john ralston, steve kornacki, thank you so much. in a way that says hey it's not just democrats who were there, it's the broader country. >> and because i like to quote rick wilson at least once a week his argument is, if impeached trump runs as a martyr, raises $100 million off of it and walks into reelection. look at the time, john ralston, steve kornacki, gentlemen, thank you both for adding so much to our conversation on a wednesday night. >>> the road to miami goes through a state where their chief exports to the world include clam chowder and tom brady and where they take their politics very seriously. we'll have that when we come back. (danny) let me get this straight. after a long day of hard work... ...you have to do more work? (vo) automatically sort your expenses and save over 40 hours a month. (danny) every day you're nearly fried to a crisp, professionally! (vo) you earned it, we're here to make sure you get it. quickbooks. backing you. >>> there it is, three weeks from tonight, the first democratic debates on this netw

still with us a man who like my own father is a veteran, a native of massachusetts, steve kornacki. i'm back in my home state. very excited ear. there's so much i can tell you about. massachusetts, about the bay state. but let's stick to the politics. one thing on this road to miami heading south to florida, there is probably not a bluer state that we will go through than massachusetts. in fact, it was a book that came out a few years ago that called massachusetts the bluest state. here's one way to put that into perspective. what you're looking at here is the congressional district map for massachusetts. you don't see any red here. nine congressional districts right now. every one of them represented by democrat. and guess what? it's been this way for a generation in massachusetts. the last time republicans won a single house district in massachusetts you've got to go all it way back to 1994. democrats are undefeated in-house elections since then. no other state this big has a streak like that for democrats. massachusetts produces a lot of democratic politicians. it also produces a

our thanks to steve kornacki. and coming up a look at the power of the supreme court and why our next guest calls mitch mcconnell the most skilled obstructionist ever in the u.s. senate. >>> one last question on the supreme court. will you put forward a nominee between now and the election if there's an opening on the supreme court? >> would i do that? of course. do you have any recommendations? >> well, you have a big long list, right? >> i do. i have a good list. i have a good list. already chosen. i have a beautiful list of great very talented people. absolutely. >> but do you square that with merrick garland? >> no. i have a lot of respect for judge garland, by the way. i have to tell you that. i know people that know him. i'll tell you, who told me incredible things about him is justice, now justice kavanaugh. >> so much material there. just last month senate majority leader mitch mcconnell said republicans would fill a supreme court vacancy in 2020. those remarks of course were almost designed to draw cries

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steve kornacki, thanks. we're loving this series of reports. >>> coming up, what was it the president said today that once again has the u.s. intelligence community concerned. that when we come back. the first survivor of alzheimer's disease is out there. and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you. visit alz.org to join the fight. >>> i just received a beautiful letter from kim jong-un. i can't show you the letter, obviously, but it was a very personal, very warm, very nice letter. i appreciate it. i think north korea has tremendous potential. and the one that feels that more than anybody is kim jong-un. he gets it. again, the letter was a beautiful letter. it was a very warm letter. it's a very nice thing. >> president trump once again extolling the beauty of his relationship in the letters he gets from the north korean dictator. we don't know if it was another one of the giant letters, just that it was beautiful. we do know the president really enjoys thi

back tonight is steve kornacki. >> that's right.ed the river bridge from maine into new hampshire, made it into the granite state. by the way, i had to stop at an atm machine, thought i would get cash. i took out 100 bucks and realized i'm in new hampshire and 100 bucks is a politician's salary in new hampshire. a state legislator makes a salary of $100 a year. in california and new york they get over $100,000 a year. this is the lowest salary you will find in the country. a member gets 100 bucks a year. that's the salary of new hampshire. when we talk about the presidential race we talk about new hampshire and the first in the nation presidential primary. of course, the democratic race the iowa caucuses and switch to new hampshire. this is the modern history of the new hampshire primary. these are the winners on the democratic side going back to last half century. carter in '76. carter in '80. gore in 2000. half names you see here, half winners in modern times have gone on to win the presidential nomination on the democratic side.

