Transcripts For KNTV Meet The Press 20240713

Paul. Plus impeachment trial. After a month of jockeying between Senate Leader Mitch Mcconnell im going to take my cues from the president s lawyers. And Speaker Nancy Pelosi ill send them over when im ready. Pelosi finally moves to send articles of impeachment to the senate having won no republican concessions. She should have sent them a long time ago. What will the senate trial look like . Ill talk to one of the jurors, Democrat Michael bennet of colorado. And 22 days to iowa. Iowa. Iowa. Iowa caucuses. Will the impeachment trial hamstring the senators running as a new iowa poll shows what now looks like a fourway sprint. Joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news chief correspondent Andrea Mitchell, david french, Yamiche Alcindor and stevinskeep, host of morning edition. Welcome to sunday, its meet the press. Announcer from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is meet the press with chuck todd. Good sunday morning. Think of this as a three i morning, iran, impeachment and iowa. You could article President Trumps killing of castle so castle soleimani was reckless and bold. But now did he pose an imminent threat . Antigovernment protests broke out in cities across iran after officials there admitted it was the Iranian Military that shot down a ukrainian passenger jet killing 176 people. Next theres impeachment. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi moved finally to send over articles of impeachment for a isnt the trial that could begin as early as this week. That was a victory for Mitch Mcconnell who resisted pelosis delay tactics and refuses to allowing new witnesses or the introduction of new evidence. And on iowa, a Des Moines Register poll released this weekend shows one more reshuffling at the top of the caucus race, now just three weeks away. Bernie sanders has jumped to the lead for the first time in this poll with Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and joe biden all still within striking distance. No one else really that close. By the way, each of those top four candidates has now led the Des Moines Registers poll at least once at some point in the last year. That gap between first and fourth, as you saw there, is well within the margin of error. Typically iowa would be our lead sunday story three weeks before the caucuses but this race has been overshadowed by events in washington and oversees. After a threeweek delay and grumbling from some democrats, pelosi signalled she will send articles of impeachment to the senate this week. We are concerned that the senators will not be able to live up to the oath that they must take to have an impartial trial. And she denied democrats were divided over her delay. Absolutely, total cooperation. There will be no haggling with the house over senate procedure. We will not cede our authority to try this impeachment. But several republican senators are joining with democrats, pressing mcconnell to allow some witnesses to testify. At this stage id like to hear from john bolton and other witnesses with direct information. I am working with a group of republican senators and our leaders to see if we can come to an agreement. President trump is promising to block boltons testimony, now tying impeachment to iran tensions. After the killing of iranian general soleimani. Weve got to take this guy out, were not going to have another shot at him maybe ever again. But i cant make it now because im trying to impeach trump. Highlighting new protests in iran, praising its brave, longsuffering people after irans admission saturday that human error brought down a ukrainian plane while the country was on high alert for a possible american counterattack. Thats after shifting explanations from the Trump Administration to justify the soleimani killing. We did it because they were looking to blow up our embassy. He was looking very seriously at our embassies and not just the embassy in baghdad. I can reveal that i believe it would have been four embassies. That claim contradicts many of secretary of state mike pompeos explanations. There were a series of imminent attacks that were being plotted by caqassem soleimani. We dont know precisely when and we dont know precisely where. We had specific information on an imminent threat and those threats included attacks on u. S. Embassies, period, full stop. You were mistaken when you said you didnt know precisely when and you didnt know precisely where . No, completely true. Those are completely consistent thoughts. But on capitol hill where senators were briefed by top military and intelligence officials not one word of that was mentioned. Proebably the worst briefing ive seen at least on a military issue on the nine years ive served in the United States senate. And the president s democratic opponents have been energized by the Foreign Policy contrast. This is a moment that requires strong, steady, stable leadership. President trumps actions represent a dangerous escalation that brings us closer to yet another disastrous war in the middle east. And joining me now is the National Security advisor, Robert Obrien. Ambassador obrien, welcome back to meet the press. Great to be with you, chuck. Let me start with the imminent threat situation, because no one in the administration talked about specific embassies at all. It was a very vague explanation that we got from various officials, whether it was yourself, secretary pompeo, secretary esper, but heres what the president said on friday evening. I want to play it and get some information on the other side. Here it is. I believe it would have been four embassies, and i think that probably baghdad already started. Baghdad certainly would have been the lead, but i think it would have been four embassies. It could have been military bases, it could have been a lot of other things too. Four embassies. If they were targeting four embassies, did you guys see that as a declaration of war by iran . Thats a big thing. What four embassies are we talking about here . We were very concerned about the situation. We had exquisite intelligence. They were looking at u. S. Facilities throughout the region and they wanted to inflict casualties on american soldiers, sailors and marines as well as diplomats. The threat was imminent. I saw the intelligence. Theres been a lot of discussion of the intelligence and i know everyone would like to see it. Id love to