they should have said we collectively boycott this or walk out. there's not a lot of self regulation there. the issue here is what donald trump wants is what president putin has, one press conference a year where questions are submitted in advance. there's one question, you can answer it. that's what he wants. that's what they do in authoritarian countries. >> my thanks to you. that does it for our hour. "mtp daily" starts with katy tur in for chuck. >> can i add something? i know they want one question and yield to other reporters, but some of the most important answers come with follow-up questions. we have seen that time and again throughout the presidential briefings or white house briefings. i asked donald trump about him asking russia to look into hillary clinton's e-mails. him saying later on, whatever you have to show for it, more of

what he meant came out in the follow-up questions. the intent of what he was saying, the fact it was not just a one off or joke came out in the follow-up questions. i'm sorry, as a journalist you ask follow-up questions. >> i watched you in the press conferences. it is on donald trump that he engages this back and forth. this is how he expresses himself. because he likes to win every arl argtd, when he would field questions from you -- >> he does this on purpose and fights on purpose because he wants the conversation to be about how the press is awful to him. he revels in that because he thinks it is a winning conversation. he thinks it helps him with voters. >> and peter baker made this point when the fight started, he said no one makes -- and i know this from running press conferences for president bush,

no one makes a president call on someone, he calls on jim acosta because he wants what you just described. >> and also if he answered a question, like actually answered it, instead of going off on a tangent. or let you finish asking before cutting you off, then it would be a different story. he doesn't necessarily do that. we could do the whole show like this. thank you. if it is monday, it is a presidential schiff show. good evening. i am katy tur in new york in for chuck todd. welcome to "mtp daily." how else can you explain the last 36 hours than an unabashed display of presidential ego. >> i would give myself an a plus. is that enough? can i go higher than that?

>> apparently anyone that dares to question that perfect score is in his view corrupted. he debases the next chairman of the house intelligence committee, referring to adam chivas a misswelled expletive. he reduces a war hero, commander of the bin laden raid, to a partisan operative, which he is not. the president degrades the free press, how authority tarns are using his words to suppress journalists. and conspiracy about pulitzer prize winning reporters, painting them as the enemy of the people. discredits the intelligence community, shoving aside the cia purported assessment that the saudi crown prince ordered the killing of jamal khashoggi. he accepts all the credit for republicans holding the senate.

saying i won the senate. the president's behavior may come as no surprise to those that follow him. folks, after two years it seems as if we have gone to the point even the most basic constitutional norms are in question. >> can you envision a situation, you talk about six more years. can you envision a situation well into your second term where you think that you're so good for the country, so essential for progress of the country that you would try to amend the constitution to serve a third term? >> no. >> why not? >> just won't happen. i think the 8 year limit is a good thing, not a bad thing. >> it is not a good day for democracy when the president says he views himself as basically infallible. while he undernines congress, the rule of law and the press and dismisses the message from

midterm voters, is asking questions about doing away with term limits, not a good day. let's discuss. bring in phil bump, national kronlt for -- correspondent for "the washington post." and susan dell pursue oh. chris wall as asking that, it would have been absurd for many to believe that should have been asked early on. you're crazy thinking donald trump wants to do away with term limits. i wrote in the beginning of the book like a joke, what if he is -- who thinks he is leaving after two terms. farther we get into the administration, it becomes a legitimate question. when it is asked by someone like chris wallace, even more legitimate question. chris wallace is not asking gotcha questions, not asking questions to feed any special interest. i mean, he is asking pointed questions and doing it on fox news. >> yeah. when chris wallace is asking

that question, people should recognize there's no chance this would become a constitutional amendment. he is asking trump if he wants that to happen. part of the thing that colors this, trump's response to what happened in florida. it is fascinating to watch both as votes are counted in florida. seemed like the democrats were going to be able to hold onto a senate seat, even after the race is called for rick scott. trump and others continue to raise questions about what happened before. there's an on-going pattern by the president in 2016 and 2018 of raising questions about legitimacy of elections. >> undermining democracy. >> absolutely. and then wallace asks this other question that gets at the same point. do you feel you're subject to these constraints. while he said no there, his response suggests he is -- >> i would ask that in a couple of years. if he wins re-election i would ask it after he wins re-election. i don't think that's the only answer you get out of donald

