i could talk to these friends for another hour but we're out of time. my thanks to john pierre, heather mcgee, and most of all thanks for watching. that does it for our hour. "mtp daily" daily with chuck todd starts now. if it's wednesday, top democrats just walked out of a meeting with president trump on syria. saying the president had a quote meltdown. we're going to talk to someone who was in that meeting up ahead. and what will republicans do as american foreign policy starts looking more and more like russian foreign policy? plus, more trump administration insiders are speaking out in that impeachment inquiry. going to talk to a member of congress who was inside the room today as a former official sounded the alarm about what's going on inside the state

department. and elizabeth warren taking heat like a front-runner last night. her democratic rivals piling on. is she now the only front-runner? paging joe biden. welcome to wednesday. it is "mtp daily" and good evening i'm chuck todd here in washington where nancy pelosi and chuck schumer -- the authenticity of a truly bizarre letter that the president sent to turkey's president. the developments this afternoon have been in a word intense. when the president's action today justifying his decision to pool troops from northern syria have now put an uncomfortable spotlight on republicans in congress. what do they do now? particularly, after the president today made it painfully clear to them that he isn't giving an inch on his decision. despite the bipartisan back lash and despite the chaos that has unleashed in the region where american allies are frustrated with the president's decision.

today, as his vice president and secretary of start we secretary of state were readying to scramble to turkey, the president said the situation on the ground wasn't our problem. and russia's ascendents in syria? hey, fine with him. >> syria may have some help with russia and that's fine. it's a lot of sand. they've got a lot of sand over there. so there's a lot of sand that they can play with. if russia wants to get involved with the -- with syria, that's really up to them. they have a problem with turkey, they have a problem at a border. it's not our border. we shouldn't be losing lives over it. but syria has a relationship with the kurds. so they'll come in for their border. and they'll fight. they may bring partners in. they could bring russia in and i say welcome to it. >> the president even took it a step further dismissing our now i guess former kurdish allies in the region and repeating turkish talking points that kurdish

forces were worse than isis. the reaction on capitol hill today is, as we said earlier, intense. very intense. this afternoon, the house voted overwhelmingly to condemn the president's actions in syria. we've heard from a number of senate republicans, some of whom were starting to find a rationale to defend the president's initial efforts to address the situation. today, simply expressed their dismay at now what's happening. senator lindsey graham, again just days after trying to praise the president's decision to sanction turkey is now promising he's going to be the white house's worst nightmare on this issue. and moments ago, democratic leaders emerged from a meeting at the white house with the president on syria and said that his performance was insulting to the point that some of them walked out. >> he called her a third-rate politician. he said that the -- there are communists involved and you guys might like that. i mean, this was not a dialogue. it was sort of a diatribe.

>> meltdown. sad to say. >> in just a moment, i'm going to talk to a top democratic committee chair who stayed in the room after the three leaders walked out. so some democrats did stay in the room and we'll find out what happened after. but first, let me turn to our nbc colleagues on the hill and at the white house to try to unpack what is yet another bizarre day and what we might as well say is another day covering the president. kelly o'donnell's at the white house. jeff bennett's on capitol hill. so, kelly, a lot to unpack here. the president was meeting with the leader of italy. that obviously was just a vehicle to express no regret now after, i guess, expressing some with his decision to pull troops from northern syria. >> the president was very much on message truck saying that he believes his decision to withdrawal u.s. troops is the right one and that it is up to

turkey and syria to deal with their own affairs. and he really disconnected from any cause and effect based on his actions. what's really been puzzling of watching this all unfold today is you were just outlining the sort of, i would say, heavy-duty personality in the meeting that just transpired where there was apparently some name calling and some heat. but we also learned from michael mccall, who is the top republican on the foreign affairs committee in the house, that in the meeting that there was a discussion of keeping a residual force in syria in order to protect u.s. interests there and to prevent the rise of any threat to the u.s. well, that was head scratching because we saw the president twice today in front of reporters where he did not acknowledge that. so that's a confusing thing. i tried to ask leader mccarthy about it and he instead went to the back and forth between the president and the speaker and the speaker then later going on

to say that he's praying for the president, as she does always. but expressing concern about him right now and the seriousness of these events. so we're at a point now where republicans have very broadly been critical of the president's decision here to turn away from an ally like the kurds to potentially have the really horrible effects of in a very short span of time of the president's decision and what turkey has done. >> i have to admit i'm a bit confused. it did appear yesterday as if the president was concerned about turkey's behavior. and today, he doesn't appear to be concerned about turkey's behavior. what -- i mean, we -- they released a letter that was dated a week ago that was very trumpian. >> yes, rlet's make a deal. >> let's make a deal. >> and history will judge you. don't be a devil. really striking language from the president. >> it is. i'd say that but it's no longer striking language with this president. in some ways, it sounded like

