good evening. we begin with breaking news in the disappearance and spekuspec killing of the

american based saudi journalist who was last seen walking into the saudi consulate nearly two weeks ago and never seen alive again. turkish sources have said they believe that jamal khashoggi was murdered on the premesis, dismembered and taking out in pieces. we're told the saudis are preparing not to admit that, but to say instead he died during a botched interrogation. as of air time, the saudi government has yet to admit to anything. in his broader sense his eagerness to believe the denials of many bad actors as long as they happen to pea political allies or individuals who he's formed some kind of personal relationship. and with the saudi monarch and his son, the crown brirns princ appears to be both. here what the president said earlier today. >> i just spoke with the crown prince of saudi arabia who denies any knowledge to what

took place as he said his saudi arabian citizen. i've asked and he firmly denied that. >> did you believe his denial? >> excuse me. mike pompeo is leaving literally within an hour or so. he's heading to saudi arabia. we are going to leave nothing uncovered. with that being said, the king firmly denied any knowledge of it. he didn't really know. maybe -- i don't want to get into his mind, but it sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. who knows? we're going to try getting to the bottle of it very soon. but his was a flat denial. >> well, that was before we began getting word that the saudis were preparing to admit everything but ordering the hit to have jamal khashoggi detained, interrogated and taken back to the kingdom. apparently the president knows more than we or anyone else

does. why did he seem eager to embrace the saudi ruler's denial? keeping them honest, it is what he does. >> i have great confidence in my intelligence people, but i will tell you that president putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. let me just tell you roy moore denies it. that's all i can say, he denies it. and by the way, he totally denies it. manafort has denied it. >> the president as you know also discounts skim jung un's wrongdoing. however, he's quick to say how well he gets along with kim. and that comment about rogue killers sounds a lot like the way how he wants to discount the intelligence community how russia hacked the election by pointing to some other culprit.

>> could be russia, china or also other people. could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, okay? >> we should point out we don't know exactly what happened. there's been a lot of speculation, lot of rumors swirling around the story. but the president's rogue killer story turkish authorities say they know what happened. at least some they say appear to have high level connections in the saudi government. and tonight if our sources are accurate the saudi government could be on the verge of changing its story in a very big way. a lot to watch for tonight. and just a short time ago the pre-was asked about the latest reporting. our jim acosta at the white house for us. so what did the president say? >> reporter: he was down in florida, anderson. he was asked about this latest report from cnn and from others that this was a result potentially of a botched interrogation, that jamal

khashoggi died as a result of an interrogation that went wrong. the president as you noted earlier today was saying that perhaps rogue killers were to blame for all of this. he was much more careful in the way he responded to this question about the latest reports on all of this, and here's what he had to say earlier tonight. >> i'm going to have to see what they say, and we're working very closely with saudi arabia and with turkey. and they're working together to figure out what happened. and they want to know what happened also. so lot of people are working on it. a lot of people. i heard that report, but nobody knows if it's an official report. so far it's just the rumor of a report coming out. >> and anderson, as you noted earl ier today the president was really talking about these denials from the saudi king, king salaman. but the saudi government has repeatedly put out statements denying any involvement in the death of jamal khashoggi. and in one of those e-mails it

talks about false media narratives, false media allegations. that as close i guess the saudi comes to using the term "fake news." >> what does it mean for the saudi relationship which obviously is important to the president? >> i think this is huge, anderson, because the president has put so much time and i guess his own resources in investing in this relationship, forming these close tiewis with the sau government. his own son has been very close to the crown prince, mohammed bin salaman. i will tell you, anderson, that the president has been over the last few days sort of diminishing the importance of jamal khashoggi's death saying once again today that he was not a u.s. citizen, that he was a saudi citizen. essentially implying there's not a whole lot he could do.

