a reminder of our top stories. police say they have obtained intelligence of another plot to storm the u.s. capitol eight weeks after it was reached by donald trump supporters. a house of representatives session has been rescheduled. the international criminal court is opening an investigation into alleged war crimes in the palestinian territories that says it will take a nonpartisan approach into possible crimes by both israel and the palestinian armed groups. the u.s. has joined israel and opposing the investigation.

washington says the court does not have the jurisdiction because israel is not a member of the icc. the united nations has 38 people have been killed in myanmar in the worst day of violence since the start of the military coup. witnesses reported seeing security forces firing into crowds with a warning. protesters have been fighting for the freedom of the deposed leader since the beginning of last month. the u.s. president says a move by tuesday to ease coronavirus restrictions is a big mistake. the governors of texas and mississippi are lifting all measures from next week despite warnings from health officials. all businesses can be open and no one will have to wear a mask. biden says it is critical that states follow scientific advice. >> i hope everyone has realized by now that these masks make a difference. we are on the cusp of being able to fundamentally change the nature of this disease, because of the way in which we are able to get vaccines in people's

arms, we have been able to move at all the way up to the end of may, they have enough for every american adult to get a shot. the last thing we need is the neanderthal thinking, everything is fine, take off your mask. anchor: brazil's most populous state's timing restrictions as the country records its second straight day of record over 19 deaths. sao paulo's governor says that health system is a breaking point. one person is being admitted to intensive care every two minutes. from saturday, most businesses will close. result recorded more than 70,000 cases and almost 2000 deaths in the past 20 for hours. the president is expected to cut federal funds to any governor who imposes lockdowns. we follow the stories on our website. back with mourners and a half an hour. next is the bottom line. do stay with us. ♪

anchor: his former president trump and khamenei control of the future of the republican party? let's get to the bottom line. steve: every year republicans have a few to get together known as the conservative local action conference. cpac sets the agenda for the most conservative wing of the republican party. donald trump attended in 2011, five years before running for president. ronald reagan spoke before running. it is sort of the republicans got talent show. this year was no different. you have that conservative senators and members of congress. former cabinet secretaries and donald trump who declared war on

the republicans who voted to impeach him last month, and help the party retake the senate and white house. you can tell what the republican talking points are. immigration. guns. cancel culture. in a fairly new issue, election integrity. the question is, do republicans really want donald trump to be involved in the party? and thus his presence help the party win elections? joining me is jason miller. jason was part of trump's election campaign in 2016, and has been advising him ever since. welcome to our socially distant studio. you are my first guest in a year. i want to play a soundbite for you of donald trump talking about the next election. >> actually as you know, they just lost the white house. it's one of those. who knows? who knows? i may even decide to be done for a third time, ok? [applause]

steve: sometimes i miss read things. that is declaration? >> absolutely not. i am biased working for the president. i hope that he comes back in 2024, but no formal decision yet. i still think he is going to the process. i would not expect to hear a decision anytime soon, but certainly as we saw from cpac, there is a strong base of the republican party that is with him, the conservative movement around the country. this is really for folks who are watching, this is the first time in well over a century that we have had an ex-president who can then run again potentially in the future, still commands a national following. steve: it's fascinating to watch this, because he did win 55% of the straw poll votes, people say well, he is way ahead of the next contender, governor

desantis. at the same time, you say well, it is only 55%. was your team shocked that it was not higher? >> now. i will give folks a little bit of background on this, we did some polling back in january al graham states ione of the things we found that among trump voters, 70% of trump voters want trump to run again. about 66% of republicans overall. the key thing folks might not realize, paul's going into election, our number was 77% of trump voters vote for him because they support him, and 30% because they opposed joe biden. it's about the inverse on the democratic side. usually of 30%, 40% of biden supporter are behind him. the number we saw track with our national pollen.

