Court. Acting persecuted, President Trump, who Robert Mueller clearly did not exonerate, attacked the democrats and called on his party to investigate former president obama. Its a disgrace. We want to find out what happened with the last democrat president. Lets look into obama the way theyve looked at me. From day one, theyve looked into everything weve done. They could look into the book deal that president obama made. Lets subpoena all of his records. Lets subpoena all of the records having to do with Hillary Clinton and all of the nonsense that went on with clinton and her foundation and everything else. We could do that all day long. Frankly, the republicans were gentlemen and women when we had the majority in the house. Sometimes he baffles me again and again. I cant believe it. The book deal . Talk about red herrings. Anyway, during the Obama Administration, the republicancontrolled house launched numerous investigations at president obama and his administration. Unlike President Trump, obama did not try to obstruct those investigations, nor was he investigated for soliciting help from a hostile Foreign Government like trump duly should have been. In a new sign of polarization, a new survey by Morning Consult and politico shows that 41 of americans do not believe mueller exonerated President Trump while 35 believe he did, even though he said he didnt the other day under oath. Public opinion on impeachment remains steady with 46 of voters opening impeachment, 37 supporting it. Thats 46 against impeachment right now, 46 against, 37 for. Meanwhile, the number of democrats supporting impeachment is growing. Heres an uptodate list of the 97 democrats in the house who support launching an impeachment inquiry. Thats quite a list. The number of democrats supporting impeachment has grown from 58 back in december of 2017 when the house voted on impeachment the first time. Since mule areas public testimony, seven additional members of the house have voiced their support for impeachment. As of today, theyre 121 votes short of a required majority, including justin amash who supports putting the president on trial as well. Speaker pelosi has been trying to balance the diverging factions of her party, defended her approach. No, im not trying to run out the clock. Lets get sophisticated about this, okay . Im willing to take whatever heat there is there to say when the decision will be made in a timely fashion. This isnt endless. And when we have the best, strongest possible case. For more im joined by susan page, usa today Washington Bureau chief, and rob reiner, did he ta director and activist. Thank you both for joining us. Susan, i had Jackie Speier on last night, one of the top people loyal to speaker pelosi, and she says september 1 is a good day to look at, because you got to look ahead. It takes six months to do this. You follow the nixon time frame, you cant be doing it right in the middle of the president ial debate season because the voters will say, wait a minute reasonable idea, its coming close to do it or dont do it and stop talking about it. Labor day is probably about that moment that will come after members of congress have spent six weeks mostly back in their districts, listening to voters and hearing whether voters in their district think impeachment ought to be the priority. Or should they be focussing on other things. What do they expect . I think it depends what kind of district youre from. If youre from a solidly democratic district like aoc, youll probably hear a lot of energy for impeachment. But if youre from the swing districts that determines who holds a majority in the house, i suspect members will continue to hear what theyve heard in the past, which is voters care more about issues that affect their own lives Like Health Care and education and the economy. Rob, it seems to be pelosi has operated like most people do based on experience. And she saw her party take over the house in 2018. Last year, with a message that really didnt focus on impeachment. It focused on health care and instead of bread and butter issues. I get the sense, and in the best sense of the word, she knows whats works at the home back home in those districts. And most of them and she wants to hold the 218 that controls the house, certainly on the west side of l. A. Or the west side of new york, there are liberal bastions where youre going to face a primary opponent like jerry nadler is facing already one, a very attractive opponent i hear. Theyre all facing them, richie neal up in western massachusetts, he has a primary opponent, a couple of them. Theyre worried at home about different things. Your thoughts about it. Im going to disagree a little bit with your analysis in that the 2018 election was, yes, there were some Kitchen Table issues, health care and education, jobs and so on. But it was also about holding this president accountable. We heard a lot about taking the majority and having the subpoena power to hold this president accountable. Now that we have it, i think thats whats going to happen. Youre going to see a twotrack approach. Today essentially, if you look carefully, and ive had some conversations since this came out with Laurence Tribe and others, since the filing was made by chairman nadler to the courts to access the grand jury material and access the ability to get don mcgahn to come and testify, if you look at that filing, the word impeachment is used many, many, many, many times. And you can argue about impeachment inquiry or impeachment process or impeachment proceedings, but the fact of the matter is once a judicial body, once the Judiciary Committee becomes a judicial body and talks about impeachment as a mechanism by which theyre going to access documents and compel witnesses, then that speeds up the process. Have been clamoring to get this thing on the road, that in a sense started today. And if you look very carefully, that is