have historian, author of the "soul of america" and rogers professor of tjon meacham. and karine jean t-pierre. and today is another key day in the historic march toward president trump's impeachment. this morning the house rules committee will take up articles of impeachment for the first time ever. one last step to consider the procedures that will govern tomorrow's full house vote. and with the handful of moderate democrats from trump districts yesterday announcing they will vote to impeach, it is now all but certain that tomorrow president trump will become only the third president to be impeached by the house of representatives in history. we will get to the new developments and whether the senate trial will feature any

new witnesses. but first, the man who is helping get the president to this precipice, rudy giuliani and i just won't stop talking. >> he won't stop. >> he can't stop. >> rudy, it's not good for you or those ukrainian guys you hang out with or the president of the zbluts united states. >> you need a lawyer actually. >> a new piece "the new yorker" reveals the remarkable admission from president trump's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, where he says that he needed former ukraine ambassador marie yovanovitch out of the way because she was hindering his push to get dirt on former vice president joe biden. in the december issue of "the new yorker," giuliani confirmed that he saw yovanovitch as an obstacle saying in part, quote, i believe that i needed yovanovitch out of the way. she was going to make the investigations difficult for everybody. when asked about yovanovitch in

an yf last night, giuliani confirmed he pushed her out but denied needing her out of the way. >> now this hit piece, and it's a hit piece. >> of course. >> also has you on the record admitting that you forced out marie yovanovitch. >> of course did i. >> you said you needed her out of the way. but you're a personal attorney for the president. so why do you need her out of the way? >> i didn't need her out of the way. i forced her out because she's corrupt. >> right. said i needed her out of the way now i don't need her out of the way. it's just so confusing being rudy. talking any time somebody sticks a microphone in front of you. >> the "new york times" reports that giuliani spoke to trump a couple of times earlier this year about how yovanovitch had hindered efforts that could be politically helpful to the president. quote, in conversations in the first months of the year with the president, mr. giuliani, by his account, cast ms. yovanovitch as impeding not only investigations in ukraine, that could benefit mr. trump,

but also mr. giuliani's efforts to gather evidence to defend him and target his rivals in the united states. the paper continues. giuliani told the president and mr. pompeo that ms. yovanovitch was blocking visas for ukrainian prosecutors to come to the united states to present evidence to him and also to federal authorities. that he claimed could be damaging to mr. biden and his son hunter biden. this seems to be backing up the whole concept? >> everything backs up everything. >> okay. >> by the way, this is -- this is rudy's impeachment. >> yeah. >> this -- none of this would have happened without rudy giuliani. and you talk to people around donald trump and they tell you that. i mean, we'll continue with this, willie, but, you know, he was so celebrate for attentiode for attention and to say, hey,

i'm important to the president of the united states and even people at the state, people at dod and the white house understood the risk that rudy actually had towards donald trump and the presidency. you know, jimmy nailed it when he said that rood say small mud in search of a balcony. all of this is about nothing more than rudy giuliani being desperate to stay relevant. it was so desperate to remain relevant and continues to be so desperate to remain relevant that he keeps endangering the president's prospects day in and day out. >> so much of where the president is right now is because of the man you're looking at right there, former new york city mayor rudy giuliani. you know, as journalists usually is to work a lot harder than this to get to the truth, but rudy giuliani, if you put a tape recorder in front of him, just

literally comes out and says it. this is the quote in "the new yorker" published last night. i believe i needed yovanovitch out of the way. she was going to make the investigations difficult for everybody. he's saying first of all that there were investigations out there to look into joe biden and everything else. but he just spells it out and lays it out and, again, so he could go on fox last night and be on tv and go to the grand havana room later and talk about it with the people he sees there. but he just literally -- this isn't the first time -- he just comes out and says it. this confirms obviously so much of what we heard in front of the intel committee from ambassador yovanovitch and fiona hill and everyone else. >> it reminds you of donald trump saying to the russian foreign minister i had to fire comey and get him out of the way because of the investigation. now rudy's admitting the same thing regarding ukraine. >> he goes on and on. if you read through the piece, it's extraordinary. he almost lays out chapter and

verse what the president is being alleged of and what he will be impeached for tomorrow. again, rudy just comes out and says it. >> well, i think it's also part of the mick mulvaney defense, get over it. see, we did this, yeah, yeah, yeah. and i'm wondering, jon meacham, is there any character figure in history, any situation in history that parallels this? i mean, this is, i think, a new level, a new arena where the truth is being devalued by being put out there and saying, yeah, get over it and whether it's the legal community or the journalists covering the story or ordinary everyday americans, they're so shocked by it that it just goes right past them. >> well, and also it's a little like the frog boiling in water, which is an analogy that we hear a lot. you know, you put a frog in, the boil comes slowly, you don't notice it quite as much.

and right now we're boiling. and i think that the thing that really kind of bothers me the most in terms of long term democratic, lower case "d," culture is people keep saying we're tired of the impeachment or we think there are more important things. well, i'm tired of going to the doctor, you know. i'm tired of getting vaccinations. i'm tired of exercising. that doesn't mean i don't have to do those things, though. this isn't about entertainment. it's not about keeping people interested. it's about the constitution. and i don't think it's much more complicated than that. we're in this moment where reason and passion, the two fundamental human impulses and passion is much more easily acted on that reason, are in fundamental conflict. and i like to think that if the

partisan shoes were on other feet we'd be saying the same thing. those of us who think that the facts and the constitution should govern this. and one of the things that i think is so hard for people on the trump side of things to understand is it's not always all about him. it's -- sometimes it's about the facts, it's about the constitution, this is about the order that served us incredibly well for a long time. but it only serves us well if we, the people, are part of it. and if we allow people representatives to react to fact as opposed to passion and preexisting philosophy. that's what's at stake. >> it's a fascinating time. overnight congressman anthony ren dissy told sear ra cues.com that he plans to vote tomorrow to impeach president donald trump after conclude lgt president abused the power of

his office and obstructed congress. trump woman brindisi's update congressional district by 15 percentage points. this comes after a group of five moderate democrats who all flipped their districts from red to blue in 2018 announced yesterday that they plan to vote to impeach president trump tomorrow. those democrats include congresswoman elisa slit kin of michigan, benn mcadams of utah, abigail spanberger of virginia, and congressman andy kim of north carolina and joe cunningham. elissa slotkin explained her vote last night and the partisan divide over impeachment was open full display. about 450 people attended her town hall. many of them supporting her decision to impeach. but there was also a handful of trump supporters who chant and booed throughout much of the

meeting. >> so i want people to think about where we will be if it becomes normal to ask foreign governments to intervene in our political process. what if that becomes normal? what if next time we have a democratic president asking the chinese government for a cyberattack? for something new? for some intreetiousion? for me, this is something that i cannot abide. that i cannot accept. i made this decision out of principle and out of a duty to protect and defend the constitution. i feel that in my bones and i will stick to that regardless of what it does to me politically. because this is bigger than politics. [ cheers and applause ] >> this is absolutely so fascinating and that is what politics is all about. this is something you've been through on different levels. >> right. >> when it comes to speaking your truth, speaking the truth

to perhaps constituents who are not happy with it. >> well, who will zis disagree. i was in a conservative district and led the coup to take newt gingrich out. but an incredible thing happened, willie. when you show up, even those people chanting against you respect you for showing up. it's the people that make the votes and then hide from their constituents, they don't survive. so that -- that's a good move. i would make the same -- give the same suggestion to republican senators that we've been talking about over and over again, if you're cory gardner, susan collins, if you make unpopular votes. supporting the president of the united states, you run and hide, you don't talk to the press, you don't meet people at town hall meetings. it's much more likely you're going to lose. you have to face your voters head own an and you have a much better chance surviving politically. but how fascinating it is, will

little, the "new york times" had the article last night, we're talking about it this morning. there were people in trump districts, democrats in trump districts that had decided to vote for impeachment. certainly many would say profiles encourage others, i guess, cynics might say it's a politically shortsighted move to make. but regardless, they're going to be in the for the political fiefts their li fights of their lives as they move forward. >> there are hard moments when you're a politician, it's not all fun and sometimes you have to go out and explain to the people who voted for you and to the people who voted against you why you're make ailing decisiin. and what senator slotkin said is she sat and listened to hearings and looked at all the evidence and said in an argument that i'm

not sure what the rebuttal is, she said i cannot abide watching a president of the united states of any party solicit dirt from somebody else to interfere in our elections. so she may lose her seat over that. joe cunningham in south carolina, he's in a trump district, he could lose his seat over that. but they've made the decision that what they're seeing and hearing from this president is more important than their job. and a lot of people aren't making that choice. >> it's about service, not re-election. and you hear that over and over again, especially when i was hearing about congresswoman sclslot skin. she has a national security bio. she served abroad. she was a cia analyst, an official for the department of defense. i mean, this is very serious for them. they are looking at their constitutional doughty a constitutional duty and reacting

in that way in the is about voting on your conscience. that's what nancy pelosi has asked everybody. nadler one of the last times when he gaveled out said vote with your conscience. this goes back to what jon meacham was saying. this is about donald trump in the is about our democracy and constitution in the is about is the president above the law? and he is not. and this is about rule of law. so when you think about those people who showed up and protested at her -- at her town hall yesterday, you should also think about there are about 160,000 people who are going to come out today to say that the president is not above the law. they're going to show up in every state across the country, 600 events. so there's the other side of this too, about saving our democracy and making a statement to congress. >> we've been waiting this morning for new polling that just crossed now from the "washington post" and abc news shows 49% of americans agree that president trump should be impeached and removed from office with 46% disagreeing with

that idea. broken down by party, support for impeachment and removal includes only 12% of republicans, 47% of independents, and 85% of democrats. let's bring in the polling director at the "washington post" and the cofounder and publisher of real clear politics. let's start with the "washington post" and what did you see in those new numbers? >> well, i mean, one thing we've seen is an incredible amount of stability. we did a poll before the public hearings began and found 49% in support, 47% opposed to impeachment. those attitudes are hardly changed at all. one thing we had seen is a slight increase in the partisan divide. and what's also interesting is that extends to views to the two basic charges that have been made against trump that he improperly pressured ukraine to investigate joe biden and his son as well as that he obstructed congress. 49% believe trump did on both of those accounts, the same

percentage who support impeaching and removing him. >> so, joe, if you look -- >> well, the post -- >> -- look at some of these numbers, recent polling has shown at about 49% that don't support impeachment, so it ticks up a little bit. but the trend is that the numbers have held pretty steady. >> reading from the post's right up, the latest poll also finds that regardless of whether trump committ committ committed an impeachable offense, they found that he pressured ukraine to investigate biden and his son, 39% did not. i think that's a number this white house is working for. they're working to debunk how bad it was what they did. does that make sense? >> but, tom, it seems they've lost that argument. if you look at the abc news poll from yesterday, you had a majority of americans believing that he improperly used his

office and did an assortment of things that obviously make -- it was a fox news -- i'm sorry, a fox news poll poyesterday. so it seems as if the democrats have made some points when it comes to impeachment when you talk about the specifics and abuse of office and some of these other concerns that democrats and the media have been expressing. but, again, those impeachment numbers remain firm. i guess the only difference in most of these polls is you've seen a partisan divide become each more stark and independents breaking a little more in support of impeachment. but the overall number staying at about 50%, 49%, 50%. >> yeah think there that's right. i mean, you're right. in most of these polls show pluralities not majorities that president trump did something that was unethical, immoral or possibly illegal. that's not the issue.

the issue is, do people support the impeachment and removal of the president? and we had four polls come out yesterday that show opposition to impeachment above support. it crosses the line in the politics average. so support is under water by about a percentage point. and that's moved anywhere from about two points to the c nrkts n poll that came out yesterday was an eight-point swing from last month. pretty significant in the in that poll, interestingly, support among democrats 20 from 90% down 77%. but most the polling is pretty stable, although there has been a move -- an increase in the opposition to impeachment in this last round of polling. but, again, it's still relatively a 50/50 proposition. >> well, and of course, jon meacham, we've talked about this before but you look at the numbers that richard nixon had throughout most of the watergate hearings in the 20s and the 30s. it of course spiked at the end.

