it, in the end had nothing to do with a notorious scandal but a victim of an all--consuming jealousy. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. good morning. i'm phillip mena. msnbc world headquarters. it's 6:00 out east. one aspect of the mueller report not turning into a partisan issue. how is that possible? details ahead. >> a very good likelihood i'll be closing the border next week and that's fine for me. >> the looming threat. the latest from the president on his balt battle with the democrats over the border. >> this is our moment of truth. the challenges before us are the greatest of our lifetimes. >> a texas-sized kickoff for

beto oe rous'rourke. the health care battle. that's all next. a poll just out highlighting the public's appetite for the full mueller report as a legal and political battle bruise over its release. democrats set a tuesday deadline for the attorney general to make the unredacted report public. a new washington post poll shows americans are split on this 49% to 48% if house democrats should continue to interfere. 62% of democrats do not accept mueller's conclusion that the president did not conspire with russia. and 70% of republicans and 93%

of democrats say the entire mueller report should be made public. the vice president yesterday campaigning for lindsey graham echoing the president's claim that he has been exonerated. >> special counsel confirmed what president trump said all along, there was no collusion between the trump campaign and russia during 2016. and the a.g. said, there was no obstruction of justice. >> meanwhile, the trump administration is officially seeking to cut off about $450 million in foreign aid to three central american countries. the president accuses el salvador, guatemala and honduras of not doing enough to stop the flow of migrants from crossing the border. >> i've stopped payments to honduras, el salvador and guatema guatemala. we were giving them tremendous aid. we aren't paying them anymore.

they haven't done a thing for us. they set up these caravans. in many cases they put the worst people in the caravans. they march up here. >> advocates for continued u.s. aid argue providing money is the best way to stop migration from three countries that have long been the poorest, most violent in the americas. democratic representatives from the foreign affairs committee who are visiting el salvador to evaluate u.s. financial aid say they're extremely disappointed saying the president's approach is very counterproductive. hans nichols joining us from the white house. good morning. the president doubling down on threats to shut down the u.s./mexico border. >> reporter: what we have is not just president proclamations over twitter. we appear to have, i say appear, a unified of whole government approach because you're hearing it from the state department. they are officially saying

they'll end united states aid to those three countries and you also have it from the president himself. listen to what he was tweeting about yesterday. it's clear he wants to pick a fight to the south. this is him this afternoon. it would be so easy to fix or weak and very stupid democrat-inspired problems. in one hour the problem would be solved. dems don't care about the problem. even if good for the usa. mexico must use its very strong immigration laws to stop the many thousands of people trying to get into the usa. our detention areas are maxed out and we'll take no more illegals. next step is to close the border. this will help us with stopping the drug flow from mexico. here's the problem with putting the issues, the onus on those

countries. in this idea the president is talking about these countries are actually sifting through and they're the ones deciding who joins these caravans, that's not borne out by the facts. most of the migrants are families by the administration's own reckoning, most are families seeking a better life. it's not the government deciding, you are getting on a caravan and heading up to the united states. >> valid argument. let's discuss this further with daniel litman, from politico and sonia chef from "business insider." good morning to you both. let's talk about the president cutting off aid to guatemala, el salvador and honduras. what can congress push back with? >> they can hold hearings. they can talk to dhs secretary,

how does this square with your trips and saying it's important to engage with these countries, to help these countries out? the trump administration seems to be of who minds of this issue. president trump who wants to cut off aid and doesn't think these countries are doing enough to stop the migrants and yet dhs and state department which wants to work with these countries and views them as critical allies in trying to improve their economies to prevent people from leaving them in the first place. >> some immigration advocates say cutting off aid to these countries will only trigger more migration. why is the president doing this? is it to appeal to his base? >> a big part of why president trump does a lot of things he does is to appeal to his base. i think it's interesting to note the timing of his renewed push to crack down on immigration. we saw a lot of reporting over the last week after a.g. barr