have the intelligence out there. Unfortunately, if we declassified it, we could lose that stream of intelligence that will allow us to protect americans Going Forward so we cant. But the president s interpretation of that intelligence is very consistent with it and so, look, i think this has been this has been a washington thing. I think when we tell the American People that there was exquisite intelligence and there was going to be an attack on americans, we had to stop that. This is what the Washington Post is reporting. The embassy in baghdad did not receive an alert commensurate to the threat that President Trump described, said a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to comment publicly. When the u. S. Government has specific information about threats to embassies, warnings or alerts, they are often sent to Embassy Personnel to be vigilant. No one in baghdad was told. Why was that . This was a very fast situation. Soleimani was traveling around the region plotting against the United States. As soon as it looked like there was going to be some sort of action against a u. S. Embassy, the president was decisive and bold in his action. We moved an army platoon in and put apache helicopters in the air. We made it very clear this was not going to be 1979 or benghazi. That was one embassy. What did you do for the other three embassies . We took measures with respect to other embassies in the region. Im not going to get into the pl details and give our playbook to the other side. We were very concerned about other embassies in the region. There seems to be a disconnect here. Is it the definition of imminent . Do you guys see the is imminent months, not weeks . Are people misinterpreting that word . I think imminent generally means soon, quickly, in process. Okay. So i think those threats were imminent. I dont want to get into the definition further than that, but we took the measures necessary to protect american diploma diplomats. I think what you see because of the prompt action that we took both with respect to the embassy in baghdad, which they would have attempted to overrun and storm, and with respect to our military bases that were hit by the iranians with their Ballistic Missiles, there was no loss of American Life in either case. I think thats a credit to the president of the United States. If you were so concerned soleimani was about to launch an imminent attack on as many as four different embassies, why do you think the iranian response was so muted . I dont think it was a muted response. They fired off 16 Ballistic Missiles at iraqi bases where american and Coalition Forces were. Theyre accepting it as a muted response. They issued warnings, they let everybody know in advance. We were able to protect ourselves. It seems as if they telegraphed it on paragraph. They issued warnings they were going to retaliate, they didnt issue warnings what they were going to do. Weve got fantastic systems that can pick up launches of Ballistic Missiles in space, Early Warning systems. Because of our diligence and vigilance, we were able to make sure that the american soldiers in those areas were dispersed. Look, i think its a pretty serious thing when you fire off 16 Ballistic Missiles. Now, because no americans were killed, the president showed great restraint in responding. The iranians appear to be standing down. Were putting additional economic sanctions on the iranians and they will continue to receive the maximum Pressure Campaign. What is our posture . The u. S. Government and the Trump Administrations posture. If iran it looks like theyre trying to expand their nuclear capabilities. The president said no Nuclear Weapon. What does that mean if hes saying that . Because i know some senators have asked if youre going if stopping them from getting a Nuclear Weapon is a top priority, then dont you need to go to congress to essentially get authority to do that . There are a number of ways to stop them from getting a Nuclear Weapon. The president made it very clear when he walked out and gave his speech, which i thought was a great speech the morning after the missile attack. The first thing he said before saying good morning was iran will never of a Nuclear Weapon. That is u. S. Policy. Right now weve got a maximum Pressure Campaign that is strangling the regime, their economy is contracting dramatically. The people of iran are upset, theyre protesting. They have been protesting for some time. They have been brutally put down in ways the press has been not been covering and we think the regime is in real trouble. Not to the press does everything it can to cover. It is a very difficult country to cover. It is. Because this is not a press trying to omit things here. Id like that not to be a shot at us. Its a difficult place to cover because they have an authoritarian regime and they shut down the internet and there are more questions about what the United States is doing to try to help the people of iran than what the regime is doing. But i agree with you, its a tough place to cover because of the regime. Let me ask you to respond to something. Former senator jim webb, who was also a reagan secretary of navy and you know hes got very, very interesting views when it comes to war and peace and the constitution. He writes this. It is legally and logically impossible to define one part of a National Government as an International Terrorist organization without applying the term to that entire government. The revolutionary guards are part of the iranian government. If they are attacking us, they are not a terrorist organization, theyre an attacking army. He was basic we took out a commander of another countrys army. To call him a terrorist then at that point, if you are calling him a terrorist, then isnt everybody in that regime a terrorist by definition . In this case the quds force which operates outside of iran and foments revolution and terrorism in yemen, in syria where 500,000 people have been killed, in lebanon with hezbollah, in iraq, that organization has been designated legally as a terrorist organization. Soleimani was the head of it. Hes not just been designated by us, hes under a travel ban from the u. N. He shouldnt have been outside of iran. This was someone who was a leader of an organization that was engaged in terror. He was involved in plotting imminent attacks against the United States. The president made a very difficult decision but a Bold Decision