welcome to "kasie dc," everybody, i'm yasmin va vossoughian. coming up, the political consequences for a president, the presidential election, and the country. democrats see defections ahead. but now the die has been cast. with 50 days to iowa, nine presidential candidates pressure the democratic party to change the debate qualifying rules,

saying the stage is suffering from a lack of diversity. we'll put the question to a top party official. breaking news, senate minority leader chuck schumer has sent to republicans his proposal for how the senate trial should go. it includes a request for four witnesses including acting chief of staff mick mulvaney and former national security adviser john bolton, a name we've heard a lot from recently. major leader mitch mcconnell has already made it clear he has been coordinating closely with the white house and in particular counsel pat cipollone. the president and his supporters and advisers have suggested they're ambivalent about the length of the trial as long as it arrives at a specific outcome. watch this. >> i think the president of the united states is not going to just look for some simple acquittal. he's got the votes. he's going to look to be exonerated. he believes and his followers believe and now all the republican party believe that what he did was correct. >> either a short or a long trial is fine with us as long as

it's a full and fair trial. and so to present witnesses and evidence, to challenge witnesses and evidence, to object, to actually present the case so the president is fully exonerated and just not removed from office. >> i'll do whatever they want. look, i did nothing wrong so we'll do long or short. i've heard mitch, i've heard lindsey, i think they're very much in agreement on some concept. i'll do whatever they want to do, it doesn't matter. i wouldn't mind the long process because i would like to see the whistle-blower who is a fraud. >> joining me on the phone is nbc news correspondent leanne caldwell, thanks for joining us. take us through it. >> yasmin, this is the democrats putting a stake in the ground, what they want to see in a senate trial. not only are they calling for bolton and mulvaney to testify but two other people who are said to have direct knowledge of how the whole ukraine policy

went down, including michael duffey and robert blair. duffey works for the office of management and budget. they want to subpoena documents that the administration refused to comply with over on the house investigation. so this is the democrats really trying to draw a line in the sand and say what they want in a senate trial. but it's all really interesting because this comes just on the heels of mitch mcconnell indicating that he would prefer a short trial where republicans are discussing trying to end this trial before there are any witnesses. and so this is senate minority leader chuck schumer saying that's not what we want, we want to see the evidence, we want an evidentiary trial and we want to see the facts play out, yasmin. >> republican leadership seems pretty intent, as we have talked about, to speed through a vote

and put this all behind them. one of mcconnell's top lieutenants, john thune, says, quote, i would say i don't think the appetite is real high for turning this into a prolonged spectacle. we've also heard lindsey graham putting it pretty plainly. >> this thing will come to the senate and it will die quickly and i will do everything i can to make it die quickly. if you don't like president trump, you can vote against him in less than a year. i don't want to call anybody. i don't need to hear from hunter biden. i don't need to hear from joe biden. we can deal with that outside of impeachment. i don't want to talk to pompeo. i don't want to talk to pence. i want to hear the house make their case based on the record they established in the house and i want to vote. i am trying to give a pretty clear signal i have made up my mind. i'm not pretending to be a fair juror here. i'm telling you right now, if

mueller had found something against trump, i would have been his loudest critic and i told the president to his face. what i see happening today is just a partisan nonsense. >> so leagigh ann, what is the likelihood that the trial will look like what the democrats want? >> there are a lot of voices talking about a speedy trial. those are people close to the president or close with mcconnell, really, who wants that as well. what democrats are hinging on is the fact that there's three or four republicans who might not want a speedy trial, who might want to see the evidence. that's susan collins of maine, lisa murkowski of alaska and mitt romney of utah and there could perhaps be others as well. remember, in the senate, in an impeachment trial, it takes the consent of 51 in other worsenat

to anything, including what time it starts and ends each day. so democrats hope that since mcconnell only had 53 republicans and there's at least three or four republicans who might not want a speedy trial, who might want to make this look at legitimate of a process as possible, that perhaps mcconnell isn't going to get exactly what he wants. >> leigh ann caldwell, thank you so much, appreciate it, my friend. back in 1998, republicans initiated impeachment proceedings against bill clinton in october, one month before elections. they were worried about polling but they pressed on, newt gingrich promising to grow the majority. in the end they saw the president's party increase its holdings in the midterms for the first time since 1934. on wednesday, the full house of representatives are expected to vote on articles of impeachment against the current president. and 21 years ago, nearly to the day, unbelievable if you think

about it, chairman of the republican conference j.c. watts took the house floor. watch this. >> time and again we wanted the essence of truth and we got the edges of the truth. you say polls are against us. polls measure changing feelings, not steadfast principle. polls would have rejected the ten commandments. polls would have embraced slavery and ridiculed women's rights. you say we must draw this to a close. i say we must draw a line between right and wrong, not with the tiny fine line of an executive fountain pen but with a big fat lead of a number 2 pencil. >> so president trump is dismissing a new fox poll just out that shows half of americans do want him impeached and removed from office, but still the political fallout is anybody's guess ahead of the big

vote. both republican and democrat leaders on the hill say they're not whipping their own rank and file. but nbc news reports republicans are now whipping some democrats' votes. democrats were already bracing for a handful of dwefkefections. "the washington post" was first to report congressman jeff van drew, democrat of new jersey, is expected to leave the party. i want to welcome my panel, jackie allemany, brendan buck, and sochi inahosa. jackie, i first want to get your reaction to this breaking news of this letter from chuck schumer to senate leader mitch mcconnell. i want to read in part a bit of

the letter. he wrote, the trial must be one in a not only hears all the evidence and adjudicates the case fairly, it must also pass of fairness test with the american people. robert blair, senior adviser to the acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney, actind micl duffey, all wanting them to testify. he says, i propose the senate issue subpoenas for a limited set of documents that we believe will shed light on the administration's decisionmaking regarding assistance to ukraine and its requests for certain investigations to be announced by the government of ukraine. your reaction so far to what you've heard from chuck schumer, jackie. >> well, i think schumer's letter comes at an interesting time. my colleague rachel grabe just scooped that house democrats are pushing for newly independent

representative justin amash to be house manager. we're seeing this push by the democrats to take the partisanship out of this process and especially contrast that to a lot of the comments we've heard from mitch mcconnell and lindsey graham and ted cruz over the weekend, statements that have contradicted this oath of impa immarb imparti impartiality that senators are supposed to take. there are a lot of contradictory interests here. there have been a lot of murmurs from democrats that a prolonged trial may not be best, especially for the senators who are running for president who will have to be sitting on the hill six days a week instead of on the campaign trail along with front liner moderates who house speaker nancy pelosi is looking to protect right now. so as mitch mcconnell said, this is a choice that his members are ultimately going to make.

