we are grateful, most grateful for our amazing guests. without them there is no 4:00 show. eugene, bill, yamiche, thank you for being on the show. happy thanksgiving. "mtp daily" begins with the fabulous katy tur. i'm going to watch this hour. >> you should run home and get some turkey and eat some pie. you deserve it. nicolle wallace, thank you very much. good evening. i'm katy tur in for chuck todd. welcome to "mtp daily." we begin with breaking news, a president whose authoritarian impulses are on full display. this afternoon he whipped into the jeef justice of the supreme court, john roberts, which came in response to roberts delivering a rare and stinging rebuke of the president's

attacks on the judiciary. those attacks were rooted in the president's frustration with a federal judge's decision to temporarily block the president's efforts to deny asylum to migrants who cross the border illegally. yesterday the president was clear with reporters, he saw that judge's decision as a political hit job. >> your asylum policy was put on hold? >> you go to the 9th circuit is and it's a disgrace. i'm going to put in a major complaint because you can't win a case in the 9th circuit. this was an obama judge. i tell you what, it's not going to happen like this any more. >> chief justice john roberts has seen the president badger the judiciary, and he has been silent. but he wasn't silent this time. he responded with this statement. "we do not have obama judges or trump judges, bush judges or clinton judges. what we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do an equal

right to those appearing before them. that independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for." and moments ago, the president put the finishing touches on his response back to roberts, saying in part, sorry, chief justice john roberts, but you do indeed have obama judges and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country. it would be great if the 9th circuit was indeed an independent judiciary. these rulings are making our country unsafe. very dangerous and unwise. this is not good, guys. the president is painting federal judges as political operatives, and he's going after the integrity of the country's chief justice for speaking out about it. joining me now on the phone is neil, constitutional lawyer and former acting solicitor general under president obama. neil, i want to get to you straight away on this. what do you make of this fight

between the president of the united states and the chief justice of the supreme court? >> well, it's really quite extraordinary. i'm not aware of anything really like it in our lifetime. the chief justice, i have appeared before him 37 times in target cases. the adjectives you think about when you think about the chief justice are restrained, bi brilliant, dignified. that's everything donald trump isn't. i think this whole episode demonstrates that. trump is saying some pretty extraordinary things about the courts, things that he's actually just statistically wrong on, like that it's the most overturned court in the last five years. that's not even close to the most overturned court. it's more than that. it's the corrosive attitude about courts and the rule of law. >> this attitude about courts and the rule of law, what's the consequence? >> i mean, it's huge. i don't think that trump is really -- he cares much about

the 9th circuit, per se. i think there is a bigger programmatic agenda of which this is part, which legitimatize the court system, to attack the courts, and attack the chief justice. i think it's very similar to how he treats any other check and balance, any other institution against him, whether it's the media which you obviously, katy, know well, all the stuff about cnn, accosta, the justice department and fbi, from firing his attorney general, firing comey, the fbi director. you know, basically his m.o. is to attack any institution, any check and balance that stands in his way, and that's why i think, you know, the words you said at the outset of the program are right. these are the actions of authoritarian governments. they are certainly not the actions of any president of the united states in our lifetime. >> would this mean anything for a fight potentially, an actual fight in the supreme court

between donald trump and robert mueller's team for subpoena power for the president? and that goes to the supreme court, would this affect a ruling? >> you know, i think the nine justices are wise enough to do the thing that they're going to do and make the decisions they're going to make. so, i don't think, you know, this episode, you know, you can say it's going to mean mueller will win or trump will lose or anything like that. but i think it does demonstrate the president and the rule of law. it may not affect the cases that go to the supreme court. but remember the chief justice has one other really important role in our constitution, which is to preside over the impeachment proceedings of a president. and, you know, the way things are looking that very well may happen, and the chief justice may be presiding over this man that he's now in this twitter fight with. >> let me ask you this. if he loses the subpoena battle at the supreme court, and that's obviously an if because there is

