Transcripts For CNNW Inside Politics 20180325

And an almost veto and a notsoveiled threat. I will never sign another bill like this again. Im not going to do it again. The spending bill becomes law but not without washington drama. Plus, more turnover at the white house. A frustrated president , an anxious staff. And trumps legal woes continue. I want my rights back. I need to control it. The women behind the lawsuits that could force the president to be deposed. Inside politics, the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters, now. Welcome to inside politics. John king is off today. To our viewers in the United States and around the world, thanks for sharing your sunday with us. Hundreds of thousands rallied in marches across the country and around the world protesting gun violence. Teens led the rallying cry with a nation gnat spotlight on the parkland, florida, School Shooting survivor who is marched in the shadow of the capitol. Pifirst, President Trump is back in florida after a busy week in washington. The chaos included another staff shakeup, three legal cases brewing over trumps past personal conduct, and a lastminute veto threat of a spending bill to keep the government open. Now, that will he or wont he drama came after the Senate Passed the funding bill in the middle of the night with assurances from the white house that the president would, indeed, sign that bill. Then on friday morning, just hours before trump was slated to sign the bill, he turned the process into a cliffhanger, tweeting, i am considering a veto of the omnibus spending bill based on the fact that 800,000 plus Daca Recipients have been totally abandoned by the democrats, not even mentioned in bill, and the border wall, which is desperately needed for our national defense, is not fully funded. Trump ended up signing the bill, but he had this warning. There are a lot of things that im unhappy about in this bill. There are a lot of things that we shouldnt have had in this bill, but we were in a sense forced if we want to build our military, we were forced to have. There are some things that we should have in the bill. But i say to congress, i will never sign another bill like this again. Im not going to do it again. Now, some conservatives arent buying it. There was this headline, the fake veto, and from the red state, you twisted my arm, ill sign it trump dumps a 1. 3 trillion spending bill on u. S. Taxpayers. And from the normally trump friendly breitbart. Com, there was this donald trump signs bloated 1. 3 billion omnibus bill, cites military funding. And from conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, normally a trump fan, he says that trump should have vetoed the bill on behalf of his base. This budget is designed to separate trump voters from trump. This budget is designed to make trump voters think that trumps presidency is irrelevant. This budget is designed to make trump voters conclude, you know what, there isnt going to be a wall and there isnt going to be anything serious in immigration, and so having trump be president is meaningless. Folks, this budge set a slap in the face. This budge set the washington establishment both parties te telling donald trump to go to hell. We have Michael Scherer of the new york times, molly ball of time, cnns phil mattingly, and rachel bait of politico. Tough words from rough limbaugh, basically saying that this was a message to trump, drop dead, essentially, youre irrelevant. Molly, what do you make of what trumps relationship with his base is at this point after signing this bill that he basically slammed . Whats that relationship like . How can he repair it . And what does this dustup mean for the way that republicans can motivate that base . Well, we have seen already evidence that the Republican Base is going to be demoralized in november. That can always change, but in, you know, elections at the state level and special congressional elections, you are seeing Republican Voters not nearly as enthusiastic as republicans are going to need them to be if they want to keep the house. And so, but i was quite surprised to hear the rightwing media go as hard against this bill as they did. It is a big spending bill. It is a bill that democrats feel they scored a big victory on, and it does in many ways continue the status quo of domestic spending in washington. But usually, the conservative media have sort of covered for trump, right, theyve justified whatever he wants to do, whatever he decides to do. That becomes the new great thing to do. And in this case, they really are giving him some pushback, and so it will be very interesting to see if conservatives really react to this. And, you know, trump himself gave them the ammunition. He did. I cant imagine a worse thing to do politically than to tell your supporters this is a bad bill then turn around and sign it anyway, and then, but i wont do it again. You have trump now noticing what is a pretty steady blowback, not only from folks like Rush Limbaugh but fox news personalities as well. He was up tweeting this morning. Building a great border wall with drugs, poison, and enemy combatants pouring into our country is all about national defense. Build wall through m. No sense of what m is, mexico or magic. We dont know. He also said, much can be done with 1. 