because for six years scott pruitt eliminated the environmental protection unit within his a.g.'s office. he raised millions of dollars and he used those millions of dollars to help lead the effort to combat e.p.a. on so many issues that are important to the health of our country. sometimes you can tell what somebody's going to do by what they say. sometimes you have to wait until they actually do it. well, donald trump's said all last year, this is what i'm going to do, and now he's got a guy nominated, poised to be confirmed to lead the e.p.a. who is going to lead him in exactly the wrong direction. we have an obligation to do something about it. we are not boycotting. we are not slow walking. we are trying to find the person that will lead this organization be responsible for our health, well-being of our kids and grandchildren, he actually has a commitment to clean air, clean water and so forth. last thing i will say, i am an old naval flight officer, old governor. i must be really old. we spent time, 23 years as a naval flight officer and we'd go out and fly our missions, a

that is where you saw democratic a.g.'all over the country stepping up, working together, getting courts all over the country backing each other up and eventually getting a stay of the immigration been. -- ban. these new memos and executive orders are more likely to be taken up first in individual cases of people being apprehended. it contemplates a massive expansion of what are called , whereed deportations people do not get the right to a hearing. that raises a lot of due process issues and does include various provisions attacking what he defines as century jurisdictions. jeffrey: let's talk about this issue of sanctuary jurisdictions. as you point out, there is not a specific legal definition of what a century city is. i think in rough terms what it , even a statey like california, saying we do not want our local officials to help ice, the immigration authorities, the poor people. is it legal for new york city to say, we are not going to help the federal government deport people? eric: yes, to a great extent. the reaso

and when the acting a.g., acting a.g. yates said his travel ban was wrong, the president didn't simply relieve her of her position. instead he put out a press release attacking her personally. sally yates had served the country for almost three decades as a career prosecutor, justice department attorney. she served the president -- she deserved the president's respect regardless of whether he agreed with her or not. time and again president trump has shown that he will not tolerate dissent. you're either with him or in his mind you're wrong. and you become the enemy. president trump has put the bully back into the bully pulpit. he frequently and publicly lashes out against those who express different views and more dangerously, he lashes out at the institutions that are the fabric of this democracy. this weekend he attacked a federal judge who ruled against his travel ban rather than respecting the rule of law and the coequal judicial branch. he once again took to twitter to personally denigrate the federal judge who dare

betty: so the a.g.when they issued their statement on friday said that essentially ust to paraphrase it, this is, to paraphrase, essentially it was, finally hank greenberg admits to these allegations that we have been pursuing against him for the last 12 years and you and your lawyer came out and said that is absolutely not true. we didn't admit to anything. so where is the disconnect here? what is going on? >> listen. the a.g. signed and agreed to the wording of the agreement, of the settlement. they signed it. betty: and that wording did not say -- >> anything like fraud. there was no word of fraud in anything. there was no fraud. betty: no admitting fraud. >> there was no fraud. betty: so did they just go off the reservation in this statement on friday? >> you have to ask them. betty: we did actually and they reiterated their statement on friday. >> well, they were wrong. betty: okay. you are going to continue your defamation case against eliot spitzer. >> yes. betty: where does that stand right now?

incoming a.g.eff sessions set to be sworn in an hour from now and the pick, tom price, may not be far behind. expected to get a full vote in the senate sometime tonight or early tomorrow. both men met intense resistance including delays repeatedly from democrats. sessions said the senate needs to tone down the rhetoric. >> i'm fairly firm, i have to say, in my convictions. that doesn't mean that all of us have to agree on the same thing. we need latitude in our relationships. so let's agree on what we can agree on. integrating people who disagree with us i think is not a healthy trend for our body. >> bill: talk about the health of that body. the senate republican policy committee chair is with me now. are things going to settle down there or not? >> it is interesting to see the democrats still in denial over the fact that donald trump is president and nominated an all-star team for a cabinet. they continue to try to slow it down. we'll confirm tom price later today. we did jeff sessions, betsy dev

