Transcripts For MSNBCW Hardball With Chris Matthews 20191019

And that Rudy Giulianis quote shadow policy alarmed top Security Officials inside the white house. And perhaps more troubling still for the president his white house and his republican allies are all over the place when it comes to defense against the impeachment drive. Trump has tried attacking the whistleblower. Hes also tried to block officials from testifying, although many have now defied that order. He continues now to insist that there was no quid pro quo, but his own white house chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said otherwise yesterday. Did he also mention to me in the past that the corruption that related to the dnc server . Absolutely, no question about that. But thats it. Thats why we held up the money. To be clear, what you just described is a quid pro quo. It is funding will not flow unless the investigation into the democratic server happened as well. We do that all the time with foreign policy. I have news for everybody, get over it. Theres going to be political influence in foreign policy. Now, while mulvaney leader tried to take back those comments the political damage was already done. Politico reports that, quote, republican lawmakers felt exasperated by the white houses lack of discipline and white house lawyers were similarly aghast mulvaney undercut so many of the legal arguments they could use to defend the president. Heres how house intel chairman adam schiff summed it up. Things have just gone from very, very bad to much, much worse. The idea that vital military assistance would be withheld for such a patently political reason for the reason of serving the president ial Reelection Campaign is a phenomenal breach of the president s duty to defend our National Security. All of this could spell trouble for the president as he tries to resist the unfolding impeachment inquiry. As the Washington Post put it, quote, contrary to weeks of denials from the president and his defenders, a growing body of evidence makes clear it was trump himself who repeatedly pushed his own government and a foreign power to intervene in do domestic political concerns, enlisting and ensnaring a growing number of administration officials. Im joined now by a White House Reporter for npr, philip bump a political reporter for the Washington Post. Frank figliuzzi, assistant director for Counter Intelligence at the fbi. And michael steele, a former chairman of the rnc. Thanks to all of you for being with us. Frank, let me just start with you. Big picture, the testimony this week behind closed doors. There are Opening Statements that have made their way into public, certainly a lot of reporting and leaks coming out of what was said there. What is picture that has emerged in terms of what the ukraine policy was and who was setting it . Lets review just the last three weeks where, steve, weve gone from an anonymous whistleblower complaint to dedicated professional after career professional after career professional now providing depositions that i think are beginning to crack the republican armor. And weve heard that those depositions will eventually be released to the public. These people that are giving depositions and telling the truth are really our modern day version of heroes. That is form of heroism and braver we see occurring all broken first by that anonymous whistleblower who said im not going to take it anymore. And the public sentiment and certainly the gop sentiment seems to be weve got a problem. When we hear a congressman from florida like Francis Rooney, saying i have to think about impeachment, nancy pelosi might be right about all roads leading to putin, we know theres a problem developing. Eye we cite that problem at the top, there are folks around the president , folks at the white house who i think the word was aghast at what Mick Mulvaney came out there and said yesterday. You were questioning him. Does that sentiment extend to the president himself . How is trump reacting to what mulvaney said yesterday . Well, President Trump publicly when he was asked about this he said that he felt like mulvaney clarified this topic or clarified his statement. But it seems the fact that mulvaney had to issue that clarification amid something went wrong at that press conference because basically he was walking back what he explicitly said and that he had multiple opportunities to clarify. And hours later he comes back and said basically he didnt say what he actually said. So that cant be a good sign for him. And hes standing in a white house where hes still the acting chief of staff and has never even i guess been promoted to full chief of staff. Well, frank, you were mentioning this a minute ago. Mulvaneys defense of that quid pro quo with ukraine appears to have potentially had an impact on some republican lawmakers that are taking him at his word. Heres republican congressman Francis Rooney of florida today. What might have been gray and unclear before is certainly quite clear right now that the actions were related to getting the ukraine to do some of these things. And not a republican lawmaker here but a prominent republican nonetheless, john kasich, the former republican governor of ohio today came out in favor of impeachment saying mulvaneys remarks were the tipping point. When i heard what mulvaney said, the chief of staff to the president , it pushed me really all across the rubicon. Look, i fought