This thing does not get better with time. That is, you know, that is the challenge that theyre facing now. Theyve already put this off one week. Theyre going to have to watch and see how mccain does before they make any final decisions. What that means is that we may get more information from the Congressional Budget Office about what this bill will include. Youll remember that those additions from ted cruz and mike lee, that amendment was actually not sent to the cbo in full form. So, were waiting to see if they might have more time to look at that. That could have negative ramifications for their chances of passage because one of the lines of thinking has been, okay, well try to make the cbo score look a little less severe and hopefully come back and not scare people off the way it did last time. That is a key inflection point. Right now the senate is holding for Mitch Mcconnell. On the other hand, it does seem like theyre closer to all being on the same page here as far as wanting to get this bill on the floor than when we were the last time we saw this. I will ask you to hang out for when we bring our panel in. Kristen welker. Made in america week. But that controversy made in russia that seems to overshadow it. Walk us through what we learned about that don jr. Meeting and some of the democrats over the last 24 hours. Of course, at the end of last week, hallie, we learned two additional people in the meeting, including someone who was a former soviet counterintelligence agent turned lobbyist. So that, of course, has raised the specter of questions about this meeting and the intentions behind it. The president s outside counsel flooded the sunday shows, again, over the weekend on defense saying that there was nothing illegal about this meeting. He tried to make the argument, look at these people were quote unquote nefarious. Secret service issuing its own statement over the weekend saying that donald trump jr. Was not a protecty at the time. Of course, that doesnt account for people being let into trump tower because the president was being protected. Hallie, the broader context here were seeing the president s Approval Rating drop. Take a look at the latest approval numbers we got overnight. This comes from bloomberg. 45 approve and gallup 38 approve and 36 approve and 58 disapprove. That is an alltime low for a president marking his six months in office over the past 70 years or so. So, this is an administration that is very eager to turn the page. As you point out, this is made in america week. As you know, Trump Organization and ivanka trumps business and a lot outsourced. Bottom line, theyll make the argument that the president s policies and things like deregulations and working on tax reform all promote products made in the usa. This is really tough to completely turn the page on this russia controversy, as you know all too well and continues to mount, hallie. Thank you very much at the white house. Michael steele former adviser and plus joining us senior washington correspondent for politico anna palmer and matt visor and kasie hunt is also hanging out over on the hill. Lets start to russia. Michael, ill go to you. What would be talking about today if the president wasnt on twitter trying to defend himself . We were talking about health care and the efforts to repeal and replace obamacare with something that will lower costs and help the American People. Tax reform and getting our economy moving again. Infrastructure and deregulation and all the things theyre doing to help the American People. Health care is hanging by a threat. Senator john was on this morning and heres what he had to say on cnbc. We need to delay the vote until he gets here. We need all 50 votes. Every senator will speak for themselves. Were working with all of them together. This is going to be a completely open amendment process. He seems very optimistic. He is acknowledging you need all 50 senators, anna. Its good to be a che cheerleader. I think everybody says the longer this is out there the harder it is going to be to get done and, frankly, nothing that is changing. The cbo score is expected to be back for republicans. I think senator Mitch Mcconnell wants to have this vote as soon as possible. Obviously, senator mccain hasnt committed to which way he is going to vote and lot of others that handful of others on both the conservatives and the moderates who havent said where theyre going to be. Anna mentioned the cbo score which you touched upon a few minutes ago. We think maybe as early as tomorrow. We know its not today but looking at early this week. What is your sense . We think its possible that it could come out tomorrow. I think, look, one of the advantages to being able to do this all in one week is that, you know, they would have been able to kind of capitalize on whatever momentum they have. In this particular case, if the cbo score comes out and it shows still very high numbers of cbo scores and another day and summer weekend of these members of Congress Going home and getting hammered about this and taking phone calls from their governors and otherwise coming under pressure that is outside of Mitch Mcconnells office. So, that is the risk here. Now, they have been very carefully courting each one of these people. Weve given them names. Look, mcconnell knows how to do this. He knows where the puzzle pieces are. He knows how to put pressure on people in the right way and how to also give them things that will make them feel better. It may be a small tweak and its not going to be obvious. You have to read deep into the policy to find these kind of things. But the question is going to be, can he find a way to convince all of these 50 people to Stay Together and then keep it together long enough. Each passing day it adds to the risk for him. Yeah, i dont know that thats actually true. Legislative strategist and this time in addition to increasing the scrutiny on the bill, also gives times for senators to develop amendments, to develop positions. So, when we have this open debate and this perfecting process for the bill, conservatives and moderates who have concerns aboutthe bill as it is right now will have a chance to improve it on the floor. So, you talk about health care and the situation that is happening with russia that well hit on later in the show. You mention the poll numbers. She hit on the top line number. 