{"id":445,"date":"2014-10-05T18:00:30","date_gmt":"2014-10-05T22:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=445"},"modified":"2014-10-05T18:00:30","modified_gmt":"2014-10-05T22:00:30","slug":"meet-the-press-10514-frieden-on-ebola-pfeiffer-on-secret-service-axelrod-new-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2014\/10\/05\/meet-the-press-10514-frieden-on-ebola-pfeiffer-on-secret-service-axelrod-new-polls\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMeet The Press\u201d 10\/5\/14- Frieden On Ebola & Drug Pipeline; Pfeiffer On Secret Service; Axelrod & Scarborough Clash On Panel; New Polls"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
Frieden: \u201cThe drug pipeline is going to be slow\u201d Pfeiffer on Ebola: \u201cSo we’re prepared for this.\u00a0 But we’ll always be evaluating.\u00a0 The president’s focused on this every day.\u201d Priebus on 2014: \u201cI think we’ve got to win the Senate.\u201d Axelrod on President Obama\u2019s Ballot Line: \u201cIt was a mistake.\u201d Scarborough says Republicans have \u201cno message\u201d<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

OCTOBER 5, 2014 –<\/strong>– Today\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press with Chuck Todd\u201d<\/strong> featured interviews with the Centers for Disease Control Director Tom Frieden<\/strong>, White House Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer<\/strong>, Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus<\/strong> and Former Senator Jim Webb<\/strong> (D-VA); and a panel discussion with NBC News senior political analyst and host of MSNBC\u2019s \u201cMorning Joe\u201d Joe Scarborough,<\/strong> NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchel<\/strong>l, PBS NewsHour Co-Anchor Gwen Ifill<\/strong> and Director of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics and NBC News Senior Political Analyst David Axelrod.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And Chuck unveiled new NBC News\/Marist<\/strong> polling in three key states: Kansas, North Carolina and Iowa: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1pX5O6Q<\/p>\n

Below are highlights, video, and a rush transcript of today\u2019s program. All content will be available online at http:\/\/www.MeetThePressNBC.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Chuck asks Dr. Tom Frieden about calming American fears<\/strong><\/p>\n

DR. TOM FRIEDEN:<\/p>\n

Well, it’s really understandable that people are scared.\u00a0 It’s a deadly virus.\u00a0 But you have to go back to basics.\u00a0 The bottom line here is we know how to stop it.\u00a0 It’s not going to spread widely in the U.S. for two basic reasons.\u00a0 We can do infection control in hospitals and we can do public health interventions that stop it in its tracks.<\/p>\n

We do that by identifying every possible contact, monitoring them for 21 days, and if they get any symptoms, isolating and monitoring them as well.\u00a0 That’s how you stop Ebola.\u00a0 That’s how we’ve stopped every outbreak.\u00a0 In fact, just this past week, we reported on our experience helping Nigeria stop their importation of Ebola.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Dr. Frieden on the drugs to help combat the Ebola virus<\/strong><\/p>\n

DR. TOM FRIEDEN:<\/p>\n

The drug pipeline is going to be slow, I’m afraid.\u00a0 The most promising drug, ZMapp, there’s no more of it, and it’s hard to make.\u00a0 It takes months to make just a bit.\u00a0 So many people are working on can that be accelerate.\u00a0 We’re also looking at vaccines.\u00a0 And there are a couple of promising vaccines that are already in initial trials.\u00a0 And if those were available, we would be able to use them for healthcare workers and potentially in other places, if they work.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Pfeiffer dismisses claims that the hiring of Secret Service Director Pierson was \u201crushed\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWhen the White House decided, when the president decided to hire Director Pierson, did you guys rush?\u00a0 Did you vet her properly?\u00a0 Not necessarily on whether she had a good background and a good HR file.\u00a0 But did you vet to see, was she up to the job?\u00a0 Or did you rush?<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nNo, we did not rush.\u00a0 And she was someone with a 30-year record at the secret service.\u00a0 Obviously, what had happened over the last several weeks here made it clear we needed to take another direction.\u00a0 And we decided to do that, and we’re very pleased that–<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Pfeiffer on the growing trust deficit for government insitutions<\/strong><\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:<\/p>\n

Look, I do understand that people have had a\u00a0 growing skepticism of institutions for a long time, including government.\u00a0 But people should know that everyone in the situations you mentioned, where a problem arises, we deal with it.\u00a0 We deal with it quickly, we deal with it forcefully to make sure it doesn’t happen.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Priebus on the importance of the Senate in the 2014 election<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIf you don’t win the Senate, this is a bad election?<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nI think so.\u00a0 Yeah, I think that’s fair.\u00a0 I think we’ve got to win the Senate.\u00a0 I think we will win the Senate.\u00a0 The question for us is are we going to win with six, seven, or eight seats?\u00a0 And I think that’s what’s up for grabs right now.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Joe Scarborough on Republicans lacking a message<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIs that because the Republicans don’t have a message?<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nThere is no message.\u00a0 And you know who’s saying that?\u00a0 Republicans.<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nScott Walker, among them.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nYeah.\u00a0 If you don’t like President Obama’s healthcare plan, what’s your healthcare plan?<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWhat’s the alternative.\u00a0 Right.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nIf you don’t like what Barack Obama’s doing on jobs, how are you going to get people back to work?<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nNobody has those messages.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Axelrod calls President Obama\u2019s ballot line a \u2018mistake\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nDavid Axelrod, you’re not writing President Obama’s speeches anymore, but if you were–<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nNo, I wouldn’t put that line there.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWould you have?\u00a0\u00a0 I was just going to say, you would not–<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nNo, I would not have.\u00a0 But understand, if you read the speech, the context of the line was, the thing he’s pushing forward, minimum wage, pay equity, infrastructure, and he said these are on the ballot.\u00a0 But the way, it was obvious when you saw the speech that that was not the way–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou’re an ad man.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nThat was going to–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThat’s all you–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:<\/p>\n

It was a mistake.\u00a0 But you know, fundamentally, the issue that he should be driving and the Democratic party should be driving is forward looking, because the problem is how are middle class people going to make a living in this country, and what policies can we implement that can help?\u00a0 We ought to have that debate.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Below is a RUSH transcript of this morning\u2019s broadcast — mandatory attribution to NBC News\u2019 \u201cMeet the Press.\u201d A final transcript of the program will be available at www.MeetThePressNBC.com<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD\u201d<\/strong>
\nOctober 5, 2014\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThis Sunday on Meet the Press, America is on edge.\u00a0 Ebola’s been diagnosed on U.S. soil for the first time.<\/p>\n

DR. IRWIN REDLENER:
\nThe country is absolutely not ready for a large-scale epidemic.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThe head of the secret service had to resign after a series of blunders that compromised the security of a president.<\/p>\n

DAN BONGINO:
\nThe secret service at this point needs someone to come in with a fresh set of eyes.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAs our government got a grip on all of these challenges facing the country.\u00a0 And can President Obama keep his promise about combat troops?<\/p>\n

PRESIDENT OBAMA:
\nI won’t commit our troops to fighting another ground war in Iraq or in Syria.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWe’re going to hear from an Iraq War veteran who thinks he’s already broken it.<\/p>\n

CLAY HANNA:
\nThe truth is that they are actively engaged in combat.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nPlus, with less than a month until the midterms, I’m gonna reveal some big new polls that may be just what one party has been waiting to see.\u00a0 And I’m Chuck Todd.\u00a0 And joining me to provide insight and analysis this morning are NBC’s Joe Scarborough; our chief foreign affairs correspondent here at NBC News, Andrea Mitchell; host of PBS NewsHour, Gwen Ifill; and former senior advisor to President Obama, David Axelrod.\u00a0 Welcome to Sunday.\u00a0 It’s Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

