Transcripts For MSNBCW MTP Daily 20190430

Democratic president ial race. This according to three new polls all making waves. We are going to get into all those numbers and what they mean for the 2020 race that is coming up. We begin a moment that raises a lot of questions politically for both sides. The president is stonewalling democratic subpoenas. He is suing his own banks in an effort to quash some of those subpoenas. And in reaction, some bigname democrats including add amd schiff and now even joe biden are broaching the topic of impeachment, impeachment not over the Mueller Report per se, but over the president s efforts to resist Congressional Democrats investigations following up on the Mueller Report. Not to mention the fact that democrats are livid with the president s attorney general, they are threatening to subpoena him, too, as he prepares to testify on the Mueller Report tomorrow. It was against that backdrop the Democratic Leadership met with the president at the white house. Senior democratic aide who was in the room told reporters there was not a single mention of the congressional investigations or of trumps tax returns or subpoenas or impeachment or any of that from either side during the meeting. They met to talk infrastructure and they emerged with an agreement to pursue a massive 2 trillion spending package. Now lets face it, the president and democrats have been at each others throats since the Mueller Report came out. Probably since a lot long before the Mueller Report came out. Today, though, it was not that way in public. We are very excited about the conversation that we had with the president. It was a very constructive meeting. It was good will in this meeting. We agreed, we agreed, we agreed, we agreed, we agreed on a number, which was very, very good. 2 trillion for infrastructure. I have a rule when i go to a meeting with multi with many members, and that rule is the purpose of the meeting is not to criticize the president of the United States. This race ises a thorny quesn for democrats. How serious are they about pulling out all the stobz for the president to cooperate with their probes . Can they be serious about both at the same time . When pelosi spoke to reporters after the meeting, she indicated the answer is yes. How hard is it to work with this president on infrastructure when hes stonewalling you on investigations . Obviously we are here to do something for the American People. We cannot ignore the needs of the American People as we go forward. What is a bigger priority for democrats, investigating the president or trying to work with him . Our priority is to honor our responsibilities under the constitution of the United States, to meet the needs of the American People. Nbc White House Correspondent jeff bennett is covering all the action there today. He joins us from capitol hill. Also with us, a. P. White house reporter and msnbc political analyst jonathan lemire. Msnbc legal analyst and senior vicepresident for social justice at the news school, mia wiley. And commentary associate editor noah roth man. Thanks to everybody for being with us. Jeff, let me start with you where the action was today down there in washington. So, look, we all, i think, remember back in december in the run up to the government shutdown, congressional Democratic Leaders paid a visit on the white house. The meeting went absolutely off the rails. It was riveting to watch certainly. The reporting, though, as i said at the top of this show, with all the talk swirling about investigations and subpoenas and potential impeachment, not a word on any of those subjects was spoken today . Didnt come up at all, according to people who were there in the room. And, look, as one top House Democrat put it to me, steve, she said, you only get one president at a time. And, of course, achieving some sort of infrastructure deal is a key part of the democratic agenda, and so its something theyre going to try to achieve with President Trump. But, look, one of the reasons why the nations roads and bridges are crumbling, one of the reasons why there are vast parts of Rural America that are devoid of broadband is because this is the kind of thing. Infrastructure is the kind of thing lawmakers like to talk about while doing very little about it. So, yes, democrats, republicans, voters across a wide ideological spectrum are all in on infrastructure, but the question is how do you pay for it . That didnt come up in todays meeting. The democrats who were there said theyre going to punt that to another day. But Chuck Schumer has suggested clawing back that massive gop tax cut that he says helped corporations as a way to help pay for some of this. Republicans, as you rightly expect, are opposed to that entirely. But thats the way this usually goes. Democrats call for direct Government Investment in these projects, republicans call for private investment. I mean, donald trump and Chuck Schumer, both of whom as you know are new yorkers, cant even agree how to fund the hudson rail project, the rail project that would run under the hudson river connecting manhattan to new jersey. How will these two men come to any sort of agreement on a massive infrastructure plan . But, look, the big two questions are, can this president work with House Democrats who are actively investigating him . And will either side allow the other to have any semblance of a victory in the midst of an Election Year . Jonathan lemire, thats one of the questions here, jeff gets at it. How do you pay for it . Yes, infrastructure sergomethin youve heard this president talking