him. there was no doubt he dictated this letter. 100%. but i'm curious, do you have -- what is the president's position? does he believe american troops are necessary to prevent the rise of isis or not? >> i thought there were plenty of opportunities for him today to answer that question and he, in my view, disconnected from that. that the -- the work the u.s. did to end the califate, seems his judgment something that now you can turn the page from. and what he's not speaking to is the kind of concern that lindsey graham raises about how you can reconstitute those isis fighters. didn't express concern about those that might have been let out of detention in wake of this decision. and when asked about the criticism from lindsey graham, encouraged that graham should work on his judiciary committee business dealing with the president's political pursuits and not this foreign affairs portfolio that clearly graham has been trying to influence the president on this and not

getting anywhere. so the president at times appeared very irritated by the questions today asking about the cause and effect of his actions. and saying that it is not his doing. even though there are real questions about the u.s. place in the world when it comes to protecting allies and trying to be a stability force. the president seems very frustrated that there is a cost to u.s. service personnel in being in those regions and a cost in terms of the overall budget and a cost perhaps politically for him because he was saying i might be politically better if i leave them there. but he wants that campaign promise, it would appear, to be able to say he has pulled troops out. so i'm, again, confused. perhaps your next guest, who would be well read on this can answer the question about residual force. >> well, and that is something i hope to get to with adam. let me go to capitol hill and jeff bennett and we keep talking about lindsey graham. but let me play the clip. it's clear he is trying any way possible to talk to president trump so he's going on various

programs that he thinks he might accidentally watch. he went on 700 club. went on the christian broadcasting network hoping the president would hear him. take a listen. >> i will do anything i can to help him but i will also become president trump's worst nightmare. i will not settle on the sidelines and watch a good ally, the kurds, be slaughtered by turkey and watch iran move into syria and become another nightmare for israel. this is a defining moment for president trump. he needs to up his game. >> all right. that was an emotional lindsey graham. i would play my next clip here of mitch mcconnell. it lacked the lindsey graham emotion but it's basically the same issue. what is he doing? i disagree with him. this is a big problem, not a small one. >> yeah. >> but what are republicans going to do? >> remarkable comments from lindsey graham, president trump's chief defender here on the hill and his sometimes golfing partner. i mean, this presents quite a

conundrum. think of where we were just a day ago, chuck. just yesterday, you had most republicans for the most part trying to shift gears away from a confrontation with president trump over this syria issue. you had top republicans here working with top white house officials to work out some sort of sanctions package. the defense secretary was here answering congressional republicans' questions. there was this concerted effort to try to clean up this slow-rolling crisis. although, most republicans i've talked to have said you can probably never fully reverse all of the consequences, unintended and otherwise, in the region. but that has changed remarkably today given the president's comments. so it's not just lindsey graham. it's also now senator marcia blackburn, who it turns out represents more kurds in the u.s. than any other senator. some 15,000 kurds there in nashville and she says the president's decision liberates isis and props up assad. the other thing happening here, of course, we're talking about syria. but the backdrop here of course is impeachment and i think the syria issue gives republicans cover really to criticize

president trump on this issue in a way that he have beey've been criticize him. >> and this is where, of course, i think a lot of us who don't live in partisan places are trying to understand how is it that they don't see syria and ukraine as connected? that congressional republicans continue to try to keep those separate when russia certainly sees it, you know, their number one interest in destabilizing the united states was to get -- us to get out of their space in their minds when it came to ukraine and syria. >> yeah. i don't have a good answer for you on that one because you're right. if lawmakers are going to be intellectually honest, you would think they would ding the president on both fronts. of course, on the impeachment issue, republicans could make the larger argument that it suits their purposes, you know, from a 30,000 foot level to have a republican in the white house who would do their bidding on major policy and agenda items. that sort of thing. they see it as sort of a separate and discrete issue

apart from the syria one. but yeah, you make a good point. >> well, and especially with the way they speak about the syria problem, they put it in almost apocalyptic terms. so it is hard to see how they square their rhetoric with some of these actions. anyway, kelly o'donnell, jeff bennett. capitol hill and the white house. great way to kick off. thank you. joining me now is somebody who was in the room at this bizarre meeting. the chairman of the house arm services committee. washington democrat congressman adam smith. and, congressman, you didn't walk out of the room. you and the other committee chairs that have jurisdiction over national security issues stayed in the room. what happened? and what happened after your leader walked out? >> well, there was some important policy discussions that need to be had. i mean, we need to understand what the president's plan was. we had secretary esper there. chief of staff was there. sorry, chairman of the chief of

