beat or more old school, email me @ari.msnbc.com. now stay tuned for "hardball" with chris matthews up next. showtime. let's play hard ball. "hardball." good evening. i'm chris matthews in washington. it's a big week for the 2020 democratic candidates, with just now two days to go until the first debate. and while some candidates are calculating how to stand out on a crowded stage, two front-runners are wishing they were getting less attention. mayor pete buttigieg spent part of the weekend back home in south bend where he faced criticism and anger in an emotional town hall following the shooting two weekends ago of a black man by a white police officer. >> get the people that are

racist off the streets. re-organize your department. you can do that by friday. >> well, after the town hall, buttigieg discussed his decision to return home from the campaign trail in south carolina. >> i just think it's my job. i don't know if it's smart or not. i don't know if it's strategic or not. but it's my city. >> in a statement today, buttigieg said "it was a tough conversation. hearts were broken. my heart is broken. it was a painful but needed conversation." meanwhile, front-runner joe biden is trying to shift his focus to immigration with an op-ed he wrote for the "miami herald" slamming president trump's policies at kwrl morally bankrupt". but biden faces lingering criticism over his remarks last week about the civility he knew in working with southern segregationist senators back in the '70s.

the former vp defended his comments on saturday in an interview with the reverend al sharpton. >> it hurts when you talk about "boy." >> i agree. >> it means something different to us. >> it does. >> it hurts when you call a racist -- like you normalize. that's not the biden i got to know. don't you understand that. >> no, i do fully understand that. that's no the what i said, though. they didn't print the whole deal, you know what i mean? the context of this was totally different. >> well, several other candidates capitalized on the days before the debate to make last-minute pitches to voters. senator bernie sanders rolled out his plan to cancel more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt. while former congressman beto o'rourke is outlining his plan for a war tax to car for veterans of any future u.s. military conflict. on "meet the press" president trump criticized joe biden by once again invoking his 2016 rival hillary clinton. >> they always say she was a lousy candidate. i actually think that hillary clinton was a great candidate. she was very smart. she was very tough.

she was ruthless and vicious. >> you'd rather run against her, though, wouldn't you? you've only talked about her in your announcement speech. you spent a lot of time talking about her. >> no, i would actually rather run against biden. i think that would be my presence. >> why? >> sleepy joe. he is sleepy. she was not sleepy. >> i'm joined by the former chairman of the house for the south carolina democratic party. there is an important post. michael steele, former rnc chairman and nbc news correspondent heidi przybyla. let's talk about these two guys taking a beating right now. buttigieg. jamie, tell me about that. i call you jamie. i haven't met you before. it's a nice name so i'll call you jamie. tell me about this buttigieg thing. is there some wall against him that was there before this incident of last -- or two weeks ago? >> well, chris, i think what pete is experiencing right now almost isn't personal. this is what we're seeing is the

frustration within the african-american community about a number of issues that have been plaguing the community for years. and people are just getting to the point where they're frustrated and they're saying enough is enough. and i think what we're seeing is pete just happens to be the person where they're getting a lot of that frustration out at this particular moment. but this is something that all of the candidates have to be very, very sensitive to. that folks are just very, very frustrated in the african-american community about the shootings, about the fact that their unemployment is always higher than everybody else's unemployment, that the systematic disadvantages that we see in the african-american community, and folks are just saying enough is enough. >> let me -- let me bottom line you. let's go all the way to the finish line here. do you think it's possible, plausible, good that the democratic party runs an all-white ticket next summer? president/vp, both white people.

>> listen, i believe, and i've said this from the very start that the ticket -- the next ticket has to be reflective of the diversity of the democratic party. >> ergo? >> ergo i see that either there is someone of color on the top of the ticket or on the bottom of the ticket, but i believe that there will be at least one ethnic minority, either as president or vice president. >> let me go to my friend michael -- no, i'm going to go -- i'm going over here. heidi -- you're a republican. >> i have a few thoughts on this. >> let's get to some straight reporting here. this thing about biden and this thing about buttigieg, both is about race. i do think, you know, i've always said race in this country is the san andreas fault. earthquake potential at any time and people trample on it at their very peril. you talk about race, you better be careful. >> i think there is a difference, though, between biden and between buttigieg. and what jaime said can be true, but it can also be true that

