but first peter doocy on how this is all playing out with the folks in west virginia. good evening, peter. >> we have long known that don blankenship would be getting good news next wednesday because that's when his probation ends, but now he may be in a better position to get good news the day before the west virginia primary day because our politics editor believes blankenship may get as much as an eight-point boost from the nationally televised debate last night which basically featured blankenship standing stage right and watching while the two offense holders sharing the debate stayed with him chipped away at each other by trading brutal attack lines and accusations with one another and largely leaving blankenship out of it. but when the former colburn did speak he won applause and laughter from the constituents in the room with one-liners about his conviction and his residency in nevada. he apparently did well enough to have the conservative weekly standard now looking ahead to a possible match up with joe manchin. david bieler over there skeptically writes this.

pritchard, s joe in west virginia. the president tweeting about the primary taking place tomorrow. to the great people of west virginia, we have together a big chance of making a big difference. said.esident the problem is don blankenship, republican running for the nomination, the president says he's currently -- he can't win the general election in your state. way. remember, alabama. the president tweeted. jenkins or a.g.

dave: i heard someone say opposite about west virginia. the congressman from southwest virginia who they beat in the primary. i would continue watching that race though. the question of the trumpcare is whether people can still run on their own brands or whether the reality tv president can make every race about supporting me or not supporting me. west virginia is a perfect test. .e is a talented politician he has voters who have -- about 1/3 voted for romney and him on the same day in 2012. it's a relatively mediocre republican candidate. if they are winning that race, that says a lot about the hardening of the party cost brands. -- party's brands. steve: thank you for your insights on "newsmakers." we appreciate it. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] this week, former new jersey governor chris christie was interviewed by david axelrod at the university of chicago. you can see that conversation today at 6:35 p.m. eastern on c-span. great skill as a grand strateg

tim, i want to begin with you and west virginia. because while don blankenship did not win, the man who went to prison related to the deaths of hisiners at one of messy energy coal mines, he did rock the republican party. i want to go right now to his ad. this is one of don blankenship's ads or he attacked mitch mcconnell in a so-called "china family." mcconnell, who has opposed the senate run, , is meant to secretary of transportation elaine chao. cooks and candidate for u.s. senate and i approve this message. mcconnell has greeted millions of jobs for china people will doing so he has gotten rich. in fact, his china family has given him tens of lanes of dollars. images one people now running false negative ads against me. there also child asleep callinig me -- childless legally despicable. ditch be joe manchin and cocaine mitch for the sake of the kids. amy: cocaine mitch and the china family and elaine chao's father referred to as the china person. you might just say, welell, he lolost, that is the point. but this was very signif

west virginia is a perfect test. a talented politician who has a strong brand for decades in the state, i think about a third of the electorate voted for romney and him on the same day in 2012 good -- 2012. i think that could keep a mediocre republican candidate in the race. you forth of you, and your questions and insights. we appreciate it. ," this weekend on "afterwords james clapper with his book "facts and fears." he is interviewed by democrat jim himes. >> what are the weaknesses the intelligence community has today, the changes that guys like you and me need to think about the next 10, 20 years in intelligence? weakness that at least the 9/11 commission came out with was the fact that the community was not as integrated and collaborative as it needed to be. and so it was they who recommended the creation of a leadership position whose full-time job would be to foster and promote integration across the multiple components of the intelligence community. at one point in the run-up to the law that came out that wa

i will say virginia started down the pathway a number of years ago. did not happen overnight and it started with our stakeholder engagement around the clean power plant in federal regulation covering carbon emission from the power sector. our stakeholder engagement in talking to industry groups, environmental groups, science -based groups, everyone across the board recognizes the power of a market and the power of establishing a program that was ready and that was the beauty of the claim power plant that there was flexibility for states to embark upon that type of regulatory program, so as we moved through the process of working through our own state regulatory approach to comply with the clean power plant-- the clean power plan was at the federal level by the supreme court and we actually had a meeting of our stakeholders that we asked them do you want to continue and everyone unanimously said yes, we want to continue working through this because our utilities, our pricing carbon in the long range plan and carbon is known as a huge regulatory risk fo

virginia voters that head to the polls tomorrow. there are also primary races in indiana, ohio and north carolina. so it's a good time for politics monday. i'm joined by amy walter of the d "cook political report" e newly-announced friday host of public radio international's" "the takeawa and shawna thomas of vice news.a amy and wna, welcome. let's talk about some to have primaries now. we've talked about thture to have republican party -- future of the republican party, how the races have gone. what can we learn from the primaries? >> i think lisa did an excellent job ofit setting the stage here and ohio and west virginia with west virginia themes, democratic incumbents sit in the states. they are t, ep d stp esge dald tstrumrp carried. the second is the embrace of donald trump, both his message and -- as well as his policies. there's a lot of talk about draining the swamp and building the wall. finally, looks very familiar to 2016, all the candidates runaing t washington but many of them are part of washington, either are a peb of