staff was there. we want to have that conversation. the president has a way of talking that does not exactly induce people to want to sit and listen to him. and he was pretty harsh on democrats and nancy pelosi and a whole lot of the speaker i should say and a whole lot of other people in a way i think is not befitting of a president. so i understand why the speaker and the senate minority leader and the house majority leader walked out. but i had questions i wanted answered. so we had a discussion about the actual policy of the issue after we got through that. >> did the president stay? >> he was sort of like moving out of his chair at one point but he did stay. yes. >> did he continue to participate in the meeting after -- >> oh, yeah. yes. >> after speaker pelosi left? >> yes, he did. >> did he have any comments about why they walked out? >> well, i think they sort of fired enough shots at each other. mostly, the president at the speaker and others as they were leavening that this was more or less dealt with. and that's not a way to conduct business in the white house. >> yeah. did anybody try to mediate? did anybody try to mediate? >> you know, that's not really

our place. >> no, i understand that you're not. but did anybody else? like mick mulvaney? like others in the room? >> no, this is their boss and he does things the way he does things. so, no, they let it happen. but look, the policy is important. >> well, let's talk about that. i was just going to say residual force. residual force. supposedly, the president keeps saying no. what were you guys talking about in there? and how did he square it? >> well, and that is an important point. but, look, overall the thing to remember here is this wasn't just a decision to pull back a few troops from the border. this was a decision made last december when the president announced that we were leaving syria. and the implications that had for turkey and their planning. i mean, once you got to the weekend phone call, i think turkey had made their decision. but it was the leadup to that that was problematic and also the president really emphasized in the meeting all the pressure he put on turkey not to do this. hence, the letter. and i had the same reaction you did, chuck, when i looked at the

letter. i happen to know the white house lawyer and i can assure you he did not write this. it was uniquely the president. but none of that was public. i mean, if the president really didn't want erdogan to go in, we could have had some very public discussions about it. that didn't happen. now, as to the question as residual force, what they're really saying is they are going to keep forces in iraq just across the border. i didn't get 100% clarity on this but my sense was they're planning on pulling them out of syria and leaving them in iraq. that is still dangerous. we have abandoned an incredibly important partner in the kurds. will we find capable enough partners to contain syria now? that's highly debatable. but the president, as you heard, he's confident in the russians and syrians and i guess the turks to do that. so we'll see. >> did anybody -- did anybody else in that room make the case against trusting the russians with syria? >> oh, a lot of people did, including -- >> how does he react? how does he react to that? >> well -- yeah.

no, he reacted by basically saying, you know, if russia wants to go into syria, let them. they went into afghanistan and they got destroyed. so, you know, let them fight, you know, over -- you heard in the clips from the italian prime minister comments. you know, that's basically what he said. it's -- it's, you know, it's their funeral basically. it's not going to benefit them better than us. the policy point a lot of us made is containing isis is really number one our issue. now, the president emphasized isis is attacking russia as well. and that may well be true. but we're not responsible for defending russia. we're responsible for defending the united states of america. >> i understand that at one point before the leaders walked out, that senator schumer made a point that his first defense secretary jim mattis said doing this is guaranteeing the reemergence of isis. how did the president handle that criticism from his former defense secretary? >> he insulted the former defense secretary at great length.

>> so he didn't accept the premise? or -- >> he -- he -- he attacked -- he attacked the messenger. basically, he said -- and i don't want to get into specifics. i have an enormous amount of respect for general mattis. the president does not. he basically said consider the source. he doesn't know what he's talking about. he's a terrible general. so that was how he dealt with general matthis's concerns. >> so what is your sense? you know you talk to these congressional republicans with -- outside of president trump being in the room. you have a general sense of how closely aligned i'm guessing you -- i'm pretty sure you are -- that you and many of your republican colleagues, at least on this issue, are. how are you going to -- how do we get out of this box that the president has put america's foreign policy in? >> well, two things about that. one, the one point i tried to impress upon the president was the important -- importance of partners in fighting terrorists.

