that's our show. a.m. joy will be back next weekend. up next, alex witt. we're back together in studio again. >> i loved having you start off the show yesterday. it was great when you got the amy klobuchar interview. i was saying how much i loved our presence there because we'd have great speech, 7 minutes long and then everyone pivots and walked over to joy. >> they walked over. it was good. i thought people were present. i was impressed by some of the speeches and by the fact they were smart enough to come and get their air time immediately after. people were playing it very smart. indeed. have a good show. >> i'll see you later. thank you. good day to all of you from our head quarters in new york. welcome to weekends with alex wi witt. so many questions and in moments the answers from the president's new interview on "meet the

press". >> do you feel like you were being pushed into military action against iran? you have children without their parents. you have kids taking care of kids. do you think impeachment is a good politics for you? if you could have one doover as president, what would it be? meantime, three days to go until the first democratic debates begin. how the candidates are preparing. new today the president addressing ongoing fears of a potential military conflict with iran. the president has said he will impose major sanctions on iran starting tomorrow after he called off a retaliatory strike. chuck todd pressed the president on what kind of negotiations have potential agreement. he is seeking with iran. >> i'm not looking for war. and if there is, it will be obliteration like you've never seen before, but i'm not looking to do that, but you can't have a nuclear weapon. you want to talk, good, otherwise you can have a bad -- >> no preconditions?

>> no. >> just last year mike pompeo made 12 demands of iran. this morning a republican senator and ally to the president urged him to remain skeptical. >> they want iran to change its campaign of terror throughout the region and drop its imperial ambitions. that means like stopping support for terrorist groups and rebel groups in places like yemen trying to overthrow legitimate government supporting military proxy forces in iraq. if they will adhere to the 12 points as secretary pompeo laid out on behalf of donald trump and negotiate a genuine and verifiable end to their nuclear program, then we could have a different kind of relationship with iran. chuck todd also alluded to national john bolton who favored launching a strike after iran shot down an american drone and just earlier today, bolton met in jerusalem with the israeli prime minister. bolton's message there, quote,

don't mistake u.s. prudence and discretion for weakness. >> do you feel like you were being pushed into military action against iran by any of youred a vie vors? >> i have doves and hawks. i have some hawks. >> you have some serious hawks. >> john bolton is a hawk. if it was up to him c he would take on the whole world at one time. that doesn't matter. i want both sides. >> chuck also asked the president if he could one doover, what would that be? >> well, it would be personnel. i would say if i had one do over, i would not have appointed jeff sessions to be attorney general. that would be -- >> in your mind, that's -- >> yeah. >> and the president also repeated his false claim that the separation of families at the border was not a policy of his administration. just yesterday he delayed the mass arrests of around 2000 undocumented family members slated to begin today. he is threatening to start deportation in two weeks if congress does not change the

country's asylum laws. chuck todd brought up the issues of not having enough water, enough food or proper sanitation and kids reportedly taking care of toddlers. >> the conditions are terrible. >> i agree. and it's been that way for a long time. >> do something. >> president obama built the cages. remember when they said that i built them? and then it was 1914. >> do two wrongs make a right? >> separation. president obama, i took over separation. i'm the one that put it together. what's happened, though, are the cartels and all of these bad people, they are using the kids. it's almost like slavery. >> let's not punish the kids more. the kids are getting punished more. >> you're right. this has been happening long before i got there. we've ended separation. >> mike is at the white house with more reaction on all of this. and trying to clarify that which seeps convoluted but we know the president seems to be throwing the ball to congress's court.

just a few hours before this planned ice raids set to begin this morning. what's the latest? >> reporter: good morning. yes, let's start there. it's a little bit mixed up and there are a number of facets and aspects to this story about the migrant children detained along the southern border along with mexico. first, let's start with the president pulling back on that order to start the deportation raids as you report. they were supposed to start in ten cities. some 2000 individuals would have been affected, would have been raided by ice agents and deported from the country. they ran into problems. number one, they say there were details leaked about the operation, thereby, compromising operational security, but part of the problem with that is the administration itself is the one that leaked the details starting with president trump last month night when he tweeted that the process for deportation for what he termed millions of people was going to start very soon. now the president says he's pulling back. then there have been reports all

along about the mistreatment of children who either came here unaccompanied or came here with their parents and have been separated from their parents. there's also a recent story about a group of lawyers that was allowed into a facility near el paso and talked to 60 children. they described the scene akin to lord of the rings. kids taking care of kids. kids in unsanitary conditions that are not being properly looked after or properly fed. now, chuck asked him about all of this, and here's a little bit more of that exchange. >> talk about what's happening now. your administration, you're not doing the recreation or schooling kids. you've gotten rid of that stuff. >> we're doing a fantastic job under the circumstances. the democrats aren't even approving giving us money. where is the money? the democrats are holding up the humanitarian aid. if the democrats would change the asylum laws and the

loopholes which they refuse to do because they think it's good politics, everything would be solved. they refuse to do it. they refuse to do it. >> alex, there are two separate issues here. number one, changing the immigration laws as the president referred to, asylum laws. that's what he's giving congress two weeks ago or he's threatening to start the deportations again. there not likely to be an agreement. now he's also talking about the money. there's currently a proposal in congress moving along in the senate $4.5 billion to send to the border but democrats in the house are concerned about exactly how that money is going to be spent. they want it to be direct aid to help improve the conditions that we've been talking about that chuck was asking the president about. it may be held up, but there are prospects for that moving more quickly. >> mike, thank you for that. joining me now abigail tracy, gabriel sherman, and charlie savidge.

big welcome to the three of you. let's get into it here. charlie, you first. is nancy pelosi reportedly called the president on friday evening asking him to call off the raids. they spoke for about 12 minutes. no guarantee from the president on what he would do. but the president later announced he's putting the operation on hold. how much of an impact did pelosi have on the president's decision, and you heard mike saying we have two weeks to get to an agreement. he said that's not going to happen. what are the chances of an agreement. >> there's no doubt there is a crisis on the border. unbelievably large numbers of people with kids are coming into the united states right now. 144,000 detained in the month of may alone. up from less than 20 ,000 in the month of may two years before that. and everything is swamped. the problem right now is that trump for the democrats on the left is the worst possible messenger to say there's a

crisis, we need money because ice facilities and hhs facilities and everything else is so overwhelmed. they see him as the guy who wants to build a wall that will not solve the problem since since sleaze are asylum seekers. there is a crisis and i think congress is going to have to do something. i think -- trump decides not to carry out raids right now at pelosi's request and because there was no room for a big surge of people right now. we'll see whether congress can use that time to alleviate some of the problems. >> you think there could be an agreement on humanitarian aid, charlie? >> i do think congress is going to have to pass something politics aside. there is a crisis that is real. >> for sure. we have acting director mark morgan who stated that leaked details about this operation, the one that was to begin this morning included locations, the date, all of it, contributed to the president's delay, but then there are reports of the acting

