Transcripts For MSNBCW The 11th Hour With Brian Williams 201

Well, good evening once again from our nbc news hours here in new york. Day 725 of the trump administration. And day 24 of this Government Shutdown, which will become day 25 by the end of this broadcast. The stalemate over the budget that has cost 800,000 workers their paychecks entering week 4. New battle could erupt tomorrow in congress over william barr, trumps nominee for attorney general whos been critical in the past of the mueller inquiry. And this comes amid fallout from the new reporting about the president and russia. When last we spoke on friday night, the New York Times had just broken a story that donald trump had come under fbi scrutiny, for possibly working on behatch of russia. Then on sunday came the other story this one from the Washington Post, this one revealing, trump, quote, has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with russian president Vladimir Putin, including on at least one occasion taking possession of the notes of his own interpreter, and instructing the linguist not to discuss what happened with other Administration Officials. Trump spent the weekend fuming about the timetimes story on twitter unleashing a barrage of attacks aimed at the former leadership of the fbi, went after the news media and we quote, the fake news gets crazier and more dishonest every single day. Amazing to watch as certain people covering me and the tremendous success of this administration have truly gone mad. Their fake reporting created anger and disunity. Take two weeks off and come back rested. Chill. It wasnt all negative. He then tweeted out his excitement for the event he was own route to. Getting ready to address the Farm Convention today in nashville, tennessee. Love our farmers. The problem was the event was in new orleans. The tweet was taken down this morning before leaving the white house for new orleans. He responded to the claim the times article that he works for a foreign power hostile to the United States. Mr. President , yes or no, have you or are you now have you ever worked for russia . Yes or no . I never worked for russia. And you know that answer better than anybody. I never worked for russia. Not only did i never work for russia, i think its a disgrace that you even asked that question. Because its a whole big fat hoax. Do you know if youre currently the subject of a counterintelligence investigation . The people that started that investigation are mccabe, whos a proven liar and was fired from the fbi. Lisa page who was forced to leave the fbi and her lover, peter strzok, who we got their text messages. They started it because i fired comey, which was a great thing i did for our country. So the people doing that investigation were people that had been caught that are known scoundrels. Theyre i guess you could say theyre dirty cops. I have done a Great Service fur fur our country when i fired james comey because he was a bad cop and he was a dirty cop and h lied. The response from the president today was more direct than the one he gave judge Jeanine Pirro on fox news saturday fight. Are you now or have you ever worked for russia, mr. President . I think its the most insulting thing ive ever been asked. I think its the most insulting article ive ever had written. If you read the article, youd find they found absolutely nothing. The times and post stories raised concerns about past meetings with Vladimir Putin and House Democrats are considering issuing a subpoena to the interpreter for the notes taken during thehelsinki meeting in july. Before that meeting, leon panetta raised the possibility on this program that russia might have some influence over trump. Theres no question that there is something here that intimidates the president of the United States. Whether the russians have something on this president or not, no one really knows. But the way he behaves, there is a clear signal that the russians have something on him. Today, secretary panetta reacted to this latest reporting on whether trump was compromised by the russians. I think there were by what the president did here. Not only in the firing of comey, and the fact that he related that to the russian investigation, but also the other factors involved. With that, lets bring in our leadoff panel on a monday night. Here in new york, jeremy bash, former chief of staff at cia and the pentagon. Cynthia oxney, former federal prosecutor, veteran of the u. S. Justice department. Ats his post in d. C. Tonight, robert costa, National Political reporter for the Washington Post. Moderator of Washington Week on pbs. Welcome to you all. Jeremy, perhaps because we just heard from your former boss, id like to begin with you. Have we just entered another new period . We had the scene today of the president being asked on camera if he was working for the other team. Its unprecedented, brian, a word weve used often here over the last two years. What has really struck about me as i thought about it over the weekend is in the realm of a criminal investigation, theres a beginning, middle and an end. A threshold. Do we open an investigation . The middle. The investigation. An end, do we charge or not . With the counterintelligence investigation, the beginning is the threshold question. The middle is the investigation. The end, there is no end of a counterintelligence investigation. Save for the idea you have a policy respond. By whom . By the commander in chief. What do we do as a democracy, what do we do under our constitutional system . If the subject of the counterintelligence investigation, the counterintelligence threat, himself, is the commander in chief. We have no playbook for this. Cynthia, again, to the evidence we see in plain sight, what we hear from the president , what he says on twitter, when he calls former fbi officials dirty cops, does it call go into the hopper that mueller is presiding over . The Southern District of new york has to be charged and some point were going to have to look at this russia investigation, the obstruction and collusion and the compromising behavior and Foreign Policy behavior which is bizarre, makes no sense. It has to come forward and the American People have toyutsed to wait. Its such a threat to our country. People need to be able to trust their government. We need to get this sooner rather than later. Robert costa, your newspaper wrote about the president taking steps to conceal his communications oneonone with putin. Earlier on this network today, he talked about what led him down that path. Well listen to that, talk about it on the other side. People i talked to who even worked for this administration, worked in this white house, said that they had deep concerns about what was happening in these conversations all along. Didnt think it was a good idea to begin with to have these meetings. Let alone go into these meetings without staff, without a game plan, without a clear agenda. And then to come out of those meetings between trump and putin, and have little to no insight into what had transpired. Robert, everyones getting used to the new landscape. This would normally ignite what we used to call the base of the Republican Party. And it would ignite republican lawmakers. Walking around the capitol today, as