A onetime insider got the details. And jared and ivanka know who the culprit is. Yes, theres stuff that i know and id say its 50 50 at this point which is pretty scary odds if youre the president. Stormy daniels in a new interview suggesting theres plenty the public does not know. Thats coming up next here on msnbc live. But we begin this hour with former president obama officially jumping into the midterms race by making his first public appearance on the campaign trail. In about two hours hes going to headline a rally in anaheim, california, as part of the efforts to help democrats take back the house. His appearance comes one day after criticizing the president by name at a small gathers of students in illinois. Meanwhile, President Trump also back tonight after traveling in the midwest. Telling reporters hes narrowed his idea of the suspect of the oped. Were going to look and see what happens. I think its a National Security matter. They should look at it. They should look at it very strongly and we should find out who it is. Why should we live with somebody in the white house who is subversive in a sense. I can think of four or five, mostly people either i dont like or respect but theyre there because in some cases they have to be governmentally. Meaning theyre protected. You know, we have a lot of people that are protected. I thought of two or three or four people. People do you want to name them . No, i dont want to name them. And the New York Times standing by its decision to keep the identity secret. In the statement, the times calls it a great tanlt abuse of power. Lets get reaction. Correspondent Geoff Bennett. Aaron delmore. Editorinchief bob cusack and jeff mason. Jeff, were going to to you at the white house. Things seem to be heating up in i guess you could call it a frantic search in this who done it. Give me a sense of whats happening at the white house. Well, the white house and the president are on the defensive across multiple fronts. You got white house staffers still trying to do damage control over Bob Woodwards book that paints a picture of a chaotic west wing. And of course, this anonymous oped in the New York Times serving up a scathing indictment of President Trump. Ive got to tell you, when you Ask White House officials about this, alex, they often say, why are you so obsessed with this. But its clear the president himself is still obsessed with finding the author, although we understand he is being counseled by senior staffers at the white house to let this pass. The concern is hes bringing more attention to the claims in the oped, which as we know, raises alarms about his fitness for office. And suggests theres a resistance working within the station, really acts ago a check on the president s more dangerous impulses. Now, to be clear, there is no active white house investigation all of this. But there has been talk of using lie detector tests and sworn affidavits aimed at ferreting out the author of this oped. Just president , frimpd called on attorney general Jeff Sessions asking him to investigate the identity of this oped writer. The president making those remarks just as former president barack obama was lambasting him for inappropriately laying on law enforcement. White House Press SecretarySarah Sanders telling us the president was nearly opining but directing sessions to launch an investigation. Although it struck many people as a distinction without a difference. So the president says this is a matter of National Security. Although theres nothing specifically in the oped that represents a National Security breach. And of course, there is no law that makes it a crime to criticize the president whether youre a private citizen or an unnamed Senior Administration official, alex. Geoff bennett at the white house. Lets bring in aaron, bob and jeff to continue the conversation. You heard him talk about narrowing the list of suspects. Is there a sense of how the white house first shortened that list and who these people might be . Well, i think that everyone is just offering different opinions and probably discussing it behind the scenes. Kellyanne conway said yesterday in an interview that her view is it probably came from the National Security world. But we dont have any specific details on what theyre doing or how theyre trying to narrow down that list. And i think that, they are, in fact, encouraging the president to let it go. Because this is a story that has had legs and not all stories do with the Trump White House because things move so quickly. But the more he talks about it, the more we talk about it as well. Okay. 27 people have denied culpability here so far, bob. Is there anybody notably missing . Is there someone who has yet to say not me, that stands out in your mind . No, alex. I think the main suspects have all said no. And it doesnt carry much weight on this. And i think whether its the president saying this, or there have been Administration Officials who have said ironically, on anonymous basis that theyre close to catching this person. I dont think thats true. I dont think they have any idea really who it is. Just because youve denied it. If youve written an anonymous oped, you would deny that, i would imagine. I think its a great story for