6 billion given to building and fixing the border wall. Michael, what do you make of that pushback from him . The honest thing about what trump did on this is that he reminded his base to attack him when he was going to sign it, right . As molly said weather kids, if you dont tell your kids theyre going to get a cookie, they might not think about it. But you say im going to give you a cookie and you dont give them the cookie, theyll be really mad about it. In this case, the cookie is the veto. Right. It was weird he raised the issue of the possible veto and decided to sign it anyway. If he had not, he might have gotten blowback but i dont think it would have been quite as intense. The tweets this morning. He seems to continue to conflate the daca issue with the spending bill, which, you know, there had been some discussion about whether or not they might address the daca issue as part of this bill. But it didnt happen. But it didnt happen. It seems to me the sort of fundamental questions about whether or not he was going to sign this bill had to do with much bigger things than that. And the base certainly doesnt want to hear about daca. Exactly. Phil, one of the things you saw in contrast to what republicans are saying and the president and fox news personalities are saying about this bill, democrats essentially spiking the football. Here is Chuck Schumer talking about all the good this bill did. We democrats are really happy with what we were able to accomplish on a number of priorities that democrats have fought for all along. At the end of the day, as the minority party, we feel good about being able to succeed in so many ways. We dont have the house. We dont have the senate. We dont have the presidency. But we produced a darn good bill for the priorities that we have believed in. Different messaging. Definitely. And prefaced with everybody is spinning the heck out of this bill, trying to say they got victories. Thats what happens when you compromise and try to figure out a pragmatic path forward. The reality is for anyone of us covering washington, the spending increases on the nondomestic side, youre left slackjawed. It never would have been a remote possibility. Thats why conservatives are so fired up because of the spending side, but thats what it took for republicans to get the spending increase on the republican side. This is a negotiation. In washington, recent conservatives get so mad about bill like this, negotiations in washington as it relates to spending means more spending on both sides. And thats the truth. When nancy pelosi and schumer say were the minority party, were not supposed to get what we got out of this, theyre wrong. To republicans got things they want too. Defense spending is enormous, something theyd been work ong for six, seven, eight years. But if youre democrats and you look at opioid funding, veterans funding, infrastructure, youre probably pretty happy with the bill. We see the president talking about doing something about tariffs. We did see the markets react, not so well, a twoday drop about 1,100 points. Is that problematic that the economy, which they want to run on, seems to be kind of ill at ease with the tariffs . Republicans on the hill are still freaking out about the tariff issue. I think the president , because hes frustrated that he didnt get his wall in the omnibus, is looking for something to hold up as a victory right now. Its interesting because theres been this theory among republicans on capitol hill if trump declares victory the base is going to applaud. A lot of people feel if trump said we are rebuilding the military, we are doing an influx of cash that we havent done in years, this is something i campaigned on, something im deliver, people would be okay with it. Instead, again, as we said, he threw them under the bus, he slide chided them for putting out a bill 48 voting on it, 2,0 of spending, and this will damage the relationship between hill republicans and the white house in the next spending time, because they said they would be with them. You could see the dueling tensions messaging within the white house because by the end of his remarks that day, there were lines about i want to congratulate the members of congress, and hed just thrown them under the bus. There was this dueling messaging. One of the things he did was send out a fundraising plea saying he needs allies in the sno senate and the house. Still ahead, students marching for their lives. Remarkable pictures from the Nations Capital and around the country. Will it rhcreate change . 7 days ago, karen wasnt thinking about joining her daughters yoga class. She was thinking about her joints. But now that shes taking osteo biflex, shes noticing a real difference in her joint comfort. With continued use, it supports increased flexibility over time. Karen shes single. It also supports wonderfully high levels of humiliation in her daughter. Karen shes a little bit shy. In just 7 days, your joint comfort can be your kids discomfort. Osteo biflex. 