what started today. But, rob, i dont believe that. I believe were looking at a process of just one more thing. Oh, were going get mueller, his report. Weve got muellers report. Then we got mueller in person. Oh, he is going to dramatize and televise the whole thing that didnt work. And mcgahn is going to turn everybody around. These numbers dont look good. They dont look good, and theyve been pretty consistent. Even though most americans have said they dont believe President Trump was exonerated and that muellers credibility has gone up, including among republicans, that has not increased the overall number of americans who support impeachment. Now most democrats support impeachment. But if you look at the overall number, you dont get to majority, and in fact you get predominance of americans saying they do not support the idea of impeachment. And what chairman nadler did today in the Court Filings is he tries to have it both ways. Tries to say youre doing an impeachment investigation without actually forcing the house to take an impeachment vote. And i dont know how persuasive thats going to be. Rob, you know the situation. You know as well as i, you followed these events for years, as i have. It seems to me the advantage, the real hammer comes when you begin an impeachment proceeding, when you actually get the house to vote for an impeachment proceeding. That opens up a lot of doors with the courts. Apparently that puts a lot more pressure on people to play ball, except subpoenas, turn over the documents, like with nixon. It says were having a trial now and were the prosecutors. Were no longer fishing around. Were serious now. You think well, let me ask you this. Bottom line, how late can they put this off before they start a formal impeachment proceeding . How long can they put it off between now and then . I think it has to happen at the beginning of september, as youve mentioned. But make no mistake. What theyve filed today does expedite things. And thats what needs to happen. You need to get all that grand jury material. You ask anybody who adjudicated watergate, they needed the grand jury material in order to start the understanding of how to form articles of impeachment. So that is happening now, and i take exception. We look at polls now. And, you know, everybody makes this argument. Polls dont mean anything. They change, whatever. When people come on television, that changes peoples opinion. Were never going to get that 40 . That 40 will always be there. And that represents, you know, the Republican Party, essentially. But think about this. And chris, you remember this as well as anybody. First of all, you had mueller come on, and everybody talked about his performance, and it was bad show business and all that. But the reality is a record was created and there was no question about it, the president committed crimes. I agree. Worked with the russians to try to win the election. Thats out there. But remember, chris, when fawn hall took the stand during iran contra, do you remember that . Sure. It was ollie norths secretary. She was very beautiful. She was sexy. The ratings were off the charts when she took the stand. When hope hicks comes or even don mcgahn, when they come and the cameras are on them, its going to start slowly changing it. And those poll numbers will slowly shift. Were never going get that hardcore cemented 35 to 40 , but it doesnt have to be that. Congress has a responsibility to hold this president accountable, and if they dont do it, you can say no one is above the law all you want, but if you dont hold this guy accountable, essentially he is above the law. We have a member of congress joining us right now. We all know the democrats retook the house of representatives by flapping good number of formerly republican suburban seats back last year. Congressman Jefferson Van drew who flipped one of the seats in south jersey does not support impeachment. Telling the New York Times, if we just let this overshadow all these other issues for a longer period of time, too long a period of time we are really endangering the election for the democrats. He joins us now. Congressman, thank you. Congratulations on winning where i grew up, ocean city, new jersey. Why are you opposed to action like rob reiner is calling for right now to get this train rolling and have a vote eventually on impeachment . Unless we find something new or different that we didnt see before, it seems that this just continuing. So first it was going to be the Mueller Report was really going to give us the information, and it did. I read it from the first page to the last page, and it gave some information. And certainly there are some distasteful sections and parts of that that really are concerning, but not high crimes and misdemeanors, at least in my opinion. And obviously in other peoples opinions as well. And then it was going to be once he testified, it will come to life and it would bring the whole issue to life, and then we would move forward with impeachment. And of course, again, it didnt. So now were trying a different tack. I understand that and i want to may need make sure everything is as it should be. Why didnt we do that earlier . It keeps dragging on and on and on. And here is my issue. Here is what i believe, and im talking politics now and maybe a little bit government as well. We have lots of big issues. I had somebody email me today and said a Record Number of individuals passed over this last week from drug overdoses. And she says, you know, its more important that we start really dealing with that issue rather than keep letting this just overwhelm everything. Or infrastructure or how about health care . How about the cost of prescription drugs . How about the way our veterans are treated in veterans homes. Are we really going to be able to shore up medicare and are we going to be able to take air of Social Security . And i can go on and on