6:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow. i hope you'll join me, and we have a little announcement from new yorkers in tomorrow's show. don't go anywhere. "hardball" with chris matthews is up next. the impeachment train is rolling. let's play hardball. good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington on this 21st anniversary week of "hardball." in big news tonight house democrats said they're promoting the impeachment inquiry of president donald trump into a dramatic new phase. house intel chairman adam schiff said his committee will start presenting public witnesses for impeachment one week from today. it'll begin with star witness bill taylor. taylor was the first of four officials to affirm the quid pro quo at the strf the trump-ukraine scandal.

military aid in exchange for political dirt. a transcript released today from taylor's closed door deposition shows what we can expect to see when he goes before the cameras next wednesday. taylor told impeachment investigators that it was his clear understanding that security assistance money would not come until the president of ukraine committed to pursue the investigation of trump's political opponents. he affirmed that if they don't do this, they are not going to get that. and when asked are you aware that quid pro quo literally means this for that, ambassador taylor said, i am. well, as house intelligence chair adam schiff suggested today that's the kind of powerful testimony that they plan to bring live to the american public next week. >> so those open hearings will be an opportunity for the american people to evaluate the witnesses for themselves, to make their own determinations about the credibility of the witnesses and also to learn

first-hand about the facts of the president's misconduct. >> i'm joined now by democratic congresswoman mary gay scanlen, jeff bennett, white house correspondent for nbc news, michael mcfall, former u.s. ambassador to russia. congresswoman, your faith in television, how is it going right now? do you believe the fact when you're going to see people like bill taylor and vindman and the rest of them all trooping before cameras in hours of testimony publicly before -- we don't know how many networks are going to be covering this. is it going to change the voter? are they going to open their eyes to the significance of this scandal? >> i certainly hope so, and i would think that they would. this has been an investigation we haven't been able to put before the american people up until now. but we finally have the patriotic public servants who

have been willing to come forward and talk about what has been happening whereas you said the president has been using -- abusing his power to impact our national security for his own private reasons. >> what's the difference between people readsing as they have the last several weeks about this damning testimony from people like ambassador taylor, where they clearly lay out there was a quid pro quo, the president was shaking down a foreign leader who was in distress about the russian tanks coming in saying you're not going to get the missiles until i get my dirt. they've been reading about that in newspapers, whatever, "the new york times." how is it different they see this on tv, the faces and voices of these witnesses? >> well, i think it's always different, you know, whether you're reading something on black and white on the page or whether you're actually seeing the person. and you can see folks like ambassador taylor who you know was a 50-year public servant,

west point grad, i think that's going to come through on tv. >> jeff, what do you hear from other members of the committee and staff? we're going to do a build up here. we think it's important. >> and look, house democrats are carefully choreographing a political production. as you mentioned ambassador taylor is one of four witnesses who speaks directly to the existence of a quid pro quo. he also says there was a regular channel to elevate u.s. interests abroad and there was this irregular channel and the irregular channel was being run by gordon sondland, kirk volker and rick perry. >> and under the tutelage of rudy giuliani. >> and george kent's testimony says mick mulvaney knew about it and mick mulvaney deputized those guys and gave them a nick nak, t name, the three amigos. the american people get to

digest and then on friday we hear from marie yovanovitch, and she was the career respected state department official who had no idea what rudy giuliani was up to. and when she started raising legitimate questions about what he was doing, she was targeted by a smear campaign and ultimately moved out of the way. she ran afoul of that irregular back channel that kent and taylor will talk about on wednesday. the other reason quickly why you yovanovitch is perfect, it speaks to what was a coordinated campaign. the it phone call did not exist in isolation. there was prep work on the front end and there was lot of work done on the back end to get the ukrainians to do this work for president trump. >> according to the transcript ambassador taylor affirmed under oath, that's the transcript in his back of the room not for camera testimony under oath, though, ambassador gourdened sondland told him, told taylor,

