we ran out of times. thanks to phil rubbinger, and the rest of my panel. special coverage of impeachment hearings begins tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. brian williams will be here for the duration. that does it for this hour. "mtp daily" with chuck todd starts now. welcome to tuesday. it's ""meet the press" daily." i'm chuck todd. we're hours away from the start of impeachment public hearings. the defense of the president is essentially if he did it, so what? republicans aren't disputing that president asked ukraine to help him investigate biden nor that they needed to open an

investigation into the political rivals if they wanted the adrian leased. the crux of the republican argument is that this stuff isn't that big of a deal. they claim that the president didn't anxiety with intent because, quote, he had a deep-seed deep-seeded what isn't debatable is how the president's state of mind consistently coincides with russian interests. how other pentagon officials were worried that the president's decision to withhold the aid could further russian aggression. was aid explicitly designed to combat russian aggression. state department official katherine crawford reveals how acting white house chief of staff, mick mulvaney was actually worried that russia might act negative actively if we gave certain military aid to ukraine, which is exceedingly bizarre. the expressed purpose of the military aid was to have russia

react negatively. another state department official george kent testified that the president's feelings had been shaped by his interactions with, you guessed it, president putin. to also seemingly argue that acquiescing to one of russia's biggest foreign policy priorities isn't a big deal either. and for democrats, not tying russia to the impeachment investigation risks ignoring the president's conduct. they will tell you they simply don't have time because the 2020 primaries are right behind around the corner or they're recovering from a mueller hangover. what's driving the impeachment inquiry, evidence or the political calendar? the first public impeachment hearings hours away, let's turn to jeff bellamy on capitol hill. what are we expecting to see, particularly one thing that

struck me about reporting coming out of house democrats in the impeachment side, we've not yet heard whether the public will hear testimony from gordon sond land. >> reporter: right. >> what is this week and what happens next? >> the republican strategy, and you mentioned some of the reporting we put out today based on that staff memo that was circulated yesterday that outlines the latest line of defense really. their view is that the more you can narrow the focus of this ukraine question, the better it is for president trump. they put out four points. one of them is -- >> hang on, geoff, i'll put them up on screen while you read them. go ahead. >> reporter: when i say these talking points don't hold up that, is not a partisan statement but statement of fact based on the reporting we've been doing for a month of

witnesses that have come before investigators. the july 25th call summary, best evidence of the conversation shows no conditionality or evidence of pressure. point number four, president trump met with president z zelensky and the aid flowed to ukraine without the investigation into the president's political rivals. the president's assumption that the july 25g9 call was perfect. when president trump said on that call i want you to do me a favor, though, when zelensky brought up the purchase of these american tanks that the word "favor" was interpreted by the ukrainians as a demand. and this notion that ukrainians felt no pressure, they also speak to the power dynamic between the president of the united states and the president of ukraine. to this last point where they say there's really nothing to see here because the ukrainians didn't open the investigation and they ultimately got the aid, that is true to a point.

that did not exist in isolation. 15 witnesses, 11 of whom we've been able to read the transcripts of who, to varying degrees, pointed to a pressure campaign, democrats allege, at president trump's behest to get ukrainians to open these investigations. based on reporting and additional testimony, we know zelensky was planning to make that announcement that president trump wanted in a september 13th interview with cnn, fareed zakaria. word of this when would aid leaked to congress by way of a politic ol report. congress was in uproar, the trump administration released the aid and zelensky called off the interview. that is what democrats are going to play out or sort of bring to life tomorrow and friday. and as you know, any story has a good beginning, middle and end.

the testimony from bill taylor and george kent and moving on to yovanovitch later in the week. >> number one, why the break on thursday? i never really heard a good answer on that and why haven't they -- they said if we have more to announce we'll let you know. why haven't they decided on a schedule for the following weekend? >> this is new reporting by my colleague, heidi pryzbyla. they're trying to figure out how and when to call lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. he, i'm told, would be the closer of all of this, going back to this notion of story craft, beginning, middle and end. he would show up, obviously, in his dress blues, an important optic. beyond that, the substance of what he speaks to, given his job as an army officer detailed to the national security council, he was the one who raised red flags within the nsc not once

but twice, first with gordon sond land, offering up things in the basement of the white house and again after the july 25th phone call. he is a key witness. they're trying to figure out where to position him as they organize these public hearings, chuck. >> geoff bennett, it's quiet there now. i hear the echoes. there won't be an echo tomorrow. >> you're right about that. >> it will be a busy day tomorrow. that's for sure. white house correspondent ann geren. and msnbc krebter and former hillary clinton campaign adviser adrienne elrod. it seems as if we're in a question about what is the scope and what they're going to show to the republi this. i want to start with the republican talking points, the decision they basically made, okay, it all happen ed but it's not impeachable.

