Nine months away. There is a lot to talk about. Lets begin at the white house. Kelly odonnell, we are learning that rob porter, the Staff Secretary, accused of Domestic Violence by his exwives that he could be out as early as today, is that correct . Reporter thats our reporting and the issue is that rob porter offered his resignation and Sarah Huckabee sanders said there would be an extended time of transition, where he would be able to help facilitate a successor. That has changed in the sense that there has been a lot of controversy around this, a lot of attention drawn to the two former wives of rob porter. The statements they have made publicly alleging verbal abuse, physical abuse and Emotional Abuse and porter has said that these are smears. He has said that these are baseless allegations and a coordinated campaign against him. We saw a shift, in fact, that at first, members of the white house senior Team Including chiefofstaff john kelly were very supportive of porter and he
was described as a man of true integrity and character. That has changed with john kelly coming forward to say, that he was concerned about the issue of the photos that have been raised and the reports. There is an issue changing the statements of john kelly who is worked very closely with rob porter over the many months of this administration. Why is this so critical . The Porter Situation is that he does not have a full clearance based on all of the reporting that our team has done. He has daily access to the president. That of course has put him right into the inner circle and these allegations are of a serious nature, especially culturally at this point with the me too campaign and all of the concerns that have been raised. Porter says hes not responsible for domestic abuse. His former wives have detailed to first the daily mail. Com and confirming their accounts to nbc news. They have said that these
abusive situations did occur and that they reported them to the fbi, which is a standard part of a Background Check where members of the fbi interview those in the life and family of anyone who is up for clearance especially for a high level job at the white house. So porter denies this. He may be out as early as today based on the changing nature of how this story has been received, how its been perceived and even changes among those that had been initially supportive of him. Thats the other question. Is i dont kn if there was an issue with his Security Clearance and if this at least by the fbi some of the accusations here were known, i see youre doesnt look like kellys hearing me. Well ask somebody else the question. We got other folks joining us who are very knowledge being. Joined now by beth reiner. She conducted the interviews
with the exwives, and im joined by peter baker and our panel, matt welsh, along with Catherine Ram pel. Thanks for all of you for being with us, peter, let me start with you. The big question is politically in the fallout from this, is the question about the chiefofstaff, john kelly, who was initially supportive now you see porter headed for the kpits, the question of what did john kelly know about this and how far back did he know it . Thats exactly right. Our reporting shows that he was told as recently as last fall. In a statement he put out last night, he said he was shocked to learn about the details of this. Its possible he knew the general gist of it without knowing the level detail that came out particularly, that photograph of rob porters exwife. Its been a really interesting and tough week for john kelly,
this on top of the comments he made earlier in the week criticizing at least some immigrants of being too lazy to go about applying for status, the obama era daca program and raising a lot of questions both inside the white house and outside about john kelly as the chiefofstaff. If he didnt know about one of his top people being compromised in the way that rob porter seems to have been, if hes willing to make the kind of comments he made on capitol hill in the midst of sensitive negotiations, what does that tell us about the way hes leading this white house for President Trump . Lets bring beth reiner in. You talked to rob porters exwives, the genesis of this story, let me play a clip here from your interview then ask you a question about it. Take a listen. During one of these fights we were both yelling at each other. I disengaged and removed myself from the fight to go take a shower. And rob wasnt finished fighting, i suppose, at that point. He was still angry. So he came and grabbed me by the shoulders here and pulled me out of the shower in a rage. So beth, let me ask you about the time line from their standpoint. Theyre going public now but theres the question here of why these fbi checks are playing out for porter to get him those Security Clearances for the white house, were his exwives contacted, what were they saying then . Did they talk to anybody in the white house, were they talking to him before they went public . Whats the timeline . So rob porters exwives were both contacted by the fbi over a year ago january 2017 as you would expect for a Background Check of a high level white house aide and they both provided the fbi with a lot of information about his verbal and
physical abuse, colby provided the fbi with the pictures youve seen of her with the black eye, jennie provided the fbi with the protective order she had filed in 2010 and then they they did not hear anything until several months later. Jennie got a call from rob in september asking about, you know, what had you told the fbi . Theyre holding up my Security Clearance. So rob porter knew, you know, as of september and we presume other folks in the white house knew as well that there was a problem with these allegations were causing him a problem in terms of getting a Security Clearance. Peter, let me ask you, the position that rob porter occupied, Staff Secretary, one of those people here theyre not exactly sure what the
