Crisis. There were no Public Events on the president s schedule this morning but he is expected to be at the first ladys event today. Earlier, the president made his thoughts known on his favorite social media platform. This morning he waged a twitter tirade against several adversaries the especially Counsel Robert Mueller and his russia probe. Over the weekend the president s lawyer, Rudy Giuliani refused to rule out President Trump possibly invoking the fifth amendment if forced to sit down with Robert Mueller. Moments ago, White House Press secretary Sarah Huckabee sanders said this to reporters. Is the president pleased with the appearances of Rudy Giuliani over the last few days. Didnt speak with him specifically about his feelings about it. But certainly feels that he is an added value member to his outside special counsel. Also a topic of todays briefing, President Trumps pick to serve as cia director, gina haspel. She is facing an uphill battle for her confirmation. Nbc news has confirmed that haspel discussed withdrawing her nomination on friday. But the white house intervened convincing theory st convinci her to stay the court. And then the president tweeted there, i will abe announcing my decision on the iran deal from the white house tomorrow at 2 00 p. M. Amid President Trumps growing scandals largely surrounding hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels. This afternoon, the first lady will announce new policy initiatives for children. The first lady hasnt directly calked about the affairs that her husband is accused of having during their marriage but quote she has noticeably begun to raise her profile inld of the president s going on to say this News Conference in the white house rose gore den is quote a public appearance that would have almost unthinkable just a few months ago. Joining me now from the rose garden is nbcs Peter Alexander. Peter, what do we expect to hear from the first lady today . She has in some ways in taking on this issue of Cyber Bullying almost taken on her husband. I think thats the case. A lot of people will be focused on the fact that the president is expected to be here in the rose garden as well. The white house is known for the bully pulpit. Today melania will be delivering a more empathetic message. This is grand unveiling what will be her primary initiative. Its called be best. We were handed the mission statement. I hear clapping behind me when indicates that the president is on his way out. Ill be quiet and allow you to watch the podium as we prepare to hear first from the president and the first lady. Of course you are watching the president here coming into the rose garden. He appears to be shaking hands there with his Vice President , if im reading the back of that head directly dhshs there he is. Mike pence. The Vice President and the president taking their seats to make way here for the first lady, Melania Trump. She is making in some ways an uncharacteristic journey into the public eye here. She has been one of our first ladies that has in many ways stayed farther out of the spotlight than others. Im going to see if we can listen in to the video they are playing here. Many of the evils in our world today in my year as first lady i havest also learned there is often during times of tragedy that you see strength and resilience of the human spirit. I have been heartened to see children across this country using their voices to speak out and try to create change. They are our future and they deserve a voice. I received many letters from children who have been bullied or feel on social media. Im here with one goal, helping children and our next generation. And i believe that if we all come together we can start to effect positive change for our children. Much of my focus has been towards understanding the negative effects the Opioid Epidemic is having on our children and young mothers. I have seen firsthand both the medical and personal results. And while this crisis has taken hold of our country, the American People have responded. Im proud of this administrations commitment to battling this epidemic. I want to nurture and protect the most valuable part of our society and our future children. I hope you will join me today in my effort and ask for our support, and i believe together we can make a real difference. [ applause ] ladies and gentlemen, the first lady of the United States, mrs. Melania trump. [ applause ] [ applause ] thank you. Good afternoon. Welcome to the white house. As a mother and as first lady, it concerns me that in todays fastpaced and everyconnected world, children can be less prepared to express or manage their emotions and oftentimes turn to forms of destructive or addictive behavior such as bullying, drug addiction, or even suicide. I feel strongly that as adults, we can and should be best at educating our children about the importance of a healthy and balanced life so today im very excited to announce be best, an Awareness Campaign dedicated to the most valuable and fragile among us, our children. [ applause ] there is one goal to be best. And that is to educate children about the many issues they are facing todays. If we truly listen to what our kids have to say, whether it is