the media. I think its a problem for trump because he hates the New York Times, slough hates it. And he really doesnt like Anonymous Sources and its within his own house. So this is really why its getting under his skin and thats why its a big problem for the white house because it is a mystery, and everyone loves a mystery. Yeah, for sure. Looking at vanity fair erin, ivanka and jared have been pushing the point that chief of staff is behind this oped. Even telling the president , quote, that hes destroying your presidency, referencing kelly there. Are we looking at a final chap which in the long feud with john kelly . Thats right. Ivanka and jared have been facing off against john kelly in the white house since hes been in the white house. We see each side staking out their ground now. There are a couple of reasons in that article why jared and ivanka would point at john kelly. One of the things they mentioned is ego. They said whoever wrote this piece just have a big eigo because he singlehandedly can prevent the Trump Administration from take certain actions. And with white house representatives for kushner and ivanka have denied this. Do you think theres anything for the john kelly rumor . I think theres rumors all around. The president has asked him to stay honest. Chief of staff, for his entire term in office. If he stays longer than that, well have to see. Yes, there has been attention between him and jared and ivanka. Heavens, theres been tension between him and the president. But theyve managed to make it through, john kelly and his staff have said and have shown that theyre committed to working with this president. Jeff, i want to get your perspective here of somebody who works in a daily basis here with the white house, in terms how battled is the president by all of this . The oped comes while the white house was still reeling from bob word wards book . Absolutely. I was actually in the east room when the day that oped came out. The president had just been speaking to some sheriffs. We walked over towards him and he we asked about the oped, he started by responding and pulling out a list of his accomplishments. You can see when you look at that particular clip he was angry about it, and he was, indeed, rattled. And yet ready to Start Talking about things that he felt the country should be focused on. I was saying the story certainly had legs. And the longer these things last and the more rattled people around him become. Bob, the president yesterday was doubling down on attorney general Jeff Sessions saying that he should go after an effort to uncover the anonymous source because of National Security concerns. What is he referring to here . Because it was discussed, again benneefi Geoff Bennett said there was no discussion of National Security. I think its more pressure on sessions. Probably another reason why at some point, probably after the midterms that the president is going to get rid of Jeff Sessions. The department of justice said they cant confirm the existence of it. Whether its congress, there has been speculation that congress should figure out who this is. Russia is mentioned, as you know, in the oped. But its not really a National Security issue. And i think republicans certainly speak of paul ryan when hes trying to hold on to his majority. He doesnt want this and going after to possibly subpoena the oped editor at the the New York Times. I dont think thats a winning message down in the stretch of the election. Erin, do you have a sense how disruptive this is in the inner workings of the white house, when you have a president so focused on this and unable to, you would assume, unable to focus on other things . You have white house staffers unable to deflect any culpability here. How has this disrupted white house operations . The problem for the white house, its not a new story. Its the same narrative that weve seen coming out of the woodward book. Also from michael wolf, and onlieronly er onlier rosa. So this drip, drip, drip isnt about the last few days it starts pretty much on day one. Okay. I do want to get to another astounding moment this week, this is when our former president obama rebroke and rebuking the president at the university of illinois. It did not start with donald trump. He is a symptom, not the cause. Hes just capitalizing on res t resentments that politicians have been feigning for years. A fear and anger thats rooted in our past, but also borne out of the enormous yupheavals that have taken place in your brief lifetimes. Do you think its about the midterms or about what president obama sees as the wrongs there . The democrats are looking to fire up not just the base but the middle the road voters who they think they can bring over. President obama and his wife michelle are the people to do it. President obamas Approval Rating is nine points higher than President Trumps has been. President obama seems to have the cloud. Is your sense, jeff, that President Trump welcomes his faceoff with president obama . Does it help shore up his base . Well, it actually might and the reaction from the former president s remarks yesterday indicated that. A, the first thing he said, he watched the speech but then he fell asleep. And then he said later to a crowd at