monday night as we start a new week together. thank you so much for being here with us. good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. good night from nbc headquarters here in new york. on the heels of two explosive reports that raised questions about his ties to the kremlin president trump is insisting he never worked for russia calling the idea a big fat hoax. >> confirmation hearings get under way for president trump's attorney general nominee william barr and democrats are expected to zero in on robert mueller. >> the real world impact of the government shutdown is being felt across the country. at airports travellers are facing lone lines as a growing number of tsa screeners call off work. >> good morning. it's tuesday, january 15th. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside

yasmin vossoughian and louis burgdorf. wean begin with president trump who defended himself from the "new york times" f report of a counter intelligence report. the firings of comey and mccabe were justified by the justice department. and not alleged bias towards donald trumpbi but yesterday th president said of the fbi quote, others are going to go. >> yes or no, have you or are you now have you ever worked for russia? >> iwo never worked for russia. youd know that answer better tn anybody. i never workedth for russia.or not only did i never work for russia i think it's a disgrace that you even ask that question, because it's a whole big fat hoax.ig it's just a hoax. i have never seen a turn around in a bureau or agency like i

have with the fbi. they are so embarrassed. i think 12 people now have been terminated. and others, if you look at what's happening, others are going to go. so when you say should i have confidence in i the fbi or intelligence agencies, when i see all of these people, when i seee, lisa and her lover and thr notes and their texts get r captured and you see what they said about me, having nothing to do with investigation, let me tell youio something. when people see that you have an angry country. >> the president claimed 12 people at the fbi have been terminated but there's no telling where he got that number from. >> fortunate's former lawyer said the "new york times" report of an investigation is helpful n in the president's argument against fbi. >> little did i know that it appears that they were all in it together. i mean rosenstein, comey,

mueller, mccabe, the whole crowd and thatho they were out to get this president no matter what. i don't think they sincerely believed anything about russia. iou think they used the phrase counter intelligence as a cover for, for find, trying to get something on the president. trying, to you know, trying to, trying to get him. and it was,t you know, it was coup. there's no question about it. i had, you know, man-to-man conversations, m you know, with bob y mueller, and they told us what they had under investigation. they gave us lists of people and documents they wanted and it didn't include any of this is business. >> he also said yesterday that he speaks with the president about once a week. >> the confirmation hearing of president trump's nominee for attorney general is set to begie in a few hours. william barr is expected to face two days of grueling questioning

with heavy focus on the potential future of robert mueller's russia probe. barr is expected to say either believes mueller's investigation should,nv in fact continue one impeded according to prepared remarks obtained by msnbc news. barr also explains or plans to explain or say to the public that the public should be informed of the results of thatu probe writing my goal is to provide as much transparency as i can consistent with the law. barr adds i can assure you that where judgmentsas are to be mad by tome, i will make those judgments based solely on the law and will let no personal, political or improper ins influence my decisions. >> in a letter to the o committee's chairman republican senator lindsey graham, barr reiterated his views on the russia probe adding that he at believes a president can obstruct justice, but democrats on the committee including at least three potential 2020 presidential contenders are

expected to hammer barr on a memo he wrote last year in which he criticized mueller's investigation. at the time he wrote the special counsel quote should not be permitted the president submit to interrogation. apart from whether mueller has a strong enough factual basis for doing so mueller's obstruction theory is fatally misconceived. >> day 25 of the shutdown. while the pressure is building for lawmakers to re-open the government negotiations remain at standstill. speaking to farmers at an annual convention yesterday president trump stood by his demand for a border wall and blamed democrats for the shutdown. >> when it comes to keeping the american people safe, i will never ever back down. i didn't need this fight. this is a fight. we're dealing against people who think if they can stop me from m building the wall -- again we've already done a lot of work --

they think that's a good thing for 20 because they won win. they think if they can stop me from building the wall this is good. this is the reason why they don't want the wall built. we're fighting very hard to defend ourrd nation and many people that aren't getting a payment, that aren't being paid have let us known in the strong jeff of terms, a big amount, they said, sir, what you are doing is of paramount importance. do the job right. and we are with you 100%. you would be surprised how manys people have said that and it's nott easy for them but it's a t of people. [ applause ] . p >> house speaker nancy pelosi responded with a statement yesterday writingos in part instead of wasting farmers time with empty words the president should w restore certainty to their lives by signing the bipartisan legislation that house democrats justis passed t re-open the department of agriculture. while speaker pelosi is pointing the finger at president trump, senate majority leader mitch

