with me for -- some of you for my entire life. you've seen the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, and i would not be in this position without all of your help. >> tiger woods opening up about that honor. he is the fourth golfer to ever receive the presidential medal of freedom. that does it for us. "hardball" with chris matthews starts right now. can donald trump gag robert mueller? let's play "hardball." ♪ good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. can a president really keep the special counsel from testifying about his report on russian interference in the 2016 election? and donald trump's role in that and his attempts to obstruct justice. can trump stamp out the truth? well, after saying he wouldn't stand in the way of the special counsel's testimony, president trump now is sharply changing

his mind. he now says mueller should not testify. that's where we begin tonight, with the strong possibility that the special counsel's long-awaited testimony could be in serious if not mortal jeopardy. yesterday trump tweeted that bob mueller should not testify. no dues, no re-dos for the dems. on friday trump said he would leave the decision to the attorney general, who already said he has no problem with trump testifying. here is trump on friday followed by mr. >> mr. president, should mueller testify? would you like to see him testify? >> i don't know. that's up to our attorney general, who i think has done a fantastic job. >> what about bob mueller, should he be allowed to testify before this committee? >> i've already said public i have no objection. >> and don mcgahn? >> would you permit him to testify? >> i have no objection. >> the house judiciary committee which is communicating with the

special counsel's team has proposed a date for mueller's testimony. it's next week. nothing has been finalized. this comes as a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows that 60% of americans say donald trump has been dishonest in his handling of the russia probe. only 37% say he's been honest and truthful. that seems about right. meanwhile, almost 500 former federal prosecutors have signed a public statement affirming their belief that the evidence of trump's obstruction of justice is "significant." the statement says "each of us believes that the conduct that president trump described in special counsel robert mueller's report would in the case of any other person result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice." that's 500 prosecutors. "to look at these facts," quoting further" and say could not sustain a conviction for obstruction of justice and runs counter to logic in our

experience." susan page is washington bureau chief do "usa today." joy ainsley is national security and justice reporter for nbc news and donny deutsch is the host of the new show "saturday night politics" on msnbc. donny, let's just talk about chutzpah. with the attorney general saying no problem, robert mueller, who wrote this report, who was the basis for all discussions for two years, he can testify. i'm not getting in his way. trump on friday says i'm not getting in the way of the attorney general on this. he can let him prosecute. then over the weekend he has the nerve, the stones to come out and say, i'm not going to let the american people hear from the guy who wrote the report that i'm using to exonerate myself with. can he get away with this? >> it's gone. >> constitutionally. >> before anything else robert mueller is a u.s. citizen. when we get to the point in this country when forget that he's a special prosecutor and forget that he used to run the fbi. forget that he's a boy scout. forget that he served in vietnam. that we have a president that says a u.s. citizen can't even speak up, it defies logic.

trump's biggest fear right now, what is the mueller report? it's an ina448-page document. keep it moving. trump saying it's a witch hunt and a hoax. democrats complaining and trump saying they're out to get me. once mueller testifies and he's asked a question, mr. mueller, is this obstruction of justice, not that the president can be charged, and now you have a human object saying yes, that is a very definitive other side to the story. right now trump has just been producing the show himself. once there's a human, a credible human saying those words, it lands in a very different place for memorium. >> let me go back to this question on the constitution. can this president tell this special counsel you can't talk to congress? can he physically do it by saying you're not going to take any documents with you? because they're government

property. you're not going to take any staff help with him because they're working for the government. you, buddy, are still working for the government. can he physically stop him from showing up on capitol hill and telling the truth? >> physically, well, he'd have to do a bear hug because there is no legal way. forget about it. first of all, mueller will be a private citizen, as donny says, in a matter of days. second of all, barr has said there is no problem and he will be hard-pressed, would barr, even though i know he's backed off before, to let it happen, but there is no basis, there is no claim of privilege. it's all about there. out there. he can hope that mueller will revert to his boy scout self. keep him from showing up in the chair? no. it's going to happen. >> joy, i think that's what trump may be up to if not denying him access to all the documents. it's pretty tough to sit in the chair playing the lone ranger trying to remember 400 pages of documentation and everything you read in the report without any

help. he could do that, right? he also could intimidate him as harry just said. you want to play partisan politics? you're doing it. if you get out there and argue against me, you're a politician. >> look, i think in this case what might be true is we're actually going to get less from robert mueller than we expect. there are so many unanswered questions. >> stick with the question, can trump keep him from talking? >> he can keep him from talking more when he's still the special counsel. in a matter of days, he could be a private citizen. like many days in this administration we're going to law school. there is a separate on what executive privilege means once you're a private citizen. there have been former officials like sally yates, like jim comey, like don mcgahn, all of whom were threatened with executive privilege but it wasn't clear. they did not have to adhere to it. this white house believes they may still have to adhere to it, but other people say, no, executive privilege will not get to them after they leave, except when it comes to certain conversations that the president can protect. grand jury materials, which we

