congressman's former aide. i said he resigned when i should have said she resigned. i regret the error. >> that does it for our coverage. i'll be back here 6:00 p.m. monday. don't go anywhere, "hardball" has you covered on this shutdown showdown. that's next. let's play trump. let's play" hardball." good evening, i'm chris namatths in washington. we are five hours away from a shut down. they made it clear no deal has been reached and president trump tweeted he has cancelled his trip to florida waiting on a deem. from a white house that careens from crisis to crisis, last week has been one for the history books after president trump's roller coaster instinct plunged washington into chaos. on capitol hill today, senators

scrambled back to washington to vote on a standoff over funding for the president's border wall. the stalemate, driven by the demand of the hard right media, leaves the markets rattled, even worse over the prospect of a shutdown, the stability within the administration, defense secretary jim mat cities now headed out after resigning -- jim mattis is now headed after, after he signing. the president doubled down on his demand to deliver a campaign promise. >> now it's up to the democrats as to whether or not we have a shutdown tonight. i hope we don't. but we're totally prepared for a very long shutdown and this is our only chance we'll ever have, in our opinion, because of the world and the way it breaks out to get great border security. >> trump started today ready for battle firing off nearly a dozen tweerkts blaming democrats for

the -- tweets, blaming democrats for the shutdown and zeroed in on the top republican in the senate writing senator mitch mcconnell should fight for the wall and border security as hard as he fought for anything. trump went on a step further writing, mitch, use the nuclear option and get it done, all, so

krezness. i want to go to the congressman. this president is behaving like henry the viii. like a guy that can't get his dwoorks remarriage, what he wants from anybody. he is in a tantrum. last night, after saying he pulled troops out of syria. okay. he pulled troops out of afghanistan to show how angry he is as the secretary of defense. he's not acting like a serious leader. >> no doubt 57b about it. the right wing talk radio circuit blasts him. he gets spooked. the next thing you know we're

getting ready for a government shutdown. >> you see working in the shop, driving a cab, he's a past time. how does he become -- heidi you take this, how does he become the leader of the country? it's part performance art. we know what these guys do for radio for three hours. you are a performer. not the president. the president-elected is doing what they want. listening to anne coulter, who is a great show. who would think this is her rung the united states. >> this is the sim biosis, instead of praising him, they're lighting him up. it's not any secret the president talks regularly that one of his top advisers, informal advisers is sean hannity. there is no doubt this is exactly what happened like the congressman said, even the conservative republicans, who i spoke to on the hill today, they all thought they had odeal, left

town. poor senator shots went back to hawaii and spent time with his kid and had to come back. why? people turned on him. >> calling the place on the field. cheerleaders are supposed to cheer. they're not supposed to call the plays in the football game. you have hannity, anne coulter, lauren ingram and rush limbaugh. phil, i don't know how you get sources in the white house. you got people. are you chuckling. sources sitting with the president in the oval office who are rating him out every night saying he is in a tailspin. i know you are frowning. tailspin is pretty rough. >> no, it's been a rough week. >> he sound nutty, according to your source who are in the white house. >> here's the deal. i think he's afraid. he lives in perpetual fear of losing his conservative base. wednesday nightfully. thursday morning on tv, an erosion of support. fox and friends is one of the most friendly enclaves of support for trump.

their host was going after trump on thursday morning. it spooked the president, as congressman ryan said. our reporting indicates this all is a reaction to his fear of losings his -- from who is leading the congo line? is it the people that listen to rush limbaugh on the radio? is it rush limbaugh, himself, or the president who is leaning the line? >> well the president is the president. >> is he leaning? . >> he is listening. >> is he calling the shots or his listeners? this week with the shutdown, i say rush limbaugh is calling the shots. >> you factor in the mueller investigation, which is hanging in the background there. he knows if he will protect himself in 2019. >> thank you. >> he needs the conservative base. >> he needs a third of the u.s. senate plus one or he will be kicked out of office. he needs 34 senators. trump's power, that was nixon, by the way, trump's power play over wall funding may have been largely for show. the washington post reports

