who's stayed on the line for us. most of all, thanks to you for watching, that does it for our hour. mtp daily starts right now. welcome to tuesday. it's meet the press daily. i'm jeff bennett in washington in for chuck todd, on a jam packed day on capitol hill. we have late breaking news and two developments on the breaking stories on politics. that's impeachment and the threat of war with iran. the white house is briefing a key group of congressional leaders on the killing of iran's top military commander, qassem soleimani. the briefing coming amid the intelligence that they took out

soleimani because of what they called an imminent attack on americans. it comes on a day we saw president trump and mike esper all face questions from reporters about the strike. the president's suggestion about committing war crimes and the overall strategy in the region. we'll have more on that in a bit. also happening right now, house democratic leadership is meeting to discuss the other big story on capitol hill. that's impeachment, and the democrat strategy goes forward. republicans have enough votes to proceed with an impeachment trial. mcconnell has 51 votes to start that trial without hearing from any witnesses. >> all we're doing is saying we're going to get started in exactly the same way that 100 senators agreed to 20 years ago.

what's good for president clinton is good for president trump. we'll get around to the discussion of witnesses we got around to the discussion of witnesses after phase one 250 years ago. >> this comes despite john bolton's announcement yesterday, that he would testify in an impeachment trial if subpoenaed and it comes despite nancy pelosi's strategy to withhold the two articles of impeachment over democrats demands for witnesses and docunts. the impeachment trial will begin once he transmits those articles which today chuck schumer suggested could happen very soon. >> by not sending the articles immediately, she's article accomplished two things, which we fully support one mitch mcconnell couldn't do what some thought he might want to do, right before or after christmas just dismiss, and second in the last two weeks there's been a cass indicate of evidence that

bolsters the case, strongly bolsters the case for witnesses and documents, now we have a greater feel for where we're headed. >> with me now is my nbc colleague garrett haake. this impeachment purgatory could soon be coming to an end. the strategy of house speaker was a bid to buy time for chuck schumer to work out a deal with mcconnell, that didn't happen. it was also in part to extract some concessions from mcconnell. help us understand how this power dynamic has shifted. what's the latest. >> it was fascinating to watch those two news conferences back to back today with mcconnell saying he whipped his caucus, he has the voights. they can't vote on anything until the articles come over. he's got the votes to start under the clinton era rules package. or something similar, then you had chuck shoom ar come out.

this is a loud time for more information to come forward. and it's prevented mcconnell from anything else what you saw here was ultimately a democratic pressure campaign that was not able to pressure enough republican senators to come over to their side. the only republican senator i've heard is mitt romney. they want witnesses. the pressure couldn't get them there. the pressure from the public, by pelosi sitting on her hands, waiting to see if donald trump would crack under the pressure, he's more likely democrats to do so than mcconnell who's much more famously patient. for all the world it looked like at the end of the chuck schumer press conference, you might see some movement on this happen relatively quickly, like by the end of this week, jeff? >> yeah.

>> chuck schumer talked about the cascade of evidence. mitch mcconnell's hold on his majority hasn't shifted a bit, why not. >> i don't think republican senators who were trying to make a political calculation here saw enough reason to give in on the front end of this. you could see votes that go in the democrats favor to call more witnesses. when mitch mcconnell laid the marker down environmental on, it would not have been enough to say, i want witnesses and i wants documents. you would have needed four republicans to stick together and really go in and fight this out with mitch mcconnell. it's not clear there are four who feel strongly about this at all. there are three who have raised legitimate concerns. that's just not enough, when you have the majority, if there's not an overwhelming push in the other direction, all you have to do is stand firm, that's what mcconnell did to get to this

