this sunday the fallout. president trump claims victory over the mueller report. >> total exoneration, complete vindication. >> allies line up to defend. >> and what did we hear this week? no collusion. no obstruction. >> a total vindication. >> and the president goes after his opponents. >> little pencil neck adam schiff. >> the democrats push back. >> the president has not been exonerated by the special counsel. >> and condemn mr. trump's conduct. >> i think it is immoral. i think it is unethical. i think it is unpatriotic.

and, yes, i think it's corrupt and evidence of collusion. >> my guests this morning, two senate leaders. also, president trump vows again to repeal and replace obamacare. >> the republican party will soon be known as the party of health care. you watch. >> did mr. trump just hand democrats a winning issue? >> and the 2020 campaign. >> i am a dreamer and a doer. >> can a self-described extreme moderate win the nomination in an increasingly progressive democratic party? i'll talk to former colorado governor. joining me for inside analysis are hallie jackson, cornell belcher, peggy noonan.

welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. good sunday morning. it turns out we're still waiting for the mueller report. on friday, attorney general bill barr sent a letter to congress promising to release the report with redactions no later than mid-april and said there are no plans to submit the report to the white house. what may be surprising is how little his four page summary seems to have had on public opinion. our poll shows that 40% of adults don't believe it clears mr. trump of wrongdoing. but look at this number. a very significant 31% remain unsure. perhaps those 31% are wisely waiting for the actual report to be released or they haven't been paying that close attention to this story. president trump's approval

rating sits at 43%, with 53% disapproving. that is down from last month's numbers. but it's well within the president's rate. you can see in the last four months, mr. trump's approval ratings have stabled even though they are weak. it is perhaps why the president introduced a scorched earth theory as democrats are debating which one of their candidates can survive the onslaught. what was surprising is what mr. trump did during his celebration dance. no collusion and handed the democrats a political gift of their own, a chance to defend obamacare now that he has vowed again to try to repeal it without any alternative. >> the russia hoax is finally dead. >> president trump took a victory lap this week.

>> total exoneration, complete vindication. >> the total vindication. >> as clear a vindication or exoneration that you can get. >> while mueller did not conclude that the president committed a crime with the russian government, he also did not exonerate him of obstruction of justice. and in that new nbc news wall street journal poll, 6% of democrats, 19% of independents and 64% of republicans believe the report clears mr. trump of wrongdoing. now they are demanding the full report be released by tuesday. >> we want the report and we can draw our own conclusions. we don't need you interpreting for us. it was condescending. it was arrogant. >> i am confident in the attorney general. if that's what he would like to do, i have nothing to hide. the president appeared to have reversed course tweeting the

problem is no matter what the radical left democrats get, it will never be enough. maybe we should just take our victory and say no. barr already said he will redact the report for grand jury testimony, classified information and information that would, quote, infringe on the personal privacy and reputations of what he called peripheral third parties. another way, perhaps of invoking executive privilege. >> the democrats have to now decide whether they will continue defrauding the public with ridiculous -- >> republicans have moved on to singling out enemies. >> he needs to resign from the committee. >> little pencil neck adam schiff, sick, sick. these are sick people. >> schiff called out the president's conduct. >> i think it is immoral. i think it is unethical. i think it is unpatriotic. and, yes, i think it's corrupt

and evidence of collusion. >> and mr. trump appears focussed on revenge, attacking his investigators seeking to blunt their credibility. >> i'm sorry. they have to be accountable. >> some republicans worry that the president will fix sate on the wrong message and were rattled by the surprising decision to tell a federal appeals court on monday that the entire affordable care act should be overturned. >> i'm very disappointed and opposed. >> we have a chance of wikillin obamacare. we'll do it a different way. >> joining now is the chair of the senate republican conference. welcome back to "meet the press." >> thanks for having me, chuck. >> i want to get to health care. let me start with the mueller report. i understand the public perhaps seeing a redacted version.

