welcome to "kasie dc." i'm kasie hunt. we're live every sunday from washington from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. eastern. tonight what a long, strange trip it's been. donald trump goes where no sitting president has gone before. but why his steps into north korea shouldn't overshadow the rest of what happened on his trip. plus, julian castro, kirsten gillibrand, kamala harris and michael bennet. i spoke with four presidential candidates after some breakout debate performances. and later, new reporting from ken vogel on where the money

went from trump's inauguration, as the president sizes up the field. but first a moment that quickly crossed into the surreal. president trump became the first sitting u.s. president to ever step foot in north korea. after sending invitation by tweet, he shook hands with kim jong-un at the dmz and then walked those few steps across the border. >> it's just a step. it might be an important step and it might not, but what we're doing today is a step and probably a step in the right direction. there's a good feeling, so it could be very good. >> of course, he didn't miss an opportunity to take a few jabs at president obama. >> president obama wanted to meet and chairman kim would not meet him. the obama administration was begging for a meeting. they were begging for meetings constantly and chairman kim would not meet with him.

and for some reason we have a certain chemistry or whatever. >> former obama staffers, of course, dispute that claim saying president obama never asked for a meeting with kim jong-un. joining me now, nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel who is live for us in seoul. richard, quite an historic day. >> it was, and people here are now digesting what happened. it was chaotic. this was thrown together in the last minute. a lot of security personnel who were involved said they never experienced anything like this. they didn't know what was going to happen until it actually happened. it is now morning in seoul and south korean government officials are quite encouraged saying that president trump's few steps into north korea are steps towards peace. president trump was first to arrive and walk slowly towards north korea, in the no man's land of the demilitarized zone

or dmz. still unclear if he was coming, kim jong-un then emerged, walking faster to catch up. the two leaders shook hands. president trump on south korean soil. kim jong-un in the north. president trump asked and was invited to cross. >> i asked him, i said would you like me to come across the line? he said i would be honored to do that. >> reporter: the first sitting american president to set foot on north korean soil. that president trump wanted to do this had been circulating for weeks but the logistics clearly only came together in the last minute. security and american and north korean television crews seemed confused, they got in each other's way. >> okay, okay. >> reporter: the president's new press secretary caught up in the scuffle and bruised according to the associated press.

but real history is often messy, mess yir still because it all came together 48 hours after an invitation from president trump over twitter. kim jong-un stepped over the line into south korea and the ritual was complete. >> a lot of friendships have been made and this has been in particular a great friendship. so i just want to thank you. >> reporter: the north korean leader, president trump, his advisers and family members went in for extended talks for almost an hour. the result, a shared goal to resume talks in the next few weeks and appoint negotiators. >> we're not looking for speed, we're looking to get it right. >> reporter: the president tweeting, stepping into north korea was a great honor. it's unclear where all of this will go. the two leaders do seem to have some chemistry. they're already talking about another meeting, floating even the idea of having a meeting and bringing kim jong-un to the white house.

but critics say even after the first three meetings there have not been any concrete steps to reduce the number of nuclear weapons north korea has and north korea's still finding ways to get around the sanctions. kasie? >> i never thought i would ever see a videotape like that. nbc's richard engel, thank you very much, sir. "the washington post's" david nakamura writes this about president trump's walk into north korea -- one small step for the 45th president, one giant boost for his television ratings. critics often accused the media-obsessed president to conduct diplomacy often twitter, the place where little rocket man and fire and fury were born. yet trump carefully cultivated elaborately staged moments strung together that viewed the president eager to play producer and director, calling the camera shots, hyping the drama and

building public expectations for a big reveal. the real drama played out on television,ing and the president played the starring role. it's grieat to have both of you on board tonight. al, your reflections as someone who's been a key observer and participant in u.s. policy for so many years of what unfolded today. >> kasie, i think this was high risk, photoop diplomacy that worked. i think you have to give president trump creddic fit for taking a risk. some wild twitter and background work the past two weeks but he could not have known until soon before this meeting it would actually work. the reason i think this should give him a credit is this opened a kway for tway for the most me

working level of dialogue about details of what denuclearization would mean since this process began at the singapore summit last year. we've been waiting for this kind of ability to get down to the details. clearly something was needed to an event that would then prepare a way. so i think we need to be very skeptical as this moves forward, is there anything real yet? but the fact that the working level dialogue is resuming now, that's a good thing. >> what do you think changed behind the scenes that allowed this to unfold? the last negotiating team did not seem to have met a very successful end. >> there had been signs people like me have been watching and have been curious about. the last summit meeting in hanoi in february was a disaster. kim jong-un made a proposal to spend all of the sanctions and i'll close part of major nuclear facility and president trump probably correctly said that's not enough.

the summit clapollapsed. it was very embarrassing for both sides but especially embarrassing for chairman kim. it's clear he went back to pyongyang and began firing people, working carefully about what he would need to do. by early may there were signs he decided to move forward. we had an exchange of letters between him and president trump. president trump talked about wonderful letters, my dear friend, unusual stuff. but something else happened since may when kim decided he need to find a way to the talks that had blown up. >> do you agree with this assessment here? >> i agree as far as this. i think it's important for our country to be in direct dialogue with those who we consider potential add vversaries and ar

national security risk. i think participating in a dialogue with north korea is an appropriate thing to do. i'm frankly concerned about how we're going about it. as david says, it could work but certainly without precedent. i know folks from the state department both republican, republican administrations who have told me that the lack of preparation for these highly significant meetings is without precedent and it's very difficult to accomplish anything without that kind of preparation and meetings beforehand with officials from both sides. so i don't, you know, frankly, i don't understand the wisdom of how we're going about this. it's great tv. and i also frankly think that the president needs to be more cautious about how he relates to this -- to this. most country leaders are watching what he says and what a

president says is important. the commentary from our president about him is raising a lot of eyebrows. >> there certainly has been a lot of skepticism in the press, something the president has expressed frustration about. take a look. >> they say this used to be very, very dangerous. after our first summit, all of the danger went away. much different place. when they say there's no differences but a tremendous difference. >> david, that seems to be an overstate of the situation. >> it's a huge overstatement. that's an example of the problem here. i think we should view everything donald trump does now in this period as being about politics. when you look at the iran crisis, this president knows eye war with iran will be the surest way for him to be defeated in 2020. he doesn't want a war with iran. he knows equipment if this north

korea diplomacy fall as part, he will look bad so he wants it to work. the idea of trashing barack obama, as if barack obama wasn't here, this never would have happened, that's unbecoming for a president, especially when he's achieving something this significant. >> and it's also false. >> and this statement about how all of the dangers disappeared, the problem is president's given up a lot to keep his diplomacy going. we have essentially reduced, almost stopped, our exercises with south korea. that worries a lot of our officials. a yellow flag of caution but still i think they ought to keep going. >> is there a risk of normalizing kim on the world stage, is that something that concerns you or does it fall under the category of it's great they're talking? >> if normalizing them means bringing them told the world of global economy, global

interaction, being responsible for global norms, i'm all for normizations. if we mean taking a ruthless dictator and giving him a pass, absolutely not. and that's the fine line. that's why the details of this negotiation will be critical. we need to move step by step to create a real pathway to denuclearization. >> david ignatius, thank you for your speculation. it's great to have you. now, some breaking new u.s. a plane crashed at a hangar in addison airport in texas. ten people are confirmed dead and there are no survivors. this according to the medical examiner on the scene. according to the director of communications of the town of addison, the plane was taking off when it crashed. the national transportation safety board said the aircraft is an king 350. what you are seeing now are photos of the airplane. the ntsb said they have taken over the investigation.

still ahead, i will have my comments with julian castro, kirsten gillibrand, and michael bennet talking about their choice to run for president. to. she's not a baker. she wears that apron to sell insurance. nobody knows why. she's the progressive insurance lady. they cover pets if your owner gets into a car accident. covers us with what? you got me. [ scoffs ] she's an insurance lady. and i suppose this baker sells insurance, too? progressive protects your pets like you do. you can see "the secret life of pets 2" only in theaters.