trump's adviser acknowledges the funding may not be sure on the end, the spectacle will be remembered as proof of his met am. in fact, today, shoo radio show rush limbaugh, he should, let's watch. >> here we have somebody to shake it all up and shake it all up is exactly what's going -- this is exactly what it looks like. this is what pushing back against the washington establishment looks like. it was never going to be pretty. it was never going to be clean. it was never going to be supportive. so forth. man, there is panic! >> here's a guy, the gob shirt in palm beach telling the president what to do. this is crazy, the tennessee republican senator bob corker slammed the influence of rush limbaugh and others. according to the daily beast, corker said, do we succumb to the tyranny of talk radio show hosts? i mean, this is juvenile place we find ourselves. the reason we're here, is that we have a couple talk-radio

hosts that get the president spun up. you use the term. let me get on this, tell me what you think of this guy and what's going on this week? it's not that he's the ideal log in chief. it's not he's a tyrant or dictator, he is being dictated to by all talk radio. your thoughts, ron reagan. >> well, it's true. who exactly is running domestic policy here? anne coulter, sean hannity? fox and friends? who is running our foreign policy? is it erdogan who suggests we get out of turkey? everyone in the white house is surprised, that's what donald trump will do. it's not that these people have a voice, it's donald trump has no ideas, he knows nothing. he's an empty vessel that can be filled up by these sorts of people. >> that is really scary thing. >> let me ask you about the sense of the media. is it the people at home that

rush limbaugh is worried about, so he tries to get ahead of the crowd or is it the people that pushed him? is it the reaction he is getting from the real whacko right. if you listen to the far out people, will you go crazy. >> yes. >> if far out people. the angriest people, they order pancakes from mom upstairs. i'm sorry, that will drive some people crazy, mom, i just brought down the government. can i have pancakes? rush limbaugh, you listen to the guy changing tires, nothing with the guy changing tires, but he shouldn't decide whether we pull our troops out of syria. just a thought. >> i think it's all symbiotic. trumps ratings depend on fox base and his popularity depends on his base. they are all feeding off each other. without that base, it all falls apart. the republicans aren't going to do anything about donald trump, themself, congressional republicans until the base desserts him. it doesn't look like the base ever will. i mean if they were going to,

they would have by now. >> have you ever seen anything like there? >> no. >> even your dad enormously popular on the right would have a bad year like '82. people would sigh, i don't like the economy, so i don't like reagan this week. congressman, you had some words like night. >> you guys are living in the past and this government is in chaos. it's in a freefall. the market's in a freefall. the staffing at the white house is in a freefall. the secretary of defense is gone. we're pulling out of syria. what is going on? you are in charge of the house, senate and white house. get a grip and learn how to govern the country. >> wow! it's like network. i mean, i think you had a great stream of consciousness there, it's all logic and happening in the last, three four days.

the market is crawling down, it's down today. european juan with a who 1k is dying. the president is flipping the cabinet secretary like pancakes, i don't know why. it is all -- no, it's all bad. and he seems like peter to the hermit as phil points out hiding in the white house, quake income his boots in a tailspin. >> yeah. >> i once had a flight attendant say we're in a tailspin. i believed her. what do we say about a president tailspin, congressman? sflits like he had all these plates that he was spinning. and at some point you knew it was not going to stay that way and this week seemed like the week it all came to a head, they started crashing down. i think the big piece was mattis. there was international support, bipartisan support for what mattis is doing. it's the only part of the government that has a long-term strategy moving forward against russia, china, what we need to do over the next 30, 40 years.

now he's gone and basically said he ha no respect for the president out the door. >> he won the argument, mattis, going out the door that letter was power. he obviously had a lot of money -- mental effort into it. he spent all night writing it, probably. he nailed the president. >> i think what's different about this departure, chris, first of all, he's the last one in this circle of three, general kelly, who were surrounding him, surrounding trump and who we were all told from the very beginning who senator corker, himself, said, these are the people who are going to surround this president and make sure that even though he has no experience in the military, he has no experience in government, that he's going to make good decisions. well, they're all gone now, mattis is the first one who said, i'm so disturbed that i actually want to go out in flames and tell the american people what's really going on in my letter. >> stay with us. where does the president go without his trainer wheels? all of a sudden you got to ride. can he ride without these three?

>> by definition, whatever follows is not going to be of the same caliber and of the same standard as what preceded it. we've seen that with the other, i won't go into names the replacements, because it spooks the next round of candidates who might be in line for this position. >> what scared me, we had all this market stuff, they say the best way to hide your mine e money is under your mattress. the experts are saying, but when you see jared kushner going to capitol hill, representing the president and goes back to what i have been warning about for two years. the romanoffs. this crazy thing where people have power are family members, jared kushners will tell the leaders of congress how to agree to the president of the wall. that's scary. >> jared kushner told the leaders to pass that criminal justice reform bill. mitch mcconnell did. the president signed it. >> what do you make of that?

