Atta attack. They see our resolve breaking and it becomes a tweet without meaning hes hurt himself in forth corkorea. Hell look in the eyes of russia and iran. We have full Coverage Today for you from the top stories from White House Correspondent jeff bennett and rodriguez and alexi from axios and npr and ill talk to castro coming up. Lets head to the white house for reaction. Jeff, another good day to you on this sunday. What can you tell us . President trump responded using what is his favorite me megaphone twitter to level the most direct criticism yet. President trump says putin bears responsibility for that deadly Chemical Weapons attack in
out saying we dont want the United States to get embroiled in another war in the middle east. There is still a lot of feeling along americans that we went into the war in iraq under pretense that was false, there was a lot of fatigue about being in iraq for so long and so the support for any action fell apart. We ended up doing was a compromise which was a train and equip Mission To Train Syria to fight their battle against assad while other countries got involved including russia and the trade and equip program fell apart. It was a failure but an attempt to help them help themselves. In 2013, 2014, you remember the way that episode was revolved russia agreed they would come and work with syria and get Syria To Export Chemical Weapons or give up Chemical Weapons so those couldnt be used against the people of syria. Its clear that that russia
allowed them to keep some of the ch chemical gas. John bolton starts his job, National Security advisor starts tomorrow and mike pompeo thursday. You expressed grave concerns about both men but are you encouraged how they will advice the president in response to the syria attack and Going Forward . Ive been critical but those roles, its true in those roles they will be rookies here at a very critical time. Particularly with a new s secretary of state and we have
an over sight ability. Sit where you are. I want to ask you more about what is happening along the border but right now i want to get further information. 250 are heading to the texas bored e. R. S part of the 4,000 approved by secretary of defense mat its. Maya rodriguez is there at the border down of hildago. Troops are arriving. Have they arrived and what is the reaction or anticipation of them getting there. Reporter we havent seen troops living yet and it not clear where they will be deployed. This is like you mentioned the community of hilalgo. Mexico is quite further south
in addition to sending National Guard members of the 3w0 border, they would be sending equipment and helicopters. We havent seen those but as you know, its a long one along the state of texas. Were expecting to hear more details about this plan in the coming days, alex . Ill ask you to do something. I dont know if you can based on your camera but im trying to figure out how tall the lower parts of that wall behind you are compared to a person. I mean, would it be easily jumped over, climbed over by somebody, clearly those tall sections absolutely not. But im curious how this wall is received by the locals there, how easy it would be to be penetrated . Reporter as you can see, this is at least 20 to 25 feet tall. There are other parts of the wall that are half that size
further down here. This is actually a Water Treatment area that is run by the local municipality, thats part of the reason this wall is set up here. Basically, what you are hearing from people here is that not so much issues about the wall per se there is that concern about having sort of those boots on the ground along the border. What will that look like and mean for them . Those are questions they have even though we seen past president s deploy the National Guard. Folks in general are okay with that wall physically being there. If you can look behind you and have your camera man pan down, it looks like that maybe, what, 10foot high wall is exists as you go further down. Is that as far you can see the kind of wall were talking about . Reporter yeah, it is. I would say its like its cut in half literally as you go
further down. It goes down for miles and sort of the tenfoot high section as you described there. There is a gate here and of course, that gate opens and closes and that again, is for the Water Treatment thats going on in this area so that vehicles can get in and out. Ill tell you this and im sorry, there is a plane flying low not related to the National Guard. We seen customs and Border Patrol going up and down this levee for two days now that weve been here so they patrol up and down. They keep an eye even though this wall is physically here. Thank you for the extended coverage and for answering my questions and giving us a good look at it. Lets bring in Congressman Castro from texas. When you hear mayas report, do you concur can the fact the residents down in that part of texas are okay with having a wall, some what insightunsightl
