jeff flake would not be able to live with the man jeff flake would become if he said what he would have to say to win his senate reelection. here is how he put that to chuck todd today. >> the path to victory in a republican primary these days is to agree with the president, not just his policies, but the behavior as well, and not to speak out. and i can't do that. i don't think that we as a party should do that. >> today on the senate floor, jeff flake used teddy roosevelt's words to condemn blind loyalty to donald trump as morally treasonable. >> president roosevelt continued to announce that there must be no criticism of the president or that we are to stand bay president right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the american public. >> it was already an extraordinary day in the united states senate before jeff flake made it even more extraordinary. president trump attended the regularly scheduled republican party luncheon today to discuss the policy republicans are hoping to pass. prior to the trump presidency, the president going to his party

donald trump met jeff flake a year before jeff flake's book came out. it was in a meeting with senate republicans before the republican convention last summer in order to try to build party unity. here's part of "the washington post" the account of this meeting. trump's most intense exchange with senator flake when flake stood up and introduced himself, trump told him, you've been very critical of me. yes, i'm the other senator from arizona. the one who didn't get captured. and i want to talk to you about statements like that, flake responded, according to two republican officials. >> he wrote a book about me before i ever met him, before i ever heard his name. >> that is what donald trump looks like when he's lying. he knew exactly who senator jeff flake was by the time jeff flake's book came out. here is the other lie that criticism from other republican senators like bob corker and mccain provoked today. >> we have a very good relationship. honestly, when you look at -- when you take a look at when's happened with hillary clinton and bernie sanders a

jeff flake is speaking now. ities let's listen in. >> let me begin by noting the somewhat obvious point that these offices that we hold are not office indefinitely. we are not here simply to mark time. sustained incumbency is certainly not the point of seeking office. and there are times when we must risk our careers in favor of our principles. now is such a time. it must also be said that i rise today with no small measure of regret. regret because of the state of our disunion. regret because of the disrepair and destructiveness of our politics. regret because of the indecentsy of our discourse. regret because of the cooarsenes of our leadership. regret for the compromise of our moral authority. and by our, i mean all of our complicity in this alarming and dangerous state of affairs. it is time for our complicity and our accommodation of the unacceptable to end. in this sentry a new phrase has entered the language to describe the accommodation of a new and undesirable order. that phrase being "the new normal".

they're not with jeff flake and jeff flake, in many ways, was a great conservative. i think he had like 100% club for growth rating, as a congressman. >> yeah, he's no rhino. >> out of touch, though, with today's republican party. and i actually think that donald trump is playing a different game. i mean, we've always known that he was a paradigm shifting politician, but i think we're starting to see just how much. if you've ever seen the monu m " ""moneyball" or read the book "moneyball," the criteria for which we used for judging baseball players had no kor litigation to winning or losing. i think in the case of donald trump, all of us who have been around politics for a long time, we're looking at, is he accomplishing legislative victories? is he passing tax reform? is he putting point on the board? is he repealing health care? but i think donald trump has shifted the paradigm. his voters, i don't think they really care if he does anything legislatively. >> how can they not? isn't that -- >> they want to fight the culture war. >> that's what she just said, there h

i covered jeff flake in the house. he was the tea party before the tea party was a party. >> oh, my god, yeah. >> this isn't an overstatement. jeff flake was single handedly responsible for getting earmarks out of congress. he fought that fight. the leaders hated him. so to say -- for him to say to the arizona republic it's basically unconscionable what i would have to do to win re-election in arizona and with a good conscience, i can't do that. i don't think people realize how important of a statement that is for a senator like flake, who has been in congress since 2001 to make. very conservative guy. >> here is the white house response to that as well as to bob corker's opposition. take a look. >> does the president believe there should be a loyalty test for republican senators? does he demand -- you mentioned several times -- >> their loyalty should be to the american people and the agenda that those people elected them to carry out. >> i think that is where their loyalty lies. >> i hope we see that in their vote. i

