From both sides of the aisle. Plus more than words. And the republican establish what roy moores defiant return to the campaign trail means for the december election showdown. Finally the evolution of the new norm in a year of President Trump. This is mtp daily, and it starts right now. Good evening im chuck todd here in washington. Welcome to mtp daily im glad to be back. Welcome to the downward spiral you might call political leadership. Our political leaders have to come to the table to avoid a Government Shutdown next week. They are trying to duct tape a tax cut plan, the list goes on and on on this december to do list. Forget them coming to the table because they wont even sit together at the same table. And sadly their bases are probably relieved they dont have to. Think about that for a second. This afternoon, President Trump blasted democrats after Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi decided to boycott a meeting with him and Republican Leadership at the white house. He left empty chairs to highlight their absence. He insists they would be calling anyway because north korea just test fired another missile. Chuck schumer and nancy pelosi did not show up for our meeting today. Im not really that surprised. We have a lot of differences. They are weak on crime. Weak on illegal immigration, they have been weak on military in terms of spending. They want tax increases. So they decided not to show up. They have been all talk, and they have been no action. And now its even worse. Now its not even talk. They should be calling immediately and say we want to see you but probably they wont because nothing to them is important other than raising taxes. Thats the only thing they like doing is raising taxes. You might not be surprised the president said that if the government shuts down next week hes not going to blame himself or his party. If that happens i would absolutely blame the democrats. Fit happens its going to be over illegals pouring into the country, crime pouring into the country, no border wall, which everybody wants. I got elected partially because of a border wall. Schumer and pelosi skipped this meeting which was supposed to help avoid a Government Shutdown because the president tweeted today that he couldnt make a deal with quote chuck and nancy as he likes to call them echl said they were weak on immigration, crime and taxes. So democrats said fine, were out. With his tweet this morning, President Trump made sure that todays meeting is nothing but a photo op, mr. President its time to stop tweeting and start leading. If the president isnt interested in addressing the difficult year agenda and wants to make the government shut down, well work with those republicans who are interested in funding the government as we did in april when the president wasnt involved and we got it done. Mitch mcconnell and paul ryan said if democrats were serious about reaching an agreement they would have shown up at the white house this afternoon. I never refused to go to a meeting that president obama called, a bipartisan meeting. It never occurred to me that i could just say to president obama im not showing up. That strikes me as a lack of seriousness about the matter before us. Which is the funding of the federal government of the United States for the rest of this fiscal year. By the way a lot of obama alumni sent around a click on social media noting that Mitch Mcconnell did skip an invited dinner with the president and instead went to a Federalist Society dinner. There is that. Look, we could seat sit here and talk about who is to blame for the meeting drama. The democrats for using an excuse not to show up and the president for giving them one. The democrats have leverage right now. They are the ones that got mr. Trump to have the year end skinning fight. They are the only ones working to keep it open. The question for them is simple what are they going do with a you will that leverage and how are they planning on exerting it. Im joined by Michael Bennet who is i believe a member of the membership and importantly celebrating a birthday today. Happy birthday, sir. Appreciate it. Im happy to be celebrating with you, i dont know how im going to explain that to my children and my family. Another day in paradise, chuck. Anotheryearolder, another day in paradise. Let me ask you this. Im sure you are a believer that two wrongs dont make a right. President trump had a ridiculous tweet. But Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi decided to use it as an excuse not to show up to the meeting. Is that the right call . I think the American People are tired of all of it. What i particularly am tired of is the fact that we have been running this government for the entire nine years i have been here on what are called a continuing resolution. Have you ever passed a budget . Have you been in the senate when there is a budget . No. I have not in been in the senate when there was a bumming. When money was appropriated thats nine years, chuck. And my estimate is that 75 of the senate was not here when the government did its job the way it was supposed to do. This is not mysterious. So anybody who has been on a school board or on a city council or been a mayor or a govern or know how to do this. This place has been getting away with murder for the last nine years. It has to end. I understand that. But i guess i get this. But was it the right call not to show up to the meeting . Look it all became a silly theatrical thing anyway at white house. So i understand the dynamics on both sides here politically. But why give up the Higher Ground . You understand that both sides were trying to do what they thought they needed to do to create political leverage for a negotiation. Right. The issue now is lets have the negotiation. And lets for example, put at the heart of that discussion what we are going