to remove him from the battlefield. If he had not been designated officially as a terrorist, would he have been targeted on the battlefield . Thats a hypothetical. But what i will say and what the president has said is if there are folks out there that are planning to kill, maim and harm americans, thats a red line for us. Youve got to be very careful. If youre out trying to attack the United States of america, you better be careful. Let me ask you one final question on the issue of troops in iraq. Heres what President Trump said on friday to a fairly provocative question by laura ingraham, why not leave . Heres what he said. Why not leave . Im not so bad with it. When i heard that, i said, hmm, you know, i have it down to 5,000 troops. We had many, many troops there in iraq. And we train them. But if they want us to leave but they speak different publicly than they do privately. There is a bit of confusion sometimes. President trump seems like somebody that wants to leave iraq sooner rather than later. Secretary of state pompeo and some others in the National Security team are concerned about the strategic vacuum that that could leave and seem to push back. Is our official policy that were trying to get out of iraq or not . Look, wed like to get out of a lot of countries if we could. We want to bring american sailors, soldiers, airmen, marines home. Eventually wed like to get out of iraq. Weve been there for 17, 18 years now. I think it would be great and i think the president believes it would be great to get folks home, but we want to do it in a way that preserves the victory that we had against the caliphate. When President Trump came into the office, the caliphate was as big as great britain. Weve destroyed the physical caliphate and working with the iraqis so they can defend themselves against daesh but maintain a sovereign country visavis iran. Are you concerned in the four years President Trump has been in office weve sent more troops to the middle east than weve removed . I think our goal is to have a middle east thats stable, secure, with independent countries that their sovereignty is respected and americans can come home to the extent possible and thats what were working on. By the way, curtailing irans terrorist activities and proxy activities around the region will allow us to bring more troops home from all of those countries. Ambassador Robert Obrien, good to see you. Thank you for coming on and sharing your views. I appreciate it. Great to be with you. Joining me now from bowling green, kentucky, is senator rand paul. Senator paul, welcome back to meet the press, sir. Good morning. Let me start with what you have heard from the administration. You heard from the ambassador, i think, just now. Youve had other briefings. Do you feel as if you have got enough information to make you feel comfortable with what President Trump did . You know, i think weve heard contradictory information. Weve heard from the secretary of state that they dont know where or when but it was imminent. That to me does seem inconsistent. He thinks he can square the circle but to me it seems pretty inconsistent. To me theres a bigger question too, though, and this is what infuriated me about the briefing is they maintain both in private and in public that a vote by congress in 2003 or 2002 to go after Saddam Hussein was a vote that allows them to still be in iraq and do whatever they want, including killing a foreign general from iran. And i dont think thats what congress meant in 2002 nor do i think one generation can bind another generation. So my point in being for this war powers debate is that we really need to have a debate about whether we should still be in iraq or afghanistan, and there needs to be authorization from congress. I do want to get your reaction to something President Trump said, because he makes no apologies for not informing congress. Let me give you read play for you the explanation he gave. I am worried about it. Can you imagine, here we are splitsecond timing, executed like nobodys seen in many, many years on soleimani. Can you imagine, they want us to call up and speak to crooked, corrupt politician adam schiff. Now, senator, i know that politics is high and the polarization is high, but if that becomes a standard where president ial administrations decide theyre not going to inform congress because they just dont like somebody who is in line to receive that information, where does that leave us . Well, you know this is not a new trend. No. This started very aggressively with truman and the korean war, lbj and the vietnam war, president obama did hundreds and hundreds of targeted killings without asking for permission. So i think president s of both parties have been trying to usurp the authority. Our Founding Fathers wanted it to remain in congress and make it difficult to go to war. I think weve been drifting away for it for a long time. Thats why im willing to stand up. Not because i distrust President Trump. I think he has shown remarkable restraint. Im willing to stand up even against a president of my party because we need to stand up and take back the power. We also need to debate whether or not were going to keep sending kids forever to afghanistan and iraq. I frankly think we ought to end those wars. Are you concerned, look, the numbers tell the story. It does feel as if weve sent more troops to the middle east. Look whats happening in saudi arabia, which i know youve been against, than were bringing them home. What kind of message does that send to the American People . I think its a mixed message. I think that President Trump has been very consistent saying he doesnt want perpetual war, but i have pushed back and said if you keep sending more troops, you will have perpetual war. The troops are merely targets. Ill be having a hearing the next couple of weeks about the afghan papers. In private, commanders and generals have been saying for more than a decade that theres no mission in afghanistan. We had two young men die this week. I have friends who will be sending their kids there the next six months. I dont want to send these young men and women to war if there is no mission and if the generals are privately saying it cant be won. Is there a way its my understanding during the briefing, according to george wills reporting, that senator chris coons asked multiple times whether they would seek congressional approval if iran got a Nuclear