bill clinton, support for impeachment for bill clinton never got into the 30s. how remarkable it is that many of the white house is celebrating the fact that one out of two americans believe that he committed acts that should have him impeached and removed from office. >> yeah. everything's a matter of context, right? i don't think it's surprising in a hyper partisan era that we're seeing these numbers reflect essentially a 50/50 nation, a 48/48 nation which i actually think is a sign of some hope, if you'll bear with me for a second. it means that very few people have to be convinced of are the rightness of a given course. now there's the opposite of that, it takes a few people to keep us in stasis. but we're really not talking about trying to get to a 90/t10

country. we're not a 90/10 country. we're a 48/48 country. even if you look at presidential elections in roughly the modern era, they're almost all incredibly close. there are three big exceptions, 1974, 1982, 1994. two of those presidents either didn't run -- one didn't run for re-election, one left under resignation, and one ran into iran contra. we have an incredibly closely divided nation and, you know, you will never get, you know, if you're on the -- if you're on the side of this about the rule of law and the constitution and you're about to give up hope because you can't move these numbers, i just say, you know, remember, 34% of america after joe mccarthy was senscensured,

approved of the witch-hunt. we have a disproportionate set of expectation and make the case to people who are being true to the insights of the american revolution, which is that you should change your mind if the facts dictate it. you shouldn't pick a team and doesn't that is it doesn't matter what's being said, it matters who's saying it. that's not part of what we're supposed to be doing. >> karine jean tee-pierre, jump on these numbers. think the most frightening thing for democrats when you look at the number of people who think the president did something wrong but don't think he should be impeached for it, i think that's the impact of the get over it defense which is, in my opinion, far more effective than many democrats or members of the media might think. like, oh, my gosh, how could that work? i think it can work. i think to an extent that's what this white house has. and it's upon democrats, would you weigh agree to really

clearly sharply and searingly point out the threat to our national security that this quid pro quo poses for our country. and if they can't make that case dr. they could , they could be in trouble. >> any have to make a clear mess whath they're ba message. i like to use kentucky as an example. donald trump won that state in 2016 by 30 points. >> right. >> just a couple weeks ago, as we all know, a democratic governor won that state. and why is that? because donald trump went into that state and put impeachment on the ballot box. they even did an ad on impeachment. so when people say that it hurts -- impeachment hurts democrats, there hasn't been a case for that. yes, we're being looking at

these polling, but when you look at the electoral process, it's hurt donald trump in the last couple weeks into in these off-year elections. so the democrats, yes, has to go into it with a clear message. but we have seen some signs electorally how this has hurt donald trump has he's gone out there and put it on the ballot. >> you know, we're still, willie, a year away from the election. 11 months away from the election so i'm thinking 11 months from now people aren't going to be talking about impeachment. they're going to be looking at the economy, they're going to be looking at why what donald trump has said and done. i think it will impact some races and impact some of these democrats in trump-leaning districts. it will impact some of the senate races in the blue to purple states where you'll have people voting not -- or voting to acquit donald trump. but, i just want to take a slightly different tact from mika. i think that people who are

claiming that donald trump did nothing wrong might be the voters impacted by the trump white house and might be voters who are going to stay with him no matter what. people who believe donald trump did abuse his office and did -- there are some people, and we certainly saw this during the clinton impeachment, there are some people who think, yes, he abused the power of his office. it's terrible, but -- but impeachment is the most dramatic constitutional remedy and we're just -- we're just not ready to go there yet. i think there are some americans out there who feel that way and i will believe it always that that was the republican party's best argument. they should have made that argument, yes, he abused his office, he did things no one should do, but we're not going to invalidate an election over it. >> i think that's absolutely right. even if you talk to republicans in the senate, by the way, who will cast votes in this trial coming up next year, early next year, they would tell you the

same thing. they say, i do not like what i saw. listen, that was kind of a shady deal that rudy was run wining. but you want to take the ultimate step and remove the president from office? they think that's a bridge too far. but i think jon's right that these 48/48 country was kind of locked in from the beginning and the idea that any bombshell testimony was going to make it 70/30 or 80/20 or whatever it was on the question of impeachment was never realistic. we had bombshell testimony. fiona hill gave it, ambassador yovanovitch gave it, ambassador sondland gave it. rudy giuliani confessed to it again last night "the new yorker." it's all been out there but people are at their battle stations ready to defend their side and their team and that's where we are. scott, to go to you one last time, just to look at the trajectory of these numbers, where there moments of movement where the country did hear something or listen to some testimony and thought, yes, he does deserve to be impeached?

or has it been here the whole time? >> it's interesting the movement on impeachment support occurred right after and right around the time it was announced as well as when the initial ukraine news came up. when we looked at polls back in the summer, we saw impeachment outpacing opposition support by roughly 20 percentage points. in late september after the announcement of the inquiry should jumped up into the mid-40s, the upper 40s. it's really since then than things have stabilized. what's also fascinating is despite this divide, we do see some glimmers of bipartisan perception. one is in how the senate trial might go. majorities of democrats and republicans do think trump will get a fair hearing and majorities also say that he should allow his top aides to testify. it's not clear whether those will revert back to partisan differences once we get to that point. but at least at this point there are signs that people see some

things the same way, even if they disagree on trump's impeachment. >> all right. "the washington post," scott, thank you so much for your reporting this morning. tom, stay with us. we also have some new poll numbers on the democrats race for the white house we want to talk to you about. plus, a step by step breakdown of what to expect tomorrow, a big day as donald trump is almost certainly impeached by the house of representatives. but first, we'll go to bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill. >> yesterday was very scary. look at that tornado from tommy and heather welch. you can see the stove top tornado. you can signed of see some of the debris from behind it. we had 27 tornado reports yesterday, louisiana, mississippi, alabama, and we did have three fatalities from two separate tornadoes. the threat has slowly ended overnight, but the damage has been done. numerous injuries too. at least one school was destroyed in mississippi. let's talk about the winter impacts from the storm.

we have 52 million people impacted from southern portions of indiana all along i-70 from ohio into west virginia. and we have flash flood watches and alerts right now. and the snow and ice has been a big problem overnight in areas of southern new england. we have tons of school delays and cancellations all through central and southern portions of new england and even northern new jersey has been very icy overnight. additional snowfall amounts will be hartford northwest. connecticut is treacherous right now. i've seen numerous reports of accidents already this morning. possibility from portland to keane down through north of the boston another 4 inches. behind this will be another cold blast so get that hiice and sno off the sidewalks while you can. and we will see significant airport problems especially the first half of today. new york city, it was 33 degrees

overnight. that makes a word of differenld difference. it's just wet you'll need the umbrella. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. can you heal dry skin in a day? aveeno® with prebiotic triple oat complex balances skin's microbiome. so skin looks like this and you feel like this. aveeno® skin relief. get skin healthy™

the ones that make a truebeen difference in people's lives. and mike's won them, which is important right this minute, because if he could beat america's biggest gun lobby, helping pass background check laws and defeat nra backed politicians across this country, beat big coal, helping shut down hundreds of polluting plants and beat big tobacco, helping pass laws to save the next generation from addiction. all against big odds you can beat him. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message.

i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. you have a brother in the second battalion? they're walking into a trap. your orders are to deliver a message calling off tomorrow morning's attack. if you fail, we will lose sixteen hundred men. if we're not clever about this... no one will get to your brother. i will.

some things are too important to do yourself. ♪ get customized security with 24/7 monitoring from xfinity home. awarded the best professionally installed system by cnet. simple. easy. awesome. call, click or visit a store today.

♪ willie, willie. >> what's this music? >> i know where this is going. >> what's this music? only a couple days away, right? we're only a couple days away and, you know, my sons and i are -- it just actually for whatever reason just drives the women in the household crazy. drives mika crazy. drives kate crazy. they don't understand. my kids and i, we had this text chain and kate asked after the 4

thousandth "star wars" text after the past few months to take her off. so i made a new chain between joey, andrew, and myself and jack and it just said "star wars" nerds. >> yes. >> so we've been going back and forth. but we've all been terrified that jj wasn't going to live up to expectations. last night, the l.a. premier, man, the reviews coming out of that. no spoilers, but the reviews coming out of that is he delivered and he delivered big. >> jj's had a tough job carrying on the legacy. the originals like myself who go empire strikes back and everything goes after that, but he has lived up to the challenge. not perfect, i don't think they're in the top three most of them, you might disagree. but one of the most offensive things that mika says over and over is what's the difference again between "star wars" and star trek? you have to shake your head and

weep for the nation. >> i don't even care when i'm asking, i'm just trying to be polite and get in on the conversation, because what is the difference? >> i feel like comic book man and the simpsons with my head in my hand when she says stuff like that. but it's a couple days away and it looks like according to first reports in l.a. that jj at this time big. you know who else say big "star wars" fwan his sons? pulitzer prize columnist and political analyst gene robinson. >> don't let me down. >> this whiwhich is why we brou on. so, gene, the early rights of "the rise of skywalker" are ceptionally good exceptionally good. and the same thing with the "avengers" anything you think you know is wrong. expect a lot of twists and a lot of turns. >> yeah, i mean, i can't wait.

i'm just -- i'm just stunned. i'm reeling from -- does mika really ask what the difference between star trek and "star wars"? mika -- >> if i feel like getting in the conversation, gene. let me tell you all of you, i want to bring alex into this conversation. alex, joe is going to be off for a day, i'm just telling you because he's going to some late night thing with this. it's just not -- >> hold on. >> he won't be -- >> hold on a second. gene, this is like alabama winning the national championship. you will notice that even though i stay up till 2:00 in the morning i'm on the next morning. i'm going to be on friday morning telling mika and you and willie. >> but i'm not. >> how great it was. >> okay. >> and i cannot wait. we have a family tradition, my wife and our son which when, you know, christmas time new "star wars" movie comes out and we,

you know, ritualistically go see it. we don't stay up to the very, very first showing, but we're going to see it that first weekend. >> okay. >> and i can't wait. and so that's -- that's intriguing, right? the "t"s that everything you know is wrong. so i think no, i what's going on and i guess i'm wrong and we'll find out. i can't wait. >> i -- we read, will little, all the spoilers and apparently the spoilers maybe they're throwing us off. but alex got into my ear when i said i was going to try to be in on friday morning re, he says t not. >> i don't want to see you after of that. >> do you put force awakens up in the pantheon in that top three, four? >> i do. i'm different in many ways. i think that -- and the storytelling and i also think

even though seven is different from four i think it's pretty exceptional. i actually -- and i agree with my good friend daviden from whoch get david french who gets everything wrong, but i put empire first, "rogue 1" second. "rogu "rogue 1" blew me away. about five seconds before the end of the movie he said they're not going to do this. "rogue 1" was extraordinary. but i'm one of the few people that i talk to that i really liked the last jedi. the casino scene drove me crazy. mark hammel's acting performance was the best performance of any actor through the whole series. he didn't like it because his character was so dark. he wasn't, you know, luke skywalker saving the universe.

but i do, think jj and the entire disney team have done an incredible job taking a classic. what about you? you seem like you're more of a skeptic? >> i like "force awakens" i think that's up there. but when you grow up in something, as you did too wra, the original came out. those are up near the top for me. but after the dip were the middle movies and think we've come back up to another statar s peak under director abrams. >> gene, what do you think? >> willie talked about the dip in the middle three movies. that wasn't a dip, that was a crash. one, two, and three are unwatchable, frankly. but i would put "force awakens" maybe up like number three. >> okay. >> i put it way up there. and i also liked "last jedi ".

it doesn't crack my first four, but i liked it. >> oh my god. >> so before mika and alex both get their, yeah, jedi mind tricks. >> who did i marry? >> yeah, she's talking to me, who did i marry? have either of you guys seen the man da loran? >> i have. >> you don't like to? >> i go back and forth. i thought started great and then -- and then it lost me a little bit. and then the last episode, maybe it's get meg againting me again so i haven't decided yet. >> mika, your thoughts. >> okay, everyone shh. who did i marry? >> when mika walks through the room and jack and i are watching the man da loran and going like -- she just shakes her head and walks to the front of the

house. it's -- >> for the very few members of our ought kwlons migaudience wht was a complete waste of time, we can keep tom and get to those polls. >> oh, i can ask tom what he thinks. >> no, we're going to continue the conversation about the polling next on "morning joe." e polling next on "morning joe." ♪oh there's no place like home for the holidays.♪ ♪for the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.♪ we go the extra mile to bring your holidays home.

aveeno® with prebiotic striple oat complex balances skin's microbiome. so skin looks like this and you feel like this. aveeno® skin relief. get skin healthy™

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. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ male anchor: ...an update on the cat who captured our hearts. female anchor: how often should you clean your fridge? stay tuned to find out.

male anchor: beats the odds at the box office to become a rare non-franchise hit. you can give help and hope to those in need.

