thanks for having me. >> that does it for us this morning. thanks so much for watching us always. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. hi there. i'm stephanie ruhle. it is monday, august 19th and here is what is happening now. the president of the united states has a message for the american people. don't worry about a recession. no matter what the experts are telling you. >> i don't see a recession. i mean, the world is in a recession right now. >> i tell you what. i sure don't see a recession. >> we have the strongest economy in the world. money is coming here for a stock market. >> the money is pouring into the u.s. like never before and like no other country has ever experienced. >> money is flowing into the united states where the hottest, we're the hottest, really the only game in town. >> what i can tell you with certainty is we'll have a strong economy through 2020 and beyond. >> we are doing great on our consumer is really strong and it looks like they're going to be for a long time. >> peter navarro cannot tell you with certainty what will happen in 2020.

larry kudlow did not predict the financial crisis of 2008. having a message is not the same as having a plan. i got to go first to jeff bennett at the white house. jeff, tell me about this messaging. we know that the president is an extraordinary salesman. he gets people excited. it's what drove business and consumer sentiment up after he won. but that's very different than a plan. do you think a plan is coming out of this white house? >> reporter: if there is a plan to deal with any economic slowdown or recession, steph, the white house isn't emphasizing it. what accounts for this message? in large part the white house knows the way in which americans view the economy matters at least in terms of perception. when it comes to the economy perception can affect the reality. i think the question for this white house for trump's re-election campaign is, will he or can he successfully continue to project this message of positivity as it relates to the economy all the way through november, 2020, come what may. we just heard the president say

he sees no signs of a recession on the horizon and that point can be debated but this is one of the things that what the president says publicly matches up with what he is saying privately. i'm told the president has reassured his advisers he is not at all bothered by the stock market swings, not bothered by the warning shot in the bond market last week. the top line take away from the white house at least in this very minute is that what might be considered an economic threat shouldn't be considered an economic certainty. now, that said, the president is doing his level best to deflect any blame for any sort of economic woes on the fed for interest rates, on those of us in the media for covering too much of this. this has to do in large part, part of it is it is in trump's nature to stay on the offensive but the other part is the president and the white house knows that the economy is his one big thing. he has a 43% approval rating. a large part of that has to do with his handling of the economy. how americans view his handling of the economy. if the economy craters and we go

into recession what happens to his political standing? certainly the president and folks here at the white house are all too aware of that, steph. >> all right. jeff bennett, thank you so much. let's be clear about one point. there are real reasons to be concerned about a possible recession. remember, a recession is not a crisis. a recession is normal. but a sitting president doesn't necessarily want to be running for re-election during a recession. so let's look at one of those reasons. more than 30 central banks around the world have cut interest rates this year. why does that matter? the last time we saw that many rate cuts worldwide, was during the financial crisis of 2008. we currently have nine countries potentially facing recession right now. in a global economy that's an issue. our own federal reserve lowered its rate by .25% last month to try and extend economic growth here at home despite the slow growth worldwide and the harm done by the president's trade war. but typically the fed cuts rates

as a last resort when the economy is in much worse shape than it appears to be right now. and using rate cuts now could mean that they're not available when we really need them. it could also mean that the economy will be simply immune to their impact. and, yet, the white house continues to call for the fed to lower rates even further. but that message could be doing more harm than good. u.s. consumer sentiment actually fell in august and according to the director of the survey the cut actually made people more worried about a possible recession. people are confused. i have a great group here with me to help clear some of the confusion up. phil rucker white house bureau chief for "the washington post," neil irwin senior economics correspondent for the "new york times" and democratic congresswoman from my home state of new jersey. congresswoman, i turn to you first. the president knows the economy is his ticket to re-election. is there any reason to believe he is going to give americans a more accurate picture of the

economy and do something about it? if you are running for office, if you are a private citizen which he was last time around, you can paint whatever picture you want to help yourself get re-elected but he is currently governing our nation interfacing with world leaders every day. if he's not being honest about the state that we're in what does that do to us? >> i think many americans know what state we're in. in my home state new jersey as you well know many of the economic moves by this administration have been incredibly harmful to us. new jersey was worst hit by the tax reform than any other state in the nation. the state and local tax deduction cap has been hurting teachers and cops throughout my district. we see the failure to invest in our infrastructure further harming our district and our state, a state that by the way is part of the 20% of the american economy. so, you know, these hits, these were self-inflicted wounds. and the president furthermore continues to do that in the global economy. i don't think people quite understand what the plan is for