there could be a motion to dismiss which means that 51 members could decide to end the trial if they think that there is a preordained outcome here or they could proceed and continue and call witnesses and go down the path of having a traditional impeachment trial. >> brendan, if the republicans don't even entertain any of the suggestions made by chuck schumer, will the senate trial seem like a completely partisan trial being rushed through by the republicans? >> i'm sure people will make that claim. you know, whatever happens on the floor, mitch mcconnell is going to be in charge, that's the most important thing to understand. mitch mcconnell has a strong control over his conference. he is very adept at legislative maneuvering. he is really going to be in charge. what i think this is is sort of a last ditch effort to try to persuade people. we have had weeks of hearings, weeks of testimony, really

substantive testimony and frankly damning testimony in the house, but it really hasn't moved the numbers. so i think what democrats are looking for is something, something new, something to change the dynamic because at this point we know the facts, we know what the president did. we've heard a very consistent story over and over again. but it hasn't really materialized to any political benefit. mitch mcconnell is smart, he knows a long process on the senate floor is not good for the president. having multiple people come down and tell that story over and over again is not good for the president, the facts are not great. he understands that. he wants to move on quickly. i imagine senators don't want to sit on the floor day in and day out for weeks on end. >> doesn't mitch mcconnell have a responsibility to the american people to hear from people like john bolton, people like mick mulvaney, people who are inside

the white house, who worked for the administration, current and former? >> this is a big test for republicans, can republicans be independent jurors, will mitch mcconnell do that. these are key questions republicans need to ask themselves. do they agree with foreign interference in an election? do they agree the president can use his oval office and his presidency to solicit that interference and is it okay for the president to stonewall and not provide witnesses and cover things up? those are the questions they need to add themselves. over the last few days, you saw lindsey graham saying, he can't be an independent juror, you saw mitch mcconnell saying i'm going to work with the white house. the question for the republican party is, are you going to stand with your party or are you going to stand with the american people? right now a majority of the american people believe this president has done something wrong and should be impeached just by this fox poll that you

referenced earlier. this is a huge test for the republican party. and i think that putting politics aside, this is about our constitution, this is about their constitutional obligation. >> you bring up that fox poll, sochi, and i did reference the fox poll earlier, and it was to be impeached and removed, now they're saying 50%, should trump be impeached and removed from office, 50% of people are saying yes. back in october it was 49%. but i have another fox news poll that i want to bring up for everybody to see, did the president abuse his power, 53% saying yes, 38% saying no. did he obstruct congress, 48% saying yes, 34 no. those two of course being the articles of impeachment. did the president commit bribery which did not end up being an article of impeachment, 45% saying yes. jackie, what do you make of this latest fox news poll? that doesn't necessarily fare well for the republicans nor the

president. >> no, but it doesn't necessarily fare well for democrats as well. these are tight margins and the president himself has been buoyed by some data he's seen that this impeachment process is intensifying and solidifying republican support for him. it also allows him to be the center of attention. as we're going into the new year, a time where most people's attention should be trained on the democratic primary, he's in the thick of things, he's in the center, he's on the front page of newspapers, in the position that he wants to be seen in, which is combatting the media and on the attack and on the defense against democrats. this is the most polarizing president we've seen in history and the polling echoes this moment in time. >> we do have to go here, but how closely, a lot of what we talked about in the halls of msnbc was it's all about the polling, if the republicans see the polling shifting, should the president be impeached, then in fact they'll support the

impeachment of this president. how closely in fact were republicans watching the polling? >> you have to look at the polling in these actually districts. you have to remember that at least in the house, most of these districts are bright red republican, where it is extremely unpopular to be supporting the president. the reality is, while the country is divided, this is a tougher vote for democrats in the house, because the vulnerable seats, those swing districts, are really held by democrats. if you're a house republican and you survive the 2018 election, you're in a pretty solid republican district. reality is, there's 30 democrats who are in trump-held districts, they're getting pounded by television ads by republican groups, and that's why you're seeing not only if they're going to be defections, it's going to be on the democrat side and you're actually seeing a democrat switching parties because this is such a difficult challenge for him. for all we talk about how the pressure is on republicans, the reality is when it comes down to votes, it's democrats who have the tough choice.

>> we're going to be talking about new jersey congressman jeff van drew in the 8:00 hour. sit tight, you guys, we have a jam-packed show for you tonight. i'll talk live with congresswoman zoe lofgren who played a pivotal role in all three modern impeachments. and congressman mike johnson who had a front row seat on the judiciary committee to this week's hearings. and a democratic congressman reportedly plans to switch sides. i'll talk with governor phil murphy who has tough words for the law maker from his state. ke. 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.

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17 significant errors in the fisa process. and you say it was handled in a thoughtful and appropriate way. >> he's right, i was wrong. i was overconfident in the procedures that the fbi and justice have built over 20 years. i thought they were robust enough. it's incredibly hard to get a fisa. i was overconfident in those. he's right, there was real sloppiness, 17 things that either should have been in the applications or at least discussed and characterized differently. it was not acceptable. so he's right, i was wrong. >> "he is right, i was wrong." that was former fbi director jim comey taking responsibility for a series of alarming errors in a fisa application for a wiretap used in 2016.

those comments after damning testimony from justice department inspector general michael horowitz, who did not find that political bias drove the investigation. but he pointedly stated no one in the fbi including jim comey was vindicated by this report. joining me, nbc correspondent covering national security and intelligence, ken dilanian. the rest of the panel is back with me as well. ken, were you surprised to hear this reaction from former fbi director jim comey? >> i actually wasn't, yasmin, i knew when i started reading the report that comey made a mistake when he wrote the op-ed expressing total vindication. he's right in part, he was vindicated on the notion that there was a deep state consphereconsphere conspiracy at the heart of this investigation. donald trump and his mignnutgnne not willing to acknowledge that

part of the report. but there are errors and sloppiness on the part of the fbi. this report, even taking it outside the context of the trump/russia investigation, this would be a significant report. it's the biggest investigation ever conducted of how the fbi gets secret national security warrants to surveil americans. groups like the aclu are horrified by what was found here. it's nuance, and it's getting distorted in the right wing media. >> you bring up a really good point here, i can't help but think that the overarching theme of this investigation, i.e. it was not politically motivated in being opened initially, is sort of being glossed over. >> that's right, because people have to understand that the errors on this fisa application to surveil carter page had nothing to do with the opening of the investigation. the investigation was opened because george papadopolous was approached by a russian agent

and that filtered through to the fbi. a guy named bill priestap, a nonpolitical public servant, made the decision to open the investigation. horowitz testified not only did he find no evidence of bias, he pretty much communicated to the senators that he believed that decision was made on the up and up. he couldn't say the same thing about the 17 errors in the carter page fisa, there may have been some bias, not necessarily political bias, it could have been prosecutorial bias. but it wasn't the claim that trump was making which is that this is a deep state conspiracy cooked up by my enemies. horowitz exploded that myth. there is no evidence of unlawful conduct by jim comey or the people who led this investigation. >> we have talked since seeing his testimony last week about the fact that changes need to obviously be made in the fisa

