ills and effort and talent. please consider volunteering and feeling that feeling that you helped someone today. good evening, and welcome to "politicsnation." tonight's lead, from "no" to no choice. those were the words from house speaker nancy pelosi this week

as she set up the next constitutional clash in the impeachment of president donald trump. even though the white house late friday rejected an invitation to take part in the hearings before the house judiciary committee, calling it baseless, unfair, and a waste of time, the president says he embraces a senate confrontation and is eager for the fight in his expected trial. how soon will we witness this spectacle of impeachment and will it change anyone's mind ahead of 2020 election? speaking of the election, a lot has been said about the reasons behind senator kamala harris' unfortunate withdrawal from the democratic primary, but what we know for sure, there are no black women in the 2020 race, but diversity ramemains only the

black candidates. the once-commendable diverse field is now saturated with whiteness and gray hairs. we'll have more on that later in the show. first let's start with yet another dramatic week in the impeachment saga. joining me now, democratic strategist tara dowdell, and joe watkins, republican strategist and former aide to president george h.w. bush. let me start with you, joe. it seems almost a given there will be an impeachment voted by the house and it goes to the senate. and we're hearing at most there may be a handful of republicans that will vote for conviction for political reasons, not being any other reasons that's based on evidence that we're hearing. do you think that, a, that will

change based on evidence and cross-examination brings out, or are they going strictly party over patriotism. essentially we're talking about what's good for the country, we would hope, but we are led to believe most of the republicans if not all in the senate have thrown the idea to the wind and dealing with good for the party, themselves, and the president, not necessarily in that order. >> very well spoken, rev. in a perfect world, every senator, republican and democrat, would consider all the evidence that's being presented and would make a decision based on the merits of the case. i think in this case you're likely to see, as you've already predicted a state party-line vote. i don't see much defection on the republican side, especially as long as the poll numbers haven't changed much in terms of

republican support for the president. i don't see those republican senators saying to themselves, well, let's examine the evidence and make a decision based on the evidence. i think they're going to say, wasn't th you know what, i'm staying with the president. i've seen the polls. there's not much movement, therefore, it's a real equation for me. that's not the way it ought to work, but that's the way it's likely to work. >> tam remarra, when we look at in the big picture, if the president is impeached and if the senate does not convict, on one level we are establishing a precedent going forward that a president can use a foreign government, use federally approved funds by the u.s. congress to say to them, intimidate them into fearing an american election. that is dangerous for this country, and we're also saying

now that the republican party, the party of law and order that they touted, now says forget the law, forget the intent of the founding fathers of the country. it's party first no matter what evidence is put before us. >> absolutely correct. and i think that joe is absolutely right. look, you are not going to see any movement from the republicans. they are lock step with donald trump. they will set a dangerous president. this impeachment inquiry is basically not even covering all things that trump has done. this is just one narrow scope of his criminality. there's a litany of criminal acts that have occurred under this presidency, a litany of corruption that's occurred. this is just one narrow scope. if i were democrats and i know that some of this is happening, i know priority is usa and some other organizations are doing this, but i would be running ads and laying out the full scope of all these crimes, and i would also be showing the senators

what they said during bill clinton's impeachment and what they're saying now, because it is a complete and obvious contradiction. i would show every single act of corruption and criminality, and then i would tie it back to how it affects americans. i call it the corruption tax. i would tie it back to the corruption tax and how we pay for it as american citizens when this administration commits corruption. >> and joe, where are any of the republican leaders that would say, wait a minute, i may not be in the senate, but i'm a leader in this party, and isthis is against the principles of the country established early when they wrote these rules of impeachment? i mean, we're talking about complete cowardice on the part of republican leadership, unless they all believe the same thing that we don't care about the evidence, it's about the party.

