david ignatius weighs in on that ahead. "morning joe" is coming right back.u have access to in-depth analysis, level 2 data, and a team of experienced traders ready to help you if you need it. ♪ ♪ it's like having the power of a trading floor, wherever you are. it's your trade. ♪ ♪ e*trade. ♪ ♪ start trading today at etrade.com are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec® it's starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. what's the story behind green mountain coffee and fair trade? let's take a flight to colombia. this is boris calvo. boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm and invest in his community to make even better coffee. all for a smoother tasting cup. green mountain coffee. >>> welcome back, multiple senior officials tell nbc news america is prepared to launch a preemptive strike if it believes north korean leader kim jong-un will launch a nuclear weapons test. tactics could include cyb

david ignatius, you were talking about the timing before.it's a very measured attack but, more importantly, the timeliness of it. they moved quickly. >> this chemical weapons happened tuesday. by thursday night 59 cruise missiles were fired from two war ships in the eastern mediterranean. >> there you go. >> taking out the air field where the weapons were launched. decisive use of american power. i hate to say it but it's like what russia did when it intervened in september 2015. it shows that power can be used quickly and decisively. general mattis, secretary of defense, is of all the four stars in the pentagon the person who was most consistently recommending do it, sir. do it. move with enough troops. get it done. he said that in tora bora, in fallujah and now said it in dealing with this problem. >> let's bring in secretary of defense william cohen. was this the right move and how would you advise the president on what to expect next? >> it certainly was the right move. the question is, it's good that xi jinping is in florida with the pr

they're obviously connected. >> david ignatius?on is now where it belongs, before the house and senate intelligence committees. what we know is that president trump's allegation that president obama illegally wiretapped him is false. there's this other issue, which will be explored. the point roju made is the final key point. at the time that these events were happening, our intelligence agencies were reporting a massive russian effort to interfere in the u.s. presidential election. and what was going on? if you're a national security adviser, part of your job is to figure out what's going on. what's happening here. we don't know what she did or whether it was proper, how much of it. but that was the context, something we haven't seen before. and it's not surprising to me that people in the white house and across the government were worried. >> the other big news story this morning, nbc news has confirmed blackwater founder, eric prince, represented donald trump at a secret overseas meeting convened by the united arab emirates in j

the thing is, david ignatius, the fact that you could very easily get this information. you're acting like this is the most difficult request put forward by an oversight committee makes you look guilty. i don't think they're guilty on this. that's my gut. i think flynn showed an extraordinary amount of bad judgment, it's kind of like they lie about every contact they've ever had with russians and then you find out later that they met with russians and you wonder, why do they keep lying about things or obstructing on things that really have reasonable explanations if they would come forward in the beginning? >> i have the same question, joe. it's as if they feel one breach of the dam and the entire inundation will come in on top of them. you have to choose when to fight your fights if you're in the situation the white house is in. they're facing months of investigation from two congressional committees, from the fbi. you have to decide what are you going to fight here. they've already made the decision to let flynn go. he's on his own. he's got legal counsel, fighting thi

ignatius who founded the jesuits saw god in all things and all people if he lost to george mcgovern -- he was crushed -- the next day was an opportunity to see god and the next experience. and i got that sense from my mom as well, that not every day was happy. there's a difference between joy and happiness. think this pope, pope francis, has joy in his life, and his completely free and i think that sense of freedom, not attached to anything to use the ignatius concept of disordered attachment. he is not attached to anything and that sense of joy any mom and dad and i see'll n him is the reason i jumpedded in and did the pilgrimage so that's a long answer to your question but the since of catholicism that my mother and father lived and breathed every day and enjoyed every day, i'm trying to get that in my life every day as well. >> let's talk about his jesuit tradition. you talk in the book about the features of the order of jesuits and how do they -- talk about how they impact the pope as being the pope -- you messengered the first jesuit peep we have had. >> a really important part o

i agree with david ignatius.he views of donald trump at least in the white house foreign policy that differ from what we heard on the campaign trail. started off as president -- >> now ignatius said moving towards china in a way we can deal with china. they are all talking pretty tough on russia. >> yes. what a change. what a dramatic change in such a short period of time. think a week ago, about a week ago, here is secretary of state tillerson saying let the syrian people decide if assad has a future. within seven days we're attacking them. so there is a transition taking place. you have identified jared kushner as one of the elements of the transition. i think that's true from what i've heard. it's an indication they are moving toward what used to be the center stripe, mainstream foreign policy. >> gentlemen, obviously general mcmaster, general mattis obviously having really -- >> joe, i voted for more generals than i ever dreamed i would as a kid growing up in the '60s. >> isn't it funny, i say this to mike al