>> jared and his wife avon ka trump, there was a period they were pushed out and did not have full power, they are taking advantage of the vacancy and the administration to assert power with the president. they're behind the new selection of the chief of staff, in part. >> you know, hey, ron, don't you miss the fact that your dad could have made you in charge of middle east policy, criminal justice reform? don't feel you were left out? did you have any toys at christmas? >> i do. i could have had a huge portfolio. but then my father was sane. >> i know he was that. >> the president by the way this president tried to link his wall demand to president reagan today. as "the washington post accurately reported, president reagan said, back then, rather than talk about putting up a fence, why don't we work out some recognition of our mutual problems and make it possible for them to come here legally with a work permit and then while they're working and earning, they get to pay taxes

here. that's what your father said, bad try. nope, not even a cigar for the president this time. >> no, just some pinocchios. whose version of ronald reagan's are you going to believe? donald trump's or ronald reagan's? i think we knowance glory i'm with you, sonny. thanks so much. you didn't get nothing under the christmas tree. anyway, what a joke. i did say from the beginning that this is a royal family. it's a joke. anyway, the president isn't here. the congressman is, tim ryan, great leadership yesterday and today. thank you, heidi, great reporting. inside the head of this president and ron reagan who doesn't want to be. coming up, does trump really think he can win the blame game? it's shut down by night. by midnight. he is no longer proud to shut down, isn't he? he won't make american taxpayers pay for his wall? i thought the mexicans were paying for wall. another dramatic force leaving the white house is there

anybody left to check trump's more dangerous impulses. plus trump and republican lawmakers, could they turn only after all? a reminder of the competent joy our political ears can give us. this is" hardball" where the action is. this is" hardball" where the action is. e. had to. kayla: do you know how hard it is to smoke in a hospital? by the time we could, we were like... what are we doing? kayla: it was time for nicodermcq. the nicodermcq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. and doubles your chances of quitting. nicodermcq. you know why, we know how.

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show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. welcome back to "hardball." president trump has spent the past two days stewing over the chaos that he's unleashed in washington. angry and frustrated that his base sends weak inside, he has tried to rebrand the fight. in a series of morning tweets, the president blamed democrats saying they owned the shutdown of the government. later this afternoon the president's party owns all three parts of the government. still. repeating that message. >> it's up to the democrats. so it's really the democrat shutdown, because we've done our thing. >> it was ten days ago, however

the president proudly proclaimed the democrats and the world was watching, he alone will assume the responsibility of the shutdown of the wall. >> if we don't get what we want, one way or another, whether through you, through a military or anything you want to calm, i will shut down the government. >> okay. >> i am proud to shut down the government for border security. i will take the mantle. i will be the one to shut it down. i'm not going to blame you for it. the last time you shut it down, it didn't work. >> i'm not going to blame you for it. for more, i am joined by the direct or of progress it programing for sirius xm. this is probably a gimme, here's your chance. he basically said it chuck will not be blamed, the democratic leadership will not where blamed this midnight, which is the shutting down of the united states government. >> well, when the president is the most desperate, he lashes out. he makes the lies bigger and

bigger. everybody watching knows that mexico was supposed to pay for the wall. so i don't even know why the president is launching into a debate with how much funding the american taxpayers will put toward this wall that mexico was supposed to pay for in the first place. if the president is not going to cop to the lie that mexico will pay for it. he needs to tell us so. right now what he's doing is flailing around, trying to blame everybody but himself for the lie he told the american people to get elected. >> i think everybody in america, this doesn't take political science. everybody in america now knows the issue. if anybody watches any television knows this is over the wall s. that okay with you? is that okay with republicans? that's what it's about the wall? sflits about the wall. walls make is ens in certain places. they don't make sense in all places and remember, this started out as zerlina said the

mexicans will pay for the wall and a request from the president and chuck schumer game i gave him 20 million for daca. that's the deal. he didn't take that deal. now he's down to 5.7 billion. he will ultimately get nothing. there is your great deal maker. in that meeting we watched, chuck schumer pointed out donald trump said he wanted to shut down 20 times. by the end of that meeting, he had said it 27 times. so it's pretty clear. the whole purpose of the meeting was to get donald trump on records as soon as the cameras came on he was going to take the blame for the shutdown. >> it may be one time, ik, zerlina, they want to fight. they're standing in the room, reagan, not reagan, trump brought in the cameras, so he could win the fist fight and nancy was very strong, the future speaker. chuck wouldn't even give the president eye contact. he looked straight ahead. he wouldn't let it be the boys