you know, i don't think it's wise for the u.s. to drop 100,000 troops down in a foreign country and say we're going to fix things. it is very wise for us to find partners in those parts of the world, like the middle east, like south asia, like africa, where al qaeda, isis, and other radical groups are strong and build partnerships to contain them so that we don't have to bear the brunt of the fight. and that's what we were doing in syria. prior to the president's announcement, we had not lost a single u.s. troop in our effort in syria. there was a terrorist attack shortly thereafter that killed some u.s. service members. but prior to that, we had -- the kurds had been doing the fighting. so the big thing was build a partnership, maintain that partnership. and i will say the president's plan is to sanction turkey so harshly that they will agree to a cease fire. that -- that is his plan. and secretary manuchin laid out how aggressive these sanctions were and they are confident those sanctions will work to force turkey -- >> are you? >> no, i'm not and neither were

a lot of people in the room, including senator menendez. he's worked on sanctions in iran, north korea, a lot of places. he knows how well they work and don't work. so there is concern that that will be effective. >> and one final question. i'm sure you and others made the point that erdogan is not -- not somebody to be trusted all the time to keep their word. how does he react to that? >> his big point is, you know, if we -- which is interesting because i'm not sure how this juxtaposes with all the sanctions i just talked about -- but the president's big point was we can't drive turkey into the hands of russia. we need turkey on our side, not on russia's. so the extent you're going after erdogan, you know, here's an important crucial ally that we're going to lose, which is kind of ironic in that he doesn't really support a lot of our other allies. he emphasized at great length that european countries like germany and france aren't carrying their weight on this fight. they wouldn't take back their fighters that were imprisoned in

syria. so, you know, i don't know that i find turkey to be a more reliable ally than germany or france. granted, they all have their issues. there's all things we wish they were doing differently. but that was sort of his take was that we don't want to lose turkey to the russian sphere of influence. >> interesting take on his part. you're right. >> it was. it was a fascinating meeting, chuck. i will absolutely say that. >> it doesn't compute. i mean, it doesn't compute. turkey's been courting russia and russia's been courting turkey and we've let it happen. i mean, did he explain why he was okay with the weapons system? >> well, not really okay. i mean, again, he doesn't want us to sanction turkey too harshly. i believe, at least the administration policy is, cut off the f-35 if they buy the s 400 and they're sticking to that. they're a little more squeem irk squeamish on the sanctions.

you don't want to sanction too har l harshly for the s 400 because you want to keep them in orbit but basically you want to bankrupt them on the other thing. but again, he's trying to pressure them into changing what they're doing but i think it would have been better to stop what they were doing before they did it. >> congressman, you did a tremendous job of rhetorically tap dancing. at times, i saw what you were trying to do there. good for you. >> well, look. we've got -- we've got to work on this. the policy's important. >> we do. >> we can't just have a food fight. we've got a country to defend and allies to protect. we got to find a way through this. >> and you're trying to do your job there. anyway, it's -- it's noticeable and i get it. and i think the viewers should get it, too. congressman adam smith, thanks for coming on and sharing your views. what is truly a day you'll probably never forget. >> very true. thanks, john. >> let me turn now to the other big story consuming washington. no, i'm not talking about the gnats going to the world series, though that is really the actual

story. but we do have the escalating impeachment inquiry and today things got harry again. the committee heard from michael mckinley. now, this was a former top advisor to the secretary of state mike pompeo who reportedly testified that political pressure was applied to non-partisan career officials inside the state department under the trump administration all focused on the ukraine. eric swallwell. congressman, thanks for coming on. i appreciate it. now, this person did not appear under subpoena. so i assume that means you can tell us a little bit more than what is normal or what -- what are the rules governing this? >> yeah. well, we're having closed hearings right now, chuck, because the nature of this is it's a national security event. there's not that many witnesses to it. and before they can cook up alibis or tailor their testimony to each other, we want to hear what happened. get a sense of the timeline. understand who was in on this

shakedown scheme. who was not. and then consider whether public hearings would help us to move forward. so we're trying -- i would -- if there was contradictory testimony to what the whistle-blower said or what the president confessed to, i would tell you. there was not. there was more corroboration of the whistle-blower complaint, the president's own confession, and what public text messages we've already put out from ambassador volkar. so you're just seeing this come into focus now and again we're giving the president a fair process but we're moving quite expeditiously by having another cooperative witness come in today. >> i'm curious. there's public reporting now. tomorrow, you're going to hear from gordon sondland, who is the ambassador to the eu. according to the washington post, part of a group that was colloquially the three amigos. rick perry, gordon sondland, and rudy -- excuse me -- sondland and i believe volkar. yes, thank you.

