flake: i think that is sen. flake: no, it doesn't.i said, there are some things the president is doing i agree with. i hope he comes around on the other, on nafta for example. the latest negotiating points were pretty good. charlie: he has changed on a number of things, he said, but not the wall. sen. flake: right. charlie: do you think he will get the wall? sen. flake: no, i don't. the notion of a 2000 mile wall -- sen. flake: some say it's not a 2000 mile wall. charlie: looking at appropriations in the budget. sen. flake: we will have better barriers in some places, surveillance in others. there are natural barriers and others. there are a myriad of things that need to be done to have a more secure border that does not involve a 2000 mile solitary wall that some people envision, but back on the wall or with mexico, some things are concerning to me as well. it is not just the policy that makes a difference. it is the rhetoric that you use, and talking about the wall and they will pay for it, or you talk about, tweeting out crimes sta

flake: yes.hink that has worsened over time. us versus them, shirts versus skins all the time. andour media coverage social media has exacerbated that, but it is our responsibility to break out of it. scalise, thee congressman who was shot at the softball game, you were one of the first people to reach him, if not the first. sen. flake: i was the first. after the shooting stopped, i ran out to him. it was a terrible thing. obviously, the whole morning. charlie: he was bleeding until you got him to apply a tourniquet. sen. flake: he was bleeding and i put pressure on the wound, than some others came and we did the same for 10 minutes. charlie: and you are the one who called his wife so she heard from a friend rather than on television. sen. flake: after we got him on the stretcher and off the field, i went to grab my phone to call my wife, to make sure she didn't see it. one of the staff members there steve'ssteve zone -- phone and give it to him, and asked to call jennifer. i didn't want her to s

and flake said i'm not up next year. and there are noises about some of them primarying him in arizona, and whether flake would find himself in the race of his life and trump would be winking and nodding for people to vote for his opponent. he may think he has nothing to lose. but having said this, this was an extraordinary thing he did, and he is reflecting opinion inside the republican party about -- opinions expressed freely during 2016. trump has brought the same spirit from the campaign to the presidency, and as haste week's hijinks with anthony scaramucci indicate, that is a terrifying thing for anybody who wants the country to be managed effectively. not just scaramucci, but the failure to pass a health care bill, which is a sign of not only his weakness, the president's weakness. he can't scare murkowski, collins and mccain for voting for the health care bill, he's not -- it's not that he's a lame duck. he's pretty lame for somebody only seven months into office. >> that's a bunch of other quotes here and in some

flake: thanks. barry goldwater -- ] nterruptions from audience --indiscernible [indiscernible] >> we will have questions from the audience a little bit later. [inaudible] mike: we're going to take some questions later. we have some questions prepared for the senator. [inaudible] mike: we will have opportunity for questions from the audience a little later. >> you don't support climate change -- mike: apologies. sen. flake: no worries. mike: may not be the first one. sen. flake: won't be the last today, i'm sure. barry goldwater felt that the conservative movement and the republican party had been compromised by the new deal. he felt there needed to be a manifesto or a blueprint for conservatives to follow. he wrote "the conscience of a conservative" at that time. this book that i wrote is an homage to senator goldwater. [no audio] sen. flake: also, i'm very concerned with a couple of things. one, this -- and this kind of intense nationalism and anti-free-trade. [no audio] sen. flake: and i'm concern

flake: you bet. with regard to the challenges we face and our standing in the world, north korea is the most urgent, obviously. that is a big problem. i think our allies need to know we are there. that we are steady. that we are forgettable. that is why in my view that is what a conservative is. if nothing else, a conservative maybe boring. that at least predictable and sober. his use of diplomacy and force, our allies need to do that. we need to recognize our adversaries as well for who they are and what they are looking to achieve. russia did try to intervene in our elections. whether they were successful or not we will leave to others, but they certainly tried and we ought to want to know what they did. and, we want to try to make sure it does not happen again here or in other countries as well. but we have big challenges around the world on the security front, on the trade front. certainly with nuclear weapons and proliferation that we need to make sure that we lead as we have in the past. >> tha

flake: great. i think we are in a position right now that 10 years ago, certainly 15 years ago we never , thought we would be in. the abundance and the technology that has allowed us to extract natural gas and to have secure sources for the foreseeable future and allowed us to not only have a more secure energy future and be more independent of countries that we would like to be independent from, but a cleaner energy future as well. we have been able to, you know, do significantly more than we thought we would have with regard to moving away from dirty fossil fuels into a cleaner environment. it is a good sign. i am in favor of certainly keystone and what we can do to become energy-independent. at least north america. we are closer to that goal than we thought we would be, you know, just a few years ago. and it also makes a difference if we can export natural gas as well to europe. to central european countries, eastern european countries to change the geopolitical inquiries there as well with russ

