Trump Touts Fastest U.S. Economic Growth Since 2014
KING: This story just in to CNN. CBS says it is investigating its own CEO, Les Moonves, that ahead of a coming New Yorker expose. Sources telling CNN, the magazine about to publish an investigation from Ronan Farrow detailing alleged sexual misconduct by Moonves. Reports of that impending piece sending CBS stock tumbling nearly five percent. Back to our big story here now in Washington. Big growth numbers from the government, a big boom for the economy. The president is saying he deserves credit and Republicans hoping in this midterm election year they get some too. Let's look at the mood of the country when it comes to the economy. Satisfaction with the economy is skyrocketing. This is George W. Bush's election. This is 9/11. This is the financial crisis, the Obama election. The economy, confidence in it, has been growing for quite some time. But this is Donald Trump's election, spiking since then. Sixty-six percent of American people satisfied with the direction of the economy. Here's another way to look at it. More Americans do think the economy has rebounded, and more Americans say the president deserves credit. This is last year. This is this year. You see the improvement numbers are up, including the president's, getting credit for it. Here's another way to look at it. If we asked this question a year ago, President Obama was still getting more of the credit for the growing economy. Now a majority of Americans say, no, President Trump deserves more of the credit. So if you're the Republicans running in a midterm election year, you hope the economy helps. There's some evidence that's possible. These are the last four big midterm years. Look at the negative mood of the country in 2006, 2010, and 2014. This was as the country on the right track or headed on the wrong direction decidedly negative in 2006, the president's party suffered. Negative again in 2010, the president's party suffered. Again in 2014 is the second Obama midterm, so the losses aren't as big but still losses there. Look now, yes, the country is still in a negative mood despite the good economy, but by a much smaller margin than in these prior elections. So Republicans have a path, if they can make the case you should feel better, we deserve some of the credit. That's what the president tried to do today.</s>TRUMP: If economic growth continues at this pace, the United States economy will double in size, more than 10 years faster than it would have under either President Bush or President Obama. But we're getting jobs. We're getting money coming in. We're respected.</s>KING: It is the ultimate frustration for the president's party in this year. Four percent unemployment, 4.1 percent growth last quarter. Republicans should be dancing. But, but the prognosis today is they will at least lose the House because the president in much of the country, not all of the country, but in much of the country and places where it matters, he is politically toxic even though Americans still much better optimistic about what they now concur is the Trump economy.</s>KNOX: That 2014 midterm is really an interesting one because political scientists say that that was one of the most nationalized and president-centric midterms in a long time. And so that suggests a possible echo here where booming growth didn't pay dividends ultimately for the president's party. Remember in 2014, it was just a debacle for the Democrats at every single level. Senate, House, governorships. I'm sure they're watching that closely at the White House.</s>RAJU: Yes. And the 2014 was also interesting because actually the economy grew in one of the quarters at a similar rate. Actually even more I think than more than today's job numbers and what happened that year, of course the Democrats lost the Senate. It was a terrible midterm election year. Still talking to Republicans yesterday, House Republicans before they left for a month-long recess, they were looking forward to this number because they wanted this to be their argument and pitch going into the August recess. They're feeling a lot better, something to campaign on. Perhaps one reason why they keep the House. But still, so many other issues, so many other controversies drowning out their message. The president being so toxic and riling up the Democratic base. The enthusiasm still on the Democratic side. The ultimate question is, how do Americans feel? Do they feel better off at this point?</s>KING: And I just as we continue the conversation, I just want to show those numbers one more time over there in the sense that this is again, right track, wrong track in the country. And you see the country in a very negative mood, 2006, 2010, 2014. Still in a negative mood. These are NBC/Wall Street Journal numbers. Now,</s>KUCINICH: Well, when you saw what happened in Helsinki, when you -- the tariffs, I mean, you've got Republicans on the Hill in particular that are just saying, OK, make this stop. The announcement of the $12 billion for farmers. Well, that's good news for farmers in some ways. Republicans are saying, no, they don't want to be given money. They want to work. So the fact that the president is sort of making it harder for them to talk about the economy in a positive way, I think, is causing a lot of consternation within that party.</s>KNOX: The other thing is, when we talk about the economy, you know, if you look at the list of concerns on people's minds and you look at healthcare, for example, clearly an economic issue, right? There's a lot of concern about healthcare. And so when you talk about the big job numbers and the rest which are incredibly positive, for a lot of Americans they think -- they're thinking -- their concerns -- their top three or four concerns are not quote unquote the economy necessarily. And that's another challenge in the messaging.</s>KING: It's important there. All right. Quick break for us. When we come back, back to the big Michael Cohen news today and Rudy Giuliani saying the president feels betrayed.