process. what is the likelihood that it's going to happen and the timing to which we could see some changes being made and would the public even be made aware of these changes made? >> in fact, yasmin, christopher wray upon receipt of this report had a news release ready to go where he announced a series of changes and reforms to the way the fbi will approach these fisa applications, who will approve them, various technical things. horowitz' response was, yeah, that's a good start but we would like to see other reforms. more broadly horowitz was troubled by the idea that the fbi could open an investigation into a major part political campaign without having the approval of even the director. comey wasn't briefed until the investigation was opened, let alone the justice department. there were some confidential sources that the way they were used troubled horowitz. these all sound reasonable, and i think a lot of republicans who

used to have confidence in the fisa process, after that senate hearing, not so confident. i think there is a bipartisan agreement that there should be reforms here. but they don't go to the question of political bias at the opening of this investigation because there is no evidence that there was any, yasmin. >> brendan, talk about the political optics here, especially for the president, who has basically been up against jim comey for quite some time, and hearing jim comey basically say he takes responsibility for some of the things that were shown in the report with regards to the fisa application. how does that play into the president's narrative that he says everyone is out to get me, there is a deep state out to get me, the fbi is not a reliable organization? >> yeah, you hit the exact right point. the report has a little something for everybody here. i imagine the president will conveniently ignore the part about no political bias. but, you know, this is a serious issue. fisa is a powerful tool that we

give to law enforcement that has serious implications on our civil liberties and people are right to question it. now, the president, of course, will latch onto this because this is fundamental to his message. his message is that he is the victim, that there is an establishment force that is out to get him and by extension, they are out to get you, the voter. it's a powerful message and it rallies so many people to him, that he stands against those institutions that have failed for people, in their eyes. so i imagine he'll continue to latch onto this. this is a perfect story for him to continue to play the victim going into the election. >> my panel, stay close. ken dilanian, thank you so much for your reporting. coming up next, nine presidential candidates press the democratic party to make a major rules change, saying the debate stage is becoming less diverse and does not reflect the party.

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second guessing doctors, nurses and first responders... now "big insurance" is lobbying congress. asking for restrictions on air medical services. eliminating patients' access to life-saving care and destroying jobs all in exchange for bigger profits for insurance companies. tell congress, put patients first, not big insurance. welcome back. right now there are five people of color still running for the democratic nomination but andrew yang is the only one who has qualified for this week's debate. now senator cory booker is asking the democratic national committee to change the debate

qualification rules in an effort to get more diversity onto the stage. eight other candidates have joined him in the effort, signing a letter to dnc chair tom perez. back with me to discuss that is dnc communications director xochitl hinojosa. xochitl, welcome back, thanks for joining me. was the dnc surprised by senator cory booker's letter? >> we were not surprised. we've seen senator booker's comments over the last few weeks about our qualification criteria. what we've said all along is we believe our qualification criteria is fair and transparent. just to be clear, our criteria is 4% in four or more polls and 200,000 unique donations. this period alone, there have been 26 opportunities to hit 4%. and you only need to hit it four times. and so we have been very fair and transparent throughout this entire process. one thing is clear, when we make these qualification criterias and whenever we make them with our media partner, one thing we

look at is past history. past history shows that no one who has polled under 4% at this point in the race has gone on to be our nominee. we will continue to be fair. we haven't decided exactly what the threshold will be in january. but i can assure you, in february once people start voting in iowa, new hampshire, nevada, and south carolina, that we will take into account those contests. >> you're saying you haven't necessarily made the decision about the january debates but "the new york times" is reporting that tom perez has already decided for january and that the candidates will have to reach both the donor and polling thresholds. >> tom perez has said before, and what he's decided, is that we will still move forward with the donor threshold. but once it becomes february, we'll take a look to see what that looks like, because people at that point will start voting and we want to make sure we're taking those contests into account.

so while he hasn't decided exactly what the polling threshold will be or how many grassroots donations you might need, he will keep the donor threshold intact for january. >> you have got all seven candidates, xochitl, participating in this week's debate, signing on to this letter from senator cory booker. that has got to send some kind of message to you. >> one thing is clear. i worked for tom perez for ten years. he takes a back seat to no one when it comes to diversity and inclusion. throughout his career he understands the importance of diversity. he will tell you, was he said to see kamala harris leave the race? yes. she is a friend, she is a friend of the democratic party, but there's no doubt she'll have a large role in our party and potentially some day she might run for president again and win. and the reality is that she did make the debate stage and we do have andrew yang who made the debate stage as well. but one thing is clear, is that we've been fair about this process. if you look back at history and

you look at who was polling at 4%, you had people polling over 4% like jesse jackson and al sharpton and barack obama and kamala harris. and so our polling thresholds and our thresholds for our debates, to say that they have somehow leaving people of color off this stage is not only wrong but it's insulting. it's insulting as a woman of color, and someone who is involved in the debate process. that's something that we want to make sure we have fair and inclusive but at the same time we are also looking at history and where we were at this point in the race in previous years. >> xochitl hinojosa, we'll talk to you again in a little bit. when we continue, tough questions for mike johnson of louisiana, i'll talk to him about joe burrow. we're going to also talk about that little thing that's happening in washington right now, the impeachment. we'll be right back. w, the impet we'll be right back. what'd we decide on the flyers again? uh, "fifteen minutes could save you 15%

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welcome back. i want to turn back to that breaking news we've been following tonight. senate minority leader chuck schumer has sent republicans a list of requests for the impeachment trial in the senate. of note, he wants senator mitch mcconnell to call four witnesses including acting chief of staff mick mulvaney and mike bolton. joining me now, congressman mike johnson from louisiana who sits on the judiciary committee. thanks for joining us tonight.

>> thanks for mentioning the heisman trophy, joe burrow is a class act, and it's so well deserved. >> now that we got through that, let's get to the other thing looming over washington, d.c. and that is -- and the country, for that matter, and that is impeachment. talk to me about your reaction with regards to chuck schumer's letter to mitch mcconnell and wanting john bolton and mick mulvaney to testify? >> the president has mentioned early on he wanted a trial, he wants his opportunity to present his side of the case that hasn't been allowed to this point. i served on the house judiciary committee, we had 14 hours of hearing on the exposed merits of this case and it was all engineered before it got to the house judiciary. the president never got to put on republican witnesses, only three of nine were accepted and he never really got his side of the case out there. i understand his kind of sense of urgency, he did say he would submit to the will of the senate. we'll see how it plays out.