not even a subpoena battle at the supreme court yet. but if he does lose one, will he now try to say that justice roberts was not a fan of donald trump's and use this political attack that he's launching on the judiciary as a way to inoculate himself in the future by saying, well, i attacked them so they must hate me which means that's why they ruled against me? >> exactly, 100%. that is president trump's goal here, de-legitimatize the constitution of the court. they were biased against me. that's what the chief justice was rebelg againling against, t of a trump judge or obama judge. there are just jsz thudges in t country. i think of justice kagan who were put on the court, within the first year she was put on by

president obama, but she voted against president obama's health care plan in a good part, voted to strike some of it down. that's the kind of independence our founders envisioned when it comes to the supreme court, not this kind of, you know, president's lackey thing which the president just tried to do now with the attorney general and i'm sure he's going to try to do with the courts, too. >> and our good friend chuck rosenberg was here pointing out that in, with nixon and with clinton, judges that were were appointed by both men ruled against them in subpoena fights when there were investigations into those two presidents. so, in that way those judges were not protecters of the president of the united states. my other question is slightly different. are we as a society more to blame for this than we're willing to let on, given the way that we talk about judges, given the way that we talk about supreme court nominees, and then justices? this is an obama justice.

this is a trump justice. we talk a lot about it with kavanaugh. we've talked about it with gorsuch. we assumed they would rule a certain way because of being appointed or nominated by donald trump. does some of the blame here for this being such a fertile ground for donald trump lie with us? >> well, i think that's a wise point you're making, katy. we all share something about that. i agree with that. but at the same time, you know, it's the president's job to rise above that and to call for better angels. to talk about really what the courts have always been about, both from our founding design on and not to give in to those impulses. that's why you have intact anything like the remarks you have by this president. every time he loses a case, oh, that's a so-called judge, that judge is biased because they're hispanic or things like that. this is equally deeply corrosive and it takes a lot, i'm sure, to get the chief justice upset and

to have him make any sort of remark. but, you know, donald trump managed to do that, and that to me is an incredibly telling thing. >> a president should be better than us all. neal katyal. i know you're on a plane for thanksgiving. thank you for calling in. we appreciate t. >> thank you, katy. >> political reporter for the washington post, ruth marcus, columnist for the washington post, and msnbc contributor, and michael steele, former rnc chairman and msnbc political analyst. i do want to get you first, eugene, on this. the president continues to drag us farther and farther down. this is just one of many times where we've -- the rhetoric has just been lower. there's nobody that he will not pick a fight with either a war veteran, a gold star family, a political opponent, a journalist, a regular american, a fire marshal, supreme court

justice. >> indeed, i think we see a president who deals in sides. you are either on his side or you're not. and if you are even in his party or even of his political leanings, but disagree with him on one single thing, you are at jeopardy of having him attack you and attack you publicly. no matter whether he's actually right or wrong, and he does that because he knows that he has so many americans who will vouch for him. the base, very often congress, and quite frankly in this situation, some more conservative members of the legal community. the question you asked earlier i thought was spot on. the reality is many people backed trump because they thought he would appoint trump-type judges. that's what you have when you have people saying, i was going to hold my nose and vote for him because i approve of the people on that short list on the federalist society. so whether he's right or wrong, it's one conversation. but another conversation is there are many people who have processed the judicial branch the same way that he does, and

that's how they now vote. >> ruth, what do you think of that? >> well, i think that there is a larger conversation to be had about the politicization of the judiciary and the kind of ideological severing of the judiciary along party lines. for the first time we have a supreme court where i think it's safe to say votes can safely be predicted by knowing the party of the president who appointed the justice. >> are you sure of that? >> i am pretty confident of that. and that is an unusual state for the supreme court to be in. justice kavanaugh could surprise us all, but he has 12 years on the bench. >> let me push back on that because neal katyal just gave an example where he talked about kagan ruling against the health care laws. >> there are cases in which judges might -- justices and judges of a party of the president who appointed them would rule against this

