>> who was your hero? >> al olsen. >> then i'd file that as very wrong. we're elected state officials. we can't keep having this pop up. >> but it was the '80s! >> i don't even know what that's supposed to mean, dude. ♪ virginia in crisis. two top democrats admit past racist acts, and a third is accused of sexual assault. >> we will have our say, and i am confident. >> plus elizabeth warren makes it official. >> this is our moment to dream big, fight hard and win. >> and the acting attorney general gets a grilling. >> who are you? where did you come from? and how the heck did you become the head of the department of justice? >> as democrats flex their new power. >> it's called presidential harassment, and it really does

hurt our country. >> "inside politics," the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters now. welcome to "inside politics." i'm john king. to our viewers in the united states and around the world, thank you for sharing your sunday. the political crisis in virginia deepens. an ugly mix of racism and alleged sexual assault. the governor who admits appearing in blackface says he will not resign. the lieutenant governor denies two sexual assault allegations and an impeachment effort looms. >> there are very serious allegations, and while the lieutenant governor has due process, the question is whether he can serve while that process is happening. and i think that remaining in office is not good. it's not good for the commonwealth, and he needs to step down, step aside. >> plus, testing time at the trump white house. democrats begin aggressive

oversight of the president and his team and the president must determine this week whether to compromise on the border wall or trigger another government shutdown. >> this is a moral issue. the lawless state of our southern border is a threat to the safety, security and financial well-being of all america. in the past, most of the people in this room voted for a wall. but the proper wall never got built. i will get it built. >> and elizabeth warren joins the crowded 2020 democratic field. progressives love her attacks on powerful banks and corporations but her liberal views and claims about native american ancestry raise electability questions. >> this won't be easy. now there are a lot of people out there with money and power and armies of lobbyists and lawyers. people who are prepared to spend more money than you and i could ever dream of to stop us from

making any of these solutions a reality. i say to them, get ready because change is coming faster than you think. >> we begin again with the political and leadership crisis in virginia. yes, we began here a week ago, too. but it's far more troubling and complicated now. ralph northam is defiant, ending a week of seclusion to tell "the washington post" he'll not heed calls to resign and he plans to finish his term dedicating the next years to racial reconciliation. lieutenant governor justin fairfax defiant, too. he denies sexual assault allegations by two women. one says fairfax raped her in college. the other says at the democratic convention in 2004. fairfax insists he is innocent and wants an investigation. articles of impeachment will be filed monday, and both women say they are willing to testify are impeachment proceedings. the next up would be the

attorney general but democratic attorney general mark herring now admits he also appeared in blackface in the 1980s. herring is among those who quickly demanded the governor resign but he snays in his case he hopes to rebuild trust. it plunges the commonwealth into chaos and tests the commitment of national democrats to the red lines they drew when northam's racist act was revealed and that they've drawn in other me too moments. caylee, what do we expect when they return to the capitol tomorrow? >> when a second accuser came out against justin fairfax late friday we found ourselves asking, would he be showing up for work on monday? would he survive the weekend? calls for his resignation quickly followed from every democrat in washington and virginia that you can name. despite the lack of support from his own party, fairfax shows no sign of resigning. he's now admitting to sexual encounters with both of his accusers but believed those interactions to be consensual.

he is pleading for due process now calling for an investigation asking that the fbi get involved, but people are already questioning the legitimacy of the fbi's jurisdiction in this matter. the question for monday will be, will virginia democratic member of the house of delegates introduce those articles of impeachment that he's threatened if fairfax hadn't resigned by monday? we are very far from any impeachment proceedings beginning here, but if they do, both women who have accused fairfax say they are willing to testify. one of the women's attorney saying they have corroborating witnesses to support them as well. what we do know, john, is that on monday, all three of virginia's top lawmakers embattled in their own controversies are re-entrenching themselves. they'll be showing up for work. and this crisis of politics and leadership in virginia will continue. >> will continue. we'll see any developments in the week ahead. with us in the studio, molly ball from "time," jesse holland

