clear that if republicans try to repeal the power we just gave medicare to reduce prescription drug costs, i will veto it, i will not allow it to happen. if republicans try to walk away from the historic commitment we just made to deal with the climate crisis, i will not let that happen. if republicans try to cut social security or medicare, i will not let that happen. reporter: and now, erin, when i asked the white house press secretary earlier today where exactly the president would be willing to compromise she couldn t point to any specific areas. but the president was very specific in trying to draw those red lines talking about the issues that he would veto. and so the big takeaway from the speech today is that this is a president gearing up for the very high possibility of a republican house who s trying to project strength, who s trying to show the leverage that he has as he prepares for the possibility of divided government and the many negotiations to follow. erin? jeremy,
there s limitations because the government can t share classified information with the campaigns whereas obviously president trump has full access to classified information so while the government is providing similar types of briefings and services to the trump campaign and the rnc as to the democrats certainly trump knows quite a bit more about the threat field than perhaps some democratic rivals. although the democratic rivals seem to be welcoming this and donald trump has still not fully acknowledged what the intelligence agencies say about interference in the 2016 election and their admonitions and warnings of the 2016 election. thank you for your reporting on this. a new nbc news/ wall street journal poll not only shows doubts of president trump s re-election but top democratic contenders. correspondent steve kornacki joins me now. what are the big takeaways? number one, look, it s the bottom line question looking at a president gearing up for
if you re a president gearing up to run for reelection, this is a handstand moment. it s terrific news if you re trump running for reelection. the biggest thing trump has on his side if this continues, and there is a long time between now and election day, is that the economy has been strong under his watch. it did start with obama but it has continued for the first two years of his term. the thing his advisers are concerned about is some sort of downturn, that it will shift and the economy, that he came in here to juice up the economy, that he will lose that argument. still, 38% approve the job the president is doing, 57% disapprove. on the economy 46% approve, 51% disapprove. last year he was above water on the economy. he s a little under water there. but if he s running for reelection, there are a lot of trump problems if you look at
stake. that is amazing, though, the russian government will have a huge stake, a majority stake in b.p. in the meantime, another wow, michael steele dropped out of the race to head the party. voters deciding under the next vote and the next guy who will fight a president gearing up to raise $1 billion to keep his job and now to national harbor, maryland. what is the latest? reporter: well, michael steele has opened the door for a changing of the guard. a moment ago after what was the fourth ballot in this election for the republican national committee chairmanship, michael steele recognized it was unlikely he would gain more support and was not near the necessary 85 votes of 168 committee members and so he dropped out. here is what he said. guest: i thank you for the