Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20170713 : vi

Gop votes. President trump is enjoying the pomp and circumstances of a hastily arranged bastille day visit to paris. The big celebration is tomorrow. Soninlaw Jared Kushner is at an exclusive ceo conference in sun valley, idaho, amid swirling questions about the russia connection and revealing emails. Joining me now, Hallie Jackson traveling with the president in paris. Peter alexander at the white house. Bastille day, minus one. Big march and parade celebrating the centennial of americas entrance into world war i. And this as the president and macron at this hour meeting and are going to have a News Conference. It is one of those limited two and two questions, but surely the president will be asked about his son, his soninlaw, the russia connection, Vladimir Putin and macron has been visiting with and all the rest, right . Yeah. Youve got to imagine that is going to come up. Youre right, you know how the two and twos work as they call them in the White House Press corps, two questions for american media, two questions from members of the in this case french media. We saw the president do this last week, around this time, in poland. This time it is almost certain that he will get asked about donald trump jr. s meeting with that russian lawyer during the campaign. Our colleague Kristen Welker posted up right inside the press conference, youll be seeing her, hopefully try to press the president if shes able to get a question in. Tomorrow is the big military parade, and bastille day, today is kind of the big show. The president has not spoken publicly about any of this other than to talk a little bit on cbn, the Christian Broadcasting Network, talked with reuters about this. Hes been defending his son, and so were curious to see what he might say today if this topic comes up. We have seen him so far with the french president as well as the french first lady, along with Melania Trump and the relationship, the body language seemed warmer than what we have seen from them in the past. You remember that really awkward handshake, nothing else to call it, at the g7 when they first met, both alpha males trying to show some strength. The two seem to be getting along better, at least optically. We know the focus and the conversation theyre having now is going to be syria, it is going to be the fight against isis according to a Senior Administration official. The expectation has been that their major policy disagreements on issues like climate, like trade will probably take a back seat, given that Emmanuel Macron wants to talk about counterterrorism. But we will see what happens when we get a readout as they call it after the meeting, and ill tell you this too, you talk about anniversaries, tomorrow, remember, not just bastille day, also the First Anniversary of that horrific terror attack in nice, last year when a truck plowed through crowds of people who were celebrating the French National day, the expectation is, again, that that fight against terror is something that is going to be top line for both of these leaders. Also, peter alexander, as you look back and know this as well as anybody, the whole travel back from the g20 where the president supposedly was working with his advisers on what turned out to be a false explanation or description of that key conversation, the email and the meeting that ensued with the russian lawyer and don jr. As well as Jared Kushner, people are saying, cover up, people who know the air force one and the way those trips go. What is your reporting telling you . Lets be clear. It is republicans right now, referring to what they describe as an amnesia by those people in Donald Trumps orbit about all things as they relate to russia. Those words, the drip, drip, drip, criticized for undermining the credibility of this administration, coming from no less than the republican trey gowdy on this very topic. We do know in terms of that flight back from air force one, over the course of the weekend, that some a group of white house advisers to the president gathered on air force one, trying to help craft the statement that donald trump would initially put out, something that were told the president was aware of, that statement had to be amended multiple times to help better clarify, misleading initially saying the conversation was almost exclusively about russian adoptions, ignoring the fact that donald trump jr. Received an email that said it was part of russia and the russian governments effort to try to help his fathers campaign. And that he would be receiving high level and sensitive information. As for Jared Kushner, a lot of the pressure has turned to him now. Lawmakers here in washington, zeroing in on him specifically because there is a unique thread to kushners role in this. He was the only one of those in the room, kushner, Paul Manafort, and don trump jr. In that room. The only work who worked for the campaign for the transition and now works in the white house. There are some leading democratic lawmakers saying his security clearance should be revoked, even one within the last few minutes here on msnbc, senator blumenthal of connecticut saying he should be fired or resign. Chris murphy of connecticut saying there is, if hes not fired, a double standard in this administration, in this white house. That is favoring the trump the trump family members. He the soninlaw of the president. We reached out to the white house to see if he still has his security clearance. Broadly speaking they dont comment on this. I was told they will have no comment by speaking to a white house official when i was anchoring msnbc a short time go, they said nothing has changed in terms of the situation. While he and his wife are out in sun valley, idaho, now, the controversy surrounding him is still swirling back here in washington. Well be standing by for the News Conference as well. Mitch mcconnell, on capitol hill, is briefing his republican colleagues, his caucus on a new version of the Senate Health care bill, done in secret, some big changes authored by, were told, texas senator ted cruz. Casey hunt has the latest from capitol hill. We are sifting through, sure, we are sifting through this new draft, which has just been released online as republican senators huddle in the capital, just a short subway ride away from where we are waiting for them to get out of the meeting. Of course, as you note, that proposal from ted cruz and mike lee is included in the base draft of this bill. That essentially represents an attempt to get conservatives on board with this draft. So what that would do is essentially allow insurers to sell catastrophic insurance plans, bare bones insurance plans, that dont cover the variety of things that obamacare mandates that insurance covers this affects people who get right now subsidies, but, of course, republicans are proposing tax credits to help them buy insurance. Essentially this says, look if you have a catastrophic fan, can use your tax credits to pay for them. That would wrap that into the current system. Insurers say it would create two classes of people, Healthy People would buy catastrophic plans, sicker people would buy plans that cover all those things that the aca requires and they say thats unsustainable. Thats one side of what is going on here. Thats your ted cruz, mike lee, people like that. And potentially of course over in the house, it may be passage because it could appeal to the freedom caucus. The flip side is, they have a problem with moderate republicans and we have talked so much about that. Susan collins has essentially said if they dont tear up this bill, im not going to vote for it. If you consider her to be a relatively hard no, that means republicans have to keep all of the rest of the moderate republicans