shouldn't congress who gets regular intelligence reports, shouldn't congress see -- some members of congress see the full report? >> the headlines were clear last week, in collusion, no coblation, no conspiracy. i called for a release of the full report. >> unredacted? >> that's what i have been calling for. i understand the attorney general has specific issues and areas he has to be concerned. i think anything you give to congress ultimately everyone will see. i don't see a lot of difference in making sure the public sees it. >> do you think it's a misstrak to draw this fight? you're essentially having the wrong debate in congress. >> well, i'm for transparency and for accountability. when mueller was appointed, he was the patron saint of all that is just and good in the world as dianne feinstein said. that's what chuck schumer said. now they just want to throw him under the bus when they found out there was nothing there. they don't seem to be happy with

the results. but he is somebody that was praised from both sides of the aisle as being able to do a fair commitment to the job assigned to him. >> are you confident there is nothing there. he said it also does not exonerate him. what do you take that to mean? >> well, the headlines, no collusion, no collaboration, no conspiracy. that's what is there. >> the headlines are bill barr's memo. bill barr said the report doesn't exonerate him. where do you come down? >> i've asked for a full report to be released. the attorney general will make that final decision and ultimately the voters will make that decision, as you just saw from your report. >> right. >> last week, nbc interrupted a golf tournament, cbs interrupted the final four. people wanted to get back to the sports they were watching. they were more interested in

that than they were in the breaking news. >> you may be right. let me ask you this. the special counsel did not -- did not find a crime when it comes to conspiracy. there is a counter intelligence investigation. this is what we know from it. and i'm curious if you think the president is exonerated from all of these things, allegedly asking comey for loyalty, telling comey he hoped he could let flynn go, telling the russian ambassador in the oval office he got this comey thing out of the way, the public asking for help. the president's behavior, while he's technically exonerated from a crime, is he exonerated from his behavior as a president? >> every president is judged on many things. behavior is part of that. the electorate will be asked to make that judgment in 2020 and we'll see how they decide. >> but what do you think on this? >> i think that the president has been clear with the american people. he has been, i believe, falsely accused for the last two years and mueller has proven the fact

that there was no collusion or conspiracy. >> do you think he was falsely accused because of his behavior led people to believe there was something more there. do you think it was appropriate for him to want to do business with vladimir putin and russia. >> the president is an international businessman, has had success all around the world. it is not surprising when he chose to run for business, he continued to do the business. >> you stated a bunch of facts there. you didn't state any opinion. do you think it is appropriate? >> i think it is not surprising international businessmen do these things. >> but he wanted to run for business. should he have given that up? it may have helped trigger all of the suspicion. >> it probably did trigger the suspicion, but i don't think there is a fault there on the part of the president. >> i want to ask you one other thing about bill barr's reading of expansive executive power. here is what he said about what he wrote in his memo before coming attorney general.

he said constitutionally it is wrong to conceive of the president as simply the highest officer within the executive branch hirerky. he alone is the executive branch. no limit is placed on the kinds of cases subject to his control and supervision. this maintains -- do you believe the attorney general is right of this expansive view that essentially the president of the united states is the law? >> well, i believe the attorney general is right in his evaluation of the law and how it works, but no man is above the law. >> how could you, though, correct this viewpoint? you are saying that he's right, but it does claim that acs sitting president of the united states, he is above the law? >> i'm not a ralawyer. i don't play a lawyer on television. there is experts that look at that. >> do you think investigating the investigators is a good idea? >> lindsey is a pit bull and i think he's heading down that

road? >> do you think it is a good idea. you have been very careful not to express your personal opinion on these things. >> my opinion is we need to get beyond this. we need to focus on our strong, healthy, growing economy, focus on the issues in the american mind. this is not something i hear about at home in wyoming. i was there this past weekend. >> do you think not investing hillary clinton is -- do you think not investigating hillary clinton is the way to go? >> it does seem to me that's how we got here to begin with and all of the things leading up to the 2016 election. i wish it would all be behind us, but we're not there yet. >> the president said you, senators cassidy and senator scott, are coming up with an alternative health care plan that will protect pre-existing conditions and replace obamacare. is that true? and what does this plan look like? >> as you know, it's going to need bipartisan support because nancy pelosi is the speaker of

