Page 442 - Predecessors News Today

Today under scored this very nicely. the president does what the president wants to do. we know what he was -- he always fans i didnt see himself his best spokesman. he believes easy the pest person to communicate his message. he did want to display an improved relationship with the senate majority leader. he also wanted to have a better sense of controlling the narrative. trying to hit some of his favorites like the nfl which of course he brought up again today but also to defend himself. puert...

Im stephanie ruhle. this is msnbc. the white house was forced to clarify some of the presidents remarks when he falsely claimed that his predecessors had failed to reach out to families of fallen soldiers. when pressed for proof, heres what he said. >> earlier you said president obama never called the families of fallen soldiers. how can you make that claim? >> i dont know if he did. i was told that he didnt. a lot of presidents dont, they write letters. i do a combination of both. sometimes its...

The rest of the military can expect from what might be a prolonged engagement there. >> yeah, would be nice to know more about that. mr. bash, we asked that you be us tonight because you have served at the pentagon in wartime. youve served up close with former secretary leon panetta. youve seen this process. tell us about it. >> brian, on august 6th, 2011, we lost 30 guys when a helicopter was shot out of the sky in wardok province, afghanistan. john kelly, now the chief of staff, who was then s...

The president making that visit. and, chris, i use this example not to portray president obama as a martyr, but actually to portray, like president george w. bush, as somebody who felt the weight of responsibility that the commander in chief bears. and like i said, president trump doesnt behave in that way at all. >> i thought it what was interesting was the casualness with which this president characterized the actions of his predecessors. and he has gone to -- when a u.s. service member was ki...

Lie, even by trump standards. also, obama never attacked a gold star family. the white house responded with a staple of its own saying the president wasnt criticizing predecessors by stating a fact. presidents pay their respects. sometimes they call. sometimes they send a letter. other times they have the opportunity to meet family members in person. this president, like his predecessors, has done each of these. individuals claiming former presidents such as their bosses called each family of th...

Theyre great heroes. deepest sympathy, something nice, right. its all about him, how difficult it is for him. he thinks hes being criticized a little bit with the four soldiers who died, he cant help but sort of say im doing better than my predecessors. its such a lack of understanding of what the presidency is about. what if president obama hadnt in every case made a phone call or if bush hadnt. obama wouldnt have said that about rush. >> right. graciousness costs you nothing. >> i dont think t...

Attention and im not seeking to martyr president obama here, what im seeking to illustrate is that presidents in both parties understood that when were talking about the sacrifice that americas men and women are paying for our country, that its not about them partially. its not about the president. its not about their personal feelings. its not about an effort to try to convince the company somehow they are showing the same kind of bravery those men and women in uniform are showing. no, in effec...

Did sometimes and maybe sometimes he didnt. i dont know. thats what i was told. >> bret: the obama folks went to twitter and elsewhere and put out all kinds of statements. sarah sanders sang the president wasnt criticizing. sometimes they call, sometimes they send a letter. the president, like his predecessors, has done these. individuals. a lot of times the media focus on the back and forth things. that had to do with calling the families of the niger special forces soldiers. >> the president n...

That president obama didnt write letters and make phone calls. you just routinely den greats the office of the president. >> you realize the question had nothing to do with president obama? >> probably about the four american soldiers. >> he could have easily have said, im writing letters, talking to them. i mean, theres a dignified answer he could have given, and pay tribute to the soldiers, to those fighting for our country, for their families, period. he cant resist trying to justify himself,...

Potential targets pref rention treatments. >> the culture in washington, lets protect our predecessors in the hope that our successors will protect us. thats not their job. their job is to find and reveal documents that are sought unless there is some legitimate privilege claimed in which case the judge decides they stay secret. >> eric: could we get an indication by the nature of these documents whether or not theyre sensitive and the f.b.i. was trying to hide something or if theyre regular -- ...