with people on the air about is there a quid pro quo and did this rise to the level of impeachment. I now believe it does. It also comes as senator mitt romney speaks out against trumps sliolicittationf foreign dirt in an interview with axios. Going on tv and saying china, will you investigate my political opponent is wrong. Its a mistake. It was shocking in my opinion for the president to do so. And and a mistake to him to do so. We certainly cant have president s asking Foreign Countries to provide something of political value. That is after all against the law. Romney is among the republican senators who are thought to be at least potentially in position to break with the president if hes impeached and he goes on trial in the senate. Michael, let me ask you about that. I think congressman rooney, his comments hes not saying hes for impeachment but hes not saying hes dead set against it either. Hes not. How significant is that to you . I think its a loosening of the tether between the president and republicans in the house and the senate. The senate has always been sort of that back stop for whatever the house does because, you know, the consensus is, steve, the house members are all going to line up and be against any form of impeachment. That may be a little soft right now. What i think is going to be more telling than what a republican senator or congressman does is the fact that you have now a number of people inside the administration who said i dont care about your executive privilege moniker you want to lay on top of what i have to say. Im going to go testify. That could be the biggest and most significant break in the wall that republicans have tried to put up around the president , you know, to explain all of this, you know, from marco rubio going oh, he was just kidding to others saying, well, ill just have to wait and see. Well, what theyre waiting and finding out is the republicans have a problem now that members of Trumps Administration are going before the house committees and really giving more context to the bigger problem the president has. You know, phil were having the conversation here will republicans in the senate end up breaking with trump, will there be republicans in the house do, to get to the senate, it has to get to the house. Democrats control the house. Theres an assumption built into a lot of this speculation that impeachment is inevitable. Its going to happen. Does it seem inevitable that the house will vote to impeach him . The only way in which i would say it doesnt seem inevitable is whether or not Speaker Pelosi wants to make sure theres some semblance of bipartisanship. If shes going to wait until she has 30 republicans to join the cause, it seems pretty clear right now. We passed the 218 mark on impeachment inquiry three or four weeks ago. It seems pretty clear right now she could probably corral enough democratic votes to pass impeachment in the house. Whether or not she wants to send it to the senate with at least some republicans, i think thats probably a question mark. If they put up approximate vote tomorrow, i wouldnt be surprised if it passed. Theres different signals that have been sent from republicans, it seems, who are hesitant i would say to break politically with the president and they seem to be trying to find a line here that they can all latch onto. What does the white house want them saying . Well, they clearly dont want them to say that aid was held up so that there could be an ukraine could investigate the dncs server. What they seem to want to be focusing on is this idea of there was corruption and the president was concerned about that. And then he was also concerned about other countries chipping in. And thats why aid was held up. But even that idea of corruption its never really clear what exactly they mean by corruption because the only corruption that was discussed on that call that we have the transcript of with the president with trump and the president of ukraine is the dnc server and the bidens. And so when they talk about corruption, even that seems to include the president s political opponents. And they havent really outlined what other corruption concerns they have. Michael, you were alluding to this a minute ago. But it seems like just politically speaking here, republicans are in a very tricky position because what trump is forcing them to say if they want to be on team trump on this is that theyre okay with the call, that it was a perfect call, that there was no quid pro quo even though Mick Mulvaney came out and said that yesterday. That has to be the line. If they dont take that line, that puts them in opposition to trump. And then theyve got to answer the question if you have a problem with what trump did and he doesnt, do you have to do something about it . Thats the ultimate question. If you have a problem with what trump did, if you have a problem with what Mick Mulvaney said, if you are concerned by the testimony that is as far as we know so far is indictable in terms of what the president s behavior and actions were with president zelensky of ukraine, then republicans have to act accordingly. The problem is, steve, to your point is that they cant. Because in order to stay on the good side of trump you have to fall in line and begin to spew out the same problem of lies and distortions and misdirections that he himself are putting out every day. Classic example this week is one senator Lindsey Graham, who