>> YES, IT'S ABSOLUTELY STUNNING.
WE'LL START THERE WITH PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP'S APPROVAL RATINGS
WHICH HAVE PLUMMETED IN ONE POLL TO THE LOWEST EVER RECORDED IN A
PRESIDENT IN HIS FIRST SIX MONTHS OF OFFICE, A BLOOMBERG
NATIONAL POLL OUT THIS MORNING HAS PRESIDENT TRUMP'S JOB
APPROVAL RATING AT 40%, WHILE GALLUP PUTS THE PRESIDENT RATING
AT 38%, AND "THE WASHINGTON POST," ABC NEWS POLL FINDS 36%
OF AMERICANS APPROVE OF THE JOB TRUMP IS DOING.
58% DISAPPROVE. NOW 48% SAYING THEY DISAPPROVE
STRONGLY, A LEVEL NEVER REACHED BY FORMER PRESIDENTS BILL
CLINTON AND BARACK OBAMA, AND REACHED ONLY IN THE SECOND TERM
OF GEORGE W. BUSH IN THIS POLL. THE PARTISAN BREAKDOWN OF "THE
WASHINGTON POST" POLL SHOWS 82% OF REPUBLICANS APPROVE, DOWN
JUST SLIGHTLY FROM APRIL, WHILE THE PRESIDENT DROPPED SIX POINTS
TO 32% AMONG INDEPENDENTS AND IS AT JUST 11% WITH DEMOCRATS.
NEW NBC NEWS/"WALL STREET JOURNAL" POLL OF COUNTIES OF HIS
VICTORY AND OF THE ONES HE FLIPPED FROM OBAMA IN 2010 12
HIS APPROVAL RESTS AT 44% AND HEALTH CARE "THE WASHINGTON
POST"/ABC POLL SHOWS HALF OF ALL AMERICANS PREFER THE CURRENT
HEALTH CARE LAW, ABOUT ONE-QUARTER WANT THE REPUBLICAN
OPTION BEING PUSHED RIGHT NOW. 17% WOULD PREFER SOMETHING ELSE
ALL TOGETHER. JOE?
>> YEAH, BOB COSTA, LET ME BRING YOU IN THERE.
SO MUCH TO UNPACK. I WANT TO GET TO HEALTH CARE IN
A SECOND, THAT'S WHAT REPUBLICANS WAKING UP IN THE
SENATE HAVE TO BE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT BUT FIRST LET'S TALK ABOUT
EVERYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED THIS WEEKEND.
THE PRESIDENT AWAKENS TO 36% APPROVAL RATING, HE'S FORCED TO
SAY WELL, ABC IS A FAKE POLL AND ACTUALLY AROUND 40% IS PRETTY
GOOD. IT'S HISTORICALLY LOW ACTUALLY.
WHAT IS THE STATE OF THE WHITE HOUSE THIS WEEKEND AFTER BEING
POUNDED BY ANOTHER FLURRY OF ALLEGATIONS ABOUT THAT DON JR.
MEETING, AND HAVING A LOT OF CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATORS COME
OUT SAYING WAIT A SECOND, THERE'S SOMETHING THERE.
>> INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE, JOE, MY SOURCES TELL ME THAT THEY
NEVER THOUGHT THEY HAD A HONEYMOON IN TERMS OF THE
NATIONAL POLL, IN TERMS OF MOST AMERICANS.
THEY KNEW THEY WERE GOING TO RUN A BASE-CENTRIC PRESIDENCY, BUT
THEY DID BELIEVE THEY HAD A HONEYMOON WITH THAT REPUBLICAN
TRUMP BASE AND THEY'RE STARTING TO SEE SOME OF THAT ERODE, IN
PART IT'S BECAUSE OF THIS RUSSIA DELUDE CONTINUES OVER THE
ADMINISTRATION, IN PART BECAUSE OF THE PROMISES THAT REMAIN
UNCHECKED, LIKE REPEALING AND REPLACING THE AFFORDABLE CARE
ACT AND THE DON JR. STORY HOVERS.
THEY DON'T SEE IT AS SOMETHING THAT'S ALARMING THE BASE, BUT
IT'S A DISTRACTION TO EVERY OTHER AGENDA ITEM.
