sanctuary cities policy there are expected to be major protests for his arrival. we'll be covering that with a special guest, california attorney general xavier becerra, tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. right here on "the beat." another interesting guest i would argue. i'll see you tomorrow at 6:00. until then, "hardball" with chris matthews starts right now. whitewash. let's play "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. in a stunning whitewash, the republican majority on the house intelligence committee has put out a one-sided draft report saying their investigation of russian interference is over and done for. they described the investigation as bipartisan, but not a single democrat on the committee was even made aware of the republicans' report. and no democrat on the committee is expected to back its conclusions. this marks an abrupt yet

predictable end led by trump's most ardent defender, u.s. congressman devin nunes who is best known for his midnight ride to the white house last year to coordinate his defense of president trump, which itself had the appearance of collusion. in fact, house republicans never even questioned president trump or any other key witnesses in their investigation. it's no surprise that the report appears tailored to protect the president from the credible investigation now under way by the special counsel robert mueller. not only do these house republicans say they have found no evidence of collusion between the trump campaign and russia, but most remarkably that. >> contest the findings of the u.s. intelligence committee community saying that russia did not show a preference for candidate trump. in other words, they're saying there was no evidence at all in their so-called these republicans, that there is no evidence that the russians and putin and company wanted trump to win. as for the new reporting, it suggests the president is clearly concerned about the real investigation led by special counsel robert mueller.

"the new york times" is reporting that president trump is in discussions right now to hire bill clinton's impeachment lawyer, emmitt flood to help the white house deal with the federal probe. that's according to four people familiar with the matter. as "the times" wrote, there has been times in recent months that mr. trump may be looking to shakehis legal team and change his approach to mr. mueller's investigation. as the president weighs a legal shake-up, bloomberg reports the special counsel might delay an action to bring potential obstruction of justice charges. current and former officials say trump's investigation into whether president donald j. trump obstructed justice is said to be close to completion. but he, that's trump, may set it aside while he finishes other parts of the probe such as possible collusion and the hack of democrats. joining me is joaquin castro of the house intelligence committee. jennifer rodgers former assistant u.s. attorney, mieke

eoyang and ken delay, an investigative report were msnbc. let me start with the congressman. congressman, this is devastating. the republicans on this disreputable majority on your committee who raced out this draft report which basically whitewashes everything. says the russians weren't trying to help trump, did nothing in terms of the election, totally clean as a whistle and whizzed it right past you guys. >> yeah. this is a stunning debev trail of the american people and the public trust. this was a case of the majority on the committee basically burying their heads in the sand. it was a -- believe whatever they tell us investigation. chris, this was the equivalent of bringing in a suspect, asking them whether they started the fire or not. they said no, i didn't start it. and then you say oh, well, great. everybody can go home. that's basically what happened. >> they didn't even bring in the suspect. >> not the main one, no. >> they were investigating the

president. so how can they exonerate the president without evening mentioning that he might be under investigation by them? they never even went that far. >> no, you're right. and they also didn't follow very critical and important leads that could have led to a case for obstruction of justice of collusion and moneylaundering. there are so many leads and so many paths that this investigation, legitimate leads that weren't followed. >> what do you make of the fact the time the committee majority, the republicans, without the support of my democrat on the house intelligence committee, the president is out there shopping for a top parliament expert and bringing in flood, this guy who got clinton off the hook. fair enough. that's what you do when you're in trouble. but he thinks he is in trouble with the real investigation by robert mueller. meanwhile, the chairman of your committee is giving him a whitewash? >> no, i can only believe that because he is hiring an impeachment lawyer, if the reporting is true, that he knows he is going to have problems with bob mueller's investigation. and thank god that you've still got the senate investigation and bob mueller's investigation.

