david: on that, how much do you want to run against mitch mcconnell? we saw in alabama last year a lot of unique factors, but the exit poll coming out of that was that republican voters were not fond of mitch mcconnell. is there any way to make the election a leadership choice between democrats and mitch mcconnell? even in states where the president might be popular? mr. poersch: i think that question has two answers. one, he has shown himself to be so unpopular nationally because he is unpopular with both democrats and republicans, which is unusual. as a result, his leadership has been weakened and his ability to impact republican primaries have been undercut. as far as a national issue, it isn't so much mitch mcconnell as the leadership in washington and the leadership in congress. i think people are more and more telling us that this is a change election and they think the congress is broken and mitch mcconnell is very much part of that. alexi: how do you get trump supporters to vote for democrats? the way the map has shown itself is we have 24 incu

mcconnell. >> how much do you expect to run against mitch mcconnell? in alabama last are, we saw some unique factors in that case. republican voters were not fond of mitch mcconnell. himself tohas shown be so unpopular nationally because he is unpopular among both democrats and republicans. that's unusual. as a result, his leadership has been weekend and his ability to impact republican primaries have been undercut. as far as initial issue, it isn't so much mitch mcconnell as the leadership in washington and in congress. i think people are more and more telling us this is a change election. i think they think that congress is broken and mitch mcconnell is a part of that. >> how do you get from supporters to vote for democrats? map shows itself incumbent 24 senators, 10 of them in states that trump ran. thatnk it is a misnomer our challenge is to win over trump supporters. quite's a sickly come our challenge in this cycle is to keep the trump supporters that incumbents have. most of our democrat incumbents are leading races. huge tranchesave of support

or criticisms of mitch mcconnell or china people that made the difference. i don't think so. i think if there was any single factor based on polling at different times, the debate, and the things i saw, it was more likely president trump's, i don't know what to call it, but don't vote for don tweet. >> reporter: the eventual winner is the attorney general patrick morrissey. he earns the right to take on the company, joe mnuchin, in the fall. on tuesday, it was indiana businessman mike brom is a surprise win beating out two sitting members of congress taking out jim donnelley. in ohio, jim renacci will take on incumbent sherrod brown. in north carolina, a number of house races had primaries. it was robert pittinger, the incumbent there, the company republican, who lost in a rematch to mark harris. it will be mark harris who will move on to the general election. >> thanks. two other midterm races of note -- in indiana, vice president mike pence's older brother, greg pence, clinched the republican nomination in his congressional bid. the seat which represents p

mitch mcconnell will walk away from this if blankenship wins, right? trying to tell republicans don't spend money there? >> i think it's likely just for moral and personal reasons he will try to do that. but you're exactly right, this is probably the most vulnerable democrat, maybe in the top three, in joe manchin. he is so popular there. just like tindiana, republicans are tripping over themselves to put a giant bear hug around donald trump because he is so well liked among republicans in alabama and west virginia. i spent a couple days with him week before last down in west virginia, and just on the point that you were making, jonathan, on the fact that he makes his argument about why he was in jail, which he notes was a misdemeanor, not a felony, is because he was set up by politicians like joe manchin, like barack obama, even throws hillary clinton in there. this is what he hands out at his rallies and at his events. i called it a manifesto. he suggested that was probably a word he wouldn't use because he said only bad people write manifestos, but

how about mitch mcconnell? has he played a role in this particular election given the fact that there's no love lost between these two men? >> it's similar to what we saw in alabama. we haven't necessarily seen mitch mcconnell going out and making statements to the press but mitch mcconnell has a very robust political machine that does operate in some of these primaries and the accusations from blankenship is that some of the negative ads that he's facing are being funded and being pushed by mitch mcconnell and his allies. we do know that when different candidates, including roy moore, make it apart of their campaign to attack the majority leader, mitch mcconnell a savvy operator in washington doesn't take that lying down and even though they're members of his own party, he takes the fight back to them and that's what we've seen in west virginia. he's very much hoping that blankenship does not make it out of this primary race and there are a lot of negative ads attacking mr. blankenship that would make it diffi