senators returned to washington, brian, talked to many of them, pulled them aside for private conversations. Some of them went on record to reporters like senator romney from utah, saying he was taken aback by the president s decision and how he handled the interpreter. Its out of the mainstream of how president s in both parties have handled Foreign Policy. Yet, most republican senators told me the president still has the party in his grip so they dont want to be outraged to an extent that would cause some kind of major rupture in the party. But they are encouraging bill barr, the nominee for attorney general, to do what he did today, which is to say he will encourage the Mueller Report to be released to the public. Released to congress. These republicans, as much as the American People, have questions about the president s intent with these decisions. Is it just an outsider, isolated president , trying to be protective of his own message . Or is there a different intent . Thats what lawmakers are telling reporters as much the same way American People are raising their own questions. Jeremy bash, i want to play something for you from Carl Bernstein who used to write for the paper we now refer to as Robert Costas newspaper. This is about trump and putin. Well talk about it on the other side. He has done what appears to be putins goals. He has helped putin destabilize the United States and interfere in the election no matter whether it was purposeful or not and that is part of what the draft of muellers report, im told, is to be about. Ive asked you before on this broadcast, given your experience at cia and pentagon, especially, diminishing nato, that starts the list. What a return on a minimal investment, if its all true for putin . Resisting sanctions. Undermining nato and other International Institutions as you noted. Also, the president took the word of the former kgb spy mast master helsinki, Vladimir Putin, over our own. The pullout of syria which was, of course, what drove secretary resign. Hes enacting the most obsequious, most deferential, proputin policy in our nations history and the question has to be why. Of course, maybe hes a genius of american Foreign Policy. I dont think so. Maybe they have derogatory information on him. A much more likely explanation are the financial ties. Longstanding financial ties between the Trump Organization and Russian Federation of which the moscow trump tower project was to be Donald Trumps salvation. Cynthia, going to find a creative way to ask you the question i always ask you. Where is mueller, what do k you think hell be seeking next, who are you watching next . When any of us go out in the wild, were asked some version of this question. Im just asking it to you on television. Well, i will tell you this. Carl bernstein says hes told whats going to be in the Mueller Report. Yeah. I dont believe that. You dont think mueller has suddenly decided i mean, Carl Bernstein is an icon. Think hes a wonderful guy. Im sure he is. But i dont ingmuellers operation. Theres also a status conference in the gates case. Now, if mueller is going to go forward on sentening gates, were going to learn something about if hes getting closer. Thats what im looking at tomorrow in addition to looking forward to spending time with you on the bar. We sure are going to do the latter. Yes, robert . I was with bob woodward tonight and he made a point about how the luxury of time is the key to reporting. And that watergate took so long to unfold. It wasnt just the 72 breakin, it wasnt until august of 74 that goldwater and others in the Republican Party go to nixon and tell him he doesnt have the votes to survive an impeachment or a trial in the senate. So the only point i would say is there is an appetite to get the Mueller Report, but these things have to play out. Tonight and he made a point about how the luxury of time is the key to reporting. And that watergate took so long to unfold. It wasnt just the 72 breakin, it wasnt until august of 74 that goldwater and others in the Republican Party go to nixon and tell him he doesnt have the votes to survive an impeachment or a trial in the senate. So the only point i would say is there is an appetite to get the Mueller Report, but these things have to play out. The Republican Party may take its time coming to the facts of whatever mueller concludes. And its just, its still early in this process. Well, weve hit all the big names except for ben bradley, and of course, we around here also have to live with our friends from the New York Times, but with that, our thanks to jeremy bash, to synth yi alksne, to robert costa. Greatly appreciate you starting off our conversation tonight. And coming up, how two days in hamburg, germany, in july 2017 could potentially unlock several questions central to muellers investigation. And later, the shutdown continues. No end in sight. Theres a new Bipartisan Group of senators trying to come up with something, but will they be able to sway the president holding out for a wall or a barrier or a fence . The 11th hour just Getting Started for a new week. I am a family man. I am a techie dad. I believe the best technology should feel effortless. Like magic. At comcast, its my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. My name is mike, im in Product Development at comcast. Were working to make things simple, easy and awesome. Welcome back. We want to dig a little l deeper into this Washington Post reporting that says President Trump has concealed details of his meetings with Vladimir Putin from senior officials from his own administration. Greg miller doing the reporting that trump actually took possession of his interpreters notes after a july 2017 meeting in hamburg, germany, with putin, rex tillerson, and sergey lavrov. The report also says trump told the interpreter not to discuss what happened in the meeting with other Administration Officials. Today, andrew weiss of the Carnegie Foundation was among those pointing out how the president s explanation of the june 2016 trump tower meeting overlapped with his meeting with putin in hamburg. On the morning of july 7th, 2017, the New York Times told the white house that it learned about the trump tower meeting with Trump Campaign officials and russians and asked for comment. Later that afternoon in germany, trump met for 2 1 2 hours with putin, tillerson and lavrov. This would be the meeting where trump reportedly seized his interpreters notes. The same evening, trump, again, spoke with putin during a g20 dinner. Putins interpreter was the only other person present. We actually learned about that meeting about a week later. The very next day, july 8th, 2017, as trump was flying back from hamburg, he dictated the misleading statement, the cover story, his son, don junior, would later release about the trump tower meeting. That statement said the meeting, as you recall, was primarily about adoptions of russian children. Nearly two weeks later, july 19th of 2017, president sat down for an interview with the New York Times and he was asked about that second meeting with putin back on july 7th. Was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes. Just talked about things. Actually, it was very interesting, we talked about adoption. You did . Russian