i think there was a real sense in which my fellow a.g.'s got riled up by the immigration ban because of the sense of disregard for the rule of law. mean they took the position in , the case that in the area of immigration, the president has unfettered discretion not subject to review by the courts. which for any lawyer who takes , the system seriously, it is an offensive position to take. so i don't think this is a matter of liberal versus conservative. this is not an ordinary set of political battles. we are dealing with an administration that has shown a disregard for the constitution and effort to circumvent the checks and balances established under the constitution to keep a chief executive from running amok. this is something we will stand up to where ever he tries to -- wherever he tries to manifest it. jeffrey: one of those checks , which hereto for had been rather obscure's, is the claw -- clause that says in plain english that foreign governments cannot pay the president. there are some who suggest that through the hotel in washin

i will not be silent about a nominee for an a.g.who has made derogatory and racist comments that have no place in our justice system." jamal, has elizabeth warren begun to write the template for how to nationalize the 2017 and 2018 elections? >> she is writing that template. and you know who else helped start to write that template was sally yates who was the acting attorney general who got fired by donald trump for not wanting to enforce his muslim ban that he tried to come out with, the executive order. so i'm struck at this moment after the hillary clinton race at the women who are leading this, the people who are leading this are women, whether it's senator elizabeth warren, sally yates, the millions of tim t women on the streets during the women's march. there's an incredible amount of energy and it will be up to the democratic part to figure out how to challenge the elections and have strong progressive voices that can do that. >>> more breaking news here. the senate voted elizabeth warren impugn add senator which is a rule br

given that, nbc news has confirmed that the acting a.g. informed the trump white house late last month when she thought michael flynn was potentially subject to blackmail. the qution becomeshy now, why did the white house wait to long to make this decision. we'll ask sean spicer. he'll have his daily briefing. >> that should be an interesting daily briefing. i want to go back to a point you made, kristen. the decision was agonizing not because of the ties to russia. that strikes me as odd because of what you just said, that the acting attorney general reportedly informed the white house that other people such as dni, then dni james clapper informed the white house that there was a potential that michael flynn was compromised. i want to go back really quickly with you because in the resignation letter written by michael flynn, he makes the point he inadvertently briefed the vice president-elect and others. he never says he misinformed the president of the united states. my question is, did the president of the united states know that michae

given that, nbc news has confirmed that the acting a.g. informed the trump white house late last month when she thought michael flynn was potentially subject to blackmail. the question becomes why now, why did the white house wait to long to make this decision. we'll ask sean spicer. he'll have his daily briefing. >> that should be an interesting daily briefing. i want to go back to a point you made, kristen. the decision was agonizing not because of the ties to russia. that strikes me as odd because of what you just said, that the acting attorney general reportedly informed the white house that other people such as dni, then dni james clapper informed the white house that there was a potential that michael flynn was compromised. i want to go back really quickly with you because in the resignation letter written by michael flynn, he makes the point he inadvertently briefed the vice president-elect and others. he never says he misinformed the president of the united states. my question is, did the president of the united states know that mi

the a.g. demanded to know the status of those with green cards. specifically, students, people with travel or work visas and those already in the refugee program. four states including virginia are challenging the president's order in court. still ahead for us at 6:00, a household name brings hundreds of jobs to this long vacant building in arlington but taxpayers are helped foot the bill. >> a smell in the air in d.c. has i'm stephen tschida. i will tell you about it next. jonathan: meet a man who has seen a car slam in his property five times. doug: on the first night of february, temperatures in the 40's. but colder air on the way. we lay out the timeline and the numbers in the f what does it feel like? like? does fearless age? or does it simply grow... stronger? fearless looks a little different to us all. but with a new carefirst medplus medigap plan, you can find yours. call now to speak with a medigap specialist in your area, and discover the strength and security of a plan with low affordable rates, and the option to add dental and vision

