saudi arabia right now is engaged in a variety of conflicts in multiple fronts right now again as we know they're engaged in a war in yemen they have been for two years now and it's become less. sure and led by him i think led by the crown prince exactly and so where is he taking the country right now with yemen we don't know and so for him to now a seed to the crown prince role and essentially sidelining family members who had been in charge of the interior ministry and have a significant role as well this is a watershed moment and he has near unanimous support as well amongst the saudi royal families but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be successful a move forward there are a lot of issues on his plate so to what does this mean for saudi u.s. relations i understand that mohamed bin solomon he's goes by m.b.'s that he was the youngest defense minister in the world but these also been maybe cautiously trying

to modernize saudi arabia as the trump administration pivot sort of back toward saudi arabia away from iran do you think that's going to influence that at all what we're seeing dissonant type of relationship right now between saudi arabia and eight states just in the last couple of weeks we have seen president trump go out to saudi arabia and give essentially unconditional backing for saudi arabia yet since that time saudi arabia has led to a group of countries to isolate qatar and cut it off in a very counterproductive move and they have been just yesterday rapped on the knuckles so to speak by secretary of state tillerson who said through a spokesperson that there is no justification for this so we're seeing two different kinds of dynamics and that that weakens the american ability to engage with the gulf states in fighting against isis and in dealing with containing iran it really. hold on let me let me stop you there and why would this harm our ability

to fight isis as an isis also an enemy of saudi arabia it is and yet at the same time we need to have g.c.c. gulf cooperation council unity in order to effectively prosecute that and our primary base in the goal for the united states is in our day the air base in qatar and right now that's been essentially cut off by saudi arabia and so when scotter and saudi arabia and united arab emirates are at loggerheads and they don't have the unity we can't fully rely on our gulf partners to execute a war that's not just military but it's going to require significant efforts to combat terror financing to deal with isis propaganda but we can't have them fighting with each other we need them to be on the same page so do you think that m.b. asked as he's known and he's only thirty one years old i believe he was educated in saudi arabia never in the west surprisingly

a lot of the royals are educated in the west do you think that he'll be moving saudi arabia into the twenty first century when it comes to women homosexuals you know any number of things human rights could that sort of also be helpful to us saudi relations there is an upside here certainly with the younger leader but that doesn't necessarily guarantee any outcome and be as has been an advocate for saudi arabia twenty thirty to modernize their their economy and infrastructure and attempt to industrialize and wean off of oil which is a good idea the global price of oil is falling continually in saudi arabia needs to develop a more diversified economy but on social issues it's anyone's guess we've seen young leaders take over countries in the middle east like bashar al assad and initially there were hopes for opening to the west into israel and internally and clearly we've seen that go to the other way so there are no guarantees it's going to. wire

a lot of significant intensive engagement with saudi arabia so let me ask you this the trumpet minutes you know trump's first trip abroad his first stop was saudi arabia he got the royal treatment dancing horses. like you know even a motorcycle rally the night before his arrival with with taco trucks as saudi arabia try to demonstrate an arab. right yes there affinity for u.s. culture do you what do you think this administration pivoting toward saudi arabia away from iran after the obama administration was working so hard on diplomatic relations with the islamic republic well the iran nuclear deal which was the center focus of the obama administration that deal has prevented iran from getting a nuclear weapon and in fact the trump administration is corroborated that and said that iran is living up to be agreement but that's essentially where the iran. has stalled is what iran is doing in the region in terms of supporting syria and

sermons of supporting sectarianism in iraq there are a lot of problems there and so saudi arabia rightly is attempting to push back on it but the danger with what president trump has done is he's essentially given a blank check to saudi arabia and so now saudi arabia maybe settling scores in a sense internally with cutter as an example in him breaking with qatar yet cutter interestingly has been supporting efforts inside iraq to promote reconciliation. dari. an iraqi who's here in washington recently talking about reconciliation process these cutters been supportive of that now they're on the outside of the saudi tent and so i don't see a real cohesiveness right now and that's the challenge so pushing back against iran is not going to be cohesive if the saudis and the gulf allies are not on the same page so joe let me ask you you know the big question that you know facing this administration as. and you know our fellow citizens is our involvement in syria you