be their concerns or ideas, adults can provide them the support and tools they need to grow up, to be happy and productive adults who contribute positively to society and their global communities. At the same time, children deserve every opportunity to enjoy their innocence. Every child should know it is safe to make mistakes and that there are supportive adults and friends nearby to catch them if they fell. We also need to be mindful that they should learn to trust in themselves and their own emotions. I believe our responsible lies in the critical time before a child reaches adulthood. Let us teach children the importance of all aspects of their wellbeing, which includes a social, emotional and physical health. There are too many Critical Issues facing children today. So the three main pillars of be best will include wellbeing, social media use, and opioid abuse. Together, i believe we should strive to provide kids with the tools they need to cultivate their social and emotional health. We can and should teach children the importance of social and self awareness, positive relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Once a child understands these vital skills, they will be able to communicate openly with one another and instill positive feelings of mutual respect, compassion, and self esteem. Let us teach our children the difference between right and wrong and encourage them to be best in their individual paths in life. Take for example, christian bucks, a young man from york pennsylvania who is here with us today. When he was in second grade, christian introduced the body bench at his Elementary School to address loneliness and help other kids build new friendships. The buddy bench allows classmates to connect during recess and helps ensure that no student feels lonely. If a child sits on the bench, it seeks out other students to then come over and ask them to play. Christians school and community embraced the buddy bench. And today at least one can be found in all 50 states. Thank you christian for your commitment to kindness. You should be very proud of your work, which is, i know, helped our countrys children. Please stand up. [ applause ] i would also like to talk about Orchard Lake Middle School in west bloomingfield townshipish michigan. I visited the school as part of national bully, Prevention Month to speak with its students about the importance of being kind. While i was there i visited their class which focuses on social Emotional Learning and teaches lessons about respecting others, inclusion, and being kind. As part of be best, i plan to highlight ideas and programs such as buddy bench and viking cuddle class in the hope that other schools or Community Groups will be inspired to replace their efforts and take steps to improve the wellbeing of our children. We have invited some of the viking cuddle class today. Thank you all for being and taking time here with us at the white house. [ applause ] as we all know, social media can be both positively and negatively a fact in our children but too often its used in negative ways. When pirn learn positive on line behaviors early on, social media can be used in productive ways and can effect positive change. I do believe the children should be both seen and heard. And it is our responsibility as adults to educate and remind them that when they are using their voices, either verbally or on line, they must choose their words wisely and speak with respect and compassion. As an example, Kalani Goldberg an eighth Grade Student from arizona posted a video to her social media account to share the challenges she faced from bullies. In the video she said, every say you are hurting me. Every day, you are hurting each other. So please stop. Stop hurting me. Kalani and her family have joined us here today. And im happy to report that since posting their video many have watched it. And most importantly, people have reached out to offer support and kindness. Thank you kalani for being brave enough to share your story. And also for using your experience to bring positive change. Please stand up, kalani. [ applause ] i first learned about the real consequences of our nations Opioid Epidemic during my husbands campaign. Since then, i have met and learned from many people who have been affected by this true crisis n. October i traveled to West Virginia to tour lilys place, the nations first nonprofit infant recovery center. Lilys place puts a priority on the whole family so that infants born dependent on drugs are given the best opportunity to thrive. They have been successful in this endeavor because parents are also given the support and tools needed to recover and succeed. Lilys place is a testament to the extraordinary work that everyday people can do when they put their mind to it. I will use be best to bring attention to programs such as this in order to encourage conversation and application. In february, i went to cincinnati Childrens Hospital in ohio. And the panel of doctors briefed me on the devastating effects that opioids are having, but also their important reference on neonatal abstinence syndrome. Im pleased to say that representatives from both lilys place and cincinnati Childrens Hospital are here