susan del percio, as we look at the potential cross-examination that mccabe could offer, we also have james baker, as you know, who's being reassigned at the fbi, the chief counsel there, and he being a second corroborator -- potential corroborating witness of james comey's testimony about that alleged meeting happening there in the white house with james comey. is this going to be an issue of obstruction later on as potentially garrett haake was saying? >> well, we don't know. it very well could be. it sounds like it. we also know that donald trump's m.o. is to go after people he thinks are in his path of what he wants, or potentially in the path of condemning him to a charge. but it's just so disheartening to see the president on christmas eve to go after an fbi officer, a public servant who's put in nearly 30 years to our country, and it's time for donald trump to start worrying about the country first, not himself first. >> it's also james comey who we're talking about, right, in the middle of this question of the russian connection question, and he is tweeting, and potentially in

>> senator, susan del percio.ocratic side this is the worst possible tax bill ever. we know democrats did support some of the things in there. specifically what would it take to get you on board, what weren't the republicans able to offer you and what would you take out specifically? >> first of all, we don't think a middle class tax cut should raise taxes on anybody in the middle class. this will raise taxes on millions of middle tax households across the country. we don't think there should be a windfall corporate tax break. we've supported reform done in a way to make sure some companies don't pay the full freight and other companies pay zero. lots of ways to address that wut this big corporate giveaway. >> like what? >> for example, you get rid of some of the tax loopholes in the corporate tax code and do it in a revenue neutral way. the obama administration put a number of things on the table very reasonable when it came to corporate tax reform. we don't think we should provide a big tax windfall to the very

susan del percio.orter for the associated press jonathan hemire and kristen soltis anderson. let's bring in michael schmidt, "the new york times" reporter who sat down yesterday for a surprise weighed ranging interview. before we get into what he told you, how did this interview come together? >> was at his golf club in west palm beach where he goes every day from mar-a-lago to play. he had come off the course and played with his son eric and pro golfer jim herman. they had had lunch. i had gone up talking to him. he's very proud of the tax bill at the end of the year. i think that obviously for many reasons means a lot to him, probably in part because he did not have a significant legislative accomplishment in 2017, and that has sort of given him that. he was talking about that. i said if you want to talk about that, why don't we talk about that on the record. when he was done with lunch f, sat down and talked one-on-one about that. >> were you surprised there was no support staff around him? did you

republican strategist susan del percio, president of the council on foreign relations and author of " richard haass. the paperback comes out next week and we've got a little addendum to it. >> 5,000 word afterword focusing on the foreign policy of donald trump. >> what's the one-line takeaway out of those 5,000 words. >>> he's a disruptive, not a preserve very. as a result, the united states which has been the foundation of the world for the last 75 years no longer is. >> the world is still in disarray. >> in greater disarray. >> we'll talk more about rex tillerson's op ed, what he wrote about north korea and why you think that might not be the best posture. >>> heading into the new year, taxes, environment, immigration ended toward the top of most people's list when asked which issues should the government address in 2018. topping that list was health care. asked to volunteer five issues, 48% of americans say health care is the top domestic issue. is up 5% from 2017 and 17% from 2016. at 31%, concerns about taxes also increased by 17%. respondents were asked about president trump's p

columnist and msnbc contributor mike barnicle, republican strategist and political commentator susan del percioaminer," kristen anderson. we have a lot to get to. it's not friday yet. anyone believe that? >> no. >> feels like it should be friday. we've got that friday feeling. it's only thursday. >> what the heck. along with willie, joe and me, we're going to get to the news. president trump says he's not responsible for roy moore's loss in the alabama senate race. "the washington post" reports that trump has spread the blame for tuesday's loss to his former chief strategist steve bannon, senate majority leader mitch mcconnell as well as moore himself, citing senior white house officials and advisers, "the post" reports trump blames bannon for urging him to support moore and mcconnell for being too aggressive in trying to push moore out. "the post" also reports that trump is eager not to let the loss be seen as a referendum on him. but it is. he has said he will have one alabama again, according to a senior administration official. meanwhile, trump called doug jones to congratulate him on his h

. >> susan del percio and professor from university, former democratic congressman, harold ford juniorday, heidi prisbilla. it is like a movie from 1950, a comedy. in mime. >> the most funny unintentional thing yesterday, did you see kellyanne conway, any time she's in front of the tv set. >> don't even. >> i was with the president when he walked on mars. i was with the president -- so yesterday she goes on the air, says i was with the president all day. and i know that he did not tweet that himself. like she doesn't understand that special counsel is going to be able to find out if john dowd was e-mailing, texting, calling before the president tweeted things out. how stupid do they think we are. we all know dowd didn't dictate that, we know a lawyer, a person out of law school three days would not have used that language. it was the president. he admitted to obstruction of justice and you know that because now even dowd is saying presidents can't commit obstruction of justice. >> he is deferring to lawyers for what he should say. the rationale for donald trump using twitter is he goes

with us we have republican strategist and political commentator, susan del percio on the set with us.associate editor for "the washington post," david ignatius. and joining us from washington, nbc news capitol hill correspondent and host of, oh, yeah. >> kasie d.c. >> yeah, "kasie d.c." on msnbc. yesterday was tough to watch, and twitter was a war zone as it pertains to what's going on in politics today. >> i'm used to nasty, but things -- >> this was ugly. >> things have gotten so nasty over the past several weeks. >> yep, i don't get it. there's so many good conversations we could be having now. >> yeah. >> and half of them were not happening because of the nastiness out there and the tribalization, the vitriol and the hypocrisy. >> and you're seeing now bob mueller, there is -- i know you're talking about al franken, but you can talk about bob mueller. there's a concerted war to smear a man who has served this country nobly and ably for years, who guided us after 9/11. there is actually a concerted attack by the smallest and most petulant in the republican party on the hill, by rig