did you guys know that? has this -- what i'm trying to figure out is what are we learning publicly and what do you guys already know? the three amigos anecdote. was that a known anecdote already? >> well, what i can tell you because we've released many of volkar's text messages is that volkar and sondland played a critical part in ukraine foreign policy acting in the interest of donald trump and his personal lawyer rudy giuliani. and that was contra to this separate legitimate foreign policy track that others at the state department were trying to run. that is what has been of such concern by so many career foreign service officers. >> what is -- what else do you think gordon sondland can share? and are you at all concerned that he is going to be less cooperative because he didn't appear the first time? >> no. i'm not concerned about that

part at all. the fact that he's coming in will help us and the fact that others have come in i think shows that the dam has been broken in the sense we're getting cooperative witnesses. they're not defying the law as the president and secretary of state have sqasked them to do. i think we will learn a lot more tomorrow. but, again, we want to understand who was part of the shakedown scheme that was not u.s. foreign policy and only benefitted the president. and who was just legitimately doing their job and saw all this wrongful conduct? >> tell me about last night's caucus meeting where there clearly is a divide inside among house democrats about whether you guys should go on the record. a roll call on the issue of the impeachment inquiry. >> well, we're fully behind the speaker and she's the one who was leading us with this inquiry. and honestly, i have not heard that divide. what i hear is that in the history of investigations in the world, never has a suspect dictated the terms of the investigation. and donald trump is not going to

change that history. we don't have to have an inquiry vote. we have an inquiry going on right now. we're learning a lot and he -- if he is impeached, would have a trial in the senate. right now, i promise you all of his allies on the republican side are in this hearing and they are defending him. asking questions. they get equal time. members are asking questions. there's no conspiracy against him in this process. >> no. no. that, i get. but if -- are you at all concerned that they're going to essentially litigate you to death to ever prevent you -- like take the rudy giuliani subpoena, he's going to ignore the subpoenas. you guys are g have to prove th is an impeachment inquiry. i guess, could you short circuit some of this wasted court action? see where i'm going here? >> it's a great question. when you have a suspect confessing to the crime, you don't need as many witnesses. as far as we see it, yes, it would be nice to hear from rudy giuliani and i'm just using him as an example. if people like giuliani are going to defy our subpoenas, we

so it as, well, you are losing the opportunity to exonerate yourself because right now all the arrows point to guilt. if you don't come in, if you don't follow the subpoena, we put that in the consciousness of guilt box and if it's directed by the president, that is under consideration for obstruction of congress. move on. >> all right. congressman eric swallwell. member of the intel committee. he's been in the room for many of these interviews. thanks for coming on. coming up, much more on breaking news. syria, turkey. giuliani. plus, elizabeth warren versus the world. 2020 candidate took most of the incoming fire at last night's debate. so now what? what do you look for when you trade?

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ask your doctor about entresto, for heart failure. where to next? entrust your heart to entresto. let's get right back to all this breaking news that happened today. which as i said a few minutes ago, is all in some ways connected. so joining me now washington post political reporter, former clinton campaign advisor and nbc political analyst michael steele. okay. eugene, there is a pattern here with the president and both the ukraine story and the syria story sort of evoked this, which is it begins with with whatever you're accusing me of, it's not there. and then a few days go by and we start to see he starts to say the same things he was accused of. then at some point, he starts to say you're gosh darn right. that is exactly what i plan to

do. he is owning the syria policy now in ways it didn't look like he was ready to even yesterday. >> yeah. i think it's in part, and we heard -- talk about this earlier. not just daughter-in-law but advisor on the campaign say that trump's team has spoken with people among the base. people who are connected to the president. and they don't r can do whatever he wants on areas of foreign policy as long as he fulfills the campaign process, which at least leads towards bringing people back, which is what he told voters he was going to do. >> you think that stiffened his spine? >> i think so. but also, in part because he's campaigning on promises kept. and we know he hasn't kept a lot of promises. so i mean, he has to lean in on what he -- what he can. what's left that may be -- >> something tangible. >> something tangible. and i think they believe a lot of the supporters will point to this as he is who he said he would be. >> michael, i think the

republican party. it seemed yesterday that the congressional version of the republican party was trying to work its way into rationalizing, well, it's his call. if we can get him to sanction turkey, let's rally around him on sanctioning turkey. and they were getting comfortable and then -- and then trump said just as they're coming closer, he says, uh-uh. no. no. no. i'm going to make it even harder. >> yeah. yeah. >> so what do they do? i think the only way to make him change his mind is he's got to think they might walk. >> well, that would require a level of moxie that we haven't seen from the leadership. so i -- i -- you know, on the foreign policy space, i think that's the one area where we've seen people actually start to push back rhetorically. but i don't know if internally they've really sat down with the president and go this is how damaging this is. this is how troublesome it is and this is the problem you're having inside the caucus. i just don't -- at least from the folks i've talked to, i haven't gotten the sense they've