a fan of jeff flake, weak on border, of senator jeff flake, republican who is acing primary challenge this cycle and the president is also tweeted about jeff flake's rimary challenger, this was last week. great to see dr. kelly ward is running against flake, jeff flake, who is weak on borders, crime and nonfactor in the senate. toxic, the president wrote on his twitter page last week. the last 25 minutes on the this morning, we want to talk to republicans only, hear thoughts on the president's role primary and what role should he play? with the ee, disagree statements he's made about some republicans in congress running republicans ion, like jeff flake. numbers, eastern and central, a -748-8000, if you are republican in those time zones. a republican in mountain or zone, 202-748-8001. we'll start with matt this morning. river, new jersey, go ahead. to er: yes, i just wanted talk about the influence apap on the republicans in congress. nobody really talk presidency it, everyone talks about, you know, russians hacking the is a on and yet there foreign entity, ap ac, i have a with republ

flake: right. we have a lot of forest or to we do not have enough money in the federal treasury to have the federal government manage the forest like they need to. they need to partner with private industry. the problem was prior to the fire that industry was gone. growing up in snowflake we had mill and a lot of activity in the forest in terms of reducing the fuel load. that went. that was part of the reason the rodeo and walla fire were so devastating. we knew we needed private industry back into the forest. we started these stewardship contracts. that was one area where congress worked well with the administration. we were able to bring it back about $135 million to the biomass plants. the srp's were involved with the plants in sho other uses for the forest products. the difficulty has been to get the federal bureaucracy to move rep thisenough to p acreage. we have a lot of acreage ready now. the problem is getting it prepped and ready for private industry. it has been an ongoing process that se

this is the jam that jeff flake finds himself in. first of all, he's already got a primary challenger, kelli ward, former state senator, doctor, very conservative, made some very provocative comments, challenged john mccain in a primary last year. mccain won by double digits but 39% against a veteran senator in a republican primary, there is a base there for a candidate like kelli ward. that's something that flake has to be very, very mindful of, especially if trump makes it a point the g after him. remember, trump did very well in arizona in the primary last year, the republican primary. the flipside for flake, if he tries to shore up his republican base too much, if he tries to make peace with donald trump, makes many gestures to get back in the good graces of donald trump, he's got to worry about a bigger problem in the general election. look at this list. what you see is every republican senator who is up for reelection in 2018, we check their approval and disapproval with all voters in their states. look, they have positive numb

not a fan of jeff flake, weak on crime and border. and there are reports that the president met with several of flake's possible primary challengers in phoenix for that event. meantime, house figure paul ryan commenting on the president's criticism of senators flake and mccain saying republicans need to stick together to get things done. >> it's important we all stay unified as republicans to complete our agenda. those two gentlemen of people i respect, no, like, and our friends with. we disagree on certain issues. i can think of a couple with those gentlemen, but nevertheless, we have very good working relationships and it's important for us to stay unified, but the president is employing a strategy that he thinks is effective. >> sandra: he must because he's doing it. >> harris: part of the criticism for the democrats right now, they have not been able to capitalize on much, but you do want to hand them their slogan, look at this. they're looking for a message right now. the president is going after the people in his own party becau

should jeff flake be worried? >> in fairness, can we respond and say flake started it and was backing the president's opponent last november and so that is something that has obviously stayed with the president. i think they had sort of an uneasy truce there in d.c. they each kind of needed each other, and then flake wrote the book where he kind of took the president, you know, by name, very directly and kind of ratcheted things up to this next almost necessary level so i suspect the two of them are going to settle that in the elections next year, but you know, what happens tonight, i don't actually expect the president to do anything as far as flake's race tonight. he has not settled on any sort of a primary opponent for flake yet. i think when the president does decide to support somebody, he's going to do so in his usual, unmistakable fashion. >> right. and he seemed to loosely support his poentd on twitter, but as you said, he hasn't formally done so. brian, you say the white house should be zeroed in on ten s