a.g.older: i am concerned that the size of some of these institutions becomes so large that it does become difficult for us to prosecute them. sharyl: we did find one staunch defender of the lack of prosecutions -- peter wallison, a republican-appointed member of the financial commission or fcic. do you feel like those referrals were properly handled based on what we know? there were never any prosecutions of individuals. peter wallison: yes. it's very hard for prosecutions to occur on a criminal level unless you have the levels of proof that are demanded by the courts and the juries. sharyl: wallison has his own take on the fi commission's flaws and has written about them in "hidden in plain sight: what really caused the world's worst financial crisis and why it could happen again." he claims democrats in charge of the financial commission made up their minds from the start to blame everything on the banks, not the government. peter wallison: it's been cemented into the public mind that t

a.g. sessions: you have an increased threat since i was united states attorney from terrorism. mr. president, you have spoken firmly on that. you have lead this nation to say we will respond effectively to the threat of terrorism, and you can count on your department of justice to do so in an effective way. jon: but donald trump's plan to ban migrants from seven mainly muslim countries is not going to be decided by the justice department. it will end up here at the supreme court. and his recent denunciation of federal judges involved in the case is doing him no favors. astonishingly, even his pick for the supreme court has called the move disheartening and demoralizing. judge gorsuch, who has been touring capitol hill offices to win support for his nomination, wouldn't express the reservations on camera. although he did reveal them in a series of private meetings. a democratic senator, richard judge'sal, made the unhappiness public after their face-to-face, bringing this back and forth between the president and the senator vitter -- on the senator. president trump: you misrepresent

estimates legal bills in the kathleen king case are north of $3.5 million, 1.8 million went to review the a.gs office use of computers to swap porn grachk images and more. kaine was sentenced to 10 to 20 months in prison for leaking grand jury information and then lying about it. >>> a not guilty verdict for a west philadelphia teenager accused of killing his classmate. a jury acquitted xavier beeman after agreeing he acted in self defense when he stabbed o'neill two years ago. the two got in a fight. o'neill later chased down beamon and started to beat him up. beamon grabbed a knife and stabbed o'neill. he testified he didn't mean to kilo kneel, he was just defending himself. >>> rodents roul et. what is behind the sudden spike in rats in our area? >>> now the 70s are going to return as we close out the warmest february in our recorded history. i'll tell you how warm it is going to get, plus how storms could impact your weekend plans. the most accurate forecast coming up. >>> also, space surprise. a big announcement from nasa. is there a planet with life 40 light years away from earth? >>> a

design of this suggests serious constitutional problems and two very capable lawyers, one the acting a.g. for the united states of america and the second a district court judge, have found it fails the test. i would like for us to have a nominee for attorney general who would have the courage and conviction to stand up to a president when the president goes offtrack in violating the constitution. and i'm concerned that our nominee wouldn't reach the same courageous point of view that sally yates found or james robart found. even while noting that the courts are yet to ultimately decide, there's certainly heavy concerns that should be weighed intensely in this consideration, and i'm not sure that that would happen. in 2015, senator sessions, my colleague, our nominee, authored a bill that would automatically cut off federal funding to sanctuary cities that refuse to have their police officers act as agents of our immigration force, as i.c.e. -- as i.c.e. agents. and just today i had the sheriff of a county in oregon come and speak to me. he was formerly the police chief of the city of por

ag's have -- a.g.'s have recused themselves at least eight times over the decades to avoid the appearance of buy yarks twice -- bias, twice under obama, five times under president bush, once under president clinton. to conclude, i want to show and ask unanimous consent to be put in the record an op-ed coauthored by then-senator sessions calling on attorney general loretta lynch to recuse herself in the matter of secretary clinton's e-mails. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. schumer: senator session ses -- right here -- called for loretta lynch -- then attorney general -- to recuse herself because of a conflict of interest under the very same guidelines that we cited. we hope, madam president -- we pray, madam president -- that senator sessions doesn't have an enormous double standard by refusing to recuse himself now when he asked the previous attorney general to do so. we hope that president trump will abide by the guidelines, encourage senator sessions to go by the guidelines and not again

