4:00 p.m. eastern. look forward to seeing you there. you can also reach out to me on social media. i'll get right back to you. now i turn it over to reverend al sharpton and "politicsnation." good evening and welcome to "politicsnation." tonight's lead, radio silence. i've been waiting to hear from republican lawmakers with some kind of defense or at least a denial of what could potentially be the worst scandal of the trump administration thus far. but three days after the story broke, i'm still waiting. waiting for an explanation from someone not in the white house as to why an anonymous whistle-blower's complaint claiming president trump repeatedly leaned on the president of ukraine to dig up dirt on joe biden's son should not be turned over to congress.

of course, we've heard non-explanations from the administration and the president himself today, insisting he was just trying to save ukraine from the bidens. >> we had a great conversation. the conversation i had was largely congratulatory, was largely corruption, all of the corruption taking place, was largely the fact that we don't want our people like vice president biden and his son contributing to the corruption already in the ukraine. >> the bombshell comes the same week that new pollings show the public's assessment of president trump to be either stagnant or declining. with a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll showing the

president's job approval rating frozen at 45%, but 36% of those surveyed are less confident in the president's ability to lead the nation. meanwhile, iowa democrats appear to have grown in confidence in senator elizabeth warren. a new cnn -- des moines register poll has warren has the presidential front-runner ahead of joe biden for the first time. so do her kids have to be worried about the president now? joining me now, democratic strategist tara dar del. shermichael singleton, and white house correspondent yamiche alcindor. let me go to you first, yamiche. we've not heard any of the republican leadership, lawmakers, senators and house people coming out with blazing guns as we've had in questions

of the past around this whistle-blower story. does this mean that this is one that even the republicans are having a hard time putting their arms around or their defenses up for the president? >> i think it shows that republicans are at least still thinking through what they're going to say and what their messaging is going to be around this. the president has really set a pattern here where he's invited foreign leaders to give him information. he told abc news a couple months ago that if a foreign leader gave him dirt on a political opponent, he would welcome it. of course during the 2016 election, he said, russia, if you're listening, please get the emails of hillary clinton. >> right. >> and now we, of course, have him looking at ukraine reportedly and asking and pressuring the president there to launch an investigation on joe biden. i think what you have is a republican party that has in some ways gotten used to president trump talking about this kind of getting help from a foreign leader, and i think republicans in the past have said, look, it's a step too far. but in this case i think they're still waiting to see what the

complaint says. but it's a sign that the president is again really in control of his party, and people aren't speaking out because of that. >> but, tara, the facts here are different in the sense you have a whistle-blower, someone that had to be high up in intelligence to even be party to the call, saying that they were disturbed. and then the inspector general says that this is a matter of urgency and passed it on. and you're not talking now about whether or not he should have talked to this guy, that guy. the alarm bells went off from an intelligence officer, a senior intelligence officer, and the i.g. that he appointed recommended this be looked into as an urgent matter. >> and i would add to that, all of the leaks, all of the information that we have currently about the corruption going on in the trump administration has come from trump officials. they're the ones leaking this

information. democrats have been obstructed by the trump administration from almost every request for documents. we saw how corey lewandowski behaved in that hearing. so what makes this even more compelling is it's part of a pattern that people within trump's own administration are the ones that are exposing him. so there's nothing more compelling -- >> including his inspector general. >> including his own inspector general. so there's nothing more compelling than that alone. then we know that trump has told 12,000 lies. that's as of august. so this administration is engaging in what they have continued to engage in and what frankly they've gotten away with, which is deny, deflect, distract, attack. that's the mode they're in. they're in the distract and attack portion of that mode right now. and one other thing i would add is the biggest report on this has come from "the wall street journal." >> right. >> which is controlled by -- which is owned by rupert murdoch, who is friends with jared kushner. he's actually mentored jared kushner in the news publication