trump unless you want to be president for longer than that. it is not a joke any longer. >> these are trial balloons. i wish i held your sense there's no chance that could ever happen. i think if you look at the checklist of powers that authoritarian did he s authoritarian did he s authoritarian despitev -- despites have, they see threats to economic goals that far right conservatives have, because most working, middle class people aren't in favor of billionaires being able to shape our politics, of the franchise being restricted. this is part of a larger pattern of democracy. >> let's look at the past 24 to 36 hours, he is going after a four star general, retired four

star general that led the bin laden raid, somebody he praised in 2012 in order to degrade president obama. now he is using him as a foil because he doesn't like what mcraven said, so he is denying an accomplishment he had. he is frankly when asked about journalists and words he uses about journalists, calling them the enemy of the people, and when pointed out that authoritarians are using this around the world, they're copying your language, saying enemy of the people, saying fake news, he brushes it off. he is completely oblivious to reality of the midterms. it seems that everything that's going on if it is counter to the message he wants, by the way, brushing off the cia and khashoggi, if it is counter to the narrative he is building or the narrative he wants to hear, he is undermining the authority. and what that does, it is not just donald trump doing it, it is now a significant portion of the american public that says i

believe you. >> the problem is donald trump has never been in position to be accountable to anybody. this is really the time that he is seeing it. midterm elections say we are holding you accountable, president trump, and he doesn't know how to deal with that. we look at the enemy of the people. this is what he did in 2016. he went after john mccain and gold star families. it is not surprising if he thinks he can flip an argument and go after an american hero, of course he will. he seems to be smiling more. >> does he seem to be? he's doing the same things. >> his answers are the same. he is much more -- he is in a different posture now because he is being challenging, whether it is fox news or trey gowdy

suggesting there may be a question of law. i see what you're saying, but he is acting even worse. i think his behavior is worse than it was then. maybe not worse but he is the president of the united states. and he does have checks. this is the first time, he can't leave the situation. he's always been able to walk away from a business deal. he could have walked away from an election. he is so boxed in, so cornered now, he has nowhere to go. and that leaves him in a different position than before. >> i think very much depends on what is revealed in the mueller investigation. by no means it is certain what will be revealed in the mueller investigation. also by no means certain that whatever is revealed will change his political calculus. >> there's a line in a movie, taking a lie detector test, saying when will you have the results. right away. you know when you're lying, don't you? donald trump knows if he is lying. he knows what's been done. he is probably coming to the fact that he will be caught in

it. he won't be able to fight himself out of that. there are legal consequences at this point. >> i think that for normal people that's a correct assessment. for normal people that have some self reflection -- >> there's still law and order in this country. >> it is true. there is still law and order in this country but there's an on-going debate whether or not the bounds of normal law and order apply to the president of the united states. to your point, he holds this position. it is not necessarily the case that robert mueller in particular will say i am issuing indictment on president trump, even if he were to do that, the person that has the authority to prove it is matthew whitaker, and he is not going to say indict the president. >> you need republicans to put

pressure on him as well. and it is by no means certain that republicans will do that. yes, democrats control the house. they might have control there. they can impeach with the majority of democrats but doesn't mean he gets run out of office. the senate is not going to do that as of now. republicans are in charge of that and don't show any signs of breaking. look what the gop tweeted about attacks on commander welcome mcraven. worth noting after recent comments retired admiral was on hillary clinton's short list for vice president in 2016. he's been critical of president trump, even dating back to the 2016 campaign. hardly a nonpolitical figure. this is the party backing the president while he bashes and trashes the man that led the bin laden raid. >> that's not who you look to. you look to other leaders. >> what has paul ryan said? what has mitt romney said, what has marco rubio said.

