Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Hallie Jackson 20191107

Reporters who broke that story. And republicans are opening up new lines of defense, including one that suggests that the white house wasnt smart enough to come up with a quid pro quo as how democrats get ready to take their case against the president public. Those open hearings will be an opportunity for the American People to evaluate the witnesses for themselves, but also to learn firsthand about the facts of the president s misconduct. Our team of reporters and analysts are all over this and the other top stories of the day. Start with Garrett Haake on capitol hill. So garrett, Jennifer Williams is the third person testifying who was listening in on that july 25th call between president s trump and zelensky. As democrats methodically build this case, how does she fit in and what can we expect moving forward as democrats get ready to take this public . Williams is interesting for two reasons. First, because she was on that call. She can provide another voice, another perspective about what she heard and what her reactions were to it. Secondly, because she is the first person in mike pences orbit she might be able to provide information about what pence knew about the holdup of military aid. One of the things we learned in the change of Gordon Sondlands testimony it was on the sidelines between pence and ukraine officials the ukrainians were informed about the conditions about the aid could be released. Williams, technically a state Department Employee but detailed to the Vice President s office, could provide some information about that. She is likely to be the last witness to see this week. John bolton was scheduled to appear today, Mick Mulvaney scheduled to appear tomorrow, will not. Most of the moving parts for this week will come from further release of transcripts, given that next wednesday we expect to see ambassador bill taylor and state Department Official george kent side by side at the witness table. Wouldnt be surprised if were all reading george kents deposition over a late lunch today. The committees has not announced which transcripts they will release and when. One our wrinkle Alexander Vindman the military official, nsc official, a name come up quite a bit who gave testimony last week has been back on the hill to review his testimony. Thats a step that must proceed to release of those transcripts. Garrett haake, thanks so much for that. While the impeachment probe today focuses on that critical july 25th phone call, theres new reporting about what was going on behind the scenes at the white house as they pushed their defense that it was, as the president likes to say a beautiful conversation. The Washington Post reports that President Trump wanted attorney barr to hold a News Conference and to say that the president broke no laws during his july phone call with ukraines leader. The Justice Department did put out a statement then, but the post citing sources familiar with the matter report that bill barr ultimately declined to request the request to stand in front of cameras and take questions to say basically there was nothing wrong there. The white house says that exchange, the request, never happened. One of the reporters who broke that story joins me now. Washington post National Security reporter matt zshap sk and Kristen Walker at the white house. What do we know about why barr decided not to do it . It was around the time the administration actually released this rough transcript, and there was a lot of hemming and hawing in the days leading up to that, would they release it, should they not. The Justice Department is kind of yam tating to get it out because they believe perhaps misguidedly this will be helpful to the president. Clearly in hindsight it was not. Around this time that President Trump says to other officials in the white house, hey, i want bill barr to do a press conference saying hes looked at the transcript and i didnt break any laws. That request makes its way over to the Justice Department, but bill barr ultimately decides hes not going to do that. We dont know exactly why, the statement the president apparently wanted him to make would have been beyond that nare rock written statement that his spokesperson said, which was we looked at the transcript of the call and no Campaign Finance laws were brown, but not no laws were brown. Also going in front of cameras, obviously, and potentially taking questions, putting himself kind of more personally in the fray here and clearly he wasnt willing to do that. We dont know and less control. You can put out a statement and say what you want to say and only what you want to say if youre asked questions, it gets more dicey. Thats exactly right. So kristen, look, anybody who follows this president nose that he demands loyalty. So it is not outside the realm of his regular way of doing business that he would ask somebody hey, go out there and defend me and yet, the white house is pushing back on the reporting. What can you tell us . Well, to your first point, chris, i think its a really important one, we know that about this president , that he does demand loyalty. We know how much he was pleased by the way in which the attorney general handled the release of the mueller report. The fact he came out and held