there is a bigger kind of structural problem here with buttigieg's campaign because, chris, i spoke with some of the african-american elders in the democratic party a month or two ago. and they told me, you know, we kind of ticked down the list of candidates, and on him they were very skeptical that because of his profile and because he hadn't really had a really strong base of support in the african-american community. >> yeah. >> within south bend. that he would ever ascend to actually, you know, get the nomination. and this has been there. it's been there. to your question. >> i keep thinking about, isn't it our turn is the mentality, i keep thinking, women. hillary may have had some problems. isn't it our turn still? we're more than half the party, i guess, numerically. african-americans are waiting their turn since 1865, you know, in terms of getting the democratic party, which is now the party of african-americans by choice of not putting somebody on the ticket like obama. >> you've elected a black president who was a democrat.

so that's a big box that's been checked in some respect. >> i gave it the office? >> i think the mindset for some whites out there is like, okay, we've been there, done that. not that we won't do that again, but i don't think they're looking at it the same way. this is -- this is what you're going to see play out. i think on two areas, race and sex, why when you look at who is lead the charge for democrats right now. it's not kamala harris or, you know, some other individual, right? it is a series of white men who are there. so there is this breakdown, i think, that's occurring within the democratic ranks and how rank and file democrats are looking at this race as not the same way -- >> i want to get back to jaime for a second because i think you were gutsy to say what you did. i'm asking because i keep doing this simple thing. i go, can you have an all-white ticket? no. can you have an all-male ticket? no. i don't think. so that means kamala harris is

joe biden's running mate. why do we go through all of this rigmarole. it's done. i'm kidding. isn't that the way it works out mathematically if you say those are the rules? only one was your rule. does there have to be a woman on the ticket? jaime? >> well, a number of the candidates, chris, have said that, you know, if they're elected the nominee -- a number of the male candidates, rather. >> yeah. >> put that caveat. have said that if they're the nominee they're going to select a woman to be a part of the ticket as well, and so, you know, that's part of all the -- all of the things that are factored in. but at the end of the day, hopefully what we have is a ticket that is well prepared to send -- to send donald trump home and i'm happy to help send lindsey graham home with him. >> tell me about -- meanwhile, for many of the candidates this debate is a chance for them to introduce themselves out of nowhere. let's face it, you get on

network broadcast television and this network and telemundo, millions of people, maybe 80% of the people watching altogether have never looked you in the face before. "the new york times" reports the debate is the only opportunity for some to stand out from the enormous throng of competitors. many of the 20 democrats who will debate have spent long hours holding their own debate simulations and rapid fire policy drills. in each debate the candidates could have as little as six or seven minutes of speaking time over two hours to put all that practice into work. heidi, this is a challenge, but i like the -- i'm going to say it at the end of the show. i like the fish fry rule that jim clyburn did last friday night. you got a minute or two here. get it done. it forces you to crystallize why you're there. >> it's going to be a divide between biden and pretty much everyone else. the second night it's going to be very interesting to see how bernie and biden interact. if there is any kind of stumble there for sanders, there are going to be other people like kamala harris who can step in and have that moment.

you cannot predict who that person is going to be. i mean -- >> would somebody take him on the way they've been taking on biden? it hasn't happened yet. take him on by name. sanders is wrong. >> i don't have an inside track on what sanders' campaign strategy is, but i can't imagine that there isn't, you know, some strategy there to try and draw a clear distinction there between the two of them. >> yeah. >> nobody on the left's done it. hickenlooper's done it for the moderate side. >> right. >> i've not seen anybody -- whereas he's taken a direct shot at warren, elizabeth warren, saying she's the corporate candidate. what? i don't think so. >> yeah, i think heidi's right on in terms of how this thing could personal play itself out. that biden/sanders is going to be the driver over both nights and they're next to each other. >> it doesn't matter what happens the first night because everybody is going to be focused on the second night in terms of that. you're right, there could be some bleed-in where someone could put themselves against

biden or sanders from the first night. that's the tension because if sanders faulters or biden faulters then that opened up the entire race. so that's not going to come -- >> the way reagan faltered in one of these debates where he looked too old to be president in his first debate against walter mondale. "the wall street journal" in their news pages said this guy may be losing it. >> right. that fight could open up the door. because you've got so much, so little space. i got to introduce myself. i got to lay out my policy. oh, then i got to decide if i'm going after biden or sanders. >> you have to answer the fricking questions. now, that would be nice. >> the philosophical divides in terms of biden's strain of moderation and his general philosophy that, by the way, got him in trouble by invoking the wrong names, but he was trying to make the point that you've got to work together. we still need 60 votes in the senate. you're going to see that challenged from a lot of the stage that is full of progressives that don't agree with that. >> let's talk to jaime about south carolina. we're used to this sort of white

