thanks to chuck and tara dowdell. brian williams takes over after that. but don't go anywhere because "hardball" starts now. >>> rematch. let's play "hardball." >> good evening. i'm chris matthews out in detroit again. well, the candidates will take the stage in the next hour for round two of the second democratic debate here, and all eyes will be on center stage, of course, as front-runner, former vice president joe biden gets a rematch for senator kamala harris. whether he wants one or not. biden has said he plans to be less polite in tonight's debate. biden campaign officials told nbc news the former vp plans to take the fight directly to president trump, but won't take any attacks on his record lying down. well, today the former vice president made clear one thing he plans to fight for tonight. he released an op-ed column going after his democratic rivals on the issue of health care. his campaign also released a video showing his opponents struggling to discuss their own health care plans. ♪ >> how much would medicare for all cost? >> a couple thing

." >> you know, chuck, you know where to switch. you're not asking political junkies to do anything other than switch once they take in the debate. >> them know where to go, man. all you got to do, here's what we know, hit the prev button. we know, folks, hit the previous but the. >> and we have a lot to get to in this edition of "the beat." joe biden, kamala harris heading for a rematch. later, we'll be joined live by marianne williamson the most googled person on stage last night. and new s why mitch mcconnell is outraged over the attacks like moscow mitch. we begin tonight with ten more democratic candidates taking this debate stage. and tonight's debate has several famous names including kamala harris and joe biden some arguing he has to bounce back from the rough night he had at the first debate. >> there was a little girl in california who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools. she was bussed to school every day. and that little girl was me. >> that's a miscarrieization of my position across the board. i

ian, good to see you. >> hey, chuck. thanks for having me. >> so, i'm sure you're a bit exhausted from all of the prewriting by all the reporters that say are we going to see round two of harris versus biden? >> um, let me ask you this. do you feel like your candidate has to go after biden tonight, perhaps the way she did last time? >> no. and, look, i think a lot of this is covered as if it's a sporting match or a boxing bout, but it's actually about the issues that matter to real people. and i think what kamala is going to do tonight is come out and talk about what keeps people up at night. too often right now we get into these debates that are ideological or theoretical and aren't actually about the issues that people are worried about. how am i going to get health care, am i going to be able to make ends meet at the end of the month. my kid, are they going to go to school tomorrow and have a shooter walk in the door and take their life. and kamala has real plans to address each of those things, and she's going to con

and "mtp daily" with chuck todd starts right now. arts right now ♪ >>> well, if it's wednesday, welcome to "meet the press daily." and good evening, i'm chuck todd here in washington. after last night's rock em sock em free for all, the conditions could not get much better for joe biden. he's got a chance to refocus this intramural fight on the big prize, trump. biden also had a small

mark murray, in first read you and chuck todd pointing out what are the four things you're watching for tonight. >> number one, all eyes on joe biden. i think a strong solid debate performance really solidifies the 30% to 35% in national polls we've seen from biden. another shaky or disastrous debate performance could create a destabilizing force in this primary that opens it up to almost everyone else. number two, there's going to be a really big conversation on race. we ended up seeing that last month when kamala harris was with joe biden. she's going to be right back joe biden's side this time. i wouldn't be surprised if there's a reprisal of that. cory booker is going to be on his side and we'll going to have a conversation on the 1994 crime bill. who who is more aggressive? is it kamala harris? is cory booker going to come out swinging. number four as you alluded to, all the one percenters or below, people like jay inslee, michael bennett, tulsi gabbard. if they want to have a breakout performance this is their team to do so. >> for the others that you've just mentioned, i mean, th

the fact is this, chuck. what i saw when i was a freshman congressman, the first iraq vet elected to congress. when i came out for barack obama as a freshman, going against the establishment by the way in pennsylvania, coming out for barack obama when he was 40 points down to then senator clinton and he won and he's the underdog. i see those same characteristics of authenticity, of the urgency of now in mayor pete. i think you saw that with his douglass plan that he put out. he's got a concrete plan to make african-americans' lives better, to address systemic racism in our communities and our cities. to address economic empowerment, not just a government program but to make sure they become entrepreneurs and let their kids and families succeed and live the american dream. that's the authentic leadership people are saying with mayor pete and that's why he's the one with momentum going into tonight. >> you got into politics, state of pennsylvania. pennsylvania perhaps one of the three most important states in t