that News Conference before the American Public had a chance to see the report. The president is pushing back. His tweet, he says bill barr did not decline my request to talk about ukraine. The story was fake Washington Post con job with an anonymous source that doesnt exist. The Justice Department already ruled that the call was good. We dont have freedom of the press. The degenerate Washington Post made up the story about me asking bill barr to hold a News Conference. Never happened. And there were no sources. One point i would like to say about this, i think anyone who reports on this white house has had this president tweet and say that their reporting at some point if time is false. This is a tactic that weve seen from this president and then ultimately we find out that, in fact, it is true. It seems as though President Trump taking that tactic again be, but it comes against the backdrop of the white house really ramping up its communications. We know theyre bringing more members on board to help with the impeachment strategy. Pam bondy the former a. G. In florida and a former top official at the treasury department. The Administration Says they dont have a war room, but despite the fact that they say that, they are certainly building up their ability and their team and their Rapid Response to this intensifying impeachment inquiry. Maybe if it looks like a duck it quacks like a duck, it is a war room, but whatever we call it, we know that they are concerned enough to bring more people on. Kristen, always, thanks to you. Matt, great reporting. Thank you. Joining me now, tara, who served as undersecretary of state in the obama administration. Michael allen is a former assistance to president george w. Bush and a former majority staff director on the house intelligence committee. So let me read Something Else that the post reports in that story. People close to barr assert that while barr is a strong believer in the power of the presidency, he has always recognized there might be times when he has to preserve the Justice Departments independence. Quote, he knows the parameters of the relationship between a president and an a. G. One person close to the Administration Says. Look, tara, as kristen pointed out, bill barr had no problem coming out after the mueller report, although he was heavily criticized and came out on the wrong end of some factchecking of that one, what do you make of barr drawing maybe a line in the sand this time . Well, i think everybody is driving to understand what independence is here. How do you have an independent foreign policy, how do you have an independent judiciary, how do you have some process and National Security apparatus and rule of law and i think even barr is beginning to sense that there are lines here that involve american security, american democracy and american freedom. So you think hes really at a point where hes saying, maybe were coming up against a line that i have to draw . I think intelligence and National Security, as mike will confirm, these are areas where you must draw lines. Were talking about the ability of americans to live freely and securely, to have intelligence, to have systems, to have a process, and you cant have a president who may extort, who may corrupt, who may abuse power and mix that with National Security. Those just dont go together. Possibly, bill barr knows that. And you know, michael, as more witnesses describe what they say they saw as a quid pro quo, that they raised alarms at the time, the president s allies on capitol hill have this kind of everexpanding number of ways to defend the president. I want to play a couple of things Lindsey Graham had, two really new arguments. Now heres a question, why did sondserland change his testimony . Was there a connection between sondland and democratic operatives on the committee . Did he talk to schiff or schiff staffers . The trump policy to ukraine it was incoherent. Depends on who you talk to. They seem to be incapable of forming a quid pro quo. So michael, look, road testing arguments, nothing new, but are we to believe that man who gave the president s inauguration a Million Dollars and who considered himself a big supporter of the president , suddenly is colluding with one of the president s biggest enemies, adam schiff, or, and or, that this white house wasnt smart enough to device a quid pro quo . What do you make of those arguments . Well, i think the most likely reason that ambassador sondland revised his testimony three individuals contradicted what he said and so i think he had a huge refresh that of his memory and felt like he needed to correct the record to get on the right side of the way things are developing here in washington. Your larger point is true, i think the republicans are still trying to settle on a message to get them through impeachment. Youll recall in the clinton impeachment eventually they settled on, the president lied about sex. That was a way to say, hey, you know, this is not rising to the level of high crimes or misdemeanors. What do you think they will settle on here . Weve heard in some senses, michael, i think what a lot of republicans think might be their best argument, that even if it was a quid pro quo, so to speak, that doesnt rise to the level of impeachment. It has never been said clearly enough by