against the girl, which trump was trying to play. he is there with his widespread legs, trump is dog mr. macho. the other guy is always imitating, doing the same thing. but it was a play, a vignette if you will that didn't work. all it ended up doing is chuck got him into saying, okay, blame me. i think it was a better play those guys play the democrats if a long time. maybe because they won the election. >> i agree with you, chris, i think what the democrats have learned by watching trump in the position of being the minority party all this time is that you have to get under his skin. the way to do that is rib at him. what chuck schumer did, he's probably dealt with him many times the senator of new york. if you don't look at donald trump, you give him a slight modicum of disrespect in a moment where he is trying to perform for the cameras. he is convinced he's the best

deal maker, the art of the deal the mastermind, when it was plain as day for the american people to see, i think the con that he really fed the american people is exposed. he said mexico is going to pay for the wall so why are we even debating the amount the american taxpayers will play. >> you aren't going to give him up with that mexican thing? that is another trump tactic, he won't give up on what's her name, the indian background thing. >> pocahontas. >> i am wonder,ing, rick, you are an expert. could it be the democrats are learning how to debate donald trump and the candidate that runs next time, in less than a year, will know it is pretty much how to stand up to him. you think that's what we're seeing here, standing up to trump? >> it's all of these things. remember, chris the man of steam, there are tariffs on steam, any wall will be substantially more expensive than it would have been.

it goes on and on with this guy. look. >> the steel wall that's 100 feet long, people want to come into this country will walk around that wall. >> they'll figure it out. >> they're not going to climb over a wall that is a couple hundred feet. that's the craziest thing i ever heard of. a 100 in the wall. there is multi-hundred mile border. >> the most people quoted mr. reagan, mr. goes, tear down this wall. now we are trying to build a wall. the reason we're building a wall, we don't want people not white coming across the southern border. that's what this is about. >> maybe sex he was losing the pr war, the they went on tv last fight after defending after a brutal day politically. almost him he has blanketed the airways non-stomt here is some of the show they put on. >> if democrats don't want the government to shut down, support

border security. >> that simple. >> reporter: this is something the president has been clear on since day one. we need the democrats to come on board. if the democrats continue to put politics over country. politics over the safety of the american people, they're going to -- they'll ends up losing, they'll play a political price there i do think the democrats will own this. this lab second schumer shutdown. this president had compromised. democrats haven't taken one step towards the president. >> it's a sad day in america when the mexican government is doing more to protect the american people than senate democrats. >> i don't know, i don't think that's selling beyond the 40% mark right there. by the way, if i were a democrat, i'd beg them to put steve mirl on alive. >> i know. can you put him on all the time? >> whatever that. i think he's just too hard, just too nasty. by the way, these people that come on television and ignore the person's questions, everybody knows they're doing it. it may have worked 30 years ago. he's an expert at some things.

good stuff. rick tyler, both of umerry christmas. up next the dramatic departure of secretary of defense a shock wave, the hearts suffering. is there anybody -- their hearts sunk. is there anybody else left to reign in trump? this is "hardball" where the action is. trump this is "hardball" where the action is. at fidelity, we help you prepare for the unexpected with retirement planning and advice for what you need today and tomorrow. because when you're with fidelity, there's nothing to stop you from moving forward.

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soop, secretary mattis and chief of staff kelly are those people that help separate our country from chaos. >> welcome back to "hardball." those were candid remarks by retiring senator bob corker of tennessee about the voices of restraint inside the president's cabinet. now tillerson is long gone, kelly is leaving this month. mattis resigned with a strong rebuke to the president. as the "new york times" put it, mattis' resignation letter was the sharpest and most public protest in i'd the trump's administration. it condemned his approach to the world destructive influence and power. according to numerous counts, mattis served as a check on the worst impulses, for instance, when trump questioned a u.s. military strategy in korea, according to bob woodward's book" fear" he had to remind him

