Transcripts For KNTV Today 20170525 : vimarsana.com

Several newspapers now pulling their endorse. This morning what the candidate and that reporter are saying about the scuffle. Breaking their silence. The family of the little girl who was dragged from a pier by a sea lion speaking out about the incident for the first time and addressing critics who say the family is to blame. The 6yearold now being treated for a rare infection. Dont try this at home. A bizarre carjacking at a gas station. How the owner went to dangerous lengths to stop the wouldbe thief today. Thursday, may 25th, 2017. From nbc news, this is today with matt lauer and savannah guthrie, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to today on a thursday morning. So many overnight developments i think we have the perfect live guest. A man who has held just about every job in washington. We have Donald Rumsfeld in our studio. Former chief of defense, white house chief of staff. We look forward to talking to him in a minute. Lets get right to the overnight developments in the Manchester Concert bombing. Even as police step up the search for accomplices, a rift over Intelligence Leaks is developing between the british and u. S. Officials. Weve got two reports now, and well start with nbcs chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel, who is in manchester are us once again wrrks richard, good morning. Good morning, savannah. Here in manchester people are still coming out to express their grief. This entire nation remains in mourning. Now theres a political row with the british accusing their american counterparts of leaking too much information about this investigation. [ bells tolling ] reporter in solidarity with the victims of the u. K. s worst terrorist attack in the decade, the city of manchester and the entire nation observed a minute of silence. Also in manchester, Queen Elizabeth ii. The 91yearold monarch visited some of those injured in mondays attack. Hello. Its a shock, isnt it . A big shock. Really big shock. For everybody really. Its very interesting how everybody has united, havent they, here . Its been amazing really. Reporter as the hunt intensifies for the suicide bombers accomplices. Cctv cameras show pictures of salman abedi at a Shopping Center right next to the concert arena, doing reconnaissance or buying supplies. He is wearing a blue backpack. The tag still on it. It appears to be the same backpack that three days later would hold a bomb. The New York Times obtained images of whats left of the bomb that now charred blue backpack, its powerful battery, and a handheld trigger. British officials are said to be furious about the leaked photos. They accuse u. S. Officials of leaking far too much, hampering their investigation. And police in the u. K. Are now keeping their mouths shut. I do not wish to add anything further to that at this stage. Reporter a u. S. Intelligence official said British Services failed toic approximate up clues about the bomber before the attack and that he should not have been on the streets. The bomber was known to british authorities as a possible extremist and two of his brothers have now been arrested, including one in libya, allegedly for plotting an isis attack there. U. S. And british authorities believe abedi was part of a Wider Network and fear that the bomb maker may still be at large. Also under scrutiny, abedis foreign travels. French officials believe he has been to syria, he has been to libya, and now german Officials Say he transited through that country twice. The last time just four days before the attack. Savannah, back to you. Richard engel at the bombing site. Thank you. That leak over intelligence is front and center in todays nato summit in belgium. Britains Prime Minister saying she will raise concerns directly to President Trump today. Nbcs White House Correspondent Kristen Welker is there. Kristen, good morning to you. Matt, good morning to you. The back drop to all of this, the nato secretary general had been calling on countries to increase their intelligence sharing, and now u. K. Officials are infuriated with u. S. Officials after they say they shared and leaked information about the investigation into the manchester terror attack, and, of course, theres already skepticism after President Trump revealed information to russian officials that the u. S. Got from israelis. Prime minister theresa may says her message to President Trump will be forceful when they meet today. I will make clear to President Trump that intelligence that is shared between our Law Enforcement agencies must remain secure. Reporter the president was asked about the disclosure of British Intelligence while he was meeting with the french president. He declined to answer, but instead congratulated macron on his latest win. President trump called nato obsolete. That was a position he reversed once he was in the white house. The president s agenda here, in addition to pushing for more help in the fight against isis, he plans to reiterate his call for all nato countries to pay their fair share in defense spending. They are required to pay 2 of their gdp, and currently only five out of 28 of the nato countries meet that benchmark. President trump was met by thousands of protesters when he arrived here in brussels yesterday. Many who say they are opposed to his isolationist agenda. Others who are still frustrated after he referred to brussels as a hell hole in the wake of the terror attack that they endured in march of 2016. All that on the agenda here as nato gets underway. Matt, savannah, back