>> when you look at the rnc and republican national committee, that person is handpicked by donald trump and almost has to say what he wants. >> while he is doing that, it is not as if he is doing that, and that's it and the republicans are backing him up. he is offering this ego boost of his own saying listen, i wrote about osama bin laden in my look. >> i basically caught him in 2000. >> it was a one off mention without larger context. >> he is the only person that knew. >> it wasn't a west wing episode. it wasn't hard. >> it is clear that his ego knows no bounds. what's frustrating is that we keep having to go down this rabbit hole when we know he is trying to distract us from results of midterm elections, trying to put his own spin on them, from the fact that democrats are picking up house seats every other day, trying to distract from the boondoggle

that is his appointment of whitaker. we have to keep our focus on things that matter in the big sweep of history now, the ways that our constitutional powers are being eroded or have opportunities to check, to be checked. that's where we are now. we are at a moment of potential accountability. >> it is clear what donald trump's political strategy is from the outside and still is, which is confuse, confuse, confuse, muddy muddy muddy muddy, make it questionable n h enough of the american public believe me because they like me, think i am funny, are happy i am fighting back, whatever it is. they like me to where they ignore all of the evidence to the contrary. you have only a second. >> the key take away is will results of midterms, trump is trying to spin a success, does the rest of the party boouy tha. it was play to the base, that doesn't actually work. >> we have another election in

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[ horn honks ] only one movie is winning audience awards across the country. and now it's hitting a high note on rotten tomatoes. thank you for your warm hospitality. viggo and mahershala are so good, you end up wishing the movie would never end. it's amazing you said that. [ laughing ] welcome back. three senate democrats are suing to block president trump's appointment of matthew whitaker as attorney general. they argue president trump violated the constitution appointments clause because whitaker hasn't been confirmed by the senate and they're not alone. maryland attorney general filed a lawsuit last week as well. whitaker has drawn scrutiny for past statements as a tv pin kdi,

criticizing the special counsel investigation. >> i did not know he took views on the mueller investigation as such. >> and when you found that out? >> i don't think it had any effect. what do you do when a person is right, there is no collusion. he happened to be right. he said it. if he said there is collusion, i am supposed to take somebody there is? >> a source tells nbc news he tried to catch the president's attention by raising his profile as a cnn legal commentator. so why would president trump appoint whitaker outside the justice department typical line of succession? joined by democratic senator sheldon whitehouse, one of three filing the lawsuit. first of all, i want to get to your lawsuit. you say the president violates the constitution in the advice and consent clause of the appointments clause. the president and dodj is actin

under the federal vacancies act. there are three ways you can do it under that act. one is designate the deputy to take charge, choosing someone nominated by the president and confirmed by the senate for a different job, and naming someone serving in senior position in relevant agency for at least 90 days. whitaker fits that third part of the federal vacancies act. >> well, maybe, but there's a much more specific provision as a matter of law, statutory law that provides a distinct order of succession in the department of justice. and when rod rosenstein who was next on the order of succession was reviewed and confirmed by the senate, it was with the prospect in mind that part of the deputy attorney general's responsibilities are to take over and fill in spots. nobody had heard of this fellow

whitaker at the time. moreover, the constitution ultimately controls and says the principal offices of the united states shall be filled with advice and con sent of the senate. the way the president has gone about this, not only is a violation in this case but road map for future to skirt around advice and consent. when you look at why that was put in there, it was to protect the public against a president who might put incompetents in office because they had greater loyalty to the person than to the public they're there to serve. that's the stated purpose of that clause. so it is very applicable in this instance. >> if you're arguing with the appointments clause that it overrules essentially the doj, overrules the federal vacancies reform act, so a federal judge would call into question

legality of the federal vacancies reform act at least in that one last category where you talk about a senior position in a relevant agency more than 90 days. >> yeah, because one of the things that's been a little bit covering the predicament that a president may find himself in in the event of a sudden, unplanned vacancy, somebody has to do the job awhile. it can take awhile to get advice and con sesent, who do you fill in the meantime. there are two traditions, somebody senate confirmed should be the person that fills in, and the second in the case of department of justice, there's a law that specifies who it should be. so they're going way outside the bounds, both of the succession plan and the tradition of senate confirmed appointments to bring somebody in who is i think unqualified for the position but also does not have even a hint of advice and consent approval

