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Inside Politics
Trump's New Strategy: Work with Dems; Trump: U.S. "Will Never Be Intimidated"; Examining Trump's Work with Democrats. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired September 17, 2017 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[08:00:07] JOHN KING, CNN HOST (voice-over): Art of the outrage. The president deals with Democrats, and Republicans revolt.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're not looking at citizenship. We're not looking at amnesty.
KING: Plus, North Korea launches another missile over Japan, testing the president heading into a big week at the United Nations.
LT. GEN. H.R. MCMASTER, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: There is a military option. Now, it's not what we have preferred to do.
KING: And whether the Democrats. Bernie Sanders makes a new health care push and Hillary Clinton plays book tour blame game.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would have won but for Jim Comey's letter on October 28th. That stopped my momentum.
KING: INSIDE POLITICS, the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters, now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KING: Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm John King. To our viewers in the United States and around the world, thank you for sharing your Sunday.
A big week ahead. The first United Nations General Assembly for President Trump. His frustration with North Korea at a boiling point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCMASTER: I think we ought to make clear what's different about this approach is that we are out of time, right? Ambassador Haley said before, you know, we've been kicking the can down the road and we're out of road.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Plus, a back to the future week for Democrats. Bernie Sanders tugs the party more to the left on health care, even as he gets a big slice of Hillary Clinton's book tour blame.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I spent countless hours, Anderson, convincing my supporters who felt equally aggrieved that they had to support Barack Obama. I didn't get that same, you know, respect and reciprocity from Senator Sanders or from his supporters. They are still, you know, incredibly divisive --
COOPER: He did campaign for you.
CLINTON: -- and I'm interested in what he can do to help elect Democrats. He's not a Democrat. He makes that clear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: We begin, though, with the big reset in Washington's political gravity. President Trump wants big wins, blames Republican congressional leaders for the fact eight months in, he doesn't have any big wins.
So, he is now suddenly cutting surprise deals with Democratic Leaders Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.
First, it was spending and debt limits, a move that annoyed the right. Now, to the shock and horror of conservatives, immigration, protecting the called DREAMers now taking priority over the Trump border wall.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm a Republican through and through, but I'm also finding that sometimes to get things through, it's not working that way. But we have to get things passed and if we can't get things passed, we have to go a different route. But we have to get things passed.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KING: Will it work? Can this different route last?
With us to share that reporting and insights this Sunday, Julie Hirschfield Davis of "The New York Times", Karoun Demirjian of "The Washington Post", "Politico's" Eliana Johnson, and CNN's Mia Malika- Henderson.
Before we get started, I just want to note, the president is up and active on Twitter this morning, calling Kim Jong-un "rocket man." We'll get to that in a few moments, interesting tweets from the president heading into a big week. We'll get to that in a moment.
But let's start here at home with what do we make of this? A move toward bipartisan. Some people see it. Actually, not real bipartisan, the president, a Republican, is doing deals with the Democratic leaders and then telling the Republicans about them. That's not exactly bipartisanship.
But it has shocked the town. People for years have said, why isn't there any bipartisanship in Washington? And then you'll have a little dose of it and nobody knows what to do. Where are we?
JULIE HIRSCHFIELD DAVIS, REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, I don't think this is necessarily a move by bipartisanship, nor is it necessarily a lasting thing. But I do think it's a biased trying to figure out a way to get things done and trying to figure out a way to get some points on the board.
And President Trump saw the reaction when he dealt with Democrats on the budget and the debt ceiling and the Harvey and Irma, the hurricane aid, and I think he liked that feeling. And he enjoys getting marks on the board. He enjoys being able to say I cut a deal, I drove a hard bargain. And that sort of where he is.
He is not able to do that with Paul Ryan and Mitchell McConnell, at least he hasn't been so far, and this is an opportunity to show that he can do that.
KING: But immigration is very, very different than hurricane aid, and even spending bill or a debt ceiling. Immigration has been the quick sand of Washington for the past decade plus. Is the president maybe making a miscalculation that dealing with -- starting -- it's how as much as what. Starting with Pelosi and Schumer, just doing that annoys the Republicans.
NIA MALIKA-HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, it does. And, you know, I think the president feels like he can sort of carve out a special place for the DREAMers, a special place for DACA and not talk about citizenship, not talk about all the things that would necessarily come if you're talking about the DREAM Act, right? I mean, you're essentially going to be talking about immigration reform and all that comes with it. And I don't think he is going to be able to get away from it.
I think in some ways, Democrats, at least Pelosi and Schumer, in that meeting were something at an advantage because they know all of the details of what a DREAM Act would entail, because it's been around for many, many years and they have been discussing it. So, you have the president coming out saying, no, no, this isn't about chain migration. It's not about citizenship.
But it necessarily would be and that's why you have I think conservatives very much up in arms because it's the fear I think of a slippery slope.