in this white house, rob porters probably even more important than the typical Staff Secretary because john kelly did rely on him so much. Porter was seen as one of the few genuinely professional and talented and seasoned people in that white house. I would say if you had to come up with a list of the most important staffers in that west wing he would certainly be on any list like that. For this to happen is a big blow to this white house and youre right. He had been very close to john kelly as an ally and a right arm of his, so you can see that the chiefofstaff clearly, you know, took this in a personal way. You mentioned some of those names from past administrations, people harriet myers, george w. Bush tried to put her on the Supreme Court but there was a pushback to that. Beth you were going to say. Sorry. I was adding to answer your question about the time line. Both of these exwives did not
come forward, so to speak. They were contacted by reporters and i think somewhat reluctantly shared their stories after they knew that this was all coming out. So i just wanted to make that clear as far as the time line. Let me bring the panel in here. This is i think one of the questions here we find ourselves asking a lot with this administration is would this event have happened in a past administration and i think this is one of those where, you know, look you can have an unfortunate circumstance where you find out somebodys been accused of something. That can happen in any administration. This does seem to speak to a level of some dysfunction behind the scenes there. One of the appalling details is that this week john kelly and also orrin hatch basically came out and accused the women, the exwives of conducting a vial Smear Campaign. Thats the first instinct that this is a Smear Campaign even though they werent making this a campaign at all. They only came out with this now. Theyve been interviewed with the fbi last year including the question of do you think that is vulnerable potentially to blackmail. That was a question they said yes, he is because of this path that hasnt been disclosed. So to accuse them just a reflexively of conducting a Smear Campaign is what we had seen similarly with judge roy moore, with donald trump himself. Its as if this is what well do. We can weather the storm by doing this. Lets step back and call that for what it is. These are two women, exwives, and theres a third girlfriend too, an exgirlfriend who contacted the white house afterwards and say, i think theres a problem with this guy. You should check it out. There was plenty of knowledge there and to go back and try to smear those women of conducting a Smear Campaign that says something really bad about the cultural of the white house. Its an interesting point. You think back to the access Hollywood Tape in the 2016 campaign. I think politically i wonder if the president himself and the
folks around him took a political lesson from that, hey, look, if two, three weeks before the election you can endure that kind of scandal and still win, maybe we dont have to worry about anything were hit with. Even if there is evidence, even if there are photos, if there is a video with audio in which donald trump himself is acknowledging that he likes to or is able to grab women by the genitals, they think they can get away with it. This is an administration that has defended neonazi, an accused Child Molester and now multiple wife beaters. One of the nominees last year for the cabinet for the Labor Secretary was also accused of abusing a spouse. So this is not some anomaly. This is a pattern for them. All they care about is just circling the wagons and saying were going to charge forward and were going to just deny and gas light the American Public even when there is photographic evidence or Video Evidence proving otherwise. Okay. Peter baker, beth reiner, thanks
to both of you. Matt and katherine are saying with minimum throughout the hour. All eyes are turning to the u. S. Senate first today. Theres where lawmakers are getting ready to vote on a budget deal that would fund the government for the next two years. Not so fast. The fate of that bill is very much up in the air when it comes to the house where its also going to have to pass. The sticking points for both parties as that Shutdown Clock keeps ticking. One is the only number that youll ever need staying ahead isnt about waiting for a chance. Its about the one bold choice you make, that moves you forward. The One And OnlyCadillac Escalade. Come in now for this exceptional offer on the Cadillac Escalade. Get this lowmileage lease on this 2018 Cadillac Escalade from around 879 per month. Visit your local cadillac dealer. On the only bed that adjusts on both sides to your ideal comfort, your sleep number setting. Does your bed do that . Right now, save 50 on the ultimate limited edition bed. Ends soon. Visit sleepnumber. Com fora store near you. Can start in the Colon Constiand may be signs of an imbalance of good bacteria. Only Phillips Colon Health has this unique combination of probiotics. It provides fourinone symptom defense. Its your daily probiotic. Back now with a live look the house floor. Thats the outside of the capitol hill right now but on the house floor inside that building there is going to be lots of drama today before that, though, on the senate side, the senate expected to prove that two year budget at some point today. That will then kick off the drama on the house side. Leadership trying to make that senate vote happen as soon as possible. What happens in the house, this is an uncertain question right now. Democrats are upset that this agreement does not address the issue of immigration and the status of the dreamers. Conservatives say all the new spending would blow a big hole in the deficit. The vote will be narrow at best. Also lawmakers have about 14 hours to get all of this done or the government shuts down again. Casey hunt is on capitol hill thats where the drama is. The house side here. Youve got objections you can look at from both sides. Democrats saying what about the dreamers. Republicans saying what about all this spending. The bottom line, 218 votes,
