host of "the last word", lawrence o'donnell. music from the roots, featuring bilal.eaturing the 8g band with allison miller. ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ladies and gentlemen, seth meyers. [ cheers and applause ] >> seth: good evening, i'm seth meyers and this is "late night". how is everybody doing tonight? [ cheers and applause ] fantastic. in that case, let's get to the news. a fox news legal analyst said monday that president trump should, quote, "never, never, never agree to an interview with robert mueller, and sees the meeting as a trap." and i think he might be right. [ laughter ] president trump said today he would not sign a bill to replace the daca immigration program that does not include funding for a border wall. okay, can we just tell him it's been built already? [ laughter ] he's never going to mexico to check. just tell him it's big and beautiful and at the ribbon cutting, hillary clinton fell over on to the mexico side. [ laughter ] then we can just finally move on. [ cheers and applause ] new jersey governor chris christie gave his final state of the

joining me now is lawrence o'donnell. author of playing with fire. but lawrence, are democrats right to say that their party caved and got nothing in the shutdown? >> that video is really extraordinary because it calls into question what does it mean to be a member of a party especially an elected member of a party in a legislature. because what we just saw were critics, so are you a party member or are you a party critic? when is the last time you saw a republican doing any of what you just saw? >> never. they don't do it. >> they don't do it. the people we just saw are smart, intelligent people. if you ask them a question, they will answer it. and when you get into the so-called messaging game in politics, message is a worried that i december spispise and ro reasons is that i appreciate the complexities of government and the icomb pl complexities of po. but however, dumbing it down to a bumper sticker is what works. and so what you just saw were people who are atrocious at messaging. that is the worst possible messaging, to get out there and message

. >>> i'm ali velshi in for lawrence o'donnell. less than 24 hours after asking why are we having the people from shithole countries come here, president trump without any sense of irony said this. >> today we celebrate dr. king for standing up for the self evident truth americans hold so dear that no matter what the color of our skin or the place of our birth we are all created equal by god. >> apologize to you for having said that word and having to say that word tonight but it's the president of the united states. today he denied by the way using the word s-hole to describe countries in africa during a meeting with lawmakers yesterday tweeting this morning, quote, the language used by me at the daca meeting was tough but this was not the language used and despite the reports that the president said, quote, why do we need more haitians? take them out. trump said i never said anything derogatory about haitians but it is a poor an troubled country. never said take them out. made up by dems. probably should record future meetings. u

it's time for the last word with l lawrence o'donnell. >> i got that. >> his name rhymes with lawrence o'donnell. >> still available in bookstores but you have to climb through piles of michael's book to find one copy of mine. it has the word fire in the title. it should be selling. >> it's a fantastic book. you should all read it. 1968 most momentous year in history. >> we have his first republic reaction to what we learn yesterday that the president ordered the firing of the special prosecutor. >> amazing. cannot wait for that. we'll be watching. >> thank you, joy. >>> last night, the obstruction of justice investigation of the president by the special contractor robert mueller took on a new and dramatic mention when the new york times reported the president ordered the firing of the special prosecutor in june and don mcgann refused to carry out that order and threatened to resign in the special prosecutor was fired. here is every word the president said about that important story today. >>. >> why did you fire robert mueller? why did you want to fire robert mueller? >> fake news. ty

now it's time for "last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening. >> i will see you tomorrow on your show. >> absolutely. >> i enjoyed hearing you speak with so much authority about 1968 when you were not alive. but i know where you got that. i think you read a -- >> i read an amazing book about it by somebody you might know. his name rhymes with lawrence o'donnell. >> you can still find it but you have to climb over the piles of michael wolff's book. we have michael wolff here with us tonight. his first public reaction to what we learned yesterday that the president ordered the firing of the special prosecutor. >> amazing. can't wait for that. >> thank you joy. >> thanks, lawrence. >>> last night the obstruction of justice case took on a new and dramatic turn when it was reported that the president ordered the firing of the special prosecutor in june and don mcgahn refused to carry out that order and threatened to resign if the special prosecutor was fired. here is every word the president said about that important story today. >> mr.

now it's time for "last word with lawrence o'donnell." i will see you tomorrow on your show. >> absolutely. >> i enjoyed hearing you speak with so much authority about 1968 when you were not alive. but i know where you got that. i think you read a -- >> i read an amazing book about it by somebody you might know. his name rhymes with lawrence o'donnell. >> you can still find it but you have to climb over the piles of michael wolff's book. we have michael wolff here with us tonight.

