truly, should it be a bill of love. >> kimberly atkins, two loves there. so that tells us just how good a witness secretary nielsen is in reporting what happens in presidential meetings. >> yeah. i mean, look, these rooms aren't that big. i know if i were in a room with my boss, the editor-in-chief of my paper and he was speaking, i think i would be paying pretty close attention to what he said. certainly if he was talking about immigration policy. and definitely if he used a pejorative expletive to refer to countries in africa. i think those are things that i probably would remember. and i think that's only magnified when the person speaking and your boss is the president of the united states. so i really think that it's really nonsensical, the answer that the secretary gave. i also was struck by the fact that she used the term tough language which is exactly the same language donald trump used a few days ago in a tweet, which sounds to me like they were talking points given out on this ahead of time. so i agree with josh. it's very disappoint when we com

i am pleased to introduce our moderator for today's program, kimberly atkins. kimberly: thank you so much. president donald trump's decision to keep control of his business empire despite apparent conflicts of interest is but one of a number of ethical controversies that have made headlines since inauguration day one year ago. falling byardrails the wayside, what can be done to federal ethics laws to give the public confidence that their leaders will put the american people first? what are the most significant gaps that exist in federal ethics regulation? what are the special challenges that accompany any effort to regulate a president's conduct in office, and one are some of the -- and what are some of the most prominent ideas of reform? professor of law from the washington university school b, and awalter shau withr director, daniel, the democracy program at the brennan center for justice and the nyu school of law. welcome to the brennan center of justice here at nyu. is and, again, my name kimberly atkins, and i am a political columnist and reporter for "the

eli stokels, kimberly atkins, chief washington reporter for the boston herald, and gerald bash, also former counsel to house intel. kimberly, as both lawyer and journalist and a unique dual role in this conversation, how big is this? >> this is very big. i mean, this is an important piece in what we've been seeing over time which looks to be a concerted effort by this president to push back or stop efforts to investigate what is going on in the russia investigation. we saw first the pressure on james comey to get him to publicly say there was no investigation, then the firing of comey, then the pressure on other officials including members of congress, to message the frustration about this investigation and ultimately an attempt to fire robert mueller, which he was told would be, at the very least, politically catastrophic and then an apparent shift back. i think it's also interesting that the story said that the president mulled the idea of firing a deputy fbi director rod rosenstein. so i think all of this together is evidence -- it could be evidence that shows intent, an intent to

hour leadoff panel tonight, kimberly atkins, chief white house reporter for the boston herald, and peter baker for the "new york times." peter, let's start with you, this is your colleague's reporting, lay it out for us. >> well, this is adding a lot of new flavor to our understanding of the first months of the trump presidency when this russia probe was really getting under way. and you see from the events that michael schmidt my colleague has outlined how much the president felt the investigation was getting out of his control and how much he didn't understand why that was happening. as far as he was concerned the justice department was supposed to answer to him and the idea that jeff sessions, the attorney general, might recuse himself, was mystifying to him. wasn't jeff sessions supposed to be there to protect him, as bobby kennedy. at one point, he says where's my roy cohn, the old mccarthy aid and lawyer who had been a friend of president trump's in earlier days. it tells you about the mind-set of the president at this time and it does suggest that the special counsel, robert muell

our thanks to robert costa, to kimberly atkins and jamie lovegrove.hank you for joining us and starting us off on a monday night. >>> as we approach our first break, coming up, a busy week ahead in this russia investigation with bannon heading to the hill to testify. >>> and as we've been reporting, president trump sparking a debate on the question of race in america as we remember this day of days. >>> plus, a massive scare in hawaii. now the fallout begins as folks think about what could have happened. that and more when we continue. my "business" was going nowhere... so i built this kickin' new website with godaddy. building a website in under an hour is easy! 68% of people... ...who have built their website using gocentral, did it in... ...under an hour, and you can too. type in your business or idea. pick your favourite design. personalize it with beautiful images. and...you're done! and now business is booming. harriet, it's a double stitch not a cross stitch! build a better website - in under an hour. free to try. no credit card required. gocen