and on. Those are the issues that at the end of the day, blue collar, average democrats that we used to have and still do, but they really care about. And so there are folks let me wrap up with this. Youre wrapped already. We got to get rob a chance here. Rob reiner, you heard the case. What do you say . I couldnt disagree more with the congressman, because all of the issues that he talked about of course are critical. None of them will ever, ever pass when we dont have the white house and ultimately the senate. We passed a million bills already, and they lay dormant at Mitch Mcconnells feet. Thats not going to do anything, and if it didnt thats because we are so involved. We are so involved with this only, or at least the perception of this only. No, no, no. Look, im there every day. Let me finish for a second. Congressman, do you think the seats like yours are in danger if the democrats move toward impeachment . Absolutely. I dont even know that mine. I was fortunate. I won by a good number more votes than many of the other ones did. Folks have to realize it was middle democrats, middle of the road democrats that created the majority. And that their voice counts too, and we have to and by the way, if Something Really new comes up, Something Big that we didnt have before that really shows an impeachable offense, absolutely. Any president. I want to hit you with two possibilities and then rob. I want to make one point. This is fundamental. I think its the main point. If this president gets away with this, whether he gets reelected or not, he gets away with saying i can play ball with the russians or any foreign adversary, any enemy of the United States, i can play ball with, he said that again the other day. He said im going to do what happen next time. They have dirt for me, ill use it again. He also said a president can do anything he wants. There cant be an obstruction of justice case made against the president under article 2 of the constitution because under article 2 according to trump, he can do anything he wants with the executive. He can tell the judiciary to do anything he wants. He can tell a special counsel to do anything he wants. What happens if he gets away with that, congressman . First of all, nobody agrees with that, and he says many things that many folks find very disheartening. That isnt the point. What happens if we literally get to election time and we get out there, and were going to be out in the street a lot, and thats something i do, and you know, that because you know my area, and thats how i got elected numerous times. And the bottom line is what were going to say to people, well, we presided over a failed impeachment. Thats our major accomplishment in two years, thats why you flipped districts. Thats why you changed the majority. I dont think that does the job. Now, if there is Something Real there, brandnew that comes up now, i dont know why now the russian issue all of the sudden became a bigger issue than it was a week ago, a month ago, six months ago, a year ago. It seems like were constantly trying to move on to do something else, and the bottom line is i want us to do good stuff, and we can. One of the reasons were not getting certain things done with the other side is because were always attacking them. Okay. Let me go back, first of all, congressman, we talked about the russian issue every single night here for two years. This isnt a newbie for us. Rob, your last thought here. First of all, you dont know what the polling is going to be. You dont know. If i make the case it would be great politics for the democrats to stand up and hold this guy accountable. Secondly of all, you need more to see . There were five hard examples of obstruction of justice laid out in the Mueller Report. What else do you need . The guys working with the russians. He says he is going to continue working with the russians. The russians are already playing. Weve seen the Senate Intelligence committee tell us that theyre playing right now and theyre working hard to defeat us. Are we now saying that were just going to give ourselves over to the russians . We beat them in the cold war, and theyre beating us now in the cyber war. And if we dont stand up to them, it could be the end of our democracy. And im sorry if you lose your seat, but weve got to stand up for democracy. We absolutely need to stand up to the russians. Susan . Here is the debate going on in the democratic party. How do you hold the president accountable . Do you hold him accountable by impeaching him or defeating him in next years election . Is that the better way . Beau,. Both, both, both. Thank you. Youre on the front lines. I appreciate you coming on. I know your district is going to be a tough one either way. I know about that district. It is not a left wing district by any means. Thank you. Thank you. Susan page, rob reiner, youre a great citizen. Thank you. You know your stuff. I think you know what everyone on the show knows. You know what our producers know. You know it all. I know your opinions and you are a passionate american. Thank you, sir. Thank you. The russians targeted election systems in all 50 states its turned out, as rob said, and the fbi director says its still going on. 50 states. Theyre probing and probing for weaknesses. Theyre casing our joint. How exactly are the russians infiltrating our elections . Where is the outrage on the republican side . They dont seem to care. Former cia director john brennan will be here with me. Plus, new polls show joe biden is not just the democratic frontrunner, she is in the best position to beat President Trump up by ten points in the fox poll. That still be the case after next weeks debate . Well see when his rivals try to knock him down like Kamala Harris did last time. And 50 years, youre going to love this, my age people, 50 years after woodstock tonight, whatever happened to peace and love . Watch this. Were going to talk about how it happened and how it can happen again. Ill talk to Mick Richards, the director of the new documentary, creating woodstock, about how that amazing event do you believe that crowd . They werent paying customers either. Much more ahead. Stay with us. Limu emu doug look limu. A civilian buying a new car. Lets go. Limus right. Liberty mutual can save you money by customizing your Car Insurance, so you only pay for what you need. Oh. Yeah, ive been a customer for years. Huh. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Here, hello starts with hi mple. How can i help . A data plan for everyone. Everyone . Everyone. Lets send to everyone [ camera clicking ] wifi up there . Ahhh. Sure, why not . Howd he get out . a camera might figure it out. That was easy glad i could help. At xfinity, were here to make life simple. Easy. Awesome. So come ask, shop, discover at your xfinity store today. Back to hardball. Russian interference in the 2016 election taught us there are three principle fronts in the kremlins information war against the u. S. First, russias operation to hack and release private emails and other data like it did with the dnc emails. Second is the proliferation of russian propaganda. The information mainly through social media. And third is russias intrusion to state and local voting systems. When recent months, democracies democrats have offered a slate of bills intended to shore up this countrys defenses, but Senate Republicans have repeatedly stood in the way. In fact, yesterday Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell blocked two Election Security bills, including one requiring the use of paper ballots by states and counties as backup to whatever system they use. Mcconnell stonewalling in the wake of Robert Muellers warning prompted a Contentious Exchange with minority leader Chuck Schumer yesterday. Attacks on our elections are as great a threat to our National Security as any other, and yet for reasons inexplicable, the republican leader refuses to bring legislation to the floor. What my friend the democratic leader is asking unanimous consent to pass is partisan legislation from the Democratic House of representatives relating to american elections. Its just a highly partisan bill from the same folks who spent two years hyping up a Conspiracy Theory about President Trump and russia. Mcconnell blocked the bill just hours before the Senate Intelligence committee, a bipartisan committee, recommended that at minimum, any machine purchased Going Forward should have a voter verified paper trail, which makes sense. In fact, mcconnell has said hell block any proposed election addressing Election Security before the 2020 election. Why does he not want the do anything before the election . Thats when you do things. Well, the New York Times reports that he told colleagues in june he has no plans to consider standalone legislation on the matter this term. Im joined by john brennan, former director of the cia under president obama. You know the situation. Its partisan. Apparently they dont want to offend President Trump by saying there was problem in 2016. Right. But i think its even more than that. I think Mitch Mcconnell has one primary objective, which is to get donald trump reelected in 2020. And we all know that the russians helped donald trump get elected in 2016. So why would he want to prevent possible additional assistance to donald trump in the upcoming election . So he is moscow mitch as Joe Scarborough called him this morning . He is collaborating with the russians. Its beyond my understanding as to why the majority leader of the senate would stop something from helping us protect our Voting Rights and our infrastructure from not just russian interference but other interference. We are now two plus years from the last election. We should in fact be well down this road, but were not. And its because of individuals like Mitch Mcconnell, who have put obstacle after obstacle in front of doing something that is really going to be meaningful. 53 republican members of the senate dont want to do anything. Mitch mcconnell also had a hand in obscuring russias role in election during the home stretch of the 2016 campaign. Lets try and remember this. The Washington Post reports that when the Obama White House first disclosed russias interference to congress back in the fall of 16, mcconnell was among a group of republicans who didnt want to inform the public. Mcconnell went further voicing skepticism that the underlying intelligence truly supported the white houses claims. He was denying all this. I think it was the First Obama Administration official to brief Mitch Mcconnell in the summer of 2016 about russian interference, and he basically looked at me and said you, the Obama Administration just simply do not want donald trump to get elected. And i said i te at his insinuation or his direct claim that the cia and others were trying to manipulate the intelligence process for some type of political end. So Mitch Mcconnell from day one was always adamantly opposed to having this government be able to honestly look at what the russians were doing and prevent that type of interference. I dont know how they do it. The Republican Party used to be very good on national defense, very nationalistic in that way, looking out for the reds and everybody else coming at us. And now they just theyre soft. Absolutely. And a lot of the republicans pushed back against me claiming that the russians would never advocate to have a republican president elected because the Republican Party, the party of reagan is the one in fact that brought down the soviet union. Yeah. And i said well, thats just it. Donald trump is so unlike the Republican Partys Clear History of standing strong against the soviet union and russia, but clearly, it was. As Robert Mueller has said, they were trying to interfere in the election on behalf of the