steve: when you see other nationally known conservative leaders, like mike pompeo, centre tom cotton, others coming to speak before cpac. does the president look as them as friends or foes? jason: i would say they are still friends. one of the striking things, if you take a look at the poll, the company governor of florida ron desantis, he received 20% in that whole. also important to keep in mind, 37% of all in from the state of florida. a little bit waited in his favor. president trump is still the flag bearer for the party. i think this is important, talking about this national base, the way he put together this coalition, the way he has change issues on trade, middle east peace, remaking the courts, to carry our southern border with mexico, emigration, these

issues, especially on trade, getting pushed offer the last couple of decades, are now the new benchmarks of the republican party. the party has changed. steve: you have just done something, double down for a minute. a lot of people were worried about donald trump as the guy. we use to look at barack obama. maybe to a lot of people, that seems to be part of the stick. senator cassidy, senator sasse said we should not worshiping a guy. what are the issues that defined donald trump's agenda as he looks at the future of the republican party? what matters most. jason: great question. we can start with foreign policy. the u.s. unnecessarily getting involved in foreign wars,

particularly the u.s. president in iraq. it's extended until now. a lot of conflict all around the world. but we found in 2015 and 2016, when president trump first ran, pushing away from the interventionist model of previous presidents, both republican and democrat. it was really an indictment on the failed foreign policy from both parties. he would call it out. he would criticize clinton, bush, obama, and the interventionist minded approach they were taking. foreign policy is a major one. we saw it with the five middle east peace deals that jared kushner and president trump helped put together, which is great. steve: the abraham accords. jason: they used about president trump and say middle east peace,

what are you talking about? steve: joe biden has said that this is a piece of trump's foreign policy that is going to be continuous. jason: that's very important. in addition to foreign policy, i think immigration, looking at for america's workers, making sure we are not flooding u.s. workforce with illegal aliens who are coming in and take away american jobs. the to make sure we have a strong, secure border. trade. trade is the really big one. if you had asked me in 2016 where trade ranked, it would not have been in the top 20. in the minds of a lot of voters, this is an extension, we saw the great sucking sound that russ pro-trump back in 1992 when nafta was being discussed. with china's entry into the wto, mfn status for china, with so the entire midwest, the industrial base of the country lose manufacturing jobs all over the place. the conservative grassroots,

people around the country on a pro-u.s. trade policy. it was only the leaders in d.c. were disconnected. steve: you mentioned a couple of things. i know you are not responsible for donald trump's foreign policy. seem to have a pretty good proclivity for vladimir putin. i understand that the impression that the president has sometimes is that we had cozy relationships where they were taking advantage of americans. i am interested as you look at foreign policy, i would largely agree with you on americans being exhausted from forever wars, like afghanistan. what was it about affinity that people thought they were seen for kim jong-un and vladimir putin, but kicking justin trudeau around. jason: that's a really good question.

some of this gets confused in the media. i had a conversation with the president when i first worked for him. his approach to russia, and putin specifically, is that they might necessarily not be our friend, but they do not have to be our enemy. we are not saying that we are going to be allies, cozy with russia, but this is a country, just being very blunt, a country with nuclear weapons. a country we have had almost armed conflict within the past. we do not need to stoke the fire and make it worse. we talk russia, north korea, maybe we try a different approach. there are some places where we have seen, but north korea, they have not taken additional steps forward to poke the bear, to threaten to terrorize the region. russia, russia is always going to be russia.

keep in mind, russia has the economy about the size of the state of new york, they still have the big military, it's always going to be a tricky relationship. but i get the president credit for at least trying to take down some of the tensions. russia is always going to do what russia does. steve: trying to ask a question now about how gravity in one bubble, say the republican bubble, the cpac bubble, is so different than some other bubbles in the country. in the sense that, you have so many people to look at january 6 as an incredibly dark moment. potentially lives at risk. this happened despite his leadership. i would love to get an understanding of how january 6 to not talk about in his

