donna edwards, we do know more things about donald trump today.t's like a bully in elementary school, one they're revealed to be afraid of spiders, then you always know how to game them. we know donald trump is afraid of bad press and bad poll numbers. i'm not sure that's even a revelation. nancy pelosi, the victor by every republican and democrat's analysis today. what does she do now being the dominant player in the trump/pelosi relationship? >> i think there's a couple of things. one, she demonstrated not just to the president but she demonstrated to her caucus the importance of holding together. i think that's going to serve them well throughout the trump presidency. but with respect to the president, i mean, she clearly is on top. when you look at this deal, it was totally predictable those two bills, of course they were going to fail. the democratic bill gets more votes. that meant it was the leaders, the democratic and republican leaders in the house and senate who were going to write this bill and trump is going to have to sign it whether

with us tonight to talk about it is donna edwards.nd phil rucker, pulitzer prize winner for the "washington post." phil, any movement, any off ramps that you know of? >> none, brian. and that's the problem facing democratic and republican leaders on capitol hill. they know it's possible to get out of this shutdown quickly. they can pass the spending bills that already cleared the house and sort of table a debate on border security. but that's not something the president will tolerate or support. he's demanding his border wall funding and democrats will not support that. and now we have a stalemate. there has been no negotiation between the white house and democratic congressional leaders in several days now. i'm not sure any is on the agenda tomorrow, at loos with the leadership. and so federal workers are in the cross hairs and they're growing increasingly concerned there's no end in sight. >> i've heard what it would take is the tsa not coming nothing to work. pick a day, tomorrow. strangling u.s. air transportation. that would get

thank you, rick tyler, donna edwards and all of you. >>> and now, mike pompeo is answering questions about the surprising case of an american held in moscow. i am a family man. i am a techie dad. i believe the best technology should feel effortless. like magic. at comcast, it's my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. my name is mike, i'm in product development at comcast. we're working to make things simple, easy and awesome. >>> nearly six full days after his arrest, u.s. diplomats in russia were able to meet with former marine paul whelan, the american accused of spying by russia despite an international treaty that demands appearance with an attorney. his brother spoke to msnbc earlier today. >> it seems that he is doing well and he gave them a list of things that he needed, and we have a better sense of how to go forward in et goinging his legal counsel. >> this morning mike pompeo said on a trip to brazil, that the u.s. is seeking clarification from russia about the charges, and if the appropriate is not in the report, then it is demanding that he be rel

donna edwards, you've been on a ballot >> i feel it. having been an unlikeable aggreswoman.ed. i really feel that. i do think that if additional women get into the field that that changes that conversatio a little bit. but elizabeth warren put herself out there and those are the kind of arrows she is getting. it fa? no. i don't think it's fair the aall. we have to change that conver women want that conversao tore changed. >> is it going to be better when more women get in this race? becaus on one hand, kasie, we someti organize presidentia fields by ideological lanes, geogra lanes. if it's an identity politics lane, then this becomes what? >> people are already splitting it up that way. i go back to this. the article, humor column said quite on point, i thought in sayingwell, you know, i never really didn't like hillary clinto i was ready for a woman presid just not her. elizab warren, i would be ready fwfo4=u her, but there i someth about her i don't like.know, there is something about camilla harris i'm not liking and i couldn't tell you why. i think gets at the root of t

joining our conversation, from the border in texas and former democratic congresswoman donna edwards joins us. jacob, you have unbelievable reporting about how a little low tech saw, not medieval at all, cut a big hole through the wall? >> yeah, i think if you didn't follow this closely, a lot of people might be surprised by this but i don't find it surprising at all. so much of what the president says goes on down here is not based in reality and his preference for a steel barrier has been shown, according to exclusive photo nbc news has obtained is vulnerable to being sawed open with a saw you can buy at home depot. this is what's at the prototype location. he all eight tested. can you see with your own eyes. in fact, can you see right through it with your own eyes, nicole. this is still the one the president is abdicating for a wall as basically a one-size-fits-all solution, desfid despite what everybody else around him, including at the round table that i found a nuanced conversation about drugs coming to the port of echttry. he pointed to 117 kilos of meth on the tail and 4 kilo

former congresswoman donna edwards. and matthew continetti. welcome to sunday.t's "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >>> good sunday morning. welcome to our first "meet the press" of the new year. government shutdown is now in the 16th day and, well, second year. tying it for the third longest in history and the problems for everyone are piling up. literally. though national parks are open, they are not staffed which means a lot of places are beginning to look like this. in addition, the federal food stamp program which services 38 million low income americans faces severe cuts. and some $140 billion in tax refunds, your money, could be frozen or delayed. for democrats that were once willing to provide funding, the goal seems to be deny president trump a victory, any victory and for the president it's become a symbol. it's no longer just about keeping illegal immigrants out, it's about keeping his base in. senator lindsey graham made that point cle

joining us now, former democratic congresswoman donna edwards. donna,? >> wow.ard to know what to say. i think you're right. it's very tough to find a distinction between steve king and donald trump. and why republicans are coming out now, and frankly, i think that the disapproval that they've just passed against steve king is not enough. if the republican party wants to remove this cold sore, this cancer from the republican party, then it needs to be even stronger and that means not only, i think, the removal of steve king from the congress of the united states because he's reflected against the credibility of the congress, but also rebuking the president of the united states who has aligned himself with steve king. >> where, donna, do you see a distinction between donald trump's comments about race, which are clearly ray s lly rac steve king's, which are clearly raci racist? >> i tell you, i don't. you can especially tell that across the breadth of the last couple years of the immigration debate. remember, it was steve king who characterized giving support for

