tv Americas News HQ FOX News September 1, 2018 1:00pm-2:00pm PDT
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watching. hope to see you right here next week. saying a final farewell to an american hero. former president, friend and family gather in the nation's capital to honor the life and legacy of senator john mccain. hello, everybody. welcome to a brand new hour inside america's news headquarters. >> today's ceremony marked by pomp and circumstance. thousands of people gathering at the washington national cathedral for the funeral of senator john mccain, capping a week of memorial services honoring his incredible life and service to our country. here's his daughter meghan paying homage to her father. >> he was a sailor. he was an aviator. he was a husband. he was a warrior.
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he was a prisoner. he was a hero. he was a congressman. he was a senator. he was a nominee for president of the united states. he was a great man. we gather here to mourn the passing of american greatness, the real thing, not cheap rhetoric from men who will never come near the sacrifice he gave so willingly. >> peter doocy is live in washington with more. reporter: at today's two and a half hour long memorial service, the mourners and speakers weren't just saying they were going to miss john mccain the man, they were saying they would miss his brand of politics. at one point, the late senator's daughter meghan broke from a teary tribute to not so subtly condemn the commander in chief, who wasn't invited. >> america does not boast because she has no need to. the america of john mccain has no need to be made great again because america was always
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great. reporter: so president trump not here today, but three of his predecessors sat in a pew together inside the national cathedral, barack obama, president bush and president clinton. >> in recent years, we sometimes talk of that intense period like football players, remembering a big game. in the process, rivalry melted away. reporter: one of the many prominent democrats in the cathedral today was one of the other lawmakers who defeated john mccain in an election, former president barack obama, who shared stories about quietly calling mccain into the oval office to chat about their personal lives and political squabbles. obama, like many other speakers today, remembered the late senator mccain's sense of humor. >> what better way to get a last laugh than to make george and i say nice things about him to a
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national audience. reporter: mccain was remembered today as a lawmaker and prisoner of war, and a father and now, the public celebrations of his life have concluded. tomorrow, he will be buried at the naval academy in annapolis, maryland in a ceremony that is for family only. eboni? >> thank you, peter. mike? >> president trump putting more pressure on our northern neighbors, suggesting he's willing to forge ahead on a trade deal without canada. four days of talks between the two sides ended yesterday with significant differences remaining. >> we just made a great deal with mexico. big thing. big, big thing. nafta was a disaster. i love canada but they have taken advantage of our country for many years. they have tremendous tariffs. dairy products, do you know
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this, mark, almost 300% tariff. >> we have the latest from the white house. what are some of the sticking points? reporter: there are reportedly still quite a few issues that need to be resolved moving ahead. one of them a big issue for the u.s., those dairy tariffs. you heard president trump talk about that in north carolina a little earlier this week. there are also disagreements over a sunset clause. mexico's trade rep says the u.s. did soften its stance on that. also pharmaceuticals, concerns about a ten-year requirement of data protection for biological drugs and how that might impact the cost of medicine. reporters asked canada's trade rep about that specifically. she said she would not negotiate in public. >> we are continuing to work very hard and we are making progress. we are not there yet. this is a very complex agreement and we are going to continue working at it. the government of canada will not sign an agreement unless
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it's good for canada and good for canadians. reporter: there is an agreement with mexico, though obviously still no deal with canada. the talks, nafta trade negotiations are set to begin again between canada and the u.s. on wednesday. >> did the president's leaked off the record remark impact or damage those talks? reporter: they certainly didn't help them. the informal deadline was friday, the deadline set by the trump administration, and obviously that deadline came and went without a deal between the u.s. and canada. the remarks that president trump made to bloomberg news off the record leaked to a canadian newspaper and they really did seem to upend days of negotiations. they even moved the markets. according to the "toronto star" president trump told bloomberg news he's not compromising with canada when it comes to nafta talks. he said he couldn't say that publicly because it would be so insulting. the "star" reports that trump's comments were viewed by canadian negotiators as evidence for their suspicion that the u.s. was not making a legitimate
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offer to compromise and that canadian officials confronted u.s. officials about the remarks during a high level meeting friday morning. the president is not backing down. he tweeted this morning quote, there is no political necessity to keep canada in the new nafta deal if we don't make a fair deal for the u.s. after decades of abuse. canada will be out, congress should not interfere with these negotiations or i will simply terminate nafta entirely and we will be far better off. he's also accused bloomberg of violating an off the record agreement, but the journalist behind the "toronto star's" report is now defending those reporters. he tweeted that the bloomberg interviewers were not his source for this report. >> thanks a lot. eboni? >> for much more on this, reuters white house correspondent jeff mason joins me now. a lot to unpack here. let's start with what we heard from the president in that
