encouraged. >> we'll see. more tough talk on the world stage already in a stare down with north korea. team trump lashing out at iran. >> the trump administration has no intention of passing the buck to a future administration on iran. the evidence is clear iran's provocative actions threaten the united states, the region, and the world. >> and coming close in another special election bears a giant democratic dilemma. yes, the base is full of anti-trump energy, but no, there's not much to show for it. >> the democrats went all in on this race. they spent over $8.3 million. they said on the record their goal towas to win this race. they lost. the reaction has been what been that they almost won. no. they lost. they spent $8.3 million and

threw everything including the kitchen sink at it and lost. >> not quite the kitchen sink but the man has the point. margaret, peter baker of the "new york times," ma "new york times," michael share of the "new york times." the president in a meeting with the owners of american steel companies, the president signing an executive memo directing the commerce department toto a study, are steel imports hurting national security? we begin with word of progress that some believe a possible breakthrough. in efforts to find enough votes among house republicans for another try at repealing and replacing obamacare. the embarrassing collapse of that first effort is a major failure on president trump's 100 day report card and he has been pushing and pushing for a do over. >> we're on time if we get that health care approval, so press every one of your congressmen. press everybody. because we want to get that

approval. >> while congress is at home for a two week easter recess, a breakthrough, really? >> there are signs of a potential breakthrough, john. what we know right now is that leaders of the tuesday group and the house freedom caucus, they have been communicating over the easter recess and sources are telling us that they are trying to reach a deal that could bring on board some 18 to 20 newhou he freedom caucus members, members who could be a yes. i do want to point out there are obstacles to being a vote next week. the house will be focused on funning the government so it is unclear how much political capital republican members are going to want to spend on the issue of health care next week. there are also fundamental divides still on policy when it comes to health care within the house. for example some conservatives are not going to want to vote

for anything less than a full repeal of obamacare and then there are the moderates who want to make sure that some of the protections that near obamacare are preserved. now, all of this coming as a 100 day mark is approaching for president trump. i can tell you the white house would like nothing more than to get something done on health care before that point in time. we'll see if the deal actually is a real one. >> m.j. lee tracking the moving parts. let's bring it inside the room. the president keeps saying do this and do it now. there are a lot on capitol hill saying remember the first time t didn't go so well. let's double check everything. is it your sense that conservatives are willing to actually sign on to something this time or are we going to have a repeat of what we had last time where the president made concessions to the freedom caucus. they said we want more. he made concessions. they said we want more. they were about to schedule the vote and lucy pulled away the

football. >> from what i've learned is lessons were learned. bringing those folks into the fold is part of the process. the question remains, you still have to, like, thread this tiny, tiny needle and you have to bring in all these things that can be done through reconciliation and perhaps get past the senate. so it's a really tricky process and i do think it's an open question whether freedom caucus members who want really in their hearts full repeal will be on board. >> and tricky enough is this was the only thing on the agenda next week. the funding questions really are huge and there are int interconnections. the question is whether they're going to fund the subsidies that are part of obamacare. if they decide not to it could collapse the entire marketplace in quick order. the question of whether or not

the government remains open is in some members minds a much bigger and a more imminent question than whether or not you make some sort of progress on health care. >> paul ryan, majority leader mitch mcconnell, you're thinking we told them we'll give you awe republican president, we will govern. if you have a government sh shutdown, that's been a big stain. you would have assumed they would have been ready once they had a republican president, but they weren't. they weren't ready in the house to mitigate the dfrifferences between the conservatives and the moderates. they also aren't ready for a president to say this is open for negotiation and then keep extending the process. >> so when you look at that 100 day mark, you really see how much the white house is driving this idea of can we push this vote to happen again next week. and as for making call this is morning, a lot of the members in the interest groups are, like, what? they know it's kind of out there

but they're not really sure what it is or is there really support for it. fundamentally there is still this question which i know the president would like to have something big on the board, something else big on the board to mark the first 100 days. but there's still the central question that's divided the respect party and kind of those obamacare protections that the president himself was explicit during the campaign that he was committed to his base to maintain that support. the answer to that question has implications well beyond the first 100 days. >> they're not going to get a final day before the first 100 days. if they move this to the right to the freedom caucus votes that they need to pass the house, there's no way they'll get the same bill back from the senate. we'll go through this weeks and months while trying to keep the government open then move on to tax form. a rough start. dr. gupta it a conversation with

