so we've just learned -- i learned how to grind from these professionals. >> how was it? was it good? >> great. fantastic. >> can i get one? >> oh, santa. >> you have to do the work. santa doesn't want to work.

>> being bad never looked this good. >> they're teaching me right. >> if you think dirty dancing with santa is bad wait until you see their movie. >> to taking christmas back. >> bringing plenty of naughty and a little bit of nice in this highly anticipated sequel. >> i don't think i can do this sober. >> how did you know you were going to do another one. >> after opening weekend? people aren't dumb in this industry they said we made money. >> they banked nearly 200 million the first time around. the moms are back with their movie moms. >> i'm here to see my daughter on easter. >> "this is us" star justin heartily joining the ladies for the wild ride. >> if you've ever seen justin or watched "this is us" and

wondered what he looked like naked, this is the movie for you. >> you're welcome. >> i didn't think it could get crazier than the first one. >> you're so sweet. >> i'm a bad mom, i think, i took a bottle of wine to the park. >> you're in. >> these bad moms making these concessions. >> my kid go duals. my husband doesn't drink but when we had a first baby we would go on a walk every night and he would have her and pop an odouls. she started at five months to claw at it. >> we do sabat at our house. my daughter has had a sip of wine when she was born. and on fridays she wakes up, i can have wine? >> sounds like we have the next

generation of bad moms. these bad moms in theatres november 1st. >> i'm here backstage at "dancing with the stars" about to talk to the couples, one who got a perfect 40 and somebody else who's trying to teach me to twerk. lindsay and mark's perfect 40. >> shania twains and nick and peta's final love. but nick is not done with the ballroom just yet. >> you're going to come every week supporting your wife. >> yes. as long as she's in i'll be there front row. >> his wife with a serious wardrobe malfunction. so would you have picked that skirt up? >> no. bad things happen when i step on the dance floor. >> cheryl worrying about

terrell's footsteps. >> what size are your foot. >> i'm a 14. >> they're big frmg everyone ready for the big game 1 of the world series. so dodgers or astros. >> i'm in l.a. so i'm rooting for the home team. >> dodgers. >> victoria and val all about it on the dance floor, backstage. >> have you been practicing your twerking? >> yes, i have. >> you have to move your mid section. you can't just squeeze your face. >> i give you an eight. >> since it's movie night, what movie star would play you? >> jeepers. >> i want you to tell me what movie star would play me. >> danny davito.

>> she's a new york times best selling author who has a new book out. here to tell me all about it, teresa giudice. so great to see you. >> her husband joe still behind bars locked up until 2019. their marriage under the tabloid micro scope. >> when he's released are you together? >> yes. >> the jersey housewife holding nothing back with me and in standing strong, her second post prison memoir. >> do you think at the end it'll make the relationship stronger. >> i think it will. sometimes things happen in life, we don't understand why and sometimes we need that break in order for it to -- i don't know, to maybe -- >> it's healthy? >> yes. >> how's he doing? he lost some weight? got his ged. >> yes. he looks good. when you're in there, you can either eat and get heavy or you

can work out and look good and get mind strong. that's what he's doing and that's what i did. >> how are the girls? >> the girls are good. in the book i talk about being a single mom. like i never thought i'd be a single mom, but i'm doing it and thank god. >> good for you. nice to see you, congratulations on the book. >> thank you. >> please be sure to pick up a copy of teresa giudice's new book "standing strong" in stores now. up next riana blake lively all love this lingerie. plus our las vegas spook-tacular.