sent out his report. the president said he felt this renewed push to crack down on a lot of his more hard line positions because he felt empowered to continue to push forward on his agenda, even on things like immigration and shutting down the border, which a majority of americans actually don't support. >> does the president risk alienating republicans who are already skeptical about his threat to close the southern border? >> yeah, republicans hear from businesses and the u.s. chamber of commerce this would be horrible for our economy, for trade between the u.s. and mexico, cars and tons of goods have come across the border. republicans are generally against this unless you are a very hard line anti-immigration

member. they have been telling the president this would be unwise and they would be shocked if he did this because it would be a really draconian step to go that far. >> yeah, we're talking billions and billions of dollars here. there are legitimate concerns about rapid government corruption in those governments we're talking about. is cutting off aid any alternative solutions? >> there are. a lot of the president's advisers have been floating these options to him. it seems every time president trump gets one victory in one arena, like the russia investigation, he continues to double down on his positions against things like immigration and affordable care act, even tho though those aren't supported his aides. >> are we seeing an emboldened president now that the investigation with mueller is over? >> that's true. he should remember there are a number of other investigations

going on into whether he's misstating his financial books and lots of congressional investigations looking into cabinet scandals. so, i think the white house wanted to view this week as a welcome respite, but they were already trying -- they were, you know, shooting themselves in the foot with that health care move, which was pretty unpopular, even with senate republicans who say there is no plan and invited trump to work with nancy pelosi if he really wants to get a health care plan put together. >> i want your take on a new poll here we'll show from "the washington post." it shows americans are divided on whether house democrats should even continue to investigate whether the president interfered in the russia investigation. do you think democrats have overplayed their hand here? >> it's difficult to say they have considering that the entire mueller report hasn't even come out yet. all we have is the attorney general's summary of this report, the short, concise, four-page document that had mueller's principle conclusions

and the second letter that barr put out recently which said the full report will come out in april. once the report comes out, i think that's when we'll see a lot of the democratic response as far as what they're going to continue to investigate, open threads and open inquiries, other witnesses they want to call to testify.heir hand. >> poll after poll shows most americans want the mueller report to be released, including 70% of republicans. how much of the mueller report, daniel, do you think we'll see? is it possible the president and his allies are maybe claiming victory a little too early here? >> i talked to one former white house official right after this all took place. he said, you know, it was too early for them to do a victory dance because we just don't -- there are definitely going to be bombshells in that report. i think the question is, how much will we see of it?

is there any political point from what is redacted and what will be released? the democrats will investigate if there's anything as suspicious because they want to see the whole report because it will inform them about whether more investigations are, indeed, necessary and if mueller did a good job on the report and if barr interpreted it correctly. that's going to be their mantra we need everything that -- you know, spent millions of dollars on this report. their opinion is we should see the entire document. >> do you think there's a sense that the white house may be relieved from what was released from the mueller report? >> they should be concerned because 300 to 400 pages, that's not just saying the president is great at his job and, you know, he's always done everything to the "t." even mueller said, we can't -- they were not able to make a

determination of obstruction. that doesn't seem like they were totally clearing him. that's what barr did. and mueller was surprised, according to people i've talked to, that barr would make that conclusion on obstruction after a -- not a very thorough investigation. it was only 48 hours between the report coming into barr's hands and that letter, although barr's defenders claim he had been working on this for a few weeks. >> you recently wrote that the president has said that investigating his finances would be a red line and new york prosecutors are about to cross it. what can we expect from those investigations after the mueller report is released? >> what we do know is new york prosecutors are clamoring to get the full mueller report because they believe they're going to find evidence in that final document that could point to trump, his family members or those around him, either those involved in his campaign or his businesses, potentially violating state laws as they relate to finances and taxes and

so on. so, that's why new york state in particular is very keen on getting this full report. we know there are a plethora of investigations going on, whether it's from the southern district of new york, the manhattan u.s. attorney's office, the brooklyn u.s. attorney's office, the new york attorney general's office, who are investigating any and every aspect of trump's life, whether it's his campaign, the inaugural committee, the trump administration, the now defunct trump charity. there's no dearth of investigative avenues that especially state prosecutors are willing to take. it's also important to remember that anyone charged with a stated crime, those are pardon-proof. trump can pardon federal crimes, but first of all, he's not immune to being charged on a state level the same way doj policy says a sitting president can't be indicted. there's nothing that says states can't criminally prosecute a president. he also can't pardon his