point. schumer's point is a good one, every week, we do still get more information about this case, regardless of where it's coming from, whether it's the new york times breaking stories. it's entirely possible by when this trial starts or when it finishes, we'll know more information that may put some further pressure on those republican senators. >> grilt insight as always. with me now. michael steel and maria theresa kumar. >> heidi, we talk about this stuff offcamera all the time. how does nancy pelosi now send over these articles of impeachment without looking like she's surrendered. >> because she's going to say, look at all the things that have happened. and look at all this evidence

that's come out. look at john bolton volunteering to receitestify, at the end of day, she has no more reason any more because these vulnerable republicans have all said down the line, they want to start this process, here's the important distinction. this is not 1999. mitch mcconnell is correct that the process did start without an agreement on witnesses in 1999. but in 1999 those witnesses had already provided grabbed jury information. in this case, trump is blocking all of these key witnesses and the documents. the real precedent that they will have to answer for when this is all over will this fit to the precedent of every impeachment trial in our history, which is at the end of the day when the meat grinder pushes everything out, you have witnesses. there were witnesses in the clinton impeachment trial in the senate and witnesses in the

johnson impeachment trial. >> to your point back in 1999, what witnesses should be reheard, because they were all on the record. >> let's hear from some of the republicans we've been talking about. >> well, the clinton impeachment process allowed for witnesses to be determined after the opening arguments, i'm comfortable with that process. >> so you agree with the house proposal outlined several times, do the clinton process? >> i think it is -- it's how we get started with it. >> we follow the precedent that was established with president clinton's impeachment trial this notion that we will make a decision about witnesses later. will it ever come? in the sense is, this notion that two weeks from now, that

these republicans will have a different view of the evidence that's in the public domain, then they may want to hear from john bolton. >> senator mcconnell is keeping his caucus together because he's offering something based in precedent that doesn't say yes, doesn't say no. we're going to make a decision about witnesses. they've made a poor case. house democrats have bungled this badly. we'll move forward. senator mcconnell has been reasonable at every step of the way, and offered a factual rebuttal to what democrats are offering. >> what do you think? >> do we have time for all this? >> what mitch mcconnell does very well, he spins this all the time. he likes to say that he's following precedent when we do not know not only the physical witnesses, but the documents that are being held by the state

department. the documents being held by the doj, stuff we're not privy to. he's not showing us his full deck of cards. he's hoping the republicans will agree to this, and then say, we did exactly to the letter of the law knowing that's not true. i think that's part of the challenge. >> the precedent is that we have witnesses. >> that's exactly right. >> no matter how it happens. >> the president is -- when it's a trial, you have witnesses, here's the concern that democrats have, now that it's kicked over to mitch mcconnell, he can take in his three most vulnerable republicans and say, you guys, go ahead, vote for the witnesses, everybody else no. and then these guys can say, politically i voted for the witnesses but they're blocked in the end. >> you have seven in ten americans according to national polling. you can't find 7 out of 10 americans to agree on what day

it is? how should democrats keep up this pressure play on republicans to get the so called fair trial to get what they want. >> sadly, because we had the break, and we had the bombing in iran, all of a sudden the majority of the public is not paying as close attention. and mitch mcconnell is using this to set the rules. pelosi comes back and says, we are continuing to bolster our case. she doesn't have to ened is the impeachment articles right now. many folks are saying, why not impeach him again. >> how much if at all good john bolton's announcement that he would testify if subpoenaed. if he wanted to tell his story, he could show up right now. -- >> you're exactly right about that. this notion that he has to be subpoenaed isn't entirely on the level. how does this change republicans thinking about it. >> it's one of those things that

felt incredibly transformational. john bolton is going to tell his side of the story on this thing. wage he tells it in his house hearing, in his book, it doesn't make a lot of difference. if he thought it did, it would be incumbent upon him to get it in the public sfooer as quickly as possible. not play for attention or some sort of senate testimony. >> as this is happening, we're monitoring the developments in iran, and president trump's reaction to that. impeachment has nothing to do with iran in and of itself but in a way it does. how do you think democrats should handle this? >> i think we have to take a step back. >> he does something similar. he brought up the kurds and decided we were going to abandon them. this is an opportunity that he does for bait and switch. the occurreds are still

