struggling with its own internal direction going into 2020, and is playing out on the campaign trail, where a new poll out of iowa today appears to confirm that joe biden would command significant support in that key primary state, despite not making a single campaign stop, because he hasn't even declared yet. the new des moines register poll has the former vice president currently leading among likely democratic caucus voters with vermont senator bernie sanders at a close second. and at a distant third and fourth, senators elizabeth warren and kamala harris respectively. at number five is former congressman beto o'rourke, who is also unannounced. the optics of the moderate veteran comfortably leading most

progressive candidates already on the ground has some questioning just how far left democratic voters may be willing to go to beat president trump. joining me now onset, dean abdela, column inconsistent for the daily beast and host of the dean abdela show. and in milwaukee, charles sykes, editor-in-chief of the bull walk and msnbc contributor. dean, you do a progressive radio show. and there are those that are considered far left and left and liberal. how far left is the democratic party willing to go, and how far left, if you feel at all, is too far to win a general election, but you can win primaries? i mean, this is a question being debated. >> sure.

because the energy is on the left wing of the democratic party. >> right. >> and i have the privilege of speaking to progressives every night on my show who call. and i can tell you, people like joe biden. nobody calls to talk about joe biden. they call to talk about the more progressive people. senator harris, senator sanders. talk about elizabeth warren. those are the ones they get the most calls about. but there is a pragmatism on our side that is giving the way to purity. and i think it's progressive privatism over progressive purity. 55% of democrats said their number one priority, nominating someone to beat trump.logy. keep in mind, we want to win, beat trump. but in the primaries, we want to hear bold, progressive visions and i don't think it's about going too far left. it's about medicare for all, raising minimum wage, those kind of fundamental issues. >> but charlie, the reality is that you can say things in a primary that will come back in a

general election. and i think that the real question -- and i know this from my own race in the presidential primaries of '04. you've got to look at the general while you are running in the primaries, and as we have -- as dean puts out this puritan test, that can be something that if not navigated carefully, can end up helping the opposition, if your focus is to unseat mr. trump. >> well, that's exactly right. and, of course, adena is right when he says it's a choice between pragmatism and purity. let me give the perspective from the republican side of the ledger, what i'm hearing. the trump folks are -- look, donald trump has had a terrible run, and yet we're focused on these divisions of the democratic party. they think that the democrats by moving hard left on issues like reparation, court packing, the green new deal, on abortion, a

variety of issues, are writing their ads for them. they think that that is going to give them the theme they're going to run against socialism. and then what i'm also hearing from more center right trump skeptical republicans is this real fear that if the democrats run too far to the left, that they will have to hold their nose. and, look, if you want to beat donald trump, don't play into his playbook. look at the midterm elections. the democrats picked up 40 seats in the house of representatives, and most of those 40 seats were won by cte l pragmatic moderate republicans. they were not running hard left. they did not scare. this election will be decided i michigan, wisconsin and some of those suburban areas where m. >> i think that's an important point, dean. because i think part of what the right wing media has done is act

as though the people that won in the midterm election, democrats, are all these so-called fire-breathing leftists. when they're not. there was in this freshman class a diversity of views, and even ages. >> sure. i mean, in new jersey, where i'm originally from, there were more centrist democrats who flipped districts that had been red. so to flip those districts, if you're weighing way to the left -- i think we're getting ahe ahead of ourselves in the media. i understand why. are the democrats going too left. in june, we're going to see, candidates explaining their issues moving the democratic base. we want to win. at the same time, we want democrats to talk about medicare for all. we can debate how you implement that. but health care is the number one issue among democrats. >> right. >> in that new poll you posted, health care was far and away -- 90% of democrats going, that's our top issue. and it goes from there. so there is a pragmatism. we kind of threw in an aspirational message. doesn't mean they're going to turn every idea into policy.

we get that. but democrats want to be moved. they want to feel like, i want to go out and knock on doors and make phone calls, help this person. and you can't -- if you're going to run in the center -- again, joe biden is well-liked by people who call my show. but nobody calls to go i can't wait for biden to get in there. democrats love the liberal mixture. >> the polling shows he has a lot of support as well. >> sure. >> and i think the other thing that a lot of people are cautioning, and i among them, is really what you are saying, dean, run on the issues. because when you start saying who is going to run center, who is going to run left, who is going to run far left, you get trapped into slogans or names rather than run on the issue. because you have some people that don't think senator harris is progressive enough, and you mentioned her. so i think that rather than live up to a label, we ought to be saying to the democrats and the republicans, what are your positions on these issues. charlie.

