that does it for me. i'm going to see you back here at 11:00 a.m. eastern. "hardball" is next. >> fighting the freeze, let's play hardball. ♪ >> good evening. i'm jeff bennett in for chris matthews. new evidence continues to bolster the case against the president as he awaits his trial in the u.s. senate. "the new york times" is revealing stunning details tabt tug of war inside the administration after the president ordered a freeze on u.s. aid to ukraine according to dozens and current officials, mr. trump's demands sent shockwaves through the white house and the pentagon where opposition to the order was more intense than previously known. "the times" reports that in an oval office meeting, national security adviser john bolton, defense secretary mark esper,

and secretary of state mike pompeo tried and failed to convince the president to release the aid. we're also learning that by late summer, the white house was still trying to develop a legal justification to keep the aid frozen. the proposed argument was that mr. trump's role as commander in chief would simply allow him to override congress on the issue. at the same time though it appears that white house budget official michael duffey was ready to blame the white house for the hold up. duffy emailed the pentagon suggesting any failure to release the aid should not rest with the white house. but in a stinging rejection, a pentagon official shot back with this: you can't be serious. i am speechless. late today, senate minority leader said the recording further highlights the need for witnesses to testify at the president's trial. >> simply put, in our fight to have key documents and witnesses

in the senate impeachment trial, these new revelations are a game changer. the story makes the choice even clearer. will the senate hold a fair trial, or will it enable a cover up? president trump, if you're so confident you did nothing wrong, why won't you let your men testify? >> all right. i'm joined now my democratic congressman steve cohen of tennessee, a member of the house judiciary committee. charl charlie savage. this reporting from the "new york times," at the very least it's more evidence that president trump personally asked for this aid to ukraine to be withheld despite objections from top aides and that it had nothing to do with national security because if it did you wouldn't have had the national security adviser at the time, the secretary of defense and the secretary of state all encouraging him to release the aid. >> well, it wasn't about

national security and it certainly wasn't about investigating corruption of anything in ukraine. it was about these conspiracy theories that apparently putin or somebody had convinced trump had some basis for reality or maybe putin just wanted trump to deliver to help putin get off the hook as if putin cares about being on the hook for interfering in our elections. i'm sure he probably likes the idea that he's credited with that. but they want to get something on the bidens for sure. and this just -- this has been -- this has been on for a couple or three months and they don't want their folks to testify because they would have to purger themselves, show the american public that the president of the united states did indeed subvert his oath, try to influence a foreign nation to get involved the in our political elections, and committed impeachable acts. and it's clear this has happened and people in the administration knew what he was doing was

wrong. and people tried to push the blame around. duffey tried to get mccussker to take responsibility for the delay and have the money spent before the september 30 fiscal deadline. it's just unbelievable what's going on and it puts mcconnell and the republicans kind of in a trick bag. if they go ahead and have witnesses, they'll still vote not to impeach the president and they'll go back to their second line of defense. but the money was given anyway. and when they get to that defense which they use a lot, they're basically admitting that their first line of defense didn't work and it's not successful that the president engaged in trying to force a foreign power to get involved in our elections. they're falling back on their last line of defense, but they got the aid anyway. they still can use that and go ahead and vote that way to not

impeach because they want to preserve the president. but if they don't have the witnesses and information continues to come out, then they're going to be seen in the publics' eyes as not only voted wrong and having a sham trial but being conspirators with mcconnell and having that trial and looking for information. >> let me ask you about that because is that what nancy pelosi was banking on, if she were to delay the transmission of these articles of impeachment there would be some sort of evidentiary bombshell drop the in everybody's lap and it would lamp ramp up pressure for republicans to have a fair trial. is this coming into fruition, her plan, her grand strategy here? >> i'm not sure what the speaker's grand strategy is. i guess you're suggesting she's playing chess and thinking three moves ahead while president trump and his people are playing

checkers or marbles or something. and that indeed could be the case. speaker pelosi really is just -- done things trump can't even understand and she's run circles around him. she's one of the greatest speakers in the history of the united states. she knows policy. she knows strategy. and she has a good grip for what's going on while trump is just -- he's just totally lost. i mean, she's still dealing with "home alone" and wanting to be in the movie again. and he is home alone. i mean, it's kind of strange situation. >> let me ask you a question because one thing i read that struck me was that there's something about the recording that speaks to what the democrats see and their theory of the case as the white house cover up. and that was white house officials trying to cocome up with legal justification after the fact for withholding the aid. does that speak to a consciousness of guilt in your view? >> i think it does.