associates who might be charged with state crimes. >> something we cannot forget. please stay with us. we want to talk about joe biden as well as the 2020 race for president. new questions about former white house communications director hope hicks and what she told the special counsel. how the new claims could impact the people at that infamous trump tower meeting in 2016. coming up in our next hour, alex witt talks to william weld, a republican vowing to mount a republican challenge against president trump. president trump. great news, liberty mutual customizes...

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a new interview this past week raising questions about hope hicks' role in the trump tower meeting. it came as she promised to cooperate with the house judiciary request for former white house communications director to provide documents during her time serving the president. here's what the former white house legal spokesman said about hicks, saying she misled robert mueller. >> i pointed out that the statement was inaccurate and that there were documents that i -- that i understood there were documents that would prove that. hope hicks replied to me when i said, there are documents. she said, well, nobody's ever going to see those documents. at that point i said, mr. president, we can't talk about this, have you to talk to your lawyers. that could be construed as obstruction. the threat to withhold documents, what does that mean, no one's ever going to see them?

what, are you going to destroy them? >> joining me now, katie phang. >> good morning. >> hope hicks has denied this claim made by the trump legal team spokesman but could this be considered perjury if this is, indeed, true? >> several team have faced the ire of the federal government when they have lied to prosecutors so maybe hope hicks walked herself into that potential charge. more importantly, is it obstruction of justice? as you know, phillip, right now the mueller investigation did not exonerate donald trump from obstruction of justice charges. so, that's why we are waiting to read the mueller report to see exactly what the findings are. but mark, who used to be the spokesperson for the trump legal team, made an exceptional point when he said that donald trump needed to speak to his lawyers. why? because during that call that happened between he, hicks and trump, there were no lawyers on

the phone. there was no attorney/client privilege, there was no executive privilege because he did not work for the white house. the entirety of that conversation could be testified about. that's what he told mueller when he was interviewed back in 2018. >> the former trump spokesman said trump was on the line without lawyers when this conversation happened. if this was a key conversation during the obstruction case, legally, how damaging could that be to the president? >> it would obviously show he had consciousness of what was going on if not abtive participation on what was going to be provided to federal investigators down the line. whether or not donald trump or hope hicks knew there was the potential for federal investigation, mark did because he expressed that concern not only to the mueller team but when he did this interview with abc recently. what's important to note,

phillip, there was one statement, if people will recall, that was initially sent out from donald trump jr. donald trump himself helped craft that statement. they said it was a meeting in june of 2016 at the trump tower about adoption. the very next day we get the statement wherein it was something completely different where they said there was a fusion gps link and that it really was to deal with getting dirt on hillary clinton. ultimately that e-mail chain that came out throughout the course of the investigation is that hard evidence that hope hictio hicks allegedly was talking about never seeing the light. >> could that be used into other investigations into the president? could we see this end with a possible criminal charge for everyone involved in this alleged cover-up? >> it's a little hard to read the tea leaves. we know the mueller investigation itself is done. it's not going any further. we know there were spinoff

investigations created as a result of the mueller investigation. because we cannot state with certainty because mueller himself did not state that donald trump had been exonerated or cleared of any obstruction of justice, we cannot clearly state someone like hope hicks, donald trump, other people may not necessarily be facing some type of criminal liability later on. >> mueller didn't reach any legal conclusions on obstruction, so do you think this means there wasn't enough evidence to convict? what could happen here? >> i'm glad you asked that question, phillip, because i think that's very important when we look at something like the mueller report. there's a criminal standard when you're going to be prosecuting a defendant. as you know, to be able to convict a criminal defendant, the burden of proof is beyond and to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt. that's a different standard for purposes of impeachment. impeachment has no set standard. each senator is to rely upon his

or her determination whether the president rises to the level of impeachment. the fact there was no criminal indictment brought against donald trump for obstruction of justice did not mean he's cleared from potential impeachment for obstruction of justice later on. >> as always, we appreciate your insight early on this sunday morning. katie phang, thank you. president trump hammering down on his plans to make the gop the party of health care. why his fellow republicans are trying to stay out of it y his fe trying to stay out of it