in line on this, if they want to get it passed. To that end, there are several things in here that look as though they may appeal to some of those more moderate senators, with we have known for a while, funding to fight the opioid epidemic, that speaks to concerns from people like shelly marcapita, rob portman in ohio, from states that are very, very hard hit by the opioid epidemic. That is designed to bring them on board. You also have more money for an insurance stabilization fund, for example that is something as well that moderates might appeal to more moderate members. One thing im looking for, havent had a chance to dive into all the texts yet if there is something in particular that dean heller of nevada may be getting in the bill, a question to him if he decides hes going to vote in favor, he gives a very negative press conference after the last bill was released, he just told our colleague on the way into this meeting that he is now undecided on whether or not they should open debate on this bill. Looks like hes still potentially on the fence. Could be gettable by leadership. Now, leaders, mcconnell, john cornyn, theyre framing this, look, if you dont vote to open debate on this, youre voting in favor of obamacare. Thats a pretty tough line for a lot of republicans to potentially walk. So well see as these members start to trickle out of the meeting if we think last time, you know, we got a good sense pretty quickly that the last version of this bill would fall apart. Hopefully well start to get a sense of whether this one may have a chance or not. Thank you so much. Casey hunt, quick read of this new health care bill. My next guest main senator angus king, independent, member of the Senate Intelligence committee, we want to ask you about the russia connection. First, i dont know if you have an immediate take on the health care bill, whether eliminating anything but a catastrophic policy for a lot of people would actually pass muster with any democrats or moderate republicans. Well, the first thing, andrea, this is an absolutely preposterous fro cess. A bill drafted in secret by we dont know who. Well see it maybe this afternoon. Theyre talking about a vote on tuesday. It is absolutely ridiculous to be making laws that are affecting one sixth of the u. S. Economy and tens and perhaps 100 Million People that nobody knows what is in it. Take for example the insurance provision that you just mentioned. My first read and in hearing from insurance people is that that would essentially destroy the individual market because only younger and healthier people would buy these bare bones policies and take them out of the risk poll that would leave older and sicker people in the individual market, that would drive the cost up, which would drive more people out, which would drive the costs up further. It is a death spiral. And thats the kind of thing we ought to have hearings on. We ought to have people in from the insurance industry, people from the medical industry, people from hospitals across the country, and understand what this will do before people vote on it. If i were on the other side, i wouldnt vote on it until i got more information from the people that will be affected by it. Otherwise, youre asking your people to jump off a cliff and not know what is at the bottom. And seems that they we have to see whether theyre willing to go ahead and do that. Senator, youre on the Intelligence Committee, we hear that the judiciary committee, senator grassley and feinstein has suggested this as well, are not going to only ask for manafort, but ask for testimony from don jr. The Intelligence Committee needs to also hear from don jr. About this extraordinary email chain with the russians, and the meeting held in june. Absolutely. I think it is a critical part of this discussion. The piece of did the rugs russio something to interfere with our elections, there is no doubt that they d the missing piece was there connections between the russians and the Trump Campaign and thats what a lot of the investigation has been focusing upon. Now we have this email, pretty much says, yeah, were going to Work Together from the russian government, we have information on hillary, he responds his response is, i love it, maybe it will help us later in the summer, which would be later in the campaign. That open up a whole host of questions, what happened in that meeting. More importantly, what about future meetings and future relationships and future connections. We dont know that yet. Is this an isolated incident or is it the tip of an information iceberg that is going to have a substantial effect on the course of our investigation. But the short answer is, yes, he has to come, i believe, im not speaking for the committee, but i believe that the committee has to talk to him, not only about the emails, but what really happens in that meeting. Now, there is also a reporting from mcclatchy, which has not been confirmed or established yet by the committees or the investigators. Looking at the possible connections, between the data Mining Operation that jared was not only in charge of, with the campaign, the data that worked so well in terms of the bots and other online attacks against Hillary Clinton, and whether they were in any way using the wikileaks emails with any connection between the russians, wikileaks, those cutouts, and the campaign itself. Do you have any evidence so far that there is that connection . You know im not going to answer that question. As a member of the committee, i cant tell you whether what evidence we do or dont have. I can tell you that is an area of inquiry, an area of how important an area of inquiry is there in terms of this social media aspect. I think it is important. We now learned the republican or the Trump Campaign use of social media particularly in the last month of the campaign was extremely effective and the question is, who was doing the implementing and how did it work . We dont know that. The meeting was not put on his disclosure, on his reporting forms by Jared Kushner when was getting his security clearance. From lawyers close to this i understand the president of the United States has Sole Authority over who does or does not get security clearances at that level. So, even though there have been for months now letters from Elijah Cummings and others on the house side and perhaps some from you as well, as to jareds security clearance, given all the subsequent disclosures, the russian banker, the president has full authority over whether Jared Kushner continues at this level to be operating on foreign policy. The president can declassify information upon his or her own authority. Ultimately, i guess that decision is going to rest in white house. The question is whether the information that keeps coming out bit by bit is going to be on the president s desire to maintain that relationship. Remember, the president was close to michael flynn. President fired him. Now, firing your soninlaw, i suppose, i believe that the information compels it, the president will have very little choice. Senator blumenthal apparently from connecticut has just said to some of our colleagues he should that jared should be fired. Do you think that what would you say to that . He is a member of the family and has a unique role in the white house. Im not going to say whether he should be fired or prosecuted. I believe thats the prosecution side rests with robert mueller, the firing side rests with the president. But the president is going to have to take a hard look at the evidence and hes going to have to ask if he himself has been misled in this process. And if he has been, hes going to have a tough decision to make. Thank you very much, senator king. Thank you for being with us today. Coming up, as the world turns, President Trump about to hold a joint press conference with frances president macron. Looking to flip the script on the russia story, perhaps. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. I have the jefferson nose right there on the front of my face. When i think about being related to thomas jefferson, it certainly makes me feel a sense of pride the tenacity of not only that he showed in his life but was given to me through the slaves that im birthed through as well. It makes me think that theres really no excuse for me in any area of my life to not be able to conquer anything. Only tylenol® rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol® i had a great a great g20. We had 20 countries. I got along, i think, fantastically with the head of every country. President trump sitting down with Pat Robertson from the Christian Broadcasting Network on wednesday before the president left for france. Steve hadley joins me now. This is a new way to run foreign policy. You have a meeting with Vladimir Putin, the National Security adviser is not in the room, no note takers. We confirmed it, it was from the americans demanding that, the russians deposit want idnt wane americans were concerned about leaks. To have a meeting like that with putin and have a basic disagreement over who said what to whom about key issues like this is extraordinary not to have a note taker or any kind of record. Well, you have the secretary of state, the president of the United States, and the secretary of state was undercut by the president. There is, of course, a a translator or who can reconstruct in some sense what was said from their notes. I think it was a constructive meeting. They made progress on syria. A lot of the concerns that people had that they might swing for the fences and trump might be taken advantage of by a more experienced president putin, none of that happened. It is a pretty good first meeting between the two leades. S Jared Kushner<\/a> is at an exclusive ceo conference in sun valley, idaho, amid swirling questions about the russia connection and revealing emails. Joining me now, Hallie Jackson<\/a> traveling with the president in paris. Peter alexander at the white house. Bastille day, minus one. Big march and parade celebrating the centennial of americas entrance into world war i. And this as the president and macron at this hour meeting and are going to have a News Conference<\/a>. It is one of those limited two and two questions, but surely the president will be asked about his son, his soninlaw, the russia connection, Vladimir Putin<\/a> and macron has been visiting with and all the rest, right . Yeah. Youve got to imagine that is going to come up. Youre right, you know how the two and twos work as they call them in the White House Press<\/a> corps, two questions for american media, two questions from members of the in this case french media. We saw the president do this last week, around this time, in poland. This time it is almost certain that he will get asked about donald trump jr. s meeting with that russian lawyer during the campaign. Our colleague Kristen Welker<\/a> posted up right inside the press conference, youll be seeing her, hopefully try to press the president if shes able to get a question in. Tomorrow is the big military parade, and bastille day, today is kind of the big show. The president has not spoken publicly about any of this other than to talk a little bit on cbn, the Christian Broadcasting Network<\/a>, talked with reuters about this. Hes been defending his son, and so were curious to see what he might say today if this topic comes up. We have seen him so far with the french president as well as the french first lady, along with Melania Trump<\/a> and the relationship, the body language seemed warmer than what we have seen from them in the past. You remember that really awkward handshake, nothing else to call it, at the g7 when they first met, both alpha males trying to show some strength. The two seem to be getting along better, at least optically. We know the focus and the conversation theyre having now is going to be syria, it is going to be the fight against isis according to a Senior Administration<\/a> official. The expectation has been that their major policy disagreements on issues like climate, like trade will probably take a back seat, given that Emmanuel Macron<\/a> wants to talk about counterterrorism. But we will see what happens when we get a readout as they call it after the meeting, and ill tell you this too, you talk about anniversaries, tomorrow, remember, not just bastille day, also the First Anniversary<\/a> of that horrific terror attack in nice, last year when a truck plowed through crowds of people who were celebrating the French National<\/a> day, the expectation is, again, that that fight against terror is something that is going to be top line for both of these leaders. Also, peter alexander, as you look back and know this as well as anybody, the whole travel back from the g20 where the president supposedly was working with his advisers on what turned out to be a false explanation or description of that key conversation, the email and the meeting that ensued with the russian lawyer and don jr. As well as Jared Kushner<\/a>, people are saying, cover up, people who know the air force one and the way those trips go. What is your reporting telling you . Lets be clear. It is republicans right now, referring to what they describe as an amnesia by those people in Donald Trumps<\/a> orbit about all things as they relate to russia. Those words, the drip, drip, drip, criticized for undermining the credibility of this administration, coming from no less than the republican trey gowdy on this very topic. We do know in terms of that flight back from air force one, over the course of the weekend, that some a group of white house advisers to the president gathered on air force one, trying to help craft the statement that donald trump would initially put out, something that were told the president was aware of, that statement had to be amended multiple times to help better clarify, misleading initially saying the conversation was almost exclusively about russian adoptions, ignoring the fact that donald trump jr. Received an email that said it was part of russia and the russian governments effort to try to help his fathers campaign. And that he would be receiving high level and sensitive information. As for Jared Kushner<\/a>, a lot of the pressure has turned to him now. Lawmakers here in washington, zeroing in on him specifically because there is a unique thread to kushners role in this. He was the only one of those in the room, kushner, Paul Manafort<\/a>, and don trump jr. In that room. The only work who worked for the campaign for the transition and now works in the white house. There are some leading democratic lawmakers saying his security clearance should be revoked, even one within the last few minutes here on msnbc, senator blumenthal of connecticut saying he should be fired or resign. Chris murphy of connecticut saying there is, if hes not fired, a double standard in this administration, in this white house. That is favoring the trump the trump family members. He the soninlaw of the president. We reached out to the white house to see if he still has his security clearance. Broadly speaking they dont comment on this. I was told they will have no comment by speaking to a white house official when i was anchoring msnbc a short time go, they said nothing has changed in terms of the situation. While he and his wife are out in sun valley, idaho, now, the controversy surrounding him is still swirling back here in washington. Well be standing by for the News Conference<\/a> as well. Mitch mcconnell, on capitol hill, is briefing his republican colleagues, his caucus on a new version