[08:05:04] KAROUN DEMIRJIAN, THE WASHINGTON POST: In this one circumstance, I'm going to try to play devil's advocate a little bit. The traditional, you know, make sure your party is also happy politics has not worked on immigration. Also, you have a fairly healthy contingent -- a minority -- but a healthy contingent of Republicans who are ready to vote for that kind of bill, even if it's standalone.
So, you actually do have to reach out to the Democrats in this one. The only people you have to worry about alienating are Paul Ryan and Mitchell McConnell, because they have to be agreeing to put that bill on the floor. But if they do, you could actually have a coalition of all the Democrats plus some Republicans to get that bill through and to get that to become a law.
But the thing is that, you know, Trump likes to be as much as he likes to get points on the board and everything else is he also likes to be a disrupter.
KING: Right.
DEMIRJIAN: And that's what he's doing. So, anybody who takes this as a new world order is just going to probably find themselves also wondering what happened in a few weeks when he switches gears again because this is what he does, issue to issue. And in this issue, it might not be the worst idea of getting the Democrats and some of the Republicans, instead of the other way around.
ELIANA JOHNSON, REPORTER, POLITICO: John, I mean, the question you asked was, is he at risk of annoying Republicans? I think we have to remember this guy, during the primaries, called Mitt Romney a choke artist, he called John McCain essentially not a war hero. He said George W. Bush led us into war and then he's publicly insulted Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan.
This is not a guy who seems particularly worried about annoying Republicans or offending the rank and file members of the party of which he has putatively a member. I think Trump is driven by the fact that he didn't really want to repeal DACA and his attorney general told him he couldn't defend it in court, so he is reaching out to the people who can help accomplish what he actually wants to do, which is to enshrine this into law some way. I don't think there's all that much more it.
KING: So, it works. It's an approach that works. You mentioned the president likes wins. Everybody at the table I think understands, we've watched him for eight months. He is transactional. Who knows what next week will bring?
But listen to the president. The president did understand he did this deal, there was backlash from Republicans. So then, publicly, listen to him here saying, yes, sure, I started with the Democrats but this is fine with Republicans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're not looking at citizenship. We're not looking at amnesty. We're looking at allowing people to stay here.
We're working with everybody, Republican. We are working with Democrat.
I just spoke with Paul Ryan. He's on board. Everybody is on board. They want to do something.
We're not talking about amnesty.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Everybody is on board. The question for me is, the votes have been there for a long time for
this. And it is a minority but a very vocal minority in the Republican Party calls this amnesty, that says if you give DREAMers -- doesn't matter when they came here when they're 6-year-old. It doesn't matter they had no say, that it's amnesty.
The question is the president was so active campaigning on this. My question is more, is there a price? Is there a price when you're trying to do tax reform? When you're trying to do other Republican initiatives when members of the Republican Party don't trust the president?
DAVIS: I think there may well be. And I think Nia is right that, not just Democratic leaders but, of course, Republican leaders have an advantage over the president on this issue and they understand what these terms mean and what the specifics mean.
I think we're going to learn a lot in the next week. The White House says they're going to come out with some principles for immigration reform. What are those going to look like? Is there not a path to citizenship?
Are they really going to do something about chain migration? Because if they do, that means cutting legal immigration levels, which a lot of Democrats will, you know, recoil at and then they won't be willing to do this deal. If they are, the question is, are Republicans going to be there for him on the harder issue?
MALIKA-HENDERSON: And it's also --
DAVIS: The hard issues on tax reform, will they vote with him?
MALIKA-HENDERSON: And I think also, when is this happening, right? I mean, I think with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer coming out of that meeting and him talking about a deal, it seems like it's imminent. And we'll see what this White House says over the next couple of days.
But somebody I talked to at the White House also said that it's more like next year, that it's more like this kind of six-month march deadline in terms of trying to get something done. But then again, the question becomes, is this what the Republican Party wants to spend their time doing in 2018.
KING: In a town where out in America and around the world, people say, why can't they do more than one thing at a time? We just -- we know the history of Washington. They can't.
And one of the interesting parts is the president, again, he saw the backlash and he was like, no, I'm getting the wall. I'm going to the wall. I'm going to insist on the wall.
But the deal, the framework of the deal with the Democrats is let's do the DREAMers first, and then I'll worry about the wall. That's what made conservatives mad. If the president was cutting that deal, get something for it, get the Democrats -- force the Democrats to sign out on the wall funding. So, that's one reason they're made. And then conservative hear this. This is the White House legislative director, the president says he'll get hit wall. Define wall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARC SHORT, WHIT HOUSE DIRECTOR OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS: I think that what the definition of a wall is something that we all need to have a serious conversation. Some cases, it would be a bollard fence which was, in fact, appropriated last year and we already begun. It is a myriad of different structures along that wall we expect to be secure to make sure America is safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That's not -- that's not what the boss said during the campaign and not what he said several times as president.
DEMIRJIAN: This is like a repeat of a decade ago and the Bush administration was just talking about, well, by wall, we meant virtual fence.
(LAUGHTER)
[08:10:01] DEMIRJIAN: I mean, I covered immigration back then. There's so much so familiar sounding.
