my thanks to every one and most of all to you for watching. that does it for our hour. mtp daily with chuck todd starts now. welcome to tuesday. it's meet the press daily. i'm chuck todd here in washington. authorities are scrambling to address a rise in violent white extremism as the president has been openly stoking racial resentment in the country. we've had another mass shooting where anti-immigrant speech echoes the president's anti-immigrant rhetoric. democrat, republican, independent we'd look at the totality and conclude the same thing. this is failing and failing

badly. this isn't just about stoking racial resentment. it isn't just about an increase in mass shootings. it's about a lot more than that. the president is now escalating a dangerous trade war with china with no apparent exit strategy despite compromising these are easy to win. elected republicans are fleeing congress from the stew of presidential politics and let's face it, it's a republican party that's a shell of what it once was and many don't want to be members anymore. half of the house democratic caucus are calling for impeachment. american alliances are in a serious state of decay. north korea is testing more missiles. russia is still coming after us. the president won't acknowledge what investigators confirms. situation at the southern border is worse than when the president took office. the government is a mess. we won't mention our giant scroll of vacancies and yes july

was the hottest month on record. how you look at this presidency and say it's working. let's turn to some experts we have tonight. michael steel i'm going to start with you. jeb bush went off on twitter. as we're focused on this crisis at hand, by the way the world is on fire and we have a president that has no interest in playing fight fightrefighter on that. apparently jeb bush sees the same thing. >> is this hemlock? this is the world on fire. trump promised chaos and he's delivered. that's what we're looking at on every issue foreign and domestic, the world spinning out

of control. i think that is a serious challenge for the president and it's a serious challenge for our political system that will have to operate around this person as commander in chief. >> i don't know if our political system can handle, how much more it can handle. >> i'm in the work of voter registration of encouraging participation and when people say our government is broken, our encourage people to say what happened last november. we had the most diverse set of americans going to the voting booth. we had the most diverse individuals in a hundred years casting a ballot and on january that beauty of what our possibility is was sworn in. that congress despite looking at the investigations what trump has done, they have passed legislation when it comes to modernizing our election system. when it's talk about equal pay and do -- >> you're making the case to participate you can make change. >> we had a litany of stuff. it's the republican party. not only are they standing si sidely by and saying we're not

condemning this president but they're not doing the work of the people. >> we're going to get into specific parts of the gun issue but i want to lead this way because t exactly wa rick perry, ted cruz and jeb bush predicted would happen. >> hillary clinton did the same thing. >> i want to remind people because everybody wants to be put into this and it's like this is, now -- >> jeb bush said you're a chaos candidate and you will be a chaos president. ted cruz said you're a pathological liar. marco rubio said you're a con man. >> what good does it say told you so now. we're in the middle of this. >> maria has made the most significant point. a lot of people say all these

things are going wrong. the president has been discredited but there's no consequences. there are consequences. democrats won the house in 2018 and i think the odds suggest they are on track to win the presidency in 20. his presidency got another year to run. i'm a bit more optimistic that the country is going to survive this. we'll have a campaign next year. he'll have an opponent and make will make their judgment. >> that's a question i've gotten a lot today. is this a tipping point. i say a tipping point for what. i don't know. i think tomorrow will be a fascinating day when he visits the city. >> i spent four weeks in el paso. i have family in el paso. el paso is as discan he be th d -- disconnected from the political spectrum. you have 2.5 million

unregistered latino youth in texas. there's also resilience. >> the question is how -- will the president be taken seriously by his remarks. i want to play an example. shar charlottesville. take a listen. >> racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the kkk, neo nazis, white supremists and other hate groups that are repugnant. >> you had some very bad people in that group but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. >> that was one example. when he got off the te teleprompter, we found out what he thought.