>> well, yes. absolutely. in fact, you know, one of the questions i think that both democrats and people in the media have to ask themselves, going back to my previous point, why are we not talking about the centrist democrats who won in these swing districts, like an gail spanberger from virginia, and conor lamb from pennsylvania. they broke the code, right? they had the secret sauce. how to win these elections. why are they not the face of the democratic party going into 2020 as opposed to elon omar and aoc, who are compelling personalities but not necessarily representative of the democrats that win in these swing districts. >> now, dean, let me go back to something charlie said earlier. in terms of part of what the slogans and commercials that the republicans are going to use, so socialism. >> sure. >> i find it ironic that a president that is under investigation for colluding with communists with putin would

accuse others of being socialists. i don't know anybody that's being accused of doing something for the interest of socialism or communists that are in the democratic party at all. i mean, why are the democrats even allowing that to be the debate? it would be easy to say nobody is accusing me of dealing with putin. >> i agree with you. and i've had a conversation with democrat strategists, how do you deal with the right wing point which we know trump gave at the state of the union. it will be democrats and socialists. first of all, there is no democrat actually advocating socialism, which is the government takeover of all of the means of production of our nation. that's not true. but the democratic party has been attacked by the right forever, being socialist. medicare, they call socialism, 1960s. look at our party. our party, social security, medicare, medicaid, children health insurance program, aca. our vision of this nation is government can help you. the right's vision of this nation is government can help the wealthy. we have a green new deal. people can debate it. the gop's green new deal is giving more green to the wealthy

and to corporations so they can line their super pacs and their campaign donations. so let's be honest. what is the republicans' offer to this nation? more tax cuts for the wealthy? more taxes for corporations? higher deficits? and then they're going to come back and then say we have to cut the safety net programs? we are the party, the democrats are the party, the ones that help our fellow americans out. if they want to call medicare socialism, go ahead. they want to call medicaid socialism -- go ahead. >> it's also what they're trying to do, the sloganeering, because you had those that said i'm for affordable but not for obamacare, because they were told obamacare is bad when the affordable care act was what we call the obamacare legislation. but let me ask you this. one way that some are saying to balance this is to have someone like a biden and someone that has the energy of the more progressive or far left crowd, a combined ticket. how do you respond to that, charlie?

>> yeah, well, obviously, if you're donald trump sitting in the white house, that is the worst-case scenario for you. to have a centrist, experienced candidate at the top of the ticket and then somebody who can energize the base as dean was describing before in the number two slot. there is no question about that. now, whether or not the democratic party with the process of what is it now, 86 candidates running, it's going to come up with that, i really don't -- i really don't know. but yet this is one of the things that's going to be important for democrats to say, look, the caricature that the trump white house is going to paint is going to be people who hate america, hate capitalism, hate all of these things. and i think if you come out and say, look, we actually want to solve problems, practically. we want to address what's going on. we want to provide an alternative to the cruelty and the corruption of the trump administration. you know, there is -- you know, make america good, make america decent again. that i think is going to appeal to voters, as opposed to, okay,

i really dislike everything that trump does. but trump is a known evil, don't scare me with something that is unknown. and i think that's the line. you can be bold, but also understand where the voters are. there's a lot of voters who -- look, remember what the polls were, how unpopular trump was before november. and yet he won that election in the electoral college, because the alternative was perceived to be -- >> you have to speak to -- >> binary choice. >> you have to speak to the needs and the pain of people. >> sure. >> and talk to them about them and not get caught up in these ideological purist kind of positions. >> i agree. but the idea that far left -- to me, that's a talking point from the right. is medicare for all far left? a majority of americans support it. even republicans. it's a question of how do you implement that? the idea is that we're considered far left 2016. bernie sanders someone brought up. they became mainstream. so i don't think far left is the answer any more. we want people to have a reason to vote for democrats.

