The president handled domestic matters tweeting about congressional investigations and the looming threat of impeachment both of which tee up questions that will be waiting when the president arrives back at home. The president is en route back to the United States following his trip through japan. Im joined now by christen welker in japan. What was the tone of this meeting . This has been a remarkable few days here in japan. He does have a few more events before he departs on tuesday. But, look, this was a trip that was really focused on the personal diplomacy between President Trump and Prime Minister abe, the two played a round of golf, they attended a sumo wrestling match. They had a dinner overnight. But there were a number of contradictions on this trip with President Trump tweeting and taunting effectively throughout the duration. It was remarkable, we attended a press conference overnight which were President Trump broke with the japanese Prime Minister, broke with his own National Security advisor on the issue of north korea and in the wake of north korea firing those missile tests. Japans Prime Minister said that was a violation of u. N. Security council resolutions. John bolton agreed. He said it is a violation. President trump was asked about this during that press conference and he had a different message. He said, i didnt bother him, saying hes not prepared to say that its a violation even though factually it is. The question becomes what message does that send to his host country. There is no bigger security concern here in japan. Of course they are in range of north koreas rockets. So this is a significant concern to the japanese Prime Minister. How will they move forward working together trying to press north koreas leader to give up his nuclear ambitions. Thats one question. The other question is, what message does it send to other countries like iran . What happens if they test fire missiles . What message will President Trump have for them. Will he say that thats a violation of u. N. Security council resolutions. Complicating his diplomacy and then you have the fact that President Trump again took another swipe at former Vice President joe biden, his political rival, back at home. He was asked about some of his recent tweets and he doubled down, sided with kim jongun, said he agreed with kim jongun that joe biden is a lowiq individual. This has been a trip of contradictions, ali, but also personal diplomacy. Thank you as always. President trump struck a conciliatory tone during most of his trip aboard praising japans Prime Minister as is often the case. Conversation surrounding International Trade took on a slightly more hostile tenor. Joining me now is nicholas, thank you for joining us. Lets talk about the significance of this trip. There were a few other things going on. The president still most people more worried about the american trade deal or absence thereof with china the president dealing with a lot of north korea stuff. Lets talk about the american japanese trading relationship. How important was this meeting to that . Extremely important. Prime minister abe visited washington only a few weeks ago to talk about trade with the president and his main message was that he has some trade politics of his own to deal with, specifically a parliamentary election this july. So this visit by the president to japan was important because he signaled during the press availability that they could try to reach an agreement later in the summer which provides a little more time for the two countries to negotiate. But there are a lot of issues to resolve in addition to the time line, Agriculture Market access in japan, how the u. S. Is going to treat japanese automobiles, things of that nature. So avoided friction, the process is ongoing, but, you know, President Trump also made clear that he wants a deal soon. Continued pressure. In President Trump tweeting, great progress made, agriculture and beef as you just mentioned heavily in play. Much will wait until after the july elections where i anticipate big numbers, and i suppose he means big numbers meaning success. Is that a negotiating tactic, the idea that well wait until your election is over . Its interesting. I was struck by the fact that the president referred to reciprocity today talking about trade, because thats the question that japan is asking. The Trump Administration has been clear about wanting access to japans Agriculture Market. But for japan to make a concession, they want something in return. And its not clear yet whether the administration is going to make any type of concession. The other issue is that Prime Minister abe spent a lot of Political Capital getting the Transpacific Partnership ratified and there was a u. S. Japan negotiation that took place in parallel to that process. Japan is saying, sure, well give you access to our Agriculture Market. We already negotiated that, but trump is seeking more. Not quite clear where this goes and theyre still trying to figure out the parameters. To what degree with respect to the deal with china that weve not seen or dont have, does a better trade relationship with japan matter . Well, its interesting, you know, trade friction between the u. S. And china affects japan because japan has a good economic relationship with china and part of the regional supply chain. There is a risk that if the president does not reach a deal with china, that there could be even more pressure coming