ron: michael steele is a good friend of mine and we have discussed this many times over the past two years. he believes thiss deliberate. don't know what is in the president's heart. i could never presume to know what is -- what is in his hearts. -- his heart. certainly for me, the optics of this look bad. rst he started off by insulting congressman john lewis, a civil rights icon. then we talk about the infamous sq color.r black women of and now mr. cummings. you start to say, is this a pattern? is there something more deliberate or is this coincidental? i do not believe in politics that anything is coincidental. laura: the president is trying to expand his base. what is the political risk rticularly in terms of independent voters? ron: i think the risk is a strong one. who wins elections in america? it is the independent voters. those folks from key swing states. the people who say -- who voted for president obama who decided to vote for mr. trump are saying after eight years of the firstpr blacident, is this what we need in america today? laura: as you keep pointing out, republ pr

laura: michael steele, the lieutenant governor of maryland and republican says the president has a particular venom for blacks and people of color. is it delibeelte? ron: micteele is a good friend of mine and we have discussed this many times over the past two years. he believes this is deliberate. i don't know what is in th president's heart. i could never presume to know what is -- what is in hearts. -- his heart. certainly for me, the optics of this look bad. first he started off by insulting congressma lewis, a civil rights icon. then we talk about the infamous squad, four black women of color. and now mr. cummings. you start to say, is this att n? is there something more deliberate or is thisal coincide i do not believe in politics that anything is coincidental. laura: the president is trying to expand his base. what is the political sk particularly in terms of independent voters? ron: i think the risk is a strong one. who wins elections in america? it is the independent voters. those folks from key swing states. the people who say -- who voted for president obama who de vded e for mr. t

steele. >> mr. president, your reprehensible comments are like water off a duck's back when it comes to this community. o it just washr them. >> reporter: this, after the president fired off over a dozen weekend tweets criticizing maryland congressman elijah cummings and his baltimore-area district. he called cummings a "brutal bully" and said his district is onsidered the worst in t u.s.a." adding "the district," which includes part of baltimore and its suburbs is "a disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess." "the baltimore sun" defended its city with an op ed blasting the president as "returning to an old standby using the most emotional and bigoted of argunts." the paper also pointed to pride points, like baltimore's inner harbor, and johns hopkins hospital.en the most rf.b.i. crime statistics showed baltimore with the nation's highest murder rate and second-highest violent crime rate. but, cumming's district also has above average rates of college education and home prices-- and is the second-we

steele. >> mr. president, your reprehensible comments are like water off a duck's back when it comes to this community. it just washes over them. >> reporter: this, after the esident fired off over a dozen weekend tweets criticizing maryland congressmanjah cummings and his baltimore-area district. he called cummings a "brutal bully" and said his district is onsidered the worst in t u.s.a." adding "the district," which includes part of baltimore and its suburbs is "a ding, rat and rodent inf bted mess." "ttimore sun" defended its city with an op ed blasting the president as "returning to an old standby using the most emotional and bigoted of arguments." the paper also pointed to pride points, like baltimore's inner harbor, and johns hopkins hospital.en the most rf.b.i. crime statistics showed baltimore with the nation's highest murder rate and second-highest violent crime rate. but, cumming's district also hag above avrates of college education and home prices-- and is the second-wealthiest black ids