know -- >> didn't he already have a conversation with robert mueller? >> no, i guess he had the written answers. >> oh, yeah. >> that would be as far as they went. >> that was a joke. he said i don't remember anything. this is a great standoff. a great constitutional standoff. it's great drama because the president said i'm not letting any of my people, broadly defined, any executive public servant, i'm not letting them testify on the truth. >> you can have a confrontation. you can have a delay. i don't think you can derail having robert mueller testify. and i think robert mueller probably will testify. i think it will be up to him. it's hard for me to imagine that after all these years of him not speaking, of us not hearing his voice, his take on things that we aren't going to hear it. i mean, i think you saw his willingness to do it with the letters he sent to barr raising objections to his summary. i mean, that tells you something about mueller's own view of what barr has done so far and what trump has done so far in mischaracterizing the conclusions that he came to in this report. >> i want to get back to the personality and the character. the character looks pretty good,

donny, of this guy, the special counsel. most people think of him as a straight arrow, a boy scout, the whole thing. all the good stuff. eagle scout. a guy who is a public servant. all those years at the fbi and everything. i'm not sure about his public/political personality. is he the kind of guy, is he really the robert de niro character on "snl." he walks like he's got the bag with him, the bag with him. let me make it clear, the president obstructed justice. he's a felon. the congress ought to act. will he do that? >> interestingly enough, i think barr has been a great friend to the democrats. pre-barr, i wouldn't be quite sure at this point i think he sees it as a moral imperative. i think barr will push him possibly to go to places that he hadn't gone. and once again, he was a very, very strict by the doj guidelines. didn't push it. but if he's asked a question, once again, not volunteer, mr.

mueller, we're not saying you would prosecute, but as a prosecutor, were these laws broken? is this obstruction of justice. under oath he's going to answer. i also think his anti-trump, his boringness actually works to his favor. >> and the question also, did you exonerate this president on obstruction of justice? his answer is because that's what the attorney general says you did. and then he says the attorney general lied. >> yeah. >> is he going to get -- harry, will he do that. do you know the guy enough to say whether he's got the nerve to take on the attorney general who is his boss and say don't trust this guy, he's lying. >> so he's got the nerve. he will not say don't trust this guy, he's lying. three months ago he wouldn't even have approached it. i agree with donny. it's not simply that he's been so denigrated by barr, but the values he's lived his life for, of rule of law and the like, are really at -- in jeopardy now and he knows it. so, yes, i think he will push for mueller -- he'll push as he hasn't before and he'll say something like what donny says,

this is obstruction. with the 500 former prosecutors. because it is not a close call. as they say. there is no credible professional judgement, barr not withstanding, that can go any other way here. >> well, here's the president playing his latest gimmick, his game, his is capade, if you will. in a tweet yesterday, trump claimed part of his presidency had been stolen by the russian probe while at the same time he bragged of his accomplishments. "despite the tremendous success that i have had as president, they have stolen two years of my presidency that we'll never be able to get back." this came after the president retweeted jerry falwell jr. who said trump should have two more years added to his first term as payback for sometime stolen by this corrupt failed coup. who are these people anyway? >> wants a do-over. >> anyway, as politico described it, trump floated the idea of extending his constitutionally limited time in office himself. what do we make of this? trump's claim that he somehow

deserves some sort of compensation, some restitution for investigating his russian deals? >> i think it shows that he realizes that the mueller investigation, even when it's over, is actually something that really plays to his base. i think that's part of the reason for reversing course on the tweets. it might not be some sort of order to his attorney general not to let mueller testify, but instead he wants to keep bringing this up. he wants to see -- he wants his base to see him facing off against robert mueller. he's someone who tried to bring them down. that's why he said they shouldn't have a do-over. they've already done round one of a wrestling match and they don't get to have another. >> well, the cold fact is that trump has a winning hand more than he ever thought he did. a couple of months ago we were waiting for the explosion to come from robert mueller. thanks to barr, his guy, he was able to mute that explosion to the point you had to read it enough to figure it out because he made sure there was no headline. >> he's laid the groundwork. >> barr did. >> barr laid the groundwork for

a lot of americans to believe that the report exonerated president trump. it didn't. put that next to this economy that's been so strong. and that is a formidable re-election message for the president to take to the people. >> 3.6% unemployment. when we study that in grad school, you couldn't do it. there are structural problems there. people going from one job to another. you couldn't have everybody working as much, but there are a lot of people who have given up. a lot of people who aren't even in the labor market. meanwhile, trump's former lawyer michael cohen reported to federal prison today. sentenced to three years for lying to congress and campaign finance violations among other things. cohen has been incarcerated ought a minimum security facility roughly two hours outside new york city. there he is going in. what a day do him. cohen spoke to reporters outside his apartment building earlier today. >> i hope that when i rejoin my family and friends that the country will be in a place without xenophobia, injustice