>> let me ask you about the difference between the house and the senate. i worked for hill. i know how it works to some extent. sometimes house committees are more partisan. but look at richard berber on the senate silent. republican and democrat together to try to get to the truth. why doesn't the house operate like that? >> it all started off on the wrong foot. you know, devin nunes was part of the president's transition team, and he basically -- and i've said it before -- but he basically decided at some point to make his political career a sacrifice fly for the president of the united states. and he determined at some point that he was basically going to be a blocker and tackler for the white house. and the result is what you see today. >> sacrifice fly. a great metaphor so the president can walk home. thank you so much. thank you, congressman for your time tonight. thank you. i want to go to our other guests. i want to go right now to jennifer rogers and all. the "new york times," by the way, i should have said this

before, they stlai a story about a potential shake-up of the legal team, clearly irritating the mountain who responded in a series of pointed tweets on sunday morning. quote, the failing "new york times" purposely wrote a false story statement i am unhappy with my legal team on the russia case and i'm going add another lawyer to help out. wrong. i am very happy with my lawyers. they are doing a great job and have shown conclusively that there was no collusion with russia. then the president went further and attacked the reporter by name saying the writer of this story, maggie haberman, a hillary flunkie knows nothing about me and was not given access. however, president trump has given maggie haberman lots of access over the years. she's had six exclusive introduce with him since she was elected. let me go to jennifer rogers for this. what do you make of the whitewash deciding in a summary judgment that the russians weren't trying to help him, period. >> well, it's preposterous. they clearly didn't do a full investigation here. we don't know publicly whether

there was collusion or there wasn't collusion at this point. but what we do know is this committee didn't go nearly as far as they would need to go to figure out the answer to that question. i mean, if you look at the list of witnesses who refused to testify or didn't testify fully, they were not subpoenaed. they left thousands of documents unrer unreviewed. they didn't wait for mueller to finish his investigation. we can expect at least two more substantive indictments about russian interference in the election, and none of that was looked into or they didn't wait for any of that. i think that we can say for sure that they just stopped midstream. they didn't really intend to get to the bottom of this. and we haven't seen their report yet. but if it has the value of the so-called nunes memo about the carter page fisa applications, i think we can all just toss it in the recycling. >> you know, ken, i've discovered about this guy nunes, the chairman of this committee, a lot. he look likes a toadie. he looks like as somebody just said by the congressman, that he look likes a guy that is going

to hit up a nice sacrifice fly way out there in center field so the runner can come in from third. without teaching baseball to everybody, it's a simple matter. the guy seems to be working for trump. >> yeah, but what that doesn't explain is why the rest of the republicans went along, chris. >> because 90% of republicans out there back this president. >> that's right. >> they're scared to death of their own constituents back home. >> and they're living in a climate where they have a right-wing news channel and media establishment that also backs this president and has been discrediting this entire investigation. look, you can't find what you're not looking for. they didn't even subpoena, for example, the records of twitter to find out whether -- what don jr. was exchanging in direct messages with twitter. if you're looking for collusion, you need the documents. you need george papadopoulos who is cooperating with the mueller investigation. you need the testimony of paul manafort who may have been the key to all. this how do you an investigation you clear the president? >> has to face an impeachment next year, has to face a serious vote in the house by both parties maybe led by the

democrats by then if they win this november. a senate trial perhaps with his presidency hanging on it. and all this follows an exoneration by the house intelligence committee. how do these people in that committee look good? >> i don't think that they can. i don't think that what they're doing here stands up to the scrutiny comparing it to other reports, which is really a shame. because in the history of the committee, they've actually done a better job in the past. i worked on this committee. people take the job of intelligence oversight very seriously. >> 17 intelligence agencies say the russians tried to screw with our elections and these guys wouldn't even say that. >> that's right. and when you the oversight committee just dismiss out of hand the view of all these intelligence professionals, you lose a lot of credibility. that has the advantage of actually reading the mueller dimts, which apparently they didn't even do, then you have people coming up with very different conclusions than what you're seeing today. >> whoa do you think they're going after maggie haberman, who is a straight reporter. i knew her father. she has been a serious

journalist in that family for many years. no one has ever questioned her partisanship or thought there was any partisanship. the president has given her lots of interviews because she is a solid voice to reach the people. she gets to the people with her column. >> she is clearly getting to them, right? >> doesn't like what's said about him, that he is shopping for an impeachment lawyer. >> he has given her a lot of access and not been rewarded for it because she is a good journalist and she is writing the truth and he doesn't like it. >> let me go back to jennifer. this idea, he is looking for a guy, a reporter -- a lawyer, i'm talking about so many journalists here. he is talking about a lawyer who is apparently a pretty conservative person but did represent bill clinton in that impeachment dang her i faced. what do you think about looking for a particular lawyer at that particular expertise at this point by the president? >> i don't think it necessarily thinks he means he will be facing impeachment.