with the associated press, michael sheer and sung mung kim with "the washington post." it's a -- last weekend we thought justin fairfax would be the governor of virginia by now. ralph northam says i'm not going anywhere and justin faur fairfax by most accounts is in more trouble than the governor in terms of survivablity. >> as you said, fairfax seems to have the most heat on him at the moment in part because governor northam went underground after all of this came out. made his statement and has given the one interview to "the washington post." but has tried as much as possible to stay out of sight. there's a theory of damage control in these scandals that says if you just weather the storm and disappear for a while, you can come out the other end, several weeks or months later, and people will have cooled down. and the question for -- i think for all three of these officials

related to how they've handled it, how the public sees these accusations and how serious they are, how substantiated they are and there's particularities in all three cases. the question is going to be, how has the public processed these? have they cooled down after a period of time? and that may be harder for the lieutenant governor if there's this proceeding against him. >> and that's what makes this interesting in the sense that governor northam is trying to stay in seclusion for a week. everyone thought a week ago everyone was saying let's get the lieutenant governor into the governor's office. now two credible allegations of sexual assault. the possibility of impeachment. in an odd way, i don't know if that's the right word, but justin fairfax's troubles have strengthened northam's position. >> and fairfax is the only person who is accused of committing a crime. what the governor and the attorney general did, immoral, maybe, but you can't take them to court over it. fairfax is actually, possibly facing criminal charges. because he's committed -- he's

accused of committing crimes. so it's going to be hard for him to move forward until this either is resolved or something else happens for him because i don't see the governor being dragged in front of a court anywhere at any time for what he did. but fairfax might be sitting in front of a judge one day having to answer under oath about the things he's accused of. >> the legislators' rape, you can be impeached for that. they think they have grounds. they don't think stupid, idiotic reprehensible racism, they don't think you can impeach somebody for that. >> one of the features of government like virginia is that the legislature is not in session full time. it's not like congress where they are here year round, right? virginia has either 45 or 60-day sessions. those can be extended. or the governor or the legislature canning called back in for special sessions but one of the things these -- all three

of these men may be trying to do is run out the clock. once the legislators leave town and go back to where they're from, it becomes probably easier to sort of kind of bear down and entrench and survive this. that's probably, for all the reasons just stated, harder for justin fairfax than it is for the other two who, if they can get through the next, say, month, are probably feel like they've got a better chance of surviving. >> you have to imagine, too, that governor northam as he tries to hunker down and weather the storm are looking at the poll numbers in "the washington post" this morning that says virginia voters are split on whether he should stay or go. 47% stay. 47% go. and i thought the numbers from african-american residents in virginia were fascinating. 58% said the governor should stay and only 39% said he should go. >> no politician has ever been happier to see a 47 number in a poll. you put the numbers up.

the state is split on should the governor stay or go. 6 in 10 african-americans say the governor should stay. the focus more on fairfax and possibility of impeachment, the governor thinks he can stay and run out the clock. can he be effective? he wants to spend the next three years on racial reconciliation. >> the flip side of the virginia government structure that mike was describing is that they are right in the middle of this short and hectic legislative session they only have once a year. so it's really sapped -- this is a governor perceived as popular, perceived as doing a good job. effective in a bipartisan manner with the legislature that's controlled by the republicans. and this is completely sapped all of that. his approval rating has plummeted. how do you lead in this position when you're afraid to go out in public and can't really talk to your constituents, much less broker deals on -- they are considering this big budget. northam had a lot of priorities in this budget. it's very much harder for him to

execute on his agenda when in this position. >> here's what he told "the washington post." seclusion for a week. grants an interview yesterday to "the washington post." there are ongoing inequities to access things like health care, education, health care, mortgages and i think it's a real awakening for virginia. we're ready to learn from our mistakes. can he lead on that agenda? it's the capital of confederacy. can he lead on these issues? will the state accept, okay, i'm -- i speak to you as a sinner. let's make progress. >> that's one of the things that's going to be interesting to see. one thing with northam, he is in his one and only term as virginia governor. he can't run again. there's norp for him to go after this. if he left the governorship, he wouldn't have no position. no one is going to give him a chance at anything else. this is his one shot to