we are doing the to prevent world wa iiment he said the president -- world war iii. he said he had the mentality of a fifth or sixth grader. overseas, according to washington post the foreign affairs chairman in germany's parliament said now we have an unrestrained trump, which is a dangerous signal for the year ahead. the former prime minister of sweden called it a morning of alarm in europe. a chinese former colonel commented the worry is that the world becomes even more unstable. i am joined by democratic congressman eric stallwell of california. this is blowing around the world as we would if another major power, defense minister walked and attacked the leader like this guy just did. >> it's affecting every day americans who i think we're giving the president the benefit of the doubt. i got a text message from a buddy, a marine, went to dub

lick high school with me in california, a working class town. he said i never talked to you about politics before, for the first time, i'm worried about our security. people saw mattis as a stabilizing force. that's lost now. >> if we ever -- i don't want to think about it. but i'll bring it up as a topic. it's important to bring it up. the chain of command with regard to nuclear weapons, the football, that has to go through a secretary of defends? >> that's right. >> that has a constitutional check on what might be the impulses of our president even. that's now gone right now? he has said no before. he has been tested before. the president wanted to assassinate bashar al-assad. >> that has shelved that idea. you worry, is he going to put swoon in there that won't say no this is like a kid hanging out with the honor roll kids and aassociating himself with the detention crew.

we are drawing ourselves to turkey, russia, philippines. >> erdogan, he resigned to withdraw troops from syria. now the associated press made that with turkey's president erdogan last week. he was supposed to advise erdogan not to attack kurdish rebels, trump ignored the script and sided with erdogan. the turkey's president signed forces remaining in syria. the president quickly capitulated, pledging the withdraw surprising john bolton, a real hawk and erdogan, himself,ered wasn't didn't think he'd be able to make the case, trump says, i'll pull my troops out. what's the mote sniff i'm a dove. why do you pull them out overnight? >> i think he has properties in turkey. he also i think -- >> you think it's that bad? >> this guy i think. >> it's that base. >> i follow the money for this

guy first for starters. assume that drives it. this doesn't match up with john bolden, how he views the world. we have to believe, go back to helsinki where we don't know if this was a deal made with putin and trump and putin made this request of trump. i will say i am happy we are leaving syria, not under these circumstances. i think we should reopen the authorization of military force same in afghanistan. >> what is our justification? i want to make sure everybody knows where i stand on this. i don't think donald trump is the only danger we face in the world. i think we face dangers from the neokind of crowd for regime change that preceded trump. what about the justification for having 2,000 troops in syria? is it going back to 9-11? >> it has us all over the world. >> the president's order now based upon what was done on 9-11. >> congress abdicated its ability to have the say w. resupposed to dictate the ter

rain, time and troop count. he's doing it the wrong way and i'm afraid he's doing it for the wrong reasons. >> if you lose a kid, a son or daughter in ace place like syria, you can say, why'd they die? because the president thought we would be there? that's all have you right now? >> that's it. not congressional authority. he didn't tell our allies. that's most concerning. now they're going to start, other alliances, i who irin korea as you allude to he doesn't understand why it is to be in south korea to protect an important footing against china and north korea. >> anyway, in his letter of res ig nation, secretary mattis notably did not say it was an honor to serve the president. instead he wrote, quote, i very much appreciate the opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform that mirrored what he meant, told the president, in a 2017 cabinet meeting. mattis was mindful of the people he truly served as most other

people used their time to praise trump personally there thank you for the opportunity and the blessing that you have given us to serve your agenda. >> i can't thank you enough for the privilege you have given me and the leadership you have shown. >> i want to thank you for getting there country moving again and also working again. >> it's an honor to represent the men and women of the department of defense and we are grateful for the sacrifices our people are make in order to strengthen our militaries and our diplomats always negotiate from the position of strength. >> what is it about republicans? i'm sorry. there is a difference in the party. itten the asymmetry. i don't think democrats behave like that. they talk like they're talking to some dictator, you have to go through that every day. >> who's going to be the one to stand up to him in congress now? because right now, if you have just been holding back and hoping things would get better, kelly and mattis would be

moderating forces, that i are gone. now it will shift to i think mitch mcconnell. is he up for this in his new congress as he adds to his majority? are there going to be patriots putting up a wall against his worst inc. e instinct. >> what will it be if john bolton becomes -- the steadfast allies in congress aren't looking quite as steadfast these days. you are watching "hardball." st e days you are watching "hardball." your home improvement "to-do list" still isn't "to-done". but hey, at least you still have time to get the ford vehicle you've always wanted. just get to the final days of our holiday sales event. see you sometime between now and january 2nd. so you can end your year on a high note. ford. built for the holidays. it's time to get our best offers of the season. i'm ray and i quit smoking with chantix. smoking. it dictates your day.