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report. he's just saying flat out lot of the things we heard on the campaign trail, lot of the things he ran on and was elected on, which is that america has been being taken economically advantage of by a lot of people in the world and in this case, he's saying on his watch it will no longer take place. now, as unconventional as that rhetoric is and we can debate about whether or not leaked material was part of that, how effective is this type of hard-fought, tough-talking political stance from the president? >> he would say it's been effective with mexico because they reached an agreement with mexico at the beginning of this week. i think this is a continuation, as you say, of that rhetoric. it's also to sort of up the pressure on canada to do the same thing mexico did and come to the table with some compromises on issues that the president really cares about, and dairy is certainly one of them. he is clearly sending the signal he's not going to back down on trade and believes it's in his interest and in the interest of the voters that he's looking out for in the upcoming midterm
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elections. >> to that point, the fact the president has closed the deal with mexico already, the talks with canada are set to resume wednesday of this upcoming week, how much leverage do you think that gives the president going into, the administration, rather, going into those talks with canada, the fact mexico is already on board? >> i think it gives them a lot of leverage. the other side has leverage as well, not least because u.s. businesses are saying that if it's not a trilateral deal, that means if it's not a deal between mexico, the united states and canada, then businesses won't support it and there are lawmakers on capitol hill saying the same, which is partially why president trump probably tweeted to congress to stay out of the negotiations. he's not looking for that kind of feedback right now. but there is pressure on both sides. certainly, the fact that mexico has already agreed to a deal or come to this agreement with the united states gives washington and president trump's trade negotiators quite a bit of leverage in their talks with
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canada. >> so when we talk about nafta and a lot of these trade agreements here, there's a lot of binary good or bad. what we really know is it depends who you're talking to, are we talking about consumers or potential employers in certain states in america that rely heavily on these trade relationships with canada and mexico. if you kind of lay out some of the good and bad and where that spectrum lies for most americans. >> sure. you're right, there's a lot to unpack there. the president has painted trade agreements broadly, big trade agreements, as being bad because he believes the united states has been taken advantage of, and that's the line or rhetoric he's used about nafta and about other trade agreements as well. that said, nafta has been a part of the u.s., mexican and canadian economy now for more than 20 years, and as a result, there are supply chains and there are other issues in the economy that have become intertwined. so not having a trilateral agreement as we were saying
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earlier would affect that. that in addition is raising concerns in the states that are particularly affected by those agreements and by that interconnection. >> i want to call for some sound that we have from canada's foreign minister where she makes a distinction between nafta and tariffs. >> on the aluminum tariffs, canada has said from the very outset of the consideration that this was an issue entirely separate from nafta, and that is not an opinion. that is a matter of fact. >> can you respond to her statement? >> well, i can guess how the president would respond. the white house has put those steel and aluminum tariffs on many countries who are traditional u.s. allies and said it is for national security reasons. but many u.s. allies, not just
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canada, have said that it's absurd to say that that is a national security issue. so that's what she's referring to there. she is saying that it's a separate issue from the nafta talks. >> much more to unpack as the talks resume on wednesday. >> lot going on in the next week. thank you. fox news alert. two american tourists attacked in the netherlands. police say a 19-year-old afghan man stabbed them at a train station in amsterdam. they say the suspect was motivated by terrorism. he was arrested after being shot by police. the american victims are recovering at a hospital. five former residents of a new mexico compound back in federal custody, this time on weapons and conspiracy charges. this coming days after a legal technicality forced the judge to dismiss charges against three of them in the death of a
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3-year-old boy whose body was found hidden on the property last month. reporter: this is the latest development in what's been a frustrating and bizarre week for those involved in this case. the five suspects were originally arrested after authorities raided a compound in mexico earlier this month. they found 11 kids, including the then 3-year-old son of one of the suspects, but then just a few days ago, judges dropped all charges and released three of the suspects, because prosecutors failed to meet a ten-day limit to set a hearing. this not only alarmed the community but frustrated the chief judge overseeing this c e case. yesterday all five were arrested on gun and conspiracy charges. legal experts say it's basically a holding charge in that the fbi had to intervene. >> it's really embarrassing how these state prosecutors in new mexico really botched this up
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but the federal government has a lot more resources, they are going to do this a lot more methodically and there are a lot more ways to make sure that these defendants don't walk. reporter: prosecutors allege a group was involved in terrorism and muslim extremism and that they wanted to train one of the kids to carry out future school shootings. the d.a. says his office will now seek grand jury indictments involving the death of that 3-year-old. he says it will allow his office more time to gather evidence. >> alarming story out of new mexico. thanks a lot. a federal judge dealing a blow to president trump and opponents of daca by allowing the obama-era program to continue. however, it might not be for very long. plus, new controversy over the trump administration's move to withhold some of judge kavanaugh's white house records just days before confirmation is set to start. but president trump remains confident in his nominee.