about, democrats talking about. The white houses position in a past attempt was Public Private partnerships. Apparently today theyre saying at this meeting thats not where they want to look any more. But is there any indication where they would be willing to look . The white house is signalling they would be willing to put more government funding into this, but, you know, its one thing to agree on a top number of 2 trillion. Yes, good to see headlines coming out of this. Its telling the cameras were not allowed inside this chuck and nancy meeting as the president calls t which they were allowed for the riveting one in december. Were relying on secondhand accounts rather than watching it ourselves. This is a moment where i think its both parties making a decision thats in their interest to at least have this meeting. There are a couple things going on. For democrats it allows them to broadcast the idea, hey, were capable of more than just investigating the president. You dont want to be type cast as someone who is trying to bog down the workings of government. If youre the white house, its the exact opposite. You want to be able to prove you can do more than just be investigated. That you are still trying to move forward with an agenda. And also this allows them, frankly, maybe this is a cynical view but a realistic one. People ive talked to around the process have voiced it. Having the meeting sitting down together, its easier to blame the other side when it falls apart. This mention, too, you have the investigations Congressional Democrats are trying to proceed with here. You have the white house resisting a lot of these subpoenas. Mick mulvaney today was not in the meeting, but that idea of, hey, Congressional Democrats, stop those investigations if you want to have cooperation on infrastructure. He was sounding that message. Take a listen. If im suing you on one deal, are you likely to do another deal with me at the same time . Probably not. Thats just human nature. So youre absolutely right to have an impeachment here on monday and think youre going to talk infrastructure on tuesday, thats not how the world works, let alone washington, d. C. , so weve the mantra we use around the office is i either have to choose to legislator litigate. You cant have it both ways. Mia, in terms of the politics of this, john mentioned this a minute ago, democrats, obviously the headlines a couple months into their return to power in congress, have been about mueller, russia, investigation, subpoenas. Is there some political imperative for democrats to emerge with a deal on, say, infrastructure, to say this was about more than that . Why, i think its always been an imperative for the democrats not just now, not just the investigations. The American Public hasnt been happy with congress and has president been happy with congress for a long time. Nobody likes the gridlock. Everybody wants to see congress working. Donald trump ran, one of his platform items was infrastructure spending. Its really incumbent on both sides. But i think democrats have long been saying, why arent we getting to the infrastructure bill . I mean, they were saying it at the beginning of this administration when donald trump was fighting around border wall. But what happened to infrastructure . Because that was something we could all agree that Congress Needed to get done. So i actually think that, you know, both jonathan is right, jeff is right. Democrats care about this, but they also care about ensuring that people know that while they work, will engage in their oversight function which is one of their constitutional duties. They will also engage in their legislative duties. Formic mulvaney to kind of say, you know, you dont do a deal if youre litigating, but theyre not deal makers. This is the president of the United States. Its not the art of the deal. Its the art of governance. Something else that mulvaney said today, too, noah, he sadie essentially he thinks theres a better chance of a deal over trade getting through and being implemented than there is over this question of infrastructure. There is some speculation some talk coming out of this meeting, the 2 trillion figure might have surprised some out of the white house. This is something trump campaigned on that separated him from traditional conservative policy ideas in 2016. What is the appetite among the Republican Party for follow through on Something Like this . Zero. This is not going to happen. Spoiler alert. You can cut that price tag in half. There is no appetite in the Republicanled Senate for deficit finance Infrastructure Program to the tune of a trillion dollars or more. We had this opportunity to do this for two years. Didnt happen. Its not going to happen now. This is about putting leadership in a box. Nancy pelosis caucus is very interested in pursuing whatever investigations of this white house they can. The white house is balking at them. They have one avenue. Nancy pelosi wants to avoid impeachment. You have to go through this in the committee process. Theyre saying no. The white house is going to block it through the committee process. Theyre daring them to pursue the alternative which they think the white house believes is a loser for democrats. They want to put leadership in a position that is untenable. Nancy pelosi wants an infrastructure package. She wants to get something done in government. I believe democrats are really genuinely interested in this. I think her caucus wants to get a better deal from a different president. I dont think theyre going to follow leadership on this. You said