any of these witnesses, they cant prove that thats exactly what it was . Yeah. I think people are struggling. I mean at first they decided to deflect and talk about the bidens. Then they decided that quid pro quo was the way to go. I dont think thats working either. So now i believe that they are going to eventually move to the lane of saying hey, listen, the president may have done something imperfectings it wasnt a perfect phone call, but doesnt rise to the level of a high crime or misdemeanor. I think thats where theyre going with this. Well see at the end of the day whether thats successful. Tara, knowing how many different defenses the republicans are willing to put out there and they have a high hill to climb since not a single republican has said at this point that they think impeachment is ins the cards, how high are the risks for democrats even taking on this impeachment inquiry . Well, chris, to your question, where it settles out, which is what youre asking, i think when theres wrongdoing, there are many ways that a president can be punished. Lets admit, this is a painful process for the country. Nobody wants to be here. But the president has put us here. And i think where it settles out is with the public. Next wednesday bill taylor, who is still our ambassador in ukraine, amazingly, is going to be in everybodys living rooms via television and i think youre going to meet someone that americans can be proud of, a man of integrity who has served his country. I believe a president might be indicted or pooechlds, or make it through to the end, might be reelected or not reelected but abuse of power is something the public decides. It settles with those 16 to 19 that i believe astill persuadabe and say lets see where this is going. Tara and michael, thanks to both of you. We appreciate it. Coming up intelligence officials tell nbc news its up to gina haspel to protect the ukraine whistleblower after a name is pushed by right wing outlets and retweeted by donald trump, jr. Still ahead, Vice President mike pence set to file President Trumps paperwork for the primary in New Hampshire today, joining a long list of democratic president ial hopefuls. Dential hopefuls the pain and swelling. The psoriasis. Cosentyx treats more than just the joint pain of active psoriatic arthritis. It even helps stop further joint damage. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. 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What did intel officials tell you they think haspel can accomplish here. Its a delicate situation because as we know any cabinet officer who gets in a public fight with donald trump is doing so at their peril. The people im talking to inside and current and former intelligence officials are really concerned because donald trump and his son and allies in congress have been using the name or hinting at the name of this whistleblower who is a cia officer and i should add nbc news has not independently confirmed the name being used. They are floating this, and its viewed as really damaging to the idea that a whistleblower should be able to come forward and confidentially report. In the Intelligence Community that process is essential. They tonight want people just leaking classified information to the press. They want to channel if you see wrong doing you can report it without fear of being retaliated against. At least privately theres a thought haspel should be telling the president he must not do this. Is there any indication shes doing that. Im getting hints. Even leaking the idea shes doing that would be dangerous to her situation with regard to donald trump. Trump would hate the idea that we would know that somebody behind the scenes is pushing him or threatening him. We havent confirmed shes done that. Joe maguire, when he testified to congress he said its important to protect the whistleblower, he hasnt said a word since. Rand paul out at a trump rally the other day saying we should out the whistleblower and the media should name this person. Theres a desire in the Intelligence Community for their leaders to stand up but also an understanding that look, if has pell were to threaten to resign theyre terrified who trump might appoint as an acting cia director, a political person. Gina and chris wray at the fbi are some of the last independent grownups running cabinet agencies independent of donald trump. This is a delicate situation. Thank you so much for that. Joining me now is democratic senator macy ha ran no of hawaii who sits on the judiciary and Armed Services committee. So good to see you, senator. When you look at what you just heard from ken, and the difficulties of this situation, what do you think are gina haspels responsibilities in your view . Well, in trump world, everybodys responsibility is totally total loyalty to him. You have a situation of, of course, secretary pompeo who doesnt come to the defense of the former ambassador to ukraine and now gina haspel is in a position where shes being called upon to come to the aid of one of her own. This is a very more than troubling, its dangerous to try to out a whistleblower because wave had the Whistleblower Statutes or weve had these rules that require federal employees who see wrong doing to come forward and be protected. To have members of Congress Starting with the president