and lies at the helm of our country. there still remains much to be told, and i look forward to the day that i can share the truth. >> in his statement, cohen's attorney lanny davis said michael will be within the walls of a federal correctional facility. the truth has no laws. michael will continue to be available to congress, state and local prosecutors. is he hoping he has something to lure prosecutors to getting him out with less time? >> yes, he does. i spent time with him yesterday. he said you might be seeing me, you know, sooner than you think. look, we need to remember on a day like this whether you like donald trump, whether you like michael cohen, the fact remains that michael cohen is going to prison, ostensibly the core of why he's going things he did for the president, on behalf of the president, that's not justice. not that he doesn't belong there. the fact that trump is still in the white house, we need to look

hard at that. for michael it's a personal tragedy. he actually called me after he got out of the car to say i miss you, buddy, and thanks for everything. i saw yesterday michael was more at peace and more relaxed than the last two years. he's such a scrapper and fighter and realizes at this point, obviously this where he's going. this is not the last we've heard from michael cohen. i believe history will be relatively kind to michael cohen. and this is still just one chapter in the story. >> let's talk to you as a friend. what's he facing inside? this is minimum security, but, you know, it's not just bar bells and watching television. >> yeah. >> what kind of people is he going to meet in there? >> i'll tell you exactly. >> colleagues will he have inside the jail. >> interestingly enough it's about 45% orthodox jews. a lot of them go there because they have kosher meals. he gets there, spent four hours -- a few hours behind actually minimum prison -- in medium prison behind bars. then he walks up a hill for 1/4 of a mile with his bag of stuff. he'll get use of a microwave. he gets to text on an app.

he gets 12 points a month, 2 points for a visit from a family. so it's very kind of regimented. he's got a job there. he will -- it is certainly not a camp. it's not frightening time where he's going to be in any physical danger. >> no general population problems then. he's not going to face dangerous people. >> on my show i had steve madden who had done prison time and said, look, the day they kind of close that door on you and your freedom's gone, it is humbling and you're going to have to find your strength within you. >> a great book to be written. somebody has to do it, all these politicians that went to prison. there are so many of them that i know by name and personally who have gone inside. boy, they've got stories. the old joke, the food was better when you were governor. you know that one. a little bit funny. thank you, harry litman, susan page, julia ainsley and donny deutsch. the house judiciary

committee moves to hold attorney general william barr in const t contempt. president trump ran against so-called stupid wars now he and his national security adviser, the neocon-john bolton appear to be ginning up wars with iran and even venezuela. why do they want to hear this tough hawkish talk? much more to come tonight. stick with us. e to come tonight stick with us. introducing the all-new 2019 ford ranger, it's the right gear. with a terrain management system for... this. a bash plate for... that. an electronic locking rear differential for... yeah... this. heading to the supermarket? get any truck. heading out here? get the ford ranger. the only adventure gear built ford tough.

featuring three new dishes that are planked-to-perfection. feast on new cedar-plank lobster & shrimp. or new colossal shrimp & salmon with a citrusy drizzle. tender, smoky, and together on one plank... ...but not for long- so hurry in! i'm missing out on our family outings because i can't find a bladder leakage product that fits. everything was too loose. but depend® fit-flex feels tailored to me. with a range of sizes for all body types. depend® fit-flex underwear is guaranteed to be your best fit. depend® fit-flex underwear hey, who are you? oh, hey jeff, i'm a car thief...

what?! i'm here to steal your car because, well, that's my job. what? what?? what?! (laughing) what?? what?! what?! [crash] what?! haha, it happens. paying for this could feel like getting robbed twice. so get allstate... and be better protected from mayhem... like me. ♪

welcome back to "hardball." the trump administration's once again telling congressional democrats to buzz off. late tonight secretary mnuchin, the secretary of the treasury, refused to turn over president trump's tax returns to the chairman of the tax writing ways and means committee, stating that the request lacks a legitimate legislative purpose. that's what he says. in doing so, the administration's ignoring a law that says the treasury secretary, that would be

mnuchin, shall furnish. those are the words, shall furnish, in the law to a limited number of legislators like the chairman of the ways and means committee. this comes just hours after attorney general william barr failed to comply with the house judiciary committee request for an unredacted version of special counsel robert mueller's unredacted report. the failure to comply with the committee forced them to initiate a contempt hearing. the committee scheduled a markup for this wednesday. so the committee's going to vote on wednesday on contempt where it would have to move to the house floor for a full vote on contempt. the resolution argues that the special counsel left it up to congress to answer the question of obstruction. and that "access to these materials is essential to the committee's ability to investigate possible misconduct of the president and conduct appropriate oversight or other constitutionally warranted responses like impeachment." access to the unredacted report would help the committee take further steps that includes