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. so we're going to get rid of obamacare. i said it the other day, the republican party will become the party of great health care. >> president trump reviving his push to axe obamacare. a new article in "the washington post" reports, quote, republicans have no intention of heeding president trump's urgent demand for a new health care plan to replace the affordable care act fearing the potential political damage that could occur in 2020. joining me rashad richie and nationally syndicated columnist adriana cohen, also a boston radio host. good morning. >> good morning. >> what do you make of the republicans' response to the

president's push on this? they're basically trying to stay out of this, hoping the president finds a new target here. >> that's right. mitch mcconnell has concerns that, you know, unless you have a formal plan in place by the president to replace failing obamacare with, you know, you're basically venturing into paralist political waters. it's put up or shut up. without a plan for replacing obamacare this could be a failing issue for republicans in 2020. he wants to slow the talk of replacing obamacare until they have a plan to put forward. >> you don't think they learned anything from the first time around when they tried to rush something through and it didn't who? >> that's right. i believe they should pause and not present this issue until you have something much better to replace it with. otherwise it is paralist politically because look what happened last midterm elections?

this is something many democratic candidates ran on, promising to fix the health care system on and they won in many states. i think president trump has other things he can focus on, in that he has been vindicated and exonerated in the long special counsel report, how the american people have been lied to, he's free of any charges and he should celebrate his achievements with the economy. >> are democrats at all concerned about these new threats to eliminate obamacare and is there any risk at all that it could possibly be struck down? >> i think there's always risk it could be struck down. let's talk about the president's comment. the president says that republicans will be known as the party of haesealth care. that's news to republicans. they are known as the party who repealed health care. yes, the affordable care act has problems. no one said the aca was perfect. but let's be very clear.

medicaid, medicare, social security, all of those government programs were passed and voted on by congress and signed into law by presidents and is have been amended since so we could have a better program. unfortunately, the aca has not received that same treatment. >> you've made it clear you don't think trump should be going down this road but still want a little help, a little perspective of this. the kaiser family foundation found trump voters stand to lose the most if obamacare is struck down. do you think trump voters even realize they are the ones who would be hurt here if obamacare goes away? >> it all comes down to can the gop replace obamacare with something better? if they can it's a winning issue for president trump and it will help him sail to re-election in 2020. it depends on what is in this plan. president trump working with three gop senators.

senator barrasso from wyoming and rick scott amongst them, and they're crafting a new replacement plan as we speak. we have to see what's in the details. it's such an important issue for all americans. republicans should not be hasty with it. i think president trump should pivot to issues he can focus on. he could get bipartisan support with the democratic party with. i would suggest he head in that direction and also focus on finalizing his bilateral trade deals with canada and mexico. there's so many -- he doesn't have a shortage of list of issues he could be pushing forward right now. including, you know, getting these judicial nominees put through. >> democrats have attributed some of their success in the

midterm to expanding health care. how should democrats use this as an advantage, a leverage, you know, to get an advantage? >> i think they should utilize it politically as well as common sense strategy. because at the end of the day, you have individuals on both sides of the political aisle who are in favor of dynamics within the affordable care act. if democrats can articulate that message in a campaign season, that is a winning issue for democrats. in addition to that, since president trump has now said the republican party will become the party of health care, hold him to that promise because as far as i'm concerned, i think once again the president is just talking and offering something with absolutely nothing to create context. so, right now, hold him to that promise. if he cannot deliver on that promise, utilize it as a political contrast to show the rest of the american public that democrats are more serious about actual health care reform than the president's talking point.