dhs secretary pushing against this operation from the beginning with some administration officials even accusing him of driving those leaks. so there's an internal split here, abigail. what do you make of that? >> yeah. there is. you're seeing kind of conflicting reports from both sides. i think one important thing to highlight right now going to the statement you said is you said acting twice. when we're talking about the trump administration's immigration policy, i think it's important to note there are more than a dozen officials at dhs right now who are in the acting capacity. so i think that is one kind of critical thing that people should focus on right now as well. just these are individuals making these plans who are not senate confirmed. there are a lot of questions as to who is running the show and you're having reports of one individual pushing one agenda and others pushing another. i think that kind of contributes to the broader lack of chaos that we've seen as this plan has been reported upon and now pulled back by the president. >> do you get a sense of how the

white house is viewing this delay right now? whether it's with expectations or the political fallout or support he might gain from it? what are your thoughts on that? >> yeah. alex, you know, i've done a lot of reporting on trump's to 20 reelection campaign. the view in trump world is any time they're talking about immigration, that is a winning issue for the president. it's largely why he feels he won in 2016. and it stokes the base. any chance the president has for reelection in the next cycle is going to be determined on getting the same coalition of voters mobilized again. so in a political sense, this is good news at least from the trump world's perspective. has the reality show aspect of okay, tune in next week. he's kicking the can down the road for two more weeks. it's keeping the storyline going. i think any time you see the president having a chance to

stoke passions on both sides of the immigration issue, he has seized that opportunity. >> but gabe, do you think the fact that mexico has not paid for a big wall, a big beautiful wall, is that going to fly with the voters and those in this space with all of them? are they going to give them a pass on that? >> here's the thing. clearly the people that are loyal to trump, we saw this just last week when he was in orlando for his kickoff rally. everyone reported it was a rehash of all of the 2016 campaign catch words and slogans. so it seems like even though he hasn't delivered on any number one of these problems, we don't have the wall. mexico hasn't paid for it. the numbers at the border are far higher under president trump than they've been prior to president trump. it seems like maybe his die hard base will still stick with him. but clearly the campaign is worried about the voters, suburban voters, who seem to be

able to go in another direction. i reported last week in "vanity fair" another problem the president faces is his biggest financial backer in 2016, the mercer family, has all but disappears from politics and pulled back. on multiple fronts he's facing challenges. >> for sure. let's move to iran. challenges there in no short order. let's talk about the president saying his main concern is stopping iran from getting a nuclear weapon. no preconditions. is he alone on this? because you had tom cotton, secretary pompeo who listen, a dozen or two conditions were listed. >> that's right. and when obama had the multi lateral iran deal, it was focussed on that one issue. it was about preventing iran from enriching uranium and getting closer to a nuclear weapon for years and years to come. the big critique from the hawks

on the right was it left unaddressed issues that could only be resolved with regime change in tehran. trump tears up that deal. it sets up the course to where we are today. now trump saying all he cares about is the nuke and nothing else. and iran can be run by the same people it's being run by and do all the other things it's doing as long as it doesn't get a nuke. puts him basically in the camp of where the obama realists were in the last administration that he criticized and people like cotton and pompeo and bolton disagreed with. this is a split within the white house if trump means it. what he means changes from day today. >> what does impact does this have, this lack of a unified message? >> one of the interesting things is in the clip of tom cotton he mentioned a list of 12 conditions that if iran met, they would be willing to sit down at the negotiation table. the thing is that in iran, that list is viewed completely as a

nonstarter. so i think there is already a lack of trust. and then you have the president saying hey, let's have a conversation without any preconditions. but you have individuals like john bolton, mike pompeo and other starts such as tom cotton signaling there would be conditions and the 12 conditions, iran does not agree with and would be unwilling to come to the table. you also have the issue of trust. already the trump administration pulled out of a deal that iran reached. so why would they trust this administration now to make another agreement? >> yeah. and your reaction, gabe, to what the president said about john bolton saying he would take on the whole world if it were up to him. why does the president keep him around if he holds such extreme views? >> you know, it's really one of the refreshing aspects. a lot of things that are troubling about the trump white house. one of the refreshing things is that the president makes it very clear where people stand on the record in this case. so yeah, it's a great question.

i think he likes john bolton. it gives him leverage with the north koreans that at least that voice is at the table so that if the iranians or north koreans both regimes that john bolton wants to take on, push the white house, trump can say listen, bolton cea bolton's view is going to carry the day. but it is definitely a surprise, as you said when john bolton got the job because trump ran on a platform in 2016 of not getting entangled. and now he's listening or at least taking a serious advice from somebody who is associated with this interventionist foreign policy. >> as you said, john bolton sitting at the table, if not whispering in his ear. good to see you. i'll see you all again and look forward to it. for all of you to see chuck todd's interview catch the reairing of meet the press at 3 eastern. you all have access to it.

also 6:00 eastern as usual on msnbc. you can also see the full unedited version on msnbc.com. what's the next move in the standoff with iran? in just a moment i'll ask of that of bill richardson. n.ask. oh i love it. it's a great razor. it has that 'fence' in the middle. it gives a nice smooth shave. just stopping that irritation... that burn that i get is really life changing.

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and here we are sitting with 150 dead people that would have taken place probably within a half hour after i said go ahead. and i didn't like it. i didn't think it was -- i didn't think it was proportionate. >> president trump in an exclusive interview with chuck todd explaining how he weighed his option to launch a military strike on iran. the retaliation for the downing of a u.s. unmanned drone. joining me now bill richardson, a long and distinguished career. what do you make of the calculation the president said he used to call off the strike? >> well, first it shows that he didn't have all the options and consequences when he was moving toward calling for a military strike. the administration. so it shows that there isn't a

coherent strategy. i'm pleased he didn't use that option, the military option. it was not proportionate. and as he said, it would have killed 150 people. now, it shows that there's enormous division within the cabinet. now, when i was in the cabinet, you knew the consequences of such a military decision. i mean, we made some of those decisions in the clinton administration with saddam hussein. it shows we are still in danger of escalating. we are proceeding with sanctions, with cyber attacks on iran. that's a lot better than a military strike, but i think we are far from being out of danger of a major escalation. >> look, to your point, and based on your experience there in the cabinet, the president says that he wants to listen to both sides. take a listen to what he said about that. >> i have two groups of people. i have doves and i have hawks.

