Warning along with the delay in acting has given the syrians as well as the russian and iranian allies days to prepare. Welcome to morning joe, its thursday, april 12th. With us, Nbc News National Political reporter heidi przybilla. Republican Communications Strategist msnbc political contributor, rick tyler and in washington columnist and associate editor for the Washington Post, David Ignatius, along with nbc news capitol hill correspondent and host of kasie d. C. On msnbc, kasie hunt. Looking at paul ryans departure. Retirement. Among other stories were talking about this morning. We know the president loves watching tv, joe, right . He loves it. Hes always watching. He also likes to tell all the people what to watch. Sort of hype it up, and preview things. So he did that. If they followed his advice and tuned in to the program he promoted, the president promoted on twitter yesterday, they would have seen a fullthroated takedown of Robert Mueller. So he teed it up for his i guess network. And his friend. Plus, investigators are also seeking any of trump lawyer Michael Cohens communications involving the infamous access Hollywood Tape. I wonder if there are more or what went on there . All with the backdrop of yesterdays big news, joe, about paul ryan. Theres so much to talk about. You could talk obviously about the president telegraphing, broadcasting what his military plans were. The very things he said. That he would never do. When he was running for president. He criticized barack obama for doing that. You can talk about what happened on fox news last night. What the president was touting. It is, its showing increasing desperation, really, sad sort of pathetic isolationed state that the president finds himself in. That he is promoting a particular program that denigrated the men and women of the fbi that denigrated the very people who protected us through september 11th and the aftermath of september 11th. And made sure there wasnt another attack on american soil, coming from al qaeda. That attacking the same people that are protecting americans day in, day out. Specifically because donald trump is under investigation right now. And i think its very important just to look at how desperate, sad and pathetic the situation has gotten. You have steve bannon now coming in, trying to figure out how to attack military hero, former fbi director. A Great AmericanRobert Mueller. You have devin nunes going on fox news, talking about the impeachment of christopher wray, fbi director, who is beyond reproach. And has been beyond reproach. They are increasingly desperate. And on top of that, a very eventful day. Its just so important to remember, by the way, we cant get distracted by that noise. Because it only is noise. It is. And, you got only 12 of americans that support that view. Thats about the same amount of americans that are opposed to increase background checks to keep militarystyle weapons out of the hands of terrorists. Its a very small percentage. 7 in 10 americans want robert muler to continue what hes doing. So thats really more of a distraction. But we do have paul ryan doing something that speakers just dont do. Hes abandoning ship. As after the ship has hit an iceberg. And the Republican Party appears to be going down to defeat. So thats big news. One other thing that we should talk about and consider this morning. Robert mueller did not get involved in his investigation, in this investigation to end up like ken starr. Starting with failed land deal and ending up with a relationship with an intern. Weve been hearing a lot of things over the past 24 hours, that the raid against Michael Cohen was about Stormy Daniels or was about a playboy bunny or was about the access Hollywood Tape. That is highly unlikely. Its more about Michael Cohen, its more about what Michael Cohen knows. And its more about what Michael Cohen will lead this investigation to. And what leads the prosecutors in the Southern District of new york to. But you know, i, chris hayes had it right last night, i think were going to look back on yesterday, as one of the more pivotal days in the trump presidency. Things happened that are going to impact us. And we havent even talked about syria. For sometime. Really, willie, talk about lets go to the tweet desk and talk about the tweet. The president while youve been talking just tweeted this, if i wanted to fire robert muler in december as reported by the failing New York Times, i would have fired him. Just more fake news from a biased newspaper. Its wonderful. In there, lets break that down, in there is, i would have fired him. Saying he can. I have the right to fire him. Which echoes what Sarah Sanders said from the podium two days ago, which is the president and the white house believes he has the legal ground, theyve been told by some unknown, unnamed legal expert, that he has the legal ground to fire the special counsel. Joe, actually joe, hold on one second, i think the cohen probe at this point in terms of the raiding of his office and the access hollywood stuff, we cant get sidetracked by that. Right now they have access to everything donald trump has done for decades. And the questions i think theyre looking at is whether or not information was suppressed. And perhaps in an unlawful way. So hes angry, hes lashing out. Hes promoting hannity, and then i think the tragedy of this is watching paul ryan leave, after doing a pretty poor job of standing up for whats right against a president who does not follow the rule of law, and is trying to undermine our democracy and i urge everybody, kasie hunt to read Madeline Albrights new book, fascism. Because as weve been saying for well over a year, this somehow this starts. This is how all this type of thing starts. Im still concerned as to why paul ryan is leaving almost with his tail between his legs. What happened during his tenure as speaker of the house, that made him incapable of standing up