zerlina is right.l -- it really is stupid. it would be like shipping your christmas packages by pony express. it utterly pointless. there is no reason to build a wall. walls make sense in certain urban areas. we have them already. we don't need walls going through deserts. we have plenty of technology that can do those things. and by the way, drug dealers will have no problem drying their drugs into the united states with drones. we need to update the i with a we combat that. the wall is not going to help with any of that. >> let's go to the senate floor and listen to senator chuck schumer. >> taxpayer to pony up for an expensive and ineffective border wall in a the president promised mexico would pay for it make no mistake, the trump shutdown is not about bore kerr security. all of the proposals we have made continue over $1 billion in new border security money, the same amount allocated last year by both parties and even the president agreed to. and the trump administration has barely even spent any

there shouldn't be nonsensical charges, you're right about that, zerlina.vote cheating, it's totally out of hand. it depresses people's confidence in the system. thank you leigh ann kald. >>> up next, why was the saudi government paying big pucks to put up groups of u.s. veterans at trump's hotel right here in washington. you see a picture of it. were these vets being used to advance the interests of a foreign government, the saudi government or deliver business to trump? or both? what do you think? this is "hardball," where the action is. we opened our doors with 70-megawatts, 35 mules, and an ice plant. but we brought power to the people- redefining what that meant from one era to the next. over 90 years later we continue to build as one of the nation's largest investors in infrastructure. we don't just help power the american dream. we're part of it. this is our era. this is america's energy era. nextera energy howdoing great dad!r does this thing got? looking good babe! are you filming. at booking.com, we can't guarantee you'll be any good at that water

bush, and zerlina maxwell, she previously worked for the clinton campaign.chairman, and chris whipple, author of "the gatekeepers." joe, to you first, regarding the president's self-defense when it comes to all these hush payments. it's been all over the map. michael cohen, is he right? or do people buy his story? >> i think he's right. you can't speak away whatever the truth may be. what about republicans how do you respond to that? >> i think they have to look at the bigger picture. robert mueller -- excuse me, the southern distribute of new york has additional information. so when the president says i have no idea so you have hard evidence, alex, that the president knew and was a part of this conspiracy. i think we're in an unprecedented moment where the question has moved from did the president commit a crime to how many crimes we're talking about? you have news about the gnaw raw information to the -- and the ongoing russia probe. i think as somebody who does not have a close relationship with the truth, will have a hard time convincing the american peo

. >> and zerlina, your thoughts on that. if you want to push somebody, go for it. >> i'm not pushing anybody in particular. i think that -- >> i hear you like mitch? >> i absolutely like mitch. >> i like him too. >> he's my sleer-- my sleeper. but for the identity politics, i have to push back slightly. when we talk about identity politics, oftentimes the people critiquing leaning into identity politics happen to be straight white men. if you think about the people who criticize identity politics, generally they don't look like me. and i think that if you insert the phrase civil rights in where you were talking about identity politics, it makes a lot more sense. you are talking about making sure that you are implementing policies and pushing for pl -- policy that protect and help the most marginalized and they make up the democratic coalition so in 2020 i think we need someone who is inspiring but also who is auj entdic -- authentic and speak to the constituents like african-american women for example. >> let me help -- and

they don't make sense in all places and remember, this started out as zerlina said the mexicans will the wall and a request from the president and chuck schumer game i gave him 20 million for daca. that's the deal. he didn't take that deal. now he's down to 5.7 billion. he will ultimately get nothing. there is your great deal maker. in that meeting we watched, chuck schumer pointed out donald trump said he wanted to shut down 20 times. by the end of that meeting, he had said it 27 times. so it's pretty clear. the whole purpose of the meeting was to get donald trump on records as soon as the cameras came on he was going to take the blame for the shutdown. >> it may be one time, ik, zerlina, they want to fight. they're standing in the room, reagan, not reagan, trump brought in the cameras, so he could win the fist fight and nancy was very strong, the future speaker. chuck wouldn't even give the president eye contact. he looked straight ahead. he wouldn't let it be the boys against the girl, which trump was trying to play. he is there with his widespread legs, trump is dog mr. macho. th

phil, jonathan, elise, zerlina, still here. you've done reporting on this. what's going on? how did they ruin the chief of staff job? >> the president has been diminishing it as soon as he took office. reince priebus had little control in the west wing. john kelly did for a short time in terms of the process. >> before his kids killed him. >> right. exactly right. he ran afoul of some very powerful trump relatives and the president, himself, began to chafe against the restraints kelly put on the office. the two of them, their relationship barely exists at this point. the president wanted nick ayers. that was his choice. there wasn't a choice "b" as we've been reporting. despite his bluster on twitter, there are a number of people, perhaps ten people who want this job, they've had really hard time finding someone to take the position. as soon as a name enters the short list, that person usually scrambles off it. congressman meadows is someone who yesterday expressed some interest which makes him an outlier here. the president, though, has said today in that oval office spray

. >> zerlina, how much do you see health care as playing into the 2020 presidential primary? it did, it played into the 2018 midterms, i think health care is going to be a central issue we've now lived with obamacare for many years, and people are used to it. it's something that you don't want to take away from folks because they understand that being able to access preventive care or reproductive health care, which is now going to be at stake now that kavanaugh is on the supreme court, these are central issues to many american women and by extension american families, and with women being a central constituency to get you to the democratic nomination, particularly women of color i have to say, i think that, you know, making sure that health care is a central tenet of your platform is going to be a winning strategy. >> there's been talk about who the next democratic presidential candidate looks like, right? younger, more progressive, older, more moderate, joe biden is in the mix obviously going home for the holidays talking with his families. our own mike memoli has been repo