president or any other president. but as a general matter, where justices come down in cases is much more predictable now than it has been in the history of the court. we don't have swing justices any more who move around. so i just think we are in an unusual state. and i really applaud the chief justice for what he said, but there is a certain bit of naivete to thinking that judges these days are just calling balls and strikes. >> michael? >> i couldn't disagree with ruth more on that. i think it's yet to be seen exactly what this iteration of the roberts' court is going to be like. i think judge kavanaugh will surprise a lot of folks and upset his appointor, one donald trump, in a number of cases potentially down the pike. i think chief justice roberts in saying what he said today, stepping out from behind that

bench to pretty much square up against the president on this, katy, goes to the point that the justice has always been concerned about and that is to the point that ruth did make about politicizing the federal bench. not just the supreme court, but all benches across the country. chief justice roberts wants to make sure that the sanctity and security of the bench, free from the politician that ts that the politicians appointed them does not make decisions. i still hold out a great deal of hope for that because knowing the chief justice as i do and his background, i know he's going to be very, very careful about that, that part of the process. and the idea that we know where any of these judges are going to line up on any issue regardless of the political affiliation or relationships i think is not very clear and it won't be very clear in future cases. >> i do think that there is a question on where this court

will decide if a subpoena comes to the supreme court. >> right. >> if there is a subpoena fight between donald trump and robert mueller, i do think it's important to bring up nixon's subpoena fight and clinton's subpoena fight. nixon had a number of appointed judges on his own court, and he still lost that case. clinton the same thing. >> katy, if i can jump in there, i totally agree with you. i am not predicting that republican nominated justices would automatically support president trump in a subpoena fight and vice versa. i think some law is just clear and some precedents are clear. and, by the way, i slightly disagreed with neal's question on the implications of that. justices are people, too. they're not going to say, i tangled with this guy now i'm really going to rule against him now that i have the chance. the atmospherics of the president's behavior, we saw this in the early travel ban cases in the beginning of the administration. the atmospherics of the

president's behavior annoy justices, insult justices, concern justices the same way they consult not just justices, the federal judges who ruled on the travel ban. trust the way they concern other people. you could see that in some of the early rulings against the president. so i think the atmospherics of the president getting into the fight with the chief justice are probably not good for him in litigation that's ensuing either with the mueller probe or other litigation that the administration has in the federal courts. >> what we have seen when we looked at the guardrails of this presidency, the people checking donald trump against his worst impulses, there have been some within the administration, we had don mcgahn just from the news yesterday when donald trump wanted to try to prosecute hillary clinton and james comey, that's the most recent example. but what we've seen consistently, that the biggest check on donald trump's presidency has been the courts and has been rulings on the travel ban, rulings on immigration which is what donald trump was set off by today, saying that asylum seekers

couldn't come into this country and seek asylum. the courts rejected that. so that has been the case, regardless of how you feel about the courts, that's just been the facts. but i think we, we don't want to get too narrow on this, guys. i mean, this is coming in at a time where donald trump is doing all sorts of things that are -- that were once unimaginable by a president of the united states. he's talking about prosecuting his political enemies. he's siding with dictators over his intelligence community. he did that with russia. he's doing that again with saudi arabia. he's putting troops down on the border for arguably a political stunt, to win in the midterms for no real reason. he's stripping critics of their security clearance. he's fighting with the free press. i mean, this just goes on and on and on and on, eugene. >> absolutely. and that checks on the presidency coming from the court is exactly what the american people wanted. i was in arizona yesterday

talking to voters about 10 to 12% of republican voters in arizona actually voted for the democrats sending kyrsten sinema to the senate. they had more confidence in sinema checking donald trump than they did the republican candidate because when they look at congress as a whole, they don't see a group of republicans willing to put a check consistently on the president. they can see that when they look towards the judges. and so whether or not you find this disagreement petty or uncomfortable, many voters are looking at it with some degree of relief because they don't know that they can trust that this presidency will go in a direction that's in their best interests if no one is checking him. >> that's a good point that you brought up. michael, i'll throw that to you. this past election, last week, the midterms, it's looking wavier and wavier, democrats keep picking up house seats. it's the largest midterm margin in the popular vote for the house since watergate. does that show that more and more of this country is becoming