THEY'RE TRYING TO PUSH, THEY THINK COULD MAYBE ROUSE THEIR
OWN BASE LIKE TRADE, LIKE IMMIGRATION.
>> BUT LET'S TALK ABOUT THE ISSUE RIGHT NOW THAT OBVIOUSLY
SENATE REPUBLICANS ARE THE MOST CONCERNED ABOUT, THAT HAS TO DO
WITH HEALTH CARE. THESE NUMBERS FROM "THE
WASHINGTON POST"/ABC NEWS POLL UNBELIEVABLE, 50% OF AMERICANS
WHEN IT COMES TO HEALTH CARE PREFER OBAMACARE.
ABSENCE REALLY DOES MAKE THE HEART GROW FONDER.
THAT'S THE HIGHEST APPROVAL RATING OBAMACARE HAS EVER HAD.
ONLY 24% SUPPORT THE REPUBLICAN PLAN.
THERE'S NO WAY REPUBLICAN SENATORS IN OHIO, PENNSYLVANIA,
WISCONSIN, AND MAINE AREN'T LOOKING AT THOSE NUMBERS AND
ASKING THEMSELVES, DO I REALLY WANT TO JUMP OFF THAT CLIFF?
HOW MUCH TROUBLE IS THE REPUBLICAN HEALTH CARE REFORM
PLAN IN? >> IT'S IN DEEP TROUBLE RIGHT
NOW, AND IF YOU THINK BACK TO THE PRIMARY RACE IN 2016, JOE,
GOVERNOR HUCKABEE, THEN CANDIDATE DONALD TRUMP THEY BOTH
RAN DIFFERENT KINDS OF REPUBLICANS IN THIS WAY, THEY
DID NOT WANT TO TACKLE MELD I CARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY AND
MEDICAID IN THE WAY MOST REPUBLICANS LIKE HOUSE SPEAKER
PAUL RYAN HAVE TRADITIONALLY GONE AFTER THOSE KIND OF FEDERAL
PROGRAMS. NOW TRUMP IS IN THE POSITION
WITH AN IDEOIDEOLOGICAL REPUBLI CONGRESS TRYING TO GO AFTER
SOMETHING THAT IN THE VIEW OF MANY AMERICANS IF YOU LOOK AT
THESE POLLS IS SETTLE LAW, AN UNCOMFORTABLE POSITION FOR THIS
WHITE HOUSE TO BE IN. THEY KNOW THEY MADE THIS
PROMILESS TO THE BASE, BUT THEY ALSO KNOW POLITICALLY THE BASE
AND MOST AMERICANS DON'T WANT TO GET RID OF BENEFITS, INCLUDING
MEDICAID FUNDING, THAT'S ALREADY BEEN PUT IN PLACE.
THAT'S JUST NOT SMART POLITICS. THEY KNOW IT.
THEY STILL WANT TO GET THIS PROMISE THROUGH.
>> NICK, YOU LOOK AT THE NUMBERS FROM ALL OF THESE POLLS AND YES,
EIGHT OUT OF TEN REPUBLICANS STILL STICKING WITH THE
PRESIDENT, BUT INDEPENDENTS HAVE COMPLETELY FALLEN OFF A CLIFF.
YOU LOOK AT THE PEOPLE THAT SWUNG FROM BARACK OBAMA TO
DONALD TRUMP. THEY'RE STARTING TO BLEED OFF
THAT SUPPORT, AND IT CAN ALL BE
SUMMED UP IN THIS DON JR. STORY YOU CAN'T CALL IT FAKE NEWS.
ALL THE EMAILS, ALL THE LIES CAME FROM DON JR. AND THE WHITE
HOUSE, ALL THE LEAKS ARE COMING FROM INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE.
YOU EVEN HAVE CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATORS SAYING THAT, AND
WRITING ABOUT THAT, AND YOU HAVE A WHITE HOUSE THAT AS YOU SO
ELOQUENTLY PUT IN YOUR 140 CHARACTERS OR LESS I THINK ON
FRIDAY, THEY CHANGED THE STORY EVERY DAY, AND --
>> IT'S INCREDIBLE. >> THE MOST HARD CORE TRUMP
SUPPORTERS MAY BELIEVE THEY CAN SHOUT OUT FAKE NEWS, BUT THESE
ARE THE PRESIDENT'S OWN MEN AND WOMEN WHO ARE LEAKING AND IT'S
DON JR.'S OWN WORDS, AND IT LOOKS LIKE A LOT OF AMERICANS
JUST AREN'T BUYING THEIR OLD STORY ANYMORE.
