latest. >> there are two big things i'm super excited about. thanks to you, i'm going to go see that show on tuesday. and also i have you back on the show in 20 minutes. go give your team a high five for a great show and come back to the studio. >> see you in a minute. >> good day to all of you from our head quarters in new york. welcome to weekends with alex witt. twitter rant. the president with a series of new racially charged tweets. railing against specific progressive women in congress. this hour there is reaction and backlash. ice raids apparently underway right now. what's behind them and why did the president make them so public? >> tropical storm barry, the latest path, the damage, the flooding, and why the worst may not be over. that's next. but first, new this hour, the president attacking progressive congresswomen of color as ice raids are now reportedly underway. targeting at least 2000 undocumented family members. the president tweeted this morning about progressive

democrat congresswoman writing, quote, why don't they go back and hope fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came? then come back and show us how it's done. i'm surely pelosi would be glad to work out free travel arrangements. >> house speaker rejects the president's, quote, xenophobic comments meant to divide our nation. and rashida talib wrote want a response to a failure of a president? he's the crisis. his dangerous ideology is the crisis. he needs to be impeached. here's how a democratic congressman reacted. >> that's the first time areheag of that. that's a racist tweet. telling people to go back where they came from. these are american citizens elected by voters in the united states of america to serve in one of the most distinguished bodies in the house of representatives. i think that's wrong, and

especially with what's going on across america. for the president to spend time saying such racist things -- >> you can bet we're going to talk about that. meantime, top officials will not confirm the raids have started. however "the wall street journal" reports there were attempted raids yesterday in new york. people in harlem and sunset park reportedly rejected the ice agents because they lacked swas search warrants. earlier we were told constituents in queens are afraid, and they're being reminded of their rights. >> we're trying to inform them of their rights. not to let anyone in unless they have a warrant that's been issued by a judge and ask to see the warrant. have them slide it under the door. don't lie to them. don't open the door. >> the president's top immigration official says the raids may target other immigrants, not just criminals. >> if we don't have interior enforcement, we don't have deterrents. then people think they can get by the first line and they're done. it's over. well, it isn't over, and over 1

million people in this country have -- who are here illegally have gone through extensive due process, have removal orders, and have not left. that's -- >> how many of those people are you going to forcefully -- >> we'll see how many ice rolls on with. >> joining me now charlie savage, washington correspondent for the new york times, and also pam alevy. welcome to you both. i want to get charlie's reaction on the president's tweets. what do you think prompted this? >> well, i think president trump is deeply enjoying the schism emerging on the left between the more progressive members of congress who are representing districts where democrats have a plus 25, plus 30 advantage. there's no up side for them in moderating. in fact, several of them got their seats by primary challenging more conservative or more moderate democrats. and nancy pelosi trying to hold

on to the blue dog democrats wants to elect a democrat for president in 2020, they just have different interests and different political incentives. and they're fighting with each other just like tea party republicans used to fight with paul ryan and john boehner and trump is sort of putting his finger on that wound and -- thinking about that some more. >> yeah. i remember that. remember, they would call it herding cats there in the gop congress there. let's talk about nancy pelosi who was pretty quick to shut down the president and brought that topic back around to the ice raids. and the president obviously knows and this is really to charlie's point, that these remarks from him will likely be interpreted as inflammatory and he's kind of digging in there with them. what is the strategy, though, and ultimately the effect? >> you know, i think first of all the effect is something you know, outside of whatever battles are going on in washington in the congress.

right? this is something that is felt all over the country. in particular by people of color who are basically being told if they don't look white, this isn't their country. that's the big context here. second of all, from pelosi's perspective on some level, i think she probably sees this as an ability for her to go out and defend members that she has sort of been publicly in conflict with for the last several days over, in fact, questions of race. i think on some level her being able to come to their defense, say they belong here and turn toward the common enemy is probably an opening for her. on some level he probably -- he was certainly i think pouring salt into the wound. i think he reminded them they have a common enemy in him and are allowing them to coalesce together if they take that step. >> i want to get more on the ice raids. we have gaudy schwartz outside a

detention center in l.a. gaudy, good morning to you. what are you seeing and learning there? >> good morning, alex. so far we haven't seen any reports of arrests or detentions. we saw a little bit of movement down there. we can't tell whether or not that's just normal operation or whether something is going on. the only reports that we've really seen are the ones you mentioned at the top of the show about what's going on in new york where there may have been some unsuccessful attempts at raids, and that ice agents may have been turned away. if you're wondering how could ice agents be turned away? for the last few years we've seen pamphlets like this and the red cards circulating, being given out by immigrant rights advocates. it says do not open doors. do not sign or lie. this red card we've seen used during an operation. it says i do not wish to speak with you. answer your questions, or sign or hand you any documents based

on my fifth amendment right under the constitution. i do not give you permission to enter my hope based on my fourth amendment rights unless you have a search warrant that you can slide under my door. >> gadi, who is putting that out there? who is producing those? >> reporter: there are different local attorneys passing out these pamphlets and this red card is being printed out by the tens of thousands. 2017 we were here in los angeles. we went along on one of these operations, and we saw agents surround this home, and then we saw them knock on the door, ask the person to come out. we saw a hand come out, and then put this card outside of the door, and then all of a sudden all the agents around that house stood down. this is something that we've seen has been effective at least in preventing agents from coming in or agents from possibly

convincing somebody to come out. that doesn't prevent somebody from being arrested off the street or prevent necessarily a traffic stop. it gets into a little bit of a gray area, but this is basically just asserting the constitutional rights. so here in los angeles we know that these have been circulating. we know other people have decided to stay away from their homes if they fear they may be on their list. one more important note, in 2017 that operation we were on, that one was an operation that was targeting mostly men and mostly men with criminal backgrounds. we talked to several of them with drug charges, some particularly charges. this one seems to be a little bit different. this is allegedly 2000 people that are somewhat on this list, and we understand that there are going to be family units of people that have crossed more recently into the united states. so here in los angeles, the city has said they are not cooperating with federal authorities and there are a lot of churches and here say they're going to be offering sanction

ware. >> you said there's nothing going on behind you. you're at an ice detention center. >> reporter: correct. this is where they're processed. >> okay. i read a report that those offices are closed on sundays. which begs the question, is that open behind you? i mean, that might explain why there's no activity if the office is closed, and if it's clo closed, why would these things be happening on a sunday? >> reporter: so the ero is the enforcement and removal operations. like, the offices are closed but the enforcement and removal operations happen at some really weird hours. so this operates kind of like a sally port of a police station. and because these types of raids happen pretty regularly, i mean, they've been going on for quite some time during the obama administration, 400,000 people were deported. it peaked out with president

trump at about 250,000 people. these removal operations are happening on a consistent basis and most of them very, very early in the morning. i don't think it's out of the ordinary for the sally port to be closed, and for people to be in the background. we just don't know what's going on down there because it's behind a fence. >> okay. thank you, gadi. we appreciate that. let's bring back charlie and pam. i'm curious if you're hearing anything on whether the ice operations are, indeed, now underway. but can you also assess the president's motivation in publicizing them? >> well, that's a very good question. and your question about the building being closed with the reporter in front of it saying nothing is happening really raises the question about what of this is really at all? this fakeout, if we're going to do something, we're going to do something and keeping everyone on edge and keeping it in the headlines because trump wants to enforce immigration more and his critics don't want him to do that in the forefront of everyone's minds. i think that we have to watch