rehabilitate himself. i think that's one of the reasons he doesn't want to leave. he doesn't want his legacy to be as the governor caught in blackface. he wants to take this time to try to rehabilitate himself so he can possibly have a political future. right now if he left, he wouldn't. >> the national party is in a box of its own drawing here in the sense they got right out when northam's blackface moment was revealed and said you have to go. now he wants to stay. they can't pull that back. and in the middle of the me too moment. and is impeachment the likely forum? >> i mean, look, it's the only sort of like actual process that could lead to a venue for some of these things being discussed other than a criminal proceeding which is sort of out of the political process. look, people wouldn't say -- the national democrats who called immediately for northam to resign were not -- they wouldn't say it, but they were very much

mindful of the fact they had a -- what they thought was a very, you know, popular, smart african-american lieutenant governor who could step into the role and sort of help solve their problem. now that that doesn't seem to be the case, they are in a real box because they don't -- they are caught between what they think they should do from a political perspective and the long-term implications of doing that thing because they could, in theory, hand the state, which had been trending democratic, back to republicans for a long time. >> it's a fascinating situation. the next move will be when the legislature comes in tomorrow. up next -- deja vu here in washington. a friday deadline. a possible government shutdown. the border wall the big issue. ♪

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the latest government shutdown deadline is friday. we should have a good sense in the next 24 hours of one piece. can they craft a compromise that will please the democratic house and republican senate. be skeptical until you see it on paper but negotiators are voicing confidence they're close to an agreement on new spending plans that include adding billions to border security. the amount allowed for a wall or barrier is likely to be $2

billion, maybe less. far short of the nearly $6 billion demanded by the president. house and senate republican leaders are telling the president in public and in private they are in no mood for another shutdown. >> this is not going to be a deal that everybody gets what they want. but i think we're going to see wall funding, new wall border funding and other things that are very important to keep the american people safe. >> what's your probability of a second shutdown, sir? >> i honestly think next to nil. >> republican leaders think, emphasis on think, the president is getting the message. >> i can't say what the president will and will not do, but in my conversations with the president, i know he wants to find a legislative solution. he wants us to work on this. >> eliana johnson of politico joins the conversation. if they can get this on paper, will the president accept a deal that has about $2 billion in wall funding, which is not that different than the plan he

rejected which triggered the government shutdown. >> the situation has changed for the president in that republican lawmakers largely backed him when he shut down the government. now the president is cornered with republican lawmakers unwilling to back another shutdown. and also unwilling to back a national emergency declaration. and that really leaves the president with two unpalatable options. the first is accepting whatever legislative solution lawmakers can come up with. but we know that it will not contain the $5.7 billion in border wall funding the president was demanding or some sort of executive action that falls short of a national emergency declaration. mick mulvaney teased that in an appearance on sean hannity's show this weekend. we're contemplating a legal executive action that has a lesser threat of being legally challenged. >> and so here's what the president tweeted yesterday. trying to translate tweets.

democrats don't seem to want border security. they're fighting border agent recommendations. they look to be making this a campaign issue. the wall will get built one way or the other. you can read he doesn't like the amount of money and therefore, he's going to veto the bill or they are looking to make this a campaign issue that he's preparing to say i'm going to take what i've got. it's not enough but, fine, we're going to start building the parts of the wall we can and here we go 2020. >> and he said that previously. if they don't give me the wall, that's actually great because then i can go to the american people and they'll support me against the democrats who have been blocking this thing that i want. we don't know because it's impossible to read anybody's mind but especially this president. that has the negotiators on tinder hooks. they don't know whether he'll accept what they come up with. it's never been -- the hardest part has never been the negotiation between the members of congress. they could have made this deal

