donald trump going after senator blumenthal over looekd gorsuch comments. and john mccain for criticizing the raid in yemen. meanwhile pressure mounting this afternoon as the president and his advisors jump to ivanka trump's defense. the back and forth with nordstrom heating up now. some experts say that ethics rules have been broken. and winter wallop. more than 50 million people are in the path of a monster storm that's pounding parts of the northeast with blizzard-like conditions. our man, al roker will join me here in the studio with the latest forecast j just a few minutes. let's start with the fallout from judge gorsuch's comments. moments ago president trump meeting with those senators at the white house. you just saw it here. the main topic, the nomination of judge neil gorsuch to the supreme court. the judge on capitol hill once again today, part of the usual charm offensive for supreme court nominees. but not all democrats appear

impressed with gorsuch's brand of independence, if you will. the supreme court nominee criticized president trump's attacks on the judiciary. but he has only done that in private. that's what has some democrats a tad suspicious. here's what democratic senator richard blumenthal told andrea mitchell just a few minutes ago. >> there is all the more need now for him to publicly condemn these attacks on the media. there is no question that he told me that the attacks were disheartening and demoralizing but he needs to be stronger, more public. condemn president trump's unprecedented outremainingous abhorrent attacks on judiciary publicly and clearly. >> the connecticut senator met with gorsuch wednesday. he said that gorsuch told him he was, quote disheartened and demoralized by trump's attacks on federal judges. a spokesman for judge gorsuch confirmed that version of events to nbc news.

noms, donald trump once again offering a different set of facts, trying to muddy the waters into resuscitating one of the senator's old controversy. quote, senator richard blumenthal who never fought in vietnam when he said he had for years. major lie misrepresent cents what judge gorsuch told him. let's start on the hill with kristen welker. what can you tell us? >> a couple of thing. first of all, judge gorsuch's advisors confirm he did make those comments in his private meetings with lawmakers. so the president's claim that somehow his comments were being misconstrued is just not backed.by judge gorsuch's own advisors. now i spoke with a senior administration official earlier today and asked her if the white house had gotten any type of heads up before these meetings that judge gorsuch was going to make those comments. there was no indication that that happened.

but this adviser, very firm that the president continues to stand behind his pick for the supreme court. and you heard him in these comments just moments ago reiterating his support for judge gorsuch. it doesn't appear that is wavering at all. if you step back and look at this politically. politically it could help the judge in his confirmation hearings because it helps him to make the argument that he is independent. that he firmly stands behind the separation between the executive and judicial branches and that is something that he takes very seriously. i could help him with democrats and in his confirmation process overall because he will undoubtedly be questioned about all of this, craig. >> let's talk about kellyanne conway for a moment here. these getting blow back today a fair. of blow back. senior adviser to the president. lots of folks concerned about her comments this morning regarding buying ivanka trump's jewelry. walk us through that one. >> let's start with where this began. it dap with tweet from president

trump yesterday. let me read it to you. he says my daughter ivanka has been treated so unfairly by retailer @nordstrom. she is a great person, always pushing me to do the right thing. trarible. that in reference to the fact that nordstrom announced it would not be renewing its selling of ivanka trump's clothing line this season. ivanka trump is no longer running the company. it's now just the clothing line that bears her name. nordstrom say it has nothing to do with politics. they say this is a business decision that the clothing line was not performing. claeng was asked about all of this today and her answer raised eyebrows. listen. >> he's saying that the judge has been misrepresented. some of his comments have been distorted. but also reasonablebly that you don't reveal a private conversation, even if it means you will be on cable 24/7. i think this is the president's way of reminding everybody in his view anyway that senator blumenthal has had a correlate problem of his own.