So, yes. They are -- look, the Republican Party leaders were never on board with the wall. Mitchell McConnell snickered when somebody asked, you think Mexico is going to pay for it? It's not like that such a wonderful leverage point with the GOP, right?
And the other question is that when you talk about, you know, where will the party push back, a real question is. who knows the base better? This is going to be a real test point.
MALIKA-HENDERSON: Yes.
DEMIRJIAN: Does Trump know his own base better than the members of Congress? If he is right making this play on DACA and not losing his base, and that's going to put egg on the faces of all the members of Congress who think they have something to push him on here. And so, especially now that Bannon just left the White House, this is a real test point, because if he can do this and not lose the faith of his base, then this is not a silly play.
JOHNSON: I think the test is this. Is Trumpism a cult of personality which knows no bounds, or is it an ideology about which if the president veers away from it and does a deal with Democrats on immigration, the base will revolve?
I happen to think that the president's base isn't going anywhere and that it's more rank in file Republicans who had questions about the president, who voted with him because he would -- they thought he would sign Republican bills put up by McConnell and Ryan and would appoint Supreme Court justices who are likely to resist voting for him again than his base but I'm actually not sure. KING: It's fascinating. We are eight months into the administration
and we have the who is the Donald Trump question live and well. I mean, that's what makes this so fascinating.
MALIKA-HENDERSON: Yes. I mean, you've seen Sheriff Joe Arpaio who owes the president a lot, essentially came out and said, if the president did a deal on DACA, he is a smart guy. He is somebody who wants to cut deals. So, he would support him.
In some ways, he may have a more valid point than the Ann Coulters of the world and the Steve Kings of the world, who are really, you know, have their hair on fire over the prospect of this deal.
KING: We'll get to them a little bit later because we head to the Washington conversation. I do want to have the broader conversation about this and some of the chatter about all this and whether, in fact, it does affect the Trump base out there.
Up next, though, take a turn back to foreign policy. The Trump White House insists there are viable military options to deal with North Korea's belligerence.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[08:16:28] MCMASTER: I think we ought to make clear, what's different about this approach is, is that we're out of time, right? As Ambassador Haley said before, you know, hitting the can down the road and we're out of road. And so, for those who have said and been commenting about the lack of a military option, there is a military option.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: That blunt message Friday from the president's national security adviser as the White House previewed the president's agenda at this week's United Nations General Assembly. The Trump administration, hardly, the first administration to have to deal with North Korea's missile, a nuclear ambition.
But you hear the frustration there. You hear the deadline there. Why might this be getting to a crisis point?
Well, here's one reason: North Korea has dramatically improved the range of its missiles. If you look at the testing this latest year, as they tested an ICBM, the administration now concedes still some crude missiles but the capability to perhaps reach the continental United States within the reach of North Korea. That's one of the reasons.
The other reason is just the pace of this. The administration says the era of strategic patience is over, Kim Jong-un responds. Look at this, just in 2017, more than a dozen missile tests, the recent one again, right over mainland Japan. This just last week as the president prepares to go to the General Assembly. So, yes, the administration says it prepares diplomacy. Listen to the
president just on Friday saying military options are front and center.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: America and our allies will never be intimidated. We will defend our people, our nations, and our civilization from all who dare to threaten our way of life. This includes the regime of North Korea, which is once again shown its utter contempt for its neighbors, and for the entire world community.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: When you listen to the language, from the president on down, it's very sobering. We are out of road, H.R. McMaster says. Now, is that -- I don't know if bluff is the wrong word. But is that a posturing to get people at the United Nations, mainly Russia and China to do more on the sanctions front? Do more on the secret backdoor policy? Or do they understand at some point, the Trump administration has to back up its words?
DAVIS: Well, I mean, I think some of this sort of the standard diplomatic maneuvering you see. A diplomatic option talks and negotiations really have no compelling case made for them unless a threat of something else if that doesn't yield something. So, I think part of this is posturing on the part of H.R. McMaster and Nikki Haley and the president himself saying, if you don't come to the table for serious talks, if we can't negotiate on this, then there's a price to be paid and it's going to be paid sooner rather than later.
The problem is the president has been very sort of rash in his rhetoric on this. We heard those fire and fury comments he made last month, and it's not totally clear whether they thought through the implications of going this military route, of having it be more than a bluff, more than just a threat.
DEMIRJIAN: Yes. Also, they haven't specified what it is, really. Is it a conventional military option? Do they have to go in and do some sort of preemptive strike?
Is it to actually use the missile defense capacities that they have out in the Pacific to try to shoot one of these missile tests out of the sky? Is it something else entirely? Is it something that would be a coalition of options?
You have to have that, you know, speak softly but carry a big stick dual structure for this diplomatic thing to work. But also, you know, it has to be a credible thing and right now, they keep saying military, military option without specifying what it is.
Clearly, much of what the United States is doing right now is posturing to convince the other people who have more leverage that is not as bloody potentially over North Korea to do more.
