and coming up now more news with my friend and colleague in washington, d.c. we will be talking more about that on this show. stephanie, thank you much. happy monday. i'm hallie jackson in washington. it is the campaigning making headlines today. one day before the president officially launches his 2020 re-election campaign. new fallout behind closed doors with pollsters being shown the door. why? internal numbers leaking showing the president behind joe biden in key battle ground states. poll numbers the president initially said didn't exist. >> we have all seen these reports 15 out of 17 states, $2 million and you're behind. >> those polls don't exist. those polls don't exist. . >> they do. the trump campaign is acknowledging this morning those numbers are real. other new polling out just this morning you'll also want to hear

about from texas. 50% of voters there said they would vote to re-elect president trump. the other 50% said they wouldn't. i want to start with my colleague kelly o'donnell over at the white house. kelly, the president seems per turbed about polls. his campaign is talking about it. they don't seem to like the numbers. at this point the campaign is not acknowledging that the numbers don't exist, right? >> reporter: that is one of the changes. the president said they were not real. he called them fake news. but that has progressed, as is often the case in trump world, where something that was an irritant to the president has evolved. the president relies on polling all the time. he wants to sweep these under the rug, cough them out of the room, to use your earlier apology. a time when he wants to kick off in grand fashion his re-election

campaign. in some ways to try to preview, if you will, the big event for democrats, the two-day debate later in the week. but the acknowledgment is coming from kaley macken amy. she is saying this isn't something that is completely made up. it's just something that's out of date. here's what she had to say. >> yes. those numbers were accurate. but they were from three months ago. they were pre-muller report. the worst-case scenario and the most unfavorable turnout model. >> so they weren't fake news, they were old news. >> they were old news and the most unfavorable turnout model. . >> so that gives you the acknowledgment as if there's been a major makeover in the three-month time frame. certainly the white house would point to the findings of the mueller report not resulting in any new criminal indictments for anyone in trump world as being a positive sign. but there are also a lot of negatives that have come out,

hence, everything that's been happening on capitol hill. so the president is now grouping the democrats together in what he is referring to as the motley crue, still saying in a tweet today that it's fake news that is showing him behind that group of democrats. he's looking forward to his rally tomorrow night to try to change the story line and show a big crowd. >> kelly o'donnell, i will see you in a bit, my friend. much appreciated. joining me is ashley strong, house speaker paul ryan's senior adviser and chief spokesperson. and she worked on scott welker's 2016 presidential campaign. and basil who worked on three presidential campaigns, including hillary clinton's first campaign in 2008. guys, thank you very much for being here. let me start with you. you are a veteran of a presidential campaign, right? you worked with former speaker paul ryan. what do you make of how the president is defending the poll numbers. is it fair to say old news, not worth it. >> let me first start out by saying we are over a year and a

half away from the presidential election. >> and i get polls don't matter this far out. >> and i remember where we were when i started working for governor walker last cycle. leading in the polls, he was one of the first to drop out. i think it is to keep perspective of where we are in the cycle. i saw an interesting poll that came out pre-2012 cycle, all street journal poll that had candidate obama at 40% approval and nbc/wall street journal paul. >> you are preaching to the choir. we did have a leak. >> sure. >> they say this is from two months ago. game change. new thing. you know, stop talking about it. fake news. >> i understand that. it is not atypical to make changes in your consultants. this happens in campaigns across the board.

