Working with you. If you think about it, hey, the economy wasnt me, its the fed. Health care, wasnt me, its mcconnell. You know, shaggy should be his chief political advisor these days, i think. I dont know if he follows either of us on twitter, but i will try to reach out to shaggy and see if we can get this collabo done by the end of 2019, chuck. I have a feeling he knows were talking about him. Were going to follow the pod quaff cast as well. Thank you, chuck todd. Let me tell you what we have in tonights show. There are a lot of Different Things going on. First a brandnew video everyone is talking about in politics. 0 joe biden, former vicepresident , is speaking out on the criticism hes received this week and he is now announcing in his own words, hell be, quote, careful of personal space with women criticizing encounters they said made them feel uncomfortable. Well get into the video and other criticism of him later in the show. Also something weve been waiting to do tonight, were going to do it. A beat special report on what history teaches about this Mueller Report and whether or not there are Legal Precedents to make it public. It might be the biggest fight in washington this month if not this year. Im going to lay in all that so you understand where we think were headed. We begin the with the escalation in the related fight with democrats pushing forward to get the Mueller Report. They have now voted formally to subpoena it. If attorney general bill barr doesnt hand it over. I will give him time to change his mind, but if we cannot reach an accommodation, then we will have no choice but to issue subpoenas for these materials. Judiciary chair nadler who we spoke with on this broadcast last night, saying today that basically he wants to work on this in a negotiated way. So hes providing time to the attorney general before they make good on what they did today, so they have the authority, the power to move forward on the subpoena. They just havent issued it yet. Nadler also insisting he doesnt see a middle ground on this. He needs, the Congress Needs the full report, no redactions, or they will take this to court. Are you willing to negotiate on any middle ground in terms of redactions no. Of the mueller youre not . No. The committee must see everything. Obviously some material will have to be redacted before its released to the public to protect privacy, to protect the various rights. But the committee is entitled and must see all the material. Thats not all. The chairman of the Judiciary Committee moving forward on subpoenas for the people you see right here, including people who are known to be close to trump at critical moments like hope hicks and steve bannon. With this report currently hidden from both the congress and public, we are also seeing a shift in how people view what mueller has done. I want to be clear, this is an online poll from law fair, not nbc polling. It is interesting, they looked at what the views were before muellers report was out, where 19 of republicans said they had confidence in muellers fairness and objectivity. More than 60 of democrats said they did have that kind of confidence. And now with the reports of whats in the report, although we havent seen it yet, look at this shift. 55 of republicans now have confidence in mueller buoyed by barrs description of what he found and democrats dropping off a little bit. I will note the swing is larger in republicans than in democrats. Its not clear what everyone will think when we actually see the findings in the full report. House democrats are turning up the heat, though, and theyre moving ahead with related investigations, including Trumps Inaugural Committee which spent famously more than most others. 100 million. The House Intel Committee now looking to interview an inaugural organizer named Stephanie Winston woolkauf. She was an advisor to the first lady. Shes been subpoenaed in a federal case in manhattan and spoke with the feds in new york since last fall. All of this, of course, tees off the investigation into Michael Cohen and in a moment we will be joined by new york congressman hakeem jeff reason who serves on the committee and works with nancy pelosi in leadership. We have a lot to get to. I want to begin with our panelist Jason Johnson the root, ford ham, and staffer writer from the atlantic and msnbc contributor who also is joining, we should note, politico as a National Security correspondent. Congratulations. Thanks, ari. Youll get the first question along with your apparent promotion. What does it mean that chairman nadler is not trying to preserve any perception of waiting or going slow or negotiating in that way . Hes clearly trying to show the d. O. J. He means business. Yeah, i think that its very typical nadler, right. Hes never been one to kind of beat around the bourbon thbush this. He wants to see the full report. He and the rest of the committee are perplexed as to why bill barr would have come out and written this fourpage summary before even releasing the report itself to congress. He thinks that that gave Trump Administration an unnecessary head start and has allowed them to shape the narrative here. And so they are also pointing to the president , i think, and this is i think where nadler is drawing a bit of inspiration, that republicans sat during the 115th congress in which they demanded documents about the Hillary Clinton email investigation, about the ongoing russia investigation from the justice department. And in many cases actually got those documents. So nadler now is playing the same kind of hardball with the d. O. J. That the republicans played last year and before, and he believes and the House Intelligence Committee believes this, too, that they are entitled to a similar, if not greater level of transparency given the urgency of this report that the republicans were with regard to the origins of the russia investigation. Jason . Look, im just glad that the democrats are showing some backbone. It seemed for a long time we were getting this like, all right, we need it by tomorrow, well maybe not tomorrow, maybe later. Maybe when you show up. So its good that they finally sort of pulled out the sort of damaclese. If you dont do this, were going to send a subpoena. The subpoena, unless there is added to it something about timeliness, you can still issue a subpoena and barr will say its going to take me weeks, its going to take me a couple days. There needs to be a push on the subpoena how fast you want this to come across. This is a reflection of another communication screw up by the Trump Administration. If they were smoort, they could have taken the multier report and put it in a