correspondent kristen welker, "politico" senior writer jake sherman, msnbc's garrett haake, and kimberly atkins, washington bureau chief for the boston herald. garrett, what do we know about what happened with speaker ryan? >> we know he stepped out of the conference meeting to take a phone call from the president and then abruptly canceled the morning news conference they typically have up here after these morning meetings with the republican conference. republicans who were in that room described it as a fairly unimpressive effort here for leadership to sell their own members on the idea that they could pass something, send it to the president without the border wall money, without disaster money, which is something we're now hearing that republicans want to see in this bill. thi things are in disarray. republican leaders just left the floor heading back towards speaker ryan's office not discussing anything of what their plan is at this point. the senate has acted. the ball is in the house's court to figure out what, if anything, they can pass to send to the president. >> jake sherman, i'll s

kimberly atkins, shane goldmacher, and barrettberger. it was said today it hit the achilles' heel for donald trump, and that's his family, that's his kids and that's going to hurt. this grows exponentially. this gets worse and wider. >> this trump foundation story is part of the looking at 2016 and some of the now alleged illegalties. you start days before the iowa caucuses where cory lewandowski, mr. trump's campaign manager is directing the charity thousand spend his money at the beginning. you look at the end, you have michael cohen authorizing the hush money payments to a woman to keep her quiet. you have from the beginning of 2016 to the end of 2016 these kinds of activities. with his children in between you have the meeting at trump tower. so an entire pattern that's been investigated and it's adding up at this point. >> kim, let me take the other side of the argument. what's the chance this gets overshadowed by shinier names and spiffier investigations that are, say, head quartered out of washington, d.c.? >> i think there's a ver

a comedian and a host of the gist podcast and kimberly atkins washington bureau chief for "the boston globe" and danny is a vallos. but first, to geoff bennett who is working morning, noon and night to track the fast moving developments. to first play a clip, geoff, of the incoming chief of staff, mick mulvaney, addressing the border wall. we don't have this yet, so geoff, give us a sense what is the state of play there? you're there with the president. he was supposed to be at mar-a-lago today. now that's canceled. >> yeah, that was. look there are no outward signs of horse trading between the white house and the democrats at this point. what makes this so significant, none of the conventional wisdom holds. the normal political strategy of a shutdown holds that a president relents when faced with a shutdown because the president typically care about the government looking competent and capable and carrying out what is a basic function of the job, keeping the government running as a means of providing for the safety and security of the american people. but donald trump is a decidedly

with us for more, kimberly atkins, washington bureau chief for the "boston herald." sabrina ssiddiqui, political reporter for "the guardian." good evening and welcome to you both. kimberly, i want to start with graciousness and a clip i want to show you that's already been around the world. george w. bush on the day they are preparing to say farewell to his father comes over to that row of presidents and he delivers in short order a cough drop to michelle obama, continuing a joke that started at the mccain service when he he reached into his pocket and gave the former first lady a cough drop. she later joked that it was old. and he said yeah, we've got a lot of those in effect still kicking around the house. well, today, again, on this day that they're gathering for the memorial service for his father, he thinks to do that in addition to greeting everybody in the first row. that was graciousness. we didn't see a lot of that from everybody. >> yeah. and it's really extraordinary that again, at a funeral we see someone, a former president, a mourning son, take the time

john heilman, ezra klein, kimberly atkins, thank you for starting us off tonight. we have breaking news tonight obviously about michael flynn's case. you heard all that in rachel's hour. we're going to go over it. his lawyers have filed a sentencing memo describing exactly how michael flynn lied to the fbi and just how much he's been cooperating with robert mueller. let's be honest. every insurance company tells you they can save you money. save up to 10% when you bundle with esurance. including me, esurance spokesperson dennis quaid. he's a pretty good spokesperson. ehhh. so when i say, "drivers who switched from geico to esurance saved an average of $412," you probably won't believe me. hey, actor lady whose scene was cut. hi. but you can believe this esurance employee, nancy abraham. seriously, send her an email and ask her yourself. no emails... no emails. when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless. introducing the new capital one savor card. earn 4% cash back on dining and 4% on entertainment. now when you go out, you cash in. what's in your wall

john heilman, ezra klein, kimberly atkins, thank you for starting us off tonight. we have breaking news tonight obviously about michael flynn's case. you heard all that in rachel's hour. we're going to go over it. his lawyers have filed a sentencing memo describing exactly how michael flynn lied to the fbi and just how much he's been cooperating with robert mueller. (burke) parking splat. and we covered it. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ i'm ray and i quit smoking with chantix. smoking. it dictates your day. i didn't like something having control over me. i wanted to stop. the thing is i didn't know how. chantix, along with support, helps you quit smoking. chantix reduced my urge to smoke to the point that i could quit. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. serious side eff

