Skip to main content

tv   MSNBC Live  MSNBC  December 7, 2019 4:00am-5:01am PST

4:00 am
time for my colleague, alex whitt. >> great to see you, cory. we'll see you back tomorrow morning. i'm alex witt here in new york. it is 7:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m. out west we have breaking news to share. an american student detained in iran is now free following a u.s. and iran prisoner swap. it took place in switzerland just about an hour ago. let's go to nbc's elia ruzi who is joining us with the news. i understand this is a graduate student from princeton. how long has this person been kept behind bars? >> that's right alex. you and i have spoken about iran a lot over the last decade and it's rarely good news. but this seems to be one of those cases where through intermediaries and back channels iran and america were able to reach a compromise. now mr. wang is an american
4:01 am
citizen. a princeton graduate student. he was arrested in iran three years ago while doing research. in february of 2017, mr. wang was charged with two counts of espionage and later that year he was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison. the united states has repeatedly called for his release. after iran released the video of mr. wang in 2017 allegedly trying to smuggle documents out of iran. the state department video forced a shameful appearance and explicitly denied that mr. wang was working on behalf of the u.s. government it now appears that iranian foreign minister zarif with the help of the swiss, they represent u.s. interests in iran in the absence of any diplomatic relations between tehran and washington, through the swiss the iranian foreign minister has been
4:02 am
working on this prisoner swap between mr. wang and a man called masud suleimani. a scientist arrested by the u.s. in october of 2018 and accused of violating u.s. sanctions by attempting to export biological materials in the form of human growth hormone from the u.s. to iran without authorization. he's being held in an atlanta jail for about a year. it seems that the two sides have made a compromise with the help of the swiss. mr. wang had been take ton switzerland. mr. sewell mani had been taken to switzerland and the iranians have just released the photograph of mr. suleimani on a private jet with the foreign minister on his way back to tehran and presumably mr. wang will be making his way back to the united states immediately. >> what an extraordinary experience for this graduate student in history. we've been talking for a decade
4:03 am
about issues and rarely are they good with regard to the united states and iran and working together, right? how does something like this even happen? >> well as i said, it's done through an intermediary, the swiss. and the reality is, we don't really know the background of any of these people. but it would be a fair assumption to say that these are pawns caught newspaper a greater game for a day like this. where you know one person is swapped for another. they could have a use for their government. in the grand scheme of things, this does not mean some peace between the states or tomorrow the united states and iran are going to have great relations far from it. there is an opportunity that the two sides had been working on for other a year and they grabbed the opportunity when it came about and it suited both sides. but it's a rare occurrence and i
4:04 am
don't think this is going to be a track record for anything going forward. as it is, there are still four other american citizens in jail here in iran. and their future is totally unclear. >> ali arusi, as always thank you. impeachment inquiry. new today a critical development on this. this morning's big headline, the white house and president trump rejecting the house judiciary committee's invite to participate in the next phase of the impeachment process. so for the latest on the new developments, here's nbc white house correspondent peter alexander. >> the white house rejecting house democrats' invitation for the president to participate in their impeachment proceedings. >> the white house counsel pat sip loan anyway a blistering letter calling the investigation baseless, adding you should end the inquiry now and not waste additional time.
