a week after the midterms ended. it's got republicans up in arms. an international slap in the pays. french president macron appears to take a swipe at president trump on the issue of nationalism and he did it if front of the world's leaders. plus, will he stay or will he go? the efforts to get rid of acting attorney general matthew whitaker has the robert mueller investigation hangs in the balance. we're going to have a lot more on that straight ahead. we begin with the midterms left off. still in overtime. in florida the recount is happening right now ahead of a thursday deadline. this is why. right now democrat andrew gillum is within 33,000 votes of republican ron desantis in the governor's race. in the senate, republican rick scott, he leads democrat bill nelson by less than 13,000 votes. the recount has scott getting down right nasty. watch this. >> senator nelson is clearly trying to commit fraud to try to

win this election. bill nelson is a sore loser. he's been in politics way too long. he just won't give up. >> so i want to break down several parts of this story. first the florida recount itself, how this is going to work and the likelihood it could actually change the election day outcome. the potential fallout, whatever happens, will the losing side actually recognize and even respect the results? and what kind of chaos could it cause if they don't? florida is not the only undecided race at this moment. the georgia governor's race and the arizona senate seat also hanging in the balance. what could happen there as well? i want to bring in my panel starting with nbc. michael hopkins, also a gop consultant and mara. let me start with you. i understand you have some breaking news for us. what can you tell us? >> reporter: i'm going to read

it off my phone because we did just get two, technically three new complaints filed. i warned you this was going to get messy legally and start heading into the courts. promises made and promises kept. basically, there's a few things here. the scott campaign filed two complaints, one in broward and one in palm beach county. those two counties we've been talking about. basically saying they want the florida department of law enforcement and local sheriffs to take ballots and all of those kinds of -- all of the machines, device, bal llots when not in u and take them and put them in a controlled environment so they know where they are. that's two of these complaints. the third of them is that they want votes counted after that saturday noon deadline to not be counted. they're saying they're illegally counted votes and i want to make the caveat, those votes themselves are not illegal. they're arguing the rick scott campaign is arguing because the votes were counted after the saturday noon deadline when all counties were supposed to have their canvassing totals into the

secretary of state's office, that because those votes weren't counted before then, they were illegally counted and they should not be counted. if i can imagine what the nelson legal team is going to say to this, they will probably try to argue those votes to be counted, despite the timing couldn't play out. we haven't heard from them yet. that's just in from the scott campaign kind of muddying the waters even further on the legal front as the recount itself still goes on and still continues. i want to be clear. the recount is still going on and continuing despite the new legal challenge. >> give us a quick timeline of how this all plays out. >> reporter: so we went through the deadline that i'm mentioning yesterday, saturday noon was the first unofficial counting from all 67 counties here in florida. that's their final totals from the tuesday election. that then, because the margin in that race was .5% or less, that was in the governor's race, the ad commissioner race and the senate race, that then push today to an automatic machine recount. that's what's going on right

now. we actually just went to a location, the supervisor of elections locations in leon county. that's a process that's going forward seamlessly it seems as we were able to observe what they were doing there. other counties are having a little bit more of a problem. places like broward. miami-dade started earlier. that's what's happening now. that has to be done by thursday at 3:00 p.m. that's when the next part of this will start, because if the margins in that count are found to be .25% or less, thaen en we to a hand recount. we don't expect that gillum/desantis race will go to that, but if it does, then it's a whole new ball game. >> we know andrew gillum has retracted his concession saying he wants every vote to count. thank you very much. stick around for a little bit. as we heard the republican senate candidate and florida governor rick scott, he's making all kinds of claims suggesting that fraud has taken place. he's putting that blame squarely

on bill nelson's feet. with that claim, we're also hearing from the president who is trying to accuse the democrats of stealing the florida elections. so michael, put this in perspective for us. what is the larger impact of these recounts, regardless of the results, but the tone that is coming out of the gop? >> let me set the stage for you. in 2016 jay johnson came to governors all across the country and asked if the federal government could help secure those elections. republican governors turned that down and we had the russia investigation. we had all those complications. now florida implemented rules where handwritings are looked at for signatures and they're saying that that's one of the issues that's bringing them to florida. that's why donald trump is saying that democrats are trying to steal the election. there's all this muddying up of the waters. let's be very clear. in the united states of america, we should count every single vote. everyone should have the right to pick their leader chosen.

