With President Trump backfire for democrats in the midterms. Stepping up their game, how potential 2020 Democratic Candidates are using Brett Kavanaughs hearings to play up their opposition to trump. We begin with a live picture of the white house and new reaction from Vice President pence standing by his fierce denial he was behind the New York Times oped and answering one of the burning questions at the heart of it. Heres a clip airing later this morning. One of the claims made in the oped is that there have been discussion of invoking the 25th amendment to remove the president from office. Have you ever been part of a conversation about that . No, never. And why would we be . As President Trump caps off a week of campaigning, one of his top officials is trying to reassure republican donors the partys control of the house is not in jeopardy. An audio obtained by the washington post, Nick Mulvaney told a group that theyll be able to stave off a blue wave despite President Trump he is unpopularity. A lot will depend on the likability of individual candidates. New york times headline on that private Meeting Centers on ted cruz and how mulvaney warned these donors that he could end up losing his senate race because hes not seen as likeable enough. Its unclear if president obama will travel to texas as part of his strategy to help democrats after making his debut back on the campaign trail this weekend. Where theres a vacuum in our democracy, when we are not participating, were not paying attention, when were not stepping up, other voices fill the void. But the good news is, in two months we have a chance to restore some sanity in our politics. All across the country, you can feel the energy. You can feel people saying, oh, enough is enough. Were going to kick off our bedroom slippers, were putting on our marching shoes. Were going to go up and start taking clip boards out. Lets bring in julie man chebser and shawn sullivan, congressional reporter for the washington post. Great to have you with us. Thank you. President obama hitting the campaign trail, what is the consensus on the timing of his comeback with just two months until the election and also, his strategy for how hard he plans to attack President Trump . Well, as for the timing, he waited until after labor day. This is the traditional kind of unofficial beginning of the stretch run to the midterm elections. He has been he picked his spot in terms of when he has decided to come out and criticize President Trump over the last year and a half or so. And now were seeing him start to intensify that. What it looks like is a strategy aimed at turning out the Democratic Base. Midterm elections are about base turnouts. Republicans want to turn out their loyal base voters and democrats want to do the same. There is nobody more popular with the Democratic Base than the former president , barack obama. I would expect that for the most part, he was going to be focusing on house races because a lot of these are in battleground districts where you have a lot of democratic voters. Whereas, in the battle for the senate, youre seeing mostly conservative deciding that majority. I wouldnt expect him to spend too much time in the very red states that decide the north dakota, west virginia. I would expect to see him in ohio, pennsylvania and of course california where he was over this weekend. And julia, as we watch progressives in states like massachusetts and new york beat out establishment candidates, what is the appetite of democrats to have president obama play a big role in the midterms . I think democrats absolutely want president obama to play a big role in the midterms. Like shawn said, president obama is probably one of the most, if not the most Popular National figure who is in the Democratic Party and over this primary season, weve seen really two factions emerge with the Democratic Party. The establishment and the progressives. Right now, democrats want to see gains in the house and senate and even in statehouses across the country. They need to be unified. I think a lot of democrats see president obama as the unifying figure because president obama in recent days has really shown hes willing to fight back against President Trump really rolling back some of his major policies. Progressives and establishment democrats alike are likely to get fired up about issues like the supreme court, which is a big base issue for conservatives as well. President obama is the one who can unify those two bases and getting them fired up over these issues. I want to talk about what Nick Mulvaney told a few donors yesterday. Can you talk about the jeopardy that ted cruz is in because isnt the president going to campaign for ted krusz next month. This is an interesting situation. You look at a state like texas which on the whole has been a e reliably can be republican state. When you look at demographic trends in the state, democrats have looked at texas and said, look, this is a state we think is becoming more purple and that can eventually maybe become blue sometime in the next few years. Right now, the polls are showing in texas that ted cruz really does have a real race on his hands. This is not something that raps are taking lightly republicans are taking lightly. That could be enough to bring an upset in texas. I think the message that mulvaney is trying to send to cruz and other candidates, look, you have to develop your own brand and its going to have to be a brand that appeals with people. Hes acknowledging what a lot of people already know which is the president is very, very unpopular in a lot of places across the country and a lot of battleground districts and states. Hes signaling to the candidates, you have to win on the merits of your own campaign. Your own personality and your own platform. Ted cruz is somebody who is a very polarizing figure, of course, he has a loyal and supportive conservative base. But there are a lot of moderate voters and a lot of democratic voters who dont like ted cruz. A lot of them see him as somebody who is sort of prioritized his National Ambitions over what he should be focusing on in texas. Thats what a lot of democrats think. It could be a tough race. I think mulvaney is signaling to cruz and others this is going to come down to your candidacy, not the president s sniept its an interesting race to watch. Julia, President Trump still talked about the Alabama Senate race. The president asks me all the time, why did roy moore lose . Thats easy. Because he was a terrible candidate. So julia, how are you reading into this on the part of the president . On the part of the president , i think this says what the president thought by