room like tpp, everybody can go see it. Were not going to release the public. Dont take pictures, dont take notes. It is mismanagement. There is a public good to this, but i hope this moves quickly because a subpoena will not be enough to get this out. Heres the thing. I think that if nothing else, the Judiciary Committee must see the full report. I wrote a book that was roughly 200 pages. If somebody tried to summarize my book in four pages it would be grossly inadequate and not hit the point. That is the crux of the argument. I do believe there should be timeliness. Mueller took his dear sweet time. Democrats want to move forward in some capacity. Trump says the democrats are constantly picking at me. Democrats say youre more corrupt so we have to go after you. But if we can have respected elected officials from the committee, not all 538 members of the Congress Looking at the report right now. But if we can have members of the committee looking at the full report and making their assessment, i think the American Public on both sides of the aisle would feel a lot more comfortable. Natasha, on that point, the chairman has been making a lot of news with his stance. We spoke with him last night. Take a listen to jerry nadler on the beat last night. Hes hiding behind the rules and the redactions listen, he auditioned for this job remember, the president got rid of sessions as attorney general because he wouldnt protect him. He fired comey because he wouldnt protect him and give him the loyalty he wanted. He tried to fire mueller. He clearly wanted and he said he wanted an attorney general who would be his roy cohn who would protect him personally. Natasha, briefly on that, what is the point the democrats are trying to make on barr . That hes been conflicted from the beginning, which i think most people who are most democrats anyway would definitely agree with nadler there, the 20page, 19page memo he wrote last july completely unsolicited was all about the obstruction inquiry. Its not necessarily surprising he would have come to this conclusion in the twoday period that he had to read over muellers report. But i think another person thats kind of escaped scrutiny here is Rod Rosenstein. Rod rosenstein consulted with barr to determine whether or not the president obstructed justice. When Rod Rosenstein actually wrote the memo that was used to justify jim comeys firing, and so that clearing the president of obstruction of justice can also be a little selfserving for Rod Rosenstein because he is a witness in that aspect of this inquiry. And so you have two highly conflicted people here who are making a very serious judgment based on findings from an investigation that was supposed to be apolitical, but it went to two appointees to make the decision. Im going to jeffries in general. We have breaking news. The democratic chair of the house, ways and Means Committee is now issuing a formal request and ive got it here in our newsroom moments ago for six years of Donald Trumps tax returns. This is a written request to the irs commissioner. It is a formal request going to the treasury department. And it uses a law that doesnt require the senate or republicans or remaining vote. This is something that has been discussed for a long time because it is a power vested in the house and it appears tonight the democrats have decided to pick this fight, even as Everything Else is going on, breaking news. Im thrilled that we have a member of leadership, new york congressman hakeem jeffries, Democratic Caucus who serves on the Judiciary Committee. What does it mean, congressman, that the democrats are moving forward with this tonight . Is this the first youre hearing about it or is this something you guys have been planning to unroll today . This has been within the bailiwick of chairman richey neil. So this is something that has long been anticipated. It is part of our oversight responsibilities. You know the house is a separate and coequal branch of government. We dont work for president trump, we work for the American People. We have a constitutional ability to do checks and balances. Were going to take the oversight seriously. Its been a tradition in this country that every president since Richard Nixon has disclosed his taxes to the American People. Theres no reason why donald trump shouldnt do the same. Hes refused. We are now taking this step to make sure that we have disclosure and transparency. Did you know this was coming tonight . I didnt realize it was coming tonight. I knew it was coming sooner rather than later. Thats interesting in and of itself for those of us who follow the news because it speaks to it is truly breaking news. As you say, congressman neal, chair neal has this authority. We reported on Election Night the sources in the house saying this was something they wanted to do in a deliberate way. They intended to do it but as you just said, congressman, we didnt know when when. We just got the letter moments ago after we started our broadcast. I want to read from this. For your analysis, you say this is the oversight power. There are republicans and other allies of the president who will say, well, tonight youre asking for more than just his personal tax returns, which is what candidates traditionally reveal. Reading from the letter from your colleague, its demanding six years of federal income tax returns for not only donald j. Trump, but his revocable trust, djt holdings, djt Holdings Management member llc, dtm operations dont know what that is lfb acquisition corp. , lfb acquisition lfc, lambing ton farm club, Trump National golf club bedminster. Walk us through the democrats argument here that this law, which as i mentioned, has always existed, not new to the trump era, to be justified for you to look as members of congress at all of that material . Were going to travel down a twolane highway on behalf of the American People. In one lane were going to continue to deal with pocketbook issues, lowering health care costs, strengthening the Affordable Care act and preexisting conditions particularly given the assault on the Affordable Care act now coming out of the trump justice department. And the second lane, we have a responsibility to make sure that we deal with waste, fraud, abuse, and the possible culture of corruption that is running rampant within the Trump Administration coming out of 1600 pennsylvania avenue as well. And so all of these related entities could likely deal with trumps personal tax returns and could be ways in which he has managed his taxes. Some of this information has been brought to bear based on prior testimony that weve seen this year and in prior years and well see where