>> you have some serious hawks. >> yeah. john bolton is absolutely a hawk. if it was up to him, he'd take on the world at one time. >> i'm curious. both sides is one thing. but when you're having extremely polarized sides, does it make it difficult to find a cohesive plan to go forward? >> yes, it does, and look, you want to have debate, but to have polar extremes, what i'm thankful for is our military people that warned the president and said, you know, we have american forces in iraq and syria and afghanistan. they're going to be vulnerable. the straits of hormuz where 80% of the oil goes through. going to asia to some of our marriage al -- major allies is jeopardized. i'm glad our military people, the first line of defense and protecting our interests are advising the president for caution. now, what we need is diplomacy.

that's what we need. >> yeah. diplomacy, but when you talk about the military people, okay, wait, we haven't had a defense secretary for about six months now. wait. we had an acting defense secretary. he's gone. we have someone just coming in. there's no continuity. how fearful does that make you? >> well, i'm concerned. i'm concerned. but we had the joint chiefs of staff there. you know, we have very talented military people. that does give me a lot of concern that we have not had a secretary of defense, and that we have not had a united nations ambassador that usually is for diplomacy at the cabinet level. we haven't even confirmed that. there's an absence of personnel, but i think what is needed now is diplomacy. use countries like qatar that have ties to iran. let's get into some secret talks to deescalate. look, this nuclear fuel issue, we don't want iran to move ahead

that way. but our allies, we don't have our allies. germany, japan, countries like france. great britain that are usually with us, russia and china, we've alienated them. we upset them on trade talks, on downgrading nato. we're kind of doing this alone. that's what worries me. >> yeah. i want to pivot to another topic. chuck todd asked the president about the murder of jamal khashoggi and why the white house is continuing to sell arms to saudi arabia. he said it's all about money. is this a surprising statement or has u.s. foreign policy always been driven by money and he's simply the first president to be honest about that? >> no. i believe our foreign policy has been in the past. republican and democrat, driven by supporting democratic principles, human rights. not all the time, obviously, but here with the middle east, we

always had a two-state solution. we always balanced our support with israel, saudi arabia, the plo, finding ways to resolve our differences. right now i think we've put too much of our policy in the middle east toward saudi arabia. and -- >> because of money? >> and not toward a balance. >> because of money? >> no, no. i believe for strategic reasons. possibly because of money. i think the president emphasizes armed sales too much. well, our human rights principals, our democratic principals, peace in the middle east is more important than making $100 billion in arm sales. we can sell to others and make that up. that's not a good guiding principle of our foreign and national policy. >> i want to let you get to the week's debates on msnbc on wednesday and thursday. you've run for president. what do you think is the main

focus of the contenders this week? >> well, they're all going to be gunning on joe biden. now, i debated joe biden in '08. he's a very good debater. he conveys truth. he conveys competence. he conveys a lot of good things. i think he's going to be very tough to beat. i know he had a bad week on the segregation comment, but he's had vast experience, and that's going to come through. but i would expect most of the candidates will be gunning for the front runners, and he clearly is a front runner now. don't underestimate him. >> okay. there you go. they've heard it. thank you, bill. appreciate it. always good to see you. >> you can watch the first democratic presidential debate on wednesday and thursday appearing at 9 eastern right here on msnbc. high praise from the president for attorney general bill barr, but not for his predecessor. why the president says he wants a do over when it comes to jeff sessions.

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high prize for bill barr in the aftermath of the mueller probe's conclusion. the president saying this in his new interview with chuck todd.

>> is bill barr your roy cohen? >> i think it's a talented. >> you know you've always said is he a -- >> but i had many lawyers. a lot of lawyers. roy was one of them. he was a tough guy. bill barr is -- >> cut from the same cloth? >> bill barr is equally tough. he's a fine man. he's a fine man. the job he's done is incredible. he's brought sanity back. >> let's bring in joe crowley, republican strategist, susan, and jonathan alter. big welcome to the three of you. ladies first. the president says bill barr and roy cohen are equally tough and he's brought sanity back. what's your reaction? >> bill barr said mr. president you have to eat your vegetables and bill barr says mr. president, here's your chocolate cake before dinner. he basically gives permission to

donald trump and finds a way to carry out his agenda whether it's the right thing for the country or not. he is an attorney general for donald trump whereas i believe jeff sessions was trying to be an attorney general for this country. >> what do you think congressman in terms of how democrats interpret this? >> susan hit it on the head. the president wants someone who has his back. 100%. that he is his attorney general. not the attorney general for the united states. and i think looking at the vote, it was bipartisan in the senate. only three senators voted for him. i think they're looking back and regretting the vote. there's not much democrats can do as he's already in place except continue to ask for every american to read the full mueller report. that's what americans have to do. they have to understand exactly what was in that volume two that was laid out by mr. mueller, and his investigators that really is incredibly damming no matter how

much barr really puts ice cream on this, it is still cardboard that you're eating. the american people have to read this report. >> how about you, jonathan? what's your take? >> i don't think it's enough just to urge americans to read the report. most americans don't read very much. so what they need to do is they need to get bob mueller on the hill and have mueller read the relevant portions of the report aloud before congress and the american people. and they're facing as chuck wonderfully indicated, a roy cohen as attorney general. roy cohen was not just a very tough lawyer. he was a criminal. i'm not saying bill barr is a criminal, but putting him in the same sentence as roy cohen gives you some idea of the attack dog that the president has at his side now. so the democrats so far i think are doing a poor job of illuminating what is in that

devastating report and they need to make up for lost time and put on a show, because people don't read the book. they need to see the movie. and that movie needs to start unspooling on capitol hill now. >> all right. look, another top story today. the president announcing this two-week delay on the ice deportation raids. he says it gives democrats and republicans time to work together for asylum on the situation at the border. in your opinion, sir, what if anything can get done in two weeks? >> i think what the president is looking for is leverage. he's using the leverage of the threat of going after the depor tees. he's using leverage in terms of diminishing amenities at the border. the conditions in which these primarily women and children are being held in. and he knows that hits at the heart of democrats. particularly, i think speaker pelosi. but she's tough. nancy is not going to negotiate a way of what she thinks the

responsible thing is to do. she wants to be responsible about this. we all know that his red meat to his constituency is the border wall, is being anti-immigrant, and i think he's going to continue to do that. i don't think he wants to see a full settlement here. >> susan, nbc news cited two dhs officials saying it was called off because of detailed leaked to the media. another factor lack of space to detain those arrested. why is the president putting this somewhat different spin on him? what does it buy him? >> the president puts a different spin because he sees what's happening in the news cycle. the leak they're talking about was that they were not -- dhs was not prepared to go forward and ice was not prepared to go forward on the, quote, raids. they just simply weren't. they weren't even notified about it. this was a president, this was a presidential kind of like huh, why don't we do this today? the fact that he changes his mind the next day because he knows that the backlash it will

have. he knows the images on television will be horrible so he changes his mind again. the democrats are in good position. they should demand what donald trump is asking for. we never know. and then they should ask for a little bit more and take the win. and even though it will be a win also for donald trump at some level, they can leverage it into a better win for themselves of showing that they can get something done which is why they were elected in 2018. >> this humanitarian aid that is desperately needed. jonathan we heard bill richardson talk about the debate. he has all his money on joe biden. tell me your thoughts, who you think stands a chance to pop and who needs to do so. >> well, pretty much they all need to do so except for biden. but biden is not in such a great position hereto. democrats don't like front runners. there's a long history of them taking down front runners.

