you just heard claire mccaskill's disappointment with some of the answers there. what's a followup you wish you had -- that you want to ask going forward and what did you make of her -- let's start with the gun answer. >> chuck, last night i was sitting in my apartment with stacks of all these cases and articles and suggested questions. i thought to myself for a minute, what would the average person ask of her that would relate to her official duties? i thought about george floyd. i thought, we all remember that 8-minute, 46-second experience and what it meant to us. i wanted to know what it meant to her, but i want to hook it up not just with her answer but also with what she has written. and claire put her finger on it, the question came before the court and she was the sole dissent of the case, wrote 37 pages of dissent on a 27-page opinion. it boiled down to this, she believes you cannot keep a firearm out of the hands of a felon unless he has been convicted of violent felonies. and everyone else disagreed with her conclusion. added to that was the whole quest

claire mccaskill, i'm curious, how does recusal work -- how did you view recusal as an elected official versus when you were a prosecutor? >> well, the line is much brighter when you're a prosecutor because any appearance of impropriety fundamentally harms the criminal justice system. when you're elected official you must disclose, unlike this president has done, all your possible financial in tanni-- entangle minutes. you must be out there with whatever impacts your votes. one thing interesting is we've not heard a lot about roe v. wade so far. i anticipate that -- he says he won't confirm anyone that won't explicitly say it should be decided. he says he won't vote for a nominee that doesn't. >> i get the feeling, claire, and i'm curious, i'm surprised roe hasn't been a bigger thing throughout this entire pre -- whatever you want to call it pregame -- i hate using the word game with this -- pregaming this. it has been more about health care than roe. the whisper i've gotten from democrats is it's pennsylvania and wisconsin. that's why there's a fear of making roe more of the center of

still with us, claire mccaskill, eugene robinson, james carville, lawrence o'donnell. claire, indeed, you had to remind yourself while watching this live 90-minute telecast that if the vice president wants to go enjoy a victory lap with the president, he has to be wearing ppe, the white house is its own coronavirus hot spot, all hyperbole aside, it's a clinical matter. >> and one of the things that just is fascinating to me is that pence will sit there and lie about covid and the response to covid and their respect of science, and he -- it's like he doesn't think any of us have been watching. it's like he doesn't realize the american people have had a front row seat to this massive incompetence and mismanagement and so, you know, that's the real disconnect and the problem he has. he may have been super soft and just syrupy and sweet, but it was not true, and the american people know it. >> next question to james carville and his united states marine corps breast cancer awareness hoodie. i just saw a tweet from a friend of yours, a fellow warrior in the democrat party,

i'll start with claire mccaskill, the word value judgments. i have a feeling i'm going to hear it, we're all going to hear it a lot when she maybe chooses not to say something or not to respond to a question, she might say, that's a value judgment. is that what this is foreshadowing? woi i won't give you my opinion on x. >> i don't even know what that means. i know this is dangerous thing to do, but i want to pick a fight with you, chuck, about your opening. you said something about the scrutiny from the democrats about her religion. there has been none. i mean -- >> i didn't say -- i don't -- no, i don't think we did. i said i think a lack thereof. >> there has been none. i want to make clear that is the fight the republicans want and they're trying to -- it is like they're walking into a boxing match and don't have an opponent and keep flailing away and meanwhile their opponent is running rings around them in terms of healthcare. there are a couple of facts that republicans can't avoid. number one, trump said he was going to appoint somebody

claire mccaskill just said, she was on the short list from the federal society. said about gorsuch and there's no surprises. meaning there's not a suitor. there's not a justice suitor who surprises us. the federalist society -- she says i didn't talk to the president about this. you don't think she talked to the federalist society about this? of course she did. they vet everyone. and he said i will only appoint people who are on the federalist society short list. you think she might have talked to the federalist society people who may then have talked to the president? my goodness. this is just shameful. of course -- if the president had asked her would you over turn row v wade. mr. president that's inappropriate. might i point out who sent me? >> exactly. let's play this is another clip. this is feinstein questioning amy coney barrett. this was about whether or not -- this should have been a lay up. this was an easy one. about whether the president of the united states can unilaterally delay the election. i'm not lawyer. i know he can't. let's see if she knows t