like what it does. Most folks in texas and south texas disagree with further expanding that wall. They are against building a border wall across the United States of america and people are against militarization of communities in south texas and west texas. What makes this most agreesoegr is we have to consider the fact Border Crossings from the south are about at a 40 or 45year low. What do you attribute that we have more Border Patrol officers on the southern border than weve ever had in our history. We have Something Like three times what we had in 2004. So i think rather than militarizing the border, the president ought to let Border Patrol do its job. Why do you think youre seeing this 40, 45 drop in Border Crossings . You dont necessarily support the sending of National Guard
troops down there to continue patrolling the border. No, i dont think thats what folks who signed up for the National Guard signed up for. I think they have better uses and i dont think we should militarize those places. We ought to let Border Patrol do their jobs. Again, Border Crossings are at a 40plus year low. If you look back 20 years, they were hundreds of thousands higher pehigh higher persons higher than now. This mostly is an issue of politics for the president. Its a way for him to continue scapegoating immigrants, creating fear among americans about immigrants, even though Border Crossings again are at a historic low. Before i let you go, i want to ask you about a bill you are cosponsoring here, Sanctions Bill against russia. Its with republican congressman mike turner. How different would this be with
the sanctions we saw against the Russian Oligarchs . This bill would sanction Russian Companies but also any russian individuals found responsible for the sales bisbu attack. It would be a strong response specifically to that incident. Okay. Representative castro of texas. Thank you for the extended appearance. I appreciate that. Trump on the record, the president denies reports of another falling out within the white house. Who is on the Chopping Block now . Janice, mom told me you bought a house. Okay. [ buttons clicking ] [ Camera Shutter Clicks ] so, now that you have a house, you can use homequote explorer. Quiet. Im blasting my quads. Janice, look. Im in a meeting. Janice, look. [ chuckles ] look, look. Im looking. Its easy. You just answer some simple questions online, and you get Coverage Options to choose from. Youre ruining my workout. Cycling is my passion. John kelly has been great to me. Hes in charge. Hes operating on much improved process and every time the president and i talk about that subject, the president has nothing but good things to say. The new white house chief Economic Advisor pushing back on reports about tension. The reoccurring and escalating clashes between the president and Chief Of Staff trace the downward ark of kellys eight months in the white house. Both his credibility and his influence have been severely diminished. The president reacted tweeting the Washington Post is far more fiction than fact. Story after story is made up garbage. Always quoting sources not names, many of which dont exist. Story on john kelly isnt true. Just another hit job. Joining me now, alexi, political reporter for axios and tim with
npr. I know axios has its on reporting on john kelly threatening to quit. What can you tell us big picture . A couple things. John kelly threatened to quit more than once and it speaks to the larger problem nobody feels stable or secure in their job. There is daily unpredictability or chaos and john kelly is not safe from that. And i think we saw this exact same rhetoric from trump in his tweet today calling the Washington Post fake news when he was consider a shakeup of the legal team. It turned out it was true and john dowd resigned. He feels undermined by the president and hes a fourstar general who is not used to having this treatment. Its no secret he is looking for a way out. Okay. And tim, what are you hearing
concerning what alexi just said. The president will deny reports in the past and turn out to be true. What are you hearing about the dynamic and standing longterm or otherwise for john clkelly i the white house. Hes a form er marine corps officer. He doesnt get there without thriving in discipline and order. Thats what hes used to. Thats at the beginning of his tenure he brought to the white hou house. That article out lines for all on us how this situation is devolving in the white house that john kelly is starting to be cut out of key meetings and no longer controlling the schedule for the president. It was really interesting steve bannon said not that long ago if the president gets rid of john kelly, its unlikely he would actually replace him with a meaningful successor. The president thrives on a sense of chaos and a team of rivals type situations. Also that he trusts his own instinct. The president thinks hes the most qualified to make the decisions. You guys have both mentioned this article. I want to read more from it. One senior white house official disputed his relationship with trump is turbulent noting the president still talks to him. He pefeels less of a need and feels increasingly emboldened to act alone. The president is just growing comfortable with the role and sidelines aids in the process . Thats absolutely it. Its 15 months in. He feels more enboldened, being impulsive and unpredictable. John kelly when he came in eight
