Transcripts For MSNBCW MTP Daily 20190829

And georgia on our mind with both the state senate seats now for grabs. Democrats are finding the peach state ripe for the picking, but is it ripe enough . Welcome to thursday. It is meet the press daily. Good evening. I am chuck todd here in washington. A hurricane is barrelling towards the florida coast. July was the hottest month ever recorded and on and on. Hurricane dorian is expected to strengthen into a category four storm with winds of 130 Miles Per Hour when it eventually hits florida. Moments ago the president announced he was actually rescheduling a trip to poland so that he could stay in the u. S. To monitor the approaching storm. We realize that a hurricane in late august isnt unusual and that weather and climate are not the same thing. But, folks, the earth is getting hotter. Ocean temperatures are rising and an urgent storm like dorian is an urgent reminder of all the Climate Mitigation we havent done and the crisis that we face. Today the Trump Administration moved to roll back some Climate Change regulations that even fossil fuel companies supported keeping. The administrations actions today came days after we learned its transferring millions in fema disaster funds to the southern border. Talk about a bad p. R. Timing. But politically, literally, there is a potential Storm Brewing for republicans on the Climate Crisis. More and more, americans are awakening to the threat. A majority of the country now believes Climate Change is an emergency. This is from a new quinnipiac poll out this afternoon. As the president holds fast to his belief that its a hoax, there remains a striking partisan debate on this issue. Its worth noting that Republican Leaders in places like florida have woken up on the effects of Climate Change and arent afraid of the phrase anymore. Also consider trump loyalists like Lindsay Graham who also happens to be from a coastal stage. Hes called on the president to admit that Climate Change is real. I have really taken this issue to heart, and i would encourage the president to look long and hard at the science and find the solution. Im tired playing defense on the environment. Republican senator thom tillis went from dismissing Climate Change as a fiction to now advocating for a massive Global Response to the program. Then theres matt gates from a coastal district as well in the panhandle of florida. Hes defended so many trump conspiracy theories its hard to keep track at times. But Climate Change, he doesnt defend him on that one because its staring mr. Gates and his constituents right in their faces. My names matt gates. I represent floridas first congressional district. While it is above water. History will judge harshly. As i said, there is a storm approaching and youre starting to see those that actually live in it. Climate areas start to take climate out of the political debate. Our own meteorologist here at nbc news has the latest on dorians strength and path. And, bill, i think the big thing and, again, judging all things through the prism of my own family there in florida. The big thing seems tock the euro models suddenly finding that this storm has slowed down. And it keeps changing, chuck. I mean, we want answers, i want answers, i want to be able to tell you exactly whats going to happen. The people in florida want to know do i board my bifwindows u do i need to go to a friends house in georgia or louisiana. And we dont have the answers yet because our computer models are still varying. And the storm has slowed down so much. That has given us an extra day or two. So we are going to get into a fatigue of where is it going. We have at least three more days before it gets close to any more land areas. Didnt michael that was like my punch line there. It is going to look a lot like michael with the euro model. Here it is on satellite. Its out over the open water, just causing a problem for some cruise lines. The update from the hurricane center, intensitys the same, speeds the same. And as far as the intensity forecast goes, i dont want to spend a lot of time on that either because its going to be over the warm water for three to four days. All indications are its going to be a powerful storm. Will it be a storm category 4 or 2 or 3 . Well worry about that two to three days from now. So here is the new path. Low and behold, nothing has really changed because all of the computer models are so variable and they have slowed down so much, they dont want to make any big changes because they dont have the information to make any huge changes either. Is there a pressure, a surprise pressure or front, is there something thats causing this trouble with the models that they cant seem to process consistently . Well, i mean, ill have a map for tomorrow, theres a highpressure system which steers the storm called the bermuda high. That is weakening. And then there is a big trough coming through Eastern Canada and the northeast. The battle between those two is where the storm is going to go. And think how far away that is. Thats like 101,500 miles from where the storm really is. And so those little fluctuations. All of this says is heresand s fluctuations. All of this says is heres the cone dont look at these intense tease because once it gets close to land or if it hook its can still be a category 4 further north. The american models a little further north. The euro models a little further south so were taking you, remember i said we have 72 hours of nothingness. Its not until we get to sunday night that the storm is over the central