>> it's been an across-the-board unwillingness to stand up and say what people think is true on the republican side, with a few exceptions, and those members are no longer republicans. they've been forced to leave the party to run as independent candidates if they want to try to regain their house seats or they've retired, decided not to run anymore. even some of those retiring are hesitant to speak out and to say what they think is true. but at the end of the day, you heard me say it again and again and again, it's about the country. >> do what's right. you ought to be protecting the constitution of the united states. >> do what people elected you to do what's right. going from strange to bizarre, earlier today the president answered some questions at the white house making some news about rudy giuliani's possible willingness to testify, tara. listen to this. >> he did get back from europe just recently. he has not told me what he's

found. but i think he wants to go before congress and say -- and also to the attorney general and to the department of justice. i hear he's found plenty. >> rudy giuliani wants to go before congress and -- i mean, how does this in any way, shape, or form -- here's the man that the president told the head of the president of ukraine, zelensky, talk to william barr or rudy giuliani, my personal attorney. he's in this, not knee deep, but neck deep, and he wants to go before congress? i mean, are they absolutely shameless here? >> we know they're shameless, but this would be just insane, an insane strategy because rudy giuliani has been one of the main people implicating the president. he goes on tv and he immediately will say the president didn't do

what he was accused of doing. and then two minutes later in the same interview he will say, yeah, he did do it, and so what? we know that if rudy giuliani testifies, all he'll do is corroborate what we already know and what's already been corroborated by esteemed members of our intelligence community. >> and he can gave new definition of a lie is not really a lie? >> exactly. >> the only time in my life i'd live to say go, rudy, go. listen to democratic senator chris murphy who says the senate has a small chance of convicting and removing trump from office, despite the fact that some republicans may be on boefrard. >> have you spoken to a single republican colleague in the senate who's even considering voting for impeachment? >> yes. >> you have? >> yes, >> okay. >> would you like to name him? >> how many? >> it's a small list on one

hand. by the way, i don't buy this secret ballot thing. if there was a secret ballot, there would still be a handful who would vote to impeach this guy. >> given what we know, five republicans who might vote to remove the president at max -- >> i think that's probably right. >> now, we should note it would take 67 votes to convict trump, meaning at least 20 of the 53 senate republicans would have to dare to join the ranks of the democrats. >> right. >> but joe, when you see that and hear that, and you're a member of the republican party, what do the republicans now say that they stand for? if you're saying that you heard the evidence that the president did it, the president said he did it, that they, in fact, have dealt with zelensky and that there's nothing wrong. his personal lawyer just said he did it.

you had scholars testify that it is impeachable, what do the republicans come out and say they stand for now? >> it's very hard. i'm an african-american man first. i know i'm a republican who loves democrats and republicans. and i know i have to live with myself. i'm for civil rights, i'm against voter suppression. i'm for all things that i think are right and good for our society, and i wish that other members would do the same but they say, you know what, i'm going to tell the truth and take advantage of that. but most people are concerned about keeping their seat, and that's why murphy was able to say -- without divulging the names, maybe five for less than five. and i'll be surprised if it was that many. >> tara, will they be able to energize their base as opposed to democrats not being able to energize their base?

if we're talking politics and not what is constitutional and what is best for the country, talk politics in the minute i have left. are we saying it's a question of who can really energize their base based on this? or am i one of the only ones concerned about the precedent this establishes that 50 years from now somebody can do this with another country? >> we're in dangerous territory. from a political standpoint, though, yes, republicans absolutely are energizing their base. >> can the democrats energize theirs? >> the democratic party is already energize but they will need massive turnout in order to win in 2020. no one should underestimate that because we know the republicans are going to turn out. there's nothing at this point trump could do that will basically move the republican party away from him. i'm fully convinced of that at this point because he's done everything one person can do. so i do think that democrats need the massive turnout and