the house. every time i talk to president trump we talk about health care. he knows with regard to kpe existing conditions that i'm a doctor. my wife is a breast cancer survivor. she's been through surgery three times, chemotherapy twice. he knows i'm 100% committed as are republicans to protecting people with pre-existing conditions. we are absolutely continuing to work on this, realizing that it has to be bipartisan. my concern is that the biggest threat that i see to the freedom and the economy of this country is this complete government takeover of health care, which is where the democrats are going, this medicare for all with longer lines, rationing of care, higher taxes, less freedom. it is now the liberal litmus test. >> i understand that. >> all the democrats running for president. >> that isn't the law as it is right now. is it a mistake for the president to have joined the lawsuit to say that obamacare is unconstitutional? do you want it overturned? do you want the courts to overturn this right now or do you want it kept in place until

you can figure it out? >> there is not going to be any decision on this for a couple of years, but shouldn't be a surprise to anybody that republicans are opposed to obamacare. >> but for ten years you have been. i was thinking about this. it was '09 that we began the debate. it is 2019. you guys have been talking about having a plan to protect pre-existing conditions for ten years and you haven't been able to come up with one. you haven't been able to come for one. why should we expect it now? >> the obama health care law i think we agree it has failed to keep its promises. i was at my medical office on friday talking to patients, doctors. the cheapest bronze plan in wyoming for a family of four $1,900. the deductible $12,000. that's not right. the president is right. this is on the american people's minds. >> but you can't find an alternative that would make that

cheaper yet. >> right now we have done things to lower the cost of pharmaceuticals. they're lower this year than last year. we got rid of the gag order on pharmacists. we have people joined together to get half the cost. you want to let people buy what they need, what's appropriate for them so they could get the care they need from a doctor they choose at lower costs. >> let me ask this. should the american people expect an actual health care plan alternative from the republican party this year? >> the american people should expect to not have to be burdened with the incredible costs that are affecting them now. >> will we see a new plan? >> i have been working on a plan since the day i got to the senate. >> 12 years now. >> it is allowing people to buy what works for them. let ranchers join together and deal with transparency. the president is right on that. drug costs, which are actually coming down. there are things that are working, but we need bipartisan

support at a time when the democrats want to take over all of health care and eliminate insurance from 160 million americans. >> senator, i will leave it there. i wish we had more time on this. i have a feeling we will be debating health care as we have done for the last ten years. my guess is ten more. thanks so much. joining me now from the other side of the aisle is the sn senate democratic whip, dick durbin. i want to ask first about mueller and this tuesday deadline. mr. barr has already said he's not going to meet the tuesday deadline. what are the consequences? do you have consequences planned? >> we have a new species of political dinosaurs. it is called the barr-redactal.

mr. barr believes he can redact the report from bob mueller. i think it is long overdue for him to apply to court and then to produce this report in its entirety for the congress. there is ample precedent when it came to clinton investigations in the past for hillary and for bill clinton. there were massive reports turned over to congress. that should be the case here as well. >> you know, before mueller came out, you had been sort of preaching some sort of calmness. you had said things like, park yourself on the sidelines until mueller's work is completed. all right. mueller's work is completed. i know you are waiting to see what's in it. but you saw the polling. you know that this is -- while this is an obsession among the bases of both parties, the vast -- there is a vast chunk of america that has tuned this out and doesn't want this focus. you heard senator barrasso say he wishes their said could move on, do you think it's time for your side to move on?

>> well, i think there should be a complete disclosure of the mueller report. i was standing in the subway in chicago on friday, and a lady came up to me named d ed debora she said we paid for that inquiry. why can't we see that report. i think she speaks for most of america. i think it is important we see what bob mueller produced. salary yates has an column. she said remember, at the heart of this was the russian interference in our election. we ought to see the full mueller report that gets into the counter intelligence base. so it does have an pli capplica what we do moving forward. >> we said on the judiciary committee, the chairman there, republican from south carolina, lindsey graham has indicated he wants to do some investigating of the investigators. how did this get started. he wants to talk about comey. are you with him on this?

