Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20200924

Predecessors back to 1792 throughout the nations history. Win, lose, or draw in this election, will you commit here today for a peaceful transferral of power after the election . There has been rioting in louisville, theres been rioting in many cities across the this country, including your socalled red states. Will you commit to a peaceful transferal of power after the election . We have to see what happens. You know that. Ive been complaining very strongly about the ballots and the ballots are a disaster. I understand that but people are rioting. Do you commit to making sure theres a peaceful transferal of power . Get rid of the ballots and well have a very peaceful there wont be a transfer, frankly. There will be a continuation. Uh, the ballots are out of control. You know it, and you know is i dont know that. And the democrats know it better than anybody else. Joe biden called the president s comments irrational and a few prominent republicans are pushing back, most notably mitt romney, liz cheney, and an attempt by Mitch Mcconnell to at least try to reassure people, quote, there will be an orderly transition just as there has been every four years since 1792. Joining me now, New York Times chief White House Correspondent peter baker. Washington post opinion Writer Jonathan capehart. Peter, how unprecedented are these comments . I cant recall anything like this. No, nothing like this, i cant either. Weve seen the president sort of walk up to this line before. Hes been asked will he accept the results and hes hedged in the same way, well see what happens. Yesterday he was asked is, if he loses, if effect, would he turn over the white house. This is an extraordinary and extreme scenario, but its one thats worried a lot of democrats and it has sort of been out there in the ether now for a while, you know, would he actually step down if he could find a way to challenge the results on january 20. Thats when the constitution says power transfers to a new president if the new president wins or if he gets, you know, reinaugurated if he wins. He didnt take that opportunity yesterday to reaffirm the most basic, fundamental tenet of american democracy that does, as you point out, go back to the 1790s when we established the idea of a president , not a king. Does that mean he will actually try to hold on to power . You know, weve got to be careful about overstating what he means. But the fact that he didnt take the opportunity to sort of reassure the country that yes, he will follow the established tradition, yes, he will follow the constitution, you know, is obviously going to cause a great deal of concern and a great deal of outrage, not just among democrats. And concern also, he keeps talking about rigged elections, the ballots. Folded into that was, again, casting doubt on the legitimacy of the ballots and saying if the ballots are counted, then he could lose but the ballots wont be counted. All of this, jonathan capehart, its its really alarming. Yes, andrea, that is the correct description. It is alarming. Because while democrats have been worried about whether trump would leave the white house if he loses the election in november, what we heard in that clip that you showed is that hes threatening, at least in those words, to do away with the ballots. That is the fundamental american right, is the right to vote. People bled, people died for that right. And the president of the United States is calling into question whether those votes are legitimate, whether those votes should be counted, intimating that if those votes are counted and they dont go for him, that we do away with the ballots. That is unacceptable. We need to have a rising up in this country over what the president is saying. Look, weve all been covering donald trump since he came down that escalator officially as a candidate for president , june 16, 2015. From almost the beginning, i have taken him seriously when he has said things. And far too many people listen to what he says and think, oh, he cant be serious, oh, he wouldnt actually do that. Well, we are 40 days out from an election. I and a lot of people, i and a lot of americans, cannot afford not to take him seriously. And we must do everything, everything that we can as citizens to cast our votes and look to our elected officials to safeguard our vote. This is not a democratic issue, this is not a republican issue. This is an american issue, a patriotic issue. The fact that the president of the United States is calling that into question is indeed alarming. And peter, we saw the president at the court this morning. You heard the boos from people who were in line to honor ruth bader ginsburg. But this is one day after he had elaborated on why he wants a new justice before the election. Lets watch. I think its better if you go before the election because i think this this scam that the democrats are pulling, its a scam, this scam will be before the United States Supreme Court, and i think having a 44 situation is not a good situation. If you get that. I dont know that you would get that. I think it should be 80 or 90. But just in case it would be, uh, more political than it should be, i think its very important to have a, uh, ninth justice. Peter, that really does explain, i mean, hes telling us why he wants that ninth justices. Hes expecting a Supreme Court battle. Yeah, hes not you know, hes not shying away from the idea that he wants a justice on the court to rule for him, that hes trying to put somebody on the court who will side with him. Youre right, were looking at a possibly disputed election. We all remember, of course, bush v. Gore in 2000. That was one state, and it was pretty messy and pretty damaging in some ways to americas view of its own democracy. Imagine that happening now in five states, ten states, who knows at this point . There are already more than 150 lawsuits being litigated as we