this leads us. Im also curious, before i bring back in the panel on what is clearly a hot story tonight, congressman. Do you believe that Speaker Pelosi is prepared to back up chairman neal if the treasury, as they have indicated they may, if they refuse . The law says very clearly that the chairman has this power for requesting the president ial or citizen tax returns and theyre supposed to go over in a private process. Obviously if you guys and Speaker Pelosi pushed forward on this and they say no, are you prepared to go to court and battle this out . Are you prepared to be basically in court over both the Mueller Report subpoena, which was issued today, and this today . Well, that would be a decision that the speaker will make in consultation with chairman neal. But we want to make sure the president and this administration does is comply with the law. As you indicated, ari, the law is very clear in this particular instance. We are operating within those constructs, and we hope that the president and the administration will comply. If they dont, thats why the article 3 federal court system exists. Uhhuh. Congressman, stay with me. Im going to bring back in the whole panel. Lets play what we just pulled on this breaking news which was the last statement weve seen was under oath to congress of treasury secretary mnuchin when pressed on this. Lets take a look. Have you received any instruction or guidance of any kind about how to handle congressional requests for president trumps tax returns . Based upon the request, well examine it and we will follow the law. We will protect the president as we would protect any individual taxpayer following the law would generally, jason, mean handing it over. The reference to protection made a lot of people think mnuchin was laying down a flag, a marker. The committee has a right to say how many dollars you got. They can ask that question. They can ask it of the president and they should be able to get the information. What i think is going to be key here is, remember, a lot of us also assume that mueller already had this information and it may have been in the Mueller Report. This is also indicative of the democrats thinking holistically. Look, if you dont give us this report, we will pull apart every single strand of your life and your administration until we get what we need. It might have been a lot easier if barr had put this information out to the democrats 2 1 2 or five days ago, when the Mueller Report came out. Maybe this request doesnt come through. You make the point and i was discussing with the congressman that in a way, these may be linked court battles. You are already going to court to have a big fight over the underlying material in the Mueller Report and whether the congress as in its constitutional role to look at it. Why not get it all done, it would probably be separate pieces of litigation. Thats a smart idea. It makes the Trump Administration have to fight on two fronts. You claim this is executive privilege. Youre saying this is president ial privilege especially when the committee has this right. They have not shown they are necessarily swift enough to engage in those battles on multiple levels. At some point i think somebody in this administration is going to fold and theyre going to say, look, just take this because i actually think the Trump Administration will be more concerned about this president s taxes becoming public than the Mueller Report. Thats interesting when you put it that way. Congressman, i want to read from something you recently wrote on the internet that seems related. You were addressing donald trump and you wrote, billionaire, but no tax returns. Stable genius, but no grades. Exonerated, but no Mueller Report. Party of health care, but no plan. The American People are being hustled, you wrote, straight out of 1600 pennsylvania avenue. Facts. How much of this is about potentially embarrassing the president for not being as wealthy as he claims versus the more serious oversight of inspecting whether he has other debts, liabilities that matter to the government of the United States . Well, the most important thing, of course, is to figure out whether there is compromising information that would suggest that the president s interests are not solely related to whats best for the American People, but there are financial dealings that would present a conflict. Thats the reason why tax returns have traditionally been disclosed by president after president after president across the ideologicalal spectrum, including Ronald Reagan and bill clinton and george w. Bush and barack obama. So that fundamentally is what we need to see here. The question, of course, that i was getting at is what is the president hiding on issue after issue after issue. He says one thing, and then theres no underlying information to confirm it. To put it you said facts. Isnt it just kind of straightforward its the same time issue that doubles back to the Mueller Report, the breaking news tonight is democrats for the first time and your party are using this new law to demand six years of the president s tax returns. Thats a Big Development for folks turning on their tv coming home from work, at least on the east coast. But then you get to the more basic point that overlaps tax returns. Congressman, if you have nothing to hide, why are you hiding . Thats exactly right. We got a fourpage summary from a political appointee of donald trump. When there is a 400page report that the American People deserve to see. And the subpoenas were authorized today because, at minimum, members of congress who have the highest security clearance on behalf of the people that we serve, should be able to see the entirety of the report. In part, because we need to figure out not just what happened, but why it happened, and how do we present this type of situation from happening moving forward in the best interest of avoiding another attack on our democracy. Christina greer, this would be a Significant Development tonight at any time with any president. Most modern president s, as weve noted, have released their individual tax returns. Or sold their grandfathers peanut farms so it didnt look improper. Because of the peanut conflict. This may not be popular to say. Big peanut does have too much power. Big peanut, the peanut farming lobby. So, you make a bipartisan point there. I want to play for you the extra part because we can normal eyes and degrade down or we can remind ourselves of standards. For any politician, i would hold any politician to their remarks. We do it on this show. Here is, over time, donald trump proclaiming that it would never come to this, that the house would