Issues. Who she and the former president will support in 2020. New today, a poll from the Washington Post shows that President Trump has reached his highest Approval Rating propelled by a strong u. S. Economy. Overall 44 approve of the president with more than half approving how hes handled the economy. But as you can see here, the president has much lower Approval Ratings on immigration, health care, Climate Change and gun violence. On the race for 2020, the poll found that former Vice President joe biden leads donald trump by 10 percentage points. Three others came in after weeks ever intense criticism, most notably from his democratic rival, senator Kamala Harris. Joe biden apologized for reminiscing with his work with segregationists. To somehow say i was praising them who i successfully opposed time and again. Yes, i was. I regret it. Im sorry for any of the pain or misconception that may have caused anybody. See, that misstep defined 50 years of my record. For fighting for civil rights. Racial justice in this country. I hope not. President ial candidate senator cory booker, one of the first to call on biden to apologize, had this reaction. I felt just grateful that hes now speaking to his past in a way with more candor and with a sense of regret for some of the things that he supported. None of us are perfect. All of us make mistakes. We need leaders who have the courage who speak to that and im grateful. Communities in fear as the president vowed friday the mass arrests of undocumented family members will start, quote, fairly soon. This friday, the House Oversight committee is planning to hold a hearing about the inhumane and dangerous detention conditions of migrant children. The acting chief of the Homeland Security and Border Patrol had been asked to testify. Yesterday, congresswoman katie hill told alex witt what err focus will be during the hearing. Why is it that Law Enforcement agencies are operating these kind of centers that need to be centered on humanitarian relief. Youre talking about what would normally be operated by a nonprofit or communitybased organization like the red cross. This is where you have People Living in conditions, theyre not criminals, in many cases unaccompanied minors, that is not a Law Enforcement function. I think that would free up border pa toll to do more of what its supposed to be doing. Jonathan allen with nbc news is joining me and David Leventhal senior political reporter with the center for public integrity. I want to start with joe bidens apology. He defended his civil rights record by repeatedly mentioning former president barack obama. Listen to what he told a South Carolina audience. If you look at the issues ive been attacked one, nearly every one has something to do with before 2008. As if my opponents want to believe i served from 1972 to 2008 and took a hiatus the next eight years. They dont want to talk much about my time as Vice President of the United States. It was the honor of my lifetime to serve with the man who i believe was a great president , historic figure and most important to me a close friend. I was vetted by he and ten serious lawyers he appointed and he selected me. Ill take his judgment about my record, my character, my ability to handle the job over anyone elses. Jonathan, the big question surrounding bidens candidacy whether hes able to navigate the backlash of consensus. Did he show he can do this with the apology yesterday . Not yet. It may turn out that apology ends up doing that for him. I dont think hes shown that yet. You saw cory booker, the senator for new jersey running for president say that hes happy that the Vice President started to address his past. I dont think Kamala Harris team will let this go. I think the issue here is that the apology that joe biden gave yesterday was he said he regretted praising the segregationist senators, even though he fought them tooth and nail, paraphrasing him there, the whole time. The truth is thats not true. He worked with them very much on a variety of issues. Generally speaking, antibussing. More broad issues around school integration. I think he has to address that or going to take hits on it. The new poll shows that joe bidens lead over President Trump is built in part on stronger support among independent and moderate voters there. Biden has a 28point lead with moderates over President Trump. Joe biden is going to constantly present himself as the candidate who can beat donald trump. The poll numbers are giving him new fuel for his fire that youre going to hear time and time again over the coming months. The problem which biden has said he wants it both ways. He wants to run on this long political record that he has. Oftentimes, he kind of sounds like a candidate who is going down memory lane and having old home days for himself. The fact of the matter is, if youre a voter and youre 55 or under, youre not going to remember anything about joe bidens days in the u. S. Senate during the 1970s. What you saw here in the past couple of days is a definite effort for joe biden to stop the bleeding, to get into the here and now or the recent pasta as opposed to the distant past. He wants to make sure the poll numbers are there and that he can be a candidate to beat donald trump. Let look at the top issues for voters. Economy is number one, followed by immigration, health care, gun violence. Issues of special concern to women, taxes, abortion and Climate Change. So jonathan, the president has positive numbers only on one of those issues and thats the economy. What does that tell you . Its the issue that most Americans Care about and the one that drives their voting. Even at times where they suggested other things drive their voting, that they care more about other issues. We tend to believe, i think, that underlying it all is the sense of like how their own pocketbook is doing and how the National Economy is doing. So i think the president s numbers have generally been pretty it would be surprise to go see him get to a place where his Approval Rating is over 50 , say. The economy has maintained, its going on strong. He inherited a growing economy from president obama and hes continued that path and maybe the voters dont want to switch horses midstream if the economy continues to do well through next november. Dave, immigration, thats tied for second place as top issues for voters. Just friday, the president disputed the reported deplorable and inhumane detention conditions of migrants at the border. Lets take a listen. I think they do a great job with those facilities. You know how it could be taken care of . Number one, tell them not to come because its illegal. Ive seen some of those places and theyre run beautifully. Theyre clean, theyre good, they do a great job. They do a great job. Theyre crowded because the democrats will not give us any relief from the loopholes. Dave, what is your assessment on how much political damage is the president facing on this front . Its not going to be good for him if the images and the stories continue to come out of the situation down there being very much against what the president described. There are horrible situations down there. Certainly, its a mixture depending on where you go. Texas, theyre different than the ones in arizona, different than ones in california. Its not going to be a good thing for him Going Forward if you continue to have children who are not getting enough food, you have the issue of people being held in cages. Youre not going to have comprehensive Immigration Reform between now and the election. This is something that has just been a great white whale for democrats and republicans for many, many years. Expect that this is going to be on the issue of immigration, something that can probably only damage donald trump and not really help him all that much. Jonathan, to daves point, do you expect the president will face more political pressure this week. If theres testimony before the House Oversight committee, how problematic is that . The president may hear more about it. Hell continue to face some pressure, but its not clear that he feels that pressure. Typically, when hes faced with pressure, he turns it on his political opponents. He likes to say these democratic laws. You know, thats his sort of m. O. He tries to turn it on other people. I dont think that really works, to be honest, over time. I think voters will judge what policies are being put in place by the president and what the United States is getting done or not getting done based on who is in charge at the very top. I think he probably understands that. Yeah, i think were going to see this testimony and ultimately our government has not been living up to the standards that i think a lot of americans would like to see in terms of caring for people in its charge. Jonathan allen, dave leventhal, thank you for joining us this sunday morning. Great to have you. Thank you. Turning to the 7. 1 magnitude earthquake that rocked Southern California on friday and while the epicenter was located in ridge crest according to the u. S. Geological survey, it was felt from phoenix and las vegas. The naval airs weapons station, testing facility, just a couple of miles from ridge crest is currently, quote, not Mission Capable as officials evaluate infrastructure damage. The police chief of the city confirmed no fatalities or major injuries. The experience has left many residents distraught. Take a listen. When this hit last night, what did you feel, describe what you went through. Pure hell. Never in my life in ridge crest have i been through so many quakes in such a short period of time and so strong of quakes in a short period of time. Nbcs Miguel Almaguer is in ridge crest with the latest. Get under the table. Oh, my god. It struck with fury at 8 19 p. M. The front door came open. Its okay. Hold on. This is the moment of impact near the epicenter in ridge crest. This is bad. The powerful 7. 