we're out of time but i thank you gene, heidi, kim, thank you for watching. that's it does for our hour. "mpt daily" with chuck todd starts right now. well, if it's thursday crying out for impeachment, speaker pelosi said the president stormed out of yesterday's meeting because she won't impeach him. plus, just moments ago the president fires back saying pelosi has, quote, lost it. and gridlock alert, if nothing gets done, does that change everything? welcome to thursday.

it is "mpt daily." good evening, i'm chuck todd here in washington. been another wild day here. it's the norm sometimes. today house speaker nancy pelosi taunted the president on impeachment and moments ago, not surprisingly, he decided to fire back. pelosi told reporters today that what really irks mr. trump and the reason he stormed out of yesterday's meeting in the white house is she won't impeach him. >> the house democratic caucus is not on a path to impeachment and that's where he wants us to be. when he saw that that was not happening, that again with the coverup, which he understands is true, just struck a cord. the white house is just crying out for him, and that's why he flipped yesterday, because he was hoping. >> at the same time she doubled down on her case that the president committed a crime and is knowingly engaged in a cover-up. and then she made comments that

seemed intent on provoking the president. >> i pray for the president of the united states. i wish that his family or his administration or his staff would have an intervention for the good of the country. if you don't start honoring your oath of office, i can't work with you, that's basically what he's saying. maybe he wants to take a leave of absence, i don't know. i absolutely ardently pray for the president. >> moments ago the president fired back at all of those comments in yet another impromptu press conference at the white house. >> i saw her read it perfectly just the way she said it. it's a very sort of nasty-type statement but i will say this, she said i walked into the room right next door yesterday and walked in and started screaming and yelling. just the opposite. crazy nancy, i'll tell what you, i have been watching her, and i have been watching her for a long period of time. she's not the same person. she's lost it. and she is a mess.

>> so she says intervention, leave of absence, and, of course, he says uh-uh, she lost it. so bizarre display for these events, farmers in the backdrop, pushed back on pelosi's claim he had a tantrum yesterday and claim he wanted to be impeached. in fact to back up his claim, he recruited his aides to be sort of supporting witnesses. >> she said that you want to be impeached. do you want to be impeached? >> i don't think anybody wants to be impeached. kellyanne, what was my temperament yesterday? >> very calm, mr. president. >> you did not raise your voice. you were very calm and very direct. >> what was my attitude yesterday? >> you were very calm. >> what was my demoner yesterday. >> very calm. i have seen both. this was not an angry or ranting, very calm and straightforward. >> so amid this constant

escalation of fights and taunts between the president and speaker, democrats as a whole, perhaps the biggest question facing both is this, is there something the president could do or say that would push the democratic caucus over the edge? to help us answer that question, i'm joined by two house democrats. there are different sides of this impeachment issue. congressman steph faulten of massachusetts, and a bid of an impeachment skeptic. i will start things off with a massachusetts democrat and 2020 candidate, congressman, why impeachment now? why is it now? what was the trigger for you that said, okay, now is the time? >> actually, i voted for moving forward with impeachment over a year ago. it's clear there's enough to have this debate. over 30 of the president's associates have been indicted by the mueller problem. his campaign chairman is in

prison today. don't tell me there's not enough to debate impeachment. understand congress does two things, we debate things and we vote on them. i'm not calling for a vote on impeachment but i am calling for having this debate for opening this inquiry so we can get the facts before the american people. that's our constitutional responsibility regardless of whether or not it's good politics at the moment. >> i was just going to say, what is the more political stance? because there's an argument to be made not impeaching is worrying too much about politics. >> yes, i think that's right. i think that speaker pelosi's made a very good case for that. she's saying it's not a good political time to talk about impeachment. she's talked about the 2020 election. i think those are all very valid political concerns. how about just doing the right thing by the oath we swore to protect and defend the constitution, not our political future, the constitution of the united states. and balance of power is inherent in the constitution. we have to do our constitutional

