wrong. the fix obamacare approach is not the way to go. we have to go medicare for all. we can sell it. free college. other progressive ideas, we can sell all these things in one election. that's what they believe. the people who believe we can change the democratic party, go big, go bold in center stage on night one. a lot of people on the stage disagree with it. they'll get incoming. no question. they'll get incoming from here, from here, saying it's too much. we cannot sell it to the country. walter mondale lost 49, michael dukakis lost 40. they were not that liberal. why are we doing this? this will be a fascinating fight for the progress i was. >> pete buttigieg will be happy standing next to bernie sanders because his is a new message. >> i think in the argument between sanders and warren is a real argument about who is best able to take on donald trump. and people will be judging them by that measures and we know that they are both fighters. we know bernie sanders has waged a national campaign before.

next to each other, and people will be judging them against each other and the yardstick is, donald trump out there. >> and how sanders and warren choose to differentiate themselves from each other. we haven't seen that yet. to your point, about 30%. we just, they are so sympatico on so many of these policies. they have very different ways of expressing it on the campaign trail. and how they differentiate from each other, this is a prime point. >> to anderson's point earlier, it's not necessarily about your plans, although clearly it is. but it is also about your style and how you make people feel. and she is very comfortable talking about her personal story. and bernie sanders is a little more -- >> isn't it more tapping into something? i mean, i can't explain, you cannot explain in a simple sentence how donald trump won but he clearly won in a way no other candidate has. >> listen, elizabeth warren has passion. last time she got a pass.

she was the professor with a bunch of graduate students around her. she was just the towering figure there. this time she'll be on the stage with people she has to deal with. >> stay with cnn for the presidential live debates on tuesday, jewel 30th and wednesday, july 31st. dana bash, jake tapper will moderate. two big nights, ten candidates each night only on cnn. thanks for watching this "ac360." now to chris cuomo and "cuomo prime time." chris? thank you, anderson. welcome to prime time. the stage is set for the democratic debates in detroit. you just saw live the drawings here on cnn. so what are the key match-ups? what are the stakes? with have primetime primary politicos here with the scoop. and the latest layer has been put on this president's lasagna of lies. he says he wasn't happy to hear his echo last night. he now says he tried to stop his

supporters when they were making the racist chant of send her being back. i have to laugh because it is an absurd suggestion. it's on tape, and it's throwback thursday so let's do a little rewind, shall we? as and is anthony scaramucci going to be excommunicated for telling the truth about the president's racist attack? did the party just punish him for being candid? the former white house communications director is here. what do you say? let's get after it. the president says the chant he inspired bothered him, and he tried to stop it. >> i think i did. >> send her back! >> i disagree with it, by the way, and it was quite a chant. i felt a little bit badly about it, but i will say this.

i did, and i started speaking very quickly. >> he can say it but it doesn't make it true. you know what makes it true, the tape? roll it. >> omar has a history of launching vicious anti-semitic screeds. >> send her back! send her back! send her back! send her back! send her back! send her back! >> do you know how you can tell when i don't like something? i go like this. ridiculous. 13 seconds. he sat satisfied. he betrayed zero upset. he made zero upset to stop the chant. he doesn't agree with it? he literally said go back to where you came from. that's where the chant comes from. here's the real question. why is the president playing it both ways? what is the play for democrats here? to play to advantage. big night, big names.

action tra row has, paul begala, welcome, welcome. good to have you back. i can't be wrong that what i just said. he liked the chant. it is usually his only move. you call me racist? i'll say more racist stuff. so i found that noteworthy. but it is -- to me what's interesting is how do decent people in both parties respond? republicans so far have really disappointed us, right, and the democrats, i think they have to guard against rising to the debate. you think about the president obama and president clinton, the only two democrats since the second world war to win the white house tries. they talked about race a lot but they didn't rise to the bait.