people's primary system that has been going on for really too long. i can see your smile. i mean, we go to iowa. okay, i get it. we go to new hampshire with maybe 500 minority people up there. i don't know if that many. then you go to nevada, which is pretty diverse. i think nevada's first, right? >> south carolina and nevada, yeah. >> south carolina first. well, south carolina we get to the first one, people of color, 60%-something of the primary voters are african-american. because history and geography and all that. what does it mean? do you think the candidates will be anticipating south carolina long before they get there or what? jaime? >> they will, chris. and this is why south carolina is important and why i'm so proud of this state because it has now made its way into the upper echelon of the early states. it is because not only is there a significant african-american population in our primary, but we're the gateway for super tuesday. so, you know, if you win the south carolina primary where there is significant african-american population, you then go in a few days, you take

that momentum and go into super tuesday where there are six or seven other southern states that are in that primary with similar demographics. so this is an opportunity to fine-tune your message to see what works with younger african-americans and older african-americans. >> yeah. >> to make sure that you have a staff that is diverse that can go across -- across the country. and that is how hillary clinton won the nomination in '16. that is how barack obama won the nomination in 2008. south carolina is the linchpin, as it relates to the nomination for this party. >> but -- >> i got to ask you about one big question. how are you going to beat lindsey graham? >> i'm going to beat lindsey graham and i'm going to send him home because he no longer represents south carolina. this is a guy who cares more about golfing with the president than addressing the issues here in the state. i mean, we had rural hospitals that closed and then he comes up with a health care bill that he came up with in a barber shop with rick santorum. this guy is no longer the

serious maverick that he was when john mccain was alive. and it's really shameful. >> why does he wag his tail for the president? i'm serious. why does he seem to giggle in his delight with this guy? >> he wants to be relevant, chris. george will said it perfectly. lindsey graham is a political wind sock. he wants to be relevant. and we're going to let him be as relevant as he wants to be. he can continue to be donald trump's golf caddie down at mar-a-lago all the time that he wants. >> yeah. >> i'm going to give him a permanent retirement. that's why it's important for folks to go to jaimeharrison.com. >> it's hard to turn a windsock into a punching bag. it's hard to hit nothing. jaime, thank you so much. good luck with the race. jaime harrison running for the u.s. senate down in south carolina. michael steele, as always, heidi, as always. coming up, president trump announces hard-hitting sanctions against iran after calling off a

retaliatory strike last week. i'm so glad he called off the strike. we'll talk about the rest. is there a strategy here? is there a plan behind the president's maximum pressure campaign or is he just winging it day to day, hour to hour? plus, there were red flags about a lot of presidential appointments. we're looking at them right now but trump hired them any. leaked documents outlined what the transition team and president-elect trump knew about big jobs for candidates in the administration but hired them anyway. why were more swamp creatures allowed to enter the swamp? much more ahead tonight. stay with us. maria ramirez? hi. maria ramirez! mom! maria!

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about to sign will deny the supreme leader and the supreme leader's office and those closely affiliated with him and the office access to key financial resources and support. we will continue to increase pressure on tehran until the regime abandons its dangerous activities and its aspirations, including the pursuit of nuclear weapons. >> welcome back to "hardball." that was president trump today announcing -- actually reading what he called hard-hitting sanctions against several of iran's top leaders, including the supreme leader ayatollah khomeini. this comes after president trump called off a retaliatory strike against iran last week for the downing of that u.s. drone worth about $100 million, by the way, that vehicle. the president says the new sanctions are proportionate and a proportionate response to iran's recent actions, but warned u.s. restraint is limited. here he goes. >> i think a lot of restraint has been shown by us. a lot of restraint. and that doesn't mean we're going to show it in the future. >> well, this afternoon, the