gone there yet. >> they're not there. >> they're not there yet. so look, trump knows how to punk people every day and he does it expertly. and they fall into it and they -- and they -- and they realize, to your point after the fact, i just got punked again. and so at some point, you got to realize enough's enough and -- >> does it every time. >> does it every time. >> so i get why the leadership walked out. we are getting to a point where it just feels ungovernable. >> yeah. well, remember, chuck, in 2016 when hilary clinton said time and time again president trump or donald trump at the time is temperamentally unfit to be our president. we are seeing now this come to a manifestation. i mean, he cannot have a normal meeting with nancy and chuck. they have to keep walking out because he's so irrational. >> he walked out of a meeting once, too, i think. >> yeah. >> exactly. there's not -- there's not a civil discourse and we're also dealing with a president who not only has a fundamental lack of understanding when it comes to

foreign policy but doesn't care to know. i don't even think he realizes the relationship that the united states has had with the kurds for so long and why that relationship was so important to protecting our own safety here at home. i'm not sure that he truly understands that very basic fundamental policy. >> eugene, it feels like we're entering dangerous territory here with how the president governs. i mean, i have no doubt that the president's base is like, what do i give a darn? that's somebody else's fight. you know, there's sort of an isolationist streak. >> right. >> that's, like, governing by that, that's dangerous. >> absolutely. >> where's the -- you know, how do -- wrap our arms around this one. >> well, lives are on the line and you would think that the party that positions itself as a pro-life party would care that there are people on the ground who could literally lose their lives because of poor decision-making. >> well, i think marcia blackburn turn on this is something that is probably unexpected to people. here's somebody who i think embraced the trump sort of

philosophy but kurds are her constituents. and i -- you know, i think her christianity means a lot to her. >> and that's why we've seen some of the most vocal leaders or critics of trump be evangelical leaders. a group we haven't really seen push back on trump on all kinds of things, especially in the areas of morals. but when you talk about the middle east, when you talk about missions and the holy land and places and arguments and disagreements that are -- are mentioned in scripture, you're seeing people who say these decisions actually require way more thought than what we're seeing. >> i'll be curious to see what -- what -- what swalwell does because his job has always been he's protector of the president. he always provides him cover when other evangelical leaders start to waver because they start to look at the policy. you know, fallwell has clearly made a political decision here. i wonder if he walks on this. >> i think to a certain degree,

probably will. and the reason is there is this sense when it comes to the middle east about the persecution and, you know, the wholesale effort to eliminate christians. and so they -- they're very sensitive to that and they don't, you know, with the release of all of the isis family members and former terrorists now back out on the street, if you will, they know that there is a ripple effect that sort of re-energizes this sort of anti-christian sentiment that is pervasive throughout parts of the middle east. >> this is what animates mike pompeo. >> exactly. >> religious freedom issues and christian persecution. this is something that has been near and dear to his heart of working on those issues. >> very much so. >> but when you combine that with -- with the fact that this administration has decreased the number of refugees that it's going to bring in, including refugees suffering from religious persecution, it just doesn't make sense. it seems inconsistent and it's

hurting many of the -- >> because they don't have consistent policy on anything. i mean, there's not a communication going on between various offices and various agencies, which is exactly why you're seeing this dichotomy. >> let me ask this. can democrats pass usmca? i say this meaning without political penalty. you know, are we going to get to the point where, you know, democrats get punished if they work on anything the president does and, you know, is this going to make it that much harder? >> yeah but not in the same way republicans get punished for working with democrats. i think if this is a priority of the leadership, which it is, it will get passed and i think you'll have the votes there. >> the only way to do these things is you have to make the democratic case for why you're doing it. this is not for him. >> exactly. we're not delivering this for president trump. we're delivering this for the american people. it's the right thing to do. >> do you expect any republicans here to sort of change their behavior based on this decision? i mean, lindsey graham. i don't know. every hour, he -- he was -- today, he was a wind mill. >> right.

>> i guess -- or excuse me. what is it? a weathervane. literally, 9:00 a.m., he'd be at one place. >> right because he's trying to figure out how does he stay on the right side of trump? >> and still push trump. >> and still push trump. and that space doesn't exist. sorry. >> right. >> it just doesn't exist. >> i think it's a wormhole. it's a wormhole. >> you're stuck in. >> how do i get invited back to the golf course with donald trump? that's what he's looking for. >> good luck. all right, guys. stick around. up next, elizabeth warren learns it can be a little lonely at the top. our 2020 vision and the debate analysis is next. analysis is net i was on the fence about changing from a manual to an electric toothbrush. but my hygienist said going electric could lead to way cleaner teeth. she said, get the one inspired by dentists, with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gum line. for cleaner teeth and healthier gums. and unlike sonicare, oral-b is the first electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada for its effectiveness and safety.