that's exactly what's going to happen. instead you have rick scott and donald trump all trying to muddy up the waters, saying that democrats are trying to steal it. it's a lie. it's a blat eent lie. >> if the democrats regain those two seats, bill nelson and andrew gillum, does this become the playbook for the gop in that they have tarnished the process, that it almost makes it ungovernorable for these two men to carry out these duties? >> we really need to make sure this has not become the playbook. free and fair elections are a main tenant of any working democracy. in order to have free and fair elections, and in order to have a democracy, we have to have a certain set of rules that we're all willing to play by. one of those is that we don't call our political opponents enemies. we don't, you know, disparage as illegal people's right to vote.

every vote absolutely needs to count. and i think this process should be respected. there should be voices on all sides. truly, all sides calling for every vote to be counted and holding fire, you know, until that process is done. let that play out. i mean, if republicans can't -- if their way of winning elections or of maintaining political power is by dis enfranchising voters, they have a real problem. >> obviously a lot of questions about what happened in florida right now. what is the likelihood you think that the other side will accept a change in the result, if, in fact, that's what the recount determines? >> i mean, i'm not certain that people will. that's why i think these politicians have to be very, very careful with their rhetoric. when you ask why do insane people go and shoot up a synagogue, for example, it's because of the rhetoric that's coming from some of these republican politicians. when you're saying well, the democrats are stealing this

election, so essentially you're saying if the results do change in a manner that is not in your favor, you are going to have some extreme factions out there that are going to believe that the person who does ultimately win has done so illegitimately. that makes it difficult for whoever that individual is to govern under those circumstances. those individuals have to be very, very careful with their rhetoric to say look, let's allow all the votes to be counted to your point, and we will be willing to accept whatever the ultimate result is. you don't see that. >> when you think of the words that are being used, steal, you automatically think of theft, you think of robbery, and that leads to people think they should take action to defend themselves. god knows what that might mean in this day and age with all the crazies out there. let me ask you really quickly, though, because it's not just about florida. we know there's close races in arizona and mississippi that have also undecided, senate races there. not to mention the georgia governor's race, which has drawn a lot of national attention for all sorts of reasons. what are the implications of these contested races with the

way the white house has come out and said that they actually were very happy with the results of the midterms saying that it's not a blue wave and that the president actually said this was a historic win for republicans? >> well, i think with every day we're seeing that more and more this was a blue wave. we're seeing democrats win in places like wisconsin, places like nevada, places like arizona, picking up more statehouse seats. democrats had a fantastic day on tuesday. there were certainly some losses. more importantly, i just want to say our institutions only work because our citizens believe in them. they have faith in them. when you have people from, especially the white house, breaking the faith of these institutions, then it just becomes words and paper and we're all playing a game. so we have to make sure our institutions are respected and that people can have faith in them. >> how does what happened on tuesday and now with these undecided races reflect on the president himself? he was so personally invested in some of these races when you think of georgia and others. sorry, florida and others. certainly georgia as well, but that remains undecided.

how does this reflect on him personally given the fact that he put so much of his brand on the line? >> well, look, the house of representatives is more representative of the american public at large than the senate is at this point. and that's because it's done by the number of people who live in a certain district. and so it's more urban, it's more suburban, it's younger, it's more diverse. i think that america, which is actually a majority, a new mama of the country in large numbers came out on otuesday and rejectd donald trump's vision. there is no other alternative. i will say many of the seats in which the democrats flipped of those 30 or so seats, those were in purple districts. those are districts that are nottee not -- they're not new york sta city. one of them was new york city.

it was staten island. most are where jobs, middle class tax cuts are very popular items where donald trump's rhetoric was unpopular. i actually think as much as donald trump wants to distance himself from this, there's no distancing himself. this is a direct vote for -- against donald trump. there's no doubt. >> if i could just put things in perspective for republicans, so when you look at some of the data that's been released thus far on how people turned out, when you look at hispanics, over 60% of them say they either identify or lean with the democratic party. 90% of african-americans voted for a democrat. 77% of asian americans voted for a democrat. when you think about what that means elector rally for the republican party in a more diverse country, it means the party cannot compete nationally. they can only compete in rural areas. that is not a strategy or a message to win. and at some point, the bill is always due.