our thanks to robert costa, to kimberly atkins and jamie lovegrove.hank you for joining us and starting us off on a monday night. >>> as we approach our first break, coming up, a busy week ahead in this russia investigation with bannon heading to the hill to testify. >>> and as we've been reporting, president trump sparking a debate on the question of race in america as we remember this day of days. >>> plus, a massive scare in hawaii. now the fallout begins as folks think about what could have happened. that and more when we continue. and you don't have time for a cracked windshield. that's why at safelite, we'll show you exactly when we'll be there. with a replacement you can trust. all done sir. >> grandpa: looks great! >> tech: thanks for choosing safelite. >> grandpa: thank you! >> child: bye! >> tech: bye! saving you time... so you can keep saving the world. >> kids: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ when it comes to travel, i sweat the details. late checkout... ...down-alternative pillows... ...and of course, price. tripadvisor helps you bo

ph phil ruckear, and kimberly atkins from the "boston herald." i was talking to jay johnson a moment ago, phil, and he was expressing how extraordinary it is to have the fbi say grave concer"grave concerns" about releasing something. he says that's about as strong as it gets. but donald trump met with christopher wray, or john kelly met with him. they said don't release this. yet last night as he was leaving the house chamber after the state of the union, he was caught on a hot mic telling a congressman he would absolutely release it. sounds like donald trump, surprise, doesn't trust his justice department. >> yeah, that's exactly right. i don't think there's been any doubt that president trump wants to see this memo come to light. he knows who it's purported to say, to highlight the justice department and the fbi and undermine the mueller investigation of russian collusion and obstruction of justice, which is the political aim of president trump. so he very much wants this memo out. i think the white house chief of staff john kelly, they're tryi

>> let's talk to another journalist who is one of our regulars on our broadcast every night, kimberly atkins, msnbc contributor, what do you make of your government at work right about now? >> yeah, i think it's really extraordinary the fact that we bought the to the point of a shutdown was not that surprising, but for the white house to first immediately come out and declare it would not negotiate at all during the duration of the shutdown, which really under kwuts efforts by democrats to sort of force the negotiation over the weekend, if the government shut down and then to find out there was another deal in the making, according to senator schumer, that again fell apart in the period of time after which senator schumer left the office and sometime later when the white house indicated that there would be no deal, even with the wall being offering. it's really extraordinary. i mean, it seemed pretty clear, even from the beginning of all this that this is the ball is in donald trump's court. he is the one who is the negotiator. he is the one who says that's his claim to fame. he is the one w

michael steele, kimberly atkins, ruth marcus.ing to do campaign politics first and then a little about the hill and reversed that. so michael steele, you were here in 2010. on the, on one side of this and you saw i believe a big red wave building and were taking advantage of it. how familiar does this look to you, just 2010-wise? >> our friend amy walters has a saying, been here since 1992 and never seen a normal midterm. >> i'm with her. >> so. >> what is normal? >> well what would be normal right now is if democrats were poised to make huge gains on the president's lack of popularity. and there are indications that's correct. and other battleground districts, polls are tight. nancy pelosi incredibly unpopular, and starting next month, 90% of taxpayers will see a fatter paycheck. there's reason for optimism amidst gloom and doom. >> race by race argument, stuck on the argument, how i avoid donald trump argument is what michael steele putting out there. good luck, right? >> good luck, michael. that's the best argument that there

. >> let's talk to kimberly atkins, chief washington reporter for "the boston herald" and an msnbc contributor. kimberly, what do you make of your government at work right now? >> yeah, i think it's really extraordinary. i think the fact that we got to the point of a shutdown was not that surprising, but for the white house to first immediately como come out and declare that it would not negotiate at all during the duration of the shutdown, which really undercuts efforts by democrats to sort of force the negotiation over the weekend if the government shut down. then to find out that there was another deal in the making, according to senator schumer, that, again, fell apart in the period of time after which senator schumer left the office and some time later when the white house indicated that there would be no deal, even with the wall being offered. it's just really extraordinary. i mean, it seemed pretty clear, even from the beginning of all of this, that this is the -- the ball is in donald trump's court. he is the one who is the negotiator. he is the one who says that's his claim to fame. h