if it's a short trial, if it's a long trial, i think the administration is ready for anything. >> what do you think needs to happen, should mitch mcconnell entertain this later and have mick mulvaney and john bolton testify during the senate trial? >> if it turns into a long, lengthy, delayed trial, if we drag it out, maybe we should, but the first witnesses i'm sure the republican side will want to call is the whistle-blower and hunter biden, joe biden perhaps, because that's what's at the center of this whole controversy, the thing that sparked the july 25th phone call. the reason we're so frustrated on our side, of the 24 democrats who serve on the judiciary committee with me, 17 of them previously voted to impeach the president before july of this year. before any of these events had taken place, they were already committed, they were biased. that's what the american people were frustrated about. >> when we're talking about what's happening right now, congressman, i want to ask you point blank, do you think it is

appropriate for the president of the united states to ask a foreign leader to investigate his political rival in a domestic election? >> look, i -- i -- i reject the premise of it. when we look at the evidentiary record, and we did in judiciary for 14 hours last week, president trump when president zelensky both said there was no pressure exerted whatsoever, that ukraine didn't even know the military aid was being delayed, there never was an investigation ever begun in ukraine and they still got the aid, they got the meeting they requested with the white house. so this is just a custom -- that the president and all presidents before him have been engaged in, they have frank conversations with other heads of state. when we're sending the precious treasure of americanseas -- >> but you read that readout on july 25th, you heard the president ask president zelensky to look into joe biden and hunter biden, his political

rival here in the united states. you saw that. >> i did. >> aside from any sort of quid pro quo situation and whether you feel like that was relevant or not, he in fact asked the president of ukraine to investigate his political rival. that in and of itself alone, is that appropriate? >> you have to look at the context and the mindset. the mens rea, as we say in the law. what did the president have on his mind? he's been on record for years having a problem with corruption in ukraine. ukraine is listed as the third most corrupt nation in the world. he wants to make sure our taxpayer dollars are not going to be spent overseas in a way they're squandered. people would want any president of any party to do that. he has a long record of being concerned about corruption overseas, he's been tweeting about it for years, talking

about it since before he ran for consistent. it's entirely consistent with his values and putting america first. >> let's go with that for a moment, this narrative you just talked about, the fact that the president is concerned about corruption in ukraine. why not address it in the phone call? why not talk about corruption in the phone call, why not use the word "corruption" in the phone call? it wasn't mentioned once in the phone call. >> look, we're straini inin ini. remember, zelensky ran on a drain the swamp agenda for his country. president trump wanted to make sure that was true. he came to know and like and trust zelensky. but they're having an informal conversation and now you have millions of people straining through line by line of what was said. any phone call from any of us if it was reviewed in that level of debate detail you could quibble

about what words were used and what words were not. adam schiff engineered the whole process, he had the secret hearings in the basement, they produced only the cherry-picked witnesses and excerpts they wanted for the american people to see and still they could only come up with these two articles of impeachment that are completely vap i hid. >> i think there's a lot of people in washington, d.c. right now and across the country that think very defrifferently than , congressman. obviously there's been a lot of talk about rudy giuliani's recent trip to ukraine as these impeachment proceedings were ongoing in the house. he was on twitter today tweeting up a storm about his, quote unquote, investigation, if you can call it that. your colleague on the judiciary committee, matt gaetz, said it was, quote, weird that giuliani would make such a trip especially right now. what do you make of it? >> matt is a good friend of

mine, he speaks frankly and i do too. i'm not sure what rudy is doing over there, mr. giuliani is a private citizen, he has the right to travel and do whatever he wants. if he's going to do his own investigation or work on a documentary, that was the other rumor we heard, i don't know, i don't have any control over his actions. what i'm focused on is this impeachment proceeding and our duty as members of congress to follow the constitution and there are high standards here. there's a reason that only three presidents have gone through this before. it's supposed to be an exceedingly rare thing. this is really important, yasmin. what the founders warned us against was a single party impeachment because they knew that it would divide the country, perhaps irreparably, because if you turn -- if you weaponize impeachment proceedings, it opens a pandora's box for the future of the country. i'm deeply concerned about that. >> so going with that, don't you think that will be a case, to have a senate trial that has testimony involved, that is a lengthy senate trial, that looks at every -- turns over every rock in this process?

because you have mitch mcconnell, lindsey graham over the weekend, in dohar, qatar, basically saying they want this thing wrapped up quick, they want no testimony from anybody, they don't want to entertain anything. >> yeah, to be real honest, two kind of schools of thought on that. one, i would like to see a lengthy trial, i really would. on the other hand, because of what i just said a moment ago about the deep division that we're really pushing in this country, you drag that out, you belabor the point, when everybody already knows the outcome, i don't know if that's healthy for the country and i don't know if it's good for us going forward. at the end of the day, we have a republic to maintain here and we have to get along. the further we drag this thing out, maybe the worse for all of us. >> how about that joe burrow, huh? >> a class act, well deserved. >> congressman mike johnson, thank you so much. when we come back, warren contrasts buttigieg, buttigieg contrasts warren, and biden

tries to contrast them both while drawing parallels between american and british politics. and former prime minister david cameron searches for the forest for the tree. >> that's the most important thing, winning the trust of people who have put their trust in us, many for the first time. boris will have my full support as he does that. >> i don't know why shehe's talg to a tree. with this key to the city. [ applause ] it's an honor to tell you that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. and now we need to get back to work. [ applause and band playing ] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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welcome back. 50 days ahead of the iowa caucuses, joe biden 23 to 22 ahead of biden. warren slipped to fourth place in iowa behind mayor pete, one of several rivals she targeted in a speech in new hampshire. >> unlike some candidates for the democratic nomination, i'm not betting my agenda on the naive hope that if democrats adopt republican critiques, a progressive policies or make vague calls for unity that somehow the wealthy and well-connected will stand down. i am not counting on republican politicians having an

especiallyiveny and suddenly supporting taxes on the rich and big business that they've opposed under democratic presidents for a generation. i am no fan of michael bloomberg. michael bloomberg built a successful business and i am, uh -- i want to honor that. when you make it really big, when you make top one-tenth of one -- big in america, pitch in two cents so that everyone else has a chance to make it in this country. >> my panel is back with me. let's talk about this, guys, some of the polling i just laid out as we led in to hearing senator elizabeth warren there. what do you make of sanders' rise and warren's decline to fourth place? >> i think sanders has benefited from low expectations for all the criticism that is campaigned and levied against media organizations. there's also the fact that, you

know, aside from having a heart attack, sanders is one of the successful candidates. he hasn't had any scandals, hasn't had a lot of gas or inconsistencies, flip-flops on policies. you know what you're getting with me. there's also the fact that a lot of the vetting on sanders was already done in 2016. so he's already sort of been through the ringer in that way. at the end of the day, you have to look ahead to south carolina. bernie is still polling 30 points lower than biden when it comes to african-american support. let's say he does come ahead in iowa, wins new hampshire like he did in 2016. african-american voters are the backbone of the democratic party. that will still be a problem for sanders moving beyond south carolina. >> i want to talk about the election in the uk. they're seeing some -- people are mentioning the fact that mirror effects are happening, what's happening in the uk is happening here in the united states. boris johnson winning a

landslide election, as many know, and joe biden seizing thoon opportunity to make predictions about 2020. according to politic ol, he told attendees of a campaign fund-raiser in san francisco, quote, this. look what happens when the labour party moves so, so far to the left and you'll see people saying my god, boris johnson, a physical and emotional clone of the president is able to win and, speaking of the president, watch this. >> i don't want want to congrat johnson. >> basically the president seizing on boris johnson victory there, basically saying he thinks the same thing will happen here and he will, hence, get re-elected in 2020. what do you make of this comparison being made right now. >> he also called himself mr. brexit after the 2016 vote even

though he never talked about it beforehand. this is natural. this is what people do after electrics like this. they all claim this is a seen that they're in control. i think that's a little simplistic. i think a lot of what happened over there was that boris johnson ran a better campaign and that candidates still matter. jeremy corbyn is terribly unlikable, very far left and said to be quite anti-semitic. i think that's what a lot of that is. of course, joe biden has to say this. he has been running just that straight down the middle campaign. he's making the calculation that this campaign is going to be won or lost in the suburbs of milwaukee and detroit and philadelphia, which i agree with. and if the candidate who can appeal to people in those areas where republicans have been getting killed now for, you know, five years now that, is the type of message that's going to have to carry the day. and i think he's the type of person who is best positioned to do that. >> in fact, the irony in this comparison is the fact that president trump is wildly unpopular in the uk.