to do for the d. R. E. A. M. Ers in a the president said he doesnt want to deport to a country that they have never been or done he no. It would seem to me that is a piece of business we should get down sooneran rather than laider because its affecting real families and real lives. And then lets not just figure out how to keep the government open, lets set a Budget Priority thats consistent with what people in colorado. Not consistent with what some democrat or republican wanted ten years ago here. The game we are in. I sorry. Finish that thought. I was just saying the game we are in now is keeping the land on in the land of flickering lights. Thats what were doing. Im curious i understand all of this, but whats reality . What is going to happen in the next four weeks . Are we going to have what is your red lines on this . If daca is not a part of this end of the year Government Spending bill, do you not support it . Where are we on that . I look at that a different way. I dont think anybody should go home until daca is dealt with and until the government is funded. I have a bill actually, you might be interested in this, with my colleague cory godner a republican from colorado that weve had now months that would say the next time the government shuts down the senate has to report to the floor 8 30 the next morning and if you dont show up the sergeant at arms can arrest you and bring to the floor because all weve done here is shut the government down and then everybody goes home and it doesnt solve the problem. Instead of talking about shutdowns, instead of creating false clips. Instead of appealing to the worst aspects of everybodys nature around here, we know how that movie ends. What we should be doing is figuring out out to restore confidence in the institutions of ours not for the sake of the institutions but because thats how we have all sort of agreed that we are going to proceed in this exercise of Self Government that weve had since the founders created it. Is there on substance, was there a reason, does the president need to be in these negotiation on the shutdown or is senator schumer right, this is a deal that has to be struck more with ryan and mcconnell . Yeah. I dont think you see you remember that old fiscal cliff deal which i was one of eight folks to vote against because i thought it was terrible. That deal was negotiated two end the president and the speaker, president obama then. And the speaker, they decided they couldnt get along. Then joe biden and Mitch Mcconnell negotiated the deal. I think the actors can change. The important thing is the people in the room have to be people who can consummate a transaction, get to the a result. You know, this whole place was set up to resolve our disputes. And these days we are using it only to have disputes. And thats why the American People are really tired of it. And by the way, something we havent even talked about is the tax bill thats on the floor this week which we are going to have to deal with before we get to any of this other stuff. I was going to say, is the government how do you believe the democrats should use their leverage on the Government Shutdown to fight on the tax bill . Whats your pripg on that . Well, im not sure i dont think we need i think that the leverage on the shutdown should be used in the context of the budget. I think on the tax bill what we have to do is make sure the people understand how unconscionable this bill is. The idea. Let me just give you one example. This bill thats on the floor gives 34 billion to 500,000 of the richest people in america. 34 billion. It gives, in 2019, which is the best year from the republicans argument it gives the 90 Million People that make 50,000 and less 140 each. Thats 7. 50 a paycheck for a bill that they are saying is a middle class bill. Not only is it not a middle class bill. They are using it to give tax cuts to people at the very pop top and borrowing the money from the American People and their children to pay for that. I think we as democrats need to make sure that the American People understand whats in this bill. We cannot let them get away with rushing it through the way they are trying to do it. And i think in the end we may be able to prevail. How would you prevail . It look like they have the votes. Do you hope there is one or two republicans that side with you guys to stop the plan. I think there are one or two republicans that have a conscience on the question of this giveaway to the wealthiest folks in america and who are actually going to be consistent on the fiscal stuff that they have complained about for years and years and years. Let me ask you a big picture question, though, because the president said it a number of times, democrats want higher taxes. Do you believe our taxes are high enough . Or do you think taxes should be lower . Heres what i think . I think that as a country we are collecting about 18 of our gdp in revenue. Thats what we are collecting. We are spending 21 of our gdp in revenue, which that creates our deficit. And we are hollowing out discretionary domestic spending. In fact ear spending 35 less today than we were before. So i believe we should bring those lines together somehow, and we need to do it in a bipartisan way. Because one party is not going to get it their way. What their plan will do is dramatically increase the deficit and create more measure on medicare, medicaid, Social Security and discretionary spending. I will be open to a conversation on the corporate side. We have the highest published rate in the world. We should bring it down, not as hutch much as in their bill. I think we should increase the Child Tax Credit which will bin fit working families in this country. That would be a balanced proposal. Senator bennett, appreciate you coming on. Nothing like celebrating your birthday than right here on cable television. This