in talking to my sources this evening, anderson in beth the diplomatic community and folks who are close to the white house, there is not a big expectation the white house or the president is going to do much of anything about this once these final answers come in, anderson. >> cnn's arwa damon has been out ahe ahead of the story in istanbul. what's the latest when it may be coming out or anything else you know about it. >> reporter: we're not entirely sure. one of the two sources that cnn had spoken to the actually alluded to the fact it might change because it was still a work in progress. another source said that on top of the sort of overarching narrative this was a botched interrogation that was meant to lead to basically the abduction of jamal khashoggi, that eventually led to his death, this report would also be

highlighting that this was not something that was expected, that it was not something that was sanctioned, and that those who were responsible would be held accountable. there have been all sorts of delays, though, anderson, when it comes to allowing turkish authorities access to the saudi consulate. and this was after the saudis last week had originally said yes to the turks, that they would be able to enter the premises of the consulate and the consul general's home. we saw it being postponed, and this council formed over the weekend and finally tonight about seven, seven and a half hours ago we saw the turkish team going inside the consulate, forensic teams as well as one would expect. we're not entirely sure what their investigation, what sort of information the turks are going to be releasing or exactly how this is all going to play out in terms of specifics over the next coming hours and days. but it certainly does seem after days of denying having anything to do with khashoggi's

disappearance, in fact insistence on the saudi's part that jamal khashoggi left the consulate on the same day he arrived, we are perhaps going to see the beginnings of a new narrative being put forward. >> if they do come out with this new narrative, it is completely at odds with what they've been saying all along, which is that he left the consulate and we don't know what happened to him after that. >> reporter: it is. and that in and of itself is quite likely going to raise a lot of questions. because if they're going to come out and say this now, why did they not allude to it earlier? why were they so adamant in the denials and going so far as to call the media reports about jamal khashoggi's death inside the walls of the consulate a broader campaign as an attempt to tarnish the imobjectf the saudi nation. but saudi arabia has been under a phenomenal amount of pressure as has turkey to a certain degree to try to uncover exactly what it is that took place.

because at the end of it day even at the core of this is the potential probable tragic death of jamal khashoggi, this has taken on a lot more significant geopolitical implications. and we're seeing all sorts of dynamics come into play when it comes to various nation's relationships with saudi arabia, whether they're military ties, whether they're economic ties, whether they're a part of the broader regional tensions that do exist at this stage. but this most certainly is an incident, is a death that has really taken on a far greater dimension than perhaps anyone could have anticipated, anderson. >> arwa damon, thanks very much. want to get to michael hayden. thanks for being with us. do you think this apparent explanation for khashoggi's death is a believable one, and

if the saudis do end up going with this idea that this was a botched interrogation, do you think he gives enough cover to the u.s. and to the saudis to move past it? >> anderson, i would characterize it as a plausible story. and in fact i was on-air last week suggesting that that may have been what happened, an interrogation, a rendition gone wrong. but, you know, you don't get the benefit of the doubt when you take two weeks to develop your cover story. and so i think we have a right to be very suspicious about this. but let me end where i began. it's plausible. i'd like to see a lot more evidence. now, with regard to can you get beyond it? i actually think it is the purpose in both the kingdom and the trump administration to get beyond this as quickly as possible with as little impact as possible on american-saudi relations. and i think that's why the president has been sounding like he has for the past three or

four days. frankly, anderson, i actually think that's a mistake. from the point of view of the interest of the united states. this was not an isolated incident in mohammed bin salaman's work. we've seen activity. this is not out of the pattern. and so to let it pass without having some severe repercussions i think may actually just lead to deeper problems in the future. >> the proposed claim may also include that the operation was carried out without clearance and without transparency. i'm not exactly sure what they mean by that. the idea that a group of interrogators slash whatever they are hitmen, whatever, could enter into the saudi consulate in istanbul without the highest

level of authority seems odd to me. how likely do you think it is that something like this, an interrogation of this sort, if that's what it in fact was and not just an outright hit or an attempt at rendition would have been done without the highest level of authority? >> so when i said the story was plausible, i meant what happened in the consulate in istanbul, that this may have been an interrogation that just got out of hand. the part of the story that this was an absolutely rogue operation beyond the view of saudi authorities is not believable. now, did king salaman know about this, frankly, i think probably not. so when the president is talking to his majesty and gets the word from the king that i knew nothing about this, that's probably true. it's far more difficult for me to believe that a controlling personality like mohammed bin

