mark sanford in a tight race. president trump today on his way back from singapore slamming sanford, tweeting in part, quote, mark sanford has been very unhelpful to me to make america great again. he is mia and nothing but trouble. better off in argentina. perhaps appalachain. so why is trump slam ago republican who's never lost a race on such a personal level? probably because of this. >> when the president says i wish i could hit you in the face if not why don't you do it and i'll pay your legal fees, that's a problem. >> what theresides talking about going back and renegotiating nafta, i think is, it would be catastrophic. >> ipg ta lot of people would say kay, the guy said something stupid. a lot f people were disappointed with the way he said it. >> david is "outfront." we're awaiting results to come in. the president making a big move going against incumbent on force one on his way back from singapore. says he hasn't slept for 25 hours. this was important enough for him to weigh in on. could he really lose

mark sanford is no moderate. i remember, i'm old enough to remember, covering mark sanford the first time he was in congress before he went on to be governor, he was the gadfly. he was the one who w tormenting his party leadership because he was so conservative mostly on fiscal issues because they weren't doing enough to lower the deficit and debt and so forth, and now the party is so realigned, as david said, the party of donald trump that it scrambled. >> david, speaking up against trump, though, this is clearly -- this clearly is one of the factors and maybe the factor for mark sanford. you have scott taylor out of virginia and barbara comstock has spoken up when she disagrees. is this thebetween south carolina and virginia. >> in part. they make up the primary electorate, but kate, barbara com stack did not become the republican nominee with outsized proportion of the vote. i think she got 60-something percent of the vote. that's pretty low for an incumbent running and she's in a heavily democratic district a

before yesterday, sanford had never lost a race. that was until he publicly criticized donald trump. before the polls closed, the president told voters sanford was very unhelpful in his campaign to ga. in virginia, republican voters picked corey stewart to be their candidate for senate, a candidate who is proud to support president trump. a candidate whod confederate monuments, a candidate who once called a self-professed pro-white candidate for congress his, quote, personal hero. though he has distanced himself from that. also a candidate who's even brought back false birther allegations against president obama. today president trump celebrated the results of both races and over on capitol hill, republicans acknowledged trump's ability to sway his base. >> with all politics being local, if you're not on the same page as the president in 85%, 90% of your base is, you can see where that could cause a problem. >> we're here in primary season. again, it is usually a good thing not to be at odds wts moie most effective leader in your pa

sanford would easily win but with a few hours left i felt that catie was a goo candidate and sanford was so bad had to give it a shot. congrats to katy arrington. here to breakall down, as we love to have and what it means for the mid-terms msnbc political correspondent steve kornacki. so the big question is, what happened to mark sanford? that wasn't close. it wasn't a few hundred votes. >> yeah, no. look, there was some sense that sanford was in trouble heading into this. he has baggage that predates the trump era. you mentioned former governor, had he that affair, said he was on the appalachian trail. this was his big comba a couple years ago, got back into congress, won an election in 2013. thought he was back in the game and then along comes donald trump and katy arrington. what did sanford do to bring this on himself with republican voters? you mentioned there's criticism of president trump, he called him to release his tax returns. it wasn't the worst criticism, i've seen worse on the republican side. the other element that's fascinating is katy arrington, go back in time two

sanford brought a lot of baggage to this race that was of his own making. he almost lost his primary challenge last time. he lost with a ton of money still on hand. he basically didn't take his opponent seriously enough and lost a primary election that was not a total surprise at all. but i think to your larger question, the point of the mueller investigation, the point of all of the discussion we're having about the president's inability to correctly clearly and accurately answer questions, there will in the end be consequences. >> what's your take, danielle, to the extent to which the president may have helped to bring about mark sanford's downfall with that tweet that he put out at the 11th h on election day tuesday? >> i mean nothing comes as any surprise, coming from donald trump. if he does not like you, he's going to take you down. if it's between him and you, he's always going to choose himself. that's how this administration operates, much like the mob. and so it's, you know, it doesn't, it's never surprises me anything that comes out of his mouth.

representatives didn't want me involved in th sanford primary thinking sanford would easily win. with a few hours left, i felt that katie was such a good candidate and sanford was so bad, i had to give it a shot. congrats to katie errin. with us eugene robinson from the washington post and charlie sykes, host of the daily standard pot cast and author of how the right lost its mine. both are msnbc contributors. charlie and i share the bills on our therapy. let me start with you, charlie sykes. let me show you bob corker on trump's base as a cult. >> we're in a strange place. i mean, it's almost, you know, it's becoming a cultish thing, isn't it? and it's not a good place for any party to end up with a cult-like situation as it relates to a president that happens to be purportedly of the same>> he chose his words v carefully. i got cult loud and clear. a pretty good way to it, isn't it? >> yeah, but only if he had been warned about all this. bob corker, i'm glad he's speaking out. it would have been nice if he would have spoken out earlier and more consistently instead of flip-flop