but it could mean one of two things. it means he either is acknowledging that this is going on for a lot longer, that this is not wrapping up, that he in fact is going to be facing this mueller probe for some time. and it could also mean that he thinks he is in trouble, and he wants to get more aggressive. famously, his lawyer ty cobb has been cooperative with the mueller investigation. he may think it's time to switch gears. he may think that they want to push back a bit. that's also going to leonarngth the amount of time it takes to finish this investigation, but that may be reason for a shake-up. >> former trump campaign sam nunberg on the ari melber show a few moments ago revealed new details about his voluntary interview with the special counsel robert mueller last month. let's watch what he has to say this. may explain why trump might be getting a little worried. >> did mueller's folks ask anything that related to these issues around payments to people or women? >> well, look, they asked if i had ever heard anything about that. and my answer is i never have.

i don't know anything about it, and i wouldn't have known anything about it. >> in your fbi interview with mueller's team, they were asking about payments to women? >> they were asking if i knew anything about it. >> they were asking if you knew anything about payments to women. >> but i think it's pretty obvious they're looking into this. >> well, here we go. here we go. ken, back to square one, watergate. and let's get back to whitewater and clinton. what the special counsels do is they watch all the traffic going by, and they say there, paula jones, that might lead to monica lewinsky. let's go after that case for a while. now they're looking at stormy whatever her name circumstances daniels. >> stormy daniels. >> and here is why prosecutors could be asking about it that could amount to an illegal campaign contribution. if hush money was paid to help president trump's campaign -- >> a hush payment would inferred to be helping him -- especially a week before an election. >> that was the case against democrat john edwards. it didn't stick. >> it was a hung jury. >> exactly. >> but also, in the russia

investigation, if trump has something to hide about these campaign payments and the payment to hush up an affair, that's leverage if the russians know about it that they could be using over him. >> we all know about it. do they know about it? >> this is one of the allegations that trump when he was in russia for the miss universe competition may have spent some time with the ladies. we know he has a pattern of spending time with attractive women. the russians if they know that have leverage over him to get him to do what they want. >> bloomberg is reporting now that mueller might delay any potential charges in the obstruction case. also appears to be a strategic decision to ensure that his probe continues unimpeded. mueller may calculate if he tries to bring charges in the obstruction part of the case, the case that may hit closest to trump witnesses may become uncooperative. in other parts of the probe or the president may move to shut it down all together. according to bloomberg, the obstruction case is close to completion and is featured on the firing of james comey, which happened, the president's role in drafting a misleading

statement to explain a 2016 campaign meeting with the russians in trump tower. that was in june of that year, and the president's attempt to fire the special counsel himself last june. jennifer, your thoughts about why they might go after collusion before obstruction. >> well, i think that the reporting is -- sounds right to me that that obstruction investigation is largely wrapped up, except for talking to the president and the president's son. so they can kind of naught on the back burner. those things are going to be delayed by negotiations anyway. i think if you're mueller, you want to continue to build credibility for your investigation because of the way the republican surrogates, devin nunes in particular have been attacking it. so if you can come out with the rest of your collusion investigation, if you can issue another indictment charging more russians and potentially americans with interfering with the state electoral processes, and if you can charge another group of people with hacking the democratic e-mails and disseminating those illegally, you're continuing to build the credibility of the investigation and showing the american people that this is real and it's not

going away. and that tells the house when the obstruction investigation and all of, that the report finally comes out, you better do something about this. >> i think we're going get more into this later in the show. i got to tell you, i think people want to see the underlying crime before they focus on obstruction. was there a crime being covered up? thank you, jennifer rogers for your expertise. mieke eoyang and ken dilanian. trump gave a wild performance at a rick sacon rally. from tho this is so trumpian and so awful. low iq. that's what he said about a congresswoman. it's clear trump would rather keep the conversation on anything other than the russia probe or stormy daniels. plus, just hours to go before tomorrow's special election in pennsylvania's 18th district. the latest poll looks good for the democrat conor last-minute. his victory could be a big one

in a district trump carried by 20 points just a year ago. trump is showing, well, he is backing off. now he is the one caving in to the nra by backing off a proposal to raise the minimum wage for purchasing an assault rifle from 18 to 21. he doesn't look strong. finally, let me finish tonight with something truly wonderful that happened in american politics exactly 15 years ago today. and that is "hardball" today, where the action is. 50 years. you know what goes here... and your approval rating... goes here. test drive the ztrak z540r at your john deere dealer and learn why it's not how fast you mow, it's how well you mow fast. nothing runs like a deere. save 250 dollars when you test drive and buy a john deere residential z540r ztrak mower. to clean ant is specifically denture. designed the wonderful thing about polident is the fact that it's very, very tough on bacteria,

