Transcripts For MSNBCW The 11th Hour With Brian Williams 20171020

This was day 273 of the Trump Administration, and on this one day the president s chief of staff, retired marine four star general john kelly, did something he abhors. He talked publicly about his dead son as a gold star father, and so did a service to donald trump. Also on this day, former president george w. Bush, 43, did something he abhors. He criticized a sitting president , not by name, mind you, but the association was crystal clear. This is now the 4th day in a row we have spoken on this broadcast about the most sacred of president ial tasks, communicating with gold star families after the death of a member of our armed forces. It was a sacred topic and should be and will again, but its been publicly cheapened to an obscene degree these past few days because of the president s own comparison initially to his predecessors and now he is alleged to have spoken with a military widow. More on that in a moment. Thats what brought general kelly into the Briefing Room today, a man who looked like hed rather be 100 other places. He went there to talk about something intensely private to him, the death of his son, First Lieutenant Robert Michael kelly, died in 2010 in afghanistan after stepping on a land mine. He was 29 years old. Kelly said he wants americans to know what it means to be a gold star parent, and he started in a dark and clinical place. He started by talking about what happens when a member of the military is killed. Their buddies wrapped him up in whatever passes as a shroud, puts him on a helicopter as a routine, and sends him home. Their first stop along the way is when they are packed in ice, typically at the air head, and then theyre flown to usually europe where they are then packed in ice again and flown to Dover Air Force base where dover takes care of the remains, em balms them, meticulously dresses them in their uniform with the medals that theyve earned, the emblems of their service, and then puts them on another airplane linked up with the casualty officer escort that takes them home. The general continued again hoping to put an end to political conversations involving gold star families. Their conversations the president started earlier this week. He was asked tuesday why he hadnt heard from we hadnt heard from him yet about these four u. S. Soldiers killed in niger in africa. And he answered by questioning whether his predecessors called the families of the men and women killed in action during their time. Today kelly continued to talk about his son. He fritried to protect somethin our nation has always held sacred, the sacrifice made on the battle field. If you elect to call a family like this, it is about the most difficult thing you could imagine. Theres no perfect way to make that phone call. When i took this job and talked to President Trump about how to do it, my first recommendation was he not do it because its not the phone call that parents, family members are looking forward to. Its nice to do, in my opinion, in any event. He asked me about previous president s and i said, i can tell you that president obama, who was my commander in chief in active duty, did not call my family. That was not a criticism, that was just to simply say i dont believe president obama called. Thats not a negative thing. Let me tell you what my best friend joe dunford told me, because he was my casualty officer. He said, kel, he was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1 . He knew what the possibilities were because were at war. And when he died, in the four cases were talking about, four in niger, my son in afghanistan, when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this earth, his friends. Thats what the president tried to say to four families the other day. I was stunned when i came to work yesterday morning and broken hearted at what i saw a member of congress doing. Member of congress who listened in on a phone call from the president of the United States to a young wife. And in his way tried to express that opinion. Hes a brave man, a fallen hero. It stuns me that a member of congress would have listened in on that conversation. Absolutely stuns me. And i thought, at least that was sacred. The only thing i could do to collect my thoughts was to go and walk among the finest men and women on this earth. You can always find them because theyre in Arlington National cemetery. Went over there for an hour and a half, walked among the stones, to do when they were killed. And i appeal to america that lets not let this be a line that is held sacred in our society, a young man, a young woman going out and giving his or her life for our country. Lets try to somehow keep that sacred. Our lead off panel tonight, robert costa, National Political reporter for the washington post, moderator of Washington Week on pbs. Jeremy peters, the New York Times political reporter and an msnbc contributor. And Eugene Robinson here with us in new york, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the washington post. Eugene, i watched your coverage in the moment with Nicole Wallace this afternoon. And i still want to ask you what was that that we witnessed . Was that one event . Was it five different concurrent events . It was a man coming out to speak in three different roles at the same time. He spoke as the white house chief of staff. He spoke as a four star general, and he spoke as a grieving father. The vividness of his description of what happens when a member of the armed forces is killed in action, the shipping of the body home packed in ice, packed in ice, unforgettable, searing and deeply moving. Removed a few hours, these days its like a few