tom price. listen as tom price describes what he views as the benefits and the comp pro mieromises and version that collapsed a couple weeks ago. >> i believe firmly that the bill that has been discussed and that was put before congress is a significantly better program than the one that we currently have. >> but you want the best. you've been at this. why would you settle for significantly better? didn't you want the best possible bill after seven years of saying you're going to repeal and replace obamacare? we want to put the best thing forward possible. >> the process that we have is not what secretary price thinks it ought to be. the legislation. it's what 535 individuals in the congress and the president believes is the most appropriate thing and the best thing moving forward. >> it's that last part that's so telling to me in the sense that, you know, the plan the president signed off on that then collapsed and couldn't get the votes is not even close to what his own health secretary wanted to do when he was still in the house of representatives and it's very telling there. he's essentially saying that this thing's moved far away from

what i want to do. >> that's right. political reality has reared its head. they're not negotiating with democrats. they're negotiating with each other. republicans are goenegotiating h republicans. if you have to get all the votes in order to pass it without democratic votes, you're going to make tradeoffs that will be difficult in the senate. and will be difficult to president trump's campaign promises in which everybody gets to keep health care. tom price can't be happy about that, but obviously they're looking to make a win because right now it's all about scoring something for the 100 day chart. >> the president's at an event today. he's signed a number of executive action. in this case he's asking for 90 days, the customer department to have a study. if they come back with the answer yes, are they hurting national security, then what do dow about it? >> there's no question the administration, we sometimes gloss over the regulatory, the executive, administration steps. no question they've taken steps. he does not have one major

legislative victory. listen to mike pence here who says we're off, we're running, all is good. >> i couldn't be more proud to be a part of an administration that hit the ground running on day one. driving forward to repeal and replace obamacare. and putting together a team and a cabinet that i think has inspired and given confidence to people around the country and frankly around the world. i think at the 100 day marker i think the american people will conclude what i've concluded and that is that president donald trump is off to a great start, but the best is yet to come. >> if you look at the numbers, we'll talk more about the politics later, but if you look at the numbers, his approval rating is down. you want a loyal vice president. and kudos to mike pence for doing his job supporting the president, but can they really

make that case? >> mike pence is in asia on kind of a second cleanup tour after going to talk to the western allies in that munich conference. now in asia talking no indiana d -- indonesia. mike pence is in a really difficult job of trying to translate the campaign rhetoric both foreign policy and domestic violence into governing rhetoric ahead of president trump's own travel. around the world later this year. and in many ways he's trying to do the same thing in terms of kind of translating those campaign messages into something that congress can actually work with. it is a real challenge and he is the team player. >> but can i just argue, i do think that, you know, there's been a lot of fizzles and false starts and things that haven't gone well in the first 100 days, but you can also say that the trump administration has been begun laying the groundwork for a lot of potential changes. maybe these reviews kind of

fizzle and get put on a shelf and don't end up doing real things, or you could see actual substantive changes in trade policy. you've already seen a little bit of that with the tpp. visas, immigration. so i think -- >> to that point, again, some voters don't like this, pu the president promised in the campaign more aggressive immigration enforcement. i guess my question is then why are they so -- it's largely a media thing, but they have bought into this 100 day thing. the trump white house has bought into. as opposed to making your point that look, we're new at this, we're trying to change this town, we're making a lot of down payments, we don't get the return until down the road. they're not making that case as much as we've gotten more done than anybody. >> that's fund mentally not a trump case. but i think it's important that i lived through the primary when

i was critical of trump on the right. the voters don't care about those inconsistencies and some of the things that town cares about as much as we do. >> so for health care it might knock other things off the tracks. >> again, his numbers have always been down. they were down when he won. so he's dealing with this part too. but people look around and go well, i sort of settled for the fact that he was not conventional and that what was i wanted. if he's still breaking dishes and doing things differently they look at that and go all right. certainly going for another health care vote is different. i don't know if it will be successful, but i do think that is more people read it than the way we read it. >> on day one, i'm going to do this, this. of course, any season politician knows you can't do a lot of these things on day one. you don't have the power. so momentum matters to him. but it is not really necessarily a bar ometer.