for what is right . Mika, thats an interesting way of framing it. Part of because i think the sense behind the scenes is that they believe theyre doing more privately than, if he was out there publicly saying all of these things about the president and criticizing him, then he would be unable to help try and actually make a real difference behind the scenes. I think in the context, i think in the context of what you mentioned about Madeleine Albright, history is going to be a harsh judge of that decision. Well have to see over time. But the reality is paul ryan was a man without a country. He was you know, once the rising star in a Republican Party that embraced his ideas. His young family when he was the Vice President ial nominee. And then, the base of the party elected donald trump. And while yes, ryan has forged a working relationship with President Trump, these two men could not be more fundamentally different from a values perspective. If you think about it, paul ryan is leaving in part because of his family. He wants to spend some time with his young family. And theres truth in that. He is not you know somebody who is just saying that because there are other reasons, yes, there are obviously additional reasons why he might leave. Thats a real thing for him. Kasie, everybody, everybody would love to spend more time with their family. But while he was not, while he was speaker, the question is, why . Why . Every step of the way. And what exactly did they accomplish that was so worth it tax cuts package . Thats what paul ryan would say, he would say tax cuts. This president is somebody who is cavorting with porn stars and playboy bunnies and that is just not something that paul ryan understands at all. And at the end of the day, the frustrations and misery of doing that job as speaker, where you are confronted with this day after day, he just decided it was too much. And you, maybe absolutely right that history will judge him harshly for that. The thing that privately people would say is that he believed he needed to be the ballast in the ship of state. And hes decided he doesnt want to do that any more, im not sure who is going to step up and do it instead. The options are not good. Joe, what are the options . Well i dont see anybody thats going to do much more than paul ryan. And unfortunately, paul ryans legacy is going, is not going to be tax cuts. Paul ryans Lasting Legacy among historians is going to show him to be a man who is, who is always a policy guy. Who is more comfortable as chairman of the ways and Means Committee. Uncomfortable as speaker of the house. Especially in these most trying times. Where there was a storm gathering. He had an opportunity after charlotte to speak out. Not only for those offended by donald trump and by the neonazi protests, but also for the Republican Party. For the party of lincoln. For the party of reconstruction. For the party of the 13th and the 14th amendment. For the party that was, that paul ryan believed should expand its horizons and start reaching out to others. But he didnt do that. He didnt speak out after donald trump tweeted out neonazi videos. He didnt speak out after donald trump attacked the entire continent of africa. And other countries for being predominantly black. Time and time again, paul ryan had the opportunity to speak out, and time and time again, paul ryan decided that it was not his responsibility to do that. As somebody thats known paul and liked him very much since he was 22 and wanted very much for him to be the speaker of the house, that remains a mystery to me. And always will remain a mystery to me. And i think to historians. What did edmund burke say, David Ignatius, all that is required for evil to prevail is for good m men to do nothing. And too often, paul ryan did not answer the call of history. Paul ryans story is painful one. I was on capitol hill yesterday morning when the news came over peoples phones that the announcement was coming. Republicans even people who had been with paul ryan that morning in the house gym said they were surprised that it was coming now. In this way. As i look at paul ryan, you know him better than most people, joe, just seems to me this was somebody never really wanted to be speaker. He was reluctant. He had seen what had happened to john boehner. He had seen the basic impossibility of controlling and containing a party that was imploding. He wasnt able to do it. He could never deal with the pressures of his own party. He likes to say his legacy is the tax bill. His legacy, i think will be the 1 trillion deficit were going to have by 2020, according to the latest projections. What a strange thing for a fiscal conservative to have presided over this ballooning of spending and fiscal policy that most conservatives would reject. But from the beginning this was the reluctant speaker. Couldnt deal with this president , he couldnt deal with his caucus. Its a saddeneding. Just a final thought. In these remaining months, if he stays as speaker, will it be easier for him to speak out against efforts by trump to fire mueller for example . Will he now be able to act more in conscience . I would, i would assume so. But well watch that. David, as a conservative, i was deeply disturbed by george w. Bushs spending habits. I was deeply disturbed by the massive expansion of Medicare Part d without funding that. By the record deficits by the record debts. And people like paul ryan said for years if you put us in charge again, we wont make the same mistakes. But for again, for small Government Conservatives like myself who believe paul ryan would be different, its extraordinary to see the record spending and the record deficits. The complete lack of fiscal responsibility that paul ryan and Mitch Mcconnell and donald trump have shown over the past year and a half. An insurgent has taken over the Republican Party, joe, and paul ryan is the latest victim of that insurgency. And