that doesn't necessarily mean that will happen in this case. but it's not such a good position to be in when you're playing defense the way biden is going to have to do in the second debate. in the second debate the person to look at i think is elizabeth warren who is rising in the polls against bernie sanders. now, she's not going to go head to head with bernie sanders. so some of the other candidates in that first debate are going to get a chance to possibly shine against warren. and the one i would look at just the way the lineup is set up is amy klobuchar. who has a good sense of humor, and she might be able to present herself as an alternative, a more moderate alternative to warren in that first debate. the second debate will be more of a free for all. i think both of them will be inc inconclusive and we won't be much more ahead of where we are right now. >> if joe biden does very well

and propels himself even further in terms of the distance between him and number two in this pack, does that afford him room, then, to have a couple stumbles at this point? because he's really leading the pack so much? >> well, i think despite alex, his stumbles, which he's had. this has not been a great week for joe biden, he still is at the top of the list. he's still leading considerably among them. true elizabeth warren is moving. we'll see pete buttigieg. i think there's an opportunity here for some of the shadows to step forward. and i think jonathan is right. amy klobuchar is one of them. i think kiersten jirsten gillib the ability to do that, and tim ryan. he has an opportunity to toe the middle of the country. >> yes. i spoke with him last weekend. thank you, my money is on all three of you all the time.

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are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. woman 6: ask your rheumatologist about humira. woman 7: go to mypsaproof.com to see proof in action. i've been off the campaign trail helping my community move through a tragic shooting of a

resident of our community by a police officer. it is as if one member of our family died at the hands of another. when a city is challenged just as when a nation is challenged, the most important thing you can fall back on is your values. >> pete buttigieg yesterday at the south carolina democratic convention pulling himself off the campaign trail for several days. the mayor of south bend was tested this week following the fatal shooting of erik logan a black man by a police officer in south bend. buttigieg join adderally outside the police station where he faced intense criticism where those saying he's not doing enough to protect them. listen to that. >> did you ask me if blacks live matter? >> we want to hear you say it. >> of course black lives matter. >> then fire your cop. >> what you going to do about that? why has it taken so long for him to be fired? >> joining me now, josh leaderman in south bend for us. a week after the shooting we see

the level of anger that is there in the community toward their mayor. it was literally like an endurance test for him yesterday. it seemed as if the end of the day, as if he was marching to the building which houses his office, things got a little bit better, but wow, talk about how he's handled this, and if this has had any effect on his presidential campaign. >> reporter: yeah. alex, this is one of the first times that we've seen pete buttigieg have a moment where he kind of stumbles. he freezes. he doesn't have the same type of instinctive response on this issue that he has on so many issues on the campaign trail. we've been speaking to residents in south bend about how they feel he's been responding to this crisis, and the message we're hearing over and over again is while they think he's saying all the right things and he's done a lot to improve the area economically, they fault him for not surrounding himself

with enough african americans in leadership positions within the city of south bend who could provide advice about how the community is feeling and what they need. let's listen to what they had to say. >> one thing about good leaders, they don't avoid trouble. they face it. and pete's been good at that. pete needs to face that, and people are going to say what they're going to say, but his record should speak for itself. >> when buttigieg says he cares about the black community. >> i don't believe that. there's no african americans in his cabinet. i don't believe that at all. and i believe that it's more important to him to make a name for himself as far as what he's doing for the city itself, but as far as individuals in the black neighborhood, absolutely not. >> reporter: and alex, reverend taylor invited us into the church to see his service where he held a prayer for the city of south bend reeling from that shooting last weekend. >> okay. there's going to be a lot to follow on this front. josh, thank you. coming up next, why this

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where we have a president who understands the greatest strength and the greatest power any one individual can have is not to beat people down but to lift them up. >> it's time for big plans, and yeah, i got some big plans. >> we won't have any second class citizens when i'm president of the united states. >> we need an economy and a government that works for all of us. not just wealthy campaign contributors and the 1%. >> 2020 presidential candidates trying to make splash in the key early voting state of south carolina. 21 of the white house hopefuls making their pitch this weekend. larry, welcome to you. curious who you think made the best impressions yesterday. s >> you'd have to give extra points to kamala harris for

entry. it was hard to avoid enjoying that. a lot of politics is entertaining. it's true and it explains donald trump to a degree. i would give kamala harris an edge. i thought quite of few of them gave decent speeches. they were seven minutes so you're not going to learn a whole lot. that was about all the crowd could take on a hot day. with 21 candidates, seven minutes each is a lot. >> how crucial will south carolina will in the primaries? >> it's going to be very crucial for joe biden and several other candidates. what happens in south carolina is partly a product of iowa and new hampshire. what's happening in iowa, for example, is different than what's happening in the rest of the country.

warren is doing better in iowa relative to the rest of the country. buttigieg is doing better. harris has been moving up too. it's cumulative and yet it's in series. you'll see each domino fall individually. >> what about the latest real clear politics national poll average. it's got a top five. it's the same top five that we have been seeing for a while. do you think this week's debates shakes this up or do the top five stay at the top moving forward in the primaries after this week? >> unless joe biden makes a terrible gaffe and it is possible but unless he makes a terrible gaffe, i would expect him to remain number one. his national lead is much healthier than in iowa, for instance. as far as the others, i have a little different take on these debates. i think the first night will attract a lot more people than

some of the analysts expect because it's novel. the second night will because of the people participating. the ones who really gain are not the ones at the top of the polls. they will be the majority of the candidates who aren't known as all by most of the people who are tuning in. they have no idea who these people are. they don't follow politics obsessively like some of us do. >> wednesday night, who do you think has the best opportunity to pop that night? >> oh, gosh. i wish i could tell you. i wish i knew which one could. you expect the front runners to do better but we need to remember, i'm sure the moderators are going to give equal time or relatively equal time to all the candidates. if you think somebody is head and shoulders over the other kuku ones, you may be a little disappointed from that person

