balances. if yousk me, am icon certained about a war going on in yemen? am icon certained about raids in yemen, yes, i'm concerned about that much more than what is tweeted or not tweeted. >> senator rand paul, we appreciate your time. >> thank you. that does it for us. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage now. >> thanks, willie. good morning, so much to cover. a supreme disagreement. the president's supreme court nominee criticizes trump's blasting of the courts. >> judge gorsuch specifically said you should feel free to mention what i said about these attacks being disheartening and demoralizing. >> donald trump hitting back this morning calling one senator a liar. that good old family affair. listen up to this. president trump slamming nordstrom after they cut back orders for ivanka's fashion line. >> i think it's less about

family of business nan an attack on his daughter. >> don jr. is waying in. the conflicts here are off the charts. plus, whiteout. a fast and furious storm dumping snow across the northeast. morning commutes are stalled. kids are cheering because the biggest school systems in the country are closed. >> this is only going to get worse as the day goes on. >> we are going to begin this morning with president trump 30 minutes away from his latest sit-down with top executives. he's meeting with airline ceos to talk business and jobs. at 10:30 the president will attend the swearing in of jeff sessions as the u.s. attorney general. we have the best team in the business here to break it all down. we are going to get to that in a minute. first, i want to focus on extraordinary remarks by supreme court nominee. this moing, b sasse said he asked gorsuch in a meeting about

president trump's comments regarding the judiciary. here is how he described the response. >> this is a guy who welled up with energy and said any attack on any, i think his term to me was brothers or sisters of the robe is an attack on all judges. >> well, nbc's peter alexander is following this. peter, sasse is the third senator to have the same conversation with gorsuch and the president, we know, isn't happy about it. what does it mean? every day we hear this one is not happy, that one is not happy. at the end of the day, everyone gets in line and does what is expected. what does this mean? >> reporter: this was clearly a crafted line by judge gorsuch, one we understand he said repeatedly in several private courtesy visits he said with senators on capitol hill. you heard from donald trump, he came out swinging at senator richard blumenthal of

connecticut. the president wrote senator blumenthal who never fought in vietnam who said he had, major lie, misrepresents what judge gorsuch told him. to be very clear, yesterday, nbc confirmed with a gorsuch associate that language, referring to donald trump's comments as being demoralizing and disheartening. a formal confirmation from kelly ayotte who has been a sherpa for judge gorsuch. he said he finds criticism of a judge disheartening and demolling. richard blumenthal made it clear the judge, some republicans criticized him f revealing publicly. he revealed publicly a private conversation. take a listen. >> judge gorsuch specifically said you should feel free to

mention what i said about these attacks being disheartening and demoralizing. i suggest donald trump needs to be better informed about what his nominee said to all of us, so far, on capitol hill. >> reporter: spoke to a senior adviser to the president trying to get a sense if the white house knew this language was going to be used, if they had a conversation with him in advance of the meetings. they brushed it off. they wouldn't give formal conversation on that thought. at least on the judge's part, it softens his image with the democrats that might help him on the confirmation. >> columnist for the new york daily news, good morning to both of you. michael, i'm going to start with you. the judge's own spokesman confirmed his words. here is donald trump going after blumenthal anyway.

what do you make of what's going on? >> this reminds me of a country line, who you going to believe, me or your own lying eyes? he doesn't want to blame the supreme court nominee. he can't walk him back from his own comments. steph, you wondered if gorsuch has the president in a tough spot because he's -- he can't fire him like he fired sal sall yates. you wonder if this happened with somebody else, if trump would be calling him my so-called supreme court nominee. >> he can't, but he can. i watched the transition. the transition, as influencer after influencer rocked up to trump tower much like "celebrity apprentice." to michael's point, does he have president trump in a box? i think about marco rubio grilling, grilling, rex

tillerson saying we had a great conversation, i would like to vote for you. do we believe judge gorsuch? is it a different case? >> i think it's a different case. judges, by their nature, they are impartial. they try to be so. almost more important than what judge gorsuch says is he's saying it to multiple senators and asking them to repeat it. he couldn't be sending a stronger message to the president he believes in the separation of powers. i think steve bannon is crying in his breakfast corn flakes. he should not have pushed judge gorsuch. it's a huge mistake and one trump can't take back. >> this is not mitt romney checking his own character at the door to have a sit-down. you know, here is the thing about gorsuch, this was pretty cool. this was pretty cool. >> cool on gorsuch's part.