business. and they broke stormy daniels and a series of these stories. so this is not a situation of smoke. this is a five-alarm blaze. >> shermichael, as the republican on the panel, are some of the friends of the republicans, when you hear rupert murdoch's paper has been one of the leads on this -- >> sure. >> -- whistle-blower story, the fact that you've not heard any senior members of congress, republican, come out. are they beginning to say wait a minute. this is becoming a bridge too far? >> i mean, i think you'll have some republicans behind closed doors that will say this is a problem. but i think the question, which is something that yamiche alluded to, for republicans is though they may not like what donald trump is doing, though many of them would privately say this is a step too far for the executive sfasas far as the pow that the executive should or

should not have, for some of them, many of them, particularly those in leadership like mitch mcconnell and others, this he see through trump a vehicle, a mechanism to sort of finally see some things that republicans have wanted to do for a very long time, specifically as it relates to the judiciary. so i'm not confident that you will see a significant percentage of republicans at all, if any, coming out against the president. i think that means it shifts the question to democrats, then. that is, what are you going to do about this? i know there's over 100-plus democratic members of congress that are now calling for impeachment. i know speaker pelosi came out with some very strong words today, but she's came out with very strong words in the past, and she still hasn't moved on anything yet. so if she doesn't, then i think for the american people, the ultimate question becomes then what are the boundaries for the executive? are there no limits to what donald trump can do or cannot do? >> well, let me ask yamiche this. we have a hearing thursday, and

the one that is not turning over the whistle-blower's report is testifying. he's going to have to explain, we would assume, why he is not following what the law sauys because the law says you have to hand over to congress when a whistle-blower gives some information. is that causing concern at the white house? you're there. you cover the white house as well or better than anyone. is the testimony thursday and the kind of corner they're putting him in of concern to the white house? >> well, i have this to say. the president's personal lawyer has already said on national television that he went to ukraine and that part of his conversation with ukrainian officials was, you should go and investigate joe biden. so in some ways, the president's inner circle has already made it pretty clear what the situation is. so, yes, the white house is definitely going to be watching that testimony. they're going to be watching it very closely.

but i'm here to say i think we know at least some details about that that are already pretty damning to this president and that are already in some ways worrying possibly people around him. you add that to the fact that the president is going to be sitting down with the president of ukraine in new york city on wednesday as part of the united nations general assembly. there you're also going to have the president having to face questions while he's in front of the person that "the wall street journal" says he pressed more than eight times about investigating joe biden. so i think this week we're going to learn a lot of stuff. the white house is going to be under a lot of pressure. and this testimony on thursday is going to be something to watch. i also think that if we back away from all of this, what we're looking at is a 2020 election where one of the key questions is, is president trump going to be using foreign leaders all across this country to try to gain politically for himself, to actually have personal gain? the president so far has hinted the at the idea that he's happy to do that. so 2020 is not just about ukraine, but it's going to be what other foreign countries is

the president going to call up and say, what information do you have on my political opponent that will help me? that changes the game in 2020. it makes russia and the russia collusion thing just an afterthought because we might have more countries doing what ukraine did or facing the pressure that ukraine ported purportedly face. >> i might add when you say he pressured the president of ukraine eight times. that's eight times in that conversation. that wasn't over a span of time. if you say to someone eight times in one phone conversation, how does not say that i'm here trying to pressure you to do something, and you had a $250 billion package congress had approved for ukraine. hanging there is the inference, i can expedite this. i can delay it. i mean was he really trying to pressure him with an implied threat to the president of ukraine? >> the key thing, though, is that the white house and the president are saying there's

nothing wrong with this. they've said it so plainly even though, of course, there are people in congress, maybe in the republican party and in the democratic party who are saying, you shouldn't go to a foreign leader to ask for this information. president trump has made it very clear he thinks this is okay. so the white house in some ways is messaging around that and trying to set the table that way, trying to set the pattern that all of this behavior is okay. >> well, tara, can the democrats convince the american public -- say we don't get to impeachment, which many people have supported, including me. but say you don't get there, will the american voter feel that this is okay? i mean he came into office in 2016 under the cloud of russian interference. now he's openly saying it's already to do opposition research using another government, and that government is waiting on a $250 package by