calling the whistleblower a traitor and spy and out this person, totally undermine the Whistleblower Statutes. What theyre doing just in defense of this president , has major ramifications in my view. Thats why yesterday i went on the floor of the senate to acknowledge that while we expect federal employees to tell us when something is going wrong because, you know, they work for us, and we want our federal government to do right by the people for whom they work, we expect them to come forward and we have in my view a duty to protect these people and thats all being cast aside in support of this president. But the resolution that you and Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer attempted to pass on protecting whistleblowers was blocked by rand paul. Yes, none other. Later President Trump went on a new riff about the whistleblower and i want to play that. Now in this case, i had a perfect phone call, a totally perfect phone call. But the whistleblower, before they knew i was going to release, he came out with a whistleblower, like hes some wonderful person. Take a look at the whistleblower. But the whistleblower came out with this horrible statement about this call. So i really had no choice. I said immediately, talk about transparency, i said release it. Release it immediately. Take a look at the whistleblower. This is what youre up against it. You know it and youve watched it and understand it. Is there something you can do other than a resolution . Im hoping that people of this country are watching, what i would call the outofcontrol president who thinks that he is above the law. He thinks that he can shoot somebody on fifth avenue and nobody can touch him. His own lawyers argue this in the second circuit. This is a kind of administration we have. Thats why ive called it the moral dead zone that is the Trump Administration and all we can do is just continue to support what the house is doing with their impeachment inquiry and their process, which by the way is going to be open and it also enables the president to participate. But in the meantime senator, to be fair, i mean as we said, donald trump, jr. Put a name out there. I mean a lot of republicans, other republicans have talked about outing this whistleblower. What assurances can you, other senate democrats, democrats generally, give this whistleblower or any other potential whistleblower what assurance can you give them theyre going to be protected . Sadly, right now, because these are not normal times in normal times we would be protectings the whistleblower. These are not normal times. You know, i certainly would be interested in having some sanctions or something, but, you know, we have a president who doesnt give a riff about violating laws or anything else. We have an administration that is out of control. And all of these people who are coming to the president s defense as i listen to their arguments, pseudo argument, the latest being sadly chairman Lindsey Graham coming up with the well, theyre so incompetent that they couldnt have possibly cooked up this scheme, this is the first time im hearing incompetence as a defense to lawlessness. This is where we are. These are not normal times, chris, and all we can do is what we need to be doing which is to pursue the impeachment process and enable that to happen and i hope that by the time all of this comes to the senate there will be such a body of evidence as to the president s wrongdoing and basically, you know, him saying if you dont do this im not going to give you 400 million as though it was his money to deal with, i hope that by the time it comes to the senate, ifs the house sends over articles of impeachment there will be open lines. Im not holding my breath. I think a lot of people are a little overwhelmed bit everything going on and may consider a vacation to your beautiful state. Thank you for taking times to talk to us. Come on over. We appreciate it. Up next former u. S. Attorney general Jeff Sessions is reportedly expecting a fight from President Trump as he prepses to announce a bid for his old senate seat. First, ahead of the Remembrance Day in england, the queen visited veterans in a village that provides support to more than 300 people in connection to the armed forces. But take a look at a couple of the young residents there reacting to seeing her. One of them looks either shocked or terrified. The kid on the right looks like he couldnt be any more bored. The queen helped to bury a time capsule in the square where the message to future generations reading today is a moment of celebration but also a time of reflection on the sacrifices the armed forces make in times of need. Armed forces make in times need or could it play out differently . I wanted to help protect myself. My doctor recommended eliquis. Eliquis is proven to treat and help prevent another dvt or pe blood clot. Almost 98 of patients on eliquis didnt experience another. And eliquis has significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Eliquis is fdaapproved and has both. 