This was day 273 of the Trump Administration, and on this one day the president s chief of staff, retired marine four star general john kelly, did something he abhors. He talked publicly about his dead son as a gold star father, and so did a service to donald trump. Also on this day, former president george w. Bush, 43, did something he abhors. He criticized a sitting president , not by name, mind you, but the association was crystal clear. This is now the 4th day in a row we have spoken on this broadcast about the most sacred of president ial tasks, communicating with gold star families after the death of a member of our armed forces. It was a sacred topic and should be and will again, but its been publicly cheapened to an obscene degree these past few days because of the president s own comparison initially to his predecessors and now he is alleged to have spoken with a military widow. More on that in a moment. Thats what brought general kelly into the Briefing Room today, a man who looked like hed rather be 100 other places. He went there to talk about something intensely private to him, the death of his son, First LieutenantRobert Michael kelly, died in 2010 in afghanistan after stepping on a land mine. He was 29 years old. Kelly said he wants americans to know what it means to be a gold star parent, and he started in a dark and clinical place. He started by talking about what happens when a member of the military is killed. Their buddies wrapped him up in whatever passes as a shroud, puts him on a helicopter as a routine, and sends him home. Their first stop along the way is when they are packed in ice, typically at the air head, and then theyre flown to usually europe where they are then packed in ice again and flown to Dover Air Force base where dover takes care of the remains, em balms them, meticulously dresses them in their uniform with the medals that theyve earned, the emblems of their service, and then puts them on another airplane linked up with the casualty officer escort that takes them home. The general continued again hoping to put an end to political conversations involving gold star families. Their conversations the president started earlier this week. He was asked tuesday why he hadnt heard from we hadnt heard from him yet about these four u. S. Soldiers killed in niger in africa. And he answered by questioning whether his predecessors called the families of the men and women killed in action during their time. Today kelly continued to talk about his son. He fritried to protect somethin our nation has always held sacred, the sacrifice made on the battle field. If you elect to call a family like this, it is about the most difficult thing you could imagine. Theres no perfect way to make that phone call. When i took this job and talked to President Trump about how to do it, my first recommendation was he not do it because its not the phone call that parents, family members are looking forward to. Its nice to do, in my opinion, in any event. He asked me about previous president s and i said, i can tell you that president obama, who was my commander in chief in active duty, did not call my family. That was not a criticism, that was just to simply say i dont believe president obama called. Thats not a negative thing. Let me tell you what my best friend joe dunford told me, because he was my casualty officer. He said, kel, he was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1 . He knew what the possibilities were because were at war. And when he died, in the four cases were talking about, four in niger, my son in afghanistan, when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this earth, his friends. Thats what the president tried to say to four families the other day. I was stunned when i came to work yesterday morning and broken hearted at what i saw a member of congress doing. Member of congress who listened in on a phone call from the president of the United States to a young wife. And in his way tried to express that opinion. Hes a brave man, a fallen hero. It stuns me that a member of congress would have listened in on that conversation. Absolutely stuns me. And i thought, at least that was sacred. The only thing i could do to collect my thoughts was to go and walk among the finest men and women on this earth. You can always find them because theyre in Arlington National cemetery. Went over there for an hour and a half, walked among the stones, to do when they were killed. And i appeal to america that lets not let this be a line that is held sacred in our society, a young man, a young woman going out and giving his or her life for our country. Lets try to somehow keep that sacred. Our lead off panel tonight, robert costa, National Political reporter for the washington post, moderator of Washington Week on pbs. Jeremy peters, the New York Times political reporter and an msnbc contributor. And Eugene Robinson here with us in new york, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the washington post. Eugene, i watched your coverage in the moment with Nicole Wallace this afternoon. And i still want to ask you what was that that we witnessed . Was that one event . Was it five different concurrent events . It was a man coming out to speak in three different roles at the same time. He spoke as the white house chief of staff. He spoke as a four star general, and he spoke as a grieving father. The vividness of his description of what happens when a member of the armed forces is killed in action, the shipping of the body home packed