in pittsburgh, the shooter targeted the synagogue not only because it has jews but it was helping the refugee crisis at the border. you'll hear teleprompter trump and then unscripted. here it is. >> the vile, hate filled poison of anti-semitism must be condemned and confronted everywhere and anywhere it appears. there must be no tolerance for anti-semitism in america or for any form of religious or racial hatred or prejudice. >> i wouldn't be surprised. i wouldn't be surprised. i don't know. i wouldn't be surprised. a lot of people say yes. >> i know that wasn't on there. he was asked is george soros funding the caravan. >> why to we think anything he said yesterday will be at all what he is when he's unscripted? >> there's no reason to. we all saw the new york times

overnight changing the headline, their story on the president's remarks yesterday because they wrote up teleprompter trump rather than the balanced view shown by the tweets, the off hand comments. i agree with teleprompter trump. >> teleprompter is the president that doesn't exist. >> he sounds like a president. >> teleprompter trump tells us he's able to read. >> not always. i think toledo -- >> he ad-libbed. >> he's 73 years old. his character was formed long before twisting existed. he's shown us who he is. his words are weightless. he is reading what other people write for him, it doesn't connect with his gut. >> so true. >> i don't think any speech has impact on people that already support him. >> i think the tweets are a

window into his soul. he is showing the opinions and ideas that animate him in these tweets. i think that's why that's the real story in a lot of ways rather than what he says at the podium. >> there's two things i wonder about in different ways with each party. one has to do with the democrats. it was something emmanuel cleaver when he came out for impeachment. he said, you know, the elijah cummings thing might had some impact on me. like i can't say it was a zero percent. this moment may have an impact. this is one of those where, you think if it's about mueller it's one thing but this isn't way to keep democrats from siegning up for impeachment. >> the president is using his office to incite insecurity in a hundred million people households. when we talk about this people of color, we imagine it being a sliver of community.

>> did he even say hispanic yesterday? >> no. >> when you read the creed of this individual who got into his car, drove ten hours to the safetiest city in our country, the safest city and targeting -- a city 85% latino and not only lifted the tweets of the president of saying invasion but also connected it again to the hispanic vote. it's very clear that what he sees as a threat and we have to make sure we stand as allies and saying this is not the america we are. when we talk about this hemorrhaging of republicans from the house and not taking re-election, there's hemorrhaging of republicans from the party. when we say that 30% or 50% or 90% are with the president, that's inn creacreasingly a sma fraction of the country. >> i think republicans won't speak out. they'll speak with their feet. you talked about that.

i'll be shocked if susan collins runs for re-election now. i'd be shocked. >> four of the 12 republican who is announced they are not running for re-election next year are texans. >> you're seeing people in safe seats. mike conaway retired. he said he had a seat for life. it's like.net wa i don't want t here. i don't want to run under this banner. >> serving the minority in the house of representatives sucks. serving under trump is unpl unpleasant. you have to answer for a lot of tweets that you didn't do. >> it's also unpatriotic. i think that's where the american people are having a hard time. it's not part of the political spectrum. he's not a republican and that is why -- this conversation we have is so difficult because we make him sound like he's part of a political party. he's part of trump. >> there's also the president has one election left. if you're a republican who wants

to win elections in '22, '24, '26, it might be a good couple of years to not be here. >> the well heard decision truck me as that. if you want to be a part of -- i've joked this with my staff. i think by 2028, maybe not 2024 there will be a republican presidential debate that will be an argument over who has got fewer ties to trump. >> that's logical. he's taking the republican party down a cul-de-sac where no good things will happen. we remember pete wilson in 1994. running for re-election in california. california had been a republican state as recently as 1998. then he ran a very tough anti-immigrant campaign. he won. he won that election. republicans have not won big statewide offices ever since. >> his re-election was the death

sentence for the republican party. >> i came home from college during that and my family and my grandmother, my aunts and uncles they decided at that thanksgiving dinner they were going to become u.s. citizens. that conversation was across california in millions of households. >> john, maria, michael, stick around. up ahead, the fbi is investigating the gilroy garlic festival shooting. that's the first shooting that launched this horrible ten days for us along with the el paso attack. how do we con front hate in ameri america? top national security expert joins me next. great riches will find you when liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wow. thanks, zoltar. how can i ever repay you? maybe you could free zoltar?

thanks, lady. taxi! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ so, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. the united states postal service makes more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. [ aevery box has a mission: to homes to protect everything inside from everything outside. that is where the true glory lies. when what's inside matters, [ doorbell rings ] ...count on boxes. paper and packaging. how life unfolds.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

welcome back. the fbi announced late this afternoon they are investigating last week's mass shooting in

gilroy, california has domestic terrorism. they discovered a target list that mentioned religious institution, federal buildings and both political parties but they did not reveal anymore information than that. that development comes as farl investigators are treating the massacre in el paso as domestic terrorism. nbc news reports the department of homeland security has made cuts to personnel and resources to fight domestic terrorism. perhaps that will change but right now that's the facts. federal agencies do not have the same authority to pursue domestic terrorism suspects as in foreign investigations. there's no federal law on the books for domestic terrorism. joining me now someone with a lot of experience in the counter terrorism world is the director of the national counter terrorism center. good to see you.