>> absolutely. he said, i am who i am. i'm not going to change my values, even if it costs me this nomination. >> it's not going to cost him the nomination. there are some things even donald trump can't do. he put him on because he couldn't get anyone else on the armed services committee with john mccain. he's on the supreme court. it's the best thing that happened since this horror of an administration got in. >> they are in agreement. i want to take you now to capitol hill with casey hunt is watching the swearing in of jeff sessions set for 90 minutes from now. casey, once again, the democrats threw the kitchen sink at a nominee and once again, republicans lined up and the nominee got through. anyway, i would like to get a refund for all the hours we put forward to going through this. was it even close? help me here. >> reporter: the reality is,

democrats don't have the votes to stop the nominees, they just don't. they almost did with betsy devos. that is the closest they are going to become throughout the rest of the process. there's so much pressure to show they are throwing up every posz zable roadblock. warren told me, it's their job to be the opposition party. she became the face of it yesterday, after mitch mcconnell silenced her on the floor after debate over sessions. we are watching up here, yes, the session swearing in and what's next for tom price, the hhs nominee, he's coming up next in the senate. he may be voted on as late as 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning unless they speed up the schedule. that is followed by a vote on saturday. i think it kind of underscores the level of opposition right now and the anger in the democratic ba democratic base. the reality is we like to joke you can smell the jet fumes on thursday afternoon when all the senators want to get out of

town, go back to their district or their states for the weekend. you know, we are going to see if that happens again in this case. i do think, you know, price is probably something that will animate democrats a little more than the other in many ways. the face of the broader trump cabinet. tom price, concerns about the health care law that democrats will focus on. we are waiting to hear from leadership how this is going to play out today. we could see a price confirmation vote early, early, early on friday morning. steph? >> i want to bring my panel in. help me understand, what are democrats to do here? if it's confirmation after confirmation, democrats clearly have thrown in the kitchen sink. they have done the talk-a-thon. they don't have the power. are they the opposition party or is the answer let me figure out how to work with president trump? if they do, they have to figure out their base, people picketing in the streets every day.

what do the democrats in government do? >> i think they are doing the right thing, actually. they don't have the votes. they can't stop the nominees. they have the court of public opinion. they have to make their case in a way that doesn't look whiney and doesn't look strong and is going to get air time and push the numbers down for trump with the independents. with sessions, it was wonderful. that's fantastic. imagine stopping the widow of martin luther king. i'm sorry the democrats didt ma more about the fact of russian hacking and sessions is a suspect in that inquiry. he brought carter page into team trump, the top suspect. he is the guy that had policy meetings and speeches written by a lobbyist for alpha bank. they are currently under investigation for the fbi. if i were a dem, i would say you should be under the eye of this investigation, trending on the fbi and the justice department's

investigations into it. >> she gave you your headline. recuse, you are going to lose. what do you think, michael? >> mitch mcconnell, it sounds like he's the biggest phony who served in the united states. >> it doesn't matter if they have the votes. >> they have the number. the whole ball game is going to be the house. i think in the next two years, there's a tremendous chance to put the house of representatives -- but, when you look at some of these republican senators, and a few broke ranks on betsy devos who is thrillingly unqualified to be the education secretary. you wonder how many of them are going to, how do i put this, grow some guts over the next year or two and not be bullied by the president of the united states. >> do you believe that if you broke ranks or do you believe it was part of the show, they knew they had the numbers and you took a few people and mitch mcconnell said it's okay, go the right direction.