>> WELL JOE, I THINK SEEING IT IN BLACK AND WHITE, SEEING IT IN
DONALD JR.'S EMAILS IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE, TO SEE HIM WRI WRIT
THAT, TO SEE POTENTIAL EVIDENCE OF COLLUSION RIGHT THERE IN
FRONT OF YOU IN HIS WORDS, IT'S HARD TO BRUSH THAT AWAY.
YOU CAN SPIN IT BUT YOU CAN EVEN SEE THE WHITE HOUSE MOVING TO A
NEW LINE WHICH IS TO SAY IT WASN'T ILLEGAL, THAT LAWS WERE
NOT BROKEN, THERE ARE NO LAWS AGAINST THIS KIND OF THING.
SO I'M NOT A LAWYER. I'M JUST GOING TO POINT OUT THAT
IF YOU'RE MOVING TOWARDS WHAT'S LEGAL AS OPPOSED TO WHAT'S RIGHT
OR PROPER YOU'RE BACKING YOURSELF INTO A BIT OF A CORNER.
I THINK WHO WE'RE SEEING LOST FOR TRUMP, JOE AND MIKA, ARE THE
TRUMP CURIOUS SUPPORTERS. THE CORE TRUMP VOTER IS ALWAYS
CORE TRUMP VOTER, HE'S DELIVERING WHAT THEY ASKED FOR,
TO BREAK UP WASHINGTON AND GO TO WAR IN WASHINGTON.
BUT THE TRUMP CURIOUS VOTER WAS CURIOUS TO SEE IF HIS STYLE
WOULD MAKE A DIFFERENCE, IF IT CHANGED HOW WASHINGTON WORKED
FOR THE BEST IF IT WOULD BE A NEW WAY OF DOING THINGS FORT THE
BETTER AND I THINK WHAT WE'RE SEEING HERE IS SOME LOSS OF
FAITH AND PERHAPS A KIND OF THROWING IN OF THE TOWEL AND
SAYING OH, IT'S THE USUAL THING IN WASHINGTON, TRUMP IS NO
DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHER GUYS. >> YES, AND MIKA, OBVIOUSLY, YOU
HAVE ALL THE LIES THAT ARE BEING TOLD, BUT YOU LOOK AT THE
POLICIES, AND THE MEDICAID CUTS WILL OF COURSE RAVAGE THE POOR.
>> YES. >> BUT WILL ALSO RAVAGE WORKING
CLASS AMERICANS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES THAT WENT FOR DONALD
TRUMP. I TALKED TO ONE HOSPITAL
CONSULTANT THIS PAST WEEKEND, IT WAS A BIG TRUMP SUPPORTER WHO
ACTUALLY SAID THAT COMMUNITIES ACROSS MIDDLE AMERICA THAT WENT
FOR TRUMP WILL SEE THE ECONOMIES DAMAGED.
