i just have to get over this. >> and that's all for this edition of "date line" i'm craig melvin, thank you for watching. good morning, msnbc world headquarters in new york. it's 6:00 in the east. 3:00 out west. here's what happens happening. inching closer to impeachment. but now, a new hurdle. what lies ahead for house democrats. >> have we seen medical records? >> i don't have withheld concerns. you want to wrestle? >> fight nightfallout. two comments from the debate getting new criticism this morning as the candidates get back on the campaign trail. >> national security payoff, the latest comments from the president on what to expect following the departure of john bolton. >> prison time.

felicity huffman learns her fate for her role in the college admissions scandal. >> we begin with new and broad criticism today from the house judiciary chairman accusing the department of justice of a coverup for trying to block his committee from seeing robert mueller's underlying evidence gathered during the special counsel investigation into russian election meddling. >> it is not necessarily called an impeachment inquiry. that is a made-up term without legal significance. it is however what we are doing. >> even very clear for the very several months in court filings, in public statements and in proceedings in the committee, that we are in fact, conducting an investigation preparing to decide whether to recommend articles of impeachment in the house. >> you can call what we're doing an investigation, you can call it an inquiry, you can call it anything you want, the fact is we are doing what is our job under the constitution. >> another instance of the trump administration trying to cover up and hide from congress and

the american people, in this case, from congress, all kinds of information. >> here is why nadler is on the defensive. in a new court filing the d.o.j. used the then scattershot messages on the impeachment inquiry to argue it does not meet the league threshold for them to access secret grand jury evidence behind the mueller report. d.o.j. lawyers argue quote that the speaker of the house has been em fat tick is not a true impeachment proceeding. >> and its own description of the situation makes it clear it is too far removed from judicial proceedings to qualify. it comes a day after the just yish ry committee voted to wrap up the investigations of president trump and jeff sessions to testify. and impeachment has been on the president's mind, and on his twitter feed. this is what he told house republicans gathered in baltimore. >> i told nancy pelosi, you have to do something other than try

to impeach somebody that didn't do anything wrong. it is hard to impeach somebody who didn't do anything wrong. the mueller report is out. there is no collusion after two and a half years. >> another legal fight is heating up. this one over whether the president's properties are profiting off of his presidency. a u.s. federal appeals court revived a lawsuit alleging president trump is making money from government officials doing business at his hotel in washington, d.c. despite scrutiny over the blurring of lines, between donald trump's businesses, and his presidency, this was the scene yesterday, at his hotel near the white house. secretary of state mike pompeo spoke at an event held by a conservative group and he took a shot at the media. >> i look around this, this is such a beautiful hotel, the guy who owns it must be going to be successful somewhere along the way. that was for the "washington post" in the back. >> joining me now a reporter

with yahoo news and scott wong, senior report wert hill. good morning to you both. all right, i want to start with sometimes conflicting messaging from house democrat, on the impeachment inquiry. let's listen to that. >> for anyone that was confused, we are in the midst of an investigation. >> we are holding hearings for the purpose of investigating the possibility of voting articles of impeachment against the president. >> i think chairman nadler described the proceedings well. >> so it is a bit technical inside baseball maybe. >> essentially the impeachment inquiry has already begun. >> people can call this whatever they want to call it. >> i don't want to get caught in semantics. >> the only vote that is ultimately going to matter is whether we vote to impeach him. >> is this really a self-inflicted wound by democrats? is it completely unified message on impeachment even possible given the political dimensions surrounding impeachment and the diversity of house democrats? >> i don't think there is a unified message that's going to be coming any time soon.

