among, first of all, the very, very wealthy who might have two or three or four planes to choose from when they fly and things like that. we need to also talk about the culture of business. >> we need to bring dignity back because everyone deserves their dignity. thank you, both, so much. thank you for being with us this hour. i'm stephanie ruhle i'll see you at 1:00 p.m. and all day on social media. coming up right now, more news with my dear friend and colleague, kristen welker in d.c. >> hi, steph. what a great final message for your show. good morning to you. i'm kristen welker in for hallie jackson. today we are just 15 days away from the first primary debate. a must-see debate hosted by nbc news and moderated by my fantastic colleagues jose diaz, savannah guthrie, lester holt,

chuck todd and rachel maddow. june 26th and 27th. but, first, get ready for a dramatic split screen day in io io io iowa. holding duelling speeches in iowa. biden is expected to call mr. trump a threat to the united states. the president hours earlier won't pull any punches either against the candidate he has called sleepy, creepy joe in the past. president trump has been calling former advisors who haven't heard from him in years eager to discuss his standings in the polls, specifically against joe biden who he describes as too old and not as popular as people think. our team is here with this story and all the others we'll bring you throughout this hour. but i want to start with garrett who is on the trail with joe biden and peter alexander and political reporter for the associated press.

garrett, what are we expecting today? tee us up. >> kristen, any democratic candidate would covet the opportunity now presented to joe biden today on the ground in an early state with the president in town. that split screen moment that you talked about and an opportunity to elevate yourself on the level of the president of the united states. that's what joe biden will do today. trying to take on the president directly. now, he more than arguably any of these other democratic candidates has made his campaign specifically about this president. about defeating someone who, again, he will call today an a threat and go directly at the president of the united states particularly on two issues. on climate he will hit the president for being what he will say is a climate change denier. refusing to acknowledge what we have seen and he'll hit the president very hard on trade. the president's signature issue. he will say that the president's

trade policy is crushing rura ruralien withrural rural iowans. three stops today and the big speech in davenport, iowa, at the end of the day is when we expect to see him go hard against the president of the united states. some tactical things to about here. by releasing those excerpts early and the fact that we're talking about them all day long you have to expect the biden campaign will expect to see the president hit back sooner rather than later. >> i think you're right. a strategy they thought through quite thoroughly. vice president biden was not at that big democratic event over the weekend and if you take a look at the extent to which his other democratic contenders have been crisscrossing the state. look, he has held just eight events in iowa. take a look p.

yang 63, castro 42. i'm just naming a few. i mean, everyone is sort of topping him when it comes to events and planned events in iowa. now, biden has said he's going to be in iowa quite a bit. could this in any way undercut him at this early stage, garrett? what do you make of it? >> we'll see. the vice president was careful to explain why he wasn't at that event. he said it was his gra granddaughter's graduation and daughter's birthday. he considers his family the most important thing. iowans take their role in this process very carefully. they want to see these candidates and touch them and ask them questions sometimes over and over again. this can hurt candidates in the past. but i remember covering mitt romney here in 2011 and he didn't step foot in the state until 2012 12 aand it is possibo

do this without going the traditional route in iowa. >> peter, you and i have taken careful note that president trump not engaged in this primary clearly but focused on what is happening out on the campaign trail. i asked vice president mike pence about biden yesterday. take a listen to what he said. >> i think the president and i look at the democrat field and we're ready to run against any one of them. and it's because of the record. >> see biden as a real threat. >> whoever the other party ends up nominating, i can't wait to get out and talk about how we made america great again. >> peter, how concerned is president trump based on your conversations about biden right now? >> i know, chris, you have been part of the conversations with me and the fact when he spoke to some of the president's allies. they said the president should be worried about joe biden. he has elevated biden through the course of this process when he continues to hammer him. when they should be focused like you heard from the vice president, on perhaps the rest