the way while i'm talking to him. >> trump as we know is completely shameless, and what he's saying is he doesn't care. really that's what he saying, and that's what the messaging needs to be about. we have someone in office who continually and consistent lip and without any regard for the public abuses power, right? that's what this is about. i think democrats need to be even harder in terms of receipt trick and consistent in terms of rhetoric. that needs to happen, but we need to get to the point where democratic voters need to start really pushing for those members of congress who have not signed on to impeachment because if there's -- there's already overwhelming support, but if some of those members of congress who right now wouldn't vote are persuaded, that puts a lot of pressure on speaker pelosi. and my argument is democrats need to make the case to the american people. they need to convince them. you're not going to convince trump's base, so we should just let that go. but to independent voters, to disaffected democrats who don't vote, that's who the case needs to be made to because those are

the people that are -- and i think those are the people who are open to it, and those are the people who probably already have a sense of trump's level of corruption. >> shermichael, there are many senate seats up. >> yeah, 20. >> this time, the 20 seats that are up are more republicans that are in the squeeze so to speak this time. >> right. >> shouldn't some of them be concerned that all of this could jeopardize their own re-elections? >> i mean right now if you look at most of the electoral data that's out there as it pertains to the senate races in 2020, most of those republicans are reliably safe. there isn't a significant amount of polling data thus far that would suggest that some of them should be concerned, which is why, i think, mitch mcconnell has sort of maneuvered the way he has. and i think that goes back to your question to tara on what role or responsibility do democrats have in trying to persuade many of the american people to start paying more attention to this? so then you in turn,

strategically speaking, do apply pressure to some of those republicans up for re-election in 2020 so they in turn tell mitch mcconnell at some point we have to draw a line. but i don't think until that happens, i don't see any legitimate reason for republicans electorally speaking to say, mr. president, mr. trump, you have gone too far. until that changes, i think president president will continue to behave the way he has. >> how low can we go? now we're talking about the president acting like it's all right to go to a foreign power to say investigate, not that he has something that we understand and we need you to corroborate. we want you to dig up and find something. >> i think this is perhaps the clearest example of an autocrat who essentially wants to do whatever he wants. there is no boundaries. and what my concern here is, if donald trump can get away with this, and i guess many of the

american people are going to ask themselves this question, what's to stop the next president from doing the same thing if we don't say there has to be an ethical, a moral, a legal limit? we are a society governed by these types of structures. >> i can only imagine if this was president obama -- >> we know how that would have worked out. >> yamiche alcindor, thank you for being with us. we'll have more with tara and shermichael later in the show. coming up, speaker of the house nancy pelosi still says no to impeachment but says yes to indictment. i'll explain next. but first, i'll toss it to my colleague richard lui with other stories we're watching in the show. richard? thanks, rev. straight to some pictures from ohio that we're watching. president trump will appear shortly with australian prime minister scott morrison. this is part of a cross country day of diplomacy ahead of the united nations general assembly. eyes on that. also earlier the president appeared with indian prime minister narendra modi at a texas event.

some reports estimate 50,000 were there in a mix of political rally and meeting of international leaders. and iran's president surprises today. he says he will offer a regional peace plan during his visit to the u.n. hayes plan has iran leading efforts in the strategic persian gulf. and this football sunday kicks off without one of the most controversial stars who may be gone for good. wide receiver antonio brown tweeting he will not be playing in the nfl anymore. this just days after his release from his latest team, the new england patriots, in the wake of sexual assault allegations. more later. more "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton just after the break. just after the break. can you help with these? we're more of the plan, invest and protect kind of help... voya. helping you to and through retirement. and i don't add trup the years.s. but what i do count on... is boost® delicious boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals.