job to put a check on the executive. by the way, that doesn't mean we can't do other good things for the country too. we can walk and chew gum at the same time. a lot of things we will advance in a positive agenda for the country. but we have a constitutional duty to put a check on the executive and figure out what's going on with this president. >> it's our understanding in the larger meeting with the entire democratic caucus earlier this week one of the things speaker pelosi brought up she was concerned an impeachment would essentially, assuming the republican senate acquits him, it would end up vindicating and clearing him, and that was a concern that actually you go through this process and you vindicate him rather than highlighting and surfacing what appear to be constitutional violations. >> everybody knows that the republican party is just lining up behind the president regardless of whether it's the morally right thing to do. i don't think it would be any surprise if we were to actually hold that vote, which i'm not call are for today, but if we were to hold that vote and it

were to go to the senate and a whole bunch of senators would do the wrong thing and support the president because that's the political thing for them to do. but i think the american people are smarter. i think the american people are smarter than that. i think if we do a better job of explaining what this mueller report is all about, the clear violations of the constitution that the president has been carrying out since the first day he came into office, that the american people will understand the right thing to do here. but it's incumbent upon us to make that case. we can't make that case or have that debate if we're not opening an inquiry. >> one of the other arguments is it gets in the way of a race, you're asking for an inquiry and running for president. does it drown out other issues you want to talk about? >> no, i'm not. that's why i spent the last week talking about how to bring this country together for a single national health care system, and single health care, i'm on the

budget committee and i'm concerned about health care and want to see every american get health care. i see it firsthand when i go to the va. we're moving forward on a positive agenda for the american people. >> congressman, you and i both know, once an impeachment inquiry is started, it sucks all of the oxygen out of the room. >> i don't know if it sucks all of the oxygen out of the room but i will say this, we've done a lot of great things in the house the senate has rejected anyway. we're going to keep doing those great things but mitch mcconnell, i don't know what -- what the oxygen is that's really left here. so how about just doing the right thing? that's at the ends of the day what i'm talking about, just do the right thing by the constitution. if you do the right thing at the end of the day, you'll be vindicated by the american people. >> we already stopped using the electoral college procedure in the constitution, and some would argue madison if he were to come back to life he would say, we

gave you the tool. you refused to use it. let me ask you, is there a date close to the 2020 election that makes impeachment essentially impossible? >> i have not even thought about that. 1 that's a political calculation and i think what we're tired of right now, what the american people tired of as i go around and listen to voters is the political bickering, the back and forth and frankly you detailed at the start of the show, that's what we want to get past. we get past that by not playing into those politics but by rising above it, by doing the right thing by the constitution. i think if we do that at the end of the day, the american people will appreciate it. >> speaking of rising above it, it's not easy to rise above sometimes with the president. do you support how nancy pelosi has gone back and forth with him here, or do you think this is devolving into a name-calling spat that will get unhealthy for everybody? >> i think almost every

conversation with the president devolves into some name-calling spat but speaker pelosi is doing a good job standing up to the president and it's clearly getting under his skin. >> congressman moulton, i appreciate it. thank you for sharing your views and making your case for opening an impeachment inquiry. you just merd frheard from one democratic member of congress. that is what this is about, not kicking him out of office immediately but starting the process. now i want to talk about a democrat who's not there yet. joining in me now democratic congressman dean phillips, won in a swing district. won a republican seat in 2018. congressman, welcome to the show. >> good to be with you, chuck. >> you heard congressman moulton there. why not? why is it in your mind not the time? >> a couple of reasons, chuck. i just completed a 36-city tour of my district just last week and i asked people all around my district, what do you want me focusing on? and they said infrastructure, reducing prescription drug