in fact, at the nato summit, boris john said made it clear he didn't want to be seen next to president trump at any sort of time because of the impending election. >> the president has become a laughing stock on the world stage. signaling that's going to happen in 2020, he doesn't want to face the reality that we're winning in places like alabama and wisconsin and places where we took back the house. if you want to know what's going to happen or signals for the next election, you need to look at what's happened the last three years. and so it does not surprise me that donald trump has said that, but also -- and i agree, corbyn, he was extremely unpopular, and candidates do matter. all of our candidates are stronger than donald trump. >> brandon, jackie, sochi, thank you so much. another hour of kasie d.c. after this. kasie d.c. after this

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>> so, this week alone, speaker nancy pelosi announced articles of impeachment. inspector general released his report on the origins of the russian investigation, drawing criticism from the president and the attorney general. the president met with sergey lavrov in the oval office and there were hours of televised hearings in the judicial committee. as peter baker reports just how different that historic milestone feels now compared to the clinton impeachment. back in 1998, the impeachment battle felt like the ultimate drama, so intense that the rest of the world seemed to have stopped spinning on its axis. this time it feels like one more chapter in an all-out clash that's been fought for three

years, hugely consequential yet of a piece with everything that has come before with less suspense and an outcome seemingly foreordained. >> we all know how it's going to come out. >> if and when a senate trial actually takes place, chuck schumer just sent to republicans his proposal for how the trial should actually go. it includes a request for four witnesses, including acting chief of staff mick mulvaney and former security adviser john bolton. i want to welcome my panel for this hour, and msnbc political analy analyst phil up rubbinger and politic politico columnist. chuck schumer's letter to mitch mcconnell basically asking for mick mulvaney and john bolton to

testify in the senate trial. is there any chance, philip, anything like this could happen? >> i've been covering this administration long enough to say i wouldn't ever rule out anything, but i do not think that's very likely. it's obvious why the democrats would want those witnesses to come forward and testify. they clearly have firsthand knowledge of the acts that have been under review in the impeachment proceedings and they're high-profile, high-wattage witnesses who could potentially, with their testimony, create and generate new momentum behind the democrats' push to remove trmp from office. the white house has been very clear, as has president trump, that they will not permit mulvaney, will not permit some of these others to testify and it's unlikely senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, republican, will break with the white house on that and side with chuck schumer. that does not seem to be in the cards. >> melanie, more breaking news

ahead of a likely impeachment trial in the senate after the christmas break. an effort is under way from a freshman in the democratic caucus to convince speaker pelosi to select justin amosh to serve as an impeachment manager in the trial to help further diversify the members presenting the case against the president. when he was a republican, he was the first republican as many of us remember in congress, to come out for impeachment. we do have sources telling nbc news pelosi is unlikely to select amosh. what do you make, melanie, of this move and this appeal, to have amosh representative in this way? >> the thinking there, he may have more sway with republicans and independents but vulnerable senators like susan collins or mitt romney or cory gardner, and having someone who is a constitutional scholar, someone who is now an independent, used to be a republican might

actually, you know, have a better shot at making the case to the american people. at the same time, democrats wouldn't have control over him. he's not a democrat. and it's really unclear how he would sort of play things out. it's not clear he would actually be named an impeachment manager. we are looking out for pelosi to name who is being tasked with impeaching trump in the senate this week. we are expecting pelosi to have some kind of geographical diversity. she wants it not just be new york and california. she wants a wide swath of members to be representing them on the senate side. >> "the new york times" is writing about how the president is viewing impeachment. he nurses resentment over the red mark about to be tattooed on his page in the history books as only the third president in american history to be impeached. no matter what some of his critics say, he generally does not want to be impeached, viewing it as a personal humiliation.

philip? >> that was a really nice story by "the new york times." it captured trump's mood at this moment pretty perfectly. he does not want to be impeached. he has always feared that word, that label and has said so publicly. and if you go all the way back to the campaign rallies in the mid-term campaign season in the fall of 2018, he was talking about his fear of being impeached and not wanting that designation, that historic scarlet letter, so to speak. that being said the president in the last week or two, has become more comfortable. it's become more and more clear he's safe, so to speak, in the senate, that the republicans in the senate are not going to break from him, are unlikely to remove him from office. while he will be impeached by the house of representatives, trump feels very confident he will be able to stay in office and feels like this could actually be turned against the democrats in a political context

as he gears up for re-election campaign in november. >> it's interesting, phil, you bring this up. i'll go to you on this one. we heard from senator lindsey graham who is in qatar. he said we're going to have this trial. it will be quick and the president will be stronger after it. >> there is a by the of division in the gop about what the strategy should be, short trial, long trial, call in witnesses or immediately vote to acquit achds? right now mitch mcconnell is working with the white house to try to convince them that the best strategy is for them to have a short trial. the longer this hangs out there, the more risk that these republicans who are potentially open to impeachment would ultimately vote to convict the president. they're also trying to convince the president that they don't have the votes to haul in controversial witnesses like the bidens or adam schiff. it remains to be seen whether trump will come along. he has backed up a little bit on

some of his demands but at the end of the day, the president wants to be vindicated, not just acquitted. we'll have to see and watch out for those tweets. >> speaking of sort of the human level and the human, i guess, reaction that the president has to everything that's going on around him, i want to take a listen to pam bondi, the white house special adviser to the president, who was asked about the personal aspect of these proceedings. >> on a human level -- i know you've been in conversations with him. how does he feel about the fact that he's about to be the third president in american history to be impeached? >> the president says this is difficult on his family. of course it is. because during the week, chris, when they delivered a disgraceful vote to impeach the president, during that week -- these aren't talking points. this is what the president was doing, the work of the american people, usmca, the china trade deal, the work of the american

people. combating anti-semitism by executive order. holding a summit on family paid leave. that's his focus, going nonstop for the american people. so is this difficult? of course it is. >> phil? >> yeah, in addition to all the work pam bondi laid out, the president is spending an awful lot of time this last week on twitter, and following the impeachment proceedings on television and in the media. he actually broke records last week, the most tweets he has sent in his presidency, on some of those days and phones were buzzing every few minutes with a tweet and retweet from him, which i think speaks to the president's anxiety and his concern, grievances with the impeachment proceedings and the fact that this designation, becoming the third president to be impeached, is very near and very likely. >> i want to get your reaction to the latest fox news poll with regard to the president and abuse of office and obstruction