two new national polls of the -- i'm going to keep control here of this conversation -- of the democratic race for president to show you. the latest quinnipiac university poll has joe biden up 13 points with 30% support. senator elizabeth warren follows with 17%. senator bernie sanders is right behind at 16%. mayor pete buttigieg comes in fourth with 9%. and michael bloomberg is up two points from last week at 7%. we need to talk about that. in the latest morning consult poll, joe biden is in first with 31%. senator bernie sanders follows

nine points behind at 22%. senator elizabeth warren comes in third with 15%. and mayor pete buttigieg at 8%. bloomberg follows with 7%. andrew yang rounds out the top 6 with 4%. >> okay, hold on one second. we're going to get to the early voting first. >> just to compare. >> yeah, to compare. but first, tom bevin, i want to keep this up for you. you do this every day. you know this stuff better than anybody. just three things stand out. one, joe biden, man, they call him teflon joe. he's had some horrible debates, he's made mistakes on the campaign trail. but you know what? democrats like him, man. this guy has a staying power that very few people saw. i heard time and time again biden's best day in the campaign is going to be his announcement, it's going to be all downhill from there. hasn't happened. secondly, elizabeth warren, i am so surprised by the -- her

continued drop. then the third thing i'd love for you to talk about is michael bloomberg at 7%. the skepticism, of course, has risen. but yesterday a lot of democratic activists were passing around a school safety ad regarding guns. i mean, it reminds me a little bit, i'm not drawing parallels, but i heard everything about how donald trump wasn't going to do anything, he's sit agent 3%, 4%, 5%, 7%. i mean, this guy has done more with ads in a couple of weeks than a lot of senators and other really solid candidates who are still sitting at 2% have done over the course of the year. >> yeah. no, i agree. let's start at the top, though, joe biden. his staying power with african americans, with moderate americans and older voters still rock solid. we thought we would see some movement, some erosion in those

numbers. but they haven't eroded significantly. and so he continued to be atop the field. the other thing why it throw in there is pete buttigieg. we've seen him on the slide both nationally and in iowa. it looks like he might have peaked too early. and as he has been falling away, we've seen elizabeth warren and bernie sanders both picking up. and then bloomberg, of course, continues to rise. and obviously he's spending a ton of money, but his strategy so far, which people including myself sort of scoffed at, which was i'm going to skip those early contests and i'll there to pick up the pieces, you know, on super tuesday, may, in fact -- but it only works if biden falters. if bide n is able to stick this out, then i think bloomberg's rise is going to get topped out in a certain percentage point. while we have a lot of polls, we've had one poll in iowa in the last four weeks and we're 50

days away from the vote. one poll in new hampshire, one vote in south carolina in the past four weeks. i'd love to see more date in tho data in those states. >> joe biden's lead isn't as big. >> it shrinks over bernie sanders in iowa, new hampshire, nevada, and south carolina, joe biden maintains his position in first with 29% and bernie sanders now at five points behind the 24%. elizabeth warren finds herself again at 15% and tom steyer comes in fourth with 10%. pete buttigieg sits in fifth with 9% and andrew yang remains at 4%. >> and, of course, bloomberg in the early states, gene robinson, in part because bloomberg's not going to go until -- he's focusing on super tuesday and beyond. >> you should see the ads. >> but you even look, though, at joe biden and those early states. >> yeah. >> you know, a couple weeks ago what did we hear?

biden was going to finish in fourth place in iowa, he's going to finish in third, fourth place in new hampshire. bloomberg, there is a pathway for bloomberg to win, but that depends on biden slipping badly in iowa and new hampshire. if biden shows -- >> yeah. >> he's off to the races, isn't he? >> yeah. and it looks like the biden, as far as we can tell, as tom said we don't have as much state polling as i'd like to see. but it seems like biden's south carolina firewall is holding up. it seems like he potentially will do better in iowa and new hampshire than previously was thought he might. and if all that works out for him, then i do think bloomberg's path is -- is kind of blocked. i don't really -- i don't see

how he capitalized on this stunning rise. he's gone to 7% in no time, basically, you know, with thaul all that ad spending. i don't see how he is said up to have the showing that he needs to have on super tuesday. if biden does well enough in those early primary states. right now it looks like he might well. so this is going to be fascinating. i could write a scenario where biden all but wraps it up after super tuesday and i could also write a scenario where we're just slogging through the spring with different winners here and there with no clarity in this race. and -- and in case bloomberg's money could really make a zblirchs as long difference. >> bernie sanders hanging in in those early states right behind joe biden. i want to ask you about a

different poll, tom, that came out last night. usa today suffolk university poll which will give pause to democrats who may be thinking they're doing well here. head to head matchups, president trump leads every candidate in the field. in this poll, usa today suffolk university poll, he's up three points on joe biden. he's up five points on bernie sanders. eight points on elizabeth warren. nine points on mayor bloomberg. and ten points on mayor pete buttigieg. obviously the first one joe biden within the margin of ha error. there have been polls in the midwest, especially wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, that have shown joe biden with an advantage over president trump. but these national head to head polls out from usa today yesterday show the president leading every democratic candidate, even if by a small margin for some of them. >> yeah. and that was a bit surprising because traditionally so far president trump hasn't done very well in those national head to heads. in fact the fox poll that came out the other day had the

democrats beating him. there was another poll that showed trump beating them. you look to the politics average to get a sense of where things are. but these national polls at this point don't really mean much. to your point, it's more about the states that matter. you've got to look at wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania, and in those states, you know, president trump, it's much, much closer. but you're right, biden seems to have the edge in most of those states. but obviously a long way to go. let me point out one more thing, back to iowa. the last polling we saw there, if you look at a politics average is amy klobuchar had an uptick. again, this could be a scenario i would would love to see more data to see if that's actually she's on the rise. because the vote in iowa is all about expectations. and, you know from joe biden finishes third or fourth, that's the story about how his campaign is failing. but if amy klobuchar finishes third or fourth with 15%, that's a story that she's on the rise and she's got momentum heading into those other states. keep an eye on amy klobuchar. >> maybe a possible vp pick down

the road. karine, just curious buttoning this up, your reaction to the polgs and w polls and who do you think joe biden's clear challenger is? >> it's interesting, you were talking about bloomberg and his path. you're right, it's biden falling and also if there's a brokered convention. the problem that bloomberg has is once this election starts, once iowa goes and new hampshire and the others go, it pretty much starts solidifying. and so it's hard to tell where we are right now because it's pretty much been frozen. you've had biden at the top who's very strong. person with nip who has been very strong. warren who what's had some ups and downs, and then pete buttigieg there. i think it's going to stay that way until in january when people are starting to pay attention again because it's the holiday season. the biggest thing that i have a question about, though, is these early state polls and these undecided voters.

it is very, very large, the voters that are have not made a decision yet. so when they start paying attention in january, will that shift? will there be some movement in that -- in that top tier? so to answer your question, there's still some fluidity because those voters haven't decided yet. >> well, and you look, you talk about the fluidity, that's a great point. i'm sure, tom, you can echo this. you go back and you look -- you look at iowa and back in 2004 john kerry was finished. he came out of nowhere to win iowa. you look i think it was 2012, newt going into the christmas vacation in 2012 was in first place and then romney hammered him with a lot of negative ads. romney ended up, you know, knocking him out in effect in iowa. it is still too early and anybody from biden to mayor pete, to bernie, to elizabeth,

to you brought up amy klobuchar. any of those people if the spaft pro logg past is pro logged could make a last minute run and win that thing. >> you go back to 2004, they beat each other with the ads and allowed kerry to run right up the middle. i remember being at an event for rick santorum a week before christmas where i was the only report they're and ended up winning that eventually just a few weeks later. there are a lot of shifts of that can take place in a very short period of time. and the electorate still is pretty fluid. while democrats are happy with their choices, there still is some anxiety about which of this group might be able to beat trump. but i think two-thirds to upwards of three quarters of democratic voters say they're still open to changing their minds for a lot of these candidates. it's definitely fluid. >> well, karine, thank you very much for being on. and tom bevin, thank you as

well. great conversation. and coming up, britain's new particle lent parliament will gather today for the first time and boris johnson the renew his push to get brexit done by attempting to outlaw another extension. keir simmons and richard haass will join us with the latest developments next on "morning joe joe.". ". (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) believe it. geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

the ones that make a truebeen difference in people's lives. and mike's won them, which is important right this minute, because if he could beat america's biggest gun lobby, helping pass background check laws and defeat nra backed politicians across this country, beat big coal, helping shut down hundreds of polluting plants and beat big tobacco, helping pass laws to save the next generation from addiction. all against big odds you can beat him. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. ♪needs somebody ♪everybody needs somebody to love♪ ♪someone to love ♪someone to love ♪i got a little message for you...♪ ♪when you have that somebody, hold on to them,♪ ♪give them all your love.... wherever they are♪ ♪i need you, you, you ♪i need you, you, you ♪i need you, you, you

♪i need you, you, you ♪ so why treat your mouth any differently? listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99.9% of germs. try listerine®. need stocking stuffers? try listerine® ready! tabs™. seaonly abreva cany to help sget rid of it in...s? ...as little as 2 1/2 days when used at the first sign. abreva starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. abreva acts on it. so you can too. come with free dental and vision care plus so much more! can't wait till i'm 65. free dental care and eye exams plus free designer eyewear. go ahead, take advantage.

it's quite extraordinary. it was a sizic election. but we need to repay their prove the and work 24 hours a day, to deliver. and, of course, the first hundred days were very busy. 140 days or whatever it was. you may remember it be was a very flirty time. but you ain't seen nothing yet, folks. >> prime minister -- british prime minister boris johnson. >> it's good to see after the landslide, he's taking care of his hair stylings. >> he's working ton. >> he works at that. like in the morning he teases it. >> i don't think he does. >> this is a 45-minute effort to make his hair look that way. >>ny wany who. >> this is not normal. >> he's definitely working on

that. it's back in the american idol days when they would go for the tussle of the hair. >> i remember that. anyway, boris johnson quoting president reagan this morning telling his top ministers you ain't seen nothing yet and vowing to work for change. welcome back to morning "morning joe joe." welcome back to mike barn nickal. >> he works on his hair all the time. an hour and a half every day. it's not easy. >> i comb my hair with a piece of toast. >> being married to the most powerful woman in the world is tough. president on the council of foreign relations, rich haas. and nbc soonews senior correspondent keir simmons. >> look at that hair. >> mess it up got you feel uncomfortable now? he's desperate to run to a mirror, i can tell.

>> we've done "star wars," we've talked about hair. willie, let's talk about what's happening today. of course everything is getting in line to what happens, of course, tomorrow which will be a vote on the impeachment of donald j. trump. big news overnight. a lot of democrats, enough democrats in swing districts that donald trump woman in 2016 but the democrats have won in 2018 have come out and announced, not to all fanfare in their directs, that thstricts, going to vote to impeach president trump. that ensures that president trump will be the third president in history to be impeached by the house. >> there's been an air of inevitability in the house for a long time and was erased yesterday when some of these moderate democrats came out one by one and announce thunderhead do support impeachment. elysa slotkin, joe cunningham,

ben mcadams in utah, abby spanberger, andy kim, and anthony brindisi in new york. if there were some tossups, these were them and most of them came out and said they support impeachment. there may somebody defections but tomorrow morning when we come on the air at this time we will be talking about just hours from then, as you say, the impeachment of the president of the united states. >> well, let's listen, i think it was elissa slotkin in michigan. >> this is an incredible moment. some of her constituents were trump supporters and they were making sure they're voices were heard while she was make ting t case for impeachment. and politicians with leadership skills step up and do what they have to do despite the ranker of some of the people in their very on districts. listen. >> i want people to think about

where we will be if it becomes normal to ask foreign governments to intervene in our political process. what if that becomes normal? what if next time we have a democratic president asking the chinese government for a cyberattack, for something new, for some intrusion. for me, this is something that i cannot abide. that i cannot accept. [ cheers and applause ] >> i made this decision out of principle and out of -- [ booing ]. >> in my bones and i will stick to that regardless of what it does to me politically because this is bigger than politics. >> booed. >> i know. >> so, you know, jon meacham, i've been around long enough to listen to that speech and know that what she's predicting is going to happen, will happen. the partisanship will -- and the

side will change, the names will be changed to protect the not so innocent. i know a lot of the arguments the republicans are making this year just regarding impeachment in general, that it's a coup was made by democrats back in 1998, 1999. and there elissa slotkin is talking about in the future other governments like perhaps china or iran will get involved in the elections and it may be to actually destroy republicans chances. so when that happens, we know republicans will be making the same arguments that democrats are making today. but the shortsightedness is just -- it would be laughable if it was not so sad. >> well, not to be overly dramatic, but if the congresswoman is right, and i think she is personally, it's