and it's policy, not just anti trump. >> well, i try to tell people every day, i'm a conservative. i'm trying to conserve the voting rights act, civil rights act. i'm very conservative. it is the far others that are trying to undo what a lot of things that were done. my panel is sticking around. but up first, my next guest announced this week he is not running for president. and we want to know why. that's next on "politics nation." tics nation." (woman) what should we do with it first? (man) road trip. (woman) yes. (woman) off-road trip. (couple) [laughter] (couple vo) whoa! (man) how hot is the diablo chili? (waitress) well. you've got to sign a waiver. [laughter] (ranger) you folks need bear repellent? (woman) ah, we're good. (man) yes. (vo) it's a big world. our new forester just made it even bigger. (woman) so what should we do second? (vo) the 2019 subaru forester. the most adventurous forester ever.

today i'm announcing that i am not running for president. i believe that there are democrats now in the presidential race who are speaking to the importance of tackling the big challenges we face. >> you heard it right, senator jeff merkley of oregon opting out of a 2020 presidential nomination. avoiding what could have been a bid against some more famous names in the democratic field. it was a week when a few others announced they're not running. michael bloomberg, former mayor of new york city. eric holder, former u.s. attorney general and senator sherrod brown of ohio. the oregon senator says he will now focus on his senate re-election campaign and continue to fight the great crisis facing america.

senator merkley, welcome to "politics nation." i want to get into an issue that you are in florida about today. but let me ask you, now that you've opted out of the race, what kind of candidate do you think the democratic party needs to beat donald trump in 2020? >> last year when i was traveling all over the country, helping people run for office and asking about their concerns, really what came from that was commentary on three big crises we face. and one is a democracy crisis. it's gerrymandering, it's voter suppression, which has been used to keep minority communities from voting, college students from voting, the poor from voting. and it's the dark money in campaigns. that's the democracy crisis. that's resulting in government vying for the powerful, rather than the people. we stood the whole constitution on its head and we have to reclaim that vision that we were founded on. and the second big crisis is

family opportunity crisis. the core issues that provide a family with the ability to thrive, and i certainly saw these growing up. i'm a blue collar kid, still living the same blue collar community. it's housing and health care and education and good-paying jobs. just no substitute for good-paying jobs. and those are being totally ignored by the republicans. and being totally ignored by our nation. we have had four decades in which really the status of working people has been level or declining. and the third big crisis, it's the carbon pollution climate crisis. we see big impacts in the northwest with fires, big impacts with more powerful hurricanes, here where i am right now in florida. and everything else in between. and it's a problem that just gets worse with every year and can't easily be fixed. we have to respond quickly now. >> so you are saying that they must focus on the issues and these are the things you heard as you traveled around the country.

do you fear that there will be this kind of internal fight in the democratic party that they could blow it against president trump and if so, how do we avoid tha that? will you welcome debate, because i certainly think there needs to be debate. but how do you have debate where it does not become so hostile that when the debate is over and you choose a nominee, that you can't bring the party back together again? >> you know, what i've seen in the senate with so many people thinking about running, it has been a very decent and gracious between those pondering running, so sharing different ideas, collaborating on different ideas, different bills. testing ideas with each other. i hope that's the type of primary we see. because if we tear each other down and leave this country in the hands of trump for another four years, god save us all. we cannot let that happen. >> and i think that one of the

things that i'm hearing, as i move around the country, it is not just trump the person, but it's trump policies. trump in many ways is moving to try and eliminate, if not eliminate where he can a lot of the things that this country made progress in, in terms of dealing with jobs and dealing with not having the rich get these crazy tax breaks and dealing with things like criminal justice system that's fair. and voting rights. so it is not just trump who is -- appears abrasive as a personality, but his policies. they are stacking the federal courts with judges that are scary to many of us in the civil rights community. >> absolutely. his signature bill was to raid the national treasury for $1.5 trillion. $2 trillion if you include interest, and distribute to the

wealthiest americans. i hold a lot of town halls and it will be up to 400 by the end of this year. i've never had somebody come to a town hall and say i have this great idea. raid the national treasury and give away the money to the richest americans. no. americans want to see investment in housing, in health care, in education, in infrastructure, job creation. and it just is so frustrating to see trump proceed to do what happens in corrupt countries. when i talk about the democracy crisis, those things have real results. the stacking of the gerrymandering, the voter suppression. they result in government buy-in for those inside a very small circle of privilege and power. and what they are doing as a result, they are raiding the treasury, they are riching themselves. it is corruption we should never see in a democratic republic. and we have to take that on. and return the focus to the opportunity for every person to thrive in this country. >> you're in florida tonight,

