i liked those calls. >> note the key element there, i always had my deputy joe lockhart who then went on to be press secretary himself, i always had him make the call so i could be, oh, susan, we will be friends forever. >> i've got a similar story. i've got a similar story. one day i get a phone call from scott mcclellan who was then the deputy press secretary at the white house and he says the president didn't like that story you wrote this morning. and i said, well, what didn't he like about it? he said, he just didn't like it. it was george w. bush. i thought back what was the story. the story was that president bush takes a big pride in the fact that he never changes his mind. well, here are three places where he changed his mind and it was on the front page of "usa today" that day. so i says, well, what's wrong with the story? anything inaccurate there? well, no. well, what does he want? he says, well, nothing, i guess -- he goes -- well, 3:00 in the afternoon comes, this was in the morning, 3:00 in the afternoon comes and he calls again and said the president is wrong about tha

the key element, i always had my -- deputy joe lockhart, went on to be secretary i had him make the call so i could be, we'll be friends forever. >> i have a similar story. one day i get a phone call from scott mcclellan, then deputy press secretary at the white house, and he says the president didn't like that story you wrote this morning. and i said what did you like about it? >> he says he just didn't like it. it was directed -- george w. bush. and i said what was the story, the story was president bush takes pride in the fact he never changes his mind. while here are three places he's changed his mind. it was on the front page of usa today. so, i said what's wrong with the story, anything inaccurate there? >> well know. >> what does he want. >> he says well, nothing, start stammering. well, 3:00 in the afternoon comes, this is 3:00 in the morning -- this is the morning, the press is still mad about that story, so i knew it was going on, so, i said, what do you want, and he says, can i tell him you've been admonished? >> that's right. >> well, i said you can go back to telling him any

we have john avalon and joe lockhart and jackie kau sepb teupblg. like he is sleep talking, and then he wakes up at the rally and reverts to the mean, literally and figuratively and goes back to blaming the media. i remember vividly at fox news how often they pounded the drum beat of personal responsibility for whatever ailed them. that drum beat was constant when obama was president, and with trump that doesn't take a tone. >> why take responsibility if you can pass the buck and the people that support you believe it. he has made the calculation that it won't stick to him, that they agree with his grievances, particularly about the media. the fact that -- they were still chanting lock her up the other night. because nothing happened, because not nothing happened but because nobody was hurt i think he can turn this around. he saw how quickly he turned this around, usually when he makes a hostage-like statements in front of the camera, it lasts at least 24 hours. never longer than yogurt but longer than milk. he felt very comfortable going back to hi

joining us, abby phillips, joe lockhart and john. >> i want to start with nothing like making a joke out of body slamming a journalist. >> yeah, trying to provide cover for the saudis, frankly, that very day and that night the president jokes about a reporter attack. >> and he claims he did not believe in violence at his rallies, and he was not calling for it or joking about it. let's remind people of what he tried to pass off as true. >> i do not condone violence in any shape. i don't condone violence. i do not condone that at all, jake. i certainly don't incite violence, and i certainly don't condone violence and it's not acceptable to me. >> we can officially say that that is not true that he is lying when he says that. >> he literally just glorified an attack on a reporter, body slamming. >> remember, during the campaign one of the reasons we were talking about this is because the president from the podium, then candidate trump, then offered to pay the legal fees of his supporters who waouz cs confronting a protest in the audience. this whole conversation about civility we have b

gregory, and erin carmone and joe lockhart. >> does it make it more menacing if you say it with a frenchent? >> david, when you look at this and you see the messaging that has been put out there over the weekend, who does all this play for moving into the next 29 days for the midterms? who makes out better here? >> both sides. i don't think we know who makes out better. on the right, one thing that is true is support for kavanaugh and the president and his pick united the republican party in a way it was not united before, these were anti-trump people, and trump people coming together around the idea that there should be a more conservative supreme court and that's something a lot of republicans can agree on. there's a disparity between fear and anger and what is more powerful. republicans will say be afraid if the left gets more power, and what it will do, we saw it play out, but anger is a big and strong motivator. you see that if you go through the recent mid-term elections that worked against the majority party. >> that was with the subtlety of a jack hammer, all of them happened to

joe lockhart, former white house press secretary under president clinton. you here. >> good to be here. >> what do democrats do? >> get out the vote. get out the vote. get out the vote. one thing that also happened last week that we'll hear a lot more about is the "new york times" 18-month investigation showing that the president is guilty of tax fraud, according to the authors there. but i don't know that that's going to happen between now and election day. >> and he won, frankly, as you know, joe, when people didn't see his tax return. >> sure. >> i'm not sure how much that changes things, nor do i know that it changes things. yes, you have the tax cuts and this unemployment number. you also have deficit exploding tax cuts reaching $1 trillion next year. have you tons of regulations cut back. will the trade bullying of china work? the jury is still out on all of those. does it matter in the midterms? >> if you go out and look at the ads people are running both democrat and republican, republicans have abandoned trying to sell the tax plan. people saw it a