salaman would not know something like this was going on or conversely, anderson, that someone would attempt to do this without the cover of the crown prince. >> also, i mean given that the crown prince had also, you know, i'm not sure even what the proper verbiage is, but, you know, locked people up in the ritz-carlton hotel in saudi arabia and got money back from them through whatever means -- you know, we're unaware of what the means were and maybe some of those were ill-gotten gains. but there is a track record here. >> yes. exactly. and so -- well, look, if i'm still back in government and i'm trying to brief president trump, and i think this needs a more forceful response on part of the united states, let me tell you the tack i would take, anderson. i would simply approach the president and say, mr. president, this 33-year-old crown prince had so little

respect for you that he thought he could actually conduct a rendition of a legal resident of the united states working for "the washington post" and you would not respond. that's how i would frame this for the president. i don't think that's a lesson he wants to teach other people in the world. >> it is -- you know, when you step back from it as you said he's a resident of the united states working for "the washington post." you know, there are plenty of foreign nationals working for -- in the u.s. news media. and the idea that they can walk into an embassy and be taken or chopped up or whatever -- you know, interrogated is frightening. and the idea that nothing would be done about it is -- i mean it's -- i know it's real politic, but it's alarming.

>> it's a question of values here. and it's a question of interest. again, we're teaching the wrong lessons. >> general michael hayden, i appreciate you being with us. up next more on the trump doctrine with respect to other countries. why it seems the president may shrug off questionable behavior. i'll talk it over with senator bernie sanders. now also a possible 2020 challenger elizabeth warren claims she has some small proof of native-american ancestry. the president fires back who cares. details ahead. (clatter) ( ♪ ) feeling unsure? oh... (nervous yelp) what if you had some help? introducing the new 2019 ford edge with the confidence of ford co-pilot360 (tm) technology. the most available driver assist technology in its class. ( ♪ )

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weeks ago and never came out. the question is what will president trump do about this? take a look at these key moments from this weekend's "60 minutes" interview starting with the president talking about why he won't cancel the saudis weapons deal because it will cost jobs. >> will you consider imposing sanctions as a bipartisan group of senators had proposed? >> well, it depends on what the sanctions. i'll give you an example. they are ordering a military weapon. everybody in the world wanted that order. russia wanted it, china wanted it, we wanted it. we got it. >> do you believe vladimir putin is involved in poisonings, assassinations? >> probably. >> what about north korea? >> i consider it so far a great achievement. >> when you say so far? >> it's always so far until everything's done. deals are deal, okay? whether it's a real estate deal

or a retail deal, it doesn't matter. >> well, earlier tonight i talked to vermont independent senator bernie sanders. the results of an interrogation that went wrong, if that ends up being the narrative they put forward, do you buy that? >> interrogation that went wrong, well, it tells me, anderson, if the saudi embassy invites you for a little discussion you may not want to go. i don't know what that means. it sounds like they killed this guy. it was a dissident and critic of the regime. >> the president vowed severe punishment if saudi arabia is behind khashoggi's disappearance. do you think he would actually follow up with that, if the saudi government did in fact direct this? >> no, i don't think so.

i mean, that's he said yesterday. god knows what he will say tomorrow. the president and jared kushner are very tight with the saudi regime. and i have little doubt that the united states, at least the trump administration would do everything it can to protect the saudis. in my view we have got to rethink our arms deals, the sale of huge amounts of weapons to saudi arabia. i think if in fact it turns out what i believe to be true is that khashoggi was killed by the saudis, it requires some sanctions, and it requires a fundamental rethinking of u.s.-saudi relations. >> the president has up until now given the saudis the benefit of the doubt, saying they denied any involvement, that rogue killers could have been the one behind this. it's interesting because he does seem to have a public history at