president trump wanted president zelensky to commit publicly to those two investigations of the 2016 craziness and the -- hunter biden's role over there, he was going to get the assistance but not get a nickel of it before he did that. and with military aid hanging in the balance president trump insisted to sondland he go to a camera and open investigations of biden and that 2016 thing. and president zelensky to do it himself. they were pushing to personally do it. ambassador mcfaul, thank you for joining us. what strikes me these three amigos, rudy giuliani, sondland, volker, rick perry, the secretary of energy, all these people involved in the back channel effort to shakedown a foreign leader who again was under distress from soviet

aggression to deliver dirt on a political opponent -- so many people deputized by this president to do the dirty work. >> yeah, deputized, brought in and it had to be a back channel because the formal channel of the other people you were talking about refused to go along with it. i think that's another important point that will also come out when these people are on camera. i know ambassador yovanovitch, colonel vindman. these are very credible people that will testify and undermine the claim of the deep state. ambassador taylor, you know, he was appointed by george w. bush to be presideambassador of ukra he's not going to get ahead of his skis and speak with as much emotion as i'm speaking right now, and i think that will be very difficult for the other side to take down. and remember the other side, the republicans are going to have to

sit down and listen to it. and if they can't do anything to undermine the substance of what these witnesses are saying, that too i think will be damning. it's hard for people to feel when they're just reading it in the newspaper let alone trying to go through hundreds of pages of these transcripts that have been just released. >> the three amigos they were commissioned by the president to carry out his agenda. the president told them that furthering a relationship with ukraine depended on them working with his personal lawyer in order to get president zelensky and president trump in a meeting in the white house. they needed to work with rudy giuliani, and so they did. and this comes as rudy giuliani established in a tweet today that he was pursuing the president's personal interest in ukraine saying he acted solely as a defense attorney to defend my client. jeff, what do you make of that? i mean, first of all this guy's throwing hats around he's wearing. he's got the former mayor of new

york, and he walks into a foreign government situation in ukraine and he's saying i'm here as the president's lawyer but then we're told everybody in the state department is supposed to obey him. by him he was taking orders from the state department a wild ago. it's all intrigue. >> and he hsays defend his client. defend his client? >> why is he changing his story? >> because how do you defend the indefensible. and the notion he was trying to root out corruption, if that was the case why were they only focused in the one country where biden's sat on the board of a company. >> here's a guy who goes from i'm here to uphold the interests of the u.s. government, of the state department, that's about two weeks ago. and now he's putting out the word there's some sort of courthouse lawyer looking out for my client. which is it?

is he running a separate government or what? >> i think there's two points here. you go back to ambassador taylor's testimony and he says this back channel thing was fundamentally undermining our national security. i think that's something we have to keep sight of. if donald trump was looking to fight corruption, he could certainly look a lot closer to home than ukraine. >> let me ask you about the hearings next week, and i've been watching every minute of like i watched the watergate hearings and they changed everybody's opinion. people got totally into it because to some extent the chairman of the committee, staff council, in most cases moderate republicans in most cases, can you keep a focused hearing where people can actually follow it or is it going to be five minutes every different crazy republican comes up with their loony toon theories go back to the conversation and back to the

loony toons again, how do you avoid that syncopation that gets everyone distracted? >> that's what we did last week. we setout ground rules that will allow us to use staff council to have a continuing narrative so we can really tell the story. but i have no illusion that the republicans are going to try to turn this into a circus. that's what they've been doing for months. >> unfortunately. ambassador taylor said that the ukrainian official did not want to give in to trump's demands saying that official, quote, believed that opening those investigations would have involved ukraine in the 2020 election campaign, and he did not want to do that. well, that's reasonable. taylor also explained who would benefit if the united states stiffed ukraine saying the russians would love the humiliation of zelensky at the hand of the americans. here we go again as nancy pelosi, the speaker put it so nastily and brilliantly a couple of weeks ago, all roads seem to

lead to putin. not only would we be screwing fowl zelensky and his government which was under duress but helping the people who put him under duress, putin. >> and this is the use of national security policy and most people in the trump administration support pushing back on vladimir putin and supporting the ukrainians. the second thing you just read, chris, is really important. one of the arguments out there is there was no pressure on zelensky, no quid pro quo. and what that testimony shows is they were feeling the pressure. they knew they were getting dragged into the muck of the 2020 re-election effort, and they didn't want to have anything to do with it. that's what ambassador taylor said before but what we released