pricing, health care. impeachment was not the focus that my constituents asked me to be focused on right now. with that said, as seth said, we can walk and chew gum at the same time. we have committees assigned to provide oversight over the executive branch. i think they're doing that. i like how we're doing it. we're being ma thoethodical and principled and patience. our patience is be getting close to the end to be forthright. but we take an oath to the constitution and to the people of this country and that should be the determinant of how we proceed, what is in the best interest of the country. i'm just simply not there yet. >> it's funny, i keep saying what would madison say? what would he be arguing under these circumstances? and i don't think it's an easy call. you have the way our process worked. we have a more direct election of a president, whether we want to call it that or not than we did over 200-odd years ago and at the same time there was this belief congress' article won for

a reason. what do you think the founders would have wanted, wait for the election or deal with what you have to deal with, what's in front of you? >> some of those who participated in the constitutional convention argue it is the election itself that should be the judge and jury of our presidents and we do have an election coming up in 18 months. i would like to see 150 million people serve as judge and jury. that said, i hope we continue our legal proceedings. i think we need to ascertain more facts and if those facts ne lead us to clear evidence of criminal activity and obstruction, we should proceed. but we're not there yet. i want to be cautious and methodical. >> what makes it -- define not there yet. is it because there's not one thing? he has yet to defy a court order? what is the -- i hear that phrase but there's a very undefined phrase. what is there? like when do we know when we're there? >> first and foremost, we're doing exactly what we should be doing, which is deliberate.

this is a deliberative body. i respect the opinions of all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle. there hasn't been at least a court order that hasn't been violated yet. if that happens, that surely will move the needle in my case and i'm sure many others. we're just about to receive documents we have been asking for, for some time. we have not yet seen testimony from people that i believe should be providing that testimony to our committees. if those things don't happen, we cannot ascertain them, by all means that could be our last option to proceed with impeachment. back to what's in the best ie d interest of the country, most polls indicate 60% of the country is opposed to impeachment right now. we should be paying attention to what most people are talking about. by the way, there's what cable news are people talking about and what people are talking about in cul-de-sacs. it can be different. >> i know, social media, cable news can be in one place and what we are finding out with the polls and joe biden, perhaps the rest of the democratic party in another. let me ask you this, you talked about the polls, is there a risk

of looking like you're only avoiding impeachment because of politics, that it's about -- that in fact you're making the investigation process more politicalized by being afraid of essentially the constitutional nuclear option? >> chuck, just the opposite. if i was looking at this through a political lens, i would have called for an impeachment months ago. i'm talking about my republican colleagues, democratic colleagues, libertarians and republicans in my own district. i'm having these conversations every day. i'm simply doing what i think is the best interest of this country. i'm not saying no to impeachment. i think we have more to do. i think our leadership has been quite thoughtful, methodical, patient. some think too patient. i still have a little bit left but not a whole lowest left in the tank, i can tell you that. >> speaking of losing patience, apparently justin amash, a republican from michigan, he has more thoughts on this. i want to put up one comment he

made. he said -- some of the president's actions were inherently corrupt and other actions were corrupt, and therefore impeachable, because the president took them to serve his own interests. does justin amash's announcement basically endorse the idea the president should be the subject of an impeachment inquiry? does that make it easy for you, harder? is that the type of patience, you think this is what patience leads to as you get more people coming forward? >> i respect mr. amash's courage because it certainly takes courage to be the only one in the republican conference that has come to that conclusion. i certainly believe from experience in my heart others have come to that conclusion privately. as i said, we don't take an oath to our party. we take an oath to our country and the constitution. i'm surprised there are not more republicans who see it the same way. >> but you don't see it that way yet, in fairness. >> i'm seeing it a little bit

differently every day. as i said, my patience is running out. and look, i want what's in the best interest of this country. would i like to think everybody here wants the same thing. there's a lot about this presidency that is remarkable, and not in a positive way. in t the constitution provides a mechanism for impeachment. it does not demand or require it. based on the facts i know right now, we may learn things in the coming days or weeks that will push me over the age bedge but think it's in our best interest to a, be methodical. there may be a storm on cable news but people in this country want us focused on things we were sent here to do. chuck, you know, we passed a lot of bills in the house the last four months and many are sitting on mr. mcconnell's desk in the senate. we're going to continue doing that work. >> do you think the investigation and talks of impeachment have overshadowed that work? >> in the news they have absolutely overshadowed that work.

