Starting with the guessing game and the white house investigation into whos behind that oped. But that who doesnt it shouldnt overshadow the substance of what was actually written, that senior officials inside the white house are working to quote protect america from the actions of the president himself. And all these concerns reinforced by Bob Woodwards new book, fear, which chronicles further dysfunction in the administration. Joining us to discuss all of this, chief White House Correspondent with the New York Times peter baker. David k. Johnson, and staff wire with vanity fair. Peter, let me begin with you. This apgs by the Vice President today going out saying hes even willing to take a lie detector, what do we know about how hard the administration is working to find out who wrote this oped . Are we going to get to a point that we can possibly see Something Like a lie did he to being tore test being administered . They have not opened a formal investigation but you see the president ask for a formal investigation by Jeff Sessions. They have a list they put together at least in an informal way of people they think could be possibly the writer. Its not clear how far they would go. One thing you see with this Administration SincePresident Trump took office is that the things you might have ruled out in any other organization you shouldnt rule out because it could change at the end of the day. Its possible, but at the moment it doesnt sound like thats what theyre thinking. And it would be an exposes thing. Under reagan the secretary of state threatened to quit. Some of his aides at least are trying to tell him lets move and no try not to focus on this and give it more oxygen than it really needs to have. Let me play you this sound bite from Kellyanne Conway. This is what she said about the mood in the west wing right now. I tell you what happened this week. The team tightening up even more because of this. Folks who dont even Work Together because they different on different issues, folks who dont know each other that well, some who have around like me, we are tighter this week because we are so joined in our outrage. So abigail, is that the sense that youre getting that the white house has somehow rallied behind the president very much against this anonymous writer . Or are you getting a sense theres perhaps even more back stabbing, infighting taking place . People trying to assign that to other add ver sayers . This idea it could be anyone and the list of potential people is long and extensive. And while, you know, people have dismissed this notion theres a cabal of people, their positioning themselves with the mindset of were doing this for our country over a single president. I would dismiss the idea everybodys banding together because i feel this is a sentiment that is wide held across the administration. From your reporting, have you gotten a sense how much of these public appearances, these types of public expresses of solidarity with the president including nikki haleys oped in the washington post, how much of that is driven by the white house, how much of that is that voluntarily coming from the officials going on the record with this position . You make an interesting point. What weve seen throughout the course of this administration is individuals who are afraid of trumps wrath. I dont think this is different. I do get the sense that nikki haleys oped didnt go over so well, kind of a political positioning on her part rather than actually demonstrate her feel feelty. He also denied there were whispers of the 25th amendment. Heres what ohm omarosa. We had a hashtag in the white house. I saw the hashtag tfa, 25th amendment whenever he did something that was just so insane and so crazy and unhinged, when he would flip positions from one hour to the next, we just hashtag it tfa and we keep moving. I can tell you it occurred in my text chains with family members, with staffers, with people who were in the agencies more than 100 times. David, ill get to you in just a moment. Peter, have you heard of anyone use the hashtag tfa . I have not. To say there were whispers about whether that should be invoked, thats been in the press in the last year, but i think that suggests theres a more serious effort or conversation going on than we know. I havent had any reporting suggesting any members of the cabinet having a serious conversation. There may be frustrating moments where that comes up in a casual way, which tells you something, obviously, but its different than suggesting there might be something zblufrunder way. David, let me ask you about the hashtag. Aside from whether or not people were using it, do you think theres anyone inside the white house who would tuihave the guto invoke the 25th amendment . It would make no sense to do that, ayman. The 25th amendment requires that the Vice President and the majority of the cabinet act and within a matter of a couple of days, both houses of congress by twothirds majority would have to ratify that action for it to be meaningful. This is not an amendment designed for the situation were in. Its one designed for a president who has to undergo surgery or is incapacitated. Fair enough. Lets move to the bob woodward book, a legendary reporter giving his first interview about it today. Watch. You look at the white house, and you have to say lets hope to god we dont have the graces. People are worried he will sign things or give orders that threaten the National Security or the Financial Security of the country or the world, People Better wake up to whats going on. So its one thing for the white house to dismiss a single oped by an anonymous source. The woodward book, though, slightly different in its scale and obviously relies on multiple sources and assuming bob woodward has done his Due Diligence in all of this, the white house in the way hes described it is an uninformed, unpredictable president. How much of