and the entire democratic field, as it were. where they think they may have a better shot. let's give you a sense of what we're hearing this morning. sarah sanders dismissing those polls you were talking about earlier. those internal polls, they're all wrong. like the polls they saw in 2016. then i reminded her that the numbers she is dismissing are internal polls. trump campaign polls. she ignored the question there. she also wouldn't preview the president's likely attacks targeting biden today. but like many of his aides have done, turn the table and arguing that biden has a lot of questions of his own and blaming biden for being part of the last administration that allowed russia to interfere. but it's striking and i pushed her on this, as well. top officials with this administration said that russia attempted to interfere in the 2018 mid-terms, as well. the fbi director said that 2018 was just a dress rehearsal for the big show in 2020. they both have some questions that need answering. >> et ppeter, that looms very l

over 2020. you're right about that. alex jaffy, let me go out to you there. i know you have been talking to voters in iowa. if you look at the polls over the weekend, biden in the lead and i know that lead is shrinking a little bit. iowa voters are saying they're still in a wait and see mode. what are they telling you? >> absolutely. vice president biden is basically the safe pick. vo folks know him and they know the obama administration and a lot of voters believe that he could take on donald trump. for many he is too old and too moderate and they want a change of pace. you also saw in that poll some significant movement for former south bend mayor pete buttigieg gained 13 points in that poll and elizabeth warren gained about six points. while voters tune in and i heard from a number of voters yesterday this is the start of the political season for them. they finally have some time this summer. they're going to get out to as

many events as possible and really make that decision. so, right now a lot of the polls are an evaluation of name i.d. and how well some of these names are known. vice president biden is, obviously, known well by the entire nation. as voters begin to tune in and evaluate their picks, i think we'll see movement in the next month or two. >> and, peter, we know that we're going to be talking to president trump hopefully before he departs for iowa. one of the key things he has been defending throughout the week, his tariff policy. biden is going to hit him hard on that. he will make the case to farmers, hey, you're going to be hurt by the president's tariff policies. >> you're exactly right, kristen. we've seen the president declaring victory in his negotiations and how he is tout in the days since is revealing. he told cnbc as soon as he put tariffs on the table, it was done. it took two days. it wouldn't have happened without the tariffs. the outgoing head of the counsel

of economic advisors told me a self-proclaimed free trader. tariffs get people to the table when the president does that. that was striking. indicated he changed his mind by working with this president. i'm not sure how the business community will feel about that. here the president today on twitter was writing directly to his favorite business host, again. saying the tariffs are a great negotiating tool. kristen, we'll hear more about it i trust over the course of this day. >> we will be back at the white house with you, peter, so we can try to ask the president about all of this. peter, garrett, alex, thanks for all your great reporting. we appreciate it. a reminder. we are 15 days away from the first debate of the 2020 election cycle. it is set to be two nights that will schange tchange the course history. june 26th and 27th. live on nbc, msnbc, telemundo that is the unofficial kickoff

to this primary. we can't wait for that. we head to capitol hill where the house is expected to vote on a civil contempt resolution against william barr and don mcga hahn. that is going to happen later today. kasie hunt is tracking all of it and kimberly atkins and jake sherman and msnbc political contributor. thanks to all of you for being here. kasie, i will ask you to put on your wonkiest hat and break down the difference for us between civil and criminal contempt. there is a difference and we want to just highlight this. this is about civil contempt, right? >> right. it's par for the course here on capitol hill where we use a lot of jargon that isn't necessarily something you would understand unless you're up here every single day and this is one of the thing ts that is far down i

the weeds and the weeds matter and determine how this is all going to play out. the harshest punishment that congress could hand down would be criminal contempt. and you may have heard yesterday about the judiciary committee making a deal with the department of justice about documents. that was to avert a criminal contempt citation. so, right now that has been put on hold. but the entire time, the house has been planning to vote on these civil contempt resolutions against the attorney general and against don mcgahn and for refusing to eshoup tshow up to testimony. go up to the justice department itself, if it were about the attorney general or the president's former white house counsel. democrats believe it would probably be fruitless because the department of justice would simply decline to take it up and focus on it. civil contempt, however, leaves the doj out of it and it allows

