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joining our discussion now is former senator claire mccaskill and former senate staffer, adam gentleson, whose op-ed piece in "the new york times" says that mitch mcconnell has surrendered the republican senate to donald trump. senator mccaskill, i want to give you an opportunity to revise and extend your remarks about senator graham, as they say in the senate. is he crazy or is he running for re-election and what's the difference? >> well, you know, the old lindsay was brave and courageous. and he took some positions that maybe should have disqualified him in his last election as a republican in south carolina. but that didn't seem to bother him in those days. when he was willing to try to find common ground. when he was willing to speak truth to power when the occasion called for it. when he was willing to stand up to an overreach of executive power, particularly when it was going after his beloved military. so this is -- and you know, the thing that is really bizarre about this is that if lindsey graham believed this was an emergency, if any of my former colleagues believed this was

claire mccaskill, thank you as well.bet. >> it's been nearly a year since form now he's speaking out about his time leading the bureau and his time spent investigating the president. that's next on "morning joe." it's time for the ultimate sleep number event on the sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. and now, save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus, 36-month financing. ends monday. when your flight gets in late, it's never too early for coffee. oh no no no. your new boss seems cool, but she might not be sweatpants cool. who is that ready this early? it's only 7 am. somebody help me. close call. not quite ready to face the day? that's why we're here with free hot breakfast and a warm welcome. book at hampton.com for our price match guarantee. hampton by hilton. zoun jo >>> joining us now from the foreign relations committee, jeff, what do you make of ryan zinke joining the lobbying agency? >> first trump brings a swamp inside

first, former senator claire mccaskill joins us.metimes, the pressures of today's world can make it tough to take care of yourself. but nature's bounty has innovative ways to help you maintain balance and help keep you active and well-rested. because hey, tomorrow's coming up fast. nature's bounty. because you're better off healthy. this round is on me. hey, can you spot me? come on in! find your place, today, with silver sneakers... included with many medicare plans. call the number on the screen now or visit getsilversneakers.com with retirement planning and advice for what you need today and tomorrow. because when you're with fidelity, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. >>> jennifer rubin, another one of your pieces yesterday, was on how democratic voters aren't where democratic candidates are. and how important is it that the candidates can beat trump? >> very important. it's more importantly than having a candidate who aligns with their views perfectly or even closely. people like aoc, bernie sanders, elizabeth wa

joining me now, former democratic senator from missouri, claire mccaskill. she is now an nbc news and msnbc political analyst. it's great to have you here. okay. first question is, given what happened when you were in the united states senate with the daca deal, which was that the president sat there and said, you bring me a deal, i'm going to sign it, i'm not going to say i don't like this, i don't like that, then he ripped it up, can you make a deal with this president, first, as a just broad question? >> well, i think he wants to make a deal, because there's a couple of things we know he is fixated on. crowd size and his polling numbers. and he knows his polling numbers took a deep dive because of all of the chaos around his shutdown. so i think he wants to avoid another shutdown. so i think he stepped back, and i think mitch mcconnell said, let us get this. i think they're close to a deal. i know they're meeting again tonight. the question is, if the democrats press this issue, which i don't disagree with, we've got to make sure the messaging is very cle

and joe manchin thought and claire mccaskill thought the way they demonized kavanaugh was the reason they lost races. i think right now schumer has a lock on the leadership but i don't think he can really assess his legacy until he reaches the pinnacle, top leader in the senate. >> his legacy at this point is that he has been able to deliver democrats in the senate joining the pack. and i think he is right, we need to see him as majority leader and how he would operate. the policies that are being put forward by the ascended part of the policy are not necessarily policies chuck schumer would want to get behind, medicare for all, universal health insurance, chuck schumer is a more incremental person in terms of policy, and how he would handle this new surge on the left or big, sweeping change on climate change, big health care, i don't know, but he has shown himself to be an extremely powerful political operative and now great policy operative. one thing that is important, he was the force behind the 2013 immigration reform bill. we are talking about the most difficult issue in policy

senator now an nbc news and msnbc political analysis democrat claire mccaskill working all night.ms did? >> i thought she was terrific. i loved the tone. she was tough but she was optimistic. i thought she was inspirational. i thought she really kind of -- the most important line i thought she delivered was when she really took him to task for not telling the truth. this is the problem this president has. he is now lied so often, he lies like other people brush their teeth, that it's very hard for people who are not big trump loyalists to take him seriously about almost anything and i thought she was very effective at the way she kind of framed the issue of the president being the liar in chief. >> if i could correct claire for a second -- >> you're not correcting claire. >> i don't think people brush their teeth that often. >> eww. >> even as i am very disappointed by the president's approach to our problems, i still don't want him to fail, but we need him to tell the truth and to respect his duties and respect the extraordinary diversity that defines america. >> claire, you're s