>> craig, that was a different sound byte. bottom line, claekellyanne conw and her comments said i'm going to go out and buy ivanka trump's clothes. some experts say that's a violation, for a public servient to be pushing a line of clothing. so that's going to get a lot of debate today. we have of course reached out to the white house, to kellyanne conway. no reaction yet. bottom line, craig, this issue of ivanka trump and nordstrom seems to be doubling up overnight. her brother, done jr. retweeted an article in breitbart that essentially said rip up your nordstrom credit cards. >> we are going to talk to one of those ethics experts in just a few moments. kristen thank you. also today's microsoft pulse question of the day -- are donald trump's attacks on nordstrom simply father protecting his daughter. >> that's the question. the pulse is live.

it's pulse.msnbc.com. we'll check the results later in the broadcast. let's get to capitol hill. casey hunt and jake sherman both there on the hill for us. casey, we saw you a little while ago doing what you do there, walking along trying to get a comment from the supreme court nominee neil gorsuch. he didn't seem to have a great deal to say to you. >> reporter: he didn't, craig. donald trump's nominees have proven to be less amenable than most senators to answering our hallway questions. it would have been unusual for him to have said something publicly about this. but that is exactly what democrats are pressuring him to did right now. i was trying to figure out whether or not donald trump was aware of what he was going to be saying in these private meetings with senators about the president's comments about an independent judiciary. he of course did not answer those questions. it sounds like it wasn't discussed in the meeting with susan collins that we were walking with him toward. he said to me here with

lisamerikowski in an hour or so. he is making the rounds on hill with republicans and democrats. he will also meet with amy clove shar of minnesota. this is part of their strategy. and you saw what's going on at the white house right now with that lunch that includes democrats as they try to figgor out how to put together a group of eight democrats willing to vote in favor this nomination and prevent using the nuclear option rule that would really, i think, be a very divisive kind of partisan blow up here in the senate. some democrats privately will admit but it's becoming more and more publicly untenable for them to be seen doing anything that eases donald trump's ways up here after that executive order on immigration kind of lit a fire in the progressive base. craig. >> jake, some democrats on the hill, they think this gorsuch stuff, the criticism of trump's comments that were revealed courtesy of senator blumenthal, they think it's all a ploy. this is what the dnc sent out.

quote, this is clearly a meaningless white house orchestrated attempt to help gorsuch pretend he won't be a rubber stamp for the trump administration. why are they convinced this is ploy, jake? >> because donald trump needs democratic votes and this is a comment that most democrats would agree with. let's get something straight at the begin. gorsuch is never going to say it public cleechl it is a good talking point but it's not going to happen. for donald trump, if he wants to got any democrats, if he has a prayer of getting democrats and getting this guy across the finish line he doesn't need to punch back every time a democrat says something nasty about him. donald trump probably needs to learn that and learn that quickly because this is a game of stroking people's egos on capitol hill. that's what the name of the game is. he's doing that today with the lunch at the white house. but tweeting about dick blumenthal's record or lack thereof, in vietnam is not really pertinent and is not going to help him get his

supreme court justice across the finish line. >> you mentioned democrats on the i will had. let's talk about house democrats for a second. they are on day two of this retreat in umt about. i want to read the headline from the "washington post." a centrist is addressing house democrats, and the progressives are fierce. that's apparently from the think tank third way. how is the rebranding effort going for democrats? >> i think if you talk to a lot of house democrats priftly they would say they probably need to hear from more centrists. the house democrats are at probably their lowest point since 2004 or something like that. so this is not a message that kind of carries across the entire party. i think a lot of house democrats privately think the party has moved too far to the left. they have lost in the midwest. lost in the south. they are not the caucus that they used to be. i think that's not uniformly held position across the house democratic caucus. >> jake sherman and casey hunt both on the hill.

thanks, guys. a shorttime ago maine's republican senator susan collins talked to members of the media about her meeting with judge gorsuch that just happened a while ago. let's listen. >> the judge clearly outlined his respect for the judiciary, his willingness to be a check on the executive branch. i did not ask him about his comments and his conversations with the other senators because he's already put out a statement that makes very clear that he feels it is a mistake for anyone to attack an individual judge's integrity. >> all right. susan collins there. senator collins a few moments ago. senator chris murphy is also a democratic senator from the state of connecticut. i want to start by getting your reaction, senator, to something that we just heard from president trump a few moments ago. this is his criticism of your fellow senator from the nut meg