they change all the time and polling is still early. >> is this the kind of thing you want to see, right, the idea that it's out there, that joe biden is somebody who might be able to beat trump according to the president's own campaign, or is this motivating for the president's supporters, who, let's be honest, love an underdog and love fighting for an underdog? >> well, i think ashley point about it being early is important. but trajectory and narrative matter a lot, too. for joe biden this is a great narrative for him. the president is focusing a lot of public attention on him. the more that joe biden can sort of preview the general election, it's very good for him. on the other side of the equation, it's going to attract

a lot of his democratic rivals on the debate stage potentially even prabs before that to sort of try to knock him down. but i think it's a good opportunity for joe biden to continue this narrative who can best take on donald trump. >> had do you think the next time we see biden it will be more in iowa last week, going after him again and again, naming the president directly? >> sure. any time joe biden can get up in front of a crowd and say, hey, you know, i think -- i'm the one that should be able to beat donald trump because just look at what he's doing. look at the numbers. he's going after me because he's afraid of me. if he can go up on a stage and say something along those lines, it is certainly good tkpwoeupl. and to go back to ashley's point, it is still early. anybody's narratives could change when the two debates coming up. but this is good for joe bide especially at the moment. >> amen to that.

we aired sound bites talking about the abc news interview, special counsel's report, foreign interference in an election. i have to tell you this has been out five days now that the president said he may or may not call the fbi, something he tried to later walk back. secretary of state mike pompeo was on fox news. >> sure. >> i want to play that sound bite and then hear what you have to say about it. >> i came out to talk about foreign policy. i think the third time you have asked me about a washington piece of silliness. chasing down a story that is inconsistent with what i have seen president trump do every single day >> do you think for most republicans this question of foreign help in an election is a question of washington silliness, as secretary pompeo puts it? >> i'm sure people who was asked said they would fortunatelily turn it over. you later saw president trump say as much in subsequent interviews that he, too, would

do something with it if it were nefarious. by that, i mean turn it over to authorities. i think this is a clear and evident thing that anyone should do. and i think, look, i have seen thes to sigh and christopher wray work that it was paid for. i don't see paying for something and getting soming for free. if it was foreign related, it is foreign related. >> one is legal and one is not. do you think the secretary should have been more firm about that? >> i think he was clear. he personally believes that the president would do the right thing. and i think the president has said as much in subsequent interviews. >> we will have you talk more about health care. basel, thank you so much. appreciate it. breaking news this morning. within just the last few minutes, the justices have given a victory, at least a partial one, to the owners of an oregon bakery who were fined for refusing to make a cake for a

lesbian commitment ceremony. the justices have wiped out the lower court rulings against t bakers. they are sending it back for another round of hearings. one of several big decisions we are waiting for this term. melissa murray, nyu law professor who served as law clerk to justice sotomayor. pete williams is in the court now. i know the second any more news comes out, we will have him in front of a camera. this brings back memories for folks involving a baker in colorado who refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding. what does this mean? >> i'm not sure that i would call it a victory for the bakery owner. what the court has said this they want the lower courts to go back and to reconsider this case in light of the court's ruling from last year. in that case the court, in a narrow ruling, said the tribunal that initially heard the request

from the colorado baker had acted with impermissible hostility ruling against the couple and against the gay couple who had been refused service. the court is saying it needs to go back to lower courts, which did not have the benefit of the ruling when they made these decisions and have them go back and reconsider these in light of the ruling. if it's a victory, it's a very narrow one. >> yeah. do you see it as a punt? >> definitely. this is the court. this is one of the hot button issues. the court has a number of hot button issues before it this term. and the legitimacy has been hobbled by the nomination of brett kavanaugh and the debacle of confirmation hearings. and a chief justice who more than anything understands himself to be a steward of the institutional legacy. they don't want to be understood as delving into partisan politics. they want to be seen as above the fray and being able to take

this back to state courts allows them to punt on this issue and avoid getting mired in a polarizing issue. >> thank you. i know you're sticking around in case we get more news from the supreme court. we will see you back later this hour. the world waking up to a new morning and new threat from iran. an official says the country will up its stockpile oven riched uranium, basically blowing past limits set by the iran deal. this is just 24 hours after the secretary of state laid out point-blank that iran is behind the attacks on oil tankers in the mideast, he says. >> no doubt they have lots of data, the evidence. we don't want war. we have done what we have to deter this. the iranians shoo-in, we will continue to take action to deter this kind of activity. >> what more can you tell us about the announcement, the fallout and what we expect the