"mtp daily" with chuck todd starts right now. >>> well, if it's tuesday, democrats are about to take the stage in detroit. but front and center is president trump and the firestorm over his racist tweets. >>> plus tonight's fight isn't just between candidates. it's a high-stakes battle for the direction of the democratic party. progressive or pragmatic? >>> and a confirmation controversy. the general tapped to be the nation's number t

attorney and former senior fbi official chuck rosenberg and senior writer for politico, jake sherman. jake, let me start with you on the politics of this. a colleague of yours over at politico writes this. pelosi's resistance to an impeachment inquiry is not likely to be vulnerable to the math of the democratic caucus. jake, do you think that's the case? i mean, you know, i understand where she is in this, but i also am kind of the sense that, you know, should this get to the point where it would pass on the house floor, she might have some trouble resisting it. >> yeah, i mean, your guess is as good as mine, kasie. we've been watching her for a very long time and what we know about nancy pelosi is she has an incredibly good read on the mood of the democratic caucus, meaning she knows who is truly worked up about impeachment, who is saying they are for impeachment because their home state or home district politics requires it and who is not really interested. but i would guess -- i don't know how she's going to survive the next whatever it is, 16 months, until election day. that doesn

. >> and mark murray, you and chuck todd in first read have outlined some of these strains as well. elizabeth warren strikes me, she's been pursuing her individual path, you know, being progressive, yes. being substant ative. not engaging in the fray, not likely to get involved in a smackdown. >> no. they think the gloves are going to be off in this debate and is remembered in the last debate back in miami, sponsored by nbc news and msnbc, that, you know, elizabeth warren really got a free pass. that there was an opportunity for amy klobuchar who is on the debate stage tonight as well. she was asked to differentiate herself with elizabeth warren and declined. it's going to be interesting on the one percenters. it might be the last debate for them given the higher requirements to make the september debate. >> there's no debates in august, so it's until september 12th and 13th that we see these candidates again. some of them may not hit that mark. >> it's interesting, i talked to some related to the harris campaign and they were talking to me about their healthcare plan they came out

but senate minority leader chuck schumer disagrees with that. >> and the leader mcconwho will is the majority leader who can determine what is put on the floor he's put nothing on the floor on elections when last year we attempted in the appropriations bill to add more money to help the states harden their systems against cyber security -- against cyber attack, leader mcconnell opposed it. he said it's not needed. >> we'll also note that dennis mcdonagh said that mcconnell watered down the administration's warning about russia's attempt to interfere in the 2016 election. former vice president joe biden re-affirmed that while speaking with the council on foreign relations, richard haass. >> mitch mcconnell who i get on with well and is a smart guy, mitch mcconnell wanted no part of having a bipartisan commitment that we would say essentially russia's doing this, stop. bipartisan. they would have no party -- they would have no part of it. that to me hanging around that body up there for a longer than any of you were around doing it meant to me that this -- that the die had been cast he

the president told nbc's chuck todd last month that giving sessions that job was the worst mistake of his presidency. but he eventually fixed that mistake. he fired jeff sessions and got a new attorney general. nominated and confirmed. and his new attorney general got right to work absolving the president of obstruction of justice immediately upon receiving the special counsel's report, keeping that report under wraps for weeks while he publicly painted it as an exoneration of the president. william barr has been hard at work launching the kinds of investigations that donald trump has waited for so long for, the kind that are premised on the idea that maybe the investigators of russia's interference in our election and americans accepting that interference, the people who investigated those things, well, maybe they are the real criminals. another thing we know from the mueller report and also from great reporting and from career government officials trying to raise the alarm is that it's not only the justice department that's been under this kind of pressure from the president. donald

the president told nbc's chuck todd last month that giving sessions that job was the worst mistake of his presidency. but he eventually fixed that mistake. he fired jeff sessions and got a new attorney general. nominated and confirmed. and his new attorney general got right to work absolving the president of obstruction of justice immediately upon receiving the special counsel's report, keeping that report under wraps for weeks while he publicly painted it as an exoneration of the president. william barr has been hard at work launching the kinds of investigations that donald trump has waited for so long, the kind that are premised on the idea that maybe the investigators of russia's interference in our election and americans accepting that interference, the people who investigated those things, well, maybe they are the real criminals. another thing we know from the mueller report and also from great reporting and from career government officials trying to raise the alarm is that it's not only the justice department that's been under this kind of pressure from the president. donald tru

well, look, i didn't -- i didn't do the tweets, chuck. i can't talk about why he did what he did. >> that was a lot of sound effects before the answer, wasn't it? there is a good explanation for all of this, of course. according to "the washington post" the trump campaign and republican officials are looking to use this kind of rhetoric to tissue bow charge enthusiasm and republicans have to go along with it. find ways to fuse trump's nativist rhetoric with a love it or leave it appeal to patriotism ahead of the 2020 election while seeking to avoid the overtly racist language. they're not doing that too well. i'm joined by eugene robinson and michael steele, former spokesman to house speaker john boehner. michael, i do not think these are subtle and they're direct and ethnic. racial, if you will. why is trump doing it? >> trump is doing it because he has one election left and the only way to win that election is to recreate the narrow path by ginning up outstanding support, oversupport, unprecedented support among older white voters in th

