Transcripts For MSNBCW Meet The Press 20170529

Late. My guests this morning, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee bob corker, former director of National Intelligence, James Clapper and Homeland Security chief john kelly. And the congressional race in montana, the republican won, the democrat closed the gap. Which party has reason to celebrate. Joining me for insight and analysis are joy reid, kimberly strass strassel, Charlie Sykes and amy walter. Welcome to sunday. Its meet the press. Good sunday morning on this memorial day weekend. The president came home late last night from his first overseas trip in office, and when he did, the russia investigation got much closer to home as well. So much closer, in fact, that it now involves the president s soninlaw, Jared Kushner. President trump faces a growing scandal. Consider what has happened in just the last week, monday. Washington post reports that mr. Trump had asked his intel chiefs in march to push back specifically on then fbi director james comeys comments on the russia investigation. John brennan testifies that he saw contacts between russian officials and Trump Campaign members that he thought deserved investigation. Thursday nbc news reports that Jared Kushner is now under fbi scrutiny in the russia investigation, though he is not a target. Friday night, the bombshell that kushner and russias embas amba discussed a secret back door channel so that their conversation would not be picked up. The Trump Administration went out of its way yesterday to field reporters questions off camera even if they didnt actually answer them. Were not going to comment on jared. Were just not going to comment. National security adviser h. R. Mcmaster did try to defend kushner without saying his name. Generally speaking about back Channel Communications, what that allows you to do is communicate in a discrete manner. Its very concerning that they wanted to have these communications at russian diplomacy facilities using russian phone lines. That shows that they were really trying to conceal this from the Obama Administration and from u. S. Intelligence. The reactions to the kushner story include just simple shock from the Intelligence Community. I cant keep out of my mind the thought that if an american Intelligence Officer had done anything like this, we would consider it espionage. Reuters is also reporting that kushner had at least three previously undisclosed contacts with the Russian Ambassador, including two phone calls before the election some time between april and november. Kushners attorney did not deny the story but responded this way. Mr. Kushner participated in thousands of calls in this time period. He has no recollection of the calls as described. On thursday nbc news reported that kushner is under fbi scrutiny though not a subject of the investigation like former trump aids Paul Manafort and michael flynn. John brennan publicly acknowledged for the first time his concern that Campaign Associates wittingly or unwittingly may have been cooperating with russian operatives, though he says he saw no proof of collusion. I saw information intelligence that was worthy of investigation by the bureau to determine whether or not such cooperation of collusion was taking place. Now the Senate Intelligence committee has asked trumps Political Organization to gather and produce all documents, emails and phone records going back to his campaigns launch in june 2015. Mr. Kushner was also in charge of the campaigns data operations. We knew exactly where our 14 million voters were that we needed in key swing states. Jared was an incredible leader to help make this all happen. At home the president will not be able to avoid questions as he did overseas, beginning with his own party in congress, many of whom were already losing confidence in his ability to lead. I think we have a situation on our hands where you, every few days, theres a new revelation. The idea that Congress Continues to do nothing about russia interference in our election is cometely unacptable to me. In the next work period im going to do everything i can to make sure that we sanction russia for interfering in our election. Former House Speaker john boehner told on Energy Conference wednesday that Foreign Policy aside, Everything Else hes done has been a complete disaster. Joining me now is republican senator and the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Bob corker of tennessee. Senator, welcome back to meet the press, sir. Good to be with you. Let me start with the allegations involving Jared Kushner and these meetings that he had where either he suggested or somebody suggested that a back channel be put together in some form, possibly using russian facilities. Can you think of any good reason to do Something Like that in a transition period between one presidency over another . Look, i think jared has said that hes more than willing to answer any and all questions. They reached out to us yesterday to make sure that we knew that was the case and im sure hes willing to do so. I look at what the reports have said about asking questions of him. It seems to me that based on just the reporting that you and others are making, hes