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>> one of the many things we've done but it's so important. but the big thing is we're building our military stronger than ever. all of these things are happening. we are taking care of them. we are putting great judges on the courts. we got judge kavanaugh, hopefully in great shape. these digestive issues can start in the colon and may be signs of an imbalance of good bacteria. phillips' colon health caps have this unique combination of probiotics to help replenish good bacteria. get four-in-one symptom defense. also try our delicious new probiotic gummies. you agreed to never give up to be a decent neighbor to remember the good people who rise with every challenge
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eboni: a federal judge denying texas and eight other states' requests to end the obama era daca program which president trump sought to end last september. now, the judge did question the legality of the program but argued ultimately that more harm would be done to the recipients if it ended. now, this latest ruling will protect young undocumented immigrants brought to the u.s. as children temporarily, but the judge urged congress to find a long-term fix. >> it's the day for opening statements. the next two days, wednesday and thursday, we're going to keep it on schedule by keeping in session all day and well into the night until every member of the committee gets a chance, as mr. mcconnell said, he wants this person through the senate
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by the end of september. mike: chuck grassley fired up for a huge week next week, looking ahead to the big confirmation hearings for judge brett kavanaugh. bottom line, he's set to start just after the labor day holiday. this despite a last minute push by democrats to delay those hearings. let's bring in ed whalen, former clerk to the late justice scalia and president of the ethics and public policy center. great to have you. >> thank you. mike: we know judge kavanaugh is preparing for what is going to be thrown at him and the senators on the judiciary committee are doing their prep sessions as well. what are your expectations heading into a huge week for the supreme court nomination? >> i think we will have a thorough examination of judge kavanaugh's impressive record. this is a judge who has served for 12 years on the d.c. circuit with distinction, has written more than 300 opinions. i hope very much the focus will be on his actual judicial
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record. the american bar association just yesterday gave judge kavanaugh its highest well qualified rating by a unanimous vote. quite a strong statement about his impressive qualifications. i think the more everyone learns about this excellent judge, the more impressed people will be. mike: issues like abortion, campaign finance reform, the second amendment, executive power and more. what are the potential land mines? >> well, i don't think there really are any land mines. i think it's well accepted that nominees cannot speak and will not speak to how they would rule on particular issues. judge kavanaugh will discuss and explain opinions he's written in various areas, but i don't expect this will be anything that's explosive. mike: senate democratic leader chuck schumer is crying foul on twitter, saying we're witnessing a friday night document massacre. president trump's decision to step in at the last moment and
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hide 100k pages of judge kavanaugh's records from the american public is not only unprecedented in the history of scotus noms, it has all the makings of a coverup. your thoughts? >> well, senator schumer is always crying wolf. look, there have been times before when he's complained back on the alito nomination, documents were withheld on grounds of executive privilege. that's exactly what the presidential records act and executive order that barack obama promulgated in 2009 contemplate. beyond that, with elena kagan who had a much smaller volume of documents made available, there are some 16,000 pages of documents never provided to the committee, so this is a side show. the democrats have no actual ammunition against judge kavanaugh, will try to focus attention on the side show but it really shouldn't distract attention from this outstanding nominee. mike: does judge kavanaugh have to worry some of the democrats on the committee will use this
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confirmation hearing as a way to launch their 2020 presidential campaign such as cory booker, kamala harris and amy klobuchar? >> that may happen and other senators are responding to their base and perhaps being more interested in making political theater than in asking probing questions. i don't think in the end, that will affect a single vote on the confirmation. mike: would your advice to judge kavanaugh just to be to keep your cool no matter what's thrown at you? for example, if connecticut democrat senator richard blumenthal, a former prosecutor, goes after him hard? >> well, sure. i think he will keep his cool. that said, i think it could be perfectly proper to be indignant at some of the smears that have been tossed his way. in this regard, i want to highlight that the american bar association's unanimous well-qualified rating included the criteria of integrity, saying he had the highest integrity.
