AUTHOR OF "SOUL OF AMERICA" AND AN MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR, JOHN
MEACHAM.
MEACHAM. >> LET’S LOOK AT THOSE NUMBERS
QUICKLY.
QUICKLY. >> AGAIN?
>> AGAIN? >> WILLIE, THE PRESIDENT WAS
RIDING PRETTY HIGH IN THE
SPRING.
SPRING. HE WAS GETTING UP TO 42, 43,
44%.
44%. IMMEDIATELY DID TWO THINGS.
ALMOST AS IF THEY WERE ACTS OF
SELF-SABOTAGE.
SELF-SABOTAGE. ONE WAS CHILD SEPARATION POLICY
WHICH WE’RE NOW FINDING OUT FROM
THE WOODWARD BOOK EVERYONE IN
THE WHITE HOUSE WAS FREAKED OUT
ABOUT AND HE WAS WARNED BY PAUL
RYAN AND WARNED BY MAJORITY
LEADER MITCH McCONNELL YOU’RE
GOING DOWN.
GOING DOWN. THIS POLICY IS GOING TO TAKE YOU
DOWN.
DOWN. THEN THE SECOND THING, HE HAD
THE DISASTROUS PRESS CONFERENCE
AT HELSINKI THAT ONLY HIS MOST
LOYAL HACKS DARE TO DEFEND.
>> SEVERAL MOMENTS AND I WOULD
EVEN ADD JOHN McCAIN’S FUNERAL
TO THAT THAT WERE SORT OF
TRANSPOLITICAL.
TRANSPOLITICAL. THEY DEFIED PARTISANSHIP WHICH
IS SEPARATING PARENTS AND
CHILDREN AND THE HELSINKI MOMENT
WHERE ON THE WORLD STAGE HE WAS
GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO STICK UP
ON A GUT LEVEL, STICK UP FOR
YOUR COUNTRY AGAINST SOMEBODY
WHO SUBVERTED OUR ELECTION AND
DEMOCRACY.
DEMOCRACY. HE DIDN’T DO IT.
LAST WEEKEND AND LAST WEEK
DURING THE CELEBRATION OF JOHN
McCAIN’S WIFE WHEN HE LOOKED
SMALL AND PETTY AND WOULDN’T
JOIN IN THAT CELEBRATION, OF
COURSE HE WASN’T INVITED TO THE
FUNERAL BUT WOULDN’T SAY KIND
WORDS ABOUT JOHN McCAIN AND THE
LIFE HE HAD.
IF YOU LOOK INSIDE THAT "THE
WASHINGTON POST" ABC POLL OF THE
MUELLER INVESTIGATION WHEN THE
MAJORITY OF AMERICANS SIX IN TEN
BELIEVE MULL CERTIFICATE DOING
THE RIGHT THING INVESTIGATING,
HE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO GO ABOUT
HIS BUSINESS A MAJORITY SIX IN
TEN DON’T BELIEVE PAUL MANAFORT
SHOULD BE PARDONED.
PEOPLE ARE NOT BUYING HIS
SUBVERSION OF THE FBI, THE
SUBVERSION OF MUELLER, AND EVEN
HIS SUBVERSION OF THE MEDIA.
>> MIKE, IF YOU LOOK AT THOSE
NUMBERS, THERE’S A LOT OF LAZY
PUNDITRY GOING AROUND.
OF COURSE, I WON THAT AWARD FOR
THE PAST 11 YEARS.
>> NO, YOU HAVEN’T.
>> SO I KNOW WHAT I SPEAK.
BUT THERE’S A TON OF LAZY
PUNDITRY GOING ON.
RUDY GIULIANI CRAZY, OR CRAZY
LIKE A FOX?
I’M STILL HEARING PEOPLE SAY
WELL, YOU KNOW, GIULIANI STUFF
IS WORKING BECAUSE ROBERT
MUELLER’S NUMBERS ARE GOING --
NO THEY ARE NOT.
YOU LOOK AT THE POLLS, YOU LOOK
AT THE "THE WASHINGTON POST,"
ABC NEWS POLL, AMERICANS BELIEVE
ROBERT MUELLER.
ROBERT MUELLER. AMERICANS DON’T BELIEVE DONALD
TRUMP.