in the other interest aspect on this. The democrats are firing off subpoenas now. Trump administration is telegraphing an intent not to comply, to fight, to stone call them. Maybe try to run the clock on these. Here was joe biden, president ial front runner now on the democratic side, out there today saying if the white house continues that posture and democrats dont get cooperation, the i word. What the congress should do and they are doing is investigate that. And if, in fact, they block the investigation, they have no alternative but to go to the only other constitutional resort they have, is impeachment. Theres the word, jeff, in terms of the white house. Their strategy on this if that takes off among democrats, are they going to posture at all or welcome the fight . They welcome the fight. White house officials were talking to me about that well before this was on the radar for democrats. Theyve been convinced democrats are going to overplay their hand and alienate those independent voters they need to get joe bide he r enor any other democrat who emerges as the nominee into the white house, steve. Ill tell you, look, explosive says this would be sort of a divisive thing that would pull apart her caucus. The process now of surveying those 41 House Democrats who won seats formerly occupied by republicans or represent districts trump won in 2016. And so far to a number, they all say they do not support i impeachment. As it stands as i talk to you now, House Democrats dont have the votes to impeach. It certainly would go nowhere in the senate. Is that im curious how democrats, how you think they should navigate that, mia. We saw already this week 37 of the public says they want impeachment now. Strong majority say theyre against it. If democrats were to pursue this front, this idea of saying, hey, this Trump Administration is stonewalling these subpoenas, is there a risk there if the country already isnt behind impeachment, it almost gets too hard to follow where its, okay, they are stonewalling an investigation into potential obstruction of an investigation that found no underlying crime, therefore we have to impeach . I think what part of the problems the democrats have is when the robert Mueller Report dropped, they did not have a communication strategy that was clear. Because part of what we already knew that was already indicated in the Southern District of new york was the implication of donald trump in a crime. That was Public Record in the filings of prosecutors in new york. Now, put aside whether you impeach on that because thats a different conversation. But this sort of idea and this kind of discussion of no underlying crime or predicate, which is legally doesnt make sense, but politically, you know, this notion of got emoluments, you have issues about why Foreign Policy has not necessarily lined up with the National Interests of the country. You have really legitimate issues for governance i guess im asking, though, when i say the politics of it, the popular understanding yes. Of what was being investigated, what was at stake, what was potentially going to be revealed by two years of this investigation. The idea of, theres a conspiracy at the heart of this. There is a meeting where a deal was sealed, where trump was threatened with a tape, where he pledged some kind of that was the conversation out there. Without having mueller establish Something Like that, if you go down an impeachment road on one of these process grounds, do you lose the country . Do they not come with said this and i agree. Parr part of wha explosive, but because you have dribs and drabs coming out in little pieces, you kind of lose how phenomenal this story is. So Paul Manafort giving polling data to Konstantin Kilimnik to give to an oligarch of russia and telling and talking about targeting swing states if that story was getting told holistically at one time and not just in this dribs and drabs pieces, we might see an American Public thats in a different place. I think part of the importance of having hearings again, putting aside whether or not there is a vote on impeachment, but having oversight hearings to say this process was way too politicized, and we have to get to a place where the American Public understands what happens. And where we as lawmakers can do what we do as lawmakers, which is determine whether or not there are additional pieces of legislation we need. This is part of what i meant by communications. Theres law making that may need to happen here that needs hearings. John, very quickly. I think your point is right. As a republican, senior republican told me once if the trump tower meeting between don junior and the kremlin connected lawyer was revealed in the Mueller Report, trump would be packing his bags. There is a are narrative there. Quickly, the white house, this is their strategy, theyre going to stone wall. Theyre going to use executive privilege. Theyre going to use lawsuits. Theyre going to do everything they can to try to push this as close as they can to 2020. Even if you end up losing in court, Third Quarter Earnings Conference Call point to democrats and say this became a political process. This isnt about the truth any more. Not about the law. Youre trying to take down this president a few weeks or months before the election. Okay. Jeff bennett, thank you for joining us. Jonathan, mia, they are all sticking around. Ahead, democrats and their dilemma, can they work with the president and against him at the same time . Im going to talk to a House Democrat and the partys best strategy. Plus dont call it a comeback. Joe