ANNOUNCER:
\nFrom NBC News in Washington, this is Meet the Press with Chuck Todd.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, good Sunday morning here.\u00a0 Before I get down to business, I should show you this new set that we have here.\u00a0 As you can see, we’ve got some new d\u00e9cor.\u00a0\u00a0 A nod to the history of the show.\u00a0 Some important d\u00e9cor over here that really is just to give Scarborough a hard time.\u00a0 That’s the great University of Miami helmet.
\nI’ve got a nice new coffee bar.\u00a0 I’m going to call it coffee bar because hey, it’s Sunday morning, we should only be drinking coffee.\u00a0 Some of you may decide that you need more than that.\u00a0 But we hope you enjoy it.\u00a0 It’s a clean look, we like it.\u00a0 It’s more my style.\u00a0 And now let’s get down to business.\u00a0 It’s been a rough week.
\nThere’s a litany of problems that the government and the American public are having to worry about.\u00a0 The first case of Ebola in the United States.\u00a0 More revelations about the secret service incompetence, and another horrific ISIS beheading.<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

BRIAN WILLIAMS:
\nThe highest alert.\u00a0 The CDC has now increased the emergency response to the Ebola epidemic.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nThis outbreak is the largest in history, causing the president to send U.S. military personnel in an attempt to control the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n

PRESIDENT OBAMA:
\nWe have to act fast.\u00a0 We can’t dawdle on this one.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nEbola.\u00a0 Just one of the frightening but true stories that have been seen on TV, newspapers and the internet.<\/p>\n

LESTER HOLT:
\nIt’s an unbelievable scene as a man jumps over a fence.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nA man able to penetrate one of the most protected places in the country.<\/p>\n

KRISTEN WELKER:
\nNo one has ever gotten all the way through the front door, just behind me.<\/p>\n

SCOTT PELLEY:
\nWorse than we knew.<\/p>\n

BRIAN WILLIAMS:
\nTurns out, he got deep inside the mansion before being stopped.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nOn Friday, another beheading. Then, an email confirming that another American is being held by ISIS.\u00a0 And a White House realizing they needed to reassure a frightened public.<\/p>\n

BRIAN WILLIAMS:
\nEbola in the U.S.<\/p>\n

DAVID MUIR:
\nThe first confirmed case of Ebola.<\/p>\n

SCOTT PELLEY:
\nA man in Texas has just been diagnosed with Ebola.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD (V\/O):
\nBecause Ebola has left Africa and walked into a Dallas hospital.<\/p>\n

LISA MONACO:
\nAnd that person is now being isolated and dealt with and significant contact tracing is being done.<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nLet’s take a closer look at the severity of the Ebola outbreak.\u00a0 The situation is dire in West Africa, with Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone severely affected.\u00a0 The Centers for Disease Control estimates 7,492 people have been infected, and that 3,439 have lost their lives.\u00a0 But there are worries those numbers could continue to skyrocket with the CDC laying out a worst-case scenario, which could see 1.4 million infected by the end of the year.
\nEarlier this month, President Obama told me that only the U.S. could lead the fight against the virus.\u00a0 And more than 3,000 American troops are being deployed to West Africa in order to help with these relief efforts and build makeshift hospitals.\u00a0 But it’s important to note only one case has been diagnosed in the U.S. so far.
\nThis week, Thomas Eric Duncan tested positive in Dallas after traveling to the U.S. from Liberia.\u00a0 His condition was downgraded yesterday from serious to critical.\u00a0 And of course, here at NBC, we’ve been impacted.\u00a0 On Thursday, Ashoka Mukpo, a freelance cameraman, who had been working with our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Nancy Snyderman in Liberia, was diagnosed with Ebola.
\nHe’s due to be flown back for treatment in Nebraska.\u00a0 No one on the NBC crew with Dr. Nancy Snyderman has shown any signs of infection.\u00a0 She of course will quarantine herself for up to three weeks. I’m joined now by Dr. Tom Frieden, head of the Centers for Disease Control.\u00a0 Dr. Frieden, welcome to Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

DR. TOM FRIEDEN:
\nGood morning.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nLet me ask you this morning what you can tell us about Mr. Duncan in Dallas.\u00a0 We understand he’s in critical, or I think now critical condition.\u00a0 What more do you know?<\/p>\n

DR. TOM FRIEDEN:
\nWell, just what you’ve said.\u00a0 As we know, this is a serious illness, that the virus is very hard to fight in individual patients.\u00a0 We know how to stop its spread in a community.\u00a0 But for treatment of individual patients, the best care is intensive, supportive care.\u00a0 And that’s what’s being done right now in Dallas.\u00a0 And we really hope for his recovery.\u00a0 But we recognize that it is a severe illness that does take far too many lives.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAll right.\u00a0 Let’s talk about the response in Africa right now.\u00a0 It is still be described as an exponential problem.\u00a0 So every infected person ends up infecting two more people.\u00a0 So it is an exponential issue.\u00a0 How do you change the math?\u00a0 When do you think you can change that math?<\/p>\n

DR. TOM FRIEDEN:
\nWell, with President Obama’s decision to send the Department of Defense in to provide critical support, they’re already there on the ground, they’re working very effectively with our team, with other teams in the U.S. government internationally.\u00a0 We’re seeing a terrific international response as well.\u00a0 Other countries are coming and helping.
\nBut the virus moves very, very fast.\u00a0 We’re beginning to see some signs that the response is getting more and more effective, for example, at making sure that people aren’t being exposed to patients who have died from Ebola and getting safe removal of bodies.\u00a0 There’s been progress on that in the past week, and that’s encouraging.\u00a0 But this is going to be a long, hard fight.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nLet me ask you about drugs.\u00a0 We know there are some experimental drugs.\u00a0 Some of them have been used to deal with the early U.S. relief workers that got infected early on during the beginning of this crisis.\u00a0 Is there signs of speeding up that process so that these drugs are available faster, quicker, and either to be used both in West Africa and anything we need here?<\/p>\n

DR. TOM FRIEDEN:
\nThe drug pipeline is going to be slow, I’m afraid.\u00a0 The most promising drug, ZMapp, there’s no more of it, and it’s hard to make.\u00a0 It takes months to make just a bit.\u00a0 So many people are working on can that be accelerate.\u00a0 We’re also looking at vaccines.\u00a0 And there are a couple of promising vaccines that are already in initial trials.\u00a0 And if those were available, we would be able to use them for healthcare workers and potentially in other places, if they work.
\nSo we’ve got to figure out as quickly as possible whether they work.\u00a0 But even without drugs or vaccines, meticulous clinical care, just restoring the patient’s fluid balance can save a lot of lives.\u00a0 And in Africa, we’re seeing some of those makeshift hospitals providing that good fluid care that’s doubling survival rates there.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nHow do you calm American fears here?\u00a0 Right now, the public we saw, we saw an airplane sort of quarantined in Newark.\u00a0 You’re now seeing hundreds of cases where people are reporting potential symptoms that might be Ebola-related.\u00a0 And frankly, we’re getting close to causing a panic about this.\u00a0 How do you stop that part of this virus?<\/p>\n