was so outraged by the president s behavior and efforts with respect to syria, pushed back hard. And what did the president say, lindsey stay in your lane, do judiciary, dont think youre bigger than this. And what did lindsey do, shirked it down. This is what the other members are seeing, that even with someone who gets to play golf with the president on sundays and supposedly has his ear, when they step a foot out of line gets the twitter smackdown and they go silent. Back to my earlier point, it doesnt matter what the senators and the congressmen do. I think the country will be looking more and more what people inside the administration decide to do who were in the room, harder the call, and realized this is a constitutional problem. Phil, we were talking a minute ago about the house, the assumption built in democrats have the votes in theory, theyre going to go ahead and impeach. The other assumption is the republicans have the votes in the senate and theres going to be an acquittal if it gets there. How safe do you think that assumption is . I was describing to someone earlier last week i wouldnt have put a dime in vegas from the bet of removing him from office. Now i might put a dime with really good odds. I think things have changed at least a little bit. What are the odds . 100 to 1 . But that said the graphic you guys showed earlier only had 13 senators on it. I mean you need to have 20 senators from the republican side who join this vote to actually remove President Trump from office. Thats a lot of senators, and it seems really, really unlikely at this point in time. But again you asked me of course four weeks ago i was like no its not going to happen. You ask me a week ago, still seems that way. This week does seem as though something has shifted. This is the week some hesitation entered into the but also with syria. Mitch mcconnell spoke against an oped blasting trump on syria. If hes losing his base on other issues as well it gives them more of an incentive to say you know what, maybe someone else is better. Frank, we had some testimony this week. There will be more coming. What are you looking for next in terms of what folks in the administration might be able to provide in these hearings . Well, first of all im eager to see the depositions released publicly. Because as you guys just discussed this is potentially whats going to change public sentiment. And if you change public sentiment you change the hearts and minds of those senators who realize its too painful to stay joined at the hip with the president. I think if we see more National Security threat concerns come through, if we see the president placed squarely even more than he is in the center directing all of this behavior, he cant be teflon anymore. You cant say like he did with the special counsel investigation, i couldnt control the hacking and social media propaganda operations, i couldnt control papadopoulos. Manafort was with us for a short time, he had plausible deniability. He wont have that if the career professionals keep putting him in the center of the problem. Frank figliuzzi, philip bump, michael steele, thank you for being with us. Coming up, President Trump decides that millions of taxpayer dollars will be spent at his own golf resort next year when he hosts the g7 summit. The white house not at all concerned by those who say this means trump is profiting from the presidency. We had members of our military office, secret service, advance teams, we had several people, the state department, all of them came back and made the recommendations to the president that doral is the Perfect Place to hold such a summit. Plus, sharp criticism of the president s syria policy from retired u. S. Military commanders as former defense secretary jim mathis getting in a jab last night. I earned my spurs on the battlefield, martin, as you pointed out. And donald trump earned his spurs in a letter from a doctor. We have much more to get to. Stay with us. 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So much goes into who i am and hope to be. Ask your doctor if starting hiv treatment with dovato is right for you. Here, hello starts with hi mple. How can i help . A data plan for everyone. Everyone . Everyone. Lets send to everyone [ camera clicking ] wifi up there . Ahhh. Sure, why not . Howd he get out . a camera might figure it out. That was easy glad i could help. At xfinity, were here to make life simple. Easy. Awesome. So come ask, shop, discover at your xfinity store today. Its very importantly only five minutes from the airport. The airports right next to it. With doral we have a series of magnificent buildings. We call them bungalows. They each hold from 50 to 70 very luxurious rooms with magnificent views and we have many hundreds of acres so that in terms of parking, in terms of all the things you need, each country can have their own villa or their own bungalow. Welcome back to hardball. That was President Trump back in august making the sales pitch for his Trump National doral miami golf course in florida. The president made it clear he hoped to host next years group of seven g7 meeting of World Leaders at his personal property. And yesterday acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney made it official. Mulvaney said a dozen locations were vetted including one in hawaii and two in utah, but denied to say how doral was picked. It became apparent at the end of that process that doral