4:05 am
for president trump cooperating for the process, repeatedly attacked, would undercut his rallying cry. >> they're pushing the impeachment, witch hunt. >> instead his allies are preparing to mount an aggressive defense in an impeachment trial. >> the president violated the constitution. >> house speaker nancy pelosi defending her decision to move forward. >> if we were not to proceed, it would say to any president, any future president, that, our democracy is gone. the president is king, he can do whatever he wants. >> so peter, where does this go next? >> house democrats plan to work through the weekend drawing up the articles of impeachment with lawyers from both parties. scheduled to make presentations during a public hearing on monday. >> and again that was nbc's peter alexander reporting there. we have a team of reporters and analysts following the latest for us, let's begin with morgan chalfant, white house reporter for "the hill." this move by the white house
4:06 am
doesn't come as a surprise, does it? i mean, what is the effect of it? >> certainly not a surprise. i mean we saw the white house counsel earlier this week reject the offer by chairman nadler to produce a statement. again continuing a rhetoric from the white house that the inquiry is baseless, illegitimate and trump has not been afforded due process, a lot of the same language we saw last night. the president hasn't been participating, letting republican lawmakers on the committee do the defense for him. they seem to be comfortable with that you saw doug collins in a lot of the republicans you know, presenting a forceful defense for the president during wednesday's hearing, i expect more of that during the hearing on monday. this is all expected to you know proceed very quickly. democrats obviously want to get this wrapped up by the end of the year. i think there appears to be on
4:07 am
track to do that. >> the white house calls this an unfair process, but then it refuses to participate when offered to do so. doesn't that blow that argument, you know that line out of the water right there? because is it that by participating the white house thinks well that means we're only validating the process? is that what's behind it? >> i think that the logic from the white house is that you know, their argument is that it's illegitimate and you know participating would legitimize it. so it's not really in their interests. obviously they're looking for forward to a likely impeachment trial in the senate. they think, it appears they think that's a foregone conclusion at this point so why participate in the house hearings when they believe the democrats will vote to impeach the president in the house, in the end, no matter what. >> something you wrote, morguen is that the white house counselor did not explicitly state that the white house would not participate in any house
4:08 am
proceedings moving forward. but gave the indication that it would not cooperate. what does that mean? so it didn't explicitly say in the letter, we will not participate, responding to that question from jerry nadler. but the senior administration official made clear to me yesterday that they're not going to be participating. that's what the letter meant. and again this wasn't unexpected at all. they've been signaling they wouldn't be interested in participating for a long time. and i think especially after nancy pelosi ordered the chairman to move forward with articles of impeachment on thursday, that was another line that the white house aides were pointing to as saying you know they are moving forward even without knowing whether or not we're going to participate. that was part of their argument as well. >> democrats are bracing for some sort of a pre-christmas deadline crash. they're scrambling to pass bills on spending, drug pricing, on trade. not to mention the vote to impeach the president. the timeline, is it realistic?
4:09 am
and also, why the rush? >> well i mean there are a lot of competing factors here. the presidential race, you know a lot of those 2020 democrats that are in the senate don't want to be wrapped up in an impeachment trial during the iowa caucuses. i think the democrats think they have plenty of evidence at this point. and that because you know they don't want to wait for the court fights to get potentially other witnesses to play out. because that could drag on for weeks. for months. so it's clear that they want to get this going quickly. you know you saw the house intelligence committee release their report earlier this week. laying out what they believe, what democrats believe is you know clear evidence that the president abused his power. >> okay. morgan chalfant, thank you for the discussion. developing overnight, fbi investigators are working to establish a motive behind the deadly shooting at a pensacola naval base, the shooter opened fire in a classroom. killing three, injuring eight. he's identified as muhammed el
4:10 am
shamran, a saudi on the base for training. blaine, good morning to you. there's been international outrage to this incident. talk about the latest from there. >> yeah, alex, good morning to you. a lot of questions swirling and the one that you pointed out is probably the biggest one. what exactly was the motive? what motivated the shooter to open fire here on this base? we do know that fbi agents have been working through the night to process what they're calling a very large crime scene and it's work that continues here this morning. >> this morning, with naval air station pensacola partially closed through the weekend, the fbi says its investigation is just beginning. >> their work is going to be methodical. and it will not and cannot be rushed. >> overnight officials would not release the names of the three people killed and eight wounded in the gunman's path, but spoke
4:11 am
directly to their families. >> we will work 24/7 there is nothing more important than this to us. >> friday's emergency calls came just before 7:00 a.m. >> one navy officer shot, i'm hearing multiple times, possibly unconscious right now. >> when officers arrived, they found the shooter in a classroom building and exchanged gunfire, ultimately killing him. two officers were hit, but expected to survive. chief deputy chip simmons says the scene was like something out of a movie. >> you're stepping over bloody, broken glass and unfortunately bodies. >> law enforcement says the shooter was mohammed al shamrani. a saudi on the base for training. >> soon after the shooting, president trump says he received a phone call from the saudi king. >> the king said that the saudi people are greatly angered by the barbaric actions of the shooter and that this person in no way shape or form represents the feelings of the saudi
4:12 am
people. who love the american people so much. >> on the busy military base of more than 23,000, the escambia county slefr says the two deputies saved lives by acting when they did. >> thank god they're alive. >> and alex, another big question is going to be about security. specifically how was he able to get a gun through? remember they're not allowed here on base. it's a question i asked officials, while they wouldn't go into security detail measures, they said they hold active shooting drills regularly to prepare for something like this. alex? >> i'm glad you just answered that question as to whether or not they're even allowed to have guns on base. blaine alexander thank you. let's bring in nbc news national security correspondent, ken delaney. what do we know about this suspected shooter, mohammed alsh alshamrani.