DR. TOM FRIEDEN:
\nWell, it’s really understandable that people are scared.\u00a0 It’s a deadly virus.\u00a0 But you have to go back to basics.\u00a0 The bottom line here is we know how to stop it.\u00a0 It’s not going to spread widely in the U.S. for two basic reasons.\u00a0 We can do infection control in hospitals and we can do public health interventions that stop it in its tracks.
\nWe do that by identifying every possible contact, monitoring them for 21 days, and if they get any symptoms, isolating and monitoring them as well.\u00a0 That’s how you stop Ebola.\u00a0 That’s how we’ve stopped every outbreak.\u00a0 In fact, just this past week, we reported on our experience helping Nigeria stop their importation of Ebola.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, let me ask you very quickly though.\u00a0 We’ve got flu seasons going to be coming up.\u00a0 Can the U.S. healthcare system handle the incoming that if you mix sort of fear about Ebola with your typical flu season, and people feeling sort of similar issues, fever, stuff like that, are you worried about a crush of the American healthcare system because of the Ebola fear mixed in during flu season?<\/p>\n

DR. TOM FRIEDEN:
\nI don’t think we’re going to see a huge number of Ebola patients, or even concerns for Ebola patients.\u00a0 It’s great that we have an index of suspicion such that we evaluate every person who has traveled and who might have it.\u00a0 And that’s what we expect to see.\u00a0 It’s actually a good thing to see more concerns so that we don’t miss a patient and allow it to spread in a cluster in this country.
\nWhat flu season will hold, I don’t know.\u00a0 It’s a good time to get a flu shot.\u00a0 The only thing you can predict about flu season is that it’ll be here and we can’t predict what it’ll be like.\u00a0 So very important to get a flu shot.\u00a0 That’ll reduce the burden both on you and on the healthcare system.\u00a0 But I think our healthcare system certainly has challenges.\u00a0 But it can respond, it has resilience, we have hardworking doctors and nurses, people running the system.\u00a0 And we’re going to learn from each experience and respond even better next time.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAll right, Dr. Frieden from the Centers for Disease Control, thanks for coming on Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

DR. TOM FRIEDEN:
\nThank you.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou got it.\u00a0 All right.\u00a0 For more on the Ebola response, I’m joined now by Dan Pfeiffer, senior advisor to President Obama.\u00a0 Dan, welcome back to Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nThanks for having me, Chuck.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nLet’s go to I think with the White House’s responsibility, which is sort of calming the public’s nerves.\u00a0 Is the administration considering stepped up tactics here, possibly more aggressive screenings at airports?\u00a0 Something to reassure the public that Ebola is going to have a hard time making it to the United States?<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nWith, I think the first thing we need to do is make sure that the American people understand how hard it is to contract Ebola, and to understand that there is no country in the world better prepared than the United States to deal with this.\u00a0 We have the best public health infrastructure and the best doctors in the world.\u00a0 We’ve been preparing for this eventuality since the outbreak in West Africa started seven months ago.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWhy though, I guess go back to the question.\u00a0 I understand about the outbreak, but are you going to try to do more measures?\u00a0 I think this is a public that is very fearful right now, because you say one thing here, and then all of a sudden, Ebola walked into a Dallas hospital.<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nWell, I think we’re going to constantly evaluate all the measures we have in place.\u00a0 I think it’s important for people to understand that this outbreak’s been happening for seven months in West Africa, and this is the first time someone has come to the United States.\u00a0 So we’re prepared for this.\u00a0 But we’ll always be evaluating.\u00a0 The president’s focused on this every day.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSo you may do more?<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nNo, I think we are going to look and make sure everything is working.\u00a0 And if we see where there are flaws in the system, where things don’t work, we’ll address those.\u00a0 But we’re very confident in the procedures we have in place.\u00a0 And people should know that the president’s focused on this every day.\u00a0 He’s briefed on it every day.\u00a0 He’s in contact with Dr. Frieden, the CDC, local officials in Dallas to make sure that every resource we need to deal with it is being brought to bear here.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI think one of your challenges though is a trust deficit that has been created over the last 18 months.\u00a0 I want to put up a graphic, whether you believe it’s fair or not, it is a fact about all the different sort of government gaps over the last 18 months.\u00a0 Edward Snowden stealing NSA files, the VA faking wait times, IRS losing emails, healthcare.gov doesn’t launch.
\nThe president himself saying, “U.S. intelligence agencies underestimated ISIS.”\u00a0 The DHS, the border failure with that surge over the summer, sort of failure, and of course, the secret service.\u00a0 Why should we trust that what you’re saying about the CDC is able to handle this?\u00a0 You understand why there’s more skepticism than normal.<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nLook, I do understand that people have had a\u00a0 growing skepticism of institutions for a long time, including government.\u00a0 But people should know that everyone in the situations you mentioned, where a problem arises, we deal with it.\u00a0 We deal with it quickly, we deal with it forcefully to make sure it doesn’t happen.
\nLet’s take one example that got a lot of attention over the summer, which is the surge at the Southwestern border.\u00a0 That was a problem that came.\u00a0 We brought to bear every resource possible to do it.\u00a0 And this month, crossings at the borders are less than they were this time last year–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI understand that.\u00a0 And I’ll give you, there always is a good reaction.\u00a0 Ebola needs to be pro-action.<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nWell, believe that’s exactly what we’re doing.\u00a0 Which is why the only way to deal with this is to stop it at its source.\u00a0 Which is why we’re deploying around 3,000 troops there to bring to bear the–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIs that enough?\u00a0 Are we going to have more?<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nThat is what the Pentagon believes we need right now.\u00a0 And we’ll constantly evaluate that.\u00a0 But what we can do there is bring– no one is better at command and control logistics than the U.S. military.\u00a0 And they’re going to make a huge difference over there.\u00a0 It’s going to take some time, it’s going to take a lot of work, but it’s the right step to take.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI want to play you a sound bite from Republican Senator Rand Paul about this military troop issue, helping with Ebola.\u00a0 He’s got a concern frankly that that’s a way for Ebola to affect the American military.\u00a0 Take a listen.<\/p>\n

SEN. RAND PAUL (ON TAPE):
\nYou also have to be concerned about 3,000 soldiers getting back on a ship.\u00a0 Where is disease most transmittable?\u00a0 When you’re in very close confines on a ship.\u00a0 We all know about cruises and how they get these diarrhea viruses that are transmitted very easily and the whole ship gets sick.\u00a0 Can you imagine if a whole ship full of our soldiers catch Ebola?<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nFair concern?<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nIt’s a concern that is being dealt with and we’re prepared to deal with.\u00a0 People will be screened appropriately, we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, there’s a lot of public officials that are skeptical and nervous about this.\u00a0 Do you think they’ve been acting responsibly?<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nI think that a lot of people have been very responsible about this, about not raising irrational fears and communicating information people need to know.\u00a0 I think that’s important and we appreciate that.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI’m going to shift to the secret service here.\u00a0 When the White House decided, when the president decided to hire Director Pierson, did you guys rush?\u00a0 Did you vet her properly?\u00a0 Not necessarily on whether she had a good background and a good HR file.\u00a0 But did you vet to see, was she up to the job?\u00a0 Or did you rush?<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nNo, we did not rush.\u00a0 And she was someone with a 30-year record at the secret service.\u00a0 Obviously, what had happened over the last several weeks here made it clear we needed to take another direction.\u00a0 And we decided to do that, and we’re very pleased that–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nTurned out she was the wrong hire, right?<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nTurned out we needed a new direction.\u00a0 And Joe Clancy, someone who the president knows very well, I know very well, is the exactly right person to come in on an interim basis.\u00a0 He’ll be here next week to begin dealing with whatever situations may arrive in the secret service.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIs it time to hire an outsider?<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nI think we’re going to let Joe Clancy get there, look at it, begin to steer the agency in the right direction, and we’ll see who the right fit is.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI’ll ask you about the president’s speech in Chicago this week.\u00a0 There’s one way to read it is that he was declaring victory here on his agenda, that he believes he’s got a successful– is that a way to look at it?\u00a0 That basically it worked?\u00a0 “Hey, my policies were right.\u00a0 Look at this.\u00a0 Everything is great.”<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nI don’t think that’s a fair reading of the speech, though.\u00a0 The president was very clear that while we have made significant progress to improve the economy, to build a durable foundation for the economy going forward, job creation, auto industry back, housing industry coming back.\u00a0 But he said very clearly that we have more work to do because too much of the benefits of that growth is not being showed broadly enough on the middle class.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nHe said, “We’re better off now than we were before.”\u00a0 But the direction of the country, the public, nearly 70% of the public thinks we’re heading down the wrong–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nAnd I think you–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nA big disconnect here.<\/p>\n