and with that said, i am pleased to introduce our moderator for today's program, kimberly atkins, who is the chief washington reporter and columnist for "the boston herald." please join me in welcoming kimberly. [applause] kimberly: thank you, nicole. thank you so much, nicole. president donald trump's decision to keep control of his business empire despite apparent conflicts of interest is but one of a number of ethical controversies that have made headlines since inauguration day one year ago. as informal guardrails that constrain self-dealing by those in power fall by the wayside, what can be done to shore up federal ethics laws to give the public confidence that their leaders will put the interest of the american people first? what are the most significant gaps that exist in our system of federal ethics regulation? what are the special challenges that accompany any effort to regulate the president's conduct in office, and what are the most promising ideas for reform? those are the questions that we are going to be tackling today with our esteemed panel of guests, including kathlee

and with us at the table kimberly atkins, chief washington reporter for the boston herald who hasn't slept since thursday, msnbc contributor sykes, and politics reporter for the daily beast. ashley, i have to start with just one of your pieces. but i want to read you this. because i'll never unsee this. whether trump remains in his -- this is from your piece from your reporting over the weekend. whether trump remains in his behind the scenes role is unclear. he's itching to be involved and constantly watching tv according to a white house official. as trump has watched the nonstop television coverage of the shutdown, he has bounced from aides that he will be blamed for the shutdown from asking allowed if he should try to end it to say republicans are in a better position than the democrats. >>> this is how i watch football games. i don't really know how to help. i'm not always sure what i'm rooting for, but i cheer when my side wins. is the president any more involved than what you're reporting from the weekend depicted? >> well, what's interesting is this president was, by all accou

kimberly atkins of "the boston herald" and jeff zeleny of cnn. >> celebrating 50 years, this is "washington week." funding is provided by -- >> their leadership is instinctive. they understand the challenges of today. and research the technologies of tomorrow. some call them veterans. we call them part of our team. >> on a cruise with american cruise lines, you can experience historic destinations along the mississippi river, the columbia river, and across the united states. american cruise lines' fleet of small ships explore american landmarks, local cultures, and calm waterways. american cruise lines, proud sponsor of "washington week." >> additional funding is provided by newman's own foundation, donating all profits from newman's own food products to charity and nourishing the common good. the ethics and excellence in journalism foundation, through the ewing foundation committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> once again from washington, moderator ro

. >>> joining me now, kimberly atkins as well ass iyamiceh alcindor. ladies, with a good day to you, i want to get your reactions to what you just heard from the president. kimber kimberly, i'll go for you first. there was a lot about russia and the reiteration by this president, no collusion, no collusion, no collusion. >> yeah, he expect even answer the question as to whether he would sit down with robert mueller if asked. he just said there's no collusion, that this investigation is bad for the country and that the time should be spent investigating hillary clinton. this is a repeated refrain by the president both in his statements and his twitter account. so it wasn't a lot of surprise there. but you can really see the pressure that the president is putting on his justice department with these signals to hillary clinton and it's i don't think coincidental that we had the news this week that there are actual investigations into hillary clinton, into the e maimai mails that she sent as well as her aides and the clinton foundation. this seems to be an

kimberly atkins is that josh from business insider. and our state of the union panel. morris reed, conservative comment altor, and the author of the gate keepers. jeff, we'll start with you. there is new reaction from republicans after trump told reporters last week that he would likely he is that with mueller the next two or three weeks. >> reporter: for anyone paying close attention to the rush investigation, this has been the big question of recent weeks lflt the president sit for an interview of robert mueller and if so whrgs. the president mtd he looked forward to speaking to robert mueller under oath only to have the attorney walk it back and say the legal team will be the ones to sign off on an interview request. the allies have expressed various degrees of concern about the interview and fallout. here's trey gowdy speaking on one of the sunday talk shows about the political risks involved. >> i want him to 47 a legal standpoint. let's don't kid ourselves. there is a political component to it. twice now over 50 of my house democrat colleagues have voted to move

kimberly atkins, thank you. thanks for having me. >>> still to come, what is mitt romney up to? will he plan to run for orrin hatch's seat in the senate? first, daca hits a wall. >> we want to get rid of chain migration. very important. and we want to get rid of the lottery system. >>> after the break, we'll ask congress nan joaquin astro about the president's ultimatum and what it means for hundreds of thousands of dreamers living in the u.s. can i help you? it's me. jamie. i'm not good with names. celeste! i trained you. we share a locker. -moose man! -yo. he gets two name your price tools. he gets two? i literally coined the phrase, "we give you coverage options based on your budget." -that's me. -jamie! -yeah. -you're back from italy. [ both smooch ] ciao bella. [ both smooch ] the toothpaste that helps prevent bleeding gums. if you spit blood when you brush or floss you may have gum problems and could be on the journey to much worse. help stop the journey of gum disease. try parodontax toothpaste. ♪ i have