one of the fundraisers that he was speaking at, if this doesnt energize you, then nothing will. Ievnl i think that he likes to have a sparring partner. If president obama presents himself as that sparring partner, i suspect that President Trump will welcome that, as will some of the people around him, as they look to somebody to kind of show his base and show the people who they want to come out, the republicans they want to come out in november, this is what you had and this is what im offering. Yeah, bob, im curious from the democratic perspective, is this approach from obama going to be helpful . And by the way, i guess we learned that the president takes naps during the day, right . Yeah, listen, dental cats have not shown up for midterms since 2006. Just like sent 06, they can win the house and the senate. But the senate is going to be tougher. Remember, obama is still the head of the democratic party. A lot of democrats said its about time you did this. Okay. Good to see all three of you. Thanks for joining me. Meantime, could the 25th amendment be able to remove the president from office . Im going to ask a legal expert if theres truth to the claims in doing so would set up a constitutional crisis. Im ken jacobus and i switched to the spark cash card from capital one. I earn unlimited 2 cash back on everything i buy. And last year, i earned 36,000 in cash back. Which i used to offer Health Insurance to my employees. Whats in your wallet . I never count the wrinkles. And i dont add up the years. But what i do count on. Is staying happy and healthy. So, i add protein, vitamins and minerals to my diet with boost®. New boost® high protein nutritional drink now has 33 more highquality protein, along with 26 essential and minerals your body needs. All with guaranteed great taste. The upside im just getting started. Boost® high protein be up for life is there something you now know which we will know soon which could bring down this presidency . Yes, id say theres stuff that i know and id say its a 50 50 shot at this point which are pretty scary odds in youre the president. New this Stormy Daniels claims that she has said that is designed to take down the president. In an interview with bloomberg claiming the topic was overly discussed. Join, good to see you, lets get into it here. Daniels would not expand on her comments there. But in your mind is there anything left out there thats unexposed that we could be missing . I suppose there are all sorts of things. There could be pillow talk that shes aware of and has provided the prosecutors. Or any number of sorts of issues. But its really speculation at this point. And i think her 50 50 comment is less of a legal import. And perhaps just more of her subjective assessment. Ive just got to say, pillow talk between the two, potentially if that even exists, i mean, thats just super hard to try to prove, right . He said she said . Exactly, unless theres something documentary which backs it up which is why this seems so speculative at this point. We know now that Michael Cohen is hoping to dismissing that disclosure with Stormy Daniels. Hes promised to drop his 20 million lawsuit against stormy for violating that agreement. How valid is that the nondisclosure agreement at this point . There were a couple of problems with the agreement that were alleged. For instance, they pointed to the fact that trump had never signed the agreement to argue it never went into effect. In essence, it was void from the getgo. So theres been this Legal Process and now cohens lawyer has come into court and essentially agreed with Stormy Daniels. Saying we no longer want this nda to be enclosed. Interestingly perhaps removing the opportunity she might have otherwise had to depose cohen and the president. So then, joyce, should Stormy Daniels return 130,000 jdz. That, i suppose is up to the judge in the case. It was a contract, it was performed if shes saying it was void from its initial entry then perhaps theres an argument there. But that will be a subject for litigation in that court. Okay. Once again reminding our viewers that the president denies ever having sex with Stormy Daniels. I want to move on to george papadopoulos. The First Campaign that he sentenced to the mueller probe. Two weeks 14 days behind bars. In terms of perspective, for this, for lying to federal authorities, put this in perspective with the sentencing guidelines. Someone suggests it sounds like 14 days isnt a big deal. But actually, this was kind of harshes right . It is, in the context of this sort of a sentence. Federal sentencing is a pretty confusing sort of animal. We all hear these references in statutes that say up to 30 years. Or 30 years to life. Or whatever that statute might say. But in reality, the types of sentences that federal judges impose are much lower. And they are typically informed by a document called the sentencing guidelines which is the creation of a number of judges and practitioners who make recommendations to judges about sentencing ranges. So in this case, papadopoulos, who had no prior criminal history had a sentencing range of zero to six months. The judge was free to go above that if the judge found good cause to do so. Most often, alex, with a person with this sort