u.s. reaction to be? >> reporter: so, halley, this is another game of chicken between the united states and iran. something we have been seeing playing out now the last six or eight weeks since the united states first announced they had evidence that iran was planning attacks against the united states and allies here in the region. in this case this game of chicken is more on the diplomacy side. so we saw, as you played the clip from u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo over the weekend, really doubling down on the u.s. belief that iran and iranian-backed militias were behind this attack on two tankers in the gulf of oman late last week. iran responded by saying they are only 10 days away from reaching the peak point of uranium enrichment that was set by the jcpoa, the nuclear deal with the obama administration. of course it's the deal that president trump pulled the united states out of last year.

this seems to be iran trying to force european allies to get back on their side at the same time the united states is trying to build more of an international coalition of consensus against iran, halley. >> courtney kube, thank you much. i will check back with you from the region as we get more on all of this. appreciate it coming up next, new numbers from our exclusive nbc news/wall 6 street journal poll on what to do or not to do about impeachment. nancy pelosi balances keeping everyone in line and happy. liney [ alarm beeping ] wake up! there's a lot that needs to get done today. small things. big things. too hard to do alone things. day after day, you need to get it all done. and here to listen and help you through it all is bank of america. with the expertise and know-how you need to reach that blissful state of done-ness.

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this morning we're learning about a new strategy worked up by house democrats who were getting frustrated with their investigations into president trump and hoping to get around the white house with some new star witnesses. key lawmakers tell politico they are looking at former trump campaign manager lewandowski, chris christie, both of whom are in the mueller report but they never actually worked in the white house. so the thinking is, according to politico, the white house wouldn't be able to assert executive privilege as they had done already for others. and speaking of the mueller report, the president is speaking about it. distorting what special counsel actually found. >> he said there is no collusion. >> he didn't say there is no collusion. >> he said there is no collusion. >> he said he didn't look at

collusion. >> the report said no collusion. >> did you read the report? >> yes. and you should too. frankly, desay that. >> he said he didn't look at collusion. . >> did you look at the report. >> i did. >> join meeting now is senior writer for politico, jake sherman over on capitol hill. also with me on set, ann geary for the "washington post" and gabby orr, white house reporter, gang busters crew. thank you all. jake, you are up first. house dems bringing in people like governor christie, lewandowski. >> the white house has taken a burn the house down mentality and is not giving access to witnesses, very few documents. that's been their strategy all along. they are forced politically and substantively to go outside the box and bring in people the president can't shield. there is obviously huge doubts. not much up side is the best way to put it here.

these people don't know what democrats need to know if they want to impeach the president. they night know things sir coup circumstantially. the democratic leadership does not want to impeach the president. they want to investigate the president. they're doing everything they can to fill a vac up up to make noise and to make action, to keep people at bay. this is just another example of that strategy. so you talk about the idea that democratic leadership does not want to actually impeach. they want to investigate. the "post" has a piece on that this morning talking about how the approximate issue to impeach has to installed because the fear of nancy pelosi. sit a command drawn from a deep well of respect for the political wisdom of the most powerful woman in american politics and fear that challenging her comes with the risk of grave cost to one's

career. you have a pulse on the hill. take us behind the scenes here. >> yeah. everybody, including me, has doubted nancy pelosi for many years. we doubted she would become speaker. she handedly became speaker. right now she believes, if you talk to the people close to her, politically impeachment is not a winner and it could cause democrats the house and the presidency and could allow donald trump to run for president as a vindicated man. so i think people are drawn to that argument. and pelosi has enough true natural allies to prevent this from this number reaching a critical mass. the question is we are really 15 months or so until election day. i don't know how she's going to be able to avoid impeachment. that doesn't mean i doubt her. it just means there's a lot of time, almost unimaginable amount of time between now and election day. and donald trump seems intent on poking democrats in the eye by not participating in

