the things we do every single day that puts ourselves in harm's way, and to have a partner that is so skilled at what they do is indispensable, and i couldn't ask for a better partner. i'm michael smerconish in philadelphia. we welcome on you viewers in the united states and around the world. this weekyou viewers in the united states and around the world. this week was a disaster for president trump are or was it? let's consider the evidence. his most trusted adviser hope hicks is leaving the white house. national security adviser hr mcmaster may be next. and the "new york times" is reporting that the president is conflicted over the continued

white house service of his daughter and son-in-law even seeking john kelly's help in removing them where kushner now has his own legal entanglements and saw miss security clearance downgraded. trump is at war with attorney general jeff sessions. wednesday he risked alienating the nra when saying conciliatory words about a gun deal which drew an excited response from dianne feinstein. and he even managed the impossible, to temporarily alienate one of his fox enablers, tucker carlson, by being dismissive of due process. and then a day later he announced a stiff tariff on imports of steel catchings gop by surprise where the white house has not even completed a legal review. the friday "wall street journal" editorial page not exactly a left wing oracle called it the biggest policy blunder of his presidency. all this just as we were getting past his staff secretary rob porter's departure amid allegations of spousal abuse.

so a disaster, right? and just how in the world did the president cope, how did he manage the stress from this disastrous week? by waking up friday morning and before the sun came up casting his sights on alex baldwin. or alec baldwin. at 5:42, he sent this tweet. alec baldwin whose dying career was saved now says playing donald trump was ag any for him. it was also agony for those forced to watch. you were terrible. bring back darrel am monhammondh funnier. and today he woke up in sunny mar-a-lago. him worried? so whlhat does he know that tho so quick to use the kcase or sdripter don't? maybe politically speaking none of this matters. after all, he is more popular

today than election day. polling expert noted while trump has the lowest apploofl raroval of any president at this point, he is more popular now than when he was elected. the spread between his disapproval and approval has shrunk 8 points. politically speaking, the most significant development was the president's fulfillment of his campaign tariff pledge. it might be economic any in error, but it follow l bolsters the base that put him in office, the same group for whose amusement he a woke yesterday and took on alex baldwin. early in the campaign trump famously claimed he could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody and i wouldn't lose voters. many are trying to declare that the totality of all of that transpired this week is the political equivalent of shooting somebody on fifth avenue. i'm not convinced that politically speaking he lost any voters.

there were many of us who were quick to proceed announnounce c trump's demise during the campaign. i'm trying not to make that mistake a second time. i think that the only thing that could really be a disaster for this administration would come from special prosecutor robert mueller. i want to know what you think. go for smerconish daumt a.com ar this question, politically speaking, was this past week a disaster for president? joining me now, selena stooe toe, julian zellner from princeton, and harry enten, and amanda turkell. harry, explain those numbers to me what is going on? >> essentially what is going on is the president has this loyal base of supporters. and everyone who hated him before the campaign still hate him now. except for a few republicans who have switched from say disapproving of his job to

approving of him personally. and that is basically what has happened. the democrats already hated him. most independents hated him and the republicans are sticking by his side and nothing that seems to occur in this presidency takes them away from him. >> harry, something else to be kept in mind i think is that electability and approval rates are for a totally separates things. >> sure. of course. and i think that this is one of the key things we need to remember, right? donald trump was the most unpopular candidate of all time when he faced hillary clinton. but lits wclinton herself was s most unpopular. so if i'm donald trump, i can't count on the same factors allowings republican party to succeed in 2018. i think they may be heading for disaster. >> selena, you live in the 18th congressional district of pennsylvania. between now and march 13, cnn viewers will hear a lot more about that congressional

district. how many trump supporters did he lose this week in because of the chaos and disaster? >> none. you know, you have to remember that people don't couple news in the same way that political junkies do. and they also have this sort of set point of view of him. they bought into the fact that it was going to be chaotic, they understood that he was flawed and a lot of times they didn't even like him, but that is what they wanted and as harry said, not much has changed since november 8, 2016. if you liked him, you are still optimistic. if you hated him, you still hate him. and not much has moved in terms of his popularity. now, when it comes to the midterms, we have yet to see whether that transfers down to these congressional seats. i would suspect ones in suburban districts that are affluent and