arrington raised sanford's opposition to him. sanford said he stood by his remarks. take a listen to this. >> it may have cost me the election but i stand by every one of those decisions to disagree with the president because i didn't think at the ends of the day was either concurrent with the promises when i first ran for offices or the people i represent. >>> sanford just the latest in a string of victims in the republican party who have tried to take on trump. jeff flake, bob corker are others who have abandoned their political careers as a result of their opposition to the president and now we see the latest victim of the never trump movement. back to you. >> thank you. >>> a court order obtained by cnn reveals ann jelena jolie is required to give more access to brad pitt of their children. jolie maintaining primary physical custody. a judge granted pitt unrestricted phone access to their children. jolie has been advised the custody agreement could be subject to change. the couple split back in september of 2016. >>> i confess i am not as up to date on my branjel

primary thinking that sanford wouldasily win. thin a few hours left, i felt that kie was such a good candidate and sanford was so bad. i had to give it a shot. congrats to katie rington. steve kornacki at the board. >> sanford, of course, we should say before all of this brought his own baggage to this. he's the former governor of south carolina.he's the onet wea few years ago, turns out he was in south america with his paramour and hiking the appalachian trails. >> with his paramour, you're so sweet to say it that way, steve. >> thank you, i appreciate you appreciating that. >> i would have said sidepiece.. we don't know, trump's tweet came less than three hours before polls closing. katie arrington is hitting that magic number of 50% which is means avoid the runoff. the significance here, when you talk about members of congress who irked president trump who op sthings, who stand up to him on some things we see a bitf a pattern here. last week in alabama, another republican candidate, martha she was challenged in t primary by so

the president saying sanford was lpl, nothing but trouble. even brought up the affair the congressman had years ago but does sanford's loss signal something bigger for the party come november. let's talk about it with our contributor bianna golodryga. a.b., mark sanford said, you know, it may cost me my seat, how critical i've been of president trump but i stand by everything i have said. is it a clear warning to other republicans, though, heading into the midterms? >> oh, yes. it's remarkable that mark sanford was the one that cold this a call to personality a year ago and what last night proves and last week was force nood a runoff in alabama. she had to abandon president trump after the "access hollywood" tape and came around to supporting him but that wasn't good if you have for her voters in her district that love president trump. it is no longer a litmus test in the party. it's whether or not you've been critical of the president and mark sanford is someone i always bring up when i'm asked about this new phenomenon. you look back at jef

. >> and katie arrington beat sanford. what she said talking about democrats and the gop. >> they believe in higher taxes, bigger government, fewer jobs, and that's the problem. it's not -- it's the job of washington to fix it. we are the party of president donald j. tr >> we are the party of donald j. trump, david joely. do you agree? if not, where do so-called establishment republicans like yourself go? >> sure. no. look, i think this completes donald trump's strangle hold of the republican party. we can't look past that. the party that we once knew as one of principled ideas has been taken over by a persality. take the comments by ms. arrington right there. the very first comment about taking on higher taxes and higher regulation and wanting less government, has been m sanford's platform for the past 20 years. 20 years a he was the ultraconservative liberty loving smaller government guy. its was the second part of her statt that is most informative. this is donald trump's party, craig. nowh to go if you're in a republic

it's time for mark sanford to hike, for real this time. >>ar lt night before the final votcounted mark sanford was feang worst. >> it's fairly unusual for a president to tweet in a congressional race. i'm neither for nor against from. i'm for ideas that i have long stood for over the entirety of my time in politics. it may have cost me an election in this case but i stand by everyone of those decisions. >> martha: 's sean spicer will join us in just a moment on whether he thinks this is a lesson perhaps for other republicans running in the midterms. here exclusively tonight, we are glad to have south carolina congressman mark sanford joining us. congressman, welcome. it's good to have you here. obviously last night was a rough night for you. you had a very strong, long career in politics in south carolina. do you believe that president trump cost you this election? >> i wouldn't say it was the tweet, but it was reduced town it was for trump versus not. i lost that race. >> martha: do you say that as a warning to other candidates out there?