Weapon and they kept dodging the question. How important do you think that is to get that on paper . I think its incredibly important. Throughout the whole briefing they were dismissive of congress. They in the end said they didnt have time to come back. We only had about eight senators ask questions and they said, oh, we dont have time, were busy to come back and take questions from the rest of us so its very sdm dismissive. Its also arrogant to say a vote 16 years ago binds another generation in afghanistan. It was against Saddam Hussein. This is a completely different government. This is not even the Iraqi Government were fighting, its i ra iranian generals who happen to be in iraq. This is something President Trump gets incredibly right, since the iraq war we have an iraq more aligned with iran than us. Were trying to force them to keep our troops. The irony of that is glaring. I think we really need to have a fullthroated debate in congress. The majority of American People wanting to come home. They dont understand why were still there. I want to have that debate and bring our kids home. You know, its interesting, you have, and i think in some ways you believe President Trumps instincts comport with your instincts when it comes to National Security and Foreign Policy. But his advisers are in a different place. How much do you think does that bother you or is that healthy . Ill give you an example. Im on the Foreign Relations committee and all of his nominees come before me. I warn some of them in private, im going to ask you do you agree with President Trump that the iraq war was a mistake. You know what, most of them dont agree with him. He keeps appointing people to represent him that think the iraq war was just great. They love dick cheneys position and dont admit it was a mistake so thats why he keeps getting policy that wasnt his policy. I do think his instincts are pure. Hes been saying it for 20, 30 years, hes been saying it for a long time, that the wars have drained our treasury and hes not in favor of these wars. But they convince him if we leave, well look weak. Soleimani is dead, this would be the time to come home. The Iraqi Government, the democratically elected government wants us to come home. We should come home. I was just going to say, you think the president should take them up on this offer. You want us out . Lets do it. Absolutely. The only way people become stronger is when they stand up for themselves. In afghanistan when the government and the soldiers and the police finally fight the taliban, theyll do better. When iraq says, oh, my goodness, iran is overrunning us or they see that the sunni extremists are overrunning us, they have to stand up and fight. If they cant fight for their country, why are we always the patsy sending our kids there. Senator rand paul, republican from kentucky, thank you for coming on and sharing your views. I appreciate it. Good to see you, sir. Thank you. When we come back, how much power will Democratic Senators have at an impeachment trial . Ill ask one of them whos also trying to run for president at th same time. At comcast, we didnt build the nations largest gigspeed network just to make businesses run faster. We built it to help them go beyond. Because beyond risk. Welcome to the neighborhood, guys. There is reward. Beyond work and life. Who else could he be . There is the moment. Beyond technology. There is human ingenuity. Every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected, to do the extraordinary. Take your business beyond. When we see you enter through our doors. We dont see who youre against, or for. Whether tomorrow will be light or dark. All we see in you, is a spark. We see your kindness and humanity. The strength of each community. The more we look the more we find the sparks that make america shine. Welcome back. So what do you do if youre a democratic president ial candidate looking to spend as much time as possible in iowa and New Hampshire but you have to be in washington for what is among the first trial of this century, President Trumps impeachment trial. If youre any one of these people, youre going to have to figure that answer out very soon. If youre my next guest, senator mike bennet of colorado who remain mes in the race and joine from manchester, New Hampshire. Thanks, chuck, good to be back. Other than scouring airlines to find out how many nonstops exist after the impeachment trial, how disruptive to you expect the impeachment trial to be on the campaign, and should it be . I think it is going to be disruptive and theres nothing i can do about it so i choose not to worry about it. We have, all of us, a constitutional responsibility that we have to fulfill here and i take my oath seriously, and i will. In the meantime im spending every single second i can in New Hampshire trying to fulfill my commitment to hold an additional 50 town halls here. Ive already spent more time here than any other candidate. Im just going to continue to do that. Youre a guy that has spent a lot of time reading federalist papers, unlike many u. S. Senators. So what do you believe what power do you believe you have, even though your party is in the minority, at a senate trial in order to force a fair trial . You know, i think the stakes could not be higher here because ive been listening to the program, chuck. This is a president whos holding the American People in contempt and holding the constitution in contempt. When it comes to war powers, decision to provoke a war potentially with iran, his stonewalling of the house, and now his stonewalling of the senate. So i think these stakes are really high. And i think the framers of the constitution would demand of the people that are sitting in judgment that they put the constitution in front of the president and that they use this as opportunity to remind the American People why the rule of law is so important and why nobody, including the president , is above the law. Where does Public Opinion fit into this as far as youre concerned after the trial . The reason i say this is at the end of the day it was a small d democratically elected president by our rules, the electoral college. If twothirds of the public isnt there, does that matter to you . I think its important for Public Opinion to at least understand that what we are trying to do is hold the president accountable. And he may not have gotten in the end a conviction of the president , but