good evening and welcome to "politics nation." tonight's lead, unintended consequences. with robertmueller's definitive statement in the rear view, nancy pelosi's job is now harder than she probably like it to be. as support for impeaching trump grows in her caucus and out on the 2020 campaign trail and oi co -- according to a new poll out among her base as well. according to a cnn poll of more than 1,000 voters this week, only 41% favor impeachment. a 4% bump from april when the redacted mueller report was released, but among democrats, 76% now say congress needs to impeach and remove president

trump. a 7% up tick in that same time. coming off of mueller's non-exoneration of the president this week. the new numbers are further complicating the picture for the speaker who is now looking at 54 house democrats and even one house republican on the record as wanting an impeachment proceedings to begin. joining me now, alexander hefner. over three quarters democrats polled saying they want impeachment. you hearing a lot of the 2020

presidential candidates. we want impeachment. how long can nancy pelosi balance this out? >> i thidon't think she can do that much longer. when did we discover this president was impeachable? go back to helsinki, charlottesville. there are multiple layers of crimes and misdemeanors here. it's a political process. i think if her strategy is to stay above the fray, apolitical and add a certain juncture when those crimes are so evident to the public through testimony, through interviews, through more clear violations of the constitution from the president then to take that stance then that might work in 2020 for the impeachment to be hot in the minds of these constituents and voters. at the same time, you can't wait too long and to say to the american people at the beginning of the process he's not worth

impeaching. what does that mean? >> and what does it mean about the law? they are saying on the republican side, well, on the trump side, which has become to mean the same thing lately, that they just energize his vote. they politically don't mind if there's impeachment. they think it works for them. wouldn't it also energize the democra democrats. >> absolutely. >> if there's impeachment going on even if they don't get a senate conviction, would it not make a lot of voters say the senate wouldn't do it but we will. >> i think there's credence to that. it would energize the base on the left. i think nancy pelosi is probably thinking about this from more so a political calculus here. i think her position is and i said this earlier. if i'm looking at my freshman class and 2018 of significant number of out of the 62, 63 seats, 40 of them were won out of districts that trump won that

were held previously by a republican. i don't want to risk losing my majority, my speakership by jeopardizing those members. republicans only need 21 seats to win. i think if nancy pelosi were to be smart as you just mentioned in that poll, you saw a 4% increase. what that tells me is there are americans who are beginning to say wait a minute. maybe i need to pay more attention to this. how do you cross that barrier of getting a simple majority, you need to have those public hearings. that's the best option for democrats to persuade more of the public on their side. >> that's what happened with nixon. carol, the rules of getting evidence and bringing things s before congress is much different with an impeachment inquiry than with the special counsel had to deal with because they could say they need to see an unredacted report. they need to see financial records. isn't the scope broader in terms

of what they could ask for and a federal judge might not interfere because they would need it to really look at high crimes and misdemeanors? >> really it's a double edged sword. the scope may be broader because high creaimes and misdemean joo -- misdemeanors don't have to be crimes but it's not as quick as the special prosecutor. that house don't just have a grand jury and say in two weeks you'll be in front of the grand jury. there's a lot more delay that can be involved in that. fact finding, additional fact finding for the house will be a bit challenging especially since here, as we have seen, the white house is throwing up road blocks to their calling witnesses and getting system. >> let's say for the sake of discussion, if the house said in

june, we're going forward impeachment inquiry. are you saying that the white house would use all kind of legal blockades that we would not really proceed as quickly as the beginning of next year or mid next year as we're deep into 2020? >> i'm saying it's a possible. we have seen some indication already that even in the normal course of house oversight, the white house has been objecting to witnesses appearing. they can raise executive privilege claims. even if those claims or part of those claims are meritless, they can raise them. it would be up to a court to resolve it. certainly a lot of these matters can take a lot of time. >> so, alexander, the politics of that could be good or bad for the democrats. they wouldn't be able to get past the starting but it could keep it out there and maybe energize a lot of their base

