Transcripts For KNTV Meet The Press 20170220

Investigate his ties to russia. He watched his poll numbers plummet to historic lows. It was no surprise that the president sought to go back to what he does best, communicate directly with the American People, first through a televised News Conference and yesterday at a rally. Back on the stump last night for what his team called a campaign rally. More than 1350 days before the next president ial election. Despite all their lies, misrepresentations and false stories, they could not defeat us in the primaries, and they could not defeat us in the general election. We will continue to win, win, win. Mr. Trump is hoping to shore up his base after a bruising week, and to put pressure on republican lawmakers who are returning home and are being greeted by an angry opposition. Ever since the election i have felt like a passenger in a car thats being driven by a drunk driver. [ applause ] [ cheers and applause ] your hand is on the emergency brake. This week mr. Trump returned to a wellworn playbook. Held a 77minute flood the zone style News Conference and spent much of it defending his own performance. This administration is running like a fuine tuned machine. He selected enemies including the Intelligence Community. The news is fakes. The leaks are real. The media. In a tweet on friday the president called the media, quote, the enemy of the American People. They have their own agenda, and their agenda is not your agenda. But President Trump cant escape the governing problems that have pushed his job Approval Rating below 40 in several polls after just 30 days in office. White house infighting in chaos, rejection of his key Foreign Policy initiative by the courts and the forced firing of his National Security adviser after just 24 days on the job. Then there are the multiplying questions on russia. At least seven congressional committees led by republicans say they are investigating issues related to either russia, former National Security adviser Michael Flynn or the handling of classified information. At his News Conference, mr. Trump repeatedly was pressed on whether anyone from his campaign had contact with russian officials, and he would not directly answer the question. I had nothing to do with it. I have nothing to do with russia. I told you, i have no deals there. I have no anything. So youre not aware of any contacts during the course of the election. How many times do i have to answer the question. Can you say yes or no . Russia is a ruse. I have nothing to do with russia. To the best of my knowledge no person that i deal with does. Congressional republicans are not exactly rushing to defend the president. He said in the press conference that nobody he knew of from the campaign were in contact with russian officials. Do you believe him . I have no idea. Joining me now, President Trumps chief of staff, reince priebus. Welcome back to meet the press, sir. Good morning, chuck. Let me start with the issue of mike flynn and the conversations, what was said or not said with the Russian Ambassador. You were on this program just before the inauguration, and here is what you told viewers at the time. I have talked to general flynn, none of that came up. The subject matter of sanctions or the actions taken by the Obama Administration did not come up in the conversation. So there was no challenge of american policy currently by mr. Flynn with the Russian Ambassador. None. Obviously now we know that was not true, you clearly were misled. Walk me through this. When did you know you had been misled . Sometime after january 27th. It was our Legal Counsel got a headsup from sally yates that something wasnt adding up with his story, to then our Legal Department went into a review of the situation. And sometime after that, when sally yates refused to do her job as attorney general like two days later we had to get rid of her. And then sometime after that the Legal Department came back and said that they didnt see anything wrong with what was actually said, but then we started thinking about whether or not Michael Flynn was being straight with us, and thats when we started asking a lot of questions and sort of deposing Michael Flynn and figuring out what he knew or what he didnt know. He maintained the fact that he never talked to the Russian Ambassador about sanctions, but still something wasnt adding up. And eventually we determined that he did, in fact, talk about the sanctions, even though we didnt believe that it was illegal, the fact was it turned more or less into a conversation about whether or not he was being honest with us and the Vice President. And the president asked for his resignation and we got it. Have you read did you read the transcripts yourself . Um, i cant answer that question. But i can assure you that i am fully aware of the situation, and we determined that he wasnt being straight with the Vice President and others, and thats why we asked for his resignation. Why was there more than a week why did more than a week go by before the Vice President was informed of this issue . Well, i think he was always aware of the issue as to whether or not he talked about sanctions. I mean, that was an ongoing conversation. He was aware of the fact that the fbi interviewed Michael Flynn. The Legal Department started reviewing the matter to get a report on whether or not anything was actually done wrong and whether or not he in