and see here whether any of this is real or if he's playing the media once again to get his headlines as preferred out there when all that's real is a door in the bronx was knocked on and people went away again. >> right. of course immigration is at the core of the president's agenda. he views it as a winning issue. can democrats turn it to their benefit? >> yeah. i think that they can. and on some level i think they've just sort of begun to do that. first of all, trump wants to look like he's tough, like he's enforcing. but i think he provides an opening when he starts to go after families. it is one thing to say here's someone who shouldn't be in this country. they've committed crimes. not just the crime of crossing border but a more serious crime. you know, those are people that i think there's broad agreement maybe they should be deported. maybe they shouldn't be here. i think when you look at a family peacefully going about their life, seeking refuge on a

sunday, that's something i think people think is that a priority we want? at the same time on some level to interior enforcement is a distraction from what we're seeing at the border. we have atrocious traditions -- conditions in some of these detention facilities, and that i think is where the democrats if they're playing their cards right are going to focus their attention. they started to do that with hearings on the hill. i don't know why it took them so long to do. >> i want to ask you quickly to both give me an answer as so what you think about the latest poll numbers. the poll shows the president trailing biden, warren, sanders, all three of them in hypothetical matchups. your thoughts on this, charlie? you first. >> i want to see more polls before i believe this one. just last week there was an abc news washington post poll that showed only biden ahead of trump by a significant margin. if you're a biden -- sorry, bernie or warren or what not, you like this poll better.

one poll could be an outlier. we need more before we know what's real. >> i think it's too early. i think a lot of them are probably neck and neck. i think this poll is probably too friendly to bernie sanders in particular, but look, it's an indication that people are thinking act switching to someone else. >> yeah. look what it says. it's competitive out there. good to see you both. thank you so much. let's go now to the latest on the storm ripping through the gulf coast. just moments ago the national weather service issuing several tornado warnings in effect for baton rouge. the residents there being urged to take cover. and this is further proof that tropical storm barry is down from hurricane strength, but certainly not out of business. look at that. that powerful storm is still moving along slowly. big waves there. it has left a trail of ruin in some coastal communities. heavy storms are blanketing,

louisiana. the volume of water overwhelming one levee in one parish yesterday pressing the coast guard into service. they had to rescue two people and some pets. and another overtopped levee. look at the homes there swamped. they are flooded out. barry is expected to dump rain on that region for a very difficult two more days. let's bring in go to the cattle being moved and the rushing water. what's it like there today and how much are the officials trying to deal with flooded water areas? >> reporter: alex, as you can see behind me, thankfully the waters are receding. you showed the powerful images of the levee breaching. i can confirm at this point at least in myrtle grove, five levees experienced overtopping because of the flooding and because of that storm surge.

and behind me you can see authorities are working around the clock to be able to restore the area back to normalcy. and people are starting to come back to their homes. you can see thankfully the highway did not flood. i want to quickly bring in shawn from the sheriff's office, rpio here. can you tell me about the effort underway here? >> luckily high tide ended. a lot of water is going to push back. we did experience some water on the roadways. we're going to have to do alternating on one lane. that's the reason why you see so much activity in the back. but as of today, we're going to do that. we also in coordination with the parish government will have helicopters come in with the army national guard and try to place sandbags in the breaches to try to stop the water from overtopping. >> patching the damage? >> yes. because of so much water overtopping the levee, it caused breaches. our job is to try to stop any water from coming back over. >> thank you. i know you have a lot to do. i appreciate your time with us

this afternoon. thank you so much. and alex, we also have heard word from the governor of louisiana may be making his way here later on in the afternoon to survey some of that damage. still around 150,000 customers in the state of louisiana without power and that includes several communities here in this area. >> okay. thank you so much. clearly the flood waters have receded but that water is saturated. let's bring in our meteorologist bill karins at the weather service. it's been a punishing storm. in terms of damage, how much? >> so far isolated. we haven't seen any widespread damage. we haven't seen any horrific damage. people losing their homes or anything like that. isolated tornadoes during the day and now we're concerned with the flash floodings. it's barely a tropical storm later this afternoon. it will go down to a depression. we have a flash flood watch all the way up here through the memphis area, southern illinois south. the counties and parishs colored

in red are where we have current flash flood warnings. one spot in mississippi just passed 10 inches of rain. that's the highest total i've seen. baton rouge, over the last hour or two you've seen the worst weather of the storm. numerous tornado warnings. a good one east of the town. now the heavy rain is starting to shift a little bit to the east. you'll get a little bit of a break. probably maybe another hour or so of heavy rain. and then a couple more bands later today. as far as the flood risk goes again, it's all areas of mississippi, louisiana, and arkansas. that's the greatest concern of flash flooding through the rest of the day. and the high risk continues for areas from lafayette almost to baton rouge. and our computers are hinting an additional rainfall totals here of around 2, 4, maybe 3 inches of rain. alex, we're getting probably to the halfway mark with the rainfall forecast. they're lower than yesterday. and that's great news. it didn't materialize to be as

bad as it could have been in areas of louisiana. >> all i can say is thank you for being with us over this weekend. it's always good to get even the bad news from you. the congressman of california is weighing in on the president's racially charged tweets next. eets next. balanced nutrition 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. and twenty-six vitamins and minerals. i swibecause they let metual, customize my insurance. and as a fitness junkie, i customize everything, like my bike, and my calves. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ we're oscar mayer deli fresh your very first sandwich,m... your mammoth masterpiece. and...whatever this was. because we make our meat with the good of the deli and no artificial preservatives. make every sandwich count with oscar mayer deli fresh.

your daily dashboard from fidelity. a visual snapshot of your investments. key portfolio events. all in one place. because when it's decision time... you need decision tech. only from fidelity.

an update on the huge power blackout across parts of new york city last night. a n a new statement there's a full investigation after the

historic outage affected more than 72,000 customers for more than three hours along a 30-block stretch. some of the subway lines were brought to a halt. traffic lights were out. happening right now, ice raids targeting thousands of undocumented immigrants reportedly underway in at least nine cities. while this is happening the president suggested on twitter that some progressive democratic congresswomen should, quote, go back to, quote, the places from which they came. joining me now ted lieu, member of the judiciary committee and a good friend to us here. look, i know you just moments ago, you replied to the president, quote, as an immigrant who served on active duty, i'm appalled you are telling us to go back. i'm not going back. america is our home. the president has got to know that this is going to rile not just democrats but a lot of americans.

