It was about the velocity of the year and the events. Lock him up alternative facts. No. Russia did not help me. Yeah. Thats him. Mr. Rosenstein is your testimony today that you believe bob mueller is a person of high integrity. Is that right . Yes. And i think that bob mueller ended up at number one with us because hes already indicted or put out for former Trump Campaign officials one, a form other National Security adviser and he heads into 2018 with the fate of the presidency in his hands. Just been told weve had cameras on us while having this conversation the whole time. Thanks very much for joining us. Good night. This sunday looking back at 2017 and ahead to 2018. President trump. Did he keep his promises . I will be the greatest jobs president that god has ever created. The tax relief will be concentrated on the working and middle class. I will be president for all america. Well look at promises made, promises kept and promises broken. Plus, the 2018 political landscape. Democrats aimed to take back congress. You can smell a wave coming. Our republican friends better look out. But republicans hope to hang on to power. Very optimistic about 2018. Also, 2020. Potential candidates are already visiting early primary and caucus states, and dreaming of challenging the president. I may very well do that. Im being as honest as i can. Where do you stand . Are you likely to run . This is not what im doing. How Many Democrats will jump in . And will any republicans primary President Trump . And the ways the president has influenced culture, from the words we use, to race. Very fine people on both sides. Welcome to new years eve sunday. Its Meet The Press. Announcer for nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is Meet The Press with chuck todd. Good Sunday Morning and a happy new years eve to everyone. Almost from the moment he put his left hand on the bible at his inauguration, President Trump signaled to the country that his presidency would be different. Different in ways that would thrill millions and different in ways that would appall millions more. It began with a jarring comment about the state of the country. This American Carnage stops right here and stops right now. Within a day, press Secretary Sean Spicer lectured white house reporters, arguing implausibly that more people witnessed Donald Trumps inauguration than president obamas and a day latereer op Meet The Press, the president s counsel Kellyanne Conway oefrd this
explanation. Sean spicer our press secretary gave alternative facts. That inauguration weekend kicked off a year of friction between the white house and press. Between the president s supporters and detractors, between liberals and conservatives helping feed an uneasy sense we as a country are more divided than weve been for decades if not longer. Over the next hour well look back at the past year and ahead to the next. Our panel this new years eve morning, charlie cook and patti kaye, showed beyond 1700 days will begin appearing on Pbs Starting Tuesday and rich lauer. Editor of the National Review. Start things off looking at some of the promisals made by candidate donald trump and talk about whether hes been able to make good on them or not. Lets watch. Dornld j. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the United States. 1 trillion in infrastructure investment. The tax relief will be
concentrated on the working and middle class. I will be the greatest jobs president that god has ever created. Repealing and replacing obamacare. A disaster. Save medicare, medicaid and Social Security without cuts. Have to do it. I pledge to every citizen of our land that i will be president for all americans. We will build a great, great wall [ cheers ] and mexico mexico. Mexico. Mexico will pay for the wall. All right, guys. Whats been the single most important promise he made and the single most important promise hes kept . Rich, start with you, because i think the wall is probably the single most important promise connected to him as a candidate. Yes. His signature promise and the most flagrantly unrealizable
promise. The idea mexico would pay for this wall. Let alone build the wall. But the other country paying for it. Immigration is a Success Story for him. He doesnt have a wall, but reestablishing a certain baseline of enforcement it sent an Important Message and you have illegal Border Crossings down to i think the lowest level since 1971. Kind of surprised he doesnt boast about that more. Whats the most important one hes kept . The most important one i think that hes kept is that he would be the president for the people who voted for him, and he would carry on the culture wars in their favor. Carry on talking in ways that White Working Class voters felt neglected before, they feel they have somebody who is their president. They dont have to be p. R. Ac. More. Can say things he e they wanted to say for years and President Trump emboldened them to do
rights and values. For me the single biggest change with the president , we are not seeing america leading the world through principle. America hasnt always got it right but has some sort of principle and highmoral standing. Rich, youre nodding a lot there. The basic structure, a centerright realism. You see what the actual policy is even on north korea. Rhetorically hes been aggressive, its a status quo of policy. Ve cautious in asia and more emphasis on ideals. The crusade, president bush fought for those but important against our adversaries and in favor of our interests. Seem, get tough on china and then goes to china. Theyre pals and youre going, what . You soo e that disconnect with his rhetoric around north korea as well. He talked about fire and fury. And that made a lot of people