former democratic congressman donna edwards and guy benson.ker gingrich, welcome to our fox affiliate. if you knew how we had scrambled. >> people tell me you were the first person to notice the fir . let not. >>chris: we could all smell it. how damaging is the buzzfeed story and the almost total knocked down by the special counsel to the media? >> it comes on the previous new york times story that said trump could be a russian agent until you get to paragraph nine that said there's no proof that this story is true. >>chris: this is the story that there was acounterintelligence investigation . >> trump has had about 90 percent negative, he tweeted about this. i think he said the worst media story since lincoln. you cannot find any other president that has been a relentless unending assault. - - luckily, they said it's not true.>>chris: you did say it was alive very quickly. congresswoman edwards, as i discussed with congressman cliburn. as soon as the story came out there was almost this rush to judgment. i will get back to the media. there wa

donna edwards. ryan costello, reaspublican congressman. brett stevens, op-ed columnist for "the new york times." you said the president painted himself into a corner. he said he would look foolish by supporting democratic intelligence lati legislation? >> i don't think we're getting out of this. i could see this going to the state of the union. >> to the state of the union? >> i think he's only heightened the dispute. you heard pelosi say not a dime for the wall. i think they're philosophically so far apart that you're not going to see a deal cut any time in the near future. >> congresswoman edwards, did nancy pelosi make a mistake by insisting no money for the wall, did she box the democrats in? >> absolutely not. this has been the position of democrats going to before the shutdown. the speaker's prepared today with a unified democratic caucus to put legislation on the floor. send it to the senate. something the senators are already voting on. then in the hands of mcconnell and republicans to sit quietly with this president and say, you k

donna edwards who knows her stuff, peter jolly. >>> coming up rudy giuliani told reporters today president trump is over answering robe mueller' questions and they will have to be -- the findings of the trump -- of the mueller -- the mueller report which can is coming out in two months is going to be horrific but this president will not respond to questions. plus what is the crisis they're trying to push and what will happen if they the president does decide to declare a national emergency? i think he will. what he will do if trump declare as national emergency. and vice president pence is thanking rush limbaugh for bringing the country's attention to trump's top agenda issue. we're going to have the audio of that craziness coming up. let me finish with a president surrounded by wall of his own imagination. this is "hardball." this is "hardball. [heavy gui] [glass shattering!] not cool. freezing away fat cells with coolsculpting? now that's cool! coolsculpting safely freezes and removes fat cells with little or no downtime. and no surgery. results and patient experience may vary. some comm

donna edwards, former democratic member of congress representing the state of did i mention maryland. and newly minted "washington post" columnist and michael steele, former chairman of the republican national committee and former lieutenant governor from the state of, wait for it, maryland. >> there it is. >> thank you both for being with us. >> sure. >> michael, the whole rap on mitch mcconnell is his ability to count noses. any good leader, any good whip in the house or senate, that's what they do. they're like a western rancher counting a head of cattle. but there's no way to get to 60 apparently on either vote without doing how a bill becomes law, which none of us paid attention to when we were in school. why bring them up? >> well, they're bringing them up because they're probably trying to position for the back end of this conversation, which is going to be around something that's beginning to form in the house. i don't think this bill that's going to close -- that's going to rather open the government is going to emerge out of the senate. it's going to emerge out of the house.

joining me our congresswoman contributor, donna edwards. >> dave, first to you. >> i think it is completelyn by the base. these were issues that bubble under when barack obama was president, they became majority. hillary clinton was expected to run the campaign. republican voters signed off on a platform that's more left wing. it has gone left since then. the ones who agree with this, medicare for all and legal marijuana polls at 50%. something that is around the axel. they feel the voters decided this veagenda and they come alo with it. >> majority voters favor 56% and minority oppose it. are those safe numbers. >> the details of this when you tell people of the cost and changes of their current private plans, you can make medicare for all. if you see medicare for all when it is on the ballot. the conversation is among democrats are about universal healthcare and getting there at the public option that's moving to the left. if democrats won the massive majority in the popular house in 2018. the comment is based on previous time when the party is wiped out. it is not 60% of the vote but it

former democratic congresswoman donna edwards and cohost of benson and harf on fox news radio, guy bensonto our fox affiliate, wttg. if you knew how we had scrambled. >> people tell me you were the first person to notice the fire. >> chris: well, we could all smell it. how damaging is the buzzfeed story and the almost total knocked down by the special counsel to the media? >> if it comes on top of the previous week's "new york times" story that such term could be a russian agent until you get to paragraph nine when it says actually there's no proof at all the story is true. >> chris: this was a story that there was a counterintelligence investigation. >> they found nothing. the headline. trump said about 90% negative. i said to him i think he said the worst media hostility since lincoln. you cannot find any other president who has been a relentless and ending assault, much of it dishonest. i was on "fox & friends" and had not seen the report and they said what about buzzfeed and i said it's a lie and luckily it turned out mueller said it's not true. >> chris: you did say it was a lie very

rick tyler, republican strategist, former maryland congresswoman donna edwards joins us. here we are. eli, you've been writing about this a ton. tell me what your sources are telling you. the last time this happened, i was 1 year old. this hasn't happened in decades. >> it is a record shutdown. the white house, i think it was more surprising last night that the president accepted the actual reality of the fact that he doesn't hold the cards on this one. speaker pelosi controls the house chamber. whatever letter he decided to send, that's not going to force her to open up the doors and say okay, go ahead and give your speech you're the president. the separation of powers has been something the president has has struggled to accept at times. the fact he accepted it last night is the fact of a white house that -- they just have a lot on their plate. they're not exactly sure of their move from day to day. they were basically out of moves. they had no choice but to pull back. the focus for the most part is on figuring out how to end the shutdown. how to find an off ramp. how t