do you think that's an investigation that's necessary? >> i don't want to return to travel gate, benghazi, the clinton e-mails. you know, i think we can move forward from here. we ought to focus on the counter intelligence aspects of this and the security of the 2020 election. that's the one thing both parties ought to agree on. no one should interfere with the opportunity and the obligation of the american people to choose their next rank of leadership. >> given the fact that senator graham admitted he was involved in the process or at least knew of the process of how the dossier got to james comey from senator mccain and he read it before it actually got to comey, does he have to recuse himself from this investigation on your committee or not? >> do you think lindsay graham could recuse himself from any investigation? i can't imagine it. and i'll tell you, i hope we don't dwell on this. as i said, it is yesterday's newspaper with mueller's report. let's put it to rest one way or the other. >> yeah. >> if there is action needed by

congress to keep our political system intact, let's move forward. >> i want to move to a few issues. but i want to start first with immigration. the front page of the new york times this morning notes that, look, whatever you want to call it, wherever you want to put the blame, we have a problem at the border. dhs is doing everything possible to respond to a growing human tear catastrophe while also securing our borders. i'm well aware you don't like the president's plans on immigration, the wall, all of these things. the fact is we do know there is a massive migration crisis right now. does congress have the responsibility to give secretary nielson more tools to deal with this temporarily? >> let me tell you the first thing we ought to do in this administration, which was the author of the zero tolerance policy removing over 2,800 toddlers, infants and children

from their parents with no tracing of where they were being sent so they could be returned. the first thing we need to do is to meet the humanitarian needs at the border. instead of building fences two or three years in the future by taking money from the department of defense, focus on facilities to serve these families so there aren't children that are hurt and dying as a result of this situation. then take a look at the big picture. when the president says he's going to close the border, that is a totally unrealistic boost on his part. we need to focus on what's happening in central america where three countries are dissembling before our eyes and people are desperately coming to the united states. the president cutting off aid to these countries will not solve this problem. >> let me move quickly to health care and it is this question. the democratic presidential candidates are all taking about remaking obamacare, some of them radically, some of them on the edges. the republican party is obviously in a different place.

you're trying to defend obamacare while the rest of your party wants to change it. should the presidential candidates be more focussed o s defending obamacare than changing it? >> i voted for it. i think it is one of my most important votes. it cut the number of uninsured americans in illinois in half. back to my friend john and he is a friend, 25,000 people in the state of wyoming have health care because of obamacare. 95% of them get a subsidy for the premium payment. there are ways to improve it. the affordable care act was not brought down a mountainside by moses on clay tablets. there are ways to improve it. when it comes to prescription pricing, i disagree. most americans believe the prices are through the roof. we should be addressing that as one of the first changes to make the affordable care act more effective. >> quickly on 2020, joe biden, there is an allegation that is

basically two -- made some women feel uncomfortable by some ways that he acted around them. he has put out a more complete statement saying he still doesn't remember the incident, but that he will pay more -- that men in general need to pay more attention how they interact with women. are you concerned that joe biden can handle the onslaught of 2020? do you think he should run? >> well, i can tell you that joe biden is a friend and a seasoned veteran when it comes to political campaigns. i know nothing about the allegations that i also read this morning as well. i think all of us should take allegations seriously and with respect. i took joe biden's statement to say just that exactly. so, yes, i think he's ready if that's his decision to move forward in this presidential campaign. we have a spirited field of 15 or 16 -- >> so this isn't disqualifying?

>> certainly one allegation is not disqualifying. >> thanks for your time and sharing your views. >> thank you. when we come back, the president spent the week voing of his opponents in the wake of the mueller headlines. was it a missed opportunity? >> there are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil things, very bad ♪ ♪ dear tech... ♪ ♪ dear tech... let's talk. we have a pretty good relationship. you've done a lot of good for the world. but i feel like you have the potential to do so much more. are you working for all of us, or just a few of us? can we build ai without bias? ai that fights bias? ai that helps us see the bias in ourselves? we need tech that helps people understand each other. that understands my business. ♪ ♪ dear tech...

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um ah, i'll look into it. lisa jones! hey carl, what are you charging me for online equity trades? laughs/umm.. and do i get my fees back if i'm not happy? like a satisfaction guarantee? ugh. schwab! oh right, i'm calling schwab. thanks, carl! (click). wait, lisa! lisa... are you getting low costs backed by a satisfaction guarantee? if not, talk to schwab. a modern approach to wealth management. back now with a panel. democratic pollster cornell belcher, peggy noonan, chief white house correspondent at nbc news hallie jackson, and editor of "national review" and man up late watching uva get to the final four because he's an alum, rich lowery. you are in a much better mood than you would be. let me play the president had a couple of paths to go down after