mention iran is part you know participation in the syrian conflict backing bashar al assad against u.s. backed rebels you know a lot of americans are very war weary they feel that going into the middle east has never worked out well for us it is always turns into a quagmire and yet we're seeing this administration might be getting more deeply involved and you're saying you know it might be appropriate because we need to push back on iran's expansionist ambitions in that region no not not appropriate to get engaged militarily in fighting iran it's appropriate to push back against iranian behavior though in the region in terms of its support for terrorist organizations and also calling it on its human rights violations but what's happening inside syria when you see american. military activity getting closer to iranians to the islamic revolutionary guard corps these are legitimate dangerous spots and we have to be very careful if we're going to get engaged militarily we have to be

sagely have our eyes wide open because we've seen as we did with the war in iraq that one can think they have a magic bullet solution with a couple of bombs or fifty nine tomahawk missiles for example being shot in syrian base but that didn't stop syria but i do think that a cohesive well organized comprehensive strategy to deal with iran's behavior in the region is necessary but currently it's very piecemeal and so we're just seeing . efforts here and there and no strategy lining up and that could put it in a very weak position so joe very quickly before we go we see new had line that hillary clinton our former secretary of state is being formally investigated by the state department for her handling of classified information which our former f.b.i. director james comey called extremely careless and that she and her aides may lose their security clearance i just have a really simple question why do they. have security clearance now that they're

private citizens yes well i had a security clearance as well when i was at the state department and one can maintain that security clearance for two years after they depart our exit that is from their positions and if they had continued engagement they maintain it so that that's why but it should time out on its own naturally but it's appropriate to look into whether or not they mishandled classified information but this is a normal course of events certainly it's part of the bureaucratic fallout of the past year or so of reviews but i don't think that she or her aides are looking at classified information now unless they're working in support of some type of client our contracts our work that requires them to do that. all right thanks for answering that burning question at least my mind i appreciated still ruben joining us from washington d.c. thanks so much my pleasure thanks amy turning now to national politics i'm joined by peter cosmin former press secretary to then senator hillary clinton he was also

an officer in the u.s. navy and is president presently an advisory board member for the that voice foundation and betsy mccoy a new york post columnist former lieutenant governor of new york and a senior fellow for the london center for policy research welcome thank you so let's talk politics let's talk georgia sixth district big huge raise the most expensive congressional race in u.s. history fifty million dollars spent by both sides combined so peter your guy he got twenty three million dollars he had a one hundred paid staffers he knocked on over half a million doors had eleven million dollars in t.v. ads and he lost what happened well it's a republican district republican candidate won by twenty six points last november so it was an uphill battle i think the lesson i take away as a democrat is that we need good candidates recruit can say why wasn't he a good candidate well he's a little young i don't know that he's done very much in public service i tend to be

old fashioned i think you should go you don't think working on the hill counts but i think he does but maybe maybe do a little bit more maybe a little bit more seasoning maybe live in the district so these are all lessons i think we can take i think it starts with taking back the house starts with recruiting the best candidates we can get i don't think in this district we did that i think the reason was because it's a it's a heavily republican district there are ninety six districts that are less republican that will be up in november and i think we have a really good shot at a lot of those so betsy. off of that point this is an r. plus ten ten point district and mishandle she only won by five points and she had to spend millions of dollars because of course the. kratz where we're spending on a visit is be counted as a resoundingly victory on the d.l.c. this i think that the outcome is very promising for the republicans because this is no longer in solidly republican district it's

a district in transition if you look at the demographics of this district. the population is changing rapidly a best majority of the voters in this election were actually newcomers not just to the district but even to georgia including very sizable hispanic and asian populations so what i take away from this is this is a much bigger win that if it were a solidly republican tradition the way but it is it's not the district isn't changing what's changed is that republicans nominated a candidate for president who is not remotely attractive don't know how to educate the wealthier registered voters of this district are very different look at the data look at the census data they were registered voters in this district are very different from what they were when tom price but if i may let me stop you right there are let me ask you though it went from plus ten now to plus five do you think that president historically low approvals and historically high bad press cut into