months because as long as we get to ruminate on the news cycle, im struck by a couple of things that general kelly actually didnt say. He actually didnt say, for example, that any of the reports of what president said President Trump said in that conversation were wrong. He seemed to indicate they were right. And second, he didnt indicate that he really had much of an understanding of why congresswoman Frederica Wilson was there at the time of the phone call. She had known this family for decades. Uhhuh. She was principal of the school that la David Johnsons father attended. He was in a mentoring program that she ran. She was a very close friend of the family which had called on her in a time of grief and she was there to be supportive. As was the woman who had raised la david johnson, Sergeant Johnson as his mother raised him like a son. They were there. The phone call as i understand was on speaker, which sounded the president of the United States called, its an occasion, its a moment. And they were appalled at what they heard. Rightly or wrongly, they were, and it wasnt intended to deepen mrs. Johnsons grief, the widow, but clearly it did. And he didnt general kelly didnt seem to quite understand that entire story. By the way, myesha johnson, we should repeat, 24 years old, the mother of two little children, two months away from having their third. I want to put back on the screen, the fake news is going crazy with wacky congresswoman wilson who was secretly on a very personal call and gave a total lie on content. Robert, it was speculated today that part of general kellys message was aimed through the door back around the hall, turn left to the oval office. But clearly from this, it was not the end of the topic. Thats right, brian. I think gene said it well in the sense that general kelly did not contest the Actual Exchange between the president and the family that was heard by the congresswoman. And he railed against in a broadway the politicalization of these experiences and interactions. That was the critique general kelly made rather than something about the content of that conversation. Jeremy, does anything change as a result of today . I think, brian, general kelly did made the best of a really unfortunate situation in that he left americans with this indelible image of what happens when an american makes the ultimate sacrifice. And in that sense tried to remove this from politics. I think that where this gets more complicated for the general and for the president is that he inevitably had to bring it back to politics by defending a president who turned this into the blowup that it became, by attacking the congresswoman, by saying that he had proof that she was lying about the conversation. General kelly found himself in the position that so many of Donald Trumps aides have found themselves in the past, and that is defending the indefensible. And unfortunately, it mired what would have otherwise been a solemn, sober occasion in politics. We mentioned this at the top. I want to share some of this with our audience tonight. We heard from two former president s today who used strong words to speak out against division and anger in our politics. President obama campaigned for the First Time Since leaving the white house for Democratic Candidates for governor in new jersey and then tonight in virginia. At a time when our politics just seem so divided and so angry and so nasty, is whether we can recapture that spirit, whether we support and embrace somebody who wants to bring people together. Yes, we can. You notice, i havent been commenting a lot on politics lately. But heres one thing i know. If you have to win a campaign by dividing people, youre not going to be able to govern them. President bush spoke out forcefully in new york. His Spokesman Says donald trump was not the intended target, but a source close to bush acknowledged to our colleague and his old Communications Director Nicole Wallace, he was aware of how his remarks would be received. And in the current Political Climate and confirmed that the president drafted the speech himself with the assistance of a couple of trusted aides. Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication. Weve seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty. At times it can seem like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Weve seen nationalism distorted into nativism. Weve forgotten the dynamism. Bullying provides permission for cruelty and bigotry and compromises the moral education of children. The only way to pass along civic values is to first live up to them. Eugene, talk about the power of our former president s, the most exclusive club in the world. It really is. And what an extraordinary day when you hear barack obama, a liberal democrat, and george w. Bush, a conservative republican, speaking as one. Yes. Two parts of the same speech. That really tells us all, i think, what a departure the Trump Administration and trumpism at large really is from the american tradition. At least from recent american political tradition, going back many decades. This is unlike anything weve seen. This is unlike the normal back and forth between republican and democrat democratic administrations, between liberal and conservative policies. This is something new and something quite different. Robert costa, our club of former president s as we call it, the most exclusive in the world, theres no clubhouse certainly, but there have been de facto rules. And one of them is you let the new guy and so far theyve all been guys get their administration started. You lay back, no matter how fierce your differences. Thats another way of saying it took a lot. It takes a lot for these men to