not a target. So i think i would just wait. Sounds like hes more than glad to talk about all of these things. Instead of getting wrapped up into a lot of hyperbole as these things can sometimes do, i think talking with him directly and getting him to answer any and all questions as he said he would do would probably be the prudent course of action. I understand that but can you think of any good reason lets take, as you know, the Washington Post bombshell and clearly the white house hasnt said much publicly. They seem to be talking anonymously to the New York Times and they implied that, well, the meeting, it wasnt clear who suggested who suggested a back channel and that it was going to involve mike flynn and syria. Heres what i dont understand. Why would anybody want to set up Something Like that if it was about syria and not let the pentagon know about it . Yeah, i have no idea. Again, i think its best to talk directly with these people. I know that from a military standpoint obviously we have ways of deconflicting with russia on things relative to syria. Again, chuck, because i just dont know, i mean, these things are these sources are not people who are willing to give their names, its just hard to respond to things like that, that again, you know, no names attached, no dates attached, look, lets let this unfold and as i ive spent a lot of time with jared. He was over just recently, briefing us on the upcoming trip. They achieved all of their goals. He seems to me to be a very open person and id let him speak for himself when the time is right on all of these issues and that hath that time we can render judgment on what did or didnt take place. The time is right. I guess im a little concerned. Do you not have a sense of urgency about this . This is lets think about the time period here. You just had 17 intelligence agencies report that russia interfered with this election. These interactions in the month of december, senator corker, you would think would trouble many people if they thought that geez, theres been accusations that maybe the russians were trying to assist one campaign or the other, and to have these meetings and then to have them talk about the idea of avoiding american eavesdropping, i guess, if you want to call it that. None of this troubles you . I mean, you want to wait till this unfolds. No, no, no. These these recent reports is what im talking about. Again, as i understand it Jared Kushner is more than glad to talk about all of these things. As it relate to the interference in the election, no question and weve been allowing for a short period of time for secretary of state tillerson to see if he can change the trajectory, but this next work period, we very much unless theres some major change, plan to double down with russia so absolutely not. Couldnt agree more with that. Im not disagreeing that they interfered with our elections and they need to do something about that so if youre trying to tie me into that i agree 100 . Im not trying to tie you into knots but you just connected behavior in syria. Should russia be punished for election interference, period . They should and sometimes, chuck, what we want to do is make sure that were having a good outcome for our nation and so with can act with passion over an issue. On the other hand, if we know that there are some negotiations taking place when our relationship with russia is at the lowest point ever since 1991 for good reason, if there are some negotiations taking place relative to that, does it make some sense to get give the secretary of state some time to see where that goes . There are going to be sanctions against russia, or at least the k c codifying sanctions against russia. That is going to happen. But i think my job, and many people in the Foreign Relations community in general, is to make sure weve got a good outcome. So these russia is going to be punished for what it did and interfering in our elections. There is an investigation thats underway. I took each week multiple times as to how that is unfolding but again, to give a diplomat, everybodys going nuts over the one percent issue that we spend on diplomacy and aid. We care about diplomacy in our country. We want to make sure that it works. We want to give it every opportunity and to wait a few weeks at the request of the secretary of state to see if he can change things in syria seems to be an appropriate thing to do. Thats what weve done, but next work period we plan to take it up. I was just going to say. You said a few weeks. Its been four months since theyve taken office. So, in your opinion, is it now time to decide that the russians arent going to change their behavior in syria . Well, well see. Unless theres something demonstrative that occurs. Ive read the intelligence on wednesday morning. It doesnt seem to me that theyve changed their behavior in any way. So i think were going to be moving on with this. I know the Banking Committee plans to do the same but again, chuck, i dont i dont know what youre getting at here. Obviously, yes, it has been six months. So, does waiting two or three weeks for the secretary of state to see if he can negotiate a change, does that affect our ability to focus on what they did