never have to use this law because he was eventually going to release the returns. Maybe im going to do the tax returns when obama does his birth certificate. If i decide to run for office, ill produce my tax returns, absolutely. What is your tax rate . Its none of your business. Youll see it when i release. You dont release your return until the audit is complete. When the audit is complete, ill do it. I will release my tax returns against my lawyers wishes when she releases her 33,000 emails. I mean, i became president. No, i dont think they care at all. So, we know that donald trump has no plans of releasing his tax returns. We know hes definitely afraid of whatever it in there. We have to break the American People into a fews groups. Theres the base. They dont care whats in the tax returns. They dont care if hes been stealing from the american pup of public. They dont dont care if hes asking us for hundreds of billions of dollars to build a wall to nowhere. Then there are people in the middle of the road who are curious to just see how this does connect to the Mueller Report. I think what congressman jeffries laid out was really important, though. The democrats have to do two things at once. On the one hand they do have to fight this and theyve thrown down the gauntlet, we are going to go the legal route through the house, which we can, to demand the tax returns. There is something going on making the American People half of the American People feel uncomfortable. On the other hand, democrats are going to town halls. Theyre talking to their constituents and they do recognize that people care about health care. They care about the economy. They care about their jobs, whether or not theyre going to be able to pay for their childrens college fees. So the two lanes that he talked about are very specific. I think the democrats have to thread a very fine needle because the news every evening, the breaking news, cannot be just about mueller and just about tax returns just about oversight, even though theyve only been in office here three months with this power. Exactly. They just celebrated their first 100 days. I have no doubt nancy pelosi has a lot planned for the next 100 days, and the next term. However, they need to make sure that breaking news every night on the beat is that the democrats have fought legislatively for the American People on pocketbook issues as well. Its interesting you say that. This is the week where health care was also front and center and the president was in retreat on that. Uhhuh. Neal at this ways and Means Committee has been under pressure to do a number of things. Iechlt spoken with the team. They want to do infrastructure. They want to do jobs. As you say, its about pocketbook issues. Or as the former president used to say, peanut book issues. All about them peanuts. Poor jimmy carter. You know, his grandfather worked so hard for that peanut farm. Im not criticizing jimmy carter. This is going back to a larger conversation about morals, decency and respect. We had a president who didnt want to seem improper. Even nixon didnt want to seem improper. We had president s whoa backed away from personal businesses. We now have a president who is making more money every time dignitaries and secret Service Members and press have to stay at maralago, either in florida or new jersey or in new york or washington, d. C. The president and his family are pocketing that money, and so this is a larger conversation i think with the tax returns and also with the Mueller Report. Let me bring in, as you mention the Mueller Report, natasha who has been standing by. My thanks to hakeem jeffries, congressman from new york, who had to depart to go back to work. Obviously a busy night on the hill. Natasha, take a listen to one of congressman jeffries colleagues, congresswoman alexandra ocasiocortez cross examining mr. Cohen on an issue. I want to ask about an issue about the president avoiding taxes. It is identical to what he did at Trump National golf club at briar cliff manor. Do you think we need to review his Financial Statements and his tax returns in order to compare them . Yes. Natasha, it was the Mueller Probe that started the shift in Michael Cohens allegiance to donald trump and ultimately the furnishing of evidence, financial and otherwise, the checks, et cetera. We dont have any belief that he had the tax returns in his role as counsel at trump oerg. He certainly didnt fork those over in public. Walk us through that case how it relates to other potential financial matters in new york and has been handed off and is open as far as we know in new york, relates to all of this so to what the democrats are doing tonight. If we are to believe Michael Cohen, then the real shift came when he saw trump standing up there in helsinki with vladimir putin, siding with putin over his intelligence agencies. It was at that moment, cohen, again, if we are to believe him, hey, where do the president s allegiances lie here, to the highest bidder or the interests of the American People . And i think that is really at the heart of questions about where his money comes from and why mueller, i think we cant be so sure that he was able to look into these questions indepth, because he was still some who constricted in what he could investigate. And whether or not he went indepth into trumps financial history and businesses is unclear. Again, we havent seen the report. But the investigation being done by the Southern District of new york into the Trump Organization is an area, according to reporting, that trump is very concerned about. It is something that hes always been more concerned about, especially with Michael Cohens cooperation, than the mueller investigation. Well see whether or not thats justified. But for now, it remains an open question. And that open question, as you so expertly detail, natasha, includes whether the instruction section of the still secret Mueller Report involves attempts to interfere with other investigations or matters in new york which have been reported on in the press, but we dont know what mueller found about that. Don mcgahn, who was subpoenaed today by chairman nadler, was in the drivers seat on a lot of Donald Trumps requests. Some were not acted on because they were deemed potentially illegal, unconstitutional or impeachable. Is someone who can speak to the congress as well as under subpoena, what he gave mueller. For folks joining us, the democrats are writing one of the most boring statements with the most significant repercussions particularly in trumps washington. I write to request under the authority and the irs code 6013 f, each of the tax years from 2013 to 2018 