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i do think that we will have to pass some laws that will have clarity for future presidents. a president should be indicted if he's committed a wrongdoing. >> while in office? >> any president. there is nothing anyplace that says the president should not be indicted. >> house speaker nancy pelosi on friday again saying she has not changed her mind on pursuing the impeachment of president donald trump. but as far as presidential powers go, she is making it clear that laws should be changed so that a sitting president can, in fact, be indicted. joining me now is a member of the house leadership supporting impeachment, congresswoman from massachusetts katherine clark. she is the vice chair of the democratic caucus.

congresswoman clark, what will it take for the speaker, nancy pelosi, and others to say, here's a bridge too far. now you have ukraine. you're using them possibly with the threat of not doing what is in our national security interest to dig something up which could potentially be your opponent. when do we hear from the speaker or others that are holding back in the democratic caucus, it's impeachment time? >> i can tell you, reverend sharpton, what i'm hearing from my colleagues, and that is outrage. we have been outraged at this lawless president that doesn't act like a patriot, that acts like a mob boss. and those on the other side of the aisle who will apparently follow him to every new low that he sets. but this is something different

because unlike the unprecedented stonewalling that we've seen, we now have a whistle-blower, someone high up in government who says this is urgent and it's credible. the republicans want to call themselves the party of national security. why are they hiding from this? where are they when we have allegations that a president may have sent a personal attorney over to ukraine to say that there should be some sort of investigation, help digging up dirt on political opponents? this is an issue of national security, and we are going to take it with the deadly seriousness that it has. >> now, the speaker pelosi has said there needs to be laws also that deals with this whole policy of the justice department that you can't indict a sitting president. is there something that you

think the congress will pursue since your caucus is the majority now in the house? >> i think that we will. i think we all have read the mueller report, and we saw that there were many, many pieces of evidence there and how this president allowed russia to interfere with our 2016 election and then tried to obstruct that investigation. but the department of justice is saying, we can't indict a sitting president. nobody should be allowed to use the white house and the powers of the presidency as a monarchy and not as a duly elected president who takes an oath to faithfully execute our laws. we've not seen that from this president, and we have to make sure that we safeguard our constitution, our very

democracy, from this president and any other president in the future who may try and put himself or herself above the law. >> now, to be clear, the justice department is the decision about policy about not indicting a sitting president, is a justice department policy. it is not the law. there's nothing legally that binds anyone from doing that. it could be challenged, but if the justice department will not bring the charges, then it negati negates it. so a law would be necessary that the justice department could not, in fact, stop if there's a law saying you can't do that. >> that's exactly right. i do fear we're going to find ourselves back in the quandary we have found where we will pass legislation as democrats in the majority in the house that then absolutely dies at the door of the senate. that's what we've seen with our gun legislation where we have passed two pieces of

commonsense, you know, gun prevention strategies -- universal background checks and closing a lethal loophole that allowed a shooter to get the gun in charleston, south carolina. that was over 200 days ago, and mitch mcconnell won't bring it up for a vote. and just this weekend, president trump said the democrats haven't acted on gun violence, and if we would only do that. this sort of gaslighting of the american people, misrepresenting what is happening, continuing to choose the nra over our children, corporations over taxpayers and minimum-wage workers, letting bills like equal pay and the violence against women act just stack up at the senate door. what we are seeing here is an abdication of their responsibility to work for the american people, not work for

who they perceive to be their boss, their mob boss, donald trump. >> and you've been a very strong advocate on gun control and gun reform. let me ask you before i let you go, you've endorsed senator elizabeth warren. now for the first time, she is ahead by a couple of points of joe biden in iowa. i'm sure that has resonated well with her supporters. do you think she will win the nomination, and can she beat donald trump? >> well, i can tell you why i have endorsed her. it's because she sees those issues that are so critical to families and home. she understands the challenges that people face, and she is fearless in her fight for them. that's why she was such a successful senator. that is why i think that she can

absolutely beat donald trump, because she's going to meet him where he is, and she's going to unveil him for the sham and the grifter that he is. and she is clear-eyed about whose side she's on. and that's the american people and the people fighting to stay in the middle class and to join it. and that's why i think elizabeth warren could very well be the next president of the united states. >> congresswoman katherine clark, thank you. >> thank you. the president had some very callous words for some of the nation's homeless this week. what trump said and my message to him, next. be right back.