today is so important and i think so damning. >> did you ever come across an administration, a white house setting up a different foreign policy in the personal interests of the president? anything like this? >> no, of course not. and the fact they had to use private individuals, by the way some of these individuals who are paying mr. giuliani, too, let's not forget the alleged ai aides are also paying the lawyer of the president, no i've never heard anything remotely close to this. >> thank you so much. thank you u.s. congresswoman mary gay scanlon of delaware which went very blue yesterday, and jeff you're doing great reporting for us, ambassador michael mcfaul, thank you. coming up two big voices in the democratic party join me live. we're going to talk to senator

kamala harris about the impeachment inquiry. and a big night for democrats in virginia, kentucky and elsewhere. and is ohio in play in 2020? stick with us. o in play in 2020? stick with us. >> it was 20 years ago today. >> hardball. >> can you believe it's been 20 of our good friend chris matthews and our favorite show, "hardball," screaming the headline and getting us going for an hour. nobody in this business has more passion for politics and respect for politics than chris matthews. >> not only can i believe it, i lived it 20 years ago today. chris matthews called me and asked me to be on "hardball." >> i was on one of his earliest shows -- yes, really. and i've been waiting 20 years later. is he going to call me back? >> i've said before to chris, it is your favorite moment of it

the day when chris matthews goes let's play hardball. >> there's only one chris matthews and only one "hardball." thank you so much for 20 amazing years. >> congrats, chris. h for 20 amag years. >> congrats, chris performance comes in lots of flavors. there's the amped-up, over-tuned, feeding-frenzy-of sheet-metal-kind. and then there's performance that just leaves you feeling better as a result. that's the kind lincoln's about. ♪ high protein. low sugar. tastes great! high protein. low sugar. so good! high protein. low sugar. mmmm, birthday cake! pure protein. the best combination for every fitness routine.

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#. welcome back to "hardball." the democrats blue wave is still rolling. democrats continued their winning streak at the ballot box just last night. the marquee victory came in kentucky's hotly contested governor's race. democratic state attorney general andy beshear is the apparent winner in that race taking down incumbent governor matt bevin. bevin latched himself to president trump and made the race a referendum on the president and impeachment. so beshear's victory was buoyed

by democratic gains in kentucky suburbs, and bevin has not conceded. even though he trails by more than 5,000 votes, not likely to over take the winner. the most sweeping democratic victories came next door in virginia. democrats captured controlled both houses of the state led legislator. and by the way this is the modern democratic party, not the old conservative democratic party of virginia. it wasn't all good news for democrats, however. in mississippi republican tate reeves won down there. democrats swept elections in four suburban philadelphia counties regaining control of three long time republican bastions including a sweep of the delaware county council, a republican strong hold since the days of the civil war.

i'm joined right now by democratic senator kamala harris. look, the burbs seem to be moving to the democratic side. and also some of the different income level classes and my brother called me earlier this morning from montgomery county. huge turnout, and it seems to be an anti-trump turn out. what do you make of it, in the burbs? >> i think that's part of it and i campaigned for folks in virginia, for example, in the suburbs of virginia and certainly that is a big part of it. but also people are very well aware, acutely aware that donald trump made a lot of promises that he failed to keep and frankly sold a lot of people out. so, yes, justice is on the ballot in terms of the corruption of this president and his administration. there is no question, i think, for many of them and many of us

that we have a criminal living in the white house. but it is also issues of economic justice. he said he was going to take care of working people but yet in america almost half of american families can't afford a $400 unexpected expense. reproductive justice is on the ballot, a big issue in virginia and around the country. and they want leaders who are going to reflect the priority around giving women their constitutional right to make decisions about their own body. so there were a number of issues. but i've seen is democrats and even some republicans who are voting for democrats have decided they're fed up, they want leaders who are going to respect their rights but also lead and address some of the problems that are long-standing that donald trump has failed to deal with. >> you're so right because i know northern virginia, i've lived down here for a long time and a lot of women, single women in northern virginia are all pro-choice, and that's been a major issue in that state.