>> i don't think i'd say that. >> i'm just asking. >> look at the record. those that opposed traditionally, i won't say rhinos because people called lindsey graham a rhino and he's the only one worthy of the name fighting on russia. sen tryst republican senators. i think you have to look at the fact they believed it. it's not a surrender for devos by people like mccain. sorry msnbc viewers, i am a conservative i would have voted for devos. i like her and i don't think experience is relative in a cabinet post. >> the democrats are saying stand-up for your beliefs. when they don't want to appear whiney, when they didn't show up for steve's confirmation, that's what so many headlines said, they are blocking it. they didn't show up. american say they are not representing me. they are not showing up for work. democrats are in a tough spot. >> the phoniness is astounding.

look how long they held up loretta lynch. barack obama couldn't have presented a more acceptable choice for attorney general. for these people to act like the democrats are being bad sports here, it's the same old stomach problem for the republicans, no guts. >> you need to win the media cle. elizabeth warren won the media cycle. if i were jeffsessions, i would have said let the lady talk. that would have been a win for jeff sessions. if he said, mr. president, let her make her case. he would have looked like a hero. he didn't do that. think about the soundbyte. this is the age of government bite. democrats need to think about how it's going to play on social media. it may be letting some through and picking your battles, otherwise, there's no point to it. >> we have to take a break. if his mind continues to get blown, you are going to have no

brain matter left. >> i'm fine. >> i'm thrilled. next, the official twitter account of the president, which is not a calming influence, the staff retweets trump's message criticizing nordstrom, the over 100-year-old family founded and run retail institution. is it a dad standing up for his daughter? kellyanne conway is weighing in and may have made it worse. plus, we are going to take you to the massive winter storm pounding the northeast. weather channel meteorologist stephanie abrams is in new york city. how bad is it? i hear my kids cheering, i'm looking at snowmen in my yard. >> reporter: the kids are excited about this, the adults not so much. with the kids, the temperatures are going to drop through the day. once this is over around 3:00, 4:00, it is going to be cold. the adults are not having so much fun. a man is plowing the sidewalk

here. the visibility is horrible. i have seen five plows in a row back-to-back-to-back keeping up. you are only able to see blocks down. you can only see to the tops of buildings at times. people can't see to the top of the empire state building. how did this happen? we went from record warmth yesterday, a record 62, to 8-12 inches of snow today. we are going to talk more about that coming up on msnbc and how we can swing from such extremes. mom, i just saved a lot of money on my car insurance by switching to geico. i should take a closer look at geico... you know, geico can help you save money on your homeowners insurance too? great! geico can help insure our mountain chalet! how long have we been sawing this log? um, one hundred and fourteen years. man i thought my arm would be a lot more jacked by now. i'm not even sure this is real wood. there's no butter in this churn. do my tris look okay?

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listen up, guys. democrats are raising ethics questions after donald trump's blistering tweet from the presidential account slamming nordstrom, the u.s. retailer after the department store said they would no longer carry their daughter's company's products. he fired this tweet at 6:50 a.m. seaing his daughter was treated to unfairly. nordstrom said it is not political, it's business and they made the decision in january. the white house hit back. >> this is a direct attack on his policies and her name. so, that, there, is clearly an attempt for him to stand-up for her because she is being aligned because they have a problem with

his policies. >> kellyanne conway said this. >> a campon for women in power and women in the workplace. i think people can see through that. go buy ivanka's stuff. i hate shopping and i'm going to buy it. >> there's a hashtag, buyivanka. >> bill cohen is author of why wall street matters. norm, kellyanne conway, that's what i want to start with this morning saying i'm going to do a commercial here. did she break the law? >> 2635702. >> are you giving me a phone number? >> a government employee to use your public office for private gain. and by doing this ad, i have never seen anything like it. it's a violation of the rules,

pure and simple. >> then what happens? if it's a clear, pure and simple violation of the rule, what next? >> well, i imagine that you are going to see complaints flowing in, the responsibility to oversee this in the first instance is with the white house council. don mccann is going to need to look at the rules, look at the president and decide what range of penalties might apply, whether she was aware of it, did it knowingly, or whether she made a mistake, her first violation and i think the office of government ethics will also have a look at it. it's a serious matter. >> all right, norm, thanks. i want to bring in the panel, bill cohen, look at this. can you look at this and say