you brought up michael flynn's name being leaked to david ignatius. that's what we need to think about here. that's just not a normal leak, that was the use of surveillance intelligence for political purposes. they leaked the name to flynn, i mean they leaked the name to ignatius, together with a lie that flynn was engaged in illicit negotiations with the russians, and this wasn't true, so they mischaracterized the nature of the information they received. there's supposed to be a firewall between the national security administration and our domestic politics and possibly susan rice ran a truck through the firewall. we need to investigate this seriously and find out exactly what happened. >> juliette, what do you make of that? do you believe that? >> no, i mean, look, the law recognizes that senior national security officials will seek to unmask it. there's a series of rules, and presuming there's a fisa wiretap itself was authorized by a fisa court. this would be a story if it wasn't susan rice, that asked for it but president obama's chief of staff o

somebody in the white house or a senior administration official, according to ignatius told him abouthose conversations with kisdiskisskissly ache. that is patently political motive for that leak. >> dana: what about today, julie when susan rice speaks to andrea mitchell ate msnbc, she said well, look, this was well within my job. but, yet, just two weeks ago she said she didn't know anything about the unmasking. how does she square that circle? >> well, it could be potentially part of her job, dana, if, in fact, we have one administration at a time you know this, you worked in one. and even during a transition period, if somebody is undermining it existing foreign policy, especially on, for example, sanctions, in the obama administration as they did, place sanctions on the russians and then somebody was speaking to the russians from the trump transition about don't worry about it, once we're in we're going to address those sanctions and make sure they are not in place or in some other way, that becomes problematic because, as you know, we have one foreign policy at a time regardless

he wears a tie. >> thank you, david ignatius, indira and howard.we return, let me finish with trump watch. he ain't going to like it. you're watching "hardball." maybe he will tonight. professional. would you trust me as your financial advisor? -i would. -i would indeed. well, let's be clear, here. i'm actually a deejay. ♪ [ laughing ] no way! i have no financial experience at all. that really is you? if they're not a cfp pro, you just don't know. find a certified financial planner professional who's thoroughly vetted at letsmakeaplan.org. cfp. work with the highest standard. my belly pain i could build a small city with all the over-the-counter products i've used. enough! i've tried enough laxatives to cover the eastern seaboard. i've climbed a mount everest of fiber. probiotics? enough! (avo) if you've had enough, tell your doctor what you've tried and how long you've been at it. linzess works differently from laxatives. linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. it can help relieve your belly pain, and lets you hav

. >> rose: we conclude with "washington post" columnist david ignatius and former diplomat nick burns now at the harvard kennedy school. >> look what happens today. rex tillerson went to moscow and said we're at the lowest point in our relationship with russia in memory. donald trump backed that up in the press concerns he had with the nato secretary general. they really took it to the russians and were extremely drit critical of what the russians had been doing in syria. rex tillerson brought it back to ukraine an crimea. he also said tillerson a couple of days ago that russian interference in our election is a problem. that i think is progress, and calling a spade a spade. >> all about syria, next. >> funding for charlie rose is provided by the >> rose: funding for "charlie rose" has been provided by the following: >> and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and information services worldwide. captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. >> rose: we tbin this evening with our focus on president trump's first 100 days in

trump administration's big week on the national security stageful joining me from washington, david ignatiusforeign affairs columnist if the "washington post." and nikola burns who served as secretary of state for political affairs under george bush. i'm pleased to have both of them back on this program. nick, you said this was a remarkable day in the foreign policy history of a president. nicolas: it could be, charlie. donald trump is so unpredictable but rex tillerson went to moscow and said we're at the lot ehlo -- lowest points we've been with russia in recent memory. they took the to the rush and were extremely critical of what the russians have been doing in syria. and rex tillerson brought it back rightly to crime yafment he said russian interference in our election was a problem. i also thought it have interesting to see donald trump, who for 1 months has been railing against nato saying it's obsolete and you'll forgive me, i'm a former ambassador to nato and today he said nato is no longer obsolete. he said nato used to not be fighting terrorism and now they are. nato wasn't spendin

