and el eli stokols is with us tonight. what do you think they make of a barn burner in this district in ohio during this time? >> i think there is some concern. i'm talking and texting with some as we talk right now. there is a lot of concern. look, dozens of districts that are up in the midterms are not as red as the ohio 12th. and the fact that this was such a squeaker, even if they come out with a "w" at the end of it, it's quite an erosion of support for donald trump, who won that district by 12 points. i know the president is claiming victory tonight, and it might be the case that he energized republicans enough just to squeak over, to squeak out a win here. but he also energized democrats in a way to really get out the vote. one thing that the president tweeted that is true is that it's august, and it's a time when a lot of people are on vacation, a lot of people aren't thinking about politics. democrats were still able to mobilize people, it sounds like particularly in the suburbs, which is going to be a crucial bat

times and nbc political analyst eli stokols. polster and msnbc political analyst cornell belcher and the president of the national urban league and former mayor of new orleans, mark morial. thank you all for being here tonight. michael steele, i want to start with you as somebody who is -- there is a lot being ascribed to what i think is still your party, although you have had some major differences over the course of the last year. >> we're working that out. >> but what do you read into what you saw today with this frankly dismal showing, and what the president had to say about it so far? >> i kind of ignore the showing in all of that. that's "melodrama" that will play itself out one way or the other. 24 people, 400 people, that is what it is. how that is ultimately framed in my view is what we have relied on in the past and that is a president who speaks into the moment and clarifies and defines where we are as american citizens when it comes to this type of hate-filled response to fellow americans. and the fact that the presi

times," eli stokols. let's look at who the sdny has got to cooperate at least a little bit with them. there is david pecker, "the national enquirer" publisher. allen weisselberger, the cfo of the trump organization. the money man. then you have special counsel, flynn and george papadopoulos and rick gates. if you look on the sdny, natasha, you wrote that what prosecutors seem to be doing is setting this up the same way they prosecute mob bosses, organized crime cases? >> right, federal prosecutors who worked in the southern district told me it's known as the sovereign district of new york. it got that nickname from the time prosecuting all of these high-profile mob and mafia cases. it has a little more leeway than the mueller investigation does because mueller is being directly overseen by rod rosenstein. it also has something to do with the president's so-called red line. we saw last year he said that his financial history would be a cutoff for him in terms of whether or not he would allow investigators

ely stokols reporter for the "los angeles times."ert costa political reporter at the "washington post." robert, i want to start with you about omarosa and what she just said. she said basically there are people who have access to this tape, in fact have a copy of it, where the president made derogatory comments about african-americans, and that they're probably ready to drop it at some point between now and november. what do you make of that? what would the white house reaction be to that? >> it would be explosive if true. if someone has the tape, release the tape. the country deserves to see a tape of the president of the united states saying something incendiary or racist if it does exist. at this point we're relying on omaro omarosa's account. >> let me ask you this, congressman. is that relevant? she also said that she has information that would help the case of robert mueller against the president, leading to what she would like to be -- to see, impeachment as she put it. >> she's not very credible, chris. she's a situation. i d

. >> for more on what is behind the president's attack, i am joined by jill wine-banks and eli stokols. >> jill, let's start with you. what is the president up to. >> i think the president is continuing his obstruction of justice and doing it in plain sight. and the american people are seeing it. who ever is not seeing it, may be loyal to him, but i have to remind people that probably 65% of americans know what they are seeing and it is time to stop him. this is not within our laws. and we shouldn't be using words like collusion. we have to call it what it is. this is conspiracy to defraud the united states. it is a crime. it is illegal and that is what president trump is doing right now. >> eli, interestingly, there are a lot of people who say members of the intelligence committee shouldn't be politicized. we heard from admiral mcraven. we heard about the role that brennan played in the apprehension and killing of bin laden. and today he sent a letter to donald trump in which he writes. few americans have done more to protect this country than john. he is a man of unparalleled integri