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overturn e-cigarette protections. vote no on juul. no on big tobacco. no on prop c. welcome back. tonight in 2020 vision, move over scott pilgrim. it was elizabeth warren versus the world at least at the democratic debate last night. >> elizabeth warren spoke more than any other candidate on

stage last night. but she was also attacked more than any other candidate. pete buttigieg and amy klobuchar got the ball rolling by hitting warren on a refusal answer if medicare for all will raise taxes. >> a yes or no question that didn't get a yes or no answer. this is why people here in the midwest are so frustrated with washington in general and capitol hill in particular. your signature, senator, is to have a plan for everything except this. >> at least bernie's being honest here and saying how he's going to pay for this and that taxes are going to go up. and i'm sorry, elizabeth, but you have not said that. >> klobuchar also went after warren for her pension for plans and for her proposed wealth tax. >> i appreciate elizabeth's work but, again, the difference between a plan and a pipe dream is something that you can actually get done. i want to give a reality check here to elizabeth because no one on this stage wants to protect billionaires, not even the billionaire wants to protect billionaires. >> beto o'rourke hit warren for her wealth tax, too. >> sometimes i think that

senator warren is more focused on being punitive or pitting some part of the country against the other. instead of lifting people up and making sure this country comes together around those solutions. >> kamala harris took on warren for not calling on twitter to suspend president trump. >> and so senator warren, i just want to say that i was surprised to hear that you did not agree with me that on this subject of what should be the rules around corporate responsibility for these big tech companies. >> andrew yang and tulsi gabbard, they also got in some shots on warren as well. >> saying this is a rules problem is ignoring the reality americans see around us every single day. >> i'd like to ask senator warren if she would join me in calling for an end to this regime change war in syria finally. >> then there's joe biden, who is now behind warren in some polls. he clashed with her over who should get credit for the creation of the consumer financial protection bureau. >> i agreed with the great job

she did and i went on the floor and got you votes. i got votes for that bill. i convinced people to vote for it. so let's get those things straight, too. >> warren's response to biden's jab? as you saw her smirking there, was thanking president obama and only president obama for fighting so hard to make sure the agency was passed into law. never mentioned biden by name. we'll be right back with way of the 2020 race goes next. r20ace. [ orchestral music playing ] mom you've got to get yourself a new car. i wish i could save faster. you're making good choices. you'll get there. ♪ were you going to tell me about this? i know i can't afford to go. i still have this car so you can afford to go. i am so proud of you. thanks. principal. we can help you plan for that. start today at principal.com.

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i understand that this is hard but i think as democrats, we are going to succeed when we dream big and fight hard, not when we dream small and quit before we get started. >> welcome back. so let's dig into the 2020 race. eugene scott, adrian, michael steele. eugene, so as -- as we wrote in first read this morning, mark murray basically said we walked in thinking we were covering two front-runners and came out wondering is th wondering is there just one? and at least the field for now has decided there's one because joe biden seemed to be an afterthought last night. >> absolutely. it was fascinating watching people step up and attack elizabeth warren who you didn't see take that approach previously. like amy klobuchar. like, pete buttigieg was very vocal towards warren. i think it's because these candidates realize they may have a chance at moving themselves up if they go after warren. maybe there was some thought at some point that biden was so far ahead that he wasn't within

reach. but i think they think they can really compete with the people that have flipped to warren. >> well, it's is it -- there's two theories to this case, and i'm sure you've heard the other theory, eugene and adrian, which is that some of these democrats are going after warren because they think, eventually, biden is going to collapse. but -- and he's on a trajectory on that. and they want to present themselves as a warren alternate. >> i think that's a really good point and i think there are several different schools of thought here. i think, initially, strategists in my field thought, maybe people rnaren't going after elizabeth warren because her favorabilities are so high among democrat primary voters, and even though her policies may be a little bit extreme and may have difficult time getting past mitch mcconnell's senate, they still would do a lot of great things for the american people. so people are very scared to go after her, but the gloves were ripped off last night. i would sort of it a revenge of the pragmatic moderates, who i think really came out in full force. i think amy klobuchar, pete

buttigieg said, you know what, enough of this. some of these policies and we're not -- at least to us. they have no chance of getting passed and we're going to push back against them. >> so is elizabeth warren donald trump in this situation? i remember at this point in this campaign, a whole bunch of republicans thinking, at some point, there'll been an alternative to trump and that will be more appealing. because the rest of the republican party doesn't agree, trump on so many of these things. and i'm being a little rough with this metaphor here, but i'm hearing this, oh, elizabeth warren can be beat, because the rest of the party -- is that true? i don't know. >> sure, but you still have joe biden sitting out there ahead of elizabeth warren in some cases. and just a point or two behind her in other polls. so i don't know this notion, all of a sudden, that, you know, joe biden is just kind of an afterthought in the democratic primary. to me, it's just not -- it's not realistic. i still think he holds an incredible amount of sway in the states that are going to matter later on in the primary.