[08:20:05] But that really depends on so many other things right now. And it's difficult to get -- yes, it's China but China has its party congress coming up next month. A lot is going to ride on what happens there or not. It's not really dependent on our pressure so much as what's going on domestically there.
And with Russia, I mean, for Russia, this is a sideway to poke at the United States and there's economic component for them, too, that it's difficult to -- it's not just a unique North Korea thing in solving that problem.
KING: And it plays out. It's a big week ahead for the president, a big ahead for a number of world leaders. United Nations General Assembly, big annual event, the leaders of Russia and China not coming. They'll send representatives instead. So, that's part of this.
But the world is still trying to get to know President Trump. He is predictable. Most world leaders haven't met him, some have at the NATO summits and the economics summits. But for many of them, the first time to see them.
One thing we're talking just a week or two ago about strains in the relationship with South Korea. The president tweeting out about appeasement. Well, he spoke to President Moon last night. They're trying to get that one back on the right page.
Here is the president's tweet this morning. I mentioned this at the top of the show. I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night, asked him how rocket man is doing. Long gas lines forming in North Korea. Too bad.
I mean, it's funny, except this isn't funny.
(CROSSTALK)
MALIKA HENDERSON: Except, you know, you have H.R. McMaster saying there is a military option and we are at the end of the road. Then you have the president tweeting about rocket man which I understand is a song by Elton John.
DEMIRJIAN: This is how he continues to deal with it, it's going to be a long way to go!
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Boom!
MALIKA-HENDERSON: So good.
We wonder. I mean, what he says at the U.N. General Assembly, his speech on Tuesday will be fascinating, I mean, what he says in terms of the actual text and what the asides are in terms of his ad-libbing or what his conversations are with foreign leaders.
But I think the thing about North Korea is they have seen what happened to Ukraine when they gave up their nuclear weapons. They know what happens in Libya when they gave their nuclear weapons. So, they don't have necessarily, you know, a lot of incentive to give up their nuclear weapons because it could mean what it has meant to Ukraine and what it has meant for Libya.
DEMIRJIAN: That's a smart point. I was working in Ukraine two years ago and covering the war there. Person after person after person was saying that that was a mistake that we made. They wouldn't have -- Russia would not have messed like this if we kept that. So, that's a huge point.
JOHNSON: I also think we have seen the president wanting to ratchet up trade with North Korea at a time it doesn't seem to make sense to want to be increasing economic pressure on some country that needs to be an ally right now.
What I think will be interesting to see if a coherent diplomatic strategy emerges toward North Korea or a military strategy. One thing that's been interesting in the Trump administration is that the principals haven't been on the same page. The secretary of state, U.N. ambassador, the president himself, they've often undermined themselves or giving conflicting statements and I think with regard to North Korea, what we're going to need to see or it will be perilous, is the president, his secretary of state, his secretary of defense on the same page. And if that doesn't emerge, it will be dangerous.
KING: And some reporter over the weekend, just this weekend that the administration may be having second thoughts about pulling out of the Paris climate agreement or try to find some accommodation to say we're pulling out, but still interacting some way. The White House, they're denying, pushing back, saying it's not going to happen, but a U.S. official in a meeting did say something about trying to figure this out. That would be a big test.
Listen to Nikki Haley here to your point. North Korea, what will the president do about Iran. He's been frustrated and lack of any progress in the Middle East, which he thought he could get out of the box early in the administration. That's what he said in the campaign.
Listen to Nikki Haley here talking about, you know, Jonathan Alterman of "The Atlantic" calls the speed dating at the United Nations. Listen to Nikki Haley saying the president will do just fine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HALEY: No one is going to grip and grin. The United States is going to work. And I think with all of the challenges around the world, I think the international community is going to see that. To start off with the speech that the president gives, I think you can see it for yourself. I personal think he slaps the right people, he hugs the right people and he comes out with the U.S. being very strong in the end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: It is a fascinating week and it's the first general assembly for this president who has used the term disrupted. I mean, he's disrupted not just this town but everybody around the world including allies. Theresa May, the British prime minister, in another argument with him this week when the president tweeted out about the London bombing.
MALIKA-HENDERSON: Yes. I mean, great sound bite from Nikki Haley. Congratulations on that. I don't know what she means. What that actually means.
And also, it's the president -- I mean, the thing about speeches, is I think especially with this president, they have a short shelf life, because he's there and he's scripted. Sometimes, he's not scripted even on speeches. But he's certainly not scripted on Twitter. He's rocket man on Twitter. So, you know, it sort of -- we will see what the Trump doctrine is 30, or however long the speech is, but then we'll see what he says on Twitter.
DEMIRJIAN: And if he sub tweets others.
KING: Yes, the ad-libs and the asides and the unscripted moments tell you what this president really thinks. That's a very important point as you go into this environment where things are, Teleprompter Trump will be at the general assembly.
[08:25:05] But still interesting and fascinating to see.
All right. When we come back, from Donald Trump is awesome to Donald Trump should be impeached. Inside Washington's week of deal making whiplash.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Welcome back.
