Brian Williams examines the days top political stories and current politicalcampaign news. Former Chief Of Staff at the cia and at the pentagon. Robert, i would like to begin with you. What is the degree to which the trump camp was Caught Off Guard by just the idea of 30 hours of don mcgahn testimony in front of the special counsel . Its not tonight trump camp Caught Off Guard. It was mcgahn himself a year ago who was found this whole strategy by john dowd and ty cobb, the president s lawyers, to be off. Mcgahn didnt agree with the Cooperation Strategy when it came to the mueller probe. He advised against it. He went along with the cooperation, setting the over 1 million documents from the white house and offering his time. In fact, i saw mcgahn go into muellers Office Around 6 00 a. M. One morning when i was staking it out. He was fully cooperative then and ever since. Theres some reporting. Hey, joyce, cobb and dowd, their decision to waive
during a similar investigation. So a little bit of an interesting mislocation of the viewpoints here. Lets talk about what mcgahn may have been around for, what he may have witnessed, and reminding our viewers, he is not only a lawyer but white house counsel. That makes his value extreme as a witness before the mueller prosecutors. Thats right. The oath that don mcgahn swore when he took the office was to the constitution and to the rule of law. Not to donald trump personally. So his duty of loyalty runs to the office, to the institution of the presidency as noted. What has he been around for . First when sally yates in january 2017, right after the inauguration, came to the white house and said that Michael Flynn had laid to fbi investigators, she made report directly to don mcgahn. So he was in the room when those
issues were discussed with the president. He was in the room when the comey firing was discussed. And finally, he would have been privilegy to conversations about the cover story trying to explain that the Trump Tower Moegt was not a meeting with the russian government over the election. Well play the moment heard from around the world on Meet The Press this weekend. Well talk about it on the other side. Im not going to be rushed into having him testify so he gets trapped into perjury. When you tell me that she testify because he will tell the truth and he should not worry, thats so silly. It is somebodys version of the truth. Not the truth. He didnt have a conversation truth is truth. I dont mean no. Truth isnt truth. So rob, is that just the era weve entered where the president s lawyer can go on television and say things without consequence . Of course, brian. It is a bizarre statement. Putting that aside and acknowledging it for what it is, it is more revealing about how the Trump Legal Team feels about the comey firing. Theyre uncomfortable, publicly about having the president sit down for an interview with rob mueller to talk through president s intend. Was it corrupt . Was it criminal . Thats what the mueller people have wanted to find out for months. And giuliani is already contesting that. But julie does not know the extent that witnesses have said and what went on inside the white house and Different Things about the president s intend. When he says truth is truth, he is saying he doesnt want to go up against comeys version of the story but there are more versions than just comey. As a fellow lawyer, when you hear an attorney use a phrase like that, your reaction . It tells me that he knows his client doesnt have a
traditional legal defense. They wont be able to offer when bob mueller finally produces his report, or perhaps a new batch of indictments, they wont be able to say the facts are being alleged are untrue. It appears thats a near certainty. So instead theyll to have fall back on a defense of the mueller team is corrupt when you cant believe anything about facts. There is no longer any rational truthful it is all a he said, she said. This is a dangerous place to be. Our courts are uniquely suited to ferrit it out. Thats what prosecutors do for a living, thats what giuliani did for a living. Now hes just reduced to shilling for a president who may not have a leg to stand on at the end of the day. Where do you think the
president got the idea he could run the Mueller Investigation . And how would that work exactly . Well, he has, i think, a constitutionally inappropriate sense of the presidency. He believes basically presidency cannot be constrained by law. Of course, thats antithetical to american tradition and he can do this in numerous ways. One of the ways we need to be concerned about, brian, is that the president could try to strip the Security Clearances of bob mueller and his investigators. Of course, they hold those Security Clearances because theyre conducting a Counter Intelligence investigation. They have to have access to information. It is a way the president could try purport to undermine the investigation. There was an effort on the hill at this hour led by senator mark warner of virginia. The Vice Chairman of the committee to pre strength president from doing just that. And i want to read this tweet from the president over the weekend. Study late Joseph Mccarthy. We are now in a period with mueller and his gang that makes Joseph Mccarthy look like a baby. Rigged witch hunt. What would it look like if republicans on the hill reared up and said, enough. What would it look like if the president pulled a few more critical Security Clearances, for example . At this point, brian, based on my reporting, the republican party, theyre fully with President Trump ahead of the midterm elections to drag them across the finish line as they face possible blue wave. At this point some people are privately grumbling if the president moves on mueller or rosenstein, they will speak up. So far the notable people speaking up are those who have chosen to retire or those who have decided to leave office. And joyce, what should we glean from mr. Cohens silence of late . What are the chances the decision to participate, to
