Transcripts For MSNBCW Deadline White House 20200908

Revelation that he essentially disdains the men and women of the military he leads as the countrys commander in chief. Heres trumps attack on military leaders in which he seems to suggest that theyve been corrupted by bombmakers and planemakers. Im not saying the military is in love with me. The soldiers are. The top people in the pentagon probably arent because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those Wonderful Companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make Everything Else stay happy. I said thats good. Lets bring our soldiers back home. Some people dont like to come home. Some people like to continue to spend money. Joe biden, whose son beau served and who was a close personal friend of john mccain, who has singled out in the atlantic reporting as the object of even more hatred and disrespect from President Trump than has been reported has forcefully sought to step into the Leadership Void created by a commander in chief whose true feelings include derision and a total inability to comprehend serving a cause larger than ones financial gain. None of the veterans you know were losers or suckers. No president has ever talked about our service men and women in that way. Im sorry if im cutting close to losing my temper, but the simple truth is, if thats how you talk about our veterans, you have no business being president of the United States of america. A former Senior Pentagon official tells me, quote, the problem trump will have with the military isnt just that he said those things. Its that he thinks them. The president s meltdown in the wake of the criticism was laid bare on his twitter feed today which reads like someone hacked him and just held down a finger on the retweet key. Theyre unfocused and dizzying and include attacks against black lives matter protesters, attacks on big ten Football Games and teams. Attacks on joe bidens ground game, his former fixer Michael Cohen, new york city, new york citys mayor, and the governor of the state of new york. Oh, and twitter itself. The platform. All that while trump is at the moment behind in National Polls and several key swing states and reports confirm hes losing big time in the money game. Todays state of the race as Trump Doubles down on attacking our countrys military. Plus, former chief of staff at the cia and the department of defense, jeremy bash is back. And professor of journalism and politics at Morgan State University and contributor for the grio, Jason Johnson is here. Paul, let me start with you. I follow you on twitter so ive seen some of your reaction. But the president , as he often does, is still making this worse by continuing to launch new attacks, this time against the leadership of the pentagon. How does all of this land for you . Terrible. Most terribly for the National Security of our country because were in a point now where the commander in chief is attacking his own military. Out in the open. And everyone in the world can see it. Our enemies can see it, and our enemies are celebrating. Our military is being ripped in half. Our leadership is being politicized. So this is a new low. You wonder if you can get lower. They can always get lower with donald trump. This is definitely a devastatingly low point. I think it reveals something really important about donald trump. The military people would appreciate especially. Hes terribly undisciplined. He cant control himself. He does make everything worse. Every time he takes something out, he takes everything out around him. So he takes out the military, the post office, it just goes on and on and on. And it blows up everybody else politically along the way. And thats why i think this one hurts him. Its a populist message where you hurt veterans. It hurts him in swing states, with independents like me, with republicans like you and everybody in between. Paul, what about just, again, we look like around the world. We have a president , an Office Holder who, before he was sworn in, described the Intelligence Community as nazis. Who will Robert Mueller was investigating the russian attack on our democracy, constantly called it a coup. Who refused to accept intel viewed as credible enough to be placed in his pdb that the russians were paying bounties to taliban fighters for killing americans. And now a president who, you know, you pull the curtain back just a little bit here, and the atlantic paints a portrait. The portrait has not been refuted by anybody except the president s known liars. This is who he is. Weve seen this year after year. We saw it in the campaign. People like me who grew up in new york saw it for years. He will attack anything and anybody in his way. He has no respect for anything or anyone, to include the fbi and retired generals, gold star families. John mccain. I mean, the list goes on and on. Its like a target list of people you should not attack politically. We used to say for years and years, babies, puppies and vets were like political gold. But they were also radioactive. You dont go after those three groups because its political suicide. And he does it almost on a daily basis. Maybe this time, maybe this time its finally caught up with him and will mean the difference in the election. We have never heard really anybody just to pull that thread a little harder in an uncomfortable puncomfort able way, paul. Weve never heard an american elected official attack any soldiers who were wounded on the battlefield. The last line of the atlantic reporting has him specifically targeting those who were disfigured from their wounds. Amputees. The atlantic has also reported on the president s particular disdain for missions to retrieve the bodies of People Killed in action or to go looking for people missing in action. Really i dont even know the word for it. Tell me the word for it. There are no words for it. Disgusting. Outrageous. Embarrassing. I mean, i think at this point, hes hit every guard rail in our democracy. Maybe the only one thats left is we hope that people like general kelly, general mattis, general dunford who were in that closed circle and can make a different in these final days. Not just for our the election but National Security. Everybody thinks, can it get worse . The guy has control of our nukes. It can get a lot worse. So maybe we cant wait until november. Maybe we cant wait until a new president hopefully is sworn in in january. Every day this guy is in office, our country is weaker and our enemies are celebrating. Thats why the stakes are so much higher than politics. The russians rammed a vehicle into american troops in syria last week. Four americans were wounded by russian troops. Nobody is even talking about that. These are the kind of things that are happening while hes busy attacking john kelly who used to serve in his own administration. Jeremy bash, can you pick up that thread . I mean, the list of ways that donald trump has improved russias National Security from the russian states perspective and weakened ours is long and growing. But if you add this now robust body of reporting now matched by half a dozen News Organizations, tell me more about what youre hearing from your sources about what has been revealed. Well, im hearing a couple of things. Number one is, ive spoken to several former, four and threestar generals and admirals, Senior Defense officials over the weekend. And they have indicated a couple of things. Number one is that, with respect to the 2017 visit to france, to commemorate the 100year anniversary of world war i, it was not as the president said or the secret service was said to have opined that the weather was preventing the helicopter from going to the cemetery. Know what these officials, in fact, have told me is the president in a fit did not want to go to the cemetery. He was insensed by something that macron and merkel had done, presumably upstaging him in the media in europe and he said im not going to the cemetery. General kelly and general dunford, they went to the cemetery in the president s place. So it was the president s decision not to go. Number two is, to a person, every Single Person ive spoken to over the weekend believes that the quotes are authentic, not because theyve heard them but because theyve heard the president say very similar things and they believe this is the president s deepseeded attitude towards the military. And finally, even if you put aside everything that the atlantic reported, what the president said yesterday, according to these individuals with whom i spoke, what the president said yesterday, with respect to the leadership of the defense department, trying to, i guess the claim is, profit off of Service Members going to war, that is outrageous lie. That is an abject misstatement of the attitude of the approach of Senior Defense leaders, whether its a service chief, a combatant commander, the chairman of the joint chiefs, the secretary of defense and the leadership of the office of the secretary of defense to smear all of those individuals as basically being corrupt and not carrying about the men and women they send into arms way is a smear unlike weve ever seen in american history. It shows just how diametrically opposed donald trump is to the defense department, the leadership of our armed forces and the National Security of the United States. Jeremy bash, explain what we should read in body language. The boston