DAN PFEIFFER:
\nI think it is very clear, anyone who works in the economy knows we were losing hundreds of thousands of jobs a month, we have now created more than ten million private sector jobs.\u00a0 Every indicator is up significantly over the last six years.\u00a0 But there is certainly more work to do.\u00a0 And that’s a lot of what this election is about, is a choice between Democrats and Republicans, Republicans who are opposing the common-sense economic policies we need to help the middle class.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nDan Pfeiffer, senior advisor to President Obama, thanks for coming back here on Meet the Press. Let’s get some reaction now from our panel.\u00a0 Of course Joe Scarborough, Andrea Mitchell, Gwen Ifill, David Axelrod.\u00a0 Joe, let’s go to Ebola.\u00a0 You had some pretty tough words on Friday about government response and your own personal concerns.\u00a0 What you’ve heard from Dr. Frieden and Dan Pfeiffer, you feel any better than you did Friday?<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nNo, I don’t feel better.\u00a0 And I don’t think most Americans feel better.\u00a0 You have everybody saying, “Hey, let’s stay calm.”\u00a0 That’s what the World Health Organization said back in the spring when this broke out.\u00a0 And then they said, “Let’s stay calm,” when the head of Doctors without Borders, as The Washington Post reported this morning, went to them in late July and said, “This is a crisis.”\u00a0 They said, “You’re panicking, you’re panicking.”
\nAnd we’re hearing the same thing now.\u00a0 Let’s look at it.\u00a0 The World Health Organization has been dismal.\u00a0 They’ve ignored all of the warning signs.\u00a0 And then the African countries, the governments there have failed miserably.\u00a0 And right now, a lot of Americans are seeing what happened in Dallas and looking at your laundry list, what happened with the secret service, what happened with the IRS, what happened with the VA, what happened with ISIS being a JV team.\u00a0 So when anybody, any member of the government says, “Hey, just relax, everything’s going to be okay,” Americans don’t believe that.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAndrea?<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\nAnd in fact, it’s that laundry list, it’s more and worse here, because in Dallas, look what happened.\u00a0 The man comes into the ER, he tells a nurse he was in West Africa, in Liberia, they initially blame it on a computer system where the nurse doesn’t call the ER doctor.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI know, the system broke.<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\nNow they acknowledge it wasn’t the computer system at all, that the doctor on the case had the same information.\u00a0 People are not communicating.\u00a0 And this is after we were told by the government, by the CDC, by the White House, that doctors and hospitals around the country were prepared.
\nOne thing now though, they now begin to realize that I’m told by sources that they are now going to consider strongly having screening.\u00a0 And they don’t have the personnel.\u00a0 CDC doesn’t have the personnel.\u00a0 But they now believe if they go to a small number, four main airports, they can get about 75% of the people coming in.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nJFK, Dulles, O’Hare, Newark.<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\nNewark.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThose four airports, they can hit 75% of the incoming West Africans traveling.<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\nYou cannot trust people to believe to be asked a questionnaire at the port of departure in Africa.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nBut wait, if you have a six year old daughter, and you’re in West Africa, and you think she may have Ebola, are you going to answer the question honestly?<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\nAbsolutely.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nAre you going to come to the United States?\u00a0 I’m coming to the United States to try to save my daughter’s life.<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nI think we have a couple of different questions here.\u00a0 One is that the set of systems broke down.\u00a0 And it’s clear that you can look at isolated systems and say they broke down.\u00a0 It’s one thing for the U.S. to say, “We’re going to send all of these mobile military hospitals to set up in Monrovia.”\u00a0 But it turns out, there’s no infrastructure there to get them set up.
\nThere are systems that break down.\u00a0 But the question you’re asking is whether, it’s the term that Dr. Frieden used, the index of suspicion, whether that expands to everything.\u00a0 I don’t know that Americans turn and automatically look to their government and say, “Fix this,” the way we think they do.\u00a0 If they’re suspicious of government in all these other ways, and they also are expecting government to have–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYeah, well, they’re suspicious–<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nLet me just, let’s test one thing.\u00a0 One case of Ebola in the United States, right?\u00a0 One.\u00a0 3,000 people dead in West Africa, which we weren’t talking about last week.\u00a0 So all of a sudden, we are panicked.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd by the way, every warning case, every ca–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, and obviously we have a math issue.<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nOne case is a tipping point?<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd everyone is connected.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nI’m sorry.\u00a0 It’s going to such a level in West Africa, that now is when you would start to. As Kent Brantly said, a guy who knows something about this, because he had it, said, “This is a fire from hell.\u00a0 And if you think that the Atlantic Ocean is going to stop it from coming over here, you’re kidding yourself.”<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBut David, you’re–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\n–want to disagree with Dr. Scarborough, but–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nDavid, that’s an understatement.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nOkay, okay, okay gang.\u00a0 Gentlemen, let’s give each other–<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nTom Frieden, Tony Fauci at the NIH, these are public health professionals of world-class standing.\u00a0 They have no motivation to mislead the American people.\u00a0 They’ve dealt with many epidemics before many health issues before.\u00a0 I don’t think there’s a reason to believe that they’re not doing what needs to be done.\u00a0 And I will say this about the jaundice issue.
\nI sat on this very set, it wasn’t as nice, but in the spring of 2010, and we talked about the oil leak in the Gulf.\u00a0 And everyone said, “This is Obama’s Katrina.\u00a0 Things are out of control.\u00a0 The government’s broken down.”\u00a0 It wasn’t even mentioned in the 2012 election, because ultimately it was dealt with.\u00a0 So I suggest we look back six months from now and review this discussion.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nNo I understand.<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nAnd I suspect that we’re going to say is, “Gee, that wasn’t what we thought it was.”<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBut David, the problem for the White House right now is they have to make sure people don’t panic.<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nRight.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBecause we can’t have our public health facilities flooded.\u00a0 I brought up flu season for a reason, because the symptoms are almost identical.\u00a0 And we could see a total crush on that system.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nBut what is our responsibility in creating and fomenting–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, that’s, I–<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\nBut the government–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nWhat the responsibilities are with asking questions.\u00a0 And I understand the Dr. Scarborough comment.\u00a0 I’ll be really honest with you.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIt’s not–<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nThis is a serious issue.\u00a0 I’m quoting people that have Ebola, that have spent time in West Africa–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nPeople like you and people like us go on television and say, “This is far worse than they’re saying, this is a reason to get–”<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nI’m not saying that.<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\n“This is a reason to be–”<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nI’m not saying that.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nOkay guys.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nYou’re hearing things I haven’t said, David–<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nThen people respond to it.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nWhat I was saying is, we have to ask tough questions.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI’ve got to hit the pause button, Joe.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\n–actually, I thought he did a pretty good job.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nLet’s do the pause button, because you guys have plenty.\u00a0 We’re going to come back.\u00a0 We can continue this discussion.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nChuck, we’re trying to help.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAll four of you.\u00a0 I hear you, I hear you.\u00a0 You’re doing great here.\u00a0 But I’ve got a few other guests here I want to talk to.\u00a0 In fact, when we come back, I’ve got the head of the Republican National Committee here, Reince Priebus, who’s been I think amused by this back and forth.\u00a0 I’m going to ask him the reasons why we’re not seeing signs of a wave for the GOP.\u00a0 Is it because his party doesn’t have a coherent message?\u00a0 We’ll be back in a minute.<\/p>\n