Electoral Prospects of donald trump. Moscow mitch. Thats the name he got this morning from Joe Scarborough. Yesterday fbi director Christopher Wray raised the prospect of foreign actors manipulating voter data, but said his bureau was working relentlessly to try to prevent it. We have yet, happily, to see attacks manipulating or deleting election and voterrelated data, or attacks that actually take election Management Systems offline. But we know that our adversaries are relentless. So are we. Relentless. This comes after wray said earlier this week he has yet to read the full Mueller Report. Here he goes. Have you read the Mueller Report . Ive reviewed it. I wouldnt say i read every single word. Lets go now to the things that you must think about as an american. What do you think the worst case would be in 2020 that would possibly screw up our notion of who actually won the election . Well, i think as we were concerned in 2016, if the russians or someone else did something to try to disrupt the Electoral Systems going in and maybe taking down some of the registration rules, preventing individuals from getting to the voting booths, or manipulating some of the tabulations that might be sent from one precinct to headquarters, it really raises questions about the integrity of the election. Yeah. And my concern is would donald trump at that stage claim the election was fraudulent because of interference from individuals in some basement somewhere, that they manipulated it. Thats why i think gaslighting, which is what donald trump has really excelled in, really has a potential as we get closer to the 2020 election to be used once again to try to deceive the American Public from what the reality is. And the reality is our systems need to be strengthened. We need to have some type of legislation thats going to allow the states along with the federal government to try to make it as difficult as possible to interfere and disrupt the electoral process. We saw what happened. If you put together a recent history, what happened in 2000 where the one state screwed up which count because they had all kinds of different voting systems and they couldnt get an honest, consistent basis for equal justice down there. And then you mad that russians tried to do in 2016. What would be the case, what do you think would happen if trump found himself that neither party, neither candidate got 270 electoral votes because a state or two didnt have a clear count . Would he stick in office . Would he not move . Michael cohen said in his testimony in front of congress that he really fears what donald trump might do if he loses the 2020 election. I fear that as well. And particularly since we have sycophants like Mitch Mcconnell and others in the congress who are willing to allow donald trump to trample the rule of law for his own personal gain. And refuse to leave on january 20th, 21 . A president of the United States has tremendous executive authority that he might try to leverage during that period of time either before an election to postpone it or in fact to do something if he loses. I like the word gaslight. When you take away the peoples confidence in their ability to watch whats going on and people lack the confidence in what they just saw happen was a clean, clear election with a clear result. And i dont know what happened, then were in trouble. Thank you, john brennan, former director of the cia. Up next, et tu, brutus . Get the latin right. A new fox poll has one democratic candidate leading trump by doubledigits, and trump is not happy with his Favorite Network. That would be fox. Hear what he had to say straight ahead on hardball. Were back in a minute. And. Thats your basic threepoint turn. [ scoffs ] if you say so. Im sorry . What teach here isnt telling you is that snapshot rewards safe drivers with discounts on Car Insurance. What . Or maybe he didnt know. [ chuckles ] im done with this class. Youre not even enrolled in this class. I know. Im supposed to be in ceramics. Do you know room 303. Oh. Thank you. Yeah. Good luck, everybody. At their reddest, ripest, they make everything better. Like our strawberry poppyseed salad and new strawberry summer caprese salad. Strawberry season is here. Panera. Food as it should be. {tires screeching} {truck honking} [alarm beeping] avo life doesnt give you many second chances. But a subaru can. dad you guys ok . You alright . Wow. avo eyesight with precollision braking. Standard on the subaru ascent. The threerow subaru ascent. Love. Its what makes a subaru a subaru. Woman 1 this. Woman 2 . This. Man 1 . This is my body of proof. Man 2 proof of less joint pain. Woman 3 . And clearer skin. Man 3 proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis. Woman 4 . With humira. Woman 5 humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. Humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. avo humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Woman 6 ask your rheumatologist about humira. Woman 7 go to mypsaproof. Com to see proof in action. Welcome back to hardball. With just a few days to go until the next democratic president ial debate, former Vice President joe biden showing more signs of strength. A new fox poll out today shows biden leading the democratic field with 33 , more than doubling his nearest competitor, thats Bernie Sanders at 15. His lead is roughly the same as before last months debate. Biden is promising in his words, by the way, to be less polite this time to his rivals after his confrontation with senator Kamala Harris over his work with segregationist senators in the 70s and his record on courtordered school bussing. He didnt look strong there. In a radio interview yesterday, biden said he was surprised by senator harris attack. I thought we were friends. And i hope we still will be. You know, she asked me to go out and called me and asked me to go to her conversation and be the guy from outside