4:13 am
what's the first priority for investigators right now? >> very little has emerged about the shooter. other than he was a second lieutenant in the saudi air force. it stands to reason he came from a good family. investigators are now trying to interview his classmates in the training program. and a source told me that about six of them were led away almost immediately after the shooting for questioning. they want to interview all known associates in the united states and saudis. they would scour his social media postings. private intelligence group has put out a twitter account that they say is linked to the shooter. nbc news has not confirmed that. with some anti-american opinions that would be in line with terrorist motive. but again the fbi has not formed a conclusion one way or another as to whether this was terrorism. >> this is just one of many potential motives. >> my question about the classroom. this was a saudi national. he was here for a couple of years at least.
4:14 am
doing a typical training program. this is not unique to the united states. they train with allies and partners. were there american soldiers, american trainees as well? or was this a saudi-based classroom? do we know? >> i don't know the details who have was in this classroom. but we have reported that saudis and americans are mingled together in this training program. and at some point they're separated. this is a longstanding relationship. the saudis have been sending officers over here for training for years. this base is the heart of american naval aviation. and this is certainly a blow to that process. but perhaps not a failed one if this person was acting alone. nobody has a greater interest in vetting these people than the saudis, they want to preserve this relationship. and the defense department does do some vetting, checks these people on databases. as we've learned in the united states, there's no amount of vetting that can completely eliminate the possibility of a dangerous or unstable person from committing a horrible act. >> blaine made the point that
4:15 am
firearms are not allowed on this base, some people may be surprised about that because it is a military base. do we have any idea how this gun got on shamrani? >> i can tell you having visited many military bases that you almost never, your person is not searched when you enter a military base, a vehicle will be searched for bombs, but these are small cities, it's not possible to search every individual, prevent them from carrying a weapon onto the facility. and that will remain the case. so while people are talking about tightening security, these are not places that you can insure 100% safety. you can't prevent people from bringing things on unless you're willing to have them stand in line for what could be for hours. going through metal detectors. >> our nbc national security correspondent ken delaney. on the 2020 trail, what mike bloomberg says he should not have said about cory booker, why the senator was taken aback by the byron's remark. and the outcry in florida over a deadly police chase and
4:16 am
shootout, why so many are asking if the police could have held off opening fire. taking metamucil every day can help. metamucil supports your daily digestive health using a special plant-based fiber called psyllium. psyllium works by forming a gel in your digestive system to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. metamucil's gelling action also helps to lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so, start feeling lighter and more energetic by taking metamucil every day.
4:17 am
colon cancer screening for people 50 plus at average risk. some things are harder than you thought. and others are easier. like screening for colon cancer with me, cologuard. i'm noninvasive and you use me at home. i'm also effective. i find 92% of colon cancers using dna in your stool. so why wait? cologuard is not for those at high risk for colon cancer. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your healthcare provider if cologuard is right for you. most insured patients pay $0. wean air force veteran made of doing what's right,. not what's easy. so when a hailstorm hit, usaa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it - with hassle-free claims, he got paid before his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right.
4:18 am
usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa some things are too important to do yourself. ♪ get customized security with 24/7 monitoring from xfinity home. awarded the best professionally installed system by cnet. simple. easy. awesome. call, click or visit a store today.
4:19 am
now to 2020 and new controversy following former new york city mayor michael bloomberg after comments that he made when asked about a complaint by senator cory booker on the issue of racial inclusion. here it is. >> cory booker said it could be
4:20 am
on the debate stage no one of color. there would be more billionaires in the race than black people. is that a problem to you? >> cory booker endorsed me a number of times and i endorsed cory booker a number of times. he's very well spoken. he's got some good ideas. it would be better the more diverse any group is. >> that very well spoken comment generating criticism on social media, senator booker responded in an interview saying he was taken aback by the comments and adding this -- >> it was sort of stunning at times that we are still revisiting these sort of tired tropes or the language we have out there that folks i don't think understand. and the fact that they don't understand this is problematic. >> so bloomberg later expressing regret telling reporters at a campaign event in georgia that he probably slunt have used those words. with me daniel lipman, reporter at politico. let's get into this.