just last week, trump called him "flame, jeff flame, who is weak on borders -- flake, jeff flake, who is weak on borders, crime and a non-factor in senate. in that same tweet trump wrote about flake, he did appear to endorse a prime challenger saying, good to see that kelli ward is running in this state. she will be here in the crowd, not in a vip section, so it is unclear whether she will get a full-throated endorsement from trump. we learned moments ago there will not be any announcement of a pardon for williams. they said, no discussion on that today and no action will be taken on that front at any time. wolf? >>> stand by. at least half a dozen demonstrations are scheduled to coincide with the president's visit to phoenix. thousands of people are expected to turn out in searing heat. let's go to our national correspondent miguel marco where he's on the ground in phoenix as well. what are we likely to see? >> reporter: it is hard to tell, but i can tell you, phoenix officials are preparing for this like it's the worst. it's considered high profile like the super bowl or anything el

jeff flake, if flake doesn't win this nomination and kelli ward is the nominee, we could see arizona go democrat for the first time since 1988 when dennis deconcidi was the senator. we need to not attack our own people but democrats in pressuring those 10 democrats who were elected and who are up in states that donald trump won to vote with us for tax reform. to vote with us for these things and if they don't spending our money to win republican seats in those states. >> martha: we are going to be watches the president very closely tonight. it was a different tone that we saw last night. walk into the room and gets into rally mode or if we are seeing, perhaps, the new people that are in the white house on sort of giving direction to this administration. so, we'll see. marc, thank you. always good to see you. >> thanks, martha. >> martha: still ahead, tensions boiling over at charlottesville city council member. watch this. [chanting] [blood on your hand] >> you just showed us how weak you are. [shouting] [bleep], [bleep]. they want the mayor in charlottesville to step down after what

jeff flake said nothing. but yesterday jeff flake said he thought he did enough in taking a stance against that lie. the first time donald trump opened his mouth about president obama's birth, i said he was lying. jeff flake said nothing. the news media as a whole never figured out how to handle donald trump's lying about president obama's birth in interviews, and donald trump knew they would never figure out how to handle his lying because none of them were accustomed to dealing with an outright pathological liar talking about the president of the united states on television in interviews. so every trump interviewer failed whenever the subject of president obama's birth came up. for six years, they failed, every one of them. and then last year, donald trump said president obama was apparently born in the united states, and he didn't want to talk about it anymore. and the news media for the most part followed his orders and did not ask him about it anymore. and the final great attempt -- and i do mean great a

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flake: great. i think we are in a position right now but 10 years ago, certainly 15 years ago, we never thought we had the end. be in.ould the abundance and the technology that has allowed us to extract national -- natural gas and to have secure sources for the foreseeable future and allowed us to not only have a more be morenergy future and independent of countries that we would like to be independent from, but a cleaner energy future as well. we have been able to, you know, do significantly more than we thought we would have with regard to moving away from dirty fossil fuels into a cleaner environment. sign.a good i am in favor of certainly keystone and what we can do to become energy-independent. at least north america. we are closer to that goal than we thought we would be, you know, just a few years ago. and it also makes a difference aswe can export natural gas well to europe. two central european countries, eastern european countries to change the geopolitical inquiries there as well with ru

jeff flake is very unpopular in arizona. in the 30,000 people who might be at the stadium tonight, they'll love trump. trump loves people who love trump. >> take me behind the "they." who are the they who don't want him to go after jeff flake. who is urging him to try to have 12 straight hours of a controversy free media cycle. >> the remaining staff. you talked about for the last week. with bannon on the outside. steven miller aligning with jared kushner. you have a group of crentrists, many former democrats, now advising him. they liked what he did yesterday. they liked the response to charlottesville where he gave the response that everyone expected a president to give. they would have liked him to come out of yesterday's speech and not do something controversial tonight, that stokes some kind of protest or violence in arizona. they know they cant do that. what they can do is, at different points in the presidency, they can apply pressure from all sides. they can do it from the military, the general, from the white house

senator jeff flake, thanks for coming on. appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> up next, we're going the look at how the divisions within the gop are handcuffing and frustrating the president right now, especially when it comes to his favorite topic, russia. >>> and later, we'll look at the troubles the democrats are face with california governor jerry brown. and as we go to break throughout the show, you'll see some trends and statistics about how our politics has changed in the last generation. first up, simply how the red-blue map has evolved in the last 40 years from '76 to '16. ♪ (music plays throughout) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ this is not a cloud. this is a car protected from storms by an insurance company that knows the weather down to the square block. this is a diamond tracked on a blockchain - protected against fraud, theft and trafficking. this is a financial transaction secure from hacks and threats others can't see. this is a patient's medical history made secure - while still available to their doctor at their fingertips. this is