flip, has already been made and that is underway . Cohen was initially pretty loud. We learned an awful lot from his public statements. He certainly didnt make any effort to sequester himself after his home and office were searched. So what weve seen, there virtual Radio Silence coming from cohen would seem to signal he is either in the process of negotiating with prosecutors, trying to come up with a cooperation agreement, or they have actually reached a cooperation agreement. That would be a good explanation for his dropping off of the public radar screen. Interesting stuff tonight and a lot of it. Our thanks. And coming up on a monday night, truth isnt truth, is the sound bite that made the headlines. There was Something Else that rudy said that flew in the face of the facts right there on the printed page. And later, an uncomfortable
conversation with a young writer ready to become part of the national conversation. As The 11th Hour is just Getting Started on a monday night. This wifi is fast. Hes only going to be here for like a week. Like a month, tops. Oh boy. Wifi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. In many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40s. President trumps legal team is working hard to spin the 2016 trump tower meeting between russians and key members of the Trump Campaign, including but not limited to, his son. On sunday, among other things, Rudolph Giuliani said that trumps team did not know that
natalia veselnitskaya was russian before the meeting took place, nor that she was connected to the russian government. Any meeting with regard to getting information on your point is something any Candidate Staff would take. If someone said, i have information about your point, you would take that meeting. From the russian government . She didnt represent the russian government. Shes a private citizen. I dont even know if they knew she was russian at the time. All they had was her name. I think they knew she was russian. Well, they knew when it they met with her. Not when they set up the meeting. You asked me, did they have any intention to meet with russians . They just knew she had a russian name. Shes not a representative of the russian government so this is much ado about nothing. Lets read the email, again, from a guy named Rob Goldstone to donald trump jr. Setting up the meeting. The Crown Prosecutor of russia offered to provide the Trump Campaign some official documents is that information that would incriminate hillary and her dealings with russia, and would be very useful to your father. He goes on to write, this is obviously very high level and sensitive information. But is part of this, might as well be in all capital letters, russia and its governments support for mr. Trump. Djtj, donald trump jr. , replied minutes later, if its what you say, i love it. Especially later in the summer. We have asked our guests to rush to our conversation. Jeremy, just remind us the short list of facts versus myth. All dating back to this one fateful meeting. One myth was that it was just a meeting with don jr. No, it was a meeting with the
entire Senior High Command of the trump organizations campaign. It was a meeting with don jr. , with paul manafort, the campaign chairman, and jared kushner. Second myth was this was just one lone lawyer to talk about adoptions. No, it was a russian government delegation. It was a meeting with multiple players, all of whom had significant ties to the russian government, and they came with specific they came to say that they intended to utilize the information that they had stolen through cyber attacks. They intended to weaponize and it interfere in the 2016 election. Then for some reason because they didnt bring the documents to the meeting and they didnt actually do any specific collusion or conspiracy across the table, that somehow that wasnt conspiracy. Of course, thats not how it was set up. It was them coming on behalf of the russian government to say well be doing this and in response we want sanctions relief which is exactly what they ended up getting. And what happened next . Donald trump mentioned those emails after they were released in october. 150 times. An average of five times a day. It was a central part of his Closing Argument as part of the final 30 days of the president ial campaign. And there again we get on read the email from this goldstone who is kind of a barney character from overseas, laying out the stakes of the meeting. I know the feds have the equivalent of blinders and bose head phones in muellers office. What must they make, however, of these repeated and different attempts at Cover Stories for the meeting . Its never good when youre always trying to come one a cover story. And especially when the Cover Stories are all centered around this one meeting in trump tower. There is this sort of progressive truth telling as the truth begins to come out. It really makes it look like there is something to bhid this meeting. But the reality, brian, is there is not a lot to hide. The emails really tell the story. There is a federal law that makes it illegal for a foreigner to provide assistance to a United States campaign by means of a donation or a contribution and that is pretty much the story that this email tells. It says not just a russian citizen but actually someone linked to the Crown Prosecutor wants to present dirt on Hillary Clinton as a donation to the Trump Campaign. And three senior members of that campaign eagerly take that meeting. This is a lot less an email chain ander month like a long loading, smoking gun. I think this is a very good piece of evidence for the mueller team. Jeremie, you have to love the hollywood inspired wording of taking meeting. When giuliani said anyone would have 15 meeting, what is your answer to that . No way. Ive worked on president ial campaigns. There is no way you sit down with a Foreign Government