six months ago before we first shutdown. there would have been a point -- there were democrats and republicans in both houses of congress could reach agreement on some kind of compromise that combined border security with other stuff. but if the president doesn't accept that, it's a problem. it divides republicans very, very badly and it's not clear whether it can get through either house in that case. if the president says, okay, we got more than i would have gotten before but less than i originally asked for and that's the nature of compromise and nobody gets everything they want, if he does that, then i think they're good to go. >> if he does that, it will be the first time in two years. there are some issues for the democrats as well here. listen to the house majority leader steny hoyer. he's saying as pelosi has said, let the negotiators work. nancy pelosi at one point said not a dollar for the president's wall. steny hoyer says he's open to supporting about $2 billion. >> i don't think anybody expected there wouldn't be a

compromise of some type, and, obviously, one side has been asking for additional barrier money. >> right. >> so when you have a conference like this, one ought not to be surprised that part of the deal encompasses that facet of one party's demands. >> if the republicans are there, it's not an issue. they'll have the votes in the house regardless. will speaker pelosi and hoyer face some blowback? >> they'll certainly face some in their new caucus. we've seen in the border negotiations the group of progressives, including alexandria ocasio-cortez send around a letter to fellow colleagues saying we -- no money for the kind of barriers that this is being discussed. but that's the nature of compromise. you look at these deals that pass congress. you'll always have people peel off from the right and from the left. i'll point out what the

president is saying, the dems are making this into a campaign issue, he himself is going to el paso tomorrow in an event organized by his campaign, and he'll make a case for the wall there. >> the president doesn't like the politics of this, right? i mean, look, and, you know, the event is, in fact, a campaign rally. he'll continue to do that. he loves this issue. donald trump and the people around him think that immigration is a fabulous issue for them. there's not a whole lot of proof to that. it didn't necessarily help him all that much in the midterm elections, but the question is, the responsibility deepens. people's sense of who is responsible deepens. clearly blamed president trump. even if he signs it, even if there were to be a compromise and he were to sign it, there's nothing to say that his right wing doesn't attack him and that he could still try to do something after the funding to some sort of deck raalation of something that would give him more ability --

>> we may see the details of the compromise by the time the president speaks at that rally. it will be interesting to see how he reacts to it. up next, the 2020 democrats. elizabeth is in and the numbers could entice joe biden. and the politicians say the darnedest things comes fresh from the border. >> swiss radio? i do not speak swiss. i cannot even say swiss cheese in swiss. ask me the question again. fact is, every insurance company hopes you drive safely. but allstate helps you. with drivewise. feedback that helps you drive safer.

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the man in the white house is not the cause of what is broken. he is just the latest and most extreme symptom of what's gone wrong in america.

a product of a rigged system that props up the rich and powerful and kicks dirt on everyone else. >> senator elizabeth warren there making her official entry into the 2020 race. that was yesterday in lawrence, massachusetts. signing the progressive themes that make her a liberal favorite. warner joining what's a growing and historically diverse democratic field. we could get another new entry today. where does she rate among democratic leaning voters? favorable rating of 52. unfavorable of 11%. one of the questions about elizabeth warren is, who has been a national figure for a while, these numbers not so great. she begins the campaign with a net unfavorable. a lot of americans want to know more. 32% favorable. 35% unfavorable. we'll see how that plays out. among democrats, you'd have to put her in the top tier. we asked who you are likely or very likely to support. this is democrats and democratic leani ining voters.

she's in the top tier. so in pretty good standing as she starts the democratic race. the question is, what are democrats looking for? not who, but what. on the what issue, warren has some issues. a good chance to beat trump. that's the number one priority for democratic voters. the right experience, willing to work with the gop. if you are biden, you think this is you. if you're elizabeth warren on the question of, can i beat trump you have to deal with the nagging issue about her native american claims. she listed herself as an american indian. trying to put that controversy behind her. >> i am sorry that i extended confusion about tribal citizenship and tribal sovereignty and for harm caused. i am also sorry for not being more mindful of this decades ago. nothing about my background ever had anything to do with any job

i got in any place. it's been fully documented. >> on the issues, she's a good fit with the democratic base. the question is if priority one is beating trump, does she need to do more to put this one behind her? >> it's very interesting talking to -- especially rank and file democratic voters about this issue because, yes, their highest priority is beating trump but they have no idea what that means, right? especially in the wake of 2016 which i think left so many democrats demoralized but also confused. the question is what does beat trump? does it take a fighter who punches back at him? someone who fights on his level? someone with an optimistic vision? does it take a policy vision that contrasts? does it take a policy vision more in the middle? so you hear yes, almost every democratic voter will say that's priority number one. much more important than a particular policy position and so on. but they are really not sure what that looks like.