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>> this is our wink body suit. it's the perfect night out look. >> layering jeans and jackets over a night or day look. >> body suits are a fashion statement these days. >> so sexy. now halloween is just a couple days away, i'm all fired up. if you're looking to step up your game, we have a few questions. >> the hottest parties, the craziest cost yum contests, las vegas starts hall halloween right. it welcomes some of the biggest names. traveling with the kids? take them to halloweenville at wet and wide, or trick and

treating at shark wreath aquarium at mandalay bay. circus circus, celebrating its 15th year anniversary. and you can party with beetlejuice and his body. you can win big at costume contests. where the first place winner gets up to $15,000 prices. more details at visit las vegas.com. >> now, to the all the stars making headlines in hollywood, here's this weekend's "extra." >> these powerful women all honored for their work, all celebrated at this year's variety power of women submit in

los angeles. >> you're in great company. the ladies enjoying the fellowship creativity, and injuly knowledged in some pampering. >> he is a man with a purpose. >> i started this because animals don't have a voice. >> he got some money to raise money for dog and cat rescue. >> stars sharing his passion for protecting our buddies. >> boys and girls club ambassador with carlos, hitting the ball for the first pitch. >> what do you think of that. >> it's crazy. i was a child, they played baseball this is wow. >> dream moment. >> yeah. >> i have to tell you, being a proud alumni, this is a gift

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that's going to do it for us this weekend. with the latest headlines head over to extra tv.com. >> have a great weekend everyone and happy halloween. >> happy halloween. >> let's do it. >> bam. >> snapping.

i got quite a few of those. >> one more time. >> kate -- >> i'm not invading. i'm not invading. >> knnoah snap -- >> the kardashians -- >> and gary. this sunday, a momentous week in the history of the republican party. two establishment republican senators say they have had enough of president trump. bob corker of tennessee. >> you would think he would aspire to be the president of the united states and act like a president of the united states. >> and jeff flake of arizona. >> we must stop pretending that the degradation of our politics are normal.

they are not normal. >> both are now leaving the senate and their republican colleagues make it clear it's president trump's party now. >> we have actually great unity in the republican party. >> my guests this morning, republican senator rob portman of ohio on the gop divide. and senator claire mccaskill of missouri on running as a democrat in trump country. plus, our brand new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. the latest numbers for the president and a sign of where the vote for congress might be headed in 2018. also robert mueller is expected to serve up the first indictment in the russia investigation. we'll have the latest on what to look for there. and the opioid epidemic. this morning, i'll talk to a fire chief on the front lines of this crisis. >> i see this as a countrywide problem that has the potential to bankrupt the country. >> huntington, west virginia's fire chief on the day in the life, fighting the epidemic. joining me for insight and analysis are chris matthews, host of "hardball" on msnbc.

amy walter, national editor of the cook political report. al cardenas, former chairman of the american conservative union. and eliana johnson of politico. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, celebrating its 70th year, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. good sunday morning. it's his party and you can cry if you want to. however you view what's happened to the republican party over the past year, president trump has managed a hostile takeover or that he's being greeted as a liberator, there's no question now that he has recreated the party in his own image, at least the base of his party in his own image. beyond that, he's struggling. our brand new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows his rating at a low. 38% approve, 58% disapprove. that's down considerably from

where mr. trump was just a month ago in the first aftermath of those hurricanes. it is also the lowest in modern times for a president in the first year of his presidency. and hanging over the president right now is this, nbc news has confirmed that a federal grand jury has approved the first indictment or indictments in special counsel bob mueller's russia investigation, which could target one or more people. anyone charged could be taken into custody as soon as tomorrow. which leads to this question, will president trump's base care? or even believe the charges? because look at this, among republicans the president is wildly popular. 81-17 approve/disapprove on the job he's doing. republican voters seem to be pretty clear. they want president trump's brand of conservatism, not the brand represented by the republican party establishment. that dynamic played out in the past few weeks when two republican senators, not exactly moderates, mind you, jeff flake of arizona and bob corker of tennessee, openly criticized the president and decided not to run for re-election, and the

republican base seemed to say good riddance. >> we have actually great unity in the republican party. >> the republican party is quickly becoming the party of trump. this week, there was republican resistance. >> when we remain silent and fail to act, when we know that silence and inaction is the wrong thing to do because of political considerations, because we might make enemies, because we might alienate the base, we dishonor or principles. >> you would think he would aspire to be the president of the united states and act like a president of the united states, but, you know, that's just not going to be the case. >> but that resistance was met with silence by republicans who have determined that it's better politics to accommodate mr. trump than to challenge him. >> he was elected president. i'm going to work with him for the good of our country. >> i don't think the american people want to see us up here yelling at each other. >> the president has his own way of communicating and look, it's