speak the way they did today. It does, brian. Were also watching in real time the outrage of the political establishment in this country that abides by those norms that weve seen in this country for decades, seen them unravel in front of their eyes when it comes to Foreign Policy and domestic policy. Not only by President Trump, but by the people around him, and thats why senator mccain and president george w. Bush are coming out and speaking so viscerally about these norms and what they believe are institutions and values that embody america because steve bannon and President Trump and that whole wing of the Republican Party are trying to tear it down. Jeremy, youre the guy who gets to hit with the bases loaded since its baseball season. You get the tough one. To what end . To what end . I wish that i could say that this would be an awakening for republicans. There are a lot of republicans i hear saying that privately, but its not happening. There is no flood gate thats open, brian, from which republicans are all of a sudden saying, you know what . We are going to speak out against the Conspiracy Theory mongering and the bigotry that we fear has taken over our party. So, until they realize these republicans that there is no more political power to be derived from not speaking out against that, they wont do it. And you will be left with people like george w. Bush, john mccain, and a handful of others like bob corker who is retiring, people who are no longer in politics, no longer standing for reelection to be the moral voice within the party. That was a really depressing answer, but so well told. And i thank you. Thank you. Sorry about the tone of the questions tonight, gang. Our thanks to robert costa, jeremy peters, Eugene Robinson for being our leadoff panel on this busy day in politics. Still ahead, after we fit in our first break, well look at the investigation into why u. S. Forces are on the ground in nigeria in the middle of the african continent. But up next, two heavily decorated combat veterans of the vietnam war, retired four star general army general barry mccalf friday and medal of honor recipient Arnold Jack Jacobs on what happened today in that white house Briefing Room when the 11th hour continues. Its. Wakey wakey rise and shine oh my gosh how are you . Well watch this. I pop that in there. Press brew. Thats it. Look how much coffees in here . Fresh coffee. So rich. I love it. Thats why you should be a keurig man fullbodied. Are you sure youre describing the coffee and not me . Do you wear this every day . Everyday. Id never take it off. Are you ready to say goodbye to it . Go go ta da a terrarium. Thats it. We brewed the love, right guys . all yes. Youre searching for something. We brewed thwhoooo. Right guys . Like the perfect deal. On the perfect hotel. So wouldnt it be perfect if. There was a single site. Where you could find the. Right hotel for you at the best price . There is. Because tripadvisor now compares. Prices from over 200 booking. Sites. To save you up to 30 . On the hotel you want. Trust this birds words. Tripadvisor. The latest reviews. The lowest prices. Alright, looks like weve got chips, ppretzels retzels . Plain, sourdough, spicy, sesame, chocolate covered, Peanut Butter filled, plain. Great. So what are we gonna watch . Oh show me fall tv. Only xfinity x1 brings you the best hand selected picks this fall. Were back. And about that appearance today in the Briefing Room, politico describes it this way. Quote, kelly, long reticent of talking about his sons 2010 death, was not thrilled that trump made his personal devastation a political football, said several people who know him. But his boss was in a jam and he decided to come into the Briefing Room after telling others, trump was being treated unfairly, and that he hated seeing dead soldiers become a political cudgel. Here with us to talk about this tonight, retired four star u. S. General barry mccaffery, wounded many times in vietnam, heavily decorated for his combat actions. He went on to become a battle field commander in the persian gulf, retired with four starz. Retired colonel jack jacob, one of only 72 recipients of the medal of honor for his combat actions in vietnam. Both gentlemen msnbc military analysts. Jack, well start with you. You know general kelly. What did you make of today . I think he did as you reported, something he didnt want to do. I would have been happier had he not brought up the subject of ms. Wilson, and then it would have been an absolutely clean delivery. The president has doubled down on the congresswoman. Thats what happens when you make ad hominem arguments. It doesnt get it off the table. It brings it up again and makes it and recycles it and makes it much more difficult to get rid of. Was he as good representative for your beloved Armed Services . He said a really couple interesting things. They revolve around the wide gulf that exists between the people who are serving and the people who are being served. He asked whether or not anybody knew a gold star family. Well go deeper than that. I think the statistics prove that most americans do not know anybody in uniform. I think thats a dangerous thing and i was glad that general kelly brought it up. You used to say to me, you could go door to door and go to 250 houses in this modern era before you found a family, on average in the United States, connected to the military. I could do the math. I could do my third grade math, thats all. I grew up in new york city where every household made a contribution to defending the republic. You cant find that these days. General general mccaffery, same question to you. John kelly is one of the finest people ive met in my life. I agree with jack, im sorry he brought the congresswoman into it. Look, i just went to the dedication of a memorial at fort benning, missouri, to the empty museum of the nearly 7,000 killed in action fighting in the global war on terror. 