. >> mitch mcconnell has created millions of jobs for china people. while doing so, mitch has gotten rich. in fact, his china family has given him tens of millions of dollars. i will beat mitch mcconnell. >> that is in reference to drugs found on a ship owned by a family of blankenship's wife. if he gets a nomination, running against democratic incumbent joe m manchin, but he's mostly running against the incumbent mitch mcconnell and is disparaging mcconnell's wife and family. elaine chow was born in china. her family came over when she was just eight years old. here's how she described it to dana bash. >> as an adult looking back and seeing my mother who was only like 27, how frightening it must have been for her as the only woman aboard this cargo ship with three young girls. i mean, that's pretty rough. >> chow's family started a shipping company. she rose to be the first chinese american to serve on the cabinet under george w. bush. she is now head of transportation. the same organization that blankenship says he's running for the senate to suppor

mitch mcconnell was in the same briefing. president says there was an illegal spying operation on his campaign. not majority leader says this. >> it was a classified briefing and consequently i don't really have any observations to make about it. i don't have anything new to say on that subject. two investigations going on that i think will give us the answers to the questions that you raise. the ig investigation in the justice department and the mueller investigation. i support both of them. and i don't really have anything to add to this subject based upon the gang of eight briefing that we had today which was classified. >> now, just quick translation. he's not going to say the president is spreading conspiracy theories, the president is wrong or nuts. mitch mcconnell won't say that. but he does say we have two investigations going on. i support them. and i learned nothing today's in this briefing to change that opinion. again, that speaks volumes as does nunes silence. >> nunes silence was not just to the press. afterward

>> you want to talk about mitch mcconnell? >> they talked about it enough that i think i can clarify. >> bret: both these gentlemen mentioned that we have rules that you couldn't bring paper, props. you are going to bring props and we had to kind of take them awa away. you had these hats that said ditch mitch. he wanted to wear one of these hats. it was against the rules. so we said no to that, but you have called the senate majority leader a host of different names, including most recently cocaine mitch, in reference to an allegation that drugs were found on the ship in 2014 owned by his father-in-law. here's the question. if you are elected to the u.s. senate and mitch mcconnell is the majority leader, how will you get anything done for west virginia? >> he will be the majority leader. let me clarify that both of these guys are right. they are both lying. anybody that tells you that they are going to go to washington, d.c., and drain the swamp and don't know whether they will vote for mitch mcconnell are not is not telling y

racist ads were aimed at mitch mcconnell's asian american wife. he is breathing easier tonight. they think either one of these two candidates will be very competitive, potentially being able to take this away come november. had it been blankenship, you would see the republican party as early as tomorrow pull out on national money. again, we'll keep counting then. it looks like one of the establishment candidates will win the race in west virginia tonight. >> all right. john king, appreciate it. we'll keep checking the results of the races. >>> to tonight's other breaking news. cnn has learned that mueller investigators have questioned a russian oligarch about hundreds of thousands of dollars of payments from his company's u.s. affiliate paid to michael cohen after the election. the purpose of those payments is unclear tonight, but michael avenatti, the attorney for adult film star stormy daniels, is alleging that cohen received a transfer of half a million dollars from a u.s. company affiliated with the oligarch, viktor vekselberg after the presid

our mitch mcconnell?! if that's true, someone's cutting mitch's blow with ambien! ( laughter ) but primary frights work their stupid magic on both sides and in new york democratic governor andrew cuomo who made his name as a moderate is being challenged by activist and progressive cynthia nixon, and i couldn't be happen queer about her candidacy, and i know you're expecting me to make a sex in the city joke by saying i'm such a miranda. but the show ended 14 years ago so get over it and stop being such a charlotte! ( applause ) and while polls have nixon trailing quoam o he's been swerving left than a bruce driver on bath salts. >> cuomo is following nixon entrance by checking off a list. >> governor quoam-had an order to give prison parolees the right to vote. >> a major push to legalize marijuana. >> cynthia nixon came out in favor of legalization and governor cuomo is considering it. >> governor cuomo wants to ban plastic shopping bags throughout the united states. >> cynthia was leading a rally with environmental activists. >> no more plastic bags in new york!