mcconnell directed the blame right back atl pelosi. >> so here we are, day 24, becauseay the speaker of the hoe has decided enforcing our own laws is now immoral. because she's decided it's better to prolong this partial shutdown than invest more than one dollar that both parties agreed was a good idea until about five minutes ago. >>in so the government shutdowns continuing to also have a real world impact on millions of americans. at the hartsfield jackson international airport in atlanta yesterday many travellers had to wait for up to an hour and a half in security checkpoint lines. a spokes warm for the airport told the "atlanta journal constitution" that mondays are always busy adding quote but today we did feel the impact of the federal shutdown more than we have thus far. republican senator susan collins of maine tweeted i talked to a waitress in bangor this morning

whose his wax for tsa. they had to gate loan to pay their mortgage. this is just wrong. >> the commandant of the u.s. coast guard admiral carl schultz expressed support for coast guard families tweeting i recognize there's t anxiety and uncertainty about the status of your pay this evening. your senior leadership team continue to work on your behalf. i'm proud of your unwavering devotion to duty. in kodiak, alaska, coast guard workers g are risking their liv every day to save people from treacherous waters and climate. >> this current government shutdownrr has really, increase, my anxiety on a day-to-day level, not knowing when we'll get paid is a real concern. having to be at work and not getting paid is demoralizing to a degree. i just want to do my job and get paid for it and i feel they are playingel politics with my

paycheck. >> i'm sure a lot of people are echoing that. joining us now white house correspondent for reuters, jeff mason. thank you for joining us so early. once again the president discrediting thehe fbi, not surprised by that. amid reports that a counter intelligence investigation wasul launched about him. what do you make of this? what is is alluding to? it's part of the president's playbook to discredit the fbi. he's been doing that, really for some time since coming in to the white house and being upset about these investigations and these allegations from day one. it's really part of his playbook to do that. it's also yesterday a reflection of his own anger and irritation over the reporting that was done

over the weekend and this is his expression. we don't know where he got that number and if he specifically has a thought of more people who are going to go or if that's a continuation of his thinking in general that there are people at the fbi who have it out for him that he would like see usual toerd t -- ushered to the door. today you have william barrm expecting to go through his first dave confirmation hearings as attorney general. what do you think we'll see play out today? >> you'll see lawmakers on the democratic side ande perhaps o the republican side as well press him over the mueller probe. we did see as you reported

earlier, his expected remarks in which he's going to assure lawmakers he'll let the probe continue and also his suggestion or his belief that the results of that probe should be made public.ma but you'll absolutely see people press him on that including some, i suspect, who will suggest that he should be taking himself out of the probe all together. clearly he's not going to do that. i think he would have made that clear in his opening testimony already. but he will be pressed to show his support for it, and to go beyond really what are his opening remarks and saying that he'll let the probe play out and will support it. >> very quickly, do we expect this to be civil or perhaps go along theap lines of the brett kavanaugh hearing where there's passion and emotion? >> good question. i don't think this compares to om the brett kavanaugh hearing in terms we're notna talking about lifetime appointment.

but there are a lot of emotions andar passions about this subje. i think we'll probably be civil. >> thanks. we'll talk to you in a little bit. still ahead republican congressman steve king is now facing backlash over recent comments he made about white supremacy from within his own member. we'll show you how members of his own party responded. >> the lavish and questionable spending by donald trump's inaugural committee ahead of his 2017 swearing in. those stories and a check of your weather when weback.

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unanimous decision from the republican steering committee to remove king from all committee assignments. house minority leader kevin mccarthy met with king yesterday and said he informed him of the news. mccarthy was also asked if he thinks the iowa republican should resign. >> the voters of his district make those decisions. i think the action of this conference, we believe has been swift action because we don't believe in his words. the republican party was founded by the very first president abraham lincoln. those are not words that associate anything with this party or this conference. >> congressman king released a statement suggesting his comments were taken out of context. quote leader mccarthy's decision to remove me from committees is a political decision that ignores the truth. he adds, ultimately i told him you have to do what you have to do and i will do what i have to

do. i will continue to point out the truth and work with all the vigor that i have to represent my colleagues for the next two years. >> mitch mcconnell said there's no place in the republican party, the congress or the country for an ideology of racial supremacy of any kind. i have no tolerance for such positions and those who espouse these views are not supporters of american ideals and freedom. there was also this reaction from republican senator tim scott and mitt romney. >> for me it's not about the republican party. steve king's comments is ant s anti-thetical to the american