60,000 killed and wounded, a thousand women killed and wounded. This has been an ongoing pretty intense combat action for a small number of people, as jack points out. Some of them are 10, 15 deployments. I think this entire notification process, the letters from the secretary of defense whether handwritten or hand signed or auto signed has gotten turned into a political disgrace. Id rather see the Sergeant Major of the army or the marine corps welcome these fallen angels home to dover. The president shouldnt be calling these people, for gods sakes. So, President Trump is an inartful guy. Hes not good at this sort of thing. Inhe called out of a sense of obligation, tried to do the right thing, it didnt come off the right way. They ought to stay out of it and let the armed forces take care of our people. Do you feel that the president should avoid these phone calls with all president s or just this president . All of them. I mean, again, 7,000 killed in action, vietnam, 59,000 killed in action. World war ii, 440,000 killed in action. Of course we dont need the chief of state to call each individual family. My brotherinlaw was killed in action. Jack and i have dozens of people that were important to us that were killed in action fighting in one of these wars. My students out of west point in the ongoing war. I think this has turned into a political charade. The cameras, who looked appropriately pious at the event. By the way, these families are devastated, are vulnerable. At fort benning, we had a gold star brother and a gold star mother talk and it was really very difficult to listen to the sense of loss. But theyre buoyed up when they lose these tremendous men and women by the love and support of the armed forces and their family. Thats whats important, not a political one ups manship going on at dover and then other events. The president ought to have an annual breakfast. He ought to write letters clearly, but weve got to get the politics out of this process. Its disgraceful. Jack, was today about the chain of command . Well, i think it was. I mean, he is the chief of staff and he is representing the president of the United States at a time when the president of the United States probably shouldnt be talking about any of this. So, it is about the chain of command. But at the end of the day, i think what really came through general kellys remarks is a verification of something i cant remember who said it who said the United States isnt at war. These young people who are in uniform are at war and we shouldnt forget it. General, ill let you speak for members of your own family in military service. But were you surprised to hear general kelly say that his son was on a 5th deployment, usually unusual when the son or daughter of a notable person stateside is serving . Its usually kept fairly quiet. I think hes angry, you know. I think hes fed up with a lot of things that are happening. Hes very protective of the armed forces, starting with his own son, of course. This is a very sensitive issue to every not just to the families who have lost their loved ones, but everybody in the armed forces, you know. Theyre still engaged. Theres no healing that goes on. People just finally get it in context. I think john kelly was angry. He didnt like the way the thing was being played out. Im sure that, you know, the president s words were inadequate or triggered some reaction, but this shouldnt turn into a long discourse about, you know, who said what to whom. We ought to stay out of this thing for god sakes and let the military bring them home and turnover their family. You know, if we had 20 Million People in uniform, it might be different. You might be able to argue persuasively otherwise. But weve outsourced the defense to the republic to a very small number of men and women who are willing to do that. I think general mccaffery is right, just stay out. Powerful words from two friends of ours, very special gentlemen. Thank you both, general barry mccaffery, colonel jack jacobs. Another break for us. Coming up, what are u. S. Military forces doing in niger in africa . Whats the mission . Will it change at all after losing four of our very best there . What we are learning about all of it when the 11th hour continues. But some people still like cable. Just like some people like banging their head on a low ceiling. Drinking spoiled milk. Camping in poison ivy. Getting a papercut. And having their arm trapped in a vending machine. But for everyone else, theres directv. For 1 rated Customer Satisfaction over cable switch to directv. Call 1800directv. 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Fda approved for over 18 years. Senator, on the niger mission, what does the committee need to know in terms of details . Everything. Everything. Can you be more specific . Everything. What steps are you taking, senator, to get to the bottom of this . What steps are you taking may require a subpoena, but i did have a good conversation with general mcmaster and they said they would be briefing us. We have a long friendship and well hopefully get all the details. Do you feel the administration has been forthcoming up to this point about what happened there . Of course not. In plain english thats a former p. O. W. In the middle of chemo and it doesnt seem like he has a lot of time for delays. Senator john mccain is not satisfied with the white house explanation about what led to the deaths of four u. S. Service members in niger on