1 earthquake sending terrified customers searching once again for cover. Everybody okay . Shockwaves of fear rippling across Southern California. Oh, my god. The quake felt as far as l. A. , phoenix, sacramento. Its a strong earthquake. The terror playing out on live tv. Were experiencing very strong shaking. I think we need to get under the desk. At the dodgers game, a stunned crowd. They played on. I think we got another earthquake. Yep, we definitely have an earthquake going on. The violent jolting lasted near 30 seconds. Power went out. Residents too afraid to sleep inside. Its scary to be in the house. Incredibly, no one was killed. Oh, my gosh. Theres a rockslide. Roads and highways blocked, buckled and in shambles. At the east ridge market, the jolt captured on camera. For many, its still too early to estimate the damage. The owner of this store who has no earthquake insurance estimates it tops about 100,000. This is what every aisle looks like. The cleanup could take days, even weeks. With the 7. 1 registering as the largest quake in two decades for the region, what seemed like the main event thursday was just a foreshock. Fridays jolt ten times stroerng. With fault lines growing, so is the fear. Miguel almaguer reporting there. Seismologists at the California Institute of technology have detected more than 3,000 smaller earthquakes since thursday and about 34,000 aftershocks are expected with a magnitude 1 or greater over the next six months. President trump says he might use his executive order to include the census Citizenship Question. Next, can a president overturn a Supreme Court ruling . Drivewise. Feedback that helps you drive safer. And that can lower your cost now that you know the truth. Are you in good hands . With three extrairst absorb channels. R they stay up to three times drier so babies can sleep soundly all night pampers woman on phone discover. Hi. Do you have a travel card . Yep. Our miles card. Earn unlimited 1. 5 miles and well match it at the end of your first year. Nice im thinking about a scuba diving trip. Woman ooh gasp or not. You okay . Yeah, no, im good. Earn miles. Well match em at the end of your first year. Depend® fitflex underwear for all day fun. Yeah, no, im good. 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New Court Filings on friday from the Justice Department revealed its unsure whether it will formulate new rationale to justify the Trump Administrations Citizenship Question on the 2020 census. This comes as the president says an executive order is still on the table. Take a listen. Are you going to do an executive order on the census . Were thinking about doing that. We have four or five ways to do it. Its one of the ways were thinking about seriously. Were doing well on the census. We can start the printing now and do an addendum after we get a positive decision. Were working on a lot of things, including an executive order. Joining me now is msnbc legal contributor katie fang, great to have you this morning. Good morning. Can an executive order by the president actually overturn a ruling by the Supreme Court . According to the census bureau, the constitution gives congress that power, not the president. Yeah. Youre absolutely right about that, dara. Thats really in the constitutional pursue of congress. It is not something that belongs to the executive branch. In fact, chief Justice John Roberts on the Supreme Court said in its ruling about this particular case that the census has nothing to do with executive action unilaterally. Trump will face an uphill battle if he decides to go that route for two major reasons. One, frankly, dare a, the Supreme Court itself, as well as a Federal District court have found that there have been con drived by discriminatory reasons why the Trump Administration is pursuing this particular frankly an executive order will be subject to review judicially. If you cant come up with a legitimate reason as to why you want to do it Via Executive order, as we saw with the travel ban, there were different versions of the travel ban under judicial scrutiny and attack. Eventually the Trump Administration got it right according to a court, but its going to be subject to judicial review. Trump will have an uphill battle to show theres no discriminatory intent behind it. Would it make a difference . The executive order in terms of the Practical Applications may not make a difference. As we know, the printing has begun. The doj told the Supreme Court it had to be done by june 30th. That was a hardandfast deadline. Thats part of the reason they wanted to expedite the judicial process. The date has come and gone, the printing begun. Each if there was an attempt by trump how would you apply that . Would you general rapt a new supplement to it we know any attempts to do that have been shut down because it creates more of a problem from an administrative standpoint. I dont think that youre going to be seeing that Citizenship Question on not only 20920 census, maybe theyll get it right in a few years but not for the 2020 census. The president also said he wanted to add the question for districting. Take a listen. Mr. President for trying to get a Citizenship Question you need it for many reasons. You need it for congress. You need it for congress, for districting. You need it for appropriations. Where are the funds going . How many people are there . Are they citizens . Are they not citizens . You need it for many reasons. He told the court that wasnt the purpose for the question. Does this prove there was discriminatory intent. This is another example why you want a muzzle on donald trump, especially if youre his lawyer. There have been not only the solicitor general but then another doj lawyer had to explain why trump tweeted certain stuff out, why hes now made this statement. Listen, districting, gerrymandering, not permitted. The fact that you had an attorney who went before the Supreme Court and said, listen, justices, were not doing this for districting purposes. Then trump saying were doing it for districting purposes. It creates a reason why a court will be suspicious when the administration comes forward and said we have legitimate reasons why we want to include a question, are you a United States citizen when doing the census. Theyre going to say, are you doing it for that reason or for racist and discriminatory purposes. Its a problem for some for trump to open his mouth and make statements like that. He tends to go off script sometimes. What about the timing . Does this play a role in his decision . The judges are now going to be looking again at an attempt by the doj to try to legitimize this question. For example, in something really important for people to know. The District Court ha has this case has let discovery proceed. In terms of being able to look and dig more into why this particular administration wanted to include this question will be more revealed. The discovery process is an investigative tool that allows depositions of people in commerce. People in doj. We dont know if we want them under oath to answer questions of the plaintiffs attorneys. Incriminating emails that will show the real reason behind this question. This process will continue on a speedy basis. This discovery will be completed by august. Well swhether or not the executive order route will be or expedited basis. Katie fang, thanks for joining us. The iran nuclear threat, what it means for the and for stability in the region. Up next. [alarm beeping] {tires screeching} {truck honking} avo life doesnt give you many second chances. But a subaru can. dad you guys ok . You alright . Wow. avo eyesight with precollision braking. Standard on the subaru ascent. Presenting the threerow subaru ascent. Love is now bigger than ever. Trust us. Us kids are ready to take things into our own hands. Dont think so . Hold my pouch. Four zero Expense Ratio index funds directly to investors. And now we have zero account fees for brokerage accounts. At fidelity, those zeros really add up. So maybe ill win, saved by zero who used expedia to book the Vacation Rental that led to the ride which took them to the place where they discovered that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. Flights, hotels, cars, activities, Vacation Rentals. Expedia. Everything you need to go. Now to the morning headlines. Tens of thousands of protesters take to the streets of hong kong. This is video of the demonstration happening right now over an extradition bill that would allow some people arrested in the city to be sent for trial in mainland china. The bill was suspended last month. But protesters are demanding it to be withdrawn completely. Investigators still dont know what caused saturdays massive explosion at a south florida shopping mall. They found ruptured gas lines in the rubble but theyre not sure if they are to blame. Some businesses in the blast zone were completely destroyed. 