a.b. stoddard, juanita tolliver, thank you all. that's going to do it for me. i'm chris jansing in for nicolle wallace. "mtp daily" with chuck todd starts right now. right now ♪ if it's thursday, an economic downturn could spell disaster for president trump in 2020. so as the economy threatens to take a dive, president trump dives right back into the culture wars. now israel is denying entry to two american members of congress after public pressure from the president. plus, beto testing how the 2020 democrat is trying to breathe new life into his flagging campaign again. welcome to thursday. it's "meet the press daily." good evening. i'm chuck todd here in washington. we begin the moment with high economic anxiety as the president faces the prospect of an economic downturn in an

election here. obviously that's something he's concerned about. we also begin a moment with rifd cultural anxiety -- high cultural anxiety. today the president of the united states urged another leader of another country to bar members of congress from entering that country. they happen to be muslim members of congress. and ours later israel obliged announcing that congresswomen rashida tlaib and ilhan omar, both members of the so-called squad, both muslim, both critics of israel's government, would not be allowed to visit. that decision came shortly after president trump called on the israeli prime minister who has got his own re-election issue going on right now, to ban tlaib and omar saying they, quote, hate israel and all jewish people. they have been his target. and the president's renewed attacks set the stage for whakt what could be a wild campaign

rally tonight in new hampshire. new hampshire has been the scene of some of the wild trump rallies which gets underway in just a few hours. folks, if this is the yin of the president's re-election strategy, the economy is the yang. the president's attacks on omar and tlaib conveniently came as the economy became the story because it was showing signs of slowing. president is lashing out at the fed. he's lashing out at the press after what was a brutal day of headlines involving the health of the economy, particularly due to his policies in china and it potentially imperils one of the most important pitches that he has on the campaign trail. >> we have the number one economy on earth. the strongest economy in history. we've got the hottest economy. never had an economy like this. we're the hottest economy. the best economy. the economy is roaring, is soaring, is thriving. we have the strongest economy. the number one economy.

mr. president, i'd like to congratulate you on the incredible economy that you've created. >> we should note around the same time president trump ended up tweeting about the culture wars, he explicitly reminded us in an interview with a local new hampshire podcast how he uses twitter and that he's fully aware that his tweets have the power to alter a news cycle. and ten minutes later, voilà. republican with me. in some ways this is just another day in the trump white house. now, you know, hey, twitter, he launches a culture fire storm, and here we are. but this one feels as if it might leave a mark. marco rubio criticized israel's decision. he said i disagree 100% with reps tlaib and bds referring to the boycott movement of israel

but denying them entry into israel is a mistake. being blocked is what they really hoped for all along in order to bolster their attacks against the jewish state. in some ways he is attacking israel for doing this, but israel wouldn't have done this without trump. >> what i think is important here is putting together all of the messages that you've been talking about. not only has he taken extraordinary measures to make a foreign ally of the u.s. do exactly what he wants, but he's taking extraordinary measures to punish his own political opponents and foes here by getting his foreign alles what he wants because he is defining the democratic party by women of color who are already vulnerable and already easilivillified. what's a better re-election strategy for the president of the united states who thrives on culture wars than to define the democratic party and go to these extreme lengths by women of color, which is an inherent way that his base, which is mostly white, views this election, as

an us versus them situation. >> howard, in a few minutes i am going to interview the former israeli ambassador of the united states. because this feels like a long-term mistake for them. israel wants to be a democracy. democracies don't do this. but i want to set aside the israeli domestic politics. is this what it looks like? this is just the president looking to change the sum from what is a failing china policy? >> well, he'll look to change the subject no matter what collateral damage he causes. whereas you point out as part of his political strategy. and i think part of the president's strategy domestically is to divide the jewish community, the voters. >> his strategy or if it's sheldon adelson's strategy? >> donald trump is of a piece with the republican jewish coalition with some of the more conservative types. >> but adelson is funding all of this. >> he is funding it, but it's

from the bb right sympathizers in the united states. and donald trump i think they think they can pick off a substantial number of jewish american voters based on that. but that is a huge miscalculation. my sense of the jewish community having covered it some in american politics is doing something like barring duly elected members of the united states congress from visiting the country. and also the notion that israel which is built, lord knows on the idea of argument, because that's what jews do. that's not going to fly in the jewish community. and the fact that apac, the mainstream jewish group, they've been very critical of netanyahu's and trump's decision here. that shows to me that this is not going to play well in the jewish/american community, it's going to hurt trump in that community. >> go ahead.