confirmation full senate vote should be happening in just a little while for who could be the next a.g. in this country, senator jeff sessions. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you so much for being with me. let's go to jake tapper, "the lead" starts now. >> thanks, brooke. i guess we know one department store where the president will not be shopping for valentine's day. "the lead" starts right now. president trump throwing more jabs at judges, saying a high school kid could figure it out as they deliberate whether his travel ban should remain on the shelf. >>> a critic who spoke out against vladimir putin and ended up in the hospital possibly poisoned for a second time is now said to be at death's door. today his wife is pointing her finger right at the kremlin. >>> plus president trump blasting nordstrom's for dropping his daughter ivanka's clothing label. is he

you. [ cheers and applause ] [ cheers and applause ] >>> here in wyoming we are enriched by our great a.g., tourism and of course minstrels. we know for the state to be strong we need a great university. a great university starts with great leadership and we have a great leader in laurie nichols, uw's 26th president. she started in may, 2016. she came at a challenging time, it's hard enough to be a university president, let alone during a time of budget cuts, it's great to have her at the helm. we are proud of the new facili y facilities at the university of wisconsin which will strengthen them as a leader of education, technology. we're proud of the athletic achievements at uw. speaking of which, how about that cowboy football team? [ cheers and applause ] they gave us great memories and we appreciate that and we thank you for your leadership at a critical time and thank you for being here today. please stand so we may recognize you and the university of wyoming. [ applause ] we are keeping in the competitive edge and that's a wise thing to do at all times, especially during a time of co

i would like to be able to talk to the a.g., who was fired, and know what was happening weeks and weeks ago, i would like to know what those conversations. >> they can do it today. >> exactly. so why don't they? >> they have. the congress already has. you should read -- brooke, help me out here. >> we have a president who has given us a moral equivalency. >> stop. >> no, don't tell me to stop. >> please, anna. >> you're the one yelling at me. i think you're little -- >> you're talking to the wrong girl, matt. you can say stop to somebody else, you're not going to stop me, baby. >> let's talk about the facts. congress has the ability to have those hearings at any time. have you not listened to what senator johnson has said senator blunt has said, they agree there are real issues that congress needs to have hearings on, and i think they're being responsible in asking for them. >> great then you and i are in unison we should have a select committee to investigate the russians. >> hey, happy valentines day. >> happy valentines day, thank you both so much. >> breaking news, russia appears to

when the acting a.g. informed white house councisel, they lood into it. >> the evolving and eroding level of trust in this situation and a questionable incidences is what led for the president to ask for general flynn's resignation. this was an act of trust. whether or not he actually misled the vice president was the issue. >> press secretary sean spicer says the white house counsel looked into the matter and found no legal violations involving flynn. >> those words from sean spicer have not been enough to calm lawmakers on both sides who are demanding more answers the democrats in the house and senate along with some republicans are calling for a further investigation into who knew what and when. chris lawrence is here with that part of our story. >> no surprise that the democrats want to take a closer look, some of them even saying general flynn should come to capitol hill and testify. two democrats from our area say it's not just about the discussions with the ambassador but part of a broader look int

. >> so, sean spicer told a.g. you're mean. >> what's he supposed to say?hose guys work for trump, the office of the president and they're going to say what they need to say. >> with me now chris a thompson, host with extra. it's nice to finally hear from alec baldwin. he hasn't said anything publicly. we tune in and see how he pulls this off. what else did he share with his wife? >> yeah, we sent in our secret weapon, the woman who knows him best. she's great and does a bunch of stuff for us and she was kind enough to do that. you know what, he said basically a lot of the same stuff that you just heard right there, that it's not fun playing him, that he's tense and he's angry. but he said that, you know, people want to laugh right now and they are upset and the other thing he said is that it's weird about the stuff that they're doing. they're just repeating back what he's saying. so, doing this is kind of strange, but it's even more strange that it's real life and i think, you know, that's why it's resonating with a bunch of people as you mentioned, he's m

