[Jim Sciutto, Cnn:] There's more breaking news on Capitol Hill this hour. It's a busy day. Congressman Trey Gowdy, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, says he will not seek re-election. The South Carolina Republican published a lengthy statement online saying, in part, quote, "Whatever skills I may have are better utilized in a courtroom than in Congress. And I enjoy our justice system more than our political system." My panel back with me here, Kaitlan Collins, April, A.B. A.B., if I could begin with you. This is part of a string of Republican retirements here. I've lost track now, but it's probably three dozen now or so. That always happens in a lot of cycles. But in this particular cycle, it's been notable.
[A.b. Stoddard, Associate Editor & Columnist, Real Clear Politics:] Yes, it's really a record going back many, many, many decades. So it's disconcerting to the Republican leadership, facing headwinds going into the midterms to lose anybody. He's not in a swing seat, but he's sort of a leader in the Republican Party. He's been a great spokesman on these issues. Republican voters know who he is. He led the Benghazi investigation. He's interesting, because of what we talked about today, tried to straddle an interesting line in the last few weeks.
[Sciutto:] Interesting, No question. During the Obama administration, all over Benghazi. In recent weeks, his statements a bit more on the fence.
[Stoddard:] He's trying to make it clear he doesn't want to malign the entire DOJ or FBI. He's tried to warn his colleagues that you can ask questions and be skeptical without being accusatory.
[Sciutto:] What's your read of why he
[Stoddard:] Well, there's speculation in the Twitterverse there might be an opening on the Fourth Circuit that he's interested in. He made it clear that he prefers the judicial landscape to the political arena. I don't blame him. He made it clear in a statement. So he might be looking for a judgeship.
[Sciutto:] April, is there anything information that the Trump administration is considering him for a court appointment?
[April Ryan, Cnn Political Analyst:] That's a powerful seat. That is a very powerful seat. He stood with the administration, but the administration we don't know. We never know what they do. A lot of times people are qualified and sometimes people are not. But one thing I will say, those who know Trey Gowdy very well and those who work with Trey Gowdy, both Dem and Republican, say he has higher aspirations. Those higher aspirations one day could wind up being 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
[Sciutto:] But you're saying there are political ambitions in Congress?
[Ryan:] So he may realize that right now to save himself for later on, for his aspirations, he may need to leave now and possibly move somewhere else and be appointed to a seat, but he wants to make sure he's clean for something else. He doesn't want to fight with this president, being a high-ranking Republican that he is. I just want to say one thing, too. Congressman Elijah Cummings has outlived Darrell Issa and Trey Gowdy. Isn't that crazy?
[Sciutto:] Kaitlan, you wanted to
[Kaitlan Collins, Cnn White House Reporter:] Not totally surprising he made this decision. He had expressed interest in becoming a judge. I think he filed for re-election at the deadline last time around and threw people off a little bit. I don't think it's that surprising, but it is significant because it's another Republican who's not running and a prominent chairman at that. It does make a change.
[Sciutto:] No question. There's other political news. There's a new poll from Monmouth where the president's approval rating has ticked up to 42 percent, 50 percent disapproving. This is out of the 30s, where President Trump has wallowed, one might say, for most of the time since his inauguration. A.B., why? Why do we think?
[Stoddard:] I think it's probably related to two things. I mean, they did pass tax reform by a Christmas deadline after a year of failing to repeal and replace Obamacare and fighting with each other.
[Sciutto:] I know that the tax reform plan at least in many polls is viewed by a majority of Americans negatively.
[Stoddard:] The polling on tax reform was really bad in December. It's actually rising. It's becoming more popular. And either people are responding to their own personal data or they're responding to these stories of corporations feeling a boost and sharing it with their workers. And that is a positive for him. It's a legislative success, and it's an economic success.
[Sciutto:] Kaitlan, I wonder, because you're still seeing this wave of Republican departures and part of that is based on a calculation it's going to be a tough year in 2018. It always is. A midterm year always is. It certainly was for Obama in 2010. But as this number rises, if it continues to, does that better improve does that improve the chances of Republicans in the midterms?
[Collins:] It certainly raises some questions. The president has created a lot of problems for people who are running for re-election. At times, he's sparred with some of those people who would typically need a president's support. But the question now and in 2018 will be, does the president's support actually help pull people over the line who are in those hotly contested primaries. Does his support help them? So far, we've seen it not really help, in Alabama with Luther Strange and Roy Moore. With those races, it hasn't helped them at all. It is a question for the White House. It will be a question of what they can accomplish for the rest of his term in office, depending on who they have over on the Hill.
[Sciutto:] April, we know this president likes to celebrate good news, or his perception of good news. Do you sense in the White House an increasing confidence or optimism?
[Ryan:] Oh, most definitely. This president will definitely tout, "My numbers are great." We saw that not long ago on Twitter when his numbers were moving. The negative piece was that the vast majority still do not approve of you. You have the vast majority disapproving. This president takes any positive step up and he says this is a building block. But the question is, how long will he be able to build? Let's see what happens in the next couple days when it comes to issues of having to deal with the budget or C.R. and having to deal with DACA again. Those sensitive issues are what brings it back down, when you deal with the issues of the race, or did he say this, or did he say that, or did he tweet this or tweet that. Those are the things. Right now, this is a moment. But let's what happens in the next couple of days.
[Collins:] And to add to that, the president insists to his allies and friends all the time that approval rating it not his actual approval rating. He insists to people it's much higher than what it is.
[Sciutto:] Yes, hates polls, except for the polls he likes, right? Kaitlan, A.B., April, thanks very much. More on our other breaking news. The FBI issuing a stern public warning directly to the White House saying it has grave concerns about the accuracy of the Republican memo that attacks law enforcement agencies. This puts the FBI director, Christopher Wray, at odds with the man who selected him, the president. Stand by.