just hopping on this and i think she would have won by a much bigger margin if she had emphasized her commitment to the trump agenda lower taxes repealing and replacing obamacare more jobs instead of harping at the fact that she grew up in the district and went to elementary school in the district frankly a majority of voters didn't care about that because they didn't grow up in the district stay right there where politicking right after the break. about your sudden passing i phone lee just learned you were yourself in taking your last wrong turn. here at the time to you as we all knew it would i tell you i'm sorry. so i write these. last words and hopes to put to rest these things that i never got off my chest. i remember when we first met my life turned on each breath. but then my feeling started to change you talked about war like it was

a game still some are fond of you those that didn't like to question our arc and i secretly promised to never be like it said one does not leave a funeral the same as one enters the mind it's consumed with death this one might differ. speech because there are no other takers. to blame that mainstream media has met its maker. to add value other leg below the how to be agile. be what of. our own so nerd calling families a lab a record today or tomorrow just all good balls are going to be drawn over.

the pride of it up there with the brain does it again is it that they are the delegate they are or with their new. girl is the the dog or really what he wants for the people here living your creator does lego board. welcome back to politicking i'm joined by peter kaufman and betsy mccoy in studio betsy let me just ask you very simple question what is in the senate. publican bill doesn't come you know yes let me point out the senate republican bill provides a reform of medicaid to slow future in the roman medicaid it does not repel thera away from twenty others claim in fact the bill includes

a grandfather clause that protects anyone currently enrolled in medicaid no one will be quote thrown off medicaid as bernie sanders was apparently let me ask you this little bit about process senate well the republican party criticize the democratic party for passing obamacare in secret party line vote without letting the other side participate in the process and now it appears they're doing the very same thing will happen anyway to pass a bill that affects one sixth of the us economy tell you what's happening we have to pass a bill because obamacare is collapsing millions of people especially in states like iowa where all the insurers have pulled out face the prospect of not being able to buy coverage but is this the way you do in people explaining let me just explain give me a minute. so mitch mcconnell knows he's the senate majority leader that he has to get a bill to the floor but chuck schumer and the senate minority leader has sworn resistance

obstruction right sabotage and so the senate republicans want to draft a bill they're going to release it in the next twenty four hours there will be as mitch mcconnell has promised unlimited debate unlimited amendments offered everybody will have a chance to thoroughly look at this bill and discuss it and change it obamacare is running into trouble we know this we know that premiums are going up we know that insurance companies are pulling out of different markets and leaving people who are on the you know the private individual market without anywhere to get insurance or health insurance or other so my question to you is do democrats have a responsibility to participate in the reform process let's take a step back you carrie. the house passed a version a repeal of obamacare ok that according to the c.e.o. will poll twenty four million americans off of health coverage you know what it says stable lose their health coverage that's what c.e.o.

says no that's what the c.b.s.'s down i think that ok you don't know as we don't know we don't know what's in the senate bill no matter what we pretend to know because nothing's been public about the senate bill it's a handful of guys in closed doors trying to trying to work a political deal so they can get fifty votes plus the vice president to pass it there's not going to be a single hearing there's not going to be any public discussion unlike obamacare which had months and months of hearings senator you're not answering my question which is should democrats now that was then this is now but we're going to move on to health care we have multiple democrats who have said we have adam schiff who's on the house intel committee the democratic member we've had dianne feinstein democrat from california senator both of them a said that they have found no evidence of collusion between russia and the trump campaign nothing has boiled up to it has bubbled up to them but they're continually investigated my question to you is do you think that there's a there there whole certainly a way to present

a topic that's it's not as if i should get i think there is a there reason the reason that we have to investigate these things is to find out if we already knew that there was collusion and we could point to say e-mail threads from roger stone to his russian friends that he said he communicated with then we would know that so we have some sense of like i said so far do you believe that the trump campaign was engaged in collusion i don't know that's why we need in the best occasion when you was an american like to know that certainly didn't when it donald trump as our commander in chief want to protect which he apparently did say in our former f.b.i. director please investigate my mess so you know and then what does it was hey go easy on my buddies now you also said please i'm going to get my associate and he said and then he said you're fired so when you go to that see it in the. his own words betsy the russian investigation it seems to gotten trump really off track that he is tweeting about it and in fact one of his tweets apparently it provoked seems komi so much that he sent his own memo to friends at columbia university to

