that does it for me, "hardball" with chris matthews is up next. white house rumble, let's play "hardball." good evening i'm chris matthews. in washington we're hours away from a government shutdown and the president of the united states is feuding with his chief of staff. it's not the first time this president has publically picked a fight with the top member of his team, but it may be the worst. yesterday according to "the washington post" white house chief of staff john kelly told democratic lawmakers that some of the hard line immigration policies president trump advocated during the campaign

were uninformed. kelly was asked about those very comments during an interview with fox. here's what he said. >> this president, if you've seen what he's done, he has changed the way he's looked at a number of things. he's very definitely changed his attitude toward the daca issue and even the wall once we briefed him. he has evolved in the way he's looked at things. campaign to governing are two different things and this president is very flexible in terms of what is in the realm of possible. >> so mexico is not going to pay. >> it's possible that we could get the revenue from mexico but not directly from their government. >> he talks like he's feeding the president baby food. according to the "new york times" the president was livid when he heard that interview and this morning he tweeted, the wall is the wall, it has never

changed since the first day icon received for it. it will be pay for by mexico. the associated press is complaining to friends that kelly made him look like a floop flopper and portrayed him as a child and had to be managed. sources said he upgraded him after the fox interview. the president had a different message. let's take a look. >> he's great. i think he's doing a great job. i think general kelly has done a great job. he's a special guy. >> despite that show of support today, kelly's comments undercut the president and his repeated promise to actually build a wall. >> we will build a wall. don't worry about it. it will be a great wall. it will be a real wall, folks. >> i promise we're building the wall and mexico will pay for the

wall. >> mexico will pay for the wall. i think they'll end up being happy to do so. >> the wall just got 10 feet higher. we love it. >> we are going to build the wall. it will be a real wall. a real wall. who is going to pay for the wall? >> mexico. >> who? >> mexico. >> the back and forth between boss and top kick on the president's immigration position has not help congressional republicans get any closer to a deal that would solve the daca problem and keep the government opened. if no deal is reached there will be a shutdown of the government tomorrow at midnight. casey hunt on capitol hill gives us the update. i did talk about baby food because this chief of staff talks about the president as this cartoon character that has to be made into a person by

saying he's evolved, understands it's not really a wall, understands daca, since he's been briefed. in other words when i told him what was going on he seems to have gotten it. this is condescending talk. the president doesn't like it. how does this going on at the white house affect the chance of not shut down the united states government tomorrow night at midnight. >> it's how we got here. this all started the president had an open door meeting said to the lawmakers, our cameras were there for like 45 minute, unprecedented. and said whatever these guys come up with i'll sign. then two days later, we have the clo closed-door meeting where they invited more conservative members to sit and go over a bipartisan compromise on daca. the whole thing fell apart when the president used inflammatory

language about haiti and africa. so what you have now is a democratic party that's bg been given a rational for this potential shutdown, the brew ha over the last week has energized their base and made it easier for democrats to say we can't work with this guy on these issues. whereas republicans are with john kelly privately. they think this president says one thing one day, another the next, doesn't understand the issue. fisa was in danger this morning. there was a moment we thought the president was opposing this because it included a long term extension of the children's health insurance program. this is the president they're dealing with. quite frankly it's a big part of the reason we're here. >> i get a sense we're going to be here for a while. trump gave a barn burner of a speech in pittsburgh today. he's good at standing in front

of a bunch of supportive people giving a speech. but doesn't know how to run the government. what's -- the capitol, the people you cover all the time, what's going on in his mind? will he take daca if it's forced down his throat snnchts they're the same place many people are watching this june founfold. take lindsey graham, he's a great example, he wasn't antagonist and then said you know what, the best way to figure this president out, is to be his friend, play golf with him, get him on the phone. he did that and after they had this white house meeting with the show down, the reports are the president is not taking lindsey graham's calls. so instead he's back making cable news appearances sending

messages down the news that the president pays a lot of attention to. it's unlike anything people up here have ever seen. one of the dynamics on the hill is how much of it feels unprecedented. there was a sense that we'll figure it out. we always figure it out. there's no way the government is going to shut down. but then over the weekend, the s-hole debate changed the landscape of this. e we have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow. we could be here tomorrow at 7:00 having a different conversation. i every day covering this, the people i talk to in these hallways, no one has any clue what's going to happen in the following 15 minutes. we're in uncharted territory. maybe it's an obvious thing to say. >> you're giving us a wonderful capsule of insanity.