october 4th. Sergeant la David Johnsons body was not recovered until two days later, and now two weeks later its still unclear how the events unfolded. Exactly who was involved. In a rare Public Statement today, defense secretary james mattis cautioned the pentagon isnt intentionally withholding anything. We in the department of defense like to know what were talking about before we talk and so we do not have all the Accurate Information yet. We will release it as rapidly as we get it. Lets talk about this tonight with an expert who we should caution you was not shooting a commercial for scotch tonight. He was at a uso benefit in washington and were happy to have kevin barron. One of the journalists plugged in at the department of defense. Nbc National Security analyst. Kevin, whats the mission in niger as you understand it . Well, the mission in niger is similar to the same mission in dozens of countries around the world. Its Security Force assistance. Its simply americans training local forces, local militaries to be better. Its something that goes on so much and so many places, most americans dont have a clue or they take it for granted perhaps or they dont need to know. Niger was one of these places where these kinds of missions, you know, small groups of americans with local forces happen all the time. And so an image like this with death attached to it. For those of us who dont have a parent, son or daughter in the fight, but those of us who are concerned about those americans who do. This is what americans do in places like indonesia and malaysia and asia. They do it in thailand. They do it in mali, throughout the middle east. Most americans might know the example of what went on in iraq and afghanistan or what still goes on there. The idea of not having to send thousands of americans to fight and instead using special Operations Forces and conventional forces mixed in to do this job. Its really the traditional job of green berets from vietnam. Thats how people may have any reference historically to train local force s to do fighting for themselves. There is another prong here and that is private contractors. We have seen their role in the carrying out of our wars rise over the years, and i want to hear you out on this because civilians who havent dialed into this topic may have been surprised to hear secretary mattis today talk about contract air carrier to get evacuees out of there. That was the deal. French had hilos and we had a contractor with an aircraft. Isnt this a coming fight about contracting out more and more of our military tasks to private contractors . I dont think its a coming fight, but its definitely a moment to pause and ask that question again and examine it. So, the reason the u. S. Military and the United States government uses contractors is because they dont that way they dont have to use as many forces. Contractors are specialized, most of them are veteran troops themselves. If theyre not military, then theyre intelligence. Theyre cia and so a lot of these operations are a mix. Contractors are working side by side. I think its most people should think a little different than mers nehr mercernaries which has a negative tone. They are basically troops out of uniform, they serve with the same sort of sense of duty and mission and purpose and regulation alongside American Forces in the military and in the Intelligence Community. So, thats no surprise to those of us who know, you know, these operations. Because of that dome behind you, because youre in washington, this has already been politicized, and we are hearing people in the media we have for the last couple of days say what happened in niger when we know everything after the investigation is going to, quote, turnout to be another benghazi. Your opinion on that . You know, i really cringe at another benghazi. We dont have time to talk about how apples and oranges these are. This wasnt this wasnt, again, the ambassador going into a hostile situation, maybe uninvited. These are troops there specifically to do jobs they know are risky. Even if its just supposed to be a benign thing as training with local forces. They are in areas that are contested and there is risk and thats what happened. They got jumped. Im in the camp, im stunned at how much this has become a political football, especially Sergeant Johnson himself. But here we are. Our thoughts, of course, belong with these four souls, four of our very best, and all those they leave behind here in the United States. Kevin barron, youve explained it so well for us. Thank you very much for coming in to talk to us. We appreciate it. Youre welcome, brian. Coming up this evening, the president back on twitter as we mentioned at the top of the broadcast, back on the attack earlier today on all things russia. That and more when the 11th hour continues on a thursday night. 