"washington post" reporter carol len ig and eli stokols. eli, we have been watching the president taunt jeff sessions on twitter for months now. this is nothing new. he is obviously upset for him not taking control of the mueller investigation, for recusing himself. yesterday i found it shocking that sessions would release that, that very strongly worded statement before he went to the white house to meet with the president to talk about criminal sentencing reform, and yet, eli, it seems like there was no tension there, but still this morning the president woke up and was tweeting about him all over again. >> yeah, it's remarkable. it speaks volumes about this administration, that's the way the president and his attorney general communicate, attacking each other or trolling each other on twitter but they can't work it out face-to-face behind closed doors. putting that aside, the president we know his frustration with sessions, his view of the justice department. he believes that the justice department should work for him and that that's the

with me white house reporter for the "los angeles times" eli stokols. my campaign friends. chief washington reporter for the "boston herald" kimberly atkins. eli, this does to me feel very much like 2016. donald trump started going on off about a rigged election in 2016 at the end because he believed he was going to lose. in fact, we have some of that sound. let's play it. >> it's a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth, and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities. >> these people are rigged. they are part of the rigged system. the media is almost the biggest part of the rigged system. >> this election will decide whether we're ruled by a interrupt political class or whether we are ruled by your selves, the people. it is time to reject a veiled political elite that has bled this country dry. >> eli, i know you remember that well, and then this week when i saw that donald trump was tweeting about google,

eli stokols, white house reporter for the l.a. times, emily jane fox who was up as late as i was last night, maybe later, senior reporter for vanity fair who spoke extensively with michael cohen. and heilman is back, nbc news, national affairs analyst. let me start with you. you spoke to michael cohen yesterday after this dramatic day in court. did he realize that what he was saying -- i think it was counts 7 and 8 -- would leave all of us really as some of those white house aides described, breathlessly covering the president as possibly an unindicted coconspirator? >> that was the point. he went in there with a set of notes that were written down. he said in court that they were to keep his mind focused. but there is another intention there, and that was to throw a man who had thrown him under the bus under a bus of his own. and i think that what lanny davis, his attorney, has said in multiple television appearances since has been, let's focus on counts 7 and 8. forget 1 through 6 which are counts of tax evasion and lying to a b

but as eli stokols of the l.a.pportunity to heighten attention to his feud with the african-american players, a wedge issue that animates a number of his white voters heading into the november midterm election. till still with us, i was excited for last night. my giants didn't skip a beat. they lost just so we wouldn't feel any shock over the end of last season and the beginning of this season because they care about their fans and then this happens. >> we need certitude at these times. >> what is going on with the president and the national football leaguing? other than the league's kaleidoscopic inability to deal this challenge from the president? >> i think the piece you just read from is exactly right. it's at elective feud that the president has undertaken, an elective battle and he's -- this is absolutely for the base. it's kind of 101. old southern strategy. and i say that as a southerner. but everybody knows what he's talking about when he talks about these people shouldn't be in the country. and it works w

. >> kristen welker, who already left us, eli stokols, thank you very much. >> up next, let's go to the manafort trial. it's coming to a close. we are live outside the federal court in virginia where paul manafort's fate could be handed to a jury at any moment. but allstate actually helps you drive safely... with drivewise. it lets you know when you go too fast... ...and brake too hard. with feedback to help you drive safer. giving you the power to actually lower your cost. unfortunately, it can't do anything about that. now that you know the truth... are you in good hands? i'm 85 years old in a job where. i have to wear a giant hot dog suit. what? where's that coming from? i don't know. i started my 401k early, i diversified... i'm not a big spender. sounds like you're doing a lot. but i still feel like i'm not gonna have enough for retirement. like there's something else i should be doing. with the right conversation, you might find you're doing okay. so, no hot dog suit? not unless you want to. no. schedule a complimentary goal planning session today with td ameritrade®. jimmy's gott

eli stokols, white house correspondent for the l.a. times. solina maximum well, former clinton advisor, now director of progressive programming for sirius xm. michael schmidt, get us started. you wrote the piece last thursday about mueller's tactic of stitching together what his investigators have uncovered, the president's conduct, his efforts to get jeff sessions to reverse his recusal, his desire to have his white house counsel don mcgahn fire mueller. with his tweets and with his public statements, this tweet this morning seemed like it could fit into that fabric in an obstruction investigation. >> mueller is looking at the other tweets and the public stramts how they lineup with what was going on behind the scenes, trump's effort to influence comey and put out word he was not under investigation. his efforts to get sessions to reverse his decision to recuse himself. and what's happened here is the president has sort of played into this narrative and to the question today by tweeting about sessions and about the investigation. what legal