globe published an interview with former chairman dunford over the weekend. And he didnt jump into the political fray. Didnt attack donald trump. But he says something similar to what general kelly has said, something john bolton writes about, has spoken it. And its about the world order that he believes in. And its abundantly clear that his concern is that donald trump doesnt believe in that world order. In the postworld war ii world order in our membership in nato, in keeping our allies close. I mean, how threatened do the military folks that you talk to really feel the world order is by donald trump . Jeremy . Oh, sorry. I apologize. Look, the view from National Security professionals is that donald trump doesnt understand the world. He put out this doctrine of America First which is really a doctrine of america alone. Most National Security professionals believe and understand from their experience that we cant solve the worlds problems by ourselves and that, in fact, were much stronger, much more capable, much more effective in the world when we have allies and partners. So when the president goes to europe and picks a fight with our european allies, tries to undermine nato, cozies up to dictators, hes not undermining American Security but global security. Jason johnson, i am sure that the trump voters take on this will be some sort of combination of, you know, fake news or i dont know what it is really. But its clear that trump feels very threatened politically by these revelations. And this reporting revealing his private comments about the military is something that upsets trump. Just using that as my road map to the political fallout, not any personal views that not only would you would a normal politician be disqualified. Theyd likely be impreached or caused to resign. Were so far from normal, and trump benefits so much by the fact that we grade him on this curve of saying his base wont care. Lets put that aside and just look at how threatened trump clearly feels by these revelations. What do you make of his pushback, of him basically saying its not that i didnt say these things. I just mean that everybody that runs the pentagon, which basically runs all active duty and veterans programs, i mean, thats a whole lot of really important people to a president. Theyre corrupt. But the rank and file servicemen and women like me . How is that going to land . Its really interesting to me. This is a classic trump projection. The closest we had to a war profiteer was paul manafort. Hed given the dictators and violence he was involved in when part of this administration. So this is trump finally recognizing, i might have stepped in this. And a lot of times ill say that sometimes the things we discuss, they are for the really politically engaged and maybe regular voters arent hearing about it. This hit. I come from a military family. There is nobody in the military who hasnt heard about this story. And trump is hearing this. I am hearing this from my students who are in rotc, from veterans. People are livid about this. And you know that that is trickling up to donald trump. So this is the one time that i think hes actually afraid of something that he said. And as we pointed out before, you can have some, you know, dyed in the wool koolaid drinking Trump Supporters who say this is fake news but when you add this to what he said about john mccain, which we saw on camera, its not hard to believe he has these attitudes. Is it going to change anybodys votes . Not necessarily. But is it activating military people who may have said, hey, i dont like either side to say joe biden doesnt insult us and at least cares about beau. Yeah, thats probably happening on the ground. So to your point, heres what the dnc is hoping to see happen on the ground. Let me show you this ad. 1800 sacrificed their lives. But when donald trump was asked to pay his respects, he said, why should i go to that cemetery. Its filled with losers. Surprised . Trump attacked john mccain, tortured for years as a loser, who was not a war hero. Now as president , trump went to Arlington Cemetery and asked, i dont get it. What was in it for them . For them . They swore an oath to protect our country. They made the ultimate sacrifice. Donald trump inherited everything. Sacrificed nothing. Scoffs at the valor of those who gave it all for america. Jason . This is that hits. That hits. And i tend to be cynical about this stuff, but that hits. Theres nobody its not just john mccain. Remember it was ladavid johnson, where he told his widow, well, he knew what he signed up for. This is a president who has never known anything about sacrifice. And its one thing for him to say look, i was born on third base and think i hit a triple. Fine. We have a lot of politicians who feel that way. But his disdain for people who have served and died serving this country, reveals his own cowardice. And the fact hes intimidated by people who are willing to sacrifice for something beyond themselves for a greater good. And that, i think, is probably one of the most damning elements. I cant wait for the president ial debates. Because the president will stumble all over this one and probably get the floor wiped up with him by joe biden when it comes to the issue of veterans. Paul, what are you hearing from veterans that you work with that arent the sort of voracious consumers of political news. Are they newly awoken by this debate that has suddenly burst into the president ial conversation . I think most veterans are more politically aware than the average citizens. These are people who put their lives on the line so theyre tracking things more closely than the average american. You may not be able to talk about it, especially those who are in uniform, but heres the bottom line. Live by the sword, die by the sword. Donald trump ran by wrapping up in the American Flag. Then he disrespected the American Flag. Now the American Flag is fighting back in ways outward and inward. The countrys guard rails are pushing back. And when you disrespect the flag in this way, you disrespect the military, at this time, and you face off against a gold star father whose son did serve and may have died because of cancer due to an exposure that he got overseas. Biden has talked more about that. He may talk more about it in the days to come. This is the chickens coming home to roost. This is potentially Donald Trumps waterloo, and it is damaging and the biggest veteran story of our time. All the things coming together at once in a time that really hurts him most. And jeremy bash, let me give you the last word. The biggest veteran story of our time. I think paul is on to something here. The center is john kelly whose own son died in combat. In the category of nothing is sacred, donald trump has sought to attack him, to suggest that a marine couldnt handle the heat of his dysfunctional bleeped up west wing which is so far from the truth. You know him. What do you think john kelly is going through right now . I think this is so personal for the kelly family that in some ways, its beyond politics. But i think with respect to every gold star family, every family that has lost a loved one in battle, they have to be wondering to themselves, for what did my child sacrifice if the commander in chief, the commander of the troops, is openly attacking them . And, of course, i think they know deep down that its character, its patriotism, its duty to something higher than themselves that caused that loved one to go into harms way. But when the commander in chief acts this low and goes this low, its a shameful, painful moment for our democracy. Paul rycoff, jeremy bash, thank you both for starting us off. Jason johnson is coming back this hour. When we come back the Trump Campaign money machine has quickly disappeared. How did they burn through 800 million bucks . Fancy cars, bodyguards and lots and lots and lots of legal bills. Thats how. A look at the scramble inside the campaign and how joe bidens zoom fundraisers are paying off for him. And Kamala Harris learning what she can about her running mate from another one of bidens running mates, barack obama. Well look at the energy shes bringing to the campaign trail for her side. Plus, would you trust a vaccine from this guy . President trump promising to cure it all in time feror electn day. All those stories coming up. P. Ht using paper and packaging. As a child, we learn that trees are good for the environment. Its renewable. So we can keep this beneficial cycle continuing on for generations to come. Tech when youve got. Safelite can come to you. Tech and youll get a text when were on our way. 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If i have to, ill do it here, but we dont have to because we have double and maybe even triple what we had a number of years ago, four years ago. How much are you talking about putting into your campaign . Whatever it takes. We have to win. This is the most important election in the history of our country. Donald trump admitting he may need to spend some of his own money on his reelection effort. An incumbent doing so is like so many things during the Trump Presidency and would be unprecedented. It follows a detailed piece of reporting in the New York Times about a little cash crunch inside his campaign. Quote, mr. Trumps financial supremacy has evaporated. Of the 1. 