of california to nominate her at her convention for the senate seat. I did. But the former Vice President continues to face heat from senator cory booker of new jersey, who called biden an architect of mass incarceration for his role in crafting the 1994 crime bill. And biden has criticized Police Behavior during bookers tenure as mayor of newark, new jersey. Here he goes. I will always speak truth to power. And watching the crime bill of the 80s and 90s and all the things he put into place, this is something that should be talked about. And the response to having a substantive conversation about peoples records shouldnt be to go on the attack. And i found his attacks on me ridiculous. Well, meanwhile, in an interview with fox last night, President Trump took a swipe at biden. Lets watch. Sleepy joe is okay, but he is fading. I think he is fading fast. The only good thing about mueller is it made joe biden look like a dynamo. But that new fox poll also showed that it is President Trump himself who should be worried. Needless to say, he is not very happy about the numbers that show him well behind joe biden, socalled sleepy joe. Stick with us. You dont really talk about your insurance unless youre complaining about it. You go on about how. Its so confusing it hurts my brain. Ya i hear ya. Or say you cant believe. How much of a hassle it is and tell anyone wholl listen. garbled . Its so expensive she said its so expensive. Tell me about it. Yes. Well im telling the people at home. Thats why esurance is making the whole experience surprisingly painless. So, you never have to talk about it, unless youre their spokesperson. Esurance. Its surprisingly painless. Dto experiencer gthrilling performance. Now, at the lexus golden opportunity sales event. Get 0. 9 apr for 60 months on all 2019 models. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. Welcome back to hardball. Former Vice President joe biden is vowing to fight back against his democratic rivals at the next debate. Thats coming up this week in detroit. Today President Trump started a fight of his own over another poll showing him losing to biden. A new poll from fox shows the former Vice President beating President Trump by 10 points nationally. And the bad news clearly got under the president s skin today, since he slammed his Favorite Network on twitter. Trump tweeted fox news is at it again. So different from what they used to be during the 2016 primaries and before. Proud warriors, now new fox polls which have always been terrible to me. They had me losing big to crooked hillary. Had me down to sleepy joe. He added there can be no way with the greatest economy in history i can be losing to the sleepy one. Keep america great. Im joined by shermichael singleton, republican strategist. I want to start with the democrat here. What is going on in the race . Is something going on or nothing . Is biden ahead . Staying ahead . Whats going on . Is there any action there at all, except elizabeth is coming up. I noticed that. Well, senator warren was coming up before the last debate. And i think the last debate did help Kamala Harris. But i think whats happened over the last couple of weeks for the Vice President is that just what you talked about, the fact that he is up against trump. The fact that he is the only candidate who is doubledigits up against trump. The fact that trump still has really pathetic names for him like sleepy joe and doesnt know how to deal with him and still gets upset about it shows i think actually provides a lot of comfort for democrats that Vice President biden is a strong candidate against him. And i think the truth is he has to prove or disprove that in the next debate. He can prove it that he can take a punch and punch back, and i think this week he is demonstrating that a little bit. Or he can disprove it and have a suboptimal debate performance. Its really in his hands. A cup of coffee beforehand would be a starter. Just get in there and be an made animated. I think joe biden has shown over the past several weeks now that we joe biden expect to see next week is the joe biden that a lot of people have lamented about from several years ago. Even internal data from Trump Campaign indicated that the president is going to struggle in certain key places. The president s maximum is about 40 at best within the margin of error, which can be 3 less than 40 . That means his room for error is significantly decreased. Joe biden i would argue has the best opportunity not only with obama trump voters, but African Americans who did not turn out in 2016 in key places like michigan. Do you think its going to help biden or hurt him . I dont think it will. Donald trump is what, 74 years old. Seriously. He is pretty old. Look at how he acts. I think joe biden has the ability to say i am the older statesman. I served with president obama for eight years. President obama respected and trusted me. That matters. Lets talk serious stuff. You know how to do this. I think its a mistake for biden to go into cory booker. I think he should shoot down, first of all, no matter what cory says. He starts talking about the situation with police in newark, certainly cory knows more about that than biden will ever know in a briefing session. And the danger of that is you do get gaslighted. You go into a situation where you dont all the facts. And what cory has to say is what you dont know, mr. Vice president , is i hired x many new policemen from that group and biden says oh, i didnt know that. Its tough to go into the other guys territory. I hear you, but i think what the lesson of the first debate was, that if you let an attack go unanswered, you look weak. And i think its not he doesnt need to attack anybody. He is a frontrunner right at this moment. But if hes attacked, he needs to defend. Because i think the question for him is, his whole argument is he is a strong candidate against trump. He is