was by far and away, far and away the best physical facility for this meeting. Its almost like they built this facility to host this type of event. I dont talk about how this place runs on the inside. So if you see our paper on how we did this, the answer is absolutely not. Mulvaney argued that the summit would be at cost and said the president would not profit from the event. The Washington Post reports, quote, that decision is without pres dependent in modern american history. The president used his Public Office to direct a huge contract to himself. It adds the resort quote has been in sharp decline in recent years according to the Trump Organizations on records. Fell 59 from 2015 to 2017. Two house committees, oversight and judiciary, have already demanded information about efforts to steer government business to the president s resorts. The choice of doral brought widespread condemnation from democrats and some republicans. Heres republican congressman Adam Kinzinger of illinois. Im not happy with it. I read the emoluments clause yesterday. I talks about titles and all this stuff. I dont know if its a direct violation, but i dont understand why at this moment they had to do that. I mean, do it in d. C. , do it in miami at a different resort. For more, im joined by Walter Schwab and currently Senior Adviser at citizens for responsibility and ethics in washington, c. R. E. W. And anita kumar, associate editor at politico. Walter, let me start with you. Mulvaney says the president wont profit from this. Therefore, not a conflict. Assess that claim. Well, thats a ridiculous thing for mulvaney to say. Essentially it boils down to this, the president of the United States participated in a contract award to his own business. This is the figurative equivalent if he reaches into the treasury, grabs a chunk of money and says dont worry, im not taking more than im spending. Thats no defense at all. And certainly if it had been Mick Mulvaney who owned this property hed be prosecuted and convicted of a felony and wouldnt be able to say oh, i broke even. Anita, that comment we played from Adam Kinzinger, republican from illinois, he said hes not happy about this, but then he said, why . Why not just given all the questions this raises, all the grief this causes the white house, why not just have it somewhere else . What is the answer to that . That is great question and one i was wondering yesterday because as you mentioned the house is investigating this. This is part of the impeachment inquiry right now. Why would he do this . No politician would do this because of the optics alone. So i was talking to the people close to the president who say at this point in this presidency hes done so many outrageous things, things that arent the norm and he knows he can get away with it. His supporters still support him. Its about the same as its been for the last 2 1 2 years and he feels fearless was the word used with me and he also feels bulletproof. Why not go ahead and do it . He can get away with it. And mulvaney says yesterday 12 different sites were considered, i think hawaii, utah. What else do we know . Do we know anything else about this . Hes saying there was a Selection Process here. Do we know anything about that . Are there any records to support it . Im sure there are some records but we dont have access to them. Theyre not being transparent about it at all. And you heard that comment from Mick Mulvaney saying if you want the paperwork were not going to give it to you. Its been shrouded in skreeksy. Basically they claimed there were 12, they did certain site selections and everybody came back and said this was the place to go. But we have no idea if thats the case and what they really looked at. If you look at this property im sure there are some benefits but theres also some negatives. And one of the things ive heard is they will probably have to do some changes, some upgrades to accommodate all these World Leaders, that there are not enough of these spaces that are exactly the same. So are they going to put in money to upgrade the facility . We dont know that. Just a few days before his inauguration in 2017 then president elect trump said he would serve ties from the Trump Organization and play no role in its operations saying hed give complete and total control of the business to his sons. And what im going to be doing is my two sons who are right here, don and eric, are going to be running the company. They are going to be running it in a very professional manner. Theyre not going to discuss it with me. Again, i dont have to do this. Theyre not going to discuss it with me. Walter, he says theyre not going to discuss it with him. At the same time this whole segment is about the president using his platform to promote his club. And now to bring the g7 summit there. You know, on the day he gave that press conference and said those words i spoke out and said that this is meaningless because the conflict of interest doesnt stem from running the day to day operations. It stems from his financial interests. And now were seeing hes determined to prove me right because he is the one whos going to profit from this. He owns the business. He participated in the procurement. I mean, the bottom line here is there is no definition of corruption that would not cover the president participating in a contract award to himself. So if this is not corrupt, nothing is corrupt. And thats exactly what he