to you. All right, kristen, thank you very much. As mentioned, Donald Rumsfeld has served in the administrations of four different president s. He was chief of staff to president ford, defense secretary twice. Now weve given your resume. Nice to have you here, sir. Lets start with what we were just talking about with kristen and Richard Engel before that. That the british are reportedly furious with the u. S. For leaking information about the bombing and the terror investigation. How concerning is that . If a major ally of the u. S. Feels it cant share information with the u. S. . Well, that was just a report. I dont know precisely what the u. K. Is thinking about all of this, but obviously intelligence is not to be shared outside of close allies, and, on the other hand, the president makes decisions all the time and has the ability to declassify information, and i think it just is a matter of sorting through whats taking place. I was ambassador to nato about 40 years ago and when you deal with those nato countries, they do have interests, and they do share a great deal of intelligence, and it is important that it be handled carefully. One of the most talked about instances of sharing intelligence, not with close allies, but with russia, was when President Trump shared Sensitive Information we got from the israelis about isis with russian officials. Theres another conversation he had not long ago with the president of the philippines where he said to him ive got two Nuclear Submarines off the korean peninsula. As a former defense secretary, is that the kind of information you want to be sharing with others around the world . There are times you dont want to share that kind of information, and there are times you do. As a deterrent, you consciously let people know where your capabilities are because most countries dont have the ability to know where our nuclear subs are or where our aircraft carriers are, and what we do want on occasion is to purposely let people know that weve deployed capabilities in certain parts of the world so that theyll be careful. You were here during the campaign, and i asked you about trump, and you said he touched a nerve. When i asked you did you have the gravitas to be commander in chief, you dodged it a little bit. You have now i dont know him. You now have had 125 days to watch him. Do you feel he has the gravitas to be commander in chief . Well, i didnt dodge it. I am oldfashioned. If i dont know somebody, im inclined not to pretend i do. In this case what is a chief executives most important task . Its to select good people. I look at his Supreme Court nominee, his Vice President , his secretary of state, his secretary of defense. I think his National Security team is really first rate. As you say, ive been involved with some cabinets over the years, and i would rank this one pretty high. The other thing a chief executive has to do is when you make a mistake on personnel, fix it. They dont get better with time. He did. The National Security advisor was changed. Fast enough in your view . Oh, i dont know. Im not im not there, but i would give him pretty good marks on picking people, which i think is what a Senior Executive has to do. Obviously looming over this administration is the russia investigation. All of the nations intelligence agencies agree that russia tried to meddle in our elections. Thats no surprise. We know they do. Yeah, yeah. Now the issue is did any Trump Campaign officials collude, wittingly or unwittingly, with the meddling. The president calls it a witch hunt. Do you think its a witch hunt, or do you think its a proper investigation . Well, clearly we know that historically other countries have an interest and make mischief, and attempt to do things that are in their interest, and thats we know it, and thats understandable, and thats no surprise. It seems to me the question i cant figure out is if theres any there there, so to speak. I just dont know the facts. Its certainly always proper to investigate things and take good looks and try to understand more than you know, but whether this is something that will prove to be important, i just have no idea. Former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld, its always nice to have you in new york. Come more often. Thank you. Good to see you. Thanks very much. Now, as we mentioned at the top this wild last minute twist in todays closely watched Congressional Election in montana. The republican candidate charged with assault late last night after a violent confrontation with a reporter. Msnbcs garrett hake is in bowsman, montana, with the latest. Good morning. Reporter good morning, savannah. Overnight the sheriff here cited republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte for misdemeanor assault after a reporter from the Guardian Newspaper said he was trying to interview gianforte at his Campaign Office behind me and was body slammed by the candidate. Now, voters here in montana go to the polls today for a special election, and the audiotape of this incident will be fresh in their minds. Weve been waiting to make your decision about health care until you saw the bill. Reporter it started out professional, but quickly turned physical. Ill talk to you about that later. Theres not going to be time. Im just curious. Im sick and tired of you guys. The last guy that came in here, you did the same thing. Get the hell out of here. This is reporter on guardian reporter ben jacobs said republican candidate Greg Gianforte body slammed him and broke his glasses. This morning the