the a.g. refused. >> neil: right. >> went to court, trying to case.ized that case was going to blow up in front of them. they had very little -- >> neil: also something that is weird, the martin affect. unless prosecutors prove civil fraud without showing intent. prosecutors could go after you and simple accounting and accuracy can be deemed -- >> that's right. >> neil: that's what you acknowledge an inaccuracy in two accounting areas, right? >> it wasn't an accounting error on our party. the information was withheld. >> neil: you took the bullet from that. you have a defamation suit going against spitzer. >> yes. >> neil: what do you hope to do there? >> hope to have them pay for the defamation of character that he had been talking about publicly. >> neil: how much? >> i forget the numb. david -- >> neil: more than the nine million. >> i would think so. >> neil: okay. you know that whole period when we go back to that was sort of like the incenter that when aig was rescued, $185 billion, you argue that would have been totally unnecessary had you stil

the center for media and democracy filed nine open records requests with the a.g.'s office beginning in january 2015, probably the largest request we have is communication e-mails, phone calls, and scheduling related to the involvement with various energy companies as well as his involvement with the republican attorney genera generals associ, attorney blake lawrence said. the group alleges that pruitt received nearly $350,000 in campaign contributions from the fossil fuel industry. they want his dealings with those in the industry public and soon. just last week our office contacted the center for media and democracy to notify them that release of their request was imminent. the fact that they have now filed suit despite our ongoing communication demonstrates that this is nothing more than political theater, a.g. spokesman lincoln ferguson said in a statement. according to the hill newspaper here in washington, democrats asked pruitt for the documents as part of his confirmation hearing, but he declined instead. he told them to file public records requests themselv

sessions new role requires them to be far more politically agnostic to the new a.g. has plenty of challenges ahead as the law enforcement immigration holdover from the eric holder and loretta lynch justice department have yet to be settled. i would like to give our nation's top attorney a little at ice. let the drug war go. it failed. it was deadly and expensive and as a result of decades of misguided policy the united states has more people in cages than they do in china and europe combined almost subjectively criminal. through votes over the air sessions has shown a fervent desire to continue to the drug war and this is concerning not only for civil libertarians are required equal application of the law but also for people in the 29 states who voted time and time again to legalize medical or recreational marijuana. sessions seize marijuana as a drug in a disruptive force instead of last year good people don't smoke marijuana. you are right sir, good people consume edibles which is a far classier way to enjoy their preferred plan. blank eyed statement sent to rather

the a.g. actually appoints the individual. has unfetterred authority that is akin to the attorney general himself. but here you have a real problem. a lot of this involves classified information, national security data and so forth. which a special prosecutor doesn't have clearance for that. who is better equipped for that? probably the intelligence committees themselves. they do have national security clearance. you know, it's way too early at this juncture, it seems to me, for a special prosecutor to be named. jeff sessions would want to be able to have a conversation with the intelligence chairman and find out what they have and determine for himself and seems to be an honor and honorable man whether it merits a special prosecutor. let's say you get a special prosecutor and you have an indictment. then the problem of a sixth amendment and a public trial, which is a requirement. with all that classified information, you couldn't have it. >> neil: well-said. thanks, gregg. have a feeling we're not done with this drama. >> not

i agree with a.g. cuccinelli. it was absurd. >> the defendants in that case, the one who, there's only one who's still alive, i've interviewed those people. they did not recant their testimony. >> the son of one of the defendants came out and defended jeff sessions and said he wasn't a racist. and to kayleigh's point. there was, i can't think of his name, but he did go back and say maybe it wasn't him. the guy had a history of making statements that weren't necessarily true. and people took that and ran with it in '86. >> those are all old charges. you know, kayleigh points to a more more recent record of jeff sessions, so is it really fair for senator warren -- >> what she was doing was reading a letter from coretta scott king, who herself is the recipient of the congressional gold medal. one of the highest medals congress can award. i presume senator sessions voted for that. i would expect he did. this is an icon who's no longer here. she wrote a letter strongly opposing sessions for the judgeship that jeffrey w