the polls are showing i'm up by double digits on senator flake.k with the people in washington, d.c. as well as the people across this country to accomplish the goals that are set before us to make this country great again. >> just want to point out that senator flake has said that if the president keeps up his behavior, quote unquote, he's going to face a challenger from the republican party in 2020, and then of course we also hear rumors that john kasich is going to hook up with another governor and be -- have their own campaign going into 2020. do you think the republican party will produce a competitor to president trump in 2020? >> i certainly think that would be a big mistake for the establishment wing of the republican party to attempt. i think president trump and his leadership is what the country wanted. that's why he's in the white house. and i think that he's got lofty goals that we should be accomplish that will put america first. >> all right. dr. kelli ward, we appreciate you coming on this morning. we hope you will come back soon. w

flake even. flake hasn't really done anything to go against this president in terms of policy.it right? on the president's side in terms of health care. i'm interested to see whether or not, we always talk about this, whether or not a new version of trump. really, will there be a new version of trump post-bannon. whether bannon was in the white house sort of stoking an intraparty fight among the gop and we all know that bannon is anti-establishment and going forward whether or not there is sort of a more kelly influence? and we'll see something different. whether or not he drops, you talked about before, stoking the primary challenges. >> one of the things moving over this as well, the russia investigation. of course, continuing to percolate today, actually glen simpson, co-founder of the research firm fusion gps, the one that actually hired that british intelligence agent to investigation possible campaign and infamous dossier that a lot has unsubstantiated allegations the president has gone after, clandestine meeting, and earlier today part of their investigation. still that

now, when it comes to flake, look, the president has made no secret. he does not like jeff flake. he thinks he's weak on the borders. stillistically, the two could not be different. a pretty reliable vote for the president. the open question here is how much further the president will wade into this fight backing flake's primary opponent. if the president plans an explicit endorsement tonight, it would be news to kelly ward. here's what she told us last night. >> whenever he said that jeff flake has been weak on the border and weak on crime and nonentity on the united states senate, i agree. i'm working towards, towards gaining that. that support and that endor endorseme endorsement. >> hallie, talking to campaign professionals in and around this race. they wouldn't be surprised at all if the president takes a shot or two at jeff flake but they're waiting to see if the president and his political operation can mount the kind of sustained support for a primary that he hasn't been able to do politically yet. this could be the test tonight. >> watching it all for a late night. live f

president trump is going to arizona, talk about him primarying jeff flake, senator jeff flake, if heontinues to rage war against the republicans in congress who he needs for the agenda, it could go to hell in a hen basket. connell: the opponent of jeff flake and provide an endorsement. >> if he angers republicans in congress, but i would also say he is trending towards a more typical presidential style. connell: a normalization. >> one day to the next, all right? one day he is presidential, the next day he's not. the bears jump all over this all the time. we've had the v-shaped recovery time and time again, buy the dip. every time news swirls around trump, that is it. the bears jump on. offsides once again in the teflon presidency or teflon market again overshines everything else. connell: wants to go up. >> it's sticking to the upside for sure. connell: until it's not. we all know that. a reminder to stay with us all night tonight on fox business as we have special extended coverage. trish regan will host a special edition of her program, "the intelligence report" and that's on toni

flake has a best-selling book out, the president has attacked flake and mccain.ongoing fight with senate majority leader mcconnell. you are undermining a 2018 candidate for the senate from the white house. we will see how that goes. i don't think that's going to spark any >> kimberly: dana, set the scene in terms of what's happening and what the expectations are. what's the message, given he had a very successful national security speech. it went over very well. now he's coming into a decision -- there is a hotbed in terms of immigration issues. >> dana: i've been frustrated with the rally is just from a newsmaking perspective. it's a great opportunity for any president to drive forward a message for the next day. he gave the national security speech. tomorrow he speaks to the american legion. he should refer back to that speech so he can continue on that same -- he also toured the board this morning. that's going to have to be something that comes up. i do think he will have some sort of reference to charlottesville like he did on monday night. doesn't necessari