maybe what we did was reestablish the standard of ethics that we expect out of a president and the standard of constitutional law that we expect from a president. I think thats important in and of itself. Do you expect to find four republicans to join with the democrats to get john bolton to testify . I dont expect anything, but i dont think its impossible. Ive seen, ive been in rooms where people have heard somebody Say Something and they say, you know what, i want to hear more about that. Lets bring the witnesses. I hope my republican colleagues will be open to having witnesses. The American People want witnesses and want to see the records from the white house as well. I want to talk about the president ial race and iran a bit. The way the president made his decision and the way its had an impact i think on the democratic electorate, are you concerned in some ways the president s actions inadvertently strengthened the sanders wing of the party over, say, the biden wing or your wing . I think what hes strengthened in the hardliner wing of the iranian government. Thats what hes done becoming president and what hes done with the action that hes taken. Rand paul mentioned it, the afghanistan papers that the Washington Post have published demonstrate after the First Six Months of that war we not only didnt accomplish the objectives we told the American People we were accomplishing, but we may have made matters worse on a whole range of things from corruption to drugs to the rise of the taliban. In iraq, our own war College Tells us that there was a winner of the iraq war and it was iran. So, chuck, i think this is a moment where heightened congressional scrutiny of the president , no matter who the president is, is critical. But when you have a president whos as lawless as this one seems to be on the International Stage and the domestic stage, i think its important for not just democrats to come together, but americans to come together and say were going to put the constitution ahead of this president. Is it harder to unite the Democratic Party if you voted in favor of the iraq war . I think it is much harder to unite the Democratic Party if you voted in favor of the iraq war. I think its much harder to take on donald trump, who takes every single position, including a position that the iraq war was a mistake. Joe biden, does that make him less electable than, say, Bernie Sanders . I think many people would say that was not his finest hour. And i think from my Vantage Point theres a question in my mind as to whether any of the leading candidates can take on donald trump, which is why ive stayed in this race. Chuck, voters in New Hampshire are more undecided today than they were six weeks ago or six months ago because they know how much is at stake and they know we need to nominate somebody who can beat donald trump. I think i come from the right kind of state with the right kind of agenda to do that. By the way, i would invite congressional participation in these Foreign Policy decisions. I would invite congressional participation in evaluating whether my work was consistent with the constitution, as previous president s have done. Let me ask you this. Is there a point not only for your own campaign but for a lot of campaigns that you have to coalesce around a leader if there is an obvious leader at, say, the end of february or the end of march . Yeah, i definitely think thats the right timeline. I think we will have to coalesce around somebody. My hope, chuck, is to come in in the top third of New Hampshire and im slogging it out of people who put one foot in front of the other trying to get to store fronts and get to town halls and see if we can make progress here. But at some point the most important thing for us is to come together and make sure donald trump is a oneterm president. Senator michael bennet, you are right about history. Theres plenty of people who have been in your position who have taken off like a rocket in New Hampshire. We will be watching. Im still waiting. Thanks, chuck. Thanks for coming on and sharing your views, i appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. The 3 is, iran, imp as a Small Business owner, the one thing you learn pretty quickly, is that theres a lot to learn. Grow with google is here to help you with turning ideas into action. Putting your business on the map, connecting with customers, and getting the skills to use new tools. 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And thats the nicest thing you ever said to me. So get allstate. Stop bossing. Where good drivers save 40 for avoiding mayhem, like me. This is my sons favorite color, you should try it. [mayhem] you always drive like an old lady . [tina] youre an old lady. Welcome back. The panel is here. Steve inskeep most of morning edition and the author of imperfect union, how jesse and john fremont helped map the west. Yamiche alcindor, Andrea Mitchell and david french, whos also the Senior Editor of the dispatch. It is the new factbased conservative media company. David, congratulations on the launch of that. Thank you so much. Along with mr. Goldberg and mr. Hayes as well. Andrea, youve heard all of this. Youve covered a bunch of these backandforths, whether its between congress and an executive branch over military strikes or what were seeing today in the middle east. Where are we now and is this administration being bailed out by irans incompetence with the passenger jet . For sure the administration had angered the european allies, all of the nato allies but not giving them any notice. The only government that we know was notified in advance that ive been told by my sources is israel. They and Lindsey Graham at maralago had advance notice. The gang of eight did not. Mike pence telling savannah guthrie, theres sources and methods and we cant share that with congress, when we dont know of any leak from the top eight members, nancy pelosi and the others, even going back decades there hasnt been leaks. Other administrations have always notified congress, the top leaders. Iranians, who had been protesting for months against their regime were suddenly all unified against america. And the iraqis were ordering us out, who had been protesting against the iranians. So it was a nightmare scenario. The fact that it was done at baghdad airport, all of that was happening. But yes to your answer, the fact that the air force component of the revolutionary guards