1 00:00:02,033 --> 00:00:04,733 WOODRUFF: Now to the ripple effects inside the White House, after President Trumpús reaction 2 00:00:04,733 --> 00:00:09,033 to Charlottesville and the departure of White House chief strategist Steve Bannon. 3 00:00:09,033 --> 00:00:14,033 Here to break it all down, our politics Monday regulars, Amy Walter of the "Cook Political 4 00:00:15,066 --> 00:00:18,233 Report" and Tamara Keith of NPR. 5 00:00:18,233 --> 00:00:20,566 And welcome to both of you, politics Monday. 6 00:00:20,566 --> 00:00:25,566 The country got through last week, Amy, but I think itús fair to ask the question how 7 00:00:26,733 --> 00:00:28,433 many damage was done to the president. 8 00:00:28,433 --> 00:00:30,500 AMY WALTER, NATIONAL EDITOR, COOK POLITICAL REPORTER: Right. 9 00:00:30,500 --> 00:00:34,433 WOODRUFF: I was away last week enjoying some family vacation time, but there was no avoiding 10 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:37,266 what was going on. 11 00:00:37,266 --> 00:00:40,566 WALTER: Thatús right. Itús never a good time, Judy, when youúre the president of the United 12 00:00:40,566 --> 00:00:45,033 States and your own party is finding lots of different ways to distance themselves from 13 00:00:45,033 --> 00:00:50,033 you. Report after report was that elected leaders werenút even going to go on television 14 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,033 to defend because they were worried they would have to defend the president. 15 00:00:54,033 --> 00:00:59,033 The short answer, though, is we donút really know what total effect that the results of 16 00:01:01,100 --> 00:01:03,866 Charlottesville and the presidentús reaction have had. Weúre starting to get some polling 17 00:01:03,866 --> 00:01:07,800 data, but itús really not definitive yet. The only thing we have is history to guide 18 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:09,900 us. 19 00:01:09,900 --> 00:01:13,600 And weúve sat at this table plenty of times during 2016, Judy, where we watched the "Access 20 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,666 Hollywood" tape, the attack on John McCain not being a war hero, the president attacking 21 00:01:17,666 --> 00:01:22,666 a gold-star family who was Muslim, where we said, well, maybe this is it, maybe the Republican 22 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,933 base will now divide over this candidate, this nominee. Obviously, they never did. 23 00:01:29,966 --> 00:01:32,433 So, itús a little bit soon to tell, but itús pretty clear even in talking to the voters, 24 00:01:32,433 --> 00:01:36,633 listening to the voices of voters and a lot of the reports over the weekend, theyúre not 25 00:01:36,633 --> 00:01:41,533 abandoning this president. The question, of course, is what happens when a president is 26 00:01:41,533 --> 00:01:46,533 constantly being -- his own party in Congress has constantly distanced themselves and watched 27 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:54,000 out for themselves. How much effect can you have as president when youúre only talking 28 00:01:55,366 --> 00:01:57,533 to a narrow slice of the electorate over and over again? 29 00:01:57,533 --> 00:01:59,566 WOODRUFF: Is that whatús happening, Tam? 30 00:01:59,566 --> 00:02:02,533 TAMARA KEITH, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, NPR: Yes. Now, an interesting thing is there are 31 00:02:02,533 --> 00:02:07,533 some rank and file Republicans like Bob Corker from Tennessee or Susan Collins from Maine, 32 00:02:09,533 --> 00:02:13,033 who are saying things that are clearly distancing themselves from the president and saying it 33 00:02:15,500 --> 00:02:18,133 in a way that says the presidentús name. But when you get someone like Paul Ryan, the speaker 34 00:02:18,133 --> 00:02:22,933 of the house, or Mitch McConnell, the majority leader in the Senate. And Ryan put out a statement, 35 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,333 you know, arguably, a very strong statement condemning neo-Nazis, saying there are -- there 36 00:02:30,333 --> 00:02:33,433 are no sides when it comes to racism and neo-Nazis and white supremacists, never mentions the 37 00:02:34,866 --> 00:02:37,000 presidentús name. 38 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,966 But there certainly is a sense there are many Republicans in Congress, obviously, you have 39 00:02:40,966 --> 00:02:45,966 these business leaders who jumped ship from the advisory council to the president and 40 00:02:48,033 --> 00:02:51,066 all this indicates that there are a lot of people who arenút as afraid of this president 41 00:02:51,066 --> 00:02:53,233 as they were earlier in his presidency. 42 00:02:53,233 --> 00:02:56,633 WOODRUFF: So, would do it -- Amy, what does that mean? I know weúre all, you know, sort 43 00:02:56,633 --> 00:02:58,066 of groping 44 00:02:58,066 --> 00:03:00,100 (CROSSTALK) 45 00:03:00,100 --> 00:03:04,200 WOODRUFF: -- trying to understand what has changed. Has anything changed? Are we just 46 00:03:05,333 --> 00:03:07,366 right back where we were eight, 10 days ago? 47 00:03:07,366 --> 00:03:12,033 WALTER: It feels like every day is about like a dog year. Itús like every day, seven years. 48 00:03:14,100 --> 00:03:18,900 So, you have to sort of live within that, knowing that by tomorrow, we could be talking 49 00:03:18,900 --> 00:03:22,533 about something else, and so, itús unclear if there is real systemic damage. 