they didn't rise to the bait. i think what they would do is contextualize it. he is using division as a diversion. >> they did not deal with somebody like this. they did not deal with somebody who is playing race in their face. now, he can back away from it but you know what it is. i'll feed you your outrage and then say to the rest of us, i'm not that outrageous. how do you deal? >> let me say one thing. i was in north carolina last night. and before you have the big moment of centerback that we all know, the vitriol in that building was palpable. you have folks screaming traitor, treason. it was building to that moment. and then you have the president sit in that satisfied faction as it was rising up. i think that is a little different than what we've seen the other presidents have to deal with. because this is someone who is reveling in this kind of white identity politics and grievance, someone who is stoking that so explicitly. following this. i think for anyone who has been

following this and for me on the trail, it is jarring to go from the democratic primary world where they're talking in policies about how they will speak to voters of color here and there and kind of about the racial wealth gap and things. and then you go to this setting where they're talking about race but using it in a much different more divisive and galvanizing fashion. which presents democrats with a challenge. how do you meet them on that bigger plane of what america will be. >> exactly. and i've gotten some heat saying why do you talk about it? because it matters. because that's what this election will be about. he said you won't hear my plan on health care until after the election for a reason. he wants to litigate identity in this country. who we are, who we are not. what we accept and what we reject. i don't see the democrats playing to advantage here. democrats always bring a butter knife to a gun fight. and the republicans bring a rocket and kill everyone, including their own base. you have to take this on the offensive. there are real life repercussions to this. i'm a person of color.

when i get told to go back home, my entire life, wow, this is racist and hurtful. but i did not know until this week that they were simply disagreeing with my political and economic ideology, right, and what we're witnessing and what we're witnessing here is the death rattle of white supremacy in europe and north america. they are playing for all the marbles. president trump is not dealing with 3d chess. he has a history of this since the '70s. he ran on the obama birdie conspiracy. he could have run on the economy. he could have run on jobs. what did he run on? the jews are running on the caravan of immigrants and racists. the only reason he said it, maybe the optics of an entire chant of white people yelling send her hum, send her home where i stand there luxuriating in it. >> certainly not trying to stop it. >> didn't try to stop it at all. >> why did he do this? why is not he going after biden and bernie as much as he's going

after brown women. and again, people get upset when i put that it way but you tell me why he picked these four people and why he keeps talking about them. he talks about these four more than he does anybody running against them. what do the democrats do about that? >> well, i think that they need to embrace t. go on the offensive and talk about our vision. the reality is that the progressive ideals that these four congresswomen represent. i think fox news and donald trump have been targeting these women. they've at least been targeting aoc. . the reason why is these are four women of color and say they are trying to point to these white voters and say you have nothing in common with the black and brown people. >> why is tucker carlson doing it so much? he is the picture of the waspy white male. he is the right one to harness the outrage and say they want to take me out and replace me with these people. >> to your point of distraction, i think they're weaponizing racism. it is true he's a racist but they're also weaponizing it for a political purpose.

it's to distract and to make white voters and black and brown voters to think that they don't have the same problems that they are facing when the reality is that there is one party, the democratic party, that is going to hold this president accountable, will hold wall street accountable, that will do something about it. >> but right now the democrats are holding each other accountable more. leave these people alone when you've been going at it as well within the party. >> the point that alexandra made is the most important one. i believe it deeply. my life experience growing up in the south. it is their strategy. to divide white working people against people of color so they can rule from above. this is the demagogue strategy around the world. certainly in america and the american south, and we developments should be calling that out and objectifying it as the strategy. that way you're not demonizing 62 million people who voted for

donald trump but instead, contexturalizing it and explaining it. rather than condemn it contexturalize it the way alexandra just d. you have a lot more in common with those kids marching in ferguson than you realize. you're both getting screwed over by a system unjust and against you. i think they'll go after each other for tactical reasons. >> there is a problem. the democrats get hijacked by the republican base. the republican base that will not vote for them. >> a lot of them used to be the democrat base. >> they always chase this mythical moderate. an ordinary american while ignoring the base that comes out to vote. 2012. obama. he gets only 39% of white voters, important, doesn't get majority but brings out the base, black women, latino, asian americans, new vote remembers, young people, women. and look at donald trump. he's women, muslims, black people, immigrants.