>> mitch mcconnell has an even ask for my support. i think it's way too premature. i think candidly mitch mcconnell deserves a debt of gratitude for being able to hold a supreme court seat open so neil gorsuch could be on the supreme court today. what i'm interested in doing is getting through the november election bringing a much-needed republican vote to the united states senate and then we will see who's running for senate. i'm not ruling anybody end, i'm not ruling anybody out. nobody has asked for my support. what i would do is make a decision on who is going to lead the senate to support the president trump agenda. >> bret: i'm noticing you are not raising your hand either. >> i'm not the product of the liberal establishment. i think that's why you are saying all the conservatives come out for me.

i'm just going to run against mitch mcconnell. and it was a somewhat similar strategy roy moore took on. explain what that's about. >> well, as you mentioned, we are in a republican primary. so he's not -- he has no reason to attack the democrat right now. and kind of the surest way to align yourself with the part of the party who's most closely aligned with trump and is most popular in west virginia is to take on the republican establishment. >> but why do they hate him so much? you can take on people and it doesn't work. but there's something there that says mitch mcconnell is what? >> well, mitch mcconnell is just kind of a . >> of what basically trump was elected to combat in a lot of these people's minds, which is business as usual in washington, people who say they're going to get things done and they don't get things done. we have seen some continuation of that even with the republican president. for years mitch mcconnell romsed that an obamacare repeal was coming. the excuse was we don't have enough senators, we don't have

mcconnell says nothing's come out of this. >> no, mitch mcconnell said he can't tell you what came out because it's classified. >> he said nothing surprising. >> nothing surprising. but president trump has been through this before. and he has a right to have this analyzed by an impartial person, namely the inspector general, against whom no claim is made of partiality. >> so i want to ask you about other breaking news this hour. the president came close to sitting down at camp david for five hours on january 27th with bob mueller's team. >> yes. >> close but it didn't happen. i want to ask you this in the context of rudy giuliani. today he said trump should not talk to mueller. he told ""huffington post"," quote i would not like to talk to mueller at all. yesterday he told "the washington post" quote i guess i'd rather do the interview. does rudy giuliani have a strategy? >> no, no, no. in fact, i wrote a book on this that's coming out shortly. there's a definite risk of perjury, false swearing, trap -- it's not just perjury, it's false swearing, which is much broader than perjury. and

senator mitch mcconnell, thank you. >> thank you.

to defend mitch mcconnell, because it is so absurd. look, this is an extraordinary situation, he represents why americans do not trust politicians pretty clearly seems to be trying to look at his own reputation back or, here's what you have, you have a man who is running on racism and bigotry, no idea, no policy idea, character assassination, maybe he is running, should be running as a democrat at this point. he is attaching himself to donald trump, donald trump and donald trump jr. has rejected him, do not vote for this guy, the president in april had an event where the two other republicans running were there and supported him and supported both of them. but this is about to voters of west virginia, the republicans. it is an insult in the way that he is approaching them. we have so much to do and to allow this kind of, it is almost like a parody, that add to, and it is heartbreaking, because we have so much to do. and this is a guy who i think it's not just trying to smear mitch mcconnell, but trying to smear the entire conservative

i wonder about the mitch mcconnell piece. if you are supportive of the president agenda on the economy and confirmations, especially with judges, mitch mcconnell has actually been quite instrumental to help support president trump's agenda on that. >> yeah. one of the big questions in this primary is what does it mean to be a republican in the trump era? it was notable that none of the republicans running for the senate in west virginia said they would endorse mitch mcconnell as the majority leader. jenkins and morrisey kind of caveated their responses and said they could support him later on. but it tells you that trump is the leader of the republican party and all three canaled dates were trying to -- three candidates trying to be closer to trump than mcconnell. >> dana: you have to wonder if president trump would come out and be supportive of mitch mcconnell. but then again if this is what is important for republicans to be against the establishment in washington, d.c., maybe he will take a hands off approach? >> one thing

mitch mcconnell's wife that you referenced. i'm not sure i have ever seen a political ad like that in my career. >> some of the viewers may be too young you approximate it reminded me of one of those bartle's and james wine cooler ads. >> i think i'm too young for that. >> the monotonous tone but it makes people stop and pay attention because it doesn't look like it is a political ad. >> west virginia, it's to use a colloquial turn of phrase is literally the trumpiest state in america. voted for trump by a bigger margin. it has a democratic senator, joe machlkin who has kind this folksy down home charm but can . he's -- democrats thought he was the only one that could possibly hold the senate seat. the thinking i think among democrats and republicans is blankenship is the only guy that could mean manchin holds the seat. >> certainly that's what mitch mcconnell thinks. that's what the president's tweet was about today. he puts west virginia voters, the president in the position of thinking that maybe blankenship can't win if he