leak it to the new york times in the hopes that it would trigger a special counsel which it did so do you think that some of this is of the president's own making i think that a lot of the media attention is of the president's own making but the underlying investigation has about as much credibility is the salem witch hunts and if you look at home in jenkins piece in the wall street journal this morning he's really assess this very carefully and looked at the fact that over months and months and months and several committees now have been able to turn up absolutely nothing so they can continue to investigate but it isn't just you know you can show you traveled keep tweeting about this i mean he's been told look i mean this this is hurting you legally and already going to advise the president what he should tweet about but i think that why not america well because he's got plenty of advisors already i think that most americans understand that the really important issues are lowering taxes lower in health care premiums and improving the job prospects in

this country not investigating or not on efforts of the administration to improve relationships with russia so let me ask you about that peter just as a political matter for the democratic party and going into the midterm election do you think that it's a successful strategy to be you know their slogan being the resistance we just saw in georgia that that didn't work for the democratic candidate do you think that this focus on russia it seems at least in the media and among some democrats on capitol hill including some house members who want to introduce articles of impeachment is this good for the party going into a midterm election if i were going to set the agenda for democrats for twenty a.t.m. please do it right don't care health care health care not the issue we should be talking about obama what is going to. to work he's going to uncover the ties between the trump family and russian financial interests that we know exist because his sons were bragging about it before donald trump started lying about that there are some things you do think that on the water to it i think let him do his job and

people like me are going to talk about it i was a veteran i served in the intelligence community this terrible i mean a thank you for your service q but do you destroy that me but it is why oath care of your health care democrats on the house side that when you introduce articles of impeachment you think it's wise to have a steady lawyer who's in house leadership he thinks that would be a big mistake well i think it's wise to pursue it articles of impeachment i think it's wise to pursue these investigations ok the house republicans are going to do what they can to cover up for this white house like they've been doing bob miller will get to the bottom of it would you in china's own house democrats to introduce articles of impeachment to the house floor for a vote to not at this point until we get the majority but see what do you think about i think it should depend on the evidence and clearly there is none. for four people in either political party to subject the nation to impeachment when there's seems to be no evidence of wrongdoing would be very unpatriotic but i want to ask about see with all of this rush of business do you think that it has gotten the

g.o.p. and the trump administration off track when it comes to their legislate no not at all addicts are saying look the g.o.p. has not passed one major piece of legislation since january twentieth well that's not true let me point out that in fact the the trump administration has achieved a deregulation revolution in the first half of the first year in office it's amazing whether it's the e.p.a. whether it's the as he said those are executive orders and the white house we're talking about passing legislation on capitol hill and a lot of critics say that well you know there are you have not succeeded there you have to look more of paul ryan then mitch mcconnell but i would say this ryan seems very teed up to get these tax cuts passed and mick mulvaney the head of all and be office of management and but. it is working very closely with both houses to get this tax agenda through now and that's one of the reasons that mitch mcconnell is so determined to get the health bill on the floor next week because the first reconciliation bill will be about health let me ask you about that here the common

sense caucus yes there is one on the house. believe it or not twenty democrats twenty republicans and in the past couple of months they instead that they do want to work with republicans on tax cuts and tax reform again you know looking at the democratic agenda going to twenty eighteen do you think that would be wise for them to do to show points of compromise and cooperation i think if there is room to make progress we should work together to make progress now the reason that the trumpet ministration doesn't have any legislative achievements to point to is they have no legislative strategy and no what gender they sit on a stat is you know the true date that went into the living room. just so during he legislative so the point from joining the republicans control the white house they control both houses of congress this should be a time when you point to your greatest legislative achievements this is their two year run and they show republicans don't much have only fifty two seats in the united states senate so they will need eight democrats to you know peel off and get