maybe it's because i have a warped lawyer brain but it makes sense to me. >> claire mccaskill, bigger picture the political picture here. i could make the case the democrats are doing a good job on messaging but they've not laid that much of a glove on the nominee meaning she seems like she may still be on a path to confirmation even as democrats are winning the health care argument. >> i think the democrats said it clearly yesterday, the math is there. she will be confirmed. the issue is do americans know who she is and how she's going to impact their lives? and that's what they're doing in a calm and respectful way. >> well, you hit the time right on the nose there, claire mccaskill. thank you. we go back to the hearing. >> your honor, and thank you to your family as well. i want to just begin by saying perhaps not surprisingly to you that i was really disappointed by your responses to a number of my colleagues', most recently to senator coons on the issue of whether you would participate in the decision involving the upcoming election if you are confirmed. i continue to believe tha

chuck rosenberg, claire mccaskill, of course. we have a few slate of folks, and i want to get to everybody. right now, capitol hill, garrett haa haake. it was clear, both sides seem to have a strategy. >> reporter: absolutely right. democrats have been working for weeks to put together their plan here, and it's really deterred this vote into a proxy vote on the affordable care act. the issue of the courts in the abstract has never been as animating for democratic as republican voters. by laying out the physical, the tangible issues on which this judge might rule, most specifically with the defense of the affordable care act, just like they did in 2018, democrats are taking this and making it into a campaign issue. defending the affordable care act. you saw that with the poster boar boards, individual stories senators were telling as they were trying to tie this judge to the president's vocally expressed preference, that all of his nominees be ready to gut the affordable care act. for republicans, you saw them trying to burnish th

thank you very much, former senator claire mccaskill and steve schmidt. and read that thread. it's something else. >>> on a much more serious note, a shocking, shocking new report on wasn't of the darkest chapters of the trump -- the trump presidency. the intentional separation of migrant families at the border. "the reidout" continues after this. are not first, and you're going to find yourself where you need to be. ♪ the race is never over. the journey has no port. the adventure never ends, because we are always on the way. ♪ ♪ - with spray moppingrk vacmop to lock away debrisuction and absorb wet messes, all in one disposable pad. just vacuum, spray mop, and toss. the shark vacmop, a complete clean all in one disposable pad. their laundry smells moremily amazing than ever.in flings, uh, honey? isn't that the dog's towel? hey, me towel su towel. there's more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze odor remover in every fling. gain. seriously good scent no uh uh, no way come on, no no n-n-n-no-no only discover has no annual fee on any card. ♪ yeah, it's ti

senator and now msnbc political analyst, claire mccaskill. ceo of the messina group, jim messina.e-election campaign. the more you talked about that, i don't feel safe. he doesn't -- >> like it's taken you this long? >> no. >> taken you this long? >> doesn't know anything. >> jim messina, help us out, man. we go through the polls. you know, it's interesting, the upper midwest polls that have shown joe biden with a bigger lead. you talked to the biden camp. and they don't think the leads are that big. i people, you've got eight points in wisconsin. i don't know a single person on the biden campaign or the trump campaign that thinks that's going to be an eight-point race. they think it might be four, five. you go over to pennsylvania, a lot of people on the left panicking yesterday afternoon when the pennsylvania reuters/ipsos race came out. and then joe biden is up by one point in north carolina. a virtual tie obviously. yet, you talk to both campaigns, again from what we're hearing behind the scenes both camps are feeling like that's leaning joe biden's way. help us through this.

still with us, claire mccaskill, eugene robinson, james carville, lawrence o'donnell.e has to be wearing ppe, the white house is its own coronavirus hot spot, all hyperbole aside, it's a clinical matter. >> and one of the things fascinating to me, pence will sit there and lie about covid and the response to covid and their respect of science, and he -- it's like he doesn't think any of us have been watching. like he doesn't realize the american people have had a front v row seat to this massive mismanagement, that's the real disconnect and the problem he has. he may have been super soft and syrupy and sweet, but it was not true. and the american people know it. >> next question to james carville and his united states marine corps breast cancer awareness hoodie. just saw a tweet from a friend of yours, fellow warrior in the democrat party, joe lockhart. i disagree no votes were changed tonight, women hittated pence tonight. james, that goes to your previous point. >> it does. and senator claire will tell you that, i think that they came in, knew that was going to happen