bahamas. And thats when the things get interesting at least with the european model. Then it kind of drifts it towards miami. Then we get to tuesday. Then we are talking wednesday the middle of next week. And then we are talking seven days from now the possibility somewhere still off the southeast coast line of georgia or florida. We just dont have the answers yet. But the best news of all is that we dont guarantee that were even going to have a landfall yet. People should have all their preps ready in case the emergency manager says you have to evacuate. Thats all we are telling people to do right now. Its still too far away. Thank you, bill. As every floridian will tell you that has lived on the atlantic coast, we all know of more than one storm that does crazy stuff off the atlantic coast. Floyd, michael. Hurricane betsy does a uturn. Jean did a loopdeloop. Let me turn now to the political storm that surrounds these actual storms. That is the Climate Crisis. Joining me now for this discussion is betsy woodruff. And Stephanie Cutter a white house adviser and former Deputy Campaign manager for barack obama. Let me start actually with thom tillis move on this is quite good too. Thom tillis had a debate in his 2014 campaign versus thom tillis now. Take a look. Is Climate Change a fact . [ laughter ] mr. Tillis. No. I think we have to come up with several strategies to recognize reality. If you dont have a comprehensive global agreement to reduce Human Factors in Climate Change, then you havent fixed anything and you may have disadvantaged the very countries that are the innovators that may be a part of the solution first among them the United States. Remesh, it does seem as if there is now a divide in the Republican Party on this issue of climate, at least rhetorically. I do think that some of this divide is more rhetorical than it is real. So senator tillis, i think when he talks about the solution. So it is a way of deferring unilateral action or action that will actually cost anything in the United States. I do think also that a lot of republicans have looked at the polling data and see that particularly among young voters, there is belief that this is in fact a problem and theres a concern among republicans that they put themselves on the wrong side of this by looking antiscience, antiknowledge. But that doesnt mean there is the appetite for regulatory or tax dollars. And thats the public, not just republicans. But Public Opinion has moved here, stephanie. Quinnipiac today, u. S. Response to Climate Change. Does more need to be done . 67 believe more needs to be done. Boy, 67 , thats more than just democrats. Oh, absolutely. And this gets to rammeshs point. Particularly below the age of 40, this isnt a political decide. Particularly for young people. Your campaign helped you guys in some ways. We campaigned on it, yeah. Weve all been in politics a long time. We have seen the progression of this issue. It is a majority issue for this country now. And particularly for young people as weve discussed, its not you cant break it down by party line. Theyre in agreement. And young people are voting at a higher rate than older americans. So you can see where this is going to go. The question is whether its going to be fast enough because we are facing this urgent crisis. You know, betsy, whats been interesting about watching sort of this the politics of this change, its also how you can have a conversation about Climate Change with anybody if you dont necessarily use the phrase. Its interesting plenty of people acknowledge, boy, the weather is just funky now. A lot of things happen strange with the weather now. Youre even having in more rural areas conversations like thachltd. And theres so much News Coverage on this. The local paper is looking at the changes in the great lakes over the weekend. There was a series i think in the New York Times sunday issue about floods over beaches in chicago. People actually can see it happening in real life when they walk outside. That said, of course, the huge elephant in the room when youre talking about Climate Change and politics is the president. The fact is the president sees the expansion of oil and natural Gas Production thats happened under his administration as maybe his biggest achievement. He talks about it every single rally, every single appearance. And any time people bring up the prospect of environmental regulation, his first instinct is how is that going to affect the numbers that he looks at on oil and gas . Ramesh, this is the only place where the oil and gas industry is on the same page. No, were good with those. No, i do think that this is a case where you have an ideological goal thats being prude and its not interestingly being driven by business. But to get back to the cost issue. Well, thats the problem. 