for children. >> harder than syria. the violence here prevents supplies from getting through. there is an alarming rate of malnutrition in the country as a result. two of every three children in this country are in need of humanitarian assistance right now. >> reporter: she invited us to go with her to meet some of the children she and her colleagues are desperately trying to save. the going is tough. in the last

doctors. >> we must do what we can to change the future. >> reporter: when the pope visited two years ago, they helped with crowd control. they often partner with unicef, putting their lives at risk. when locals were skeptical about a unicef vaccine program, the scouts went door to door. and they are proud to wear that uniform, to be part of building a better country. she says if this nation has any hope of reviving, it will happen with their help. there are more than 12,000 scouts here, nearly equal to the number of u.n. peacekeepers also trying to hold this country together. these young men and a few women have never known a country at peace. even as a bloody civil war between christians and muslims rages around them, the scouts

say religion is not the problem. >> christian, muslim. i'm christian, he's muslim. we are all african people. we are the same blood. >> reporter: they're blunt when it comes to who is to blame. >> it is about the population suffering every day. >> reporter: they are literally taking matters into their own hands, traveling around the country, teaching others. >>s the at least expensive intervention in lowering the number of children who die before the age of 5 is washing hands. >> reporter: in a country filled with desperation and lost hope,

these scouts truly believe the future is in these very hands. >> bravo. >> then we can start a new central african republic. >> reporter: you're an optimist. >> yes. >> reporter: living the oath known the world over, to help other people at all times. >> inspiring young people in a desperate situation, andrea. >> this is simply amazing. i mean, these young men and boys taking over the leadership, health care, clean hands, something so simple but so profoundly important. cynthia, the outside world is trying to take advantage of not only the mineral wealth here but you've got russia, you've got china. there is a geopolitical side to people trying to make inroads in a very dangerous situation. >> reporter: you're absolutely right. not only is there this massive humanitarian crisis, 1.5 million kids on the brink of starvation,

but yeah, russia has moved in in a big way in the last couple of years. the national security adviser to the president of the central african republic is a russian national which is really pretty amazing. the russians have gotten the security from the u.n. to lift the arms embargo and they're flooding arms into the country. it's very interesting, we've talked to the state department, with president trump's new america first foreign policy, what does that mean for the u.s.? last year the u.s. provided more funds, $120 million in funds, will there be a pullback there and what comes next? >> this whole reporting team, you and your team, are just amazing to go into the middle of this and do the work you did. thank you, i know you'll be on "nightly news" tonight and will continue your reporting. cynthia mcfadden will have the full investigative report

tonight on "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen is being grilled on capitol hill right now. more on that, coming up next. stay with us on "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. reports" on m. prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

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when you saw those pictures of babies in cages, what did you do? what did you do? to just scream bloody murder up the chain to the president, to say, i cannot represent an agency that is forcing its border patrol to do this? what did you do? >> so, i went to the border. i spoke to the men and women there. i looked at the facilities myself. i talked to h.h.s. to understand and visited their facilities as well to understand the care that they provide to the children once they're in their custody. >> homeland security secretary kirstjen nielsen facing tough questions from democrats on capitol hill. that was alyssa slot kin, a freshman from michigan who is a former c.i.a. and pentagon official in the previous administration. all this of course, with the zero tolerance policy which led to the separation of children from their parents at the border and the lack of tracking of those children. join being me now is alyssa,

former white house deputy chief of staff for president obama and author of "so here's the thing" knots on growing up, getting older and trusting your gut, another great title, another great book from alyssa. as a former deputy chief of staff, what would you have done if a policy were handed to you to implement, separating children and their parents, with no way of tracking them or reuniting them? do you think you would have gone to the president or the chief of staff or raised your hand? >> i don't think i've ever worked with anyone, myself included, that would have implemented it. i mean, that's the fundamental problem here, they thought it was a good idea. they separated families at the border. they put kids in cages. they had no way to track them, which means they had no way to reunite them. and secretary nielsen said in her testimony yesterday that they really don't know how many people have died in their custody. so, i mean, i don't even think in any other administration it

would have gotten to the point where you had to kick it up to the president because you would have known better. >> i think betty thompson, the chair of this hearing, was asking about the cages and she said they're not cages, they're facilities. i mean, she kept pushing back against that. jacob soboroff from our team, nbc news and msnbc said they were cages. he's seen them himself. >> anyone who has watched jacob's coverage which is incredible knows exactly what's happening. there were kids that had no play time, couldn't talk to their parents. it is absurd that she can try to put forward anything other than what it really is. they were cages. and i think that the sort of troubling thing about her testimony is that it leads you to one of two conclusions. either she is incompetent or she is a deeply bad person. >> sheila jackson lee, the congresswoman from texas, of course, was pressing nielsen on trump's executive order. this is, of course, already been challenged by the house. the senate will vote on it next

week on a resolution, and they have the votes to turn back this national emergency, but not to override a veto. they keep pointing out the fact that president obama had executive orders, but did president obama ever assert a national emergency based on this? >> no. the thing that they keep glossing over is that there were national emergencies -- i think there are still over 30 ongoing national emergencies. but what president obama -- and i don't think any other president ever did since the national emergencies act in 1976 -- is that they haven't -- well, one, didn't start as a campaign promise that mexico would pay for a wall. but then had so little support in the american populous and in congress that congress actually voted not to fund the wall. so congress holds the purse string. they said no, and his override is just petulance. >> and i do want to ask you

about your book. tell me the motivation for this book, your first book was such a huge hit. obviously you've got a lot on your chest to talk about. and some of the personal stories are a lot of fun, very poignant. >> this book was actually one of the reactions and responses to the first book, was that we may all have different politics and post-2016 everything feels like it's defined by politics, but the shared experiences are actually what bring us together. and so this book is a series of essays that sort of talk about our shared experiences and how -- and sort of explore under told stories and topics that are really interesting to women. >> interesting and a lot of fun. you're going to be involved in 2020, do you have a candidate? you've got a lot of choices. >> maybe i'll write another book. i don't know about 2020. >> okay. well, we look forward to that as well. >> thanks, andrea. >> thanks. and we'll be right back.

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thanks for being with us. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports". and remember to follow the show online on facebook and on twitter at mitchell reports. and here is ali velshi and stephanie ruhle for "velshi & ruhle." >> good afternoon, everybody. i'm ali velshi. >> it is wednesday, march 6. let's get smarter. president trump's former attorney michael cohen arrived

back on capitol hill in eight days. >> they are focused on the areas where he lied to congress. >> they issued subpoenas to the trump organization as part of an investigation into the president's family. >> in all of these things that are coming up today, the keyword is state, right? it's all the state charges. the state insurance charges, that takes it out of the department of justice and provides some freedom. the house judiciary committee, where democrats issued a sweeping call for documents from dozens and dozens of people in the president's orbit, at least some of them are pushing back. >> my request for documents was probably the shortest. it was less than a page. some went on 4 to six-pages. i have none of those documents. >> they want to do that than a pass legislation. it's a disgrace to our country. >> if the democrats in the house do not get what they want it could lead to a subpoena fight, a fight that could extend into the courts. >> we have n e