whether to approve articles of impeachment for the president or other officials. a spokesperson for the department of justice was critical of the resolution, but invited committee staff to the department to discuss mutually acceptable accomodation. i'm joined by u.s. congressman jamie raskin, democrat from maryland and a member of the house judiciary committee. congressman, i just wonder, and i'm not being difficult here, but i do have a problem of my skepticism. i look at jerry nadler, the chairman of your committee, i like al elijah cummings, the chairman of oversight. you're on both of those committees. they are serious, serious legislators. they are for real. they're not just partisan hacks. they're for real. and yet this administration laughs at them. they just say we're going to give you a deadline -- we're going to think about it until may 6th, which is today. that's what mnuchin said, like it's his job. we're not going to give you anything, witnesses or documents. what do you do in the end to make them do it? >> well, we're going to vote on a contempt resolution wednesday morning. i expect a unanimous vote among all democrats, hoping that some

republicans will see the logic of it, especially they voted as part of a unanimous 420-0 vote on the house floor to have the report turned over to us. in any event, the contempt resolution will go to the floor of the house. i expect all the democrats and maybe some of the republicans to join us. we're going to hold this attorney general in contempt of court -- in contempt of congress, rather. >> death the justice department have to roll here? don't they have to bring charges on contempt? >> we're going to send it to the u.s. attorney and they can bring criminal charges, but we also can go to u.s. district court to ask for civil contempt. and to try to press it like that and to ask for a much -- a much more rapid resolution of it. we also have, chris, powers of inherent contempt, which go back to the early 19th century. in fact, inherent contempt predates civil contempt. that was simply congress saying you are disobeying a lawful order of congress.

you're defying our authority and we're going to hold you, we'd send the sergeant of arms to go back to get people. >> where is the sergeant of arms -- this is beginning to sound like venezuela. where does the sergeant of arms go? to the gates of the treasury department and asks if he can come in to arrest the secretary of treasury or go to the justice department to ask permission to get past the guards to arrest the attorney general. i don't see it happening. i know you're a constitutional expert, but how does it actually work? >> well, the way it works in the 19th century, people acting in defines of lawful orders by congress were held until they essentially extoiinguished the contempt by complying with the order. obviously this hasn't been done in more than seven or eight decades, so it's taken a long time to get to this level of official executive contempt. we've got an executive branch categorically defying the lawful orders of congress. >> what happens in the end,

congressman? it sounds like they're going to test your ability to make them turn over their tax returns. trump's not going to let any of his people turn it over. so he'll have to make the decision. do you think he's going to turn over the right to get access to his tax returns? that he, donald trump, will agree to that. >> well, he has said under no circumstances would he turn over his tax returns, which makes us all the more determined to get them. he's the first president of the last seven or eight who has not turned them over. we want to know precisely what he's hiding with foreign entanglements, emoluments, payoffs in violation of the u.s. constitution. >> unlike the german bank name he's going after, i'd like to know a whole lot of what he's up to. thank you, u.s. congressman jamie raskin of maryland. a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll conducted after the special counsel's report released to the public, the mueller report, shows americans remain divided on the question

of impeachment. 49% say the congress should begin impeachment hearings now or keep investigating a possible impeachment in the future. 48% of republicans believe the congress should not hold impeachment. basically if you say just think about it, it's not working well because the mueller report was so snuffed out by mr. barr, don't you think? for more i'm joined by lawrence prescribe co-author of "to end a presidency: the power of impeachment." you're the best expert in the country, professor tribe. what do you do in the end when he says no, no, no, including this thing inherent subpoena power? i mean, they're not going to send the sergeant-at-arms down to the -- do you think they would actually do that to try to get the document? >> i don't think it's very likely. it makes us look like a banana republic, but we have to remember that the guy who is tossing the banana is this so-called president. it is a fact that he is throwing down the gauntlet and saying i

don't respect anybody but myself. i'm above the law. i won't obey congress. make me. and at that point there really is no choice. after you've exhausted everything else other than to impeach him. >> yeah. >>. >> and nearly 500 prosecutors have told us in no uncertain terms that he has committed felonies in obstructs justice. we know from the detailed mueller report that he wasn't just obstructing nothing, he was obstructing the details of how he asked for russia's help, took advantage of it, used it to become the president. when the framers wrote the impeachment power into the constitution, their primary example of somebody who would have to be impeached, regardless of whether he would eventually get removed by the senate or not. their primary example was somebody who had worked with a foreign power to become

president, a hostile foreign power. for goodness sake, if this is not enough to lay down the line and say that for all the future we do not find this acceptable, if this is not impeachable behavior, if this is not abuse of power amounting to high crimes and misdemeanors, then for all time we will have established that the president can get away with anything. it seems to me that the power of the house is sacrosanct. they can't simply duck and say, well, we'll defer to the u.s. senate. the senate has the sole power to try an impeachment, but the house has the sole power to impeach. and a lot of my friends say you can't do that. maybe the right thing to do, but, hey, we might lose the presidency next time. but we might lose our souls and our constitutional democracy if we do nothing.