on the elections . I dont think so. And you barks you, were not going to wait for the senate investigation. But there is an investigation under way in the intel community. Typically, you wait until those things are complete before you take action. In this case, were probably going to go ahead just because of the clamoring for this to occur, rightly so. Were going to take up sanctions this next work period. Let me ask you about speaking of your next work period, john mccain made this interesting analysis of all the things you guys have got to get done in the senate before labor day. Heres the reality. Weve got 11 weeks between now and the end of september. Weve got a repeal of obamacare. Were talking about tax reform. Were talking about about a defense bill. Theres about three other thing, a looming debt limit. How do you pack all that . And so far ive seen no strategy for doing so. There seems to be hes not alone but hes on the record. There seems to be a lot of concern that you have no idea how many of these things are going to get done in the next three months. Well, its obvious that not all of those things are going to get done in the next three months. There is a lot to do. And, you know, were right now meeting on health care. The meetings have been, i will say, very substantive. I would have liked for them to be more in the public. So youre bringing the public along. There seems to be some consolidation beginning to take place on tax reform. Had a great discussion with fred smith at fedex, who is working with many business associates. There seems to be something gelling there, but no, weve got a lot to do. Theres no question. And were going to do the best that we can. But, you know, we have a full twoyear congressional cycle here to get many of those things done and again, i think were moving along in a thoughtful way with way too much work to get done. A lot of people to get confirmed nomination wise. Spending issues, a lot to get done. Its a privilege to serve in the senate to accomplish those things. Well move along as quickly as we can. Im going to leave it there. Thanks for coming on. Thank you. Earlier this morning i spoke with Homeland Security john kelly and i began with asking him about the Jared Kushner news. I know jared. Hes a great guy, decent guy. Hes number one interest really is the nation, so you know, theres a lot of different ways to communicate back channel, you know, publicly with other countries, i i dont see any big issue here relative to relative to jared. Even with an adversary somebody that was at the time our own Intelligence Community had collectively said this was a country that infiltrated our election. Did this show good judgment . Well, you know, it was before the government was in place, during the transition period i think, from what i understand. And i think any time you can open lines of communication with anyone whether theyre good friends or not so good friends is a smart thing to do. Had you ever in your lifetime of Government Service both in the military and outside of it, had you ever used another governments Communications Facility though, the idea of sort of going around American Communications . Well, no, but i didnt have to. I mean, in my previous life, we wouldnt do that kind of thing, but you know, politics being what they are, not a better way to put it, not politics but the kind of interaction here in washington, theres a lot of ways to communicate with people. Intelligence sharing is something thats extraordinarily important to your job. If you get to the point where you now have our own Intelligence Community not very comfortable with how this administration is dealing with intelligence, how problematic is that for you . For me, and again, i dont necessarily accept this, you know, the issue of the issues related to intelligence being a problem right now, but for me, i mean, i interact with my counterparts overseas all the time. I rely on all of the Intelligence Community to make the decisions that i make. Its not an issue for me for sure. Did you i want to, just one more time, going back to the russian thing. Is this any way are you concerned that if there is a back channel over here that is actually going to disrupt our ability to know what the russians are up to . Just because you have a back channel if indeed thats what jared was after doesnt mean that he then keeps everything secret. I mean, he shares that, but the backhannels as i understand it and of course every administration has had it forever. Back Channel Communication is a way to communicate with people. Again, not in front of the press, as an example, but that information is not necessarily kept secret from the rest of the government. Does Jared Kushner have the same level of security clearance you do . I dont know. Is that something you should know . Not necessarily. I mean, i everything we do in the security world classification world of course before i would Start Talking to anyone i would make sure that they had the you know the requisite security clearances. I mean, im cleared for top secret, compartmented fbi, that kind of thing. Is jared the same kind of thing . I dont know but if i had to talk to him or anyone else at the intelligence