this do you think this is harder for the white house to dismiss given that woodwards reputation is on the line and it is coming from multiple sources as opposed to a single anonymous source. Very difficult. We have a situation that we havent really seen yet with this presidency. Obviously the woodward book and the oped build on reporting thats been out there for a while, but i think in terms of being able to discredit this, it becomes much harder just given his reputation, given the number of books hes written in the past. You have individuals who are subjects of his past books come out and say, hey, i might have looked good in his book, but i respect him as a journalist. Those messages youre getting send should worry the white house. David, in one of his tweets about the book, the president said it cant be true essentially because i dont talk the way im quoted in the book. Youve covered this man for a while. Does the trump in the book sound like the trump you know and youre concerned about what he might do in response . Oh, yes. Woodwards book basically confirms everything i wrote about in my 2016 book, the making of donald trump. Hes appallingly ignorant, lies all the time, hes the head of a crime family, and donald really believes that he is superior to the rest of us. Theres a reason he calls anybody who doesnt go with him an do it and a fool because he believes were all idiots and fools and he alone is the person competent to run the country, which should help us to understand how totally incapable he is of carrying out the job and why so many people talked to woodward. It is without a doubt a politically taxing week for this white house on so many different fronts, peter baker, david johnson, and abigail tracy. Coming up, it was trump versus obama on the campaign trail this week as the former president returns to the political fray. Could his efforts do more to energetic republicans than democrats . About to make history, rasheed joins me live as shes poised to become the first palestinian american in congress. Peninsula trail . You wont find that on a map. Ill take you there. Take this left. If you listen real hard you can hear the whales. Oop. You hear that . vo our Subaru Outback lets us see the world. Sometimes in ways we never imagined. We distributeus, im the owner environmentallyfriendly packaging for restaurants. And weve grown substantially. So i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. I earn unlimited 2 cash back on everything i buy. And last year, i earned 36,000 in cash back. Thats right, 36,000. Which i used to offer Health Insurance to my employees. My unlimited 2 cash back is more than just a perk, its our healthcare. Can i say it . Whats in your wallet . When it comes to strong bones, are you on the right path . We have postmenopausal osteoporosis and a high risk for fracture, so with our doctors we chose prolia® to help make our bones stronger. Only prolia® helps strengthen bones by stopping cells that damage them with 1 shot every 6 months. Do not take prolia® if you have low blood calcium, are pregnant, are allergic to it, or take xgeva®. Serious allergic reactions, like low blood pressure; trouble breathing; throat tightness; face, lip or tongue swelling, rash, itching or hives have happened. Tell your doctor about dental problems, as severe jaw bone problems may happen or new or unusual pain in your hip, groin, or thigh, as unusual thigh bone fractures have occurred. Speak to your doctor before stopping prolia®, as spine and other bone fractures have occurred. Prolia® can cause serious side effects, like low blood calcium; serious infections, which could need hospitalization; skin problems; and severe bone, joint, or muscle pain. If your bones arent getting stronger isnt it time for a new direction . Politicians for their own gain and for people in power to try to see if they can divide people, scapegoat folks, turn them on each other. Because when that happens that was former president obama off the sidelines and on the campaign trail in california. President trump not clear on whether he was watching this one or sleeping as he claimed. He was tweeting this morning sending out this quote. Barack obama talked a lot about hope, donald trump delivered the american dream. All the economic indicators, whats happening overseas, donald trump has proven to be far more successful than barack obama. Both men will be stumping hard in the next few weeks as fighting for control over Congress Heats up with the midterm elections less than two months away. Joining me now, rick wilson and with me here in the studio is wendy, Johns Hopkins university professor. Great to have both of you with us. Rick, let me begin with you if i may. If theres one thing trump and his base love, it is to hate president obama. So with president obama returning to the fray, is it likely that obamas presence is going to fire up the republican base, especially trumps base . Look, right now if you ask the average obama supporter and the average democrat, they were already highly motivated to come out. I think if barack obama is targeting in swing races, its probably going to be a net plus for the democrats. I will say this, he does activate some republicans, but their baseline hatred of him is so high, its not going to be much more. This is the president who acts like Hillary Clinton won. Hillary is president or obama is still president by a lot of the way he acts, so i think the motivation level of democrats is so high, weve seen it in all the specials so far this year and all the polling that barack obama may juice a little bit of turnout in key races. Its a minor net positive for democrats. These two men who could not have any more different styles to be honest with you, i want you to listen to this comparison. Watch. You need to vote because our democrats depends on it. Isnt this much more exciting than listening to president obama. The stakes