never, ever allow history to repeat itself. >> jesse kirsch, nbc news, brezinka, poland. >> today's ceremony is likely the last major observance of auschwitz's liberation, with the survivors present given their advanced ages. as hard as it is, it is more important than ever to remember the horrors of the holocaust so that it never, ever happens again. and on that very solemn note, i wish you a very good night from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news. thanks for staying up late. i'll see you at the end of tomorrow.

>> okay, everyone, there is a lot going on tonight. we're going to have a live report from florida where donald trump met with house republicans today. we also got news today that a trump appointed u.s. attorney will investigate the prosecutors who worked on january 6th cases. and i'm going to talk to a former doj lawyer who worked on those cases and who just resigned on friday. we're also going to dive into some pretty shocking stuff an fbi whistleblower just revealed about kash patel, and get reaction from patel's former boss, john bolton. but i do want to start tonight with something i think is an important baseline for basically everything we're going to talk about, and that is why donald trump thinks he won the election. >> i went on groceries. it's a very simple word. groceries. like almost, you know who uses the word? i started using the word the groceries. when you buy apples, when you buy bacon, when you buy eggs. they were double and triple the price over a short period of time. and i won

an election. based on that, we're going to bring those prices way down. >> so donald trump saying he won the election based on bringing prices down and maybe he did. but during his first week in office, a period of time where i can tell you presidents typically use their power to make clear what their priorities are and do something about it. he was focused on anything but lowering costs. >> late tonight, president trump announcing he will issue pardons for the january 6th rioters. >> trump reversing biden era immigration policies and declaring a national emergency at the border, where he vowed to send troops. >> at least 22 states are already suing over trump's attempt to end birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants. >> president trump announcing more dramatic changes tonight, including ending federal government diversity, equity and inclusion programs. >> friday night massacre the president firing inspectors general at key government agencies. what happens now that the roles meant to stop waste

and abuse are gone? >> that's right. trump had time for all of that. he pardoned the january 6th rioters, including the ones who brutally attacked police. he even freed convicted seditionists like stewart rhodes, who directed his far right oath keepers militia in formation up the capitol steps during the insurrection. and on saturday, just days after leaving jail, rhodes appeared at donald trump's rally in las vegas, standing right behind the president and vice president jd vance. that wasn't by accident, by the way. trump has also declared war on migrants trying to end the constitution's guarantee of birthright citizenship with an order that's already being challenged in court. he's also pushing a series of made for tv deportation raids across the country. is the best way to describe them. promoted by allies like television's doctor phil. i can't make it up. who embedded with ice for a sweep in chicago? the tv optics are not a coincidence, and according to cnn, at least two agencies assisting u.s. immigration officials with the sweeps have

told personnel to ensure their clothing clearly depicts their respective agencies in case they are filmed by journalists. dress appropriately for your immigration raids, i suppose, is what they're saying now. on friday, trump also fired 18 government watchdogs in a late night purge, and he's made time patrolling the world with plans for expansion. of course, i mean, from taking control of greenland and the panama canal to threatening to annex canada still and attempting to rename the gulf of mexico. and tonight, trump was expected to sign more executive orders to purge transgender service members while reinstating military members who were discharged for refusing the covid vaccine. so that's how week one has gone. and it's all classic trump. this is always been the strategy to overwhelm the media and critics with far right noise. lots of it. i mean, trump ally steve bannon laid it out very clearly all the way back in 2020. >> i said, all we have to do is flood the zone every day. we hit

them with three things. they'll bite on one and we'll get all of our stuff done. bang, bang, bang. these guys will never, will never be able to recover. >> four years later, that's still the strategy. and guess what? bannon says it's going great. he told the washington post, quote, it's working. it's just stunning to me what they're doing, and it's not getting covered because it's too much. they're overwhelming the system. so yeah, they're going to keep flooding the zone. they're literally telling us that they're going to do that. they'll do a million crazy things. so we can't focus on any one thing, like whether they are delivering on the core promise they made about lowering costs. but the problem with flooding the zone for them is it makes it kind of hard to answer really simple questions about your agenda. like this. >> you campaigned on lowering prices for consumers. we've seen all of these executive orders. which one lowers prices? >> we have done a lot, and there have been a number of executive orders that have caused already jobs to start coming back into