if you talk to claire mccaskill and joe donnelly, they thought the way that played out where the christie while and the way the democrats demonized kavanaugh, they thought that lost them their races. that could be pivotal. i guess the question is, how long do democrats wait in the minority before they expect leadership change? right now, it looks like he has a lock on it. i don't think we can assess his legacy until he reaches the pinnacle he wants which is top leader of the senate. >> to this think, he has been able to deliver democrats in the senate majority leader in the past. and i think that he is right. we need to see him as majority leader. i think it will be very difficult for him right now. because the policies being put forward by the ascendant part of the party are not policies that chuck schumer would necessarily want to get behind. medicaid for all. universal health insurance. chuck sherman -- chuck schumer is more of an incrementalist. big sweeping changes. big health care bill. big climate change bill. himselfnk he has shown to be an extremely powerful political operative.

. >> someone with an interesting perspective on this issue was senate senator claire mccaskill saying it is easy to be a democratic socialist in a blue district like yours. how do you square that with the ability to find a majority? >> i square it with the direct evidence in 2016 that that is not true. no matter how you feel about senator bernie sanders he ran in 2016 as a democratic socialist, unapologet unapologetically. >> in primaries, among democrats, but those independents, right? >> and he wins indent. people have a mistaken idea that american picks is on one lynn yard line. 40% of the american public identifies as independents, that doesn't mean we're? the middle, it means we hate that thing. some are freaking out about it but i'm coming from someone that says more competition is better not worse. >> four or five i think that is fine. i think that is -- it sounds like the two major parties you think don't everybody this well. >> i think that is totally fine to say a two party system in this time of gridlock is a difficult thing to navigate. and it is -- i think it is viable, i

one of your former colleagues in the senate claire mccaskill was on another network tonight. essentially saying the president is threatening democrats, let's watch. >> the weirdest thing for me was the line he put in about there cannot be legislation -- essentially what he said is there cannot be legislation if you are investigating. basically threatening congress. >> laura: is that what he did tonight? >> of course not. this is the false narrative. when you can't talk about your policies and the results that they have achieved this is what you do. it's a false narrative not based on any reality. >> laura: what was it like in there tonight? we were all watching -- they were all in white. it was kind of a stunt. the president kind of stole the joke from them. with the suffragettes. he kind of had that whimsical mustang congratulations, good for you. >> what you saw as a president hitting his stride, buoyant on the results that his agenda is retrieving and it's disgusting, frankly to see americans sit on their hands when you talk about the lowest african-american employment. >>

tonight -- ellie kemper, former senator from missouri, nbc news analyst claire mccaskill, music fromght? [ cheers and applause ] that is wonderful to hear. in that case, let's geto the news president trump announced yesterday that he will postpone nion address the due to the government shutdown. oh, yeah, i'm sure it had everything to do with the shut a

the shift we have seen in the democratic party in 2018, we had more moderate democrats like claire mccaskillno longer there. democratic voters did not come out and support them. in exchange we're seeing the party shift further to the left, and kamala harris may not like the title but if the shoe fits, wear it. the policies many of them are embracing and supporting and not running away from are the socialist policies that don't work in other countries and if they want to push those here, it's not going to be a winning formula in 2020. >> we have to see what the voters have to say. we have a year to talk about this so i'm sure we'll have this conversation many times more between now and then. alice stewart and bacari sellers, thank you very much for being here. appreciate it. >>> a quick programming note, don't miss wolf blitzer's town hall with senator bernie sanders live from washington, d.c. that happens tomorrow night at 8:00 right here on cnn. >>> and new this hour, virginia's embattled lieutenant governor justin fairfax talking about lynching and due process. fairfax san antonioly defend

this is not a year when the claire mccaskills and the joe manchins are considered to be the top pick in the democratic field. this is gillibrand, kamala harris, potentially sherrod brown, but we're seeing top democrats forming that top tier. >> it will be interesting to see all the candidates veer to the left of our party. it will be interesting to see if amy decides she is going to lead with some of the more progressive ideas or maybe stick to a really pragmatic agenda. >> her reputation is quite pragmatic. >> correct. i think that's what we can watch for is how many candidates will be going for a segment of the democratic party that is more left of center, and how many will be going towards a more centrist position with the idea that history has shown that centrist positions have sometimes more success in general elections? >> but in barack obama's history, you can do both. >> exactly. frankly, my voting record was pretty darn good on the environment and on all the issues that the congresswoman likes to talk about. but it's what you emphasize and what you lead with and whether or n