these chinese tariffs. this tariff war has been really hard for corporations in my district who are trying hard to plan for the next five years, the next ten years, the next 15 years, and are finding themselves unable to do so and the president says, well, he's not going to do the tariff war until after christmas because he knows it's another tax on consumers. and so we see him holding off until after christmas for some of this trade war which makes it seem like it's just some partisan maneuvering and not really helpful to our economy. >> phil, i want to play part of your exchange with the president yesterday while he was in new jersey talking about how the american people are so happy and spending when we know from the congresswoman people in new jersey did not benefit. take a look. >> a lot of economists say you should be preparing for a recession, that no president is immune to recession and it is now -- >> phil, honestly i'm prepared for everything. i don't think we're having a recession. we are doing tremendously well.

our consumers are rich. i gave a tremendous tax cut and they're loaded up with money. they're buying. i saw the walmart numbers. they were through the roof just two days ago. that's better than any poll, better than any economist. and most economists actually say, phil, that we're not going to have a recession. most of them are saying we're not going to have a recession. >> so the president said walmart numbers were through the roof. he didn't say the day before that macy's numbers were in the toilet. when he says consumers are flush with cash and spending, it wasn't a tax cut for the average american. twa is it was a corporate tax cut. what is your takeaway from what he said? >> what just said is exactly right. what trump is trying to do is project confidence to the american people that there's not going to be a recession and that he a esgot everything under control. but that flies in the face of the data we're seeing and the indicators and the big yellow flags especially last week. you know, no president is immune from a recession. president trump is not immune from a recession.

you know, talking to economists i interviewed larry summers last week the former treasury secretary and economic adviser who helped guide the obama administration out of the great recession and he said it was effectively malpractice for this government not to be getting ready for a recession if one were to come. >> you wrote an excellent piece about how a recession could happen and, again, it would be normal. we have been in a ten-year economic expansion, so a recession is par for the course. and the president has already given a massive corporate tax cut and, still, with gdp only 2.1% that is far below his 3% projection though he projected 4%, 5%, 6%. after hearing the president and his advisers saying, i don't see a recession anywhere, do you believe they're recognizing the risks that at least you and many others have laid out? >> no. they seem to be kind of sticking

their fingers in their ears and pretending these signs aren't out there. we've seen this before. it doesn't have to be a recession for this to be a very dangerous moment for the economy. in late 2015 early 2016 there was something very similar to this, an industrial slowdown caused by overseas forces especially china and may have helped trump get elected and cost hillary clinton the white house. you could have something that doesn't become a technical recession but does a lot of damage in the heartland of the u.s. >> can democrats, congresswoman actually capitalize on this? i want to share what the president said at a rally last week. >> the bottom line is i know you like me and this room is a love fest. i know that. but you have no choice but to vote for me because your 401(k)s down the tubes, everything down the tubes, so whether you love me or hate me you got to vote for me. >> this the argument he keeps making. the new "wall street journal" poll says 49% of americans still

approve of his handling of the economy. you just walked us through how there's been mishandling of the economy. why aren't democrats seizing on this when joe biden talks about the need for moral leadership the president responds by saying you want morality or you want your money? and there are people who might not say it at dinner parties but when they go home they start to say, i need to protect my 401(k). and they believe it. >> i think if you want morality and good fiscal leadership you want a democrat in the white house because what we're seeing in new jersey and it is interesting you just played that clip from morristown. that is in my district. i wish the president had left the air strip and gone to talk to people in my district because he would realize the economic harm he is doing across the country to people when they, you know, they do have jobs. we do have employment. but people aren't receiving the paychecks they were several years ago. >> then why does he have such a high approval rating when it comes to how he is handling the economy? >> i think we are starting to see the cracks in that.