speak by both sides trying to set the rules of the game in both states. Do the ballots have to have witnesses on them or not . Were already fighting to see which ballots will count and which wont. Imagine that could play after the supposed elections if its over november 3, on steroids, in effect. And in fact, pennsylvania, one of those states, perhaps the most important state, where there are multiple lawsuits right now. Thank you, peter baker, thank you, jonathan capehart, for starting us off. Wisconsin democratic senator Tammy Baldwin joins me now. I want to get your reaction to the president s comments about a peaceful transition of power. I was just horrified to hear his comments last night. And just another instance of this president undermining our very democracy. It was shocking. It was shocking further that we didnt hear an immediate pushback from congressional republicans. Certainly a few of them did speak out. But our democracy is supposedly of the people, by the people, and for the people. And the idea that anyone would not accept that will of the people come november 3 or the days after, whatever it takes to count all the ballots, is just outrageous. Republicans in your state are appealing a federal judges ruling that your state miscellaneous accept mailin ballots past the original deadline of october 29, all the way to november 9. The president is fueling these actions nationwide in these critical swing states. Where is this going, what are your concerns about that . We have the same scenario back in april, our april 7 president ial primaries and nonpartisan general elections in the state. The early days of the pandemic, very few states had been able to figure out best practices for voting during a pandemic. But it ended up that the ballots were able to be postmarked by election day, received a few days later, and still counted. And we learned a lot from that election that will inform this one. I think that the ruling was wise under the circumstances of conducting a president ial election during a pandemic. And i will note, by the way, in wisconsin, we are seeing record numbers of positive cases. We are seek the worst week since the pandemic began this past week in wisconsin. So we are far from being able to say were holding this election after the Public Health crisis. Were holding it during the Public Health crisis, which is why im so pleased that over a million wisconsinites have ordered their absentee ballots. Many of them are already being returned. And we are doing the best Public Education process that we can to make sure people know exactly how to register, exactly how to get their ballots, when early voting starts, where they can turn in ballots, the Clerks Office or elsewhere if they dont want to mail them in. Its an allhandsondeck effort. Veteran reporter bart gelman is reporting in the atlantic also that the Trump Campaign is discussing contingency plans to bypass Election Results and appoint loyal electors in battleground states where republicans hold the legislative majority to get around the popular vote forhe eelectors, the electoral college. Again, outrageous undermining of the democratic process. We cant let that stand. I hope that we have bipartisan pushback fr pushback. What is clear from the president s words when you played the clip in your last segment is he is trying to cast fear and doubt and anxiety about the validity of mailin ballots when theres virtually no fraud involved. Weve seen that for years in the states that do primarily voting by mail. Now that more states are doing it because of a Public Health pandemic, there is no reason to worry. We just have to act quickly and cast our votes as soon as we possibly can. And frankly, i would like to see the results so overwhelming that theres no reason to cast doubt on the outcome. For joe biden, of course. Tammy baldwin, thank you very much. And with 40 days to go until election day, make sure your vote counts by knowing the rules in your state. To do that, use our interactive state by state plan your vote guide. Go to nbcnews. Com planyourvote. Meanwhile, protesters are pouring into the streets around the country after no charges are brought against the four officers charged with killing Breonna Taylor. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. Re watching l reports on msnbc. From prom dresses. To soccer practices. And new adventures. You hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past. They may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Lets help protect them together. Because missing menb vaccination could mean missing out on a whole lot more. Ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. Ask your doctor if your teen skip to cold relief fast. Alkaseltzer plus power max gels. With 25 more concentrated power. Oh, what a relief it is so fast i try so hard, i cant rise above it dont know what it is get a dozen double crunch shrimp for one dollar with any steak entree. Only at applebees. Smells more amazing than ever. Flings now so their laundry with any steak entree. Isnt that the dogs towel . Hey, me towel su towel. More gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze in every gain fling. Here . Nah. Here . Nope. Here. When the middle of nowhere. Is somewhere. The allnew chevy trailblazer. Two Police Officers are recovering in louisville, kentucky after being shot last night, after a grand jury announced that the three Police Officers involved in the shooting of Breonna Taylor would not face charges for her death. More than 120 people were arrested overnight in louisville as protests erupted nationwide. The can i attorney general said the two officers involved were justified in their use of force. Only one officer will face charges but not for taylors death. Former officer Brett Hankison is charged with wanton endangerment for firing bullets that endangered a neighbor. The charges prompted this reaction from the attorney for Breonna Taylors