joy, lawrence o'donnell, constantly trending on twitter, and o'donnell called himself a socialist, what is twitter pushing, b.s. alex, i will respond to that tweet in two and two. right now it's time for you. >> i'm turning down the volume on that phone because it's going to get loud. how cool is chelsea handler? what a neat lady. she said she's committed, that is so impressive, all she's giving up to do this. >> using her fame for good, wonderful. >> so do you. we appreciate that. a good day to all of you. i'm alex witt at msnbc headquarters. it's high noon at east, not yet out west. the plot thickens. new reaction to the report that president trump wanted to fire robert mueller with the white house how pushing back. >> reporter: did you want to fire robert mueller? >> fake news, folks, fake news. >> the democrats not buying that "fake news" label. some say it's real and undeniable. >> it makes the case for obstruction of justice almost iron-clad. >> the stormy daniels saga. for the first time she responds to a direct question about her alleged relationship with donald trump. reaction,

it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." wrence. >> good evening, rachel. as you can see, the beard is gone. i know you voted for the beard but let me just tell you. as i told you the vote in twitter universe kind of

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> good evening. watching the storm coverage of boston and went underwater basically, one of the items of the neighborhood mentioned by bill who runs the local newspaper in dorchester, where you could order delivered pizza today. how you could stay alive by ordering delivered pizza. >> it is the only time a humane idea to have things delivered by drones. >> big thing i wanted to know and asked bill to go out and measure and i want to know exactly how many inches of snow fell on grayson street in dorchester, the street i grew up on. by a storm named grayson. >> grayson. >> come on. we have to snow. grayson street hurt by this? >> with this storm, snow and how much of the tide came down grayson street in dorchester. >> it's on a hill and safe from the flooding but, rachel, this "the new york times" story corroborated by the ap during your hour. they have come out and said they found exactly the same thing about the president's reaction to the sessions recusal and trying to prevent it. the actively tryin

it's time for the last word with l lawrence o'donnell.

now it's time for "last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> good evening from chicago. i pretty much just ran in here and i hope nothing big has happened in the news in the last few hours anyway. >> people are still mad about the shutdown, you know what it's like. >> i can do a shutdown down and shutdown analysis. great. >> pretty much. you need update s on anything, you can call me. >> it's the 21st century so we have radio in the car. i have a wicked smart phone so i am completely up to date. >> very good. well done my friend. thank you. >> thanks a lot. >>> the president is on air force one tonight, heading to switzerland for the world economic forum, but just before the president left the white house, he surprised reporters by stopping to talk with them at the entrance to white house chief of staff john kelly's office. and, after a few questions about international trade and immigration, the president was asked about the special prosecutor's investigation. >> are you going to talk to mueller? >> i'm looking forwar

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." ence. >> good evening, rachel. this is one of those days of parenting in america when the president is teaching little kids a new word. >> yeah. >> a word they're going to learn some point in their

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> thank you. you know how when we get a kind of big guest we try to do everything we can to let the world know that we have a big guest? >> sure. >> everywhere i went this weekend people knew that i had michael wolff as a first guest on the show tonight. his book, of course, "fire and fury" disappearing from book stands -- bookstores, unprecedented sales and the word got out he would be here and i was on two flights, one on friday, one this morning, to, from, los wills people trying to grab the book out of hi hands. >> really? >> do not, do not get caught walking the streets carrying this book anywhere. people are just going to try to grab it. >> i'm a subway reader. >> don't, don't. >> i took the dust jacket off because i didn't want to be like -- >> right. >> you know? muggings are real. that can happen. i didn't want to make it too juicy a target. >> it is right now the most valuable book in america so who knows what people might do to grab one. >> thank you. >> thank you very much. >>> well, t

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> thank you.e get a kind of big guest we try to do everything we can to let the world know that we have a big

now it's time for "last word with lawrence o'donnell." lawrence. >> good evening from chicago. i pretty much just ran in here and i hope nothing big has happened in the news in the last few hours anyway. >> people are still mad about the shutdown, you know what it's like. >> i can do a shutdown down and shutdown analysis. great. >> pretty much. you need updates on anything, you can call me. >> it's the 21st century so we have radio in the car. i have a wicked smart phone so i am completely up to date. >> very good

now it's time for "last word with lawrence o'donnell." vening, lawrence. >> good evening from chicago. i pretty much just ran