spirit. >> steve king's comments are reprehensible. they should have no place in the united states congress. he ought to resign and move on and let someone else who represent american values take his seat. >> many republican senators heard condemned king throughout the day the president who is a consumer of news had this response early yesterday morning. >> i haven't been following it. i really haven't been following it. >> and president trump's daughter ivanka is said to help lead the process of selecting the next wiretap of the world bank. avan okay will aide steve mnuchkin and mick mulvaney in the decision-making process. any nominee will need approval from the world bank's executive board of directors stating the candidate must be committed to multi-nationalism. the white house says ivanka is not currently a candidate for the position, contrary to

reports from last week. the world bank's former president jim young kim who was nominated by president obama resigned last week well before his term was set to end in 2022. >> let's get a morning boost from our meteorologist bill karins. >> i'm right here. >> give it to us. >> wake us up. >> all right. we're not sure what you're drinking, either. let's get into these maps. we're watching the rain in california. a huge story over the next couple of days. there's some evacuations taking place in the mountains outside of l.a.. they are expecting eight inches of rain in the next three to four days. it's over the burn scars from the fire. so, total rainfall amounts, this is just through wednesday. two piece storm. one going in today. another one wednesday into thursday. but the areas of ved about three inches of rainfall. again, debris and mudslide. let's fast forward. this storm will make its way

across the country. blue shows the snow. plenty of snow in the intermountain west on thursday. on friday the snow out to the central plains from omaha. chicago late friday night into saturday. notice the green and yellow this is all rain and thunderstorms. the snow is primarily interstate 70 northward on saturday. northwestern new england. it appears now a warmer solution much of i-95 come sunday morning that's heavy rain from raleigh to d.c. to new york to boston. snow primarily northern new england and then maybe a little bit on the back side guys. as far as snowfall accumulations go highest totals in the ohio valley and northern new england. >> is that enough boost for you? a little. >> got to do better. i told her it was going to rain instead of snow. >> i was thinking of 80 and sunny. >> still ahead president trump welcomes the clemson tigers to the white house.

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rebounds. missed a go ahead foul shot the end of regulation that sent the game into overtime. syracuse beats duke 95-91. you see the look of disbelief on duke fans faces. in houston a historic night for james harden who put a whopping 57 point on the board including a franchise record 36 in the first half of the roberts 112-94 win over the grizzlies. harden notches his 17th consecutive 30 plus point game. the longest streak since wilt chamberlain went 20 straight with 30 points back in 1964. wow. finally president trump put on a fast food feast for the ncaa champion clemson tigers as he welcomed the football team to the white house yesterday. ahead of the event the president

teased the smorgasboard throughout the day while blaming the government shutdown for a lack of catering staff due to fact that they've been furloughed. take a listen to this. >> i think we're going to serve mcdonald's, wendy's and burger king with some pizza. i really mean it. it will be interesting. i would think that's their favorite food. because of the shutdown, as you know, we have the great clemson team with us, national champions. so we went off and we ordered american fast food. paid for by me. >> before letting the team have at the food the president showed off piles of pizza, fries and more than 300 burgers. >> do you prefer mcdonald's or wendy's? >> i like them all. if it's american i like it. it's all american stuff. but it's good stuff. >> and the president didn't stop there also offering this football scouting report for one of the members of his cabinet.

>> joining us today we have a few of our biggest fans, secretary of the treasury steve mnuchkin. where's steve? never make your team that i can tell you. >> gees, really dressing down mnuchkin there. >> is he saying he's not athletic. >> i think that's exactly what he's saying. >> we'll leave it at that. snoof all the options, splurging with the fast food there. >> is that what you're going to do for two weeks while your wife is away is splurge on fast food? >> if i can afford it. we'll see. >> still ahead new polling shows what voters think of the government shutdown and who they are blaming for the stalemate. >> tens of thousands of teachers in los angeles are preparing to strike for a second day. what they are demanding and how it can impact students in the nation's second largest school