our country, which is a core part of lowering prices, more capital investment, more job creation in our economy is one of the things that's going to drive down prices for all consumers, but also raise wages so that people can afford to buy the things that they need. if you look at our prices are going to come executive orders. no, no, margaret, prices are going to come down, but it's going to take a little bit of time. right. >> relax, everyone. it's just going to take a little bit of time. it's pretty weak tea, at least from how i hear it, from the sitting vice president, from what is supposed to be their number one agenda item. and just to put it all in a little perspective, i mean, barack obama campaigned on ending the worst economic downturn since the great depression, and it took some time. but in his first week of office, that's pretty much what he focused on in every use of power and lever he had. joe biden vowed to end the pandemic and bring back the economy from the brink. he spent his first week in office trying to move that agenda forward and telling the country how he was going to do it. meanwhile, the guy who promised to lower costs for the american people is busy,

busy flooding the zone with all sorts of things. as i just outlined and hosting house republicans at his golf resort to discuss how they can cut taxes for rich people. look what trump's actions over the past seven days have told us is that he really doesn't actually care why americans sent him to the white house. i hate to break this to all of you. you all know this. in a new letter to trump that was shared with nbc news, 20 hill democrats led by senator elizabeth warren blasted the president for his twisted priorities, saying, quote, during your campaign, you repeatedly promised you would lower food prices immediately if elected president. but during your first week of office, you have instead focused on mass deportations and pardoning. january 6th attackers. to be fair, the white house is still working on those tariffs they're very excited about, which every economist will tell you will actually raise prices for everyone. and they're still working on those tax cuts to corporations and billionaires who definitely are not worried about the price of your eggs, i promise you. but hey, at least violent rioters are back on the

street. he had time for that. doctor phil is in chicago, embedded in a raid, and government watchdogs have been fired. that's the first week. joining me now is democratic senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts. it's great to see you. you had you have written a lot of letters. i can't wait to see more letters. and there's so much i want to talk to you about, but i just want to talk about what i just laid out, which is this litany of things that trump focused on. last week. you wrote a letter with 20 house, house or senate democrats, i'm sorry, today. and you noted in that letter there are a lot of things he can do. i mean, he can increase competition. he can deal with price gouging, things that will actually lower costs for people. makes sense. sounds great to me. wish he would do it and probably everybody watching, but i doubt he will do any of that. do you have any hope he will do it? so look. >> either he will do it, which is really good for the american people. there are a lot of folks who are struggling to make it to the end of the month. prices are going up, price of eggs are 365. last november, the latest i've

seen is four and a quarter, so there's a lot he could do. i hope he does it, but if he doesn't, then it is our job to hold him accountable. and right now it's about focus. you know, it's just you've got one of the words quoted there. he kept using the words immediately i will do this immediately. when he ran, he said on day one. and it's not only that he hasn't moved the needle, it's that he hasn't even indicated he knows where the needle is or cares very much. and i think that's the part we have to keep bearing down on. his failure to even try to move in the direction of lowering costs is a betrayal of the american people. >> i think this is such an important point. he has not used the bully pulpit. he has not used any opportunity to lay out a plan to speak to it. that should be sticking out to people as well. there was an ig purge on friday night, and 18 igs were fired, which is such a

significant step. it makes it their accountability. they keep democrats in control. they keep republicans there. they are not a partizan entity. you posted that donald trump is, quote, dismantling checks on his power and paving the way for widespread corruption. i took that to mean he's going to put his people in place, and they're not going to hold to account government like they should. but what did you mean by that? >> so it's exactly that. look, the ig is can i say this are really kind of the most boring people on earth, and i mean that in a good way. >> we love nerds. >> here. i do totally into nerd because the whole point is they just make sure you follow the rules. they make sure that when you negotiate a government contract to give away $1 billion of taxpayer money, that you didn't give it to the guy you went to junior high with, or one of your big campaign donors. they make sure that everybody in government just kind of stays on the straight and narrow and follows through on the laws that congress passed and a president somewhere signed into law. you