and doing nothing is not an option. you see that jerry nadler and nancy pelosi and others are moving closer to saying that we are looking into whether the president committed impeachable offenses. and when they conclude, as they may well, that he did, what are they going to do, say, but never mind? >> i know. >> they can chew gum and walk at the same time. they can work on a positive agenda and people can run for president on issues like wage equity and equal rights -- >> right. >> and climate change and decency. but that doesn't mean they shouldn't impeach the guy. it seems to me -- >> professor -- >> that we have to do the right thing. >> i want to ask you about this question. i remember mccarthy, joe mccarthy went down. in the end they didn't prosecute him for, you know, hounding witnesses because they all did it to some extent. they got him for the way he opposed the investigation and his conduct. the flanders committee. basically getting him on

obstruction of senate action. do you think congress this time around, you know what? we can't get him on what he did with russia, we can't get him on obstruction in the past, but he's actively obstructing right now. he won't testify. he won't let his people testify. he won't let the documents move. about the former employee, robert mueller, testify. he's obstructing justice right now. >> right. >> would that -- do you think that might get congress to move on impeachment? >> well, congress definitely wants to protect itself, at least they used to care about their own integrity, but it's not either/or. with nixon they got him on obstruction of justice and the final impeachment article, article iii, was defying congress, contempt of congress. if congress won't even stand up itself then really they are making a terrible abdication of duty. the president is abdicating duty. quite apart from anything else, he's not doing anything to protect us from an ongoing invasion by russia. >> okay. >> when he talks to putin, you know, he's willing to talk to

putin about mueller but not willing to talk to mueller about putin. what kind of president has that kind of disloyalty to the united states? >> professor, thank you. it's been an honor to have you on, sir. lawrence tribe at hvarvard. is there an actual strategy behind donald trump's baffling foreign policy. you figure it out rather than feeding a steady stream of red meat to his base. we're back after this. ancestry is celebrating all the

one-of-a-kind women we call "mom." with an engaging new experience... ...ancestrydna can help her uncover her history... ...to tell a story as unique as she is. order a kit for mom (or dad) at ancestry.com i felt i couldn't be at my best wifor my family. c, in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured and left those doubts behind. i faced reminders of my hep c every day. but in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured. even hanging with friends i worried about my hep c. but in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured. mavyret is the only 8-week cure for all common types of hep c. before starting mavyret your doctor will test if you've had hepatitis b which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b, a liver or kidney transplant, other liver problems,

hiv-1, or other medical conditions, and all medicines you take including herbal supplements. don't take mavyret with atazanavir or rifampin, or if you've had certain liver problems. common side effects include headache and tiredness. with hep c behind me, i feel free... ...fearless... ...and there's no looking back, because i am cured. talk to your doctor about mavyret. introducing miracle-gro's next big thing. performance organics. finally organics that work. tested and refined by plant scientists... for twice the results, guaranteed. don't grow a snack, grow a feast. don't grow a flower, grow a million dollar view. this new organic collection of soil and plant food is what you always wanted. no compromise, just results, guaranteed. miracle-gro performance organics.

eh, not enough fiber... chocolate would be good... snacking should be sweet and simple. the delicious taste of glucerna gives you the sweetness you crave while helping you manage your blood sugar. glucerna. everyday progress

welcome back to "hardball." there were new provocations from krorgt korea over the weekend as kim jong-un testify fired several short-range missiles. instead of returning to his fire and fury rhetoric, however, president trump stood by the north korean leader tweeting he also knows that i am with him. wow. this came the day after the president spoke with russian president vladimir putin but chose not to warn the president of russia against meddling in our next election. while our president's cozying up to the leaders of russia and north korea, he's taking a much tougher stance against countries like venezuela and iran. last night his national security adviser john bolton, the neocon, announced the document of the "uss abraham lincoln." there it goes. a carrier and a bomber task force to the middle east in what bolton calls a clear and unmistakable message to the iranian regime. let's start a war over there. what do you think? not a good idea. in a new op-ed, susan rice, the former national security adviser

to president obama describes the president's erratic approach to foreign policy to help him gain re-election by dishing up red meat to energize the base. the president follows a basic if unorthodox playbook for his party over our country. wendy sherman author of "not for the faint of heart." thank you so much for joining us. it comes to me what you -- give me an adjective for trump's foreign policy. i don't get it. >> there is a good reason you don't get it. i think that ambassador rice is quite right. this is really all about him, all about what works for his re-election, and he will hold to this point of view until he loses re-election and then he'll say, as he said yesterday, that it was stolen from him. so you just had lawrence tribe talk about the abdication of responsibility. this is truly abdication as commander in chief. as you noted, chris, he said

he's with kim jong-un. i've got news for the president of the united states, kim jong-un is not with him. >> let's talk about the national security adviser john bolton, a real neocon. a big war hawk on all fronts across the middle east. especially john bolton apparently got his job because sheldon adelson made his one ask, that was his ask, i want this guy as national security adviser. a hawk on iran. he's fanatical about it. he goes after maduro because the president wants florida. it's pretty clear to me it's constituency politics. right-wingers wherever he can find him that will vote for him. >> there's no doubt about it. it's constituency politics all the way. you're quite right. what should happen here is that venezuelans in the united states get temporary protected status, as ambassador rice notes in her op-ed, but, of course, the president won't do that because his base won't like him letting other people who aren't part of sort of, shall we say, the