that's essentially where they're ending up. >> right. these four points could have been issued ten days ago. it's the same argument. the most important thing from their perspective is that it doesn't contradict anything that the president has said, a bit complex for them. he said a bunch of different things on this subject. his contention is if you look at the four corners of what he calls the transcript, you'll find nothing wrong. that does not give republicans a lot of room to make grander arguments. to your point what they say without much more detail is just look at what happened and what happened is ukraine got the money and got the got the meeting. so what's to see? >> does this leave the republicans or certainly the president open to -- it seems as though they're putting a lot on this idea that they don't have evidence that he directed it, right? >> absolutely.

>> that seems to be -- which also means if they do get evidence he directed it, it makes this go up is in flames. >> absolutely. that's the smoking gun. >> yes. >> but they're hoping and trust this won't come up in the hearings. >> they must be confident like the one thing democrats don't have is that. >> democrats so far, what they're saying is we have this three reputable witnesses that are going to say that their understanding was that the president gave this instruction that to withhold the aid until the ukrainians made a commitment to investigate the bidens and they're going to say that's their impression, that's their understanding, but they don't have personal knowledge that the president actually directed them to do that. so it's hearsay. so i think that's the bulk of republican argument. it's not reflected in this talking point. >> but essentially it is. >> right. >> that's what they're hanging their hat on. >> there is another argument. the talking points is saying there is no quid pro quo. even if you establish a quid pro

quo, you could say well, there was a quid pro quo. i think this is what mulvaney was trying to say, yes, we when would the military aid, but hoping they would make a statement that they were willing to fight corruption. that's it. and in that call, president trump brought up the bidens,s, but that's not what they were looking for. >> adrienne, i understand they're saying keep it simple. this is easy to understand but there's a danger of looking like you're not pursuing every avenue. >> look, i think democrats are in a challenging situation here. right? if you are tuly focused on upholding the constitution this investigation could go on for a long, long time, theoretically through november 2020. >> every week it seems like there's another bread crumb trail to follow. >> exactly. exactly. at the same time we all know that impeachment is 80%

political. it is decipherable in terms of what is political and what is not. i think democrats are doing the right thing and i think speaker pelosi is doing the right thing to try to keep this narrow. sure, chuck. when witnesses come forward, if other information comes out that adam schiff and the committee chair feels needs to be investigated they'll have to do this, especially if it's testimony that's in a public setting. >> without that, they neutralize each other. you don't accomplish anything. yes, you get the votes to impeach him, you have the trial in the senate and that's it, we're back to square one. >> sometimes the president is his own worst enemy. news out of "the new york times" just aew minutes ago, apparently the president is thinking about firing the inspector general and you're like huh, that really goes well

when the president fires people who report whistle-blower stuff. the president said he does not understand why mr. at kinson, the intelligence community inspector general shared the complaint that outlined how mr. trump asked ukraine to investigate the bidens, how he was appointed by trump and is disloyal. it's already hard enough to defend you. >> that's probably their best argument back to him. >> please don't do this? >> forget the whole idea that the inspector general is a thing and they're supposed to be independent. >> forget i'm following the constitution and rule of law. think about it for your own politics. >> exactly. look at the outcome here and this isn't going to be good for you. on the first half of that, it's just sort of hilarious, right?