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kimberly atkins is back with us. chief washington reporter for the boston herald, and we welcome to this broadcast the aforementioned jamie lovegrove, political reporter for the post and courier, the oldest newspaper in south carolina. welcome to you all. robert, a bunch of us read your account tonight about the meeting, about the now famous meeting on immigration. for folks who have not had the pleasure or the chance, tell us your reporting on what transpired. >> where to start, brian. working alongside my colleagues josh dossy and ashley parker today, we painted a picture of what exactly happened last week. and dick durbin, the illinois democrat and senator, working with senator lindsey graham, they had a bipartisan agreement that they floated on wednesday amongst each other on capitol hill. they brought it to president trump. he was okay, we're told by white house officials and friends of the president, with the broad strokes. but it all fell apart. conservatives inside of congress said to the president, hold up,

kimberly atkins, chief white house reporter for the boston herald. and peter baker, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times." peter, let's start with you. this is your colleague's reporting. lay it out for us. >> well, this is adding a lot new flavor to our understanding of the president trump presidency when this russia probe was getting underway. you see from the events michael schmidt, my colleague, felt the president thought it was getting out of control and he didn't understand why that was happening. as far as he was concerned the justice department was supposed to answer so him and that jeff sessions would recuse himself was mystifying to him. wasn't he supposed to be there to protect him as bobby kennedy. where is my roy cone, referring to the old mccarthy aid and lawyer who had been a friend of president trump's in earlier days. it really kind of tells you about the mind-set of the president at this time and it does suggest that special counsel robert mueller is focusing intently on whether there might be a case for obstructi

and for the "washington post," amber phillips, and kimberly atkins will be with us as well. >>> michael, i want to ask you first, you've been reporting out these details here. we had heard this as a piece of the conversation months ago. the president musing about this, at least according to some of those near him. here's what they said at the time. let's listen. >> there was a basis upon which there was a question raised that raised the kind of issues that are serious, as in the situation with james comey. the president has authority to take action, whether he would do it is ultimately a decision the president makes. >> he's considering perhaps terminating the special counsel. i think he's weighing that option. i think it's pretty clear by what one of his lawyers said on television recently. >> so there's a big gap between weighing that option, and ordering that to occur, as you're now reporting out. what struck you and what's changed? how has the climate changed that these sources are comfortable detailing this? >> these are things the special counsel has learned about in the past few

kimberly atkins from the boston harold, michael gur sten and jennifer lommary. and has been involved in a shutdown or two. so know shutdown politics well. kimberly, it does appear as if we're waiting to see how schumer's responding to whatever happened in the white house meeting. there is -- is there c.h.i.p. included or not, is it shortening it to three weeks. five days is off the table. but something is afoot. we just don't know the details. >> yes. something is afoot and it makes sense because regardless at the end of the day, shutdowns are terrible, they are unpopular. and parties on both sides will get blames but i think in this case the republicans about bear the brunt of it. but what you said, the important thing is this rests with the president. this is why chuck schumer went to the white house and why -- members of congress who have been saying out loud, including mitch mcconnell, well if we knew what the president wanted, we could put something on the floor. i think that is really incredible so i think the onus is on president trump to come forward and

. >> to help us get through all of this, mike mckara at the capital, kimberly atkins from the herald will be joining us. and i'm also going to be speaking with california congressman ted lou about whether he'd be okay funding the border wall in order to save daca. let's go to mike first. mike, you've got the senate. still in grid lock, republicans blaming democrats for leaving the negotiating table. is there any hope in sight when it starts a conversation between the two sides an hour from now? >> you're right. it is high noon here in washington. i just walked through the capital ra taund not a soul in site. not a staffer, not even a police officer. there was basically or there could have been tumble weed blowing through the halls of congress, there's no activity here. as far as we know behind the scenes a stalemate as well. what we're looking ought essentially over the course of saturday and sunday as this begins in earn set of a branding fight on the part of democrats and rpds epublicans. on the one side senator schumer posing by a sign calling it #trump shutdown. republicans tryin