68 of people in a poll a couple months ago said they wouldnt spend more than 10 an extra in every months electricity bill to fight global warming. And even once you get past the question of whats the science here, thats going to be the big sticking point. I think its on policy. Stephanie, the public has spoken whether its australias public, frances public, washington state. The carbon tax isnt going to be the right way to do this. Were going to have to as a policy come up with another way to find the money. Another way to find the money, but also marshall across sectors and communities to move it forward. The wrong way to do it is. You know, part of the reason oil and gas liked the methane rule that the president rolled back today is because it is one of the most effective ways to reduce Greenhouse Gases and its cost efficient. They know if were not reducing methane gas, whats the next thing . Its natural gas. This is a Good Business for them. They are not doing this out of the goodness of their heart. I was just on the way over today, i was just doing some research on the number of rules the president has overturned that are related to reducing Greenhouse Gases. Its equivalent to 200 Million Metric Tons of Greenhouse Gases that hes overturned, the rules that hes overturned that prevented that kind of pollution. The equivalent of 44 million cars. So there were things on the books that were common sense solutions. It might not be common sense if you worked for a particular industry, but they were the cost benefit Analysis Solutions that would have protected the environment with an economic benefit. Part of the challenge of talking about the economic benefits here too is that people dont recognize the extent to which Climate Change is already costing them lots of money. Evacuating from coastal areas. Its really hard. Hurricane recovery. What its doing to farmers, its already expensive. We are trying to come up with a list of just how many hundred years floods that weve had over the last ten years around this country. This is the third hundred year flood weve had in the last ten years. I think that has always been the challenge. Its also the challenge for the citizen. They look at this climate issue and it feels overwhelming. Right. It doesnt feel like theres one fix. And no one has really been able to articulate that case. Now im not saying that this is the solution and it didnt come with its own problems. But aoc in putting out the Green New Deal did mobilize she forced a conversation. But she also got some passion behind it. Matt gates put up a sign that said Green New Deal, real new deal. Heres the thing with that, whatever you want to matt gates, aoc got matt gates to talk about Climate Change. So that would be a win for her. If matt is talking about it, that means hes probably talking about it with the president. They talk all the time. This is where the politics, but this is where the politics can actually accelerate on the republicans here. The coastal areas also attract some of the wealthiest americans, the wealthiest americans are some of the biggest donors. You know, i remember why was chris kristi so consumed at some points . Because he had people calling him directly who were his friends and donors who got hit by super storm sandy. It does have a way of changing the minds of some of these politicians. It does. But i wouldnt discount how people are feeling in the middle of the country. And i realize this is a democratic president ial contest, but iowa is one of the climate is one of the number one issues being discussed on the campaign trail. Same thing goes with other midwest states. Theyve had some issues, the southwest part of the state had flooding. Ramesh, the conservative has always been leery of multinational agreements. At the core theres always been this sense of thats why theres always been skepticism about the u. N. Im not just doing this in the form of donald trump. But the fact is its going to have to be a Global Response. That is always going to be a difficult place for some conservatives to be. There are some things that can be done in a different context. There is research agenda. There is the scientific innovation agenda that doesnt have to take that form. But, yeah, that is going to be a stumbling block for a lot of conservatives and a lot of other americans too. Well, we didnt solve the Climate Crisis here, but i think a lot of folks are going to be paying a lot more attention to it. You guys are sticking around for the hour. A quick note, msnbc will of course have special coverage of the twoday forum, not one, twoday forum featuring 2020 president ial candidates. Itll be moderated by chris hayes and ali velshi thats september 19th and 20th. And next a new report from the department of justices internal watchdog. It found no evidence james comey leaked classified information to the media. Something the president has accused the former fbi head of doing maybe a few times. What james comey did was illegal. The crime was committed by comey. Comeys lying. And he lied. He is a liar and a leaker. Look at the leaking and look at the lying. Comey admitted he leaked. I planned each charted course each careful step along the byway much more much more than this i did it my way announcer verizon is americas most awarded network and the only one with the galaxy note10 5g. Right now, when you buy one, you get a galaxy note10 free. Thats verizon. So, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. The United States Postal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. But dad, youve got allstate. 