really are higher. The consequences of any of us sitting on the sidelines are more dire. I watched it, but i fell asleep. [ laughter ] i found hes very good. Very good for sleeping. It did not start with donald trump. He is a symptom, not the cause. If theres one thing we learned in the 2016 race is that a lot of established traditional politicians didnt know how to handle the aggressive bullying, the name calling, the tactics of somebody like president donald trump. Theres no doubt president obama is a smart, very shrewd political operator, but is he prepared for what possibly could be coming his way with the dirty nature of trump politics . He may not be prepared, but we know the American People and the people who want to see trump out of office are prepared. And what obama said i thought was really interesting is he said about his legacy, he spoke about his legacies. I think i would such back beyond his legacy. Its about the American People and what they want and generations to come. If we want someone to sling in the mud with donald trump, we can have that, but what we need to know is that if we do not vote in the midterms, you have two options. You can increase Donald Trumps power or dreevice it. I remember Michelle Obama say when they go low, we go high, that didnt work for Hillary Clinton in 2016. Is former president obama likely to take the high road against them or is he going to get in the mud like you said . I think hes going to take the high road, but i do think there may be little jabs here and there and we may say youre being a little bit petty, and we need someone to take jabs at trump because he does that all the time. Its okay if you get in the mud with trump but you have to stay focus and make sure youre putting forth policies the American People want to see. Rick, if president obama goes down that road where he gets sucked into this mud slinging game, does that in some way vagi advantage someone like President Trump . I understand president obamas point that theres a lot at stake for this country, but if he goes down the road of mud liengds and the tactics that trump is known for, does that erode the general publics expectations of what a president should do. I dont think tess wired to engage in small hand name calling kind of thing that trump would benefit from. I think hes got a much different affect and approach. But i will tell you what barack obama does that hurts donald trump, that he takes the cameras off of trump and takes the attention off trump. The other day when they carried a barack obama speech live for the first time in six years start to finish, i guarantee you it was driving donald trump out of his damn mind. He wants to be the center of attention at all points. So without getting into the mud slinging, i think obama can get inside trumps head and play a cooler and more effective game. Yeah, no doubt if theres any politician on the stage in america command that attention its certainly president obama. The midterms are shaping up as a history making election for several underrepresented groups, a crop of women have already racked up primary wins across the country, among them is Rashida Tlaib whos running unopposed after winning the democratic primary in michigans 13th district. Shes expected to be one of the first two muslim women in congress and certainly the first palestinianamerican woman. She joins us once again live. Congratulations on your historic win. Thanks, ayman. I talked to you before the primary about your progressive agenda, medicare for all, 15 an hour minimum wage, the abolition of i. C. E. Whats priority number one for you when you start your new job come january of next year . Many people know im a civil rights activist. The introduction of justice for the civil rights act. We go back to the roots of the 1964 civil rights act. Right now we know that our courts are more conservative, so theyve diluted the original intent of the civil rights act, and thats why now we have high rates of discrimination among banks, the fact that we have low Home Ownership among africanamerican families in my district, and also the Car Insurance industry continues to use red lining that impacts people of color the most. And so i want to introduce a bill, a proposal that i have put forward already among a number of groups throughout my district who are very enthusiastic about the possibility of insuring we can show the impact of a policy is discriminatory, then its a civil rights violation. You may face challenges from republicans, but certainly from a democratic leadership that sometimes has shied away from some of the issues that are deemed too far left, some things you and your colleagues are on the Progressive Side advocate for. Do you think leadership is a progressive wave that you represent, or do you think youre going to see a pushback from within your leadership for some things youre fighting for . I dont know, but i know now i want more hayes and presley, women from different backgrounds. Half of our colleagues in congress are millionaires. They have no clue what it means to live in the conditions many of our families live in and many residents sending their kids to overcrowded classrooms. They continue to not get access to equity. Half my colleagues are completely disconnect with that. So right now i want to uplift those women that have won. Ayanna pressley winning in that district, she comes from a background that relates to many across the country, those are the things i want to be doing and in november well be able to Work Together. Some of the names you listed represent a progressive domestic side on the domestic policies. But when it comes to Foreign Policy, the Democratic Party and the Republican Party have lagged on these issues overseas. The Trump Administration pulling 25 million in funding from palestinians in East Jerusalem hospitals. Do you expect to use your position in congress along with those tha