Operators this week, but and i called one individual usually pretty connected and said any upcoming attacks that we dont know about . Have you run the traps as well . Well, ive been focusing on the mueller trump russia news tonight, brian, but its just so remarkable that there are so many possibilities here because of the posture of this administration. North korea, iran, yemen. Were taking Military Action in countries around the world where we havent been before. You know, theyre really leaning on the balls of their feet here in terms of the military and people are wondering, you know, what could be next. Yeah. I think thats why people were so concerned when they backed away and looked at the substance of what the president said tonight. Counselor, help us turn the corner into the mueller investigation. So muellers associates have found the author of the dossier. We learn this a day after there were complaints in the senate that they havent found, nor is he cooperating with them. Does the mueller team get to be the first and last american interview with this gentleman . Is mueller chief among equals of all the people investigating this . Usually thats how it works. The senate and the house are working on this as well, of course, but so far theyve been deferring to the mueller investigation. And thats really the way that it should be because criminal charges are going to take precedence over any sort of Impeachment Proceedings or anything else that happens. We know that mueller is going to be writing a report when hes done about what happened here and in the case that criminal charges are not brought that report, of course, will go to the congress for any action that they may take. So it makes sense that mueller would go firs and also actually that steele would prefer to talk to mueller and his team. Why is that . Well, hes an intel officer, a former british intel officer. Hes used to dealing with Law Enforcement. Hes probably more comfortable in that world rather than dealing with congress, elected politicians. I think hed be a little bit happier to be with mueller and his team. So even to a brit, who has
spent time in the intel world, this is a case where muellers resume and reputation may have gained him entree that the senate has been unable to get. Of course. I mean, mueller was fbi director for ten years, so im sure that he even knows mueller and his work from his time with prish intel, trusts him as pretty much everyone seems to. Im not surprised that he was able to interview steele. Ken, on the dossier, you noticed something about the Senate Briefing yesterday, the press briefing, just the way they were approaching the subject and dealing with it. I found it remarkable that the republican chairman of the Senate IntelligenceCommittee Richard Burr basically said that while they havent been able to corroborate many parts of the dossier, they did he used the word rebuild. I think he meant they were constructing a timeline in trying to line updates and times and facts. Essentially theyve krobld parts of it. And i went back and checked with some sources to make sure im understanding that correctly. Its absolutely what theyre saying. Theyre not telling us which parts, but its just remarkable to me that at this stage in the investigation you have mueller going with his team to interview stooem because after all the fbi has had this information in the dossier for many months. So what this tells me is they are now following up, following new leads. They want more information and this dossier, dont forget is a very i mean, it makes alarming allegations that donald trump is completely compromised by russia and that russian intelligence had completely infiltrated the trump campaign. Eli, what ken just said is the kind of factual charge in chief in the document. The document also, how do i say this, contains a pornographic and decidedly none high generalic portion. Knowing this was in the public sphere, donald trump who was enough of a germ oh phone to go a long time in his life
preferring not to shake hands, especially at large gatherings, donald trump came out, talked to the media about this dossier. Youre going to rescue me after we listen to donald trump. When i leave our country, im a very high profile person, would you say . I am extremely careful. I was in russia years ago with the Miss Universe contest which did very well. The moscow area. Did very, very well. And i told many people be careful, because you dont want to see yourself on television. Cameras all over the place. And again, want just russia, all over. Does anyone really believe that story . Im also very much of a germ aphone, by the way. Believe me. What was notable about that answer and why it was a laugh line in the room, most of us in the Mainstream Media had not yet
and still have not talked about the details in the dossier, knowing that people who want to read it can. They can and i dont know that we need to talk in great detail about it right now. We do not. But i will remind you that the campaign also had a Partner Graphic shall we say portion to it that was embarrassing for the president , the access Hollywood Tape and he survived that. I dont think at this point the president is worried about embarrassment. Most of the salacious details in that dossier they did come out in the campaign and thats what precipitated that Press Conference right there. What keeps the president up at night what eats at him and what he conveys in private conversations im told with people whom he speaks with about this investigation is the overarching concern about his legitimacy as a president , his presidency in whole in terms of what happens down the road. Theres this Uncertainty Hanging over him that eats at him. It frustrates him. And anything just not knowing whats going to happen is something i think for a guy who is so reflexive in terms of tweeting all his inner most