family, benjamin crump. They had wanton endangerment for the white neighbors apartment, the bullets going there, but not for the bullets going into Breonna Taylors body. We seem to have two justice systems in america, one for black america and one for white america. Breonnas family would love to see the grand jury transcript to see if there was any evidence presented for Breonna Taylors perspective. Joining me now, nbc news correspondent blayne alexander in louisville, kentucky. State representative charles booker. And genet nelson and Naacp Legal Defense Fund council. Blayne, there was outrage after this grand jury decision. Tell me how the community is reacting now after everything that happened overnight. Reporter absolutely, andrea. So i want to kind of juxtapose what were seeing on the ground right now in louisville versus what we saw last night and what by all accounts is anticipated for tonight. So this right here is one of the many streets in louisville that is blocked off, still blocked by police barricades. Police have set up a checkpoint here trying to control the traffic flow, trying to kind of clear the streets in downtown, which is where so much of the protesting has taken place over the past few months. But there really is this stillness in the air right now. Certainly not a lot necessarily going on, not a lot of tension or uprising. But the curfew is going to be in place for a second straight night tonight. Its also in place tomorrow night. Andrea, i want to kind of give a voice to the many things weve heard from the protesters, not just here in louisville but from people reacting all over the country about this. I have to say there has been this constant call when it comes to justice for Breonna Taylor, all along, the very specific call has been for the officers involved to be charged. Now, of course, thats not what happened with the grand jury decision. When ive spoken with people, specifically a number of black women who say there is a particular kind of pain that comes with this decision handed down, theyve used words like insulting or traumatizing to discuss the findings of this. Thats why so many people say, yes, theyre going to come out, they were out last night, theyre going to continue to come back. Its worth pointing out too, andrea, there is this twopronged approach here. Last we can we saw this historic settlement when it came to the case of Breonna Taylor with her family and the city of louisville, a number of police reforms, 12 millions for the city. But so many people out marching say what they wanted was accountability for the officers when are truly hurt that that didnt happen, andrea. And following up on that, kentuckys Governor Beshear told Hallie Jackson earlier its time to make all the information that went to the grand jury public because theres a real sense that the prosecutor did not present the other side of the case, and that there was an effort to minimize any involvement by these officers in her death. Lets watch. Its time to post all the information, all the facts, all the interviews, all the evidence, all the ballistics. Its time for people to be able to see the basic information, facts, and evidence and to be able to come to their own conclusions about justice. Representative booker, can that happen . Because you say that justice failed in this case. Whats to ensure that there ever will be justice in this case . Well, justice is possible. And im here today with a lot of hope that we will win it. We are seeing a lot of resolve all across kentucky, certainly here in louisville, my hometown. And the governor is exactly right. An important part of justice is transparency, to make sure people understand the accountability. What we saw from our attorney general was essentially an expose of hiding behind the facts, obscuring the law, and shirking away from responsibility to be accountable for the life of a woman, a black woman who was killed in her home. Justice has been denied for her family. We want to make sure we have systemic change and address the illustrate in our Law Enforcement and Public Safety in a real way. Were fighting together to realize that now. The Kentucky Attorney general, daniel cameron, said the two officers were justified in using force. Genet, lets play this for all of you. Detective cosgrove and Sergeant Mattingly were justified in returning fire because they were fired upon. I understand that, as a black man, how painful this is. Criminal law is not meant to respond to every sorrow and grief. And that is true here. Genet, youre the legal expert here. That seems like twisting what the prosecutors presented or could have presented, i should say. Yeah, its impossible for us to take those statements with any degree of credibility without knowing exactly what information and evidence was provided to the grand jury. We know for sure that Breonna Taylors death has been disregarded and underplayed from the very beginning. This stems from the conditions under which the warrant was originally issued, to the treatment of her family, the mistreatment of her family, giving them the wrong information when she was lying dead in her apartment for hours, the arrest of her wouldbe fiance who was accused of attempted murder of an officer at the scene. And we now know that all of those facts were wrong. So we have every reason to doubt how this process played out before the grand jury. And the only way that we will get transparency as to what happened is to get the transcripts from those proceedings, to understand what evidence the attorney general laid out for those jurors to consider. And it is imperative that we know what the facts were and that the public has an opportunity to judge whether the proper charges were presented to the grand jury. And the fact is that the governor did call for that. Hes the former attorney general. Representative booker, is that something that the governor can have some say in . Well, the fact that our governor is calling on our attorney general to act speaks volumes. And i join him. What were seeing now across kentucky and all of leadership is a collective response demanding it as well. So the attorney general has pressure on him to respond and to treat kentuckians as if we do matter, to treat breonnas life as if it is important, and to provide the transparency weve been demanding for nearly 120 days. And i believe well get there. We wont stop until we do. Its a tragedy for everyone, and especially for what louisville is going through right now, the anger is certainly understandable. Blayne alexander, kentucky state representative charles booker, and janai, thank you all. President trump says he may not approve tougher vaccine standards. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc. Atching l reports only on msnbc its official National Coffee day is now National Dunkin day celebrate with a free medium hot or iced coffee with any purchase on september 29th. With any purchase im a verizon engineer. And im part of the team building. A powerful 5g experience for america. Its 5g ultra wideband, and its already available in parts of select cities. Like los angeles. And in new york city. And its rolling out in cities around the country. With massive capacity. Its like an eightlane highway compared to a twolane dirt road. 25x faster than todays 4g networks. In fact, its the fastest 5g in the world. 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The fda has announced it will tighten standards for approving any vaccine in an effort to reassure the public that 24rthe would be no rollout linked to the election. But President Trump almost immediately afterward countermanded that. We may or may not approve it. It sounds like a political move. Joining me now, a former fda official from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Dr. Scharfstein, they had a whole hearing yesterday, all these inside reports deliberate you know, accusations of political politicizing the fda and cdc are not true and he immediately comes out and countermands it. It was difficult to watch. The fda showed some very good standards, some solid standards that would give confidence to people that the vaccine is not only effective but safe. Then you have the president saying, well see if we approve that. There really isnt a path for the president to rewrite standards for the food and Drug Administration in this regard. Are you sure . How can you be so sure when you have so much interference already from the white house, the White House Task force . What i would say is, having worked at the fda, they are a very tough group of people who are constantly facing pressures, often from industry, sometimes from politicians. They know what it means to have integrity in the decisionmaking process. And i think it will be impossible for the administration to overrule them without everybody knowing. And so then if everybody knows, youre in a situation where the president is saying take this vaccine and the nations experts are saying, its not ready. Who in their right mind would take the vaccine under that circumstance . I want to play you an exchange between senator rand paul, who is a doctor, an ophthalmologist, and dr. Fauci who testified before that Senate Committee yesterday. The things that are going on in new york, to get their test positivity 1 or less, is because they are looking at the guidelines that we have put together from the task force of the four or five things of masks, social distancing, outdoors more than indoors, avoiding crowds, and washing hands. Or they have developed enough Community Immunity that theyre no longer having the pandemic because they have enough immunity in new york city to actually stop i challenge that, senator. Im afraid were please, sir, i would like to be able to do this because this happens with senator rand all the time. You were not listening to what the director of the cdc said, that in new york, its about 22 . If you believe 22 is herd immunity, i believe youre alone in that. Dr. Fauci certainly is making your point, doctor, these people are not going to be pushed around. Convyeah, i think youre stag to see the scientists stepping up a little bit, because there are arguments that make no sense that are being put forward or statements like, you know, the white house knows better than the fda how to decide whether a vaccine is safe and effective. At a certain point, that just cant work for Peoples Health and ultimately nobody is its selfdefeating because anything that comes out of the white house, over the objections of dr. Fauci, or the objections of the fda scientists, will simply not have credibility with the american people. Weve all been looking forward to a vaccine and to some return to normal life in the spring. Now the metropolitan opera announced wednesday its going to cancel its entire 2021 season, for the first time in the 137year history of the met. This could be a leading indicator of what other theaters are cultural institutions will have to do. Are we in this for another year . Its a very difficult situation. Ill switch metaphors and say were in the middle innings of the baseball game. Were not at the beginning anymore but we dont know how long this game is going to go. Were going to have to remain vigilant. Vigilance, like dr. Fauci said, is what will keep this virus at bay and keep us as safe as possible. As we get a vaccine, which i think we will, as we make that vaccine available, which will take some time but with a strong distribution system, well get it out there. And it will be step by step improvement. We just have to be vigilant. It may be a good period of months before were really seeing the clouds part. Thanks very much for your honest assessment as always, dr. Scharfstein. New evidence that russia is interfering in the president ial election as President Trump continues to heap praise on vladimir putin. Former Trump National security adviser h. R. Mcmaster joins us next. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc. Rea mitcl reports only on msnbc now, she uses a capful of therabreath healthy smile oral rinse to give her the healthy, sparkly smile she always wanted. crowd cheering therabreath, its a better mouthwash. At walmart, target and other fine stores. And at fidelity, youll get planning and advice to help you prepare for the future, without sacrificing whats most important to you today. Because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction youre moving is forward. There he is. Carnivorous devourus. He only comes out for devour. Look how he rips into that buffalo chicken mac and cheese. Eat like an animal. Devour. A good education takes you many different horizons and that sticked to my mind. So, when 1 a day came out, i said, why not . Why not just utilize that resource. And walmart made that path open for me. Without the 1 a day program, i definitely dont think id be in school right now. Each week for me in school is just an accomplishment. I feel proud every step of the way. fisherman vo ce how do i register to vote . Ential election. Is just an accomplishment. Hmm . Hmm . Hmm . woman on porch vo can we vote by mail here . grandma vo youll be safe, right . daughter vo yes four girls vo the polls voted grandma vo go out and vote its so important man at poll vo woo grandma vo its the most important thing you can do to deliver your packages. And the peace of mind of knowing that important things like your prescriptions, and ballots, are on their way. Every day, all across america, well keep delivering for you. Every day, all across america, well look back and remember the moment that things, for one strange time in our lives, got very quiet. Some lost work and invented new ways to get by. Others were busier than ever, and found strength they never knew they had. We sheltered with the people who matter most, sometimes finding how far apart wed drifted. We worried over loved ones, over money, over our planet. And over takeout. And we found a voice one the noise out there had kept quiet. When the world starts spinning again, lets remember this time where none of us felt secure, and fight for a future where everyone can. Because when the world seems like its standing still. Thats the perfect time for us to change it. Heres a choice you dont have to make ses are always making choices. The largest 5g network. Awardwinning customer satisfaction. Or insanely great value. Now, with tmobile for business, theres no compromise. Network. Support. Value. Choose. All. Three. Tmobile for business. Ready when you are. Let me tell you, weve been very rough but at the same time we get along, i like putin, he likes me. We get along. Wouldnt you say its smart to get along, okay . Smart. President trump this week talking about his relationship with russias president vladimir putin. This as nbc has confirmed reports that just a month ago, the cia assessed that putin and other top russian officials were intervening in this election by discrediting joe biden according to current and former intelligence officials. Joining me is retired threestar Lieutenant General h. R. Mcmaster who served as President Trumps National Security adviser for 13 months. His new book is battlegrounds the fight to defend the free world. General, good to see you again and congratulations on your book. Hi, andrea, great to be with you, thanks for having me. You bet. You write in your book that because the kremlins objective is to divide and weaken the United States and europe from within, defeating putins sophisticated strategy will require strategic competence and a concerted effort. Does the president s continued defense of putin, including publicly agreeing in helsinki with putins denial that he interviewed in the 2016 election, and that contradicted the u. S. Intelligence findings, doesnt that imwouembolden puti attack our democracy . I think it does. It gives him space to operate. He takes the most egregious actions against us with this cyber enabled information warfare. How about just the murdering of his principal political opponent, attempted murder, with a nerve agent . This is mr. Navalny. Then he just denies it. The russians shoot down an airliner, theres incontrovertible evidence and then they deny it. If we dont pull the curtain back on their behavior, it gives putin cover he doesnt deserve and it makes him more effective at waging this campaign to drag us down, polarize us and pit us against each other, and to reduce our confidence in who we are as a people as well as in our democratic principles and institutions and processes. And general, ive been told by some of our european allies, theyre distressed the president has not spoken out forcefully against or at all, really, against the navalny attack with nerve gas which we know novichok is a patented russian nerve agent, banned nerve agent. I dont know what the president has done privately. I hope that he sent a strong message to mr. Putin, because otherwise putin wont be effectively deterred. I will point out, andrea, i can only really speak to the time when i was in the white house for those 13 months, my last, you know, few days on the job aligned with the attempted murder of surge guy scrippall and his daughter, an attack which was egregious and placed thousands of british citizens at risk. At that time the president took very strong action. He closed the consulate in San Francisco which was really an intelligence collection platform oriented on silicon valley. And he expelled 60 undeclared russian intelligence agents. I think what we would all like to see is to see the words match those strong actions and i think our allies are looking for those kinds of assurances. But the United States has been very strong on putins various forms of aggression in recent years. The disconnect is with these public statements that dont align really with either russias egregious actions or really the actions of