since every one else is included. >> relative to the second night with joe biden and bernie sanders, i was speaking with bill richardson this hour and he has debated joe biden while going for the presidency. he says you cannot underestimate him that he's a very good debater. between those two who will be at the center positions there in terms of the actual polling, i mean the numbers there and where they place him on the stage, where do you see that one coming down between biden and bernie? >> actually, i think they will just reenforce the people who already support them. governor richardson made an important point. people have forgotten joe biden's debate with paul ryan, the vice president president under mitt romney in 2012. every one predicted that ryan would win. biden beat him rather handily. he's a lot better than people think and he's had so much experience, he ought to be. >> what about the last point

with the president saying he will live tweet the debates as they happen. the president's team is hoping the two democrat debates morph into candidates reacting to the president. might it be the most important person is not on that stage. could trump dominate? >> he'll try to but as always his own base will be the ones interested in what he's live tweeting. i think it's important that everybody else not let him dominate. he can dominate if they ever have a debate with bill welds, the only republican challenger i know of that he's got now. the democrats deserve their nights in the sun. they will get a number of these debates over time. it's up to us focus on what they are saying. not what trump is tweeting and the sound bites he tries to get out there about this candidate or the insults and nicknames he

gives the candidates that are obnoxious. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> you can watch the debate this wednesday and thursday night 9:00 eastern here on msnbc. we'll bring you the reaction and analysis that you come to expect. president trump's biggest regret about his time in office and what he says he would change if he could do it all again. e we if he cod uldo it all again. the right gear... matters. introducing the all-new 2019 ford ranger, it's the right gear. with a terrain management system for... this. a bash plate for... that. an electronic locking rear differential for... yeah... this. heading to the supermarket? get any truck. heading out here? get the ford ranger. the only adventure gear built ford tough.

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trump on oil. just about everything. the president talks i.c.e. ra s raids, 2020 election and more. standing out in the crowd. an expert in prepearing chandei candidates shares what hopefuls need to do. good day every one. welcome to weekends with alex witt. developing right now the trump administration is expected to impose tomorrow what the president calls major sanctions on iran. the economic pressure is reportedly guided to force iran to negotiate a nuclear deal tougher than the one reached under the obama administration. in a new interview, the president laid out his message to iran. >> i'm not looking for war. if there is, it will be obliteration like you've never seen before. i'm not looking to do that. you can't have a nuclear weapon. you want to talk, good.

otherwise you can have a bad economy. >> no pre-conditions? >> not as far as i'm concerned. no pre-conditions. >> several outlets are reporting the president may have approved a cyber attack against iran. it happened on the same day he called off the military strike in retaliation for the downing of an unmanned drone. the political battle over border funding is heating up. the house is expected on more than four billion dollars to help alleviate the humanitarian crisis at the border. the president delayed the mass arrests of around 2,000 undocumented family members. it was slated to begin this morning but he's threatening to start deportations in two weeks if congress does not change the country's asylum laws. chuck todd pressed the president on the conditions that many detained children are facing right now. >> let's talk about what's happening now. your administration is not doing the recreation, they're not schooling the kids anymore. >> they are doing a fantastic

job under the circumstances. the democrats aren't approving giving us money. where is the money? the democrats are holding up the humanitarian aid. in the democrats would change the asylum laws and loopholes which they refuse to do because they think it's good politics, everything would be solved immediately but they refuse to do it. they refuse to do it. >> house intelligence chief adam schiff says democrats have been negotiating but he offered this caveat. >> make no mistake, there is nothing that congress is doing or not doing that compels the administration to have facilities where children don't have blankets or toothbrushes or soap and for the vice president or the president to blame congress for their own malfeasance is just a completely besides the point and unethical aptds and unacceptable. they could cure this problem today because the cruelty is part of their policy. it's part of what they think

will deter migrants from coming here. >> let's go do the white house now. ron allen standing by. good day to you. what's the latest on all this from there? >> reporter: you can tell by that remark, the passion, the emotion, the deep divisions on this issue. president trump tweeting this morning giving democrats two weeks to come to a deal. he said here it is. i want to give the democrats every last chance to quickly negotiate simple changes to asylum and loopholes. this will fix the southern borders with the help that mexico is now giving us. probably won't happen but worth a try. two weeks and big deportations begin. just to be clear, when he's talk about asylum and loopholes, vice president pence explained what the concern is in detail. at the border now, so many people enter the united states file an asylum claim and spend months, years having those claims addressed or adjudicated

and many result in failure. that's one part of the process that the trump administration wants to end or refine. they want people to stay out to have country while they are making the asylum claims. they want the claims to be settled more quickly in matter of months, if not sooner. this issue of conditions at the border also came up in the interview with "meet the press." with we kn we know the raids were called off because ice said they didn't have the capacity and planning in place to a lot of migrants being put in detention. here is what the president had to say about the conditions in u.s. facilities along the boardboar border. >> the conditions are terrible. it's been that way for a long time. >> do something. >> president obama built the cages. they said i built them. >> two wrongs make a right in. >> president obama, i took over separation. i'm the one that put it together. what's happened are the cartels

and all of these bad people they using the kids. they -- it's almost like slavery. >> let's not punish the kids more. the kids are getting punished more. s >> you're right. this was done long before i got there. we ended separation. >> reporter: this week negotiations in congress about money for our border security, for humanitarian conditions at the border, two weeks seem like a quick amount of time to deal with all of that. >> that's for sure. thank you from the white house. joining me is political reporter for the los angeles times and john harwood. the president kind of kicking this down the road for a couple more weeks but is it strategic to do that? >> i don't know how much is strategic about what the president does. we know he likes to create a sense of anticipation and drama.

to promise big decisive action where it's a strike against iran or tariffs on mexico or mass deportations by ice and when the heat rises and political resistance rises, he sometimes will back away and decide not to go there. i think that's what happened here. you saw tremendous amount of complaint from democrats. this is something that would probably have the appearance of humanitarian disaster. if you start seizing large numbers of people and deporting them, i think the president shied away. s >> you're right. this type of mass deportation carries political ramifications in 2020. even though the president sees it as a winning campaign issue. what are the risks? >> this is an issue that's obviously immigration cracking down. it's been his signature issue since he first ran for office.

it's an issue his base is passionate about. when you start talking about deportati deportation, his core supporters don't support deporting millions of people like by force. we have research polling that shows that. it's a tricky issue. it raises questions about optics. immigration in 2016 election gave his base something to be passionate about but in the midterms he was focused on the caravans. that didn't work out for him including in some states in the southwest where republicans should have done better. it's a tricky, it has benefits and risks. >> acting ice director stated the leaked details about this operation, that would location and date it was supposed to start this morning, that's what contributed to the president's delay but there are also reports that the acting dhs secretary has been pushing against this operation. at the very least appears wear

weary. there's officials that have accused him of those leaks. >> there's a lot of infighting on this subject. there does seem to be a fundamental inconsistency and hypocrisy. they have gone after the left. i'm thinking of the mayor of oakland who said there would be an ice round up in her city and people said she could have gotten ice agents killed. you have a judge in boston who was charged criminally for seeing illegal immigrant was released out the back door of a courthouse and then when the president wants to announce a raid in advance, it's like, nothing to see here. just didn't seem clear to me how those things can be offensive under certain circumstances and endang ice agents under some conditions but when the president says we'll have raids, that doesn't cause concern.