wants, and it seems to be exactly what the United States senate is determined to have be the case. Anita, we can show you this. They asked if it was appropriate for the president to hold the g7 at his resort. Couple different reactions from republican senators. Take a look. I dont have any concerns about it other than politically how it appears. On the other hand, hes the president. If he feels he did anything wrong, he doubles down on it and talks loud and to some degree i dont mind that. I admire it. It may seem careless politically, but on the other hand, as i always say, theres tremendous integrity in his boldness and his transparency. Show me where theres a violation of law. Im not sure that there is, not that im aware of. A little mix of comments there, anita. Im curious, though, in this moment the president is asking republicans in congress to defend him on ukraine, defend him on the call, defend him on quid pro quo, defend him on syria. A lot of them havent been willing to do that, and now to defend him on this. Is that causing any kind of is that causing resentment among republicans in congress . Is that going to have consequences . Ive actually been surprised how few people, republicans, have called him out. You mentioned a couple, but for all of those there were several who said that at the end, which is they admire him, and its fine they they dont think theres anything wrong with that. Remember hes been doing this not on this scale, but hes been doing this exact same thing for the last two and a half years, foreign leaders have been maralago. The Prime Minister of japan stayed at maralago. So there have been other things that are exactly the same where he is getting money from foreign governments and hes also getting money from taxpayers thru federal agencies, secret service staying there when hes there. Its been the same issue for the last 2 1 2 years. This is on a grander scale but we didnt hear about it in the last 2 1 2 years from republicans. So theres no reason to believe they would be any different. Anita kumar, walter shaub, thank you for being with us. And still ahead, public support for impeachment may be on the rise. One new poll shows it is, but it is the kind of issue that will bring members to the polls. President ial candidate and Senate Intelligence Committee Member Michael Bennett joins us next. Come on lets hide in the attic. No. In the basement. Why cant we just get in the running car . Are you crazy . Lets hide behind the chainsaws. Smart. Yeah. Ok. If youre in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. Its what you do. This was a good idea. Shhhh. 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Havent you missed enough . Ask an asthma specialist about fasenra. If you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. Welcome back to hardball. As House Democrats continue to pursue more depositions and documents in their impeachment inquiry, a new survey finds a majority of americans support their efforts. According to pew, 54 approve of the houses decision. To start an impeachment inquiry. It was 50 when they polled it last month. That was before details about the president s call with the ukrainian president were made public. Several state polls are also showing support for the inquiry. A new poll in colorado shows 54 back it there. And joining me now is a senior senator from that state. Senator, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it. Thanks, steve. Let me start on the question of impeachment. A couple weeks ago you gave an interview to politico. You drew a distinction between trump had committed impeachable offenses but you have not drawn a conclusion if he should be impeached. Given the reporting on those depositions and what mulvaney said yesterday, is that still your view or has it changed . No. I think the guy has clearly flaunted the rule of law, hes committed impeachable offenses. And i think if the facts continue to support what i think hes done, he should be impeached as a result of it. What is the difference between saying you have no doubt he committed impeachable offenses but youre not sure on impeachment . What was the distinction you are drawing there . I think that if the facts hold up the way they are he should be impeached. Were just at the beginning of the impeachment inquiry. Theyre going to go through it and look at the facts. The facts are pretty terrible. The guy clearly tried to enlist a foreign power to advance his own political interests. Hes now got the g7 coming to his failing resort in florida. I mean, i can tell you this, the Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves with this guy as president of the United States. He has flaunted every single norm thats important to our democracy and what we should expect of a president. And i think hes put himself in a terrible position. You dont need a reminder of this but if the house does vote to impeach President Trump, it would be up to you and your fellow senators either to acquit him or remove him from office. Mitch mccomon wednesday laying out what would happen in the senate if there were an impeachment trial. Under the impeachment rules of the senate well take the matter up. The chief justice will be in the chair. Well have to convene every day, six days out of seven. At 12 30 or 1 00 in the afternoon. And just before making that statement mcconnell met with republican senators. According to npr he told his caucus the trial could