23 people were injured and no one was killed in that blast. Jeffrey epstein is in jail this morning in connection with federal sex trafficking allegations according to Law Enforcement. The billionaire allegedly paid minors for massages and sex acts and paid them to bring them their friends in order to do the same. Epstein is expected to face two federal charges for dozens of victims spanning from 2002 to 2005. The u. S. Womens soccer team meets the netherlands in the World Cup Final. Team usa is the favorite. With good reason. They have the top scorers, alex morgan and megan rapinoe. Theyre looking for a fourth title. This is the first time the netherlands made it to the final match. New this morning, iran is threatening another step to defy its 2015 nuclear deal with Nuclear Powers but not revealing what the plan involves. It is the latest move in a at this time for tat between iran and the u. S. Today, its increasing uranium enrichment levels, producing material that could help that country build a Nuclear Weapon. Bobby ghosh is joining me from bloomberg. Bobby, were keeping a close eye on this. In one week, the enrichments went up, the heavy stockpiles went oup up. Are these significant breaches . Yes they are. Theyre not the levels that iran would need to make a Nuclear Weapon but theyre definitely significant. Iran is signaling it is past the limits that were set in 2015 when it signed the nuclear deal. The deal that President Trump pulled the United States out of. It is much more a political signal that iran is more importantly, to the wider world it is saying our patience has worn off. Were now beginning to enrich beyond the limits that were set on us. The important language here is that well now we will now enrich to any level. Theyre not setting any limits upon themselves. So the limits that the nuclear set on them have expired in their minds. Theyre not setting limits on themselves. Theyre saying to the world, we can go to any level we feel like. At todays press conference, iranian Officials Say they consider the nuclear deal a valid document and want to see it continued. So why is iran holding on to this deal . It is and it isnt. Theyre saying were the good guys and want to keep the deal alive. Look more closely. They want the europeans to keep the deal alive. Thats technically impossible. Theyre asking the europeans to provide the financial and economic benefits of that deal, but the europeans cannot do that as long as american sanctions are in place. The iranians know that. Theyre sort of using the europeans at patsys. Theyre saying its not up, its up to the europeans to fix the problem. Let the europeans do it knowing full well that they cannot and will not fix it. To your point, french president macron and rouhani agreed yesterday to explore by july 15th conditions for resuming talks. Did the u. S. Withdraw from this deal kick the iranian problem to europes doorstep . It gives the impression of doing that. The fact it is europe cant do anything about it. No matter how much macron promises or the european Political Leadership promises to keep the deal alive, the fact is that european companies, the mercedesbenzs, the airbuses of europe will not dare to defy american sanctions. If they do so, that will hurt them in europe, in the United States. So europe doesnt really have any leverage here, does not have any cards to play. This is not something the european politicians would like to admit. Theyd like to keep up the impression theyre an important power and can make change happen in iran. The fact is that their companies have already essentially shown where their priorities lie and their priorities lie in not defying american sanctions. The e. U. Tried to come up with a financial work around but multilateral sanctions by the u. S. Made it unworkable. What Viable Options remain to save this deal . Well, none really. That one thing that the e. U. Came up with was specifically for humanitarian exports to iran. Things like medicine, things like emergency supplies or food if iran needs those things. Theyre not meant to sell airbuses to iran or manufacturing equipment or anything else of substance that will help the iran economy. As you point out, even that mechanism cannot really work until and unless the United States says its okay for companies to use that mechanism even for humanitarian trade. The United States has not done that yet. The u. S. Would prefer that humanitarian trade go through other channels. Were going to keep a close eye on it. Bobby ghosh, thank you so much. Now to what you might consider an invasion of privacy. The new popular amazon echo and alexa. Amazon, what they admit about alexa may make you think twice about what you say to the listening device. Jo ling kent explains why. Amazon admitting it may be keeping track of what you say to alexa. In a letter to congress, the Online Shopping giant revealing that even if you delete your voice recording, amazon holds on to a record of what you say indefinitely. Writing we do not store the audio of alexas response, however, we may still remain other records of customers alexa interactions. Including records of actions alexa took in response to the request. That means amazon can store data about when youve ordered an uber or food delivery to your home. In an interview inside amazon headquarte headquarters, we pressed the head of it on privacy . Can homeowners trust alexa . Absolutely. So customers understand the new technology. And for us to real i will educate customers and to be able to answer their questions about what is happening. Amazon says storing what you ask alexa to do trains the Artificial Intelligence to better serve you in the future. Its important to recognize, if youre going to use a device for convenience sake, youre giving up a certain amount of privacy. Leaving consumers wondering who is listening on the other side. Jo ling kent, nbc news, new york. From health care to the border crisis, even weighing in on north korea, what the democratic president ial contenders had to say this week on the campaign trail. Im not calling him dad. Oh, nno. Look, [sighs] i get it. Some new guy comes in helping your mom bundle and save with progressive, but hey, were all in this together. Right, champ . Im getting more nuggets. How about some carrots . You dont want to ruin your dinner. Youre not my dad thats fair. Overstepped. Most people think a button is just a button. That a speaker is just a speaker. Or that the journey cant be the destination. Most people havent driven a lincoln. Discover the lincoln approach to craftsmanship at the lincoln summer invitation. Right now, get 0 apr on all 2019 lincoln vehicles plus no payments for up to 90 days. Only at your lincoln dealer. Or trips to mars. 4. 95. Delivery drones or the latest phones. 4. 95. No matter what you trade, at fidelity its just 4. 95 per online u. S. Equity trade. No matter what you trade, at fidelity shaving has been difficult for me i have very sensitive skin, and i get ingrowing hairs oh i love it. Its a great razor. It has that fence in the middle. It gives a nice smooth shave. Just stopping that irritation. That burn that i get. I wouldnt use anything else as a new poll joshows joe biden winning the white house. The others are making case why they should be the ones to face the president next november. Heres what theyre saying on the campaign trail. Building on obamacare means we have to bring everyone along and we cant start over. Theres no time to start over in my view. I fundamentally disagree with anyone who says scrap obamacare. Im against any republican or democrat who wants to scrap it. I havent had anyone say they love their Health Insurance companies. They know theyre ripping them off every single day. When we went into the cell, it was clear that the water was not running. There was a toilet, but no Running Water for people to drink. He has made it very clear that he wants to make people afraid and he likes these inhumane conditions because it is part of his intention to fan the flame of discord around immigration and instead of uniting us to find a comprehensive solution, instead of trying to address the root causes of this immigration problem to keep people where they live and not force them to come north, hes decided to utilize inhumane conditions as a tool of his gross cruelty. This is not like youre going and meeting your neighbor and bringing the dictator next door a hot dish. This is a little different than that. Why would kim jung ongun th they should enter an agreement with the you state, when it administration violated the one we made two years ago . People will often come up to me and they will say, well, kamala, talk to us a little bit about black peoples issues. And i look at them and say you know what, i am so glad you want to talk about the economy. I am so glad you want to talk about health care. I talked about the conversation shah cher lane and i had with our son dante. Preparing him for life in america as a young black man. It is an american conversation millions and millions of people, lets surface it to fix it. Red and purple places and done well in blue places. Brought the state together. I am someone who can win. I am the candidate thats won in the reddest of red districts. I have won every single time. I want to ask every young person in america, if you will do a year of public service, you can have two years of Community College free. If youll do two years of community service, you get four years free. On the trail today, Pete Buttigieg speaks in new orleans. Castro heads west and other candidates focus on the east coast. Talking 2020 with Michelle Obama. The candidates and the question shed rather not answer. Do you have any thoughts approximate that . I do not. Let me ask this. Moving on. Ive been doing this rodeo far too long. Moving on. No comment. Is supporting military families. When i have a child deployed, having a Reliable Network means everything. So, when i get a video chat, and i get to see their face, its the best thing in the world. And ive earned every one of these gray hairs. Military moms, we serve too. vo the network more people rely on, gives you more. Like military plans with a special price on unlimited, 100 per line, and big savings on our best phones when you switch. Thats verizon. You dont really talk about your insurance unless youre complaining about it. You go on about how. Its so confusing it hurts my brain. Ya i hear ya. Or say you cant believe. How much of a hassle it is and tell anyone wholl listen. garbled . Its so expensive she said its so expensive. Tell me about it. Yes. Well im telling the people at home. Thats why esurance is making the whole experience surprisingly painless. So, you never have to talk about it, unless youre their spokesperson. Esurance. Its surprisingly painless. Has four levels of defenseremium gasoagainst gunk, wear, corrosion and friction. That helps keep your Engine Running like new. Its fuel for thought. Stand up to chronic migraine with botox®. What if you had fewer headaches and migraines a month . Botox® prevents headaches and migraines before they even start. Botox® is for adults with chronic migraine, 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more. Botox® injections take about 15 minutes in your Doctors Office and are covered by most insurance. Effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. Alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life threatening condition. 