investigations, not participating in oversight. so it's going to be a long slog until election day >> it's not unimaginable. i can definitely imagine it next year. ann, alexandra ocasio-cortez was out this weekend. let me play you that. >> how real is that progressive frustration that speaker pelosi has said so far, and she seems to be holding a line. >> this is quite real. it is about the rule of law. we have to make sure that we are holding this president to account and holding all of government to account. >> the congresswoman is correct. there is pressure building. and it is difficult for nancy pelosi. it is going to continue to be difficult for nancy pelosi to keep everyone on the same boat here. she's got three different constituencies. the ones who want to go for it on impeachment, the ones who like speaker pelosi who think at

least for now it is a political loser. and those in the middle. that's a difficult group for her to manage. the pressure is rising. she has not changed her calculation. >> right. >> and she is telling committee chairmen and others to watch what they say. don't get ahead of her. do not go -- say things on television and make it look like we're going to impeachment when we're not. >> and the public, the american voters. not all of them, obviously. 27% of americans say there is enough evidence to start impeachment hearings now. that is up 10% from last month. republicans and the president, by the way, say that is still 73% who say no. >> the same poll that you have, democrats are at least half to plame for the partisanship we see in washington. 45% say republicans are. so it's a pretty even split. you can imagine that would increase substantially if democrats pursue an impeachment

inquiry. the president's attacks that the democrats are doing nothing but wanting to investigate me, wanting to pursue impeachment as to passing legislation. that is a major concern of those weary of impeachment. >> jake sherman, on capitol hill, great to see you. ann and gabby, stay with us. we want to head back to the supreme court. more developing news as the term winds down. nbc news pete williams is there for us. pete, i understand there is news on a double jeopardy case. what's up? >> reporter: right. i think it's common knowledge that there is such a thing as the right against double jeopardy. by the way, they don't just mow the lawn during live shots, halley. they do it at the supreme court, too. here's the deal. i think everybody knows the double jeopardy rule means you can't be tried twice for the same offense. for at least 150 years there has been an exception to this which

says you can be convicted once in state court and again in federal court for exactly the same offense. that's what happened to a georgia man here charged under a state law. got a year sentence. under a federal law for the same offense, got a three-year sentence. he appealed. the supreme court declined to change that longstanding rule. so you can be charged twice for the same crime. once in state court, once in federal court. the trump administration and the government had defended this law saying it was an important tool in the civil rights era, for example. this case got a lot of attention about us of paul manafort on the theory that if the president pardoned him for federal offenses, if he was tried for the same thing in state court, would that have made a difference. obviously it's a moot point now. and you probably noted that earlier the court did give a partial victory to oregon bakers who declined to bake a cake for a same-sex commitment ceremony. the supreme court today wiped out lower court rulings against that oregon baker couple and sent the case back with

instructions to reconsider in light of its decision two years ago in the case involving almost the same set of facts as a colorado baker. but that case doesn't give much guidance because basically all it says is the colorado baker got a raw deal from the state commission. those facts weren't present in the oregon case. so i don't know what the oregon courts are going to make of that. odds are if the state goes at this again, the bakers will lose again. so i don't know what the supreme court gains today. more decisions probably to come later this week. i think we have four today. so there's 20 left before the end of next week. >> okay. and i know you'll be there reporting on all of it. pete williams, going through the weed whacking. appreciate it, from the supreme court. >> reporter: thank you. cnn is reporting that gloria vanderbilt has died. she first became a household name in the 1930s, which she was the center of a heated custody

battle between her mother and paternal aunt. she went on to become a fashion designer, author, actress. her son, cnn's anderson cooper said this morning what an extraordinary life, what an extraordinary mom. what an incredible woman. gloria vanderbilt was 95 years old. 95 years d.ol i didn't have to run for help.