today. Thank you. Thank you for being here, and thank you for your heroic work on behalf of children. I want to thank the many people i have met with and learned from over the past year while researching these vital topics on behalf of children. This includes the cabinet secretaries who have joined us here today as well as representative from microsoft, google, facebook, twitter, snap, amazon, National Safety council, and so many more. I would like to thank the president , the Vice President , karen pence, and other members of the administration as well as the members of congress who are here today. Im honored to have you all with me, and i look forward to working together on the behalf of children in the coming years. In my time as first lady of the United States, i will make every effort to be best, championing the many successful wellbeing programs in existence today and teach the tools and skills for emotional, social, and physical wellbeing. I will also work to shine a spotlight on the people, organization, and programs across the country that are helping children overcome the many issues they are facing as they grow up. I will continue speaking with leaders in the Technology Industry about childrens on line habits and raising awareness around the importance of positive behaviors. I will continue to work with those who are fighting drug addiction. And most importantly, i will continue to travel and speak to children directly about both their victories and difficult realities they face. My hope is that together we can be best at helping children and families find effective ways to educate themselves and support each other. Im asking you all to join me in providing support and guidance to our children so that we can make a real difference. How we raise and educate our children on a variety of topics will provide the blueprint for the next generation. Together lets encourage children to dreep big, think big, and do all they can to be best in everything that they do. Thank you all for being here today. God bless you, your families, our children, and god bless the United States of america. [ applause ] that was the first lady of the United States melania. Now it is my pleasure to call my husband to the stage to sign a proclamation calling today may 7th, be best day. Mr. President. This initiative that she announced, be best. We are going to watch. Looks like the president has some remarks. Melania thank you. That was truly a beautiful and heart felt speech. Thats the way she feels. Very strongly. America is truly blessed to have a first lady who is so devoted to our country and to our children. Over the past 15 months, melania has visited hospitals, schools, families who have suffered from the Opioid Crisis, and suffered very deeply. Everywhere she has gone, americans have been touched by her sincerity, moved by her grace, and lifted by her love. Melania, your care and compassion for our nations children and i have to say this and i say it to you all the time inspires us all. Today we pledge to be best. Best for our families. Best for our communities. And best for our nation. And now, i am proud to sign the be best proclamation. And i think you all know who is going to get the pen. Thank you. [ applause ] [ applause ] congratulations. Thank you, everybody, very much. Thank you. Thank you, mike. President trump there saying thank you sweetheart to his wife, melania. She of course announcing her be best initiatives. That proclamation that you just saw the president sign, one she says is declaring today be best today. This of course was her cyber antiCyber Bullying initiative. This is something that she has talked quite a bit about in her role as first lady. We have Peter Alexander with us in the rose garden with more on this. Peter, what did you think . I think you have to acknowledge that the sort of elephant in the room in this case the garden is the president himself whose use of fierce language on line during the course of his campaign and even after becoming president is sort the backdrop to the first lady announcing this initiative today. Its clearly this is something she is passionate about. She is obviously more popular than her husband is nationally. She is hoping to use that capital to make a difference in lives of children. A parent herself of 12yearold son barron here. I was struck by the unique optics. We have heard first ladies with initiatives in the past. Barbara bush and laura bush focused on literally. The former First Lady Michelle Obama focused on lets move. Melania wants to focus on the betterment of children at large, their wellbeing, social media use, the opioid abuse crisis right now. The backdrop to it is the president s own statements in the past and i pressed Sarah Huckabee sanders the press secretary on that very topic a short time ago in the Briefing Room. Heres that exchange. Does he accept responsibility for the climate that exists right now that there is a need to address Cyber Bullying. I think the idea you are trying to blame Cyber Bullying on the president is ridiculous. When it comes to kids its something that has been problematic and something that we have seen over the last decade. And the first lady sees it to be an important issue