i think after donald trump leaves office, folks are going to start looking how does the republican party recover from this. i'm honestly not sure that the party can. >> indeed, if it does, in fact recover at all. michael, stick around. thank you guys so much. michael star hopkins, if you don't mind, stick around for another segment. if there's one thing president trump love, it is to be lectured. he certainly got one today from the french president. the topic, nationalism versus p patriotism. should nancy pelosi regain her new gavel? one democrat said it is time for pelosi to move out of the way. >> teacher: let's turn in your science papers. >> tech vo: this teacher always puts her students first. >> student: i did mine on volcanoes. >> teacher: you did?! oh, i can't wait to read it. >> tech vo: so when she had auto glass damage... she chose safelite. with safelite, she could see exactly when we'd be there. >> teacher: you must be pascal. >> tech: yes ma'am. >> tech vo: saving her time... [honk, honk] >> kids: bye!

>> tech vo: ...so she can save the science project. >> kids: whoa! >> kids vo: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ the full value of your new car? you'd be better off throwing your money right into the harbor. i'm gonna regret that. with liberty mutual new car replacement, we'll replace the full value of your car. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ iyou may be at increased riskf for pneumococcal pneumonia -a potentially serious bacterial lung disease that can disrupt your routine for weeks. in severe cases, pneumococcal pneumonia can put you in the hospital. it can hit quickly, without warning, making you miss out on what matters most.

a single dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you from pneumococcal pneumonia. prevnar 13® is approved for adults to help prevent infections from 13 strains of the bacteria that cause pneumococcal pneumonia. don't get prevnar 13® if you have had a severe allergic reaction to the vaccine or its ingredients. adults with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects were pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, limited arm movement, fatigue, headache, muscle pain, joint pain, less appetite, vomiting, fever, chills, and rash. prevention begins with prevnar 13®. ask your doctor or pharmacist about prevnar 13®.

this hour president trump is flying home from paris after a weekend of events commemorating the centennial of the armistice that ended world war i. leaders gathered for a ceremony marked by emmanuel macron strong condemnation of the rising trend of nationalism in europe and in the united states. >> patriotism is the exact opposite of nationalism. nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism by saying our interest first. who cares about the others. we erase what a nation holds dearest, what gives it life, what makes it grace and what is essential. it's moral values. >> so earlier in the day president trump was noticeably absent as dozens of world leaders you see there on your

screen walked side by side in the rain, some locking arms, to mark the moment that the war ended. the president widely criticized for canceling a visit to an american cemetery that was just 50 miles outside of paris on saturday because of rain. well, he concluded his trip with remarks at another cemetery honoring american whose died in the war. >> millions of american french and allied troops have fought with extraordinary skill and valor in one of the bloodiest conflicts in human history. we are gathered together at this hallowed resting place to pay tribute to the brave americans who gave their last breath in that mighty struggle. >> all right. joining me now, natasha, and david corn. an nbc political analyst and bobby. great to have all three of you with us. bobby, i know you're in london. you just heard macron's strong

rebuke of nationalism, something the president consistently defends saying he is a nationalist. he doubled down on that again in his post midterm press conference. take a listen to this. >> i love our country. i do. you have nationalists. you have globalists. i also love the world. i don't mind helping the world. but we have to straighten out our country first. >> so bobby, let me get your thoughts on this. is it that the president doesn't know what the word nationalism means and what it conjures up? he doesn't know the definition of it and he actually means i'm a patriot, i lof ve my country,r does he know what it means and he's doubling down on the very definition that was just rejected by the french president? >> i think it's very clear he knows what he means. he qualified what he said by saying i'm interested and i love the rest of the world, but my country first. my country first is much more nationalism than patriotism. now europeans have learned and