couldn't have a lot of interaction with blue collar he will suffer, but i don't know that that will happen if he is in suburban districts that have a rural and blue collar mix. >> amanda, are you buying all this analysis thus far and if not, where do you disagree? >> well, i think he could be really hurt in mid terms. and we're already seeing democrats do a lot better in these special elections that have been popping up than they are expected to. these are areas where trump won. i was just in rural we shall which western wisconsin last week and i talked to people whoshall western wisconsin last week and i talked to people who gave trump a chance and now rnking that i don't know thinking that i don't know if i'm going with republicans. some is because of trump, some don't like the way washington is working and they don't like the republican congress. but trump has to be careful because in chaos he is creating is having effects for other republicans in bad weeks like he had last week certainly isn't helping everyone in the gop. >> amanda, it is hard to recap

all that transpired this week, but as you look at the milestones that we've just been through, which one if i asked you to identify just one thing that happened in the last five days, what is at the top of your list? >> well, there are a lot 6 metrmeof metrics, but i think hope hicks leaving will hit him hard. of metrics, but i think hope hicks leaving will hit him hard.of metrics, but i think hope hicks leaving will hit him hard. she had been with him since the beginning of the campaign and now there is just one other person in the white house that has been with him that long. and so he is increasingly isolated. n more realale is really bad in t white house. and without that one other person to control trump, he may be increasingly volatile. so for trump himself, i would say her depa partparture is pre. >> professor, you have a 3r0e strong came difference piece that i recommend people read. but let me grab one paragraph. the biggest surprise these days is not what happens in the white house, but the way that this president scy is covered. despite the fact that there has

never been a period of normalcy since january of 2017. other than a few days hooer and there of quiet, everyone keeps on expressing surprise at discovering the turbulent state that the administration is in. expand on that. >> well, i think almost every week we hit a point where you will hear headlines about chaos, turmo turmoil. all of that is true, but it is fairly consistent. there are only been a few calm weeks in this presidency and i think this is the way that he governs. there is a logic to why he is doing this, a strategy. and i don't think we should be surprised at the end of every week where this is what has happened. this is the new normal in presidential politics at least for this term. >> and you in your opinion piece saw it of the same way as i did about how in just is a lot of noise. you didn't say it that way, but a lot of noise to those who put him in office and sometimes that gets lost on a lot of us who are in a bubble.

>> yeah, a lot of people who voted for him are not disturbed by what happened. and there a political explanation to some of what he is doing. the trade measures if the economic fallout is contained will appeal to many base voters in some of those rust belt areas that are suffering. the gun measure he shows he is being flex able on television and listening to suburban voters, but he knows the republican congress probably won't send him anything that the nra can't live with. and finally, the parlor room in-twreeg thin intrigue that we see every week keeps focus on him, it keeps attention on person nelg over policy. and it reminds everyone in the white house he is the boss and anyone is expendable at any moment. >> is there anything that you could do to shake the base support that he enjoys? >> i think really you hit it at the top of this segment when understand if robert mueller brings charges, i think that could shake him. i think the other thing that is

completely out of his control is if the xhir economy goes south. his highest approval ratings are on the economy. he campaigned on it. the economy groes south, i thin his presidency goes south with him. >> i want to ask to break down the alex baldwin exchange. what is going on there? you are the trump whisperer among us. it is quarter of six 6:00 a.m. on friday. there is a hell of a lot going on and the first thing on his mind when he awakens is baldwin. what is going on? >> that is just him. i mean, this is what he does as julian said, his voters don't seem fazed by that. and this is what people gout inti bought into. they knew he tweeted like this before he became president.out bought into. they knew he tweeted like this before he became president.t bo into. they knew he tweeted like this before he became president. bou into. they knew he tweeted like this before he became president. so this is our normal. this is what he does. >> amanda, no down side for him.