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The leader of the free world with a tweet can start a war, can crush an economy, can change the future of our children. You have to read everything. You have to know everything. You have to know more than the people around you. But i fear that sometimes people might have thought that barack made it look easy. I guess if the black guy could do it, anybody can do it, and thats not true. Joining me now is progressive commentator Rashad Richie and ned ryan, see owe a former speech writer for president george w. Bush. How much of the comments do you take as a reference to President Trump . Obviously the comment on tweets was a shot at donald trump. Again, i would disagree with Michelle Obama that a tweet starts a war or any of those things or that donald trump doesnt know what hes doing. I think hes shown he knows what hes doing when it comes to the economy, rutting regulations, working and cutting the taxes. Weve seen it in unemployment numbers and gdp. For her to insinuate that donald trump doesnt know what hes doing, i think its a cheap shot. Rashad, whats your take . Do you think the comments are a reference to President Trump . Well, sure theyre a reference to President Trump. They should be a reference to him. Heres the thing, President Trump creates policy, many times, by way of tweeting. His staff and his cabinet, theyre running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to figure out how to answer to what the president has tweeted because his words actually mean something. Its not like me tweeting something. This is the president of the United States and it has a real cause and effect relationship to the american domestic and international policy. Beyond that, Michelle Obama actually has really great points about the values and virtues of his country that i think may get lost in the political narrative. She talked about how we are for honesty and for fairness. She said that the obamas arent doing good until everybody is doing good. They got a loud response from the audience. I got to tell you, i had a lot of friends that went to the essex Music Festival only because Michelle Obama was involved. She cleared up questions about their approach to the democratic primary. Let take a listen to that. Barack and i are going to support whoever wins the primary. Were our primary focus is letting the primary process play out. Because its very early. So were watching everyone. Were supportive of everyone. Were giving advice to whomever seeks it. What, if anything, would you like to say about the kamala biden dustup. He apologized today. Do you have any thoughts about that . I do not. What is the significance of this for 2020 democrats and joe biden in particular . Well, for joe, he probably would like to have the endorsement of president obama right now. Hes not going to get t i think once again, this is president obama and Michelle Obama playing it classy and showing you how a former president , a first lady should respond in the field of politics, especially democratic politics. And ned, there is a bit of a contrast here between their plans to stay out of the spotlight at this stage of the race and then President Trump constantly trying to bring them back into it. The New York Times reporting yesterday that two years into trumps presidency, obama remains a top target for criticism. So, how much does this approach buy him . I mean, hes been calling the shots for the last two years. Well, i mean, first of all, donald trump can say whatever he wants to, and he can again highlight the contrast from the Previous Administration to his own. I think the thing that trump has to do moving forward, though, is, again, show people, heres what i plan on doing in my second term. If you like the economy, if you like all of these things, heres my plan to continue that. So at a certain point, it even comes down, i would say, to the Mueller Investigation and the whole russian collusion hoax. Like at a certain point, youve got to say, okay, enoughs enough, weve moved on, lets move on to the next phase, which is, again, laying out a vision for his next four years. So at a certain point, i would like to see him continue to focus on the future and leave some of that past alone. And rashad, Michelle Obama also said she now still stands by her line, when they go low, we go high. And heres her reasoning for that. Lets listen. People ask me about, in this climate, you know, how do you find it in yourself yes. To go high. And heres the thing. Going high, its a longterm strategy. Were all thinking about what the agenda is, which is getting to a place where we live in a country that were proud to pass on to our kids. Going high is the only way we get there. Yeah. Its not about getting somebody back. Its not about the immediate clapback. The immediate clapback is just for your own selfish purpose right there in the moment, and rarely does it solve anything. Mmhmm. Rashad, where do you think the democratic voters are on this, because the 2020 democrats are all over the map on whether they think its a Winning Strategy in the short term. Well, some will agree with the former first lady, some will disagree. But ive got to tell you, she was saying some things that i remember my grandmother telling me about the instant gratification of revenge and how that does not solve a longterm problem. And this once again reminds us of why Michelle Obama was such a remarkable first lady. Lets be very honest, this president , President Trump, is no moral leader, and that is something we have been lacking in the white house. Republicans will even say that off record. But weve been lacking that as part of the leadership dynamic of our country for a while, and it was refreshing to see her kind of restore that on such a huge stage just this weekend. And ned, im going to give you the last word here. Do you agree that the immediate clapback rarely solves anything . And do you think that President Trump, hes actually why does he take that route so often . Well, first of all, i mean, its politics these days is a fullcontact sport and i think were being naive to think otherwise. I think a lot of the democrats in 2020 realize theyre going to have to go toe to toe with trump and hes very fugalistic and they cant compete on that front. Ive written in regards to public arena morality. I know that President Trump has lived a very different personal life than i have, but what does it mean to me moral in the public arena . Does it mean you can be moral in your private life and lie to people in public . And i think donald trump has been as honest as he can be in the public arena heres what i promised, heres what i intend to accomplish for the benefit of the American People. So i think we should have a conversation what does it mean to be moral in the public arena and i think President Trump has been as honest as anybody in decades. Laughable. I want to switch gears because trumps Approval Ratings are ticking up five points since last month to the highest point yet in new polling by abc news and Washington Post. It now stands at 44 approval rate. 53 disapprove. So, how do you explain that . Well, his rates go up and down, but heres whats significant you have roughly 61 of the American Public actually saying that they like the economy, but they dont give credit to trump. Trump should be polling well over 50 , given the state of the economy, and thats not happening. He is disconnecting his own message for the first time in modern american politics. I dont think we will see the economic numbers correlate to the president ial popularity numbers. And ned, what do you think about that . No, i actually agree. I think sometimes he steps a little bit on his message, but i think that more and more people actually identify trump with the benefits theyre seeing economically. Of course, its very hard to beat an incumbent president. Only five have lost reelection since 1900. And if you have an incumbent president running on a strong economy, its going to be almost impossible to beat him. And so, i think that if donald trump can, again, get out of the way of his message in regards to the economy and more and more voters identify him with their economic benefits, its going to be extremely hard to beat him in november of 2020. But ned, do you think its still a concern for republicans that President Trumps Approval Rating isnt higher . No, i really dont. I mean, theres this very strange dynamic when it comes to donald trump and polls. You even look at the polls in the last month of the 2016 elections where it showed Hillary Clinton was going to win pennsylvania by 12 points and she didnt win pennsylvania 30 days later. Theres a certain amount of people who will not say publicly that they identify and support donald trump. And i think that changes when they actually go into the voting booth and say, hey, you know what, im better off than i was four years ago. Again, i dont put much credence in polls. The only poll i really care about is the electionnight results on 2020. And again, he showed in november of 2016, polls and the Election Results are not always the same. Well, we certainly have a lot to look forward to here between the polls and whats going to happen with his tweeting and how that affects it. Rashad richey, ned ryun, great to have you here. Thanks for joining us on this sunday morning. Thank you. Thank you. So, why the president might want to reexamine his internal Campaign Polling for the battle for the white house, up next. E l for the white house, up next on, be stronger. With new nicorette coated ice mint. Layered with flavor. Its the first and only coated nicotine lozenge. For an amazing taste. That outlasts your craving. New nicorette ice mint. kickstart my heart by motley crue truck honks wheels screeching clapping sound of can hitting bag and bowl clapping always there in crunch time. And that will do it for me this hour of msnbc live. My colleague, Kendis Gibson, joins us now to continue coverage. Good morning, kendis. Good morning. Good to see you. Good to be across the desk from you. Enjoy your sunday. Good morning, everybody. Im Kendis Gibson here at msnbc World Headquarters in new york. It is 7 00 in the east, 4 00 out west. Heres whats happening right now. There are some new polls on the president and his 2020 challengers. Plus, whether