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Straightforward advice, tailored recommendations, taxefficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. Fidelity wealth management. In the shadow of the Nations Capital, survivors of the Parkland School massacre that claimed 17 lives had this warning for lawmakers change gun laws or well change congress. Politicians, either represent the people or get out. Stand for us or beware, the voters are coming we are not here for bread crumbs. We are here for real change, to call out every single politician, to force them into enacting this legislation. We will register, educate, and when it comes down to it, we will vote to the politicians that believe their right to own a gun comes before our lives, get ready to get voted out by us the reality, however, is much, much more complicated. Anger at washington can be a powerful motivator, and that pushed hundreds of thousands from coast to coast to march in studentled protests. Those marchers received walltowall coverage across Cable Networks yesterday, but what happens now, today, and the day after, and in the coming months is still very much unclear. So, too, is whether that anger actually morphs into a movement capable of changing gun laws. We did see reaction here, lots of vrge coif you looked at the covers of the papers in new york, the two tabloids there, there was this message. The New York Post had up in arms americas youth in revolt over guns. The daily news, america up in arms. Where do you see things standing in terms of americas relationship with guns and what is this relatively new movement around gun control led by these young people . There is a fire and passion right now with these young adults and adults across the country for stricter gun laws right now. But movements take time. And until we actually see this discontent register on the ballot box, were not going to see much change in washington, at least from congress standpoint. Congress just passed a bill this week that basically reinforces existing gun laus, makes penalties a little tougher. The cdc is now also going to be allowed to research gun violence, which there was sort of a Chilling Effect there. But theyre not talking about any sort of weapons bans. Theyre not talk about increasing the age of when you can purchase firearms. The reality is they wont even have that conversation unless republicans are booted from office because of their position on guns p sop they have a l. So they have a lot of work to do and keep that energy going and perhaps there will be change in a couple years. Heres one message to america and to folks in office. I am here to represent and acknowledge the stories of the africanamericans whoever day dont make the front page of the newspaper. These stories dont air on the evening news. These names, these black girls and women, are just numbers. Im here to say never again for those girls too. I am here to say that everyone should value those girls too. Michael, you wrote about the march for the new york times. What do you see as their strategy, the young folks there . Shes obviously 11. She has a political strategy certainly not for 2018. What do you see happening . So, i think that rachel is right, that the question will be what message do politicians take from what happens this fall no november . And if the message is that in, you know, multiple districts there were politicians, mostly probably republicans, who lose their seats because this in part, because this movement has translated the passion from yesterday into actual voting, into voter registration, into people going to the ballot boxes, then theres some potential for change and for congress to take a different approach than theyve taken for a bunch of years now. I think, you know, those of us kind of here in the political chattering class, i think were all very skeptical because weve seen a lot of powerful things happen around this issue over the last, you know, decade, whether it be Elementary School children slaughtered in connecticut or the people mowed down in las vegas or, you know, columbine or all the others. I think thats why were all very sort of skeptical, and yet, you know, yesterday was a pretty remarkable moment. The thing that struck me most about yesterday was the normal faces you always see, which are the adult politicians, the adult activists they were not leading. None of them spoke. None of them spoke. There wasnt a singlening with of them. To be able to keep Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi away from a camera like that is something else. Thats an accomplishment. So maybe its different. Well just have to see. Molly, part of the skepticism is because of the power of the nra. What has been their reaction to what does seem to be an invigorated movement on the gun control side . The nras strategy always is to just sort of wait these things out, and thats been very effective, because its not that politicians fear they will pay a price if they do something. Its theyve never paid a price for not doing anything. So the gun control activism, which ive followed for many years, can have a hopeless quality to it because they do keep sort of running at the target and falling short, particularly after sandy hook. Two things i see changing with this particular movement. One, its put this issue on the front burner within the Democratic Party. This is now something that democrats are running on very strongly. Theyve really taken ownership of this issue as a party with, of course, some exceptions a s maybe some of the red states. Second of all, the way this aligns the gun issue specifically with the youth vote. If we see strong