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welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. it is the bottom of the hour. let start with the morning's top stories. >> the government shunned rolls on as we enter 25 of the ongoing stalemate and while pressure continues to mount for lawmakers to re-open the government talks to do so aren't moving very much. nbc news chief white house correspondent hallie jackson has more. >> reporter: good morning to you. this morning we're now entering day 25 of what is now the

longest government shutdown ever. and with no negotiators around the table president trump is now taking options off of it. he's rejected a plan that would have temporarily re-opened government for a few weeks and threw some serious cold water on the idea he would declare a national emergency any time soon. it's all happening as yet another new poll shows that more americans blame president trump and republicans than democrats for this shutdown. but for now no sign it will end any time soon. back to you. a new poll of voters from quinnipiac university are blaming president trump for the shutdown. 56% of registered voters think trump and the republican party is at fault while 36% blame the democrats. voters largely oppose shutting down the government in order to force funding for trump's wall. 63% of 32. by a two to one margin voters are backing a democratic

proposal to open up part of the government that do not involve border security while negotiating funding for the wall. when asked who they trust more to secure the border, 49% of americans say democrats in congress compared to 44% who say they trust president trump. while speaking to farmers at an annual convention yesterday, president trump said his supporters are not as vocal and that his administration knows what it's doing. >> a lot of people went to the polls, they voted for trump. they said we don't want to talk about it. then we won. we won two years ago in november. we won. and everybody -- they are still trying to figure out what happened. we don't have to talk about it. we know what we're doing. >> the "daily beast" said the special prosecutors in new york are looking at a meeting then involving david nunes and michael flynn with foreign officials at the trump hotel in washington, d.c. days before inauguration. the report says that nunes who

has not been accused of any wrongdoing was among the 60 guests present at a breakfast which wording to three sources is under scrutiny and a probe whether the trump gnawing raul committee misspent funds. they asked flynn about the event. as the investigation and potential foreign money in the inaugural funds appear. a lawyer for flynn declined to comment for the report and nunes office did not respond to repeated request for comment. an update on the latest 2020 democratic prospects. vermont senator bernie sanders is weighing another run for the white house having already tapped a few media savvy alumni who were key to his 2016 movement. sanders is looking to recruit the production company that helped launched congresswoman alexandria occasio-cortez's campaign. it's the latest sign that sanders will run in 2020

according to four people familiar with the senator's thinking. fresh off his presidential campaign announcement, julian castro hit the campaign trail yesterday. his first stop san juan, puerto rico to survey the damage and continued struggle in some community after hurricane maria. castro spent i had visit meeting with locals and berating president trump's response to the devastation there saying trump worked less time to restore the island. white house correspondent for reuters, jeff mason. i want to talk about the polling numbers we put out there earlier. a lot of americans blaming the president and the republicans for the shutdown as we continue with this thing. how do you think, if at all, really, this shutdown could hurt trump's re-election chances in 2020? >> well, we are still far away from 2020, although it doesn't always feel that way with a bunch of democrats entering the field for the presidential

contest. . but it absolutely could hurt him the longer this continues. the president has said that he's willing to keep the government shutdown for months or even years. he's only got about two years left in his term. i don't think anyone imagines this will last that long. the longer it lasts the more that polling will continue to suggest, to continue that trend where more and more americans blame him for it. that said i think it's important to note that though the white house no doubt is seeing that polling it's emphasizing or paying attention to other parts of it in which his base in which president trump noted in his speech to the farmers yesterday continue to support him and even furloughed workers who are either having to work without pay or who are not getting any pay, who are not working and not getting paid right now continue to support him for doing, drawing a line in the sand about the wall. >> jeff, let me get your thoughts about iowa songman

steve kin -- congressman steve king's future look like. he's not going to be able to do much other than vote. . but what is his future within the republican party and as a member of congress today? >> well it's tough to say. certainly as a member of congress not being a part of those committees removes him from an important part of what it means to be a lawmaker in washington. but as far as what his future holds that's up to the people of iowa and as this controversy continues to hurt him and other republicans it may be that republicans in iowa decide not to send him back. >> jeff, we're doing an informal poll. what's your fast food joint? mcdonald's, burger king or weren'ty's? >> i'll go with some place that serves pizza. >> jeff mason, live in washington, d.c. thanks, buddy. we'll see you later on "morning joe". one day after threatening to

devastate turkey economically president trump tospoke with erdogan yesterday and advised where we stand on all matters including our last two weeks of fighting isis. the president debuted his 20 mile safe zone which included a threat against turkey. apparently in reference to the u.s. allied kurdish forces in syria which has done much of the on the ground fighting against isis. turkey considers the kurdish force terrorists and has vowed to attack them once u.s. troops leave the area secretary of state mike pompeo was asked about the situation yesterday during a stop in riyadh, saudi arabia as part of his middle east trip. take a listen. >> the president's aim there, i think, is the one that we have been talking about for some time, which is that we want to make sure that the folks who fought with us to take down the caliphate in isis have security