last as long as six to eight weeks. Senator, theres been a lot of speculation how Mitch Mcconnell would handle a trial. You hear 6 to 8 weeks you expect that to be a pretty meaty thing. What is your confidence level if this gets to the senate, this is going to be a thorough trial . My confidence level is very low but the American People need to insist on this. I mean, Mitch Mcconnell will do whatever he can get away with. We learned that during the Merrick Garland episode. And i think its really important for us not i wouldnt want anybody i know to be as cynical or malevolent as Mitch Mcconnell is. But we need to be as steedge as he is. Hes been incredibly strategic all the way along when it comes to judges, when it comes to climate, when it comes to guns. And hes going to do exactly the same thing here. And were going to have to be as strategic as he is. I want to ask you about your campaign for president , the fourth democratic debate held earlier this week. There was a lot of discussion about medicare for all. You said it would be a mistake for democrats to signon to this plan. You talked to somebody from politico. You said just listen to this debate, medicare for all shouldnt have even made it to the debate stage. Why is that . Well, only 30 of democrats support it to begin with, and i think that if we pursue medicare for all, were going to fight a losing battle for the next ten years over medicare for all when what we should be doing is creating universal health care for everybody in this country. What we should be doing is make sure we have a tax code that actually supports the dignity of work to make sure were dealing with Climate Change so that were pursuing a Progressive Agenda again in this country. Reforming the way our government works, making sure everybody in this country that has the right to vote is eligible to vote. Weve got an important agenda that weve got to pursue in this country. And i appreciate bernies ideological commitment to medicare for all. Hes been for this for 30 years. He is unlikely other people at least honest enough to say how he would pay for half of it, and thats by raising taxes for people making 29,000 a year. The American People are not going to go for something that raises taxes by 31 trillion over the next ten years for the privilege of giving up the choice for themselves and their family about whether they want to buy private insurance or have a public option. And i dont want to give up that Progressive Agenda. We spent the last ten years not accomplishing a lot of things, the kids in my old School District in the Denver Public schools and families need us to accomplish, like my plan to reduce childhood poverty by 40 , which we can do in one year in this country without adding one federal bureaucrat and what 3 of bernies plan of medicare for all would cost. Thats why im in this race because theres a completely different agenda thats a Progressive Agenda thats about making sure everyone in this country has got the Economic Opportunity they need for themselves and for their family. For us to be able to sustain this democracy, steve, which im deeply worried about, not just because of trump but because of the massive income inequality we have in this country. Ive got to ask you, too, this week you werent in the debate. You didnt meet the polling thresholds that were set there. Next debate in a month, the thresholds get higher. Some of the candidates that were on the stage this week doesnt look like theyre going to make that. Certainly now it doesnt look like youre in line to make that. Can your Campaign Keep going if you cant get on the debate stages. I think it can and i have an agenda that cannot just unify democrats but also bring back some of the 9 Million People who voted twice for barack obama and once for donald trump. Im the only candidate in this race thats ever won a National Election in a swing state and i think thats important as well. So im going to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Were running a Vigorous Campaign in iowa and seeing a good response to the ads were running there. I had to make a decision about whether i was going to continue to spend money or whether i was going to communicate with iowa and i made the choice to communicate with iowa. And steve, you know what these polls look like. I mean, you know better than anybody else. The support for the leading candidates in this race is actually pretty soft and then you get to mayor pete and youve got a whole bunch of us who are trading somewhere between 0 and 3. And frankly it was hard to watch people on that stage who are either polling the same as i am or polling worse than i am now. It turns out its a lot easier to go from 9 to 2 or 9 to 1 or 0 than it is to go from 0 to 2. But im not as wellknown as the rest of the candidates in the race. I do think ive got an agenda when people hear about it theyre going to say this is a direction we should go because its the way we win the presidency and its how we win purple states thats going to say give us chance to get the Senate Majority back. All right, senator michael bennet, thank you for joining us. Know. Up next, trump claiming victory with his deal in tic. Turkey gets everything it wants. What does the u. S. Get other than a reputation some say for abandoning its allies. Youre watching hardball. Hey allergy muddlers. Achoo . Do your sneezes turn heads . Try zyrtec. It starts working hard at hour one. And works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Zyrtec muddle no more. Whether your beauty routine is 3or 57,. Make natures bounty hair skin and nails step one. Its the number one brand uniquely formulated for silky hair, glowing skin and healthy nails. Natures bounty, because youre better off healthy. Work so hard give it everything you got strength of a lioness tough as a knot rocking the stage and we never gonna stop all strength, no sweat. Just in case you forgot all strength. No sweat secret. All strength. No sweat. Applebees new pasta and grill combos. Choose from up to 12 combinations starting at 9. 