***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd welcome back.\u00a0 Republicans are hoping for a Beach Boys kind of November.\u00a0 Catch a wave and you’re sitting on top of the world.\u00a0 But so far, that wave not really in sight.\u00a0 On Thursday, my next guest, Reince Priebus, played out what he called the GOP’s principles for American renewal ahead of the midterms.\u00a0 But those principles are nothing like the clear message the party offered in 1994, when Newt Gingrich’s Contract with America led to a Republican sweep.\u00a0 Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, welcome back to Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nHey Chuck, good morning.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI want to talk about your principles here.\u00a0 They sound great.\u00a0 In fact, Karl Rove said it was very well poll-tested language.\u00a0 Preserve, value, and honor the constitution, grow the economy, balance budget amendment, healthcare reform, improve veterans\u2019 access to healthcare, strong military, equal educational opportunity, improve the job market, value family life, religious liberty, hard work, energy independence, immigration including secure borders and uphold the law.\u00a0 Very agreeable language.\u00a0 I don’t think anybody, including some Democrats would disagree.\u00a0 But there’s no policy here.\u00a0 No policy connected to this.\u00a0 Why?<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nActually, it’s not true.\u00a0 We call for a balanced budget amendment, that’s policy.\u00a0 We call for school choice, that’s policy.\u00a0 We call for the president adhering to the constitution and not violating the law and not abiding by what we call the Separation of Powers Act in the constitution.\u00a0 I think if you go back and look at the Contract with America, you’ll see it’ll say welfare reform–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nOh, the Contract with America, I’ve got it here.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\n–is that this is something that our party–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWe’re not seeing–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\n–this year.<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nThat’s not true.\u00a0 I mean, when you can put John Boehner, Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, Tony Perkins, and the Tea Party Express on the same page, which you have, as a unified party, and as far as a wave is concerned, I don’t know what polls you’re looking at.\u00a0 But if you look at Arkansas, you look at Alaska, South Dakota, West Virginia, Louisiana, you go to Colorado, you’re seeing Republicans in the lead.\u00a0 So look, with a month out, I’d much rather be where we’re at than where the Democrats are at.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIf you don’t win the Senate, failure?<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nI think we’ve got to win the Senate.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nFor the–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\n–election.<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nAbsolutely.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIf you don’t win the Senate, this is a bad election?<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nI think so.\u00a0 Yeah, I think that’s fair.\u00a0 I think we’ve got to win the Senate.\u00a0 I think we will win the Senate.\u00a0 The question for us is are we going to win with six, seven, or eight seats?\u00a0 And I think that’s what’s up for grabs right now.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nOne of the things in here that you didn’t mention, there’s a lot of social issues.\u00a0 Why was that?<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nWell, we did talk about a strong family, we did talk about life, and we talked about family–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIt seems like you’re nervous about it.<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nWell–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAre social issues working against you guys?<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nHave you read–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nNot at all.\u00a0 If you read the speech, we didn’t hide away from social issues at all.\u00a0 But the fact of the matter is is that people are out of work, the real unemployment rate is at 11.8%.\u00a0 And whether you’re in Laredo, Texas, or Peoria, Illinois, the president’s policies aren’t working.\u00a0 And the president on Friday, as you rightfully noted earlier in the show, said that his policies are on the ballot.\u00a0 Well, of Barack Obama’s on the ballot and his policies are on the ballot, it’s going to be a pretty bad year for Democrats.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nUnemployment’s below 6%.\u00a0 How has that not the economy– how can the Democrats say, “Hey, things are getting better.”<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nI think you guys spelled it out pretty well when you had Mr. Pfeiffer on.\u00a0 From the real unemployment rate, for the how many people are out of work, the labor participation rate is at record lows.\u00a0 People today don’t feel better off than they were five years ago.\u00a0 And obviously, whether it’s the GSA, the IRS, Syria, Ebola, the Secret Service, I mean, what’s going well in regard to this administration and those senators that have followed this president lockstep?<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nA court upheld a new law in Texas.\u00a0 One of the things about the Republican party is you don’t like a lot of regulation on businesses, except if the business is a abortion clinic.\u00a0 80% of these abortion clinics in Texas are going to be basically out of business because of this new law.\u00a0 Too much regulation, is that fair?\u00a0 Why regulate on the abortion issue now until maybe the law is– and maybe wait until you win a fight in the Supreme Court where you outlaw abortion altogether.\u00a0 Why restrict a business now in the state of Texas?<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nWell, you obviously have to talk to someone in Texas.\u00a0 But the fact of the matter is that we believe that any woman that’s faced with an unplanned pregnancy deserves compassion, respect, counseling, whatever it is that we can offer to be–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBut 80% of those clinics are gone.\u00a0 It’s something that they have to drive 200 or 300 miles for that compassion?<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nNo, look, listen Chuck. The issue for us is only one thing.\u00a0 And that’s whether you ought to use taxpayer money to fund abortion.\u00a0 That’s the one issue that I think separates this conversation that we’re having.\u00a0 And so and the fact of the matter is, what this election is going to come down to, and I think we know it, is whether or not people feel better off today than they did four or five years ago, whether these Democrat senators followed this president lockstep, in spite of the fact that things aren’t going in the right direction, whether it be ObamaCare, jobs, the economy, Keystone Pipeline, all of the above.
\nIt’s not working for him.\u00a0 So you can try to steer, talking about abortion again.\u00a0 But the fact of the matter is, if you’re in Skagway, Alaska, you’re thinking about the fact of why my life isn’t better off today than it was when this senator was elected six years ago.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nReince Priebus, chairman of the Republican party, we’ll be watching.\u00a0 Thanks for coming on Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nYou bet.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWelcome to our new set.<\/p>\n

REINCE PRIEBUS:
\nThank you.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBack to the panel, Joe, Andrea, Gwen, and David.\u00a0 I want to put up this piece of sound we heard from the president from that speech, you heard Reince Priebus just talk about it.\u00a0 It was a pretty interesting comment that a lot of Republican campaigns are pretty excited about.\u00a0 Here it is.<\/p>\n

PRESIDENT OBAMA (ON TAPE):
\nI’m not on the ballot this fall.\u00a0 But make no mistake, these policies are on the ballot.\u00a0 Every single one of them.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, we posited it in, first read that this would be in Republican ads on Friday morning.\u00a0 By Friday afternoon, they’re in Republican ads.\u00a0 Take a look at this one in Kansas.<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

NARRATOR:
\nNow Barack Obama says–<\/p>\n

PRESIDENT OBAMA:
\nI’m not on the ballot this fall.\u00a0 But make no mistake, these policies are on the ballot.\u00a0 Every single one of them.<\/p>\n