what's behind this move? >> thank you, alex, for your question. as an immigrant myself, i know that when we came to america, we were poor. my parents went to flee markets to sell gifts to make ends meet, and eventually they opened a successful small business and achieved the american dream. it's one of the reasons i joined the air force and active duty. i never thought i'd see the day when a president was telling immigrants to go back to where they came from. he's demonstrating he's a racist ass. he's not uniting us. >> you've made that sentiment clear as of late, but why do you think the president is doing this? >> i think he's becoming increasingly more and more unhinged as he sees things are going against him. he has not been able to build his wall or make the border situation any better and now he's trying to do other things

to amp up his base. he doesn't understand most americans are immigrants or have family members who are immigrants. today he's attacking legal immigration and us citizenship. it's really a new low for him. and i think americans are going to react very badly against the president. >> let's get to talking about the ice raids now. parents are fearing they may be separated from their children born in the u.s. you have the acting border patrol chief who used to be the ice director asked whether the raids equate to more family separations. here it is. >> the design is not about family separation. that's not the intent. it never has been and never will be. the intent -- >> can you avoid it? >> enforce the rule of law. there are challenges, but i can tell you the men and women of ice, they are true american heros. they are mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters. they are going to apply this with humanity and compassion. >> can you take his word on that? >> he is just gaslighting again. what the raids are going to do

is separate mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters from each other, and if these folks are dangerous, they would already be in jail or prison. what the raids are doing is going after peaceful families. they're going to separate some children from their parents. it is un-american. it's not needed. and donald trump is doing this more as a campaign action because he knows he's not succeeding in this other fronts. >> l.a. is one of the target cities. i'm curious what your constituents are telling you about the raids. >> they are horrified. they also realize that this is in part a publicity stunt for the president. and what we want to do is make sure that people no longer live in fear and terror. what we need is a pathway to citizenship. we need comprehensive immigration reform. it's something that the u.s. senate passed on a bipartisan basis a few years ago and we need to work on it. >> let's move to the upcoming testimony of robert mueller, former special counsel, officially. i know your committee statement says at his request, we've

agreed to postpone the hearing for one week until july 24th. do you know why he requested the delay? >> i do. but i am pleased that robert mueller is going to give more time to be able to testify publicly in front of the american people. he will now testify for three hours before the house judiciary committee and the two hours before the house intel committee. and the american people will see unfiltered robert mueller talking about the main highlights of his report which if you gave a fair reading to it, it would show that the russians attacked us in 2016 in our elections. that the trump campaign welcomed that interference, and then the president sought to obstruct on numerous instances the investigation into that interference. >> and look, i know that you've called for impeachment hearings but in terms of the timing of this, is there a downside to it? potentially the momentum from mueller's testimony may be lower than expected. he testifies right before congress starts the august recess. >> the mueller report itself is very damming. now, most americans have not read it.

it's a long report. all we need is robert mueller to highlight the main parts of his report. we don't need him to say something he doesn't want to say or have him say anything dramatic. if he highlights the main parts of his report, they will be helpful to the american people. they'll say the president of the united states obstructed justice and see numerous instances of the president or his campaign associates welcoming russia interference. >> you're confident that by just highlighting that which you find imperative in the report, that will be able to sway the american public when they hear this in robert mueller's voice? >> i think it will be extremely important for them to hear it in robert mueller's voice and to hear the facts for the first time. many of them have been misled by bill barr's misrepresentations as well as donald trump's misrepresentations out report. i think they'll be surprised when they hear robert mueller hear that. that he ordered the fake

document is created and did a number of actions to obstruct justice. >> all right. ted lou lieu, thank you so much. always good to see you. >> joy is going to join me next and talk about the true price of the trump presidency. emphasis on price. that's next. e. that's next. crabfest is back at red lobster with 9 craveable crab creations. from the new ultimate crabfest trio with three kinds of wild-caught crab to the return of crab lover's dream! grab your crab crew, hurry in or order it to go! cake in the conference room! showing 'em you're ready to be your own boss. that's the beauty of your smile. bring out the best in it with crest 3d white. crest removes 95% of surface stains... in just three days.

i had a few good tricks to help hide my bladder leak pad. like the old "tunic tug". but always discreet is less bulky. and it really protects. 'cause it turns liquid to gel. so i have nothing to hide. always discreet. (vo) ♪ sleep this amazing? that's a zzzquil pure zzzs sleep. our liquid has a unique botanical blend, while an optimal melatonin level means no next day grogginess. zzzquil pure zzzs. naturally superior sleep.

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.

developing this hour, the feud between democratic congressional leaders and progressive democrats is escalating. members of the congressional black caucus now accusing justice democrats of trying to oust lawmakers of color. and just yesterday congresswoman pressly, a member of the self-described squad living this message to those wanting to run for congress. >> if you are not prepared to come to that table and represent that voice, don't come. because we don't need anymore brown faces that don't want to be a brown voice. we don't need black faces that don't want to be a black voice. we don't need muslims that don't want to be a muslim voice. we don't need queers that don't want to be a queer voice. if you're worried about stereo typed, don't show up because we need you to represent that voice. >> okay. joining me now, joy reed, host

of a.m. joy. also the author of "the man who sold america". she's my friend as well and msnbc analyst. presley says she was not targeting black leaders but do you think there's an internal battle brew right now, and what are the ramifications of that? >> yes. here's the reality. in a gerrymandered congressional, in a country with gerrymandered congressional districts, if you want to run for congress, particularly if you're a person of color, you probably live in a city. the seats where you can actually win, where you have a chance of winning are generally democratic seats. the way to get into congress is generally to primary someone. it's the way a lot of our congressional black caucus members got their seats. i mean, you come in through a democratic seat and there's usually a democrat there. a lot of ways people of color can get power is through

existing democratic seats. it's where you can win. there are a smaller number of democrats who can flip a red seat. they tend to be the people who are seen as valuable to the leadership because they didn't take down a friend. they took down to enemy. they took down a republican. they're sort of seen at a higher level. they're favored and protected. but these young women came the only way to get through, beat a democrat. >> you're right. this is following this public back and forth between alexandria ocasio-cortez, nancy pelosi and the members of the squad. and there's been a lot of back and forth. there was some alleging accusations of racism. it's interesting because the house speaker responded to this whole situation. she's trying to kind of put a band-aid on all of this. let's listen to what she said. >> we respect the value of every member of our caucus. the diversity of it all is a

wonderful thing. diversity is our strength. unity is our power, and we have a big fight, and we're in the arena. >> so this fight overall, is this about race or is this about policy? >> it's about policy. the reality is the younger members who have come into congress, and they are not all but they are predominantly or mainly women of color, they are not there to cut deals with the other side. they've not been sort of raised in the political system where the goal is to sit down, give a little bit, get a little bit from another side that would negotiate. they're in a new era where the republican party says it's war. they're not there to cut deals. they're there to remove democrats from a power. this is the mitch mcconnell era of republican politics. and these young democrats have come up seeing that politics. they saw what republicans did to president obama. massive resistance against anything he wanted to do. so they are not going to come in and simply obey the leadership and go along with deals that

they think are unprincipled. and i think the leadership has to understand that this is a new kind of politics. they haven't caught up to it yet. you still have leading democrats thinking somehow they can come to accommodation with the republicans that they're dealing with. you cannot. there is no accommodation. they need to understand that. understand these young democrats have a huge voice. we did the math the other day. these four women they call the squad together represent 2.8 million people. each one of them has more constituents than the entire state of wyoming. the entire state. there are states with fewer people in them than their districts. they represent a lot of people. they're not just representing four people. they're representing a lot of people. i know folks that just in my regular life that are not that into politics. they don't even pay attention to anything we're saying, they love aoc. they'll talk about her. >> she's definitely reaching people. there was a poll that came out. name recognition is huge. and they have opinions about her as well. let's throw up the president who

posted some new tweets earlier. let's get it on the screen. i know you've read through them, joy. your reaction to them referring to the members of the squad. we have to be really clear. he's talking about people who are american citizens. right? i mean, they represent american voters. how dangerous this kind of rhetoric on the screen there? >> it's birtherism 2 .0. it's racist. he's essentially saying these brown and black women are not american to him. even though pressly was born in ohio. alexandria ocasio-cortez was born in the bronx here in new york. one of them is a former refugee, but the other three are american citizens. what he's doing is doing to them what he used to do to barack obama. you're not american to me. to him they don't represent america. i think it's racist. it will be interesting to see if any republicans rebuke him on it. they typically hide when he does things like this. it's blatant for that to come