and something she wants to address and she will do it shortly. That was my exchange with Sarah Sanders in the Briefing Room a shorttime ago. This follows unique remarks from the first lady. While she and her husband are rarely seen side by side at these more formal events on this day she was sort the lead. It was her husband responding to her, the two side by side. Obviously a lot of eyes focused on the body language between the two. There has been so much dissecting of the way these individuals relate to one another. The first lady we have seen overseas while on a tarmac in israel appeared to be swatting away his hand. Today nothing but warmth between the two as he referred to her as his sweetheart. She called him the president. She said i would like to thank the president. I cant remember Michelle Obama using that framing to refer to president obama at the time. I thought it was interesting she didnt seem to expect that the president was going to be speaking. She gestured toward the desk. Thats a good point. I will try to get better clirt on that in a moment. To be totally sincere, i was looking at the telefronter. Her remarks were on the teleprompter. She stuck to it delivered smoothly. The president s were not. You saw that he pulled notes out of his jacket. It will be interesting to know whether she knew those comments would be coming. Although i expect she would be satisfied with what her husband had to say to reinforce the messaging on this day. Peter alexander appreciate it. Very interesting event shall we say. To talk more about this lets bring in lauren wright, the author of on behalf of the president , president ial spouses and White House Communications strategy today. Lauren, i just first of all i want to get your takeaway from the event that we just saw. Is there anything that sticks out how as to how this compares to how other first ladies have held this role . I know you have written about how oftentimes first ladies initiatives are designed to kind of backup president ial policy initiatives. That doesnt seem to be quoo it the case here. Yep. Thats exactly right casey. A first ladys platform is one of the most important president ial policy advocacy tools that the white house has. And past first ladies have chosen projects, chosen initiatives that frame sometimes very controversial president ial policy. Think about Michelle Obamas lets move initiative and the Affordable Care act. Laura bushs literally initiatives and no child left behind. That is not what we saw today. Be best appears to be a really broad set of initiatives, and it doesnt appear to be targeted on something that the administrations working on. So the Opioid Crisis for example, would have been you know, thats pretty broad. Thats pretty ambitious as is. But she appears to be really branching out from that, and that is a big deviation. I do think yeah that the white house would most certainly say that they have worked on opioid policy initiatives that thats been important for the president so i would imagine they would argue those two thing can fit together. The Cyber Bullying piece as peter zan zand noted off kilter what we see from the president on a daily basis. I want to talk about how this first lady differs from others. I mean she has not necessarily been embraced in the same way, partly because of who she is married to or we think possibly because of who she is married to unlike other first ladies who managed to occupy if not a nonpartisan position then at least one that seemed to be above politics. Do you think she has had it more difficult because of the unpopularity of her husband . This is a great example of what you are saying. Marshall trump gave eight speeches her first year in office. Michelle obama gave 74, and laura bush gave 42. Yes, she is different. Yes her public activity has represented a steep dropoff from her predator desors but i would encourage people despite the broadness of this initiative be careful before you call the first lady a hypocrite. But a shes not the cyber bully. Her husband is. Its just as hypocritical for him to be Cyber Bullying and personally insulting people on line when he knows this is important to his wife and hes the most visible role model that will our nations children do have. And so that standard is very, very tough on first ladies. We often see in public life when a politician misbehaves and certainly with this president when he does or says something sexist, we look too the first lady to explain it, defend it, and a lot of that is really a tough standard and its not always fair. One other area, too. And you make a good point. Raising children in the white house is also a very complicated we have seen actually this is one area where past first lady and first families, Chelsea Clinton kind of have risen to the defense of the trump family, to Melania Trumps defense. That seems like one place where you have seen diplomat support for her. Yeah. So you will notice that Melania Trump started off her remarks today by saying im a mom, and this is why i care. S that classic first lady move. You know, they benefit from their apolitical status. So we give them credit when they do something publicly because they have personal responsibilities