in ice, packed in ice, unforgettable, searing and deeply moving. Removed a few hours, these days its like a few months because as long as we get to ruminate on the news cycle, im struck by a couple of things that general kelly actually didnt say. He actually didnt say, for example, that any of the reports of what president said President Trump said in that conversation were wrong. He seemed to indicate they were right. And second, he didnt indicate that he really had much of an understanding of why congresswoman Frederica Wilson was there at the time of the phone call. She had known this family for decades. Uhhuh. She was principal of the school that la David Johnsons father attended. He was in a mentoring program that she ran. She was a very close friend of the family which had called on her in a time of grief and she was there to be supportive. As was the woman who had raised la david johnson, Sergeant Johnson as his mother raised him like a son. They were there. The phone call as i understand was on speaker, which sounded the president of the United States called, its an occasion, its a moment. And they were appalled at what they heard. Rightly or wrongly, they were, and it wasnt intended to deepen mrs. Johnsons grief, the widow, but clearly it did. And he didnt general kelly didnt seem to quite understand that entire story. By the way, myesha johnson, we should repeat, 24 years old, the mother of two little children, two months away from having their third. I want to put back on the screen, the fake news is going crazy with wacky congresswoman wilson who was secretly on a very personal call and gave a total lie on content. Robert, it was speculated today that part of general kellys message was aimed through the door back around the hall, turn left to the oval office. But clearly from this, it was not the end of the topic. Thats right, brian. I think gene said it well in the sense that general kelly did not contest the Actual Exchange between the president and the family that was heard by the congresswoman. And he railed against in a broadway the politicalization of these experiences and interactions. That was the critique general kelly made rather than something about the content of that conversation. Jeremy, does anything change as a result of today . I think, brian, general kelly did made the best of a really unfortunate situation in that he left americans with this indelible image of what happens when an american makes the ultimate sacrifice. And in that sense tried to remove this from politics. I think that where this gets more complicated for the general and for the president is that he inevitably had to bring it back to politics by defending a president who turned this into the blowup that it became, by attacking the congresswoman, by saying that he had proof that she was lying about the conversation. General kelly found himself in the position that so many of Donald Trumps aides have found themselves in the past, and that is defending the indefensible. And unfortunately, it mired what would have otherwise been a solemn, sober occasion in politics. We mentioned this at the top. I want to share some of this with our audience tonight. We heard from two former president s today who used strong words to speak out against division and anger in our politics. President obama campaigned for the First Time Since leaving the white house for Democratic Candidates for governor in new jersey and then tonight in virginia. At a time when our politics just seem so divided and so angry and so nasty, is whether we can recapture that spirit, whether we support and embrace somebody who wants to bring people together. Yes, we can. You notice, i havent been commenting a lot on politics lately. But heres one thing i know. If you have to win a campaign by dividing people, youre not going to be able to govern them. President bush spoke out forcefully in new york. His Spokesman Says donald trump was not the intended target, but a source close to bush acknowledged to our colleague and his old Communications DirectorNicole Wallace, he was aware of how his remarks would be received. And in the current Political Climate and confirmed that the president drafted the speech himself with the assistance of a couple of trusted aides. Bigotry seems emboldened. Our politics seems more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and outright fabrication. Weve seen our discourse degraded by casual cruelty. At times it can seem like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Weve seen nationalism distorted into nativism. Weve forgotten the dynamism. Bullying provides permission for cruelty and bigotry and compromises the moral education of children. The only way to pass along civic values is to first live up to them. Eugene, talk about the power of our former president s, the most exclusive club in the world. It really is. And what an extraordinary day when you hear barack obama, a liberal democrat, and george w. Bush, a conservative republican, speaking as one. Yes. Two parts of the same speech. That really tells us all, i think, what a departure the Trump Administration and trumpism at large really is from the american tradition. At least from recent american political tradition, going back many decades. This is unlike anything weve seen. This is unlike the normal back and forth between republican and democrat democratic administrations, between liberal and conservative policies. This is something new and something quite different. Robert costa, our club of former president s