and on to all of these tax returns. Again, a law that is different to most than the powers in washington because it vests this authority for tax returns in only the chairman who happens to be a democrat now in the house side. Doesnt require the senate, doesnt require a law. Cant formally be vetoed. That breaking news tonight. Id love to ask jason and christina to stick around for more breaking news coverage. Natasha, thank you. I know you have to go back to work. We have a lot more in the show, including the breaking news that happened late this afternoon. Youre looking at a brandnew video joe biden released to address criticisms in his behavior and conduct with women. Were going to show you what people are saying, some of the criticism as well as his entire video, and discuss what happens next. Protecting personal space can be reset. I get it. I get it. I hear what theyre saying and i understand it. Thats my responsibility. And later as i mention, a special report on what history tells us about the fight over getting a full Mueller Report and the underlying evidence. Im ari melber. Youre watching the beat on msnbc. You should be mad at forced camaraderie. And you should be mad at tech that makes things worse. But youre not mad, because you have e trade, whos tech makes life easier by automatically adding technical patterns on charts and helping you understand what they mean. Dont get mad. Get e trades simplified technical analysis. But prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Its way day yes. Its wayfairs biggest sale of the year, and youre invited starting april 10, score our lowest prices since black friday on bestselling furniture, decor, and way more. 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Tell your doctor about your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, and medications including botulinum toxins as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. So, give that just saw a puppy look and whatever that look is. Look like you with fewer lines. Own your look with the one and only botox® cosmetic. Own your look the latest inisnt just a store. Ty its a save more with a new kind of Wireless Network store. Its a look what your wifi can do now store. A get your questions answered by awesome experts store. Its a now theres one store that connects your life like never before store. The xfinity store is here. And its simple, easy, awesome. In other news tonight, late today former vicepresident joe biden released a new video that for the first time addresses statements from several critics, mostly women, that basically say he has had physical contact with them that made them uncomfortable, and they wanted to speak out. Biden had previously released written statements over the course of several days. There was one in response to former Nevada Assembly woman lucy flores who wrote that in 2014, biden, she said, touched her from behind and kissed her on the back of the head. Since then, three more women have come forward. D. J. Hill saying that biden made her uncomfortable when they took photos at a fundraiser together in 2012. Mr. Bidens hand went from my shoulder and started to descend down my back. And it was one of those things where im going, oh, okay. This is making me feel uncomfortable. In another story, the New York Times quotes, a Sexual Assault survivor who says when she was 19 was meeting with biden at a Sexual Assault event in nevada. Biden touched her thigh and hugged her and she found it, quote, lasting just a little bit too long. We are going to turn to a special panel to discuss all the a expects aspects of this. First we want to share joe bidens full response video. This is what he posted online today. The entire discussion from joe biden is about two minutes long. I expect well be talking about a lot of issues. Today i want to talk about just the support and encouragement ive made to women and some men, have made them uncomfortable. And always in nigh career, i always tried to make a human connection. Thats my responsibility, i think. I shake hands, i hug people, i grab men and women by the shoelg derz and say, you can do this. And whether theyre women, men, young, old, its a way ive always been. Its the way ive always tried to show i care about them and im listening. Over the years, knowing what ive been through, the things that ive faced, i found that scores, if not hundreds of people have come up to me and reached out for solace and comfort, something something, anything, that may help them get through the tragedy theyre going through. And so its just and i never thought of politics as cold and antiseptic. I always thought about connecting with people. As i said, shaking hands, hands on the shoulder, a hug, encouragement. Now and now its all about taking selfies together. Social norms began to change. They shifted. And the boundaries of protecting personal space have been reset, and i get it. I get it. I hear what theyre saying. I understand it. And ill be much more mindful. Thats my responsibility, my responsibility, and ill meet it. But ill always believe governing, quite frankly, life for that matter, is about connecting, about connecting with people. That wont change. But i will be more mindful and respectful of peoples personal space. And thats a good thing. Thats a good thing. I worked my whole life to empower women. I worked my whole life to prevent abuse. Ive written so the idea that i can adjust to the fact that personal space is important, more important than its ever been, its just not thinkable. I will. I will. For this story were joined by eleanore clift, washington correspondent for daily beast. And professor at Harvards Kennedy school of government. Good evening to both of you. Hi. Hi. Good evening. This is a political story, but its more than that. Before we get into the politics, professor, im curious, your view of both the nature of the allegations against vicepresident biden and now tonight his response. So, part of what we have to deal with, ari, and part of what were dealing with here now is kind of the tension that exists within the Democratic Party, the modern Democratic Party, which is this idea, believe all women, which is one that came up again and again. It came up in the kavanaugh hearings. It came up with the virginia spectacle and debacle a couple of months ago with fairfax. And now its reasserting itself. So believe all women. But also looking at the response of candidates. So in this case bidens apology, a very public apology. And then looking at the nature of the accusations, including several of the women who argue they do not see this as part of me too, but instead of part of an environment where they felt