european background come in to our country. >> sure. >> so i think this is a really tough place the president's put himself in. and what you say about john bolton is true. i don't think there has ever been a war that john bolton doesn't want to wage, and it really makes me question where the president is. are he and john bolton on the same page? the carrier that has been sent, "the abraham," out into the sea to try to say to iran be careful what you do here. tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of the trump administration's withdrawal from the joint comprehensive point of action, the iran nuclear deal. iran might react. there are reports that the pentagon wanted the carrier to move, but i think this is a plan from quite some time ago and i think the administration has amped up the pressure to try to look strong and tough. the president has told us for a very long time this is all about me. i am the decider. he told us during the campaign

he doesn't need experts because the best person for him to talk to is himself. for the sake of the security of the united states of america, i hope that he not only talks to some other people, but he actually listens, something he doesn't seem to do very well, except to vladimir putin. who he listen to quite well, much to the dismay of all of us. >> well, madam secretary, a couple of things here. he thinks he can charm the head of north korea, who is a third generation tyrant and a warrior. he thinks he can charm a former head of the kgb. it's crazy. >> totally. >> what scares me, we studied in school, you and me when we were kids, immediate causes of war. you bring a battleship, i'm sorry, a carrier with a whole strike force with it and take it right over into the persian gulf and basically say to this guy we're the boss. it seems to me the revolutionary guard and the rest of the hawks under the ayatollah say, wait a minute, we're tough.

that's what scares me. all of a sudden they take a shot at a ship and we're in a war situation. i think that's what bolton's up. i don't think he would mind ginning up action. >> i think there is great concern both in venezuela and iran that john bolton and trying to gin up action. that in fact he's creating an escalatory cycle. i'm glad that we stood up to maduro. i'm glad that we said that guaido really ought to be running that country, but i am not glad we escalated the effort here, in fact, i think we encouraged for guaido to come out on to streets without giving him the appropriate intelligence that most of the military still stood with maduro. so it looked like guaido came off with less power than i think he really has. rather than have a patient keep the pressure on work with our allies and partners, the president doesn't believe in allies and partners, except when it serves his purposes but not when it serves the purposes of

the security of the united states of america. latin america wants us to do this in a pressured but patient way. they believe maduro will fall. they wish that the president of the united states would understand our history with latin america when it comes to military action. you know, chris, from your time on the hill how catastrophic this can be. >> i'm afraid they were trying to do guatemala, trying to shake things up and have the guy make a run for it. it's the old game plan from the early '50s. it's a bit out of date. thank you, u.s. ambassador wendy sherman. an honor having you on. up next, bernie sanders doesn't like the looks of joe biden's early lead in the polls one bit. will his shots at biden help him or as often happens in these primaries help some third candidate? he takes the shot. biden gets hurt. somebody else gets helped. that's the way it usually works. we'll be right back. y works. we'll be right back. pay as much for insurance... as not safe drivers! ah! that was a stunt driver. that's why esurance has this drivesense® app.

the safer you drive, the more you save. don't worry, i'm not using my phone and talking to a camera while driving... i'm being towed. by the way, i'm actually a safe driver. i'm just pretending to be a not safe driver. cool. bye dennis quaid! when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless. openturning 50 opens theuard. door to a lot of new things... like now your doctor may be talking to you about screening for colon cancer. luckily there's me, cologuard. the noninvasive test you use at home. it all starts when your doctor orders me. then it's as easy as get, go, gone. you get me when i'm delivered... right to your front door and in the privacy of your own home. there's no prep or special diet needed. you just go to the bathroom, to collect your sample. after that, i'm gone, shipped to the lab for dna testing that finds colon cancer and precancer. cologuard is not right for everyone. it is not for high risk individuals,

including those with a history of colon cancer or precancer. ibd, certain hereditary cancer syndromes, or a family history of colon cancer. maybe i'll be at your door soon! ask your doctor if cologuard is right for you. covered by medicare and most major insurers.

i happen to believe that our

trade policies over the years have been a disaster for workers in this country. if you add the job loss as a result of nafta, which joe voted for -- joe is a friend of mine and we're going to have this policy discussion in a very civil way. >> welcome back to "hardball." senator bernie sanders taking a swipe at former vice president joe biden just last week. while biden's campaign has focused almost exclusively going after donald trump, sanders is attacking the early democratic front-runner, biden. biden said on saturday he had no plans to attack his other democratic rivals. >> i'm not going to speak ill of any democrat during this campaign, unlike some other democrats now. that's not useful. the last thing the democratic party has to do is get in a big fight. that only benefits donald trump. >> but sanders is not hesitated to draw distinctions. >> joe is a good friend of mine. i'm not here to attack joe. joe voted for the war in iraq.