there's one really critical email that has been released pursuant to this freedom of information act, and that's the email by duffey at omb when he says in communicating with the pentagon please don't share the details of this with anyone due to the sensitive nature of it. you know, when you keep things quiet and you're trying to hide the reasons that you're doing things, it does suggest it's because you know that if the truth got out it would be either illegal, unethical, or political damaging in some way. so, prosecutors, as you just mentioned, often refer to that as consciousness of guilt. so, you can't help but wonder that if as time goes on more and more of this information comes out to fill in the gaps we will learn more about what was actually going on. it's very interesting to see as this information comes out, it demonstrates a motive, perhaps, for president trump stonewalling that is if the truth were to come out in terms of witnesses or documents that they would be

damaging to the president's case. >> and charlie savage, what about that? based on this reporting, the white house lawyers thought that mr. trump's role as commander in chief would simply allow him to override congress on this issue, on this issue of providing aid that congress had authorized. it's one thing for republicans in the white house to have a sweeping view of the authority of the executive, but this seems like it's something else. >> well, this is consistent with the very expansive theory of executive power that william barr, the attorney general, and pat cipollone and white house counsel have embraced. it's well outside the main stream but the essence is when it comes to the national security the president is the commander in chief of the armed forces and that means that congress cannot bind him. we see here that there was a large group of officials in the executive branch, omb, the defense department who were confused by the aid freeze, who saw it as contrary to american security interests and stated

policy and wanted to get the aid unfrozen and delivered to our ally in its time of need against russia. and then there were a very small number of people extremely close to trump who were acting to help him achieve this thing he was trying to do. mick mulvaney is one of them, pat cipollone is one of them. and the lawyerly part of that is if this thing goes all the way and they never release the aid, it gets to september 30 and sorry ukraine you're out of luck, you didn't do what we asked you to do, they were going to say this wasn't illegal not withstanding the fact there's a law that says congress has the power of the purse. you have to spend it. the president doesn't get to put that in his pocket as he used to up until the nixon administration. they were going to say forget it, not withstanding the reform when it coms to national security, the president still has the final say. congress does not have the power of the purse. it's the inverse of what we saw

with the wall spending where the president takes things not appropriated by congress and says he's going to spend it on things he wants, a wall, and he's not going to spend it. two sides of the same coin. >> were it not for the whistleblower complaint, who knows what would have happened with that aid. this "new york times" piece bolsters what we knew. you have multiple witnesses who testified saying they were surprised to learn of the freeze to ukraine. take a look at all this. >> i was shocked when on july 18th an office of budget management staff. >> as soon as i learned about it on july 18th. >> i and others sat in astonishment. in an instant i realized one of key pillars for our strong support for ukraine was threatened. >> put this in the context of what we spent the last two or three months learning, watching public trials and reading through the testimony released.

>> so, we have known that this is the basic narrative and this is not about one phone call and whether or not it was perfect. this is about a multi-month bureaucratic campaign on different fronts both to get ukraine to announce investigations and also a struggle here in washington over this frozen aid that unfolded through many meetings with many different officials fighting and trying to understand what happened. this new reporting by my colleagues, both the emails that came out from the lawsuit and the stuff they got on their own, has added a rich degree of texture to that, that this is a season-long, a multi-month campaign struggle bureaucratically, not just about one phone call. it does not contradict anything. it bolsters the basic understanding of what happened here. >> there's another detail in this reporting that when i read it, i had this correction in mind to put to you. it says this. it says mick mulvaney is said by associates to have stepped out of the room whenever mr. trump would talk with mr. giuliani to

preserve mr. trump's attorney-client privilege. does that seem on the level to you? multiple witnesses have described mick mulvaney as being one of the three amigos who were in on this entire ukrainian gambit? >> that's a real red flag if you were to step out of the room. attorney-client privilege does protect communications between a lawyer and client for the purpose of receiving legal advice. what it does not protect is discussions to cover up a crime. there's something known as the crime-fraud exception. if mick mulvaney is stepping out of the room because they're discussing illegal things, that to me is another red flag of consciousness of guilt that they know something is amiss, that the reason he needs to be out of the room is to protect privilege so this information will never be disclosed down the road. >> congressman cohen, last question to you. how is it that reporters at the "new york times" can get information like this that your committee apparently can't?