"the secret life of pets 2" no matter how much you clean, does your house still smell stuffy? that's because your home is filled with soft surfaces that trap odors and release them back into the room. so, try febreze fabric refresher. febreze finds odors trapped in fabrics and cleans them away as it dries. use febreze every time you tidy up

to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. fabric refresher even works for clothes you want to wear another day. make febreze part of your clean routine for whole home freshness. we like drip coffee, layovers- -and waiting on hold. what we don't like is relying on fancy technology for help. snail mail! we were invited to a y2k party... uh, didn't that happen, like, 20 years ago? oh, look, karolyn, we've got a mathematician on our hands!

check it out! now you can schedule a callback or reschedule an appointment, even on nights and weekends. today's xfinity service. simple. easy. awesome. i'd rather not. following thursday night's democratic debate in miami, one thing seems pretty clear, a lot more americans now know the name kamala harris. harris' surgical attack on joe biden and her impassioned

language surrounding race earned her widespread praise as well as a $2 million fund-raising haul. it comes as harris '2020 rivals are now jumping to her defense after zdonald trump jr. shared and then deleted a tweet questioning kamala harris' identity. a number of democrats condemned at tack writing, the same forces that fostered birtherism to barack obama are now being used against kamala harris are disgusting. we have to call it out as we see it. racism has no place in america. cory booker was more in sync writing -- kamala harris doesn't have any -- blank, i will let you fill that in -- to prove. joining me msnbc contributor jean-pierre, host of the npr

politics tamara keith and we welcome back former chairman of the florida republican party, al cardenas. welcome to all of you. corinne, i want to start with you. first, i found it noteworthy donald trump jr. deleted this tweet, just because the trump family in general is not very known for walking back or owning up to mistakes. so i think that clearly sends a message they knew this was going to become a problem. 1 but how do you see this dynamic? clearly the democratic field is jumping to her defense but these ugly politics like with barack obama is still there. >> yes, it is scary. i remember birtherism and being on the re-election campaign for obama in chicago and having to watch president obama having to present his long form birth certificate, which was incredibly painful for so many

of us. but i want to first say -- i want to congratulate all of the candidates for coming out and having her back. it shows unity in the democratic party. there's one more thing i need to say here, we have to ask what are the tech companies going to do? these are bought, a lot of them are spreading misinformation and lies. we saw this in 2016. are we going to relive this for 2020? also we know russia was involved and possibly because the trump administration doesn't seem all that interested in stopping what russia did, and going after our democracy, right, after our elections, we could have other countries getting involved as well. that's a concern. >> just for our viewers who are maybe following this minute to minute, this came from a republican strategist and his exact language, which donald trump jr. retweeted, the original language was copied and pasted to all of these accounts, many of which seem to be suspect. al, as somebody who is kind

of -- you're still a republican but you're on the outside of the current trump republican party. >> right. >> how can we fight back against this? >> yeah, you know, first to comment on this, both sides, democrats and republicans, have gifts that keep on giving to the other side and trump's siblings seem to be at the very top of that list. that happens to be a fact. listen, look, i'm part hispanic, part lebanese. any comment about your origins in a way that is negative is renr repug innocent. repugnant to who kwwe are in america. if you have not looked at demographics, you're blind. and i believe there should be zero tolerance regarding any commentary about a person's origins. the kamala harris commentary was particularly offensive to me because i feel it in my own

skin. >> the reason why this is so potentially problematic is that intentionally it is raising two -- and trying to undercut her support in two separate but almost counter veiling places. on the one hand suggesting she's not black enough and that's an effort to undermine support from black voters or liberals and on the other hand suggesting she's not american enough, an effort to undermine her support with conservative folks with an anti-immigration sentiment. >> sure. "the new york times" reports while president trump seems comfortable with the prospect of taking on joe biden, bernie sanders or elizabeth warren ntsb general election, he's been, quote, less surefooted how he would take on senator kamala harris if she were to be his rival. and after her breakout performance on thursday night, trump aids acknowledged miss harris, a black former prosecutor from california can prove to be a vexing adversary.

here's what the president had to say about harris' debate performance yesterday in japan. >> i think she was given too much credit for what she did, wasn't that outstanding and probably he was hitting harder than he should have been hit, biden. >> do you think kamala harris will be a tough opponent for you given what you saw in that debate? >> you never know who's going to be tough. you never know. one you think is going to be tough turns out to be not much. >> so tamara, he didn't trash her, which is typically his m.o. when he has a rival, first of all. but how do you fight if you're the president? this episode where junior has to delete the tweet suggests they don't have a strategy or quite know how to handle this. >> he's still trying to figure her out clearly. the president hasn't tweeted about her. he doesn't have a nickname for her yet. on the other hand, he has nicknames for elizabeth warren and vice president biden and bernie sanders.

now someone on his campaign who i talked to today insists the reason for that is simply because she wasn't on the radar yet. she wasn't enough of a front-runner. now that she is a front-runner, they'll come up with something. >> uh-huh. >> but -- i think she does present unique challenges for the president. and what the campaign would say is, though, it doesn't matter. she raised her hand a couple of times on that stage. she raised her hand saying that health care could be provided to undocumented immigrants. she raised her hand about private health plans. >> she later walked that back but i do take your point. >> which highlights the problem he might have if he tries to frame her too liberal. she's grappling back and forth on these litmus tests in the democratic party. >> i will say that challenged her all along. the gender dynamics at the 2020 presidential race were on full

display as we were discussing the record number of female candidates on the debate stage. surely we've seen trail blazing women run before like geraldine carter and hillary clinton. but tonight three women were featured each night and the contrasts were definitely more than visual. >> i'm the only candidate here passing a law to protect a woman's right for health insurance. >> i will say there are three women up here who fought hard for the woman's right to choose. >> kirsten gillibrand, who worked hard to get in on a crowded debate stage. what was your policy to stand out afong ten candidates? >> my philosophy was to speak out to the voters why i'm running and why i would be the best president. and i got to share my vision

particularly to women, about the moment president trump has on the country, an all-out assault trying to overturn roe v. wade. >> there were several points there was a lot of shouting over each other. i as a woman am used to getting interrupted a lot. how did you think about handling that dynamic? >> i think it showed i can stand up to trump on a debate stage. i'm not nothing gob bullied, i'm not going to be pushed around. i will be heard. i was able to contribute in a lot of the exchanges and i thought it was an exciting opportunity to share things i feel are important for this country to talk about. >> what is your strategy going forward? the debate driercriteria will g tougher. this is a field with very talented people. you're polling and fund-raising i know, you're focused on those. but how do you not lose the

threshold in the fall? >> i think liemding the debate on many issues. i went to the front lines in georgia to fight for will's rights and candidates followed me. they followed me on naming only judges and justices that have zero precedent on repealing hyde and getting access in all 50 states. i have been leading the fight for money out of politics and political corruption with clean publicly funded elections. i have been leading the debate on national paid leave, bringing a lot of candidates to share my vision why this is an important right we need for families everywhere to be there for loved ones when they're needed. so i feel very proud in the campaign because we are leading the debate on so many issues and i believe my campaign will continue to grow, and with your viewers at kyrstingillibrand.com supporting me, i will get there. >> you had two sep ten againian

