this sunday the fallout. president trump claims victory over the mueller report. >> total exoneration, complete vindication. >> allies line up to defend. >> and what did we hear this week? no collusion. no obstruction. >> a total vindication. >> and the president goes after his opponents. >> little n pencilck adam schiff. >> the democrats push back. >> the president has not been exonerated by the special counsel. >> and condemn mr. trump's conduct. hink it is immoral. i think it is unethical. i think it is unpatriotic. and, yes, i think it's corrupt

and evidence of collusion. >> my guests this morning, two senate leaders. also, president trump vows again to repeal and replace obacare. >> the republican party will soon beknown as the party of health care. you watch. >> did mr. trump just hand democrats a winning issue? >> and the 2020 campaign. >> i am a dreamer and a doer. >> can a moderate win the nomination in an increasingly progressive democratic party? i'll talk to former colorado governor. joining me for inside analysis are hallie jackson, cornell belcher, peggy noonan. welcome to sunday.

it's "meet the press." >> this is "meet the press" with chuctodd. good sunday morning. it turns out we're still war ing e mueller report. on friday, attorney general bill barr sent a letter to congressi promto release the report with redactions no later than mid-april and said there are no plans to submit the report to the white house. what may be surprising is how little h fourage summary seems to have had on public opinion. our poll shows that 40% of adults don'tlieve it clears mr. trump of wrongdoing. but look at this number. a very significant 31% remain unsure. perhaps those 31% are wisely waing for the actual report to be released or they haven't been paying that close atteto this story. president trump's approval rating sits at 43%, with 53%

disapproving. that is down from last month's numbers. but it's well within the president's rate. you can see in the last four months, mr. trump's approval ratings have stabled even though they a weak it is perhaps why the president hed earth a sco theory as democrats are debating which one ofheir candidates can survive the what was surprising is what mr. trump did during his celebration dance. no collusion and ha ed the democrats a political gift of their own, a chance to defend obamacare now that he has vowed again to try to repeal it without any alternative. >> the russia hoax is finally dead. >> president trump took a victory lap this week. >> total exoneration, complete

vindation. >>he total vindication. >> as clear a vindication or exoneration that you can get. >> while mueller did n conclude that the president committed a crime with the russian government, he also did not exonerate him of justice.tion and in that new nbc news wall street journal poll, 6% of democrats, 19% of independents and 64% of republans believe the report clears mr. trump of w wrongdoing. ey are demanding the full report be released by tuesday. >> we want the report and we can draw our own conclusiodo. wet need you interpreting for us. it was condescending. it was arrogant. >> i fi condent in the attorney general. if that's what he would like to do, i have nothing to hide. the president appeare toave wversed course tweeting the problem is no mattt the radical left democrats get, it will never be enough.

maybe we should just take our victory and s no. barr already said he will re the report for grand jury testimony, classified information and information that would, quote, infringe on the personal privacy and reputations of what he called peripheral third parties. another wa perhaof invoking executive privilege. >> the democrats have to now decide whether they will continue defrauding the public with ridiculs -- >> republicans have moved on to singling out enemies. >> he needs to resign from the committee. >> little pencil neck adam schiff, sick, sick. these are sick people. >> schiff called out the president's conduct. >> i think is immoral. i think it is unethical. i think it is unpatriotic. and, yes, i think it's corrupt and evidence of >> and mr. trump appears

focussed on revenge, attacking his investigators seeking to blunt their credibility. >> i'm sorry. they have to be accountable. >> some republicans worry that the present will fix sate on the wrong message and were rattled by the surprising decision to tell aederal appeals court on monday that the entire affordable care act should be ovturned. >> i'm very disappointed and opposed. >> we have a chance o wikilling obamacare. we'll do it a different way. >> joining now the chair of the senatean republic conference. welcome back to "meet the press." >> thanks foraving me, chuck. >> i want to get to health care. let me start with the eller report. i understand the public perhaps seeing a redacted version. shouldn't congress who gets