>> well, the "times" has done a great job and a great service which is why the president went after the media immediately and said the press is the enemy of the people. they've stalled us. they haven't complied. we've gone to court and the court process has been slow and very difficult. we will probably get these documents and we will get witnesses, but it's going to take a long time. even the documents "the new york times" have got have been redacted, so there's a lot more information there. it's kind of amazing when i think about what we've gone through with this impeachment hearing. so many people brought up, including myself, the founding fathers in our arguments about this crime and how they saw it coming and they were most concerned about a foreign power influencing our elections. everybody in america, all the people were marveling at the founding fathers and their genius and what they expressed. and it seems like trump is on

the side of king george because he's trying to get he and barr all the power for the article two folk and there's a reason why they made congress article one and gave us power of the purse and the sole power of impeachment. he doesn't understand either just like he doesn't understand the so-called apoemoluments cla. this is a shock to the founding fathers' work and hopefully it'll come out proper and this man will be held accountable. >> thanks to you all. coming up rudy giuliani shadow diplomacy extending beyond ukraine. new reporting indicates giuliani who is a private citizen, not a representative of the u.s. government, was trying to negotiate an exit for venezuela's president. giuliani's efforts are raising serious concerns among actual diplomats. does not believe president trump is someone young people can look up to. we'll explain in a bit.

>> i don't think that president trump as a person is a role model for a lot of different youth. that's me personally. i don't like the way he tweets, the things he says, his word choices. >> all right. we've got much more to get to so stay with us. e got much more too stay with us ♪ ♪ ♪ everything your trip needs for everyone you love. expedia. can you tell me the story again? every family has their own unique story. give your family the chance to discover theirs this holiday season,

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welcome back to "hardball." rudy giuliani's dirt digging in ukraine wasn't his only attempt to insert himself in u.s. diplomacy. his back channel work extended to venezuela contradicting official u.s. policy in the process. giuliani along with former texas congressman pete sessions participated in a september 2018 phone call with venezuelan president nicolas maduro. according to the post, both were part of a shadow diplomatic

effort backed in part by private interests aimed at negotiating an exit to'd maduro from power. giuliani's efforts drew the ire of john bolton who opposed his work in ukraine. during the impeachment hearings giuliani travelled to kyiv to meet with prosecutors and later said he wanted to brief lawmakers on his findings. senators are wary of giuliani's escapades. senators on capitol hill are actively avoiding meeting with giuliani. lindsey graham said, quote, my advice would be to share what he got from ukraine with the intelligence community to make sure it's not russian propaganda. i'm suspicious of what the russians are up to all over the world. i'm joined by aaron ban coe and larry pfeiffer from the cia.

we now know if we didn't know before that ukraine was no outlier. you've got rudy giuliani running policy in at least venezuela as well, well before he was trying to sideline marie yovanovitch. >> what stands out is that it's many of the same players. it's many of the same kinds of activity. it's the same possible so mingling of national security work with his own personal economic interests. you've lot lev parnas involved. so, if gsh wi-- with all of tho variables the same, one can only imagine that the other vausriab that we're not certain of yet is probably true as well and that's that this is activity that

donald trump himself was personally involved in. the other thing that stands out to me, we've had shadow diplomacy for two plus centuries of american hus ri. when it happens it's done in coordination with the national security information of our structure, the national security adviser is involved and supportive, the intelligence communi community is usually briefing the individual to go into the discussions in an informed manner. if this article is to be believed, the national security structure is opposed to what he's doing. that i think is what makes this one different. >> you touched on something i want to draw you out on. that's the fact that giuliani blends his personal business interests with the work he's doing for president trump. and during the impeachment hearings, one of the things we heard fiona hill say was to her mind it was a national security nightmare to have people like rudy giuliani and gordon sondland running around europe selling access to president trump to the highest bidder.