very nervous, that he was on the bring of taking some type of action, and he didnt. We wont really know what the trump doctrine is until we see how north korea plays out. Will he take some type of limited Military Action . Based on my conversations with senior officials, his Military Options are very few and very far between. So it doesnt look like thats likely. I do think, though, chuck, were seeing a retreat from multinationalism. He did pull out of tpp. Pulled out of paris. Thats the beginning, at least, of a shift. A legacy there. That National Security policy, that report that was referred to released just before christmas in. When i read it, it actually did provide some coherence to what through the past year looked like complete random ricocheting around, and i couldnt tell whether, is this thing actually more coherent than i thought, or is there just a heck of a speak writer onboard . I tend to think the latter. Let me ask you this. I feel like that the issue we dont cover enough in Foreign Policy is, how close are we to war . A hot war . Whether were involved or not . A hot war that involves iran and say, saudi arabia . It feels it a tinderbox between those two . Described to me like this. We have in Yemen Iranian Proxies fighting saudi regulars. We have in syria, Saudis Proxies fighting iranian regulars. We are one step away. Pi the Yemeni Houthi rebel, thats a hot area in the world. And one Foreign Policy that seems to congeal with our domestic politics and its russia. The best of russia from this year. I have nothing to do with russia, folks. Okay . Why would there be any contacts between the campaign . I cant think of a bigger lie. Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with russia there is no connection. Youve got russia. If the president puts russian Salad Dressing on his salad tonight, somehow thats a
russian connection. We have no dealings in russia. No projects in russia. We have nothing to do with russia. This conversations never happened. Theres no collusion between me and my campaign and the russians. We have been going on this russia trump hoax for the better part of a year now, with no evidence of anything. There is absolutely no collusion. That has been proven. Rich lowry, hes not getting the benefit of doubt on all this, seems to me, for one big reason. He seems to want nothing more than to cozy up to Vladimir Putin. If he were willing to be tough on Vladimir Putin . Just say meddles in the election was an outrage, wont stand for it and it will never happen again on my watch. He wont say it. Its a bit of a mystery. My theory, cant prove, considers the russian story a personal affront that undermines his victory. Its a psychological reaction
rather than a deeper conspiracy hes trying to hide. One of the things so striking. Look at his tweets. Hes lashed out at just about everyone on twitter including china, who he says needs to wshg with north korea and yet never harsh words for russia. Never convened a meeting with his National Security team to address that issue. People are hungry for that and he begrudginglypproved more sanctions. People around him time and again seem to forget meetings they had with russians. Why the secrecy . Why have these meetings and then have to reveal them later . Why say things that possibly were true at the time and happens too often to seem like just coincidence. Final word . Nobody wants to think they won illegitimately. You want to believe i won on my merits. But i think rich is right. Why cant he just say, you know, they were meddling. I dont think it had an impact on the outcome of the election, but we need to make sure this never happens again. Thats pretty painless. Whats wrong with that . Youre doing something Donald Trumps never done before. Be humble. When we come back, a look ahead to the year that starts tomorrow. Its an even numbered year. You know what that means . Elections. Are we looking at a democratic wave or can republicans somehow maintain their hold on congress and, of course, that means on all of the power that comes with it. How do you chase what you love with moderate to severe Rheumatoid Arthritis . Do what i did. Ask your doctor about humira. Its proven to help relieve pain and protect joints from further irreversible damage in many adults. Humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to ra symptoms. Humira has been clinically studied for over 20 years. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Ready for a new chapter . Talk to your rheumatologist about humira. This is humira at work. Or a little Internet Machine . It makes you wonder shouldnt we get our phones and internet from the same company . Thats why Xfinity Mobile comes with your internet. You get up to 5 lines of talk and text at no extra cost. So all you pay for is data. See how much you can save. Choose by the gig or unlimited. Xfinity mobile. A new kind of network designed to save you money. Call, visit, or go to xfinitymobile. Com. Welcome back, if theres one thing you can count on in politics, its the party that loses the seat looks to be no exception. President trumps record low approval r5i9ings to close the year giving democrats a hope