claire mccaskill, rick wilson. this is why you watch. you know it is. up next on the "the reidout," trump relentless whining and pouting. about the coronavirus. woe is me. >> all you hear is covid, covid, covid. >> covid, covid has killed 224,000 people dead. there's a surge in cases. trump thinks he is the victim. he's the victim of coronavirus. that's what he caught. anyway democrats have their best shot in decades turning georgia and texas blue. republicans are doing everything in their power to stop it. making voting as difficult as possible. it's an all-in-one that absorbs dirt and grime deep inside. and it helps prevent streaks and haze. stop cleaning. start swiffering ♪ ♪ ♪ this is the feeling of total protection now that we protect your identity, and mobile phone, as well as auto home and life you've never been in better hands allstate click or call for a quote today it's not just a sandwich, far from it. it's a reason to come together. it's a taste of something good. a taste we all could use right now. so let's make the most of it. and make eve

and get this race -- get the race closer and hope that the polls are wrong. >> and senator mccaskill, what does the vice president need to do to get the race closer? >> i think he needs to do exactly what he's doing right now. by the way, if america makes up their mind on which candidate supports the norms and institutions of the presidency, i don't think this race will be close. i think joe biden would win in a landslide. >> senator mccaskill, rich lowry, enjoy the weekend thank you both. >> thank you very much >> savannah, hoda, over to you guys. >>> 7:15 now, time for a check of the forecast. how's the weekend shaping up >> depending on where you are, it's going to be pretty darn nice right now we've got wet weather making its way into the northeast thanks to a cold front that's going to bring heavy rain through tomorrow up into new england and parts of the mid-atlantic states but then clears out quickly we've also got behind that front 65 million people under some sort of frost advisory, freeze watch or freeze warning, much cooler air coming in look at these temperatures today. bu

. >> here for our lead off discussion on this thursday debate night claire mccaskill, former democratic senator from the great state of missouri. our own lawrence o'donnell, from the bay state of massachusetts, host of the 10:00 p.m. eastern hour on this network. eugene robinson, pulitzer prizewinning columnist for "the washington post." and david plouffe, former campaign manager, senior advisor to the former president. also on the board of directors of the obama foundation. his latest work "a citizens guide to beating donald trump." i have never looked forward to seeing your faces this much before. we get to celebrate the end of the last presidential debate. claire, you first. what did we just witness? >> well, i think it's really interesting that people think trump did so well tonight, but that is in context. i mean, he was a train wreck last time. this time he was just a moving -- slow moving manufacturer of lie after lie after lie after lie. and i do think joe biden once again showed why the suburban women are drawn to his candidacy. he talked about how he'll unite the red states an

senator, former senator mccaskill is right about this.after outrage, and you kind of wonder when we're going to hit the wall here. i thought senator harris made vea very good point last night on the health care issue where she said they're coming for you. they are coming for you on this issue in the courts, in the way they run the government and everywhere, and i think we can look at the overall picture here and say not that they are coming for you but they have done it. they actually have put themselves on the edge of saying let's subvert the democracy and, you know, what's next? i worry, frankly, from continuing reporting that trump is so determined to win and get the focus on other issues so we don't talk about the virus so much that things will happen. i'm not going to say he generates something, but i think there can be accidents in foreign affairs that presidents can seize on and say this is a moment for us to get tough, so i don't think it's going to be a -- not only a peaceful transition, but perhaps not a very peaceful whatever i

we saw senator claire mccaskill attack judge barrett for that. >> a judge wants to decide impartiallyn offer no forecast, no hints, for that would show not only disregard for the specifics of the particular case, it would display disdain for the entire judicial process. >> well she has done a good job playing hide the ball. that is just dumb for her to go that far. it makes it look like her job today is just to be evasive. elizabeth: okay. was judge barrett being evasive and quote, dumb? >> that is just such cheap gutter rhetoric but what we have come to expect from claire mccaskill, really graceless. the judge did exactly what other judges have done in the same seat and what they should do because what these democratic senators either don't understand or deliberately disingenuous about is, cases before the supreme court are not a referendum on policy issues like they imagine them to be. they're actually a plaintiff and a defendant or multiple of those a set of facts particular procedural posture. what are circumstances of this case. no judge could honestly answer how they could vote

former senator claire mccaskill said that that was very damaging to judge barrett's credibility. >> she was named to a list by donald trump during the election that she was going to be considered for the supreme court. and she wants you to believe she doesn't know what the president was saying about what he wanted on the supreme court? i mean, that is just flatly unbelievable. >> rhode island senator sheldon whitehouse described in disturbing detail what has become the republican system for selecting federal judges, guided by the federalist society with massive funding from untraceable sources that lead to very predictable outcomes in the supreme court. >> there's been a steady roberts five that has delivered now 80 of these decisions. and the last characteristic of them is that there is an identical republican donor interest in those cases, and in every single case that donor interest won. it was an 80-0, 5-4 partisan rout, ransacking. >> judge barrett failed repeatedly on the simplest of law school questions. >> judge barrett, under federal law, is it illegal to intimidate voters at t