biden has officially been in the race for president a few days. New numbers out call him the front runner. Stay with us. Your control. Like bedhead. Hmmmm. Rubadub ducky. And then. Theres national car rental. At national, im in total control. I can just skip the counter and choose any car in the aisle i like. So i can rent fast without getting a hair out of place. Heeeeey. Hey ah, control. vo go national. Go like a pro. If you have a garden you know, weeds are lowdown little scoundrels. Draw the line with roundup. The sure shot wand extends with a protective shield to target weeds precisely and kill them right down to the root. Roundup brand. Trusted for over 40 years. Liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, hmm. Exactly. So you only pay for what you need. Nice. But, uh. Whats up with your. Partner . Not again. Limu thats your reflection. Only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty tailored recommendations, taxefficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. Fidelity wealth management. In previous meetings, the president has said if these investigations continue, i cant work with you, he didnt bring it up. And so were going i believe we can do both at once. We can come up with some good ideas on infrastructure and we want to hear his ideas on funding. Thats going to be the crucial point, in my opinion. And the house and the senate can proceed in its oversight responsibilities. Welcome back. That was Senate Minority leader Chuck Schumer after meeting with the president today. Lets bring in someone else who was in that meeting this afternoon. Assistant House Speaker congressman Ben Ray Luhan of new mexico. Congressman, thanks for taking a few minutes. We listened there to a few words from Chuck Schumer. He and nancy pelosi spoke to the press afterwards. One of the points they made, they felt donald trump in the meeting today had a positive attitude. Do you agree with that assessment . I think it was a very positive meeting. I came in out of the meeting very optimistic. Speaker pelosi and Chuck Schumer laid it out very clearly that there was agreement that we would have a big, bold deal. Youve heard the 2 trillion number used as far as the number that we could find agreement on. But especially around the importance of infrastructure across america. And i highlighted what broadband coverage, the lack of fast internet, affordable internet across states like new mexico, why it matters so very much. Whether its the one in four in Rural America that dont have access today, one in eight schools that are not keeping up with the recommendations coming out of the fcc. And also the importance of this from a life safety issue. The missing and murdered Indigenous Women and children across the United States, where theres no Broadband Connectivity to make a phone call, report a missing child, making sure that you can use a phone to try to find somebody or track them down. This is an issue thats so important for jobs, for the economy. But especially for life and safety issues. I came out of this meeting very optimistic with a positive outlook. There has been some reporting that in the media maybe you can shed some light on this this 2 trillion figure that emerged, the president didnt come into the meeting talking about that number. It was floated around by democrats in the room. He then agreed to it, potentially caught some of the folks on his own team off guard. You had Mick Mulvaney saying afterwards to folks he thinks theres a better chance a trade deal is going to get through than an infrastructure deal. How committed how much follow through do you think there is going to be on this 2 trillion number . Well, as leader schumer also shared today, wed be following up in the next two to three weeks with members of the Leadership Team that were president today. Well further those conversations. Im optimistic, at least with those that were in the room. And there were many of the president s team that were in that room that we will get together, that there is a path forward. And, look, whether its mick or others, people should be encouraging an infrastructure deal for the good of the country. This is an important investment that will create jobs and opportunity, broadband infrastructure, water and waste water, roads and bridges. We should be working towards that. This is a positive meeting that took place today, and i hope that the entire team around the president would celebrate it and encourage him to work with democrats and republicans to find a transportation infrastructure bipartisan package thats good for the country. Shifting gears a little bit here, but we were talking about this a couple minutes ago. There is the question you guys talked about infrastructure in this meeting. Apparently nothing about the investigations, nothing about subpoenas, nothing about the white houses strategy there came up. You did, as i said, had milk mull vein out there today sort of saying, hey, if democrats want to get a deal on infrastructure, maybe they shouldnt be Going Forward with these investigations. Whats your reaction to that . Well, this isnt a deal between democrats and republicans. This is about an infrastructure package thats good for the country. The president has a responsibility to infrastructure. Democrats and the house want to work with our republican colleagues in the house and in the senate, as do our colleagues that are democratic senators. We all want to find a way forward for infrastructure. And the country we also have a constitutional responsibility to the American People, and that includes