steve kornacki, we're looking forward to these reports.> thanks. >>> coming up, foreign intrigue from the darkest country on the planet as a big name in north korea who was reportedly purged is back in the picture when we come back. >>> that man a top lieutenant to kim jong-un is either back from a short purge or was never purged at all, even though there were reports that he had been sent away as punishment for the failed nuclear summit with president trump. as reported on this broadcast, a south korean newspaper first reported last week and we quote, kim jong-un's erstwhile right-hand manage was sent to camp. state media shared this photo today. make of it what you will but said to show kim at a performance sitting in the same row as the dictator. it's not clear if he was ever sent on even a mini purge or if reports that a second nuclear envoy was executed for his role in the failed summit are indeed true at all. "the washington post" explains the mystery this way. the reemerging of kim yong chol, a powerful chief under lines how opaque

we have steve kornacki to help me break it down. wednesday, june 26th, on the debate stage will be senator cory booker, elizabeth warren, beto o'rourke, amy klobuchar, julian castro. tim ryan, mayor bill de blasio and jay inslee. tuesday, senator bernie sanders, senator kamala harris, vice president joe biden, mayor pete buttigieg. senator kirsten gillibrand, andrew yang and governor john hikenlooper. >> i'm literally trying to circle these on the screen as we go through it. let me just, if you work with me here, the idea that the dnc had in terms of the selections is they created two tiers here within those that qualify. what they did was took the folks who were polling at 2% or above and folks who were under 2%. they had them in two separate groups that they drew from. the idea was to mix and match. you get some of the heavy hitters and some of the folks who aren't registering that much. i'm looking, be effect of this. it's ultimate ly ultimately ran. you'll have bernie sanders running number two. you'll have joe biden. he's runni

younger democratic voters. >> steve kornacki, thank you so much. we look forward to the reports every night. really appreciate it. >> thanks. >>> coming up, our next guest says conservatives in this trump era are orphans in a cold war with no political party to call their own. that man, the author of "the conservative sensibility," george will here with us in our studio when we come back. >>> what do you think of republicans who say that they may take action to block you imposing the tariffs? >> i don't think they do that. i think if they do it is foolish. there is nothing more important than borders. i've had tremendous republican support. i have a 90% -- 94% approval rating as of this morning in the republican party. that's an all-time record. can you believe that? isn't that something? i love records. >> president trump is counting on his support from the republican base from keeping republicans in the senate from following through on a threat to block his plan to block tariffs. trump's actions have prompted some of the most serious defiance in

steve kornacki, we're looking forward to these reports.you. >> thanks. >>> coming up, foreign intrigue from the darkest country on the planet as a big name in north korea who was reportedly purged is back in the picture when we come back. k in the picture whene come back. if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, little things can be a big deal. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. ready to treat differently with a pill? otezla. show mo

steve kornacki, we're looking forward to these reports. thank you. >> thanks. >>> coming up, foreign intrigue from the darkest country on the planet as a big name in north korea who was reportedly purged is back in the picture when we come back. i have the power to lower my blood sugar and a1c. because i can still make my own insulin. and trulicity activates my body to release it like it's supposed to. trulicity is for people with type 2 diabetes. it's not insulin. i take it once a week. it starts acting in my body from the first dose. trulicity isn't for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. don't take trulicity if you're allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, or severe stomach pain. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects include na

back at the big board with us tonight is steve kornacki. steve? >> hey, brian. that's right. we finally made it across that cross bronx expressway. it took all the gas out of my tank so i had to make a pit stop here at the vince lombardi service area when i hit new jersey, filling up the tank right now. of course, i can talk to you while i'm doing this because in new jersey there is no self-service gas. it is all full service. that is a state law. it's the only place in the country where they have that. so i get to sit here. the problem is there's 18 pumps here and only one attendant. while i continue waiting, maybe i can ask folks a trivia question. how about that? i'm going to give you four names here, four people, and i want you to think about what might they all have in common. number one, exuberant sportscaster,dic vital. number two, hip hop artist and comedic actress, queen latifah. number three, 19th century novelist james cooper and number four, brian williams. what do all four of these individuals have many common? well, they've all never been in my kitchen, but ther

back at the big board tonight is our own national correspondent steve kornacki. steve. >> here we go, brian. we are making our way south. we said good-bye, pennsylvania, hello to the first state, delaware, home of the university of delaware, the fighting -- oh -- of course, delaware, the toll booth. >> sir, you're holding up traffic. >> brian, you're going to have to give me a second here. i'm sorry. >> how much is this? >> that will be $4. >> this road is like 15 miles long. >> it's actually 11. >> this is highway robbery. >> all right, well -- >> i should pick up my dollar. >> sorry, sir. see you later, out-of-towner. >> thanks a lot. i'm going to drive away from this toll booth. as you can see, brian, i am steaming mad at the toll i was just charged, but this is part of life in delaware, unfortunately. here we are on the delaware turnpike. it is only 11 miles long. $4 total for the toll, that is 36 cents a mile. this is one of the most expensive stretches of interstate in the country. only the chicago skyway more expensive, 36 cents a mile to get on these 11 m