former democratic senator claire mccaskill of missouri joins me now. she is a veteran of lots of campaigns and also i think campaigns in which you got to win voters that are maybe not the most plugged in or voters who are not usually voting for your party in a state like missouri, and it's just striking to me those numbers that the world of the political conversation and the world of the voter who might just be tuning in now with two weeks, there's a real challenge for joe biden just to tell people what your campaign platform is. >> well, and the thing that was astounding to me, chris, in addition to all the issues you laid out there where biden has a commanding lead on the policies that his campaign has embraced, he's even ahead on law and order and the -- >> right. >> and it's a wash on the economy. >> right. >> i mean, trump is acting like the economy is -- frankly, his campaign staff thinks it's the only thing that will save him. well, right now in america just as many people think joe biden will be good for the economy as, in fact, they think dona

democrat claire mccaskill, republican rich lowry, our very own odd couple.e'll see you on the other side. >>> let's turn to the security of this election. tens of millions of americans already having cast their ballots, as mentioned, but what an extraordinary moment last night. the director of national intelligence and the head of the fbi coming before cameras to say they have evidence that iran and russia are right now trying to interfear fe interfere including a fake email sent to voters in florida and other places. cynthia mcfadden is our legal correspondent. cynthia, what is the significance of this? >> reporter: well, you know, this is just part, savannah, of an ongoing campaign that russia, iran, and other foreign actors are engaged in to try to undermine the confidence that americans have in their own democratic process and put us in a bad light in the rest of the world. they're doing a pretty good job at that. also to aid one candidate or another. in addition to those kind of misinformation campaigns we heard about last night intelligence officials t

that's the question claire mccam mccaskill asked in the last hour.ust described, a map where they lose wisconsin, michigan, and arizona but win florida, pennsylvania, and in that scenario again, 260 ism 69, 269. democratic night player in a lot of ways and we're talk about where are the marginal states? can trump steal a state? seal an individual congressional district here or there? how does that play out? i think that's a scenario that everyone should be aware of and looking out for as we get closer and closer to election day. >> doris kerns goodwin, president obama has been out on the campaign trail and i -- just sort of ripping into trump on so many levels. he has a lot of material to work with, some might say. but have you ever seen this type of thing before where a former president is just openly trashing a current president? >> no. the level of anger and the level of support for biden that he's showing, anger toward trump, it shows you what obama feels about where we are in this country today. i mean, just think of it what obama's talking abou

when we come back, claire mccaskill, rich lowry, al franken and the entire team. we'll be right back. and, in more and more cities, the unprecedented performance of ultra wideband. the fastest 5g in the world. it will change your phone and how businesses do everything. i'm proud, because we didn't build it the easy way, we built it right. this is the 5g america's been waiting for. only from verizon. but a resilient business you cacan be ready for it.re. a digital foundation from vmware helps you redefine what's possible... now. from the hospital shifting to remote patient care in just 48 hours... to the university moving hundreds of apps quickly to the cloud... or the city government going digital to keep critical services running. you are creating the future-- on the fly. and we are helping you do it. vmware. realize what's possible. and at fidelity, you'll get planning and advice to help you prepare for the future, without sacrificing what's most important to you today. because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction you're moving is forwar

this is as senator mccaskill is saying, just an incredibly fast timeline. even with the tools at democrats disposal to slow it down. this still would presumably allow judge barrett to become justice barrett by the close of business on monday. it's extraordinarily fast, but that's the way we're working under this timeline. you see democrats, as i said earlier, trying to do this as guerrilla warfare here. they cannot stop this. so they want to slow it down and make it ugly. ari, i think we're going back to you. >> at a procedural level, obviously what we're looking at in the committee is this progress. the republicans holding the vote in the committee and we know if they hold that majority there and hold a majority on the floor, then judge barrett would become justice barrett. the other big thing for everyone to keep in mind, even though a lot of this has played out and viewers understand the process, the criticism of the process, as well as why republicans think they have the votes. the stakes have only gotten higher. the supreme court just deadlocked, 4-4,