worked. >> everyone shut up and do your job is my view. >> arizona senator jeff flake's announcement that he will retire rather than face a tough re-election fight follows the retirement announcement ofs tennessee's bob corker and a series of house moderates, all members of this so-called republican establishment. and on the 2017 campaign trail, republican candidates for governor in new jersey and virginia are mimicking mr. trump's rhetoric on immigration -- >> when asked about deporting criminal illegals, phil murphy said -- >> my bias is going to be having their back. >> and on statues honoring the confederacy. >> i'm for keeping them up, and he's for taking them down. >> and congressional republicans have been hesitant to criticize candidates who appeal to the president's base, like alabama's roy moore, who has argued that homosexuality should be against the law and muslim americans should not be allowed to serve in congress. these republicans are worried that they, like senator flake, will become targets of a trump friendly media. >> take your other colleagues

with you. mitch mcconnell, good-bye. ben sasse, good-bye, john corn on, good-bye. lisa murkowski, susan collins. >> steve bannon has promised to defeat mainstream republican candidates in 2018. >> it's an open revolt, and it should be. they think that you're a group of morons. >> and this week allies of senate republican leader mitch mcconnell declared war, attempting to discredit bannon's brand of nationalism. >> this is a person who has a racially charged view of the world that not only do most americans find problematic but most republicans would find problematic. >> for now mr. trump is winning battles over what the republican party stands for, but he may be creating a smaller party in the process. and the 2017 and 2018 ballot box will decide whether the president wins the war to reshape his party. >> joining me now is republican senator rob portman of ohio. senator portman, welcome back to "meet the press." >> thanks for having me on again, chuck. >> simple question.

how do you explain what's going on inside this party right now? >> well, i don't think it's new. you remember the tea party, you probably remember the moral majority. we have a spirited debate within our party again. boy the way, the democrats are not immune from that either. >> no doubt. >> you've got the bernie sanders wing pushing back against some stuff the dnc did last week as an example. so, look, in both parties there are very different points of view. right now you've got a substantial majority of republicans in governorships and the state legislatures, both houses of congress and the president just won, so the party is in good shape but, yeah, we've got some divisions. >> do you think that basically washington republicans are out of touch with the majority of republican primary voters? is this something you came to a conclusion of when you were running for re-election last year? >> well, i had a primary. i also had a general election that we won by 21 points in a state that's considered a swing state because we focused on working together across the aisle and getting stuff done. i mean i was not shy about talking about it, and i was able to talk about specific accomplishments.

50 bills being signed into law by president obama, by the way, and i think that actually is, you know, what people are looking for. when i was just home this weekend, i don't hear people talking about the latest in washington, they're talking about are you guys going to get this tax reform done because i'm looking for a middle class tax cut. i'm looking for a way to get my earnings up, my wages up. >> so you don't think the leadership of the republican party is out of touch with the grassroots? >> look, the republican primary voters, you know, have spoken in a couple of these primaries, particularly in alabama recently, no question about it. but by the same token, so-called establishment type republicans, you know, won in montana, won in georgia, when people thought that those races were going to go the other way. so i think the party is in pretty good shape. >> i want to play one excerpt from jeff flake's floor speech early aier this week. here it is. >> when the next generation asks us why didn't you do something? why didn't you speak up? what are we going to say? mr. president, i r today to

say enough. >> do you share senator flake's concern? he almost sees this as an existential crisis that president trump is bringing upon the country when it comes to political discourse and democracy, do you share that concern? >> so president trump was elected, duly elected, including winning by eight points in ohio, as you know, and we've got to be sure that he succeeds. when he succeeds, the country succeeds. i was not someone who at the end was able to vote for him, but when he was elected, i said i'm going to work with him, on tax reform, on addressing the opioid crisis which you're going to talk about later with the fire chief from west virginia. and that's our job. our job is to actually get some things done here and help to influence the administration toward accomplishing things people care about. >> so because he won your state, that's -- you overlook things that concern you? >> well, no, he won the presidency. >> i understand that. >> he's our president. just as i worked with president