of the Senate Health<\/a> care bill, done in secret, some big changes authored by, were told, texas senator ted cruz. Casey hunt has the latest from capitol hill. We are sifting through, sure, we are sifting through this new draft, which has just been released online as republican senators huddle in the capital, just a short subway ride away from where we are waiting for them to get out of the meeting. Of course, as you note, that proposal from ted cruz and mike lee is included in the base draft of this bill. That essentially represents an attempt to get conservatives on board with this draft. So what that would do is essentially allow insurers to sell catastrophic insurance plans, bare bones insurance plans, that dont cover the variety of things that obamacare mandates that insurance covers this affects people who get right now subsidies, but, of course, republicans are proposing tax credits to help them buy insurance. Essentially this says, look if you have a catastrophic fan, can use your tax credits to pay for them. That would wrap that into the current system. Insurers say it would create two classes of people, Healthy People<\/a> would buy catastrophic plans, sicker people would buy plans that cover all those things that the aca requires and they say thats unsustainable. Thats one side of what is going on here. Thats your ted cruz, mike lee, people like that. And potentially of course over in the house, it may be passage because it could appeal to the freedom caucus. The flip side is, they have a problem with moderate republicans and we have talked so much about that. Susan collins has essentially said if they dont tear up this bill, im not going to vote for it. If you consider her to be a relatively hard no, that means republicans have to keep all of the rest of the moderate republicans in line on this, if they want to get it passed. To that end, there are several things in here that look as though they may appeal to some of those more moderate senators, with we have known for a while, funding to fight the opioid epidemic, that speaks to concerns from people like shelly marcapita, rob portman in ohio, from states that are very, very hard hit by the opioid epidemic. That is designed to bring them on board. You also have more money for an insurance stabilization fund, for example that is something as well that moderates might appeal to more moderate members. One thing im looking for, havent had a chance to dive into all the texts yet if there is something in particular that dean heller of nevada may be getting in the bill, a question to him if he decides hes going to vote in favor, he gives a very negative press conference after the last bill was released, he just told our colleague on the way into this meeting that he is now undecided on whether or not they should open debate on this bill. Looks like hes still potentially on the fence. Could be gettable by leadership. Now, leaders, mcconnell, john cornyn, theyre framing this, look, if you dont vote to open debate on this, youre voting in favor of obamacare. Thats a pretty tough line for a lot of republicans to potentially walk. So well see as these members start to trickle out of the meeting if we think last time, you know, we got a good sense pretty quickly that the last version of this bill would fall apart. Hopefully well start to get a sense of whether this one may have a chance or not. Thank you so much. Casey hunt, quick read of this new health care bill. My next guest main senator angus king, independent, member of the Senate Intelligence<\/a> committee, we want to ask you about the russia connection. First, i dont know if you have an immediate take on the health care bill, whether eliminating anything but a catastrophic policy for a lot of people would actually pass muster with any democrats or moderate republicans. Well, the first thing, andrea, this is an absolutely preposterous fro cess. A bill drafted in secret by we dont know who. Well see it maybe this afternoon. Theyre talking about a vote on tuesday. It is absolutely ridiculous to be making laws that are affecting one sixth of the u. S. Economy and tens and perhaps 100 Million People<\/a> that nobody knows what is in it. Take for example the insurance provision that you just mentioned. My first read and in hearing from insurance people is that that would essentially destroy the individual market because only younger and healthier people would buy these bare bones policies and take them out of the risk poll that would leave older and sicker people in the individual market, that would drive the cost up, which would drive more people out, which would drive the costs up further. It is a death spiral. And thats the kind of thing we ought to have hearings on. We ought to have people in from the insurance industry, people from the medical industry, people from hospitals across the country, and understand what this will do before people vote on it. If i were on the other side, i wouldnt vote on it until i got more information from the people that will be affected by it. Otherwise, youre asking your people to jump off a cliff and not know what is at the bottom. And seems that they we have to see whether theyre willing to go ahead and do that. Senator, youre on the Intelligence Committee<\/a>, we hear that the judiciary committee, senator grassley and feinstein has suggested this as well, are not going to only ask for manafort, but ask for testimony from don jr. The Intelligence Committee<\/a> needs to also hear from don jr. About this extraordinary email chain with the russians, and the meeting held in june. Absolutely. I think it is a critical part of this discussion. The piece of did the rugs russio something to interfere with our elections, there is no doubt that they d the missing piece was there connections between the russians and the Trump Campaign<\/a> and thats what a lot of the investigation has been focusing upon. Now we have this email, pretty much says, yeah, were going to Work Together<\/a> from the russian government, we have information on hillary, he responds his response is, i love it, maybe it will help us later in the summer, which would be later in the campaign. That open up a whole host of questions, what happened in that meeting. More importantly, what about future meetings and future relationships and future connections. We dont know that yet. Is this an isolated incident or is it the tip of an information iceberg that is going to have a substantial effect on the course of our investigation. But the short answer is, yes, he has to come, i believe, im not speaking for the committee, but i believe that the committee has to talk to him, not only about the emails, but what really happens in that meeting. Now, there is also a reporting from mcclatchy, which has not been confirmed or established yet by the committees or the investigators. Looking at the possible connections, between the data Mining Operation<\/a> that jared was not only in charge of, with the campaign, the data that worked so well in terms of the bots and other online attacks against Hillary Clinton<\/a>, and whether they were in any way using the wikileaks emails with any connection between the russians, wikileaks, those cutouts, and the campaign itself. Do you have any evidence so far that there is that connection . You know im not going to answer that question. As a member of the committee, i cant tell you whether what evidence we do or dont have. I can tell you that is an area of inquiry, an area of how important an area of inquiry is there in terms of this social media aspect. I think it is important. We now learned the republican or the Trump Campaign<\/a> use of social media particularly in the last month of the campaign was extremely effective and the question is, who was doing the implementing and how did it work . We