paid a very, very dear price for the excesses of nationalists in the past century with the first world war, with the second world war, with a number of other conflicts between. since those two great big wars, in the united states, memories are not as long, perhaps, as in europe where people live among those fields where people died and memories are much stronger. i don't think that anybody here feels trump was simply ignorant. i think there is an understanding there have been people around him in his inner circle who use that word in exactly the sense that the rest of the world understands it. there's no reason to think that the president doesn't know the difference between nationalism and patriotism. >> so to that point, one of the people that have -- has defended president trump on so many other issues is senator lindsey graham. i want to play you what senator

lindsey graham had to say about macron's remarks this morning. >> the french president seemed to be saying the liberal world order is being undermined by forces -- nationalist forces that seem to be represented to many by president trump. do you agree with him? >> no. i think he's got a political problem at home, macron does and probably picking a fight with trump is good politics. >> so i'm curious to get your thoughts on that. trump hasn't responded to macron directly. he hasn't done so on twitter, but that could change by the time he lands back at andrews air force base. what kind of impact could have have on their relationship? it's one of those constantly touted in the media saying it's one of the best relationships to forge with another world leader. he doesn't have a lot, but that is one in europe. >> i'm hearing a lot of projection in lindsey graham's comments there. i think that's it's trump who has an obvious political problem in the united states. he just suffered one of his

biggest political setbacks since the start of his presidency in losing the house of representatives. as the house, the democrats in the house begin to launch their investigations into the president's finances, for example, the russia investigation, i think that trump is only going to turn more inwards. he's going to be focusing even more on the kind of domestic political battles that we've seen shape the last two years of his presidency. with regard to macron, i think that both of their approaches to this relationship has really been to grin and bear it. one of the biggest insults that trump could have levied against the french president was pulling out of the paris climate agreement early on in his presidency. they've put on a brave face for the world, but having said with trump having characterized his approach to governing by saying that it's nationalism and by clearly rebuking the rest of the world and by clearly making it obvious that he does not want anything to do with the european

union, which he has kie characterized as a foe in the past, this relationship is only going to continue to suffer, especially with the photo macron posted with him and angela merkel saying that they are united. that is a direct shift that they can see for about the first time in 75 years. >> one of the things a lot of people were looking for this weekend was any possible meeting between president trump and russian president vladimir putin. both were actually singled out for not walking with other world leaders, not showing the kind of unity that natasha was talking about to mark the end of the war. here's how "the new york times" pointed it out. bells tolled exactly one century after the guns fell silent at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, but the moment of symbolism was lost as the leaders who were supposed to be standing together were still taking their places and neither the american nor the russian presidents had arrived yet.

so david, i know you know the russia/u.s. relationship better than anyone. putin and trump once again on the same page, unfortunately in a negative way here. we saw president putin give trump a thumbs up when he did arrive. what does all of this say about the trump/putin relationship? they didn't spend a lot of time together. they may spend it at the g20 summit later this month, but what does what happened this week tell you about the relationship? >> to begin with, it looked like trump was suffering through the weekend. he dntd idn't go to the ceremon yesterday because it was drizzling. he was late to the ceremony today. he did not walk in the procession. the video you just showed of the cemetery visit he's just reading. he's not engaged. he doesn't seem to be part of the moment. and the only time in the video that i've watched today in which i see him sort of brighten up and engage is when he sees vladimir putin approaching him

on the podium there. he gives him a thumbs up. and trump doesn't react negatively to this. this is a guy who didn't meddle in our election. he attacked a u.s. election in 2016. he waged information warfare against us. it sounds dramatic. it's what everyone says, the u.s. intelligence. and trump still treats him like a frat buddy, like he tweeted at him in 2013 i hope you become my new best friend when i come tomos cow with ms. universe. so i think it's rather disgusting that putin feels he can give trump a thumbs up and his fellow bro says yeah, i'm with you, man, whether they meet or not at this particular meeting. >> the symbolism does speak for itself. bobby, i want to get your thoughts on the killing of jamal khashoggi and president erdogan. they met over deny ninner in pa.