look at bill clinton. you would not have predicted how it played out based on the first 100 days. it was messy but he got better. we should be careful about overreading. >> i remember those days very. it's an excellent point. that's why i think the second 100 days is critical. but they have bought into this. everyone sit tight. the president's weekend in florida for a hot topic at congressional town halls. remember that judge candidate who said he was biased because of his mexican root. that judge just designed a case with major implications for the white house. i have spent years taking over-the-counter products

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. welcome back. federal judge curiel became a household name in last year's

campaign when then candidate donald trump said curiel was unfit to hear a fraud lawsuit against trump university. now judge kucuriel has been assigned another case with big implications. an undoumcumented man who said was deported despite the dream -- when candidate trump attacked judge curiel, his reasons of more than a little suspect. trump was proposing a wall on the u.s. mexican border and judge curiel is of mexican descent. >> if you are saying he can't do his job because of his race, is that not the definition of racism? >> no, i don't think so at all. >> no? >> no. he's proud of his heritage. i respect him for that. >> you're saying he can't do his job because of it. >> he's proud of his heritage. i'm building a wall. i think i'm going to do well

with hispanics because i'm going to bring back jobs. but we're building a wall. he's a mexican. >> judge curiel, of course, is an american. born in indiana. that's in the middle america. cnn jeff zeleny is at the white house with more on this new twist. a coincidence, but wow. >> i mean, who would have thought this going back to a year or so when candidate trump did that interview with jake out in california before the california primary, but john, this is something the white house at least this morning is not commenting on yet. the president of course at some point will be asked about this, but look, mr. trump really assailed this judge calling him a hater, calling him a mexican. as you said, he was born in indiana. yes, he has mexican hair taerit. the implications of this case very important. the president has not necessarily lived up to some of his campaign promises.

he has said i have a heart. he's not going to be deporting people. but this case, certainly the fact that this judge is assigned to it, will draw so much more attention to it. so watch for the president or the white house to make more comments on the substance of this as well as of course what he thinks of this judge, john. >> i suspect it would be wise to the president to say nothing about this case. since he is the president and since it involves administration policy. i don't know if will be taken. jeff, thanks. i want to talk about the mood out in the country. we see from these town halls. they say this is routine. the federal court have a rotational system. who's next on the list. up comes judge curiel. is this play the bowpower ball ? >> if you offend a lot of people it's possible you'll come back across some of them. >> the facts are in dispute in this case.

curious how it plays out. a lot the republicans were mad at him and they got asked about it. that's not coming up out of town halls. this is iowa. jo joanie the saern theenator welly support of the president, but listen to this. >> i think we have a president that has a number of flaws. i would say i support more of those policies. i do wish that he would spend more time in washington, d.c. that's what we have the white house for. we would love to see more of those state department visits in washington, d.c. >> meaningless mar-a-lago, more d.c. but that is interesting. iowa is one of those purple states. swings back and forth. she's being smart and being safe. but she's also been pretty good to the trump administration. what does it tell you that she's trying to vel ttell the voters, most of the policies, but the

person, i'll back up. >> that's part of the new reality. that's what i sort of liked about the way speaker ryan handled his relationship. he was sort of like we're not going to solve all these problems. this isn't going to look like the perfect merging because there are real ideological problems and there are issues that someone like a joanie ernst is going to have. i'm sure some of her constituents do as well. she's probably hearing that. she wants to make sheclear i'm still on the side of shaking up washington. it's a tough line to walk and some republicans are going to openly walk it. >> they're going to more walk away, create a little separation. the approval rating at 39%. if you look at where that stands from other presidents, he's way down. even from a bill clinton, i always compare george w. bush to bill clinton. so donald trump also can't come

out of a tumultuous year. to be fair to president trump, he hasn't dropped. he's been sort of stuck there. if you're a respect, especially in a state that can swing back and forth, the president's at 40%, you're going to back up a little bit. >> i also think that watching a politician like that is a good barometer for trying to figure out how much real power is in some of these town hall meetings and the sort of -- is the democratic party really as energized as the detective would have you believe. is there real power that will translate in the midterm elections. the fact that politicians like ernst is paying attention. >> she think its's organic and real. >> also remember that number of 39% or 40% approval rating, if you break it down, you look at republicans, republicans support trump overwhelmingly. he's got very strong support. 80% or more among republicans.