we're back with claire mccaskill, john heilemann and jeremy bash.re were two things that i read this weekend that blue my mind other than the white house reporting and that is "the new york times" sort of section against him for being a demagogue, and being anti-democr anti-democratic and this shows all of the ways that he has debased the presidency. and i remember saying this when president obama gave a speech at dnc. when i thought he was speaking through his deep well of pain, that any former president would feel watching donald trump. >> yeah, this is, this campaign, this election, is really probably pretty simple. it is -- does america want normal again? do we want to have a president that respects the norms of the institutions, that isn't constantly the victim and accusing everyone and everything in our government that we treasure of being the bad guys. we do have outrage fatigue. i think the media is warn slick with all of the responsibility of covering all of the abnormal behavior. but at the end of the day, what joe biden represents more th

let me start with you, senator mccaskill.nse us is both candidates had a good night. do you think it tightens up the race? >> i don't know. i'm not sure it changes the race much. true. trump was not a train wreck but he still lied a lot. he made up a lot of stuff. and that will continue to come out. and the one thing joe biden did, trump has really never learned how to reach out to people who don't love him. biden continually made it about america's families. and made it about america instead of red states and blue states. every time trump tried to say, that's a democratic governor or a democratic state. biden would bring it back and say this is one country west need a president who will try to represent everybody and unite everybody. and i think that speaks to those women in the suburbs much more strongly than some of trump's tike joe biden's family. >> what about the issue of the oil industry? this campaign some think will be decide in the places like pennsylvania, the industrial midwest. was that a major error on the part

and claire mccaskill along with willie and me. joe has the morning off.nationwide with infections spreading rapidly in the midwest. state like indiana, minnesota, and north dakota have set a new average high for cases each of the past eight days. since saturday, more than 20 states have reported new highs in their seven-day average of case counts. and more than half of those states set records yesterday. so he individual 19 hospitalizations hit the highest level in nearly six weeks. and, willie, the president continues to act like nothing is going on. >> yeah, that's right. if you look at those events and all the rallies we're going to see this week including tonight another one, a couple more this weekend, a couple more on friday, this is all taking place while that outbreak in the white house continues. trish scalia, the wife of president trump's labor secretary, eugene scalia, has tested positive for coronavirus. a statement from the department last night said she has, quote, mild symptoms but is doing well. that's good news. while secretary scalia tes

. >> and now joining us is claire mccaskill and rich from the west coast, and so we have breaking news this morning, and forget about the vice president debates, the presidential commission wants to hold the next debate of the president and joe biden virtually and the president has said, thanks, but no thanks. i'd rather not debate. rich, is that a smart move? >> a in-person debate is preferable, and if the president is testing negative, i don't know why we couldn't. we had a in-person debate with the vice presidential candidates, but with that said, the president does not have leverage, because he needs this debate, and he is behind and he needs to shake it up, so it would not surprise me even though he is saying that he won't participate that at the end of the day he does. >> and claire mccaskill, with the point that is raised by rich, does the presidential commission need to make in decision this minute? >> whether they did or didn't, they made the decision. and let's get real here, it is awful for the president, and the polling numbers all over the country show it. so of course he

we're back with tim o'brien and former senator claire mccaskill.ire, for all of the sort of angst that trump creates among national security officials and alumni, this decapitation of the country's defense department, premier intelligence agency, that hasn't been corrupt bid mr. raf cliff and top law enforcement agency seems the most alarming and aggressive. my question to you is what stops him from doing this even if he loses? >> well, nothing. but it would be very short lived because clearly anybody that he fires or tries to hire, i do not see the senate confirming anyone to a trump administration in the last two months of the year. that just doesn't -- that's just something that's just not done, so he'd have very little time to wreak havoc, but he's doing a number of things right now, preparing for the possibility of him truly turning it into the trump swamp, and make no mistake, he never got rid of any swamp. he just turned it into his swamp. and that he wants to make sure only people work in government that agree with him, and tell him what he

so the worst single day in terms of cases since this began in the united states and claire mccaskill,ou watched the first 15 minutes of the debate, donald trump looked so out of touch with the united states. talking about it going away, talking about rounding the corner. the reality in people's lives is that number that we just put up on the screen. >> yeah. it's a head scratcher to me that the trump campaign has not even tried to address this crisis. it is front and center in everyone's lives. it's like the campaign can't meet people where they are. joe biden is doing that. he knows that people whether it's struggling with their kids, learning at home, whether it's losing a job, whether it's a loved one that's on a ventilator in an icu unit, whether you're a first responder that sees the never ending stream of people now getting hospitalized in this country, it's fascinating that donald trump continues to say it will just go away. no, it just won't go away and clearly, they have not had a plan. clearly they have not had a guidelines. at the top of the list is his steadfast refusal to