>> acting dhs secretary, acting head of ice. how much do these temporary position dos to drive the president's agenda. is it pro, con? >> it's not helpful to anybody to have major chunks of the government filled with temporary chiefs. no less than the acting defense secretary as we're on the verge of potential military con flifl with iran. this president made aappointments that have not worked out. his relationships with them haven't worked out. they haven't been confirmable. with patrick shanahan you had

domestic violence allegations that come out. there isn't much evidence it's working out in a successful way for the administration. >> leat's take a quick look ahead. >> are you going to address him about interference in 2020? >> i may. >> will you tell him not to do it? >> i may. >> some people think your answer last week invited him to do it again. >> that's not true. >> are you going to tell him not to? >> my answer last week was both. i said i'd do both. >> all right. i guess the president will do it if chuck todd is asking him to do it. it doesn't appear to be high on the list of the president's priorities? >> no. every intelligence agency said russia interfered with our elections and likely to do it again. the president over the years has

shown such reluctance to admit that. we saw that with the comment last week after whether he would take dirt from a foreign government and he was like sure, why not. >> final word to you josh on this. any expectations on it? >> i think the president will be going into this g-20 summit more isolated than any u.s. president in recent history. he started so many fights with our allies in europe as well as the showdown with china where he doesn't seem to have the backing of a lot of other countries around the world. iran is probably the prime example of that where he backed out of the iran deal and may be asking other countries to help the u.s. in this showdown with iran. they really have no incentive to do it. >> alex, the think ing revolves around what is good for him. he's not going too ask vladmir putin to do something if he thinks it's good for him. >> i was waiting for someone to say that. thank you for what you said.

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just moments ago secretary of state mike pompeo departed for the middle east. he spoke to reporters shortly before taking off and was asked for more details on sanctions to be imposed tomorrow. >> today some 80 plus percent of

the north korean economy is sanctioned. it's important for every one to remember this is of the iranian economy is sanctioned. i don't want to get out in front of what we'll announce tomorrow, but this will be a further effort to ensure their capacity not only to grow their economy becomes more and more difficult. >> first stops will be in saudi arabia and the united arab emirates. the president making his 2020 run official. as he discussed with nbc chuck todd earlier he has his eyes on staying in the white house. >> you prepared to lose? >> no. probably not. probably not. it would be much better if i said, yeah. it will be much easier to say yes. i'm probably not too prepared to lose. i haven't lost very much. >> joining me now, national

press secretary for the president's 2020 campaign. this scenario is drawing concerns. how do you interpret what he said there? >> we're not losing on november 3rd, 2020. we will prevail. that same clip that went on, chuck todd asked him are you prepare to accept what happens. he said sure. ta stacy abrams still hasn't conceded in georgia. i asked the democrats will you accept to defeat because you're sure to experience it.

>> we have a democrat who can answer in a second. the president tweeting this video staying in office for ever. is this just a joke or a provocation for the people who worry we would not leave the oval office even after eight years. >> that's one of my favorite tweets he's put out there. he knows it would trigger democrats, the media. he mentions a third time. he drives the media nuts. that video is a triggering moment for the media. i think it's great. i wish he would do it again. >> you do advise him on certain things so perhaps he will. adrian let's get to you with the president invoking a familiar name several times during his 2020 kick off rally. you know it well. let's take a listen. >> crooking hillary clinton. >> hillary clinton lost. remember the insurance policy. when crooked hilly sai eed hill.

>> doesn't he have enough of his own record to run on? why does he constantly refer to hillary clinton in. >> this is something that many of my former colleagues and i think frankly the millions of people around the world, the 63 million people who voted for hillary clinton are wondering why did he still prevends he's running in the race. trump can't seem to get her off of his mind. perhaps the election not being completely fair in his favor. start chanting lock her up. lock her up. donald trump has not figured out how to expand his base. he knows how to rile up that

hard core, 33, 34% of american voters who are probably with donald trump no matter what but he hasn't quite figured out how to expand his base. if you look at the math here, if donald trump only gets his hard base to turn out in his favor in 2020, he will lose this election. >> i'm curious, knowing the president, his personality a and the way he approaches things, is he more focused on past grudges than a vision for the future. she's ancient history at this point. >> not at all. when you listen to his rally, he talked a eed about the economy, energy. he will bring up hillary clinton and he will bring up robert mueller and the mueller report and the democrats and their obsession with russia collusion that never existed. no coordination or robert mueller said in his report and no obstruction as barr did. we will be taking a victory lap that there's a three year

conspiracy thoueory that put forward that never panned out. you'll be hearing about accomplishments on the part of the president and we're seeing movement among hispanic voters in new mexico and other areas. we are building our base. democrats still haven't figured out how to win a national election so best of luck on november 3rd. >> if we're getting the 2018 mid term were the most successful the democrats have ever had in the united states, absolutely true. >> not true. >> i think you're missing that. >> obama lost far more house seats in the mid terms and there was one difference. president trump's name not being on the battllot. that brings a whole new group of voters. >> they were referendum against trump and we'll see the same thing happen in 2020. >> speaking of a referendum, this may be a new campaign for 2020 but the hill is asking can

trump run as an outsider. is it legit for the man who holds the office to continue positioning himself as an outsider? >> it's not legitimate. i think it will be difficult for him to do that this time around because of the point you made because he is holding the oval office. i think he will try to do that. i don't want to put words in kailey's mouth but i think he will try to position himself as an outsider even though he's a creature of washington. he's part of the swamp. he's the driving force behind the swamp. it will be that much harder to try to detract himself from that situation and try to paint himself as an outsider. >> can i ask you about the president said he may not reach out to swing voters in 2020. he told that the time magazine. i think my base is so strong i'm not sure i have to do that. look, adrian made that point if he's got 33, 34%, he can't win a

national election with just that base. does he really expect to win an election with just the base. >> the point the president is making is there are fewer swing voters because we're adding to the trump base. i mentioned hispanics in new mexico. we are seeing them flock to the president in drove. new ahampshire is in play. the base is larger than 303%. the president will continue to drain the swamp and drain corrupt democrats who administrf the most corrupt in modern history. >> alex can i say one thing really quickly. donald trump is trying to say that he is gaining more support in new mexico, new hampshire because his campaign put out a statement saying that we are going to try to expand the map in those places but i have not seen the polling. i challenge you to find me one public poll that democrats ta

trump is gaping support in new mexi mexico. >> it was one poll in 2016. we're going to look at the data that worked in 2016. >> okay. great. >> we'll lever it there. ladies good to see you both. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> to see chuck todd's interview you can catch the reairing later today at 3:00 eastern. gives you opportunity to see this interswru tview with the president. you can see the full unedited on w nbc.com. unedited on w nbc.com.