fact talked to the Russian Ambassador about sanctions. And at some point after we were first tipped off and got to the point of reviewing whether he was being honest or not, after we got the report back from the white House Counsel, thats when we looped in or thats when the Vice President was brought into the conversation more fully in regard to whether or not Michael Flynn was honest. Waiting that long, do you do you regret that it looks like that the Vice President is essentially not in the loop . No, the Vice President is in the loop on everything, chuck. It happened so fast. I mean, what happened was the Legal Department was tipped off, they looked into the legality of it. The actual investigation was ended almost immediately, so there was no investigation. It was a matter of whether it was legal. But then when we found out that, hey, he may have talked to the rausch Russian Ambassador, thats when we started having conversations with the Vice President as to whether or not he was being honest or not. So i mean, it felt like it happened very quickly, and we made a determination very quickly. Do you still believe this was an honest mistake by mr. Flynn, or are you concerned its something more nefarious . No, i dont think he did my view is and i am not an expert on, you know, the logan act. I can tell you that our Legal Department looked at it. My view is what he did wasnt illegal like many others have said, but it was the fact that he wasnt straight or honest. And i just found it hard to believe that you would have a conversation with a Russian Ambassador and and not remember it. So either way, either you dont remember or you werent honest. Either way, it was an unsustainable place to be, in the president made a decisive decision to ask for his resignation and he got it. But look, the fact of the matter is, in between all that time the president got a lot of things done. Keystone, dakota. We got out of tpp, nominated neil gorsuch, we had the keystone and dakota pipeline begin. Okay. We had a hiring freeze. We had a deregulation executive order. There was so many things that were also happening to the good, chuck, that it would be nice to talk about some of the accomplishments which, in 30 days, have been remarkable. I want to ill give you time to get to that, but ip w w to get back to mr. Flynn. Is one of the reasons why you ended up having to let him go when he was interviewed by the fbi on the 24th, before the sally yates warning, are you did he mislead the fbi or lie to the fbi . Is that one of the one of the issues that came up during the deposing . Well, thats a different issue for the fbi to answer, chuck. I am just not in a position to answer it. Weve certainly talked about that issue with leadership at the fbi, but i am not in a position to talk about that with you. But listen, we have talked about this. I think we have laid it out very clearly. And now its up to the d. O. J. And fbi to take it any further if thats what they do. By the way, anybody else inside the white house been interviewed by the fbi over the last couple of months . Not that i know of, chuck. I think the answer is no to that. I would know. Okay. I want to go to the press conference on the issue of russia. The president never seemed to answer the question that was asked three or four times there, which is did anybody does he know for sure that anybody on his campaign, does he can he say definitively that nobody in his campaign, nobody that he has been associated with, had any contacts with any russian agents . No, i first of all, the answer is no, and we dont know of any any contacts with russian agents. And that gets to that New York Times story, chuck. I mean, we have spent days talking about a story that says that our campaign had constant contacts with russian spies. And i can tell you, i have talked to the top levels of the Intelligence Community, and they have assured me that that New York Times story was grossly overstated and inaccurate and totally wrong i know what the intelligence committees in the house and the senate were told by the fbi, and i know what i was told and what i will tell you is that story was total baloney. In fact, devin nunez, the chairman of the house intelligence committee, went on the record after he was informed by the fbi as to that story, and what did he say . He said it was total garbage. This is what were talking about, chuck. Its not all media. Its not everyone involved in the media. It is this sort of fake news stuff that is enormously important that, when you get a frontpage story of the New York Times, without a Single Source on the record saying that your campaign had constant contacts they didnt say one contact, they didnt say two contacts. It doesnt matter. We have not been informed of even that. But to say constant contacts. Then the next day, chuck, the wall street journal comes out and says that the president of the United States is being cut out of information by the Intelligence Community. Then later in the day all of the main departments of the Intelligence Community says, thats not true. This is what were dealing with. While were putting in a lobbying ban, while were freezing federal government employees, while were getting the economy back on track, we are sitting here talking about these stories or whether steve bannon and i get along or not, which we do. I can assure people in kenosha, wisconsin, are not worried about that. They want to