Talk about turning the tables. No one knows how long the president's new alliance with top Democrats would last or bear much fruit. But one striking aspect in whiplash week in Washington was this: watching those who do handstands when Donald Trump defies the Republican establishment or when he wages war on the mainstream suddenly finally find themselves on the receiving end of the trademark Trump disruption.
Conservative provocateur Ann Coulter, for example, wrote a book last year, "In Trump We Trust". The other day, she asked this on Twitter: At this point, who doesn't want Trump impeached?
Talk Radio's Laura Ingraham delivered a big speech at Trump's convention and was considered for a top White House job. On the radio and online her scoring for the president's big immigration shift quite clear. Here's just one tweet, "RepairtheFence. Repairthefence#crickets.
Even Breitbart run by self-described Trump wing-man Stephen Bannon unleashed, "Amnesty Don." That's his take on the president to protect the Dreamers deal.
It is striking to watch what happened and I want to make this distinction between conservative 'chatterers,' no offense and Trump voters out - in the country. It's very important that we see what Trump voters out in the country think about this. A lot of them give the president the freedom, "This is why we elected you sir, disrupt Washington, get things done, do as you wish, we back you."
But watching conservatives essentially say, "Oh, oh" was striking this past week. They think the president abandoned them.
JOHNSON: I think what happens behind the scenes is very different from what you see on Twitter. I think Ann Coulter is a keen to Donald Trump on Twitter and that she is seeking attention in a lot of these tweets.
Laura Ingraham still going into the White House and talking with the president the - holding the ideological and same with Steve Bannon.
So, I think it's - it's a little bit much ado about nothing though their sentiments are...
KING: But does it...
JOHNSON: ... are...
KING: ... does it...
JOHNSON: ... (inaudible)...
KING: ... influence the...
JOHNSON: ... are (inaudible).
KING: ... president because we know he goes online. He watches these things. He's online this morning. We're going to get to some of that in a minute with what he's doing but he watches this stuff and you could tell when his language changed on Friday. It was like, "We will - we'll get to the wall. We're going to get to the wall. Don't worry. We're going to get to the wall," that he was sensing a bit of a backlash.
JOHNSON: Still going to get 10 feet higher too just like he said on the campaign trail.
I think that's certainly the goal to...
KING: What?
JOHNSON: ... hold his feet to the fire but these guys are still all talking to the president and friendly with him there. They are nowhere near deserting him.
KING: So I just want to bring this and quickly. The L.A. Times did go to Arizona and interviewed some Trump voters, people who said they voted for Trump and again you hear the conservatives in Washington (talk), "I dare you Mr. President, at least you know, you shouldn't be starting with the Democrats, start with the Republicans. You should have got the wall as a part of any dream to protect the Dreamers."
This is a gentleman, (Dave Bucket) in Mace, Arizona. "His party doesn't back him so he might as well go to the competition. There is a lot of swamp on both sides of the fence. I think there's more in the Republican side that people like to think."
Sad to say so people out in America saying, "You know, what? Get stuff done."
HENDERSON: Yes, I mean this is Trump's baits, right it's - it's this kind of coalition of people that he brought together. They believe in him. They trust him by and large and they are sort of willing to make excuses for him if he doesn't kind of follow through on whatever he says he would follow through...
JOHNSON: Yes, I think it's just (as someone said)...
HENDERSON: ... He was right. This idea that he could shoot somebody on Fifth Avenue and he wouldn't lose his...
KING: Well...
HENDERSON: ... (power or)...
KING: ... speaking of shooting somebody on...
HENDERSON: ... Yes.
KING: ... speaking of shooting somebody on Fifth Avenue, here's what's - here's what is - I don't know what the right word is, 'interesting,' I'll be kind about the president of the United States is he's making these new alliances with Democrats. He's trying to get things done.
This morning we can show you this, we have to be careful because of the Twitter handle of the individual who sent it in the first place.
The president of the United States, the President of the United States retweeting a video on Twitter that shows him hitting a golf ball and then the golf ball striking Hillary Clinton and knocking her down. You see it there.
The president of the United States retweeted that this morning.
Why?
What - he's at Bedminster...
JOHNSON: He reported that...
KING: ... he's at Bedminster, he's...
JOHNSON: ... he's at Bedminster...
KING: ... he's... JOHNSON: ... the intent you know, just - traditionally, historically speaking, weekends at Bedminster even at an important time like weekends when he's going into the United Nations General Assembly for the first time as the president of the United States are risky times.
He's - maybe he's by himself. Maybe he's not surrounded by as many aides as he usually - as he usually is, certainly not at this hour of the morning.
I think you know, Karoun's right, he's a disrupter you know, and he has these impulses, he enjoys engaging on Social Media, you hear him talk about that, that that is so important to his identity and people want to hear from him.
But it is unusual coming off - coming off of these last couple of weeks...
KING: See, we can't find the words.
HENDERSON: Yes, yes, (that's right).
KING: You know, it's - it's interesting...