voters think his behavior is fitting and proper for a president. Was i wrong a few weeks ago . I felt just grateful. Joe bidens apology and the reaction on the campaign trail. Will this put the backlash to rest . Plus this isnt a joke. Its not a game. The leader of the free world with a tweet can start a war. Former First Lady Michelle Obama gets real, gets candid there, on a number of issues. But we are going to start with that brandnew polling this morning offering some mixed results for the president. His Approval Ratings have reached a high for the Washington Post abc news poll. Overall, 44 approve of the job the president is doing. With more than half approving how hes handling the economy. But as you can see here, as you parse the details here, the president has much lower Approval Ratings on several key issues, including immigration, health care, gun violence, and Climate Change. And on the 2020 race, the poll found that former Vice President joe biden leads donald trump by ten percentage points. There are four other Democratic Candidates who came within the margin of error in a hypothetical matchup, of course, against the president. As you can see there, Bernie Sanders beating them out slightly. And after weeks of intense criticism, mostly by senator Kamala Harris, joe biden apologized yesterday for reminiscing about his working relationships with southern segregationists. Was i wrong a few weeks ago to somehow give the impression to people that i was praising those men who i successfully opposed time and again . Yes, i was. I regret it. And im sorry for any of the pain or misconception that i may have caused anybody. That misstep define 50 years of my record, for fighting for civil rights, Racial Justice in this country . I hope not. And president ial candidate senator cory booker, who was one of the first to call on biden to apologize, had this reaction. I felt just grateful that he is now speaking to his past in a way with more candor and with a sense of regret for some of the things that he supported. None of us are perfect. All of us make mistakes. We need leaders that have the courage to show vulnerability and speak to that, and im very grateful. Also happening this morning, some tense moments within immigrant communities across the Country Living in fear as the president vows the mass arrests of undocumented family members will start fairly soon. And this friday, the House Oversight committee is planning to hold a hearing about the inhumane and dangerous detention conditions of migrant children. The acting chiefs of the Homeland Security and Border Patrol have been asked to testify. California congresswoman katie hill told my colleague, alex witt, just yesterday, what her focus will be during that hearing. Why is it that Law Enforcement agencies are operating these kind of centers that need to be centered on humanitarian relief . Youre talking about what would normally in any other situation be operated by a nonprofit or by a communitybased organization like the red cross. This is where you have People Living in conditions that, theyre not criminals. In many cases, theyre unaccompanied minors. That is not a Law Enforcement function, and i think that would actually free up Border Patrol to do more of what its supposed to be doing. All right, so needless to say, we have a lot to get to. Joining me now, julia manchester, reporter for the hill, and allen smith, political reporter for nbc news. All right, so, lets start with the poll numbers and the president s job Approval Rating. Allen what do you make of these new numbers . Well, the thing thats most interesting to me, actually, you look at trumps overall approval, 44 , its higher than trumps approval on any issued poll, aside from the economy. It shows that trumps personality is showing through a little bit. Its sort of guiding voters in their approval or disapproval of him, and democrats have a lot of room on some of those issues to try and stake out ground, opposite trump and with plenty of support. In the meantime, julia, is this a dangerous sign for the president . He still has not reached 50 when it comes to his Approval Rating. Will all of that matter . Yeah, i think it could potentially matter. We know that President Trump throughout his presidency has kind of teetered between the 40 and 50 Approval Rating, and he really needs to raise that Approval Rating ahead of the election. But i think those Economic Issues really stood out to me in the fact that a lot of americans approve of his job on the economy, and that is something thats obviously going to matter going into 2020. However, i think the fact that President Trump needs to focus on touting the economy, and at least on the macroeconomic level really drive that message home, because clearly, a lot of voters arent happy with the way hes handling, i guess, the personal part of the presidency, his Public Relations aspect of the presidency, the tweeting. So, President Trump really needs to focus on touting the economy, but we know that hes had an issue doing that before, frequently taking to twitter, not only to talk about the economy, but also to go after his political opponents, which isnt exactly helpful, i think, Going Forward. So, i think youre going to see a lot of republicans and those around the president pressing him to focus on this issue, because we know that American Voters tend to vote on how its going in their pocketbook. Hey, Something Else they are not happy with is his immigration stance and how hes been doing that, that at 40 , allan. Of course, we know thats a key Campaign Issue for him back in 2016 and Going Forward. How will this impact him . So, elsewhere in the poll, it showed that immigration was one of the top three issues that voters really cared about. That 40 sort of mirrors where we see President Trumps Approval Ratings stand traditionally. This poll has it just a little bit higher. But thats really the president s base on immigration. Its become a top three issue. And democrats are sort of staking out somewhat different positions on it. Weve seen some come down for the decriminalization of Border Crossing itself. Not all candidates are on board with that yet. But that strikes a clear difference with the president. Also, keep in mind, immigrations been in the news a lot lately, some of the horrifying images coming out from the border from the detention facilities. So its an issue very much on the mind of voters right now, and its not surprising to see it come right after the economy and taxes, which are traditionally two very top issues. Okay, so you have no doubt, then, that the president is going to try to get those numbers up. In the meantime, i mentioned it just a few moments ago house democrats, julia, are holding a hearing next week on the treatment of those migrant families. Do we have any idea what the committee is trying to have come out of this . Yeah, i think the committee is really trying to drive this message home of the conditions for the migrants in those detention facilities by the border, and i think theyre really trying to essentially pin this on the administration, show that this is something that has happened under the Trump Administration. We know that republicans and President Trump have kind of tried to push back on democrats, saying this is an issue of appropriations and funding. But i think theyre trying to draw more attention to this issue in order to, you know, maybe somehow bring more resources to the issue at the border in these detention facilities. Weve already seen 2020 democratic president ial hopefuls visit some of these facilities, and weve seen this covered extensively in the media. So, i think this is democrats maybe trying to put a plan into action by holding these hearings. Yeah, and do we think the folks who are called to testify will testify . The acting chiefs of Homeland Security and customs and Border Protection . Well, if we look at President Trumps officials and their past record coming to testify before congress, you know, depending on what issue it is, we know that its kind of a hitormiss. So it depends. I think if they do testify, though, we saw a couple of weeks ago, you know, that this interaction between a judge and attorney on representing the Trump Administration about the availability of soap and basic necessities for these children in these detention facilities, and it didnt look well for the Trump Administration. So, the Trump Administration needs to figure out whether its best to appear before the committee and really take that heat, or they could actually go the other way and not appear. So we will see what happens. Yes. So, you have those folks who are there and trapped at the border. You have millions of other people, illegal immigrants, who are living here, allan. And the president is declaring that his administration is moving forward with plans to arrest thousands of migrant families across the u. S. , but he was careful not to give a timeline. How might this play out in the next coming days . So, first off, weve seen this recently in the past couple weeks with President Trump pledging that these sort of mass roundups, mass deportations would start very soon. Back then, he gave no timeline as well, and it wasnt clear at all whether this was something that was actually going to start soon or something that the president , as he frequently does, pledges would begin either very soon, within a couple of weeks, so on and so forth. I mean, we see the president time and time again when he brings up an issue like this, something thats going to take place in the future, he gives a loose timeline, and it sort of gives him some room to get people worked up about it in the immediate future while not having something actually take place right away, but it does help him keep the issue in the news, right . So, if he says somethings going to happen fairly soon, everyone has a chance to discuss and talk about it, and he doesnt have to necessarily come out with any hardandset rules for when things are actually going to take place. Yes, soon could be any time frame. Were covering so many different topics here. Julia, i want you to weigh in on joe biden and finally saying sorry, after saying i aint sorry for so long. Will this stop all of this conversation about bussing and the segregationists . You know, its hard to say at this point. You know, i think the key word in the sentence you just said was finally. It took Vice President biden so long to get to that point and really lay it all out. I think if he had said that before those debates, before Kamala Harris really hit that point home to him during the debates, we would have seen that play out differently. It is possible that biden will still be attacked on this issue because he has said these comments before, and maybe there will be a generationalist argument in terms of all this, you know, saying, essentially, the other candidates saying i necessarily wont make these sorts of comments. Ive never worked with people like this. But i think, no matter what, biden is the frontrunner. So, he is the main target for the harrises, the bookers, the buttigiegs, the warrens, the sanders, so no matter what, hes going to be attacked, on whatever issue. He should have his armor ready for july 30th and 31st in detroit, the next debadtdebate. Julia and allan, thank you on this sunday morning. Were also following the aftermath and aftershocks in Southern California after a 7. 