delegation and they offer to attack the election, interfere, interseed, play a role and then you say okay, well take and it then you act on it. That never happens. Thats not normal. Thats not just taking opposition research. If you were the lawyer for donald jr. , how much potential exposure would you be warning your client about, exactly . He has a lot of exposure here. It will come down to his State Of Mind and his level of knowledge. But the emails in and of themselves are very important detail. And then we have the efforts to cover up the meeting. So it doesnt look great for him. From this point of view. And i think one of the issues, quite frankly, is whether or not prosecutors will view this as an independent pact theyll charge. Because this particular statute is not frequently used. But this is a relatively egregious case involving not
just a foreigner but representatives of a Foreign Government itself. Thanks for sticking around. Sometimes our first segment is not enough. We appreciate it. Comment up, the president says he hasnt given a lot of thought about pulling muellers Ask Security Clearance but he grabbed for a giant shiny object once again when we come back. My Digestive System used to make me feel sluggish but now, i take metamucil every day. It traps and removes the waste that weighs me down, so i feel lighter. Try metamucil, and begin to feel what lighter feels like. I think this is yet another example of his egregious use of power and authority. Just because he has the ability to revoke ones clearance doesnt mean that he is doing it for the appropriate reasons. If my clearances and my reputation as im being pulled through the mud now, if thats the price were going to pay to prevent donald trump from doing this against other people, to me it is a small price to pay. So i am going to do whatever i can personally to try on prevent these abuses in the future. If it means going to court, i will do that. The former craft director john brennan as you heard, mulling legal action after his Security Clearance was pulled by the president who doubled down on this today. Quote, i hope john brennan, the worst cia director in our countrys history, brings a lawsuit. It will then be able to get his
records, texts, emails, and documents to show not only the poor job he did but how he was involved with the mueller rigged witch hunt. He wont sue. The Associated Press sums up trumps actions. With tweets and taunts, President Trump is attempting to turn one of his most outspoken critics into the public face of the russia probe that he has long worked to discredit. Over 175 current and former intel officials have now come out in favor of the john brennan and against this practice of pulling clearances. Still the Washington Post is reporting the white house is drafting more clearance cancellations, demanded by trump. With us to talk about it tonight. The White House Reporter for the Associated Press. And we bring back the reporter for the guardian. Welcome to you both. Just tonight, phil mudd, career cia officer was in a debate
segment on cnn. The president didnt like it, tweeted against him and is asking aloud whether or not his clearance should be revoked on twitter. Are we all going after this giant shiny object of Security Clearance . This is the president s new toy. He is certainly drawn to things. So frustrated with how washington works, even with controlling both houses of congress, the members of his own staff telling him no. Much like president ial pardons, hes realized Security Clearances can revoked by him alone. Just remember his order The Strip Brennans was actually drafted multiple weeks before it was issued. Brennans is more complicated. Sometimes with this president , it is hard to know what is strategic. He has long had a problem with brennan. He has long had a vendetta against him for quite some time. This president is sensitive to anyone who publicly criticizes him. Particularly on television. So thats part of it. The other part is he realize thats brennan with his attachment to the deep state, with his ties to the russia probe, could be a useful foil here. Someone else he could attack. A proxy for going after the Mueller Investigation. And brennan who has been a very outspoken critics, trump has told people around him, he thinks the credibility has been shot. If he links brennan to mueller, that helps him attack credibility of the investigation. Regardless of what else is said about mr. Brennan, he is at heart a long time, many decades public servant. And i know you wanted to come on tonight and make a point about public servants. Well, i think what weve seen from President Trump is an effort to cast some of these