suffering. we're going to go to the extreme to create a flartive that doesn't hold water. this is not us sing this is the cia saying, what did we do. this is nato having to pull troops out of iraq, because they are less safe. let's not use this as an opportunity for us to forget the fact that he's using it as an impeachment to make us feel he knows what he's doing, when often times he doesn't much. >> i don't know that i would compare killing a terrorist to the death and maiming of republicans. this bolsters republicans argument. they're not allowed to keep our country safe and fight for a better situation in the least. >> the real question at this point is whether this administration is going to provide the critical answers. whether taking out soleimani was

going to stop that threat. because of that, we're safer and we have a plan going-forward, these are all huge questions that lie over this. i think people outside the beltway are not as concerned and bothered about the fact that the gang of eight that don't know who they are, but they weren't briefed. they are concerned what the plan is going-forward. you see so many americans googling the draft, that it starts trending. there's a lot of arrange zits out there. >> large ground invasions, involving troops are unpopular. killing bad guys with bombs and missiles, very popular. >> 3,000 troops. how and when, and what needs to be done to secure potential

targets. two top experts join us coming up next. just how far can president trump really go. the white house is clashing with congress over war powers. ♪ we would walk on the sidewalk ♪ ♪ all around the wind blows ♪ we would only hold on to let go ♪ ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we need someone to lean on ♪ blow a kiss into the sun ♪ we needed somebody to lean on ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ all we need is someone to lean on ♪ >> man: what's my my truck...is my livelihood. so when my windshield cracked... the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me. >> tech: hi, i'm adrian. >> man: thanks for coming. ...with service i could trust. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

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welcome back. u.s. officials are bracing for some form of iranian retaliation. the department of homeland security is warning about the potential for a cyber attack from iran. president trump and senior administration officials are doubling down on the decision to strike iran's top general last week. >> he was traveling with the head of hezbollah, they weren't there to discuss a vacation, to go to a nice resort somewhere in baghdad. they were there to discuss bad business. and we saved a lot of lives by terminating his life.

a lot of lives were saved. they were planning something, and you'll be hearing about it, or at least various people in congress are going to be hearing about it tomorrow. >> the u.s. is ready to attack if iran retaliates. something defense secretary markemark esper will be answered in some way shape or form. also today, we're learning more about president trump's secret oval office meeting with a top saudi official joining me now is former ambassador ryan crocker. he's served as the u.s. ambassador to syria. and former deputy national security adviser under george w. bush. i want to start with you. because the question now is not if iran retaliates, it's a

matter of when, typically as you well know. iran responds through proxies. >> iran has mastered the ability to use a variety of tactics, terrorist tactics, use of proxy militias and terrorist groups. as well as cyber attacks to attack u.s. interests and adversary interests. we've seen this with their attacks using cyber means. the interesting thing is, we know the history of this, given what iran has done in the past. 1992, hitting the israeli embassy in buenos airies. the series of attempted attacks in 2012. we know what the playbook looks like. how will iran calibrate this give ing one, they don't have their master general who was behind these kinds of strategies to lead that. and two, they have to

recalibrate their calculus as to how the u.s. will respond. they have to do something they can attribute, we are responding forcefully, at the same time, they realize this is the president who has -- in a dramatic way taken the gloves off, and will hold iran directly responsible. the administration doesn't want to play in the shadows any more. they're going right at the heart of the iranian leadership. that's what the sulemanny strike really demonstrates. >> what does soleimani leave behind? sometimes it's not the guy you take out, it's what they leave behind. >> he had matured over time to become the grand master of iran's external strategy, he ran the quds force that put together the proxy pieces for iran. the forces of huthi in yemen. obviously support to hezbollah and lebanon.