of a crime with no criminal history whatsoever, they actually dont receive a sentence. Here muellers prosecutors went to court and asked for a custodial sentence which might not sound like a lot to us, but were not the ones who have to go into federal custody for 14 days. And of course, there are all sorts of collateral consequences for conviction. Including loss of rights to vote. Your inability to own a firearm. Is there anything that suggests to us that papadopoulos shared information with Robert Mueller . Yes or no . Its hard to know what happened here so ill waffle and say maybe. But i dont see hallmarks of good full cooperation here. Had that happened, we might have heard about that, we might even see papadopoulos on a witness list. Thanks for that. Ill be interview Stormy DanielsAttorney Michael Avenatti. The Trump Administration discussed a coup with venezuela officers. The New York Times saying the administration to discuss plans to overthrow president Nicolas Maduro. Joining with more, nbc correspondent matt bradley. Welcome to you. Did the president have anything to do with the discussions . What do we know about them . Well, the white house seemed to be taking the backseat when it came to this. They were entertaining discussions. They send emissaries to kind of listen and talk to mutinous officers who wants to overthrow Nicolas Maduro. We do know that the president brought up, quote, the military option to depose maduro. Not only to his administration but also to no fewer than four latin american leaders. So the president was definitely considering this, taking aggressive action against maduro. He didnt meet himself with any of these rebellious military officers. How is this news being received in venezuela . We dont know quite yet. It was just broke in the New York Times. We do know last august when President Trump brought up repeatedly, relentlessly this option of a military option. And Nicolas Maduro using it for his plans, not to topple him but to take his mass oil reserves. So this probably will play out in the same way where the president will simply say, i told you so. There is a conspiracy against me and well use it to suppress his enemies. Alex. Matt bradley, thanks. Coming up next, the former executive editor of the New York Times with the unique Decision Making process when publishing that anonymous oped. Brads about to find out if his denture can cope with. A steak. Luckily for him, he uses super poligrip. It helps give him 65 more chewing power. Leaving brad to dig in and enjoy. Super poligrip. With my bladder leakage, the products ive tried just didnt fit right. They were very saggy. Its getting in the way of our camping trips. But with new sizes, depend fitflex is made for me. Introducing more sizes for better comfort. New depend fitflex underwear is guaranteed to be your best fit. One look at you and i cant disguise ive got hungry eyes applebees new 3course meal starting at 11. 99. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. Hundred roads named park in the u. S. Its americas most popular street name. But allstate agents know thats where the similarity stops. 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Mr. Chairman i agree with my colleague, senator harris. Senator kavanaughs new law clerk and everyone else joining us today. Last night and we believe this hearing should be postpo postponed. Mr. Chairman, we have been denied real access to the documents we need to mr. Chairman, regular order is called for. Which turns this hearing into aisha raid and a mockery of our norms. This is a mommerry so confidentiality, a president could not expect to receive before and submissions of facts and opinions upon which the affected discharge of his duties depends, end of quote. You said it was a chaotic. Joining me now, david p. A. Caplan spent a decade coming to the Supreme Court for newsweek. David is the author of a book the assault on the constitution. David, welcome, well get to that and the book. First of all, is there anything to this idea that kavanaugh should be perjury . I think its misstated. He may have md stated or tap danced. Whether or whether there shouldnt be an inquiry, theyre going to confirm him. There could be late breaking news that he was involved in the lindbergh baby kidnapping and they would still confirm him. All of this chaos that we showed kicked off the hearing and it continued at various points over three, four days. How do you stack that up against other hearings that youve covered in the past . I think its different in degree, but not kind. These hearings have been aisha raid for a je charade for a generation. President s bring it on. Journalists bring it on. But the responsibility lost in the Supreme Court itself by getting involved in so many key, social and political issues they raise the stakes in confirmation hearings, and, therefore, president s have more cynical vetting. And senators will do, what you saw, to try to get an omni vote. Two years ago, it was republicans who wouldnt give merritt garland, president obamas nominee, theres plenty to go around on both sides. Im curious, you mentioned merritt garland, you interviewed these in the book. I talk to the justices always on back ground. I couldnt say who i talk to or