bob cusack as editor-in-chief at the hill newspaper, bob, a decade ago, congress passed a resolution, a law, really on a new wall along the southern border, there was even money appropriated for it. what happened? >> what is interesting is the secure fence act 2006 which was supported at the time by barack obama and hillary clinton did pass congress, was signed into law by george w. bush. the project, though, was never fully completed, and that has obviously given rise to donald trump's efforts to build a wall, not a fence as he had said over the last couple months. this is the big question, though, how are they going to do it? are they going to do it through appropriating money? at that lead to a government shutdown if democrats balked, are they going to pass a new law? those things are still up in the air and homeland security chairman mike mccall said there are some different ways to do this but without a doubt, republicans are going to move forward on this pair they are fairly united on it. >> jon: fox news alert now, stand by with us if you would, bob. sean spicer is holding his

bob cusack is editor and chief for "the hill". b, what do you make of this from a mitt cal standpoint, why donald trump would tweet something out saying maybe it's better than the mexican president does cancel the meeting if he's not going to agree to pay for the wall. >> as you mentioned, there were rumors he was going to cancel. so i think donald trump is all about negotiation strength amend i think he wants to get out ahead of this, that if the mexican president who has been suffering from dismal approval ratings in his own country does cancel it, then trump can say, well, i propose that he cancel it. it's fascinating to say, with respect to what he's saying about nafta, most republicans supported the tpp which he withdrew from. this is trul saying i'm in charge of the agenda. the republicans have an aggressive and en da, tax reform, replacing obamacare, transportation. this is going to be difficult to do. if they're fighting, it's going to be almost impossible to do. that brin >> that brings me to my next question to you, karen

back with me now john brabender, bob cusack and kevin madden.the first time the republicans have had the white house, the senate, they have a fairly new president. it's going to be easy for them to get things passed. as you know, there's often a political price to pay with that. are republicans concerned. >> they are aligned on a number of big issues they won on. repealing obamacare is one of them. putting greater emphasis on border security is another. i think there's other issues out there, a number of issues is tax reform. people believe that the current tax code we have right now is too far complex and it's outdated. so i think those are some of the top priorities that the trump administration and the republicans in congress will focus on right away. >> obamacare and tax reform are big issues especially health care. >> if you look at it historically, you have to move on big items like this in the first 100 to 200-days because pretty soon, everybody starts looking at their election and polling flubs, not as interested in making hard decisions

national reporter for "the new york times" and bob cusack, editor in chief at the hill. good to see you both. >> hi. >> bob, i'll start with you here, when you hear from administration officials earlier today and yesterday, you'd think it's working as planned, but what are you gathering from behind the scenes? is there any concern by these groups and the president that this may have been mishandled? >> i think there's got to be some concern because more and more republicans are criticizing the white house on this is that there's a lot of confusion. protests, i don't think, deter this administration at all, actually. i think they kind of thrive on them, but overall the confusion of implementing this policy, we are counting about a dozen republicans who have been critical of it and want to put the brakes on it. the criticism has want come from republican leaders, necessarily paul ryan and mitch mcconnell, but when you have a party that's fractured on any issue, that's got to be of concern. alex, i've never heard of protests at airports and that's very unusual. i've never se

let's talk about with me just heard, bob cusack, and paul singer. okay, we have a lot to digest. let's start with this executive order that mr. trump issued on friday temporarily banning refugees and other immigrants coming from these seven largely muslim nations. you heard what he said, he's sticking by it. doesn't regret it. he blamed it on the democrats. he said that, you know, had they moved quicker to confirm his secretary of state, maybe things would have gone smoother. he called chuck schumer a fake cryer. bob, what do you make of it? >> it's donald trump, the president, going on offense. this is what he campaigned on. it is interesting that in the wake of the uproar that he moved his supreme court pick up a couple of days. i think they want the headlines to have a different type of feel. they want to move on from this. but without a doubt, he's sticking by this. and it's upset some republicans on capitol hill, he's using some political capital. this is what the trump white house is going to do, throw a lot of news at the same time. >> well, he's also going to sign another

i am joined by msnbc contributor and bob cusack, editor in chief at the hill. hi, guys.d to see you. >> hello. >> jamie, i want to get your view with john lewis, were you expecting a different response? this is the eve of mlk day. >> i think john lewis knew what kind of response he would get from donald trump. and donald trump walked right into his trap. it's not an accident that the most rer cil rights leades of his generation who isll living is having a fight with donald trump the day before martin luther king day. this is reminiscent of the way that democrats bated trump in picking a fight with the khan family. it's reminiscent of him picking a fight with alicia machado and former beauty contestant and they got what they wanted from donald trump which was an outlandish response. >> they're not going to attend the inauguration as a result of trump's comments to congress lewis. republican senators have for trump's ongoing and combative nature. he's taking on one of the most respected colleagues and someone they have to work with, too. >> yeah. some republican senators a

bob cusack, editor in chief of the hill newspaper. tamara keith, npr's white house correspondent.ter with bloomberg. let's get going on this. let me go to the former president -- current, he's not former yet. don't rescue them. don't give them a helping hand if they're screwing up the legislation or don't help get anything done? >> i think don't help them at all. oppose them at every turn democr. democrats i talk to feel like, hey, the politics could change here because they actually have to make law. not just oppose. they've got to repeal and then replace and they don't really have a replacement plan. >> that could be a problem. what's the delay going to be between the time they kill this baby in its crib and the people who are diabetics like me sitting around when they don't have any medical care, don't have the pharmaceuticals or insulin, what's going to happen here? >> it's not entirely clear because the mechanisms aren't all set up yet. >> if you're a person, you want it to be clear. >> absolutely you want it to be clear. i think there's some disagreement among republicans ab

bob cusack, "the hill" editor-in-chief. s is the briefing room they were talking about the pool it used to be, not talking pool of reporters, but a physical pool of water. that is not not cards. they crammed 49 seats plus for question and answer. how do you think it will go? >> i think it depends on what spicer does. he will have to move on from the crowd size controversy. that got him to a rocky start. talk about the tpp, obamacare appeal, executive orders. sean is very smart and likes to mix it up with the press, going after buzzfeed, fine you win that fight. when you're fighting with all the press, i think the press will be combative today, i think it would be smart for him to maybe have a joke at the beginning, and move on and talk about policy. neil: we could second-guess that statement about crowd sizes and all from saturday but he is going to be asked about it, how do you think he is going to answer it? >> i think it would be wise for them to say listen, we said what we said and we'll leave it at that and not talk abo

top advisers, one of our long-timeoi advisers as well joins us our uu good friend of the show bob sw b cusack? we've done this many, man, times here in washington,sh d.c. -- not many, we're not that old. old. >> right. >> number of times here in washington. what are you taking away so far fulber is peace transou tition oakfit power compared to others? >> well, this one you hear the h word over and over from bothm bt republicans and democrats iss surreal. su we did not -- all the pundants basically thought hillary clinton would be the one o inaugurated into office today.i you saw kellyannet conway theree it's her 50th birthday today.y d quite a birthday for kellyannely conway. i just think this is such a stunning turn of events, and a donald trump is going to change this town.own. will it be successful, i don'tfu know. there are a lot of democrats and some establishment republicansls who are kind of bracing and fearing for the trump presidency because as we have seen this hih twitter account he can go afterr anybody, major corporations,orpn democrats, republicans and hensd has shown in his pre