like their kids, because they often leave professions of their own. But then when first ladies mess up, when there is a gave or a bigamist step, they get the credit of that apolitical unofficial stat us and the white house can say give her a break you know, shes a mom, this is not an official position its not in the constitution and the media is just being too tough on her. So it is so important to understand, this is a huge role of strategic importance for the white house. And Melania Trump has been underutilized in this way. Lauren wright, author on behalf of the president president ial spouses and white house communication strategy. Thank you for your time today. Precious your insights. Thanks. Meanwhile, happening now, gina haspel, the white houses nominee to be the next cia director is meeting with senators on capitol hill. She just wrapped up a meeting with senator joe manchin and is meeting with other member of the senate intel residence is committee. The white house is increasing pressure on senators ahead what have will likely be a contention confirmation hearing for haspel on wednesday n. A Statement Today the white house called past has fell best choice for cia director. In fact the pressure sounding the hearing has gotten to be so much that haspel considered withdrawing over concerns that revisiting the debate over torture policies could be damaging. Garrett haake is at the white house. Whats your over under on where things stand right now. Gina haspel left her second of what will be five meeting on capitol hill today. All with senators on the Intel Committee. The white house are focused on those Intel Committee members hoping to avoid a mike pompeolike problem where they might have the votes down the line on the senate floor but they hung up by opposition in the Intel Committee. So far two democrats meetings concluded. The first with joe manchin, the second with diane feinstein. With joe manchin she came out afterwards and the pair were all smiles talked about a productive meeting. Here was joe manchin a short time ago. I appreciate so much gina coming and speaking with me. We have asked we have had a great conversation. We talked about an awful lot of things that helped clarify for me, and it was very helpful, and i just appreciate her so much. And im looking forward to the hearing on wednesday to see what my other colleagues and the concerns that they might and questions they might have. It was an excellent meeting senator thank you so much. Im looking forward to wednesday, sir. The primary concern i have heard from most Democratic Senators isnt about one specific thing with gina haspel a. Lot of it has to do with this issue of classification, what in her background they can even discuss. A little while ago the cia dropped off a bunch of documents about her backgrounds. They left them here in a secure room for any senator to come and look at. They are trying to get ahead of this claim they are not going transparent enough. Thats going to be a a big part of issue she is facing. Two days before the hearing they drop off classified information . That does not necessarily seem like how you ought to do this if you are thinking ahead about getting through one of these things. He will you can make the argument it allows them to say they are being transparent without necessarily giving senators the time it could take to dig through any of this. With the hearing on wednesday its just not practical to assume that any of these senators or their staffs more likely are going to have time to go through boxes potentially of documents here. Yes, they are less concerned about making it through this hearing when it comes to gina haspel. That may be displayed in that behavior there. Garrett haake at capitol hill for us. Thank you so much. Up next, the president s newest lawyer is making the rounds in support of the administration. But are some of Rudy Giulianis act ticks adding to his bosss problems . I think we can already answer that question but we will discuss it next. Plus we are gairg geerk up for election day in West Virginia as President Trump comes out against one of the republican candidates for senate, Don Blankenship. We will go live to West Virginia to see how the polls are shaping up. I was really surprised that i wasnt finding all of these germans in my tree. I decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. 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Rudy giulianis media tour may be raising the stakes for President Trumps legal troubles in special Counsel Robert Muellers russia investigation on abc yesterday giuliani made news on several fronts including his claim that the president does not have to comply with a subpoena. What happens if Robert Mueller subpoenas the president . Will you comply . Well, we dont have to. Hes the president of the United States. We can assert the same privilege as other president s have. The Michael Cohen make payments to other women for the president . I have no nod of that, but i would think if it was necessary yes. He made payments for the president or he conducted business for the president , which means he had legal fees. Giuliani said that we will cuff your experiences they worked out this 35,000 a month