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tv   Hardball With Chris Matthews  MSNBC  August 30, 2017 4:00pm-5:00pm PDT

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we don't have george clooney monday but a special edition of the beat, bob mueller. that's monday night, labor day here, as always you can e-mail me at ari at the beat. hard ball starts now. >> harvey on the move. this is "hard ball". good evening, i'm in for chris matthews. harvey is continuing to wreck havoc across southeast texas and into louisiana now. dumping rain on boment and port arthur. two feet of rain fell in bowment. we saw as navy helicopters ran
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to lift people to safety. in beaumont, authorities confirm a woman was killed, her young daughter rescued. six family members were killed in green's bayou after their van was swept away by floodwaters. the death toll now stands at 21. greg abbott activated 14,000 texas national guard troops said the worst is not yet over. >> we are up to our highest level of texas national guard members who are deployed to help deal with these challenges. >> there are more than 32,000 people currently in shelters in the state. importantly, we have approximately 30,000 beds that are available for sheltering as needed.
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in houston, the rain has stopped but flooding persists with evacuations ongoing. that city's mayor has already blasted the federal response. >> i'm hoping that people at the federal level, at the very top, will understand that this was catastrophic and they will be responsive and not put us on you do the cleanup and send us your bills later on. that would be totally unacceptable. we need a whole lot of fema representatives on the ground now. it all comes as president trump tries to answer critics who say he didn't do enough to talk about the victims of the flood yesterday. we'll get to more on that in a minute. but for more on the ground, we have micheal on the ground, you're east of houston, so much attention on houston in the last few days that storm has moved to where you are. set the scene for us.
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>> we're close to beaumont we're as close as can you get before water divides this city. it is literally an island tonight we were with the navy who was carrying coast guard members who were getting ready to launch near texas a & m. when they got the call to come to beaumont because there were so many people in distress. in our time in the air we could see so many people that needed rescue. one by one the army and navy hoisted about 300 people to safety suddenly here as the floodwaters began to rise in beaumont they were able to air lieft all of those people back to this area, to orange texas they came to a convention center, get checked in and get helped and get their lives sorted together.
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we were with them in that helicopter as one by one, children as young as 7 years old, and their parents were pulled to safety. they were very terrified and relieved. they were at their homes, went to bed overnight, there was no water in front of their homes by the time they woke up they said it was at their feet near their bed. it was a terrifying situation for so many people hauled out of that area today. the terrified faces as we were with the them in the air. they were hauled up on the emergency baskets as the winds ripped around, the rain blew side ways. many of them lucky to be here and made it out of beaumont alive. >> the response to the storm is bringing out the best in the community p. video emerging of neighbors forming a human change to help a pregnant woman in houston.
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volunteers using their own boats to rescue victims. tony wade harvey is one of those people. he joins me now by phone from sulfur, louisiana thank you for taking a few minutes. so you are manning this rescue operation in boats going to houses flooded in. we see so many of these scenes on our screens of rescues from these homes. take us through that process. when you're coming to a flooded home, trying to rescue the occupants, what is the biggest chall e challenge for you to do that? >> the biggest challenge is logistical issues. there are so many hazards submerged cars that we couldn't see. and just lifting the people out of their homes into the boats is
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a physical struggle constantly. >> we talked so many -- this is from houston i don't think you can see it. volunteers helping a pregnant woman. the assistance you've received, you're a volunteer squad. talk about the work that's being done just members of the community, by volunteers, what are you seeing on the ground there in terms of community members helping community members. >> it's staggering and it gives you a lot of faith in humanity. people are leaving their own families to come out and help. our support to the victims, all our support, we've been fed by multiple people over the day wes eve been out. it's heart warming to see people coming out to help their neighbors or community members who have lost everything and are in, basically, dispair. >> what's that moment like when