kimberly atkins, chief washington reporter for the "boston herald" and msnbc contributor. and john heilemann, nbc news and msnbc national affairs analyst. phil rucker, let me start with you, because it's your paper's superb reporting on all of these efforts by chris wray, the trump-appointed head of the fbi, who went up to capitol hill with rod rosenstein, made the case for not putting this information in the hands of devin nunes who one ultraconservative trump ally said to me if a left-wing plot to sort of infiltrate the fbi and doj were going to be uncovered it wouldn't be by devin nunes, not really highly regarded by national security establishment folks on the far right. talk about, though, what chris wray has been through in efforts to keep this information from being politicized. >> he's trying to protect the sources and methods at the department of justice and at the fbi that he feels would be compromised by the public relice of this memo, but he's also manage the white house and ultimate boss, president trump, who would like to see this come forward, feels like thi

and msnbc contributor, chief washington reporter for the boston herald and msnbc contributor kimberly atkinsd national political reporter for nbc news digital jonathan allen. thanks to all of you for being here. really appreciate it. so we have a lot to break down. we had the interview with senator hirono and marc short. and my takeaway if you listen to both of them is that both sides are still dug in. i don't hear any ounce of compromise. what did you take away? >> i think it's remarkable that essentially marc short was saying the democrats are still throwing a tantrum. he didn't walk back from that language. he didn't give any type of inkling they were going to try to talk about daca. instead he started talking about the fact they need more money for the border wall. so there's this idea that i think some point they're all going to have to get in the room but the person to convince them to get in the room and trust each other, i don't know that's going to be president trump. i think that's what's remarkable. most presidents would be able to walk across the hill and come over and have a che

azar, kimberly atkins as well., at t at the beginning of the q&a, there was a question about the president's health. we period from his physician yesterday. i do feel like i probably know more about president trump's health than i do my own after that hour long presser yesterday. what can we glean from the president's weight, from his height? there has been a lot of talk about the president's heart condition. does he have one. >> so like many individuals his age, he has a lot of positive things about his cardiac health and couple of things that he probably could work on which dr. jackson readily admitted to. he's not a blood pressure medication, has an excellent blood pressure, excellent resting heart rate. no evidence of diabetes. and this is all medication-free which is fantastic. what we do see is that he is overweight. he is right under the cutoff of being ovbese. but he has added tissue in the trun cal area which is also a second risk factory for haeart disease. but he did have a stress test that he did very w

my thanks to kimberly atkins and charlie psychs donna edwards and betsy woodward and steve schmidt. i'm noke ole wallace. "mtp daily" starts right now with katy tur in for chuck. >> congratulations on the new york times interview, it was wonderful. great to be your colleague. >> if it is monday, the shutdown is ending. but for how long? >> tonight america is opening for business once again. >> the aye's is 81, the noes are 81. >> the democrats give in ending the government shutdown but only temporarily. >> you don't do that unless you have an emergency. and this wasn't an emergency. >> now can lawmakers get past their trouble with trust and resolve the daca dilemma? >> the republican majority now has 17 days to prevent the d.r.e.a.m.ers from being deported. >> plus is anybody home at the white house? why was president trump radio silent as lawmakers hashed out a deal? >> this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. >>> good evening and welcome to "mtp daily." i'm katy tur in new york in for chuck todd. it looks like the government shutdown is coming to an end. possibly in this hour,

. >> joining me now is kimberly atkins, for the boston herald. and msnbc contributor.helle sinder, white house correspondent and msnbc contributor. to hear how it still makes her sick, she's been nauseated, dizzy, headachy. she's going through all of this all over again. >> absolutely. and just think about it. she described preparing for this in a similar way she prepared for competition at the olympics and having to block everything out. and -- but it's these women, aly raisman and other people, who are the impetus here, sadly. there are not a lot of checks in place to allow the sort of abuse to take place for so long so i think these people she referred to as an army are going to be moving forward. the impetus for change. as other -- as people look into, investigate who was responsible and what needs to be changed. >> it's not happening in a vacuum. hoda showed her pictures of the marchers this past weekend, the women who, carrying signs with her name and her quotations from her court sentencing hearing comments to larry nassar. this was that exchange. >> what struck