thank you. let's go to cornell bellcher and jennifer rubin. i don't buy the idea this is the usual turbulence you feel on an airplane. no this is whack job. you have tob people that don't like immigration and they got people who insist on basically meeting the needs of a consistency, the hispanic people of the country, the latinos, they want to help those kids, i don't see the kid. >> the iron any is if they put it on the table it would pass. they have the majority of votes. >> the middle that doesn't call the shots? >> exactly. if you have the democrats voting one way and this group -- lindsey graham is expanding the group that say they're in favor of a solution, it won't work. trump won't let them put it on the table, mcconnell won't, ryan

won't. i think what happens going to happen, if the house passes through, what's mitch mcconnell going to do? >> here's the story, an uncertain trumpet, is it that the president will give on the wall thing, the president understands daca and can't fight it? that's the message from the chief of staff to the caucus the other day. the president saying today i am still a wall guy and i'm tough. >> the leadership matters. we're seeing what happens when we don't have leadership. this level of dysfunction. you can't have this. nancy pelosi nailed it. it's amateur hour. and it's dangerous for those thousands of young americans who have known nothing but america, they're in the lines of fire because of this absolute chaos

and dysfunction at the top. be a leader, take one side and stake with that side, the president is absent in this. >> as we said earlier, democrats and republicans have until midnight tomorrow to fund the government. candidate trump ran on the promise that he would be a deal maker, remember that? in instances just like this one. let's take a listen. >> if i'm elected president, i'm going to be in the white house a lot. i'm not leaving we have deals to make. >> i will bring america to a new level. i will negotiate deals that nobody can negotiate deals like i do. i know nobody i'm running against. nobody is going to do the things i do. it's supposed to be you get along with congress, cojoel and go back and forth and we get in a room and we have deals. clare mckas skill tweeted,

compromise is the essence of democracy. if there ever was a time for a deal maker. look at it this way, it seems a deal is there. we're going to take care of the dreamers, 80% say let those kids stay here. nobody wants to send them back, they didn't come on their own, don't send them back on the government's say-so. at the same time there has to be enforcement of the immigration laws, there has to be something, whether it's a wall, punishing big business for hiring illegally -- something has to stop the immigration. not everybody wants to say that but they will -- >> be but graham and durbin argue the deal is already there. durbin just sweet twooeted unification check, border security, check, d.r.e.a.m.ers check. the deal is there. the hard liners have a problem

with it but durbin and senator graham had the deal. >> has this use of the term, the s-hole term which we all say ridiculously s-hole, but we do. he said it worse. has now created a poison so the democrats don't want to sit down with him? especially with minority people. >> they're so offended by it. but now they know they have him. he looks bad, a racist. >> what do they get out of it? if they cut a deal, they look week and give in to a bad guy who's a racist, in the end what's this chip worth? >> eventually they have to do something on daca and they'll be her rows. >> i don't agree the democrats are holding a chip. the votes are there for the democrats, again the durbin/graham bill, they would

vote for this bill. >> there's always been the middle, ted kennedy was in the middle. we all agree, we can do it better here. we can do the deal here. president trump's attorney says he's eager to speak with special counsel mueller. he suggested mueller might set a perjury trap. have you ever heard a lawyer said ahead of time he's worried his client is going to lie under oath? this is what this guy is saying, my guy might lie. you think the chief of staff has low estimate for the brains, his lawyer's are lawyers. trump is vowing to spend four to five days a week helping republicans win in 2018. he went to pittsburgh, pennsylvania today where democrats think they have a chance to flip a republican

district. obama is gatheriearing up t the same. trump versus obama. >> this is going to be a frightening close for tonight's show on trump watch. this is "hardball" where the action is. ♪ ♪ keep it comin' love. if you keep on eating, we'll keep it comin'. all you can eat riblets and tenders at applebee's. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. get ready for centrum micro-workouts. the bottle curl.