see jobs did money back in their pockets. Thats what were trying to do every day, chuck. The Associated Press has a story that the Senate Intelligence committee sent a letter to the white House Counsel asking for a preservation of any communication, anything that could have any ties, either during, right now, in since you have taken office, during the transition of the campaign, to make sure there are no all records are preserved regarding russia. Are you aware of this letter and have you acted upon it . I am aware of it, and i think theyre going to do their job. They have to do that. Those are things that richard burr and that team have to do. That doesnt mean that there is anything there. It just means they need to do some things to satisfy their committee that they have looked into something, and then they can have meetings behind closed doors that they always do in the intel committee, and then theyll issue a report. And as long as they do their job and we and we cooperate with them, theyll issue a report, and the report will say there is nothing there. I know what they were told by the fbi because i have talked to the fbi. I know what theyre saying. I wouldnt be on your show right now telling you that we have been assured that there is nothing to the New York Times story if i actually wasnt assured. By the way, if i didnt actually have clearance to make this comment. I am not a sloppy guy. I dot my is and cross my ts. I was a 14year litigator before i became rnc chairman. Fair enough. Let me ask you a final question on the president s tweet. Fake news media, failing New York Times, abc news, kristicn not my enemy. Its the enemy of the American People. Let me ask the question this way. Arent you concerned that now the president of the United States does not have the moral authority to travel around the world and express the openness for a free press in other countries, a free press is being challenged in a turkey and in a russia. With the president of the United States trying to delegitimize the american press, does that not undercut his ability to spread freedom and advocate for freedom around the world. Many president s have had issues with the chuck. I can assure you, the president believes in the first amendment. He believes in the free press. We dont believe everyone is lousy in the media. We dont believe everything is bad, but there are some things that are really bad. We have tried to he categorizes that as fake news. What weve been through over the last ten days has been unbelievable. The leaks, the fake stories, the anonymous accusations. That stuff is bad. And thats what he is referring to. I know where he is coming from on this, but i can assure you he believes in the free press, the first amendment. He loves our constitution. We just want to get this stuff back on the rails and more honest in regard to these really big accusations that are coming at us. I know you you believe all of this is press generated. Do you not have a problem inside that west wing with leaks yourself . Look, if there is a problem there, those people will have big issues. But the truth is, is that we dont have problems in the west wing. I mean, you read of all these stories, i dont get along with bannon. We weve gelled as a team. We get along great and are working well together. The amount of drama and spin that you read about mostly in the washington daily gossip rags is unbelievable stuff. It just isnt true. You read it every day and you wonder what alternative universe they are reporting on because it just isnt true. I think every west wing has different personalities. You had rahm emanuel. Valerie jarrett. Karl rove. You always have different kinds of people, but it doesnt mean you dont ultimately get along, serve the president , want to make the American People proud. Thats what were doing every day. Thats what were trying to do every day. Reince priebus, ill leave it there. I guess thanks for coming behind enemy lines. Well see you next time. No. I am happy to be here. Thank you, chuck. Thank you. Senator john mccain has taken plenty of incoming from mr. Trump and has been willing to give it as well. Here is what he had to say friday at the Munich Security Conference in germany. An event essentially founded to confront the threat posed by this Old Soviet Union during the cold war. They would be alarmed by an increasing turn away from universal values and toward old ties of blood and race and sectarianism. They would be alarmed by the hardening resentment we see towards immigrants and refugees and minority groups, especially muslims. They would be alarmed by the growing inability and even unwillingness to separate truth from lies. Well, i talked to senator mccain yesterday from munich. I began by asking him whether, in that speech, he was referring directly to President Trump. I was certainly referring to the threats that we are now facing with this stated goals of this administration, which would upset the last 70 years of a new world order, which was established after world war ii. 70 years based on human rights, respect for the law, free trade, all of the things that aspects of this world order that took place after one of the most horrific, terrible wars in history. And i am for maintaining it, and i am afraid that its under assault from a variety of forces, including, by the way, the russians. You say a variety of forces. You are being careful here. Do you think the president