weekend. i'll see you right back here now the plug is pulled. didn't you vet this? tonight for "the last word" at why didn't you know this? what happened between then and now? >> well, the presidentf showed the president apparently responded well, the vetting so 10 p.m. and you can now watch or listen process to me is the press. the tweet to the audience is blaming the quote/unquote >> it's sort of par for the on sir yis xm radio and tunein, course for the trump administration at this point, lamestream media news over two years in, that the coverage could possibly do to vetting process for this msnbc.com/now and apple tv. and as always, twitter, representative ratcliffe during administration at the highest a testy nomination process. levels even from the intelligence community has been but the president has been a fraught mess. that's sadly the reality the facebook, instagram. absorbing coverage of this for have a great weekend. the past 24 hours and several "deadline: white house" with president of the united states is not only living with but nicolle wallace starts right days before that and he's now. actively operating. when it comes to all of the hi, everyone, it's 4:00 in noticed it hasn't just been the media and democrats that have discussions that occurred over new york. i'm steve kornacki in for been laying into ratcliffe and the last few days is this guy right or is he even fit for this nicolle wallace. his supposed shortcomings or we start with some breaking very important intelligence lack of qualifications on his news. following days of bipartisan post, even for something as resume, it's been republicans as scrutiny, another failure for well. there has not been this fundamentally important as this, the ever-chaotic white house when it comes to the 45th vetting process. outpouring of warmth or support president of the united states, donald trump's embattled pick or love for ratcliffe from the top qualification for an for director of national intelligence, congressman john republicans on capitol hill, audition or a job interview for ratcliffe, is now withdrawing including from reliable trump his nomination. allies on this issue. and the president of the united that announcement after the states, our sources are telling president spent the better part us at the daily beast, have trump is fuel to president of his week fighting off taken note of that and it legitimate questions about the seriously contributed to him donald trump and did ratcliffe

pulling this nomination. whatever he did or allegedly did congressman's lack of experience, his padded resume >> so paul, get into that. and partisanship, not exactly this was a position that needed fit that qualification? and the vetting and scrambling came after. confirmation in the senate. again, this is absolutely not republicans had 53. the first time something like desired characteristic for the that means it doesn't take that this has happened in a bungling, many republicans defecting to sort of humiliating fashion nation's top intelligence job. here was the announcement a kill a nomination. playing out in public for this is that what was going to happen president. short while ago on twitter -- it's how he does business as leader of the free world. our great republican congressman here? >> john mansion told us and he's >> so i mentioned the president john ratcliffe is being treated the most mod rift, centrist talking with the press there on the south lawn of the white very unfairly by the lamestream democrat, he said right away he house a few minutes ago. again, we're trying to get the media. was voting no, i didn't think he i explained to john how had the right qualifications. tape turned around and the miserable it would be for him comments he made about the and his family to deal with that means you're looking at a vetting process. pool of 53 republicans. you see that was him approaching these people. john has, therefore, decided to the press just a couple minutes there was almost nobody creating stay in congress where he has any echo chamber of support. ago. paul, people are always asking done such an outstanding job todd young, who served in the too i think dynamics among representing the people of texas house four years with ratcliffe, republicans in the senate about who these two know well, todd where they draw the line and are be announcing my young asked by one of my nomination for dni shortly. colleagues about him said, i willing to say -- to come up against this administration on don't know him. something. this, of course a big reversal if that's the kind of support do you agree with what david from what the president had said you're going to get, that shows jolly was saying, this this you where the nomination was piece about the terrorism, the about ratcliffe just 24 hours headed in the senate. >> we have two former republican claimed terrorism background was ago. members. did you know him? the line for them? >> congressman ratcliffe is an or would there have been trouble outstanding man and i'm sure he >> no, i served with him, came will be able to do very well. in with him, his office was no matter what? >> david's right. i think he's just outstanding. that was a very big point. right across from mine. highly respected that everybody i like him. he's hard working and smart. but also they were replacing a that knows him. i would add, the political >> the president actually just a good friend of theirs -- dynamic is this, i think, you