liz: katie sanford went pretty negative on trump and you won even though sanford said you voted to increase taxes and spending by 1.4 billion including gas taxes what's your reaction to that? >> well first and foremost, the gas tax and the issues that mark is referring to are issues that happened while he was governor. we had to come in and take care of business. we had a pension plan in a state that was on a course that started under governor sanford and the infrastructure has been, you know, under governor sanford , the third most deadliest roads in the nation. we absolutely had to do something in the state of south carolina because our congressman wasn't doing much to help us as far as infrastructure or making sure that the funding was, that it was in the government that was necessary. it's one of those things you have to take care of business. peoples lives matter. liz: when you hear from voters katie are they talking about how the economy is pretty good? the new york times is saying it's running out of superlatives about the good jobs report and bill mahr says the only way to get rid o

take mark sanford. he left his wife and children, ab abandoned them to go to argentina to take up with his mistress. came back, publicly apologized. left the governor's mansion. got elected to congress. the voters kept elect iing him. he voted against barack obama. against george w. bush p against donald trump, but then began criticize ling trump and is out of a job. >> so cult is fair to you, eric. >> i think the republican party is headed that way. where they can't abide criticism the leadership. >> cult? >> eric, i i love you, but come on. cult? really? this is absurd. bob corker got more fired up yesterday as he was talking about his fellow republicans and chastising them than he did during the entire eight years when obama was president. i've never heard corker's voice get that high for that long when he's been p running for office and he's bitter man the people of tennessee said we're going to vote you out of office because you didn't doe do what you said you were going to do. corker and others, n

katie arrington raised this about her opponent sanford. we did not see the trump effect across the board last night. scott taylor, incumbent congressman in virginia, hand handedly won. this isn't necessarily consistent across the board. in the more conservative districts, mark sanford, a member of the conservative freedom caucus, very conservative republicans in his district that he represented. in those districts, republicans do run a risk criticizing the president. also last night coming into focus, key senate races. congressman kevin kramer in north dakota won his republican primary. he will face democrat heidi heitcamp. and dean keller in nevada. >> rebecca, thank you very much for reading some of those tea leaves from last night. the mutiny by modern house republicans on immigration is over after a frenzied late last night. suzanne malveaux is live on capitol hill with more. >> reporter: good morning, alisyn. it was near mutiny last night. this breakthrough happened late in the evening. you had house republicans meeting behind closed

>> not one bit. >> not one bit from mark sanford. yet, martha roby gets a big boost from the president this morning. >> yeah, because she started to show contrition after going after trump in the election year. sanford has just been unloading on the president even after he lost, blaming it on his criticism of the president. i talked to him yesterday and he said, do we give a pass to the highest office holder in the land who constantly says things that aren't true? he's calling on his party to call out trump's lies. >> good luck with that. one thing that's remarkable about this, not about sanford but about the president, is that for all of his inattention to policy details, he pays extremely close attention to the things that are covered in the media and on twitter, and if you say something negative about him, there is no chance that he's going to miss it. and so he is acutely aware of any slights against him, and mark sanford will know if you say anything about him, martha roby. so these lawmakers are aware he knows what they're sayi

we'll talk with katie arrington, the republican candidate who trounced sanford. and the dean ed rollins joining me next. we'll talk about the trump effect on gop primaries. and we'll talk about the rino effect on the nation he refuses to serve. stay with us. he loves charles koch. the man is in love with the establishment status quo. his masters. stay with us. your insurance rates skyrocket after a scratch so small you could fix it with a pen. how about using that pen to sign up for new insurance instead. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. liberty stands with you. liberty mutual insurance. lou: canada's government run by the deceitful justin trudeau trying to do an end-round around president trump colluding with rino senators and dems to preserve unfair trade deficits that rob american workers and cut into this country's economic growth rate. there is a cost here. trillions of dollars, we haven't run a trade surplus in 43 years. here is the canadian foreign minister alongside never trumpe

sanford was tea party before there was a tea party. as a ngressman, then south carolina governor, then congressman again, railing nst fellow republicans who called themselves conservatives buote routinely for budgets. but he also chastises the president's tweets and his tantrums and dares to say aloud that the grand old party is now a cult of personality, no longer the home of conservativey and principles. for that, sanford lost his primary last night. >> it may have cost me an election, but i stand byry one of those decisions to disagree with the president, because i didn't at the end of the day, i didn't think it was concurrent with the promises i made when i ran for office or the voices of the people that i represent in the first district. >> katie arrington is the winner. she campaigned promising loyalty to the president and won an endorsement tweet as air force one was flying back from singapore. >> joe cunningham and the d.c. democrats are the party of nancy pelosi. elizabewarren. we are the party of president donald j. trump. [

sanford would easily win. with a few hours left, i felt that katy," state rep katy ring candidate i had to give it a shot. congrats to katy arrington. what is the lesson for speaking out against the president? and as we move forward on the north korea deal, who will check the president if we don't get deliverables from north korea? >> the lesson clearly if you look at mark sanford not going to be returning to congress. if you look at jeff flake, another of the president's more chief in his criticism than sanford, these past comments will come back to haunt you come primary time especially as people who were more supportive of the president challenge never trumpers, essentially people who republicans who did not like the president during the 2016 campaign and said bad things about him. >>> yes essentially coming home to roost for those -- that's essentially coming home to roost for those people. if you've been critical of the president, you've got to change that come primary time. as far as who's going to check