we have ian brener, joe lockhart and gloria borger. why is the president resorting to making up false claims? why can't he run on his accomplishments? i thought the economy was doing so well. >> the economy is doing well, and he has run on that accomplishment. but that was true when he ran for president, going after mexicans coming to rape and criminalize in the u.s. that was a line he talked about a lot. it worked with his base. he's going back to it again. why is he bringing up transgender again as an issue? if the mainstream press talks about it, it is probably going to help him with his base. i understand the politics behind it. it is a nasty business, but i suspect this is a good way for him to run into the midterm. >> i speak to republicans who have never felt better about their chances in these midterms. it is simply working. >> yeah. i'm old enough to remember 2016, and this is 2016 all over again. and republicans are feeling good because if you start with brett kavanaugh and then you, you know, something switched after brett k

on the name of minnows company was confirmed by joe lockhart who the answer he knows when our goals were involved was that he's connected to. if you look softer the. syndicate of. the company is named after him one of the world's most wanted men. is to move on. and many more. there over on behalf of the. company and much success of training. but they're also the most powerful and organized crime network probably the world has ever seen and their own touch. the indian authorities claim that the company is not just a criminal syndicate but also a militant organization that serves india's regional rival pakistan. is supposed to be in pakistan the pakistani authorities know exactly where he is. if the indian government really went after the company. is a powder keg situation for the range of. the company has expanded from its roots in india. india is the absolute hub to buy in recent years has got really really big. is said to be trains and running around to buy you a. so he is protected to go about his business as no doubt about what. it was in dubai into. two thousand and sixteen that we f

. ♪♪ >>> so we're back now and i want to bring in joe lockhart and frank bruni. about the president talking about purposely false and inaccurate reporting blaming it on the media. said the media has led to this climate. everyone at cnn is working hard to get accurate information to this ongoing threat as we always do. what do you make of this effort to blame the media? start with you, joe. >>? >> trump will always eventually be trump. yesterday in the east room, he had a teleprompter and doing what his staff said he had to do. but it's a ticking time bomb. he's eventually going to -- you saw it in kavanaugh. you saw it with charlottesville where he's going to eventually reveal what's in his heart which is a pretty dark place. >> listen, i have to keep pointing this out and i did yesterday, as well, frank. we have to remember, this was an assassination attempt of two of six living presidents. right? and he's blaming it on the media and didn't even yesterday have the decency to reach out to them. >> no, no. >> why is he blaming it on the media. >> for the exact rea

i was talking to joe lockhart who was on the program yesterday who was in the middle of that fight. the economy was beginning a downturn in 2002 but republicans were able to stave that off because of the need among voters for continuity to stay unified in the fight against terrorism. i think it is more -- i think it's interesting alisyn. it is not accomplishment. the republicans should be talking about the president got a big trade deal, the economy is really hot, know unemployment and all of these things and relative peace and prosperity. instead it's no, be afraid of these democrats, who are acting -- who are overdoing it, who had an unfair process and who want to impeach justice kavanaugh or at least investigate him. >> yeah. >> you should be afraid of what their power looks like. >> i think that's interesting, david. abbey, before i get back to you. it's that they won. the president got who he wanted. he got a seat on the supreme court. they won. just like after the president won the election, there was still -- as you remember, the inaugural speech about fear and anger. >> carn

republican committee doug hi is here, and former white house press secretary for president clinton joe lockhartnt day, and i appreciate you be here with me on this. when it comes to susan collins, doug, what are the pressures on her right now? i wonder what is going to change between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. when she makes her announcement. why the wait? >> i we saw some of the pressures with sunlen in front of her office. there's intense pressure, phone calls from her state, from the white house, from senate leadership. and so often in politics we talk about this being a game of chess or even three dimensional chess. this is good old fashioned checkers now. republicans trying to make sure she's a yes. democrats trying to make sure they don't lose joe manchin. >> do you -- that's so true. do you assume it can change between her voting yes on the procedural vote and in 3:00 p.m. when she announces? or do you think it's decided she just hasn't announced? >> we don't know. if you look at what john mccain did with the health care vote, he voted yes on the procedural, and very dramatically gave the t

. >> joe lockhart has a lot of thoughts on this as well. he was press secretary for the clinton white house and anita mcbribe chief of staff to first lady laura bush and long time friend of brett kavanaugh. we will get her thoughts on ub40 shortly. >> jeffrey, let's talk about where we are today. new information comes out every day. chad ludington is friend of brett kavanaugh's from a yale also testifies that he had a hair trigger machismo which was pathetic, he was aggressive and belligerent after drinking. it was kind of brett's shtick. so not a one time, he was known for this. >> correct. >> most importantly he had memory lapses where he couldn't remember things, quote, many times. >> yeah, you know, there's sort of two categories of inquiry here and i don't know which -- you know, how this all plays out, but the sexual assault issues are obviously the most important and if there is proof of that that is, i think everybody agrees, disqualifying. the other question is did he lie, mislead about his drinking during his testimony. those are

lockhart, anna navarro. great to have all of you. joe, let me start with you. as press secretary, what do you think when you hear sara sanders try to explain that the president of the united states's words don't cause any of this. the president of the united states words don't have any impact. he's really calling the press the enemy of the people. he's calling democrats whackos and crazy lunatics. that has nothing to do with the violence that we're seeing. >> that was a little hard to watch yesterday. but let me come to her defense a little bit. which is the job of the press secretary is to reflect the views of the president. i think she accurately reflected the views of the president yesterday. i think the most significant communication in the last week has been that tweet about the bomb in quotation, getting in the way of the midterms. that's how he thinks. he's not thinking about the whole country. he's thinking about himself. >> it is not her job to be honest with the press. >> no, it is. that's why it was hard to watch. there was repeated falsehoods there.