tim, i want to begin with you and west virginia. because while don blankenship did not win, the man who went to prison related to the deaths of hisiners at one of messy energy coal mines, he did rock the republican party. i want to go right now to his ad. this is one of don blankenship's ads or he attacked mitch mcconnell in a so-called "china family." mcconnell, who has opposed the sesenate run, , is meant to secretary of transportation elaine chao. cooks and candidate for u.s. senate and i approve this message. mcconnell has greeted millions of jobs for china people will doing so he has gotten rich. in fact, his china family has given him tens of lanes of dollars. images one people now running false negative ads against me. there also child asleep callinig me -- childless legally despicable. ditch be joe manchin and cocaine mitch for the sake of the kids. amy: cocaine mitch and the china family and elaine chao's father referred to as the china person. you might just say, welell, he lolost, that is the point. but this was very sign

i'm not a voter in west virginia. nonetheless somehow, it seems to me blankenship is out trump, trump. he is the trump guy here. pop list energized candidate. that's what trump brought to the political scene in america and to west virginia. >> karl, what do you expect tomorrow night? >> i think it's going to be a economicked -- complicated night. 38% of the voters were undecided. we don't know what's happening here. sure some of then cob attract -- could be attracted by mr. blankenship. i give the people west virginia more credit. i don't think a bigoted approach to politics, something that's tearing down somebody not in the race coming from mouth of man who is convicted from jail who can't register to vote in nevada. his company has worst record of mine safety for decades. who oversaw a mine safety violations that results in death of 29 miners. i'm not sure that's a winning record even in the republican primary in west virginia. >> you're right. it will be fascinating to see which way undecided voters go. it might be

. >>> plus, primary voters in west virginia off to the races. with a democratic candidate who voted trump. >> i'd rather fight than eat. >> and a republican who says he's trumpier than trump. >> trump captain mitch mcconnell has created millions of jobs for china people. >> so why is the president arguing against him? but first the "nightline" 5. our 3 contestants are all at the big ikea table. contestant #1, impressive knife skills. but contestant #2 fights back by using fresh parsley. make room for the judge! what's your dream? at ikea, we help you live it. make the dream yours. our 3 contestants are all at the big ikea table. contestant #1, impressive knife skills. but contestant #2 fights back by using fresh parsley. make room for the judge! what's your dream? at ikea, we help you live it. make the dream yours. >>> good evening. we begin with the story of tyra patterson. sentenced to decades in prison after she says she was coerced into a false confession. she used her time behind bars to start a career and become an inspiration to others. t

as you see in west virginia, as you saw in alabama. but i'm really struck by the fact that, you know, even with all of the problems that donald trump has, all the problems looming on the horizon for him, within the republican party, every one of these primaries is a contest who is the most trump-like, who can bend the knee the most, you know, significantly to donald trump. there's almost no opposition or even skepticism about trump in any of these primaries, which is an indication of what's happened to the republican base. >> now, katie, the question becomes if you listen to the coverage of our lead story tonight, it was grave and morose at times. if this thing goes south and we become mired even more than we are in investigations and hearings, do you think that eagerness, that willingness to attach themselves to donald trump is situational? >> well, i think as your previous guest pointed out, or maybe it was actually blankenship pointed out when i was listening to him on the feed a moment ago, donald trump enjoys a really high popular

senate race in west virginia. the controversial front runner there don blankenship, served prison time for his role in a deadly mine explosion, is running against two establishment republicans. president trump is even urging voters to reject blankenship and vote for one of the other republicans instead. that's news. >> and since it's primary day, you know what that means. joining us now, steve kornacki. what is the gop so nervous about in west virginia? could he really win this thing? >> this is the million dollar question. the backdrop, this is the most pro trump state in america. every single county in 2016 in west virginia went for trump. he won the state by 42 points. you're not going to find a more pro trump state than that. here's the setup. joe manchin, the democrat, republicans in a state like this think that's a very ripe democrat. this is the most recent public poll we have. public meaning media organization sponsored it. we can review it. we know the numbers. it's a week old. look, a week ago this was t

i received training at fort eustis, virginia. ,he school was very high-tech and they taught me the basic skills as to how disassemble a uh one helicopter, reassemble, and how to work on various components. joe: you must have thought you were going to never get out of virginia. john: you are absolutely right, sir. at fortice to be