deeply uncomfortable with what president trump is doing? >> i think that's exactly right. and i couldn't appreciate more the point just made because that at the core of it is what this is about. what was not talked about and what has not been talked about certainly not by the rnc or by others is the number of republicans across the country who voted for the democrat in this election. as a check, as a rebuke, as a response to the administration. there are no less republicans so y'all just put the fire out on your pants. all the republicans out there screaming at them, there are no less republicans. there are concerned republicans because they do believe in the checks and balances of this country. and the way the president, certainly in the last 24 to 36 hours has behaved on both the foreign policy front as well as now the domestic front with the court, continues to exacerbate the concerns that many republicans like myself and others have, not just about the

party and the direction it's going, but how the president's undermined some fundamental ideas and principles that define the united states of america. and, you know, don't give me this one off. this is asymmetrical presidency and all that. there is a point you trip the wire on crazy, and we need to check that. and i think we are more than tripping that wire right now in this country. >> you know, i've got to say, i'm so happy you guys were here to talk about this today. i'm so happy we booked you in advance. it's smart booking because you three and neal katyal, four of the smartest voices and brightest minds i can think about to talk about this issue. eugene, ruth and michael, you're not did you think yet. stay with us. we will be right back. ♪ the greatest wish of all...

is one that brings us together. the lincoln wish list event is here. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with $0 down, $0 due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. only at your lincoln dealer. welcome back. president trump says he submitted written answers to special counsel robert mueller's questions, but his attorney says his client only answered questions on matters that happened before his presidency.

i.e., during the campaign. rudy giuliani told axios president trump would not cooperate if mueller asks additional questions about his behavior as president, including questions on potential obstruction of justice, even if he was presented with a subpoena. giuliani also told axios that if mueller wants president trump's answers on obstruction, they're already out there. quote, any question he has on obstruction, the president has given the interviews in tweets. other witnesses have given it to him. joining me now is daniel goldman, nbc news legal analyst and former assistant u.s. attorney, also the 5th brightest mind that we've had on today. daniel, thanks for being here. rudy giuliani says he can find all of the obstruction answers, they're already out there. are they? >> that is complete garbage. first of all -- >> he did talk to -- he sat down with lester holt and he said i was thinking about russia when i fired comey. he tweets about this stuff all the time. >> but he's also said other

things contrary to that because he's trying to walk back. and so the whole point of interviewing the president, even if you're going to do it by questions, is to get him on record under oath with whatever the answer is. not allow him to go back and forth and pick and choose which answer is convenient for him at that time. >> does he need the president on record under oath in order to end this investigation? >> well, because he's unlikely to get indicted, because he's a sitting president and that is the policy of the department of justice, it would be an incomplete report if it were to go to the attorney general or to congress without the president being interviewed, at least even by written questions on obstruction of justice. this is a very unusual case where he can't be indicted. many times you do not interview a potential target of an investigation and you build a case and you charge it. in theory that could happen here with donald trump. he has statements out there in

the ether sphere and other witnesses, et cetera. that can be used to build a case but it is an unusual circumstance. >> does that mean you believe there will be a subpoena? >> i don't know whether there is going to be a subpoena. to me, i don't think so. if you really press me, because i don't think robert mueller would have submitted these written questions. >> are you sure robert mueller did submit the written questions? i mean, we're just hearing it from donald trump and rudy giuliani. >> you can't be sure of anything. it does feel a little bit more like this is moving in that direction. and the other thing that's interesting about this is i think a lot of us who watch robert mueller thought that given the request to adjourn paul manafort's joint status report to the court last week for ten days, so that they could be of greater assistance to the judge, that ten-day period ends monday, a lot of us thought that means there is an indictment coming. as you look at what is going on now, it may be a situation where robert mueller wanted to get donald trump's answers on