turnout in a midterm, which is unusual, i think democrats will see that this is an issue led by youth. You see, phil, some republicans, marco rubio sent out a message about the protesters, some movement there in florida, do you see anything in congress rachel, you said there were provisions in this bill to schools as well . Its kind of the art the doable. If you listened to the speakers yesterday, they had expansive ideas. The idea of banning guns of any kind right now is simply off the table. But talk about smaller items, like the stop violence act, the cdc research, that in large part im told was driven by the parents of those killed in parkland coming to capitol hill quietly and lobbying republican leaders. You have marco rubio talking about gun violence restraining order. So there are smaller things that could move right now and in large part thats been driven by the enthusiasm youve seen over the last couple weeks. You also had as you know on the state level, and thats where things can happen faster, but on a national level, a federal level, to everybodys point, theres skepticism thats merited. Well see what happens next. Well keep an eye on it. Bolton in, mcmaster out. What it says about the inner workings of the white house and why they say theres nothing to see here. Im alive, im alive im alive, im alive im alive, im alive this is what it sounds like whoaohoh, im alive alive gives you more vitamins and minerals than leading brands. Im alive, im alive because when you start with more, you own the morning. Alive my healthy routine helps me feel my best. So i add activia yogurt to my day. With its billions of live and active probiotics, activia may help support my digestive health, so i can take on my day. Activia. Now in probiotic dailies. Want us to do about what woulthis president . Fathers im tom steyer, and when those patriots wrote the constitution here in philadelphia, they created the commander in chief to protect us from enemy attack the Justice Department just indicted 13 russians for an electronic attack on america. So what did this president do . Nothing. Hes failed his most important responsibility to protect our country. The question is why is he still president . Or a canythingo. But ive got an idea sir. Get domo. Itll connect us to everything thats going on in the company. Get it for jean whos always cold. For the sales team, it and the warehouse crew. Give us the data we need. In one place, anywhere we need it. Help us do our jobs better. With domo we can run this place together. Well thats thats your job i guess. Mvo we had support from the synagogue, the churches. When disaster strikes to one, we all get together and support each other. Thats the nature of humanity. Ill stand by you. Ill stand by you. And ill never desert you. Ill stand by you. The fastest samsung ever demands tmobile, the Fastest Network ever. Because fast should be fast. Right now get the new Samsung Galaxy s9 for half off. I watch the shows. I see a lot of great when you watch your show and all of the other shows and you have to generals and you have certain people is there somebody, a goto for you, you know . Every president ial candidate has a goto. Probably there are two or three. I like bolton. I think hes a tough cookie, knows what hes talking about. President trump liked john bolton because he played a hawkish National Security expert on tv. Now trump has cast bolton as his real National Security adviser. Bolton does bring a legitimate resume to the west wing. Hes served in three administrations. The president s destoigs ficisie h. R. Mcmaster and bring bolton in came suddenly. White house chief of staff john k kelly plotted to rule out several highlevel departures at once, but the president discredited that plan. What i liken this environment to is a Football Team like the new England Patriots where they win their division every year with a different set of players and the only thing thats common really is the coach and the quarterback. And here in the white house the coach and the quarterback are president donald j. Trump. Hes a great man. Michael, of course the patriots lost in the super bowl this year. But i want you to talk about what this change from mcmaster to bolton says about trumps mindset at this point. I think the decision to drop h. R. Mcmaster was long time coming. He had clearly not meshed with mr. Mcmaster, general mcmaster. But i think there were sort of two things that played into the selection of bolton style and substance. On substance, it is true that the president looks to be trying to bring people who are into his inner circle actually agree more with his points of view on Foreign Policy, becoming more aggressive. You saw him say he liked bolton because hes a tough cookie. Hes been tired over the last 14 months of fighting internally with his advisers who have been trying to moderate him and sort of pull him back. And on style, its all about television. It really is. He wants somebody who he can trust to put out there on television to say nice things about what hes doing, to argue for the president s policies in a way that he thinks, you know, is as good as he could do if he was on television, which he recognizes he cant do all the time. I think its this meshing of both trying to sort soft surround himself again with essentially yes people and the