we'll talk with katie arrington, theepublican candidate who trounced sanford. and the dean ed rollins joining me next. we'll talk about the trump effect onop pri. and we'll talk about the rino effect on the nation he refuses to serve. stay with us. he loves charles koch. the man is in love with the establishment status quo. his masters. stay with us. you're turning onto the street when you barely clip a passing car. minor accident-no big deal, right? wrong. your insurance company is gonna raise your rate after the other car got a scratch so small you coulda fixed it with a pen. maybe you should take that pen and use it to sign up with a different insurance company. for drivers with accident forgiveness, liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. liberty stands with you. liberty mutual insurance. feeclaritin and relief fromwsy mptoms caused by over 200 allergens. like those from buddy. because stuffed animals are clearly no substitute for real ones. feel the clarity. and live claritin clear. lou: canada's government run by the deceit

sealed sanford's loss. i spoke to sanford just a few minutes ago. joining me now is congressman mark sanford, republican of south carolina. congressman, good to see you again. thanks for joining us. >> my pleasure. >> yesterday president trump mocked you, mocked your loss in front of your peers. he called you a quote, nasty guy. how do you respond to that? >> you don't. i don't quite understand where the president comes from on any number of different things these days. and so you don't. but i do think it's humbling, one, that in this case the president is booed by colleague in the house who basically said we don't go along with what the president is suggesting. and two, i think that there is a bigger message for all of us to take away from what occurred, because well beyond the president's comments, well beyond the election of the first district, and that is the importance and the value of dissent in our political system. and in this case, largely supported the president and his agenda. but because i had s

this is the seat held by mark sanford, former south carolina governor. today at about 4:15 in the afternoon, less than three hours before the polls closed in south carolina, president trump endorsed the primary opponent to mark sanford, saying that congressman sanford has been, quote, nothing but trouble. now, by the time trump sent out that tweet, people in sth carolina had been voting for ab. so it was sort of an interesting decision for the president to make this last-minute intrusion into the race when there is only a couple of hours of voting left. whatever the strategy, though, it does not look good for mark sanford tonight. polls closed in south carolina a little over two hours ago with about 50% of the vote in. congressman sanford is currently trailing behind his primary opponent, katie arrington, who is the one trump endorsed in the today. these votes are still coming in. if arrington gets more than 50% of the vote when all the vote is in, she will unseat mark sanford tonight. that would make congressman sanford the second congressman primaried

do notsually lose but last night sanford did. last night the president went on twitter sayingk sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign. i fully endorse katie arrington. congressman sanford has no apologies. >> it may have cost me the election but i stand by every one of those decisions to disagree with the president. >> last week alabama congresswoman martha robey was forced into a runoff. sh she, too, has spoken out against the president. an incumbent well known, frequently influence and senators almost never just bow out like this, especially when their own party is in power. these days, however, they do. congressman charlie dent did. jeff flake and bob corker are leaving. senator cork eer chairs the powerful foreign intelligence committee. >> it's not a good thing for any party to end up with a cult-like situation as it relates to a presidt that happens to be purportedly of the same party. >> a cult-like situation he calls it, purportedly of the same party. senator flake was even blunter. quote, if you want to win

he slams sanford. sanford is offering his verdict following the president's tweet that he and fellow republicans are wasting their time working on immigration bills now. of course, bills that the president originally asked for. what does sanford say? listen. >> game over. it takes a window in what might have been a fairly productive week in terms of looking for a compromise. i don't know how it happens. if you look at how contentious this issue is, how much emotion there is, you know, without the president being out front, without the president having legislators backs, there is no way they're going to tate risk that would be inherent in a major reform bill. >> joining me now, chris cillizza. sanford says it is game over. bob goodlatte says they're going to push forward today and he doesn't think that the president's words have an impact on their efforts. who do you believe, chris? >> bob goodlatte made a funny joke. i'll write that down in my diary, kate. there is no way that ait goes through. the goo

they not putting out mark sanford signs and voting for him in part because mark sanford has been out in front criticizing trump from in front of the ican party. kennedy: mark sanford's political career supposedly died on that appalachian trail hike. but then he was elected to congress. do you think he has a third act up his sleeve? >> when he was elected to congress, he was considered par of the libertarian tea party vanguard. people thought it was the future of the republican party under obama. kennedy: is that badew for some -- some of the tea partyers? >> it's bad news for the 2010era ideals of the t party which were limited governments and free markets. it's not that we haven't seen any flog that direction under donald trump. but donald trump is not really a small government president. he's a president who said i'm not going to cut the big entitlements. that was part of his campaign platform. he's a president who aggressively cut off free trade and up-ended the free trade status quo in a lot of ways that just aren't sort of in the traditional republican free trade mix. so i think