turkey has given efrvidence to some allies. the two discussed how to respond to the killing of khashoggi. "the new york times" published a story that soaudis discussed assassinating enemies a year before the khashoggi killing. at this point can we expect the white house to take any public action against saudi arabia? are they just hoping this kind of dies down and kind of falls off the headlines? >> well, the trump administration wants -- has sort of kicked the can over to congress. the president has said he'll let congress decide what steps, if any, should be taken. so it's very clear he wants to wash his hands of the case. there's a lot of personal embarrassment. saudi arabia was a country he visited first as a president. the crown prince bin salman is good friends with president trump's son-in-law jared kushner. i think the president, judging by his words and his actions,

would like this problem to go away, but the president of turkey is making sure that it does not by releasing those tapes. this is the first time he has gone on record to say the tapes exist and that he has share today with a number of countries. this is not a story that's going away. >> all right, bobby. thank you guys so much. coming up, house democrats scrambling to save the mueller probe calling for matthew whitaker to recuse himself. a look at what whitaker could do to derail the russia investigation. (music throughout)

opportunity is everywhere. like here. where nothing stands between you and your best friends. ♪

that skills like teamwork, attention to detail, and customer service are critical to business success. like the ones we teach here, every day.

it is aea new demanding mat whitaker's recuse aal from the russia investigation takes place. democrats say they're prepared to do whatever it takes to protect mueller, even if it means triggering a government shutdown showdown. >> right now our top priority is to protect the mueller investigation, to protect the integrity of that investigation. >> he should recuse himself for any review of the investigation. >> if that doesn't happen, we democrats, house and senate,

will attempt to add to must pass legislation, in this case the spending bill, legislation that would prevent mr. whitaker from interfering with the mueller investigation. >> for more on all this, let's bring in former u.s. attorney, msnbc contributor joyce vance, former fbi assistant director frank and an adjunct professor gwenda blair. a lot of people might be watching thinking what are some of the ways in which matthew whitaker could interfere with mueller's investigation? and do you expect him to or would he even try to? there's the explicit stuff. what is the stuff that i think experts might be watching for in terms of what whitacre could do? >> so the first thing we should do is look at his public statements. if the man's telling us what he might do, let's listen to him.

he's already said on the record that he could suggest dwindling down the funding of mueller's operation to the point where it comes to a screeching halt. let's look for budget cuts. let's look at that. let's look at the constraining of the mission. let's look for whitaker to say if it doesn't have the word russia in it, you can't do it. changing the mandate of the special counsel. i have to tell you that whitaker is in a precarious position. he may have already made himself a fact witness. it's potential that mueller, just as mueller investigated the firing of jim comey, could be looking at the firing of attorney general sessions. and in that case, if there's any discussion with whitacre beforehand about how he should handle the special counsel, he becomes a fact witness. not to mention we've got all kinds of legal issues about whether he's even lawfully appointed because of going outside of the succession plan that deputy attorney general

rosenstein should lawfully be the next in line, that he hasn't been a senate appointed primary official. so we've got lots of reasons why whitaker is in a precarious position and why mueller is holding some cards. >> yeah. i was going to say i think to the best of my knowledge, at least, we don't know if whitaker has been interviewed or ever questioned by the special counsel at any point during all of this. is there any legal remedy to force whitaker's recusal or removal from his post? if so, who would have to initiate any legal challenge in a situation like this? >> the accountability for the justice department rests largely on the hill. that's how the checks and balances system works. internally what will happen, what should happen in a normal administration is that a new attorney general with an apparent conflict of interest like this one would go to the experts in the office of professional responsibility and ask them to review whether he needs to recuse either because he has an actual conflict or the

appearance of one that's so significant that it could impede doj's work. undoubtedly here he would be advised as general sessions was that he needed to step aside and recuse. so i think the question we're all looking to is what happens if he gets that advice and ignores it? will we know it may be opaque, it may not be apparent to us on the outside that has happened? possible that we'll see principled resignations from inside of the office of professional responsibility. but it's really horrible to think that career officials would have to resign in order to make that clear. largely the responsibility in the first instance rests on the hill in oversight hearings. hopefully they'll have this new attorney general up on the hill before long and have the opportunity to look into this issue. >> so frarnnk, let me go back t your point that he could be a fact witness that mueller thinks of matthew whitaker. does mueller or anyone else in the department of justice for