and with us again tonight, our national political correspondent steve kornacki. hey, steve. >> hey, brian. that's right. here it is, our final new england state on this journey. this is the last one before we head down to new york. connecticut. they also call it, of course, the nutmeg state. some of the sites, some of the attractions we saw today, we resisted the urge to do some gambling at foxwoods. we crossed that line separating where all the red sox fans live and all the yankees fans live. a little bit of an east/west divide there. had some pizza in new haven. saw the mansions down in greenwich. the gold coast they call it. you're wondering maybe why is there a jail on this map? why is there a prison on this map? this was actually the funnest part of our day in connecticut. we took a little detour up route 8 to the city of waterbury, full disclosure, that is my mom's hometown. waterbury also has a reputation for, i'm not sure how to put this, massive political corruption. i think is what i'm trying to say. they had recently three consecutive mayors from waterb

steve kornacki, we'll look for you tomorrow night. >> thanks, brian. >> steve kornacki at the big board. >>> coming up, a final word on when to call the fbi. >>> there's tom jefferson, which brings us to the last thing before we go tonight. after listening to the comments from the president earlier tonight, if, indeed, the president's attitude toward accepting political dirt on a rival from a foreign power is no big deal, and if, indeed, people agree that this president, out of all those who have served is the least bound by the lessons of history and precedent, well, then along comes our friend michael beschloss on social media tonight, who gave us a reminder of what our founders feared about this. john adams wrote thomas jefferson, this is two years before we had a president, december 6th, 1787, about american elections. "you are apprehensive of foreign interference, intrigue and influence. so am i." then, there's the law. present day. 52 u.s. code 301-21. it shall be unlawful for a foreign national directly or through any other person to make any contribution of money or other thing

back at the big tonight our national correspondent steve kornacki. steve. >> hey, brian.right. and i think i can make out miami from where i'm standing right now because i am at the highest point east of the mississippi. we are in western north carolina. we took a 300 or so mile detour from i-95 but it was worth it because we wanted to climb mount mitchell here in the blue ridge mountains. 6684, 6,684 feet above see level. the highest point east of the mississippi is right here in this state of north carolina. we thought we would check that out. we climbed a mountain today. and i guess the equivalent of climbing a moub would be climbing the biggest mountain in politics, it would be winning the presidency. when it comes to north carolina and racing for the presidency, what we say? the north carolina primary, sometimes it hasn't mattered at all. sometimes it's been late in the process. but there are two times where the north carolina primary made presidents. and we thought we'd tell you about them. remember these two guys, gerald ford, ronald reagan. the year was 1976. reme

i could not help but notice steve kornacki in front of a graphic that says "all eyes on warren." wear we didn't know that bob costa was going to say that. we actually had this in here. the setup there was perfect. yes, elizabeth warren comes into this debate as the highest polling candidate who is going to be on this stage. let's take a look first of all. it's been a surge for her. let's take a look at that and put that in some perspective. go back to january 23rd. what you're looking at here is her average performance in the polls. she was polling at 4.3% january 23rd. that was her low point. remember when that was. she had just been through at the end of last year, that controversy where she took the nah test. the bottom line is her numbers were dropping. she hit 4.3%. expectations for her campaign were being revisited that was then. where do we stand now heading into the debate? she has tripled her support since then. she comes in averaging 13% with a trajectory upward. elizabeth warren more than any other candidate has improved her position over the last few months. now the qu

back again with us, steve kornacki, our national political correspondent. eve, this remains in my power category, my favorite uncle billy, aunt fran, cousins wendy and laurie and our friends love rhode island. >> and i have been looking forward to this leg of the trip. little roady. the uri rams. the providence college fryers. >> there you go. >> how about cleverly politicians? and colorful being a euphemism for indicted. there is a rich political tradition and history. lots of interesting characters in politics have come from rhode island. you recognize this guy. this is vincent jr. he was the mayor of providence. he pleaded no contest to charges. he had to leave office. staged a comeback. became the mayor again. got convicted of racketeering. had to leave office. went to prison, came back, ran for mayor again. that was buddy's life in politics in rhode island at the end of it. he died a couple of years ago. toward the end he was honored with an unveiling of an efficient portrait at city hall. he turned around, he looked at that portrait and he said, you kn