adoption. Yeah. I always found that interesting because, you know, he ended that years ago. And i actually talked about russian adoption with him, which is interesting because that was a part of the conversation that don had. We asked two of our guests to return to this segment to talk about this. Jeremy bash and robert costa. Jeremy, youve spent a lot of your lifes work in this area. Whats the story here . Why isnt this normal behavior . Well, the reason why you have staff that gets readouts of president ial conversations with foreign leaders is the staff and the senior aides can follow up, so when they go into the followon negotiations, say, with the Russian Nuclear negotiating team, they actually know positions our president has taken and they can enforce some tough deals, but if, in fact, our team doesnt know exactly what the boss said or what he might have given away in a sensitive negotiation, then, in fact, the russian team holds all the cards. They know more. They can hold the line, and they know that our president , for example, in this example, wont back his own team up. So in effect, what the russians have done by isolating trump is theyve essentially made him play for the other side. Play for the other team. Robert costa, i keep wanting to ask you what republicans think theyre preparing for. And do you notice more and more kind of peelaway defections . More and more you see republicans raising concerns privately, sometimes publicly, but they also feel boxed in. Brian, they tell me that when it comes to the Mueller Report, they believe the president is breaking norm after norm. Hes eroding these institutions, whether its the Intelligence Community or the department of justice. But having dealt with him up close, they say the same thing ive seen up close as a reporter covering him. This was someone, and its no excuse, someone whos unprepared for the presidency and is known to tear up documents when he meets with congressional leaders, is known to ignore the process for almost everything. Domestic policy, Foreign Policy, making decisions on the fly, going outside of the chain of command, and so when they look at Government Shutdown<\/a>, which will become day 25 by the end of this broadcast. The stalemate over the budget that has cost 800,000 workers their paychecks entering week 4. New battle could erupt tomorrow in congress over william barr, trumps nominee for attorney general whos been critical in the past of the mueller inquiry. And this comes amid fallout from the new reporting about the president and russia. When last we spoke on friday night, the New York Times<\/a> had just broken a story that donald trump had come under fbi scrutiny, for possibly working on behatch of russia. Then on sunday came the other story this one from the Washington Post<\/a>, this one revealing, trump, quote, has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with russian president Vladimir Putin<\/a>, including on at least one occasion taking possession of the notes of his own interpreter, and instructing the linguist not to discuss what happened with other Administration Officials<\/a>. Trump spent the weekend fuming about the timetimes story on twitter unleashing a barrage of attacks aimed at the former leadership of the fbi, went after the news media and we quote, the fake news gets crazier and more dishonest every single day. Amazing to watch as certain people covering me and the tremendous success of this administration have truly gone mad. Their fake reporting created anger and disunity. Take two weeks off and come back rested. Chill. It wasnt all negative. He then tweeted out his excitement for the event he was own route to. Getting ready to address the Farm Convention<\/a> today in nashville, tennessee. Love our farmers. The problem was the event was in new orleans. The tweet was taken down this morning before leaving the white house for new orleans. He responded to the claim the times article that he works for a foreign power hostile to the United States<\/a>. Mr. President , yes or no, have you or are you now have you ever worked for russia . Yes or no . I never worked for russia. And you know that answer better than anybody. I never worked for russia. Not only did i never work for russia, i think its a disgrace that you even asked that question. Because its a whole big fat hoax. Do you know if youre currently the subject of a counterintelligence investigation . The people that started that investigation are mccabe, whos a proven liar and was fired from the fbi. Lisa page who was forced to leave the fbi and her lover, peter strzok, who we got their text messages. They started it because i fired comey, which was a great thing i did for our country. So the people doing that investigation were people that had been caught that are known scoundrels. Theyre i guess you could say theyre dirty cops. I have done a Great Service<\/a> fur fur our country when i fired james comey because he was a bad cop and he was a dirty cop and h lied. The response from the president today was more direct than the one he gave judge Jeanine Pirro<\/a> on fox news saturday fight. Are you now or have you ever worked for russia, mr. President . I think its the most insulting thing ive ever been asked. I think its the most insulting article ive ever had written. If you read the article, youd find they found absolutely nothing. The times and post stories raised concerns about past meetings with Vladimir Putin<\/a> and House Democrats<\/a> are considering issuing a subpoena to the interpreter for the notes taken during thehelsinki meeting in july. Before that meeting, leon panetta raised the possibility on this program that russia might have some influence over trump. Theres no question that there is something here that intimidates the president of the United States<\/a>. Whether the russians have something on this president or not, no one really knows. But the way he behaves, there is a clear signal that the russians have something on him. Today, secretary panetta reacted to this latest reporting on whether trump was compromised by the russians. I think there were by what the president did here. Not only in the firing of comey, and the fact that he related that to the russian investigation, but also the other factors involved. With that, lets bring in our leadoff panel on a monday night. Here in new york, jeremy bash, former chief of staff at cia and the pentagon. Cynthia oxney, former federal prosecutor, veteran of the u. S. Justice department. Ats his post in d. C. Tonight, robert costa, National Political<\/a> reporter for the Washington Post<\/a>. Moderator of Washington Week<\/a> on pbs. Welcome to you all. Jeremy, perhaps because we just heard from your former boss, id like to begin with you. Have we just entered another new period . We had the scene today of the president being asked on camera if he was working for the other team. Its unprecedented, brian, a word weve used often here over the last two years. What has really struck about me as i thought about it over the weekend is in the realm of a criminal investigation, theres a beginning, middle and an end. A threshold. Do we open an investigation . The middle. The investigation. An end, do we charge or not . With the counterintelligence investigation, the beginning