dont know that. The meeting was not put on his disclosure, on his reporting forms by Jared Kushner<\/a> when was getting his security clearance. From lawyers close to this i understand the president of the United States<\/a> has Sole Authority<\/a> over who does or does not get security clearances at that level. So, even though there have been for months now letters from Elijah Cummings<\/a> and others on the house side and perhaps some from you as well, as to jareds security clearance, given all the subsequent disclosures, the russian banker, the president has full authority over whether Jared Kushner<\/a> continues at this level to be operating on foreign policy. The president can declassify information upon his or her own authority. Ultimately, i guess that decision is going to rest in white house. The question is whether the information that keeps coming out bit by bit is going to be on the president s desire to maintain that relationship. Remember, the president was close to michael flynn. President fired him. Now, firing your soninlaw, i suppose, i believe that the information compels it, the president will have very little choice. Senator blumenthal apparently from connecticut has just said to some of our colleagues he should that jared should be fired. Do you think that what would you say to that . He is a member of the family and has a unique role in the white house. Im not going to say whether he should be fired or prosecuted. I believe thats the prosecution side rests with robert mueller, the firing side rests with the president. But the president is going to have to take a hard look at the evidence and hes going to have to ask if he himself has been misled in this process. And if he has been, hes going to have a tough decision to make. Thank you very much, senator king. Thank you for being with us today. Coming up, as the world turns, President Trump<\/a> about to hold a joint press conference with frances president macron. Looking to flip the script on the russia story, perhaps. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell<\/a> reports on msnbc. I have the jefferson nose right there on the front of my face. When i think about being related to thomas jefferson, it certainly makes me feel a sense of pride the tenacity of not only that he showed in his life but was given to me through the slaves that im birthed through as well. It makes me think that theres really no excuse for me in any area of my life to not be able to conquer anything. Only tylenol\u00ae rapid release gels have laser drilled holes. They release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. Tylenol\u00ae i had a great a great g20. We had 20 countries. I got along, i think, fantastically with the head of every country. President trump sitting down with Pat Robertson<\/a> from the Christian Broadcasting Network<\/a> on wednesday before the president left for france. Steve hadley joins me now. This is a new way to run foreign policy. You have a meeting with Vladimir Putin<\/a>, the National Security<\/a> adviser is not in the room, no note takers. We confirmed it, it was from the americans demanding that, the russians deposit want idnt wane americans were concerned about leaks. To have a meeting like that with putin and have a basic disagreement over who said what to whom about key issues like this is extraordinary not to have a note taker or any kind of record. Well, you have the secretary of state, the president of the United States<\/a>, and the secretary of state was undercut by the president. There is, of course, a a translator or who can reconstruct in some sense what was said from their notes. I think it was a constructive meeting. They made progress on syria. A lot of the concerns that people had that they might swing for the fences and trump might be taken advantage of by a more experienced president putin, none of that happened. It is a pretty good first meeting between the two leades. S President Trump<\/a> got the denial everybody expected from putin. I think it was a lot of people had a lot of apprehensions about that first meeting between the two president s. Looks to, me, from the outside, like it went pretty well. Let me push back a bit, from the perspective that it is one thing to raise it as a question. It is another thing to say, according to all of our intelligence people, intelligence that the president himself undermined the day before the News Conference<\/a>, but according to our intelligence, this happened. We want you to know it should not happen again. We have other elections. Stop it now. Isnt there an affirmative thing, other than raising the question, getting the expected denial, raising it again in a different way. And then undercutting his own secretary of state, and his own secretary of the treasury who briefed on the way back saying there was this Cybersecurity Task<\/a> force, a joint task force, which has been derided by a lot of intelligence professionals and saying, never mind, tweeting the next day, were not going to do that after all. Well, we dont really know what was said. We dont know what was said in this two hour meeting, how strongly the president pushed the issue. Obviously he said, president said a comment to reuters yesterday, pretty interesting, look, something went on, we got to get to the bottom of it, in terms of russian interference in elections and got to make sure that the russian neither the russians nor anybody else can do it again. I think that is really what the focus needs to be. Yes, bob mueller will get to the bottom of what was done in terms of collusion and intervention and all the rest. And we have congressional committees that are looking at it. Were going to do that in an orderly way. I think were not spending enough time talking about what we need to do to treat our electoral infrastructure as critical infrastructure, and it needs it is a good point. The Homeland Security<\/a> has done nothing to follow up on this. We need to that is something that the administration, if the president is not acknowledging it happened until we say maybe perhaps in part to reuters, he didnt to the News Conference<\/a> last week, still resisting it, homeland is not going to take the lead out. Let me suggest to you, one of our colleagues. What about the question of the new norm according to the don jr. And others in the trump camp, we just had this meeting and it was okay. Is it okay during a campaign to have a meeting with a lawyer connected to the kremlin, and have this conversation according to the email traffic about damaging another campaign with a foreign entity including in this case an adversary, no less. All i know is really for the email streams and the press reports and this is something that is yet another thing for bob mueller and his team. The emails have been confirmed by don jr. Exactly right. He released the emails, smart thing to do. This is another issue that bob mueller is going to have to work through. I think all the participants when this is over are going to basically say this is a meeting that should not have happened. What about the isolation of the u. S. At the go20, the president said he had a lot of friends there. The fact is Angela Merkel<\/a> and others at their news briefings and did not brief the press afterward, got back on the plane, he was isolated. The g19. You know, again, what i have heard, taking the german case from american sources and german sources is that the meeting actually went pretty well in terms of the relationship between afrpg la Angela Merkel<\/a>, that they talked to each other a lot over the phone there were some disagreements. One version i told was the 191 on climate, the one was not the United States<\/a>, it was france. So, again, look, this administration is a work in progress. There have been two oversea trips. The