>> sam stein to that point.t are the political consequences for, in the face of these additional allegations? settle are definitely going to be republican who is say push forward, regardless. >> it's funny, not funny, nothing is very funny about this. about a week ago when the first allegation surfaced with dr. ford, who you know, the question i want to know is why not just scrap the nomination and start over with someone who didn't have the baggage, try to plow through before the election. if not, just do it in the mid-term, it seemed like such a simpler, easier lift. why go through this whole process and risk the embarrassment? in talking to people in the white house and on the hill, there's two reasons basically. one was that it was incredibly off-brand for donald trump to back down from a political fight, right? >> especially one of this nature. >> he couldn't stomach the possibility that he would back down from something like this. and the second one was the thing that holds the party together from the trum

>> sam stein to that point.hat are the political consequences for, in the face of these additional allegations? settle are definitely going to be republican who is say push forward, regardless. >> it's funny, not funny, nothing is very funny about this. about a week ago when the first allegation surfaced with dr. ford, who you know, the question i want to know is why not just scrap the nomination and start over with someone who didn't have the baggage, try to plow through before the election. if not, just do it in the mid-term, it seemed like such a simpler, easier lift. why go through this whole process and risk the embarrassment? in talking to people in the white house and on the hill, there's two reasons basically. one was that it was incredibly off-brand for donald trump to back down from a political fight, right? >> especially one of this nature. >> he couldn't stomach the possibility that he would back down from something like this. and the second one was the thing that holds the party together from the tr

sam stein, politics editor for "the daily beast" and cynthia, a writer and lawyer. cynthia, you're the lawyer here, so i'd like to start with you. first of all, let's start with your takeaway of what's known so far and the possible optics next monday of the gop side made up of 11 white males on the judiciary committee? >> well, let's start first with the case itself. i was a sex crimes prosecutor. that's the way i started as a prosecutor, and i've looked at hundreds of those cases over my career. it really is a base credibility balancing and we won't be able to know that until she testifies. and that's why it's so disturbing that somebody like senator hatch would already announce that he doesn't believe her, because he has never spoken to her. he's never read her statement, he doesn't know anything about her polygraph. he doesn't know anything about her statement to her husband or to the psychiatrist or anybody else she ever spoke to about this before it was released. so it's hard to believe that he could be allowed to make a credibility determination since he's alr

politics editor for the daily beast, sam stein, author zaneb salby.d associate editor for the "washington post" david ignatius. a lot to get to. especially the brett kavanaugh hearings and potentially a vote on friday. but what do you think about this clip? they were opening laughing at donald trump at his tweets, his lies, his reality show policies. aren't they? the world is laughing at the president of the united states. david ignatius, i'll start with you. the consequences are no laughing matter, are they? >> consequences are serious. the united states has been used to unquestioned leader sfwhip the world. the u.n. general assembly meeting every september was a symbol of that. what i thought we saw in watching president trump's speech was reality tv for real the reality is this president came before the body and makes the statement he made routinely, i've been more successful than almost any administration. and from that world body he had -- he received spontaneous laughter at that claim. even trump in an unusual moment had to acknowledge it that w

politics editor for the "bailey beast" sam stein. nbc news political correspondent and host of "kasie dc" on msnbc. yeah, kase hunt. oh, yeah. ro rockin' into the fall. >> and columnist of the "washington post" eugene robinson and columnist and associate editor for the "washington post" david ignatius and editor-in-chief of "lawfair" benjamin witis along with willie, joe and me and joe, wow, as we get ready to launch into the year, it's an incredible moment in history marking the passing of john mccain. >> it is. we're going to talk about all that. we have so much to talk about pt we could -- i know we all want to catch up on the john mccain funeral quickly before we get to news. we could talk about the aretha franklin funeral which was pretty extraordinary. >> yeah. >> you could talk about a lot of things that happened over the long push to-d long four-day weekend. mika a tough, difficult time for you. >> what? no. >> you know, all good things must come to an end. >> oh. >> willie and i were talking this morning. some of the saddest

i'm joined by sam stein, an msnbc contributor.e has chosen to tell a story about his high school life that seems plainly contradicted by the facts. >> the yearbook. >> 100 kegs or bust. >> mark judge, but we can't talk to him. it's a weird p.r. strategy. two routes, one is to say i was a choir boy, i worked on friendships, i was into academics and athletics. and like most teenage kids, i got in trouble. i wasn't a choir boy, and now i'm a grown man and grown from those experiences. they've clearly gone the other route. it opens him up to other -- >> what do you make of this strategy from kavanaugh in recounting the life of his time in georgetown prep? >> well, people who live in washington know what the culture was like in georgetown prep, at least then, people who have children who went through it, who are now middle-aged like kavanaugh. but what i can't quite get over is that they have all these people who potentially have evidence who write to the committee through their lawyers and say i don't remember anything, i don't want t