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those discussions. it's very early stages. we've not heard anything directly back from north korea, although we expect to hear something directly from them. >> we'll be right back. you know what's awesome? gig-speed internet.

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uh huh, sure. still yes! xfinity delivers gig speed to more homes than anyone. now you can get it, too. welcome to the party. welcome back to "hardball." on saturday, president trump held a barn burner of a rally in southwestern pennsylvania. the 75-minute event which was meant to boost the struggling campaign of rick saccone mostly centered on the topic trump likes to talk about the most, donald trump. it was a wild performance from the president. here he is doing his very own pennsylvania polka if you will for voters. ♪ >> remember, i used to say how easy it is to be presidential? but you'd all be out of here right now. you'd be so bored. i was joking and i said ha, president for life? that sounds good. maybe we're going have to try it. when i was in china and other

place, by the way, i said mr. president, do you have a drug problem? no, no, no. i said what do you attribute that to? well, the death penalty. so if i don't win the election, their ratings are going to go so far down, they're going to be out of business, every one of them. can you imagine? can you imagine covering birney or pocahantas? how about that? i'd love oprah to win. i'd love to beat oprah. i know her weakness. i did "the apprentice" on nbc for 14 seasons. i made a lot of money for them. we had a big successful show. arnold schwarzenegger failed when he did "the apprentice," and he is a movie star. obama was dragging you down. you take a look at the numbers before we took over. they were heading down. but our new slogan when we start running in -- can you believe it -- two years from now is

going to be keep america great, exclamation point. >> boy is he working hard for that crowd. plagued by the mueller investigation and allegations of using hush money to hide an alleged relationship with an adult film actress, "the washington post" notes that the president seems to be doubling down on cultural provocation. you heard there it, the attempt. by the way, pennsylvania poll california. remember k-tell used to sell the records. one glaring attempt was a personal attack. maxine waters, we've known her for a long time. let's watch this personal shot. >> but we can only do that if we elect people who are going to back our agenda and fight for our values. and that is why we have to defeat nancy pelosi. and maxine waters, a very low iq

individual. you ever see her? you ever see her? we will impeach him! we will impeach the president. but he hasn't done anything wrong. it doesn't matter. we will impeach him. >> i'm joined by the both are msnbc political contributors. i don't think it was that successful an event, jennifer. i'll start with you. the personal stuff. we called it pennsylvania politics. they used to advertise them on records all the time. all polka music. it was just one thing after another. it was so predictable and old. very old. >> it's like the guy at the end of the bar who has been there all year ranting the same stuff over and over again. the poor guy who is rung he barely mentioned his flame. he is going to lose most likely. we'll see tomorrow night. this is his shtick. i don't see them totally into

it. the problem with tv you need something new. season 2 needs to be better. >> very, very tired old records, old songs, old polka music. here is the question. the personal attack on somebody they don't know. they may be vaguely aware she is african american, maxine waters. >> right. >> but to go and call her low iq? you can say you don't like her there is the low iq piece coming in here. and he does the sign language thing. >> i have more respect for the people at this rally. they know who maxine waters is, they know who fans will pelosi. he is half a ream away from using the "n" word. it's that basic. he is half a rally away from calling somebody the "n" word and everyone is going to pretend that they're shocked and everybody on "the apprentice" is going to say he used it all the time. that's what he does. he has a hostility and anger towards women of color. >> what do you think of that? he highways had a life of

success. >> right. >> shea big city guy in a world of diversity, you could argue. he doesn't have to be around people of color unless he wants to. his relationship with black women is similar to his relationship with women in general. if black women are working for him and aren't there to serve him in some personal way, he is calvin candy. >> who is calvin candy? shirks the guy from django, the slave owner. that's basically trump. if she is not diamond and silk, if she is not omarosa. >> this is trump. this is how he has been all his life. he is all about resentments. he resents the people in manhattan. >> and it worked. he got elected. >> he is telling them hey, don't you worry there are people behind you. >> i think it was vaudeville. it was old school. it was boring there is no new lines in it. and calling our colleague here chuck, what did he call him? not low energy. >> sleepy eye. i don't get that.