first of all, let's talk steve kornacki, about the strategy of not mentioning joe biden. not at all. not once. >> yeah, i guess i wasn't particularly surprised only in that i wonder about the word optics of that. if he's not on stage, if you go after him in some way and he's not there to defend himself and he hasn't spoken in one of these settings yet, i'm wondering much more though tonight, particularly when it comes to bernie sanders, but also potentially to any of the other candidates on the stage. particularly the candidates on the edges of the stage who are looking to get attention. biden's presence on that stage tonight, is that going to make for an inviting target. when i say sanders, too, i'm th thinking about last night about would you abolish private health insurance. elizabeth warren said she would. that's something we'll hear potentially tonight. that's an area where she and bernie sanders are competing for voters. if sanders were to try to make a stand like that, is there a potential for him with biden standing right next to him, does that become the issue th

steve kornacki is with me, jamal and kristen as well. since you're the pollster in the group, i'll start with you, kristen. go out and lie about their internal polling. and the numbers are around 40%. can you win the presidency with 40%? >> it's extremely early, but you can't spin, i think, numbers thatted about. it would stun me if tony fabrizio said anything publicly. he'll well respected in the polling world. he came on my polling podcast after the last election and was very candid about the work they had done to get a good read on those blue wall states. if he's showing bad numbers to president trump i hope the president is listening. he has every right to say the public polls last time said i wasn't going to win but his own internal pollster, not knowing the methodology, he should be listening to them and i'm sure it's frustrating to his strategist if he is not. >> what does it mean for democrats who is actually able to beat trump? >> the thing that makes me nervous about these polls as a democrat is that democrat also get complacen

steve kornacki, we'll look for you tomorrow night. >> thanks, brian. >> steve kornacki at the big board>>> coming up, a final word on when to call the fbi. these folks, they don't have time to go to the post office they have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps.com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the amazing services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4-week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps.com/tv and never go to the post office again! >>> there's tom jefferson, which brings us to the last thing before we go tonight. after listening to the comments from the president earlier tonight, if, indeed, the president's attitude toward accepting political dirt on a rival from a foreign power is no big deal, and if, indeed, people agree that this president, out of all those who have served is the least bound by the lessons of history and precedent, well, then along comes the word of michael beschloss on social media tonight, who gave us a reminder of what o

back at the big board for us looking stressed because of his experience steve kornacki. steve?, we were making such good time when we hit dorchester. i thought we would clear that washington bridge inside of an hour, but it's been bumper to bumper on the cross bronx expressway. i don't know what happened here, but it always seemed -- let me just roll-up the window here, get some of that sound out. that racket has been driving me crazy. that's my sound track for this trip. but anyway cross bronx expressway, it is jammed. it is always jammed. it's a tiny stretch just in terms of mileage here. gets you into manhattan on the george washington bridge, but this is the most congested stretch of road anywhere in the united states. the cross bronx expressway, where i am right now. people spend 114 hours a year sitting in traffic on this road. that's worse than anywhere else. so that's been the headache i've been dealing with for the last few hours. but we're in new york state for a little while now. we talk about the significance in presidential elections of all these places we pass thr

we're continuing our series "the road to miami" where miami's steve kornacki is traveling along busy 95 to tell us everything we need to know about the states along the way. last night steve was in north carolina. tonight the deeper south. the accent gets deeper, the air becomes more humid as he's crossed into the palmetto state, south carolina. back at the big board tonight, steve kornacki. >> i'm overdressed, it is sweltering out there as we hit the palmetto state. charleston, south carolina, the famous pineapple fountain in charleston, home of the charleston river dogs baseball team, the college of charleston cougars. charleston, south carolina, the hometown of the most famous unsuccessful candidate in a south carolina presidential primary. who am i talking about? i'm talking about stephen colbert. do you remember this? it was 2008, he was at comedy central. south carolina democratic primary, of course, always very important in presidential races. colbert said, i'm going to run in the south carolina democratic primary as a favorite son candidate. there he is declaring his presidenc