is the threshold question. The middle is the investigation. The end, there is no end of a counterintelligence investigation. Save for the idea you have a policy respond. By whom . By the commander in chief. What do we do as a democracy, what do we do under our constitutional system . If the subject of the counterintelligence investigation, the counterintelligence threat, himself, is the commander in chief. We have no playbook for this. Cynthia, again, to the evidence we see in plain sight, what we hear from the president , what he says on twitter, when he calls former fbi officials dirty cops, does it call go into the hopper that mueller is presiding over . The Southern District<\/a> of new york has to be charged and some point were going to have to look at this russia investigation, the obstruction and collusion and the compromising behavior and Foreign Policy<\/a> behavior which is bizarre, makes no sense. It has to come forward and the American People<\/a> have toyutsed to wait. Its such a threat to our country. People need to be able to trust their government. We need to get this sooner rather than later. Robert costa, your newspaper wrote about the president taking steps to conceal his communications oneonone with putin. Earlier on this network today, he talked about what led him down that path. Well listen to that, talk about it on the other side. People i talked to who even worked for this administration, worked in this white house, said that they had deep concerns about what was happening in these conversations all along. Didnt think it was a good idea to begin with to have these meetings. Let alone go into these meetings without staff, without a game plan, without a clear agenda. And then to come out of those meetings between trump and putin, and have little to no insight into what had transpired. Robert, everyones getting used to the new landscape. This would normally ignite what we used to call the base of the Republican Party<\/a>. And it would ignite republican lawmakers. Walking around the capitol today, as senators returned to washington, brian, talked to many of them, pulled them aside for private conversations. Some of them went on record to reporters like senator romney from utah, saying he was taken aback by the president s decision and how he handled the interpreter. Its out of the mainstream of how president s in both parties have handled Foreign Policy<\/a>. Yet, most republican senators told me the president still has the party in his grip so they dont want to be outraged to an extent that would cause some kind of major rupture in the party. But they are encouraging bill barr, the nominee for attorney general, to do what he did today, which is to say he will encourage the Mueller Report<\/a> to be released to the public. Released to congress. These republicans, as much as the American People<\/a>, have questions about the president s intent with these decisions. Is it just an outsider, isolated president , trying to be protective of his own message . Or is there a different intent . Thats what lawmakers are telling reporters as much the same way American People<\/a> are raising their own questions. Jeremy bash, i want to play something for you from Carl Bernstein<\/a> who used to write for the paper we now refer to as Robert Costas<\/a> newspaper. This is about trump and putin. Well talk about it on the other side. He has done what appears to be putins goals. He has helped putin destabilize the United States<\/a> and interfere in the election no matter whether it was purposeful or not and that is part of what the draft of muellers report, im told, is to be about. Ive asked you before on this broadcast, given your experience at cia and pentagon, especially, diminishing nato, that starts the list. What a return on a minimal investment, if its all true for putin . Resisting sanctions. Undermining nato and other International Institutions<\/a> as you noted. Also, the president took the word of the former kgb spy mast master helsinki, Vladimir Putin<\/a>, over our own. The pullout of syria which was, of course, what drove secretary resign. Hes enacting the most obsequious, most deferential, proputin policy in our nations history and the question has to be why. Of course, maybe hes a genius of american Foreign Policy<\/a>. I dont think so. Maybe they have derogatory information on him. A much more likely explanation are the financial ties. Longstanding financial ties between the Trump Organization<\/a> and Russian Federation<\/a> of which the moscow trump tower project was to be Donald Trumps<\/a> salvation. Cynthia, going to find a creative way to ask you the question i always ask you. Where is mueller, what do k you think hell be seeking next, who are you watching next . When any of us go out in the wild, were asked some version of this question. Im just asking it to you on television. Well, i will tell you this. Carl bernstein says hes told whats going to be in the Mueller Report<\/a>. Yeah. I dont believe that. You dont think mueller has suddenly decided i mean, Carl Bernstein<\/a> is an icon. Think hes a wonderful guy. Im sure he is. But i dont ingmuellers operation. Theres also a status conference in the gates case. Now, if mueller is going to go forward on sentening gates, were going to learn something about if hes getting closer. Thats what im looking at tomorrow in addition to looking forward to spending time with you on the bar. We sure are going to do the latter. Yes, robert . I was with bob woodward tonight and he made a point about how the luxury of time is the key to reporting. And that watergate took so long to unfold. It wasnt just the 72 breakin, it wasnt until august of 74 that goldwater and others in the Republican Party<\/a> go to nixon and tell him he doesnt have the votes to survive an impeachment or a trial in the senate. So the only point i would say is there is an appetite to get the Mueller Report<\/a>, but these things have to play out. Tonight and he made a point about how the luxury of time is the key to reporting. And that watergate took so long to unfold. It wasnt just the 72 breakin, it wasnt until august of 74 that goldwater and others in the Republican Party<\/a> go to nixon and tell him he doesnt have the votes to survive an impeachment or a trial in the senate. So the only point i would say is there is an appetite to get the Mueller Report<\/a>, but these things have to play out. The Republican Party<\/a> may take its time coming to the facts of whatever mueller concludes. And its just, its still early in this process. Well, weve hit all the big names except for ben bradley, and of course, we around here also have to live with our friends from the New York Times<\/a>, but with that, our thanks to jeremy bash, to synth yi alksne, to robert costa. Greatly appreciate you starting off our conversation tonight. And coming up, how two days in hamburg, germany, in july 2017 could potentially unlock several questions central to muellers investigation. And later, the shutdown continues. No end in sight. Theres a new Bipartisan Group<\/a> of senators trying to come up with something, but will they be able to sway the president holding out for a wall or a barrier or a fence . The 11th hour just Getting Started<\/a> for a new week. I am a family man. I am a