>> look, i didn't, i didn't do the tweets, chuck. >> stammering there. or take republican congressman mark meadows who cummings has called a, quote, friend, late this afternoon meadows finally weighed in saying he's friends with both trump and cummings, and that both love america. compare that to cummings' emotional defense of meadows after a democrat accused him of committing, quote, racist act. >> mr. meadows, you know, of all the people on this committee, i have said it and got in trouble for it, that you're one of my best friends. i know that shocks a lot of people. >> and likewise, mr. chairman. >> but you are. and i would do -- and i could see and feel your pain. i feel it. >> so that was cummings defending meadows amid all of this, some of trump's allies in the right wing media, they're doing more than staying silent. they're actually egging him on. >> don't dare liberals run away from this. don't you dare. and mr. president, please, god, keep the heat on them. liberals have destroyed and decimated these cities. they have been a forest fire. >> th

good evening, i'm steve kornacki in new york in for chuck todd. we begin with an unprecedented moment in modern american politics as the president of the united states is stoking racial hostility as he looks to mobilize his base in the run-up to next year's election. the president is not letting up after racially charged comments this weekend going after house oversight chairman congressman elijah cummings. he called his district a disgusting, rat and rodent-infested mess and called cummings a racist after he criticized the president's comments. today the president called the reverend al sharpton, the national action network president, also an msnbc host, a con man who, quote, hates whites and cops. and don't forget it was just two weeks ago that the president suggested a group of congresswomen go back to where they came from. taken together it's an astounding display of presidential behavior aimed at minorities to go back where they came from or clean up their road en -- rodent-infested district. >> he cut the ribbon at the national action conven

"mtp daily" with steve kornacki in for chuck todd is starting right now. >>> if it's monday, base instincts. president trump ramps up his racially charged rhetoric as he ramps up his re-election bid. plus, more than 100 house democrats now support an impeachment inquiry. will that momentum lead to movement? and one of the administration officials most willing to

kara lee, ben rods, chuck rosenberg, thank you for your time. >>> racially charged attacks on members of congress, this time accusing elijah cummings of being racist. this is andrea mitchell reports only on msnbc. mitchell reports only on msnbc. .. ...especially when your easily distracted teenager has the car. at subaru, we're taking on distracted driving [ping] with sensors that alert you when your eyes are off the road. the all-new subaru forester. the safest forester ever. make ice.d be mad at tech that's unnecessarily complicated. but you're not, because you have e*trade, which isn't complicated. their tools make trading quicker and simpler so you can take on the markets with confidence. don't get mad. get e*trade. we really pride ourselves on >> temaking it easy for youass, to get your windshield fixed. >> 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

>> well, look, i didn't do the tweets, chuck. >> i didn't do the tweets. critics didn't hold back labeling the tweets racist, including the president's description of cummings' district as a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess. the congressman fired back, it is my constitutional duty to conduct oversight of the executive branch but it is my moral duty to fight for my constituents. and the baltimore sun's editorial is scathing, particularly the closing paragraph. we would tell the most dishonest man ever to occupy the oval office the mocker of war heroes, the gleeful grabber of women's private parts, the serial bankrupter of businesses, the useful idiot of vladimir putin, and the guy who insisted there are good people among murderous neo-nazis that he's not fueling most americans that he's slightly competent to hold his post or that he possesses a scintilla of integrity. better to have vermin in your neighborhood than to be one. kelly atkins, an msnbc contributor is here. and ashley parker, an msnbc senior political analyst. jere jere jeremy peters, "n

chuck schumer accused him of blind loyalty to the president, said he was partisan and it could be a big mistake to elevate him to a role like this. and i think many democrats are thinking about the fact that ratcliffe has been willing to accept the president's version and vision on russia as compared to someone like dan coats, who was visibly and clearly uncomfortable with the coziness of that relationship between the president and putin. so keep an eye on this. or there 53 republicans in the senate. but this could be a tough fight. >> given the point there about dan coats not always eye to eye with the president didn't come as a surprise. >> his jabs for months and months, especially after he came out and defended the intelligence community's assessment that there was interference by russia in our elections. he also broke with the president on a number of issues, including north korea, and congressional testimony. but, look, i want to point out the reason why this is so concerning for democrats, and even privately for some republicans, is because dan coats was sort of the last link bet

hillary clinton and giving money to nancy pelosi and giving money to rahm emanuel and giving money to chuck schumer and giving money to the democratic national committee and saying that hillary clinton would be a great president of the united states. again, i just -- it's amazing that conservatives and republicans are falling for this and i have said it all along i was shocked they were falling for a life long democrat who decided to play the racist card when he thought it might get him a little bit of traction in the republican party. peter baker, so you're reporting that this all began when donald trump ironically enough saw a woman of color on fox news talking about this and you say that fox news actually inspired his outbursts this weekend. tell us about it. >> well, on saturday morning, "fox & friends" one of his favorite shows aside from this, there was video she had shot of some neighborhoods she said in elijah cummings' west baltimore district and it was trash in the streets and boarded up houses and so forth and her point was look, if congressman cummings is so concerned about the