oversight. While we will conduct oversight as charged by the constitution, we can also move on important pieces of legislation like infrastructure for the good of americans. And i think thats what was talked about today. Thats where the emphasis was. And thats why you had a positive read out from the white house as well as from Speaker Pelosi and Chuck Schumer today. Joe biden was out there today. Hes not the only democrat saying this, but it looks like hes the front runner for your partys president ial nomination. Hes out there today saying if the white house does not comply with these subpoenas, impeachment should be on the table. Do you agree with that . Impeachment proceedings if the white house does not comply with these subpoenas as it has threatened . Well, look, i agree with Speaker Pelosi that there is important investigative and oversight work that must take place. We have Six Committee chairs with incredible staff that are going to do the work and present the facts, not just to the congress, but to the American People. And then well see where those facts lead us. So again, we will carry out our Constitutional Responsibilities with all of the obligation that comes with it. But well also move on important legislation like infrastructure and try to find those opportunities that we committed to the American People. Not just passing infrastructure package, move legislation to lower the cost of Prescription Drug prices and health care as well. Congressman, the reason im asking you this, weve been talking all week, look, if they dont comply with the subpoenas we can hold them in contempt. Even if youre seen winning on that, it takes two years. Im asking in terms of having potential levers to get the white house to comply with your subpoenas, do you consider impeachment proceedings one of them . Well, there are several tools that have been laid out in the constitution. That is one of them, steve. The other would be working with the department of justice to ensure that people that are being subpoenaed comply with those subpoenas. If the department of justice does not work with the congress in that endeavor, then we can go to federal judges as well and we can file a civil cases and have those judges issue orders. In addition to fines and also jail time. There are many tools but, again, weve seen this. We saw this with harriet meyers. We saw it with eric holder. The route youre describing literally takes years, even when congress wins. Donald trump is up for reelection in about a year and a half. If you are faced with a situation where they continue not to comply, do you go to impeachment instead of going down a twoyear legal route like that . Again, i think there are many tools that are on the table and i have every confidence in what jerry nadler and other Committee Chairs are carrying out in addition to Speaker Pelosi. I think there is no stronger leader in the country and someone that i supported day in and day out and will continue to support her. On this issue, im lock in step with leader pelosi, with Speaker Pelosi. Congressman Ben Ray Luhan, thank you for joining us. Thanks for having me. Joe lieberman in 04, can you call it joementum . Hes out in front. The democratic 2020 pack is taking trump head on in the democratic primary. Three brandnew polls in the last 24 hours. Im going to break them all down at the big board. Stay with us. Get clearer. And stay clearer. Most patients who saw 90 clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. Tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. 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Oh oh oh ozempic® ask your Healthcare Provider today about onceweekly ozempic®. Were finally back out in our yard, but so are they. Scotts turf builder triple action. It kills weeds, prevents crabgrass and feeds so grass can thrive, guaranteed. Our backyard is back. This is a scotts yard. I know were a ways out, but to those democratic voters who are fond of the former vicepresident , what would your message be to them . Its gonna be a really long election. As the voters of america always do, i would urge that you listen closely to what the candidates have to say and make your decision based on who you believe can best represent our country and the future of our country. All right. Welcome back. That was brandnew reaction from Kamala Harris on joe biden getting in the president ial race thanks to our own Vaughn Hillyard for grabbing that interview. Yes, okay, its been about a week now since biden put the video up. Now weve had some biden rallies out there, and guess what . With a week of biden in the race, now we have some polls. Now we have some numbers. Now we have a sense of how democrats are reacting to this former vicepresident entering the race after months, really years of rumors and speculation and all of that. Now hes there. What do the numbers look like . First to put this in perspective, let me start here. These are a set of numbers youre familiar with. This was the average last week, the polling average on the eve of joe bidens announcement. Weve been seeing numbers like this all year. We called him the weak front runner, high 20s. Bernie sanders nipping at his heels. Kamala harris, buttigieg moving up. Thats the picture we were familiar with. In the last 24 hours, we have three brandnew National Polls on the democratic side and they paint a new picture. Just this afternoon, biden 38 . Warren, by the way, thats not sanders in second place in this poll. There is Elizabeth Warren in a distant second place at 12 . Biden opening up, though, a 26point lead in this poll over his nearest rival, up near 40 . Another new poll out. Again, in the last 24 hours, this one coming out late last night. Morning council biden at 36 . 