techie dad. I believe the best technology should feel effortless. Like magic. At comcast, its my job to develop, apps and tools that simplify your experience. My name is mike, im in Product Development<\/a> at comcast. Were working to make things simple, easy and awesome. Welcome back. We want to dig a little l deeper into this Washington Post<\/a> reporting that says President Trump<\/a> has concealed details of his meetings with Vladimir Putin<\/a> from senior officials from his own administration. Greg miller doing the reporting that trump actually took possession of his interpreters notes after a july 2017 meeting in hamburg, germany, with putin, rex tillerson, and sergey lavrov. The report also says trump told the interpreter not to discuss what happened in the meeting with other Administration Officials<\/a>. Today, andrew weiss of the Carnegie Foundation<\/a> was among those pointing out how the president s explanation of the june 2016 trump tower meeting overlapped with his meeting with putin in hamburg. On the morning of july 7th, 2017, the New York Times<\/a> told the white house that it learned about the trump tower meeting with Trump Campaign<\/a> officials and russians and asked for comment. Later that afternoon in germany, trump met for 2 1 2 hours with putin, tillerson and lavrov. This would be the meeting where trump reportedly seized his interpreters notes. The same evening, trump, again, spoke with putin during a g20 dinner. Putins interpreter was the only other person present. We actually learned about that meeting about a week later. The very next day, july 8th, 2017, as trump was flying back from hamburg, he dictated the misleading statement, the cover story, his son, don junior, would later release about the trump tower meeting. That statement said the meeting, as you recall, was primarily about adoptions of russian children. Nearly two weeks later, july 19th of 2017, president sat down for an interview with the New York Times<\/a> and he was asked about that second meeting with putin back on july 7th. Was not a long conversation, but it was, you know, could be 15 minutes. Just talked about things. Actually, it was very interesting, we talked about adoption. You did . Russian adoption. Yeah. I always found that interesting because, you know, he ended that years ago. And i actually talked about russian adoption with him, which is interesting because that was a part of the conversation that don had. We asked two of our guests to return to this segment to talk about this. Jeremy bash and robert costa. Jeremy, youve spent a lot of your lifes work in this area. Whats the story here . Why isnt this normal behavior . Well, the reason why you have staff that gets readouts of president ial conversations with foreign leaders is the staff and the senior aides can follow up, so when they go into the followon negotiations, say, with the Russian Nuclear<\/a> negotiating team, they actually know positions our president has taken and they can enforce some tough deals, but if, in fact, our team doesnt know exactly what the boss said or what he might have given away in a sensitive negotiation, then, in fact, the russian team holds all the cards. They know more. They can hold the line, and they know that our president , for example, in this example, wont back his own team up. So in effect, what the russians have done by isolating trump is theyve essentially made him play for the other side. Play for the other team. Robert costa, i keep wanting to ask you what republicans think theyre preparing for. And do you notice more and more kind of peelaway defections . More and more you see republicans raising concerns privately, sometimes publicly, but they also feel boxed in. Brian, they tell me that when it comes to the Mueller Report<\/a>, they believe the president is breaking norm after norm. Hes eroding these institutions, whether its the Intelligence Community<\/a> or the department of justice. But having dealt with him up close, they say the same thing ive seen up close as a reporter covering him. This was someone, and its no excuse, someone whos unprepared for the presidency and is known to tear up documents when he meets with congressional leaders, is known to ignore the process for almost everything. Domestic policy, Foreign Policy<\/a>, making decisions on the fly, going outside of the chain of command, and so when they look at Foreign Policy<\/a> decisions like that decision with the interpreter, theyre not surprised. Stunned, but not surprised. And with mueller, theyre just hanging on hoping he doesnt somehow fire the special counsel and they want clarity as much as anyone else, but they also know hes the political beating heart of the gop, and a party now thats consumed by trump, what is it without trump . Theyre not really sure. Well, the New York Times<\/a> is now on the board, as they say. This was just handed to me. Jeremy, we just talked about nato. Ill read the first three paragraphs. There are few things that president Vladimir Putin<\/a> of russia desires more than the weakening of nato. The military alliance among the u. S. , europe and canada that has deterred soviet and russian aggression for 70 years. Last year, President Trump<\/a> suggested a move tantamount to destroying nato. The withdrawal of the United States<\/a>. Senior Administration Officials<\/a> told the New York Times<\/a> that several times over the course of 2018, mr. Trump privately said he wanted to withdraw from nato. Current and former officials who support the alliance said they feared mr. Trump could return to his threat as allied military spending continued to lag behind the goals the president had set. This is what we were talking about. And ive heard Senior National<\/a> Security Officials<\/a> in washington say that on the morning that this happened, on the morning that trump actually threatened to pull out of nato, the aides were emailing back and forth and actually looking up on wikipedia, of all things, can the United States<\/a>, in fact, unilaterally withdraw from this multilateral treaty and what, in fact, would be the repercussions . It was only because of the intervention by senior aides including john kelly at the end of the day that the president didnt go to the microphones and withdraw america from nato. But think about how much Vladimir Putin<\/a> has achieved by getting an american president to the brink of destroying the one Multinational Coalition<\/a> that has served as the primary check on soviet, as you mentioned, and now russian expansionism . And robert, this dovetails with our conversation with you tonight that what qualifies as the mainstream Republican Party<\/a>, people who would identify themselves as patriots who realize the postwar alliance has kept the peace largely on this planet, would normally come out forcefully and vocally about this piece . At first, many republicans thought in 2017 that President Trump<\/a>, along with steve bannon, were these nationalists who were taking over the government. Now, two years on, that idea has fallen away as bannon has fallen away and others have left, and what they really are left with is a president who sees politics and Foreign Policy<\/a> in the same prism he saw real estate, transactional. He always believes someone else is cutting the