36 Approval Rating which the president said is not bad but i also think our poll numbers from nbc news looking at these trump counties are significant, as well. Washington post has these. 82 of republicans approve. Only 32 of independents, though. That seems like kind of a critical number. If youre inside the west wing and looking at that independence figure, are you freaking out . Yeah, the independence figure is what is driving down his overall Approval Rating. Weve its like a broken record where we talk about his base of course support always stays with him. Thats still true, generally. In these latest polls. That number is not dipping. He still has this 38, 39 . Its the independents, though, starting to erode. Some sixpercentage point drop off. So, i think that is the figure that if youre in the white house and if youre a trump supporter of his agenda, thats the number to be concerned with. Michael, how much of that is due to the drip, drip, drip from russia . Thats differeefinitely part. Losing the independents is harder to pick up health care and other things across the finish line. Anna . So far republicans on the hill is staying with him. Nobody is looking at these numbers and saying, i will not vote for health care. The drag of trump will affect my midterm reelection. The longer this stays out, the more likely that theyre going to start to question, is it smart to be with trump . You also hear people like Susan Collins beginning to talk about, we need to work with democrats on health care. We cant avoid this. We have to avoid the same mistake that democrats made in obamacare, which was sort of do it alone. And, so, youre hearing more of those voices, which i think is more complicated for Mitch Mcconnell as he tries to knit together a coalition. Also the point kasie was talking about. The unglaer this goes, senator mccains office believes he will be back next week. The longer it goes, the more the opposition has a chance to beat this thing back and fight this thing, right . Really no alternative because all washington democrats want to do is throw more money into obamacare which is failing and press for Single Payer Health care system. Republicans have to come home together to get this done. That hasnt changed. That has been the case for weeks and some democrats do say they want to work. Not all democrats support single payer. They all want to work but many want to work together. Throw more money into obamacare thats not the kind of reform we need to get this done. Pull out your crystal ball and make a prediction for us. Next monday, what are we talking about at 10 00 a. M. On this program . Health care. Look, look, just to michaels point. This republican bill includes a lot of money to prop up the obamacare exchanges. Thats what rand paul has been screaming about for the last couple weeks. This is not a bill perfectly conservative from the perspective of the tea party side of the party. What theyre getting here. Youve even heard ted cruz start to talk about compromise around this. He decided if he gets the amendment that goes into the bill, it seems so far plans to support it. Now, i do think the critical piece of this is mcconnell getting it on the floor. I do think michael is right about the open amendment process and the sense that senators have that this is, you know a chance for them to show that theres open debate. A chance for them to influence policy and a chance for them to say take planned parenthood and a chance for them to take and then come around and say, okay, maybe i can support the final bill anyway because i at least tried. This hurdle were talking about is mcconnell getting this bill on to the floor and getting 50 votes to start that process. That is the key part here. If he can hang it together until then, all this calculus will change. There is some risk before that happens. Kasie hunt and michael steele, thanks to the two of you. Anna and matt, ill make you hang out. President trumps online and tweeting, again, about that trump tower meeting as we keep getting new versions of what went down. Each version contradicting the one before it. Well break it all down coming up after the break. So how old do you want to be when you retire . Uhh, i was thinking around 70. Alright, and before that . You mean after that . No, im talking before that. Do you have things you want to do before you retire . Oh yeah sure. Ok, like what . But i thought we were supposed to be talking about investing for retirement . Were absolutely doing that. But theres no law you cant make the most of today. What do you want to do . Id really like to run with the bulls. Wow. Yea. Hope youre fast. I am. Get a portfolio that works for you now and as your needs change. Investment Management Services from td ameritrade. I am totally blind. And non24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442142424. You myour joints. Thing for your heart. Or your digestion. So why wouldnt you take something for the most important part of you. Your brain. With an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain Health Supplement in drug stores nationwide. Prevagen. The name to remember. The disclosures last week are certainly some of the most troubling that weve seen in a while and, for me, i have so much confidence as i think almost everybody does and bob mueller, the independent counsel, its great that our country has a man like him that everybody can rely on. Whatever they find out, i think people will have confidence in it. Al gore on today show hitting on a headline