Hence i would fully expect corker to be a negative voice and stand in the way of our great agenda. Didnt have the guts to run. I want to go live now to cnns ryan nobles outside the white house. Ryan, what do we know first about pences decision to leave that nfl game . Well, it appears that there was some sort of planning ahead of time by the white house and by Vice President pence just based on what the Vice President and the president put out on their social media feeds today. I want to show you a tweet from the president that went out shortly after the Vice President left that game and stated on twitter himself that he was leaving because the nfl players were kneeling during the National Anthem. This is what the president had to say, quote, i asked vp pence to leave stadium if any players kneeled, disrespecting our country. I am proud of him and second lady karen. Ana, its important to point out the logistics of this whole thing. Players in the nfl have been kneeling during the National Anthem going back into last season. There was really an explosion of players kneeling during the National Anthem after the president was critical of Colin Kaepernick who was the original player to use this form of protest to protest racial injustice. So, it would not have been a surprise that someone would have been kneeling at this game. In particular because the San Francisco 49ers were two of the teams that were participating in this game. Of course the team that Colin Kaepernick used to play for. So shouldnt have come as too big a surprise the Vice President had those tweets ready to go quickly as soon as he left the stadium. It does sound like there was at least some previous discussion or planning about how this was going to go down. I want to also ask you about the fight now between President Trump and senator corker. Break this down for us. How exactly did we get here . And apparently the president just fired off another tweet about corker . Yeah, he did. Lets show you that tweet first and get into the back and forth. This is another tweet. I think the fourth tweet today about bob corker by donald trump and it says, quote, bob corker gave us the iran deal, thats about it. We need health care, tax cuts, reform, we need people to get the job done. Trump is very upset with bob corker in particular hes upset with the public criticism that the senator from tennessee has given in Donald Trumps direction. One of them came from during the summer over august and then there was one just this week. Lets listen to them both. I think secretary tillerson, secretary mattis and chief of staff kelly are those people that helped separate our country from chaos. The president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor some of the competence that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful. And if its anything we know about donald trump, when he feels that he is underattacked, he responds and he responds in a big way. When bob corker announced that he was deciding not to run for reelection this week, thats what set the president off claiming that he was begging donald trump for his endorsement and when the president said he wouldnt give it, thats why he decided to step down. Now, ana, we know from senator corkers office that they flatly reject that claim. This is a Statement Given to me by the chief of staff and senator corkers office, todd womack, saying, quote, the president called senator corker on monday afternoon and asked him to reconsider his decision not to seek reelection and reaffirm that he would have endorsed him as he said many times so corkers office saying the president is lying about their interactions. Just to wrap this up, ana, this is not a flat the president needs. They need every single vote in the senate from republicans. Even though bob corker is not seeking reelection, he is still in office until the end of 2018 and have another enemy on capitol hill, especially a republican one is not going to make things easy for this white house. Fighting words on both sides. Ryan nobles, thank you. Lets talk more about all of this, democratic congressman tad lieu is joining us. Before we dive into everything else, i want to quickly ask you about the Vice President leaving the colts game after players kneeled during the anthem. You are a democrat. Youve been outspoken of the president and his administration but youre also a veteran. Do you feel as though the Vice President defended the flag and your Service Today . Thank you, ana, for that question. I stand for the National Anthem because i love a country that gives people the freedom to kneel during the National Anthem. And i agreed to one oath, the constitution of the United States. I took that oath before i could go on active duty and it protects freedom of speech, that is how we respect this country. Certainly mike pence is free to leave and miss a good football game. The best way to honor the country is to honor the constitution. I want to ask you about the fight between the president and senator bob corker. Corker calling the white house now an adult day care. Are you surprised corker went there . Thats a stunning attack to make against ones own partys leader. Senator corkers response to donald trump today highlights why the republicans have been unable to pass any significant legislation this year. Donald trump is a weak president with low Approval Ratings who does not command respect on capitol hill. As a result, trump cant deliver the votes when he needs it. And to make matters worse, donald trump is