this is where the rubber is meeting the road. it's taken a while. it takes a while as i think a commentator said earlier this morning, you know, when you're moving a ship, it takes a little bit of time for the results to be felt. we're starting to feel the results of his policies now. >> phil, let's go with a little palace intrigue. you and i both know from our own reporting that the president's advisers look to go to great lengths to find articles and data to please the president, to support his point of view. how dangerous is it right now that that is continuing to be the case? and when the president looks at data that he doesn't like, he is now claiming it's being manipulated. >> yeah, well that is spot on, steph. my reporting last week shows that larry kudlow, the economic adviser in the white house, has been presenting a fairly sunny outlook about the economy to the president, showing him good data, trying to explain to him why he doesn't think a recession is in the offing.

and it conflicts with of course what the president is consuming on television and what he's reading in newspapers. and the president has been telling friends that he thinks there's a conspiracy at play here. that he thinks the news media is pumping up the idea of a recession using faulty data and, importantly, he doesn't believe all of the economic statistics he sees because he thinks economists are elites and out to get him and are using an anti-trump bias with their numbers to try to derail his re-election hopes. >> paul singer, massive republican who runs elliott management just last week warning of a huge economic slowdown. i want to talk about the team surrounding the president. peter navarro, larry kudlow, steve mnuchin. "the washington post" ran multiple op eds this weekend calling them men without a plan. give us a bit of historical perspective. i had a guest last week who said presidents obama and bush in times of crisis were surrounded

by nba all star teams and president trump has the harlem globetrotters. >> you have an unusual moment where it is not just that those three leaders are not as tested and experienced with kind of the mechanisms of government and how you use those to try and deal with economic challenges but also the level under them is under staffed. if youotreasury, go to the white house, a lot of the mid level jobs are not as staffed as in the past. whatever you think of the bush administration when the crisis happened in 2007, 2008, they kind of cast ideology aside, did some bail outs that they didn't like doing. they did some fiscal stimulus they didn't like doing but they saw damage and risk to the economy and pulled the triggers and did those things. the question is, if things take a turn for the worse will this administration be open minded or be in denial? >> are they staffed with the right people to handle this situation. thank you all. a really important conversation. next, you think white nationalism is a hoax? well, you're wrong.

law enforcement just stopped multiple potential mass shootings and at least one by a self-proclaimed white nationalist. first, a rare look at the rise of steven miller the driving force behind trump's anti-immigrant policies. who is this man and what is he trying to do? the business of atlanta on monday... ... cincinnati on tuesday. ...philly on wednesday. ...and thursday back to cincinnati . modernized comfort inns and suites have been refreshed because when your business keeps going, our business is you. get the lowest price guaranteed on all choice hotels when you book direct at choicehotels.com. announcer: only fidelity offers four zero expense ratio index funds directly to investors. and we have zero account fees for brokerage accounts. at fidelity those zeros really add up. ♪ maybe i'll win ♪ saved by zero

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the border, bloomberg reporting for months the white house has been trying to find a way to block undocumented immigrant children from enrolling in public schools as california becomes the latest state to challenge the administration's public charge rule which aims to make it harder for poor immigrants to become legal residents. the mastermind behind both policies, trump aide stephen miller whose path to power made it to two front pages this weekend. "the times" writing this. mr. miller now occupies a large west wing office and has influence on virtually every element of immigration policy from the words the president uses to the regulations. mr. miller is a speechwriter, policy architect, personnel director, legislative aide, spokesman, and strategist. at every step, he has pushed for the hardest line possible. joining me now the reporter behind that piece with the "new york times" also the author of the new book out tomorrow "a good provider is one who leaves

one's family and migration in the 21st century." joyce vance former u.s. attorney and professor at the university of alabama law school and congresswoman sherrill back with me. joyce, i want to start first with the report that the trump administration is trying to block immigrant children from attending public school. i know you dealt with something like this in alabama. what happened? >> this is clearly un-constitutional and stems from a supreme court case back in the 1980s. in the alabama case, alabama's efforts by state law to force kids to reveal their parents' immigration status so they could register for school, a measure clearly an effort to force people who were here without legal immigration status to reveal themselves, was ultimately held un-constitutional by the 11th circuit court of appeals and the supreme court declined to reverse that ruling. this is a really common sense reasoning when you think about it. it says, first, if these kids

