Care. The 11th hour on a busy tuesday night begins now. Lot to talk about. Our friends are all here. Good evening once again from our nbc news headquarters in new york. Weve never seen a day quite like day 278 of Trump Administration. As one republican who has advised several past president s put it in the the Washington Post tonight, this is the ice beginning to crack. Crack, you might have heard, late today east coast time was Arizona Republican jeff flake on the senate floor announcing he will not run for reelection. And in the process calling out the president , what he stands for, and whats become of his Republican Party. We must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics and the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. They are not normal. Reckless, outrageous, and undignified behavior has become excused and countenanced as telling it like it is, when it is actually just reckless, outrageous, and undignified. And when such behavior emanates from the top of our government, it is something else. It is dangerous to a democracy. I have children and grandchildren to answer to, and so, mr. President , i will not be complicit or silent. I have decided that i would be better able to represent the people of arizona and to better serve my country and my conscience by freeing myself of the political consideration that consumed far too much bandwidth and would cause me to compromise far too many principles. Senator flake was even more blunt in an oped in the the Washington Post tonight. The headline simply reads, enough. He writes, how many more disgraceful public feuds with gold star families can we witness in silence before we ourselves are disgraced . How many more times will we see moral ambiguity in the face of shocking bigotry and shrug it off . How many more childish insults do we need to see hurled at a hostile foreign power before we acknowledge the senseless danger of it . A source close to former white house chief strategist and Current Trump ally steve bannon says his reaction to flakes retirement announcement was, quote, another day, another scalp. Reaction at the white house was a bit more understated. I havent spoken with him directly since the announcement by senator flake, but i think that based on previous statements and certainly based on the lack of support that he has from the people of arizona, its probably a good move. Making today even more extraordinary, flake was not the first senator from trumps own party to criticize him. Senator bob corker was also not running for reelection has been engaged in this back and forth with the president for the better part of two months now. Today he said trump is debasing our nation. In the campaign, at the beginning of the administration you supported the president. Do you regret that now . Well, what do you think . Look, i think people look, i think there were many people, i was one of those, that hoped that, you know, he would rise to the occasion as president and aspire to lead our nation instead of dividing it. And, you know, its obvious his, his political model and governing model is to divide. You know, its a sad place from my perspective for a nation, and i think the worst of it is going to be just the whole debasing, if you will, of our nation. I think that will be the contribution that hurts our nation most. Do you think the president is debasing the nation . I dont think there is any question, but thats the case just in the way that he conducts himself and goes to such a low level, just, i do. The Associated Press reports this about senators flake and corker tonight. Quote, away from the cameras, trump took credit for helping force the two departures. According to a white house official and an outside advisor who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations. Here is how the white house is publicly responding to the indictments from both of these senators. We have two republican senators now just today senators corker and flake, calling the president s behavior unacceptable and dangerous, saying that he regularly tells untruths. Senator flake just called on his fellow republicans to end what he called complicity and accommodation. What is the white houses response coming from two republican senators . I think that we support the American People on this one. I think that the people both in tennessee and arizona supported this president. And i dont think that their numbers are in the favor of either of those two senators in their states. And so i think this is probably the right decision. When he gets hit, hes going to hit back and i think senator corker knows that and hes maybe trying to get a headline or two on his way out the door. Because the secret to life is timing, all of this came on the day of the gop unity lunch on capitol hill. Just as the president was under attack from two sitting senators, three if you include john mccains comments this week, quoting the post again, quote, at the closed door lunch trump received a standing ovation from republican senators. Yet for months many of these lawmakers privately have seethed at the president s acs and language as flake and corker did publicly and concluding that trump is an unstable presence in an american political life. How is that for a quote . Our lead off panel with us tonight, philip rucker, White House Bureau chief for the Washington Post who coauthored the piece we just quoted from. Heidi, White House Reporter for usa today. And eli, White House Reporter for the wall street journal, all three were happy to say nbc political analysts. Well, phil, where does this rank in the 278 days weve been at this . Where will this day go down in the history of the Trump Administration in your view . Well, it was an extraordinary day in washington, and this will be one of historys moments that we remember from this trump era because senator flake did not just attack the president in sort of the tit for tat were used to in political