that is not going anywhere. Comes after Donald Trumps outside lawyer offered himself up to the sunday shows offering mixed reviews. Do you know everyone who was at that meeting with donald trump jr. . I do not know everyone for sure that was at that meeting and the president was not at the meeting. The president wasnt aware of the meeting and did not attend it. Speaking of that meeting. This is a tweet from President Trump a couple minutes ago. Most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one don jr. Attended in order to get info on an opponent. Im joined by National Security analyst and back with me politico anna palmer and matt visor. To tee this up, i want to talk about the evolution of the story that we heard about this. In just the past week we heard a lot. Heres Reince Priebus last sunday. A meeting aapparently about russian adoption and after about 20 minutes, the meeting ended. And that was the end of it. Later that day we learned it was not just about russian adoption when New York Times reported don jr. Took the meeting to get. Heres Kellyanne Conway on that. The comments theyre making about any type of information on Hillary Clinton were vague and they were meaningless and others exited the meeting very quickly. We found out even more in emails that showed don jr. Was promised very high level and sensitive information. Part of russia and governments support. Thats everything, right . Im more than happy to be transparent about it and cooperate with everyone. As far as this incident is concerned, this is all of it . That is everything. Turns out as we first reportreport ed. Its been an evolution, evelyn. What do you make of it . What should americans make of it . Do you think it is sinking. Russia and the evolution here. I hope its sinking in, hallie. I cant tell. From the polls you saw earlier, some of it is sinking in. The independents, they dont know what to think about russia and its meddling because they dont have a history of dealing with russia when it was part of the soviet union when it was the leading component of the soviet union. What is really disturbing that donald trump jr. Would say, bring it on. Give me the intel to a foreign adversary government. If i had dirt on Hillary Clinton or Something Like that. Actually, that would have excited them because i was helping her during the campaign. But, never mind. But a foreign adversary government saying they have intelligence and then lying about it. This is really disconcerting. The president touches on this. His defense all along has been, this is politics as usual, man. This is what happens in politics. In our conversations with political operatives and yours, as well, people take meetings. What they dont do is take meetings with russia. That seems to be far more rare. Absolutely. We all have covered campaigns. Everyone is looking for to hurt their opponents but this is not business as usual. Both republicans and democrats have said that. What was just striking about the script that was just played. This is like whip lash in terms of one week to go from where you had Reince Priebus saying adoption to every day the drip, drip, drip factor. And i think republicans on the hill are really getting frustrated with the Trump Administration on this. They just want to say, listen, rip the band aid off. Every meeting you had with russia, lets get it out there so we can move on. Their discomfort is not reflected in any kind of Public Policy shift. Theyre still backing the president. Theyre still backing the president. They are investigating. Those investigations continue to go on and i think that they will continue to go on as long until they come up with what the answer is going to be. Youre right. Actual public frustration for the first time on this in particular. Matt, anna is talking about the investigations happening in congress and bob mueller special investigation and the former Vice President says he has confidence that mueller will get to the bottom of this. Do you think that confidence is warranted . Yeah, everything we hear about bob mueller. He is a straight shooter. I think there are we learned a lot. Its amazing its only been four, five days since we saw these emails from donald trump jr. But that is mind boggling. It feels like 100 years. But one of the things, one of the key questions in here that were learning more and more about is the agulara family in russia and their ties with donald trump. Our own reporting over the weekend found that at trump tower just four weeks before donald trump announced his president ial campaign. Those ties are deep and theyve been there for several years. And that is a line of inquiry that bob mueller will look at in terms of why donald trump jr. Immediately was eager to have this meeting. Evelyn, i want to get to you for other news. Hired a lawyer for donald trump jr. Two weeks before the news broke. Can you put into context here how unusual or perhaps not that is. I think its pretty unusual. I think thats fair to say. You know, as far as, you know, whether a private citizen. Hes not working for the government. Hes not so, its very unusual. I have done a lot of investigative work on records in congress and i have never seen that before. Evelyn so, matt, what could that mean . What is also unusual you have all these attorneys advocating on behalf of their client when those clients interests differ from somebody else. As you saw just a minute ago with trumps attorney distinguishing the father from the son. That i dont know what donald trump jr. Is talking about. But i know donald trump himself was not in that meeting. Theyre not on the same page. The fallout from this is the policy implications. When it comes to the relationship with russia. Were seeing new developments this morning. But the russian government is now cranking up the heat and talking about these diplomatic compounds saying the u. S. Has to return those compounds. No conditions, unconditional. The end. Case