attribute material to them. But i think they were largely appalled by what he went through. Some of them are quite close to garland. Chief Justice Roberts and garland clerked for the same lower court judge. It was in fact garland who helps roberts, a promising lawsuit, get that clerkship. Now, they may not agree with garlands philosophy or the coach, i think they agree that the process is broken. Theyre not going to, of course, speak out. I flipped to some of that isnt the book but i couldnt tell you which justice might have been upset. Kavanaugh needs 51 to get confirmed republicans hold the majority. Or 50, the tiebreaker with the vice president. But but theres no reason to believe that the two key women, senator collins or senator murkowski is, theyve given every indication, since kavanaugh was nominated in july, that theyre with him. Unless there is some extraordinary revelation or political pressure put on them, which i think is the the possibility is nil. I think hell be confirmed. And i think you will see most of the democrats in red states that are up for senate reelection, youll see them go kavanaughs way. I couldnt be surprised to see 55 votes. Okay. We will see the number ultimately, though we dont know exactly when that vote will be taken. A couple of weeks, probably. They want him seated by the first week in october when the court begins its session. Whether its in two weeks or three weeks doesnt make much difference. Getting to title of your book. Pretty Strong Language you used there. So why do you say the Judicial Branch is the most Dangerous Branch . And how exactly is the Supreme Court assaulting the constitution . Well, clearly, the president can begin a nuclear war. Send troops to far away lands and im not talking about specifically this president. But congress can pass laws or no laws at all. Its the court that i argue with insinuating itself in issues, because the court controls its own docket, the court has hurt its own prestige when it might be needed more. Its wounded other branches, especially congress and state legislatures. I think over the long term, that does damage to democracy. Of course, the court should get involved, the structure like in gerrymandering, although the court ducked those issues last spring. But i think at that higher level, the court is doing great damage to the country. And thats what i try to argue in the title of the book. And and i criticize decisions on the left. And decisions on the right. Its not because i disagree with their outcome, necessarily. I disagree that the court should have gotten involved. Its a hard argument. I skew liberal. And my critics say how do you skew roe v. Wade . The court should not get involved. And the price you pay for justifying the courts involvement then you get decisions like bush v. Gore, you get conservative decisions on gun control, campaign finance. Its tit for tat, the one justifies the other. And once upon a time the court was far more restrained. Pretty hefty book. The most Dangerous Branch inside the Supreme Courts assault of the constitution. David, thank you for your time. Coming up, were going to talk about the executive director of the New York Times with perspective on the decisionmaking process on publishing that now notorious oped. Dear greatgreat grandfather, you made moonshine in a backwoods still. Smuggled booze and dodged the law. Even when they brought you in, they could never hold you down. When i built my family tree and found you, i found my sense of adventure. 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You know, i would say jeff should be investigating. Hard to make out. Im glad we have the verbatim there. The president on the air force one on why the Justice Department should investigate the New York Times. Is that oped by an apparent Senior Administration official. Joining me now the former executive editor of the New York Times who earlier in his career served as the times correspondent. Hes now an msnbc contributor. Welcome back to the broadcast. I want to get back to it with the reaction to what the president said on air force one, pressuring a. G. Sessions to react and investigate. Your thoughts on that . This is not the first president to go after the New York Times. And, of course, any action of the sort hes contemplating would be unconstitutional and inappropriate. I should say, im speaking to you from the mobile, alabama, the beautiful town that gave Jeff Sessions to america. And where the republican majority has not yet had time to react to Donald Trumps statement that southerners are dumb. Hmm. Yes, he did make that statement, didnt he . I can imagine the reaction. Im curious, howell, i want to get to the nittygritty here. Sure. The process of the oped by someone who wants to remain anonymous. Talk about the hoops to say, yes, were going to clear that. Right. The times is a paper that takes its protocols and its procedures very seriously. When i was Editorial Page Editor in the 90s, i dont recall our doing an anonymous oped. But i have to say, i think this is an appropriate response by the newspaper to the place that our country finds itself in. The times, i think, has made a reasonable adjustment to its normal practices. And this oped, i believe, is going to serve