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> good evening.atching the storm coverage of

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> good evening, rachel. so that's weird. >> yeah. >> that's the weird thing. >> i found one weird thing in the news today. >> no, but it really is. i remember commenting on that and talking about it when it was revealed who this lawyer attorney burke is representing. reince priebus, don mcgahn, and steve bannon. there was bound to be a conflict very soon. and here we had it today. >> and it's interesting. because he was representing priebus and mcgahn for a long time before this. and that alone seemed like a strange potential conflict. now he is representing bannon as well. one thing to keep in mind here is if there is a conflict of interest, as it relates to the mueller investigation and the things that mueller is looking at, presumably mueller's lawyers will pursue that and try to, you know, if it ever comes to any future court proceedings or whatever, that will then become an issue. they could push this thing. it isn't something that gets litigated in the pr

it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> good evening, rachel. as you can see, the beard is gone. i know you voted for the beard but let me just tell you. as i told you the vote in twitter universe kind of equal for and against. >> yeah. >> but the voters voting against it frequently used two words that were very disturbing to me. one of the words was older. >> oh. >> it was very disturbing and the other even more disturbing was the word bannon. >> oh! >> this is no night to look like steve bannon. no, not tonight, rachel. no. this is not the night. >> you know what? even if you put on three shirts and you ruounlged the end of yor nose, you could not look like steve bannon. >> i don't think anyone can. and, rachel, i want to go back to what you were reporting earlier in the show about rod rosenstein going up to the speaker of the house today. this is fascinating. we know very little about it but you framed it as fully as we can understand it. faced a request, subpoena to produce documents basically

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> good evening, rachel. this is one of those days of parenting in america when the president is teaching little kids a new word. >> yeah. >> a word they're going to learn some point in their lives. i don't know. i think i probably learned it in first grade, somewhere around there. but i didn't learn it from the president, rachel, and this is one of the parenting challenges. kid comes home today and says, mommy, what does this mean? >> you know, one of the -- one of the pieces of trivia that survived through the years about rich yard nixon and the way the president viewed his behavior was that he once said he didn't give on a white house tape he didn't give a bleep about the lira, italian currency, talking about monetary issues and an object of shock and disgust across the country that the president would say that he didn't give a bleep about a foreign currency. and now, i mean, does nixon get whitewashed in retrospect contrasted to what we have to report tonigh

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." evening, lawrence. >> good evening, rachel. so that's weird. >> yeah. >> that's the weird thing. >> i found one weird thing in the news today. >> no, but it really is. i remember commenting on that and talking about it when it was

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." lawrence. >> good evening, rachel. so that's weird. >> yeah. >> that's the weird thing. >> i found one weird thing in the news today. >> no, but it really is. i remember commenting on that and talking about it when it was revealed who this lawyer attorney burke is representing. reince priebus, don mcgahn, and steve bannon. there was bound to be a conflict very soon. and here we had it today. >> and it's interesting. because he was representing priebus and mcgahn for a long time before this. and that alone seemed like a strange potential conflict. now he is representing bannon as well. one thing to keep in mind here is if there is a conflict of interest, as it relates to the mueller investigation and the

. >> lawrence o'donnell, having just written yourself about 1968 and extensively about bobby kennedy, seeing congressman kennedy there give that speech, what was your reaction? >> there were a couple of notes his grandfather would have struck differently, because speaking to a national audience like this, bobby kennedy would always take note of his own law and order credentials as a former attorney general. and so he would not have spoken as strictly left as these talking points did all the way through. probably, for example, on the mention of the wall, probably would not have gone to the point of "if that wall is built, we will tear it down." i'm talking about very fine edits here and there that would have pulled it a little toward that centrist direction. but this is where the democratic party is tonight. i don't think you're going to find any democrats who have anything in this speech that they want to take issue with. >> you know, to your point actually and to chris' point as well, this was earnest and lofty. >> that's right. >> and he is known for his earnestness as a young man.