if you talk to claire mccaskill and you talk to joe donnelly, i think they way they -- the way they brought out christine, and they demonized kavanaugh, that could be pivotal, and the question is, how long to democrats wait in the minority before they asked for a leadership change? i think right now, he has a lock on it. it looks like he will be the majority leader some day, but i do not think he can really assess his legacy until he reaches the pinnacle, which is to be the top leader in the senate. carl: his legacy at this point is that he has been able to democrats in the senate in the past, when he was in charge of the senate operations, and i think he is right. we need to see him as majority leader and how he would operate. and i think it would be very difficult for him right now, because the policies that are being put forward by the ascendant part of the party are not necessarily the policies that chuck schumer would want to get behind. medicare for all, universal health insurance. more schumer is a incrementalist in some ways in terms of policy, and how he would handle this new surge

i saw claire mccaskill warning democrats, democrats should take that as a sign.- you're right about the socialism thing but when you take socialism out of it, medicare coverage for all or taxing the wealthy at a much, much higher rate, aspects of socialism and bigger government and how you pay for bigger government, that a lot of people, a majority in fact, half republicans when put that way, so does that aspect worry you? >> here is what it tells me actually, it's a symptom of a problem that's animated both the trump base and the left-wing base and what that means to me is that our policymakers, our politicians in washington do have to be cog nizzant -- cognizant that the middle class is shrinking, yes, gdp is rising and there's all indicators in trump economy but a broad swath of american public that doesn't feel it in the same way and they need to be respected and they are looking for solutions wherever they can find them and that's why republicans need to be careful here. if you see socialism anywhere in polling data, it's really a symptom of a larger problem

>> i almost expect the president to do what he did against claire mccaskill.e was the republican nominee as though he was and they said, oh, she's the person she's scared of. i expect you expect to see it more further to the left candidates, elizabeth warren and brown and kamala harris, making it look as if he's scared of them going as far left as possible. he does seem to think the voters he lost in michigan and wisconsin and iowa, more moderate blue collar voters will come back to him after 2018 if they're that far left. >> kareem, i'm interested in your response to that. how does this play out for democratic candidates when polls are showing voters, yes, in many cases support certain policy ideas progressive but want somebody who can beat president trump. do you think the most progressive candidates on the democratic side might be able to beat this president? >> i think they might be able to. a good chance. what we see in three months is very different than six months from now. in november of 2018 what we saw was a very -- large turnout, democrats taking ba

beto claire mccaskill about it yesterday and mika was saying in realtime during of and clar mckiss callright" and i did pay for it on the campaign trail. s if many democrats and everyone overreacted potentially, doesn't mean that is the they didn't have the information to run with the story but that doesn't mean that it can't be investigated by professionals in a timely manner. >> after first refusing to weigh in, senator and presidential hopeful cory booker told cnn yesterday democratic congresswoman jefr ever saying i reverend al sharp don, what do you think? >> i'm doser to you, mika. with. and i think that we must look at this in that context. but if f black face, there is nothing it had you u and i think we shouldn't confuse the two issues. the governor said i did black face on michael cohen. there's nothing to investigate. he said it. the secretary of state says i did something wrong, putting black face on kurtis blow. there's nothing to investigate. there are people with different stories in the lut fent governor race. i'm on my way to virginia to deal with the fact that they're

ask claire mccaskill how mob rule worked for her and a lot of other democrats in middle america.process. let's get all the facts first and then we'll pass judgment. >> get the facts first. i mean, there is a lesson to be learned here. and one. lessons, maybe this is an old journalist lesson but when there's a story of an incident that has every detail possible that's just perfect and just fitting, you know, if it sounds too pat, it is. and that's just the fact. and so, you know, i think you have to reserve the kind of judgment that goes out to modern day lynching goes all the way there until you learn some facts. and as we learn facts, it doesn't sound like that. >> it's very interesting from an old, grizzlied vet to another old grizzlied vet. mook, it's so funny, off camera you said the same thing that gene said on camera, which is the old reporter in you said this is all too neat. and we still don't know. >> absolutely. >> perhaps there were guys running around at 15 below zero carrying bleach. >> in chicago. >> your best bet is -- not everybody can do this -- go to the ground.

allow mob rule to overtake due process because if we do, then what happened in kavanaugh, where claire mccaskill several other democratic senators who were running for reelection will tell you, will they not, mika, as she did that that spectacle cost her reelection. >> absolutely. and, willie, it complicatkpliit obviously. when a woman steps up to the plate or the table and explains something that's happened to her, my instinct of course is to believe her, who would do that. but in the eyes of the law and in the eyes of the truth, playing with believing versus due process, well, we're in an age where the truth is at stake. the truth is in jeopardy because of president trump. and i feel that democrats, they've got to be even better and it's hard. >> yeah, i think you're right and i think that goes for the press, too. i think there are a lot of people rooting for an outcome in this story, immediately when they heard his account only jumped on that. i think i just checked with our executive producer alex, we mentioned it twice. we did the story once on our sunday "today" show and that mr. smollett