getting some good news on sunday as far as he was concerned. here was the president at his first campaign rally post barr/mueller report. >> there are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil minutes, bad things, i would say thereasonous things. we'll look at that. the report was against those who lofrt the election to try and regain power. sick, sick, these are sick people. >> peggy, maybe i'm stuck in a time warp that thinks, boy, you have a political opportunity, take it. he could have gone down one path, one is that path. the uma thurman "kill bill" path, trying to take revenge, or he could have cornered the democratic party and said, all right, i'm ready for infrastructure, let's go. he went down the revenge path. >> yeah. somebody said when it was announced that the trump white house was going to now push on

health care once again after having been unsuccess the first time, reporter said to a white house official, why are you doing health care? the white house official said, "too much good news, have to change the subject." there was an element of that. it would have been wonderful to see the president -- there's something a little surprising. he was angry when the good news came in. didn't you get the impression that he was feeling anger -- >> he loves the grievance, yeah. >> relief and generosity would have been nice, a little history of how we got there, then put it away. then as you say and as i agree, go forward on infrastructure. he's the builder. america wants to build. democrats are for it, reps are for it, go, go, go. >> there was consternation in the west wing about the plan. let me take you back to six days ago. not just the barr summary came out but the chief nemesis, michael avenatti, got arrested.

his best pal at the white house getting wine, riding a high, and then that changed because of a lawsuit. i'm told there was concern on the part of the vice president pents, not a disagreement on the policy but a disagreement on exactly this -- the tactics. where do you go from here? because they could see that people like senator barrasso are going to get hammered by people asking questions like where is the plan, do you have a plan. there was also questions from the lawyers on the legal viability of this argument. and the president, i don't think it's that surprising that he went full revenge mode. he was mad for two years about this. so this was like a employment for him to, right, grind the grievance axe. >> when he wonders why is he sitting at 43 to 46%, i'm just -- i would say exhibit a. >> this is true. but he was genuinely angel reap. you have to think of it a little from side. he fires comey because he refused to say publicly what he

told trump under under. then as soon as he fires him, serious people say he's committing acts of treason. i do think the process went off the rails. we let garbage op-o gathered by an ex-foreign spy, the so-called dossier, destroy our politics for two solid years. >> should lindsey graham be the guy investigating this considering the weird relationship he had with the dossier itself? >> lindsey switched around on a lot of stuff. look, i would say -- i know this isn't going to happen, but i feel as though this should be like after the conclusion of the starr report where all fair-minded people on both sides say let's never do this this way again. >> you want to take that this? >> go for it. >> because i don't know where to start. this stinks. this is why it stinks -- can you margin for one moment if democrats had taken the starr memo and, you know, this exonerates the president, nothing to see here.

newt gingrich's head would have exploded. this is part of the problem with what americans think is wrong with washington, there's no transparency. if in fact he's innocent, and by the way barr didn't say exonerated completely, if he's innocent, let us see it. you know, the number that's striking from the "wall street journal" poll to me is 19. only 19% of independents think this clears the president. as an operative myself, when you're giving your polling data to the russians as a pollster, it's kind of hard. you say they're not concluding. >> i want to put up this number here. this is paying a lot of attention to news coverage on various -- we do this all the time in our poll, put this up. look where the mueller report sits compared to other major events over the last couple of years. the orlando shooting at the pulse nightclub. the spread of ebola, "access hollywood" tape, people who watched a lot of news coverage on the mueller report, sitting at a 39, peggy. it is one of these things where -- understandably why all of us are into it. >> yeah. >> it's an important

investigation. the middle of the country, i think, that's who this is. >> the middle of the country and america in 2019 has been used for decades to watching washington do its thing and have its partisan investigations. and they do filter it i think to a good degree. i'm sure they're happy to have an answer now. i have a feeling the president's foes are never going to let the whole mueller thing, the investigation, go. i think the mueller report once it is made public to the degree it is made public and then we'll all argue about that, is going to be seen less as a definitive too explicit starr report and more like, oh, we can do warren report on this for the next few years and pull every thread we see. >> what are we going to be debating more in the next six months, though? obamacare? or the full release in the mueller report? i don't think we'll be debating what's in the mueller report for a while. i think we'll be debating the