HENDERSON: No, yes...
KING: ... No, it's interesting because it's - he's...
HENDERSON: ... (inaudible).
KING: ... he is the president...
HENDERSON: (Thank you).
KING: ... of the United States. (It is insane kind of), thank you.
JOHNSON: And it's - and it's just two sides of the - of a - of a very unusual coin as I...
KING: But...
JOHNSON: ... use the word again. He loves the headlines when he will deal with Democrats, when he's seen as getting things done, when he's seen as you know, delivering on promises but then he'll come out on a Saturday morning and sort of blow himself up with these crazy tweets that are not presidential. They don't forward any particular agenda as I mean, this wasn't about immigration, it wasn't about any policy thing, it's just something that he probably thought was funny.
HENDERSON: (And I think) (inaudible) because ego too.
JOHNSON: Absolutely.
HENDERSON: Look at all of the tweet you know, he tweeted something just now, "What is Trump worth to Twitter? One analyst estimates 2 billion." He retweeted that. He retweeted something about him donating a million dollars to Harvey. He retweeted something about him you know, winning in a landslide in 2020.
So I mean he seems to have a bruised ego...
KING: (inaudible).
HENDERSON: ... this morning.
KING: Again let's - let's show that one again...
HENDERSON: Yes.
KING: ... you're - you're trying...
HENDERSON: 2021.
KING: ... you've - you've decided...
HENDERSON: Yes.
KING: ... you're - you've decided your path for the moment whether it's a day or a week or a month, we'll find out, is to make deals with Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer.
We're going to get to a democratic conversation in a moment but the president of the United States retweeting this map essentially, I assume this is about Bernie Sanders single-payer healthcare, keep going, keep it up Libs. This will be 2020 with all red America.
JOHNSON: (inaudible).
KING: It's - it's funny. It's - it's...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes.
KING: ... it's ain't bad actually it's funny...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: OK.
KING: ... the president - the president should be allowed to engage in political conversations but it's the timing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes.
KING: In the middle of these sensitive negotiations, is that going to help?
DEMIRJIAN: Yes but remember it's also the timing and you can tell exactly what the triggers of this are. We've been talking about Bernie Sanders' single-payer all week. Hillary Clinton has been out (hawking) her book. He's been watching this stuff in television here there and everyplace else.
He is as we know, very impulsively sensitive to these things and reacts to every time he sees something. He never thinks about what next up is. I mean think about all those times that he was complaining about, "Why is everybody focusing on Russia's stuff?" It is because you're tweeting about it, there, all the time without thinking about the fact that we will then respond to that.
He is just probably given Clinton probably thousands more book sales than the fact that he's done this because he's becoming you know and it -- that - it's - it's bringing back the election again.
And so, does it make sense? Is it you know, sensible and logical?
"No."
But is it understandable?
It's pretty obvious what the triggers are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes, yes.
JOHNSON: I mean yes, OK all of these tweets our totally bizarre but I really do think that they are the reason why people responded to Trump the way they did...
HENDERSON: Yes.
JOHNSON: ... because he is on filtered, he is not prepackaged the way all these other politicians are. He's not phony in the way that people believe that Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and all the other Republican primary candidates were. He is completely authentic and on filtered and he's actually funny sometimes.
KING: Right and then - and then sometimes...
JOHNSON: So...
KING: ... so I think you're absolutely right and this is the reason he's president of the United States because he blew - she makes this town uncomfortable.
JOHNSON: Hillary Clinton...
KING: A lot of voters...
JOHNSON: ... would never be...
KING: ... wants that, yes.
JOHNSON: ... tweeting those (emotional things)...
HENDERSON: He's emotional.
JOHNSON: ... (inaudible), yes, there, no.
KING: (That's right because) what - the question is when you're still around 40 percent, it worked once. The question is will it work again and the way to really - to answer that question but unusual, that was nice so it was good thank you. That was very helpful.
Up next, Bernie Sanders has new friends, lots of them.
And as Hillary Clinton assigns 2016 blame, guess who gets the biggest piece of the pie?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Welcome back. One of the big things we learned this past week, the former FBI director James Comey has a very special place on Hillary Clinton's list of reasons 2016 didn't go the way she planned.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
INTERVIEWER: And if we put all those factors that you didn't lay out in a pie chart...
HILLARY CLINTON (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Right.
INTERVIEWER: ... what's the biggest chunk? What's the - what's the biggest cause of your loss? What part is...
CLINTON: Right.
INTERVIEWER: ... Comey? What part's Russia? What parts are you?
CLINTON: Well, I think the determining factor was the intervention by Comey on October 28th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Intervention by Comey, October 28th.
Also, high on her book tour blame game, primary rival, Bernie Sanders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I spent countless hours Anderson, convincing my supporters who felt equally aggrieved that they had to support Barack Obama. I didn't get that same you know, respect and reciprocity from Senator Saunders or from his supporters. They are still you know, incredibly divisive and I'm...
KING: (He didn't convince you?)
