A lot of things. Thanks, appreciate the reporting. Im joined by caroline. Lets get to the conflict issue and what the president wrote over the weekend. Is Robert Mueller ever going to release his conflicts of interest with respect to prtd tr President Trump. What he was talking about with this alleged Conflict Of Interest and white house wouldnt tell cnn either when they asked this question. You think you know what its about and has merit. There are three things we know that President Trump himself stated, theres this lingering Potential Dispute over fees at his golf course and then of course the other issue besides the fact that mueller had worked for wilmer hail, the law firm that represented jared and ivanka and experts in the doj cleared, they vetted him to do this representation ethically. But the issue is that interviewed for ahead of the fbi with President Trump days before his appointment as special counsel. I think as everything in this case, hes grasping for straws. They are using things with sort of a colonel of truth and then distorting them way out of proportion to undermine the entirety of the investigation. I want you to listen to Something Else that Rudy Giuliani was emphatic about in the long interview when it comes to the New York Times reporting that muellers team is looking into the president s tweet, specifically tweets about jeff sessions, tweets about fired fbi director james comey, as to whether or not those are signs of or evidence of obstruction. Heres how giuliani sees it. If they are looking at his tweets, the investigation is done. Were going to do obstruction by tweet on a president of the United States as an article of i am r impeachment . Mueller and his team in terms of assessing the president s State Of Mind at the time that he made these really crucial decisions. Caroline, appreciate the Legal Expertise this morning. Thank you very much. Back to Michael Cohen. Take a look at this. This 2017 tweet that he wrote about that meeting at trump tower, its notable that cohen tweeted this just after minutes after don jr. Went on fox news and said his father knew nothing about the Trump Tower Meeting and after he testified before congress. Let me read it. So proud of that donald j. Trump jr. For open and transparent to the american people. This nonsense needs to stop. That was then. We now know of course that cohen thinks anything but this and thinks the president needs to be forthright and he says that the president knew about this trump meeting with the russians. With me now is denny heck of washington, sits on the Intelligence Committee and questioned Michael Cohen under oath. Thank you for being here. Because of Michael Cohens allegation that the president knew beforehand about the meeting on june 16th as i recall in trump tower, that included the president s Campaign Manager and soninlaw and his son. Meeting with the russians. You said on ms nbc in the past few days that you dont see a reason for Michael Cohen to lie. That struck me because Michael Cohen is under federal Criminal Investigation should he be charged, he would have cause to lie, no . Well, not if you believe that if he continued to lie that the president might pardon him as has been rumored over and over again. He had to make that political calculus for himself. Neither Michael Cohen or President Trump are reliable sources and Director Mueller will have to rely upon a body of evidence, this just being one element of it. Lets talk about the party going forward. You know, when you look at what
democrats should run on in the midterms and in 2020, there is increasing evidence that americans faith in Robert Mueller has declined, gone from 48 in march down to 41 most recently. Should this be a warning sign to your fellow democrats saying dont run on this, dont make this issue number one if youre trying to win your race . Poppy, i dont know of a single democrat anywhere in america who is running on the basis of the Russian Investigation. Heres what i hear them running on, lowering Prescription Drug prices and making sure that people with preexisting conditions are protected so they can have health insurance, trying to build an economy not just grows but grows fairly you and others talk and tweet a lot about the russia probe and a lot about trump and cohen. I talk about Russian Investigation when you invite me on the program and ask me about it. You dont tweet about it . Not much. Do you think your other members of congress should tweet about it and write about it less . I think angie craig in minnesota and lisa brown in
policies, you reform i. C. E. , change the guy in in charge of i. C. E. And take a different approach and dont throw out the border enforcement with trafficking. What they were originally intended to do was not separate families, not rip babies out of the arms of their mothers. Youre not in the camp of abolish i. C. E. I am not. Is there any 2020 contender that you think is too liberal right now, too left for the field that would cost democrats the election . Poppy, starting gun for the 2020 president ial election goes off at 8 01 p. M. On november 6th, 99 days from now. Ask me that after let me ask about the mid terms. Is there any candidate that is too left, too liberal for the party . Do you think alexandria acost ya cortez is too left for party . I happen to have the honor to