the fact is we have done a lot and will continue to do a lot and can continue to do a lot as long as we continue down this path. if we proceed with impeachment, it will suck a lot of the air out of the room. >> congressman moulton, thank you, and i hope it was good to see a thoughtful exercise there, point and counterpoint. up ahead -- what we just went through, trump v. pelosi, as well as the gridlock mess in washington. "groundhog day" why democrats can get something for doing nothing. and return of rex tillerson. the former secretary of state is back with a vengeance on capitol hill. back with a vengeance on capitol hill man 1: proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. man 2: proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis... woman 2: ...with humira. woman 3: humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible

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that was scheduled to be about farmers and ranchers. let's turn to our export, political reporter at bloomberg news, former hillary clinton adviser and msnbc con contributor and republican strategist brad todd. no, we are not related despite his goatee. let's go first with -- i want a response to this point/counterpoint and trump v. pelosi here in a minute. who was the more compelling? >> it's conviction versus politics. democrats are saying on the base of substance and concrete evidence of what he's done, it's enough to open the an inquiry at the very least. opponents are saying don't do this, it will crowd out our message. and dean phillips clearly said the polls say the country is not there and he's right about that. but you won't get the country there if you don't open the inquiry and the question is do democrat voters want their leaders to go on what the polls say or convictions? >> both of you get hired to win

elections, not just feel good. what was most compelling to you? >> i think congressman phillips was most compelling and seth moulton has to be careful here. he is running for the presidency. he's going out on the campaign trail trying to make a compelling case as to why he should be the democratic nominee. when he is out there talking about impeachment -- and maybe he's not, he's obviously addressing it today, he has to be very careful. >> it's fair to say i did invite him only on this topic. >> of course. but leader pelosi knows what she's doing. she is being very methodical about this, she fair about this and very measured. if i was advising somebody on the campaign trail, i would say focus on the issues. maybe have a one, two-sentence answer on impeachment and move on. >> i know where your personal politics are, you would love the party to run an impeachment. do you think phillips -- you could tell one guy runs in a blue district and one guy runs in a swing district. >> that's true. and 31 are in districts president trump carried. that's a big number to send off the plank.

it's unpopular with republicans and even among democrats, 20 some percent don't think there should be impeachment. it's a politically dicey to start impeachment for any democrat but particularly dean phillips, who's in the suburbs. >> that brings us to the decision by the president, and i will start with you, by saying i'm not dealing with democrats until they get this investigation out of the way. that sounds like a good message for the base. but it sounds dangerous to me to own the gridlock. >> i think he might revise that message too. i think it was a tactic he had a fight with nancy pelosi. keep in mind for two weeks he had been picking on joe biden, fighting with joe biden. nancy pelosi's about 15 points less popular than joe biden. >> if you want to pick an enemy, pick pelosi, not biden. >> fight with nancy pelosi. that frames the election right with independents. >> what do you make with this back and forth on gridlock? >> well, i think first of all, it's politically damaging for him because ultimately people are electing the president of the united states to govern and govern effectively.

it doesn't take a rocket scientist to rely how in disrepair our roads and bridges are. people want stuff get done, infrastructure take place and legislation passed. when donald trump is going at nancy pelosi and saying i'm not going to work with you until you stop investigating me, i think that's a message that turns off a lot of independent and swing voters. >> by the way, i should point out the president attacked her, all of this stuff, pelosi responded in a tweet, quote, when the extremely stable genius starts acting more presidential, i'll be happy to work with him on infrastructure, trade and other issues. what was interesting what did get under his skin, when she said intervention, leave of absence, he clearly wasn't going to let that go and didn't. >> i know there are allies of the president who say no deals while you're investigating me was a blunder. but can you table issues, but you cannot simultaneously say i'm not focus on that.