men as front-runners and you focused on women rights. do you think, particularly joe biden, who reversed themselves on the hyde amendment they're the right personal to lead the democratic party or don't they get it? >> i don't think they get it, which is the point i made last night. i think it's mind boggling in 2019 on a debate stage for president we are still debating whether women should have access to reproductive freedom. i tried to be frank with the american voters, negotiations are done every day behind closed doors and when those doors close, women's reproductive freedom is the fist thing to go out the window. it's actually how we got the hyde amendment. leaders of both parties have been compromising on women's health for decades. this complicates women having access to abortion services and why i have to fight so hard during aca. i don't know if you remember, but there was a moment where compromises were being accepted

on access to contraception and abortion. me and other women stepped up and said this will not happen. we will crater this bill if you make a compromise on the back of women. i asked everybody after we beat donald trump and mitch mcconnell walks into the oval office to make a deal, who do you want sitting there, who do you want fighting for women after the door closes? as president i will never sell women's rights down the river for anybody and i will be a force they can lean on it. >> i think you know kirsten gillibrand worked really hard to stake out and focus on issues that were very important to women. there was a way we saw in 2018 curry in women candidates and she's trying to make that her niche. i want to expand on that because we saw this headline from politico about kamala harris and it says, her ambition got it wrong about joe, harris faces

debate backlash. this is apparently a quote from carol moseley-braun, who is the african-american senator, supporter of joe biden. corinne, how many things are wrong with this headline? >> how many things are wrong? it's so funny it happened during the -- i guess the break. we're showing gillibrand and someone texted that to me and it's problematic. it's not the way we should be doing this. as you were stating going into the gillibrand conversation, it was an historic night. it was a night of diversity. we had six women for both nights. i mean, we have never seen anything like that. they brought specific views into the conversation, like we saw with gillibrand, speaking on the front line about women's right to choose. not only that a latin man talking in a very passionate way

about immigration. we had a gay american, i'm sorry, gay guy -- >> the mayor. >> the mayor, the point i'm making, he casually mentioned his husband. we had an african-american woman take on joe biden. >> but the bottom line is -- >> the stalwart -- let me just finish. >> 50i7i'm sorry, i'm sorry. >> i know i'm going on. i'm trying to make a point which is diversity, we should be celebratesing that, saying her ambition is problematic, it goes back to 2016 and we cannot be doing this going into 2020. >> i want to underscore the word ambition. i have never heard it used as a negative with a male politician. let me just tell you women hear it when they use it about them in this kind of a way. when we come back, i will talk to julian castro about his breakout performance and what he and his twin brother joaquin always get asked.

>> you made it. >> you have to tell people the real way to tell us apart. >> he always dresses like [ bleep ]. >> with wrinkles in shiz shirt. with wrinkles in his shirt. ♪ [ laughter throughout ] it's funny what happens when people get together. we're there. so you can be too. holiday inn. holiday inn express.

♪ mmm, exactly!ug liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. nice! but uh, what's up with your partner? oh! we just spend all day telling everyone how we customize car insurance because no two people are alike, so... limu gets a little confused when he sees another bird that looks exactly like him. ya... he'll figure it out. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

so chantix can help you quit slow turkey.rkey. along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. with chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting. chantix reduces the urge so when the day arrives, you'll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. stop chantix and get help right away if you have changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions, seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking, or life-threatening allergic and skin reactions. decrease alcohol use. use caution driving or operating machinery. tell your doctor if you've had mental health problems. the most common side effect is nausea. quit smoking slow turkey. talk to your doctor about chantix.

today, life-changing technology from abbott is helping hunt them down at their source. because the faster we can identify new viruses, the faster we can get to stopping them. the most personal technology, is technology with the power to change your life. life. to the fullest.

clearing what you see here today in clint, in this detention facility, is a symptom of this administration's decision to criminalize desperation. >> that was presidential candidate julian castro yesterday outside the border patrol station in clint, texas, making a similar argument to the one he delivered on the first democratic debate stage on wednesday night in miami. as the former hud secretary is enjoying a slew of headlines following his breakout performance, he's also enjoying an influx of cash announcing 16,000 new donors in 24 hours. i caught up with secretary castro the morning after that first debate in miami and encountered a candidate with an undeniable spring in his step.

you had what has been described as a breakout performance in the debate. how do you feel about how you performed on that stage and what it means for your campaign going forward? >> i feel great. i felt like i did a great job. i have gotten a lot of fantastic feed this is back and i think i came out very strong. the number one thing people ask me out there on the campaign trail when it comes to why should i vote for you, how are you going to beat donald trump? can you stand up to donald trump? what they saw in that debate is i could hold my own. coy stand up to donald truand i donald trump. >> we've spoken several times during interviews and you have obviously been out on the trail. yet this took this to kind of break through. was it hard to put one foot in front of another when the polls showed how far behind you are were and how to break out on say stage like this? >> i would lie if i said it

hadn't been hard when polls had me at 1%. what in the world is going on here? sure, it's frustrating. at the same time i had to work hard my whole life from where i came from to get where i am today. i said the whole time i don't want to be a flash in the pan candidate. i wanted to build campaign that got stronger and stronger. >> let's look at some of the policy you addressed on stage, most knowingly immigration. you and beto o'rouke got into an extensive back and forth. you seemed to be trying to one-up him on immigration policy. >> the reason they're separating these little children from their family is they're using section 1325 of that act, which criminalizes coming across the border to incarcerate the parents and then separate them. some of us on this stage have called to end that section, to terminate it. some, like congressman o'rourke, have not. >> why is it that happened? was it your personal history

with beto o'rouke that the two of you are standing toe to toe on that issue? >> it wasn't anything personal. it's all about policy. i supported congressman o'rourke when he ran against senator cruz p. both my brother joaquin and i are friendly with beto. however, what i do take seriously is that if we're going to end family separations, the only way to guarantee that we will never see these kind of cruel separations again is to repeal section 1325 of the immigration and nationality act. but for some reason beto has said that he doesn't want to do that, that he would still criminalize a lot of these people who are coming over. >> and this is a section of the law, for people who are not as familiar with it as you are, this is the section that criminalizes the act of crossing the border illegally? >> it criminalizes the act of crossing the border. this was a law that put e was put into place in 1929 by a

segregationist, by the way. but from 1929 until about 2004, it actually -- even though it was on the books as a crime -- it was mostly enforced as a civil violation. >> which means you went to hide on immigration. >> meaning there's no consequence then? no, that's not what we are saying. people still have a court proceeding. they're still going to have their day in court in terms of whether they will be deported or not. they still have to show up in court. it's just not a misdemeanor -- it wouldn't be a misdemeanor the way it is now. so that means that parents would not be separated from their children. >> so critics of your proposal and those concerned about beating donald trump in a general election might say back to you, you know, donald trump wanted to fight this fight on immigration issues. he wanted to talk about building

a wall. he wanted to essentially stoke those divisions to get his base out to the polls and it looks as though that strategy is going to be one he's going to deploy again in 2020. so does your proposal to decriminalize crossing the border if you're not supposed to potentially give him too much of an opening? >> oh, i don't think so. the worse mistake we can make is to squirm and fear what donald trump is doing on the issue of immigration. what i've done instead is go right back at him and present a completely different vision of what we can do to fix our broken immigration system. one that maintains border security. nobody's talking about open boarders. it maintains border security. but instead of treating people with cruelty, it says we can be smarter, more effective and more humane. there's a better way to do this and that's the plan laid out. >> so you said you're practicing