closed. This is the play. This is why they wanted the meeting with donald trump jr. The adoption issue is actually really russias retaliation for our sanctions. There are like three different buckets of sanctions, okay. So, the ones that that woman and the whole crew were discussing with donald trump jr. They wanted to get those lifted. Because in retaliation what putin would say is that americans cant adopt russian children. For involved, for meddling in our elections. They were the only things that president obama did as he was leaving in addition to kicking out about 35 russians who were basically included in and, you know, seem to be involved in the spying effort. So, those were the only things that weve done so far. I know Congress Wants to do more. And now donald trump and his administration, theyre considering undoing them. But the doesnt seem to be a lot of traction behind that. From everything we heard from the administration publicly, not a lot of discussion that theyll give the compounds back, at least to this point. Sort of two things with putin. On the one hand, putin has sort of won. We are all talking about russia all the time and our democracy is in a strange place, which he wants that chaos. On the other hand, trump has not acted, i dont think, as putin maybe thought he would in getting rid of these sanctions fairly quickly. Some of that is by internal pressure within the republican party. Congress is putting more pressure on him. But those sanctions are still there. I had a piece in politico and annas journal about a year ago or so and i said if trump gets into office and then putin will only have a year to make a deal with him. Because putin is up for reelection next year. And, so, theyve already said from the kremlin, the spokesperson said its six months. Six months are up. Well, but i actually think to your point, you know, whats happening in congress, theyre only going to increase the sanctions on them. That bill has gone through the senate. Breezed through. Its in the house and expectation and its done before they all leave in august. And watching that, though, that thing has been tied up for a little while. See how that moves forward. Evelyn, thank you so much. Really appreciate you being with us. You guys are sticking around because coming up next, were talking about the iranian government accusing a grad student of spying and slapping him now with a tenyear sentence. Coming up, were talking about what we know about this student and what the u. S. Can do, if anything, to get him home. music plays throughout we always were told we were german. We were in a german dance group. I wore lederhosen. So i just started poking around on ancestry. Then, i decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. It turns out im scottish. So, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt. Atmore than one flavor, oruch texture, or color. Ing. A good clean salad is so much more than green. And with panera catering, more for your event. Panera. Food as it should be. We are back now with a look at your morning headlines. The senate is back to work this morning, but not doing too much, at least not yet. Mitch mcconnell delaying that vote on health care. Senator john mccain is out this week after emergency surgery. Two republicans right now say theyll vote no on even starting the debate. One more republican defection will kill the bill before it even gets to the floor. In minneapolis, family and friends of an australian woman are demanding answers after she was shot and killed by police. This is 40yearold justine. She called 911 saturday night for some kind of disturbance but what happened next is not clear because Police Cameras were not rolling. The two officers involved are on paid administrative leave. More to come on that story. In arizona, rescuers are looking for somebody still missing after a flash flood swept up a family in a Swimming Hole north of phoenix. Nine people were killed. The video ask intense. Mud and water slammed into the group just minutes after an intense rain storm upstream. That search is still continuing today. And overseas, the iranian judiciary sentenced a u. S. Citizen to ten years in prison for allegedly infiltrating the country. And gathering information. Ali is in london for us with the latest on this. How is the u. S. Responding to the sentencing . Well, hallie, we know that he is a chineseamerican grad student from princeton who say he was in iran carrying out academic research. The iranian judiciary say he was an american student from princeton and arrested in iran and he has been sentenced to ten years in prison on charges of spying for the United States. Now, he vanished months ago in iran, but it was only yesterday that the ultrahardline judiciary announced his arrest and sentencing. Now, the judiciary didnt mention his name or his gna nationali nationality, a website run by them said he was a 37yearold named wang and they labeled him as one of those american infiltrators with a web of connections with american and british intelligence. They described him as being fluent in persian and said that he digatized some 4,500 pages of a material on iran and done superconfidential research for the u. S. State department and the Harvard Kennedy school and the persian studies. Now, hallie, he adds to a long list of american citizens, mostly iranian american nationals that are being prisoned in iran on similar charges who continue to languish in iranian prisons. Princeton university released a statement saying that mr. Wangs family and the university are distressed at his continued imprisonment and are hopeful that hell be released after this case is heard by the appellate authorities in tehran. In the interim, the university will continue to do everything it can to support mr. Wang and his family. Now, this latest arrest is sure to exacerbate the heavily strained relationship between iran and america. The state department has called on