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in just a few hours from now, nine democratic presidential contenders will take the stage one by one in an event that could give us a taste of what's to come in next week's debates. the group, including joe biden, bernie sanders, kamala harris, elizabeth warren will field questions from low-income americans. it is hosted by the poor people's campaign presidential forum. it is here msnbc news, nbc news and telemundo. you are 2,000 miles across the can unin miami where debates will go down. ali, let me start with you and talk about this forum here today. i think i can hear it behind

you. how do you think candidates will differentiate themselves here? >> yeah. you can hear it beginning to get set up. we have music going on around us. you're right, nine presidential candidates will be here today speaking to the people poor people's campaign. and dr. barber gave a good sense of what this was about in a quote he gave just now on a conference call. he said republicans talk about the economy while democrats speak of the middleclass. nobody talks about the poor. and so the goal of this organization is to try to shift the focus onto how we can help low income americans to better achieve the american dream. some of the proposals they lay out in their moral budget, last year they laid out tenets of how to do well to ameliorate the racial and economic in equality in america. this year they are putting out how they would like for lawmakers to get there by prioritizing their budget concerns. they are talking about a $15 federal minimum beige, annual

wealth tax which i hear a lot about. cutting pentagon spending by $300 billion. so really as i was on this conference call just a little while ago before i got on set with you, the thing i was thinking is i really feel like as this group lays out policy priorities, bernie sanders, elizabeth warren rally. they are two of the people speaking there. it will be interesting to see if they get a good response and if other candidates can break through maybe not as well-known for their concern and hyper focus on those kinds of policies. >> we talked about the candidates. you're talking with the voters, ron. we talked about these showing a 50/50 split it seems.

>> i think we need someone younger. we don't need any more old white men. >> we're entering window rock, the capital of the navajo nation. it says navajo families need jobs not talk. vote for jobs. . >> what issue is important to you, your community? >> just jobs. this community, this navajo nation needs jobs really bad. >> a lot of people don't really work because it is hard to get a

job. if businesses could come out here or people could hire. >> we are in albuquerque outside a baseball game. the most important issue you want to discuss. >> early childhood education. >> my body belongs to me. i make my own choices. >> we obviously need a woman president. >> whoo! >> one other individual i want to mention, roy williams, a friend of ours we met just the other day over in new mexico. we texted me and said after further thought, the big issue on his mind that he says needs to be addressed on the democratic presidential stage is veterans health care. he said it still takes too long to see a primary care physician and it's too difficult to see specialty care doctors. we are headed to oklahoma this afternoon. >> have fun in oklahoma, my friend. be safe on the road.

ali and vaughan, appreciate it. one candidate you will not see on the road the next 24 hours or so is pete buttigieg. the south bend, indiana mayor is stepping off the trail and canceling a planned appearance at the lgbtq gala. why? a deadly shooting involving a police officer. according to his campaign, his husband will appear in his place. he left voters with a candid interview with axios. >> they will say you're too young, too liberal, to gay to be commander in chief. you are young, liberal, gay. how do you respond? >> people like the person who will make the best presidents. we have had excellent residents who have been young, who have been liberal. i imagine we probably had excellent presidents gay. we just don't know which ones. >> you think we have had a gay commander in chief?

>> statistically it's almost certain. >> i want to touch on the idea he is back in south bend. he got in front of the cameras as the "post" reported and overnight last night and talked about how he learned that lesson from prior incidents. how he wanted to be sure he got criticized for not being commune qaative enough. >> i'm really intrigued by a couple of things here. not only is he saying he felt it was important to come off the national stage -- >> yeah. come off the trail. >> for a police-involved shooting. but that he talked as openly as he did about the political lessons he's learned as a very young politician without national experience. he's like, you know, i was nervous to go in front of cameras or uncomfortable going in front of the cameras when i didn't have all the facts at hand. but i've learned that it is important to go to the cameras and to talk in open lines of communication and to talk about what's happening in your