50 00:03:22,533 --> 00:03:27,533 But the president has a pretty important task ahead of him as we come back into the fall 51 00:03:29,533 --> 00:03:32,833 and thatús will he be able to get his legislative agenda back on track, and thatús where we 52 00:03:34,833 --> 00:03:37,400 can have an answer to this question about how much damage did this really do. As I said, 53 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,366 if youúre a president whoús sitting at anywhere between 35 and 40 percent approval, itús hard 54 00:03:41,366 --> 00:03:43,333 to get a whole lot done. 55 00:03:43,333 --> 00:03:47,100 Itús hard to first of all pressure members of Congress with an approval rating that low 56 00:03:47,100 --> 00:03:51,900 and for members who are Republicans, the base may still be with Trump, but they know that 57 00:03:51,900 --> 00:03:56,900 independents and other swing voters in their districts may not be. They canút guarantee 58 00:03:58,866 --> 00:04:01,966 that he can come and help them in the fall of an election year with approval ratings 59 00:04:01,966 --> 00:04:06,966 this slow. So, it really does limit his ability to be a strong legislator and chief as well 60 00:04:08,366 --> 00:04:10,500 as an executive. 61 00:04:10,500 --> 00:04:13,766 WOODRUFF: And when it comes to appealing to the base, the person who I think most represented 62 00:04:13,766 --> 00:04:18,766 the base in the White House, Steve Bannon, is now out as of three days ago, Tam. How 63 00:04:20,700 --> 00:04:22,800 much difference is that going to make do we think in whatús going on? 64 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:27,300 KEITH: I think we just donút know. You know, how many times have we said on this very set, 65 00:04:28,466 --> 00:04:29,300 how much difference is this going to make? 66 00:04:29,300 --> 00:04:31,366 WOODRUFF: Right. 67 00:04:31,366 --> 00:04:33,933 KEITH: This person leaving, this person coming in, this new chief of staff? And I think the 68 00:04:33,933 --> 00:04:36,033 answer is we donút know. 69 00:04:36,033 --> 00:04:40,066 What we can say is that Steve Bannon is still going to have a voice in this country and 70 00:04:41,933 --> 00:04:45,800 on the right, and he also is still going to have a telephone. And President Trump may 71 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:51,000 be unhappy with him now but as we have seen, people who have been fired from the Trump 72 00:04:52,933 --> 00:04:56,400 orbit, they come back like celestial beings, they come back around and come back in. Like 73 00:04:58,433 --> 00:05:01,066 a Corey Lewandowski who was fired as campaign manager, who then I saw walking out of the 74 00:05:01,066 --> 00:05:03,133 White House the other day. 75 00:05:03,133 --> 00:05:07,500 So, people go way. They come back. And Steve Bannon is going to continue to have an influence 76 00:05:09,466 --> 00:05:13,366 in this White House and with this president, simply, if only because President Trump reads 77 00:05:13,366 --> 00:05:15,300 "Breitbart News". 78 00:05:15,300 --> 00:05:19,133 WALTER: Yes. And the shakeup in the White House is reflective of the broader debate 79 00:05:19,133 --> 00:05:23,033 within the party right now, between these two different wings of the party, the more 80 00:05:23,033 --> 00:05:28,033 establishment versus the anti-establishment, the Tea Party versus the original. That is 81 00:05:30,100 --> 00:05:32,500 a debate thatús ranging within the Republican Party. It makes sense that itús also happening 82 00:05:32,500 --> 00:05:36,333 within the White House and that debate isnút going away at anytime. 83 00:05:36,333 --> 00:05:41,033 WOODRUFF: So, because as you look at Steve Bannon who represented all the nationalist 84 00:05:41,033 --> 00:05:46,033 instincts and populist instincts, the fact thatús not going to be in the presidentús 85 00:05:48,066 --> 00:05:50,066 ear, itús not that heús not going to hear it. But itús not going to be as regular. 86 00:05:50,066 --> 00:05:54,133 KEITH: Itús also still going to be in the presidentús head. President Trump believes 87 00:05:54,133 --> 00:05:59,133 - - President Trump has those nationalist instincts. I mean, he has been talking about some of 88 00:06:01,133 --> 00:06:04,033 these nationalist ideas for years and years and years, well before Steve Bannon entered 89 00:06:04,033 --> 00:06:06,633 his orbit. 90 00:06:06,633 --> 00:06:09,833 WOODRUFF: So, thatús -- and thatús still going to be there. So, as we look to see, OK, different 91 00:06:09,833 --> 00:06:14,833 chiefs, chief of staff, the chief strategist has gone, the communications shop has changed, 92 00:06:16,033 --> 00:06:18,166 but the president is still the president. 93 00:06:18,166 --> 00:06:20,800 WALTER: The president is still the president. And as I said, you know, the people who have 94 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,900 left the White House, you had one establishment wing with Reince Priebus, the former RNC chairman, 95 00:06:26,900 --> 00:06:30,333 Sean Spicer came from the RNC, and one from the outside. And thatús what his policy portfolio 96 00:06:32,433 --> 00:06:35,000 looks like so far thus far. You had some wins from the nationalist side, the Steve Bannon 97 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:39,000 side, the travel ban, pulling out of Paris. But also, the more traditionalists have gotten 98 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:41,000 their way as well. 99 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:45,000 So, it has been this balancing act within the White House and, of course, within the 100 00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:50,000 party. But both those issues are tearing -- the difference on those issues are tearing the 101 00:06:51,266 --> 00:06:52,566 party apart and the presidentús temperament as well. 102 00:06:52,566 --> 00:06:54,200 WOODRUFF: More to come. 103 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:56,433 Amy Walter, Tamara Keith, politics Monday - - thank you both. 104 00:06:56,433 --> 00:06:57,433 KEITH: Youúre welcome. 105 00:06:57,433 --> 00:06:57,566 WALTER: Youúre welcome.