look, public hearings and the impeachment inquiry into president trump start next week, but the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell has already tried to diminish the prospects for a significant senate trial. yesterday he told reporters the senate would likely acquit trump and took a swipe at the senators running for president. watch this. >> so the question is how long does the senate want to take, how long do the presidential candidates want to be here on the floor of the senate instead of in iowa or new hampshire? >> you know, there's mitch. i know he cares about your welfare and the other people running for the presidency. he thinks you're all getting antsy, that you're all scared you're going to be voting six days a week, it's six days a week in a trial in january, wouldn't you like to be in iowa and perhaps also in new hampshire? you've committed to iowa. will this hurt you if you have to be in washington right up until -- february 3rd?

>> yeah, so i intend to fulfill my constitutional duty and obligation, and i will be there for as long as it takes in the united states senate during the impeachment trial. and frankly, i think that everyone who is a member of the united states senate including the leader should also fulfill their constitutional duty which means to make sure this process has integrity, that it is not motivated by politics and that it is a truth finding and truth seeking process. >> let me ask you about communication they used to say that -- if the other person spoke a different language they'd just yell louder. do you get a sense putting this on television these street arrow witness after witness, 13 of them apparently who all say it's a quid pro quo, everybody reads it in the paper every day, hear about it on cable tv except for fox, do you think putting it

before the cameras will really shake loose the republicans on issues of impeachable offenses? >> i really believe that this is an issue about a fight for our democracy, and each of us was elected to serve the people and to serve our country and to fulfill our oath and promise to defend the constitution of the united states. chris, right now in america justice is on the ballot, our democracy is on the ballot, our system and rule of law is on the ballot. and i hope and i think everyone should hope that every member of the united states congress will understand that our framers in their brilliance imagined a moment like this, created a government with three coequal independent branches of government to have checks and balances on any one branches on abuse of power. this is that moment, and we must each fulfill then our constitutional responsibility to make sure there's a check and balance in this case the corruption of donald trump's administration.

i would hope that my republican colleagues will agree that this is a critical moment and that america's identity is very much at stake. our commitment to our values and again to our rule of law and democracy is at stake, and i just have to hope that folks will put country before party. >> well, i hope lindsey graham wakes up and realizes it's an impeachment trial. aren't you appalled by his statements, like i won't read the transcripts, i won't read the evidence against this president? >> i mean, i don't know what's going on there. he's a former prosecutor, i am a former prosecutor. and we know then based on our professions before we arrived at the senate, that the pursuit of truth should be ones mission. and to find out truth, you have to review facts. and that means reviewing evidence. and to say that, you know, i'm going to close my eyes and not look at it as though if you're

not looking at it maybe it will go away is just shortsighted literally. >> thanks so much. great to have you on. we'll be seeing you on the trail especially in iowa. senator kamala harris of california. >> i am there. >> good luck out there. >> take care. up next results from last night's election show an anti-trump vote emerging in the burbs, and almost all of the burbs we can see looking at all the numbers from the east to the midwest of the country whenever there's a suburb of an area they're voting against trump. they're showing up. you're watching "hardball." trup they're showing up you're watching "hardball. >> to chris and the whole "hardball" team congratulations on 20 years of smart analysis, spirited debate and always telling it like it is. >> you're a fierce watchdog for the american people so keep on grilling us. >> every time i come on the show i never know what types of hardballs, curve balls will be coming my way, but i can always