the work to support assad in syria, he was really the spector that would appear on the battlefield to stitch together iran's alliance network among these proxies and militias. he has an entire network and hierarchy under him. he's been replaced. these people can go forward with plans. he really was the general. and i do think iran is feeling at least in the short term, the absence of his leadership, precisely at a time when they want his leadership to plan out the next phase of his attacks. >> do you have a sense of how far president trump is willing to go as they map out their response to all of this? >> i don't. i just hope that you're using the right word here, that it is being mapped out.

that before we struck soleimani, the administration had thought through the next likely move from iran. where are our assets, vulnerabilities. iran has shown in the past, they can reach into a country like argentina to hit a middle east target. i hope very much that the administration has worked this through. several moves in advance is prepared to protect against what we think the iranians might do in terms of our assets overseas, also, how we would then respond to whatever their response is. this war did not start with soleimani's killing i would take it further back than juan did, lebanon. '82, '83 i was there. the islamic republic was in its a fight for its life with iraq.

yet they still had the time and focus back then to blow up our embassy and then blow up the marine barracks in october of 1983 under the reagan administration, and forced us out of lebanon with enormous losses. we need to be sober about this, we cannot denigrate what the eye rain yarns have in the way of capability. this is a long wash. it didn't start yesterday, and it's not going to end tomorrow. >> you've articulated the stakes. what do you think deescalation looks like at this point. one avenue would be at the u.n. you have a visa of the iranian foreign minister to come to a meeting at the u.n. wednesday? >> as we prepare for this stage i'm hoping we're preparing, we have to keep a focus on several things.

strategic patience, long game, it would be great if we could get a pause right here. we could use that time to be sure we have our defenses in order. but more importantly. we need to concentrate on getting allies with us. right now you see all of western europe calling for restraint. the british in particular i think are quite unhappy that they had no advanced notice, our strongest ally in iraq and syria vulnerable. we have to concentrate here, it's going to take allies, patience, a kadri of administration people who really know this region, know iran. quite frankly i haven't seen much of those three in this administration. >> we're looking at images of tens of thousands of iranians flooding the streets. it would appear the u.s. has

lost the hearts and minds of the iranian people, when just a few weeks and months ago the u.s. had the iranian government on the ropes. what kind of counter intelligence emerges from this? >> that's a great point. one of the hopes of a moment like this, you begin to amplify the pressure of the regime, that the regime was on its heels in terms of the economic pressure that was being put on it. this is a real interesting tipping point. the u.s. as ambassador crocker has mentioned. the key here is keeping the momentum on -- and the pressure on iran. can you survive this moment where it appears the u.s. has lost a bit of good will, has lost a little bit of its key

allies? can you ensure that what happens next, in the next phases of this battle appears to be legitimate on the u.s. part and illegitimate on the part of iran. i worry that all the discussion iran will do next is a means of legitimating what they do. are they justified in attacking an american base, in doing something like they did in 1983 in lebanon. i worry about that. losing the battle of legitimacy. not just on the streets of baghdad or tehran. but in europe and around the world. where we need our allies, and where we need intelligence support to prevent the kinds of attacks that iran might want to perpetrate. >> if you were in your old job, what would you be doing now? >> you have to do a massive stock of where we're vulnerable now. what it looks like aggressively

and preemptively. what we've done is to have a preventative mind-set around al qaeda and isis attacks in the west. we have to move aggressively in that direction. we've seen what they can do, the 2012 bus bombing in bulgaria, we have to have counter terrorism officials around the world now looking for those kinds of plots, and doing everything possible to disrupt them. that's what i'd be doing in my old chair. >> coming up, can congress juggle the threat of war with iran. plus the impeachment trial. we'll talk to a key senator about both of those things next. and i'll tell you some important things to know about medicare. first, it doesn't pay for everything. say this pizza... [mmm pizza...] is your part b medical expenses. this much - about 80 percent...