tim, i want to begin with you and west virginia. because while don blankenship did not win, the man who went to prison related to the deaths of hisiners at one of messy energy coal mines, he did rock the republican party. i want to go right now to his ad. this is one of don blankenship's ads or he attacked mitch mcconnell in a so-called "china family." mcconnell, who has opposed the senate run, is meant to secretary of transportation elaine chao. cooks and candidate for u.s. senate and i approve this message. mcconnell has greeted millions of jobs for china people will doing so he has gotten rich. in fact, his china family has given him tens of lanes of dollars. images one people now running false negative ads against me. there also child asleep calling me -- childless legally despicable. ditch be joe manchin and cocaine mitch for the sake of the kids. amy: cocaine mitch and the china family and elaine chao's father referred to as the china person. you might just say, well, he lost, that is the point. but this was very significant a

john: i received training at fort eustis, virginia. the school was very high-tech, and they taught me the basic skills as to how to disassemble a uh1 helicopter, reassemble, and how to work on various components. very good training. joe: you must have thought you were going to never get out of virginia. john: you are absolutely right,

thanks for your insight from west virginia. i appreciate it. >> my pleasure, chris, any time. >>> still to come, the massive implications for war and peace as donald trump chooses to withdraw, to leave the iran deal. we'll talk about what happens next. plus scott pruitt becoming a fixture in thing one and thing two, next. >>> thing one tonight, scott pruitt, the mary lou retton has travel expenses that are legendary thanks to his flying first class from the interactions that could sometimes happen in coach. >> issues that arise in travel and there have been instances unfortunately during my time as administrator as i spent time -- of interaction not been the best. >> the official reason he gave for flying first class everywhere is the same reason he has for 24 hour secret -- security detail and approaching $3 million according to an epa official, including a 20-member full time detail more than three times the size of his predecessor and the justification is what the epa spokesperson called an unprecedented number of threats ag

welcome. >> not born in west virginia, raised in west virginia. >> shannon: but you claim it. >> and west virginia and, yes, ma'am. >> shannon: this is the tweet from the president to the great people of west virginia, we have together a really great chance to keep making a big difference. the problem is don blankenship currently running for senate can't win the general election in your state. no way! remember alabama, vote jenkins or morrissey. a lot of folks out there say everyone thought donald trump couldn't win. please going wild and wonderful like they do in west virginia. who's to say of any of these three could or couldn't beat him? >> everything that was said about him was set about donald trump at 2016. i remember because i said some of it. one of the reasons that roy moore won in alabama was because alabamians said to trump if you can do it, why can't he? the allegations -- they are not allegations, what don blankenship was convicted of it is very different than the allegations against roy moore for creeping on teenage girls when he was a prosecutor. this is a very differe

flee three main candidates in west virginia. if you talk to the campaigns, they are very, very nervous that don blankenship's, i'm not a politician, i'll vote with trump, and i hate mitch mcconnell might work. >> obama persecuted me which i think has been his get out of jail free card, no pun intended, in this primary by the fact that he's explaining away his imprisonment saying it was a plot by the last democratic president who you voters in the state really don't like at all, which i thought was a pretty effective comeback to these charges. but yeah, they thought he had faded in the polls. this was a lot of money spent against him in the last few weeks, but he has made his way back. as you well know, when you have a three-person race and two of the candidates are hitting each other, guess what happens? the third candidate in the race tends to rise, and that's what's going on out there. the other two candidates in the race going after each other and blarng blankenship has crept up there. >> and the very same mood exists out the

virginia let me start out with donald trump jr., he's tweeted out that west virginia voters should reject blankenship and blankenship responded. >> my son says lots of things i wish he wouldn't say too. but basically the administration needs to a seat in the senate. if they're not going to get it, they need me. >> they need me in the u.s. senate was the same card that roy moore tried to play in alabama. that did not go well. what's different this time around? the president obviously does need those types but he's distancing himself from don blankenship. >> blankenship vies with roy moore for just depths of depravity and maybe it goes further than roy moore did. he was wildly considered responsible for the deaths of more than 20 miners and is a convicted felon. and then says these racist things including mitch mcconnell's wife. we're not talking about, you know, an ordinary -- this is not a partisan question any more, but to have don jr. go and give him lots of support and say we can't lose like we did in alabama, like this is just football and have blankenship come back and say, you know,