of course he wants to fire the inspector. >> that's predictable. oh, i didn't know that. is that a shock, alfonso? you don't defend this, right? >> nochlt if the report is correct. >> i think it's correct. >> i have no way of knowing. >> fair. i think that's fair. >> i'll say this. this is the way he responds. we ended up with a special counsel because he ended up firing comey. he has to be careful. he can really create a bigger problem than he has right now by firing this inspector general. >> where are the republicans on this? the fact that donald trump is saying i want to fire the independent voice. >> in fairness it's only been -- let's not presume their response just yet. >> okay. >> it just popped. >> we'll see what happens tomorrow. republicans continuously give

this president a pass and that is why they're in the situation they're in. that is why, in large part, democrats won back the house by a large margin in 2018 and why you see a majority of americans supporting the president's impeachment. >> let me go back to the russia question, anne. i don't understand why democrats are just walking away from this. let me put up george kent's testimony. fiona hill and i talk about the approach toward ukraine acres meeting with viktor orban as well as president putin in early may. follow-up question. what was the change following those two conversations with with orban and putin? here is what george kent said and likely will say tomorrow. fiona assessed those conversations of being similar in approach, said ukraine was corrupt, zelensky was in the thrall of oligarcs, negatively shaping a picture of ukraine and even president zelensky

personally. i mean, this screams for go get the putin/trump transcript bus house democrats aren't going to go down that road i don't think. >> no. you've seen individual democrats, obviously, led by speaker pelosi make the broad charge. >> sure. >> that this -- as she said all roads lead to russia. this is all very complicated and a whole bunch of people said a bunch of things at different times. it's hard to keep the players straight and the calendar straight but one thing endures, which is russia wanted to disablized the new ukrainian government and over a period of time when other parts of the u.s. government were trying to build up that relationship and give president trump a narrative that they found completely compelling, here is a new anti-corruption president, who you can be friends with. this is all going to be good. somehow the president's mind

gets turned around on that. i think what you will see in the hearings, certainly the one tomorrow with bill taylor who knows all parts of this, is as much of a step-by-step of that. >> yes. >> and then they don't have to make -- democrats don't have to make a whole giant moral argument out of it. >> i think it's easier to sell ukraine to the public if they know that it's part of this larger issue. >> more with russia. that is not a hard thing. >> if it's about ukraine as a country, it's easier to dismiss. is that fair? >> absolutely. that's exactly why they're keeping this very narrow focus on ukraine. >> but you're trying to make the argument to the american public. that's what they're trying to keep it simple. >> i get that. i know. but then they'll have to admit they're not going down certain avenues. >> they're not going to question the witness' reputation. they're going to say do you have personal knowledge of that? if they say no, not sure, that's

it. >> they won't have that evidence. fair point spoken like a guy who went to law school, as you did. alfonso, anne and adrienne, stick around. some of those questions i had for geoff bennett, i'll save them now for congressman joaquin castro. he will be here on the other side. who is up, mayor pete, and who is down as the democratic presidential field apparently might even get even bigger as the republican field just got a little smaller. pharmacist-recommended memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. tailored recommendations, tax-efficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. fidelity wealth management.

to help you grow and protect your wealth. 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. what an amazing clean! i'll only use an oral-b! oral-b. brush like a pro.

wwithout it, i cannot write myl tremors wouldname.xtreme. i was diagnosed with parkinson's. i had to retire from law enforcement. it was devastating. one of my medications is three thousand dollars per month. prescription drugs do not work if you cannot afford them. for sixty years, aarp has been fighting for people like larry. and we won't stop. join us in fighting for what's right.

there is more evidence to prove that the president attempted to bribe or ex-tort ukraine with the threat of withholding vital military assistance to a strategic partner and ally, which is what ukraine is, then there is evidence to support the idea that the sun will come up in the east tomorrow. period. >> the facts on the president side, truth is on his side.

those four facts have not changed, will not change and will never change. that's obviously something we'll talk about tomorrow. >> welcome back. some of the latest today from members of congress who will be participating in theimpeachment tomorrow. joaquin castro will be participating, member of the house intelligence committee. he just met with democratic leadership ahead of tomorrow's opening round of hearings. congressman castro, welcome back to the show. let me start with the republican talking points where i feel as if they're hanging their hat on one fit piece of evidence you don't have yet, which is evidence that the president directed the aid to be withheld. it is concurrent. they're playing these semantics. i get that. you'll be able to make some circumstantial claims but how important do you think it will be for you to find out how specifically omb was directed to halt this aid?