few seconds ago finished talking >> we have to interrupt you. have your mueller hearings in we have the tape and he's with reporters on the south lawn the house. of the white house. this nomination, if it goes to starting. here we go. we're going to bring you those the senate, just brings that >> congressman ratcliffe was comments. he did get into this subject of entire -- it's like an entree being treated very unfairly. for senate democrats to play i was reading the press and i john ratcliffe quite a bit. we will bring you those comments think i am a student of the when we can. whack-a-mole on the nomination as well. press and i could see the press to john ratcliffe's point or for his part, meanwhile, was hurting him, i felt very tweet, it will be entirely unfairly. he's an outstanding man. ratcliffe, hours before his nomination was on fox news political in the senate if he i asked him, want to go suggesting there may have been a criminal conspiracy surrounding were to go forward with through this for two, three the russia investigation. months or would you want me to maybe do something else? confirmation. >> frank, the other question he wrote this on twitter, quote, i do not wish for a national here too is about this position and he thought about it. itself, director of national i said it's going to be rough. security and intelligence debate intelligence talking through, i can see exactly where the surrounding my confirmation, because i think it has a press was going. however untrue, to become a reputation as being at least in purely political and partisan design a little bit above, a and fake news. he's a fine man. issue. the country we all love deserves little bit separate from the that it be treated as an he's a fine man, and so we normal partisan fray which american issue. means, again, at least in theory here folks looking at this from hadn't started the process, and accordingly, i have asked the president to nominate someone a confirmation standpoint are i thought it's easier before we other than me for this position. looking for somebody who's going to seem a little less political start. but i read things that were just here to bring us all through all than your average nominee. of the details on this at the table with us we have former unfair. and he's just too good. republican congressman from >> steven, for that you're right he doesn't deserve it. pennsylvania, ryan costello. and for that reason, we need to another former republican chalk this up in the win column congressman now an independent, for the american people and david jolly from florida, "the truth and intelligence community. you're right it's a post 9/11 washington post" senior congressional correspondent paul created position to coordinate [ inaudible question ] >> that might be, i like sue

king, former colleague of my at about 17 intelligence agencies and have them all rowing in the gordon. sue gordon is there now. roll call, by the way, along and i like her very much. with white house reporter for i've always liked sue gordon. same direction. the daty beat, and former he sets election priorities, he it could be. it could be. director assistance for speaks truth to the white house we'll make another choice. counterintelligence at the fbi and national security council nomination.zzi. and congress, and so it's crate sue will be -- she's there now and certainly she will be considered for the acting. and that could happen. c we'll probably be talking about a chris c it either later today or next a chris critical position, espe week. do you like sue gordon? when we're under attack, deep threat, broad threats, and we need experience. this was not that guy. i chock this up as a rare win no, i think he was treated very for the right thing being done. the fact republicans were badly, very harshly by the press. he had a decision to make, do looking to stance this you want to go through this? nomination, we need to applaud. >> you mentioned the name here, it could be months. and i said i think i see exactly john ratcliffe was new to a lot what they're trying to do. of folks. nobody understands the press. just in the last couple of but i think i understand them as weeks, announcement for this fom well as anybody. nation and right before that the and i didn't think it was -- question areal robert mueller. hearings certainly caught the attention apparently of the administration in some ways but [ inaudible question ] folks watching that too. no, they didn't. again, this is a tas the specia i think he would have had support but, again, we were very early in the process.

we hadn't even started. so we were very early in the counsel regulations. process. i think he would have had good support, certainly from the republicans. recollectful respectfully by do that, managed to violate the most sacred traditions of prosecutors not >> they were pretty chilly. >> i can't say that. offering prosecutorial analysis. i can tell you democrats were i agree with the chairman when chilly. republicans would have been very he said donald trump's not above good. the law. but a lot of the republicans he's not. didn't know john, but i think he but he damn sure shouldn't be below the law, which is where would have had good recept volume two of this report puts him. >> david jolly, a lot of critics tinkty and tin looking at that said a, that tivety and he was getting that. mounted as an audition for this but i believe he made the right decision. appointment for donald trump and b, called into question the kind of loyalty he had perhaps to donald trump that should be separate for the position. >> i don't think that's what sank him. i served with john ratcliffe. i think he's a capable person. you could have run an [ inaudible question ] organization. [ inaudible question ] frankly, could you have had lindsey graham in exactly that moment and he would have said exactly that same thing. i don't think it's the >> no, you vet for me. partisanship or inexperience i like when you vet. that sank this nomination. you vet. donald trump thrives in that i think the white house has a environment, inexperience, great vetting process. partisan loyalists. you vet for me.