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Former fbi director james comey violated fbi policy and, quote, set a dangerous example in his handling of memos documenting his interactions with President Trump. Thats according to a new report out today from the Justice Departments Inspector General. This report also found that despite what the president and his republican allies have repeatedly alleged, none of those documents that comey shared were classified. And the government now says it will not prosecute comey. Remember, bill Barrs Justice Department couldnt find a reason to do that. But it didnt stop the president from tweeting today, quote, perhaps never in the history of our country has someone been more thoroughly disgraced and excoriated. He should be ashamed of himself. Again, there was no criminal referral, nor a decision to prosecute james comey. So already that tweet is not true. With me now is ben, he is the senior fellow at the brookings institution, editor in chief. Let me put up the first expert here on comeys response according to your report. By not safeguarding Sensitive Information obtained during the course of his fbi employment and by using it to create public pressure for official action, comey set a dangerous example for the over 35,000 current fbi employees and the many thousands more of former fbi employees who similarly have access to or knowledge of nonpublic information. Its clear the a. G. Is basically saying here he went outside his, call it a chain of command in this case, i guess its some form of that. And by not doing that, if others did the same thing, the fbi would lose its credibility in a heart beat. Is that not a fair critique . I think under normal circumstances it might be. But lets consider what the Sensitive Information that the i. G. Is referring to there. The Sensitive Information is that the president of the United States tried to shut down an investigation of his National Security adviser. And that is the information that the i. G. Is critiquing comey for making public. And so i think you have to ask the question once youve been fired, you are now at this point youre not just the former director of the fbi, youre also a witness to really gross misconduct that may be criminal. So what are you is the i. G. Really saying and i think by the way that he is really saying that if you are a Law Enforcement officer whos a witness to potentially criminal activity, youve got to shut up. Even if youre the fbi director. We played the president s response. I want to put up james comeys tweets responding this morning. He said the ig report found no evidence that comey or his attorneys released any of the classified information contained in any of the memos. I dont need a public apology from those who defamed me. But a quick message with a sorry we lied about you would be nice. And unto all of those who have spent two years talking about me going to jail, ask yourselves why you still trust people who gave you bad info for so long including the president. A lot of people have strong opinions about bill barr. And it is interesting to me that people are saying, oh, look, its george h. W. s bill barr and choosing not to criminally prosecute. Lets set that aside. But no matter what you think of bill barr, the fact that he did not, you know, decide to prosecute, thats not a small deal, right . Well, i think considering what the president had promised and all of those things. Look, i think there was no case here. Right. Thats my point. If he could have at least had an illusion of a case, the theory goes he probably wouldve at least started an investigation. I think that is the Andrew Mccabe situation, right, where there is enough of a factual predicate that maybe you can think about bringing a case, and theyre thinking about bringing a case. Against mccabe. They couldnt find it here. Here theres just no material to work with. You have two classified memos that are never retained. They are left with the fbi. You have some information at the confidential level. A court by the way has recently ruled that those were erroneous classifications except as to one single word. You know its interesting in reading this report is if you didnt know, if you werent familiar with what he wrote in his memos, if you werent familiar with what was happening in the moment in time, it was written in such a way you would think that this, um that these memos were even a bigger deal than they were. I dont know how else to put it. It felt overwritten at times. It was as if he shouldve been criminally prosecuted. I mean, i dont know how else to put it. They wrote it in such a way almost like they were hoping for a more punishable i actually agree with it. But its only the last few its the rhetoric. Its the way its written. The facts dont back it up. This is a 62page report. 52 of these pages are a dry recitation of the facts. Theyre quite fair. Everything you need to know but there was a spin at the end. The last ten pages are kind of chestbeating a howl of rage. And i dont know how to explain that. I dont think the first 52 pages remotely supports the last ten pages. And i think, you know, Inspector General Mike Horowitz may have come to regretting this. It remind me of a former fbi director who announced not to prosecute a former secretary of state and at the same time lectured her. It felt like comey was getting a taste of that medicine, which is, look, theres nothing here, but im going to lecture you loudly so that people dont think im one way or the other. Right. Look, i think there is something to that that, you know, that there is a kind of an anger reflected in this document at comey for having said, hey, were in an extraordinary situation. I just had a set of wildly inappropriate interactions with the president. Im going to make the rules work for me and, you know, which other people will say means bend or break the rules. And i think this is the sort of establishment Justice Department view saying, oh, no, you dont, thats not proper. What i was surprised that he didnt seem to address enough of what do you do when youre in this situation of a sitting president. I mean, i think thats the key. He seemed to punt on that. He says basically comey had other avenues within the chain of command. What are those other avenues youve just been