u.n. security council met to discuss the escalating tensions between the u.s. and iran and the iranian ambassador to the u.n. said his country would not give in to u.s. threats. >> so, nobody is in a clear mind can accept to have a dialogue with somebody who is threatening you with more sanctions. so that -- as long as this threat is there, there is no way that iran and the u.s. can start a dialogue. >> well, in addition to sanctions, there are reports that the -- launched cyber attacks the same day that president trump cancelled the military strike. interesting. today, the president had this message for the supreme leader of iran. >> my only message is this. he has the potential to have a great country and quickly, very quickly, and i think they should do that, rather than going along this very destructive path. destructive for everybody. >> for more i'm joined by elise labbot, foreign affairs analyst

and jeffrey prescott. it's interesting. let me start with you -- it's interesting the president left him off the hook saying some regional commander, some general knocked down our drone. today he said any action taken by that government is the supreme leader. i'm blaming the top guy. why did he do that? >> well, i think that's a real challenge of the administration's approach. they've been looking to de-escalate but at the same time taking steps that seem to reescalate the situation. i think there are mixed messages coming out of this administration. whether you look at what the secretary of state has been saying, the national security adviser bolton has been saying, what the president has said just over the last couple of days. different messages of what we're seeking over these negotiations. >> elise, if you were on the other side, doing a little reporting from the other side. think about it, what signal are we sending to the people in tehran? we crushed the deal. we said no deal more. >> right. >> so here we're goingo lay

off nuclear development for five years. america won't take that? okay. we'll do something else. but what do they think we're up to? do they think trump is sane? >> i'm not sure, really. i think in one way the iranians are trying to wait president trump out. they don't know if he's going to get reelected. >> yeah. >> and meanwhile -- >> well, we don't know it either. >> we don't know. but they're trying to show with all of these action with the drone, with those tankers, with, you know, hitting saudi assets that there is a cost for what the u.s. is doing with all of these economic sanctions and it's kind of their two timelines are hitting up against each other. the u.s. is hoping that iran will capitulate and surrender and iran is saying we're not going to surrender, we're going to show you that there is a cost. but i don't think that the iranians aren't willing to negotiate at all. you heard one of the president rouhani's advisers. it didn't get a lot of play, but was saying if you want something a little bit more than this iran deal, then you have to show us something. they're looking for something a little bit like kim jong-un is

getting, and what really surprises me is they haven't started to play president trump like kim jong-un has. >> yeah. >> because president trump is showing a lot of leg for kim jong-un and he seems to be willing to show it for the iranians if they're willing to, you know, play the game. >> well, he's got a whole bunch of neocons floating around his administration that hates iran. netanyahu hates iran. i understand it. we all understand it. it's a pretty transparent situation. president trump is calling for maximum economic pressure on iran. the president has pursued that strategy with other countries and so far it hasn't proven very successful. let's be honest. as "new york times" columnist nicholas kristof points out trump tried maximum pressure with north korea and is continuing to produce nuclear weapons. with china we may be facing a trade war. venezuela, exacerbating hunger in the streets but leaving the dictatorship in place. the palestinians refusing to mote with u.s. officials. with iran we may be on the brink of war.

here's the question, does it ever work? tightening the screws, that's what he's doing. >> in the obama administration, we learned if you have a point to your sanctions, if you had allies together, you worked in concert toward an objective. the objective was getting iran to the table to get an agreement. that's the iran nuclear deal we got in 2015. so the problem is the trump administration has said we want to use maximum pressure and iran will buckle. that's not going to happen. they've said we want to get a better deal. no attempt to reach out and start diplomacy. >> yeah. >> they said that iran is going to take this pressure and they will stop messing around in the region. we've only seen escalations increase. so the approach that they have tried is just not working. >> i don't think iran won't buckle. i mean, they buckled for the obama administration because those sanctions really hit. but you also while they offered the stick, they also had a carrot. and so i think the iranians are looking for that carrot. and i think you're going to see the g20 leaders are going to be meeting and they're going to be discussing some way to have a,

you know, a way to de-escalate. i think ultimately president trump is pretty clear by saying, let's make iran great again, i think they're going to be a great country, i'll be their best friend. he's practically begging for the iranians to sit down with him. >> it makes sense if they were secular in their thinking over there and they weren't so, you know, crazy, the ayatollah, because iran's got the people, it's got the workforce, it's got the technology, it's a modern country with a -- they could become the great economic power of that whole region if they'd just stop screwing around and we'd leave them alone. netanyahu would still be mad at them but i think we'd leave them alone. i don't get it. i think there is a real opportunity there. in an op-ed, a former obama national security adviser susan rice writes following the mess of the cancelled military strike on iran, she sees an opening for president trump to restart the talks. the first step for the president, he needs to sideline his out of control national security adviser plus his hawkish sidekick, the secretary of state, john bolton and pompeo. why does he have these people in