saying they are stalling. >> i think so. the defiance of these subpoenas is illegal and political matter now. you can't continue to defy subpoenas case after case and not impeach. it's just denigrating our very republic and system of governance here. those congressional districts on the house side, it's important to protect them but those districts are not trump country. they are new battleground territory and if you don't get a conviction on the senate side, that may bolster a very important effort for the democrats to retake that chamber. it can help in both ways. the folks who voted for house dems wanted democratic restoration, accountability might bite them right where it hurts. >> let's say they can't stop certain things from coming out. let's say that there is

impeachment inquiry started and some things get through that will damaging. at what point does some of the republicans in the senate, we keep saying the senate won't convict. many of them, including mitch mcconnell are up for re-election. at what point do they have to say, if there is something, a smoking gun, so to speak, we may have to let you fly this kite by yourself mr. trump, which is what happened with richard nixon. >> what has benefitted republicans in the senate thus far, it would appear if you look at general polling day that that is out there that they are in pretty safe states. currently. that's not the say democrats in those states can't find a competitive challenger to challenge those individuals which would turn up the heat on things. what's benefitted the president is ignorance. the average person isn't inclined into what these details

are which is why we saw a bump in that poll that you alluded to earlier. people are saying maybe there's something here. >> a lot of that was mueller coming out. >> exactly. i think democrats, at some po t point, they have to decide we go by politics and we go by morals and ethics and move forward with impeachment. what is the best way to move forward. i strongly believe the best way to do this is to convince the american people that there is more there that they are just not awire are of yet. that would put pressure on the republicans in the senate where you have voters saying we're seeing what's going on on the news. we're hearing the radios. why aren't you guys doing more to stand up against this president. donald trump only won this election, by 77,000 votes because -- >> he lost the general. >> merely because he's an incumbent doesn't mean he can't be beaten in 2020. >> we talked a lot about the politics but what about the

whole standard of governing. when you have in a report by special counsel, 10 examples of what could possibly be obstructi obstruction. at what point do we expect that our senators and our congress people say, wait a minute. before we lower the bar of the presidency and before we excuse any kind of behavior that could be impeachment, for the good of the country we'll have to move forward and resolve this one way or another. >> the funny thing about this special counsel's report is if you took any group of americans and said, how many of you have sat down and read this entire 233-page report, i don't think you would say in hands raised. >> maybe not even attorney general barr's. go ahead. >> the report is extraordinary. one of the interest things is the attorney general keep saying we looked at each of these

instances of purported obstruction that the special counsel raised and we didn't think any of them rose to the level of obstruction. the special counsel was very, very clear in the report that you have to look at all of them put together. you have to look at the timing of each event and how one may have influenced the other. that analysis seems to have changed by the time it got to the attorney general's press conference. i think what the special counsel is saying is, you really have to sit down and read the whole report and at that point, make the reason decision whether you're going to move ahead with impeachment or not. >> if you look at the timeline and you look at them combined, it is a much different picture than if you sort of nitpick one by one. you have michael cohen sitting in front of congress saying the president, as president, wrote me a check to reimburse me for covering up something that i

mislead prosecutors about. i mean, how do we act like that's nothing. >> there was massive obstruction. the underlying moral crime here that may be more powerful to the american people overtime than these obstructive acts, i don't think there would be conviction even if those swing senators but these republicans can be embarrassed on the national stage. i know you're having a senate candidate coming up in a few minutes. they can be embarrassed for their cowardice and unwillingness to act according to the rule of law. one last thing about the report that robert mueller didn't take care of is the active disinformation campaign. the special counsel's office is closed but it continues. >> thank you. we'll have more with alexander later in the show. democrats took back the house in last yoreear's midterm. they are looking to pick up several senate seats in 2020.