>> chuck, let's look at what he said. and why he did it. congressman cummings sat there and attacked our border patrol acts. this reminds me of what happened -- >> that justifies a racial resentment tweet in response? is that presidential leadership? >> look, i didn't -- i didn't do the tweets, chuck. >> so matt gorman, you can see that was senator rick scott, republican of florida, after mick mulvaney had trouble answering these questions. so how -- are republicans just going to continue to defend what the president is doing, or essentially refrain from criticizing him, which kind of amounts to the same thing? >> i think there are a couple differences. the think the view go back where you came from and series of tweets and these. first of all, congress is not in session to people like phil and you and others will not be chasing him down in hallways. >> lucky them. >> and too they're not eager to inject themselves to a third tweet on the sunt. and the only african-american republican in the house saw them as these type of tweets as fundamen

>> here is the thing, chuck. that is in a constitutional sense also justice delayed is justice denied. they are doing everything they can to obstruct the congressional investigation having obstructed justice, so there may get to a point in the fall where we decide, look, he is violating a different provision of the constitution by obstructing the congress in its lawful and constitutional duty. that would not be a crime. that would be a misdemeanor. the founders have a different idea of what misdemeanor means. i think violating the separation of powers would be such a misdemeanor. so this is why i say the president is doing everything he can to push us into an impeachment. if we can't get adequate answers from the court in time, that in itself will be an impeachable offense. >> well, you didn't really answer it. so you don't want there to be a deadline is what you are saying? is that fair to say? >> there will be a deadline because we will either get the answers that we need or the president's obstruction will be

up next "meet the press" with chuck todd. >>> this sunday after mueller, the impeachment debate. democrats try to get robert mueller to make the case against president trump. >> does that say there was no obstruction? >> no. >> what about total exoneration? did you actually totally exonerate the president? >> no. >> your investigation is not a witch hunt, is it? >> it is not. >> while republicans seek to discredit the investigation. >> when people associated with trump lie, you threw the book at them. when christopher steele lied, nothing. >> i find those facts in this entire process un-american. >> now democrats today opening impeachment

chuck todd asked the chair of the intelligence committee, adam schiff, is there a moment when impeachment is simply too late. >> they are doing everything they can to obstruct the congressional investigation having obstructed justice so they may get to a point in the fall where we decide -- look, he's violating a different provision of the constitution by obstructing the congress in its lawful and constitutional duty. that would not be a crime, that would be a misdemeanor. there will be a deadline. we'll either get the answers that we need or the president obstruction be so complete that itself becomes a ground for his impeachment. new attacks from president trump who's now accusing chairman cummings to hurt innocent people and to divide our country. the president's new accusation. the democrats have always play their cards. disgusting rats and rodentroden. in one interview, mulvaney in vis cyst insisted that the president's tweets did not have to do with race. >> you can see the conditions at the border and mr. cummings saying children who are sleeping in their own feces. it is not right

. >> reporter: prosecutor chuck boring was brought into the investigation early on. >> i think the main goal in a case like this is to get a timeline of the events. >> reporter: ross told detectives the morning had begun like many others. leanna set off to work early. ross set out to take cooper to day care and decided to stop for breakfast at chick-fil-a near his office. >> and me and him do that at chick-fil-a in vinings approximately two or three times a month together. >> reporter: after they ate, ross said he strapped cooper into his car seat. >> i gave him a kiss. he gave me a kiss. what i do every time. it's my routine. and just today was just like, careless. i got in my car, and instead of going from here to here, i went straight to work. >> reporter: ross told police he'd simply forgotten to take cooper to day care. >> i went to work. as if he wasn't even in the back. and i probably didn't even hear him because he falls asleep really easily when you drive the car. and that was it. >> reporter: he said he didn't realize what he'd done until hours later when he got in his car aft