retainer after that. So the president did know about this after the campaign. Cant say that. I mean at some point yes, but it could have been recently, could have been a while back. Those are the facts that we are still working to snoon oh, those pesky facts. Joining me now, Daniel Goldman former u. S. District attorney for the Southern District of new york. Perhaps we are all in the same boat together here. Im having trouble understanding exactly what the story is as of today. But giuliani seems to be saying that the president did know about this but now hes just not sure when he did. Big picture, how much trouble is giuliani causing for the president in real actual legal terms . I actually think from a legal perspective its not good, but i dont think that any prosecutors will be basing any decisions they make on someones lawyers comments. There is a technical rule where you can use attorney admissions against the client, but its not how prosecutors generally proceed with their investigation. So i dont think that its going to be something they are going to rely on. I think it matters a lot more in the court of Public Opinion than it does in the court of law. But you are exactly right. The problem is we dont even really know what the story is. Giuliani went on hand last week and he said it is a fact that the president reimbursed Michael Cohen. Then he goes on abc this week yesterday and says that its a rumor that he and he doesnt know when he found out, and he doesnt know if he found out. So i think the thing to note, as someone who pays close attention to these things, is that backtracking means something. This is an easy question for giuliani to ask president donald trump, if they have clearly had conversations, as they have, then when did you know . What did you know, and did you pay him back . And thats a very simple question. If you are going to roll out on a media blitz as giuliani has done over the past few days it would seem he would have his facts in order on those critical questions. And president himself in fact said giuliani will get his facts straight at some point. Lets talk about the heart of the question that giuliani seems to be trying to address. The purpose of this blitz seems to be for him to go out and convince people there was no Campaign Finance violation that was committed in the course of these payments through Michael Cohen to Stormy Daniels. What is what is the what does the law say here about whether this is a Campaign Finance violation . Well, it would be a Campaign Finance violation against Michael Cohen if he made a payment to someone else like Stormy Daniels with the intent of influencing an election. And the case would look something briefly like this. The payment was made i think 11 days before the election in relation to an affair that occurred ten years previously. So the prosecutors would have to show by circumstantial evidence that the payment was really made to cover up the affair from the voting public and not for another reason. From the president s standpoint the president can donate as much as he wants to his own campaign but he is required to disclose that and those donations. So if he is going to reimburse Michael Cohen or there is an agreement that the money is either the president s or will be coming from the president then he has to disclose that. And that could also be a violation of the law. What giuliani seems to be doing is trying to thread the needle here a little bit. There are a lot of holes in his putative argument which we really dont know what it is because he hasnt clarified it to a great extent. But the idea being that Michael Cohen always knew somehow that he would get paid back, and that donald trump only decided to reimburse him or only knew about him reimbursing him at a later time so the knowledge of the two of them becomes very important in terms of timing and respective obligations are. But giuliani is not helping his cause by going out there he could have found out a week ago or two weeks ago, i dont know when he found out. It is not a coherrin argument that he is putting forthright now. Daniel goldman, former u. S. Attorney for the Southern District of new york. Appreciate it. Up next, voters are heading to the polls for critical primary races in four states. Front and center is West Virginia, where President Trump is trying to stop republicans from voting for Don Blankenship. He is giving a Live Press Conference right now. We head to West Virginia next to see what voters are saying. Proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. This is my body of proof that i can take on Psoriatic Arthritis with humira. Humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. 