there's a risk of putting too much distance, because in fact their supporters are his supporters in a lot of cases. he's lost independents or never had them to begin with and that's where ernst is attacking. >> creating some zans distance state that's gone either way. >> he should keep his promise. that's about the president releasing his taxes. you find an issue or like mar-a-lago, taxes there, this is how a veteran republican critical strategist put it this way in an interview. in 2010 did democrats had not been drinking kool-aid and actually called him out they would have had a better chance of surviving the onslaught. he's saying you're going to be on the ballot in 2018. be smart and find an opportunity

to tell yourself so you can tell others i'm not vel co. >> i think it's a little too soon to say these are individual lawmakers. who are just speaking on principle and don't really care what the rep percussions are or whether it's a much brighter trend. i know when you cover politics, you can be infuin infuriated by listening to poll kiiticians wh never saw what they think. >> listen to lindsey graham right here on fox and friends who says what he thinks. he's a happy man. >> i am like the happiest dude in america right now. we've got a president and a national security team that i've been dreaming of for eight years. >> some republicans want distance. lindsey graham is happy. everybody sit tight. up next the administration says iran is complying with a nuclear deal and then compares iran

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ray's always been different. last year, he said he was going to dig a hole to china. at&t is working with farmers to improve irrigation techniques. remote moisture sensors use a reliable network to tell them when and where to water. so that farmers like ray can compete in big ways. china. oh ... he got there. that's the power of and. . standing by to see the president of the united states, he has just signed an executive action trying to protect the u.s. steel industry. in the meantime the trump state

department yesterday certified that iran is complying with terms of the deal negotiated by the obama administration designed to put restraints on its nuclear program. and then after saying iran was in compliance, this. >> this deal represents the same failed approach of the past that brought us to the current imminent threat we face from north korea. iran's nuclear ambitions are a grave risk to international peace and security. >> now, that's hardly the first mixed signal on a big foreign policy question. can assad stay or must he go? a carrier group is storming toward north korea. actually, no. >> i think they have a big credibility problem. they obviously had no idea where was this aircraft carrier was going or did know and lied bt fact th -- about the fact that it was heading to north korea. if you're an ally of the united

states, you're just wondering what's going on inside of this administration. and if you're north korea f you're president kim, you're wondering who are you dealing with here? >> iran is a little different than the other ones. whether assad comes or goes is a definite disagreement and definite mixed signals. the iran thing is similar. congress requires you to certify are they complying with the deal or not. the evidence does not show that i near violation of the deal, so they had to send that in. that's not the language that they wanted to be the headline. they didn't want the thing to be trump finds them in compliance. they want to find that trump is tough on iran. just because he's in compliance doesn't mean we're giving up with the tough stance on iran. there's not as inconsistent as some of the other ones. >> the question is do they follow through. if you go back to the campaign, that was another one on day one i'm going to rip up the iran

nuclear deal. >> sometimes said renegotiate and sometimes said rip up. he was all over the map. >> the idea for them seems to be, and by the way, this process seemed to take a normal track through the administration with a little bit of a turf battle and some inviting, but lext tillerson coming out -- but they want to say look, i know you're enjoying your carrot, but we still have this stick and the idea for many voters was that obama was not referencing that stick in any way, shape, or form and they like this more. and they like the idea that perhaps it's not pushing us immediately into ripping up and changing the game entirely. >> what i think is not clear yet is whether this is just some rhetorical red meat for the base that needed to hear this because the visual of tillerson certifying they're in compliance runs counter to the original rhetoric or whether they're trying to signal to allies we understand it's complicated but we still may want to reserve the

right to pull out of this. i think there's a re die cot me in terms of trump's national security foreign policy in that his team is quite respected, the whole group. and yet there are mixed signals on policy that allies at this 100 day mark still really don't know how to read and who speaks for the president. >> and to that point, that's why li lindsey graham was so happy. when something like this happens, those who want more aggressive action say good start, now create more fly zones, create safe zones toch. to your point, they certify iran. senator marco rubio says you're going to take your time but i hope you're still going to get out of this deal. >> i hope they are. thaet what they said on the campaign. it takes time to get to the proper position. but ultimately everything i -- i expect the president to do everything he said on the