thanks for your understanding and please join me in welcoming lawrence o'donnell. [applause] thank you very much. standing room only, this is amazing. i can't believe it. i'm going to be quick because you're standing back there you're going to get aboard more than these people will. so because we have to be heard way back in the standing room we have a live tv show and a little over three hours and tonight, just tonight, don't judge tonight's show. it's going to berat be written n about eight minutes. it's going to be something off the top of my head. the unfortunate thing tonight i won't be compared instantly to the greatness as some of those specials it won't look quite as historically unprepared as it actually is. but i couldn't be luckier to have her there in front of me because obecause that would strh things out to be in the great anxiety of the control rooms involved in the minute i get to talk with rachel every night whewhen she's as good evening te are my favorite minutes a day and they always have been budgeted for one minute. you can see what's going on

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> good evening, rachel. so, norm may. >> norm may. >> norm may. >> prime minister of norm may appeared unfazed. >> so norm may -- there should be a norm may, though. when you think of the country names in the world, it's -- >> nambia, smeden. >> what's wrong with norm may? norm macdonald should be the prime minister of norm may or something such. >> cheers! >> thank you, rachel. >> thank you, lawrence. >>> well, the president seemed to move us one step closer to a constitutional crisis today simply by saying we'll see what happens. we'll see what happens is an okay answer to some questions. but it is a very, very bad answer to other questions. are you here to rob this bank? we'll see what happens. that is not a good answer. and it is a terrible answer to questions like this question. >> would you be willing to speak under oath to give your version of -- >> 100%. >> see? that's the right answer. that's the right answer. the president of the united states is will

now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. good evening, lawrence.guest we try to do everything we can to let the world know that we have a big guest? >> sure. >> everywhere i went this weekend people knew that i had michael wolff as a first guest on the show tonight. his book, of course, "fire and fury" disappearing from book stands -- bookstores, unprecedented sales and the word got out he would be here and i was on two flights, one on friday, one this morning, to, from, los wills people trying to grab the book out of hi hands. >> really? >> do not, do not get caught walking the streets carrying this book anywhere. people are just going to try to grab it. >> i'm a subway reader. >> don't, don't. >> i took the dust jacket off because i didn't want to be like

now it's time for "last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening. lawrence. >> here's a rule of senate coverage. don't believe a senator that says there's no plan b. there is always a plan b in the senate. and if this clock ticks past 10:05, that means that's what mitch mcconnell is working on. he's working on a plan b. he always has one. but he's got, know, a mess on his hands tonight. so the thing that might be emgings a plan b is something that lindsey graham has suggested. remember he's been against any form of continuing resolution, doesn't want a continuing resolution, now he does. he says i'll go to a continuing resolution for february 8th. that takes them past the state of the union address. he says that gives them enough time to do a serious job of negotiating. that's moving the date up a week and we'll see what that does. >> i think we're seeing that the democrats aren't buying it. the proof will be in the pudding when they get out and cast their votes. it looks like right now even with that on the table it's going to be a no vote. i do tak

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening, lawrence. >> good evening.atching the storm coverage of boston and went underwater basically, one of the items of the neighborhood mentioned by bill who runs the local newspaper in dorchester, where

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now it's time for the "last word with lawrence o'donnell." >> good evening, rachel. the trump administration has more spelling mistakes in its first year than i think any other administration's total run of spelling mistakes. >> my favorite one was the first written statement put out when he got his first russia lawyers and the first statement me put out misspelled the world president. normway is pretty good, state of the uniom is pretty good. >> and not one firing. i was listening to your interview with congressman schiff, he said toward it is end when we see the transcript -- that's news you created i didn't know we were going to see the transcript -- when we see the transcript of this meeting in which they voted to release the republican memo. we'll be able to tell that there were republicans in that meeting who are dragging their feet and forced to do this and aren't really with it, but they are voting to do it. and that's what i do not understand. i do not understand why republican members of that committee, who don't think this is a good idea are voting for it.

then he will sit down with lawrence o'donnell for a more in-depth conversation. visit msnbcnews.com/wolffbook. >>> changing his tune on north korea, mr. trump claiming he got the rogue nation to the table. mom, i have to tell you something. dad, one second i was driving and then the next... they just didn't stop and then... i'm really sorry. i wrecked the subaru. i wrecked it. you're ok. that's all that matters. (vo) a lifetime commitment to getting them home safely. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru. >>> welcome back. on tuesday, north korea and south korea will hold official talks for the first time in more than two years. in the participation of the pyongyang winter olympics. >> about all of the failed experts weighing in does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between north and south korea right now if i wasn't firm, strong and willing to commit our total might against the north. the author of american tragedy in vietnam, we will talk about that book in a moment max. what we are seeing from this vis-a-vis north korea, you