as a catalytic role in bringing the country more broadly to grips with what is going on. We have a congress that is paralyzed and a white house that is destabilized. And a president who does not believe in the constitutional role of the free press. And i want to dwell on this fake news catch word that trump has polarized. The major journalistic institutions in this country are functioning well. Theyve just been through a technological revolution. And i think people need to be reminded that the people who run these institutions and make decisions like the brave one that the times just made are serious individuals. Theyre welleducated. They approach their jobs with intellectual discipline. And they operate according to a set of principles. And so, i think, ive never been prouder of the times. And i think this moment could be decisive. And it contrasts so strikingly with heres a major American Institution stepping up at a time when the Republican Leadership in congress in paralyzed. And willing to stand back and watch the executive branch run amok, as was so brilliantly described by the anonymous author. You know, howell, the statement that this is a Senior Administration official. Who is behind this oped. Do you think the author is someone whos publicly known in the upper echelons of the administration . Because if not, wouldnt tthe New York Times be giving the president more fuel for his constant attacks, calling the New York Times fake news, if it was someone at a lower level . Yeah, its key that the times has accurately described this person as a senior official. There are a number of dozens of people in the federal government who would fit that description. It could be my guess is it may be a highly placed deputy or assistant secretary in the state department. Because that is the institution that like the times is most traditionoriented. And most procedure oriented in the u. S. Government. Questiyes, it could be dozen people but it certainly does narrow down the specter of who can could be. This is how were going to identify you, obviously without your name, but were going to put this moniker there, does that have to be approved with that person to say im cool with that . I think oped pieces go through a process of elimination because youre dealing with very wellplaced and strongminded authors. I remember, for example, i was personally involved in editing a piece by president clinton when he was in office. And obviously, if you want that kind of piece, you have to respect the prerogatives of the author. In this case, jim dowd, the deputy Editorial Page Editor, and james bennett, the Editorial Page Editor, both of whom worked for me, im satisfied they vetted this piece carefully and dealt directly with the author. And return to my initial point about the times tradition, the new publisher a. G. Salsburger has always shown that he is capable of standing up to President Trump. So is this not a moment in American History when the government operates cleanly, or journalism is a matter of stark, black and white choices. Obviously, the times stepped into a gray area here but theyve done a Public Service keeping in tradition. Howell, these names always come out. We know mark felt was deep throat. It took a number of years to get to that is there an instance that this name will get revealed . I think it will come out. The one thing ive learned since i started covering american politics many years ago, names always come out. Uhhuh. And i think in this case, i guess would be this is a highly placed person who may have denied authorship at this time but was obviously keeping his or her eye on history. And i think this is a person who will be proud at some point to say, yes, however, i may have misled you by hiding behind the shield of anonymity, im the person and this was an act of conscience. Howell raines, great to get your view. Up next former president obama takes on President Trump but who will he energize more in november . Democrats or republicans. Cancer. Its very personal. Each of us is different. And each cancer is different. How it reacts, how it evades and adapts. And how we attack it. Thats why at Cancer Treatment centers of america, we use diagnostic tools that help us better understand what drives each persons cancer. This is what we mean by outsmarting cancer. And for some, it may uncover more effective treatment options. Like christine bray. After battling Ovarian Cancer for several years, her test results revealed a potential treatment not considered previously a drug therapy that targeted her tumor. Today, christines metastatic cancer is in remission. This is precision Cancer Treatment. Because at Cancer Treatment centers of america. Were not just fighting cancer. Were outsmarting it. Visit cancercenter. Com and schedule an appointment with our cancer care specialists today. Barack obama is back in the spotlight, the former president taking to the campaign trail in illinois to sound off on his successor and President Trump wasted no time firing back. You need to vote because our democracy depends on it. Isnt this much more exciting than listening to president obama . The stakes really are higher. The consequences of any of us sitting on the sidelines are more dire. I watched it, but i