state. take a listen. >> his comments were misrepresent. what you should do is ask senator blumenthal about his vietnam record that didn't exist after years of saying it did. so ask senator blumenthal about his vietnam record. he misrepresented that just like he misrepresented judge gorsuch. >> your response, senator murphy? >> i think you have donald trump in a nutshell, right, any time that donald trump is feeling pressured he just turns around and tries to shame or criticize or billy the person criticizing him. this is par for the course highway donald trump ran his campaign, how he is going to run the white house. i think this is a tactic that donald trump enjoys because it distracts from the underlying issue, which is donald trump trying to control the judiciary by calling out judges publicly when they disagree with him. he is able to cloud thatnd lying issue by attacking senator

blumenthal just like he is able to cloud the issue of his policy of yemen in the middle east by attacking john mccain. this is the next four years, which is donald trump trying to obliterate the actual news of the day by engaging in personal attacks. my hope is that we don't fall for the bait that we as members of senate rise above it and talk about the issues that really matter. >> judge gorsuch's criticisms in private, again, criticisms that have been confirmed by others as well to nbc news, these comments that he made about the president's attacks on the judiciary, do you see them as ploy like some democrats do? or do you believe the criticism to be genuine? >> i have to assume the criticism is genuine because it's common sense. frankly it would be shocking if he sat in these private meetings was asked about donald trump's personal attacks on judges and he acquiesced or said it was okay. none of this should be surprising or shocking and it

really shouldn't have anything to do with his qualifications to be on the supreme court. we should expect that a member of the judiciary is going to be uncomfortable when the president of the united states tries to shame a judge who enters a ruling against the president. we have got to be talking about judge gorsuch's judicial policy, whether he is going to bring his politics to the bench, whether he is mainstream or extreme. that should be the conversation we have. what he said to senator blumenthal and what he said to other senator that should be expected. shouldn't be surprised by that. >> let's switch subject. confirmation hearings for the labor secretary have been set for the 16th. you sit on the senate committee that will be holding the hearings. in the last 45 minutes or so we heard from chuck schumer. he has said that the nomination itself should be withdrawn. d do you agree with that? if you don't, what will your focus be in these confirmation

hearings? >> i whole heartedly agree. frankly i can't comprehend why this nomination was made in the first place. mr. puzner was found to have 50% of his restaurants to be in veylation of department of labor laws and he was nominated to be head of the department of labor. there are lots of people who knew about labor laws who didn't personally violate them when they were in business. and this new allegation of him hiring undocumented workers certainly compounds those troubles of i am going to be asking him questions in this hearing about his record of being a department of labor scoff law, and why on earth he as the secretary of labor is going to infer the laws that he had a history of violating. and i hope that on this nomination republicans will recognize the damage that will be done if you put into that position someone that has a history of violating the law and then ask them to enforce it. it sends a terrible message to

all the businesses out there that are really looking for someone in that position to set an example. >> senator chris murphy. democrat from connecticut, the great state of connecticut. my state right now. senator murphy. thank you. let's get to the weather. connecticut is one of the states being pummelled by the powerful winter storm hitting the northeast for several hours now. the storm bringing blizzard conditions and more than a foot of snow to some areas. parts of the region are experiencing thunder snow, whiteout conditions as well. at least one death in new york city is being blamed on the storm where three inches fell per hour making travel quite treacherous. take look at flight aware's misery map. more than 3200 flights have been canceled today so far. again, it's only 1:15 on the east coast. good friend al roker stayed late for us today. let's start with the thunder snow. for folks who aren't weather geeks like you, what is it? >> if you remember jim cantore

freaking out when there was thunder snow going on it is an interesting phenomenon. i first experienced it when i was a college freshman in lake ontario. and you get a very vigorous storm. normally in these storms you have low lying clouds. you have very little updraft. but when you have a strong storm that updraft really gets going. so you we had these clouds building up and as the updrafts happen you get electrical charges between the updrafts and that's when you get the lightning and the thunder snow. this storm has been generating that from albany new york into new england. it is a mast mover. already we are seeing the western edge of this starting to pull into central new jersey. before long it will be over. it has already dropped seven to eight inches of snow in parts of pennsylvania. into new york state, montague, albany. brookfield, ten inches of know. lag, 9.5. nine inches of snow officially