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So apparently, we come from a long line of haberdashers, which is a fancy word for. They left everyone, and everything so they could get here. And start this family. Every family has a unique story. This holiday season, help your family discover theirs. Reacting to seeing her. Armed forces make in times of reacting to seeing her armed forces make in times of so forget the Football Game President Trump is going to this weekend in alabama, the real fight in that state is the one that may be about to explode again in public between the president and his former attorney general. Were talking about Jeff Sessions, who apparently wants his old job back. Not as a. G. But senator. Sources tell nbc news he plans to make a run for the same seat he held for 20 years and hes cutting it close because the filing deadline is tomorrow afternoon. The stage was set for a crowded republican primary in a state the gop is banking on flipping to help them keep control of the senate. But those probably aerpts the folks the other candidates that represents sessions biggest obstacle. It may be President Trump. He said picking sessions as attorney general was the biggest mistake of his presidency and openly and repeat ledly mocked sessions shi sessions since he fired him last year. As you know, the attorney general says im going to recuse myself, and i said, why the hell didnt he tell me that before i put him in . How do you recuse yourself . I want to bring some someone who knows alabama politics better than anybody, the State Government reporter for the montgomery adviser. So, Jeff Sessions could arguably be running not just without the support of the president in a state where trump is extremely popular, but a president who has openly mocked him, suggested that he, lets just say his intellect isnt up to par, so whats the temperature there on sessions . How could this play out . You know, despite all the criticism that trump has thrown at Jeff Sessions, he seems to be still pretty popular in the state of alabama after he made his very public exit in the end of 2018. Sessions spoke to a large gathering of people here in montgomery and got a warm reception. Its interesting, if you remember the 2017 senate race, trump got involved in endorsements in that race heavily, first for Luther Strange and then roy moore, but if you talk to alabama voters, alabama republican voters, they seem to be able to separate their support for the president with their support for the candidate. Like when President Trump, for instance, endorsed Luther Strange, i heard over and over again from roy moore voters, i support the president but dont agree with him on this and voting for roy moore. I think i mean its going to be an irritant for Jeff Sessions should he enter the race but i dont think its a deal breaker. A lot of people running or support of people running were hoping this moment wouldnt come. How would his candidacy change things in the primary . What are you looking for over the next week or so . Were already seeing even before sessions really announced it, we saw that two of the republican campaigns, bradley burn and tommy tuberville, trying to hammer this idea they were the true loyalists to donald trump, that they will defend donald trump if theyre elected to the senate. That dynamic has been playing out throughout this primary, so i think well see even more of that. One of the other questions to ask is, is that the republicans really have not coalesced around anybody in particular at this point, and i think what well see here now is that sessions might be able to pull in some republicans just simply by sheer name recognition, but i would expect again, like the 2017 gop primary, this race to win the republican nomination could become a referendum on who is most loyal to sdmoop brian lyman of the montgomery advertiser, i have a feeling well see a bit more of you in the next couple months. Lets turn our panelist, a republican consultant and contributor for the hill and msnbc political analyst susan dell persio. What is a Jeff Sessions candidacy going to look like . Give us a read. Is this going to get wild. The president has never censored himself before. Again, as brian mentioned earlier, the president has played in primaries and not done very well, especially in alabama. And i think Jeff Sessions some would argue just now in kentucky. Absolutely right, chris. And thats the thing that i think voters will be aware of given what happened in kentucky that doug jones won in the first place in the special election, they may want someone who they all know they can rally around and win not easily but be pretty confident that jeff session iwil be the u. S. Senator from alabama. Maybe one or two people drop out. Jeff sessions wouldnt do this if his poll numbers werent good. This is a lot of republicans shermichael were worried about, dont want it to be nationalized, while many conservative groups were pushing sessions to get in, a lot of republicans just as soon he stay out. Even with reports that sessions is willing to look past the insults and say nice things about trump would democrats love to see his or their Worst Nightmare . No, it should be their Worst Nightmare. If you look at doug jones hes arguably the most vulnerable senator up for reelection in 2020, i think if republicans are smart, in spite of what we should expect from this president , they should support Jeff Sessions and go allin for him because its an easy seat for republicans to pick up. If Jeff Sessions does announce he will immediately become the frontrunner. I do