so to some democratic voters, elizabeth warren does look like what it will take to beat trump because she's experienced and they like that she's a woman and that she is articulating a very precise policy vision. and others are convinced that because of some of her baggage or other issues that's a significant negative for her. >> she has the president's attention. he goes after her a lot. went after her on twitter yesterday. the trump campaign issued a statement yesterday. they haven't done that for other candidates. here's from the campaign manager. elizabeth warren has already been exposed as a fraud by the native americans she impersonated. the american people reject her dishonest campaign and socialist ideas like the green new deal. that's where he's going in 2020 no matter who the democrats nominate. why does the president take interest in her over the others? >> i think the president would love to run against her. we haven't seen him afford any of the other nominees or

potential nominees as much attention on twitter which has raised her profile. but i think molly is exactly right. the democrats are confused as to who is the candidate that can beat trump? we do have one data point which is that donald trump rose to the presidency through pennsylvania, michigan, wisconsin, ohio. and democrats, if they're going to win have to nominate a candidate who can compete with him in those states. could somebody like elizabeth warren make a credible play across the midwest? >> she believes she can on populism and economics. on jobs. she'd say the president was a fraud. he promised all these things and hasn't delivered. a lot of republicans think if you have medicare for all and the new deal. the republicans say read it. if they implement that agenda your energy taxes are going up, costs are going up, the government will be refitting buildings and it's going to cost a fortune and impact your lives.

the president says here's 2020 from the state of the union. wasn't as much a governing speech as it was a campaign speech. >> we are alarmed by the new calls to adopt socialism in our country. america was founded on liberty and independence and not government coercion, domination and control. tonight we renew our resolve that america will never be a socialist country. >> democrats would say that's way overboard but if you are the president of the united states and you are looking at your electoral map that got you here, they think that might work. >> and republicans that i've talked to are -- have really been looking at the policy positions that the democratic candidates have espoused such as medicare for all and the green new deal. these ideas do poll well among

the public but once the public knows the details of the impacts of the government-run health care system it could eliminate your private insurance that you'd like or the details of the green new deal, that's where it plummets in their popularity. and that's what they're looking for. so the president is taking the 30,000-foot messaging on that respect and the republicans will be really drilling down in the details once we see more of these policies. >> that's fighting the last campaign or the last 20 campaigns and they can make the case. they point to 2018 in the suburbs. we'll see if they can make this case as this field is already historically diverse. the democratic field. we expect to get another entry today. senator amy klobuchar has an event in her state. you don't schedule a big event if you're not getting in the race. here's what one of her political consultants says. her style may set her apart. i would put her in the happy warrior category as someone who tries to be positive and optimistic. in many ways, she's kind of the

anti-trump. she's more centrist from elizabeth warren and believes midwestern roots help a lot, especially in neighboring iowa to start. >> look, part of the quote that you put up there talked about style, right? and we've talked a lot about the policy questions and whether or not the presidential campaign will be based on socialism or medicare for all, et cetera. what president trump showed, especially in the primary actually last time around is that part of the way he operates in politics is to try to destroy the personality of the candidate. all the nicknames. low-energy jeb and all of that. and so part of what the democrats are trying to find in addition to the policy question is what kind of candidate, what kind of person can kind of go up against donald trump. do you need that happy optimistic person? do you need somebody who is a teflon candidate that the -- all of donald trump's barbs will