not trying to build relationships, he lashes out and insults members of congress and keep in mind, trumps deficit exploding tax plan can only lose three Republican Senate votes before it dies. So youre saying he needs corker. He should be buttering him up, not offending him . That is correct. Im sure senator john mccain did not forget the insults that trump levelled at him. Im sure corker is not going to forget the insults that trump levelled at him today. And he needs all of his votes, the president does f he wants to pass any partisan legislation. One could argue corker has nothing to lose, he is not going to run for ereelection, so he doesnt have to necessarily play that political game. But do you think corker is saying what other republican lawmakers are thinking . Oh, absolutely. You know, i wish i could replay what people tell me on the floor from my colleagues across the aisle. What are you hearing . I cant do that, but they are similar to senator corker. I can say this, the president is not respected by many members of congress. Youre seeing that play out in terms of failed legislation. And you see that played out when the president goes after and singles out individual members of congress and attacks them. Thats not how you build relationships. Today is the one week anniversary of the las vegas shooting. We just had another hurricane hit the u. S. Over night. We know puerto rico is still devastated and dealing with the humanitarian crisis. Why do you think that the president chose this morning to start tweeting about senator corker . Youre asking me to explain how the president thinks. I have no idea. I cant do that. I know this is indicative of a lack of priorities. Keep in mind, when puerto rico was struck by the massive hurricane, donald trump was tweeting about the nfl. And his response to puerto rico was late and it was inadequate and now theyre playing catchup. You see that happening right now. We have north korea, a major threat, and youve got the president talking about senator corker and publicly undercutting Rex Tillerson on twitter. We should not be making Foreign Policy on twitter and the president needs to stop tweeting about issues as important as north korea and 140 characters or less. Let me bring that up because he did tweet this weekend on north korea as youre referring to but for our viewers just joining us and dont know the back story he said yesterday theres only one answer when it comes to north korea. Youp, i know, are a member of the Foreign Relations or Foreign Affairs committee. Is he right when he says diplomacy a lost cause considering it has done little, it seems to stop the norths Nuclear Program . The president needs to exhaust all options before even talking about war. I served on active duty at Anderson Air Force base in guam. Theres always a series of Different Military exercises, much of it directed against north korea. And the u. S. Has zero good military options. Every scenario could go to escalation and estimates are that as many as 2. 1 Million People could die, 7. 7 million injured, including hundreds of thousands of americans. Thats why we need to focus on diplomacy and economic sanctions before looking at the dark and bloody path of war. Is there Anything Congress can do to prevent war with north korea . Ive introduced legislation with senator ed marky that restricts the president s ability to launch a Nuclear First strike without first getting congressional approval. I think Congress Also needs to have a debate about an authorization for the use of military force because under the constitution, the president cannot go to war with north korea without first getting congressional approval. Congressman ted lieu, thank you so much for your time. We appreciate it. Im going to talk more about the Vice President s decision to leave an nfl game in his hometown after some players from the opposing team kneeled during the National Anthem. Joining us is the former spokesman for republican congressman darrell issa and cnn political commentator ben ferguson. After the Vice President left that game, we learned a short time later that President Trump told Vice President pence to leave if they kneeled. This is one the white house wants and one the president thinks hes winning. We saw this play book before when things are going bad in the white house, he turns this this cultural war to change the conversation to play to his base. This was a premeditated act. Mike pence knew he was going to leave the game early. Its also an egregious waste of taxpayer dollars to spend the money to travel up there, do all the security precautions and leave early. But after spending the whole week defending why the president isnt a moron or why the secretary of state called him that or didnt call him that, hes immediately looking to change the conversation and in some degree its working because here we are talking about it instead of whether or not donald trump is a moron. White house reporters were told to stay in the van because there may be an early departure from the game. Was this all just a political stunt . I think its very clear that he went there because he wanted to honor Peyton Manning and he said if the players are going to disrespect this country, im not going to support a league that allows their employees to disrespect this country in the way that these players are allowed to do. And so they decided to leave. I dont think thats a political stunt standing up for the United States of america, standing up for the men and women who fought and