4:21 am
some are suggesting that bloomberg's race comments are out of touch. >> i think he looks a little rusty. he hasn't run for office in quite a while. he's just been a private billionaire philanthropist. so it seemed like he has a tin ear and he's making these gaffes that are not helping him in a party that is pretty progressive. and he already has the stop-and-frisk policies he had to apologize for. this does not help matters, because he's not going to be in the debates, either. he should be able to nail these interviews. >> implications on all this, especially with bloomberg struggling to address criticism for his stop-and-frisk program. >> well i think mayor bloomberg, he has tons of money. but democratic primary voters don't want someone who is going to just buy his way into the presidency. but they also, if he played up
4:22 am
the message that he is not beholden to donors, just hits that theme constantly, that might be a better winning message. than just seeing the headlines of how he is you know keeping tv stations in business because of all the campaign ads that he is just dumping on iowa, new hampshire and across the country. >> speaking of ads, i want to turn to former vice president joe biden. he's out with a new one that capitalizes on the viral video of the european heads that were apparently mocking president trump. here's part of that. take a look. >> world leaders mocking and ridiculing him for being completely off-balance. >> okay. talk about the potential impact of this ad. how widely do you see this staying in play? >> i don't know how long it's going to stay. but this was probably one of their first viral moments on twitter. which was positive for them. because joe biden, and former
4:23 am
vice president well respected on the world stage. a lot of americans are hungering for someone who can kind of bring back respect to the race. i had a story in march a long time ago before joe biden announced that world leaders were urging him to run for office. so the fact that they were saying that to him in whist while having to still deal with president trump, that was pretty interesting to me. >> those points that you're making, that's not what is reflected in this ad. do you think it's a good idea to have an add that focuses squarely on the president, instead of on the candidate. is it as effective? >> you know, i don't know how effective it will be. because last time around in 2016, hillary clinton was basically fully anti-trump and there was many anti-trump tv ads and she did not win. so you need to have a positive message that people understand what you're going to get if
4:24 am
you're elected. and so far, joe biden is not known for specific policies, why he's running except to kick trump out of the oval office. education policy tv ads are going to be less vifrl and people will talk about it less. so that's why he's playing up the world leaders conference. >> i'm sure you saw the exchange between joe biden and the voter in iowa. i want to play part of it. especially for those who didn't see it and get your reaction on the other side. >> you're selling excess to the president just like he was. >> that's not true and no one has ever said that. no one has said my son has done anything wrong and i did not in any occasion and no one has ever said it. >> i didn't say you did anything wrong. >> you said i set up my son to work in an oil company. isn't that what you said? get your words straight, jack.
4:25 am
>> whew. how do you think that one played out? >> i think a lot of democrats are hoping that joe biden comes out swinging more. and even though he does not like these types of questions he's getting from iowa voters about hunter biden, if he can translate that anger to a general election, where he is head to head with president trump who you know is very good at fighting on debate stages and just on the trail, i think democrats are heartened by something like that. and you know they want someone who can slug trump right back. >> also big take-away, a fiercely protective father. good to see you, daniel lippman. four are dead in florida after police chased a stolen u.p.s. truck for 30 miles. one of the dead, 27-year-old
4:26 am
frank ordonez. he was killed along with a bystander that was killed in a crossfire that happened between the shooters and the police. >> morgan you know the u.p.s. driver's family, they're demanding answers, what's the latest in all this? >> alex, they certainly are. i had a chance to speak to the step-father of frank ordonez. who said had the situation been handled differently by police, the father of two girls would still be alive. they're becoming the driving force into into raising big questions into police protocol regarding this wild shootout, thats with all caught on camera. >> a swarm of police, two armed men and bullets flying in the middle of miami rush hour. the wild shootout left four people dead. but this morning, the south
4:27 am
florida police union is standing by their officers. >> the officers did not want to kill anybody, they didn't want to take the bad guys' life. when you're faced with no other situation but to return fire when being fired upon, it's very difficult now a days, being a police officer. >> the response coming amid criticism from the family of the u.p.s. driver, who was taken hostage and killed in the deadly gunfire. two men, lamar alexander and ronnie hill led police on a 30-mile chase thursday, the suspects accused of trying to rob this jewelry store just before taking the u.p.s. driver hostage. the father's final moments witnessed by his children on television. >> devastation is the key word. >> or doan ez step-father blaming the police for his son's death calling their response, reckless. >> they didn't care for the life of the victim, for the life of a hostage. they didn't care for that life.