ilhan omar and rashida tlaib have divide the democratic caucus and the bipartisan consensus. it's long been on israel and the united states congress. you can go back as far as bill clinton. you can look at people like steny hoyer who have tried to build a bipartisan consensus. i think you have to look at the squad as a group of people who have tried to drive a web into that. and by the way there is an election in israel in a couple weeks ago. >> there is no doubt netanyahu got cornered into doing this. because he didn't want to do this. but trump cornered him into doing it. >> what's really an issue for the democratic leadership in the united states congress, they have to decide are they going to make a statement that the democratic caucus is united with israel or not. >> if you care about the bds movement and you want to nip it in the bud, why give it this much attention? >> yeah, exactly. >> isn't that the kind of -- israel doesn't -- look, contrary

to what donald trump said when he declared that israel would look weak if they allowed these two women in. the fact that they refused to allow them in is what makes israel look weak. and israel's long-term strategy i know from having spoken to ambassadors in interviews over the years is to desperately keep israel from being a partisan political issue. and since 1947 it basically hasn't been. but trump is making it. >> the president has just succeeded in what i didn't want to do here. he's talking right now. >> tremendous numbers came out today which i'm sure you saw so we're very happy about that. we are doing very well. the economy is incredible. the consumer probably above all else, the consumer is doing incredibly. so go ahead. any questions? -- action do you prepare to take to avoid the recession? >> i think we're going to have a long period of wealth and success. other countries are doing very poorly. as you know, china is doing

very, very poorly. the tariffs have really bitten into china. they haven't bitten into us at all except for the reporters that want to make it look that way. but they don't understand what's happening. the tariffs we've taken in close to $60 billion in tariff money, and the consumer has not paid for. now at some point they may have to pay something, but they understand that. and who really understands that is our great farmer. the farmers of this country really understand it. they know we had to do something about china, and we're doing something about china. with that being said i think we're having very good discussions with china. they very much want to make a deal. we'll see what happens. they had a deal and they decided not to make it. now i think they would like to have had that opportunity again because i think they really would -- i think they really missed a great opportunity. i think they feel that they missed a great opportunity. but china very much wants to make a deal. we are talking to them. we'll see what happens. >> why did you feel the need to get involved in the two

congresswomen's trip to israel? >> well, i'm only involved from the standpoint of they are very anti-jewish and they're very anti-israel. i think it's disgraceful the things they've said. you have lists of -- this isn't just a one-line mistake. what they've said about israel and jewish people is a horrible thing. and they've become the face of the democrat party. so i did absolutely put out a very strong statement. i think if you look at their language, if you look at what they've said, if i ever said it, it would be a horrible, it would be a horrible month to put it mildly. so the things that they've said, omar, tlaib, what they've said is disgraceful. so i can't imagine why israel would let them in. but if they want to let them in, they can, but i can't imagine why they would do it. >> are you worried that a full on trade war with china will pitch the economy into a recession? >> no. i think the longer the trade war goes on, the weaker china gets

and the stronger we wet. >> well, the two topics that we were just talking about there, and you heard the president's -- you always know when he's nervous about something because he blames the press for the -- yeah, everything's fine with the economy, just the press. the china issue. we've got some data coming over the weekend. it's astonishing what he's doing to the issue of trade. the president is making america free traders. it's astonishing. >> and what is fascinating that allies close to trump admit that without this narrative, he won't win re-election. yet, at the same time based on our reporting and reporting from "the washington post" and others they have no plan to deal with the recession. meanwhile someone like elizabeth warren. >> they have no exit strategy if china doesn't want to have a deal. >> and they have delayed these tariffs until december because they want to protect consumers which fundamentally admits that these tariffs will hurt american

consumers. >> one of the things, as much as the president doesn't care if he runs down the economy or not. remember, in fact i think you were at the table when we were discussing. the president didn't want to run on the economy in the last month of the campaign in the midterm season, no, no, no, i want to do the caravan. as a republican strategist, do you want him running the economy? or do you just say if he's going to run on the economy, we're going to run on the economy. >> i think we're leaving out half the equation is democrats run on socialism and -- run on capitalism. you can run it on the scoreboard or under the ideology. i think you are going to get a socialist nominee for president. and none of them are going to be willing to run from it, frankly. so i think that -- >> all of them have called themselves a capitalist besides bernie sanders.