congress to go to court. would be civil court to hold barr and mcgahn accountable for not showing up. and to try to compel them to show up. so, this is the next step in democrats legal battle against the administration. you should look at it as a significant escalation. this is something that jerry nadler, the judiciary chairman has been pushing house speaker pelosi to do. it looks like it will unfold this afternoon on the house floor. kristen. >> i think you have hit all the key points there, kasie and jake and kimberl kimberly, let me tu you. this is an escalation and step-by-step process. we will wage this battle for now in the courts. do you think it is a strategy that is going to be effective? >> i don't. i think it will take a while for the courts to do anything. kasie is right, a big escalation. but 60 some democrats are

calling for impeachment and skeptical of what pelosi wants to do. anything short of impeachment is going to leave people hungry for more. >> week by week we start to see the ticker increase in terms of how many democrats want impeachment. as jake points out, we're at 60 now, over 60. are these types of moves, these types of step-by-step processes going to quiet some of those democrats who say we want impeachment right now? >> there is a process and they keep talking boabout this proce and they're moving towards what could be an impeachment hearing. i think jake is right. the more we see that number increase, the number of people who are using the i word on the democratic side, the tougher it will be to keep them all at bay. >> you now have nadler behind the scenes trying to tryst sowi arms. are democrats overplaying their hand with the mueller report hearings?

we'll talk to one of the key witnesses who testified for the house judiciary committee right after the break. but, first, after more than 1,300 days imprisoned in iran, a lebanese man has been released overnight. arrested in 2015 after being invited by the government to attend a conference held on, quote, spying charges. something his family is calling totally baseless. the release could signal a potential opening and tensions between the u.s. and iran. we'll have more when we come right back. stay with us. get to be in this o commercial? let's do the eyebrows first, just tease it a little. slather it all over, don't hold back. well, the squirrels followed me all the way out to california! and there's a very strange badger staring at me... no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. uh-huh, where's the camel? "mr. big shot's" got his own trailer. ♪ wheeeeeee! believe it! geico could save you 15% or more on car insurance.

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as we were just discussing, the house is set to vote in a couple of hours on a civil contempt resolution. in other words, they're voting to go to court to force their congressional subpoenas. that vote still uneven after the judiciary committee struck a deal with the doj to hand over key underlying evidence about possible obstruction of justice by the president. as the committee launches an ambitious new round of hearings calling on the man who helped bring down nixon. former white house counsel john dean. >> the facts contained in that report would be sufficienta ant prove all the elements necessary to charge multiple counts of obstruction of justice. >> it seemed what is going on here looking at the totality of the circumstances is that president trump felt threatened by robert mueller.

>> i would say the trump administration is in fast competition with what happened in the nixon administration. >> mr. dean has made a cottage industry out of accusing presidents of acting like richard nixon. >> this committee is now hearing from the '70s and they want their star witness back. >> today chairman nadler brings in front of the judiciary committee to ucttalk about obstruction of justice. >> i did not go to prison. >> joining me on set is joyce vance, former u.s. attorney for the northern district of alabama who, as you just heard, testified at that hearing. in full disclosure an msnbc and nbc contributor. and tom dupree assistant attorney general in the george w. bush administration. thank you for being here. joyce, i have to start with you. what do you think was accomplished yesterday and how do you answer republicans' criticism that bringing in john dean and people who aren't engaged in the specifics of the mueller report don't necessarily provide new information to move

the ball forward. >> you know, yesterday was a starting point and i suspect democrats would have much preferred to have don mcgahn and other fact witnesses who were questioned by the mueller team available. but the reality is, the white house is fighting every opportunity to bring those sorts of fact witnesses with first-hand knowledge forward. so, yesterday we had the opportunity to set the legal context and it was an opportunity for both barb mcquaid and i to set off our tv commentary hats and put back on our prosecutor hats and look at the facts and the law and to assess whether there was merit. >> i want to play more of what we heard from john dean and get your reaction on the other side. this is an exchange with matt gates. take a look. >> how do democrats plan to pay for medicare for all? >> i'm sorry. >> i figured if we were going to ask you about stuff we don't know about, we would start with the big stuff. do you know how they will pay