this administration? it's the rhetoric -- rhetorical question. he said no more stupid wars and then he brings bolton in. pompeo seems to be getting as worse as bolton. they want war. >> what they've done is box him into a corner where he really doesn't have a good way out. i totally agree with ambassador rice. there is an opportunity here. there are two reasons i'm skeptical that the trump administration is going to take it. first -- >> sheldon adelson. >> the people around trump. that's exactly right. the second is to your earlier point, they have tried this approach over and over again. it's not actually delivering results on north korea, on venezuela and now on iran. >> well, he just put out the word as we speak that the president is saying he doesn't need congressional authorization to take military action against iran. isn't that nice? again, erratic. >> you know, listen, there are some advisers, obviously you have pompeo and bolton. i think pompeo is really doing it more because he wants to side -- he's thinking about his own political ambition. >> another lindsey graham. >> another lindsey graham. but john bolton i don't

necessarily think wants a deal. >> he doesn't care who the president is. he's john bolton. i'm going to say one thing. i'm going to make a little editorial. if trump had taken military action, i would have come down hard on him. i think it's good he hesitated. i think hesitating before you take military action and asking how many casualties there are going to be is a good question. the fact he found out it was see people -- we went into iraq, everybody said it was going to be quick and easy, a slam dunk. we may have killed between 150,000 and 1 million people, iraqis, they were just there, they weren't the bad guys. we only make that calculation now. i like the president asked up front how many people will die if we take this step? i think it's good and i'm glad he did it. >> i think it's pretty clear that he doesn't want a military escalation. there is some, you know, debate over when he asked or whatever. clearly he didn't want a military escalation. i think the question, though, is iran going to keep testing them?

the iranians are saying they'll put down another drone. are they iranians going to keep testing them? are -- is an american serviceman or someone, you know, got to get killed? and then president trump is going to find himself in the exact same space that he did last week, backing down or imposing military action. so i don't think we've seen the end of it. >> well, they're not completely crazy because after they held our hostages for a year, 50 of them -- >> they let them go, but john kerry had that channel to foreign minister zarif. now the administration is it talking about sanctions foreign minister zarif. >> they're not completely crazy. they didn't kill any of our hostages. i was working as a speech writer to president carter. it was horrible. it was humiliating. as a patriot, i hated it, but they did show restraint, which is interesting. we ought to think about that every once in awhile. we go to go to the rouhani people, secular people and try to move them again. thank you, elise labbot and jeffrey prescott. up next, president trump says his administration is doing a fantastic job dealing with

migrants down at the border. so why are authorities now removing hundreds of migrant children from a detention facility down in texas? following reports of inhuman conditions. wait until you hear what they're doing to these kids down here. that's coming up next. with new nicorette coated ice mint. layered with flavor... it's the first and only coated nicotine lozenge. for an amazing taste... ...that outlasts your craving. new nicorette ice mint. toujeo provides significant a1c reduction, and stable blood sugar control, around the clock. find your groove with toujeo. ♪ let's groove tonight. toujeo is used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. it contains 3 times as much insulin in 1 milliliter as standard insulin. don't use toujeo to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you're allergic to insulin. get medical help right away if you have a serious allergic reaction such as body rash, or trouble breathing. don't reuse needles, or share insulin pens.

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like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. eliquis, the number one cardiologist-prescribed blood thinner. ask your doctor if eliquis is what's next for you. welcome back to "hardball." nearly 300 children were moved

from a border facility in clint, texas today after public outcry of what lawyers describe to "the new york times" a chaotic scene of sickness and filth. lawyers say they lacked access to showers, soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, everything. they described children sleeping on the floor. flu and lice outbreaks and young children carrying for infants. some of the children had been there up to 27 days and although they crossed with family members, they're considered to be unaccompanied unless they cross with their biological parents or legal guardians. required to hold minors in facilities that are safe and sanitary, but last week a government lawyer argued basic toiletries and items like a blanket weren't necessarily required by law. let's watch. >> it's within everybody's common understanding that, you know, if you don't have a toothbrush, if you don't have soap, if you don't have a blanket, it's not safe and sanitary.