corner, trying to play a scheme on him or the United States<\/a>. So he doesnt think about things actually in those nationalistic terms in the way bannon does. Its about the transaction. If he doesnt see the money coming in from u. S. Allies, hes prone to say to his own advise otherwise, lets just get the heck out of nato and this has alarmed many within the administration, but, again, stunned but not surprised by those close to jeremy. This is going to be a major flashpoint, brian, between democrats and the white house. Theyre going to want to talk to the interpreter, see the interpreters notes, talk to the Rex Tillersons<\/a> and current secretary mike pompeo about all of these issues. This is an area where the president under our constitutional system has the most power and probably the most prerogative to say, hold it right there, congress, im not sharing this Sensitive Information<\/a> with you, only i can dictate american Foreign Policy<\/a>. Here, brian, we dont have a real remedy for it other than the i word, impeachment. If the congress of the United States<\/a> thinks that american Foreign Policy<\/a> has been corruptly obtained, obtained for improper, maybe illegal purposes, thats the impeachment issue that the democrats in the house will have to grapple with. And robert, before we lose you, lets take just a minute to talk about congress. Friday nights congress, congress had been adjourned. Lot of folks leaving town. The speaker of the house wanted it passed along to members of our audience that she did not leave town. She stayed and stayed on duty in case there was a phone call from the other end of town about solving this Government Shutdown<\/a>. The federal government, 800,000 workers, and, again, all the contractors who rely on their business, out of work and out of money temporarily. How, in your view, does this end, robert . I just posted my story tonight with my colleagues about all this, and the real story, in short, is that the same exasperation and alarm that people are talking about with the president on russia, the investigation, Foreign Policy<\/a>, is being expressed by both republicans and democrats on domestic policy. 24 days into this shutdown, people are not really sure how to interact with the president on the russia question, theyre not really sure how to interact with him on this shutdown. The democrats say were not negotiating on the wall until this governments reopened and republicans today talking to them at the senate, theyre scrambling, theyre trying to do something. They also know the president just wont budge and the president s defiant, amid all this, and so leader mcconnell is telling senator cornyn and others, were not going to even bring something to the floor to give our senators and out because the president is not going to sign it. Theres no inside game here where theyre whispering among each other about cutting some kind of deal to bring to the floor. At this point, theyre paralyzed. That was the political paralysis was the story today. Also in that local paper we have here in new york, because the democrats want credit for staying in town and staying in the game, they write that while about 30 democratic lawmakers, most of whom are members of the congressional hispanic caucus, spent the weekend at an annual winter retreat in puerto rico. Miss pelosi spent the entire weekend in washington. According to a spokeswoman. Noted. Jeremy bash, robert costa. Gentlemen, thank you, both. And coming up, the president s fix to become the next attorney general fields questions from senators. Just over ten hours from now. Well preview William Barrs<\/a> confirmation hearing and what it could mean for the above subject matter, the russia investigation writ large. Investigation writ large im honored that the president has selected me for the position of attorney general. Its not a position that i pursued. I never thought i would be named attorney general or nominated to be attorney general. Long time ago, we were all younger then. William barr speaking during his first confirmation hearing back in 1991. Hes had the job before, and now has been nominated to be attorney general for a second time, and tomorrow, day one of his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary<\/a> committee. The Associated Press<\/a> reports tonight that barr sent white house lawyers a copy of that memo arguing the president could not have obstructed justice by firing exfbi director james comey. Barr sent that memo while still in private practice months before he was chosen by trump for a. G. Meanwhile, nbc news has obtained a copy of barrs prepared remarks. In them, he plans to tell senators, i believe it is vitally important that the special counsel be allowed to complete his investigation. I also believe it is very important that the public and congress be informed of the results of the special counsels work. For that reason, my goal will be to provide as much transparency as i can, consistent with the law. Brings us to our next guest who we heard from earlier. Cynthia alksne is back with us. As we mentioned, former federal prosecutor. Importantly, who was appointed under william barr. So we got any potential bias out on the table. What does he need to do or say tomorrow in addition to these prepared remarks . What signal does he need to send to the majority of the American People<\/a> who want to know whats in this investigation . Well, first of all, i dont think its good enough to say we need to know the results because giulianis already announced they want to edit the results. So the results have to come from mueller. The American People<\/a> need to know what does mueller think . Not what does giuliani think, not what does the white house think, what does barr think . They need to know what mueller thinks, and we have to, in the next couple days, nail him down on that. He cant have any it depends on the meaning of is, we cant have any of the gamesmanship. He has to directly say hes going to let us know exactly what mueller thinks and hes not going to edit it. I think thats really important. Is is that up to him . Is sure. Thats up to him. Hes going to be in control. Absolutely. Now, there are some things he has to do. For example, there will be grand jury material which is secret by law. That has to come out. I think everybodys going to give him that. But you cant have mueller writing a 400page report and then barr and giuliani writing a 20page executive summary and think thats acceptable. It is not. So hes got to be very clear, there cant be any wiggle room in that. Thats one thing he has to do. Another thing he has to do is say im going to submit myself to the ethics people at justice then im going to do what they say because thats not what happened with whitaker. Another thing he needs to do, he needs to say, not only am i going to give the report to the American People<\/a> and im going to let it go through, im not going to interfere. Remember, whitaker talked on cnn about his gamesmanship ideas, about, well, we could just strangle it financially, we could just not approve this, not approve that, or travel or indictments or subpoenas. He has to promise hes not going to do that. Hes not hes going to give us the results. Hes not going to interfere. And he is going to submit