On CNN this morning, a new poll taking the temperature on Trump and the Russia investigation:
"A new CNN poll shows the Russian efforts to influence the election is a big deal and should be investigated. But President Trump's attacks appear to be taking a toll. CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston is here with the new numbers. Mark, tell us what you found," Alisyn Camerota said.
"We have the new numbers out. Look at the numbers differential. 55% believe this investigation is a serious matter. Then the train goes off the rails. Let's explain why. Look at the approval rating of Mr. Mueller, who is leading this independent investigation into possible collusion with Russia," Preston said.
"Back in March, he was at 48%. Now it has dropped 7 points. The question is, why is that? Well, a couple reasons. One, you have this constant berating by President Trump on Robert Mueller and his teams, as well as allies doing the same thing. So where are the folks who agree with this investigation? Let's take a look at the issue of impeachment.
"More than 4 in 10 Americans right now believe that President Trump should be impeached based upon the information that we know at this point. 51% say no. So what is driving that number? Well, it really does come down to party. Look at this. Less than 10% of Republicans believe that Donald Trump should be impeached. The Democratic number, nearly 8 in 10 believe Donald Trump should be kicked out of office. And independents equal where we are right now when the 42% number is brought in.
"For historical context, the last time the number was this high was during Richard Nixon's presidency in 1974."
"Yeah. It didn't end well for him either, if you remember. Mark Preston, thank you very much. Two numbers jump out to me. Number one, the 42% impeachment number. 30% always say they want to see, they want the president impeached. But 42% is significant. But the drop to 41% is because of the president and Rudy Giuliani," John Berman said.
Maggie Haberman said Trump was happy with Giuliani's performance, because he confuses the public.
"If you repeat things often enough, people will believe it. You are seeing it in the numbers. where this comes into play, if you believe, as the president's team does, that you will not be indicted, then there will be a report to Congress. and then that becomes, in their mind, much more of a P.R. issue, a political issue because you are trying to influence public opinion with voters who will be talking to their own representatives. they will be mindful. This will be a vote in Congress if it gets to that," she said.