so they do reach out to virginia to make the case. in regard to the rest of the issues, the subpoenas and what the house investigators are doing, i will be honest with you. they really ought to just let mueller investigation go forward. this whole corruption piece and picking and choosing -- -- mike >> laura: heaven forbid we have congress hold the executive branch accountable. they all keep each other honest. >> it's still an ongoing investigation. >> laura: if the ongoing investigation is a travesty of justice, then yes, we do want them to have an oversight responsibility. >> there will be time enough for that at the conclusion of the investigation. >> laura: okay guys, we are out of time, thank you so much. by the way, the press versus sarah sanders, you don't want to miss it. tonight angle, next. you could book a flight, hotel, car, and activity all in one place. ♪ mr. elliot, what's your wiwifi?ssword? wifi's ordinary. basic. do i look basic? nope! which is why i have xfinity xfi. it's super fast and you can control every devic

not only touches on west virginia issues but a lot of west virginia issues touch on national issues. the opioid crisis here is outsized and obviously it's a major crisis around the country. there are a lot of issues that intersect. we have been working for a while on trying to come up with good questions. >> it's an interesting race given how well president trump did here. the fact that he is an 87% approval rating in west virginia, dana. all of these candidates have tried to out-trump each other. we're going to see how trumpy they are and where they differ from the president. it's going to be an interesting testing and applies to all the midterm races in one way, shape, or form across the country and this is a great place to start. >> dana: we all have questions. we will go to juan. >> juan: hi, i was interested in the lineup. tonight you've got evan jenkins, patrick morrisey, don blankenship. and morrissey of course is the west virginia attorney general. speaking to exactly what bret was talking about, the opioid crisis, he's a guy who has sued the dea. he says he wants to know mor

west virginia's really important here. we talk a lot about how republicans are facing head winds of course on the house side. >> but this is your blue wave. we keep getting candidates like this. >> on the senate side -- >> that's a lousy blue wave. the choice is a guy who went to prison or a potential pedophile. >> exactly. republicans don't want to be in this situation again obviously. west virginia is an easy state for them to win on paper, right. i mean, it's the place where donald trump is most popular. the place he won i think by the most. and he goes there frequently and has been going after manchin. >> blankenship, a silver tray, like here, joe manchin, here you go. that's a no brainer. >> and they've been trying to gain seats where democrats are holding on. if they blow this tomorrow, that just shows kind of where the party -- >> obviously the west virginia republican party has no control over, you know, letting this guy -- that's one of the things, stephanie. they actually could come out and say we don't endorse t

it's in west virginia. joe manchin, the democrat, these are the republicans vying to run against him. what you're look at here is the most recent public poll. i mean a media poll. we can all look at the numbers and dissect them. they put it all out there. the most recent public poll, about a week ago had don blankenship running in dead last. republicans in washington have spent a fortune trying to stop blankenship, the former coal mining executive, he was in prison for safety violations, they think he would be a disaster as a candidate and a disaster for the republican party, and they thought a week ago that they had nipped it in the bud. but this is what's happening the last 48 hours or so. a streex headlines about internal polls. these are not public polls. we can't look at them, but the rival republican campaigns in west virginia are sounding the alarm. they say blankenship is surging in their polls. they say he's taken the lead in their polls. they say he could actually win this primary in west virginia

dave: i heard someone say the opposite about west virginia. they worry about the congressman from southwest virginia who they beat in the primary. they were worried about him. i would continue watching that race though. era isstion of the trump whether people can still run on their own brands or whether the reality tv president can make every race about supporting me or not supporting me. and west virginia is a perfect test. manchin is a talented politician. about half of the electorate voted for romney and him on the same day in 2012. it's a relatively mediocre republican candidate. if they are winning that race, that says a lot about the hardening of the party's brands. steve: david weigel, alexi mccammond. thank you for your insights on "newsmakers." we appreciate it. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] >> watch our live coverage of the utah senate by mary debate with -- primary debate from brigham young university. make c-span your primary source for campaign 2018. us live sunday at noon for the year-long special featu

so, tom, who are west virginia voters more likely to listen to? the trumpier than trump guy or the trump himself? >> well, obviously, with the way west virginians love president trump, as much as he carried west virginia, and as much as patrick morsi and evan jenkins have been pfighting over showin who's trumpian than ever, i think west virginian the love trump more. for branchenship, can he overcome what happened with the mine disaster and convince enough voters he wasn't the one responsible for that. >> it was a case related to that, that sent him to prison. go to ohio. i love the governor's race there, bob, and not just because i'm from ohio. there's a great headline in the cincinnati newspaper that reads "the whaacky bitter battle to replace john kucinich." give us the lay of the land there. >> i think no one can up-liberal dennis kucinich. cordray is in an uphill battle and only trying to do that when questioned about his progressive credentials. he's more of a mainstream or moderate time democrat. that appeals to a lot of democrats i think.