the strongest one. He has to demonstrate. He cant just say he is the strongest candidate. He has to show it. For a second here, which i just dont love to do, but we have to. He doesnt seem to face a strong african opponent, a strong frontrunner. His toughest opponent is bernie and elizabeth and maybe kamala. But at this point, he seems to be grabbing the older African American vote, the women African American vote in states that really matter like south carolina. Because i think a lot of African Americans are being very pragmatic about 2020. They just want to defeat donald trump. And i think this notion from folks like cory booker that continue to push back on donald trump or joe biden rather. He is 2 . And people saying joe biden needs to be careful. Thats bs, chris. If youre going to attack joe biden, he has every single right to hit back on issues that matter. I think cory booker may be upset that as an African American, he is not polling too well with other black people. Well, look, get over it, man. Joe biden. Whats his problem . I dont think he is resonating very well. We shouldnt discount the other candidates. We have a lot of data. Kamala did really well. Big news. But he is not. Neera is telling us how great the democrats. 50 years ago half a million Young Americans descended on a farm in upstate new york. Look this, Woodstock Nation. Im still in Woodstock Nation. They havent changed. A new film offers a riveting comprehensive look at how the woodstock festival came into being. Director Mick Richards joins us next with lots of pictures like this, sex, drugs and rock n roll. Well be right back. All Money Managers might seem the same, but some give their clients cookie cutter portfolios. Fisher investments tailors portfolios to your goals and needs. Some only call when they have something to sell. Fisher calls regularly so you stay informed. And while some advisors are happy to earn commissions whether you do well or not. Fisher investments fees are structured so we do better when you do better. Maybe thats why most of our clients come from other Money Managers. Fisher investments. Clearly better money management. Background checks on guns. E that we should have but Congress Wont act because the nra and gun manufacturers have purchased our government. Thats just plain wrong. We know how to solve many of the challenges facing us. A majority of americans agree on the solutions. But corporate money is standing in the way. Im tom steyer. I approve this message. Because our democracy should work for the people. So chantix can help you quit slow turkey. Key. Along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. With chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting. Chantix reduces the urge so when the day arrives, youll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye. When you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Stop chantix and get help right away if you have changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions, seizures, new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking, or lifethreatening allergic and skin reactions. Decrease alcohol use. Use caution driving or operating machinery. Tell your doctor if youve had Mental Health problems. The most common side effect is nausea. Quit smoking slow turkey. Talk to your doctor about chantix. Mmm, exactly ug Liberty Mutual customizes your Car Insurance, so you only pay for what you need. Nice but uh, whats up with your partner . Oh we just spend all day telling everyone how we customize Car Insurance because no two people are alike, so. Limu gets a little confused when he sees another bird that looks exactly like him. Ya. Hell figure it out. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Welcome back to hardball. In the summer of 1969, woodstock defined a generation with hundreds of thousands of gathering in upstate new york, hearing from the likes of jimi hendrix, janice joplin, the grateful dead. For organizers, with lastminute venue changes, worries about lack of headliners and a lack of infrastructure to handle the masses of people that showed up. As we approach the 50th anniversary of woodstock, organizers of an anniversary festival scheduled to take place next month appear to be following the same old path. After losing multiple venues in upstate new york, a new location in maryland was Just Announced in a lastditch effort to keep the whole thing alive again. With only three weeks until the anniversary, questions remain. Just like 50 years ago, will organizers pull it off . Who will perform . And how many people will show up to watch . Im joined right now by Mick Richards, the director of a new documentary, creating woodstock about what it took to put on the iconic 1969 festival. Thank you, mick, for coming on. I really wanted you on the show tonight, because i grew up with a lot of people who said Woodstock Nation is still here. They still feel a part of it years later. Of people who saidk nation is still here and they still felt a part of it years later. Whats going on now with this effort to revive it, relive it and hows that compared to what it was putting it together in the first place . Putting it together in the first place compared to whats going on today, the similarities are striking. The battle for walk hill, the organizers that actually setup in walk hill, and the town walk hill passed the law evicting them from walk hill so they literally had 28 days to get a new site and build it. Its very interesting the similarities are so striking. What happened . They were initially charging 16 a day, and then somehow it became a free festival. How did that happening . How did it become a free sort of public event . Well, again, going back to walk hill they only had 28 days, roughly 28 days to put the festival together, and they were more interested in getting the infrastructure together, the stage built, and so on that the fences