possible that we might not have those kind -- the luxury of having those kinds of partisan fights if we continue to violate the sovereignty of our elections and try to do everything we can or people in power to do what they can to mold the constitutional order, to misshape, to twist the constitutional order to their own benefit. what you just said, which i agree with, is based on the presumption that the rules of the road that have served us incredibly well, not perfectly, but incredibly well, remember, our immigration niissue in this country is that people want to come here, not that they want to leave, those rules in danger. and if those rules are broken and twisted out of recognition, then you won't be able to have the kind partisan debate you're talking about because it will be even more skewed, the electoral

process, than it is now. and i just -- i remember one of the few things -- i once heard joe lieberman say -- talking about humility in politics. which when people talk about humility in politics they're doing it in the least humble way possible. he said he had opened his senate desk and all the senators who sit at the desks write their names inside and he realized he didn't know who any of them were. it was kind of a moment of you know what? we're only here for a while. so it depends on what you do with that while and what you do on your watch. i would argue that the representative from michigan just did more good than a lot of her colleagues, almost any of her republican colleagues, in standing up for the idea that the rule of law is more important than the temporary allegiance to a passing king. and that's where the republican

party is. and i think history's going to judge this very harshly. >> the white house's argument has been this has been a witch-hunt from the beginning. democrats came in with their hair on fire hell bent on impeachment from the very beginning. there were new members talking about impeachment. elissa slotkin was not one of them. she's a serious person, worked at the cia, dni, she watched the hearings and listened to the evidence and made a decision that she announced yesterday that potentially could cost her her job. but she did it for all the reasons that jon just laid out. >> that's it, relevanwillie. we throw the word courage around here loosely. that took courage to do what elisa slotkin did. and the other members that we put up on the screen a while ago, it took courage to make the vote that they intend to make tomorrow. but guaranteed someone on elisa

scl slotkin's staff and the other congressman that we saw if you do this it's highly likely that you're going to lose your seat. she did it anyway because it was the right thing to do because we have a president of the united states who is clearly guilty of brib briber relationship and trying to fix an american election. >> and how about this, on the eve of the impeachment vote a new piece "the new yorker" reveals the remarkable admission from president trump's personal attorney rudy giuliani where he says he needed former ukraine ambassador marie yovanovitch, quote, out of the way because she was hindering his push to get dirt on former vice president joe biden. said it on the record. in the december issue of the new yorker, giuliani confirmed he saw yovanovitch as an obstacle saying this, quote, i believed that i needed yovanovitch out of the way. she was going to make the investigations difficult for everybody. when asked about yovanovitch in an interview last night, mayor

giuliani confirmed that he pushed her out but denied needing her out of the way, even though he was quoted as saying exactly that. >> now this hit piece, and it's a hit piece. >> of course. >> also has you on the record admitting that you forced out marie yovanovitch. >> of course i did. >> you said you needed her out of the way. >> but you're a personal attorney for the president. why do you need her out of the way? >> i didn't need her out of the way. i forced her out because she's corrupt. >> "the new york times" reports giuliani spoke to president trump a couple of times earlier this year about how yovanovitch had hindered efforts that could be politically helpful to the president. keir, you cover russia and ukraine closely and been watching this from the beginning. as i said earlier, it's very rare as a journalist when one of the lead figures just comes out and explains exactly what happened and confirms everything you've been reporting. >> it's a perry mason moment. exactly right. people, i think, will be looking on with some kind of stunned

amazement around the world. at the same time, of course, no surprise because it's a domestic political fight for many around the world. that's how they're going to view it. so what can you say? it's more of the same as far as the world is concerned. and continually world leaders are trying to figure out, you know, kind of how to forward their interests for ukraine. they have put themselves in a crisis with this. >> this just confirms what rudy giuliani said again on the record to "the new yorker" quoted as saying this, it confirms all the testimony we heard in the intel committee from ambassador yovanovitch herself, fiona hill, gland, ord sondland, he captured in one quote all the evidence we heard in the last few weeks. >> i don't think there's a lot of doubt about what happened and that was as explicit as you get. it was the perry mason moment because we didn't have to wait till the last two minutes of the show, he put it out there. and then the real question is

going to be if a senate trial actually happens does this rise to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors? but i think the argument which the republicans keep going back and forth on about what the facts or and what whether any of this happened, i think that's done. think the only real question is to evaluate the significance of it and whether it warrants impeachment. i think that's kind of where we sfwlrp a are. >> and once again, rudy giuliani just says it out loud. >> once again he says it outloud and once again, mike barnicle he admits outloud and president trump admits in what previous administrations you would have congressional investigators spending months, possibly even years trying to prove. you have rudy giuliani admitting outloud that he had to push aside a united states ambassador so they could investigate more freely one of donald trump's domestic political rivals. donald trump admitting in 2017

to the russian foreign minister that he fired the fbi director to get him out of the way to end an investigation into his improper relationships with whom? with russia. they just admitted outloud. and somehow think that makes it okay. >> and the last line of the interview we saw just a few moments ago with rudy giuliani last evening in which he calls the ambassador -- she's corrupt with no proof, just she's corrupt, stop right there. she's corrupt. and today, i would be willing to bet some money that you'll not hear a single member of the republican party in the united states senate stand up and say, wait a minute, first of all, rudy admitting everything on the record "the new yorker" that we've been investigating and talking about for a year, secondly calling a respected career state department employee corrupt like that, like it's

nothing, and they will say nothing. >> also the question is whether the secretary of state stands up and says anything in defense of exemplary career professional? so far he zblaent wherehasn't. >> where is mike pompeo? he's being nothing more than a henchman for the united states because he should defend a state department professional who has given her entire life promoting america's interests across the globe. keir simmons, we showed boris johnson's misshane haircpen hai the beginning of the segment. it's an incredible story over the past couple months for boris johnson. he becomes prime minister. he sets the record for the most losses in parliament in a row. i think he went 0 for seven, 0 for eight. he gets to election, he what's

the greatest landslide since i don't know if it's blair in '97 or thatcher perhaps in '87. but he's got a remarkable landslide. he wins in the midlands, he wins up north in the is like a guy playing baseball in the world series going to for 20 and hit ailing gra hiting a grand slam and winning the world series for his team. it's made britain and people across the world reevaluate boris johnson's political skills overnight. >> that's right. and, you know, gook back to my earlier answer, we can't forget the way these dramatic events are playing out around the world in ash, ia, and europe, while h the impeachment battle dominates people's attention. in terms of the win by boris, i think what we've seen in the past few days is really important because the real question with boris was whether he was going use that majority in parliament to soften up, if

you like, or to get tougher. and you've seen the financial markets, the pound, rally on his election and now fall again against the dollar. and that's because it does look as if boris is going to double down on brexit. he's going to double down on brexit. what that means -- let's read the tea leaves because we love tea. looking forward to 2020 there's a year for negotiations to take place. now i think you'll see the real economic battle between mainland europe and brait britaiitain. it's going to play out over a year. already the chief executive officer saying it can't be done in that time. johnson is trying to go into the negotiations with a strong hand, if you like. but here's what we should be concerned with. what happens in the next 12 months? and it gets towards november and the u.s. elections in november, what happens to the world economy if britain and europe can't come to a deal? because if i continue to argue, it hasn't shown itself on the markets, but i continue to

believe it's very hard to see how the world's fifth biggest economy can pull itself, rip itself away from the biggest market in the world without that having a real effect on the world economy and on americans 401(k)s and paychecks. >> you know, we shall see. richard haass, though, it'sing it, we focussed a lot on this show and people focussed on how unpopular corbyn was that added to the tori success. but they were saying that democrats needed to take note and be webeware not to follow labor's lead. but i don't think enough attention has been paid to what boris johnson's vision is for the country. it's not conservative. it's not thatcherism, it's nationalism over globalism. and it is also it's -- it's

bigger budgets, more spending over austerity. it is -- it's big spending populism. sounds very familiar. sounds like what donald trump's trying to ride to victory in the upper midwest. >> no, you're exactly right. it's britain first, if you will, and it's big state. it was a competition during the campaign about who could expand government spending more and essentially promise more in the way of what we would call entitlements, public financing between him and jeremy corbyn. corbyn was more expensive, but this is not thatcherism in the is not small government. but he still has a really big problem, just to come back to what keir was talking about. whether it's had he sets this deadline by the end of 2020. the real question is, what has he agreed to? is it basically that you -- if he wants to keep access to the european economy, which obviously he wants to do, well,

he's going to have to accept regulation. but if you make that deal, then why did you bother with brexit? that's kind of what you got now. open the other hand, if he's not willing to septembaccept the ren then he's going to lose access to the european economy and there's no substitute. the idea that you're going to take britain out of europe and plug it into the united states, not so easy. think there's tremendous questions what's going to happen towards the end of the year, whatever the deadline is. what is boris johnson really prepared to agree to. because the one thing i know, joe, he can't have his cake and eat it. he's not going to maintain all the access britain currently enjoys with europe and do it on its own terms. something has to give here. >> keir, you've been doing some reporting on the north korea sanctions. yesterday russian and china proposed that the u.n. security council lit so counc counc council lift some sanctions. that includes statues, seafood and textiles. but the u.s. maintained now was

not the time to consider lifting the sanctions citing the continued missile tests. while russia property reporteex more a hue mabtarian issue are the they insist that u.n. sanctions not be lifted until north korea denuclearizes. keir. >> what this is is the playing out of what we talked about is the great power competition that we're seeing in the is russia and china against the united states. you can think of north korea if you like as the kid in the school yard who's smaller than everybody else but is good at getting the big kids to fight with each other. that's really the role that north korea is playing. the chinese and the russians do not want to see north korean getting back into a huge standoff with the u.s. the way that they did and it looked as if there might be a war which would be so devastating for the korean peninsula. chinese and russians don't want to see that, but they also in a confrontation with the u.s. and snorn playi

north korea is playing a role in that jigsaw, if you'd like. >> these sanctions are beginning to unravel. chinese and russians are already doing sanctions bypassing. and the larger story is the goal of denuclearization has zero chance of working. love letters notwithstanding. so meanwhile, north korea is building up its missile force and it's building up its nuclear stockpile pat some point the questi don't want to go to war, do you agree with some stockpile? the real danger here is if we're not careful, if five yearser in not going to have 20 old nuclear weapons, they're going to have a hundred modern ones with missiles with enormous range and accuracy. that would constitute an existential threat to the united states. this policy is not working and we need to review it. >> richard, let me ask you what

we got, what the united states got out of those photographs that we're just showing, which is the president of the united states crossing the dmz, standing on north korean soil and getting over american pre prestige to zblun tkim jong-un. >> weapon got a suspensiwe do t suspension in missile sets and the real thing is they did not freeze their program. we froze our exercises south korea. the president said he's not in a hurry. he ought to be in a hurry. time is not our friend here because over time north korea the continue to grow and grow. sanctions will get weaker and weaker and we're going to face again a qualitatively different and much larger threat from north korea. >> and the wider picture is, it's advantageous to china and russia to be seen as crucial, trying to help the situation with north korea. that's the way that north korea becomes useful for china and

russia. america is going to find it harder to negotiate hard with both those countries when the north korea issue son the table as well. >> all right. great conversation. richard and keir, thank you both. and jon meacham, before you go you're an author to the exclusive introduction to the official report from the house intelligence committee on president trump's pressure campaign against ukraine. tell us about it. >> yeah, well, when in doubt actually engaged the facts. that's a radical proposition in morn american life, but it's a vital one. john adams said facts are stubborn things. this is the story of why we are here, where we are, and understandably we talk about the partisan struggles. they are compelling, they are real, they are essential to the life of the country. but there's a reason, there's a factual basis for why this vote is unfolding. and this report tells that

story. it's also arguably the first true crime project i've been associated with, so that's very exciting. >> all right. we look forward to that. jon meacham, thank you very much. and still ahead on "morning joe." >> you've lost some altitude the last few weeks. >> but what i care about is out there fighting for working families. keep in mind across this country even with people with insurance, more than 30 million people last year didn't have a prescription filled. why? because they couldn't afford it. didn't get the medical care they needed. why? because they couldn't afford it. we did can do better than that. no one should face the possibility of bankruptcy because of a bad medical problem. >> senator elizabeth warren's poll numbers have been dropping and it probably has to do with her ma her medicare for all plan. we'll talk to john harwood who asked her about that.