i don't think it's a tenable position to say no investigations, blank o argumen specific ones. and what speaker pelosi is hanging her hat on now is they are fighting these battles in court. they have one victory in court over the deutsche bank subpoena and going after tax returns as well. if you continue to prove it is bearing fruit, she might be able to hold this train for a little bit longer but it's getting tough. >> i think though it's important that the president has an opportunity perhaps to turn a corner here. payoff has always been his problem with independents, they felt like it was a soap opera. but now house democrats are moving quickly towards impeachment. they're about to introduce chaos. the president has a huge opportunity to stop and say i'm doing the business of the american people, him doing impeachment. >> but him slamming the brakes though was not the way to do it. >> the question is, is this a one-week segue into fighting with pelosi and does he turn that corner with something

substantive? >> while nancy pelosi has done a good job of explaining why not yet, she doesn't have a good explanation of what comes next. take a listen. >> i intend not -- there are three things, you might understand better if you remember these three things. we want to follow the facts to get the truth to the american people, with a recognition that no one is above the law, and, three, that the president is engaged in a cover-up. and that is what my statement is. >> i talked to one house democrat that didn't want to go public, they are for impeachment but did not want to go public with it. they worry not impeaching makes it look political. >> i don't envie leader pelosi on this at all. this is a very difficult situation democrats are in, which is ridiculous because it is the way our constitution is

framed and the fact president trump did all of this crazy stuff and the democrats are in a quagmire. it's a bitter pill to swallow. but i think what speaker pelosi is saying, let the process play out. we have plenty of investigations that will take place. >> did she say what a trigger is? it is defying a subpoena? did she need to outline, okay, what is the line in the sand? i think there's one but i don't know what it is. >> i think impeachment -- if the impeachment inquiry process will take place, it will need to happen sooner rather than later. i think what she's trying to do is insinuate to her caucus there are ways to hold this president accountable other than impeaching him. we have oversight committees that will keep doing their thing. but impeachment is not the only answer to making sure that the president is held accountable. of course, we all know votes are simply not there in the senate to remove him from the office. >> it seems like they're looking

for a moment but they don't know what it looks like. >> they want to feel comfortable that they request can go home a the case. >> he has to do something that we don't know yet, do something, defy a subpoena, something that could make congressman phillips say okay. >> defying a subpoena would probably meet that standard. >> i'm old enough to live through the 1998 election. impeachment is a drug, and it's a real potent drug. you never think about what's going to happen when you come down from that drug. we ended up in 1998, took a great election and ended up splitting the difference, getting nothing on the republican side. democrats will do the same thing. independents do not want to erase elections. in the party that is focused on independents, and the next year

will win the next election. democrats are not thinking about independents. nancy pelosi is smart enough, that's why she's trying to hold it off. >> is there a date certain where democrats have to say, focus on 2020? >> i think it's hard to put a date on it but post labor day if we have not started an impeachment inquiry we need to move on and start focusing on winning at the ballot box. >> i have one house democrat day, end of the year literally, 2020. >> i think her labor day calendar is probably a smarter day to put out there. adrienne and brad stick with us. up ahead, impeachment taunts and gridlock here in washington. but outside the beltway, how do those voters look at all of this? of this these letters used to mean something. letters earned in backwoods, high hills, and steep dunes. but somewhere along the way, suvs became pretenders, not pioneers. but you never forgot the difference,