collusion submitted under oath before he released an indictment which would, on collusion, it's probably not going to be trump but maybe roger stone, for example. and in that indictment he's likely to set forth and lay out the factual narrative of how the collusion happened. he didn't want trump to see that and be able to tailor his answers to the indictment, so maybe that's one reason. we're all reading tea leaves. maybe that's one reason we haven't seen anything yet. >> that's why we have prosecutors on because they think in a way most of us do not. there is that sealed filing in the d.c. circuit that everyone is talking about, the latest one was more than 3,000 words. that's pretty big for a filing. any tea leaves reading for what that might be? >> the only thing that jumps off the page that we know about is that judge katsis on the d.c. circuit who was recently appointed and was part of the white house council's office under trump has recused himself

from that litigation. there has to be some reason why he's recusing. we can guess it has to do with his time in the white house counsel's office, but we really don't know much more than that. i personally think that it may be related to some of the witnesses or materials that robert mueller has requested from the white house counsel's office and that's why he may be recusing. >> when will we hear from robert mueller next? >> look, i'm on record saying i thought it was going to be last friday. but now that we have these questions in and maybe that's cleared the way for a roger stone indictment because it was just on the collusion aspect, there's still a lot to be investigated. the transition period and obviously obstruction of justice. and there is a report that will likely come out at the end. but i would expect that we would hear from robert mueller pretty soon on the collusion. >> there are certain names that keep coming into the conversation. roger stone is one of them. corsi another. you hear don junior, although you see no evidence of don junior being involved in any of

this. are we looking at it too narrowly? could there be a lot more that we haven't heard about? could there be witnesses that have never told the press that they were interviewed by the special counsel? i mean, is it possible that we could be getting a dump of documentation in the coming weeks pertaining to things that we have no clue about? >> i think that is a very real possibility. and part of the reason for that is that as bits and pieces trickle out from media reports about various russians who were approached at airports or george nader, this lebanese american sort of fixer who negotiated meetings in the seychelles, we forget about this in the crazy eight-hour news cycle we're on now that there's a lot out there. and so we absolutely could see some stuff we just have no expectation. the key to all of this right now is paul manafort. his cooperation has really opened the door to bob mueller getting to the bottom of whatever happened during the

campaign. we don't know what it is. we don't know whether there was collusion. we don't know whether there is going to be a conspiracy charged against any members of the campaign. but if anybody knows, it is likely paul manafort and, therefore, it is likely robert mueller. >> what planet are you living on where there is an eight-hour news cycle? >> four. >> 24-hour news cycle. >> i mean it changes every four to eight hours. >> every four to eight minutes sometimes. daniel goldman. daniel, thank you so much. happy thanksgiving. >> you, too. >> and ahead, what those wildfires in california are telling us. behind the lost lives and burnt forest is the growing threat affect being us all, climate change. hello!

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welcome back. don't put the election music away just yet. we are less than a week away from the final senate contest of the 2018 midterms. don't you love that music? the mississippi runoff, the two candidates squared off in their only head to head debate in jackson. reading off notes, incoumbent cindy hyde-smith responded to criticism she received about a comment about attending a public hanging. >> for anyone that was offended for my -- by my comments, i certainly apologize. there was no ill will, no intent whatsoever in my statement. this comment was twisted and it

was turned into a weapon to be used against me, a political weapon used for nothing but personal and political gain by my opponent. >> her democratic opponent mike espy fired back. >> well, no one twisted your comments because the comments were loud. it came out of your mouth. and i don't know what's in your heart, but we all know what came out of your mouth. it caused our state harm. it's given our state another black eye that we don't need. >> president trump will headline two rallies for hyde-smith this upcoming monday. while espy has had several democratic heavy weights kamm pin campaign on his behalf. back with more "mtp daily" after this.