uncomfortable and they wanted to be very public about it given the changing norms and the changing culture of the modern Democratic Party. We know this wouldnt have flown this would have been okay 20 years ago. Now in 2019, theres no space for this kind of behavior. But were also looking to see what kind of how candidates respond when they are faced with these kinds of accusations. Eleanore . Well, this kind of behavior was okay just a few years ago. Joe biden was the vicepresident of the country for eight years and was meeting with lots of audiences. And the touchy, feely politician basically was the politician that we admired. He was warm, the kissing the babies, hugging people on the rope line. But i think the bigger problem for joe biden is hes kind of caught in a time warp, and this has become symbolic of the fact that hes older, hes a different generation. That he might be out of touch. So he has to deal with a whole host of the issues, a number of votes, his treatment of anita hill, his signing or pushing a crime bill that is now seen as way too punitive. I think the statement that he made was, was correct. Most important words were, i get it, i get it. I think Speaker Pelosi came out and basically also said that its not so much about what he intended, its how people receive it. And i think he understands that as well. I dont think theres a problem that believing the women. I believe the women, and theyve been very careful to say what this is and what this isnt. And it is really the changing morrays and the changing culture. Joe biden, if hes going to be a candidate, boy, to make this kind of video is pretty close to announcing. I think hes going to take these accusations, if you want to call them that, as an assault on his character and hes going to want to come out and defend his character, and he has a long period of Public Service and a lot of explaining to do. But i think he can turn that into an opportunity, so i think, i think weve got another candidate who is about ready to get in the field. Yeah, and you mention thats the political part. Youre observing and analyzing that the nature of his response also speaks to the likelihood that he seems to be gearing up to get in. You mentioned Speaker Pelosi who is the most powerful person in the Democratic Party right now. Lets listen to Speaker Pelosi who is addressing this as well. Is it disqualifying . What is your reaction to that . I dont think its disqualifying. Disqualifying is what your intention he has to understand in the world were in now that peoples space is important to them. And whats important is how they receive it, not necessarily how you intended it. Professor, your view of both the merits of what shes articulating there and leading her party and frankly, beyond politics, leading people in this discussion, as well as the line shes walking, if there are, again, multiple potential candidates here. Well, i think Nancy Pelosis entire point is they dont want to rush into anything or, you know, create a kind of frenzy or make any decisions, harsh decisions that later on the Democratic Party politically will or even morally will regret. So part of that means treating this issue with sensitivity, with the sensitivity that it deserves, both for the women who have made statements, but also for joe biden in sorting through that. And i think also, too, nancy pelosi is thinking politically about the candidate race and wanting to have a really strong and robust candidate race, and have people come out, come forward, and not, you know, cut people off at the kneecaps before theyve even started. Joe biden has a rough road ahead of him. He is incredibly popular with the Democratic Party base, but he is also entering into a race that is really being noted for the candidates push on progressive issues, progressive policy issues, the candidates ability to connect with various audiences including the base of the Democratic Party, including people of color and women. But then also a Democratic Party that is young, that is vibrant, and is on the cutting edge of a lot of progressive programs and initiatives. And so thats where joe biden is coming in. Thats what nancy pelosi is concerned about, and she really wants to make sure that, you know, shes putting together a strong slate of candidates. But also guiding the party on the kind of decisions that they should be making and how they address issues like this. Yeah, i think that makes a lot of sense. Eleanore, on the stories, we mentioned mentioned this in our introduction, i want to continue to quote some of the stories both of you have referred to the fact the stories have been offered up quite precisely and carefully, and there is more than one. In the New York Times article, which quotes on the record, caitl caitlyn crusoe saying mr. Biden rested his hand on her thigh, she said she squirmed to show her discomfort but he hugged her too long. The could not text, it was comfortable in her view, because she shared her own story of Sexual Assault and had expected mr. Biden to understand the importance of physical boundaries. The times illustrated it with another somewhat famous political photo of joe biden close with some people he was gathering with in a campaign stop. Contrast that to stephanie carter, who talked about something she was perfectly supportive of, this photograph illustrating when her husband, ash carter, was being sworn in. She writes, biden leaned in to tell me, thank you for letting him to do this, and kept his hands on my shoulders as a means of offering support. She writes as her view, joe biden is a close friend helping someone get through a big day, for which i will always be grateful. Eleanore, your view of those again, we dont have time to read every story, but those are two stories. Different women received his hugs and his shoulder squeezes differently. And i think many women were pleased that a politician was paying that kind of attention to them. And other women found it kind of odd. So thats okay. I think he gets it, as he said, and i think we shouldnt confuse the twitter universe and how its responding and maybe even the cable universe and how its responding with the voters out there. Every poll thats taken shows the voters 18 to 39 and democratic voters think that joe biden has the best chance to beat donald trump. And that, i think, is still democrats need to keep their eye on the prize. And his age and his ideology that hes too centrist doesnt seem to be a negative. Now, if he gets in, well find out if that all melts away, or if he can continue to maintain the stature that he has in the Democratic Party. And i do think he understands the world has changed, and his over