opposed to just bickering and in-fighting and gridlock, which is obviously what we see right now. >> i wish you the best of luck and hope you come back often. keep us posted. >> thank you. appreciate it. >> kimberly atkins, and all the others on the panel, thanks for being here on a difficult day for all of us. i'm nicolle wallace. "mtp daily" starts right now. >> hi, nichole. melissas last comment, a nice one to end on. a little hopeful and glass half full. skeptical but got to hope. if it's thursday, is the president's trust deficit costing him? tonight -- will the senate's short-term health care fix short-circuit without clear support from the president. >> they'll be a transition period. so anything they're working on will be short term. >> we'll talk to two republican senators. one for the bill and one against. plus -- chief of staff john kelly tries to shut down the controversy surrounding the president's call to a gold star widow in an

unusual white house press briefing appearance. >> absolutely stuns me, and i thought, at least that was sacred. >> and deadline day -- do you really want amazon setting up shop in your hometown? this is "mtp daily" and it starts right now. good evening. i'm chuck todd here in washington and welcome to "mtp daily." we begin tonight with a vicious cycle of mistrust. folks, president trump has conditioned a lot of us not to believe what he says, whether it's his position on a bipartisan health care deal or an account of what he told the family of a fallen soldier. the president has not earned the benefit of doubt or frankly lost it with many folks and plenty of folks in his inner circle including leaders in his own party frequently telling us not give him the benefit of the

doubt, whether on russia, iran, voter fraud, free press and so on -- it causes a lot of chaos at times. when that chaos collides with a heart wrenching issue like grieving military families, the result can be extremely difficult to watch, like today has been. the president says he has proof that democratic congresswoman fredricka wilson is fwrab kaabr the contents of his phone conversation with a military widow. she stood by it and the mother of the fallen soldier corroborated it. and virals from there, calls every family who losing someone. reporters find people he didn't call. predecessors didn't do enough, they pushed back angrily igniting its own firestorm exhausting as it is, bringing us to this afternoon. the president's chief of staff john kelly, who paid the ultimate price, his family has, lost his son in afghanistan. tried to calm the storm from the podium in the white house

briefing room. defend the president and criticized the congresswoman. >> i was stunned when i came to work yesterday morning and broken hearted at what i saw a member of congress doing. it stuns me that a member of congress would listen in on that conversation. absolutely stuns me. and i thought at least that was sacred. >> kelly may have given the president some cover politically for now, bought folks if you're left with a really bad taste in your mouth from this whole thing you're not alone. in this cycle of chaos and mistrust seems to permeate every issue the president touches including the big one right now, health care. the president scorched democrats for not negotiating, when in fact they were. praised the bipartisan deal between senator alexander and murray then opposed it. called it a bailout nor insurance companies because it is a subsidies, csrs in short,

encouraged the deal's negotiators to move forward with the idea. and today the republican party's chief negotiator on the deal seemed to partially discredit the president's stated objection to this deal. >> the president said to me, why don't you negotiate with senator murray and try to get one, meaning a short-term bipartisan deal. i said, well what about the csr payments? he said i can put them back and use that as a negotiating tool to get a better deal with the democrats. >> wow. there's transparency. you don't get this level of bipartisanship on health care often. this deal has at least 24 co-sponsors, 12 republicans, 12 democrats, but -- this is a big deal. there is not a single republican on this list who is running for re-election in 2018. compared to the 8 democrats facing re-election, 5 in states trump won, who are on this list. tells you a little something anyway. joining me republican senator from south dakota.

a republican co-sponsor of the alexander/murray bill. senator, good to see you, sir. >> thank you. appreciate the opportunity and by the way, laura dove says to say hello to you. >> well, an old, great friend of mine. very kind of you to pass that along. pass it right back to her. and her wonderful father, who is a great -- a great presence in that united states senate for years. let me ask you this -- why -- there's 12 republican co-sponsors, it's our understanding there would be more democratic co-sponsor but the goal is to keep it even for now as we move forward. so that means you only have 12 republican votes now for this bill. how do you get more? >> first of all, i don't think it means we have 12 republican votes. it means right now only 12 are ready to put their name on the dotted line. and part of that is because they're waiting for the president to step back in and to clarify his position. when that happens, i think we'll

have an avalanche of additional support as well. they want to support the president. they want to support the president's position. the president made it clear he didn't want any double dipping on the part of insurance companies. we absolutely agree. republican and democrats agree. we think that we had properly structured this, but we also know that the president has the opportunity to look at these things and to make up his own mind. we think he can help us fix it. we've invited that already. we anticipate that he really does want to take this first step in the repeal and replacement of obamacare and he can sure help us. so as soon as he's got the opportunity to bring his team together and to look at the bill which is filed, we are open for the suggestions that will most certainly stop any insurance company from double dipping on this and the dollars will go back to the folks who everybody intends it to go to, and in the meantime, we stabilized markets and get through to the time in which for republicans we can

actually get the graham/cassidy product in. we've always known this has to be a part of it. >> interesting how you phrased this. you called this the first step in the repeal and replace process. there are others, perhaps steve bannon, who may have candidates that run for office, that will say, you're bodying iboding to obamacare, that this is a lifeline to obamacare. what do you say to that? >> he's wrong. flat out. our intent, repeal and replace. >> why should they trust you? you've had eight years? in all honesty i have to say i will not blame the average voter angry about this bill who says you guys promised this for seven years and now gladly pay you a quarter tomorrow to get my hamburger today? >> we hope to have this done before tomorrow comes. for us that means we'd love to guess this portion done yet this year if at all possible have a

reconciliation act once again to prove it forward. we think we'll have the 51 votes. remember, we came one vote short of getting repeal and replacement first piece in place. that's the graham/cassidy product. part of the repeal and replace we've always known is to be able to modify sebz 1332 of the existing product. that provides the states with the ability to actually make changes in existing law, within the existing programs. the other part of it, we also knew that graham/cassidy would take two years to implement. you have to have the ability to keep a stable market during that time. that's what this allows. we've always known we couldn't do it and if you look at graham/cassidy it was designed to go into effect in the year 2020. >> can this pass if the house can't pass it? right now it -- >> no. >> it feels as if the house leadership is pretty dug in on the idea that they don't want to see these payments. >> i hope that what they're looking at on this is, looking

at the big picture and looking at what the president wants to get done. if the president steps in and says, look, i'm done with it. i don't want to do anything with it, we can't go anyplace, because we need his support. we also know we truly believe the president wants to repeal and replace it. we think there's a clear understanding that this is part of that process. but we also know that he wants to stabilize those markets. he doesn't want anybody to get hurt. this particular part of the proceeds actually is designed to go to people between 100% and 250% of poverty to reduce the premiums and the deductibles and co-pays that they pay. these folks didn't ask for obamacare. they're stuck with it. we're trying to help them get through the next couple of years while we actually honor our commitment to get the graham/cassidy bill in place, send it back to the states and actually complete the job of repealing and replacing this existing product. >> you have a couple of times seemed to indicate that you'll

get more co-sponsors when president trump clarifies his position. you can get this passed in the house, when president trump comes out. sounds as if -- if he doesn't back this bill and back it enthusiastically, put his shoulder into it, you can't get this to pass the house. can you? >> i agree. and that's the intent, but, look, if we can't get the president onboard with us, then -- it would take two-thirds vote anyway and we won't get to that point. and -- look, republicans aren't going to abandon the president. we want to do the same thing the president wants to do. we have the same goals in mind, repeal and replace. our job, convince the president we'll work with him, look at the language that he wants in the bill so that we actually do have a plan in place that assures that the money is going where it's supposed to go, which is to people that have no place else to buy insurance. they're stuck with obamacare. their deductibles and co-pays are too high and this is the only avenue available to help

them at this time. >> leave it there. senator, appreciate you coming on sharing your views. >> you bet. thank you. let's get a bit of an alternative view. joining me is a republican with a different view for now on this health care bill. i say for now because i have a feeling he'll say the same thing senator ron johnson of wisconsin, senator, good afternoon, sir. >> hello, chuck. how ya doing? >> right before i -- did a stint on hugh hewitt's radio show it's my understanding you were on the show this morning and he indicated you essentially made the case, how can i support this bill if it can't pats hou pass house. so if you're convinced it can pass the house you'll support this bill but won't if it can't pass the house? is that where you are? >> i've been working with the house a number of monthing recognizing it's a real problem. a real botched deal on democrats

when they passed obamacare not providing legal cost sharing for cost sharing deseductions. bottom line, insurance companies get paid either way. s fix is in. cost sharing reductions or increase premiums and the american taxpayer will be out cbo and have another $194 billion. so i think it's a legitimate point of view on the part of republicans to really resist trying to fund these unsustainable markets. that's a legitimate point of view, but the reality is, if we don't fund these cost sharing deductions, people that are working hard, those individuals that don't get subsidies. that bill clinton talked about, already priced out of obamacare markets -- >> so you're for the bill? >> no. what i'm for is an exchange for cost sharing deductions getting rereforms. i appreciate what lamar and patti have done. face it, it's an easy lift to convince all democrats to fund this faulty architecture. it's more difficult in the house. i'm taking a different position,

the higher hurdle. there's two hurdles. 60 votes in the senate. getting republicans of the house also to pass this, because if they don't what good is this? i've been working on the house. the bar raised a little. i'm close, because of all the rhetoric. we need more freedom of choice in health care. democrats have to recognize the faulty architecture of obamacare is hurting real people. we just need more in order to pass the house. >> it's funny you say that. i'm curious, i had this question for a democratic senator. are the democrats too enthusiastic about this? right now? and is it making it harder for you to win votes in the house? >> again, i was this close to having a companion bill dropped in the house that would provide more freedom of choice. short-term limited duration plan wos have been part of our plan. president obama -- >> are you saying that the announcement of alexander/murray

deal shut your deal down? >> it certainly delayed it, yes. that's just the fact of the matter. i was about ready to drop that bill with companion in the house and with all of the rhetoric yesterday, that's been delayed. again, i'm not deterred. we're going to keep working with noted house members, both moderate and conservative. but it's going to require more. it's going to require more freedom of choice. what a concept. for example -- >> i want to -- it's my understanding, i felt the line drawn by paul ryan were on these subsidies. are you saying you can get the house republicans to reluctantly support these subsidies on a temporary basis in exchange for what? >> prior to yesterday i was quite sure, but -- a little bit more hanging in the balance now. >> fair enough. >> the added elements was, let's return short-term limited duration plans to 364-day term as they were under three years urnlder obama as he left the

door cranked those down to 90 days. now people have to buy insurance every 90 days with $5,000 deductibles and in one case a couple in wisconsin. let's not assess the individual penalty for 2017. let's not sends out those notices to 90,000 businesses assessing $5 billion in fines. harmful economic growth. let's increase transparency. have cmfs require more publishing and pricing for consumers to make better health care choices and let's use hsas. expand their use, allow hsas for employee choices. all reasonable choices a lot already a part of obamacare. that's the type of additional elements we need to get this passed in the house and then i think we can fund these reductions. that's pretty much what the president signaled as well earlier today. >> i was just going to say. if you don't get the president's support or if alexander/murray

doesn't get the president's support or you don't, it doesn't pass the house? do you agree? this is about winning the president's support if we have a snowball's chance in the house? >> we need the president and also we need republicans in the house. and conservative republicans in the house. so again, for so long the rhetoric has been, this is bailing out insurance companies. democrats really did a good job of protecting insurance companies either way. they'll get bailed out either way. that reality i don't think is really sunk into the consciousness of every member. we need to get that reality out and need more than what lamar alexander and patti murray have done with their bill. >> senator ron johnson, republican from wisconsin. been in the center of this fight for the last couple of months for sure. and obviously longer than that. thanks for coming on. sharing your views, have a great night. coming up, two giants of the republican party seeming to sound the alarm about serious threats to the democracy as we know it. we'll be right back.

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welcome back. since leaving the white house former president george w. bush doesn't do a lot of public speaking. so when he does, his words tepd to carry a little extra weight. speaking today at forum for the bush institute the former president never named names but had pointed words about the current political climate and america's place in the world. >> -- we've seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty. at times it could seem like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. seen nationalism distorted into natism. and dine nimpl and immigration has always brought to america. become the heirs of martin luther king jr. recognizing one another not by the color of their skin but the content of

their character. this means that people are every race, religion, ethnicity can be fully and equally american. it means bigustry or white supremacy in any form is blasphemy against the american creed. [ applause ] >> president bush's speeches come only a couple days after a powerful speech by senator john mccain who also talked about america's place in the world and didn't mention the president by name but rejected the trump administration's america first foreign policy. now, for the record, a spokesperson for president george w. bush tells nbc news that in those remarks the president was not criticizing president trump, saying, "these are the same themes president bush has spoken on for the last two decades. coming up, speaking of ex presidents, president obama weighed in on this topic as well. more of that later in the show and we'll be back in 60 seconds.

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welcome back. let's bring in tonight's panel. director of policy studies at stanford university. policy adviser to romney and rubio campaigns of yesteryear. amy walters and a democratic pollster and msnbc political analyst. welcome all. before i get to john kelly's appearance, seems like it's all about the raw politics now, lonnie. >> yep. >> they almost wouldn't invite you into the room because you're a policy guy. no, no, no. we don't have a policy dispute -- it's amazing to me ron johnson's pure honesty. makes the case for alexander/murray's bill essentially but says until i know the house passes it i don't know if we can support it. that's where e are these days? isn't it? >> the bar, real reform. what does that mean. alexander/murray has waivers

around state, something like grah graham/cassidy. the question, when is enough, enough to tip them over the edge and comes back to president trump. can he fully embrace alexander-murray to give members in congress what they need to pass this thing. >> and i found on the floor today, exactly what the president told me again here today. and e had whips it out and said the president said -- go ahead and use csrs as a leverage. almost like -- almost like daring the president to contradict him a little here. >> yeah. >> which he might. >> by, i don't know, by a tweet or by tomorrow. we'll have something different. the other amazing thing is how every time they talk about this issue it only serves to remind republicans of ow difficult this is, and we've seen this was survey monkey came out with a poll today looking at the president's approval rating

numbers, and when he drops, especially -- actually strong disapproval rating ticks up it's usually in concert with more talk about health care. so -- >> always think it's nfl or other stuff. no, no, no. >> no. it is health care. if you talk to democrats they believe this is an issue they'll run to town on in 2018. it drives their base. it depresses the republican base, and the more that they get caught up in this, the less caught -- not just -- the more that they are depressing their own numbers. >> you say that, cornell, is there a chance, though -- i think three days ago there was this dream scenario in the mind of mitch mcconnell and perhaps cory gardner that said, wait. we cut this alexander/murray deal and maybe at least can table health care just for an election cycle. do you think that could have happened? if alexander-murray happens? >> if i'm mitch mcconnell i want to punt this. you know, talk to democrat leaders back in 2010 about how

dangerous health care is, politically. what you do have now is, you have a majority of americans, guess what? all of a sudden obamacare is more popular than it has ever been. right? the base of the republican party still wants to get rid of it. this idea of replace and repeal, repeal and replace is something a pollster like me came up with because the idea was completely unpopular. >> do replace to -- but they don't have a replacement. >> right. and philosophically for me they're note for universal coverage. >> what do you make of -- i give mike credit. step one in the repeal and replace process. meanwhile, democrats, this is how you preserve obamacare. in through the out door here. >> but that's kind of how you know maybe they've got something here. right? each side able to sell it however they sell it. it comes back to the coalition for republicans and senate is different from the coalition of people that want replace and the two have never met.

the ven diagram has no overlap. that's why we are where we are. >> move to john kelly the appearance. look, this whole 48 hours on this issue has just been excruciating. i'll be honhonest. i think we all -- i'm just -- been at a loss for words and was stunned to see john kelly do what he did today, because he has been so private about this. >> and it really did change the debate. because -- it actually -- >> well, it protects the president. >> press the president and puts this on a very different trajectory than where we were yesterday. which is, look, i think what, when the president brings up any issue where it's a clear, that he's making these broad statements that can be undercut. right? nobody else calls, except for me. right? nobody else calls these fallen soldier families. the press says, well, let's dig into this. then they find a couple of

members -- then we become into the cycle and then the president is able to stand back and say, why is this about me? you all were disrespecting this family. >> this goes back to this vicious cycle we're in, right? we've caught the president so many times saying things that turned out not to be true. then your immediate instinct is, got to check that one. >> yes, but did you have to go -- but -- >> i know. >> when does it stop? >> when does it stop. i know. >> okay, he didn't call everybody, but then we bring in the congresswoman and the story and it becomes about -- that's not what it's all about. >> i don't think this is what any of us all want. i wish yesterday we found out that the president called the mom back again and just said, i can't -- i'm sorry -- this is crazy. all i -- i have know doubt and actually believe everybody here. no doubt in my mind the president was trying to utter condolences and i think people heard what they wanted to hear. i fear that. and this -- >> this is the problem. the character thing we talked about earlier.

it's when you are an alpha narcissist, empathy doesn't come naturally. right? do i believe the president called with the best intentions, but empathy is not something this man seems to be capable of, that's a problem in the presidency of the united states. >> well, just an awful thing to have to do. and i actually take general kelly at his word, this is not something presidents traditionally would -- how would you express that feeling if you had never experienced it? you yourself have never been in combat, never lost someone in that way. >> and more importantly a grieving parent. it is against the laws of nature to have your child die before you. >> yes. >> and it is -- and so that's the part of this that i think that we're all -- you know, that gets lost here. anyway, all right. you guys are sticking around. we'll have another topic here in a minute. still ahead, the u.s. military is searching for answers in the ambush that killed those four american soldiers in west africa. what happened and why are we there? we'll go to the pentagon, right after the break.

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we investigate anytime we have our troops killed whether it be a training accident or combat. i don't care if it's a car accident, in d.o.d. we investigate the circumstances rounding to see how we can address the very questions you brought up about what can we do in the future. welcome back to "mtp daily." that was defense secretary james mattis speaking about the attack that killed four service members

in niger. two other service members wounded and as secretary mattis said the incident is now under investigation but there are a lot of questions about what happened in niger and why we were there. to my colleague at the pentagon hans nichols covering the story for us. hans, general kelly actually added to the intrigue today saying, look, i know more about this that i can't say. this is a, there is a heavy reluctance by the u.s. government not to say why we were there. >> well, it's complicated. it's very difficult to explain you're there for train, advice and assist, sort of getting local sources up to snuff on counterterrorism. that's across what they call here, the lake chad basin. another more sensitive region, though, and that is because they're building big drone bases there. that has sensitivities local. they need the drone bases to could isr. intelligence surveillance reconnaissance all across.

the image mattis uses, when you crush a snowball, isis, in his imagery, more flakes out. they're seeing more of it crop up in central and western africa and that's why they're training counterterrorism forces there and had this engage ant, as they said, was not expected. >> how many troops are in harm's way on any given day in central africa? >> close to 1,000. whether or not they're in harm's way, a lot of the guys are on the bases building and so-called behind the wire building these drone attacks. doing counterterrorism in niger is about 100. 100 in these cases, u.s. army special forces, green berets. look, mattis had a great line, not a great line, a telling line. there's a reason we send army guys with guns there, not the peace corps. this is a difficult part of the world and in general, chuck, you know, we only really realize how far extended u.s. forces are on counterterrorism when something goes bad. this is one of those cases. >> an excellent point. hans, i think a lot of people

are getting a new lesson into the threat of isis that is taking place in central mick. hans nichols at the pentagon for us. thank you, sir. a lot more coming up. we'll be right back. wer premium? it's open enrollment. time to open the laptop... ...and compare medicare health plans. why? because plans change, so can your health needs. so, be open-minded. look at everything-like prescription drug plans... and medicare advantage plans from private insurers. use the tools at medicare.gov. or call 1-800-medicare. open to something better? start today. ♪ bring you more ways to helps reduce calories from sugar. with more great tasting beverages with less sugar or no sugar at all, smaller portion sizes, clear calorie labels, and signs reminding everyone to think balance before choosing their beverages. we know you care about reducing the sugar in your family's diet, and we're working to support your efforts.

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welcome back. republicans are quarrelling among themselves about health ca care. while there are a dozen democratic co-sponsors of the bill they aren't on the same page when it comes to health care either. joining me, senator chris van hollen, chair of the democratic campaign committee and, yes, the senator in charge of the 2018 mid-term campaign on the senate side. senator van holland, good to see you, sir. >> chuck, great to see you. >> i believe you're not a co-sponsor on the alexander/murray. double checking's you're not. any reason you're not and does that signal any lack of support for the bill? >> it does not signal until lack of support for the bill. i'm fully supportive of the

bipartisan effort and wish we could vote on it right now. they decided to proceed bringing an equal number of democratic and republican co-sponsors on, as you know it's called noah's ark. you know, two by two. so as more republican co-sponsors get on you'll see more democratic co-sponsors get on. i'm looking forward to being a co-sponsor. >> that's interesting that you put it that way, because that actually leads to my next question. is there too much democratic enthusiasm for this bill for it to pass? meaning in our pugilistic polarized view of the world where everything has to be an uneasy piece, that if it looks one side is happier then the other won't support them? >> look, i really hope, chuck, that our republican colleagues will do what's best for the country. senator lamar alexander hammered out an important agreement with senator patti murray. it does enjoy strong bipartisan support. now we just need to make sure it

gets to a vote. it would be good if the president of the united states would stop jumping around all over the place and making misleading comments, but for now, i do think we're headed in the right direction on this really important to stablize the market. make sure that people's co-pays don't spike. that their deductibles and other out of pocket expenses don't shoot through the roof and ultimately if we don't do this, premiumless go up on everybody. >> not a single republican senator that's going to actively going to run or could still run in 2018 signed on as a co-sponsor of this bill? what does that tell you? >> well, it's too early to tell. what we do know is that a lot of those senators voted to try to totally blow up the affordable care act. were willing to create chaos within the health care system and now is their opportunity to work on a bipartisan basis to actually get things done, but as

you know, republicans are facing fierce primaries across the country. i really hope that when voters look at these campaigns, they will not support those folks who are simply playing political games as opposed to doing the right thing for their states and for the country, as dsc chair to get more support for the bill would you pledge not to run attack ads or send out attacks on supporting this version of health care, sort of taking health care off the table for any republican incumbent who comes out in support of the fix? >> we're not attacking any republican who joins this bipartisan effort? >> not attack them on health care at wall? >> no. on this bill. >> that's what i mean. would you be willing to take health care off the table on some of these if they agreed to support of compromise like this. >> i'm not sure what you're referring to, cluck. a lot of these republican senators recently cast votes, multiple votes, that would blow up the affordable care act that

would cut trillions of dollars, a trillion dollars from medicaid, and all sorts of other things. i think voters should judge members on the merits on each of their votes. on this bipartisan vote. we're not going to attack anybody for supporting this bipartisan effort to stabilize the health care system. >> how would you describe this bill? is this a bill that saves obamacare? >> this is a bill that provides a short-term stability in the insurance market giving people an opportunity to look for longer-term solutions. we can have the broader debate, but let's not create a lot of damage to a lot of consumers right now. for example, we're having a broader debate right now on the budget. the republican budget includes almost $500 billion in cuts to medicare. they also include $1 trillion in cuts to medicaid while they're providing these massive tax breaks for the wealthiest americans. so these other broader debates

are going to continue. this is an effort, this bipartisan bill is an effort to provide stability right now and not hurt millions of americans, and i hope everyone can come together on that. >> all right. i want you it put your campaign hat on here. you have a senate special election in this year, calendar year down in alabama. how committed is the dsec and rhetorically you'll say very committed but what does that mean financially to doug jones' campaign down in alabama? >> well, we are committed, in addition to encouraging all of our members to support our candidate, doug jones, and i personally contributed to the campaign. the dsec also has people op the ground in alabama. >> have they maxed out to jones' campaign yet? >> the dmplt sec will provide the maximum contribution to their campaign. i can tell you that we are working very hard, but more

importantly, doug jones and his campaign are working hard. this is a race all about the future of alabama. we have a terrific candidate in doug jones. they have an incredibly flawed candidate in roy moore. somebody who we've discovered personally enriched himself through the charity that he created. so i think that the people are alabama have a very clear choice. do you want somebody who cheated people, who thought they were providing to a good cause? or do you want somebody who's going to bring people in alabama together? >> should democrats judge the dsec's seriousness about this race by how many tv ads they air? >> well, right now we are working very hard to make sure that the campaign, the doug jones' campaign, has the maximum amount of resources, and as you probably know, they are on the air right now. they are -- >> they are. >> raising lots of funds. they're raising lots of funds. >> what about you? >> we have already provided resources, chuck, as i told you. and we are going to look at

every single one of our options as we go forward here. >> but not committing -- not committing to buying tv time yet, are you? >> we are exploring all of our options right now as i said, the campaign itself is on the air right now. we're going to monitor it every day to see what we can do to be helpful. our candidate is doing a great job and the more people learn about roy moore, especially the fact that he was engaged in a self-dealing through a charitable organization, the more i think they're going to reject him and want somebody who can make alabama proud. >> all right. senator vis van hollen, democrat from maryland, leave it there. chair of the dsec. thanks for being here. coming up, the latest chapter of the "careful what you wish for." yes. technical wizards. who, with the visionary engineers at ge, developed predix- giving plane engines the ability to self-diagnose problems,

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welcome back. tonight i'm obsessed with am zone opening its second head quarters in your city. today is the deadline for cities to mike their pitch. pitching they are. seattle, a drizzly city in the north west didn't matter until amazon came along, made every rich, happy and the rain go away. still rains a little. still the promise of a big amazon campus, high-paying job and opportunity to get on the map has cities falling all over themselves to pretty themselves up for amazon. tucson pumped its workforce

booming downtown and sent amazon a 21-foot cactus. stonecrest georgia near atlanta offer to rename part of the city amazon. detroit -- detroit somehow got the michigan and michigan state football head coaches jim harbaugh and march dantonio to wear headsets with the amazon detroit logo on it. not every city, pointed out, microsoft there. zillow, mtv and getting amazon is not necessarily a win-win proposition. property values go up and people are prized out of their homes. and the city people grew up knowing and loving could guess appear. none of this will dissuade any city from going for it. rising properties are better than falling. it's worth remembering for losers, there will be life even after amazon, saying, thanks, but no thanks.

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we are rejecting a politics of division. we are rejecting a politics of fear. that we are embracing a politics that says everybody counts. a politics that says everybody deserves a chance. a politics that says everybody has dignity and worth. a politics of hope. that's what you're fighting for. go out there and get the work and bring this home. >> no, you're not in a time warp. it's -- this was 2017. time for the lid. that was president obama. this afternoon. stumping for gubernatorial candidate phil murphy in new jersey. president is head to virginia tonight to stump for ralph northam. panel is back.

amy, barack obama on the trail, obviously, probably a lot more important for ralph northam, probably he did the daytime in new jersey, the race seems to be double digits. >> primetime. >> primetime is virginia. look, it's about turning out the presidential vote. this is what guam obama's role is here. >> we've been through the election in 2016, going to still for the next two years try to figure out how much the rules changed after 2016. it sure seems to me that if we learned anything, it's that following the same sort of playbook that democrats in this case are following the same sort of playbook, which is bring in president obama at the end to motivate those voters who don't turn out in midterm years. they do it every midterm year. he tried to do it for hillary clinton as well. doesn't really work. but we're going to keep doing it. rather than saying what is that we can be doing as a democratic party to better attract these

voters without having to bring barack obama in? and that is the bigger broader challenge for the party. >> it's just -- it's not structurally impossible for ed gillespie to win but structurally difficult for him to win in virginia. >> i want to tell amy first to get out of my brain, okay? get off my talking points. but, no, it's not -- you remember terry, governor mcauliffe, won virginia by a very narrow segment here against a candidate who, okay, is kind of out there. crazy, right? this in an off-year election the turnout matters most in a state like virginia. obamacare in virginia twice with his coalition. to amy's point, look, the younger more diverse voters are the key to democrats' ability to expand and grow on their base of voters. if we're not dpaying attention o them, not giving resources to them, not treating millennials like swing voters which they are

increasingly becoming, it is a problem for democrats. i'd rather be northam than gillespie. look, it's going to be a narrow race. it's a two-point race in a poll that came out today. it is a tight race. >> it's always tighter in off years. it doesn't feel like structur structurally democrats have the small advantage. that basically -- >> two or three-point advantage. >> the question is, is it penetrable? >> evaporates if we don't get turnout. >> lonnie, i want to -- senince we're talking about ex-presidents, didn't get a chance to get you guys to weigh in on george w. bush. he swears everything he says has nothing to do with donald trump. it takes a lot to get george w. bush to talk about the politics of today. >> it does. in some ways it's very retro to hear him and see him and there's a civility to his dialogue. even -- >> entire bush family. >> even in his -- >> our political dictionary says civility. >> he does it in a way that's civil, makes people say, wow, regardless of how one felt about president bush, i venture to say

they miss that, miss that time when you could have the discussion of elevating politics and what politics should have been about. i don't think anybody can mistake who he was talking about today. >> it's powerful this week both john mccain -- they didn't coordinate but john mccain and george w. bush gave very powerful speeches basically making the case for america's leadership role in the world. and it's almost -- >> it's also interesting that it's coming at the same time as we're seeing that the republican party is becoming more and more the trump party. >> yeah. >> what he says goes now for the republican party. that's why on health care, if he says, oh, this deal's great. >> then everybody's in. >> everybody's going to jump on in. when he says certain things are good, are not good, he's with them. the old guard is no longer. >> and they're fighting to get people to say, oh, don't put us into the dust bin of history. >> i miss george bush. >> there you go. >>. >> something cornell belcher would have never said eight years ago. coming up next, "meet the press" expands to the big screen. in case you missed it, happy birthday, amy walter. we'll be right back.

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well, in in case you missed it, there's about to be a new member of the "meet the press" family, not just this show, the sunday show, and, yes, the podcast, the website. we're really excited about our first ever film festival. it's really happening. we got hundreds of submissions and narrowed it down to what we believe are the very best. partnering with the american film institute, we announced them all today. the films come from all across the country and touch on topics from immigration to the opioid

epidemic and the campaign, itself. the festival will take place here in washington, d.c., on november the 13th. tickets are on sale now. go to nbcnews.com/mtpfilm. i'm very excited. i hope we go from here to becoming a great marketplace for some of the great political biopics and ideas that is all in your minds out there. anyway, that's all we have for tonight. back tomorrow with more "mtp daily." "the beat" starts with ari melber. i missed our handoff yesterday. i saved the baton for you, man. i don't like doing batons on tape. >> you mised the handoff because i had technical difficulties on the road. i missed you, too, chuck. i'll see you soon. we begin our show tonight with incredible political news. the past two presidents of the united states denouncing trumpism today in speeches that were not coordinated but could have been. tonight president obama returning to the campaign trail for the first time since last year. this was just a few moments ago.