also joined by jennifer ruben who's an aopinion writer at "the washington post," and eugene robinson. and joyce vance, i want to gen with you just on the legal matter, this breaking news, possible federal crime by a congressman today via tweet. in your reading of the statute controlling this and in your reading of that tweet, do you see the possibility of the crime of intimidation and interference in a congressional hearing by congressman gaetz? >> based on just the tweet itself it's something that prosecutors might take a look at. it doesn't look to me like something offhand i would charge unless there was much more significant evidence that gaetz actually intended to prevent cohen from testifying completely or was trying to get him to not testify about different subjects. i think it's when you pull the camera back further out and you think about the fact this is sitting congressman making this kind of comment to a witness who's coming out on a serious matter involving the president that you see that it's just so awful. it's so vulgar, it's such a schoolyard bully kind of taunt that

joining me for insight and analysis are eugene robinson of "the washington post." nbc news chief white house correspondent hallie jackson. rich lauer of national review. theresa kumar and mark leibovich from "the new york times" magazine. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >> good sunday morning. when ralph northam beat ed gillespie in virginia in 2017 it was a racially charged race that northam won with strong support from african-american voters. >> ralph believes if we're going to talk about our history then we should do it in a way that heals. not in a way that wounds. not in a way that divides. >> now his career may be over after this photo from northam's medical school yearbook page which emerged late friday. within hours northam apologized writing i am deeply sorry for the decision i made to appear as i did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now. but yesterday a reversal. northam said he's never seen the y

i'm going to go to eugene robinson. it also raises the question of whether rudy giuliani style is more cubist. >> a giant circle. >> i don't know enough about painting. >> or jackson pollock, just throwing stuff at the wall. >> i tell you what, if we have any viewers who know more about painting than us, or at least than shelby and i, tweet in. >> please, help. >> what is the right painter to describe this probe. my thanks to both of you. as promised, i'm turning to bring in gene robinson to discuss the other big story, trump ally david pecker, the "national enquirer" publisher, we've now learned, this is brand-new, he actually asked the federal government whether his group had to basically register as saudi lobbyists. nbc has confirmed this. enquirer's parent company asked the doj last year whether they had to register as a foreign agent for the saudi presumably because they had this feature celebrating saudi crown prince through their glossy magazine. and the tabloid now is trying to use this as some sort of sweetener

eugene robinson, and eugene, first to you, first, from what we are reporting here, this is untenableor him to govern and to lead the state. >> yeah. everyone has made that clear. every leading political figure in virginia really even the democrat including two senators mark warner and tim kaine, the dean of the congressional -- democratic congressional delegation in virginia, they've all made clear to him along with the black caucus of the legislature and practically everybody else that he has lost the mandate to be governor of the commonwealth of virginia and he needs to step down. so i don't understand -- what i don't understand right now on monday, today, is how he feels he could continue without that support. how can you -- how can he govern without the democratic party of virginia? i don't understand how he intends to do that, and i imagine that -- that he will eventually come to reason and realize that there's not a path forward for him to stay in that job. >> mark morel? >> he had one shot initially. if his initial statement had indicated that it was not him and he had indicat

relations, richard haas, pulitzer prize columnst and associate editor of "the washington post," eugene robinsonng the conversation, nbc news capitol hill correspondent and host of " "kasie d.c." kasie hunt. >> hopefully eugene won't act like the character on "saturday night live." >> i won't. >> richard, you believe donald trump will go ahead and allow the president to have nuclear weapons that have the ability to hit the united states homeland. is that in fact -- is that going to be donald trump's legacy on north korea? >> i think the united states had the opportunity if we wanted to to confront north korea, to basically say that would be unacceptable. that would have meant potentially risking a war and this administration, you can say it's wise, it's wrong, but essentially has decided that the risk of war is not worth it and will continue to talk about denuclearization but the reality is north korea will become a de facto nuclear weapon state with a degrgrowing number of nuclear weapons with increasing range and accuracy and that will be what he will hand off to the 46th president, joe. >> an

eugene robinson, the only two people left are justin fairfax and barack obama.eel like barack obama is the closer here, the last hostage negotiator to call on come on, governor northam. >> you would think that the two sitting senators, tim kaine and mark warner plus bobby scott, you think them calling in and saying you've got to go would have done it. because the entire democratic party ipvirginia is against him, says he has to go. he's supposed to be the governor of virginia. you can't do that. i mean, how do you effectively govern the state of the virginia? and the answer is you cannot if you're ralph northam. you probably could not after friday you definite after -- >> press conference made it worse. >> absolutely made it worse. >> if there's one thing i've learned covering donald p and h life-span can be very short. there are some who say we has to accept he's going to be a lonely purya who's weak and ineffective. but he could stay in that job because the sledge accelerator would have to impeach him. i'm not setting aside what he should do. every democrat sa

eugene robinson. >> thank you for having me. >> for the "wall street urnal," peggy nguyen an. >> strategistmer chair of the dnc, donna brazil. >> great to be here. >> let'sh start w what's everyone talking about and a new low for journalist, the "national enquirer" was accused of black mailing jeff bezos. you are all highly respectedur lists so when all is said and done, what do you think jeff bezos' penis is going to look like? >> excuse me?>> normally high minded journalists would not talk about this, but itve inv the richest man in america and the president of the united states. so jf