months ago was an immediate thorn in President Trump eastside because he was trying to install more control and sanity in the white house, more order. Trump is not someone that operates in this way. Were seeing john kelly is not briefed on certain things or im told there are often times john kelly and President Trump are on the same page and thinks things are going great and goes rogue and tweets something. Its clear hes being undermined and he doesnt need a Chief Of Staff in kelly, only himself. So why is he still there . Thats an interesting question. Well see whether or not he remains in that role. But the bottom line is the president is the most powerful politician in the most powerful country in the world. You know, you cant just wing it when it comes to scheduling and
policy and that sort of thing. There does need to be some handling in the sense of staff, senior aids and so there does need to be an individual that takes that role to manage what is going on in the white house. We want to get to syria, an important issue that cropped up front and center. The president condemning this attack while also blaming russia, iran and president obama by extension here. What do you make of that reaction, alexi . This is the first time, i believe, that President Trump has called out Vladimir Putin by name. Hes usually hesitant to wave a finger at him. It cannot go ignored. When just days ago President Trump was threatening to pull out u. S. Troops and now we have a Chemical Weapons attack, he cant sit by. He sent air strikes to syria as
retaliation response. We can expect much of the same. The big thing is how hes bringing putin into this. This is coming, again, as trump maintains he wants to have a coco corporative relationship but hes still sort of being nice to putin except in this one tweet today. Tim, to alexis point, do you think this could change the u. S. Strategy as outlined by the president . Look, this is a sevenyear civil war. Hundreds of thousands of people have died. The president has made a red line here. Last year he said that Chemical Weapon attacks would not be tolerated. We need to figure out exactly what sort of agent was used in this scenario but the president has made his view clear on this. The fact is, though, that people die in syria Every Single Day and they die from conventional means, as well as these graphic images were seeing from a
Chemical Weapon attack and there is No End In Sight and Clear Strategy for how these deaths stop. The president hasnt outlined it. Other Regional Partners havent outlined it. The war continues and the death whether from Chemical Attacks or barrel bombs or types of ammunition, they continue unabat unabated. Good to talk to both of you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Up next, fire at trump tower. Well tell you the key piece of equipment missing from the Apartment Buildings where the flames broke out. Eliquis had both. And that turned around my thinking. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an Artificial Heart Valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. Plus had less major bleeding. Both made eliquis right for me. Ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you. Ive been Making Blades here at gillette for 20 years. I bet im the first blade maker youve ever met. Theres a lot of innovation that goes into making our thinnest longest lasting blades on the market. Precision machinery and highquality materials from around the world. Nobody else even comes close. Its about delivering a more comfortable shave every time. Invented in boston, made and sold around the world. Now starting at 7. 99. Gillette. The best a man can get. Hou penthouse afarmpartmenapart. 67yearold Todd Brassnard died. The president was not home at the time but tweeted thanks to firefighters. Six of them were injured but were told all firefighters will be okay. Alex . All right. Now i want to talk about the sprinkler system. You had mentioned that. What is the deal there . There was no sprinklers . Reporter yeah, thats right. The new York Fire Department says there is no sprinklers here. Any newer building would be required to have a sprinkler system. That wasnt passed until the 90s. It was grandfathered in and will make it more difficult. You can im hmaginmagine. Thank you blake mccoy. My next guest found how
robert mueller avoided leaks. Why nobody knows what is going on inside the mueller investigation. Hes a serious guy and hates people who talk to the press. Joining me now is the writer of that piece, zackery fryer bigs, National Security and intelligence reporter with fox. Zackery, does this mean youll never get an interview with bob mueller yourself because he doesnt want you talking to me . I would love to get an interview. The invitation is open. I highly doubt it. All right. Lets talk about his destain for the press before we get into other issues. Is that you think equal to that of President Trump the way he views the press or is it different . I think its different in that with President Trump we see direct attacks against the press. With bob mueller, what you see is more just a lack of comprehend as to why someone would leak to or spend time with the press outside of an official capacity. Its more about him viewing his job as maintaining this