least of believing denials. whether it's roy moore said he didn't do anything. people say they didn't do anything. it seems to be his go-to response. >> it's convenient denials. when trump was in helsinki with putin, and putin said we had nothing to do, no involvement in trying to sabotage u.s. elections. well, every intelligence agency in the united states government said otherwise, and then trump after his discussion with putin says, mr. putin told me they had no involvement and i believe them. well, you know, he is now a great friend of kim jong-un in north korea, one of the worst autocrats and dictators in the world. he loves the guy. you know, mohammed bin salman in saudi arabia. i think this speaks we have a

president that has a very strong authoritarian tendencies who likes strong men all over the world. and we're seeing those authoritarian tendencies right here in the united states where he attacks the media as the enemy of the people. it's the president of the united states. first amendment rights, that's what media is about. attacks an independent judiciary, is working hard for voter suppression. so i think of the many concerns that i have about trump and his tax breaks for billionaires and trying to throw people off of health insurance, his movement is towards an authoritarian type society and support for authoritarians all over the world should be a concern for all americans across the country. >> if there is a trump doctrine, you saw him in the "60 minutes" interview, it seems he's willing to overlook moral outrages. whether it's putin, kim jong-un's human right abuses. it doesn't seem like this president or this administration

has that vision of america as -- you know, they were critical for obama in not believing for american exceptionism. it doesn't seem they have a vision of america of being somehow different from the rest of the world. >> well, worst than many of the leading countries in the world. it saddens me very much to see all over the world -- they do a poll, international polls and they ask people all over the world, what do you think of the united states of america? we used to be very, very high up. people said we love the united states, we respect the united states, we want to come to the united states. and now that international feeling, that approval has plummeted under trump because people see a regime, an administration right here in the united states that is not standing up for what has historically been what the united states is supposed oo pea about, and that is support for democracy, support for human

rights, support for the oppressed all over the world. >> senator sanders, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you, anderson. up next tonight, 23 and she. senator elizabeth warren, the dna test she says puts the controversy over her claim of native-american ancestry to rest. what the native-american nation says about that and president trump says who cares. we're keeping them honest next. she's so cute. ♪ the most loved iphone meets the most loved in wireless. right now, save $300 on iphone xs at t-mobile. i felt i couldn't be at my best for my family., in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured and left those doubts behind. i faced reminders of my hep c every day. but in only 8 weeks with mavyret, i was cured. even hanging with friends i worried about my hep c. but in only 8 weeks with mavyret,

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not too long ago president trump had a warning. listen. >> just stick with us. don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news. and just remember what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening. >> well, today he's asking us

not to care about an insult he repeatedly hurled at a sitting u.s. senator and asking us not to believe what we heard him say on tape in front of thousands of people. also saying he not she, oweathize country an apology. keeping them honest, it's textbook gaslighting. we've talked about this before. asking people not to believe what they see and hear, challenging reality. it all centers on democratic challenger elizabeth warren releasing results of a dna test showing he has very distinct native-american ancestry. warren herself saying she was raised believing and the cherokee nation put out a statement today using a dna to make any connection and i'm quoting here, is inappropriate and wrong. all that said when told of the test results today, here's what president trump said.

>> who cares? who cares? >> who cares. i mean who on earth would ever make a big deal about elizabeth warren's hair taj let alone she let alone say it out loud and during the campaign and into office. who indeed would say that? >> pocahontas, that's elizabeth warren. massachusetts is represented by pocahontas, right? i call her pocahontas and that's an insult to pocahontas. pocahontas. pocahontas. on an insult to pocahontas. i've got more indian blood in me than pocahontas and i have none. >> well, to answer president trump's question, he cares. clearly. he made this an issue even if you can call hurling racially

loaded insults something of an issue. and now he kind of wants to ignore all the evidence of it including what he said presumably in some of the most courageous people who ever leaved, navaho corp talkers during the second war. >> they call her pocahontas. >> so today senator warren called his bluff, and the president first said who cares asking us to ignore all the times he himself cared, asking us to ignore he was the one that called her names over and over. he also turned the gaslight up to about 11 with his answer to this. >> mr. president you said you'd give $1 million to charity. >> i didn't say that. you better read it again. >> he's saying he didn't say that. keeping them honest, that must mean on july 5th of this year he never said this. >> i'm going to get one of those little kits and in the middle of the debate when she proclaims she's of indian heritage, i will