stonewalling in the wake of robert mueller's warning prompted a contentious exchange with minority leader chuck schumer yesterday. >> attacks on our elections are as great a threat to our national security as any other, and yet for reasons inexplicable, the republican leader refuses to bring legislation to the floor. >> what my friend the democratic leader is asking unanimous consent to pass is partisan legislation from the democratic house of representatives relating to american elections. it's just a highly partisan bill from the same folks who spent two years hyping up a conspiracy theory about president trump and russia. >> mcconnell blocked the bill just hours before the senate intelligence committee, a bipartisan committee, recommended that at minimum, any machine purchased going forward should have a voter verified paper trail, which makes sense. in fact, mcconnell has said he'll block any proposed election addressing election security before the 2020 election. why does he not want the do anything before the election? that's when you do things. well, the "new york times" reports that he

chuck, you first here. how strong a case does the judiciary committee have to try to get this material, and is this how you would go about it? >> they have a reasonably strong case. think about this on the spectrum, alex. on the far left side, you want the grand jury investigation at a mere curiosity, and you want the grand jury information because it's in connection with a judicial proceeding. so the further you are on that spectrum to being in connection with the judicial proceeding, the more likely you are to win. and that's the case law, and that's the federal rules of criminal procedure. so what the democrats will argue is that they need the grand jury information because it's connected to a judicial proceeding, in this case, an impeachment inquiry. i think they ever a tolerable claim. >> what testimony do you think the judiciary would have given the mueller report? >> i'm glad you asked that question because the mueller report was very lightly redacted. there isn't all that much that's missing, partic

as chuck schumer said, this should be a nonpartisan issue. this should be something we all care about. the weirdest moment looking at that afternoon hearing for me is you had republicans making these conspiratorial allegations about it during the wrong hearing. i think a better audience for that was in the morning. but when you're laying out the back story and look at the remit that robert mueller had to look at election interference, it seemed dissident to have them talking about it in that setting. >> and to jill's point i think we can boil the democratic message down to one word, which is guilty. >> okay, i accept that. >> you know, it's disheartening, it's deflating watching chuck on the floor saying it shouldn't be, about it is, a partisan issue. it is a divide. and i -- the argument that the republicans are making that they don't do publicly but are saying t to themselves and to each other is they think democrats are going to play fast and loose with this. first of all, i can't believe that's the worst thing in the world that more peopl

what on earth caused him to chuck it all without as much as a note of explanation. >> november 1st was our three-year anniversary and a bit of a turning point for me. but prior to that i still believed wholeheartedly that he was going to send for me. and if he sent for me, i would have went with him. >> really? >> i would have, yes. and that day came and went with no phone call, no letter, nothing. and that made me realize that i needed to take care of myself and try to get back on my own two feet. >> mark was still alive. she knew that because, even though she hadn't heard from him since that brief phone call in greece, credit card statements were still coming in to their home in chicago. >> he's going to the biggest fashion houses across france and buying clothing and he's at casinos. >> and you're back and you can't even pay the water bill. >> right. and i'm sitting there crying every night listening to our songs, you know, mourning his loss and he's in the south of france. >> his credit card tally in the south of france alone added up to more than $50,000. since there's no law agai

mcconnell stonewalling in the wake of the warning prompted a contentious exchange with minority leader chuck schumer yesterday. >> attacks on our elections are as great a threat to our national security as any other, and yet for reasons inexplicable, the republican leader refuses to bring legislation to the floor. >> what my friend the democratic leader is asking unanimous consent to pass is partisan legislation from the democratic house of representatives relating to american elections. it's just a highly partisan bill from the same folks who spent two years hyping up a conspiracy theory about president trump and russia. >> mcconnell blocked the bill just hours before the senate intelligence committee, a bipartisan committee, recommended that at minimum, any machine purchased going forward should have a voter verified paper trail, which makes sense. mcconnell has said he'll block any proposed election addressing election security before the 2020 election. why does he not want the do anything before the election? that's when you do things. well, the "new york times" reports that he told coll

i'm chuck todd here in washington. we've got a big show for you here tonight. more democrats are calling for impeachment. but speaker pelosi made it clear she still is not one of them. she was defiant rejecting claims she's trying to run out the clock on the idea of starting an inquiry all as the judiciary committee nadler danced around the issue during a press conference. but one of his democratic colleagues at the press conference called it an impeachment investigation. we are going to speak with that very member in just a moment. put we are going to begin with the whole reason why democrats are ringing their hands on this impeachment question in the first place because the republicans have made it clear they are going to acrit this president no matter what. there's nearly no outrage these days over russia's sweeping and systemic attack on our democracy or the president welcoming those attacks, even inviting them to happen again or the president trying to obstruct the investigation into those attacks. it is a staggering reversal from the rhetoric we saw, and