can't get an education, they'll never be able to make a contribution. that we shouldn't penalize them at that young age. secondarily, it says, we aren't a country that punishes innocent children for decisions that their parents make. two, three, 4-year-old kids don't choose to come to this country illegally. even older children are directed by their parents. they should still get an education. that's been very clear law in this country since at least the 1980s. so this effort to go around such a clear rule of law in such a mean spirited way is i think a very dangerous development in this area. >> congresswoman, while it might be un-constitutional, does the spirit of it reflect how america currently feels? we know our public education system is failing. are there americans who might not be hard line anti-immigrant americans who certainly don't support child separation policy but who do support the idea that until every american child is getting a good education we

shouldn't offer an education to others and, yes, it may be un-constitutional, but i'm just talking about the spirit. >> i think there might be some americans. but that certainly is short-sighted. when we're not educating young people, not doing the most we can for our economy. yes, do we need to do a better job educating american citizens? certainly. i am proud to say new jersey has one of the best public school education systems in the country right now. however, we also need to make sure that as we have young children here who were brought here through no fault of their own that we're giving them a good economic future because you know when we've just had d.a.c.a. reform passed in the house when we see this chances are many of these children are going to be contributors to our economy in the future. they can't do that if they don't have an education. >> great point. jason, in your piece about stephen miller you quote some of his early columns and tv appearances and a couple stuck out to me. the quote from theodore roosevelt included in his high school yearbook. there can be no 50/50 americanism in this country.

there is room here for only 100% americanism. only for those who are americans and nothing else. and then in his first job as an aide to a republican congresswoman michelle backman, arguing unauthorized immigrants were bringing in diseases, bringing in drugs, bringing in violence. we have heard very similar language from the white house and it seems like miller formed these opinions at a young age yet when he joined this administration former aides to the president said he's just a speechwriter. a speechwriter who is really smart and gets the president's voice. he is not just a speechwriter anymore. he's had these values for quite sometime and now those values and views are being enacted in policy. >> no, he's not just a speechwriter. he is the most prominent face of a very influential movement that has i think overtaken the republican party. the movement to restrict immigration. and i think there's an element

of potential self-fulfilling prophesy in this. critics of immigration worry that immigrants won't assimilate, but if you continue to tell them that they're not welcome and if you deny their children access to public education, you're almost ensuring the outcome that you fear. >> joyce, the latest immigration move out of the white house is this public charge rule making it harder for immigrants who require government assistance to get legal status. i know there are several lawsuits around that that i want you to help us understand but at the same time the president is saying he is sick and tired of immigrants coming to this country and immediately going on welfare, leaving out the fact that the majority of immigrants coming into this country aren't currently eligible for welfare. i'm talking dreamers, undocumented immigrants, temporary workers, seasonal workers, h1b visa holders. none of these people get welfare. when you're talking the days of the statue of liberty we didn't have a welfare state.

>> you know, this change to the public charge rule is very much in keeping with the mean spiritedness that really permeates all of the president's policy on immigration. and as you point out in this area, it's not really a problem. this is part of an ideological shift. we have to remember that miller doesn't come to immigration with enormous practical experience or policy work in the area. he is primarily an ideologue so this is part of the trend of continuing to restrict not just immigrants who come without legal status but also legal immigration. it is dangerous and surprisingly short-sighted. you were asking about schools in alabama which is a head count state. that means it's federal funding for education based on the count of kids in the classroom when immigrant kids and the children of migrants didn't go to school in alabama because of its bill, funding dropped dramatically and it was sort of a way of, you know, cutting off your nose to spite your own face.

we see many bad economic fall jou outs when we don't appreciate the impetus the immigrants bring to our economic engines. >> jason, we know stephen miller's anti-immigrant ideology is in line with the president's views. a lot of them have made major headlines and caused huge backlash, talking the muslim ban, child separation policy, but you note in your piece that there are a number of policies not just ideologies but policies that haven't goent the same attention but maybe they should. walk us through what they are. >> yeah. i think the president has instincts. i think stephen miller has policy knowledge and has an ability to operationalize as one of his allies put it the president's philosophy. stephen miller knows the hundred rules and regulations that can slow down the application for visas that can make it harder for people who have a legal right to be in the country to get their papers through and