regular intelligence reports, shouldn't congress see -- some members of congress see the full report? >> the headlines were clear last week, in collusion, no conspiracy.o i called for a release of the full report. t unredacted? t's what i have been calling for. i understand the attorney general has specific issues and areas he has to be concerned. i think anything you giv uto congressimately everyone will see. i don't see a lot of difference in making sure the public sees it. >> do you think it's a misstrak fight?w this you're essentially having the wrong debate in congress. >> well, i'm for transparency and for accountability. when mueller was appointed, he was the patron saint of all that is just and od in the world as dianne feinstein said. that's what chuck schumer said. now they just want to throw him under the bus when they found out there was nothing there. they don't seem to be happy with the results. but he is somebody that was

praised som both si of the aisle as being able to do a fair commitment to the job assigned to him. are you confident there is nothing there. he said it also does not exonerate him. what do you take that to mean? >> well, the headlines, no collusion, no collaboration, no conspiracy. that's what is there. >> the headlines are bill barr's memo. ll barr said the report doesn't exonerate him. where do you comedown? >> i've asked for a full report tt be released. theney general will make that final decision and ultimately the voters will make that decision, you just saw from your report. >> right. >> last week, nbc interrupted a golf tournament, cbs interrupted the final four. people wanted to get back to the sports they were wat they were more interested in that than they were in the breaking news. >> ou may beright. let me ask you this.

the special counsel did not -- di not find a crime when it comes to conspiracy. there is a counter intelligence investigation. this is what we know from it. and i'm curious if you think the president is exonerated from all of these things, allegedly asking comey for loyalty, telling comey he hoped he could let flynn go, telling the russian ambassador in the oval o office he this comey thing out of the way, the public asking for. he the president's behavior, while he's technically exonerated from a crime, is heed exoner from his behavior as a president? >> every president is judged on many things. behavior is part of that. the electorate will be asked to make that judgment in 2020 and we'll see how they decide. >> but what do you think on this? >> i think that theen prest has been clear with the american people. he has been, i believe, falsy accused for the last two years t d mueller has proven the f that there was no collusion or

conspiracy. >> do you think he was falsely accused because of his behavior led people to believe tinre was somemore there. do you think it was appropriate for him to want too business with vladimir putin and russia. >> the president is an international sinessman, has had success all around the world. it is not rprising when he chose to run for business, he continued to do the business. >> you stated a f bunch ofts there. you didn't state any opinion. do you think it is appropriate? nk i t it is not surprising international businessmen do these thin. >> but he wanted to run for business. should he have given that up? it may have helped trigger all of the suspicion. >> it probably did trigger the suspicion,in but i don't there is a fault there on the part of the president. >> i want t ask you one other thing about bill barr's reading of expansive executive power. here is what he said about what he wrote in his memo before coming attorney general. he said constitutionally it is wrong to conceive of the

president as simply the highest officer within the executive branch hirky. alone is the executive branch. no limit is placed on the kinds of cases subject to his control and supervision. this maintains -- do you believe the attorney general is right of this expansive view tt essentially the president of the united states is the law? >> well, i believe the attorney general is right in his evaluation of the law and how it works, but no man is above the law. >> how could you, though, correct this viewpoint? you are saying that he's right, but it does claim that acs sitting president of the united states, he is above the law? >> i'm not a ralawyer. i don't play a lawyer on television. there is atexperts look at that. >> do you think investigating the investigators is a good idea? >> lindsey is a pit bull and i think hein he down that road? >> do you think it is a good

idea. you have been very careful not to express your personal opinion things. >> my opinion is we need to get beyond this. we need to focus on our strong, healthy, growing ecomy, focus on the issues in the american mind. this is not something i hear about at home in wyoming. i was there this past weyoend. >> do think not investing hillary clinton is -- do you think not investigating hillary clinton is the way to go? >> it does seem to me that's h we got here to begin with and all of the things leadingto u the 2016 election. i wish it would all be behind us, but we're not there yet. >> the president said you, senators cassidy and senator scott, ure coming with an alternative health care plan that will protect pre-existing conditions and replace obamacare. is that true?wh an does this plan look like? >> as you know, it's going to need bipartisa support because nancy pelosi is the speaker of the house. every tome i talk president trump we talk about health care. he knows with regard to kpe