agrees with you about the world order or not . I think many of his statements have been contradictory. Some of them have indicated that. I am very pleased with the National Security team he has around him. We are here in munich, by the way, general mattis and general kelly, i think that and the Vice President gave a very good speech today. But i worry about statements which upset our friends at a time when the strains on the European Union and europeans are greater than they have been since anytime since the end of the cold war. Let me ask the question this way. How much confidence do you have in the current commander in chief . Well, i worry. I worry about the president s understanding of some of these issues and his contradictory articulations. And i think the rollout of the, quote, Immigration Reform was an example of a need or an orderly decisionmaking process in the white house. And that, i think, is probably whats plaguing them more than anything else right now. You know, you have been you have taken extra care to say how much you like the president s National Security team. Does that include what you have seen out of the National Security council . I worry about the membership. There has never been a political adviser as a permanent member of the National Security council. In mr. Bannons role as political adviser and member of the National Security council, i am worried about former secretary of defense gates has said he is deeply concerned. So has leon panetta and many others who view the National Security council as apolitical. Its interesting you bring up mr. Bannon. He calls himself an economic nationalist. When you hear about how about this. When europeans hear that, what do they hear . They feel uncertain about our trade relationships. They saw that we abandoned the tpp. Theyre facing the brexit problem right now. All this business with Vladimir Putin is very disturbing to all of us. To equate Vladimir Putin and the United States of america, as he was asked, you know, i guess he said putin is a killer, and he basically said well, so are we. That moral equivalency is a contradiction of everything the United States has stood for in the 20th and 21st century. Many members of congress seem to want to get involved in an investigation into what role did russia play in the 2016 election. There are so many questions out there that we first of all need to understand the parameters of whats happened here. And so i would i would hold off and wait and see what happens. One thing that you and i know from being around this being around washington, theres probably going to be some more shoes to drop. Thats thats true. But let me ask you this. Can americans be confident that a Republicancontrolled Congress can investigate this president thoroughly if necessary . I hope so, and i have to believe so. Then, before i let you go more hope than belief. More hope than belief . Before i let you go both. I am curious of your reaction to a tweet the president sent friday night. The fake news media, failing New York Times, nbc news. A abc, cbs, cnn is not my enemy. Its the enemy of the American People. Do you believe any group of americans are the enemy of mare group of americans . I was talking about the period as you know of the new world order. A fundamental part of that new world order was a free press. I hate the press. I hate you, especially. But the fact is, we need you. We need a free press. We must have it. Its vital. If you want to preserve i am very serious now. If you want to preserve democracy as we know it, you have to have a free and many times adversarial press. And without it, i am afraid that we would lose so much of our individual liberties over time. Thats how dictators get started. Thats how dictators get started, with tweets like that . With no. They get started by suppressing free press. In other words, a consolidation of power. When you look at history the first thing dictators do is shut down the press. I am not saying that President Trump is trying to be a dictator. I am just saying we need to learn the lessons of history. Senator mccain, im going to leave it there. You hadare a student of history thats for sure. I always appreciate you sharing your views no matter how much you hate me. Coming up, how concerned should we be about President Trumps testy relationship with the Intelligence Community . My interview with a man welcome back. Hugh hewitt, former democratic congresswoman Donna Edwards, amy walter, editor of the Cook Political Report and david brooks, columnist for the New York Times. David, im going to start with you. Two columns this week that you had were head lined how should one resist the Trump Administration, that was on valentines day. What a failed Trump Administration looks like. You have thats pretty declarative in 30 days. Enemy of the people. Im an enemy of the people. You know what . My fear of the administration as its shaken out so far is that its anarchy. There are 696 appointed jobs that require Senate Confirmation and the Trump Administration has named 692 of them. So there is nobody home in the government. The Civil Service opted out because theyve been offended by trump. The court system has given themselves permission to block every trump initiative, the Intelligence Community is disarray or disaffection. To lead, you need a government. And the government has gone awoln onest columns i liken him to captain kirk on the star