mark sanford lost. mark sanford lost in large part, not exclusively, but in large part because he was not a get in line behind donald trump on every issue kind of republican, and the woman who beat him, a state legislator, katie arrington, said he doesn't support donald trump enough, i will. so be gracious in victory is usually what we learn. the other thing we relearned is he's not great at reading a room. the one thing if you know if you have spent time around congress, it's a club, it really is, for better and for worse. and when they lose one of their own, whether they liked him or didn't like him, that's sort of the reality he doesn't get. >> chris, i'm looking down because i'm getting breaking news coming in, looking at my e-mail from a full report. the white house pool was called in to the cabinet room. president trump is meeting with members of congress right now. and coming out, we'll have the tape when it comes, but coming out of it, president trump says he invited -- i'm looking for it. he sa

as a no and if my opponent, mark sanford, feels he is not trump enough, i don't think he gets it. if you are not republican enough. we are conservative. we want to have our conservative agenda implemented in washington and it is something we are intent on doing. have a tweet from the president came out at 4:00 pm. a good share of voters had already gone to the polls. the president getting involved, coming out that late was positive, sent more people to the polls to remember if we want to change, if we want our voices heard in washington we need to vote and exercise that right. heather: look at that we you are talking about. this is the one that came in last minute, mark sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign to make america great again, his nothing but trouble, better off in argentina, i endorse katie arrington, tough on crime, we will continue our fight to lower taxes, vote katie. and the reference to argentina, a reference to the personal issues sanford had in south carolina. he has a lot of things going on with him but donald trump doubled down on it yesterday, my

look, i know mark sanford. his first wife worked for me actually and ihink i may have even given to his first campaign, i'm embarssed to say. but whatever. >> no, you know what the funny thing is? you shouldn't be embarrassed to say that because you fight for long-term debt relief. that is what drove mark to congress. i remember the first day i met him, 1994, he was talking about entitlement reform. >> no, he was absolutely right on that. the only thing it says, i think there are some true conservatives in washington. i think they're hiding under their desks. >> yes, they are. it is so embarrassing. >> -- afraid to say anything. they are going along with a lot of these fiscally irresponsible bills that are coming before congress because they are afraid of donald trump and they're afraid of those tweets and they are afraid of what would happen in a primary. >> this is just the latest example, the pointed example, of why nothing has happened on immigration. nothing has happened on a whole range of issues. because

we'll talk with katie arrington, the republican candidate who trounced sanford. and the dean ed rollins joining me next. we'll talkut the trump effect on gop primaries. and we'll talk about the rino effect on the nation he refuses to serve. stay with us. he loves charles koch. the man is in love with the establishment status quo. his stay withs. touch shows how we really feel. but does psoriasis ever get in the way? embrace the chance of 100%lear skin with taltz. up to 90% of those with moderate to severe psoriasis had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaes. most people were still clearer after one year. with taltz, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. don't use if you're allergic to taltz. before starting, you should be checked for tuberculosis. taltz may increase risk of infections and loweur ability to fight them. tell your doctor iyou have an infection, symptoms, or received a vaccine or plan to. inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz, including worsening of symptoms. serious allergic reactions can oc ready for a chance at 10

what struck me -- >> greg: was sanford for those things? >> juan: what struck me was the win by corey stewart in virginia. corey stewart loves confederate monuments. i was surprised. i thought ed gillespie was a tremendidate f res. he squeaked by against corey stewart because corey stewart said i am a trump guy. he lost.ess what. kimberly: you said president trump fanning racial flames of injustice. quite the contrary. if you look at unemployment numbers, job satisfaction with blacks, hispanics and women, they are at a record low in terms of them being able to be satisfied with the party, with the president, and having jobs. >> juan: the facts are, you look at not only blacks but latinos. highly critical of president trump. mark sanford, a real conservative republican from south carolina. >> dana: they are pushing me. we have other stuff. >> greg: why is sanford where he is? you can't be riding in on a high horse on this one. go hiking. >> dana: that would mean other people would've answered to their past things. republican lawmakers and do

last night mark sanford did. yesterday, afternoon, this did just that on twitt sa sanford has been unhelpful to me, he is mia and nothing but trouble. i endorse katie arrestington for congress in south carola. vote katie. and people did. and sanford h no apologies. >> it may have costthe election, but i stand by every one of those decisions to disagree with the president. >> he is not alone in criticizing the president and standing by it. m other republicans have chosen to leavegress rather than face tough primaries. almost never bow out like this especially when their own party is in power. and these days they do. congressman charlie dent did. jeff flake and bob corker are leaving. corker chairs a committee, and he is giving it up. >> we are if a strange place. becoming a cultish thing. not a good place for any party to end up with a cult like situation as it is to a president that happens to be of reportedly of the same party. >> cult like situation he calls it. reportedly of the same party says. senator flake