on board and this is governor i think we'll see what's going to stay on mom waiting for the wings just like that but it seems i should be so tired of winning right now all right all right right but it seems that you know or has had a strategy of resistance and you know being an obstructionist if you want to use that term again politically is that helpful and useful if democrats have lost for special elections and the need to present to voters a positive agenda there is a way to work together x. cuts and tax reform would be. nominee democratic no i don't know if that's a winning strategy so you disagree with the concept that for america or for america or for the democratic party you know i don't think i don't think stealing health care from twenty four million people is a win. strategy for anyone and if republicans are going to do that they will hear about it in november twenty eighth betsy do republicans need to pass tax reform tax cuts going to twenty two you know what happens to the motives of the absolutely critical because the american economy is not competitive moment global scale and

the reason is that our corporate tax rates are so much higher than other industrialized nations we must pass tax reform to get the economy moving to get up to three percent growth that produces jobs jobs jobs that's what america is a political matter if the g.o.p. fails to. reform or replace obamacare are they going to pay for in the polls by their own voters their own base yes i think it's very very important that they get this bill through because the number one issue for americans and health care is premiums they're way too high they have doubled since obamacare went into effect at the end of two thousand and thirteen premiums that you don't hear in dividends more here are sent to a piece saying it's better to take your time for a good bill than to russia they've been trying to balance that but the fact is they don't have much choice you have because if you look at the facts in many many parts of this country many many counties all the insurers have pulled out and it is absolutely essential to pass a bill now so that the insurance companies will come back into the market and offer

coverage and moreover hundreds of thousands of people have been demoted from full time jobs to part time jobs pushed down into that non earning category or a little earning category because of the obamacare employer mandate we've got to get that off the books what is surprised you most about president presidency how effective he is when you look at the deregulation revolution that's going on in washington the coal mines that are opening well and in some cases really opening he is already boosting job growth all across this country even without the help of peter same question see what is surprise us not only discuss to do or say the most but what has surprised you the most the chaos of incompetence. at every level in the trump administration they can't fill key jobs the president seems more obsessed with how his press secretary looks on t.v. than he does about achieving any progress for the american people and that's been the most disappointing well thank you for

a very heated hot debate we like that it politicking good bye to peter coffin and betsy mccoy we appreciate you joining us thanks so much thank you thank you for joining me on this edition of politicking and thank you to larry king for letting me sit in this chair today it's been an honor remember we love hearing from you so join the conversation on larry's facebook page and as always you can share your thoughts on twitter by tweeting at teens things and using the politicking hash tag i also invite you to join me on twitter at real amy holmes and that's all for this edition of politicking. about your sudden passing i've only just learned you were a south end taking your last to bang turn. your at the top to you as we all knew it would i tell you i'm sorry i could so i write these last words in hopes to put to rest these things that i never got off my chest. i remember when we first met my

life turned on each bed. but then my feelings started to change you talked about war like it was again still some are fond of you those that didn't like to question our arcade and i secretly promised to never again like it said one does not leave a funeral in the same as one enters the mind it's consumed with death this one different person to speak to now because there are no other takers. to blame that mainstream media has met its maker. in the life one is much more willing to regain the range of potential than just the elite game related to the final minutes of the extra time on the replay so close to. the to the security shut up and the

crowd the to the to. cerberus place is. struggling to get ugly game the to get into the final two seconds the crowd holds its breath until saw beside the bucket but the trouble. with the islamic state perceived to be on the defensive in syria many of the parties in this proxy war are buying the next stage of this conflict as a result russia in the us are at odds is washington strategic interests in syria really land. social environment you're right. chemical discoveries over the last century made every day life easier but at what cost this is serial is exceptionally sick. no wonder

it's confidential. says since the years old industrial giants reap the benefit. by chemical production. you know as if these people are just experimental animals decades later the toxic environment continues to poison lives and we found these astronomically high levels of dioxin levels that my staff think maybe some of the highest levels ever found in the united states for almost thirty years this very serious problem had not actually been addressed what will that investigation into the chemical industry secrets revealed. this was for. the earth there. was a. god. good

. god. yes nerve look. there's. one year on from the political earthquake that was brought sis home stability of uncertainty looming over the u.k.'s future. of my family and. i schlep to the national a major middle of the us national and that's next. do you have to have. a civilian suffering intensifies in the campaign to oust islamic state from the syrian city of raka adults are raised over america's post liberation plans. and the german secret service is granted the right to read encrypt.