>> there's a counterintelligence risk if these are people operating outside the normal national security process. they are not as well informed. if our american journalists are learning about the activities, i guarantee you the foreign intelligence services of europe, including the russians and some of the eastern european countries, they're even more aware of it. and as they become aware of it, they can identify vulnerabilities and these individuals can be played or they can perhaps be compromised. >> yeah. >> so, great counterintelligence risk. >> hey, aaron, i'm old to remember because it was two months ago where lindsey graham said he wanted rudy giuliani to testify before the senate judiciary committee, in part because he wanted to have counterprogramming to put up against the house democrats' impeachment push. now you've got lindsey graham saying he's concerned about the information rudy giuliani dug up

and brought back. >> that's right. i had a phone call with senator graham, and that was not what i was expecting to hear on the other end of the line. it's a new development. as we dug around after speaking to senator graham that this is a sentiment felt by other republican lawmakers especially in the senate as well as democrats we spoke to as well, that the characters that giuliani's meeting with in ukraine, ukrainian parliamentarians who are more closely lined with the russian block of the ukrainian parliament who are known for peddling conspiracy theories on their social media threads, holding press conferences, and we know from giuliani's trip to kyiv he worked with them on this new documentary he's put out. and that's what's really concerning senators, we need to find out whether or not the information we might get briefed

on is russian propaganda. >> for his part, president trump has been supportive of giuliani's most recent trip to ukraine telling reporters earlier this month his lawyer found what he called good information. take a look at this. >> well, i just know he came back from someplace and he's going to make a report i think to the attorney general and to congress. he says he has a lot of good information. he has not told me what he's found, but i think he wants to go before congress and say -- and also to the attorney general and the department of justice. i hear he's found plenty. >> and just two weeks ago, just days before the house voted to pass articles of impeachment, president trump was asked how much giuliani had shared with him about his visit to ukraine. >> not too much. but he's a very great crime fighter. he was the best mayor in the history of the city of new york. he's a great person who loves our country. and he does this out of love. believe me, he does it out of love. he sees what goes on. he sees what's happening. he sees all the of the hoax that

happens when they talk about impeachment hoax or the russian collusion delusion. >> so, erin, do we know what giuliani has told trump? is that a knowable thing? >> we've certainly asked both mr. giuliani, officials at the white house, and giuliani's lawyer. we have not gotten a straight answer about exactly what president trump and giuliani have spoken about but we do know they spoke about the ukraine trip if not briefly and at length for at least an hour is what we heard. we've also heard that giuliani has brought back a lot of materials from ukraine to brief president trump. documents and other kinds of materials that he's brought back after meeting with these two individuals in parliament who i mentioned earlier. now, "the daily beast" previously obtained a 50-page document from one of those ukrainian parliamentarians and

that specific dossier has been circulated among top officials in the past several months and what it lays out are allegations saying that ukraine actually interfered in the 2016 election and it wasn't russian. that is a well debunked conspiracy theory that has been propagated for at least a year. and we know these kind of material has made its way into giuliani's hands and has been briefed, has been sort of read out to people inside the white house including president trump. >> and larry, we're talking a lot about rudy giuliani, but in fairness to rudy giuliani, he's only giving president trump what president trump apparently wants, right? help us understand this sort of rumor to trump pipeline, this conspiracy theory straight to trump pipeline. it's the thing that president trump himself seems to be demanding. >> true. and it's a very dangerous thing. during my time in intelligence, senior leadership time in intelligence, it was not at all unusual for individuals who were seeking influence with the president or seeking influence

in a foreign country to come to the national security staff pedaling information they had obtained that was going to break open some crisis. and that material would routinely be given to the intelligence community to assess. and they would assess it for its sources. in this case, if it was documents they would be able to look at the documents and many cases determine if they were counterfeit. and they would then be able to provide assessment. and more often than not, the assessment was that this stuff was garbage. this case we have the information going directly to the president. we have a president who seems inclined to want to consider information from the intelligence community as being establishment or deep state information. at a minimum, he's taking this conspiracy information and putting it on the same level as exquisite intelligence analysis that's well-sourced coming from the intel community. >> great insights. appreciate that. my thapgs to you both. up next, president trump is looking to beef up his legal

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witnesses from testifying during the house investigation. as greg sergeant points out, what makes all of this new information damning is that many of these officials directly involved with the freezing of aid are the same ones trump blocked from appearing before the house impeachment inquiry. pat scipollone will play leadin roll in aggressive defense of the president which cipollone started laying the groundwork for. "the wall street journal" is deploying others with television experience he values and some of the president's staunchest defenders on the house intelligence and judiciary committee. what that senate trial looks like is still up in the air with the possibility of some republicans and democrats breaking ranks with their respective parties. that's next. you're watching "hardball." you're watching "hardball.