>> last thing on health care, i want to talk about the timing. the president made this pivot back to health care just days after the mueller probe wrapped up. do you think there's any strategy behind what he did? you know, it's interesting. maybe he's just tired of talking about the special counsel probe that's been hanging over his head and his administration's head unfairly and unjustly for the past two years because we know there was no collusion with russia. the special counsel has proved that after a 22-month exhaustive investigation. he's been completely vindicated. but, you know, fixineah care was a promise the president made while he campaigned and he has proven over and over again that, you know, promises made, promises kept. he will deliver on this. i just caution him as do other members of the gop, go forward with replacing obamacare but make sure you're ready to go because there's no room for error here. >> there isn't. rashad, attorney general bill barr is saying he expects to give congress a redacted version of the mueller report by

mid-april. democrats are not accepting that. too little, too think. they want the full report by april 2nd, this tuesday. what should we expect from democrats when he misses that deadline? >> they'll subpoena him and also mueller. here's the thing. there's a constitutional basis for attorney general barr not releasing the full 400-page report to the general public. however, he does not have that same constitutional protection as it relates to the u.s. congress. the u.s. congress has a constitutional authority for oversight. they have an obligation for oversight. so, he cannot pass the same with the public as he does with congress. i'm sure that this will be a battle. even over the redactions, when the redactions finally come out, you'll have a fight about that likely in court. >> shouldn't barr just put out the whole report, put it out there, there won't be any more lingering questions? if he wanted to, you could

request a court order to release the information instead of redacting it. >> he has to follow procedures and he has to take his time and dissect this nearly 400-page report. he can't release classified information. it takes time. the fact he's promising to deliver in two short weeks is incredibly fast. let's not forget when republicans were investigating what happened in benghazi, the democrats obstructed, obstructed. they did not want to bring documents forward. they slow-rolled any document production. it's such hypocrisy they're rushing bill barr, you know, to deliver this so quickly. i mean, two weeks is such a short time. they should settle down, let him do his job and the american people will see the report in the very near future. >> to me it's more important he get it right overall. >> exactly. >> thank you for your time this morning. >> thank you. new odds at giving president

trump the edge for re-election over any candidate in the democratic field right now. the top three democrats leading the pack and their latest pitches on the campaign trail. quick programming note. msnbc is now live every saturday and sunday at 6:00 eastern. foggy out there. back in a moment eastern foggy out there. back in a moment with fidelity wealth management you get straightforward advice, tailored recommendations, tax-efficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. fidelity wealth management.

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. 2020 presidential kaepd

candidates out in full force, with many hitting the hawkeye state. the top three democrats trailing president trump bernie sanders, kamala harris and joe biden. here's a snapshot of what the contenders were saying this week on the trail. >> we will take the target off the back of people who have tps, temporary protective status. we will ensure that dreamers, we can harness their talent and ability to move our nation forward in the 21st century global economy. >> we need immigrant workers in our farms and our fields. we need them in our factories. we need them this our rural hospitals especially and we need them for their ideas. i think immigration doesn't diminish america, it strengths america. >> well, you know, i agree that climate change is one of the defining issues of our time.

i support a new green deal but just not the one that was voted on last night. we should have the highest sense of urgency possible and really keep a sharp focus on making sure we prioritize all the steps needed to combat climate change in real time. >> the science is abundantly clear on this. we need a president who believes in science and gravity. and the climate change modeling, but scientists are clear, its going to cause more forest fires, cause more flooding at the same time in various places more drought. we're getting it on both ends of the situation here. >> data is very clear that teachers are -- as compared to other college graduates receiving 11% less in pay across the country. so, we have data that supports this point. that is the equivalent of $13,500 a year. $13,500 a year is the equivalent of a year's worth of mortgage payments, the equivalent of