>> last word for you and then we'll go to break because i need you to stay because i want to talk about the matchups about what to expect in the debate. i don't see them using this. the democrats, to bring out that base and say, this is your alternative. and all of you are potential victims of this vitriol if it continues. when does that happen? >> i think it happens as it moves closer to a general election matchup. right now they have an incentive to talk about each other and this large field to separate themselves from one another. what is looming, like? what yesterday reminded me of, no matter what democrats are saying to differentiate each other from themselves, for them to be successful, they need to unite against a republican party that is united around donald trump's ideology. the question of who republicans are was settled and reaffirmed in 2018. for democrats to be successful, they need to have, they have to have this kind of internal identity fight but they would have to come together and have that type of motivation because

republicans are motivated. >> this is a great group. please say. why? big news tonight in 2020. we now know the line-ups for the next presidential debates on cnn. we know who is on which night. we know how they're situated. now the big question is, who will play to advantage and who is in for a long night? we'll debate it all. next.

a big night here on cnn. just conduct the draw to determine the lineups for the next presidential debates in detroit. the two candidates competing for the title of progressive champion will be on the stage together this time on night one. who is that? bernie sanders, elizabeth warren. let's listen to warren in iowa reacting to the draw. >> i am delighted. bernie and i have been friends for a long, long time. we've worked a lot of issues together. >> but now i'm going to pop him in his nose. no. on night two, we have kamala harris and joe biden. and you have biden flanked by the two people who have done the most dodge to him so far, booker and harris.

we've got the team here. so how do you feel about the lineups, row lrojas? >> i mean, i think it is going to be an exciting night both nights like you just pointed out. on the second night you have biden and kamala harris where she had an incredible moment on the stage. on the first night, you have the two progressive champions that will push the rest of the field that is offering more moderate, centrist positions to be bolder and to actually have a vision and a plan for the future. >> most to lose on the stage tuesday night is bernie sanders. true or false? >> i would agree. i think that bernie sanders will be put in a tough position by the kind of rise of elizabeth warren in the second quarter. she out-raised him. that puts him in a position where, as somewhere who covers her rallies, her supporters, someone who is looking at him, and i think they will want some separation between the two of them. i think both nights have very interesting things at the top. when we look at the second night, biden and harris, the joe biden world was personally

joe biden world was personally wounded by that first debate, felt that she had crossed a personal line. but i also think on that second line, look at cory booker as well because you have those folks in the second night who are look is specifically at black voters. joe biden holds the lease among those voters. on both those nights, you have two sets of groups who are playing in the same electoral lane which caused some interesting match-ups. >> and you can't stay friends. this is a competitive process. i know think stay it, but it can't stay that way. do you think booker makes a play for harrison's lane? only one of those two have a chance at getting the ticket. that's still our politics culture in our country. that they will keep going and be part of this cooperative the whole time is not practical. >> i think people learned from the first one, who is the rising star? kamala harris. she went after the top dog. she dropped the beautiful photo, the narrative. then a fundraising email. how do you win? i think cory booker goes after biden. i think biden will be the top dog.

i think you'll do a rematch between biden and harris. i'm curious to see how biden positions himself. he was defensive in the first round and he was too weak. he has to get this maneuvering right with harris. and harris i think will double down. eat away at the voters. the first night, it will be really interesting. i think buttigieg will separate himself from warren and sanders and say i am your moderate choice. come to me. i just got 25 million. i'm in the top five. i'm not as crazy leftist as these guys. those are the two matchups i'm interested. >> if you're pete, the first thing you're saying is, you have to get in the game with people of color. that's the heart and soul of the democratic party. he is sucking wind with that. >> it's good news, pete. here's the cool thing for pete. a whole lot of those people of color are also moderates. democrats just nominated the most diverse field they've ever nominated and the most moderate in the last a or is a years. so he can go to -- he doesn't

have to sacrifice his own views if he is more moderate is, i suspect he is. >> you think this is the most moderate field? no. the house candidates. >> he said that. >> i'll run the tape on his ass, too. >> go ahead. >> the house candidates just won a land slide with were the most moderate and i think that is a really good model for the democratic party going into this election. >> it's a debate, okay. and we were talking during the break, always the best conversation during the break that it's not about policy. i would argue that the campaign is really not about a policy at all. especially this one. i think it will be an intense county format. but you have to have that and go. biden is great at that and he didn't. he stunk at one-lines, and harris was peppering him. who do you think this plays to advantage for? >> i think these public moments of accountability are not good for biden. i think he is shown to really struggle. i think with candidates like