took down a civilian plane, and its arguable whether or not rouhani and zarif and even the ayatollah were aware of it. My experience and direct information from iranian officials in the immediate aftermath is, no, this didnt happen. They were repeating what the air force minister was saying. Its very, very possible that they were not told and then had to, when the evidence became clear. And this also, you know, undermines the europeans. And now they have today arrested the british diplomat. Finally released him. But that is only going to unify europe with donald trump. This has brought back the strain of iranian discontent that was muted for a few days. Look at those protests. In recent months there have been many protests about to be put down. In truth people have been protesting for many years in iran. When ive been there, when ive interviewed people on the streets, though, theres something about those protests. People will speak very frankly about their problems with the government. They may even march in the streets. But they do it with an attitude that its going to make no difference, that its going to fail. They will explicitly say this will make no difference but were going to do it anyway. The question is whether some event has happened here, some moment has been reached where people would go that extra mile. David, its amazing, im sorry, im shocked that iranians fessed up so fast. That doesnt happen very often. Well, the evidence was overwhelming. You could look at the videos of the actual crash of the actual impact of the missile. You could see the videos of the crash with the plane breaking up in midair. Thats not a normal mechanical difficulty. The evidence was all over the place. Going back to the trump justification for the soleimani strike, can i tell you what is confusing to me. Okay. There was no need for a low trust administration to provide a low trust answer as to why they did this. No need at all. We had almost 20 years of a record of soleimanis activities against american interests and that would have been enough. It was enough. We had just had an attack on american bases that had killed an american contractor. We had just had iraniansupported militias attack our embassy. He was an enemy Combatant Commander in the theater of war meeting with enemy Combatant Commanders. Under the law of war, under congressional authorizations, he was fair game. To then say, oh, wait, there were other imminent attacks, completely unnecessary. Yammish, this was jeh Johnsons Point last week. This was a democratic appointed official. This was lawful, making the enemy combatant argument. Would the president have a better time on capitol hill if he had just been more honest about this . Yes, because you had heard democrats and republicans saying this was a bad person. No one is really saying he was a good person. There were a couple of people that were getting pushback, like senator Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who were calling it an assassination. For the most part people were angry about the process. What we saw with this white house is what weve seen in the past. Youre describing a layup for President Trump and they dont take layups. What we have is a white house that often boggles their communication message. What we saw was an evolving description of why this was imminent. We also saw top National Security officials go to congress and infuriate both democrats and republicans. Mike lee said he was insulted by the fact that National Security officials were saying dont even debate, dont even ask us essentially why we can do what were doing in iran because youre emboldening iran. Add to that the fact that you have now the president saying on fox news and saying before thousands of people in toledo, ohio, all this information that he wouldnt share with lawmakers. So i was on capitol hill talking to all sorts of lawmakers after the briefing and all of them are coming out saying we dont actually understand anything more than when we walked in there. What we have now is the white house and President Trump talking about embassies, talking about diplomats being targeted, and they didnt tell congress, which is pretty remarkable. Two vital phrases to look at. When the president said four embassies were targeted, he actually said i believed four embassies were targeted. You cant fact check a belief. And Robert Obrien when he was talking on npr the other day acknowledged they dont know the precise time and place of these attacks, although he did say the intelligence was very strong. But how do you have imminent attacks when you dont know the exact time and place. And the defense secretary, mark esper, is saying that he did not have specific intelligence. But theres a 1990 law that says that if embassies are warned of a threat, that you have to warn the public. You cannot give the personnel Something Different from what you are telling the world and the American People. And there was clearly no warning. Weve checked, there was no warning. There are costs to this. So here you have a person who is blood of hundreds of americans on his hands, including some men that i served with in iraq. This guy has been an open enemy of the United States for years. He bragged to general petraeus via text message in a famous story that he is in charge of things with these iranianbacked militias. Instead of uniting the country at a moment when an actual enemy is killed and when were on the knifes edge of a larger conflict which requires public support, hes more interested in owning the libs than uniting the country. And some leaders like chuck schumer, Robert Menendez are iran hawks. Knowing youre on the right path isnt always easy. Thats why its important to be prepared for anything life brings. At fidelity, well help you build a clear plan for retirement. One that covers health care costs, taxes, and any other uncertainties while still giving you the flexibility to make changes to your plan as often as you need. Because when youre with fidelity, a partner who makes sure every step is clear, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Heres wishing you the bluest sky theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Conditions are protected. Vo a broken promise. Trump repeatedly tried to undermine coverage for 134 million americans with preexisting conditions. Mike he just doesnt care if you have a preexisting condition he wants to deny you access to coverage. If