chair the committee for the last four years and i can tell ut candidates that are running throughout the country reflect interest and desires and aspirations of their districts. Thats why im optimistic. You think shes more representative of the district than of the country . As determined by the primary election outcome, yes. Thank you for being here. Well have you back and ask you that question. We appreciate it. Thanks for the time. As i mentioned, 99 days until the mid terms and the president throws his own party a curveball threatening a government shutdown. What would that actually mean and look like for republicans come midterms, deadly wildfire still raging across california leaving a path of destruction tens of thousands forced to flee. Well have a live report. It has been years since the plane mh 370 disappeared with all 239 people on board. Will we find out what happened . Investigators are out this morning with a new report. Bounty picks up messes quicker and is 2x more absorbent than the leading ordinary brand. Ahoy laughing bounty, the quicker picker upper. Theres a new place with daily laundry service. A place with a day spa. A place where seniors get the care they need in the comfort of home. Home instead senior care. A lot of paints say ordinthey can do the job,ver. But just one can behr through it all. Behr premium plus, a top rated interior paint at a great price. Family friendly, disaster proof. Find it exclusively at the home depot. Whenshe was pregnant,ter failed, inlaws were coming, a little bit of water, it really it rocked our world. I had no idea the amount of damage that water could do. We called usaa. And they greeted me as they always do. Sergeant baker, how are you . They were on it. It was unbelievable. Having insurance is something everyone needs, but having usaa now thats a privilege. Were the bakers and were usaa members for life. Usaa. Get your insurance quote today. Agent beekman was one step ahead of them. Dits stole the lockbox from the wells fargo stagecoach, because he hid his customers gold in a different box. And the bandits, well, they got rocks. We protected your money then and were dedicated to helping protect it today. Like alerting you to certain Card Activity we find suspicious. If its not your purchase, well help you resolve it. Its a new day at wells fargo. But its a lot like our first day. Welcome back, President Trump is threatening to shut down the government in september over immigration and funding for a border wall. He wrote over the weekend hes willing to see the government shut down if democrats do not give us the votes for border security, which includes a wall. With the midterms 99 days away, what would a shutdown mean for republicans hoping to stay that the majority in congress . Lets talk with it Ron Brownstein and molly ball. Thanks for being here. Happy monday one and all. Ron, are you in l. A. . Is it very early monday morning in l. A. . Its very early monday morning. Thank you for getting up very early for us. Let me begin with you, molly. Is this for real or is this bluster from the president . Even mcconnell is saying this would put a lot in jeopardy, you have the kavanaugh nomination they would like to see obviously get the votes it needs in congress to get him on the high court before the term starts in october. Is the president really willing to shut down the government with all that at stake . Nobody knows because at this point this is a routine threat from the president. He has literally made this threat every single time there has been a funding bill up. And he has yet to do it. So whether he would follow through this time, one of the things that the republicans in congress have learned in nearly two years of trying to figure out how to get along with this president is that his attention is somewhat in constant and his threats are not necessarily followed by intense focus on outcomes in the past so far they made spending deals with the democrats and some involvement from the white house but not a lot of direct involvement from the president. They put them in front of them and he signed them. However, he is annoyed that wall funding still hasnt come through. And so at any point he could decide to be an obstacle and that is something reflected am
mcconnells comments that very few in congress think would be a good idea politically. Right. It could be hard to name one who thinks its a good idea politically. Ron, listen to this, this is ron johnson together on the radio over the weekend. Is the fnding of the border wall going to wait until after the elections . Probably. That is something we do have a disagreement i dont like playing shutdown plakz. How damaging would that be ahead of the november races . I dont think it would be helpful. Lets try and avoid it. So i mean, ron, will Top Republicans be able to talk the president down from this ledge . I think in the end probably. You know, look the history of shutdowns is they dont work and provide the leverage that whoever is executing it believes will get them what they want. That was certainly true in the mother of all shutdowns back in
95 and 96 with bill clinton and really the Turning Point and i think its worth noting, the president is talking about shutting down the government over a border wall with astonishing consistency, 60 they oppose in every poll. The number doesnt move by more than a point or two. Its also worth noting there are Many Democrats who believe why doug jones won in alabama not only because of policy, it was simply the idea of a return to normalcy. Politics that was not living on def con five all the time. Theres a level of conflict coming out of washington that is unnerving for the public, particularly in the white collar suburban districts, the epicenter of vulnerability. It was kind of overlooked but in the npr maris poll, 68 of College Educated whites in those kind of key districts said they