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bus or the airlines lose my luggage. when the president of the united states decides to call africa, haiti and el salvador the words he used, that's not unfortunate. that's wrong, that's disgusting, hurtful. there are a number of words for it, but unfortunate is not one of them. >> he's good. we'll be right back. what comes next. if you move your old 401(k) to a fidelity ira, we make sure you're in the loop at every step from the moment you decide to move your money to the instant your new retirement account is funded. ♪ oh and at fidelity, you'll see how all your investments are working together. because when you know where you stand, things are just clearer. ♪ just remember what i said about a little bit o' soul ♪

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would you be willing to meet with him without condition or would you demand that a strict set of parameters be placed around any encounter between you and the special counsel? >> again there's been no collusion between the trump campaign and russia. i'll see what happens but when they have no collusion and nobody's found any collusion at any level it seems unlikely that you'd have an interview. >> welcome back to "hardball" just last week president trump said it was unlikely he'd be

questioned by the special counsel mr. mueller in connection with the russia probe. however his top lawyers now say otherwise. he said he believes it's a certainty that the president will sit down with mueller's team but he's worried about perjury. let's watch. >> is it from your advantage point right now a virtual certainty that the president will have some q & a with the special counsel robert mueller? >> that's my belief. >> do you think there's any danger for the president in that encounter? >> you know, i would hope that a fair-minded office of special counsel would approach it in a -- in a dutiful way consistent with precedent and it wouldn't be a mere perjury trap. >> after incorrectly predicting

the probe would wind down last year, trump's lawyer, said it would end soon. >> when do you believe it would reach a conclusion. >> soon. >> what do you mean by soon. >> four to six weeks. >> i'm joined by adam schiff ranking congressman in the house committee. i'm wondered if you are baffled by a lawyer for the president, his top lawyer, saying he might commit perjury because somehow the questioning would be so brilliant that he would be forced into what he called a perjury trap. what do you make of it? >> i'm surprised with that level of candor, but wouldn't you be surprised as the lawyer knowing the president's propensity to say things aren't true. so i can understand counsel's concern but he is going to have to be interviewed by special

counsel. he's made a number of statements. some of the most incriminating have come from the president himself. such as the comments he had on his mind when he fired james comey. so the interview has to take place. certainly a lot of mind fields for the president's lawyer. if we're going to get to the truth, the facts, he's an essential witness. >> they seem less worried about or less intending to avoid commenting db or letting the president testify to mueller's team than they are to testify to your committee. what is it with these guys? they want to use executive privilege to stay away from you guys, especially the democrats on your committee, but the lawyer, they have to go face the special counsel? >> we saw this week, they shutdown steve bannon said we're imposing a gag rule on steve bannon we won't let him testify

to anything he learned after he left the campaign or any conduct, meetings, conversation during the transition or his time in the administration or thereafter. similarly corey lewandowski ended up doing the same thing, saying i'm going to refuse to answer questions because i'm not prepared to do it today. and then the third witness that was supposed to come in tomorrow, another administration official, they cancelled altogether. so they're concerned about testimony before congress. they're most concerned, frankly, about steve bannon. they may have good reason for that concern or this may be just a broad effort to stifle the congressional investigations because they feel they have a home court advantage with the republican chairman of our committee. >> they do. today your committee released the testimony of glen simpson, the founder of gps. the transcript shows mr. simpson told you that he diskcovered