existing conditions that i'm a doctor. my wife is a breast cancer survivor. she's been through surgery three times, chemotherapy twice. he knows i'm 100% committed as are republicans to protecting people with pre-existing conditions. were absolut continuing to work on this, realizing that it has to be bipartisan. my concern is that the biggest threat that i see to the and the economy of this country is this complete government th takeover of hecare, which is where the democrats are going, this medicare for all wi longer lines, rationing of care, higher taxes, lessee m. it is now the liberal litmus test. >> i understand that. forll the democrats runnin president. >> that isn't the law as it is right now. is it a mistake for the president to have joine the lawsuit to say that obamacare is unconstitutional? do you want it overturned? do you want t courts to overturn this right now or do you want it kept in placentil you can figure it out? >> there is not going to be any

decision on this for a couple of years, but shouldn't be a surprise to anybody that republicans are opposed to obamacare. >> but for ten years you hbee . i was thinking about this. it was '09 that we began the debate. it is 2019. you guys have been talking about having a plan to protect pre-existing conditions for ten years and you haven't been ab to come up with one. you haven't been able to come for one. why shouit we expect now? >> the obama health care law i think we agree it has failed to keepts promises. i was at my medical offiid on talking to patients, doctors. the cheapest bronze plan in wyoming for a family of four $1,900. the deductible $12,000. that's not right. the president is right. this is on thepe american le's minds. >> but you can't find an alternative that would make that cheaper yet. >> right now we have done things to lower the cost of

pharmaceuticals. they're lower this year than last year. we got rid of the gag order on pharmacists. e have people joined together to get half the cost. you want to let people buy what they need, what's appropriate fr them so they could get the care they needom a doctor they choose at lower costs. >> let me ask this. t shou american people expect an actual health care plan alternative from the republican partythis year >> the american people should expect to not haveo be burdened with the incredible costs that are affecting them now. n will we see a plan? >> i have been working on a plan since the day i got to the senate. >> 12 years now. >> it is allowing peopl to buy what works for them. let ranchers join together and deal with transparency. the president is right on that. drug costs, which areactually coming down. there are things that are working, but we need bipartisan support at a time when the democrats want to take over all

of health care and eliminate insurance from 160 million samericans. ator, i will leave it there. i wish we had more time on this. have a feeling we will be aeareh tilt camyhas guess is ten more. thanks so much. joining me now from the other side of the aisle is the snoc senate dtic whip, dick durbin. i want to ask first about mueller and this tuesday deadline. mr. barr has already said he's not ing to meet the tuesday deadli. what are t consequences? do you have consequences planned? >> we have a new species of political dinosaurs. it is cled thebarr-redactal. mr. barr believes he can redact

the report from bob mueller. i think it is long overdue for him to apply to court and then to produce this report in its entirety for the congress. there is ample preceden when it came to clinton investigations in the past for hillary and for bill clinton. there were massive reports turned over to congress. that should be the case here as well. >>ou know, before mueller came out, you had been sort of preaching some sort of calmness. you had said things like, park yourself on the sidelines untile mus work is completed. all right. mueller's work is completed. i know you are waiting see what's in it. but you saw the polling. you know that this is -- while this is an obsession amonghe bases of both parties, the vast -- there is a vast chunk america that has tuned this out and doesn't want this focus.he yod senator barrasso say he sishes theirid could move on, do you think it's time for your side to moveon? >>ll, i think there should be a complete disclosure of the

mueller report. i was standing in the subway in chicago on friday, and a lady came up to meme d ed deborah an she said we paid for that inquiry. why can't we seere thart. i think she speaks for most of america. i think it is important we see what bob mueller produced. salary yates has an column. she said remember, at the h trt s was the russian interference in our election. we ought to see the full mueller report that gets to the counter intelligence base. so it does have an pli capplica what we do moving forward. >> we said the judiciary committee, the chairman there, republican from south carolina, lindsey graham has indicated he wants to do som investigating of the investigators. how did this get started. he wants to talk about comey. are you with himi on do you think that's an investigation that's necessary?