i've always said that if you bank on iowa and new hampshire to set your course for the presidency, particularly when you've got 40% of the democratic base vote being african-american, that's coming up in south carolina. that's his home court. let's see what happens. but before you get in, looking, buttigieg telegraphed the move he made a week and a half ago. >> yes, he did. >> so for folks to sit back and act like they're surprised that this has -- he told us, i'm coming after you, elizabeth. >> he did. >> and the fact that she wasn't prepared to deal with that says more to me about where the campaign was and the arrogance of it than looking at pete than anything else. >> eugene, it's interesting here. in assess wrg warren and biden are, we've basically only brought up two other candidates here. it's amy klobuchar and pete buttigieg. are we saying that beto o'rourke, cory booker, kamala harris took a step back, because they almost allowed both buttigieg and klobuchar to take those moments almost away from them? >> i think harris tried.

i think castro tried as well. >> castro is another one, right. >> but the reality is that the polls are what they are in terms of how people are responding to them. even on twitter, we see people praising harris and praising castro on the left, but it's not translating into significant support. they've really struggled to get, you know, out of the single digits. and so, i don't think it's that they are complete afterthoughts to people, but it's one of those moments where you realize that the people on the ground could be very different from those on social adrienne, i feel like buttigieg buzz is back, but it's a more controlled level of it. meaning a lot of people realize, oh, wait a minute, he's got a ton of money, he seems more comfortable finding this space going after warren. and he has a natural contrast with the front-runners, in that he's the young one. >> and i think to an extent, voters saw mayor pete do last night what they had been wanting joe biden to do all along, which was to take on elizabeth warren.

and sure, there are a few exchanges, but you didn't see it in the full force you saw with mayor pete last night. his campaign announced that they've had the best fund-raising day they've had in a long time, maybe perhaps in the entire campaign today. voters had a very strong reaction to him last night in a positive way. and again, i think it's because, together, he and amy klobuchar really took on that moderate mantle >> i'm really struck how you just phrased it, though. pete buttigieg took on elizabeth warren the way many democrats -- the way many hoped joe biden could pull that off. we have not seen the ability to make that case. >> we have not. and some of that is the way that i believe the campaign has colded joe biden up to this point. his staff has put a little bubble around him. a little bubble. >> i agree. >> those of us that are on sunday shows have noticed it. i speak for all five of my colleagues, mr. vice president, we would welcome to see only you.

>> right -- >> also, senator warren. >> but also the rest of it is the nature of the man at this point in his life, when he's like, i've been senator, i've been vice president, really? >> there's a little bit of that. >> there's a little bit of that. >> so where does this go from here? i mean, i guess the question for an amy klobuchar, she left it all out there. she almost got the idea. i know she's like, this is do or die, you know. these dates sometimes get swallowed up by like what happened today. >> i expect to see more of that from buttigieg and klobuchar, spending more time talking to voters who want something as an alternative to something as far left as what warren is presenting. >> i think the most important development is how buttigieg is reminding people that even if democrats win the white house, donald trump is still going to be around. and that is something that i don't think people have fully comprehended. anyway, eugene, adrienne, michael, thank you and we'll be right back. , adrienne,

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finally tonight, we cannot sign off without a big congratulations to the washington nationals. they're headed to the world series after sweeping the st. louis cardinals, giving fans in d.c., across the country, and in the "meet the press" offices a good reason to celebrate. i have to say, no offense to my friends over at cnn or those that were watching the democratic debate, i enjoyed

watching it on tape delay, so that i could experience the washington nationals in person. you're never taking that away from me and my son. thank you, mike rizzo, thank you, davey martinez, thank you all of that team. i love that team, you name it. let's go. i want the yankees, that's more fun. that's all we have for tonight. we'll be back tomorrow with more "meet the press daily." and if it's wednesday, there's a new chuck todd podcast. "the beat" with ari melber starts right now. sorry for any nationals rant. it's the one thing keeping washington from totally going into a black hole. we have our nationals. >> anything that can keep chuck todd, a politics junkie, from watching a debate live must be big. >> it's big, buddy. >> thank you, sir. >> good to see you. we have a major show tonight. dominos falling. rudy giuliani facing new heat and new reporting on the criminal probe against him.