>> but as kamala harris says, i think that that's the economic campaign that the president will want to run and will feel -- >> so it's more of a culture war? because it's more culture war, not a scoreboard. >> it's also what he's in opposition to, not what he's for economically. the fact remains that nationally the economy might be doing better. but for people and their personal wages and their personal financial situations, i hear all around the country from voters that they are not doing personally any better than they have been in the last few years. >> it's because all of politics and all of life for donald trump is a zero sum game i think he learned this in real estate where either you got the right to build on that spot or you don't. >> you either have the deal or you don't have the deal. >> so his defense on the economy is, hey, china's doing terribly so therefore we're doing well. so that's number one. number two, the way he operates, he has to have an economy to run against. in other words, he's never going to run a morning in america campaign. he's never going to run a scoreboard, look how great the economy is campaign because it doesn't suit who he is.

he's got to have a midnight in america campaign. that's how donald trump runs. >> and it's easy to run against the enemy than yourself. >> and if it has to be fake socialists, he'll run against fake socialists. >> he's the dennis rod man of politics. he gets his points by rebounding the other side. >> everybody's taking a breath going where would donald trump's eyebrow wouldn't be. >> just in the same situation with on emmar and tlaib, he took what they gave him. he'll do the same thing in the presidential campaign next year with the economy. >> i do think one challenge we haven't talked about is, alexi, is i do think the democratic party is split on how to confront the president on his mismanagement of the china issue. i look at data, and the data actually says joe biden is the one being smarter here.

talk up, tpp. that the danger here for the democrats are the ones going we want to get tough on china too, but we don't want to do it that way. which is if you're looking to get tough on china, you're going to pick trump. if you're looking to acknowledge a global economy and figure out other ways to do it, well, then you're going to pick another way. you can't just sell a warmed over version of trump. >> yes. we actually have reached out to all of the democratic campaigns and asked them about their china policy and strategy given it's early in the cycle, but these are obviously things they should be thinking about. and several of them said they wouldn't immediately undo all that president trump has done and is trying to do on china which speaks directly to your point that they don't necessarily have a plan. >> -- disconnect between the base of boat parties these days hates trade agreements. >> hates multilateral trade agreements. >> but most people realize we live in a -- >> and more importantly multilateral trade agreements. republicans still have a

consensus on bilateral trade agreements because they always think that america can get a better end of the deal because people want access to our market. and the democratic party's undergoing the same kind of shift as it loses its working class base. >> in addition to that, more broadly on that shift on the parties, the republicans are against all forms of multilateralism. it's nato, it's the u.n. at best it'll be one on one because america preserves its muscular independence that way. and that's the difference. >> the brow-beating on the economy, you know, he talked down the economy when it was in recovery mode. so in his mind i think he thinks he can just talk his way out of any economic jam. >> well, and we see the ways in which he tries to do that by specifically touting numbers related to african-americans, which is another way to get at

these culture wars saying he has the lowest unemployment rate in history for african-americans. but i think the question becomes, and this is something i ask voters all the time. great, you feel like the economy is doing well, but what about your personal wages? how many jobs are you working, what about your health care costs? and they're like, yeah, i'm working two or three jobs but i'm still living paycheck to paycheck. >> you are working right now in mississippi. how are you messaging the economy there? >> the economy in mississippi has more people working than ever before. mississippi is moving forward. that's because it's on realignment scheme toward: well, on the wage issue, it's all about workforce training, improving workforce training and repositioning the state's economy for the jobs of the future and not necessarily the jobs of the past. and many states -- >> sounds like democratic arguments back in the rust belt states that didn't work. but is that what's happening in

these smaller states in the south? >> i think you can look at governors' races all over the south and workforce training. brian kemp in georgia and in tennessee. >> since the rise of bill clinton and the democrats, the democrats have been reluctant to run against corporate america. they still have to decide how they want to do that this time. and if they, do they have to answer the socialist question, and they have to answer it positively. they just can't make fun of the attack. they have to answer it positively. which i think there's a way to do. that's what the democrats use to do. that's what was their bread and butter once upon a time. >> i'm going to pause this. alexi and you guys are going to stick around. joining me now from tel aviv is a former israeli ambassador to the united states, a very