expect that you will see a lot of donors within the state and also donors across the country pumping in money to assure his election. So let me ask you, shermichael, the alabama primary is march 3rd. What do you see is best Case Scenario and worst case for the republicans . Do you think they can come out of this unscathed or with the number of people in it and the wildcard that always is donald trump, could this get a little crazy . I think as susan said, most individuals will drop out. I have some concerns with roy moore and this is why i think donald trump needs to be very, very careful here. I think if it does appear that moore has a good chance of winning this thing or really challenging sessions, then i think that does benefit doug jones and thats something that republicans in alabama as reported via local and National Press do not want to see, i can assure you that Mitch Mcconnell would love to see Jeff Sessions back in the senate. Republicans do not want to have to deal with the nightmare they had to deal with before, when roy moore was the nominee. Shermichael, thank you so much. Susan, youre going to be coming back. Appreciate both of you. Im being told that pete williams, our justice correspondent, has breaking news. Were going to get him into a seat and have that after the break. Also, coming up, democrats preparing for the public phase of the impeachment inquiry next week. Well ask an illinois congressman who sits on the House Intel Committee whats happening. Ittee whats happening. 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So you can be ready for what matters most. Call today. Well send you a 10 visa reward card with no obligation to enroll. Medicare annual enrollment ends december 7th. High protein. Low sugar. Tastes great high protein. Low sugar. So good high protein. Low sugar. Mmmm, birthday cake pure protein. The best combination for every fitness routine. Were back with breaking news involving National Security. Pete williams in our washington bureau. Whats this about in about 45 minutes the u. S. Attorney in brooklyn will unseal charges against a company on long island and the allegation here is that the company was selling surveillance equipment to u. S. Customers, including the u. S. Government, and the u. S. Military, claiming that this surveillance equipment was made in the usa when, in fact, federal investigators say they will accuse the company that several items in this inventory were made in china. The u. S. Has been searching this company this morning, called aventura technologies based on long island, and they are hauling away evidence or potential evidence by the truckload this morning and several current and former officia officials were told will be charged. Some were arrested this morning at the companys headquarters. Now the question is, who were the customers in the u. S. Government and does this raise potential National Security concerns if surveillance equipment, the at least parts of which were made in china, are now being used by the u. S. Government and military, what National Security concerns does that raise . What were told is the company will be charged with fraud claiming this was made in the usa when, in fact, components were made in china. Well be getting more details about that in about 45 minutes and in the meantime the search goes on on long island with several federal agencies involved. The fbi, the customs service, the irs, the naval criminal investigating service, so this is a very big investigation thats now unfolding before our eyes. The size of it suggesting how seriously theyre taking this pete. Thank you for that breaking news. Meantime democrats are setting the stage for an explosive start to the open impeachment hearings. At least thats the hope. Ambassador bill taylor and Deputy Assistant secretary george kent scheduled to be first up next wednesday. The New York Times reporting on a strategy to start out strong, saying, quote, democrats consider mr. Taylor to be perhaps their best witness. Let me bring in congressman democrat from illinois and a member of the intelligence committee. Good morning. Same here. Chris, thank you. Give us talk a little bit about this democratic strategy for opening these hearings, like why start with ambassador taylor . Whats the story you think is critical for americans to take away . Sure. Everybody probably has heard of mr. Taylor who has been paying attention to whats been going on with the ukraine affair, but ambassador taylor is a west point graduate and vietnam veteran and served this country for 50 years as a career public servant, apolitical, and he came across to me as perhaps one of the most compelling witnesses ive ever seen. He, indeed, was as i said before a witness out of central casting, someone who is credible, consistent and careful in his testimony, and his testimony is very clear if you read the deposition transcript, we had a clear understanding that military aid was premised on the ukraines announcement of investigations of President Trumps domestic political rivals. But that brings me to my next question, americans, republicans, have seen the headlines from the private depositions, theyve seen the depositions reading some of the transcripts for themselves and yet democrats havent won over a single republican who is willing to say oh, yeah, were