1magnitude quake hit that region. Now, crews have been assessing the damage after homes, many were caught on fire and roads were split as a result of this. Seismologists at caltech say more than 3,000 smaller earthquakes have been detected since thursday. Nbcs molly hunter is in the earthquakes epicenter, the town of ridgecrest, california. And molly, friday night, as you know, residents spent that night sleeping on the sidewalk. How are they weathering all of these aftershocks . Reporter kendis, good morning. And the aftershocks just keep coming. The ground hasnt stopped shaking. We were just talking, we were awoken last night to a pretty strong one, 10 30 our time, a 4 4. 5. But when you look at the usgs website, every few minutes theres an aftershock. Were in a residential neighborhood and last night a lot of people were sleeping outside on their mattresses. I spoke with a single mother of three, and she didnt know where to go to keep her kids safe enough, so they were sleeping outside in the garden. I just want to show you, this is the house. Kendis, you might remember the first night after that 7. 1 quake, there was a huge house fire. We came right there. This is what it looks like now, kind of completely burned out. We do know that the owner made it out alive, but she lost everything, including her car back there. We did speak with a couple residents, both here in ridgecrest and in trona, about 30 miles away. Listen to what they told me. When this hit last night, what did you feel . Describe what you went through. Pure hell. Never in my life in ridgecrest have i been through so many quakes in such a short period of time and so strong of quakes in such a short period of time. If i had broken pipes, it would put me out of business. Ive got a 4yearold and a 3yearold. My 4yearolds pretty traumatized, no matter what. Anything thats happening now, he thinks were having an earthquake, so hes pretty scared. Things were falling as we were running out. So nervous we couldnt make it out or anything. A crazy experience, for sure. Ill remember this for the rest of my life. Reporter now, kendis, were in ridgecrest right now, but about 30 miles down the road is trona, and we visited there yesterday because residents were actually coming into ridgecrest looking for supplies. They said trona was really hard hit, residents without water, without power. Kind of a cool little story. A guy named Roger Sandoval owns a shell station there, no gas and no power, but he did have ice, he did have water, and its become kind of this Meeting Place over there. But kendis, of course what everyone is worried about, with each little aftershock, even a 4. 5, my stomach just dropped. Everyones worried that it could get worse. Yeah, but its great to see that at least people of trona and ridgecrest, that there were no fatalities in both of those communities. Molly hunter for us in ridgecrest, thank you. The other big story that were following this morning iran putting the Trump Administration on notice. What the regime is doing to end u. S. Sanctions, next. End u. S. Sanctionsne, xt this is the story of john smith. Not this john smith. Or this john smith. Or any of the other hundreds of john smiths that are humana Medicare Advantage members. No, its this john smith. Who we paired with a humana team member to help address his own specific health needs. At humana, we take a personal approach to your health, to provide care thats just as unique as you are. No matter what your name is. Who used expedia to book the Vacation Rental which led to the discovery that sometimes a little down time can lift you right up. Expedia. Everything you need to go. Expedia. [ gi ling ] let[ doorbell ]up. [ slap ] your nails xfinity home. Cameras. Xfinity home. Disarm the system. Doors open. Morning. Welcome to the neighborhood. Do you like my work . Secure your home with x1 voice control. And rest easy knowing you have professional monitoring backing you up. Awarded top pick by cnet. Demo at an xfinity store, call or go online today. Xfinity home. Simple. Easy. Awesome. New this morning, iran announcing it is planning yet another step to defy the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. That same agreement, youll recall, the u. S. Backed out of last year. Its the latest move in a tit for tat between iran and the u. S. Irans response to crippling, multilateral u. S. Sanctions. Nbcs ali arouzi joins us now from the capital of tehran. And ali, you were there at that press conference in the room with the iranian officials. What was their rationale for this move . Reporter good morning, kendis. Well, they announced the second step theyre taking in less than a week to roll back their commitments to the jcpoa, the nuclear deal. Last week, iran announced they had exceeded the 300kilo stockpile of lowenriched uranium that theyre allowed to keep under the terms of the deal, and today they said theyre going to start enriching uranium beyond 3. 67 , which is the cap that was set during the nuclear deal. Now, todays announcement also came with a further warning, that if europe cant provide iran with Economic Relief, if they cant shield the country from u. S. Sanctions, then in 60 days time, iran will crank up its Nuclear Activity even further. Now, this seems to be a new policy adopted by tehran to take calibrated steps away from the nuclear deal to put pressure on europe to salvage the deal, or at least to live up to their end of the bargain, despite u. S. Sanctions, but its a risky move, kendis. Its a risky strategy, because europe says it wont accept any ultimatums from iran. Theyre urging tehran to return to its commitments. And with all the moving parts in this region u. S. Drones being shot down, tankers mysteriously sabotaged all that draws europe closer to the u. S. Position on iran. Increasing the gulf between Islamic Republic and the countries that still want to remain in the nuclear deal. And iran, however, says the door for diplomacy is still open. They say if all the sanctions are removed, they can come back to the negotiating table. But at that meeting this morning, they also said theyre not holding much hope for europe to be able to salvage the deal and provide some sort of Economic Relief for them. Yeah, that deadline with the french president being july 15th. You get a sense, ali, that there are different conversations that are happening behind the scenes. Of course, you had the japanese Prime Minister who was there just last month meeting with iranian officials, and you had this olive branch by macron, the french president. Something else happening behind the scenes . Reporter well, i think all the countries, aside from america, are doing all that they can to try and salvage the deal, to convince iran not to roll back its commitments to the jcpoa, because that would be a dealbreaker and everybody would then be drawn to the u. S. Position, but its not bearing a lot of fruit. I mean, macron said that he had a conversation with rouhani and theyre going to try and pave the way for further talks in the next week. Well, they havent been able to do it in the last year and a half, so what they are hoping to establish in the next week is a pie in the sky idea, but everybodys just trying to lower tensions, but the prognosis doesnt look good. As long as america is putting pressure on iran and iran doesnt want to talk to america, this is not going to resolve itself. All right. So, they havent had any progress in a year. Valid point. What progress can they have in a week . Nbcs ali arouzi joining us from tehran, the iranian capital. Thank you. And joining me right now is jahvid ali, former senior director for counterterrorism at the National Security council and policymaker in residence at the ford school. Thank you for being here this morning. You have decades of experience in the defense intelligence. What is your assessment right now of the threat that is posed by todays announcement and development . Kendis, thank you for having me and good morning to you. So, todays announcement appears to be a calculated measure by the Iranian Regime to increase its pressure on not only europe but the United States in order to get concessions, get some kind of relief from the sanctions, perhaps send a message that it can play tough as well from the security perspective, just like the United States is doing. So, this is likewise seems to be a very deliberate move on the iranians part. Now, whether it provides some kind of offramp to the current tensions or it will just continue to escalate things beyond where they are now, thats i think one of the 64,000 questions. Yeah, there are so many questions. So, one of them, javed does iran have the capability right now to produce weaponsgradelevel uranium . Well, that was part of the arrangement through the 2015 accord that all the measures were put in place to make sure that did not happen then. So, all of the