that matter, do they have the power to simply refuse whitacre's orders saying he's been unconstitutional appointed? how old it work if you're saying he is a fact witness that mueller could have this leverage? what is the fact that he could be a fact witness change the dynamic of how mueller interacts with matthew whitaker as an acting attorney general? >> if you look at the concept of obstruction of justice and we look at a very similar situation where mueller's already been looking at, whether the firing of former fbi director jim comey was tantamount to obstruction, then we need to look at whether the firing or resignation of attorney general sessions was some form of obstruction. in that case it could mean someone had discussions with whitaker about his mission in life once he took over as acting attorney general. in that case, he would have to be interviewed and asked questions. who has talked to you about what you need to do to handle the special counsel? if that's the case, it's a stronger argument for recusal,

because now you're part of the investigation itself. that's what we need to look at. >> interesting. let me bring you in to this. i want to switch gears and get your take on "the wall street journal's" explosive new report suggesting that then candidate donald trump played a central role in arranging hush money payments to stormy daniels and karen mcdougal to keep quiet about their alleged affairs. they interviewed dozens familiar with the payments itself. we obviously know michael cohen has to some extent flipped. i know you've covered the president during his kcandidacy. what can you tell us about the president's role from what you've learned? >> it's vintage trump. look for how to take care of a problem and the only metric is what you can get away with. he's betting that he'll be able to get away with it just as he's betting -- he's bet that all the way down the line. and throw out accusations of false media, of fake media, of

fake coverage, of lies, of confusion. he's in his comfort zone. he's where he wants to be, where everybody doesn't know exactly what -- which rules pertain, where tradition and expectation are out the window. it's just what he can get away with. do you have to recuse yourself? actually, the rules of recusal are really not that, you know, etched in stone. and he's doing the same thing with the accusations about hush payments and stormy daniels and karen mcdougal, what you get away with, how often you change the subject, how often you can contradict yourself, because then you get two headlines, three headlines, four headlines. that's how he likes to run it. >> picking up on that point, joyce, does this new report implicate the president in a significantly legal way? how often is something like this or would something like this

even be prosecuted? how provable is this? >> here's the linchpin of this issue. for a campaign finance violation to be criminal, you have to be able to prove as a prosecutor that your defendants took action intending to violeate campaign finance law. that was the issue in the john edwards case. he was trying to concealed the issue of his mistress from his wife. this new reporting tends to suggest both that trump did this with an effort to violate campaign finance law and he knew that the folks at american media, that david pecker and his corporate allies were corned about corporate finance issues. if that sort of knowledge existed in the president's mind and prosecutors can prove it, then we look at criminal liability here. this is very significant. >> very significant indeed. joyce vance, frank, gwenda blair, thank you for joining us. breaking news out of california as wildfires are raging out of california in the

northern and southern parts of the state. the campfire in northern california is the most destructive in the state's history and has claimed 23 lives. the woolsey fire has claimed two more lives. fire officials fear that high winds will hinder firefighters efforts to contain the blazes. o. every insurance company tells you they can save you money. save up to 10% when you bundle with esurance. including me, esurance spokesperson dennis quaid. he's a pretty good spokesperson. ehhh. so when i say, "drivers who switched from geico to esurance saved an average of $412," you probably won't believe me. hey, actor lady whose scene was cut. hi. but you can believe this esurance employee, nancy abraham. seriously, send her an email and ask her yourself. no emails... no emails. when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory.

prevagen. healthier brain. better life. discover card. i justis this for real?match, yep. we match all the cash back new cardmembers earn at the end of their first year, automatically. whoo! i got my money! hard to contain yourself, isn't it? uh huh! let it go! whoo! get a dollar-for-dollar match at the end of your first year. only from discover. replace one meal or snack a day with glucerna... made with carbsteady to help manage blood sugar... ...and end the day with a smile. glucerna®. everyday progress.