now it's time for the "last word with lawrence o'donnell." >> good evening, rachel.mp administration has more spelling mistakes in its first year than i think any other administration's total run of spelling mistakes. >> my favorite one w

the d.r.e.a.m.ers need to be taken care of for them to do now it's time for "last word with lawrence o'donnell." >> do we know whether the president is going to florida at the request of mitch mcconnell and paul ryan in the belief that this can only work with him out of town? >> you know, mitch mcconnell, as this gets to be longer and longer days and they keep talking and talking about this and it's not getting resolved and they keep trying to get the democrats to cave on the dreamers. mitch mcconnell keeps talking about he has no idea what the president wants. so it would be helpful if he knew what the president wants, but he has no clue. >> the president doesn't understand the significance of the majority leader saying that. one fact is, no republican leader in history has ever stood on the senate floor and said, i don't know what the republican president wants. you won't find that in the congressional record anywhere. >> the reason they use the shutdown willy nilly, i think recklessly and irresponsibly as a political tactic because they hope when the government shutdowns happen there will b

the d.r.e.a.m.ers need to be taken care of for them to do now it's time for "last word with lawrence o'donnell> do we know whether the

it's time for "last word with lawrence o'donnell." >> it was good to see the los angeles march, i was down there checking it out in the thick of it. la culture does not lend itself to organized marching the way the city is laid out, and to see a bigger turnout there is extraordinary, especially since new york's turnout was huge. >> for me it's interesting that it's not just big cities were able to turn out big turnouts again. but there were once again a ton of small marches everywhere. and disbursed not so small, i was in new hampshire this weekend and they have a proud history of protesting lots of things, and friends that have seen everything in north hampton, told me this was the largest one they have seen there. this one that happened this weekend. there's an incredible amount of them out there. >> those of us who are old enough to remember antiwar protests never thought we'd see anything bigger. >> thanks, my friend. >> so the government is going to stay open now, at least until february 8th. the president has just signed -- just tonight signed the bill passed by the house and se

for you, intelligent people like you and rachel and brian williams and nicolle wallace and lawrence o'donnell and gene robinson, you all have to sit there and talk about this guy as if he's a president. i mean, i know he was elected somehow but this is a guy -- >> excuse me for living, rob, but this is what we do. >> i know it's what you do and i feel bad for you that you have to talk about this. the guy is a racist. he's a ma soj nis and a pa pathological liar. when you write the speech down and you lie with words that are prepared, that takes lying to a new level. he lied about the biggest tax cut in history. he lied about the visa program. they're just lies. it's one thing to lie off the cuff, but when you write down a lie and you say it, how are we supposed to judge what we just saw there? it was ridiculous. >> and there's two rings to the circus we know about. one is called the russian probe which is really and we can tell it's getting somewhere. the other is the performance of this morning every morning starting around 6:30 eastern time when he gets his copy of the "times" and gets angr

now it's time "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." >> will i see you this weekend? >> no, no.se i want to work on remodeling my kitchen. >> who is going to be there to answer the phone at the white house? they're bringing the entire cabinet and the entire white house staff. >> well, there is no government shutdown. so they will have someone to answer. rachel, i was so glad to see you interviewing senator schumer tonight. because if you couldn't do it tonight, and i had to do the schumer interview, it would have been so short. it would have been me saying, well, i get it. i see why you did what you did. and that would be it. be

followed by a conversation with lawrence o'donnell and on tuesday wolf plays hardball live with chris matthews. for more on michael wolf's reporting. is the president mentally fit? theresa may asked to weigh in on suggestions from michael wolf's book regard iing the president' mental health. and lindsey graham explains why he and chuck grassley want the doj to consider criminal charges against. the author of the trump dossier. beyond is a natural pet food that goes beyond assuming ingredients are safe... to knowing they are. going beyond expectations... because our pets deserve it. beyond. natural pet food. >>> welcome back. lindsey graham hit the air waves to defend his attempts to get the fbi to open a criminal probe of christopher steel. he's the former british intelligence officer behind the dossier on donald trump. >> i want a special counsel to look at not only how mr. steel conducted himself, what the fbi did with the dossier, whether mr. orr, what involvement did he have in the doi dos ya u and find out if the lead investigator of the clinton e-mail investigation had a politic

now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." good evening. >> good evening, rachel. as you can see, a you know, when a gu