enthusiasm when he meets people needs to be curbed. But nobody is saying that hes a sexual predator, so we shouldnt confuse that with what our president has demonstrated in his past. And democrats really do have to be careful they dont, you know, devour each other in trying to see who can be the most progressive to star among the newest voters in the democratic field. Its a big world out there and its going to be fascinating to watch these candidates compete. I dont know who is going to succeed, but i trust that the democrats will keep their eyes focused on the fact that defeating this president is really what its all about. Professor and eleanore, interesting to learn from both of you. Thank you very much. And eleanore, i may check back with you later this hour. Up ahead we turn to history and go why its so important right now in 30 seconds, my special report on where the fight over the Mueller Report is headed and why democrats have a nixon precedent. And later in the show, more on this new call for trumps tax returns. Well be back in 30. 30. Why go with anybody else . We know their rates are good, we know that theyre always going to take care of us. It was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. Were the tenneys and were usaa members for life. Call usaa to start saving on insurance today. Tonight democrats are showing exactly what subpoena power looks like, a vote to force attorney general barr to hand over the entire Mueller Report and supporting evidence mueller gathered. Chairman nadler saying this is about congresss independent power to see all that evidence. The committee must see everything, as was done in every prior instance. The committee is entitled and must see all the material and make judgments as to what can be redacted for the public release. We are not willing to let the attorney general who, after all, is a political appointee of the president , substitute his judgment for ours. Notice what the chairman is arguing there. This is not only about whats in the report, but who evaluates whats in the report. Hes arguing the constitution and recent history show it should be congress. The white house arguing that the very rules that were written under a democratic justice department, give the executive key powers here. So tonight right now, our special report digs into this history that we have been hearing so much about. And we think its pretty interesting. All the way back when chairman nadler was congressman nadler, it was certainly the United States house of representative in the drivers seat. In fact, it was then congressman nadler speaking about receiving ken starrs independent counsel report in full. This was back in september 1998. We did get the report, which is now in the hands of the sergeant at arms, a chairman and ranking minority member of the Judiciary Committee is going to have to go over this material. At least the 4 or 500 pages in the report to determine a what is fit for release what is fit, and as he said there, it was true. Congress was deciding what was fit to release. Starr also discussing how that arrangement left him in the dark about what congress would reveal to the public with or without redactions. We did not know whether the house would publicly release both the report and the backup materials, would release portions of one or both, would release redacted versions of the report and backup documents, or would simply keep the referral and the backup materials under seal just as special prosecutor Leon Jaworskis submission in 1974 remained under seal. Starr saying that it was the congress that was going to decide whether it went public or stayed under seal. And as everyone knows, republicans led the house vote to release the entire report swiftly. Americans gab began taking in everything starr found about clintons conduct as well as starrs tactics and how many other people were exposed in the process. Here is an important distinction as we all think through these historical examples. Just because the government did something, like release the full starr report, doesnt mean thats the on the way to do it. In court cases, people refer to precedent as an example that should usually be followed the next time. But in fights between the congress and the executive branch, precedent can just be one option on the table. And that is illustrated in another report in a probe into a white house when prosecutor Leon Jaworski laid out findings against nixon including evidence of obstruction. And like starr, jaworski was operating under fairly independent rules. But in a difference from starr, his watergate report was not released immediately. Nor was it released within that year. Nor was it released even after nixon resigned under pressure from congress after what jaworskis report found. In fact, the famous watergate report was released just last year after staying secret under seal for a whopping 44 years. So, two reports, one went public immediately, the other did not. And that shows this can still go down in several different ways. As for whether such reports can be kept from congress entirely, meaning not just kept from the public, but from congress, well, that does involve a court precedent. Its worth noting nixons former chief of staff tried to block that same watergate report from ever going to the house at all, and he cited grand jury secrecy rules, which can be a barrier. Trumps a. G. Also citing them for potential redactions in his latest letter. So nixons former staffer lost that fight in court. The findings stayed secret, but the judge ordered the report to go to congress. Judge john sericka said he will send a secret grand jury report on president nixon and the watergate cover up to impeachment investigators in the house of representatives. And when you dig through this history and some of the coverage at the time, you may hear another echo, because, well, many remember that the grand jury did name president nixon an unindicted coconspirator. The prosecutors report, you can think of that as mueller, provided information about nixon for congress to consider, but not in an accusatory way. Huh, why is that familiar . Well, if you watch the news, you probably know that is what trumps new a. G. Barr says mueller did with his obstruction evidence. Now, you can decide for yourself if the coverage at that time has kind of an eerily similar echo to what barr says mueller just did. The judge described the report as a compilation of information and said it contained no formal charges, was not accusatory. But said it is obligatory that the information on the president be given to the Judiciary Committee. The judge ruling that when the house Judiciary Committee gets