that im briefed in i would make sure they had that clearance before i talked to them. I got to ask you about this comment you made on friday. I was telling steve on the way in here, if he knew what i knew about terrorism hed never leave the house. It was a little jarring. I dont know if you meant it tongue in cheek or not. What do you mean by that . There are incredible plots against the United States terrorism plots against the United States. The really good news is that we have incredible men and women that are protecting us every day. The away game, overseas, department of defense, cia, the home game fought by dhs, local Law Enforcement, fbi, every single day there are people plotting to try to hurt us from a terrorism point of view and every single day we beat them, the men and women of Law Enforcement, again, i say dhs, fbi, dod we beat them every day but we have to be perfect. They just have to be lucky once. Its interesting to me that you seemed to say that you wouldnt sleep at night. I mean, how serious if we had a threat level the way u. K. Has it would we be at the highest level . We have no specific threats right now. Otherwise wed be at a higher level, but theres always a threat and we just are vigilant every day and again, the 99. 9 of americans can sleep safe in their homes at night. Their children are protected. They are protected, but it is a Relentless Mission of our Law Enforcement intelligence, military people to protect america. Did the Prime Minister have a complaint when she complained about leaks . She did. In cases like this, i immediately call my counterpart in uk and after offering my condolences about the attack and unbelievably the third time in 120 days ive done that. Ive called minister and offered my condolences. And she brought this up. If it came from the United States its totally unacceptable. And i dont know why people do these kind of things but its borderline, if not over the over the line of treason. You believe its treason to leak some of the stuff you believe thats treason. I do believe it is. When you leak the kind of information that seems to be routinely leaked, the high, high level of classification, you are telling me. What was leaked you believe on this Manchester Bombing meets you believe maybe even treason standard . I think its darn close to treason. Mr. Secretary, im going to have to leave it there. Coming up, how unusual is it for an Incoming White House to attempt to arrange a back channel for a Foreign Government to allude u. S. Monitoring . Ill ask the former director of intelligence, James Clapper. But first, through the the show as we go to break on this memorial day weekend we pause to honor our fallen men and women in uniform since last memorial day. To take advantage of this offer on a volvo s90, visit your local dealer. To takand its also a story this mail aabout people90, and while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States postal service. Priority you the uncertainties of hep c. Wondering, what if . I let go of althose feelings. Because i am cured with harvoni. Harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. Its been prescribed to more than a quarter million people. 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So isnt it time our networks did too . Introducing americas largest, most reliable 4g lte combined with the most wifi hotspots. Its a new kind of network. Xfinity mobile. Welcome back. As questions continue to swirl welcome back. As questions continue to swirl about the transition Teams Communications with russia, walk through the time line of when all of these events took place because we have learned more. Because we now have learned more abt thmonth of dember 2016. Was on the 1st or the 2nd that we now Jared Kushner and mike flynn met to discuss reportedly setting up a back Channel Communications between the trump transition and the kremlin. Later in december, he meets with the head of a sanctioned russian state owned bank. The bank was sarngsed, not the individual. Calls take place between flynn and kislyak. Those sanctions were in response to russian interference in the election. Joining me now, former director of intelligence James Clapper. Welcome back to the show. Thanks, chuck. Before i get into the rest of the story you just heard secretary kelly talk about the leaks that took place. We know the u. K. Complained about the Manchester Bombing and they sort of walk up to the line of treason. Some might say hey, theyre just leaking out something that they think the public should know. Where do you draw that line . Well, i think first of all, i have to say that leaks are damaging, theyre corrosive, they risk compromising sources, methods and trade craft as weve seen recently, they damage relationships with crucial partners, you know, u. K. And israel come to mind, and this is particularly serious now because in my experience 50 plus years in intelligence, i know over time when we depended more on friends and allies for sharing information and intelligence, particularly with respect to terrorism, so i know secretary kelly takes you know, takes this quite seriously and he should. Legal definition on whats treason, ill leave that to the lawyers but just on