v television. Speaking of bolton being a tough cookie, some headlines from opeds hes written in the last few months or so from tth wall street journal, the legal case for striking north korea first and to stop irans bomb, bomb iran. Thats the hawkish part. Hes also, according to some of our reporting, molly, said that he promised the president that he wouldnt start any wars. And we shall see, right . I mean, that would be an interesting promise to extract from someone youre bringing onto your team. One would think the president would be able to do that himself if he so wanted. But i do think that the substance question here is really interesting. What is this going to mean in terms of policy . Does this mean that we get rid of the iran deal . Does this mean aggressive military action which trump himself has seemed to want to favor demanding that plans be drawn up for military strikes against north korea . So, you know, bolton is sort of the embodiment of trump as most aggressive and trump likes the idea of using this military at his disposal. But at the same time, you know, the trump of Steve Bannons imagination, the america first, was not entangling america in the worrell sounded very different publicly when he talked about war. Here was bolton in terms of thinking about this role hell play with this president. Ive never been shy about what my views are, but frankly what ive said in private now is behind me, at least effective april the 9th. And the important thing is what the president says and what advice i give him. But hes still going to be advising the president and he presumably has the same type of views. Presumably theyre not changing in a 24hour period. One interview he didnt even know he was going to be offered the job and all of a sudden was the National Security adviser. Congrats. I think one of the most kind of underplayed issues here thats really important is john boltons competency within the bushgocracy. Right . Obviously he has his views. Im going to paraphrase here. He was on the hill at one point and a democratic senator said what scares me the most about you is not that i think youre stupid or you dont understand what youre talk about or your views are ridiculous, its how good you are at making sure those views can be implemented. What youve seen in the president s first 14 months in office is straining against the bureaucracy, running up against cabinet officials or deputies who have been able to kind of restrain his impulses, restrain what he wants to do. Now you have somebody like john bolton who comes in as you said a legitimate resume, a very real understanding of how government work, a ton of experience on the government side of things weather a grasp of how to turn whatever the president wants on to the policy side of things from idea into action. I think that is one of the reasons why hes probably in the west wing and one of the more underappreciated elements of what hell be doing in that job as we go forward in the months ahead. Other questions about other folks in the white house because of some of the recent departures, here was steve bannon talking aboutsees in ter of staff position. General kelly at any time decides to leave the president , the president decides its time for him to move on, i dont think there will be another chief of staff. I think there will be five or six direct reports like in trump tower. The president is a more handson manager and feels more comfortable with that. The structure general kelly put in was probably too much. Too much. Talking about republicans on the hill worst nightmare. President trump totally unrestrained, no chief of staff. Republicans didnt have a wellknown relationship with general kelly going into him becoming chief of staff, but they have come to appreciate him, and they do see him as an ally in the west wing that they can go to when they need to get to the president fast such as the veto thing and getting him to sign that document. So no chief of staff republicans would have no allies on the hill. I think its interesting, talking about no chief of staff at a time when not only mcmaster is out but also rex tillerson. Gary cohn, another ally of hill republicans, has just left the white house because of the president slapping trade tariffs on different countries. Well see next week maybe more departures. Part of this idea was maybe ben carson, shulkin at va would go to. Ah, stay tuned. Up next, the interview that will test President Trumps twitter restraint. Stormy daniels tells her story. But first, politicians say the darnedest things while working out. Time to pump some iron with notorious rbg. Every dance now whooo ly never, never exercise in that mode. Just shut it off. No. We could listen to opera too. Want to feel it . Pretty good. Thanks. The morning walk was so peaceful. Until. It. Wasnt. Dont let type 2 diabetes get between you and your heart. Even if you reach your a1c goal you are still at risk for heart attack or stroke. Talk to your Health Care Provider today about diabetic heart disease. And find out more at heartoftype2. Com. Your heart and type 2 diabetes. Make the connection. Oh very nice. Now im turning into my dad. I text in full sentences. I refer to every child as chief. This hat was free. What am i supposed to do, not wear it . Next thing you know, im telling strangers defense wins championships. Well, it does. Right . Why is the door open . Are we trying to air condition the whole neighborhood . At least i bundled home and auto on an internet website, progressive. Com. Progressive cant save you from becoming your parents, but we can save you money when you bundle home and auto. I mean, why would i replace this . Its not broken. I mean, why yes or no . Gin. E this . Do you want the same tools and seamless experience across web and tablet . 