. >> also with us, associate editor of "the washington post" and political analyst eugene robinson.rning. we've got several big stories to cover, including, did you see this, roger stone's loaded ta

and eugene robinson from the "washington post." special report rights now at 8:00. on the border.o's going to announce tonight or not. he might. back onmoment. back onmoment. you know that look? that life of the party look. walk it off look. one more mile look. reply all look. own your look with fewer lines. there's only one botox® cosmetic. it's the only one fda approved to temporarily make frown lines, crow's feet and forehead lines look better. the effects of botox® cosmetic may spread hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness may be a sign of a life-threatening condition. do not receive botox® cosmetic if you have a skin infection. side effects may include allergic reactions, injection site pain, headache, eyebrow, eyelid drooping and eyelid swelling. tell your doctor about your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, and medications including botulinum toxins as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. so, give that just saw a puppy loo

pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and political analyst eugene robinsonget to that and what is going on there. it's incredible drama. but when president trump takes the podium on capitol hill tonight,

washington, nbc news national political reporter heidi przybyla and "the washington post" columnist eugene robinsonhe thinks his language is nice. get those sons of pitches out of here. literally words that came out of the president's mouth before they showed up on the google search of this now arrested suspect. >> yeah, right. well, you know, it's -- sadly, it's not the first time that that at least a would-be domestic terrorist has taken cues from the president's rhetoric. the guy who shot up and killed 11 people in synagogue in pittsburgh was reacting bizarrely to rhetoric about the southern border, which the connection is difficult to explain, it would take a half hour, but that's the connection he made. i keep wondering what we would have heard from the president from christopher hasson's name was enrique morales or something like that. his thumbs would be sore from the tweeting. we have heard just ten minutes worth of rhetoric at that availability about the terrorist threat from the middle east, the terrorist threat from across the border. >> it's a great point, eugene, because we heard about

political analyst susan del percio, pulitzer prize winning columnist and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson and msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos back with us this morning. good to have you here this morning. >>> a judge yesterday ordered that 49-year-old christopher paul hassan be held without bail for at least two more weeks to allow prosecutors to build their case against him. hassan was arrested last week on drug and gun charges. on tuesday prosecutors filed papers alleging he had been gathering a stockpile of weapons and ammo with plans to launch a widespread attack on prominent democratic lawmakers and several high-profile journalists. prosecutors say that the charges against him so far are just the tip of the iceberg. in addition to the evidence found in his home, they cite his alleged google searches on what if trump were illegally impeached and best places to see in d.c. hassan's lawyer is pushing his for client's release, arguing the case against him is thin, arguing that perceived danger has to be based on facts, not innuendo. the president took to twitter several times covering

prize winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson. we have a lot to get to this morning, including the mueller probe. new court transcripts suggests paul manafort had a pardon on his mind. plus the acting a.g., matthew whitaker, will testify today after a public showdown with democrats, the newly empowered house majority. and the latest from virginia as a top republican official is now also involved in the controversy involving blackface. and the supreme court has ruled that louisiana cannot enforce a lot that women's groups say would leave the state with only one doctor allowed to perform aworses. chief justice john roberts broke with the court's conservatives to place the law on hold while a louer court decision in favor of the measure is appealed. the 2014 law requires any doctor offering abortion services in louisiana to have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. a lot to get to. but we begin, joe, with amazon's ceo accusing the parent company of the "national enquirer" with extortion and blackmail. it feels, joe, l

eugene robinson, axios political reporter. alexi is back. and former federal prosecutor glen kushner rounds out our table in washington for the hour. aaron blake, steen your political reporter for the "washington post" is here. donny, i have to start with you. so all the stories today laying out in pretty good detail what cohen plans to do and cohen plans to bring evidence, tangible evidence, obviously, aware that the attacks that are going to come to him are attacks about him being a liar. so cohen not really planning to count on his own credibility. cohen's going to bring evidence. is that going to be recordings, documents, to show that the president committed crimes while in office? >> he will have evidence about a lot of the things that he's talking about as far as visual aids, i'm going to call them. a little common sense first about trump -- about cohen whether we believe him about lying. the assertion as far as republicans, he lies. untruths were on behalf of donald trump in the interest of donald trump, whether it was trump tower, an

eugene robinson, thank you.lk to the congressman who got michael cohen to say that he's aware of other wrong doing or illegal acts by the president that haven't yet been discussed in public. "morning joe" is back in a moment. welcome to fowler, indiana. one of the windiest places in america. and home to three bp wind farms. in the off-chance the wind ever stops blowing here... the lights can keep on shining. thanks to our natural gas. a smart partner to renewable energy. it's always ready when needed. or... not. at bp, we see possibilities everywhere. to help the world keep advancing. ♪ don't fence me in. ♪ let me be by myself ♪ in the evenin' breeze, ♪ listen to the murmur of the tall concrete, ♪ ♪ send me off forever, but i ask you please ♪ ♪ don't fence me in. special offers available at your local mini dealer. one day, i found a lump on my right breast. in a small town, we don't have a health center on every corner. it would take three to four weeks to be seen. so i called planned parenthood, and they got me