need folks not just the normal democrats that come out in every election. actually, joe raised a good point. >> and factor voter suppression and all that. >> exactly. so we have to overcome those barriers. >> we'll have more with them later in the show. coming up, the only black woman running in the 2020 race has dropped out. and now the lack of diversity in the next democratic debate is under the microscope. that's next. first, my colleague, richard lui, with today's top news stories. richard? >> some stories we're watching this hour. new reports today that days before a gunman opened fire at a u.s. naval base in pensacola, florida, he and others viewed videos after mass shootings at a dinner party. the gunman hot and killed three people and injured eight more. he's been identified as a saudi national, muhammad al shamrani, and it was in the u.s. for military training at that base. law enforcement hasn't

determined a motive. an american student imprisoned in tehran on suspicion of being a spy is now a free man. he will undergo a medical evaluation in germany before traveling back to the united states. in exchange, the u.s. freed an iranian scientist who was arrested in chicago last year for violating u.s. trade sanctions against iran. more "politicsnation" with reverend al sharpton right after the break.

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i'm not a billionaire. i can't fund my own campaign. as the campaign has gone on, it has become harder and harder to raise the money we need to compete. in good faith, i cannot tell you my supporters and volunteers that i have a path forward if i don't believe i do. >> kamala harris, a sitting u.s. senator and former attorney general of the most populous state dropped out this week, even though she is celebrated by many as the lone black woman in the senate and was the only one running for president in 2020. she still garnered less support among black voters from bernie sanders and elizabeth warren according to the polls. joining me now, one of the surrogates from the harris campaign, democratic candidate -- i'm sorry, democratic congresswoman marcia fudge of ohio.

congresswoman, what happened and were you surprised by your candidate withdrawing? >> reverend, thanks. it's good to be with you. certainly i was surprised, but i was not shocked. it has become very, very difficult for women, particularly black women, to raise the kind of resources we need to run these kinds of races. and i think a lot of it goes back to the way that our party talks the talk but doesn't really walk the walk we put in place a process by which those who had the most money or access to it were the people who made the stage or the people who got all of the attention. quite frankly, reverend, some of it was media driven as well. they picked those they liked. those people got an awful lot of attention and others did not. >> i raised early that day what it was announced that what disturbed me is there will be no blacks unless cory booker can

probably double his poll numbers on the stage in the next debate. and the clapback came to me that, well, kamala harris qualified to be in the next debate, why didn't she stay in at least through debate if she wanted to withdraw so at least the positions and issues she's raised would have been on that platform? do you think she should have done that? >> i don't. and i don't think she should have because it would have put her into deep debt. why would she go in debted to be on the stage, especially since it was six or seven of these debates in the first place and too many. why go into debt to be on the stage? >> so it would have caused her debt? >> correct, absolutely. when you think about emanuthe p she had in the field, shady big operation in iowa and south carolina, so she's going to have to pay these people. it would have been significant. >> let me ask you this. she has pulled out, and now i

believe she had the majority of the congressional black caucus members that had endorsed her. where do they go and what will be the criteria? we see willie brown from her state, who was one of her mentors endorse michael bloomberg today. we see others leaning toward joe biden. where do caucus members -- where does marcia fudge, if anywhere, go. you can make news right now and endorse. are you going with another candidate? >> i probably will because i do want to be involved in making sure that donald trump is not re-elected. but let me say something. it should have been telling that kamala had the majority of the black caucus. that in itself should have been telling. i certainly could not support bloomberg. i'll say that. how do you go on television and say, my bad, i shouldn't have treated black men like that, harassed for walking down the street in new york city or put

surveillance on muslim. i can't support that. i can't support pete buttigieg, who i believe has real black issues. but there are other candidates, and certainly i will look at them. >> what about joe biden? you didn't include him with the '94 crime bill. >> i will look at joe biden. but we know a lot of these candidates personally. joe biden is a person that i dealer like. i'm going to look at his campaign and elizabeth warren and maybe one or two others. but right now i'm just trying to make sure my candidate and my friend finishes the process of getting out of this race and we do it in a way that is supportive of her as she goes forward with whatever she chooses to do. >> what are you hearing from your constituents? the media is inundated with the impeachment proceedings and properly so, but are people in middle america, you're in ohio. according to many, and i share the view, you do it very well.