>> he talks pretty energetic. here is the thing. i think he got elected. i was going back in my head. reagan got elected on carter's weakness. that's how he sold himself. carter was weak, i beat him. and nixon got elected on angry against all kinds of problems, the democratic screw-ups at the convention in '68 and ran on make a deal with china, make a deal with russia, we're going to have peace in the world. he needs a new act, this guy. i don't think he'll be elected with resentment again. >> right. >> i think he needs a new act. >> absolutely. and the title -- >> do something. >> right. keep america great, that's about the status quo. america isn't great enough for most americans. it never has been. we're aspirational people. >> i talked to my brother. he is not very happy about. this. >> if he can't win over these people, if this ends up close, that's his base. >> a 20 point spread in southwestern pennsylvania. it looks like this conor lamb is going to win on the democratic side. the speech was wide ranging over the weekend, but trump

repeatedly touted his own accomplishments. let's watch what they were. >> we can't say make america great again because i already did that. right? right? we have done more than any first term administration in the history of our country. we have. and then they ask, is he a good speaker? i don't know. i don't know if i'm a good speaker. but you know what? every time we have a 25,000 seat stadium, so something has to be right. without donald trump, the olympics would have been a total failure. it's true. it's true. i don't know him. looks like a nice guy. i hear he is nice looking. i think i am better looking than him. i do. i do. i went to wharton. i went to school here. i love pennsylvania. very presidential. ladies and gentlemen, thank you for being here the season. -- tonight.

>> everything, jennifer and jason, your parents told you not to do. >> insult other people. >> everything we're told not to do has held us back. because that's what works now. >> why? chris, when you talk about an old act, you know what he reminds me of? he is that comedian on that last tour on netflix or comedy central when the jokes are old and central and you laugh because they used to be funny but they're not funny today. that's what he was in pennsylvania. the kids looked bored. the high schoolers. >> kids looked like they were having fun, more than he did. i got a million of them. anyway, thank you, jennifer rubin. thank you, jason johnson. up next, the latest polling ahead of tomorrow's special election in pennsylvania. it looks good for that democrat there, conor lamb, if they can turn out the vote. heard that a million advertisements. anyway, the president, that's donald trump, carried that district last time by 20 points. so why is this a tight race in trump country? well, this is "hardball," where the action is.

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welcome back to "hardball." for the first time in over 15 years, republicans have a real chance of losing pennsylvania's 18th congressional district. a district donald trump carried by 20 points in 2016. there it is. according to a month mote poll out today, conor lamb is leading rick saccone ahead of tomorrow's special election. by the way, that decides who the

congressman. if turnout is similar to other special elections this year, lamb leads saccone by six points, 51 to 45. it would be an embarrassing and costly defeat for the republican party. in the last two days saccone has enlisted help from president trump and his son donald trump jr. here we go. >> conor lamb, lamb the sham, right? lamb the sham. he's trying to act like a republican. we need our congressman saccone. we have to have him. >> what do you think about rick saccone? >> he is doing a great job. listen. he is going to support the things that my father is doing. you've got a real conservative. >> i think that was saccone grabbing a mouthful of food there according to politico, senior republicans have called saccone a lackluster candidate who has heavily leaned on the national party to run his campaign. president trump himself has been down on saccone. i'm joined by terry madonna of the great franklin and marshall

university, a college. thank you very much. you know pennsylvania. you've got a sense for the whole thing. >> hi, chris. >> what the hell is going on in the 18th which is that appalachian southwestern districts and the democrat could well win. >> yeah. well, the democrats have come up with the ideal candidate. a former marine and a prosecutor. and he is very pro military in a district that, you know, quite frankly is very much pro military. he's also served as a prosecutor. translation, let's put the bad guys behind bars. and then when you take a look at that district, which is culturally conservative, as i said, it tends to be pro military, pro union. it supports, by the way, the voters in there, particularly the working class voters. the tariff that trump has imposed on aluminum and steel, these are perfect positions for one conor lamb. so he is running. he is the perfect candidate to