as we call it, the most exclusive in the world, theres no clubhouse certainly, but there have been de facto rules. And one of them is you let the new guy and so far theyve all been guys get their administration started. You lay back, no matter how fierce your differences. Thats another way of saying it took a lot. It takes a lot for these men to speak the way they did today. It does, brian. Were also watching in real time the outrage of the political establishment in this country that abides by those norms that weve seen in this country for decades, seen them unravel in front of their eyes when it comes to Foreign Policy and domestic policy. Not only by President Trump, but by the people around him, and thats why senator mccain and president george w. Bush are coming out and speaking so viscerally about these norms and what they believe are institutions and values that embody america because steve bannon and President Trump and that whole wing of the Republican Party are trying to tear it down. Jeremy, youre the guy who gets to hit with the bases loaded since its baseball season. You get the tough one. To what end . To what end . I wish that i could say that this would be an awakening for republicans. There are a lot of republicans i hear saying that privately, but its not happening. There is no flood gate thats open, brian, from which republicans are all of a sudden saying, you know what . We are going to speak out against the Conspiracy Theory mongering and the bigotry that we fear has taken over our party. So, until they realize these republicans that there is no more political power to be derived from not speaking out against that, they wont do it. And you will be left with people like george w. Bush, john mccain, and a handful of others like bob corker who is retiring, people who are no longer in politics, no longer standing for reelection to be the moral voice within the party. That was a really depressing answer, but so well told. And i thank you. Thank you. Sorry about the tone of the questions tonight, gang. Our thanks to robert costa, jeremy peters, Eugene Robinson for being our leadoff panel on this busy day in politics. Still ahead, after we fit in our first break, well look at the investigation into why u. S. Forces are on the ground in nigeria in the middle of the african continent. But up next, two heavily decorated combat veterans of the vietnam war, retired four star general army general barry mccalf friday and medal of honor recipient Arnold Jack Jacobs on what happened today in that white house Briefing Room when the 11th hour continues. Its. Wakey wakey rise and shine oh my gosh how are you . Well watch this. I pop that in there. Press brew. Thats it. Look how much coffees in here . Fresh coffee. So rich. I love it. Thats why you should be a keurig man fullbodied. Are you sure youre describing the coffee and not me . Do you wear this every day . Everyday. Id never take it off. Are you ready to say goodbye to it . Go go ta da a terrarium. Thats it. We brewed the love, right guys . all yes. Youre searching for something. We brewed thwhoooo. Right guys . Like the perfect deal. On the perfect hotel. So wouldnt it be perfect if. There was a single site. Where you could find the. Right hotel for you at the best price . There is. Because tripadvisor now compares. 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General barry mccaffery, wounded many times in vietnam, heavily decorated for his combat actions. He went on to become a battle field commander in the persian gulf, retired with four starz. Retired colonel jack jacob, one of only 72 recipients of the medal of honor for his combat actions in vietnam. Both gentlemen msnbc military analysts. Jack, well start with you. You know general kelly. What did you make of today . I think he did as you reported, something he didnt want to do. I would have been happier had he not brought up the subject of ms. Wilson, and then it would have been an absolutely clean delivery. The president has doubled down on the congresswoman. Thats what happens when you make ad hominem arguments. It doesnt get it off the table. It brings it up again and makes it and recycles it and makes it much more difficult to get rid of. Was he as good representative for your beloved Armed Services . He said a really couple interesting things. They revolve around the wide gulf that exists between the people who are serving and the people who are being served. He asked whether or not anybody knew a gold star family. Well go deeper than that. I think the statistics prove that most americans do not know anybody in uniform. I think thats a dangerous thing and i was glad that general kelly brought it up. You used to say to me, you could go door to door and go to 250 houses in this modern era before you found a family, on average in the United States, connected to the military. I could do the math. I could do my third grade math, thats all. I grew up in new york city where every household made a contribution to defending the republic. You cant find that these days. General general mccaffery, same question to you. John kelly is one of the finest people ive met in my life. I agree with jack, im sorry he brought the congresswoman into it. Look, i just went to the dedication of a memorial at fort benning, missouri, to the empty museum of the nearly 7,000 killed in action fighting in the global war on terror. 60,000 killed and wounded, a thousand women killed and wounded. This has been an ongoing pretty intense combat action for a small number of