candidate cited with misdemeanor assault. We are sending medical rsh. Reporter the reporter was sent to the hospital, treated and released. After he spoke with msnbc. Its just very strange and mort fewing because, you know, im used to i dont mind being blown off by politicians, and i also am always terribly uncomfortable being part of a story, and now i, it seems like i became the story. It is great to be with you tonight. Reporter in a statement the Gianforte Campaign blamed the reporter saying, in part, ben jacobs entered the Office Without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in gregs face, and began asking badgering questions. The Campaign Says both men were pushed to the ground during the struggle. A fox News Reporter who was inside the room tells a different story. She says gianforte grabbed jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground. Then began punching the man as he moved on top of the reporter and began yelling. There were five other people present. We have to interview all of those people. Reporter todays special election for montanas sole congressional seat was already under extra scrutiny. Its a surprisingly tight race in a state that President Trump won by 21 points. Now getting even more attention for all the wrong reasons. Speak to im sick and tired of you guys. Reporter gianfortes democratic opponent says he thinks this is a Law Enforcement issue and had no other comment. Overnight three newspapers here in montana rescinded their endorsements of the republican, and the dncs vice chairman says he thinks gianforte should drop out of the race, that he is not fit to represent montana. Now, is this special election today is to replace ryan zinke, called up to President Trumps cabinet in the spring. Guys. It was already closely watched. More so now. Garrett, thank you very much. In other news, theres new debate over the republicans revised Health Care Bill in the wake of the latest analysis from the Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. It shows the measure would greatly increase the number of uninsured in this country. Nbc National Correspondent Peter Alexander is at the white house. Peter, what else can you tell us . Hey, good morning. That nonpartisan government score keeper projecting the House Republican Health Care Bill would grow the ranks of the uninsured dramatically and while average premiums it projects would eventually go down, that would largely be because many policies would offer fewer benefits and the costs for sicker people in this country could become unaffor reporter three weeks after that rose garden celebration this is a great plan. I actually think it will get even better. Reporter this morning the reality check. The Nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimating the House Republican plan to replace obama care would leave 14 million more americans uninsured next year. If the bill became law, over ten years that number grows to 23 million. In 2018 premiums would spike about 20 before dropping a few years from now when states can approve less comprehensive coverage. In some states the report predicts sicker people, including those with preexisting conditions, would face extremely high premiums. Despite monday set aside to help cover their costs. The white house insists the government score keeper is totally incapable of accurately predicting how the plan will impact coverage. So who would save . The government with republicans touting 119 billion in estimated savings over the next decade. But this morning with Senate Republicans crafting their own plan, democrats are ramping up their opposition. This report ought to be the final nail in the coffin of the republican effort to sabotage our health care system. Reporter so to be clear, at least for now obama care is not going anywhere, and frankly, the house plan may not be either. One of the Top Republican senators tells us the senate is writing its own bill and says unlike what happened in the house, theyre going to let that nonpartisan Budget Office review it before they take a vote. Matt and savannah. Peter, thank you very much. Lets go back to that dramatic video we showed you at the top of our show. This is a carjacking attempt at a gas station in milwaukee. Take a look. You can see the suspect get out of a black car and jump into the drivers seat of that white suv. The owner who was pumping gas jumps on to the hood of the vehicle. The woman says the carjacker was laughing at her the entire time. He starts to pull away. The carjacker eventually gives up and abandons the vehicle. The suv wasnt so it rolls on to the street. The woman jumps off the hood, back into the drivers seat, and brings the vehicling to a stop. Thankfully she wasnt injured. Police said that it was not the smartest thing she could have done. They are still searching for the suspect. Now, i might do that if my children were in the car. But if its just the car . I know. Of course, you should not that at home, but can we say shes sort of amazing. You shouldnt do it, but shes lucky too. Very lucky as well. Lets go down to al. He is in universal Orlando Resort. More about that in a moment. Hi, al. Good morning. Hey, guys. How are you doing . We are at the brand new volcano bay. Giant volcano suddenly sprouted up in the middle of orlando. Its a huge new water theme park. Well tell you all about it coming up throughout the next couple of hours. In the meantime, weve got some wet weather to talk about. Especially in the northeast as we get ready for the memorial day weekend. We look at the heavier