Clinton X: ... interested in what he can do to help elect Democrats. He's not a Democrat. He makes that clear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: No. She's right. The Vermont Senator is an independent but if Clinton offers her take on the last election, Saunders is proving his clout in shaping the Democratic agenda of the next election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS (I) DEMOCRATIC PARTY NOMINEE: I have no doubt, none whatsoever that this nation sooner than people believe will in fact pass a Medicare for all, single-payer system and finally, finally, healthcare will be a right for all in the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: At the moment anyway he's overly optimistic about the chances of passing a Medicare for all especially with the Republican control of Congress.
But it is fascinating to see (a) Will 2016 ever end...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: No.
KING: ... will the 2016 election ever end and in this tug-o-war, a Bernie Sanders is an independent or for the campaign I think he calls himself a democratic socialist.
He is having more of an impact on the future of the Democratic Party plan Hillary Clinton at the moment.
DEMIRJIAN: Sure. I mean this is - look, the Bernie Saunders phenomenon and the Donald Trump phenomenon are not all that different.
The idea of you know, people that wanted to kind of break the mold of what was going on in the two parties, it wasn't working, Washington is in gridlock, (yadah, yadah, yadah, pinging, ponging) back and forth, a lot of people weren't satisfied.
So, you know, Trump won this election, Sanders was not the candidate for the - 2016 but the idea that he would have that sort of ground swell and momentum behind him is kind of (inaudible).
You know, it's - it's just the more of a democratic-ish side of the same pool of people who wanted to break that mold and in a way, it makes sense that it - and both sides of the aisle somebody will be picking up the mantle that isn't really of the fabric of the party and is going to stick with what they've stood for, for the last several decades.
HENDERSON: Yes and all those folks I mean that first conference you had Kamala Harris talking there, she signed onto this, Cory Booker, folks who might want to be in the mix in 2020.
One of the things that's interesting about this is that you look at the numbers on Medicare for all, it isn't necessarily that the Democratic Party has changed, if you look back at like (62) percent in 2008 thought Medicare for all was a good idea, about 64 percent of the Democrats think that now.
The real shift is amongst Independents, it was about 42 percent back then, it's about 55 percent now so this I think at least in Bernie Sanders' mind and in the minds of a lot of Democrats may be a better general election issue...
KING: Right.
HENDERSON: ... at this point because Independents are now really kind of rallying behind the (inaudible)...
KING: And... HENDERSON: ... (inaudible).
KING: ... yes, I agree with you. The numbers have changed and especially amongst independents and yet when you ask more detailed questions you know, your taxes are going to go up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Oh yes.
KING: You know, the government's going to have a decision over a lot of the coverage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: (inaudible).
KING: If that's what happens then, then things starts to go back-and- forth which is the defining question for the party. Can the Democrats keep moving left?
When I started in this business, it was right after Walter Mondale lost 49 states. Then Michael Dukakis, my first campaign, lost 40.
The whole thing was the Democrats are too liberal. You can't...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes.
KING: ... sell that out there in America. That's where Bill Clinton came from, running against his own party; too close to the unions, too anti-business, too liberal, government can do everything. Won two terms as president.
Forget about it. Gone.
But can - is this a conversation that can become a national winning strategy?
And to your point is we have the conversation, show the scroll of these Democrats who backed Bernie Sanders, who are still an Independent, a lot of them are potential 2020 candidates; if not in 2020 some of them are - if they - if you don't if you don't see them in 2020 you're maybe going to see them in 2024. That's an impressive group of people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes.
KING: You know, whatever your politics, the 'Bernie Sanders' is winning.
JOHNSON: Well I mean. You asked about are we ever going to stop talking about 2016? I'm not sure we ever are and I think this may be as much a reaction to what happened in 2016 as anything else. I mean the Democrats chose Hillary Clinton, she was more middle-of-the-road, she was more in the traditional mold of a Democratic candidate.
And Bernie Sanders was speaking to this group of people that really believe that this isn't working, the way that politics is - our party doesn't represent what we believe anymore. The same sorts of people that Donald Trump were talking to from the Republican side and I think there's a real rethinking right now of what needs to happen in order for Democrats to be successful in the next election and much of it is about you know, Independents coming over perhaps to this idea of single-payer.
I think it's also a real tack to the left, it's a - it's a - it seems to be a concerted effort to see if they can't be more successful by embracing those ideas and really embracing the dissatisfaction really with the Affordable Care Act which started on the road to doing what Democrats have always wanted to do with healthcare but didn't quite get there and is now not as popular.
So, they want to see if they can perhaps rebrand the party around a different approach.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes.
KING: And is - and is Hillary Clinton helping hurting -- making any impact on this conversation? You see some Democrats saying you know, "Oh, why is she out there?"
She wrote a book. She has every right and reason to be out there. She has the -still has the most impressive resume in the Democratic Party.
JOHNSON: I think she's propelling this conversation and she is - she is compelling a lot of Democrats to move away from her and she's giving Bernie Sanders and the Cory Bookers, the rising stars really in the party to move away from her.