when i give a name, i give it this is about lying on your out to the press, and you vet for me. a lot of times you do a very resume. kudos to those in the media, good job. not always. pete williams, ken littdilaniane i think the -- if you look at it, i mean if you take a look at it, the vetting process for the notion he said he prosecuted white house is very good. terrorists and whether asked to but you're part of the vetting process, you know. i give out a name to the press clarify that it turns out he and they vet for me. investigated juror misconduct in we save a lot of money that way. a terrorist trial, the dynamic but in the case of john, i in washington, paul knows well, really believe he was being congress is out on recess there's five weeks for this treated very harshly and very story to simmer. unfairly. and the one thing the administration and ratcliffe could not defend in a >> there it was again, just a confirmation hearing is a dni few minutes ago. prospect who would lie about took us a few seconds on the prosecuting terrorists. tape. that was the president you can we will know based on whether see continuing to talk to the his bio gets corrected after press. this just after announcing on withdrawing the nomination. twitter the withdrawal of his >> we put up ken dilanian's nominee to be director of national intelligence, john post -- although ratcliffe put ratcliffe. ryan costello, let me just ask terrorists in prison there's no evidence he ever prosecuted a you, you heard him at the end saying what we were paraphrasing terrorism taste. a minute ago, essentially the while he was a u.s. attorney in press is part of the vetting process to him.

east texas, ratcliffe was that's how he's explaining apparently not knowing about some of these controversies appointed a prosecutor against a involving ratcliffe. the president blowing that off group found guilty of funneling as no big deal. to republicans in washington, money to a terror group but his republicans in congress, how do name is not in the trial record. they feel about the vetting we mentionedup, why process right now? >> well, i think that -- to the point paul was making a little earlier, had it proceeded to a senate confirmation process, the next five weeks in what may or may not have been unearthed, who knows where it may have headed. it was probably the right decision, somewhat entertaining. i was waiting for him to say you guys are savages or something along that nature. but you saved money also. >> a lot of these republicans in the senate didn't know john ratcliffe. he said they would have warmed up. but what was your sense of that? >> he would have been replacing their close friend dan coats, former republican senator who they were very, very comfortable

with. felt like coats was a straight shooter. then you give them somebody that they don't know at all, whose background gets a little bit shaky, maybe he inflated his resume and this is to them another mick mulvaney pick. mick mulvaney is the acting white house chief of staff now for eight months and he's pulling in one of his guys from the old house gop caucus for a really sensitive job. mulvaney has done this a few times with other house members that he's tried to throw into important jobs. and there have been at least this is the third one that has blown up with egg on his face. and mulvaney, there's no love loss for him in the senate republican conference. so those things all added up to what was really going to be a tough confirmation. >> frank figliuzzi, you also heard the question there coming up of what's next? who, if not ratcliffe, the name sue gordon. where do you think this goes from here? do you have any sense in what would be a good place for this

to go now? >> well, we saw today just in this clip the president i think starting to change his tune and perhaps soften on sue gordon. we actually heard him say he likes sue gordon. and that's contrary to some of the reporting that we have been hearing. so perhaps people are getting to him and saying this requires a professional. this requires experience. we might actually see him keep sue gordon in place as acting. we will see. it seems to me the wheels are spinning. he's trying to figure this out. he can't take another blow on a bad vetting process publicly and picking an acting with problems, so it might be smart. would it lead to a permanent position? i can say this, i hope we're not going to see another acting -- yet another acting in a very senior central position. this is going to require someone to fill this position on a permanent basis who has the talent. let's hope at least that we see people influencing this

president to get someone with deep experience in the position. >> okay, frank figliuzzi, thank you for joining us. appreciate that. when we come back, ratcliffe may be staying in the house now but there's a sudden exodus among his fellow republicans. another retirement and this one stunned washington and made it clearer than ever the republican party now belongs to donald trump. plus, he didn't call out anyone by name last night but trump certainly letting his crowds know how he feels about several american cities. and are the 2020 candidates running against the wrong president? all of these stories coming up. own little world. especially these days. (dad) i think it's here. (mom vo) especially at this age. (big sister) where are we going? (mom vo) it's a big, beautiful world out there. (little sister) woah... (big sister) wow. see that? (mom vo) sometimes you just need a little help seeing it. (avo) the three-row subaru ascent. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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donald trump's takeover of