obama and president clinton before him, i'm just talking about my job. i think it's setting an example of bipartisanship and civility and getting things done. >> do you mean character still counts in american politics? >> of course. i don't agree with every tweet, as you know i've spoken up on occasion. yet if you're focused on the tweets and not focused on actually accomplishing what people are looking to have happen for them and their family, you know, i think you are getting out of touch with the american people. >> i want to also get you to respond to something steve bannon said about the bush presidency, since you served in the bush presidency. >> yes. proudly. >> he has no earthly idea whether he's coming or going. just like it was when he was president of the united states. i want to apologize up front to any of the bush folks outside, in this audience, okay, because there has not been a more destructive presidency than george bush's. >> do you understand his criticism? >> i'm glad he apologized to me

and others who have a lot of respect for george w. bush and what he did. >> that's a pretty large charge from a republican president's former chief strategist. >> yeah. after 9/11, he brought the country together in extraordinary ways and dealt with a true crisis, not just here in this country but globally. you know, he faced a lot of tough issues. in my view, he woke up every morning focused on what was best for the country. >> do you understand bannon's beef? >> well, you know, i suppose on a policy basis he thought he should have been tougher on immigration, as an example. instead george bush tried to figure out how do you come up with a consensus on immigration and so he did propose immigration reform. i think that's needed in this country. i think most americans do too. >> i want to move to tax reform here a little bit. this is going to be a big part of it. one of the initial votes you made and republicans made in general was essentially allowing for more deficit spending, if necessary, to grow the debt. you were concerned about the

debt when barack obama was president. let me play some clips. >> the american people are rightly frustrated by the fact that we have the biggest deficit in the history of our country and the biggest debt ever. >> debt and deficit will end up in a fiscal crisis and an economic crisis. >> it's a question as to whether we're going to just sort of turn our heads and allow this to occur or whether we're going to actually deal with this issue in a way that's responsible for current and future generations. >> considering the senator portman i heard there, how are you comfortable supporting a tax reform plan that would increase the deficit by $1.5 trillion over the next ten years? >> first, i'm real excited about this tax reform because i think it will generate a lot more revenue. i think it will over the ten-year period, chuck, you're talking about, result in deficit reduction. why? for the first time in over 30 years we're going to reform the tax code to provide a tax cut but also encourage investment for more jobs, more earnings and

improve the economy. what we've said is if we can just improve the economy slightly, instead of the 1.9% growth that the congressional budget office says is going to happen, if we can do just that then we begin to reduce the deficit and i think that will happen. >> do you realize its hard to really believe the idea that somehow cut revenue, cut taxes and somehow that's going to increase taxes -- >> not if you do tax reform. it's not just tax cuts, it's tax reform. >> but it is hard for people to believe that, that somehow paying less into the government will increase money into the government. >> i think most people believe the tax code is hopelessly broken, which it is. >> i think they agree with that. >> we have a tax code that encourages jobs and investment to go overseas and this reverses all of that. it will result in more investment coming to this country, more economic activity. everybody who looks at this tax reform proposal will be able to say i think across the spectrum, this is going to change behavior, and it's going to change behavior in a way that encourages job creation and economic growth.

the question is how much. my view is this is pretty conservative because it's saying just a slight increase, again, 0.4%, we just had two quarters of 3% economic growth and this tax reform will help encourage that. i think at the end of the day this will be reducing the deficit because it's going to finally get this economy moving. >> before i let you go, the president started talking a lot about russia again recently after something of a hiatus on the topic this fall and i think it's because we know there seems to be some developments coming tomorrow. let me play something that he said about the russia investigation earlier this week. >> and i have to say the whole russian thing is what it's turned out to be. this was the democrats coming up with an excuse for losing an election. they lost it by a lot. they didn't know what to say, so they made up the whole russia hoax. >> do you agree with the president? >> too defensive. i mean, look, you won. i think you would agree, he won the election fair and square. he's duly elected. you know, we ought to instead focus on the outrage that the