iran to release all foreign Citizens Holding unjustly so they can return to their families. A call, hallie, that i think will fall on deaf ears amongst authorities. What leverage does the state department have here . None. None. Iran and america have absolutely no relationship right now. Its become a lot worse under President Trump. At least before under the obama administration. The Iranian Foreign office and the state department were talking to each other directly. They dont have any sort of that contact any more. This is going to be a very tough case to resolve. Alier Tehran Bureau chief live in london. Thank you. Let me bring back in matt and anna to talk about the geopolitical implications of this. Zero leverage. The u. S. Cant do anything here. What are the state departments next moves and how do you think this will affect the relationship right now between the Trump Administration, who has made, the president making his feelings very clear about the nuclear deal and iran . It is striking. John kerry would email a lot of times with his iranian counterpart. They got very close as part of the Iran Nuclear Deal. We dont have that type of relationship any more. Jason and others were released couple years ago. Donald trump, at that time, was very critical and both took credit for the release and was critical that it didnt happen sooner. And that he thought the United States gave up too much. So, i think now trump is in a similar position trying to free an american citizen in iran. Well, you know, trump wants to be the strong man, right . Hes done that on the world stage over and over again. This is one of the times he might tweet about it and might be able to do that. The state department has its hands tied and another thing on his plate to look at when you look at whats happening on the world stage. He made it a priority to release and get home Political Prisoners and north korea with another hostile regime that we didnt have a relationship with. That is something he made a priority from the very beginning of his administration. It is striking twoyear anniversary, you know, a day or two ago from the Iran Nuclear Deal being, you know, signed. And i think it is an indication of how frazzled our relationship is with iran two years later. Part of that is President Trump and part of that is eternal politics in iran. But, were, again, in a very dicy situation with iran. Matt and anna, thank you very much. Stick around. Coming up after the break, we want to talk about President Trumps Approval Rating hitting a historic low. Where does he stand on the counties that fueled his surprise election win . What about his core base . What about support there . New numbers talking trump counties, next. Theres nothing more important than your health. So if youre on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b heres why. Medicare only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. You might want to consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like any Medicare Supplement insurance plan, these help pick up some of what medicare doesnt pay. And, these plans let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. You could stay with the doctor or specialist you trust. Or go with someone new. Youre not stuck in a network. Because there arent any. So dont wait. Call now to request your free decision guide and find the aarp Medicare Supplement plan that works for you. 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I will make you question everything, son. So dont worry about dads joints. Worry about your dignity. Love, dad. 80 smaller, just as effective. Osteo biflex ease. Made to move. So, we are talking about the white house kicking off the week with another theme. And this weeks theme, made in america. Youre going to see the president later on this afternoon at a show case to celebrate u. S. Manufacturing, but a little bit of a wrench in these plans here. New poll numbers. Weve been talking about how the president s Approval Rating has hit a new low. But that same Washington Post poll also finds 70 think President Trump has acted in a an unpresident ial manner. 68 say hes not a positive role model. Look at this. His use of twitter, 68 think it is inappropriate. Im joined by former bill clinton chief of staff and anna palmer and boston globe matt. Great to have you here. Good to be here. You are a guy in the west wing if you saw numbers like this and bill clinton was into his polling. Would you be worried . Would you be upset . I would. From time to time we were. But not quite at this level. No, poll numbers give an indication. They do go up and down and you have to stay steady. The main thing the white house has to do, hallie, they have to focus on resolve and engagement with the American People and handle this controversy, which is not going away. The russian controversy in a way that they can sustain it and move forward. How would you recommend they handle it . You were there. There was war room action in the clinton years. Crisis Management Plan that was put in place. President trump remember it well. Right. Im sure you do. He has had to institute his own war room here. We had what i would consider more minor distractions with gays in the military, the travel off controversy in the first year. It was not nearly as serious. The second year with whitewater independent counsel was. I had john podesta secretary at the time who later became chief of staff and has become famous or infamous, depending on your view point. Keep it separate. But we managed to keep our eyes on the prize. We passed the family medical leave act and crucial for the first year. What is this west wing doing right then and what are they doing wrong, in your view . It starts with the president. That, you know, hes commander in chief and, you know, chief of staff is chief, but its staff. So the staff is going to follow his lead, as is the cabinet. I think the president has to engage more, hallie, with the