he is reelected, hell keep trying to do that and i think we cant let that happen. Vo as president , mike will lower costs, and protect americans with preexisting conditions. Mike im Mike Bloomberg and i approve this message. Are Critical Skills for scientists at 3m. One of the products i helped develop was a softer, more secure diaper closure. As a mom, i knew it had to work. There were babies involved. And they werent saying much. I envisioned what its like for babies to have diapers around them. Thats what we do at 3m, we listen to people, even those who dont have a voice. At the end of the day, we are people helping people. When you look at the world, even those who dont have a voice. What do you see . Where others see chaos, we see patterns. Connections. Relationships. When you use location technology, you can see where things happen, before they happen. With esri location technology, you can see what others cant. We are back. Data download time. Recent tension with iran is a reminder of the massive role the United States has on the world stage and of President Trumps own reputation around the world. This week the Pew Research Center has a new look at how much trust people have fod president to do the right thing. No world leader inspires that much confidence. The most trusted leader in these 33 countries is Angela Merkel sitting at 46 , followed by Emmanuel Macron and then vladimir putin. It is in fourth that President Trump comes in with only 29 of people believing he would do the right thing regarding world affairs. Hes only one point ahead of chinas xi jinping. Mr. Trumps low numbers appear to be more about him personally than about the United States. Three years into president obamas first term he was getting high marks in the uk. 75 of people there had confidence in him. Compared with 32 for trump at this same moment in his presidency. And canada in 2013, president obama was 53 points ahead of where President Trump is now. In germany in 2011, president obama was a full 75 Percentage Points ahead of President Trumps current 13 . But while Donald Trumps election surprised many, the rise of populist conservative movements from brazil to italy to israel suggests 2016 may have been less of a fluke here and more of a harbinger of rightleaning electoral success around the globe. In france, theres a 21point difference in trust in President Trump to do the right thing between french liberals and french conservatives. Its a 30point gap in canada, a 35point difference in italy. Trust in President Trump among populists has gone up as well. Canada has seen conservative faith in trump to do the right thing climb by ten points in just the last year. In italy confidence in trump has grown by 11 points among conservatives. And in france, conservative confidence in President Trump to do the right thing has climbed 17 points. Now, we should all keep all of this in mind this election year. Sure, american elections arent often decided on Foreign Policy nor on the president s popularity abroad. But theres a difference between a u. S. President who is disliked versus one who isnt respected around the globe. When we come back, end game, and are we really down t a yes im stuck in the middle with you, no one likes to feel stuck, boxed in, or held back. Especially by Something Like your cloud. Its a problem. But the ibm cloud is different. Its open and flexible enough to manage all your apps and data securely, anywhere, across all your clouds. So it can help take on anything from rebooking flights on the fly, to restocking shelves on demand, without getting in your way. Yeah. Only pay for what you need with Liberty Mutual. Only pay for what you need with Liberty Mutual. Con Liberty Mutual solo pagas lo que necesitas. Only pay for what you need. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. But maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz xr, a oncedaily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well enough. Xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and further joint damage, even without methotrexate. Xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections like tb; dont start xeljanz if you have an infection. Taking a higher than recommended dose of xeljanz for ra can increase risk of death. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma, and blood clots have happened. As have tears in the stomach or intestines, serious allergic reactions, and changes in lab results. Tell your doctor if youve been somewhere fungal infections are common, or if youve had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. Needles. Fine for some. But for you, one pill a day may provide symptom relief. Ask your doctor about xeljanz xr. An unjection™. Back now with end game and the other two is and thats impeachment and iowa. Yamiche, look, we dont know when the impeachment trial is. As i remind people, we shouldnt even presume the outcome. I know a lot of people presumed last nights outcome of baltimore and tennessee, so were not going to presume any outcome. The fact of the matter is im going to put up these two polls in iowa and New Hampshire here of the president ial race. Top four in iowa, its a bunched race. The difference between first and fourth is five points, margin of error stuff. A new New Hampshire poll came out this week literally almost the same percentage numbers closely, just a slightly different order. Margin of error in both places. Two of those candidates are sitting u. S. Senators. The clinton trial took 37 days from start to finish. We are 22 days away from iowa. At this point it looks like well have a senate trial during iowa and New Hampshire. Now what . And if youre in the margin of error and youre looking at what may make the difference, it might be that you had longer time to sit in the living rooms of iowans which is what most people think it takes to win iowa. If senator sanders and warren are taken out of that, of course theyre going to be in some ways worried about that. But when i talk to aides for both of those people, when i talk to aides for joe biden, theyre also making this point that theyre really making this idea that its going to be about who feels for them. Its going to be an emotional connecticut to them. Its not just that Bernie Sanders was the last person to stop by your firehouse or your elementary school. The people when i talk to Bernie Sanders campaign, they make this point that he has fiercely