you have jeff flake, right? >> i have jeff flake here in a few minutes. >> i'm going to race to a tv. >> excellent, and whatever question you have, text me now i'll ask him, i promise. if it's tuesday, is it the day the republican establishment officially fell apart? tonight an extraordinary day in the united states senate. republican jeff flake of arizona calls it quits. but calls out president trump while he does it. >> mr. president, i rise today

nobody will mistake jeff flake for being a conservative. he's had the backing of the heritage foundation, call for growth. so, it comes down to a matter of individuals that are opposed to president trump's -- president trump's character in office. jeff flake was somebody who voted 95% of the time with the president. but that's not good enough in this republican party. they need somebody in arizona that can stand by and defend the president on a level beyond simple policy. >> all right. vaughn hilliard for us, we'll talk to you at the top of the hour. >>> we want to the latest in the deadly ambush in niger that left officials dead. multiple officials telling nbc news that the patrol consisting of 30 american and nigerian troops were pursuing an isis recruiter when ambushed. it's not clear who or why the decision was made. it's also not known at this time if the patrol had approval to alter their original mission of reconnaissance of intelligence gathering. this comes after three military officials had been briefed told nbc news this week, th

if you lose jeff flake and bob corker, let's say on taxes, although let's remember jeff flake voted with the president more than 90% so far. so this is not a philosophical difference when it comes to policy, it is a character and a values question here. but there are some real implications when it comes to policy for the president. >> for sure in taxes being at the top of the list. and bob corker said before he may not support tax reform if it is not, if it doesn't turn out to be deficit neutral. that's one of the bigger questions about the tax reform package that we're waiting to get details on. if you're alienating important senators like bob corker and jeff flake, even if they are going to leave in a year and a half, they are still here now. and you need them for tax reform. >> they are still here for the next year. while the white house feels emboldened, mike allen said, this is about jeff flake and bob corker, but how the party is full of trump republicans. actually, i asked sarah sanders about this yesterday at the briefing to get at this idea that it's not necessarily a loyalty to

senator jeff flake is on "new day." bob corker also on "new day". >>> we must stop pretending the conduct of some in our executive branch are normal. >> when he lies about something and you know it's a lie, shouldn't you speak up? >> that's your job. >> this is a fight for the heart and soul of the republican party. >> i don't know why he lowers himself and debases our country. >> all this stuff you see on a daily basis on twitter this, twitter that, forget about it. >> his coalition to get things passed is now in some jeopardy. >> bob mueller's team has corroborated the fact of the dossier. >> there's a lot of motivations in the white house to distract a little bit here. >> why did they spend a year covering it up? >> this is "new day" with chris cuomo and allici alisyn kam cam >> >>> we begin with an extraordinary day with republican rebuke against a sitting president. two retiring gop senators calling out president trump as untruthful. senator jeff flake says he will no longer be complicit or silent, and bob corker s

so on the one hand i applaud jeff flake. on the other, i'm frustrated that people like him and bob corker are quitting the ghost. >> but, jason, the president, some of his allies, see it as a win. they say don't let the door hit you on your way out. you're the problem. you're the establishment. you're why people put us here. they don't care what you find to be acceptable because they don't find you acceptable. how big is this for the president? >> well, i think this is getting construed a little bit incorrectly here, chris. really what this is about is the fact senator flake was out of step with the republican base. he supports allowing people to come to the u.s. and not honor our immigration policies. he even said in his remarks yesterday that he's out of step or has different views on trade policies. and there's no internal dilemma with the republican party. the republican party has already decided they support the president's america first agenda and, heck, it's not even just republican primary voters. take a look at wisc

ashley, jeff flake voted with donald trump 90% of the time. he's got a 93% lifetime approval rating from the american conservative union. is this about policy? because it doesn't seem like it could possibly be about policy given that regardless of where he -- what he says about the president he still votes in line with the president. >> well, it depends on who you ask and what policies you're talking about. but it's a very good question and fair question. i was asking some people in bannon world this very thing, which is they are trying to run rye mare challenges are who are in a lot of ways like jeff flake, support the president on policy issues and they said to them, for instance, that's sort of beside of point. they want people who will take down leerd mcconnell and also want candidates who are going to highlight two key policy issues that they view as not only core to them but core to president trump's agenda and trade and immigration and hard line stances on those. that's somewhere where jeff flake was out of lock step, especially on immi