investigation and progressing the investigation but not working with the press. Here is what jumped out most at me when i was reading your article. That is he is surrounded by people who are loyal to him. And that is something that seems to be everywhere. People, they do not talk. They have been with him a long time and respect him clearly. Compare that to what happens in the white house. There seems to be a different loyalty, ironic considering how much this president values loyalty and specifically asks for it. Yeah, i think the comparison that i tend to lean on is the Ken Star Investigation and when that was going on, you had a constant turnover of personnel and that meant you had targets for reporters to talk to constantly leaving the team. Muellers team is pretty much consistent from getgo. Hes only lost one person from within his original team. So when you look at it, this is a tight knit group. A lot of them worked with him for years inside of the justice
department and private practice and they are keeping their mouths shut. Its suggested it will be less about hate and Character Trait with loyalty with the president but the climate in washington given that Overall International interest in this story, as well, prevalence of social media, is there another threat that helps mueller pull this off this kind of loyalty and this vacuum that remains just on to those on this Investigation Team . So, i think that mueller can work within the confines of his team and within the confines of his authorities as a special counsel. I dont think he has to work whether its using that outside pressure in any way. Hes got subpoena power, hes got the ability to compel testimony, get evidence, all of the sorts of things a prosecutor would need. Using that outside pressure is only really helpful if you think in someway it will change the odds in your interaction with
somebody and from all the lawyers i talked to, they think thats unnecessary. The element of surprise with Defense Attorneys not knowing what is coming out of the Mueller Probe is more powe tablet. We have to consider james comeys book is coming out. Is that something mueller will frown upon, hell do a big book tour . Hes doing a massive book tour and the tickets are now incredibly expensivexpensive. I would imagine that mueller is not overly fond of the idea of any investigations spilling out into a book or on to a book tour but at the same time, there is not much he can do about it. Hes got to find a way to progress the investigation regardless of comey. Very good article zackery y fryerbriggs. Up next, President Trump calling out Vladimir Putin out by name. The results of this, next. At ameriprise financial, we cant predict what tomorrow will bring. But our comprehensive approach to Financial Planning can help make sure youre prepared for whats expected and even whats not. And that kind of Financial Confidence can help you sleep better at night. With the right financial advisor, life can be brilliant. From only the thickest, juiciest heinz tomatoes. No one grows ketchup like heinz™. Come to my window ohh crawl inside wait by the light of the moon applebees to go. Order online and get 10 off 30. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. And get 10 off 30. Discover card. I justis this for real . Match, yep. We match all the cash back new cardmembers earn at the end of their first year, automatically. Whoo i got my money hard to contain yourself, isnt it . Uh huh let it go whoo get a dollarfordollar match at the end of your first year. Only from discover. I had a very Minor Fender Bender tonight in an unreasonably narrow Fast Food Drive thru lane. But what a powerful life lesson. And dont worry i have everything handled. I already spoke to our allstate agent, and i know that we have Accident Forgiveness. Which is so smart on your guys part. 6r7b8g9sding b s rng okay, yup. Good night. With Accident Forgiveness your rates wont go up just because of an accident. Switching to allstate is worth it. Including children were killed when forces dropped chemical laced barrel bombs on rebel held city of douma. President trump is tweeting about the alleged attack saying president putin, russia and iran are responsible for backing animal assad adding big price to pay. Joining me now is steve clemens, editor at large of the atlantic. Steve, im guessing youre going to agree this is escalating quickly into a were of words. Its also a war weve seen before and this is one of the issues that has animated donald trump to take action in the past. Of course, he took a very limited Military Strike after Chemical Weapons attack that killed many babies as he called them and we know from the National SecurityDecision Making process that his staff in order to help move him along delivered a lot of pictures of these killed babies and it moved him and i have a sense that donald trump has been moved again by the photos, these horrific photos coming out of this attack and it has by saasiy
walked over the line he hasnt walked over much and criticized Vladimir Putin directly. Does this potentially get the president to walk back on his stated intent of removing troops from syria, i think he said in what, five, six months. Do you think this changes the equation for him . I dont know. I suspect not. If i were to speculate and i guess were doing that, i think that Donald Trumps world view and remember, john bolten, his security advisor starts the job on monday. They arent about big military presence and help building states. That doesnt mean they are not able to send Cruise Missiles but it means the presence that weve had is something. Donald trump doesnt see a winnable solution in syria but hes driven to get out as