the intelligence business, leaks are bad. Let me go through the issue that has been the bomb shell this weekend, this issue that Jared Kushner, a private citizen, a private adviser to, at the time, the president elect, was having these meetings with the ambassador to russia and they h hid these meetings from the public eye. We also learned that he met with the head of a sanctioned russian bank. You were still the director of National Intelligence in december. Are these things you would have known . Yes, they would have and to reenforce John Brennans comments before the House Committee on intelligence, and i have to say that without specific specifically affirming or confirming these conversations since even though theyre in the public realm, theyre still classified. But just from a theatrical standpoint, i will tell that you my dashboard warning light was clearly on. And i think that was the case with most of us in the Intelligence Community. Very concerned about the nature of these approaches to the russians. If you put that in context with Everything Else we knew the russians were doing to interfere with the election and just the historical practices of the russians who typically almost genetically driven to penetrate, gain favor, whatever, which is a typical russian typical russian technique, so we were concerned. And so this is whats likely triggered the fbis now extra attention to Jared Kushner that weve been reporting that they have more information, theyre saying theres not a target. It would have been intelligence like this that would have triggered it. I think so. And i think john alluded to his concerns that the fbi is the proper channel. I have to say at the time i left i did not see any smoking gun evidence of collusion, but it certainly was appropriate for given all the signs, certainly appropriate for the fbi to and necessary for the fbi to investigate. The Russian Ambassador to the United States, theres been different ways people have described him. Does the Intelligence Community believe he basically is an agent of the kgb or if fsb, the old kgb . Given the fact that he oversees a very aggressive intelligence operation in this country, the russians have more intelligence operatives than any other nation as represented in this country. Still even after we got rid of 35 of them and so to suggest that he is somehow separate or oblivious to that is is a bit much. Why didnt we kick him out . Why didnt he specifically get sanctioned . If he basically is viewed not as the ambassador to a country, not as a diplomat but basically the american head of an intelligence agency, thats sort of what you described. Im reflecting an intelligence perspective. Intelligence is paid to be suspicious and whether to expel people or declare them png is at least in the last administration was an interagency determination and so what we did do is get at 35 of the more notorious intelligence operatives and asked them to leave quickly. One of the caveats in the Washington Post bombshell story is that the russians will frequently do misinformation even in intel channels. How often does that happen . How likely is it in this case . It happens a lot. It happens overtly and covertly and certainly that was one of the tools that the russians used in the run up to our election was fake news, misinformation, paying trolls to insert phony information in social media. And so this is a Standard Practice of the russians and the soviets before them. If Jared Kushners meeting was somebody that you referred to oversees the large intelligence operation, and while you said you didnt see any smoking gun on collusion, how close to the line is that, in your mind . Well, it certainly arouses the arouses your concern about whats going on. Given you know, russia, at least from my money is that our primary adversary. They are not our friends. They are in to do us in. And i say as well, chuck, you know, we have kind of a time time honored custom in this country that we have one president and one administration at a time and oncoming administrations dont get a head start before the end of the head start before the end of the current president s encumbancy. I think certainly sanctions are a compelling powerful weapon, the russians dont like them, and i i think that what the last administration the actions the last administration took, the sanctions and other actions on the 29th of december i often thought as a first step. And i havent seen any change in russian behavior or anywhere that would merit a relaxation and if anything, an increase in those sanctions. As weve learned more about more has become public about what theyre going to do and as i said at the subcommittee hearing the 8th of may, they are only em boldened. They are going to continue to interfere in our political process and to me, thats the big story here and what American American people should be concerned about. James clapper, i have to leave it there, the foerm director of National Intelligence. Youre avrm almost going to be referred to as a member of congress. I hope not. Any way. Mr. Clapper, thanks for coming on and sharing your views. When we come back. Much more on the russian investigation. And next, republican gianforte, who body slammed a reporter won that congressional race in montana. Which party has more reason to smile this weekend . 