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if there is going to be peace and legislation, there cannot be war and investigation. >> house democrats rolled their eyes at that state of the union poke from the president. and the days that followed, they raised the curtain on washington's new power play. the acting attorney general is just one top administration official hauled before house committees now led by majority

democrats. >> now, in your capacity as acting attorney general, have you ever been asked to approve any request or action to be taken by the special counsel? >> mr. chairman, i see that your five minutes is up and so i am -- i am here voluntarily. we have agreed to five-minute rounds. >> as you can see, the judiciary committee hearing with the acting ag matt whitaker was contentious. a sure sign of things to come. tuesday alone in the week ahead there will be eight oversight hearings in the house. topics including family separations at the border, climate change and the president's lease of a government building for his d.c. hotel just a few blocks from the white house. democrats say this is overdue oversight. on the substance, whitaker challenged democratic assertions that he's a trump loyalist name to the job to thwart the special counsel investigation. >> i have not talked to the president of the united states about the special counsel's investigation. i have not interfered in any way

with the special counsel's investigation. i have not denied any funds to the special counsel's investigation. >> have you -- >> we're continuing to follow the special counsel regulations as it relates to the report. and we haven't received the report. >> the democrats thought he was prickly. at times he was. his demeanor with the democrats was very different than when the republicans asked him questions. on the substance, he gave the democrats zip and seemed to make clear, and i haven't seen any public evidence to the contrary, that he hasn't gotten in robert mueller's way, that he hasn't tried to shut it down. >> this is something democrats are going to repeat once the new attorney general is confirmed later this week and faces the same questions whitaker faced friday. this just launches a whole new season of oversight hearings on so many issues. you outlined the hearings on tuesday. in march we'll be hearing from wilbur ross on the census

question which will be a very heated topic and kirstjen nielsen. and so it's just going to be -- democrats have been -- have had this pent-up kind of push to want to conduct oversight that they say have gone so ignored under the first two years of the trump presidency. but at the same time, republicans are really banking on the fact that they will overreach, that they will conduct what they see as political theater, that they say that we saw on friday. >> one thing overlooked in this hearing is that this was sort of a template for how these are going to go moving forward and the democrats threatened to subpoena whitaker but they didn't actually do it. and i think for the white house, that was a victory in terms of how these things are going to play out moving forward. the other thing that i think didn't get all that much attention was that whitaker didn't cede much ground to democrats. didn't give them much information. so while his demeanor got a lot of attention and perhaps that was a victory for democrats in

that it's not great to be rude to the people who are going after you. in terms of substance, i think this went well for the white house. >> yeah, i mean, i don't know. i think that it is a window into what's coming in terms of all the oversight the white house is going to get and there's going to be a lot of substance to all of nathat. the answers that the democrats got from whitaker on the mueller investigation weren't what they wanted in the sense he didn't admit that he did anything but they were what they wanted in that he's said he's left the special counsel alone, and that is going to be -- that's what the democrats were hoping for, right? they were hoping there hasn't been any meddling. that the special counsel has been allowed to continue his work. and then there's so many other areas, so many other topics that they're going to be doing these hear,s on. and just like in this one, the question is going to be, are they mostly trying to put on a show? are they mostly trying to

extract good television sparring with people, seen as grandstanding, or is there information that they're going to get out of a lot of these witnesses? you have to think in some cases there is. >> we'll test the cooperation between the committees and the white house. they don't use subpoenas if they don't get the documents. our reporters share from their notebooks, including the bernie factor. when will the vermont independent make up his mind about 2020? we're working together to do just that. bringing you more great tasting beverages with less sugar or no sugar at all. smaller portion sizes, clear calorie labels and reminders to think balance. because we know mom wants what's best. more beverage choices, smaller portions, less sugar. balanceus.org