you have to consider the fact that the polls have showed that americans have not been in favor for impeachment really from 30 to 40%, anywhere in the past couple of month, even after the mueller report came out, and we heard him speak, that hasn't budged much, so we can only expect that. we will keep seeing the inconsistent mixed messages only because we have one side of this caucus that is trying to push for these investigations and the other who might consist of very moderate democrats who really want to make sure that they are not going to be vulnerable going into 2020 and want to hold their place and not go up against the president. >> the messaging on an impeachment inquiry may have been all over the place, but in the last two months, in less than the last two months, 45 more house democrats supported an impeachment inquiry. so scott, i'm asking you here now, are the impeachment inquiry, is it substance or mainly about what they're calling it? >> well, i think we need to step back and consider, you know, maybe this is a deliberate strategy by democrats, and we've

heard this before, sort of what kadia was mentioning, that you have, you know, judiciary members including jerry nadler, the chairman, saying essentially that this is a full-blown impeachment investigation, whereas the moderate vulnerable members are saying that this is very, nancy pelosi herself saying we're very far from an impeachment investigation, you know, it just depends on what camp you're in and what your political desires are. and so i had one member of leadership tell me recently that the magic number is not this 135 or 140 number for an impeachment inquiry. it's actually very much smaller around 20 members that are actually sort of, you know, really strongly pushing and saying that they would be committed to voting for impeachment. everyone else is sort of in this strange gray area, and so i think it is really important to

consider that number, calling for factual impeachment, is much smaller. >> and earlier, we heard secretary of state mike pompeo taking a shot at the press, during a conservative event at trump's dc hotel, vice president pence also speaking at that event, even tweeted about it, kadia, what does this say to you that pence and pompeo carried on with their planned appearances regard alice of the president's legal attention whether the properties are profiting off of the presidency? >> it says there is not much to worry about on their said, with the military being able to use his properties we are seeing more and more this is not just one occasion or one instance, there have been several dozen actually that came out in the past couple, just the past week, actually, we're seeing that there is going to be more of an investigation coming forward, but when it comes to the

administration and trump's camp, there isn't much worry considering that he has been trying so hard since getting into office to prove the point that he has removed himself from his business, but that might be proving to be the case with these investigations. >> as we know, the president still makes money from his properties, because he did not use a blind trust, even though he did turn management of the trump organization over to his two eldest sons, let's listen to what don jr. had to say about this. >> you guys benefitting financially from the president holding office? >> it's ridiculous. first of all, he's not involved at all with that space. someone bought a cheeseburger at the trump hotel. it's assinin. and you've seen where the emoluments suits has gone. really the family and the business, anything, in a desperate attempt to stop him. >> what are your thoughts on done jr.'s defense here? he moll meants concerns have dogged president trump from the very beginning of his

presidency. >> they will continue to dog him because you have folks in congress democrats, including jamie raskin, a former constitutional law professor, who has made emoluments sort of his number one focus, when looking at oversight of the trump presidency, and administration. now, you have an appellate court up in new york that is, you know, reversing a lower court decision that basically threw out a trump emoluments case, and so the courts are re-looking at some of these issues that have sprung up about whether or not the president can essentially make money or receive emoluments as president of the united states. house democrats still have their own case against president trump, challenging his ability to profit and make money through his trump hotel in dc, and other trump properties, like the ones that he has in scotland and ireland. and so this is going to be an issue that is i think, will go

well into the 2020 campaign. >> speaking of the 2020 campaign, let's talk about julian castro and former vp biden during the debate. both are fundraising after what some have seen as castro attacking biden over his aides. >> how do you view what he said to you in your exchange? >> i don't view it as anything. >> we're up there to zbaet. and that's what i was doing. i pointed out that vice president biden's plan would leave out 10 million people. i think that's significant. and you know, so i would pioint that out again. >> releasing your medical records to address concerns? >> i don't have concerns. do you want to wrestle. >> eric swalwell attacked him saying to pass the tore tox younger candidates. what do you make of all of this? >> it is going to be an interesting fight going into 2020 for sure. in the past couple of debates that we've had, we've seen that many of the candidates have come