send those guys home, and now you've got these giant agencies with a lot of power. they just do what they want to do. and that signals to me not just his revenge tour that he's on. it signals to me the direction he wants to go. and that is lawlessness throughout the government. do whatever donald trump wants and whatever donald trump's donors want, and whatever donald trump's friends who are whispering in his ear wants. and to hell with what the laws say. we got to put a stop to this one. >> you were kind of worried about sounding the alarm on ig before most were, and in part because you'd worked with you dealt with it before you knew exactly. they may be boring, but they have important jobs to do. and you asked during the confirmation hearing, you voted against him adamantly. just to be clear, you asked him whether he would commit to maintaining

the defense department's independent inspector general. he said he would. it was a pretty pressing question for a million reasons, considering they were basically firing them at the time. but that's a very specific example, i think, and a good one, because they have an enormous budget. >> enormous budget, and have never passed an audit. this is a place where the ig's job, you know, it's like this big everywhere else in government over dod. it's like this big because there are so many contracts going out in so many different directions, trying to keep track on what's happening. and hegseth, to his credit, standard, stood up and said, yes, i will protect the ig. and that lasted 15 minutes. >> but he's also a guy you had you did not hold back in your concerns about. and now there's not going to be an ig overseeing his oversight of the defense department. >> have we heard from hegseth on that? no, no. >> i have not. you can call us pete hegseth if you have thoughts. >> anytime, pete.

>> we're here. let me ask you also something about his confirmation process, because this is this was friday night. i was watching the vote. we were all watching the vote. the wall street journal has some new reporting about one of your senate colleagues, republican senator thom tillis. according to the reporting, tillis personally assured danielle hegseth in a call on january 19th, witnessed by two other people, that if she signed the statement testifying that she believed her former brother in law, pete hegseth, has an alcohol abuse problem and was abusive to his second wife, it would carry weight and potentially move three votes his own. along with collins, murkowski and collins and murkowski. those people said he, of course, was the 50th yes vote to confirm hegseth as defense secretary. i i'm a little horrified by this story. i don't know if you had seen this story, but i just want to get your reaction to that. >> so let me let me set the table for you just to remind you where we were in the process. if you were able to see the file that was available to the senators confidentially, you saw the allegations against hegseth.

and hegseth had said, oh, these are just anonymous smears. they weren't anonymous smears. there were people who had stepped up. there were other people who had said, though in this, but don't let my name be public. and so here is this woman, the former sister in law of hegseth, and she is persuaded to go public under oath, under penalty of perjury, and tell that what else is in this file is all true. and she knows this from firsthand information, and she does that very patriotically because she believes in her country. she's says after the vote goes against her and goes against hegseth, she goes in favor of hegseth. she says this makes it harder for anyone else to come forward. it makes it harder for any woman

to come and talk about abuse. it makes it harder for any whistleblower to step up. it makes it harder for someone who just witnessed it to step up. and that's one of the most painful parts of this. it's not only that it let hegseth get confirmed. the most unqualified nominee for secretary of defense in our history. it's also the warning that it shoots out through everyone else who might speak out against some of these people who have been nominated. >> it's incredibly chilling. you described it in a better way than i could articulate before i let you go. and we only have about a minute left, but i feel like you're on every committee. i don't know, that's my theory. from looking at all of these, rfk jr is going to be testifying on thursday. there's a lot to work with there. what should we expect? what are you most focused on wanting to ask him about? look. >> i think that it is dangerous to have someone at the head of

our entire health care services who is a conspiracy theorist on vaccines that has the potential to cost lives. it also has the potential to undermine scientific research in our whole country. and for all of the projects that are in place for people who need that help, people who are looking for cancer cures, people who who need a robust, strong health care research investment to have him in charge, given what he has already said, gives me deep worry. this is going to be a set of hearings worth looking into. remember, there will be two one on wednesday and finance. that's where i'll be and one on thursday over in health education. >> thank you for that. we don't want to miss the wednesday. we will all be watching. thank you so much for being here and for talking about so many issues. i know people are wondering about it. it's great to see you. thank you. coming up, donald trump continues his assault on the rule of law. first, he freed the