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you get to one of these houses maybe they're in the attic, on one of the top floors of the roof and you're able to rescue these stranded people from their homes. what's that moment like? that's their reaction like? what are they saying? >> a lot of times they're not saying a lot. it's extremely emotional. they're stressed, they're scared. they're confused. they don't know what's going to happen to them. and to see that, one of the persons we saved it was like heaven opened up and placed us in that spot. it's just very emotional. we rescued an asian family a few days ago that spoke very little english. but there was no need for words to be said. the facial expressions, hugs, kisses, it was all self-explanatory. t it's a wonderful feeling on both sides, relief for them and good for us that we were able to get them out of there alive and
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in good condition. >> you are getting a view of your community and that area you probably never thought you would see. we've seen so many before and after shots in the media of highway that now look like a river or an ocean in some cases. as you move around the area, is part of you thinking ahead to the rebuilding project that comes after this? >> we're doing the rescue phase right now and tomorrow we'll move to another area the water has receded and we'll go with k 9 teams on a rescue operation. after that's clear we have to go in to helping the communities clean up, get rid of the debris and then we'll move in to help people rebuild the homes. get them cleaned up, back home
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again. >> toni wade you're doing heroes work. thank you for taking time with us. meanwhile, nbc's kerry sanders is joining us, he's on a rescue helicopter he's over beaumont, texas. we've been talking about what's going on there. kerry, what are you seeing? we're having some trouble hearing kerry there. we're going to see if we can set that connection up again. he is over beaumont, texas. if we can get that established we'll check in with him. even as it continues, the politics, senator ted cruz offered his assessment of the local response. >> we're seeing houstonians come together, but every one of us gives thanks. this disaster could have had a much, much higher death toll. >> he said he and the state's
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other senator, john cornyn, will lead the funding fight in texas but doubled down on his own vote for super storm sandy. >> it was a $50 billion bill, 70% wasn't emergency aid, only 30% of that bill was emergency aid. >> that comes after chris christie took a his own shot at cruise. >> where do you get a number like two thirds? >> he made it up. ted's good at that. he made it up. he talks about playing politics, that's what he did in 2012, 2013. he should stand up now and say i was wrong. i was wrong in 2012, it was the wrong thing to do and now i hope that the people of new jersey and new york are willing to let by gones be by gones. >> texas governor greg abbott said the funding will far exceed
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the funding dollars provided after katrina. sheila jackson is joining me, thank you for joining us, congresswoman. you have governor christie there in new jersey who went through with with sandy a few years ago. you have ted cruz, the reluck stance of some members of congress to go along with the sandy plan, is that going to factor at all in deciding how much money texas gets in the wake of this tragedy? >> i had like to look to the future and the future is this is a catastrophic incident no one has seen. i am sympathetic to every disstaser, wherever the american people are suffering we in the united states congress got to get our act together. and frankly, i think what i hear from those in washington, my
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colleagues have called me nonstop, i spoke to the speaker of the house, the democratic leadership and what they said is there will be no divide, no sunshine between them on what texas needs. and i'm going to take them at their word. right now i'm writing a bill of aid for house that i hope to introduce for $152 billion. and frankly, it may go up even more. and i welcome the support of our two united states senators and their leadership and i look forward to the bipartisan leadership. let me tell you, people are dieing, people are still needing to be rescued. as the mayor of beaumont said they're underwater. people have been heroic, we lost a wonderful member of the houston police department. who left his home and said, i've got to go to work. tragically he lost his life. we lost that wonderful family in
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my constituent area. so i feel the pain of people who are still suffering. let me say this, we're probably losing 30 to 40,000 homes, hundreds of thousands of kars. these numbers are going to be astronomical. we have no time for anyone dividing on the funding for the state of texas. >> you mentioned the cars, the homes, do you have a sense, are you able at this point to get your head around what day-to-day life in houston and the area is going to be like in the months -- first few years after this? what's it going to be like a year from now as a result of this storm? >> well, let me tell you, we have heard from those who have been through this, and -- as well, experts, fema representatives, that this may be years of recovery. our local officials, mayor and county judge and others, years of recovery. what i've seen is already places