we'll talk with katie arrington, the republican cante who trounced sanford. and the dean ed rollins joining me next. we'll talk about the trump effect on gop primaries. and we'll talk about the rino effect on the nation he refuses to serve. stay with us. he loves charlesoch. the man is inove with the establishment status quo. his masters. stay with us. sarah always chooses to take the stairs. but climbing 58,070 steps a year can be hard on her feet, knees, and lower back. that's why she wears dr. scholl's orthotics. they're clinically proven to relieve pain and give you the comfort to move more. dr. scholl's, born to move. you might or joints.hing for your heart... but do you take something for your brain. withn ingredient originally found in jellyfish, prevagen is the number one selling brain-health supplement in dg stores nationwide. prevagen. the name to remember. copd makes it hard to breathe. so to breathe better, i go with anoro. ♪ go your own way copd tries to say, "go this way." i say, "i'llwn way, with anoro." ♪ go your own way once-daily anoro c

mark sanford issued a new warning issuing falsehoods made by this president. here's what he said. >> so, maybe the reason i'm so outspoken on this now there's no seeming consequence to the president and lies. and if we accept that as a society, it is going to have incredibly harmful consequences in the way that we operate going forward based on the construct of the founding fathers. >> what's your reaction to that, alexi? >> you know, it's always this pattern that we've seen that only members of congress on the republican side were willing to speak out are those not seeking the election. or those like mark sanford whose congressional careers are ended because he dared to be disloyal to president trump. it's a really kind of concerning trend that we're seeing, that republicans are seemingly not allowed to have an agenda or ideas of their own that differ from the president's without suffering politically. that's because the president has something like an 87% approval rating within his own party which increasingly shows that republicans are the party of trump, n

did sanford feel encouraged by that? what did he say to you? >> he felt heartened by that, let's be clear, poppy, mark sanford who was governor of south carolina and overcayman affair, a famous affair, the appalachian trail episode that we remember, came back and served a term in congress and the thing that brought him down was essentially his conflict with president trump and has unwillingness to get onboard. so i think he was probably heartened last night a little by the boos, but he lost and he's going to be out of congress soon enough. i don't think he can be too terribly heartened by the current situation. >> good point. josh dawsy. thank you very, very much. we are waiting for house speaker paul ryan to take questions on capitol hill at this weekly gop press conference. of course, the questions will be on this immigration compromise. he says the house will vote on a bill tomorrow that will end the separation on families at the border. much more ahead. i'm a fighter. always have been. when i found out i had age-related macular degeneration

sanford came in with 47%. arrington will face democrat joe cunningham in the november general election. >> sandra: thank you. south carolina state representative katie arrington will join us later on "america's newsroom" to talk more about her big win in the primary yesterday. stay with us as she joins us at 11:15 a.m. earn -- eastern time. >> bill: also other results from other state primaries. here we go now. nevada's attorney general winning and moody won a term and cory stewart won in virginia. stewart expect to face senator tim cane, hillary clinton's former running mate. president trump tweeting congratulations to the senator from virginia. now he runs against a total stiff, tim cane weak onrime and don't underestimate corey, a chance of winning. chew on that a while. >> sandra: things are setting up. >> bill: colorful. >> sandra: you can say that. >>> a war of words heating up between the deputy attorney general and the house republicans demanding answers. how rob rosenstein was apparently threatening m

mark sanford, what is his political future? your digestive system has billions of bacteria but life can throw them off balance. re-align yourself with align probiotic. and try new align gummies with prebiotics and probiotics to help support digestive health. you always get the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed? let's say it in a really low voice. carl? lowest price, guaranteed. just stick with badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com the first survivor of ais out there.sease and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen. but we won't get there without you. visit alz.org to join the fight. >>> a busy primary night with a hard lesson for republicans. those who criticized president ump do so at their own peril. mark sanford suffering first loss of his career. cnn projects the incumbent won't even make it into the runoff for his house seat in south carolina. the president endorsed the challenger, statement rep katy arrington hours before the polls closed with a tweet saying sanford is better off in arge

sanford, it's easy to complain when you're leaving. get on your soapbox. that's the easiest thing to do. the hardest thing is run again and compete and win these voter and appeal to them on the issues they care about. they care about jobs, national security, they care about rising wages and they care about immigration and you know, mr. corker is leaving and you know, no one cares. >> you're making his point, john just made the point. the only guys free to speak their minds are the ones leaving. > certainly bush didn' hold the base of the republican this wnd as someone who worked for obama, he didn't hold the base of the democratic party this way. there is something very erent ing on here. i said it himself, trump said i could shoot someone and i wouldn't lose any support. there is something different with trump than everyone bush and obama. the question for me becomes can you be the party of trump. speaker boehner has it right, this is trump's party now. can you be the party of trump and the party of middle america? yes you can do well empty primaries. the