>> good to be here. >> domestic terrorism, houw muc of your job was taken up by that? >> none. in the period after 9/11 when the national counter terrorism center was created, the legislation that created it said it will do all of this stuff related to terrorism except for domestic terrorism because that was seen to be in fbi's purview and they would focus along with the other intelligence agencies on the overseas terrorism problem. >> if you turned into a cell that was domestic and not foreign, even on american soil, you just walk away? >> we would look at individuals in the homeland or group or people or clusters of people in the homeland who were tied to ideologies from overseas. isis inspires individuals, al qaeda inspired individuals would be viewed as international

terrorists even though they were in our neighborhoods living and working right down the street from all of us. >> what's the significance of the fbi saying they are investigating something as domestic terrorism. >> i'm not sure there's a tremendous amount of legal significance. as you pointed out there's not a domestic terrorism statut earthquake. it's defined in law but it's not prohibited in a way that allows the justice department to charge an individual with domestic terrorism. it's more of a cat gegorizatioc. they will work the problem because it's domestic terrorism. >> what makes someone a domestic terrorism?

>> when a violent act is undertaken with the idea of pressuring the government, influencing the government, intimidating the population for a political end that makes it terrorism. that distinguishing it from ran dan a random acts of violence. >> there's a line between political motive and political beliefs. there's a lot of people on the right trying to make the dayton story part of the el paso. >> we may know a bit about the person's political inclinations but there's no information that the act was tied to a political agenda. whereas in el paso, it was abundantly clear. >> the act is motivated in domestic terrorism. that's ha gets it that tag.

>> yes. >> give me the limitations you have. what power would you need from the flal -- federal government that you don't have. if an vin latches on as part of their police chief system and take some steps to act on that. they try to go into turkey. >> it's been a standard fbi trap for these guys over the years. >> the actions that these individuals take constitute material support for terrorism because they are taking steps to act in support of a designated terrorists group, isis, al qaeda. there isn't an analogous

situation because we don't designate groups in that way. that's not just because we haven't thought of it. it's because it's fraught with potential political peril. >> that thing called the first amendment. >> as fbi director wrey said they're not interested in policing political speech in fbi. they are interested in working the problems when they start to approach the problem when violence has been undertaken. it does make it harder for the fbi to investigate groups proactively in the domestic terrorism sphere. there's never this moment like the issue of 24. that was back when people were trying to make the case for torture at some point. this was a weird incident in that we had 19 minutes. what could have been done?

if the federal government says what laws do we need to support the ability in order to unearth this individual? do we need to backtrack that or is our constitution makes that impossible? >> i think it makes it difficult. i'm not willing to point the finger. >> is there a power that the federal government needs to have. i'm just asking. >> other countries are grappling with this problem too. the australians that says any social media company that doesn't take down material that seems to imply violence will be subject to federal penalty. imagine doing that in our system. >> that means the aclu would have a client. >> this pendulum swings both ways. >> on one hand would be like we want to give the federal

government the power to do this and wait what if the federal government has a political persuasion i don't like. >> or an environmental group that some would see as espousing eco terrorism. >> all of this a bigger challenge. good to see you. up ahead, targeting america's gun crisis. the new calls for washington to take action and why florida could be at a forefront of one of the biggest political 2020 showdowns on this issue. showdowns on this issue. 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. dprevagen is the number onemild memopharmacist-recommendedng? plus no payments for up to 90 days. memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. to severe plaque psoriasis get clearer. and tremfya® was proven superior to humira® in providing significantly clearer skin. don't use if you're allergic to tremfya®. tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya®. get clearer. janssen can help you explore cost support options.

so, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. the united states postal service makes more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. he borrowed billionss to homes donald trump failed as a businessman. and left a trail of bankruptcy and broken promises. he hasn't changed. i started a tiny investment business, and over 27 years, grew it successfully to 36 billion dollars. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message. i'm running for president because unlike other candidates, i can go head to head with donald trump on the economy, and expose him fo what he is: a fraud and a failure. you wouldn't accept from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. flonase.