community even if you don't have all the facts at hand. that is a political lesson that he clearly has taken to heart. and he wouldn't be talking about it on the national stage if he didn't think it had national application. but i found the entire exchange very interesting. >> it's not just that he was sort of an open candidate talking about at home back in indiana overnight. in the axios interview he got candid talking about his experience coming home after serving in afghanistan. i want to play that. >> any time in any way you are are remotely involved in killing, it takes something out of you and takes a lot of work to process. >> he talked about how he suffered depression after returning home. this is someone who is clearly not unwilling to get a little bit vulnerable on the national stage. >> if you are mayor pete, your defining characteristic is you are openly gay mayor of south bend, indiana. it is easy to be put in a box. he is trying everything he can to get out of that right now. one thing he did well in this

interview is shine a light on other aspects of who he is that are totally different than many people might not even have expected. and i think his service overseas was one of them. . >> and i think it is probably what you will see from all of these candidates, including buttigieg, next week. new polling showing with african-american voters, black voters, he was polling at zero. now he is at 6%, who say they like what they see. he has acknowledged needing to earn the support of a more diverse group of supporters. >> and he's been doing that. if you look at what he did in iowa this past weekend, he was -- he had the opportunity to participate in these pride activities that a lot of other candidates are doing. instead, he went to howard county, iowa, the county that voted for 20 percentage points for barack obama. he went and talked about education to a lot of people there. that's one of the issues that really matters to them and is going to be something they're paying attention to come debates

next week. >> we're going to have you two back in a minute to talk more about political news. stand by for a second. we have nine days, as we are talking about, before all the men and women take the debate stage in miami. round one kicks things off cory booker, beto o'rourke. thursday, the early firefighter front-runner joe biden takes the stage with nine opponents. you can watch those 9:00 eastern on msnbc, telemundo and nbc. we will be live from miami as well. one story that mitch mcconnell seemed to not wait to shoot down. the senate majority leader is all about the nope. ader is all about the nope nothing small about your business. that's why with dell small business technology advisors. you'll get tailored product solutions, expert tech advice and one-on-one partnership. call an advisor today at 877-buy-dell. ♪ you get the freedom of what a 7-day return policy.

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so mitch mcconnell is talking about new reporting from the "new york times". his caucus is pushing president trump to drop talk something that hasn't played well for republicans in the past, health care. >> i've heard that there are republicans, and you could be one of them, who have encouraged the president not to talk about health care. . >> the problem in the senate and the house is the democrats control the house. so we can't pass what we would like to do. he has said he's going to lay a plan out. and he has said it will be dealt with after the election. . >> mcconnell in a rare on-set fox interview mentioning that plan that the president says he

will roll out this summer. >> we're going to produce phenomenal health care. we already have the concept of the plan. and it will be much better -- we will be announcing that in two months. maybe less. >> joining me now chief white correspondent peter baker with the new reporting. also back with us, ashley strong, ann gearan. abby. did anything change the calculus based on the reporting in the piece you have out? >> no. i think you heard from his tone he wasn't very excited about the idea about return to health care as a main issue. but the republicans and the hill look at this as a loser issue. democrats have a big advantage on the polls in it. the last one i saw by the ap has a 17-point differential between who americans trust more, immigration, taxes, the economy.

the president's view is, yeah, we might not be able to win on health care but we ought not allow democrats to win on this election. we should offer something to at least be part of the conversation. so given there are people in and around the president's inner circle who do think he should be focused more as far as the re-elect on issues like immigration, things that have played well for republicans, and in particular for him, what is the president's thought process in continuing to talk about this? it is clearly something that has gone under his skin. >> mr. he may have promised to create better health care not just get ready of the affordable care act, president obama's program but something that costs less, covers more. that's a hard thing to put together policy-wise. who is going to pay that? how are you going to do that, improve on what you say the

defects of the obama tier program. he has 234e6r been able to explain that. people are waiting, what is he going to put out. on the one hand he wants to put out a plan that he said he would and never has. if there is no chance of passing it, a pin gnat ta for democrats to whack at and they will be disadvantageous to the republicans. >> ashley, are you? >> i give the president for attempting to talk about policy and important policies for so many americans. i think we tried as best as we could. i say we, house republicans with the republicans to get a bill across the finish line. unfortunately we fell one vote short, as peter said. i would be talking health care. perhaps a different health care, not care for all. if you are a republican moving into this cycle, a lot is at stake leaning left, left, left. moving more and more toward universal health care. i would suggest that's something that republicans should be talking about.