say i will give you a million dollars to your favorite charity paid for by trump if you take the test that shows you're an indian. >> he said he didn't, and he did. later today he was no longer denying what he said what the video was clearly showing, instead he kind of wiggled out of it on a technicality or tried to only saying his promise only counted if elizabeth warren actually won the nomination. >> i'll only do it if i can test her personally. okay, that will not be something i enjoy doing either. >> do you owe her an apology? >> no. she owes the country an apology. >> so what you're seeing and what you're hearing is not what's happening, except this case, it is. joining us now kirsten pow wrrz also former trump campaign aide michael kaputo. great to have you both on.

michael, is it fair for the president to say who cares when he was the one who brought this into the forefront. >> well, i think he was just dedismissing this o dedismissing this out of line. he also, you know, mentioned if in the debate he would offer her a million dollars to prove that she was of native-american descent, and in this test it indicates she's probably got less native-american blood tan the president does, actually. >> well, i think it's one of those things that is actually a more difficult situation than it appears on the surface. donald trump was, you know, making fun of her using this racial slur, talking about actually pocahontas was a

teenage girl who was kidnapped and held hostage by white settlers, so it's not actually a funny story. so that's obviously really bad. but the way this originally came up is it came up during her senate campaign and it was unearthed by reporters, and she did mishandle it, and she's really gotten a lot of criticism since then and including today from native-american leaders and from indigenous people saying she's misappropriating their heritage, and this dna test actually doesn't prove she's part cherokee because that's actually a tribe, not something a dna test is going to prove. i think it would have been better if she would have just originally said you know what, family lore, this is what i thought, i made a mistake. as michael said, actually, i don't think she probably has much more of this, you know, of this in her dna than most americans. so just we all hear stories in your families and you say i

heard it wrong. instead she said something about her great-grandfather having high cheekbones, which is racist stereo type. so i think she has legitimately handled this badly. donald trump he's just acting badly and makingrace racists attacks. >> does it make sense she would go back to this now and produce video and have this reveal so close to the mid-terms? i mean just from a political standpoint, does it make sense? >> well, i think i would look at two people that made statements today. ian bremmer, the political scientist said clearly she's running for president, and also, boy, did she make a mistake doing this because it's just going to get worse for her from here. and also jim museena, the obama campaign manager said, oh, my gosh, why are you bringing this up 22 days away from the

mid-term elections? this is completely off message and now we're going to be talking ability this for days. so i do hope she continues to talk about it as a republican so it can continue to keep the republican party off message. >> kirsten, do you agree with assessments, it's sort of an odd time to bring it up? obviously she feels for her political future that she needs to address it. is this the right time, the right way? >> it's a very strange time to bring it up, and i'm actually not sure that she did need to address it. i don't know that many democratic voters or independent voters who weren't going to vote for her over this. and like i said if you're going to address it, there's another way to address it. just say you made a mistake. don't do a dna test and tell everybody that you have, you know, this heritage that you don't have. so i mean it's just kind of bizarre to me. the dna test actually didn't prove the point that she says that it's proving. and again, it can't prove it because the dna test can't make

you a member of the cherokee tribe. it's actually not possible. so i think that, you know, if i were her i would have just admitted i made a mistake in the first place, but that's not something politicians typically do. so she's gotten herself kind of backed into this corner and i think a lot of people were saying oh, this is so mart of her to do. i think she's drawing attention to something that has been a donald trump attack line, and i don't think you have to like walk into that trap. >> kirsten powers, michael kaputo, good to have you on. more breaking news tonight, a victory for president trump in a defamation lawsuit filed against him. a federal judge dismissed the suit filed on her behalf by michael avenattich this after president trump tweeted a composite sketch of a man daniels claimed threatened her years ago to stay quiet of the president's relationship was a con job. the judge said the tweet was

hi,ly ah hyperbole. president trump took a couple of oblique swings at defense secretary james mattis during his "60 minutes" interview on sunday. just ahead we're going to tell you what general mattis had to say and what it might mean in terms of politics and policy. d . then i found aleve pm. the only one to combine a safe sleep aid, plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. i'm back. aleve pm for a better am.