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this week may be crucial for whether congress approves much needed funding to alleviate be humanitarian crisis at the border. this as the president is giving congress two weeks to revamp asylum laws or thousands of undmed family members will be deported. >> the conditions are terrible. >> i agree.

it's been that way for a long time. >> do something. >> we're doing a fantastic job. >> was the zero tolerance policy a mistake? >> it's not a mistake. we want to have strong borders. >> do you have immigran immigrants? >> i love immigrants. >> joining me is a democrat from florida. very good to welcome do you the show. thank you so much for joining me. as you know, six immigrant children have died. i mean died under border patrol custody or shortly after being released. that's what we know of. you heard the president claim his administration is doing a fantastic job. what is your reaction? >> good afternoon. i have to tell you what we're seeing at the florida is humanitarian crisis. we are, as a country, vie laola human rights. we have been separating families under this administration now

for close to two years. i have the homestead detention facility in my district that's holding close to 3,000 kids. i've been visiting that facility and during my last visit i spoke with a 13-year-old boy who told me he was separated from his sister entering the border 44 days prior to my conversation with him. his mother is living in california. his sister was able to join his mother because she was with a baby. this boy had been in this for profit detention facility for 44 days. why are we separating kids from their families? why are we holding them? why are we paying close to $2 million to a for profit detention facility and what we're seeing is a violation of regular u.s. and international laws at the border. >> do you think this president is significantly undermined the possibility that congress will

pass border funding before the fourth of july recess. the president said you have two weeks. two weeks have right now is a holiday weekend. >> yes, alex. i can tell you right now we're negotiating the supplemental bill that would provide funding to address this crisis but let's not forget who start this crisis. this reason we're seeing this inhumane condition is because of the directives of this president. we have been holding children in cages. we have been denying asylum requests. we have been deporting individuals back to their home country when they are fleeing violence and inhumane treatment in their own countries. i know in south florida we have been deporting venezuelans. we all know what's going on in venezuela. he's been campaigning on this issue. he continues to critic s ts to

individuals coming to the boarder and boarrder and we have to start paying better attention. >> let's talk about what you announced this week which is you are supporting an impeachment and you have a unique perspective because you were born in ecuador. i took an oath that i would deport -- you said i would support and defend the constitution. growing up in latin america i saw what happens when corrupt leaders disregards the rule of law. i understand you're all good to

hearing this. the turning point was when in. >> this was not an easy decision. i came to reduce health care costs, to work on the effects of climate change but as a judiciary member, i understood the heightened sense of duty to protect the constitution. i did the same when i took the oath of office. this past week having that interview with hope hicks where she was claiming immoo ining im there's no legal basis.

we have have a stronger hands in the court and continue to provide the american public with truth which is what we demand from this president. >> florida congresswoman, thank you so much for weighing in on both these important topics. >> thank you. what the president calls disgusting as he weighs his options for iran. that's next. weighs his options for iran that's next. the leading luxury suv of all time. lease the 2019 rx 350 for $399/month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. going back to the doctor just for a shot. with neulasta onpro... ...patients get their day back... ...to be with... ... family... ...or just to sleep in. strong chemo can put you at risk of serious infection. in a key study... ...neulasta reduced the risk of infection from 17%...

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john bolton is a hawk. if it's up to him, he would take on the whole world at one time. that doesn't matter because i want both sides. >> president trump there in an interview with chuck todd. the wall street journal reporting a different attitude. these people want to push us into war and it's so disgusting. we don't need anymore wars. with welcome to all of you, i want to start with you. should the president have a national security adviser that he disagrees with so strongly? is this a recipe for trouble? >> it can be. absolutely. it also has been reported by another congressman at the round

table. supposedly the president was listening to all the different opinions and all the the different sides to the possibilities of how they are going to react or not react to this situation. the president himself said that he likes to have both sides to listen to. with that being said i'm definitely on the opposite side of mr. bolton. i'm very happy with the way that the president has handled this. >> listening to both sides definitely a good thing but the president said in that clip that bolton's hawkishness doesn't matter because he wants to hear both sides. does that make sense to you in. >> it doesn't make sense to me but i'm not surprised because there's a lot of things about the trump administration that makes no sense to me. trump has shown time and time again that he does not listen to his cabinet officials. he does not listen to his advisers. >> why keep someone like john bollon who goes so the the hawk

extreme? >> maybe because there's such a brain drain over there at the white house. he's lot general mattis, some very middle of the road military officials. it could be he can't find anybody else to do the job. i'm not sure. we're not talking about having a dispute with a neighbor. we're talk about one of the most potentially dangerous situations we could be facing as a country which is the enrichment of you y -- uranium in iran. >> do you think democrats should take any comfort, considering the description that adrian just put out that the fact that the president is going in a different direction on iran than his own advisers proposed? >> i guess there's some solace that donald trump is to the left

of john bolton but overall the picture is ugly. the president has proven his word means nothing. he talks about he wanted to put this ridiculous tariff on mexico and he's talked about some other things he's threatened to do like this ice raid. the president has really painted the picture of himself as being someone who bluffs a lot which is not a good quality in having in the commander in chief. people around the world don't know what to believe. people in his own party, his own administration and the american people have no idea what's coming out of the white house. >> i want to get your reaction on the other side after we listen to it. >> is bill barr your -- >> i think he's a very talented. >> you said where is my roy cohn? >> i've had many lawyers.

bill barr -- >> is he cut from the same cloth? >> he's equally tough. he's a fine man. he's a fine man. the job he's done is incredible. he's brought sanity back. >> high praise there for the attorney general who oversaw the release of the mueller report. what do you think? >> it's him thanking bill barr for laying out the public case to counter all the evidence in the mueller report. what is interesting is i don't think the president actually understands what the attorney general is supposed to be. he keeps referring to the attorney general job as his lawyer. that's not his lawyer. that's america's lawyer. that's someone who is supposed to sit atop the department of justice and make decisions on a wide range of issues. the president continues to prove he has no idea what he's talking about as it relates to what an attorney general is supposed to do and what the real job of an attorney general is supposed to be. >> how do you interpret snit?