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welcome back to tonight and 2020 vision. bernie, biden and warren. pay attention. we have three 2020 polls within a week and trends are clear. in addition to being comfortably atop the polls, joe biden's support went up in two out of the three. he's increased his lead over his closest competitor bernie sanders, who dropped at least five points across the board in all three polls. and where are his supporters going? it appears to elizabeth warren, who is seeing her numbers go in the right direction in all of these polls. we should also note that in today's monmouth poll had good news for kamala harris for the

fist time in any of these national polls in a while, she's up three points in their poll since april. but it's a bit of an anomaly in the other two. fox has her down three points, quinn f quinnipiac holding steady but it's still early. as biden gains support in the center, there's something happening with bernie sanders, folks, and something happening with elizabeth warren. could they be about to switch places? we shall see. back with "mpt daily" after this. you make time... when you. but sometimes life gets in the way, and that stubborn fat just won't go away. coolsculpting takes you further. a non-surgical treatment that targets, freezes, and eliminates treated fat cells, for good. discuss coolsculpting with your doctor. some common side-effects include temporary numbness, discomfort, and swelling. don't imagine results, see them. coolsculpting, take yourself further.

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welcome back. all of the talk in washington may be about gridlock but it's the chaos inside the beltway resonating with voters in the so-called rust belt, especially the states that helped elect donald trump president, the smee states democrats need to win back if they want the white house in 2020. and joining us now, he's had a lot to say about how democrats are nationally talking to voters

in his neck of the woods, mr. beatrice. welcome to the show, sir. >> hello, chuck. how are you? >> i'm good. you've been i think listening for quite a bit today. i know that you heard the back and forth about impeachment. you can tell the member from a swing district versus a member from a safer district on that front. then we had this conversation about gridlock. so look, you're dealing with voters that have voted obama and voted trump. that's your neck of the woods. that's where you come from. what are you seeing? >> i'm in a county that swung 21 points and the county north of here swung 30 points. 98% of the people here think washington puts the fun in dysfunctional. so the democrats need to be talking about paychecks and pensions, the volume needs to be really loud on those issues. this is about winning. we are in a zero sum game.

we either win or we don't get to pick supreme court justices. if we want to win, we have to talk about what people care about and that's paychecks, pensions, college education and health care. 97% of the people, chuck, i hate to tell you this, i know it bothers everyone. they don't give a rats you know what about taxes and they don't really care. i'm not saying congress should not walk and chew gum and walk at the same time, but the volume on issues, kitchen table issues, needs to be louder because i want to win this election. i don't want to lose. for those that think they can write off ohio, they're sadly mistaken. sherrod brown just won, one of the most progressive democrats. but you know what he cares about? dignity of workers, blue collar workers, people that shower after work and not before work, people that work with their hands, they feel like the elites don't respect them. and somehow if you listen to the president, he's always giving

them kudos. we need to turn up our volume because those are our voters. that's who brought us to the dance and that's who backs we should have. >> some members of congress might push back and say, look, what are you supposed to do? he is not just violating norms but there seems to be evidence here he is -- and if we let this go, you set a precedent, you could argue this has been a slippery slope in how congress has dealt with the office of the presidency for 40 years in this slippery slope. what do you say to that, that if you let this go, because politically i think you make a very strong case, but if you let it go, essentially, and say we're just going to let the voters decide that you're actually essentially looking the other way on the behavior. >> well, my grandmother used to calls tell me, you eat an elephant one bite at a time. so i urge spokeaker pelosi to hd the line. i think she's looking better in this argument.

but look, we need to quit setting our hair on fire. every day i wake up the press sets their hair on fire, the president sends out a tweet, match, fire, hair on fire. you know what the public thinks, we cry wolf too much, democracy is ending, the country is ending, everything. meanwhile he's pushing back on china and my party is criticizing him for pushing back on china. i don't know how this got reversed, but the reason he won is because of his positions on trade. the reason he held on to michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, iowa and ohio was because his positions on trade. i don't know when the democrats became the free trade party but i'm telling you, that's a big issue in the middle part of the country. there are people here who had to disassemble their machines, go down to mexico and reassemble them. when the president is beating up on trade, he's singing to those people. we need to sing to those people. we need to tell them we're the party that's going to protect the workers. >> let me play something then