THESE MASSIVE CUTS TO MEDICAID WILL ACTUALLY HIT THE TOP
EMPLOYERS IN THEIR COMMUNITIES THE BIGGEST, AND THAT'S THE
RURAL HOSPITALS. >> THAT'S WHEN THEY'LL REALLY
FEEL IT. ALYSE JORDAN, I WONDER ON THE
FACE OF IT, FOR THE CORE TRUMP SUPPORTER IF THEY'RE WATCHING
TRUMP OR DON JR. FOR EXAMPLE ON SEAN HANNITY'S SHOW, WHICH IS
ARGUABLY A HOST TO HIS IN THE TANK FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP
ARGUABLY, I WOULD SAY HE PROBABLY IS COMPLETELY BUT
THAT'S JUST MY OPINION. WHEN THEY SEE HIM SAYING POINT
BLANK THAT'S ALL THERE IS, IT WAS JUST ME, JARED, PAUL
MANAFORT, WHICH YOU WOULD THINK IS BAD ENOUGH, WITH THIS RUSSIAN
LAWYER, AND THEN YOU FIND OUT THERE'S ANOTHER PERSON AND YOU
FIND OUT THERE'S SIX PEOPLE AND YOU MIGHT FIND OUT THERE'S EIGHT
PEOPLE. I MEAN, HOW ARE YOU NOT AT THAT
POINT WAVERING ON WHETHER OR NOT THIS PRESIDENCY IS TELLING
AMERICA THE TRUTH? >> WELL I THINK THE PROBLEM WITH
HAVING DONALD TRUMP JR. AS YOUR FRONT MAN IS THAT HE DOESN'T
EXACTLY BRING CONFIDENCE OF HIS BASIC COMPETENCY, GIVEN HOW THIS
WHOLE EMAIL SCENARIO AND WHAT HE ACTUALLY DID, THESE UNSAVORY
MEETINGS WITH RUSSIA AFFILIATED INDIVIDUALS.
THAT ISN'T CONFIDENCE BUILDING. AND YOU LOOK AT THE POLICIES
THAT DONALD TRUMP IS TRYING TO ENACT AND YOU LOOK AT THE
MEMBERS OF THE CABINET THAT HE'S BROUGHT IN, AND HOW DOMINATED IT
IS BY CRONY CAPITALISM ESSENTIALLY AND DONALD TRUMP WAS
BROUGHT IN TO DESTROY SPECIAL INTERESTS.
HE WAS BROUGHT IN TO DIS DISRUPE SYSTEM, AND YOU JUST SEE MORE OF
THE SAME OLD SAME OLD. SO I WONDER HOW LONG IT'S GOING
TO TAKE, WITHOUT ANY TRACTION ON ANY ACTUAL POLICY FOR SOME OF
DONALD TRUMP, FOR DONALD TRUMP'S NUMBERS AMONG HIS HARD CORE
SUPPORTERS TO DROP, BUT I DO THINK THAT IT'S ALMOST
PSYCHOLOGICAL AT THIS POINT, IF YOU SUPPORTED TRUMP, YOU DO WANT
TO DIG IN TO YOUR SUPPORT JUST BECAUSE FOR SO LONG, EVERYONE IN
THE MEDIA WAS TELLING YOU THAT IT WAS A TERRIBLE DECISION, AND
THERE WAS, THIS WAS A LOT, WITH A LOT OF THE POLLING THAT WE
DID, THEY, THE SUPPORT FOR TRUMP WASN'T NECESSARILY REFLECTED IN
POLLS. SO I'LL BE INTERESTED TO SEE HOW
THAT RESOLVES. >> AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE
THAT DID DIGWERE TOLD THEY WERE FOOLISH FOR VOTING FOR
TRUMP OUT OF THE MEDIA AND ELITES OUT OF WASHINGTON, D.C.,
AND THEY'LL BE MORE RELUCTANT TO ADMIT TO A POLLSTER THEY'RE NO
LONGER SUPPORTING THIS GUY THAT THEY STUCK WITH FOR A YEAR AND A
HALF. DAVID IGNATIUS I WANT TO TALK
ABOUT ALYSE WAS TALKING ABOUT MORE OF THE SAME.
THERE IS ONE THING THAT DONALD TRUMP IS SAYING THAT IS MORE OF
THE SAME, AND THAT HIS LAWYERS ARE SAYING AND THAT THE
ADMINISTRATION'S NOW SAYING. NOW THAT THEY'VE JUST BEEN
BUSTED LYING TIME AND TIME AND TIME AGAIN ABOUT MEETING WITH
THE RUSSIANS ABOUT THIS SPECIFIC MEETING, DONALD TRUMP, THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES SAYING HEY, THERE'S NOTHING NEW
ABOUT OPPOSITION RESEARCH. US MEETING WITH THE FORMER KGB
AGENT, US MEETING WITH A SERIES OF RUSSIANS, US LYING ABOUT THE
PEOPLE WHO WERE IN ATTENDANCE THERE, US LYING ABOUT MANAFORT
AND JARED KUSHNER BEING NOTIFIED BY IT.