"mtp daily" starts with chuck todd right now. ♪ >>> if it's friday, more democrats call for an impeachment inquiry as the judiciary committee chairman claims, in effect, that an inquiry is already underway. plus, russia, if you're listening, as democrats ring their hands over the impeachment question after

chuck schumer said yesterday it should be bipartisan. the president and republicans like to say all democrats want to do is block the president and be obstructionist. whether you're talking about this bill or the -- how can republicans continue to say all democrats do is block when that is actually what they're doing? >> you've actually seen some bipartisanship on capitol hill this week with the budget deal and both parties are still working together on a possible trade agreement. the usmca. it is not impossible to imagine in divided government for something to happen on election security. but inside the republican party, when you talk to top officials, they say the president is so sensitive to this issue of election interference and election security that they are very hesitant inside the gop at the highest ranks to provoke the president in any way on this issue. even as nonpartisan officials raise serious concerns about what's on the horizon. >> okay. but do they realize what the horizon could really be? ben, to you. "the washington po

he spent his life contributing to chuck schumer, to rahm emanuel, to the national democratic party. i mean, he was far more comfortable with these people than he was with republicans. in fact, he had contempt for conservative republicans and what he called quote right wing christians. just had complete contempt for those people. and yet, here he's had this opportunity. he hasn't taken it. you have known donald for 10, 11, 12 years and judge andrew napolitano at fox news, put something up on fox news, talking about how he says that he had known donald trump personally since 1986, the private trump i knew was funny, charming and embracing. that is not the public trump of today. it's the same thing that i have said to people who asked, you know, who donald trump was. well, i'll tell you what i saw and what mika saw for 12 years privately, but andrew napolitano goes on to say that donald trump has raised the terrifying specter of unleashing hatred and judge, to be fair, judge napolitano has been critical of donald trump consistently when he deserved that criticism so that remains a myst

i don't think actually that's the reason, chuck. i think the thing that we're trying to do as democrats is we're trying to stay focused on two things. moving forward on the agenda that we developed for the people of this country to drive down health care costs, to drive down the cost of prescription drugs, to raise family incomes, rebuild the infrastructure of america and take on the corruption in washington bypassing the biggest anti-corruption bill in decades. we've passed over 200 pieces of legislation, 50 major bills all responding to the urgent priorities of the american people. while we're doing all of that, all of this work on these important issues, we're also working hard to hold this president accountable. that's happening in six committees. there's a lot of litigation ongoing. so there's a lot of stuff happening. we have a responsibility to do both things. but i think asome of this stuff when you have a president who says i'm going to prevent you in every way from hearing from witnesses and collecting evidence, we're gone

"mtp daily" with chuck todd starts now. ♪ >>> if it's thursday, the pressure now is on pelosi as democrats must decide impeach or don't impeach. and mueller could not have been more clear about the ongoing threat to our democracy. russia is targeting us right now. and a new bipartisan senate report shows just how unprepared we are. >>> plus, is joe biden ready for a fight? well, apparently he is now because he's taking his gloves off with the 2020 race coming to another head next week.

. >> and yet, to your point, ben, chuck todd got a lot of traction when he said democrats got what they wanted on substance. but the optics were a disaster. in terms of impeachment, was it always about the opt iics anywa? what was mueller going to say that changed the facts from in the report? i wonder what your take is on the impeachment. >> yeah, first of all, anybody who ever expected bob mueller to produce a charismatic exciting optically interesting hearing doesn't know bob mueller. this is a person who is not charismatic. who made it perfect clear that he didn't want to be there. and who is, you know, and going to basically said that he was not going to go beyond the four corners of his report. that he was going to answer questions, very minimally, if at all. and did exactly what he said he was going to do. if people were expecting him to come in there and lay out the story for everybody in a fashion that would turn a lot of heads, they were clearly misupping the man. but also misjudging not listening to him when he said very plainly what he was going to do. >> and not do, right?

but it really does as much as we want to get a chuck him about it and move on, but it does raise a bigger point, which is the general sloppiness of this administration and its allies. not just when it comes to stating fact as the previous discussion with the amaesh exposed but also just in terms of its generalized vetting. we have press releases that go out with words misspelled. i'm not even talking about the spelling of presidential tweets. more important than that, a lot of the background vetting that's been done. so this is an amusing piece that is a part of a bigger and maybe more disturbing pattern. >> at the same time, we were obviously in the middle of this democratic primary. where next week will you have the next two debates. well, corey booker has been going after joe biden. they were both in indianapolis today and let's play booker first. going after joe biden, supposedly and biden responding. >> it is not enough to show up in our communities today with a promise of a better tomorrow. what were you doing five, ten, 15 or 20 years ago to fight for racial justice? don't just tel