publicly available information is that after 2015, irans capabilities to move forward, at least with the Nuclear Weapons program, either through enriched uranium or plutonium, stopped. Whether they have tried to do something covertly since then, again, thats another one of these questions thats really hard to tell. But right now, just, again, looking at whats available publicly, it seems that iran does not have that capability. And even the step theyve announced today of increasing, you know, the slight increase in uranium enrichment from 3 something percent up to 5 or 6 still would not give iran weaponsgrade uranium. It has to be enriched at a level around 90 . But again, depending on their desire to further sort of break out from this pressure sort of thats been building against it could they quickly accelerate to 90 and how long would that take and what signs would be detected . These are all things that i would think the United States and other western powers are looking at very closely. So, let me ask you this, because you were part of the National Security council, i believe from 2017 to 2018. How would you actually describe how the Trump Administrations calculation is with iran, at least from a strategy standpoint . What are they betting on . Sure. So, i came into the administration, or at least the National Security council, in 2017 on the counterterrorism side. So, i was not part of the middle east sort of side or the team that ran the middle east strategy to include the iran strategy. But from what i recall at that time, the administration wanted to increase pressure on iran in a different way from beyond the jcpoa, as ali had mentioned. So, at that time, there was a lot of effort led by then the National Security adviser, mcmaster, who i had the pleasure of working with then, to come up with a sort of new approach on increasing pressure against iran, and so that led to sort of this maximum pressure strategy that the public has heard over the last year or two. So, that maximum pressure strategy has tried to open up some new avenues of National Power that perhaps we as a country werent using before against iran, so more sanctions, more diplomatic tools. Recently, weve seen some increase of military maneuvers or measures in the persian gulf, seemingly directed against the iranian threat. So, this administration has tried to take a new approach against iran, but this sort of cycle of tension with iran also stems from almost 40 years ago. So, this is just, in my mind, a continuation of a struggle thats been going on since the beginning of the iranian revolution in 1979. Its just perhaps a different approach. Its definitely not a new development at all between these two countries. Javed ali, thank you. Thank you. A public apology from joe biden earning some praise from his democratic opponents, but is it enough to put the controversy to rest . T is it enough to put the controversy to rest . Wow thats ensure max protein, with high protein and 1 gram sugar. Its a situp, banana bend at the waist im tryin keep it up. Youll get there. Whoahoahoa 30 grams of protein, and one gram of sugar. Ensure max protein. At comcast, we didnt build the nations largest gigspeed network just to make businesses run faster. We built it to help them go beyond. Because beyond risk. Welcome to the neighborhood, guys. There is reward. Beyond work and life. Who else could he be . There is the moment. Beyond technology. There is human ingenuity. Every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected, to do the extraordinary. Take your business beyond. Now to the mornings other headlines. Tens of thousands of protesters are taking to the streets right now of hong kong, as you can see there, at 7 30 in the evening, at night, and these are live pictures. This is a Central Business district. They have been on the streets all day long. Of course, this is a continuing fallout from an extradition bill that would allow some people arrested in the city to be sent for trial in mainland china. Now, the bill was suspended last month, but protesters are demanding that it be withdrawn completely. Todays protests have been mostly peaceful. Investigators still dont know what caused this weekends massive explosion at a south florida shopping mall. They found ruptured gas lines in the rubble but still arent sure if theyre to blame. Some businesses in the blast zone were completely destroyed. Rescue crews report that 23 people were injured and no one was killed in that blast. Stevie wonder will be undergoing kidney transplant surgery. The legendary singersongwriter told fans at a concert in london that hes taking a break in order to have the operation. Wonders announcement comes after a week of speculation over his health. The 69yearold was hospitalized earlier this year and travels with a medical team. The u. S. Womens soccer team meet the netherlands today in the womens World Cup Final in lyon, france. Team usa is a favorite, and with good reason. They have the tournaments joint top scorers, alex morgan and megan rapinoe. Now, the reigning champs are looking for their fourth title. This is the first time the netherlands, by the way, has made it to the final match. To the battle for 2020 and the apology from the democratic frontrunner. After weeks of criticism for his statements, including his remarks on working with segregationists, former Vice President joe biden is now saying the words im sorry. Nbcs hans nichols has more on what biden had to say. Reporter following weeks of criticism, joe biden said he regretted his controversial comments about working with segregationists during his time as a senator. I regret it, and im sorry for any of the pain or misconception that i may have caused anybody. Reporter the course correction for biden coming after senator Kamala Harris criticized him for opposing the kind of School Bussing that benefited her. I was bussed to my elementary school. Reporter harris continued to focus on School Segregation without mentioning biden by name. But there is a lot to be shameful about. I mean, as you know, most recently, we have talked about americas segregated schools. Reporter the democratic dustup coming as President Donald Trump took another shot at biden, tweeting, the former Vice President wont win in 2020. Joe biden is a reclamation project, the president said. Some things are just not salvageable. Its part of a onetwo political punch. Criticizing obama is a way to wound biden. I call it the obama biden mess. Reporter but biden is sbraitisbrait i celebrating his service to president obama as proof of his progressive values on race. When i talk about the obama years, my opponents talk about his ancient history. When others talk about something i said in the 70s, they talk about it like its yesterday. Reporter biden made his comments in South Carolina, where africanamericans will likely make up a majority of voters in the democrats firstinthesouth primary next year. Kendis . Our thanks to hans nichols there in bedminster. The census and the Citizenship Question. What can congress do to limit the president s pursuit of an executive order . 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So shop now all right, so, President Trump is insisting on adding a Citizenship Question on the 2020 census, saying that he may even do so with an executive order. A printing of the census has already started without the Citizenship Question. The Supreme Court rejected the administrations stated reason as contrived, but government lawyers can still provide a different rationale. Heres the president s new justification. What you needed from that is a reason, not the one you needed for congress. You need it for congress, for districting. You need it for appropriations, where the funds are going. How many people are there . Are they citizens . Are they not citizens . You need it for many reasons. Okay, but heres the thing about that. Congressional seats have always been based on a states total population, not on the number of citizens. Joining me right now, somebody who knows about that, congressman mark vizi, a democrat from texas and member of the congressional Voting Rights caucus. Welcome, congressman. Kendis. You heard the president s new narrative right there. What do you make of this new rationale for adding this Citizenship Question . Well, i think that he just admitted in his own words that what theyre trying to do is illegal. The Supreme Court had a decision on this a few years ago where they said all citizens must be counted. Now hes saying that maps need to be drawn based on people that are citizens. The court has already ruled on this. And not only that, as was mentioned earlier, they have also ruled that they cannot have this question on the census. Its clear what theyre trying to do. If you look here in dallas, for instance, there was notes that were turned over by this mans daughter after he died. Im sorry that i cant remember his name off the top of my head. But he said that if you were to add this question on the census, that you could actually eliminate close to two latino state representative seats in dallas county, and those are in areas that i represent. So, its clear that theyre trying to use race in order to further the republican partys dominance of these districts, and that is illegal. Using race that way is absolutely illegal. Yeah, its a republican strategi strategist, i believe, who died back in 2015, and many of his notes were unearthed afterwards and showed that is right. The information that youre referring to. So, that said, what can you guys do about this . Because the president says that he may declare an executive order to add this Citizenship Question on the census. Your colleague, congresswoman katie hill, i saw her yesterday saying that it would spark a constitutional crisis. Would it . Absolutely it would. The Supreme Courts already ruled on this. Trump may look up to strongman, he may look up to dictators, but the fact of the matter is hes not one. We have a constitution and the Supreme Court, which is a part of the threetiered system that we have, says that this question cannot be used. And so, if he decides, well, im the king