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In indiana, congressman todd ri kieta and luke messer along with mike brawn are locked in a nasty race for the republican nomination to take on the incumbent democratic senator joe donnelly. A lot of the focus has been on the West Virginia race. Jenkins, morris see, and blankenship are locked in a tough threeway race to take on the incumbent democratic senator joe manchin. President trump tweeted today that Don Blankenship who spent a year in prison in connection with a deadly 2010 mine disaster quote cant win the general election. Joining me now, jonathan allen. Its great to see you. Good to see you. That tweet from President Trump had mitch mcconcconnells fingerprints all over it. He wanted to get in there and knock this guy as hard as he could. Blankenship has attacked mcconnell, called him cocaine mitch. Gone after his wife. In racist terms. Yeah. Mitch mcconnell is out of the 535 members of congress the one least likely to have experimented with cocaine. Blankanin shhh is arguing essentially as many other candidates this year are arguing in republican primaries that he is the trumpiest. So much so that when the president attacked him today he actually said im even trumpier than trump. I think we have that cocaine mitch ad. Lets look at it. They are running ads that say the coal mine blew up and i went to prison. There is no surprise there. If you want jobs and if you want to end the drug epidemic and if you want to protect the unborn you need to vote for me. Up with of my goals as u. S. Senator will be to ditch cocaine mitch. That of course did not include the incendiary remarks about Mitch Mcconnells wife that you referenced. Im not sure i have ever seen a political ad like that in my career. Some of the viewers may be too young you approximate it reminded me of one of those bartles and james wine cooler ads. I think im too young for that. The monotonous tone but it makes people stop and Pay Attention because it doesnt look like it is a political ad. West virginia, its to use a colloquial turn of phrase is literally the trumpiest state in america. Voted for trump by a bigger margin. It has a democratic senator, joe machlkin who has kind this folksy down home charm but can. Hes democrats thought he was the only one that could possibly hold the senate seat. The thinking i think among democrats and republicans is blankenship is the only guy that could mean manchin holds the seat. Certainly thats what Mitch Mcconnell thinks. Thats what the president s tweet was about today. He puts West Virginia voters, the president in the position of thinking that maybe blankenship cant win if he gets in. Look, blankenship was in prison, right, the owner of the Upper Big Branch mine where there was an explosion that killed a lot much workers and is now running for the senate. This is uncharted territory. Weve seen people convicted of crimes before run for office, but not usually ones that killed constituents. Right. The basic makeup of the state has been the reason it was so democratic is because people voted for their unions, the workers voted for their own rights. Right. Theres a lot of Union Activism in West Virginia. West virginia has such an interesting history. It is he ceded from virginia when virginia seceded from the union. They hated virginia, the Central Government so much they broke apart. Theyve also had a long history of racial strife, which ties into that Union History as well, right, because you had unions where you had white and black workers going into coal mines, and then some of the strike that happened, you had robert byrd, former senator from West Virginia who was a democrat but earlier in his life had been in the kkk. Its a complicated state. Joe manchin has won it by being West Virginian. By appealing to the sort of sensibility of we havians across party lines. Hes going to have trouble this time i think regardless of who is nominated. We saw him earlier in the show trotting out with gina haspel who democrats hate and basically blessing her. Jonathan allen, National Political reporter for nbc news, thank you so much. Noted. It is no secret of course that the Republican Congress has a mixed record of legislative accomplishment in this trump era. They did pass major tax cuts, mostly benefiting businesses, but they faltered on health care, couldnt strike a daca compromise, and have not even tried to tackle problems that require big bipartisan compromises like Immigration Reform and gun safety. Theres been, however, one area where republicans have been undeniably effective and that is confirming judges. This week six more federal judicial nominees will likely be confirmed. The president of course cant take credit for this. That goes to majority leader Mitch Mcconnell who has made no secret that this is perhaps his top priority. We confirmed 12 last year, which is a record for the first term of any president going back to 1891. I processed circuit judges as rapidly as they come out of committee. Its been my top priority so were not behind on circuit judges. Were way ahead. The democrats are complaining because theyre complaining because we confirm so many. For more on this im joined by my nbc news capitol hill colleague, lyanne caldwell. Lyanne, its great to see you. Walk us through this. This is something that has in many ways flown below the radar. It has not, you know, been covered with the same degree of intensity as these big legislative accomplishment or lack thereof. But at the same time, this really could have the most lasting impact. That is absolutely right, kasie. This is an issue that has flown under the radar and these judges are appointed to lifetime positions, and they could last this could impact a generation worth