chuck, thank you very much as well. >> and chuck, i want to say thank you so much for saying what you said about a man that you respect and love, robert mueller. i actually had a couple trump trolls yesterday mocking me for putting a picture of director mueller up in my home. i couldn't think of an american right now who would be more worthy to be up on the wall of americans than a man who came from a family that could have kept him out of vietnam and while donald trump was complaining of bone spurs and paying off a family doctor to write that up, bob mueller had bad knees and they said he couldn't go. he trained so he could go. he got put in the ranger hall of fame. he was -- he was recognized for his valor. he was recognized time and again for what he did in vietnam and then he came back and as you said, and as they said in the ranger's hall of fame, he saved the fbi. he restructured the fbi. and he kept us safe after 9/11. i know -- i know that you'll always respect and love this great man. >> absolutely. you know, one story, joe, he was a student at princeton. he tells this story

far too much time in my opinion, chuck. they should have really endeavored to get this testimony out as soon as possible, especially in light of the conflicting messages about the conclusions in the report coming from the attorney general and then the response from director mueller. so it was unfortunate that so many weeks have gone by with this void of information in terms of what's actually in the report, of course for those folks who haven't read it. and if i could point out one other thing, chuck, it's been mentioned a lot today this is his 90th appearance on the hill. i would venture a guess that this is the first time he's ever appeared on the hill following the release of a 400-page statement. so to compare the way he conducted himself today and the way he answered questions today with all of his appearances of old is a little bit of an apples and oranges comparison. >> fair enough. i want to play number seven, excerpt number seven, and this is the decision that was about -- and, chuck rosenberg, we talked about this

. >> you have claire mccaskill, you have neil cattial, chuck rosenberg and chris haze and more, including our teams on capitol hill. frank and joyce are sticking around, among others. so thankfully is nicolle wallace, with whom we turn it over with pleasure at the 4:00 hour. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> it was not fun but history. >>> it's 4:00 in new york. we're going to continue with our breaking news coverage of testimony today on capitol hill from special counsel robert mueller himself. donald trump and his first reaction since the end of those hearings just tweeted, quote, truth is a force of nature. for once we agree with him. in fact today's testimony revealed just a few uncomfortable truths for this president. first, that the obstruction of justice evidence, mueller's investigation uncovered against him is vast and damaging and it could be enough to charge trump with a crime after he leaves office. second, that the mueller investigation was not a witch-hunt at all. the list of lies in trump's circles about conduct with russians is long and the bottom line, the president's claim

chuck rosenberg watching with us. someone who worked for and with robert mueller among us over your career, before i ask your takeaways, here are the takeaways from adam schiff's twitter feed. you heard them before, russia interfered in our election to help trump. russians made numerous contacts with the campaign. the campaign welcomed their help. no one reported these interferences or contacts to the fbi. they lied to cover that up. does that about cover it? >> yes. bob mueller said something at the end that struck me as sad and wistful, i hope this is not the new normal but i think it is. and he was talking about the campaign russia ran against the united states and successfully. maybe he's speaking more broadly, and i should be the last person to put words in his mouth. he's perfectly capable of speaking for himself, but if this is the new normal, this sort of circus, by the way this cognitive dissonance, this turning away from a clear attack on our electoral process and our country, this is the new normal, i know

chuck and neal, we never put two people on together. i promise you're not here to do punch and judy and fight with each other. >> definitely not. >> let me ask you about this breaking news we got tonight. concerning somebody described in reporting about the special counsel's process about mueller's chief of staff and we know he was mueller's chief of staff when mueller was fbi director. now it seems that the intelligence committee has made the decision that they're going to swear mr. zebley in also as a witness, to sit next to mueller and also answer questions from at least the intelligence committee members, even if judiciary committee seems like they may not be following that same path. chuck, i know you had the same job that aaron zebley did as chief of staff at fbi. what do you make of this? >> well, first, aaron is as smart and humble and diligent as you could possibly hope for. he also will know the case backward and forward. he worked right next to bob for years, including on the entire special counsel project. so here's what i m

chuck and neal, we never put two people on together. i promise you're not here to do punching judy and fight each other. >> definitely not. >> let me ask you about this breaking news we got tonight. previously described in reporting about the special counsel's process about mueller's chief of staff and we know he was mueller's chief of staff when mueller was fbi director. now it seems that the intelligence committee has made the decision that they're going to swear mr. zebley in as a witness, to sit next to mueller and also answer questions from at least the intelligence committee members, even if judiciary committee seems like they may not be following that same path. chuck, i know you had the same job that aaron zebley did as chief of staff. what do you make of this? >> well, aaron is as smart and humble and diligent as you could hope for. he also will know the case backward and forward. he worked right next to bob for years, including on the entire special counsel project. so here's what i make of it. if bob doesn't know an answer, a