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welcome back to hardball. according to axios, what president trump should worry about is lots of people are turning on him when it comes to topics, particularly when it comes to jamie mattis' resignation. mitch mcconnell yesterday said he was distressed mattis was resigning over sharp differences with the president. noting, quote, we must also

maintain a clear-eyed understanding of our friends and foes and recognize russia are the latter. >> that sounds a lot like mattis. some people weren't happy with president trump's last decision to veto money for the wall. marco rubio tweeted on wednesday the white house said they were opened to the senate bill. >> that i should have told us they opposed it before we wasted time on it. lisa murkowski said republicans will pass it with 35 billion for border wall, horrible taunl takers. whatever that means. let's bring in our round ball. let me ask you, why aren't the hawkish republicans, and as the hawkish party, going nuts over to yank all the troops overnight out of syria and more than half out of afghanistan again overnight in what seems like a

impulse, what happened to the hawkish republicans? >> they're not going to do anything. the axios reports, suddenly republicans will get mad? they are going to defend him. it is most important that they defend the president because he's a republican. so they're not going to break with him. he was treating jeff sessions poorly. they really liked sessions. they like mattis. he's gone. they will stick with him. >> has the regime change in the republican party, it seems like he is trump and there is no more president trump philosophy. >> he destroyed the republican party and became, he's a little in the pathiosis, the head of the rise of the new party the continuation of the tea party. all these guys are afraid of donald trump's base, the fastest way to lose a primary is get on the wrong side. >> obama moved troops overnight

at the behest of turkey or erdogan. >> there is two things, for a lysle i little while now republicans have kind of drifted away from the neo-conservative plank. >> everybody has a conversion. >> you saw this when ron paul and rand paul would talk about retrenchmen. trump took that and ran with it. i think to a degree, that is where the republican ethose is -- ethos is. the neokinds and hawks, they're mad at him. but i'm not totally sure where the party is ideologically. >> it's a campaign promise by trump. he's not getting the wall he wanted. >> that's an infrastructure about the two babies. >> it's not the republican ethos. the american public is very of war. barack obama got elected twice as somebody the public thought

was not going to be in foreign engagement with our troops. donald trump got elected that way. >> it's a huge gamble. trump said isis is defeated. what happens a week from now if there is a terrorist -- >> will the russians let us back in. >> that's above my pay grade. i'm speaking politically. >> that looks problematically. >> psychologically the condition of this president. the report we're getting is he's in a tailspin, isolated. sort of like a bunker mentality, almost like nixon in the last months of watergate. does that scare republicans that their leader looks a little off? >> of course it does. trump reacts to the news cycle and the stockmarket. both have been pretty bad in the recent days. it was very striking this morning to watch him get pillerred on fox and friends.

as he's doing these random things the republicans are noticing. it was holding the together was the sense the economy was doing well. if that starts dissipating, you could see people jumping ship. >> we're not sure the economy is going down with the market, though? >> we're not. >> none of us have a crystal ball. there is a lot of reason to believe it was riding a sugar rush for a long time. >> the marxist analysis. i like the economic determinism. if you look at what happened to nixon. he was in bad shape, clinton got through all his problems. the county was zooming. it's in the back group, it drives you. it is, you got no provide for your family, if you don't get okay, you will not get mad and angry. you are looking for someone to blame. >> trump is going to get more and more desperate. he's going to do things like

pulling troops out without talking to anyone. >> do you think that's a distraction, let's do something -- listening object here. >> i think he wanted to do something he felt good about. if he wasn't going to get the border wall, he was going to do this. >> the senate wouldn't be in the situation today if house speaker paul ryan hasn't brought up border wall legislation. here he was yesterday. >> we had a productive meeting with the president. the president informed us he will not sign the bill that came up from the senate last evening because of his legitimate concerns for border security. what we will do is go back to the house, we want to keep the government opened. when want to see an agreement that protects the border. we have very serious concerns about securing our border. >> and in the washington post they wrote it seems almost superflu os that it's trump's

party. it's ryan's party, it shaped conservatism trajectory. help continued. continued sam, do you think this guy could have stood up to trump? >> oh to say the least. >> could he? is it about a bending fredo? is it personal weak inside or substituti institutional weakness. >> it's like he's on his way out. it's not like he has to worry about the next election or his base. >> he was gentleman to be president some day this guy. >> i was struck he gave his good-bye, two things, one that he couldn't get the reduction under him and two comprehensive rule. he goes out and pushes 5 billion for a border wall. >> what about the trade tax cut? it's ridiculous. when john boehner left, he cleaned house. he dade two-year bill on

spending, he said i will make conservatives mad. paul ryan is not doing that, he's going out a disgrace. >> you tell me something i don't know. are you watching "hardball." are you watching "hardball." your brain changes as you get older. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. i was thinking...d clot could there be another around the corner?