4:28 am
>> but union head stedman stall says it's not police but the robbery suspects who should be blamed. >> they walked in shooting, the store owner engaged them in a gunfight. they were going down the turnpike shooting at officers first, they started the whole thing. >> important to note alex, it's standard protocol any time an officer discharges their weapon, they're put on paid leave. >> there were four separate law enforcement entities involved in this chase and the shootout. might that have been a contributing factor to even a sense of confusion that seemed to be present when you saw all of those officers surrounding that u.p.s. truck? >> i had a chance to speak to that gentleman who is the
4:29 am
president of the local police union here and he described this as a very fluid situation. he says that no doubt can you look back at it and take lessons from this. but when you have specifically a situation where two armed gunmen are opening fire on officers as they're driving down a crowded roadway, training comes into play. but officers have to deal with that on a case-by-case basis. he did reassure me that this case in particular will be studied in hopes of getting some information going forward. >> again the recollection from thursday, my apologies for saying it was yesterday. thank you so much, morgan chessky. new development in the fight he over president trump's bank records, is congress any closer to seeing them? thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer,
4:30 am
which is breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body, are living in the moment and taking ibrance. ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor is for postmenopausal women or for men with hr+/her2- metastatic breast cancer, as the first hormonal based therapy. ibrance plus letrozole significantly delayed disease progression versus letrozole, and shrank tumors in over half of patients. patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. ibrance may cause severe inflammation of the lungs that can lead to death. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including trouble breathing, shortness of breath, cough, or chest pain. before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests,
4:31 am
diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. be in your moment. ask your doctor about ibrance. ♪for the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.♪♪ we go the extra mile to bring your holidays home. us lives here. where we can be surprised by others. and ourselves. for a better us, donate to your local y today. billions of problems. morning breath? garlic breath? stinky breath? there's a therabreath for you. therabreath fresh breath oral rinse instantly fights all types of bad breath and works for 24 hours. so you can... breathe easy. there's therabreath at walmart.
4:32 am
can you tell me the story again? every family has their own unique story. give your family the chance to discover theirs this holiday season, with ancestry. the best of pressure cooking and air frying now in one pot, and with tendercrisp technology, you can cook foods that are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. the ninja foodi pressure cooker, the pressure cooker that crisps. beyond the routine checkups. beyond the not-so-routine cases. comcast business is helping doctors provide care in whole new ways. all working with a new generation of technologies powered by our gig-speed network. because beyond technology... there is human ingenuity.
4:33 am
every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected. to do the extraordinary. take your business beyond. this morning an american student detained in iran is now free following a u.s. and iran prisoner swap. it took place in switzerland just in the last hour. the president has released a statement about the freeing of an american held prisoner in iran for more than three years. president says he is now returning to the united states. a princeton university graduate student, mr. wang had been held under the pretense of espionage since august 2016.
4:34 am
other morning headlines to share, new this morning, lawyers for president trump have a little more time in the financial records dispute. supreme court justice ruth bader ginsberg put a temporary hold friday on handing over records sought by house democrats. the material includes accounts, transactions and investments linked to the president and his three oldest children. that stay is in effect until december 13. relief this morning for some victims of the california wildfires. pg & e, pacific gas and electric, agreed to pay $13.5 billion in damages covering four deadly fires from 2015-2018. it covers all major blames blamed on the utility company's outdated equipment and negligence. in politics the white house rejecting an offer from house democrats to participate in impeachment hearings. kelly o'donnell joins me with more. good saturday morning to you. what is the white house saying about it?