her spanish. how do you explain to people why you're standing on stage with people who speaks spanish, cory booker clearly demonstrated he spoke spanish. you didn't grow up knowing spanish. why did that happen in your life? for people who don't understand why somebody of latino heritage might not. >> well, i guess the best way to start is to say there are a lot of latinos who lived here for generations. my grandmother i grew up with got here almost 20 years ago in 1922. in my grandparents' time and mom's time, spanish was looked down upon. you were punished in school if you spoke spanish. you were not allowed to speak it. people i think internalized this oppression about it, and basically wanted their kids to first be able to speak english. and i think that in my family, like a lot of other families, the residue of that, the impact of that is there are many folks

whose spanish is not that great. but today my daughter goes to a bilingual program and she go there's with people of different back rounds. in other words, speaking a second language whether it's spanish or another language is celebrated today as something that we should admire and something that will help you maybe get -- get paid more at your job and is useful. that also is a sign of progress. i'm proud to live in a country where we've made that kind of progress in just a generation or two. >> do you think joe biden had his day? does the democratic party need a fresher face? >> the voters will have to decide that. when i get out there in iowa and new hampshire and other places, i do believe there's a lot of support for idea we need a new generation of leadership. i think it's fair to look at somebody's experience because that counts. i think it's fair to experience

somebody's age. but i don't think somebody's numeric age or their experience is the most important factor. the most important thing is somebody's judgment. that's what i tried to demonstrate yesterday. and that's what the person becomes, who becomes the nominee, i believe that will be me, that's what you have to dmoon straig demonstrate and that's where donald trump has failed. >> if it becomes clear that somebody else is going to be nominated at the democratic convention, would you leave the race ahead of the convention? >> that's likely but i don't want to kind of -- i don't want to think about that scenario because i'm focused on winning the nomination. and i believe that by february 3rd, 2020 when iowa caucuses, that i can become a front-runner, that we're going to get stronger and stronger and then have success in new hampshire, nevada, my home state of texas, california, south carolina. i'm focused on trying to win

this race. >> my thanks to secretary castro for that interview. in the 8:00 hour i speak with senator kamala harris. much more "kasie dc" coming up next. and ken vogel's reporting on the trump inauguration. augurationban for strength and energy! whoo-hoo! great-tasting ensure. with nine grams of protein and twenty-six vitamins and minerals. ensure, for strength and energy. an...depend® silhouette™ briefs feature maximum absorbency, with trusted protection for all out confidence... beautiful colors and an improved fit for a sleek design and personal style. life's better when you're in it. be there with depend®. at panera, our salads with peak-season berries... creamy avocado... and a dressing fit for a goddess. come taste what a salad should be. and order online for delivery right to you. panera. food as it should be.

book two, separate qualifying stays at choicehotels.com... ...and earn a $50 gift card. because when your business is rewarding yourself... ...our business is you. book direct at choicehotels.com and i...was... take shocked.test. right away, called my mom, called my sisters. i'm from cameroon, congo, and...the bantu people. i had ivory coast, and ghana...togo. i was grateful...

i just felt more connected...to who i am. new features. greater details. richer stories. get your dna kit today at ancestry.com. (driver) relax, it's just a bug. that's not a bug, that's not a bug! (burke) hit and drone. seen it, covered it. at farmers, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

photographs of the inaugural proceedings were intentionally framed in a way, in one particular tweet, to minimize the enormous support that it gathered on the national mall. this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration period. that's what you guys should be writing and covering. >> former press secretary sean spicer made his debut behind the briefing room podium by falsely exaggerating president trump's inauguration crowd size and berating reporters for accurately calling it out. while the trump inauguration did not make history with its attendance, it did shatter one record, it was the most expensive in our nation's history, raising more than twice

as many as president obama's inaugural committee did in 2009. it's also the subject of three federal investigations, two state investigations and two congressional investigations and all of those probes might have been avoided had trump's inaugural committee just taken steve bannon's advice. >> i had made an argument we should take $1 less than obama and we should not even have the lunch. do the inauguration, not have any big parties or anything like that, very bare bones. the country is in a crisis. this is why i'm president. i'm here to do something very different then had been done before. other people had other ideas and my idea didn't win. >> so ken vogel is here with us. he's one of the reporters featured in weekly, the show just saw a clip from. this a collaborative work with you and your colleagues at "the new york times." ken, you've done a lot of reporting on this inaugural committee.

where in your view is this all going, all of these investigations? what have you learned? what do you think is the most kind of important piece that could come back to haunt the trump administration? >> in many ways the inauguration is still important not just because of these pending investigations but because it was the first time where we really saw in stark release some of the theme that's have proven so difficult for this administration and raised so many questions for this administration, including the influence of foreigners and foreign money. also the spending of money and sort of the blurring of the line between the trump administration, or in this case incoming administration, and trump family business. one of the things we were able to do for this tv show "the weekly" is look at the receipts, the invoices of the inaugural committee and we found of the $170 million of the money spent, a third of it was spent on five vendors that had connections to the trump family or their allies and associates, including the trump hotel here in washington,

d.c., which had $1.5 million spent there, despite the fact there were not a whole lot of events there related to the inaugural. >> the to prevent for example hope hicks talking about any of her time during this period. >> right, the president's lawyers would like to not have this fully explored by congress. one thing, i don't know if you found the answer but this was the most expensive inauguration and yet, there were fewer events. there was less that we saw. so where did the money go? >> well, some of the events were quite lavish. there were a number of events just for vips and major donors and just to take one example, there was a candle light dinner they held at union station in the grand foyer of union nation and had seat cushions on every

seat that cost $65 each. they spent $130,000 for that event on tiffany commemorative crystal bowls. just for that event. so you can see the -- you can see sort of some of the -- >> tiffany commemorative crystal bowls? >> i'm not sure the precise numbers. there were gift bags given out to the attendees. >> i raised a lot of money for these inaugurals and it's simple. activists love it. it's an event for a lifetime and for most high-end people that are spoiled, they come back home disappointed. they thought they would have tea with the president and his wife. >> perhaps get a tiffany crystal bowl, which is not a normal way of doing things. "the weekly" area tonight at 10:00 and available tomorrow on hulu. ken vogel, thank you, tamera keith and al, thank you-all, as well. i'm going to be joined in my next hour by sam stein and

michael steele. more "kasie d.c." coming up in just a moment. d.c." coming up in just a moment. , that's my job. what? what?? what?! (laughing) what?? what?! what?! [crash] what?! haha, it happens. and if you've got cut-rate car insurance, paying for this could feel like getting robbed twice. so get allstate... and be better protected from mayhem... like me. ♪ when crabe stronger...strong, 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.

book two, separate qualifying stays at choicehotels.com... ...and earn a $50 gift card. because when your business is rewarding yourself... ...our business is you. book direct at choicehotels.com

♪ corey is living with metastatic breast cancer, which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. she's also taking ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+ / her2- metastatic breast cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus letrozole. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection,

liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. corey calls it her new normal because a lot has changed, but a lot hasn't. ask your doctor about ibrance. the #1 prescribed fda-approved oral combination treatment for hr+/her2- mbc. if you make it to the white house, will you have pets. >> for sure. dogs. >> i would, yeah.

my daughter is 10 and my son is 4. it would be time for a dog. >> we have a dog named maple. she's beautiful. maple is the most fun. >> we would. i think the girls would disown me if pepper didn't make it to the white house. >> pepper is a dog? >> dog. >> and captain flint is our cat. >> i personally would like to see a photo of maple watching "" "kasie d.c." a potential preview of the next sox or milli or beau, him and her. reminder to join us on twitter and instagram at "kasie dc" and share your photos of your dogs watching our show #dogs watching kasiedc. still to come, my conversation with michael bennett as he seeks to contrast joe biden and bernie sanders and i talked to senator kamala harris why she chose this moment to go on attack with the former vice president. plus, biden campaign co-chair

joins me live to talk about whether they will respond in kind. "kasie dc" back after this. "kasie dc" back after this i've been diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration, which could lead to vision loss. so today i made a plan with my doctor, which includes preservision. because it's my vision, my morning walk, my sunday drive, my grandson's beautiful face. only preservision areds 2 contains the exact nutrient formula recommended by the national eye institute to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. because it's my sunset,

it's how i see my life. it's my vision. preservision with three extrairst absorb channels.r they stay up to three times drier so babies can sleep soundly all night pampers what do all these people have in common, limu?oug [ paper rustling ] exactly, nothing. they're completely different people, that's why they need customized car insurance from liberty mutual. they'll only pay for what they need! [ gargling ] [ coins hitting the desk ] yes, and they could save a ton. you've done it again, limu. only pay for what you need.

♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

president trump's visit at the dmz. >> president trump was the first sitting president to set foot in north korea. >> did it strengthen or weaken the position? >> this country is no safer when it comes to north korea. >> you can't look at this as

going to the dictator next door and bringing a hot dish over the fence. >> a negotiated solution is the on solution. >> you don't have to say positive things about brutal dictato dictators. >> he's telling the world he saved the world when in fact, he saved things from himself. >> after the first round of highly anticipated presidential debates. >> this nomination battle is wide open. >> voters saw we have a deep bench. >> the front runner joe biden got dinged. >> senator harris moved the bar. >> one thing about camilkamala s harris, she's got game. >> the record of the candidates going is relevant. >> whoever the next president will be needs to be someone who can talk openly and honestly about race with vulnerability. >> the narrative is that maybe it's not his time and that he's not up to the task. >> the vice president to me is not doing a good job at bringing folks together. >> i think he will under estimate joe biden at your own paro parol. >> welcome back. we begin the second hour of

"kasie dc" with a question. can television change minds of voters. sen to camilkamala harris likel reinvigorated her campaign with a massive infusion of cash with donors and interest online and we got more questions, as well. will joe biden support change in a meaningful way? will the former vice president run on his record or away from it? after moments like this one. >> i did not oppose bussing in america. what i opposed is bussing ordered by the department of education. that's what i opposed. i did not oppose -- >> there was a failure of states to integrate public schools in america. i was part of the second class to integrate berkeley, california public schools almost two decades after brown v board of education. >> because your city counsel made that decision. >> so that's where the federal government must step in. that's why we have the voting rights act and the civil rights

act. that's why we need to pass the equality act. that's why we need to pass the era because there are moments in history where states fail to preserve the civil rights of all people. >> i have supported the era from the very beginning. i'm the guy that extended the voting rights act for 25 years. we got to the place where we got 98 out of 98 votes in the united states senate doing it. i've also argued strongly we in fact deal with the notion of denying people access to the ballot box. i agree that everybody once they -- anyway, my time is up. i'm sorry. >> i asked senator harris about those contentious moments with biden right after the debate. >> you had such a moment with joe biden on stage talking about your personal experience and how you were that little girl. walk us through how you thought about that moment, how you prepared for that moment. clearly you were ready for it.

when did you decide that's what you were going to do? >> i mean, i have to be obviously candid with you. from the moment that i heard his comments about the segregationists, it was troubling and it was hurtful and it was, you know, i think that also part of my feeling about it was to hear those words from someone i respect in a way that kind of, that suggest a bit of nastalga about who they are. they werwere segregationest. they built their career and reputations on it. on the issue of bussing, obviously, that is personal to me.

i remember getting on that yellow bus. you know, and so many of us do and interestingly enough, since i've talked about it, people who i don't know have reached out. they also, you know, especially in the '70s all across the country. all across our country people were bussed. pe people just like me. i just felt the need to talk about it in a way that was not about, not only in the context of just some academic discussion about who do you work with and, you know, but also just let's be really clear and remember what these guys were about. and the impact of their words and their work. and so i felt the need to -- i felt the need that -- to make sure that everyone was remembering or had thought about the real impact. >> do you think joe biden is out of touch? >> i don't -- no, not

necessarily. i don't think that necessary. i think he and i have a difference of opinion about the significance of who those people were and our perspective on perhaps how we think of them in terms of their reputation. >> the other place you took on the vice president was immigration and one of the last times you and i spoke, we were outside the detention center when this crisis was beginning to unfold. >> that's right. >> you said that you thought the obama administration was potentially out of step on some of these immigration policies that you as the attorney general of california made some different decisions than administration. do you think joe biden understands what has changed since then or not? >> i think the voter wills have to decide. i'll tell you where i am on it. i do not condone or support any policy that is about picking up,

arresting and detaining undocumented immigrants and that is where i disagreed with that policy of the administration. i could also argue that it was an unintended consequence of their policy but the fact remains that was a consequence of their policy, which is that i.c.e. was detaining and arresting people who by i.c.e.'s definition were non-criminals. i don't support that and that's where i stand on the issue. >> how do you feel about being back near the top of the field? >> is that it? am i? listen, i don't pay attention to that stuff. i am -- >> you're a politician. i don't believe you. >> honestly, i have a very complicated relationship with polls. [ laughter ] >> fair enough. >> i cannot tell you the number of polls that told me i would not win as district attorney in that election, that i would not win as attorney general. so i truly mean that i -- that the poll that i think is the

most important poll is the one on election day, honestly. >> all right. fair enough. president trump at the g 20 was on camera essentially joking with the russian president vladimir putin that he shouldn't meddle in our elections. is that a joking matter? >> it is not a joking matter by any stretch. i serve on the senate intelligence committee. i serve on senate homeland security committee. russia interfered in the election for the president of the united states and we need to hear the american intelligence community when they tell us that and take it seriously. it was an attack on our democracy and an attack on our values and to joke about that is to suggests it has no appreciation with the responsibility. both in terms of being the voice of america and in terms of being the voice of the values and

priorities of america. >> writer for "the daily beast" and michael steele and from new orleans cedric richmond of louisiana and the co-chair of vice president sdwroe biden's 2020 presidential campaign and worth mentioning and at the congressional baseball game on your win. sir, michael steele, let me start with you on just kind of taking a look at what we heard from kamala harris there in terms of her analysis of how she did in the debate, kind of suggesting she's a little surprised that it went so well. but she clearly -- they made a very -- i mean, this is the decision she made as a campaign to go after him in this way that will reverberate for awhile. >> it was not only a decision they made. i w it was very obvious because she injected herself into part of the conservation she was not

invited. this was between joe biden and another person on the stage. >> and she said as the only african -- >> the on african american, let me have something to say here. that's fine. the interesting thing is really going to be curious to see, i've talked to a number of folks from california to new york, florida over the last few days since that happened in the african american community, all democrats. it did not resonate well with them. >> really? >> yeah, i was actually surprised by it. these are older, you know, over 50-year-old folks, but i was surprised the way the women responded to it. i was surprised by the way the men responded to it. they thought it was a little heavy-handed and as one person put it to me, very obvious. it was almost a cheap shot. i think it will be interesting to see how this turns out in terms of the numbers and how people see it and how it ultimately plays out for them. >> congressman, let me get you

to weigh in because obviously, the biden campaign has been grappling with this and we have been talking about this question about whether as cory booker said this morning to lead a reconciliation in this country. do you think the vice president and what do you think about the exchan exchange? >> the truth of the matter is the candidates have the same position now that biden had back then. if it was government mandated and all he said about the buses, he would use helicopters to get to school. it was not mandated segregated