fell asleep. I found hes very good, very good for sleeping. It did not start with donald trump. He is a symptom, not the cause. Joining me now democratic strategic who worked on Barack Obamas 2008 campaign, elena beverly. And mattie, former director for the house republicans. I took it that the president takes naps during the day. Were going to get right at it. These are the most pointed words weve heard from your former boss since the president took office, this meaning President Trump, of course. Even mentioning him by name. Im curious to your reaction to what you saw yesterday. Did you expect barack obama to go after donald trump so specifically . I think what we saw yesterday was barack obama at his best, doing what he does best which is defending democracy. In fact, if democracy had a superhero his name would be barack obama. And his superpower would be convincing all of us as voters that our votes matter, our voices matter in this grand experiment that is american democracy. I think he felt the need to come and defend what is best about america. And to remind us of who we are to remind us were better than the politics of anxiety and hatred and division that is being talked by President Trump and the republican party. How peculiar it is for a former president to speak out the way he did. Lets take a listen. Truth was, i was as intent on following a wide american tradition of expresident s gratefully exiting the political stage. Im here today because this is one of those pivotal moments. Big picture here, was president obama wrong to make that speech . Should he have stuck to that tradition . I dont think its a question of whether president obama was going to weigh it on the electoral process. I think the question is when. Its interesting that obama has decided to wait six weeks before the midterms. The question is what do midterms look like for republicans when theres a republican in the white house, particularly when that republican is donald trump. We now exactly how republicans run against obama, and its pretty well. Democrats are now at their lowest strength in about a century. And republicans in washington in particular are very good at running against the obama record. So, for the president now to come out and start reestablishing his role on the national stage, i think its a good question. Who does that benefit . Republicans certainly have demonstrated that they can run against the obama record. I dont think it helps democrats, particularly moderate democrats who are struggling for voters in the midterms. Alena, president obama had strong words about the gop. Take a listen. Politics of resentment and paranoia has unfortunately found a home in the republican party. When you hear president obama throwing pretty much partisan punches like this make you think this could be bad for democrats in the midterm, or does this fire themup. I think it fires them up. But more importantly it also fires under the independents and the moderate republicans who dont see themselves in the politics of the division that the republicans have spewing to their rhetoric. Hes speaking not just to the Democratic Base but hes also speaking out to the disaffected voters. Those who either didnt show up in 2016. Or those who may have made taken a chance on trump. And now, are reminded that this is not what they stand for. And so, i think hes actually expanding the base. And hes also the mvp for the democrats who are leaving nothing for granted and leaving nothing on the field this goround. We have seen unprecedented voter turnout in the primaries. 78 higher than 2017. I think were actually poised to make this a goodyear for democrats. President obama using numerical facts stating that he should get some credit for how strong the economy is. And then President Trump responded to it. President was trying to take credit for the incredible thing happening to our country. If the democrats got in by their agenda in november of almost two years ago, instead of having 4. 2 up, i believe, honestly, youd have 4. 2 down. So, mattie, the president s goal is for republicans to retain control of the house and senate. It talking about barack obama on the campaign trail, is that just a waste of time . I think its a good question, republicans what they have demonstrated with their strength in the 2016 election is that americans vote not just with their checkbook but how they feel about with their checkbook. They responded in 2014 and then again in 2016. They responded to the message that President Trump portrayed as to what he would do to lead the country out of a recession. I think its an interesting question about whether or not president obama actually good galvanize large swaths of the Democratic Base. While that might be enchanting for democrats who already like obama who are already going to show up to vote in 2018 because theyre already energized im not sure that does translate to the democrats who stayed home. And ultimately that is the question for both republicans and democrats, do their bases turn out. Ladies, thank you so much. In just a few minutes, Stormy DanielsAttorney Michael Avenatti will be here with me, just days before his client is set to appear in court. 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