corker and john mccain and now jeff flake who have done this. you have three more, rand paul, lisa murckowski, and susan colins, who are now sometimes willing to vote against the president. where are the other republican senators? it is a shame that it takes somebody leaving office who will do this. the other 46, running again or not running again have an obligation to do what humphrey just said, corker and flake just said, the president really needs to be -- the constitution says that it is the job of the congress to serve as a check on the executive. and the members of congress need to take that seriously. they take an oath. we all -- gordon took it, i took it. you take an oath to defend and protect the constitution, which means independent judiciary, it means free press, it means those kinds of principles that are at the heart of our government. and these republican members of congress need to stand up to the president and do their job. >> i want to play for you a moment -- because it pertains to what you both just said about the constitution

let me say this about jeff flake. jeff flake is a really good senator. statement he made is elegant. i think it's important, and i think not just for jeff flake but for bob corker and john mccain and others who are very strong senators, i think it's very hard to speak truth to power, but they do, and i think the country is better for it. liz: charlie, he did take an incredible swipe at the president. >> yeah. liz: when he said in this world where fake things are true and true things are fake. do you expect that president trump is right now scrambling to figure out how to answer this or sitting there saying the people of america elected me to run this country? >> i think it's the latter. and right now, they're doing victory laps inside the white house. i think the fight inside the trump wing of the republican party and who gets the benefit from this? is it trump himself or does steve bannon, his former adviser, bigtime opposing flake and for kelli ward, couple things here, couple things to point out, liz, the tail on flake not running last night, supposed

because this is what's so interesting about jeff flake, jeff flake is very conservative. >> right. >> so we're not talking about somebody who is maybe on the margins, a susan collins or someone, who may be a conservative republican say, well, that's just a rino or whatever. he is a conservative. so this is not about politics or ideology. >> or policy. >> or policy. this is about not being angry enough and not i guess behaving in as juvenile a manner as the president of the united states does. i mean, because that's what it really comes down to. >> dana bash, what are you hearing from your sources on capitol hill. do you think there will be -- senator flake was suggesting that perhaps the dam was going to break. that it would just no longer be corker, flake, mccain and collins, that other republicans would start to come forward. you and i both know from austin record conversations, there are plenty of those republicans up on capitol hill but not willing to say so publicly. >> i'm not so sure that's the case. particularly when you're talking about people in the house. everybody's going

bush, certainly jeff flake and bob corker have to say. jon meacham, is this just another blip in usual party disunity, or is what we're witnessing something bigger here? >> it is something bigger. the congressman's point is probably the one i would make if i were trying to make that case. you can almost see the talking point being written and crafted to say that we're here by the people's business and try to shift the focus from the white house, from the feud of the many. the problem is, they don't have an ally in that messaging strategy in the oval office. you have someone who insistently puts the spotlight on himself. i think that when we look at this era, which i think we're going to be writing about and talking about historically for as long as the english language is spoken in any corner of the globe, these kinds of moments will be on the timeline. >> we just saw the president and he was all about unity. we want to play a little bit more. >> all right. we don't have that. you heard what he said. he said it's all about unity. yesterda

i have a lot of admiration for jeff flake. i thought he -- i thought he acquitted himself well yesterday. >> he's a true conservative, as are you. just a moment ago, we shared some thoughts from republicans who talked about what they think the republican party represents. it's the same republican party my mom and dad have voted with for the last 50 years. that is not the party of roy moore or steve bannon, who do not represent conservative principles. given that that is the case, why do so many republicans remain silent in criticizing the president or the way things are moving? >> i can't understand it, stephanie. we've had too many of these emperor has no clothes moments. i've said to my colleagues, it's important to state when you agree with the president, say publicly when you support him but you shouldn't be afraid to check him if he moves in a bad direction or call him out if he does something inappropriate or offensive. i think people are afraid of their bases in too many cases. as an example, we all have constituents an