january 6th insurrectionists. and today we found out his newly appointed u.s. attorney is looking into the people who held them accountable. former federal prosecutor ashley akers quit the justice department on friday after prosecuting some of the worst offenders from january 6th. she's got a whole lot to say. she joins me in just 60s. >> is your shower trying to tell you something is getting in and out of the bathtub becoming a safety concern? are you worried about the cost of a bathroom remodel that could go on for weeks and weeks? well, now you can have a gorgeous new bath or shower with a one day jacuzzi bath remodel that's safer at a price you can afford. we're waiving all installation costs and postponing all payments for up to one year. >> oh my gosh. >> it is beautiful. oh. >> from soft closed shower doors and adjustable shower heads to features like grab bars and custom seats that combine safety and style, it's never been easier. get your free design

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them, remember? but what you may have missed is who trump named as the interim u.s. attorney for washington, dc. the position, by the way, that oversees cases brought in the capitol attack investigation. the person now in that role is this guy. you can see him on the screen. his name is ed martin, and he is a 2020 election denier who has long been an advocate for the january 6th defendants. now, as a prominent member of the stop the steal movement, he actually turned out for trump on january 6th and tweeted about it in real time. in fact, he compared the events of that day to mardi gras even after the mob had violently breached the capitol. well, this morning, martin successfully led the charge in reversing a federal judge's travel restrictions on oath keepers, stewart, rhodes and others who were temporarily barred from entering d.c. and the capitol. and just this afternoon, we learned he has launched a special project to review, to review the justice department's january 6th cases today. martin asked all employees to pass along all files, documents, notes, emails and other

information related to an obstruction of justice charge, which was the subject of a supreme court ruling in june. as nbc news reports, now that the capitol siege section has been disbanded, some officials see martin's special project as a sign that he's targeting some of the leadership of the unit that remains. joining me now is ashley akers. she is former a former justice department prosecutor who resigned on friday. she was one of the many prosecutors who worked on the january 6th case cases. thank you so much for joining me. i'm sure it has been an absolute whirlwind for you, and you've been speaking so passionately about this and helping people understand. so it's been a week, as i just noted, several officials who worked on jack smith's team were fired today. a number of senior officials were reassigned and attempts to get them to resign. it sounds like a review was announced of those who investigated january 6th. i mean, you worked at doj as of a couple of days ago. what is it? what is this going to do to the department? and how are your former colleagues who are still in the building doing right now? >> thanks, jen. i think it's important to note from the

forefront that the prosecutors, the career prosecutors who were fired today are some of the most intelligent, passionate and well thought of attorneys in the country. it's a huge loss to the american people that they were let go. i think that the message that this sends to the country is twofold. first, it shows that politics above all, that's what this department of justice is about. it's not about the rule of law. it's not about prosecutors adhering to their duties to prosecute based on the facts, the evidence or law. the message it's sending is adhere to the president and the will of the president, or you'll be fired. and second, it it shows a lack of independence of the department of justice, which is incredibly scary. i think that these career government officials are very brave, and i think that the american people should look forward to challenges to the firing of these people. today. >> the career officials are the heart and soul of government in every department they serve

through democrats and republicans. and that's so important to reiterate and remind people of. let me ask you, we're all trying to make sense of what this announcement of this new review is going to be and what it's about. you were part of the team that tirelessly prosecuted these insurrectionists. are you worried about being targeted for your work on prosecuting those cases? >> jen? no, i maybe i should be, but i know the work that the team did. i know how admirable and meticulous and thorough the team was. i know that we carried out our obligations and our duties to adhere to the rule of law. and so while i think that this mission, this sort of wild goose chase is one intended to suggest there was something nefarious, i would point out that the charging decisions using this obstruction statute, 1512 c2, was not only supported by grand juries, juries,

defendants who pled guilty, courts. over 20 courts in the district of columbia upheld this charging decision. the district of columbia circuit court upheld it, and it was only the supreme court of the united states that finally narrowed the application of this statute. and i would just note that they said nothing about the impropriety of using this statute to charge defendants. and so, while the new u.s. attorney is seemingly going on a wild goose chase to suggest that the prosecutors did something wrong here, we know we didn't, and we know that we did our job. >> but you guys are all going to be asked for files and documents and emails, and you just have to figure out how to deal with that, right? >> correct. like i said, it seems like somewhat of a wild goose chase. there are, i'm sure, tens of thousands of files and documents and emails. a different news station reported that the preliminary report was due on friday. and so i look