familiar face to many i think "mtp daily" viewers. it's michael oren. i know we have a bit of a delay so i will not be overly interrupting to you. hopefully you will use the same courtesy for me. >> good to be with you. good day. >> let me start with the question of are you comfortable that israel standing as a democracy in the world is not going to get questioned by this decision to bar members of congress from coming? >> let's be clear about this. any nation, any democracy has not only the right but the duty to bar entry into its borders of anybody seeking to harm that country, or certainly to destroy that country. someone who shows up at kennedy airport and says i'm here to deny the united states the right to defend itself or to exist. i'm here to destroy the united states would not be admitted through the gates at the kennedy

airport. the same thing is true for israel. those who support the bds movement is not an organization that aspires to create peace between the israelis and the palestinians but to destroy israel through economic strangulation. and representatives omar and tlaib as supporters of bds are people who aspire to destroy the state of izal so israel would have the duty and the right to prevent their entry into the country. the question is not whether israel has the right. the question is whether by exercising that right is israel being smart. >> okay. well, since you introduced that question, first i understand you may not like their tactics, but it's a political disagreement. and that's sort of the hallmark of democracy. but let me ask you, it sounds like you want to answer the next question, which is is this good politics for israel? is it good politics for israel to look as if they're taking

orders from the president of the united states? >> well, just to be sure again the united states barred the entry of a democratically elected member in 2012 not because he was deemed a danger to the united states but he was deemed too radically right wing. and israel has to tread very lightly. i do not envy prime minister netanyahu in making this decision. it was a lose-lose decision. on one hand, yes, he has the president of the united states who stuck by us on the iran nuclear deal. he has a political situation. we are a month away from elections and were the prime minister to allow entry to these two congress members, he would more immediately be assailed. on the other hand, he has american jewish organizations and leaders, the bulk of whom have come out against this decision and above all the

democratic party. and certainly this decision will make it more difficult i would believe for our friends of the democratic party. and there we are talking about the majority, even the vast majority of the democratic party. some of those leaders visited israel this summer to come out and defend us against the anti-israel wing of the progressives. >> let me ask you this. your successor ron dermer put out a statement a few weeks ago saying they were going to be allowed in. and now the decision's been reversed. what does that do to his standing in the united states? the israeli ambassador of the united states, you know this job well. it is as difficult i think as an ambassadorship as there is. it's not easy. how much harder is it if it looks like he can't keep his word? >> well, listen. it's a duty as ambassador to see things from an american perspective and a washington perspective that we can't be

seeing from here in tel aviv or jerusalem. in i was his position, i would have issued the exact same statement. i'm willing to wager that all of my predecessors would've issued exactly the same decision. because we all know that israel's relationship to congress is vital. it sparks our defense needs, that stands up for us against delegitimate misation. it's congress that reflects the will of the american people and the will of the american people is overwhelmingly pro-israel to preserve that. and therefore we must do the utmost to preserve bipartisan support for the state of israel. as difficult as that is, it means reaching out to some of those elements in particularly the democratic party who have been very critical of us. >> speak to american jews who are sitting here going, look, i do not like what congresswoman

omar has said. i don't like being stuck looking like israel is not acting like a democracy. it's sort of counter to many jewish teachings. it's counter particularly to the reform movement in this country. what do you say to those jews if they feel they are being exploited here? >> well, all i can say is someone who was not at peace with this decision, keep that in mind that israel does have that right and duty to defend itself. i would have preferred a middle course. i think we have to ask ourselves, okay, you're in a lose/lose situation. what decision incurs the lesser of the evils, the lesser of the damage. you deny entry to these two congress members and they hold a press conference in washington. they're positioned there, their influence in the democratic party is greatly enhanced. and israel's position of the democratic party is

consecutively diminished and challenged if we enable them to come into the country, okay, they meet with radical elements. maybe they try to cause a provocation around some holy sites, but that can be contained. i would have preferred a middle course where we would have admitted the two congresswomen to our territory, but we insist that they adhere to the standard itinerary including freshman congresswomens. such would be a visiting and a meeting with political. and yad veshem. i would have liked to see what happened if tlaib and omar had refused to visit israel's holocaust memorial. i think the entire narrative would've changed. >> one last thing. i'll be honest with you the bds movement only gets attention sometimes when israeli lawmakers give it attention. now you are going to have news organizations all over the world do stories about the bds