run in that kind of a district. now, he wouldn't work if he is running in the suburbs of let's say philadelphia, where you once lived in the city. it wouldn't work in urban america. but he is the perfect candidate for that kind of a district. and by the way, quickly, it shows moving forward in districts that trump won by 10, 15 points, 8, 10 points even the kind of candidate who can get into the mold, if you will, of not taking on trump directly, but focusing on local issues. what matters to the voters. and that's what conor lamb has done. he stays away from national politics. it's all about the district. it's all about his relationship there's. >> i called up and talked to his brother, running the campaign, trying to get him on "hardball." didn't want to do it. smart move; i guess. he is local, stay local. don't become one of these guys like down in georgia.

all the national press falling in love with him and he got kicked. he lived ten minutes from the district. he might as well live then thousand miles he wasn't going to win. steel has always been a democratic thing. democrats from john dent, remember him from pittsburgh, they have been pushing for tariffs to protect that industry for 50 years. and now the president's come out for it. he is an r. but i get the sense it's not going to help the republican candidate. >> yeah, i don't think there is a big difference in terms of the voter turnout based on that issue, because democrats and union -- the union leaders out there, the union leaders aren't wild about president trump, to put it mildly. but they favor what the president has done, particularly with the steel tariffs. and guess what? conor lamb is for them. and so is rick saccone. so they sort of balance each other out. and you're absolutely right about something you said earlier. saccone's a pretty solid conservative. he said he was trump before trump. there is not an issue difference

that you can find between the two. here is the difference. rick saccone has run a traditional campaign going to this event and going to that event. not exactly showing a lot of energy. and conor lamb has been knocking on doors with scores of volunteers, turning the campaign into a grassroots oriented movement. and if he wins, it's not just about his candidacy. it's also about the kind of campaign that he has run. >> so good. i don't think lamb the sham is going to work. i think it's going to be conor lamb. i think he is going to win. and terry, you're right. i lived and grew up in city of philadelphia, not the suburbs. 100 yards inside the city in summerton which they all like hearing right now, summerton as we say in philadelphia. thank you. we're going to have you on a lot this year. we're going to have a lot of pennsylvania focus. it looks like the democrats are going win back that state this fall. still ahead, much more on our

breaking news tonight. a stun whitewash. a real whitewash for the republicans in the house intel committee. they say they found no evidence of collusion because they never looked for him that was trump's about-face 180 on guns. he is now back down to the nra. you're watching "hardball." as the world leader in unmanned aerial systems, we're attracting the world's best talent to central new york. and turning the airport into a first-class transportation hub. all while growing urban areas into vibrant places to live and work. across new york state, we're building the new new york. to grow your business with us in new york state, visit esd.ny.gov. to grow your business with us in new york state, let's team up to get the lady of the house back on her feet. and help her feel more strength and energy in just two weeks yaaay! the complete balanced nutrition of (great tasting) ensure with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. ensure.

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don't worry. you're not going to get any -- don't worry about the nra. they're on our side. half of you are so afraid of the nra. there is nothing to be afraid of. and you know what? with you, i have to fight him every once in a while. that's okay. >> welcome back to "hardball" that was president trump shortly after the school shooting in parkland, florida, scolding governors and other politicians for being afraid of the nra, the national rifle association. the weeks after the massacre, we heard a lot of tough talk from the president on guns. >> the handgun, you can't buy one. you have to wait until you're

21. but you can buy the kind of weapon used in the school shooting at 18. i think it's something you have to think about. so i was just curious as to what you did in your bill. >> we didn't address it, mr. president. >> you know why? because you're afraid of the nra, right? they do have great power. i agree with it. they have great power over you people. they have less power over me. what do i need? >> he is doing that robert de niro thing, what do i need, what do i need. less than two weeks later it appears president trump is afraid of the nra. the safety proposal includes firearms training for some teachers, fixing the background check system according to the nra specifications and expanding mental health provision. however, there is a key element missing from the plan, one the president appeared to support in the weeks following the proposal. it does not raise the minimum wage to buy an assault rifle. today trump defended his about-face on the issue saying on 18 to 21 age limits, not much

political support, to put it mildly. so what caused the president to change his tune on gun reform? anyway, did the nra get to trump? we'll let one of his cabinet members answer this question. that's next with the "hardball" round table. hey! we didn't have a homeowners claim last year so allstate is giving us money back on our bill. well, that seems fair. we didn't use it. wish we got money back on gym memberships. get money back hilarious. with claim-free rewards. switching to allstate is worth it. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered...