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come on stay focused. hard work baby, it gonna pay off. kayla: our dad was in the hospital. josh: because of smoking. but we still had to have a cigarette. had to. kayla: do you know how hard it is to smoke in a hospital? by the time we could, we were like... what are we doing? kayla: it was time for nicodermcq. the nicodermcq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. and doubles your chances of quitting. nicodermcq. you know why, we know how. . we're back with the "hardball" round table. time for amanda to tell us something i don't know. we've got time, so go ahead. >> the trump administration is going around congress on food stamps, basically making it

harder for the states to exempt childless, able bodied adults from getting around some of the work requirements. and this is pretty bad because congress just passed legislation that didn't have that waiver. but trump is saying, you know, too bad. >> let me ask you a conservative question. why don't people who are childless want to work? >> they want to work, but it's hard to get a job sometimes. just because you don't have a kid, you're healthy, it's not always possible. >> 3% unemployment rate. >> it's not always possible. >> of course it is, i'm just challenging you. john? >> the war of the democratic presidential primary for 2020 -- >> what's your favorite? we've got time. tell me now, john. >> i don't have favorites. >> not you for the person, who's the best bet to be a nominee right now? >> it's too early. >> it's early. >> i'm going to give you the one with excitement, with beto o'rourke, that's why the war is happening. bernie sanders' allies have been attacking beto o'rourke on line.

>> pounds of money. who is this person? goes directly at him, at beto. >> the key here is that the bernie people, bernie sanders' whole base is millennials. polling, anyone over 35 has unfavorables are higher with them than favorables, under 35 he does all right. the bernie people are trying to suggest very hard, very early that o'rourke isn't really progressive, trying to distance him from the millennials. that's the fight that's going on right now. the o'rourke people aren't responding to it. >> i'm not sure he's ready. >> what you don't know is that for the past month the rnc and the trump reelect campaign have been running paid for ads on facebook attacking fellow republican senators over the border wall. i talked to people in the obama administration said this would have been unheard of to spend party money attacking members of your own party over a single legislative issue.

that's what trump does. he's crafting the party to be all about him, basically. >> casio cortez is about rebuilding the party her way. it's polarizing, and sometimes frightening. thank you to my panel. happy holidays to everybody. when we return, i'll finish tonight with the reminder comfort and joy our political leaders are capable of bringing us. stay around for the inspiration for the holidays. you're watching "hardball."

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let me finish tonight with a different model for the american presidency, wanting to do something for christmas, former president barack obama this week visited children's hospital in washington. try and imagine the joy, look at that girl, look at the face, look at her. whatever problems they face melted at the sight of this man coming to see them. yet it struck me as the most natural nicest thing i've seen in years, a man who was president comfortable playing santa claus, and children so thrilled to have him so close, so near, another person stopping by for a visit. it reminded me of the humanity and joy in this country. there's nothing awkward about it. it was just nice. in the spirit of the american senator who just visited those kids, let me leave you with a merry christmas. join us monday christmas eve for our holiday show, as we shower

the year 2018 for the most outrageous public behavior i've seen in my lifetime. that's "hardball" for now. thanks for being with us. "all in" with chris hayes starts right now. tonight on "all in". >> this may have been the most chaotic week of what's undoubtedly the most chaotic presidency ever in the history of the united states. >> bedlam in washington, d.c. >> right in the middle of a sort of a meltdown on the part of the republicans. >> if everybody will take their meds and be cool, we'll get this worked out. >> the president holding the government hostage and trying to shift the blame. >> i will take the mantle. i will be the one to shut it down. i'm not going to blame you for it. it's up to the democrats. so it's really the democrat shutdown. >> tonight, trump reportedly in full on tail spin trying to appease his wall hungry base. >> i've never seen somebody more scared