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it's flooded before -- last year we had the tax day floods, memorial day floods back to back. one of the areas i represent, greens point. those families have suffered more than double, triple time. but they're taking their water logged carpet up again, maybe some of it is brand new. they're looking at lost appliances, lost clothing, school books lost, this is going to be a process that is going to be step by step. may i tell you last night when i was in the shelter, a lady came on a walker and she was walking up to the office of fema that we finally got set up, finally got it into the shelter. and she started walking up and she just broke down. she said, i don't know -- i've got a house, i don't know what to do. now i've lost my phone. she's thinking because she
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doesn't have a phone she can't sign up to get on her tracking number. she just needed a hug. and thank goodness i was there, the fema people were still open, it was 10:30 at night, they took that lady in. that lady needed a hug, a personal hug, but she needed the hug of the federal government to stay with her. fema has to stand up, the federal funding has got to stand up. president trump has got to stand up. i hope we can put the border aside, closing the government aside, and look at this catastrophic emergency because these people need hugs. they really do. >> the storm still very much front and center as it recedes that will be the political question here, what constitutes the long term response to this. congresswoman, thank you for the time. >> can i thank the volunteers, please. it has been the world of
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diversity that has come out, people from all racial, ethnic, religious backgrounds have come out. i'm so proud of houstonians and americans for all they have done. >> that is something everyone would share. we are going to try again now with kerry sanders, he's in a rescue helicopter, they're circling beaumont, texas. tell us what you're seeing there. >> we're in customs and border protection aircraft now. this is the air and operations unit. we went over beaumont and went to port arthur where we were able to pick up two victims. this victim is paralyzed. he told me because of his paralysis were it not for, as we heard the guests say, the warm hugs of the federal government
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coming to rescue him, he would be in the misery of the water down there. they've given him ekgs, they're monitoring his health. how are you? what did you feel when you saw the hospitelicopter and the teae rescue you? >> i had no idea. i never would have made it out. >> reporter: it's hard with the helicopter for me to hear him. you can probably hear him. we have another person over here that was rescued. this aircraft was air born all day. they started monday as soon as the weather cleared up. they were working in houston and then moved to katy, as they were heading to kay at this time today, everything started happening here in beaumont. we're with them as they're getting ready to come in and we're going to land, i think, perhaps near the hospital. i'm not sure what city we're in
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right now. but steve this is the dynamic operations of all the different aircraft that are airborne again. this is the folks from the cpd. but as we look at the aircraft in the area, there is the texas air national guard. you have the helicopters from the coast guard. there are sheriff's aircrafts that are not set up with the hoists and the litters to bring people up that are doing that terrible dance for a helicopter pilot to come down in an area that's not a traditional landing zone. we're touching down in a landing zone, if you look out the window you can see there's an ambulance waiting and the ambulance will immediately take this patient, who's going to be taken off the aircraft now, to a hospital. so, steve, this is going on just about every which way you look and it's been like this all day. >> nbc's kerry sanders again.
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that hospital has landed. thank you for that. one day after his trip to storm ravaged beaumont, texas he heads to tax reform. he's still dealing with some criticism over his trip to texas yesterday. and his pardon of sheriff joe arpaio is on both sides. chris christie said he wouldn't have done it and the top democrat said it could be an ominous sign of things to come in the russia investigation. ax owe is calling trump the incredible shrinking president. there's growing disappointment in his presidency, even according to a new focus group of his voters and the hardball round table will be here to tell me three things i don't know. this is "hardball" where the action is. y business is differe.
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president trump's budget proposal would slash the budget of agencies that help with relief, like the one from hurricane harvey. it would cut funding to the department of housing which helps rebuilds home after disasters, and also the national atmospheric administration. it would erode fundings put in place after the slowed response to hurricane katrina 12 years ago. this is a financial transaction secure from hacks and threats others can't see. this is a skyscraper whose elevators use iot data and ai to help thousands get to work safely and efficiently. this is not the cloud you know. this is the ibm cloud. the ibm cloud is the cloud for enterprise. yours. the ibm cloud is the cloud for enterprise. with no artificial preservatives hot doin all of our meat..
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while painting your toes. on demand laughs during long bubble baths. tv on every screen is awesome. the xfinity stream app. all your tv at home. the most on demand your entire dvr. top networks. and live sports on the go. included with xfinity tv. xfinity, the future of awesome. welcome back to hardball as most of america continues to monitor the situation in texas, president trump pivoted from commander in chief to salesman in chief. he waded back into waters making the hard sale for tax reform. his speech was why it should
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happen and not specifics of how it should happen. he called on congress to come together. >> so let's put, or at least try to put, the partisan postturing behind us and come together as americans to create the 21st century tax code that our people deserve. >> minutes before he delivered that call to unity he took direct aim at missouri's senator who's up for re-election in 2018. look. >> we must, we have no choice, we must lower our taxes. and your senator, she must do this for you, and if she doesn't do it for you, you have to vote her out of office. >> the renewed presidential focus on tax reform comes one day after his visit to texas. for the latest i'm joined by a
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"new york times" correspondent, glen thrush. so two different scenes yesterday, but in terms of the politics of what the president is looking for, asking for today. he wants congress to move on tax reform when they come back to town. how much of what is happening in texas in terms of congress having to respond to that, come up with money for that, how much of that is going to derail the ability of congress to akts on anything else, including tax reform. >> we've covered, those of who would have been here too long covered a lot of these government shutdowns, we covered, since 2010, the tea party movement on the hill. every time you increase spending, fereach dollar of increased spending they ask for a dollar in cuts. same thing for tax cuts. you have to offset with spending cuts. if you go for both of these
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things, a massive tax cut, plus a -- again governor abbott is referring to $100 billion plus recovery plan and you throw other stuff on to it as will happen in these bills you're throwing it out of whack. so you have nick mulvaney's budget which throes out block grants for hud. the tax cuts are very vague and add to the deficit. so the president and republican party at large have to decide if they're a party of big spending or a party of cuts. that's where this package is going to wind up in trouble, that's the tax package. >> i remember those debates in the bush years, too. glen thrush at the white house, thank you for that. i'm joined by the director of
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progress i' p p progros sif programming of siriusxm and the director of american greatness. >> let me start with you and that question that glen raised seems like it's a fiphilosophic one that may come to a head when congress returns in september. you have texas and louisiana that's going to require big federal money and you have the president saying i want tax reform and tax cuts. you have the question of how can you pay for tax cuts especially in light of what's going to be a hefty price tag for the cleanup in texas, does something have to give who are when it comes to republican priorities? >> this is a debate we've had going on on the right for 20 years. this is not new. the problem the president and congress have had is they want their cake and eat it too.
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they want to talk tough about spending cuts tell their voters what they wanted to hear about tax cuts but they weren't willing to do both at the same time. i think you're right in the sense they have to own up to the fact. it's not just republicans by the way. it's the way the system works. democrats play the same game. everybody wants to spend money and cut taxes to make their voters happy. >> where should the give be? i'm sorry folks in texas what you're asking for is not going to work or on the -- >> no. i think there's bipartisan support that what's happened in texas is a unique situation it's an act of god and the country needs to act as appropriate to get texas back oits feet and recover from the hurricane. i don't think that change it is debate of taxes versus the
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budget. this is something that happens every few years. it needs to be factored into a long-term budgeting plan because hurricanes happen and we need to account for it. but republicans need to own up to the fact yes, on one hand tax cuts stimulate growth which stimulates tax revenues. but at the same time we they can't talk tough on cutting spending and not do it. we have a $20 trillion federal debt that at some point we need to think seriously about reducing. there's been a lot of talk about it but not too much in the way of concrete plans to deal with it. >> also an interesting thing we want to share too. what the president is saying in missouri, what his own voters are saying. in a president of the united states in a pittsburgh group here's how they portrayed him. >> outrageous. >> abject disappointment.
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>> unique. >> off the scale. >> crazy. >> one voter said the president is overshadowing his own agenda. let's watch. >> what most disappointments me is he's such an incredibly flawed individual, has articulated many of the values i ho hold dear and tis misrepresentig the message. >> the focus group was conducted on behalf of emery university. let me ask you, trump voeters, the criticisms are harsh. i note they're not about policy, but about style. >>yes. >> i wonder from the standpoint of democrats if you're talking about folks who voted for trump, do they have anything to offer them? is it we'll behave bet centre. >> i think it's important to
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talk about their behavior because one of the word that is came out of their mouth is dangerous. i think one of the things they're highlighting is his fitness for the office and tweeting things earl flit morning about policy and things that might upend the legislative process. foreign policy is something you cannot tweet about. you can't do it by the seat of your pants and donald trump is has done that in the past eight months and i think that's concerning for people who voted for him. it's important that you have somebody who doesn't undermine the institution of government and the democrats norm but also holds true to the baif yor we expect of a president. donald trump hasn't med met those standards and that's what you're seeing in the focus groups. >> i don't know about these folks in particular, but i was looking through the poll numbers we talked about a lot of voters
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didn't like trump, didn't like clinton, they went for trump, went for change. but when you look at the degree they didn't like him but still voted for him, these are folks that didn't think he was honest, competent, qualified and they still voted for him. when i look at that, i say is there something deeper that's behinding them to him that did then and is maybe now that we don't see. >> i think there's a dynamic that people were hoping he'd rise to the challenge of being president of the united states. being president is something you're not until you are president. so when you are in the office and commander in chief there are expectations for behavior, not just style but how you're dealing with foreign leaders, talking to the american public, not lying at every turn about little things and big things. so i think the american public expected him to pivot or change as we talked about in the media. that's not going to happen.
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the donald trump we saw in the campaign is the donald trump in the white house, he's going to be the donald trump next year in the white house barring some unforseen circumstances. i thought it was interesting saying a voter said he might be impeached. that was someone who voted for him. >> a fair number of trump voters aren't sure he's going to finish out his term. it was a fascinating focus group. thank you both for joining us. up next president trump's pardon of sheriff joe arpaio is getting bad reviews from republicans even saying it's a sign of things to come with russia. this is "hardball" where the action is. to seal the deal.♪ ♪better find a way to smooth things over.♪ ♪if only harry used some...
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welcome back to "hardball" new jersey governor, chris christie is the latest to express his disagreement with the president's decision to pardon former arizona sheriff joe arpaio. he calls it unwise and says it peals in comparison to some past uses of pardoning. they further write they use it for their own personal interests. many critics say it could signal trump's willingness to use his pardon power in connection with
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the russia investigation. here's the top democrat, adam schiff, last night. >> this pardon in the middle of the case because the case wasn't over, he hadn't been sentenced yet, sends a message deliberate to other people, if you have my back, stick with me, i will protect you. i won't even wait until criminal proceedings are over to use the pardon power. >> i'm joined now by jonathan turley, profes orof law. thank you for joining us. let me ask you this, you're writing in the piece we're quoting from that you're not wild about the pardon of sheriff arpaio, but you've seen worse. we have a court system in this country, judges, lawyers, trials, we have juries, why do we have a presidential pardon? what's the purpose of the presidential pardon snrchlts that was debated by the framers. some framers did not want to
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give the president this authority, which is the same authority that the king had. they talked about the use of a pardon authority by a president to conceal his own crimes but all of that came up, but they decided it was necessary to bring an element of mercy, humanity to the criminal system. they were assuming the president would be the last possible resource for people who were either unfairly sentenced or in a few cases, even unfairly convicted. in the case of arpaio, he was neither. he was correctly held in contempt. and of course he hadn't actually been sensed. >> now so now there's the question of what the original intent of what the pardon was versus how it's being used by trump. and the other thing, we mentioned in the intro, what's going on with the russia probe, with mueller. if donald trump is looking at this investigation right now
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saying you know what, i don't want it going any further, i want to she shut it down, could he do that with the power to pardon? >> he couldn't shut it down. but the pardon power can frustrate a prosecutor. the most important hour that a prosecutor has is to turn witnesses, people like paul manafort and flynn are the targets for a prosecutor. it may be an unrelated crime, but they press we usually don't prosecute, but we will in your case unless you turn on higher ups, including the president. a pardon removes that ability. it tells people like manafort, here's your pardon, you don't have to cooperate anymore but the thing about a tactical pardon, putting aside the ethics of it, it has to happen now.
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manafort, particularly, is being approached on all sides it appears by these investigators. this is the time, if you wanted to remove that pressure for a pardon to come down. i think if he did that, it would be viewed by most people as an abuse of that authority. >> that's the question, because i mean, there's the political question how would his voters react, would his ability to win a reelection drop, would republican chances take a hit but beyond that if this president or any president abuses the pardon power, is there any other recourse. >> it's really impeachment or election. presidents have abused it in incredible fashions. harding par donned a guy known as lupo the wolf, who was a mob
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hitman who joined the war in new york. just because you have discretion doesn't mean you can't abuse it and it can be relevant to impeachment. if people believe your use of the pardon power is to tactically obstructure an investigation into your own conduct that can become relevant for congress to look at. >> thanks for joining us. appreciate it. >> thanks, steve. up next he is being called the incredible shrinking president. donald trump wrapping up summer with no shortage of troubles and many republicans and his own voters are wondering what's going on. that's next. you're watching "hardball". maybe it's time for otezla (apremilast). otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable after just 4 months,...
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welcome back to "hardball" what's happening to the trump
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p presidency? it was written about today in ax owe. paul ryan and mitch mcconnell on the taxes, rex tillerson on his response to charlottesville, the military on his trance gender band. where does that leave him going into the fall. joining me now is my panel. take us inside flyrepublican wo youb're paul ryan, mitch mcconnell, you thought you hit the lottery last year. this is what president trump is like as a president, can you come up with a strategy at this point? >> no. you can't come up with a strategy for tomorrow, next year, god forbid, 2020. it's a paralyzing situation for the republicans. the agenda was right within
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reach they thought all these things they had given up on, tax reform, health care, were out of reach but now they're forever sabotaged by the president. >> it remains an open question to me, how interested is he in actually achieving anything? he wants to do health care, he wants to do tax reform, but none of the work is there. it doesn't seem like this really is his agenda. >> exactly. but what's interesting i'm trying to think of what the consequences of him would be, because he is an unconventional president. when it comes to the agenda, republicans have as much if not more interest in passing their items than the president does. they're not going to vote against a tax reform measure to spite the president because it's not in their best interest. nay're looking at polling that they'll take the blame for a lack of accomplishment in
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congress. so they can be helpful to the president because is he not going to sign something they send him. >> i feel his election last year, trying to understand his standing politically, we know what the poll numbers look like, it feels like there are some questions that need to be asked and explored about the nature of donald trump's support, the reason for it, what he's tapping into, and whether he's fully equipped? >> one of the things that's happened, donald trump won the priority president trump si, it was a surprise. he won it in a dwaek position, he came into office and leaders on capitol hill were expecting a president who might step up and he remained weak. i don't think this is what mike allen noted this morning is anything different. he's been weak consistently. so if congress came forward and said, here's our bill, sign it. we saw him do that with the house health care bill.
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he had a celebration in the rose garden for what he later said was mean. i think republicans are learning he's not going to lead us, so let's do what we're going to do. >> it's an arrangement we've never seen before. we're going to stay on this, the round table staying up. we told you about the focus group in pittsburgh, we have more on that, some saying they've let him down. this is "hardball" where the action is.
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so we know how to cover almost almoanything.hing even a swing set standoff.
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and we covered it, july first, twenty-fifteen. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ welcome back to "hardball." more from that focus group of pittsburgh voters. six backers for hillary clinton, one for jill stein. those trump voters expressed concern about the direction of his presidency. take a look. >> the thing that drives me crazy is all the tweeting he does. it drives me crazy because the television is on all the time, and why doesn't he just quit that treating. >> crazy. >> why? >> that was a lot of it, the tweeting. it has to stop. >> did you vote for him? >> unfortunately, yes. >> as much as i thought he would be a quick learner and delegate
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to top notch individuals, he hasn't done that. >> i'm still going to sort of hold off judgment. it is short into his term, and i'm hoping things can turn around but it's unique right now. >> he has got to be his own worst enemy. he -- he -- he couldn't be any worse at achieving goals in politics. >> and i'm back now with tonight's roundtable, noah, kaitlyn and phillip. phillip, what strikes me and we talked about this earlier, this is an indictment from his own voters of his behavior. it's his -- almost a basic question of what kind of a leader would behave like this. how deep is that, do you think, does that go in terms of defecting from him? >> i think there are two parts to trump's base, the people who are more moderate republicans, or voting because he was the
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republican candidate. then there's the hard core base. the people in that video seem to be from the first group. one of the things we've seen from that first group, we have seen a noticeable decline in approval levels, in their willingness to say that he's good at leadership. we've seen a decline among republicans in that regard and i would guess that those folks fall into that category. >> kaitlyn, when i say this sometimes i can already anticipate looking on twitter and everybody calling me a trump poll gist. i'm not doing this to say he's invincible. i just don't know that we fully understand the support and the reason i say that is because we've never had a president who was elected with a greater number of voters, having a more deeply negative view of that person. the negative views of trump, even among some of his voters, they said he didn't have a sense of decency. i don't know that we have a full grasp on what got them voting for him. >> a lot of them said he was
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dishonest before they voted for him. the woman in that group who said she's disappointed in him and did you vote for him, well, yes, i did. the question i have, when we talk about whether republicans are going to distance themselves from him, i think that trump still has a very long leash even when it comes to his republican critics. saw this exemplified last week when a lot criticized him for the response to charlottesville. >> we got to squeeze in a quick break. roundtable staying with us. you're watching "hardball." ♪
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focus group, one word to describe trump. >> show prep. >> that was two. ""all in with chris hayes" starts right now. >> tonight on "all in." >> i don't want to be disappointed by congress, do you understand me? >> president trump on teleprompter and off his populist message. >> we have no choice. we must lower our taxes. >> tonight the ever shrinking power of this presidency. dan rather, maxine waters and. plus new developments on the russia investigation and what trump voters think about their pick for president. >> why doesn't he just quit that