glucerna®. take your razor, yup. up and down, never side to side, shaquem, you got it? come on stay focused. hard work baby, it gonna pay off. time now for we said, they said. the president's combative post

midterm press conference on the subject of media scrutiny abroad. >> efforts between trump and those reporters, what do you make of that? can you imagine that happening between reporters and the german chancellor? >> not at all and i wouldn't even go so far as to say it's a different culture. >> we should perhaps be used to this sort of behavior from the president, but it does seem extraordinary. what's the wider implications of all of this? >> it obviously looks set to entrench the political divisions that are already pretty stark. >> was this an inappropriate action, aggressive, or was it simply an accident? the answer to that depends what side of the political spectrum you're on. >> the resignation of attorney general jeff sessions, that is coming in focus with news outlets. >> breaking news out of washington, jeff sessions on out. >> fired after more than a year of criticism from his boss. >> no surprise, i think it's

vaguely surprising that it's happened right now when you consider we're just kind of absorbing the midterm sresults. >> the decision to sack the nation's officer comes after the -- >> stark opinion from many international headlines, the uk is the guardian of the u.s. press corps has to learn to stand up to president trump and canada called jeff sessions and jim acosta martyrs. took action on each creating a wall of sympathy. that's we said, they said. coming up, i'm going to talk to one of the members of the new house. pulling off a surprise win in a republican district, what this former cia analyst plans to do when she gets to the house, including whether she'll vote for nancy pelosi to come back as the speaker. that's next. of investing. again. introducing fidelity stock and bond index funds

with lower expense ratios than comparable vanguard funds. and we now offer the industry's first true zero expense ratio index funds directly to investors. plus, we have fidelity mutual funds with zero minimum investment. how many other firms give you this much value? absolutely zero. ♪ why don't they do what they say ♪ ♪ say what they mean ♪ baby, one thing leads to another ♪

♪ say what they mean whoa! presenting the iwhat's he doing? come on, let's check it out! nice. he's pretty good at this. hm! it's like a game! (gasps) woo-hoo! got it! which car should we get? all of 'em! ooh, yeah! that one! this one looks nice. yes, and yes. i like this game. i think we're winning! delivery? where? (doorbell rings) (man) it's here! what? (announcer) buy your next car from carvana before ralph breaks the internet. then go see the movie, in theatres november 21st. get stronger... get closer.

start listening today to the world's largest selection of audiobooks on audible. and now, get more. for just $14.95 a month, you'll get a credit a month good for any audiobook, plus two audible originals exclusive titles you can't find anywhere else. if you don't like a book, you can exchange it any time, no questions asked. automatically roll your credits over to the next month if you don't use them. with the free audible app, you can listen anytime, and anywhere. plus for the first time ever, you'll get access to exclusive fitness programs a $95 value free with membership. start a 30-day trial today and your first audiobook is free. cancel anytime and your books are yours to keep forever. audible. the most inspiring minds. the most compelling stories. text "listen27" to 500500 to start your free trial today.

23 women, that is to the majority, and then we have some people of color among those men. it's to take us to bigger heights. >> so that was house minority leader nancy pelosi on cbs face the nation talking about her

role in the new democratic majority led congress. democrats on election night rallying enough voters to take control of the house back from republicans. one of those fresh faces heading to capital hill is my next get, melissa slatkin. glagd glag congratulations on your victory. i know a lot of people are going to be wondering what positions and what priorities are going to be on top of your list, but i wanted to first, as we just showed you, nancy pelosi said during that interview and you talked about it that you wouldn't support her return as the speaker. do you still feel that way and do you have ideas on who you would like to see in her place? >> yeah. i mean, i never want to be disrespectful to anyone who served, especially a woman who has broken glass ceiling, but everyone has to represent their district and i really heard from both sides of the aisle that people want a new generation of leadership. i'm standing by that. we're just starting the back and

forth now as a caucus. we just got elected less than a week ago, so i'll wait to see who emerges, but everyone has to make the choice. no matter who is speaker, i will always work with whoever more and no less. for me the priorities are very, very clear. i've said publicly that the