14 point lead over sanders. Distant but in third place. Third new poll, this one from cnn out this morning, theres biden, his highest number yet, 39 in the cnn poll. A 24point lead over Bernie Sanders. Warren in third place right there. So a serious, serious announcement bump for joe biden. You see these for a lot of candidates, but this is a very strong one. Real distance here hes opened up after this announcement. Bernie sanders also pretty big drop for him in these polls. And warren may be making a little bit of noise as well. Some interesting inside the number break down. We can take you through it. Where is the source of bidens strength . This is the Morning Council poll, were seeing splits like this in all the polls right now. With white voters biden doing well, double digit lead. How about black voters, though . Check this out, biden doing almost ten points better with black voters right now than he is with white voters. Weve been seeing this in the number of polls. Strength for biden with black voters, with nonwhite voters. Take it a step further. How about we add gender into it . With white men and conventional wisdom, yeah ts going to be bidens constituency. Hes up 8 points. Among black women, a 30, almost 30point advantage for joe biden in this poll with black women. Hes doing extremely well with nonwhite voters. Better with women than conventional wisdom suggested. The next poll, age. These are folks under 50 years old. Theres joe biden. 25 , this is sanders about 9 points behind him. Go to the other side of the party. We spend a lot of time about democrats becoming younger, millennial, over half 50 years old. Joe biden, 48 , almost 50 of the vote, 50 plus. There is a very clear age divide. Biden leads with both groups, but there are a lot of 50plus democrats. Biden is absolutely cleaning up with them right now. So, again, we will see. Hes got a bounce here. It may recede. He may fade out more. Remember rudy giuliani. But if biden can stabilize in the high 40s, getting mid 40 , he is stronger than the kind of front runner weve been talking about him as. Thats not where jeb bush was, not where mitt romney was, not where john kerry was. They didnt get up to 40 at this point in the race. Thats the big test now. Maybe conventional wisdom on him, maybe it underestimated him. We will see. Coming up, will bidens strategy of taking on trump keep him as the front runner . What does it mean with the rest of the field . Back with more mtp daily right after this. This and struggle. We actually. Seek it out. Other species do difficult things because they have to. We do difficult things. Because we like to. We think its. Fun. 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Because ill have seen what i can do. And i know greatness greatness greatness is waiting. Sign up with net generation, official youth tennis of the usta. The good news and the bad news. Youre going to see a whole heck of a lot of me. I promise you this. No one is gonna work harder in iowa than joe biden to get your support and gain your confidence. Welcome back. That was joe biden making his First Campaign stop in iowa this afternoon. He has only been a declared candidate for a few days now. But as we just showed you, the rest of the did he have crack field is already looking up to him in the polls. Joining me now is an expert on president ial elections, larry sabado, director at the university of Virginia Center for politics. Its the question of the hour for folks watching this president ial race closely. Weve been talking about bind as a weak front runner. He gets a bounce here, now hes up to 40 , up considerably on the rest of the field. What do you make of it, what were seeing today . Hes the stronger front runner. But the question is, steve, is it sustainable . And im not saying it isnt. Maybe its going to be because i think its not just biden getting in and having a good launch and having, lets say barack obama make a subtle endorsement that was a nonendorsement in the video biden released this morning. Its more democrats were becoming maybe a little unsettled. They have 20 candidates with the prospect of two or three more jumping in, completely unprecedented in the history of president ial politics. At first they liked the idea of having all these choices. And then they started worrying. Its going to be a tough race anyway to dislodge trump. And when you get this number of candidates, the chances for splits and divisions and disunity really escalates. So, you know, maybe theyre a little more comfortable about having a clear front runner. Again, who knows what theyll feel or think in two months or three months, and then there are debates in the summer. Thats something im wondering, too. Its sort of the psychology of a party thats looking for a challenger to an incumbent president as opposed to 2016 where the seats open. What im thinking is back to 2004 when democrats had the strong appetite to get george w. Bush out. We thought it was this very wide open race. In the instant john kerry won iowa, it was like all the dominos just fell for him. Despite the fact theres two dozen candidates here, could it end up whether its biden or somebody else, could it end up being tidier than we think . Sure. We laid out a scenario in our crystal ball a few weeks ago. It could be over the second or third week in march. Not in a way where you have to exaggerate somebodys strength. So its possible that could happen. But