i don't want to return to travel gate, benghazi, the clinton e-mails. you know, i think we can move we ought to focus on the counter intelligence aspects of this and the security of e 2020 election. that's the one thing both parties ought to agree on. no one should interfere with the opportunity and the obligation of the american people to choose their next rank of leadership. >> given the fact that senator graham admitted he was involved in the process or at least knew of the process of how the dossier got to f james comm senator mccain and he read it before it actually got to comey, does he to recuse himself from this investigation on your committee or not? >> do you think lindsay graham could recus himself from any investigation? i can't imagine it. and i'll tell you, i hope we don't dwell on this. as i said, it is yesterday's newspaper with mueller's report. let's put it tay rest one or the other. >> yeah. >> if there is action needed by congress to keep our political system intact, let's move

forward. >> i want to move to a few issues. but i want to start first with immigration. the front page of the new york times this morning notes that, look, whatever you want to call it, wherever y want to put the blame, we have a problem at the border. dhs doing everything possible to respond to a growing human tear catastrophe while also securing our borders. i'm well aware you don't like thpresident's plans on immigration, the wall, all of these things. the fact isow we do k there is a massive migration crisis right now. does congress have theon rebility to give secretary nielson more tools to deal with this temporarily? >> let me tell you the first thing we ought to do in this administration, which was the author of the zero tolerance policy veremoving 2,800 toddlers, infants and t childre frir parents with no tracing of where they were being

sent so they could be returned. the first thing we need to do is to meet t humanitarian needs at the border. instead of building fences two or three years in the future by taking money fom the department of defense, focus on facilities to serve these families so there aren't children that are hurt and dying a result of this situation. then take a look at the big picture. when t president says he's going to close the border, that is a totally unrealistic boost on his part. we need to focus on what'sen hag in central america where three countries are dissembling before our eyes and peesle arerately coming to the united states. the president cutting off aid these countries will not solve this problem. >> let me move quickly to health care and it is thi question. the democratic presidential candidates are all taking about remaking obamacare, some of them e dically, some of them on the edges. publican party is obviously in a different place. you're trying to defend

obamacare while the rest of your party wants to change it. should the presideial candidat be more focussed o ese defending obamacare than changing it? >> i voted for it. i think it is onest of my important votes. it cut the number of uninsureda amerin illinois in half. back to my friend john and he is a friend, 25,000 people in the state of wyoming have health care because of obamacare. 95% ofethem a subsidy for the premium payment. there are ways to improve it. the affordable care act brought down a mountainside by moses on clay tablets. there are ways to. improve when it comes to prescription pricing, i disagree. most americans believe the prices are through the of. we should be addressing that as one of the first changes to make the affordable care act more effelyive. >> quin 2020, joe biden, there is an allegation that is

basically two -- made so women feel uncomfortable by some ways that he acted around them. he has put out a more complete statement saying he still doesn't remember the incident, but thate will pay more -- that men in general need to pay more attention how they interact with women. are you concerned that joe biden can handle the onslaught of 2020? do you think he should run? oe well, i can tell you that biden is a friend and a seasoned veteran when it comes to polical campaigns. i know nothing about the allegations that i also read this morning as well. i think all of us should take allegations seriously and with respect. i ok joe biden's statement to say just that exactly. so, yes, i think he's ready if that's his decision to move forward in this presidential campaign. we have a spirited field of 15 or 16 -- >> so this isn't disqualifying? >> certainly allegation is

not disqualifying. >> thanks for your time and sharing your views. >> thank you. when we come back, the presiden spent the week voing of his opponents in the wake of the mueller headlines. s it a missed opportunity? >> there are a lot of people out there thateave done s very, very evil things, very bad ♪ ♪ dear tech... ♪ ♪ dear tech... let's talk. we have a pretty good relationship. you've done a lot of good for the world. but i feel like you have the potential to do so much more. are you working for all of us, or just a few of us? can we build ai without bias? ai that fights bias? ai that helps us see the bias in ourselves? we need tech that helps people understand each other. that understands my business. ♪ ♪ dear tech... dear tech... dear tech... dear tech...

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lisa jones! hey carl, what are you charging me for online equity trades? laughs/umm.. and do i get my fees back if i'm not happy? like a satisfaction guarantee? ugh. schwab! oh right, i'm calling schwab. thanks, carl! (click). wait, lisa! lisa... are you getting low costs backed by a satisfaction guarantee? if not, talk to schwab. a modern approach to wealth management. back now with a democratic pollster cornell belcher,eggy noonan, chief white house correspondent at nbc news hallie jackson, and editor of "national review" and man up late watching uva get to the 'sfinal four because n alum, rich lowery. you are in a much better mood than you would be. let me play the president had a couple of paths to go down after getting some good news on sunday as far as he was concerned.