thank you very much for being on this morning, mayor. >>> eugene robinson, your new column in the "washington what is the scariest things about them? there's so much that talk about there. >> they're insane. every once in a while just step back, mika and realize this is the most powerful man in the world and -- you know, most mornings and a lot of evenings he is spewing just absolute nonsense. you know, like a -- like a crazy person standing on a street corner. it is really amazing and we get -- we become numb to it. every once in a while step back and say this is not normal and this is really alarmsing. >> when i hear reporters saying i don't read his tweets anymore, that's not okay. >> no it's not okay. >> you're just counting them out. you can't. he's the president. gene, thank you very much. >>> still ahead, the announcement expected from the trump administration in just a short time that has experts fearing another new clear arms race. plus, the president says the bipartisan border wall talks are happening right now are a waste of time. "morning joe" is coming right back. ime. "morning j

and eugene robinson join us.umnist for the "new york times" brett stevens and senior adviser at moveon.org and msnbc contributor, core iine jean-pie. the white house confirmed the president will make the declaration under the 1976 law intended for moments of disasters and security threats. but president trump is using this one to reappropriate money for even more new wall at the border. just days after a congressional compromise on where barriers were needed, last night the house followed the senate in approving the border security deal. 300 members in favor, 128 opposed, 110 of the votes again coming from the republican side. the deal gives the president less than $1.4 billion for the wall and i believe it makes sure it's not concrete, but at 10 a.m. this morning an administration official says the president will announce he has secured $8 billion for the wall. where is this money coming from? with his national emergency declaration, trump gets the money appropriated by the border security compromise bill and ad

. >> also with us, associate editor of "the washington post" and political analyst eugene robinson. good to you have on board this morning. we've got several big stories to cover, including, did you see this, roger stone's loaded attack over the judge overseeing his case. >> what a stupid question to ask in the era of trump but even that breaks through a new boundary of just deplorable behavior. >> it's beyond stunning, dangerous, foreboding and the ridiculous pullback, oh, i took the picture off the internet, i didn't really know what it meant. >> there's a target there. we're not going to show it. but, tom, this is again just every step forward is one step more where you desensitize americans. >> and even without the target, here's what the judge looks like, here's her name, here's the conspiracy theory around the deep state agent, et cetera, et cetera. at some point someone's going to take that too seriously. >> he throws in deep state, he throws in benghazi. it's conspiracy theories churned up to try to get somebody injured or killed. >> what kamala harris told new hampshire vot

pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and political analyst eugene robinson. you write about virginia so we'll get to that and what is going on there. it's incredible drama. but when president trump takes the podium on capitol hill tonight, he will as joe writes in his new "washington post" column, "delivering the state of the union against a grim political back drop", that includes low expectations and even lower approval ratings, a political class that no longer fears him and an investigation of all things trump as federal prosecutors zero in on the president's inauguration and investigate foreign donors. >> there have been times, some of us maybe can remember, maybe bill clinton going to congress for his state of the union address, perhaps in as bad of a situation, perhaps maybe a little worse. but clinton had the ability to actually move the country with him when he spoke. it's something that donald trump has not proven himself capable to do yet outside of like hockey arenas. >> the word from the white house is it's going to be about comity, comit comit-o

eugene robinson, thank you so much for being on this incredibly busy morning. major stories we're following right now. theg kremlin is now talking abt michael cohen's testimony expected later this morning as the president struggles to keep theru focus on his summit with e north korean s dictator althoug he, too, is tweeting about michael cohen. we're back in two minutes. cohen. wee 'rback in two minutes. t newy mutual customizes- uh uh - i deliver the news around here. ♪ sources say liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. over to you, logo. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ (indistthat was awful.tering) why are you so good at this? had a coach in high school. really helped me up my game. i had a coach. math. ooh. so, why don't traders have coaches? who says they don't? coach mcadoo! you know, at td ameritrade, we offer free access to coaches and a full education curriculum- just to help you improve your skills. boom! mad skills. education to take your trading to the next level. only with td ameritrade. >>> after 60

yo joining our conversation, "washington post" columnist, msnbc political analyst eugene robins robinsonght long. nbc news national political reporter, heidi, is with us. so, it's my understanding, and you both correct me if i've got this wrong, that the shutdown didn't end because the white house was horrified by the human calamity or by the air travel shutdown. but it was losing that vote. the fact that more republican -- six republicans voted for the democratic bill to open the government. >> yeah, democratic bill got more votes than the republican bill. >> so the idea that they got any sort of legislative sway or acumen is now also obliterated. >> yeah, there's basically no way for donald trump to get what he says he wants, right? >> which today is a human wall. >> i wish cornyn would tell us what he really thinks, right? he listed the three reasons why this is a bad idea, totally worthless, such a bad president and won't work, it won't get the wall built. and there's no way democrats are going to vote for the wall. so he's not -- never going to get the house to pass money for a wall