of congress. 53% believing that the president abused his power of office. 38%, melanie, believe that he obstructed congress and 45% believe he committed bribery. obviously not an article of impeachment there. what do you make of the latest numbers from this fox news poll? >> these are not great numbers for the president. let's be clear. he took to twitter to bash fox news and their polling, as he has done in the past. it's important to point out relatively the numbers have not changed before and after the hearings. yes, initially, there was a huge uptick and support for impeachment after the ukraine scandal first broke. since then there hasn't been much of a change, which speaks to the limits of political perfect situation in this polarized era. it's very different from what we've seen in past impeachments. both sides have gone to their bunkers and no one has come out of them since. >> thank you guys so much for your reporting. we're just getting started this

hour. up next, plans to take 4,000 american troops out of afghanistan, as the afghanistan papers bring out difficult memories of the pentagon papers from vietnam. i'll talk to veteran and congressman ruben gallego. first, a modern view of all the impeachment causes, representative zoe lofgren, because she was on capitol hill for all of them. , because she was on capitol hill for all of them. loped it. align helps to soothe your occasional digestive upsets, 24/7 with a strain of bacteria you can't get anywhere else. you could say align puts the pro in probiotic. so, where you go, the pro goes. go with align, the pros in digestive health. and try align gummies, with prebiotics and probiotics to help support digestive health.

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donald j. trump. >> william jefferson clinton. >> richard m. nixon. >> is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors. >> and article one. >> conduct as office of the president of the united states. >> william jefferson clinton. >> richard m. knicnixon. >> faithfully to execute the office of the president of the united states. >> and to the best of his ability preserve. >> protect. >> and defend the constitution of the united states. article two. >> president trump used the powers of the presidency in a manner that compromised the national security of the united states. >> undermined the integrity of his office. >> richard m. nixon. >> william jefferson kitten clinton. >> trial, removal from office and disqualification to hold and enjoy the office of honor, trust and profit under the united states. >> excerpts from three clerks reading articles of impeachment from nixon, clinton and trump. one member of congress who has

been part of all three of those moments. zoe lofgren was a top staffer during the nixon impeachment. she voted against articles of impeachment against president clinton in 1998. she voted to approve the articles of impeachment against president trump friday. congresswoman lofgren is joining me now. thank you so much for joining us on this. it is so remarkable that you have been part of all three of these impeachment inquiries, as we were playing some of that sound, i can only imagine it takes you back to each and every single one of those. >> it does. >> what happens most surprised you this time around? >> what's most surprising is there is no agreement on the facts. we developed a media world where alternate realities can exist, even when the facts are known.

and we've got republicans who, unlike in the nixon impeachment, are not grabbing on to false narratives and refusing to deal with the facts. it's really astonishing. >> why do you think that is now, more than ever? >> well, i don't know. certainly, during the nixon impeachment, there were defenders of the president, but when all the facts were known, the republicans had to say this cannot be allowed to go forward and, of course, they told richard nixon that he would be impeached and removed, and he resigned rather than put the country through that. i am just astonished by all of the republicans -- i mean, just repeating talking points, saying things they must know are false, acting like the president's

defense counsel instead of members of congress. it's pretty disappointing. >> it's interesting. i was talking to congressman mike johnson, and he was speaking about wanting bipartisanship and a bipartisan process in the house. i challenged him and said if, in fact, you feel like what the house did was not a bipartisan approach to this impeachment inquiry, why not have a bipartisan approach in the senate trial and have testimony as senator chuck schumer is asking for? >> right. >> and he kind of avoided the question in that. what do you expect to happen with the senate trial going forward, considering what we've heard from leader mcconnell and senator lindsey graham ahead of it? >> well, some of the things i'm hearing from the senators looks like they plan to rig the trial. you know, i think that's a serious problem for the country, but i think it's a problem for trump as well. president trump is hoping to be exonerated. he will not be exonerated if

everyone knows he rigged the trial. if they're not going to hear any evidence, if senators announce that they've already made up their minds, they don't need to look at the facts, that doesn't clear the president if he's not convicted in the senate. that's just a political endeavor to protect a man who is guilty of abusing his power. >> do you think that the house judiciary committee could have done differently, done things differently this week to present the case of impeachment to the american people? was there anything lost in the shuffle of it all? >> i don't know. i mean, it was a very grueling process to be in. obviously, you look back and say could i have done something better? maybe so. i did the best i could and i think we all did. the case was clear. i mean, for example, some of the republicans saying, you know, the ukrainians didn't know. of course they knew. we had testimony. there's emails that they won't

give us, but testimony about the emails between our own state department and the department of defense about when they found out on july 25th. i mean, it's -- the things they said are disappointingly incorrect. >> what do you make of this ask of freshman house members for justin amosh to somehow be the manager for the impeachment going ahead in order to front with a bipartisan stance? >> well, i don't know. i just heard about that today in the media. i know justin. i like justin. we're friends. whether or not he will be competitive, as i understand it, dozens and dozens of people have asked speaker pelosi to be appointed manager. and she's going to have to weigh all those requests. i don't even know if justin has asked to do it. but i think people who have tremendous command of the facts

and who are good in terms of presenting a case, that's the first thing that has to be in the mind of the speccer. so the evidence can be presented well and that the senators can understand what we found. >> do you think he would be a good choice, amosh? >> i don't know. i don't know. i do think probably the best person to lead this would be adam schiff, since he has complete command of the facts. he is a former u.s. attorney. so he has good trial skills. you know, as i understand, there are dozens of other members of congress on the democratic side who have asked to be managers. i'm not among them, i'll tell you. so, the speaker will have a tough choice to make. but i would assume that she will go with people who have command of the facts. justin is not on either committee. so, that would be kind of an

catch-up job for someone who is not on either judiciary or intelligence. he is a good lawyer and a good person. but i don't know that she would necessarily choose him over all the democrats who have asked to be appointed. >> congresswoman lofgren, thank you. nice talking with you. >> thank you. largely lost, a major investigation from the washington post revealing internal strategy struggles over the war in afghanistan. when we come back, i'm joined live by congressman ruben gallego. we'll be right back. i suffered with psoriasis...a. ...for so long. it was kind of a shock after i started cosentyx... ...i wasn't covered anymore. i'm not constantly thinking about it. i'm still clear five years now.