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reliably red states. stacy abrams nearly beat out bryan kemp and former congressman beto o'rourke came three points from unseating republican texas senator ted cruz. if 2018 is any indication, that trend will continue into 2020. joining me now is jamie harrison. he's the associate chairman for the democratic national committee and a newly announced u.s. senate candidate in south carolina set to challenge lindsey graham. thank you for coming on. lindsey graham. he's been a loyal advocate, supporter and any other adjective you can think of for president trump. is he beatable in south carolina? >> yes, he is, rev. the common phrase that i hear all the time in south carolina is what happened to lindsey graham.

what's going on with this guy? what happened to him? it really is sad. lindsey graham was a person that i actually respected. even though i disagreed with him politically, i thought he was a man of conviction. he could stand above the fray and help solve some of the issues that we see in this country and in this state. we have really seen the true lindsey graham over the past few months. i think george will put it perfectly. lindsey graham is a political wind sock. he is doing everything that he can in order to collect this political power. what he calls relevance. he wants to be relevant. for me what relevance means is you only relevant if you're doing your job. if you're out there fighting for the people in your state. that's the job. that's what you are elected to do. to go to washington, d.c. and represent all of the people of

south carolina. it's a sad day in south carolina but you know november 2020, we're going to turn this around. >> now, has all of this deferring to president trump and being his spokesman and major defender, has it reaped any tangible concrete things for the state of south carolina? is that going to be his argument? can he say, yes, i'm new lindsey graham, i'm different. i'm going from john mccain best friend to donald trump's main spokesperson or has this all been about lindsey graham being relevant? >> it's all about lindsey graham. it's laughable. the one thing -- maybe he got some golf balls from the president but that's about it. there hasn't been any tangible results or anything that we have seen here in south carolina that have been fnefitted the state.

you take the issue of tariffs. we have soybean farmers suffering because of the president's tariffs. companies that resids yually wo with boeings and volvo. when you put tariffs on foreign made cars, that hurts south carolina. it's ridiculous that lindsay said i have the president's ear. what use is it having the president's ear if you're not using it to benefit your home state? >> what are going to be the key things that you are going to run on in south carolina? >> well, we're going to talk about a lot of the issues but we're going to talk about character. you know my background. i grew up in a poor part of south carolina. my mom was 16. i was raised by my grandparents who had a 4th and 8th grade education but they instilled in me the importance of strong and good character. making sure we are helping others. making sure we are lending out our hands to help people rise

up. lindsey graham can't say that he can do that. he hasn't done that. we're going to talk about character. we're also going talk about these issues like health care and how that is impacting poor communities in the south. we've had four rule hospitals to close in south carolina because republicans refuse to expand medicaid expansion and you have lindsey graham coming up with graham cassidy. a monstrosity of a bill that wouldn't protect anybody with pre-existing conditions and reduce the amount of money going to health care. it was an idea he came up with rick santorum in a barbershop. this stuff is laughable. we would laugh but there's people suffering because of it. we need to do something about it. >> many are saying there's a lot of focus on the 2020 presidential race on the democratic side. 23, 24 candidates but not enough on the senate races. as a leading official nationally

in the democratic party, don't you feel that there ought to be more attention and energy on senate races like yours and congressional races along with the 2020 presidential races because if you don't win the senate, if the democratic party doesn't win the senate, they still will have a problem getting things through even if they put a democrat in the white house. >> rev, that is exactly right. mitch mcconnell is epitomizes what gridlock is. he will stand in front of progress every minute of the day. it's important to make sure we send him packing also. he has a race in 2020 in kentucky. he no longer needs to be the majority leader of the senate. we need to really push to pick up as many senate seats as possible. that's really, really important because so many of these folks in states like south carolina

are suffering because our senators are more concerned with their own political power than they are helping the people in their states. we need, as i said, a renaissance in the creation of this new south. i think it's happening. i see it happening. we picked up a congressional race seat here in south carolina. we picked up a number of state house seats. i know the momentum is there because people see that change is needed. we need new visionary leadership and i think we need to invest in senate seats and congressional seats and state house seats in other words to make that happen. >> down through the years, i've crossed your path and we have known each other. not worked directly together but worked on a lot of causes around civil rights and voting rights and health care. i know you to be a deliberate thinker and intentional. if you were in the senate, would

you want to see the senate proceed toward an impeachment inquiry from the house? would you be one that would hope the house sends you an impeachment inquirinquiry? >> the thing is when you get elected, you put your hand on that bible and raise your hand and saw you're going to protect and defend the constitution of the united states. that does not mean protect and defend an individual, person, president or another colleague in the house and the senate. if you broke the law, if you obstruct justice then you have to pay the piper. we've had -- this president who went out and told his counsel to falsify the record. that says obstruction of justice to me. i don't understand it. our senator, lindsey graham, the day that the mueller report came out, do you know where he was? he was in mar-a-lago with president of the united states.