military advisors want to stay. I dont think as horrible as this tragedy is, donald trump will be thrown off that desire to get out of syria but that doesnt mean were not going to see Cruise Missiles rain down on some targets now and then as america pulls back behind borders but delivers a punch after something we dont like. What do you think the chances are of him doing that . Lets look how quickly lly he responded. He would do it quickly if he does it, is that the sense . I dont know if they will go into that situation f. He doesnt punish syria and punish the regime there for what has happened now, donald trump looks very weak because he himself has set up a behavior through which to look at what he does and that was to attack that Chemical Weapons portal, the polite attack, very little damage. The russians were advised and advanc advanced. Its very clear. We have understand the russians in my view are colluding with the syrians in keeping these
Chemical Weapons under wraps and on the side. We depended on the russians to help get Chemical Weapons out of syria as part of the deal and thats when barack obama did not move in and did not attack syria after the socalled red line and became a significato the chemic treaty. Russia has helped that and right now they are protecting them. Were on a train wreck with that. I dont know what donald trump will do but if he stays true to form and isnt ridiculed, hell have to find a way to punish the regime. Everything youve just said begs this question, steve, is there a scenario under which you could see a u. S. Russian conflict on the ground there . We almost are there. A number of times, yes. I think it is easy. The last time we gave early word to the russians, the russians were cleared out. I suspect we will work hard to make sure russians are not within range of whatever we attack again. We have no interest in an
american conflict but the theater is so close, the targets are so close, we have confusion between u. S. Supported folks being killed by russians, russian supported troops being attacked by u. S. Allied forces. In a Proxy Contest its close. Its a danger but you will see even this trump white housework very closely to both deliver a blow to assad but to try to make sure that the russians are out of the way, the russians are going to yell but i think well try and show them, give them the benefit of at least forwarning of when we do. Good to get you here in the studio. Thank you. Coming up next, could the Work Impeachment give republicans an edge . Ill talk about this with my panel of strategists next. Managing blood sugar isnt a marathon. Its a series of smart choices. Like using glucerna to replace one meal or snack a day. Only glucerna has carbsteady. Unique blends of slowrelease carbs to help manage blood sugar. Every meal. Every craving. Its the choices you make when managing blood sugar that are the real victories. Glucerna. Everyday progress. At ally, we offer low rates on home loans. But if thats not enough, we offer our Price Match Guarantee too. And if thats not enough. We should move. Our home team will help you every step of the way. Still not enough . Its smaller than id like. Well help you finance your dream home. Its perfect. Oh, was this built on an ancient Burial Ground . Okay. Then well have her cleanse your house of evil spirits. Well do anything, spiritual chatter seriously anything to help you get your home. Ally. Do it right. You too. You tell grandma you were going fishing again . Maybe. vo the best things in life keep going. Thats why i got a subaru, too. Love is out there. Find it in a subaru crosstrek. If youre the Epa Administrator and two lobbiests change the locks, you got a problem. The bottom line is this doesnt look good. I like scott. Hes done a good job from my Point Of View being Epa Administrator but the congress has an Oversight Rule here and well see where this goes. Does it look like hes engaged in questionable behavior to you . I dont think you can get a room for 50 a night. Republican senator Lindsey Graham on the Ethics QuestionScott Pruitepa chief scott pruit is facing, but the president is doubling down on his support for pruitt, Tweeting Defense of his security spending and epa record and going on to say his rent was about market rate, travel expenses okay. Lets bring in former dnc chairman howard dean, and republican strategist susan. Front and center. Thats all good. I love that. Howard, how do you defend this if youre the president , given this 50 a Night Room Rate in capitol hill . Come on, thats nowhere near the going rate. The 3 million for security details. He travels with 20 people, the firstclass tickets. Come on. Two points about scott pruitt. Hes terrible for the country and doing what most americans