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when you see people smearing judge kavanaugh, there is simply no basis for that. it shouldn't happen. mike: republicans seem pretty confident that so far, democrats have yet to do any damage to kavanaugh's nomination. yet to lay a glove on him. is that your sense? >> absolutely. again, democrats deprive themselves of whatever ammunition they might have when a year ago they were driven by their base to filibuster the gorsuch nomination. in the process, the filibuster was abolished. right now, republicans hold together and judge kavanaugh will very soon become justice kavanaugh. mike: your well-trained eye in terms of these confirmation hearings, what should we be looking for? >> well, you are going to see in the questioning on wednesday and thursd thursday, alternating back and forth between republicans and democrats, and i think it will be interesting to see whether anyone seems to score any points
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on anything. i don't expect that to happen but obviously, we want to look for that. judge kavanaugh's opening statement at the end of tuesday i think will be a natural focal point. the rest of tuesday is going to be a lot of statements by the 21 members of the committee, so it will be a slow tuesday until we get to midafternoon or so. mike: ed whalen, thanks for teeing it up for us. eboni: president trump decides to skip two key meetings with asian leaders this fall. why is this raising concern among u.s. allies in the region? and the president continues to slam the justice department and fbi over the russia investigation. the president's latest warnings, up next. >> a lot of people talk about the department of justice like it's the fourth branch of government. it's not. all the executive power flows to the president of the united states. he delegates that power, he can take it back.
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eboni: remembering john mccain. an emotional funeral service for the late republican senator was held at washington national dra cathedral. former presidents bush and obama paying tribute to their one-time political rival. >> if we are ever tempted to forget who we are, to grow weary of our cause, john's voice will always come as a whisper over our shoulder. we are better than this. america is better than this. >> so much of our politics, our public life, our public discourse, can seem small and mean and petty. bomb bombast and insult and phony controversies. john called on us to be bigger
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than that. he called on us to be better than that. eboni: a private service is scheduled tomorrow at the u.s. naval academy in maryland, where senator mccain will be buried. mike: new reaction to a justice department official's ties to the salacious anti-trump dossier, as that official, bruce ohr, continues to be grilled by house republicans in a closed session. president trump taking to twitter, accusing the justice department and fbi of not holding officials responsible for corruption. former doj deputy director of public affairs says the department has and will continue to enforce the law. >> the leadership at the department of justice is going to follow the same process that they did when they fired andy mccabe and peter strzok. they will let the inspector general continue his investigation, submit a report. if that report shows that bruce ohr broke the law or broke department policy, i suspect he will suffer the same fate as peter strzok and andy mccabe.
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mike: garrett penny has more. reporter: president trump continues to go after the fbi and his own justice department for what he sees as political bias. today, the president criticized the foreign intelligence surveillance courts which approved the warrants to surveil members of his campaign. saying you've got corruption at the doj and fbi. the leadership at the doj and fbi are completely out to lunch in terms of exposing and holding those accountable who are responsible for that corruption. after several weeks of publicly blasting his attorney general and raising speculation he might be fired, on thursday, president trump said jeff sessions would not be fired before the midterm elections. but just a few hours later at a campaign rally in evansville, indiana, the president took aim at the department sessions oversees. >> our justice department and our fbi have to start doing their job and doing it right and doing it now.