by the senate. if they get away with it in this circumstance, they can do it with other cabinet officers. >> the mueller investigation is on-going, there is urgency to your lawsuit. do you expect to get a ruling anytime soon? >> well, the government has the chance to answer and we of course have ability to ask for a temporary restraining order or injunctive relief at some point. at the moment, we simply filed a complaint asking for declaratory relief. we'll see if he recuses himself, whether he tries to interfere in the investigation. we're at least ready to go into court because the complaint has been filed, and we need to haef hear from the executive branch because i think they're going to defend against this. >> some republicans are uncomfortable with whitaker or question the legality of that appointment, trey gowdy is one. so is lindsey graham. you're laughing. why haven't you gotten any

republicans to sign on? >> even john hugh wrote a piece saying the appointment was unconstitutional. i think it is widely accepted his appointment is at the very bounds of constitutionality, and that we feel very confident, the three of us that brought the case, we standard way better than likelihood of winning this and putting advice and consent back onto the department of attorney general. >> are your republican counter parts pressuring the president to name someone into that role quickly? >> i do not know. there certainly isn't any public pressure, there's been no names floated or vetted that seem to me to be very serious. under the act, they have as much as 209 days until they have to nominate somebody. then once that person is nominated, they could slow walk the nomination so whitaker could be there for a very long time,

which is part of the problem, part of why we think a court should settle the question of whether this is proper. >> looking at whether trump will be more involved with the doj, he was pretty angry with ag sessions when he had the job when sessions didn't push back on the mueller investigation, and sessions recused himself from it. he was angry he didn't protect the president. when he was asked about whitaker by chris wallace yesterday, he said whitaker can do what he wants. it will be up to him when it comes to the mueller investigation. he says he is astute politically and a smart person. why don't we see the same push back on whitaker that we saw on sessions? >> first of all, whitaker isn't recused, he has the ability to go in and mess around. he has said that he would look at the ethics officials in the department of justice, get their opinion, but we have had no news about what took place, whether they've given him an opinion. it strikes me that he ought to

be recused and that all of this would be completely improper, but what you also see the president doing is very simple, letting this guy know by the way you should make this decision, by the way, whatever you do, it is up to you. you're smart, you're politically astute. it is hard not to get the joke of where the president is leading whitaker and what he wants. >> chuck grassley is leaving the senate judiciary committee to chair the finance committee, looks like that now. lindsey graham will probably take over as chair. what do you think of him as chair of judiciary? >> well, he and i had a superb relationship in the subcommittee that he chaired and i was the ranking member of on crime and terror. we did some important hearings in the russian investigation, we have done a lot of other work. we got the measure passed to protect our relations with great britain and exchange information in the national security space

there. so i worked with him very well, i would have no hesitancy about him coming on as chairman of judiciary. he is very bright, very able lawyer. we had a great relationship, it worked well. >> i talked to him about that the other day. he said one of the first things he wants is a hearing to talk dark money and all money that goes into politics is more transparent. don't you have legislation that would do that? >> i've got the bill for that. i think it has been given a whole lot more impetus when we learned it wasn't just the koch brothers hiding their hands behind dark money shadows but that any foreigner could do it as well. if you could hide the hand of american special interests, you can easily hide foreign governments and foreign special interests. i think the days of dark money are numbered and that's a good thing for our democracy. >> he cited the same thing. that's one issue you may find

bipartisan support, at least some. keep us apprised of what happens with that. >> will do. >> thank you so much. ahead, president trump on the attack again. who is drawing his outrage this time? the man that led the radon osama bin laden. -- the raid on osama bin laden. -- the raid on osama bin laden. . ♪ a wealth of opportunities. that's the clarity you get from fidelity wealth management. straightforward advice, tailored recommendations, tax-efficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. fidelity wealth management. about medicare and supplemental insurance. medicare is great, but it doesn't cover everything - only about 80% of your part b medicare costs, which means you may have to pay for the rest. that's where medicare supplement insurance comes in:

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welcome back. the ballots have been counted and recounted in florida. we can now report two apparent winners in the state and senate

gubernatorial races. bill nelson conceded to rick scott last night, following a hand recount. scott's three statewide wins in florida have come by a combined margin of a half percentage point. in the governor's race, ron desantis victorious over andrew gillum. he sent a tweet to gillum saying he will be a strong democratic warrior long into the future. meantime, election chief brenda snipes announced plans to resign this morning. does that mean all of the issues with elections in broward county will be over from now on? no more florida florida florida? we'll see. back with more "mtp daily" after this. back with more "mtp daily"r this

welcome back. tell me if this sounds familiar. donald trump criticizes a war hero who has been critical of him. it happened in the early days of his presidential campaign with john mccain. as we mentioned earlier, it

happened again yesterday, this time with admiral william mcraven who led the s.e.a.l. team 6 mission that killed osama bin laden. >> retired admiral, navy s.e.a.l., 37 years, former head of u.s. operations. >> excuse me. hillary clinton fan. >> who led the operations, committed the operations that took down saddam hussein and killed osama bin laden says your sentiment -- >> he is a hillary clinton backer and obama backer. >> he is a navy s.e.a.l. >> it would have been nice if we got osama bin laden sooner than that. >> what precipitated the attack? perhaps that mcraven wouldn't make an endorsement in the election or that he called for the president to revoke his security clearance after former cia director john brennan had

his revoked. he defended his decision to refrain from endorsements in 2016, telling cnn i did not back hillary clinton or anyone else. i am a fan of president obama and president george w. bush. i admire all presidents, regardless of political party that uphold the dignity of the office and use that office to bring the nation together in challenging times. with me now, michael leiter, national security analyst, involved in planning the operation that killed bin laden. it is interesting, mcraven doesn't say president trump in that statement but makes it clear he respects both political parties and leaders that come out of them, as long as they uphold the dignity of the office. seems like there's a notable exception there, that is donald trump. >> there's no doubt. bill has made his views as he always did when he was in government very, very clear.

i think bill when he criticizes the president for his attacks on freedom of press is speaking from his heart, speaking from almost four decades, really four decades plus of public service both in the navy and chancellor of university of texas system. honestly, the president's criticism, all of us that served with bill, who know bill, saw him close up, far away know that bill is first and foremost a patriot, a leader, and does not fly a partisan flag in the least. >> this is not the first war hero, it is not the first military man the president has attacked or criticized. i downtoubt it will be the last. he started going after john mccain, got 20,000 to show up for him right after that, didn't like mccain maybe before that, didn't like him period, so when donald trump said it, they

cheered him on. a gold star family, picked him out, trashed him. he doesn't care where you come from in the military, what you have done in the military, how many stars you have, what your title is in the military. if you don't agree with him, he will throw you under the bus. why is it, is it different now? what happens going forward? does it matter to those in the military? are they listening to the president? how do you feel about people that still support the president after that sort of language? >> well, i think it goes to since before he was sworn in as president, the president's personal attacks and attacks of professionalism of those in the security community. neither the military or intelligence community should ever be free of thoughtful

reasoned criticism. when the military gets something wrong, they should look in and try to repair things. when the intelligence community makes mistakes, they should be subject to reasonable, thoughtful criticism. the path the president is taking clearly is not that. it is not informed by fact. it is really apparently not informed by a terribly good understanding of how something like the osama bin laden raid even occurred. i think that the personal attacks do undermine the ability for the national security community to believe that he has their backs when they do something wrong. again, it doesn't have to be blind faith and allegiance. the president has a right to criticize the performance, but to do so professionally. i think he has since before taking office broken down the balance of trusts that are critical between any president and the national security establishment. >> he is going after pakistan. he went after them in the