>> peter in his piece talks about how if the president did release something, it would be a series of smaller proposals, ideas for bringing down prescriptions drug costs, based on my sources, i know people are talking to the president about, pushing had imto hammer that for giving more flexibility on medicaid expansion, et cetera. >> right. >> do you think that is smart for the president or pin it to the other issues that peter brought up in his piece? >> i hate to use the phrase but you can walk and chew gum on the issues going on offense for medicare for all. and broader principles about prescription drugs and whatnot. and i've been noticing that in races. things senate candidates are starting to talk about. widely popular. everyone knows we need to adjust the cost of prescription drugs. and i give credit for that. >> gabby? >> i see this in many ways on the president reverting to type. he had a checklist when he was e

first elected. i'm checking them off one by one by one. he made sure the american public knew that he checked off the iran box and so forth. i think as he gears up for formal announcement of his re-election tomorrow night, this is where his head is. he is looking at what is undone? what are the things i said i was going to do. in the case of health care, which is very difficult, he thinks it's better to try to come back with something with something rather than nothing. >> yeah. peter, you're reporting on what they are doing to counter this >> reporter: yeah. 140 house democrats held online town halls or in-person events to talk about health care. this is the issue they really believe anyway contributed to their success in the midterm last year taking back the house. whether that, you know, proves to be going forward or not, i'm not sure. i think ashlee's point about medicare for all is a good one.

broadly popular among democrats, obviously. we would expand to the general population. when you turn that around, republicans talk about socialized medicine. it suddenly sounds different. galvanizes republican voters who say let's not let them take away our health care. it is a cutting issue. the president believes you have to have something to counter that as well as we go on the attack. and this is his way of checking off the boxes, as we were just saying. >> peter baker, ashlee strong, thanks to the both of you. gabby, thank you as well. more breaking news from the supreme court this morning. this having to do with redistricting. i want to head back to justice correspondent pete kwpls for a quick explainer. the lawn mowers have been silenced. >> reporter: this is about who gets to sue in the state of virginia. it is a case good for virginia only. it doesn't tell us much about the larger questions of gerrymandering, which has yet to be decided. this is a separate case.

this is the congressional district maps drawn in the last census. lower courts threw them out saying they unconstitutionally sorted out voters on the basis of race. and the state, the attorney general said, basically said, oe give up. but the house of delegates, the one part of the virginia legislature, wanted to carry on the fight. and today the supreme court said sorry you can't do that. the state can sue, but there's nothing in virginia law or federal law that says the house of delegates gets to sue on behalf of the state. so that's really what this decision was about. who gets to sue and today the supreme court said not just one-half of the virginia legislature. >> pete williams, doing double duty for us at the supreme court. pete, thank you. >> you bet. election in security, maybe. voters think russia may have hacked their districts and how it could affect 2020. security, . voters think russia may have hacked their districts and how it could affect 2020. hacked their districts and how

it could affect 2020

at panera, our salads with peak-season berries... creamy avocado... and a dressing fit for a goddess. come taste what a salad should be. and order online for delivery right to you. panera. food as it should be. at some point i hope they get it because it's a fantastic financial statement. it's a fantastic financial statement. and let's do that over. he's coughing in the middle of my answer. >> yeah, okay. >> i don't like that, you know. >> your chief of staff. >> if you get a cough, please leave the room.