if he does hold flake's feet to the fire, he needs flake to unite with mitch mcconnell to get his legislationassed. he has to unite his legislative base. kennedy: much more in the forecast with this giant rally. first up, we'll have more on the rally right there in phoenix, arizona it's less than two hours away. what will the president say to get that base riled up? all that and another check on the protest coming up in moments. don't let dust and allergens get between you and life's beautiful moments. flonase outperforms the #1 non-drowsy allergy pill. it helps block 6 key inflammatory substances that cause symptoms. pills block one and 6 is greater than 1. flonase changes everything. so you miss the big city? i don't miss much... definitely not the traffic. excuse me, doctor... the genomic data came in. thank you. you can do that kind of analysis? yeah, watson. i can quickly analyze millions of clinical and scientific reports to help you tailor treatment options for the patient's genomic profile. you can do that? even way out here? yes. even way out here. it's time for the biggest sale of t

your challenger, senator flake, the incumbent, senator flake has mitch mcconnell and mitch mcconnell'sl action committee put out ads saying and i'm quoting here, you have got your head in the clouds with crazy ideas. so you have the president. flake has mcconnell. who do you think wins in that hand? >> well if i had to pick a champion in the "game of thrones" i would definitely go with trump, not mcconnell. david: all right. well, and what about the people of arizona now? it should be mentioned that the president won the state against hillary clinton, i think he got about 48%. she got about 44 1/2%. but the president's ratings have come down in arizona. do you think that would negatively affect you? >> we aren't seeing any sign of that here tonight. i think that support for president trump and his america-first agenda is strong in arizona. people want a secure border. they want to stop illegal immigration. they want obamacare to be repealed. they want the economy to continue to grow like it has been under president trump. the sky really is the limit. my head is not in the sky but the s

kelli ward is running against flake.who is weak on borders, crime and a non-factor in the senate. he's toxic. clearly the president has arizona on his mind. he announced last night he's planning to do a campaign-style rally next week in phoenix, likely to have jeff flake's republican opinion point at his side. she's been a major trump supporter. all this is coming as the mayor of phoenix, a democrat, last night sent out a statement urging the president, asking the president not to come to phoenix in the wake of charlottesville. he asked him to delay that rally. i think the sign of this tweet this morning, chris and poppy, is a sign that the president will be in phoenix. >> appreciate the reporting. let's bring in cnn political commentator errol louis, david chalian and cnn political analyst david gregory. david grepgry, do we think for all the ugliness here, we may also have a moment of clarity? do we now know where president trump's head is, that he is all in with his base, so much so that, of course, he'll attack us fo

kelly ward is running against flake jeff flake, who is weak on borders, crime and a nonfactor in senate showdown on several fronts tomorrow as president trump visits phoenix. john? >> alexander marquedt for us in arizona. don't look into the sun later today. thank you for being with us. >>> seems to be at least three giant issues hanging like a shadow over the president's presence in arizona. number one, his controversial response to charlottesville. number two, what will he do with sheriff joe arpaio, pardon him even during this speech? and number three, this very public feud with arizona republican senators. what do you think the most important aspect is? >> well, thanks, john, for having me on, but i think you're right. i think a lot of people are on edge in arizona, bracing for the worst, hoping that we don't see the kind of violence that we've seen in other parts of the country. but, obviously, here locally, the pardon of sheriff arpaio is on a lot of people's minds. there's a poll out this morning that showed that arizonans were overwhelmingly opposed to president trump pardoning

jeff flake, what do you think?ays been a conservative who is independent from his party. when he watch his voting record in the house, he would buck party leadership and broke norms where he would be on the appropriations committee but not go on with the appropriations chairman. moved into the senate and he sort of didn't side with ted cruz and mike lee but he -- >> he sided in fact with president trump, he voted with his party 99% of the time -- >> i think that's a meaningless stat a lot is voting for -- against obamacare and making a conservative vote. what's meaningful, he talks in that politico op-ed, we need to make sure we're not becoming protectioni protectionists, he voted for wilbur ross, voted for robert light houser, the trade representative. he voted to oppose trump but didn't do it. >> do you buy what he's selling? >> i think that everything he's arguing, the stuff he's saying is true, i just think it clashes with a couple of those votes. if i had him here i would ask him the question, why did he vote

kelly ward is running against flake, jeff flake, who is weak trump. last week, trump tweeted, great to see that dr. kelly ward is running against flake, jeff flake, who is weak on borders, crime, and a nonfactor in the senate. he's toxic, exclamation point. today's ad by mitch mcconnell attacking challenger calls her kelly because she supported the moisture trail sometimes visible from jet engines in the sky is filled with chemicals that the federal government is willfully dumping on the people of america. it is a debunk et conspiracy theory that kelly ward considered in the past. >> trail kelly has her head in the clouds. she bizarrely blamed john mccain for isis. >> john mccain is directly responsible for the rise of isis. >> yet dangerously calls for restraint in fighting them. >> what is your response to isis? >> restraint and realism. >> now after losing bigly to john mccain, trail kelly said he should resign to she could be senator. >> we will go to the president if he speaks of any of that. we see president trump taking the stage there, clappin