loyal support. I covered 2016 and Bernie Sanders and then President Trump. I think what they have in common, at least what their supporters have in common, theres really a visceral connection to their candidate there. When i look at who could possibly be the person favored here, Bernie Sanders is somebody who could sit out part of this and still retain his support in a way maybe warren wouldnt. Steve, what im trying to get people to visualize here, were going to have two weeks of that senate trial and thats the backdrop for iowa. I dont think we fully comprehend how that is going to impact things. We dont. I guess there will be a lot of breakfast meetings for candidates in iowa and going back to washington in the afternoon. Do you think theyll plane pool . I think youre right someone like sanders, warren, theyre brand names, they are known by the people who are going to support them and may not affect them that much. The media environment is affected. Im not sure we fully understand that this senate trial could be quite dramatic but could also be quite boring. Im just being honest. Im interested as a citizen. I dont know if tv networks are going to be that interested or if theyll finding things more dramatic in iowa. We dont know how that will play out. Also, the Foreign Policy issues which havent risen to the top in the debate are going to give bernie some advantages, having campaigned against the iraq war and now picking on biden. Lets see how these coming debates go because i think bernie versus biden on the war and peace issue is going to be a subject iowans have always cared about. David, the other thing im interested in here, lets say this tuesday night debate is basically framed as biden versus bernie on war and peace. You have buttigieg and warren and klobuchar who are and i think klobuchar is in the middle of almost top tier, almost second tier, right, her own tier. They could get swallowed up by that debate and it just becomes biden bernie. It could absolutely be biden bernie but dont sleep on buttigieg in that scenario. He served. Hes been in afghanistan. How important is that to you . To other people that have served, how important is it that he wore that uniform too . I think its important but not close to dispositive. Its the kind of thing when a politician says ive been to afghanistan six times, well, youve been on a guided tour. Youve seen what people have wanted you to see. When youve had boots on the ground, its a transformational experience. It was for me. Its transformational. It changed the way i viewed many things about the iraq war and the me. So i think having that experience and being the only one to bring it to the stage is important. Hes shown the ability in these debates to stand up for himself in a way that perhaps people didnt anticipate. Biden aides say that they think that he is really playing to his strength when hes talking about Foreign Policy, when hes talking about the middle east. But i think there are a lot of people who still remember the report from the Washington Post saying that the Obama Administration along with other administrations were not forthcoming with how the Afghanistan War went. Then you saw Bernie Sanders at the last debate say he was wrong for supporting the Afghanistan War. So i think that gives in some ways a lane for buttigieg and warren. Think about this stat that i like to reminding people. John kerry, hillary clinton, barack obama are the last three democratic nominees. Two voted for the iraq war, one didnt. Which one won the presidency and which two lost. Thats what i was saying exactly about bernie. Barack obama was the senator from illinois, the Illinois State senator who came out against the iraq war. That is what really propelled him in iowa. Iowa propelled him through the next primaries to come. I do think that however boring, quote unquote, without witnesses perhaps, Opening Statements the impeachment trial is, i think it is going to consume the media environment. The networks are going to be walltowall and its going to be very hard for this 2020 race to get enough focus. Theres also theres also other parts of the 2020 campaign that matter in this impeachment trial. Republican senators who have what would you do if you were cory gardner, david . Look, the bottom line is, and i dont think people truly appreciate the situation these republican senators are often in. Because if they say im open to impeachment, i want to hear from john bolton, a lot of people in their base that might be motivated to turn them out of office in a primary get really angry. But then if they dont say this very common sense thing, which is i want to hear from available witnesses, like the National Security advisor at the time seems pretty reasonable. Then in a general election, you have people who are, you know, on the fence who say this guy, hes just in the tank for trump. Im not electing an independent thinker at all. John bolton could be the gamechanger on that. Steve, Mitch Mcconnell, is he prioritizing and protecting trump or the senate majority. Senate majority but he supports the president and his party. Believes hes doing it within the traditions of the senate even though people looking at him from the outside will see it differently. All i will say is 37 days. If its 37 days, we go to the nevada caucuses before we have the impeachment trial. Thank you, guys. Thats all we have for today. Thanks for watching. Well be back next week, because if its sunday, its meet the press. Trump those preexisting conditions are protected. Vo a broken promise. Trump repeatedly tried to undermine coverage for 134 million americans with preexisting conditions. Mike he just doesnt care if you have a preexisting condition he wants to deny you access to coverage. If he is reelected, hell keep trying to do that and i think we cant let that happen. Vo as president , mike will lower costs, and protect americans with preexisting conditions. Mike im Mike Bloomberg and i approve this message. Giving consumers control over their data. But most people dont even know they have got the power. Well pick apart californias new Consumer Privacy act with fred li frederick lee. Plus, Million Dollars homes dont make you rich. A new year, new financial stresses in silicon valley. And a founder with an an an usual work force. Darrell joe. Our reporters, michael lightky from Tthe Associated press an Erin Griffith of the New York Times this week on press here