[ referee whistle sounds ] ♪ sport dr[ cheering ]s when you need the fuel to be your nephew's number one fan. holiday inn express. we're there. so you can be too. oh, come on. flo: don't worry. you're covered. (dramatic music) and you're saving money, because you bundled home and auto. sarah, get in the house. we're all here for you. all: all day, all night. (dramatic music)

great job speaking calmly and clearly everyone. that's how you put a customer at ease. hey, did anyone else hear weird voices while they were in the corn? no. no. me either. whispering voice: jamie. what? this is not about saying we're going the take every one's guns away. we're saying we need reasonable gun safety laws including universal background checks and a renewal of the assault weapons ban. >> i think we should push on the assault weapon ban. >> we have got to, in my view, finally ban the sale and distribution of assault weapons which are designed for only one reason. >> welcome back. tonight in 2020 vision you heard a handful of democratic presidential candidates calling for a ban on assault weapons in this country. that's not a new position for

many of them. that may be on the ballot in 2020 in florida. after deadly mass shootings, gun reform activists are pushing to put a state constitutional amendment banning the sale of assault rifles. the amendment would prohibit assault weapons defined as semiautomatic rifles. they say it's too broad and would ban the sale of too many type offense gun. she's trying to make the case to keep the measure off the ballot. they need 75,000 signatures and they have physicuntil february t year to do that. they say they have over 100,000. if they succeed and let's be realistic, i bet you they will, it would add another hot button issue in one of the more crucial battleground states for 2020. we know it will keep that issue alive in that state. we'll be back with more right after this. we'll be back with more right after this moderate to severe psoriasis,

little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. ♪ so, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. the united states postal service makes more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. e-commerce deliveries to homes we really pride ourselves on making it easy for you >> tech: at safelite autoglass,

to get your windshield fixed. with safelite, you can see exactly when we'll be there. saving you time for what you love most. >> kids: whoa! >> kids vo: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ [ referee whistle sounds ] ♪ sport dr[ cheering ]s when you need the fuel to be your nephew's number one fan. holiday inn express. we're there. so you can be too.

this should not be a partisan issue. the fact is that all this legislation does is saying that people are criminals and mental patients have mental issues and spousal abusers are guilty of domestic violence will motte no able to purchase a gun. >> that was peter king in front of a long island walmart today calling on the senate to take up legislation already passed in the house that would expand background checks for gun purchases. many the aftermath of two mass shootings, some republicans say they are open to talking about ways to keep the guns out of people. he's retiring. senator lindsey graham says he wants focus on red flag laws that give authorities permission to remove weapons from a person who may be a danger to him or herself or others.

early returns in florida looks like the law is working well. republicans seem fairly less open about talking about what inspires the gunmen in the first place. >> some of that is in part to the president and his style. we really had an incredible incessant run of mass shootings over the last 20 years. >> think about we used say is this the biggest mass shooting and it's in the last decade. awful. >> the greatest mass shooltinti

in the united states since 1949. 12 of those occurred in the first 50 years. 28 of them occurred many the last 20 years. that shows you what's happened. >> is this a moment where you think the republican party, at least, those of the suburbs have -- pete king -- >> the ones left in the suburbs. >> pete king is one of five left. he needs to be in that place to survive in that district. is there movement here? rick scott moved on guns in ways nobody expected. >> republicans realize this is unsustainable. if you don't bend like a willow, you can't stand against everything for ever. the images out of the dayton is rambo stuff. it's hard to argue civilians should buy a 100 round clip. you have republicans who are -- the nra is in state of turmoil.

they are very weak right now. >> i used to think with only way we got a gun reform bill done is if the nra endorsed it. it could have happened. that could change the scenario this time. the ultimate decision, the ultimate choice lies with one man. donald trump. mcconnell will not put anything up that the president won't sign and the president has to signal very clearly what he's okay with. >> maria, i also think this is -- if this just becomes a gun control response, there's going be a lot of democrats who feel that you're closing your eyes to the other issue here. >> you want to pass gun legislation. >> even if that means letting donald trump sign the legislation. >> you have to. you have to. you have to.