school. without government mandated segregated schools, the question is where do the candidates stand on bussing and i will tell you that their position is similar if not the same as biden. the big scheme is, if democrats continue to focus on the past, we're going to jeopardize our future. everybody understands that the real guy with racial issues lives in the white house and that's where our focus should be. i think that voters are very concerned that we are focussing on the past and not the clear and present danger right now. >> are you saying that kamala harris should not have gone after joe biden on the stage at al all? >> no, look, it's a race. part of the campaign is you have to differentiate yourself from other candidates. she didn't talk about her position on bussing right now where it's not government mandated. is she for government bussing

mandating now where schools are african american or suburbs where it's mainly white. i think it was a fair issue to bring up but i think it was mischaracterized and to the point about not working with people who we don't necessarily like or don't necessarily like us, i will tell you as chair of the black caucus, i worked with the trump administration to jus. you know who else worked with them? camilkamala harris and cory boo. i'm glad they did. we have people coming home and it's the right thing to do. i'm not criticizing them for working with a guy i don't like and a guy i think has racial issues and picks on immigrants. the question becomes where is the inconsistency. it's not on the biden campaign's part. >> well, speaking of donald trump, he defended joe biden and

seemed to down play camilkamala harr harris' moment on stage. i think we're waiting to see if we can show that moment. i think we can. go ahead. >> i thought that she was given too much credit. he didn't do well and maybe the facts weren't on his side. i think she was given too much credit for what she did. i wasn't that outstanding and i think probably he was hit harder than he should have been, biden. >> well, i don't know if people should just take donald trump's assessment of the democratic deba debate. >> i'm not arguing we should. >> i will say this, the interesting thing for me about this whole debate exchange has been the polling data after the fact. there was a poll done by the firm democracy and what they noticed is something that would

back up what your experiences showed. the african american community rallied to joe biden and the pollster behind that data suggested it was people thought the attack was against the obama biden legacy and now, it's a mixed bag because the people that said they would vote for biden went down so there was sympathy and empathy for him. the problem here and the big problem for biden isn't the exchange over bussing because i think this is an issue that i don't imagine a lot of people are going to be voting on. i think the real problem here is this ora that he had about him that he was the electable candidate and could go toe to toe with him and come out like that flustered, saying i run out of time for my response. >> basically the very end of the exchange on bussing really was

the thing -- >> when you look like you're flustered like that, people do wonder well, if it's happening now, what about if he were to make it to a general election? would his clock be clean then? i think where biden got hurt and this is of course theory because there is not data here is this issue, sorry, this perception he's the best person to running against donald trump, which camilkamala harris really did a number on. >> the interesting thing about prosecuting the case and everyone i talked to would say yeah, she clearly -- people would love to see that throwdown between kamala harris and trump, that's a popcorn moment for sure. but then the question becomes what is it you're prosecuting? if you're prosecuting taking away my private health care insurance, if you're prosecuting raising my taxes, if you're prosecuting all these other things certainly open borders, which everyone on that stage backed, then it doesn't matter how well you debate donald trump. the voters are are not going to vote for you. so i think we got to be clear,

there is a big difference between watching the show of a debate in july of a year and a half before an election and the actual things that people are going to be voting for a year and a half from now. >> congressman richmond, do you think that joe biden needs to do better at proving that he can take on donald trump the next time he appears on a stage like this? >> well, look, i'll tell you that let's look at his past debate performance. he had two vice presidential debates with candidates and did -- >> i'm not talking about old ones. i'm talking about this time, this place however many years after those performances. does he need to do better? >> he did a good job. let me say why. he highlighted the facts that everybody on the stage wants to ban assault weapons. he's been there. he's done that. everybody on the stage wanted to enter back into the paris accord. he did that. and then the only place where

now had new ideas on the stage is the people that said they would ban private health care. health insurance in the future which he did not raise his hand because his plan doesn't do that. he had a strong debate performance. the exchange with senator harris, was it the best answer he could give? probably not. here is the deal. i want to be clear. vice president biden is winning with african american voters. so for other people to come up, they have to create a wedge between vice president biden and african american voters. you're going to see the line of attack often and i think he should be candid and not hold back and say look, i'll be a strong supporter for civil rights and i had president obama's back for eight years and just because you're an african american or younger candidate screaming past a torch the entire debate, i'm not going to give you a pass to critique me. he made a commitment, a firm commitment that he would not

beat down other democratic candidates because his goal is to beat donald trump because that is the media threat to our future. he's not going to do that. i don't think he'll beat down other democratic candidates. >> that was eric swalwell yelling pass the torch. we take your point. thank you very coming tonight. great to view you. we have more to come including my one on one intervene with our presidential candidate and michael bennett but the world is dissecting the first steps. wait, there is more. it's important not to lose track of the rest of the remarkable set of moments from his trip to the g 20. we're back after this. ts from h the g 20 we're back after this. ♪ [ laughter throughout ]

it's funny what happens when people get together. we're there. so you can be too. holiday inn. holiday inn express.

early this morning, president trump took a historic step into north korea. all in an effort to jump start nuclear talks with the country's dictator. that headline for the moment eclipsed all the other interesting things that happened at the g 20 summit. the "l.a. times" reports unlike any of he has previous appe appearances on the world stage. he insulted no one. he was warm to other leaders making no distinction between other leaders. >> they are all fine. as far as i'm concerned, some are stronger than other, some

are tougher than others. >> there were a number of moments to remember with russian president vladimir putin like this one. >> and this one. it an interview with a reporter on russian state tv. r on russian state tv. >> i think he's a great guy. that's okay. that's okay. we had a great meeting. he's a terrific person. we had a very good meeting yesterday. he's a terrific person. >> a terrific person. trump was asked about putin's comments dismissing western style liberal list m but took a left turn. >> do you agree western style liberalism is obsolete?

>> he sees what is going on and i guess if you look at what is happening in los angeles where it's so sad to look at what is happen income san francising ina couple other cities run by an extraordinary group of liberal people. i'm very embarrassed by what i see in sole cities where poll tig tigss are afraid or think it's votes. peter, i don't know what they are thinking. >> just to be clear, that is not the western style librelism the reporter was referring to in the question. we're talking marshall plan. the president shared kind words about mohammed bin salman. he's behind the murder of washington post journalist jamal khashoggi seen here in a group phot

photo. >> the crowned prince of saudi arabia, a friend of mine has done big things opening up saudi arabia and done big things for women. it's a revolution in a positive way and i want to thank you and congratulate you. you've done really a spectacular job. >> and then as we mentioned, came north korea. former secretary of state rex tillerson didn't hold back during a recent closed door hearing with -- >> house foreign affairs? [ laughter ] >> apparently we do not have the remaining sound bytes here. we'll talk about this. basically, he of course, stepped across the dmz and concluded this visit but sam, let's go through all of these things that were basically easy to forget or ignore in the wake of this made for tv historically produced

event we seen. vladimir putin, how do you describe this journalist that murders people in his country. >> let's just think about this, san francisco and los angeles -- >> west. >> it's on the west coast. >> liberal. >> he's got a point. >> to your point, this was a bizarre trip, right? >> not the west coast of california. >> oh. >> oh. >> if you look at any one of these things if they were taken in a vacuum, we should be shocked by it. to be so flattering of nbs knowing your intel was responsible for the brutal killing of khashoggi and joking about russian meddling as if it was a game and insider joke they shared and crossing the dmz. you can make the case that the out reach is good because we -- you know, that type of

diplomat diplomatic is fine. we would rather be there than we we are and gave them an incredible photo op for nothing. any one of these taken alone in the prior time prior to the trump administration would have been a crippling foreign policy blunder or a cause for intense criticism based on geopolitical grounds or humanitarian or moral grounds and yet all three of them happened in a 48-hour window and by tomorrow we'll probably be on to something else because this is trump-ism and we're used to it. >>, y you know, just to focus o the dmz or demilitarized zone for a moment which from a historic perspective is a big deal. i mean -- >> yeah, huge deal. >> a sitting u.s. president crossing into north korea with the north korean president is a big deal. the test, though, which i suspect will ultimately be failed by administration is what