here was the president at his first campaign rally post barr/mueller report. >> there are a lot of people out there that have done some very, very evil minutes, bad things, i would say thereasonous things. we'll look at that. the report was aoainst those wh lofrt the election to try and regain power. sick, sick, these are sick people. >> peggy, maybe i'm stuck in a time warp that thinks, bo you have a political opportunity, take it. he could have gone down one path, one is that path. the uma thurman "kill bill" pain, t to take revenge, or he could have cornered the democratic party and said, all right, i'm ready for infrastructure, let's go. he went down the revenge >>path. yeah. somebody said when it was announced that the trump white house was going to now push on health care once again after

having been success the first time, reporter said to a house official, why are you doing health care? the white house official said, "too much good news, have to change the subject." there was an element of that. it would have been wonderful to see the president -- there's a somethin little surprising. he was angry when the good news came in. didn't you get the impression that he was feeling anger -- >> he loves the grievance, yeah. >> relief and generosity would have been nice, a little history of how we got there, then put it away. then as you say and as i agree, go forward on infrastructure. he's the builamr. ica wants to build. democrats are for it, reps are for it, go, go, go.he >> was consternation in the west wing about the plan. let me take you back to six days ago. not just the barr summary came out but the chief nemesis, michael avenatti, got arrested. his best pal at the white house

getting wine, riding a gh, and then that changed because of a lawsuit. i'm told there was concern on the part of the vice pents, not a disagreement on the policy but a disagreement on exactly this -- the ertactics. do you go from here? because they could see thana people like r barrasso are going to get hammered by people asking questions like where is the plan, do you have a plan. there was also questions from the lawyers on the legal viability of this argument. and the president, i don't think it's thate surprising that went full revenge mode. he was mad for two years about this. so this was like a employme for him to, right, grind the grievance axe. >> when he wonders why is he sitting at 43 to 46 i'm just -- i would say exhibit a. >> this isue but he was genuinely angel reap. you have to think of it a little from side. he fires comey because he refused to say publicly what he told trump under under.

then as soon as he fires him, serious people say he's committing acts of treason. i do think the process went off the rails. we let garbage op-o ghered by an ex-foreign spy, the so-called dossier, destroy our politics for two solid years. >> should lindsey graham be the guy investigating this considering the weird relatiship he had with the dossier itself? >> lindsey switched around on a lot of stuff. look, i would say -- i know this isn't going to happen, but i feel as though this should be like after the conclusio of the starr report where all fair-minded people on both sides say t's never do this this way again. >> you want to take that >>this? o for it. >> because i don't know where to start. this stinks. this is why it stinks- can you margin for one moment if democrats had taken the starr memo and, you know, this exonerates the resident, nothing to see here. newt gingrich's head would have exploded. this is part of the problem what americans think is wrong

with washington, there's no transparency. if in fact he's innocent, and by the way barr didn't say exerated completely, he's innocent, let us see it. you know, the number that's striki fm the "wall street journal" poll to me is 1 only 19% of independents think this clears the president. as an operative myself, when you're giving your polling data to the russians as a pollster, it's kind of ha t. you sayy're not concluding. >> i want to put up this number here. this is paying a lot of attention to news coverage on various -- we do this all the time in our poll, put this up. look where the mueller report sits compared to other major events overup the last of years. the orlando shooting at the pulse nightclub. the spread of ebola, "access ho ywood" tape, people who watched a lot of news coverage on the mueller report, sitting at a , peggy. it is one of these things where -- understandably whyll of u are into it. >> yeah. >> it's an important at investn. the middle of the country, i think, that's who this is. >> the middle of the country and

america in 2019 has been used for decades to watching washington do its thing and have its partisan investigations. anthey filter it i think to a good degree. i'm sure they're hap h e an answer now. i hav a feeling the presidt's es are never going to let the whole mueller thing, the investigation, go. i think the mueller report once it is made public to the degree it is made public and all argue about that, is going to be seen less as a definitive too explicit starr report and more like, oh, we can do wreren rt on this for the next few years d pull every thread we see. >> what are we going to be debating more in the next six months, though? obamacare? or the full release in the mueller report? i don't think we'lbe debating at's in the mueller report for a while. i think we'll be debating the full mrelease. whters more? >> it's definitely the health care law.