forward to hearing about that. but i just can't imagine any meaningful work could actually be done, given the scope of this investigation. >> let me ask you about this. this guy, ed martin, i just talked about him in the introduction here, who is now the acting u.s. attorney in washington, d.c. it seems to me a little bit like it's the arsonist in charge of the fire department. there may be better analogies, but you spent so much time working on these cases. how do you see this? >> i think it's from a person who worked so hard and so long in the office. i think it's insulting to have a new person come in and not only undermine all the work that we've done, but speak out directly against it and again, suggest that the prosecutors that he's now responsible for, for governing, i suppose, acted nefariously or outside of their duties, i think it's harmful to the institution of the department and it's unfounded.

>> ashley akers, thank you for all of your work. i'm sure you have been exhausted from leaving on friday, and then you're answering all of our questions. so thank you for being here. thank you for all the work you did over the last couple of years. thanks for joining me tonight. to sum it up and thank you. an fbi whistleblower is now sounding the alarm about kash patel. a big alarm ahead of his confirmation hearing this week. i'm going to break down all of the details for you after a very quick break. >> here you go. >> is there any way to get a better price on this? >> have you checked single care? whenever my customers ask how to get a better price on their meds, i tell them about single care. it's a free app accepted at pharmacies nationwide. >> before i pick up my prescription, i always check the single care price. >> it's quick, easy, and totally free to use. >> single care can literally beat my insurance copay. >> you just search for your prescription and show your single care coupon at the pharmacy. >> so i just show the coupon and get this price. >> that's right. go to single care.com and start saving today. >> ocd is more than what you see

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so i can tell you from my time in government that there are very few u.s. intelligence operations as sensitive as those around. negotiations involving americans detained overseas, a very small group of people from the national security team and some of the president's closest advisers are typically in the know. that's typically it, and for good reason, because any leak or public reporting could prompt public pressure on the party holding the americans, it could make them ask for more, or it could delay it altogether. the smallest misstep could mean they are held by their captors for months or years or longer. that's why everyone in the know lets out a huge sigh of relief when the detained americans are confirmed to be back in friendly airspace. now, with that in mind, i want to show you a headline from the wall street journal from october of 2020. and here it is. two americans held hostage by iran backed forces in yemen, freed in trade. now, in that report, published

on the morning of october 14th, a little known nsc staffer, little known at the time, i should say named kash patel, publicly confirmed that the two american captives and the remains of a third were exchanged for 200 houthi fighters who were being held in saudi arabia. well, kash patel, as you all know, is now donald trump's pick to be the director of the fbi. and today, ahead of patel's confirmation hearing later this week, that episode from 2020 is coming under some very intense scrutiny for good reason, because according to an fbi whistleblower who worked in the bureau's hostage recovery unit, kash patel confirmed that hostage yield several hours before the hostages were confirmed to be back in u.s. custody. as i just explained, it's not a rookie mistake. it could have been an incredibly costly mistake, one that could have prevented those americans from coming home. in a letter released today, the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, dick durbin, details what he calls highly credible information about patel's role

in breaking protocol during the in-progress retrieval of two americans held captive by iranian backed militants. now, according to this whistleblower kash patel had no role in the planning, the negotiations or execution of this hostage recovery. none. and yet he allegedly confirmed the details of the exchange to the wall street journal. before the us government knew the americans were safe. and as dick durbin pointed out today, this is actually the second known instance of patel breaking hostage recovery protocol of all things. i mean, back in october, the atlantic reported on an incident that took place just two weeks after that hostage deal detailed by the whistleblower. and i'm just going to read from the piece, because this is the kind of thing you just have to hear the details of to believe. so here's what it outlines. here's the details. quote seal team six was awaiting the pentagon's green light on a rescue mission in west africa. the day before, the administration had learned where gunmen were holding philip walton, a 27 year old american who had been kidnaped that week