we're back with the "hardball" roundtable with kimberly atkins, u.s.heri bustos, and ryan kiss tall. talk about the political serendipity of this. >> nothing is serendipitous when it comes to d.c. that wasn't a selfie because neither one of them was holding the phone. there was something that went into that obviously. >> who was promoting it? >> they're both promoting it. they're both getting buzz in different -- >> is that a pairing? >> it could be. maybe it was a test out to see how they look on a ticket. the question will be who will be at the top of it? >> what was the reaction to it? >> a lot. we're reacting to it because a lot of people thought months ago that biden could get in a term as president. if he puts a really strong running mate together and he is on top, then people will say, she'll get it the second term without him saying so. >> every time i turn a corner in the hallway, i see somebody else running for president. >> we had tulsi gabbard on from hawaii. she was talking about running very seriously. >> i saw beto earlier. i saw swalwel

joining me is national affairs correspond is john nichols along with kimberly atkins.e start with you. i'll read this quote. he views this as a repudiation of the last trex. i'll take any steps possible to assure the people of wisconsin that it will not invalidate those votes. how do you see this playing out? >> at this point the republicans have the upper hand. governor scott walker is in office until january. despite the fact that he was defeated in the election. and republicans still control the state assembly and state senate. those are both very gerrymandered districts. so what will happen today is there will be a flash hearing, literally the hearing, people just learned relatively short time ago when the hearing would be, where it would be. now you'll have a lot of people testifying mostly i think critical of the changes, and then the republicans hope to have a vote, because there's some talk of having a vote tonight or tomorrow. both will likely occur tomorrow. there will be protests outside of the capitol. it's a very intense moment. remember wisconsin has cont

joining us here is kimberly atkins, the washington bureau chief for the "boston herald" and attorney,kimberly, this is an extraordinary proceeding. and the courtroom is about to pick back up gaiagain, and he u the t-word, treason. >> yes, leading up to this, we had been focus on the extent of michael flynn's cooperation, and why he had a lenient sentencing recommendation for prosecutors and what exactly, it was, and what information he gave in the 19 interviews that was so helpful to mueller's team, and now the judge is really focusinging in on the other side of that and the seriousness of the crimes for which he is receiving that leniency, and it is the judge who does have discretion, and he is not going to have to let him off as prosecutors and defense attorneys want him to go, and he is seeming to be exercising that role, and focusing on that aspect of it very seriously. if i were the defense attorney, i would be very nervous with by that. >> and still waiting for the judge to come in, and we will be getting the e-mails from the outside and the inside of the courthouse as well. and

kimberly atkins is the washington bureau chief for the boss tin herald.congressman from pennsylvania who is retiring at the end of this year, and howard fineman, political analyst for msnbc. what a great group. >>> let me ask you about the inflection point in republican party. i grew up with a party like yours. my family was from that party. not me necessarily, at all, i should say. people like bill scranton and tom ridge, howard is shaking his head, made a lot of sense, middle of the road party. is that gone now? >> well, i think we're in challenging times if you're the republican party. i think it has dwindled in 2018. i think in '16 a lot of republican voters took a chance on trump because he was running against hillary clinton. but if i were to look back, it's much more the party of pat buchanan combined with the 2008 recession which i think had a lot of populist voters in the country take a chance on trump. >> howard? >> well, i think that the old republican party that we knew and grew up with in pennsylvania, me in pittsburgh, you in philly, is gone

kimberly atkins, jim kessler, matt welch, thank you all for being here today. really appreciate your insights. >>> when we continue, hail to the chiefs. president trump insists there's a long list of contenders vying for the job of white house chief of staff. we're going to get two former chiefs of staffs take on that. >>> a bipartisan group of 44 senators urge lawmakers to defend america's democracy and not party politics. how will the gop respond? >>> and google's ceo is on capitol hill right now facing lawmakers who say the company has political bias against conservatives. - [narrator] the typical vacuum head has its limitations, so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, corded and cord-free. and fearlessly devours piles. (vo) ovewhelming air fresheners can send you running. so try febreze one. with no aerosols and no heavy perfumes. so you can spray and stay. febreze one. unstopand it's strengthenedting place,

kimberly atkins for "the "boston herald"." and jake sherman senior editor s of politic playbook. thanks so much for joining us on this busy evening. it. preciate where do things stand in terms of the negotiation. there's a lot of talk among top aids that maybe there's a compromise in the works to not give the president $5 billion but $1.6 billion. right.'s i mean, the government just to be clear, the government is alst without a doubt shutting down in about four hours. it was a fascinating scene. republicans and democrats in t senate decided to proceed to a bill basically to debate b al to buy time so they can come up with a global agreement so ty could pass all seven lingering appropriations bills in the cong days here. so there are seven bills that need to be passed, to deal bith slice of government. they're going to try to work over the next couple of days to ge it done. there are a lot of pressure points as you noted, $1.6 billion is about as mh as democrats will allow for border security, not the president's wall, but bordey. secur and i just talked to jim jordan, thep conse

