joe watkins, you are a republican, but you are also a minister. wouldn't the governor be a hero if he stepped aside and worked on racial equity as an example that we have to deal with our history and i've committed to donning blackface is a part of history we need to deal with. he would become an even bigger and more important figure in racial reconciliation. >> i think you're right. that would certainly be putting the commonwealth of virginia first and not his political interests first. that's what has to happen for healing to begin. people would really respect him if he stepped aside and as a private citizen worked on ways to improve the quality of relations between the races. >> alex, with having this allegation against the lieutenant governor and then the governor and the secretary of state on the race side who's admitted to what has been raised about them, about the governor. i think the secretary of state came for it himself. this puts the democrats in a real dilemma because they could lose control of the state. but at the same time, are the

and we have joe watkins. former white house aide to george h.w. bush. joe, there is a long list of politicians, including many democrats this morning. democrats calling for northam to step down. what is the likelihood of that happening? >> he should step down. democrats and republicans alike are calling for it. this is not about political party. it is about doing what is right. the photo is actually awful. a terrible photo. it sends a terrible message to americans and people of virginia and the governor should have disclosed it as a candidate and given the people of virginia a chance back then to decide whether or not they were willing to forgive him for what he did in 1984. i stand with the naacp. i'm a life member of the naacp. from back in the mid-80s. i stand with the naacp and their call for him to resign and the legislators from virginia. >> what do you think? melanie? this hasn't been 24 hours, but this is blistering. >> it is a matter of if, not when. i'm sorry. when, not if. i think a lot of democrats were waiting to see how he would respond and

are welcoming our political roundtable, including a senior advisor in new york, and the reverend joe watkinsiladelphia -- no, not in philadelphia. joe, let's go to you. talk about what the president had to say today. he said i am signing this declaration of emergency, and said it has been done a lot of times. because hedefensive, will get a lot of blowback. joe: he knows he will get blowback, there will be different groups who may sue him. but ultimately i think he will end up winning. if these cases go to the supreme court, he has a better than 50-50 chance of winning and getting what he wants. politically, his base feels like he has held firm on his kind of primary campaign platform issue, which is building the wall. so from the standpoint of his base, this speaks to them and they are pleased to hear him say this today. politically? he won he has gotten his way, it appears. >> i disagree with reverend joe. let's be clear, he was doing this for his base. and the reverend is right about that, but look at what the base said since he declare this emergency. lter saying-- ann cou there is never

joining me now is joe watkins. gentlemen, good to see you both. joe, you first. defense he will not comment on the ongoing investigation selectively. how did you read his decision to apply if when asked if the mueller probe is a witch hunt? >> he should have been honest. clearly a long history of what he said before being appointed as acting attorney general. he should have considered what he said before being appointed. that is what the members were trying to get at to give them what they wanted. so it was spectacle. it was theater. and it was certainly, he kept most of us riveted to our seats, in terms of watching it. but it didn't accomplish a lot, and he wasn't about to cooperate at all with the members, as they asked him the questions. he didn't want to cooperate. >> for sure, it was riveting. we know no one was leaving their offices. we were glued. and you think, someone who has likely less than a week left on the job might feel free to be a bit more forthcoming so i'm curious what you made of his performance. and do you think he was potentially auditioning

let's bring in lauren leader, co-founder and ceo of "all in together" and republican strategist joe watkinsw. bush. lauren, do you find it improper? alarm smg what's your take on the fact that the conversation took place. >> i think more has been made of it than needs to be because it is so incredibly inflammatory and controversial. the 25th amendment was passed after the assassination of john f. kennedy and it was concerned with insuring there was a clear pathway to the transfer of power to a vice president in the event that a president is incapacitated. there are, there's language in it that also implies that the president could be removed by members of his cabinet in the executive branch. the idea that this is even plausible is so far-fetched, particularly in this administration, he has a highly loyal cabinet. it does seem like pretty fodder for shows like this and many others. i think somewhat taken out of context, there's no way that anyone in this administration, in this executive branch is invoking the 25th amendment under any circumstances. >> what's your thought on this, joe? >> i

let's bring in lauren leader, co-founder and ceo of all in together and republican strategist joe watkinsrmer white house aide to former george h.w. bush. good morning to you both. i want to point out the poll was conducted before bernie sanders officially announced but give me a read on the way democrats should interpret these numbers. do you think it is giving a green light to joe biden? >> well, i mean i always say that i feel like the polls, this time, this early in the cycle, are really just, you know, are really an exercise in futility, i mean it is good fodder for conversation. but they really have so meaningless, because it is so early, as you say, we're polling, they were polling a candidate that wasn't even in the race at that point. i think the answer is not really the bellwether that it used to be and i think that both biden and sanders will continue to poll well, in new hampshire, i think the bigger issue for either of them is going to be south carolina. especially in the field where we have multiple candidates of color. there's enormous passion for kamala harris in south car