fired as fbi director. You had recused attorney general. Do you go to Rob Rosenstein who just helped fire you who is tweeting piously today about how people should follow the rules strictly. Do you go to rod rosenstein, do you go to the president who is responsible for this activity . And so what are the rules . And so what comey decides to do is i have these memos, im going to give them to my lawyers to help me figure out how to handle it. And im going to give the substance of one of them to the New York Times. And that substance of one of them which he gives through his friend dan richman says the president tried to shut down a major federal investigation. Thats what hes being criticized for. Well, was one of those cases it felt like the report was trying to give something to both sides of something, which is always, again, i think james comey himself found that you try to please everybody youre going to please nobody. And i think mike horwitz probably pleased nobody today. Ben wittes, its good to see you. Thank you. Up ahead weve heard a whole lot about winnowing when it comes to the 2020 field. But we are going to tell you what to really expect in the days ahead. Shut the winnows. Buckle up for some insurance themed fun at Progressive Park children yeah announcer ride the totally realistic traffic jam. Beep, beep, beep, beep children traffic jam announcer and the worlds first never bump bumper cars. Children never bump announcer its a real savings hootenanny with options that fit your budget. Thats fun for the whole family. Announcer only at progressive par. Maybe an insurance park was a bad idea. Yeah. Yep. So, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. The United States Postal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. Welcome back. Tonight in 20 vision, weve been talking about how the democratic president ial field was going to shrink. With four candidates dropping out in the past two weeks, it has. But dont expect it to get much smaller in the immediate future. Everyone who is on the upcoming debate stage automatically qualifies for the next debate stage. Thats because the rules are exactly the same for the september and october debates, same time frame of polls. So candidates have more time now to hit the 2 and four qualifying polls. You dont have to get new one. If you already have three, you only need one more. So the october stage is going to get bigger even as the september stage didnt. Again, tom steyer, one more poll. I think hes going to get it. I am sure there is going to be one more poll. Hawaii congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard needs two more polls. What about the five other candidates . Well, some of them say they dont plan to drop out just yet. I mean, obviously you werent on, but were moving forward. This is not going to stop us at all. I am absolutely stay in the race. The only poll that really matters to me is the iowa caucus. And that does not mean to me okay and going home just because the dnc says to. Not now. Its too early in the process. So if youre patiently waiting for a significantly smaller field next week, dont hold your breath. Probably wont happen until later this fall. Im smelling thanksgiving. Well be back with more mtp daily after this. Every day, visionaries are creating the future. 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The bounce shirt has fewer wrinkles, less static, and more softness and freshness. For extra large or wrinkly loads, toss in three sheets. Dermatologist tested bounce free and gentle is free of dyes and perfumes. Bounce out wrinkles, bounce out static. Welcome back. We dont know if Speaker Pelosi is feeling more pressure on impeachment than she was before Congress Went on recess. But we do more members of her caucus are on board than before Congress Left town. Is that meaningful . Well, were now at 134 House Democrats who support an impeachment inquiry. The number was under 100 before the recess began. Thats not an insignificant increase. Some democrats have definitely been facing questions from their constituents while at home. In favor of an impeachment inquiry. Can you expand on what you said last night . Would you please comment on your position impeachment . The majority of your caucus has now signed off that they would impeach the current resident of the white house. Where do you stand now about joining members of your caucus or are you going to just continue to wait . Betsy, ramesh, and stephanie are back. Stephanie, i will start with you on this one. She doesnt act like she feels more pressure on this front. But i do get the sense that House Democrats when they went back to their constituents felt like they didnt have a good answer for now. Well, i think we need to break down the numbers a little bit because i dont think that people coming out for the inquiry were necessarily against the inquiry before. They were leaving it to nancy pelosi and following her lead on it. And she has been encouraging them to say say whatever you want now. Its not official, but theyre in court, theyre doing research trying to get if they open an official inquiry, theyd be a grand jury and theyd have real power. In fairness. But there is a lot of work to do to build a case beyond not just whats in the Mueller Report but the documents behind the Mueller Report. But more than that. Emoluments, abuses of power. The problem is there is so much out there but does it need to be focused or not . Like, look, i had congressman krishnamoorthi on. There does seem to be one of the things that seems to be moving members