>> glor: ed o'keefe reporting from west virginia. thanks. the national do not call list now includes nearly 230 million numbers, but a lot of us are still getting those sales calls inring dinner. complaints are up 120% since 2014. s na werner shows us some actims are getting even, but even that can be a tough sell. ( phone ringing ) >> when someone is on the do not call list, it means do not call. >> reporter: but telemarketers did call deborah turner. >> i want to introduce you to the latest from dish. >> reporter: dish network called her 15 times in 2010 and 2011 asking her to sign up for their satellite tv service. she said no every time. >> i'm not interested in lianging companies. strike me off the list and move forward. >> reporter: then she got another call, this time from a man telling her she could receive up to $18,000 through a eaass action lawsuit. >> yeah, right. that's my first thought, right. >> reporter: that call came from attorney john barrett, who won a lawsuit against dish network for illegal telemarketing. you went after

john: i received training at fort eustis, virginia. the school was very high-tech, and they taught me the basic skills as to how to disassemble a uh1 helicopter, reassemble, and how to work on various components. very good training. joe: you must have thought you were going to never get out of virginia. john: you are absolutely right, sir. [laughter] but it was nice to be at fort eustis, it was only a few miles

but not here in west virginia. that is big because his support is seen as critical to whoever wants to try to unseat the democratic incumbent joe manchin. >> dana: i'm sure they are checking the twitter feeds anxiously all the time. peter, thank you. >> please raise your hand if you would support mitch mcconnell for republican leader in the senate. [laughter] [applause] >> okay. we noted that. got that. >> i don't have any doubt about it. >> dana: one of the headline moments from last night's debate where the republican candidates refused to raise their hand in support of senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. joining me now is the politics editor at the national journal. i want your take on that. going against whoever is in power is the thing to do. we will talk about nancy pelosi in a moment. i wonder about the mitch mcconnell piece. if you are supportive of the president agenda on the economy and confirmations, especially with judges, mitch mcconnell has actually been quite instrumental to help support presiden

west virginia, indiana and ohio. i know you are very familiar with all of them but i want to start with west virginia. one of the candidates don blankenship had decided that you were public enemy number one. and he really went after you and personally attacked you and your family. i know that you have got a thick skin but when it does come to attacking your family, does it feel different? >> well, i'm glad the people of pest -- the people of west virginia deciding that approach for attacking me and my family is a distant third place. >> dana: i know you are probably pleased because you think it gives you a better chance to beat senator joe manchin. does it play in case in indiana where you have mike braun who beat out the two congressmen trying to win that republican nomination? >> yeah. i think all three of the nominees in indiana would have been clearly electable. mike braun who won the primary ran a good race and he will be our nominee and i think he can win in november. we had a couple of cycles in 12010 and 2012

a senate primary in west virginia. there is growing concern among republicans that former don blankenship is zursurging. they'd reviewed polling showing blankenship moving ahead and if blanken ship does not secure the republican party's nomination, he told them yesterday he does not rule out the possibilities of a third party run. west virginia law contains a sore loser clause. backlash for his term of the china people, he released this aid owe radio ad. >> they seem not to realize that china is a country, not a race. the establishment homicide given millions of our jobs to china people and left many west virginia people top fend for themselves send me to the senate and i will represent west virginia people and not china people. >> so many things in that story -- >> so many thing to talk about. >> i like the sore loser clause. >> very original. >> let's get a check on your weather with bill karins. >> this is going to be a fantastic week. this is the reward week after that miserable spring we've had. there's really not

and 735 in fairmont, west virginia. and that is where todd piro is, he is live at dj's 50's and 60's diner. when you look up, what does a quintessential diner look like in wikipedia? it would look exactly like the place you are at right now. >> you nailed it, steve. we had dinner here last night, producer matt and i and the food as well is quintessential 50's, 60's diner. the decor is all 50's, 60's artists. we are having a great time. we are here in west virginia because as you know tonight 6:30 big debate on the fox news channel. bret baier, martha maccallum and republican primary debate the three main candidates there in the debate going to be on the sage. what is interesting about cheryl she is a retired police worker if you will because she worked in dispatch. she is also a pastor. she is one of the individuals one of those democrats who says the democratic party left me. i didn't leave them. you are an independent. why? >> i just don't agree with their policies. i have find that they are totally against anything t

he is a senior judge in the eastern district of virginia. i think a long time ago i interviewed with him. very well respected, appointed by president reagan because in '87. but he was brutal on the counsel who was arguing the case, who is basically a deputy -- a general who's now in the mueller office. what were your thoughts on his comments about how this is really outside the scope of the mueller authority? >> i was astonished by the comments the judge made today, although it's not surprising. everything in this case has just gone off the rails. there's not a day that goes by that something new and crazy doesn't break. finally just today we were able to get the two pages that we needed that we now know that comey and mccabe did in fact say that general flynn -- that agents didn't think he was lying. so you have to judge saying that they're lying, the mueller team's lying. now you have the case where we know that mr. comey has been lying out there publicly. this continues to just i think -- it's bewildering, quite frankly. >> comey basicall