first bill of the new house should be campaign finance reform. 100 candidates signed a letter to the democratic leadership saying that needs to be bill number one. everyone knows that money and politics is just poisonous. second, we need to get to health care. we're not settled as a nation on how we're going to provide health care to our people, and it's something that's extremely important to me based on my own mom's experience and something i believe we need to tackle in order to earn people's support. >> what was your mom's experience? >> i decided to get into this race because of my mom and the vote by the republican members of the house. my mom had cancer as a 31-year-old mom, and she survived, but for the rest of her life she had a preexisting condition. so when she lost her job in 2002, she lost her insurance and she couldn't afford insurance for five and a half years. unfortunately she was diagnosed with terminal cancer with

ovarian cancer when she didn't have insurance. living through that month and at the same time preparing the paperwork for her to declare bankruptcy, when i turned on the tv in may of 2017 and i saw the house members voting and smiling when they were just gutting protections for people with preexisting conditions, it broke me. that was the day i decided to get in the race. >> absolutely heartbreaking story there. our thoughts go to you and your family, to the millions of americans who have had similar situations. if i can switch gears and talk about national security, you worked in that field. it's hard to imagine that politics is going to stay outside of all of the priorities that you wanted to talk about. one of the first things that a house controlled by the democrats may have to deal with on the political front is matt whitaker, the acting attorney general who is now going to oversee the mueller

investigation. do you think that he should be removed or at least should he recuse himself from dealing with the mueller investigation? >> yeah. we have to be a nation of rules and laws. that is the goal. so the mueller investigation has to be allowed to continue. i was a young cia analyst approximate when bob mueller was the fbi director. i saw him in action. he's a patriot. the investigation has to come to full term. hopefully that's a bipartisan belief. to me if whitaker is going to let that happen, then okay, that's one thing. anything that challenges mueller finishing his investigation cannot take place. >> elis is a slotkin, congratulations. you always have a standing invite to come back and talk about your experience. i want to bring back michael star hopkins and shermichael singleton. michael, what should the number one priority be for democrats once they're sworn into the

house of representatives, sworn into office, excuse me, either investigate or legislate? >> the first thing is legislating, protecting bob mueller, protections for affordable health care, increasing access to affordable education. those are all things democrats need to be doing. but we can also walk and chew gum. we can invest things like ryan zinke and the president's emoluments clause. these are things democrats can do and reach across the aisle. >> very combative and in some ways threatening saying if they're going to investigate me, we're going to bring this whole house down. how do you see the president working with this new congress?

>> he doesn't have a choice. the brookings institute just released some findings a few days ago that indicated according to exit polls that more white americans supported democrats when in comparison to 2016. so less white americans supported republicans for democrats. if i'm a democrat and i'm thinking about 2020 and beyond, then i recognize there are some white americans you look at suburban white americans, for example, look at that data. they're starting to switch to democrats. so obviously with that indicates is there are some white americans who traditionally vote for republicans who are saying this is not what i voted for, i am amendable to a democratic message that is more center or conservative-leaning. so i think democrats have to be careful with how much they push on the investigative side of things, try to make sure they push legislation forward. if the president or republicans say we're not willing to work

with you, then they can proposal legislation for criminal justice reform. i think that will be a brilliant setup for 2020. >> democrats have to take taengs. >> we'll talk to you guys again in the coming weeks and mos. we'll be right back. so a tree falls on your brand-new car and totals it. and as if that wasn't bad enough, now your insurance won't replace it outright because of depreciation. if your insurance won't replace your car, what good is it? you'd be better off just taking your money and throwing it right into the harbor. i'm regret that. with new car replacement, if your brand-new car gets totaled, liberty mutual will pay the entire value plus depreciation. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look,

and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, corded and cord-free.

discover.o. and fearlessly devours piles. i like your card, but i'm absolutely not paying an annual fee. discover has no annual fees. really? yeah. we just don't believe in them. oh nice. you would not believe how long i've been rehearsing that. no annual fee on any card. only from discover.

that does it for me this week.

i'll see you next week at 4:00 p.m. you can reach out to me anytime on social media. you know where to find me. time to hand it to reverend al sharpton and "politicsnation." good evening and welcome to "politicsnation." tonig tonight's lead, it's been five days since election day. the drama in florida, georgia and elsewhere is just as high as a week ago. in florida, all 67 of its counties are on the clock. more than 8 million ballots to machine count in the next four days in a statewide recount that has brought out protesters from both camps. and it's getting