there were an amazing number of people that will purchased properties from mr. trump. what do you make of it? >> this is a concern i had all along. that this one area of the investigation could be potentially the most compromising of the president, and it ought to be in the exercise of due diligence investigated like the other allegations we've faced. when we began this investigation, there were allegations of secret meetings with trump campaign people which we know took place. there were allegations of what general flynn was doing, which we now know proved to be true. and there have been persistent allegations of money laundering, which we have not been allowed to investigate. steve bannon is concerned about money laundering and simpson as well. i think it would be irresponsible for us not to look into it and find out it's not true, it was just highly suggestive or no it looks like

there's merits to the allegations and the president could be potentially compromised. >> there's three areas of exposure, the president may have colluded with the russians, the president may have obstructed justice and he may have been involved with money laundering. he and his family. all three topics still hot to investigate to you? >> yes, i think we have more wrk to did on all of these topics. you can see the limitations we're operating under when bannon won't talk about his time in the administration or transition. and corey lewandowski is saying i'm not prepared to answer that today, thinking that's an adequate response. so there's a lot more work we need to do, there's a lot more work just about the trump tower meeting, people that knew what went into the trump tower meeting, the telephone records we want to obtain so we can determine whether donald trump jr. spoke with donald trump

senior about that meeting. but money laundering, could be, if there were merit to it, the most compromising in the sense the russians knew they engaged it, would have power over the united states and we've not been permitted by the majority to look at the issue. >> thank you. i'm joined by paul butler. what you make of all that? >> money laundering is hot because of simpson's testimony, that's what they were looking at that led to the dossier, the president clearly doesn't want to talk about that. i get the feeling he's going to fire mueller the minute he goes in that direction. >> what the transcript says eric trump said he can get money from the russians. we have that and the suspicious pattern of real estate transactions with people in

russia. and then we have steve bannon, the guy who knew the president best, who said if the trump team goes down it's going down because of money laundering. as you say they've focussed occlusion, obstruction of justice, but this could be the thing that undonees the administration. >> it raises the question whether his campaign for president was a criminal inte enterprise. the whole question were they selling them land to get the money laundered. >> we think about the political organization of the campaign. that's another area bannon is key. a question they will ask him is how did it work. would it be possible for people like carter page and george papadopoulos to meet with russians and trump not know about it. if he says to the grand jury or the fbi that he didn't know about it and he did, that's perjury. >> watch these pictureses. i like the pictures that show

steve bannon sitting comfortably in the oval office. he said we were worried, we were talking to the white house about the meetings, the meeting at trump tower, we talked about it. it opened up the gate. they obviously talked about it but now he said they talked about it. >> how could he not. he said he thought it was treasonous, the fact they were meeting with the russians to talk about the election on behalf of president trump. so bannon has a lot to tell mueller. i would love to be a fly in the room. >> you know they separate the two menendez brothers. in this case you have bannon who doesn't like the nepotism people, eric and jared and all that benefitting by their father. he may want to testify against them. >> he's a prosecutor's dream witness. he doesn't have exposure. he only gets in trouble if he doesn't tell the truth. they're going to tell him, yes, steve you're not talking to the

grand jury, you're talking to agents. but you still have to tell the truth, if you don't, you're going to jail. >> executive privilege, it was wiped away because of the nixon case, it was an impeachment case, high crimes misdemeanors. there the court said no executive privilege. where does it play here at all? >> here's the deal. there is some limited claim in a congressional hearing before a grand jury, which is what plu mueller is working with, no credible claim. even with the congressional committees i think trump waved it because the things they want the witnesses to talk about, michael flynn and why he fired comey. trump has made statements about that. so you can't talk about something and then prevent people from talking about it. as soon as it gets to the court. it's the republicans who are running the committees that are not forcing the witness to talk.

they can say, if you're claiming executive privilege make the president file a motion or send a letter. it's the president that has to claim it. >> you know all about this stuff. what is a perjury trap? is there such a thing or is that some sort of rhetorical device by a lawyer to set up the innocence of his client who he thinks is going to lie? >> the perjury trap is when the prosecutor sets someone up to try to trick them into telling a lie before the grand jury. the best way to prevent it is to tell the truth. apparently the president's lawyer thinks his client has a hard time doing that. >> i shouldn't laugh about criminal behavior. anyway, thank you. up next, president trump hits the campaign trail ahead of another hotly contested election in western pennsylvania. he's not the only president looking to make an impact in 2018. president obama is coming off the sidelines. we'll see how they handle it and how these two match up.