99. Schaub scha i just spoke to president erdogan of turkey. Were doing very, very well with turkey. Theres a ceasefire or a pause or whatever you want to call it. There was some sniper fire this morning. There was mortar fire this morning that was eliminated quickly, and theyre back to the full pause. Welcome back to hardball. That was President Trump insisting that a ceasefire in North Eastern syria was still in effect despite reported gunfire and explosions. Just yesterday turkey and the kurds signed off on a pause in fighting after talks between Vice President mike pence, secretary of state mike pompeo and turkish president erdogan. The ceasefire was supposed to last five days in order to allow kurdishled troops to withdraw from a safe zone along the border. The United Nations is reporting roughly 1,700 people from the region mostly women and children have now fled. Nearly 500 people have been killed since the offensive started. But during his rally in dallas last night, President Trump compared the deadly fighting in syria to a fight between school children. It was unconventional what i did. I said theyre going to have to fight a little while. Sometimes you have to let them fight a little while. Sometimes you have to let them fight. Its like two kids in a lot. Youve got to let them fight and then you pull them apart. The president who was once a fierce defender of the kurds seemed to have shifted positions. Take a look. I think the kurds are great people. Theyre incredible fighters. Theyre wonderful, warm, intelligent allies. The kurds who by the way are no angels. The kurds great fighters and great, great people. The kurds are some very good people, some very bad people. I do respect the kurds. They seem to be the ones that have the most help. They didnt help us with second world war, they didnt help us with normandy as an example. Yesterday, trump told reporters the turks wanted to clean out, his words there, a 22mile region currently inhabited by syrian kurds and today he tweeted president erdogan wanted a ceasefire to work and that, quote, the kurds wanted the ultimate solution to happen. The president spent the past 24 hours showering president erdogan with praise. Stay tuned after the break to find out what the turkish president has said in return. Youre watching hardball. Well inform them that Liberty Mutual customizes home insurance, so theyll only pay for what they need. 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Oh baby bear i just want to thank and congratulate, though, president erdogan. Hes a friend of mine, and im glad we didnt have a problem. Because, frankly, hes a hell of a leader and hes a tough man. Hes a strong man, and he did the right thing. And i really appreciate it. And i will appreciate it in the future. Welcome back to hardball. That was President Trump yesterday praising turkish president erdogan after having warned the turkish president days earlier not to be, quote, a tough guy. President erdogan suggested he was offended by that letter saying turkey would, quote, do whats necessary when the time comes. We havent forgotten it. It would not be right for us to forget it. Amid scattered fighting erdogan has threatened to resume military operations despite the negotiated ceasefire. The Washington Post is reporting that after thursdays ceasefire negotiations, the turkish side was surprised and relieved how easy the negotiations were. We got everything we wanted, said the official. For more im joined by jennifer ruben, opinion writer with the Washington Post, and Christina Greer at fordham university. Let me start with you, jennifer. Something i think weve never seen during a Trump Presidency. Written by a Senate Majority leader, Mitch Mcconnell, criticizing in strong terms trumps policy here. He said withdrawing u. S. Forces from syria is a grave strategic mistake. It will leave the American People and homeland less safe, embolden our enemies and weaken important alliances. What do you make of the significance of this, and will it ultimately have criticism like this, will it it ultimately have will criticism like this ultimately have any affect on policy . It would be nice as Mitch Mcconnell mentioned in that oped President Trumps name. Somehow this policy seems to have operated on its own if you read that letter. So i think there is bipartisan criticism both of the initial decision and this ludicrous, quote, deal which makes Nevil Chamberlain look like a negotiator. Essentially we have given the turks everything they want. We lifted the sanctions. They now have absolute control over this area, a much larger area than we were willing to initially give them. They have air cover over this area, and theyre in the process of ethnic cleansing, that is moving or killing all of the turks in this area. It is a humiliating defeat by the United