i think when you look at the numbers and look at what pestle are inte in, and when you look at what people are talking about on the 2020 ca trail, specifically democrats, they are not talking about russia and the mueller report. that hsaid,president and there are those around him who see this as -- essentially a political cujole. bill barraid in mid-april i'm told by folks in the white house their stance is we're okay th at, and we're going to blast the democrats for demanding it by tuesday. >> there counterintuitively could be wihy this hurts the president. ocssia was always a blind ally for the dts. it wasn't that he was a russian to or -- it's what nancy pelosi trying tdo, he's a conventional republican mask rating as a -- masquerading as having power policies. >> i'm going to pause it. that's a dangerous plus for frimp to be. frimp to be. next, can a treme manfort we

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it could be hard to accuse john like loop hickenlooperfof pandering. rmer governor is opposed to medicare for all. he's a modmiate on ation and considers himself a fiscal conservative, unlike some of his better-known 2020 opponents. hickenlooper is a proven vote getter having been elected governor of colorado twice and mayor of denvertwice. candidate john hickenlooper joins me from denver. welcome back to "meet the press," sir. >> good morning. >> let me start -- i want to dive into it. yople want to assessur ability to be president. we've got a front-page story in the nomine"the new york times" sure you've seenbout the crisis did at the border. im have a debate on igration. and i'm not asking for the larger decision on. 'm asking what would you do now? a huge influx now. they're gaming the system differently. wedon't have t facilities to deal with these type of asylum seekers. nowt would you do right >> well, certainly i wouldn't have gotten us into the

situation we find ourselveat the bordnow. and i would not have ripped away hundreds and hundreds, thousands of kids away from their mothers, and then shipped themff to adoptive families. i mean, it's a form of indnapping. i the key was to keep out in front of this issue and make sure we had the faciliti so that we could provide, you know, humane processing of people that were in many casesei fearing t lives were at risk and fleeing perhaps certain death to try and come to america. this country's been built on im we should respect and have a process that's fair for everyone. >> what does -- what does a -- look like borders a hickenlooper administration? how tight, how secure, how porous, how would you describe > it? think you need borders. but you have to recognize that we are a one built on immigration. right now we have more job openings than we have people looking for work.

luate the re-e system, whether we need help bringing in crops at the border line. last fall we werets leaving fr and vegetables in the fields and unharvested. whether we need more electrical engineers to keep our tech industry at the fnt of the global coverageetition. i mean -- competition. i an, that got to be incorporated into a comprehensive treatment of immigration and making sure that in the process of that we saw the -- the complexities at th border. >> what is an extreme moderate, ght, a radical moderate? there's different versions. i heard you off the record say versions of this, as well.ne det for voters. how do you want that defined when we hear the phrase that you're an extreme moderate? >> i don't le any of the labels. you know, i've tried to do both when i was inne small bu but also when i was a mayor, when i was a governor, i've tried to address bheinging people tog and getting things done. and i really do believe we're in a crisis now of division. that encompasses health care the environment and -- and the economy. and what i've done again and

again is been able to brinop together and get stuff done. we got to almost universal coverage inealth care in colorado. we expanded medicaid, we created one of the most inn exchanges in the country. we got the environmental communities to sit down with ths oil and industry, and -- and actually create the first methane regulations in the country, that the oil and gas industry paid $16 million to implement. the equivalent of taking 320,000 automobiles off the roads. i thinkof all the candidates so far i think i'm the person that has the most contuous example, the most, you know, continuous record of actually gettingle peogether and bringing them together, put down your weapons, and get things done. >> you know, governor, what mebody -- somebody on the left would say, you know, you're going to sit down with thed oi s industry. that's the problem. you're going to let them write the gislation. there's been too much accommodation over the years. not just on that issue. but that is the argument coming from the new progressive left. how do you deal with that a a

candidate? >> well, i hold out the rcord actual accomplishment. everyone else is -- is pointing fingers and blaming ea. oth and you know, when we got that methane i regulation put place, that system of regulations, not only has it helped colorado, it's being rolled out as national policy across canada. it's -- it should be global inlicy. if we're gto address, if we're serious about addressing the challenges of climate change and the environment, it's not sufficiedd just toss it here in this country. we've got to do it globally to have theat impact we have to have. i mean, this is a place where we don't have the luxury of continuing this washington-sometime battle of blaming the -- washington-style battle of blaming the her de. >> one of the battles is on the issue of abortion. i'm curious when it comes to the idea of trying to basically break impasses, which i think is essentially what you're saying, you're going to try and break an passe. we have a lot of states, georgia's the latest, that are