this evening, and you're dealing with trying to shut down the child of prison camp act. tell us about that, and why you think it's important, your presence is there to move on this. >> yes. so as of december, trump had built a system and had 15,000 migrant children locked up in prisons across this country. 15,000. unbelievable. i went down to torenio in december, we found out half children had sponsors but hadn't been released by the trump administration to go where they should be. they belong in homes and schools and playgrounds, not behind barbed wire in a trump prison camp. well, we held a press conference right there before christmas, we said shut this down, release these children, and amazingly, the administration did. but the next biggest camp is the one here in homestead. it's been there -- they have

been adding 1,000 beds to it, to increase it from 1,350 kids to 2,350 kids. they now have about 1,600. i'll get the exact new numbers tomorrow. but these kids are staying here far more than the 20 days allowed under the flores settlement. this place is not regulated by the state. the feds are not doing the background checks on whether the staff have any record of mistreating children. we now have information that there's been 4,500 complaints in this child prison system of children being abused. >> 4,500 complaints? of children being abused on federal property held by the united states government. >> well, in this entire system. >> okay. >> in this entire system of migrant child prisons, yes. >> now, the likelihood of getting this dealt with in homestead and getting this legislation passed, what do you

think? >> well, it all depends on the response of the american people. when i first went down and found out about the child separation june of last year, was almost arrested outside brownsville when they brought in the police cars because they didn't want me knocking on their door asking for access to see what was going on. that proceeded to -- mostly on child separation. not completely. we now know several hundred more kids have been separated by the trump administration from their parents. when we focused attention on tornio, it was shut down. so it needs the american people to keep understanding that this mistreatment of children -- this is based on a very evil strategy. this is the trump administration saying, we want to deter families from coming to america. so if we mistreat them, treat them like criminals, separate kids from their parents, lock up kids in child prisons, have internment camps for entire families when we've got three in our country now, if we do that, well, that will be a good policy. it will deter people from

coming. a political strategy based on mistreating children is an evil, dark thing, and it belongs nowhere in the history or the current life or the future life of america. >> all right. i'm going to have to leave it there. thank you so much, senator merkley. >> thank you, rev. >> in less than a month, the senator will be joining me and many others at the 28th annual national convention of national action network. it's a gathering of civil rights activists, stakeholders and 2020 presidential candidates. we'll examine the state of civil liberties and racial justice today. among the speakers and pan panelists, 2020 presidential candidates, senator cory booker, kirsten gillibrand, kamala harris, amy klobuchar, bernie sanders, elizabeth warren, mayor pete budde edge, john delaney and other notables such as stacy abrams, valerie jarrett, eric

holder. representatives karen bass, lucy mcbath, gregory meeks, and alexandria ocasio-cortez. go online and register. it's all free. that's april 3 to the 6th in new york city. coming up, for some reason, two dozen house republicans oppose an anti hate resolution. and i think i know why. that's next. naysayer said no one would subscribe to a car the way they subscribe to movies. we don't follow the naysayers. ♪ ♪

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and preparing a go kit, in case you need to get out quickly. for more information on how to be prepared and keep your family safe, visit pge.com/safety. and now for this week's gotcha. which may be my easiest one yet. because this week, congress voted in favor of a resolution condemning, quote, anti-semitism, islam phobia, racism and other forms of bigotry. sounds easy, right? well, guess what? 23 republicans voted against it. why? some of those republicans who voted no tried saying they oppose discrimination and bigotry, but they were more upset that the resolution did not single out congresswoman ilhan omar for comments

criticizing some supporters of israel. but she voted in favor of this resolution, despite the backlash. guess who didn't? iowa congressman, steve king, who has already been rebuked by the house for his comments on white supremacy, was the only lawmaker to vote present. maybe because voting for the resolution would be a vote condemning his own actions. either way, you could have condemned her comments if you disagreed and still voted for this resolution. the fact that democratic parties spent days fighting over how to handle this and when it finally came to a vote, shall the republicans were the ones who couldn't unite. this is actually very simple. at a time when bigotry and hate crimes are on the rise, with a president who is promoting white nationalists and the likes, all 23 of you could have led by example, and voted yes.