he's the chair of the judiciary committee in the united states senate. the day of the mueller report being released, he's out golfing and paling around with the president. >> the very day? >> exactly right. as my grandma says, something in that milk ain't clean. there's a fundamental issue and problem. if you're a republican and you support donald trump, i can understand that, but even if this was bill clinton or barack obama, if you broke the law, if you obstructed justice, then you don't deserve to be in that office. bottom line. >> all right. we'll have to leave it there. thank you jamie harrison. coming up, a top official in texas was attempting to suppress nearly 100,000 votes. we got it. i'll explain after the break. g. i'll explain after the break [ grunting ] it's snowtime baby. [ screaming ] oh, it's just this weird little guy. ow! ow, ow, ow! ow, ow, ow!

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he had beaten me to the punch by resigning. former texas secretary of state david whitley is out of that position after attempting a downright epic voter purge of as many as 98,000 voters who he claimed were not american citizens. he pushed this narrative based on faulty data and general incompetence. almost immediately after his december appointment by governor greg abbott. claiming half that number had voted in one state election since 1996. on cue, president trump tweeted. his co-sign that whitley's numbers were quote, just the tip of the iceberg of ramp ant voter fraud necessitating strong voter id. a voting right group smelled a

rat and mobilized against whitley who almost immediately changed his tune. democrats in the texas senate had already heard enough though and in february they blocked his confirmation in a state that requires a two-thirds vote, four appointees by the end of the legislative session they take office in. near the same time a federal judge quashed the purge and texas is now banned from attempting another one like it. this past monday, hours before the end of the state legislative session, whitley saw the writing on the wall. i'm guessing it's spelled exit. i won't pile on secretary whitley because you walked through that door voluntarily. one battle won. i guarantee as we get closer to 2020, the war is just beginning approximate all over america the franchise is being

systematically compromised to keep minorities and immigrants away from the ballot. just as in texas, we in the struggle are keeping vigilant and unlike the former secretary, math ain't hard for us. remember this equation. one partisan hack plus 98,000 angry voters equals i got you. . ok everyone!

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president trump announced friday he will formally launch his 2020 election campaign on june 18th in orlando, florida. according to the daily booerks he plans to focus heavily on the person who he considers to be his main opponent, joe biden. more specifically, the president will attempt to turn black voters against biden by doing all he can to depress the african-american vote for democrats. something he managed to do somewhat successfully in 2016. one poll showed biden leading the pack of 24 democratic contenders by a long shot. his nearest competitor some 20 points behind. back with me host of the open mind on pbs, alexander hefner and republican strategist shermichael singleton. in the 2016 race, the president went after black voters by saying what do you have to lose.

there's been not evidence thw e russians using social media with phony activists groups and some probably on the ground suppressing the black vote, telling people not to vote and we're told now that the president is going to go after joe biden around the crime bill in 9'94. in of us disagreed with. he's going to try to do other things. why doesn't he run on his record with blacks? after all he took photos with some. >> that and he typically touted the economy and employment for african-americans. >> employment for african-americans is still double that to whites. >> i'm not disagreeing with that. it's always been typically higher than whites. what i'm saying for trump,

that's been one of his key talking points. i don't think he has much of a ground to stand on because this is the same guy who started the birther movement. he started that. most african-americans, over 95% will never forgive donald trump for that. while joe biden supported a piece of legislation that he did draft that many in the african-american community did support at the time, i don't think donald trump will be very effective with that. >> alexander, let's not forget that at the time that the crime bill was done, something that many supported, i was opposed, even marched about it. you are talking about donald trump who at the same time in the early '90s was calling for the death penalty of five young men exonerated with dna evidence and even afterthe dna proved they weren't there, he still said they were guilty and the city shouldn't settle. i don't know how he argues about