hate. You know, his behavior has been appalling. As a professional, he has no profession. Secondly, hes a terrific gift for the democrats. This guy is a crook. Hes dishonest as the day is long. Hes engaged in things that would have gotten most people fired if we had a president with the slightest amount of ethics. Hes a Great Campaign poster for us. Were going to go all over the country. Why, because youre going to put a swamp pick neture next to . The president campaigned on draining the swamp. If you drain the swamp and you find all the gunk at the bottom, that would be pruitt. Thats how it would go. And thats why he shouldnt stay around because the governor is a thousand percent right. He will be a Perfect Campaign ad. President trump promised to drain the swamp. And he kept it intact. Thats the biggest problem facing this president. So i think once he either sees either that kind of ad come out or potentially another story. Theres a lot of talk theres
other things to still come out against him. So that could really turn the president s tide. You think one more big, bad dark head line and thats it . Heres what i think thats more problematic. He didnt get this way when he got to washington. He was doing this when he was attorney general of oklahoma. Sooner or later, somebody is going to do the research on him in oklahoma and find out theres stuff like this. This guy is dishonest. You dont get dishonest just because you go to washington. You usually are a little dishonest before you get there. But with this cabinet, theres also Something Else interesting. You have a few billionaires and very wealthy people who take betsy devos. She travels on a private plane, but she pays for it. You have some envy in kind of Keeping Up With The Joneses amongst the cabinet. Heres the article. In his haste rollback rules, scott pruitt risks his epa agendas. It says hes been less than
rigorous. He puts forth a 97page paper to address something that it took the Obama Administration 1300 pages with lots of details and policy and the like, whereas his 97page paper addressing something was doing a lot of quotes of people in the Auto Industry and what they did not like and potentially rolling back emissions. I mean, how is it that the president can look at this and say, yeah, hes doing a good job . Look, hes a min i me for th president. He pulls other peoples ideas. He has no ideas of his own. Pruitt is a mini trump. Hes not capable of anything. Its no wonder the president likes him. All right, guys. Impeachment. Lets get to that topic because another New York Times article is head lined, and ill read that. Republicans seize on impeachment for edge in 2018 midterms. A strategy is energizing on the right for how to energize conservatives and drive a wedge between the antitrump left and moderate voters, warn that democrats will immediately move
to impeach President Trump if they capture the house. Does that potentially work for republicans . Well, maybe in some conservative states if theyre trying to keep if theyre worried on the outskirts of some races. Any house seat that was narrowly won or lost by the president , if you bring the president in as the deciding factor in those swing seats, the republicans will lose every single time because theres so much more motivation on the democratic side. So when youre talking about two or three points for some of these house races, the president is the last thing you want to bring in if youre the republicans. Theres response from the democrats, but to further quote from this article, it says that democrats are divided in how to respond to the charge. Many top officials in the capital fear it is a political trap that would distract from their core message and possibly even boomerang back to harm them in november. But other more progressive figures see impeachment as a rallying cry of their own to galvanize the lefts antitrump base. So what is the right approach here . I think the right approach is to not talk about impeachment unless you have a reason to impeach him. You know, nobody likes him. Hes incompetent, and so forth. Fine. Thats not a reason to impeach him. When we get the majority, and were going to get the majority, were going to do a real investigation, not like nunes, his maven over there that does whatever he tells him. Were going to do a real investigation. Unless mueller beats you to it. Unless he doesnt fire mueller. Theres going to be plenty of reasons to look at Donald Trumps ethics. Theyll be looked at. I dont think anybody should prejudge that. I also think that susan is exactly right. The biggest election so far, which happened last week, was not virginia. So far the Biggest Surprise to me is this incredible landslide, this liberal woman from wisconsin in winning the Supreme Court seat. They have the misfortune of having elected judges in wisconsin. She creamed the establishment
scott walker candidate. Why . Because its not this is not about democrats being energized. This is about the American People being energized and sick of this crap. Theyre not going to vote for people who they think are corrupt. The gop is doing a pretty good job of making their brand corruption. All right, guys. Im so energized having you two here. I have another hour to go, and im rearing to go after talking with you. Thank you so much. Thank you. In our next hour, john kelly chaos. A new report about the Chief Of Staff and his oval office strife. The article prompting a response from the president on twitter this morning. Truecar is great for finding new cars