1 billion his campaign and the party raised from the beginning of july 2019 through july, im sorry, through the beginning of 2019 through july, more than 800 million has already been spent. The times reports the budget had to be reined in once former Campaign Manager Brad Parscale was replaced. Veteran republican strategist ed rollins blamed him telling the times if you spend 800 million and youre 10 points behind, i think youve got to answer the question, what was the game plan . Rollins then accused mr. Parscale of spending like a drunken sailor. Joining our conversation, New York Times political reporter nick confisore plus jonathan lemire. Nick, your colleague Maggie Haberman has bylines on this story and went on to tweet that donald trump has before sort of threatened offered to spend his own money and never does so. Take me through the rest of the times reporting. Really a great piece of journalism today. Well, this is unprecedented. To be an incumbent president who has raised a billion dollars for a campaign, as much as anyone who has ever run for president and to be running dry in september is possibly the greatest self of president ial fundraising history. Whats even more astonishing is how the money is getting spent. In some ways, on good things like donor acquisition. The president has built up a huge base of small donors. It cost money to find them, but then there are all the extras. Theres the millions of dollars the president has spent on fundraisers at his own properties. There is the 60 million he has spent on legal fees. This is essentially a trump tax on his own scandals. Hes paying to defend his own aides and advisers. His former bodyguard on retainer to the tune of half a million dollars. What work is that guy doing . Hes got his two daughtersinlaw on the payroll and his former Campaign Manager has a nice house in florida and a bunch of threepiece suits. So a lot of money is going back into the pockets of People Associated with the president. Its not the main reason hes now short of cash. But its hard to go back to donors and look them in the face and ask them for more money to keep spending. Unbelievable. A bodyguard making half a million dollars. I guess the last one had to pay off Stormy Daniels so you want to keep them happy. Jonathan lemire, take me through what this looks like. This is also in the times report. I would put these expend tours under the category of managing Donald Trumps teeny tiny and fragile ego. Quote, some spending choices appear devised in part to satisfy mr. Trump himself. Including the Super Bowl Ads which were purchased as part of an advertising arms race with wait for it mr. Bloomberg. What a grace use of money. The two ads on game day cost more than the Trump Campaign spent on local television through the end of july in each of four battleground states wisconsin, michigan, iowa and minnesota. Another trumppleasing expense, more than 1 million in ads in the d. C. Media market, a region not likely to be competitive in the fall but where the president is a famously voracious television consumer. This is just a colossal i dont even know the word for it. Massaging of the president ial ego. Running ads against someone who wasnt in the democratic race much longer than that super bowl. Advertising in d. C. To, what, juice his selfesteem . What do they have to say about those expenditures . Nicolle, the ads for deep blue District Of Columbia are an audience of one type expenditure. The president spends much of his day watching cable news. They were intended to make him feel better to show the campaign was out there spending its money wisely and, of course, one could argue about the wisely part of that. And then the Super Bowl Ad was to match Mike Bloomberg. He bought a 10 million Super Bowl Ad so, therefore, the president had to as well. As youll recall, seems like ancient history but there was great talk of the trump versus bloomberg ego war. The two of them going headtohead. This was a moment where Mike Bloomberg would barely feel 10 million and Trumps Campaign certainly did. Now lets look at where they are. They are certainly at a financial disadvantage. This comes on the heels of, first of all, terrific reporting by the New York Times. Weve added to it today at the associated press. This comes on the heels of joe biden announcing a record amount of fundraising. Biden and the democrats in august, north of 350 million. Staggering sum. Donald trump and the republicans, they have yet to announce their august fundraising totals. Were now september 8th, several days in, well past when that sort of information is usually disclosed which raised all sorts of questions as to what sort of number they put up and how much smaller is it than what the biden team did. We have seen he was on a Campaign Conference call today with reporters acknowledging that they had to be more mindful with their money, careful how they spend it. He was asked about some odd moments during the campaign where theyve gone dark on tv advertising which is not usually something youd want to do, especially now in the stretch run in september. He says that will pass, that theyll be back up on air soon enough. But this does sort of change the equation. Ill say the president s offer to put his own money in, that was met with skepticism inside his campaign and among republican donors who think thats just a signal to get them to open up their wallets. Nick confessore. I know bill stepien to be very concerned about arizona. Let me put up the latest numbers in arizona. Biden is up 9 in arizona. And wisconsin, biden is up 6. North carolina, biden is up 2. Florida is tied. Sticking with arizona for a second, ill show you the spending in the last week. Biden spent 2 million in the last week which gets you a lot of ads in arizona. Trump spent nothing. Biden outspending trump in florida. Trump has spent nothing in michigan. North carolina, biden is spending about twice as much as trump there. Pennsylvania, biden is spending 5 million last week in pennsylvania. Trump nothing. And wisconsin, biden outspending him there, too. Advertising buys dont tell you a lot, but they do indicate where youre on offense. And it looks to me like there may be a conversation inside the Trump Campaign about giving up on pennsylvania, trying to lock up florida and giving up on arizona. Look, florida is super important for the president. If he gets it, he has a lot of paths to the presidency. I would just add one caveat to that. The president is huge on facebook. Its a natural medium for him. Theres a lot of digital advertising, too. He has to be mindful of that. Certainly when you have money, you can spend money, and i think that biden is in a place now where he can hammer on the national advantages that he has in this race. He can kind of hit trump in the places where trump has proven to be weak. If hes giving up on pennsylvania, its not going to be too far long until he gives up on places like wisconsin, where hes not been able to move the numbers. If he cant get that blue wall back in his corner, hes got to look for other paths and florida becomes more essential. Nick confessore, thank you for spending time with us. Jonathan, were not quite done with you. Please stay put for us. After the break, president obama preps senator Kamala Harris on what it would be like to serve alongside joe biden. Their conversation, next. Ss kee. And however we connect, whether its over the phone, online, or in your office, were here to listen and provide solutions that help you run your business better. Because the decisions you make have far reaching implications. And a relationship with a Corporate Bank like pnc can provide just what you need. As one of the nations largest banks, pnc brings customized insights and a local approach. To make informed choices now and in the future. Little things can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. 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It would have been easier than this. So wear a mask. Do what you can outside. Stay six feet apart. Because some things you just cant take back. Do your part to lower the risk. Democratic Vice President nominee Kamala Harris visited wisconsin on her first Solo Campaign trip yesterday. Meeting with black business leaders, touring an Electrical Worker Union facility and speaking with the family of jacob blake, including with jacob himself by telephone. During harris time as u. S. Senator she often showcased her strength and acumen as a former prosecutor. Now on the trail, harris is displaying the folksier side of herself like in this new conversation just out between her and former president barack obama released by the Biden Campaign today. The main thing to know about joe is that joe has never lost his sense of why we do this. Now what that means is that if you have a joint event, he may be taking a little longer than what appears on the schedule. Because he will be talking to every Single Person. But i love that about him. I really do. And its what the people deserve. Its what they want. You know, folks want to be seen and joe sees people through those aviator glasses and without them. He really does see people. Joining our conversation, atlanta beverly, the National Deputy director of africanamerican outreach for president obamas 2008 campaign. Jason johnson is back. Alaina, i watched this video. This is sort of chicken soup for the democratic voters soul. This is a president they loved. A Vice President ial pick they are very fond of. Having