shannon pettypiece, white house correspondent for bloomberg, and sam stein, politics editor at the daily beast. shannon, put it all into context. here we are preparing for a storm. the president handing out advance accolades. but we have it in context. bad polling numbers, which we know gets to him. the op-ed piece in the "new york times" which we know still rankles. and the woodward book, which is just starting to get a long ride. >> i would go back even further -- well, i mean, you can go back from day one. but i would also add this flap after mccain, the omarosa book and the omarosa tapes that continue to trickle out a little bit. i mean, when you look at these approval numbers, i've been asking people why are we seeing such a drop now and that's what they're saying. they're saying there's just this huge mass of daily controversies and scandals that seem to have picked up where it's not only sort of these ones of the president's own making but now these ones being made by those outside and closest to him. and people also tell me that they feel like there was a big shift to go even fur

with us we have mike barnacle, politics editor for the daily beast sam stein, author zain salbe, rickhington post" david ignatius. a lot to get to especially with the brett kavanaugh hearings and potentially a vote on friday. but first, i just want everyone to stop for a second and get reaction to the sound bite you just saw and the laughter you just heard. i think it was a significant moment. what you saw there tells you a lot about how the world leaders see donald trump. and they are openly laughing at him, at his tweets, his meetings with dictators, at his lies and his reality show policies, aren't they? the world is laughing at the united states and donald trump's america has become the butt of a big joke. >> the u.n. general assembly meeting every september was a symbol of that. what i thought we saw in watching president trump's speech was reality tv for real. the reality is that this president came before that body and made the kind of establishment he makes

let's get the inside scoop from msnbc contributor sam stein, politics editor at the daily beast, andonal reporter heidi prispa. wanted to show one. this is the dean heller race. very tight race in nevada. >> he was trying to attack me. i thought he might kill me. those are the describing the attack she suffered when she was just 15 years old. now her alleged attacker is nominated to the supreme court and it's up to the senate to allow for an independent investigation. when 15-year-old christine tried to scream, her a tacker covered her mouth so no one could hear her. >> so it is a very tight race. the president's heading there tonight for what is supposed to be a huge, as he's been tweeting, huge rally tonight. >> right. as you can see, the democrats are not pulls their punches here. they said she was muffled at that time, you know, he didn't let her speak, and now will the senate let her speak, so really hard-hitting ad. andrea, the whole idea here is basically to recreate that anger that we saw in the streets of virginia after the roy moore incident. all the women, you know, lined

ayesha rascoe for npr and sam stein, politics editor for the daily beast, and jeremy peters is a reporterrk times." a great panel to talk about this. why did trump switcheroo from a guy who seems like he is in the straitjacket saying nothing against this accuser and now he is trying to destroy her. >> you know, i think this is just kind of his natural instinct. looking back at those video clips, part of the reason why he is always kind of taking up for at least his allies who are accused of something is because he has been accused of sexual assault, he's been accused of these things, and he goes after the women and basically just says they are liar. >> but in this case, he knew he was guilty. >> well -- >> why does he not assume that these other guys are guilty? i'm just talk rationally. >> i can't get into this. >> sam? >> i think a lot of it is that, he would be implicating himself. but also, it's strictly partisan. he assumed bill clinton was guilty, obviously. he brought bill clinton accusers to the debate to confront hillary clinton. when it's in his self-interest, he is fine assigni

joining joyce and me on set, sam stein, politics editor for the daily beast. ashley, let me start with you. your excellent reporting about the twin crises. twin calamities facing this white house. what'd you make of the president's really uncorked and unplugged comments this morning about kavanaugh's accuser? >> well, a couple people put it to us, the president is someone who's been accused of sexual assault and misbehavior by more than a dozen woman so his natural reaction, he's not someone who's spoesespecially k for his empathy but have visual empathy for other powerful men in the sense he believes how horrible could it be to have your reputation ruined by one accusation. it's something he feels like he's been through. and also the president's natural instinct is to fight and is to double down. and so you've seen the president. his aides had really worked to try to keep him out of this kavanaugh debate. they said weighing in and public comments or tweets would not particularly help, but as the process has dragged on, more accusers have come forward, as the

aaron blake, senior political reporter for the "washington post" and sam stein is here, politics editor for the "daily beast." ashley, let me start with you. the president today with a lot of things on his to-do list that require him to be and act presidential, but even those requirements of the day, the solemnity of a potentially deadly storm as we just heard from al roker and perhaps the most solemn duty of any president, post-9/11, marking that sad san versery for the country and families. his day started with angry tweets at his own fbi and justice department. speak to the juxtaposition. >> it's a strikining juxtaposition. this is a president who's long struggled to express empathy, rise to the higher calling of being a consoler in chief. but, again, it was just so jarring, so striking, on this solemn day, that before even the moments of silence for the two planes that hit the twin towers, that the president had taken to taker not to commemorate the anniversary of the terrorist attacks but, again, as you said, to sort of go after his own justice department and his own fbi in incredi