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callous cal for my weekly memo to president trump, a special sunday edition because the lord's day is not over yet, and i still have a little preaching left to do. this week, mr. president, you, a self-professed christian, subverted the humanitarian jesus message to nurse a political

grudge against california, casting its homelessness crisis as bad for business, allegedly telling reporters, quote, we have people living in our best highways, our best streets, our best entrances to buildings where people in those buildings pay tremendous taxes, where they went to those locations because of the prestige, end of quote. absent a certain baseline racism, i still can't understand why avowed christians, let alone evangelicals, are still enthralled to you, mr. president, especially as your administration is now toying with using law enforcement to round up homeless people. but let jesus address that in a minute because during your first presidential campaign, you sold yourself as a self-made billionaire who turned a, quote, small loan of $1 million from your daddy, into an empire with

your name all over it. of course that loan in total turned out to be just over $60 million, which in 2019 would come out to over $140 million. most of it you apparently never paid back to your father. it must be nice. so to summarize a hedonist born on third base has the gall to complain about the nation's most vulnerable, reminding him just how desperate life can be for those without a rich daddy to loan them eight figures. whether you recognize them as such, mr. president, they are your constituents, and some of them might have even voted for you in better times, like before you took office. in the 25th chapter of the gospel of matthew, jesus said, quote, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine,

you did for me for i was hungry, and you gave me no food. a stranger and you gave me no welcome. i was in prison, and you did not care for me. what you did not do for one of the least ones, you did not do for me, end of quote. a truly christian president would take that to heart, president trump. but then i guess you'd have to have one first. we'll be right back. you wouldn't accept an incomplete job from anyone else.

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president trump is in ohio today following an earlier stop in houston. the president also traveled to california earlier this week to visit a section of recently repaired border fencing. but his unpopular wall isn't the only way trump wants to exert his will over california. the trump administration is looking to block the state from setting vehicle emission standards that are stricter than the national requirements. the golden state isn't going to take it lying down. california has joined 22 other states in a lawsuit over the president's overreach into state authority. joining me now is the mayor of san jose, california, sam liccardo. before i get into the fight over

the vehicular emissions, tailpipe emissions, it seems like the president has a problem with california. the emissions, the homeless, i mean what's the problem with california and this president? >> it's good to be with you, reverend al. i know the president has all kinds of issues with california, but the reality is we are all collectively facing a crisis of climate change. and just this week, san jose became the first major city in the country to essentially mandate all new residential and municipal construction would have to be built without natural gas. these are the kinds of changes that cities throughout california are undertaking just as we're pushing auto manufacturers to ensure that they are producing cleaner cars, and we are going to continue to lead the country because we have a crisis we all face together. and whether republican or democrat, if we're living on the coast, that sea level is going to rise and really imperil all of us equally. >> now, i'm glad you said

whether you're republican or democrat because this is not a partisan issue or doing something politically correct. we are talking about the real health and well being of american citizens here. >> absolutely. we're facing a climate crisis, and we're already seeing in cities like miami, on a daily basis, where water levels are rising to the point where city infrastructure is being compromised, and they're having to move people routinely within neighborhoods. we already saw the disasters certainly with the hurricanes just a few weeks ago. we know in houston, in cities throughout this country, we are all facing very grave impacts from climate crisis today, and it's only going to get worse. we have to act. >> well, we saw literally millions of young people marching about climate change this week all over the world. this is an existential threat. so it's not just out of the

clear blue that california decided to take this step and 22 other states are joining in lawsuits. something needs to be done because we are being told by every expert and by every indication that we can see that are not experts that we have a real global warming problem. >> reverend al, you're right. there's a real consensus among experts. the numbers are somewhere around 97% or 95% of the climate experts all agree on this issue. but what's even more important is what our young people are telling us as we heard in the marches this week. they're telling us that they are terrified that they are going to get an earth that is not habitable. and they certainly deserve to ensure that we provide them a planet that does not imperil them and their future. we simply haven't lived up to our responsibility to the next generation, and we need to do more. >> now, the president also made