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Daniels lawyer has advice of his own for the white house claiming she has proof there was a relationship. That dvd contains evidence substantiating the relationship, and the tweet is a warning shot. I want to be really clear about this. It is a warning shot. And its a warning shot to Michael Cohen and anyone else associated with President Trump that they better be very, very careful after sunday night relating to what they say about my client and what spin or lies they attempt to tell the american people. Now, daniels isnt the only woman talk about her past relationship with the president. Former playboy model Karen Mcdougal is also sharing details about her alleged affair with trump even though she accepted a plea deal to keep it under wraps. Shes suing to get out of that deal, and she isnt waiting for a Court Decision to open up. Were you in love with him . I was, yeah. Mmhmm. And do you think he was in love with you . He was, yeah. Did donald trump ever say to you that he loved you . All the time. He always told me he loved me. Yeah. Of course. Did he have any nicknames for you . He would call me baby or hed call me beautiful karen. So i said there was a plea deal. It wasnt a plea deal. Just a deal she had to keep quiet about her story. She of course is talking about it now. What does this mean for the white house . Where does it go . Where does it end . How do you see it unfolding . If anybody had an answer to that, i think wed all like to know. Whats been amazing about this entire process is this has built weeks over weeks. Washington journal stories about Financial Transactions that seemed odd building to this point. For a lot of us, its been the 10th, 15th, 20th most important story. Thats changing. The running joke is what major Foreign Policy initiative will the president announce tuonight but what will his response be. Hes been very disciplined so far. The white house has not engaged at all for weeks. Is that going to change . And most important, legally, is there going to come a point in time where hell have to sit down and give a deposition, be on the record and under oath talking about those types of things . That probably is the most important end game. And michael avenatti, Stormy Daniels lawyer, tweeting this morning this is not the end, this entire tonight, only the beginning. Molly, some say these stories around the women could pose a bigger threat to the president than the Mueller Probe. There are legal issues, which phil said could lead to him being in a deposition under oath talking about these things and also the political issue. Already women voters and candidates are the story of these midterm elections. We know that. Record numbers of women running for office up and down the ballot, the activism that has already seemed to favor democrats in elections that have happen sod fed so far this year last year, and this constant drum beat of women speaking out about donald trump and his conduct toward women, that only fuels that fire, that only fuels the anger of so many liberal women specifically who have been roused to activism. Ive spoken to so many who said i was a stayathome mom who voted for hillary and didnt do anything else. Now they are in the streets, they are about victivists. Add that kind of chaos around the women to the chaos around the Mueller Probe and the uncertainty there, you saw the president make moves this week or one of his lawyers make moves to move away from that legal team, john dowd. The president tweeting this morning about the shakeup on his legal team basically saying many lawyers and top law firms want to represent me in the russia case. Dont believe the fake news narrative ha its hard to find a lawyer who wants to take on this case. Fame and fortune will never be turned down by a lawyer, though some are conflicted. Problem is that a new lawyer or law firm will take months. Hes thinking about this morning. This shakeup, what does it mean for you in terms of what their strategy is around this probe . I think the idea that a lawyer will never turn down fame and fortune may actually be the true thing there. I think what the shakeup of the legal team reflects is the president pushing back against what has literally been months, more than a year, of the strategy by the president s lawyers to say do not attack mueller directly. That has been their sort of line that they never wanted the president to cross because the idea was if we cooperate and just let this thing happen, that we wont antagonize mueller. He has clearly decided, the president has clearly decided, that he wants to change that strategy and so dowds leaving was the first shoe to drop in the lawyers roundtable realizing that dont have the ability to change and i think more of that is coming. Well stay tuned to that. Up next, our reporters will share what theyre hearing from their sources on the biggest political news you havent heard yet, including a 2018 tax plan ploy by the gopcontrolled congress. Discover card. Customer service maam. This isnt a computer. Wait. Youre real . With discover card, you can talk to a real person in the u. S. , like me, anytime. Wow. This is a recording. Caller really . No, im kidding. 