he calls mitch mcconnell cocaine mitch. what would it mean for the president who tweeted against him? w what would it mean for the republican brand of politics? >> this is an important state. every seat in the senate in the 2018 election is a make or break for the republican party in the balance of power. this should be an easy win for republicans. trump won the state by 40 points in 2016. if you are putting blankenship up as your nominee, you are not really putting up your best people. it could be good news for joe manchin. it is not really going to be good news for the republican party. >> you say this should be an easy win. west virginia is complicated. a republican hasn't won a senate seat since 1959. donald trump did win by 40 points in the presidential election. this is a complicated state with politics. >> absolutely. you know, joe manchin has been trying to and always has been a very centrist nominee and centrist voter in the senate. you know, republicans really could stand to win here. as you said, all four of the

it begins with senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell. this is half an hour. >> good afternoon everyone. this week, we are in the process of proving an fha nominee and fbi nominee ambassador to luxembourg. but most important, the veterans bill that senator isakson will describe in a few moments. on the harassment issue, senators luntz and senator klobuchar have been meeting for some time now. senator blunt will discuss that. everyone will be able to sign off on this i with that i will turn to the author of the bill.

i think the american people should be bringing along mitch mcconnell and paul ryan. they should be letting them know it's time to stop this. the ignorance is palpable on he perspective when you look at what's happening with this special counsel. it's politically and ideologically rigged. they are far worse than that. these are left-wing activists on the payroll of the special counsel attacking and trying to undermine the president of the united states. all of the crimes i can find as i said earlier on this broadcast. the dnc, the fusion gps, the phoney fraudulent dossier. the roll of james comey, bob mueller and all of this. you just go through it, and the crimes are all in the shadows of the united states government rather than demand they are trying to subvert president trump. >> i think it's quietest the president is frustrated. he's the only one trying to protect the rule of law from mueller's even kroavment. you have maybe four members on the-hill. lou: the freedom caucus is standing up, ron desantis. this is the moment in our history where people who stand up w

. >> trump captain mitch mcconnell has created millions of jobs for china people. >> so why is the president arguing against him? but first the "nightline" 5. our 3 contestants are all at the big ikea table. contestant #1, impressive knife skills. but contestant #2 fights back by using fresh parsley. make room for the judge! what's your dream? at ikea, we help you live it. make the dream yours. our 3 contestants are all at the big ikea table. contestant #1, impressive knife skills. but contestant #2 fights back by using fresh parsley. make room for the judge! what's your dream? at ikea, we help you live it. make the dream yours. >>> good evening. we begin with the story of tyra patterson. sentenced to decades in prison after she says she was coerced into a false confession. she used her time behind bars to start a career and become an inspiration to others. tonight she is free and she says it's thanks in part to a group of high school students in cincinnati. here's abc's deborah roberts. ♪ free ♪ free, free, free tyra >> reporter: this is a moment tyra patterson has dreamed of. finally e

mitch mcconnell has present a -- tons of president trump nominees and mitch mcconnell might open up the side for the next majority party which could be democrats. trade deal i don't see because of what nick outlined the next phase two of the tax cuts even happening. it could happen in the house, but i don't see them making much progress. >> the reconciliation to get a tax cut in the first place. that does allow you a one-time shot at a 51 vote, which we got. i agree with you is very unlikely they're going to revisit this. as to the minority party, using this against republican the next time around is almost a guarantee that republicans will be the minority party unless they get more accomplished. voters are angry about the fact that republicans have the white house, senate in the house and there are so few things on the agenda which i pass because chuck schumer has made this his resistance. they are basically slow walking the work of the senate. i think mcconnell needs to move en masse and i don't think there's not much downside risk. democrats will do it if the gop does not. neil: moll