>> trump does not realize that the attorney general does not serve him. he's not the president's personal attorney. he's the attorney general of the united states. sessions, my god, had so many faults. i can't even start to name all the issues that he handled poorly as ag but i do think that donald trump didn't like and made it clear he didn't like the fact that sessions would go against the white house or was not always doing trump's bidding. now he has ag barr who clearly fooled the senate especially the handful of democrats who crossed over and voted for his confirmation. he fooled them into thinking i'll be attorney general for the united states and he's not. >> this comparison between roy cohn and the current attorney general of the united states, are republicans, given his reputation, are they comfortable with the two of them having some equivalence there in the president's mind? >> no. i don't think so.

roy had all kinds of problems that were found in the end as that's why he was disbarred. i don't hear republicans comparing the attorney general to roy. i think it was pretty clear from what i heard that the president was basically saying that the attorney general is a bulldog and he's doing a very good job. i view the attorney general as somebody who definitely is the attorney for the american public and not just for the president. i think he's doing a very good job at that. >> let's get to the president's line on immigration with the president trying to place some of the blame on his predecessor. take a listen to this. >> stories are horrible. you have children without their parents. you have kids taking care of kids. you've read these reports. i know people are coming to you. i know you think this is the democrats problem. forget. why aren't you doing something?

they are in terrible shape. down in homestead, florida. the conditions are terrible. >> i agree. >> do something. >> it's been that way for a long time. >> president obama built the cages. >> what's your reaction to that amy? i'll let you have the final word. >> it is sad. it's very unfortunate. i'm a mother of four. i find it to be reprehensible. however, the president has made it clear that it's up to congress to fund it properly and they are not doing that. they keep kicking the can down the road and they are not doing what needs to be done. next week we do know that both the house and the senate have roughly two different measures that will be coming to the floor with roughly $4 billion. there's no changes for asylum or immigration. i see this problem becoming even worse. >> i'm tired of republicans passing this off. this is a manufactured crisis that the president created. he created a situation where you have children as young as four months old being separated from

their parents at the border. this is his hooverville. this is his internment camp and his mess to clean up. >> agree. >> that will have to be the last word. thank you. coming up next, the segment every democratic presidential candidate should be watching. what they can do to stand out from the crowd. y can do to stan from the crowd woman: (on phone) discover. hi. do you have a travel card? yep. our miles card. earn unlimited 1.5 miles and we'll match it at the end of your first year. nice! i'm thinking about a scuba diving trip. woman: ooh! (gasp) or not. you okay? yeah, no, i'm good. earn miles. we'll match 'em at the end of your first year.

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it's a chance to put your heart and your spirit as well as your ideas before the american people. it's not -- i don't think you're going to see a bunch of fighting amongst us because we all in many ways agree with the same ambitions. this campaign is about bringing people in and together and making sure our democracy works for everyone. so i want to talk about that on that debate stage. >> i hope and i believe that that debate will be about our records and our ideas for the future of this country. >> 2020 presidential hopefuls getting ready for the first democratic primary debates. 20 candidates taking over the stage in two nights as they look to make their mark on voters. joining me, a veteran in debate preparations, robert barnett. robert has worked on eight

presidential campaigns focusing on helping those candidates prepare for the debates. you're very familiar with all this. can i ask you, what are the keys to standing out when there are ten people on a debate stage? >> you've got to come into the process with a strategy. i can't overemphasize the importance to spending the time necessary to figure out what your goals are. it's getting late because it's only a few days away. for some of these people that are unknown, completely unknown. they have to introduce themselves to the american public and particularly to the primary voters and caucus-goers. for some of these people, it will be an effort to knock out somebody who is in their lane because there are lanes in these debates and people will be looking at who is in their lane. for others, it will be shooting at the people on top, and for others and probably for many, it will be taking it to the president. so for each candidate there's a different strategy and you should spend a lot of time

getting ready on that. you also want to try to get your moments in. each candidate will probably only get nine or ten minutes, if that, to talk. you've got to find a way to go viral, if you will, to say something, to do something, to make a point that doesn't make you look silly, but that gets carried forth for the next few days and the coverage that will be seen by many more people than will be watching the debates. >> so many democrats running here. is there someone who in your mind has a distinct advantage on either of those two nights? >> anyone who tells you they can answer that question should be required to forfeit their pundit rely sense and incur a severe monetary penalty. nobody knows. everybody has different goals, everyone will get different questions. your mod raters i assume will challenge them, try to get back and forth going. i think if you look at the first night, the first night will by

definition get a big audience because it's obviously the opening salvo of the national televised circus that is to come. >> with regard to that, does that mean elizabeth warren on that night has the chance to really drive the conversation? she's the highest polling candidate on that debate or does she have to play a lot of defense? >> senator warren has an advantage in the sense that she's the only one of the top women candidates that night. but there's also the fact that there will be people trying to knock her off, and there's also the fact that because there's a second night, whatever is done not just by else but the others fon the first night may only carry forth for 24 hours whereas people on the second night will have the opportunity to carry forth with two, three days, as you and the others in the cable world continue to show those viral moments. >> with regard to joe biden, again, the front-runner taking center stage on night two, do you expect an unprecedented kind

of pack attacking him? >> there will be those, i'm sure, who have a strategy to go after him, but there will be very different debaters up there. you start with people who have wide experience in national and senate debates. you also have people who have never debated at all or have only debated in the congressional context. so these people i think have to be careful this early on about focusing on one person. we've got six months until the action really starts. we've got 16 months till the election. and right now i think it's more important, i believe, for most of these people to introduce themselves, show where they stand and not worry if there are going to be six more -- five more of these after this week. >> but not necessarily for everyone. do you believe there will be those eliminated after this week's two nights? >> i believe so. i think money will dry up, and you need money to run around.

i think that interest will wane if you don't do something to score. but there will probably be one or two people who do unexpected, hopefully impressive things that will get them a good bit of inflow of cash and the ability to hang on at least until the next one and thereafter. >> we're waiting for wednesday night and thursday night. robert barnett, thank you so much for your analysis. >> thank you. >> i remember you can wash the debate this wednesday and thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on msnbc. trouble in the city of brotherly love. dozens of philadelphia police officers are removed from the streets because of postings on social media. that's ahead. social media at's ahead y line of work, i come face-to-face with a lot of behinds. so i know there's a big need for new gas-x maximum strength. it relieves pressure, bloating and discomfort fast. so no one needs to know you've got gas. gas-x.

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top of the hour, so we're out of time on "weekends with alex witt." my colleague morgan bradford is ready to continue the coverage. >> hi there, alex. good afternoon. i'm morgan radford at msnbc world headquarters in new york city. an 11th hour delay. president trump calls off i.c.e. raids on sanctuary cities for now. >> everybody that came into the country illegally will be brought out of the country very legally. >> plus back and forth to the brink of war. president trump reverses plans to launch a military strike against iran, but he did approve an onlin