first one, the middle east portion, i think, wept very well, the european portion meeting at nato and the eu did not go so well. They had some sense of doover with the trip in in poland. And at the g20. Those went pretty well. I was in the audience for the speech he made in warsaw. A good speech. Well received. A quick question on norms. There say letter tweeted out by my colleague from nbc in new york, a letter from George Herbert<\/a> walker bush to his son in 1988 as the campaign was getting under way, saying, son, and to all the family members, people will call you, youll have a whole lot of new friends of people wanting something from somebody named bush. Do not follow up on any of those calls. We have to be beyond reproach. Pass it on to my office, were now in the middle of a president ial campaign. That is so different from the connections that the trump children and their associates have. Of course. This is george h. W. Bush who had a 30year or more career in public life and had seen it all. And could give well considered advice to his children. The trump family is new to this business. We elected a president of the United States<\/a>, who has never spent one day in government at any level. And he brought with him a family and group of people who did not have government a Top White House<\/a> official . They are going to make mistakes. Theyre going to make mistakes. As they have done. Steve hadley, thank you very much. Nice to be with you. You too. Moments from now, President Trump<\/a> is going to have his joint News Conference<\/a> with frances president Emmanuel Macron<\/a>. Thats coming up right here. Stay with us on Andrea Mitchell<\/a> reports. 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But who takes care of mom . Office depot office max. This week, get this ream of paper for just one cent after rewards. Taking care of business. Wow, President Trump<\/a> is enjoying paris, he is not likely to fully escape the russia controversy. During a press conference coming up with frances president macron, he will surely get a question about his elder sons meeting with a russian lawyer during the campaign. Were blessed with two of you people. Lets i want to play a june 7th comment by President Trump<\/a> from june 7th of 2016, only hours after don jr. , two floors a floor from his own office in trump tower had been meeting with the russian lawyer and also Paul Manafort<\/a>, and his soninlaw Jared Kushner<\/a>. Lets watch. I am going to give a major speech on probably monday of next week, and were going to be discussing all of the things that have taken place with the clintons. I think youre going to find it very informative and very, very interesting. So what are the chances to the two of you, bill kristol, first to you, what are the chances that the president was unaware of that meeting . He said hes unaware of that meeting. The won influence of events is so striking. He gave a speech on monday but didnt get into the clinton emails, for whatever reason that did not happen. Well find out, i assume. Robert mueller is looking to have emails, texts, appointment records, and well find out if donald trump jr. Or Paul Manafort<\/a> walked up the two flights and had a meeting with donald trump five or ten minutes later. The idea that his son, soninlaw and Campaign Strategist<\/a> would meet with someone from they were excited to meet, supposed to get material on Hillary Clinton<\/a> and they wouldnt have told trump the meeting was coming or what happened, even if it was a disappointment. We look at the two podiums there with the flags, french and american flags, and wait for that press conference, nick christop christophe, you wrote that all roads lead to kushner. This say murky, complicated issue, but kushner attended a secret meeting. He failed to report it, sought a secret channel to communicate. According to lawyers, only one person can do that immediately if the fbi isnt going to do it and it is the president of the United States<\/a>. There is no sign hes about to do that. I dont think President Trump<\/a> is. But it does seem to me that this is now much larger than donald trump jr. And after all, hes a private citizen, Jared Kushner<\/a> is in the white house, is overseeing very important areas of policy. And i think it should be profoundly troubling that there are these kind of fundamental doubts about his relationship with russia and in particular, i think that the latest email and revelations have to raise concerns about what was going on when trying to set up the secret Communications Channel<\/a> and what that consisted of. I understand that is a focus of the investigation. And in the meantime, i think it is troubling that mr. Kushner continues to have that security clearance and access to all the nations top secrets. Can i have one point, which is correct this is a white house scandal, not a donald trump jr. Scandal. He may be, nice to talk about family members and analogies with other family members who werent quite up to the position of the son or brother, but Jared Kushner<\/a> is in the white house. The first statement, the misleading one, we learned from yesterdays New York Times<\/a> that the white house officials worked out a statement. That was a white house statement. It is a white house scandal. I think there is too much in the way of nick getting it, too much fine to speculate about the Family Dynamics<\/a> and this guy is smart and this one isnt as smart. Thats not the issue. The issue is the white house. When you get to that point, josh earnest, one of our analysts, was on morning joe today, and he was talk about them working on this, on air force one, coming back from the g20. Here is what josh had to say. There is zero chance that the president of the United States<\/a> was working on that statement by himself. There were a team of people that were huddled around his desk. Takes a long time to fly back from europe. All wordsmithing that statement. So this is not just the president of the United States<\/a> signing off on a lie, this is the president of the United States<\/a> conspireing to construct the lie. Youve been tweeting at the president. The president said hes working on Health Care Reform<\/a> and tax reform and doesnt have time to watch tv, which is disproved by the way he reacts in real time to everything he sees on tv. You had a tweet storm saying, you know, your colleagues have very little time for watching teff. Too busy meeting with lawyers. You have been going at them, one next step is clear, take away Jared Kushner<\/a>s security clearance. That was your colleague, bill. But the fact is that both of you have pointed out that this is a white house scandal. White house scandal, the campaign, could have been trump, nick christophe, were told atly confused, Jared Kushner<\/a> does not come into the white house, and comey is not fired. Then a possible campaign scandal but really probably is contained at that. Might be people, instead you have the firing of comey, kushner in the white house, and everything done and said now for the last six months and the white house scandal. And, nick. So a lot of the evidence is circumstantial. You pointed to the speech earlier on that President Trump<\/a> made and the timing is suspicious. But the problem is they have made so many completely false statements, they no longer have any credibility and zero correlation with what the white house says and what extent turno be factual. That leaves all of us relying increasingly on these kind of circumstantial connections. And i think that becomes, you know, really sad not just for the trump administration, but for the entire country. When we talk about institutions, we dont know who to talk to in the white house to get a straight story. You have the spokespeople saying i havent asked the president and