full release. what matters more? >> it's definitely the health care law. i think when you look at the numbers and look at what people are interested in, and when you look at what people are talking about on the 2020 campaign trail, specifically democrats, they are not talking about russia and the mueller report. that said, the president and there are those around him who see this as -- essentially a political cujole. bill barr said in mid-april i'm told by folks in the white house their stance is we're okay with that, and we're going to blast the democrats for demanding it by tuesday. >> there counterintuitively could be wihy this hurts the president. russia was always a blind ally for the democrats. it wasn't that he was a russian to or -- it's what nancy pelosi trying to do, he's a conventional republican mask rating as a -- masquerading as having power policies. >> i'm going to pause it.

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in a democratic party moving to the left, at least rhetorically it could be hard to accuse john like loop hickenlooper of pandering. the former governor is opposed to medicare for all. he's a moderate on immigration and considers himself a fiscal conservative, unlike some of his better-known 2020 opponents. hickenlooper is a proven vote getter having been elected governor of colorado twice and mayor of denver twice. presidential candidate john hickenlooper joins me from denver. welcome back to "meet the press," sir. >> good morning. >> let me start -- i want to dive into it. people want to assess your ability to be president. we've got a front-page story in the nomine"the new york times" sure you've seen about the crisis did at the border. we have a debate on immigration. and i'm not asking for the larger decision on. that i'm asking what would you do now? a huge influx now. they're gaming the system differently. we don't have the facilities to deal with these type of asylum seekers. what would you do right now?

>> well, certainly i wouldn't have gotten us into the situation we find ourselves at the border now. and i would not have ripped away hundreds and hundreds, thousands of kids away from their mothers, and then shipped them off to adoptive families. i mean, it's a form of kidnapping. i think the key was to keep out in front of this issue and make sure we had the facilities so that we could provide, you know, humane processing of people that were in many cases fearing their lives were at risk and fleeing perhaps certain death to try and come to america. this country's been built on immigration. we should respect and have a process that's fair for everyone. >> what does -- what does a -- what do our borders look like in a hickenlooper administration? how tight, how secure, how porous, how would you describe it? >> i think you need borders. but you have to recognize that we are a one built on immigration. right now we have more job openings than we have people

looking for work. we have to re-evaluate the system, whether we need help bringing in crops at the border line. last fall we were leaving fruits and vegetables in the fields and unharvested. whether we need more electrical engineers to keep our tech industry at the front of the global coverageetition. i mean -- competition. i mean, that's got to be incorporated into a comprehensive treatment of immigration and making sure that in the process of that we saw the -- the complexities at the border. >> what is an extreme moderate, right, a radical moderate? there's different versions. i heard you off the record say versions of this, as well. define it for voters. how do you want that defined when we hear the phrase that you're an extreme moderate? >> i don't like any of the labels. you know, i've tried to do both when i was in small business but also when i was a mayor, when i was a governor, i've tried to address bringing people together and getting things done. and i really do believe we're in a crisis now of division. that encompasses health care and the environment and -- and the

economy. and what i've done again and again is been able to bring people together and get stuff done. we got to almost universal coverage in health care in colorado. we expanded medicaid, we created one of the most innovative exchanges in the country. we got the environmental communities to sit down with the oil and gas industry, and -- and actually create the first methane regulations in the country, that the oil and gas industry paid $16 million to implement. the equivalent of taking 320,000 automobiles off the roads. i think of all the candidates so far i think i'm the person that has the most continuous example, the most, you know, continuous record of actually getting people together and bringing them together, put down your weapons, and get things done. >> you know, governor, what somebody -- somebody on the left would say, you know, you're going to sit down with the oil and gas industry. that's the problem. you're going to let them write the legislation. there's been too much accommodation over the years. not just on that issue. but that is the argument coming

from the new progressive left. how do you deal with that as a candidate? >> well, i hold out the record of actual accomplishment. everyone else is -- is pointing fingers and blaming each other. and you know, when we got that methane regulation put in place, that system of regulations, not only has it helped colorado, it's being rolled out as national policy across canada. it's -- it should be global policy. if we're going to address, if we're serious about addressing the challenges of climate change and the environment, it's not sufficient just to address it here in this country. we've got to do it globally to have the impact that we have to have. i mean, this is a place where we don't have the luxury of continuing this washington-sometime battle of blaming the -- washington-style battle of blaming the other side. >> one of the battles is on the issue of abortion. i'm curious when it comes to the idea of trying to basically break impasses, which i think is essentially what you're saying, you're going to try and break an