interview with chris wallace the other day. he said was no longer pay pakistan the billions because they would take our money and do nothing. bin laden a prime example, afghanistan another. they were one of the many countries that take from the united states without giving anything in return. he called them fools. pakistan's prime minister responded saying trump's false assertions add insult to the injury pak has suffered in u.s. war on terror in terms of lives lost and destabilized economic costs. he needs to be informed on facts. we will do what's best for our people and interests. he is going after one of our allies as well. that being said, bin laden was found down the road from a military academy. >> absolutely. i think people have forgotten the tension that existed between the u.s. and pakistan before the

bin laden raid and how bad it was before we put a s.e.a.l. team in pakistan and found bin laden. these were rough years after that with pakistan, critical times as we surged into afghanistan. the president's words are to some extent well informed. pakistan is a challenging ally. they have been a challenging ally in the war on terror many years. going back to 2011 and commenting on that serves no useful purpose. we should be tough on pakistan. we should require things. but trying to relive, refight that battle, those weren't good times then and i don't think the president should go back to them now. >> do you think he has a larger purpose to get out of wars, end wars, to make the world a safer place, or is this more focused on 2020 and his ability to tell voters in 2020 that he is a great supporter of the military in the same way he did in 2016?

>> i wish that i could attribute some of the comments to a grand political strategy, a vision for the u.s. and the world, or even a political strategy in 2020. frankly, i don't see that. what i generally see is if someone, whether of the stature of mcraven or not, criticizes the president, he's against them, and ultimately what this does do as you imply, it pulls away attention from real issues that face the military, from deployments to the southwest border to veterans issues. it doesn't get to the national security issues we should be discussing. and i think bill mcraven would happily take himself out of the conversation if the president focused on those issues instead of these attacks. >> michael, thank you for joining us. appreciate it. the buckeye stops here, or does it. ohio senator sherrod brown on a

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do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. learn all you can to help protect yourself from a stroke. talk to your doctor about xarelto®. welcome back. in 2020 vision, democrats look to keep their buckeyes on ohio. >> nbc news projects when votes are counted, ohio will go to donald trump. >> ohio. the modern presidential proving ground. >> roll them.

ohio. president barack obama. >> every candidate since 1964 captured the buckeye state. >> in four days we're going to win the great state of ohio. >> no republican has ever won the white house without carrying ohio. president trump won the state by 8 points. but what are the democrats' chances there in 2020? enter newly reelected ohio senator sherrod brown. >> too many people in this country work hard every day, pay their dues, never get ahead. >> chuck todd asks him about 2020 plans sunday. >> connie and i are thinking about it. >> brown said a democrat could follow ohio if they follow his working class message. >> if they make that contrast between the phony populism of donald trump and dignity of work.

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welcome back. time for the lid. the panel is back. talk about pelosi. 16 democrats sent a letter opposing pelosi as speaker according to nbc news. where does this come from, why? >> i think two things. one, i think we should all remember that nancy pelosi is the most powerful woman in the history of american politics. no other woman held as much power as she has. full stop. second, for a long time, 20 years now, the right ran against her as a san francisco liberal. what we have with the 16 democrats is a number of moderates, young people, 14 men, 2 women that want to see a change but don't know to what. i think it would be great if nancy pelosi who i believe should and will get the gavel in the next week spends the next term mentoring, not just one but a set of younger women, i would

like to see women of color, a cohort of people. she has more knowledge how to run that house than anyone has in a generation. she needs to pass it on. now is the time for why republi would go after her. she's a powerful lawmaker who raises a lot of money. i don't understand, and tell me why democrats don't like her, why there are 16 democrats that run against her, why? >> sure. so some of the opposition stems from the fact that the entire democratic establishment is seen as being out of touch of the moment the democratic party is in. she is the establishment. certainly it is the case that there are a lot of these people who signed this letter are from moderate districts. the average cook partisan voting index is plus 13. people who did sign the letter, it's 2% to 4%.