for impeaching President Trump. So how do you use these open hearings to change their minds . The facts remain the same, right . So the public hearings have two purposes, one to educate people about what weve learned, and two, to allow the American People for themselves to evaluate the credit of these witnesses. Privately, when i was in the room listening to ambassador taylor and i talked to my republican counterparts they found him to be credible. The question is, whether the audience at home will find the same. I believe they will. Hes a compelling they will not challenge him because we certainly have heard people who want to suggest that somehow ambassador taylor is not credible, that hes not someone who didnt have some sort of other ulterior motive than to tell the truth . I think, you know, my colleagues on the other side will challenge him as is their right during the hearing, however this is what people need to remember at least with regard to his deposition testimony, this is a man called out of retirement by secretary of state mike pompeo to serve his country in the ukraine, and he has absolutely no incentive to do anything but tell truth. In fact, in this particular instance, telling the truth would cost him potentially his career. Whats left of it in public service. I think as people listen to him, i hope that they listen to his details that he recounts with a lot of specificity and find him compelling as i did. Even if we make the assumption that people will find him credible, that he will give evidence of a quid pro quo, as you well know, impeachment wasnt designed as a legal process, it is a political one, theres no independent judge giving jury instructions, so if republicans say well, maybe it doesnt look good, but this isnt enough to throw donald trump out of office, is that the end of it . Well, i think its up to the American People to decide for themselves whether they believe this is impeachable and, of course, theres a process after this inquiry. I have to say, there are two aspects that are very serious. One, the founders of our country specifically didnt want foreign powers to interfere in our democracy, and they contemplated this type of interference and anybody who aided it, as potentially committing impeachable offenses. The second is, if the president actually used his office to investigate private citizens for political purposes, that could be any of us who could be the subject of such an investigation and thats very deeply troubling, probably one of the greatest fears that private citizens have about their government and certainly the presidency. I fear that if these are true, they would be impeachable. Thank you so much. We do appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, chris. Were expecting to see Vice President mike pence any minute now as he files for the president to be on the ballot for the New Hampshire primary. We are live at the State Capitol in concord with him. Rd with him. To present to you today. [son] who are you talking to . [son] that guys scary. The first item on the list is selecting a chairman for the. For the Advisory Board whats this . As well as use the remaining. Child care options run out. Lifetime Retirement Income from tiaa doesnt. Guaranteed monthly income for life. 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Giving you a nice big edge over your competition. Thats the power of edgetoedge intelligence. Test test test. A little bit of a wild scene right now at the State Capitol in New Hampshire, not like this every day. Just once every four years. This is a significant event in the 2020 race. Vice president mike pence about to officially file the paperwork to add President Trumps name to next years primary ballot. The president is expected to face at least three challengers, bill weld, joe walsh, mark sanford. His campaign isnt losing sleep over the competition. In fact, theyre gearing up for what they say will be a strong play for the state after the president lost it to Hillary Clinton in 2016 by a slim. 3 . Nbc news political reporter Vaughn Hillyard is buried somewhere in the crowd at the New Hampshire State Capitol in concord. Whats going on there . Reporter im tucked away somewhere back here. I dont know if youre looking at the decks shot that the Vice President is about to walk up to. Youre looking at the desk shot. Our great amanda, our colleague is out in the hallway. Folks lining the hallways. Were seeing live pictures now, the Vice President is walking in right now. So we see him in the crowd. Reporter so hes going to be making his way down here, essentially turning over the 1,000 check to get the Trump Campaign reelect name back on the ballot. Hell meet up with secretary of state bill gardner. New hampshire is the first primary. There are some states that chose to skip their primaries and caucuses on the gop side, so as not to invite any competition. Here in New Hampshire, they will be holding it, of course, as you just indicated. It doesnt look like theres at this point too much serious competition against trump, but the Vice President will be signing the paperwork to put their name on the ballot. Then hes going to go over and will take press questions in the room next door. Corey lewandowski, former Trump Campaign manager is here as well. Youll be seeing him here. He is