>> among our guests is nbc's tom brokaw and "the washington post's" david ignatius.ents away. when coughing keeps your family awake. breathe easier with vicks vaporub. soothing cough relief that starts working instantly. i'm proud to make dog chow in (vodavenport, iowa.an. dog chow's been a part of my family's life for over 40 years. my grandfather made it and now i'm making it. as a micro-biologist i ensure that dog chow leads with high quality ingredients. >>> before we toss it over to "morning joe," we'll bring you a check of the stories in the day ahead. >> president trump juggles a full plate of foreign policy issues. nbc's kristen welker has more from the white house. >> reporter: good morning to you. president trump is in mara lago for the easter weekend. this week offered the most detailed preview so far of what is known as the trump doctrine. remember, mr. trump campaigned as a hawkish pro military candidate, promising to vanquish isis. his foreign policy successes so far outweigh his domestic agenda which has been on the rock from health care. in an intervi

" we'll dig into the north korean nuclear council with richard haass and "washington post" david ignatiusing and tom perez, busy "morning joe" on the way. hey allergy muddlers are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec® it's starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. ito become dangerous.d for an everyday item new tide pods child guard pack. helps keep your laundry pacs safe and your child safer. align, press and unzip. what's the story behind green mountain coffee and fair trade? let's take a flight to colombia. this is boris calvo. boris grows mind-blowing coffee. and because we pay him a fair price, he improves his farm and invest in his community to make even better coffee. all for a smoother tasting cup. green mountain coffee. xfini'll get my coat.ek is back. meaning you can catch up on all the moments you might have missed. you seriously can't tell the difference between a bird and a plane? like that time gwen and blake got a little too flirty. that's so inappropria

america katty kay, and in washington columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" david ignatius

joining me from washington, david ignatius. foreign affairs columnist for the "washington post." from boston nicholas burns who , served as secretary of state for political affairs under george w. bush. i'm pleased to have both of them back on this program. nick, you said this was a remarkable day in the foreign policy history of a president. nicolas: it could be, charlie. donald trump is so predictable. rex tillerson went to moscow and said we're at the lowest point with russia in memory. donald trump a back that up. and they really took it to the russians and were extremely critical of what the russians had been doing in syria. rex tillerson brought it back, rightly to ukraine and crimea. tillerson ofto that russian interference in our election was a problem. that is progress. this relationship is at a low point in the russians are trying to undercut the united states. i also thought it was interesting to see, donald trump, who for 18 months has been railing against nato saying it's obsolete and you'll forgive me, i'm a forme

beginning of the process, the key question is how did the unmasked identities get leaked to david ignatius? susan rice says she did not leak it. may be. i'm willing to take her at her work, but then let's get to the bottom of who did. that could be a criminal investigation. >> jon: we know the obama administration was taking steps to break down the barriers between intelligence agencies so that a lot of information would have a freer flow, right? >> there is a great question, when the scandal began? when did this dissemination of information on which the scandal is based began? my colleague has a fantastic piece in "tablet" magazine suggesting that with some very compelling argument that the obama administration perfected this technique of collecting information on american citizens and on members of congress while fighting the iran deal. so we are going all the way back to 2015. >> jon: to what purpose? >> in order to -- in order to message against, to fight the domestic american supporters of israel who were against the iran deal. so for instance, if you have the israeli ambassador talk

david ignatius is the column fi tel graham to the broadcast.ntributor to the weekly an chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." michael, i'll start with you. not just because your name is michael, but we'll start with michael flynn. michael flynn said he wanted protection from various investigations into the trump campaign. critics think this is big deal. where do you see it? >> i think it's a big deal for michael flynn. now that we have new revelations about the money he was taking from other international sources and talk about kidnapping someone, it's like a bad b action movie. he has a lot of i think risk for himself. it can have absolutely nothing to do with the russian investigation. it could be the best thing that could have happened for trump would be to get mike flynn out early in this first part of the investigation and see where it goes from there. >> dickerson: if you wanted to talk to one person if there was a connection to the investigation, you would want to michael flynn? >> i think michael flynn is a crucial wi

some analysis on what is going on in the world we are joined by "washington post" columnist david ignatius p we want to welcome david nakamura white house reporter for the "washington post" to the broadcast and rob written wright is a joint fellow at the u.s. institute for peace in the wilson center and a contributor to "the new yorker". jamelle bouie is a cbs news political analyst and slate sheet chief's political correspondent. david i want to start with you, what kind ofest is is north korea for donald trump. >> donald trump, i think has decided right from the beginning of his administration this was the first big challenge, there are two things that strike me, the first is that the administration led by the president has decided now is the time to deal with north korea's rapidly advancing military threat. now before they have a nuclear tipped missile they can point to the united states. the second and that obviously includes more discussion of military options than we are used to. second is to work closely with china and to make the concessions necessary to draw china in as a partner.