campaign and this is one of them. >> or do you as often happens and we've seen candidate trump has become more establishment on foreign policy as president trump, do you say i don't like it, but i inherited it and as long as they stay within the lines, wee goi're going to do t other things, but in the terms of this deal, we're going to watch it like a hawk but we're not going to change it? >> part of the problem is we've already given iran a lot of benefits of this deal up front. what are we going to do if they -- basically european will be saying fine, do what you want, but we'll still be doing business with companies like exxonmobil potentially. there's a real disincentive to throwing it out all together. the point is to provoke iran to -- whether they get out of this deal or do other sanctions. >> part of diplomacy and part of

partnership at home is about tone and emphasis. you could end up seeing in the end a policy approach that basically tracks where the obama people were keeping the deal in place but emphasizing the other bad things that iran is doing. but just really emphasizing those other bad things in a that obama wasn't perceived as being very aggressive. >> and those who have been in diplomacy for 20 or 30 years, they like, you know, what's the predictable strategy here. trump likes that in pyongyang and in teheran they are wondering what are these guys up to. >> when they said they don't know who they're dealing with and many americans go great. that's a difference in perception between washington and the folks out in america. >> folks out in america? >> sorry. i knew i was going to do that at some point. >> back to where we start d, was it a bluff? did they not know? was it a miscommunication when they said the u.s. carl vinson

carrier group was on its way to north korea and it turns out it's actually headed in the opposite directions with some exercises with australia? >> it's going to get there eventually. what are you in a rush for? >> it's now become an issue in the korean presidential election where they're saying wait, don't lie to us. >> president trump obviously does like to be unpredictable. there's clearly an obvious argument that that's an advantage to keep your enemies off balance. on the other hand, your allies or partners like predict ability. the chinese knew where our boats were. they say why don't they know where their boats are. what's the game. it made it simple as a miscommunication. it raises certain basic questions of competence in the eyes of people like china and south carry. >> publicly we're sanding an armada. those are the terms he used. the president of the united states just had a meeting at the white house with heads of steel companies. we have the tape ready to play

yet? >> we appreciate everybody for being here. a day for american steel. most importantly for american steelworkers. thanks especially to secretary wilbur ross for helping to lead this critical effort. we've been working on it since i came to office and long before i came to office. we're going to fight for american workers and american-made steel. and that's beginning immediately. for decades, america has lost our jobs and our factories to unfair foreign trade. and one steel mill after another has been shut down, abandoned and closed, and we're going to reverse that. other countries have made a living taking advantge of the united states in so many ways as you know. i've been talking about that for a long time. as i travel the country, i saw the shuttered factories and the shuttered dreams and i pledged

that i would take action. i think it's probably one of the primary reasons i'm sitting here today as president. and since the day i entered office, i have followed through on that pledge big league beginning with our withdrawal from the trans pacific partnership which would have been a catastrophe for our businesses and workers. i'm very proud of that withdrawal. some people say oh, gee, i wish you didn't do that. but the smart people say thank you, thank you, thank you. that would have been another nafta disaster and nafta, believe me, was a disaster and continues to be a disaster for our country. on tuesday i signed an order to enforce the buy american laws and stop foreign countries from stealing contracts from american companies and essentially from american workers. today i'm directing the department of commerce to immediately prioritize the investigation it began yesterday and really long before that because wilbur and i have been working on this for a long time.

into foreign steel arriving into our markets. and to submit a report on the effects of these foreign steel products on the national security of the united states. it's not just the pricing. it's not just deployment. it also has to do with the national security of our country which people never talk about. i talk about it. maintaining the production of american steel is extremely important to our national security and our defense industrial base. steel is critical to both our economy and our military. this is not an area where we can afford to become dependent on foreign countries. we have product where we actually need foreign countries to be nice to us in order to fight for our people and that's not going to happen any longer, believe me. especially as it comes to steel. this investigation will look at how steel imports are impacting

united states national security, taking into account foreign practices such as steel dumping, dumping is a tremendous problem in this country. they're dumping vast amounts of steel in our country and they're really hurting. not only our country, but our companies. they're targeting of american industry and other foreign strategies designed to undermine american industry as a whole. based on the findings of this report, secretary wilbur ross will make formal recommendations to the white house in a very, very near future. you'll be back very soon with those recommendations that we will implement. from now on we're going to stand up for american jobs, workers, their security, and for american steel companies and companies generally. today's action is the next vital step toward making america strong and prosperous once again.