it's actually for his completely original views on mitch mcconnell. >> one of my goals as u.s. senator will be to ditch cocaine mitch. when you vote for me, you're voting for the sake of the kids. >> trevor: "cocaine mitch?" ( laughter ) are you serious? there's no way that mitch mcconnell is on cocaine. ( laughter ) i mean, it is fun to imagine that he is, like, he's actually only 35 years old, but he parties so hard that he just looks like that now. ( laughter ) that will be funny-- so don blankenship set himself up as the trumpiest candidate that you can imagine, anti-establishment, and definitely not p.c., which is why he also ran an ad targeting mitch mccconnell's chinese american wife. >> swamp captain mitch mitch has gotten rich. in fact his china family has given him tens of millions of dollars? >> trevor: "china family?" you know, it's one of those things where i know i should be offended, but i'm extremely confused. ( laughter ) because "china family." like china family sound like how your racist uncle refers to "fresh off the boat." "change the station, i don't want

he called him cocaine mitch. last night, mitch mcconnell tweeted out this. thanks for playing, don. you see the senate majority leader, what is he doing, making fun of cocaine? but clearly, very, very happy. >> yeah, they're spiking the football on this, because blankenship was obviously one of these many candidates that mitch mcconnell and republicans trying to take over and trying to hold on to the senate have been afraid of, that he would have been another roy moore. but it did seem a little to me that move -- a little -- act like you've been here before. he came in third place and lost pretty badly. time for republicans to move on and just take the win. >> one other quick question, will this encourage republicans to go to the president more often? he tweeted about don blankenship. he said don't vote for this guy. are there more of these primaries out there? >> it's a sign that the president is very vested and interested in trying to be helpful to the leadership in the senate. he and mitch mcconnell have not always had the closest relationship. it's improved dramatically in recen

i'm joined now by senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. a loll to talk about. thank you for joining me. listen to what trump said earlier today about the north korean summit. >> president trump: both sides want to negotiate a deal. it will be a successful deal. i think we have a really good shot at making it successful. but lots of things can happen. of course you will be the first to know about it if it does. i think we have a really good chance to make a great deal for the world. >> dana: senator, are you cautiously optimistic this could be a sea change for the negotiations and relationship with north korea? >> first, happy birthday, dana. >> dana: i'm getting older by moment here, sir. >> we have watched administrations of both parties not be able to achieve what we have all hoped for in north korea. that is a peninsula without nuclear weapons. so this is as close as we have ever come. i think everybody is a little bit cautious when dealing with the north koreans for the obvious reasons. this is significant we have gotten this far and the president deserves

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mitch mcconnell and paul ryan should have the guts to stand side by side with this president. they do not. the aba should be embarrassed that the legal profession is behaving as it is. because this is a corrupt and i mean to the bone corrupt judicial system and legal system that we are watching work. >> oh, it absolutely is. this is the unfettered power of rogue agencies that are now the so-called deep state. lou: yeah. and with that, greg, as always, good to see you. >> thank you, sir. lou: be sure to vote in the poll. the question is subpoena threat clear proof, clearly out of control, acting for disregard for this president and the nation. cast your vote on twitter @loudobbs. >>> up next, red storm rising, the pentagon cracking down on chinese technology. they're concerned that they're making it too easy for the chinese to spy on us on our military bases. i wonder who is responsible for that. that's right. our military leaders. more on that next. coppertone sport. proven to protect street skaters and freestylers. retail. under pressure like never before. and it's connected

guest: i think it's very clear that mitch mcconnell opposes blankenship's candidacy. someone.he will back it's playing in a nativist street, talking about mitch mcconnell being married to elaine chao. it's going after her ancestry. this is a primary where racism can have a big role. host: don is in michigan. go ahead. caller: good morning. i have a lot of people calling ll about howraise he about a person trump is. fdr had a girlfriend when he was in office. he was with him before passed away himself. we had jfk, he had girlfriends. we had the missile crisis, we had the bay of pigs mess. was --inistration involved in south vietnam. we were in vietnam up to our next. then we had clinton. he deployed troops 40 different times. he writes that in his own book. host: bring us up to today. do you think his personal life matters to voters now? is there more of a focus in the media on that? caller: that i have no opinion on. it really doesn't matter. people are raising so much cane that arep about things a thousand times worse. kennedy got us into the vietnam war. that cost u