this whole statement about the homeless situation in parts of california but really did not say anything about what he would do to help aid california and, for that matter, anywhere else in terms of resources and other things to deal with a humanitarian problem. many of them are homeless because of certain situations that are beyond just them being irresponsible with their monies or their income, but have everything from mental health problems to just problems of where they cannot get employment. how does that factor in as a california, governor newsom and others are dealing with this issue california-wise? >> well, we've recognized we really have to do it ourselves here. the federal government has pulled back in so many ways. programs like home and community

development grants that were funded at much higher levels a decade or more ago have been cut severely. we would love to have president trump and the federal government's constructive involvement. if they want to offer federal land, for example, where we would build housing, we would happily partner with them. president trump needs to understand this isn't just a problem in california. this is all throughout the western united states. we see thousands of homeless in cities from seattle to portland to las vegas and certainly most of the major cities in california. we are all grappling with this challenge together because of rapidly rising housing costs and all the challenges that you implied from mental health to drug addiction. >> mayor sam liccardo, thank you for being with us today. >> good to be with you, reverend al. joe biden's front-runner status may be in jeopardy as new polling out of iowa shows he's in a dead heat with one of his fiercest rivals. that's coming up next right here on "politicsnation."

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register" laying bare a new dynamic in the white house race. the new survey has senator elizabeth warren leading the field with 22%, up seven points since june. joe biden is at 20%, down three points since the last poll. the two are essentially tied since their differential falls within the margin of error, rounding out the top five is bernie sanders at 11:00%, mayor pete at 9%, and kamala harris in fifth place with 6%. cory booker's campaign had its largest day of fund-raising on saturday. almost $400,000. but the new jersey senator maintains that if he can't raise $1.5 million, he'll have to bow out of the race. my panel is back with me. tara dowdell, a democratic strategist, and shermichael singleton, a republican political consultant. now, shermichael, when you look

at this poll and with the margin of error, ms. warren and vice president biden are tied, but she is for the first time ahead even in this dead heat. >> mm-hmm. >> the thing that is interesting is that she's gone up. he's gone down. what does this say to you as a political strategist? >> well, what it says -- and i'm very aware of this. senator warren's campaign has focused not only on iowa, but there are other states and, i don't want to say what states, but there are other states where they are really focused on building a ground game. they're looking at what types of voters can they target? what are the interest of those voters? what is some of the policy platforms that she's released thus far and maybe should release in the future that may sort of bring some of those folks in her camp or at least open up their minds to the possibility of supporting her? and what you have seen, if you look at the data of that poll is that after months and months of

continuously going there, hiring the staff, doing that geotargeting and mobilization, she is now seeing the net benefit of it, and so she's slowly continued to see a rise. the issue of vice president joe biden's campaign is they have not been able type of enthusiasm that would allow them to not only reach new voters but also reach the voters with a message of i'm the best person to defeat donald trump over the other candidates. elizabeth warren has been effective at doing that. >> you have recent polls saying any of the five contenders now polling, beating president trump. but tara, if in fact this poll holds up and we're still several months ahead of the february iowa caucus, but if it holds up, if she keeps growing, and elizabeth warren wins iowa, comes a neighboring state of new hampshire and wins, does that give her a kind of momentum going into south carolina to win that and attract black voters

that feel she's the one that can beat donald trump? >> i think that she will have a lot of momentum because i think a lot of voters are looking at -- well, conventional wisdom, but a lot of voters are looking at the electability question. unfortunately, a lot of voters are defining electability in terms that have not held up in recent years in 2016, for instance. but i do think elizabeth warren, people forget that when she was maybe about six months ago, she was struggling in fund-raising. she had a hard time raising money. she was not polling where she is, so she's had a lot of momentum to date. she's one of the people that has in this race has had really the biggest swing in terms of net positive swing upwards. so i think that her campaign is doing an excellent job, and i think for several reasons. number one, elizabeth warren is extremely authentic. i think it comes through. and people respond well to it. i think as there's been a push back by people in the media, by various people of influence around this electability question, i think that's helped