susan: i think flake is his own man on this.i think flake is the one that is most willing to voice the concerns that republicans have about the president, not just in terms of what he believes with you in terms of screarkt and for scombretch flake, who is a mormon, who i would certainly say is a conservative before considering himself a republican and who had been battling these conservative wars in congress long before frump entered the political stage with his good friend mike pence. so he's the most vocal but i think his concerns are privately shared by other members. health care is a failure and they know this. they left town a week earlier than planned. they left quietly. the things they have to go home and campaign on are a russians bill and a new frick director. the republicans are not in a good place. that's why you see them dug doubling down and saying tax cuts are the next big issues. robert: franco is health care dead? i saw a picture online today of steve bannon's office is the white house that had taxes in big bold

jeff flake is in danger. he is the only incumbent up in 2018 with a negative rating in all voters in his state. a lot of republicans see it as d disloyalty to trump. others say he is too loyal. that is tough for any poll decision to be in. >> 2018 not far away, when the senate comes back for the recess, it's not only tax reform, they have the pressing manner of the debt ceiling they have to get done and if this country's government shuts down. the president last night saying he would be willing to shut down the government if he didn't get funding for that border wall. in many the republican party oppose that as well as part of that package. we're going to wait and see what happens, a lot to come around the corner. daniel wiki, the boston harold's kimberly atkinson, and jennifer reuben, thank you all for coming and debriefing that speech with me. next up, a glimpse of "what went wrong" in 2016. delicious... fresh fruit. it's perfection. seriously? an epic soundtrack? is there any other way? that's what a smoot

they say flake didn't take the stances. is that fair criticism of flake?ood point on the trade issue, but, at the same time, you know, actions speak louder than words. if you are going to make such statements about free trade and the short, he abused the presidents policy of not looking long ball. they need to look at long term strategy with regard to trade. if that's the case, put together legislation for the argument. he makes good points, but without following through, it doesn't mean anything. look, it's important to remember many conservatives like myself take issue with the principles this president put forward. but the majority of the american people, with regard to republicans voted for him. they stood by him and supported him. that's the key point. he connected with republicans unlike any other republicans in this race. we have to support their decision. >> republicans voted for him. he won the primaries, the majority of americans did not. >> minor detail. >> let me ask you about general kelly. we are 1:40 into the show. every human being says he

jeff flake and lindsey graham wrote, the president called flake toxic and weak and lindsey graham lied about his comments and never said there was a moral equivalency. here is jeff zeleny in new jersey where the president jumped squarely this morning into identity politics. >> reporter: good morning, john. the president jumped squarely into identity politics. this is not by accident. this is by repeat of a play from the trump play book that's worked fairly well for him. i am thinking back to several points during the campaign where he is using a controversy here. there is a big controversy this week and he is trying to, you know, shift the focus a little bit, turn it away from his words to white identity politics. many in this country agree removing the statues from cities across the country is a bridge too far. to me, by the president going after this and sort of shifting the conversation here, he is trying to normalize, in some respects what he said earlier this week, but to, you know, make the point that the left is being hysterical about this. john, a different moment in this, a bi

and, what jeff flake was talking about is that he voted against prescription drugs, he voted against the george w. bush proposals that busted the budget in his view. he views himself as a real conservative. he's making a distinction between conservatism and populism, and i think that's a good conversation to have for republicans as well as democrats. what you're seeing, david, in your precinct and elsewhere and certainly in west virginia which is ground zero of trump country, is, anger against elites. people feeling that they've been passed over, anger, you know, you see the state, the stats on anger against league colleges, even among those college-educated. extraordinary. so it's anger against all of us, the media, as well, and trump has just tapped into that. and i really appreciated that jeff flake said the locker up, those cries at the republican convention by michael flynn no less, the call and response was really a nayier of -- what i