TRUMP. AMERICANS BELIEVE ROBERT MUELLER
SHOULD CONTINUE HIS
INVESTIGATION.
INVESTIGATION. AMERICANS BELIEVE DONALD TRUMP’S
ATTEMPTS TO STOP THAT
INVESTIGATION ARE WRONGHEADED
AND DANGEROUS.
AND DANGEROUS. AMERICANS SAY, LIKE ONLY 18% OF
AMERICANS SAY PAUL MANAFORT
SHOULD BE PARDONED.
OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF
AMERICANS I THINK IT’S IN THE
HIGH 60s SAY HE SHOULD NOT.
RUDY GIULIANI HAS LOST.
HE’S NOT ONLY LOST HIS
REPUTATION.
REPUTATION. HE’S LOST THE ARGUMENT BEFORE
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
DONALD TRUMP HAS ONCE AGAIN
CHEWED UP AND SPIT OUT SOMEBODY
WHO PREVIOUSLY HAD A GOOD
REPUTATION AND THE BIG LOSER IN
THE END IS DONALD TRUMP.
>> WELL, I WOULD SUBMIT PART OF
THAT LAEZY Y LAZY PUNDITRY IS RU
GIULIANI AND CONSTANT REFERENCE
TO DONALD TRUMP’S BASE.
WHICH I FEEL PERSONALLY IS MUCH
SMALLER THAN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT
IN THIS COUNTRY.
BUT IF YOU LOOK AT THOSE POLL
NUMBERS, MAYBE JOHN MEACHAM CAN
HELP ME OUT HERE.
I THINK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU
HAVE AN ADMINISTRATION INVOLVED
IN LITERALLY KIDNAPPING CHILDREN
AT THE BORDER, I THINK MANY
AMERICANS PAUSE.
AMERICANS PAUSE. THEY PAY ATTENTION AND THINK TO
THEMSELVES IS THAT WHO WE REALLY
ARE AS A COUNTRY?
THAT HELPS, I THINK DIMINISH HIS
POLL NUMBERS.
POLL NUMBERS. I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, MEACHAM,
BUT I THINK PEOPLE THINK ABOUT
THESE THINGS MUCH MORE THAN WE
GIVE PEOPLE CREDIT FOR.
>> I AGREE.
I THINK THERE’S A SEEP EFFECT.
WE ALL REACTED AS TENNESSEE
WILLIAMS WAY LIKE A CAT ON A HOT
TIN ROOF BECAUSE WE FOLLOW IT SO
CLOSELY.
CLOSELY. FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE THE
CUMULATIVE EFFECT OF PUBLIC
ACTIONS ACTUALLY TAKE A WHILE TO
SHAPE THEIR PERSONAL OPINIONS
AND THAT’S TOTALLY
UNDERSTANDABLE.
UNDERSTANDABLE. BUT I DON’T THINK THERE’S ANY
DOUBT THAT WHEN WE LOOK BACK AT
THIS, THE CHILD SEPARATION
POLICY, THE HEADING INTO THE
PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS WHERE YOU
HAD THE RULE OF LAW, YOU HAD THE
COHEN AND MANAFORT NEWS, THE CFO
BEGINNING TO COOPERATE, YOU HAD
SENATOR McCAIN, WHICH WAS KIND
OF THIS ENORMOUS REMINDER OF WHO
WE WOULD PREFER TO BE IF WE’RE
NOT ALWAYS THAT, AND THEN YOU
HAVE BOTH THE WOODWARD BOOK AND
THE OP-ED WHICH PROVIDE THIS
REAL-TIME INTEL ON HOW CHAOTIC
THINGS ARE INSIDE.
AND THE WISE GUY THING TO SAY IS
WELL WE ALWAYS KNEW THAT.
OKAY, FINE.
OKAY, FINE. BUT POLITICS IS NOT, YOU KNOW, A
CLINICAL BUSINESS.
CLINICAL BUSINESS. IT TAKES TIME FOR THESE MOMENTS
TO CONGEAL AND I DON’T KNOW IF
THIS IS ONE BUT CERTAINLY FEELS
THAT WAY AS WE HEAD INTO A CLEAR