he's done that very successfully, quite out of the public eye. >> so he is quietly slow playing these measures that are legal measures for people to gain -- >> critics call it the invisible wall. >> congresswoman, what do you do about that? what do you do if you are publicly fighting a president getting funding for a wall between the united states and mexico and being successful? what do you do about the invisible wall? >> what we have to have is comprehensive immigration reform. when we look at our immigration policies, there are many immigration policies that i think are immoral like child separation. there's also the immigration policies that are just hurting our economy. and you can see those reverberating throughout agriculture, throughout our seasonal worker programs, even into some of our colleges and universities which are the best in the world now having trouble recruiting some of the top minds in the globe. these are really going to impact our ability to grow our economy in the future. >> remind our audience, illegal

border crossings were at a 50-year low when president obama left office. in terms of comprehensive immigration reform, it sounds like both parties are interested. you just got to get it done. thank you so much. we have a lot more to cover. coming up there is a new poll out that could have joe biden very worried. we'll tell you what that is. banjo? (man) go home. (woman) banjo! sorry, it won't happen again. come on, let's go home. after 10 years, we've covered a lot of miles. good thing i got a subaru. (avo) love is out there. find it in a subaru crosstrek. (avo) get 0% during the subaru a lot to love event. nothing feels like connecting with the people that matter. holiday inn. holiday inn express.

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are you in good hands? roxana: our students don't have part-time needs. so they absolutely cannot have part-time solutions. angelia: one of changes that we need is smaller class sizes. rosanne: we need a lot more school nurses, a lot more school counselors. rodney: counselors provide that social, emotional core that's needed. marisa: schools need to be safe places for our children to learn. ever: every student has the right to quality education. no matter what neighborhood you live in. angelia: we are cta. rosanne: we are cta. marisa: we are cta. narrator: because we know quality public schools make a better california for all of us.

in just a few hours 2020 democratic candidates will take the stage in a two-day native american presidential forum in iowa. while a few candidates are speaking all eyes will be on senator elizabeth warren. it was more than one year ago that senator warren made headlines over the error in her native american ancestry. nbc news road warrior joins me from iowa. what sort of reception do we expect today? >> reporter: i think largely positive. in talking with event warriors before this the dna test seems to break down along two fronts. one it is the dna test itself which found warren had distant native american heritage and then a boston globe review found it didn't impact her

professional advancement. in talking with tribal leaders and folks invited to attend this forum they say they are largely unfazed by the dna test dust up but also acknowledge it probably could have been handled better. then on the politics of it voters themselves while they don't necessarily bring it up organically there is a sense it could play into how this goes with elizabeth warren in a potential head to head with donald trump. listen to what voters have said. >> it doesn't matter to me all that hoopla over that incident which was elevated by president trump, so i just -- it absolutely does not matter to me. >> i'm fine with it. it didn't mean that much to me. so i don't know how much it will influence anyone else but it didn't bother me that much. >> a concern to me something trump can use against her but to distract from, like, the bigger issues and all of his problems and her good ideas i also don't

think it was handled very sensitively. you know, but what i've seen is nobody is perfect. >> and i think mostly the thing to me is this is an issue that has been largely dormant on the campaign trail over the course of the last few months. elizabeth warren is known less for this dna test dust up and more for the person being the person with a plan for that. so it just kind of goes to show you a forum like this, this issue can rear its head pretty swiftly. it is up to senator elizabeth warren both inside today and as we go forward on the campaign trail to neutralize this issue as we go forward because, clearly, it is something coming up even without the president drawing his own attention to it. >> if it does, the question will be, does elizabeth warren have a plan for it? ali vitale, thank you. joining the conversation now radio iowa news director and republican strategist and msnbc political analyst, you just heard from some voters who are not overly concerned about warren's previous ancestry conversations. are you hearing the same thing?

>> it doesn't come up when i weighed into the audiences that are attending warren events here. but as one of the folks mentioned, it certainly is likely to come up if warren is the nominee and matched up against donald trump who will bring it up. >> rick, let's move on to a different controversy, controversial comments made by iowa congressman steve king. over the weekend he continued to defend unborn human life, in his words, and i want to share what he said. >> to protect the innocent unborn and then that includes those that are products of rape and incest. that is my clear position and has been for a long time. people willfully misinterpreted what i said and misquoted me. that's where i stand because i didn't compromise on the conditions of rape and incest. it is not the baby's fault. execute the baby for the sins of the father. that is morally wrong to me.