i think its more probable that with this many candidates get being at least some delegates and a fair number of them getting at that 15 mark or above 15 , its gonna take awhile. And again, the longer it goes on, no matter what democrats say about remaining close and staying together and keeping the focus on trump, we all know thats not how politics works. Theyre going to want to get the nomination first or theyll have no chance of defeating trump anyway. You mentioned this a minute ago, this new video out from the Biden Campaign today. This is not an endorsement officially from the former president , but this was a moment at the end of the owe bam pau presidency when he brought joe biden in, said some nice things. Now its a biden video. Take a look. This is an extraordinary man with an extraordinary career in public service. Somebody who has devoted his entire professional life to service to this country. There could not have been a more effective partner in the progress that weve made. The best part is hes nowhere close to finished. And, larry, no way biden is doing this unless obama gives him some kind of signoff on it, you have to think. The other thing, though, that occurs to me is you have a former vicepresident running. This is not Walter Mondale with jimmy carter, dan quail with george w. Bush. This is a vp who can call on the former president and the administration. Its only four years prior. People, certainly democrats, everybody else remembers obama and democrats remember him very, very well. It kind of reminded me a little bit of how nixon kept invoking eisenhower, even in 1968 when he was running the second time, but eight years after the Eisenhower Administration left office. Eisenhower was also very popular. So, yeah, it can have an impact. And when voters get unsettled, when a party gets worried, they tend to gather around a known quantity. And who could be more known than joe biden who has been around forever . This strategy, you saw in the roll out video, he invoked charlottesville, he got a response from the president. It became a thing. Is that, do you think, a good strategy for biden this spring, this summer, this fall as hes pursuing the democratic nomination to engage trump frequently . Actually, i do, because there are a fair number of democrats im not sure of the exact percentage who want more of a focus put on donald trump because he is actually the number one unifying factor for democrats. Yes, some democrats care more about certain issues and their particular candidate, and they want all of that. But you mention donald trump, and if anything will unify democrats all the way to november 2020, its his presidency. Its his persona. I think biden did a very smart thing that some of the other candidates, for various reasons, have been ignoring while they build their issue portfolio. You can attack trump simultaneously. So, yes, i dont think biden will use charlottesville again. I think it was enough, and he did a good job of it as he launched. But there are a lot of other ways to go after trump. All right. Larry sabato. We could do this another hour, but theyre giving me the wrap here. Appreciate it. Thanks. The drama unfolding in venezuela. [leaf blower] you should be mad at leaf blowers. [beep] you should be mad your neighbor always wants to hang out. And you should be mad your smart fridge is unnecessarily complicated. But youre not mad, because you have e trade which isnt complicated. Their tools make trading quicker and simpler. So you can take on the markets with confidence. Dont get mad. Get e trade and start trading today. Welcome back. We are following breaking news out of venezuela. That is where supporters of Opposition Leader juan guaido are clashing with troops in what guaido is calling the final phase of a mission to oust president nicolas maduro. Maduros Administration Says a small group of military officers is among the thousands of protesters seen in the streets of venezuelas capital. A moment ago, secretary of state mike pompeo told lester holt that maduro was preparing to flee the can unthank you earlier today as violence escalated, but that the russians told him to stay and not to depart for havana. Guaido calls himself venezuelas interim president. He called the military to join his supporters in nonviolent protest against the maduro regime and he has the white houses support. President trump tweeting that the United States stands with the people of venezuela and their freedom. National security advisor john bolton refused to call these protests an attempted coup because the u. S. Recognizes guaido as the legitimate leader. More mtp daily after the break. Or atopic dermatitis, you feel like youre itching all the time. And you never know how your skin will look. 