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welcome back. the senate has only just returned to work in this new year, and they already have their hands full. today's developments about how the senate impeachment trial will play out are against the fallout from soleimani. joining me now is angus king of maine. he's a member of the senate intelligence and armed services committee. you've been briefed by the trump white house. is there anything you've heard from the administration so far that convinces you that killing soleimani was worth the risk.

worth all the unintended consequences? >> that's a good question. what i haven't been able to determine we were talking today to people close to the ground. we weren't talking to policy people, tomorrow there's a briefing with secretary pompeo. they're more on the policy level. i'm sure that's going to be -- the question is, did they weigh the risks and benefits. the fallout has been pretty negative. your prior guests mentioned, by the way, i second the motion that he's won of our most distinguished diplomats. the iranian regime was on the heels. and we've unified them, people two weeks ago were protesting against the regime. now they're protesting against us. that's one of the most significant outcomes of this thing, along with whether we're

going to get expelled from iraq. there's a series of cascading consequences that aren't very positive for the united states. >> so in your estimation, was it wise? the question isn't so much was it justified. he was a terrorist that had american blood on his hands. did they make the right decision here do you think? >> the question was timing. . getting rid of soleimani is a good thing for the middle east for the world for america, but doing it at this moment of heightened tension at a moment when the iranian regime was already on their back foot was an unwise decision based upon the intelligence and the information i have right now. i always hesitate to make second guesses about these kinds of decisions when you don't have all the information that that was available to the white house at the time. it certainly appears that the negatives outweigh whatever positives there were, and maybe

the positives will show up overtime. that assumes that soleimani had some kind of mystical powers and he can't be replaced with someone to have interaction with the various iranian proxies and hezbollah and the quds force. that all remains to be seen. right now, we've unified the iranians, we've apparently worn out our welcome in iraq. that leaves iraq and syria to isis. isis has a much more open running field. the russians have already suggested that they might be interested in coming into iraq. if we leave iraq, iraq becomes a client state of iran. all of those things, plus the alienation of our european allies, was it really worth the risk? based upon the information i have, it was not worth the risk. >> as you well know.

president obama and george w. bush, they kept troops in the middle east. they justified the presence of those u.s. troops there. tikaine, the democrat from virginia is pushing this resolution that says, conflict in iran would not be covered by those previous aumf's. help us understand why not? it was focused on countries where -- it was focused on al qaeda and countries that were giving safe haven to al qaeda like afghanistan iran wasn't in that picture at that time. it would be stretching it beyond its common sense application. the more important question here is, congress has largely abdicated its war power responsibility under the constitution.

go back to 1787, the framers said congress shall declare war. congress has not declared war since 1942. we've had these authorizations to go into the gulf and iraq. aumf is authorization for the use of military force. congress has abdicated this power to the president presidents haven't seizes it so much, as congress has given it up. i felt strongly along with tim kaine and others that this is something congress ought to be taking responsibility for. and we ought to be getting this power back. in a democracy, one person should not be able to take the whole country into a full scale war. >> you're an independent senator who caucuses with the democrats. what did democrats achieve do you think by withholding the articles of impeachment. >> well, i think it gave --

number one, that was a decision by speaker pelosi, neither i nor anyone on this side had any control over that. it gave the country a chance and the conversation about what would be the nature of the trial and also particularly, we've seen information come out during the past two week period. some emails have come out that are pretty important i think. john bolton has decided he can come forward to testify in front of the senate. the important thing now is, witnesses and documentary evidence. what i want is the facts. i've never heard of a trial without witnesses or documentary evidence. i know mitch mcconnell said we're going to start the trial, we're going to go through a few days oar a week. i can't imagine my colleagues on either side of the i'll. we don't want to hear the facts. a lot of the complaint about the