ivanka is a victim here? a victim by whom? nordstrom, who informed her company of this over a week ago only had great things to say. they reiterated that yesterday. we have a great relationship with them. we are in a retail contraction period. macy's closing ten stores. donald trump to say a company founded over 100 years ago in the united states, still exists today, run by the nordstrom family, employing 85,000 people. this is a president that ran on american companies and american jobs does this attack on his daughter. we haven't heard from the company or ivanka. don jr. putting something on twitter calling for women, cut up your nordstrom credit card for what they have done to my sister. the attack is coming from the trump family. if you are a retailer that doesn't carry ivanka, would you

after this? >> i rest my case. that was beautifully articulated. i couldn't agree with you more. it's absolutelyidiculous to think ivanka trump is a victim. this is a decision by the nordstroms. the various business lines they were carrying or clotheslines they were carrying weren't selling or they wouldn't get rid of them. they have no other business in life than selling products and turning inventory into cash. if they were selling, they wouldn't get rid of them. this is donald trump putting the bully back in bully pulpit. this is what he does very well. >> i know don jr. has a lot of influence. if he's telling america to boycott the store, be aware his sister's dresses are being sold there. that could be an issue. >> stephanie, what happened to the, i'm not going to be involved with my company anymore press conference? what happened to the, i have my attorney up here and my stack of empty folders with blank sheets

of papers saying i signed away all my involvement with my company. >> not just president trump, ivanka trump distanced herself. putting a woman that ran her company in charge. i am no longer tied to my business. now they are saying you are attacking my sister for my dad's policies -- what? >> can i say, one, she resisted and judge gorsuch. i believe trump does these things because they are human interest and he wants to distract us from the bad news. the bad news is his supreme court nominee came out and elizabeth warren beat him down like a dog in the senate. that's what he's trying to get away from. if nordstrom wants to attack donald trump's policies, they would unload loads more of trump's clothes because they are made in bangladesh. they support free trade and globalism. i heart globalism if you buy her

stuff. >> michael, i'm going to bring up a cra word here, it's reality. jason said the president cannot have a conflict of interest. there's more than a legal conflict of interest. there's a moral conflict of interest. every day we are evaluated on that. it might not happen today. we are going to hand you a box and say there's a door. over time, that conflict has to weigh, this is an elected position. >> i'm trying to catch up with the conversation because i had the image of kellyanne walking out of the white house from my own twisted amusement. the nordstroms story isn't just a great business story, it's a great american story. trump made you believe he was running for president and being elected president on stories like this. listen, you know, i wouldn't want anybody to be mean to my daughter. listen to the trumps and it's like they pulled levis out of

nordstroms or ralph lauren's clothes. i think everyone will survive this. there's always a game of head fake going on here. for a couple days, we didn't talk about yemen because we were talking about other things. now gorsuch. she's absolutely right. don't look over there, look over here. we have to act like nordstroms is a supernatural crisis. >> we have to think about all americans. to kellyanne conway who is right, ivanka is a champion for women, a successful working mother as are many of the 85,000 people who work for the nordstrom stores across the country. retail workers, many of whom are working moms. there are working moms across industries, more than just the first daughter of the united states of america. we are going to take a break. next, 50 million people in the path of a massive winte storm with some areas getting as

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welcome back. you are watching msnbc. it is time for your morning primer, everything you need to know to get your day started. any minute president trump will meet with ceos or airlines. they will focus on american jobs, building and staffing planes. we are going bring it to you live. this afternoon, newly confirmed homeland secretary will meet with the state's

governor and local officials. a u.s. air strike killed 11 al qaeda fighters. among those killed was a bin laden ally who oversaw the training camps in the 1980s, and '90s. five circus high-wire performers are lucky to be alive after a 20 foot fall. two were related to nick wallenda. things got heated courtside. this is true new york knicks. heated court side, former knicks player, charles oakley was ejected for shoving a security guard during an altercation. oakley was later arrested by the new york police department. only in new york. developing now, a monster snowstorm is slamming the northeast, packing it with high winds, blizzard conditions and even thunder snow. that's a new word for me,