>> obviously we'll try to bring all the facts out. that's the purpose of bringing these witnesses in front of the american people so that the american people can hear the evidence for themselves. i think as soon as we got that transcript and then the witnesses who affirmed the fact that the president asked the pr, the president of the united states committed extortion. he was trying to get the ukrainian president to take out a political rival, joe biden, in exchange for military aid and in exchange for a meeting. and, you know, chuck, that ukraine is deathly afraid of russia. they're deathly afraid of vladimir putin. they're going to do anything they can to make sure that their relationship with the united states, no matter who the president is, is safe and secure. that's why it was so shocking that the president would do that. >> i know that there's been this -- i've seen it in print. keep it simple, stupid, that that is the mantra of how you guys want to go about these

hearings. narrow the focus. some of your colleagues said to me ukraine needs to be the focus, doesn't want to see impeachment articles expanded to include mueller investigation and all of that. is there a danger not going down certain bread crumb trails that some witnesses are leading you to, george kent testifying that putin and orban essentially planted the seeds of corruption of ukraine with the president? doesn't that mean that you need to see those transcripts? >> ultimately, it could mean exactly that. i think the focus of this investigation was determined for us when the whistle-blower came forward with information about a specific exchange and information about the president, donald trump, and ukrainian president, and that's why the scope of this investigation has been about that. but, yes, should we follow up on things that may be criminal or may be malfeasance?

the answer is yes and ultimately we probably will. >> you said something interesting. you called for opening an impeachment inquiry in may of '19 before we knew what was happening in ukraine. turned out it was taking place at that time, but we didn't know it. you said the following. it's time for congress to open an impeachment inquiry. you acknowledge the following. there's political risk in doing so but there's greater risk to our country in doing nothing. this is a fight for our democracy. are you concerned that the inquiry that you almost are going to make it too narrow and that it's so narrow, we don't know the extent with which -- how much, frankly, russia's influence had both on the syria policy and the ukraine policy and our back and forths with turkey? in some ways more of it is connected than not. >> yeah. look, i think all of us wish you could take on everything at

once. what we've taken on in this investigation related to donald itself. we've been following a lot of witnesses. we'll bring a lot of witnesses in front of the american people and people feel that the evidence that we have related to this incident amounts to impeachable offenses to the president of the united states, that even putting the other stuff aside that you describe which, of course, seems problematic, but what we're investigating right now amounts to impeachable offenses to donald trump. >> very quickly, next week any reason we don't know if you guys are holding hearings next week? will we know for sure now that you will or what's the holdup? >> yeah. those are some of the discussions we're having in the committee right now. >> no decision -- is it possible you would have no hearings next week? n public? >> it's possible but i think we probably will, sure. >> let me ask you about daca in

this respect. i know what you ultimately want to see happen for these daca recipients, but what are wha do you hope is the right call here constitutionally? i feel like people are so concerned about the policy impact that they're not thinking about the larger -- what do you believe is better going forward if the supreme court decides the executive branch has this authority or doesn't? >> well the case, as you mentioned, centers mostly around how the administration went about terminating the daca program. >> right. >> and whether the supreme court has the ability to review that and how it was done. and so, yeah, i think the trump administration baufl went about it the wrong way and didn't go through the process, all the steps you're supposed to administratively. so if you ask the constitutional question, it's important that that administrative process be

carried out, whether it's the obama administration, trump administration, that there's an administrative process that you're supposed to go through and this administration didn't do that. and so because of that, i hope that the court will uphold daca. >> what does that mean? uphold the decision that was made but then say, okay, those folks are grandfathered in, but going forward, it cannot be constitutional? are you open for some sort of remedy that way? >> well, what i'm hoping they'll say is that the recision by the trump administration cannot take effect, was illegal because of the way they did it administratively. so the program then would continue. look, chuck, ultimately, as you know -- >> it's got to be done through congress, right? >> yeah, congress has to step up. we came close a few years ago when the senate passed comprehensive immigration reform, which would put these dreamers on a path to citizenship. john boehner refused to put it on the floor for a vote in the

house even though there were 230 members of congress who probably would have voted for it. and then i think he refused to put it on the floor for a vote because he was scared of losing his speakership. congress has to step up and do this as well. >> congressman joaquin castro, democrat from texas. lot of people will be seeing you tomorrow. we'll all be watching. thanks for coming on and sharing your views with us this evening. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> quick reminder, we'll bring you impeachment hearings, special coverage begins tomorrow 9:00 a.m. eastern. >> michael bloomberg move over. there's a newer new guy kind of sort of in the 2020 race, but is it already too late? race, but is it already too late? ere crohn's. ere crohn's. then i realized something was missing... me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there. so, i talked to my doctor and learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications.