and i want to just add i wasn't going to do this, but i was in wisconsin the other day. i want to end and add by saying that canada, what they've done to our dairy farm workers, is a disgrace. it's a disgrace. i spent time with some of the farmers in wisconsin and as you know, rules, regulations, different things have changed and our farmers in wisconsin and new york state are being put out of business, our dairy farmers. and that also includes what's happening along our northern border states with canada having to do with lumber and timber. the fact is nafta, whether it's mexico or canada, is a disaster for our country. it's a disaster. it's a trading disaster. and we'll be reporting back sometime over the next two weeks as to nafta and what we're going to do about it.

but what happened to our dairy farmers in wisconsin and new york state, we're not going to let it happen. we can't let canada or anybody else take advantage and do what they do to our workers and to our farmers. and again, i want to also just mention included in there is lumber, timber and energy. so we're going to have to get to the negotiating table with canada very, very quickly. again, just to tell you, this is another nafta disaster and we're not going to let it continue onward. i think what i'd like to do is ask a few of the people if they'd like to -- these are some of the great steel companies of our country. now, some of those companies were much bigger years ago. u.s. steel would be an example and others would be examples, but they were much better -- these were the greatest companies in the world years ago. and today they have been hurt, but they'll be great again and they'll be great i think very soon. we're going to impose very, very

strict regulations on unfair competition from the outside world. perhaps i could ask the head of the united states steel to say a few words. >> an honor, mr. president, mr. secretary. i think the signing of this executive order clearly demonstrates your understanding of the importance our industry has. >> you're watching a tape. the president signed an executive action on whether unfair steel imports are undermining the u.s. steel industry and undermining u.s. national security. let's bring the conversation back to the room as the rest of the tape rolls. interesting because this issue, trade, upfanfair trading practi i didn't hear him say china. during his campaign he did. he's trying to gloss over specific differences because he needs their help in the north korean situation, but this is a trademark trump issue,

especially when you think of wisconsin, michigan, yes. but i would argue the trade issue was critically important but much more low key presentation from the president when he's sitting at the desk. >> i think this is one of those moments where we can sound like a broken record, but underestimate the impact that has on many people in those states who go look, they're doing something that matters to me. and this is a concrete thing. they're going to do this study. even if it's something where the study comes out later, any policy changes or even later than that, they are getting a signal that he cares about me. >> it's on his radar. also going after canada. he went to wisconsin on tuesday. heed dairy farmers there told him about what they believe to be unfair canadian practices. he talked about new york state dairy farmers and talking about timber. picking a fight with canada while he's trying to help the steel industry. >> it's one thing to send issues to china that you don't appreciate certain tactics, but

canada, you know, canada is right there. and in this early weeks of the trump administration, it looked like the president was diff different -- the rhetoric he was willing to use, how big of a problem and tweaks might be necessary for nafta. this is just completely different. what we've seen. >> it's different and if that's -- if you're on the north america desk at the state department, you're now thinking you're making phone calls and you're sending e-mails and you're trying to translate. but if you are a worker in the united states in one of those industries, we'll -- six months we'll see what's done about it. but you have a president of the united states who is aware of your problem or what you believe to be a problem which doesn't always happen. >> that may be what that's all about. i will say what's also interesting, when we were down at the summit down in palm beach, this steel initiative that they're taking today was sort of portrayed to us as one ever those get tough on china

things that was going to -- that was sort of, you know, going to sort of abandon portfolio of how we're going to blowup the relationship is w china. this seems weaker than what we were led to believe. >> if we had a dollar for every study ordered by the president we wouldn't have to worry about the government shutting down next week. do you actually take action. and the sense of momentum that he's getting now from voters, if the steel industry is still suffering. >> that's the question. wh what are the results as opposed to the attention. we'll see if he gets result. democrats come close again, but what do they need to do to win? went to ancestry, i put in the names of my grandparents first. it gave me a leaf almost right away. within a few days, i went from knowing almost nothing to holy crow, i'm related to george washington. i didn't know that using ancestry would be so easy.