thunder snow, in some arias. the heaviest is in philadelphia up to new york and boston. travel is crippled on the ground and in the air. nearly 3,000 flights have been called off. schools and state offices are closed. indra petersons is in philly. indra in philadelphia, talk us through, what's it like there? >> reporter: i tell you what, stephanie. if you did not see the forecast yesterday, you are waking up very confused. we had record heat yesterday, 66 degrees. early this morning, heavy rain falling, now we are under a winter storm warning, 3-6 inches in the area. one thing we are watching carefully are the roadways. temperatures dropped down to the 30s. that means anything that is slick could freeze over. we are looking for the threat of black ice. it's reeking havoc with travel. look at all the cancellations down the east coast. >> when is this expected to end?

>> reporter: great question. we have a little bit of time left for the snow to continue to fall in philly. this is a quick-moving system. you have 50 million people under advisory. we know the system is on the run, making its way up to the northeast. you can see the radar where the snow is expected to taper off over the next few hours in philadelphia. then it's going to head in through the boston cape. were talking boston as well as the cape. we have blizzard warnings along the cape and middle sections of long island and eastern portions of long island. we are looking for very heavy totals of snowfall with gusts as high as 50 if not 60 miles per hour. we have a ways to go. we could see a foot to foot and a half of snowfall in that area. hard to believe after yesterday. >> mother nature was holding off until tom brady had his parade. kral perry left 30 rock, braving

the treacherous weather on the road. talk us through this. >> we left manhattan. i can switch it. let me make sure i did it right. there you go, look at the bridge. the road conditions are very bad and getting worse. this is a quick-moving storm. you have emergency services trying to stay ahead of it. they are going through the normal play book. cancel schools and flights. nonessential employees in new york, new jersey, connecticut, massachusetts and new hampshire, stay home. public works is out in force in all those places. again, stephanie, we are talking a snow bomb. we are talking a term that is made to let people know this is going to hit very fast. let's switch you back to the car. we are trying to make our way to boston, it's 180 miles from where we are now. on the google, how long will it take says six hours. it should only take three and a half to four hours. >> cal, i have to ask, did you make a snow bomb music mix?

that's a long drive? >> i didn't but i'm working on my puns. so far, this is snow joke. >> i'm going to give you that. that's good. cal, be safe out there. we are going take a break. next, president trump calls a senator a liar after reports his supreme court nominee criticized the comments on judges. senar john widen joins me next. one by one, they read a letter from king in support of elizabeth warren. was it a good or bad moment for the future of the party? and you're talking to your rheumatologist about a medication... ...this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain... ...and protect my joints from further damage. humira has been clinically studied for over 18 years. humira works by targeting and helping to... ...block a specific source... ...of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain and... ...stop further joint damage in many adults.

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welcome back. you are watching msnbc, i'm stephanie ruhle. three senators, including one republican now confirmed supreme court nominee neil gorsuch tells them he was disheartened and demoralized about president trump's remarks about the judiciary. senator, good morning. this is really about whether gorsuch can be an independent check against president trump. do you believe he will be? >> first of all, i think it is a stunning development that the judge is speaking out in this fashion. obviously, there are a lot of other issued that concern us in particular. i'm concerned about the overreach in the branch of

immigration, women's health care. oregon has a death with dignity law that i feel very strongly about. i think this is a stunning development. >> did he go far enough? chuck schumer said gorsuch basically told him the same thing in terms of disheartening, but said he didn't go far enough. take a look. >> i said to him, you have an obligation to publicly condemn the actions of president trump. he said, well, i'm disheartened by them. to whisper to a senator behind closed doors he's disheartened without condemning or making a public statement is not close to enough. >> what is your take on this? judge gorsuch said this is my take, i'm disheartened. feel free to repeat it. he says whispering it is not enough, you need a public statement. >> i believe senator schumer made valid points. clearly, this debate is just starting.