NARRATOR:
\nObama’s candidate for senate in Kansas?\u00a0 Greg Orman.\u00a0 A vote for Greg Orman is a vote for the Obama agenda.<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nDavid Axelrod, you’re not writing President Obama’s speeches anymore, but if you were–<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nNo, I wouldn’t put that line there.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWould you have?\u00a0\u00a0 I was just going to say, you would not–<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nNo, I would not have.\u00a0 But understand, if you read the speech, the context of the line was, the thing he’s pushing forward, minimum wage, pay equity, infrastructure, and he said these are on the ballot.\u00a0 But the way, it was obvious when you saw the speech that that was not the way–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou’re an ad man.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nThat was going to–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThat’s all you–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nIt was a mistake.\u00a0 But you know, fundamentally, the issue that he should be driving and the Democratic party should be driving is forward looking, because the problem is how are middle class people going to make a living in this country, and what policies can we implement that can help?\u00a0 We ought to have that debate.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nGo ahead, Andrea.<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\nI’m not echoing Reince Priebus because he is obviously partisan, and that’s his job.\u00a0 But if you look at The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Financial Times, all the reporting on the jobs data from Friday reported that participation rate is at historic lows, decades lows.\u00a0 59% are involved in the labor force.\u00a0 That’s just not a sustainable look–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\n–have two Americas, we really do.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI’m going to get into that.\u00a0 Actually, I want to just–<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nBut that is a long-term trend.<\/p>\n

ANDRE MITCHELL:
\nAnd it’s not improving.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\n–said in the break, everything doesn’t have to be political.\u00a0 This is a problem for the country, and it’s been with us over a long period of time.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAll right, Gwen–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nEvery reporting also on Friday about these jobs numbers show they were the lowest since 2008.\u00a0 They showed that even though the job participation is dropping, that it’s hard to argue that things aren’t better.\u00a0 The problem, and the dilemma for the president, and we saw it, I don’t know if he was weighing that or not, but the problem with the president is he wants to say, “Look, there is good news and I’m willing to run on that.”<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nThe problem with Republicans though and the–<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nExcept he’s not running.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBut I was just going to say, I want you to talk about, did he have a message?<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nNo.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWhat did you think about these principles of–<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nListen, Barack Obama is not on the ballot.\u00a0 His issues may be on the ballot.\u00a0 But look at the polls.\u00a0 His numbers are low.\u00a0 And yet, despite the fact they’re low in Kansas, you’ve got an independent candidate who’s up by ten points.\u00a0 Despite the fact they’re low across the deep South.\u00a0 They’re in the low 20s.\u00a0 Mary Landrieu’s doing great.\u00a0 Not great, but she’s doing much better than she should be in Louisiana.\u00a0 Kay Hagan’s doing much better than she should be in North Carolina.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIs that because the Republicans don’t have a message?<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nThere is no message.\u00a0 And you know who’s saying that?\u00a0 Republicans.<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nScott Walker, among them.
\nJOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nYeah.\u00a0 If you don’t like President Obama’s healthcare plan, what’s your healthcare plan?<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWhat’s the alternative.\u00a0 Right.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nIf you don’t like what Barack Obama’s doing on jobs, how are you going to get people back to work?<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nNobody has those messages.<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nHe’s trying to respond to what is obvious, which is their standing is much lower than his standing because of what you said.\u00a0 But you listen to their principles, and it reminds me of the old Mayor Daley said, we have to rise to higher and higher platitudes.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nYou are so parched<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAll right, guys.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nIt makes me sad, David Axelrod.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAll right.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWe’re going to take another pause.\u00a0 You guys are having fun this morning here.\u00a0 We’ll pause.\u00a0 President Obama has vowed American troops will not be sent to take on ISIS.\u00a0 But are they already engaged?\u00a0 We’re going to hear from an Iraq War veteran who said that the so-called troops on the ground are already there.<\/p>\n

***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd we are back.\u00a0 On Friday, ISIS released another horrific video showing the beheading of British charity worker Alan Henning.\u00a0 Then ISIS warned that an American aid worker, Peter Kassig, could be next.\u00a0 Meanwhile, U.S. and coalition air strikes against the terror group are continuing in both Syria and Iraq.\u00a0 But ISIS is continuing to make advances, and of course those threats.
\nHere at home, the president has been clear.\u00a0 American combat troops will not be used to take on ISIS.\u00a0 But Clay Hanna is not so sure.\u00a0 He wrote an op-ed piece in Politico explaining why.\u00a0 Hanna is an Iraq War veteran who served from 2003 to 2008.\u00a0 Here’s Clay Hanna in his own words.<\/p>\n

CLAY HANNA:
\nI do not think that there is honesty when the president, when leadership has been speaking about how troops are being deployed.\u00a0 What’s being said is that there are no boots on the ground.\u00a0 And characterizing the efforts and service of the military members that are deployed into the fight as something less than being at war.
\nThe truth is that they are actively engaged in combat.\u00a0 At some point, ISIS is going to have a success.\u00a0 And what the military success looks like for them is a dead American soldier.\u00a0 We have a dangerous tendency to underestimate the enemy and overestimate our allies and their capabilities.\u00a0 And I see us making that exact same mistake now.
\nWe need to clearly identify who our friends are.\u00a0 When we give weapons and training to people who we should not trust, people who we would not let on an airplane out of our own airports.\u00a0 It’s inevitable that down the road, they will most likely turn against us.\u00a0 I want to see leadership in Washington take responsibility for communicating clearly with the American people.\u00a0 It is very personal.\u00a0 I feel like I have a responsibility as a veteran to speak up and ensure that there is a voice.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThat was Iraq War veteran Clay Hanna in his own words.\u00a0 Coming up, who better other react to Clay Hanna’s concerns than Jim Webb, former secretary of Navy and a decorated Vietnam veteran who is considering a run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.\u00a0 Stay with us.<\/p>\n

***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd welcome back, now to our Meet the Candidate series, sort of, this week I’m joined by Jim Webb, who points out he’s just a potential candidate for president in 2016.\u00a0 He certainly has a unique resume.\u00a0 Webb is a former Marine and served in Vietnam where he won a Navy Cross for extraordinary heroism as well as the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and two Purple Hearts.
\nIn the ’80s, he served in the Reagan administration, as an assistant secretary of defense and secretary of the navy.\u00a0 In 2006, he switched parties and was elected as a Democratic senator from Virginia and served just one term before opting not to seek reelection.\u00a0 He’s also a successful author and screenwriter and has written eight books over the years.\u00a0 And I do want to mention that my wife helped Jim Webb in his 2006 Senate campaign.\u00a0 Senator Webb, welcome back to Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nGood to be with you.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI want to actually begin with any reaction you have to Clay Hanna, because how politicians use phrases like “boots on the ground,” and politicize the issues of combat troops, that does have an impact on soldiers, doesn’t it?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nWell, it doesn’t.\u00a0 And actually, just having watched the beginning of your show, I think it’s fair to say right now that we are at a crossroads as a nation in terms of how we view ourselves, how we say these things to ourselves.\u00a0 And the way that these issues are going to be resolved in the next couple of years will affect us for a very long time.
\nAnd this is true in domestic policy as well.\u00a0 When you see the arguments here about economic fairness, the truth is that it really depends on where you’re sitting in this country.\u00a0 We’ve got a stock market that has almost tripled since March of 2009.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou’re feeling good?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nYeah, exactly.\u00a0 If you’ve got capital, you’re feeling pretty good.\u00a0 But average salaries have gone down, loans to small businesses have actually decreased.\u00a0 And we have a criminal\u00a0 justice system that’s embarrassing.\u00a0 And all of the country should be focusing on that too.\u00a0 And in foreign policy, what you’re hearing from this former soldier is something that we’re seeing a lot of countrywide.
\nAnd that is that we have not had a clear articulation of what American foreign policy is, basically since the end of the Cold War.\u00a0 So when you’re looking at places like Iraq and Syria, you’re seeing policies that can’t be clearly articulated.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou’re basically saying that the president–<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nAnd people–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou’re basically saying President Obama doesn’t have a foreign policy.<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nI’m saying that in terms of a clear doctrine, we have been lacking that for a very long time.\u00a0 And it particularly impacts the Middle East.\u00a0 If you look at what’s going on right now, there are two data points I think that are critical.\u00a0 The first was the decision by the Bush administration to invade and occupy Iraq.\u00a0 Which empowered Iran and unleashed all the sectarian violence.\u00a0 And then it was what I thought was a strategic, the inadvisable strategy of the Arab Spring.\u00a0 And what has happened in Libya as well as Syria as a result.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, the beginning of the Arab Spring was actually in some ways Egypt.\u00a0 Was that a mistake?\u00a0 Was the president getting involved in pushing Mubarak out the beginning of the mistake that then turned to Libya, that then turned to Syria?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nI think what you were seeing in Egypt and I was talking about it when it began was the first rule of wing walking is make sure you’ve got a clear grasp on where you’re going before you leave where you are.\u00a0 This was accentuated in Libya.\u00a0 I spoke very strongly against the notion that a president could unilaterally conduct military operations in an area where we had no treaties at work, we had no Americans under attack or at risk.<\/p>\n