whats the status right now . Can they deliver that . Reporter steve, at this particular point in time it does look like the moderate middle is going to win the day over the objections of both the left and the right. Of course nancy pelosi taking to the house floor yesterday, a historic eight plus hour speech, the longest in at least a century from what we could figure out. She told her members or rather told reporters but sends a signal to her members this morning at a Press Conference where she said she will vote against the budget deal. That was a surprise considering that she was involved behind the scenes in these negotiations, not necessarily a surprise in the context of that floor speech, but the critical thing that she also said, she was asked if she is whipping against the budget deal so essentially is she going to go to all the members of her conference and say, dont do this and nancy pelosi is very good at holding her conference together and she
well be tracking any unexpected developments here but right now and this is steve a pretty rare thing or has become a pretty rare thing, this bipartisan budget deal is on track because the reality is, congress can do things when both parties are on board. Steve . We got the Shutdown Clock ticking away in the lower right. Main it wont get to zero this. Reporter i think everyone is still scarred from weeks ago. Thank you for that. With us now is lonnie chen now the director of Domestic Policy at stanford university. Matt and katherine still here with me. Lonnie let me bring you in from a republican standpoint. We talk about this budget deal and to go back in time here and to put this into perspective, whats happening here when we talk about this increased domestic spending is that the limits that were put in place when republicans got control of congress after the 2010 midterms, that Pea Party Upriding was taking place, that
big standoff and ryan and obama. They put all these all these limits went in place then they are now being lifted. The deficit just next year alone, it looks like itll jump up another trillion dollars. When you think back to that time in the tea party and you will all the concerns about the deficit, how is this acceptable . Well, i guess all the fiscal hawks have flown away. Its pretty clear that fiscal discipline is not the paramount value for republicans in congress any more. There are some republicans in the house who are holding firm. I think theres a few in the senate who are saying, we cant possibly sign off on the increased spending. A lot of republicans liked the increased spending on the defense side of the ledger but they had to agree to these massive spending increases on the domestic discretionary side of the ledger. What youre seeing as you noted earlier is a 1. 2 trillion deficit in 2019 and deficits that may be over 2 trillion by the time we get to 2027 if the
trump tax cuts are made permanent. This is a lot of spending and its really against character and form but i guess were in a day and age in washington where fiscal discipline, fiscal responsibility, those values dont matter as much as any more. I wonder just to go back, we see this tea party movement, that label was so prominent, we dont say tea parties much any more, it seems to me what we used to call the tea party in a lot of ways became the trump base. Did we misunderstand back then what was really animating the tea party when we said it was all about spending and deficits . Thats a great point. What we actually saw was that Many Republican voters are much more comfortable with larger government than we thought. For many, many years republicans were out there arguing for the need for a restrained Central Government when, in fact, a lot of voters were really saying, look, in theory we like the idea of Smaller Government but in reality, there are all these things government does that we
like maybe more than we thought. I think its very difficult also to overstate the role that obamacare played in that 2010 wave. That continues to be an animating force. The sheer notion of fiscal discipline, the notion that government has to restrain spending. That is something that is more of a Talking Point than actual reality. Let me bring my panel in here. On this question of the size of government, Government Spending, was there less of an appetite there on the right all along for that . This is the death of the tea party. The final ceremonial could have finn through the stake, stake through the heart of the tea party one of the animating things back then was the mythical trillion dollars deficit figure. My god, a trillion dollars deficit, are we really going to do this . This happened of course after the bailout and the stimulus. Thats a big thing to swallow there. People were talking this is a sign that we have to put a curb
donald trump. They thought we were the craziest people in the room. We have to remember that part of the reason well have a trillion dollars deficit this year is also because of tax cuts. Its not only on the spending side. Its also on the tax side where were being fiscally reckless. Republicans care about deficits only when theres a democrat in the white house. An important thing to remember, by the way, is not only should we dare about the thakt that well have a trillion dollars deficit right now and probably 2 trillion down the line, we shouldnt care about it only because its hypocritical. Its also supremely ill timed. Its just doesnt make sense. What you want to do is you want to have greater Government Spending during the great recession, during when youre on the brink of falling into the precipice of a depression. When the tea party was animated was the time when actually it would make more sense from that perspective to spend more money