from the united states of the america. donald trump isn't the first racist president. he's the first one that does it openly in office. >> why doesn't his core constituency push back? are you worried they feel the same way? >> i am. i think others feel they're getting so much from him that they don't care what he does. anything he does is justified. whether you want tax cuts or an owner of a big business who gets tax cuts, either monetarily you gain from him or if you're out religious right, all you care about is the courts. you've seen people who call themselves christian, white evangelical christians say they don't care if he's violating everything in the bible whether it's taking care of the rich, poor, elderly, immigrant, they don't care, as long as they get what they want, that's all they care about, and there are some who feel the same way. >> all right. i'm reaching over and stealing this book. >> it's yours. >> it's the book. it's called "the man who sold

america". and then it goes trump and the unraveling of the american story. how does this calculate the price of the trump presidency? >> i was having conversations. what i did was not just write my own. i talked to a lot of different people from all over the world about what we are and who they see us as now that donald trump is our president. i learned people didn't 100% believe in the american story we've been telling, but that story organized the world. we told the story that we're the biggest functioning multiracial democratic. that we've been able to make this tower of babble work. that we have this unique take on democracy, that it can -- you can have democracy and capitalism together. you can have freedom and all of these different go ups come together and make one country. they're from all over the world but one country.

we told that story up until donald trump. every president has. even nixon was telling the world that story. trump is the first one who says i don't believe in that. i think we can form an axis of autocracies with countries who like me. i'm going to make money with the people who can give me money. i'm going to get for me and my family, my kids are going to make money. it's a crepto karatic president. then the rest of the world says you're like us. you're no different. we talk about these african nations that need to reform and have democracy. trump is much different. he acts like them. i said this to my father's best friend in south africa. i said to him, you know, trump is our mabutu who used to be the dictator of the congo. i thought he would say that's over the top. he said yeah, you guys have one too. that's what the world thinks. we're not exceptional. we're just ordinary. >> it is anything but ordinary,

this book. i've read some excerpts. i love that it says joy ann reid. i'm old school. >> this is a recreation of the very first time that i was on msnbc. i was on with you. you're my first friend i made here at msnbc. i'm sitting in the same position. i love and adore you. >> love and respect. thank you so much. such good luck with this book. we'll see you on tv next weekend again. >> yeah. >> the book for all of you "the man who sold america trump and the unraveling of the american story is available now ♪ . >> why the president made ice raids to public ahead. sident ma raids to public ahead. hmm. exactly.

liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. nice. but, uh... what's up with your... partner? not again. limu that's your reflection. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪

developing this hour, massive immigration raids of undoumted family members underway. ice targeting at least 2000 people with orders across the country. joining me now former chief of staff at ice. john, talk about the protocol here for ice. walk us through what exactly happens in operations like this. >> sure. thank you for having me, first. but i think in a nutshell when you see these operations that are launched, a lot of preparation has taken place days and weeks ahead of time. the agency typically identifies individuals who have had final orders of removal issues ordered by the judge and they try to

identify their place of work, their residence in preparation of the actual operation. the days of it's typically early in the morning and that's when individuals are typically least expecting the situation, and it's usually safest for the officers as well. that's why they come in late at night or early in the morning to detain the individuals. >> is anything about this one today typical? there's full on advertising that it's going to be happening. there are no search warrants. so we were seeing gadi schwartz show red small cards that say anything and everything that an immigrant might have and just open the door, give the card, shut the door. how effective are these expected to be? >> sure. i can tell you nothing about what's been happening under the leadership of this president is typical. we never saw president obama tweet in advance that an ice operation was shortly underway

because it does one of two things. it either alerts the target who is either going to flee or they're going to prepare themselves for the potential encounter. and then it cuts officer's lives in danger. >> right. >> it's nonsensical that a president would be putting officer's safety at risk, and also the targets' safety at risk. it's not a good combination. >> there's two questions quickly. what are ice agents think about this by this description, and how effective do you expect the operation to be? >> i think there's a couple things going on. you have a number of officers supportive of the operation because they see things black and white, but you have a good number of officers saying i didn't sign up to go in and peck up babies in diapers and put them in a squad car with a car seat. i signed up to go after ms-13, anyone with affiliations. that's who they signed up and honorably serve this nation in

efforts to keep our streets safe. the ones that are really frustrated i can tell you i've spoken to them firsthand. they're discouraged. there's a real low morale going on right now, because they see a president who is politicizing the agency and the work they do nobly in a way they've never seen before. it's really discouraging, and in the end, all he's doing is pandering to his base by demeanizing immigrants and using ice as the political punching bag. >> i appreciate your candor and particularly in your role as being the former chief of staff at ice. thank you. >> thank you. what's worse in the world of party politics? the president versus republicans or house speaker pelosi versus the squad? we have some answers to that next. inally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

(v...especially when your easily distracted teenager has the car. the worst... at subaru, we're taking on distracted driving [ping] with sensors that alert you when your eyes are off the road.

the all-new subaru forester. the safest forester ever. new inside into both parties embroiled in internal fights spilling into the public. the feud between nancy pelosi is forcing democrats the take sides and republicans are wrestling with the washington post excerpts from gna new book that has paul ryan blasting president trump revealing how he really viewed him all along.

felipe is a co-host of the pod cast. this whole back and forth between pelosi and the squad. pelosi is escalating attacks and aoc selecting that pelosi is singling out women of color. are both sides in a lose-lose? >> they are. i remember the book everything i need to know i learned in kindergart kindergarten. to me it's everything i need to know i learned from the movie the godfather. the don tells his son saying don't let anyone outside the family know what you're thinking. i've been on the receiving end and the giving end of maureen dodd. she's not part of democratic

family. she's reveling in the fact we're talking about a column she wrote over nancy pelosi. she should not have made those comments no matter what she meant. they have to help each other help themselves. the speaker has a higher responsibility given her job and her experience. i don't agree with congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez on much i ied logically. she did not participate in the e effort to prevent the spesent t from taking the gavel back. she's taken her committee assignments very seriously. when hillary clinton joined she made a real attempt to work with people, to understand her roles and assignments. alexandria ocasio-cortez just

worked with ted cruz. she's trying to do the thing -- i think every one needs to stow it but speaker pelosi has to lead by example. >> all right. susan, he mentioned maureen dodd. let's throw up part of the column. is all this playing into republican hands? why is it that the president defended pelosi several days ago? >> who knows why the president does certain things. he thought he could make some point along the line with it. my father used to tell me, obedience, i can demand. respect i must earn. donald trump can require obedience because he can threaten a primary challenge. nancy pelosi on the other hand has gotten to where she is and won this speakership fight because she is widely respected by her conference. there is something very true in what she said, the squad is four votes. this is about legislation and

governance. she knows how to count votes and mover forward. these women who, by the way the president called out today and it was atrocious and wrong, they are still trying to fight on the outside instead of trying to move their agenda forward and knowing they represent their whole entire district and not their own. >> i talked with joy reid about that. we'll get to that in the next hour. with regard to aoc as we focus on her, alexi revealing this earlier today. take a listen. >> we have a new poll that i think is fascinating. it's with the most conseque consequentiala swing voters. they went to trump in droves. 74% of those folks said they recognize aoc. only 22% have a favorable view of her. that presents a clear problem for democrats. when swing voters are telling