contrasting kamala harris who i think comes off as extremely energetic and especially a woman of color i'm really excited to see a powerful black woman commanding her space on stage. >> we haven't seen her take a punch yet. i don't know if we will. i think it's hard. you have a little gender politics. women have challenges in how they project strength without being seen as harsh. men have a challenge in terms of how they take on a woman also. it didn't hurt the president. >> bernie took some shots at hillary. >> he took some. >> and lost. >> i don't give a damn about your e-mails. >> that was cool. >> it was cool for clinton. it wasn't cool for bernie. bernie could have played that differently. >> he did better after he said that. >> i think the power of what harris did in the first debate was use that moment to talk about electability. in that first debate, i would bet bernie sanders uses medicare for all for two reasons.

one to contrast himself with biden but to subtly hit senator warren. that community has felt that she has been a little soft on that issue. and that they are stronger in defending the kind of merits on that. i would say in that first debate, they used the policy. not only with the front-runner in the race but with the progressive side. >> i'm with you, but let's play warren's game for a sec. so you're person and you say i'm all in. all she has toss say is say me, too. i just think i can get it done and i see attacking corporations something that i'm an expert in. you've talked about it a lot. you like talking about it. i've done it. that's how i got into this game. so where is the advantage? >> i think bernie has a lot to lose. he is coming off the one trick pony. he owns it. yep, i've been consistent on message. that's my impersonation. he's that's who i am and i'm consistent on my message. you know what you're getting. warren, going back to your original thing about policy and

personality, this is where she can shine. she can be like, look, i'm not the rusty harvard professor. i made it. and i can understand how the system can change and policies can be put into place so a woman like me can be empowered to be a senator. that's where she comes in with the personality and the policies which are progressive. i reject this whole moderate centrist play. i think it is nonsense. i think we just saw right now the house pass what, $15 minimum wage. four years ago that was seen as, wait for it, radical. >> does that win a national election? >> if you look at the policies, attacking climate change, yeah. people are interested in that. at least something better than trump. compare yourself to trump. texas versus the united states to abolish obamacare. right? you think this is too extreme. let's if on the offensive for one. the republicans are going to demolish obamacare. so i think they can unite. so i think they can unite. i think they have personality, policy, and i'll say this again. go with your policies.

we have policy that's will unite all americans. we might disagree here or there but i'm going to help you. my policy on health care, wages, the economy, much better than donald trump. compare and contrast. who is the extremist? >> they should say some of that. >> yes! >> wave fanatic in the white house now. i think an existential threat to our country. so all i care about as a accident who can beat him. >> agreed. >> when you tell americans, for example, that donald trump is in court trying to take aware their protections for pre-existing conditions, they get angry. if you tell them which no democrat has, donald trump has proposed the largest cuts in medicare and medicaid in history, no one has said that. they're so busy talking about how they want to outlaw private health insurance. that's a total loser. i don't understand this. focus on trump. he is the worst thing that could ever happen to this country and he's right there damaging

everything democrats believe in. instead of doing that, they're playing some sort of purity game to be more leftist. i think that's craze. >> i don't think that's true at all. you have people like elizabeth warren and bernie sanders that have the clearest records of holding wall street accountable. of challenging multi-national corporations, standing up against bad trade deals, and, unfortunately, the more centrist positions of people on stage have been for those things. if we actually want to show the american people that we're serious about not just holding donald trump accountable, but deeper than that, the billionaire class continuing to weaponize with the gop and fox news, weaponizing racism, you have to hold these people account automobile. you can't just say i'm too scare. i have to play politics a little bit. if you say you want to hold this president accountable, move forward. >> with impeachment. >> no. >> you have to actually talk about transforming the lives of working people in this country.

that means providing every single -- >> she is talking about how policy is the big idea. i believe the night is about the big moment. they can be the same. they rarely are. who will be smart enough to get their people positioned in time on start their own chant when they're up there having a moment on the big stage. you guys are great. may we please do this again. so this is our kind of talk about what's going on in terms of on the left. on the right, my suggestion is simple. don't be a sucker when you're listening to this president. all right. he can tell you that he tried to stop that racist chant. he started it. that's the fact. we showed you it on tape. why is he having it both ways? because that's the best tactic for him in moving a culture war that he doesn't want to own. all right. what will happen in 2020? i have a very shrewd political mind here who says, do you know why the president is doing what he's doing with race? because he has to. really? why? answer, next. can my side be firm?