grocery bills, the equivalent of paying down student loendz. >> we need to support labor to make sure people retire with security. this is a crisis in our country. >> universal health care means all of us can see a primary care provider. all of us can get mental health care help. and that universal care means every woman makes her own decisions about her own body. >> i'm going to do everything that i can to tell the american people, including the many people who voted for trump, that he is an absolute fraud. as you've just indicated. he talked in his campaign about health care for everybody. and then supported legislation to withdrawal 30 million people off the health care they have. we have to expose him for what he is and we have got to talk about where we should be going

as a country. >> i hear about this no matter where i go in the country, whether in michigan or iowa or in new hampshire or new york city. number one issue out of people's minds is, i can't aford health care and i want access. >> in a new cnbc poll shows 54% of americans support a medicare for all health care plan. next, an incredible film about an unlikely friendship between a civil rights activist and a leader of the kkk. a absolute to college basketball teams who have survived and advanced in their brackets. still playing for a shot at a national title on the men's side, texas tech and virginia are already in the final four. both winning in extraordinary fashion last night. and later today the number one ranked duke blue devils will face off against michigan state in the east regional final. we'll see s.e.c. rivals auburn and kentucky battle it out in the midwest final. the wildcats' win on friday was celebrated by all of its fans, including the governor of kentucky. matt bevin congratulated the

wildcats in a tweet for making the elite 8 but he failed to give kudos to the women's team playing today. the coach tweeted him saying, i'll let my players know you sent them congrats. the governor then another tweet of congratulations, after today's win or lose. cannot forget the ladies, governor. nnot forget the ladies governor than the accident itself. that's why esurance makes it simple. just take some pics. [picture noises] go to sleep. wake up. grab a bite. maybe some racquetball. and boom - your money's on the way so you can get back on the road fast. well, not that fast. the editor had to make it fit in 30 seconds. it's pretty tricky actually trying to ... and ... tagline. when insurance is simple, it's surprisingly painless.

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now to an incredible real-life story of an unlikely friendship that's about to hit the big screen. the movie is called "the best of enemies," it's about two people from the south with opposing views. >> reporter: it was 1971, a klu klux klan leader and activist in durham, north carolina, squared off in a bitter battle to desegregate schools. oscar nominee in "the best of

enemies." i read you said you felt haunted about this story. >> when i read the script, i felt it was fiction. it was too perfect. >> reporter: based on a true story, c. pmplgp. ellis and ann on a committee about to to send students whose school was destroyed by fire. then something no one expected. ellis denounced the klan and the two developed a remarkable friendship, confirmed in a 1996 documentary. >> how in the hell does anybody believe a story like this? >> a lot of people still, you know, don't understand would it how this happened, but it did happen. and we bonded. >> reporter: a bond that lasted for the rests of their lives, more than 30 years. based on a willingness to listen to each other. >> oh, yeah, she's tough. always tough, always tough with

love. >> i'm so happy to meet you. >> reporter: atwaters' granddaughter. why was it so important to your family that your grandmother's story be told? >> she of hatred and it's sad t say, but it's something that we need now. >> what is the message you hope people will take from this film? >> you can't fight hate with hate. >> same god made you made me. >> believing that transformed the worst of enemies into the best of friends. reheme ellis. >> the best of enemies will be in theaters this friday. the possible presidential candidate, former vice president joe biden. back with me to discuss, daniel lipman of politico. joe biden, he and his camp are

responding to allegations that he inappropriately touched and kiss kissed a woman in 2014. nbc has not yet shown correspondence that gives credence to her claim. but lucy flores claims, quote, joe biden leaned further in and inhaled her hair and proceeded to plant a big kiss on the back of her head. joe biden said neither then nor in the years since did he or the staff with him at the time have an incorporate cli-- inkling th ms. flores had been at any time uncomfortable, nor do they recall thwhat she describes buto on to say that she has every right to share her own recollection and reflections and