from New Hampshire. This is very much of a tradition in the state. Donald trump did this himself back before Vice President pence was involved in any sort of president ial talks. Donald trump came into this exact office here. This is in concord, New Hampshire, the New Hampshire statehouse, secretary of States Office. I think as you indicated i cant quite see him yet. Let me tell you whats going on outside. He is working the line. Hes talking to people. Hes shaking hands, doing the inevitable i assume hes doing some selfies, i dont know. People are certainly taking a lot of photos. In any case, talk a little bit about the strategy as youve been talking to folks on the trump side, how they like their chances in New Hampshire this time around given lets put a big asterisk on that, they dont know who theyll be running against. Reporter exactly. New hampshire has always been a swing state. Republican senators, democratic senators, and you saw this last election Hillary Clinton won in New Hampshire. The train thinump campaign thin can play here again. Thats why i think youll see a presence in the primary but leading up to the general election. I think Vice President pence is an interesting figure. Not only did he do this in the midterms, chris, but hes doing it right now. Essentially he is the traveling campaigner. During the 2018 midterms he would go to congressional districts across the country, stumping on behalf of the Trump Administration. What youve seen him do is hitting multiple congressional districts over the last weeks, pushing back against the impeachment inquiry. What do you see today . You see him being the one to file the paperwork, meeting up with not only republican local officials. There is there are fundraisers that the Vice President is fronting for this administration. He is very much playing the active role as the impeachment inquiry takes hold over at the white house and the president is clearly focused over there. Vice president pence continues to make his way around the count country. As he makes his way in to where you are, let me bring in susan val pers i dont and basil smikle. Basil, give us your take on New Hampshire right now. How critical do you think this state is going to be given we always talk about, its such an important state. Its key to momentum. Right now were watching Vice President pence, but talk about the primary thats going to happen here and how much time well be spending there over the course of the next several months. Its going to be quite a bit of time. I imagine some candidates have already picked out their air bnb for New Hampshire. I think whats going to be interesting in this process, if at lot of the names we hear often in the primary, biden, sanders and warren and mayor pete as well, im curious to see if any one of them sort of runs the table early. If they win in iowa and then in New Hampshire because that would i think that New Hampshire primary will tell us a lot about what happens after that in nevada, south carolina. I think New Hampshire is going to be incredibly important for perhaps the winner of iowa, but also for the lower tier candidates. Because if someone other than the winner of iowa wins New Hampshire, i still think its a very, very open race. Ive got to tell you, every four years, susan, i dont know about you, but you see all the signs up there. You see john mccains sign up there, for example, brrernie sanders, becaming for america. We could go on and on. This is also an historic moment cht give me your take on New Hampshire right now. I think theres an interesting opportunity for pete buttigieg, amy klobuchar, joe biden, when it comes to New Hampshire, youll have sanders and warren not just being on the more progressive side, but also two neighboring senators. New hampshire is an open primary. So they may be able to get some actual republican support and crossover and moderate republicans. It depends. I dont think a lot of republicans are going to come out and vote in the republican primary, with all due respect to the three people running against the president. Susan del percio, basil smikle, Vaughn Hillyard, thank you. Well continue to watch this as the Vice President of the United States has made his way in to say, yes, donald j. Trump is running for reelection. Thank you for watching this hour of msnbc live. Right now more news with my colleague craig melvin in new york. Ms. Jansing, always good to see you, my friend. Well continue our coverage here as we watch the Vice President of the United States mike pence arrive in concord, New Hampshire. We saw the motorcade pull up just a few minutes ago. He, as chris pointed out a few minutes ago, there on behalf of donald j. Trump, president of the United States. New hampshire one of the handful of states in the country that dont require the candidate to actually show up and file for himself or herself. Also, we should note here the granite state, one of the states with the lowest cost to entry, so to speak. You write a check for a thousand bucks, show up there at the secretary of States Office and you, too, could run for president there in New Hampshire. Vaughn hillyard is still with us there. He is standing by in New Hampshire. Vaughn, whats the scene . Set it up for us here at the top of the hour, 11 00 on the east coast. I may have lost vaughn here