former top intelligence and Law Enforcement officials. When you look at james clammer, michael heyden, these individuals who each have served for decades under both republican and democratic administrations alike. Weve seen president s come is that go. Weve never before seen them be as outspoken in their criticism of a sitting president. In my reporting when ive spoken to some of brennans former colleagues, what they tell me is the reason they are being as forthcoming in their criticism as they are right now is because they genuinely believe this president poses, whether you agree or disagree, a unique threat to our institutions and this is not about any sort of partisanship. In fact what a lot of the former colleagues argue, if they were overtly political, we would have seen it by now and we simply havent seen any evidence to support the president s claims that this is on their part an effort to settle some sort of score against this president. If anything, he is the one who admitted that he is acting in part in retaliation as well as in question, the russia probe. It is Maggie Hagerman who says all the time, especially in washington, norms outweigh laws. They outnumber laws. On this norm of pulling Security Clearances, is there a point at which it would inflame or cause republicans on the hill, god for bid, to speak up . It hasnt yet. There have been very few things that have caused republicans to speak up. Outside of the ones we go over time and time again. Those who are gravely ill. Throws the republicans on the hill who have spoken up against this president. These are there, who have to face voters again, this fall or two years from now or four years from now, seem very reluctant to do so. Theyre so cowed by the support that trump still has in the republican party. And theyre fearful of what that base could do if he turns them against them. We have not seen much in the way of pushback from republicans. If suddenly, if it goes beyond brennan and it becomes two, three, six, a dozen, whatever it might be, perhaps we would see an outcry. Right now the republicans are towing the president s line. Theyre saying that brennan doesnt need the Security Clearance. The government is not benefitting from it because the Trump Administration is not talking to him. And hes abusing his privilege by going on television and attacking the president and being biassed and at this point they dont see anything wrong with what trump has done. Phil mudd at cnn does what we do all day long. He is emotional, a patriot, as he terrific spokesperson. As a lifelong cia operative for the intelligence community. Tomorrow, it may be someone else on the other end of the president s twitter feed. What do you make of brennans flirtation with legal action . Do you think theres a there, there . I think it was interesting that the president welcomed a lawsuit from brennan. In part because he seems to have interpret pretty as though brennan would be suing him personally. When in fact i think what brennan would do is probably more narrow in its scope. He would perhaps appear before a judge to make the case that his Security Clearance was revoked for political reasons and not through proper channels. What i think that could tee up is a decision before the courts as to whether or not they should somehow limit the president s authority to revoke Security Clearances. Because there isnt really a great deal of legal precedent for the packs the president has taken. And i think to the question of what might happen on capitol
hill, mark warner, the top democrat on the Senate Intelligence committee did introduce an Paemd Would Pre Strength president from revoking Security Clearances. Its not clear that it would even come up for a vote let alone pass the senate. If he is going on start to strip more Security Clearances, then there may be more support for some sort of response. Or at least being more clear on whether or not he has that authority. I think your point is exactly right. The president s comments about the Discovery Process and what could be learned, i think, go back to the time of lawsuit he is used to in new york and not the kind of legal case this would be if brennan goes forward with it. On that, our thanks to jonathan and sabrina. We really appreciate it. Thank you both for coming. On coming up, as her husband positively scorches several individuals on twitter in just these past 24 hours, the first
lady warns of the destructive and harmful aspects of social media. The New York Times has counted and reports the president has tweeted attacks against at least 487 people. A figure now dated, because of fresh attacks tonight. 487 people, companies, or institutions since launching his run for the white house. And this might have been the closest that the first lady came today to calling out obliquely her husbands behavior. Lets face it. Most children are more aware of the benefits and pit falls of social media than some adults. The president was back at it within an hour of his wifes speech. Melania trump has received plenty of criticism for her campaign to combat online bullying. According to the New York Times, the president suggested that mrs. Trump choose a different topic to avoid questions how the wife of a notorious twitter bully could lead a campaign to spotlight antibullying and other child
wellness efforts. Today the first ladys director said that Melania Trump is well aware of the criticism but that will not deter her from doing what she feels is right. I would hope most people in this country are happy that they have a strong and independent first lady who only has the best interests of the children at heart. Well, this could be seen as a break of sorts from her husband. This reads, Melania Trump planning Solo International swing to africa. According to the Statement Released today, she is planning a trip through several as yet unnamed african countries in october. The trip, of course, follows her husbands famously offensive and offcolor remark about countries on the continent. A break for us. Coming up, well talk about a new book just out. It has been called a wrenchingly honest story about resilience, compassion and conviction. When we come back well have an uncomfortable conversation by design because thats what it is about. That and more when we come back. Subject of a new book called uncensored by zachary wood. He gave a ted talk on this subject that more or less, to make a long story short, catapulted him into wider awareness and a new job as an Assistant Editor at the atlantic. He is a Barkley Fellow at the