campaigns. This was a searing indictment of the president s character, of his fitness for office, of his temperament. This was not a policy disagreement. It was not a personal feud. It was much bigger than that. What flake delivered from the floor of the senate even though hes a republican i think is the most sweeping indictment weve heard from any public official in this country, democrats included, through these first nine months of the trump presidency. It was a big moment. Eli, same question. Was this another way of putting it, was this a thing or was this a tuesday in the Trump Administration . I think, you know, im not sure yet. But i think my hunch is its more likely to shape up as just having been a tuesday. This president is always fighting with the Mainstream Media and with Establishment Republicans increasingly, and so the country is used to it. I think those of us who listen carefully to what senators flake and corker said today have to take that seriously, and history will probably remember this day. But as far as how it impacts average people going about their lives, its just sort of part of the din of noise and acrimony that always surrounds this white house. And, you know, people know this about donald trump, that he fights back as Sarah Huckabee sanders said. And yes, this may imperil his legislative agenda, but that agenda they already havent done anything. The tax reform is a question. Some people in the white house put it at less than 50 if theyre talking privately about that actually getting done. And i think a lot of intelligent observers of this white house have noticed that what animates trump is the small stuff. Thats the big stuff to him, the nfl feud, these sorts of fights. It galvanizes his supporters. Its enough for them that hes just there aggravating the people that they dont like. Whether thats enough for republicans to get reelected, if they dont pass anything, remains to be seen next year. But for donald trump and his base, which is still there with him, this seems to be enough. And thats the biggest reason why so far none of the republicans save for those who are hanging it up, have spoken out like this. Thats critical. Heidi, over at the pentagon when they talk about aircraft with defense measures, they sometimes mean aircraft that can fire flares out to their sides and behind them to confuse incoming missiles. That said, we saw you at the briefing there today. What do you make of the white houses defense measures these days . Well, the whole briefing was really dominated by just a back and forth of the president s false statements that he makes and putting Sarah Sanders on the spot. But the one thing that she said was definitely true today, which is that this was a win for the president because if you look at who might replace these senators, for example in tennessee, and now in arizona, they are people who are pledging allegiance to the president. And what is really striking, brian, is that there does not seem to be any kind of guiding ideology that drives these people who are being recruited, these bannonites other than total loyalty to the president. These are some people who like Marcia Blackburn in tennessee who had been kind of Establishment Republicans, and yet are now kind of being coopted into this bannon wing of the party. So, i think they were right. She was right to say that this is a victory for the president. In some ways its a reflection of the support in this party for his brand of conservatism versus this dying breed that is kind of in a death rattle right now. I think the question is how many republicans follow suit. I kind of disagree that this is actually a breaking of the ice if youre talking about the senate being the ice block because you saw in the same day the standing ovation for trump. I think a lot of these senators smell the scent of tax cuts. Youre not going to see a Mass Movement until and unless that experiment is completed, which probably wont happen until the end of this year, early next year. Wow. So, philip, heidi just used the words dying breed. Heres senator flake, a committed conservative. I dont know anyone who would disagree with that. A big red r from a big red state out west. And this was the stuff of moment for him and those who believe the way he does. But then we hear bannon calls it a scalp. Then we hear trump sees it as a victory. Is this the way were going on these two tracks until otherwise noted . I think it might be. And the reason for that is if you look at what the three senators, republican senators who have come out against trump have in common, john mccain, jeff flake of arizona, and corker of tennessee, they all three have nothing to lose. Mccain is not up for reelection for another five years from now. Hes battling a critical illness. He may not face reelection. Corker and flake are not running for reelection. They really have nothing to lose right now. They feel like they can speak their minds, speak their conscience and lead their party. But it is unclear whether there are any other senators in that republican conference who are going to be willing to follow them and to speak up publicly the way they have. Eli, you talked about the math. The math is really going to become important no matter what the Administration Measure is. We know the advantage they have over democrats in the chamber, but, you know, look at flake. Look at corker. Look at john mccain. And others who have been angry with this administration. Theyre going to need all those numbers, or democratic cross overs which are going to become less likely. Right. The biggest driving force that might get something to the finish line to the president s desk is just this political desperation that republicans feel to pass something. It may not be tax reform, it may just be some sort of tax cut. Some nongorsuch measure before the end of 2017. Well see how that plays out. But the politics of this are very interesting for republicans. I talked to