feelings, its a little remarkable that We Havent Heard witchhunt, We Havent Heard him complaining much publicly about this. Hes still very concerned about this. You go back to the dossier and the things that are in that and the 2013 pageant in moscow and what was happening, some of the people who were around him then, his associates who ernds who are russians, they are part of this investigation. Theyre part of some of these people are the same people who were involved in setting up that meeting in trump tower where they were offering the information about hillary clinton. So theres a lot of Overlapping Circles here, and i think the president is just scared. He just wants to to be over. The people around him have had some success at tam ping down. Counselor, if youre ty cobb over at the white house and you hear that muellers folks have talked to steele, what are you thinking . Oh, i think theyre all terr pied. Ty cobb is a very experienced
lawyer, so im sure he knows how to deal with this sort of thing. Up, its crisis time at the white house. Theyre having to gather up these documents and hand these things over. The mueller team is starting to purview people within the white house. Its crunch time. And so i think that theyre all very worried about what will happen. And if youre muellers person and by all accounts he has really put together kind of an all star legal team. What document to know from steele . Do you ask steele show us your homework. Exactly. So the dossier itself is not going to be usable evidence and steele himself is not going to be usable because he doesnt have personal knowledge. You need to get to under the dossier to the sources. Theyll go to the sources themselves. Theyll then try to corroborate those sources with other sources. Evidence that actually can be used in Ray Court Of Law and not just kind of things that are good enough for an oppo report. There you have it. Two journalists and a former assistant u. S. Attorney in new york. It must be thursday night on our broadcast. First break for us and coming up, Rex Tillerson called to the white house amid this fall out and the bosss anger over being called a moron. New report on the ground that when the 11th hour continues on a thursday night. Were just getting started. Hi, im the internet you know whats difficult . Adulting. Tj get a job hi, guys. Im back. Time to slay heals, heals, heals yes youuuu no, i have a long time girlfriend. Mom i need my macaroni you know whats easy . Building your website with godaddy. Pick a domain name. Choose a design. You can build a website in under an hour. Yeah whoo yes
get your domain today and get a free trial of gocentral. Build a better website in under an hour. So we created the only bed that adjusts on both sides to your ideal comfort, your sleep number setting. You can even see how well youre sleeping and make adjustments. Does your bed do that . The most amazing part is they start at 699. Thats 200 off our queen c2 mattress. And free Home Delivery on select beds only during our fall sale. Ends monday. Visit sleepnumber. Com for a store near you. The president is the leertd of the cabinet. He sets the tone. He sets the agenda, and i think that question makes no sense because of that. Thats how the white house publicly handled the nbc news reporting that the Secretary Of StateRex Tillerson called the president he seshs a moron. Privately tonights new reporting says this. Trump was furious when he saw the nbc news report, which was published shortly before 6 00 a. M. Wednesday. For the next two hours the president fumd inside the white house, venting to kelly, officials said. Nbc news can also report the Chief Of Staff john kelly summoned tillerson to the white house and they were joined by mattis. The three men apparently huddled to discuss a path forward. With us to talk about all of it, Axios National political reporter Jonathan Swan and White House Correspondent for Bloomberg Shannon pettypiece. We welcome both back to our broadcast. Jonathan, lets bump the focus out to a wider shot here. How bad, how poisonous is the relationship now, in your view, based on those youre talking to and is this at all sustainable . Its really bad. Its actually worse than i thought it was 24 hours ago. Look, we reported three weeks ago that the relationship was terrible. We reported some things that trump had been saying about Rex Tillerson privately, that he just doesnt get it. That hes totally establishment in his thinking. He had alienated just about every constituency in washington. But in the past 24 hours, yes, trump has put on a public face of its all fake news. I have full confidence in rex. His private face has been completely different. I now know have high degree of confidence in that based on conversation ive had over the past 24 hours. Their relationship is terrible. He views rex as being disloyal. He doesnt understand why rex couldnt just have come out and said no, i didnt call the president of the United States a moron. So, yes, its really bad and im yet to speak to anyone inside the white house who views this as a sustainable situation. Thats not to say that, you know, i have any reporting to suggest that hes going to get fired on, you know, friday or anything remotely like that, but nobody thinks that this can continue. Its an unsustainable situation. All right, shannon. Jonathan has nicely set up the equation here. Here is the other part of this. With so many dar tours lately and especially given the number of Foreign Countries who vener ate the job of United StatesSecretary Of State may more than our president generates the job and title and role, can they afford a departure anytime soon . I think that and two other things may be the only things