the republican party is now nearly absolute. retirements among establishment house republicans have surged in the last ten days and the latest has stunned all of washington. congressman will hurd, the only black republican in the house, former cia officer and at 41 years old, someone who only a few years ago was touted as the future of the republican party. but now he has announced he's leaving congress all together. and hurd joins a growing list of republicans exiting the capital. six in the last two weeks. he represents a swing district in texas. it's a place hillary clinton actually won against donald trump in 2016. and he barely won re-election against that blue wave of 2018. his seat may be very hard for republicans to hang on to now. as long as we're talking about numbers, you can think about this, there are currently 250 republicans in the house and senate combined and as of earlier this week, only five of them represent states or

districts that donald trump did not carry. and with hurd leaving that number will drop to four, meaning virtually every single republican on capitol hill comes from trump country, and almost none from outside of it. joining us at the table, reverend al sharpton, host of "politicsnation" here on msnbc and president of the national action network. david jolly, this particular retirement -- i know not everybody knows will hurd's name but certainly in washington, this particular retirement has set off a level of drama in the reaction that i have not seen with the others. >> highly respected, well liked, well qualified. if donald trump was looking for a texas congressman to nominate for dni, there's your man, will hurd. the senate would approve him. doubtful doubtfully he would do that. we are seeing this requirement because the personal thought of re-election is daunting day by day. the likelihood of republicans

capturing the house and having the majority. republicans are not even con tingeing on capturing the house next november. and donald trump plans to make it worse on these incumbents. every time he projects this white populous grievance politics that works with the constituency the president thinks he needs to win, as he did with baltimore, he endangers congressmen like will hurd and others who we saw lose a pivotal seat in the 2018 election. donald trump is making it harder, not better. the dirty little secret, ryan may or may not agree with this, the life of a back bencher in a minority in congress, it is a privilege to serve your constituents in congress but it's a miserable experience. you have very little leverage to accomplish things legislatively but you have all of the demands and requirements to be a ditiful soldier. you're not allowed to speak out against donald trump.

many sleep in your office. in the trump environment where you're looking at the prospect of losing your seat anyway, if you're a decent man like will hurd who was trapped between speaking his mind and reality of trump world, maybe you go home and spend time with your family and pursue other endeavors. >> when they had that resolution on the floor a couple weeks ago to condemn trump's comments, hurd was only one of four to vote for that. ryan, you're from where the blue wave hit the hardest, i think, the suburbs of philadelphia. you represented a district. you won as a republican in car sort of redrawing of the map and you didn't run last year but you were facing the exact kind of dilemma that david jolly is describing here. what is that like for republican members to deal with? does it lead them to say it's worth it now? >> no matter how much you speak out against the president on any particular tweet or policy, it

becomes extremely difficult in this very nationalized, polarized environment to get any credit from those who don't support the president. but you do get grief from those who do support the president. so just as president trump really had claire mccaskill and others twisting in the wind in very trump states, if you are a middle of the road district member of congress, it is just -- you're between a rock and a hard place and going in, in 2020 -- here's the counternarrative in terms of why republicans can win back the house and pushback and that is this, there are 3 is democrats in trump-held congressional districts. so the more that it becomes nationalized in 2020 and the more that the president has republicans twisting in the wind with some of this culture stuff that he does, he's going to have dxs twisting in the wind too. that would be the pushback that republicans would give. will is a loss. will is an excellent

representative. of the six had you up there retiring, the two that will be competitive seats are the hurd seat and olsen seat. the other four retiring are great members but those were safe republican seats. the real concern for republicans is rather than getting a good, solid governing republican, you end up with a freedom caucus candidate versus sort of middle of the road candidate and you have dynamics within the republican congress that makes it difficult for leadership to get things done. >> and both in texas, a state democrats will be targeting hard in 2020. rev, he was the only black representative in the house, but one of the republicans will hurd was touted as the future of the republican party, at least among some republicans a couple of years ago was the idea is there a way to this party to expand is appeal to african-americans? is there a way for this party to cultivate and showcase african-american leaders and now with his departure, none left in the house.