it has to be fair legislation. it can't be a band aid effect. it has to have some meat to it. under obama, one of the things we created was a counter terrorist extremist group. bringing in interagencies to look and monitor what was happening online. he brought many the department of education, the fbi. one of the first programs that this president shut down was zero them out. gutted them. when we don't talk about what is happening on the dark web and their tool of choice is weapons of mass destruction then it might as well be the same difference. >> on guns, it will be interesting to see how far this debate gets once we start on background checks and red plag l -- plflag laws. >> the fact that republicans passed it and the first years of it, it looks like the fear the right had, it would be abused

hasn't happened. it's funny about that is that didn't tighten background checks. i don't want people to mistaken red flag laws to you're tightening background checks. >> i'm interested in whether those weapons of were as you were describing or as michael was describing of the dayton shooter, do we go there. npr poll this summer showed that 83% of democrat, 55% of independents, 57% of americans supported the idea of ban on assault weapons but the democratic leadership is not pushing that idea. a member said i don't think we have the vote now. don't know how much impact you'll have on the problem. >> that's sloppy. that's a lack of political will. >> i want to play a bit of response from the presidential candidates here because they were on the verge of going after each other and then suddenly

something happened and it's like, guess what. here is joe biden on the issue of the white nationalism conversation. take a listen. >> do you think the president's response to el paso would have been different in terms of what he was calling for if the shooter had been muslim or an unu undocumented immigrant? >> are you kidding? my guess is he would be calling for -- any way. >> you think he would be? >> i think he would be. i think we're talking about here is look at the way he talks about muslims. look at the way he talks about immigrants. look at the way he talks about people of color. look at the way he talks about them. he talks about them almost in subhuman terms. >> here was donald trump's tweet after the pulse nightclub shooting when we found out who did it. appreciate the congrats for being right on radical islamic

terrorisms. i wasn't toughness and vigila e vigilance, we must be smart. i never saw the quote that said he must be smart about white national terrorism. >> i don't think there's any intellectually argument he would have had the same response. >> anybody that wasn't a white male. >> i cannot imagine anyone making that argument with a straight face. >> you ever talk to kellyanne conway? >> i have. it's been a while. >> this is hogan gidley trying take the dayton shooting and put it into this larger context. take a listen. >> we would never dream of blaming elizabeth warren for the shooter who supports elizabeth warren. we would never dream of blaming alexandria ocasio-cortez for someone who perpetrated a terrorist attack on a dhs i.c.e. facility because he used the same rhetoric she uses about

concentration camps. we would also never blame barack obama for the police shootings in dallas. we wouldn't blame bernie sanders for the shooting of other republicans. >> what was that michael steel? >> i think it was an attempt to defend the indefensible. to make an argument the president would not have responded differently when i think every one knows he would have. >> it's plain baloney. the president incited white issue prem i supremists. whether it was the individual that sent our leaders 11 pipe bombs right before elections or whether it was one of the largest massacres of white supremacy. >> what's with this dallas attack too? they blame the dallas shooting on obama. why introduce -- nobody was doing that unless it was the far corners of the dark web.

what a weird thing to sfwro deu introduce. all of it was bizarre. >> on biden to our previous discussion, joe biden has come out for a very large federal gun buy back program and assault weapons ban. he's the front-runner for the democratic nomination. that's significant. >> this feels like an issue that's becoming generational. the love oi faaffair with the g something that's aidsing. >> the nra stuck with trump in a way that other traditional republican organizations didn't in 2016. there's a degree of loyalty there from him that is unusual. >> when you speak generationally we're going to have 12 million more young voters than we didn't have last time. one out of six voters and the kids from march for our live vs done incredible work. >> go play the six degrees game. it's amazing how many people they either know somebody affected by a mass shooting or

know somebody who know somebody is. you're only about one degree away there's been so many of them. thank you. what a terrific panel. thank you very much. up ahead, senator amy klobuchar with her approach to all these critical issues. plus why i'm obsessed with powerful words from an iconic author. werful words from an ico author unpredictable crohn's symptoms following you? for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease, stelara® works differently. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections

and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection or flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop new skin growths, or if anyone in your house needs or recently had a vaccine. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems, including headaches, seizures, confusion and vision problems. these may be signs of a rare, potentially fatal brain condition. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. talk to your doctor today, and learn how janssen can help you explore cost support options. remission can start with stelara®. exploro♪ ozempic®! ♪ options. oh! oh! (announcer) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7 and maintained it. oh! under 7? (announcer) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds? (announcer) a two-year study showed that ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events like heart attack, stroke, or death.