wouldn't everybody agree to that? do you agree to that? >> well, i think it's -- i think those are -- there's fair reason to find that those things may be part of safe and sanitary. >> not maybe. are a part. why do you say maybe? you mean there are circumstances when a person doesn't need to have a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap for days? >> well, i think in cbp custody, it's frequently intended to be much shorter term, so it may be for a shorter term stay in cbp custody that some of those things are not required. >> i'm joined by the chief advocacy officer at the refugee and immigrant center for education and legal services. thank you so much, erica. i guess what people need to do is get a picture of what it was like over the last several weeks in that situation these kids were in. very young kids. what grabbed me was kids 7 years old taking care of even younger kids. >> yeah, absolutely.

well, let me just start by saying that this is not a new situation. this is a situation that has been happening for many, many years, and i can tell you that, you know, these new facilities are popping up now where there are actual tents. people are really starting to see what's going on there. i can tell you mikes hagrants h been treated this way for a really long time under the control of the border patrol agents. we see a lot about toothpaste and toothbrushes, but it goes even beyond that. a lot of people we've been representing, you know, people sometimes don't have the ability to go to see a doctor. a lot of people -- there are children who have died because they have said i'm sick, i don't feel good, they get ignored. it's really a huge problem that has happened for awhile, and to me the most unbelievable part of this is that this is not a new crisis. every year there is a wave of migrant children who come either unaccompanied or with family members who get either

separated, you know, as you said before. so it's not new. the problem is that dhs and border patrol have never actually tried to make, you know, the problem go away by actually providing the right, you know, places for children to be at without being in the hands of border patrol in these places that are really cold and terrible or, you know, being in facilities where they can actually be treated as children. >> well, what grabbed me was the portrait of a kid standing on a toilet to try to get fresh air because the room was so crowded he had to get above the crowd of people around him jammed into this situation. >> that's right. >> to breathe. >> that's right. yes, and if people want to actually look up -- i mean, there's actually photos on social media and on the web of something called an ice box which is a border patrol processing center. literally tiny jail cells where they crowd tons and tons of people, but them in there with some foil blankets on them. they're super cold. that's the reason why they call them ice boxes, the migrants

when they come out they call them that. there are the dog kennels. the migrants also call them in many instances they get placed -- they literally looked like dog kennels that are also super cold and they don't have the ability to, again, access some of the most basic human needs whether they're children in adults. in many ways, children and adults get placed in a lot of these processing centers for many, many days. we have seen people who have actually died. >> yeah. >> so it is a crisis and it's not going to be solved with just saying that we need to either build a wall or, you know, it's not going to be solved with any more politics in d.c. it has to -- we have to have something change now. >> well, nbc news reports now that a different team of attorneys said they also encountered children in similar conditions when they visited the central processing center in ask allen, tex -- mcallen, texas this month.

what happened in the last 24 hours? apparently the heat is on, so to speak, the government recognizing this is very bad publicity, the kids not having any basic health products. you need a toothbrush to brother your teeth. they don't stay clean. they get lice. they get the flu. they have terrible digestive problems that come with being in a place like this. now all of a sudden overnight, 300 of these kids were moved. what's their new situation like? do you know? >> we don't know. we don't have access to a lot of these places where, you know, they're probably going to be moved. what i can tell you is that i wouldn't be surprised if it's the same or worse conditions. and, again, to me, this is the moment where congress needs to make sure that -- there has to be a solution right here, right now where these folks can actually have some of the most humane treatment that you can ask for. i mean, any american, any human being who needs something to sleep on, you know, can tell you, it just needs a mat and a toothbrush and medical attention. we can do that right now.

and in the long term we still have to be looking at, you know, why are people leaving central america? why are people leaving other countries and what are we doing to change the system in the long run? but for now, let's try to figure out how to best, you know, maybe sure the children are being taken care of in a humane way and making sure they're not under border patrol for more than 72 hours. they shouldn't be there for longer than that and they have been. >> okay. thank you so much, erika. by the way, i do want to know what the congress is doing. i think this is on the congress as welling as the president. up next, remember when candidate trump promised to hire only the best people and to drain the swamp and all that lobbying going on and deal cutting between the congress and the lobbyists and the regulators? well, now we've got leaked documents detailing his administration's shockingly dysfunctional approach to vetting prospective hires. the people who got through the wall here. so many swamp creatures brought in by trump. he said he'd keep them out. more after this. stay with us. snacking can mean that pieces get stuck under mike's denture.