former democratic senator claire mccaskill. lori garrett, contributor to foreign policy magazine. global health policy expert dr. gupta is here. peter baker, let me start with you on the latest white house reporting. take me through whether there are pieces of the plot line that i missed or that deserve more context. >> i think you got it exactly right. we've gotten a series of conflicting and contradictory messages from this white house, from the medical team, not just the political side of the house, and it's only raised more questions than they have answered. the fact that he wouldn't talk about the imaging is very interesting because he cites hipaa law on that fact only and not the only details. that suggests then that the patient himself may have not wanted that particular information out. the president can be monitored at the white house obviously much better than the rest of us could be at home. they have a pretty full scale medical unit. he could be returned to walter reed in quick order if necessary but the message he's sending with that tweet that basically, don't be afr

also ari melber, chief legal correspondent here at msnbc news and host of "the beat" and claire mccaskill in the hearing room. former senator from missouri. joshua johnson, msnbc anchor on the weekend and senior fbi official with us. get to i think literally seconds away from being gavelled in. garrett haake, start with you. seeing a lot more mask-wearing than we've seen on capitol hill in quite some time, i've noticed. >> reporter: well, yeah, chuck. the last couple of weeks put the fear of god in people here a little bit. three republican senators in the last three weeks test positive for covid-19 including mike lee back in the chamber today. >> all right. well -- >> reporter: basically everybody wearing masks except when speaking as lindsey graham is now. >> just going to say. thank you, garrett and we turn it over to the hearing. >> -- i appreciate everyone's cooperation, and we will have a hearing hopefully that the country will be learn more about judge barrett, learn more about the law. learn about the differences in judging and maybe the differences in the party. if that happens,

josh holly who replaced claire mccaskill in the senate said he's not into any kind of deal if it includes i just want to point out as i ask both of you to constituemme this. the states that actually take the most money from the federal government, more money than they put in, red states. virginia, maryland, kentucky, ohio, alabama, pennsylvania. the states that give the most money are blue states, new york, georgia, the states they think are the takers. each of you very quickly. congresswoman? >> well, i'm not sure why california isn't on there because california is a big donor state. but i also don't understand the senators that represent the red states because people are hurting there, too. >> yeah. absolutely. congresswoman -- we don't have any more time. congresswoman karen bass -- jonathan capehart, i want your shelves. don't be mad if i copy them and buy them. they're so cool. that's tonight's re"reidout." i want to give a shout-out to all my voting mvps. your pictures are giving me life. there is one thing left to do, vote. get your friends and families to the polls. send me your p

, covered every confirmation hearing since robert bork and former msnbc political analyst claire mccaskill. start in the hearing room. garrett haake. we know that the nominee has taken her seat. pretty close. anything to get us started this morning? >> republicans are thrilled with her performance so far. that moment of her holding up an empty note pad yesterday has already become a meme thinking she's turned in a great performance and pointing to polls showing approval of barrett has been rising. expect to see democrats continue a variation of the same strategy been using. turning the race into a proxy fight over health care. this nomination fight a proxy fight over health care and again i think we'll continue to see today using antonin scalia, her mentor against judge barrett. >> thank you, garrett. and we've been gavelled in. >> -- before her, senator harris, i respect, suggested you are not candid, just barrett, i couldn't disagree more. i think i've been here for a few of these, voted for every nominee that has come before the committee. i think you have one thing in common, all of yo

house reporter shannon pettypiece, also joining the conversation, former missouri senator, claire mccaskill and melissa murray, law professor at nyu. and a former law clerk to justice sonia sotomayor. sit back, and let's watch. >> you look good. so the game plan for today is to do our first round of 30-minute questioning. each senator will have 30 minutes to interact with judge barrett. then we'll follow up with a second round of 20 minutes. that's what we've been doing in the committee since i have been here. the goal is to get through the first 30-minute period today, then come back wednesday and finish up and then we'll go on about our business. so i will try to -- i'll make sure i stay within 30 minutes for sure. if i can shorten it up, i will. so let's get to it. you can start the clock. so you can relax a bit here, judge, and take your mask off. so yesterday we had a lot of discussion about affordable health care act. what i'm going to try to do very briefly this morning is demonstrate the difference between politics and judging. all of my colleagues on the other side had very emotion