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in that "60 minutes" interview leslie stall asked president trump whether his defense secretary mattis would be leaving shortly. list mc listen. >> what about generous mattis, is he going to leave? >> i don't know. i think he's sort of a democratic if you want to know the truth. but he's a good guy. he may leave. i mean, at some point everybody leaves. people leave. that's washington. >> is it true general mattis said to you the reason for nato and the reason for all these alliances is to prevent world war iii? >> no it's, not true. frankly, i like general mattis. i think i know more about than he does, and i know about it from the standpoint of fairness. that i can tell you.

>> on his way to vietnam secretary mattis said he's never talked to the president about leaving. in addition he said he's never registered to a political party. joining us to discuss political and policy. secretary pinetta, this notion the president knows more about nato than secretary mattis, i'm wondering what you make of that. is that something people should be concerned about, the idea that the president thinks that? >> well, as we've found out about this president, he knows more about everything more than anybody else. so it doesn't surprise me that he would say he knows more about nato than jim mattis. it's just -- it's just one of those exaggerated statements that i think the public has adjusted to from this president. >> gloria, why do you think the

president called secretary mattis a democrat or said he was sort of a democrat in the "60 minutes" interview? >> he went from mad dog to reports now he calls him democratic dog. and it's really not surprising, anderson. they disagree on so much. when you think about the south korea war games, they disagreed on the president stopping those, the ban on transgenders in the military, the space force, nato, the paris climate deal and i could go on and on. i think there have been a lot of disagreements. i think mattis is very good at kind of keeping it close and not going out there and talking about it. but now that the president has, it seems to me he's doing to mattis what he's been doing to jeff sessions. >> secretary panetta, what is the impact whether it's on the world stage or within the armed forces when the president is essential undermining secretary mattis and even suggesting he might be leaving? >> well, there's no question

that it undermines the defense department, and frankly, it undermines our national security. because jim mattis i think is without question probably one of the more respected members of the trump cabinet because he's knowledgeable. he knows military issues. he knows national security. he knows what it means to go to war and when to go to war. he's also been a restraining force with regards to this president. so the fact that trump would now take on criticizing general mattis sends a message that somebody who really is strong and has the knowledge that is necessary for secretary of defense is somebody who the president doesn't necessarily go along with. and that just sends a horrible message to our national security

establishment. >> you know, gloria, we now have this situation it seems like where pretty much all cabinet secretaries who have meetings overseas with other world leaders or are in negotiations, i'm just wondering why anybody would believe that they speak for the president when it seems like the president is very willing to publicly undermine basically everybody around him. i mean i would think that -- >> everybody. >> i would think it essential in some of those meetings that somebody meeting with secretary mattis overseas over in pakistan is essential saying what u.s. policy is. >> right. and how do you think mattis feels about that? i mean, if he can't go and have these meetings with any confidence he's going to be backed up by the president or his national security advisor, john bolton, i mean i think that's his real problem right now. is that when tillerson was there, mattis and tillerson was kind of together and felt like they could speak for the president at one point.