warren took to the senate floor to express her opposition to the nomination of jeff sessions to be a.gd she decided to wield i think what most people would agree is the most devastating rhetorical weapon she had at her disposal, she had that same letter from the widow of dr. martin luther king making the case against jeff sessions 30 years ago which democrats say is the same case which could be made against him now. result of that, as a result of elizabeth warren quoting coretta scott king, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell moved to cut her off, to end her speech due to a breach of senate rules. >> they are -- >> majority leader? >> mr. president, the senator has impugned the motives and conduct of our colleague from alabama as warned by the chair. i call the senator to order under the provisions of rule 19. >> mr. president? >> senator from massachusetts. >> mr. president, i am surprised that the words of coretta scott king are not suitable for debate in the united states senate. i ask leave of the senate to continue my remarks. >> is there objection? >> i object. >> i appeal the

the bottom line is, we have an outstanding office here in the a.g.'s office. we're not used to the limelight like this but we're proud to have been able to play this role. just briefly about the opinion, it is, as the attorney general said, a complete victory. it upholds the district court's injunction in every respect and we couldn't be more pleased with how careful and thoughtful the opinion is. the judges did their jobs carefully and we appreciate their work and are thankful for the attention that they gave to this case. that's all i'm going to say for now. i'll turn it over to colleen. >> we've been listening in live where officials in washington state have been reacting to the ninth circuit court of appeals here in san francisco, upholding the washington judge's suspension of president trump's travel ban. we'll continue to follow this and bring you the latest in what happens now as we continue this newscast. >>> let's move on for the moment. a controversial cabinet nominee has been sworn in. the president is dealing with the ethics issues swirling around

they're hosting the public workshop tonight from 4:30 to 7:30 at a.g. waters middle school. the intersection in question is at cedar lane and marl pit roads. >>> we're learning why the power went out during a high school basketball championship game in berks county. this is the scene in reading. crews say an underground cable failure caused the 90-minute power outage. now, it came back on around 10:00 and they were able to finish the game. >>> this afternoon in california fire crews rescued five people stranded in dangerous flooding near the bay area. >> want to show you this video right here. half of california under flood, wind and snow advisories. this is an area that at one point was dealing with major drought concerns, but officials at a nearby dam also just opened the spillway for the first time in years. >>> and hundreds in central california out of their homes after a levee breach. officials say 350 homes were impacted by the mandatory evacuation. that breach was halted hours later, but officials kept the evacuations in place. >>> to our weather now and sun trying to

let the a.g. take it from here. the attorney general wrote a letter to the legislature, november 3rd. this said it would be, quote, prudent and beneficial to delay the work of the house judiciary committee, quote, i respectfully request that the committee cease active interviews and investigation until i am able to report to you that the necessary related work of my office has been completed. letter dated november 3rd. five days later, donald trump won the presidential election. today alabama senator jeff sessions was sworn in as the country's attorney general. and back in alabama, governor bentley got to announce who he would pick to replace jeff sessions as alabama's senator. want to guess who he picked? it's too easy. obviously, he picked the attorney general, luther strange. the guy who put the kibosh on the investigation in the legislature because of his own related investigation. today he jetted to washington to be sworn in as the newest u.s. senator. today in alabama greeted with headlines like these. robert