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joining us now is the great steve kornacki. you on a night like tonight to explain when you look at the two lineups, the two nights, 10 and 10, what stands out to you? >> ali, what stands out is the dnc did not want to have the look that the republicans had in 2016. >> kids table. >> varsity, j.v., whatever you want to call it. they came up with a pretty complicated system where they thought they were going to mix and match. the bottom line is there are five that are popping in the polls and four of them are going to be in one debate, one of them, elizabeth warren, is going to be in the other. if you're warren, you're the undisputed star of that first night's debate. that comes with some opportunities. you can shine more. that comes withdraw backs. is the audience going to be as big as the other night and is your stature going to be diminished at all by not being on the same stage and not having the opportunity to engage with a sanders, harris, buttigieg. >> there are those running on draw, appeal, passion, potential electabili

back at the big board tonight our national correspondent steve kornacki. >> we couldn't help ourselves. we were driving i-95 and then said we've got to stop at baltimore's inner harbor. what an amazing place. that is our pit stop for the evening. when you are in this area your mind tends to turn to seafood. you wonder, where can i get the best crab cakes around here? that's actually a matter of some dispute. it is one of the rivalries that define maryland. where do you get the best crab cakes around here? there was actually a food network special a few years ago that pitted these two institutions. these two restaurants against each other. faidley's ended up winning, probably not a surprise if you know the place. it is the icon in baltimore. another rivalry in these parts, how about sports? how about baseball? are you an o's fan or a nationals fan? remember the nationals? they used to be the montreal expos and moved to the area back in 2005. it is the d.c. area against the baltimore area. they've played 70 games since then. 39 for the orioles. 31 for the nat

but first, to steve kornacki at the big board.een this guy, the front-runner. >> joe biden, the front-runner. so why is he ahead in the polls right now? who is powering him? three main sources of power for joe biden. let me take you through them, why he is in first place. the first one, it is ideological. let's go through this. let's go from left toward the middle of the political spectrum. so on the left side, very liberal voters. biden running at 26% right now. this is the morning consult weekly poll. more liberal, up 26. now he is into the mid-40s. now there are some conservative democrats and a tick higher there. there are actually a lot of democrats who call themselves moderate. biden absolutely cleaning up there. when you get towards the left end, that's where warren, sanders, he starts to get many more trouble. more moderate, one component. another, age. we talked about this last night. let's take you through it this way. 18 to 29 voters, biden is losing there 30 to 34 years old, now he is at 30%. now he is into first place

let's begin with steve kornacki. as we look at these lineups and we've had now finally a couple of hours to digest what's going on, what are you going to be watching for these nights? >> there are very different dynamics on these two nights. let's start on night one. the interesting thing is there are really five candidates in this democratic race who are popping in the polls. four of them are on night two. one of them, elizabeth warren, is on night one. that creates its own interesting dynamic. it means warren doesn't get the opportunity to share the stage with joe biden, bernie sanders, pete buttigieg, with camela harris it. does raise the question what's the audience size going to be. will there be less interest in this debate than the second? will that hurt her? the opportunity is she can stand out a little more perhaps. she's not going to be overshadowed by the other front runners. she'll enter the stage with the biggest name on it. for warren, that's the plus/minus of it. for the rest of the candidates, honestl

steve kornacki and kimberly atkins, thanks to all. we are only 16 days away from the first presidential debate right here on msnbc june 26 and 27. two nights that will change the course of primary history. >>> and nbc news has just confirmed president trump has named former virginia attorney general controversial attorney general as the acting director of u.s. citizenship and immigration services. >> reporter: we can now report that today the acting secretary of dhs sent an e-mail announcing ken kuchineli is tapped for this position. if you are thinking about people claiming iasylum they go through this agency. they are in charge of public charge, a rule that limits the number of people who can get green cards if they have been on any kind of public benefit in the past. that rule has been redefined and is getting ready to go out and be finalized. big question is whether or not immigrants can be deported even if they were here illegally simply because they used some public benefits. he is coming in right at the cusp of that policy. and

joining us now is nbc news national political correspondent steve kornacki. steve, let's start with the moment everybody is still talking about, that tense exchange betwn senator kamala harris and biden about race. will that move the needle for harris, and how is it impacting biden so far? >> yeah. it's interesting. biden already trying today to clarify his comments so clearly his campaign feels there's some work to be done in the wake of e that mo last night. also there are some early indications from an overnight poll, a snap poll that was taken. morning consult did that that showed kamala harris surging in the wake of the debate and biden dropping somewhat. harris moving into a tie for second place nationally. she had been much lower. biden in the lead and his lead reduced, so the early indication there is th joe biden suffered somewhat from this debate and that kamala harris bashedly improved her dcision and as for her she will get a lot more attention, a lot more media attention and attention from activists now so it gives her a shot in the limelight. >>