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And its also a story mail aabout people and while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States postal service. Priority you welcome back. Panel is here. Charlie sykes. Joy reed, host on msnbc and kimberly strauszel, journalist for the wall street journal. The president is tweeting this morning. Lets get people up to speed on this. Not specific of what hes referring to but i think you get an idea. It is my opinion that many of the leaks coming out of the white house are fabricated lies made up by the fake news media. Whenever you see sources say and they dont mention names it is very possible that those sources dont exist but are made up by fake news writers. Fake news is the enemy. Okay. Amy walter, it is now there is not a specific. We dont want to assume that hes referring to a specific story. Likely, it is whats going on with his soninlaw. I think what were learning is we dont know that there is a fire but there is a whole lot of smoke and that cloud is blocking everything and if youre the president right now trying to get back on course, you thought that going overseas, having a foreign trip, nine days this was going to reset. We were going to be talking were not talking at all about the nine days he spent overseas. Were talking about whats been happening here. I this the most important thing, one of the most important things he talked about with senator corker is the fact that this black cloud is also blocking out what he needs to reset. What republicans need to reset is getting points on the board with something happening legislative ofly. They have a Republican House and senate and white house and nothing is moving. The one thing that has passed the House Health Care bill, not particularly popular. Its stuck in legislative purgatory right now, in the senate. And all those other things, tax reform, the budget, theyre not going anywhere either. If youre thinking about running for reelection youre not just worried about the russia piece, but what are you going to talk about when you go home over the next recess about what youve actually been able to accomplish . By the way, weve been hearing all weekend long, we get our weekly hey, theres going to be a staff shakeup story. But there has been all sorts of chatter over the president vetting his tweets. I think theyve gotten to him in this case. He used the phrase it is my opinion before putting all of that out about fabricated lies. We did aurso search, he never used that phrase or i think in his tweets before since so far going back as president. You might almost think these are kind of lowenergy tweets from the president. But it does look like we know that the president has lawyered up. Are the lawyers going to be look at his tweets . Look, the nightmare here for the white house is that this is not an alignment of the planets. Its a collision of the planets. You have the family, you have the finances. Were not talking about the drip, drip, drip anymore. Its a torrent. And i think the difficulty of this white house, dealing with this is going to be exponentially raised by now it is Jared Kushner and listening to the folk you had on earlier, the reluctance of members of the administration to criticize Jared Kushner, this is one of the reasons why you avoid nepotism because hes the one guy you cannot fire. Hes so close to the president , this raises the threat level exponentially. Kim . I think we are having a discussion that is absolutely divorced from reality this week. It is astonishing. Let me set the scene for you. Its 2008. We are having an election and candidate obama, not even president elect, sends William Miller over to iran, to establish a back channel and let the iranians know, if he wins theyll have friendlier relations. So, this is a private citizen, going to foreign soil in order to evade u. S. Intelligence monitoring and establishing a back channel with a sworn enemy of the United States, who was actively disrupting our effors s in the military in the middle east. Is that bad judgment . Is that a bad thing . Back channels are completely normal. They happen all the time. Reagan did them, obama did them so im not so sure why setting up a back channel with the russians is somehow out of bounds. Well, heres one key difference. In october, months before this latest meeting and it was one of 18 separate contacts that we now know of between the Trump Campaign and russia, our primary adversary in the world, in october a superpower. In october, the collective judgment of the 17 intelligence agencies had been that russia had been taking active measures to interfere with our elections. So we know that that was happening in october. So in december the now president elect decides hes going to name jim be the secretary of defense but he sends his Real Estate Developer soninlaw supposedly or the Real Estate Developer soninlaw decides to open his own back channel, not just and this isnt a back channel. You dont go to the country and say lets set something up in your embassy so that we evade our Intelligence Services. We set it