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this president had 13 seconds to stop the send her back garbage. now, that's like an eternity on stage or on television. it's not like 13 seconds is a little bit of time. it's a lot of time and he said nothing. why? because clearly he thinks he benefits from division. he sees it as a winning strategy. ron brownstein, the man i call the professor, because he is smart, says there is a practicality to what is going on here. good to have you on "primetime

as always, brother. help me understand this. i see it as a matter of choice. you say not so much. >> i agree. you had it right when you started it. this is what he wants to do. to a much greater degree than the white house will acknowledge. at this point it is what he has to do. the reason i say that, he has already diverged so far from the other path that was available to him that he can't get back to it anymore. what was the other path? the other path was the ronald reagan question. are you better off than you were four years ago? and he will raise that question throughout the next 15, 18 months. but the fact is that the racial division, the divisiveness, the gender remarks, the volatility that he's already done, has alienated chris, as we've talked about before, too many of the voters who would answer yes to are you better offer than you were four years ago? even if they say yes to that, they will still say no to him. in polling, they're about a fifth of the voters who say that

they approve of donald trump's handling of the economy. the polling still shows that they disapprove of him overall and they'll vote for joe biden. so through the racial divisiveness that he has already and the other kind of divisiveness that he's engaged in, he's already narrowed the pool of swing voters that would come to him because of the economy. the paradox forces him to gin up more racial anxiety even with pushing away more of the swing voters who say, who are satisfied with the way the economy is going. >> are there enough? >> i think he's moved so far from the other path that i don't think he can get back to it anymore. >> are there enough people who will, who that message will appeal to to women? >> it is right at the margin. in the popular vote, almost certainly not. in the electoral college, possibly. here's the reality. the most important swing voters in the electorate, i believe, and many in both parties

believe, voters who are satisfied with trump's performance on the economy. that's around 50%, which is what an incumbent needs. but dissatisfied with his overall performance which takes him down to 43, 44, 45. which is a much mar marginal situation. that delta between the voters satisfied with the economy but not with his overall performance is the margin between somebody that's right on the edge for him or even below for someone who is in a more traditional position for an incumbent president. >> so why did captain double down hedge on what happened last night and lie and say that he didn't want it >> he barely hedged. he did what he did with jake tapper and david duke in march 2017. he sends the message loud and clear and then he embroiders on a tiny bit of disclaimer so he flummoxed the media.

imagine everybody hearing send her back, heard it. that moment is a defining moment. as i said over the last couple days, imagine that scene playing out in any other arena of american life. if 20 high school students stood around a classmate on a football field in a hijab and said send her home, what would happen to them? if 20 people did it at a lunch room at your job, around one of the co-workers or the corporate bored room of the ceo, said to the vice president, go back to where you're from because you disagree, what would happen to them? i was exchanging with general hurtling. what would happen in the military if the platoon leader allowed that to happen? if a platoon leader allowed that to happen? we all know the answer. the only reason, the enormous magnitude of how unusual this is, how out of bounds this is for contemporary american life, i think that only -- you can only miss it in people don't call it out. and we need to hear from business leaders about what they would do if someone said this in their own workplace. >> the question is why aren't we hearing more playing on the

offense from democrats about exactly this? when will they embrace it? this election will be about identity politics not about the most lefty healthcare plan. i have to jump. ron, your piece is coming out in "the atlantic" tomorrow morning. >> tomorrow morning. >> this will be the really thick version of this to understand the theory that ron is laying out to you and what the variables are, and it is promising to be good. >> not just strength. it is weakness is my point. >> thank you very much as always. the professor. so, look. how are we seeing it made manifest? it is creating pressure on the democrats on how to counter it. so i see opportunity. it is creating pressure on the republicans what to do with it. he is so popular in his party. so what happens when you speak about him? ask this good looking guy on your screen. his former communications director only said what is obvious. only said what any common sense demands you say about what he said. and anthony scaramucci, i think he just paid the price for it within his party. we'll hear from him, next.