is the followup? how do you context lize that moment in a way that moves your foreign policy forward that you get real results that a year from now you can go to the american people. >> we know what the followup is. he announced it. he's inviting kim to america. the big reveal will be whether he comes to the white house. >> this is not about a sleepover, people. this is not about president trump getting his favorite pal to come over and spend the weekend. this is about substantively, what will be the posture of the u.s. relative to north korea and it's allies in the pacific basin and what is the ultimate moment that we as american citizens can look to and say that moment of your crossing the dmz had this result and -- >> also, none of this happens in a videocasset

a vacuum. we're at an important confrontational moment over its own nuclear weapons. they must say wow, if we get a nuke, not only are we in a better position in our region but president trump may very welcome to teheran and hang out with us and invite us to the white house. i don't know if you've been joking about that. you can think about that st strategically. >> how much of this is about getting the president elect snd. >> very little was about that. this is about the reality tv moment it represented. it plays to the president's narrative of doing something that no one else has done. to be the only president to fill in the blank. so i think that that pushes it more than anything else. that the why i raise the question. give me the substance of what this will look like in six months what are they doing behind the scenes now that you crossed the zone, what are they

doing? secretary tillerson and others have attested to this. because there is no substance to the moment other than the photo op. >> we know you're right because trump says to reporters, president obama says it was a complete lie. >> sam stein, michael steele, thank you both very much. still to come, my beer viin with michael bennett of colorado. with michael bennett of colorado

cancer is the ugliest disease mankind has ever faced. we got the idea that if we took two dimensional patient imaging and put it in holographic displays, we could dissect around the tumor so we can safely remove it. when we first started, we felt like this might just not be possible but verizon 5g ultra wideband will give us the ability to do this. ♪ look limu. a civilian buying a new car.ug let's go. limu's right. liberty mutual can save you money by customizing your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. oh... yeah, i've been a customer for years.

huh... only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

just over 18 million people tuned in to the second night of the democratic debates making it the most watched democratic primary debate in u.s. history but did it moved needle for voters looking for a candidate to support? is what one voter told us before the candidates took the stage. >> hopefully i can hone in at least down to maybe two, three candidates i want to vote for. right now it's a little overwhelming with 20 candidates. so i'm kind of on the fence. still excited. want to hear what they are talking about. >> and after the debates, i caught up with her to ask whatb performance. >> i do love uncle joe.

i think he set himself short. i don't think he delivered or met many people's expectations. >> so if not biden, who did prove to her that they could take on president trump? >> i would say again, kamala harris or elizabeth warren. i think those are the two, the top two contenders i think that will be able to take him on. and he's a tough guy to take on and not because he's brilliant or just he's obnoxious and even my personality, i would go on. it will take somebody with very strong character, someone really focused on improving the country as opposed to battling this person. >> and after the debates in florida, my colleague garrett talked to voters. >> harris is my favorite. in the past i always liked what bernie had to say but maybe seems like the general population isn't going to be able to completely support all of that so like everyone has

been saying, we really want to win. >> yeah. >> and not have trump win. >> and something of a warning for all the democratic contenders, not all voters liked what they saw in miami. >> that was pretty disappointing at the acrimonious and angry and lots of yelling kind of discussion. i just sort of thought we can do much better than that. >> when we continue, democratic presidential candidate michael bennett took the fight tdirectl to joe biden but for reasons completely different from kamala harris. my one on one interview with him up next. >> the deal that you talked about with mitch mcconnell was a complete victory for the tea party. it extended the bush tax cuts permanently. the democratic party had been running against that for ten years. we lost that economic argument because that deal extended

almost all those bush tax cuts permanently and put in place the mindless cuts that we still are dealing with today that are called the sequester. that was a great deal for mitch mo mcconnell, it was a terrible deal -- mcconnell, it was a terrible deal - the mercedes-benz of tomorrow will transform not just the automobile, but mobility itself. an autonomous-thinking vehicle protecting those inside and out. and it's the mercedes-benz of today that will help us get there. the 2019 e-class, with innovations that will change the way we drive from this day forward. visit your local mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional lease and financing offers. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. but allstate actually helps you drive safely... with drivewise. it lets you know when you go too fast... ...and brake too hard.

with feedback to help you drive safer. giving you the power to actually lower your cost. unfortunately, it can't do anything about that. now that you know the truth... are you in good hands? let's get down to business. the business of getting it done. the business of road trips. the business of getting everyone back together. the business of hustle... ...and hard work... ...and whatever this is. modernized comfort inns & suites have been refreshed because whatever business you're in, our business is you. book direct at choicehotels.com that's ensure max protein, with high protein and 1 gram sugar. it's a sit-up, banana! bend at the waist! i'm tryin'! keep it up. you'll get there. whoa-hoa-hoa! 30 grams of protein,

and one gram of sugar. ensure max protein. since my dvt blood clot i was thinking... could there be another around the corner? or could it turn out differently? i wanted to help protect myself. my doctor recommended eliquis. eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot... almost 98 percent of patients on eliquis didn't experience another. ...and eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. eliquis is fda approved and has both. don't stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. if you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. while taking eliquis,

you may bruise more easily... and it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. what's around the corner could be surprising. ask your doctor about eliquis. welcome back. i sat down with 2020

presidential candidate and colorado senator michael bennett the day after the democratic debates to get his take on a wide range of topics including how to run on health care reform in 2020 and defeat president trump. senator, on the debate stage, it seemed clear that you were trying to differentiate yourself from other more progressive candidates in the field by saying, you know, the democratic party needs to hold positions that are more moderate than some competitors. do you think that the democratic nominee can beat president trump if they run on medicare for all on eliminating private insurance? >> i think it would be very challenging to beat donald trump if that's the position. i don't accept it's more progressive. i am for universal health care coverage. i believe the best way of getting there is through a public option giving american people a choice. i don't think that's a moderate position. i think that's a progressive position. i think the position of taking insurance away from 180 million

people in america, you know, many of whom like it, the position of taking away the insurance of a mine worker or steel worker who has negotiated their health care as part of their collective bargaining agreement, that doesn't seem progressive to me. that seems like a really bad political idea. and it could be extremely costly to us in the election for president and also the election to try to get a majority of the senate because there are many of these states, colorado, arizona, north carolina where medicare for all as bernie has designed it is not going to fly. >> do you think that the party in the democratic primary voters are with you on this? >> i do. i do. i absolutely do. in new hampshire, iowa, in south carolina zrk, people a carolina, south carolina, give people a public option. that's what we want. why would we go through the brain damage and the political brain damage of taking away all

this insurance in america? >> the other pore session that potentially falls into this category where you stood out on stage was the question of making it only a civil offense and not a criminal offense to cross the border without papers. do you think this is a similar issue? do you think the democratic party could beat donald trump if the standard is we want to decriminalize crossing the border without documents? >> donald trump, i know people will say he'll say it anyway, it's true he'll say it anyway but we shouldn't make it easier. he'll say we're for open borders. we have two issues going on we have to contend with. one is the immigration issue we need to deal with along the lines of 2013. the other is the refugee crisis at the border. we are a rich and powerful country and descent country. we should be able to meet the refugees coming humanely and figure out with our allies in the region what makes sense about how we resettle people and