from his farm near niger's border with nigeria. as multiple agencies now coordinated on final details for the evening operation, the state department worked to resolve the last outstanding task securing airspace permission from nigerian officials. around noon, kash patel called the pentagon with an update. secretary of state mike pompeo, he said, had gotten the approval. the mission was a go. the seals were close to landing in nigeria when defense secretary mark esper discovered that the state department had not, in fact, secured the overflight clearance, as patel had claimed. now, the aircraft were quickly diverted, flying in circles for the next hour as officials scrambled to alert the nigerian government to their position. with the operation window narrowing, esper and pompeo called the situation room to put the decision to the president. either they abort the mission and risk their hostages being killed, or they proceed into foreign airspace and risk their soldiers being shot down. it's

quite a choice. and then suddenly and thankfully, of course, they got notice that the airspace had been cleared. now, the piece goes on to say celebratory feelings gave way to anger as officials tried to make sense of patel's bad report. according to esper, pompeo claimed that at no point had he even spoken with patel about the mission, much less told him he'd received the airspace rights. esper wrote that his team suspected that patel had simply made the approval story up. now, when confronted about it, this was patel's response, according to two people familiar with what he said, if nobody got hurt, who the f cares? now, for the record, patel denies saying that or making up the approval story. and look. kash patel is a lot of things. he's a qanon sympathizer. he's the author of children's books in which he's a wizard. donald trump is a king, which is very weird. but if these stories are true, he's also someone that, in two separate instances, put very sensitive operations at risk. again, this is the guy that

donald trump wants to run the fbi. if confirmed, he will serve a ten year term. his confirmation hearing is this week, and hopefully he comes up with something better than who the f cares when he's asked about this, and hopefully more than just the democrats on the committee giving a f about all of this, i guess we'll have to wait and see. tune in to the two later this week. former trump national security adviser john bolton was kash patel's boss during the first trump administration. he joins me next. >> if you're over 50. imagine you could turn back the clock on your stiff, achy joints ten, even 20 years. imagine you could do this without products that just temporarily hide the symptoms. imagine no more insta flex advanced. get a complimentary sample just by texting flow to 369369. insta flex advanced is different because it targets the root cause of joint soreness and stiffness. it doesn't just cover up symptoms, instead, it bathes your joints in its unique combination of five key natural ingredients found in no other product. key ingredients backed by five clinical studies, insta

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>> back in december. former national security adviser john bolton wrote an op ed about trump's pick for fbi director kash patel. it was titled kash patel doesn't belong at the fbi. couldn't be more clear than that. and in that bolton wrote this, i regret i didn't fully discern mr. patel's threat immediately, but we are now all fairly warned senators won't escape history's judgment if they vote to confirm him. i think it's safe to say that assessment from bolton was likely only strengthened today, given the concerning news about patel's role in a sensitive hostage rescue. john bolton joins me now. ambassador bolton, thank you for taking the time. i just referenced this new whistleblower report. it's alleging that kash patel put at risk the rescue of two americans held captive by iranian backed militants in yemen by speaking publicly about it. and as i just noted, and you know very well from from being a part of these discussions and the small group of people around the president who are in the know, these are very highly sensitive

negotiations within any administration, democratic or republican. and so i just wanted to ask you, you've obviously expressed your concern about patel previously, but given this whistleblower report, given what we've learned about his role in these hostage reporting around these hostage negotiations, do you think members of the committee, republicans especially, should be concerned about these pieces? >> yes. >> i think. this is really stunning news, assuming it's true, and the committee will want to verify that that kash patel or anybody else made statements about an operation so sensitive before it was concluded. and by the way, it wouldn't necessarily have been kash patel that would make it public in any case. and i think it demonstrates characteristics that he's shown in other aspects of his career, and particularly then in the niger rescue of american hostage, that that you also recounted that mark esper wrote about in his book. it

shows patel taking roles and making statements that are completely beyond the scope of what nsc staff should be doing. and this is important when you think about him potentially being director of the fbi. you can have a lot of different jobs in government. you have to know what your job is and what your limits are. and kash patel is sort of like a climbing weed, just doesn't show respect for the limits. so i think this new news also demonstrates why it's so important that there be a full field fbi background check, really a competent one, available to members of the committee before they vote. >> what do you hope. >> they ask him about this story? during the hearing? >> well, i think they should take him through it. you know, there used to be days in confirmation hearings where it wasn't just one round of questions for each senator or even two rounds. they'd go on until the senators were