we'll talk with him next on "morning joe." that. we'll talk with him next on "morning joe." as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchumal- cut. liberty biberty- cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

aveeno® with prebiotic striple oat complex balances skin's microbiome. so skin looks like this and you feel like this. aveeno® skin relief. get skin healthy™ it's laundry truths, with cat and nat. i have so many kids and so much laundry. i don't have time for pretreating. what even is this? it looks like cheese but it smells like barf.

with tide pods, you don't need to worry. the pre-treaters are built in. so you just toss them in before the clothes. tide pods dissolve even when the water is freezing. nice! if it's got to be clean, it's got to be tide. ♪for the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.♪♪ we go the extra mile to bring your holidays home.

live look at reagan national airport. if that's what you call a look. can barely see it because it's so foggy. is it raining in washington too? got a lot of rain on the east coast today. joining us now, washington bureau chief for usa today susan page. and cnbc editor at large john harwood who just sat down with senator elizabeth warren for a wide-ranging interview. here she is on the impact of her medicare for all plan on her campaign. >> a lot of people said it's not possible to do health care without raising taxes on middle class families. and i said actually it is and showed how. and president obama's head of medicare and his chief labor

economist checked all of the numbers and said, we can do this. you know, i see this very much as what's within your vision and who you're fighting for. if you're just trying to worry about the insurance companies, then it doesn't look like a great idea. but if you're worried about middle-class families, working families -- >> you've lost some altitude the last few weeks. >> but what i care about is out there fighting for working families. keep in mind across this country even with people with insurance, more than 30 million people last year didn't have a prescription filled. why? because they couldn't afford it. didn't get the medical care they needed. why? because they couldn't afford it. we can do better than that. no one should face the possibility of bankruptcy because of a bad medical problem. >> so, john harwood, she's an incredible candidate in so many ways and has stuck to her message. but her answer appeared to be

unless it was more, and you let me know, question do it because someone who really knows about this stuff says it's possible. i still don't think that says how. is it overestimating the needs of the american voters to say that they might want to know more about how? >> well, think she's done a pretty good job of laying out what she would do in f she coul i think the question is can you do that? it's the question about her entire agenda when you think about the scale of what she's proposing, break up big banks, break up big tech, ban fracking, eliminate the health insurance industry, raise $20 billion in taxes. that's a heavy, heavy lift. and the idea that you could get that through even if you had a democratic senate to go with a democratic house, that's very difficult. but she's trying to make the

case that high a.m. intermission wh ambition is what we need. we need solutions on the scale of our problems. >> everyone's asking about exactly what it takes to pay for her plan for medicare for all. is there an equation that she can make that would, perhaps, convince the voter that's concerned it's too lofty and unrealistic it unrealistic and it's not going to happen, does she do that? >> yes. she has a list of tax increases and she was right. betsy helped her vet the list of pay fors that involves ratcheting up the wealth tax that she'd proposed to a scale that many democratic economists think is too high and not workable. and she's got a variety of tax increases, some on employers that the numbers add up to $20 trillion. there's dispute over whether or not her medicare for all plan would only cost $20 trillion.

but that's plenty to bite off and, look, it's a huge challenge and, again, she has hit a stall because of reaction to what she's proposed. but she's going to try to see that through in the six weeks before iowa. >> susan page, your thoughts on how she kind of gets over this blip where there appears to be, as john harwood just said, a stall because of the reaction to this entire sort of imagine matual equatima mathematical equation that appears to be too much. >> her brand season bols so i think she has no option but to stick to her guns. but it's not just concern about whether the numbers add up but can she be elected? one thing we hear from democratic voters everywhere we talk to them they're number one agenda item is defeat donald trump. in our new usa today, some people -- what we found is increasing numbers of democratic voters who are undecided.

25% of democratic voters told us they were undecided about who to support. that's now the number one choice, that's -- even joe biden in our poll, he's at 23%. we saw elizabeth warren dip a few points in this poll compared with the poll we took in october. so i think there are questions not just about the numbers, but also about electability. >> so, john harwood, let me ask you more about her plan because i think it's not just how you pay for it, it's the idea that 160 million americans would lose their private health insurance under her plan. we saw some other candidates early on jump on that idea, raising their hand at debates. i'm thinking of senator harris who when she heard the backlash from that backed off and then made her plan different. she said i listened to the voters, they didn't like that idea. how does senator warren respond to that piece of the argument that she may be going down in support because there air lot of people, despite what she and others have said, who really do like the current health insurance they have and would be up for universal health care as an option, but not mandated?

>> well, she's reacted to that criticism herself in a way that is not precisely how kamala harris did it but was a pullback. she came out and said tin the first year i'm going to start with an incremental step to give people the choice to go into medicare as a supplement to -- and lower the medicare eligibility age to 50 to try to get people covered and show them what a full single-payer system looks like and then get there in year three. that is similar to what joe biden and pete buttigieg have proposed and she said that how she distinguishes herself from them is that she has fewer copays and deductibles and that sort of thing. she's offering a more expensive version of medicare for all who want it than they do. but there are practicality questions both in terms of will it cost what it you it's going

to cast? will the tax increases your proposing raise the amount that you say it's going to raise? and then finally can you pass it? if your decisive vote it going to be a joe manchin type character, is he going vote for that? when i talked to bernie sanders a moment ago he said damn right he would. i would put pressure on him. and joe manchin said damn right i would not. and that's the problem. >> john, quick question. you asked her about her drop in the polls and she pivoted in the segment we saw. did you get her to engage on that at all? and what's the sense, the mood of the candidate and the campaign? is there a sense that maybe they peaked too early, maybe they missed their moment? >> well, i do think there is a broad consensus within the democratic party that the problem that she hit, the headwind that she hit came when she fully embraced medicare for

all and then said, and here's how i'm going to pay for it. and when you really engage those numbers, bernie sanders has not done that. he's put out a menu of options but he's not said here's precisely how i'd pay for if the once you do that, you've got a problem. but as susan said, you don't really have much of a choice at this point. you've kind of got to push forward and, you know, she has an identity. she has a brand. it's big and bold. and she's going to live or die with that brand. >> you know, susan, that's kind of interesting the point that you raise and that john just alluded to. so elizabeth warren, when you see her small stage, big stage, small stage, she is along with bern bernie sanders among the mo electric in the field. she dominates the crowd. and they're theme medicare for all is very resonate among people.

but then oddly justienough, whe popped out the number that it's going to cost, 20, 23 dril trillion dollars. all of the sudden it seems that her candidacy bumped into the topical issue of lelectability. >> that's a big number. i think it was not only the amount of money involved but the loss of private health care plans. people overtime would lose private health insurance. they may like -- there are two theories of the case for democratic candidates. the elizabeth warren theory is let's generate enthusiasm and people are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the united states on income and equality, on health care and everything else. the other theorist case is more the joe biden, pete buttigieg theory of case which is let's appeal, let's win back voters that we've lost, especially in heartland states. and that is the -- maybe the fundamental debate going on in the democratic field now. which theorist case gets you to

the white house with more certainty? >> guys, i will make one point about the politics of what she's proposed. as susan said, the numbers are very large. but the big component, the big revenue raiser she has is the wealth tax. and, again, a lot of economists say problematic, don't think you could raise that much money. but it's really popular. fox news had a poll that came out the other day that showed 68% of americans favor her wealth tax, including 51% of republicans. so she certainly has a chord that she's struck with the idea of taxing the rich, the question is, when you get down to practicalities does it really work? >> all right, john harwood, thank you so much for bringing that to us. eugene robinsons, thank you , t well. we'll be reading your new column in the "washington post,". still ahead, in the wake of

two crashes, boeing is successes spending the 737 max plane. we'll talk about more of what that means for the air erospace giant next on "morning joe." eroe giant next on "morning joe." ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ my body is truly powerful. i have the power to lower my blood sugar and a1c. because i can still make my own insulin. and trulicity activates my body to release it like it's supposed to. trulicity is for people with type 2 diabetes. it's not insulin. i take it once a week. it starts acting in my body from the first dose. trulicity isn't for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't take trulicity if you're allergic to it,

you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, or severe stomach pain. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, belly pain, and decreased appetite, which lead to dehydration and may worsen kidney problems. i have it within me to lower my a1c. ask your doctor about trulicity. at chevy, we're all about bringing families together. this time of year, that's really important. so we're making it easier than ever to become part of our family. man: that's why our chevy employee discount is now available to everyone. the chevy price you pay is what we pay. not a cent more. family is important to us. and we'd like you to be part of ours. so happy holidays. and welcome to the family. the chevy family!

get the chevy employee discount for everyone today. seaonly abreva cany to help sget rid of it in... ...as little as 2 1/2 days when used at the first sign. abreva starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. abreva acts on it. so you can too. the ones that make a truebeen difference in people's lives. and mike's won them, which is important right this minute, because if he could beat america's biggest gun lobby, helping pass background check laws and defeat nra backed politicians across this country, beat big coal, helping shut down hundreds of polluting plants and beat big tobacco, helping pass laws to save the next generation from addiction. all against big odds you can beat him. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message. looking around here i see tablets, laptops, printers, smartphones. they're all connected to the internet. they're all connected. can your network handle all those devices? sometimes. comcast business runs on the nation's largest gig-speed network.

so you can get the bandwidth you need to power all of your devices at peak performance. if all of my devices could have that kind of speed, i would be dancing! get started with secure 35-megabit internet and one voice line for just $64.90 per month. call today. comcast business. beyond fast. it's 44 past the hour. welcome back. boeing has announced that it is

suspending production of its 737 max airplanes until january. after the faa said it would continue reviewing the planes into next year. nbc news correspondent tom c costello who covers aviation has the latest. >> reporter: stacked one nowhere to go outside of seattle, four new brand-new 737 maxes. part of the global max fleet grounded since last march and the two crashes that killed 346, no plane has ever been grounded for so long. now boeing says it's temporarily shutting down fro production of the max. no new planes will roll off the line. in a statement the company says we believe this decision is least disruptive to maintaining long term systems and supply chain health. >> this is the biggest crisis that boeing has faced in decades, and that's because it's most popular plain, the 737 max is now in a position where the company is not sure when it will

fly again. >> boeing says it's not planning any layoffs or furloughs, instead, it will shift employees to different work assignments. at the heart of the problem, a software system called mcas, the boeing itself says played a role in the fatal crashes in indonesia and ethiopia. >> the mcas software was added because the 737 max has heavier engines that that can pull the nose of the plane up. m k mcas was meant to lower it in flight. >> the pilots fought for control but didn't know about mcas because boeing hadn't told airlines or pilots. the faa has been requesting more information about boeing's proposed software and computer fixes. yet the company was pushing the faa to reapprove the plane for flight this month. even though it had not submitted all the paperwork. last week, the faa chief told

boeing's ceo to stop pushing. >> i made it clear that boeing's plan is not the faa's plan. and coming up, congress is poised to ban the sale of poe back coproducts to anyone under the age of 21. and as we go to break, here's a little of joe's song entitled "i don't want to go home for christmas ". thanks. it's really good. it's available now. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪oh there's no place like home for the holidays.♪

♪for the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.♪ we go the extra mile to bring your holidays home. it's how we bring hope to our patients- like viola. her team treated her cancer and strengthened her spirit. so viola could focus on their future. cancer treatment centers of america. appointments available now. cancer treatment centers of america. aveeno® with prebiotic striple oat complex balances skin's microbiome. so skin looks like this and you feel like this. aveeno® skin relief. get skin healthy™ i am all about livi♪g joyfully. hello. the united explorer card hooks me up. getting more for getting away. rewarded! going new places and tasting new flavors. rewarded! traveling lighter.

rewarded. haha, boom! getting settled. rewarded. learn more at the explorer card dot com. and get... rewarded! at t-mobile, we're lighting up 5g, and when you buy a samsung note 10+ 5g, you get one free. plus you can experience it on the nation's largest 5g network. so you can stay connected like this. score a last minute this. get home easier, like this. and share all of this... with that. so do this. on that. with us. and now, buy a samsung note 10+ 5g and get one free when you add a line. looking around here i see tablets, laptops, printers, smartphones.