>> we misquoting congressman king? are we out of touchy don't know him personally but when we hear things like defending rape and incest to a large portion of americans that is reprehensible. you know him. you worked with him. >> let me start with liz warren. she was very hurt by the dna test and how it rolled out. >> she has nothing to do with steve king. >> no but she learned. steve king and donald trump don't learn. they repeat the same mistakes over and over again. if steve king wants to be a force for pro life, for why american civilization has been, led to the most wealthy economy in the world, he can do that but he just has all the wrong arguments and he's stumbling over himself to try to back fill what he says and misstates things that are frankly offensive. >> he doesn't consider them gaffes. he considers himself a patriot, a great american, and this is his point of view.

what does that do to other members of the republican party specifically in iowa? >> look. years ago i would have said that he would hurt the reputation of the republican party. >> we're in a whole new world. >> i don't have that defense anymore. he does, when you say things like that he becomes the face of the republican party, the way donald trump wants to make the squad the face of the democratic party. he thinks they're negative. all they have to do is point to steve king who said stupid things over and over and over again. and his district now is not really represented by anybody because he doesn't sit on the committee. he doesn't have any influence anymore. if you are living in that district you have real concerns about the economy, agriculture, his district is roughly split between urban and rural. >> your congressman has no game. he's not on the committees. >> he doesn't represent the people anymore. i always have to figure out do they want steve king to make a fool of them and the republican party or do they want someone

who actually wants to be in congress who represents their interests? >> kay, what do the constituents say? steve king says the republican party and the media owe him an apology. what do the people of iowa think? >> well, if you look at the results from the 2018 election, kim reynolds, the republican governor, won that congressional district by 18% whereas king only won by 3%. so i think if you look at that result, you see that there's not going to be sort of an up ballot impact in iowa on folks like senator joanie ernst will be on the ballot in 2020. steve king is making the argument it is steve king against the establishment of the party. that was a very welcome message from donald trump particularly in that congressional district of iowa. and so it is going to be really dicey. steve king faces a primary challenge but he faces a primary challenge from four other

people. that means it is very likely that he will win that primary and be the republican nominee in 2020. >> all right. kay, thank you so much. henderson. rick tyler. i want to talk more about the 2020 election. there is a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll out showing democratic front-runner former vice president joe biden is losing steam as support for president trump is taking another dip. are those people being polled saying it is time to turn the page in politics? here to take a closer look, nbc news national political correspondent, my dear friend, steve kornacki. tell us about this poll and what it means for the president. >> let's take a look in two pieces here. number one the trump standpoint from this poll his approval rating in our nbc news/"wall street journal" poll 43/55 a tough place for an incumbent president to be. what makes this so tough for trump is this. when you just single out the economy and ask people how do you think the president is

handling the economy he's actually in positive territory there. 49% approve of his handling of the economy. 46% disapprove. if this were his over all approval rating you'd be saying he is at least an even shot to win re-election probably better. but he's not matching that with his overall approval rating. why? it's because of his behavior as president, probably because of the tweets, also because of something like this. how did he handle the recent shootings? how did the president of the united states handle them? less than 40% approve of his handling. a majority disapprove. that kind of behavior, that kind of conduct, that kind of use of the presidential bully pulpit is making donald trump not live up to his economic approval rating. that over all approval rating not good. >> what does that do to the president? if his behavior is hurting him, what then happens if the policy hurts him? if people don't like his behavior and the economy drops is that not a lethal combination for the president? >> well, conventional wisdom

would say it is but the other question, stephanie, even if the economy stayed the same, is this already a lethal combination? here is what i mean by that. check this out. take a look at prospective democratic challengers for the president. in our new poll you see something. elizabeth warren more negative than candidate. what is your view of this candidate? more negative than positive for warren. more negative than positive for sanders. more negative than positive for joe biden. that's a big change for joe biden. remember, in 2016 hillary clinton, on election day in the exit poll, much more negative than positive. now, remember this, on election day in 2016 clinton's unfavorable was 55. trump's was 60. why did donald trump win on election day, 2016? >> not about popularity. >> well, it was the people that had a negative view of both trump and clinton broke for donald trump. remember this number. they broke for him by 17 points. in the newest fox news poll,

people who have a negative opinion of both trump and joe biden breaking for biden by 33 points. and in our poll i can tell you our generic poll, a small sample here, people with a negative view of biden and trump, it's about 7 to 1 breaking for the democrats. that's a massive change from 2016. people who didn't like either candidate in 2016 gave trump the benefit of the doubt. the earliest, earliest read out we're getting is that may be an entirely different story in 2020. >> could be the reason why the president has been complaining about fox news polls. steve, thank you so much. coming up, lawmakers still on their august recess as more and more americans are demanding action on gun safety and our kids are heading back to school. congressman mikie sherrill back with me. what is she going to do about it?

