Compared hitler to Bashar Al Assad. Is that enough to stop calls for him being fired . In the drivers seat. My one on one sit down with fords ceo mark fields. His message to the president and his vision for the future of the auto industry. Good morning, everybody. Im ali velshi at Msnbc Headquarters in new york. Rex tillerson and Sergey Lavrov have ended a high stakes meeting in moscow. The two are scheduled to emerge at the top of the next hour and hold a News Conference. We know that there has been tense talk over syria. Todays meeting comes on the heels of a newly declassified white house Intelligence Report that accuses russia of helping cover up that chemical attack in syria last week. President Vladimir Putin saying in an interview today, quote, wheres the proof of Syrian Forces using Chemical Weapons . There is none. End quote. Putin also says relations with the u. S. Have, quote, degraded since President Trump took office. President trump had his own criticisms of Vladimir Putin. In an interview this morning on fox business. Frankly, putin is backing a person thats truly an evil person. And i think it is very bad for russia. I think it is very bad for mankind. It is very bad for this world. Frankly, if Russia Didnt Go In and back this animal, you wouldnt have a problem right now. He was going to be overthrown. We have all this covered with our Nbc News Correspondents In Moscow and at the white house. Lets begin with nbc news Chief Global Correspondent bill neely, live in moscow. Bill, what can you tell us about this meeting between Secretary Of State tillerson and his russian counterpart Foreign Minister lavrov . Good morning, ali. Approaches may be different. Listen to the word tactical. I dont think Rex Tillerson went into that meeting banging a table, giving an ultimatum to russia, that it should give up its relationship with president assad. But he will be saying, look, tactically, you can be with assad in syria, but strategically, is that a great place to be, in terms of your global position in the way the world looks at you . As i say, well get a read oout from a News Conference to be decided. Well stick close to you. Interesting to point out that issue, that Rex Tillerson putting on the table that perhaps there can be tactical differences but strategic alignment. Bill neely for us in moscow. Lets go to Peter Alexander at the white house. Peter, it has been a busy 24 hours for you. Yeah. What more can you tell us about lets start with the declassified report that accuses russia of helping cover up the Chemical Weapons attack in
deflecting blame from russia. The simplest of terms beyond that, they said this was a unique opportunity for russia, ali. In their words, they said, this was their chance to stop their disinformation campaign. Peter, were going to come back to you in a little while because we have several stories happening, and youve been on top of the story with sean spicer and his apology for remarks he made at the White House Press conference. Dont go too far from your camera. Back to the issue of international affairs, Secretary Of StateRex Tillerson is meeting with his russian counterpart and it comes as the white house faces brandnew questions about the trump campaigns ties to russia. The Washington Post is reporting the fbi obtained a fisa warrant to Monitor Trump adviser carter page. Im joined by one of the journalists behind the reporting. Washington post National Security reporter, adam. Thank you so much for being with us. Lets just talk about this for a second. What is your understanding from your reporting of what led the
fbi to request a fisa warrant in the first place, as it relates to carter page . Right. We know that donald trump, when he was a candidate, named page as one of his Foreign Policy advisers in march 2016. Page has spent time in moscow. Theres been new documents that came to light. Buzzfeed broke the story a couple weeks ago that page had engaged had been in contact with a russian Intelligence Officer who he apparently thought was a Diplomat Back in 2013 timeframe. So what was happening is, you know, as the fbi and other Intelligence Agencies were seeing that the russians were intervening in the summer of 2016, in the president ial race, they were trying to get a handle on what are the relationships between members of potentially this new administrations team, in this case, carter page, and the russians . So as you probably know, a fisa
requires they basically have, you know, cause for believing that there is this connection. So they had to provide evidence of suspicions of those connections to the fisa court judges, who then have to decide whether or not to issue this warrant. So if a viewer is watching tv today, they are hearing some people say, wow, you just never get a fisa warrant unless there was something really serious involved. Were hearing this from members of congress today. Then other people say, actually, it is a secret urt. We dont really know what would lead to a warrant. Do you have any sense of, you know, whether theres wrongdoing involved . What we do know is this isnt i this fisa warrant is to collect information on carter page. It is a fisa warrant to monitor carter page. In order to get the warrant, they need to provide evidence of their suspicions he was