that joe biden said about china and i'm curious what you think of the comment. take a listen. >> china is going to eat our lunch? come on, man. they're not bad folks, folks, but guess what? they're competition for us. >> obviously, the president wanted to exploit that and say he's not going to be tough on china. are you concern that sounds like joe biden -- >> don't make me say something about uncle joe. >> no, do you think he needs to toughen up his china record, do you think the obama/biden record on china is one worth defending or one worth rethinking? >> i think it's one worth rethinking. if you want to win ohio, you look at sherrod brown and his position on the nafta. at one time in my life, representative tim ryan, you remember him, he's running for president, he was the aoc -- he got in the congress when he was 29. you know what the number one

issue was? naft wh nafta, he beat up on nafta. i will make a prediction, chuck. are you ready? democrats will win new york and california. but if we run like we want to be the governor of new york and california, you're going to blow off iowa, michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania and ohio, and that gets you to the promised land. remember, this is about winning an election. it's not about being a purist. i love uncle joe. i've ridden in a limousine with him. i have had lunch with him. i think he needs to rethink that china issue. i really do. >> what do you make of biden's strength so far because it defines his own past as a candidate, he's never been running this strong before for president, and the democratic party in the past usually beats the living daylights out of its front-runners. is this a reminder that maybe there's a whole bunch of people like you just simply give me the car that's going to cross the

finish line? >> no, it's street cred. he's got street cred. look, you look at joe biden, everyone knows who he is. voters are looking for authenticity. that's what they liked about the president trump. he was authentic. whether he was authentically rude or whatever he was, he was authentic. joe biden has the same thing, he's authentic. he is what you see. what you see on tv is how he is in person. and i remember riding in a limousine with him and he offered me half of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. he is that guy. he is uncle joe. he is authentic and the voters can see it. i think that's why he's leading it. he has a lot of street cred with a lot of blue collar workers. by the way, chuck, while i'm talking about blue color workers, i reject the notion of white blue collar workers. blue collar workers come in all persons of color, transgender and gay. they are the ones that are the backbone of this country that are not paying attention to what's going on in washington,

get up every day, play by the rules, they just want washington to give them a fair shot. and that's all they want. >> david betrace, it was a pleasure to have you on. you have a lot of passion for sharing your views. i preappreciate it. i have a feeling this won't be the last time we talk. up ahead -- a reaction to everything you just heard. also, rex tillerson getting quiet revenge? ticed something...strange. oh, could you, uh, make me a burger? -poof -- you're a burger. [ laughter ] -everyone acts like their parents. -you have a tattoo. -yes. -fun. do you not work? -so, what kind of mower you got, seth? -i don't know. some kid comes over. we pay him to do it. -but it's not all bad. someone even showed us how we can save money by bundling home and auto with progressive. progressive can't protect you from becoming your parents. but we can protect your home and auto. when it comes to type 2 diabetes, are you thinking about your heart? well, i'm managing my a1c, so i should be all set.

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tonight i'm obsessed with today. you know what today is, it's throwback thursday, because i'm feeling a bit nostalgic. about all of the times president trump called reports about him fake news. then consider what happened wednesday with former secretary of state rex tillerson. yesterday tillerson told house lawmakers the president was underprepared for a summit with vladimir putin in germany back in 2017. you know what it felt like, i think i had seen that somewhere before. actually, i had. i read it in "the washington post" in december 2018 when they reported tillerson called the president undisciplined at that meeting. you know, i got the same feeling recently when i read the mueller report. you remember the about the president asking then white house mcghan to fire the special counsel. i swear i read that somewhere. "the new york times" january 2018. president trump called that fakes news. and there was the part the statement don jr. gave on the russia meeting, the one the white house said he had no role in writing but dictated the

entire thing, that was reported back in july 2017. president called that fake news too. look, i can go out but we have the rule of threes and that's all i had time to make my point here. but it seems the fake news isn't really all that fake after thr. it seems fake news is not that big after all, is it? years of reporting at the trump white house proven accurate by investigators. these these folks for the most part gotten it right and it needs to be recognized. when fake news will call something else. the truth. whatit happe and if you've got cut-rate car insurance, paying for this could feel like getting robbed twice. so get allstate... and be better protected from mayhem... like me. ♪