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Plus with most insurance, its no cost to you. Mom really . Singers safelite repair, safelite replace. When you rent from national. Its kind of like playing your own version of best ball. Because here, you can choose any car in the aisle, even if its a better car class than the one you reserved. So no matter what, youre guaranteed to have a perfect drive. [laughter] vo go national. Go like a pro. See what i did there . Limited to four years, this administration will go down as an abrent moment in time. But give eight years to this administration in the white house, were going to forever and and fundamentally change the character of the country. Time now for the lid. It is a pitch that is apparently resonating with democratic voters, at least based on the new numbers we showed you earlier. Let me get off biden for one second. The other interesting aspect to me, biden surging, sandering falling back. Weve had poes showing hes a couple points ahead. Now were looking at biden, 25, 30 points ahead. Even one poll that has sanders slipping behind warren. I think youre right. He comes in with nearly as high of name recognition as biden which matters this early in a race. We know he had issues last time with certain portions of the democrat democratic group, certainly minorities. There is concern among the party about electability. If the primary mission is to beat donald trump two novembers from now, there is a concern that a portion of this country will feel that Bernie Sanders is too far left. That he was victim to the socialism attacks that trump and republicans are already telegraphing theyll be trotting out. While joe biden is not seen as that far left. He will evade that tag. Bidens support early from black voters, among black women, 4718. A 30point advantage there. A 23point advantage overall with black voters, doing better with black voters than white voters. How deep do you think that is . Its hard to say. I think it is way too early. I think well see the poll numbers going up and down as various candidates hit bumps in the road. Part of what it shows is that bidens announced strategy was brilliant to attract black voters. He was very and police and it conscious about that. He led with charlottesville which was a good move because he could play to Jewish Voters as well as black voters. But he also started making the phone call, calling black electeds. Hes been making the phone call and doing the work. He sent the signal. He knew he had some deficits that he had to overcome in terms of anita hill who says the apology is not enough. And in terms of his record on school desegregation. So part of what this tells us is he did a really good job launching his campaign. Now the question becomes the marathon. In one of the things, he put this on the screen. It has biden up 26 over his nearest competitor. They asked, who has the best chance defeating President Trump . 56 biden. 12 sanders. Everybody else barely registering. Democrats are looking at this. Biden versus trump. How do you see the potential matchup . If that you think donald trump is super vulnerable and you dont necessarily have to compromise on electability, you would say i want this candidate who has all the progressiveness. Joe biden doesnt have that. Hes been doing a low cost buyin. Not necessarily africanamerican voters but to white affluent progressive whos want to hear what hes talking about. The English Common law which he says is a white construct. Appealing to tast stacy abrams, of embarrassing to him. They want to hear progressive policies and theyre not hearing about the federal jobs guaranteeing. Is it almost strategic for biden . Just because it makes democrats look and say, wow 44, 45 now starting to look like he might win reelection. Would it be better to look like biden in. Its possible. Hes been the one who has really gone after trump in a more direct way than his fellow contenders. To many democrats, it is the greatest stain. And to other contenders, they can criticize trump on certain things but have yet to he said gauge him head on like biden seems like he wants to do. So trump looking solid. Maybe biden is the most electable choice. And he has been trying to say, im the guy who can go head to head with him. I wont back down. Were short on time. One other thing to get to. Elizabeth warren. Second place in one poll. Ahead of buttigieg. Warren is going strong because she is doing policy and shes speaking directly to the policy thats American Families need. Shes talking about housing, talking about childcare. Those are two of the three highest costs for any american family. Families are struggling and i think shes starting to see the payoff from her policy positions. Shes ahead of buttigieg. Buttigiegs support, weve been saying, it skews heavily white, college educated, higher income. There was going to be some scrutiny on the proposals pretty soon and eventually shell have to demonstrate constitutionality of a wealth zpax the feasibility of free college. Thank you all for being with us. Us if you have a garden you know, weeds are lowdown little scoundrels. Dont stoop to their level. Draw the line with the roundup sure shot wand. It extends with a protective shield and targets weeds more precisely. It lets you kill whats bad right down to the root while guarding the good. Roundup sure shot wand. Got weeds in your grass too . Try roundup for lawns. Kills weeds, not the lawn. Roundup brand. Trusted for over 40 years. Tech you think this chip is well sooner or later. Every chip will crack. Mom hi. Tech so bring it to safelite. We can repair it the same day. Guaranteed. Plus with most insurance, its no cost to you. Mom really . Singers safelite repair, safelite replace. Thats all for tonight. Well be back tomorrow with more meet the press daily. The beat starts now. Good evening. Im in for ari melber and were covering a lot of developing stories. Democrats firing back after donald trump sued deutsch bank to try to stop congress from getting his bank records. Plus a criminal referral for a top trump ally accused of lying to congress. And joe biden playing up his ties to president obama as he tries to break out in the 2020 race. We begin with the escalating standoff between trump and congress over trump stone walling the investigation. The chairman of the oversight committee, now seeing jail time could be on the table for witnesses who ignore