And you take a look at the end result of Libya, are an enormous number of weapons that are unaccountable, which are probably in Syria, and can you get to the Tripoli airport today?\u00a0 And who’s talking about that?\u00a0 Now if you take a look at Syria, which is Syria and these other parts of Iraq, which is what the former soldier was talking about, we now have a situation where we’re asking these freedom fighters, or whatever you want to call them, who were going after Assad, to help us go after ISIS.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd it’s not clear to you that they’re going to do that.\u00a0 Is it?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nAnd the elements that are fighting there are very fluid in terms of the people who declare their alliances.\u00a0 I would be willing to bet that we had people at the top of ISIS who actually have been trained by Americans at some point.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nLet me move to your potential political ambitions.\u00a0 Is there anybody else thinking about running for president, that if they got in, you’d say, “You know what?\u00a0 They’re going to touch on these issues better than I am.”<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nYou know, I’m really not looking at that.\u00a0 What I’m trying to do is exactly the same thing that I did when I was thinking about running for the Senate. And that is to identify the issues that America needs to focus on and in order to regain the trust of the American people.
\nAnd if you look at these polls that you were showing, I think the people are way ahead of their leaders.\u00a0 And they know we have these problems, that we’re at a crossroads.\u00a0 And they’re very disappointed in the fact that the top leaders in both parties have not been able to come together for the good of the country to work to solve them.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou’re inevitably going to be compared to Hillary Clinton here.\u00a0 What’s the contrast that you think’s fairest between you and Hillary Clinton?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nI’ll leave that to other people to answer.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIf people describe you as running to her left, what do you say?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nI believe in certain principles that I put out.\u00a0 And whether they are to the left or to the right doesn’t matter to me.\u00a0 I don’t change what I believe.\u00a0 This is what I did when I ran for the Senate.\u00a0 And I’m very concerned about issues of economic fairness, social justice.\u00a0 We worked on criminal justice reform.\u00a0 Eight years ago we put two and a half years of hearings in it in the Senate.\u00a0 I don’t know whether that’s to the left or to the right.\u00a0 It’s a leadership issue.\u00a0 It’s not a political issue.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIs she a qualified president?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nWe worked–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nDo you think she’s a qualified candidate to be president?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nWe led on this to Asia, which people talked about a lot for the Obama administration.\u00a0 We began that two years before President Obama was elected.\u00a0 And I’ve been very strong on different ways to deal with foreign policy.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYou’re smiling here.\u00a0 You don’t want to talk about Hillary Clinton yet.\u00a0 Is that fair to say?\u00a0 You’re not ready to talk about her?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nI don’t think it’s for me to talk about Hillary Clinton.\u00a0 I enjoyed working with her when I was in the Senate.\u00a0 I don’t know what she’s going to do, if she runs, what she will run on.\u00a0 I’m just very concerned about these issues for the country.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nVery quickly, a few key issues.\u00a0 Gay marriage. You were for civil unions, but not for legalized gay marriage when you ran in 2006.\u00a0 Have you changed?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nI took some very tough stands in ’06.\u00a0 People will look back at the Virginia campaign.\u00a0 There was a gay marriage amendment on the ballot, an anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot in Virginia.\u00a0 I’ve got a lot of family ties down in the far Southwest, and I oppose that.\u00a0 And I’m really comfortable with where the evolution has–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSo you’re not ready, so legal in some places, but not legal in others?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nI think this has been a good thing for the country.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nOkay.\u00a0 Well, Jim Webb, I’m going to leave it there.\u00a0 Former Democrat Senator from Virginia, we’ll be watching.\u00a0 Are you going to announce before the end of the year?<\/p>\n

JIM WEBB:
\nTaking it one day at a time.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nFair enough.\u00a0 Up next, the roads to economic recovery.\u00a0 We’ve been talking about a lot already on the show.\u00a0 And guess what?\u00a0 It depends where you live.\u00a0 If you live near an interstate, that may be the best way to have a good, personal economic future.<\/p>\n

***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n

PRESIDENT OBAMA (ON TAPE):
\nSo it is indisputable that our economy is stronger today than when I took office.\u00a0 It’s also indisputable that millions of Americans don’t yet feel enough of the benefits of a growing economy where it matters most.\u00a0 And that’s in their own lives.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, that was President Obama this week touting his administration’s policies and those of his fellow Democrats on the ballot in November.\u00a0 Well, let’s do a little reality check here.\u00a0 While the unemployment rate has been steadily dropping, signaling a strengthening economy, as we saw with Friday\u2019s jobs reports.\u00a0 There are still many Americans that aren’t feeling it.\u00a0 So why?
\nWell, because the road to recovery is taking different routes.\u00a0 And that could mean trouble for Democrats in November.\u00a0 Let me show you another graphic and a map.\u00a0 Along the major interstates running north to south in the U.S., the fives, communities close to those highways are in the economic fast lane.\u00a0 These are the mostly urban areas that do favor Democrats, where economies are thriving and people are actually heading back into the job market at a rapid pace.
\nMuch more rapidly than in rural America, farther away from those interstates.\u00a0 In fact, take a look right here in Washington D.C., along the I-95 corridor.\u00a0 From July 2010 to July 2014, the unemployment rate dropped nearly two points.\u00a0 And 35,000 more people felt encouraged enough to actually go into the job market.
\n150 miles to the southeast though, in rural Gloucester County, Virginia, the unemployment rate also dropped less than a point.\u00a0 But that was simply because nearly 1,200 fewer people are actually out there looking for work.\u00a0 Let’s go to I-35 in Iowa, in Polk County, home to Des Moines.\u00a0 Not only was there a drop in the unemployment rate of two points, but 4,700 more people actually are in the job market.
\nThat’s a sign of a strengthening local economy.\u00a0 But in more rural Benton County, population just over 2,600, their drop in the unemployment rate of nearly two points wasn’t good news because nearly a thousand people stopped looking for jobs in that county.\u00a0 Let’s go farther west.\u00a0 2,000 miles away in Utah, along I-15, the unemployment rate dropped three points in Salt Lake County, and 38,000 more people actually joined the job market.
\nBut in Carbon County, two hours west of I-15, that drop in the unemployment rate of nearly three points was simply because fewer people stopped looking for work.\u00a0 This uneven economic recovery is the reason why Democrats are up for reelection this year in mostly rural states.\u00a0 Think Mark Pryor, Arkansas, Mary Landrieu in Louisiana.
\nThey can’t run on the president’s economic message, because their voters in their states aren’t seeing the economy bounce back as quickly as those areas that are along those I-5 corridors.\u00a0 Bottom line is that this could be another reason why Republicans feel so confident in retaking the Senate this fall.\u00a0 Of course, should they be that confident?\u00a0 I’ve got brand new poll numbers in three big states coming up after the break.\u00a0 There could be a speed bump on the Republican road to control of the Senate.<\/p>\n