in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember. welcome back to "hardball." in a new safety proposal, president trump is back to offer a provision he appeared to support in the week following

the shooting raising the minimum wage to buy an assault rifle from 18 to 21. education secretary betsy devos, who will chair a new commission on school safety under this plan was asked than reversal. let's watch. >> what happened? what changed? >> everything is on the table, and the commission that is being formed of which i will lead is going to be looking at this issue along with a number of other issues. >> a lot of people are looking at that and thinking sounds like the nra got to him. >> as i said earlier, everything is on the table. and we will be looking at this. >> wow. let's go to the "hardball" round table. sam stein ed for daily beast. dana mill banks for "the washington post" and alexei is axios. the very nice way of asking the right question. sounds like the nra got to you, and she smiled. but that's the issue, isn't it? he sold out. is everybody agreed he sold out? does everybody agree here? >> yes. but i'm not sure he was afraid of them so much as those were the last people he heard.

from. >> right. >> and we always know that trump repeats the last. >> i don't agree. i think he was bought. he was bought. he was bought during the campaign. >> what is he getting for it? >> their support and their endorsement. they invest more in trump than any presidential candidate in history. >> lexy, why did he pull that hot ticket thing with all the people around him at the table. >> the cameras were on him. it was in the heat of the moment. it is right after this tragedy happened. it he was saying what sounded good. he was bullying manchin and toomey. >> the nra would pounce on him. >> of course he was. he was probably saying what he actually thought. >> common sense. a kid with a semiautomatic rifle just killed all those people. don't let kids have semiautomatic rifles. >> despite his tweet, it does poll surprisingly well, that provision there are a number of top businesses. >> rick scott, a hard right governor in florida. >> but trump i think, and i think he was going to be the

politics. >> let's talk about sheer partisanship. this guy nunes, i have to come up with a name nor guyton house intelligence committee. he said the president is clean as a whistle. in fact, the russians weren't trying to help him. never interviewed the key players, never talked to the democrats. what is this baghdad number going to accomplish? >> he was reexcused from the investigation in the first place. so the investigation that i'm not in charge of, that i know nothing about, it completely exonerated the president. >> he is going to look like a fool. >> right. the mueller indictment of the 13 russian nationals and three entities showed in no uncertain terms that the russians tried to help trump get elected. >> talking like know nothing. >> trump wants him to talk that way. >> is this because 90% or most republican voters vote for trump? >> the right wing -- have you watched the right wing eek east county cosystem? they all think this is a cover-up. this is going to be used by them to say it's over. let's move on. >> devin nunes has been playing

the trump sycophant since he served in transition. if he was worried about look like a fool, that ship long sailed. >> the republicans are not stupid. why did they back trump? >> they love what he says. the larger issue is trump is consistently -- >> the deplorable fact. >> no. >> to use the hillary work. >> there is tribalism. they all hated hillary. they were willing to put up with a lot of the stuff he did. >> and 80% of every congressional republicans supporters are trump supporters. so what relevance you going to do? >> you're right about nunes. he is going to look rather foolish. >> my best questions for you guys. >> who else are you going to use them on? >> i think resentment got him elected. he didn't get the most votes. but i think trump was elected because of the anger against the establishment in both parties. they hated the establishment and their party. then he ran against the democrat establishment and beat her. beat her in the electoral

college. here is the question. will that same sentiment sheer resentment against the elite, if you will, work for trump a second time, or does he need a totally new mission and message or shouldn't run again? because he will not run and win with the same message. >> two points. one i've heard more than a few democrats say the reason trump won is he followed barack obama, to your point of resentment. you couldn't have trump if we didn't have obama. and regardless of whether or not you interest elite, handy is the elite, you can say the media's got me down. >> the second time, will it work? >> it absolutely could work. it's not just resentment against elites, it's esentiment against immigrant, foreigners there is always another group out there. >> and now the other groups are becoming the doj and the fbi. he is turning against them. he is turning republicans against them. >> he is run as a rebel the second time after four years of president of the united states. >> people love the way he goes out and campaigning and the same way he did when he was initially