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welcome back to "hardball." the house as you can see is now voting on the short term spending measure to avoid a government shutdown tomorrow night. the right wing freedom just agreed to get into it. if it passes the house it's expected to go to the senate and then the president's desk or the

government shuts down. >> meanwhile, president trump was in pennsylvania today making his first speech of 2018. expressing his support for rick san cone. he told "reuters" yesterday, i am going to spend four or five days a week because we need more republicans. he was giving a speech on the economy, the president couldn't resist throwing some meat to his base. let's watch. >> americans, do anything, build anything, and create anything as long as we have pride in our country, confidence in our values and respect for our great american flag. something i'm really proud of because i've been saying it, what do you have to lose? african-american unemployment is at its lowest level ever recorded. and remember, the deplorables.

the deplorables. we're all deplorables. who would have thought that was going to turn into a landslide. that was not a good phrase that she used. oh, some things you'd like to have back. >> he also bragged about how great the country is doing right now. let's watch that. >> nobody thought we were going to have this kind of success so quickly. there's never been a better time to hire in america, to invest in america, and believe in the american dream than right now. we can keep it like this we're going to win a lot of elections, that i can tell you. >> it remains to be seen if voters will buy trump's argument that he's made america great again. according to a new pole, 51% of registered voters say his first year in office was a failure, 42% say it was a success and 7%

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welcome back to "hardball." the u.s. house of representatives has just approved a short term spending bill. we saw the vote there. and now the measure goes to the senate where its fate is unclear, putting it nicely. the federal government will shutdown at midnight if they in the senate. the president is helping to stop a blue wave this november. but he'll face barack obama on the trail. the chicago tribune said obama will continue to be active in 2018. meanwhile reports obama is strategizing on his approach with tom perez. according to the publicipolitic determined not to become the foil the president wants him to

be. let's bring in, kimberly at kins, howard and and dave gem betty. i want to talk to howard, i think we agree on something off the bat. i thought trump's speech today was a barn burner. i never heard him give a better speech. for whatever reason he rose to the occasion. i know it was home court. i think if he behaves like that, the democrats are going to need a powerful candidate. >> i think, chris, there is a big blue wave or wind blowing -- >> in '18. >>. >> -- in '18 but if he's going to get through it, it's going to have to be with speeches he gave. he talked about his calling card, the economy, and he didn't create all of this, barack obama deserves some of the credit.

unemployment is low, minority unemployment is low. he made his case today and stayed on message. he stayed out of his way today. light touch, some humor, salesmansh salesmanship, just enough ra ra. >> and none of those cheap shots. >> that's as good as he's going to get on the stump. >> let me talk to you about president obama, to some people he's still the president. how does he get into this fight without getting his face dirtied by trump? >> carefully. president trump is going to punch at obama if he's on the campaign trail. so it's up to president obama to pick the message. >> how do you make yourself a stand back weapon. >> if anybody can do it, it's this president. he's very popular he has that over president trump. he also knows how to speak to

issues and speak about candidates and speak to what's going on in the districts he campaigns that doesn't make it about trump and overshadow the candidates themselves or some of the other up and coming democratic stars that might be good on the campaign trail. >> judge, give me your matchup. the president and former president go out there by october 15th they'll both have their faces on the nightly news you know it. >> the difference is the elections are going to be a referendum on president trump whether he likes it or not. there's no way the elections are going to be a referendum on the president who has left office two years ago. so they're going to pick their spots carefully, make an affirmative message out there. take on trump occasionally but shy away from the idea it's one versus the other. democrats are happy with the comparison. one of them is popular, overall