garrett haake, al franken, rich lowry, claire mccaskill. senator franken, you're part of the team today. >> why not? >> you've got to talk to people above my pay grade. no offense, al franken, i'm going to start with garrett haake. we missed the last bit of instruction from lindsey graham there at the end. anything we should know before that? and give me your general observations from where you sit. >> i think he was just clarifying that the next senator to speak will be senator klobuchar, not senator coons who was sitting next on the dias because senator klobuchar was not in the room. obviously significant focus on the democratic side of the aisle on the affordable care act. we heard a lot of discussion about severability which i'll leave it to our legal experts to get into in more detail. but you heard the judge talk about the idea of severability as jenga, whether you could remove one piece and whether the whole law topples down. she was pressed as hard as we've seen her pressed on any topic by senator dick durbin on the questions of vot

claire mccaskill, i found that chart of chris coons. and i thought, how come i didn't see that sooner. that, to me, i thought a very effective way of very easy to consume, you want to understand what this switch means, here you go. i thought it was -- i thought it was something i wonder, boy, should we have seen this sooner from the democratic side of theively. > the isle. >> perhaps, i think the focus on health care is important. i think they made real headway there. >> i think they did, too. >> this nominee really messed up yesterday when she tried to contend that she didn't know donald trump would be able to have the supreme court over turn the aba. she was on the short stick, of course she knew that. then she wrote a letter, at the inaugural, hey, look at me, i'll overturn it. and the other thing that bugged me, chuck, ben sasse righteous about democratic judges and give me a break. because of mitch mcconnell, he took it to a majority. there are always going to be republican and democratic judges. that happened with ben sasse and th

pete williams, the griswold answer there, if you're still with us, i don't actually know -- clair mccaskill, we were talking about that before. it seemed cut and dry there. we're all dancing around the edges here. she doesn't believe griswold was correctly decided. if she did she'd say it because she said it for brown. >> right. she does not believe it was correctly decided. by the way, we have at least one senator on this committee that said on the senate floor i will not vote to confirm any supreme court justice who does not publicly acknowledge, who does not put on the record that roe v. wade was wrongly decided. now, he is not making her answer that question in the hearing like he said he would and this is the senator from my state who defeated me josh holly but clearly he has gotten enough signals from her record and her writings that she is exactly where he wants her to be on roe v. wade and that i think could, if that is used appropriately in the coming three weeks, that could really shake the foundation even further in the republican majority in the senate. >> garrett haake i had so

. >> look, you know, i think claire mccaskill said it best, as she often does. anyone who thought just maybe the gravity of the coronavirus pandemic that everyone is living with in one way or another -- either you've lost your job, either you've lost a loved one, either you are teaching your child at home, if you're blessed enough to get to do your job at home. and i think people wondered whether there was an event that could open the door into that human experience for donald trump. some people thought maybe becoming one of the 7 million positive cases would do it. it doesn't appear to have had that impact on him, or at least in any manner that he's willing to incorporate into public messaging. i mean, to tweet today that he feels better than he felt 20 years ago is a suggestion that maybe some of the side effects of the drugs are being manifested on his twitter feed. it's just off the wall and deeply disturbing. >> yeah, in fact, it appears he's going to pivot the other way. he retweeted a piece from the "new york post" painting him as a guy back out on the ca

their parents were which is supposed to be done annually by the state auditor according to senator mccaskillt the time for ten years we did not verify under the leadership of other governors and this auditor people were making $650,000 a year owning six homes a lady we paid for her to have a child important it doesn't even live in missouri. people coming to missouri to sign up for our benefits because nobody checked for a decade that's how you find money to pay for programs you have to get up the waste and fraud no matter where it is at. >> missouri voters is expansion low income adults how to cover the station defending? galloway: support medicaid expansion as a majority of the missourians do. we can be implemented in a fiscally responsible way without raising taxes or getting accounts with the independent studies showing medicaid expansion is budget neutral and will save or stay billions of dollars looking at the experience of 37 other states that have expanded medicaid and we can have those benefits here in our state the governor did kick off 100,000 kids from the health insurance he has