some socalled establishment conservatives who watched this trump thing play out. Theyre not huge fans of donald trump, well just say. And they were really emboldened and excited to hear corker and flake early on today, but that gave way very quickly to this disturbing recognition that these people are leaving. And that there arent people at this point willing to say these things and stay in the fight. They look at this party and they see bannon and the trumpstyled candidates, those sorts of people filling this growing vacuum, and the old Republican Party, the gop, you know, that may be a thing of the past. Heidi, about the party, do you see this i heard a lot of commentary today that this party is splitting in half. I think that we are not going to see this happen. I think it will happen, but i think were not going to see it happen until the tax cut experiment is completed. And then i think youre definitely going to see bannon fulfill his promise of recruiting candidates to try and take out not only additional senators like jeff flake, but also the leadership. I mean, he has people like roy moore say publicly that it is going to be their goal to take out senator Mitch Mcconnell when they get there. So, i think that he is claiming victory, whether that is appropriate or not in terms of his role of these, quoteunquote, scalpings. Hes nevertheless using it to build momentum to create fear within the chamber. And, yes, to, you know, put up a bunch of primary challenges, particularly if they dont get tax cuts done because somebody is going to take the fall and its going to be the Establishment Republicans, not his boy in the white house, trump. So, philip, last word, will it be like the tea party in that a lot of people, newcomers to washington, will come to town wanting to burn the house down . I think so. And its interesting you mention the tea party because that was seven years ago. Yeah. Weve now gone on for almost a decade where the Republican Party has been at war with itself, this divide in the party. Right now the antiestablishment forces are under the banner of trumpism, but before trump came along, there was the tea party. And i think this dynamic is going to continue for several years into the future. Jeff flake was the Tea Party Guy before the tea party was even a thing. And now thats right. In less than a decade, hes a rhino. You see this partys shift to the right. Trump may be, as weve talked about, he may be driving the train. He may be just a passenger on this train. But thats where the party is going. And flake and corker are the casualties. Hardly have time to get programs printed up in this world. Thank you for making our lead off. Coming up as we approach our first break, more on the president s fight with a respective republican senator, the other one, that is, retiring senator bob corker, went out of his way today to talk about the president in front of just about every camera crew he encountered. That and much more as the 11th hour continues on another busy tuesday night. Ah, dinner. Throughout history, the one meal when we come together, break bread, share our day and connect as a family. [ bloop, clicking ] and connect, as a family. Just, uh one second voice guy. [ bloop ] huh . Hey . I paused it. Bam, family time. So how is everyone . Find your awesome with xfinity xfi and change the way you wifi. I think at the end of the day when his term is over, i think the debasing of our nation, the constant nontruth telling, just the name calling, the things i think debasement of our nation is what hell be remembered most for and thats regretful. You know, you would think he would aspire to be the president of the United States and act like a president of the United States. But, you know, thats just not going to be the case apparently. The good news from today may have been that the president did not attack a gold star widow. He did attack a fellow republican and the chairman of the Senate Foreign relations committee, bob corker of tennessee. President trump woke up this morning, grabbed his phone, and called corker incompetent, a lightweight and saying he couldnt even manage to get elected dogcatcher. Carker returned the favor accusing corker of the same untruths from an utterly untruthful president. Alert the day care staff. Political report, the state of play this way. Senate republicans would prefer that the ongoing corkertrump spat fade away, particularly as they barrel into an ambitious tax reform push that they want to complete by years end. Influential gop senators say succeeding on a tax overhaul is paramount, particularly with the collapse of Obamacare Repeal efforts earlier in trumps first year in office. But can you imagine corker and trump at that same lunch today . Well hear more from mike murphy, republican strategist worked for john mccains first cam in 2000 among others. And robert costa, National Post political reporter moderator of Washington Week on pbs and an msnbc political analyst. Mike, id like to start with you. What happened to your party today . And do you believe your party is cleaving in two . Well, ill tell you, nothing is a stronger truth serum than politics than not facing a primary. So you had both corker now, who is retiring, and jeff flake kind of smashed the chains. And theyre speaking with a lot of candor and both these guys are conservatives, too. These are not moderate conservative fight. It is about the president s character. What makes this particularly important, i think, is that they are saying in public what most republican senators are saying in private. So these are not rare opinions here. The question is will this hairline crack start to grow inside the party, particularly as we face a year from now, what could be pretty tough midterm elections. Thats the question, mike. Are you looking for incumbents who dont plan to leave the senate . Are you looking for profiles and courage to lineup behind these guys . Well, ive been in politics