they're all connected to the internet. they're all connected. can your network handle all those devices? sometimes. comcast business runs on the nation's largest gig-speed network. so you can get the bandwidth you need to power all of your devices at peak performance. if all of my devices could have that kind of speed, i would be dancing! get started with secure 35-megabit internet and one voice line for just $64.90 per month. call today. comcast business. beyond fast. ♪ 51 past the hour. a provision in congress' year he

have end spending bill would ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone under 21 years of age. the measure, which has bipartisan support and is expected to be passed this week includes cigarettes and e-cigarettes. joining us now for more on this is "morning joe" medical contributor, dr. dave campbell. dr. dave, raising the age to 21. what's the impact going to be? >> well, it's important to realize that there are 480,000 deaths per year in the united states, from tobacco-related causes. so by increasing the age to 21, we're going to decrease the number of teenagers that are using cigarettes, including anything that's nicotine or nicotine-related. >> so these tobacco-related deaths, is it related or are there deaths that can be directly connected to smoking

cigarettes? because i'm just wondering -- we're raising the age, is the product even worth being out there on the market. does it kill people? >> oh, it absolutely kills people. we've known since 1964 that tobacco kills people. and in that time, we've seen a two third reduction in the use of tobacco products. so we're still really doing well, the problem is there's still one out of seven adults in the united states that use tobacco products. if you think about the 480,000 deaths per year, one third are from lung cancer, one third are from heart disease, and one third from everything else, lung disease, emphysema, bronchitis, so absolutely, tobacco kills people. making it so teenagers are less likely to use it will improve death rates significantly as we move forward. >> so i know we've been through

this. this has been litigated. this is like knowledge that we have. but if it kills people, and is there, dr. dave, any health benefit, any benefit to tobacco? i'm trying to understand, this is like putting poison out on the market is what you're saying to me. and yet we're still just talking about raising the age? is there any benefit to smoking tobacco? >> no. easy question to answer. >> okay. mike barnicle. >> dave, you know, it's all a matter of perception to some extent. people, tobacco, bad, don't smoke, blah blah blah, you'll die from heart disease, like you just mentioned. but why is it that very few people talk about vaping the way they talk about tobacco and talk about how dangerous vaping is? >> mike, it's all about nicotine

addiction. vaping brings nicotine into the system. if you're an adolescent or a young adult, your brain has no matured, and you will become addicted to nicotine. if you become addicted to nicotine as a teenager, you're far more likely to smoke when you're an adult. if we improve the -- if we take the age from 18 to 21, half of the population in the united states right now are in areas where the age is already 21 to purchase tobacco. if we pull this off, which it looks like we will, for kids that were born between 2000 and 2019, we will decrease by 223,000 the number of those kids who die from tobacco. it's a huge number. >> all right. it's a huge number. and i guess it's progress. dr. dave campbell, thank you very much for coming on this morning. >> you're welcome. still ahead, rudy giuliani is the president's personal

attorney, but he may just have made the case for impeachment stronger. thanks, rudy. we'll have his latest remarks. plus, a key group of house democrats comes out in favor of impeachment while in the senate, republicans look for the easiest path to acquittal. where things stand on the eve of tomorrow's historic vote. that's ahead on "morning joe." that's ahead on "morning joe."

she's so beautiful. janie, come here. check this out. let me see. she looks... kind of like me. yeah. that's because it's your grandma when she was your age. oh wow. that's...that's amazing. oh and she was on the debate team. yeah, that's probably why you're the debate queen. - mmhmm. - i'll take that. look at that smile. i have the same dimples as her. yeah. the same placements and everything. unbelievable. the same placements and everything. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. i wish i could shake your hand. granted. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

so why treat your mouth any differently? listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque, early gum disease, and killing up to 99.9% of germs. try listerine®. need stocking stuffers? try listerine® ready! tabs™. (danny)'s voice) of course you don'te because you didn't!? need stocking stuffers? your job isn't doing hard work... ...it's making them do hard work... ...and getting paid for it. (vo) snap and sort your expenses to save over $4,600 at tax time. quickbooks. backing you. male anchor: ...an update on the cat who captured our hearts. female anchor: how often should you clean your fridge? stay tuned to find out. male anchor: beats the odds at the box office

to become a rare non-franchise hit. you can give help and hope to those in need.

president trump yesterday attacked house speaker nancy pelosi, tweeting, quote, nancy's teeth were falling out of her mouth and she didn't have time to think. and hey, man, you may not like what he said, but he can say whatever he wants, because this is -- >> the united schates. >> yeah, good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it is tuesday, december 17th, along with joe, willie and me, we have historian, author of "the soul of america," and jon meacham. he's an nbc news and msnbc contributor. senior adviser at moveon.org and nbc contributor, jean pierre.

this morning, the house rules committee will take up articles of impeachment for the first time ever. one last step to consider the procedures that will govern tomorrow's full house vote. and with a handful of moderate democrats from trump districts, yesterday announcing they will vote to impeach, it is now all but certain that tomorrow, president trump will become only the third president to be impeached by the house of representatives in history. we will get to the new developments and whether the senate trial will feature any new witnesses, but first, the man as many see as helping get to this precipice, rudy giuliani, and he won't stop talking. he can't stop. >> rudy, it's just not good for you or those ukrainian guys you hang out with or the president of the united states. >> he thinks it is. he just won't stop talking. >> you need a lawyer, actually. >> a new piece in "the new yorker" reveals the remarkable

admission from president trump's personal lawyer, rudy giuliani, where he says that he needed former ukraine ambassador marie yovanovitch out of the way because he was hindering his push to get dirt on former vice president joe biden. in the december issue of "the new yorker," giuliani confirmed that he saw yovanovitch as an obstacle, saying in part, quote, i believe that i needed yovanovitch out of the way. she was going to make the investigations difficult for everybody. when asked about ya vovanovitch an interview last night, giuliani confirmed he pushed her out, but denied needing her out of the way. >> now, this hit piece, and it's a hit piece -- >> of course. >> -- also has you on the record admitting that you forced out marie yovanovitch. >> of course i did. >> you said you needed her out of the way. but you're a personal attorney for the president, so why do you need her out of the way? >> i didn't need her out of the way. i forced her out because she's

corrupt. >> i said i needed her out of the way. now i don't need her out of the way. it's just so confusing. being rudy. talking anytime somebody sticks a microphone in front of you. >> "the new york times" reports that giuliani spoke to trump a couple of times earlier this year about how yovanovitch had hindered efforts that could be politically helpful to the president. quote, in conversations in the first months of the year with the president, mr. giuliani, by his account, cast ms. yovanovitch as impeding not only investigations in ukraine that could benefit mr. trump, but also mr. giuliani's efforts to gather evidence to defend him and target his rivals in the united states. the paper continues, giuliani told the president and mr. pompeo that miss yovanovitch was blocking visas for ukrainian prosecutors to come to the united states to present evidence to him and also to

federal authorities, that he claimed could be damaging to mr. biden and his son, hunter biden. this seems to be backing up the whole concept. >> everything backs up everything. >> by the way, this is -- this is rudy's impeachment. >> yeah. >> i mean, none of this would have happened without rudy giuliani, and you talk to people around donald trump and they tell you that, that dish me-- i we'll continue with this, willie, but he was so desperate for attention. he was so desperate to be in the news, he was so desperate to say, hey, i'm talking to the president and i'm really important to the president of the united states, even while people at state, people at d.o.d., people in the white house understood the risk that rudy actually had towards donald trump and the presidency. you know, jimmy breslin nailed it when he said that rudy giuliani was a small man in search of a balcony. you talk to people who worked

with him when he was at his height. they will tell you all of this is about nothing more than rudy giuliani being desperate to stay relevant. and he -- it was so desperate to remain relevant and continues to be so desperate to remain relevant that he keeps endangering the president's prospects day in and day out. >> so much of where the president is right now is because of the man you're looking at right now. former new york city mayor rudy giuliani. you know, as journalists, you usually have to work a lot harder than this to get to the truth. but rudy giuliani, if you put a tape recorder in front of him, just literally comes out and says it. again, this is the quote in "the new yorker" published last night. "i believe i needed yovanovitch out of the way. she was going to make the investigations difficult for everybody." he's saying, first of all, that there were investigations out there, looking into joe biden and everything else, but he just spells it out and lays it out, again, so he can go on fox last night and be on tv and go to the

grand havana room later and talk about it with the people he sees there. but my goodness, he just literally -- this isn't the first time he just comes out and says it. and this confirms, obviously, so much of what we heard in front of the intel committee, from ambassador yovanovitch and fiona hill and everyone else. >> what does this remind you of, willie? it reminds you of donald trump saying to the russian foreign minister, hey, i had to fire comey, i had to get him out of the way. this would get pressure off of us because of the investigation. now rudy is admitting the same thing regarding ukraine. >> and he goes on and on, if you read through the piece, it's extraordinary, he laalmost lays out chapter and verse what the president is being alleged of and will be impeached for tomorrow, rudy just comes out and says it. >> i think it's also part of the mick mulvaney defense, get over it. see, we did this? yeah. yeah, yeah. and i'm wondering, jon meacham, is there any character, figure

in history, any situation in history that parallels this. this is, i think, a new level, a new arena where the truth is being devalued by being put out there and saying, yeah, get over it. and whether it's the legal community or the journalists covering the story or ordinary, everyday americans, they're so shocked by it that it just goes right past them. >> reporter: well, also, it's a little like the frog boiling in water, which is an analogy that we hear a lot. you know, if you put a frog in and the boil comes slowly, you don't notice it quite as much. and right now, we're boiling. and i think that the thing that really kind of bothers me the most in terms of long-term democratic, lower case "d," culture is people keep saying, we're tired of the impeachment. or we think there are more important things. well, i'm tired of going to the

doctor. you know, i'm tired of getting vaccinations. i'm tired of exercising. that doesn't mean i don't have to do those things, though. this isn't about entertainment. it's not about keeping people interested. it's about the constitution and i don't think it's much more complicated than that. we're in this moment where reason and passion, the two fundamental human impulses and passion is much more easily acted on than reason, are in fundamental conflict. and i like to think that if the partisan shoes were on other feet, we would be saying the same thing. those of us who think that the facts and the constitution should govern this. and one of the things that i think is so hard for people on the trump side of things to understand is, it's not always all about him. it's -- sometimes it's about the

facts, it's about the constitution. this is about the order that served us incredibly well for a long time. but it only serves us well if we, the people, are part of it. and if we allow people, representatives to react to fact as opposed to passion and pre-existing philosophy. that's what's at stake. still ahead on "morning joe," you can add another name to the list of moderate democrats voting to impeach donald trump. politics be damned. we'll run through the full group ahead. but first, let's go straight to bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning to you, mika pap very active day. it started. yesterday afternoon. alexandria, louisiana, had a tornado emergency. we went through the northern portion of the city and significant damage was done. we had one fatality infatalitie. typically we get them in december, this is where they happen through the deep south.

we're not quite done yet. we had a new tornado watch issued for northern portions of florida, anywhere from just west of tallahassee over towards panama city, pensacola, and into a little sliver here of southern georgia. the heavy rain is just about done in atlanta. now, the snowy, icy side of this has been a mess overnight. i-70 is treacherous right now. about 52 million people under winter weather alerts. 5 million under flood alerts. areas of west virginia, especially. and if we're going to get additional snowfall out of this, we're mostly talking areas from hartford northward. and airport delays are also starting to add up in that snow. boston logan reporting 80-minute delays. and i'm sure we'll see the new york airlines reporting shortly. here's the additional snowfall forecast the rest of today. the capital district up through northern new england, another 2 to 4 inches on top of what you already have on the ground. still rainy in areas of the southeast, still deal with a few storms, and i think the airport delays will build in areas like charlotte, raleigh, and here like at reagan national. the planes are landing, so at

least everything is still moving a little bit. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. tom steyer: i'm tom steyer, and i approve this message. climate is the number one priority. i would declare a state of emergency on day one. congress has never passed an important climate bill, ever. this is a problem which continues to get worse. i've spent a decade fighting and beating oil companies, stopping pipelines, stopping fossil fuel plants, ensuring clean energy across the country. how are we going to pull this country together? we take on the biggest challenge in history, we save the world and we do it together. (loud fan noise) (children playing) ♪ (music building)

experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment. the ones that make a truebeen difference in people's lives. and mike's won them, which is important right this minute, because if he could beat america's biggest gun lobby, helping pass background check laws and defeat nra backed politicians across this country, beat big coal, helping shut down hundreds of polluting plants and beat big tobacco, helping pass laws to save the next generation from addiction. all against big odds you can beat him. i'm mike bloomberg and i approve this message.

the zip code you're born into can determine your future. your school. your job. your dreams. your problems. (indistinct shouting) but at the y, we create opportunities for everyone, no matter who you are or where you're from. for a better us, donate to your local y today.