from the washington university school of law, and daniel wiener at the brennan center, and i am kimberly atkins. you can follow the brennan center for justice on facebook, twitter, and watch their programs on you to -- programs on youtube and listen to itunes podcasts. all their reports and media are online at brennan center.org. i want to talk a little bit about solutions or proposed reforms that you all have, but maybe kick it off first with walter explaining what oge does and why it seems at least, from my perspective as a reporter, that it was developed largely to be self-governing, at least when it comes to the white house -- and is one of the proposals tougher enforcement mechanisms for oge or something else out of that? walter: the office of government ethics, which i lead until the summer, is a prevention tool , plain and simple. that is what it is here to do. i don't view it as part of the enforcement mechanism. it is part of the prevention mechanism, so my discussion on where to go from there stems from that. people come to the office of government ethics, or to any of the 45 agency e

host: my name is kimberly atkins. what do you think about the congress angle? you think congress should act? caller: kimberly asskins. host: all right, we're going to move on to douglas from maryland. what do you think congress ought to do about the gymnastics abuse scandal? caller: i think they ought to tend to their own kitchens. millions of dollars paid to people over the last decade, and these people required to sign a nondisclosure agreements of they could not say what happened. senator franklin and congressman -- i forget who it was, but several of them have resigned. what they are doing is scaring the public away from their own house kitchens to something else , hoping we will forget about that, but we should not. they should be cleaning their own house first. host: do you think there is a in other scandals as well, or do you think they cannot do anything until something daffodils are pass in congress? caller: i am sorry to say this, but i think we are a little bit dysfunctional on their end, in congress, on almost any issue right now. host: all right. t

msnbc, john heilemann, donny deutsche, eddie gloud junior and heidi przybyla, and walter isakson, kimberly atkins and andrea mitchel. we have a full house. good morning to everybody. here is the context of the president's reported comment that joe referenced at the top of the show. a bipartisan group of senators led by lindsey graham and dick durbin struck a deal on immigration. it would provide a 10-year path to citizenship for daca recipients and those i believe to apply. it would authorize 2.8 billion for border security. it would cut the visa lottery program by 50%. senators graham and durbin talk the proposal to the white house where the post reports they were surprised to find immigration hard liners. white house and capitol hill aides told the post that aide steven miller was concerned a deal proposed might be too liberal and made sure conservative lawmakers were present. when they discussed protecting immigrants from haiti, and african countries, several post sources briefed on the meeting claimed president trump said the following. quote, why are we having all these people from s-hole co

robert costa, kimberley atkins, john heilemann. kimberlythis is uncomfortable, but it is the state of the trump marriage and thus is news. >> you know, the state of the union is probably one of the most high profile events for the first ladies. we've seen past first ladies. they are there, they usually get the biggest applause of anyone in attendance. they're usually there with a special guest, whether it's a member of the military or someone involved in one of the causes that they work for. so it is an important event for her. we have seen her take her role as first lady very seriously. so i'm not surprised that she is going to be there. but, yes, look, as reporters we are talking about things like the fact that there was a pay-off before the election. that's a news worthy event. but for this first lady, i can't imagine how difficult it is to deal with something like that at all, let alone in the public glare. so i'm inclined to let her choose for herself and her son how she handles that privately. >> we have heard what we heard from this

and that's kim berlin atkins, chief washington reporter for the "boston herald" and an msnbc contributor. well, kimberly, what do you make of your government at work right about now? >> yeah, i think it's really extraordinary. i think the fact that we got to the point of a shutdown was not that surprising, but for the white house to first immediately come out and declare that it would not negotiate at all during the duration of the shutdown, which really undercuts efforts by democrats to sort of force the negotiation over the weekend if the government sh shutwas another deal in the making according to senator schumer that, again, fell apart after a period of time in which senator schumer left the office and sometimes later that the white house indicated there would be no deal, even with the wall being offered. it seemed pretty clear even from the beginning of all this that this is -- the ball is in donald trump's court. he is the one who is the negotiators, he's one who says that's his claim to famehe was in the position it grin prk, if it seems he's either walked away from it or done something to torpe