oh! no increased risk? (announcer) ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles. do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. tell your doctor if you have diabetic retinopathy or vision changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase the risk for low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. i discovered the potential with ozempic®. ♪ oh! oh! oh! ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) if eligible, you may pay as little as $25 per prescription. ask your health care provider today

about once-weekly ozempic®. (groans) hmph... (food grunting menacingly) when the food you love doesn't love you back, stay smooth and fight heartburn fast with tums smoothies. ♪ tum tum-tum tum tums with tums smoothies. hi, do you have a travel card? we do! the discover it® miles card. earn unlimited 1.5 miles on every purchase, plus we'll match your miles at the end of your first year. you'll match my miles? yeah! mile for mile! and no blackout dates or annual fee. nice! i was thinking about taking a scuba diving trip! i love that. or maybe go surfing... or not. ok. maybe somewhere else. maybe a petting zoo. can't go wrong. can't get eaten. earn miles. we'll match 'em at the end of your first year. plus no annual fee or blackouts. the discover it® miles card. welcome back. tonight i'm obsessed with the power of words.

few know that power more than toni morrison. she wrote her first book in 1973 when she was a divorced single mother. she would write dozens more. paradise, beloved. her work of prose span decades chronicling the black experience in america. her masterful works of fiction were steeped in undeniable stroo truths. >> i could never be happen if i thought there was going to be another void, another huge historical silence about the experience of black people. >> in 2012, president obama awarded her the presidential medal of freedom. >> her prose brings us that kind of moral and emotional intensity that few writers ever attempt. >> indeed her words were powerful. they still are.

many are being shared today as we face a national reckoning on race. there are far too many quotations to choose from. i find in this momentum. there's no time for despair, no place for self-fi, no room for silence, no room for fear. we speak, we write, we do language. that is our civilizations heal. toni morrison was 88. morrison 8 ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

eh, not enough fiber... chocolate would be good... snacking should be sweet and simple. the delicious taste of glucerna gives you the sweetness you crave while helping you manage your blood sugar. glucerna. everyday progress fill up for the chance to win free fuel for a year. that's one of thousands of prizes in the shell great gas giveaway! fuel rewards members are automatically entered when they fill up at shell. fuel rewards members are automatically [ referee whistle sounds ] ♪ sport dr[ cheering ]s when you need the fuel to be your nephew's number one fan. holiday inn express. we're there. so you can be too. the first survivor of alzis out there.ase and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you. join the fight with the alzheimer's association.

so, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. the united states postal service makes more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. e-commerce deliveries to homes you wouldn't accept from any one else. why accept it from your allergy pills? flonase relieves your worst symptoms including nasal congestion, which most pills don't. flonase helps block 6 key inflammatory substances. most pills only block one. flonase.

welcome back. we've got a brand-new quinnipiac poll. it's the first one we've seen since last week's second round of democratic debates. john biden still lead the pac. elizabeth warren is in second place, over 20% sitting at 21. bernie sanders, harris, bye-bye round out the top five, beto and booker at 2%. that's a key qualification line. no one else hit two in that poll including presidential candidate amy klobuchar. welcome back as rough of a week as we've had. >> thank you. >> let me ask you this. you're watching in the last 24 hours more elected republicans talk about background check bill, expanding gun control than you've probably heard in your time in the united states senate. do you believe these calls are

genuine? >> i hope they are because we know what happened in 2018 where we had a number of people win elections who were in favor of background checks in, favor of moving legislation to do something about the slaughter that we've seen from these gun massacres. and so i do hope that it's real but we still haven't heard the ultimate word. which is the president pushing mitch mcconnell to call up the bill that is right on his doorsteps. that's what i would like to see. and we have worked on this for so long, i worked on it when i was in law enforcement. we worked on it after sandy hook. people never had the currently to get it done. this is the moment. >> assault weapons ban, an i know you're for -- vice president biden his plan causes for a gun buyback program. are you there on that, as well? >> yes, i think that that -- you would want to do it hand in hand

with the assault weapons ban. when you think about what happened in dayton, ohio, when you think about the fact that that man with that gun with the magazine, of that capacity that he was able to kill nine people in just that short period of time, those kinds of guns shouldn't be sold on our streets. we know that. and i think common sense tells people that. i come from a hunting state. and i've talked to a lot of our hunters about this. i look at all those proposals and say does it hurt my uncle dick in his dreher stand? i'm going to be in iowa starting tomorrow on a 20-county tour on agriculture issues. i'll be talking about the gun issue, as well. it's easy to talk about this in some parts of our country. we need to talk about it in every corner of our country, chuck, if we're going to get the kind of support we need to pass these laws. >> you know, it is not lost on me that i notice that the