running. >> nixon was re-elected. >> i think somebody said every seven years or so, you have to change your look. paul mccartney looks a little different every few years. something different about him. it isn't the same paul mccartney, the cute beatle. he had to be a little different, grow up. trump can be trump. >> a new diet. maybe he will. >> physically. we'll never change the wonderful look of his. the round table is staying with us. the these three will tell me something i didn't know. you're watching "hardball." we were hit from behind. i called usaa and the first thing they asked was 'are you ok?' they always thank you for your service, which is nice because as a spouse you serve too. we're the hayles and we're usaa members for life. see how much you could save with usaa by bundling your auto and home insurance. get a quote today.

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we're back with the "hardball" round table. sam, tell me something i don't know. >> i'm going to burst your bubble here. >> break my heart. >> but the house intel committee concluding its investigation is not the final word. >> you're playing me. dana? >> i have a sad story. a state legislator in utah was going to thank donald trump for obliterating those national monuments by naming the donald

j. trump utah national parks highway going through these national monuments. but sadly, he has had to back down in the face of huge amount of mockery in the legislature, including an amendment that wanted to create the stormy daniels on-ramp. >> let me tell you, you know what? those national monuments throughout are fabulous. >> they were. >> get out to utah. go to flaming gorge whenever you can. go to anyplace out there. and horse canyon. those are the ones that are great. >> the dccc has been criticized for quietly trying to push out democratic candidates. a democrat familiar with the strategy told me they're not taking military options off the table. so we can expect them to be more explicit in the way they're trying to get rid solve some democratic candidates across the country. >> who is going to win tomorrow? and what spread? what is the edge? >> it's going to be conor lamb. there is a huge surge of support. >> six? five? >> i'm giving you a name. i don't know about points. >> the republicans are not going to win by 20 points. and that's all that matters.

>> come on, risk. >> i've risked before and i've had to eat my column on television. >> i'm going to go conor lamb plus four. >> kwhoo! >> i think i like that. i think you can't come up with a better name than conor lamb. >> lamb the sham, though. easy to rhyme. >> he is not a sham. >> what's your points? >> thank you. i was offered money if i co. would give six. thank you, sam stein, dana milbank and alexi mccammond. when we return tonight, let me finish with something truly wonderful that happened in american politics exactly 15 years ago today. you're watching "hardball."

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let me finish tonight with the history of what took place exactly 50 years ago today. march 12th, a half century ago something truly wonderful happened in american politics. it was this march day in 1968, a year of so much history that an intellectual soft-spoken senator from minnesota came within a few hundred total votes of

outpolling president lyndon johnson in the new hampshire democratic primary. he did so with the help of thousands of young college students knocking on doors and making the anti-war case. his name was eugene mccarthy, a hero to so many of us, those of us on college campuses. he was the grown-up, the person our father's age who said the war in vietnam was not the same as world war ii. it was a mistake that had to end. it is hard to explain now what eugene mccarthy meant to us back then. he spoke like our favorite professor, calmly, intelligently, and with obvious restraint. but it was his very manner that underscored the power of his message. >> i am concerned that the administration seems to have set no limit to the price which it's willing to pay for a military victory. >> within a week of mccarthy's near upset in new hampshire, the other anti-war candidate robert kennedy entered the month. within the month, lyndon johnson withdrew from the contest knowing his vietnam position was indefensible.

what the new hampshire democratic primary of 1968 showed us is the power of a few people, especially young people to change history. it was those young people walking door to door in the snows of new hampshire that will forever prove that when it comes to what really matters, every vote matters. and that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. . tonight on "all in" -- >> some of you people are petrify to have had nra. >> donald trump fully surrenders to the nra. >> i'm asking why he chickened out. >> tonight i'll speak with the democrat who sat in that meeting. and governor john kasich on trump's bait and switch. >> the nra happens to be very good people, by the way. then, as the president reportedly interviews an impeachment attorney -- >> it's a democrat hoax. >> reporter: house republicans announce they are ending their investigation into trump and russia. plus -- >> maxine waters, a very low iq