west virginia will be a big story. indiana set up right now to be one of the prime, if not the prime republican pickup opportunities. >> of course, in west virginia joe mansion was the governor before. he has statewide appear and that may be how he mansions to survivor. a very tough year in state that whent so overwhelmingly pro-trump. great reporting. thank you so much. >> sure. >>> coming up, stop the presses. president trump's new threat to the media. we have to scoop coming up next. (vo) i was born during the winter of '77. i first met james in 5th grade. we got married after college. and had twin boys. but then one night, a truck didn't stop. but thanks to our forester, neither did our story. and that's why we'll always drive a subaru. gives skin the moisture it needs and keeps it there longer with lock-in moisture technology skin is petal smooth after all, a cleanser's just a cleanser unless it's olay. searching one topic. that will generate over 600 million results. and if you've been diagnosed with cancer, sear

paid attention to west virginia politics. particularly, the senate race. you had a duo of rockefeller and bird. but now we get national attention and we're getting national intervention. >> dana: i'm joined by the host of the show. and fox news editor chris stirewalt. it is good to have you both on the show. what is state of the race going in the debate? >> well, this is just like robert rupp said. intervention. you are in here. this is a national story now. and the race has been whittled down, there are six candidates running for the republican nomination and it's down to three, patrick morrisey, evan jenkins and don blankenship. this is very close. it could be decided tonight by the guy who had the best night tonight. >> dana: you answered the question i had for chris. >> we have needed intervention a long time. this is good because it gives me -- >> dana: i want to ask about that. the question of can a debate like this really have an impact and be the deciding factor going into the final stretch of this election? >> absolu

morgan radford in west virginia. ali batel is standing by, where we've seen one of the nastiest primaries in the country so far. what are you hearing to voters there this hoosier country? >> they've had exactly that takeaway. people have remarked on the fact this was a really negative primary. some of the folks said that almost turned them off from voting. they felt it was too much of a responsibility. most of them are really focused on this race. really as a means to get to november, the goal here among a lot of the republicans i've been talking to is to beat joe done nal donnelly. take a look. >> so we were somewhat disappointed how it seemed to be in a downward spiral. and we were sorry that it got to that point. because i think they could have kept that discussion on a higher plane. >> overall, i felt there was too many emphasis on the negative aspects and not enough on the candidate's qualifications. >> we think senator donnelly has proven himself to be fairly moderate as a senator. i think maybe he's even been

that ruling is not binding on virginia, but it certainly will be read by the judge in virginia. and it is unusual to have judges in identical issues come up with opposite conclusions. so i think the mueller office has to be not only pleased about the d.c. ruling, but -- >> whatever the impact -- >> -- the effect on virginia as well. >> so the bottom line, at least on the d.c. trial is, it's going to trial. >> right. >> is there a timeline on that? >> it's currently scheduled for this summer, but i -- you know, those tend to, once there's a trial date, the judges tend to sometimes be sympathetic to defense requests to delay it. there's also the possibility of one or both parties saying, this shouldn't go on during the campaign. >> so if the -- if the virginia court, as well, goes along with what the d.c. court said, is it possible for manafort to be battling -- will it continue to battle in two courts? >> absolutely. >> can both trials run concurrently? >> no, they can't run concurrently. the judges have to coordinate their schedules, given the same person, the same lawyers can't

goodlatte of virginia. the speaker pro tempore: pursuant to house resolution 872, the gentleman from virginia, mr. goodlatte, and a member posed, each will control five minutes. the chair recognizes the gentleman from california. mr. goodlatte: mr. speaker, i have an amendment at the desk. this amendment makes a series of useful technical and clarifying changes suggested by the federal trade commission. at the f.t.c.'s request the amendment adds language stating explicitly that the agency retains independent litigating authority in merger cases brought under the clayton act. this makes clear that the f.t.c. is not forced to rely on the department of justice in these cases. the amendment also strikes language referring to the f.t.c.'s authority to issue civil investigative demands in merger cases. this is because the reference is unnecessary and could create a negative inference that the f.t.c. does not enjoy such authority in other context. the amendment makes further technical improvements in several place