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but at some point if it doesn't straighten out properly, i want them to do their job, i will get involved and i will get in there if i have to. reporter: the president has also grown increasingly frustrated over the continued employment of justice department official bruce ohr. during a closed door deposition this week on capitol hill, two sources with direct knowledge tell fox news ohr told investigators at least half a dozen fbi and doj officials knew about his back channel contact with christopher steele, who compiled the controversial dossier on candidate trump, and about the origins of the dossier as a piece of democratic-funded opposition research. house republicans criticized fbi officials for not disclosing those details in their applications for their surveillance warrants and are once again asking the president to declassify the bureau's records about ohr and the warrant applications. mike? mike: thank you. eboni? eboni: president trump decides not to attend two major summits in asia this fall. the white house says the president will not travel to singapore for a meeting hosted
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by the association of southeast asia nations, as well as an asian pacific economic cooperation gathering, sending vice president mike pence instead. a former campaign policy adviser joins us. thanks for being here, david. we really shouldn't read too much into the fact president trump himself is not going to attend these two summits in asia, but that we have to consider the timing of it. i'm going to call for a couple of tweets that the president put out just days before the announcement that he wouldn't go to this, and in the tweet he's essentially -- i will read them for you. president donald j. trump feels strongly that north korea is under tremendous pressure from china because of our major trade disputes with the chinese government. at the same time, we also know that china is providing north korea with considerable aid, including money, fuel, fertilizer and various other commodities. this is not helpful.
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okay. so in light of that, the president essentially really calling out china specifically around potentially being a part of the stalled talks that the u.s. was having with north korea. so when you put those tweets alongside his absence of these two fall summits, what do you make of it? >> it's hard to square them. like you say, we shouldn't read too much into the fact that he's not going to one set of meetings. previous presidents like president obama and president bush often skip the meetings, at least once. but when you pair that with the fact that he is starting a trade war with china, you would think he would be -- want to be present at these meetings to show u.s. leadership in order to cultivate the relationships with our other asian allies who we need to really isolate china in order for him to be successful with his policy to press for china to compromise on trade. eboni: is it possible, as i read in the open, vice president pence is going to these so is it possible strategy from the white house that says you know what,
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we don't want to leave our allies hanging in the region, we do want to make sure we are there as some sort of buffer against the rise of chinese influence which is very much a concern of theirs so i will send vice president pence to do the job. give me your pros and cons on vice president pence going as a replacement. >> look, it's important to note the u.s. is not not attending. he's sending the vice president. he's a capable leader. he may, in fact, be more attuned to what the u.s. needs to accomplish in these meetings. that makes sense. but president trump not going does send a message to our allies. our allies are thinking okay, this isn't important to president trump. that's the down side to pence going and trump not going. >> is that a fair conclusion? do we know he's saying it's not important or is he just saying maybe it's so important that i don't like the way it's feeling, i don't like the way it's looking so let me send vice president pence to maybe check the temperature and re-evaluate? >> i think if you also consider the fact that he pulled out of the trans-pacific partnership in
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january 2017 which also sent a very serious message to our allies in asia about the priority he puts on having a good trade relationship with our allies there, i think those two things together, him not showing up for these meetings and pulling out of tpp, that does send a message. it's a negative message. hopefully pence can do a good job and make up for that and make some progress. eboni: so it definitely, you are factually stating correctly there, pulling out of tpp in 2017 sends a message. i'm going to push back on you a little bit and say do we know it's a negative message? one of the things president trump has been unashamed about and very consistent around is his disruptor mentality. would you say it's fair at all to say this is a continuation of that disruption and perhaps there's some grander plan from the white house around how he's going to deal with china and the other partners in the region? >> you make a very good point. the president has a preference for bilateral trade deals rather than multilateral trade deals. that could be an explanation for
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why he pulled out of tpp. but the problem is, he hasn't been pushed forward on bilateral trade deals with those countries that are members of the tpp. he's not following any sort of strategy with respect to trade. now, with respect to china, perhaps he's looking at this in a different way. he has a strategy. he wants to see the president of china soon. he will see him at the g-20 and perhaps that's where he thinks he can make some progress with china. eboni: final question around it as we talk about much talk about china that relates to north korea and really want to talk about where russia fits into all of this. many had called long ago for president trump to be more aggressive with china as it relates to the russian component. tell me your thoughts on that. >> well, china has the most influence on north korea so president trump is right to focus in on what china is doing and the fact that china hasn't been as helpful in recent weeks with respect to pushing forward
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on the goal to get north korea to denuclearize. but russia also is important. right now, our relations obviously are very strained with russia, although the president says he has a good relationship with putin. i haven't seen any evidence of real cooperation from russia on north korea and you have to think putin is secretly hoping that north korea continues to be a thorn in the side for the u.s. eboni: fantastic. thanks so much for joining us, david. >> thank you. mike: a tragedy in puerto rico far worse than previously thought. the small island drastically raising its death toll from hurricane maria. what led the government's new count to be more than 40 times higher than its previous count? plus president trump working hard to fend off a blue wave in november. why one report says his future hinges on those midterms. if you have psoriasis, ...