>> i think the real problem with that is when you are in post-trump world, which hopefully is sooner than later but when he's no longer there and you try to rebuild the party, you're going to have to show you can bring in people of color and women and others. i think will hurd would have been in a great position by then having stayed to be part of that appeal. i remember when i was growing up in 1968, i was just a kid just starting in activism. i might have been 14, 15. i remember the leading guy in the senate was a republican named ed brook. jackie robinson was a republican. the church i grew up in, the bishop was republican. but i started going democratic in the '60s around the civil rights movement. there's the possibility of broadening that as they rebuild the party trump destroyed but i think that will hurd would have been a likely person, as well as

got to be part of that approach. the question is, and i think that's what will hurd had to deal with, will he survive trump, where trump is majoring in polarizing and trying to divide. i think it's interesting what jolly raised, if trump wants to show critics, appoint will hurd to the seat that is available. he was in the cia. he has the background. i dare trump to do it. it would prove all of us wrong. >> he laid down a marker. let's see what happens there. it's interesting though, listening to both of you describe the sort of pressures put upon you as a republican trying to survive in the age of trump, i think we have another very vivid illustration of this today. the president this morning, you probably saw this. this is the president of the united states this morning, tweeted really bad news. the baltimore house of elijah cummings is robbed. this is the president of the united states tweeting about it. nakie haley, who served in the

trump administration, u.s. ambassador to the united nations, left by all accounts on good terms, largely refrained from criticizing him, former governor of south carolina. she tweets four words, this is so unnecessary about the president bragging about a congressman's house being robbed. kellyanne conway, counselor to the president responds, this is so unnecessary. and tru trying to send a couple messages. >> might be a race against pence and haley on the republican side. but i'm trying to think, every modern president that i have seen as endured some form of criticism from their own party. sometimes they grouch about it in private but they recognize they have to take it. this seems like a clear illustration, here's a former administration member who doesn't think the president should go on twitter and sarcastically talk about a congressman's house being robbed

and senior white house adviser goes after her for it. >> sure. but in terms of the nakie haley tweet from today, nikki haley tweet is small potatoes. it doesn't have anything to do with policy. nikki haley from the time she was in the trump administration has really wanted to have it both ways. she said during her time serving on team trump that president trump's sexual assault accusers deserve to be heard. but then didn't do anything about it. just said that because it would be good pr, walked away and kept on being all into trump at the time. so i don't think the former ambassador has any credibility on this issue whatsoever. back to will hurd for a who ha president trump within the past few weeks or so hurd, and he described president trump in this private conversation, described hurd as a member of the collective

republican congressman who, quote, nobody that matters is how he described him, in terms of his vote and support for the trump agenda. in a weird way, president trump is 10 0% right when he uttered that because this was not someone the white house ever leaned on when they needed to for a legislation or for his vote. and william hurd saw the writing on the wall that in donald trump's republican party, if you are not maga diehard or loyalist or big the wall ten feet higher, which william hurd absolutely wasn't, there isn't space for you in this era's gop so he's getting out. >> paul, it raises the question, if folks like hurd who were touted as future of the party are walking away in the age of trump, after trump, what is the future of the party? is it a trump-like character? >> i think that's the question. kevin mccarthy, the republican leader now, loved will hurd, was

dedicated to him, campaigned for him throughout the summer and fall of 2018. jake sherman of politico has leftover stuff from the book he and anna palmer didtoes he woul his way to help hurd. punch to that republican leadership team. what comes next? i don't think we know right now. liz cheney is possibly the next rising star of the party. she's the number three person in leadership. they desperately need women, strong women. after that, i don't know. >> they had another retirement -- >> and she might run for senate. she might leave the house also. >> can we go to the nikki haley thing? this is the garbage level that now plays the republican party. i sat in the room going into 2016 when marco rubio was the last best guy that was going to beat donald trump and nikki haley said the same things about donald trump lindsey graham used to say, what a terrible, awful

person he was. nikki haley holds her nose and says i can work for this guy. i can support the guy. she leaves and this is a major indication how they will behave when trump's gone. they are going to pretend this wasn't about them, and they didn't enable it. but they did. this is why people like me left the republican party because they can never trust people like nikki haley again. >> she added the emoji, the frown. >> and this is how politics is now. >> and republicans will race to nick yik hal nikki haley as the hero but she's not, she's the villain. up next, dunling down on up next, dunling down on american carnage.st with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gum line. for cleaner teeth and healthier gums.