the crime bill when given his own background as a new yorker, that's the only race case i've ever heard him comment on from howard beach to eric garner. we never heard him say anything. he took out ads calling for the death penalty of these central park five. where was he on the other race cases in our home city? >> he's a demagogue in the central park five case. i think there's a clearer understanding from the american people across racial lines and i think increasingly across traditional partisan lines. this is a demagogue and he will use disinformation campaign to exploit whatever depressed turn out there may be, whatever disadvantaged lingering there may be that is unsettled and unsatisfied after the obama era. it's true that the obama era did not propel into greater existence, a kind of mainstream equity and as a result, you have

folks on the campaign trail talking about systemic reform. >> is it true obama had to save the whole economy and he did cut black unemployment in half and affordable health care, but this is not where i wanted to just defend the obama record because there are other areas that we could say that we wish more had happened even though was fought by congress. let's look at the fact that this president from birtherism to central park to charlottesville saying fine people on both sides. let's not forget that it was blatant anti-semitism, they were marching to defend a confederate general's statue and he hung back up the picture of one of the most slave owning advocates that ever sat in the white house. he has insulted the black

community in many ways but what is more disturbing is no one is raising how no one is going after how russians targeted blacks to suppress the black vote. why isn't nsa and others all over that to make sure that doesn't happen again? russians acted like they were black activists on social media and even knew to suppress our vote. that is racially profiling us for suppression. >> they isn't messages saying you don't have to go to be polling station and text your vote. it was horrific, anti-democra c anti-democratic. those events that transpired since he was elected that reveals how much of a demagogue he is. that will resonate. folks will just merely neglect all of these years as president he's behaved as an uncivil

demagoguic person. >> i think racist. birtherism is racist. charlottesville racist. >> there's no way to deny that birtherism was racist. there's no way to deny that. when you look at the republican party as a whole, you really have sort of seen, you seen transformations could occur for quite some time now. i think donald trump has really solidified that transformation. i think the republican party has sort of become a party in many ways and i know a lot of folks may dislike i'm saying this. part of anger and resentment from white men and i think the notion that donald trump is going to play on one of america's most longest reining issues which is race to discount the individual he believes to be his biggest threat is very indicative of who donald trump is to the core. he has showcased himself to be someone who loves to divide

people, conquer people. i think voters have to be much more smart and far more studious in how they discern information going forward now that we know what occurred in 2016. >> i think he was speaking to tampa voters when he said what do you have to lose. the democratic candidate has to go the community and talk about though issues. >> i'll have to lever it there. thank you very much. up next, a billionaire pays off graduates college debts and offers an invaluable lesson about the real nature of individual success. we'll be right back. ature of individual success we'll be right back.

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nc i've got the alumni over there. this is my class, 2019. my family is making a grant to eliminate their student loans. >> two weeks ago robert smith did this unexpected giving up his hard earned money to eliminate all student debt for the graduating class at morehouse college. the billionaire has come a long way from his early days during

segregation in his hometown of denver. growing up, smith, along with other black children, were bussed every day to better resourced white schools around town. a key opportunity that he says molded him and helped him achieve future success. his donation last month to the graduates at morehouse is his way of providing them an opportunity that will allow them to go on and be successful as well. it's the subject of a new piece in the atlantic. joining me now is the author of that piece. the professor and founding director of the anti-racist research and policy center at american university. thank you for being with me. i read your piece. >> pleasure. >> many of us have admired robert smith. he's one of a kind top in his business in terms of

what he does with the financial world equity and all. i was just with him when they named a building after him in harlem. you said he did even more than just commit to upwards of $40 million to help these young people wipe out their student debt that we should look at something that he did far more significant. explain that. >> his speech, and i think many people, of course, heard about the gift itself and i think very few people went back, not as many people went back and listened to the speech. a speech he entitled bus number 13. a speech in which he made the case that as you stated, he was bussed in denver from about 1st to 5th grade and he recognized

that as a pivotal sort of moment as opening up his own opportunity on the bus that took him across town was bus number 13 and it was a really critical lesson about lesson about how people become successful, the hole that opportunity is so very crucial, that it's not about -- it's not as much about ability and effort as it is about opportunity. and he wanted to provide opportunity for those morehouse graduates. >> and what really was instructive to me reading that because i grew up in the north in brooklyn, new york. in 1968 i went to high school and we took a bus out to a more resourceful area, so i know exactly what you're talking about. and i believe that robert smith, when he was making that commitment and when he's done all of the huge philanthropy -- philanthropic things he's done thinks about that bus 13 helping