were embarrassed by trumps behavior as president and just the sheer level of conflict and idea of shutting down the government right before the midterm election, i think would be viewed as a gift by democrats running in those suburban districts at the Tipping Point of the electioelection. I want to turn the corner and talk about the he said he said continues that go on in the saga, Michael Cohen and the president and what the president knew or did not know about the Trump Tower Meeting with russians to get dirt on hillary clinton. Republican congressman darrel issa, in a tough district for a republican, heres what he said over the weekend on fox news, basically saying its not such a big deal if it does turn out that the president lied about this. Lets listen. What hes proven to be a liar, congressman. If hes proven to have not told the whole truth about the fact that campaigns look for dirt and if someone offers it
you listen to them, nobody is going to be surprised. There are some things in politics you just take for granted. Businessmen listen to almost everyone that might be helpful. By the way they make prag natic decisions how to make bad stories go away. In business, a problem is something money wont solve. Molly, really . Hes not a businessman. Hes a president. Well, he does have an interest in his business so arguably he is still fair. I think what we are seeing is a continual evolution, continual sort of falling down the Slippery Slope of attempts to explain and account for whatever the particular reasoning of the president is at the time and it has gone from Nothing Happened to if something happened it wasnt illegal or if something happened it was fine. So i think we are very close to
republicans openly arguing not only that sure there was collusion but who cares it was fine, everybody does it but even ffs a good thing and some kind of strategic genius on part of the campaign as the facts continue to refute previous denials and explanations. Heres ron part of the concern among trumps lawyers, the president s legal team and why it seems they want the Mueller Probe wrapped up now or yesterday really. Listen to giuliani this morning. If he does not wrap it up by september, are you worried this will affect the midterm snz. Yeah, i dont know which way. The people against him get excited about it but its one of his biggest rallying cries, dont impeach. Vote republicans because theyll impeach. I think it sure as hell confuses the midterm and could become a go off on a ridiculous thing about impeachment. It is interesting the new
quinnipiac poll shows if democrats retake the house 65 of democratic voters say they should proceed with articles of impeachment against the president. If its not wrapped up by the midterms, no indication it would be, which party does it help and hurt . Well, first of all, i think as your previous guests, there are no democrats there are vanishing few democrats running on the idea of impeachment. They want to run on primarily on health care and tax cut and that is kind of the argument. I dont know, i dont think it has a huge effect on the midterm if it carries over. It kind of fits into what is the general reinforces the current we already see. The president has a consistent strategy amid all of this, he is trying to turn out more of the Republican Base than the president s party usually turns out in a midterm. The price of that is that everybody not only republicans who hear the tweets and arguments that hes putting out. Gentlem clearly had an effect on House Republicans and move them in the direction because of what hes done with the base that molly talks about it, willing to excuse almost any behavior but everybody else is listening too. If you look at the polling, 60 say they are embarrassed by conduct as president and 61 saying they believe he speaks the truth only rarely or not at all. 40 point majority saying they trust the Intelligent Services more than him about russia meddling. Everybody is hearing this. If youre a republican in a swing district, most of which voted for hillary clinton, many of which are white collar districts at a point where the disapproval among College Educated whites is back up to 60 post helsinki. Is this helpful . It may make the Rubble Bounce in places that are reliably republicans and some republicans in deep red states but in the battle for the house, polarizing the electorate that leaves most defending on the shortened of the stick. 99 days to go. Youll be with us along the way. We appreciate you being here this morning. Thank you. Ahead for us, the Deadly Wildfires in california. Six people including two firefighters have died battling the blaze. Still ahead how the weather and dry air soaring temperatures are slowing the efforts to try to contain this. Your Brain Changes as you get older. But prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered. In jellyfish. In clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. Im a small business, but i have. Big dreams. And big plans. So how do i make the efforts of 8 employees. Feel like 50 . How can i share new plans virtually . How can i download an efile . Virtual tours . Zipfile . Really big files . In seconds, not minutes. Just like that. Like everything. The answer is simple. Ill do what ive always done. Dream more, dream faster, and above all. Now, ill dream gig. Now more businesses, in more places, can afford to dream gig. Comcast, building americas largest gigspeed network. Six people are now confirmed dead, serven more missing in th largest of the california wildfires, fed by dry weather and triple digit temperatures, the karr fire doubled in size, covers 95,000 acres and only 17
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