a conversation about just how much joe biden loves his aviators. But it seems to me to be part of a pretty strategic rollout. Senator harris. She did an interview with cnns dana bash. She talked a lot about and she talked with former president obama there about how she stays in touch with her family. There is this weird ritual we have of, you know, get to know the personal side of the Vice President ial pick. That seems to be part of what shes doing along with the other things that follow a vp. Thats right. I was smiling throughout that entire video and that may be my third time watching it. However, what i really appreciate is that it is a new strategic play on retail politics. Given that we cant, in a pandemic, she cant go door to door and she cant have the one on ones but shes amazing at retail politics. Shes warm and charming and relatable. And so how better or how best to do this to try to have one on one for the American Public other than by having her sit down with the former president barack obama, my forever boss, and just be candidly talk about what its like to be on the campaign trail. I thought it was a real, very bright strategic move on the part of the campaign. But i also think it demonstrates a passing of the baton. It was a very hopeful discussion. It was a very optimistic discussion. It talked about what it is like to connect with people when you are on the campaign trail. And i think people are eager for that as well. For a sense that in addition to i think biden and harris having a policy plan that they believe that america can be better and will be better. And the last point that i want to make is, this video, i think, also demonstrates the third part of the trifecta that is Kamala Harris. We know she can prosecute the case and the prebuttal to the convention when trump spoke. We know that she can go on the offensive, but she carries a very clear message that she is also relatable. And thats the trifecta for a Vice President ial pick. Jason, we dont know where this i mean, i think i share some of your cynicism about just how ugly this is going to get as the days unfold. But the truth is, the Trump Campaign is struggling with how to brand Kamala Harris. And the more she gets out there, the more known she you can only smear someone with a fact if theyre unknown. The more known thats why they struggle with joe biden. Whether you like him or dislike him, hes largely known. The more sort of tracks they can lay of the Kamala Harris story, the harder she will be to, you know, smear him and lie about him, tell stories about. Where do you see the political standoff between senator harris and whatever theyre trying to do to her on the Trump Campaign . They fail to define senator harris during the republican convention, right . You cant say that shes some crazy radical. Look at her. Look at her husband. Look at her background. You cant say that Kamala Harris is going to come to the suburbs. Kamala already lives in your suburbs. You go to lululemon together. You cant make people afraid of her. Right now all the democrats have to do is remind perhaps Skeptical Democratic voters that shes a nice person. This whole exchange, i found it hokey. Im not the target market. It was meatloaf mac and cheese comfort food. Them being very kind to each other because the republicans cannot come up with a definition for her that works. And as long as they cant, she will continue to sort of spread her message of, hey, im the competent young person here, and i can bring something to this campaign that other people havent been able to do before. Thats why im the great choice for vp. You know, alaina, i want to ask you about how shes wearing the mantel, not just the first female black nominee on a ticket. She seems to be carrying that so lightly. Its part of she was on the campus of Howard University with dana bash. Its part of her story. She just seems to be standing on the shoulders of some of the women that have come before her, taking all the right lessons from president obama on sort of how to sort of carry these really important historic roles shes filling. But she never gets knocked off. Ive been a student of hers as a politician since the very first days of the democratic primary. And she just i mean, tell me if you see this differently, but she seems to be threading all these really, really difficult, really tiny needles she has to thread. Yeah, but i think thats easy for her because its authentic. She authentically represents women. She authentically represents the black community. Thee authentically represents the jamaican heritage. And that is part of what makes her such an asset to the campaign right now. Right now, the biden harris ticket or sorry, biden and trump are headtohead in florida at 48 48 in terms of the polls. The Jamaican Community is so excited about Kamala Harris and the Haitian Community in the caribbean diaspora in south florida that will be necessary for turning that state back to the blue. And so i think she does an amazing job of just being herself, authentically herself. Authentically being an hbcu candidate. She does this and were going to see all those multiple constituents respond to that greatness and turn out with enthusiasm for her. Im looking forward to seeing how she plays in miami later this week. Jason, not to be the sort of skunk of the garden party, but i think she also has a sense of just how dirty this is about to get. Shes already been smeared with the birther bs. She watched what trump did to trump and his wife melania did to president obama. They were believers in birtherism. I see how she excites the party and the Democratic Base and a lot of women watching her. But i think shes onto them. Shes kind of on to the trump stuff in a way that you can just see it in her eyes. Shes ready to go on the attack as well. Yeah, i have to say this. Of probably every Single Person who ran in the democratic primary and certainly of these final four that we have now, she has had the hardest path. Shes a black woman running in american politics for an executive position. There is absolutely nothing that donald trump can throw at her that senator harris hasnt seen and batted down like the matrix 27 different times to get to where she is. So if theres somebody in this race who is completely unflappable, it is going to be harris. Has she always been great at answering questions on criminal justice . No, no, no, well get to that. Those will be issues one way or another. But as far as being there and staying on message and knowing what shes supposed to say and do, for her to have gotten as far as shes gotten, i dont think theres anything that donald trump can throw at her. Ill also say this. Remember, the kryptonite of the Republican Party has always been black women. They always get really nervous when it comes after going after michelle or anything else like that. And this falls in that same category. I have to admit yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. I love the imagery i was just thinking and you think of every time trump talks about oprah or michelle obama, its they really do kind of come unglued and well keep watch iing. Alaina and jason, thank you for joining us. The race for the vaccine gets very political as the country creeps closer to 200,000 lives lost from the coronavirus pandemic. Stay with us. Everyday its agetting closer going faster than a rollercoaster love like yours will surely come my way ahey, aheyhey [music playing] love like yours will surely come my way weaver going to have a vaccine very scene. Maybe before a special date. One of the problems is hes playing with politics. He said so many things that arent true. Im worried if we do have vaccine, people will be reluctant to take it. Hes undermining public confidence. Pray god we have it. If i could get vaccine tomorrow, id do it. If it cost me the election, id do it. Donald trump doesnt even try to separate the pursuit of safe and effective vaccine from his political goal of winning reelection. That was donald trump and joe biden who spent labor day agreeing on the need for a vaccine and how nice it would be but clashing dramatically on trumps capability to make it happen safely and without politics interfering before election day. Biden saying he wants full transparency on a vaccine on that kind of time line echoing his running mates comments the day before. She said she would not trust trumps word atlelone that a vaccine would be safe. Trump demanded they apologize for their antivaccine rhetoric. U. S. Numbers surpass a sad milestone over the weekend. Theres more than 6. 