but then that takes courage. rev understands. but the next time you want to have a partisan fight about hate speech, at least make sure your entire party is behind you, because if there's one thing i hate, it's cowards. in the meantime, resolve to unite behind this. i gotcha. i gotcha the way they subscribe to movies. we don't follow the naysayers. ♪ ♪ at&t provides edge-to-edge intelligence, covering virtually every part of your healthcare business. so that if she has a heart problem & the staff needs to know, they will & they'll drop everything can you take a look at her vitals? & share the data with other specialists yeah, i'm looking at them now. & they'll drop everything hey. & take care of this baby yeah, that procedure seems right. & that one too. at&t provides edge to edge intelligence. it can do so much for your business, the list goes on and on.

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conventional wisdom says you can't make a 400 horsepower sedan, that's also environmentally conscious. we don't follow conventional wisdom. ♪ ♪ welcome back. as i mentioned just before the

break, we have seen a power struggle play out for the last month, and been reported as between older and newer guards of house democrats. minnesota congresswoman ilhan omar's comments about some supporters of israel. the fallout from which prompted the house to pass a resolution on thursday, ultimately condemning all hate. and while democrats voted in solidarity for the measure, its path to passage illustrated a delicate relationship between some of the party leaders and some freshmen members pushing the caucus in a more progressive direction. joining me now, two months into her first term, democratic connecticut congresswoman johannah hayes. thank you for being with us, congresswoman. let me ask you -- >> thank you for having me. >> let me ask you this, because i think that there's a false narrative that is being

perpetrated by some segments of the media. and that is that the incoming freshmen, i think 40 that won last year, democrats, are not monolithic. they're old, they're young, they're liberal, they're progressive, they're far left. i mean, i think they act like it's one block. and i think that there's disagreement on some issues, even among the new freshmen. is that not right? >> that's absolutely right. oftentimes they talk about us as if we are one person that, like you said, we're a monolith. or just because we're in the same room or standing next to each other that we share the same ideas. i think we all got elected on very different platforms. we all represent very different communities and all of those communities are important. and every single one of us in our own way brings the voices of those communities forward. >> now, as a elected

congresswoman from connecticut, you look at this country, and you have a real finger on the pulse of people. what do you think are the issues -- let's forget the labels. far left, far right. the issues that are most concerning to your constituents and to the broader national constituents if the democratic party is going to unite in a way that can take on president trump. >> well, in my district in connecticut 5, it's a very diverse community. we have urban centers. we have rural farming communities. we have manufacturing cities. we have some of the wealthiest and some of the poorest communities in the country. and overwhelmingly, people care about health care. they care about the future of health care. when i was campaigning, people wanted to know about education and infrastructure. gun reform was a top priority for many people in my district and in my community. and i'm happy to say that despite what you hear reported

about division within the party, we have been singularly focused on those issues we ran on. we pass hr-1. we passed hr-8 and hr-11-12 for gun reform. we passed the voting reform. in my committee on education and labor, paycheck fairness, raising the minimum wage. $100 billion school infrastructure bill. for the first time, we had the secretary kirstjen nielsen, in to answer those questions about caging children at the border. so despite what people are saying, democrats are focused on the agenda, and lucky for us, we have people who know how to walk and chew gum at the same time. because as things come up, we're dealing with them. but we're still moving forward with our democratic agenda. >> and i was in washington this week when other civil rights leaders dealing with voting rights and other issues, meeting with members of the senate and congress. and i don't sense the kind of hostility and fighting that a lot are talking about. there are some tactical

disagreements. but i think generally the things that you laid out seem to be the way many of those in the freshman class that you are in are moving forward. even if they approach it in a different manner or style. >> absolutely. i would agree with you wholeheartedly. we are a large class with very diverse backgrounds, very diverse perspectives. there have been times where we voted against things or voted differently. and then left the room and had dinner together. there is not the sense of hostility. i have, you know, met republicans that are new freshmen that i've developed relationships with. so this idea that you can only have any type of conversation with people who you agree with, or people who share the same path to get there as you do is not true. i think it's healthy that we have these robust conversations and diversity of action of how we get there, as long as at the end of the day we all want this agenda focused on the people.