when you are talking about supreme court nominee, you are talking about getting in some of the questions that go right to the future of our country and given this administration, particularly federal overreach, overreach by the executive branch is one of the key issues. i would say immigration, women's health care, the incredibly wrenching issues with respect to end of life care. certainly senator schumer is making a valid point the senate needs to know more about how judge gorsuch sees these matters. >> senator, i want to ask you about the hhs nominee, tom price. there's the questionable stock trades we heard about over the last few weeks. people were shocked. even if he is confirmed, which there's a high chance he will be, is there time to introduce legislation to clarify what is legal and what is not in those situations? >> insider trading is massive. we saw martha stewart go to jail

over it. practices that are legal in congress, is there time to change that? >> there is a real need to make changes. this is a textbook case. here, you have a member of congress on the health care committee trading in health care stocks, certainly promoting policies that will help his portfolio, then he gets a special deal with respect to a priva private placement and pointed out in the wall street journal what he told the senate about that deal wasn't accurate. >> do you think, assuming he is confirmed, will there be motions to change legislation? >> i'm certainly going to push for significant reform here. this is a textbook case of the kind of loopholes that still exist. i mean, you look at someone who, in effect, is going to be involved in hundreds of billions of dollars of health care expenditures, already has been as a member of the ways and

means committee, i can just tell you, george w. bush's ethics lawyer said he's been doing this work for decades and decades and never seen anything like the price case. >> are you concerned we have a market moving president? this is the first president who calls out individual companies and upon talking about them moves their stock. >> certainly, with respect to what we are seeing, these tweets in the middle of the night, i would like to see, as we approach these major policy issues, some clear way to analyze the questions and not sort of make policy at 3:00 in the morning. >> all right, senator. thank you for joining me this morning. >> thank you. next, the new golfer in chief. after years of criticize zing president obama's golf, president trump seems to be picking up where obama left off. also in the next hour, jeff sessions will be sworn in as the new attorney general.

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glad forceflex. extra strong to avoid rips and tears. be happy, it's glad. president trump cannot let go his fight with senator john mccain, republican senator john mccain, over whether the raid in yemen was a success or failure. within the hour, trump tweeted, senator mccain should not be

talking about success of failure of the media. he's been losing so long, he doesn't know how to win anymore. just look at the mess our country is in, bogged down in conflicts all over the place. our hero ryan died on a mission, not a failure. time for the u.s. to get smart and start winning again. back with me is the panel. i want to point out donald trump put this on twitter where he has millions of followers. what he was criticizing john mccain for in terms of talking to the media, winning, losing, it is what donald trump is doing. what is your take? >> american hero, john mccain, versus american zero, donald trump. >> okay. stop. >> draft dodger, the guy with the outchief first dares to tell senator mccain, war hero, he should not be commenting on military missions. this isn't about the failed raid in yemen.

this is about the fact that senator mccain went on the senate floor yesterday and ripped donald trump a new one for saying that america and russiare t se, for saying what our nation is so innocen and praising vladimir putin. he hates mccain because mccain is standing up to him on russia and trying to associate and it won't work. >> only he can keep us safe from terrorists. only he can protect our borders. only he can win the war on terror. you are spotting a trend here. all the people who say he's a fully formed 70-year-old man are right. it's an old italian grandmother said to me, if you are born round, you don't die square. he loves twitter. most people love twitter for the thunderdome of it, the give and take. no, no, this is a one-way street. this is him talking to people who agree with him from the balcony, day after day after day. we have to stop covering this

like it's the super bowl. winners and losers. the world's way more complicated than that. >> all it takes is one life to be lost. ryan's life was lost one life be lost, which ryan's life was lost. sean spicer has been on both sides of this saying this can't be a winning mission, we lost a life and yesterday hops up there, "we won, we won." what is the president doing to sean spicer as he represents the president? >> sean spicer isn't my first concern. the white house is a volunteer army. he could say he disagrees with the president's characterization. but this actually isn't sports. this is war. a man died. a navy seal died, you don't talk about winning bigley and losing bigley. donald trump, god help us is the commander in chief. he needs to start acting with respect towards america's military, including senator mccain and our veterans.