they can win the 24 seats needed to take back the house and the partys unexpected upset win in alabama this month means democrats only need to net two seats to achieve a longer goal of taking back the senate. In 2005, you could smell a wave coming. The results last night smell exactly the same way. Our republicans friends better look out. We think well produce results. Results well be able to talk to the American People about in the fall of 2018 and in 2020 as well. Can you win back the house this year . The door is certainly open for us. Suggesting a Wave Election is coming your way that your majority is at risk. What do you make of that . Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, is what i say about that stuff. I think were going to win the senate and house. I feel very optimistic about 2018. Were going to do the blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Lets talk about that in 2018. Welcome. Got to love 1350ekspeaker ryan. This is my wifes work and the hes blah, blah, blahhing over it quickly do this. Senate makeup after doug jones, essentially 5149. Talk about the democrats, blah, blah, blaye, house, 23193. Charlie cook you do this for a living. You saw the 11point advantage at the nbc news Wall Street Journal poll 5039 suggesting the wave is building. The question, how big, and will it crest at the right time and right moment for democrats . This is what waves look like when youre standing on a beach looking out. Weve seen this before. You see it from afar. Wow look at thanks cant tell precisely how tall it is but you can tell its a big one. You know, could things change . You know, if we had a couple more quarters. Three more quarters of. Economic growth. Could it dissipate . I guess it could, but i dont think it will. Were looking at the senate. Its now plausible that democrats could take the senate back. I think its not likely, but
its plausible in the house. If you had to bet today i think youd bet the house would turn. One of the reasons, why, rich, doesnt look like it will shift. Look at the demographic breakdowns on the generic ballot. Among millennials, nearly a 50point advantage for democrats. Among women, 20 points. Independents, 12 points. Senior s essentially a base boa, the democrats, and among white voters only down two. Thats why it doesnt look like a couple of good economic quarters change things. Thats the best republicans could have going for them. Robust growth to take the edge off this. My fear, that this isnt a conditionsbased reaction. Its not an agendabased reaction so much. It is a profound personal reaction to trump himself. And there is no way to change that. The white house says the opposite. They say that that candidates are knocking down their doors to get in the door with President Trump and
hes eager to by the way, there probably are some candidates knocking on their doors for endorsement. They just are not their door is not being answered. Exactly right. Look at ed gillespie. He tried to walk a fine line and it backfired. The white house saying, embrace trump. We saw that doesnt always work. Obviously, roy moore deeply flawed candidate in his own right, but he did run based on a trump playbook. I spoke with a democratic strategist who says were looking at the tidal wave. Wait. Dont you run the risk of overplaying your hand . Going into 2018 with that type of thinking . Thats the concern. The economy is a big unknown nap could i think shift the outlook. Whats interesting is that you look historically and the theres a very clear pattern. All but three midterm elections since the civil war, but were now seeing a more explosiveness. I mean, the last six midterm electio elections, either the house senate or both flippeds. Thats hasnt happened in 100 years. Yeah, yeah. No. I mean so its its people are voting. Its not more parliamentary but its more biparty and were seeing big, big explosive results, and thats got to be scary for republicans. And the challenge for the democrats, though, is on the senate side, at least, Red State Democrats. You could argue, how they handle red state america in order to win the majority will say everything. Put up the senate map here. These are just democratic seats that are in states in 2018 up where President Trump carried that state, and you can see montana, not a surprise. Floridas, ohios, wisconsins and mish is in there. Heres how a few Red State Democrats weve talked to in the last year have been walking the line of trump. Take a listen. One thing that we dont have and you see that out in public polling and when im out and
chose, north dakota, missouri, west virginia. They took some heart from that, but have very different populations. They dont have 30 africanamerican makeup in those states and know that. They have to be more careful how they run and cant expect to run up against a roy moore again. Its not going to happen and Claire Mccaskill told me many times. Donald trump is above water in my state, Approval Ratings parallel to mine and won my state. I cannot totally isolate myself from him but is not going to go there and actually sign up. Sheriff brown is interesting. He has. Not out. But a democrat that will try and work with the president. Im curious. If impeachment becomes part of the conversation in the fall, i assume its thesedemocrats that most nervous about that . I think youre right. This is so implausible. If democrats won every single senate race next year, every one, they would still need ten
republicans to vote for impeachment. Thats not going to happen. So just shut up. Theyre not helping themselves. These democrats hate the conversation. They really dont want those up onhinted at the republican side. The reason they have a longer shot. Look at the senate map. This is a rosy sc