he surveyed the wreckage that led to the previous a.g. having to resign and michael mukasey decided to put back in place those old rules. those old post-watergate rules. so starting in 2007 the white house went back to the old post-watergate rules. they reestablished the principle in the white house can't just get in on fbi and justice department investigations willy-nilly anymore. they reinstated that old strict limitation that only those top four people, the president, the vice president, president's counsel and that counsel's deputy, those four people only can make a call to the justice department about an ongoing investigation. they made carveouts for national security and stuff but in general they reinstated that rule because of the scandal that they had only just barely survived and that some prominent members of the george w. bush administration did not survive. but i think it's fair to say they also reinstated that rule because it was plainly the right thing to do. it's such a serious thing. it's such a fundamental thing in terms

walk us through how and why sally yates, a national security official before she became acting a.g. inform the white house about this and who did she consult onhether she should even do it? >> you have flynn and the fbi and the fbi is monitoring kislyak. they write an intelligent report based on the transcript and that finds its way to yates. when news breaks that there are these calls, it later in january, mid january, you know, that's when pence, the vice president-elect at that point, goes public and he defends flynn and makes a statement that yates and other intelligence officials who had read this intelligence report roar knew to be untrue, which is pence said that flynn had told him he did not discuss the sanctions in they know that the russian ambassador, kislyak, he reports to moscow on his conversations. so moscow knew what pence was saying was not accurate. so yates and for that matter the director of the national intelligence, james clapper and james brennan, the cia director, they were about to leave the administration. this was a concern that the russians could basicall

we just learned that attorneys general from maryland, d.c., and virginia have joined 13 other state a.grt the federal lawsuit against the president's executive order. there has been a lot of back and forth this weekend regarding that order that carries into the day today. ultimately creating a window for travelers from the seven countries affected by the executive order to get in the u.s. today at airports across the country, it sparks emotional reunion. it started friday when a judge put executive order on president tweeting i can't believe a judge would put our country in such peril. if something happens, blame him and the court system. people pouring in, bad. now a panel of judges is expected to review the issue today. that is after an appeals court denied the administration request for emergency ruling that would have put the order back in place. attorney general pointing out that the order created confusion and fear. chief political correspondent scott thuman picks up the team coverage to try and clear it up. scott: the fight full of controversy but not always clarity. as the white

any response from the a.g. or doj. >> at this point, we haven't seen a response. but it's something the democrats want to make sure that they're focused on. they want to focus as much as possible on potential conflicts of interest across the trump administration and this plays into that. >> we also had another big announcement today, the pick for labor secretary has withdrawn. what are the reasons behind that, and what does it have to do with oprah? >> it's an unusual situation that we are talking about oprah winfrey up here on capitol hill, but that is part of the story today. mr. puzder withdrawing his nomination to be labor secretary after there was increasing private opposition fr hill. it was looking as though his nomination was not going to pass the full senate when it came to a vote. and that was driven by concerns about mr. puzder's personal life, as well as his hiring of an undocumented worker. but a big part of it was this video from the oprah winfrey show, decades doing, in 1990 where its ex-wife alleged domestic abuse. she later recanted those allegati

. >> i will way to lose a republican is jeff sessions getting confirmed for a.g. >> interesting.o you think that they play dominoes like that on the hill? >> blocking democrats right now, why don't you just go ahead and confirm jeff sessions if he is so important. then he won't have that extra vote in the senate. >> it does not seem like they are picking their battles right here. it's everyone. >> i do not pretend to understand what democrats are doing right now, but it is amazing to me that every nominee for anything at the end of the world. they are all hitler, although worst choices ever come about betsy devos is being attacked for being successful and coming from a wealthy family. a steven mnuchin is being attacked for being successful. i will give the trump administration all day long, it's good to have people in positions of power that know how business works especially when it comes to things like the like the department of education and secretary of the treasury. but the narrative of the threat of surrounding these people. they are not even giving them a chance. they are