and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible. hi, i'm joan lunden. when my mother began forgetting things, we didn't know where to turn for more information. that's why i recommend a free service called a place for mom. we have local senior living advisors who can answer your questions about dementia or memory care and, if necessary, help you find the right place for your mom or dad.

we all want what's best for our parents, so call today. ♪ do you recall, not long ago ♪ we would walk on the sidewalk ♪ ♪ all around the wind blows ♪ we would only hold on to let go ♪ ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ i am all about livi♪g joyfully. hello. the united explorer card hooks me up. getting more for getting away. rewarded! going new places and tasting new flavors. rewarded! traveling lighter.

rewarded. haha, boom! getting settled. rewarded. learn more at the explorer card dot com. and get... rewarded!

welcome back. a big headline for pete buttigieg in the latest iowa poll, he has surged into first place, 22% support. second poll in a row that has shown him surging in iowa. biden sits at 19 here, warren at 18. sanders at 13. this one only three of the four within the margin of error. we have that previous iowa poll that had all top four in the margin. buttigieg is up a whopping 14 points while joe biden down 7 during this time. further evidence that less than three months before the caucuses, it's a four-person race sort of. i'll tell you more than that, amy klobuchar got up to six in this one for what it's worth. as the field seems to be

settling, it could be headed for another shakeup. former massachusetts governor deval patrick is considering entering the race, even sharing his thoughts with biden in a phone call last week. let's get more on former governor patrick. a bit about massachusetts democrats who jump into a presidential race about as well as anybody. he just wrote a piece called "the bad news for deval patrick" on the challenges he's facing if he enters the race. james, obviously the biggest problem that deval patrick has that michael bloomberg did not is money. >> yes. >> more importantly, filing deadlines are coming to a close. he missed alabama. that matters for super tuesday delegates. arkansas is literally about an hour here, i believe, little less so. new hampshire on friday. california, november 26th. is deval patrick going to file in at least two of those four states? >> it looks like it.

i was talking to a number of aides today. they say he's very serious. appeared like a balloon last night but he is quite serious. i talked to people who talked to him this morning that he is quite serious about getting into this race. he's not asking for people's opinion but asking for help and advice and the best path to move forward. you mentioned, i'm familiar with massachusetts democrats running. that's right. he would be the third person this cycle. >> we have four californians, by the way. it's like a bad -- the only reason i'm reminded of this -- >> do you know what? i will throw in bill weld if you're going to do that. >> fair enough. although i think he's a new york resident now. i'll throw that out there. the last office he ran for was new york governor. >> moved back to canton, mass but go ahead. >> fair enough. let me ask this about governor patrick. i'm very familiar with the trial

balloons for him running for president in the past and each of those trial balloons was not popped by anybody on the outside. it was popped by deval patrick's wife. she has been a hard no on this. almost was a hard no on him ever running for governor. he had to talk her into this. she is not somebody that enjoys the public spotlight from what i understand. how did he convince her? >> well, this is what we -- i'm glad you're catching on that. one thing that's been very public is that she has been struggling a lot with health issues. when you looked at his statement 11 months ago in december of 2018 as to why he would not run in 2020, he focused on what the campaign would do to his family. now that he appears to be close to jumping in the race this time, you have to think the number one key thing that's changed has been his family. >> you know, it's not lost on me that as supposedly these candidates jump in, bloomberg and patrick because they say

there's a lot of hand wringing, it's not like there's not uncertainty in this presidential race. we've seen buttigieg surged into double digits in new hampshire. amy klobuchar's campaign seems to be on the move a little bit. i mean, what -- i mean, bloomberg and patrick are acting as if it's already worn when clearly the voters haven't. >> and they both talk about joe biden in the most recent new hampshire poll, who is leading? joe biden. that's right. there's a lot of fluidity going on in that top tier. the drop of joe biden has been slowly happening. the bottom certainly has not fallen off. we're not certain at all that it's going to be elizabeth warren. look at, as you mentioned in the iowa poll earlier today. and i don't know if you saw it. a few minutes ago, hillary clinton was on air on bbc, talking about how she has these never say never say never about running though she says it's not in her plans. >> i have no idea why she always seems to tease it.