impasse. we have a lot of states, georgia's the latest, that are passing fetal heartbeat bills. essentially trying to prevent abortions, making him illegal the minute you can hear a heartbeat. what is your reaction? do you believe they're unconstitutional or not, and what is the line on abortion for you? >> i think those laws are unconstitutional. and i think from my point of view, i -- i recognize the difficulty of the question, and i empathize with people on both sides. i've always come down on the side of a woman's right to take care of her own health care. >> is there any limit? is there any limit that you believe there should be? what is it? >> wait, wait, wait. one of the things we did in colorado over the course of five years, we got some foundation money. but we provided long-acting, reversible contraception, n norplants and iud to women. in that process over the years we have reduced teenage pregnancy and abortion by over 60%. i mean, that's some of the --

that's the kind of accomplishment and achievement we should be looking at. again, you've got to have the debate, and i respect that. but i think a woman has to ultimately have the right to, you know, make decisions about her own health. >> any -- and what is government's role at all? is it -- should government just draw that line? is there a line the government should draw? >> i think that the supreme court has already drawn that line, and that in this country, women are allowed the final decision of those issues that most directly affect their health care. >> let me ask you a final issue that has popped up this morning, that is the accusation against vice president biden. he has -- says he doesn't remember it. he also says that he wants to rethink how men in general have interacted with women. first of all, is it a disqualifying from what you have read and seen about this, do you believe it's disqualifying? and second, what is -- what

should past -- what past behavior should be accountable these days and what shouldn't? >> i think the more important issue to recognize is that we are at an inflection point, a moment of transformation of the entire country where women, in many cases for the first time, are having the courage to come forward and speak about things that happened to them that make them intensely uncomfortable. in many cases, they feel they've been damaged unfairly. i think our first responsibility is to make sure that we allow women -- to recognize their bravery and listen and believe them. we have to make sure that that's a first issue. >> and what about is this disqualifying for vice president biden? >> again, i don't know aside from this issue, even this issue, i don't know all the details. it's why we have an election, that's the process. certainly it's disconcerting.

i think that, again, women have to be heard, and we should start by believing them. >> governor john hickenlooper, democrat from colorado, i'm going to have to leave it there. thanks for sharing your views. i imagine we'll catch up again, sir. >> thanks, chuck. next, democrats are desperate to win back the white house. house. what do democratic members think ♪ junior achievement reaches young people all over the world to prepare them for the future of work. we go into classrooms and we teach entrepreneurial skills and leadership skills. when you actually create a business when you're in your teens, it raises your self-confidence. junior achievement is really unique because they inspire young people to think creatively. the citi foundation's pathways to progress initiative helped us reach kids in over 50 countries. citi has also loaned us their executives and their employees

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we're back. "data download" time. how do voters feel about the 2020 candidates so far? our new poll offers a few clues. there's one candidate we're pretty confident will be on the ballot come november, 2020, that's president trump. republicans look to be all in on the president with 79% saying they are either enthusiastic or comfortable supporting him. democrats as you might expect are at the other end of the spectrum. but only 34% of independents call themselves comfortable with trump right now. that's not a strong number for the president to be starting with right out of the gate. and perhaps most telling, a full 50% of all respondents call themselves very uncomfortable supporting the president's re-election. remember, what we just tested with president trump and what we're testing with five

democrats this month, and we'll test more in the months to come is basically the floor and ceiling of potential support. this is not a horse race poll on purpose. anyway. among self-described democrats, the person with the most enthusiasm and comfort was biden followed by sanders, warren, harris, and o'rourke. biden had the most saying they were enthusiastic or comfortable at 70%. now with independents, the candidate order essentially held with lower levels of support, of course. overall, however, biden and sanders seemed to have an advantage with independents, both with close to 50% saying they'd be comfortable or enthusiastic supporting him or them. republicans also followed the same pattern with much lower numbers. biden stands out from the crowd here with 21% saying they'd be comfortable supporting him. that could suggest he has crossover appeal if he runs and wins the nomination. name recognition is obviously crucial when running for president. it could explain the stronger showings for biden and sanders right now. we should note that sanders