4:35 am
>> well good morning alex. the real message from the white house is no, the president's team is saying no to participating in the house impeachment inquiry. no to mounting a defense in that kind of form. no to just about anything that has to do with impeachment on the democratic house side. and they're even asking democrats to end this inquiry all together. the white house war of words, blasting the impeachment inquiry as completely baseless. officials say the president will not participate as the house judiciary committee holds another hearing monday and prepares specific allegations against him. friday, the president usually eager to engage, ignored questions about whether he would accept chairman jerry nadler's invitation. >> thank you all very much. thank you. >> white house counsel pat cippoloni's one-page letter to chairman nadler claims democrats
4:36 am
have waisted enough of americans' time with this charade. and lashed out at this moment from speaker pelosi. >> i'm asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment. >> cippoloni noted that pelosi made that call before your committee has heard a single shred of evidence. bottom line? the white house is choosing to not mount a defense in the house. while attacking this process as unjust, highly partisan and unconstitutional. chairman nadler responded. the american people deserve answers from president trump. he rejected white house complaints. having declined this opportunity, he cannot claim that the process is unfair. the president wanting the last word perhaps, tweeted back at the democratic chairman. nadler hasn't had a single fact witness testify. zero substance. country wants growth, not impeachment. on friday we saw the president
4:37 am
trying to focus on the positive jobs numbers, the strong economy, taking a little bit of a pause from his most combative style when it comes to impeachment. and trying to focus on the getting something done. also in that letter from pat cippolone, they used the words of the president who had said to the house, if you're going to impeach me, do it fast so they can get on to what they think would be a fair trial in the senate. we talked about the fact that the senate being republican controlled, is considered a better venue for the president to be heard. to mount a case, and in his view, and the white house's view, much more likely to end in acquittal. alex? >> kelly o'donnell at the white house, thank you very much. tomorrow, ari gelberg previews the next phase of the inquiry. you can watch it tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. eastern on msnbc. right now time to see what's ahead at the top of the hour on "up" so my colleague david gura
4:38 am
is joining me. >> after the impeachment hearing on monday, the house judiciary committee is going to draft articles of impeachment. i went to washington, d.c. to talk with a member of the committee who may know more than most about it. jamie rasken, a professor of constitutional law who joined us for our latest installment of "up." after the exit of kamala harris from the presidential race, big questions about the democrats and diversity. sought manifest in a new dust-up between mike bloomberg and cory booker. the dnc vice chair will join us. to be or not to be -- about medicare for all. among the 2020 dems, we're going to talk about it, plus this headline -- obamacare is working and how might this change the conversation? that discussion, next.
4:39 am
i didn't have to call 911.help.
4:40 am
and i didn't have to come get you. because you didn't have another heart attack. not today. you took our conversation about your chronic coronary artery disease to heart. even with a stent procedure, your condition can get worse over time, and keep you at risk of blood clots. so you added xarelto®, to help keep you protected. xarelto®, when taken with low-dose aspirin, is proven to further reduce the risk of blood clots that can cause heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death in people with chronic cad. that's because while aspirin can help, it may not be enough to manage your risk of blood clots. in a clinical trial, almost 96% of people taking xarelto® did not have a cardiovascular event. don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, or cardiovascular death. while taking, a spinal injection increases the risk of blood clots which may cause paralysis- the inability to move. you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding. it may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. get help right away for unexpected bleeding
4:41 am
or unusual bruising. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. enjoy every moment-and help protect yourself from an unexpected one, like a cardiovascular event. are you doing enough? ask your doctor if it's time for xarelto®. to learn more about cost and how janssen can help, visit xarelto.com.