at central park. that is a record. craig by the way this is the first time we have seen within 24 hours a record high and then at least six inches of snow. never happened before. and so we are going to see continue -- your state along the coast, we have blizzard warnings in connecticut, long island, and parts of eastern massachusetts. here we go. the thing is going to move up. blizzard threat for cape cod, long island and the south facing shore of connecticut. we could see in this ban, one the three inches of snow per hour. but the good news is this thing is goes to pull away quickly. bts right now, where the schools are closed today. the mayor mart ewalsh announcing just in the last five minutes, schools closed again tomorrow. they have got a long weekend all those kids, they are doing the happy dance right now. >> parents, not so much. >> that is gold. a long weekend for a snow day. okay. we look for totals. philly is done, three to sick. new york may pick up a couple

more inches of tapering off in the next hour or so. montauk, 18 inches of snow. still piling up in connecticut. hartford up to 16. same in providence. boston towards the campaign we are looking at the snowfall amounts. the winds are a factor. jfk right now, all four runways are closed. the runways and the airports are going to be a mess from new york into boston. the winds some of them at times going to be tropical force winds. whatever is on the ground now as far as snow it's going to stay there. overnight. wind chill is going the feel like 2 in syracuse, 10 in new york city, minus 1 in boston. 11 in baltimore. good news is things warm up for the weekend and then that stuff will get out of here. >> to think this time yesterday you had folks walking around in t-shirts and shorts. >> talk about your weather whiplash. >> al roker thank you sir. we are also keeping an eye on the white house briefing room. this has become a daily ritual of sorts. >> aim he going to go some gum.

>> don't get us in trouble, al. >> sean spicer, the press secretary is expect to be there in about ten minutes. we will bring that to you. >> those are your words. not mine. those are your words. not mine. you said them, so they are yours. i apologize on behalf of you. also more on the winter wallop, the major storm that continues to pound the northeast right now. up to 18 inches of snow we heard from al expected in some areas. cal perry literally driving through it right now. >> he could have 1079 stopped and given you a lift home. >> i should have asked him to stop. where are you? maybe you can. >> road conditions are really bad. authorities want people off the roads. maybe we will stop for you. we can make a stop for craig melvin. >> i'll pay for cross. >> more after the break. >> see you in a bit. thank you. you to seize the day

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as we just heard there from mr. roker there is a nor'easter hammering the northeast corridor right now. covering roads, highways, sleet, ice, what could be as much as a foot of snow in some places. governors in three states are pleading with drivers to stay off the roads all together. our report rrs spread out across the region covering this very pourful storm. let's start with blake mccoy. he's in boston. what are the conditions like there, blake? still snowing it looks like. >> reporter: we are really just

starting to get the worst of this storm as it moves up from new york city now into the boston area. the snow is coming down pretty hard. the win blowing as well. you can see people shoveling across the street trying to stay ahead of this. when all is said and done in boston we could see well over a foot it's expected to continue snowing like this until 9:00 tonight. hey there -- you can see about two inches on the ground right now. over here are kevin and kim. they were walking. what do you think of the weather today? >> it's bad outside. this morning we weren't sure if it was going to be that bad. maybe six inches but it's starring to fell like it's going to be 12 inches. >> which begs the question what are you doing outside in it. >> we went to work. it was fine. but then the office closed and we are going home. >> they made you come into work this morning. >> yes, they did. >> are you going to have to work tomorrow. >> we don't know.