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eboni: police in germany calling for the end of protests after dual rallies sparked violence this week. thousands of far right protesters marching over the killing of a german citizen six nights ago and then counter protesters organizing a rival rally. migrants from syria and iraq were arrested as suspects and charged with manslaughter. >> we're working against a tide of blue and a tide of blue, you know, they want to have open borders. they don't mind crime. they don't take care of our military. they don't take care of our vets. mike: president trump ramping up his fight to keep republican control of congress as labor day marks the final sprint to the midterms. the president announcing he will hold a quote, major rally for texas republican senator ted cruz in october. this comes amid a new report
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from the hill which considers the upcoming midterms as the president's first major electoral test since his 2016 presidential victory, because quote, if democrats seize a majority in the house of representatives, they could hamstring trump's agenda and potentially start impeachment proceedings against him. if republicans hold on it will be a startling display of loyalty by pro-trump voters and a stiff rebuke to liberal critics of the president. with that, let's bring in our panel. a former obama campaign regional field director and democratic strategist, president and founder of the urban conservative project. great to have both of you. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. mike: robin, are you concerned expectations have been set too high? what if democrats don't win back the house? >> that is a big concern but i think the numbers are pretty solid. labor day marks a huge benchmark for us, especially when it comes to fund-raising because the money that's in the bank right now is the money that it's going
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to take to really turn out the votes and get out the votes. we're matching republican dollars dollar for dollar, and the enthusiasm is growing, particularly in texas. so that's going to be really interesting. beto o'rourke, there's been increased attendance at all of his rallies. they are really excited. i spoke to his staffers right before coming on and i think they are doing a really good, almost a stealth campaign and it's really resonating with texans. mike: liz, what are your expectations heading into the midterms? does the president's political team have to worry republican losses could make him look vulnerable in 2020? >> i think that heading into the midterms, the republicans on the house are going to look across the country and going to see that they are really, really safe. the president shouldn't worry too much. as you can see, his base is really riled up, they are really supporting him, and robin just talked about numbers. since 2016, two million more americans have been employed. our economy is looking really well and people can say what they want about the president's
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statements, about his temperament, but people, voters, they like their wallets and they like conservative policies and this president ensures they have jobs and more money in their wallets. mike: what do you make of that texas senate race? is it really close? >> it's within striking distance. last i saw, beto o'rourke was down by about four points but they are really running a stealth campaign. texas really likes their independence. they are the world's tenth largest economy and you know, i think they've got a good chance there and it's very telling that the republicans have now dispatched donald trump to go campaign there in what was thought is a safe district. that will siphon money away from several other races and that will help us out unilaterally. mike: the thing i'm scratching my head about is polls. i spent a lot of time in 2016 traveling the country with the woman who was supposed to be
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president. liz, can polls be trusted now? >> i don't think so. i think it's just the prognostication on the left said two years ago that hillary clinton was going to be the next president and that didn't happen. listen, the republican base, they want to see donald trump. this isn't a last resort. they want him to come out there. everyone knows midterm elections, you may see some -- the party that's in office may lose some seats either in the house or the senate. i think ted cruz is fine. it's important that the president goes out there and puts his hand on his shoulder and makes sure that texans see that ted cruz has the president's support. by and large, voters are really, really happy with this economy and we're not talking about dems and republicans so much. really talking about independents in the general, where will they sway. i'm telling you, they like money in their wallets and they like the way this president is making sure that money gets into their wallets. mike: if democrats take back the house, will nancy pelosi be the next speaker? or will that turn out to be an epic power struggle? >> you better believe it's going to be an epic power struggle.