sam stein former political editor of "huffington post." politics editor at daily beast." representative eric swalwell democratic congressman from california's 15th district. robert costa, national political reporter for "the washington post," political analyst for nbc news and msnbc. kaitlyn collins, white house correspondent for cnn. michael schmitt, "new york times" correspondent, contributor to msnbc and nbc. tommy voter, former spokesman for president obama. david korn, msnbcablist and author of the rution lieu roux let book. casey hutton, nbc news correspondent, host of msnbc show. richard painter, commentator on msnbc and cnn outspoken critic of trump. david axelrod, former chief strategist for obama's campaign, senior advisor to obama. i did not cherry pick these. here's a republican you did send me one from bill crystal founder and editor of the at-large weekly and a vocal supporter and never trumper guy. an you did send me one from fox news, i'll put that in there, brit hume, senior political analyst for fox news channel. i want to submit these for the record so

sam stein, this is a different type of allegation than the one that dr.omething that constitutes sexual misconduct. >> yeah, there is a lot to process here. a few things jump out. there is an actual time or relative time and actual place in this allegation and people who are quoted as having been there. some say they believe it. some say it didn't happen. so it's somewhat different from what dr. ford is saying. the other thing that is different here and this is a small distinction but important. kavanaugh at the time was 18, not 17, which would make him a legal adult. during his confoeirmation hearings, he said he was asked a specific question, as a legal adult have you engaged in a sexual assault and maybe messing of the wording, this could be a contradicti contradiction. overall, i mean, this is, you know, it's clearly not a good development and what i'm struck at the most is senate republican staffers according to the new yorker were told of this allegation last week and spent the week just plowing forward with this and saying repeatedly that there is

the law clerks were communal peoples, abby: stein, kim rodriguez, jerry o camacho, elizabeth donalds, bob mansion, nathan williams, sam atkinson, gallagher, michael tallent, asher perez, garrett gentry as did jacob raymer as an intern. so i think the legal team for their important parts in the senate's consideration of judge kavanaugh. i think before i introduce you i would ask that you stand so i can swear you, please. do you swear that the testimony you're about to get before this committee will be the truth, the whole truthand nothing but the truth , so help you god? thank you all very much. i know a lot of you hear, names i recognized, your famous around town and famous in history so i probably won't do justice to your introduction. monica monica masso is a real estate agent, washington dc. she's known judge kavanaugh for 25 years. john dean why don't knock person but i've known since before i got to congress by his reputation, served as richard nixon's white house counsel in 1970 and 1973, and then of course the famous lawyer paul clements, the partner of kurt lennon and then alice, served as a listener general u

the law clerks were communal peoples, abby: stein, kim rodriguez, jerry o camacho, elizabeth donalds, bob mansion, nathan williams, sam atkinson, gallagher, michael tallent, asher perez, garrett gentry as did jacob raymer as an intern. so i think the legal team for their important parts in the senate's consideration of judge kavanaugh. i think before i introduce you i would ask that you stand so i can swear you, please. do you swear that the testimony you're about to get before this committee will be the truth, the whole truthand nothing but the truth , so help you god? thank you all very much. i know a lot of you hear, names i recognized, your famous around town and famous in history so i probably won't do justice to your introduction. monica monica masso is a real estate agent, washington dc. she's known judge kavanaugh for 25 years. john dean why don't knock person but i've known since before i got to congress by his reputation, served as richard nixon's white house counsel in 1970 and 1973, and then of course the famous lawyer paul clements, the partner of kurt lennon and then alice, served as a listener general u

the law clerks were communal peoples, abby: stein, kim rodriguez, jerry o camacho, elizabeth donalds, bob mansion, nathan williams, sam atkinson, gallagher, michael tallent, asher perez, garrett gentry as did jacob raymer as an intern. so i think the legal team for their important parts in the senate's consideration of judge kavanaugh. i think before i introduce you i would ask that you stand so i can swear you, please. do you swear that the testimony you're about to get before this committee will be the truth, the whole truthand nothing but the truth , so help you god? thank you all very much. i know a lot of you hear, names i recognized, your famous around town and famous in history so i probably won't do justice to your introduction. monica monica masso is a real estate agent, washington dc. she's known judge kavanaugh for 25 years. john dean why don't knock person but i've known since before i got to congress by his reputation, served as richard nixon's white house counsel in 1970 and 1973, and then of course the famous lawyer paul clements, the partner of kurt lennon and then alice, served as a listener general u