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the debate over gun control intensifying this weekend with gun safety activists not backing down even as lawmakers are continuing their august recess. the group is every town for gun safety and moms demand action are holding rallies in all 50 states very clearly warning lawmakers if they do not take action on guns they'll be voted out. this as authorities arrested a man in ohio on friday. this man on your screen after he posted a video on social media that showed him firing a gun and referencing a local juewish

community center. he reportedly had multiple semiautomatic weapons and body armor in the privacy of his own home. across america the fear is still there. a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll finds 55% of americans are worried that the united states will experience another mass shooting or a white nationalist attack. the president's answer to all of this? >> they have bipartisan committees working on background checks and various other things. we'll see. i don't want people to forget this is a mental health problem. i don't want them to forget that. because it is. it's a mental health problem. >> navy veteran and new jersey congresswoman mikie sherrill back with me. you certainly know all about this, more than civilians like me. in a recent op-ed in "usa today" that you wrote with colorado congressman jason crowe who served in the army you're now calling for an assault weapon ban. why is that?

because in the past, we couldn't even get background checks done. >> well, we still haven't gotten background checks done, stephanie. so while i am calling for an assault weapons ban because jason crowe a former army ranger and i'm a former navy helicopter pilot, we both know assault weapons are weapons of war designed to kill as many people in as short a time as possible. we've also heard from people throughout our communities, parents and grandparents, saying the very first thing my daughter or son or grandson or granddaughter did when she or he went to kindergarten was to do a gun safety drill. and that's not what we want to see in our schools. we can't live with this level of violence. however, the very first thing that has to happen is we have to start seeing the senate passing some of these bills. almost 200 days ago the house passed a universal background checks bill. you mentioned a poll recently that 55% of americans are afraid we'll see another gun attack. that same poll said 90% of americans want to see universal background checks. it is pastime the senate moved forward on this and passed that

critical piece of gun safety legislation. >> take me to capitol hill. why isn't that happening? if we're seeing a lion's share of actual nra members saying, we could do something on background checks, if there are people who are part of gun culture who think we need to do something, where is the stop? >> stephanie, i don't know. my own father was a lifetime member of the nra. he recently gave up his membership because he is so disgusted at the fact that we can't pass gun safety legislation, that it's no longer just a sportsman group, that it's just a gun manufacturing lobby group that is withholding some of the good legislation that we need to pass. why we can't move forward on that, why the senate isn't moving forward on that i do not know. >> when the president says this is a mental health issue or he says we have all sorts of background checks, what do you say to that? >> you know, this is something that's been going on in this country for decades in our urban areas. as a federal prosecutor i was working on getting guns off the street in patterson and newark. i saw how it devastated families in those towns.

now we see mass shootings, almost monthly, sometimes bimonthly. you know what? it doesn't matter if it, to me, as a mother, if it's a mental health issue or not. what matters to me is we start to get these guns out of the hands of people committing these crimes. >> i want to share with you what we've heard, maybe not from voters, but from very important americans about what they care about from our potential next president and around gun safety. take a look. >> one of the reasons we're home schooled is my mom thinks that it's not safe for children to be in public schools because of the shootings. and i want to know what you plan to do about the shootings. >> that is a child pressing cory booker on gun safety. do lawmakers not hear these concerns across america? these are little kids who are saying i'm home schooled because my mom is afraid. we're seeing bullet proof backpack sales skyrocket. >> you know, i can tell you one lawmaker who understands this is

cory booker because he of the mayor of newark when i was working at the u.s. attorney's office there. we know how critical gun safety legislation is. why mitch mcconnell will not allow that legislation on the floor, why the senate won't >> stephanie, we can certainly work with them on gun safety legislation. this is critical. this isn't about politics. this isn't a democratic or republican issue. this is an issue of safety for the american people. this is an issue of safety for our children. i have four of them. believe me, i am in fear that they are going to come across some mass shooting, that they are going to be affected by that. it is critical to parents across the nation that we get this