100 u. S. Based customer service, here to help, not to sell. A wealth of information. A wealth of perspective. A wealth of opportunities. Thats the clarity you get from fidelity wealth management. Straightforward advice, tailored recommendations, taxefficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. Fidelity wealth management. To help you grow and protect your wealth. My ci can worry about it,ine. Or do something about it. Garlique® helps maintain healthy cholesterol naturally. And its odor free. And pharmacist recommended. Garlique. ® now that the omnibus deal has passed and didnt deal p with immigration, both parties are turning to an electoral strategy on the issue. The democrats will try to take the issue of daca and win elections with that, and on the republican side theyre turning to sanctuary cities and hoping that the issue can play for them as well. Both sides are basically turning into an electoral strategy now that the legislative one has failed. Deja vu all over again. Molly . Could republicans be in trouble in yet another special election in a deep red district . Arizonas 8th district was open when a republican resigned due to a weird surrogacy scandal, and this is a district that trump won by 20 points. It should not be in play. The special election is april 24th. And the republicans did get their favorite candidate through the primary. They have now reported spending nearly 300,000 in this district sign signaling that they may be feeling the heat. The democrats didnt expect this to be competitive at all, but who knows . The other issue is having spent more than 10 million in the pennsylvania election, they are burning through kooscash, the republican party, in a year donors are not super excited. Maybe a preview of what it will look like heading into november. Phil. It doesnt mean personnel is done. Thats why Mitch Mcconnell has a lot of big plans in the weeks and months ahead. Its all about judicial appointments. Last year 12 circuit judges moved through, the most in recent history. He has 29 judicial confirmations already this year, three more District Court judges queued up when they get back. The reality is mcconnell and im told the white House Counsel are extremely close, have been working through this project for the last 14 months to really map out how to remake the courts. Legislation might be done. Judges, just starting. A big campaign issue, too, for republicans to be able to campaign on. Rachel. In the coming weeks, President Donald Trump and republicans on the hill will be talking about a tax reform 2. 0 to make individual cuts that they passed temporarily permanent. Surprise, its, again, a campaign ploy. Democrats back in december when they were voting against these tax cuts said specifically we are opposing these because the individual rates are not made permanent but the corporate rates are. So right now republicans are under no you know, they dont think theyll actually pass this, but they want democrats to vote no on this so they can use it as a Campaign Strategy independence them. November every single day. I will close with a very early glimpse of 2020. In the next week or so, the South Carolina Democratic Party is set to announce the keynote speaker for the annual dinner and convention later next month. Im told this year there will be two keynote speakers. Who will they be . The details arent yet final. A few names have been floating around as possibilities. Among the chattering classes in South Carolina. They include california congressman adam schiff, new orleans mayor mitch lan true, and Los Angeles Mayor eric garcetti, all of whom have recently spent time in the palmetpal palmetto state. Im told bigger names like cory booker and joe biden are unlikely to fill the keynote slot but there was great interest particularly in senator harris. Organizers want someone who can excite and rally the base in 2018 and those keynote speakers, whoever they end up being, will get to dip their toes in the 2020 waters and boost their profiles with voters in a very curable 2020 state. Thanks for sharing your sunday with us today. State of the union is up next with an exclusive interview with democratic senator tim kaine from virginia. Stay tuned. With its billions of live and active probiotics, activia may help support my digestive health, so i can take on my day. Activia. Now in probiotic dailies. Were drowning in information. Where, in all of this, is the stuff that matters . The stakes are so high, your finances, your future. How do you solve this . You dont. You partner with a firm that advises governments and the fortune 500, and, can deliver insight person to person, on what matters to you. Morgan stanley. Mvo its not necessarily about eating together, but its about building relationships with one another. 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Massive crowds rally nationwide to demand gun control. We deserve safer schoolings, safer classrooms, safer streets. As