david ignatius writes trump has now taken a decisive step that obama resisted but he still faces a dilemma political change to a syria shattered by six years of civil war. former assistant secretary of state elliott abrams writes surely this new image of a president willing to act will affect their conversations about north korea. vladimir putin will think again about his relations with the united states and will realize that the obama years of passivity are truly over. evan horowitz of the boston globe says the next move depends not just on trump but also an assad. will he dare trump to commit american troops to a new war in the middle east? at this hour we're getting more information about a meeting ordered by president trump himself between top advisers steve bannon and jared kushner. nbc can confirm that trump chief of staff reince priebus was also present at the sitdown as bannon and kushner tried to bury the hatchet after weeks of reported infighting. joining me now, the washington examiner's gabby and politico's ben shreckinger. >> gabby, what do you make of this new tidbit that pri

can i read to you what david ignatius wrote in the "post." is making gains because he has assembled a competent national security team and listens to its advice. a consensus among the top advisers for a limited strike on an air base. he didn't amplify, augment or disrupt with his tweets. he allowed the process to work. >> i think the president is -- it's his decision. he should be accountable and know what's happening with it. >> good to see both of you. thank you for coming in. happy holidays. >> thank you. >> okay. >>> next -- sometimes seems weird to say happy holidays on good friday. an nbc news exclusive, a routine traffic stop turns ugly. police caught on camera beating a suspect even though he was already handcuffed. the man at the center of it all speaking exclusively to nbc. and breaking news on that ten-day long manhunt in wisconsin, all the details right after the break. managing blood sugar is not a marathon it's a series of smart choices. like using glucerna to replace one meal or snack a day. glucerna products have up to 15 gram

. >> coming up david ignatius says trump needs a dose of daily virtues.with former obama senior adviser valerie jarrett. it's her first interview since leaving the white house. at bp's cooper river plant, employees take safety personally - down to each piece of equipment, so they can protect their teammates and the surrounding wetlands, too. because safety is never being satisfied. and always working to be better. whoa,i just had to push one button to join. it's like i'm in the office with you, even though i'm here. it's almost like the virtual reality of business communications. no, it's reality. intuitive one touch video conferencing is a reality. and now it's included at no additional cost with vonage business. call now and see why 3,000 companies a month are switching to vonage. business grade. people friendly. it's my decision to make it's nbeauty last.ix. roc® retinol started visibly reducing my fine lines and wrinkles in one week. and the longer i use it, the better it works. retinol correxion® from roc methods, not miracles.™ >>> what's this thing

second, david ignatius, we're starting to squeeze syria in the east. the best assad is going to have is a bite at syria at the end. also, one final thought, mika, a lot of people are saying, gee, if russia knew ahead of time, trying to figure out exactly what was going on with this attack. as richard haass and everybody has always said, russian foreign policy since christmas day 1991 is about resentment, recentment of losing the cold war. you go into crimea, georgia, places where you're not going to have to have a slow of force. remember how humiliating it is for vladimir putin that his troops in syria have the united states we don't care if you're in syria or not, in fact, we're going to strike your client's state and you're going to do nothing about it. if you want to get your people out of the way, that's fine. if you don't, we're going to kill him. so why does he stay there when he knows he's got a guy like assad. this is not china and north korea. we can't strike north korea. we just can't. but we sure as hell have shown putin we can strike syria

david ignatius said, sometimes it's not a bad idea to put the chinese back on their heels. nothing to it. >> you don't want to be seen as slightly incompetent. >> you know what, though, i've got to say, when you're going up against the north koreans, i might be the only one that says this, when you're going up against the north koreans, just like about putin. putin is back on his heels right now for the first time in probably ten years. we struck him in syria when he thought that he had played donald trump. >> and how has he responded? >> how has he he responded? >> to support syria more strongly is how he's responded. >> i still don't think he's responded -- >> i doubt this was intentional. >> i don't think it was. >> what you're saying is this was a really strategic idea. >> i'm not saying that. i didn't say that, cokie. it's not a big deal. i'm saying, if it gets the north koreans guessing a little bit, that's an advantage. >> i think they're guessing a lot. >> the chinese, who know where our boats are are scratching their heads saying, do they know where their boats are