is going its all this, and yeah. And we should look at it all. Lets also separate whether or not this was about Building Public support amongst the American Public for impeachment which nancy pelosi thinks is critical because impeachment is a divisive act. It will basically if we start moving on impeachment, it could impede getting other things done, and we are doing it, you know, without a majority of the political will of the people, im not arguing against it. These are just the types of calculations going on. If you want to build a case for impeachment, then i do think you have to expand it beyond mueller. Betsy, some of these democrats have come out it seems like because theyre fearing a primary challenge, right . We know that some of the new york members that delegation suddenly a lot of them found impeachment religion about a month ago, and you wonder how much the joe crawly aoc situation has them. Is there a risk for democrats that they frustrate their base . You havent done anything, you havent done enough, and there is that anger. Of course. And chairman jerry nadler who is overseeing the impeachment inquiry,quote unquote, is facing a really credible primary challenge or whos raised a lot of money very explicitly by making that argument that he wasnt moving fast enough and moving hard enough to make impeachment happen. At the same time part of the reason pelosi is in such a tight spot here is that the districts that democrats represent are so incredibly diverse. So at the same time that you have jerry nadler representing manhattanites on the upper west side, i believe, you have folks like Melissa Slotkin representing honestly red districts that are very suburban, hard to hold onto, and you would have trouble finding a person from nadlers district who would see the same way as just about anyone for Melissa Slotkins district. You know, ramesh, there was a time when the Republican Base would get frustrated, you havent done enough for obama. What is play observer on the other side. You have seen a Republican Base revolt on its own party. So we have already reached this situation where last election threequarters of democratic voters wanted to move forward on impeachment. That is a hard kind of fraction for a party to resist as you were suggesting republicans have shown in the past. The numbers are not going to go down. So if youve got 134 House Democrats, none of them i think is going to flake off and say i dont. His behavior has really convinced he he is fit to be president. There is another point that i think is not maybe adequately getting attention. And that is this. In the fall of 2020 when youve got a democratic president ial candidate whos making the case, presumably, donald trump is corrupt, hes tyrannical, autocratic, unfit, i think that President Trump would be well within his rights to say, look, even your own party doesnt really believe this. If they believed it, theyve got the house, they would have voted to impeach me. They didnt. This is just talk. Respond to that talking point. Im curious its an interesting talking point. I dont disagree. This is the dilemma. Yeah. And the other dilemma is that there are real things out there that need we need to shed light on. And to your point an impeachment inquiry would give more power to be able to do that. There is a lot of work going on. The question is whether or not coming back from recess people feel like they are more empowered to take it to the next level. I wonder the president s own sort of and maybe this is august behavior. I have this theory that when congress is away, he is really more erratic because Congress Keeps him i think fox covers more of whats happening in washington so it keeps the president on message. I dont know what the theory is but when august goes, i wondered how much of an impact that has had on the psychies of some of House Democrats. His behavior going why am i sitting on the fence, my gosh, look at what hes saying today. Encouraging people to give pardons. Its harder and harder to say no to an impeachment inquiry based on that was the argument that i was making earlier on mueller. I am not saying theres not enough. But that has not ignited something amongst a broad base of the american people. These abuses of power, people are shaking their heads, this is not president ial behavior. Betsy, can we step back here a minute and realize how james comey reputation has been totally eviscerated by the president in many ways . Yes, he got on one hand technically got essentially, you know, if hes off the hook here in doing anything wrong. But the way the report was written, you could tell its sort of in the president really is good at this character assassination. And the thing about that report too is that it was very much a rorshak test. Obviously comey was sort of celebrating the fact that hes not getting prosecuted. But it was a tough report on him. And it went after him hard and it made a thorough case that he did something that fbi agents arent supposed to do. But it didnt address the other issue which is what do you do when your boss is potentially the one doing this. That if youre not being prosecuted its total exoneration. And in that case. All right, betsy, ramesh, and stephanie, happy thursday to you. Up ahead, why democrats might be spending their Campaign Cash on the Midnight Train to georgia. R service, every time. Our 18 year old was in an accident. Usaa took care of her car rental, and getting her car towed. All i had to take care of was making sure that my daughter was ok. If i met another veteran, and they were with another insurance company, i would tell them, you need to join usaa because they have better rates, and better service. Were the gomez family. Were the rivera family. Were the kirby family, and we are usaa members for life. Get your Auto Insurance quote today. Struggling to clean tough messes with wipes . Try new mr. Clean magic eraser sheets. Just wet, squeeze and erase icky messes in microwaves and on stovetops for an amazing clean, get the power of mr. Clean magic eraser in new disposable sheets. Quietly running the world. Creating jobs and fueling the economy. Youre Small Business owners, and theres nothing small about your business. 