again, we're all speaking in political terms here. but no down side for him being on the opposite side of a debate with alec baldwin from snl part of that liberal establishment. >> no down side for him at all. the press will cover it a little bit, his supporters will think it is funny on or just ignore it completely. and this week in any other presidency would be considered as a disastrous week. but he's had so many of these weeks that in a lot of ways it is just more noise, just another weeke in his presidency. >> as you look back at the week, what stands out in your mind, the same question that i put to amanda earlier? >> i think what stands out is the fact that everyone is surprised. and i mean that. i mean there has to be a point of reckoning in our world of journalism where we understand the kind of presidency that we have, his method of doing

business. and we move beyond the shock and awe that comes every week and really analyze where this is going, what he is doing and what the real impact is economically and politically rather than every time wondering if this is the turning point that we've reached by friday or saturday. >> harry, take us out of the segment. >> what i most want to say is keep an eye on the 12% of the elector rats who voted for donald trump but didn't like him going into 2016.rats who voted d trump but didn't like him going into 2016. that is the group that will term 2018. >> great conversation. thank you all. i really appreciate all four of you being here. and remember, for those of you at home, go to my website at smerconish daup and answ smerconish.com. was this past week a disastrous week politically speaking for the trump administration? i look forward to giving you the results at the end of the hour. of course tweet me and go for facebook and i'll read some of the responses. katherine, what do we have so

far? why would you put a positive spin on his negative week? mark, i so anticipated that there would be such a hugh and cry from people saying oh, but you're carrying his water.and cry from people saying oh, but you're carrying his water. not doing so at all. i laid out the litany of all that went wrong for the president. stood back and assessed from a political standpoint and said i don't think political li speaking it has been the disaster that others have put in granite. that is my view. not to be misunderstood. but what can i say in terms of the reaction. hit me with another one. to be honest, it was no more disaster than any other week recently. well, vincent, yes, and i'm trying to school myself not to be here on a saturday and say oh, my god, the sky is falling. because if that is the assessmeas ehe is assessment that you have, the sky has a been falling for more than a year.is assessment that you have, the sky has a been falling for more than a year.

disaster if we wrote a script treatment for a tv sitcom, this would be deemed unbelievable. yes, i wrote such a script and was told it is too fantastical. i wonder what they would say today. nothing is too fantastical. okay. coming up, i want to make sure that the president announced these surprise tariffs on steel and aluminum. and i want to make sure we get into the question of whether this was planned to help a gop candidate who is running in this month's special election in steel country pennsylvania. also, the faculty at my alma mater asked the university for take away the honorary degree that it awarded donald trump, this was at lehigh in 1988. were they right or would it set an awful precedent? too early... or make me feel like i'm not really "there." talk to your doctor, and call 844-234-2424.

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my ci can worry about it,ine. or do something about it. garlique® helps maintain healthy cholesterol naturally. and it's odor free. and pharmacist recommended. garlique.® president trump surprised his advisors and the market with the announcement of tariffs. it will likely be a bragging point next saturday in steel country for the gop candidate in the special election in pennsylvania's 18th district. he has been nicknamed trump 2.10

0. the election to replace tim murphy will be a test for trum0 0. the election to replace tim murphy will be a test for tr2.0. the election to replace tim murphy will be a test for trum # what does this say about the politics of the natuion? joining me now is the ceo of quantum communications. charlie, i want to show you a tweet from robert costa of the "washington post" with regard to the president said this, one person close to the white house tells me p.a. 18 is on the president's mind and he thinks through tariffs he is being told that his base in places like western p.a. wants to see more on trade, person said. my question for you, do you think that the president is imposing that tariff specifically with an eye toward this district? >> i think it is a bit of a very much because while u.s. steel

and allege compacoa are still headquartered in pittsburgh, the whole economy of that region has shifted to a meds and eds economy and away from a heavy metals economy. in fact i don't think that there is even a work steel mail ill i 18th district. >> tell me about the peculiarities of this district and race. >> this district is very diverse. and donald trump remains very popular there. it is still rengistered democratic, a historic footnote in some ways. for a long time it was registered democrat. it is still about a 25,000 to 30,000 democratic advantage. but donald trump carried the district by 20 points. mitt romney carried it by 17. for the last generation or so, it has been voting increasingly republican. tim murphy who when he ran the last two cycles mad mad no on