house case that's being sent over. i think it will be soon. has been -- these were all secondary witnesses. people that didn't have direct knowledge of what the president did and what his intentions were, that's why we need mick mulvaney. john bolton, mr. duffy and others who were there. and that's why we need to hear from them. i don't believe in the end the republicans are going to say, we don't want that evidence. >> you think that chuck schumer will be in his position to change his 47 to 51? there will be four republicans that say, bring on mick mulvaney, bring on john bolten? >> i do. the sentiment that i find in maine and i've heard across the

country, the people that want it to be a full and fair trial particularly, those republicans who are in battleground states, who are he retiring, i think they're going to say, i don't want to have this on my record, i -- this is history. this is going to be one of the most important votes any of us take. do you want it to be your historic legacy that you voted to shut down the opportunity to get the facts? this is see no evil, here no evil and take no evidence. i wouldn't want to have to defend that. when the moment comes and there will be a motion to bring in witnesses i can't believe there's not going to be not only four or five, there will be a dozen republicans who will vote for that motion, and by the way, i don't know what they're going to say but i think we have to hear from him.

>> a dozen senators joining with democrats. i'll write it down. >> sounds good. joe biden lashes out saying he's bringing america dangerously close to war. coming up next. ♪ ♪ everything your trip needs for everyone you love. expedia.

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the president says he wants to end endless wars in the middle east. he's bringing us dangerously close to starting a brand new one. the president says he wants out of the region sends an additional 18,000 plus troops to deal with the crisis of his own making. an add ming station that claims actions are being made safer puts americans throughout the region on notice. because of an increased danger that now exists.

>> that was joe biden tearing into president trump's actions in iran. after that speech biden sat down for an exclusive interview with lester holt and spoke more about his thoughts about president interru trump's recent actions in the middle east. >> it takes us closer to war. have they planned ahead of time, to make sure they secure all the areas, americans are more vulnerable because of proxies of iran. you. >> spent time in the situation room, do you give a president, this president the benefit of the doubt when he says in was intelligence of an imminent attack. >> i don't give him the benefit of the doubt -- >> you don't believe him? >> it could be true, but i don't give him the benefit of the doubt, because he's lied so much about everything opinion.

>> you can catch more of lester's exclusive interview tonight on nbc. biden versus bernie. the 2020 front-runners are taking aim at each other. truck. so when my windshield cracked... the experts at safelite autoglass came right to me. >> tech: hi, i'm adrian. >> man: thanks for coming. ...with service i could trust. right, girl? >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

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policy blunder in the modern history of this country. joe biden voted for the disastrous trade agreements like nafta and permanent normal trade relations with china, which cost us millions of jobs. >> welcome back. that was bernie sanders, of course, going after joe biden last night with less than a month to go before the first votes of the 2020 democratic primary. and with the biden -- with bernie and biden leading the field, you can expect those types of attacks to continue. the split between these two candidates over foreign policy and the current situation with iran is just one of the many divisions that highlights the current split inside the democratic party. still with us the heidi, michael and teresa. i'll tell you what, the attacks are reminiscent from the attacks of bernie sanders against hillary clinton, let's take a look. >> senator clinton heard the same evidence i did. she voted for that disastrous

war. the worst foreign policy blunder in the modern history of america. secretary clinton and i disagree on trade policy. she supported virtually every disastrous trade agreement from nafta to permanent normal trade relations to china, trade agreements that have cost us millions of decent-paying jobs. >> all right. it didn't work in 2016 for bernie sanders. do you think it's going to work now? >> i think we're having a real live generational conversation with the base. what i mean by that is that you have a generation of young people that bernie sanders is really understanding, whether you're talking about student loans or a generation that grew up only knowing more that are going to be eligible to vote. but the difference between bernie sanders then and the