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you got to vote because if you lose it sends a really bad message. and they were building up -- here's the story, if you win

they're going to make it like ho-hum, and if you lose they're going to say trump suffered the greatest defeat in the history of the world. you can't let that happen to me. >> all politics is trump. that was president trump campaigning for kentucky governor matt bevin who he saw campaigning for him less than 24 hours before the polls opened. but after last night's apparent defeat to democrat andy beshear in a state trump had won nearly by 20 points in 2016 the president is still looking to take credit. the president tweeted late last night that monday's rally brought the governor back from 15 or 20 points down the polls, however there's no evidence of that whatever, completely made up. those closest to the president, however, were also trying to spin the defeat in the president's favor. >> i think the president made this race competitive as did the vice president. >> you've seen the mainstream

media jump on the race there who was down by 17 points. >> the last poll conducted, young man there, just days before the rally had bevin the republican governor up by 5. he wasn't down by 17, he was up. and after the president's visit, he lost. for more i'm joined by howard fineman, theresa kumar and -- what are they going to say when they lose, they lose, when you win, they win and they lost. >> they lost. and to paraphrase the great late tim russell, suburbia, suburbia, suburbia. this whole race boiled down to what's happening in the suburbs. the republican party has lost and continues to lose ground in that space. that was always the sanctuary

because they couldn't win the cities, we didn't win the baltimore and the los angeles and the philadelphias, so we could always play in the suburbs, we could rally that vote. and what you've begun to see which actually has been trending for quite some time in places like wisconsin and elsewhere, the dems are moving effectively into that space. they're making arguments on health care and so the politics of trump rallies the base and stirs the passions, but it doesn't necessarily translate into -- >> i agree with you ability the number. i think we agree the suburberize going blue. i have another thing because i do think women are especially disturbed by indecency. maybe that's the way i was brought up. the indecency of this guy, the bad language, racial language, making fun of people's looks, handicaps, he never stops behaving the way you teach your kids not to behave. don't let any kid grow that

comes out of your house like donald trump. they go out to the burbs to get better public schools, that's why they move there. they don't want their kids growing up like donald trump. >> i think that and they're also issue voters. they also don't want to go in the beginning of september and have to buy bulletproof backpacks. that's what happened in virginia, women actually voted because there was a pro-gun reform agenda -- they came out for yes they don't like the sensibilities of the president and what. but then it's also the issues he chooses not to pursue and the vulnerabilities that come if we don't have the policies they need. >> speaking of indecency, i'll make a course correction to what i just said.

do you remember this female cyclist who back in 2017 lost her job after flipping off the president's motorcade as he drove past her, last night that woman was among the democrats who unseated incumbent republicans in suburban virginia on the seat on the county board of supervisors. howard, i don't want to spread this theory that democrats are decent and republicans -- >> big suburban area that had been trending republican, in many ways still trending republicans. however, last night according to the mayor of louisville, greg fisher, who i talked to a couple of hours ago democrats won the area by metropolitan votes. greg told it was four things, health care, public schools, respect teachers and decency. it was just the word he used, he said decency. those four things. and also impeachment, which matt

bevin ran on in concert with donald trump, did not work. some people thought it would produce a huge backlash, another republican wave. it didn't do it partly because some of those suburbanites care about the substance of the impeachment issue. and right now the tone is wrong. if you're going to call people scum for attacking the president -- >> human scum. >> yes, that is the wrong term. and most important, it keeps the republicans from getting on the topic that would really help them the most, which is the economy. the economy is booming in a place like kentucky. >> the market'se highest ever. >> but matt bevin didn't talk about because he was too busy butting up with impeachment -- >> i asked is there any other backwash going the other way? because when i see national polls and state battle ground polls that say trump's still in the game and i know he's losing

in the burbs and especially women and people with college educations, we all know what's going on, the blue wave is working there, it must be offset somewhere by some other wash leading up to more red votes. in more appalachian areas -- in other words trump isn't catching windup the white angry appalachian but he is doing something to offset the blue wave. what do you hear? >> i've been saying this for the longest time, there is still a body of voters out there that trump is able to tap into, and they cross the political spectrum. they're not necessarily these hard right conservatives. there are folks who like where the economy is right now. their personal well-being has been improved -- so he's making that work for them. >> i've got to go to the next thing. you're next, but you respond to this. anyway, governor matt bevin wasn't the only person president