up inside your facility and it talks them aback. And you sent him to do that without jim mattis and then if its a channel about opening up negotiations in terms of something realistic, and something about Foreign Policy, why are they also back channeling with a bank, a kremlinconnected, russian bank . And why is the reuters report saying that part of the discussion was the possibilities of opening up opportunities for financing trump related well, we dont know the answer to any of those questions because what were getting is anonymous those are not back channels. You have to follow the money, you have to follow the meetings, the lies, the attempts to we dont have any of that information. To derail this investigation. And the reality here is that Jared Kushner and the Trump Administration apparently trusted the russians more than the Intelligence Community. Correct. Why can in the th not be suspicious . Why would you trust im sorry. By the way, we cant forget the Intelligence Services and also the Defense Department were being run by the Obama Administration. They had plenty of reason to not let the Obama Administration know what they were doing . What did they want to hide . This is suspicious, at minimum. What did they want to talk about . Why would you use russian facilities . And why would you not maybe want to have all of these people in this departments with this information to go on to leak on a daily basis . Because the election was over trying to derail your presidency . In december the election was over. In this country, we hand over peacefully power from one party to another. All the time. Weve done so for yrs. Are you telling me that the now elected Trump Administration didnt trust john brennan, tha somehow these Straight Arrow guys in our Intelligence Services were going to to work now to actively undermine . Are they now seeing him as some sort of dissident . That has never happened in our history. One of the most interesting pieces of news was the revelation that they said that the Obama Administration had been actively engaged in abusing Fourth Amendment protections by unmasking peoples identities in which they did not acknowledge to the court, in which they said brought up major, major concerns. So, maybe you wouldnt trust that team. Who said that . What is the source of that information . Fisa. Do you know how difficult it is to get a fisa report against an american person . Youre not talking about what i just mentioned. Im going to pause this conversation because i have to go to break. Let me do that. We are a for profit enterprise. Coming up, Hillary Clintons full throated criticism of President Trump. Even denying things we see with our own eyes like the size of crowds. But as we go to break we continue to honor our fallen men and women in uniform from the last year. In these turbulent times, do you focus on todays headwinds . Or plan for tomorrow . At kpmg, we believe success requires both. With our broad range of services and industry expertise, kpmg can help you anticipate tomorrow and deliver today. Kpmg. For a hundred years, every bonnie plant has started with two hands and a mission. To put fresh homegrown herbs and vegetables on every table in america. Who are you talking to . The plants, they like it. Success starts and ends with bonnie plants. At crowne plaza we know Business Travel isnt just business. Theres this. a bit of this. Why not . Your hotel should make it easy to do all the things you do. Which is what we do. Crowne plaza. Were all business, mostly. Welcome back. Data download time. Is donald trump make the republican parry or is the party already remaking itself in a way that allowed donald trump to walk in . Theres evidence that the gop was becoming trumpian before he got there. Our data guru analyzed polling going back to 2010 to help us understand this trend. Education is a key measure. In 2010, 41 of College Graduates called themselves republican, while 39 called themselves democrats. A sixpoint jump, thats a big swing overall. Democrats now have the edge with College Educated voters. Republicans have seen a fivepoint jump with that group while democrats have seen a fivepoint drop. Also a pretty significant swing. This education gap follows some geographic trends that weve been following that help us explain why some of the republican districts have the highest reelection rates. Now some other areas where republicans have seen the most growth, men over the age of 50 up five points. Rural voters also up five points. And those between the ages of 50 and 64 are more republican than years ago. A jump of those making 30,000 to 50,000 per year, kind of smack dab in the middle class there. Not just millennials but genz, those with postgraduate degrees. Were in a political realignment. Were in the middle of it. And its going to take more than one election to figure this out. These trends explain why barack obama won two terms. Its making our election ace bit more unpredictable than we have become used to. Before we go to break we want to note the passing of former senator and hall of fame pitcher jim bunning, who died at the age of 85. Congressman, twoterm senator from kentucky and only member of congress to throw a perfect