i swear that's the second time she's teased it on an international outlet. why do you just do it there if you're at all thinking? >> yeah. >> she has your number. go to new hampshire. go to concord. go do it if you're thinking about it. >> you have to do it by friday. >> you've got to do it by friday. >> that's right. >> go ahead. last word. >> i was just going to say, this seems to be very serious from deval patrick. obviously he will have to figure out his path. he's talking about how he wants to be the person who can brinl the progressives along with more moderates, no question about it. that path is the same exact path pete buttigieg has been trying and it's worked and the same path that cory booker and kamala harris has tried and it hasn't worked so well. i don't know that he will bring that's so different. no one is asking for deval patrick in this race. if he wants to join it, he will have to figure out how this is going to work. >> you left out aim amy klobuch

and a few others who said they would bridge the divide. at least it's fun. lot of action happening. enjoy friday, that's for sure. thank you. >> after the break, one of the defining questions of this democratic race. just how durable is joe biden? just how durable is joe biden? that's why i'm partnering with cigna to remind you to go in for your annual check-up, and be open with your doctor about anything you feel - physically and emotionally. but now cigna has a plan that can help everyone see stress differently. just find a period of time to unwind. a location to de-stress. an activity to enjoy. or the name of someone to talk to. to create a plan that works for you, visit cigna.com/mystressplan. cigna. together, all the way. we have some great new ideas that we want to present to you today. [son]: who are you talking to? [son]: that guy's scary. the first item on the list is selecting

a chairman for the... for the advisory board what's this? as well as use the remaining... child care options run out. lifetime retirement income from tiaa doesn't. guaranteed monthly income for life. there's a company that's talked than me: jd power.people 448,134 to be exact. they answered 410 questions in 8 categories about vehicle quality. and when they were done, chevy earned more j.d. power quality awards across cars, trucks and suvs than any other brand over the last four years. so on behalf of chevrolet, i want to say "thank you, real people." you're welcome. we're gonna need a bigger room. hi. maria ramirez!

mom! maria! maria ramirez... mcdonald's is committing 150 million dollars in tuition assistance, education, and career advising programs... prof: maria ramirez mom and dad: maria ramirez!!! to help more employees achieve their dreams. with time, comes change that's for sure... mom and dad: maria ramirez!!! and when those changes might help more people, especially those in retirement, i think it's worth talking about! so, aag is introducing a new jumbo reverse mortgage loan so you can now access as much as $4 million dollars in cash, tax free, from your home's equity. aag's new jumbo reverse mortgage loan can give you more tax-free cash than ever before. if you've had your home for a while, it's probably worth a lot more today. so why not use that appreciation for anything you need maybe it's some home repairs, or updates to make it more

comfortable so you can stay in the place you love. it's a viable effective way to support your other investments long into the future, and another way aag is working to make your retireme... better. don't wait. get your info kit now! while deval patrick is thinking of getting in this race, michael bloomberg has acted on it, although he has not officially announced. a personal appearance makes me more inclined to believe he's likely to do this, versus what he did on friday in alabama, sending a representative. also getting into the spirit of the campaign.

we'll see what happens in places like new hampshire in th friday and in california where deadlines are fast approaching. adrienne elrod is back with us deval patrick. >> yeah. >> this is a name that's been out there for ten years. in some circles. he has been deterred because of family issues and one time he's ready to get in it look like six months too late. >> first of all what is his path to securing the democratic nomination? number two, who is he going to hire? top two staff are currently on existing campaigns. going into a democratic primary with being employed by bane capital is very challenging. romney had a hard enough time in 2012 with this on his record.