>> and i think the thing that i would raise -- i'm raising this, not you, is a lot of this old against young guard, there's a lot of this being perpetrated by those that want to really appeal to the republican side or the far right or even the right wing side to really try and cause a split in the minds of people that really is not as divided as it is. because i can't remember in my lifetime, and i've been involved in this all my life, when it wasn't debating differences. it had nothing to do with who was a veteran, who was new. there have always been different approaches in the democratic party. and for that matter, the republican party. donald trump ran in one attacking every one of his opponents. there is nothing new about interparty debates. >> exactly. actually, i think it's just the opposite, that it's very healthy that we're having these kinds of debates. i don't know about your community, but mine doesn't just

have veteran lawmakers or people who are established democrats. i ran on a grass roots agenda, got people involved, expanded the electorate and all of these people are excited to have their voices and their concerns enter into the conversation. i don't think anybody here did a bait and switch. many of my colleagues ran on these very progressive platforms and agendas. and those communities have excited to have them. and i think it's best that, you know, internally we have all these voices at the table so that we can come out with an agenda and with legislation that really touches the lives of all people. not just veteran lawmakers, not just established politicians and those communities that have always been engaged. but we're bringing in new communities, as well. >> are you trying to bring socialism to connecticut? >> whenever i hear that -- i'm a democrat. what i think is happening -- whenever we talk about anything that is for the people, anything that is meant to help people, it's labeled as socialism.

i don't think medicare is socialism. i don't think raising the minimum wage is socialism. i don't think equitable access to education is socialism. i think that people who are touting that are the ones who only want the economy to thrive. or who only want to address a very small segment of the population. i think government should work with all people. work for all people. and by that i mean not just low-class or middle-income people. but also wealthy-income people. but it shouldn't be disproportionate. no one group should benefit more than any other group. let's spread it out and make sure that we are addressing the needs of all communities. >> all right. i'm going to leave it there. thank you very much, congresswoman hayes. up next. >> thank you. >> president trump will ask congress tomorrow again for billions of dollars to build that wall. that's next. 's next. 's next. naysayer said no one would subscribe to a car the way they subscribe to movies. we don't follow the naysayers.

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all those zeros really add up. ♪ so maybe i'll win ♪ saved by zero ♪ so maybe i'll win conventional wisdom says you can't make a 400 horsepower sedan, that's also environmentally conscious. we don't follow conventional wisdom. ♪ ♪ president trump is setting up his next battle with congress. tomorrow he will release his 2020 budget, and among other things, he is expected to ask congress for more money to build that border wall.

8.6 billio$8.6 billion, to be e. domestic programs will likely take a hit and more money will be added for the military. back with me, dean obeidallah, radio host and comedian and charlie sykes, msnbc contributor and editor. so charlie, in his budget that is coming out tomorrow, he is taking money away from some domestic spending and putting it in military and the wall. so it's here we go again with president trump's proposed budget, and where this could lead to another showdown with congress. >> well, it's a showdown he's going to lose. he's about to find out why the constitution gave the house of representatives the power of the purse. so, yes, this budget is dead on arrival. what's fascinating to me is the way it's being panned by both political parties right now.

even republicans are kind of rolling their eyes at this particular proposal. what really strikes me is that this budget doesn't even pretend to balance the budget any time soon. here you have a republican president proposing a budget that i don't think even envisions a balanced budget until, what, 30 years from now. but this is sort of typical of it. and then, of course, he's doubling down on the infrastructure spending on this medieval wall. here's an opportunity for democrats to do what we talked about earlier. to be able to highlight the different priorities, to talk about what we should be spending $8 billion on. maybe schools, maybe roads, a variety of other things, rather than the dumb technology of a wall. >> now, dean, when he comes with this proposal tomorrow, you raise a very interesting point to me. because why did he come with the emergency executive order if, in fact, he was going to propose this in the budget. >> absolutely. you have one day you say it's an

emergency. look, if there is an emergency in the southern border, he shouldn't have requested 6 or $8 billion before it was a national emergency, he should have requested the full price, $35s billion. it undermines the argument there is an argument there's an emergency. this is doa, like a rat on the third rail at the subway. going nowhere. but no surprise that a gop president is going to promote a budget that raises the defense spending, does not raise taxes on the wealthy at all and it cuts the money for those most needy among us. medicaid. a program my mom is on. we don't know the new one, but that's what he'll propose. cuts to head start. cuts to wic. to children with the health insurance program. whatever helps americans he wants to cut to give money to make sure you don't raise taxes on the wealthy and to give more money to the military. so i don't think you could have a bigger contrast about what our