are people into the impeachment or are people into more of their own bread and butter issues? what do you feel as a democratic congresswoman of good standing will be the thing that will drive voters to one candidate or another? will it be the candidate that can deal with the issues and deal with trump? or will it be the candidate that knows how to really take on the anti-trump fervor alone? >> i think it's complex. and i think of two things, reverend. those who are very, very actively involved politically are going to come out and vote no matter what happens. those happen to be those who are further to the left. but people who look like us, reverend, they want to see somebody on that ticket who they believe cares about them. and i think that we make a huge mistake as a party if we do not have some diversity on our ticket because i think that that discourages people from coming out, not encourages them. and i think there's also that

group of people who believe t t ththa that -- i will vote for the person who can make sure i have a job and my kids are fed, that i have decent schools to send my children to, that my streets are safe. i think it's a complex question, but i think overall people are going to vote for the person that they believe most has their interests at heart. >> before i run out of time, i have to ask you this. you're chairwoman of the agricultural subcommittee on nutrition. earlier this week the trump administration approved a rule kicking thousands of americans off s.n.a.p. assistance, or foofrfood stamps. >> they show their disdain for people who are poor, the trump administration. they continue to make it more difficult for those who they believe do not support them. at the same time, reverend, they're giving out $28 billion in farm aid, not to poor farmers or farmers that need it, but to wealthy farmers.

once again, let's take care of the rich and denigrate and destroy the poor. >> i think we have to leave it there. congresswoman marcia fudge, thank you very much. coming up, he can dish it, but he can't take it. you know who i'm talking about. more on that in a moment. you're watching "politicsnation." before we talk about tax-smart investing, what's new?

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cologua . for this week's memo, i'd like to talk about reputations, and not just your personal reputation, mr. president, but the good name of the united states. it's something on which you expressed a lot of concern during president obama's time in office, calling your predecessor a, quote, laughing stock, back in 2014. meanwhile, just this week at a nato summit in london, your out of control antics caused an international comedy extravaganza, and your fellow heads of state weren't laughing with you, but laughing at you. >> is that why you were late? >> because he takes a 40-minute

press conference. >> you think you might have grown a thick sin by now considering you've been a global laughing stock your entire presidency, from the trump baby balloon flying over london during your visits, to mocking response to your particular brand of buffoonery at the united nations last year. >> in less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country. america's -- so true. [ laughter ] didn't expect that reaction, but that's okay. [ laughter ] >> mr. president, you are a man who is so cavalier about insulting other people that, if you look it up, there's an entire wikipedia page dedicated

to your abundant insults and mean-spirited nicknames you have for others. yet, you threw an absolute tantrum after your fellow leaders were caught joking about your admit admit itlier rat tick behavior, calling canadian prime minister justin trudeau two faced. and then like the child you are, you picked up your metaphorical ball and went home early, canceling your final event of the trip so you could sulk in the privacy of air force one. for all the bravado you show on twitter, the truth is you are no better than the baby balloon that bears your likeness. and even though you and i were both born and raised in the same city, here is one way we are different. you can dish it, but you certainly can't take it. your juvenile antics are destroying the reputation of the united states. as for your personal reputation,

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you've got to be able to go to the legislature and convince them, at least argue with them and ask them to participate and

say, look, here's why you should do it. it's leadership, and we don't seem to have that when it comes to guns. >> two weeks after officially announcing that he was entering the race for president, former new york city mayor michael bloomberg is pushing gun control as his first policy initiative. i'm joined now by tim o'brien, senior adviser for bloomberg 2020 campaign for president. tim, gun control, this is his first big issue coming out of the box. why? >> well, i think, first and foremost, rev, the answer issue for michael bloomberg because it's been an issue for him for a long time. he sees guns as a national scourge. he's used his intellect to break the back. nra and relieve neighbors of the