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welcome back to "hardball." in the 2 1/2 years since his election, president trump has struggled to keep two of his core promises, to hire the best people, which he hasn't, and drain the swamp, which he hasn't. yesterday axios obtained 100 trump transition vetting documents which identified red flags for various candidates for big jobs in the administration. some of whom were later selected for his cabinet. according to the documents, a number of individuals were flagged for a range of issues. scott prosecuuitt, who resigned epa administrator was flagged for his cozy contacts with big energy companies. tom price, who was forced out as hhs secretary after spending $400,000 in taxpayer money for travel, was flagged for criticism of his management ability. mick mulvaney, the president's current acting chief of staff,

was flagged for his, i like this one, his criticism of trump for saying "stupid things." he's smarter than that. finally, rudy giuliani, the president's personal lawyer throughout the mueller investigation was so concerning to the transition team that they created a 25-page dossier, that's the word, dossier, exploring problems he had with his international business ties. it wasn't these individuals who gave the president any pause. it is someone else who trump is calling his biggest appointment regret. stay tuned after the break to find out who that -- well, that figure is. you're watching "hardball." "har. they really appreciate the military family and it really shows. with all that usaa offers why go with anybody else? we know their rates are good, we know that they're always going to take care of us. it was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. it was funny because when we would call another insurance company, hey would say "oh we can't beat usaa" we're the webber family. we're the tenney's we're the hayles, and we're usaa members for life. ♪

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welcome back to "hardball." in an interview on "meet the press" yesterday, chuck todd asked president trump about his biggest regret as president. let's listen. >> if you could have one do-over as president, what would it be? >> well, it would be personnel. >> who is it? >> i would say if i had one do-over, i would not have appointed jeff sessions to be attorney general. that would be my one -- >> that's -- in your mind that's your do-over? >> he does it with such cerebral consciousness. we all knew that was coming. i'm joined now by the white house reporter for "the wall street journal." timothy o'brien, bloomberg executive editor. you're laughing so you go first, tim. tell us the obvious. he has been blaming him for all

of this troubles ever since he made that appointment. because he recused himself. >> and jeff sessions was trying to do the right thing, chris. he was trying to comport with the rule of law and honor some of the specifics of his office. meanwhile, you had ryan zinke, tom price and scott pruitt running roughshod over the perks of their office, using taxpayer dollars to take private flights, get police escorts to restaurants, have staff pick up dry cleaning for them and trump isn't bothered by any of that. the person on his staff who sticks out to him as the worst decision is the person who actually tried to do his job ethically and with honor for public service. >> well, i agree with you completely. i'll go to vivian, though. why did he pick so many people with sleaze problems if he said he was going to get rid of sleaze? >> well, it's a vetting problem ultimately. this is something not just from the first year in office. he's talking about jeff sessions. we just saw this play out last

week with pat shanahan, the acting defense secretary, where all of a sudden all of these issues started to bubble -- >> he had personal family issues that go way back. >> personal family issues. >> well known. >> the president last tuesday told us -- the reporters at the white house that he had only found out about those issues the night before pat shanahan with drew himself. we asked him, is this a vetting problem? why are you just finding out now? he defending his administration's vetting. so it was very interesting to see him come out on "meet the press" and acknowledge that personnel was an issue and continues to be. >> well, former new jersey governor chris christie who was in charge of the transition before he was replaced by mike pence was asked to read his own file and respond to the leak. let's watch. >> and just to be clear, these are the suggested questions that the vetters wanted you to be asked by the president or rinse priebus. >> do you believe your previous position as u.s. attorney who prosecuted charles kushner has damaged your relationship with the kushners to the point where you and jared kushner could not

co-exist in the trump administration? do you believe that your removal as head of the trump transition team was orchestrated by jared kushner? yes, i do, and the reason i do is because that's what steve bannon told me. and by the way, the interesting part of this, which shows you how disorganized they were, was they had an entire vice presidential verdicting fitting, all of employ tmy tax returns, what makes this even funnier that they would go through this. >> tim, what struck me not just the swamp creatures that he brought back in, but mulvaney who expressed personal disdain for this president's behavior. is this some kind of weird psychological, he wanted people around him willing to bow down to him even if they didn't like him. the best slaves in the world. michael kinsly said phony flattery was the best because it showed you really were debasing yourself to get what you wanted from somebody. >> well, you know, trump has had

