Theyve been behind closed doors in baltimore debating whether their path forward should be progressive or more centerist. The president s been hate watching snl, so the guest host tonight is alec baldwin, so the president is probably in for more. And joe piscapo is here with friendly advice for the unhappy viewer in maralago. But first, the Trump Administration has just concluded its third full week and a lot has happened. And patterns are emerging. One is that the president s day often begins with him tweeting. Some are informative, others are boastful, many impetuous. Ive looked at every one of his tweets during his first three weeks in office and heres what ive noticed. Almost every day knowing there will be political battles fought he launches an Early Morning preemptive strike. They come in the form of missiles that land on any one or anything that stands in the way of his objectives. They stoke his base and they serve as diversionary fodder. Take a look at a couple. The day after women marched around the globe in opposition to his presidency at 7 47 a. M. And all these times are eastern, quote, we just had an election. Why didnt these people vote . Well, presumably they had voted and thats why he lost the popular vote. Three days later he kicked off the day at 7 10 a. M. , i will be asking for a Major Investigation into voter fraud. And then on the day he was scheduled to meet with the mexican president to smooth over the border wall dispute came this misdirection bombshell 6 04 a. M. Ungrateful traitor chelsea manning. After the New York Times reported that the president , the mexican president , was considering canceling the meeting, our president implied that, well, it was his idea. 8 55 a. M. , if mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting. And speaking of the times, on the saturday that he was going to have phone calls with five world leaders, he made the newspaper his morning focus. The New York Times had published an editorial labeling his muslim ban, quote, cowardly and dangerous. 8 04 a. M. He tweeted this, failing New York Times wrong about me from the very beginning. Fake news. After the news broke overnight that an americanled yemeni raid ended in the death of a u. S. Navy s. E. A. L. Came this, christians in the middle east have been executed in large numbers, we cannot allow this horror to continue. Amidst protests over his ban, senator schumer became his foil as he mocked the tears of senator schumer. Remember those berkeley protesters who prevented a speech from an altright guest . Well, he warned them at 6 13 a. M. , no federal funds. Hes even taken on the terminator. At 6 24 a. M. , yes, Arnold Schwarzenegger did a really bad job as governor of california and even worse on the apprentice, but at least he tried hard. And of course he sought to delegitimize the judge who issued a restraining order halting his travel ban, quote, the opinion of this socalled judge. That came at 8 12 a. M. But that night Homeland Security halted implementation of the ban. A couple of days later he was going after nordstroms. And then to deflect being criticized by his own Supreme Court nominee, he tried to discredit the messenger. At 6 57 a. M. , senator richard blumenthal, who never fought in vietnam when he said for years he had, major lie, now misrepresents what judge gorsuch told him. Just this morning at 7 12 a. M. Came the latest, our legal system is broken, 77 of refugee are allowed into the u. S. Hail from seven suspect countries, so dangerous. So what drives this . Is it a president ial form of a. D. D. . Or is he crazy like a fox . Im not sure. But i do know after reading art of the deal that everything at least in his mind is strategic. And therefore we need to look behind what often appears to be irrationality and ask the question each morning has to what hes trying to do. What narrative is he suggesting versus the substantive matters that are occurring at the same time. And, again, at the end of the day we need to assess the tweeting in the context of what followed. These tweets are unique unvarnished window into a president s thinking just so long as we dont allow them to become a shell game, a distraction from more consequential matters that warrant our attention. As these three weeks have proven, hes still going to have to endorse scrutiny on his actual policies. And speaking of twitter, what do you think . Tweet me smerconish, i will read some, and that includes you, mr. President. Now, President Trump has said repeatedly that the travel ban is an urgent matter of National Security implying theres an imminent threat. Despite claims that hes not backing down, thereve been reports that this weekend the administrations trying to rewrite the executive order. Is there any way the president can achieve his objectives in a way that passes constitutional muster . Joining me now famed attorney and Professor Emeritus at harvard law school, alan dirsowitz. Youve been saying rewrite it, explain. He said theres an imminent threat. We know hes going to lose the stay application, so it will take months before he gets to the Supreme Court and achieves a partial victory, which i think he will achieve. So its only logical for him to either rescind the order and moot the ninth circuit opinion, or simply revise the order and institute a new one while taking a slow track up to the Supreme Court. The last thing he wants is a 44 affirm of the ninth circuit striking down his order. So hes smart to try to rewrite the order now, get rid of the application and order to green card holders and legitimate visa holders, apply it only to people who have never been in the United States, have no contact with the United States, have no standing to raise this issue. And in that way he can accomplish both goals, protect the security of the country and not have a constitutional crisis on his hands. Do you think that he expands or limits that list of seven nations . Does he put in a christian nation so as to avoid an argument over the establishment clause . That would be foolish. There is no christian nation today that fits into that category. What would he do throw in armenia or israel as a jewish nation . It wouldnt work. In fact, he campaigned on the issue of combatting islamic terrorism, something that the Obama Administration refused to mention. And he has the right to say that were going to focus on those nations that export islamic terrorism. Of course there are going to be muslim nations. And he also has the right to say were going to give special preference to religious minority who is are the victims of islamic oppression. They are christians, they are kurds, they fall into a number of categories. And its okay to mention religious groups if theres a secular purpose, and the secular purpose is to rescue them from prosecution. So i think he gets the better of the constitutional argument if he can narrow the executive order and distinguish between