that himself. so this is a close race. but i still believe that rick secone will prevail. >> tell me more about secone and lam. >> over the course of the past fire special elections for the house, the glags national democ told their candidates be ant anti-trump. it didn't work. they lost every one of those races even though some of them were closer than folks thought they would be. in this case connor lam has said i'm really much closer to donald trump than any national democrat. he said he won't vote for nancy pelosi. he says he is pro gun. he is personally pro-life, et cetera. on the other hand, you have rick secone who is a veteran state leng legislator who is trump 2.0. he says that he was donald trump

before donald trump came along. donald trump remains very upon uhe lo popular in that district. his support for the energy sector and natural gas in particular which is creating a lot of new jobs in that district. and the other is the tax cuts. more jingle in people's pockets means more folks likely to vote republican on march 13. >> and you make the point that nancy pelosi is an issue in this race. i want to show just the first 10 or 20 seconds of a secon anti-connor lam commercial and then i'll make a comment. ♪ had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb ♪ ♪ nancy had a little lamb his fleece ♪ >> not exactly a 10 on a production value standpoint, here is the response from connor lam to rick secone. play it.

>> my opponent wants you to believe the biggest issue in this campaign is nancy pelosi. it is all a big lie. i've already said on the front page of the newspaper that i don't support nancy pelosi.real issues are the ones that affect your lives. >> you have a democratic candidate saying, hey, i toulgd you i told you i'm not a supporter of pelosi. >> and yet he will continue to be tied to pelosi because many of the policies that he would vote for are hers. nancy pelosi will be a big issue in the 2018 cycle and i think in many respects she is the republican secret with that. >> of course the question though is whether popularity transfers. you mean you have underscored the point that president trump remains very popular in p.a.'s 18th. but that didn't always pass downs line. >> it doesn't. you and i have seen this in very

telling exam pelg ples in pennsa ourselves where the popularity of a candidate doesn't transfer for those of others. some operatives on the ground are concerned that when donald trump comes in, he brings in folks from all over the place including a lot of people who couldn't vote for rick seconment because they don't live there, but he will energize the base and he will effect turnout and ultimately special elections are decided largely on turn jouts. there is another thing here i should mention, taking a significant impact on this race and that is a decision by the supreme court of pennsylvania to overturn the current congressional maps. they said that the reapportionment plan was unconstitutional. so in the 2018 cycle, neither lam nor secone live within the newly created district. so that may have an effect on turn jouts becauout because the

only be held for nine months or so. >> and a quick final point. so these two are running on may 13 and they don't live in the district as it is now being dwraun. there wi there will be a primary in the spring and general in the fall. conceivably neither could be running in the fall election. is that not true? >> it is true. and if they are running, they are probably not running against each other in the fall. and both of them it looks like may have prime airs in the newly configure the districts if those directeded hold up because the supreme court of the united states has been asked to step i those directeded hold up because the supreme court of the united states has been asked to step ie directeded hold up because the supreme court of the united states has been asked to step i directeded hold up because the supreme court of the united states has been asked to step i directeded hold up because the supreme court of the united states has been asked to step i directeded hold up because the supreme court of the united states has been asked to step in we don't know what will happen there. >> couldn't make it up. charlie, thanks so much. let's see what you are saying on twitter and facebook. although believe in watch wlag

they do rather than what they say, you give trump too much credit for long range planning. tariff talk is more about p.a. special election. 30silver. i just had one of the experts on pennsylvania politics here to address that and he dissuaded me from the belief that the tariff move is specifically addressed to this particular district because of the lack of steel left in the district. so i disagree with that point. by the way, don't forget to vote at smerconish.com on today's survey question. was this week a disaster politically speaking for the trump administration? i'll give you those results at the end of the hour. up ahead, the faculty at my alma mater lehigh university tried to take away the sit being president's honorary degree be stowed in 1988. was it right and what happened? also #metoo on the red carpet for tonight night's oscars mass some celebrities may by pass e!

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