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welcome back. after 18 years, the lives of 2300 u.s. soldiers and nearly $1 trillion, a new "washington post" investigation reveals concerns over the war in afghanistan. more than 2,000 pages of documents and 400 interviews describe an unclear mission and failed strategy often described in blunt terms. 2015 interview now retired

douglas lute said this. we were devoid of a fundamental understanding of afghanistan. we didn't know what we were doing. he said again, we did not know what we were doing. imagine that. the report also revealed how the public was misled over perceived successes across three different administrations. take a listen. >> we remain on the offensive in afghanistan. where a fine president and a national assembly are fighting terror while building the institutions of a new democracy. >> we are strengthening the capacity of the afghan people and enduring a building partnership with them. >> together we're making tremendous progress. >> the report comes as president trump prepares the drawback of 4,000 u.s. troops from afghanistan, three current and former u.s. military officials telling nbc news the official announcement could come as early as next week. a specific start date was not yet revealed but it is expected to happen over several months. ultimately leaving between 8,000

and 9,000 troops in that country. democratic congressman from arizona, ruben gallego, iraq war veteran and member of the house armed services committee. thank you very much for your continued service. >> thank you for having me. >> talk to us about your reaction to some of these revealing sentiments with regards to this drawn-out war in afghanistan. it is astound iing for me to he from a now retired lieutenant general, we didn't know what we were doing. and thinking about that and juxtaposing that to the thousands of lives that were lost in this war. >> look it doesn't surprise me, unfortunately. we've been in this war for far too long. it has cost us our national interest, our focus, trillions of dollars and it's cost us the blood of our youth in this country. and the bigger problem right now is that i still don't hear a plan for us to get out of there.

generals and policymakers are more interested in kind of passing the buck on to somebody else so they don't have to be known as the person that failed, quote, unquote, in afghanistan. at the end of the day, someone will be the last man or woman who dies in afghanistan for a failed policy. i hope at some point there will be a policymaker, a president or general that says if this is not a fruitful endeavor, it takes us away from our national interests and we need to get out of there. >> it's interesting that you brik bring that up. i can't help but think how the president of the united states, three administrations, how do they not have the foresight to understand what it is like to go to war with a country like afghanistan and the pitfalls that lie ahead when you're battling a country like afghanistan? >> many of these -- you have to understand, many of these presidents have never served and certainly have never served in the front lines of war. that's a problem right there to begin with.

i don't think that every president should have to have served in the military. don't get me wrong but generals have personal interests because they don't want to be known as the general that lost the afghanistan war, other policymakers don't want to be known as the policymakers who gave the advice to get out of afghanistan. instead of having personal courage and saying it's time for to us leave, this is no longer in our interest. we have accomplished our mission, they allow us to go more and more into the meat grinder. because it's a couple hundred men and women who die per year, it doesn't end up getting up -- being that important in the psyche of americans. it distracts us from real threats. at the same time, americans aren't paying attention because it is such a low-yield war that we only lose 100 men per year. >> at this point. that the point. >> it's awful. >> not early on. >> it's awful but my point being is this is why you need political leadership to say it

doesn't matter, it's better than losing thousands of men, we need to get out of there. it is against the interests of our country to be in this qaugmire. bush, trump and obama have mess this had up. trump, i believe, has an opportunity to correct this. we need to get out of there and refocus our intentions in the eastern european front and to china. >> historically, it is a psychical process with the united states in getting into these wars and not necessarily knowing how to end them. >> i don't agree with that. i think you have an example, obviously, the vietnam war but you also have different interactions happen before that. you know, we found ourselves in the korean war. we decided to leave there in a cease fire. the persian gulf war -- >> as a nation we have put people in power who have been taken down subsequently years

later. what are the lessons to be learned specifically in this situation, considering what we have learned from these afghanistan papers? >> well, i think the most important thing we should have figured out is that we need to have a clear objective and that needs to be based on reality and not on some higher hopes that just aren't going to happen. we had one clear objective from what i remember, we needed to eradicate al qaeda, get osama bin laden. once we hit those two metrics, we should have started the process of pulling out. we do not need to be spending trillions of dollars to prevent attacks done by men using box cutters. we need to focus on real threats that are going to be existential threats to the united states and world order, russia and china, and not to counterterrorism efforts that could be better handled by the cia, the fbi, than marines or navy s.e.a.l.s. >> on a personal note, i can't

help but think if you are a parent of someone who lost their life in the war in afghanistan and you're hearing from a former lieutenant general basically saying we don't know what we're doing, that can't be a good feeling. congressman gallego, thank you so much. new jersey democrat in congress apparently ready to defect from his party. phil murphy has tough words for him. our conversation with the governor is coming up next. ith governor is coming up next thousands of women with metastatic breast cancer,

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yesterday, december 14th, was the seventh anniversary of the mass shooting that took the lives of 26 children, educators at sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut, and what began as a solemn day marked by vigils and services ended with this. >> a 36 yard touchdown pass in the game's final moments helped newtown high school clinch the connecticut state title, its first in more than a quarter of a century. quite a moment for the school and that state. at the same time, other communities dealing with the pain that lingers in the wake of gun violence. a kosher market in jersey city in broad daylight. when it was all over, six people were dead, including a police detective and three civilians. officials investigating it as an

act of domestic terrorism. the governor of new jersey, phil murphy. first my condolences to your state in dealing with that most recent mass shooting in new jersey city, new jersey, and the lives lost there. your state has incredibly strict gun laws. >> yes. >> two of the guns used in this shooting came from out of state. where are the holes in your gun laws in new jersey to allow that to happen? >> first of all it's been a tough week for new jersey, as you suggested, four innocent folks killed, police detective, a mom, a rising star, an ecuadorian immigrant. we have, if not among the strongest gun laws in america, among the top couple. 80% plus or minus of the gun crimes committed in new jersey are committed with guns that come in from out of state. in the absence of federal gun

safety laws, that's a reality that we try to chip away at. again, we've got great gun laws in new jersey. i partner with governor cuomo, about eight states that share intel gun research. we name and shame states that send guns our way and name and shame gun manufacturers. all of that will help to chip away at that reality. nothing is like national federal gun safety legislation. that's what we need now more than ever. >> how do you get other states to get on board, if anything? >> i'm very happy to say that pennsylvania came on a couple of moments ago to join states for gun-safety and right-minded governors are a key to this. it's a collection of states. more democrat than republican but massachusetts is a part of that. and i think the sad reality, day in day out -- it's not just the

awful tragedy at sandy hook or in jersey city. it's the day in, day out drumbeat of gun violence that is pervasive in urban communities and suburban and rural. we have to change somehow the dynamic in washington. >> it seems so often when a tragedy of gn violence happens, there is the drum beat of trying to create legislation at the national level and it happens four, five, six weeks and then something else enters and it falls by the wayside. >> you betcha. >> jeff van drew has decided to defect the democratic party and become a republican. give me your reaction to that. him meeting with the president of the united states as well, i believe, on friday. >> you bet. i think it's ridiculous. he put politics over the constitution. he's trying to be cute instead of being courageous. i think it's outrageous. this is a guy who is trying to