. >> mark sanford, the outgoing republican that lost the primary in south carolina who the president hit in that meeting earlier this week on immigration and then he called mark sanford a nasty guy because sanford has been outspoken against the president, our manu raju caught up with him and listen to what mark sanford said about the president lying. >> i think it's a real problem in the way that we will simply give him a pass on something that ultimately is corrosive to our political system. >> molly, final thought on that. i mean, yes, he's outgoing, yes, he can say whatever he wants. but he's a small part of a party now that 87% is still supportive of the president, right? >> well, yeah. that's why mark sanford is on the way out and trump in characteristic style did not restrain himself from gloating and mocking sanford in front of his colleagues in that closed door republican meeting the other night. it was interesting to see a couple of house republicans publicly rebuke the president for his false tweet that they had applauded what he said about sanford. and so, you know, sanfor

, a trump croming thre hours before the vote, mark sanford has been very unhe to me. vote katie. >> it is may have cost me the election but i stand by every one of those decisions to disagree with the president. >> thank you, virginia. >> reporter: in virginia -- >> want to stand with president trump, there is only one choice -- >> reporter: cory stew arts took the trump train to victory by addingk on immigra to hisport for confederate memorials, prompting celebration from the white house and sadness from a former lieutenant governor, i'm extremely disappointed, this is clearly not the republican party i once knew. an just a week ago in alabama, another incumbent congress member martha roby was forced into a runoff fullout from her criticism of trump. at the capitol, paul ryan is trying to brush off the trump effect. >> that is what happens in contested primaries. >> reporter: while just over 40% of americans approve the president's performance, among republicans that number is more than twice as high. >> donald trump's popularity with republicans is unprecedented. >>

sanford is a trump critic, as is republican senator bob corker, who is worried about the future of the party. >> it's not a good place for any party to end up with a cult-like situation as it relates to-- to- - to a president that happens to be purportedly of the same party. >> dickerson: ed o'keefe is our political correspondent. ed, it seems like senator corker and congressman sanford are talking about the same kind of ining here. >> reporter: yeah, perhaps. but the president's primary day imeet came amid signs sanford was already fading, and there's no question the g.o.p. candidates are paying a price for bucking mr. trump, who enjoys an 85% approval rating among republicans. trat's why you hear so little tiiticism from most g.o.p. lawmakers. for example, house speaker ryan and senate majority leader mcconnell have spent their g reers fighting off talks of tariffs or negotiations with ksrth korea. but they know that republican voters now expect them to support the president. >> dickerson: all right, let's talk about the other party. democrats are nominating women at a record pace. w

mark sanford is a personable campaigner. you mentioned that he survived the affair, he got back into congress, the very seat that he held before he became governor. it was his criticism of the president that came back to haunt him in the campaign. >> to go and bash the president on cnn isn't helpful. we need to go up to washington >> the republican strategists say that this -- the outcome of the south carolina race should be a wake-up call to gop candidates, showing loyalty to the president is key, shep. >> shepard: jonathan, mark sanford says he has no regrets about this. >> no regrets whatsoev he pointed out the fact that 90 of the time or more, he agreed and supported president trump's agenda. but in those rare instances that he disagreed with the president, he felt it was his responsibility not to remain listen. it may have cost me an election but i stands by every one of those decisions to disagree with the president because at the end of the day i didn't think it was concurrent with the promises when fir ran for office

mark sanford spoke up. lost his seat. you've got other people, bob corker, jeff flake, who are leaving, who sometimes go after him and call him out for things he says that aren't true. but they're scared, too. because their entire peer group is people whose careers and livelihoods depend on standing behind donald trump. so it's, it's that's why there's no consequence. >> any evidence, erin, that members of the party are going to acknowledge exactly what john is speaking and that would likely join mark sanford in speaking out? or is everyone too afraid of losing their job? >> john made an excellent point. the people we do see speaking out against the president are ones that aren't seeking re-election. that matters, it does dilute their message and it dilutes the power they have going into the next congress. an important line here is how the party is going to cope with this trump effect. as it heads into the mid terms. you have lot of people who are running, especially running in the top states, swing states or swing distri

mark sanford has been very unhelpful to me in my campaign emeca great again. he is m.i.a. and nothing but trouble. he is better off in argentina. i fully endorse katie arringt for congressman

that sanford would easily win. congratulations to katie arrington. arizona congressm a business, member of the committee the freedom caucus. it's corey stewart won in virginia, you get mark sanford off. clearly it's so interesting. a couple weeks ago boehner was saying this is trump's gop. i think he wasn't saying it as a compliment, but it is trump's gop. >> as you know most of presidential nominees, they are the de facto leader of their party from the time they secure the nomination. president trump has had to fight for 24 months to get that role and can effective. i think what you are seeing now is he's going to be effective, and i think people look and say, he's keeping his promises. as long as he's keeping his promises, i think he'll be able to help republicansin in the mid-term elections. charles: i don't dagree with that. and i also think it's the effort to keep those promises. in 2016 i don't think either side of the establishment believed that message. but they buckled down and refused to adhere to the wil