wall street journal. We left out the best part. He is a 2018 graduate of Williams College and getting here and getting there wasnt easy. He grew up qirh one parent struggling with Mental Illness. In high school he traveled on Public Transportation four hours from his home every die a Private School in the maryland suburbs and back. This is important. The sub title of his book is, my life and Uncomfortable Conversations at the intersection of black and white america. And we are so happy to have the author. Zachary wood here with us in our new york studios. Thank you for coming in. Thank you for having me. What is your one paragraph boiled down version the Story Of My Life has been that i have always had to adapt to difficult and different circumstances. Whether it was going from an underresourced public city in inner city detroit to an elite Private School in one of detroit suburbs. Whether it was a mother that had a Mental Illness but cared deeply about my education, whether it was moving to d. C. To live in an Underprivileged Community where i faced many disadvantages in going to an elite Private School and having to make the shift between those environments every day, what it did was help me foster empathy and compassion and admit i had to be open to new experiences and listening to people regardless of what their views are. You talk about the hole in the roof in the room where you
stayed in your house and tried to study and what would happen naturally when rain falls through a hole in the roof. It is has if you zoomed out through that hole and rose up out of your circumstances. Why you, do you think . Well, i was very fortunate to find a number of critical opportunities. I got a number of excellent teachers. My dad set an excellent example. Hes the hardest working person i know. So for me i looked to both of my parents, actually. My mother was she stressed the importance of education and reading and learning as something that would help me transcend my circumstances and my dads work ethic alone inspired me to work harder, even when my environment at home was difficult, i could see school as a positive outlet. You get to Williams College, and what do you notice about free speech or the death thereof on campus. It is very difficult to have
conversations across the aisle, across political divides, especially when it comes to Critical Issues of race and gender and class. And you tried . I tried. And i faced significant backlash. Part of the challenge has to do with social media. Which is dividing us further. Exactly. It is increasing polarization. I think we have to Start Talking to each other again, even though it is very tough to do. That is clearly your message, that however abhorrent or offensive you find the other side, it is best to learn their arguments, take it on, listen to it. And i didnt want to go there on politics, but what you are calling for, increase understanding, a coming together is made extra tough by the era were living through right now. Absolutely. I think, you know, frankly, we have a president who does not set a good example. I mean just if we look at social media alone how often is he attacking peoples character . People who are to be taken seriously, who care about these issues, who care about the American People who are trying to make a difference. I think it sets a terrible example. I hope people buy it and read your story. You mentioned youd like to be president. Is that still your goal . That is my goal, yes. It is not so cavalier by the time you reach the end of the book. It kind of starts making perfect sense. Im quite sure hearing opposing viewpoints would be an important part of your platform. Absolutely. For me, i care about incoming equality. I care about equality race, class. In order to address those issues as a public servant, i think it is important for me to try to make an effort as best i can to understand the views of those i disagree with. We will look for your work and your writing. Thank you for coming in and talking. Thank you. Zachary wood, our guest tonight. Coming up there is something in the air this evening from west to east across this country that actually explains a lot. When we continue. Were back with the last thing before we go tonight, and we sure hope you are having a good summer wherever home is or wherever your vacation travels may take you. In this part of the world, people have been complaining about the weather this summer as if there is someone to blame for the most rain during july in a decade and the marched weekends stretching into the dog days of august. And yet there is this. During those sunny days, those sparkling, cloudless sunny days up to massachusetts and for that matter through the rest of new england, when you look up, the sky these days has a gray cast. The air is not sparkling clear, and its because of the wild fires out west. It is just another measure, a very dramatic one, of the suffering this summer has brought the rockies and california. We have for you the u. S. Forrest service map of large incidents by their definition. These are fires currently being fought in the west, including the latest Explosive Fire in Glacier National park in montana. Tracking the smoke from the west to the east across our country and sure enough it catches a ride on the jet stream, and its responsible for what seems like high cloud cover, even on sunny days in these parts. The smoke dissipates as its blown out over the atlantic. Here is another aspect of the summer of 18. A lot of folks dont realize the Rather Spectacular Sun sets in their vacation photos are because of the particulate matter in the air. In effect, the fallout from a disastrous wildlife season out west. That is our broadcast on a monday night as we start a new week together. Thank you so much for being here