trump praised at the rally, one of them wanted to return the favor. here it goes. >> thank you to president trump who at his rally in kentucky he had about i think 40,000 folks tat that rally, said this to the assembled crowd. >> the great lou daubs, and he said when trump took over, president trump, he used to say trump is a great president, then he said trump is the greatest president since ronald reagan. >> and then i said he's the greatest president ever. and i meant every word of it. >> of course this is nothing new between president trump and fox news anchor lou daubs. both have a history of lavishing public praise on each other. >> i'm certainly happy. i think sean hannity and lou daubs. >> this president is a historic

achiever. >> how about lou daubs, thank god we have them on our side. >> have a great weekend. the president makes such a thing possible for all of us all. >> i mean, what's going on here? they're both in their bubble baths. >> this is so unpleasant, but i think this demonstrates that the profession from these two individuals, both sean hannity and from lou daubs is a propaganda machine for the president is that dotted line. and for individuals who scratch your head and say why are people still in the camp of the president, is that they're also kind of in a lock box of the media, of the consumption they receive, and that's a disservice. and it's not true to the profession of the press. like there should be this understanding when you are sitting here you are actually acting on the benefit of the public. >> thank you for that lecture. it's a very helpful lecture.

i don't know they're going to hear it over at fox. up next the ohio senator joins us here on his take on impeachment. he's going to be one of the jurors and more. you're watching "hardball." >> congratulations, chris, on 20 years of "hardball." you're such an inspiration, you're so smart. it's an honor to be a guest on your show. >> you've contributed so much to american political life, providing junkies like me and millions of others a daily dose of what they crave, a sense of history, a love of politics. >> no one does it better. nobody understands history and the romance of politics better than you do. >> chris, congratulations on 20 years onmist ns msnbc and beingd to be able to talk about this amazing news cycle. to talk abo amazing news cycle

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welcome back to "hardball." it'll be weeks before senators get a chance to see the evidence compiled by the house on president trump's impeachment

inquiry. despite that, some republicans have already signaled which way they'll go. >> you know, it takes 67 votes in the senate to remove a president. that would mean all 47 democrats and 20 republicans, and i'll tell you, i don't know a single republican today and have not heard from a single republican senator today that they would vote to remove this president. >> this is political vendetta. mueller to me was the final authority on everything trump. i've read the transcript for myself. i've made up my own mind. >> i'd be surprised if it didn't end the way the two previous ones did with the president not being removed from office. >> well, democratic senator the author of desk 88, eight progressive senators who changed america. i always like to flip this. if these republicans, if this

had been an infraction or impeachable offense delivered by barack obama, if he'd get caught going to a foreign government and saying with a bunch of henchman around him like giuliani if you don't give me my dirt on my opponent you're not going to get the military to fight the aggressor? do you think the republicans would see that as impeachable? >> this is something even richard nixon didn't do, go to a foreign government and say help me win my election, if you don't i'm going to hold this back in helping you fight a russian invasion. i'm not a lawyer but i understand impeachment is the indictment, right, and then the conviction and the senate meet with a hundred jurors and we shouldn't bring our prejudices and bias. we should look at the evidence, and you should show three cases of senators who are not going to look at the evidence.

>> why are they doing that? >> they're doing that because they love trump's tax cuts. they love the tax on labor and the environment, and love the young justice getting in the court system, and they're cared of their base. so they've shown -- this book i wrote one of the things it'll show is that history says these republicans will look really bad 10 years, 20 years, 30 years from now. i have no doubt -- >> you're absolutely clear on your politics. you're on the progressive side of the democratic party and you're consistent and i like consistency. i think there's one thing you've got to answer the question, i have parents who were republicans. they don't get an economic interest in voting for rich people's tax cuts. why do they do it? >> they're you're parents -- >> i explain because they have different values. they don't like government, they don't like big government. >> and they were hardworking, small business people in some cases. there are a lot of reasons people vote the way they do. and you'll never hear me say why