i dont see the party being able to come back together for a good long while. I think the mid term elections are going to be very tough for republicans. Heidi, the reason that paul ryan gave yesterday was to be with his family and i believe thats true. The more cynical view is that he sees a tidal wave coming this fall and he wants to get out of the way. Weve seen right now the most congressional retirements since world war ii, save for 1992. Republicans now out to defend 39 open seats, thats a long time until november. Do you think that factored into his decision . He said its absolutely not true. He said he believes that republicans will hold those seats and still control the house come november. Do you believe, he said you know what, i want out of the way of this thing . I got to bridge to sell you if you believe option one. Lets talk about option two. I talked to someone who is a ryan confidante last night. He said they are absolutely devastated by the timing of this. It is not that they dont understand why ryan would want to bail out. But they dont understand why now. Why . Because this is going to devastate their chances in the house. For two reasons. One, fundraising. Paul ryan is the cash cow. 54 million already in this cycle. He was hitting pavement hard every night. This person said what are the donors going to say in the corporate and pac world when a lameduck speaker calls them up. His pac, the clf pac, was the pac that was bringing in all the money for the house this person says he thinks this is so devastating that some of these corporate donors could cut their losses and say you know what, the senate should be our priority. Thats where we should put our money right now. And two, the issue that you mentioned, which is the retirements, already at a record number. You said 41, right . You know what that number was in 2010 with the democrats . 17. So were talking about not just a wave, but potential tsunami here if youre just looking at the retirements, this is a sign to additional vulnerable members who may be quivering in their boots. That this was a bailout. He was bailing out. You know, if he wanted to spend more time with his family he could have waited another six months to say you know what, guys, ill be home to watch football with you. But this was, he saw a tidal wave coming. Im sympathetic. I understand there may be something, a lot of times people have to leave for family reasons, im not trying to be blind to it but he didnt want this job. Talked about his family from the getgo and how the job would be tough. But he took the job. And when he had the job, he said nothing. And rick, it wasnt, you know, policy disagreements that perhaps involved some give or take behind the scenes. Were talking about blatant racism. Were talking about a president undermining our, the balance of our democracy. And he had the podium, he had the position, he had the voice to speak out against some basic things and never did and now leaves, saying nothing . I dont get it and im really disappointed. I think he will continue to say nothing. I think with paul ryans attitude is, despite everything heidi said is true, it will hurt republicans reelection chances. I believe paul ryan that his family. Thats i believe thats it doesnt matter, the perception will be is that theres a blue wave coming and hes not going to be speaker the next time. It sort of represents the death of intellectual conservatism. Ill get to your point about speaking out, the alternatives to that, is in ryans world, he watched donald trump take down 16 republican opponents and hillary clinton. Everybody who engaged with donald trump publicly, starting with rick perry. Who is now on his cabinet, ironically, got shredded publicly. So the alternative is if ryan were to take on, im not saying he shouldnt have. Its a decisive strategy. That he would have to take on the president to right the course of the Republican Party, its ideology he would leave today with dignity. Joe . Mika, that just wasnt who paul ryan was. I can tell you now that i talked to him a couple of times and i said paul, youre dealing with a guy that only understands strength. Youre dealing with a guy that only understands when you get in his face. Youre dealing with a guy that does not respect, the positive qualities that you have, youve got to fight. His attitude was thats not who i am. I came here to pass legislation. Im going to keep my head down and im going to pass that legislation. Again, its a model that was illfitting for this time. Just his personality was a personality that again was unmatched by the challenges to our constitution, to constitutional norms, to the rule of law, to the defending of the fbi. To the defending of the c. I. A. To the defending of our men our allies across the world. He just did not see that for whatever reason, as his job or his responsibility. And again, it remains a mystery to me, and i know that youre very, very frustrated by it as well. Why are any of them there if they cant do this. Its pretty simple. Its just right and wrong. People are miserable. The job in congress, its about answering for Donald Trumps every tweet. Having a position on everything donald trump says. Trying to stay by the side of the republican president while maintaining your dignity has been a very difficult thing for people to do. So ryan is a policy wonk, right . He had this idea, he was happy being chairman of the budget committee. He wanted to work with the numbers. He had this idea over time if he could sell the American People on conservative Economic Solutions for prosperity, that lets give that a try. Thats what he wanted to do. I remember his roadmap, a 60year plan. This incredible poverty tour. But you got to lead. Thanks for nothing. I mean, god. One more tweet as we go to commercial break. The tweeting around this time yesterday morning where the president said, get ready, russia, missiles will be on the w