congress. He has not made a hard push on this health care legislation. I personally think the right policy and the right politics is to take a step back, shore up the changes and then really be serious about a comprehensive Bipartisan Health care. Well see how it plays out. Senator grasso out just this morning on twitter urging the president to get out there. Dont take august off. He wants to see action. This is a president who didnt mind being on the campaign trail, anna and matt, when he was in front of the supportive crowds and places he did well. While we have been talking about this Washington Post abc news poll, giving the president a 50 Approval Rating. That is higher than where he is in other places. Flip counties, 44 . These are counties that have voted for president obama and numbers are upside down there. If youre looking at this. Where he can stand in trump counties. One is his Approval Rating is higher than it is nationally. Two, thats actually down from november of 2016 from where he was. A net positive only 4 . Which is still, almost historically bad. You know, compared to other president s. Youre not seeing much to be optimistic about. He can be more optimistic about those. But not altogether optimistic. One thing that will be interesting is do they put him on the campaign trail . Do they go into he loves being on the campaign trail and you cover him a lot during the election. But i feel like this is something where i think republican lawmakers in a lot of those places would like him to be out there. Sell to the American People what youre doing and talking about health care or tax reform and infrastructure and things like that, they can get behind. When they have to do town halls there is something to talk about besides russia. Is made in america week going to help . This is also a president who Kristen Welker noted hasnt committed yet to making those products in america. The white house has deflected saying, well get back to you on that at a later date. That is to some folks right. They have these weeks of infrastructure energy. That dont yield too much. I think one of the issues for President Trump is hes had one solo press conference. Hes had a couple with international leaders. But only one by himself, which is a historically low amount. He hasnt given a big address to the nation, aside from his joint speech to congress. Not doing a lot to sort of move people outside of his base. So, i think talking more to those people could prove a benefit to getting the National Attention on it. Youre sort of laughing, mack, but isnt this exactly what you would recommend for the president . To a point. I was not laughing, i was kind of in a respectful way. But i think you make an excellent point. I think its fine. President reagan and mike really invented the photoop and the message of the day. Thats how all of this is now moving forward in a very different age of communication. But its a little bit like mike tyso tyson. You get hit by the first punch. You have to get hit by some punches. You have to have a narrative and plan and priorities you move forward on. In this case, the administration has to have a credible way. Capable this white house of recalibrating . I think so. And where donald trump dismiss calibrate is he somehow could not accept that he won the election fairly and squarely as we understand it through the electoral college. Although 3 million less popular votes. But at the same time the russians almost certainly hacked and interfered in our elections. He should be embracing or challenging and cooperating with that. Those are two separate issues. I have one more question for you on poll numbers related to democrats. But, first, i have to get to you guys with new news this hour. The department of Homeland Security will turn over visitor logs. This is from that organization that had been pushing to get those logs released from multiple places, including maralago. It will happen by september 8th after watchdog groups sued the administration. What are you looking for . We talk about transparency with this administration and other administrations and now were start to see the maralago visitor logs. Very curious to see who was there and when theyre there. I was emailing with a colleague over the break and the secret Service Still gets to decide what to release and what not to release. National security and other visitors, theyre not necessarily going to be the full and complete picture. Matt . An indication of where we have gotten in transparency taking to court cases to releasing that we got used to being voluntarily released in past administrations. Poll numbers out from democrats on this. 37 of people polled by abc news and Washington Post democrats stand for something. 37 . More than half say the Democratic Party only, its only message is standing against donald trump. You see him there. Is that a winning messaging for democrats . Unlikely. Theyve got to do more than just be against trump. That wont do it. And it shouldnt do it. The American People, hallie, deserve better. Do you believe the Democratic Party stands for something . I do. I do. I think its always difficult when youre in the minority to come out with a coherent broad narrative and message. I think they can do that. I think certainly individual candidates can do it in the upcoming midterm elections and they need to to get elections and they need to do their job. The messaging not just antitrump, what should the messaging be . The message should be a real focus on jobs and how we are going to really broaden and strengthen this economy. And theres some ways and President Trump has proposed some ways to do that in terms of inf Infrastructure Development and tax reform. All hard but doable. I would have personally, at least, considered leading with infrastructure as opposed to health care. But thats, that water has run. Mack, always great to have your perspective here on set. Ill make you stick around for another few minutes, anna and matt. Were heading overseas talking about venezuela rocked to the core. 