dont get back to people. They never return with the answers of well, i asked the president this. That was the norm. If they didnt know something, they would find out. I find the the press operation completely dysfunctional. So much of the administration is dysfunctional. I think this is just an administration that doesnt get governance. We have, you know, meeting with putin, right, in which the point is this has real world consequences, what to think of the president s meeting with putin which only the secretary of state was there. No note taker, maybe the secretary of state the president tweets out this thing about what was setting up a joint a cybersecurity thing with them, so ludicrous, everyone laughed at it. We can laugh at it, but step back and think about it. The president of the United States<\/a>, first meeting, long meeting with the president of russia, and his main main takeaways is lets work with them on cybersecurity in the midst of in the midst of a Serious Investigation<\/a> to a serious matter of russia hacking our election and many other things, what is a foreign leader think at that point . Bill and nick, i got the names straight, thank you, both, so much. You can see the podium to bring you live coverage from paris, time magazines vivian wall joins me and Hallie Jackson<\/a> rejoins us as well. Vivian, this is a meeting between an older american president and new younger french president , they had their disagreements over the paris climate accord. But seems to be a real effort on the macron part and on President Trump<\/a>s part to reach out and forge a new kind of bilateral relationsh relationship. This relationship has been a kind of dance or power play for the last ten months. But the fact is that macron came out this afternoon and said to those who criticized him for inviting President Trump<\/a> that hes essentially indispensable and when all is said and done, there are a lot of very urgent issues that these two men have to tackle together. Most specialespecially the antiterrorism issue. Macron knows he needs u. S. Intelligence and cooperation. And he cannot do it alone. We now see pictures of them coming out from behind the scenes there, trump and macron. Macron, not only just elected, but now has a parliamentary victory as well as they ascend the dais there. Were going to watch this together and listen to the opening statements. The fact is that this was hastily arranged. First and foremost, i thank President Trump<\/a> for his visit to paris in these afternoon, and tomorrow, tomorrow morning, as well as thank his delegation. I was pleased to be able to welcome President Trump<\/a> and his staff today. He accepted the invitation, i extended a couple of weeks ago, in order to invite him to join the ceremonies of 14th of july tomorrow. I think it is both a symbol and important very important that the president of the United States<\/a> could be with us tomorrow on the occasion of our national day, and attend a military parade which will to which the american troops will take part. Well be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the american troops joining world war i with the allies and france. I think it is important because beyond daily news, we live in countries with roots that are deeper and go further and beyond who we are. So the President Trump<\/a> was in my eyes not only natural, and i think it is an excellent thing for the history of both our countries, earlier today, we started by sharing part of our joint and the museum, the army museum, then a working session and i shall say im extremely pleased about it. We have been able to talk about a number of topics of joint interest and we underlined a number of shared convictions and joint road map in order to Work Together<\/a> in the coming month. We agreed to do it most, to have to implement free and fair trade and in the field. And this is what the g20 in hamburg also expressed in terms of sensitivity, we want to Work Together<\/a> in order to implement some efficient measures to tackle dumping, anywhere it is taking place, in all the fields, by sharing information that we have and making sure that both European Unions<\/a> and the United States<\/a> can take the necessary measures in order to protect within the context of free trade, fair free trade that we can protect all of our sectors of activities where we are active. Within our discussion, which aloud us to cover all the topics of International Policies<\/a> and the challenges for the security challenges for all people as well. When it come to fighting terrorism, from day one, i can say we have seen eye to eye and we are strongly determined to take any necessary measures in order to root out terrorism. And to eradicate it no matter where particular the narrative. On the internet, we agreed to strengthen our action and our cooperation in fighting against propaganda. We want to get the all the major operators to limit the propaganda and also tackle cybercriminality. These topics i believe are fundamental, and i do hope that we can strengthen the cooperation between both our countries and it is a lot of satisfaction, but i heard from President Trump<\/a>, very same approach and services, they will be working toegd in t ining togs and months to have a solid map for that. Regarding the situation in iraq and syria, here, again, we agreed to continue to Work Together<\/a> in particular in order to be able to launch together some diplomatic initiatives in order to put in place a road map for what will come after the war. We talked about our role, post conflict role, but initially we want to put in place a contact group, in order to be more efficient, and in order to do support what is being done by the united nations, and in order to support political road map, in particular for syria after the war, it is important to put in place some included Political Solutions<\/a> for that period of time. We know where destabilization comes from. We ask our diplomats and our staff to work on both lines so in the coming week, some initiatives can be taken. And supported by the p5. We also share the same intentions regarding libya. And like i told President Trump<\/a>, i very much want to take a number of diplomatic initiatives trump wants given the situation we know. And which requires more stability and better control over the region. Libya, or sahil, i can say that we have the same vision, very coherent understanding of the situation in the region and the same willingness to act against any form of terrorism and destabilization. Next, climate. Well, here we know what our disagreements are. We expressed them on a number of occasion. I think it is important that we can continue to talk about it. I have much respect the decision taken by President Trump<\/a>. He will work upon implementing his Campaign Promises<\/a> and as far as im concerned, i remain attached to the paris accord, and will make sure that step by step we can do everything which is in the accord. Ladies and gentlemen, this is in summary what we have been talking about. We will continue under friendly with a friendly tone and informal one this evening. Regarding trade and security for both our countries, the fight against terrorism, stability in the near middle east, in libya, or the sahil, i can say that we have a shared determination. The United States<\/a> is extremely involved in the iraq war and i would like to thank President Trump<\/a> for everything thats been done by the american troops. But i would like him to know that i am fully determined to act together with him in this respect. Fully determined. I very much want both our countries in these matters to increase their cooperation in the coming months because the threat were facing is a global one. The enemy, our enemies are trying to destabilize us by any way, and