as if it's from the a.g.'s office in oklahoma. that's context. what did this federal judge say today? he said -- he or she said. i'm sorry, i don't know the judge's said. an oklahoma county district court judge said that, according to the oklahoma open records act -- excuse me, aleash ya tenes instructed pruitt's office to hand over the e-mails by close of business next tuesday. so here we are trying to jam through this nomination and now it makes perfect sense why they wanted to run the clock. they had congressional delegation trips to munich for the security conference. there were republicans planning to meet with nato allies. there was another overseas trip of great import and yet they abandoned all other obligations, all other objectives, and they are bound and determined to run this clock until 1:00 p.m. tomorrow because they need to vote before these e-mails become disclosed. tuesday is when we see these e-mails. tuesday is when we see these e-mails. and yet we seem to be in a race to get this vote done tomorrow at 1:00. something feels wro

officials confirming to nbc news that the acting a.g., who's, of course, fired last month had actually informed the trump white house late last month that she believes michael flynn was subject to blackmail by russia. that was a stunning revelation. and ultimately the pressure just became too much and so tonight the revelation mat michael flynn did resign late this evening. now, he is going to be replaced in the interim by general heath kellogg who is, of course, recently served as national security counsel chief of staff. other people in the running to replace flynn are retired general david petraeus, as well as former vice admiral bob harward. he's a protege of mattis. mattis is someone president trump has spoken so highly of from the very beginning even when he was interviewing him for the position that he currently holds. so i would look very closely at bob harword. this is a decision that's under way and a major shakeup at the white house. >> thank you very much, kristen welker, we apologize for losing you for a moment. we made up for it in your reporting. kristen welker having wo

you have somebody like the acting a.g. who carries some weight.r, people don't realize that the government is fungible. it's not just sally yates. it has to be a collective force. it's one of the reasons that the courts have to have uniformity. you can't have the lawyers arguing it's not violating equal protection and the courts saying we agree and the other courts not holding any weight. this is directvly coming from the coop fusion with the rollout of this program. the absence of uniformity and the way to enforce it has taken a toll on the courts and they're stepping up to the plate. >> douglas brinkley, people are excited, this was similar to the '90s, newt gingrich and is that a fair comparison? >> no. what this reminds me of is 1952 when president harry truman tried to interfere with steelworkers strike. steel mill strike and he signed an executive order saying that the federal government could take over the steel mills. you had youngstown sheet and tubing company versus truman and truman's executive order was deemed invalid. since 1952, pres

officials confirming to nbc news that the acting a.g., who's, of course, fired last month had actually informed the trump white house late last month that she believes michael flynn was subject to blackmail by russia. that was a stunning revelation. and ultimately the pressure just became too much and so tonight the revelation mat michael flynn did resign late this evening. now, he is going to be replaced in the interim by general heath kellogg who is, of course, recently served as national security counsel chief of staff. other people in the running to replace flynn are retired general david petraeus, as well as former vice admiral bob harword. he's a protege of matti s. mattis is someone president trump has spoken so highly of from the very beginning even when he was interviewing him for the position that he currently holds. so i would look very closely at bob harword t. this is a decision that's under way and a major shakeup at the white house. >> thank you very much, kristen welker, we apologize for losing you for a moment. we made up for it in your reporting. kristen welker having

confirmation full senate vote should be happening in just a little while for who could be the next a.g. in this country, senator jeff sessions. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you so much for being with me. let's go to jake tapper, "the lead" starts now. >> thanks, brooke. i guess we know one department store where the president will not be shopping for valentine's day. "the lead" starts right now. president trump throwing more jabs at judges, saying a high school kid could figure it out as they deliberate whether his travel ban should remain on the shelf. >>> a critic who spoke out against vladimir putin and ended up in the hospital possibly poisoned for a second time is now said to be at death's door. today his wife is pointing her finger right at the kremlin. >>> plus president trump blasting nordstrom's for dropping his daughter ivanka's clothing label. is he making his make parenting great again hat or is he using the bully pulpit inappropriately to seek revenge on behalf of his daughter? welcome to "the lead," everyone. jake tapper. in the field of psychology, it's known as m asl ow's