i led the effort against it. joe voted for nafta and the trade relations, trade agreements with china. i led the effort against that. joe voted for the redelegatider of wall street. i voted against that. if you look at joe's record and you look at my record, i don't think there's much question about who is more progressive. >> well, as the battle begins, the most powerful democrat in the country has a dire warning for 2020. that's coming up next. coming ut no matter who you are, it's important to go for an annual check-up, and when you do remember to be open and honest with your doctor about how you're feeling. because how you're doing emotionally, affects your physical health - and vice versa mr. danson, would you mind? i love doing this thanks, but i just need you to fill out the medical history. that's embarrassing go in for your annual check-up, and check in physically and emotionally cigna. together all the way. do i have to do the age part? okay

with advil liqui-gels, what stiff joints? what bad back? advil is... relief that's fast. strength that lasts. you'll ask... what pain? with advil liqui-gels. run with us on a john deere 1 series tractor. beacuse changing your attachments, should be as easy as... what about this? changing your plans. yeah. run with us. search "john deere 1 series" for more. [ chuckles ]

so, what are some key takeaways from this commercial? did any of you hear the "bundle your home and auto" part? -i like that, just not when it comes out of her mouth. -yeah, as a mother, i wouldn't want my kids to see that. -good mom. -to see -- wait. i'm sorry. what? -don't kids see enough violence as it is? -i've seen violence. -maybe we turn the word "bundle" into a character, like mr. bundles. -top o' the bundle to you. [ laughter ] bundle, bundle, bundle. -my kids would love that. -yeah. you might or joints.hingle. for your heart... but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. when you start with a better that's no way to treat a dog... ...you can do no wrong. where did you learn that? the internet... yeah? mmm! with no artificial preservatives or added nitrates or nitrites, it's all for the love of hot dogs. hi, what's this social security alert?

it's a free alert if we find your social security number on the dark web. good, cuz i'm a little worried about my information getting out. why's that? [bird speaking] my social is 8- 7- 5 dash okay, i see. [bird laughing] somebody thinks it's hilarious. free social security alerts from discover. (gasp) (singsong) budget meeting! sweet. if you compare last quarter to this quarter... various: mmm. it's no wonder everything seems a little better with the creamy taste of philly, made with fresh milk and real cream. with the creamy taste of philly, the matters.ar... introducing the all-new 2019 ford ranger, it's the right gear. with a terrain management system for... this. a bash plate for... that. an electronic locking rear differential for... yeah... this. heading to the supermarket? get any truck. heading out here? get the ford ranger. the only adventure gear built ford tough.

welcome back to "hardball." with democratic front-runner joe biden taking hits on his policy record from bernie sanders, no surprise the number two guy, house speaker nancy pelosi has a warning for all democratic candidates. in an interview with "the new york times," pelosi offered her plan for beating trump. it consists of two warnings. warning one, do not get dragged into an impeachment bid that will ultimately get crushed in the republican-controlled senate and do not risk alienating, that's the second rule, alienating moderate voters who flocked to the party in 2018 by drifting too far to the left. she said own the center-left. own the mainstream. for more i'm joined by a republican strategist. jamal simmons -- >> don't get him in trouble. >> you changed seats. >> host of the hill tv. let's start with the democrat. jamal, is that advice aimed at

helping the center candidate? >> listen, this argument gets a little bit tortured. i think we're talking about not just left and right here. we're talking about insiders versus outsiders. that's the axis this campaign is really being waged on. all those who view themselves as centrists, be a bill clinton centrist from 1992. he ran on centrist policies and not process. i'm going to end welfare. i'm going to, you know, deal with crime. i'm going to focus on raid and it's going to make your life better. he didn't say, oh, we all need to get along. >> let's try that, jamal. i'm with you. bill clinton made two promises. he said for people who work hard and play by the rules, which appealed to working people of all backgrounds. people who work hard and play by the rules. he said i'm going to make abortion rights safe, legal and rare. he was very shrewd, bill clinton. he appealed to the centrist, catholics and all kinds of people, working people. he was able to get a huge coalition. >> what does that have to do with this race? >> that's what i'm asking.

>> first of all, it's game on. we finally have an election going on because you have one democrat who figured out i can't just attack trump, i've got to start going after biden. >> he's not a democrat. >> and i think more and more of them will do that. >> he's a democratic candidate but he's a socialist and an independent. >> he might be closer to democratic turnout in these primaries than joe biden is. look, biden wants 22 other candidates -- >> why is biden leading in the poll if it's so left-wing, the party? >> because he's an insurance policy. everybody likes joe, but the problem is nobody's dying to vote for him. what bernie sanders is doing is i think smart. first of all, he's saying i'm going to go after biden. you know what? now they're going to talk about me and biden -- >> are you trying to get bernie nominated? i know what you're doing. >> i'm sure he'll be running ads with me in them. he's also saying do we stand for something or don't we? >> who do you think trump should truly be afraid of? >> look, i think they all provide some problems, and i think some opportunities. i do think that the two keys to