ship enterprise of the command deck pushing the pretty buttons. But theyre not attached to anything. Ive been in touched with a lot of foreign officials this week. Theyre noticing. And theyre afrafd the weak United States. We talked earlier this week about you were very upset about the withdrawal. You were angry about it. And the weak kneed republican senators and i reminded you, they may not fear this white house right now. And that is a problem that washington seems to this white house hasnt gotten control of washington. I think theyre going to remember given the rally yesterday that he has got deep and lasting support in red america. I disagree with david pretty funneled. Ally on where we are right now. I think to quote dan rathers news, i look at intel, i look at the nomination, i like at reince interview with you which is spectacular. I think if he names john bolton as the National Security adviser today, hell find another ally that can do the sunday shows with you like reince did and articulate. June 7th, 1993, five months into the presidency, bill clinton is on the cover of time magazine. The incredible shrinking president. He had 91 more months to go. 25 years later, its too early. Look, president s get a lot of opportunities to reset. Voters are definitely very patient on that point. But what are we seeing in 30 days . I think that im much more where hugh is right now which is were 30 days into this. While we in washington are pretty clear about what were seeing, because its not like anything weve ever seen before. The disarray, the internal discombobulation and there is a good swath of americans who want to wait and see what happens. A whole bunch of people voted for this president not because they liked him, not because they condoned his behavior, but because they thought that he was going to be able to make a difference. Youre not going to know that in 30 days. A year from now well be back and all these things that he said hes going to be able to do alone, right . Im going to fix border security. Im going to fix health care. Im going to fix jobs. Theyre either going to happen or theyre not. And whether he can get folks on his team along with him, weve been all the people at this table at one point or another, including you, you, i know me said the Republicans Party is falling apart. Theyre never going to coalesce behind the president. Theyre never going to stick with him. Right now they are. And they are not abandoning him. Even john mccain. Well, look, i think all presidencies start with a little bit of chaos. Fwh but this kind of chaos is different because wrf it is and at what levels. I think, you know, the actions on flynn, on the implementation of the immigration ban, what some said was a muslim ban this is the kind of chaos that not just this administration but no administration needs. And its got to wrap itself up quickly. I think republicans are going to like head for the hills. Guys, were 30 days in. He doesnt have a National Security adviser, he had to fire him. There are seven committees that want to investigate the campaign on russia. Thats a huge problem. This is not a small problem. You should never call a federal judge socalled. That san enormous mistake. Enemies is an enormous mistake. I point out with amy, you make enormous mistakes early, can you course correct. You bring in a bolton and you have somebody that can come on the sunday show like reince did. There are opportunities to course correct. There is the talk media thing which hes great at. Hes good at your job. But there is the actual substance running of government. Rex tillerson could be a great secretary of state. But he cant even pick his deputy because somebody in the white house blocks him. And then ben carson loses somebody. People all around the agencies are trying to actually run a government are prevented because of the loyalty test. Then the israeli Prime Minister comes n theres no state and no defense representation. This is not how government works. You cant run it as one or three people in the white house. You need to lead an organization. People have no one to call. I mean that is the problem. You got people who are heads of agencies, no undersecretaries, no assistant secretaries, no deputy secretaries. Can you not run a government like. This. All right. Were going to pause here and pick up this conversation later in the show. Up next, what happens when there is a lack of trust between the white house and the intel as after a dvt blood clot,ital i sure had a lot to think about. What about the people i care about . Including this little girl. And what if this happened again . I was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me . So i asked my doctor. And he recommended eliquis. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. Yes, eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. Eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Both made me turn around my thinking. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. Plus had less major bleeding. Both made eliquis the right treatment for me. Ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you. When you have 7. 