them we know and extremely dislike socialism and we don't want a party that stands for that. >> axios got the details on the poll but they do not name the group. the report saying the numbers are being circulated by democrats. what do you think is the back story? >> i think some panic might be too strong a word but real concern about doing what barack obama has warned them against which is forming a circular firing squad. in a normal political environment, if you have intra-party squabbling, it's part of politics but as elenore roosevelt said this is no ordinary time. we must get this menace out of office. anything that democrats do to squabble among themselves and make that harder to happen is detrimental. the squad as they are called are

extraordinarily unpopular. that's partly as a result of the gop painting a target on their back. they are doing to aoc what they used to do to pelosi. turning her into a cruella deville. what is amazing is how high their name recognition is. republicans and the press have gotten these folks to be really well known. it will present a problem for whomever the democratic nominee is. they will be talking about this all the way to the election and it will be hurting democrats all the way to the election. >> i'm so out of time. felipe, i want to give you last word on this. >> they did try to make nancy pelosi the boogey man. i don't think we should be too worried about what the republicans do because they will never give us a hand in winning. they didn't win with pelosi. too she's now the speaker of the

house. i don't think aoc plays into the hands of calling us socialist or communists. so does bernie sanders. i don't think if she were to leave congress tomorrow, this is something the republicans will give up any more than calling joe biden old or sick. this is just their play book. they don't need us to help them with character. it might be annoying circular family session that's being played out in the newspaper but we're too feckless to have circular firing squads. >> all right. i'm sure my viewers are disappointed we can't continue the conversation. thank you. another series of tweets when the president triggers controversy. we have reaction next. controversy. we have reaction next. a test. and i...was... shocked. i'm from cameroon, congo, and...the bantu people. new features. greater details. richer stories. get your dna kit today at ancestry.com.

♪ ♪ award winning interface. award winning design. award winning engine. the volvo xc90. the most awarded luxury suv of the century. the volvo xc90. there's brushing and there's oral-b power brushing. oral-b just cleans better. it's the one inspired by dentists... with the round brush head. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gumline... for cleaner teeth and healthier gums. oral-b. brush like a pro.

my bladder leak underwear.orried someone might see so, i switched. to always discreet boutique. its shape-hugging threads smooth out the back. so it fits better than depend. and no one notices. always discreet. 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.

next, new trump tweets tarting the squad and telling them where to go. fire and ice. day of the raids and the fire storm over there. >> this is not legal consistent enforcement. >> it's not about giving people who are security risks deported. it's about scaring every one in the country. >> we have your back. you are not alone. a head to head headache for the president. the new poll that could have him in denial or enrage. good day. welcome to weekends with alex witt. we're a little late so let's get

into it right now beginning with the president's tweet targeting freshmen women. they come as i.c.e. raids are under way targeting 2,000 undocumented family members. the president writing progressive democratic congresswomen who originally came from countries whose governments are a complete and total ka at the trcatastrophe, they go back and fix the crime infested places from which they came. good day. we had the president invoking speaker pelosi in his tweets. aoc is tweeting in response. it's yours. >> reporter: we are a response. she's directly responded to president trump's tweet saying mr. president the dcountry i coe from and the country we all swear to is the united states of america. given how you detroyed our boerks border, it benefits you. you're right about the

corruption laid at your feet. this president accused congresswomen of going back to the countries where they came from. the only immigrant in the squad if that is what the refpresiden was referring to is omar who immigrated here legally. you seen various presidential kant candidates respond. here is what pelosi said earlier. he should work with us for humane immigration policy that reflects american values. stop the raids. as this was happening this morning, we did hear from a senior house democrat. here is what he had to say. >> that's the first i'm hearing of that. that's a racist tweet. telling people to go back where they dacame from. these are american steps elected by voters in the united states of america to serve in one of the most distinguished bodies in the house of u.s.

representatives. i think that's wrong and with all that's going on across america. for the president to spend time saying such racist things. >> reporter: the president has tried to mix it up a little in this debate between those four freshmen member congress and nancy pelosi. on the south lawn he said he didn't think pelosi was being treated with respect. he said nancy pelosi was not a racist. the president does like mixing it up in this internal fight in the democratic party. just real quickly on those raids that the president talked about. those enforcement actions on friday, the white house has been stunningly silent in the last 48 hours about what's happening there. all the folks on the sunday talk shows weren't talking about it for operational security. we are trying to ascertain with whether that was an empty threat by the president or this is actually going to happen. >> we're going to get some more on that right now. thank you for that. let's go to nbc news in los

angeles. the big question is raising there, how much are these happening. i know earlier it seemed relatively quiet in l.a. >> reporter: yeah and we never really seen raids like this announced ahead of time and put out there for the targets of these raids to know. from here we haven't seen very much. we have been posting up over by that sally port. we have seen one white van that looked like tonighted out window koms a -- tinted out windows come and go. we know in new york it appears some of the raids in new york that may have been targeting some of these families may not have been successful because the agents that were trying to carry those out were turned away. when people wonder what that looks like when agents, i.c.e. agents are turned away, we have some video of that from back in 2017 where we went on a ride

along with one of these enforce m and removal operations team. you can see there you've got the agents around there and all of a sudden this red card comes out and the agent stood down. we come back out here live. these red cars in the last two years have been printed out and distributed all over the place. they have flyers and pamphlets out. i'm going to read this red card to you here. it's in spanish on this side and english that says i do not wish to speak to you, sign or hand you any documents based on my fifth amendment right. i do not give you permission to enter my home by my fourth amendment rights. i do not give you permission to ser search any of my belongings. these are asserting their right

heers hee s here. you see the agents falling back. they will not violate anybody's rights. they will not go into a house without a search warrant. when it comes to apprehended people and detaining people they feel they have the authority to do so on the street or if they have the permission of a business to go in and detain them at their place of work. >> the red cards have been print into the thousands. thank you so much for that. joining me now is reporter for the daily beast. welcome to you. the operations happen on a regular basis. why did the president decide to make this one so public in an announcement? >> because his political strategy is to be seen as being tough. it's not really about accomplishing the objective. this is the president who is making immigration and nativism

n more broadly the foundation of his election appeal. the economy is slowing down. that's why he's pressuring the fed to cut rates. with that as an uncertain asset he is trying to rouse his base. that is white voters, non-college white voters around issues of immigration, border control, the idea of lawlessness. that's why he sent the tweet about the freshman democratic members of congress and why he's making public the idea that his administration will carry out raids of this kind. >> are you hearing anything about the validity of these? if they are happening, are they under way? you heard hans saying the white house is stunningly silent on this. >> i don't have any new reporting. i've reached out to dhs sources and haven't gotten details about

what's happening in this hour. these raids have commenced. as has been pointed out many times now, it would be very unusual for hds to confirm that a particular raid or action was going on while it was going on. that's why it was so much frustration with the president talking about the raids because it makes it harder for i.c.e. to find and arrest the people who they are looking to arrest. that's the irony of the president's comments about these raids is that making it public is sort of self-defeating. >> potentially putting these i.c.e. agents in harms way. there's a concern about that. i want to get your reaction to the president's tweets calling out the democratic progressive women there, the squad. >> the nativism i mentioned a

moment ago. the idea, we remember the president's comments in the oval office in his first term about s-hole countries and derogating where people had come from and discussing that as a foreign policy matter and immigration matter. now to suggest that these women of color come from countries incapable of governing themselves. that plays into the appeal to those voters who fear the united states is changing and they have rallied to president trump and the republican party in response to that. he's trying to maximize that feeling as much as possible. democrats have a larger base than republicans do. the question is can the president super charge his base to overcome those mid-40s approval ratings and win with a smaller number than presidents usually win with. >> is this just about playing to the president's base.