japans way in the lead up to his reelection campaign, its likely that the president is going to want to deliver concrete results on trade. I think the japanese government is negotiating in good faith but also somewhat concerned about the pressure that might come if the president does not succeed in negotiating with his counterparts in china. I want to play what donald trump said about a deal with china during his visit to japan. Lets listen. As far as china is concerned, they want to make a deal. I think they probably wish they made the deal that they had on the table before they tried to renegotiate it. They would like to make a deal. Were not ready to make a deal and were taking in tens of millions of dollars of tariffs and that number could go up very substantially very easily. But i think sometime in the future, china and the United States will absolutely have a great trade deal. And we look forward to that. You cant make any sense of what donald trump says on trade deals because he will tweet theres no deal and another day that things are going really well. Was there anything in the tea leaves to suggest that were closer to a deal or that theres something actually going on . The negotiations with china are very complex. Its not just about, you know, trade deficits but structural issues. I suspect thats a messy process that will be ongoing. Japan wants a Good Relationship with trump and is negotiating in good faith. Theres a chance they might reach an agreement before they reach an agreement with china. But both of these will proceed in parallel, it looks like. Good to talk to you. Thank you for joining me today. While abroad, President Trump addressed the calls for impeachment for democrats. He responded to a tweet from the rnc head this morning by writing, impeach for what . Having created perhaps the greatest economy in our countrys history, rebuilding our military, taking care of our vets, choice, judges, best jobs numbers ever, and much more . Dems are obstructionists. Im not asking you to comment on the tweet, but lets just talk about where we are in the impeachment process. One of the arguments in favor of the impeachment process is that it allows or may allow House Democrats to get access to some of these democrats that the white house has absolutely stonewalled on them getting. Thats right. The Supreme Court has said for almost a hundred years that congress congresss power to investigate increases during an impeachment inquiry. It has this broad investigative power. But congress relies on the other branches to enforce that power. It relies on the Justice Department in the executive branch to constitute a criminal contempt proceeding. It requires the Judicial Branch to file court cases and even civil contempt cases. It sends the sergeant of arms out to make arrests that doesnt work in 2019 . Not really. Its not a real solution. While its true that congress has this increased power to investigate when conducting impeachment investigations, its likely to still require the assist the answ assistance of that executive branch. Theres some negotiations on the way, negotiations between adam schiff and the department of justice seem to be under way. Is all of this making the possibility of launching impeachment proceedings look less likely or more likely . It only makes it less likely. If the only purpose of holding impeachment investigation hearings is to obtain documents, but thats not really the vision of the impeachment process, at least as our framers envisioned it. If there was an Impeachable Offense, then thats the reason you bring impeachment hearings. Not to expand your congressional investigative power and fall down on the actual impeachment when it comes to it knowing that the senate will not convict. There may be some middle ground there. Lets listen to this from meet the press. If this is the case, why arent you forstarting impeachment now . Democrats can sing and dance at the same time just like beyonce. We have to keep our focus primarily on our agenda. We recognize in the new majority that the house is a separate branch of government. We dont work for donald trump. We work for the american people. We have a constitutional responsibility to serve as a check and balance on a potentially out of control executive branch. But we will not overreach, overinvestigation. We will not overpoliticize that responsibility. Nancy pelosi has laid out how to get to the truth. We will not overreach, overinvestigate, overpoliticize that responsibility. Theres some that make the case that impeachment proceedings are part of that responsibility regardless of whether or not it leads to impeachment. Its an interesting question whether or not the mere knowledge or awareness that theres an Impeachable Offense requires congress to bring impeachment proceedings. The framers did an excellent job with our constitution. If you look at the doj, for example, they have all kinds of rules about when they indict someone. They need more than probable cause. They need to believe that their case is going to result in a conviction. The constitution didnt give us those guidelines. Should it be probable cause . Should it be beyond a reasonable doubt . Should Congress Impeach if they believe theres an Impeachable Offense . Can there be an Impeachable Offense and say were to that last point, how would a prosecutor approach that . They think they got a good case, but for whatever reason, they think they cant get a judge or a