russians meddled in our elections, not just this last election. they did it long before donald trump and they'll do it long after donald trump so we need to get to the bottom of it and go where the facts lead us. >> are you concerned at all that the president might issue pardons too soon? is there something congress plans on doing if they think he's going to pardon people or maybe fire mueller? >> i hope congress will encourage that the senate intelligence committee, which i think is doing a great job, bipartisan with senator warner, senator burr, complete their work and that we support this investigation that the department of justice has now appointed this special prosecutor, let's let him get to the bottom of it. as you know, i've been involved in this issue quite a while in terms of the disinformation the russians are doing, in terms of their meddling and every american should be focused on that. >> senator portman, i'll leave it there. congratulations on the buckeyes. >> great game yesterday. never, ever give up. that's the lesson. >> thanks for coming in. joining me now from st.

louis is democratic senator claire mccaskill of missouri. senator mccaskill, welcome back to "meet the press." >> thanks. good morning, chuck. >> good morning to you. i'm going to actually start with a topic that i basically was ending with with senator portman and it has to do with taxes. you met with president trump recently on tax reform. what promises did he make to you that makes you at least think about supporting his tax plan? >> well, he at least acknowledged that, you know, it's really hard for somebody like me to negotiate on this tax bill when we don't know what it is. it's hard for me to take seriously that they want democrats to participate when they won't show us the bill. what they have laid out is not a tax cut for middle class families. you know, 80% of the benefit that's going to go to pass-through companies will go to millionaires and above. they don't even tell us what the tax credit will be for children. right now the framework would have a one child policy. a family of four in missouri

that makes $50,000 a year would pay $887 more under the framework they have laid out. so i want to work with them. if we can make this about the middle class and make this not trickle-down, but deliver it to the middle class and small businesses, then i think they could get a bipartisan vote on this and that would be so much better for the country. >> look, you're not going to get everything you want. you're in the minority, your party is in the minority, so i guess what are you willing to compromise on? are you willing to support thso things that you don't agree with if it has provisions in it, 40% of what you like. do you support lowering the corporate tax rate down to 20%? >> i certainly support lowering the corporate tax rate so we're globally competitive. i could live with somewhere in the low 20s. depending on what they would do on a child tax credit or on making sure that kids can afford college, you know, retirement income, the notion that they're going to mess with the

retirement accounts in order to give a tax break to millionaires and billionaires, that just doesn't work. so, yeah, i'll compromise. but you know, chuck, i've had a front row seat to what happened in kansas. they're our neighbor in missouri. and they said exactly what senator portman said. we're going to have growth. it's not going to be a problem. it's been a huge problem in kansas. there wasn't growth. public schools suffered. and the republican legislature had to reverse the tax cuts they did in kansas. >> do you have a line in the sand of where you won't support this? do you have a deficit line in the sand? if it increases the deficit even temporarily, can you support this tax cut plan? >> i'm not going to do a line in the sand other than this. if they don't put some guardrails on the giant pass-through loophole that 95% of private businesses are going to enjoy and 80% of the business -- 80% of the benefit will go to millionaires and billionaires, that's what i can't do. i certainly can't do a policy that's going to hurt a family of

four that has only a $50,000 income in my state. so they have got to show us. but it feels like they're going to ram this through on a party line vote and that's probably the most disappointing. >> look, you're running for re-election in a trump state. >> yeah. >> the president has already visited your state once to talk about tax reform. here's what he said about you. >> we must lower our taxes. and your senator, claire mccaskill, she must do this for you. and if she doesn't do it for you, you have to vote her out of office. >> if president trump in the fall of '18 can say you didn't support his tax bill and your opponent is somebody that will work with him, how problematic is that for your re-election? >> well, i think missourians