for medicare for all? >> who and which democrat? can you be more specific? >> let's get to nixon -- >> nixon did have a health care plan. >> he wasn't ready for that one. >> no, he definitely wasn't. >> here you have matt gates trying to sort of embarrass him and he said, well, i can talk about nixon's record on that, as well. >> the problem is the republicans didn't seem serious about engaging in the facts and analysis of the mueller report. in that sense, it was a wasted opportunity. >> and, tom, let me have you weigh in here because you, obviously, heard the very fiery rhetoric from republicans throughout the hearing yesterday. did democrats in any way overplay their hand, again, sort of what i'm asking joyce because john dean was there certainly to set the stage but how did he help move the ball forward in terms of our understanding of the mueller report? >> well, that's the thing. frankly, it underscores the risk here and what the democrats are doing in that i think it's hard

to argue that yesterday's hearing in any sense added to the sum total of americans' knowledge about what happened during the 2016 campaign. i think it was largely an exercise in political theater. it was entertaining, i'll give you that. the fact is that john dean is not a fact witness as he admitted he does not have any personal knowledge. if the democrats were to focus on fact witnesses and getting questions answered and filling in the gaps in the mueller report and that could advance the ball in a way having his opinions up there does. >> let's talk about the other development. chairman nadler strike a deal with the doj to turn over some of that key underlying evidence. those underlying documents of the mueller report, particularly as it relates to the question of obstruction of justice. tom, how significant? >> i was so heartened to see yesterday's agreement. as you know for the last few weeks and months, democrats and republicans have really been the

way these disputes have been resolved. been resolved by way of compromise and settlement and meeting in the middle. to accept doj offer and reach an agreement. i'm not optimistic that this will solve all the disputes that will be back but it's good start. >> joyce, your take and do democrats need to bring in robert mueller or someone from his team to testify to really push this conversation forward at this point? >> well, yesterday's agreement was a good first step. the accommodation process is very promising. of course, democrats would prefer to have live fact witnesses. and, yesterday it looked like doj was breaking company with the president a little bit. the president had said no compliance with subpoenas, but yesterday doj said, no, we'll give you a little bit of evidence. we'll have to see how that works out in reality once the president gets wind of it. the important thing now is for people to try to push forward. the real problem here is that

the country is not having one conversation based on one set of facts. the challenge for democrats will be to bring more people into the mix, actually understanding what the mueller report says so they can try to move forward. >> great conversation. joyce vance, tom dupree, really appreciate it. we'll continue to track all the fast-moving developments as it relates to this on capitol hill today. still ahead, he's moments away from taking the stage in indiana set to reveal an agenda that hopes further breaks him out from the 2020 field before the debate. we're heading to bloomington, indiana, previewing pete buttigieg's next big speech. lis in a country that fosters innovation here, they find breakthroughs... like a way to fight cancer by arming a patient's own t-cells... because it's not just about the next breakthrough...

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love that music. with just 15 days to go before the first democratic presidential debate here on nbc news and msnbc, one candidate is turning his focus to an issue that hasn't gotten much attention on the campaign trail yet. at the top of the hour, mayor pete buttigieg set to give a major foreign policy speech becoming the first 2020 democrat to do so. let's bring in road warrior josh

ahead of mayor pete's speech and kimberly atkins. kicking this off in his first real policy speech focusing on foreign policy. >> yeah, kristen, shows a focus pete buttigieg wants to put on foreign policy and his experience as an afghan war vet. we expect to hear him when tee takes the stage shortly to talk about the need to wind down u.s. wars that have entangled the u.s. military so long overseas including pulling troops from afghanistan which is an area where pete buttigieg agrees with president trump. he will talk about climate and climate disruption as a national issue and expecting to talk about the war power resolution that was passed after 9/11 that has been used to justify so many u.s. military involvement overseas. >> it certainly has, josh,

you're absolutely right about that. jake, let me get your take on this. if you look at the field of democratic candidates, this is really one issue that sets mayor pete apart from the rest of this contenders, right? i mean, he can speak and say, i have served in afghanistan. when you talk about why he wanted to serve it humanizes him for a lot of people. >> it does and part of his story. he has gotten this far and he is at the top four candidates, i guess, without any policy. without much policy. >> ease he's gotten some criticism for that, by the way. >> he has created a narrative which is more important than policy and now he's diving in. as you noted or as josh noted, he has similar policies to donald trump on foreign policy. we'll see how that plays and how that turns out. i have talked to many democratic advisors over the last couple months who have said, stay away from policy. get people to like you.