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i hope she does not win. i think we need new blood in there. her name is basically anathema to so many. we have lost so many seats under her. she's a good democrat but it's time for new blood. this will be a referendum for her. mike: what's the impact on the president's agenda if democrats take back the house, the senate or both? >> they are going to serve as obstructionists. of course you can imagine if the democrats take the house, they will begin impeachment proceedings. they are already talking about it now as if they had won. but again, i really don't believe, i don't believe voters are listening to that far left socialist message. you have, you know, congressional candidates out in new york who are talking about abolishing i.c.e. i don't think the democrats are going to win. i think the voters are solidly behind this president. mike: all right. our remaining time, i want predictions from both of you. the day after election day, are we starting the 2020 presidential campaign? >> it's starting now. what are you talking about?
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we are talking about donald trump as if he's on the ballot. >> yeah, and the summer meeting the dnc just had, they are already mapping out their 2020 strategy. i agree with liz. mike: all right. thanks so much for your time. eboni: the official death toll from last year's hurricane maria has grown in puerto rico. the number is now 46 times higher than before. >> i think we did a fantastic job in puerto rico. we're still helping puerto rico. the governor is an excellent guy. he is very happy with the job we've done. i think most of the people in puerto rico really appreciate what we've done.
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mike: investigators say a blown tire could be to blame for a fatal crash in new mexico. at least eight people were killed and dozens hurt when a semi truck collided with a greyhound bus heading to phoenix from albuquerque. police say the semi was traveling along the freeway when the tire burst, sending the rig flying across the median into oncoming traffic, where it slammed into the bus. three children are among those seriously injured in the crash. eboni: the death toll in puerto
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rico from last year's hurricane maria has drastically increased from 64 to roughly 3,000. the number was revised after a study by george washington university. reporter: 2,975, that is now the official death toll caused by hurricane maria in puerto rico. it's 46 times higher than the initial government death tally of 64. the estimated number comes from george washington university researchers who study deaths on the island from september 2017 when hurricane maria made landfall up until five months after the storm in february 2018. the report found that the death rate was 45% higher for those living in poor neighborhoods. it was commissioned by the puerto rico government after pressure grew from skeptics who believe the government was downplaying the death toll. this week, the president seemed to blame puerto rico's bankrupt power company for the deaths.
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the island suffered the longest power outage in u.s. history. >> i think we did a fantastic job in puerto rico. we're still helping puerto rico. the governor is an excellent guy. he is very happy with the job we've done. we have put billions and billions of dollars into puerto rico, and it was a very tough one. don't forget, their electric plant was dead before the hurricane. reporter: the report concluded puerto rico's government was woefully unprepared to deal with a hurricane greater than category 1 strength. maria was category 4. the governor ordered the creation of the 9/20 commission to implement emergency improvements. >> i agree in hindsight, this could have been done differently. i recognize all that. however, the notion this was somehow connected to the
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[ inaudible ]. reporter: doctors were not properly marking the cause of death on death certificates. mike: protesters in london calling for mayor khan to step down, floating balloons of the mayor dressed in a yellow bikini, in reference to an ad he banned showing a woman dressed in a skimpy bathing suit. they say he has failed to lower street crime in the city. eboni: that does it for us. don't worry, the news continues at the top of the hour. mike: the was fun. let's do it again. thanks for watching. ior prom wi. he was a cutie! and if you go down, that's me, above him. you won best looking in your senior year of high school? somebody had to win it. my best high school moment was the day i walked across the stage. my dad...couldn't read real good, so, it was a milestone for me.
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good afternoon to you. a day of heartfelt words and emotional tributes. official washington gives an historic send-off to a man whose decades of public service and adherence to the country's values made him a true force in the political arena and an american hero. senator john mccain. hello, everyone. welcome to a brand new hour. i'm ed henry in new york in for eric shawn. >> i'm arthel neville in los angeles. thousands of people made their way to washington's national cathedral to say a final good-bye to the late senator. among the
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