and i think now he's clashing with the president's top advisers. and he can't speak for the president. and now the president has publicly -- publicly said this. and so the question for mattis that i'm sure how long can he last. will he stick it out through january? or decide that he can't have any impact anymore. and he's got to leave. does the president have somebody else he wants to ask in maybe lindsey graham who says he dint want the job. if you're abroad and talking about to general mattis you have to think that. for whom does he speak? >> it is interesting. because the president when he was running he kind of trumpeted his love of generals and trust in generals. letting generals make decisions. listening to the general. all of that doesn't seem to be

the reality. mcmaster is gone. the doubts about mattis now. he's been critical of many of his generals. >> you know, one thing that seems to be clear about this president, is that he has a problem with people that are perhaps more knowledgeable and more admired than he is. so, we have seen a list of those people leaving the administration. whether it's gary cohn. nikki haley. mcmaster or jim mattis. the reality is this president has a hard time accepting advice from people that are are more knowledgeable and understand the issues. and are respected in the outside world. i think it's detracts from him

and creates this kind of tension. that always results when there's somebody who is very good in the cabinet who happens to be doing his or her job. the president just doesn't like it. >> gloria and secretary, thank you. appreciate it. >> sure. >> let's check in with chris. >> how you doing, anderson? >> i'm all right. >> better than i deserve. what is behind the shift in the saudi story. if according to cnn sources they make the shift. we have senator ben sass. republican from nebraska here. is the senate really willing to move if the president doesn't? it's a weighty question. we're doing na and we have the next step in the investigation of the reality of the crisis on the border. the kids are in more trouble than i knew. >> tomorrow will be three weeks until the midterm elections.

both sides have been pouring in millions of dollars. control of the house and senate at stake. i had a talk with john king. the first of regular visits between now and election day on this program. be right back with john. ♪ like a big pizza pie ♪ that's amore ♪when the world seems to shine ♪like you've had too much wine ♪ that's amore ♪ bells will ring ♪ ting a ling a ling ♪ ting a ling a ling more to love. applebee's new neighborhood pastas. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. if you're waiting patiently for a liver transplant,

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program regularly to bring the trends and keep races to watch. let's kick it off. starting in the bigs factor. that's president trump. presidential approval ratings. usually good predictor of how a political party will do. in the most recent polling shows approval rating for 41%. di disaprooul 52%. how much of the coming midterms are about president trump? >> almost exclusively. some exceptions to the rule. midterm elections are about the president. and even the president now says i'm not on the ballot but i'm on the ballot. we have the democrats in the lead and with plenty of room to take control of the house. 206 seats lean. or solid democrat. 201 lean or likely solid republican. why? because of what you mentioned. let's look at the numbers. this is a slightly recent

"washington post" poll. the numbers are consistent. president's approval rating. 43% approve. 53% disapprove. 53% disapprove of the president. 53% say they'll vote for democrats. 42% say they'll vote republican. a direct correlation of what you think of the president and how you will vote for congress in a midterm election year. right around 40, let's take a look at the his ri. this is why republicans are worried. president is up a bit. but look at history. president obama at 45%. three weeks out same exact time frame. in his first midterm, the democrats got sha lacked. president bush his second midterm. republicans think this looks like 2006. president bush 37. the republicans lost the house. if you look at where the

president trump is. right now compared to history. the republicans are headed for hard times unless the president can change the numbers in the next few weeks. one more point. a number of factors. this is the overwhelming factor driving this prodemocrat environment climate nationally. 36% of american women approve of the president performance. 37% of women are voting republican. but here's why it matters. six in ten women disapprove of the president. six in ten women voting democrat. this giant gender gap is the biggest asset the democrats have. that looks very good. >> what about the whole idea of politics being local? how much rings true in the congressional races. >> important question. because remember the presidential election. we talk about the national polls. clinton was ahead and won the national vote. but she lost the election. so you look urban. democrats are way up.

rural, republicans are up. republicans are starting to think we feel better about the leaning seats in rural areas. democrats feel good about suburbs. zoom in quickly here in virginia. we'll know on election night. democrats need to take the closed in suburbs. the districts have some rural. that is the tug of war. republicans because of the rural numbers the president travels lately feel better about the seats in red areas. but if it's blue or purple, democrats have the advantage. three weeks from tomorrow. >> all right. thank you very much. a reminder don't miss full circle. on facebook. you can see it weeknights at 6:25 p.m. eastern. news continues i want to hand it over to chris. cuomo "prime time" starts now. >> thank you, anderson. welcome to "prime time." saudi arabia maybe changing its sketchy story on the missing journalist. why should