him intervening in that race, he would be able to get the republican candidate across that finish line to victory. I think the president feels that when he gets involved in special elections, midterm elections, hes really able to make a difference. He does in many cases. So i think the president thought in roy moores case that he would be able to, i guess, clean up that mess, if you will and help him get to victory. But obviously, he didnt. Obviously, those the allegations and the stories about roy moore definitely very negatively affected him. I think the president really likes to get involved in these races. I think he probably took that personally as maybe a potential loss on his part. Shawn, you heard Vice President pence engaging in talks about the 25th amendment. Where do things stand in terms of finding out the identity of the New York Times oped writer . Do you see this oped differently from the numerous leaks or books that have come out of the white house which portray a negative image of the president . It is certainly an extraordinary development. Its not something weve seen before to have somebody inside an administration so openly make these kind of comments and express these concerns. Of course, this person did so without revealing their identity. The bigger question when you look at the comments in the oped, some of the reporting in Bob Woodwards book. Who is really in control at the white house at key moments . Theres a lot of reporting in woodwards book and as we look at this oped that suggest that senior officials tried to bypass trump or kind of push their own agenda. So the question is not only who has kind of been at the helm at key moments the last couple of months, but what does this do Going Forward. Is the president going to look at this reporting, look at this oped and he hreassert himself the thats one of the questions that this oped and other reporting recently raises. Julia, quickly, your reaction . I think theres lots of speculation around be Vice President pence at this point because of his influence in the trump administration, even in the Republican Party as a whole. There have been other theories around other officials. Ive heard Larry Kudlows name floated because of the economic verbiage in there as well as other officials. Theres a lot of theories to be floated. But weve seen reports of the narrowed down that the number of the officials recently. Well have to see. Julia manchester, sean sullivan. Stick around. Were going to talk about the confirmation hearings. Why a former attorney is demanding his money back from porn star Stormy Daniels. The latest in their legal battle is head. Dont miss Omarosa Manigault new man discuss the turmoil with my colleague alex witt. 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Im ready to crush ap english. Im ready to do what no one on my block has done before. Forget that. What no one in the world has done before. All i need access, tools, connections. Highspeed connections. Is the world ready for me . Through internet essentials, comcast has connected more than sixmillion lowincome people to lowcost, highspeed internet at home. Im trying to do some homework here. So theyre ready for anything. New today. More reaction from Stormy Daniels attorney, michael avenatti. Hes calling on President Trump and Michael Cohen. Cohen wants to void the hush money agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels and get the 130,000 back. A move that could and would effectively end the case. Heres avenattis response in an interview with my colleague alex witt. This is a legal stunt. Its not going to work. Theres a number of reasons why its not going to work from a legal perspective. Starting with the fact that donald trump has offered nothing. Donald trump has not stated that hes interested in rescinding the agreement. I think they both know that the noose is tightening. The prospects of me getting those depositions of Michael Cohen and donald trump has expanded exponentially. Theyre very, very concerned and they should be. Joining me now is criminal defense attorney ashley mer chen. Thanks for having me. Avenatti sees the move as an attempt to avoid deposition. My client and i will never settle the case absent full disclosure and atability. Would there be no legal standing for him to depose him. If the case is dismissed and the issues are moot, there would be no ability to depose him. Thats what theyre trying to do. Trying to make all of the issues moot in the case so it has to be dismissed so there cant be a deposition. Theyre trying to get this money back. Which shes offered to pay back. But theyve got to have legal issues that are still standing. Legal issues that still are at issue. So that the lawsuit can go forward. Its not just this money. There are other issues that are being litigated here. So the lawsuit could still go forward and they could still have to depose donald trump and Michael Cohen. Thats the whole goal here. Theyre trying to avoid this deposition. He does not want to sit for a deposition. Thats the problem. As you mentioned, daniels offered to pay back the 130,000 months ago. Why is the offer by Michael Cohen coming up now and is it plausible its being offered to help the president . The move is definitely being offered to help the president. The move is being offered because he does not want to sit for a deposition. Its because donald trump has been questioned and prepped for a deposition and told that he should not be deposed. If he is deposed, its a discovery deposition and theyre able to ask him a ton of different questions. The only thing that still applies is privilege. They can ask very broad questions. They dont have to be relevant to one certain issue in the lawsuit. They can ask anything that they think would lead to discoverable information. They want to protect donald trump from actually having to sit for this deposition. Theyre worried about what hes going to be questioned about and how he would actually perform. I was going through his older depositions hes had in other lawsuits. Theres over 30 instances where hes alleged to have lied about different things. They dont want to put him in that position as a sitting president to be deposed under oath where he could potentially lie about things. What are the chances that Michael Cohen is want to go scrap the agreement and Stormy Daniels is forced to give the money back. She may have to give the money back. Shes offered to give it back. Thats not really the issue. Theyre trying to be this lastditch effort to get the money back. Not because of the money. Theyre trying to get it back to say its moot and move to dismiss a lawsuit before hes actually