jury to convict. Do they not bring a case . Prosecutors are constrained by their own internal regulations. The doj says that of course you need probable cause. Thats the standard to get past a grand jury. But they say we must go beyond that. The mere fact that we have probable cause doesnt mean we indict. We need to know that we can secure a conviction or else our policy is to not indict. The constitution was not so helpful and its a question whether or not prior impeachments are even president ial value such that they bind future impeachments. Theres no such stare decisis its the idea that you decide present cases based on what early older cases say. We follow an established precedent. Impeachment, theres no rule for that. That was a judicial creation of mar berry v madison. But we have so little guidance on how to impeach, that leaves us in this weird place where, yes, it gives us greater investigate powers and they may lead to a greater good, but is it appropriate to hold impeachment hearings just for the purpose of broadening our investigative abilities even if we dont believe we will ultimately impeach, convict and remove. Thank you. Coming up next, were talking baby bonds, save accounts for every newborn. How those bonds could help shrink the racial wealth gap and give every child capital to buy a home or start a business. Were live in iowa where Elizabeth Warren just took the stage pitching her policies to voters. Youre watching msnbc. Next big g performance organics. Finally organics that work. Tested and refined by plant scientists. For twice the results, guaranteed. Dont grow a snack, grow a feast. Dont grow a flower, grow a Million Dollar view. This new organic collection of soil and plant food is what you always wanted. No compromise, just results, guaranteed. Miraclegro performance organics. You get the freedom of what a 7day return policy. This isnt some dealership test drive around the block. Its better. This is seven days to put your carvana car to the test and see if it fits your life. Load it up with a weeks worth of groceries. Take the kiddos out for ice cream. Check that it has enough wiggle room in your garage. You get the time to make sure you love it. 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[ meow ] [ purring ] [ growl ] are you finished . [ cooing ] that was weird. Oh sister its going to get way weirder. Campaign trail this memorial day, many are likely talking about the racial wealth gap including the fact that a typical black family has only one tenth the assets of a typical white family and that divide has only grown larger. First of all, wealth, were talking about the wealth gap, wealth is considered to be the total market value of all assets like homes, property, Bank Accounts and securities. According to the urban institute, in 2016, the median wealth of families, thats the number at which half have more was 171,000 for white families, 20,000 for hispanics families and 17,000 for black candidatfa. Cory booker is pushing for baby bonds. It calls for 1,000 bucks for every child born in the United States which they can use for paying for an education or starting a business. It would grow based on how much a family earns where children in poorer households getting a large portion. Elizabeth warn has put forth several proposals. They include their College Education plan which calls for canceling 50,000 in Student Loan Debt for each person who makes less than 100,000 per year. Warren says 80 of black families and 83 of latino families will benefit from her plan. He put forward a housing plan. She wants to create a down Payment Assistance Program for first time home buyers who live in former red line communities where the federal government once participated in areas that denied mortgages. People will receive a substantial grant that they can put down toward a down payment on a home anywhere in the country. Kamala harris is pushing for the lift the middle class act. Harris said the legislation will benefit and uplift 60 of black families who are living in poverty. And some of the 2020 candidates have backed the 10, 20, 30 plan put forward by james claiborne. It calls for a minute of 10 funding to areas which are consistently poverty persistent, thats countries where 20 of the population has lived below the poverty line for 20 years. His research focuses on causes, consequences and remedies of racial economic inequality in the United States. Derrick, thank you for joining me again. Good to see you. Whats your general sense of the approaches taken by the 2020 candidates . Well, we have different approaches aimed at individuals, some aimed at targeted neighborhoods. But in the end, were going to need a package of goods so we can think about them jutogether. I see them as a package of goods for us all to have assets security. And the last thing ill say about that really quick, we can think about assets in the form of communal assets and they can think of public and individual assets. When we think about debtfree College Education, thats a public asset thats provided for every individual. When we think about baby bonds, those are individual assets aimed at providing people agency. Lets talk about baby bonds. Individual assets aimed at providing people with agency. You have a suggestion in which you called for an average bond of 25,000 with up to 60,000 for the poorest children. Your plan calls for the bonds to be federally managed to increase by a guaranteed rate of 2 and that