movement that weren't doing it. do folks in the netanyahu government realize this? >> they do. they had other considerations that are security considerations and electoral considerations. again we're a month away from our elections. it's hotly contested and the greatest threat to the current prime minister is not from the left but from the right. and they would have literally leapt upon him had he admitted these two congresswomen. having said that, i still think there was a middle course and with you could have come out better. >> thanks for coming on and sharing your views. the hour is late so i appreciate you making time for me. thank you, sir. >> indeed. good to be with you. thank you. before we go to break, a few other headlines from the had president who just finished speaking to his reporters. he was asked if he agreed with calls for congressman steve to resign.

at one point he did suggest a new mental institution would be a key part of solving the gun violence epidemic. up ahead, beto o'rourke is trying to get his 2018 mojo back into 2020 again. will the third time and a second reset be the charge for this presidential hopeful? you're covered. (dramatic music) and you're saving money, because you bundled home and auto. sarah, get in the house. we're all here for you. all: all day, all night. (dramatic music) great job speaking calmly and clearly everyone. that's how you put a customer at ease. hey, did anyone else hear weird voices while they were in the corn? no. no. me either. whispering voice: jamie. what? paper prepares us please have a seat. showcases the best ideas and motivates decisions. let's get started. when making a big impression matters, use paper. well, how does that sound? we're in! paper and packaging. how life unfolds.

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welcome back. call it a reset, call it a relaunch, call it beto 3.0. whatever you call it, former texas congressman beto o'rourke is returning to the campaign trail today with a new focus, president trump. >> when we allow this country to be defined along lines of race and ethnicity and religion, we allow a commander in chief to not only welcome that but the violence that follows to defy our laws, our institutions and any ethical or moral boundaries. the end of that road is the end of this idea of america, the end of an america where every single

one of us could belong and have a future. i'm confident that if at this moment we do not wake up to this threat, then we as a country will die in our sleep. >> president trump is also driving the o'rourke campaign schedule. o'rourke says he is planning on skipping traditional campaign stops like the iowa state fair and instead visiting places that he says are being hurt by president trump. so his next stop is mississippi. the site of those i.c.e. raids earlier this month. joining me now are a couple of people who have been covering beto o'rourke, my nbc news colleague garrett haake. and no offense, garrett's on our payroll here, so i'm going to let him take first dibs at this, which is you've covered beto o'rourke since that senate campaign, garrett. we are told this is another version of beto o'rourke.

what are you seeing different today that you didn't see a week ago? >> reporter: well, i think a couple things can be true here all at once. number one, this is someone who has tried a number of things. number two, he just spent the last 12 days going through arguably the worst thing that a member of congress or a representative in a democracy like ours can go to, which is a horrible tragedy among the people he represents at a place he knows that can be incredibly jarring and shifting to how you view this race. and i think number three, he's trying to find a way to be his most authentic self in a presidential race. that's a tricky thing. we know that voters like to reward authenticity. they want to know and understand and feel the pain of candidates just the same way they want candidates to feel their pain. so this weird sort of combination of factors here. some overtly political and some an honest response to a horrible tragedy in town. i think you could make the

argument that el paso is more central to who o'rourke is as candidate than any other candidate's hometown is, except for scranton/delaware for joe biden. will it work? working say. but other things have not. so why not run the campaign as your most authentic self? and this is who i think beto o'rourke feels like he needs to be and the way he needs to represent this city going forward. >> evan, you're my grand puma of texas politics. i should put up this -- the last time beto sought a reset was back in may. the headlines said o'rourke seeking reset reaches out to national democrats. so this is sort of the third reset. i am going to ask it this way, though, to you, evan. is beto running for president, or was it a bunch of people who talked beto into running for president? because this feels like what happens to a campaign whose candidate wasn't convinced he

knew how to run for president or whether he should do this. >> look, i think this is not about anything other than beto pivoting from an away game to a home game. i'm with garrett on this. i think he's had a hard time projecting his authentic self in this presidential campaign, the authentic self that was at the center of his senate race. why he elevated from the pack from one of many to one of one. he is always much more comfortable when he's one of one. he spent the entire presidential campaign as one of many. he got no traction because every place he went was an away game el paso makes it a home game he is as comfortable as he can be at home and with the issues that he's now identified at the center of this relaunched effort, he will be playing this as a home game. he would rather lose authentically than not. and i think this is actually a good strategy. i buy that. i ask you both this.