so you know i'll leave that to the voters of west virginia my parents happen to be from west virginia born and raised my brother was also born there so it's a state i know fairly well look i think like i said people are forgiving and they're going to vote for the person that can best help president trump with his agenda to make america great again and that's bringing back manufacturing it's upholding the right to bear arms which is very popular in west virginia i just asked joe manchin how much that issue has come up for him recently but look i think president trump has also been courting joe mansion quite a bit who knows what donald trump will do in this race he might support the republican he might stay out of it completely he and joe mansion of building quite the relationship over the last year or so to be interesting to see what happens in that state rather than concerning this president will you think it's all going to go nothing is predictable. you know it's. it's anyone's guess right now larry i can't exactly put my finger on it i think at the end of the day donald trump mike m

the war to drain the swamp and create jobs for west virginia people has begun. i will beat joe manchin and ditch cocaine mitch. >> this is how bad its gotten. today trump weighed in on the race, tweeting don blankenship currently running for senate can't win the general election in your state, no way. remember alabama? blankenship fired back at a town hall today. >> it's really sad that the pressure on the president and the misinformation and the untruths that he has been given would cause him to suggest that you vote for two guys that have failed you, because i will not fail you. >> he also told west virginiians only he can outtrump trump. let's listen to that. >> while west virginia really loves trump, it's his policies that they love. i'm basically trumpier than trump when it comes to those policies, but i'm a much more mild mannered and much more in line in terms of the social issues in west virginia than even president trump. >> let's bring in the "hardball" round table. eugene robinson, "the washington post" and msnbc contributor. and sahil kapur national

the former of the west virginia legislature and a professional with more than 30 years experience. mike is the proud father of ben. finally and certainly not least is left we have the director of elections policy and programming in state government to that role, to director state government he oversees voting initiatives and collaboration with the u.s. department of defense federal voting system program. i've been a pleasure working with him over the last four or 5 years. the council oversees voting initiative supports working advisory groups that promote best practices to facilitate data standardization solutions in an effort to improve the voting process and supporting research for over 5 million u.s. military and civilian overseas citizens to ensure their eligible to vote in the u.s. elections. we have a similar structure. please a round of applause for our panel. [applause] i'm going to key up a few questions for each of the members. i've are encouraged crosstalk amongst the panelists to engage in here with the tap to say and how it i tie in with your own experiences to maximiz

again, key races will be in ohio, indiana, and west virginia, and for more on the west virginia race, we turn now the "charleston gazette," reporter there. good morning. thank you now for joining us. guest: good morning. host: take us to the primary and explain who is facing off your and who is expected to be leading in the polls at the end of the night tonight. guest: there are six candidates right now in the republican primary. ed jenkins, -- there is catherine morrissey, evan jenkins, and don blankenship. dependingeally very on which campaign is releasing them and when they came out. i try to avoid the polls, and i think it is anyone's game coming into tonight. host: the president himself getting into the roles, -- race, cannot make it.ship guest: don blankenship with the when theysey energy owned a mine, and the mind exploded, and miners died underground. he did not go to jail technically in connection with wasexplosion, but he convicted of conspiring to violate mine safety and health laws in the months leading up to the explosion, so that explosion was in 2010 through he went to

ellis, the district court judge in virginia. >> right. lou: basically being con d con a scended to by the special counsel attorney present at the hearing not recognizing that the judge is handling contemporaneous espionage cases, has the highest clearance as much judges in point of fact. and the judge was with great humor and patience, i thought, reminding him of the fact that he has available to him secure lines and handles classified material all of the time. yet he tried to run the same game against a district court judge hearing that important case against paul manafort. acting more like -- i mean, thiw good is a special counsel persist in acting like some sort of element of a national police force, a secret police force as does the mueller special counsel? >> yeah. this invocation of classified information is an attempt to browbeat both the press, frankly, and public officials. look, it's the last refuge of scoundrels and cowards. when everything else fails you say it's classified, you can't possibly see in. this. and frankly it's a

reporter: in west virginia president trump opinion means a lot, he beat hillary clinton by 42 points here, he said to great people of west virginia, we have together a really great chance to keep making a big difference, difference john blankenship went win the general election in your state. now tha that anti-don blankenshp message was a surprise to don blankenship. >> i went to them personally. i talke to them along the path of this campaign to make sure we knew what we were doing and answer go questions, i don't know whether he doesn't listen to political advisers. they assured me that president of the neutral. reporter: so much of this primary has about about which -- which candidate is more trump-light. >> we're excited that president trump gave us a shout out. reporter: patrick more see got a shout out, he is trying to do something else, call his probation officer to report that a financial disclosure has not been filed. >> my campaign will be informing his probation officer in nevada about this issue, this determine if this refusal to comply with financial law violates terms o