to go into greater deficits. Right now is exactly the opposite time. Its the wrong time to do this. The interesting thing, we throw all these different numbers around for people. In the first 200 years of this countrys existence, the entire debt that was wracked up, you total up the deficit every single years for 200 years the entire debt was about 1 trillion. Were now talking bay one year deficit of trillion dollars. Thats how fast this stuff has accelerated. Thank you for joining us. U. S. Officials they are sounding the alarm about Russian Election meddling just months away from the midterm elections. What we are learning about the kremlins interference in 2016 and the odds that something similar could happen this year . But imagine something new. At invisalign®, we use the most advanced Teeth Straightening technology to help you find the next amazing version of yourself. Its time to unleash your secret weapon. Its there, right under your nose. Get to your best smile up to 50 faster. Visit invisalign. Com to get started today. Looking for a hotel that fits. Whoooo. Your budget . Tripadvisor now searches over. 200 sites to find you the. Hotel you want at the lowest price. Grazi, gino find a price that fits. Tripadvisor. Im 85 and i Wannaa Lifego Home Savannah [ding] [boxing bell ding] [applause]
at a Summit Come On the heels of our Nbc News Exclusive that the russians successfully hacked into the Voter Registration rolls of several states just prior to the president ial election. Heres Senior Investigative correspondent Cynthia Mcfadden. Reporter a Senior Intelligence official with direct knowledge of the top secret report says several states had their voting Registration System successfully compromised by the russian government. This after u. S. Officials had previously revealed 21 states were targeted. We asked homeland securitys chief of cybersecurity about that secret document. I cant talk about classified information publicly. We saw targeting of 21 states and an exceptionally small number of that 21 were actually successfully penetrated. Reporter the fear, russia would remove voters names from the roles creating chaos, potentially swinging the election. We were able to determine
that the scanning and probing of Voter Registration databases was coming from the russian government. Reporter jay johnson was dhs secretary when these russian intertrugss were taking place. U. S. Intelligence knew by the summer of 2016 the hacking originated from russia. Two months later, they told the public. Should you have done it before october 7th . Any time you make a difficult National Security decision, somebody says, why did you do that and somebody else says, why didnt you do it sooner . Reporter it turned out voters names were not removed in 2016 but what about this year . My worry is that since that time a lot of states have done little to nothing to actually harden their cybersecurity. I would not agree with that assessment. I would say they have all taking it very seriously. Reporter nbc news reached out to those 21 states. California and texas, among others, saying their voter system was never attacked. I stand by the list. This was a snapshot in time with
visibility that the department had at the time. Again, our Cynthia Mcfadden with a troubling report. Catherine, theres a disconnect here in terms of the response. Ultimately it is up to these individual states to be managing their voter rolls, to be managing election security. The role at the federal level, the role for the president , what should that be here . Theyre very conflicted at this point because this president is invested in the idea that there was no russian meddling in the election. He has said this multiple times despite the fact that our Intelligence Agencies and other officials at homeland security, et cetera, have said, yes, russia tried to meddle, they did meddle on facebook and elsewhere and apparently with our voter rolls, at least they attempted to. The roll of the white house is complicated because from the president s perspective, its important to play this down but from the perspective of the democracy of our republic its
important to be very aggressive and make sure that this does not happen again but how do you do that . How do you straggize and before looking when theres this state of denial that there was any foreign influence or attempted foreign influence within our election. People i think are familiar with this but when this subject is raised, when hes asked about it, this is how the president talks about this question of russia interference. I think its important we just continue to say to russia, if you think we dont see what youre doing, we do see it and you need to stop. Those who would threaten americans experiment in democracy, if you challenge us it will be your longest and your worst day. Yes, russia did meddle in our elections. This threats not going to go away. The russians have been at it a long time and theyll continue to be at it. I believe that President Putin really feels and he feels strongly that he did not meddle
in our election. What he believes is what he believes. What i believe is that we have to get to work. You saw members of the administration saying, yes, Russia Meddled then you have the president not wanting to that way. With trump too, in his mind at least it seems this cannot be separated from democrats saying youre not a legitimate president. Keep in mind that the president created a president ial commission on Election Integrity last year. This is a contested election. There are these incredible allegations that russia is trying to hack into voter roles and other things like that, so what was this commission about . It wasnt about this. It was about looking for illegal immigrants. Trying to prove the baseless Conspiracy Theory that donald trump didnt get or Hillary Clinton got 3 million votes from illegal immigrants. It was run by chris coback whos the biggest conspiracy theorist