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you know, the line we wrote here is that republicans have

been straddling a fine line. no, they haven't. they haven't been straddling any line. they've been ignoring the obvious. this president tweeted something racist and it was racist on purpose. they didn't want to risk the wrath because his pull is strong in the party and they are worried about not benefiting from his glory. you know who just felt the bite? one of the people who was best to him in all this. anthony scaramucci, good for you, where are you? what are you, like having a hotdog on the street? >> no. i'm outside the hunt and fish club. they stopped serving lobster in there because of what happened so i'm out here talking to you. >> you cannot even get into your own restaurant. >> i can't get into my own restaurant. >> you say what is obvious. what he said in that tweet was racist. you don't think he's racist, but what he put in the tweet is racist. what's the difference? >> well, he's not racist. i've spent enough time with him to know that he's not racist.

but if racists think you're racist, one of my best friends who is african-american said to me this morning, if racist think you're racist, you might want to stop and change. you might want to think about what you're doing. i predict that he will stop what he is doing. i pick today was a turning point for him where he was walking back the chant stuff and saying that he was not happy with it. i think he will settle down crowds in the future and i think he will stop that rhetoric. it is too divisive. >> the other side, anthony is that he's doing it because it won't work. the other side is he thinks it is the only thing that will work. let me ask you to get a little context. >> that will lead to electoral -- no. i haven't talked to him. >> did you talk to the white house today? >> no. i haven't talked to the white house today. they're a bunch of fraidy cats inside the white house. there are a lot of people in the white house that think that

it was wrong but they're too afraid to admit it and say you have to walk it back. >> i'm wondering why he walked it back at all. >> because i think that very smart people that like him are getting in his ear and are telling him, don't do that. that's electoral suicide in places like pennsylvania and places like michigan where you have hundreds of thousands of people that just got there, that legalized immigration, and they are being told by people that are racist, go back to where you belong. like they told my grandmother and possibly told your grandmother. >> absolutely. >> i don't want to talk about that though honestly because i actually think he did the right thing today and i disagree with some of the panelists that you just had on. i do think he'll stop and it go in the right direction from here. i hope i'm right. because he's the leader of the free world. he's the president of the united states. >> he's just never done what you're suggesting. >> okay. but he has to do it. those are the ideals of america. that's the fabric of america.

it is a blended fabric. it is what lincoln said about america. it being the last best hope for mankind. he has to do that. >> what does tell you, anthony, that the palm beach -- >> or it's going to be bad for him. >> what does it tell you that the fat cat republican club gave you the boot over what you said? what does that tell you about your party? >> they're a bunch of frady cat babies. i'll calling they will all day, the lobster nazis. no lobster for you. no soup for you. the guy is a complete baby. and he's afraidy cat. what i said to the guy from met co, it's totally true. if i throw an orange on the floor and i say go on television and tell me that's an apple. if you don't do that, you're not loyal to me. that's not a loyalty test. you can't break your principles and your integrity and personal history because you like somebody. i have to prove to you that i'm loyal to you by calling an apple an orange or an orange an apple? i'm never doing that, man. i came from nowhere. i am living the american dream. i'm not doing that.

what i'm calling on my fellow republicans, the elected officials, tell them the truth, but let's move on. the very good news for the president is, he has an amazing economy. he is creating an economic miracle in the country. he has helped the african-american community and hispanic american community tremendously. >> not by what he's saying. >> not by what he's saying but the policies are great. so tone down what you're saying. i think the message from the oval office was great and the trajectory is great and go with that. by the way, i say it as a guy who likes him. these idiots in palm beach, oh, my god. he said one syllable the president may not like. we have to cancel his appearance. good for you guys. you're a bunch of big babies. you lack courage and you lack integrity. do you understand what i'm saying? >> i understand exactly what you're saying. >> i'm cool with it. >> you have to they will to the lindsey grahams of your party. >> come. on he said, give it a little break. >> please!