down here as the democratic nominee to run against jeff flake in next 's senatorial run. he is playing a bit to the base to say president trump don't come now, it's not the right time. the truth lies somewhere in the middle, right? he feels concerned about the crowd that. there was real worry about a potential pardon for sheriff joe . we learned property white house that will not happen in this building behind me. there will be no pardon of sheriff expwroa on the misdemeanor infraction for ignoring a judge 's order to stop his immigration sweeps years ago. he kept doing them in defines of that erd on. that pardon will not happen, not here, not tonight. it may happen down the line, but not tonight. that will certainly lower the temperature of what's happening

you think about jeff flake's book and the point he's making.n senators is and members of congress is the president's number is at 33, 32, 31%. politics ha politicians have a finely tuned need for self-preservation. the first midterm is a tough one. give it a couple of months. i think we might see a fair number of new converts toward flake's point of view. >> i hear you. we also expect what flake did will invite a primary challenge and a very serious one. it feels like this could be almost more of an impactful election than the mid terms themselves potentially at least on the direction of the republican party. >> here's why i think we haven't seen republicans come out and join flake yet. i'm not sure we're going to. i think what messes with the minds of republican leaders, republicans in congress is this, all the terrible numbers that trump racked up as president, he racked up as candidate. the blaring alarms, we went through with trump as a candidate. think of the access hollywood tape. the speaker of the house gave him up weeks before the elec

patrick, you heard her men senator flake who president trump calls flake the flake.mean, what do you expect to hear from the president today in arizona? are we going to hear, potentially, an endorsement of kelly ward, challenging senator flake? >> well, that's the thing. we don't know which trump, literally, will show up tonight. what we think in politics and the campaigns and the politicians i have advised over the years, they are people who take it in. they can read a crowd pretty well. they can read the reaction of advisers. this president reads the press, we know that. you would think the president would come away from the generally good remarks and marks he got on style and substance and presentation from last night and kind of keep that going for a couple days. as kris said, that has not been the tendency of donald trump. donald trump unplugged from the teleprompter tonight and the guy who occasionally participates in what i would call political crowd surfing is not the same guy we saw last nigts. that could be a problem. what he says tonight is going to say a

flake was always different. but now that flake has sat down, maybe guys like scott feel a little bit liberated to do it. and lindsey graham has always been interesting, he, rubio, mccain had this little caucus that was very reticent about trump. but their votes would always line up with him. now we get this russia sanctions bill passed. the question for me going forward, will they vote against trump? >> and that's what is interesting. i think folks don't recognize just what's coming down, barreling down on capitol hill. they've got to do a bunch of stuff when august recess is over. and all that rubber is going to hit the road at that point, right? >> we got to keep the government funded. they've got to raise the debt limit. and the plan is to take up -- to take up tax reform. >> right. and that's sort of a heavy lift. and the truth is, though, on the details of that, trump doesn't have sort of a strong point. so i don't see that necessarily as a clash point. i do think on immigration, where you've got the -- as

. >> said jeff flake has said anything approaching normalcy requires further discussion. [inaudible] are you in denial? >> i've been had a chance to read it, jeff flake's book but i'm going to do that. >> if you could reacts to that is was the fact you said republican leaders in congress obviously not including yourself have a checkfree balance against president trump and essentially you and the speaker put party before country. can you react to that? >> ivan at a chance to read senator flake's book and i will get around to it as some point. thanks a lot. senate democratic leaders spoke with reporters after their party launches. we begin with minority leader chuck schumer who talked about tax reform and the u.s. deficit. >> good afternoon everybody. i'm proud to have our ranking member ron wyden as well as

i'm not sure with the long game is senator flake.he other conservative, john mccain, they seem to be running away from the president. i don't know how that's going to play. >> matt: mike lee had a lot of criticisms for donald trump. he came out and said at the young americans foundation conference, if this is what donald trump is going to do, bring it on. he's loving the conservative aspect of the agenda. if you look at the policy, it's hard to make a conservative case against him. >> eric: why is there such pushback by this establishment establishment -- >> eboni: it's not policy. it's the mannerisms. >> dom: objection to aspects of trump. i care more about the policy and what america needs. >> eric: is arizona still come as it still a red state? >> dom: i think it is. >> matt: red to purple. a lot of new folks moving down there. >> kat: conservative and trump supporter are not the same thing anymore. >> eric: i think you risk losing the republican seat on the senates. >> matt: dean heller i don't think will come back and i think je