straight out, right after the front-runner, biden, and the past debates has proved the fact that we're going to see a lot more attacks on biden going forward. however, with castro and with many of the democratic party is saying, we can't attack him based off of his age or health or mental standing. that kind of puts them in the likeness of trump who has been going after biden's mental standing for some time as well so they have to be careful on the argument and they have to be careful going after one of the democratic party's favorites especially a front-runner like biden who has so much standing within the party. >> do you think the question of age is off limits, scott? >> well, this is an ongoing fight that's been happening throughout the democratic party, if you think about earlier this year, shortly after the 2018 midterm elections, people were raising questions about the top three house leaders, nancy pelosi, hoyer and james clyburn all in their 70s.

>> we have a story out this morning at the hill talking about the generational fight between ed markey and joe kennedy, who is in his 30s, still, who is challengesing, or appears to be challenging markey for his senate seat in massachusetts. so this is a fight, basically younger democrats, are telling the older generation, to move out of the way, it's time for new blood in the party, and so i think this is just the latest iteration of that. >> we might continue to see that going forward. scott wong, kadia tubman, thanks so much for joining me this morning. also new today, president trump under pressure from both republicans and democrats, to clarify his position on background checks. this, as the white house prepares to roll out its plan to reduce gun violence. nbc's hans nichols joining us with more. good morning. is the president expected to provide any clarity on where he stands on this issue? >> we don't know. we know that the president is getting a lot of pressure from both side, republicans and democrats, because he has wavering on background checks. would he have to be careful,

because background checks, as you know, mean different things to different people. and the president has hinted in the past, he didn't think background checks would be all that effective. september 1st on the south lawn, he seemed to suggest background checks wouldn't have stopped any of the mass shootings. at the same time, he's indicated a willingness to go with them, up to a point. listen to how he couched it when he was pressed on it earlier this week. >> i think we made some good progress on background checks and guns. >> are you going to support -- >> i think so, it depends really on the democrats. did depends on whether or not the democrats want to take your guns away, because there is a possibility that this is just a ploy to take your guns away. or whether or not it's meaningful. if it's meaningful, we'll make a deal. >> and when we saw the democratic debate, democrats had no hesitation talking about where they wanted to go ultimately with gun control. did you have that comment from beto o'rourke talks about hell

yes he wanted to take away ar-15s. that comment is sort of percolating throughout this entire debate. and there's some, even democrats, that suggest that might not have been helpful to the short-term goal of haves something done on background checks. we will see what the president says today. nothing really on his schedule. but he is in washington, scheduled to be, for the weekend. >> hands nichols joining us just before dawn on the east coast, thank you. up next, is the country any safer after the breakup of president trump and the so-called mr. tough guy? and why would the president reportedly be upset by the media saying that john bolton is tougher than he is?

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john is somebody that i actually got along with very well. he made some very big mistakes. frankly, he wanted to do things, not necessarily tougher than me, john is known as a tough guy, he is so tough he got us into iraq. >> that's president trump after announcing john bolton, his national security adviser, would be leaving the white house. challenging bolton's image as to what the president called a tough guy. and joining me now in new york, from, instead of from in front of the champ elysees, christopher dickey, world news editor with the daily beast and editor, thanks for joining me in person. and there were shared points of view and now why he is going out of his way to discredit the

tough guy image. >> two things. he didn't want anybody to look tougher than him and another thing to understand about trump's foreign policy. he doesn't want to deploy troops. he doesn't want to send americans abroad. he wants to bring them back. those who are already in iraq or syria or certainly afghanistan. so his big weapon is the dollar. he thinks that sanctions, tariffs, these kinds of weapons, if you will, using american's financial and economic power, will cause iran, north korea, other countries, eventually to bend to his will. bolton is really a war monger. he really wants to use troops or certainly seems to, and you hear that sleight in that remark by trump where he is so tough he got us into iraq. we know that trump thinks iraq was a really bad idea and i think a lot of americans agree with him about that. >> and i want to read to you something, a new "vanity fair" report, fairly basic u.s.