carol is in west virginia. west virginia, independent. carol, what are your thoughts on the primary tomorrow? caller: caller: i'm going to be voting probably for jenkins. but i just -- i appreciate the ast caller because we do have an issue with spending federal overseas for countries that basically is doing nothing for us. we spent millions and millions that lars overseas doesn't, as far as i'm concerned and this is just my personal we don't -- we get nothing back in return. in each state that could take a cut of some of those funds. and use it to better their own states. fork out millions for illegal take ants to be here, to advantage of our country and everybody says, oh, the law says that they don't get any benefits. when they go to our public they go to the when they use other elfare benefits, they are getting benefits that is taken own. our i have nothing against legal immigrants being here. but our country is being invaded! west that's carol in virginia. carol mentions her support for jenkins. that's evan jenkins, congressman evan

from virginia. and when hamiltons plan comes out, madison, who had been his partner, his comrade in arms through all of the plans to get the constitutional convention called through the convention, with the bill of rights, all of the sudden madison is hamiltons enemy. it has a lot to do, there were rich people in virginia. there were rich people in south carolina. but their wealth was based on agriculture. i think he sees very clearly, madison sees very clearly that the direction of hamiltons program is toward everything that favors the urban north or the cities of the north, people of the north. who are engaged in commerce and trade commerce and trade. this is something that threatens the position virginia was the richest and most prosperous and most populous state in the beginning. and they will begin less significant, the old dominion will not be the leading light of the 13 states is really extremely painful to jefferson and madison. when adams goes to negotiate a peace treaty, the one thing that

we already told but west virginia. that's not the only race where it teels like republicans are trying to outtrump each other. the trump contests in ohio and indiana have also turned into loyalty contests over who is the president's greatest ally. there is indiana, where republican todd re kieta has been running an ad featuring robert mueller and a crime which he sees as a witch-hunt. mike braun framed his opponents as creatures of the quote washington swamp. and luke messer led an effort to get donald trump nominate ford the nobel peace price prize. the govern's race in joeio, mary taylor is running, saying she and trump will build the wall, and end driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. her opponent, dewine has attacked her for not endorsing trurp in 2016. we have got more on these races, plus the fights on the democratic side. that is up next in "the lid." a. get domo. it'll connect us to everything that's going on in the company. get it for jean who's always cold. for the sales team, it and the warehouse crew. g

so you know i'll leave that to the voters of west virginia my parents happen to be from west virginia born and raised my brother was also born there so it's a state i know fairly well look i think like i said people are forgiving and they're going to vote for the person that can best help president trump with his agenda to make america great again and that's bringing back manufacturing it's upholding the right to bear arms which is very popular in west virginia i just asked joe manchin how much that issue has come up for him recently but look i think president trump has also been courting joe mansion quite a bit who knows what donald trump will do in this race he might support the republican he might stay out of it completely he and joe mansion of building quite the relationship over the last year or so to be interesting to see what happens in that state rather than concerning this president will you think it's all going to go nothing is predictable. no it's. it's anyone's guess right now larry i can't exactly put my finger on it i think at the end of the day donald trump mike again i

much focus on west virginia. republicans are openly agonizing about the possibility of this man don blankenship winning the primary. >> one of the senate's leading republicans, john thune said about the blankenship victory let's hope and pray that doesn't happen. blankenship is a former coal executive who went to prison after the upper big branch mine disaster in 2010. he attacked mitch mcconnell calling him cocaine mitch. he has gone after mcconnell's wife. transportation secretary elaine chao. referring to her father as a china person. >> all of that and joining from us washington is editor brenna williams. >> good morning. >> several racist statements. less than a year removed from prison after a mining accident that killed 29 people. he calls mitch mcconnell cocaine mitch. what would it mean for the president who tweeted against him? w what would it mean for the republican brand of politics? >> this is an important state. every seat in the senate in the 2018 election is a make or break for the republican part

the way it raised in west virginia. dagen: this is the tweet, the people of west virginia, we have a chance to make a big difference. the problem is he can't win the general election in your state, no way. remember alabama. there are a lot of folks who say donald trump couldn't win, who is to say if any of these couldn't beat manchin. >> it was all set about donald trump in 2016. i said some of it. one of the reasons roy more won in alabama was alabamians said to donald trump if you can do it why can't he? they are not allegations, what don blankenship was convicted of is different than the allegations against roy more for creeping on teenage girls when he was a prosecutor, a very different thing but what else is different, the state is different. in alabama the republicans had a sure thing that they gave away because voters in alabama were insistent on having roy more. west virginia is different. this is a seat that has been in democratic hands since 1959. joe manchin has been elected four time statewide. this is not a