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[ready forngs ] christmas? no, it's way too early to be annoyed by christmas. you just need some holiday spirit! that's it! this feud just went mobile. with xfinity xfi you get the best wifi experience at home. and with xfinity mobile, you get the best wireless coverage for your phone. ...you're about to find out! you don't even know where i live... hello! see the grinch in theaters by saying "get grinch tickets" into your xfinity x1 voice remote. a guy just dropped this off. he-he-he-he. welcome back. firefighters in california are now close to containing the deadliest wildfire in the state's history. heavy rains are helping extinguish the fire, which is now 80% contained.

the concern now, though, is that mudslides might happen in the areas torched by the flames. the fire has already killed at least 81 people and destroyed more than 13,000 homes. and while we fear the death toll may climb, we also fear that it's only a matter of time before another powerful wildfire threatens even more lives and property. a wildfire fuelled by climate that's creating a world increasingly inhospitable to humans. it has been a little more than a month since a u.n. report warned that the world must take unprecedented steps to avert the worst effects of global warming, but those effects may already be apparent. two days after that report was released, hurricane michael slammed into the florida panhandle killing 35 people in the state, 45 people nationwide. and so in the last two months we've seen the deadliest wildfire ever in california, and the third-most intense hurricane ever to hit the continental

united states. the new yorker sums it up best in an alarming report. it is making less land hospitable to human life. bill mckibben wrote a new yorker story about what we then called the greenhouse gas effect. he is also an environmental activist and founder of 350.org, an online network of climate change activists. bill, thank you very much for joining us. we've been trying to get you on, i know, all week. we appreciate you -- >> it's good to be with you, katy. >> i read your article and it made me drop everything that i was doing and wonder why we aren't screaming about this from the top of a hillside. the world is shrinking, in your estimation, and not actually in size. it's not as if the world is getting smaller, but the places that americans or humans are able to inhabit are getting smaller and smaller. explain. >> well, look, 30 years ago when

i wrote the first book about climate change, it was still an abstraction, a theoretical threat. now it's a fierce reality for people all over the world. the u.s. is getting by no means the worst of it, but that's what we tend to notice. people are having to start leaving coastal areas now in the wake of hurricane florence in north carolina earlier this year. just this week they were condemning one apartment building after another in wilmington because they're washed away or they're filled with mold. that's going to happen more and more and more as the century wears on. it's abundantly clear that sea levels are rising and make ing it more difficult for life along the coast. but it's not as if fleeing to the continental interiors is an obvious choice either. in many of the world, the temperature is simply getting too hot. in california where the temperature got up about 3 degrees in the last century, clearly it's contributing to

really dangerous wildfires. california has come through the worst drought it's ever had. in much of the rest of the world, in a huge belt stretching the north china plain through india and pakistan, the experts now are saying it's going to be too hot to live before too many more decades are out. the oppressive heat waves we are beginning to see will become the new norm. that's why there is this sense of just gathering urgency. >> when you write this article, you don't just talk about floods displacing people or fires displacing people. you make it -- you bring it home to a lot of regular folks. you say even in the most affluent areas, many of us hesitate to walk across a grassy meadow because of the proliferation of ticks bearing lyme disease which have come with the hot water. we have found ourselves unable to swim off beaches because jelly fish thrive as warm marine seas kill off other life have

taken over the water. >> yeah, this is the biggest thing that's happening every day of our lives. on no day is it the single most striking piece of news. which is why you and i have had a hard time connecting to talk about it because every day there is something that seems more dramatic going on, something that's breaking. but what's really breaking is the planet and the story of that breakage over the next decades is clearly the most important crisis that humans have ever wandered into. >> the president just appointed or nominated an epa chief that has denied climate change and is an advocate for the coal industry. we don't live or we're not under the paris climate accord any longer. the president pulled out of that. what happens next? >> so, the president is, from my point of view on the issues i know about, a buffoon.