tenets, advising the president to condemn, down playing the importance of missile tests and bolton is credited with threatening military action in venezuela and got the president to withdraw from the nuclear deal and within minutes of bombing iran. and which side wins with the departure of bolton? >> there is less likelihood of military action, or was less likelihood of military action but we see a couple of major challenges on the horizon, first of all with the disintegration of the taliban deal, the taliban is saying we're going back to war with a vengeance and harboring the idea of harboring and working with al qaeda again which is something they suggested they weren't going to do in the deal being worked on. and the other thing we just saw overnight a drone attack, what appears to be a drone attack on major oil facilities in saudi arabia, particularly the

refinery, there is video coming out of saudi arabia right now of huge fires, and if that is traced to iran, and i'm sure the finger will be pointed at iran, then what is trump going to do? that is not just a money question. that starts to look like military action. and it's a very dangerous situation. >> what do you predict the fallout would be from that? >> well, there are a number of things that could happen. oil markets are closed at the moment but if they open up and there is still this problem developing, we will see a real spike in oil prices because this is the center of the world oil market in many ways. bob behr, former cia agent, one described the refinery as the godzilla of oil refineries, it is huge and on fire. >> you were mentioning the taliban earlier. i want to show you something you wrote in "the daily beast" about trump wanting to boast about his own camp david accords. what do you make of the news today that the taliban leaders are now in moscow for talks?

>> isn't that natural? things fall apart with trump. so they go to trump's best buddy, vladimir putin. who is of course going to take advantage of the situation anyway he can. there is a thing going on with trump and since he has been in campaign mode in 2016, he seems to think or believes for whatever reason that vladimir putin could be, and would be and maybe is his important ally and help him out around the world. we know that vladimir putin is not going to do that unless it is tremendously to the advantage of vladimir putin and his idea of rebuilding the russian empire but trump seems to think that that's his, he is somehow, you knows is his business partner. >> you are looking at leverage or to embarrass the president? >> well i think there is a point in embarrassing the president but not just to embarrass, the taliban don't know exactly where to go, they want to put pressure on them, they want to deal with putin, maybe putin can help, or maybe putin will just expand his influence in the region which is most likely.

>> and i want to get to a report out of the "washington post" that says the president is interviewing candidates for the national security adviser role. here is what he said about what it is going to take to do the job. less listen to that. >> we have shall let's listen to that. >> we have 15 candidates. everybody wants it badly as you can imagine and we will probably sometime next week make that decision. a lot of people want the job. i it's a great job, to work with donald trump, and it is very easy to work with me, it is easy because i make all of the decisions. >> he makes the decisions and it is not a good one. look at the deals that haven't happened. not with north korea. not with iran. and so on. certainly not with venezuela. and it is a mess and he is losing one after another of the national security advisers because guess what, these guys,

whatever the ideology, they know a lot about the world, they really are smart guy, even if they're hawks. and trump, he doesn't know much about the world. he knows how to build hotels. or at least put his name on them. >> what type of person do you think he is looking for? somebody that is just going to adhere to his own policies? or someone who is going to tell him what is going on in the world? >> he is looking for a yes man or a yes woman to take this job. >> christopher, as always, appreciate your insights early on a saturday morning. >> thank you. one of the biggest names caught up in the college admissions scandal is the first to learn her fate felicity huffman's emotional court appearance and what it means for other celebrities facing legal trouble. al trouble. ♪ ♪ award winning interface. ♪ ♪