people who are american persons, green card holders, others, and those who are really strangers to the country and have no standing and no right to come into the country. Am i right in saying that he kind of backed himself into a corner . Because inso far as the order is predicated on an imminent threat, he cant then sit back and allow the litigation to play itself out for a time period that frankly would be longer than the ban he sought to impose. And that was my point exactly. As soon as the ninth circuit ruled, i said he had a conundrum. He had backed himself into the corner by saying this was eminent. So i think he has no choice but to do this, but look hes listening. And hes understanding now for the first time that we do operate within a system of checks and balances. Not only do the courts check, but now states have the ability to bring lawsuits and check the national government. This drama is going to continue for months in the future because we have figured out a way of making sure that the president cant just operate without our system of checks and balances. So hes going to have to get used to living within our system of separation of powers with the judiciary is as important in our system of governance as the presidency is. Well, hes listening. Hes listening to harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz and could do a hell of a lot less. Thank you, professor, for your being here. Thank you. This week hostility level in partisan divide. This weekend disrupted by two republican members of Congress Jason Chaffetz and diane black. Then on friday newly confirmed secretary of Education Betsy Devos tried to visit a washington, d. C. Public school and found her path blocked by more unhappy citizens. With this kind of hyperpartisanship and blockading, can anything get accomplished on either side of the aisle . Joining me now, charley cook, the editor and publisher of the Cook Political Report and columnist for the national journal. Charlie, do you see parallels between the democratic opposition to President Trump and the Tea Party Movement in 2010 against president obama . Yes, we do. Its the party thats out of power that where you have the anger, the antagonism, where you have the feeling of alienation. Thats where you get the passion in american politics. One of the dangers for republicans is exactly what happened with president obama. In 2008 you had all these people that were really enthusiastic for president obama, two years later they dont show up for joe or jane generic democrat. 2012 they show up, reelect obama. 2014 they dont show up for joe and jane generic democrat. What republicans have to fear is that these people that came in and turbo charged donald trump in 2016, will they show up for another republican in the Midterm Election who doesnt look, sound or act like donald trump . I was surprised, in fact i want to roll some footage of what transpired in utah. Then ill make a comment to charlie cook. This is Jason Chaffetz at a town hall. Play it. Do your job do your job do your job do your job do your job do your job you know, not, charlie, what youd expect from one of the reddest of states in the country for a republican conservative member of congress to be greeted like that at a town hall. There is an enormous amount its interesting whats happened since the election. You have some people that have just completely withdrawn and wont watch news anymore. And then you have New York Times subscriptions skyrocketing. Right. Its built this intensity among some people while other people are just sort of withdrawing from the process. But, you know, ive had family members that have never been particularly interested in politics that are just, you know, on the edge of their chairs. And this is its unique, but it does remind me of when president obama came in and the backlash against him. I have been arguing to my sirius xm Radio Audience that they are more divided than we are. They being the politicians and certain of the media intelligence, im not thinking of cnn. And then along comes a tweet from you this week of a graph. I want to put it up on the screen. It has to do with ticket splitting. And it depresses me. Whats going on, charlie . We are becoming more of a parliamentary government politics. People are either voting blue or theyre voting red. Every single United States senate race in 2016 went to the same side that that state voted for for president. No ticket splitting at all. So people are voting you know, used to be people proudly say i vote the person, not the party. Right. Well, not anymore. Thats just not where we are. They either vote or they dont vote and its that energy level of who is turning out and who doesnt. And thats where for example Hillary Clinton just couldnt bring out the energy that president obama did. But now, you know, im sure Hillary Clintons saying where the heck were all these people last year. But, you know, its the way politics works. Yeah, it bums me out to think so many are going in and throwing a big lever without taking the time to make individual decisions down ballot. Charlie cook, thank you so much for your expertise. Thank you, michael. What do you think . Tweet me smerconish. I will read some as the program unfolds. Smerconish, President Trump has to tweet because cable and alphabet News Networks distort the real news so he circumvents you fake news people. Really . Go fact check the tweets that ive just shown you and all the others hes put out. And then you tell me whats fake news. Still ahead, democratic leadership has been meeting in baltimore this week as the party licks its wounds from electoral defeats at a local, state and national level. They will also soon elect a new chair. Im about to speak to one candidate, former labor secretary thomas perez is here. And since snl first aired four decades ago it has lampooned every american president. But donald trump is the first one to so publicly express his displeasure. Now its trump impersonator alec baldwin who is hosting tonight, what can he and we expect . And how should the president react . Ill talk to another snl legend who played Ronald Reagan for years, joe piscapo. Youve crossed the line. Ive killed people puerto rico less. 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And the balance of power in the state legislatures has the republicans controlling 30 states, there they are in red, democrats merely 12. So what is the future of the Democratic Party in the trump era . Its leaders are wrestling with that very question. This week theyve been on annual retreat in baltimore. And in the coming weeks they will also have to pick who takes over as dnc chair from interim head donna brazile. Several candidates have presented themselves including my next guest, labor secretary under president obama thomas perez. Mr. Secretary, thanks for coming back to the program. Always good to be with you and your viewers. Is the future of the Demo