in the country, and especially with the democratic base. and one of them is not that popular overall in the country including with his own republican base. so democrats are not concerned about this matchup. >> president trump largely stuck to his script on stage, but off stage offered this over the impasse tomorrow night. >> i believe the democrats want a shutdown to get off the topic of the tax cuts because they've worked so well. they've been so good that i think the democrats would like a shutdown in order to get off the subject. that is not a good subject for them, the tax cuts because of the way they worked. >> is that true? >> that's not true. some democrats, particularly in the senate, want to see daca action. what's the action on daca and will see tomorrow some effort to try to negotiate that in before they give their approval of this

bill. but, no, this isn't about the tax cut, about the democrats wanting to shutdown the government. this shouldn't be about up anybody wanting to shutdown the government. that's one of the least popular things can you do. >> maybe i'm a skeptic. how about people want the deal in the fight and how many want the fight because sometimes the fight is better than the deal. if you're looking out for a minority community that's growing every day in this country, ten years from now, it'll be 20% you want that community behind you and against other side, right? >> absolutely. >> here's the chance for the democrats to stick the republicans with being the antiimmigrant party. >> they're also making the calculation that people realize that republicans control everything in washington right now, whether it's the white house, the house or the senate. so for republicans to try to push this back on democrats right now. the democratic leadership doesn't believe that's going to work. so they think it's a win-win right now.

they can convince their base, a lot of minority voters they're standing for them. >> i think democrats don't mind the fight a bit. >> it's not a fight for the sake of a fight -- >> it's a fight to be on the right side of the fight. although sometimes fights are good. like here. >> no matter what the republican leadership thinks, i think that donald trump thinks that he can win that spin war. that he can win that war. >> he'd rather be on the anti-immigrant side? >> he'd rather by on the anti-immigrant side. remember, he and his people don't like the government. >> it's a weird world. what do you think? >> i think it's interesting because you said he looked great because he read for ten minutes and didn't say anything offensive. >> i didn't say that he looked

great, i said that's as good as he can do. >> i said he was great. i watch politics all these years and try to figure out who looks good. >> the same guy you said wants to anti-immigrants, pick the expletive you want. i think it'll be a great get out the vote for the democrats. >> they're hoping for the worst case situation in politics for republicans. gabe agrees with me? >> they're hoping for the worst case scenario. >> they hope he's a klutz, a fool saying s.-hole every day of the week. in his limited campaign appearances last year, president obama took on his successor, although not by name. let's watch. >> i've been commenting a lot on politics lately, but here's one

thing i know. if you have to win a campaign by dividing people, you're not going to be able to govern them. >> when wha we can't have is same old politics of division that we have seen so many times before. that dates back centurys. some of the politics we see now, we thought we put that to bed. >> that's my religion. >> look, i think one of the biggest things that former president obama has going for him is the same thing that made everyone so excited about oprah. they give a speech and inspire people. there's not a lot of that in washington right now. >> i agree with you. the people who are against -- who might beat oprah if she were to run are also positive people like biden. do i use a toothpaste that whitens my teeth

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during the the 2016 campaign, donald trump repeatedly claimed the united states got no respect under president obama. >> they laugh at us and what do they do? they have no respect for obama whatsoever. they' they'll have less respect for crooked hillary. >> they don't respect our country, they don't respect our president, they don't like our president. >> our rivals no longer respect us. putin has no respect for obama

whatsoever. the iranians like to taunt us because they don't have respect for our leaders, right. >> it turns out the world respects us less now that trump confidence in the united states leadership has fallen to an historic low right now. gallup vsurveyed more than 130 countries and found just 30% approve of leadership under trump. germany has now replaced the united states as top-rated global power. isn't that wonderful? the u.s. also falls slightly behind china and is barely more popular than the russkis. we should note that this poll was conducted before trump -- oh, my god -- before he started talking about africa as a bunch of s-holes. we'll be right back. geez! (singing) riblets, tenders!