sanford lost the primary to arrington. and i sat down with the congressman on friday. i began by asking him if he blames president trump for his defeat. >> plenty of blame to go around, but if you boil it down i wouldn't -- i wasn't trump enough in the age of trump. yeah, so in that regard, he certainly had a hand in it. >> you knew this for a while though. you saw this upfront. when did it dawn on you, boy, this is a tide you won't be able to defeat? >> my boys have been saying this for a whil yoto feel certain things at the end of the day in this process you have to be you. so i had spoken out as i had with regard to the president. so the commercials by the opponents were a greatest hits of what i said about the president over the last year and half. if you look from the policy standpoint i w supportive. this is not about policy, but it was about personal loyalty. >> let me play what your colleagues said to your loss. >> when you're in primary season, again, it's usually a good thing not to be at odds with the most important elected official in your party. >> if you'

we've heard the president tweeting about mark sanford in south carolina. tell us w these resull you about trump's america and his standing right now in the country. >> well the candidate that beat mark sanford, kenny arrington, in her victory rally said we are the party of donald j. trump. i think that sums up better than anything else what this tells you. absolute loyalty to the commander-in-chief. has become the most prized asset in republican primaries. we have a president who is deeply unpopular in terms of the country overall. but among republican voters, is secoy to george w. bush at this stage in his presidency, in recent political memory. you are seeing in virginia, we have a senate candidate cory stewart, who has said some very unsa unsavory things over the years. and republicans are worried that he's going to energize women and democrats in november. >> jonathanswan, live in washington, d.c. thank you very much. reading axios a.m. in a little while will be easy. you can go to axios to sign up for the newsletter. >>> "morning joe" starts right now

and of course the mark sanford airing his thoughts for arrington. entering this race at the last moment, chosing to endorse arrington over sanford. it was a big moment in the race, in the final hours. so of course he is supporting her in the general election as well. a very sad bit of news. her campaign noting that she's a very strong woman, a woman of faith, and they expect that those qualities will help her during this time and we'll keep you updated of course on any developments we hear. >> we're all wishing for the speedy recovery of arrington and goff. >>> meantime, attention is still being focused on the chaos and confusion at the border. today, more than two dozen lawmakers are toring immigration facilities in texas. thousands of migrant families have been separated under the white house's zero tolerance policy. but only a few hundred have been successfully reunited. and there's still no clear plan to get the remaining families back together. cnn correspondent palo sandoval is in mcallen, texas. polo, the lawmakers there were very descriptive

she's been forced into a runoff, and now mark sanford going down. two incumbent republican members of congress in the last week. it looks like felled or potentialltrump insurgencies. this is a big thing about where the republican party is and where it's going. what else tells us something big about where the republican party is and where it's going? it's another big surprise tonight. maybe a surprise here. the republican primary for the u.s. senate in virginia. this for the right to face t cane, the democratic incumbent there. the result the republica establishment was dreading, and it's a result that could have implications for this november in the battle for control of the house. corey stewart is this gentleman's name. he is going to be the republican nominee for the senate in virginia. he defeated freitas. this is the guy the establishment thought they wanted to win here. it's not so much about defeating tim kaine. tim kaine looks like the favorite in this no matter what. but this is stewart, who has made defending confederate monuments his big i

the president also tweeted -- in the final hf the race and said he endorsed sanford's opponent and he was unhelpful to the agenda. so we're the results of republicans who go out and criticize the president at their only political peril. >> what is your analysis. >> rebecca is right. this is the donald trump republican party not the pre-trump era it is a reshaped party in his image where issue purity is not what is on the mind of republican primary voters and the purity test applies its about loyalty to donald trump and we've asked around the table many times every tweet and every new development where it looks like the president is crossing a line, is this the thing thaak tn support for him up on capitol hill? this mark sanford loss is a key answer and no and never and nothing is likely to do so because you pay a political price when you take on the president from inside the republican party. >> and i just want to point out, tomorrow congressman mark sanford will join us here live inthe situation room." we have a lot of questions for him. coming up, what kim jong-un is like close up.

mark sanford's political career survived anital hike thalachian trail. but not criticizing the president. >> i think i'll end up losing this election. >> reporter: he did lose his primary last night, to state senator katie ar arrington. >> i'm run to go get things done, not to go on cnn to bash trump. >> reporter: san said trump has fanned the flames of intolerance. >> it may have cost me the election, but i stand by every one of those decisions. >> reporter: the president tweeting sol closed that sanford has been very tter off in d argentin argentina. >> every cycle, people lose primaries. it happens. >> reporter: for many republicans, the message is critical clear. >> it's usually a good thing not to be at odds with the most important elected official in your party. >> reporter: it helps explain why republican leaders are shying away from confronting president, scrambling to arrived confrontation inhe house and senate. >> it's a good place for any party to end up in a cult-like situation as it relates to a president that happens to be performed of the