get attention. raise money, get to policy later. >> buttigieg has said before he got into this race that he feels that has been a failing on the part of the democratic party. that they don't focus enough on narrative. he's really trying to do that, kimberly, as jake points out. today he is going to be really making a counterpoint to president trump. he's going to try to make that case. can he do that at this stage in the game without also focusing on biden. everyone is going to be focused on trump, but does he also need to focus on biden who is the frontrunner in this case. >> he has to focus on donald trump, everyone does. if you talk to democratic voters who they are looking for in a candidate is somebody who can beat donald trump. he has to show that he can do that and talk about policy, too. i think policy is really resonating among voters. that's why you see folks like elizabeth warren growing and getting that name recognition and uv mooing forward. foreign policy is hard. most people, most democrats are

talking about jobs, the economy, education, housing. so, it's a tough topic, despite the fact that he is a veteran. i think the democratic party has shifted. but he definitely has to start, buttigieg, has to put meat on the bones for the position he is in. >> the timing so significant because it comes after you have president trump's trip to normandy and the uk and before he makes his second visit to japan for the 2020 summit. i want to shift gears and speak to some breaking news that you had. you were the first to report that the trump administration ordered u.s. embassies all around the world not to hang the pride flag and, of course, this is pride month. i sat down and interviewed vice president mike pence yesterday and i asked him essentially to confirm this. this is what he had to say. take a look. >> it is pride month. did the administration direct u.s. embassies not to fly the pride flag? >> i'm aware that the state department indicated that on the

flag pole of our american embassies that one flag should fly and that is the american flag and i support that. >> josh, the implications of this. you have the vice president and you also had the secretary of state weighing in yesterday. >> well, kristen, there are other people who are on both sides of this issue about whether flags other than the american flag should be flying on official flag poles at embassies. but the fact of the matter is, this is a change because in the obama administration, there was blanket permission for the pride flag to fly on embassy flag poles and the trump administration is saying that something that happened before to recognize pride is no longer able to happen. and that's why a lot of lgbt groups say this flies in the face of the trump administration's claim to support lgbt pride. >> kimberly, president trump had tweeted just a few weeks ago in support of pride month touting it, calling to an end to

criminalization of lgbt community worldwide. what do you make of this? does this essentially contradict that tweet? i put that question to vice president pence. he said it doesn't. what do you make of it politically speaking, how does it play? >> an example of the rhetoric not meeting the policy. we have seen this administration a lot of rolling back of the absence of a flag that is meeting that and not meeting the rhetoric that we are hearing from donald trump. >> you have seen some of the right talkers online saying he has said he in is support of lgbtq rights and you mentioned the policy that the state department is going after worldwide and said that pompeo is ignoring that. an interesting political issue that you're seeing play out right now. although the trump administration argued for me yesterday you could be for lgbtq

rights around the world. >> a story we continue to track. thank you very much. josh, really appreciate it. up ahead, the backlash facing the dominican republic after yet another american tourist dies while on vacation as authorities there drill down on their investigation into the shooting of david ortiz. we'll head live to the dominican republic and boston where the legendary red sox slugger is recovering this morning. that's when we come back. ome bak

there are renewed calls this morning to ban helicopter flights over manhattan after a chopper crash landed on the roof of a 54-story skyscraper in midtown killing the pilot onboard. the crash created concerns over september 11th type of attack. the state's governor reiterated there were no links to terrorism. so did the vice president. investigators this morning are now poring over the wreckage for clues about what led to that crash. this morning david ortiz is back in boston. he is recovering at massachusetts general hospital after being shot in the back at a bar in his native dominican republic. meanwhile, the state department confirms another american has died at a dominican republic resort. the fourth mysterious death just in the last year alone. as government officials there insist the island is safe. let's get right to nbc ron motte in boston and morgan.