to ethics and abide by what the ethics people say. This is where we come back to the fact that he is your former boss. And at the end of the day, as youve said on this broadcast, you regard him as an institutionalist. I do. Who believes in the rigger and good work of the Justice Department<\/a> in the end. I do. Maybe im being naive. You get to the Justice Department<\/a>, you get a big certificate and the attorney general signs it and its a big deal. He signed mine and im proud of it and i just hope, you know, i so love my Justice Department<\/a> time, and i love looking at that kennedy statue and i love being walking, click, click, click, in my high heels in those marble halls. And i just think it gets to you. And hes an institutionalist and theres no theres no other way to look at it. Look, the democrats dont have the votes to stop him. Hes going to be the next attorney general. Just get over it, everybody. Thats whats going to happen because the republicans dont buck trump. So hes going to be the attorney general. All we can do is to try to box him in to protect the Mueller Investigation<\/a>. And then theres all kinds of other side important issues that are happening. For example, the overview, the oversight of Police Departments<\/a> around the country that was happening with consent decrees in the obama administration, sessions has blocked all that and cut it all off. He did that right before he left. We need to go back to that. Excuse me. There are a lot of important legal issues that we can talk to him about, too, but the most important thing is the sanctity and the purity and the independence of bob mueller. And all we can quo do is hope that happens. Now, also know, bob mueller was the head of the Criminal Division<\/a> under barr. They know each other. These are not strangers. They trust each oother, they lik each other. Im hope l my impression of mueller which is full of respect and admiration, that is also rubbed off on the attorney general and that he will respect and leave mueller alone. Im going to ask you to say all of that again tomorrow morning when you join me for our coverage. Cynthia, what a pleasure. Thank you very much. Coming up, the Government Shutdown<\/a> could soon be a month old. How does this story end . No end in sight to this shutdown. Coming up on day 25 at the end of this broadcast. Hundreds of thousands of federal workers now going without pay. And for some of the contractors and vendors who serve those employees, this is money they will never recover. The president confirmed today he rejected that proposal put forward over the weekend by Lindsey Graham<\/a>, one of his best friends in the senate, to temporarily reopen the government, get it up and going again for three weeks. Democrats in the house have proposed two more bills to get people back to work. Tonight, a Bipartisan Group<\/a> of senators met to talk about a path forward, but none of it matters until the president gets onboard and leaders in the senate dont appear to be any closer to any compromise. Speaker of the house has decided that opposing President Trump<\/a> comes before the security of our borders. So here we are, mr. President , day 24 because the speaker of the house has decided that enforcing our own laws is now immoral. President trump started this shutdown. Hes the person continuing it. The fact that President Trump<\/a> refuses to consider our proposal l means that hes holding the government and the American People<\/a> hostage as a political tactic. Lets talk about it. With us here in new york, former republican member of congress from the state of jolly. In d. C. , nancy cook, white house political reporter foradvantage. You get to go first. How does this end . There this is a different Shutdown Scenario<\/a> than weve seen. Democrats are doing something very intriguing we havent seen particularly during two years of Donald Trumps<\/a> administration. Theyre ignoring the president. And its working. The numbers confirm that the American People<\/a> are suggesting donald trump is responsible for this. Democrats are being very disciplined. Now, they also are leaning in and passing responsible legislation. I think tomorrow theyre going to pass more legislation, push it over to mcconnell to keep the government open, but theyre not responding to the president s rants. Hes having to scream into his pillow, twitter account right now. They have to be very careful, though, they cant be seen as not being the adults in the room. If they have to engage with the president on Border Security<\/a>, specifically, explain why theyre opposed to the president s Border Security<\/a> plan, they have their own. Theres a saying in politics, if youre explaining, you aint campaigning. They have to be careful about that, be the adults in the room. Let the president throw his tantrums and ignore him. Nancy, you reported white house aides over the weekend were in the dark about how the president plans to proceed and if he has an offramp in mind, did that change at all today . Is no, it really didnt. And i feel like the offramps that were presented last week to him sort of seemed to be discarded. So there were ideas about taking money from disaster funding. There were ideas about taking money from the army corps of engineers. Worried about the hit that trump could take politically and the idea he posed last week about declaring a National Emergency<\/a> has largely been discarded. Were sort of back at square one with no real ideas and the president s also made it very clear that hes sort of the last arbiter of that and hes really undercut other white house staff including his acting chief of staff, mick mulvaney, and the Vice President<\/a> when theyve tried to present other options to congressional leaders. Congressman, you just said to me during the break, you come from a coast guard state. Lets talk about the part of this shutdown that oddly has hit the department of Homeland Security<\/a> disproportionately hard. Yeah, shutdowns get defined by these very human moments at some point. Theyre very hard to predict. Theres not a sympathy for federal employees. There should be. Theres not a natural sympathy for traditional bureaucrats, the swamp as donald trump likes to call it. There are sympaties for matters of security. People who are trying to fly. For instance, if tsa says we can no longer provide for the security of the traveling public. But your coast guardsmen and women tomorrow, i believe, will be the first day they go without pay. Theyre on a different pay cycle than federal employees who missed their first paycheck last friday. If youre talking about those young men and women serving in the United States<\/a> coast guard, particularly in communities that are coast guard communities, thats a human story. And so in shutshutdowns, you loo for that moment that can change the narrative and which leader, which political leader, which party steps up and says were going to fight for those people . The basic question continues, if you get in trouble out on the water tonight . Who are you going to call . Its going it be the United States<\/a> coast guard that arrives by helicopter or vessel to help you out. Lets just pause our conversation here. David jolly, nancy cook, have agreed to stick around. Coming up, this allout political war. Thats what the white house should prepare for according to new reporting. 