president on down, his staff, some republicans would much rather have the gun control conversation than they would the white nationalist conversation. are you going to be comfortable, are senate democrats going to be comfortable if the president essentially says okay, i'll do some stuff but i'm not going anywhere near in the white nationalism stuff. do you take that deal? >> this obviously, there has 0 to be more done here. i was thinking of those words of toni morrison how words can be used to heal. this president has words to divide people. as a former prosecutor ha has proscaughted we prosecuted hate crimes including a man that was killed, an attempt to kill a man on martin luther king, the guy said i'm going to go out and go after a black kid and did he, luckily the kid survived but we handled a number of those cases. i was there when bill clinton

introduced the hate crimes bill as a young elected official because of the work i did. when i listened to yourics perts, and it was a great show today, i think this, yes, because it was principal cal about these crimes. yes the president is a racist and his rhetoric is horrible. we have to look at what we can do within law enforcement. the fbi director testified last week and said we dote note why there is a rise in hate crimes. we'd better figure that out. i have my own theory. number two, up the investigations of these cases and some of it is local law enforcement, helping them, giving them resources. it may not be they're part of a white nationalist group but they start writing things online and putting out kill lists. local law enforcement has to investigate those cases. >> what's the line on speech? what is the line on speech? -- what are you concerned about? >> it's about whether or not you are trying to perpetrate a

crime, right? whether or not you are threatening violence. there's ways to draw those lines. but a lot of this has to do with upping those investigations not just after the fact but beforehand, as well. and then there's things that we can do within the law to make sure it's very clear what things are hate crimes, what are some of the -- if you're convicted of a hate crime that you shouldn't be able to get a gun and there's all kinds of things we can do along those lines along with the background checks and assault weapon ban. but i think that this is a real call to law enforcement on both the local, state and national level to make this a major focus. this has just been happening too many times. >> there's been calls to bring the senate back. is -- i'm sure you would love for it to come back. is that a realistic call? is that something you think enough pressure could get mitch mcconnell to do that. >> i think it could. we are ready to go back.

our leader senator schumer made that clear. a number of us said we'll leave tomorrow morning and get there within a few hours. let's get this done. that bill is sitting on his doorstep. that could easily happen. one of the things i put out in my 100-day plan what i could do as president, there's things you can do without congress like close the boyfriend loophole and start research going at the center for disease control. we need to start in addition to condemning rhetoric, we need to do the work so we can prevent this blood shed from happening again. >> it was interesting before the incidents over the week, these trag tragic incidents, the democratic primary looked like you were attacking each other and you had a whole bunch of democrats freaking out. >> not me. >> no, no, no. a whole bunch of democrats freaking out that this thing was going to turn and you're not focused on the task at hand

which is donald trump. obviously, the weekend's events seem to sober up a whole bunch of democrats. how do you prevent this campaign from going back off of that ledge? >> well, i hope that there will be a sea change. i'm headed to the fall debates. i've made the criteria for both of the fall debates based on the polls and the number of the grassroots support we got. a lot of it coming out of the fact that i have focused my debate ongoing after, taking this to donald trump and trying to make the case which is i think is strong that what unifies us is much stronger than anything that divides us. instead of spending a half hour attacking each other on health care, the case has to be made, while we're doing that, this guy is trying to kick people off insurance for pre-existing conditions by trying to repeal the affordable care act in texas or he has said he's going to do things about pharmaceutical

prices and hasn't done that. so yes, it is a sobering moment. this moment is way beyond the politics of a democratic primary, chuck. i think we have to remember that. i'm hopeful that we'll see a change going forward. >> i think we'll see a change in tone in how you compete against other. thank you. stay safe on the trail in iowa. thanks very much. that's all i have for tonight. we're up against the clock here. more tomorrow. beat with ari melber tomorrow. i owe you ten seconds. >> all good. good evening. thanks to everyone joining us for in newscast. we begin tonight with another shooting, this time in concentrate, a man and woman believed to be husband and wife dead in what authorities believe is a murder/suicide at an assisted living facility in the wake of the deadly mass shootings in el paso and dayton. on average, more than 2,000 people are shot a week, many don't make the news because this has become