>> schools are cancel tomorrow. kids will be staying home even if the folks have to go to work. >> they are nutty in bean town. that man challenged you to a danceoff and you let him walk away. >> miss opportunity. >> i am disappointed. blake mccoy, thank you. cal perry, msnbc'scal perry driving through concondition right now. you have been on the road since 9:00 this morning. is that right. >> we are halfway to boston. we should be there by now on a natural day. people who live in the northeast tell you that new york city to boston drive is usually pretty miserable with traffic. today don't even do it. as you said, governors in at least three states are asking people the stay off the roads. we are talking about a checklist that includes cancelling schools, tens of thousands of schools.ible kaing, more than 3,000 flights, 40 million people are in the path this storm. the key to this storm is it's going to happen very fast. we have been on the road and we

have seen a lot of people especially on the on and off ramps are getting stuck. if you are stuck more than an hour you could see four inches of snow fall if that hour, getting a car out is just about impossible. that's why the governors want people off the roads. they have even asked for non-essential employees to stay home. that allows the emergency services craig to get to people who they need to. whether in their houses or out here on the highway. pressure mounting. did president trump and top advisors violate ethics rules by publicly supporting ivanka trump's brand? i'll ask norm eisen. and white house press secretary sean spicer expected at the podium any moment now for the day low briefing. when it happens we'll bring it to you live. what's it like to be in good hands? like finding new ways to be taken care of. home, car, life insurance obviously, ohhh...

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it all started with a tweet. a refrain that's become familiar here in the trump era. now it could be a major ethics issue. president trump slamming the retailer nordstrom for dropping the clothing brand that bears his daughter ivanka's name. the president retweeting this on the white house official account mind you. my daughter ivanka has been treated so unfairly by nordstrom. she is a great person, always pushing me to do the right thing. terrible. i want to bring in norm eisen. he served as president obama's ethics czar. he also served as ambassador to the czech republic. before we get to that tweet. let's talk about something that happened sense thin. this is one of the president's top advisors, kellyanne conway this morning not only giving her

boss, giving ivanka trump's line ast into. listen. >> go buy ivanka's stuff is what i would tell you. i hate shop, i'm going to get some myself today. i'm going to give a free commercial here. go buy it today, every. you can find it on line. >> there these. white house briefing room, white house seal, logo there, the american flag in the background. how problematic is that? >> craig, thanks for having me. and the statement is extremely problematic. federaletics regulations prohibit government employees for using their public office for the private gain of another. it appears that that statute, that principle, that regulation has been violated here. and makes it worse is that it's part of a huge enterprise, trump, inc., which has blurred

government and private financial business of the trump family over and over and over again with mr. trump violating the constitution to take foreign government payments. yesterday his wife filing a legal pleading saying she lost a once in a lifetime opportunity to capitalize financially on being first lady. it's very -- the attack on a business, american business, not just by mr. trump in his tweets, by mr. spicer yesterday claiming. and the business denies this, claiming it was political. the business says no, her line wasn't selling. th i like the behavior of a corrupt mafia family. >> norm -- >> and not the behavior of what we expect from the white house. >> norm, any reason to think that this congress would take action, the ethics committee, perhaps?

>> well, i think that the first place that we are going to have to look for action is in the checks and balance system. twois plastic. number one, the judiciary. the federal courts, which donald trump has been so wrongly attacking -- we haven't seen anything like this in a white house. attacking another branch of government. those federal courts have equal power to the presidency. they are going to be the place where we are going to look, whether it is our case for the forbidden foreign government payments and benefits that donald trump is openly taking. whether it's the muslim ban, which there are questions the same scandal questions hangover inc. everything. why didn't he include the countries where he has done business that are more dangerous? he only included the countries too poor to do business with him. why? we are going to go to the courts and we are going to look to the

state attorneys general and the states, two other power centers thatle aboutance out the presidency. the legislature will come along. probably take a little longer. >> norm eisen, always good to have your insight and perspective, thank you. let's see what you are saying about today's microsoft pulse question. are donald trump's astacks on in order trom simply a father protecting his daughter? so far 98% of you say no. it is lopsided this afternoon. there is still time to weigh in. pulse.msnbc.com. there is some other big news today here at nbc. the olympics hosting torch -- it's being passed. longtime olympics host bob costas on the "today" show this morning. >> i'm going to be like the rest of the country, watching mike tariko who will be an able successor, in korea for the winter olympics beginning a year from today. >> you are giving up the olympic gig? >> yeah, i am. >> he seemed really happy about it. with me the aforementioned mike