and until he does that, he's going to make himself more of a joke than he already is. >> he thrives on chaos. go back and look at the debates when there were 16 others on the stage. he thrives on chaos. the pro is the country does not. >> that's a good point. next, let's talk about golf! after years of criticizing president obama for taking off and golfing, for the second weekend in a row, president trump will head to mar-a-lago. and you do not want to miss tonight. chris hayes is in chicago. i hope he's already landed there for a very special town hall event, addressing the surging violence in his city. don't miss chicago in the crosshairs, 8 p.m. eastern right here. with the help of the lowest taxes in decades, a talented workforce, and world-class innovations. like in plattsburgh, where the most advanced transportation is already en route. and in corning,

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he played more golf last year than tiger woods. no, think of it. we don't have time for this. we don't have time for this. we have to work. we have to work. >> he played golf, she was surrounded by goldman. that was then president trump slamming president obama for the amount of time he spent on the golf course. now trump himself is heading off to mar-a-lago off to play golf for the second weekend in a row and he's only been in office for 20 days. >> i will be your champion and i won't be playing golf instead of going to see the people! >> but look at this. obama waited more than three

months before going golfing. george w. bush waited nearly six months. in a way, it's not surprising. he's well versed in the sport, built 17 golf courses, even made the cover the "golf digest," brand new issue naming him golfer in chief. >> i've been a good golfer over the years. when i play golf i feel i'm maybe a better golfer today than i was 15, 20 years ago. >> george w. bush played just 24 rounds quitting completely in 2003 because he felt it wasn't important for a war time president. >> i call important all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. thank you. now watch this drive.

>> yeah, that didn't help. but for trump, the fact that he is going to mar-a-lago this weekend, it's not unprecedented. the obamas were at camp david in 2009 in his first weekend. trump says the trip is part of his working weekend but he did -- >> when the president plays golf, you should play with people he wants to make deals with, congress people and people from other countries. not just his friends. >> that is exactly what he's doing. this weekend he'll be golfing with prime minister shinzo abe. michael, i'm going to defend the president here. when i worked in investment banking, golfing lessons and golf was part of business culture. there's a very good chance in a friendly game, that could be good for president trump and shinzo abe.

>> i've played golf since i was 9 years old but i'm not going to attack the president's golf game. seeing who he is playing with this weekend, i'm wondering what putin's handicap is. >> funny, funny. >> donald trump is known as a good negotiator. why not do it at mar-a-lago? >> i'm surprised his tiny, short, stumpy fingers can hold a golf club. maybe this is why we don't win elections, ladies, we have to learn to play the game. >> all right, i'll leave it at that. i appreciate you guys coming on and you guys tuning in. that wraps up this hour. i'm stephanie ruhle. you can find me any time on twitter i'm getting in the snow in a couple hours. coming up right now, more news with my friend hallie jackson.

>> hey, steph, thank you right noon msnbc. a lot to get to, including friendly fire. president trump's nominee for the supreme court, here on the hill this hour as he distances himself for the president, calling comments on the judiciary disheartening and demoralizing. >> i believe that george gorsuch has a special responsibility to do more than just say to me how disappointed he is behind closed doors. >> disheartening is a great word. >> he should condemn these attacks publicly. >> meanwhile the president meeting with airline ceos but ahead of that using his social media mega phone to attack fellow republican john mccain. plus we have that big winter storm blanketing the eastern sea

board affecting 40 million people in a dozen states. a lot of roads basically shut down. but that is not stopping our team from making it to work. kristen welker is at the white house, kasie hunt and i want to start with the comments -- what is the administration's reaction to the president's pick for the supreme court coming out and essentially slamming him behind closed doors to these senators? >> reporter: well, hallie, i spoke with a senior administration official earlier today and she said look, bottom line, judge gorsuch should feel free to speak his mind. i pressed this administration official on whether the white house was briefed beforehand, no indication that that happened. but the fallout continues and there's no doubt the press secretary, sean spicer, will have to answer a few tou