3 confirmed cases of coronavirus in this country and more than 190,000 souls lost. Joining our conversation is msnbc Public Health analyalyst friend dr. Irwin redliner. Let me start with you. I have watched all of tony faucis trip to the hill to testify. Theres never been high confidence in a vaccine being ready by election day. Where is this coming from . Well, first of all, were starting off with messages about the vaccine being ready before election day coming out of the mouth of the most dishonest president in american history, bar none. Its just extraordinary how anybody would expect us to believe what he is saying. On the other hand i did have a recent conversation with dr dr. Fauci. Here is where i think well be. By the end of the year well have vaccine that looks pretty ready in terms of it being effective and safe. We will not have gone through the normal human trials we watched for a very long time to make sure theres no long term complications. If the epidemic is raging, we might want to say, were going to take a risk. Were going to start giving the vaccine out now because we have to control the vaccine. This is classic risk versus benefit calculation. We want to hear all of this from tony fauci and his ilk. Not from President Trump. Speaking of raging, theres reporting in New York Times about the impact of back to school, our numbers. College towns becoming hot spots. Nyu suspending more than 200 students for breaking covid protocols. Youve got out break and teachers staying at home and a lot of schools that have opened. Is the Trump White House still pushing all schools to open for inperson learning or out of the politically motivated back to School Business . Where did that go . They still are pushing that. Thats for jonathan. They are still pushing that. Thats quite all right. It is less front and center than they were. Its less of their day to da messaging than in august when a lot of schools were beginning to reopen. Not all have. A lot are going back this week. No, sir new york city is still a week or so away. Theres questions as to whether it will be a success. You have pointed out lot of colleges have had to scuttle those plans. An upstate new york school, the at a time School System had to cancel plans to have inperson learning after an early outbreak. Theres a real connection to surges in the midwest in states like iowa from colleges that have gone back. As to the vaccine, i think there is a sense among people ive talked to or close to the process on the administration side but on the drug company side that as dr. Fauci said, there could be a vaccine ready in some way by the end of this year. Whether or not thats election day or not, thats an entirely different matter. What well see is an extraordinary amount of pressure from the white house to make that happen. To give the president something to announce even if its not an ability to say, this vaccine is ready to go people with start getting it tomorrow. That seems very farfetched. Some idea its around the corner. An announcement its been created to sell voters hope as his october surprise. Let me put up this New York Times map in is 1500 colleges and universities that have opened. They found 51,000 cases and 60 de deaths there. What do you make of whats happening on College Campuses with the students coming back and the outbreaks there . Its extremely dangerous but it was very predictable. Right now we have a collision course between three different kinds of hot spots and out break stimulaters. One is the college and university outbreaks that are really out of control. The second is were just coming off Labor Day Weekend with a lot of people having gone to all kinds of gatherings outside. The third thing is this huge reopening of americas schools. Thats about 55 million children who will be going back in this uncontrolled experiment of putting kids to some degree back in classroom. The combination of the university out breaks, the labor Day Festivities and the School Openings is a big deal. We will stay on top of all three. Thank you both so much for spending some time with us. When we come back, Donald Trumps former fixer, Michael Cohen, out with a new book and warning about what a second term could look like. The next hour of deadline white house starts after a short break. Dont go anywhere. Machine short break. Dont go anywhere. Machin introducing stocks by the slice from fidelity. Now you can trade stocks and etfs for any amount you choose instead of buying by the share. All with no commissions. Stocks by the slice from fidelity. Get your slice today. combative yelling he used to have bad breath. Now, he uses a capful of therabreath fresh breath oral rinse to keep his breath smelling great, all day long. combative yelling therabreath, its a better mouthwash. At walmart, target and other fine stores. I describe mr. Trump as a cult leader. I was in this cult. While i was in the cult, i was really refusing to acknowledge that the actions that i was performing for my boss were morally wrong. Hi, again. Its 5 00 in the east as the fire hose of damaging allegations from Michael Cohens newly released book is unleashed donald trump. Just 56 days out from election day. Racist remark, his cover up of an affair with a porn star and a fulsome embrace of Vladmir Putin and his authoritarian leadership style. Painting a picture of an unfits leader by Donald Trumps own former right hand man. One who now while still serving out a sentence for crimes committed on trumps behalf, is actively working against his former bosss reelection. From the Washington Post reporting, quote, in the book disloyal cohen lays out an alarming portrait of the constellation of characters orbiting around trump likening the arrangement to the mafia and calling himself one of trumps bad guys. He describes the president as a cheat, a liar, a fraud, a bully, a racist, a predatordamming por president who rests at multiple crisis, economic devastation, a Global Pandemic and nationwide reckoning of injustice intensifying on Donald Trumps watch. In an interview with lester holt that airs tonight ahead of cohens interview with Rachel Maddow he expands on the scope of the racism he observed first hand while working for trump. You call trump a racist. Were you witness to any moments that you thought he was exhibiting racism or used racial slur . Unfrportunate,ly all too man time pps one after Nelson Mandela passed away. He known me of any country thats run by a black that nost an s hole. I said how about america and he save me fu. Donald trump and his white house impugn Michael Cohens credibility and point out that he pleaded guilty to lying before congress and stands to profit off his account. They dismiss the book as quote fan fiction but notice we have yet to see a rush to trumps defense from his circle of allies. Theres no claims for those who know trump best that anectodotes like the one cohen describe are out of character. They fit right in among other insider accounts from those who have left trumps orbit as well as public statements and actions that make the accounts seem believable like these racially charged comments from trump himself. All we want is law and order. I just put out something the suburbs are coming big to us because the suburbs are next. If you elected this guy, the suburbs would be overwhelmed with violence and crime. Look at my africanamerican over here. Look at him. Are you the greatest . Got all different names. Wuhan. It was catching on. Coronavirus. Kong flu. I dont know anything about david duke. I dont know anything about what youre even talking about with white supremacy. You wouldnt want me to condemn a group that i know nothing about. You also had people that were very fine people on both sides. Hes a mexican. Were building a wall between here and mexico. The answer is, he is giving us very unfair rulings. Are you going to include the Congressional Black Caucus . I would. You want to set up the meeting . Do you want to set up the meeting . Are they friends of yours . Its is tsum total of all that. Stories like cohen about his private conduct from one of his longest serving allies that begs voters to consider in 56 states. Cohen bookends with something of a play. Something that requires the reader to trust his account of his time inside trumps orbit. You now have all the information you need to decide for yourself in November Cohen concludes. Thats where we start this hour with some of our favorite reporters and friends. Donny, this book is something. It takes you inside more than i expected it to. Its like being in one of those theme park immersion rides. The harry potter ride at universal. This is from someone who when he was in believed in all this bleep. Talk about what this book was and why cohen wrote it. Cohen, ive seen ive spent dozens of hours with michael. Its been an interesting arc to watch michael. He has gone from angry, i didnt do anything wrong. I got screwed to. I really ruined my life. I fell under the spell of this guy. It was like a cult. I did things im embarrassed and ashamed about. Writing the book was kind of the only way he could punch back at this point. The way the bookends is the way the Washington Post ended the article is its warning. He says that trump would start a war to stay in office. The big warning about whats possibly coming 56 days from now is kind of where the book levavs off. This isnt any type of vice or disgusting personal quality that is not touched upon in the book. Whether its a racist p whether its a bully. Whether its a conman. Whether its a thief, a liar. Just about everybody quality other than serial killer you can attach is attached to this book. In great deal detail michael lays it out. The other thing i want to touch on is we talked about this a lot. The mob boss quality that basically the way trump ran this organization. He would tell michael to do something without telling him to do it. I still believe and ive said this on your show that this does end with a rico indictment on the Trump Organization because it was Illegal Organization and michael would be the first one to tell you that. On russia, donny, we get some more context. You have to assume that mueller and sdny had all this information. We learned just in some of the clearest way yet