overnight, congressman anthony brendisy says he plans to vote to impeach donald j. trump after concluding that he abused the power of his office. trump won brindisi's congressional district by 15 percentage points. this comes after a group of five moderate democrats who all flipped their districts from red to blue in 2018 announced yesterday that they plan to vote to impeach president trump tomorrow. those democrats include congresswoman elissa slotkin of

michigan, congressman joe cunningham of south carolina, congressman ben mcadams of utah, congressman abigail spanberger of virginia, and congressman andy kim of new jersey. congresswoman slotkin explained her decision to vote for impeachment during a hotown hal meeting in rochester, michigan, last night and the partisan divide over impeachment was on full display. about 450 people attended her town hall. many of them supporting her decision to impeach, but there was also a handful of trump supporters who chanted and booed throughout much of the meeting. >> so i want people to think about where we will be if it becomes normal to ask foreign governments to intervene in our political process. what if that becomes normal? what if next time we have a democratic president asking the chinese government for a cyber attack, for something new, for some intrusion? for me, this is something that i

cannot abide, that i cannot accept. i made this decision out of principle and out of a duty to protect and defend the constitution. i feel that in my bones and i will stick to that regardless of what it does to me politically, because this is bigger than politics. >> this is absolutely so fascinating. and this is what politics is all about. this is something you've been through on different levels when it comes to speaking your truth, speaking the truth, to perhaps constituents who are not happy with it. >> who will disagree? i was in one of the most conservative districts and i led, you know, the coup to take newt gingrich out. a lot of people were unhappy. some of the town hall meeting sounded like that, but an incredible thing happened, willie. when you show up, even those people chanting against you respect you for showing up. it's the people that make the votes and then hide from their

constituents. they don't survive. so that's a good move. i would make the same -- give the same suggestion to republican senators that we've been talking about over and over again, if you're cory gardner or susan collins. if you make unpopular votes supporting the president of the united states, you run and hide, you don't talk to the press, you don't meet your people at town hall meetings. it's much more likely you're going to lose. you have to face your voters head-on and you have a much better chance of surviving politically. but how fascinating it is, willie, that "the new york times" had the article last night. we're talking about it this morning. there were people in trump districts, democrats in trump districts that have decided to vote for impeachment. certainly, many would say, profiles in courage. others, i guess, cynics might say it was a politically -- it's a politically shortsighted move to make. but regardless, they're going to

be in for the political fights of their life now as they move forward. >> as you know better than anyone sitting on this program right now, there are hard moments when you're a politician. it's not all fun. and sometimes you have to go out and explain to the people who voted for you, some who voted against you why you're making a decision. and i don't think anyone can argue that what congresswoman slotkin said last night who wasn't at least principled. she wasn't one of the ones that came out two years ago and said, i'm coming to town to impeach this guy. she's a former cia analyst who sat at hearings and listened to all the evidence and said, in an argument where i'm not exactly sure what the rebuttal is, she said, i cannot abide watching a president of the united states of any party solicit dirt from somebody else to interfere hour elections. so she may lose her seat over that. joe cunningham in south carolina, he's in a trump district. he could lose his seat over that. but they've made the decision that what they're seeing and what they're hearing from this president is more important than their job. and a lot of people aren't making that choice.

>> that's right, willie. look, it's about service, not re-election. and if you hear that over and over again, especially when i was hearing about congresswoman slotkin, you think about her bio, she has a national security bio. this is an impeachment on national security. she served abroad. like you mentioned, she was a cia analyst, an official for the department of defense. i mean, this is very serious for them. they are looking at their constitutional duty and reacting in that way. this is about voting on your conscience. that's what nancy pelosi has asked everyone. that's what nadler, when he went -- one of the last times he gaveled out said, vote with your conscience. and so this is -- this also goes back to what jon meacham was just saying, this is beyond donald trump. this is about our democracy, our constitution. this is about, is the president above the law? and he is not. and this is about rule of law and so when you think about those people who showed up and protested at her, at her town

hall yesterday, you should also think about there are about 160,000 people that are going to come out and say that the president is not above the law. they're going to show up never state across the country, 600 events. there's the other side of this, too. about saving our democracy and making a statement to congress. coming up on "morning joe," new poll numbers out this morning from "the washington post." we've got the paper's polling director with a first look at what voters are saying about removing donald trump from office. "morning joe" is back in a moment. fice "morning joe" is back in a moment ♪oh there's no place like home for the holidays.♪

♪for the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.♪ we go the extra mile to bring your holidays home. and i like to question your i'm yoevery move.n law. like this left turn. it's the next one. you always drive this slow? how did you make someone i love? that must be why you're always so late. i do not speed. and that's saving me cash with drivewise. my son, he did say that you were the safe option. and that's the nicest thing you ever said to me. so get allstate. stop bossing. where good drivers save 40% for avoiding mayhem, like me. this is my son's favorite color, you should try it. [mayhem] you always drive like an old lady? [tina] you're an old lady. ♪ ♪ i got that vibe, got that vibe ♪ ♪ got that vibe, yeah, i ain't petty, ♪ ♪ looking fly, looking fly, ♪ ♪ looking fly, yeah, they ain't ready. ♪ ♪ i can shine, i can shine, ♪ ♪ i can shine. ♪ i'mma do what i'm made to do. ♪ ♪ i'mma do what i'm made to do. ♪

built for excellence. you start from the foundation up. the excellence is reaching dreams and chasing them at the same time. ♪

chasing them at the same time. aveeno® with prebiotic striple oat complex balances skin's microbiome. so skin looks like this and you feel like this. aveeno® skin relief. get skin healthy™ looking around here i see tablets, laptops, printers, smartphones. they're all connected to the internet. they're all connected. can your network handle all those devices? sometimes. comcast business runs on the nation's largest gig-speed network. so you can get the bandwidth you need to power all of your devices at peak performance. if all of my devices could have that kind of speed, i would be dancing! get started with secure 35-megabit internet and one voice line for just $64.90 per month. call today. comcast business. beyond fast.

♪ welcome back to "morning joe." there's a new "washington post"/abc poll out just this morning that shows 49% of americans agree president trump should be impeached and removed from office. 46% disagree with that idea. broken down by party, support for impeachment and removal includes only 12% of republicans, 47% of

independents, and 85% of democrats. let's bring in the polling director at "the washington post," scott clement, and the cofounder and publisher of real clear politics, tom bevin. let's start with "the washington post." and what did you see in those new numbers? >> one thing we've seen is an incredible amount of stability. we did a poll before the public hearings began and found 49% in support, 47% opposed to impeachment. those attitudes are hardly changed at all. one thing we had seen is a slight increase in the partisan divide. and what's also interesting is that extends to views to the two basic charges that have been made against trump. that he improperly pressured ukraine to investigate joe biden and his son, as well as that he obstructed congress. 49% believe trump did, on both of those accounts, the same percentage who support impeaching and removing him. >> tom, if you look at the abc news poll from yesterday, you had a majority of americans

believing that he improperly used his office and did an assortment of things that obviously -- it was fox news, i'm sorry, it was a fox news poll yesterday. so it seems as if the democrats have actually made some points when it comes to impeachment, when you talk about the specifics and the abuse of office and some of these torre concerns that democrats and the media have been expressing. but, again, those impeachment numbers remain firm. i guess the only difference in most of these polls is you've seen a partisan divide become even more stark and independents breaking a little more in support of impeachment. but the overall number staying at about 50%, 49/50%. >> yeah, i think that's right pip mean, you're right. in most of these polls show pluralties if not majorities think that president trump did something that was either unethical, immoral, or possibly

illegal. so that's not the issue. the issue is do people support the impeachment and removal of the president. and we had four polls that came out yesterday that show opposition to impeachment above support. it crossed the line in our real clear politics average for the first time. support now is underwater by about a percentage point. and that's moved anywhere from about two points to the cnn poll that came out yesterday was an eight-point swing from last month. and in that poll, support among democrats went from 90% down to about 77%. but most of the polling is pretty stable, although there has been a move, an increase in the opposition to impeachment in this last round of polling. but again, it's still relatively a 50/50 proposition. >> well, and of course, jon meacham, we've talked about this before. but you look at the numbers that richard nixon had throughout most of the watergate hearings, in the 20s and the 30s.

it of course spiked at the end. bill clinton, support for impeachment for bill clinton never got into the 30s. how remarkable it is that many in the white house are celebrating the fact that one out of two americans believe that he committed acts that should have him impeached and removed from office. >> yeah, everything's a matter of context, right? so i don't think it's surprising in a hyperpartisan era that we're seeing these numbers reflect, essentially, a 50/50 nation, a 48/48 nation, which i actually think is a sign of some hope, if you'll bear with me for a second. i means that very few people have to be convinced of the rightness of a given course. now, the opposite of that, it takes a few people to keep us in stasis, but we're really not talking about trying to get to a

90/10 country. we're not a 90/10 country. we are a 48/48 country. and the -- and even you look at presidential elections and roughly the modern era, they're almost all incredibly close. there are three big exceptions, 1964, 1972, 1984. and two of those presidents either didn't -- one didn't leave for re-election, one left under resignation, and one ran into iran contra. we have an incredibly closely divided nation and, you know, you will never get -- you know, if you're on the side of this about the rule of law and the constitution and you're about to give up hope, because you can't move these numbers, i just say, you know, remember, 34% of america, after joe mccarthy, was censured, according to the "washington post," actually. approved of joe mccarthy's witch

hunt. and so, just, with a proportionate set of expectations and make the case to people who are being true to the insights of the american revolution, was that you should change your mind if the facts dictate it. you shouldn't just pick a team and decide that it doesn't matter what's being said, it matters who's saying it. that's not part of what we're supposed to be doing. >> karine jean-pierre, jump in on these numbers. i think the most frightening concept for democrats, when you look at the number of people who think the president did something wrong, but don't think he should be impeached for it, i think that's the impact of the "get over it" defense, which is, in my opinion, far more effective than many democrats or members of the media might think. like, oh, my gosh, how could that work? i think it can work. i think to an extent, that's what this white house has. and it's upon democrats, would you agree, on the trail and in

congress to really clearly sharply, searingly point out the threat to our national security, that this quid pro quo poses for our country. and if they can't make that case, they could be in trouble. >> i think that's right, mika. they have to make the clear case. they have to have a clear message, when they are back on the campaign trail just next year as we're going into an election cycle. here's the thing, mika. i would like to use kentucky as an example. the reason i would like to use kentucky as an example is donald trump won that state in 2016 by 30 points. just a couple of weeks ago, as we all know, a democratic governor won that state and why is that? because donald trump went into that state and put impeachment on the ballot box. they even did an ad on impeachment. so when people say that it hurts -- impeachment hurts democrats, there hasn't been a case for that. yes, we're looking at this

polling, but in actuality, when you look at the electoral process, it's hurt donald trump in the last couple of weeks in these elections. so, yes, democrats have to go into a clear, clear message, but we have had seen signs that have hurt donald trump as he's gone out there and put it on the ballot. >> coming up on "morning joe," so far elizabeth warren and bernie sanders have largely left each other alone on the campaign trail. "the new york times" calls it a de facto nonaggression fact as they rally support, particularly among younger voters. we've got a new look at that important demographic, next on "morning joe." that important demogrhiapc, next on "morning joe." you wouldn't do only half of your daily routine

so why treat your mouth any differently? listerine® completes the job by preventing plaque,

early gum disease, and killing up to 99.9% of germs. try listerine®. need stocking stuffers? try listerine® ready! tabs™. neyou suryes.out this?? [ suspensful music playing ] no! we need to keep moving. the whole things coming down. come on! i can't see. i can't see! you need to trust me. jump!

american history not a fairytail. thomas jefferson wrote what many believe to be the most important document in human history. he was a slave holder. we've never lived up to our american ideals.