speeches. out that is looked at. how should americans on either side be brought back to some similar vision and understanding of that day, what it means for our country, what republicans are fighting for. jason: i think we need to go in separate things out with regard to january 6, and make sure we condemn mob violence, aspect of threats or intimidation to lawmakers. that is never acceptable, in any way shape or form. we also need to make sure we are tightening up much of the same way after 9/11, how we got to the bottom of some of the intelligence failures, the way information was not shared, what we seen from testimony on capitol hill that the reports from fbi did not get their way to capitol police, there was not ultimately accepted. these are things we cannot allow to happen going forward. with regard to january 6, as we

split out, there is a concern with many americans that there are aspects of fraud irregularity with the vote, as well as unconstitutional changes violating article two of the constitution regarding voting laws. both of those need to be addressed. but the proper place is in state legislatures around the country. again, anything regarding january 6 and the violence or activity, that has to be condemned. one other point i would make, anyone who has been watching president trump, knows that he speaks out in favor of law & order and against mob violence all the time. we spent some $40 million or $59 on tv ads this past summer deploring the blm violence and protest we saw. if you are someone who committed violence on january 6, you do not believe in what donald trump believes in. you are someone who has some mental issues and i hope this people are pressing -- prosecuted. steve: let me ask you about the

president going after those who supported his impeachment. called out 17 different individuals. to a certain degree, the action over this next year is going to be less about donald trump and joe biden, and more between donald trump and a wing that has diverge from him within the republican party. what is driving that? is there any chance of a kumbaya between these different wings down the road? jason: i think it is less than wings than you might imagine. mr. president said in his speech, it's no different than prior 2016. when we talk about the republicans who voted for impeachment, they are outliers

in the republican party. recent polling i had seen says upwards to 80% to 90% of her public and voters will hold it against my member of congress or senator votes for impeachment. it is very unpopular on the republican side. you're not going to see these wings. . just a small group in d.c. that feel that their power is being taken away, not viewed as the top dogs anymore, and republicans around the country are going to be fired up. part of the reason, left him or hate him, that president trump has such a loyal base, people call it like he sees it, tell you exactly what he is thinking. he did that with those legislators who voted for impeachment. steve: i don't know how you see it, a lot of black americans supporting president trump. at the same time you can see the

proud boys, oath keepers, others, swearing their allegiance to donald trump. how does docket reconciled? if that uncomfortable for the leadership in the party? is that something they basical have to say white supremacy parts of the party do not belong? it does look like you are getting a more multicultural set of republicans in that party. a lot of people do not want to call it like i do. jason: but of two different things here. want to make sure any of these groups like the proud boys or oath keepers or any of these far-right groups, that is never acceptable. in the same way we called out some of the summer with some of the more extreme aspects of the blm movement, that is anyone who is pushing violence, never acceptable. want to make sure that we condemn that. president trump, quite frankly during the debate, he said it over and over. i condemn the proud boys, any

type of hate group. with regard to minority participation, president trump in 2020 set the modern republican presidential record for highest percentage of the black vote, highest percentage of the latino vote, highest percentage of the asian-american boat. some of the issues might surprise you. the trade issue. stping the endless wars, ending the endless wars was actually the top mover with african-american voters, because the community so disproportionately sends their young men and women into the armed forces. a lot of folks in the black community are frustrated and upset. why do our boys d girls club sent off to war, and other communities don't? you would be surprised on some of those issues, how that ultimately helped bring folks into the fold. the key is to ensure they stay involved. with trump not on the ballot,

will they stay active as republicans? steve: i was interviewed former vice president cheney, and this cheney was on the stand as well. i asked him with regards to these wars, did he have any regrets? did he get anything wrong? he took a long pause and he said no. i guess you hang out with president trump more than anyone else i know. does he ever sit back and say, i got that wrong? that was a mistake. whether a framing around january 6, how he dealt with protesters at the white house, how he approached policy possibilities. does he ever sit down and say i wish i could have redone that? jason: i think also --