of the "the washington post" and said he was meeting with ignatius. support of a lie that flynn was in collusion, that trump was in collusion with the russians. and that was -- that lie was called to nullify the effect of an election. that's what we should be worried about. the use of national security secrets as a weapon in domestic politics. clayton: out of time up against satellite break. we appreciate you joining us. thanks, guys. >> thank you. clayton: coming up on the show, the white house says they are not concerned about michael flynn asking for immunity. trump's former campaign manager corey lewandowski is here to weigh in on that story and more. whoopee goldberg has a new name for president trump. >> this new guy does not appear to have any skin. >> sean spicer or the other guy. >> the new guy. >> oh. and i want. >> donald, trump. >> they know who i mean. >> i know. >> larry elder sounds off on that next. i hear you because my dad struggled with this pain. make sure your doctor hears you too. so folks, don't wait. step on up. and talk to you

people like our ins, ignatius, the early church fathers, you point to the importance of the period but so much was rooted in north africa. and christianity will survive the fall of the west. it's god's work, not the work of the west, and today, according to a 2011 report from the pew research center, christianity is true lay -- truly a global religion. le and about one in eight is found inspiration the pacific. the share of the population that is christian in subsaharan africa child from nine percent in 1910 to 6 % in 2010. so, they go on to say, christianity today unlike a century ago is a global faith. it's really important that as we talk bet benedict option, the crisis facing the united states and western culture, that we take care not to alienate that section of the u.s. population that is nose white. a growing proportion of that population which i think does not necessarily -- i'd like to give my kid this back to read but they would not warm to it because it's not written to a broad enough audience. i think that perhaps there's one strategy to be explored is to dry on the dynamic

. >> final question, there was a report in "the washington post," i think it was david ignatius, severaleeks ago. in essence, saying that the failures of the north korean launches are directly attributable to the u.s., is that anything that you want to talk about here? >> no, sir, it's not anything i want to talk about here. [laughter] >> ok. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >>> admiral harris, thank you for being here, as pacom commander, did you participate in authoring the 2016 force structure assessment? >> i participated in the run up to that. >> ok, the assessment called for 355 ship navy. in that regard i want to follow up on a line of questions and drill down on that. actually, what the fsa said is that in a perfect world unconstrained by the budget, the requirement is 653 ships fleet wide. but by accepting risk and understanding the financial restrictions that we have, the requirement is 355 ships. i want to help you get the ships you need. i want to help the navy get the ships they need. and so when i'm told 355 ships is a requirement, i believe that. now, you mentioned to senator i

as david ignatius points out. 8 will% of north korea's missile tests have failed. either totally incompetent or something another force there. ainsley: brian,. brian: go ahead, ainsley. ainsley: i was looking at video and pictures off of north korea. the president was bringing that missile through the streets of north korea so that awful his citizen could say see this missile. but, five seconds after being launched it explodes. pete: pretty embarrassing. get inside the head of that dictator for sure. back at home in case you missed it folks in los angeles and new york apparently forgot the election is over. they continue to call for president trump to release his tax returns or have you got anti-fascists there on the right-hand side of your screen attacking pro-trump supporters. on the left side in new york city is a sort of tax rally to get president trump to release his tax returns. president trump tweeted in reaction to both of these over the weekend saying someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. the election is over. so the

as david ignatius said, with china early on. but obviously that's only a limited play. how fascinating that vladimir putin, if he thought he was going to influence politics in america, it hasn't turned out that way other than he's got ann coulter on his side. but other than that, not working out very well for putin. >> putin is a man, shall we say, of consummate predictability. >> and sean hannity. by the way -- >> putin is not a guy who encourages freelancing. he doesn't like things off script. this isn't what he bargained for. the administration got a sense of it in dealing with the russia krit sich. the question going forward is where do you go from here. we need russian cooperation in syria. right now our rhetoric is heated up big time. assad is not going to go any time soon. the only way he probably goes is if the russians decide they've had enough of him. i'm not arguing your basic point, this is an important day, finally confronting russia. this is a country that used force in ukraine, violated the basic rule of international relation, thou shall not change borde

at the same time, i remember david ignatius saying after the call to taiwan, it's the first time he hasir heels in some time. i remember reading some articles from russian experts -- julia iaffi, great writer for the atlantic. she said it's the first time putin is off balance, back on his heels and trying to figure out what the hell to think of america's leader. >> it's an interesting question, joel. >> joe: about the notion of unpredictability. that's a large part of what donald trump got elected on. the most famous ad in american politicss e daisy ad. johnson ran that ad, suggestin you didn't wt somebody unpredictable with their finger on the nuclear trigger. the clinton campaign tried to run the same ad, but it was a different time where voters wanted unpredictability in the president of the united states. >> i don't think we want unpredictability when dealing with things like north korea, now threatening to sink an aircraft carrier headed toward the korean peninsula. also the warning gnat north might conduct its sixth nuclear test tomorrow, which would coincide with the founding of