finished. it's like the democrats don't know how to play the game anymore. and patel may get through it. and i do think that, as mark esper recounts in his book, dealing that second rescue effort, that his take was that patel had just lied. but but no one could really prove it. i mean, these these are serious concerns. if you were thinking about hiring anybody simply to be a line attorney and a corporate general counsel's office, or in a law firm, much less to be director of the fbi. >> yeah, i mean, the fbi director is in the small circle of people who would know about these operations, which is important for people to know, too. let me ask you, donald trump, of course, revoked your secret service protection once he took office. you've talked about that even amid some of some very real threats against your life by iran. and you made this point to my colleague andrea mitchell, that that stood out to me, that i was so

interesting. and i wanted to ask you about it. you basically said that if you were another former official does get harmed by iran, then the us would have to respond, which would be counterintuitive to trump's objectives. tell me a little bit more. and our audience, of course, a little bit more by what you mean by that? >> well, let's say that one of the people who were involved in the qasem soleimani operation and planning or whatever it is, the group that's currently under, had been under protection against the iranian threats is, is assassinated. that that constitutes an act of war by iran against the united states. and if trump failed to respond to it, frankly, with military force, it would show just how weak the united states is under his leadership. now, trump says he wants to end the endless wars and get out of this war and get out of that war. his action in exposing americans to danger, obviously, i have a personal interest in it, but there's a much broader point here is, is

giving iran permission in effect, as trump said to the press the other day, you know, there are risks and everything. so the iranians could act. and then what's trump going to do then? he might find himself in a bigger war than he ever wanted to be in. the way you prevent the iranians from from acting against these individuals or any other hostile foreign power is through deterrence, through defense to make it harder, if not impossible, for them to succeed. and by making it clear that the consequences of success for them would be far more costly than anything they could possibly achieve. ■trump's no doing any of that right now. >> some serious consequences to personal vengeance that people need to be thinking about. ambassador john bolton, thank you so much for joining me tonight. coming up, house republicans huddle with donald trump in florida. and let's just say the cracks are starting to show in some places. vaughn hillyard is standing by in miami

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paid before. >> go to harrys.com slash shave to claim. your $7 trial. >> we actually. >> have a. >> breaking news story we are going to bring you. can you describe the document that you found? tell us how it fits into the broader picture of reporting on hegseth. what do you make of the fact that i think a lot of people are seeing in you a form of courage that they hoped they would have themselves? what is it like to have all of that work and all of those cases and all of those convictions and all of those sentences wiped away by the president? more than ever, this is not a time to pretend this isn't happening. >> okay. it kind of feels like the idea of republican unity has been slowly unraveling before our eyes. even before this congress was sworn in. and they haven't even gotten to really the hard part yet. today, house republicans gathered in miami for a big retreat where speaker mike johnson hoped to make progress on a budget bill that could pass, or he wants it to pass by the end of february. of course, his biggest hurdle will

be keeping his razor thin majority on the same page. and that is a very daunting task when some house republicans are already unhappy with the trump agenda. $6 trillion price tag, as one freedom caucus member put it. we all want to support what president trump is doing, but we also recognize the need to get our fiscal house in order. well, those things definitely are not aligned. and at some point something's going to have to give, i suspect. nbc news white house correspondent vaughn hillyard has been following all the action today in florida. he joins me from there now. okay, vaughn, these retreats often feel very rah rah publicly. we could all watch the speech today. i know you watched the speech. it was a little rambly. we don't have to dive into that. but the most interesting things often happen when the cameras are off. so what are you hearing from members who attended? >> right. i was inside the donald j. trump grand ballroom here at his doral property when he was delivering his remarks to the house republican conference, and i was talking to, actually,