protected and despended this country. And i think the Vice President unszs that as well. I think it should always be the decision of the Vice President of the president regardless of who they are and what party they are, what color their skin is that when you have people in front of you, at an event that are disrespecting this country, you have a duty as commander in chief of our military and of those that protect and serve it to stand up for this country. So if thats called a stunt, im fine with every president doing it from here on out. But he clearly was making a point because this has been going on for over a year. Absolutely. Its not like he wasnt expecting this to happen. There was a plan that were going to leave. Were going to make a point. Yeah. And i think its a smart point. I think the majority of the American People based on poll numbers weve seen over the past few weeks say they also think its a mistake for nfl players to come out and protest in the way that they are. They have the right to protest to do it, though, with the American Flag and a point where you honor and respect others, the majority of americans say that these nfl players have gotten it wrong. So i dont think that the Vice President or the president are out of step on this issue. In fact, i think theyre supposed to and obligated to lead as president and Vice President on an issue thats this its a simple issue. You dont stand in support any organization or any business that allows their employees in front of you to disrespect this country. Im curious to get your point, curt, because obviously this is an issue that resonates with the base. Ben is right that the majority of americans when polled have sided on the side of the president in the sense they dont agree necessarily with kneeling during the National Anthem, but the same polls also said that the majority of americans dont agree with the president telling those players they cant or shouldnt kneel. Right. At the end of the day, people have a right to express themselves. And the best appreciation you can show for this country and for the people who have sacrificed everything for it is to exercise your right to be heard and exercise your right of freedom of expression. Just because the president and Vice President dont like the way that nfl players are expressing themselves doesnt mean theyre wrong. Doesnt mean that theyre enemyings of america. Doesnt mean they need to be made an example of and they should be dictating to the nfl what their policy should be. Lot of the problems the americans have with President Trumps reaction to this, doesnt he have Better Things to worry about right now, whether its north korea, whether its the shooting, the hurricanes that have destroyed puerto rico and other parts of this country . Why is it that he spends his time sitting around and dictating by tweet when the reality is his entire administration is completely out of control. His cabinet is fighting with him. Hes fighting with his cabinet. Hes fighting with members of congress. You know, why is it that he chooses these times to fight with the nfl . Ben, republican senator bob corker replied that the president was a child. The president asking the Vice President leave an nfl game make him seem less childish . Again, its the duty of the president of the United States of america and the majority of American People agree with the president and agree with me on this, you do not support and sit there and allow as the commander in chief the second in command of this country to watch people disrespect the United States of america. They have the right to do it. The Vice President has the right to leave that game and to say, im not going to support a league that is literally allowing their players to openly disrespect the United States of america and the men and women who fought for it. Thats not being childish. Thats being american. But did the president make this same kind of effort to make that kind of a statement against White Supremacists given the whole Charlottesville Violence that took place . I said this before. When the president came out and made his initial comments about charlottesville, you had a state of emergency declared and got off the phone with the governor who was a democrat of the state and said that they were terrified of what was going to come that night. And the president s job was to try to ratchet down both sides and make sure no one else died that night in these fights and battles that we saw play out and cost someone their life. No one did die that night and there were not big breakouts that night. In charlottesville. The night after the initial person died and the president came out and made his comment. The governor declared a state of emergency. He was terrified that when it turned dark that evening in that city that there were going to be bigger fights and bigger protests and bigger riots that could break out. So the president came out. He did condemn those White Supremacists by name and the kkk and the neonazis after that and his job that day was to some were nice people, some were fine people. Remember, he did say those are the president s words. And he doubled down im not buying the argument youre making. You dont have to buy it. Much more of a calm night because the president was calm in his response and calling out both sides making sure that there was an escalation that evening. Curt, senator corkers chief of staff gave this statement to ryan nobles after this back and forth in which the president had said that corker basic