that trump was deeply kpl lly committed to bui trump tower, moscow and enamored with Vladmir Putin. On russia cohen writes the cause behind trumps admiration of Vladmir Putin is simpler that many critics assume. Trump loves money. He wrongly identified putin as the richest man in world by a multiple. Trump loved putin because the russian leader had the ability to take over an entire nation and run it like it was his personal company, like the Trump Organization. We had so many conversations about what this there there is. I think someone with cohens Vantage Point who was sent to russia to work on this hotel deal, this land deal is pretty credible on those fronts. What do you make of sort of this, i dont know if its a period but maybe an exclamation point that this window into trumps obsession with how putin runs his country. We dont doubt them because its so in concert with the behavior we watched the last four or five years. We have seen this almost boy crush he has on putin. It was the ultimate fantasy for trump. Come in, make the country yours. Own the power. To trump thats what youre supposed to do. The book lays out in very, very unmistakable terms that trump and his children knew about what was going on with trump moscow and trump thought he was going to lose the election and was one of the hedges that he wanted to stay close to putin because the russian money had been funding his business for two decades. He felt if he had been so sycophantant, he would give putin the top floor to show his bromance love for him. Another bucket writing on which cohen will be seen as kredsable because he was a par t participant was the raceist attacks on president obama. Trump was o seszed with mr. Obama. The book describes mr. Trump hiring a foe boma or fake obama where trump belittled the first black president and then fired him. A kind of fantasy fulfillment it was hard to imagine any adult would spend serious money living out until he did the functional equivalent in the real world. The video mr. Cohen describes appears to be a recording that was supposed to be shown the first night of the Republican National convention in 2012 when mr. Trump had endorsed the partys nominee mitt romney and insisted on having time during the programming. This is some sick stuff. Some stick 50 shades of a racist pig stuff. I dont know what to say. I do not know what to say. Oh, my god. I was thinking the exact same thing. What a fetish this guy had for obama. Largely because obama did what trump will never be able to do which is literally capture the hearts and the minds and the passions of people all across the world. Donald trump is a bully. He thinks he can pummel people and beat them down and that will give him followers. To be following in the footsteps of someone so inspirational that people were drawn to, i think is just an interesting watching this play out and hearing about how frustrated he got about that. This thing about this that is so maddening is this we believe it because when people show you who they are, you believe them and donald trump constantly shows us who he is. What is fascinating to me are the 40 , 35 of americans who still worship this guy and still follow him and risk their lives in the wake of covid to go and show up to demonstrate, be it rallies with him. Who dont think that any of the things that were talking about are so vile and disgusting that they should turn away from him. That is what makes me curious. The people i would love to get in the heads of. We know that donald trump is sick and twisted but who are these other people wo really buy into this sick and twisted nature. Those are the folks we got to get to come november. I think there are people who hope that our coverage is somehow part of what they have labeled as fake news. They just dont buy it. Phil, my tell though is always Donald Trumps degree of angst. He sent out multiple tweets about Michael Cohen. Michael cohen went to jail for lying and not immune from further lying are not going to do him any good. The truth is that Donald Trumps closest person in the government, someone who acts as his Michael Cohen inside the u. S. Government, bill barr, tried to stop this book from coming out. They certainly acted and thought that Michael Cohen could damage donald trump politically. Thats right. Theres been an effort inside the white house for many months to try to discredit Michael Cohen and it goes back to the beginning of this year when cohen testified, last year. Im getting confused here. When cohen testified before congress and the white house went to extraordinary length to try to publicly discredit the president s former lawyer and fixer and confidant. They dont want public seeing this book. They dont want the public to know the shotories that cohen h to share. Hes not the perfect narrater for this. He acknowledges his own flaws. So much of what has come out is entirely consistent with the character that we have all studied these last three and a half years in the oval office. The details we have reported on at the president s private Decision Making and conduct is very consistent with the portrait thats painted by cohen especially when it comes to his racist comments and racial incentiveties across the board. That whole opening he played at the top of the hour was striking because its reminder of how many times this president , when he was candidate and now when hes in office has conducted himself and has said things that are out right racist. So much more i want to get to. Let me try to get through two more pieces that are corroborated by reporting from your News Organization and others. That is what he writes about Nelson Mandela and said theres fo country led by an africanamerican man or woman that isnt a bleep hole. He was reported to said that in a meeting in the oval office in 2017. I dont want anymore from bleep hole countries. He doesnt change his smears against the countries. Talk about having covering him and written your own book about him how much of cohens account is a pattern that repeats itself. Its echoed in the revelations of the last four years. Its all a pattern. The the obsession with money. Its the obsession with obama and trying to find way to best him and that whole scene where he is with the faux obama and trying to pretend he is firing obama. He has a larger following on twitter and these are things that bother trump. The racist comments and the focus on prioritizing himself and his family and their personal interests. I thought the quote you read about why hes drawn to putin is he sees him as turned major country into family business. Thats consistent with our reporting about the way the president views the presidency and views the United States. He has literally transformed the west wing into family operation. Its run by his soninlaw. His children are involved in his political operation. This is different than what we have seen in past from recent president s and modelled after what trump as admired. I want to read one more piece from the book. In the book mr. Koe lcohen says trump personally prooifr approv payment to miss danielles. 130,000 is a lot less than i would have to pay melania. He said if it got out, his supporters might think its cool that i slept with a porn star. An article publiced by the wall street journal on january 2018 revealing mr. Cohen paid miss daniels to keep quite caused a bleep storm of biblical portions by the Trump Presidency standard cohen writes. I thaug it was interesting too that he said its less than i would have to pay melania. Im curious about that prenup. What jumps out about this whole thing is forbetter or for worse, i think its for worse, trump knows his base. The reason he got elected president is because he knew that there were people out there who would think it was cool that he slept with a porn star and there were people out there who thought it was cool that he wants to anoint white issue prem assists as good people. He knew there were people of the scourge and underbelly of this society that thinks hes cool in being a denigrate. What we need to do and i think about this be in democratic terms because our nation is falling apart. In order to shift leadership, we have to be mindful theres base he knows how to rally and how to to pull. The question becomes last time was the turn out enough to topple them. How do we make sure theres enough of the good people, the decent people who think this is horrible feel motivated to come out and to counter those folks that enjoy the fact the president slept with a porn star. Thats the work of the next few weeks to figure out in order to take our country back. Donny, i want to give you the last word but then specifically we watched the falwell scandal around sex. We have these trump comments that he thought his base would think its cool i slept with a porn star. Trumps tie to this sort of evangelical base was kind of held together with duct tape and rubber glue. Do you think theres anything that anyone could learn about his character that will be repulsive to anyone or is it so out in the open from his public life and what is cohens view on that. Why does he include this stuff . You couldnt imagine anything more repulsive than the way you started off the show with what he said about our Fallen Heroes calli ining them losers. I dont know how you can stare into the soul of a human being and find a darker darker spot, a true, true sociopath than