JARED KUSHNERUSHNER NOT PUTTING MORE PEOPLE -- THIS IS JUST MORE
OF THE SAME. EVERYBODY ENGAGES IN OPPOSITION
RESEARCH. EVERYBODY DOES THIS.
DAVID, I KNOW I'VE TALKED TO REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC
CONSULTANTS WHO HAVE WORKED ON HUNDREDS OF CAMPAIGNS.
I'VE YET TO MEET ONE THAT WOULD TALK TO THE RUSSIANS FOR
OPPOSITION RESEARCH, OR IRAN OR OTHER PEOPLE WHO WERE HOSTILE TO
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. WHAT ABOUT YOU?
HAVE YOU FOUND ANYONE TELLING YOU THAT THIS IS JUST MORE OF
THE SAME, OR IS THIS AS SERIOUS AS IT SEEMS?
>> JOE I THINK YOU PUT YOUR FINGER ON THE COMMON SENSE HEART
OF THIS. YOU GET AN EMAIL IN WHICH A MEET
SOMETHING PROPOSED WITH SOMEONE PRESCRIBED AS A REPRESENTATIVE
OF THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT WHICH WANTS TO GIVE YOU INFORMATION
THAT'S GOING TO HELP YOUR CAMPAIGN AND HURT YOUR OPPONENT,
AND I THINK THE NATURAL RESPONSE OF A LAW-ABIDING CITIZEN IN A
SITUATION WHERE RUSSIA IS REGARDED AS AN ADVERSARY IS YOU
PICK UP THE PHONE AND YOU CALL THE FBI AND SAY THE RUSSIANS ARE
TRYING TO SET UP A MEETING WITH ME.
WHAT SHOULD I DO? WHAT'S APPROPRIATE HERE?
>> DAVID, THIS ISN'T EVEN A CLOSE CALL, IS IT?
I CAN'T IMAGINE SOMEBODY COMING TO MY OFFICE WHEN I WAS IN
CONGRESS SAYING HEY, WE HAVE OPPOSITION RESEARCH ON THE
DEMOCRAT. IT'S FROM THE RUSSIAN
GOVERNMENT. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE THE
MEETING?
I'D SAY GO TO HELL, YOU'RE FIRED AND GO TO THE PERSON OVER MY
SHOULDER AND SAY GET ME THE FBI. THIS IS NOT A CLOSE CALL.
>> THIS IS NOT A CLOSE CALL FOR ANYONE I KNOW AND TALKED TO WHO
SERVES IN GOVERNMENT AND DEALS WITH SENSITIVE ISSUES.
IT'S ASTONISHING THAT JARED KUSHNER STILL HAS HIS SECURITY
CLEARANCES WHEN HE HAS DISCLOSED THAT CONTRARY TO INITIAL
DISCLOSURE FORMS, HE HAD MEETINGS LIKE THIS.
THE PRESIDENT HAS THE AUTHORITY TO DECIDE WHO GETS THESE
CLEARANCES AND WHO DOESN'T, BUT JOE, I'M STRUCK AS I WATCH THIS
UNFOLD IT'S A LITTLE BIT LIKE AN ARMY RETREATING.
THERE'S A STRONG POSITION THAT'S SET, AND THEN IT'S OVERRUN, AND
THEN YOU RETREAT TO ANOTHER POSITION, AND THEN YOU ARE
ASSERTING SOMETHING DIFFERENT AND THEN THAT ONE GETS OVERRUN
AND YOU PULL BACK A LITTLE FURTHER AND I THINK THAT'S PART
OF THE TRUMP TEAM'S PROBLEM IS THAT THEY JUST DON'T HAVE FIRM
LINES THAT THEY CAN HOLD AS EACH NEW REVELATION COMES, THERE'S A
SCRAMBLE. THEY'D LOVE TO HAVE SOMETHING
HARD TO GIVE BACK TO THEIR BASE. I THINK THAT'S WHY HEALTH CARE
IS SO IMPORTANT. THEY HAVE TO DELIVER SOMETHING
THAT SHOWS WE'RE GOVERNORING. IT'S NOT JUST THIS CLOUD OF
PHONY SCANDAL, WE'RE GOVERNORING, AND THEY DON'T HAVE
THAT YET. >> I DON'T GET THAT.