passing fetal heartbeat bills. essentially trying to prent abortions, making him illegal the minute you can hear a heartbeat. what is your reaction? do you believe they're unconstitutional or not, and what is the line on abortion for you? >> i think those laws are unconstitutional.an i think from my point of view, i -- i recognize the difficulty of the question, and i empathize with people on both sides. i'ays come down on the side of a woman's right to take care of her own health care. >> is there any limit? is there any limit that believe there should be? what is it? >> wait, wait, wait. in of the things we d colorado over the course of five years, we got some foundation money. but we providedlong-acting, reversible contraception, n norplants and iud to women. in that process over the years we have reduced teenage pregnancy d abortion by over 60%. i mean, that's some of the -- that's the kind of accomplishment and achievement weinhould be loat.

again, you've got to have the debate, and i respect that. but i think a woman has to ultimately have the right to,u ow, make decisions about her own health. >> any -- and what is government's role at all? is it -- should government just draw that line? is there a line the government should draw? >> i think that the supreme court has already drawn that line, and that in this untry, women are allowed the final decision of those issues that most directly affect their health care. >> let me ask you a final issue that has popped up this morning, that is the accusation against vice president biden. he has -- says he doesn't hmember it. he also says tha wants to rethink how men in general have interacted with women. first of all, is it a disqualifying from what you have read and seen about this, do you believe it's d squalifying? second, what is -- what should past -- what past behavior should be accountable these days and what shouldn't?

>> i think the more important issue to recognize is th we are at an inflection point, a moment of transformation of the entire country where women, in many cases for the first time, are having the courage to come forward and speakbout things that happened to them that make them intensely uncomfortable. in many cases, they feel they've been damaged unfairly. i think our first responsibility is to make sure that we allow women -- to recognize their bravery and listen and believe them. we have to make sure thathat's a first issue. >> and what about is this disqualifying for vice president biden? >>wagain, i don't k aside from this issue, even this issue, i don't knowll the details. it's why we have an election, that's the process. certainlit's disconcerting. i think that, again, women havea to be , and we should start

by believing them. >> governor john hickenlooper, democrat from colorado, i'm h going e to leave it there. thanks for sharing your views. i imagine we'll catch up again, sir. >> thanks, chuck. next, democrats are desperate to win back the whit house. house. what do democratic members think ♪ junior achievement reaches young people all over the world to prepare them for the future of work. we go into classrooms and we teach entrepneurial skills and leadership skills.cr when you actuallte a business when you're in your teens,entrepneurial skills it raises your self-confidence. junior achievement is really uniquee becaey inspire young people to think creatively. the citi foundation's pathways to progress initiative helped us reach kids in over 50 countries. citi has also loaned us their executives and their employees.

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we'rback. "data download" time. how do voters feel about the 2020 candidates so far? our newfeoll a few clues. there's one candidate we're pretty confident will be on the ballot comnovember, 2020, that's president trump. republicans look to be all in on the preswith 79% saying they are either enthusiastic or comfortable supporting him. democrats as you might expect are at the other end of the but only 34% of independents call themselvescomfortable with trump right now. that's not a strong number for the president to be starting with right out of the gate. and perhaps mostt ling, a full 50% of all respondents callse thes very uncomfortable supporting the president's re-election. remember, what we just with president trump and what we're testing with five democrats this month, and we'll test more the months to come

is basically the floor and ceiling of potentialsuppor this is not a horse race poll on purpose. anyway. among self-described democrats, the person with the most enthusiasm and comfort was biden followed by sander warren, harris, and o'rourke. biden had thegost saythey were enthusiastic or comfortable at 70%. now with s,independe the candidate order essentially held ofh lower levels of support, course. overall, however, biden and sanders seemed to have an advantage withindependents, both with close to 50% saying they'd be comfortable or enthusiastic supporting him or them. republicans also followed the same pattern with much lower nuaners. biden out from the crowd they'd be 1% saying comfortable supporting him. that could suggest he has crossover appeal if he runs and wins the nomination. name recognition is obviously crucial when running for president. ld explain the stronger showings for biden and sanders horight now. wed note that sanders starts with the highest negatives among democrats.