of decisions. You know, we live in a time where the president s, and the president s party and the republican party, they dont always agree ideologically. They cant come together to pass major pieces of legislation outside of tax reform, but what they can all agree on is judges and confirming judges. Its something thats united the party. Even President Trump was aware of this and is playing into this as he said in a recent interview. And this, of course, democrats dont have a lot of recourse here. There is not a lot they can do to stand in the way. To a certain extent thats their own fault, right . Yeah, thats right. Im sorry, i thought we had a clip of the president which i was throwing to. Apparently we dont. So, whats happening the important thing here is Mitch Mcconnell, he is doing this not only because of the policy. Every party wants to put their imprint on the judiciary, of course. But this is also really important for republicans who are going into these midterm elections as the under dogs. Theyre really worried about an unmotivated base. But judges is something that unites and that motivates this conservative base and so mcconnell is hoping that this is something that will encourage the base to get to the polls. As far as what democrats can do, democrats arent able to do much. There were rules changed in 2013 that reduced the threshold for judges to pass from 60 to 51 and so now democrats, they just have 49 members so theyre not able to block it. But one thing that is happening is that democrats are complaining that precedent is being broken. Traditionally if a judge is moved through this procession, they are supposed to have the support of their home state senators. They are saying Mitch Mcconnell is moving forward with these judges even though they dont have the support of both of their senators. Were going to see another judge come through this week, brennan, who does not have the support of his wisconsin senator. Tammy baldwin. Mcconnell says this is incredibly important not only to the party, to the federal bench, but also the base in these mid terms, kasie. Lyanne caldwell, thank you for your reporting from capitol hill. Appreciate it. Tomorrow on msnbc, we will have all day coverage of the races in indiana, ohio and West Virginia. Well have up to the minute analysis. You can follow along at nbcnews. Com elections. Well be right back after this quick break. Alice is living with metastatic Breast Cancer, which is Breast Cancer that has spread to other parts of her body. Shes also taking prescription ibrance with an aromatase inhibitor, which is for postmenopausal women with hormone receptorpositive her2 metastatic Breast Cancer as the first hormonal based therapy. Ibrance plus letrozole was significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus letrozole. Patients taking ibrance can develop low white blood cell counts, which may cause serious infections that can lead to death. Before taking ibrance, tell your doctor if you have fever, chills, or other signs of infection, liver or kidney problems, are pregnant, breastfeeding, or plan to become pregnant. Common side effects include low red blood cell and low platelet counts, infections, tiredness, nausea, sore mouth, abnormalities in liver blood tests, diarrhea, hair thinning or loss, vomiting, rash, and loss of appetite. Alice calls it her new normal because a lot has changed, but a lot hasnt. Ask your doctor about ibrance. The 1 prescribed fdaapproved oral Combination Treatment for hr her2 mbc. Youll make my morning, buty the price ruin my day. Ou . Complicated relationship with milk . Pour on the lactaid, 100 real milk, just without that annoying lactose. Mmm, thats good. Mr. Elliot, whats your wiwifi . Ssword . Wifis ordinary. Basic. Do i look basic . Nope which is why i have xfinity xfi. Its super fast and you can control every device in the house. [ child offscreen ] hey lets basement. And thanks to these xfi pods, the signal reaches down here, too. So sophie, i have an xfi password, and its daditude. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Xfinity. The future of awesome. That wraps up this afternoon for me. I will see you tomorrow from capitol hill. And be sure to catch kasie d. C. Sundays at 7 00 p. M. Eastern here on msnbc. Thanks so much for watching. Deadline white house with my friend Nicolle Wallace starts right now. s hi, everyone. Its 4 00 in washington, d. C. Rudy giulianis associates haar starting to express concern that the former mayor may be in over his head. Two sources close to giuliani say they advise him against repping his pal donald trump, and one this morning saying he advised giuliani against sitting for the abc interview yesterday that landed the mayor in more hot water. The ensuing media storm and questions about whether giuliani is exposing trump to more legal liability touched a raw president ial nerve today and resulted in an Early Morning tweet storm. The president writing, quote, the russia witch hunt is rapidly losing credibility. House Intelligence Committee found no collusion or anything else with russia. So now the probe says, okay, what else is there . How about obstruction for a madeup phony
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