we'll learn whether paul ryan and mitch mcconnell will align with president trump or the koch brothers, the business round table. ed rollins with us tonight. >>> our t top story, the attorny leading the president's legal team is out, ty cobb retiring. cobb is known for his nonconfrontational approach to the defense of the president. cobb has declared throughout that the white house has been fully cooperative with mueller despite the counsel's outrageous overreach. cobb being replaced by emmett flood, an attorney who represented president clinton during his impeachment proceedings. serve as as george w. bush's lead counsel and special counsel dealing with congressional investigations into the presidency. flood represented vice president dick cheney and clerked for justice antonin calea. trump hired former new york lawyer rudy giuliani taske. he outlined the conditions and profession spects of me interview with mueller. >> are they objective about the president's interview, meaning do they have an open mind to the fact he may be telling the truth and comey may be lying. if they have an o

are you saying this mitch mcconnell is on coke? ( laughter ) mitch, i say this as a friend, you need to do harder drugs. ( laughter ) ( applause ) that mitch? i don't know. something to kick the energy up. well, here's what blankeship actually means: mitch mcconnell is married to two-time cabinet secretary elaine chao. chao's father's shipping company, which, blankenship's campaign says, "was implicated recently in smuggling $7-million of cocaine and that is why we've deemed him cocaine mitch." so now you're liable for your father-in-law's crimes? watch out jared. ( laughter ) get out of there! ( applause ) and blankenship took some of his other concerns about mitch's father-in-law to local talk radio. >> his father-in-law is extremely wealthy and runs a shipping company and owned some ships in china and he's very well-connected in china. i don't have any problem with chinese people, chinese girlfriends, chinese anything--but i have an issue when the father-in-law is, you know, is a wealthy chinaperson-- ( audience reacts ) >> jon:

lou: i have to tell you, this is embarrassing to this nation, that senate, majority leader mitch mcconnell, speaker of the house, paul ryan, the judiciary itself, supreme court has a role. the aba, left wing as it is, wall street, corporate america should all stand up for this president, and standing solidly against any further exploittation of what has been a serying two years. almost a year investigate by fbi of this so-called russian collusion, then another year by should bspecial council producig nothing. that is nothing less than a farce. >> yeah, lou. i am sure you, agree. i was darn critical of president obama, we sued that don adminisn hundreds of times it did not occur we would have criminal investigations, targets president every time we didn't like what he did that, is the approach now. lou: from the left. >> outside of norm in terms of rule of law and our constitution republican, president has to be able to be president, if you don't like him in office, then there is a political process for removing him. but justice department and investigatings it own over things he did with r

blankenship go after senate majority leader mitch mcconnell in a pretty outrageous way. that is -- there's no justifying what he did or his description of elaine chao, the transportation secretary who is married to mitch mcconnell. those sorts of things are disgusting and should be rejected by everyone. >> how do you think he's going to do today? >> he's obviously going to do better than anybody thought a few weeks ago. i think president trump's tweet, given his strong support in west virginia, not just in the general electorate, but he has over 90%, some say 95% among those that will vote in the republican primary. there's a small number that will vote in that primary because not that many people in west virginia are registered republicans. there are tens of thousands of democrats registered democrats that now regularly vote republican. the problem is they can't vote in the republican primary. only a handful of independents plus the registered republicans can vote. >> thanks, larry. good seeing you. this is one of the many issues we'll follow on fox business. coverage a

. >>> next mitch mcconnell on the history of kentucky lawmakers and how u.s. leadership has changed. the kentucky historical society hosted this one hour long event. >>> good afternoon. my name is kent whitworth and i'm the executive director of the kentucky historical society. we welcome you to the old state capitol for the lecture of mitch mcconnell entitled kentucky lawmakers and the evolution of the united states senate leadership. senator mcconnell we are honored to host your final lecture in this series and gratified that you chose the old state capitol is the venue. constructed in 1830 this national historic landmark served as the seat of our historic government for 80 years. after it opened on a brisk january day a group of patriotically inclined citizens gathered in this building to establish the kentucky historical society. they wanted to ensure the early settlement story be preserved for the future. we often say history has a lot more to do with the future than the past. i tell you this story because there's a strong connection between the kentucky