garrett does he want the presidency, or does he want -- is it more of he's trying to bring awareness? i guess i'm trying to figure out is he campaigning for the office, or is he campaigning to make a point? >> oh, i think he wants it, chuck. look, this is too hard. you and i both know anybody who's been out here covering this scene, what it does to their candidates and to their families and to their lives. this is hard to be in it for the six months or so unless you very much want it. but i think of something i've heard cory booker say which is you can't run wrong and govern right. i think what you're seeing here is beto o'rourke trying to run right so that he can govern right. going back to that same point to try to run on his values on what he authentically believes. and i think even when donald trump came here to el paso and i think it was january and you saw o'rourke rise up and do that counter rally that drew a lot of attention. these are issues that he cares so deeply about, and it's much

easier for him to be someone who stands out in that way than it is to be just another of 23 people arguing about whether medicare for all is the right way to go or not. >> i'll just be honest, he is never seemed comfortable running for president. now, it may be because of the trappings. that's why i keep wondering is this -- it's almost as if he was handed a campaign plan and talked into, no, no, no, trust us, you can do this and a bunch of smart people came to him and said you can do this, and he was, like, well, okay. and then he realized, well, this isn't the way i want to run. >> the trick all along, chuck, and the question we all asked ourselves having watched him in texas was, was he going to allow himself to submerge into a traditional presidential campaign because he is an odd fit. >> and the answer is no. don't we know that answer? >> and the senate race that he ran last time was anything but traditional. the idea that you go to all 254 counties, that you run on

aspiration and inspiration as opposed to issues. that was always going to be the only way forward for him in this presidential race is if he scaled up the approach of his campaign in texas to 50 states. if he ran about an idea, you asked is he running for the presidency. i think he's running for the principle. i think he believes in a vision of america, and he's trying to now shape a traditional campaign into something that looks much more like the unconventional senate campaign he ran. high risk, high reward as garrett said no guarantee it's going to succeed. but what was working before was absolutely not going to succeed. >> garrett, you asked him about the senate race. obviously that hickenlooper move seems to probably increase the amount of pressure some are giving him. does he feel pressure on that or not? or has he truly moved on? >> i think he's tired of hearing about. and look, chuck, as long as i have been covering him and from the moment that that last senate race ended, i have never heard

any iota from him even in sort of quiet off the record conversations to ever get involved in that race. i think the closest you got to that was him conceding today that he misses el paso, he misses being back in texas. but he sees that as not his fight. you know, especially after what happened here 12 days ago with the shooting. how can you make the argument that donald trump is this incredible dangerous existential threat and then stay home? it just doesn't -- >> very quickly, evan, is it a given that let's say beto said, okay. i am going to do what's in the best interest of the party and the agenda and do this. is he the best candidate democrats could nominate in 2020, or was he uniquely a better 2018 candidate? >> you mean for the u.s. senate? >> yeah. >> look, john cornyn is not ted cruz. also john cornyn is not cory

gardner. and there are eight people in the senate race on the democratic side. and i do not believe the seas would part. i do not believe the party would view him in their best interest. he is making a call that i believe again connects back to his higher purpose as he sees it, whether it works or not. the senate race is a total nonstarter. >> you guys have made one thing clear. beto o'rourke has decided, look, this may not work, but i'm going to do it my way and forget everybody else. it's an interesting campaign. you know what? when you go boar, you never know what you're going to get. it's good to see you both. thank you. up ahead, it is getting a little nasty in new hampshire as president trump heads to the granite state. what some republicans there are hoping he does not do. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. i wish i could shake your hand. granted.