tarico the new primetime host of our olympics coverage. pyeongchang is around the corner. have you started studying. >> we are getting there. it is a year away. come the you will if a of next year, once football starts we go on a sprint because super bowl sunday happens and then the first night of the olympics will be the following thursday half a world away. we are starting to watch the figure skating the skiing. a lot of the championships for this year are happy happening now. >> we have the super bowl next year, too. >> that's right. we do. >> what are you most excited about with regards to the olympics? >> first off, it's following a true legend. bob costas is a one of a kind individual, one of a kind television host. he set the standard so high. i can't go out and be bob costas. just do the job to the best of my ability in my 25 years of experience of doing television. but i'm looking forward to doing

what the entire nbc olympic unit has done is sharing the people of these people who for the most part are off the radar for four years. thissan they become household names. sharing their stories not just of the american athletes but those around the world. >> one of the challenges is going to be the time difference. >> 14 hours. at least there is the experience of recent games in asia. the next three olympic games are in asia. offer pyeongchang in 18 it's tokyo in 20. and then the next winter will be in beijing in 2022. >> that's right. we go back to beijing. you mentioned bob. growing up, there are certain voices you would associate with certain sports. marv albert with basketball,ed maen with football. for the olympics, costas is automatic.

how hard is it going to be to take the reigns. >> we did a press event in 30 rock. they aired some of bob's best of, if you will, over the last 11 primetime olympics that he hosted a record that will go untouched and i got emotional watching it. i grew up idolizing bob. we both went to syracuse. i received the bob costas slip 30 years ago this spring. we both were born in queens new york. neither one of us will be the starting center on a basketball team. we have lot in common but bob set the bar so high. for me, for you, for so many of us bob has been that guy. i hope i can extent it forward for this generation. >> i have enjoyed mike tirico's work. we are excited to have you on board and happy you are the new face of the olympics. >> thank you so much. hi to that baby you have at home. >> thank you. jeff session is the newly sworn in attorney general.

just arriving at the justice department for his first day on the job. let's look and listen. he apparently arrived to applause. [ applause [ applause ] >> thank you. thank you. good to be back. thank you. >> how are you today? >> super. >> hi there. thank you. >> super. welcome back. there you have it. jeff sessions there arriving. parnell he walked in and he

said, good to be back at the department of justice, we're told, after the neat and greet there. he will have some comments for staffers as d.o.j. as well. meanwhile, any moment now sean spicer expected to do what he does roughly this time every day. he will head to the podium for white house daily briefing. when that happens we will bring it to you life. we have got to pay for the olympics so we are going to take a quick commercial break. where's frank? it's league night! 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico! goin' up the country. bowl without me. frank.' i'm going to get nachos. snack bar's closed. gah! ah, ah ah. ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides.

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house democrats today meeting in daumt. the lawmakers talking about their role in the trump administration with both houses of congress firmly controlled by republicans. let's bring in california democrat congresswoman linda sanchez. congresswoman, first of all i guess the retreat is on a bit of a break. thanks for taking time to talk to us. how is it going there in baltimore? how is the retreat? >> so far so good. folks are energized. they are excited. we have had a number of terrific subject matter experts and thought leaders come and speak to the caucus. we are having conversations among the members. and i think folks are pretty pumped up about the next year. >> mod rot or progressive thought leaders? there was scuttlebutt a few hours ago there was some controversy there perhaps there

were too many moderates speaking and not enough progressives? >> we purposely invited thought leaders from divergent perspectives. we are a big tent party and we think the best way to craft policy is listen to everybody's perspective and come to consensus about what we want to move forward on. i think the ball an is right. i think there is a lot of thought provoking speakers. and we are going to digest what they have to say and work with our colleagues within the caucus to come up with our agenda and our message that we hope to carry to the american people. >> let's talk about this controversy over the president chastising nordsom on the white house twitter feed for dropping his daughter ivanka's clothing line. we hrd from kellyanne conway from the briefing room as well urging folks to go out and buy ivanka's stuff from nordstrom. what's been the reaction from you and your fellow democrats? >> you know, i was the top