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now to the morning headlines. breaking overnight, tropical storm hulsberto threatening the same islands ravaged by hurricane dorian. the national hurricane center says humberto will pummel the area with four inches and some areas up to six inches over the weekend. some people are still missing in the aftermath of hurricane dorian. and health concerns this morning for people who take

zantac, the food and drug administration has found small levels of ndma have been found in it. sanofi takes patient safety seriously and we are committeed to working with the fda, zantac over-the-counter has been around for over a decade and meets all of the specified safety requirements. currently, there is no recall of zantac or any medicines that contain ndma. if you're planning to use movie pass, go to the movies this weekend, you are out of luck. the discount ticketing service has stopped operations indefinitely telling subscribers that efforts to recapitalize movie pass failed. movie pass had been struggling financially, for more than a year now. all right. felicity huffman will soon spend 14 days in prison for her role in a college admissions cheating scandal. the actress becoming the first of more than 30 parents charged in the case to be sentenced, after pleading guilty to paying to boost her daughter's s.a.t. scores. nbc's miguel almaguer has the

story from boston. >> felicity huffman walking out of court but not free of prison, brushing past cameras with husband and actor william h. macy moments after sentenced to 14 days behind bars, in front of the judge, the prosecutor said, most parents have the moral compass and integrity not to step over the line. the defendant does not. after noting huffman's fame and welt, several times, the prosecutor said emphatically, there is no paparazzi in prison. prison is the great equalizer. she must go to prison. >> before she addressed the judge, many legal experts thought the oscar nominee would avoid time behind bars. looking for leniency. she told the jung, i am deeply ashamed of what i have done, i have inflicted more damage than i would have imagined her voice cracking while she fought back tear, huffman said, i take full responsibility for my actions. i will accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate.

>> after pleading guilty to fraud charges in may, huffman admitted to paying $15,000 to have her daughter's s.a.t. scores rigged. the judge noting she apologized and accepted guilt early. compared to other defendants, she made one of the smallest bribes she said, she was not a repeat player, and did not involve the child. then, the sentence. 14 days in prison. $30,000 fine. one year supervised release. and 250 hours of community service. told to report to prison within six weeks, her attorney asked if she could surrender to this facility, in dublin, california. hours away from her sprawling home in the hollywood hills. with 51 arrested in the pay to play college entrance scandal, huffman is now the first parent to be sentenced. perhaps a litmus test for the dozens of parents who will appear before the judge next. >> anything to say?

>> fellow actress lori loughlin faces more serious charges after allegedly paying half a million to get her daughters into usc and is headed towards trial. but for one actress, the legal cliffhanger coming to an end, with prison time. on a stage where the stakes were high. felicity huffman is now free to travel home to los angeles, she will need to report to federal prison, before the end of next month. then, she can begin her community service. back to you. >> thanks to miguel for that report. joining me now, msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos. good morning. >> good morning. >> do you feel that was a fitting sentence for huffman? >> no, and here is why. not because of a moral issue i have with the sentence or what these parents did, it is about unwarranted sentencing disparities. and you have the stanford sailing coach, whose sentencing guidelines were much higher than huffman's and the prosecutors recommended sentence for the sailing coach, with much higher,

it is 13 months, and then you come to huffman, the recommended sentence was one month, and to be consistent, the sailing coach essentially got zero months, huffman should have gotten zero months. now, i can't believe the words that are coming out of my mouth when i say that 14 days is an unduly harsh sentence in the grand scheme of things, a month, 14 days, zero days, probably all of those are very, very lenient sentences, in the federal sentencing scheme, because most of the sentences in the federal system are measured in many years, possibly decades. so in the grand scheme of things, a lenient sentence, not just the one i expected. >> a lot of people out there seeing 14 days and saying, it is just two week, right? but do you expect that the other 14 parens who have pled guilty in this case to get the same sentence as she got? >> no. lori loughlin for example will never get the same sentence as felicity huffman. felicity huffman is a textbook example of a federal criminal defendant who gets an indictment