in america. So his mind seems to be operating on im going to prove this thing about my own personal fortunes which have from his Point Of View russia has nothing to do with that. Its remarkable that they had a chance to take a role or look into that and they went into the opposite direction. The wording that former president bush used there was interesting. Russia meddled. Now whether that affected the election is another question. So hes making an effort to say, im not immediately connecting whatever interference happened to the fact that trump won. Those folks in the administration who want to talk about this as we just showed in that clip, is there a way for them to present it in a similar way that would get the president publicly to take it more seriously . I think its very challenging. Trump makes everything about him. He makes a gold star widows tragedy about him. He makes the military about him. Thats how thats his lens through which he sees the world,
whether things are good or bad for him. Its going to be very challenging to get him to say publicly what all of these members of his administration have been saying is we need to take this threat seriously. Hes going to feel insecure and feel like, well, if youre cuesing russia of meddling in our elections, thats casting doubt on the legitimacy of myself, of my own presidency. It should be pointed out that George W Bush is the right way to talk about it. They talked about the election got hacked. Thats not accurate. We are just a few hours away from that senate vote on that big bipartisan spending deal that would keep the government funded and forestall a shutdown. Key groups are fighting against it including the freedom caucus. A member of that caucus warn davidson, he is going to way in. Stay tuned. Which is why were helping to replenish the mighty rio grande
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still be no. I just think its a bad deal. I think its unfortunate that this is where it goes. This Spending Bill is a debt junkys dream. Im not only a no, im a hell, no. He is a hell, no on this. Im joined by Warren Davidson of ohio. Let me ask you, are you also a no on this . Ill be voting no on this bill. I agree. Its just too much spending. Theres no shortage of good ideas up here. Theres a lot of good causes but the amount of money to pay for it is not unlimited. We need to show some fiscal discipline here. If you think that no vote is going to end up mattering because the speak of the house paul ryan was on with hugh hewitt and his radio show and he said, we, we the republicans, have the votes we need on this. Do you think that assessment is correct . I assume the speaker and the whip have an accurate whip count
before they did the deal. I think they had to know what it was going to take to get this across the finish line or they wouldnt have been able to commit to a deal. I assume they have it but i assume that there will be a pretty large number of republicans that vote no on it. The fact, though, the speaker, the House Speaker and paul ryan of course his issue, one of his major issue at least in the past has been taming budget deficits, cutting spending, austerity, that type of emphasis in the past. This agreement would see the deficit just next year alone exceed a trillion dollars. What is happening in a Republican Party that a few years ago when it first won control of the house nearly forced a shutdown over the issue of Government Spending that now many of your colleagues, including the speaker are willing to support a trillion dollars deficit next year. You point out a real disconnect between what our brand has been and certainly what the speakers brand has been. People have really dealt with that all year. The house passed a more Discipline Plan back in september and weve been in cr after cr. We did increase spending for the military in part because of just the real readiness issues we faced over the past year. Unfortunately, weve had more Training Fatalities than Combat Fatalities in a year where we had a fair bit of compat. I think its, you know, readily apparent to the American Public that we got readiness issues and weve got ships crashing into one another out in the ocean. That goes to understaffing and our crews and lack of crews. We wanted to get the money to our military. Its been held up in the senate largely over daca. The House Senate Bill over just this week that funded our military but held the line on nondefense spending, unfortunately when it came back from the senate its got a lot more of everything. Its not that theyre bad causes, we do really have a constraint in terms of how much things we can pay for. The question there you
mentioned, the status of the dreamers, the folks brought to this country by their parents years ago have been living here. The Senate Working on some legislation. Let me ask you from your standpoint to get permanent Legal Protection for the dreamers enshrined in law, are you asking for concessions in return and what are those concessions . I think the house bill thats got the most traction is bob goodlattes bill and im taking a look at that. That spans a large Cross Section of republicans. Were hoping that some democrats will see that as the vehicle that will move in the house. The senates working on a different path. Im pushing to make sure the federal law which is the only body of law on Immigration States dont have State Jurisdiction over immigration, that states are clearly premted in their actions related to immigration by federal statute. It does good things, like, you