***Commercial Break***<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd welcome back.\u00a0 I’ve got the panel back.\u00a0 And we have some new midterm polls to chew over.\u00a0 Three of the four states that I think matter the most, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, and Alaska, I think this is going to determine.\u00a0 Here’s our new numbers in North Carolina.\u00a0 Hagan up four points, the Democrat there, 44-40, about where Republicans are concerned where that race is slipping away.
\nLook at Iowa here, Joni Ernst, a very narrow margin of error type of lead here, two points, 46-40, 44.\u00a0 If she wins, first ever woman ever elected to Congress from the state of Iowa.\u00a0 But here is the speed bump.\u00a0 Look at this, Kansas.\u00a0 Pat Roberts, a Republican, not even cracking 40%.\u00a0 Greg Orman, the independent, up ten points.\u00a0 This is the shocker, Gwen Ifill, plus ten.\u00a0 This is the speed bump to the Republican road.<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nAnd Chuck, we know you love your speed bumps.\u00a0 You hate it when it all goes the way it’s supposed to go.\u00a0 This is surprising.\u00a0 But it’s surprising that he’s an independent.\u00a0 And therefore what we see is Pat Roberts pushing back saying, “He’s not really an independent, he’s–”<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWell, let me tell you, Greg Orman, our own Kelly O’Donnell went and interviewed him in Kansas, asked him about this issue, who are you, who are you caucus with, listen to his answer.<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

KELLY O’DONNELL:
\nSo you can envision switching which party you’d work with once you were there?<\/p>\n

GREG ORMAN:
\nSure.\u00a0 And ultimately, again, this is about solving problems.\u00a0 This is about the voters of Kansas saying the status quo doesn’t work anymore.<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThere you go, Andrea.<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\nIt’s classic.\u00a0 He’s an outsider, he says he’s independent.\u00a0 And the fact that Pat Roberts ignored all the warning, ignored what happened to Dick Lugar, you have to live in the state.\u00a0 You have to have residency.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nIt’s a minimum requirement?<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\nTalk about the hatred of Washington.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd by the way, Joe, we know that Kansas has other issues.\u00a0 Sam Brownback is in a tough reelection fight.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nA problem, yeah.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBut listen to this, 20% of Orman’s voters are Brownback voters.\u00a0 Robertson’s problems aren’t Brownback’s problems.\u00a0 They’re different.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nYou know, the message is coming out of this campaign, and it’s a message that the smart politicians should take up, it’s about what works.\u00a0 Forget about ideology.\u00a0 George W. Bush was ideological going into Iraq.\u00a0 Barack Obama was ideological coming out of Iraq. There are people on both sides that will debate both of those contentions.\u00a0 The question is, what works?
\nThat’s a strong message.\u00a0 And Republicans should be concerned.\u00a0 Your numbers in North Carolina should cause concern.\u00a0 I will say even if we’re only up, we the Republican party, only up by two points in Iowa with such a weak Democratic candidate, this is far from over.\u00a0 And all these people say Republicans are going to take the majority, I would like to know what polls they’re looking at.\u00a0 It’s too early.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBut David here’s the thing, success for the Democrats is, “Hey, we only lost five seats and Republicans blew one in Kansas.”\u00a0 That’s not a great message for the Democrats.<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nWell, no.\u00a0 But when you look at the structure of this year with all the exposure Democrats have in states that Romney carried over Obama, it would be good just to survive.\u00a0 Iowa’s going to be, to me, the tie breaker.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThe tipping point.<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nAnd Democrats are excited about one thing, which is early ballot requests.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAnd mail ballots.<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\n150,000, half of them for Democrats–<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nBrown versus–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nListen, I hate to be negative about the Republican party, but if the Republican party doesn’t win in 2014, 2016 is bleak–<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nAnd top party leaders have been saying that as well.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nTo Reince Priebus’s credit, to Reince Priebus’s credit, he said that–<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\nHe said that.<\/p>\n

JOE SCARBOROUGH:
\nNot getting the Senate is a loss this year for the Republican party.<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nThey’ve got to win.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAll right.\u00a0 I had a little fun.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI had a lot of fun.\u00a0 First of all, I’ve had fun here.\u00a0 But I want to share a moment of fun I had yesterday, at least for nine innings.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nHere it is.\u00a0 If you went to bed at a normal time last night, you probably missed the 18-inning epic marathon where the Giants did beat the Nationals two to one.<\/p>\n

ANDREA MITCHELL:
\nSome of us saw it.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nSome of us stayed up all night.\u00a0 Well, I got to watch the first half of that game.\u00a0 I made it through ten innings of it.\u00a0 And I got to cheer on the Nationals with my family, take a listen.<\/p>\n

(BEGIN TAPE)<\/p>\n

ANNOUNCER:
\nPlease welcome, Chuck Todd of NBC News and his family.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nOne, two, three.<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD AND KIDS:
\nWashington Nationals, play ball!<\/p>\n

(END TAPE)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nI’m sorry, I had to share it because I’m just so cool, my son Harris and my daughter Margaret that had a blast.<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nAnd who was that person in the outfit?<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nYeah, who cares?<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nThat Big Bird or whatever?<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nOh Screech.\u00a0 Hey, leave Screech alone.\u00a0 All right, one final note.\u00a0 I’d like to thank all of those who worked so hard to build this new set in just two weeks, particularly directors Mark Greenstein and Rob Melick, who oversaw the entire process.\u00a0 It really does look good.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

DAVID AXELROD:
\nWe’re moving in, man.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nWe’ve got these cool lights, we’ve got all sorts of things.\u00a0 All it does mean is that I have to do a lot more cleaning, more dusting, I’ve got to get all sorts of feather dusters.<\/p>\n

GWEN IFILL:
\nThat’s what we’re for.\u00a0 That’s what the panel is for.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nAll right, in fact, that’s what you’ll have to do after you’re done.\u00a0 Everybody grab a duster.<\/p>\n

(OVERTALK)<\/p>\n

CHUCK TODD:
\nThat’s it for today.\u00a0 We’ll be back next week because if it’s Sunday, it’s Meet the Press.<\/p>\n

* * *END OF TRANSCRIPT* * *\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Media contacts<\/h4>\n

For more information contact:
\nMaggie Steenland
\nNBC News
\n212-664-7874
\nmaggie.steenland@nbcuni.com<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frieden: \u201cThe drug pipeline is going to be slow\u201d Pfeiffer on Ebola: \u201cSo we’re prepared for this.\u00a0 But we’ll always be evaluating.\u00a0 The president’s focused on this every day.\u201d Priebus on 2014: \u201cI think we’ve got to win the Senate.\u201d Axelrod on President Obama\u2019s Ballot Line: \u201cIt was a mistake.\u201d Scarborough says Republicans have \u201cno […]<\/p>\n

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