or criminal complaint and they race to the courthouse and race to the prosecutors, to plead guilty, as early as they can, and accept responsibility. those are the defendants who will get the lowest possible sentences in terms of a plea agreement or even a cooperation agreement. and that's what felicity huffman did. it is no surprise that she got a very reduced sentence. even way below the sentencing guidelines. well, within the sentencing guidelines, i should say. the other parents, lori loughlin, who have since been charged with more crimes, because they didn't plead guilty early, they cannot now unfortunately for them expect to ever get a kind of deal that felicity huffman got. that time has passed. >> what do you think that huffman's sentence, what effect do you think that will have on lori loughlin if she is in fact found guilty? >> very little. if i'm lori loughlin's attorney, i'm telling her that felicity huffman's sentence doesn't have much to do with you anymore. once you elected to roll the dice and go to trial, then that opportunity to get the huffman

deal evaporated. plus, the dollar amount in question, and some of the surrounding facts make loughlin's case a little more egregious, at least in terms of the allegations, than felicity huffman. felicity huffman involved one of the lowest bribes, a very low bribe, compared to some of the others, i believe zolo is $15,000. you're looking at lori loughlin and that's in the range of half a million so to prosecutors that seems much more he grecian, plus she has had added charges since she rejected any plea overtures and elected to go to trial. >> she is gambling with her future here. and what do you think, what sort of precedent does this have for future cases that might be like this? >> in terms of college, the college cheating scandal, this has been just a very classic example of a federal prosecution of a large number of defendants. those that decide to rush in and plead guilty early will get

lenient sentences but if you choose to exercise your constitutional right to go to trial, the government will make it tough. and government's theme in this case, i'm a criminal defense attorney, so probably biased but the theme has been probably unnecessarily so about the fact that these detectives are wealthy. and even the sentencing memorandum, the government for felicity huffman says home confinement would not be appropriate because she's got an infinity pool and an a mansion and those are not really the kinds of things that should penalize defendants. but i get what the prosecution is doing, they're very good at what they, do they're painting a picture for the judge, and really what they would probably sponsz respond is saying wealthy people are subject to justice just like poor people and middle class people. >> and it doesn't factor in. you're saying it doesn't matter how much money she comes from, it is going to be the same sentence either way? >> i don't know about the same sentence because it is so hard to achieve consistenty in sentencing but in this case, you can expect that, because all of

these cases are essentially in the same court, many are in front of the same judge, you're going see a judge, at least try to be consistent. with huffman, i respectfully submit they were not as consistent as they could have been. >> danny cevallos, thank you for breaking that down for us this morning. a warning from a leading democrat about what was said in thursday night's debate, and why he says it could harm the party for years. that's ahead. betes, why fingerstick when you can scan? with the freestyle libre 14 day system just scan the sensor with your reader, iphone or android and manage your diabetes. with the freestyle libre 14 day system, a continuous glucose monitor, you can check your glucose levels any time, without fingersticks. ask your doctor to write a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. you can do it without fingersticks. learn more at freestylelibre.us red lobster's endless shrimp withois back for just $15.99. get all the shrimp you want, any way you want 'em.

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in power, politics and paychecks, no alarm over the soaring national debt in thursday's debate but this year's deficit has reached $1 trillion for the first time in seven years. the red ink, 19% higher from a year ago. it is simple math. tax receipts are up 3% but spending is up 7%. cheers amid rising shares on wall street, nearing an all time high on wall street, due to easing trade tensions in china, all three major indices gained for a third straight week, the dow rising more than 1.5%. both the s&p 500 and the nasdaq about 1%, and a new poll on tipping shows a great divide, among americans, in generosity. the credit cards.com study showed the average restaurant tip at 19%, and men give slightly more than women, but women tip more frequently, being

more likely to tip server, food delivery drivers, as well as hair stylists. gratuity by generation, millennials averaged the biggest tip at 22% and they tip the least often. while baby boomers tip the most often. and now, to a news organization that is addressing issues and stories, its leaders claim the established media are ignoring. nbc's ron mott has more on how the young reporters community focus on journalism. >> newspaper reporter manny ramos covers the south and west sides of chicago, home to much of the city's gun violence and untold stories in these areas that deserve an audience. >> what do you bring to the job, having roots where you cover? >> what i bring is just a sense of community, right? like i know i recognize the community that i'm reporting in on a daily basis. i understand the dynamics. the issues that are facing them. >> today, he is in the middle of a protest against a planned hospital closure.