is the highlight of my day. Thanks chuck. Im going to take that as a compliment. This afternoon we heard from Republican Leaders in the senate after they met with President Trump. Their message on the tax bill, its complicated. For the first time in 31 years to really get a tax bill that could help turn this country even further ahead, i wish we could get rid of the partisan politics, i wish we could get our both republicans and democrats together. This is a time when we ought to. Its a challenging exercise. I this of sitting there with a rubics cube trying to get to 50. And we do have a few members who have concerns. And we are trying to address them. And we know we are not going to be able to go forward until we get 50 people satisfied and thats what were working on. Look, big complicated bills like this are challenging, you all have watched us wrestle with this sort thing in the past. Its always difficult. Joined now by republican senator john kennedy of louisiana. Senator kennedy welcome back to the show, sir. Thanks chuck. Good to see you. Good see you. Let me start with you telling us were hearing some chatter about what happened at the meeting with the president. I want you to confirm some stuff if you can. Okay. The big thing happened to do i think with the Alexander Murray bill. There seems to be some question that the president was now willing to support it if if the repeal of the mandate does go through in the tax bill. Can you tell us that that part of that conversation, whether that happened or not in that meeting . Yes. I asked the first question of the meeting. I told the president i supported the elimination of the mandate. I told him that i thought it was wrong to fine people, punish people for not buying Health Insurance they cant ard to. He agreed with me, of course. And at that point i said, now, mr. President , will you support the bill by senator alexander to try to address in a stopgap way the problems with the Affordable Care act . And i heard him say yes. Now, he didnt use the word yes. He gave a little bit longer explanation, but i took yes away. So you think now, sequencing of it, does that mean and i know look, you guys trying to get to 50 is no easy task as senator mcconnell laid out there earlier. Right. But does Alexander Murray have to pass first before you can get for instance senator murkowskis vote on the tax bill . We didnt talk about that. Susan, senator collins, followed up, and i think the president i think hes agreed to do that. Frankly, the let me give you context, chuck. Whats going on is everybody is trying to make the bill better. People arent looking for a reason to vote no. They are trying to make the bill better. Now the only suggestion i have heard that gives me heart burn, there are some folks who are concerned about the deficit. So am i, by the way. But they want to talk about automatic tax increases in the event that this bill doesnt work. Now im not going to support automatic tax increases on the American People. Id rather drink weed killer than support automatic tax increases on the American People. Theres a way senator, there was a way there was a way to avoid this sort of deficit duct taping that you are having to do here, i dont know what else to call it because it does feel like duct taping. You have got to play within the rules of the tenyear window because you are using reconciliation. You realize if you didnt use reconciliation, you could have and you guys have tried to do this in a bipartisan way from the beginning you might not be in some of these fiscal traps. If we didnt use reconciliation lets get on the land here. This bill would not have passed. We wouldnt get a single democratic vote. If we get the 50, one or two may pile on. I finds it ironic that all of a sudden our democratic friends have been born again, they have seen the light about deficits. Lets wait and see how long that lasts after this is all over. The left says the same thing about conservatives when they are in the minority, which is look, you know this senator. Absolutely. A lot of you guys on capitol hill are deficit hawks when the other party has the presidency. And let me hit that head on. Okay . Nobody is a bigger deficit talk hawk than i am. Since we have been talking the federal government has borrowed 3 million to run this ace place. We bora 1 million a minute. If i thought for a second this bill was going to add for the deficit i wouldnt vote for it. I dont believe it will. What the democrats want you to believe and some of the people on the far left is that tax policy is totally divorced from Economic Growth. And thats nonsense. All right. You and i had a great discussion about this the last time you were on. I remember. Since you and i talked about this issue of Economic Growth and dynamic scoring there was a survey of Business Leaders asking them what are they going to do with their Corporate Tax cut. Right. What are they going to do the money . Right Capital Investment was four on the priority list. 65 of them said they were going to pay down their own debt. Stock buy backs was the number two priority. Mergers and acquisitions was number three. The idea of hiring and expansion was mentioned by only 37 . The problem is Business Leaders d gary cohn had a business meeting and he was shocked more hands asking go up when he asked ceos are you going to use this money to do more hiring increase wages . And the answer was no. Without it how do you get the economic expansion that you want . Number one, chuck, i havent seen that study, i didnt do the survey and i dont know who they talked to. Economic surveys are a dime a dozen around here. You can fine any economist to say anything you want to around here. But i would encourage you to look at a report done by barrow and red lick out of harvard university. They published it in 2010 and looked at the American Economy