and also that terrorists acting out of syria aren't able to attack turkey. and so, the precise methodology by which we'll achieve that, that security for both of those elements along that border is something we're still working on. >> what did he mean by economic dafgs? >> you have to ask him. we've applied sanctions in many places. i suppose he's speaking about those kinds of things. >> those comments came after performance met with saudi arabian king and the crown prince. >> every single person who has responsibility for the murder of jamal khashoggi needs to be held accountable. and the crown prince -- i spoke about thinks with king salman as well -- they both acknowledged that that accountability needed to take place. >> did he until describe it as a rogue operation? >> i won't talk about the

details of the conversation. the expectations we set for them are very clear. the united states relationship is with the kingdom of saudi arabia. that's who our partner is. that's who our strategically shared interest is with. and where friends think the evidence has fallen short i was very clear and candid about those. things where america is not satisfied, where they are not meeting our expectations. america may not be doing everything. this is how friend engage. >> murdering a journalist is a little more than falling short to say the least. pompeo is expected to hold talks with his north korean counterpart in washington later this week. according to south korean media to focus on the second kim-trump summit. >> teachers in one major city hit the picket line for the first time in decades leaving thousands of students in limbo. >> new questions how dollars for president trump's inauguration were spent.

>> bill karins is back and will give us another boost with a check on the weather. >> a real big one. weather >> a real big one. one-millionth order. millionth order. ♪ there goes our first big order. ♪ 44, 45, 46... how many of these did they order? ooh, that's hot. ♪ you know, we could sell these. nah. ♪

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we're learning new details about president trump's inauguration and some of the questionable ways money raised for it was spent. according to the "new york times" citing records of people familiar with those payment, private donors gave a total of $107 million for the celebration. but according to the "times," millions of dollars were written off as loss revenue including nearly $6.5 million for blocks of hotel rooms for guests who ended up arranging their own accommodations. another $1.2 million that the inauguration ration expected to get back never came through. the "times" said the trump international hotel paid $1.5 million for services including the use of a ballroom and annex and a space called the

townhouse. information close friend of the first lady was initially signed to a $1.6 million contract for her firm to oversee broadcast rights for the event and to work on the documentary project. while the idea was to sell the rights to a major distributor it was later abandoned. the "times" says there's no indication of any investigation into the inaugural committee spending and they are free to spend money raised from private donations as they wish. >> los angeles teachers began their first strike in 30 years leaving schools at a standstill and leaving kids in limbo. and estimated 20,000 teachers and supporters took to the streets demanding smaller class sizes, more support staff, higher wages, greater accountability for charter schools as well. the strike flooded downtown free-throws as teacher marched from city hall to school district headquarters and picketed at 900 schools across

the nation's second largest school district. according to attendance estimates only a third of students showed up to school as skeletal staff tried to fill in for some 31,000 teaches, nurse, libra librarian, counselors. the strike is scheduled to continue today. it follows a string of successful teacher strikes and comes after 20 months of l.a. negotiati negotiations. to new talks have been schedule and schools will remain open. let's bring in bill karins for a check on your weather. you saw in those images all those people, all those protesters and teachers with umbrellas. >> yesterday i went and called up the los angeles forecast and you never see like five days in a row with rain in it in los angeles. this is one of the rainiest weeks they've seen in a long time and problems in the mountains. yesterday we had interstate 5

closed down at one point because of snow in the high elevations and some evacuations because of possibility of mud and debris flows. so we're storm free from the rockies to atlantic. all of our attention slides out here to the pacific. no storms. one we're dealing with, brought rain. 3,000 miles from the east coast. this still has to go coast to coast. exits new england friday night. this one will bring us the very heavy snow and ice and rain for the eastern seaboard by the time we get to about sunday. again a long ways away. let's go into the rain forecast. this chart goes up to seven inches of rain. in the sierra neff mountains that's where the heaviest rain is. outside of los angeles up to seven inches of rain. one of the most significant rain events they've seen in a couple of years. that's why they are worried about flooding concerns. snow will be measured in feet throughout portions of the central nevada most especially

by tahoe and yosemite. as far as wind damage, windiest day is wednesday into thursday. here's the bottom line, guys for the snow. the european model is now saying the heaviest batch of snow possible friday, saturday and sunday in between chicago, indianapolis, pittsburgh to buffalo, north of new york city for northwestern new england. d.c., new york, boston, as of now looks like mainly a rain storm. we'll update that as the week progresses. more on the government shutdown as one agency looks to resume work to keep american's food safe. >> warning that automotive leaders are sending to the president that they say are hurting the industry. esident th hurting the industry - yup would you be surprised to hear that honda is the most reliable car company? honda's reliable. well actually, it's not honda. really? what!? - toyota! it's not toyota either. chevy! based on a nationwide survey, chevy is more reliable than toyota and honda. wow! get $4,500 total cash allowance