jefferson himself didn't. but what he wrote has pulled us towards justice for more than two centuries. it's always a fight and it is a battle that's never fully finished. but if donald trump is re-elected, he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation. we give donald trump four more years, this will not be the country envisioned by washington, this will not be the nation bound together by lincoln. this will not be the nation lifted up by roosevelt or inspired by kennedy. it will not be the nation that barack obama truth bends towards justice. we cannot and i will not let this man be re-elected the united states of america. i'm joe biden and approve this message. >> that was a in tv ad from the biden campaign that will air in iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina through thursday, in which time president trump is expected to be just the third president in united states history to be impeached. mike barnicle and "usa today's"

susan page are back with us. joining us now, the host of msnbc's "politics nation" and president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton and research director at democracy fund voter study group, robert griffin. the group in partnership with ucla nationscape will be out with new surveys every week until the election. good morning, guys. we'll get to the surveys in just a moment. joe, i want to get your take on the ad where vice president biden is not talking at all about his opponents in the democratic field, but he's making an argument about stopping president trump. >> yeah, i -- i personally -- i just personally love the ad. i love the content of the ad. it did something that i've thought not only american politicians, but also american educators should do for some time. and that is balance america's heritage and the promise with america with its shortfalls and figure out a way to move forward using the words and the values

of the founders written on paper, while moving past, of course, the horrors of slavery, the horrors of jim crow. and rev, we've talked about this a good bit, that you and i have personally. that when we completely turn our backs on history, like james baldwin said, there's no need that we actually be confined by our history. that we make a mistake, but in this case, biden seems to say, you know what, you know what actually martin luther king did, and that was use the promise of america, use the words of jefferson, use the words of the declaration of independence to say this is our promise, this is where we need to move. and with biden, he adds a powerful edition to that. we can't move forward if we re-elect a president who excites

people in charlottesville and has praise heaped on him by david duke in charlottesville, because of his, let's just face it, the moral equivalency that he preached after charlottesville. >> no doubt about it. i think you can't achieve and move toward the promise if you don't remember what the promise was and why the promise was given. and i think that when we looked at biden's ad, he reminds us in the big picture what was the promise of america? whether it was from the beginning, declared by the founding fathers through lincoln, through roosevelt, through the civil rights movement of dr. king and on and on. and if you allow people in the moment, like a donald trump to make us forget the tradition of struggling to make this a more perfect union, you become sidetracked with a new addition

rather than maintaining a tradition of trying to achieve an america that works for everyone. i think it was a very well-done ad and a reminder of where we need to be in this country and where we need to evolve to if we're going to survive as a country. >> well, and reverend al, he talked about, with barack obama's election, talked about what roosevelt talked about, what we hear jon meacham talking about a lot, about how the moral arc of this country actually does usually move upward. there are a lot of us who believe that it's taken steps back and we're a flawed nation, but, you know, when we completely turn our back on our history, when we completely turn our back on our heritage because of the sins, because of the personal horrific failings of many of our founding fathers, without looking at the words and without embracing the promise,

that's an area that donald trump actually thrives in. because if we dismiss the genius of madisonian checks and balances, because of madison's personal failures, donald trump thrives in that environment. it's madisonian checks and balances that actually stop him from saying, article ii of the constitution gives me unlimited power. because madison said just the opposite. >> absolutely. if he can erase what madison and those that wrote in the beginning of this country, having a constitution and having a way they wanted to govern, if he can erase that and take therefore our checks and balances, then he can take shots at the impeachment proceedings or any accountability without any fear of people looking at it as unpatriotic, because he's given us some kind of convenient historic amnesia.

we can't afford that. the reason the country was formed was laid out. we need to manifest that, not avoid it. and the reason we've had to struggle with our flaws is to live up to that promise. otherwise, we end up justifying our flaws and pardoning our weaknesses. >> robert, let's look at your study in the context of all of that and see where the country is heading in 11 months out. and you break it down by generation, from gen "x" to millennials to gen "z" to boomers to silent and older voters that support donald trump and are more republican than the rest. what jumps out to you first, gen "z," let's start there. >> i think the most important thing to notice about this is how hard it is to know stuff about gen "z." they're 18 to 22-year-olds, they're not a huge portion of the population. we're actually able to estimate stuff about this group as a result. what we're doing with nation escape and what we see here is that millennials are among the most democratic-leaning

generation that we've ever seen. and that's pretty linear. you look over that chart and just generation by generation, it's getting a little more democratic leaning. and that's because they're a bit more racially diverse, they're more educated, and at least right now, they're on track to be more secular than other generations. >> and compared to millennials, they're even a little bit more democratic. and notably, as you point out, they are even more anti-trump than are millennials. >> if they're a little bit more democratic, they're a lot more anti-trump. there's a ten-point difference regardless of who the candidate is between millennials and gen "z." they are just reacting to this president. i think probably as a result of their more liberal racial attitudes, their more liberal attitudes around immigration, their more liberal attitudes around gender, even than millennials, again. millennials already a pretty liberal generation. gen "z," just a little bit more. >> mike, as always, the question with young voters is will all that passion we see in the streets, that passion we see online translate to all of those voters showing up at the ballot box in 11 months?

>> that's a great question. we were talking about it off air. so i guess the question is, off of 2018, what does that tell us about voting patterns among these groups? do you think they will vote in enough strength this year as opposed to like 2016? >> yeah. so they're probably going to vote at higher rate, because everybody's going to vote at higher rate. 2008 election was the highest turnout we've seen for a midterm election in 100 years. it looks like we're on track for a really high turnout election in 2020. that doesn't necessarily mean there are going to be a bigger percentage of voters, because everybody is going to be voting more, but this is going to be a really high turnout election. >> robert, susan page has a question for you in washington. >> these numbers must be chilling for republicans, because whether or not they determine the outcome of the 2020 election, what does this portend for the gop looking down the road. are gen xers and gen "z" like to stick with these partisan

preferences as they get older and more likely to vote? >> so what we know about generations is that these young years are formative years. that the types of partisan attachments that they have in this part of their life, those are stuff that they're going to hold on to over time. so i think, you know, it's a short-term, it's a little bit of a problem for the republican party. again, they're not a huge percentage of the population. midterm to long-term, it's kind of an existential crisis. you can't keep losing generations like this, generation over generation, and expect to still be viable at a national level. >> you know, i want to follow up on that, actually. you know, susan page, when i was 17, when i was 18 years old, it was when ronald reagan was running for president in '79 and '80. and i know a lot of people in the media were shocked that so many young voters actually moved towards reagan. and i remember reading a biography about reagan 30 years later that talked about how your ideology and world view when

you're 18 years old, for the most part, stays with you. a lot of political scientists have said that in the past. it doesn't really change that dramatically. and that radically, unless, of course, you're donald trump and decide to become a republican at 65. >> interesting, i think you do see generations that are defined by whoever was in charge at the point they came of age. fdr stamped that he left, jfk certainly left a stamp on the young generation that came to age when he was president. ronald reagan. and i guess the question with president trump is, maybe he leaves a stamp that goes both ways, a stamp that has positive connotations for one group of voters, but we've certainly seen, and this has been consistent in all kinds of polls, that voters, younger voters, voters under 35 are those most likely to be in favor of this has impeachment and to support his removal from office. and to support democrats for president. >> as we've been cycling through some of these polls, i think

it's worth putting up again the consistency that you've referenced. no matter who the candidate is, major support from young voters at the top. gen "z." and then it sort of ticks down a little bit as you get older and older, to where against biden, trump has plus -- trump is plus 4 among the silent and older, but that's the only group he wins. same can be said for sanders, same can be said for warren, same can be said for major pete buttigieg. there's an obvious trend there. >> absolutely. this is what the country looks like when you're polling plus 10 for biden, which is the average of the polls right now. this generational viewpoint into it kind of puts it in stark relief how big the age differences are in this upcoming election. >> so fascinating. the entire survey is really interesting. people should check it out. robert griffin, thanks so much. >> coming up next, there are new signs that the nra's hold on congress is beginning to crack. we'll get into that. and as we go to break, some news. congresswoman mikie sherrill of new jersey, a democrat, has issued a statement announcing

she will vote to impeach donald trump tomorrow. the moderate democrat says she believes the president has undermined the values of the country and the constitution. more on that when we come right back. rob . . . . . . steyer: i'm about to say two words that will make washington insiders very uncomfortable: term limits.

you and i both know we need term limits, that congress shouldn't be a lifetime appointment. but members of congress, and the corporations who've bought our democracy hate term limits. too bad. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message because the only way we get universal healthcare, address climate change and make our economy more fair is to change business as usual in washington. hour 36 in the stakeout. as soon as the homeowners arrive, we'll inform them that liberty mutual customizes home insurance, so they'll only pay for what they need. your turn to keep watch, limu. wake me up if you see anything. [ snoring ] [ loud squawking and siren blaring ] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ the unitedllaxin'. explorer card makes things easy.

traveling lighter. taking a shortcut. woooo! taking a breather. rewarded! learn more at the explorer card dot com. ♪for the holidays you can't beat home sweet home.♪♪ we go the extra mile to bring your holidays home. at to cover the essentialsyou have in retirement, as well as all the things you want to do. because when you're ready for what comes next, the only direction is forward. more than 20 years, congress set to approve money for

research on gun violence. it includes $25 million for research on gun safety, money that would be divided between the cdc and the national institutes of health. it forbid the cdc funding from being used for gun control. last year congressional leaders issued clarifying language that made clear that the cdc can conduct research into gun v violen violence. joining us now, director of center for medicine health and site at the great vanderbilt university. let me start with this funding, $25 million may not seem like a big deal to a lot of people, but why is it significant? >> it's not a huge amount compared to funding for things

like hiv that are in the billions, but symbolically we had a ridiculous research ban, effecti effectively since the 1990s, where they said funding cannot go to large scale gun research. and we had a desiccation for fundings like suicide prevention, we don't have any big databases. people are not building their careers. we have a shortage of knowledge that happened at the same time that gun deaths have soared in this country. >> in the past they have lobbied against this. research for gun safety, so what changed this year? >> we have a democratic congress partially and people that ran for congress in the aftermath of mass shootings. i also think more broadly this is not really on the ground,

just a democrat or republican issue, many people are tired of 40,000 gun deaths a year. mass shootings, school shootings. i found that i was talking to pro gun republicans who basically said yeah, i'm pro second amendment, but what are the best policies? what kind of gun locks or safety measures can we have? so i also think that people are just fed up with not knowing what to do in this country to support the second amendment and on the other hand really create common practices that will help everyonely in a safer socie liv society. >> i'm sure you have encountered people who said $25 million for research, we know what happens, why do we need the research? >> i think the research is vitally important for a few reasons. we have a patch work in this country of different states and different communities with different policies. when people ask me as a

researcher what can duo we do t stop the epidemic of mass shootings, and i don't know. i would like to know which policy works the best, which kind of policy works the best and we don't know that and we don't know that because we don't have the kinds of studies that large government funding can promote, things like large databases, comparison studies and factors like that. the federal funding on this issue, we can say that gun violence and gun death should be taken as seriously as other man made risk factors like cigarette smoking, automobile accidents, and things like that where we infused funding and it lead to longer lifespans for americans. >> i concur on the importance, but at the same time wouldn't you think that the fact that the nra is now not showing the same

thing as is has in the past, that with the mass shootings continuing to happen, that people have a gun to feel protected, and we need to look for a definite way. many of us felt that way, but even some of the nra supporters saying they need to get back here. i thought on the every day level, i work for an organization called safe tennessee, we find that across the board more and more people support things like background checks, red flag laws, and other safety procedures. i certainly think it is a level

of being fed up and that hard line that they pushed has been untenable. i think the other point is that the nra is exerting tremendous influence in the supreme court. it is important to note that gun policy and public health research is just one part of this conversation, but the courts will have a tremendous say in predicting gun policy as well. >> it is interesting, how much the politics have changed. you talk about the courts, the court is now allowing gun manufacturers to be sued. certainly the new town parents were allowed move forward with that, but the politics have changed so much. the nra in 2018 was badly outspend. michael bloomberg put out an add talking about the number of school shootings. the overwhelming majority of

republicans support background checks. military style bans, nra members even, a majority support these gun safety measures, it seems the three lobbyists in washington for the nra find themselves more and mer iore insulated even from their own member. >> we saw democrats become very weary from talking about gun control measures in 1994. and this year we begin to see the candidates talking more about gun policy than they have in decades. this will be a test of where americans stand on guns and how much they care, what intensity of feeling they have about gun control policy. we ask in our new poll about what issue matters most to you and your vote, gun control was near the top for voters and that was a sign for some of the

changes you're talking about in the political landscape when it comes to guns in america. >> it is a dramatic change. history, of course, will be unfolding over the next 24 to 36 hours. we will be in washington tomorrow covering the impeachment of donald j. donald trump, but for now, stay with msnbc, stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> thanks so much, it is stephanie ruhle, tuesday, december 17th, and the stage is being set for a new chapter in american politics. just over 24 hours from now the house will convene to vote on articles of impeachment. those lawmakers are expected to impeachment president of the united states for only the third time in our nation's 243 year history. jeff bennet is o