ron, i want to start with you. what is the latest on how david ortiz is doing? >> good morning to you. the latest is from the boston red sox they're sort of coordinating any announcement about his care here at massachusetts general. he is in serious condition, but he was stable enough to get onboard that private air ambulance that brought him back here to boston last night. he arrived some time last night and was able to get to one of the best in the country. he is in good hands here, but not out of the woods in terms of recovery. according to his spokesperson, the round entered his back and exited from his abdomen and struck a friend of his in the leg. that friend is expected to be okay. we have been told that part of his intestine had to be removed in that six-hour surgery, his gallbladder taken out and some liver damage. the doctor who handled that six-hour surgery down there say one of the first things that david ortiz said when he came

out of surgery is how soon can i see my family? he was flown here last night and reunite with his wife, tiffany, and perhaps his kids, as well. also said he was looking forward to meeting with some of his former teammates here. he is clearly beloved here in boston. everyone pulling for him in boston. kristen? >> we know his boston community there pulling for him and sending prayers to him and his family. morgan, i want to turn to you now. this bizarre series of deaths in the dominican republic. what is the latest on the investigation? i know you have been talking to tourism officials, as well. what are they saying to tourists about all this to try to calm concerns? >> yeah, kristen, right. this is the very block where that shooting took place late sunday night involving ortiz. that sign to the left of the sign there notice it says it has been temporarily closed down by

national police here in the dominican republic. in fact, you can see two officers over my shoulder here on the scene today. right now they're staying very tight lipped about the ortiz investigation. they're not saying if they believe he was specifically targeted, however, they are say s ing they don't believe this was a robbery. as you mentioned, this is just the latest incident inuvl vaivo tourist in the dominican republic. six american tourists have died while visiting this country. millions of people come here every year and that is what the local tourism board is pointing to calling these isolated incidents. investigators are looking into each of these americans who tide in this country. they said of the six that passed over the past year, half of those consumed alcohol on the premise of their hotel but at this time they're not saying any of these cases are linked. >> unbelievable tragedy and

mystery. all right, morgan chesky and ron m mott, thank you for those report. 20 days away from the debate and the candidates bringing them the ideas that separate them from the growing number of contenders. you don't want to miss it. stay with us. ay with us ho e int. yeah? mmm! with no artificial preservatives or added nitrates or nitrites, it's all for the love of hot dogs. i have heart disease, watch what i eat, take statins, but still struggle to lower my ldl bad cholesterol.

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we have some breaking news now at this hour. you're seeing house speaker nancy pelosi live in washington peeki speaking at the peter g. peterson foundation. here's what she had to say just a few moments ago reacting to the president's reactions. >> probably the most aggressive remarks from a president make about a speaker of the house. he said you were nervous. he called you a disaster. he also called you a nasty, vindictive, horrible person. this is not me, this is the president saying this. he later went on to tweet that you were a disgrace to yourself and your family. how do you react to the president of the united states calling you, the speaker of the house, insulting you like that. >> what bothers me more is that

we're talking about that instead of how to reduce the national debt. let's say this, before the president made his statement i was being interviewed by msnbc and they asked me about the president. and i said we're here about our veterans and i have a rule for democrat republican always say the first rule is we never criticize a president of the united states when we are overseas. that we just don't do that. we have plenty of time to do that back home. but when we travel, we don't. and especially when we're here to honor the courage of our veterans and thank them for that courage and also to salute the cooperation and collaboration of our country with our allies and the greatest naval invasion in the history of the world to save civilization as we know it today and our freedoms. so, i said basically, i'm not

here to say anything about the president and we had the same backdrop. the tombstones of our veterans who are buried in normandy. the president took a different tact. i don't think -- i'm done with him. >> kimberly atkins, she says i'm done with him. reports that surfaced prior to those remarks by the president that she says she wants. can this standoff get any more fraught? >> what you saw demonstrated there, the house speaker saying i don't want to talk about him. i said i am not going to, he did something different in the backdrop of this remembrance and that was her delivering some shade as she does very well. yes, the comments she made about being imprisoned, that was made within the democratic caucus. that was not made during an interview. clearly, this escalation is not dying down in any way.