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welcome back to "hardball." earlier this month senate majority leader mitch mcconnell told the press he would not be an impartial juror because the impeachment process was political. lisa murkowski told a station she was disturbed by that. >> we have to take that step back from being hand in glove with the defense. i happen to think that that has further confused the process. >> murkowski's public grievance is notable given her party's slim majority in the senate. it takes only four republicans joining with democrats to force leader mcconnell's hand on any number of thorny issues in the senate trial. ahead of the impeachment trial, all eyes are on a handful of

republicans who are viewed as potential defectors. three democrats could also buck their party. i'm joined by barbara boxer, the former u.s. senator from california and the host of the boxer podcast and michael steele. i want to start with you because we talk so much today about what house speaker nancy pelosi is going to do and when she's going to transmit the articles of impeachment. let's talk about mitch mcconnell. he has the republican in the white house and the republican majority he has to keep intact to get the fast and forgettable trial he envisions. >> senator mcconnell is fortunate. he doesn't have the pro-trump caucus that house leaders have to deal with. there's no matt gaetz or jim jordan. that's a big advantage. what he wants, a swift dignified senatorial swiftness is not

exactly what the president wants. ooing it's notable he talks about coordinating with white house counsel. he talks about coordinating with the white house or the administration, not necessarily giving the president what he wants, but moving through this in the most politically -- least politically damaging way possible. >> senator boxer, you lived through the clinton impeachment. help us understand given your experience then and your experience just in the senate, what's the cost benefit analysis for someone like a doug jones or lisa murkowski in trying to decide whether or not they're going to split with the party maybe not on voting on whether or not to remove president trump from office but something like having a trial with witnesses? >> well, i'm going to be really from the heart here. you can't do a cost benefit analysis in a situation like this. when a president has been impeached by the house -- and this is a very different case than the clinton case. we've discussed that before. one was lying about sex. the other is abuse of power,

shaking down a foreign leader to get dirt on your opponent. very, very different. but in all cases, whatever the reasoning is by the house, you need to just sit back and do your duty. you raise your hand to do your duty. so, i like the fact that we're seeing some independent voices on all sides. it's got to be that way, or the system fails. >> you've got now something like 70% of americans according to the latest poll wanting to see a senate trial with witnesses. you can't get 70% of americans to decide or agree on what day it is, yet you have 70% of americans saying they want a fair trial as democrats see it. senator boxer, do you think that in and of itself will be enough to put pressure on republicans to give democrats the thing that they want, to have folks like mick mulvaney, john bolton crossing that threshold in the senate floor and telling the american public what they know this. >> i would hope so because as we know and if we look back to the

clinton days which you raised, there were witnesses. now, there was a vote to call witnesses, and there were witnesses. and they decided to take their depositions. but here's the thing. we know that we had many, many witnesses already confirm what the president did, shaking down this foreign leader, endangering national security, giving putin another victory and all the rest of it, using taxpayer funds. it's pretty ugly. and we've had a number of brave people come forward, non-political people, many of them republicans, to testify. but still in all, there are many others that were in the room where it happened, and they need to be called. and yes, i do think that with the public saying that's the way to go, it could weigh heavily on certain colleagues there. i would think the democrats would vote to call the witnesses. and i do think there's several republicans who are fair minded

who might do that and some others who were frankly scared because they're in purple states and they need to win. >> hey michael steele, you said earlier that mcconnell doesn't have to deal with the ride or die trump caucus -- which should be printed on t-shirts or something -- but to your point, republican senator james lankford of oklahoma told a cbs station said he doesn't think that the president is a role model but that doesn't mean he will stop supporting the administration. take a look at this. >> i said very early on in the campaign time period when people asked me in 2016 what are you looking for? i always look for a president who can be a role model? i don't think president trump as a person is a role model for a lot of different youth. that's me personally. i don't like the way he tweets, the things he says. his word choices at times are not my word choices. >> so, that's langford and chris coons talking to face the

nation. we've heard this before, donald trump isn't a good guy, but he's my guy. >> you may not like trump, he may ruffle feathers, but it takes donald trump to get this stuff done. i think they're going to be smart to lean into that because there are a lot of people who believe as senator langford does that the president's record can be defended buzz his personal character is indefensible. >> what about mike pence? he's waiting in the wings. >> one of the things that's very strange in both the clinton impeachment and this is that the parties fight so hard to defend a president who's probably harder to reelect or have a successful election if they stick with that president. vice president al gore as incumbent president of the united states would have rolled to victory in 2000. that's not how democrats played it. >> we're just five weeks out from the eye eye caucuses and if you're waiting to get your head