find a path to get re-elected to congress, not trying to find a path to do the right thing. and we've seen it all over new jersey, all around the country, folks who stand up with conviction and courage and state their case more often than not, far more often enough folks say notwithstanding how tense and passionate this discussion is, they get credit for that, as opposed to cutting and running. i think it's pathetic. we'll run that seat back. >> do you think this is happening across the board with republicans, that they're more afraid of losing their re-election bid? >> i'm not sure i've got enough visibility nationally. last year in the mid-term elections, five republican house members in new jersey. we won four of them, including jeff van drew, and so we've had really good success standing up as proud democrats. this is who we are. we believe in a stronger and fairer new jersey that works for

everybody. we're pro-growth progressives. i support every step the speaker has taken but there's other stuff. jobs, health care, the environment, quality of life. and i think it's time to be proud of who we are as a party and stand up, not cut and run like jeff is doing. >> jeff van drew has been a critic of the impeachment process the entire time, since the launch of this formal impeachment inquiry by the speaker of the house. where do you stand on it? >> we had no choice. speaker pelosi was in new jersey the very week she announced she would begin the process. i'm a huge fan of hers. i think she's doing it exactly the right way, which is deliberate, transparent, fact based, one step in front of the other. we have no choice. i'm a former united states ambassador. this stuff that went on with ukraine and all the back and forth, this is outrageous. this is beyond reasonable,

beyond anything that i'll bet you we've ever seen as a country before in terms of the behavior of the president, the administration. she has no choice and i support what she's doing. i also add to that, there are lots of other issues that get talked about at the kitchen table every night. again we've got to be proud democrats and stand up for who we are. >> governor phil murphy, thank you very much. i know it's hard to brave the crowds at 30 rock just a week and a half before christmas but we appreciate it. >> love being here. thanks for having me. a sign of the times on the campaign trail. presidential candidates as parents. presidential candidates as parents. great riches will find you when liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wow. thanks, zoltar. how can i ever repay you? maybe you could free zoltar? thanks, lady. taxi! only pay for what you need.

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feel real relief. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. welcome back. for the first time, the house of representatives has passed paid parental leave for all federal workers. a landmark change. the senate is expected to approve the plan, which includes 12 weeks paid leave for all 2.1 million civil workers. in a broader sense, the conversation of parenting and parenthood is expanding. this year we heard elizabeth warren say this at a town hall. >> um, my mother and i had very

different views of how to build a future. she wanted me to marry well, and i really try ied, and it just didn't work out. and there came a day when i had to call her and say, this is over. i can't make it work. and, uh, i heard the disappointment in her voice. and sometimes you just got to do what's right and sign. and hope that maybe the rest of the world will come around to it. and maybe they will, and maybe they won't, but the truth is, you've got to take care of yourself first. >> other candidates have reflected on their own children

in new ways. joe biden has talked about the painful loss of his son, beau biden. he has been faced with difficult questions of his son hunter. eric swalwell said i change aid diaper before i got on a plane. i came back for bath time. i generally do the wake-up, get them out of their pjs, change the diaper and feed them. senator gillibrand talks openly about breastfeeding. >> how do i stick with this long enough to get -- it was wonderful i was working full time with both kids. i was able to nurse them both for about nine months but i was able to keep at least -- even when i was back to work, the morning nursing and the evening nursing. >> the missteps have been just as enlightening.

beto o'rourke joked after saying his wife amy had been raising their three kids with his help. those who are not parents are discussing fatherhood in new ways. >> yeah. i don't know exactly when and how we're going to pull that off, but he is made to be a dad and i'm looking forward to it, too, as soon as we can figure it out. >> this cycle is proving to be more inclusive on saturday. a town hall about parenting with children who have autism and special needs. their son christopher is living with autism. >> when christopher was born and we were first-time parents, and it was a struggle. and when he got his diagnosis when he was about to turn four, it actually came as a massive relief to me personally. when he was two and struggling and three and struggling, you're

a first-time parent, so you think maybe this is normal. when we got the diagnosis, we were like, oh, my gosh, this explains so much and now we know what we have to try to do. [ applause ] >> so that event drew supporters mike the mcnut family who drove from hours away in minnesota and who andrew yang remembered from a previous event. >> this is our seven and a half year old son who is autistic and he was excited to meet andrew yang because he heard him talking about autotism and he says that's me because he understands and identifies that he is autistic. he remembered us and came up and gave us a hug. it is extraordinary because i don't think any other candidate would take the time to remember

people. i mean -- sorry. i'm getting emotional. no, i just think he has a truly big heart. >> for so long, we have been a country that has tauted family values. but, yet, we refuse to talk about our parental responsibilities and struggles openly, fearing that it would take away from what we had achieved professionally. men were supposed to go to work and leave the child rearing to women and women were told to either stay home or if choosing to work, handle it all with a smile on their faces, never acknowledging that it is hard and we all need a lot of help. our federal policies on maternity leave reinforce that. why? because there literally is not one. there is no federal policy that provides for all parents to have leave irrespective of the size of their company or where they work. there are women that have to return to workdays after giving

birth, which is mind boggling to me. so while it is great news that federal workers will have the opportunity to take 12 weeks of paid parental leave, you can't help but think it is about darn time. i took 16 weeks with my kids and it was the healthiest, best decision i could have made. kasie, the host of this show, is currently taking 16 weeks, and i'm going to bet she has the same feelings. but we are the lucky ones. everybody should have the right to take paid parental need. science has proven it benefits the children and the parents and it benefits the company because when you do return to work, you are happier and committed and thankful to an organization that provides you the support you need. while this is a step in the right direction, we need to strive for a federal program that provides all parents with some paid leave so we can all have the opportunity to be sleepless, not because of our jobs, but because of those darn kids. when we come back, the kasie

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this new report this week from the intelligence community inspector general. >> into the russia investigation. >> 17. >> 17 significant errors in the fisa process and you say that it was handled in a thoughtful and appropriate way. >> he's right. i was wrong. >> it is only fair to judge what we knew at the time. >> the inspector general did not find misconduct by any fbi

people. >> what happened in this situation is inexcusable. >> he's right, it was real sloppy. >> sloppiness. >> the white house is confident that the president will be acquitted in the senate. >> if he is ultimately exonerated in the senate, he will be unbounded. >> we're not seeking to make a circus out of this, but the president is. >> i'd tell the president to get out of the way. >> how impartial can it be when mcconnell says -- >> we wouldn't be doing our job if we weren't working hand in hand with the senate. >> that's a violation of the oath they are about to take. >> those of us who will be sitting as jurors owe it to history to make a clear mind. >> i am ready to vote. i don't really need to hear a lot of witnesses. that was the kasie dvr, and that does it for us tonight on kasie dc. we also say good-bye to our super intern who has been here

for an entire year. thanks for everything that you do, rachel. thanks for watching. ari melber is next. i will be back in t minus seven hours. good night from new york. good evening. welcome back to our series "impeachment: white house in crisis." tonight we join you for the first time since the house judiciary committee voted to approve those two articles of impeachment against donald trump clearing the way for the house to clear the second impeachment. now tonight we have a whole series of experts to help us break down the charges against president trump and also how to watch what's coming next. we will also look at why democrats chose to go with this narrow case for impeachment. i have another story that relates. the origins of the russia probe