somebody who would stand at the graves and say what did they do it for . Whats in it for them . Its almost imcomprehensible that hes a human being and built the same wi as all of us with a heart and blood. I dont think the book will change any votes. I think the thing that will change the votes and the democrats have to be careful because they ran against his character last time is costing 200,000 lives in pandemic. Costing 50 million jobs. A country that is in turmoil and how it affects you. I do think, i would if i was democrat keep alive the thing that happened with the veterans. I think that is just something that just sticks in your gut. The other stuff about the womanizing and the lying and the racism is sadly baked in at this point. I need the democrat, i hope the democrats keep their eye on the ball and the one tool they have to talk about the kind of heinousness and devil quality of this man is what he said about our veterans. I think that sums it up and the other salacious tales dont match it. Thank you for starting us off. Rachel maddow interview with Michael Cohen airs tonight. When we come back, given whats in Michael Cohens book, it may not come as a shock that donald trump is running for reelection as a defender of white america. What may come as a surprise is how trumps racist tendencies are reverberating with extremists the world over. New trouble for trumps man at post office. House democrats are looking into whether louis dejoy broke the law. The out rage from trump and the right after fox news confirmed key parts of that bombshell reporting the atlantic that the president insulted americas military men and women. Dead liline white house continu after a short break. Dont go anywhere. Ouse continues after a short break. Dont go anywhere. Give you my world how can i, when you wont take it from me you can go your own way go your own way your wireless. Your rules. Only with xfinity mobile. Aring loss now is the time to do something about it. Because denying you have hearing loss, well thats the old way wed like to say happy labor day with 250 off eargo neo hifi. Call or go online now to save 250 on our best hearing loss solution and if youre an active or retired federal employee you can now get eargo at no cost to you. Call or go online today. Its been the consistent pillar of Donald Trumps political brand from the beginning a dark and deliberate effort to capitalize on white fright by in means necessary. This morning he was as subtle as a sledge hammer. He tweeted this. If biden gets in, this violence is coming to the suburbs and fast. You could say goodbye to your american dream. Thats the latest example of what peter baker described in the New York Times that trump is seeking to cast himself as the defender of white america. Not in generations has a sitting president so overtly declared himself the candidate of white america. While mr. Trumps campaign sought o temper the cold war messaging at the Republican National Convention Last month by showcasing black and hispanic supporters that deny hes a raci racist. Trump and his supporters celebrated the decision to revamp racial sensitivity trainings calling some of them unamerican. Rick, an unbelievable sort of out in the open racist campaign. Yes. To talk about your introduction, i would say hes doing something that been a long tradition in the Republican Party going back to Richard Nixon. Lbj said when he signed Civil Rights Act of 1964, we the democrats will lose the south for a generation. The solid south used to be democratic. Under Richard Nixon who appealed to the same racist impulses among voters, he won the south. Thats been true of the Republican Party ever since. Barack obama won the election in 2012 with 39 of the white vote. Trump is white vote is the trump base. He is just trying to make sure as much of them come out as possible and hes animating them. Hes invigorating them with this covert racism which appeals to them which is why the democrats lost the south during the kennedy and then the nixon administration. Sorry to do that little history listen about the modern democratic party. I want to share though with both of you something the atlantic. It might fwhnot be a path to success in november. For the first time america may have an antiracist majority. He have elected on a promise to restore an idealized past in which race was on question. Rather than restore that, he have for the moment discredit it. Golden age of prosperity and return to k its radicalized millions of white americas who were declined to dismiss systemic racism as a myth. This is, as with all things trump, so polarizing but its not clear that by putting his foot on the pedal and flooring it that hes done anything to either one recreate the coalition from four years ago and i cant find a person who thinks hes going to grow it. Thats true. I think this really highlights for us what ill call the cog any tifr dissonance of good white people in america. Barack obama did not win with any majority of white votes. He won in 2008, with 42 . Then it was down to 39. Just last year, pew did a study showing that 56 of white people do believer that Race Relations in this country are bad and problematic. 49 of those people made it even worse. Technically, white folks get that trump is a bad apple, race is still a real issue. At the same time. That same poll found that only 30 something percent of white people thought america should be doing by better by blacks. 7 of white people said, theres more to do to help black people achieve equality on their own and thought there was anything left in terms of what this country owes in its debt to black americans. While youve got these good white people on one hand who are like, oh, my good, gd, racism i. You have the vast majority who believe not o our problem. Blacks need to pull themselves up by their boot straps. Theres nothing harming them. I think that donald trump has played upon the sentiments in america where white people areg history and White Privilege and what that is and if that is and constantly asking the question. The violence that were see ng the streets with regards to police brutality, the black bodies that are being filmed are dying in street, many white people who are protesting on behalf of black people and against racism, the Antiracist Movement is kind of calling more of this into question and the accountability of the beckys and the karens of these good nice white people who are being held to account for their behaviors. Even though white people may be conflicted about what is playing out. They know that donald trump is just a disaster and exacerbating all these problems. Rick, she knoneeds a show, na block to finish that point. Let me pick up one thread. The other thing thats bubbling up is the fbi and other agencies tasked with protecting the homeland from doe mmestic terrorists who concludes that White Supremacists who donald trump refuse to condemn are the greatest threat in terms of a terrorist threat to the homeland. I think the other path of it is were in more darng because of Donald Trumps refusal to condemn white supreme si in all its forms. Absolutely. The law and order president makes lawlessness and disorder i inevitable by going a train w t whistle to White Supremacists. Dhs wanted to say, the greatest threat to domestic security is white extremist terrorism. The irony, the sad iron y is during the eight years of the obama administration, the growth of white malitia groups increased because there was a black president. What happened . Donald trump came into office and started to exercise them. Starting to use their language that appeals to them. Thats a terrible and irresponsible thing to do. They are the greatest threat to peace in america. They are the greatest threat to violence in america. Donald trump is actually trying to get them to become more vigila vigilant, become more active and public. Were seeing that all around the world including the story in the New York Times about the extremist groups in germany adopting donald trump as their symbol. Im so glad you mentioned that story. We needed another 40 minutes to finish this conversation. They had plan that said just as you described it. White supremacy was the greatest threat. They tried o bring it in and rebuffed by the Trump White House. Lets have her back and both you have back. Such an important conversation. Thank you so much for having it with us. More trouble for postmaster general. House democrats now investigating whether louis dejoy broke the law by urging employees at the company he ran to donate to republican candidates. Why his future just might be from danger . Thats next. 