and the people he's putting in office, not much better. it must be said that this problem predates president trump. one of the points of this article of mine in the new yorker is that for 30 years, the fossil fuel industry, the big oil companies, have known about and lied about climate change over and over and over again. and that lie has had enormous consequence. we were stuck for 25 years, we still are really, in a completely pointless debate about whether or not global warming was real. a debate that both sides knew the answer to at the beginning. it's just one of them was willing to not tell the truth. and that wasted 25 or 30 years may turnout to be the critical 25 or 30 years. >> let me jump in, you talk about exxon knowing about this as early as 1977. and exxon doing what it could in order to fortify its own business, raising oil platforms where they knew the sea levels would rise and knowing they'd have more time to drill in the

arctic as the arctic slowly melts. and exxon deciding if the public accepted all of this information, this scientific information that scientists agreed on, that they would have a problem. so what they needed to do was go out and muddy the waters and confuse people about the science and say the science wasn't agreed upon. it was the same tactics that big tobacco used. >> absolutely. in many cases it was some of the same people that they hired to get the job done. and you can tell how effective the strategy was. we have a president who is apparently convinced that climate change is a hoax manufactured by the chinese, which is, you know, something that if you heard somebody mutt erring it while they were sitting next to you on a public bus, you'd get up and change your seat. you know, it's been diabolically effective. the result is what you see in california now, and it's going to get worse. that's clear. the only thing we can do now is try to limit how much worse it

gets, and that's why it's good news, that people like alexandra ocasio-cortez is pushing a green deal in congress. it's good the kids from the sunrise movement are sitting in the halls of congress. we are beginning to see some action. the question is whether we can ever catch up with the lead now that we've given physics in this existential fight. >> i think we're going to have to rush. and just like what happened with big tobacco, the people who were getting duped and the people affected were you and me. big mckibben, we appreciate it. we'll be right back. a wealth of perspective. ♪ a wealth of opportunities. that's the clarity you get from fidelity wealth management. straightforward advice, tailored recommendations, tax-efficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth.

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welcome back. tonight on 2020 vision, it's only november, but it appears new jersey senator cory booker has a presidential candidate to-do list, and he's checking it twice. >> we're this country that believes in this sense of shared sacrifice. >> first, introduce a signature piece of legislation to fire up the party base. check. co-sponsor major bipartisan legislation. check. campaign for party candidates up and down the ballot. check. check. here's booker in mississippi with mike espy. >> so, what i love about mike is he is this pragmatist. >> what about a big reveal party in a crucial primary set? senator booker is set to speak

at the new hampshire democratic victory party on december 8. >> thank you, new hampshire. >> back in 2006, a certain senator used that same victory party as a spring board for his successful presidential bid. >> all of us have a stake in this government. all of us have responsibilities. all of us have to step up to the plate. >> all that is left on senator booker's checklist is to announce, actually announce that he's running. so stay tuned. roaring) (horn honking) okay, okay, okay... (clatter) ( ♪ ) feeling unsure? oh... (nervous yelp) what if you had some help? introducing the new 2019 ford edge with the confidence of ford co-pilot360 (tm) technology. the most available driver assist technology in its class. ( ♪ ) the new 2019 ford edge.

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author of the book, all the truth is out, the week it went tabloid, the story of jason harte. the director of "the front runner" based on the book of mr. bai. welcome to both of you. all right. matt bai, gary harte, it's funny to go back to 1987 he drops out, that is now 31 years ago. i think about when you and i began covering campaign politics in the clinton era. this would be the equivalent of trying to tell somebody about barry goldwater's rise. >> they're probably too young -- >> they don't remember it. >> they remember or remember it wrongly. there are misperceptions about the story that, you know, are sort of seared into our collective memory that aren't right. i think even for people who remember the story, the film will be surprising and

compelling. >> should i sacrifice my privacy, bill myself-respect? it won't be me that gets dragged down, working on a campaign or some candidate who doesn't have to that is just the beginning. >> what are the biggest myths people think they know about gary hart and this story that it will be, wait, i thought it was that. >> when i tell people, when i start telling people, i think i will make a movie about the gary hart cscandal they would say monkey business. >> playing family feud. >> they would say follow me. i think there was this understanding that somehow gary hart challenged the press to follow him and they did when the follow me quote came out in an article the same day that the article from the miami herald came out. they were already staking him