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it's been total one-party control of the inner cities. for 100 years, there's been one-party control.

look at them, we can name one after another, but i won't do that. because i don't want to be controversial. >> while the president did not call out any democrats by name last night, and we did not hear a reprisal of the send her back chants we heard at the last rally, he did ratchet up his rhetoric on the condition in major american cities and attempt to blim thame them on democrats. >> look at los angeles with the tents and horrible, horrible, horrible disgusting conditions. look at san francisco. look at some of your other cities. the homicide rate in baltimore is significantly higher than el salvador, honduras, guatemala. i believe it's higher than -- give me a place that you think is pretty bad. give me a place. the guy says afghanistan. i believe it's higher than

afghanistan. in our country, think of that. >> and the table is back with us. rev, in the last segment you were talking about say 40, 50 years ago republicans having a chance to win potentially the blast vote. ed brook, u.s. for from massachusetts, that kind of rhetoric from the president and his decision apparently to make this a theme. this is something he decided to double down on. what is something we can do to his relationship -- to the except there was one to the republican party's relationship to black american and urban america? >> i think he will end up energizing people that may not have come out. people keep saying he's energizing his base like there's no base on theould have been. he gains nothing by doing this because every three he brings out, there will be five that didn't vote in vote went

down. and there is room for him to grow. who's growing it is donald trump. >> i want to ask you about that. the turnout rate among african-americans when obama was re-elected was 67% and when clinton lost it was 60%. so, yes, it fell off. the case i heard made somewhat skeptical of what you're saying is trump did a lot of this stuff in 2016 and it didn't motivate that turnout then but it will in 2020? >> because i don't think anybody believed he would really win, including me. ironically he called me after he won and asked me to come to the white house and mar-a-lago and meet with him. he said can you believe i'm president? i said no, i really can't believe it. i knew him. he used to come to action national network functions. nobody could believe it. if any believed in any of those

cities, detroit, he wonon wisco. philadelphia, he won pennsylvania. if they believed this guy would be president and a threat,rnt t. the clinton people were acting like this was all in the bag. i had a friend two weeks before the campaign ordering their gowns to the inauguration. and i think now he is the president. he has said and done these things. who sits up and acts in such a callous manner about a congressman having his house broken into? can you imagine in barack obama had done that and this is the kind of ugliness that are going to make people come out. >> pennsylvania, wisconsin and michigan, if they vote -- if those three cities vote at the level they voted for president obama, hillary clinton wins every single one of those states. and the question i think amongst

political scientists is and operatives, is this going to be a turnout election or persuasion election? it's going to be a turnout election. i think it's very difficult to argue this is somehow, you know, president trump and members of the democratic candidate, whoever it is, we will go in and talk about issues. this is i lick him more thke hi her, vice versa and i don't think persuasion will matter in 2020. >> and it's dangerous to talk to the leading tacticianer in the country. the example i raise is alabama. when you saw the democrat in alabama get a bigger turnout than barack obama did, it was in reaction, and i think the same effect is going to have on donald trump if he continues it. he's declared war. he comes after elijah cummings and he comes after everybody. he really is going to energize the vote. he attacked me this week.

membership went up on action network. i'm trying to get him to tweet again. >> the backlash. we have to squeeze in a break. are the 2020 democrats, some say they're running against the wrong president. ident. ♪

one of our first readouts, actually our very first read out of the 2020 post debate, it looks just about exactly like it did before the debate. brand new poll shows joe biden still atop the democratic field. elizabeth warren may have ticked up a couple of points, kamala harris maybe she lost a few points, but otherwise no change after this week's second round of debates. meanwhile, democratic grousing is growing over the center stage of obama's legacy and the role it's taken in this primary. president trump even noting how surp surprised he was in the conversation shift last night. >> i was watching the so-called

debate last night, and i also watched the night before, that was long, long television. and the democrats spent more time attacking barack obama than they did attacking me practically. >> and the table is back with us. david jolly, we were having a conversation in the break but i think it relates to what we just heard, the president's strategy for re-election with an approval rating in the mid-40s, somebody who lost the popular vote the last time around, it involves to the except is it at all possible for him, showing discord in the other party and driving negatives over the other party? >> i think donald trump's only pathway to re-election is precisely replicate exactly what he did in 2016, which means driving up the unfavorability through the demme nominee through criminality and socialism, getting the small