world today is that the president t white house has made us less safe. we do not have the strength of our allies. we are going into a different century where folks do not feel that they can trust the american decisionmaking and the only person that has personal relationships with these foreign leaders is joe biden. so it is an asymmetrical conversation that he's trying to gin up, but you have a generation of individuals who say all we've known is war and we want to stop this. >> there's a strength to the clarity of his message. joe biden has experience and he's been early wrong in every foreign policy debate in 40 years. he voted for the 2003 one, which in 2020 he's still trying to claim stating that he shouldn't have trusted president bush as much. so the more we're focusing on these issues and they're in the news, the more chance bernie has because of the clarity, not the good sense, but the clarity of his message. >> and yet democrats don't want

this. do democrats really want the top two front-runners going after each other? >> it doesn't matter what they want and it's what's happening -- i'll go back further, it happened successfully in 2008 who obama used it against hillary clinton. but this is not 2008 or 2016, it is 2020. and you did have the whole congress supporting those resolutions, no matter how ill thought out or ill informed they were. this is different because this is just the president acting on his own judgment at this moment on intelligence that all of us are unaware of. so how this is going to play out, look at the polls right now. 56% of americans say they trust joe biden more on foreign policy. he's going to be giving these interviews, and if people believe that we're in this now, whatever the ramifications are, we are in it. and the only thing that's going

to get us out of it is diplomacy. i think joe biden can make that case to a lot of americans. i think the people who believe that about bernie sanders have always believed that about bernie sanders and that's because he's been consistent. it's give credit are where credit is due. those people are with him and they're with him from the beginning. >> some of the stuff that's coming out of the polls in iowa is the sense of safety. people want to feel safe. and what happened just most recently with iraq really all of a sudden shook people to the core of saying what's going to happen tomorrow. i'm having conversations with individuals that are all wondering what's going to happen tomorrow, folks that don't follow the news, they're following this. and the idea that you can have a vice president that can fill in to be the president and have personal relationships with a lot of these foreign leaders and have that trust, that can go a long way. >> traditionally the safe and steady candidate is not the same one who drives turnout, right? >> no, but i think one of the things that we're seeing is this this president right now has so

many people on edge that people are reminiscent of i want something that i wake up in the morning and tha feel that all of a sudden i'm going to be stressed out. the level of anxiety with everyday americans is through the roof and a lot of it is this feeling of what's happening in the white house. >> we should also remember that this is someone who is going to be taking on president trump, and so far the actions he's taken is popular. knocking out bad guys who created the ieds is good in trump country. and this thing we've been talking about with violating international law if provoked with another attack. >> trump country is going to be there for trump and they're going to turn out. but trump got less votes than mitt romney and still won. so the question is what's going to turn out democrats. democrats are scared, it's reasonable to assume that they're going to turn out in higher numbers than they did in 2016.

we'll see if that proves to be true. but that is the calculus that i think you're speaking about. >> and one of the biggest challenges that we talk about the base of the republican party, but as we have congressional remembers retiring and not seeking election as republicans, they are so bleeding registered voters. so they may choose not to cast a ballot or stay home if they feel like there's an idea that trump may be reelected. >> teresa, michael, heidi, my thanks to each of you. we'll be right back. one of seven delicious entrées - like new hawaiian-style garlic shrimp. and, get a sweet dessert. three courses. one amazing price. so come in today. why are we doing this? why are we doing what? using my old spice moisturize with shea butter body wash... all i wanted was to use your body wash and all i wanted was to have a body wash. >> man: what's my my truck...is my livelihood.

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and that's all for tonight. chuck will be back tomorrow with more "meet the press" daily. the beat starts right now on this big and busy day. ari melber, good to see you. >> we have a lot on the beat tonight. cascading twin pressures of the impeachment process, news on that late in the day breaking, and we have it for you, as well as everything that is going on with the enduring fallout from donald trump's choices in iran. first let me tell you this, right now nancy pelosi is hud ling behind closed doors. that's why we have the empty microphone shot for now. but we know she's speaking with her democratic speakers. this is the first time they've huddled in the new year and she could come out and address the microphones. late today, president trump linking the defense with the situation in iran. we'll unpack that and why many see a disturbing parallel to nixon, someone who tried