he came to jeff flake's defense. jeff flake is an excellent senator and a tireless advocate for arizona and our nation. he has our full support. so a lot of statements, a lot of tweets flying back and forth today, but interesting to note and very worth noting the president wrapping up his twitter activity this afternoon saying that -- pointing to what general pershing did to terrorists when caught and his treatment of terrorists when he was in the u.s. military. we should point out, kate, many fact checkers across the spectrum have said that is just a pants on fire comment. it is a comment the president made time and again during the campaign and goes to show you he likes to wait on the facts before he weighs in. that is a statement that he's made time and again that is simply not true. it is not a fact. >> definitely going to get to that conversation in one second. jim aacosta, set it upperfectly. with us tonight, our panel. per. with us tonight, our panel. so gloria, you have questioning the president's stability a

republican senator jeff flake turns on his own party in a scathing book saving his harshest words for donald trump. choicehotels.com. badda book. badda boom. that's it? he means book direct at choicehotels.com for the lowest price on our rooms guaranteed. plus earn free nights and instant rewards at check-in. yeah. like i said. book now at choicehotels.com and i am a senior public safety my namspecialist for pg&e. my job is to help educate our first responders on how to deal with natural gas and electric emergencies. everyday when we go to work we want everyone to work safely and come home safely. i live right here in auburn, i absolutely love this community. once i moved here i didn't want to live anywhere else. i love that people in this community are willing to come together to make a difference for other people's lives. together, we're building a better california. >>> welcome back. time for your "morning primer," everything you need to know to start your day. federal health officials urging president trump to declare a state of emergency over the country's opioid epidemic. a star

kelly ward is running against flake. ward is a former state senator. she will be in the crowd tonight. as for sheriff joe arpaio, we are told by the white house that no action will be taken on that possible pardon today. press secretary sanders saying in a statement just a short time ago, no action will be taken any time today. wolf? >> all right, alexander mar quart reporting for us. he's in phoenix. meanwhile multiple protests are planned in phoenix for tonight as the president's visit deeply angers his opponents. and even some members of his own republican party. our national correspondent miguel marques following the demonstrations for us. miguel, what's the situation where you are right now? >> reporter: well, it's getting a bit fraught at this point. we have about 10 or 12 different protesters who have come down here to basically be present as the trump people start to go into the convention center here. i want to show you a little bit of how these things are happening. if you go up high, these are two people having a heated argument. you have po

he says flake has his full support. the national republican senatorial committee also giving flake its full backing. the president also going after lindsey graham, calling him a liar for accusing him of saying there is a moral equivalency between white supremacist groups and those who protest against them. >> the south carolina senator responding to the president in part because of the manner -- "because of manner in which you have handled the charlottesville tragedy, are you receiving praise from some of the most hatred and hate-filled groups in our country. as president, please fix this." >> president trump taking a firm stand against the removal of confederate monuments calling it foolish and sad. an insult on american culture. the president in tweets lamenting efforts to take down our "beautiful statues and monuments and the damage being done." several cities have removed or plan to remove monuments honoring confederate leaders. last night lexington, kentucky's, city council passed a resolution to remove two confede

is no -- breitbart is no fan of jeff flake.d so, you know, there will be times when the breitbart agenda and the president's agenda overlap. but i think in the main, on these big picture issues, immigration, trade, and foreign policy, i think we're seeing the president move away from steve bannon's agenda. and the further he does, i think the more daylight and the more open this conflict will be. already we saw another blistering breitbart headline this morning that took issue with the white house's potential embrace of amnesty and legislation for the dreamers as part of an immigration overhaul. and if the president does do that and moves away from the hashed li hard line immigration issue that he campaigned on, steve bannon won't let that slide. >> thank you very much, gabe sherman, "vanity fair" special correspondent and msnbc contributor. >>> coming up, the president and first lady pull out of all events surrounding the kennedy center honors, including the gala itself, even cancelling a reception at the white house. some of

>> it seems like jeff flake just can't win this argument in arizona.re saying, you know, you go, jeff, because they like the criticism of trump, but then they look at his voting record, which has been largely with trump, and especially last week when he voted four times in support of the obamacare repeal, in particular the skinny repeal, which made a mockery of the whole process he rips in the book, and he voted for that while the book was shipping. on the right, jeff flake has always had a problem with the base, the tea party base. he has that problem to this day. this does not make it any better. in fact, it probably makes it worse by ripping the president. >> i talked to one of his potential challengers who was a little coy with me on exactly what she's up to or what the white house said to her, but brahm, are these challengers making headway against him? >> no. the challenger you spoke to, former state senator kelly ward, she's a doctor, she ran against john mccain just, like, less than a year ago, lost to him in 2016. gave him a good run. mccain g