could this backfire on him? >> i don't know this is particularly strategic. sometimes we tend to assume the president is playing 3-d chess or he has his twitter goals planned out really clearly. just from scrolling through his feed it seemed to be quite erratic and if it had been scripted the scripting would be really poor. he retweeted upwards of more than a dozen sort of random tweets from assorted random people from the internet saying nice things about him. this didn't seem like it was run out of any sort of political strategy shop. that said, the president has rose to political success and got elected by using the same message that he's using now. the comment he's made about these members of congress are in character especially if you remember it wasn't so long ago he was calling to ban any muslims from entering the united states. this is not a break from pattern

for the president. >> if i could just clarify, i don't think this is any kind of 3-d chess. this is who the president is. this is his visceral impulses and the impumlses he's playing o with his supporters in the country. it doesn't require any terrific level of strategizing. this is what he feels. it's propelled him throughout his campaign in 2015, '16 and since then. >> we have a reflection of what representative omar feels about this. she's just put out this tweet that reads as members of congress, the only country we swear an oath to is the yiunite states which is why we're fite fighting to protect it from the worst, most inept president we have ever seen. there's a reaction right there. i want to get to this new poll. the new nbc poll showing the president trailing biden, warren and sanders in hypothetical

match ups. biden holds the largest lead. what's your read on this and then to you betsy in. >> you asked betsy earlier if there's a potential cost to the president in projecting the nativism that i alludesed to. the president's behavior has made him unpopular. he's in a weak position against any of the leading democratic contenders. that's why he's got to skew the turn out so heavily on his side to overcome his broader unpopularity within the country. he is the least popular president, newly elected president in american history. we see that in these numbers. that's why even saby bernie sanders is leading him. >> biden has gotten a new lease on life from these numbers. after the last democrat poll there were grave concerns in the donor community that he was on thin ice. the fact that he has the largest lead over trump in this poll or

he's the only candidate to break -- to get above 50% is something him and his fund raisers will show to donors and use to try to reinvigorate the folks who may have had their confidence flagged over the last couple of weeks. >> thank you so much. now to tropical storm berry dumping life threatening rains. flash flood rains are in effect. the national guard is moving in now no help control the flow of flood waters. the coast guard has released video of helicopters carrying out water rescues after the levees overflowed there. the area is expected to dump rain on the region for two more days. let's go again to louisiana. things look a little better than before but a very saturated ground. what are officials doing to try to contain the flood waters?

>> reporter: a lot of national guard presence here along highway 23. the only way in and the only way out. to answer that question, let's go straight to state representative here. alex's question is what are officials doing to get this community back on the ground? >> the officials are working very well together. the road never really closed. we've had access all along. people are going back to their normal lives. back to the southern end. >> reporter: alex was notice things look a little better. what are some of the challenges that you guys are still facing for people to go back home? >> some of challenges would be electricity. one of the things i wanted to show you was since katrina, we've had these large utility lines installed. we have increased the capacity of electricity to the southern end of the parish. we have shortened time when we

do lose power to when the power comes up. we have gotten better. we have raised the road about 21 inches and that allowed us access, uninterrupted to the southern end of the parish. >> five levees were breached in this community. what more can be done? >> we're going to work hard to expedite the last two sectors in this area to bring the whole levee system together and figure out with the help of the corps, the federal sponsor, to see what's missing the get this done quickly so we're not in this situation again. >> thank you so much for your time. a lot of people breathing a sigh of relief but lessons learned for future storms here in the area. >> absolutely. always an uphill battle to battle mother nature. thank you so much. there's a new poll out today about aoc and why top democrats are circulating that poll, next. are circulating that poll, next. we're oscar mayer deli fresh and you may know us from...

your very first sandwich, your mammoth masterpiece. and...whatever this was. because we make our meat with the good of the deli and no artificial preservatives. make every sandwich count with oscar mayer deli fresh. some big news from mr. clean. stop struggling to clean tough messes with sprays. try new clean freak! it has three times the cleaning power of the leading spray to dissolve kitchen grease on contact. and it's great for bathrooms! just keep pumping the power nozzle to release a continuous burst of mist

and make quick work of big jobs. it even works on stainless steel. it cuts through 100% of dirt, grease and grime. available with easy-to-swap refills. to get three times the cleaning power, try new clean freak from mr. clean.

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.

a jet blue airliner taking off from newark airport was diverted because of fumes on board. passengers and crew suffered dizziness and vomiting. it will continue on a different aircraft. democrats circulating a poll showing that alexandria ocasio-cortez has become a defining face for the party among some crucial swill swing

voters. according to axios, she was recognized by 74% of voters tak. only 22% had a favorable view of her. axios said these are the white non-college voters who embrace donald trump in 2016 but needed by democrats in swing house districts. axios is noting the group shared the poll on the conditions that it not be named. congressman, thank you for joining me. can you confirm this poll that's been circulating amid your party? have you seen it? is this surprising? >> i haven't seen it. just now is the first i've heard of it. look, i'd make the following observation of much of what is being talked about regarding both not just aoc but all four

of the members that are written about. i serve on the financial services committee and on financial services is not only aoc but presley and talib. they are smart and serious and committed and care about this country and their future. the truth of the matter is it's not where the average rank and file member lives or works. i spent the week working hard to get the import bank authorized because it has really good paying jobs. that's where the average rank and file member lives that work the day to work member of being the house. not these water cooler conversations. >> we thank you for doing that kind of work.

regarding this poll it shows that socialism viewed unfavorably by 69% of voters. the democrats are sounding the alarm that swing voters know and dislike socialism warning it could cost them the house and the presidency. do you agree? do you think it's being used as sort of a warning? >> what i think is there's a pel shaped curve of points of view reflected in the 435 districts throughout america. no two are exactly alike. i presume that any member who gets elected to the united states house of representatives is a reflection of the point of view of that district and there are lots of points of view throughout this country. the particularly district that i have the privilege to represent, the 10th congressional district of washington state actually believes in a market based committee with good government rails and side rails on what can be allowed to happen in an assurance of decent social net

don't cause anybody to pay too great a price. that's what i think is the case throughout this country which is wonderfully diverse. >> this poll that we're talking about was taken before house speaker pelosi back and forth with the aoc and the members of the squad, the three of whom you work with on the financial services committee and it was about pelosi first publicizing and criticizing the lawmakers over their votes in the border package. aoc said she singled out newly elected women of color. what do you make of all this? is there a clear divide here in the party? what is your message to your colleagues on either side of these issues? >> the most enduring wisdom in american politics was often quoted or originally coined by that great satirist, humorist will rogers who said i'm not a

member of any organized political party, i'm a democrat. we're a big tent party. there are lots of points of views in it. let's talk about the border for a moment. i'm going to go out on a limb. i tend to not want to talk in exaggerated terms but i'm going to say it now. if democrats avoid forming a circular firing squad and we're perfectly capable of it, donald trump will be defeated in november of 2020 on the basis of how he has treated children in those detention camps along our boarder. he will be defeated over there. this not just rubs against the moral grain of america, it violently rubs against the grain of america. america americans believe children deserve a roof and a bar of soap and towels and a pillow and a

blanket. >> people have said the exact same thing you're said now and said avoii iavoiding circular f squad is the only way to beat him. last question. i know with regard to robert mueller's upcoming testimony before your committee, it's hearing been pushed back a week now to july 24th. why? what was behind that? >> that's nothing burger. the truth of the matter is they were working out the amount of time we would be provided to each committee. director mueller agreed to two hours for both committees. two hours for the intelligence committee because it's smaller. enabled each member our usual and kcustomary practice to ask five minutes of question. the judiciary committee is larger, it did not provide the mat opportunity. it required a longer hearing.