people get the opportunity because without the opportunity, you cannot be successful. >> exactly. and i think that's what he -- by giving his story, i think he wanted those graduates, he wanted americans, to look at their own stories, look at their own bus number 13s that guided them towards sort of lands and places and spaces of opportunity. and it allows us -- as i wrote in the piece, if a billionaire can humble himself and look back at the opportunities that paved the way for him, then why can't we do the same thing? and i think he was sort of leading that charge for us to look at the opportunity so that we can be sure to create more opportunity, so that we can truly create a nation of equal opportunity. >> and professor, i think that reading your article made me go back and read the whole speech. it was a real challenge to the country, and the 40 million was

just an example of the challenge robert smith was putting out there. the challenge was that everybody needs a bus 13. everybody needs a way to have access to opportunities and a better life. and if i've got to commit a certain amount of money to get your attention, that's what i'll do. but don't miss the point. and i think you nailed the point. >> and that's what i was trying to do. i mean, i argued in the piece that robert smith more or less made the case to identify he was community-made and he wanted to push back against this popular idea, particularly among very wealthy particularly white then that they're self-made. that he wanted to sort of show the ways in which community made him so that each of us can recognize that the ways in which community made us, especially in a nation where inequality and inequities in certain cases are

sorin soaring. >> if you look at how you nurture anything, if it's a plant, if it's a flower, it's sunlight, it's water. it is what is put into it that makes it become better than some that are not given the same kind of nurturing. and i think that's what smith tried to bring home to america. and i think you wrote it down and made that point that they're not less, but they're given less. and if we find the bridge to give tem had the opportunity, we would have more robert smiths and more a lot of other things. >> we would. and but as you know, rev, we're taught really, you know, ever since some of us get on those buses that certain people are better, certain groups are better, certain people are better. and that's why they have more. and so really we need to understand that the racial groups, you know, other types of groups, are more or less equals.

and the reason why there's a massive wealth gap, for instance, is because certain people have more opportunities. the reason why racial inequities exist is because certain people have more opportunities. and so if either the problem of our society is certain people are bad or the problem of our society is we don't have opportunities, and i think he wanted to make this case that the problem is opportunity. >> and i think he made it, and i think you put the exclamation point on top of it. thank you professor kendi. >> thank you, rev. >> up next, final thoughts. not! that's why esurance has drivesense.® the safer you drive, the more you save. although i'm not really driving right now that would be unsafe. when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless.

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call, visit or go to xfinitymobile.com. leah chase, the matriarch of chase soul food restaurant in new orleans passed on yesterday at 96 years old. she upheld a tradition of not only unmatched food but of building and maintaining a meeting place for the movement of civil rights and political empowerment and cultural enrichment in the city of new orleans. any time i've been in the city in the last 30 years, whether it was corporate executive tonya lumbard or former mayor, the meeting place was dooky chase

and leah would oversee the biggest and the brightest. it is the tradition in the black community to go to the meeting place, the soul food restaurant. martin luther king i'm told used to love to have his meetings in pascal's restaurant in atlanta. i've continued to do my meetings in silvia's restaurant in harlem. it got big news when barack obama was getting ready to run for president. it's where you plot and strat apologi stra at t strat apologize and talk off the cuff. i wanted to give her the tribute she deserves. may she rest in power because we

are better because she gave us the meeting place. that does it for me. thank you for watching. i'll see you back here next saturday at 5:00 p.m. eastern. coming up, "meet the press" with chuck todd. >> this sunday, that mass shooting in virginia beach. 12 victims killed at a public works building by a single gunman. >> we just heard people yelling and screaming to get down. >> we'll get the latest this morning. plus the growing push for impeachment. bob mueller says what attorney general bill barr would not. >> if we did not have confidence he didn't commit a crime, we would have said so. >> trump pushes back. >> i think mull ser a never-trumper. >>