>> you know, first of all, i want to compliment senator flake. i think jeff flake is a good friend. i think he's done a great job as a senator. he's voted with president trump, i believe, about 95% of the time. and so -- jeff flake is a statesman, but i'll tell you, i think when you stake focused right now on getting results, stay focused on let's get tax cuts completed for the american people, by the end of the year, that is what they sent us back here to do. i was in the private sector for 28 years before i left and came to public service. i'm very results focused, very pragmatic in my approach. that is what the american people want to see. unfortunately, fights tend to send more papers and build viewership, but thoughtful dialogue and talking about the issues sometimes doesn't. and i want to stay focused on the latter. >> you certainly displayed your focus here this morning with us, senator steve daines of montana, we appreciate your time. >> thank you. >> thank you. >>> the white house is going over the clinton campaign over fact that it helped bankroll the now famous russian/tr

now, we should say this about jeff flake. a long-time member of the house, first elected back in 2000, this was his first term. he was elected to the senate in 2012, somebody who was a conservative conscience of the senate, in many ways, tried to stay true to his conservative beliefs but you have to wonder at this point, brooke, has he had enough? and we've seen that with bob corker, that he was going to step down after two terms. and could there be a door opening where they decide to leave the chamber or even across the capital in the house of representatives where we've seen republicans not seek re-election in 2018. phil mattingly is with me and covers capitol hill each and every day. very critical of the president? >> yes. he was looking at a state where democrats got a top tier candidate to run against him and also serious primary challenges have been coming up there. steve bannon, the former chief strategist of the white house has been eyeing candidates down there, kelly ward being one of them, an individual who lost to

jeff flake is out. the senator will not run for reelection while his term expires next year, jeff flake tennessee colleague bob

than jeff flake. so no misistry if it becomes a constest but trumpism and flakism in arizona, trumpism wins. in fact kelly ward, there have been polls showing double digits up on flake. if he was going to beat someone like kelly ward, he would have to move a lot to the trump side just to have a prayer in the republican primary. i said a double bind. look at this. let's say he went and won the republican primary. look what he's up against in the general election. this is his approval rating with all voters in arizona. republican, democrat, it's basically no better. 30% approval rating. this is the least popular republican up for re-election in his state. republicans looked at them and said, you know what, you're not friendly enough to donald trump. democrats looked at him, independents looked at him and said you know what, you're too friendly to donald trump. so if you're flake ask you move closer to trump in that primary, it was probably going to go down. again i said bannon can't claim credit for thi

it sounds underhanded going after jeff flake for having voted too many times. senator flake voted with donald trump 91% of the time. his retirement is symbol of a republican party whose leaders allow donald trump's incident. those who fail to criticize this dangerous president until it's too late. unfortunately, republicans in congress remain in lockstep with the trump agenda and silent in the face of the president. they are widely criticized for challenging the president not on policy but on demeanor. that to me seems to have a tin ear. >> and andrea, it gets to i think everybody looks at this split in the republican party with their own set of glasses on. do you believe this split is over style or is it over substance? you can make a case it's over both. there is definitely a pugilism that the trump style of politics, really perfected by rush limbaugh and roger ailes, that sort of in-your-face populism that donald trump is embl embl emblematic of, is that what you view as the stylistic fight, or is this bigger than that? there is some substance into je jeff f

jeff flake's defiant surrender. if corker really means what he keeps saying about the danger posed by trump's effective incapacity, he should call openly for impeachment or for 25th amendment proceedings. and other anti-trump republicans should join him. if flake really means what he said, then he should choose a different hopeless-seeming cause and primary trump in 2020. george w. bush should endorse him. >> well, look, i think that when you look at the remarkable speech jeff flake gave the comments that bob corker made, what they are all about and what they are saying with some level of direct sentence that donald trump is unfit to be the president of the united states. he is unsteady. he is unworthy. he is not trustworthy with the nuclear codes. so far we've seen the action of rhetoric. it remains to be seen, are we going to see action? for example, all it takes is bob corker, jeff flake and john mccain. they can make angus king the majority leader of the united states senate. they can broker a deal that allows f

flake jeff flake was never warm to trump in july two thousand and sixteen trump met with republican senators and jeff flake stood up and introduced himself as the other senator from arizona the one you didn't attack for getting captured jeff flake has never like donald trump and i think the feeling is mutual jeff flake did stand up and has repeatedly done so but he did also hope that the president would turn and become presidential when he took office that never happened and jeff flake came out over the summer and said this is not appropriate behavior by the president and since then his poll numbers have cratered and he was up for reelection next year and he faces a very be faced a very stiff primary challenge from a woman who believes in conspiracy theories and all of the polls both public and internal showed jeff flake getting demolished by her so he stepped aside today to enable a more you know sane republican to run and try and retain the seat for republicans jeff flake did tell the senate quote i have children and grandchildren to answer to and so mr president i will not be com

and a lot of republicans stood back -- >> jeff flake talked about that. senator mccarthy, you've done enough, have you no decency, this is what he says tonight, senator flake equates a moment in our history to today, he says, he writes, this is in the washington post, it's enough for us to stop pretending that this is somehow normal and we are on the verge of some sort of pivot to governing to stability. nine months is more than enough for us to say loudly and clearly, enough. >> you know who else said that? bill buckly, who was a hero of the moderate republican government. who are critical of calling out donald trump for what it is, bill busily said, if conservatives roll with this yell stop, standing afort history yelling stop when no one else would. that's what jeff flake did today on the senate floor because he recognizes that the future of this country, it's bigger than party, it's bigger than a couple of legislative wins. the future of this country and the fabric of our society, democratic norms and ideals, institutions, are being threatened by peop

a lot of people were saying it was great to see jeff flake stand there and say it is a cop out because he was losing in the election. >>reporter: in that sense it's a big win because it's clearly his party. if you're n on the other hand, presidents are normally trying to get strong incumbents, particularly in states that are kind of purply like arizona to run for reelection. until 20818 in any case, you know, senator flake will be there and along with senator corker have now declared themselves essentially free agents and are in a complete position to derail the president 's agenda. but the really extraordinary thing is that i cannot ever recall a president being called out by a senator from his own party as a threat to democratic institution s in this country. >> speaking of, let's play the sound from bob corker right now and we'll talk to fits. i want to talk to you on the other sides of this. you guys can easily check what's occurred and know that much of what he said is untrue, but all of that untrue. so he's utterly untruth ful. >> so that was from bob corker and today fits we hea

flake's cause, no matter how emotional he might be with the good-bye. >> i think jeff flake said he isn't in the same place as the voters. he knows that. he basically admitted that he was going to lose and he's kind of hopeful that this shall pass, but he made the case that the voters determine what occurs in congressional and in senate races. and he knew that he was, what, at 18% in the polls. he knew that he wasn't going to win. so, you know, he got out rather than run that kind of a race. he said he wouldn't be true to his values. >> bianna, go ahead. >> no, i'm not saying that in any way the administration is going to change or we're going to see much change in the larger picture within the party. i think, in fact, i think the president and the administration may be emboldened by what they saw. these two senators went after the president. the president went after him. now they're both gone. in the president's eyes, he won. the question is, he won the battle, what about the war? what legislation are they going to be able to pass and what happens if these senators are replaced by

when you look at jeff flake's polling, it wasn't looking good. and. >> that was very polite of you. >> it was dismal. >> it was very dismal. of course, that went into his calculations. that's part of what have he said during his speech and during his interview when he first announced it that you know, i don't think there is a place for me or i would have had to run a campaign i wouldn't have been proud of if i had you know stuck with this. and also, even if he had made it to the general election and beat back kelli ward, you know, kirsten cinema has a really good shot at winning this. so you know, this could be a very calculated move on his part with let me bow out on my own terms and maybe come back into politics if there ends up being room for me again in the future. >> carl's point is why it seems unlike we'll see this wave of senators or house members coming out and following the example of jeff flake and bob corker because they want to win. they either want to stay on the ballot in 2018 or looking to election beyond that and see this politic

that was senator jeff flake on the floor of the united states senate today. maybe opening up with an obvious wound among some in the party against the president of the united states. jake wants to see the tax cuts and the relief. he's zone a number of executive orders. i'd ask you what others are asking you whether this stuff worries you, jay. if you're pro or anti-president or pro or anti-senator, whether this will get in the way of an agenda you want to see happen? >> look, neil, i think it's a great question. but the fact of the matter is, the members of the united states senate are all elected to help the people of this country. we know senator corker, we snow senator flake. we know they have been great champions for manufacturing workers in this country throughout their career. we think that they're going to want their legacy to be a strong one when it comes to help the manufacturing workers. i'm confident and bullish and getting tax reform across the line. obviously we have a little ways to go. we're well on our way there. >> do you agree -- i think the

he slammed arizona senator jeff flake. he described the president's behavior as reckless, outrageous and undig if i did. the president defended himself today. >> very high in arizona, i love the people they like me, i think i probably helped greatly in arizona by what happened with senator flake. >> the president also said senator flake decided not run because he was going to lose. we should was trail his challenger. the question is what's next? the president will have to work with jeff flake until 2019. of >> you mentioned some of those polls and there was research out there that suggested not only was jeff flake in trouble in the republican primary, he was in trouble in a hypothetical match-up with a democratic opponent. which in state like arizona, which has been pretty red. the trended quite red. however, there's two schools of thought. yes, this is good for president trump. there's also the school of thought that says what that you may have a, joe arpiao might be running >> she's a huge trump supporter and the folks i

jeff flake wasn't going to beat kelly ward. i just look at these as individual political decisions, not as a pro/con trump issue. >> adviser to senator corker, he says that he could have won. why not do what lisa murkowski and senator collins and some other folks who have expressed displeasure and disagreement with the president, why not stay and fight the good fight? why cower, if you will? >> i wouldn't call it cower. you've seen corker be outspoken over the last few weeks and months, even before he made his decision to run. and the truth is that bob corker easily would have won this race. the real truth is he's long been thinking about whether it makes sense to stay in the senate. he thought about that the first time he ran and thought about it again. this is sort of a trump thing. this is about bob corker's decision he's going to run or not. it's true he's been speaking out but he did that before he made that decision. >> we have this back and forth between the president and reporters. gentlemen, stick around, listen closel

we'll talk with jeff flake. imagine you have a few things to ask of him. >> i have been compiling some questions, yes. i'm up to about adozen. i hope they give me a lot of time for this interview. we have too much news today, basically. yes, we had arizona senator jeff flake who gave that stunning speech on the senate floor. we'll ask him about that as well as his future plans. our fact-checkers are in overdrive this morning because we have to revisit the uranium one deal, what's that all about and what is it the administration is saying about it and republicans on capitol hill. of course, the iran deal and what senator bob corker's relationship is with that. i could go on, but i would take up the next ten minutes with the tease. so, just know that we are going to be getting to the bottom and bring you the facts this morning. >> chris cuomo will talk to rob portman, senator from ohio. it will be interesting to find out what other senators think about what flake and corker said yesterday. should be a great show.

jeff flake and i came in together. he is a man of tremendous integrity. i think what we saw in the house and senate today amount to a really sad indictment of the institution. in the senate it became clear with jeff flake and bob corker that the senate has no place for people of that character and quality who are willing to stand up for what they believe the republican party really stands for. that the party has now become the trumpist party, and similarly in the house, in the actions of our chair and the chairs of other committees to basically have a benghazi redux, they've shown themselves to be the party of trump and no longer what we used to think of as the conservative party. >> congressman adam schiff, thank you for your time tonight, sir. nice to have you here. >> thanks, rachel. >> lots of news to get to tonight, including michael mesh laws coming up. to most, he's phil mickelson pro golfer. to me he's, well, dad. so when his joint pain from psoriatic arthritis got really bad, it scared me. and what could that pain mean? joint pain could mean join

you have jeff flake, right? >> i have jeff flake here in a few minutes. >> i'm going to race to a tv. >> excellent, and whatever question you have, text me now i'll ask him, i promise. if it's tuesday, is it the day the republican establishment officially fell apart? tonight an extraordinary day in the united states senate. republican jeff flake of arizona calls it quits. but calls out president trump while he does it. >> mr. president, i rise today to say, enough. >> this on the same day that another republican senator, this one named bob corker goes after the president again and again and again. >> his motto is to divide and to attempt to bully and to use untruths. >> two so-called establishment republicans basically saying, i've had it with the president, and i can't do this anymore. >> if i have been critical, it is because i believe it is my obligation to do so. and as a matter and duty of conscience. >> you would think he would aspire to be the president of the united states and act like a president of the

you now have bob corker, you now have jeff flake. unencumbered by the hassle of re-election, free to speak out about the president at a time where president trump needs to pass significant legislative accomplishments and in 2020 will face his own re-election fight. the white house feels like they can keep jeff flake's seat in the republican column when it come does come up in 2018. that's going to set off its own scramble in arizona. >> certainly will. thank you very much, sara, with that reporting tonight. "outfront" now, david chalian, our political director, gloria borger, and tim nephtally, president historian. gloerj yeah, you have covered politics for long time. senator flake's speech today from the flor of the senate, 17 minutes of the utmost seriousness. have you seen anything like it? >> no, i never have. i was trying to think back whether i heard anything in the clinton impeachment or read anything about richard nixon during his troubles. >> obviously, we have some audio problems with gloria. as soon as we get it. sorry, gl

anna: i don't see jeff flake or bob corker shying away from the debate. they are driving the narrative. howie: i have seen stories saying flake and corker didn't make their harshest criticism until they didn't have anything to lose politically. so they are not so brave after all. emily: i think that's fair. bob corker was in contention for a vp slot and secretary of state. if you are of that mindset you could say that enables the trump phenomenon. now that they are facing tough battles electorally. anna: one of the reasons jeff flake couldn't win reelection is he wrote a whole book about this. howie: some people are saying these two retirements are a win for donald trump. it depends on whether the democrats win those seats or not. could this be seen as trump taking over the party and people having to leave washington? joe: the party is taken over. these are two wins for him. that's why there is still struggle in the party. 67% of the party. howie: in terms of the coverage is this properly cast? joe: it is being properly cast as a divide. most of coverage

jeff flake has never supported this president. corker was just like, no, i won't vote for him again. i think he's irresponsible. i think he's a liar. i won't say the l word, but he has a problem with the truth. he was blistering. >> he was. and you're right, he's been a recent supporter of donald trump. he was golfing with him and peyton manning as recently as july. >> why do you think now? >> well, i think it's pretty clear that the situation is that they're both in hopeless primary struggles and there's no way forward for them. so i'm a little bit less impressed by their moral leadership than maybe others are, because it wasn't obvious last year that trump had the same problems. but politically, you know, he's put them in a box now. yes, they're responding correctly, but i would have liked to have seen it earlier. >> to matt's point, simone, what did people think -- you would think that these are two pretty intelligent guys. did people actually think that the donald trump that they saw on the campaign trail was all of a sudden g

so, you had both corker now, who is retiring, and jeff flake kind of smashed the chains. and they're speaking with a lot of candor and both these guys are conservatives, too. these are not moderate conservative fight. it is about the president's character. what makes this particularly important, i think, is that they are saying in public what most republican senators are saying in private. so, these are not rare opinions here. the question is will this hairline crack start to grow inside the party, particularly as we face a year from now, what could be pretty tough midterm elections. >> that's the question, mike. are you looking for incumbents who don't plan to leave the senate? are you looking for profiles and courage to lineup behind these guys? >> well, i've been in politics too long for that, brian. but i'll tell you this. if we have a rough midterm, putting aside the legislative challenge of the president declaring, you know, twitter war on two votes he may need, if we have a rough midterm, particularly in the house, then you've got a bunch of senators who are up in

senator jeff flake says for him it's now a matter of conscience. phil, senator flake's retirement announcement, what are you hearing about how this came about? >> there's no question there were political elements of this. the senator and his campaign aides have told me have been pulling down in arizona for a while now. they recognize not just a well funded and well liked challenger in his primary they recognized was going to be difficult. there was also the person. i think anybody's who's been paying attention have seen the seeds of this sewn from the senator. week after week he wrote a book about this, he declined to endorse president trump. he's spoken about this repeatedly on-air, on the senate floor that there were significant problems he had with the trekz of the republican party, problems he laid out very clearly on the senate floor. take a listen. >> it is time for our complicity and our accommodation of the unacceptable to end. in this century a new phrase has entered the language to describe the accommodation of a new and undesirable order

i feel the same way about jeff flake. great guy, good senator. they have individual issues with the president. these things are all personality driven, and it's unfortunate that this leaked out over into the public, and they are going to have to resolve those issues between themselves. look, i look at it differently than you do, and it has been a little over a year and a half ago where we had 17 people running for the republican nomination, and it was a robust discussion amongst them, and there were personality clashes there, and so many and so often, you people in the national media had trouble keeping up with it. it's not a lot different now than it was then except the field is narrower. you hope these things can be resolved, but they are always personality driven and these are. >> senator, the thing is they would say it's not personality driven, this is driven by things of great importance like comments that mexicans are rapists, or equating white supremacists that are protesting against their evil beliefs. that's what these fellow members of

on twitter, he dismissed the unprecedented criticism from senators jeff flake and bob corker, saying they decided not to seek reelection because they have zero chance of winning. but by this afternoon, he turned his fire on democrats and described yesterday's lunch with republicans in glowing terms. president trump: i call it a love fest. it was almost a lovefest. maybe it was a lovefest. standing ovation. there is great unity. i mean, if you look at the democrats with bernie sanders and hillary clinton, that is a mess. there is great unity in the republican party. jane: for more, i spoke a short time ago to reid wilson, national correspondent with "the hill." lovefest, that is an -- i started by asking why we are not seeing more join jeff flake and bob corker in their criticism. reid: the republican party has control in washington, d.c., and they have an agenda they want to get through. none of their agenda has moved to even a debate phase. the health care repeal has failed. tax reform is getting off to a rocky start with the president and congressional republicans apparently on dif

john mccain and jeff flake's home state by 3.5 points. he won in bob corker's state by more than 25 points. at the end of the day, they believe this is one of those conservative not just items but the most significant of conservative items which is tax cuts for americans. which is why they think they'll be on board. today attacking back saying that flake suggested other republicans have been speaking out. instead he was highlighting that they were standing up for him noting the multiple standing ovations he talked about behind the scenes, behind closed doors during the senate policy luncheon yesterday. the white house still feels these republicans will all find that necessary cohesion when it comes to the policy itself. >> all right. peter alexander and garrett haake, thank you so much. joining me now congressman chris stewart from utah. was a huge win for the republican party as a whole. and now here you are as steve bannon puts it, with a gop civil war. what do you think is happening? >> i think it's probably overstate to say it's a civ

and in some ways, jeff flake made it easier for him this week by leaving the fight. by saying he's not going to run for re-election. he cleared the way for a more trumpian candidate who might in fact take that seat in arizona. so the real question, at the end of the week, is yes, there's this tumult, this great divide, a schism, but is it actually working in president trump's favor in the short term? >> we saw senator flake speak out, senator corker, but they were not for the most part echoed by other republicans. why is that? >> it was fascinating. flake issued this very passionate call to arms and basically the party mutinied. they said, no thanks. he arguing if you don't speak out against the president, you're complicit. you're aiding and abetting essentially. and there was mostly silence from republicans if not a defense of the president. you had a parade of them on television the next day saying, you know, he's working really hard to get things done. then you had the president himself pointing out multiple times that he got a standing ovation from republicans on

some are saying jeff flake is a martyr. that trump ousted him and it was his opposition as a principled man to trump that got him thrown out. the fact is, jeff flake, since 2013, has been one of the most unpopular senators in the senate. there's an article titled why is jeff flake the most unpopular senator in the senate 2013. he moved dramatically to the left from where he had been in congress. he was already running a competitive primary with kelly ward, even in the middle of the election cycle. then it seems over the past few months he decided he wants to set himself up as the avatar for anti-trumpism in the republican party. i found the whole thing to be in a little bad faith. not that i think he is inse seer. just the perpetuation of this myth that he's going down because he opposes trump. that gives little credit to the public and little credit to jeff flake. >> dana: they're going to be there for these votes. let's listen to president trump whether he's concerned about flake and corker blocking tax reform. >> are you