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welcome back, time for the latest, the hill, adrian and brad are back. adrian, i have to ask you about mr. beatrice. it sounded like a part of the republican party that you don't hear. >> the dnc should use him all over the place. he's articulating how democrats can win back the white house. i think a point that he did not quite say this in words. we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. he's talk about how we can't eat our own and in the sense of joe biden, he was talking about let's be careful how we address china. you may not be seeing it, there is a lot of workers out here that are feeling the impact of how china's relationship with the united states affected them.

>> you know this about your party, electability seems like a smart idea politically. >> look if you got a bunch of people in the room, none of them would say trump is the best bet in 2016. the base have spoke. >> yswing voters for donald trup are blue collar voters in places like ohio. one thing they liked about donald trump was he didn't like republicans much either so he was not a republican himself. >> this trade thing i thought it was interesting on china. he just went up. i heard from ohio democrats who feels as if for now they're almost blaming that as the reason why they are in this >> >> there is some true biden is coming and taken a little context blown out of china.

he's vulnerable on this issue. >> that's why i asked him that. he was not going to double down on that. biden voted for nafta and supported the ttp. hillary clinton did not have a strong position to counter him on that and it hurt her and that's one of the that's one of the reasons he became the first republican in the last three year to win those important states. >> adrian, i thought one of the you were rated aspects ofd2 the clintonzs campaign was july n l vulnerability on trade. >> was i under rated? >> i don't know. >> i think everybody wanted to point to a million other things. trade was under valued. >> i know it was. challenging time trying toe c toainly articulate our@d position ongu that. look this is a chance for democrats to win back the state, i think we are all looking forward and not backward. you got to get right on trade issues and issues that matters,

otherwise democrats are not going to win back this part of the country. the tillerson stuff, he has been -- eliot engle invited him and they brought in rex tillerson who was a private citizen to essentially tell us about your day serving as secretary of state which tillerson felt oblige to do in the same blunt manner. >> the president went after him >> let me put the tweet up. rex tillerson, the man who's dumb as a rock. the president can't let anything go unanswered. made up a story, he got fired and i was out prepared by vladimir putin in germany. i don't think putin would agree on how the u.s. is doing. >> there is a bit of a pattern

here. when he when he hires them, he says terrific things about them and they leave and they said critical things about him and he unloads on them and don mcgahn again. you are not going to get people to work for you if this is how you are going to continue. >> his signature professional moment before being president was utter the words "you're fired" on the "apprenti"apprent" the republican base have craved for a long time that gave him the 90% aprooufrproval. that goes to what beatrice says. is that the case for joe biden? >> we'll see. we have not invade that process yet. i hope voters will be patience

here and realize when they see more candidates on stage in front of each other having a real policy discussion that you will find more people who they . >> he fires off on his tweets. goes off to, something he did to hillary clinton. he does not know how to attack somebody so he goes after mental state. >> he gets rattled by people who are at the same stage. nobody could talk back or say anything. now he's re now he's realing widealing with clinton and nancy pelosi does rattle him. paul ryan can never do that and mitch mcconnell can not do that. >> the way he disparages. democrats, everyone does not vote on sensibility, they don't

vote on the president's they're they're going to choose between the president or the democrats, they'll decide if democrats are too far out for them to vote for. >> hill >> hill and adrian. thank you all. that's all i got today. we'll be back tomorrow with more "meet the press" daily. it is all yours, ari mielber. >> later i will speak to the sponsor of the new york state law, it is now a law that will force donald trump to give up p part of his tax returns to new york state, to new york a lot is a lot is happening. we we begin with nancy pelosi firing