What's fascinating to me is that the - exactly the same thing has - is happening on the right both with - around the issue of immigration...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE SPEAKER: Yes.
KING: Right.
JOHNSON: ... and so you're seeing the re-litigation of the primary campaign around that issue and Trump also not really a Republican...
KING: Yes.
JOHNSON: ... you know, playing the role of Bernie Sanders.
KING: Right. The fracture - the fracturing, the disruption continues and it will go well beyond the next cycle as well.
Up next our reporters share from their notebooks including a big week at the United Nations for the president and for his high-powered U.N. ambassador.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KING: Welcome back. Let's close as we always do, head around the table, ask our great reporters to share a little something from their notebooks, get you out ahead of all the big political news just around the corner.
(Julie)?
JOHNSON: Well as the president heads into the General Assembly this week at the United Nations, there's still a deep divide within the administration about clamping down even further than President Trump already have on admitting refugees.
There was a meeting last week at the White House. There is still a lot of disagreement. The Defense Department, the State Department, USUN, they are all pushing back against this notion of less than 50,000 refugees coming into the United States next year.
But what we're seeing is that there is still a hard-line string within the White House, Steve Miller, some of the other aides that have been driving this discussion that are really getting in the President's ear about this and they're - and they're able to keep this notion alive.
And so, the question is, will they win out? Will Chief of Staff John Kelly's orderly decision-making process carry the day or will this go the other way?
KING: One of the many tug-of-wars you might say.
Karoun?
DEMIRJIAN: Well we are all watching the General Assembly apparently because I'm also taking a look at exactly what signals the President sends on Iran. This has been something that members of Congress are watching very closely because as much as the president decided to continue to waive the sanctions against Iran, he has not yet said whether next month he will certify or not.
And if he decides not to certify the sanctions, that kicks things back to Congress where people are not saying what they think the President will do but are making contingency plans. They are taking steps to get ready because if that happens they're going to have about 60 days to decide whether or not to blow up that deal.
This is making everybody a little bit nervous right now. It's making members of Congress nervous. We saw that this morning, the Ayatollah was tweeting up a storm about the US and the area and deal and where is this, are not you know, an everyday occurrence so I think everybody's going to be looking for signs and signals...
KING: (inaudible).
DEMIRJIAN: ... coming out of the GA on this given when that deadline is coming up.
KING: Didn't used to be an everyday occurrence. We live in...
DEMIRJIAN: It's - it's different times.
KING: ... it's part of the New World disorder.
Eliana?
JOHNSON: I'm going to be watching Nikki Haley at the U.N. General Assembly. I think she is sort of served as a shadow secretary of state because Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hasn't embraced the public aspects of the job that we've seen typical, secretary of states does and they haven't always spoken in a unified voice.
So, I think it will be interesting in the UN General Assembly where she will play a more public role.
I'm looking at the kind of - it seems almost conventional wisdom that she may succeed Tillerson who is not expected to stay longer than one or two years; kind of looking at it as her coming out a little bit as - and perhaps an audition for secretary of state.
KING: Keep an eye on that, big week ahead.
Nia?
HENDERSON: In 2018 news somebody who is going to be interesting to watch over these next couple of weeks is Kyrsten Sinema. She was one of the handbook - handful of Democrats, House Democrats to meet with President Trump over these last weeks' talking about tax reform, DACA, infrastructure our reform, she is very much a blue-dog Democrat, she's part of that problem solver's caucus. She voted against Pelosi to lead the Democrats in the House.
The thinking is that she will jump into the Senate race. She initially said that she wouldn't. She's now saying that she's going to think about it. There are about four or five people ready in that Democratic race, already declared, progressives, also an Army veteran and it looks like that race, should she getting it, will be a referendum again on is the Democratic Party more centrist or is it more progressive in the sort of Bernie Sanders mode.
KING: Well that might be one of the more interesting. It's a mystery from the Republican side as well.
I'll close with this, add this to a most confusing week about political allegiances here in Washington, President Trump now will put his personal prestige on the line to the side with Mitch McConnell and the Republican establishment in a fight against Christian conservatives and populace including the former White House strategist, Stephen Bannon.
After going quiet for several weeks and alarming the establishment, the president has now agreed to campaign next weekend for Alabama interim Senator, Luther Strange. Strange running well behind former Alabama State Supreme Court Chief Justice, Roy Moore. Little more than a week left in that Republican Senate runoff.
Now it's no secret the President and Majority Leader McConnell have to be polite at this functional relationship but a strange defeat would not only be a giant rebuke of McConnell, could also be seen as proof, an endorsement from the President is may be of limited value even in ruby red Alabama. So, while at odds here in DC over the President's dealing with Democrats and other differences, in Alabama you might say the President and McConnell, for the next 10 days anyway, are indeed strange bedfellows, sorry, couldn't resist.
That's it for inside politics.
Again, thanks for sharing your day with us. Remember we're here weekdays as well at noon Eastern.
Up next, United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, join the State of the Union.
Have a great Sunday.
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