that tillerson has in his favor at this point based on i agree with a lot of what jonathan said. One, optically it would look bad because the president has already come out and called this a made up story, fake news, called on congress to investigate fake news. So if he fired tillerson now based off this report, he would be acknowledging that it was true and that his own Secretary Of State thought he was a moron. So i think theres going to have to be a little bit of time that passes. And, you know, despite the thakt that he doesnt have a lot of allies coming to his defense, he does have three really good advocates inside the white house right now in pence, kelly and mattis, who at least for now seem to be advocating for him and trying to keep him in that position. But unlike the price situation, there isnt this ground swell of support coming from the hill, from former Administration Officials from within the white house. With sessions that was really a
red line. I dont hear that similar talk with tillerson. I think a lot of us who cover this white house now, we would be really, really surprised if tillerson is here long after his one year anniversary. Maybe it makes it until then, but i felt like from the first month of this administration i thought it would be a surprised if he made it past one year, but i think we all feel increasingly so now. Jonathan, where is that infrastructure package . Thats my way of asking the next question. How much time and energy has this sapped from the administration and core lar aerl, how much work got done this week . Well, again, these news cycles consume the president. He has obviously been dealing with las vegas and puerto rico. Look, infrastructure has gone nowhere. I understand that thats just your way into this whole situation. What they have got now is a big problem ahead of them, which is continuing resolution to fund the government coming up in december. Weve got a defense plus up that who knows if theyre going to get anywhere near the number that the defense hawks what. And guess what . Theyve also got tax reform. Thats still very, very, very thin at the moment. So theyve got a whole lot of lemgts laib work ahead of them and theres still huge problems internally. Just asking as a taxpayer. You could brak a Tooth Driving across town in new york and so many other cities. Shannon, do you, do we believe the Stand By MeesqueBand Of Brothers, these three, tillerson, kelly and mattis, this agreement theyve formed, one for all, all for one. If one of us is under attack, the three of us may consider leaving . I do. I think youre missing an important one too which is dunford, the joint chiefs of staff. I think tillerson, mattis and dunford, theyre marines, theyre generals. I think that is a real Band Of Brothers there. I think possibly mcmaster also. Hes not ma reasons, but a former military man. I think tillerson may be a bit
on the outskirts of that because he does not share he has not literally been to war in the battle with these guys. But, you know, he is sort of globd on to their alliance here. So for now. But were certainly going hes going to have to play his cards right. Theyre not going to be able to pull everything for him. All right. Thank you very much. What an interesting conversation tonight. And there are so many moving parts. Jonathan swan, shannon pettypiece, i hope both of you will consider rejoining us on this broadcast very, very soon and as soon as you have more news. Coming up after our next break, trump has gone after the iran deal like its a hobbled zebra in a nature special. But is he still as patiently against it as he once was or is he looking for an out . That and more as we continue. Serious Brain Infection caused by a virus may be possible. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, experience frequent infections, or have flulike symptoms, or sores. Liver problems can occur with entyvio. If your uc or crohns medication isnt working for you, ask your gastroenterologist about entyvio. Entyvio. Relief and remission within reach. Call prepared remarks. President trump today emphasized his displeasure with the iran nuclear deal, continuing a trend that stretches from the very beginning reaches of his campaign throughout his presidency thus far. I think the deal is horrible. I think the deal is absolutely horrible. Kerry might be worse because hes making a deal with iran that is so bad and so dangerous and so incompetent and student that it will have grave consequences. I dont know if youve been seeing whats going on with iran. They violated one of the worst deals ive ever seen negotiated at any level. Im not talking about country. Im talking about at any level. This is the dumbest agreement i think ive ever seen. As far as iran is concerned, i think they are doing a tremendous disservice to an agreement that was signed. It was a terrible agreement. It shouldnt have been signed. It shouldnt have been negotiated the way it was negotiated. Im all for agreements, but that was a bad one, as bad as ive
ever seen negotiated. The iran deal was one of the worst and most onesided transactions the United States has ever entered into. Frankly, that deal is an embarrassment to the United States. Well now theres this. The Washington Post reports President Trump plans to announce next week that he will decertify the International Deal with iran saying it is not in the interest of the United States and kicking the issue to a reluctant congress. Joining me now, Joe Certificate even scene president of the plow shares fund and author of these books pertinent to this conversation. So hes a romantic comedy writer. Rick sentencing el. Gentlemen, welcome. And joe, id like to begin with you. What was