>> it's never a nothing burger when we're talking to you no matter what the subject. thank you so much. joy reid told me last hour about what the president tweeted this morning. about what the president tweeted is morning - when you're volunteering, you never hear "it's not my job." that's because right where you live, there's a need for your time and skills and effort and talent. please consider volunteering and feeling that feeling that you helped someone today. ♪ ♪

award winning interface. award winning design. award winning engine. the volvo xc90. the most awarded luxury suv of the century. ♪ the volvo xc90. 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, breast feeding, 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 number-one prescribed, fda-approved oral combination treatment for hr+/her2- mbc.

that's the first i'm hearing of that. that's a racist tweet. telling people to go back where they came from, these are american citizens elected by voters in the united states of america to serve in one of the most distinguished bodies in the u.s. house of representatives. >> live reaction to the president's tweets this morning. he tells progressive congresswomen to help fix the crime infested countries that i mean came from and come back and show us how it's done. then adds you can't leave fast enough. three of the four he's referring to were born in the u.s. all of them are u.s. citizens. let's get into this first with you, rick. you're the republican here. i'm going to give you the first word. what do you make of this? >> well, the president couldn't

stand the fact that people were talking about nancy pelosi being a racist to which defended her, as did i. went onto demonstrate what a real racist sounds like and shows it goes hand in hand with ignorance. that's where we are. it's a sad state of fairs whaffn the president of the united states will use race in a way that divides the country and then be ignorant about who these people are. three of them were born in the united states. they all speak english better than the president does and all u.s. citizens and duly elected representatives to the house. i doin i don't agree with their philosophy but they have a right to be there and say what they want. >> is there a political calculation here? >> the president signalled this is a base race meaning he will motivate his base to vote for him. that's what he thinks will win.

he's not going to reach out toward the middle at all. he's not demonstrated for a single minute he can reach anybody in the middle any way. what's going to happen is he will use this hundred plus million dollars to smear whoever it is that gets the democratic nomination. he's hoping that will be enough that he can win the electoral college but lose the popular vote. >> the director of communications who says that the president told members of congress to go back to where they came from is lying. he told them to come back and show how it's done. what we're reporting is the whole thing he said. >> don't believe your eyes and ears. >> i want to play what my colleague joy reid said about this. take a listen. >> it's birtherism 2.0. it's racist. what he's saying is these brown and black women are not american

to him even though pressley was born in ohio. alexandria ocasio-cortez was born in the bronx. one of them is a former refugee but the other three are american citizens. he's doing to them what he used to do to barack obama. you're not memamerican to me. >> do you agree with that? >> there's nothing to disagree with. as the kids say on the internet, find the lie. my shirt is white. the president is a white supremis supremists, the president is racist. it would be silly to say that all republicans are racist but all the racists are republicans. this is who the president is talking to. i agree with rick. this is the president going into campaign mode to gin up his base. he's going to play the nationalist card. he's going to play the white supremists card. it's really ugly. this president said that to me, maga, make america great again.

america for the americans. americans are whites. i worn my white sisters, you doipts want any parts of that because next they are coming for you as well. the white women, 52% voted for trump. these folks are not with you as well. the white isssupremists patriar is real. >> as long as we're talking about this issue, it has to be said that aoc stepped in it when she talked about a nancy pelosi and put a spin on it. she later walked it back. the implication being she was talking about women of color. the four women that self-identify as the squad. how damaging is that? >> i think first of all, i think this feuds between pelosi and the squad is a little bit manufactured. there's disagreements within the democratic caucus just like

there's been disagreements within the republican caucus. i think that's gone a little too far. i think that aoc appropriately walked that statement back. she shouldn't have said it. she went too far. i want to say something really quickly about donald trump i's tweets. if a fortune 100 company executive, a chairman of the board, whatever you have it said those tweets, tweeted those things, they would be fired. immediately. >> gone. >> there's nothing we can do because there's not a board of directors who can fire president trump for these tweets. >> we can vote. >> exactly. you can vote the ballot box in 2020. there's no recourse immediately. the fact he's able to go out there time and time again and do this and he gets us to talk about it on television which means he's messaging to his base

and getting what he wants. if he's only trying to get his base to turn out in this election cycle, he's going to lose. his base represents about 33 to 34% of the electorate. he has to expand his base. >> i got to disagree. we're generally on the same side. for the three of these who feel like these are vile, there are million who is are cheering him on but there are millions who have decided that racism and bigotry are not deal breakers. that's where the soul of the republican party will have to ask themselves what do we stand for as americans. i feel that right now donald trump wins. even though he's doing everything we can to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, his rating is as good as it's ever been. i think there will be millions of moderate republican who is will say i can't vote for a democrat and have to ask themselves if they will want to vote for this president. that's what scares me. i hate to disagree with you but that's what really worries me.

>> you're talk about voters. does it present a challenge to republican lawmakers? are they going to have to debate whether or not they speak up or have they decided to give the president a pass on this kind of talk? >> the president has been given a pass since the inauguration day. the republicans will never -- they will never speak up. justin amash was the last one. good for him. it was a bold move. a little too late. it's not going to happen. the republican party is no longer really exist. the republican party used to be a conservative party. nobody knows what conservativism means anymore. it's a trump party. it doesn't have a coherent governing philosophy. it's whatever trump says. you can see that where the pull back on iran. all the supporters say what a courageous move.

if he decided to go ahead and strike, they would say the opposite. they are for whatever his policy is, period. >> last word to you. can democrats do more to hold the president accountable for these skienkinds of comments? >> i think we're doing the best we can. we're highlighting the bigotry, racism, sexism in these tweets. the ultimate recourse is at the ballot box in 2020. >> that was quick. good job. >> i was following your lead. >> thank you. good to see you all. thank you so much. closer look at how the presidential race is shaping up. what a new poll is saying about between a match up between trump and the top democrats. trump and the top democrats. with fidelity wealth management you get straightforward advice, tailored recommendations, tax-efficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. fidelity wealth management.

times change. eyes haven't. that's why we created new ocuvite eye performance. between screen light... sunlight... and our always-on world... eyes have never been more stressed! ocuvite delivers nutrients that can help strengthen your eye's natural protective filter. and with new ocuvite eye performance you get 7 protective nutrients vital for today's eyes. because in this day and age nourishing your eyes has never been more important. ocuvite eye vitamins. eye nutrition for today. but i can tell you liberty mutual customized my ocuvite eye vitamins. car insurance so i only pay for what i need. oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no... only pay for what you need. liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

(v...especially when your easily distracted teenager has the car. the worst... at subaru, we're taking on distracted driving [ping] with sensors that alert you when your eyes are off the road. the all-new subaru forester. the safest forester ever.