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Recruiting an army of customer advocates to make your experience incredible. And putting you in control of the whole thing with powerful technology. Thats why weve become the nations Fastest Growing retailer. Because our customers love it. See for yourself, at carvana. Com. Logistics said he pressured them to make contributions to republican candidates. Two other employees said that dejoy would instruct that bonus payments be given to staffers who made the contributions which is illegal. Joining our conversation geoff bennett. Youve been on this and we have benefitted so much from your focusing in on this. This seems like a lot of sort of personal legal trouble for dejoy now. This is Campaign Finance violations almost at their most basic conception of how they would look inside a company. Reporter thats a great way to put it. Thats precisely what the chairwoman of the Oversight Committee said today. She said he faces it for this alleged scheme and two for lying to congress about it. At issue is this exchange that august 24th house hearing where dejoy testified and he was questioned specifically on this issue of reimbursing Campaign Donations by employees. The question was put to him by congressman jim cooper, democrat from tennessee. Lets take a look at how it unfolded. Did you pay back several of your top executives for contributing to Trumps Campaign by bonusing or rewarding them . Thats an outrageous claim and i resent it. Im just asking a question. The answer is no. You did not bonus or reward any of your executives no. Anyone that you solicted for a contribution to the campaign be. No, sir. Reporter you heard him say no three or fortimes. That question seemed appreciate. I called congressman cooper and said what informed that question. What informed that line of inquir inquiry. He got a tip from someone in north carolina. He went to unc unz grad. He said when he was in harvard law school, his thesis was focused on this question of Corporate Executives pressures employees to make political donations. Thats why he put that question to dejoy. Dejoys real problem is not the five employees who spoke to the Washington Post but the one employee, the former head of hr who spoke on the record, gave his name, a full quote and everything and said that dejoy did precisely this. He says he asked for the money. He was given the money and that he reciprocated with big bonuses. He tells me all democrats have to do now should they want to is subpoena those employees and subpoena the hr and payroll records that are referenced in the Washington Post reporting. Geoff ben nnet, our man on t smoldering scandal at the u. S. Postal service. Well come back to you early and often. When we return, what happens when Donald Trumps preferred Network Fox News confirmed the atlantic report that donald trump calls u. S. 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Donald trumps attempt at getting a fox news National Security correspondent fired for doing her job last week seems to be backfiring. Several top fox news employees have come to Jennifer Griffins defense after the president called for her firing after she was able to match key part offense that startling reporting in the atlantic last week. Donald trump allegedly insulted our nations war heroes. Griffin went on twitter and on the air friday to cite her own reporting confirming many aspect offense the story. My source, a former Trump Administration official told me when the president spoke about the vietnam war, he said it was a stupid war. Anyone who went was a sucker. Regarding the french trip to mark the end of world war i, the president was not in a good mood. French president said something that made him mad. He questioned why he had to go to two cemeteries. Why do i have to do two. Regarding the president s july 4th military parade planning, during a Planning Session at the white house, President Trump said regarding the inclusion of wounded guys, quote, thats not a good look. Americans dont like that. Donald trumps attempt to fire fox news correspondent is reminiscent of the press control he has sought to exert since early 2016. One of the many troubling trumpisms characterized in Brian Stelters book. The First Amendment was about putting him first. If youre protrump news, youre good. If you cross him, youre bad. As of 2016, fake of as of 2018, a hoax. This was a direct rumt of his n narcissism. Joining us is brian stelter. Im a big fan of your newsletter, of your show. Thank you. Of your twitter feed and of your book. Thank you for spending some time. I know book tours cant be manufactured in any way but it seems like this story is exactly what you report around and about. Talk about it. Jennifer griffin is the latest example of this tug of war between the real journalist fox who are mostly losing and the propagandaists. They are have said our network has gone all the rails. Its the same thing thats happened to the Republican Party but its happened on television. There are folks like Jennifer Griffin fighting the good fight, doing their jobs and they are getting trashed by others on the network. Its ridiculous. It wouldnt happen anybody else. It happens at fox. When Jennifer Griffin reporting came out, whats going to happen now. Will fox trust their reporter or will they keep dumping all over the story. I replied and said we both know the answer. We know,000 this go how this go. Say Jennifer Griffin had a tough weekend. Its been awkward for her at work, at least virtually in recent days. I have so many questions. First, who filled the vacuum after roger ales death. Who creates that culture for jennifer . It comes from the murdochs and their choices not to have a strong sense of leadership. What happens is if you ask people who is in charge, people point fingers in different directions. They blame various executives, for allowing conspiracy theories and crazy talk on the air. The blame is widely shared. You have to look at the top. Least the ceo of fox corporation. The buck should stop with him. Thats what they focus on. The powers always been held by the prime time anchors. I dont know that theres a point in foxs history when its been so been so distinct. Theyve never been close. Talk to me a bit about tucker, sean and laura. Tuckers monologues sound like the campaign practice. Hannity is there as trumps defender. His loyal ally, even though hes calling him names in private and Laura Ingraham is a White House Press secretary but on tv. Guiding the president , trying on give him Communications Advice that he usually ignores. Shes been at the white house pushing hide droxy chloroquine. I feel like i had to write hoex because having a fox news president is leaving the rest of the country without a functioning president. Throws sad words. I dont want to say those words but it is sources inside fox and inside the white house who says this president watches too much tv. He gets poisoned by our air and it does cause damage across the country. Do you get the sense that any of them feel bad . They certainly at the beginning, they fired trish reagan for her lies about covid. I think the person in the segment with her is the current White House Press secretary. Do they feel bad about putting out disinformation or lies about National Security or about a Global Pandemic . There is some secondguessing. Certainly among the rank and file. I had staffers say, our coverage of the pandemic in felony and march was hazardous to our viewers. It was dangerous. Under forgivable. I had a senior managing manager say it was outlandish. Never in a way thats accountable. You have folks at fox saying the president should watch less tv. They hear him calling hannity about the ratings and they say hes a moron. They say it in private, not in public. This is one of those examples where there is a lot of hypocrisy. Some of the people trump knows best work at fox news but they dont tell us what they know. The name of the book is hoax. Donald trump, fox news and the dangerous distortion of truth. Congratulations on the book. Thank you for everything you do and thank you for spending some time with us today. Its nice to see you. When we come back, remembering lives well lived. Remembering lives well lived ress or whats trending. Get realtime insights in your customized view of the market. Its smarter Trading Technology for smarter trading decisions. Fidelity. Little things can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not a cream. Its a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. With otezla, 75 clearer skin is achievable. 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All that with the love of his life by his side, his wife of 47 years. Their daughter told the news enterprise in kentucky that her dad, quote, was her mothers entire world. Both of them contracted the virus within days of each other. She survived. He did not. Anthony was charismatic. He loved bowling but not more than he loved his family. Hell be laid to rest in his home town next to his mother on what would have been, what should have been his 71th birthday. Thank you for letting us into your home during these extraordinary times. Were grateful. The beat with my colleague and friend ari melber starts after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. Quick break. Dont go anywhere. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz. The first and only pill of its kind that treats moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or moderate to Severe Ulcerative Colitis when other medicines have not helped enough. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. 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Xfinity x1 just got even better, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. No strings attached. Hello. Thank you for joining us on the beat as we track these stories now. The Trump Administration burning through 800 million in cash over the last year. Thats most of what it raised. Also House Democrats now fully investigating the postmaster general for perjury all related to a Campaign Finance scandal. Its a big one. Plus the Rochester Police chief resigning amidst outrage over the death and custody of