pocket and swing electoral states to turn out. so that's the platform you're seeing. i think this was a great week for democrats. i just want to give a shot in the arm to my democratic frichbds who are a little upset this week, they thought it was too rough. i was here the day after the election in '18. my democratic friends were worried it wasn't a great night. you won the house. this was great. we saw a lot of qualified candidates -- frankly, i think we saw more candidates this week that the country knows with take on donald trump than we were in the field going into this week. what i mean by that is i think the first night exposed more problems for the democrats because it exposed the ideological separation between the progressives and moderates. you don't want that. you want unity. the second night to me showed a bunch of fighters that came ready to deliver some hits, to take some hits. they had their policy chops. if you're a super democratic voter, you're voting democratic. if you're a super republican, you're voting republican. if you're looking for a reason to vote against donald trump, you want to see a candidate you believe can take the fight to

donald trump. we saw a lot of democrats this week. i think it was a good week. >> the question has come up here and certainly joe biden was making this point afterwards, did some of those opponents on the stage go too hard after barack obama? here's a taste of some of what said about him. >> this is how folks say folks aren't work are for them. tens of millions don't even hav democrat to be running for president with the plan that does not cover everyone, i think is without excuse. >> vice president biden, i didn't hear your response when the issue came up of all those deportations. you were vice president of the united states. >> it looks line one of us has and one of us hasn't. >> you invoke president obama more than anybody in this campaign. you can't do it when it's convenient and then dodge it when it's not. >> well, the most recent polling on barack obama is 97 favorable,

three unfavorable. that's their personal opinion. how much room, is there room in the democratic primary for candidates like we just saw to be taking some critical shots at his policy record? >> i think it's wrong, but i think they ought to calculate the consequences because most democrats not only see the president obama favorably, they are saying that hillary clinton won by 2.8 million votes and that there's nothing wrong with being a continuation of what obama was doing and bring it to the next step. why are you fighting it when we feel we were robbed of the election? you're acting like we need a new day like we really didn't win the day that we're now, but the electoral college took it from us. that's the feeling of a lot of democrats. i'm the guy that's continuing obama, not turning around on obama. it is just bad strategy, bad politics.

and i think that for them to fall into that, i would say, yes, we need every american covered, and barack obama was the only one that brought us in that direction. >> okay. with we've got to take a quick break, but we'll be right back. stay with us. most people think a button is just a button. ♪ that a speaker is just a speaker. ♪ or - that the journey can't be the destination. most people haven't driven a lincoln. discover the lincoln approach to craftsmanship at the lincoln summer invitation. right now, get 0% apr on all 2019 lincoln vehicles plus no payments for up to 90 days. only at your lincoln dealer.

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and we're back with just a few moments remaining, just picking up on the conversation we were having there a minute ago, ryan, joe biden strategically, should he be

attaching himself more forcefully to obama than we've seen or less? >> well, i'm a republican, but i would sense he doesn't need to. i mean, it's part of his image already. so i don't think he needs to do it any more. i would say less. >> i would say he needs to do what he's doing right about now. maybe not more, but don't deny it and say that i am part of the obama dream with a new vision, give a new curve to it. >> joe biden and every other democratic candidate needs to be talking about the future, not the past. this is 2019. politics moves fast. it's not 2008. tell us what you're going to do going forward. we're good with the past. >> with that we will take one more quick break and be right back. reak and be right back 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.

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all right. my thanks to referred al sharpton, ryan costello, david jolly. thanks to you all for being with us. that does it for this hour. i'm steve kornacki. nicolle wallace will be back on monday, and "mtp daily" can kristen welker in for chuck starts right now. ♪ if it's friday, the obama empire strikes back. we've got brand-new reporting at this hour as some of obama's closest allies send this message to democratic candidates attacking his legacy, knock it off. plus, yet another gop retirement. republican congressman will hurd is leaving congress. what all those retirements could mean for the president. and president trump's intel chief has been withdrawn. we'll have the latest for that

turmoil inside the white house. that's coming up. if it's friday, it's meet the press. good evening, i'm kristen welker in washington in for chuck todd. we begin tonight with brand-new