information on the president , its congress that deals with it. Now, as for the secrecy on the grand jury part, the judge ruled congress could see it because the grand jury had ended its work, writing theres no need to protect grand jury deliberation s to safeguard unaccused or innocent persons with secrecy. The ruling also shows how words matter, because even when a president might use them to try to have it both ways, something that nixon and trump have been accused of, it was nixons former chief of staff who sued to block the report while president nixon seemed to try to stay above the fray. And the judge found that also hurt president nixon, noting, quote, the person on whom the report focuses, the president , has not objected to its release to this house committee. They say, be careful what you wish for. Well, also be careful what you might bluff for, because while bill barr talks about redacting many parts of this Mueller Report, trump claims he supports it all coming out. Does the public have a right to see the Mueller Report . I dont mind. Let it come out. Let people see it. Let it come out. If there is a court battle over the redacted parts of this Mueller Report, the quote you just heard could end up in court. Now, in the watergate example, you had basically a big fight over what congress saw without it going public. There are other examples that went wider. There was an independent counsel named walsh who was in the iran contra case. He said when a court ruled on the iran contra affair, that is important to go to the public. Where any attorney general is advising the president and feels a, a, a protective sense toward him, its difficult for that person to turn around and be the prosecutorial officer. Again, you can put your history hat on. What you would be hearing there is someone in the mueller position criticizing someone in the barr position, and thats what chairman nadler and others have been saying today. So what if, take it all together, there is a court battle . Well, remember, the white house does have an argument here. As weve pointed out on the show, that mueller is operating under different rules than the prosecutors you saw. But congress has an argument that whatever those rules are, that by the way, can change under any justice department, the constitutional issues come in play. It was ultimately those issues, transparency, congressional accountability for potentially criminal president ial acts, that animated the famous ruling on the nixon tape subpoena, which only took three months to reach this resolution. Good morning. The Supreme Court has just ruled on the tapes controversy and here is carl stern who has that ruling. It is a unanimous decision, Justice Rehnquist took no part in the decision, ordering the president of the United States to turnover the tapes. [ cheers and applause ] turnover the tapes. I mentioned the distinctions about precedent. No one saying that is apples to apples. Those were tapes, not a congressional desired report. But as we just showed, when it comes to predicting how fast and how strong the Supreme Court might intervene in the case like this, well, history shows if they think there are secrets being kept from congress that go to congresss core powers, well, they might uncourt those secrets in a very big way. Thats our report on that story. But thats not the end of the news tonight. I can tell you the president has just responded for the first time on camera to something that his aides say they were fearing, a formal legal request for his tax returns by the house. Well show you that when we come back. One hour pickup order . Got it. Ran out of ink and i have a big meeting today and 2 boxes of twizzlers. Yeah, uh. For the team. The team . Gooo team. Order online pickup in an hour. Now, save up to 80 on the hp officejet pro at Office Depot Officemax youre smart,eat you already knew that. But its also great for finding the perfect used car. Youll see what a fair price is and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. Now youre even smarter. This is truecar. Driven each day to pursue bioplifechanging cures. Ers. In a country built on fostering innovation. Here, they find breakthroughs. Like a way to fight cancer by arming a patients own tcells. And a new therapy that gives the blind a working gene so they can see again. Because its not just about the next breakthrough. Its all the ones after that. Usually its ten, so i guess theyre giving up. Were under audit. Despite what people said, were working that out, as im always under audit, it seems. Ive been under audit many years because the numbers are big and i guess when you have a name, youre audited. But until such time as im not under audit, i would not be inclined to do that, thank you. President trump addressing the breaking news. The democrats in a letter that came out literally during our hour using a law to demand six years of his tax returns from the treasury in the irs. Eleanore clift back with me. The president s response is an oldie but goody. Your view . I feel like the tax returns are the Rosetta Stone of this investigation, that they hold the key to what this president is about. He has so fiercely guarded them. At points during the campaign he said he would be releasing them. He promised to release them at various times. Then he basically said no way. And the fact that the congressman neal who is an institutionalist democrat and a chairman of that committee, is going about this finally in this very sober, sensible way, i am so looking forward to these returns. I thought Robert Mueller had them, and maybe he did, and maybe theyre part of the underlying documents that we will see is part of the Mueller Report. But maybe not. Right. But i think theyre going to explain a lot about who this president is and why he has behaved so oddly. It is one of the few things that everyone in washington agrees on. They are important enough to try to get or to hide, depending which side youre on. Early nor cliff, thanks for all your coverage tonight. One note before i go, ill tell you if youre in new york we have a special panel in new york, jeff rye tubin, republican impeachment lawyer ross garber. You can find out more information at 92 y, 92nd street in new york. 92 y. Org. That does it for us. Hardball is up next. s Congress Wants to see trumps taxes. Lets play hardball. Good evening. Im Chris Mathews from washington. Tonight, signs the democrats are getting serious about breaking down those barriers protecting Donald Trumps personal, business and political dealings. Just moments ago, the democraticrun house ways and Means Committee issued a formal request to the irs for Donald Trumps tax returns