they both have different tact as they approach it. but this isn't getting any better. >> jake, how can they get anything done because you basically have the house speaker saying she is done with the president and the president said weeks ago said weeks ago he doesn't think he can work with him. >> she's got the fund government, raise the debt ceiling. she's not anywhere close to being done with them. >> lester holt, chuck todd, will be moderating the first democratic debates in two weeks. this morning, we're launching a new series we're calling my big idea, featuring the democratic hopefuls that will tell you the idea they say separates them from the vast field of contenders. first up is senator bernie

sanders. >> for months senator bernie sanders is among other things, consistent. check out this clip of him from an appearance on "the today show" when he was the newly elected mayor of burlington in 1981. >> our society theoretically a democratic society, you have a handful of people who control our economy. you have maybe 2% of the population that owns one third of the entire wealth of the america. >> talk like that took sanders to the house of representatives. then the senate. and in 2016, nearly to the democratic nomination for president. we met with sanders in a small campaign office on capitol hill. as the senator took a short break from his day job a few blocks away. >> this is something the american people want. it's something long overdue. we've got to do it. >> how old a person does it start with? >> everybody. >> everybody? >> let's be clear. thursday not a radical idea. this exists in every other major

country on earth. healthcare is a human right. and it's somewhat absurd and grossly wrong, to my mind, that today we have 34 million people who have no health insurance at all and that we have another 45 million people who are underinsured with high deductibles and high co-payments. so we have a system that is wasteful, expensive and dysfunctional. medicare today works very well for seniors over a four year period. we've got to expand that to all of our people. >> spend what, about $3.5 trillion on medical care? >> that's right t. the estimate is as healthcare costs go up the best estimate i've seen would be $50 trilli $50 trillion over the next ten years. medicare for all will be far less expensive. >> i can see the doctor i want to see. >> right now in many cases you

can't. if you're not in the network of your insurance program, you may not be able to see that doctor or you have to pay a whole lot to do that. we get people freedom of choice, doctors, and we give prefreedom choice hospitals. >> the word that will come out of your opponents, assuming you get the nomination, the word that will come from the republicans is socialism. and just as a word, has its own level of toxicity. >> that may or may not be. as it happens, this is not a socialist program. do you know what is a socialist program? the veteran administration. do you know what is a socialist program? your police department, your fire department. those are government run programs. every other country in one variation or another provides healthcare to all their people through a government program. what we do here is maintain the infrastructure of healthcare in america. >> if i want to, can i opt out?

>> no. >> everybody gets it. >> yeah, this is -- it's like social security. it's like medicare right now. just an expansion of medicare. medicare is the most popular insurance company in america. far more popular than private health insurance policies. if we expand medicare to all people, you're going to see a lot of people being very satisfied. >> that was the great harry smith with bernie sanders' big idea. his series continues on nbc "nightly news" tonight with lester holt featuring a big idea from senator kamala harris. you don't want to miss that. coming up at the top of the hour, pete buttigieg is set to make a splash. we're moments away, but first we'll bring you what our sources are saying when we come right back. are saying when we come right back elara® works differently. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks.

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time now to look at what our sources are saying. kimberly atkins, jake sherman are back with you. jake, what are your sources tellingio you? >> members of congress have been stuck at the same pay rate since 2009 but no one is complaining. the republicans'campaign arm blue this up when they announced a pay increase. >> and it often gets caught in

the cross hairs. >> it's rare that ruth bader ginsberg says makes republicans happy. the remaining cases will be filled with 5-4 close spitlits. it's good news for conservatives because in those tight battles in this court it's usually the conservative side that comes through. they may cut some sort of compromise, looks like there's not much compromise happening there. with cases like the census cases coming up, republicans are feeling pretty good. >> i can tell you my sources are telling me that on the tariff talks there may be some progress being made between the u.s. and mexico as it comes to that safe third country provision. that, of course, would require central american migrants to

seek asylum in mexico. thank you, great conversations throughout the hour. appreciate it. fantastic panels. and now i'd like to kick it over to new york and my colleague craig melvin. hi, there, craig. we have that big announcement about who is going to moderate out first debate. craig melvin here. hammering president trump. right now, mayor pete buttigieg is about to deliver a foreign policy speech, taking on the president directly by name. repeatedly in fact. also carving out his lane as the only military veteran. joe biden and president trump going head to head in iowa. laying out how trump's inner circle is trying to use biden to get the president engaged.