so these are much more moderate districts. these are people that went on the campaign trail, had a tough night and knew she was going to be a national punching bag and said i won't vote for her. so that's a different aspect to why there's opposition to her. but then there's this idea that he is a drag on the party, which i think is unfounded. i went back in, paul ryan took over the speakership. i looked at the approval ratings. as soon as he became speaker, his approval went down. so whoever is to replace her, the person who takes that job is made unpopular. it will happen to whoever comes in. >> i was going to say, she's part of the democratic establishment, but having worked closely in the obama administration, she's also -- her spirit and goals are usually to the left of the democratic caucus. she's the one who is in the speaker role, but pulling them to the left. she made sure the public option was still in the affordable care act. she led the opposition to the

iraq war when a lot of democrats were supporting it. on dodd frank, she made sure it was a strong bill and that no democrats voted for the trump tax cuts, which wasn't a foregloen cfor foregone conclusion at the beginning. >> people are screaming on twitter that you don't like her because she's a strong, powerful woman and it comes from a place of pure sexism. >> you know, i'm not a big fan -- >> i'm not saying you, but the opposition. >> there's republicans who are not fans of her policies. they are progressive. she does go there. it's interesting that she was also the one who brought forward the american health care act. so she by doing that has brought something that the country now likes, which is and supports overwhelmingly, whether republican or democrat, the majority of republicans support it, or the country supports it. nancy pelosi was molded into a

bad figure by the republicans for a -- on a whole host of issues. i don't think that the democrats who are against her right now even know why they're against her. i don't know that -- >> they just know that the republicans have run a lot of ads. >> and i don't know if they know what the speaker does. if you were just elected to this congress, and you've never had any legislative experience, i don't think you know what goes into this job. and as an american first, i will tell you that this country needs an experienced leader. we see what happens when we don't have one. president trump. we see someone who can at least keep their focus and be responsible within their caucus, even if you disagree with it, i do think she will be responsive. >> is she the best person for the job? >> right now, she is. but i want to see the democratic establishment be more bold and progressive. >> she's going to have to make some deals to get things done.

>> if there's one person who can navigate this narrow path, it's her. >> we'll see what happens. 16 democrats signed the letter, but let's see if that goes anywhere. phillip, susan, heather, thank you for being here. we appreciate it. and ahead, the freshman cometh. cometh

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capitol. something big is about to happen. the freshman are coming. capitol hill welcomed its newest crop of lawmakers for orientation this past week, and when they officially start, many will be hopelessly overwhelmed. it is an intimidating moment. but maybe we can help. we dug up our old vhs copy of "party people, a freshman guide to lawmakers in congress," and guess what? it still holds up. >> congratulations. and welcome to the 160th congress party, people. here's what you need to know to make this a super choice for your freshman year. this is the congressional subway. keep your arms and legs inside at all times. this is the congressional cafeter cafeteria. the tables are divided into cliques.

republicans, democrats, goths, jocks, drama geeks, libertarians, and bernie sanders. take part in a wicked sweet orientation session. enjoy full freshman activity, ultimate frisbee, and show off your unique personality by decorating your office with super sweet accessories. don't go full aaron schock, though. above all, have fun! your freshman year is about finding yourself, making mistakes, and raising money. lots of money. so you can keep running for office forever. enjoy! >> it's all about finding yourself. that's all for tonight. we'll be back tomorrow with more "mtp daily." "the beat with ari melber" starts right now. good evening, ari. >> good evening. how are you doing? >> wonderful. thank you for asking.

especially since it's 20 seconds until i get to go home. >> you're early. i have a live broadcast from seattle tonight. as you know, being a tv professional, that creates a little bit of a delay when we talk, so there could be longer pauses in this toss. >> it could be more awkward than usual? somebody might trip on a cable and then cut you off the air and oh, no, i might be sitting here and ready to take over. >> do you want another hour, is that what you're saying? >> i want all of the hours. >> katy tur, always good to see you. good evening. tonight we are live in seattle. we have a lot of news. news in the mueller probe and there are these signs of a leadership battle brewing among democrats. while many credit nancy pelosi leading the dems to a blue wave, there are signs of the clearest challenge to her emerging as