. >>> joining me now, caitlyn owens from axios and kevin cirilli from bloomberg news. welcome to you both. you heart the president talking about narrowing the list to a handful of suspects. so any sense of how the white house shortened this list and who might these people be? >> they've been in a tail spin since the release of this op-ed this week and what it is showcasing is how flat footed the administration was caught and first with the book and then the anonymous op-ed. the president doubling down in criticism against the media. they feel that helps with their base making the case against the media but also really running to cameras, so to speak. there was an event added at the white house, at the last minute, an expanded photo on for the president to make statements and talked about it all week and discussed it on twitter. so from -- on the one hand, i think that for republicans who support the administration, they're going to argue that see that, the deep state exists but for critics, see that, this is not normal. so i'm not sure there is -- this moves the polls

caitlyn owens with us. the first day he was judicious in comments, careful.he second day a little more in your face. i believe the judge, et cetera. a lot of people telling him cool it, right? just leave it alone. it's a hot potato, right? >> right, yeah, and i think you summed it up accurately. it is definitely a hot potato, a difficult subject, and i think and you chad were talking about the allegation is one thing and figuring out how to flush out what to do with it whether it's true, who to believe, and how republicans handle it is another. a lot of republicans are concerned about how their approach to this looks and how women respond to it. neil: you know, i was wondering about that, a number pointed out a bunch of all white men not talking about the issue, and they can't help the fact they're all white men, and that's a category that includes myself, so i understand the tension, but what can they do? if they made this effort to make sure she gets any opportunity publicly or privately to talk to staff members, you know, and provide opportunity where they