starts with the highest negatives among democrats. sanders and o'rourke received the highest for don't know the name, we're not sure in the poll. that means they have a better shot at defining themselves on their own terms during the campaign unless someone does it for them. that may be the case for much of the democratic field. not a bad place to be in the spring of '19. when we come back, speaking of 2020, the political re-edution of joe biden.ca us as people. they see us as profits. we're paying the highest prescription drug prices in the world so they can make billions? americans shouldn't have to choose between buying medication and buying food for our families. it's time for someone to look out for us. congress, stop the greed. cut drug prices now. comcast business built the nation's largest gig-speed network.

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back now with "end game." and a story that actually continues to develop this morning. the accusation against former vice president biden. he has put out a new statement. let me read the whole thing in part and dive into. the original context had to do with a democratic candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014 talking about essentially vice president biden invading her personal space in an extraordinarily uncomfortable way. the second statement -- "in my many years on the campaign trail and in public life i have offered countless handshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support, and comfort. not one did i believe i acted inappropriately. if it is suggested i did so, i will listen respectfully. it was never my intention. i may not recall the moments the same way, and i may be surprised at what i hear.

but we have arrived at an important time when women feel they can and should relate to their experiences and men should pay attention, and i will." cornell belcher, lucy flores, doing an -- did an interview this morning on cnn, called this statement better than the first. >> it's -- it's a very good statement. it's also not what you want to start off your campaign having an -- a conversation about. i think that they want to start the campaign having a conversation about -- about leadership. and vision for the future. this is not -- this is also what happened when you're the front-runner. and you die by -- by a million papercu cuts. i think given his time and history, they want to focus on -- on his competence and beating trump. they don't want to be talking about this this morning. >> you know, let me put up the headlines that you referred to here. "politico" has a great one that he's getting a quick 2020 -- blind sided by a dose of 2020 reality.

obviously this allegation, there was also anita hill's come up this week. his back and forth on roe v. wade. joe biden's greatest strength is the fact that he's been in the political mainstream for 40 years. his greatest weakness is that he's been in the political mainstream for 40 years. >> there's a reason god gave us the handshake. it's respectful, always appropriate. >> gender neutral. >> yeah. the crux of the statement, i don't think this was sexual or malicious, but it was way over-familiar. and it would immediately in any workplace get reported to h.r. to say stop doing that. and the problem he's going to have is, as you said, all this record and how he deals with it. and i think if he apologizes too much, he's going to risk seeming insincere and weak. and in theory, i think he's a formidable general election candidate. neither of either party will say i want to own the old-guy establishment lane in one of the major political parties. >> we're talking, and i think rightfully so about the political piece.

there is such a big cultural element, too. we are now post-me too, october, 2017, than long ago. more bradley speaking in the big picture level, candidates have to grapple with what it means to have had white male privilege for many years. you're seeing that in this public way, voters are demanding it, the women candidates running are in some ways demanding some accountability for that, too. this goes beyond the realm of politics. it's much bigger than that. >> i think it has to do with the fact in part that joe biden is a longtime american political figure who came from the fleshy world of '60s and '70s politics. and when everybody started to hug and kiss, different from the '40s and '50s. we're hugging, kissing, all that stuff is going on. that's part of his story right now. another thing is i think for the first time in his life, joe biden is seeing himself the target of his own party's op-o. he's got operatives for other

candidates going after him in a way that will have to be startli startling. >> can he survive this? >> yes. he can. >> how? how does he survive it? >> he pivots to the issues. and what -- i think it was a very good statement. he acknowledges it and -- you know, absolutely right. the culture has gone through changes, a problem for a lot of our older candidates who to your point came up in a culture that was very different. i think he can survive. this is why he survives it, comfort. the number that popped out in the nbc poll is comfort. democrats are very, very comfortable with joe biden. however, i don't think that sets people on fire. >> yeah. >> the good news is you know what you're going to get. the bad news is you know what you're going to get. all right, guys. that's all we have for today. what a show. thank you for watching. we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."

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