surge of gun violence. one of the things that separates him from other candidates is he's not just a businessman, though he honors business people. he's somebody who has actually had to manage a bureaucracy and deliver policy roults esults to people. he sees this as something that's a moral challenge. he sees it as important for the future of the country. and he has a demonstrable track record with gun violence in america. >> talk about managing the city. there were issues that were very problematic to many of us. >> yep, yep. >> i was organizing and led a lot of marching on stop and frisk. he has come out the last two weeks and apologized for that. but a lot of people, hundreds of thousands, were impacted negative by that. >> right. >> at the same time, in fairness, he worked with

president obama and i on education, something he and i agreed with and even got newt gingrich in it. hells always open, even though we were vehemently opposed to his stop and terrific policies. how do you think people are going to deal with the fact that he just announced this apologize right before he ran, never said it before, and he said to gayle king in that cbs interview, why would you ask him if he was defending it all along? why would you ask for an apologize from someone that's clearing saying that's what i believe? >> well, i think that michael bloomberg has to continually apologize for stop and frisk. it was a failed policy. it was an unacceptable policy. any policy that makes a vulnerable population of people, and specifically a population of people who feel they're being targeted because of the color of their skin -- >> they were. >> they were, and that was a failed policy. he stood by it for too long. it wasn't accomplishing what he

thought it was, and he should have stopped defending it a long time ago. i think one of michael bloomberg's many virtues is that he's a very tough, no-nonsense man. the downside of that, though, is -- >> there were legal cases, those of us marching by the thousands saying that. >> i agree with you. he should have let go of it a long time ago. >> i have the same position on the crime bill with the crime bill so we have to put it all out there. some went to jail under the crime bill for many years. >> it wasn't just. michael bloomberg is a mayor who tried a lot of different policies to try to bring economic relief, economic opportunity, and an end to crime and violence in vulnerable neighborhoods. he hung onto it for too long, but during the break you and i were talking about the new york.

you remember sean bell, when he got shot? >> i was absolutely part of that whole movement and spoke at his funeral. >> when that happened, michael bloomberg didn't just jump to the side of the police. a young man got shot and killed multiple times. >> on his wedding day. >> i think the day before his wedding. >> right after his bachelor party, that's correct. >> and you were part -- michael bloomberg reached out to members of the community, broadly, or members of the colored community to come and help him address that. and i think one of the things that's frustrating watching this evolve around stop and frisk is there's no question it was a failed policy. but his three terms as mayor isn't defined by that single policy. i think you know from working with him when sean bell got shot that if michael bloomberg was a racist who believed that white cops should just walk the streets of new york and target people of color, ask that's what his administration was about, i think that that's not a fair characterization. >> i think the policy was racist

and we said that then. let me ask you this, though. there are those that charge he's trying to buy the nomination. how do you respond to that? there's even some of those that are competing for the nomination that are saying he's coming in trying to buy it. he's not going into early states or the debates. is it fair for him to use his enormous amount of money to buy this nomination? is that a fair statement? >> no, i know the a fair statement. i think it's completely fair for michael bloomberg to use all the resources he possesses to enter into this campaign in the most robust and full-blooded way possible to defeat donald trump. he's not in this to run against the other democrats. he admires all of them. >> what distinguishes him? he's at 4% in the polls and has even raised -- joe biden, many said that he would not run. he being michael bloomberg, and biden was in the race.