acting as a Foreign Agent for russia. Sort of, you know, helping russia behind the scenes. So there could be that there was an incidental connection that involved carter page. We dont know what was in the application that the fbi and Justice Department brought to the fisa court in order to get this. But, you know, clearly, i think it is important to keep in mind that a parent is not conclusive proof of anything. There are plenty of warrants that are issued to monitor people that, in the end, it shows there was a lot of smoke and no fire. So i do think it is important to keep in mind and not to get ahead of ourselves here. On that note, i want to read a statement that carter page gave us at nbc news. Heres the part of it that is relevant. There had been prior reports, but i was so happy to hear that further confirmation is now being revealed. It shows how low the clt Clinton Obama regime went to destroy o democracy and
depress distants who didnt agree with their failed Foreign Policy. Is this idea that carter page had a fisa warrant in some way connect to or validate donald tru trumps discussions about trump tower being wiretapped . If carter page was the subject of a warrant, there could have been other collection because he was talking to people of the trump campaign. Obviously, i think there is a you know, this is not something that, as far as i know, is brought by white house officials or anybody else. This is a decision seeking a fisa warrant is something decided by a judge who, you know and that judge is, at least as far as i know, not under political pressure from the administration. In this case, the Obama Administration. I realize that the way he is responding to this news, maybe it is the way other people might also choose to try to perceive
this. Certainly, based on everything i know about how the fisa court operates, you know, this is not something that is even briefed to members of the white house before a fisa is brought. This is the kind of thing that is very closely held within the fbi and within the Justice Department and shared with some officials in the Intelligence Community as part of the process. Adam, were always smarter for talking to you. Thank you for joining us. Always a pleasant. Thank you. Im joined now by two special guests. Angela stent is director of the center for eurasian, russian and Eastern Studies at georgetown. 2004 to06, she was National Intelligence offic for russia and yraa at the National Intelligence council. Her latest book, u. S. russian relations in the 21st century. Also joining us, military analyst kevin. He is also the Executive Editor of the website, defense one, which provides news and analysis
on defense and National Security matters. These two know a lot about these topics. Thank you for joining me. Angela, ill start with you. Often times when there is a major diplomatic meeting like the one today between Secretary Of State tillerson and his russian counterpart and maybe Vladimir Putin, it is set up so there can be obvious accomplishments to come out of the meeting. As bill neely reported at the top of the show, that doesnt seem to be the case today. No, i dont think anyone had those kind of expectations going into this meeting. I think when it was conceived and announced, before the Chemical Weapons attacks and the bombings in syria, it was an attempt to normalize relations, since relations at the end of the Obama Administration with russia were really so bad. So i think the agenda there was no designed agenda that they knew they were going to come out with a statement that everyone was going to agree to. This is really exploratory. Obviously, what you saw was the discussions of what the soviets
called frank and business like. That is to say, very tough talks. I think at the minimum, they can come out and jointly agree that they need to find a solution to whats happening in syria. That would already be an accomplishment. We dont know whether thats going to happen. Yeah, were not sure were talking about getting that done. Let alone finding achievements on that. Kevin, it seems the big demand today by Secretary Of State tillerson will be that russia end its support of the assad regime. I cant imagine there are many chances of that, but does he have any leverage at all . Well, the leverage, i think, is the u. S. Military presence in syria. Inching toward the end of the isis war, which i think just becomes an inching closer to the final, you know, whats going to happen with assad and the rest of syria. And thats, i think, a peculiar point. Just yesterday, the pentagon took great pains to say once again, despite last weeks air strike, the isis war is separate from assad, separate from the
syrian civil war. But within hours, by the end of the day, john mccain and Lindsey Graham put out a joint statement saying the time has come to end the bifurcation. That those two cannot be theyre inklinked. Because iran backs assad, and as long as assad is slaughtering the syrian civilians, the civilians have no chance of defeating isis or a resolution for a Greater Syria against assad. Interesting point you make, kevin. Angela, id like your take on this. People like to draw this distinction. That were Fighting Isis, and isis poses a threat to the rest of the world. The assad regime doesnt. And thats a civil war. The United Nations takes that view, by the way, and hence, doesnt do anything about Bashar Al Assad, as well. Do you agree with kevins take, that maybe we shouldnt be maybe we Shouldnt Be Drawing such a clear li . Thats john mccains take. Ohn mccains take that kin has given us. Well, you know, why does isis