and gates were the last things to get built if built at all. So when the crowds showed up they actually had about 30,000 people in the crowd two days before the festival was going to start on wednesday morning. So they knew they knew going into friday morning that they couldnt collect tickets, and it was a free festival. Mike lang said the crowd made it a free festival and pretty much they did. Theres something about it of course the death of Jimmy Hendricks and joplin, there was so much of the successes of the 60s and how people just went crazy. Was there any kind of policing up there in those days or could you do whatever you felt like . The interesting thing was they went out and hired a we west and to have such a [ ground as that to be dealing with a festival of hippies seems a little odd, but westwood was a lovely man and we interviewed him at his home in florida and he said to me at the beginning it was not going to be confrontational. They couldnt arrest anybody for drugs or being naked or anything. They were more there to support people. John roberts and two of the more adventures and partners and producers set the framework that from the beginning it was not going to be confrontational. They groomed the site for people to feel at peace. They wanted everyone to come and have a good time. And the three days of peace and music was not a shorthand way of saying get out of vietnam. It was a way of saying come to the country and have a good time and just forget about whats bothering you. So they were very, very interested in making sure people came, had a good time, felt at peace and didnt have to worry about everything. But i think they worried about a lot of things. Freedom and peace. I was in south africa on a way home from the peace corps when i watched the documentary but it was so censured by the south african government i couldnt figure what there was to censure. Up next President Trumps russia confession. Youre watching hardball. Russia confession. Youre watching hardball. Geico for your boat. Enjoy the water, enjoy the savings. My dbut now, i take used tometamucil every day. Sh it traps and removes the waste that weighs me down, so i feel lighter. Try metamucil, and begin to feel what lighter feels like. I get to select my room from the floor plan. When i book at hilton. Com free wifi. And the price match guarantee. So with hilton there is no catch. Yeah the only catch is im never leaving. No im serious, i live here now. Book at hilton. Com and get the hilton price match guarantee. Dont miss your gto experience our most advanced Safety Technology on a full line of vehicles. Now, at the lexus golden opportunity sales event. Lease the 2019 es 350 for 379 a month, for 36 months, and well make your first months payment. Experience amazing. Here, hello starts with hi mple. How can i help . A data plan for everyone. Everyone . Everyone. Lets send to everyone [ camera clicking ] wifi up there . Ahhh. Sure, why not . Howd he get out . a camera might figure it out. That was easy glad i could help. At xfinity, were here to make life simple. Easy. Awesome. So come ask, shop, discover at your xfinity store today. If you listen closely you can hear donald trump plead guilty to the two central charges now stemming against him. The president says he fully intends to engage Foreign Government help in his reelection campaign. Indeed, he sees nothing wrong with it. Your campaign this time arou around, should they accept it or should they call the fbi . I think maybe you do both. I think you might want to listen. Theres nothing wrong with listening. If somebody called from a country, norway, we have information on your opponent, oh, i think id want to hear it. You want that kind of interference in our elections . Its onot interference. They have information. I think id take it. Collusion. He shamelessly confesses is not a question. Past, present, or future with this president. It is the answer. If you want a president ready and willing to play ball with an overseas adversary, weve got one. Trump is equally clear on the matter of obstruction. He says this week he can do whatever he wants as president and give whatever order he wants to officials in the executive branch. And that includes the justice department. And that includes the special prosecutor. Then i have an article 2 i have the right to do whatever i want as president , but i dont even talk about that because they did a report and there was no obstruction. What we have now is a president who believes the main charges in the impeachment inquiry, accepting, welcoming, encouraging and covering up help from the russian government is not only quite all the with him but hes ready and willing to grab more next time. What we have is a chief executive who believes obstruction of justice is constitutionally impossible because the president can call on anyone in the government to do anything he wants him to do. We have therefore living in the white house a man who argues based on his understandingf the u. S. Constitution his total exoneration. The only question is who in this country will lead the case against him. And right now no such leader exists. And until he or she arises donald j. Trump will be right there on 2020 president ial ballot about a year from this november daring voters to say hes wrong. Thats hardball for now. Thanks for being with us and stay with us right here on msnbc. Good evening. Im Donny Deutsch and im thrilled to be here. There are exactly 465 days until the 2020 election and tonights show a revolutionary theme with a message for democrats, start looking forward and not backward and fights back hard. Its very simple. Democrats have been looking backyard 2 naphyears at the mueller probe. Enough. Theres two takeaways to use from mueller moving forward. The president broke the law and can be indicted and put in jail after the election process and now its time to move on and fight any n