do they vote against their own self-interests because it's not my place to tell you or your family what your interests are. >> but you just did. >> we're seeing this division now. we're seeing obviously a president that attacks, attacks, attacks -- >> 90%, i've never seen support like that. why do 90% of republican voters stick with him. >> pafrt the reason is no elected republican officials ever criticize him either. if they watch fox, they never hear criticism of this from any of the elected officials who they voted for. why would they turn on him? that's a big part of it. >> let me ask you about this book because it's really well written. i read the part about bobby kennedy, glen taylor and wallace who ran the progressive ticket back in '48. what is it about progressives in this because you laid them out to be courageous people that are

willing to take a side for the little guy or little woman even though they know it's not easy politically. >> i wrote the book for the same reason i wear this lapel pin. the mine workers took the canary down in the mines. and the book i wrote for the same reason, to show the power of government can be used to help people, and that's what each of these eight progressive senators did from hugo black to herbert leeman to al gore and kennedy. and you think about the '30s -- >> social security was the greatest anti-poverty program in history. >> and republicans called it socialism. think about the importance of medicare in '65. they called it socialism. >> it's popular as hell. >> and all of those things, progressives passed all these. they were short-term victories. they had big victories.

it didn't last very long and the money interest push back -- i'm not predicting this but i think things are building potentially for progressive era in 2020. >> how long can it last? >> well, never longer than four or five years. roosevelt even lasted for four years and there's a push back for money and interest. the huge victories in the progressive eras are huge victories for the country. it's social security, medicare, head start, civil rights. it's a window and it affects -- it has a good effect -- >> arthur believed in this, the great historian. thank you, you're a great writer. up next the foreign policy failure of the past 20 years, the worst.

and by the way i think we all remember the worst foreign policy division of the last many years. you're watching "hardball." >> hey, chris and the "hardball" crew congratulations on 20 years. it is astounding, amazing, impressive. and before i started in nightly television and someone told me this show was celebrated for 20 years, i'm like good for them. and i'm like how did you do it? >> chris, it's more than 20 years, but this is the beauty of you, chris matthews. you're always so youthful and energetic even though you've been doing this for i think 30 years, we've decided it only feels like 20. that's how energetic and youthful you have actually changed the space time continuum. e space time continuum. of less than 7 and maintained it. oh! under 7? (announcer) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds.

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did you ever advise the president to go to war? weren't you ever asked your advice? >> i don't know who he might have asked their advice. >> well, he apparently asked the vice president. >> possibly. i just don't know that. >> he didn't ask your father. you know that. that's how i go by these books. >> he ought to get a life. you could do something beside read those books. >> welcome back to "hardball." people often ask me what was the most important story i covered over the past two decades. we've lived through some incredible moments from the florida recount to september

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from accidentally visiting sites that aren't secure. and if someone trys we'll let you know. xfi advanced security. if it's connected, it's protected. call, click, or visit a store today. welcome back to "hardball." in the fall of 2001 in the weeks after 9/11 i began to catch whiffs of war. people like vice president dick

cheney and large spaces on the op-ed pages of the newspapers were pushing for war with iraq. there was no real evidence iraq had anything to do with the september 11th attacks but that didn't stop the push for war. and what depressed me is how gullible the country had become. ted kennedy was the one noble exception, calling his vote against the iraq resolution the most important of his storied career. we covered the iraq war here most intently in the months leading up to it and most passionately in opposing it. we should not go to war with iraq unless we have solid evidence they were connected with that september 11th attack. why are we getting a pr campaign being run in the american media pushing us to war with iraq. who's causing it if they're omnumber six on a list of dangers? i worry the united states is going to invade iraq. i were eabout huge casualties by us, greater casualties by the

iraqis. if we're not going to even try why do we have ambassadors to those countries, why do we have a state department? if the united states invades iraq, and i'm against it, if we still have to figure out why we're going to war with iraq -- the provision is clear, he can do anything he wants under the provision you agreed to protect the united states security visa v vi iraq. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on all in. >> we will begin our open hearings in the impeachment hearing next week. >> the impeachment of donald trump will be televised. tonight democratic new testimony about the ukraine extortion plot. ambassador bill taylor pointing the finger directly at the president's lawyer. and what we know about the public hearing. plus what last ni