sanders and o'rourke received the highest for don't know the name, we're not sure in the poll. that means they have a better shot atms defining tves on their own terms during the campaign unless someone does it for them. that may be the case for much of the democratic field. not a bad place to be in the spring of '19. when wecome back, speaking of 2020, the political re-edution of joe biden.ca us as people. they see us as profits. we're paying the highest prescription drug prices in the world so they can make billions? americans shouldn't have to choose between buying medication and buying food for our families. it's time for someone to look out for us. congress, stop the greed. cut drug prices now. comcast business built the nation's largest gig-speed network. then went beyond. beyond chasing down network problems.

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>> now with "end game." and a story that actually continues to develop morning. the accusation against former vice president biden. he has put out a new statement. let me read the whole thingpan and dive into. the original context had to do with amocratic candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014 ntlking about eslly vice president bidenng invadi her personal space in an extraordinarily uncomfortable way. the second statement -- "in my many years on the campaign trail and in public life i have offered countless hadshakes, hugs, expressions of affection, support, and comfort. not one did i believe i acted inappropriately. if it is suggested i did so, i will listen respectfully. it was never my intention. r i may notall the moments the same way, and i may be surprised at what i hear. but we have arrived at an important time when women feel

ey can and should relate to their experiences and men should pay attention, and i will." cornell belcher, lucy flores, doing an -- did an interview this morning on cnn, called this statement better than the first. >> it's -- it' a very good statement. it's also not what you want to start offgn your camp having an -- a conversation about. i think that they want totart the campaign having a conversation about -- about leadership. d vision for the future. this is not -- this is also what happened when you're the on runner. and you die by -- by a million papercu cuts. i think given his ti and history, they want to focus on -- on his competenceea andng trump. they don't want to be talking about this this morning. >> you know, let me put the headlines that you referred to here. "politico" has a great one that he's getting a quick 2020 -- blind sided by a dose of 2020 reality. obviously this allegation, there was also anita hill's come up this week. his back and forth on roe v.

wade. joe biden's greatest strength is the fact that he's been in the political mainstream for 40 years. his greatest weakness is that he's been in the political mainstream for 40 ars. >> there's a reason god gave us the handshake. it's respectful, always appropriate. >> gender neutral. >> yeah. the crux of the statement, i don't think this was seal or malicious, but it was way over-familiar. and it would immediately in workplace get reported to h.r. to say stop doing that. and the problem he'sveoing to is, as you said, all this record and how he deals with it. and i think if apologizes too much, he's going to risknc seemg ine and weak. and in theory, i think he'sa formidable general election candidate. neitherll of either party ay i want to own the old-guy establishment lane in one of the major political parties. >> we're talking, and i think tfully so about the political piece. there is such a big cultural element, too. we are now post-me too, october,

2017, than long ago. moreadley speaking in the big picture level, candidat have grapple with what it means to have had white male privilege for many years. you're seeing that in this public way, voters are demanding it, the women candidates running are in some ways demanding some too.untability for that, this goes beyond the realm of politics. it's much bigger than that. >> i think it has do with the fact in part that joe biden is a longtime american political figure who came from the fleshy world of '60s and '70s politicev and when ybody started to hug and erkiss, difft from the '40s and '5we. e hugging, kissing, all that stuff is going on. that's part of his story right now. another thg is i think f the first time in his life, joe biden iseeing himself the target of his own party's op-o. he's got operatives for other candidates going aft him in a

way that will have to be startli startlrvg. >> can he e this? >> yes. he can. >> how? how does he survive it? >> he pivots to the issues. and what -- i think it was a very good stateme. he acknowledges it and -- you know, absolutely right. ne through has changes, a problem for a lot of our older candidates who toin yr came up in a culture that was very different. i think he can survive. this is why he survives it, comfort. the number that popped out in the nb poll is comfort. democrats are very, very comfortable with joe biden.ve ho i don't think that sets people on fire. >> yeah. >> the good news is you know what you're going to get. the bad news is you know what you're going to get. alright, guys. that's all we have for today. what a show. thank you for watching. we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press."