democratic primary that's going to be very difficult to contend with. we've seen this from deval patrick where he said i'm going to run, et cetera. i don't know what his path is. this stage of the game democrats are getting worried. there's not a clear front-runner. people did this in 2016. they thought joe biden should run. >> about this time. >> about this time. >> is the way the biden boom began. >> wesley clark got in around this time and he ended up not having a successful time. >> mark murray pointed out to me, alfonso, both wesley clark got in before this time, which allowed them to be in sochlt debates. there's one thing about all of this action. obviously there's a whole punch of people that say let me have a piece of them.

but bloomberg and patrick watch a lot of fox. they're very excited about elizabeth warren. >> we all are. donald trump wants to run against elizabeth warren, it's an opportunity to contrast his politics with someone who is center left. >> and they think it's easier to win your vote. >> that alternative, we'll see trump may say offensive things, but she is talking about medicare for all and doing away with private insurance, i'm going to go with trump. that's a problem. deval patrick, michael bloomberg, it looks like they're concerned that mr. biden can't make it to the end. if they get in, they have a shot at taking votes away from biden. i think it helps elizabeth warren and i'm all for that. >> how is the biden campaign

handling this? biden is calling patrick to host a fund-raiser for him, right? and all of a sudden patrick is going, you know? because he would love another massachusetts democrat supporting him and not warren. >> sure. i think they're handling it can high road, at least in public. this isnother little cut at a time when joe biden is, in the eyes of some of his critics, dying death by a thousand of them, right? pete buttigieg passed him up in the monmouth poll in iowa this week. yes it is the time in the calendar when democrats have a

giant freak out and everybody starts crying and says whoever the flont rront-runner is can't it and why don't we have better candidates? exactly the same thing that happened four years ago. i remember the hillary clinton staff calling me. >> people worried about hillary clinton against trump were right. >> they may have had a point. never in a million years would step aside and so forth. but the point is we've seen a version of that before. everyone is watching. >> how about pete buttigieg? if it wasn't this idea that he's going to have trouble winning african-american voters, adrienne, you would say oh, he's

about to become the front-runner. >> yeah. >> everything else looks like he's about to become the front-runner but there's this block that people have saying he won't win african-american voters. why are we so sure? >> if he gets top two performance in both of those states or one of two of those states people will be singing a slightly different song. president obama won iowa, slightly different because he is diverse, but was lacking a lot of support. once he proved he could win the first he ended up doing very well. that becomes the question, can joe biden hold on to his strong standing in the african-american community? if he can, he's strong.

if mayor pete can, he may be in trouble. >> he may want a one on one with warren, not with pete buttigieg. look at you. fun to do a little politics. as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchemel... cut. liberty mu... line? cut. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance

so you only pay for what you need. cut. liberty m... am i allowed to riff? what if i come out of the water? liberty biberty... cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ...i felt awful.... ...because of my psoriasis. i was covered from... ...head to toe with it. i was afraid... ...to show my skin. every time i moved my arm... ...my skin cracked and bled. it really hurt. then i started... ...cosentyx. that was four years ago. how are you? now, i don't really think about it. see me. cosentyx works fast to give you clear skin that can last. real people with psoriasis look and feel better with cosentyx. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting... get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections... ...and lowered ability to fight them may occur.

tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine, or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. see me. i look... ...and feel better. ask your dermatologist if cosentyx could help you move past the pain of psoriasis. fine, no one leaves the tablefine, we'll sleep here. ♪ it's the easiest because it's the cheesiest.

kraft. for the win win. you don't let a cold ruin your day. you take dayquil severe liquicaps and crush it. da the daytime, coughing, aching, stuffy-head, fever, sore throat, power through your day, medicine. doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. welcome back.