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After five hours of spinning and one unfortunate ride on the gravitron, your grandkids spot a 6 foot banana that you need to win. In that moment, youll be happy you partnered with a humana care manager and got your health back on track. Because that banana isnt coming home with you until that bell sings. Great things are ahead of you when your health is ready for them. At humana, we can help you with a personalized plan for your health for years to come. Organizers led leading the opposition against medder, a are regrouping. It comes after 100 days of fighting between opposition and pro government forces, the violence not stopping on the day of the referendum. A 61yearold woman killed and four others hurt by gunfire when they say Government Support eer descended. Cato Institutes Center for liberty and prosperity. Thank you for joining us. This is a critical story, one thats been going on months and months. Whats the takeaway from this referendum and zero hour. They want to install assembly, it will have super constitutional powers of it will have the power to dissolve opposition and national assembly. This is why its running against the clock. Once installed, and try to install an assembly in such a way to have the majority, doesnt have the Popular Support of the people. What hes installed is a checkmate. Game over. Game over. July 30th is next friday. So they are trying to let the world know and let the regime know that an overwhelming majority of venezuelans oppose such a move. What is zero hour . What are they planning . What are they going to do . They have to keep the pressure on the streets. They have been in the streets three months. Over 100 People Killed in this protest. They need to step up the pressure on the street. They need to step up pressure from governments abroad, the International Community. In the end its going to be the armed forces are the ones that will have to change. One of the questions yesterday, requiring the armed forces to respect the constitution and respect institutions, Democratic Institutions of venezuela. And go against the president. Go against the president. Unfortunately armed forces deeply embedded with the regime, profiting from the regime. I dont think its likely they will withdraw support. Here is a sense of what it looks like on the ground. A 19yearold student in caracas interviewed yesterday. Yes, im scared. If i live with fear and dont take a risk, nothing will change. Shes concerned about retaliation president obama government groups. Give us a sense of conditions that led to this in venezuela. It has changed dramatically. Last year the amount of imports to the country was 18 billion. Just to put in perspective, thats half the amount that was imported in the previous year, which was already half the amount that was imported there. What that means on the ground the country is starving. Theres lack of food. There is lack of medicines. A survey last year showed 75 of venezuelans lost 19 pounds just in one year. So people are literally starving. So either they go out and try to bring about change in the streets or they are going to turn into a new cuba. The oil factor here plays a part, too, right . Indeed. Oil production dwindling despite people claim venezuela has the Largest Oil Reserves in the world. Oil production dwindling, price of oil is low. Thats why the exchange the money coming into venezuela is legal and doesnt have money to pay for imports. What can the International Community do here. You talked about the response now from other governments, other nations. What realistically could happen . What do you see playing out . Thats a key question because many people claim that the International Community has to step up the pressure on the regime. It will be welcome. For example, we will see the organization of american states coming out with our joint resolution claiming, calling for elections and Political Prisoners. In the end venezuelans will decide whats going on in that country. Three months of protest, 90 killed, hundreds of arrests, does this end peacefully . No. When people talk about war, they have to realize only one side has arms. The problem is the cost for the people who are in government to leave is extremely high. They are engaging in massive corruption. They are engaged in drug trafficking, in violations of human rights. Their alternative is not retiring with a government pension. Their alternative is going to jail or being extradited to the United States. On that note, thank you very much. Cato institute joining us here for that perspective. We appreciate it. Anna and matt, thank you for joining me for the hour here. Great to have you guys on set. Were going to be right back with todays big picture. 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So as i think you know weve been rolling out the big picture, an image that tells a story, an important one, funny one or one you havent seen enough of. Todays picture comes from up north where more than 100 wildfires are burning in british columbia. This is smoke almost blacking out the sun. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes as thousands of firefighters try to get a handle on this. The photographer here, Jonathan Heyward for canadian press. As always ill post todays big picture and i would love to hear thoughts and respond to comments on all of it. Maybe not today, im heading outlet to assignment now. Handing to ali velshi in new york going solo. Ill try to do a good job. Im ali velshi. Stephanie ruhle is off. Lets get started. Plmpz latest Performance Review unflattering. His Approval Rating falling to 36 . His disapproval numbers are higher than bill clinton or barack obama. This week marks six months since the Trump Administration was sworn into office. I dont know how many meetings he had in total