know, deal with deal with the Border Security issues. Not just a wall but overall Security Reforms there like the ability to return people to come here illegally at the border. The ability to address Chain Migration and shift to a more merit based system and it ends the visa lottery. Warren davidson from ohio. A no vote on that budget agreement. Thank you for joining us. Thank you. Former Vice President joe biden sitting down for a oneonone interview with our own Andea Mitchell and weighing in on that latest scandal to hit the white house. That is next. A little to the left. 1, 2, 3, push easy easy easy horn honking alright alright weve all got places to go weve all got places to go Washington Crossing the delaware turnpike . Surprising. Whats not surprising . How much money sean saved by switching to geico. Big man with a horn. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Tomorrow, its a day filled with promise and new beginnings, challenges and opportunities. At ameriprise financial, we cant predict what tomorrow will bring. But our comprehensive approach to Financial Planning can help make sure youre prepared for whats expected and even whats not. And that kind of Financial Confidence can help you sleep better at night. With the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. Ythen you turn 40 ande everything goes. Tell me about it. You know, its made me think, im closer to my retirement days than i am my college days. Hm. Im thinking. Will i have enough . Should i change something . Well, youre asking the right questions. I just want to know, am i gonna be okay . I know people who specialize in am i going to be okay. I like that. You may need glasses though. Yeah. Schedule a complimentary goal Planning Session today with td ameritrade. Come in now for this exceptional offer on the cadillac ct6. Get this lowmileage lease on this 2018 cadillac ct6 from around 549 per month. Visit your local cadillac dealer. Moments ago, in a oneonone interview with Andrea Mitchell, former Vice President joe biden weighed in on white house Staff Secretary rob porters pending departure from the white house. He is the white house aide who resigned yesterday amid allegations of domestic abuse. Heres what biden told Andrea Mitchell within the last hour. How do you explain his access to the president of the United States and the Chief Of Staff, frankly, in the last 24 hours,
describing him as a man of personal integrity . I cant explain it. It is long past due that hes departed. If you look at it from the perspective of one thing, the fbi didnt think he should get a permanent Security Clearance. They had to know that. Sure they knew that. They still did it. Look, the culture is changing, and thank god, but not fast enough. The idea that this would happen in the oval office. Now, i dont know. I heard when i was briefed on the way in when the president found out about it, he said, go. If thats the case, the president never knew about it, good for the president for saying that. How could the president not know one of his closest advisers did not have a top Security Clearance . What does that say about the president and this white house . Oh, andrea. Look, im having enormous difficu difficulty understanding how
this white house functions. Again, thats joe biden just in the last hour with our own Andrea Mitchell. Joining me is National Political correspondent for the washington post. Also, my panel is back with me. Karen, weve been talking this hour, obviously, about the situation with rob porter. One of the questions here, you see andrea raising it, too, is the question of who knew what and who knew it when inside the white house. Specifically with john kelly. Do you think that this Scandal Calls into question at all John Kellys Status as Chief Of Staff . I think it does. I think the questions are going to continue. Right now, it looks like there are only two options here. Either this was a case of massive mismanagement, or they knew this and decided it didnt matter. Let me ask you, too, changing gears here, we have some reporting and you wrote a column about this the
democratic Congressional Campaign committee are going to announce today 101 republican targets in their battle to get control of the house in 2018. That would be the largest battlefield democrats are envisioning in a decade, since they were sort of the House Majority back under nancy pelosi. You were writing this week about some of the potential worry spots for democrats, even though the landscape looks favorable. What do you see the worry spots to be . One big one is that the assumption that donald trump and his unpopularity is going to do all their work for them. I talked to a number of democrats who are concerned that the democratic message, they have not honed their own message. There is also a downside to this extraordinary number of Democratic Candidates that we see this year. It is probably going to be a record. That means that were going to have to were going to have to see them go through some messy, potentially rocky primaries ahead, too. That could also weaken their
hand. The target list is not so it is not determinative. Meaning, by this fall, they probably will not be spending money in over 100 districts. But this is sort of an early cut on places where they do see some potential. The big lesson, i think, democrats have learned in, for instance, virginia, is that they really need to be looking at a broad field. Some of their opportunities may not be in obvious places. Interesting. You see all the special elections, and some are so obscure, but it is showing high democratic energy. If you have that in the midterms, who knows what it could lead to. Thank you for the abbreviated visit. Thank you, all, for being with us this hour. You can see much more from former Vice President joe bidens interview we just showed you a clip of. Thatll be on Andrea Mitchell reports tonight at noon eastern only on msnbc. Well be right back with todays
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