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welcome back to "hardball." five weeks from tonight we'll be talking about the results of the first in the nation iowa caucuses as the presidential election gets into full swing. as we count down the final hours until 2020, let's take a look

back at the highlights of the presidential campaign in 2019. >> the calendar says 2019 but don't be fooled, 2020 is in full force. >> a crowded and diverse field of declared or likely democrats. >> i'm filing an exploratory committee. >> i will lead with integrity. >> you don't get what you don't fight for. >> bernie sanders making it official. >> i'm running for president. >> bernie, bernie. >> sanders is facing a completely different primary from last time. >> i am a candidate. >> on this snowy day on this island -- >> i announce my candidacy. >> i'm running for president. >> because we need dreamers in washington. >> good leadership brings out the best in us. >> that's what we believe. >> i'm corey booker and i'm running for president -- >> of the united states of america. >> i'm announcing today -- >> i'm running for president. >> i'm running to serve you. >> because e have to beat @. >> that's why i'm running for president. >> donald trump must be stopped.

>> join me if you want to get to work. >> i'm on my 40th trip to iowa. >> my name is tom steyer. i'm running for president. >> joe biden nearly slipped up and declared himself a candidate a bit early. >> i'm the most progressive of anybody running -- of anyone who would run. >> i felt these hands on my shoulders. >> the boundaries of protecting personal space sbrn reset and i get it. >> joe biden finally makes it official. >> i can beat donald trump. that's the signal they're trying to send with this roll out. >> for a small town mayor, pete buttigieg has big ambitions. >> they call me mayor pete. >> if elected he would be the youngest president, the first who is openly gay. >> there were times in my life if you showed me exactly what it was inside me that made me gay, i would have cut it out with a knife. >> we're draining the swamp. >> president trump in front of a capacity crowd kicking off his

2020 campaign with familiar themes. >> our radical democrat opponents are driven by hatred, prejudice, and rage. >> donald trump has violated his oath of office. he should be impeached. >> sleepy joe biden who's dumb as a rock. >> we need to get rid of donald trump. >> the great poke han tas. >> trump is a liar and a racist. >> crazy bernie. >> there was a little girl in california and she was bussed to school every day and that little girl was me. >> i did not oppose bussing in america. >> kamala harris mischaracterize her position on the bussing question? >> yes, she did. >> get the people that are racist off the streets. >> buttigieg, we said second place in white voters, 18%, black voters, 0. >> two american cities in shock and mourning this hour after two mass shootings in less than 24 hours. >> hell yes we're going to take your ar 15, your ak-47. >> i was imagine it was one of

them that got shot and the other saw it. >> that's kind of been the subtext of this campaign, the issue of the concerns about biden's age. >> you just said two minutes ago they would have to buy in. are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago? >> one day it's joe biden, the next lrelizabeth warren. >> i don't do polls. >> we don't want each other families bankrupted by medical bills. i've got a plan to fix it. >> your signature, senator, is to have a plan for everything, except this. >> the difference between a plan and a pipe dream is something that you can actually get done. >> guaranteed universal -- >> medicare for all. >> it may be a nice idea. >> i wrote the damn bill. >> raise your hand if your government plan would provide coverage for undocumented immigrants. >> senator bernie sanders was hospitalized last night after experiencing chest discomfort. >> he's off the road for a little bit, his appearances have

been cancelled. >> but he's my feel bernie sanders. >> i am back! >> i think they have got their eye on somebody who's currently in the democratic primary. she's a favorite of the russians. >> she knows she can't control me. >> mike bloomberg started as a middle class kid. >> he launched his campaign with the single largest political advertising buy in u.s. history. >> i'm not a billionaire, i can't fund my own campaign. i am suspending our campaign today. >> it is a problem that we now have an overall campaign for the 2020 presidency that has more billionaires in it than black people. >> it's the least diverse democratic field on a debate stage so far. >> i have not denigrated your experience as a local official. >> you actually did denigrate my experience, senator, and it was before the break and i was going to let it go because we've got bigger fish to fry here. >> i don't think we have bigger fish to fry than picking a president of the united states. >> this year it is feeling real