95 online u. S. Equity trades, you realize the smartest investing idea isnt just what you invest in, but who you invest with. Welcome back. Senator john mccain is not the only familiar face troubled by Donald Trumps current turmoil presidency. Just this week leon panetta who has been the second of defense and said of the cia and other things told the New York Times. This ive never been so nervous in my lifetime about what may or may not happen in washington. I dont know whether this white house is capable of responding in a careful or thoughtful way should a crisis erupt. I spoke with mr. Panetta last night and began by asking him whether he finds believable that report this week in the wall street journal which you heard referred to earlier in the show that people in the Intelligence Community are withholding critical information from President Trump because they dont trust him. No, its not. In my experience, i have never had Intelligence Officers who have a responsibility to provide full information to the president and to other leaders in the country ever withhold a piece of intelligence. So its something that certainly hasnt occurred when i was there and i doubt whether its happened this time. If you were running the cia and you had an Intelligence Officer say i have a sensitive piece of information but it may be connected with this investigation thats going on with the current president in particular russia, this is the implication that was in the wall street journal story that somehow is anything at least if that sphere there is a concern about giving it to the president , you would have a hesitation of giving that information to the president . Absolutely not. Because your first responsibility is to provide the truth to the president. And if you start thinking about how the president s going to use it, what hes going to do with that information, then, frankly, youll never provide the truth to the president. And thats what Intelligence Officers are supposed to do. So if you were head of the cia and you knew Intelligence Officers were doing this, would that be a fireable offense . Absolutely. I think any time an Intelligence Agency with holds Vital Information to the president or with holds any Key Information to the president , thats a violation of their oath. So lets talk about though this issue with the relationship between this president and the Intel Community. Its rocky to sat leasy the lea. What do you hear on the morale front . Obviously, its not a good situation. Because there is a lack of trust between the president and the Intelligence Community and between the Intelligence Community and the president. And, you know, every time he demeans the Intelligence Community or accuses it of leaks or accuses it of doing things that its not doing, that obviously impacts on the morale of that institution. Look, these are good people. Theyre not republicans or democrats. Theyre good patriots who are trying to do their job. Its a tough job. They have to put their lives on the line in order to provide information to the president. The last thing they need is to have a president who questions their patriotism to this country and to him. What is the if this continues, if this sort of cold war between the Intel Community and the president continues where he believes that any bad story about him and a foreign leader or him and a situation having to do with National Security is due to an intelligence leak and thats what he tells the public, what is the long term impact on the cia . The bigger question is what is the long term impact on the president of the United States and the decisions that the president has to make with regards to Foreign Policy and protecting the security of the country. Thats his first responsibility is to protect the country. He cant do that without getting intelligence, without getting good intelligence as to whats going on in the world. And so ultimately, you do have to have a relationship of trust reestabilshed. I hope mike pompeo, the now director of the cia k. Do. That i hope that dan coats, the new director of National Intelligence that he can help do that. I think jim mattis is trying to do that. So my hope is that ultimately that relationship can be reestabilshed. Why . Because it has to be reestabilshed for the sake of the country. But do you believe the president has a point on these leaks at all . Do you think these leaks are coming from the Intel Community and that it is undermining his presidency . I chuck, you know, i ive been involved in politics for a long time. And i served two president s and worked under nine president s. Leaks are a problem that every president has complained about. Right. The president s that i worked for complained about leaks. But the reality is that leaks come from all kinds of directions. The most important thing you can do to stop leaks is to establish loyalty between the people that are working for you and the president of the United States. If you establish that sense of loyalty, then swroenlt he wont worry about leaks. Leon panetta, again if, i go through all your titles, ill run out of time. Always good to see you, sir. Thank you for sharing your views. Chuck, good to be with you. Thank you. Thank you. Before we go, reminder of our podcast this week. The story of a high flying lobbyist and a dark tale of power and influence in washington 1947 meet the press podcast. Check it out on itunes. It is a gripping, gripping story. When we come back, the latest thing that has a lot of americans worried, really americans worried, really worried. With every early morning. Americans worried, really worried. Every late night. And moment away. With every click. Call. Punch. And paycheck. Youve earned your medicare. It was a deal that was made long ago, and aarp believes it should be honored. Thankfully, President Trump does too. I am going to protect and save your Social Security and your medicare. You made a deal a long time ago. 