deposed. What theyre trying to do is get the money back and go into court and say, well, you know what, we voided this nondisclosure agreement, weve undone it, given the money back. The lawsuit needs to go away. Its really not about the money. Its really about the lawsuit Going Forward because they dont want to have to sit for a deposition. Ashley, a new article published by Politico Magazine said the 25th amendment wont work on the president. Have any of the actions or in the tellall books lead us to believe that the 25th amendment could be invoked . It could be invoked but not likely to be invoked. The reason why, there has to be a majority of his own people. A majority of his own people would have to think hes not fit for office. Its not that they secondguess him. They have to believe hes not fit for office. Then it would go to congress and congress would have to sign by 2 3 of a majority, 2 3 of a vote that hes not fit for office. Theres a lot of different steps and its very unlikely that it would be used effectively to remove the president. Its normally where the president is incapacitated due to a health issue or an accident. This would be a new ground if it was used to actually get rid of a sitting president for reasons other than health. Unprecedented again. Ashley merchant, great to have you here. Thank you. Which Senate Democrats are stepping up to show they have what it takes to challenge President Trump in 2020. But first, latenight laughs and the white house hunt for the oped writer. The oped sent tremors through the west wing and launched a frantic guessing game as opposed to the other trump games. Theres collusional chairs, charade of a marriage and pin the crime on the don jr. Im going to say it was kellyanne in the situation room with the laptop. Im surprised by how good a writer ivanka is. Mel anya, said no, its not me. If i have something to say, ill write it on my jacket. Just look at him. Look at that face. Thats a face that says just practicing for the glee club at school, mrs. Cleaver. Look at the way he looks at donald trump in every picture. Hes there in the background. Fantasizing about ways to destroy him. And then just sing from the sweet mug of revenge. Making it easy for you to get your windshield fixed. With safelite, you can see exactly when well be there. Saving you time for what you love most. Kids whoa kids vo safelite repair, safelite replace hundred roads named park in the u. S. Its americas most popular street name. But allstate agents know thats where the similarity stops. If youre on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the Washoe Zephyr could damage your siding. And thats very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. But no matter what park you live on, one of 10,000 local allstate agents knows yours. Now that you know the truth, are you in good hands . music throughout that make it easy for your uber driver to find you,atures taking the stress out of pickups. Because leaving an event shouldnt be one. Uber is moving in a new direction. Forward. Countdown to the midterms. In the week ahead, New Hampshire and rhode island will vote in congressional primaries. I am absolutely confident these candidates are going to win. If these candidates win, i am absolutely confident that washington will start working better. Former president obama rallying supporters on the Midterm Campaign trail in anaheim, california. On thursday, hell stump in cleveland for the candidate for governor. Richard corduroy served as the director of Consumer Financial protection bureau. On capitol hill this week, Brett Kavanaugh is expected to clear his first hurdle when they vote on thursday. It comes after intense grilling by a few democrats reportedly eyeing 2020. How can you not remember whether or not you had a conversation about Robert Mueller or his investigation with anyone at that law firm . The investigation has only been going on for so long, sir. Im not sure im trying to think do i know anyone who works aught that firm. Thats not my question. My question is have you had a conversation with anyone at that firm about that investigation. Its a really specific person. I would like to know the person youre thinking of. I think youre thinking of someone and dont want to tell us. This is the closest ive been to an i am spart cuss moment. There is no rule, there is clearly a rule that applies. Lets bring back Julie Manchester and sean sullivan. You reported on this apparent posturing. What were your take aways . When you look at the hearings last week, senator booker and senator harris who have been talked about as potential, not likely president ial candidates in 2020. Really went hard after kavanaugh in their questioning and their tactics. We just heard from senator booker right there saying that this is sort of, i am spartacus moment. Dratsz considering running for president understand that they need to demonstrate that they are willing to push back on the administration, that includes all policies and all nominees from the administration. When i talk to people in the early states, activists in iowa and New Hampshire, really people were watching these confirmation hearings to see which democrats would step up and demonstrate that they were willing to resist and push back against this nominee and i think thats why we saw senator booker and senator harris go so hard after him and be so aggressive in their questioning. They wanted to distinguish themselves from everybody else and say im the one who is most aggressively pushing back against this president and against his agenda. Julia, have democrats all but conceded theres no way to stop kavanaugh from being confirmed . Not necessarily. Theres a lot of progressives who have begun to target republican moderate Susan Collins and lis i murkowski for their past comments on roe v. Wade. They need two republicans really to essentially stop or block or delay this nomination. I think theyre going to target them. On a series of ad campaigns and potentially target them at this point. You know, i think kavanaugh stands an extremely strong chance of getting confirmed. But they havent given up just yet. I think especially progressives need to at least seem like theyre putting it all in to top him. Well be watching for that thursday vote. Sean sullivan, Julie Manchester, great to have you here on this sunday morning. That will do it for me. Im dara brown. Thanks for watching. At the top of the our, its politics nation. But first your business is up next. Ive been making blades here at gillette for 20 years. Theres a lot of innovation that goes into making americas 1 shave. 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