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the andy warhol moment for rob cuist. >> after a career using my voice for the montana we love, i will be a voice for you. >> there's rob quist. democratic candidate to replace a member of the trump candidate now. democrats say these close special elections in red districts prove there's a lot of energy in the party. okay. but the goal of elections is winning. and that's not to criticize the activists who work in the campaigns and you get closer and a lot of republicans are saying what about 2018, but is there a risk of a morale problem in the democratic party if you keep coming but coming up short. >> the special elections mean almost nothing. we constantly make a big game out of them to measure the president's successor failure. but having said that, if the

democrats were to lose three in a row, it creates the narrative that they can't pull it off and they don't yet have an answer to their own problems. the republicans may have their divisions, but the democrats are not in great shape either. >> it creates pressure now because the base wants help. so we came close in kansas. we came close nr in georgia. your colleague jonathan martin looked. this is the time for the 50 state strategy. what are they waiting for? the energy is here. i read they didn't support the kansas candidate and that's very upsetting. the democratic base is going to say send in money and resources, when no offense to the montana race, but the party might be thinking, you know what, we should be worried about 2018. special elections aren't worth all the salt. >> and probably the biggest test of all on this, and i do subscribe to the idea that they don't mean anything, but the

georgia's governor race. there could be a candidate who is a virtual stand-in for the obama coalition. if he wins and then runs against the republican, that's probably the best test that we have of whether or not that -- >> the primary in that race will be great too. you have a clinton and sanders race in the primary and a trump stra establishme establishment race on the republican side. >> this is the beginning of the 2018 side. maybe the next presidential election, blah, blah, blah. these are sort of different test cases. georgia just reinforces how democrats want georgia to be closer than it is and it hasn't be been. it demonstrates the perils of dreaming too much about texas before its time also. >> we'll see what happens. there's still two months now. but the republicans are happy they get it to runoff. >> i think what you discovered is many districts were

mismatched to their leadership. are there a bunch of districts out there that are more liberal than their leadership. that's an open question. i would say less likely that it was the other way around in 2010. there is for sure energy and these close finishes have sent out a signal to watch out for that. does that energy lead to flipping seats? >> we talked earlier there's some moving ground in the republican party too as we see in the town halls that trump was not a traditional republican. democratic party you have the national tour and making bernie sanders, going largely to red states to try to figure out what do we need to do, let's get feedback. one problem. this is to revive and rebuild the democratic party of which senator sanders is. >> do you consider yourself a democrat? >> no. i'm an independent and i think if the contrademocratic party ig

to succeed and i want to see it succeed, it's going to have to open its doors to independents who are probably -- it's got to open its doors to working people and to young people and create a grass roots party. that's what we need. >> if you are paying close attention, chairman was looking where's the -- energize anything? get me out of here. it's a fun moment and it's good theater, but does it get at the fundamental problem at the party, that the guy who came really close in the primaries still does not consider himself a member of the democratic party. he's out there seemingly trying to rebuild. >> and who is their leader? you had hillary clinton in the wings four years ago. you had even barack obama at this point in the 2008 cycle beginning to start to show himself as a serious figure in the democratic party. you don't see anybody like that. you have elizabeth warren. bernie sanders i presume is not running again.

who is the next generation. >> a lot of longing for president obama to step up and he's not going to do it. >> well, it can't -- >> obviously not to run. >> to be out there helping. >> democrats want tom perez to be the inside of the democratic party. >> excellent point. i know you have a point to make. tom per ez at the moment he should be the inside voice. but this is tom perez on the trail. >> those republican leaders and president trump don't give a [ bleep ] about the people they were trying to hurt. they call it a skinny budget. i call it a [ bleep ] budget. >> i think that's unnecessary. >> bernie sanders sort of alludes to that in saying this message that democrats give an expletive about people, i think that's a message that sort of led to trump, because many felt

elbows oud elbows out of this coalition. they felt you are the only good people and we are the bad people. i think repairing that messaging is actually part of this. as we know, the children are listening. >> i think he can do it with manners. i really do. that does it for inside politics. see you back here tomorrow. news continues after a quick break with wolf blitzer.

. i'm wolf blitzer. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks for much for joining us. we're tracking dwevelopments frm north korea to a surprising twist regarding a federal judge here in the united states criticized by president trump for being, quote, mexican. but we begin with a possible, repeat possible breakthrough in the move to try to resuscitate health care reform here in the united states. a source