does he think biden is too weak a candidate. >> there's not a person in the contest right now who can take on donald trump. you know, i was just in pennsylvania over the last week meeting with voters. i'm going to spend more time in swing states. donald trump and mike pence are out in force in those swing states. the voters there have a strong affinity for donald trump. if people want to hold on to the notion that every candidate right now has to pass every single litmus test in order to be okay inside the democratic party but can't win a nomination, people are going to wake up after donald trump gets elected in november of 2020 to discover that those divisions that are keeping the democrats apart from one another prevented them from being donald trump. >> why is michael bloomberg the one that can beat him and no one else on this list can beat him, in your opinion? >> because i think voters right now want someone with a demonstrable track record of public service, innovation, job

creation, and problem solving that they can see. it's not just a promise. and michael bloomberg has decades of this behind him. mike bloomberg was managing the city of new york a few years after pete buttigieg got his driver's license. there's no question here that of everybody campaigning right now, michael bloomberg is the most experienced, and he's somebody who can take that record toe to toe with donald trump and beat him. >> you have others that have a long track record. joe biden has a long track record. >> rev, as a legislator he is a long track record. i honor that and the mayor honors that. he's a great public servant. but there's a big difference between pushing legislation through a congress and running a government and delivering policy solutions to voters and citizens every day of the week across a wide range of things. new york city is one of the biggest, most complex and interesting cities on the planet. and mike bloomberg ran it

effectively. he ran a multibillion-dollar company, and he's one of the most successful philanthropist alive right now. what they want is somebody that can deliver health care to them in a sensible and financially sound way, can take on things like guns and climate change, and also cares about stewarding the economy like an adult. donald trump is a dangerous juvenile delinquent. >> we'll keep debating. >> ifr never so. >> i'll hold the other candidates accountable as well. >> all right. >> that's what we need to do. everyone has to put all their cards on the table. >> thank you for having me on, rev. >> thank you for coming on. i want to have mr. bloomberg on. senior adviser to the

bloomberg campaign, tim o'brien, thank you. coming up, impeachment is headed to the senate and fast. senators who are also running for president may be pinned down in washington instead of spending time on the campaign trail. how will they manage that predicament? we'll talk about it next. it looks like emily cooking dinner for ten. ♪the beat goes on it looks like jonathan on a date with his wife. ♪la-di-la-di-di entresto is a heart failure medicine that helps your heart, so you can keep on doing what you love. entresto helped people stay alive and out of the hospital. heart failure can change the structure of your heart, so it may not work as well. entresto helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb.

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welcome back to "politicsnation." president trump's impeachment trial could be held in the u.s. senate in as early as a few weeks. but five of those senators will have to split their focus as they are also competing for the democratic nomination. in crucial weeks when they should be out campaigning and holding public events, instead they'll be sequestered in washington trying to present their case against the president. so how will they manage this collision course between their white house ambitions and their solemn senate duty? could this all backfire, causing damage to the democratic party? tara, five senators that are still running in the debates, needs to be in iowa because the first week in february is the

iowa caucus followed right behind by new hampshire and nevada, south carolina. they're going to be in washington. they're going to have to do their duty. will this impair their campaign when you have people like joe biden, like buttigieg, like others that are going to be knocking on doors and doing all that is necessary in retail politics in iowa and new hampshire? >> i don't think so because democratic voters and fair-minded voters want to see this process play out, and they want to see that the senate and those senators who are part of senate take this constitutional responsibility seriously and do their jobs. i think if they weren't doing their jobs, i think that would hurt them even more. i mean, we've seen that in the past when people were skipping votes and they get hit for it. so i think it's important for them to continue to do their jobs. look, when you're in the senate and you're running for president and you choose to remain in the what comes with it. you might get called back for

special votes and special sessions. their number one priority, they're running for president but they also need to be also focused on their jobs. >> joe, can this backfire politically on the democrats? the whole trial process. say he is acquitted by the senate, does that backfire on nancy pelosi and the democrats and the democratic candidates for president? >> i don't know that it backfires on them. but clearly, if -- if -- if people suppose that the impeachment process will weaken the -- the folks that support donald trump. that's not likely to happen. i mean, his support base is pretty solid. it's not moving. >> it's not the majority of the country. >> and it also is not the majority of the country. >> i mean, he did lose the popular vote in '16 by 2.8 million votes. >> that's correct. i think these u.s. senators ought to do their job. i think they're elected to do a job and they have to do that. and whether they think that they'll be successful or not