this -- to 2020 election in november is going to be younger voters. >> yes. >> where biden will not appeal to as much as bernie sanders. >> why does bernie appeal to younger voters? because he does. >> he's more liberal. >> he's an outsider. i sat next to a young woman in detroit who was there during the 2016 campaign. she and her friend were talking about politics. i asked her why are you for bernie? because everybody says i shouldn't be. they like the outsiders. >> who else has an outsider advantage? >> i think elizabeth warren has a little bit of an outsider advantage. pete buttigieg has an outside advantage. maybe beto o'rourke. >> there is not room for all of them. there is going to be a third candidate, maybe fourth at most emerge. it's like three-dimensional chess. >> is pelosi worried about her majority in the house? she might be mostly worried about. she talks about losing four seats if trump contests them. when she says -- >> she wants a democratic president. i think she understands -- >> she thinks a moderate's a

better shot. >> she understands the history making of this moment. here's the thing. you've got to have a progressive candidate who you can sell to the center, not a centrist candidate trying to sell to the progressives. >> why is that the case? i think that may be right. >> listen, vice president biden last week was in dubuque, iowa. great example. hillary clinton got 5700 fewer votes than barack obama got when he ran in 2012. now, donald trump only got 2,200 more votes than mitt romney. that means there were 3,500 democrats that chose not to vote for hillary clinton. those are the democrats that they have to get to show up. that is -- >> do you think that's because she was a moderate or because they didn't like her? >> that's because she's a little establishment. >> do you think that's true, that hillary was too moderate? >> no, i just think they didn't like her -- they disliked her. she represented everything about washington they hated the most. here's the thing you've got to understand. >> the missing voters matter adas much the trump/obama switchers. >> pelosi's saying we can't do

green new deal, medicare for all and free college tuition for everybody. she wants to move them back to the middle. why? she thinks those are losing issues for the democrats. bernie sanders doesn't think so. elizabeth warren doesn't think so. >> 30 seconds. >> pelosi's not running for president. pelosi's trying to hold on to the house, but she cares about whoa is going to be president. running for president is a different thing than managing the house of representatives. you need a progressive you can sell to the middle, not a centrist you're trying to sell to progressives. you're not going to get passionate people to turn out for somebody who is blah. >> the democratic party needs to get the passion of the left and the votes of the center. i think that's well-said. i just said it. thank you. up next, two big promises donald trump made to convince democratic working people to vote for him in 2016. neither of which promise is he keeping. you're watching "hardball." fact is, every insurance company hopes you drive safely.

but allstate actually helps you drive safely... with drivewise. it lets you know when you go too fast... ...and brake too hard. with feedback to help you drive safer. giving you the power to actually lower your cost. unfortunately, it can't do anything about that. now that you know the truth... are you in good hands? ...to give you the alrprotein you needin ensure max protein... with less of the sugar you don't (grunti)g i'll take that. (cheering) 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar ensure. for strength and energy. plants capture co2. what if other kinds of plants captured it too? if these industrial plants had technology that captured carbon like trees we could help lower emissions.

carbon capture is important technology - and experts agree. that's why we're working on ways to improve it. so plants... can be a little more... like plants. ♪

as we heard earlier, candidate donald trump, remember him, used two issues to grab the votes of working people going into 2016. one was his opposition to what he called stupid wars and the other was infrastructure. remember those? we knew that he meant by those stupid wars, the war with iraq that cost thousands of americans liv husbands of americans lives.

in effect replacing a rival neighbor with a compliant pawn. worst yet on the stupid wars front, trump is trying to gin up an outright u.s. conflict with iran. just yesterday he sent an aircraft carrier strike force, there it is, to the persian gulf to raise the heat. the second promise donald trump made was infrastructure. remember that? he was going to upgrade the country's rails and highways from new york's penn station all the way to los angeles. this was a mighty promise. not just for the huge number of high-paying jobs it would generate, also those worried about the aging of our subway and sewer systems in our big cities and the dangers posed by our crumbling bridges and highways all across the country. all of this died last week when trump's republican party went thumbs down on that $2 trillion proposal from speaker pelosi and other democrats to rebuild the country with no infrastructure. there they are. maybe the republicans realized they'd spent it all on the trump multibillion tax boondoggle.

that's 2 for 2, promises made, promises discarded, especially the working people donald trump flipped to get his 2016 win in the electoral college. that really is "hardball" for us. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in" -- >> individual number one is president donald j. trump. >> the president's coconspirator reports to prison. >> there still remains much to be told. >> as donald trump says the public should not hear from robert mueller. >> i would say it's done. >> tonight, why nearly 500 former federal prosecutors say the president would be charged with felonies if he wasn't in office. then the treasury refuses to turn over trump's tax returns and the justice department scrambles as house democrats move to hold bill barr in contempt. >> to barr's moment of accountability will come soon enough. plus the