will take a look and see who is actually getting stuff done, and i couldn't agree more with rob portman. one of those senators that worked with rob portman was me. we did a lot of things together. i just had a republican senator call me over the weekend wanting me to work with him on a bill. i've got a large body of work that is bipartisan and does accomplish things that matter for missouri families. i think that's what they want right now, not people on opposite sides of the room yelling at each other. i'm one of the few senators left that's not afraid to call myself a moderate. and i think that's what we need right now. all this noise is not accomplishing anything for people. >> what do you think you -- to the missouri voter, what do you and president trump have in common? do the missouri voter that voted for president trump that you're going to need if you win re-election, what would you tell them that you and president trump have in common? >> well, we have enough in common that he signed a number of my bills into law already. he agreed that we needed to get help to mustard gas veterans who had been tested with mustard gas during world war ii.

he agreed that we needed to put generic drugs on a fast path to approval so we could bring down the price of prescription drugs. so there are things -- we certainly agree on infrastructure. if we could figure out a way to bring some of that money that's parked overseas back to build roads and bridges and high-speed rural broadband in my state. there are specific policy things that we agree on and i am anxious to work with him on those things. we may not agree always on style and sometimes we don't agree on substance, but my job is not to fight him, my job is to fight for missourians. so i get up and my feet hit the ground trying to figure out how i can get stuff done for them, not how i can criticize the president. >> you said something recently that caught my eye and made me chuckle. you referenced a couple of cable news hosts and said 30% of missouri is worrying about what one cable news host is, 20% is worried about other and you said half the state is watching

"dancing with the stars" and you're focused on the facts -- you say i try to focus on the folks watching "dancing with the stars." what are the "dancing with the stars" voters? >> they are single moms that don't know if they can afford to send their kids to camp. they are two working parents that are making a combined income of less than $100,000 that are trying to figure out whether or not they can get to their child's soccer practice because they have to work extra hours because they're trying to put money in a retirement account. they are families living paycheck to paycheck. they are way too busy with their lives to worry about all this political noise. and frankly, they voted for me and for mitt romney. they voted for donald trump and jason candor. they will vote for a democrat and a republican. if they believe they're authentic, telling the truth and working hard. >> you recently bragged about not supporting harry reid when he was the senate democratic leader and you did that in 2014 because you thought maybe there was a leadership problem in the

democratic party. i'm curious, do you still think the democratic party has a leadership issue? >> i think it is hard when we are the minority party that we have lots of folks that are leaders and want to be leaders. we have so many people that are trying to position themselves to run for president, i think it's hard to do -- to say who is the leader and there's a lot of angst about that. i frankly don't worry about any of that. that's not something that concerns me. >> but you called yourself a moderate. let me ask you this, do you think the democratic party is open to moderates still? >> i do. >> what's the proof? isn't the party moving to the left? >> i think there's still a whole lot of people that care about the debt. i think there's a whole lot of people -- i mean there's a lot of issues that unite us as democrats. and i'm going to focus on those issues. and i'm not going anywhere on those issues. they're principled things i have voted on time and time again that unite the democratic party. you know, things like minimum wage, workplace protection, the safety net of pell grants, medicaid and medicare provide

and social security. that unites us. i think that's going to be strong next year especially in the face of what's going on in the republican party. >> but let me ask it this way then, why is the democratic brand in such a bad standing in so many parts of missouri? >> i think there's cultural issues that donald trump was, i think, very smart to emphasize that had made it hard sometimes for us to relate. sometimes those people watching "dancing with the stars," they're not getting into the details of what we're doing on pell grants, they are rather, saying, hey, i can't afford college. give it to me straight. they don't think they have gotten it straight. we get kind of lost in the weeds and the cultural issues divide cities and the rural areas. i've got to figure out a way to knit all that together. after doing almost 50 town halls, i'll tell you this, they want us to quit fighting with each other. that's what they want. >> senator mccaskill, i'll leave it there. i'm curious, did you visit more