democrat on the ethics committee for the last six years. according to house rules, that's a clear violation. you cannot use your public office to promote the product, gads, or services of anybody else, any private entity for profit. i think in this case what is even more egregious than kellyanne conway exhorting people to go purchase those goods it happens to belong to an industry that is part the president's personal holdings. i think that's an egregious breach of ethics. and it's really concerning. >> concerning, it may be. but any reason to think that the lower chamber is going to tack any action? >> little known about the housette igs committee. it only has jurisdictions over house members and the staff that work on the hill. but you know, the over sight and government reform committee, which is chaired by jason chaffetz has the ability to

investigate those kinds of things. whether or not republicans in the house are more committed to proelgting and serving the best interests of the country or the best interests of their president remains to be seen. we are looking for some republicans with some backbone to try to assert that we are coequal branch of government and there is a system of checks and balance and that everybody regardless of what party they are that holds the office of president should be held to the highest standards and to the same laws as everybody else. >> are you calling on mr. chaffetz to launch an investigation? >> i think it would be something that is relevant. i think long overdue. i think we should be asking for him to produce his tax returns. i think we should be looking into potential conflicts of interest. and i think we certainly should be looking into potential violations of the ethics code. >> congresswoman, thank you so much for that. president trump repeatedly calling out chicago for its

surging violence. just yesterday he pointed the finger of blame on gangs for the city's crime. nbc's tammy leitner spent some time in one of the neighborhoods literally caught in the crossfire. >> some of the windows are still shot out. >> reporter: in this neighborhood on the west side vallerie williams has lost count of the dead. >> they die on the front porch. they die on the corner. they die right in the middle of the treat. >> reporter: you have seen all that? >> all of that. >> reporter: the shootings happen daily. >> that's not normal life. that is not the way you should live. we are not in some war torn, you know, place. i'm on my corner of my home here in chicago. >> reporter: this neighbor used to be vibrant. full of families, kids outside playing. now businesses are boarded up and people are afraid to go about their daily lives. antoine tyler's family has lived here in austin for 60 years. >> it's not a neighbor no more.

it's a hood. we need our neighborhood back. >> reporter: drugs are sold openly, rival gangs respect no one and violence is a universal language. >> i talked to a kid who was ten years old and he said he could get a gun easier than he could get canny. >> reporter: on the other side of different a different neighborhood but the violence the same. how many of these victims are kids? >> this summer we had over 30 under the age of 13. wrong place, wrong time. >> reporter: it was the middle of the afternoon when gunfire rang out. bullets could be heard hitting this metal fence. 6-year-old dakra morgan was playing outside her family home. she tried to run outside and that's when she was shot. >> me and my mom heard her screaming. she never screamed. >> reporter: the brave little 6-year-old silent as chaos erupts around her. she was one of the lucky ones. she survived. the vivacious little girl barely

able to whisper when she talks about that day. is it ever sometimes scary out there? >> a little bit. >> reporter: why. >> because they be shooting. >> her tiny little voice perhaps with the loudest mess a j to community fractured by daily violence. most of the people we spoke with don't think that sending in the feds is the solution. keep in mine the violence here in chicago has been building for decades. this is knots going to be a quick fix. think they think there needs to be more community outreach and jobs in the neighborhood. >> tammy, we know you spend a lot of time there. our nbc affiliate at wmaq. tammy, thank you for that report. an important conversation. chris hayes continues it tonight from chicago. a special town hall event. chris will be talking to city leaders, community activists and people who live there about the factors that are contributing to all of this. some potential solutions.

he'll also talk about the future of american cities under president trump. it's called chicago in the cross hairs. it is a special town hall. 8:00 eastern only on msnbc. msn. we are also still waiting for white house press secretary sean spicer to kick off that daily press briefing. he's a few minutes late. when it happens, we'll bring it to you live. and i never get tired of it. are you entirely prepared to retire? pl your never tiring retiring retired tires retirement with e*trade. i'm in vests and as a vested investor in vests i invest with e*trade, where investors can investigate and invest in vests... or not in vests. sign up at etrade.com and get up to six hundred dollars. the slopes like i used to. i even accept i have a higher risk of stroke due to afib, a type of irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem.