marjorie taylor greene, after the president had left the room and the congressmen and women were making their exits for the night. and the way that she framed it to me is that they got to get going, and they got to get going fast, and they got to be big right out of the gate. understanding that come march 14th is when government funding expires, they're going to have to come up with a budget deal. shortly thereafter, they're going to hit the debt ceiling. and of course, they've outlined that they want to put an entire legislative reconciliation package that has tax cut extensions, border enforcement spending, all inside of one measure. and the way that marjorie taylor greene told me, she said that some house republicans need to put their egos aside, know that donald trump got better numbers than they did in some of their districts, and ultimately come to a deal. and i asked her, well, what do those conversations look like so far? and the way that greene put it to me is said, that's why we are here, and we need to get those conversations rolling. >> so february, end of february is coming at them fast. i

started the show by talking about this sort of shock and awe campaign. i mean, you've been covering all of this. i mean, we've seen from trump in his first week. a lot has happened not lowering the price of costs of things, but a lot of other things. they're basically flooding the zone. and just tonight, you reported that more than 50 career civil servants and foreign service officers at usaid have been placed on administrative leave. we know about the late night firing of inspectors general. there's the pardons, there's the ice raids. i could go on, but i just wonder how house republicans seem to be digesting the avalanche of stuff trump is doing right now, given they've got to get this budget passed. and a lot of them, some a number of them have to run for reelection in tough races. >> right. let's be clear. there's just three house republicans that actually won their districts, and kamala harris won. so the number of, you know, members that are highly concerned about the political ramifications of going perhaps too far, right, is rather minimal. and when you're looking at the shock and awe

element of this year, for most house republicans, this is exactly what they wanted. they told their house districts that donald trump was going to come in and address crime and address illegal immigration. he was going to deport people. and that is exactly the type of imagery that this administration has so far produced. and you said it firing more than 50 career, i should say putting on administrative leave more than 50 usaid civil servants, as well as firing a litany of doj prosecutors and firing those 18 inspectors generals. right. this is for the republicans. this is the commitment that they made to voters and what they said that they were going to do, and what conservative organizations in washington, d.c, pledged over the last three years to be prepared for that come day one, come week one, they were going to have executive orders ready for donald trump to sign, and that they were going to have individuals be ready to be placed inside of departments and agencies they were able to make

in their version and their view of it, a more efficient government that would be able to execute the trump agenda in a way that they felt like they were not able to wholly do in the first administration. so for the republicans here in doral and up on capitol hill, this is a moment where they feel like they are executing on on the maga agenda that they were not able to wholly fulfill in the first term. >> ron hilliard, i feel like we should send you some coffee and espresso. chocolate covered espresso beans. i don't even know what. thank you for all of your amazing reporting. thank you for joining us tonight. i know you've had a long day. i really appreciate it. and i've got one more thing to tell you about before i hand things off to rachel. we're going to be back after a very quick break. >> if you're over 50, imagine you could turn back the clock on your stiff, achy joints ten, even 20 years. imagine you could do this without products that just temporarily hide the symptoms. imagine no more insta flex advanced. get a complimentary sample just by texting flo to 369369. insta

flex advanced is different because it targets the root cause of joint soreness and stiffness. it doesn't just cover up symptoms, instead, it bathes your joints in its unique combination of five key natural ingredients found in no other product. key ingredients backed by five clinical studies, insta flex advanced is so powerful you could have better knees in just one week. maybe that's why it's number one at gnc, but you can only get your complimentary sample by texting flo to 369369 plus text now, and will include a tube of insta flex pain cream with its exclusive oxygenated oil for fast acting relief from the pain of arthritis, backaches and sore muscles. absolutely free text flo to 369369. >> hi grandma, i played baseball today. >> oh that's great. >> what position did you play? >> first base. >> that's where grandpa used to play when our hearing wouldn't allow us to use a regular phone. it made us feel isolated. >> it became difficult to

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>> okay, i've got an exciting announcement before we go. with the election for dnc leadership just days away, you can join me, symone sanders townsend, jonathan capehart, and luke russert for a virtual forum hosted at georgetown university to hear directly from the candidates for dnc chair and vice chair. the event is going to stream live from georgetown university on thursday, january 30th, this thursday, starting at 3 p.m. eastern, you can scan that qr code on your screen to register. open your phone. that does it for me tonight. the rachel maddow show starts right now. hey, rachel. hey. six in a row. >> i know, it's i'm just getting started. just getting limber, just getting into it. the