his work appearing in the chicago sun-times. before landing the job, he was a fellow at city bureau, a nonprofit initiative started by journalists frustrated by the news connect between news organizations and some of the communities they serve. at the heart of their ambition, equity and inclusion. that formula earned them a million dollar grant last year. >> are you looking to disrupt the current model? >> yes. >> go ahead. >> general holiday is a former crime reporter. >> there is a whole lot more going on here. and i would say, you know, we have an issue of parachuting journalists. spend time in the communities. aside from just reporting on crime. spend time in those communities. city bureau is immersing itself and its budding journalists on paid fellowships directly into neighborhoods. >> it's a way to restore credibility by actually doing the work to make journalism and media credible. i think a big part of the reason that this idea is big news, that it has been able to catch on is because people have very little

access to the process of how journalism and media gets made. >> a lot of other news agencies rely on we are the expert, just trust us, right, we can say something like, come in with us and we can create this expertise together. >> on a thursday night, a west side resident showed up at city bureau's weekly public newsroom. a forum educating residents on issues affecting them, finding a story or two about them. from segregation, to lead exposure. >> i really have this urge to want to know what's going on. and especially since the city is like up for grabs, you know, it seems to be imploding. >> back on the street, manny ramos remains focused on getting it right. >> right now i'm committed to chicago. i'm committed to local media coverage in chicago and communities that i grew up in, that i'm familiar with, and i think there is a lot of work that needs to be done at that level, that needs to be repaired at that level. >> journalists as agents of change. ron mott, nbc news, chicago. >> and ron says similar programs to chicago's city bureau are now

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new reaction to the democratic debate, and a big warning from senator chris coons about a standout moment of the night and here is that moment by beto o'rourke. >> there are so many other people who were shot by that ar-15 in odessa and midland, there weren't enough ambulances to get to them in time, he will. l yes we're going to take your ar-15, your ak-47 and not allow it to be used against fellow americans anymore. >> i frankly think that clip will be played for years at second amendment rallies, with organizations that try to scare people by saying democrats are coming for your guns. >> the senator endorsed joe biden in the primary in april. >> joining me is the democratic strategist antoine searight, former adviser to hillary clinton's campaign in south carolina and attorney and conservative radio talk show host, thank you both for joining me this morning. antoine, let's start with you, what sur take on the clip we

just played? do you think o'rourke's comments will end up back-firing on democrats? >> to each his own. i think we all have to know that sometimes what we say and do can be eventually used against us, in the court of public opinion. at of public opinion at some point in time, but that's just part of this business. i think politics is a contact sport, and sometimes it doesn't always mean some of the things that we actually do sometimes it means some of the things we say. i don't think that the former congressman should make any adjustments based on what could happen, but i think he should definitely exercise his passion and say what he means, because he, just like everyone else on the debate stage, is trying to make their way towards the ultimate goal and that's our party's nomination. >> do you think that -- antoine, that's what voters want, anyway, right? a politician who says what he means instead of trying to finesse the best way to say it? >> arguably that is why donald

trump is the president of the united states and perhaps that is why he won his party's nomination not too long ago, because he, as some put it, told it like it was. so i think that, you know, everyone has their own strategy. my dad would say different strokes for different folks. so i don't criticize the former congressman, but what i do, will remind him what i will remind him of it will, could be, eventually used against him and us, in the court of public political opinion at some point. >> all right. i want to ask about the flip side now. if republicans don't get something done at least in the areas with bipartisan support like expanded background checks and flag laws, could that hurt them in 2020? >> this is an issue resonating with the american public especially women. i think suburban women and also millennials are very much in tune to this particular issue. children on clep campuses, children in high schools, have