>> i'll come over here. >> you just can't -- >> just change the shot. >> do you want to do a little differently then? >> yeah, we just changed the angle, yup. >> a viral moment there from president trump and that abc news interview asking his chief of staff to leave the oval office as he talked about plenty, not just financial statements, as you saw in that clip, but about his reelection campaign as well. the president is launching his big kickoff push in the one statement that always seems to bring election night drama, florida, that will be tomorrow. it's a state where at least two communities are considering to a to do with evidence that its system may have been hacked by russians. the republican governor says the breach did not affect any actual votes. kerry sanders is in florida. it does seem even if it didn't affect votes it may have affected voter confidence, right? >> reporter: absolutely. confirmation of this hacking by the russians was buried in the mueller report. as you noted the fbi has told the republican governor of

florida, ron desantis where this happened. he has since said the two counties where it happened but he won't say where those two counties are. only two of florida's 67 counties were compromised. and, of course, it leaves people wondering, you know, well does my vote count? one vote, one person. there is strong evidence here that one of the counties that was hacked was sumter county which is home to the largest retirement community in the united states, the villages. >> they call it the disney land for adults. >> disney land for adults. >> yeah, it's not -- it can be a very silly place. >> reporter: smack dab in the middle of florida's creditle eye florida corridor in between orlando and tampa is sumter county, one of the most republican places in the country. in a county with historically high voter turnout. there is some evidence that it could have been hacked during the 2016 elections. according to the miami herald and tampa bay times sumter was

one of two counties to give nearly identical carefully worded answers about potential hacks. leaving a divide along party lines. chris stanley runs the democratic club for the villages. >> when it first came out i said there's no way. why sumter county? that makes no sense. >> but no there seems to be strong evidence that sumter county was targeted by the russians? >> yeah. if i were a hacker and i wanted to see if my plan was going to work, i would choose a little county that nobody would have paid attention to. >> so this could have maybe thought to be going off radar? >> exactly. i mean, everybody knows this is a red county and it's going to vote red. and so if you just wanted to see if your system worked this is a good county to kind of try it out on. all the voters need to know. they need to know if their vote was safe, was counted. we turned out 77.78% of the democratic vote in 2018.

i wonder if we didn't have 80%. >> on the other side of the villages and the other side of the aisle are republicans like villagers for trump board member art donnelly. >> i don't think it's a secret that hacking took place. >> do you think it happened here? >> i do think it happened here. >> do you want to know to what extent? >> i don't think it's important to know to what extent because i think anything that undermines the general public's sense of security or integrity when in the system is going to hurt. >> reporter: according to republican governor ron desantis the fbi told him hackers did not tamper with any data or compromise election results. still, donnelly is more concerned about long-term consequences. >> to them four years is a small window. it's a snap of your fingers. they're looking to undermine the confidence on a long-term basis of perhaps even generational. >> reporter: and so with the debates about to begin here in

florida, the big question is if compromised here in florida could it happen again, hallie? >> kerry sanders, thank you, we will see you in florida in a matter of days, appreciate it. that does it for us for this hour of msnbc live. we will be broadcasting from d.c. all week long and next week we're on the road ahead of those debates, the first ones of the primary season airing on msnbc, nbc news and telemundo as well. we have more from chris jansing in new york. i'm in for craig melvin here at msnbc headquarters in new york, getting closer and closer to the first on stage showdown, new polling in the democratic presidential race suggests some candidates may be chipping away at the top tier. and a fascinating new poll in a key state showing big moves by two candidates, and delivering a blunt message to biden. plus, is the trump train running

out of steam? nbc news learns his campaign has cut ties with three internal pollsters after new numbers leaked out showing just how under water he is in some swing states. he's even underperforming in reliably red texas. and another dangerous escalation, iran is now threatening a dramatic increase in its uranium stockpile, exceeding the limits set by the nuclear deal and it could happen in just a matter of days. let's start this morning with being just nine days away from the first democratic presidential debate here on msnbc. and this new polling shows the democratic primary race is tightening for second place. joe biden holds a strong lead despite slipping a few points since mid-may. but bernie sanders is down four points, elizabeth warren holds steady at 9% and pete buttigieg and kamala harris are on the move, gaining over the last month. while that fascinating new trend