have support in syria . What assad has done to his own population and the past years have fueled recruits for islamic state. Therefore, you cant draw a distinction between them. The russians do. Theyre not interested in fighting islamic state. Theyre interested in keeping Bashar Al Assad in power and consistently deny any connection between what hes done and the growth of isis. So, you know, i think you cant say these things arent connected. And kevin, i want to be clear, you were conveying that it is john mccains take. You agree that these lines dont make sense . Well, its not that i agree or not. I think anyone can see them starting to come together. Again, isis just loses territory, raqqah is waiting on the horizon. What then . Weve written a lot about this. Everyone keeps saying, what then . Whats supposed to happen next is a nonmilitary path to peace. Something that brings everybody to the table. I even asked Secretary Mattis yesterday at the pentagon, wheres the new counterisis plan we were supposed to get, that trump demanded in 60 days . It hasnt come. They both put brakes on that to say, look, this is going to take time. Tillerson, two weeks ago, had the meeting in washington with all the other Foreign Ministers of the counterisis group. They have to find a way to peace. Those you can separate them on the battlefield. The pentagon and the u. S. Military can say, we are not at war with the syrian government. We are Fighting Isis in syria. But the rest of the government, the rest of the world, sees through that to know the entire conflict has to end somehow. I wish i could talk to you guys for an hour. I hope you come back. This is an important conversation. Any time. Thank you very much for your contributions. Kevin is the Executive Editor of defense one and angela is the director of the russians, eurasian studies at geortown. Sean spicer apologizes for
saying, wrongly, that hitler did not use Chemical Weapons on his own people. This morning, growing calls for spicer to be fired, including from nancy pelosi. Ill get new reaction from the democratic congressman ted lew. I made a mistake. Im owning up to it. You know, this is obviously, i would expect or hope that everyone understands we all make mistakes and ask for forgiveness. Meta appetite control. Its your glass of willpower that helps keep cravings. Far, far away. Feel less hungry with the natural fiber in clinically. Proven meta appetite control. From metamucil. At red lobsters lobsterfestime. Any of these 9 Lobster Dishes could be yours. So dont resist delicious new lobster mix and match or lobsterfest surf and turf because you wont have this chance for long. Theres no other way to say it. I got into a topic that i shouldnt have, and i screwed up. The Whiteouse Pre secretary sean spicer, as if we have to introduce him. He must be the most wellknown White House Press secretary in the world. Apologizing again and again for his comments yesterday, comparing Bashar Al Assad to hitler. Here it is. He used Chemical Weapons in world war ii. You know, you had a you know, someone as despicable as hitler who didnt use Chemical Weapons. He tried to clarify his comments, even to Peter Alexander, who joins us again live from the white house. Theres a lot of backlash for the comments. I remember it was happening in real time as he said them. Add he tried several times in the Press Conference to clarify his remarks. Almost making them worse every
time he did it. Then there were calls for sean spicer to be fired. He apologized. You were one of the people to whom he presented his apology on camera. What are you hearing now . I think whats striking more than anything in this episode, ali, is the fact an apology from this white house isnt just rare, it is almost unheard of. The fact he came out as soon as he did and did publicly apologize on cable television, apologized in a conversation that we had, interview with nbc news, as well, and again as part of the apology tour. He did it this morning with our colleague. In effect, saying, it was a mistake. Hes sorry. That he let the president down. That there is no comparing atrocities. What is striking to a lot of people, including myself, is how subdued and perhaps even humbled sean appeared on this day. He said, among other things, the fact this is happening during such a holy week with the Jewish Holiday of passover right now, with easter coming up this weekend, that he said he himself even felt pained by what he had done. The words he had used and the
harm they had caused. During our conversation yesterday, i asked him, specifically, about this comparison between Bashar Al Assad and adolph hitler. Heres what of what he said. Well aware of what he did. But, again, it was a distinction that didnt need to get made. They both did horrendous, heinous things to innocent people. To make any comparison is regrettable and a mistake. I asked him specifically if the president had asked him to apologize. He said the answer