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cory lewandowski i think would be terrific if he ran. but i don't know that he's going to run. i spoke to him about it about a week ago. frankly i think it's something

he would like to do. i don't know that he's going to. he loves new hampshire, he loves our country. if he did it, i think he would be very formidable. >> that was president trump offering kind words to his former campaign manager who is weighing a senate run in new hampshire. he'll be at the event tonight. will the president drag him up on stage? that will be a real sign how real this is. our experts alexi, brad and showered. brad, the new hampshire republican party some big names not exactly welcoming him in. judd gregg, a former senator said this about lewandowski. he's a thug, part of trump's thugs. if he were to run and become the nominee, it would be an outrage. okay, we know there is a judd gregg sort of a bush wing of the republican party. we know that new hampshire politics is truly divisive inside the republican party. corey lewandowski a good idea

for the republican party. >> every fourth person in new hampshire is in the legislature. every third is a political operative. so you know, it will be the most vetted nomination of any in the united states senate races in the country. so it's a professional sport up there. and speculation is there's sort of ving training in new hampshire politics. >> you're an operative, have you thought about cutting out the middle man? >> not a chance. >> most operatives are like the reason they're an operative is not to run. >> i've got a better chance of being a goat herder than running for office. >> explain the difference. >> it's interesting. this divides the republican party big-time. the sue knew news are not big nans of lewandowski. they straddle the fence of the party there a little bit. this is a swing state. people forget that, and this can be a competitive senate race. i don't know if corey lewandowski makes it competitive. >> that's interesting seeing the

president's power in the 2018 midterms especially over senate races and the way senate republican candidates went out of their way to embrace him and mimic him in their campaigning strategies. this would be an interesting looking intoing whether and how president trump would have the same power in a place like new hampshire if he's giving his full throated to someone like lew downtown ski is not very popular among republicans in the state. we're talking about this early. >> the republican elite. polling has a different story. >> republican elite and the infrastructure within the state. we were talking about this earlier that democrats are already sort of salivating at the idea of using as much oppo research as they can collect against someone like cory lune zou do you ski before he runs. >> hillary clinton before careful what you might wish for, might get it. the shaheens are tough. >> i have had to have a full minor in new hampshire ever since i started covering politics and i spent a lot of

time up there and i know a lot of people up there and judd gregg is not the republican party in new hampshire anymore. the sue knew news sort of had as you say. >> the brother is gov. >> i agree. i think lewandowski will run. i think he will run whether he'll win or not, i don't know. >> right. >> but don't forget that oppo when it comes to a trump junior person doesn't mean very much. donald trump has so broken every rule about what you can and cannot be and still be a successful candidate. >> do you buy that? >> it can inspire people like cory lewandowski who in another era would have no business running for anything. the oppo that used to work doesn't work anymore. >> it's not just the era of trump. >> the era of social media. >> so much now.

we're so tribal now in our ticks that the swing voter votes on what might happen in the next four years, not what you've done in the last 20. and it's just a new world order where partisans are locked in. >> there's a weird enthusiasm in parts of trump's campaign world to the cory lewandowski candidacy. it's my understanding it's because if he's running for office, they assume he isn't going to try to come in and take over the campaign in the middle of it. >> which would be good for trump re-elect to be able to stay on whatever course they want to decide for re-election on. >> keeps him from being on the plane every once in awhile. >> keeps him from interacing with reporters. >> he has a unique relationship with the president that some operatives don't have and are a bit jealous. >> right. trump has his thumb on cory to inspire him to run but also if he runs and wins, that's a

reliable vote trump can count on. >> he can run as trump junior on the fear issues that are the stock in trade of trump. >> trump has a general election issue, is that something that the nrsc would want? >> new hampshire was decided by a whisker in the 2016 presidential election. >> it was decided by a whisker in. >> 2020 the one no one's talking about. >> they mentioned it. >> it gets less attention than the great lakes. >> also lewandowski ruin their chances? >> i don't think anyone ruins the sun. >> is cory icharus? >> i think it's very hard for any senate candidate to sort of -- take over that situation. >> yeah, anyway, well, when operatives run for office, it's just different. alexi, howard, thank you.

that's all we have for tonight. we'll be back tomorrow with more. "the beat with ari melber"" starts right now. >> i love a good icharus reference. does that is make donald trump the sun or datyllus? >> if you three too close to trump you burn, i don't know. we could do this metaphor all day. >> i love good metaphors and love listening to "meet the press" daily". good to see you. we have a lot in tonight's show. a couple different things. donald trump pushing a foreign government to take sides in a feud with domestic rivals. an important story. later, trump's allies worrying that new market jitters could undercut his re-election strategies. i'm also going to be joined by a former trump casino executive about trump's gambling approach to business and how it shows how he's gambling in the trade wars and the great dalia lithwick is here on justice in the trump era. now to our top story.