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Thats your real russia story, not a story where they talk about collusion, and there was none. It was a hoax. President trump today in the oval office, by the way, sitting next to the governor of puerto rico picking up on this thread, he started this morning on twitter. Uranium deal to russia with clinton help and Obama Administration knowledge is the biggest story the fake media doesnt want to follow, he continued, workers of firm involved with the discredited and the fake dossier take the 5th. Who paid for it, russia . The fbi or the dems or all . Quoting fox and friends, russians sent millions to clinton foundation. For more please join us, anita with mcclatchy. Explain to our viewers why theyre going to hear more on this russia this uranium scandal, thats the quote from the president , how it is we know anything about it and how big a deal this is. Well, i have to say that he is wrong about one thing. We covered a lot about uranium during the campaign. This is a deal that took place during the Obama Administration when secretary clinton was secretary of state and the administration approved of it. But what he has forgotten is that we wrote tons of stories about this when she was a candidate for president. She is not president. So, things arent theyre not being covered as heavily any more. We are going to hear about it because chuck grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Says he wants to look into this issue because the newspaper the hill wrote about issues with that deal many years ago. They wrote about how there were all sorts of kickbacks and bribery and that sort of thing. There will be an investigation and people will be hearing more about it. Anita, im not being flip here, but how is it he starts his day on this subject of uranium and russia . Does his twitter use continue to mirror the programming in the morning on fox and friends . I think it does. I think hes obviously watching tv and hes tweeting. But, you know, i had someone tell me last week thats very close to the president that you always think its that hes watching tv. Sometimes its just that someone has walked into the room, obviously not probably not that early, but walked into the room and reminded him of something. It might have been something that happened weeks or months ago. And somebody says, remember that thing about Hillary Clinton months ago, and then hes off on a tangent on twitter again. Just sort of interesting. Do you think he realized that the fbi that came in for an allegation on twitter this morning is the very same fbi thats under his command now as president . I know. This reminds me of what happened at the beginning of his administration when he kept talking about bad intelligence and he was really demeaning to the Intelligence Community that he was now in charge of. Here we are, its so easy to sort of dismiss these tweets by President Trump because there are so many of them. But that truly, that one today was extraordinary. I mean, these are the people that work for him that are protecting americans, protecting the country, and its so demoralizing to them to basically hes basically saying theyre colluding. Theyre colluding with democrats to be against him. And anita, finally his tweet tonight. Im not Communications Director in the white house and have no interest, but it sure seemed to us that the kelly event, no matter what you want to say about it, no matter what your take away was, was intend ed to be the period at the end of the sentence. Right. Perhaps an attempt at the end of that topic. And the president has now doubled down going against the florida congresswoman, secretly on a very personal call, gave a total lie on content. Right. Its really hard for him to have the period at the end of the sentence. We often think at the white house that this is it, this is their response about something, and then hell come back with another tweet the next day or the next week and were all back to where we were before. Our lightning round tonight with our friend anita kumar. Thank you very much for coming on the air with us tonight. Sure. Another break coming up. Well talk about what weve seen this week from this president on the solemn duty of comforting gold star families with president ial hiss oritorian micl beshloss thats when the 11th hour continues. Smart tv and gaming system. Luckily, the Geico Insurance agency recently helped baa baa with renters insurance. Everything stolen was replaced. And the hooligan who lives down the lane was caught selling the stolen goods online. Visit geico. Com and see how easy it is to switch and save on renters insurance. I enjoy the fresher things in life. O. Fresh towels. Fresh soaps. And of course, tripadvisors freshest, lowest. Prices. So if youre anything like me. Youll want to check tripadvisor. We now instantly compare prices. From over 200 booking sites. To find you the lowest price. On the hotel you want. Go on, try something fresh. Tripadvisor. The latest reviews. The lowest prices. From godaddy in fact, 68 of people who have built their. Website using gocentral, did it in under an hour, and you can too. Build a better website in under an hour. With gocentral from godaddy. We are so for the nat to be joined here tonight by our friend the celebrated author and president ial historian michael beshlos who once again got our attention on his at which time feed this week by quoting lincoln s second inaugural address about the commander in chief and those who lost their lives serving our country and their families. Here is the quote, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow. Michael, did you ever believe that this part of the job of president of the United States would become so politicized, so toxic as David Axelrod called it and jacob called it this week, so obscene and we would see an event like that in the white house Briefing Room today . I never thought i would see anything like this because, to use a word that was used today, it really has been sacred. You know, some of the moments in president ial history that show us the most about the souls mos about the souls of our president s have been when a president deals with those who have fallen. For instance, brian, you and i knew lady bird johnson. She once wrote in here diary, im not sure in lyndon should be commander in chief because he gets so torn up over the deaths of the commanders and having to talk to the families. Nixons aides were never known as mr. Emotion but they said the only time they ever saw him crying was