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Its where all the candidates want to be. And its where all the Big Decisions get made. Now that senator Johnny Isakson has announced he is resigning at the end of the year, both republican held senate seats in the state are going to be up for grabs. And georgia is now more electorally competitive than its ever been. So you know what that means, georgia . Welcome, youre now a swing state. Attention, georgia, you are now a swing state. Do you know the signs . You may be experiencing over active phone calls or mails or paper cuts. Congested disorder. Random sampling. Overwhelming weight of Electoral College or loss of hope. These are all symptoms of swing state voter syndrome. This condition can met in one of two ways. Put your hands inu your ears an go lala. Listen to candidates mispronounce your local municipalities. Remember it will all be over in a few months. Until next time. The pain and swelling. The psoriasis. 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Joining me now is our georgia politics expert, gregg blustein. Welcome to the battleground. If you ever complain of having enough politics to cover, you can complain now. That really is and it is hitting us pretty hard now. Well, i think the big question is obvious from 30,000 feet. It is a competitive state. The candidates lining up to run for these democratic nominations dont look like big names yet or certainly dont look like big players yet. It is a lack of familiarity or democrats have a bench problem. There is already three candidates against david purdue. There is going to be a fourth or a fifth in the next few weeks. On the race to replace Johnny Isacson Just Announced hes going to retire at the end of the year, there are dozens of names and lesser known names, this is like a bomb shell e. It is an interesting decision you have to make. If you win you have to hurry up and run again in two years. On the republican side of the isle, is that how Governor Kemp is looking at this. He got to find somebody that does not hold the seat, hes got to find somebody that has the chops to do this twice. You got it. This is the most political decision Governor Kemp has made and will make for his first term. Whoever he picks on the ballot President Trump and senator purdue next year and if they win will be on the battle with him in 2022. He has a chance to select his own running mate. We are gehear thaing that the ay general is the washington his wife is the current top aide. Governor kemp is going to look at a small galaxy of republican figures from elected officials like chris carr from outside the box. He has some time, t too to makes decision. He may not pick outsider candidates but he got a lot of options. Lets talk stacey abrams. She took herself out. Is there a point though where shes so disappointing georgia democrats that shes going to hurt her own political in the park or shes too much of a rock star to do that. Down here in georgia. Every democrat realizes and accepts that she wants a rematch with Governor Kemp in 2022. If shes on the vp short list or vp nominee, shes perfectly fine with that. Everyone down here kind of figures there will be a rematch if shes not a Vice President nominee. There will be recruiting efforts for her but i dont think shes going to change her mind. Does she play a role in recruiting or see herself as a de facto leader in the party. If shes not going to run, is she going to basically play the king maker here . I think thats a firm point to make because shes staying neutral in the david purdue race. I am expecting her to stay publicly neutral in the other senate race. Shes the most prominent georgia democrats and shes basically the queen maker of Democratic Politics around here. So, we have made a big deal saying georgia is a swing state and there is so much action going down for the two parties not to ignore. Give me our reality right now. Is it definitely a swing state or is this still or democrats still have a way to go . Republicans still nominadomi politics. They still have president ial contests since 1996, republicans have history on their side. Democrats have to look at the narrowing margins. David purdue won senate race by eight points in 2016. Donald trump won five points. Brian kemp won by 1. 5 point laslast points last year. Bluestein, i have a feeling that you will be a more familiar face. Good to see you, sir. Thats all we got for tonight. Well be back tomorrow with more meet the press, eamon is here. Whats going on brother . My friend, have a good one. Hello everyone, i am in for ari melber. Donald trump rattled the economy and democrats calling for new investigations over his part. Trumps doj under cut his claims about jamies comey. Well get to that. The two areas thats most damaging to trumps political fate. Politico reporting growing number of republicans are anxious of the trump economy and starting to feel