joining me now, nbc news national political correspondent steve kornacki. eve, walk us through this lineup. >> yeah, 20 candidates in all going to take part in one of the two nights. . now we know which candidates go what night. this is next wednesday, the debate that will lead it off, next wednesday night, june 26th, these 10 candidates will be on stage. now the thing to understand is the way these selections were determined, it was a random process. what the dnc had here was two tiers. they took candidates who were under 2% and candidates who were over 2% in the average polling now. what they tried to do is draw equally from those two different groups to represent these -- to be represented on the stage. so you have a bit of mix and match. that was the idea here. the reality, though, is there is just in terms of the polling status a bit of an imbalance. elizabeth warren is the candidate you see here on the opening night. she is the only one of the candidates in the top five polling right now who will be in this debate. so that means warren's not going to b

. >>> and coming up for us, steve kornacki at the big board. here's a hint. he's getting closer to miami. he'll show us more about the peach state tonight. (danny) let me get this straight. after a long day of hard work... ...you have to do more work? (vo) automatically sort your expenses and save over 40 hours a month. (danny) every day you're nearly fried to a crisp, professionally! (vo) you earned it, we're here to make sure you get it. quickbooks. backing you. termites, we're on the move.24/7. roger. hey rick, all good? oh yeah, we're good. we're good. termites never stop trying to get in, we never stop working to keep them out. terminix. defenders of home. audible members know listening has the power to change us make us better parents, better leaders, better people. and there's no better place to listen than audible. with audible you get a credit good for any audiobook and exclusive fitness and wellness programs. and now, you'll also get two audible originals: titles exclusively produced for audible. automatically roll your credits over to the next mont

. >>> and coming up for us, steve kornacki at the big board. here's a hint.getting closer to miami. he'll show us more about the peach state tonight. >>> we are two days away from the debate. continuing our series the road to miami. steve kornacki is traveling south along the bustling i-95 corridor with everything he needs to know about the states he drives through. i'm not allowed to know what's in the segment. this will be a surprise for all of us. steve is almost there. we expect him in miami around this time tomorrow night. tonight he has left south carolina for the peach state. with us tonight, our own miami's steve kornacki. a truly agust venue. >> thank you. we are at the 18th green at augusta. tiger woods has just bogeyed this hole. he is now in the clubhouse. and now msnbc's own winner of the 2002 greater open is putting for the green jacket. he sunk the putt. and won. congratulations. the green jacket belongs to him. he can add another championship to his resume. how did you make that shot under such immense pressure? >> i would like to go to the se

. >> steve kornacki over at the board with some observations on tonight for us. steve? >> yeah, i thought there was a very interesting moment early on in this debate. it was the moment that involved the two texas candidates, julian castro and beto o'rourke. and i did wonder, the thought occurred to me watching that if it's almost a two ships passing in the night moment that we experienced there. you think back to the start of this campaign, beto o'rourke came in with massive expectations. he was in double digits in the initial polling. this is a senate candidate last year who captured national attention, who captured attention that's normally reserved for presidential candidates, who raised money last year that you normally only see presidential candidates run a was. so he came in with immense expectations, and we've seen him over the last few months only decline in polling so he came in tonight really needing to prove something. and i mention castro in the same breath and exchange in the same breath. castro was the candidate who tip identifies the candidate who has bee

let's break it all down with msnbc national political correspondent steve kornacki. kelly o'donnell is at the white house. is a rick tyler, msnbc political analyst and republican strategist. steve, we always put this big asterisk on, it's early, but how important are these polling numbers when we're going into this first big debate? >> yeah, i mean, look on the democratic side i think that race has sort of settled into a bit of a holding pattern, heading into the debate with biden ahead it's not overwhelming, it's clearly ahead of the rest and then sort of a jumble. you know, sanders has slid back a little bit. you see in this poll you have now from fox news, signs of some movement involving kamala harris and pete buttigieg. other polls show elizabeth warren may be moving a little bit in advance of this debate. it's an opportunity -- i think the race has settled a bit right now. it's an opportunity now to reset the race. biden, lots of questions about how he'll perform under the spotlight, how he'll perform if these candidates start taking shots at him, how his number

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