and which is supposed to be done by the state auditor according to mccaskill. for 10 days under the state very much, we had one 650,000 and owned six homes. we paid for a child in florida that didn't live in missouri and she's receiving our benefitsment we had people in illinois coming to missouri signing up for our benefits and nobody was auditing and haven't for one decade. by that you can find a way for this and get the waste and fraud out. >> time for one more question if we move quickly. gary. >> approached medical expanse for lowe income. and how would you cover the state's share of the funding? >> nicole galloway, i support expansion just as the majority of missouris do. and it can be done without raising taxes or gutting accounts. we can look at independent studies that medicaid expansion in missouri is budget newell tra and save our tight billions of dollars. and look at the 37 other states that have expanded medicate and we can have those we've seen in other states here in our state. governor parson has a terrible record with health care and did kick

which is supposed to be done annually by the state auditor, according to senator mccaskill at the timewhat we have done is we have not verified the roads. for 10 years, for a decade under the leadership of other governors, and the state auditor. we have people we found who were making $650,000 a year and owned six homes. we had a lady in florida we paid for having a child in florida who didn't even live in missouri, and she was receiving benefits. we had people from illinois, signing up for our benefits, because nobody was auditing. they have it for a decade. so by doing those things, you can find money to pay for programs, but you have to get the waste and fraud out. no matter where it is at. >> we have time for one more question if we move quickly, guys. >> voters approved a medicaid expansion for lower income adults. how would you implement medicaid expansion and how would you cover the state's share of the funding? >> nicole galloway? state auditor galloway: i support medicaid expansion, just as the majority of missourians do. i know it can be implemented in a fiscally responsible

the final 11 days in the race, nbc political analyst, and former democratic representative claire mccaskill and rich lowrie, editor of "the national review." good morning to both of you. both candidates turned in much better performances, much crisper, much more focused. what was your takeaway from the night? >> trump obviously much better than the first debate. if he had been this way in the first debate, he would be much better off. at the very least, he gave republicans something to feel good about. after the first debate, every republican in the country wanted to go find some place to hide. biden's job wasn't that strenuous last night. all he had to do is hold serve. i think he basically did that, although he flagged towards the end. i think he got a little tired. that's when the big gift trump came, when he talked about ending the oil industry. you're going to hear a lot about that in the next week. going to hear a lot about it, especially in pennsylvania, which is -- if trump is going to get over 270 again, pennsylvania is absolutely key to that. and western pennsylvania is a major en

control room, i haven't run this by you, so unfair, can you cue up 14, runs -- senator mccaskill run this by you, senator harris's style, people comfortable with her. in the covid section of the debate. like to play this and get your response, how this worked tactically and whether it resonates. >> for life to get back to normal, dr. anthony fauci and other experts say those who need to be vaccinated have to be vaccinated but half the people say won't take the vaccine. if dr. fauci tells us to take us, i'm taking it, absolutely. if donald trump tells us to take it, i'm not taking it. >> what did you think of that moment? >> pitch perfect. sometimes short answers in debates have so much more effective than droning on and then, the american people -- she really hit the point right on the head. if doctors and experts say it's safe, she's first in line. and by doing that, what she was saying to everyone, we all know that trump is not listening to the doctors and experts. said it in way that didn't attack the president but it really was effective at attacking the president. i thought it w

and as my good friend claire mccaskill, the former senator from missouri says, you know, the door swings both ways in washington. and so i just think it's important for every member of this body to understand that the door swings both ways in washington. and if we are going to rebuild this institution and rebuild the trust that the public has in their elected representative and the judiciary and public leaders, then we're going to have to be trustworthy with each other. and i feel betrayed. like i -- the most pleasurable aspect of working in this place when i first got here, coming from an almost entirely democratic state, was my ability to work with republicans. it was a unique professional challenge for me. i'm looking at the presiding officer. we did some pretty good work together. it was a pleasure. and that was fun. and that was the way this place should work. but i worry about how frayed those relationships are, and i worry about the fact that there is this kind of principle that all's fair in love and war. these guys are about to do something even worse, so you might as well punch

house reporter shannon pettypiece, also joining the conversation, former missouri senator, claire mccaskillaw professor at nyu. and a former law

. >> claire mccaskill, one of the sillier aspects for, i think, lay people, is once the standard has been set that you're not going to talk specifics. she was asked about polygamy at one point yesterday, she said, well, i don't know, it might be a question that might be mitigated. asked about a question whether the president can pardon himself. that's never been litigated. obviously on roe v. wade. i have to tell you, this is the part where, frankly, regular americans, everyday americans, however you want to describe, non-washington americans who think this kabuki dance is silly. i want to know whether -- i actually do want to know what the judge thinks of previous rulings. that's interesting to me, and i would assume if i were applying for the job, if i wer