game in the major leagues. And we lost a member of our extended nbc family, zbigniew brzezinski,father. Immigrated from poland. Scholar and ultimately moved to the white house. Maintained enduring position during the soviet union. Our thoughts of course go out to the family. Tweeted friday night, chief at the helm. We love you dad. We will always be grateful for your love and devotion. I guess i was born with a crayon in my hand. I decided to see if there was a way for design to play a. Positive role in what was going on in the world. Theres a jacket thats reflective for visibility. A sleeping bag jacket, jackets that turn into tents. I usually do my fashion sketches on the computer. I love drawing on the screen. Theres no lag time at all. It feels just like my markers. With fashion, you can dress people and help people. Its really cool to see your work come to life. Depend real fit briefs feature breathable, cottonlike fabric. In situations like this, theres no time for distractions. Its not enough to think im ready. I need to know im ready. No matter what lies ahead. Get a free sample at depend. Com. And its also a story mail aabout people and while we make more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget. That your business is our business the United States postal service. Priority you back now. I feel like political speed dragon here. Have to try to get all this stuff in. Montana, amy walter, you do this for a living. Republicans windy six points in a state that has a democratic senator, but looks demographically more like a trump state. Who should feel good right now. Its like peewee soccer. Everyone gets a trophy. On the republican side they got a win. They win. Period. This is not just good because they have a person in the seat thats a republican. Its good for retaining. This is the time of the year people are trying to get candidates to run. Getting donors and members or pundits to run for reelection. Toxic environment. On the bad side. Democrats looking forward to the margin in a lot of these special elections. A lot narrower. Closer. Overperforming for a traditional democratic. Five points here in montana. 12 points in kansas. Democrats are going to take control of the house, they have to overperform nationally. Its not going to help a deep red state like montana. It will help in the lighter shade. Does seem like georgia, must win, for the democrats. Very much so. In terms of setting that narrative. I will say what happened in montana was significant. In terms of acceptable behavior. Youre referring to the body slamming of the reporter. The body slamming itself. And the way republicans felt that triable loyalty demanded they rationalize this. Whats been happening is this whether you want to call donald trump the role model, so many republicans and conservatives i am one of them who now model their behavior after this. This thin skinned, thin skinned nastiness that mimics confidence. Let me throw in, mark sanford put a voice from south carolina. Respectfully, i submit that the president has unearthed demons. Ive talked to a number of people about it back home. President can say whatever, why cant i say whatever . Hes given them license by the state. I dont think you can blame the body slamming of the reporter by an individual on President Trump. In history you look to a president to set standards. And i think all of us would be happier if President Trump was in general exuding a little bit more of a respectful tone to everybody. People like hes outspoken. Thats fine. Theres a difference between being blunt spoken and crude. Or discourteous. Words that have consequence. Words have meaning. Ideas have consequences. Its one thing to either be upset with biassed news media, but, again, we move the line now to just pure raw loathing. Last words. You had donald trump this morning tweet that journalist, presumably means Washington Post and New York Times made up event sources during the campaign one of the most chilling images that stuck with me from it was a gentleman at a trump rally that said against journalist. Anyone at a trump rally experienced it. He is the head of that party. Thats all i have for today. Have a happy and safe memorial day weekend. Were back next week. If its sunday, its meet the press. With type 2 diabetes a lower a1c is a lot about choices. But it can be hard sometimes, cause different sides of you struggle with which ones to make. Well, what if you kept making good ones . Then . You could love your numbers. Discover oncedaily invokana®, a pill used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. 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The choice is yours. Lower your blood sugar with invokana®. Imagine loving your numbers. Theres only one invokana®. Ask your doctor about it by name. Hi there. Good morning. On this memorial holiday we have a lot of new music to break. Defending jarred. The white house circling the wagon around the president s soninlaw. Plus is Corey Lewandowski coming back . Going alone. German chancellor announces a gigantic shift that europe can no longer depend on the United States. Fallout from the president s trip this morning. Another test of north korean missile. Another test of