places in missouri or missouri? >> i say both because i'm from both places, but definitely more places in rural areas where president trump won by very large margins. i've spent time out there trying to listen and make sure i understand their frustration. >> a lot more missouri then, i think. >> a lot more. >> thanks very much. when we come back, nbc news has confirmed that special counselor robert mueller will issue an indictment of some sort tomorrow in his russia investigation. we'll bring you the latest on that. later, why more than six in later, why more than six in ten am ♪ later, why more than six in ten am ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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ask your doctor about neulasta onpro. welcome back. the panel is here. chris matthews, host of "hardball" on msnbc and he's the author of the new book "bobby kennedy, a raging spirit." amy walters, the national editor of the cook political report. eliana johnson, political reporter for politico. and all cardenas, former

chairman of the american conservative union. al, i want you to respond to our friends at "the weekly standard." the editorial headline was venture. the great bulk of elected republicans have surrendered to the forces of donald j. trump and they didn't even put up much of a fight. has a hostile takeover of a historic institution ever been accomplished with less resistance? you have been accused of being a card-carrying member of the establishment party of the republican party every now and then. what do you say to your friends at the weekly standard? >> i think they're mostly right. we've had civil wars for 40 years but they have all been philosophical. this is different. this is about the rules of engagement. this is about expected behavior of people in public office. this is respect for the executive and legislative branch differences. basically steve bannon, whom you showed, wants everyone to take a knee to the white house and the president. and people are elected not to take a knee, they're elected to

express their views and say what they will. there's no philosophical difference. those who have stayed quiet, stayed quiet because they don't have a real problem with the political agenda or philosophical agenda with the white house. but i'm not going to take a knee. "the weekly standard" expressed it right. for the future america, for our social fabric, no one should take a knee. >> does everyone agree with al that this is a philosophical divide, an issue divide or what? >> i think that's overstating it a little bit and i think "the standard" is overstating it a little bit. there are plenty of ways for republican lawmakers to disagree with president trump. we just saw rob portman do it in his interview with you. we've seen lindsey graham do it. we've seen rand paul do it. what you can't do and this is what jeff flake and bob corker have done is you can't kind of have a sustained temper tantrum about the president on the national stage when you're facing re-election. so i do think there's plenty of room for doing that, but you can't define yourself in

opposition to the president when you've got a competitive election coming up because the republican base does by and large support the president. >> it's trump's party now. >> it is, in that republicans say they approve of him. i agree that they approve of the agenda overall. but when you look beyond the numbers of approval and get into the enthusiasm, this is where there's a problem for republicans across the board. the overall approval rating for the president among republicans, 81%. but those people who say they strongly approve of him, like in the 40s. go to where democrats are, overwhelmingly dislike him and feel very strongly about that. so the real question is not so much are we going to see the party break apart. we're not going to see the party break apart. but are voters who say they support the president and they want congress to support the president going to show up and vote in 2018 if they feel like they're not, they don't necessarily like what they're seeing out of washington and the

agenda isn't getting accomplished. and that fundamentally becomes a question for republicans going forward. >> chris, i want you to react to andrew sullivan. he's a never turumper that put t this way. he is the total master of an enormous mob that so far has complete low overcome the elites. he achieves this huh through incendiary oar tore, hourly provocations and relentless pop ganda. his propaganda machines rarely crack and there is no one in our political life capable of matching this power. name one if you can. how about that, can you? >> no. i think trump is constantly -- and this is not a knock or a salute. he is like a really successful comedian. he's always in touch with the audience. he tries out a joke. if it works, he tells it again. he works a wedge over and over again. he's figured out taking the knee is an issue for his side. the salute the flag people. he knows that he can make an issue out of any cultural question, sexual, whatever,

having to do with bathrooms, he knows he can find the issues that rip the scab off this cultural divide and he plays it like a banjo. he gets 38% of the country at his worst. if he gets 38% the way he's been performing as president, what will happen if he has a good week or two? and by the way, there's a trend line of resentment. i don't buy this fact that the resentment against the establishment sort of peaked in 2016 and is eroding. i think it may be growing. if he can ride that and surf his way to the next time when there's more resentment, because look at the democratic and republican parties. are they popular? the leadership? no. >> let me turn into the hurdle that could be the biggest stumbling block, the russia investigation. as we said earlier this week, i want to run down some things. we learned special counsel will present some sort of indictment tomorrow. the past two weeks have seen many high profile names being questioned by mueller's team or congressional committees. october 13th it was former white house chief of staff reince priebus, interviewed by team mueller. october 16th, former press