after he met with gold star families in the oval office. But one of my favorite stories is a couple days after pearl harbor, the beginning of world war ii, there was an army bomber pilot who died in action in the philippines, his name was colin kelly. And f. D. R. Had sort of a novel way of approaching this. He obviously wanted to console the family. One of the ways he did this was he wrote a letter to, as he said, whoever is president of the United States in 1956, 15 years later, and he asked whoever that would be to nominate colin kellys at that point 1yearold son to west point, give an appointment to west point. And roosevelt released the letter and he said im making this request as an act of faith in the destiny of our country, essentially im saying i think there will be a United States and a west point in 1956. Michael, are you looking for our former president s and as we talk about all the time, we are so for nat tunate to be alive a time when so many of them are alive today, are you looking for them to do more like what they did today . I guess we will. I guess nine months into a presidency, two living former president s would feel so outraged at the time of President Trump and as a result of President Trump that both of them would break that rule thats been an ironclad rule of modern former president s and without mentioning his name come out and speak against hip m as saw president bush 43 and president obama did today. And as i was listening to secretary kelly, who grew up in boston, religion used be sacred, life used to be sacred and gold star families. Lets see we agree with most of that list, how do we go about we the american people, the collective, making things sacred again. I think maybe the place to begin is gold star families and the relationship between the president and the family of someone who has fallen. The most sacred thing an american president can do is send an american in harms way and if that american dies as a result of a decision that a president makes, one of the most important thing the president does is as you were saying at the beginning of the segment, brian, as lincoln put it, to comfort the widow and comfort the orphan. Think one of the ways we have to judge a president re in realtimes how he does that. Do you worry that only 1 of our population fights the war for all of us . I sure do. We make different decision when is we know that the people have to fight these wars are such a small percentage. And the other thing is that the military tends, you know, i was so struck by what you and jack jacobs were talking about. One result of this is if you and i walk down lets say connecticut avenue in washington in the year lets just pick a year, 1949, you know, we were after world war ii, you would have seen a lot of people in uniform walking down the street from every branch. You know, how often would see that nowadays . Thats a great point to end on, our friend, the great president ial historian michael beschloss. Michael, thank you as always. Thank you, brian. A final break coming up, the president gives himself a grade on the governments relief efforts in puerto rico. That when we come back. When youre close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment . If you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. Taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. With taltz, up to 90 of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. In fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. 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Last thing before we go tonight, its been a month and a day since puerto rico was demolished by a hurricane. Today the president hosted the government of puerto rico, a man who represents the 3. 5 million american citizens on the island. It was one of those Oval Office Photo ops and when asked, the president told the governor how great the federal response has been. Mr. President , between one and ten how would you grade the white house support so far . Id say it was a ten. We provided so much so fast. Helicopters that werent even meant for this purpose all of a sudden are delivering food and services. I would give a ten. The president could not talk today about the effort to reopen roads on puerto rico without pointing out some of them were in bad shape before the hurricane. The reality in puerto rico, of course, is Something Else entirely compared to the message we heard in the oval office. A doctor volunteering there said this week, quote, reality here is postapocalyptic. Today a Business Owner in the beautiful section of town in old san juan told nbc news its a ghost town. Its dying little by little. Some especially impoverished towns have yet to be reached by fema and theyve yet to received aid. And many people are greeted by people running at them desperately asking are you fema . And it goes on as it does in st. John now four weeks and two days since that storm. That is our broadcast on a thursday night. Thank you so very much for being here with us and good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. Okay. If i were president , i might not want to talk about this either. Um, when the Trump Administrations decision about this particular country was announced last month, the country involved put out a statement, an unusual statement and response. They put out a statement saying they felt the need to, quote, express our incomprehension about what the Trump Administration had just done. Across the spectrum in the United States, the reaction was the same and it was unanimous among all sorts of different kinds of people who you might think would otherwise have really different perspectives on this but across the board everybody else