successful is -- is not the point. you know, they're elected to do a job and to -- and to -- to support, uphold the constitution of the united states and -- and to do better for the people they represent. so they -- i agree with tara. they ought to be there. whether or not it'll help them in the process of running for president, i'm not convinced that it will. i don't think there are any points for any of them -- to be made for any of them by being a big lead in the impeachment process for president trump. i think at the end of the day, for those candidates that are running for president, they've got to show what it is that differentiates them from the other people in that field? and why they deserve the support of democrats. and that's the case they're going to have to make and -- and being -- and talking about the impeachment doesn't give them the chance to talk about that. >> well -- well, tara, let me ask you this. you a democratic strategist. if you were handling one of the candidates that is in the race, would you tell them to use impeachment as part of their platform and part of what they campaign on about what this

president has done and whether or not we're dealing with a country that no longer really deals with what was laid out in the constitution? or would you tell them to stay away from that and just daieal with bread and butter issues that concern people in their homes and communities? >> i think it's all related. so i think they should talk about impeachment as part of their policy platform because it is -- it is part of -- it's connected to so many other issues. as i talked about earlier, the corruption tax. every time trump commits these acts of corruption. take, for instance, the consumer financial protection bureau that he is basically decimated. at one point, it was paying out to people who were being -- for things for having been taken advantage of or having illegal acts committed against them by predatory lenders and all kinds of bad actors. it was paying out $4 million, i believe, a month. right? something along those lines. now, it's paying something like $40,000 a month or something along those lines. but -- but it's been gutted.

so every time trump does something to benefit these bad actors and it hurts the american public and hurts voters, voters pay for that. and so i think it's important for democrats to make that connection. that trump's corruption hurts you. it doesn't just hurt our country. it doesn't just hurt our democracy. but it hurts people individually and they need to connect those dots. >> we have to leave it there, joe. thank you for being with us. tara. joe watkins. thank you. up next, george zimmerman is back in the news and yet again for all the wrong reasons. my final thoughts. stay with us. wormhole through time? (speaking japanese) where am i? (woman speaking french) are you crazy/nuts? cyclist: pip! pip! (woman speaking french) i'm here, look at me. it's completely your fault. (man speaking french) ok? it's me. it's my fault? no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. (pterodactyl screech)

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this week, something truly unspeakable happened. george zimmerman, the man acquitted of the 2012 killing of trayvon martin is now suing the dead teen's family and others involved. he's seeking $100 million. claiming the case against him was built on false evidence and making charges of conspiracy and abuse of the civil process. it is one thing to, in many people's opinion, get away with murder. but then to come back now and sue the victim's parents and others. saying that you were in somehow abused. can you imagine the pain of a mother and father burying a

teenage son who only had a drink and some skittles in his hand and it cost him his life heading to his father's house? and now, they're suing them for standing up for justice for their son. people wonder why people operate without rage. think of george zimmerman and think of the insult and the pain that family is going through having to be faced with a decision whether this trial can go forward. whether they allow this lawsuit to go forward or not, just raising it increases the pain. and shows, again, the arrogance of people that think lives don't matter for certain people in certain communities. that does it for me. thanks for watching. i'll see you back here tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. eastern for a new live edition of "politics nation." up next, my colleague richard lui picks up the coverage of more of today's news.

well, it is day 75 in the impeachment inquiry and a busy one at that. today, the house judiciary committee released this report on grounds for impeachment. the original document was written during the nixon impeachment process. it was updated during clinton's inquiry. now, updated again, fairly extensively, preparing now for the case against donald trump. 55 pages long. judiciary committee chairman jerry nadler released a statement saying the framers' worst nightmare is what we are facing in this very moment. if you could tell, it's a working weekend for nadler and his team on the hill. go time is monday. the next impeachment hearing. 9:00 a.m. eastern on monday. and today, we learned the names of those who are presenting that -- in that hearing. counsels for both the judiciary and intelligence committees,