the administration. And the public statements from the dni, two dnis, directors of national intelligence, were fired, dan coats and joe maguire, weve had political interference with the way the russian interference in this election is even being characterized, as less important than chinas and irans, which we know from other reporting is just not true. In a letter published today, nearly 500 former National Security officials, including many top republicans, and 22 retired fourstars, write that the current president has demonstrated he is not equal to the enormous responsibility of his office. He cannot rise to meet challenges large or small. Thanks to his disdainful attitude to his failures our allies no longer trust or respect us and our enemies no longer fear us. And theyre endorsing joe biden. Can you disagree with their assessment . Andrea, ive decided im not going to get involved in partisan politics and the reason is, heck, i joined the army when i was 17, i went to west point, and across my 34year career, i decided to follow the example of George Marshall and not even vote, to studiously ensure and help reinforce the fact that our military is apolitical, that it is nonpartisan. Now, i encourage people to vote. Im saying thats a personal choice i made as a military officer. And even in retirement, i respect these general officers, i know a lot of them, a lot of them are friends. I respect their ability to do that. But i have chosen not to participate in that activity because it comes with a bit of a danger, right . A danger of, even in retirement, creating this impression that the military is somehow partisan. So i think i understand that. But really on the politicians as well, to try not to get big, long lists of generals to sign up to endorse particular candidates. This is a practice in recent years that really goes back to, uh, to president bill clinton was one of the first to kind of do this. Its now become a dueling thing, how many generals and admirals can you get. What im concerned about is not that activity in and of itself, but the impression it might, uh, it might create that the military is somehow leaning to a republican or democratic party. And that would be disastrous for our military professionalism. Im not asking about the endorsement, i know you wont step into politics. Im asking if you disagree with their assessment about his role and how he has damaged our relationship with allies and our standing in the world. Ill tell you, andrea, i dont know how much time youve had to look at the book, but im very critical of the Trump Administration policies. I know you are. In the book. And what i hope to do is provide in the book some evaluation criteria for readers. If you believe that its important for us to compete effectively and to protect ourselves against these threats and to overcome these challenges internationally, its important to learn more about them and then to evaluate the candidates based on general, let me the proposals these candidates make. Let me ask you about what you write about the president s plan to withdraw troops from afghanistan and his plan for a peace deal with the taliban. You write, sadly, the president s statement cheapened not only the sacrifices made by more than 58,000 Afghan Soldiers and police who died defending their country and their families from the taliban but also the sacrifices of more than 2,300 american servicemen and women who lost their lives in the war. There are indications from our reporting that the president is rushing to an agreement with the taliban to try to get a withdrawal deal before the election. Doesnt that concern you . It does concern me. And andrea, i write about this in battleground. What this is is the tendency across multiple administrations to create the enemy we want, an enemy thats more convenient for us and thats more conducive to our desire to withdraw. I think what is really paradoxical about this recent Trump Administration approach to our enemies in south asia that span the afghanistan pakistan border is this new policy replicates almost precisely the fundamental flaws in the Obama Administration approach. And those flaws include this myth that there is this bold line between the taliban and other terrorist organizations including al qaeda. In fact that bold line doesnt exist, these organizations overlap. Youve written were now more vulnerable to terrorist actions than at any time since the day before 9 11. Finally, in your classic book, your first book, dereliction of duty, you write about vietnam. Do you think the president is guilty of dereliction of duty . Well, i wouldnt say that, andrea. I would say that hes made unwise policy choices. And those policy choices i think, uh, will result in greater danger to americans. And the reason why im saying that these groups are more dangerous now are really, theres two fundamental reasons. First of all, theyre becoming more capable. The alumni of the mujahadin, those who committed the 9 11 attacks as password al qaert ofw we have this alumni thats orders of magnitude larger. Now they have access to more destructive capabilities, everybody has a cellphone in their pocket. Now you combine that with our strong desire to disengage. And once we disengage, of course these terrorist organizations are free to organize and plan and train and prepare for these mass murder attacks which they use as their principal tactic in what i would describe as a war against all civilized peoples. H. R. Mcmaster. The book is battlegrounds. Thank you so much. And stop the presses. The Justice Department taking another former white house National Security adviser, john bolton, to court today over his tellall book. A whistleblower says its under false pretences. From prom dresses. To soccer practices. And new adventures. You hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past. They may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Lets help protect them together. Because missing menb vaccination could mean missing out on a whole lot more. Ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. 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Use your va benefits now at newday and save 250 a month 3000 a year. The va streamline refi lets you shortcut the refinance process. Theres no appraisal or income verification, and you dont have to spend a single dollar out of pocket. One call to newday can save you 3000 a year. A career National Security official tasked with reviewing john boltons book for classified material is claiming in a bombshell new letter white house aides improperly intervened to hold up his manu script accusing them of making false claims that bolton used classified material. Ellen knight writing through her lawyer that she was very concerned about the politization, even the perceived politicization of the prepublication review process. They retaliated against her when she refused to go along. They are in court today looking to seize revenue from the book on the grounds that bolton disclosed classified material without authorization. Joining me is New York Times washington correspondent michael schmidt, author of donald trump versus the United States inside the struggle to stop a president. Thank you very much for being with us. Michael, first of all, in june, ellen knight learned robert obrien, the National Security adviser after disagree with her assessment brought in a politically appointed lawyer, a former aide to devin nunes to perform an additional classification review of the book. Its claimed he flagged passages that are clearly ambassador boltons analysis or opinion about his personal recollection of events and failed to analyze whether the information he harked as classified was still classified and subject to redaction. Thats really damning the white house for trying to cover up a very controversial book. At the most fundamental level, what this career archivist who was on the National Security council who was there to work with former officials who were trying to write books, what this person, this woman, ms. Knight describes is a highly irregular process where she had worked with bolton. They had come to agreements about what information would be not okay in the book and would be okay and then when the issue becomes redhot politically in the middle of impeachment, the officials at the white house work to intervene to dip their hand into this process in a way that made knight highly uncomfortable. She lays out in the letter her refusal ultimately to sign an affidavit to put her name on an affidavit that would have described what she thought were inaccurate things about this information as the white house and the Justice Department were going to try and make the argument that bolton indeed had classified materials in this book. And the department of justice is in court today trying to make that argument. Their central thesis is, as the case comes under scrutiny, will it how will this letter play in court. Is it going to be introduced . So the letter was filed as part of this yesterday by bol n boltons lawyer chuck cooper. Chuck cooper in court today fighting with the Justice Department about this. Its unclear the impact. You have to understand theres two things going on here. Theres a civil case where the Justice Department is saying john bolton, we need your 2 million back that you got from the book because you broke an agreement with us. The Justice Department is investigating whether essentially bolton mishandled classified information. The letter will be most helpful to bolton on the criminal side because this gets to the question of whether this information was truly classified. And that, of course, if he were to lose that in that regard, thats really serious penalties. In addition, we know now that mary trump is suing the president and his family for millions over claims they cheated her out of her inheritance. The suit stating for donald j. Trump his sister mary anne, shes the former federal judge and their late brother was not just the family business, but a way of life beginning in the 1980s. These siblings took control of the real estate empire their father built and exploited it to enrich themselves at the expense of everyone around them. This is the original root cause of her falling out with the family, correct . Yes. Look. As i learn in reporting from my book, the legal questions around donald trump, whether its investigations of misconduct in off, investigations of ethical questions or of civil lawsuits, lawsuits like the one you describe. We will be living with them in this country for years to come. Regardless of what happens in november, there will be litigation that we see, whether its an example of this suit that you just described, the sexual harassment, suits against the president that hes litigating in court. The legal problems of donald trump as i learn in reporting my book will be something we are living with for many years to come. Regardless of the impact of i mean, regardless of the result of this falls election. Some of the rich details in donald trump versus the United States, michaels book. That does it for todays edition. A busy day on Andrea Mitchell reports. Chuck todd is up next with mtp daily. If its thursday, the president of the United States, the keeper of the flame of democracy for the world, is refusing to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses. And this time, americans should be taking him seriously. Plus, as the president ramps up his claims of mailin ballot fraud, the fbi director contradicts him. And millions of mailin ballots are being sent to voters in americas most important battleground states. And demonstrations flare across the country. Demanding racial justice. Two louisville Police Officers were shot overnight amid the aftermath of yesterdays decision not to charge a Single Police officer involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor