things, but the military is secondary to them. the military is number one, we won't be here without our powerful military, and we're building it up stronger, bigger, better than ever before and general mattis can testify to that. and the other thing they want tax increases and we want major tax decreases, so they decided not to show up. they have been all talk and they have been no action. and now it's even worse. now it's not even talk. so they're not showing up for the meeting. i will say this, in light of the missile launch, probably they'll be here fairly quickly or at least discussions will start taking place fairly quickly. i think that we're in a very good position in terms of the meeting we just had over at the capitol with the republican senators which was outstanding. i think we have tremendous support. i was just informed by mitch that we had a unanimous vote

from the republican side, at least. we had a unanimous vote on the tax bill and it goes now the next step, and i think we're going to get it passed, i think it's going to pass and it's going to be very popular, it's going to have lots of adjustments before the end. but the end result will be a very, very massive, the largest in the history of our country tax cut. and lots of good things are going to happen, including bringing back to our country of, it probably will end up being over $4 trillion, money offshore that's stagnant, that companies and, we're just not able to bring it back. so i think it's going to be a number over $4 trillion. corporate will have to compete now in the world. if you look at china, if you look at many of the countries, china is at 15%, they're lower than us, we're getting it done to a level that it's going to be lower or in the ballpark so we

c can compete, our companies can compete, our great, great companies, i'm happy to see that the consumer confidence level is just about the highest its ever been, i don't want to make any mistakes in front of the press because you'll get me on it. but i think it's the highest its ever been, consumer confidence in the people leading their country. i do believe it's going to get better and better, and this vote on taxes, which are really tax cuts and reform is going to be very, very important. we had a good day today, we had a nphone phone familiar -- phen leading with many republicans. the feeling in the room was very, very positive. it was a love fest, they want to

see it happen, of tnot only for republican party, but they want to esee it happen for the country, because they know how important it is for us to compete and win. i'll ask paul ryan to tell you where we stand with certain things. >> i think it's regrettable that our democratic colleague s chos not to join us today. for a bill to become a law, congress has to pass the bill and the president has to sign the bill. we have important work to do, we have deadlines to meet, we have a military in need of our support, and that needs to happen right now. and i think it's very regrettable that our democratic colleagues in leadership chose not to participate because we have to negotiate these bills to get this work done for the people we represent and also for our military with this difficult job they have. and i hope the leadership on the other side of the aisle will participate to get the people's

work done. >> mr. president, i just want to say i have been in this situation with previous presidents, i have never turned down an opportunity to go down to the white house. as the speaker mentioned, only one person can sign a bill into law and that's the president of the united states, you cannot negotiate beyond the spending code without the person who signs the bill in the room. so i think the democratic leaders in the house and senate need to understand the way the government works. and we, the administration has to be a part of the ultimate negotiations over what the spending level is going to be for the next year. >> we are very far apart. because our views on crime and our views on immigration and the military, so many are different. but a lot of things have happened even over the last two hours, with respect to the missile launch, we want our military funded and we want it funded now.

it's going to be bigger, better, stronger than it already is, than it's everyone been ever before. so that's the difference, in all fairness this morning when i told them that we're way, way far away. and with that, i may just have general mattis say just a couple of words about what he has found out. general, do you want to say just a couple little pieces of information? >> president, senator, speaker, a little over 2 1/2 hours ago, north korea launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, it went higher, frankly than any previous shots they have taken. it's a research and development effort on their part, they're building ballistic missiles that could threaten everywhere in the world basically. and in response, the south koreans have fired some pinpoint missiles out into the water to

make certain north korea understands that they could be taken under fire by our ally. but the bottom line is, it's a continued effort to build a threat, a ballistic missile threat that endangers world peace, regional peace and certainly the united states. >> thank you, general. and we will take care of that situation. thank you all very much. i appreciate it. thank you. >> these missile launches today, does it change anything about your basic approach to dealing with them? >> nothing changed. nothing changed. we have a very serious approach. and nothing changed. we take it very seriously. if that happens we would most certainly blame the democrats, us happens because there's illegals pouring into the

country, because of the border wall. i got elected partially because of the border wall. we want strong -- we're going to cut taxes, we're going to reform, we're going to simplify, they want high taxes, we want low taxes, there's a lot of big differences, so we'll see what happens to shut down, but right now things have changed over the last two hours, because two hours ago a missile was launched. i think that will have a huge affect on schumer and pelosi, i think, we'll see. we're going to learn very soon. they should be calling immediately and say we want to see you, but probably they won't because nothing to them is important other than raising taxes. that's the only thing they like doing is raising taxes. thank you all very much. >> mr. president, are the north koreans thumbing their nose at you?

>> that's all the questions, thank you. >> hi, everyone, that was your president, he was delivering remarks after a new missile launch in north korea and a new conflict on capitol hill. democratic leaders chuck schumer and nancy pelosi refused to attend the scheduled meeting at the white house after donald trump taunted them on twitter this morning. let's get to all of this with our reporters and guests, nbc's casey hunt is on capitol hill, mark levy from "new york times" magazine, former republican congressman is here, and john heilman, nbc and msnbc national affairs analyst. and megan murphy, bloomberg business week editor. y you're all so accomplished, it's a mouthful.

first of all the president started by saying, we will take care of it, we will handle it about north korea. clearly he did not take care of iter handle it on his 12-day trip to asia. >> correct. this north korea problem, i want to be serious about this and not just go into attack mode because obvious think there's a lot of ways you can attack trump. we have had republicans and democrats who have tried to deal with this in a variety of ways, it's been on a more threatening posture for the last 25 years basically, and it's clear that trump has done nothing to help the situation. it's also not clear to me that when you go around the world and you talk to -- and people say well, more diplomacy. no one thinks trump is doing the right thing, but one thing that is clear about this particular crisis, and it is getting close to an actual crisis, it's that nobody has a great idea about what a long-term solution is,

other than let's not go to war, which of course makes a lot of sense, but there's not a lot of bright ideas in the room from either party. >> john is absolutely right, the bad actor here is the leader of north korea, as his father was the bad actor before that. but the rhetoric is just so out of place and i wonder about just the stage craft of what we just saw, general mattis will speak now. i mean like he's still calling producti producti production queues. >> this is a serious crisis, as general mattis said, this missile went the highest of any before. the president then immediately pivots to taunting chuck and nancy, rather than as the president of the united states, you know, facing this international crisis, which as john points out as obviously not been contained, has not been diffused, instead of taking a presidential leadership moment, he used it as a na, na, na,

moment that chuck schumer and nancy pelosi was not here, all they want to do is raise taxes et cetera. this was kind of a moment to say this is a major international crisis, i am the president of the united states, instead it became a taunting of chuck and nancy. >> the day started with the president learning that his tweets have consequences. i think he started the day by taunting chuck schumer and nancy pelosi on twitter with the same kinds of attacks we just haired him say, meeting with chuck and nancy today, about keeping government open, and working, the problem is they want illegal immigrants flooding into our country unchecked, are weak on crime and want to us see substantially raise taxes, and i don't hear a deal. so upon hearing that, i think we heard what chuck schumer was going to come to capitol hill.

>> basically chuck schumer went to the floor of the senate and say if we don't have a deal, we'll basically work with our republican counterparts s to ga deal. and the empty chairs basically backs up chuck schumer's presence, if it's all for a show, why not just deal with the republicans on the hill? >> reporter: to a certain extent you have a battle of childishness. it's one of these things where chuck schumer and nancy pelosi and president trump both get a little bit of what they want from their base voters. i mean president trump cut this deal a couple of months ago with chuck and nancy, quote unquote. it's a great fanfare, and i think both sides got some blow back from their base. and for chuck schumer and from nancy pelosi, but it's a little bit different to ask why didn't you go schlepping down the white house, when he had tweeted in the morning that there was

already no deal to be had and schumer said that just a little while ago, why would i give the president this photo-op? so the present shot right back at him, i'm going to take a photo-op of my own. but i think the reality is that this is going to get done in the halls of congress, the spending deal. and the idea is that the republicans, mitch mcconnell and speaker ryan need cover from the president on this deal. and all of them, the republican leaders need democrats to get this deal done. it's not a lsomething that we h seen a lot of because of reconciliation rules. that's not normally how the senate works, it's just how we have gotten used it to working. we do need the democrats to cut a deal to keep the government from shutting down. and chuck schumer said, look, republicans run the government,

he didn't say yes, we want to shut it down, but his point was very clear, if it does shut down, the american people are going to blame the republicans not the democrats. the debate has become more -- tax reform seems to be on a much smoother path, the spending deal was on a rocky path today. >> one of the first clear examples of cause and effect. general kelly, white house chief of staff has said in the white house briefing room, listen, the president's twitter feed, not something i have taken on as one of my responsibilities. but today they have an example where if they want to, they can walk in and say, as casey hunt just said, you are going to need some democrats to get this spending deal done, you don't want a government shut ydown unless he gets it done and i haven't seen anything that says that that's the case.

do you think the -- he can't have his way and he can't even get people to come into the room to negotiate with him. he's this great deal maker, but if they don't come down to the white house to kiss hiss ring that in that tape suggests he thinks they should do, how is he going to get a deal done with them? >> it was almost a more mild pro se type of pettiness that he expressed through tweets because that's how he expresses things. i think yesterday was a little bit of a petty day where he called elizabeth warren pocahontas. there were a whole litany of things. but today this is more by the book partisan kind of positioning, of who's going to snub a president and mitch mcconnell saying i would never snub a democratic president. and the more important thing is

the very quick pivot from the missile launch to taxes, in which he will also conflate -- i don't understand his logic to say that chuck and nancy will be here in a few hours to discuss north korea launching a missile. and also just the conflation of everything -- just open borders, weak on crime, raise your taxes, that's sort of the catch all thing for everything the democrats do wrong. n't and in the case of roy jones, he hasn't just supported -- i'm sorry roy moore, as he said about doug jones in alabama. >> mark makes a good point in that the president, sand i'll read it because i was jarred as i was writing it. so he starts out these remarks by saying we will take care of it, talking about the missile launch, we will handle it and

then he launches into that chuck and nancy didn't show up. sand there's sort of a horror in the lack of gravity, that the president is incapable of loaning to a single moment as president. and i think mark just laid out this sort of jarring pivot from this grave moment, the threat of a leader in north korea, who as john heilman said is sort of unmoved by diplomatic efforts by our country and others in the region. but then he turns to trash talking chuck and nancy. we have seen him in the last two days, right before this hour, windows into his mind, what was remarkable about yesterday's event with the code talkers, wasn't just the deployment of a racial slur, we have actually seen lots and lots of that. it was that his mind couldn't keep him sort of grounded in the moment of world war ii veterans.

i guess the threat of today a ballistic missile launch by the north koreans couldn't keep him grounded in the seriousness of his job. he went right to smearing chuck and nancy, calling them weak on crime, weak on illegals, weak on the military and i wonder what she would advise democrats to make of that. >> first we shouldn't expect gra graff tas or coherence. we don't expect that from donald trump. but i've been thinking about over the course of the launch of the icbm, richard haus's warning escalation in this environment could lead to something catastrophic. so this kind of bravado, this kind of unwillingness to focus in on the immediate danger, right, only deepens richard haass's point in this regard.

that's the first thing, and the second thing in regard to politics, it makes no sense for the democrats to go to that meeting after that tweet. president trump announced that he was engaging them in bad faith. >> he's a terrible negotiator. the other jarring thing about the tape we just played is to see him deploy with the same sort of cavalier attitude as he placed those two empty chairs, paul ryan and mitch mcconnell as sort of characters with lines to read. and i think they both read some version of how a bill becomes a law. can you just weigh in on the incredible shrinking sort of grace of either the republican leaders in congress? >> it was easy to overlook in that moment that republicans actually control all of washington right now. they control the white house, they control the house, they control the senate. but to casey's point, they need democrats to get this final budget bill passed. it is different than the tax bill, they may be able to do that just with republicans. the budget bill will require democrats. what we saw today is something

that's quickly deinvolving into the shades of clinton and gingrich when clinton had to sit in the back of air force one and it broke down and the government shut down over it. chuck and nancy, as the president calls them, were right not to show up. there's a difference between political gamesmanship and childishness. chuck and nancy engaged in political games manship by saying there was not going to be a deal. what the president did this morning frankly was childish, and i think chuck schumer and nancy pelosi were right not to go to the white house. >> do you think that paul ryan and mitch mcconnell see this as you do, that the president -- again, let's just dispel this fantasy that he's got any sort of negotiating skills, he's a horrible negotiator, he laid out his bottom line, there won't be a deal, do you think there are any conversations that take

place offline that aren't kind of staged like an eighth grade play where the leaders say what the president wants them to say, do you think there's going to be more the private sentiment of mitch mcconnell or paul ryan? >> reality is quickly going to ground paul ryan next week when he has to come up with 218 votes, we're going to see the stage play coming from trump who really doesn't understand the legislative process like mcconnell and ryan do. we will not see a budget bill passed with -- i have seen a lot of these -- anywhere from 80 to 120 republicans sided with all the democrats to keep the government open. we're going to see that again by next friday. donald trump will make the theater he wants to make, but paul ryan and mitch mcconnell know, this is going to take chuck schumer and nancy pelosi, and the odds of what we saw today are the suggestion that a

party that controls all of washington is somehow having to leverage democratic votes, it's slipping away from him right now based on the president's behavior. >> megan, one do you agree with congressman jolley? >> i think it's slipping away, but i think we have seen childishness on both sides, and there's nothing that distresses me more when we sit here and north korea is launching a missile and whether empty chairs at the white house score any points. we're moving quickly from the budget bill on to tax reform that looks really rocky and that's one factual note who said that the media would check him, consumer confident is at a 17-year high, it's not at a record high, so let's make that clear. so yes, the president is still watching what he said. zplit wa >> i want to bring you in jeremy on what you saw from north korea today, as john heilman said,

north korea's ambitions have vexed every single president in modern history. that said, the president's trip to asia didn't have the effect that the president said he had hoped it would have, which is to get china and other countries in the region to try to stop this activity from the north. >> the president's approach to north korea has manifestly failed, he's failed to deter north korea from launching these threatening missiles. and in some ways, my reaction to what we just witnessed in the white house was sort of the opposite of wag the dog, what wag the dog is where a fictional president faced an international crisis to face a domestic issue, here he is trying to stir up a domestic issue to distract congressional leaders from -- this missile went higher than any missile before, which means that if you flatten out the range of this icbm, it could

potential hit denver, chicago, maybe even new york and washington. and so as mattis is trying to sound the alarm, that this is one of the most provocative things that north korea has done, the president was eager to distract because the president for the last 10 months has been unable to pursue diplomacy, has been unable to pursue deterrence to get kim jong-un to back down. >> what do you make jeremy bash of mattis being seated around that table in the roosevelt room while the president made that very awkward and jarring move to what you just described, the political distractions, the smears against the democratic leaders that he's going have to work with if this country, heaven for bid, ends up in a military conflict with north korea. >> i don't think general mattis would purposely get himself trapped in a personal domestic fight.

it's been a priority of the secretary to argue that congress should come together in sequestration and end those draconian budget cuts and try to solve the spending bill dwlemil, but that's going to take as you noted democrats and republicans coming together. but secretary mattis's point there is this is the most provocative thing that north korea has done, that basically they have all but developed an icbm that can hit the main land of the united states. what they now need to do, what north korea's striving to do, is to miniaturize that war head, met it on the top of the missile, and most people's estimates that they may be able to do this within this next year, within 2018, this next year, we are going to be looking at a set of very stark choices for the commander in chief. >> jeremy bash, thank you for being on the phone and being with us.

you could hear the air being drawn out of that room. >> i know part of my role on this show is to make you depressed and filled with fear. so let me take up that job. just put it in this context, you know, the president is in many ways seems disassociative from reality and talks about the world as he sees it, which is not the way the world actually is, the place in which it's most stark right now, we're almost a year into the administration, and there's been all this stuff that has happened that portended disaster, but so far there has not been disaster. right now we stand on the brink of a government shutdown, an incredibly unpopular tax bill that may get passed, that only 25% of the country is in favor of. and this incredibly dangerous military situation with north korea, we could be at war a few months from now. we could have a government shutdown a few weeks from now. and the republicans, the one thing they're holding on to is a

tax bill that nobody likes. so you think about when the chickens come home to roost for donald trump after a year of this insane governing style and all this provocation and all this free association, and all the carnival barker antics, question are just about at the edge of getting to a moment where the chickens roo s roost piper gets paid or what the metaphor is. but it feels like things are going to kind of unravel on maybe more than one front at once. >> and republicans have been willing to env look the other way because it's all about that tax bill, so whether that tax bill passes and it's off the table. >> last it be the tax bill that makes you sort of purse your lips to -- >> it makes donors write checks to you. >> go ahead. >> yeah, so i mean john's right, but i think it's actually more severe than donors writing

checks or -- than just saying, hey, i'm going to give you this, not going to give you this, they're threatening to disappear entirely, the big donors, kind of from across the spectrum, not just big entities like the koch brothers, the local chamber of commerce in ohio, where senator rob portman sees familiar faces every time he goes home. they're all saying, what am i buying, if you guys can't get anything done, we love that health care bill, we sent you there and we gave you the keys. >> if you're saying what are they buying, maybe rob portman shouldn't have endorsed a president who was against nafta. rob portman has spent his entire life in politics as a free trade advocate. so maybe when you make a deal with the devil, this is what you get. >> but they don't -- my point is they don't exist in a vacuum. zp >> this tax bill is already bad

and getting worse, we already have a bill that disproportionately negative lly affects the poorest of americans, and guess what, the two republican holdouts aren't fighting for a bigger child tax credit, what they're fighting for is an even bigger distribution to the companies they think are driving the economy and creating jobs. over 60% of that income goes to the top 1% of america. this is a bill, it's almost as if the delusion has spread. it is deeply unpopular, they think it is going to be their savior. >> this is a caricature of a -- >> go ahead casey hunt. >> this is the divide in the republican party, this is what has been splitting the republican party apart for the last decade. it's people who live one kind of life and a populist base that they want to be like donald trump and he embodies this, he

is a rich person who lives the lifestyle and wants and understands why he would want corporate tax cuts, but who talks to that populist base of people in a more direct way than any of the establishment has talked about before. republicans in congress want to do it because all of their business oriented donors want them to do it. but the every day american families, it's not clear how it's going to affect all of them, it's going to hurt a lot of them, and right now it's not a popular bill. but that's where the republican party is fundamentally, it's being torn apart. >> mark leibovich, it's also being torn apart, to watch president trump and mitch mcconnell walk shoulder to shoulder in the hall of the white house today, what is the message? that they had enlisted -- they

sent a letter to the white house counsel to get the white house counsel to get the president to get roy moore out of that alabama race. the president and mitch mcconnell has more that divides them than an unpopular tax bill that might unite them. can you speak to this sort of gulf between donald trump and sort of his impulses and his instincts and what he thinks he's there to do. and what republicans in washington are sort of willing to stomach in service of this president who has almost like a zombie lock on the trump voter part of the republican base? >> yeah, i mean, it's sort of adding to john heilman's very eloquent sort of voice of doom from earlier about the paying of the piper or the coming home of the chickens to roost or what you have. i wouldn't use rocket science today, that's a bad man. >> rocket man, bad one.

>> brain surgery, it is not brain surgery. i would say roy moore in that alabama senate race is another chicken coming home to roost, potentially if he winds up in the u.s. senate. this is the worst sort of fear and caricature realized of republicans who still have a shred of loyalty to what republicanism stands for and i think when you ask them privately, that would comprise much of the u.s. senate. donald trump, i think this is the periodic time to show that this is not a devoted republican, this is not a historic republican, he sees roy moore as another vote for him, another democratic vote that can help him get things passed. it's also, i think the biggest fear, you sort of get a number of different answers when you talk to people on the hill, but privately, you get a really, really high number of

republicans who would say that the biggest fear that the republicans have is roy moore winning and then having to deal with him every single day not knowing how reliable he's going to be and also having the democrats, this standing as a person who's been accused of all kinds of pedestriophiliaic beha. >> the idea of, you know, dealing with the devil, chickens coming home to roost, you've got a grab bag to choose from at this point in the show. but just this idea, casey hunt mentioned rob portman, he sees the friendly faces in the chamber and they want their tax bill. maybe he should have thought about that before he endorsed -- i think at the end of the day he didn't end up voting for president trump because of the "access hollywood" tape. but for all the republicans who are willing to go along with this president, jeff flake and

john mccain and others, this should surprise no one that this is where they are. >> the tax bill and the roy moore race remarkably provide this glimpse into the republican party right now. 30% of the voters who voted for him, the 30% base were the angry base that wanted to see roy moore elected. 50% held their nose because they wanted a chamber based -- mitch mcconnell knows he has to work with both. donald trump is trying to figure out how to work with both as well. this is a donor based tax bill and the roy moore race is a donald trump based race. but very quickly, john heilman mentioned the very poor choices on north korea, i think the only realistic outcome with north korea is a diplomatic one, what president trump is doing is undermining his diplomatic discussions that are going on with north korea. >> do you think that he does

that in direct defiance of his national security advisors? >> i think you used the word, bravado, perhaps, it's because donald trump only understand br bravado, he only understands the fight. when we saw him a few weeks ago saying to rex tiller son, stop diplomacy, it won't work, that is malfeasance by this president. the reality is whether donald trump was president or not, north korea was going to develop this capability. we now need a president that understands yes we need to be ready for war, but we need to continue with diplomacy. >> scary, scary final thought at the end of this fantastic block. still to come, more fallout from donald trump's pocahontas slur at an event honoring world war ii veterans, native americans and gop senators john mccain

cries foul, while donald trump's son doubles down. and sit time to ask, why does donald trump play the race card with such enthusiasm? (avo) when you have type 2 diabetes, you manage your a1c,

but you also have a higher risk of heart attack or stroke. non-insulin victoza® lowers a1c, and now reduces cardiovascular risk. victoza® lowers my a1c and blood sugar better than the leading branded pill. (avo) and for people with type 2 diabetes treating cardiovascular disease, victoza® is now approved to lower the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. and while it isn't for weight loss, victoza® may help you lose some weight. (avo) victoza® is not for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not take victoza® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. stop taking victoza® and get medical help right away if you get symptoms of a serious allergic reaction such as rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing. serious side effects may happen, including pancreatitis. so, stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area. tell your doctor your medical history.

gallbladder problems have happened in some people. tell your doctor right away if you get symptoms. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, decreased appetite, indigestion, and constipation. side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. ask your doctor about victoza®. you myour joints...thing for your heart... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is now the number one selling brain health supplement in drug stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember.

look, i think it's absurd that the press are trying to hammer the trump administration and specifically the president on his use of the term pocahontas. one of those are disney who owns abc. they have made a million dollars off the pocahontas franchise? is that racist?

have they made money off racism? because if so, they need to apologize and discontinue all of their merchandise and all of their movies regarding pocahontas. >> that is mike huckabee, the daughter of sarah huckabee sanders. he was defending the president's use of the name pocahontas during a meeting with the world war ii veterans. eric trump tweeted the iron any of abc reporter -- let's see if we can help you understand why on earth it might have been offensive. the alliance of colonial era tribe s explains it this way, te name becomes a derogatory racial reference when it's used as an insult, the american indian names, are reduced to racial

slurs. and john mccain tweeted this, our nation yos a debt of gratitude to the navajo code talkers who bravery, kill and tenacity helped secure or dec e decisive victory over communist in world war ii. here's sarah sanders talking about the. >> why is it appropriate for the president to use a racial slur in any context. >> i don't feel it is appropriate for him to make a racial slur. >> why is it appropriate for the president. >> i don't think it is, and i don't think that was the president's intent. i think the most -- >> i'm sorry? >> does he see political value in calling people out publicly? >> i think that senator warren was very offensive when she lied about something specifically to advance her career, i don't understand why no one's asking

about that question and why that isn't constantly covered. >> welker's questions and sanders response made us wonder if the president's body of language that is racially divisive at best is worth a closer look today on the heels of another racial incident. >> when mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. they're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, i assume are good people. donald j. trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. >> you know -- look at my african-american over here, look at him. >> our inner cities, african-americans, hispanics, are living in hell because it's so dangerous. you walk down the street, you get shot. but you also had people that

were very fine people, on both sides. you had people in that group -- excuse me. wouldn't you love to see one of these nfl owners when somebody disrespects our flag to say get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he's fired. he's fired! you were here long before any of us were here, although we have a representative in congress who they say was here a long time ago, they call her pocahontas. >> our panel is still with us, along with mark and david. let me just start with you, we sit here on a day to day basis always in isolation, yesterday after the pocahontas comment, i don't even know what to ask you about this, but when i thought account kristen welker and that she had the presence of mind in the moment to really press huckabee-sanders about racial

slurs. those are just the ones we could think of, we didn't look hard for any of them. those were racially divisive comments that were made for news from his white house. you've posited that it's a strategy, not a gaff. do you maintain that position? >> of course, the president rose to political prominence because of the -- the assertion that barack obama was an illegitimate president because he was born in kenya and any connection to reality. he then proceeded from the moment he walked out into political life officially, as a candidate, riding on racism by attacking mexicans as rapists and drug addicts and going through an entire campaign in which he appealed to -- he used racist language, racially provocative symbolism, race-baiting themes, and now has president, he continues to do it over and over and over again, of course it's a strategy.

you would have to be someone totally incapable of pattern recognition to not look at his history and his career and not see this as part of core element of what has given him purchase over a part, not all, but a part of the republican party that is gripped by racial resentments, the kinds of which have been unfortunately part of our politics for a long time but now have come to reside almost exclusively in the republican party. >> my question to you, is this a story about the death of outrage? i mean this took us a minute to think of his examples and how have we slid so low? >> donald trump is just an exaggerated indication of the rot that's at the heart of the country. he becomes an easy avatar. he becomes an easy scapegoat, but he represents something that's across the nation, it's always there.

even with the election of barack obama in 2008. what we need to simply say is that donald trump is a bigot, period, he's a bigot and he's governing like a bigot. so even in the press conference with regards to schumer and pelosi, he talks about they're soft on crime, the illegals coming, those are all dog whistles that i grew up with in the 1980s, we know exactly what that is. to say that doug jones is soft on crime in alabama. he knows exactly what thhe's saying to folks in alabama, he likes black people. donald trump is a bigot, and what he's doing is he's appealing to bigots in this country. like huckabee said and what eric trump said, it's dumb as hell. it doesn't make any sense, we just need to say it's dumb as hell. >> i want to agree and disagree. the pattern of recognition is

clear. the way he picked a fight with the family of a gold star family. and he picks out, like asaul alinsky, and that he happens to be african-american. but having said that that he reflects the rot in this country. we are a fundamental lly decent country and he does not speak for all of us. let me say something about the pocahontas thing, i have been on something called the honor flight. so i have met hundreds of these world war ii heroes, these are extraordinary men, in their 80s and their 90s, how do you not deal with them and treat them with the utmost respect. how are we not in awe that they

are living representatives of the history and the sacrifices they have made. and for the president to meet with the native americans, who had done so much for the country, have the ceremony in front of a portrait of andrew jackson, by the way, of all things, leaving that aside. and then to decide to make an insulting comment about a native american. whether or not it's a racial slur or not. the inappropriateness and the mindset of not showing these men the absolute respect, if you actually are in their presence, the last thing on earth you want to do is to say something that will offend them or take away from their accomplishment. >> i 100% agree. there are times we give him too much credit and we haven't said the person he's referring to when he says pocahontas, senator elizabeth warren, it's not only racist, it's sexist. it's idiotic, it appeals to the

base of his supporters. americans are smarter than this when they hear the term pocahontas. >> david, let me ask you, i mean there is the way -- i think the way ronald reagan created a new class of people, reagan democrats, donald trump has created a new race of republicans. but for a lot of republicans, i think what people don't understand is that this was -- i mean the announcement speech where he maligned mexicans as racists and murders was just an offramp for muslims, i mean a point of no return. most republicans with a conscience never looked back from that. and we put together that sort of body of racist comments and d s divisive language because whether it's a strategy or whether it's dumb or whatever it is. if you're raising a kid right

now, that's what they're seeing from the leader of the country and the leader of the republican party. >> and those comments do inform the opinions of folks like myself and charlie and others. whether or not this president has racism in his heart that ev american can make personally about their own president. what we know his comments have done is made it exceedingly difficult to defend him against charges that somehow he has these racist tendencies or that he plays up this strategy to a certain base. the andrew jackson portrait was mentioned. this was glaring. nicole, you understand the importance of messaging in the white house. you lived it. mike defer was ron reagan's image maker. he understood creating the elegance of the presidency, the dignity of the presidency. he was the architect behind reagan's pan thieu hoc moment. andrew jackson is who native

americans consider one of the worst presidents of the united states because of the pain and the theiror and the murder he committed against native americans. it is hard to overlook what he's doing. when thinks that's cute, playing to a base or whether he truly harbors these racist tend sees is something every american has to make a judgment on in their own heart today. >> native americans -- very few americans vet any of them. populationwise they are a very small part of the country. but do an analogy. if donald trump was giving an award yesterday to some historic african-american veterans and he had refer to cory booker as sambo or as kuhn at that kin ta, or as uncle tom, there would be -- there would be an explosion. is there something wrong with kuhn at that kin ta? no. he was an important character in

book. but if he used that expression about cory booker in front of african-americans we would see how nakedly racist it was. we can all see how there is confusion -- when you saw it yesterday you were like what is going on here? the only reason is we are less familiar with racism towards native americans than towards african-americans and larger ethnic minorities in the country. >> i think this is the last gasp of a particular threat in the country. trumpism looks like buchananism to me. it bore the threat of wallace. this is threat of american politics that we've seen across several generations. i think it's its's its last gasp. the question is how expensive the funeral it will be. >> do you want to get in on that. >> it is in the white house. it is quite a gasp. it has another three years to run. like yesterday has become a new

normal, and then we have to sit through today, the mike and sarah huckabee explaining to the native african-american moplation why they shouldn't be offendsed by what the president said yesterday. we can go and play that game back and fomplgt no. it is a all very, very disspiriting. it hamsz every day. you are right. we are to the beyond outrage. we are living outrage. i think the effect of that is just a numbingness of what our dialogue has become. look, every time he says pocahontas, he's probably giving a big dopamine hit to his base. and that's a lot bigger than probably a lot of native americans who are actually offended by this. whether it is a calculation or not, it seems to be the reality we are living through. >> and we need to explain why the native african-american population is so small in the first place. >> i don't know that it is a last gasp. he has empowered folks out there -- this is where thought leadership and moral leadership is so important. a leader who appeals to our better angels as a previous

president once did could encourage people not to have these attitudes. >> we have to stick in a break. david jolly mentioned ronald reagan, mike defer. what mike defer had in ronald reagan was someone sw a good heart who needed his decency and optimism to be translated and drawn out of him. i don't think that's what this white house staff is working with. i have to stick in a break. stay with us. we'll be right back. so that's the idea. what do you think? hate to play devil's advocate but... i kind of feel like it's a game changer. i wouldn't go that far. are you there?

he's probably on mute. yeah... gary won't like it. why? because he's gary. (phone ringing) what? keep going! yeah... (laughs) (voice on phone) it's not millennial enough. there are a lot of ways to say no. thank you so much. thank you! so we're doing it. yes! "we got a yes!" start saying yes to your company's best ideas. let us help with money and know-how, so you can get business done. american express open.

the markets change... at t. rowe price... our disciplined approach remains. global markets may be uncertain... but you can feel confident in our investment experience around the world. call us or your advisor... t. rowe price. invest with confidence. welcome! hhi!s it going? okay, so you've got two friends here. yes. this is the j.d. power award for dependability. now i want you to give it to the friend that you think is most dependable. ohhhh. ughh. wow. that's just not fair. does she have to? she doesn't have to! oh, i don't? no, but it's a tough choice, isn't it? yes. well luckily, chevy makes it a little easier. cause it's the only brand to earn j.d. power dependability awards for cars, trucks and suvs - two years in a row. that's amazing. chevy's a name you can trust!

we're back. megan, i used to have a debate with my old colleague from the view, whoopi goldberg in her car when we were getting dropped about whether trump is bigger misogynist or a racist. >> which side were you on? >> i argued after the access hollywood tapes he was a bigger miss on gist. but it was a debate. she was on the other side of that. i guess i just gave it away. what do you think? >> i think in terms of the race baiting and dog whistling that he uses that is his strategy, it is intense, it is a pattern. but in terms of how we really feels about women, look, we know how he really feels about women. we have seen what he said. we know about the access hollywood tai. we know what people have claimed. i can't -- i'm going to let his own actions speak for himself. one, i think it is a political calculated strategy. on the other i think it's exactly how he feels about the fairer sex. >> let me ask you, john

holliman, white house staff, we have this conversation, and it's the same conversation all the time, what can they do, can't do anything. i've also asked around this table on countless occasions does anyone resign? the answer is always no. do you think these things are cumulative or do you think it's like that tv show where everyone has amnesia and they wake up every morning and the offenses are fresh and new they all grow numb to it. >> i wish i could remember who made the point in a cold eyed way that the people who a around him are choosing to be there. they are there because they like power, like being in that building. we have known many people -- that's part of the reason why the white house is attractive. even you, you go in there because you believe in the guy or if there was a woman who was president you believe in the gal. you go in there because you feel like you can leeb your mark on his tree. you like the power, you like the access, you like the glamor, you like all those thing. everyone has now seen -- they saw the campaign.

they have now seen a year in office. they are in for whatever their particular long haul is, and that's never four years for very white house staffers. whatever their long haul is, they are in it for the long haul. >> they could be rationalizing they would be replaced by someone worse. >> and they are going to get tax reform. >> thanks to my pam. that does it for our hour. i'm nicole wall as, mtp daily starts receipt now. hi chuck. >> hi nicole, how are you doing? >> i'm good. how are you doing. >> rested and raleigh-durhaming to to go. happy to be back. we're going. let's roll. if it's tuesday we have got a shut down showdown and a little show boating to go with it. tonight a december to remember, how the leadership vacuum in washington is sucking the year out of the year end agenda. >> chuck schumer and nancy pelosi did not show up for our meeting today. i'm not really that surprised. >> we'll talk towo