4:42 am
ahead of the holidays, you've got a cattle call of candidates. >> yeah, this is one of the last cattle call events expected. look what happened just this
4:43 am
week. several democratic contenders dropped out of the race and you put it as there's less than two months to go until the iowa caucus. i'm thinking it in terms of weeks. seven weeks away. while there's impeachment happening in washington, d.c., the democrats are this close to choosing who their nominee is to take on ultimately donald trump next november. this weekend its a packed schedule with much attention here in iowa, there's much attention between the candidates now focused on one another. this morning senator elizabeth warren and mayor pete buttigieg squaring off over their corporate past. >> people across this country want to know who you worked for when were you in the private sector. >> warren taking aim at the secrecy surrounding buttigieg's time at the global consulting firm mckinsey a decade ago. >> isn't it worthy for folks to no who you represented over those past years. >> i would be happy to share more. >> he detailed the timeline of the cases he worked on at
4:44 am
mckinsey and asked to be released from his confidentiality agreement adding i never worked on a project inconsistent with my values. if asked to do so, i would have left the firm rather than participated. >> is there anybody that you regret representing? >> no. >> in turn the south bend mayor wants senator warren to unveil more about her own past. >> it would be a good idea for her to release tax returns as i have, covering your entire career. >> down the highway, joe biden picking up the endorsement of former secretary of state john kerry. >> our country has lost enormous position of critical leadership in the country. >> the day after an angry exchange with a voter at a campaign event. >> you're a damn liar, man. >> the man accusing biden of nepotism and claiming he's too old to be president. on friday the former vice president offering this apology. >> i probably shouldn't have challenged him to push-ups. >> with a packed schedule here this weekend, it's pretty much
4:45 am
officially go time for the democratic candidates, here in iowa over at the teamsters event you'll see joe biden, amy klobuchar and pete buttigieg. as for senator elizabeth warren she's looking ahead to going to be in new hampshire today, before heading to charleston, south carolina on sunday. >> it sounds like everyone in the state of iowa will be there today where you are in waterloo. a new article on the medicare for all policy pushed by some 2020 contenders suggest it is could end up being make or break for some candidate. a recent quinnipiac poll found 52% of american voters do not support replacing the current medicare system with medicare for all. a new article says the declining support for the policy caused candidates like senators kamala harris, who is no longer in the race, as well as elizabeth warren to loosen their stances on the issue. joining me now, the author of that article, yao finance columnist rick newman. good to see you.
4:46 am
it was a great article because you broke down such a complicated issue in a way that we can all well understand there. you say that medicare for all is never going to happen in your lifetime. why is this becoming less popular among americans? >> because they're learning more about it. this sounds okay on overall. you know, the government is going to cover everybody, nobody is going to pay anything for health care. your costs are going to be zero. but to get from where we are today to something like that, it would be so disruptive, it's almost impossible to imagine. and just think about how, what it would take to get this through congress. congress really struggled to pass the affordable care act back in 2010. and there was a very limited version of medicare for all, which was just this public option for people who could not get good health care in the private sector. and that didn't pass back in 2010. i don't think there's any reason to think this would be any easier today. and there would be all kinds of
4:47 am
disruptions if we move from the current system, where about 175 million people are covered by the private sector insurance, to something where everything is covered by the government. we probably wouldn't have enough doctors. there would be people who would find gaps in their coverage and things like that it's remarkably complex to get there. it would be very disruptive. as voters learn more about this. they're saying -- no thanks. >> as you're putting forth this cogent analysis. that's for the future. this is out there on the campaign trail. and the staple of some candidates notably bernie sanders and elizabeth warren, they're the ones continuing to push this prospect. elizabeth warren is the one who has gotten the most criticism or analysis hurled at her, despite bernie sanders being the one as you quote him saying who wrote the damn bill, why is that? >> well bernie is all in on medicare for all. he was talking about this in 2016. nothing has changed there. elizabeth warren, used to say i'm with bernie, i back medicare
4:48 am
for all, she was getting a lot of flack in the fall. well how are you going to pay for this? it's going to cost more than $3 trillion per year. that's more than the government already spends on everything. so we're talking about doubling what the government spends so she did come out with a plan, here's how i'm going to pay for it. she underplayed the costs by probably $1 trillion per year and she said well you know what, i still favor medicare for all, but now i also favor something she calls the transition plan. so when she first gets elected president, her first year she's going to push for this transition plan, which actually looks like the more limited public option that joe biden and pete buttigieg supports, so she's going to do the biden-buttigieg plan first and then when everybody sees how well that's working in her third year she's going to move for medicare for all. she's vastly oversimplifying what it would take to get there. if you talk to people about the reality of the politics, not in my lifetime medicare for all.