also deal with the original problems at the beginning. i don't think we should be making immigration policy based on the refugee crisis. we need to think about these distinct thinks and in either case, we need to behave humanely to people coming across the border and treat them like other human beings which is what they are. i mean, donald trump managed to dehumanize the people that are there and when you see the photos that we've seen of the tragedies we've seen, i think it's really important for america to push back on our president. >> do you think that the front runner joe biden showed on the debate stage that he is capable and ready to go toe to toe with donald trump on a similar stage? >> sure, there are a lot of democrats able to show that last night and i think it was a great debate. i think that the american people really don't know what the national democratic party stands for, which is why it's important for us to have this debate but i think what you also saw last night was there is a whole new

generation of leadership here that's thinking about the future and i hope we give them a look. >> is it enough to say that we want to go back to normal for the democrats? >> no, absolutely not. absolutely not. it's not enough to say that for america. think about the last six years of the obama administration after the republicans got control of the house of representatives and then control of the senate later, they basically immobilized the federal government and it's remained impossiblized to this day. if you're an american, whether you're a democrat or republican, whether you're concerned about health care or concerned about the economy, concerned about climate or anything else, you're going to have a problem getting anything done because mitch mcconnell has no interest in dealing with those things and the freedom caucus has no interest. donald trump will have a unified base and we need a unified base but we'll have to add to that to beat donald trump. we lost to a climate denier last time. we lost to a guy completely anti immigrant. he hasn't changed his stripes.

we need to make sure that whatever the series of mistakes that led to the losing to him are corrected by the time we get to a general election. >> why in your view did you lose? >> i think we were careless with our da maemocracy. i think we thought that hillary clinton had found the one person in america that she could beat and that turned out not to be true. and he won and i think he won because we didn't have an economic case. that's one of the issues that i have with the vice president said last night about that deal that he cut with mitch mcconnell. we had run for years against the bush tax cuts and said look, there is such a better use for this money than giving it to, you know, some of the wealthiest people in this country. then we extended the bush tax cuts permanently, permanently. it was those tax cuts were supposed to expire after ten years. we did a deal where we extended them permanently and put the across the border cuts into

place and by the time the election rolled around, we had no case to make to the american people. >> does the washington joe biden recalls with this rosie glow, does it still exist? >> no, i doesn't. i've spent a lot of time in washington working bipartisan with republicans to achieve results from immigration to education. but it doesn't exist. no. it needs to exist again. we live in a country with divided views and different points of view and in a pluralest society, you're supposed to have disappoigreeme and people in washington are supposed to have an obligation to resolve the disagreements with people that they don't see eye to eye. that's not how much mcconnell sees the world and that's now how the freedom caucus republicans see the world. >> in the debate, you said russia is our greatest national security threat. the president at the g 20 joked with vladimir putin about election meddling. is that a joking matter? >> no, it's not a joking matter.

it's not a joking matter for us and it's not a joking matter for any western democracy. if you talk ambassadors from around the world or europe in particular, they are worried about russia will do to interfere with the elections and property up the right wing parties there is a question what role russia played in brexit and their effect on the election in 2016 was real. i can't say that it was positive or made the difference but they were attacking us with russian propaganda for a year and a half before we noticed that that's what was happening. it's our own political discourse that we couldn't recognize with russian propaganda, something different than what it was but they are going to try again in 2020. they tried in 2018. it's not a laughing matter, the president uses in international stage to joke about it is just one way of an example why is the wrong person the commander in

chief? >> high thanks my thanks to sen for sitting down with me. benet for sitting down with me it's funny what happens when people get together. we're there. so you can be too. holiday inn. holiday inn express. my gums are irritated. i don't have to worry about that, do i? actually, you do. harmful bacteria lurk just below the gum line,

and if you're not taking care of your gums, you're not taking care of your mouth. so now i use this. crest gum detoxify. crest gum detoxify, voted product of the year. it works below the gum line and is clinically proven to neutralize harmful plaque bacteria and help reverse early gum damage. gum detoxify, from crest. gums are good. so is my check up! crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life. this is a commercial and i know you're thinking. i don't want to hear about insurance. 'cause let's be honest... nobody likes dealing with insurance. right? see, esurance knows it's expensive. i feel like i'm giving my money away. so they're making it affordable. thank you, dennis quaid. you're welcome, guy in kitchen. i named my character walter. that's great. i'd tell you more but i only have thirty seconds so here's a dramatic shot of their tagline so you'll remember it. when insurance is affordable, it's surprisingly painless.

(rates vehicles for safety, andr hsome reach a level of top safety pick. but only a select few of the very safest vehicles are awarded

a top safety pick plus. the highest level of safety possible. how many 2019 top safety pick plus-winning vehicles does your brand have? one. two. how about eight? subaru has more 2019 top safety pick plus awards than honda and toyota brands combined. there's safe, and then there's subaru safe. [ laughter throughout ] it's funny what happens when people get together. we're there. so you can be too. holiday inn. holiday inn express. this weekend, new york city hosted world pride, celebrating 50 years since the stonewall riots that accelerated the movement for lgbtq equality. joe takes a look back at the birth of the movement and how much its changed today. >> the streets of new york are

packed with a different kind of traffic today, a vibrant parade, the culmination of world pride, which is dedicated to the 1969 uprising at the stonewall in. >> 50 years ago if this many people would have gathered we would have all been arrested. today city of new york is rolling out the red carpet. >> among the parades grand marshals, members of gay liberation fund that organized marches when the streets were far less friendly. >> it was a group of margina marginalized people walking for their freedom. >> today it is clear how much things have changed. the cast of a popular tv show are shining a light on the transgender community. >> it is exciting. we're out here looking to us. >> more than three million

people in new york. many of them have lined the streets along the parade route, which stretches for two and a half miles. san francisco's famous pride parade also took place today and paris even paid tribute to stonewall. the spirit of that rebellion echoed across the globe, including the city where it all started. my colleague joe friar reporting from new york. when we return, i get presidential candidates to weigh in on what is obviously the most important topic in the galaxy. we're back after this. galaxy. we're back after this.

thanks to priceline working with top airlines to turn their unsold seats into amazing deals, family reunion attendance is up. we're all related! yeah, i see it. and because priceline offers great deals by comparing thousands of prices in real time, sports fans are seeing more away games. various: yeah-h-h! is that safe? oh, y... ahh! not at all. no, ma'am. nope. and more people than ever are enjoying romantic getaways. (romantic music)

that's gross priceline. every trip is a big deal. ♪ here i go again on my own ♪ goin' down the only road i've ever known ♪ ♪ like a-- ♪ drifter i was ♪born to walk alone! you're a drifter? i thought you were kevin's dad. little bit of both. if you ride, you get it. geico motorcycle. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more.

monitor their blood glucose every day. which means they have to stop. and stick their fingers. repeatedly. today, life-changing technology from abbott makes it possible to track glucose levels. without drawing a drop of blood, again and again. the most personal technology, is technology with the power to change your life.

life. to the fullest. >> are you a star wars fan? >> i liked the first one. >> the first one. >> the first one. >> i would say return of the d jedi. >> a controversial choice. not the empire strikes back. >> am i the only empire strikes back fan? this is an msnbc special presentation. >> being a gay person, a lesbian in the '50s, not only were you a depraved person, bad person, you could be arrested and put in jail. >> oh my god. i think i am one of these people they're talking about. >> commie, pinko fag. it was a true witch hunt. >> there's only so long you can treat people that way before they decide, enough is enough.

>> i'm such a nerd. >> i hope i can earn that, too. mark hammel told kamala harris may the force be with you. that does it tonight for us. we'll be back. for now good night from washington. >> we're america. you can't separate us out. >> i think it's not a civil rights issue, it's a moral issue. >> a 50-year battle for equal rights and respect. >> i could not have guessed that at this age i would be married to a man. i never could have seen that coming.