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as problems from the government shutdown mount and trade tensions reescalate, auto industry leaders are urging the white house to end the turmoil saying the political uncertainty is taking its toll. julianna joins us from london with more. good morning. >> good morning, louis. yesterday auto executives gathered if detroit for the auto show and we heard calls from various executives from the u.s. government to end the government shutdown, as well as find a resolution on u.s.-china trade. fiat chrysler ceo said the u.s. metal tariffs will raise costs

from $135 to $160 a vehicle. toyota said they have had to raise prices three times due to the higher tariff costs and gm and ford are also taking financial hits as a result of u.s. steel and aluminum tariffs, so collectively calling on the government to find a resolution. the ford executive team say they feel the company opinions are being heard by u.s. trade represent robert lighthouser. i want to give you a quick update on where we stand on the government shutdown impact. we discussed earlier this week the impact at airports. we are still hearing there are long lines at various airports, two or three hours sometimes when it comes to waiting in security. farmers cannot get their crop reports, which means it's difficult to decide what to plant, this on top of the impact they're feeling from the

u.s./china trade. the impact continues to be felt across the united states. >> 25 days into it and a lot of people across the country really feeling it. it's taking its toll. thanks so much. >> coming up, we have axios' "1 big thing." >> and president trump's rebuttal into the report, calling them scoundrels and dirty cops. >> coming up, "morning joe" just moments away. up, "morning joe" t moments away

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mccammond. >> right out of the gate we're seeing democratic women announcing in droves. they're coming out of the gate early and making these announcements. we saw it start with elizabeth warren from massachusetts, kamala harris from california, kirsten gillibrand from new york are all expected to announce soon. nancy pelosi is speaker of the house, alexandria ocasio-cortez is dominating and women are outnumbering men. >> and senator amy klobuchar will be on "morning joe." >> let's see if she makes any news.

>> what's the likelihood a woman gets the nomination? >> we have a lot of time before the nomination process starts so anything can happen. i think the 2018 midterm elections are a good indicator of the movement we can expect to see behind the cycle. we know that progressives are going to reward these women who have these bold, confident, outspoken ideas for a future than is more functional than they've been seeing in the past two years from president trump. >> so let's talk about bernie sanders, some have said he's more of an elderly statesman, he is the heart and soul of this kind of democratic socialist progress of movement, not necessarily a presidential contender. talk to you about what you guys have learned about whether or not he's leaning towards running and whether he's under pressure not to run. >> my colleague from axios, mike allen, talked to a ic operative

it's nuts that bernie sanders is considering running for president. the source said they thought it would be terrible for his personal political brand, his politics in vermont and it's a different time than it was in 2016. i think there's a lot of unresolved feelings from 2016 for someone look bernie sanders but the party is moving past his ideals in a lot of ways. in an interview recently, it was said that bernie sanders is not in line with the politics of the democratic party. >> let's say bernie sanders doesn't run. how would they want him to position himself? at the end of the day he did have a lot of support in 2016. >> you're right, he did have a lot of support in 2016. there are still a number of supporters who love bernie sanders, who are throwing house parties, signing petitions

trying to encourage him to run. we know bernie sanders is staffing up for a possible run. it still looks like he's going to run. in the off chance he doesn't, i think his supporters will push him to stay at the forefront of the leelection, and to be an outspoken progressive and socialist voice for the democratic party as they're heading in to this consequential election. >> it leads to the big question when you're looking at names who haven't made significant momentum, beto o'rourke and joe biden. talk about what you think might happen going into 2020. >> it seems from reporting and different conversations people have had that joe biden is considering a run for president. i would be surprised if he didn't run. that's how i feel with beto o'rourke. he has this moment and this enthusiasm behind him that i think comes around only once in

a politician's lifetime. i think it would make sense for him to certainly throw his hat in the ringf for 2020. >> you, too, can sign up for the newsletter. >> that does it for us on this tuesday morning. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian and louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. >> my favorite song, "young, gi gifted and black" by arete a franklin. anything by too short. too short! a song would be "humble" by kendrick lamar. i work out in the morning, everybody morning. folks wanted to know a song i listen to while working out. i don't. i watch