really been alerted to the last couple of mass shootings we've had, and women are not particularly as protective of their gun rights as men are. so given that you've got these two constituencies, which are going to be very important in the election, if republicans don't do anything and so far i haven't been impressed with president trump's reaction to all of this. he seems very lackadaisical, not doing anything. not take a position. he's not taking a position in favor of background checks even. that's a very simple reasonable response. red flag laws seem to be, to me, the most effective, and inconsequential reform that could be put into place, because if you have people that can say, at least, hey, this person's actingalities strange. i have concerns about them. check it out. what's the harm in that? why would anyone oppose that? so the fact he hasn't even come out with strong support for that i think is very detrimental.

>> antoine, talk about another controversial moment from the democratic debate this week. joe biden responding to a question about what responsibility he thinks americans have to repair the country's legacy of slavery? here's how he responded. >> look, there is institutional segregation in this country, and from the time i got involved i started dealing with that. red lining banks, making sure we were in a position where, look, talk about education. i proposed that what we take is those very poor school, the title i schools, triple amount of money spent and, two, bring in and teachers deal with the problems that come from home. bring social workers into home and parents to help them deal with how to raise their children. it's not they don't want to help. they don't know quite what to do. play the radio. make sure the television -- excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night, the phone -- make sure the kids hear words. >> all right. antoine what do you think about that response there?

>> so several thinks. i think that the vice president was, one, pointing to his body of work in the areas of what he has done based on his set of experiences to address some of the systematic things that have, that have followed certain communities, particularly communities like mine, for a very long time. the other thing i think he was trying to do was combine that with what he has said consistently he will do to address some of those issues over time. look, i think for the people who krcriticize or do not like vice president biden, they're always going to have a problem with something he says or something he does, because they want to use that as perhaps the reason to write his political benediction, but for those people being objective and deciding what they want to do in regards to selecting who they want to be their pick for this democratic nomination process, it will be totally different. at the end of the day, i think

we all have to remember the way we want to address these issues, even though we may have differences, do not compare to the failures and the way the other side has failed to address some of the issues that plague communities, particularly those who look like mine. >> all right. and talk now about president trump who shared his assessment of the democratic field during remarks at the house gop retreat in baltimore. let's listen to that and i'll get your thoughts on the other side. >> i hit pocahontas way too early. i thought she was gone. she's emerged from the ashes. and now it looks like she could beat sleepy joe. he's fallen asleep, has no idea what the hell he's doing. crazy bernie. he is a crazy guy. >> and buttigieg is two points up in the state of texas against president trump. i said, i don't think so. i don't think so. no. i don't worry about that too much. >> all right. first thing, is he starting to see elizabeth warren as a serious threat to him?

and secondly, do you think he should be more worried about texas? >> i think that he should probably continue to do what he thinks is best for the united states instead of getting into the name-calling. the major criticism you hear about president trump is his attitude, his belittling of allies. anyone other than he's trying to ingratiate. this idea that everyone has to have blind loyalty to him, all of these things are the problems people have with him. the things people like about him are the straight talk, the fact that he doesn't appear as a typical politician and quite frankly, all of the democratic candidates the other night appeared to me to be very much like your typical politician. they wouldn't answer a question. they wouldn't give a straight answer. with the exception of maybe bernie sanders, who i felt like was the most authentic during the debate, but that's what people like about president trump. so the fact that he's doing the name-calling, that's nothing

new. it's just more of the same. >> all right. appreciate you being candid with us on this saturday morning. thank you both for being with us. >> thank you. >> thank you. taking action against vaping. the new push to ban some e-cigarettes. 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 ♪

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good morning. msnbc world headquarters in new york. it is 7:00 in the east, 4:00 out west. here's what's happening. new fallout as the 20