those problems both helped produce trump's rise and are an essential reason this trump moment is so perlis. take us back to the beginning them. when did it start? not easy to put an exact date on it. for the narrative of the book, i start during newt gingrich as speaker. it a lot of people, represented a new sort of politics, a nationalization and a level of scorched earth warfare that at least two people at the moment, seemed like something new. there had been previous times in american history where we had seen that in various forms, but i tell the story of deterioration from newt gingrich to the president. greg sargent is the author with us. if you want to join the conversation -- define the term democratic backsliding? it can mean different things for political scientists. there are overt and dramatic versions of it like coups and military takeovers. the type i'm referring to is more incremental and subtle. for political scientists, when there iscurs a level of partisan capture of the rules of political alarmingon that seem and undemocratic. these are subtle things and they are hard to

and, this morning, president trump threatened he might "close the border perly," and called for mexicodo more about people he called "stone cold criminals he followed up this afternoon, outside the white house. he they had to use because were being rushed by some very tough people and they used tear gas. here's the bottom line: nobody is coming into our country less they come in legally. >> reporter: mexican officials, in turn, said today that nearly 100 migrants who rushed the border fence are being deported. though border crossings are at historic lows, the number ofas asylum seekerseen increasing from more than 5,000 in 2007 to over 91,000 in 2016. in response, president trump issued a new rule this month, saying that while those o cross legally can apply for asylum, those who "enter the united states unlawfully through the southern border will be ineligible to be granted asylum." a federal judge has suspended the policy for 30 days, as he considers whether it violas existing law. meanwhile, across the border tho inng government of president-elect andres manuel lopez obrador, denied

those problems both helped produce trump's rise and are an essential reason this trump moment is so perlistake us back to the beginning them. when did it start? not easy to put an exact date on it. for the narrative of the book, i start during newt gingrich as speaker. it a lot of people, represented a new sort of politics, a nationalization and a level of scorched earth warfare that at least two people at the moment, seemed like something new. there had been previous times in american history where we had seen that in various forms, but i tell the story of deterioration from newt gingrich to the president. greg sargent is the author with us. if you want to join the conversation -- define the term democratic backsliding? it can mean different things for political scientists. there are overt and dramatic versions of it like coups and military takeovers. the type i'm referring to is more incremental and subtle. for political scientists, when there iscurs a level of partisan capture of the rules of political alarmingon that seem and undemocratic. these are subtle things and they are hard to m