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Show more of you. We have a question about your brokerage fees. Fees . What did you have in mind . I dont know. 6. 95 per trade . Uhhh and i was wondering if your brokerage offers some sort of guarantee . Guarantee . Where we can get our fees and commissions back if were not happy. So can you offer me what schwab is offering . Whats with all the questions . Ask your broker if theyre offering 6. 95 online equity trades and a satisfaction guarantee. If you dont like their answer, ask again at schwab. Welcome back. So how stressed out are you about politics . The American Psychological association released the annual survey on stress in america. And 2016 was the first year the group asked about the impact of politics. I wonder why. 49 of americans say the outcox the 2016 election is a significant source of stress. Hillary clinton got 48 of the vote. Familiar number there. 57 , by the way, say the same about the current Political Climate and 66 are stressed out about the future of the country. Now its not surprising is that this stress caused by the Election Results breaks down along party lines. 72 of democrats feel that stress versus just 26 of republicans feeling high levels of stress. And the levels of stress over the election dpenld on where you live. 33 of rural americans are stressed about the results. 45 of folks in the suburbs and a whopping 62 of people in urban areas. All that not entirely shocking. Urban and suburban voters were mostly for hillary clinton. Now there was a stressor that did Cross Party Lines mashgs jorts of both democrats and republicans say they are stressed out about the future of america. 76 of democrats and 59 of republicans. Look, its been over three months since President Trumps election and the anxiety felt by many in the aftermath and relief felt by others continue to play a role in how americans are experiencing this new political reality. But the bipartisan concern about the future is something that may take president ial leadership and only president ial leadership to heal. When we come back, we have Something Else that should be when you have a digital notebook to capture investing ideas that instantly gives you stock prices, earnings, and dividends. An equity summary score that consolidates the stock ratings of top analysts into a single score. And 7. 95 online u. S. Equity trades, you realize the smartest investing idea isnt just what you invest in, but who you invest with. But who you invest with. Hidden in every swing, every chip, and every putt, is data that can make the difference between winning and losing. The microsoft cloud helps the pga tour turn countless points of data into insights that transform their business and will enhance the game for players and fans. The microsoft cloud turns information into insight. Back now with the panel. Congress is away but the opposition is not tachlt. Take a look at town halls from over the weekend in a couple of republican districts over the last few days. Heres some heres some clips. More access to savings accounts. Savings accounts. Im trying to give you some details. Its okay. Z are you proud to have him representing our country . Given the two choices i have, i am thankful that mr. Trump is the president. So that first rally Donna Edwards was tom reid, republican from new york. The second one you saw was senator tim scott. He was doing a joint town hall with mark sanford. Does that look familiar to you at all from back in the 2009 ho town halls . It looks familiar. You cant avoid them. You cant do some members are choosing to do electronic town halls. They better take them head on. Republicans are going to face exactly what democrats faced then. It wasnt pretty. And, remember, the republicans who are in office right now, more than half of them, i think its over 60 , were not in office in 20009 and 2010. They dont know what the town halls look like and they dont know what its like to put legislation together as difficult as this repeal and replace is going to be. So theyre kind of going this is brand new for so many of them. But i do think that youre right. Taking it head on rather than looking like theyre avoiding it. Does congress have a do Congressional Republicans have a legislating problem to you, hugh . President obama signed a giant stimulus bill. Bushs tax cut was well on the way to getting completed. What major piece of legislation soft starting blocks . Zbloe only the budget reconciliation. The southern gentleman in the boy scout and big brain are very important to make this work. I think at the town halls they cannot run away. They have to come with facts. This week aetna said that obamacare is in a death spiral. Humana pulled out of obamacare this week. There is nothing left of what the president passed in 2009. They have to sell a replacement package. Its hard to adjust to the new world. Everybody defers to the white house. We assume all arent world, initiation starts there and then we react. But initiation is not starting there. So its interesting to see who understands the new world and the asian leaders seem to get it. Theyre like, okay, we have to be the actors. The europeans tort