. >> kimberly atkins, msnbc contributor and associate editor and columnist at real clear politics. all friends of the show. thank you. chuck, let me start with you. in addition to rudy giuliani insisting over his dead body would there be a special counsel interview, he also seemed to move the goal posts on all of this from no collusion to if it happened, collusion is not a crime any way. watch. >> i know that collusion is not a crime. if roger stone gave anybody heads up about wikileaks leaks, that's not a crime. paying $130,000 to stormy whatever and to the other one is not a crime. >> do you find that compelling? >> not even a little bit. let me put this kindly, mr. rudy giuliani doesn't know what he's talking about. collusion is a crime. we have a synonym for it. conspiracy. if you and i agree to do something that the law forbids and take some step in that direction, that's a crime. even be we don't complete it, that conspiracy is a crime. as for the payments to those two women, that's a crime. it's a crime to intentionally try to interfere, influence an election through payment

. >> kimberly atkins, it was so clear, the pictures, you know, bush 43 even remembering that moment thatfriendship there between the bushes and obamas. we've seen in history clinton work with bush 41 on initiatives after they were out of the white house. we've seen obama -- the obamas relationship. it's really hard to imagine president trump, given the personal nature of a lot of his disagreements and battles with these folks, having that kind of warm relationship once he leaves office. i think that's what made his presence seem so much different than the other four pretzs. >> nancy pelosi and chuck schumer are going to the white house on tuesday for a delayed meeting with president trump. all those other things they thought resolved a year ago and then it got blown up. >> yeah, we can very much be looking at a government shutdown again. we are really right back where we started. there's been no progress on that front. we see little sparks of bipartisanship. these little flickers in time. a handshake with president obama. they're always offset with other tensions. that moment really capt

. >> kimberly atkins, he tries to talk his way without of this stuff. does it matter?omy booms, those in the reportity industry said repeatedly they depend on immigrant labor to survive. we are seeing from trump himself that that is the case. these are jobs often filled by immigrants and particularly in good economic times and trump's to be visa request is reflected. it also reflects in terms of those from mexico and central american countries and really horrifically derock torrey terms like vacuum the floors and wash his under way. it's more than hypocritical. it's very problematic especially to republicansas they continue to say they want to expand their base. >> for seems like the business wing that would say see, will you hurry up and legislate this. >> this is happening today. not to harp on the fact, but this is why presidents put their companies into grind trust. he is responsible for what happens at his golf courses. he receives financial benefit from it. of course there should be wnl his own party to get it done. now he just sits there and looks like a rip kri

kimberly atkins and former u.s. attorney chuck rosenburg. tom, let's start with you where the action has been playing out all day today. three years here. three year jail sentence for michael cohen. there's the campaign finance aspect which involves him claiming that trump directed him to break campaign finance law. there are other issues involving bank loan applications. the three year sentence, what exactly goes into that sentence. what is he being sentenced for here? >> reporter: right. the three year sentence is specific to michael cohen's case here in new york brought by federal prosecutors here in new york. that covers five counts of tax evasion over five years. tax evasion charges for michael cohen. it includes a count or charge and admission of guilt of michael cohen to misstatements to a bank and includes the two payments that you referenced before. the two that amounts to illegal campaign contributions. he also faces two more months and that's tied to his lies to congress. those will be served concurrently. it means while michael c

robert costa, chief of staff for president clinton, washington bureau chief for the boston herald, kimberly atkins. and msnbc contributor. huge thanks to all of you joining us on this week. bob, let me start with you. there's no obvious solution. that's something we keep hearing. what is the less obvious solution to ending this shutdown that we may be missing? >> the senate passed a clean resolution, insider term they call it, without any kind of funding, to keep the government open more than a week ago. if house democrats take over in a few days, you could see new speaker nancy pelosi move to reopen the government and make that her final play. >> if the president won't sign it, bob, isn't that dead in the water? >> it's dead in the water, but at this point, the president is still at this $5 billion number because he's playing to his conservative base and knows democrats, at most, will go for $1.6 billion for border security. he either has to accept that or walks away, vetos the bill and has another showdown for his political base. >> do you think that's going to happen? is that a win politically