chuck will be back tomorrow with more "meet the press" daily. stay with msnbc tomorrow as robert mueller testifies on the hill. our special coverage begins at 8:30 a.m. eastern. "the beat with ari melber"" starts right now. >> thank you so much. we are 15 hours it away from history right here in washington. special counsel mueller testify before congress in public on the criminal evidence against president trump for the first time. that's why pretty much whatever happens tomorrow is high stakes. democrats think mueller's appearance in the flesh will bring to life a case they say already exists on paper. the evidence that the donald trump committed crimes in office. but many of trump's defenders say they're confident in the other side of this argument. that mueller did not charge an election conspiracy, that his worst findings have been out there for months and in terms of politically damaging trump, tomorrow could be if their words a big dud. there are many ways to look at this. but as the hearing approaches we're getting all kinds of hard news

i'm steve kornacki in for chuck todd. buckle up for a busy hour ahead of late breaking developments ahead of mueller's testimony before two house committees. right now judiciary committee democrats are preparing and strategizing behind closed doors. house democratic leadership is expected to hold its weekly meeting this hour. later tonight the full intelligence committee, republicans and democrats, will huddle together. the president is once again lashing out at the investigation. there is some late drama about the involvement of one of mueller's top deputies in tomorrow's hearing. so let's typhoon in starting with perhaps the biggest questions ahead of tomorrow's hearing, what is mueller going to say. on the eve of his testimony, some democrats, including chairman of judiciary committee are accusing the justice department of trying to silence mueller. the justice department sent out this letter to mueller yesterday layering out everything he couldn't say in their view instructing them that, quote, any testimony must rema

louis, i know claire is, too. >> thanks for having me. >> chuck, straight to you. some really important information there and i hope some members questioning robert mueller follow director comey's advice about how yes or no responses from robert mueller underscores the veracity and power of what's in the report. >> either short declarative questions and he agrees or disagrees with the question or ask mueller in his own words to read the part of the report. as you said, nicole, you can open up with anything. >> i've got it. mine are covered with stickies. you can go to any page in the volume and it's devastating. >> you can ask him to read from random reports and it's devastating, the difference between a book and movie. if we hear anything devastating tomorrow, because we're paying attention to the movie. my hopes are not crazy high. i don't know there's a lot of undecided people in this country or people who will watch it with an open mind. people are predisposed to what they're going to hear and see what they see. if you take the time and listen tomorrow and the

this was cut by donald trump, chuck schumer, nancy pelosi and kevin mccarthy and that leaves out almost all members of congress. that's one of the signs that our system is broken that individual members of congress don't really have a say in terms of our national policy. >> yeah, i mean, dana, are democrats to blame here as well? well, sure. this is isn't a new problem. it's been going on for decades and getting worse under each successful administration. this time you had a president who came in as you noted first saying he would eliminate the debt entirely and then said he'd cut it in half. of course, we're going in completely the opposite direction. i'm seeing no sign of anybody putting on the brakes anywhere into the country where you just implemented a huge tax cut. it's entirely going in the wrong direction fiscally. >> carlos, fox news host laura ingraham tweeted her disapproval of this. we've seen the president change his mind before, frankly, after -- speaking of dana's column. speaking of outside pressure, undoing the cave. i don't think anything that's going to happen here th

>> well, you know, chuck todd asked president trump if his son had been subpoenaed? and the president said, you know, ask -- you'll have to ask my son, i don't know. and we did and he declined to answer. and i think that clip suggests perhaps why, you know, trump junior may not want to be out there admitting that he did -- if he did invoke his fifth amendment rights because his father's very much on record saying you only do that if you're guilty. however, we also know that president trump and others around him have a long history of ignoring the past, including if there is tapes, and, you know, and saying something differently currently that completely contradicts that. >> right. >> so we don't really know. but we do know, you know, that the chairman of the house intelligence committee, adam schiff on the weekend in an interview with our kristen welker said he's very interested in the trump tower meeting. he singled it out as the kind of evidence that he intends to press mueller on. and so it will be very interesting to see how that plays out tomorrow. >> i want to

you know, chuck todd had asked president trump a few weeks ago whether don jr. has been subpoenaed and the president's answer was i don't know. you have to ask him. well, we have and we haven't gotten an answer. >> carol lee, thank you so much. we appreciate your reporting. >> thanks. >> you know, there's -- steve rattner, it's frustrating. there's a recurring theme here about all of these investigations going on and everybody pulling back before giving americans the answers that they need. despite the fact that americans have paid millions and millions of dollars to -- for these investigations. so now we're not going to hear why don jr. wasn't subpoenaed, why he wasn't investigated? when he set up that infamous meeting, he also was excited about it and said love it, can't wait to have the meeting. that's the first guy you want to actually interview. the question that needs to be answered is why didn't he subpoena donald trump? the united states supreme court most likely would have upheld that subpoena and made donald trump sit down and be interviewed by robert