out. the third is they bring up donna rice. they bring us her name as though she was not a human being but more as just an object. the blonde on the boat and the more i got to know her i found a woman who was smart and aspired to a lot and whose life was taken from her hands. i found the story immediately fascina fascinating. i was ten years old when this happened. i knew the names as names. it was only through matt's book that i found it fascinating. >> when you're watching the film people will be thinking about bill clinton and donald trump. you think about people that became president with high profile extramarital affairs. how do you address that? >> why? i don't understand. if you're saying the movie is timely, we agree. >> do you worry that people will look at it too much through that lens? >> no.

i think this is the question that's on our minds. we're at a point where politics are entertainment. we don't stand by the water cooler and talk about last night soprano episode. we're talking about this city. >> are you finding people are talking politics more today than five years ago? >> absolutely. it's first thing people look at it. there were people in entertainment that were deeply involved in politics. warren beatty and i think we had a president who was an actor but not like today. this is the first conversation that i have with every single person i talk to. >> we were in a mode of tear down in the mid to late '80s. >> did that stop? >> no. maybe the bar of tearing people down got higher.

>> the questions are how do you determine moral fitness and character? what do you need to know and how much context is required for it and how far should we go to bring that to you? the film isn't making judgments about that. it's following a lot of different perspectives. reporters and operatives and people caught up in the scandal and constantly asking you to evaluate the different perspectives and arguments so hopefully you come out of theater having an argument about it. >> we cover sex scandals with a prism of demand and the woman is character, a supporting cast. never, always treated as sort of not necessarily as a victim but maybe part of helped sometimes blamed for this. how will today's millennial woman think of how you treated donna rice in this movie?

>> i can tell you what donna rice thinks of the film. had a lot of empathy for her. i think she's been looking for and hasn't received. >> it isn't fair. her obitobituary will have ther the lead. >> she was a smart, educated woman who aspired to a lot and had to live with this. lives through this scandal at a time when tlp where was no play book. >> before her the most famous affair was fanny fox. >> that was wilbur mills. wasn't presidential. >> i'm right there with you.

>> i'm very impressed. i cannot swim with either of you. i had a tremendous amount of empathy for her. there's a way we structure this movie where i know the conception going in, i know how people see donna in their heads. they think of her as a blonde on the boat. i know there's this anticipation we will get to that boat an meet this woman. you don't meet her on the boat. you have to wait halfway through the family. >> not defined by the boat. >> this movie is frenetic and has a will the of energy. you're at the paper and the campaign and all of a sudden the scandal comes out and the movie stop. she's a woman that is broken. the camera just sits on her. >> if this doesn't happen to gary hart is bill clinton ever

president of the united states and is donald trump ever president? >> it's obviously impossible to know. i think bill clinton learned from what happened with gary hart. i think clinton was better equipped to deal with it. the president trump question is interesting because one of the things that happens in 1987 that is depicted in the film is the collision of entertainment and politics. it's the way we cover celebrities. it's now the way we will cover politicians. when you create a process where you treat politicians as celebrities, i think it's ine inevitable you will draw your celebrities into politics. >> i will drop that little thing in the punch bowl. congratulations on the movie. >> thank you very much. hope you like it.

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that's all for tonight. we will be back tomorrow with more mtp daily. "the beat" with ari melber starts now. i have a hot thanksgiving tip for you. >> what's that? >> pie is now healthier than salad. >> is that true though? >> yes. it's 100% true. >> we deal in truth here even on the holidays. >> you go test it out. go eat some romaine lettuce and let me know how that goes. >> the only thing better than a long slow news toss is a to be continue toss. next time i see you we can compare thanksgiving notes. >> i have multiple pies for my thanksgiving, so we can. >> great. have great thanksgiving. >> you too. see you later. as for the beat, the news is not stopping for thanksgiving. we have a lot goi