passed. >> all right then. thank you so much. congress will be back in session in just a couple of weeks. coming up in hours, two congresswomen barred from israel at president trump's urging. does congress need to take action? does congress need to take action and we'd like to put a fire pit out there, and a dock with a boat, maybe. why haven't you started building? well, tyler's off to college... and mom's getting older... and eventually we would like to retire. yeah, it's a lot. but td ameritrade can help you build a plan for today and tomorrow. great. can you help us pour the foundation too? i think you want a house near the lake, not in it. come with a goal. leave with a plan. td ameritrade. ♪ announcer: fidelity is redefining value with zero account fees for brokerage accounts. and zero minimums to open an account. at fidelity those zeros really add up. ♪ maybe i'll win ♪ saved by zero

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hours from now, we will hear from congresswoman rashida tlaib and ilhan omar addressing travel restrictions. this comes after a concession the israeli government changed course and said it would allow congresswoman tlaib in, a concession she rejected saying visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions is meant to humiliate me, and would break my grandmother's heart. congresswoman, why should this matter to congress and the american people? >> because this isn't just about congresswoman tlaib or congresswoman omar. this is about the congress of congresswoman or private ca.

member. i couldn't disagree more. this is how they treat the legislative branch of our government, co equal group of government with the executive branch on a congressional delegation visit. >> does this help president trump's argument that congresswoman omar and tlaib are becoming the face of the democratic party? these women, along with two others on the squad have been the same a lot of time as congresswom congresswoman sherrill. >> two freshman normally apart going to make a lot of news. the system isn't built that way. >> you have been making news all morning. when ted cruz first came into office, he came in hot and heavy. he didn't make a lot of friends in the senate. legislatively was ineffective.

he has since learned that lesson. he realizes you actually have to get along with your colleagues. remember these two women wanted to go to israel on their own. when steny hoyer, pro israel democrat organized a trip to israel. they could have been voices of the senate, talked about all the things they wanted to talk about with israel. instead, it looks like a stunt now. they have been at odds with colleagues. do you want to be effective or just make headlines? does the squad's move hyper partisan battles make it more difficult for you and other members of congress to get things done? you think about the voter, they want infrastructure, gun safety. >> it's interesting you said that. my election, my campaign was on

taxes, health care, infrastructure. but overarching the whole thing was this idea that congress isn't working, that we need good, bipartisan legislation. that we can't operate in a divided government as we are by going to the extremes. and so i think, to your point, if we want to be good legislators in congress, we have to reach across the aisle and form alliances even within our own party. that's how we are going to make change. >> ayman, there is a whole lot of pro israel voters who think they should be allowed. could it be bad for them? >> i think there is a short-term view and long-term view if you look at the prime minister and president trump. this is a relationship overshadowing -- >> and he has a close personal relationship with jared kushner. >> and david friedman, the ambassador to jerusalem. you have a lot of personal

relationships that are overshadowing what has been traditionally a bipartisan relationship that has lasted for decades. in doing so, what you are starting to see is much to the detriment of its political issue. the reality is you have a prime minister who has come to the u.s. congress back in 2015, speak about the jcpoa. a lot thought it was disrespecting president obama. democrats felt it wasn't the right thing to do. you have the prime minister once again doing something to win favor with president trump at the expense of that bipartisan relationship. and so i think you are starting to hear the calls, and bernie sanders even connect echoed thi have the same relationship we have had over decades. >> that wraps us up for tyler, congresswoman. thank you so much. i will see you again at 1:00 p.m. with ali srel city. coming up, more news with my

friend and khaoeg who i haven't seen in a week, hallie jackson. >> i know you are sticking around for my show in a couple of minutes. we are starting with a new brushoff as the president and his team face decisions to head off something they don't want to happen. an economic downturn. with his aides this morning, blaming the media for a recession obsession, they say, even as a new survey out today finds a third of economists predict exactly that come 2020. so what is wall street doing? shaking it off. at least right now. a volatile week. the dow up 260 points this morning. we have our team here following the latest developments and all of the day's top stories on this august monday. geoff bennett is over at the white house. stephanie ruhle is sticking