so, kimberly atkins, it seems like, possibly, the next place this all goes may be donald trump jr.causing quite a bit of consternation among, you know, for the president and those closest to him. how does he, the president navigate that? >> it's going to be difficult. because it's going to -- we've seen in the past, the president, when someone who is close to his orbit, while they're in his orbit, he defends them. and, you know, tries his best to denounce the investigation and the minute they get caught up, they plead guilty, they start cooperating, then he's never heard of them before, right? they played minor roles in his campaign. they were just a coffee boy. >> michael who? >> you can't really do that. >> stormy who? >> don jr. was just a -- >> great point. >> you can't really do that with a family member. so that's where this investigation gets close to donald trump jr., who obviously was at that crucial trump tower meeting. so he has always been a central figure in this investigation. two other areas of investigation with the inaugural committee for example, might implicate v

joining me for insight and analysis are peggy noonan,ie e glaude, jr., of princeto university, kimberly atkins, and jonah goldberg, senior editor at "national review." welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcerfrom nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is "meet the press." . >>> good sunday morning. shortly after the filings by special counsel robert mueller and special prosecutors in new york were releas friday evening, president trump tweeted in the third person. totally clears the president. thank you. well, not really. not even close. in fact this is how the usuay supportive "new york post" put it. donald and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. well, the court filings technically are aboutmichael cohen and paul manafort, the most consequential player in this drama is really the person identified as individual 1, donald trump. federal prosecutorsviay inal 1 directed cohen to make illegal payments to women with whom the president had affairs. that would be a felony. and they describe how cohen corrected the timeline o contacts wit

thanks to mimi, ben rhodes, kimberly atkins, jonathan capehart, jennifer palmieri, chuck rosenberg, ken delanian. this has been a special edition of "andrea mitchell reports." here is ali velshi and stephanie ruhle. >> the last hour has not gone the way we expected it to. thank you, andrea. good afternoon to all of you. i'm ali velshi. >> and i'm stephanie ruhle. it is tuesday, december 18th and we've got to begin with major breaking news. >> this was supposed to be judgment day for the president's former national security adviser michael flynn. moments ago, the sentencing was officially delayed for flynn by judge emmitt sullivan. >> retired three-star general pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators about his communications with the russian ambassador during the presidential transition. then in court today, flynn acknowledged that lying to the fbi was a crime and that he did not wish to challenge the circumstances under which he was interviewed. judge sullivan telling flynn, quote, you sold your country out. can i make a really quick point? >> yeah. >> remember, it was in the l

. >> joining me now, basil smikle, and kimberly atkins. basil, let's start with you.reakdown now of the government workers affected by the shutdown. we have 420,000 working without pay, 380,000 on unpaid leave. trump says they are more concerned with this wall, basil. who is buying it? >> i can't believe that that's true, i can't believe almost a million federal workers would prefer to see a "game of thrones" style wall being built with estimates ranging from $7 billion to as much as $70 billion. it's a black hole of federal money, our tax money, that could be better spent on infrastructure like broad wheel infrastructure or immigration reform broadly. but these federal workers want to go back to work, that's the bottom line. and trump said that he would take it on himself. he is not doing that, surprise, surprise, he's not following through on something that he said. but ultimately he will get the blame for it, and republicans. >> what about trading the wall for daca, how likely do you think that is? >> to some extent the democrats are serious about immigration refor

joining me, james la port, investigative reporter at "newsweek" as well as kimberly atkins, bureau chiefr the boston herald and jamie lynn small for "time magazine." kellyanne conway, she doubled down on the support of the president's border policy. his choice to blame democrats for the death of those migrant children. we didn't hear a very strong defense from her on that. why not? does that seem like an unpopular opinion even with the president's base? james, can you hear me? >> oh, i'm sorry. yeah. so the tweet seemed a little bit premature. we don't even have basic answers and our basic answers to questions of why these children died in u.s. custody. so this may come back to actually, you know, ding the white house for the president to come out and say -- to already place blame on the democrats for the death of two children in u.s. custody when we don't even have basic facts. the democrats are already calling for an investigation once they take the house but it does seem like sort of a knee-jerk reaction to place blame anywhere when we don't have basic answers to questions. >> james,

washington bureau chief for the boston herald kimberly atkins.r isaacson. mike barnicle, donnie deutsche, elise jordan and nick all back with us as well. >> chuck, we want to follow up with the question of the morning posed by joyce vance in the 6:00 hour. the question is this. how does the supreme court not allow an indictment to move forward against a president of the united states if there is evidence that that president of the united states may have actually been elected to that position based on illegal activity that is at the center of the possible indictment? >> the short answer, joe, is we don't know what the supreme court could do. that question whether or not a sitting president can be charged or indicted or tried or convicted or incarcerated has never been litigated. all the things we think we know are based on the department of justice policy, not on law. there's a big difference there. so some folks out there would like this question to be teed up and resolved by the supreme court once and for all. >> again, what would make it diffic