professional politicians have done things a certain way for decades, particular with farm involvements. professional politicians have gotten it wrong on trade for decade after decade. let's try something different. even the kim jong-un conversation, everybody's head start exploding. the president of the united states is in north korea. he is in a foreign country. what is going on? he is willing to try new things. i think, quite frankly, sometimes it works. north korea helps defuse the situation somewhat. sometimes it does not help as well, as i reference russia earlier, they are still up to their tricks and illegalities no matter what. steve: what does he see as joe biden's biggest weakness? jason: that he is not really leaving the country. he seems to be an extension of the basement back in wilmington, delaware. we have not seen president biden

out in some 40 days. we have a crisis on our southern border. joe seems to forget there was already a vaccine distribution plan and ice. i have not gotten my vaccine yet, hopefully i will at some point. the fact that china is testing biden as we speak with some of their actions, but they are doing with the readers, hong kong. they are testing biden's fortitude. it seems like the more leftist elements within the white house on capitol hill are running the show in d.c.. steve: there is a lot of discussion about cancel culture. accusations by those at cpac is democrats and institutions, media institutions are engaged with canceling people, canceling statues, canceling history. i am sort of interested in where this goes. from your perspective, is that a smart way to frame it?

discussions about slavery, grace and dignity in a society. i have always learned, and studying other countries, history is a negotiation. an ongoing review and something that involves. is it smart to have such an edge to that discussion about race and dignity and society, economic inclusion, where are you on that? jason: mama talk about cancel culture -- when we talk about cancel culture, if somebody does something that might not be bloodily correct, might represent one group's values but appears disrespectful to another's, that you immediately need to brush condemn and say ok, this person is now canceled. do not buy their products. let's person out of society. let's cancel their show. i think one of the byproducts of this cancel culture effort as it is further pushing people to their ideological camps. if you are right of center, you

watch of center cable tv, you read right of center websites, you follow right of center people on social media. same with people on the left. everyone goes to their camp and becomes us versus them. this might be my biggest concern with the biden administration. it's pushing people further away. for example, this was a line in the president speech. he said that joe biden is putting identity politics override american identity. going back to reagan and bush, even into clinton, the rock rock, we are americans. people throw punches politically but we find certain things to go and agree on. after 9/11 we came together as a nation. i think right now, everybody is being pushed into these various camps where everything becomes

an echo chamber, interacting with each other. push to either cancer groups or to say your thoughts are ok. people are not going to change their thoughts, they're going to get more animated and fired up. steve: the first time i met president trump it was clear to me that he wants me on msnbc. that was in 2015, white house correspondents dinner, he heard me telling an msnbc host that i don't know anything about american sports, i only know about sumo in japan. that night of the dinner he grabbed me by my lapel and said sumo, and proceeded to walk me through the floor of the white house correspondents dinner, introducing me to various athletic stars. the guy who caught the super bowl football. other sports stars that were in the room. i took selfies with all of those. it was a moment, where it was clear to me to see donald trump

work the room, i think it was the only one aware that the sports figures were on the floor. it made me understand -- does he still keep a wide aperture or is he just with box, newsmax, others? jason: you'd be surprised on what he flips around. what he that's one of the things i learned is our conversation in 2016, usually talking about -- clear that somehow he had watched fox, msnbc, and cnn the first half hours, all three at the same time and that would quiz me on them and see if i was as up on the news. it's a pretty broad range. i will say a little less of the msnbc, just because quite frankly, the morning program has gone off the deep end. he will flip on cnn from time to time.

i think it might be a little bit of hate watching, but there are some anchors and reporters who has that she has a great deal of respect for. steve: jason miller, thank you so much for joining us. but the bottom line? american liberals have an argument that the events of january 6 relegates donald trump to the dustbin of history. but every time they think he is out of the picture, he rages back in, sort of like mark twain famously said, reports of my death have been gratefully exaggerated. it is too early to predict whether he will run for president again, but his fans are out there and he will raise a lot of money and rate -- be a nightmare. a real thorn in the side too many centrist republicans. the democrats have their own civil war going on between different wings of their party, but as long as some from keeps making headlines and delivering ratings with his attacks on other republicans, no one is going to pay much attention to the democrats problems.

ironically, it looks like donald trump giving joe biden a big gift. that is the bottom line. ♪

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