that it is a change for the better in our society that she has the opportunity to do so. >> these types of stories are never good for any candidate. and the fact that he has not jumped in yet creates a vacuum when you get these types of stories and there's no real campaign operation to respond. they could have known that the story was coming down the pike and told reporters, we'll talk to other people at the rally, try to check this woman's story out. instead it's left on one spokesman to really rebut these claims. >> lucy flores wrote, quote, i'm not suggesting that biden broke any laws but the transgressions that society deems minor or doesn't even see as transgressions often feel considerable to the person on the receiving end. that imbalance of power and attention is the whole point, the whole problem. sonya, what's your opinion on this? >> i just want to echo daniel, that i don't think it will have an impact on whether joe biden

runs for president but these kinds of stories, particularly in the midst of the me too movement, could have a massive impact on female support for candidates like joe biden. we are in an error now. particularly after the me too movement started but also while president trump was running for president and even in the years before that, where this kind of alleged conduct just isn't acceptable anymore. and i think that's something that jbd will haoe biden will h reckon with. this isn't the first story we've heard of the former vice president getting a little too handsy with some of the women around him. and so this is definitely something he will have to address if he does, you know, in fact, run for president. >> some of the 2020 presidential candidates were asked yesterday to react to this story. let's listen to what they had to say. >> i believe lisa flores.

>> should he not run? >> that's for joe biden to support. >> i believe lindsay fluoro zbles do you believe it disqualifies him for the presidency? >> he is going to decide whether he will run or not. >> i have no reason to doubt that the woman, who is a state representative, ran for lieutenant governor -- again, i didn't read the story specifically. >> i only heard about this on the radio and don't have anything to add. >> biden is, quote, being blind sided by a dose of 2020 reality. other 2020 candidates on this have an interest on whether biden runs or not. >> totally. and their answers about how they just listened to it on the radio, you can go on new york magazine's "the cut" website and read it for yourself. it only takes five minutes. i'm sure a lot of them had read it in the last 24 hours, but, you know, this was kind of the opening shot of the 2020

campaign because previously the candidates were not really criticizing each other. they were kind of shadow boxing, trying to get us to write negative stories about their opponents but this is all happening behind closed doors and we're not seeing them punch at each other just yet. >> one of those candidates, beto o'rourke, he had his kickoff in el paso yesterday. did we hear any specific policies from beto? >> it seems that beto o'rourke is playing on -- it's similar to what president trump did. he's playing largely on the sentiment at his rallies and from his supporters but we haven't seen any concrete policies or ways that he would try to get those things done if he were elected. >> all right. sonam sheth, daniel lippman,

thank you for joining us on the last sunday of the last month of this decade. t month of this decade. ♪ make you're jaw drop drop say oh my drop drop drop ♪ ♪ make u say oh my god my drop drop ♪ ♪ make you're jaw drop make u say oh my god ♪ ♪ so, recently my son's band was signed by a record label. a record deal? unbelievable. whenever we're about to get on a stage for a huge audience, i always give my dad, like, a facetime kinda moment. you see the crowd, you see the emotion. you know, he has that experience for the first time with me, and that's really important to me. i created a rockstar. (both laughing) (announcer) the best network is even better when you share it. buy the latest iphone for you, and get iphone 10r on us for someone else. and get apple music on us, too. only on verizon. has been excellent. they really appreciate the military family and it really shows. with all that usaa offers why go with anybody else? we know their rates are good,

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y. and that wraps up this hour of nbc live. now it's time for "weekends with alex witt." >> what did you say? it's the last sunday of the last march of the decade? >> time is flying, isn't it? >> it's kind of the like the last supper. oh, my goodness. >> right? >> philip, thank you so much.

have a good sunday. >> all right. >> good morning to you. i'm alex witt here at msnbc headquarters in new york. it's 7:00 a.m. on the east, 4:00 a.m. out west. a new poll shows at least one aspect of the mueller report is not turning into a partisan issue. how is that possible? details ahead. plus -- >> a very good likelihood that i'll be closing the border next week. that will be just fine with me. >> looming threat. latest word from president trump in his battle with democrats over the border issue. moment of truth. and we cannot be found wanting. the challenges before us are the greatest of our lifetimes. >> beto fever in el paso, a host of candidates in iowa. but the president may be getting competition from his own party. i'll talk one on one with a republican