4:49 am
>> i mean it's just confusing the way you laid it out. there's a lot of movement there. i want to get to the other article you've written, it is titled obamacare is working. of course that's the affordable care act. trump's big campaign promise was to repeal the affordable care act. is it fair to say there's large support for obamacare while the president is working so hard to get rid of it. is this something that people want to keep? >> there's modest support for obamacare, it's in the low 50s. but there's a lot of support for provisions of obamacare. the biggest one is that insurance companies can no longer exclude people for coverage or charge them more for preexisting conditions. trump is still trying to get the aca repealed in court. if that ever happened he would have some explaining to do to voters. >> when you say it's modest support, you still said it's more than 50%. so it's a majority support for obamacare. >> and part of the problem with obamacare is obamacare was not
4:50 am
meant to address every problem in the insurance market. so when people see the costs are still too high. they're still paying too much out of pocket, some people sort of blame obamacare. they say that made some big changes recently. but obamacare was small potatoes compared with medicare for all. obamacare affected about 20 million people. obamacare for all, we're talking 175 million people moving out of private insurance into a public plan. that tells you the scale of medicare for all. >> rick newman, good to see you, thank you. george zimmerman's $100 million lawsuit against trayvon martin's parents, does he have any chances of winning. hen a haa reached out before he could even inspect the damage. that's how you do it right. usaa insurance is made just the way martin's family needs it - with hassle-free claims, he got paid before
4:51 am
his neighbor even got started. because doing right by our members, that's what's right. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa
4:52 am
(kickstart my heart by motley crue)) (truck honks)
4:53 am
(wheels screeching) (clapping) (sound of can hitting bag and bowl) (clapping) always there in crunch time. the best of pressure cooking and air frying now in one pot, and with tendercrisp technology, you can cook foods that are crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. the ninja foodi pressure cooker, the pressure cooker that crisps. i have moderate to severe pnow, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are getting clearer, yeah i feel free ♪ ♪ to bare my skin ♪ yeah that's all me. ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin ♪ that's my new plan. ♪ nothing is everything. keep your skin clearer with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. of those, nearly 9 out of 10 sustained it through 1 year. and skyrizi is 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. ♪ i see nothing in a different way ♪ ♪ and it's my moment so i just gotta say ♪
4:54 am
♪ nothing is everything skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. ♪ trayvon martin is taking his case back to court to sue his family. a book publisher offered him $100 million. >> danny, this seems absurd.
4:55 am
he's suing the family, the parents of the boy he shot. >> it may not really be. the parents were brought in as a conspiracy. the government of florida's prosecutors, police and even harper collins, the publisher even though they are not part of the original conspiracy. if the fact is are true, these are going to be some real issues for the defe for the defendants to have to deal with. >> a key defendant was forced to lie about her rear lagsship. >> rachel was a substituted witness standing in for her half sister. the claim was that everybody knew about it. they were in on it. those were the allegations and are very serious.
4:56 am
they seem provable with some depositions and evidence of the this is going to be some really interesting coming weeks. >> $100 million, can he get close to that realistically? >> the rule is, you ask for the sun, muoon and stars and come down from that. >> i love having you on. it has become a big concern and cory booker is calling attention to it. that's ahead. applebee's new sizzlin' entrées. now starting at $9.99. i wanted more from my copd medicine that's why i've got the power of 1, 2, 3 medicines with trelegy. the only fda-approved once-daily 3-in-1 copd treatment. ♪ trelegy ♪ the power of 1,2,3 ♪ trelegy ♪ 1,2,3 ♪ trelegy man: with trelegy and the power of 1, 2, 3,
4:57 am
i'm breathing better. trelegy works three ways to open airways, keep them open and reduce inflammation, for 24 hours of better breathing. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. trelegy is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. think your copd medicine is doing enough? maybe you should think again. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy and the power of 1, 2, 3. ♪ trelegy, 1,2,3 man: save at trelegy.com. (vo) thewith every attempt, strto free itself,pider's web. it only becomes more entangled. unaware that an exhilarating escape is just within reach.
4:58 am
defy the laws of human nature. at the season of audi sales event. ♪ey mr. jones find great gifts for everyone on your list this holiday, ♪ everybody... with low prices and free shipping on millions of items at amazon. ♪ beyond the routine checkups. beyond the not-so-routine cases.
4:59 am
comcast business is helping doctors provide care in whole new ways. all working with a new generation of technologies powered by our gig-speed network. because beyond technology... there is human ingenuity. every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected. to do the extraordinary. take your business beyond.
5:00 am
that's a wrap for me this hour on msnbc live. now it is time for "up with david gura." welcome, the white house telling the committee it still has no plans to participate in impeachment hearings, instead, it is going on the attack. i sit down with one of the lawmakers drafting articles of impeachment, former law professor joins me up on the hill. the lawmaker tells me what will happen. half way around the world, the president's lawyer is in ukraine on behalf of his only client. the head scratcher over rudy giuliani seemingly misquoting the constitution. democrats and diversity