tonight i'm obsessed with making a list of things that last forever, diamonds for one, giant tortoi tortoises, at least they seem to, 187 years old and per and polyflorals, chms linked to serious diseases like cancer, liver damage and thyroid disease. they never, ever, ever degrade, known as forever chemicals. i was a bit surprised when i read the following, new hampshire landfill each day is being permitted to dump 100,000 gallons of toxic run-off filled with pfas chemicals. it's so bad a nearby water treatment plant has stopped accepting run-off water from that landfill all together. you might think the epa would do something about all of this, but

it can't. it doesn't have the authority. you might think the landfill owner, waste management, would try to filter pfas out of the wastewater, but it doesn't have to, even though the company admits yeah, we can do that. so to put it plainly, a company is knowingly dumping toxic chemicals into drinking water, even though it doesn't have to, and the government apparently is letting them do it because they don't have the authority to stop it? but don't fret, new hampshire. there is some good news. the epa may require monitoring in a subsequent permit under the agency's action plan for pfas. see? the federal government may do actually something eventually. chemicals last forever. so it's a good thing they have forever to figure it out. e it ot i wish my trading platform worked like that. well have you tried thinkorswim? this is totally customizable,

so you focus only on what you want. okay, it's got screeners and watchlists. andthe value of the stocksour pyou're interested in.ct now this is what i'm talking about. yeah, it'll free up more time for your... uh, true crime shows? british baking competitions. hm. didn't peg you for a crumpet guy. focus on what matters to you with thinkorswim. ♪ -excuse me. uh... do you mind...being a mo-tour? -what could be better than being a mo-tour? the real question is... do you mind not being a mo-tour? -i do. for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. -i do. ♪ do you recall, not long ago ♪ we would walk ♪ all around the wind blows ♪ we would only hold on to let go ♪

♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ when you rent from national... it's kind of like playing your own version of best ball. because here, you can choose any car in the aisle, even if it's a better car class than the one you reserved. so no matter what, you're guaranteed to have a perfect drive. [laughter] (vo) go national. go like a pro. see what i did there?

- cis choosing to nurtureild and emotionally support children in urgent need. it's not just about opening up your home; it is also about opening up your heart.

consider fostering. welcome back. the supreme court heard arguments in the case that could affect hundreds of thousands of young immigrants that have come to be known as dreamers. whether the administration can shut down the daca program, which protects immigrants who were brought here illegally when they were children. if the court rules in the administration's favor, it could be devastating to those immigrants but could be important if keeping preside

presidential powers in check as well. joining me live from the supreme court, pete williams. pete, why does this feel like a case that's going to have a very complicated ruling that is plaque and white as everybody is presenting it, that's not what you're going to be reporting on next june? >> the simple reason is because it is complicated. it involves a law, administrative procedures act. when the government does something consequential that the people have relied on, it has to give a detailed explanation tore why it wants to change it. that's what the daca supporters say the government didn't do here. the president just tried to hide behind a conclusion from the justice department on a one-page memo that daca was illegal. daca defenders say the trump administration is just trying to duck responsibility for it. but a majority of the supreme court seemed to say that the administration didn't need to give any explanation, that this is subject to their discretion.

it would be just like a new police chief coming to town and saying i'm not going to be so lax on drug abusers. i'm going to crack down on drug use. that it's that kind of discretion that isn't reviewable by the courts. it did seem today, chuck, by a 5-4 majority the court is prepared to allow the administration to shut daca down. you would know as anyone whether that might put the heat on congress to change the law. >> it does sound that an argument was made to try to split that decision in half by saying yes we know they have the authority to do this but it's how they did it. they need to go back to the drawing board. is it possible we get a split decision rulings? >> reporter: no, i don't think so. >> okay. >> reporter: it seemed clear that the court is going to say number one it's reviewable and number two, they had good enough reason to want to shut it down. at least that's how it seemed today. >> pete williams at the supreme court. thank you, sir. and that's all i have for tonight. we'll be back tomorrow with more

""meet the press" daily." "the beat with ari melber starts right now. good evening, ari. >> good evening, chuck. breaking impeachment news. as chuck just mentioned we are on the eve of history in washington and perhaps for the nation. hours away from this impeachment testimony going public for the first time on live tv. i have a lot in tonight's show. let me begin with the context. president trump bracing as more bribery testimony emerges, undercutting his defense and a new preview we got moments ago on what the democrats think might be the strongest case to impeach trump. so we're going to get into all of that. the gop defense has said, among other things, there's a new way to defend trump. four points in a written memo that we can determine are false with fact checks. donald trump's top aide, someone we talked a lot about recently on "the beat,"