new polling today by nbc news in the race for the white house. the president trails joe biden by nine points among likely voters. bernie sanders and e llizabeth warren would beat the president. kamala harris edging the president by one point. harris in new hampshire while ten others at an event in iowa. you're at this event. talk about that crowd behind

you. >> reporter: here in new hampshire it's usually a battle over who can plan their campaign events with the best backdrops. this is pretty good. we're up here at a house party. this is senator harris first campaign of the day. she's coming here right after joe biden was in town yesterday. joe biden, who i was with on the campaign trail yesterday said that in this race, you got to remember he was back legislating back before a lot of these folks were either born or when they were back in elementary school. you'll probably hear kamala harris continue to draw the contrast from her career and calling into question joe biden's record. i want to bring in two friends that we met here. you guys live just outside of town. you were telling me the top were jay inslee, joe biden and kamala harris. when looking at biden and

harris, what are you looking for between those two? >> it's still early on. that's why i'm here. i want to hear her platforms. that's why i'm here. i think she's brilliant. i think she would stack up well against president trump. she's a prosecutor by training. she is poke holes in the arguments that don't make sense that he's saying right now in the white house. i'm ready for a woman to be president. >> very good. kamala harris is about to address this crowd in a few moments. >> thank you for that. we appreciate the opinions. take it away with regard to what's happening at the fifth annual progress iowa corn feed. >> reporter: this is essentially a fund raid-raiser for a local progressive group. you'll have only 1 1 candidates speaking. they will only get about ten minutes on stage. there's music going on.

i'll show you some of the booths. there's ten candidates speaking. you see booths from candidates who are even not here to speak. the voters here, many of them are interacting with the candidates for the very first time. listen to what they their priority is when i had conversations with them a little while ago. >> i want somebody who can beat trump. that's most important to me. i want somebody who is not as nasty and egotistical and obnoxious as our current president is. >> reporter: that's something you hear from so many voters here. they say one, it's so early. they are going to wait to make a decision. number two, they want to meet these candidates. there's a lot of candidates they have to meet. 11 candidates are going to be here today. alex. >> sunday in cedar rapids. thank you very much. it's been 20 years since the

plane crash that killed john t. kennedy junior. we speak to one author about the kennedy legacy and how it changed after that crash. and h changed after that crash (announcer) important message for women and men ages 50 to 85. right now, in areas like yours, people have already called about life insurance through the colonial penn program and received their free beneficiary planner. have you received your free planner? if not, i encourage you to pick up the phone and take advantage of this free offer. in addition to your free beneficiary planner,

you'll also receive free information on affordable whole life insurance that has a lifetime rate lock that guarantees your rate can never increase for any reason. if you did not receive your free beneficiary planner, call this number now. please stand by to learn more. i'm alex trebek, here to tell you about a popular life insurance plan with a rate lock that locks in your rate for life so it can never increase. did you get your free information kit? if not, please call this number now. this affordable plan through the colonial penn program has coverage options for just $9.95 a month. your rate is locked in and can never go up, and your acceptance is guaranteed with no health questions. see how much coverage you can get for just $9.95 a month. call now for your free information kit.

not this john smith. or this john smith. or any of the other hundreds of john smiths that are humana medicare advantage members. no, it's this john smith. who we paired with a humana team member to help address his own specific health needs. at humana, we take a personal approach to your health, to provide care that's just as unique as you are. no matter what your name is. ♪ this tuesday, 20 years since

the tragic death of john f. kennedy jr. he, of course, died in that small plane crash off of martha's vineyard on july 16th. his mother and sister were also killed in that crash. "the new york times" best-sell author j. handy taraborrelli is joining me, author of "the kennedy heirs." i've told you show great this book is, but talk about john's death and how it affects the kennedy dynasty. what does it mean for that? >> well, thanks for having me on your show, alex. you know, john's death, it struck the family in such a deep way, because john was really sort of the heart and soul of the kennedy family. you know, in "the kennedy heirs," i wrote that all the boys in the family were raised basically to be presidents, but john was the only son of president kennedy, you know. so, the eyes were really on him

to take the dynasty on to the next level. so, from that aspect, his death was sad, but also from a personal aspect, he was so loved in the family. you know, jackie's only son. i mean, to this day, alex, i think that we still cannot believe that john kennedy jr. is gone, and it will be 20 years at the end of this week. >> that is pretty shocking. tell us about the person that he was and how he lived his life. i mean, yes, he grew up in the public eye, but there's got to be a behind-the-scenes. >> well, you know, the interesting thing about john is everybody told me that, you know, he was so down to earth and so affable and not at all affected by his celebrity and the distinction of the kennedy name. when i met john back in the 1990s, you know, he just -- he would never refer to himself as john john, first of all. that was never going to happen. he called himself john kennedy,

not even john kennedy jr. you know, he introduced himself, "i'm john kennedy." he had a great sense of mist. history. he was very passionate about george magazine. and many of the people i talked to felt that george magazine was going to be sort of his entree into politics, that he was sort of tippy-toeing his way into the political arena by publishing "george" magazine, which was sort of a political personality publication. >> yeah. you know, i love what you wrote, too, about how when he was named "people" magazine's sexiest man alive, he was like, okay, whatever, sort of put that off. other people, that would be the first thing on their epitaph, right? but before we go, i want to ask you about ethel kennedy having advice, carolyn bisset, his wife, not to take the trip. what was behind that. >> what was behind that is briefly, carolyn didn't want to go. it was john's cousin's wedding and carolyn was not in a place at that time, as i explain in the book.

she didn't feel like she wanted to go and john thought if she was going to beg off, she should call ethel kennedy, matriarch of the bride and explain that she didn't want to go. and much to everybody's surprise was ethel kennedy's view was, fine, you don't have to go. not every kennedy, ethel said, has to be at every function. so ethel advised carolyn to be true to herself and not go to the wedding. john changed carolyn's mind, and she went, and then we all know what happened. and ethel kennedy was always left wondering why she got on that plane. >> yeah. well, it was probably something between john and carolyn. but listen, i said it's a great book. it's a thick book. i'm not all the way through it yet, but i promise i'll finish it within a couple more days. it's really good. thank you, j. handy taraborrelli for joining us. it's "the kennedy heirs." twitter rant, the president with a series of new racially charged tweets, railing against specific progressive women in congress. new reaction to that next. essiv congress

nerew action to that next. think all premium fuels are the same? new shell v-power nitro+ premium gasoline is engineered with four levels of defense against gunk, wear, corrosion and friction. that helps keep your engine running like new. so, maybe it's time to unthink what you think you think about premium fuel. shell v-power nitro+ premium gasoline... it's fuel for thought. i had no idea why my mouth was constantly dry. it gave me bad breath. it was so embarrassing. now i take new biotene dry mouth lozenges whenever i'm on the go, which is all the time. new biotene dry mouth lozenges. freshen breath anytime, anywhere.

♪ ♪ award winning interface. award winning design. award winning engine. the volvo xc90. the most awarded luxury suv of the century.

that's a wrap for me here on "weekends with alex witt." my colleague, kendis gibson, is ready to continue the coverage right now, and i see you've got cal with you as well. >> very happy to have cal perry with me. busy hour ahead, alex. >> for sure. >> enjoy the rest of your sunday. we start with this, deportation raids right now. i.c.e. raids are currently under way in ten major cities across the country for undocumented immigrants. and we're now learning that the