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do not go gentle into that good night. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ we're back with the "hardball" roundtable. kimberly, tell me something i don't know. >> well, on track to change the way that sexual harassment is reported against members of congress. they introduced a bill, that has support that not only will get

rid of this publicly funded settlement -- >> right, i know -- >> the settlement fund, but it would force lawmakers to pay out of their own dollars. it would give extra support to people making these claims. and also on the other side to prevent blackmail. >> this is the new system. >> it's a new system. >> it's in place now? >> the bill has been filed and it's likely to pass. >> and the house can make this decision by itself? without the senate? zb >> yes. >> howard? >> chris, i checked with some agencies and departments. unlike past administrations in past years, there's been very little if any guidance about what to do if there actually is a government shutdown. either out of ignorance or chaos or knowing something that we don't, the departments and agencies have not been fully briefed in the way that they have been in the past about exactly what happens if there's a shutdown. >> so they turn the lights off in the zoo? >> they turn the lights off. >> what do the animals do? >> i put it down to general chaos and it's still

understaffed and underexperienced trump's administration. >> last night, there was a little known special election for a state senate seat in rural wisconsin. >> oh, we know. well known here. >> well known here. what i want to say, there have been 34 state legislative seats now since november 2016 that have flipped from republican to democrat over the last year. and you have -- >> which tells you? >> which tells us that there's something build. >> a wave. >> i don't know if it's that wave yet, but scott walker himself was saying, it's time to sound the alarm. >> every president since 18 tv, it's been an arnl average of 32s lost by the president's party. looks like the democrats could win back the house. thank you, kimberly atkins, howard fineman, dave bedenebeti. when we return, let me finish with trump watch.

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trump watch thursday, january 18th, 2018. there's a giddiness about the congressional elections coming up this november. talk of how the democrats are going to sweep away republican incumbents. especially in the suburbs. all this could happen, just as imagined, just as the signs from new jersey and virginia, alabama, and most recently wisconsin indicate. we could see a democratic wave that comfortably grabs back control of the u.s. house of representatives, maybe even the u.s. senate. but don't think this is over. don't think that a good year in 2018 means democratic victory necessarily in 2020. why do i say that? because i watched every minute of the president's stump speech this afternoon in pittsburgh. it was a barn burner.

he hit all the high notes, never a flat one, he hit out the good news, hitting strong on employment numbers, no nastiness. his pitch uplifting, gung ho, with all the flags flying. i'm trying to think of a democratic rival that could match the performance, maybe you can help me out here, someone who can sell this country while making a case for herself or himself. someone who can make people feel empowered, feel like they matter. and still give them hope that they will win in the end? my point, which i expect to make often in the next three years, is that you can't beat someone with no one. to defeat donald trump will take a political combatant able to take the blows and give them back. to speak with hope and power. to go over trump, and not just get caught going under him. trying to undermine him. someone who will be bigger than him. why? because this is not a parliamentary or congressional country, like in england, where the party is what matters. it's a presidential country, where the leader matters. to win, democrats will need a

better leader than the one we saw today. and those who despise trump, i feel, required to say, ignore this truth at their peril. and that's "hardball," for now. thanks for being with us. a"all in with chris hayes" stars right now. tonight on "all in" -- >> are you still going to florida tomorrow? >> we'll see what happens? >> the president passes the buck. >> we'll see what happens. it's up to the democrats. >> tonight, as the president fights his own chief of staff, republicans struggle to keep the government open. >> we should not be playing these games. >> then -- >> i think it's very sad what they've done with this fake dossier. it was made-up. >> money laundering, comprimat and more in the second round of fusion gps transcripts. >> russia is fake news. >> and explosive new reporting that the fbi is investigating whether the nra used russian money to help trump. >> back with my friends at the nra. >> when "a i