>> he called this president a seine phone and a bigot and now he's saying he got a raw deal. he was fos one of those two times. >> they're politicians. i'm not a politician. i'm a business person. i'm doing millions of dollars, hundreds of millions in transactions on my word. so i'm not going to call an apple an orange or an orange an apple. just not doing that. so ask me the question. i'll tell you the honest answer. i honestly believe that people got to him today. they messaged to him. he walked it back and i'm optimistic that we'll start tomorrow a better path to the president and i predict that he'll win the re-election. and he should win the re-election. he's done an amazing job for the country. but tone down the language that will light people up in a way that is divisive in the country. don't do that. >> the thing is, he's doing it on purpose. not like he's making mistakes. anthony scaramucci, i appreciate your candor. you may be out on the street with your party but i know your heart is in the right place.

>> i'm out on the street. my hair is getting frizzy. i know you're jealous of my hair. >> he has a nice head of hair. >> you also tell people you're 5'10". so in terms of when you tell the truth and you don't. >> i'm 5'10" on my license. just put it that way. probably the only place i'm 5'10". >> thank you for doing this for me tonight. get back inside before you get too wet. isn't that interesting? the guy who was his coms director. sure, he's pissed a lot of people off but this is so obvious that there was only one answer for him to give and now he's being punished by his party. such an ugly, contentious week in washington that it turned the house chaplain's morning prayer into what i saw as like a potential exorcism. look at this. >> in your most holy name, i now cast out all spirits of darkness from this chamber. spirits not from you. may your spirit of wisdom and patience descend upon all. so that any spirit of darkness

might have no place in our midst. >> gee, i wonder what he was talking. he told us later. he said, look. it's about this racism. how about all the people listening there on the right side of the aisle when they've double nothing, you had to have your chaplain say he wanted to remove the darkness. you know what the scene should have looked like? let's bring in d. lemon. i was expecting more of a scene like this one. >> i know what you're going to do. >> the power of christ compels you! the power of christ compels you! the power of christ compels you! >> i was looking at that scene before i came out. the power -- and then they get her down on the bed and strap her down. >> but things don't get much better than that. >> that's when the peas come out of her mouth. >> it is so ugly that the chaplain has to say a prayer to remove the spirits of darkness from the house chamber. >> we need prayer to remove the spirit of darkness from the

house right now. this is an ugly president. this is nothing to do with supporting the president. what the president did was awful. what he said was awful. and there's no one to blame but him. especially people chanting, you know, send her back. that's all because the president tweeted what he tweeted. >> absolutely. >> that chant, those people had it in their hearts without the president. he just brought it to the fore. that's it. >> i don't know if you got to hear ron brownstein. his piece in "the atlantic" comes out tomorrow. he is making a play here because he thinks it is how he wins. and i don't make a distinction. anthony scaramucci will say i don't think he's racist but he's saying racist things. he has to stop. fine. my feeling is this. you say racist things, you end up owning the philosophy of racism as well. >> yeah. >> but even if you didn't, i think you're worse because you're playing to an advantage that you know something is ugly, and you don't even have the exkufs ignorance that got you there. >> you can say things are racist sometimes and not be racist. you can be ignorance. you can say things are

homophobic sometimes. doesn't mean that the whole of you is racist, but if you say it often enough, i think it defines you. we have to stop saying i don't know what's in his heart. i don't know what's in your heart. i know what your actions are, your words are. from that i can only surmise the kind of person you are and who you are. and so if you walk and talk and act like a racist, then chances are, you're a racist. this president has said a lot of things that are racist. he's done a whole lot of things are racist. and then he pretends he didn't say it. he pretend that had he tried to stop the people from saying what they said in that crowd yesterday or the day before. or the night before. >> the latest layer on the lasagna of lies. what have you got coming up? >> okay. do you know grant woods? grant woods is a good friend of john mccain. do you remember remember when the woman stood up and she didn't trust obama because he's an arab and he said right there

i've got to stop you. all the president had to do was say stop. we're not doing that. we can vote her out, but we're not going to do that sort of thing. he didn't do it. it took him 13 seconds so he shouldn't sit there today and lie and pretend he didn't do it. we'll talk about the difference between two men, these two men. not because we need to discuss. one is a really great man. the other one, we'll see. >> i'll see you in a second. >> yeah. so, look, we're saying this to you a hundred different ways through reporting and through perspective. what this president is doing is intentional and it's because he thinks he needs to do it to win. so let's look at that. but also let's look at who really needs to be called out here, the enablers. another argument that i should not have to make, but it is needed. next.