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at the white house. reducing crime and stopping cartel violence. the first executive order directs the newly installed attorney general to develop a strategy for more effectively prosecuting people who commit violence against members of law enforcement. we must better protect those who protect us. our men and women in blue need to know that we're with them 100% as they patrol our streets.

unfortunately, this is not always been the case. law enforcement officials have been vocal about the lack of support they received under the past administration. this lack of support demoralized many officers and in some cases led to their discouraging engagement with local communities only causing further harm and imperative that they br kwa coordinate and share information to better serve and protect our communities. this order will start the important work of doing that instituting a wholistic approach. it also directs the department of justice to work with other federal agencies to come up with ways to further reduce violence against law enforcement and orders a hard looked a how the department of justice and other agencies use their law enforcement grants. the second order establishes a task force led by the new attorney general to reduce crime and restore public safety in communities across america. together, the members of this task force, are going to come up

with specific recommendations how we can change existing federal law to better prevent crime and improve public safety and develop stronger working relationships with our state and local partners. the president is confident this task force will develop a systematic strategy to help further protect the american people. over the last year we've experienced declining focus on law and order. crime reduction will clearly be a priority for this white house. the last executive order refocuses energy of the federal government to dismantle criminal organizations such as drug cartels. it's important to emphasize that we cannot reduce crime in the united states without additionally addressing illegal immigration and illegal drugs. through this executive order the president instructs the attorney general to form a comprehensive and decisive approach to destroyi destroying drug cartels that represent a clear and present

danger to our nation. they bring dangerous criminals, drugs and violence to once peaceful neighborhoods. both here at home and in other parts of the world. they fueled addiction and overdose deaths and they can no longer be allowed to operate with immunity in our country or our hemisphere. it pulls together local and federal agencies to exercise goals in this regard. number one, upgrade our information gathering about these transnational organizations and cartels. without accurate information about these threats and the ability and willingness to share this information, we're not going to be able to tackle this problem. it's important to note that prior to this administration if you had called the department of justice to ask for these statistics, they never kept them. so knowing what we're facing is a big part of addressing the problem. number two, improving the speed and efficiency of removing criminal aliens, cartel members, and people who help cartels from our nation. unlike during the last eight years, these criminals are finally going to go home.

shift three. shift whatever resources we can to tackling these organizations and prevent them from disrupting our society any further. now, onto the president's schedule. this morning the president held a breakfast and listening session with key holders in the airline industry. we got a participant list in you're interested. the president thanked attendees for 10 million jobs and 1 trillion in annual economic activity they contribute to our economy and praised them for moving 2 million passengers per day in spite of the outdated infrastructure and equipment that they have in terms of air traffic control and other infrastructure measures. the president asked aviation leaders what the government can do to help their industry grow. the leaders commented they've never been given the opportunity to work with the president in a constructive way and asked for relief from the burdensome regulations that stifle job

creation. the president also reaffirmed his commitment to forging public/private partnerships that will build america's crumbing infrastructure. he will modernize the technology system to keep our nation's airports running and to expedite the approval process for future airline infrastructure projects. it's the president's goal to make sure the united states has the most advanced airline system in the world and this meeting was be a important first step in achieving that. after the executive order signing, the president spoke with the president of afghanistan and we should have readouts on that. just concluding a few moments ago, the president held a supreme court and legislative listening session and lunch with democrat and republican senators. in attendance were chairman of the judiciary committee.

the president expressed hope that they will give judge gorsuch a fair vote. with over 100 federal judicial nominations potentially happening during this administration, it's critical for us to have have an open dialogue and work toward bipartisan agreement so our justice system returns to work on behalf of the american people. later today he'll speak with the prime minister of iraq. we'll provide readout of those calls. we anticipate the senate will hold a vote to confirm price this evening or into the early hours of friday to be the next secretary of health and human services. president was glad to see the army corps of engineers announced last night the final easement