her. a lot of people have said, why are we saying that as a woman or of the women running, that women are less electable. how are we as democrats making that an argument within our own party. that's a problematic argument. people thought president obama could not win because he was black, and now the same argument was being bantied about in our own primarily. i think the pushback against the argument has benefitted her as well. >> as a republican strategist, you know better than most that donald trump nicknamed everyone. one of the distinguishing things about elizabeth warren is he had put this pocahontas title on her, and she has seemingly beat that down. so how does he now come with a name on her that she's already defeated? does this give him a problem if she is in fact the democratic nominee? >> i actually think that elizabeth warren, and i may be taking a risk in saying this, could potentially be the dark horse that republicans, at least

folks on my side, aren't really expecting to ultimately win the nomination. the president did have that name for her. i think she's bypassed it. she's taken the time to meet with various native tribes, to understand the history, the cull clr, and why that was so offensive. i think all of them have forgiven her. i think she's released specific policy issues pertaining to their interests and concerns. i remember several months ago, she was in west virginia, rev, which is trump country, and she had a significantly large crowd there. and when she talks about capitalism, she said i'm not anti-capitalist, i just believe in capitalism for everybody, so i think if she's the nominee, the president would have a very difficult time tryin' to pigeon her into something, because she's a woman, you don't want to risk offending women. so i think it's going to be tough. >> biggest risk you have if it's liz warren is you have to debate policy, and i don't think that he and policy have been in the same room, at least not him

reading it. >> she's excellent at explaining her positions. and attracting people. when i talk about the electability question, i want to make sure i'm clear about what i mean by 2016. people thought trump was not electable, right? that's what i mean specifically. >> now that he's in and people know that not only is he electable, but he's in, will that help turnout against him? because a lot of people said they didn't vote because they didn't believe he could win anyway. >> right. exactly. that's exactly right. i think the issue that democrats are going to face, and i'm glad i'm given this opportunity to raise this, because it's really important, is voter suppression. there are laws right now, a law right now in the state of tennessee that one of my clients was able to get a preliminary injunction against the implementation of that voter suppression law that was going to take effect on october 1st. a new sweeping package of voter suppression laws in the state of florida. texas is now looking at -- >> still fighting in north carolina, all over the country. >> that is where i think the democrats need to focus. i think if we lose in -- if

democrats lose in 2020, i think that will be one of the biggest factors. >> absolutely. that's not a partisan issue. that is an issue of voting rights and democracy. tara and shermichael singleton, thank you both for being with us. up next, my final thoughts. stay with us. but what i do count on... is boost® delicious boost® high protein nutritional drink has 20 grams of protein, along with 26 essential vitamins and minerals. boost® high protein. be up for life. i that's the retirement plan.e, with my annuity, i know there is a guarantee. it's for my family, its for my self, its for my future. annuities can provide protected income for life. learn more at retire your risk dot org. 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.

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learned of the passing of civil rights activist emily clyburn, the wife of south carolina

congressman james clyburn. she was 80 years old. the couple met as college students when they were arrested for participating in a civil rights demonstration in 1960. and they remained together for nearly 60 years. tomorrow, we will funeralize mrs. juanita in atlanta georgia, the wife of ralph david abernathy who was the copilot of the civil rights movement of the '60s and '50s with dr. martin luther king jr. both of these women gave so much of themselves, of their family, and stood shoulder to shoulder, not behind, but shoulder to shoulder with their husbands in the fight for civil and human rights in this country. too often, people forget it was the women that were the backbones of the civil rights movement. and no women personified and exemplified that more than juanita aber narth ernathy and

clyburn. that does it for me. i'll see you back here next saturday at 5:00 p.m. eastern. up next, "meet the press" with chuck todd. this sunday, the president and the whistleblower. >> i don't know the identity of the whistleblower. i hear it's a partisan person. >> president trump response to reports that while he held up aid to ukraine, he was urging its president to create an investigation targeting joe biden. >> i can say that it's a totally appropriate conversation. it was actually a beautiful conversation. >> then, without evidence, suggested more. >> it doesn't matter what i discuss, but i will say this. somebody ought to look in to joe biden's statement. >> you should be looking at trump. trump is doing this because he knows i'll beat him like a drum. >> i'll talk to chris murphy and pat toomey. >> plus, growing tensions with