and im going to go ahead and do this, it would definitely spark a constitutional crisis. I think that a lot of what hes doing right now is that he knows that this question cannot be used. I think it was mentioned in your segment right before i came on that the questionnaires are already being printed up, and hes just trying to feed a lot of red meat to his base. I think that thats really what this is all about, because they have decided that they have to have this question on the census, but i dont think that its going to happen, and i agree with my colleague from california that it would definitely spark a crisis. Okay. Well, lets talk about Something Else thats within a similar purview right now, and those conditions at the Detention Centers on the border. Weve seen many of the pictures. They look horrible. You visited the Detention Centers in el paso. Describe what it really was like right there in those rooms. Well, first of all, let me tell you this, when you go on those tours, you have to give customs 48 hours notice before you can take one, even as a member of congress. Okay, so they know youre coming. They know youre coming, and that needs to change, because you know, a lot of what we saw, you know, were empty beds, empty cells and what have you, especially the outdoor facilities. But we did see a couple of Holding Cells, a couple of detention Holding Cells look very similar to what you would see if you were to visit a county lockup in a large facility. It was our kids, like toddlerage kids, or just barely older than toddlerage kids in these detention lockuplike facilities. We also saw one particular holding cell that had Cuban Migrants in it, and it was very overcrowded. The women were crying. There was one grandmother who was very afraid because she was actually separated from her mentally impaired grandson and didnt know where he was. These women were crying. They told us that when they asked for water, that one of the guards told them to drink out of the toilet. And so, these are their words to us. And if you look at the Facebook Page that came out, and now it looks like theres a second Facebook Page and that it looks like these Facebook Pages are at least a few years old, and you look at the content on there thats being used by current members of customs, you have to tell yourself that what these migrants were telling us, a lot of it has to be true. Yeah, youre referring to some facebook groups and that featured, we believe, members of Border Patrol who were talking about some of the conditions there and the treatment of many of these migrants. Right. That said, you spoke with many of these migrants did they have any idea of what the conditions were . Why would they trek all these miles knowing that this would be the situation . You know, you take a country like honduras, for instance, its one of the most dangerous places in the entire world. Theres no opportunity. And so, you know, people are coming to america to seek asylum for themselves and their families, hoping for a better life and a picture opportunity. So, that is why theyre risking it. They say that where they live right now, that there is absolutely no hope and that they actually fear for their actual, you know, life. Its that simple. Do you have any confidence that this administration would do anything to help the conditions right there at those Detention Centers . No, i dont believe so. I mean, they need to work with us to help, but i also think that they have shown over and over again that theyre willing to use migrants in order to fan their base up and get their base flamed and amped up, and that they simply see migrants as pawns in a political game, which i think is absolutely sad. I dont understand how the president can even sleep at night. He absolutely has no conscience when it comes to the reallife crisis that is going on at the border and that these make rants are facing. Its sad, and it really goes against what happened in 1980 when we passed the refugee act to try and get with the rest of the International World on how you define asylum and how you define asylumseekers. And were going against that spirit where the world came together in order to make sure that we never would come to a situation again where we see people that are seeking asylum, that are turned away from lifethreatening conditions back in their own country. All right. Congressman marc veasey of the 33rd district in texas near ft. Worth. Thank you for your time. Thank you. All right, so, President Trump appears to have a lovehate relationship with political polls, and this morning, he may both love and hate a new one that was just released. Thats next. Released thats next. Hi. Do you have a travel card . Yep. Our miles card. Earn unlimited 1. 5 miles and well match it at the end of your first year. Nice im thinking about a scuba diving trip. Woman ooh gasp or not. You okay . Yeah, no, im good. Earn miles. Well match em at the end of your first year. Keith used to be great to roadtrip with. But since he bought his house. Are you going 45 . Uh, yes. 55 is a suggestion. Its kind of like driving with his dad. What a sign, huh . Terry, can you take a selfie of me . Take a selfie of you . Yeah. Can you make it look like im holding it . He did show us how to bundle home and auto at progressive. Com and save a bunch of money. Oh, a plaque. He later navigated northward, leaving. Progressive cant protect you from becoming your parents. But we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. When you talk about how well the American People are doing, how well their overall the prosperity that were enjoying it has little to do with this president. He is not really helping us in terms of any type of economic stability, but that doesnt stop him from enjoying what is actually happening right now with this economy and with this nation. So, you dont have people, particularly voters, having a sense of urgency as much as many of them should to see him removed. Hes continuing to hurt us from a us from a political perspective. He is hurting American Interest abroad through our diplomacy. Thats a little disconnected from the realities were seeing with the economy. Voters are giving him high marks there, on the economy, brian. The economy is doing great. One of the reasons is the tax cuts. Another is a regulation by the obama administration. Weve seen in every demographic, unemployment is at record lows. These are good numbers. You look at the polling data, that people care about the economy, more than any other issue, donald trump has a good chance of winning reelection. 65 of the population says his behavior is unpresident ial. And, yes, his numbers are on a number of different things, including immigration, which is a three topic for a number of people. Theres a number of things that hes getting low ratings for. Brian . Thats true. In that poll, he is given ratings on a number of issues. But the overriding issue that people care about, is do i have a job . Am i able to pay my bills. Are my friends working. The economy will be the overriding issue. The last time it happened, was george h. W. Bush. Eight years of reagan and four years of george h. W. Bush, when he promised to cut taxes and he raised taxes. You talk about the trump tax cuts, the people havent fully felt te investigahe effects of their pocket. You will see some wind out of the sails in the coming months that people will start to understand that this is a tax cut for the rich. It wasnt about rebuilding the middle class. And it was about giving corporate interest another opportunity to make more money of after tthe backs of middle a. We havent seen the effects of that. Theres some saying that the tax cuts have not been popular among regular americans. Popular within corporate america. Want to talk Something Else. The poll looked at the matchups between donald trump and the candidates. All of the democrats, seemingly, beating him among all adults. Biden is a whopping 14 points up. But theres a different picture among registered voters. All of the races narrowing or tied, except for biden, who has a tenpoint lead. If you believe polls, Hillary Clinton was going to win pennsylvania in the last election. Was going to stomp trump. Trump is not polling as high as an incumbents should be polling. He is under polling. I think a lot of americans are scared when they get a call to say, im a supporter of donald trump. I think he does underpoll when people get called and asked who they support. I have to squeeze in a sound byte from Michelle Obama and made appearance. Freed the curl at the essence Music Festival. I was proud of her. Barak ack and i are going to support who wins the primary. Our primary focus is letting the primary process play out. Its very early. Were watching everyone. Were supporting everyone. We are giving advice to whatever seeks it. What do you want to say about the kamla biden dustup. He apologized. Do you have any thoughts on that. I do not. Why do you keep invoking president obama . The truth of the matter was, he was the first Vice President of the first africanamerican president of the United States. Thats no small thing. He has worked hard and done a lot to support the agenda of the obama administration. Throughout his career, hes done a lot for africanamericans. He has a long way to go in showing us that he was sincere in his apology. I have to leave it there. Michelle was like, i know what youre putting out there. Im not having it. She looked fantastic. Bishop and brian, thank you. Previewing the next debate. Who might not make it to the next stage . Cake in the Conference Room showing em youre ready to be your own boss. Thats the beauty of your smile. Bring out the best in it with crest 3d white. Crest removes 95 of surface stains. In just three days. Hi. Maria ramirez mom maria Maria Ramirez. Mcdonalds is committing 150 Million Dollars in tuition assistance, education, and career advising programs. Prof Maria Ramirez mom and dad Maria Ramirez to help more employees achieve their dreams. Look at the time. That does it for me for this hour. Ill take a short break and see you at 2 00 p. M. Eastern time. Now, its time for up with david gura