States, and thats why this week in overwhelming terms the house including 129 republicans joined in condemning this move. So i think if Mitch Mcconnell feels this strongly, perhaps he should be a little tougher on the president on things like buying influence from foreign governments and his entire relationship with putin. I find it remarkable he can be so harsh and so exacting on this absolute insane policy move that serves no one other than perhaps trumps ego. Erdogan, syria, iran and write an oped that doesnt mention the president s name. A few polls that have come out on this and seems pretty strong opposition to trumps policy here on syria. Watching the events over the last 24 hours, the news developments right now, how deeply do you think the American People because oftentimes you have that reality in politics, if its happening overseas, it doesnt necessarily register. How is this one registering, do you think. Im not sure how deep its penetrating into the american psyche. They dont the history of syria and turkey, but what is sort of permeating in various communities theyre seeing democrats and republicans say this is very bad idea and it will destabilize not just that region but quite possibly our country as well, we still knock on wood had an external threat at the magnitude of say 9 11. So that conversation about making isis sort of a greater threat with some of these deals that the president is making, i think that is actually resonating when some people are perking up and saying well if Lindsey Graham who has literally been the puppy of the president since he was sworn in, if hes slightly saying this was a bad idea youre making the point there this is one of the only times in Trump Presidency youve got democrats and republicans in lock step if people Lindsey Graham or even Mitch Mcconnell he even had the courage to write the oped without having the courage to mention the president s name, that is an alarm for a lot of american citizens. And so even if they dont know about the region they still know something is off. You also have to remember we have so many hundreds of thousands of americans who have Family Member who are in the military whether they are deployed or not. So theyre also paying attention to what we do and dont do in some of these dangerous areas because that could mean their Family Members could be deployed or put in harms way for a president that has absolutely no fundamental understanding of International Policy whatsoever, and his generals have now said as much. My apologies, were a little tight here. We ran long somewhere in the show. I appreciate you both being here. Were back after a quick break. A couple exciting announcements we want to tell you about. Want. To remind you to go in for your annual checkup, and be open with your doctor about anything you feel physically and emotionally. But now cigna has a plan that can help everyone see stress differently. Just find a period of time to unwind. A location to destress. An activity to enjoy. Or the name of someone to talk to. To create a plan that works for you, visit cigna. Com mystressplan. Cigna. Together, all the way. The way you triumph over adversity. And live your lives. Thats why we redesigned humira. We wanted to make the experience better for you. Now theres less pain immediately following injection. Weve reduced the size of the needle and removed the citrate buffers. And it has the same effectiveness you know and trust. Humira citratefree is here. A little change can make a big difference. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Ask your doctor about humira citratefree. Heres to you. Excuse me. Uh. Do you mind. Being a motour . What could be better than being a motour . The real question is. Do you mind not being a motour . I do. For those who were born to ride, theres progressive. Aaddiction. How juuline hooked kids and ignited an Public Health crisis. Other news outlets report juul took 12. 8 billion from big tobacco. Markets ecigarettes with kid friendly flavors and uses nicotine to addict them. 5 million kids use ecigarettes. Juul is following big tobaccos playbook. And now, juul is pushing prop c to overturn ecigarette protections. Vote no on juul. No on big tobacco. No on prop c. And before we go i want to tell you about a new project im working on. Today we are launching a new pod cast. In fact within the last few hours it wept live. Its called article ii, inside impeachment. Going to break down whats new, what it means for our 2020 election and as you say wherever you get your podcasts and even more exciting news than that, the First Episode is available now. And even more exciting news than that, more Important News than that, monday night Chris Matthews will be back in this seat. Not this seat but the equivalent seat in washington. The Important News there, though, Chris Matthews back on monday. Thats hardball for now. Thank you for being with us. All in with chris hayes starts right now. Tonight on a special edition of all in. Does the trump and rudy show go beyond ukraine . You have to ask rudy those questions. Tonight the case that trumps debacle with turkey and rudys search for dirt on biden are part of the same story. Plus Stephanie Ruhle on what may be the most corrupt act by any president ever and the msnbc return of steve schmidt. Weve reached the hour that George Washington warned us about. Live from studio 6a from Rockefeller Plaza when all in starts right now