blankenship and mitch mcconnell. the president weighed in. the reality, voters in all the states are looking for leaders who will embrace policies president gotten through on tax reform, reasonable regulations, productive energy policy matters. clearly in having people say gosh, who he is want as a leader. the winners are taxpayers. who don't want to pay higher taxes again. small business owners who don't want burdensome costly regulations. and productive energy policies, mean jobs, more opportunities, more affordable electricity. obviously a more competitive america for making things and manufacturing things here in america. the winners are republicans broadly, by nominating candidates who are not just running on a negative issue of being against either the leader or whatever they're against. you have to say what you're for. if you give me that honor, that responsibility of fighting for you in the u.s. senate, here is what i'm going to do. so there will be more jobs, more opportunities, a better quality of life and a more competitive, winnin

did mitch mcconnell stand in the way? >> the republicans, in general, did. there was reluctance on their part to enter into a bipartisan statement that -- i know denis mcdonough who was the chief-of-staff was seeking from the congress. in fact, i remembe one occasion where there was a briefing team sent to the hill to brief about the russian interference and the team was instructed not to be used as pawns by the obama administration in the political run up to the election. >> instructed by who? >> there was a great deal reluctance on the part of the republicans to join in a bipartisan statement. >> instructed by whom? by republicans? >> yeah. >> they were instructed by republicans? >> i'll just -- i'll leave it the way i say it. reluctance to enter into a very aggressive statement about the russians. jay johnson and the secretary of homeland security -- i did issue a statement on the 7th of october which is a pretty forthright statement about what the russians were doing. that got buried the same day that the "access hollywood" audio tapes came out and so ou

blankenship is also criticized senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. frankly they have been in a heck of a war he called him cocaine mitch in his ads that critics said were also racist for other reasons. days before the primary president trump told voters don't vote for blankenship because he won't be able to win in the fall. at the time, blankenship said president trump doesn't know him and that the g.o.p. establishment was misinforming the president. west virginia, of course, one of several states that wrapped up key primary elections last night. and they could go a long way to helping determine which party controls congress after the mid terms. let's start right there in west virginia. our peter doocy live in charleston. hey, peter. >> shep, the majority leader mitch mcconnell is really rubbing it in that don blankenship is not going to be on the november ballot. now even jokingly embracing the nickname that blankenship gave him cocaine mitch. the political twitter account belonging to mcconnell's office tweeted a parody photo that is supposed to be

. >> mitch mcconnell has created millions of jobs for china people. his china people are given him tens of millions of dollars. i will beat and dismiss mitch. >> people are offended. >> they shouldn't be. i'm a west virginia person. you're an nbc person. in order to have a racist statement, you have to mention a race or derogatory comment about a race. >> don tells it like it is. just like trump did. and that's why he's getting support in this state. >> absolutely unreal. republicans had thought that they had successfully pushed blankenship to the edges of this race and that they were going to end up with morrissy or jenkins, one of the two. i would argue it would be more generic republicans on the ballot. what did you find? do you think blankenship is having a late surge based on your reporting? >> it sounds that way. over the course of the past 48 hours, most of the folks that i've talked to on both sides of this race have said that it's pretty much a mess at this point and they think that's really because blankenship is seeing a surge, but jenkins

. >> and paul ryan and mitch mcconnell weren't going to help. >> no, no, we tell that story too, how the president tried to put up, come up with a bipartisan response. he thought, you know, this was an attack on an american election, and, you know, i don't always like the word meddling in an election even though we use it, it was an attack, information warfare attack. and he was hoping he could get paul ryan and mitch mcconnell to join together in some sort of public statement saying this was happening, and these are steps that the country had to take to deal with this. and we describe in the book that paul ryan was somewhat sympathetic to trying to work together and that mitch mcconnell just adamant, no, this is b.s., this is politics. and he was also boxed in because he had -- >> his candidate. >> -- his candidate, the nominee of his party, donald trump, was out there saying this isn't happening or it's a hoax or it's -- >> the election was rigged. >> or this is part of rigging the election. and he was doing this even after he had been briefed, on august 17, 2016, as the republican