this myth going for a long time, chris, that the trump organization was populated by a-listers, and that, you know, within manhattan real estate circles he was regarded as a premier real estate developer. he was not. he was considered a carnival act by major real estate developers in new york and the trump organization was never seen as a magnet for top-tier talent. so trump actually had no experience in his past in terms of actually vetting a staff of size and making sure he was getting the kind of people he needed. and i don't think he had his hands on the wheel at all with this process. we know that, in fact, he didn't. he turned most of it over to jared kushner. >> wonderful. >> and of course kushner wasn't going to keep chris christie around. the larger issue is that jared kushner hasn't really earned his junior g-man badge yet either. a very naive, inexperienced young man running a process that requires a lot of experience.

>> now he's running our middle east policy. anyway, the leak of these documents come just a week after internal polling data was leaked showing president trump trailing joe biden by double digits in key states. a string of damaging leaks from reports that president trump called haiti and other african nations s-hole countries to leaks of private schedules showing the president spending 60% of his working day doing executive time, in other words, doing nothing. according to politico, his 2020 re-election campaign has grown so tired of the leaks they've implemented a no cell phone policy to keep from releasing possibly damaging information. vivian, i've never seen a more disloyal administration. there is somebody right inside there that keeps putting out hundreds of vetting documents. >> this is very troubling for president trump and for those closest to him. something -- we're talking about a man in his previous life as a businessman dictated all of his relationship through nondisclosure agreements. he was very, very much a

believer in confidentiality. and suddenly all of this internal workings are leaking out to the press. it's been something that has been very frustrating for him since day one. despite the fact that we had a number of chiefs of staff come in, john kelly was supposed to implement some sort of order at the white house and prevent these things from happening, it still continues even in now we're in the third wave of chief of staff, a number of staffers have come and gone. it's still going on. >> you know, i guess i'm so traditional that tim and vivian that i thought if you work for somebody, you wanted to work for them. i guess these people should be running podcasts somewhere. they'd rather be on the inside killing this guy. >> they keep asking people to leave if they don't believe in him. ultimately some people feel they need to reach out to the press sometimes. >> you can argue that -- >> i never try to explain the reason. >> i know that argument. it may well be true in some cases. this is a regular flow of dirt on the person you're supposedly working for. i don't know. it doesn't work for me. vivian, thank you. we feed off this.

i shouldn't be completely hypocritical. we love this stuff. keep it coming. anyway, the democratic presidential candidates make an impression this week, can they? here's a hint. keep it short. punch it out. headlines. do it quick. bite it off and walk off. people will be impressed. you're watching "hardball." let's be honest. safe drivers shouldnt have to pay as much for insurance... as not safe drivers! that's why esurance has drivesense.® the safer you drive, the more you save. although i'm not really driving right now that would be unsafe. when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless.

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it's an old rule of politics that it's harder to give a short speech than a long one. but tell a speaker that they only have a moment to speak and

he or she has to hit the heart of the message and get off the stage. south carolina congressman jim clyburn did just that on friday night at his annual fish try. with 21 democratic candidates dieing to speak, he told candidates to watch the clock. here's how some of them used their time. >> whomever the democratic nominee is, we have to stay together and elect a democrat president of the united states of america. >> we are the 99%. and 99% is a hell of a bigger number than 1%. >> imagine not just a woman having a seat at the table, but imagine a woman at the head of the table! >> i'm in this fight because i believe that the time for small ideas is over! we need big, structural change in this country! >> it's a fight for our future

and a vision of our future and a vision of our future of our america. >> this election is not about one person and one office, it is about who we are as a nation and who we must be to each other! >> again, keep it short and you make it clear who you really are. that's "hardball" for now. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in" -- >> the political debate hurt these children -- >> the president defending government treatment of migrant children that one doctor described as torture facilities. >> we're doing a fantastic job under the circumstances. >> tonight, why 300 children were just moved out of a texas border facility. >> flu, lice, children looking after children. >> and why things are likely about to get worse. then -- >> he was just doing a limited strike. >> oh, just a limited strike. oh, well, i'm sorry. >> how the president keeps provoking the war he says