intense as these democratic contenders try to get a toehold. >> mr. vice president, why don't you come on up? >> we're live on msnbc right now. we're live. >> bernie sanders. >> walked right in. >> look at that, that's vaughn hillyard in our shot right there. >> the question, congressman, is where is the rental car from? >> elizabeth warren is in that scrum. >> are you asking me to tell msnbc exactly what my campaign strategy is? >> the president of the united states. >> america does not want to witness a food fight. >> governor steve bullock at the iowa state fair, don't eat your way out of it. >> are you ready to be president? >> well, we better be. >> let's pick somebody, please, and start this thing. >> you're doing it just like the president was. >> you're a damn liar, sir. >> do you want to wrestle? >> hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

>> the bad news is i've caught a cold. nevertheless, i persist. >> he tweeted watching sleepy joe biden making a speech, so boring. >> he should get a life. >> we don't want to be politically correct. >> he and his account should be taken down. >> that's me. let me turn it off. >> it's elizabeth warren. >> sorry for this fruit fly. >> thank god this wasn't beto's day to see the proctologist. >> i'm going to get me a beer. >> it's going to be a really long election. >> well, that was quite a look back. my hats off to the team that produced that. coming up next, congressman john lewis announced he's beginning treatment for pancreatic cancer. the latest on his condition and fight ahead, coming up next. you're watching "hardball." t. you're watching "hardball. and , and , keeping me from the things i love to do. talk to your doctor, and call 844-214-2424.

actions speak louder than words. she was a school teacher. my dad joined the navy and helped prosecute the nazis in nuremberg. their values are why i walked away from my business, took the giving pledge to give my money to good causes, and why i spent the last ten years fighting corporate insiders who put profits over people. i'm tom steyer, and i approve this message. because, right now, america needs more than words.

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for some, this vote may be hard. but we have a mission and a mandate to be on the right side of history. >> that was congressman john lewis during his most recent appearance on the house floor giving an impassioned plea during the fight over impeachment. now the georgia democrat and civil rights icon is facing a different kind of fight. he announced over the weekend that he's undergoing treatment for stage 4 pancreatic cancer. in a statement, lewis writes i have been in some kind of fight for freedom, equality, basic human rights for nearly my entire life. i have never faced a fight quite like the one i have now. lewis, who was elected to congress in 1986, is the last survivor of the so-called big six civil rights activists, led by the late reverend dr. martin luther king jr. in 1965, lewis was brutally beaten by police while leading a civil rights march across the edmund pettis bridge in selma,

alabama, in what became known as bloody sunday. earlier this year the congressman sat down with chris matthews and spoke about the fight for forces of good in our country. >> you have to have faith. you have to believe. you have to have hope. you cannot give up. i will not give up. i will not become bitter. >> it's that same resolve that his friends and colleagues say will see him through this latest battle. house speaker nancy pelosi writes in a tweet, quote, know that generations of americans have you in their thoughts and prayers and you face this fight. former president bill clinton wrote if there's anyone with the strength and courage to fight this, it's you, john. and former president barack obama added this. if there's one thing i love about john lewis, it's his incomparable will to fight. i know he's got a lot more of that left in him. praying for you, my friend. congressman lewis says he plans to return to work in congress as he undergoes treatment and hopes to be back on the front lines

soon. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in with chris hayes" starts right now. tonight on "all in," pompeo, bolton, mulvaney -- >> everyone was in the loop. >> a stunning new report on the role trump's top men played in the corrupt ukraine extortion scheme. and the day they all tried and failed to convince him to end it. >> i don't want to make money. i don't care about making money. then the fleecing of america. >> look, i like golf, it's fine. >> a new breakdown of the $120 million hustle in which we pay trump to golf at trump properties. what a deal. >> when you look at what they did, it's rewriting history. >> plus the triggering. the pathetic truth behind the great "home alone 2" scandal, when "all in" starts right now. good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes.

we have new incriminating