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With the botox\u00ae savings program, most people with commercial insurance pay nothing out of pocket. Talk to your doctor and visit botoxchronicmigraine. Com to enroll. Welcome back. We alluded to this before the break. Here is how the New York Times<\/a> this weekend summed up what donald trump is now facing and we quote. With democrats now in charge of the house, the special counsel believed to be wrapping up his investigation, news Media Outlets<\/a> competing for scoops and the first articles of impeachment already filed, mr. Trump faces the prospect of an allout political war for survival that may make the still unresolved partial Government Shutdown<\/a> pale by comparison. Remaining with us, david jolly and nancy cook. Nancy, to you, first, is there a realization among the people who exchanges and offices that they are, in fact, looking at a titanic battle ahead of them . Absolutely. And the shutdown is honestly just sort of this extra cherry on top. I think that many white house aides really thought that 2019 would already be a tough year given the era of divided government we face. The democrats are quite eager to investigate cabinet officials, investigate the president s finances, request his tax returns. The Mueller Investigation<\/a> is really heating up. Theres all these bombshell russia stories. On top of that you have this Government Shutdown<\/a> that they cant figure out how to end politically. This is just sort of the beginning of a really long 24month slog for the white house. You have to keep in mind that theyre also starting to turn their attention to 2020. A bunch of white house aides have left for the campaign or are starting to think about you have to keep in mind that theyre also starting to turn their attention to 2020. A bunch of white house aides have left for the campaign or are starting to think about leaving for the campaign. Its just an amazing pressured situation for the president. He is really isolated at this point. Theres not a lot of people in the white house, not a lot of aides he feels comfortable with or he feels like he can trust. That adds to the pressure. Lets talk about steve king, republican of iowa who tonight was stripped of his Committee Assignments<\/a> because of whats within widely branded racist language from him. Before you and i talk, lets listen to mitt romney, the freshman u. S. Senator on the subject of this republican member of the house. Well, steve kings comments are reprehensible. They have no place in polite society, certainly no place in the Republican Party<\/a>. And they should have no place in the United States<\/a> congress. He ought to resign and move on and let someone else who represents American Values<\/a> take his seat. Congressman, that got my attention, first of all. Second of all, what can you do in congress beyond your voting card if you have no Committee Assignments<\/a> . Not much. They cant kick him out of the party. They cant rescind his election but they can say youre not going to be a part of the republican caucus. In iowa that matters if steve king is no longer on the agriculture committee. He is already being primaried. He very well might lose. Mitt romney is right. Republican leaders tonight were right to punish steve king. If it rings hollow for a lot of American People<\/a> its because of this. Political leaders, kevin mccarthy, mitt romney are defined not by the decisions they make when its easy like steve kings matter. Its when its hard like trump. Theyre afraid to confront their own president because its hard. During the campaign Lindsey Graham<\/a> called donald trump a racist xenophobic. The social justice work on people of color, nfl players. And so for kevin mccarthy, for mitt romney, for others, the words tonight really do ring hollow if youre just hitting steve king and youre not facing if elements within the party that gave steve king permission to say the words that he said. Nancy, a tributary off that point, steve king is not an enigma or a mystery or a riddle. People have known the guy and what he stand for and what he has said. Why these comments, why now . Well, you know, its fascinating to me that its happening now. I think its some of the first backlash that were potentially seeing against this type of rhetoric, which davids right, the president himself has sort of leaned on in the past. I think that what has happened is that king saw a much closer election result than he ever had before. You know, the margin that he won by was much smaller. And then the other thing was the republicans faced huge challenges during the midterms. They faced huge losses among suburban women in diverse comments. They were basically wiped off the map out of california. Kevin mccarthy is Still Holding<\/a> onto his seat, but i think republicans are realizing now that there is Political Risk<\/a> to these type of views even if steve king has held them for a long time and theyre realizing that politically they need to distance themselves at least for now heading into 2020 and the future of the party. Really appreciate it. Thank you both for coming on. Coming up, the shutdown cuisine. There it is. The president welcomed the Clemson Tigers<\/a> to the white house today. Cameras were there for the preparations and the odd jury excused the president in his overcoat later posed for this photo with said fast food. As he later explained, he says he paid for the meal himself because the Government Shutdown<\/a> has thinned out the ranks of the staff. Putting aside for the moment the debate over fast food and its merits or its appeal to college students, to the president s opening remarks we go. As youll hear, as some have already pointed out tonight, he seems to see a womans place as salad making. So i had a choice. Do we have no food for you because we have a shutdown . Or do we give you some little quick salads that the first lady will make along with the second lady. Theyll make some salads. I said you guys arent into salads. Or do i go out and send out for about 1,000 hamburgers, big macs. So we did. We bought a thousand. Burger king, wendys and mcdonalds. We have big macs, quarter pounders with cheese. We have everything that i like, that you like. I know theres nothing you could have thats better than that, right . Donald trump welcoming the Clemson Tigers<\/a> to the white house today. That is our broadcast for this monday night as we start a new week together. Thank you so much for being here with us. Good night from nbc news headquarters here in new york. Good night from nbc headquarters here in new york. On the heels of two explosive reports that raised questions about his ties to the kremlin President Trump<\/a> is insisting he never worked for russia calling the idea a big fat hoax. Confirmation hearings get under way for President Trump<\/a>s attorney general nominee william barr and democrats are expected to zero in on robert mueller. The real world impact of the Government Shutdown<\/a> is being felt across the country. At airports travellers are facing lone lines as a growing number of tsa screeners call off work. 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