i believe that this is very much at the heart of the Historic Alliance<\/a> between our two countries and which fully justifies the present of present day and tomorrow in paris. Thank you. Thank you. Well, thank you very much, president macron. Melania and i are thrilled to join you and mrs. Macron. This is a Wonderful National<\/a> celebration and we look very much forward to it. It will be spectacular. Tomorrow. Bastille day. Were honored to be here in your beautiful country and it certainly is a beautiful country with its proud history and its magnificent people. And thank you for the tour of some of the most incredible buildings anywhere in the world. I was very, very very beautiful thing to see. Thank you. When the french people rose up and stormed the bastille, it changed the course of human history. Our two nations are forever joined together by the spirit of revolution and the fight for freedom. France is americas first and oldest ally. A lot of people dont know that. Ever since General Lafayette<\/a> joined the american fight for independence, our fates and fortunes have been tied unequivocally together. It was a long time ago, but we are together. And i think together perhaps more so than ever. The relationship is very good. This visit also commemorates another milestone. One century ago the United States<\/a> entered world war i. And when the president called me heed a mentioned that fact. 100 years ago. I said, mr. President , i will be there. Thats a big important date, 100 years. We remember the tens of thousands of americans who gave their lives in that valiant and very difficult struggle. We also pay tribute to the heroic deeds of the french troops whose courage at the battle of marne and countless other battles will never be forgotten by us. More than 1 million french soldiers laid down their lives in defense of liberty. Their sacrifices an eternal tribute to france and to freedom. French and american patriots have fought together, bled together, and died together in the fight for our countries and our civilizations. Today we face new threat trs rogue regimes like north korea, iran, and syria, and the governments that finance and support them. We also face grave threats from terrorist organizations that wage war on innocent lives. Tomorrow will mark one year since a joyous bastille Day Celebration<\/a> in nice turned into a massacre. We all remember that, how horrible that was. We mourn the 86 lives that were stolen, and we pray for their loved ones. We also renew our resolve to stand united against these enemies of humanity and to strip them of their territory, their funding, their networks, and ideological support. Today president macron and myself discussed how we can strengthen our vital security partnerships. Just had a meeting with our generals and our representatives and it went very well. France has excellent counterterrorism capabilities. The french troops are serving bravely in places like mali to defeat these forces of murder and destruction. The United States<\/a> and our allies strengthen our commitments to defeat terrorism. Were also making tremendous progress. Earlier this week with the strong support of the United States<\/a> an the ghoebl coalition, iraq forces liberated the city of mosul from isis control. Now we must work with the government of iraqlobal coaliti iraq forces liberated the city of mosul from isis control. Now we must work with the government of iraq and our partners in the region to make the victory stays a victory unlike the last time. Last week, the g20 leaders also reaffirmed the right to sovereign nations to control their borders. We must be strong from within to defend ourselves from threats from outside. The nations of the west also face domestic challenges of our own creation, including vast government bureaucracy that saps the strength from our economies and from our societies. For this reason, i applaud president macron on his courageous call for that less bureaucracy. Its a good chant. Less bureaucracy. We can use it too. And a europe that protects its citizens. We did not become great through regulation. And in the United States<\/a>, mr. President , we also have cut regulations at a level that weve never seen before. So were very proud of that. Over the last six months. But by allowing our people to follow their dreams. Thats what its all about. To achieve these dreams, however, we must also confront unfair trade practices that hurt our workers and pursue trade deals that are reciprocal and fair. Both president macron and i understand our responsibility to prioritize the interests of our countries and at the same time to be respectful of the world in which we live. We live in a very complex world. We have to respect it. The United States<\/a> remains committed to being a leader in Environmental Protection<\/a> while we advance Energy Security<\/a> and economic growth. The friendship between our two nations and ourselves, i might add, is unbreakable. Our occasional disagreements are nothing compared to the immortal bonds of culture, destiny, and liberty that unite us so strongly unite us also. As long as we have pride in who we are, where weve come from, how we got here, and what weve achieved as free and democratic nations, then there is nothing we cannot accomplish together. France helped us secure our independence. A lot of people forget. In the american revolution, thousands of french soldiers fought alongside american troops so that as lafayette said liberty would have a country. Ever since then, courageous heroes from both nations have fought for the same noble values and the same righteous cause. Tomorrow the french tricolor will once again wave proudly alongside the american stars and stripes. Our brave soldiers will march side by side, and we will all be inspired to protect and cherish the birthright of freedom that our ancestors won for us with their sweat and with their blood. President macron, thank you for inviting melania and myself to this historic celebration and to you and your spectacular country, may god bless france and may god bless america. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you, mr. President. Translator very well. I think we will be taking four questions. And neither President Trump<\/a> nor myself have a microphone. Hes getting first question . President . Translator the question, first of all, president macron, regarding what you said on the occasion of the press conference together with chancellor merkel, do you still hope that President Trump<\/a> or do you still hope that President Trump<\/a> could turn his mind regarding the paris accord . And now, President Trump<\/a>, is it possible for you to come back to the paris accord and change your mind . Next regarding your relation. How would you describe it today . What about dinner tonight . Is it going to be a dinner between friends . Well, regarding climate, well, we have a number of disagreements which are in particular due to the commitments of taken by President Trump<\/a> visavis his during the president ial campaign. So did i. Im aware of how important that is, but we therefore talked about our disagreement and we actually discussed the matter even before President Trump<\/a> reached a decision. Next, should that have an impact on the discussions were having on all other topics, no, absolutely not. This is the reason why we share the same views and some major common goals on many other topics or all other topics which weve been discussing today and wh","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia800807.us.archive.org\/31\/items\/MSNBCW_20170713_160000_Andrea_Mitchell_Reports\/MSNBCW_20170713_160000_Andrea_Mitchell_Reports.thumbs\/MSNBCW_20170713_160000_Andrea_Mitchell_Reports_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240617T12:35:10+00:00"}