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let's head around the "inside politics" table and ask our reporters to share something from their notebooks to help you get ahead of the political news around the corner. >> one other democratic candidate besides joe biden who really has the power to reshape the field with his potential candidacy. and that's bernie sanders. he's got double-digit support in most of the early polling at this point which shows you that this candidate who took everybody by surprise in 2016

has really held on to a large part of his following. but the question is really, how much? and we've seen so many of the other candidates who have gotten in so far who have adopted his positions on a lot of issues. so many candidates running to the left embracing free college, medicare for all and themes of economic inequality. particularly elizabeth warren, likely appealing to voters into those issues. and bernie sanders is a paradox this way. he's always claimed to be more about the ideas and the issues than about him or about any kind of personality. and yet he has to make a decision about does this platform need me in the race? do i need to be the one to speak for these issues when all these other people are also speaking for these issues? he's really looking at whether a lane remains for him in such a crowded field and we're hearing that an announcement could be imminent. >> come on, bernie. lutz know. eliana? >> i'm looking out to the president's second summit with

north korea's kim jong-un which the white house announced this week the president said in the state of the union would be at the end of this month. the 27th and 28th in hanoi, vietnam. and my question is whether this will simply be a repeat of last year's summit in singapore which was basically just a media spectacle. we saw the meeting of the first two leaders. there was a lot of anticipation of simply watching these guys shake hands. that won't be as exciting the second time around. and there will be much more focus on whether there's a policy deliverable. will we see a commitment from north korea to make real changes. we haven't seen that over the past year. i think there will be a lot more pressure on president trump to extract something from the north koreas -- from the north koreans because he is sitting down with them for a second time. we haven't heard anything from the white house indicating that's the case. but i think the pressure is on this time. >> pressure is huge, i would argue. michael? >> so 65 days from now is tax

day. the democrats plan to spend a lot of that time pushing to get donald trump's tax returns finally. they held a hearing last week to talk about section 6103 of the tax code which gives the house ways and means chairman the ability to get tax information from any tax filer. democrats think they have the edge both politically and legally on this, but there are mine fields. legally, the white house is preparing a huge, fierce response legally to challenge the effort in court. and politically, this is one of those areas that has the possibility to really be cast as exactly what donald trump says it is, which is a presidential harassment. it could backfire if that's the view that people get of this. still the liberal base, the democratic base really wants this to happen. and so if it succeeds, this could finally be the year that we find out what donald trump has been trying to hide all this time. >> not going to hold my breath but we'll see.

>> senate republicans will start their effort to try to confirm more of donald trump's nominees a lot more quickly. the senate rules committee will take up a rules change package that will significantly cut debate time for a lot of these nominees. it's something the president focused on in his state of the union. he complained about the 300 nominees that have been ba backlogged in the senate. and senate republicans could even go nuclear to change these rules on their own without democratic help. it's something that republicans have been frustrated for quite some time. >> we'll see how that plays out. the saudi foreign minister is on a network sunday show today speaks volumes. the pr offensive has comes as the deep pocketed sway. the president of the united states takes their side despite the evidence in the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi. there are growing signs of trouble for the kingdom. the top democrat and top

republican issued angry weekend statements accusing the trump state department of violating the law by refusing to share more information about the khashoggi murder. and as they and other lawmakers demand that information, saudi arabia's role in yemen's humanitarian crisis is under bipartisan scrutiny in congress. add in the mysterious jeff bezos suggestion the saudis are propping up the national enquirer and the expansion of the house intelligence committee investigation to look beyond russia to other alleged foreign efforts to influence the trump administration. they are used to buying their way out of trouble. a very influential republican said in a weekend exchange about the saudis, but the senator went on to say, this feels like a tipping point. we'll keep our eye on that. that's it for "inside politics." thanks for sharing your sunday. don't go anywhere. up next "state of the union" with jake tapper. he sits down with liz cheney and with the democratic presidential hopeful pete beaut buttigieg.

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because we know mom wants what's best. more beverage choices, smaller portions, less sugar. balanceus.org ♪ virginia in crisis. the top three officials, all democrats, refuse to resign. one calling for due process and denying two allegations of sexual assault. the embattled governor says he wants to atone for his past racist behavior. but will that be enough? we'll have the latest details. plus, on the campaign trail. a growing democratic field floods the zone in early primary states. >> i am in this fight all the way. >> lead with love. >> are voters looking for a fresh