parties are about right now. >> talking about tax cuts to the wealthy and you mentioned, charlie, about the whole question of there's no end in sight to balancing the budget. we see a president who promised to deal with the deficit and we have the deficit going through the roof. $891 billion, the largest trade deficit we have seen in memory. he has done the opposite of what he promised his voters and this trade deficit is hurting farmers and others that voted for him. >> well, it is interesting. both those deficits exploding under this particular president. remember when the president said -- when trump said that trade wars were easy to win. well, apparently not. but look, i mean, here's the problem with the tax cut. i generally favor lower taxes. however, you should pay for them at some point. and all of the promises that

were made of how this tax cut was going to pay for itself have proven not to be true. i mean, it really has worsened the income inequality. it has not generated the kind of explosion in investment, investment by american corporations or trickled down into wages. but at some point, you know, republicans and conservatives have to come to grips with the fact the that they have tax and spend policies but the taxing going into the next generation. this is a huge intergenerational transfer of wealth. it is amazing to me watching republicans going along with the boondoggle of the wall. you know, the massive deficits. >> now, dean, it goes back to our conversation earlier in the show. shouldn't the democrats be concentrating on dealing with issues like cutting medicare, cutting services to middle class people that need them to deal with their own life and the life

of their children, education and other things, as well as those that are in the lower working class area, should that want be the concentration rather than arguing about who's far left, who's on first, what's on second? >> i couldn't agree with you more. that's what democrats should be doing, look what the republican vision is. this donald trump budget is aspirational. >> but it defines what he wants. >> what he wants and what the gop today wants which is still giving special treatment to the wealthy. not raising taxes on them. cutting programs for people who are in need across our nation, medicare to medicaid. to head start. we are the party that's going to fight for people and equality. you know, charlie talks about the income quality gap growing. americans might not follow the deficits but they understand the incremental quality gap is growing which is why over 70% support higher taxes on the wealthy. years ago they may have been considered too far left. now you have a majority of

republicans saying this is ridiculous. we have to talk about how we'll help people. the gop would not give anything to president obama, anything because of the deficit. look what they're giving this guy. everything. >> what ever happened to all the jobs and investment in the infrastructure that we were going to see from the wealthy if they got their tax cut? i'm still waiting. i haven't seen -- oh, they went and bought more stock in their companies that's where their money went. thank you, dean and charlie. up next, my final thoughts. stay with us. be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks.

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click, call or visit a store today. on friday, president trump was in alabama visiting areas that had been seriously damaged and sol demolished by the tornadoes and a controversy arose when he was asked to autograph or sign some bibles. now, i have seen public figures and many of us in the clergy asked to sign people's family bibles. i'm not going to get into that debate. but what i am going to say is that someone should challenge mr. trump to read the bible and try and do what it says if he professes to believe in that. because again, he said during the campaign that he was a practicing christian. and when he was questioned as to

what was his favorite bible verse, he said all of them. well, you kind of missed a few chapters if not verses, mr. president. you know the part that talks about how we deal with poor people and how we deal with people that are treated unjustly and how we are supposed to be good samaritans and how we are supposed to do unto others as they would have them do unto us. what about idolatry and about serving ourselves in terms of riches and trying to build these great palaces of opulence in the face of people that have nothing. you want to sign the bible, that is one debate. i suggest you open it up and begin reading it or next time you're asked, don't profess to be one that practices it and at least one or two verses that mean something to you because maybe all of it as you said was

what your favorite is is too much to consume and practice at the same time. that does it for me. thanks for watching. see you back here next saturday at 5:00 p.m. eastern. until then, keep the conversation going. like us @facebook.com/politics nation. and follow us on twitter @politics nation. up next, "meet the press" with chuck todd. this sunday, divided democrats. bernie versus biden. progressives versus traditional democrats. highlighted by this comment from freshman congresswoman ilhan omar. >> i want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is okay for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country. >> some fellow democrats here bigotry. >> the use of anti-semitic language and images can never be tolerated. >> others rushed to her defense.