i ask you, is this the face of a man who disagrees with what's happening around him? >> omar has a history of launching vicious anti-semitic screeds. >> send her back! send her back! send her back!

send her back! send her back! send her back! send her back! >> 13 seconds of silence. you saw him. he was just taking it in. there was no rejection. there was no disapproval. 15 hours later this president tried to defy what you just saw. >> i started speaking very quickly. it -- it really was a loud -- i disagree with it, by the way, but it was quite a chant, and i felt a little bit badly about it. >> so he's against it even though he inspired it, but he was impressed by it, though he felt badly about it. this is also known as lying. but once again his party took whatever cover they could find. senator romney tweets, "the chants at last night's rally were offensive and i'm glad the president has disavowed them." he did not disavow. not really. and others in the party just keep ducking.

senator cruz said he's not interested in color commentary. senator cornyn said he hadn't seen it and walked into a hearing. senators rounds and moran reportedly said the same. look, the problem here is that the president is trying to have it both ways, feed the base its outrage and then try to convince the rest of you that his actions aren't outrageous. here's the proof. >> david duke endorsed me? okay. all right. i disavow. okay? >> a disavowal with a shrug. two days later to jake tapper. >> i know nothing about david duke. i know nothing about white supremacists. certainly i would disavow if i thought there was something wrong. >> the ku klux klan. >> give me a list of the groups and i'll let you know. >> okay. i'm talking about david duke and the ku klux klan here, but -- >> honestly i don't know david duke. >> no good groups among white supremacists, by the way. what's he doing, he's

struggling? when you're struggling to disavow white supreme sifts, it's a problem. when you see a moral equivalency between those fighting for the confederate flag and those fighting against it, that's a problem. and of course picking on women of color and telling them to go back to the countries where they come from when they were born here or are u.s. citizens is a big problem. i argue this. his hedge that we just saw here makes it worse. it would be more honest if he were leading that chant at the rally. own the animus that you are spreading on purpose. so there is no measure of solace in his feigned frustration with his folks. it shows not that he didn't mean it, but that it is, indeed, a tactic, a con, not a principled stand, not something he just believes deep in his bones. he's playing them and then he's trying to play you. period. that makes his efforts every bit as dangerous and maybe more so than the rantings of a diehard racist.

why? because it's one thing if you're too stupid to know how stupid you sound, but if you just see advantage in spreading hate, that makes him like the punk in the park saying "fight, fight, fight" under their breath until others join in and coax someone to throw a punch. a president should not be a punk. he should be the guy who separates those in conflict, finds a way forward, whose very presence inspires people to be their best, not their chanting worst. there's a bigger problem here, though, because to be honest, despite his best effort and all the media madness surrounding this president, he hasn't succeeded in pitting us against each other, not really. the bigger problem is that when exposed, when called out, he looks for help from his party and he keeps getting it. that's the biggest failure afoot, republicans enabling vitriol. they should be ashamed but they're not. they should absolutely call out this man as they would a

democrat but they will not. and their reasons for restraint stink. they are afraid of criticism by him because he's popular. they're afraid of a primary challenge. all of that is anathema to good leadership. and that i would argue is the worst part of this president's perfidy, his faithlessness in his office. he is breaking his oath to you. i argue this president is not faithfully executing his office because he is lying and dividing, and it will not stop unless this president sees no profit in doing it. and that won't happen unless those in his party keep their promise to constituents. and hold him to account. or one of these democrats finds a way to connect with this country and restore faith in enough of us that they can be better than this. maybe you make it clear that this president is out on his ass if he doesn't do better. we'll see. lots of options on the table. that's all for us tonight.