secretary spicer spl er interv mueller. cory ley lewandowski. michael cohen and october 24th and 25th appeared in front of house and senate intel committees. brad parscale, the head of the trump digital campaign team, he was interviewed by the house and october 27th, carter page, the forrest gump of all of this, foreign policy advisor, by the senate intel committee. the president has been all over this trying to turn this into a clinton investigation. and in fact it got so absurd, listen to corey lewandowski on the air a couple of days ago. >> give me a break, okay. look, the speculation is so insane right now, what we should be focusing on are the continued lies of the clinton administration. >> the clinton administration. >> i didn't remember that. i didn't know that happened. >> can trump turn this into a clinton -- >> it already is. it's already so muddled and so clouded. everybody has already taken their side, so that, you know, you've got a polarized group

here and a polarized group there. there is almost nothing that can come up in the mueller investigation that's going to move those two poles. it has to be so dramatic and has to break through in a way that will get people out of these bubbles. if not, we're going to be where we've been this whole time. >> russia won? >> russia won. look, all it has to do in my opinion, what the indictments look like, where this thing is going, it certainly sounds like it will last through the '18 election cycle and that's the challenging part of it for the white house. second, there are even those who are murmuring does he have the gumption to fire the special counsel. that would be a monumental event. >> tomorrow is the end of the beginning, not the beginning of the end. when we come back, a view of the opioid epidemic that i promise you haven't seen before. >> you know, i see this as a countrywide problem that has the potential to bankrupt the country. >> it's a rare and moving firsthand account of what

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welcome back. 64,000. that's how many americans died of drug overdoses last year. 64,000. that's more than the number of americans killed in the entire vietnam war. that's more than one 9/11 every three weeks. president trump this week declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency but he did stop short of declaring it a national emergency. it's a distinction which would have provided new immediate funds to fight the crisis. a new documentry called heroin follows three women who are fighting the crisis in effect in ground zero in huntington, west virginia. one of these heroines is huntington fire chief jan raven.

>> i'm not really sure what a plateau is going to look like. you know, i see this as a countrywide problem that has the potential to bankrupt the country. you know, we conservatively estimated that the county, and we're talking 96,000 people, spent probably about $100 million in health care costs associated with iv drug use in 2015. that's one small county in one small state. i don't -- i can't even fathom what it's going to look like when it plateaus. but i know it will be rocky. >> -- overdose. we're clear, returning. >> welcome again west virginia fire chief joins me here in studio.

welcome. >> thank you for having me. >> i want to throw the statistics that you just said in that clip from the movie here, 10% of the population of cabell county is addicted. $100 million in medical costs. one other statistic, 443% increase in overdoses in the last two years. and as you pointed out, one county, more than 3,000 in this country. >> absolutely. >> take me through a day in the life. >> well, you know, it usually starts out slow. which is nice. but, 26% of the time that my guys get a call, they climb on a fire truck, they're going to an overdose. and a lot of times -- >> how often do they get on the truck -- >> less than 9% of the time now. >> most of the time to get on a truck it's to deal with an overdose? >> yes. and 10% of that time it's a death. it's not just a death it's a death of a young person. it's a very negative experience for everybody involved. the first responders. the person who overdoses. the family of the person who overdoses. probably about 50 brs of the time we have children involved. they're watching or in the lives

of the people who overdose.

this morning high winds and heavy rains across the northeast leave a half million people without power. >> the mueller investigation, a trump twitter storm unleashed over the weekend blaming the democrats for a witch hunt. >> the second longest game in world histories, 25 combined runs, the tenth winning walk off and blurry eyed baseball fans coast to coast. >> brand-new eye opening poles on president trump. "early today" starts right now. >> good to be with you on a monday morning. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. millions are at risk this morning as a powerful storm batters the northeast. heavy winds are whipping the coast at high