sort of get. Putin turned on trum tp and theyre going to start being more aggressive. Congress, they have not quite gotten it. I think republicans say, no, we have to lead this thing. But 8 1 2 years, they should have the replace bill and ready to put it in front of the president. And the reason they dont is because they cant deliver preexisting conditions, children under 26, making sure that youre really covered for wellness. These are the things that people want. And the people showing up at the town halls are not just democrats. Theyre republicans, too. They have health care. I want to show you, speaking of the issues with the president s popularity, two big bo polls this week, 39 56 approve disapprove. A job Approval Rating below the number he got. The partisan split is obvious. I put up the independent numbers because as independents go, so goes this Trump Presidency if you believe the numbers. This is true. Although, we know that the democrats still have a geography problem. And where theret most difficult senate seats for them to hold are in places they need to win. They need to win rinz aepublica not just in dependents. The pugh poll thing, what depressed me the most is remember when president obama came in 2013 and said the fever is going to break on this partisanship . I looked at that poll. The patient is in critical condition. The fever is spiked. Its not just a divide between d and r and i, it is the divide between gender and race and education is deeper and more significant than ive ever seen. It cant continue like this that we have two countries that are divided on those things for this long of time. Its super depressing. Pause it here, especially whether you dont have president ial leadership is that is trying to unify the country. He is focused on his base and his base alone right now. And the college that President Trump loves to talk about most of all when we come back. If i told you the number of books in your home determines how well your child reads later, youd probably start reading more, right . Well, i just told you. Whatre you waiting for . The more you know. Back now with emd game. All president s have their favorite answers that they fall back on and parentally President Trump is no exception. This week no matter the question or the setting, mr. Trump wound up talking about well, see for yourself. We won by a very, very large Electoral College vote. We are very honored by the victory that we had, 306 Electoral College votes. We were not supposed to crack 220. You know that, right . We got 306. Because people came out and voted like theyve never seen before. So thats the way it goes. I guess it was the biggest Electoral College win since ronald reagan. Well, it wasnt quite the biggest Electoral College win since ronald reagan, since his 29 state win, Donald Trumps electoral votes were surpassed by barack obama twice, bill clinton twice and george h. W. Bush once. So it is the biggest Electoral College victory since the last election. David brooks, the question was about syrian refugees. The second was about antisemitism. Its like if he doesnt want to answer the question, he falls back on but i won. Yeah. I dont know if there some conditional i mean a lot of people need to prove theyre validated. He is a marketing guy. He got good numbers in the election. He won the election. He wants to go back to that. Amy wrote about this his supporters are a little transactional. He has to deliver for them. And so the numbers he should be focusing on are not what happened in the past. It is the fact that from 1950 to 2000 we had 2. 3 growth in this country. Right now we have 1. 1 growth. So that is the 11 million man out of the force. These are the actual numbers that he has to focus on not the political victory. Hes got to turn this page. He keeps wanting to say what he wants to say, i speak trump, is i won the greatest electoral upset in modern mystery. So just say. That. Thats what he needs to say. He dont call the media enemies but mark the self regard. Thats the way to go. Hell learn how to do. That when he does, the orchestra is going to get into tune pretty quick. But hes going to i dont think thats ever going to change. Its a level of insecurity either about how he won or fact that he did, were not arguing that. He needs to Start Talking about governing. Its this i alone can do this, right . Thats that goes back to what david is talking about. I dont need anybody else. Everybody around this table said i couldnt win. All the smart people said we couldnt win. I can do it myself. He alone may be judged by the public on that front. Before we go, a quick programming note. It will be a fun special for you to watch tonight. Dont miss the Paley Center Salute to the 90th anniversary. And we thought we were cool at 70677 70 dont miss it. Well be back next week because if its sunday, its meet the press. More flood fears as california braces for another storm. What do we want . When do we want it . Taking to the streets. Its a federal holiday for many but for thousands of others this presiden day is one of defiance as antitrump protests get under way across the country. Leaked. Homeland security memos show the administration zeroing in on what they call criminal aliens. Meanwhile, its trump versus sweden . And more arrests and escalating tensions in the assassination of the north korean leaders half brother. Spacex reaches for the stars with a historic launch